Henny Penny and Chickies

California Trip: Part Two

2011-08-18T13:57:00.001-05:00

I lived in Southern California for the first thirty-four years of my life. And, the only thing I miss is the BEACH. I was so glad I got to share this with my daughters. The only thing that would have made it perfect is if hubby was there too.

This little one is searching the bag for french fries that I had to hide.

Because of these, naughty birds kept trying to get our food.

I had forgotten about seagulls.

She got one!

More to come...

Maddie and Beach

2011-08-14T23:45:00.000-05:00

Here's Maddie's first time at the beach. She loved it!!!

California Trip: Part One

2011-08-14T09:04:00.004-05:00

If you think I am crazy for taking three kids including a ten month old and a three your old on a plane across the country without the hubby, then you'd be correct.

What was I thinking?

I do have to give MAJOR credit to my thirteen year old. I couldn't have done it without his help!

Allegiant airlines is cheap but there's a reason. Your crammed, sardine crammed into the seats. You have about six inches in front of you between you and the next seat. It may not have been so bad if I wasn't holding a squirmy baby for four and a half hours going there.

Yes. I did say four and a half hours.
It should have been three and a half but they had to stop and get fuel which added an extra hour.
And, that extra hour on the ground was probably about a hundred and twenty degrees in the plane. Babies were crying. People were dripping sweat. Irritated. Complaining.

But we made it.
And we had some good times...

(She may not look thrilled here, but it gets better)

One of the first things we did was go to a little carnival.

(Cousin)

( That's more like it!)

Who doesn't like the carousel?

This little one just had to watch.

My favorite part of the vacation was this.

California beach.

Rolling foothills on one side and ocean on the other.

(Baby toes in sand)

More of that to come...

We're Back!

2011-08-06T19:25:00.004-05:00

We returned from a two week trip from California and I'm still getting into the swing of things.
I have lots of pictures and videos to share but I'm still getting everything organized so I will leave you with this video of Lillian's first time at the beach.  She had SO much fun at the beach and this video really shows her excitement.

Random

2011-07-09T16:54:00.025-05:00

Lily and her friend on 4th of July

It's been a while since I've posted anything so I thought I'd catch you up on some of the recent holidays.
Summer is my favorite time of year because it brings this:

Parades!

Of course, we love the fire truck. Lily could sit in the fire truck but she would rather watch the parade and catch the candy thrown at her.
Maybe next year she'll ride.

Maddie and her friend. Maddie is just two weeks older.

Summer fun!

Kids at church getting sprayed with a fire hose on a hot July day.

We spent some of our July 4th at church. They do a ton of stuff for the holiday.
Poor baby still didn't feel good. She's finally on anti-biotics which I hate to do but nothing else seemed to work. Don't worry she's eating yogurt everyday to add a pro-biotic.

For Father's day Kevin's parents came and we had a wonderful time.

Daddy got boxing gloves for Father's day.

Good times with Grandma and Grandpa.

Looks like L needs to learn how to chew with her mouth closed. I think she's just so happy to be with grandpa she can't help but smile!

Nine and a "Firecracker Headband"

2011-06-27T16:26:00.020-05:00

I can't believe my sweet-pea is already nine months!

She is pure joy!

What do you think of her new headband?
I'm calling it the "firecracker headband".
Too much?
(I love it)

In this picture, you can really tell she doesn't feel good

Shes been sick the last couple of days.
Poor baby!
Hope everyone has a great 4th of July!

Linking up to,

I Had to Just Snap One!

2011-06-16T17:38:00.002-05:00

I'm so proud of #1! Is it wrong to go to his work and take a picture of him?

Momma's Proud!

2011-06-16T17:36:00.002-05:00

Okay, maybe I took two!

Wreaths

2011-06-11T15:02:00.011-05:00

Well, I decided to jump on the wreath bandwagon. These yarn wreaths are all over the blogosphere and I've seen some really beautiful ones. Unfortunately, I don't think these fall into that category. I like the way the style is, I used this tutorial. I am just not crazy about the colors. I actually picked the colors out this winter; mustard, teal, and cream. Now, I'm just not feeling it. It's not happy, bright colors. Maybe it just needs to grow on me, or maybe I just like these colors in the winter. I don't know, but this wall needs something so I'm keeping them up for now.

