Wrestling

Tonight after dinner the kids wanted to wrestle. Both Senica and Ty had BK and Seth working up a sweat! Well, Seth was probably just sweating at dinner....but they wrestled for quite awhile! It was fun to watch. :) The facial expressions were crackin' me up!

Finished!!

Yeah!! After months....our floor is finished!! Whhoooo hhoooooo!!! Thank you to my hard-working husband and my wonderful brother-in-law for working so long and hard to get it done! It looks AWESOME!! :)

Happy Birthday Senica!

Today Senica turns 5! I cannot believe how all my little nieces/nephew are growing up SO FAST! Senica is starting school and is already reading! She is such a sweet and caring child! Makes me so sad that pretty soon she will be like Janae - almost as tall as me! :( sniff, sniff.

I'm back...

So - I guess I took a longer break than I realized and I didn't really think that I had that many people follow my blog...but, apparently, I was wrong. :)

It's been too long to write everything that has been happening, but here are some hi-lights...

- Brian's brother got married
- Brian is playing in the church softball league...and is the pitcher. I think this is the last week and they are still waiting on their first win
- I went to the Taste of Chicago with my cousin's Nanci and Mia
- We got a lot of swimming in
- Had a Pampered Chef party with the best consultant ever. :)
- Went to BlueGate with Adam and Mary and saw His Life
- Papa's birthday, April's birthday, Adria's birthday
- Brenna's graduation
- More swimming
- Oh yeah, and I signed up to run a 1/2 marathon with my sister and some friends from church :)

Happy Easter!!

Happy Easter!! We had a wonderful service this morning and what a beautiful day it is outside. A perfect day for lots of pictures!

After church, we had a brunch at our house and Brian's parents and Seth, Anitra and the kids came. It was so nice to have everyone over! :)

I was telling my in-laws how I would like to have some new floor in the front living room and kitchen this spring/summer. Brian and I have been talking about it and since they have done a lot of home repairs, I wanted their opinion too. I have been really wanting laminate flooring in both of the rooms. Talis said we need to see if there is hardwood under our carpet, so Brian tore up a section of our carpet and WWWHOOOOOO HOOOOOO, we have hardwood! I am ecstatic!! Another project for Brian! ha

Hope you all are having a wonderful day too!

Terrific Tuesday!!

Today I felt like I got quite a bit accomplished. I started going through all of my kitchen stuff and cleaning out what pots and pans I don't need. Like the one Anitra said is so old, she was sure it was Grandma Pauly's (from like 30+) years ago. I found a great buy at Hobby Lobby...the "Kitchen" sign in the above pics. I got it for 1/2 off = $5. It was black, so I spray painted it to match the kitchen and then hung it above the sink. I love it! :) Brian made dinner tonight, so Anitra and the kids chanted for him to stand under it and have his picture taken. :)

I called Seth and asked if he would watch the 3 little ones so that I could surprise Anitra with a pedicure. Not, I did not do it myself! Those who know me, know I don't do pedicures on other people (Unless you are 9 months pregnant and happen to be my sister). So I picked Anitra up, grabbed her flip flops and headed to Wal-Mart. It was a nice relaxing hour! :)

Then, we went home and Seth came down with the kids and my dear, sweet hubby cooked the majority of dinner. Yum, yum! :) Anitra, Seth and the kids posed for a pic for me and Graw managed to make it in there too.

It was a great day and I am so thankful for the wonderful family that God has blessed me with!!

A day at the Park

Saturday was sunny and gorgeous! A great day for baseball!! Seth had a double-header at home and they won both! Now the team is 8-0 at home! Whoo hooo! :)

Kristi and Savannah came to the game along with Kristi's brother Alex, who was here on Spring Break. I asked Seth if it would be ok for Alex to sit in the dugout since he didn't get to go anywhere nice and warm for his break and Seth said that was fine. You can see Alex (in the red fleece) giving hi-fives to the players. The players were so nice to him and made him feel really like part of them for the day! :)

Seth's brother, Ethan, was here for the games too. I love the picture of him and the kids...too cute!

Favorites

This series of pics were my favorite from the day. Looking at them, just makes me smile! Seth coached Ty the entire way..."Watch the ball...swing" and Seth's face when Ty hit that ball! Priceless!!! :)

Beautiful Weather!!

Last night, we had such beautiful weather, we had to take advantage of it! We had out the hula hoop, the volleyball and of course the ball and bats! The kids had so much fun...and so did Anitra and I! Senica even got in on the volleyball action! :)

Florida

Last Tuesday night, I flew down to Florida and met Anitra, Seth and the kids for a quick trip to sunny Florida! :) Wednesday we went to the beach. Thursday, we went to baseball games. Friday, Anitra and I stayed back at the hotel pool with the kids and then Senica and I went minature golfing. Saturday we a double-header, quick shower at the hotel and a 22-hour bus ride home.

