I'm a believer.

Well - I am now a hard-core supporter of OXICLEAN!! If you don't use this stuff then NOW is the time to start. Last night I soaked 5 of Anika and Keslie's shirts in oxiclean. This morning the stains are NOWHERE to be found. I'm talking about the hardcore stains like chocolate and tomato juice and grape juice. And a lot of them were set-in stains. Happy day!!

Ahhhh - love that retail therapy!!

Hey folks! It's a beautiful Saturday afternoon, the girls are napping, and Nathan's studying so I thought I'd do a little update whilst I sit next to the open window!

I've lost all control! I NEED NEED NEED clothes for the girls and I can't stop buying!! Just kidding - it's not that bad. =) But the girls were in need of a few things so we went and did a little shopping yesterday. I found some awfully cute summer clothes. We went to Old Navy and The Children's Orchard and I bought a lot of stuff - most of which I am taking back. That's how I work. I buy things and then when I get home I agonize over it and decide that we don't REALLY need whatever it is I bought. So, I return it. Anyway, it doesn't matter because last night I went to a Tag Sale in RITZY Simsbury and HIT THE JACKPOT! Woohoo!! I got Anika 2 pairs of shorts, a pair of overalls, and four shirts and I got Keslie a cute little skirt that I almost bought brand new last summer at Target and a darling shirt. Oh - and a book - WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE. I just love TAG SALES!! This morning we went out again and I got them the cutest matching down comforters for when they graduate to bunk beds! $5 each!! I also got a bunch of books and a couple cute clothing items. I bought ANOTHER copy of Memoirs of a Geisha - I'm still trying to figure out why I did that. Anyway - we scored big this weekend. I got the Kes myster a swimsuit at Old navy (it looks oh so cute on her) but I am thinking about exchanging it for a little one-piece that I really liked. Anyway -enough of that.

We had a fun couple of days having our little friend Aiden here. Anika can't stop talking about her. She has informed me that I am not her best friend and Keslie is NOT her best friend - Aiden is. =) The first night we had a little pajama party. Anika and Aiden took a bath and splashed all over the place and then they helped me make cookies. After that we set up the tent and made a big floor bed for them. I think they really enjoyed it. We had Aiden from Wed. to Friday so they had all sorts of fun. Dad's are the coolest. I just sat back and laughed while Nathan played with the girls. They took turns being tigers so they would come squealing around the corner with him in pursuit and then they'd trade and he'd be running from them and every time he passed me he'd do a really high-pitched scream. I was dying!

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On Thursday I took the girls to Flamig farms for plagroup. Keslie was so fun this year because now she's old enough to enjoy it. Both her and Anika fed the goats and chased the pigs. They had baby pigs just running around this time. Thank goodness the mama and daddy pigs aren't out and about. Those things are HUGE!! Here are some pictures from our trip to the farm:

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I went to a baptism today and had such a good experience.

Wish me luck - tonight I'm cutting Nathan's hair. Always a little nerve-wracking because he is so gosh darn picky!

6 more days until SPIDER-MAN 3 comes out!! I can't wait!! We are going to make a night of it - if I can find a babysitter. The GONG show is that night at the dental school so we thought maybe we'd go to that and then catch the movie. Yay!!


Bye all!

Happy Birthday Nana!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! We just want you to know how much the CT gang loves you. Thank you for being so WONDERFUL!! Hope your day is a good one!!



I'm sure everyone is getting burnt out on birthday videos but since we can't be there in person this is the best we can do!! I get a good "birthday" out of Keslie on this one and Anika is SO giggly! Her little friend Aiden is singing along. She is staying with us for a couple days. I've already taken gobs of pictures so prepare yourselves!!

Remember how I said I LOVE LOVE LOVE spring? I still do - but I was reminded of 2 things I DO NOT like.

