365 Project: January 17, 2012

This, folks, is something to get excited about... in my world anyhow!

Jon volunteered to do the dishes, Alia ASKED if she could help dry, and Larren... well she simply wanted to be where the party was!

And don't let the fact that Alia's only three years old fool you... this girl is a dish drying professional! 

She just sings along... making up songs about each item as she goes!

Poor Jon has to practically bend in half to wash the dishes! A request has been made for higher counter tops in our next house. I counter offered with a dishwasher request ... negotiations are still in progress!

Caidrie tried to get in on the team action... but quickly came to the conclusion that the view from the nose bleed section was best!

And seeing how all bases were covered, there wasn't much left for me to do but cheer from the sidelines!!

Yay team K!! :)

365 Project: January 16, 2012

Jonathan, being the country boy that he is, had a fair collection of toy tractors when he was a young whipper snapper. Green is his color (and brand!) of choice... which appears started quite early on in life! 

These classics have been stored away just waiting to be played with by the next generation... and our girls were happy to comply!

Alia learned all about about haying, disking, stone picking, and combining...

... and wasn't the least bit thrilled when it was time to put them away! We may not have boys... but these are bound to get their share of use! 

Daddy/daughter date nights might have gotten a new look... tinged with hint of John Deere green! :)

365 Project: January 15, 2012

Dancing with my girlies in the kitchen is one of my favorite things about being a mama. Praise & worship to good ole' bluegrass... it doesn't matter, we're not picky! 

We'll dance to it all!

Alia's personal favorite? The "married dance." Which is a lovely mix of jumping, twirling, hip sways, skipping and a few birdy flaps for added flair! :)

365 Project: January 14, 2012

Snow + bearable temperatures = 2 very happy chicas

365 Project: January 13, 2012

Ron and Betty asked us to join them for supper...

... and it's a good thing Betty enjoys sharing!

"Her soup" was a big hit! :)

365 Project: January 12, 2012

I've never really seen pictures of myself napping before...

... and it appears that I should add "smile while sleeping" to my New Year's resolutions!

365 Project: January 11, 2012

My husband buys and sells all things motorized. It's a hobby he's had long before I met him and one that probably won't be going away anytime soon! Don't get me wrong... we all benefit from it, but sometimes... well sometimes, it can be a bit much!

Like this last project for example.

Around noon Jon mentioned that there was a truck in the city he'd like to buy and wondered when would be a good time to pick it up. I had been wanting to run into the city (a 1 1/2 hour drive) for something anyhow, and suggested we should go that afternoon. I was in the middle of a painting project, and no one had eaten lunch yet... so we rushed around to get every one fed, watered, and clothed... and were on our way.

Since it was a "special trip" we let the girls watch a movie or two... don't let their intense looks fool you, they were quite thrilled with the idea!

The roads were decent and Caidrie slept the whole way in so the trip was off to a great start!

Jon looked at the truck, decided to buy it, I did a bit of shopping, the girls got to play at the McDonald's play place, and we were ready to head home. Still a nice quick trip at this point.

Well, less than 10 minutes out of the city we started to run into some problems. The truck was a diesel (of course!) and still had summer fuel in it. Since our temps have been warmer than average it wouldn't have been an issue... until TODAY! It was -38 Celsius (-36 Fahrenheit). Needless to say the truck wasn't impressed. It's a bit of a lengthy story but the moral is... always bring a tow strap!

We typically follow this principle, but the tow strap that's usually in my Expedition got moved to another vehicle... so we were left with two tie down straps instead. As I was towing Jon with those, I called his best friend Josh (who lived about 20 minutes away) to see if he would come to our rescue! Both Josh and Jon are the type of guys that would do anything for anybody at any hour of the day or night, so Josh just laughed and said he's on his way!

Josh was coming from the opposite direction and rather than turning around on the road he decided to show his off-roading prowess... which resulted in the rescuer becoming the rescuee! 

Our Expedition was proud to be of service to one of it's big brothers in need and pulled the truck out with the greatest of ease!

The boys inspected the truck to see what hope it had left... and decided that towing was it's best bet of the night!

So... Josh got to rescue us after all! His only complaint was "Seriously... with all the warm weather we've had you chose the coldest night of the year to buy a truck!" And for the record... he tows WAY faster than I do! :) We were at Josh's house in no time... 

... and home by midnight!

Our girls were fantastic and oddly enough, weren't surprised by the whole thing! Can you tell they are their father's children?!

I just can't get enough of...

... this girl...

... or the guy behind this girl! :)

Age 0 - 6 months, eh?

