Life As We See It

Happy Birthday!

2011-09-10T09:59:00.004-05:00

So, Yesterday was Thaddeus' birthday! (this post is a day late, my bad!) And I thought I would share one reason the kids and I are blessed to have him!!

That reason would be, his fun factor... I know all of you probably figured I was the fun one (thick sarcasm), but really most of our laughs come from him!

On Labor day, we were all enjoying a snack around the table (crackers and peanut butter) when Thaddeus asks the boys if they want to learn to shave!? Gunnar runs away, not wanting to get messy... but Conrad steps up with a big smile and says that he wants to!

So, Thaddeus proceeds to put peanut butter on Conrad's face and "shave" it off with a cracker!

Con couldn't stop laughing!

So serious... you have to get the right angle!

Love this picture!

See my freshly peanut butter shaved face?!

We love you Thaddeus! You make our lives fun and full of laughter!

Labor Day Fun!

2011-09-06T14:44:00.004-05:00

Rhythm Church hosted it's second annual Labor Day picnic at east park yesterday for Labor Day! We had a great turn out, ate lots of food (my kids had lots of cupcakes!), enjoyed one another and the beautiful weather!

I only got 1 good picture of Con w/ his cupcake... he did not want his picture taken!

We even had an inflatable (thank you Murray's)!! I pretty much did not see Gunnar for 4hrs, he was bouncing around so much!

Bennett probably had the best time out of all of the kids! Lots of adults to hangout w/ and give her food! She was eating the entire afternoon! Here's a few pictures of her destroying a cupcake!

So happy!

What Mom?!

Kindergarten!

2011-09-02T07:57:00.004-05:00

Today is Gunnar's first day of kindergarten! I have such mixed feelings about him being in school all day long, but those unsure feelings quickly fade when I see how excited and happy he is!

He's such a cheese ball!

Bennett wanted in on some of the camera time!

Waiting for the bus! I have to admit that the bus part of this transition is the hardest for me. Maybe after a week when everything becomes normal and not new I will be more comfortable with it!

Say Cheese!

2011-09-01T11:10:00.007-05:00

So, after a 3 month break... I'm back (hopefully on a more regular basis)!

We had a great (busy) summer!! We did lot's of playing outside, road tripping, relaxing, and just plain old having fun!

One of the highlights of the summer (for both the kids and Thaddeus and I) was the week that the kids spent with their grandparents. We started off that week with a photo shoot!! My good friend Melanie (who is an awesome photographer... you can see her facebook page here) started up her photography business this summer and offered to take some pictures of my kids....

This was the only photo she got of all 3... not easy to do, but it turned out great!

We had fun smelling the flowers...

Bennett loved the water! We couldn't really get her to smile or be still for the camera until we found the creek! By the end she was soaked!

Who can resist those eyes and dimples?!

This last picture is my favorite! To me, it captures contentment. Overall, contentment is why I haven't blogged all summer. Life's been crazy like a roller coaster the last 3 months and I don't want people to see my discontentment... So, here's to blogging more and being open, real, and vulnerable as I show you Life as we See it.

Family

2011-05-30T08:40:00.004-05:00

The other day I was looking through pictures of our family... I'm amazed at how fast time goes and how much God has truly blessed us!

I love looking at family photos b/c it brings back so many memories! We moved around a lot in the first 3 years of our marriage and have finally in the last 3 1/2yrs settled down in Mason City, and it's finally feeling like "home" to me!

This first family photo when was taken Thanksgiving 2008... Gunnar was 2 1/2 and Conrad had just turned 1.

This next picture was fall of 2009... less than a year later and we were a family of 5!

This photo was taken 1 month ago at a family wedding... 1 1/2yrs laterish and look at how much we've changed! Gunnar went from being a preschooler to a little boy (he's 5 now!!) Conrad is much more preschooler looking than toddler... and Bennett, wow, shes not a baby anymore!! She has turned into such a little toddler!!

We are so blessed!!

Birthday Madness!

2011-05-22T10:41:00.006-05:00

Last Saturday we celebrated Gunnar turning 5 and Bennett turning 2 years old! We had a packed house, to say the least (close to 50 friends and family)!! Thank you to those who came and helped make Gunnar and Bennett's birthdays memorable!

Here are some of the kids enjoying some tasty food! Thank's to our family for helping to make/serve food !!

After food we opened present's! Bennett had Dana's help unwrapping... I didn't get too many pictures as present time was very chaotic!! Gunnar and Bennett sat on the floor and we handed them presents to open as they were surrounded by all the kids (12 total)!

Then it was time to sing happy birthday and eat cake!! I forgot to take a picture of Gunnar's cake (it was a dirt/worm cake in a planter) so this is the only one I have!

I also made cupcakes w/ worms and flowers. Instead of cutting cake we just gave all the kids cupcakes and it was way easier....

And Bennett's flower cake... Ashley (our roommate/live in nanny/all around awesome girl) Helped me cut out all the flowers and leaves... could not have done it without her!

We also had a fun birthday surprise.... we gave the kids 2 new puppies!! I'll introduce them in a post later this week!

Again, thank you to everyone who came and made this day so fun/special!!

Preschool Graduation

2011-05-21T10:43:00.004-05:00

Almost 2 weeks ago Gunnar graduated from preschool!!! And both boys had an end of the year program that some very close friends were able to come enjoy with us! The boys sang lots of songs with there classmates... and Bennett was entertained by taking pictures of Chad and Liz!

Gunnar loved his teacher Mrs Murray and the preschool director Mrs Meyers!

We are so blessed to have such great "family" here in Mason City! All the kids loved having Aaron & Dana, Chad, and Liz at there program... we all celebrated with ice cream afterwards!

We are so proud of Gunnar and his success in preschool! The fall will begin a new journey for us all and Gunnar can't wait!!

One Year

2011-04-27T14:21:00.003-05:00

"For you have made me rejoice, Lord, by what You have done; I will shout for joy because of the works of Your hands" Psalm 92.4

One year ago last week Nathan, our pastor, signed a lease for the building we now use for our weekly Rhythm service. It is so cool to look back over the last year and remember all the things God has done and to see lives being changed in North Iowa! It has been a crazy ride and life seems to get busier and busier, but there is nothing else we want to be doing more. The people that we have met and become friends with at Rhythm are our family now, and it is such a pleasure to be doing life with them! God has done so much at Rhythm and He's just getting started!!

If you live in North Iowa and have not checked out Rhythm Church I encourage you to do so!! Check out our website or message me for info! http://www.rhythmchurch.org/

Buffet

2011-04-25T07:18:00.005-05:00

A few weeks ago I made my very first craigslist buy!! I purchased this buffet table for our kitchen... I've had this itch to buy furniture to fill up our big farm house ever since we moved in in November. This particular space in our kitchen is somewhat awkward because of the window sill/counter area so this buffet works perfect!

I love my buffet and I love craigslist!!

Guitar time at Preschool

2011-04-23T16:24:00.003-05:00

Last week Thaddeus took his guitar to the boys' preschool and taught the kids some songs. It was a super fun time for both Thaddeus and I and all the kids!

Even Bennett got to come along and enjoy Daddy's guitar playing!

The boys loved having their dad at preschool!

All the kids got a chance to strum the guitar...

Conrad got a turn too... notice the tongue sticking out, I guess guitar playing takes total focus!

Here's a picture of the kids doing the actions to the Hippopotamus song!

Thank you Voyages Preschool for asking us to come play guitar... a good time was had by all!

Good Friday

2011-04-22T13:44:00.003-05:00

Today is the day that we remember what Jesus did for us on the cross. My prayer for myself and you reading this blog is that we would remember the blood poured out for us and that we would never be the same; that this truth would lead us to love others, just as Christ loves us.

"But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5.8

Spring!

2011-04-04T08:10:00.005-05:00

Last week we had a chance to get outside in the nice spring weather so I thought I'd do a picture update of the kids!

This is a picture of our new rental house... we moved in around thanksgiving so spring is even more exciting for us b/c we have a huge yard to play in and explore now!

Here are the kids running down the driveway... notice how Conrad is pulling up his pants, so funny!

Conrad didn't want his picture taken so he decided to walk (sulk) away from me!

Bennett loves being outdoors!

I love this picture! Bennett sure loves Gunnar!

Conrad is holding a dinosaur toy and it's roaring at me...

Gunnar loves to explore outside and is just so excited about the world around him!

Bennett has such a pretty smile!

Happy St Patrick's Day!

2011-03-17T12:44:00.002-05:00

Happy St Patrick's Day everyone! We're not big into celebrating many holidays, notice none of my kids are wearing green... but just to add a little fun to our lunch I made green scrambled eggs for the kids. They all loved them!!

