WhoVille

It's WhoVille at our house today. Crazy hair and Christmas cheer:) I also found this sticker faced child after doing some baking. She was so excited about the stickers until we had to pull them off....ouch! Now check out this video of Kaitlyn, Adam and David their Uncle (Joseph's bro) sledding. Adam was all about it...no fears in all the world. Kaitlyn was not as excited. Watch at the end when Adam just hops on the sled and GOOOOOOOOOOOOO's! Yeah Adam.

Will post again soon.

After Turkey Day Ramblings

Having family in town is bitter sweet. It's bitter because you know at some point in the very near future they have to leave and that you won't see them for a while but sweet because it is good to be able to share your life with them. I miss my extended family a lot. I guess I am just one of those people that finds tremendous strength from my parents and brothers and sisters. I love my family and am so grateful for them. We look past each others weaknesses and shortcomings and just appreciate the love that we have developed through time and experience. We have had so many challenges as a family...growing up in our household was not all sunshine and roses...but despite it all we love each other and forgive one another for any mistakes we have made and for our weaknesses. I can only imagine the mistakes I am making with my own kids...I am not the perfect parent and have a lot of weaknesses. I just hope that they can learn as much as I have from my own family of love and forgiveness and that they can desire to share their life with me and find strength from that relationship. We had a wondeful Thanksgiving with my parents and are looking forward to Christmas. Happy Holidays and may they be filled with family and love and lots and lots and lots of yummy goodness.

Pretty Much THE Perfect Day!

Woke up..cuddled hubby and kids...love to cuddle exspecially in the winter!

Husband gave me a healthy breakfast of apples and a Nutrigrain Bar with a glass of water...not how I usually start out my day but I gave it a try:)

House was clean when we woke up...oh so nice!

Went to the Farmer's Market to pick out some Pumpkins, gords and some Veggies. It was oh so bitter cold so we ran quickly back to the car and will probably not be back to the market till next year. (I feel bad for the vendors who are toughing it out for 3 more weeks...yikes it will be cold)



Headed to our new Burlington Coat Factory, almost bought something but the line was way too long to wait for a leotard and some headbands...no not for me, for Kaitlyn. On our way out realized it had started snowing. At this point I was getting kinda anxious b/c it is not even November yet but still had a childish grin on my face b/c well, it was snowing.

Decided to get Kaitlyn and Adam some boots, hats, mittens etc for winter at Target. Found what we needed and hustled to Sam's Club. Did some good food shoppin and some food testing:) They had some really yummy samples today. I usually don't try much at stores but today I was particularly pleased.

Headed home for a good ol' nippy nap nappety nap with my girl Kaitlyn. Naps with Kaitlyn are my favorite time of day!

Woke up to a happy husband who had 2 hours to himself and his playstation that he never gets to play.

Made our pumpkin faces with the kids and put them on the back porch. We are not quite ready to venture to carving pumpkins with two toddlers. Knives and goo and mess...they would love it but one more year..than we will try it! Plus they are cute this way too right?!






Put in a yummy meatloaf and watched "Polar Express" with the fam. It was so nice we all cuddled on the couch and watched our winter movie. Perfect way to invite the Holiday Season:)



Invited a neighbor over for meatloaf and gobbled it up. Put the kids to bed, who went very willingly. Adam even did his first poop on the potty before bed, it's a sweet victorious feeling when your kids start going bathroom on the potty. Don't know why, but it just feels really good.

Had our neighbor watch the kids while we went to Wal'Mart to finish off our food shopping. It's not very often Joseph and I get to food shop together. It always is a treat. I know that is a little sad but it's true.

Finished the ward bulletin, even printed it out so now in the morning I won't be cursing at the printer b/c it's taking too long as we are always running a little late for church:)

Bed time and it's 10:30....the perfect time to go to bed.

Good night!

Not procrastination just VERY busy!!!!!