What do you think?

Wrinkly Nose

2011-06-08T18:00:00.003-05:00

Got it!
I've been trying to get a picture of this look for a while. I love how she wrinkles her nose when she smiles!
(got it with my phone camera!)

Eight

2011-05-27T18:07:00.010-05:00

Eight months!
Your crawling everywhere and fast.
You love to eat. But not baby food, you want to eat what ever mommas eating.
When you see food, you kick your legs in excitement, and smash your face to mine and expect me to feed you baby bird style.
Uh, no!
Then you try and grab the food out of my mouth.
Yup, your a foodie.
You smile and laugh all the time. Your so much fun!

Joplin, Missouri Tornado ~ May 22, 2011 Tribute to People of Joplin

2011-05-25T16:47:00.001-05:00

My thoughts and prayers go out to this poor town.

Lillie's Super Duper Totally Awesome Athletic Soccer Debut

2011-05-25T11:49:00.004-05:00

Yeah...not so much.
The first two minutes start out strong.
Then, as you can see, she starts to lag behind. And slyly, she runs for momma.
That was it. She refused to play. She stated, "I just want to sit here and play in the mud."
That's my girl!!!

Random

2011-05-23T08:41:00.015-05:00

Well, its been a while since I've posted anything. But, nothing too much has been going on. I finished my class, Biology. I am so happy that it's done. I'm not a science person. I really disliked this class and for some reason it was especially hard for me to get through this time. I don't know why. I did have a little helper to help me out, as you can see.

Mother's day really crept up on me. I had no idea that it was the beginning of May. Doesn't it usually come at the end? I apologize profusely that I didn't get anything for my mother or mother-in-law. Both of you are such wonderful people and I feel so bad that you weren't acknowledged on this day. You will be getting gifts, I promise. My mother's day was spent all day doing homework because it was due that day at midnight. I typed and typed and studied and made outlines and begged people not to disturb me (like that's going to happen, right?).
Nothing like saving it all for the last minute. Then my number 2 son got on the computer clicked on something and loaded a virus that would not let me access any of my homework I'd been working on. I FLIPPED. It turned out to be an easy fix. But, only after I almost burst a blood vessel. We just had to pay $60.00 to renew our ant-virus software. We paid the sixty bucks and the whole wicked thing went away. My homework was unharmed. Seems a little suspicious...

Hubby did make me this delicious mothers day breakfast. Eggs, potatoes and onions with green salsa all in a warm tortilla. Mmm mmm mmm.

There's been a few nice spring days. But a lot of rain. This is one of L's favorite things to do outside. Budding little artist?

We have made the amazing discovery that if you put a cookie in the middle of your cupcake batter it comes out deelish.

No explanation needed for this.

Lastly, please keep Joplin Missouri in your prayers. They were hit by a massive tornado last night and the death toll is rising. Tears my heart to pieces.

Missing

2011-05-06T23:35:00.003-05:00

I found this picture on my phone I took two years ago. I sure miss those chubby cheeks!

Never Dull

2011-04-28T11:31:00.003-05:00

I love pictures like this. It shows the sweetness...it's the kind of picture you can show them later in life......like the times they will be rolling around on the ground ripping each others hair out fighting over whose going to wear a certain pair of jeans to school..........*sigh* yes, my own little slice of Norman Rockwell.....

Seven

2011-04-27T14:10:00.017-05:00

Well, another month has gone by and my sweet baby bumpkin is seven months!
I love these two girls!
A lot!

This is one of my favorite pictures.
Look how she's holding the toy with her feet.
Now that's talent!

I just got one with a smile
Maddie is now saying mamamama and I just know she is calling my name.
So we'll say "mama" is her first word.
She also loves food and when anyone is eating anything around her she stares at the food.
She just started crawling, Easter weekend, finally figuring out how to get that tummy off the ground.