It was a really quick trip, but fun and I was glad to be in the warm weather!! ;)

Snow, Snow, SNOW!

This weekend we took advantage of the snow took the kids out to play! April and Brian went to dinner for his birthday, Anitra was inside taking care of Jacinda and Seth and I had snow duty. :) Seth and I both realized how out of shape we are...that's hard work pulling sleds around!! We had fun...and the kids loved it!! :)

My little Cubbie!

The kids still aren't feeling well...so we took turns going to church today so someone could stay home and take care of them. I got the "shift" that included getting them dressed. Well, since it is a little warmer out, I couldn't wait to get Ty's Cubs outfit on him! :) I gave him my "cubbie" bear and my hat.

He loves Senica's baby dolls, so maybe he will start carrying Cubbie instead. You can see in the picture of him with Seth, his medicine was starting to wear off and he wasn't feeling so well again.

Get better soon buddy! Love you!

Christmas...one last time

Yes, on February 1st, we had our final Christmas! :) Thanks Bob for coming over and celebrating with us!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! Brian and I had April and the girls and Anitra, Seth and the kids over for New Year's Eve. The kids played in the play room and then watched a movie (1/2 of it). Brian and Seth went to the store to run errands. It gave us sisters time to hang out and talk. I love days like that...just spending time with my sisters. :)

Seth had to leave early in the morning, so Anitra, Seth, April, Ty, Adria and Jacinda left before mid-night to spend the night at Anitra's house. Brian and I kept Janae, Brenna and Senica. The girls and I slept downstairs. They all made it to mid-night. Then the fireworks started. We opened up the window so the girls could try and see them. We couldn't see them, but we sure could hear them! :)

The next morning, everyone came back down for breakfast. We had a wonderful night/morning! :)

Christmas morning...

Anitra and Seth had us down for Christmas morning. They always have a birthday party for Jesus with pancakes and we read the Christmas story. Then we get to watch the kids open gifts...Always fun! :) Senica got a hair salon and Ty got a dump truck.

Moving Day

Today was cold and snowy! And COLD!! Our friends Dustin, Stacy and Addie were moving this weekend and we went over to help!! They had a lot of people show up to help. I carried some stuff, but with my shoulders, I mostly took pictures! We agreed it was much better to move in the cold and snow than in the heat of the summer!

Senica and Ty were great helpers too! They are always good helpers...and Ty had a fit when all the light stuff had been taken out of the house and he had nothing to carry. The kids had fun catching snowflakes too!

Dustin and Stacy treated us to lunch for helping them move...which was nice, but not at all expected! We were just glad to help! :) It was a fun day...felt good to get out and use some of our muscles. :)

Fall Pictures

The other week, we tried to get some pictures for Anitra and Seth's family picture. Janae wanted to have a "photo shoot" too. :) She is quite the little model!

Happy Birthday Anitra!!

Happy Birthday to my favorite 33-year-old!!

Today is my oldest sister's birthday. I was trying to find some pictures of just her to post, but there are very few of just her alone.

I am lucky enough to live down the street from Anitra. I am also lucky enough to have 2 of my very best friends be my sisters. The older we get, the closer we get. I am so grateful for the relationships that I have with them.

Anitra has been a wonderful sister! I have watched her in recent years not only be a wonderful sister, but an incredible mother. She has guided me in so many ways. She has helped me in my walk with Christ, taught me too many things to count...probably the most important, the act of forgiveness.

She makes me laugh! If we are really honest, sometimes she makes me mad too. She supports me. She encourages me. She pushes me...when I think I can't do it. But most importantly, she loves me. Unconditionally. And for that, I am forever thankful!

I love you Anitra!!

Picture Time!

Saturday morning I headed over to Jessica and Corey's house to take some pictures of Ethan. Isn't his little giraffe outfit so cute? I really enjoyed getting to take pictures of him! He's such a cutie!

After I went and took Ethan's pictures, I picked up Brian at home and we headed to North Webster to take engagement pictures for Andrew and Katie. Katie's parents have a house on the lake and that is where they are getting married next June! We also went and took some pictures where they are having their reception. It's this beautiful place that overlooks the lake. We are so excited and happy for them! We love you guys!

When we were done taking Andrew and Katie's pictures, we headed over to April's house. Anitra, Seth, Senica and Ty came to Syracuse too and we all met at the church down the road from them for a fish fry! It was delicious and the kids did really good behaving while we ate. From there, we went to the Syracuse Community Center for the Fall Carnival. They had games for the kids, a cake walk and a costume contest. None of our kids won in the costume contest, although I think they should have! :) While I was taking pictures of the kids, the lady in charge asked me if I was from the paper. I told her no and that I was just the proud aunt! :) Well, the paper was supposed to come and they never showed up, so she asked me if I would take pictures of the contest winners. So, keep an eye out in the Mail Journal. You might see some of my pictures in there! :)

It was a really busy day, but I am so thankful to be able to spend the day with my family and friends! :)