1. ALLERGIES



I chose this picture because this is what I usually look like (if not worse). I'm really pathetic when the allergies take over. =)

2. WASPS AND BEES





Do these pictures strike fear to your heart like they do to mine?? I used to be afraid of cockroaches (still am - I just don't run into those much anymore) but now that I live in CT I have a serious WASP phobia - bees too - but wasps scare me to death! Seriously - I think they are a spawn from the devil himself. Did you know that they can sting over and over and then they BITE too? Pure EVIL.

Anyway - I have rediscovered my fear now that the weather has gotten warm. The bees are EVERYWHERE - they just hover over the grass waiting for someone to step on them. OR how about this - yesterday when I was cleaning my windows a big bumble bee flew right up to the other side of the window and just stared at me - I about jumped right out of my pants. We always have a few bees and wasps that manage to get into the house - I don't know if they find cracks in the house or come down the chimney or just fly in when the door is open but I wish they would realize that they are not welcome. Especially when I am SHOWERING!! Could they please not fly into my showers?? They know how scared I am of them. The cockroaches knew too - thats why they all chase me. Oh well enough of my ramblings. One last thing - please feast your eyes on this lovely mini wasp nest we found last year in the girl's window (inside). I get the heeby jeebies just thinking about it.

Preschool orientation!

Hi all! This morning I took Anika to her preschool orientation!! She is getting so big! I was a little worried that she would be clingy like she is in Primary but it was completely opposite! The teachers came out to get the kids and Anika was jumping up and down with excitement - she grabbed Miss Jill's hand gave me a big high five and she was off. Just like that! I think she is really going to LOVE this school. It's supposed to be an excellent program and she is just ready. It's 4 days a week (2 hours a day) and they have gym, arts and crafts, playtime - everything. I feel bad that I got her so excited for preschool and it doesn't even start until September! Anyway - it was so cute and she chattered about it all the way home. =)

I'm so HAPPY that spring is finally here! The trees are blooming and the sun is shining. Spring also means that TAG SALES are back!! Yay!! I love tag sales! Last Saturday was our first day to make the tag sale rounds this season. I didn't find anything worth buying but it was still great fun.

Last night I played Chess with Nathan. It has been so long since I've played that! I used to be pretty good but Nathan creamed me. I kept making such dumb moves. Oh well. We will have to have a rematch. We wanted to play Settlers of Catan online but the site was down.

I've got some pictures to post from our trip to the park. I'll do it later though! See ya!

Mr. Sun

I've been shamelessly singing the Barney song - 'Mr. Sun, sun Mr. golden Sun - please shine down on me!' all day today! It is a beautiful day!! We went to the park and the kids ran wild. Such fun. I met two of the nicest girls at the park. One is from Japan and the other from Germany. It was so fun to talk to them. I gave them my phone number so hopefully we can become good friends. They both have little boys about Keslie's age. Towards the end my friend Rachel showed up with her little girl, Annalise. That was a pleasant surprise! After everyone left, I pushed the girls on the swings for awhile and then we collected some pine cones so that we can make bird feeders. =) I don't know if we got any that will work but we are going again tomorrow so we can look for more. =)

Nathan is going to be studying like a maniac for the next little while. He wants to stay ahead of the game so that we can go camping over Memorial weekend and maybe do a couple other fun things. Hopefully it all works out!

Anyway - here are a couple pictures from our park excursion today - I didn't take very many! Oops!

Has it really been a year and a half??

Keslie went in for her 18 month check up yesterday! She is 23 lbs 7 oz and is 32 1/2 inches long. She got two shots (or pinches as Anika would say) and a finger prick. She's low on iron but the good news is that she did NOT have an ear infection! Happy day - no tubes for this girl! That was her appt. in a nutshell. She was so cute sitting on the table in her diaper! She's thinned out a lot but still has just enough pudge to make you wanna squeeze her! She is growing up way to fast - the past year and a half has flown by! I love this picture of her looking at Nana W.- she was always so alert and smiley. Probably because she was the size of a 3 month old when she was born! =)


So - today I was making some cookies for a baby shower tonight and I put the egg shells in a cake mix box to throw away. About an hour later I looked over at the table and saw Keslie holding an eggshell like a cup and drinking from it! NICE! I know I caught her pretty early - but sheesh! I hope she doesn't get sick!