My wonderful in-laws came to spend Easter with us.
It's always so nice when they come to visit.
And, it's nice to spend holidays with family.

Good times dyeing Easter eggs.

This is all the Easter loot the kids got!
It almost looks like it could be Christmas.
Grandma and Grandpa spoil!

No, this isn't a new type of discipline. That would be too easy. This is the kennel grandparents brought for their dog to stay in while visiting. Lillie however, decided to take it over as her new playroom.

At least, we knew where she was!

Great Big Sparkly Egg

2011-04-14T23:15:00.015-05:00

I saw this wonderful craft at The Imagination Tree blog and knew I had to do it with Lily.
You can also see it here at The Chocolate Muffin Tree blog.
Aren't those awesome blog names?
They both have great tutorials on this project.

We started out ripping tissue paper.
Which is not always as easy as it looks.

Then we dipped the tissue into glue mixed with a little bit of water.
And placed it onto a big egg shaped balloon.

Lily really liked this project.
I'm so glad she likes to do crafts.

After the whole balloon was covered, I painted the rest of the glue mixture with some pink glitter mixed in all over the balloon.
It took several days to dry but it was well worth it.

We hung our big sparkly egg in the kitchen window.
The pictures really don't do it justice.
We love our sparkly Easter egg!

And I've got to say, I am soooooo HAPPY Spring is here.
This So Cal girl doesn't have much love for the MO winter.

But the Spring here is glorious!

And so are these two little munchkins!

Annual Easter Egg Hunt

2011-04-12T07:47:00.003-05:00

Our town has this Easter egg hunt every year. This is Lilly's third year...and shes three years old. This is the first year she had to do it without any parental help. I think she did okay, in fact, I see resemblance of feeding time in a shark tank!

Polly Pal

2011-04-06T15:38:00.006-05:00

I recently joined an online (free) photography class.
And, there is still time to join by going here.
The teacher, Bethany, is awesome in photography and I'm excited to learn from her.

The first assignment was to photograph something old.
I came across my old handmade doll my mama made me about 33 years ago.
She probably looks older because I played with her so much.
I love the vintage fabric of her dress.
And the vintage color of her yarn hair. I don't even know what you'd call that color.
Butternut squash?
Her name is Polly Pal.

Thirteen

2011-03-28T08:36:00.028-05:00

My little man turned 13.

The first time he held Maddie

The first time he held Lillie

BFF (do boys say that?)

This is my favorite bouquet of flowers I have ever received.
One rainy Saturday morning I heard a little knock on my bedroom door.
And there was Sky with this big beautiful bouquet of wildflowers he went out and picked.
At first I didn't believe he had picked them himself, they looked so professional.
But he did, he searched our big field for the prettiest flowers and brought them to his mama.

Happy Birthday son!
You are the funniest, handsomest, sassiest 13 year old I've ever met.
I love you so much.
You make me so happy!

Six

2011-03-27T14:59:00.010-05:00

6 Months!
What's it like to be half a year old?

For this little one it's trying to cut some teeth in!

No smiles, just gnawing away like a little puppy.

Your almost crawling.
You just have to figure out how to get that tummy off the ground and then you'll be off!
(uh oh)
You've had green beans, squash, fresh banana, applesauce, sweet potato and carrots.
I gave you a few bites of mash potatoes.
And, a taste of Cool Whip. Which, of course, you LOVED!
Your growing too fast!
Slow down!
Your so squishy and cuddly, happy and drooly.
I just want it to last forever...

One Hundred Snowmen

2011-03-20T09:55:00.025-05:00

I wanted to post these pictures before spring and I didn't quite make it.
So here is my last winter post on the first day of spring.
We had one beautiful sunshiny day with the perfect consistency of snow to make
a hundred snowmen.
And that is what we did.

Lily LOVED making this snowman. It's her first real snowman and everyone helped make it.

Of course we had to have some snowball fights!

Jonas had this AWESOME idea of building a snow skateboard ramp.
The boys took off the wheels of their skateboards and "skated" down.
It provided many hours of snow fun.