Freedom!

2011-02-24T15:49:00.002-06:00

I am proud to announce that today we paid off our only credit card and are now free of any consumer debt!! Thanks to our tax refund we were able to settle with the credit card company for less than half of what we owed!!! This credit card has been such a financial burden throughout our entire marriage... when we found out what our refund was going to be this year both Thaddeus and I prayed about how God would like us to use His money... we both felt God telling us to be done with MBNA (at first I didn't want to listen and it is still hard to know that most of our refund went towards that instead of other needs we have), but it is such a blessing to be on the right road to even more financial freedom and to know that we are following God in this decision.

Bennett is 21 months old!!

2011-02-14T13:54:00.010-06:00

(not the best picture quality, but she sure is cute!)

Bennett turned 21 months old a couple of weeks ago... I cannot believe she will be 2 soon!! She is such a little sponge following her brothers around trying to say and do everything they do. She is also such a girl!!... she's pretty dramatic and doesn't put up with the boys pushing her around. She is totally obsessed with Spongebob Squarepants.... it is the only show that keeps her attention and she loves Patrick and Gary the snail. Bennett also enjoys playing with her play kitchen... she pretends to fill cups in the sink and will share her drinks with you.

She knows tons of words and loves repeating things... we are avid movie quoter's in the Seydel house and even Bennett has some favorite quotes. From Despicable Me she likes to say "it's so fluffy!" and If we say squid launcher she says "Oh Yeah"! So hilarious!!

We've had a long winter filled with sickness... mostly ear issues. She had tubes put in her years last July and the left tube fell out just before Christmas.... really 4 months is all we got!? Any of you moms out there with kids who have had ear infections/tubes can understand my frustration! So, Bennett ended up having an infection for over a month which developed into bronchial spasms (asthma cough)... we got on meds and she's been good for a couple weeks now. On top of the ear issues/colds she has also been cutting teeth like crazy and we also took away her pacifier!! Nights for the last couple of months have been hard, but are getting better now!

It's been a long time since I've updated on Bennett's eye stuff... back in October Bennett had surgery on her eyes to straighten the alignment (she was born crossed eyed, and surgery w/ patching is the only way to correct the type of crossing she had). The surgery went great... it was an outpatient surgery so we were home by noon and by 5 that evening she was playing and eating normally. There was some redness in her eyes for about a week and you could see the stitches if you looked closely, pretty cool. So six weeks after surgery we had a follow-up appointment with her Dr. who was very pleased with her progress... her eye alignment is very close to centered now and to the untrained eye you don't notice any crossing. We have to go back in July for another follow-up appointment, but until then we don't have to patch or anything. The whole surgery process was much easier than expected (besides all of the patching issues we went through beforehand) and we feel so blessed that her eyes look so good! We know that any day her brain could just stop using the eye correctly and start crossing again, but we know God is in control and we are just so thankful!

Good Reads

2011-02-07T14:17:00.004-06:00

One of my new year's resolutions this year is to challenge myself to become a better me... I don't know if your'e like me at all, but I have a whole laundry list of things that I wish I did better or things I want to change about myself. I am very lazy and undisciplined so changing anything about myself is very hard... but I'm tired of making excuses!! So, I have been reading a few books and trying to work on being a better me in the areas of parenting and marriage.

"Scream Free Parenting" is a book about putting yourself first and working on your own issues (anger, anxiety, reactive responses). Instead of trying to train our kids how to act, it talks about using the principle of showing them how to act by the way we act/handle situations. One quote that really spoke to me said "... a shift from controlling your kids' behavior to influencing their decisions. Your goal is not to control. Your goal is to influence." I try to control what my kids do... how they act at a restaurant or a store... instead, I need to be teaching them and influencing them so they can make the right decisions, and by keeping my cool I am reinforcing their good behavior. I'm not very far into the book, and am not a fan of how "self help" it is, but I think there are some good bits I can take from it!

The other book I've been reading is called "Confessions from an honest wife". Marriage is hard, and mine has a handful of issues that we are dealing with... I like this book b/c it is real. The author interviewed many different women and the chapters are experts from those interviews... real life stories from real wives. Women can be very superficial, and especially in the church we tend to feel like we have to be perfect and act like nothing is wrong, when really we're not fooling anyone! Marriage is hard, and without support from others who have been or are going through issues that you and your spouse deal with its hard to get through.

Here's a rather long exert that I really identified with... "I began to see how I live a life of recipes and methods. The small group, the Bible reading, praying, and tithing- much of that is for a purpose of following a formula so that my life will turn out the way I want. I realize I'm doing the right things, but I'm using them to control the outcome of my life." "It's an absurd notion that I could contain God in a method, but thats what I've been doing. So this is my challenge: relinquish control. And it scares me. It means if I walk out from under the canopy of formulas, I walk out knowing anything can happen. Of course, anything always could, but until now I've lived under blissful delusion. So here's where it leaves me: I must approach God as I am. I must ask him to purge my current way of thinking and being. That means my husband and I need to spend time with God separately and then together as a couple. My dilemma is making this head knowledge real in the practical workings of my life. I must learn to be, not only do."

I feel like I'm at this point where I am finally starting to grow up and see that I can change the way I think and the way I act... I don't have to be like my parents just b/c thats how I grew up and the way I was taught. I am apart of a church and Jesus' family, not just a religion where I do things just to be called a Christian! Jesus meets me where I am right now... he takes all my junk, cleans me up, and helps me see that I am so much more with Him than on my own.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

2011-01-27T13:25:00.002-06:00

Last night I made Chicken Tortilla Soup and it was amazing!!

By far one of my favorite soup's ever!! So, naturally, I wanted to share the recipe with the world... or whoever reads my blog!

1 cup Pace® Picante Sauce

2 cans (10 3/4 ounces each) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

2 cups frozen whole kernel corn

1 can (about 15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained

1 soup can water

1 teaspoon ground cumin

4 corn tortillas (6-inch), cut into strips

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (about 4 ounces)

1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Stir the picante sauce, soup, chicken, corn, beans, water and cumin in a 4-quart slow cooker.
Cover and cook on LOW for 4 to 5 hours or until the chicken is cooked through.
Stir the tortillas, cheese and cilantro into the cooker. Cover and cook for 15 minutes. Serve with additional cheese, if desired.

You can also find this recipe at the Campbell's Kitchen Website.

http://origin.www.campbellskitchen.com/RecipeDetail.aspx?recipeId=50414&fbid=ECxnqW_cNpZ

Once I got everything in the Crockpot it didn't seem like very much soup... and I wanted leftovers! So I added 2 extra cans of water, and some tomato juice (1-2 cups)... this gave me a larger mass of food and it also made it more soup like... the recipe called it "creamy", but mine was just plain thick, which isn't a bad thing, just not what I was going for! Also, instead of using corn tortilla's I used flour and instead of using pace picante sauce, I used salsa ... again, just a preference/what I had on hand thing. The family loved it, even the kids! It's really good by itself or as a chip dip if you're not into soups!

25 Degrees

2011-01-25T15:47:00.002-06:00

It was 25 degrees out yesterday so the kids and I bundled up and headed out to have some fun in the snow! It's not very often I get all 3 kids together in one picture so these pics are super special! We made some fun memories!

Mischievous Little Girl

2011-01-21T15:28:00.004-06:00

This is what becomes of cereal when a 20 month old gets a hold of it... 2 boxes all over the living room, she was so proud!!

Goodbye Tank

2011-01-18T09:53:00.004-06:00

This last weekend our family was out of town and we came home to find that our beloved pit bull Tank had died.

Death is never easy, even when it's a family pet... we are all doing well though. We've had a couple days now to soak it all in, and it seems to almost get harder... him not greeting us when we come home is sad. Bennett is 20 months old and really loved him, but she cannot understand that she won't see him again... she's been asking "where's Tank?" whenever we go past his house outside. We explained everything to the boys and let them see him one last time for closure/finality... They are doing good, and excited to get another dog someday.

Tank had 6 great years with us (and Ted & Lori) and we have lots of fun memories with him!... He will be missed...

Life is Crazy!

2010-10-14T09:26:00.002-05:00

It's been too long since I've blogged!! Life is Crazy right now!

Here is a taste of what we've been up to and blogs to come...

Bennett's Eye Surgery
Conrad's 3rd Birthday/Party
Rhythm Church's first month
Kick Off of Rhythm Community Groups
Conrad's first day of Preschool/3yr checkup/the potty training continues!
Bennett is 17 months old!
The leaves are falling and I have 3 eager helpers!
We are going to a Pumpkin Patch!
Our car troubles continue!
God's blessing on us overflows!

So there is the list... lots going on and so much to be thankful for!!