So do not be decieved I do read your blogs I just never have time to post on my own once I've read all of yours:) I just realized it's been 3 months and oh my goodness it's been a crazy three months. I will give a recap and than post some pics. To spare you all from my dialogue I will simply do a bulleted list of what we've done..if you want more details just ask...here we go...

1) Drove 4000 miles to Oregon and Back
2) When to the Oregon Coast..had a BLAST
3) Saw over 20 Chiropractic Clinics, got some good ideas
4) Spent some Time with Family...Miss them a lot
5) Went to Temple Square and hung out with Sis In Law Alisyn...SOO FUN!
6) Lots and Lots of playing outside..had a super good summer season
7) Joseph's parents came for Palmer Homecoming, was good to see them
8) Drove back to Utah for Joseph's brother's wedding saw all of Joseph's family it was awesome! They had not all been together in a VERY long time
9) Kaitlyn turned 3---I LOVE 3! 3 is good!
10) Took binkies away from both kids....ended up giving them back on our road trip to Utah when Joseph wanted to drive straight through from Iowa to Utah for the wedding. Yeah, it was crazy. Kids actually like traveling but that was a bit much.
11) Took binkies away again but ended up giving Adam back his at night...poor guy loves his binky. Kaitlyn claims "binkies are NOT for babies" but does not protest for long as she knows as with most protests in our country they get little accomplished:)
12) Potty trained Kaitlyn she is currently wearing Minnie Mouse Undies although a friend just bought her leopard print ones...Joseph refuses to let her wear them. Nathalie, I told ya so.
13) Adam is the epitomy of the Terrible Two's...textbook tatrum thrower and refuses to use words to express himself. We are working on it although I must say he throws a pretty good tantrum. Very impressive!
14) Been camping, Adam got stung twice by a wasp. He was upet for about 10 minutes then wanted to go right back to the same playground infested with the wasps to play. Did some hiking, remembered how much I LOVE hiking. Miss those Oreogn woods.
15) Went to Chicago with some friends, had so much fun. Eat at the Grand Lux Cafe, soooo yummy!
16) Craft-Craft-Craft
17) Bought a huge flat screen T.V. one of Joseph's only purchases since we have been married. He claims,"You would have spent the money anyways so I went ahead and spent it before you could". He is probably right.
18) Have completely stopped exercising but plan to get right back on track tommorow...yeah right...
19) Going to start a diet soon...like when pigs fly.
20) Have been trying to give my kids choices instead of telling them what to do, it requires a lot of creativity and thinking on your toes. Not a master of it yet but plan to be.
21) Been planning a trip to anywhere for forever and really want to go but apparently I have two kids and a husband who is too busy.
22) Been holding my friends new baby, Paige, she is adorable! I actually got to see her be born. Not on purpose, it just kind of worked out that way. So I pretty much consider myself her auntie. Which is good because I'm not ready for another of my own yet but I still get my baby fix. PERFECT!
23) Joseph starts clinic in November, we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Tute tute! I think I can, I think I can, I think I can. I am not naive enough to not know although that once school is done it only presents a whole new world of challenges and hard work. If it's not hard..it's not worth it...that is what I keep telling myself at least.
24) Kaitlyn started pre-school...She LOVES it and the teachers are awesome!
25) So looking forward to fall and for my parents to come visit.
26) Miss my family and friends in Oregon and everywhere across the world...a lot!
27) Some of my good friends from here are finishing school and I am really sad to see all of them leave.
28) Got released from Nursery and am now the ward librarian. Can I get a woop woop.
29) Almost went to Hawaii but the flights were completely full and we were flying on passes...makes me want to cry.
30) Is anyone else so tired of finishing folding and putting away laundry only to find that sitting in the hampers are 3 more loads. The job never ends...
31) That is how old I am....curse those gray hairs they just keep coming.....Sigh, not sure if I'll ever feel my age again cause last I remembered I was 25

Well hope you laughed at least once. Give me a shout out...which means leave me a message....word to your mama! Peace out Pony... (those are Kaitlyn's two favorite things to say when saying goodbye..well that and giving knuckles)