Lily went down it as a slide and loved it!

Sky did some cool jumps!

Daddy made some snow dolls for Lily.

And the day ended with making a huge Gulliver's travel type snowman with 99 tiny little snowmen all around. This was a group effort and everyone (except me and Maddie) worked hard on this until dark.
Lily helped make many of the tiny snowmen and she worked really hard and stayed so focused on it until they were all done.

Can you believe this was all made in one day?
Sky came in and said, "I never knew playing in the snow could be so much fun."
It was a good day!

Unbeschreiblich (Song: Nicole C. Mullen - Redeemer)

2011-03-04T22:17:00.001-06:00

This is so inspirational! Watch it twice because the first time you'll watch it through tears!

For Your Jumping Pleasure...

2011-02-28T16:21:00.001-06:00

Five Months

2011-02-28T00:00:00.005-06:00

Have five months gone by already?
You know what the doctor said at your four month check-up?
He said, your intelligence is like a six month old.
But I already knew that.
I knew that you were advanced.
Isn't it amazing, considering what the blood tests showed when I was pregnant with you.
I knew it though. Deep down, I knew you were going to be okay.
But, if it wasn't just perfect, like you are.
I would love you so much, forever and always, every single minute of the day.
Just like I do now.

You are my blessing Maddie Mae!
You started eating rice cereal this month.
You could take it or leave it.
I love to hear your laugh.
The only time I hear you laugh when you are not being lightly tickled is at your sissy.
The other day we went to the park and you laughed and laughed at sissy in the swing.
You just thought it was so funny watching her go back and forth.
Sometimes I see her quietly talking and playing with you and I see you giggle and smile.
She's the only one that can make you do this.
And it makes my heart sing.
You love your Jumperoo.
We put a pillow underneath your feet because you can't quite touch the floor yet.
And you just jump and jump and jump.
It's precious.
Your my blessing Maddie Mae!

Happy Valentines Day!

2011-02-14T10:19:00.011-06:00

Storm

2011-02-01T10:47:00.007-06:00

Forecast:
-25 wind chill factor

Crippling Ice

10-18 inches of Snow

But, we're warm and safe!

For Grandma and Papa

2011-01-31T20:13:00.003-06:00

Lillian received a special package in the mail today from Grandma and Papa. Thought we'd let you watch her open it. She just love's her gifts! Thank you!
p.s. Sorry for the poor picture quality. I don't know what happened? I think it was the editing software that was used?

Three

2011-01-30T12:58:00.006-06:00

My Lily-bug had her third birthday this weekend.

I'm sorry you were sick with a fever, and stomach cramps, and chills.
All party plans had to be canceled.
You were sick on your second birthday too.
Let's make number 4 healthy.
You did get well enough to have your "pink" cake.

I love you Lily-bug!

Four months

2011-01-27T15:58:00.002-06:00

My sweet baby Madelyn:
This month we hit some significant mile markers with you.
You laughed for the first time (insert angel choir here).
You rolled over from back to front, twice.
Your are truly an amazing baby!

Random

2011-01-20T23:44:00.007-06:00

I know, I may be biased but I think she is just the cutest, prettiest baby ever!
(besides my other three of course!)
Is she going to have blue eyes?

Every time I look at her I can't believe I have such a beautiful, perfect baby.

Red Hair?

Lily loves having her big brother around.
He is so helpful, almost like having a nanny.
But, I think he might be a little bored.
He's been looking for a job like crazy.
Has a few prospects that might pan out.
Keep him in your prayers.

In the mean time Lily has put him to work.
And, yes that's cute baby over there in the corner, don't worry I was keeping a very close eye on her.

Front Flips and Back Flips No. 1

2011-01-15T20:40:00.002-06:00

We had a little brake from the freezing cold weather today. So the kids spent some time improving their flips and somersaults. This won't interest anyone but family and you have to watch them in order, it's much cuter that way.