Anika has had a blast today because she had friends over. They played like crazy! Her new word that she uses all the time is SPECIAL. This morning she was telling me that I shouldn't get mad at her because she is my very special girl. Then the other day she was playing with her fruit snacks and I asked her if I could have one and she said "You can't have this one because it is already special to me, but you can have this one because it's not special to me yet". She's definitely a keeper. =)

Nathan's been pretty stoked about school today because it was VENDOR day! That is when they get all sorts of free samples - toothpaste, toothbrushes, floss - you name it! It couldn't have come at a better time because we just ran out of toothpaste. =) Nathan's second year is almost over! He has one more big test and then in July he will take the boards. I know he will do great - he works so hard and it always pays off. He's BRILLIANT! He's pretty excited to start his 3rd year and get to work on real people! Up to now he's been doing the different procedures on a fake set of teeth. He just did his first root canal last week! He really liked doing it but I don't think he will decide to become an endodontist. =) I don't know how he does it! He's an above average student and an above average dad and an above average husband. You'd think he'd be falling behind in at least one of those areas but he's not! I'm just really lucky and felt like he deserved a minute of bragging. He will be embarrassed! Oh well!

Hasta!

Our Celebrity Look-alikes - Haha!!

Well - we had a good laugh about this! Especially Nathan's!! =)

Happy Birthday Papa!

We hope that you had a happy day! We miss you and wish we could have been there to celebrate! We did have a little celebration in honor of you! We love you!! Here are some Birthday songs for you!






Today was a Primary activity day and Anika had a grand time! All the kids got a little pot with soil and then some flower seeds! We'll see if her thumb is a little greener than mine! Actually - I don't have a problem getting things to grow - it's keeping the flowers/veggies alive once they do!

Anika is such a crack up to us! A lot of times she won't eat her snacks when we give them to her - she likes to play with them and hide them in things. Inevitably Keslie will find it and eat it and then we have real drama! But, it was so cute last night. I peeked into the office and saw Anika putting her fruit snacks to bed. Each one she would pick up and say goodnight sweetie and then kiss it! I've got a video that I am going to upload (Google video has crashed for the moment) - it will probably be a little boring to most - but if you are interested in hearing Anika sing some really random stuff and seeing Kes rock-a-bye her baby then check it out!

Keslie has never been a mouth kisser. When we tell her to kiss us she leans her head in so that we kiss her forehead or cheek - but never her lips. - until yesterday! All of the sudden she is totally into smooching! Her kissy face is the cutest! She's such a monkey! Seriously - she sticks her lips out THAT far!




Here is Anika helping with Papa's birthday cake.


Anika, Keslie, Aiden, and Brooks being silly.




So - Nathan and I were talking about where we wanted to end up after we finished school and he mentioned that we could work for the army for a couple years in Germany. At first I said NO WAY - but then I got thinking about it. That would be quite the fun little adventure! Don't you think? And only for a couple years...


Anyway - I KNOW I have more stories to tell but my mind is a blank! I'll try and post something tomorrow!

Pigtails, Easter egg hunt, and a funny story

Keslie doesn't have much hair to work with - but this morning I decided to give it a go and this is what I ended up with. She is SUCH a CUTIE! She kept twirling her fingers around her pigtails and saying "pitty pitty!" (pretty pretty).





Anika says some pretty cute things during the hunt. It's a little bit lengthy - but I figured at least the grandparents would want to watch!




Last night Nathan was taking another sliver out of his toe and Anika walked in. She saw that his foot had A LOT of black fuzzies from his socks and just about went nuts! She was giddy and wanted to clean them all off for him. Afterwards she told him "If you ever have fuzzies on your foot you can tell me and I will clean them off for you with my booger tissue." Maybe he will take her up on that! Haha!

Well - I'll post more soon! Happy Monday!

Happy Easter!!