Bennett Eye Update

2010-09-28T15:22:00.003-05:00

Yesterday Bennett had her pre-op appointment in Iowa City. Her doctor was concerned that her vision is not quite where it needs to be in order for him to preform the surgery. Basically, when her vision is not the same in both eyes, it means she is preferring one eye to the other... in other words her brain is not using both eyes all the time.

So, we still have the surgery scheduled (2 weeks from today) but we now have to go back next Monday for another check on her vision. Her doctor has asked that I patch full time/anytime she is awake. He also gave me a prescription for eye drops that blur the vision in her good eye, leaving her vision impaired so she has to use the bad eye to see. I asked for the drops because she has a tendency to take her patch off (that's why we are in this situation)... so whenever she does pull it off at least her bad eye is still having to work. We've been through 8 patches today already, but I am committed to doing all that I can in order to make this surgery happen in 2 weeks.

I am totally to blame for the situation we are in... I hate fighting with Bennett to keep the patch on and over the last 4 weeks I probably was patching 2 hrs a day (i was supposed to patch 2-4hrs) I have restraints, but I hate seeing her cry and fuss because she can't do anything.

Please pray for me, that I would have perseverance to see this through and that I would have though love for Bennett and not give up with the patch. And pray for Bennett that progress would occur in her bad eye and that the eye drops would not bother her mood too much.

Thank you all for your support!

Birthday Cake Help!!

2010-09-24T20:22:00.004-05:00

I'm in need of some input, so all you followers out there leave a comment and give me some ideas!!

Conrad's 3rd birthday is in 2 weeks and I am having a hard time deciding what kind of birthday cake to make for him. He loves just about any character, we have cable so we watch a large variety of cartoons... he also likes animals, mainly ones that roar! I want to make a cake using fondant, so I think that's why I'm having such a hard time deciding... it's much more complicated using fondant, but I love how they turn out!

So, I'm going to leave it up to my commentors... you decide for me! Throw out your ideas and I'll pick the easiest/one that fits Conrad best!!

Here are the cakes I have already made for previous birthdays, so these are off limits!

My Favorite Primetime

2010-09-23T16:33:00.003-05:00

In honor of premiere week I thought I would share some of my favorite shows that I tune into on a somewhat regular basis.

My all time favorite reality show is Big Brother... it's on once a year during the summer, so the latest season just ended and I am a little sad :(

The Colony started this summer and it's finale is next week... but it is basically a government test to see how a group of people could survive/thrive after some kind of pandemic takes out a large # of the population. Good stuff.

Rookie Blue is also a show from this summer that we follow on Hulu... pretty entertaining, good story line

We have followed Survivor for quite a few seasons... it's always entertaining and every season is very different from the ones before...

I watch The Mentalist if I'm home when it's on... Simon Baker makes me laugh and the show has that mystery/humor side of things.

Criminal Minds is one of my most favorite shows. It's total drama... Thaddeus and I joke that if we see the first 5 minutes we're sucked in! It has a different take on criminals/FBI compared to CSI and Law and Order.

And our favorite by far right now would be Glee! If you haven't checked it out, you should... and you don't have to like musicals to enjoy Glee!!

The Things that Entertain

2010-09-10T07:35:00.004-05:00

We spent Labor day weekend at Thaddeus' parents house and Grandma Lori found lots of fun stuff for the kids to play with!

Like this big box, which Gunnar pulled and pushed everywhere!

And this box that Conrad pretended was his airplane!

Bennett loved riding on the car creeper!

And she especially enjoyed her ride with Conrad!

We spent some time hanging out on Tank's dog house... Gunnar wanted to do a pull up on the metal pole, but he was just a little too short!

With the help of Daddy, Bennett was able to reach the pole!

We never know what fun we'll get into at Grandpa Teddy and Grandma Lori's house!

We had a great weekend!!

Weekend with Conrad!

2010-08-31T14:39:00.003-05:00

This last weekend Lori, Thaddeus' mom, let Gunnar and Bennett stay with her and Ted, while Thaddeus and I had some time alone with Conrad!!

We started out our weekend by having a lunch date at Taco John's (Con's choice!) just mommy and Conrad! He loves their potato ole's!!

Then, with a full belly, he took a great nap while I vegged on the sofa!

The majority of our weekend was spent at Rhythm Church finishing the bathroom remodel project for service sunday night. Conrad helped take all of the cardboard to our van... and then later he helped put it on the burn pile!

Saturday morning was spent in our pajamas playing with Geo Trax. We have a huge set, but Bennett tears everything apart and the boys usually end up fighting so we don't play with them often... Conrad loved having all the Geo Trax to himself!

Saturday night we went to Kohl's (I had some Kohl's cash I needed to spend!) and got Conrad a new toy!

I had a great weekend with Conrad all to myself! (Thaddeus was at the church most of the weekend) It was nice to only have 1 kid for a couple days and be able to give him all my attention!! Thanks Ted & Lori!!

Bennett is 15 months old!!

2010-08-23T07:16:00.005-05:00

Bennett turned 15 months old ten days ago, on friday the 13th!! So I'm a little behind, but I wanted to update everyone on her stats and how things with her eyes are going!

Stat wise, she weighs 20lbs (20th%) and is 30inches tall (45th%). Everyday she learns something new... she is the silliest little girl I know!

A few words she can now say:

Bennett

mommy

daddy

hi... bye

hi dad

cake

juice

night night

i did it

banana

eye

head

Bennett loves her blankies and bear... so much so, that nobody can hold them but her! She also loves her Mommy a bit aggressively at times... she screams if the boys sit on my lap and if I give Thaddeus a hug she tries to pull his arms off of me! Like most little girls she has a bit of an attitude and has already figured out that if she screams/yells when the boys take toys from her they'll get in trouble! But, mostly Bennett is just so silly... she likes to blow bubble with her mouth or make all kinds of silly sounds. In the last week she has really found her nose, actually her nostrils, and she enjoys walking around the house with her finger up her nose! (It's pretty darn cute, but something we are working on stopping!)

Last week Bennett had another eye appointment in Iowa City. This time my mother-in-law came with me, and I was so glad to have a little extra help!! We were able to schedule Bennett's surgery for October 12th!! Her eye is so close to be the same vision as the other, that they let us schedule!! I am so excited to have a date and be able to plan a bit! We still need to patch until the surgery date, but only 2-4hrs a day. She has a pre-op appointment 2 weeks before the surgery where they make sure her vision is still were they want it, so please be praying that the patching continues to work and we can go ahead with the surgery!

It was great to talk with her doctor and ask questions about the surgery and things we should expect afterwards. There is a 30-40% chance she will need further surgery to fully correct (or at least mostly correct) her eyes.

Bennett is growing up so quickly!! We love life with our cute pigtailed girl!!

Boys will be boys?

2010-08-17T07:13:00.004-05:00

Lately, Gunnar has been going through a phase of disobedience... basically he gets in trouble all the time, and I am pretty annoyed with him often! Here are the 2 big things he has done lately:

2 weeks ago he threw a toy at a window on our porch and broke it... I was having a play date and all the kids were playing on the porch when it happened, but none of them came and told us it happened... one boy even cut his finger on the window! To top it all off, Gunnar lied about breaking the window and told us a different boy had done it.

Then this weekend while I was at a girls game night, Gunnar drew all over our leather couch with an ink pen! Talk about doing something bad... and the worst part is that he's old enough to know better!

So we are at this new point in disciplining where we are taking things away. For breaking the window we took juice away for a week and for drawing on the couch we took his bear/blanket and juice away for the week.

I am open to suggestions on how to deal with this phase Gunnar is going through. I get the fact that he's a crazy boy and that is how boys are, but this lying thing is something that we really need to kick in the butt!! So, any advice would be great!!

A few months later... Spongebob!

2010-08-16T07:23:00.004-05:00

Back in May Gunnar turned 4, and I made him a Spongebob Squarepants birthday cake using fondant! Here are some pictures and instructions if you are feeling creative and want to try making a cake with fondant!

The first step is to bake the cake and cut the shape that you need... for spobgebob I used a 9X13 pan and then cut it down to size. Before cutting, I placed the cake in the freezer after it cooled to make it easier to cut. Then you frost the cake so the fondant has something to stick to. Then you are ready to start placing your fondant on the cake... the picture below shows spongebobs brown squarepants.

In order to place the fondant on the cake you have to roll it out to the size and thickness you desire. (also if using white fondant you must dye it your desired color. For this cake I used store bought already colored fondant... it is more expensive but saved me a ton of time!)

Pictured below is my yellow fondant rolled out... you can use a regular rolling pin or a special fondant rolling pin, but either way, you need lots of powdered sugar to keep it from sticking to surfaces.