Front Flips and Back Flips No. 2

2011-01-15T20:37:00.001-06:00

Bumbo

2011-01-13T22:30:00.007-06:00

I bought a Bumbo seat off of Craigslist today.

Love it!
(and don't you love that cute little tootsie!)

Snow Day!

2011-01-11T22:24:00.009-06:00

We had our first snow of the season this week.
Lily was so excited, the first thing she said to me this morning was, "let's make a snowman!"

It was wicked cold.
Maybe 16 degrees.
I honestly tried to make a snowman with her but the one inch dusting of snow
wasn't cooperating.
So we played in it for a while.

Maybe a snowman next time!
P.S. thank-you grandma and grandpa for the warm coat.

Snow Baby

2011-01-03T00:02:00.004-06:00

Here's my sweet baby Maddie all wrapped up in her new, warm, soft, fury outfit from grandma and grandpa. It's the perfect attire for these extra cold winter days.

And, here's Lily with curly hair. I wish it would stay this way but it always droops down flat by the end of the day.

Three Months

2010-12-27T12:09:00.003-06:00

My sweet baby bumpkin is three months old today!
For being the last baby, I've been blessed with such an easy going sweetheart.
At three months she has a beautiful smile that lights up when she sees me.
She is so easy to please.
When she gets excited she moves her arms and legs all around.
She's almost turning over.
We love you Maddie!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T20:59:00.020-06:00

I wish you all could have come over for warm cinnamon rolls
Christmas morning!

We could have chatted over coffee and watched the kids play with their new toys.

It's so hard being far away from family.
Especially on the holidays.

Just know, I was thinking about you all.

And, wishing you were here.

It just wasn't the same without you!

I did have my number one son with us.
And, he made Christmas extra special!
Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Eve

2010-12-24T21:07:00.010-06:00

The Penguin Who Wanted to Fly

2010-12-22T14:23:00.004-06:00

My son, Sky, wrote this beautiful story. His teacher said it was so good it could be published!
Please don't copy or use this story for anything other than your personal enjoyment from reading it on this blog.

Once upon a time on the month of December there was a lonely penguin out in Central Park Zoo. The little penguin had one wish for Christmas and that was to fly.

When it was feeding time, the little penguin snuck out and started walking through the bird section of the zoo hoping that maybe he could learn to fly there.

He wobbled up to a few pigeon's and asked "dear pigeons would you please teach me how to fly?" "You couldn't fly . You're a penguin," said one of the pigeons. "I could if you would teach me," said the little penguin. "Go ask some other bird," "ya, we aint got time for you" said the pigeons as they were flapping their wings away.

So the disappointed little penguin wobbled over back to his home in the penguin area. The next day when it came to feeding time again, he snuck out and wobbled down to the bird section. Then he came upon the parakeet area.

"Oh dear parakeets would you please teach me how to fly?" "Why would you want to fly, you're a penguin," said the parakeets. "Because it's always been my dream Mr. Parakeet." "We aint gonna help you, go find some other bird."

So the little penguin wobbled away with rejection back to his home in the penguin area.

The next day was Christmas Eve and the little penguin still couldn't fly. When it came to feeding time the determined little penguin snuck out and wobbled to the bird section until he came upon some condors.

He asked one of the condors, "please dear condor would you please teach me how to fly?" "Why in the world would a penguin want to fly?" asked the condor. "Please, it's always been my dream to fly , sir" said the penguin. "No, why don't you ask some other bird instead of bothering me." So the little penguin wobbled back to his home in the penguin area.

The next day was Christmas and yet the penguin still couldn't fly. The whole day was horrible for the little penguin. He stayed in his home the whole morning and evening. But when it came to night time the penguin started to levitate. By the time he woke up the whole zoo was in sight. The little penguin was so happy he didn't know what to think. So he just flew around the zoo in circles. All the birds that had been mean to the little penguin had to watch in agony. By the time the penguin was tired, he just drifted down, back to his home in the penguin area.

Santa 2010

2010-12-13T11:08:00.010-06:00

We saw the nicest Santa at Bass Pro. He even let me take my own camera out and take some pictures.

