Happy Birthday!

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!

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!

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!

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

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!

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

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

"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

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

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!