Spongebob's arms and legs are shaped from fondant and stuck to the cake using water.

Just a few more touches before he's ready!

I used round fondant tools to make the bubbles on spongebob's body.

The hands were pretty tricky! They turned out okay and I loved that he was holding the candles!

And here is the birthday boy enjoying his cake... he loved it and that made the 4 hours of work so worth it!

Praying for Ames

2010-08-11T14:11:00.003-05:00

So Much To Do!

2010-08-03T07:10:00.002-05:00

Last week Bennett had an eye appointment in Iowa City, so the kids and I went down and spent the night with Thaddeus' parents. We always have a great time at Ted and Lori's house, and there is always so much to do!

Our evening was filled with races on the driveway...

Running up and down the sidewalks...

Taking care of the flowers with Grandma Lori...

Smelling all of the flowers...

Playing in the pool...

And watching Fifi try to get the pet toads!

Never a dull or boring moment when we're with the grandparents!

Potty Training Advice... Please!!

2010-08-02T08:58:00.006-05:00

It's potty training time in the Seydel house... or at least I would like it to be! Conrad turns 3 in October and we have attempted to start potty training with him 2 times now. The first time was at the beginning of the summer and the second was in July when the boys were staying with Thaddeus' parents (So thankful that Lori gave it a try!) Basically, he knows when he has to go #2 and will tell us... He is always asking to wear underwear and be a big boy! But when we put underwear on him and fill him with fluids and sit him on the potty nothing happens... so we let him get up and then he goes in his underwear and doesn't tell anybody he went. So there is an obvious red flag... he doesn't mind sitting in his pee/poop.

Like I said before, Con turns 3 in October and I have him signed up for pre-school... but he can't go unless he is potty trained (or at least in the process), so this is why I'm starting to get a little antsy about it all!

He is so strong willed!! If something is not his idea then he won't do it! So, I need help!! Any advice on some strategies for getting Conrad excited about using the toilet/preschool/being a big boy?? I have tried a few things... offering treats like McDonalds or a new toy or candy... and also trying to explain that he can't go to preschool unless he uses the toilet (he is so excited about preschool, but me telling him he can't go doesn't really work for him.)

Gunnar was so easy to potty train, and he wasn't even 2 1/2 when we did it! I made a sticker chart (which he loved!) and that was it... it took 2 days and barely any accidents. Gunnar's personality is so different than Conrad's... Gunnar is a pleaser and Conrad is just plain strong willed!

So, please comment or write me on Facebook if my comment section isn't working... At some point in August Thaddeus' Mom will be taking Gunnar and Bennett for a weekend so I will have time to devote soley to potty training... but I just don't know where to start!

Baby Love

2010-07-30T08:04:00.002-05:00

Bennett sure loves her Grandpa Teddy!

Shaving Foam Mania

2010-07-29T07:56:00.003-05:00

Last Friday the kids and I went to a play date at my friend Quincey's house... it was her 3rd annual Shaving Foam Mania play date!

She laid out a tarp and all the kids wore their swimsuits and everyone brought shaving cream and we let the kids go crazy with it!

Here is Gunnar... he loved the shaving cream! He was the first kid to be totally covered and I think he had a smile on his face the entire time!

It took Conrad awhile to really get into it, but he had just as much fun as Gunnar!

Here are the boys totally covered!

And even sweet Bennett enjoyed playing in the foam a little! She would have played on the tarp had I let her, but she was pretty content in the grass with the leftover foam!

This was so much fun for the kids, and cheap too (shaving cream is $1 at dollar tree)! Thanks for hosting Quincey, such a great idea!

Rhythm

2010-07-22T07:19:00.000-05:00

Join us at Rhythm Church this Sunday night and worship with us... we'll be playing the Time Has Come!

Check out www.rhythmchurch.org for more details

Chart Time

2010-07-21T08:18:00.002-05:00

Believe it our not, my boys do not always play well together (like in the picture below!) And for awhile I have been thinking about starting an obedience/chore chart.... After a week with grandparents it seemed like a good thing to start! I made my own chart, but I stole the idea from a blog that I follow(it's one of my favorite blogs!)... you can check it out here: http://hollyfurtick.typepad.com/the_preachers_wife/2010/06/summer-chores-and-money-management.html

So, here is the chart that I made. I used picture's instead of words since the boys can't read. We chart Monday through Saturday and on Sunday we do our money management. The boys get a sticker for everything that they do and a X for the things they don't do. Our categories are: Make your bed, brush your teeth, listen the 1st time, take dishes to the sink, share toys, pick up toys, and feed our pet toads. The nice thing about making our own chart is that we can work on the things that the boys have a hard time with (picking up toys, sharing, listening the 1st time) and daily living things (brushing teeth, making bed). At the end of the day I sit down with the boys and we put stickers and X's and talk about what we did good and what we could do better.

Then on sunday we work on money management. For every sticker they have on the chart they will get 10 cents. We will lay the dimes out on the chart (over the stickers) and then in the votive holders I have pictured below we will sort out the dimes. Our categories are God (tithe) Save and Spend. For every 10 dimes 1 will go to God, 1 to Save, and the rest to spend.

Growing up I never really learned the importance of giving money to God or even saving money... I was given an allowance and I spent it. It is very important to us that our kids know how to manage money and that they are obedient to us and other adults, so hopefully this chart will be a great teaching tool!

DIY Headbands

2010-07-19T07:39:00.004-05:00

I got a new haircut last week and thought it would be fun to add something to the new look, so I tried a headband and loved it! Then I was thinking about how nice it would be to make my own headbands so I wouldn't have to spend any money! So a big thanks to my friend Marie for all the free fabric and the run through on how to DIY headbands!

Here is a pile of all the fabric Marie gave me!

To start you will need fabric, scissors, and an iron. You will also need to measure your head and decide how long your headbands will be. As shown in the picture below I made one headband and used that to measure out the rest. I made all my headbands to be about 1 inch wide... so you start out by laying the fabric flat and then folding one side to the middle and ironing. Ironing the fabric holds it together... it makes the folds tight.

Then you fold the other half and iron that. Once the fabric is ironed I cut it down to match the size of my example headband... then I cut the ends to a point, just to add some character!

Here's what they look like on me! I wear a ton of plain colored shirts, so adding a fun colorful headband adds so much to my outfit!

And here are all my finished products... I made 15!

8 Days

2010-07-16T07:25:00.003-05:00

This last Sunday I dropped the boys off at my parents house. They had Gunnar and Conrad from Sunday to Thursday and then took them to Thaddeus' parent's, who will have them until Monday! 8 days is a long time to be without those 2 crazy boys... but it has been so nice! I thought I would fill everyone in on all my doings without Gunnar and Conrad around.

Mostly, I've been hanging out with this sweet girl! I love our girl time and all the extra attention and playtime I have been able to have with Bennett! Not to mention that going from 3 kids down to 1 makes everything easier!

I've also been somewhat domestic this week, baking zucchini bread and bars... one of my most favorite things about summer is zucchini bread!

Finally cleaned out my refrigerator! There's nothing like opening the door to your clean, bright white fridge... satisfaction!

I've also spent sometime organizing all my recipes into a 3 ring binder (thanks for the idea Lori and Marie!) I'm a avid blog reader and got an idea for an obedience/money basics chart for the boys... so starting next week we'll be trying out the chart I made (more to come on that later).

I took a couple hours of me time earlier in the week and got a sweet new haircut and brow wax! And I even went out with the girls from work last night!

I have spent lots of time relaxing in front of the tv and spending time with friends that I don't see very often.

It's been a great week without the boys... but I am very excited to see them on Monday!!

Bennett is 14 months old!

2010-07-15T07:20:00.002-05:00

Bennett turned 14 months old two days ago, so I wanted to give an update on all the fun things she is doing and how things are going with her eyes!

Bennett started walking about a month ago and has not stopped since! She is so good at standing up without holding onto things... once she gets up she tots around and kind of keeps up with the boys! She is our little climber! Many times a day I find her standing on the top step of the boys' bunk bed or sitting on one of the couches all by herself... she is always so happy when she does it herself!

Bennett loves to eat!! Some of her favorites are bananas, meat, pasta, carrots, broccoli, crackers, chocolate, and ice cream!

One of my most favorite things about Bennett is that she loves to cuddle... I absolutely love her hugs and kisses and cuddle times on the couch! She has a little brown bear that her Aunt Lindy gave her the day she was born that she just adores... she carries her around hugging her and patting on its back... so cute!

I also am in love with her hair... the longer it gets the more curls she gets.... I love playing with it! I will definitely be waiting a long time to cut it!

