Fall Photo Shoot 2010

It's been a while

So sorry I have been away from my blog so long. I guess I should catch everyone who reads/cares up to date on what is going on in our lives.
*we moved into a new home in April 2010 and are loving the home, space, neighbors, and in town living.
*we got a new puppy named Khloe in April as well just a couple weeks after we moved into our new place. She is not so little anymore. Khloe keeps us busy, active, and laughing (most days). Some days we find ourselves wondering what in the world we were thinking! We love our fluffy little angel as Jakob calls her and really wouldn't have it any other way.
*We spent the summer enjoying neighborhood life. The boys got to be really good friends with several children that live close.
*Jakob started 4th grade and likes his teacher really well. We have had some academic struggles and are sorting all that out and hoping to get some help for our son really soon.
*Jaden started 3rd grade and got the teacher that he was hoping for. He has many great friends in his class and is doing really well. Getting A's and B's without much effort. We can only imagine what his grades would be like if he put forth an ounce of effort. We are very proud of him though.
*Jameson is in Pre-School 3 days a week and is having so much fun!!! He loves his teacher and the new friends in his class. We are working with him on writing and coloring because those are the things he struggles with.
*Jakob and Jaden are playing football for the Little Indians and having a complete blast. They are surprising us with how aggressive and talented they are on the football field. There team is improving an they are really exciting to watch. I am going to be sad when the season is over.

So that brings us up to date. The things on our plate for October are DISNEY WORLD!!!! We cannot wait to share this experience with our sons. I have not been to Disney World since I was 7 years old and I remember that time like it was yesterday. What a wonderful childhood memory! Jaden and Jameson will be flying on a plane for the first time ever and they are totally excited about that. I will be sure to post pictures of our time there. Until next time and hopefully that won't be so long this time.

Family Update!

Well, hello everyone!!! It's been a while. Life has changed quite a bit for us in the past week, let along 2 months since I posted last. The biggest change is that we have moved into a different house. We spent the last almost 5 years in our home and finally decided to move into town closer to the school and friends. It has been a huge adjustment from living out on our own with tons of privacy to a neighborhood with half a million kids zooming everywhere. Jakob, Jaden, and Jameson are learning neighborhood ettiquite slowly. Learning that our rules are the ones that matter and not what every other child on the block is doing. Learning to actually look both ways before just darting out into the road on bikes and scooters. Those are some things that you sort of don't have to worry about when you live out on acreage and don't have to worry about ever being on the road. We are enjoying the extra space in the actual house though. Each boy has their own room and they are loving that. I am enjoying my garage which we have never had in our married life. It's the little things!

Another big change is coming on Saturday, April 17th. We are going to be welcoming Miss Khloe the Old English Sheepdog into our home. We can hardly wait to go pick her up. We have all the shopping done in preparation for her arrival and are hoping that she fits right into our lives. I will try to keep this blog updated better in the coming months. Until next time....

One Week

Yesterday was one week since Bailee passed away. It seems like she has been gone for so long. We continue to miss her so much. I miss her climbing in bed, underneath the covers to warm up my feet while I sleep. I miss her curling up next to me on our chair while I surf the internet. I miss her begging to go outside to get some fresh air and check out her neighborhood doggie friends.

Jakob wants to find a new route to church so we don't have to pass the vet. Jaden doesn't want any beds unmade b/c the bumps underneath the covers remind him of Bailee. Jameson asks without thinking when we walk in from being gone, "Where's Bailee?"

We will be getting another puppy this Spring after we move, but nothing will replace our sweet Bailee girl.

Bailee Jo

We lost our sweet, lovable family 4-legged family member yesterday. (Feb. 2nd) It was a sudden loss and one that has left us all sad and lonely!

Sunday evening came with Bailee running around the living room chasing a tennis ball that was being thrown. She was acting her normal self. During the night on Sunday night Matt and I both heard her moaning and groaning. We weren't sure what was wrong but when we woke up early Monday morning we noticed 2 large piles of vomit. Bailee was really lethargic. Not interested in eating, drinking or moving for that matter. She continued to not act herself for most of the morning. I called the vet and they told me to bring her right in. The doc took blood and checked her over. She said that nothing looked out of the ordinary with her physically, but they would call me with the results of the blood test. Later that afternoon, the results came in. Bailee's liver was not doing well. Dr. Beth wanted me to try as hard as I could to get her to eat and drink. She said if she continued on the same path to bring her back in. So Tuesday came and she still would not. She started spitting up stuff and continued to just lay lifeless. Tuesday evening she was laying on our chaise lounge chair and I noticed there was a large mass on her groin area. I felt around and it was not right. Matt took her back to Dr. Beth and the results would not be promising. Bailee had a strangulated hernia. The best thing to do for her at that point was to lay her to rest. So at around 6pm on Tuesday night February 2nd Bailee was put to sleep. It was a sad time for all of us and we are still trying to figure out how to be in our house without her. The place feels so cold and lonely! Jakob and Jaden are taking it really hard. Jameson is still too young to understand. He keeps asking where she is and where she is sleeping. Matt and I are struggling. She was almost 11 years old and we miss her so much. It still just doesn't feel real to us that she is actually gone.