We're getting extended use out of this mobile, I guess!!

365 Project: January 10, 2012

Alia and Larren making Grampa Arnie feel right at home...

... at least Caidrie's breaking him in subtly!

365 Project: January 9, 2012

Grilling in January... with NO snow piled around us. That's just crazy I tell ya! 

Convenient? Yes! 

Tasty? Absolutely! 

But at this point the "Great White North" simply isn't living up to it's name! 

And... it's probably worth mentioning that we had regular fries with this meal. No poutine. Just good ole' baked fries and ketchup.

No snow... no poutine... no hockey (for us anyhow!)... no beaver skin hats... can we even be considered Canadian anymore?! :)

365 Project: January 8, 2012

So remember how I mentioned that I need to bring my camera EVERYWHERE for this whole 365 thing to work? Well... I've drawn the line at taking it to church. For reasons you can probably understand. That being said... I really WISH I could bring it. Why? Because Sunday mornings are filled with SO many things I want to remember!

Alia dancing in the aisle with her little friends during the praise music. Hands raised all around the sanctuary in heartfelt worship. Cuddling with Caidrie during the sermon. A tear running down my face because something our pastor said has "struck a chord" in me. Chatting with friends after the service.

I love it. 

Rich Mullins said " ... I never understood why going to church makes you a hypocrite. Nobody goes to church because they're perfect. If you've got it all together, you don't need to go. You can go jogging with all the other perfect people on Sunday morning. Every time you go to church, you're confessing again to yourself, to your family, to the people you pass on the way there, to the people who will greet you there, that you don't have it all together. And that you need their support. You need their direction. You need some accountability, you need some help." 

Exactly. I feel like our church believes and practices that! I don't have to pretend that I have it together and that I'm "good" all the time. I can simply be real.

And that... well that's picture worthy!

On to the photo of the day... which has nothing to do with church! :) This little lady is about as bad as her mama! See?

"Say cheese... good, got it!" 

I may not be able to bring my camera to church but..... JUST KIDDING! :)

365 Project: January 7, 2012

Jon's folks were out for a quick work related visit, and it sure was a blessing to spend a couple days with them!

The older girls took full advantage of the extra "book readers" around...

... while Caidrie preferred all the cuddles and kisses coming her way!

Me?

I simply enjoyed connecting/chatting, the unending supply of tea (my mother in law is a tea connoisseur!!), the extra help, the excuse to eat chocolate every night, and tag teaming with Jeannette to give the boys a run for their money in Rook! We may be the cautious ones of the bunch... but we're a force to be reckoned with! :) 

Or so we like to think!!

365 Project: January 6, 2012

A cold winter day... scrap paper... crafts... and a side of Cheerios for good measure...

Little Debbie

I enjoy baking, but don't it all that often. Maybe it's the fact that I don't have a dishwasher and with baking comes lots of dirty dishes, or the fact that none of us NEED all the tempting cookies, cupcakes, muffins, and pies sitting around, or that I tend to get stuck in a "recipe rut" and sometimes I simply don't know what to bake! Whatever the reason, I'm not Betty Crocker by any stretch!

That being said... I love baking with my girls! I do! But with children come messes and it's been a stretch for me to let go of having a sparkling clean kitchen and hand the reins over to a 1 year old and a 3 year old!

I typically do the measuring and let them pour, stir, taste, scoop, etc. But Alia is now at the age where I'm trying to let her do more things on her own. SO... she made her very own cake the other day. 

Don't judge us... but out came the boxed cake mix, and away we went!

Every "neat and clean cell" in my body wanted to help out... but I let her do the majority! And to my surprise spills and messes were kept to a nice minimum!

Look Mom... no shells! 

We made Alia's masterpiece into a jello cake and it was moist as could be! She's on her way to being a "Little Debbie" in no time... next step, becoming a master dish washer! :)

365 Project: January 5, 2012

Today was a "first and last" day for Larren! 

The last time she slept in her crib... bittersweet I tell ya! But, it was time! Bedtime temper tantrums have been cut down substantially!

And... the first time she went pee on the potty on her own, without us asking her if she needed to go. 

