Lots to catch up on, AND being HUGE!!!

For Valentine's Day this year, we kept up with our usual traditions. The house was dressed in hearts of every size, style, and shape. We also did our yearly hearts for each family member and added them to the wall, which is always fun. The boys each got their BIG Hershey kisses from Mom and Dad, and we had a "Valentiney" breakfast of pancakes. I also did personal size heart shaped pizzas for dinner. It was a fun day!

The two little boys I love so much!

Chance enjoys eating- a LOT. He doesn't love the sit down meals though, he much prefers to be a grazer. So, after I force him to eat his breakfast he usually "sneaks" some other type of food. He often asks to dip his finger in the peanut butter, and occasionally I will let him while I'm making Hunter's lunch.

On this day in particular, he didn't ask for any peanut butter but I had left it sitting on the counter while I went and showered. When I came downstairs, this is what I found....

MR. PEANUT BUTTER HIMSELF!!!!

Probably a fourth of the jar had been consumed, and then he wondered why he had a tummy ache later on???

I guess he got his fat and protein in for the day- or for several days.

Hunter had a little loose tooth that I would occasionally check in on. You would imagine as I sneaked a peak in his mouth one day, the surprise I felt when I saw a new tooth growing behind the loose baby tooth. I was excited, and so was he but he wasn't so anxious to pull it out. So, we let it stay in a week or two before I couldn't stand to NOT pull it out. I persuaded poor Hunter that the baby tooth needed to be pulled and that it wouldn't hurt too bad, so he let me do it!

So, we got it out! You can hardly notice that the guy lost a tooth though, because the other one is so big in its place already. It was exciting for Hunter and the tooth fairy gave him a dollar- which was cool too.

Last but not least....I turned 33 yesterday, I also had an "almost 35 weeks along" Dr.'s appt. (This is what I look like) I have been feeling very big, although I'm feeling like I'm not completely disgusting...YET! But, the measurements say I'm measuring a week and a half bigger (she said that could be because of the positioning of baby), but also she did a little impromptu ultra-sound and couldn't find Natalie's head. That maybe sounds a little shocking to have a baby without a head, but don't be scared. I guess her head is down sooo LOOOWWW that she couldn't even get a picture of it.

NICE!!!

**This may be my first cone head baby, I'm a little nervous :) **

Making "Fun" in the Winter & 30 Weeks and Counting!!!

This winter has been very long and very cold. Probably seems long because I am pregnant and tired. But it is definitely cold!!! We've had several weeks where we ping pong between negative 40 and 50.

Anyway, out of desperation for something "outdoors" to do without being cold. I turned up the heated floor in the garage and the boys went out and rode laps on their bikes.

Okay, so actually they rode laps on the "too small for them" bikes. They both refuse to graduate up to the next size of bike. Hopefully this summer we will accomplish ourselves and Hunter will ride his big two wheeler and Chance will move up to the little bike with training wheels.

I guess when you have no where to ride and it rained all summer last year, it doesn't leave much room for improvement in the biking arena.

Anyhow, the boys both had a GREAT time riding bikes and were laughing and having a fabulous time. I think they were out there a good hour and a half!

Last but not least, I had Kelly take a "30 Week" picture of me on my way out the door to church.

Overall I feel pretty good, but I feel HUGE. That is pretty normal! The only other thing is the heartburn which is ridiculous, but normal for my pregnancies as well.

Natalie is definitely a mover and a shaker, she loves the right side of my ribs.

Here's to the last 10 weeks of healthy, happy pregnancy!

Now and Then

You might remember this little guy-- so cute!

You might remember me saying that he LOVES to eat.....

THESE!!! Not cooked, just fresh out of the freezer.

The guy LOVES frozen things! He can often be found eating ice cubes or frozen fruit anytime of the day. So here is a taken in the last few weeks, still going for the same YUMMY frozen vegetables.

Some things may never change!

Scenes from Christmas (and a few from before and after too)

December was a really fun month for us! We were finally feeling like we were really moved in and settled in our new home- so it was more relaxed than it has been the last couple of months.

It was also REALLY cold (surprise) outside for most of the month, in fact it was so cold that we couldn't even play outside too much. Hunter hardly had recess the days he was in school because any colder than -20 (yes that is negative twenty) they won't let them go outside.

Hunter was BIGTIME into playing board/card games this last month and couldn't get enough. So much so, that after he whipped the pants off of whomever he was playing (mom) he kept playing and said he was playing the "computer". In fact, one day he had a buddy over and they started playing and game and didn't have time to finish, so Hunter gladly played both players :)

Funny Kid!

In making sure we were properly bundled to run out to the bus, I got a little carried away one day and didn't catch on quickly to the fact that my poor little kindergarten boy couldn't see anything. We laughed pretty hard about that one.

What would the month of December be in North Pole without a trip to visit Santa Claus. He was as jolly as ever, and so happy to see us. Hunter asked for a Tebow (Denver Broncos) jersey, and Chance asked for a helicopter, tank, and a cemetary. ( I guess the boy knows that w

ar seems to end with death.)
I had to take a picture of Hunter in the washing machine. He and some friends were playing hide and seek and he had THE BEST hiding spot ever. (Of course he kept the door open, so all was safe.) But, he came up with the idea on his own.

I believe on this day it was only -14, so we decided to go out and shovel the walk to our front door, and while doing so we discovered that this cool shovel worked as a sled as well. The boys took turns riding down the driveway as well as me pushing them around the front walk.

