After pouring the water on her head... She loves the water! Must be a Seydel!
Trying to pull her self up...
This is Gunnar lounging... seriously who sits like that?
Here is our tree... it's a scotch pine. We live across the street from Blackmore Gardens, so Thaddeus and the boys walked over and carried one home.
Conrad is putting his airplane ornament on the tree... he wasn't very happy.
Bennett sitting in front of the tree... she just started sitting on her own this week!
All the kids together after bath time... it's a little blurry, but still good!
Gunnar helping me shovel
A car ran into the hospital sign on tuesday... I think there were 3 cars involved in the accident.
Her first bite of rice cereal... she likes it!
Happy girl after eating!
Always sticking out her tongue!
It's been a busy month for us... sorry I don't write more often. I'll end with a very silly family pic, minus Bennett (she was napping).
That would be my backyard after I raked this afternoon.
I ended up filling 11 bags!
Here's my yard after...
We are renting this house and are very blessed to have a yard at all... but you'll notice how there's no grass! Because the house is so close to the business next door and the large tree cover, sunlight does'nt cover the entire yard, therefore grass does'nt grow. Needless to say it is very muddy!
And here are my shoes after raking in my muddy yard... I think I was almost a whole inch taller!
All in all it was a productive day outdoors! I still have my front and side yard to rake, but the weather is supposed to be great through the weekend! And I need more bags!
I love Shout Advanced Action Gel! It has saved many outfits from horrible set in poop stains!
Most moms who breastfeed know what I'm talking about... it seems impossible to get those kind of stains out... but this product is amazing!
If I am at home and can soak the stain in water right after it happens it does help... but the Shout gel works great on the set in stains that I don't soak too! You just spray the gel onto the stain and then rub it in to activate the gel and cleaning agents... then you throw it in the wash and awhile later your outfit is as good as new!
Whenever Bennett's clothes get stained my first thought is "this stain will never come out!" I have yet to use Shout and not get the stain out! It's amazing!
I would highly recommend this product if you are in need of a good stain remover!
First I baked a cake, cooled it and then froze it for 1 hour. Then immediately after removing it from the freezer I carved it... I cut the cake in 1/2 and stacked it. Then I carved the shape of McQueen and using the extras that i cut off I built the cab and spoiler of the car. Then I frosted it... which is when you really begin to see McQueen! The frosting helps everything stick together.
Then using your hands you smooth it around your cake. I was able to shape the spoiler a little better at that time too. Using a knife or scissors you cut the extra fondant off. The powdered sugar will absorb into the fondant.
Then using a picture of the Radiator Springs Lightning McQueen I began to add all of the details. I just used a knife to cut the fondant into the shape I wanted and then wet the back with water and placed it on the cake. For the wheels I used hostess chocolate donuts and covered them in black fondant... then i cut wheel wells into the cake so the wheels didn't stick out too much.
For all the lettering I dyed vanilla icing and used Wilton bags and tips... they work great and really aren't hard to use or clean (it was my first time for all of this!)
The finished product! It probably took 4-5 hours to do everything, but was well worth my time! Conrad loved it and I had fun trying something new! I was nervous at first, but fondant is not too hard to work with... if I can do it then anybody can! I will definitly be using fondant again!
It's Conrad's 2nd birthday today! My how time flies! It seems like just yesterday this bright eyed dimpled face boy came into our lives! We have made so many memories, both good and bad with Con... and I am so excited to see the little boy and someday man that God turns him into!
Bennett turned 4 months old on Sunday! Where have the months gone?? It seems like just yesterday she was new to our family and we were all just getting to know her! We are very blessed to have easy, happy babies and I would have to say that Bennett has been even easier than the boys were... it might just be that I know more now as a mom than before, but she really is a very content baby!
Some things about Bennett:
I am currently reading "Parenting by The Book" by John Rosemond. I just started it yesterday so I'm not too far, but I am already learning so much! I have never put much thought into how the world around me influences my parenting... mainly b/c we try not to be of this world... but as a mother it is very easy for me to care about and judge how other moms do things.
The first chapter of the book is called "The Great Deception" and here is an exert: "Progress constantly infuses culture with new energy, but in the 5th commandment God promises a stable, secure society to people who adhere to fundamental family traditions. But that understanding went by the boards in the 1960's, the single most destructive decade in the history of the USA."
"In the 1960's, however, the now-adolescent television industry began to take on a rebellious, activist character. Its movers and shakers became determined to use the influence of television to reshape America consistent with the vision of the emerging neoliberal, secular elite. And they succeeded."
"By the mid 1970's, the United States had become a full fledged "progressive" culture. Progressivism holds that just as most technologies (such as computers) are better than old technologies (typewriters), new ideas are better than old ideas. For the most part, the progressive mind-set rejects tradition."
In the chapter Rosemond is talking about how before the 1960's parenting was a very traditional thing. And it was, in most cases, much easier to be a parent before the 60's arrived. Generally, parents would parent the exact way as their parents and grandparents had... If they had a question about what to do with johnny not listening they would go to grandma and find out what she did, whereas now a days we ask someone outside of the family, or read a book or magazine, or even look online... which i am very guilty of! I find them very helpful actually, and the internet is usually my first choice in finding info. I really feel like I connect well with what Rosemond is saying. As far as my parenting goes I do not want to emulate my parents parenting style... It's not that I think they did a bad job or that I don't respect them, it's just a preference. And I don't think that I'm alone in that... at least according to Rosemond.