Bundled up!

This was our first snow day of the school year. Jakob and Jaden were dying to get outside to and although they didn't last long they had fun! It was super cold out there! Jameson thought he wanted out so we bundled him all up and opened up the sliding glass door. The wind whipped in and hit him square in the face. He quickly said "Nevermind!!!!" He was perfectly content for the rest of the day to stay inside and warm with mommy.

Christmas 2009

Yes, I am just now blogging about Christmas. I am going to try to get back up to date with all of our activities! We stay so busy that at times I forget to even pull out my camera because I am just taking in whatever is going on and trying to really enjoy it. After it is over and I have no pictures to show for it I am sad. So I am going to try to be better about pulling out the camera and at least capturing something. Anyway, this is our own personal family Christmas that we celebrate on the day the boys get out of school for Winter Break. This year for some reason it didn't work out to open gifts on that Friday night so we didn't make the boys wait. We opened gifts on Thursday night instead. All 3 boys were thrilled with what they recieved and were very thankful!

On Friday night we sat down to watch one of the boys new movies and about halfway through the movie our Christmas tree fell to the ground making a huge mess and breaking one precious ornament. Had we waited and opened gifts on Friday night it would have ruined everything! We spent the rest of the evening getting the mess all cleaned up and tryed to get our lovely tree back up. It however would NOT go back up and we didn't trust it at all so 13 days after putting our christmas tree up it was hauled to the back porch. It was a really beautiful tree and we were happy to have it for the time that we did. A new tree stand is top on the priority list for this next Christmas and we might not go quite so big this next time!

HIghlights from Thanksgiving

• safe travel to Iowa
• meeting my new cousin Katie adopted from China
• spending time with my grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, mom, dad, and brother
• watching my Uncle Bob with my boys! He taught them so much and is so patient.
  
• YUMMY FOOD!!!!
• Christmas shopping for our boys on Black Friday with Matt.
• playing Dominoes with Aunt, Joy, Aunt Jeri, Uncle Jim, mom, Kyle, & Matt
  
• watching all 3 boys take a ride up high in Uncle Bob's Cherry Picker!
  
• having so much fun that I didn't even have a chance to break out my camera!!!!
  

Halloween Costumes 2009

Jaden as Indiana Jones with our buddy Cody dressed as Peter Pan!

Jakob dressed as Luke Skywalker and below is our little Yoda! (yoda costume hand made with love by his Nana) We just weren't quite ready for our little guy to wear a big boy costume yet and he wasn't fitting into the baby ones anymore. Ok, Ok.... MOMMY wasn't ready for Jameson to be in a big boy costume yet so Nana made him one. The big kid Yoda just wasn't nearly as cute!

More Pictures from Dresden

Dresden, Ohio Trip

Kari tapping away to finish off.

Mom weaving away!

Our Group of 27 ladies!

My mom and I took a long over due trip back to Dresden, Ohio for some quality time together. The last time we took this trip was in November of 1998 just months after Matt and I were married. It was so much fun that we have been talking about re-visiting ever since. Finally almost 11 years later we made it back. A lot had changed with the little town of Dresden. The economy had gotten the best of this little town and lots of the shops were closed down. The shopkeepers were thrilled to see our tour bus arrive and opened up their stores at times just for us. We also visited the Longaberger Home Office which seemed much larger the first time we visited. Kind of funny how that happens. It was still as cool as ever. The Homestead was new to us and we got to shop in the Factory Store and scored some great bargins there. Mom and I also made our very own Longaberger Baskets just as we had done in 1998. This time with more selections on colors and extra features. We had a really great time!

September Pictures

Jameson using his 3-D Chalk that he got for his birthday!

The 3-D glasses that came with his sidewalk chalk.

My oh so photogenic children totally thrilled about stopping to take a group picture at Monkey Joes!!!

There we go! Jameson cheesing for the camera at Monkey Joes!

I know that I haven't posted pictures in a really long time. These pictures are from September. My camera's battery went kaput and so photo taking came to a hault. We are back in business though just in time for my shopping trip to Dresden, Ohio with my mom. I will be sure to post them when I return.

October 15th

Today is a special day to me. It is Infant Loss Awareness Day! Many women that I know, myself included have been forced to endure such a painful thing when we have lost our children. I hope that you all will remember those precious babies today. Those that we didn't get to hold and those that we only held for a moment. We had hopes and dreams for their little lives! They are safe in the arms of our Father in Heaven. Thank you Jesus!