We do own a sled, but this was just as much fun and already outside!

Hunter was a good sport and took quite a few turns pushing Chance around.

For those of you who were interested, here is our home and we are so grateful to be in it.

An all to RARE occurance, the boys and Kelly were watching some Military channel and Chance just cozied right up and fell asleep on Kelly's shoulder.

Geek-a-rama arrived at our house just in time to bake sugar cookies at our house. Neither of the boys were super excited about mixing and cutting out the cookies, but Marianne was a good sport anyhow.

It was fun to have a staircase to display Christmas cards this year.

Although this isn't a good picture, I found a cute idea in a Christmas book of tying bows and then at the bottom of the ribbon hanging a large Christmast ornament. It looked great in this big front room window.

We always love the smell of the cinnamon pinecones, so I transformed this basket with bows and red lights and it looked so festive and beautiful especially at night. The boys always made sure it was turned on.

I always love this nativity, to remind us of why we celebrate.

I loved that I could do some "garland" this year. I looked for some beautiful greenery, but it all looked too cheap, unless it was too expensive. :)

Decorating sugar cookies.

I think we all ate our weight in cookies that night, but boy it was fun!

Christmas Eve brought a yummy dinner, new jammy pants from Grandma Lillian and

DRUMROLL..... a Tebow Jersey from Mom and Dad!

Look at the excitement!!!

Chancey was less thrilled than Hunter, but still trying to hold back a grin.

Go BRONCOS!!!

Christmas morning brought a crossbow and lots of games for this guy.

Kids on Christmas morning are so much fun!

Chance's wishes were all granted. Notice the cemtary on the back of the chair.

Santa worked some spray paint magic!

The helicopter is worth its weight in gold.

Our last Christmas as a family of four

Geek is one special lady to these two boys.

Geek gave the boys each a pair of night vision spy goggles.

They look pretty cool!

Last but not least, I made time for a few "fun" projects to add to our Christmas decor.

The first was a pillow that I saw a picture of on a pattern website. I'm too cheap to buy the kit, so I invented my own. I think it turned out cute.

I also finished this project. It was all done, it just needed to be sewn together and stuffed.

*Just to let you know- I did the front of this pillow in 2003. RIDICULOUS!!*

But, it is super cute, made out of felted wool and I'm glad I have it done.

We had a fabulous Christmas and month of December- hope you did too!

Thanksgiving Day and 20 Weeks More

We had a lovely Thanksgiving this year and we DO have LOTS to be Thankful for!

We are blessed to be able to celebrate in a "NEW" house this year, and we are all healthy and happy.

We started off the day with a new tradition. Hold on to your seats, 'cause we ate PIE for BREAKFAST!!!

We had some friends in Bethel who had this tradition, and we decided it was time for us to adopt the same idea. I mean, you go to all the work of making the pies only to have your tummy too full to be able to enjoy them. Why not start the day off the RIGHT way.

This year I told the boys they were each in charge of helping and learning with one food item. They both chose to help with pie. So, Chance was my pumpkin pie maker and Hunter was my Alaskan Blueberry pie helper. They both did great and are pretty good in the kitchen.

So, here is Chance in his jammies enjoying his own creation.

Kelly gave his approval for pie in the morning.
Hunter said the blueberry was berry delicious. Those blueberries just stained everyone's mouth that they touched. They were well worth it!

Two Cute Boys

Enjoying the FEAST! The boys both begged for drumsticks, so they got them.

Kelly made the MOST wonderful mashed potatoes.

Chance and I even made some cute place markers for the table.

Gertrude, our gratitude turkey looks like she is lacking some feathers this year. Due to the move and the busy-ness of it all, we got a late start. She still looks good though!

Last but not least, here is my first pregnancy picture. I am exactly 20 weeks in this picture. So...I have 20 weeks left.

And we are having a GIRL!

Too Good Not to Share

Last night I made a lovely dinner of herb baked salmon, a plentiful garden salad, corn, and some delicious oatmeal pumpkin cookies.

I intended for our meal to take less than a 1/2 hour to eat, because it usually does. However, the canned corn was a showstopper. We rarely eat corn- so it is kind of a treat if you will. There was all sorts of talk and commotion at the table about these kernals of corn. The corn transformed into pirate teeth, children's lost teeth, the tooth fairy, captain hook, tinker bell. Let's just say it was funny, but dinner took FOREVER and we were kinda in a hurry.

Finally, we got most everyone's food down them and we cleared plates. Hunter scraped his own food into the garbage can, but most of it ended up on the floor. (?) Chance finished all of his but a few kernals of corn that I asked him to throw away while I finished cleaning up. We finally got out of the house to go do our errands, and then we got home late.

After we arrived home, we scurried upstairs to tuck kids in bed. Hunter was exhausted and quickly got dressed and under his covers. Chance on the other hand tends to lollygag, and so he was doing his usual. Then he started in for no reason on how everyone hates him. I of course reminded him how much we love him, and that no one hates him and that he is such a special little guy. I said, "Why would anyone hate you?" He marched over to his pillow and lifted it up. Underneath was the said pile of corn kernals from dinner that he supposedly "threw away". I looked at him and said, "Why did you put those under your pillow silly?" He looked at me and said, "I was trying to trick the tooth fairy!!"

I LOVE IT! You can't beat the funny thoughts and ideas of a four year old :)

Stay tuned, I will have an exciting announcement soon.