I find it very interesting how our culture and media have such a huge impact on our lives and how generations can be shaped by them!
I'm looking forward to delving into this book and learning how to parent from the Bible!
We left for school around 8:30am... after Gunnar had asked about 10 times if it was time to go! When we arrived I took Gunnar in and left Bennett and Conrad in the van... I had picked up a new Mater truck for Conrad last night because I knew he would need some kind of distraction from Gunnar leaving, but unfortunately it didn't work and Conrad cried for about 10 minutes after we left Gunnar.
11:30 rolled around quickly and we went and picked Gunnar up from his 1st day! He seemed very tired when I picked him up and he is napping as I type this now... I don't know if it's a boy thing or a 3 year old thing, but I didn't get too many details out of him about his morning... i guess we'll work on it. Thankfully the preschool sends out a monthly calendar which includes a list of things the kids will be doing each day... so I do have some sort of idea what he's learning! He used glue and scissors for the first time today!
I know that some kids don't ever go to preschool and lots start when they are 4 but a few reasons why we chose to start Gunnar at 3 are:
To make friends and learn how to be social... Gunnar is very extroverted (like Thaddeus!) and he craves interaction with other kids. Since we are planting a church and not involved in a church at the moment he doesn't have many opportunities to play with other kids his age... so preschool is a good alternative.
So our other children can have more alone time with mommy... If you have more than 1 child then you know that making time for everyone can be hard. Some days more of my attention goes to Gunnar than Conrad or the other way around... having Gunnar out of the house for a couple hours gives Conrad and I a chance to hangout (especially b/c Bennett is so easy and sleeps a lot) With Conrad being the middle child it can be easy to push his needs to the side so I am excited for my time with him so I can get to know him a little better...
I believe that sending your child to preschool or not is a big decision... every child and family is different and what works for us might not for you... I'm just thankful that Gunnar is excited to be going and looks forward to his Tuesday and Thursday mornings at Voyages Preschool!
I am currently reading The Time Traveler's Wife...
I am not very far into it yet, but so far it is very interesting... I would like to see the movie, but thought that reading the book first would be better. Usually movies don't live up to the books they are made after.
Conrad lounging on Steve & Tina's tent
Bennett having a great time with her bear in the stroller
Gunnar and Jordan... They're pretty much best friends!
The weekend ended with a bang! A huge hail/wind storm came through Eldora around 10am... Roger came over to our camp ground around 9:30am and told a storm was coming soon so we should pack up... It was misting at that time so we were just going to leave everything up to dry but decided to pack up since a storm was coming. Everyone got packed and moved vechiles over by some cabins under some trees... hoping that the trees would block the cars from the hail. Everyone managed to get into the chapel just as it started raining. The storm quickly turned from just rain and some wind to golfball/ walnut sized hail and 70 mph winds... so we quickly moved into the hallway in the chapel for safety. All you could hear was banging on the roof and walls from the hail and all you could see out the windows was rain and branches and leaves flying around... it was pretty intense! The damage is amazing... I have never seen anything like before. Most of the trees have very little leaves left on them and many trees and branches fell due to the strong winds. Here are some pictures of the damage and what we saw as we emerged from the chapel.
Pictured above is where we camped for the weekend... had we not packed up, the tree would have landed on top of the Skinner's tent.
Go here to see more pictures
http://bit.ly/3aKQSn
Diet Coke is my favorite... I have taken a break from it for awhile and having one again is so good!
The last two mornings I have been getting up earlier than usual to spend time with Thaddeus before he goes to work (usually I am still in bed with the boys when he leaves). Knowing that I can have coffee with french vanilla creamer makes it a little easier to get up when the alarm goes off.
I have discovered multi grain Cheerios and they are by far my new favorite (healthy) cereal... Whenever I hear multi grain I think bland... but these are full of flavor... i think they are better than regular cheerios ( i always add sugar) but with multi grain they are already lightly seasoned and super tasty!
I have been trying to eat better, which means more veggies. My favorite is asparagus... there are so many good ways to make it. You can boil, microwave, cook in a skillet, and even grill it. I like grilling it with just a little EVOO and salt... super tasty. The only unfortunate is assparagus pee... probably 6 hours after you eat it or so your pee will more than likely smell really awful!
I could probably keep going with this list, but I won't... lets just say I like to eat!
We are huge fans of Pixar and watch their movies often... Gunnar is rather talented at quoting movie lines and one of his favorite lately comes from a Bugs Life. The scene is near the beginning of the flix when all of the circus bugs are preforming:
Slim: What's the point of going out there? They'll only laugh at me.
P.T. Flea: That's because you're a clown!
Gunnar and I had a conversation yesterday that went something like this:
Gunnar: Mommy my belly hurts
Me: Why does your belly hurt?
Gunnar: Because you're a clown!
It is amazing that even at 3 years old Gunnar has so much personality and loves to make us laugh... we never know when he's going to shoot off some random quote, but when he does it's almost always funny... his timing is perfect! Who knows, maybe someday he'll be a comedian...