Bennett waves hi and bye, gives high fives, hugs, kisses, and also signs some words (please, more, thank you, and all done). She also has a growing vocabulary... whenever she says hi it always comes out hi dad, she also says all done, banana, and jabbers all the time!

Things are going really well with her eyes! Back in June we had her first appointment at the UofI Children's hospital. Basically the only way to fix her crossed eye is surgery, but in order to do the surgery her vision in both of her eyes need to be the same. At the first appointment she was not using her left eye (the crossed eye) at all... in other words her brain was not recognizing it, therefor not using it. We were told to start patching her right eye 6-8 hrs per day to strengthen the left eye. By putting a patch over the good eye we are forcing her brain to use the bad eye and make those connections so that when we do the surgery the connections are made and her brain won't ignore the fixed eye.

So we patched for 4 weeks and just had our second appointment on Monday. The Dr. is seeing really good progress!! She is using her left now, which means the patching is working!! We go back in 2 two and it sounds like her eye may be ready for surgery then!! Once her eye is ready we can schedule her surgery... it will be two or three months out (they are pretty busy at the UofI !) Thank you all so much for praying for Bennett and please continue to pray that this process would be successful! I will do my best to keep you all updated!

Time away from Mommy...

2010-07-14T07:40:00.002-05:00

A couple of weekends ago Thaddeus took the kids out so I could get some cleaning done at home... here's what they did.

Ate lots of ice cream!

Bennett looks like such a big girl sitting on a bench with her cone!

This picture was last weekend when Thaddeus took Con and Bennett on a bike ride. It was Bennett's first time and she loved it!

Fourth of July!

2010-07-13T09:24:00.004-05:00

Here are pictures from the fourth of July finally! We spent the fourth at Clear Lake watching the best fireworks and a really fun parade!

Smile

2010-06-29T11:00:00.003-05:00

It's not very often we get all 3 kids looking at the camera! Thanks Grandma Lori for taking such a great picture!!

Our Life in Pictures

2010-06-20T10:31:00.004-05:00

I hooked the sprinkler up a few weeks ago for the kids to play in, but they wouldn't run through it... they just played in the sidewalk puddles!

We went to Clear Lake for a picnic on Memorial Day and a nice couple took a family picture for us along the shore wall!

Me with the boys... they were not very excited about having their picture taken.

Last weekend we went to Omaha to visit Craig and Leah and their new baby Livia!

Livia is our first niece so it was extra special to be able to visit and hold her!! She is so precious! Bennett especially liked Liv... I think she just wanted to hold her too! I'm so excited for Bennett to have a little girl cousin who she can become good friends with!

Happy Father's Day!

2010-06-20T07:58:00.002-05:00

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful husband Thaddeus! Everyday I am blown away by your patience and love for me and the kids... As a wife and a mom I can truly say that I am 100% supported by you in all things, especially in raising our children. I have said it before, but I really do feel like God has blessed me with such a capable husband/father. I never have to wonder/worry how the kids are doing when they are with you, and that is truly a blessing. You have given me a broader view of parenting and caused me to question how I parent and why... and that has made me a better mom. Because of you I want to be a better mom and a better wife to you. Please continue to be patient with me and bear with all of my faults... I am undeserving of you... I love you!

I Finally Have a Hobby!

2010-06-07T14:38:00.004-05:00

Maybe some of you moms are in the same boat I was. I never really had anything I did just for me that I enjoyed doing... you know, like a hobby! Sometimes it feels like everything I do is for my kids or my husband... and while I do enjoy doing things for them I never quite know what to do for myself when given the opportunity. I am a big fan of yard work and having a nice looking yard, and though Thaddeus gives me grief for it I do take pride in my yard and the time and effort I put into it. My new hobby, aside from yard work is gardening (or planting flowers)... someday I hope to have a vegetable garden when we own our own home, but until then I will plant flowers! I love adding color to my yard and adding pretty flowers to look at and take care of! I am new to everything so we'll see soon enough if I know what I'm doing! (I'm crossing my fingers that my flowers won't die!) I already killed 2 hostas that I had replanted... I moved them from mostly shade to mostly sunny without thinking about how the plants would react! So today I dug those out and replaced them with some Lilium 'Tiny Orange Sensation'... I also added some Spreading Petunia's (pink and purple one's!) and a few Yarrow.

Here is lilium and the spreading petunia's.

Another view showing the yarrow

And here is what I am most proud of! I wanted to plant the extra's in a container but am too cheap to pay for one... so using my creative side I found an old wastebasket from IKEA and cut a hole in the bottom for drainage and tada! We'll see if the plants like it!

The Birthday Party!

2010-05-27T15:37:00.001-05:00

Gunnar and Bennett's birthday party was almost 2 weeks ago and I'm just now blogging about it... I will do better soon!! Here are some pictures from the party! I made Gunnar a sweet Sponge Bob cake! I'll post more pics of this later! Gunnar scored some sweet Toy Story toys! Gunnar's first Bike!! Bennett with her Aunt Lindy... what a pair!! Conrad riding Gunnar's bike Bennett Opening presentsBennett and her giant cupcake birthday cake!

Happy Birthday Gunnar

2010-05-17T09:36:00.003-05:00

Four years ago our lives changed forever... Gunnar James was born! He is definitely one crazy and fun little boy, and we have learned so much from him in these four short years! Happy birthday Gunnar, we love you so much!

Happy Birthday Bennett!

2010-05-13T15:03:00.005-05:00

Bennett is 1 year old today! It really feels like yesterday that I was holding her in my arms for the first time!! Bennett has been a wonderful addition to our family... especially considering I was very nervous about having a girl! She's been very easy going (just like in the picture to the left!) I am so excited to watch her grow up (not too quickly though)! She has 2 older brothers that adore her and parents that love her more than she understands! We love you Bennett and Happy Birthday!!

All Over the Place

2010-05-10T13:54:00.004-05:00

It has been awhile since I've blogged! Mainly because, like the picture below, we have been all over the place!

Just like these birds, I feel like our family has been flying around in all different directions. Things are so busy (in a great way) for Thaddeus and Rhythm Church. Our first preview service is May 30th so we are busy renovating the space we are leasing. Thaddeus is pretty much in charge... especially in the electrical and sound areas! So almost every night each week he is busy preparing and doing guy stuff at the church! We miss having him home all night every night but, like he reminds me, God has been preparing him for this time and Thaddeus has been so patiently waiting for this chance!! I have been busy with a couple baby showers I threw and with a big birthday party for Gunnar and Bennett this weekend! Gunnar has his last day of preschool/bday party on thursday! I joined a moms group recently which has gotten me out of the house with the kids... we have met some great moms and kids! And I've been taking a total body fitness class at the YMCA 3 nights a week! Hopefully after Bennett's birthday thursday and Gunnar's next Monday and their party on saturday, I will have more time to sit and share our life!

Hillsong United

2010-04-24T16:12:00.001-05:00

Finally posting pics from the Hillsong Untied concert we went to in Des Moines Monday night. It was Awesome! I would recommend seeing them the next time they come to Iowa!!

When I Grow Up

2010-04-12T21:14:00.003-05:00

I often find myself wondering about my future and what it will look like. One question that continually runs through my head is what will I do with myself when all of my kids are in school, or even when all of my kids have graduated and moved on with their lives?? This is some what of a haunting question for me. I am the kind of person that mostly lives in the moment and kinda goes with whatever direction the wind is blowing that day (Thaddeus is teaching me to be more patient and to listen for what direction God is calling me). I went to college for 1 year so I have no college education with a degree, which most of my generation does. This makes it very hard for me to get a job other than retail or fast food... don't get me wrong, I've done both and respect those who do retail and food, it's not easy. But I aspire to more than that. When we lived in Ames and in Iowa City I had retail jobs at party stores... I won't name them, but if you know me well you know where I worked. One party store was pretty amateur and had a long way to go to become a thriving business in the community. And the other party store was top of the line in every aspect. I learned a lot from both experiences from a business/manager perspective and also from a personal perspective. The other day, I needed some party supplies so I wandered into Mason City's only party store, that I know of (if there is another one somebody please tell me where it is!?) It was a bad experience! I am overly critical of party stores, seeing as I have worked at a very good one and a not so good one, but this store was the worst I have ever been in! I'm not going to bore anyone with why the store is so bad... if you really want to know e-mail me and I'll fill you in. I was telling Thaddeus just how bad this store is and he told me that I was, in fact, being overly critical in the sense that people in Mason City who have never been to a different party store have no idea just how bad it is. And it hit me... someday, I want to own a party store and show everyone in Mason City what they have been missing out on for all of these years! The first step, besides money, would probably be going back to school and getting some form of business degree... the idea of school makes me feel sick, so we'll see about that! Obviously, this is a long term goal and it may never happen, but it would be cool. (And I mean no disrespect to those who enjoy the party store in MC, I'm just overly critical in the area!)