We remember them today, but as a parent who has lost children there isn't a day or moment that goes by where I am not thinking of my precious children. Sometimes it feels like I am the only one who does remember them because they were mine and I was the one that carried them. I hope this is not the case. Please say a prayer today for all those mommies and daddies who have suffered such painful losses.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. Psalm 139:13-16

Gratitude List

I got this idea from my friend Betsy. It is a great way to count our many blessings even when life seems so mundane sometimes.

1. I am grateful for the cooler weather, and my boys going out to play football in the yard with daddy!

2. I am grateful for a wonderful group of friends that love me just the way I am.

3. I am grateful for an afternoon tea party with those lovely ladies!!!

4. I am grateful for my church family and all the little ones that I minister to.

5. I am grateful for my Bailee and the fact that she is getting better on her medicine.

6. I am grateful for my husband who works so hard to provide for our family!

August and September Update

Well I have officially been away from my blog long enough. I really need to update this thing and get back on track. Pictures will have to come later, but at least I can let you know what has been happening with our little family.

The boys are back to school which you know from my earlier post. Jaden is doing wonderfully and seems to be doing fine with his teacher. The past 2 days he has been on yellow for behavior which is odd for him, not at home, but at school he is usually on his very best behavior. Thursday for talking during a Math Test and today for allegedly playing with soap in the bathroom which he will go to his grave denying. Nothing too major, but we don't want to make a habit of this. :) Jakob on the other hand has been struggling since day 1. Poor guy, just hasn't been able to get his feet on the ground this year. He has been having trouble staying attentive while Mrs. Mondy is teaching and his organization skills are lacking so far. His grades are really rough too and we aren't even through the first month. Matt and I will be meeting with his teacher this coming week to see what's going on. By the way, the only reason I mention this is because he will not be reading this blog! We try never to compare the academics of one child to the next because it just isn't fair. They each learn differently and are completely separate individuals. We are hoping we can get this all figured out.

The end of August our littlest member of the family turned 3! He has been such a joy to us for the past 3 years and keeps us giggling with his personality. We celebrated his birthday with many friends and family members with a fun pool party. That party was also to celebrate our oldest child Jakob too. He will be turning 9 on Monday the 14th. That is equally as hard to believe. Seem just like yesterday that we were welcoming him into the world at 6 lbs. 12 oz. What a little tiny baby he was and is now about 70 lbs and almost as tall as his Nana.

Matt will also be celebrating a birthday on Sunday the 13th. I am sure his celebration will consist of a weekend full of FOOTBALL!!!! We love this time of year. In other Matthew news...he recently started a part time job with a contract on base, General Dynamics. He is working an extra 20 hours a week some weeks it is 4-midnight a couple nights a week. The off weeks he works from 3:30-7:30am all 5 days. He is still trying to get his sleep schedule all worked out, but seems to be doing really well with it. Just a few more classes left toward his degree and about 6 more months left in the Air Force and our lives will be changing again.

and the momma of this busy crew :

• Homework duty with the older boys in the evenings.
• Playing with the youngest member during the day!
• working at church a couple days a week
  
• trying to keep my house in order and meals prepared in the evenings.
• volunteering at school with whatever needs to be done.

So that is life in the season that we are in!

First Day of School

August 20th, 2009 Jakob started 3rd grade and Jaden entered into the world of 2nd grade. It has been quite an adjustment already and they haven't even made it through a full week yet. Jakob has more subjects this year and also stays an extra hour at school. That has been weird seeing Jaden show up at home without Jakob. Not sure I really like it, but next year they will both be doing that.

The Game & Open House

Jaden in his 2nd grade classroom for Open House

Jameson trying out Jaden's desk!

Kira & Jameson at The Game!

Jaden at the top

Jakob stopping for a picture!

On Tuesday the 18th we went with a big group of friends to Glen Carbon, IL to The Game. It is a fantastic place to spend the afternoon. Lots of climbing, sliding, and swinging takes place here. I got a great workout climbing through with Jameson. He let me take a break to go climbing with Kira. It was a great way to spend one of the last days of summer vacation. Thank you to Ora for setting it all up. We had a blast!!!! Tuesday night we went to Jaden's Open House to meet his teacher Mrs. Porter. Jaden is going to have a wonderful year and he is looking forward to 2nd grade!!!

Science Center

Daddy took Monday the 17th off so that we could spend one last family day together before the big boys started back to school. We went to the Science Center and had so much fun! The boys are making the train go, playing the laser harp, and standing in the dinosaur footprint. We wish daddy could have every Monday off!

Grayson, waiting on the parade to start!

Mommy & Jameson enjoying the Homecoming Parade. Jakob and Jaden marched in the parade with their Cub Scout Dens, but my camera battery went dead before they got to us. These are the only pictures I got. After the parade we went over to the park and the kids got to go to ride on the rides with their friend Grayson who stayed the week with us.

Summer Fun @ the Pool

We have spent a lot of time this summer swimming at the pool on base. We meet up with our friends there and everyone has a very fun time.