Can ya tell I'm a mom? Big girl beds and peeing in the potty get me excited!!! :)

365 Project: January 4, 2012

Jan. 4th brought us to Caidrie's 6 week check up with our beloved midwife. Our appointments with Marla are anything but rushed, and we do our fair share of chit chatting... but this time I think we made a record! Our visit was nearing two hours when we decided to say our good-byes! Have I mentioned that we absolutely L-O-V-E her? Even Alia and Larren get giddy and excited when they get to visit with "Miss. Marla!" Maybe it's because she brought them sweet little necklaces & bracelets after Caidrie was born... or that she let's them be the little assistants when she checks Caidrie & I... or maybe it's because she takes time to show them specific things and give them hugs... or simply because she knows how to make a person feel extra special! We've been OH SO blessed to be under her care and to have her deliver all of our babies. She is so gentle, kind, caring, insightful, compassionate, and basically just the friendliest gal you're ever gonna meet! 

Caidrie did fantastic and is healthy as can be! She weighed in at 12 lbs. 2 oz. and is flying right out of her 3 month clothes and rounding the bend to 6 month! At the age of 6 weeks, mind you! :) This is on the verge of craziness!

So yeah... knowing this was (most likely!) the last official appointment we'll ever have with Marla made me shed some tears! A friend once said to me, "Maybe you & Marla should find some other things in common so you don't have to keep having babies to see her!" And...*sigh*... she's probably right! :)

365 Project: January 3, 2012

Larren woke up from her nap just in time...

What would childhood be without a few beaters & spoons to lick?! :)

365 Project: January 2, 2012

Only two days into my 365 Project and I realized something quite beneficial to attaining my goal. In order to really capture the day in ONE shot, my camera will have to come with me everywhere I go! 

A good friend and I headed to the States for a day of shopping and to, dare I say it, get away from the kiddos! I could have gotten several more accurate pictures of what our day entailed...
- maybe of Loralee and I trying on cute (read: on the verge of ridiculous!) hats
- eating at Jimmy John's for the first time (which has been added to my "must eat at again" list!)
- climbing in the VW through the passenger side door umpteen times because Jon's car decided to give us grief
- battling to open the cars overflowing trunk on several occasions because it too decided to give us grief
- or maybe our cheers and shouts of WOOHOO! when the border officer let us through without paying duty on all our purchases!

But... because I didn't bring the big black box needed to capture those things... I settled on an "end of the shopping day picture" with this cute little bean!

Caidrie came along on our shopping expedition (of course!) and my oh my, she was positively perfect! The only mishap was a diaper blow-out in aisle 12... but other than that we couldn't have asked for a better shopping companion! 

God knows me well... and knew that after Larren's rough first year I needed an easy baby for my own sanity's sake! I've heard baby #3 is the "golden baby" and so far that's ringing true! Caidrie is the most laid back, barely makes a peep, goes with the flow, baby I've ever met! I think I see many more shopping / spa trips in her future! :)

365 Project: January 1, 2012

As mentioned, my goal is to take at LEAST a picture a day for the year. When 2012 is over I'd like to compile them all together in a book to document how we spent our time! They may not be anything fancy... actually I KNOW they won't be anything fancy :)  ... but they're us. And as we glance back over the year I look forward to the memories that will follow!

Jan 1st. had us saying goodbyes to my family as they headed back to O-HI-O. Funny how our house actually felt QUIET after they left! We tidied up a bit, took a nap here & there, and basically just spent the day relaxing / playing with all the new goodies the girls received. 

A great way to welcome in the New Year in my books! :)

New Year's Resolutions... or Lack There Of

As appealing and inspiring as New Year's resolutions can be... I've just never been all for 'em. Maybe it's because I know myself (and my shortcomings) a little too well or maybe it's because I feel my normal every day life is about as much as I can currently handle!

This year I'm only going to commit to two things.

1 - Take at LEAST one picture a day for the next year! Doesn't sound too hard right? But I must admit, I'm not the greatest with picture consistency... so this will take effort! The extra twist is that I want the picture to sum up the events of the day, if possible. My ideal goal would be an award winning photo every single day... but I'm telling both you, and myself, to keep expectations low! Real low...

2 -Wake up in the morning ready to give up my own personal expectations and to simply SAVOR the day. I have found that expectations usually take AWAY from my life instead of adding to it. And the short story of the matter is... I have too many, and I need to get rid of them! :)

My "365 Project" officially started January 1st... but here's a little appetizer from our New Year's Eve festivities!

Visiting family, kids, and cards... if I would have included the huge spread of food we consumed than this pic would have hit the nail on the head! :)

Caidrie Cuteness

Caidrie and I had a little newborn photo session the other day and, to be honest, I simply couldn't stop taking pictures of her! The lighting was fantastic, her skin was oh so perfect, and her newborn scrumptiousness just overtook all sense of time!

Here are a FEW pictures of our smallest cutey patootie! :)