Spring Time

2010-04-11T11:04:00.007-05:00

Swing Baby Swing

2010-04-11T08:41:00.003-05:00

Crawling Contest

2010-04-09T14:08:00.004-05:00

We entered Bennett in a crawling contest yesterday at Health Fest 2010... It turned out to be more of a watch fun, look at the cute babies kinda thing, instead of a race. There were 7 babies and each had their name put into a drawing for a free photo session with a local photography company. Bennett didn't win the drawing, nor did she make it to the end of the race mats, but we still had fun cheering her on!

Teeth!

2010-04-08T10:13:00.002-05:00

Bennett finally pushed out her first tooth!! And the second one is very close to popping through too! She will be 11 months old next week, and I was beginning to wonder if she would have any teeth before she turns one. So far all of our kids have handled teething differently. We never even knew Gunnar was teething until we actually saw the tooth, he must have a high pain tolerance! Conrad on the other hand was a bear! He didn't get teeth until he was 10 months old and he would get 2 teeth at a time which probably made it harder for him! His teeth came in very slow... at 2 he was still missing some, besides his molars. I would say that Bennett is more like Conrad... after 2 weeks of sleeping through the night, last night she was up a couple times crying. I'm happy to say that I now can tell the difference between Bennett with an ear infection and Bennett teething, which is so helpful!! I can't get a picture of her new tooth yet, but this one will do!

The Pick-Up

2010-04-07T08:02:00.002-05:00

As a stay at home mom I am always looking for new ideas and ways to keep my home clean and organized, or at least appear that way! I am currently reading a book by Claudine Wolk called "It gets easier!... And other lies we tell new mothers". I was so excited when I read this section on the art of the pick-up. It is something that I try to do (my home is not always clean, nor does it appear this way) but, when I follow the pick-up rule I found that my home is a little bit cleaner and my head is a little clearer... something about having a messy home makes me want to just shut down sometimes! "The first rule of housekeeping and the most helpful one is the art of the pick-up. Through the years I've actually encountered women who appear to have a perpetually clean house. Eventually I had to ask them how they do it, and they revealed their secret. The secret is that their houses are not always truly clean. The fact that the house looks clean is just an illusion. Quite simply, if you keep your house picked up at all times, it looks clean, even if it isn't. The added bonus of the picked-up house is that when you finally have time to clean something, you can get right down to the cleaning without having to do the hour-long pick-up first! Picking-up is always the best place to start, too. Just start putting things away. The more organized an area is, the clearer your head becomes and the more ready you will be to deal with the tasks at hand." Having three kids means that my house has toys spread out everywhere pretty much all of the time... this becomes overwhelming to me sometimes! But, by picking things up throughout the day I can at least feel like I have done some sort of house work for the day and feel good about the state of my home. I usually try and pick-up during nap time, before Thaddeus comes home from work, and at bedtime. Hope this gives you some ideas on how to maintain a cleaner home and a clearer head! What are some ways you keep your home clean?

Easter Egg Hunt

2010-04-05T09:09:00.002-05:00

Worms!

2010-03-24T13:31:00.005-05:00

Gunnar loves worms! You'll notice that I only have pictures of Gunnar because Conrad does not like worms! He said to me "I don't love worms mommy, they scare me... they're yucky!"

Bennett's first word!

2010-03-24T13:11:00.002-05:00

Bennett's first word is bye bye! She's been saying it for a couple weeks now and I finally got it on camera!

Bennett is 10 months!

2010-03-22T10:10:00.004-05:00

Bennett turned 10 months old last weekend... it's crazy to think that she will be 1 in May! You'll notice that in the pictures she is not wearing her glasses since they are broken already... we didn't even have them for a week! Thankfully insurance covers broken glasses so we have a new pair on order.

We are in the process of getting a referral from her pediatrician for a second opinion on her eyes from the UofI hospitals. They have pediatric eye doctors, who we feel would be better suited for Bennett's eye condition. I liked the doctor we saw at The North Iowa Eye Clinic, but everyone in Iowa knows that the university is the best place to go. So there's a good chance that it will be June before we can actually get an appointment and start the process again. Until then, I will do my best to get Bennett to wear her glasses, but I will not be patching her eye... I have heard conflicting opinions on whether patching is really the best thing to do. Bennett has been sick a lot this winter! 3 ear infections since thanksgiving has made our nights very difficult! She is allergic to penicillin which means that finding a medication to treat the infections has been hard... she's been on a different med with each infection and they just don't seem to be working... right now we are on day 11 with her meds from a double ear infection and she is still showing signs of infection... pulling at her ears, fever, cranky, and not sleeping well at night. I am considering asking her pediatrician for a referral to get tubes in her ears... Conrad has them and her Dr even said that her chances of needing tubes is higher b/c they run in the family. I am at a total loss... my 10 month old doesn't sleep through the night b/c more often than not she is in pain! Her not sleeping through the night means nobody in our house sleeps good... We have a small 2 bdrm house and all the kids are in the same room with our room 10ft away. Any suggestions or advice on what I should do to help her ears and her sleeping?? I know that ear infection season is close to an end, but the fall is not that far away either and I don't want to be dealing with this all over again!

Beautiful Eyes

2010-03-12T19:11:00.005-06:00

Glasses

2010-03-11T17:14:00.005-06:00

Bennett started wearing her glasses today... It's been really rough, but I didn't really know what to expect so I suppose it can only get better. It's a huge adjustment for her to have something on her face and wrapped around her ears all the time. It probably doesn't help that both of her ears are infected right now too! This is a very hard adjustment for Thaddeus and I too. A big part of us just wants to say forget the glasses and let the surgery do all the fixing, but I know that is unwise. It's hard to understand how an eye doctor can come to the conclusion that a 10 month old baby needs glasses... I guess that's what they went to school for for huh? Needless to say this is very difficult for us, but we want whats best for Bennett and her vision so I am determined to get her to wear the glasses. Right now when I look at her in the glasses I think she looks funny not at all like my little baby girl, but I know that after some time passes Bennett will still be the same Bennett even with glasses. She does look cute, but it just breaks my heart right now. Please pray for Bennett and me during this transition. I'm trying to have a good attitude and be the strong mommy that she needs me to be, and I know there are much worse things we could be going through right now and am reminded just how blessed we are.

Eye Doctor

2010-03-10T14:06:00.007-06:00

Last week Bennett had an appointment with an eye doctor to see what we can do to fix her left eye. Since birth her eye has turned to the inside, making her crossed eyed. Dr Riley examined and dilated her eyes and came to the conclusion that the muscles in her left eye are weak and possibly did not develop correctly. So we will be patching her good eye everyday for 6-8 hours and she will be wearing glasses! I went and ordered the glasses last Friday so we should have them by the end of the week. We see Dr Riley again on April 21 to determine if the patch and glasses are helping to strengthen her eye. Overall he does not think that the glasses will help at all and that the patch could help a little, but Bennett will more than likely end up having surgery to correct the muscles. He wants to wait until she is between 12 and 16 months old before going ahead with any kind of surgery, but this type of eye condition will not get better with time. Bennett is taking to the patch just fine, she doesn't seem to mind it at all. Conrad thinks she looks like a pirate!

Funny Things Kids Say!

2010-02-23T13:34:00.003-06:00

Every time Gunnar see's a pedestrian crossing sign he says: "Look Mommy, it's a human's walking sign!" Where does he learn something like that?? I suppose he is only pointing out the obvious... they are humans, and they are walking! I laugh every time he says it!

Bath Time...

2010-02-19T13:08:00.005-06:00

The Boys playing in the tub while Bennett watches

Brothers! Conrad's face is sure changing... he's looking more like a little boy!

Conrad watching the water drip off his truck...

Bennett is 9 months old!

2010-02-18T13:50:00.004-06:00

Bennett turned 9 months old on Saturday! I cannot believe she will be 1 soon... her first year has gone by so fast! Bennett weighs 16lbs 11oz and is in the 20%... She is 28 1/2 in tall and is in the 75%. So she follows Gunnar in the tall area and Conrad in the small/skinny way! At her doctors appointment today, I found out that she will have to see an eye doctor because she is crossed eyed. Looking at her now, I see it, but before this morning I never noticed it! She has a condition called Esotropia, which is the smart word for being crossed eyed.... I did a little reading and found out that there are 6 different kinds of esotropia. If this is in fact the correct diagnosis, she would most likely have congenital or infant esotropia. 1-2% of babies have this condition and it does not get better with age... surgical correction is required sometime between 6 and 14 months of age. We have an appointment on March 9th at the North Iowa Eye Clinic with an ophthalmologist. Please pray for Bennett's eyes... that whatever condition she has would be easily resolved without surgical correction. I am nearsighted and have worn glasses since the 2nd grade and one of my biggest fears was that I would pass my bad eye gene's on to my kids... let's face it, the chances were pretty high! I just didn't expect to have to deal with it all so early on. Pray that I would have a good attitude about all of it, especially if she needs to wear glasses. I just really hated wearing glasses my entire childhood and I don't want Bennett to feel the same way. On a happier note, here are some things Bennett is doing at 9 months old!