Easter is such a wonderful holiday! I'm so glad it's in the spring - that makes it all the more happy! It's amazing to think of Christ's resurrection and I just feel so thankful that he made it possible for us to be resurrected too.

We have had quite the busy few days! On Thursday we had a fun playgroup over at my friend Jenni's home! The girl's had their first (of 4!) easter egg hunts and then we had a yummy little easter lunch. Everyone was supposed to bring a dozen eggs to contribute to the hunt. It was so much fun! Keslie wasn't really sure what she was doing and only ended up with a few eggs. But Anika did quite well! Inside the eggs there were all sorts of little treasures - mostly the candy kind, but one of the eggs had a milk carton lid! =) I imagine one of the Mommy's had a little helper! I had a good chuckle about that one!

Friday was a wild day! My friend Sumer came over with her boys for the day and then I was watching Jonah and Marri - so we had quite the crowd! It was a blast! I dearly love Sumer! She is just so much fun and great to talk to. This is a good group of kids to get together because they all play really well together. For the most part. =) You can't go an entire day and not have a couple little spats. When Jenn got to the house to pick up Jonah we told her to stay and play for awhile. Eventually her husband, Jaska joined us - so poor Nathan wasn't quite so outnumbered. We had breakfast for dinner and then colored Easter eggs. The kids LOVED doing that! I wish I had boiled more eggs! Then we had the most unorganized easter egg hunt EVER. WE just used a bunch of plastic eggs that didn't even have candy in them. Needless to say, once the kids realized they were empty the hunt sort of died. After everyone left I got the kids in bed and everything ready for the next morning.

Easter Bunny Day -

We do the Easter bunny part on Saturday so that Sunday is more Christ-centered. Anika has been so excited for the Easter Bunny to come fill her eggs with candy! We set out some carrots for the bunny to munch on and the next morning we could tell that the bunny was grateful! There were eggs everywhere! We helped the girls find there baskets and then let them loose. Keslie did much better this time around! Every once in awhile she would shake her basket and her eggs would fall out. Anika was so sweet and would run over and help her pick everything up so that they could start hunting again! Later that morning we went with some friends to an Easter Egg hunt in Farmington. It was hosted by the Humane Society so there were a lot of dogs around for the kids to pet. We also saw the Easter Bunny and the girls got there faces painted! So fun! That night I went to my friend's art show. She does amazing work! I was so proud of her! When I got home I watched ERAGON with Nathan. I don't know why I do it to myself (or Nathan). I hate watching movies after I've read the book. I just don't understand why it's so hard for the movie makers to follow the book! I understand that a movie has to be condensed but when main things are changed I get a little grumpy. Nathan has refused to see another Harry Potter movie with me. I don't think it would bother me if Nathan would just read the books! Then I wouldn't feel like I needed to explain the way it was supposed to be to him. =) Enough of that! There are GOBS of pictures in this slide show. Probably some unnecessary ones - but oh well!

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This morning we got the girls in there Easter dresses and they did not want to hold still for pictures. That is why I am in the pictures - to hold them still. =) Church was a little hectic. Keslie is at that age where she is ALL OVER THE PLACE. I had to take her out 4 times! Anika freaked out when we dropped her off at Primary. She was still freaking out at the end. I don't know why she is having such a hard time with it. We had a really yummy Easter feast tonight! We invited The Thompsons and the Krauses over to enjoy it with us. Anika was so cute! I walked into the livingroom and saw that she had set her entire picnic table for the kids! It turned out quite nice!

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I am so tired! It's been go, go, go and I'm ready for a little shut-eye! I have lots of easter egg hunt video footage that I will post tomorrow for you grandparents and anyone else that might be interested in watching them run around looking for eggs. I just don't want to upload it tonight! I hope that everyone had a GLORIOUS Easter!

*I found a fun site for when I am up and running with digital scrapping. It's called WE DIGI-DARE YA! and they post "dares" each week for a fun layout. You should check it out if you are a digital scrapbooker - they have some really fun ideas!!