Love these pictures with Madelyn and Santa!

Lillian still has some Santa anxiety.

Sky is like, "why am I here"?

Although, I must say, Lillian's reaction to Santa is a little better than last year!

A Gingerbread House for Baby Jesus

2010-12-12T13:34:00.013-06:00

Ahhh, I feel like I can breath a sigh of relief now that I'm done with my classes.
I don't know why I decided to take two classes and have a baby and try and manage Lillian all at the same time. It wasn't easy and I'm sure I made it hard on everyone when I got really stressed. But, I made it through and I got A's in both classes. Now, I have a little break until January when I start just one class, Biology.
I got some happy, happy news this week that Jonas is coming here for Christmas!
He'll be here for ten days and I just couldn't be more excited!
It's the best Christmas present a mother could ever want.
I 'll have all four of my children here together!
What a blessing.

In the spirit of Christmas I put a baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling blankets under the tree.
This was to try and help Lilly understand that this is Jesus's birthday and we celebrate by having Christmas. Well, whenever Lilly hears the word "birthday" it means birthday cake and she was ready to make a cake.

I had already planned for us to make a gingerbread house and she insisted that this was Jesus's birthday cake. She was pretty good about not eating any of the gingerbread. She loved helping decorate it and ate just a few pieces of candy in the process.

Of course, it wasn't until we were done and put the gingerbread house on display that she decided it was time to indulge.

See those little fingerprints in the frosting on the pathway to the house?
It just adds character.

We also made Christmas cookies this week.
See how beautiful they are on the cookie sheet?
But that's a whole different story...

Bitter Sweet Holiday

2010-11-28T19:11:00.012-06:00

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving holiday.
We had a wonderful one with my mother coming to visit!
I had not seen her in two years and it was so nice to spend time with her.

My mother got all the elements of Missouri in her five day stay;
sun, rain, sleet, snow, and tornadoes.
Yes, one of the nights we had to run in buckets of rain to the tornado shelter as the sirens were going off.

Five days went by so fast.
I was so sad to take her back to the airport.
I'm looking forward to summer now when I plan on spending a whole month in California with my family!

Two Months

2010-11-28T18:51:00.007-06:00

I can't believe my sweet baby is already two months old!
She is such a good baby, so easy going.
She put's up with all the noise around her and never whimpers about any of her big sissy's nonsense.
It looks like she may have red hair and possibly green eyes.
She takes good naps and her most awake time is at 10:00pm!

Here she is with her little scowl she loves to give.

It's so much fun having two girls!
Just as much fun as having my two boys!

So Sad

2010-11-22T08:58:00.004-06:00

Yesterday our sweet toy poodle, Phoebe, was hit by a car and killed.
She was the best dog we ever had and our hearts are broken.
We miss you Phoebe.

Henny Penny and Chickies

California Trip: Part Two

Maddie and Beach

California Trip: Part One

We're Back!

Random

Nine and a "Firecracker Headband"

I Had to Just Snap One!

Momma's Proud!

Wreaths

Wrinkly Nose

Eight

Joplin, Missouri Tornado ~ May 22, 2011 Tribute to People of Joplin

Lillie's Super Duper Totally Awesome Athletic Soccer Debut

Random

Missing

Never Dull

Seven

Great Big Sparkly Egg

Annual Easter Egg Hunt

Polly Pal

Thirteen

Six

One Hundred Snowmen

Unbeschreiblich (Song: Nicole C.﻿ Mullen - Redeemer)

For Your Jumping Pleasure...

Five Months

Happy Valentines Day!

Storm

For Grandma and Papa

Three

Four months

Random

Front Flips and Back Flips No. 1

Front Flips and Back Flips No. 2

Bumbo

Snow Day!

Snow Baby

Three Months

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Eve

The Penguin Who Wanted to Fly

Santa 2010

A Gingerbread House for Baby Jesus

Bitter Sweet Holiday

Two Months

So Sad

Unbeschreiblich (Song: Nicole C. Mullen - Redeemer)