Crawling on hands and knees
Pulling herself up to standing and then getting back down to sitting/crawling
Walking with toy walkers and when we hold her hands
Taking 2-3 naps a day... I'm still working on cutting 1 nap out!
Eating baby food and finger foods like cheerios and mac/cheese
She can do "So Big"
Waves Hi
Claps her hands when you say "Yeah"
She loves the bathroom and toilet paper
She enjoys chewing on the darts from the boys' nerf guns.

Getting the boys to sleep through the night as babies was easy! Gunnar did at 4 months and Conrad at 2 months, but I can't seem to figure it out with Bennett! Letting the boys cry it out worked awesome... 2 nights of crying and then they were fine and still are for the most part. I have tried this way with Bennett multiple times and it seems to work for a few weeks or a month and then she is back to being up in the middle of the night... she has had 2 ear infections this winter, so I blame some of the sleep stuff on that... also, all the kids share one room so I am apprehensive about just letting her cry a lot because I don't want her to wake the boys... namely Conrad! So when I've tried to train her to sleep through the night I put her in the pack n play in the living room. So with all that said, I am looking for advice on how to get my 9 month old to sleep through the night consistently.... Also, just this week I have started feeding her solid food right before bed (Grandma Lori's suggestion!) and this seems to be helping somewhat!

Growing up so fast!

2010-01-27T15:21:00.004-06:00

Bennett has been pulling herself up to standing for a couple of weeks now and today was the first time a thought to get the camera out!... She'll be 9 months old in a couple of weeks... I can't believe how mobile she is already!

New Thru 30 Thoughts

2010-01-26T09:58:00.008-06:00

Thaddeus and I are doing a new testament read thru in 30 days with Elevation Church click here to view the reading plan. I just wanted to quickly share a few of the verses that have stuck out to me in the first 2 weeks.

2 Corinthians 4.16-18 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. Romans 11.33-36 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! "Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?" "Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?" For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen. James 3.17-18 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness. Romans 5.15-17 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

Daddy Love

2010-01-13T20:39:00.004-06:00

Reading Plan

2010-01-09T11:39:00.002-06:00

Through the next 30 days, Thaddeus and I will be reading through the New Testament, following this plan http://newthru30.com/ It's not too late to start!

God is at work!

2010-01-09T08:07:00.003-06:00

In order for us to go on our trip to Kansas City Thaddeus had to take some time off work and unfortunately he does not receive any paid time off... so his paycheck for the next two weeks was smaller than normal and did cover most of our expenses. Really, we barely have enough for food and diapers, but this is besides the point... I have to fill you in on some of the back story. So, back in November we decided to start tithing regularly to Rhythm Church (the church we are planting http://www.rhythmchurch.org/). We haven't tithed regularly for quite some time and felt that it was really time to show God that we trust Him fully with our finances... we knew that tithing would make things tight for us but we want to give when it hurts most! Here are some things that have happened this week... I totally see how God is providing for us in these little, but big ways, and we feel so blessed and want to give Him all the glory. So I weaned Bennett and she's on formula now... which is so expensive! Well, we qualify for WIC so we get free formula, but I didn't have the checks for formula, since she was breastfed, and I didn't have another appointment for new checks until February... On monday I called and was able to get an appointment for the next morning, which was when I ran out of the last of the similac I had bought! Totally awesome that we didn't have to spend what little money we have on similac... God provided! During tax season I work for an accounting/tax office running files and such... they usually don't have work for me until the end of January or early February... On monday they called and said we have work for you now... come work whenever you want! How awesome is God! He knew our need and opened a door early! And finally, yesterday we got a Christmas card in the mail from our landlord's. They gave us a $50 HyVee giftcard, just for being good stewards of their property! Wow! God you provided for us again! Now we can buy some groceries and use our other money for gas in our vehicles! I always knew that tithing was important, but never fully understood. I'm not saying that if you tithe God is going to give you money in other ways... My point is to just trust the Lord with your finances and see what happens! I know that tithing has given me a peace and I worry less because I know God is in control!

Christmas and Kansas

2010-01-08T15:35:00.011-06:00

So it's already the second week of January and I haven't even posted about Christmas or our trip to Kansas City, so here goes.

We were supposed to spend Christmas day at our home in Mason City with Thaddeus family, but because of Iowa weather!... nobody could make it here. So instead, we invited some friends who could not make it to their families, and our neighbor Denny. I baked my first ham (with Thaddeus' help, because I was at Sherlock Holmes when it needed to go in the oven!) and we had other delicious holiday foods and it was a nice Christmas, even without family! I was pretty bummed at first that our family couldn't come, but it helped me to see and remember the true meaning of Christmas, Jesus Christ... and spending it with my husband and kids is all the family I really need! Gunnar & Conrad of Christmas Eve in their new pj's! Bennett Christmas morning playing with her princess stocking stuffer

Thaddeus reading the story of Jesus' birth to the boys on Christmas morning

We got up early the next morning and headed to Cedar Rapids to do Christmas with my parents and brother and his wife... we all got lots of great gifts and ate good food! That afternoon we headed to West Liberty to Thaddeus' parents house to do Christmas with them! It was a busy day, but very good to see everyone! That evening we left Conrad and Bennett with Ted and Lori and Thaddeus, Gunnar and I headed to Des Moines. We left Des Moines Sunday with our friends, the Skinners, and headed to Kansas City! Sunday night we stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge which has an indoor waterpark! Super fun place, especially if you have older kids... our boys were not tall enough to go on the big waterslides.... but they still enjoyed the smaller slides and swimming areas. I would totally recommend the lodge to anyone... very nice place with lots to do, we also enjoyed the arcade a lot! Monday and Tuesday nights we stayed in downtown Kansas City in a very nice hotel... the living room and bedroom were separated by french doors which was convenient since he had two 3 year olds with us! We stayed up late every night playing Monopoly Deal (super fun card game)! We also went to a children's museum that had a bunch of rooms with fun activities for the boys and we walked around downtown Kansas City's shopping district... GAP had some really good sales! We ended our trip driving by the Cheifs and Royals stadiums... they are super big, maybe our next vacation can be to see a game! I am so glad that we were able to go... it was our first vacation since our 1st anniversary! It was even more fun going with the Skinner's and just catching up on life and making memories with them! They are the type of friends that even though they live a few hours away, we will still be friends with 20 years down the road... pretty cool to think about!

Conrad and Bennett had fun with Grandpa Teddy and Grandma Lori... Lori had the fun job of weaning Bennett onto formula and bottles for me... I hadn't totally decided to be done with breastfeeding before we left, but after pumping for 4 days and losing some of my supply it just seemed like the right time. Bennett has adjusted pretty well and is starting to sleep through the night better... and I just have made a rule not to feed her before 5am. Hopefully in the coming weeks her sleeping will become more routine and everyone in our house will sleep better! There are so many positives to being done with breastfeeding, yet I find myself missing that time with her... I never really went through this with the boys so it's kinda weird... must just be a hormonal thing! Here's Bennett playing while at Grandma Lori's house! Gunnar on a waterslide at the Great Wolf Lodge

Gunnar and Jordan at the lodge The kids at home after our vacation... they were all happy to be together again!

Play-Doh

2010-01-07T14:07:00.007-06:00

This morning the boys and I played with Play-Doh for the very first time... it was a hit!

5 Years!

2009-12-18T08:30:00.002-06:00

Today is our 5 year wedding anniversary! I am so blessed to have Thaddeus... he loves the Lord and leads me in His ways (even when I am unteachable and unwilling to follow). He is the best dad and I am so lucky to have such a capable partner in raising our children! I am so excited to see where God takes us and how He grows us in the coming years together!

Bath Time!

2009-12-16T17:08:00.008-06:00

Bennett took her first bath in the sink today. I am a huge fan of sink bathing... I think it is so much easier than in a baby tub or the bath tub... at least for a 7 month old!

Before she got wet... seems happy enough! 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?

Christmas Tree oh Christmas Tree

2009-12-11T14:41:00.008-06:00

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.

Gunnar pointing to his train ornamentBennett 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!

Snow Day!

2009-12-11T14:32:00.006-06:00

Earlier this week when all the snow came we were able to play outside... here are some pictures!

Gunnar really likes the snow and Conrad really doesn't! Gunnar helping me shovel

A car ran into the hospital sign on tuesday... I think there were 3 cars involved in the accident.

Bennett is 6 months!

2009-11-21T19:06:00.015-06:00

Bennett turned 6 months old last friday! She is an ever changing bundle of joy!

Some things that Bennett can do are:

Crawl (army crawl... it's all arms!)
Roll over both ways
Drink from a bottle (this took us a long time to conquer!)
She knows her name
She smiles and laughs a lot!
She is on a 3 nap schedule
She loves playing... her favorite toy right now is her brother's firetruck!
She takes a pacifier now... for awhile she sucked her thumb but I wanted her off of that!
She wants to put everything in her mouth
She enjoys her johnny-jump-up a lot!
She is very ticklish!

Yesterday Bennett had rice cereal for the first time and tonight we tried carrots... here are some pics!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).

Signs of Fall

2009-11-05T16:20:00.005-06:00

You know fall is here (not that there was a question!) when your yard looks like this:

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!

Stains!

2009-10-23T08:31:00.004-05:00

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!

Conrad's Birthday Cake & Party!

2009-10-12T08:36:00.010-05:00

Conrad's 2nd birthday party was on saturday! We had a great time celebrating with family and friends and Conrad got some pretty sweet presents! (thank you to everyone who generously gave him a gift... he has been very entertained all weekend!)

Here is a video of us singing to Conrad... he's pretty unsure of everything!

Conrad loves Cars so I decided to make him a Lightning McQueen cake! I found a lady who blogged about how she made one using fondant and I just had to try it... click here to see her blog. 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 it was time to work with the fondant. I bought a $6 already made package at Wal-Mart... so all I had to do was dye it. The Wilton concentrate colors work best, and for the red I used a whole container (they're really small jars). Before you start make sure you have gloves b/c the dye will stain your hands! So you just add the dye to the white fondant and work it in by pulling, kneading and twisting until it is the color you want. Then using powdered sugar and a rolling pin you roll it out to the size and thickness you want. You then wrap it around your rolling pin and place it over your cake.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!

Happy 2nd Birthday Conrad!

2009-10-08T15:38:00.005-05:00

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!

Some of my favorite things about Conrad are:

He gives the best hugs and loves to cuddle!
He has a great laugh... it's hard not to laugh with him!
His run is very funny!
He has some sweet dance moves
He is a great eater! He especially loves green beans!
His cute smile... how can you resist the dimples?!
The way he copies everything Gunnar does... he loves his big brother so much!
I love it when he makes Bennett laugh and smile!

We love you Con!

Spiders

2009-09-17T13:05:00.007-05:00

I am very scared of spiders! It doesn't matter what kind they are, whether they are inside or outside... I hate them! So I am preparing to have a garage sale this weekend and I've been spending a lot of time in our basement sorting and pricing things. I had a group of chairs sitting by a wall in the basement probably for about 2 months now and I noticed maybe 3 weeks ago that this group of chairs was covered in spider webs. It kind of grosses me out to see that but its no big deal as long as I don't have to go near them. Well within this group of chairs is a highchair that I want to sell in my sale... so you guessed it, I have to touch this highchair... clean it, take it outside and try to sell it. So I go down in the basement with a paper towel, all prepared to get all the cobwebs off and carry it outside. It's just my luck that today there was a spider on it! And it wasn't just hanging out for fun... come to find out that it has decided to have it's babies on my highchair! That's right... there are a bunch of little spider eggs all over this thing! So gross! So I'm down stairs trying to figure out how to get this mama spider off my chair and I just can't get close to the highchair... did I mention that I hate spiders?! So I get enough courage to finally drag the highchair up the steps and out the door, stopping every few moments to make sure the spider is still on its eggs and not preparing to attack me! So I get it outside and get the hose out and spray the crap outta the spider and the eggs... at one point I shot the spider and saw it shoot a web and try to stay attached to the chair and its eggs but the water was too strong! So now the highchair is sitting in my yard, wet, with the eggs soaked, but still attached... and I am still scared of this spider! I don't want to go back out there b/c I'm afraid it's mad at me and will attack me! I know this is very irrational thinking, but I am terrified! Maybe I'll just leave the chair alone until Thaddeus gets home and let him move it for me!

Bennett is 4 Months Old

2009-09-14T13:57:00.007-05:00

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:

She loves to sleep on her tummy
Her favorite place to hangout is in her bouncy chair w/ the vibrate on
She is usually sucking on something... her favorite's are her hands, her bear, and her burp rags.
She will smile and talk to anyone who talks to her... I think she will be a people person, just like Thaddeus and Gunnar!
Her eyes are definitely brown... there was a hint of blue when she was first born
She is very talkative, especially compared to the boys! She coos and laughs and makes lots of cute noises!
The only time she cries is when she is startled... usually only happens when Thaddeus sneezes!
Instead of crying when she is unhappy she kinda screams and yells... it's really funny and loud.
She can roll over from her tummy to her back... and sometimes will do this in the middle of the night and won't be able to fall back asleep again until we roll her back
She is a great eater! It only takes her 5-10 minutes to nurse each time... I love how fast she eats! She gets very distracted while nursing lately too!
She kind of sleeps through the night... 9pm-5am most of the time... she'll nurse for 5 minutes and then go back to sleep for a few hours.
She usually takes 4 naps a day and almost always wakes up happy!
Her favorite time of day is in the morning when she wakes up... just like Thaddeus! She is so happy and content in the a.m!

Bennett has been such a blessing to our family! I love having a baby around to snuggle and cuddle and just love on! Her smile always puts me in a great mood! We are so excited to watch her grow up and to see the little girl that she grows into... we love you Bennett Nelle!

Currently Reading

2009-09-09T11:45:00.005-05:00

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!

Gunnar Goes to Preschool

2009-09-01T13:46:00.003-05:00

Today was Gunnar's first day of preschool! We have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of September 1st in our house for a couple of months now. Since June, Gunnar has asked almost everyday if it was time to go to preschool. This last weekend his Grammy and Poppy took him school shopping for a book bag, clothes, and shoes and last night I picked up what little supplies he needed to start school today! 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!

Currently Reading...

2009-08-13T13:38:00.003-05:00

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.

Camping @ Pine Lake

2009-08-11T11:11:00.008-05:00

This last weekend we went to the Homecoming retreat at Pine Lake Christian Camp. We camped in a tent and cooked all our own food along with our friends the Mills' and Skinner's. I am not much of a camper... never really camped when I was young... so I would much prefer a cabin over a tent. But I will say it was very fun waking up in the mornings with all the kids right there... and I slept pretty good considering the rain we received on Friday night. It was our first time using our tent that Thaddeus had purchased at an auction so we were'nt really sure if it would leak or not... sure enough, Saturday morning around 1am it stormed and we got wet! (we recieved about 2in of rain in an hour!) Because it was raining so hard our tent just couldn't do the job... it was basically raining in our tent! Bennett had been sleeping on the floor of the tent and had a seem right over her, so she was getting rained on... I put a towel on top of the edge of our suitcase and across to a chair so she would be shielded from the rain... she never woke up! The boys slept with us on our full size air mattress. We probably got 4 hours of sleep that night... but somehow we all felt pretty rested!

Gunnar playing baseball... he's got pretty good form!

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

Things I like to put in my body!

2009-08-06T18:22:00.004-05:00

Here are a few items I have really been enjoying lately: 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!

You're a Clown!

2009-07-24T10:08:00.004-05:00

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...

No More Excuses... I'm Blogging

2009-07-23T13:20:00.004-05:00

For months now I have been thinking about starting a blog... I'm a pretty good excuse maker (just ask Thaddeus) so I can always find multiple reasons not to do something. I can convince myself that untrue things are true. For example... I really enjoy reading my friends' blogs because I can see what is going on in their lives and still feel connected even though we've moved away or don't see them very often. But one of my excuses for not starting a blog was that I thought nobody would ever read it... no one is interested in what is going on in my life right? So untrue... I have been reading "I'll Have What She's Having" by Bobbie Houston. The first chapter in her book is called People Need Your Story. She writes "Life is a journey. It has a beginning and an end, and everything that happens along the way becomes your story." She goes on to talk about how we need to share our story with people because you never know who might learn something from what you have or are going through. My point is that I don't care who reads or doesn't read my blog I just want to share my life and if someone can take something from what I'm dealing with then it's all worth it. I am totally excited to blog about what is happening in my world. Being a wife and a mother can be so fun and so hard and I'm ready to grow as I share Life As We See It.