Two Two Year Olds

That's right!  My kids are both two right now.  Every Year from May 18th to July 5th my kids will be the same age.  It's kind of crazy.  As we speak they are chasing eachother around the house wrestling and playing.  I hope they will be best friends, for the most part they already are besides the occasional bite or bump.  We are gearing up for summer here in Iowa.  We are traveling home to Oregon and will be there for most of our break.  We have had lots of fun this spring.  Adam celebrated his 2nd birthday at a pizza place with a play gym that has lots of tubes, tunnels and slides.  He is getting to be such a big boy and is now talking a lot. Kaitlyn is our little princess.  She is so much fun and has so much sass.  She has lots of good friends and loves to play with them all the time.  She is so lucky to be surrounded by so many cool kids her age.  We have been going to the zoo weekly and enjoying the moderate weather we've been blessed with.  Low humidity and heat and a lot less severe weather than last year.  Joseph is finishing his 5th trimester at school.  He is doing really well and is looking forward to what this next year will bring.  He took his part one Board Exams and passed with flying colors..wooohoo!  Only 3 more parts to go:)  I am a crafting maniach.  I currently have 8 million projects going.  I am almost done with our bedroom wall hangings, been making bows like crazy, nursing covers, Table runners, cards, blankets and all other kinds of fun crafty type stuff.  I am loving being involved on campus with a group of partners and spouses of the students.  I am going to be the President of the Club this next year and am excited to do some fun outreach type things for the community and to be more involved with Joseph's school.  My best friend Nathalie is almost due with her first baby...I am so excited for her and am looking forward to helping her through the first few months of motherhood.  I think I'll get my new baby fix from her baby and than I can wait a little longer to have another of my own.  I am still a little worn out from having the first two so close.  Here are some pics from the last couple of months....enjoy!

NKOTB

Yeah, the New kids on the block were just in town. Did I go to the concert? No...Did I want to? Yes....Was I willing to pay $80 for a ticket? No...I was in 5th grade when NKOTB came out..I was not as obsessed as some but I must say I could dance up a storm to their music and had a very large button and poster with them on it. I heard them on T.V. recently and sorry to say was not impressed but still it takes a lot of guts to come back after so long....I'm not sure what would have been more fun...to see the New Kids re-live their younger years or to watch all the 30 year old momma's go crazy over their old teen heart throbs...actually I think the funnest part would be to break out all my old dance moves...roger rabbit..running man..mc hammer...oh yeah!!!!

I have been on a crafting binge. A friend from Oregon got me started making Hair Bows over winter break and now I can't stop. I have found many different techniques and love to come up with my own ideas as well. It's a fun craft, you should try it out. I also have been making cards, it is one of my favorite crafts because you can start and finish all in one day. I have a hard time with crafts that never really end. I also have been doing some home decorating. I made our family name with wood letters and Amy Butler paper. I modge podged the paper onto the wood letters and put them on the wall. It turned out great....I plan to do something similar in our bedroom with Amy Butler Paper and our Wedding Photos even including a matching blanket and pillows for the bed. I'll post it when I'm done. I get most of my ideas off of blogs that are dedicated to sharing their crafting ideas and projects. If you know of a good site please let me know. I love new ideas. My sister Amanda recently came and crafted with me. She brought her new baby Estelle who is THE CUTEST BABY ON THE PLANET! I could not get enough of her, or my sister. I miss the both A LOT!



Recently a friend from a club I am a part of on Joseph's campus was diagnosed with Leukemia. Shortly after receiving treatment she had two strokes and underwent brain surgery. Her life completely changed in a matter of moments. I went and visited her just after surgery and she was on life support unable to move her body. She looked completely different, her future looked uncertain. Although she was not LDS our ward felt compelled to fast and pray for her. Her chances of living were one in ten. Miraculously within just a few weeks..I just last night had a phone conversataion with her. I have to tell you after I got off the phone I could not help but smile with amazment, I could not believe that she had come so far so fast. Through this experience I have learned so many things but most of all it is to not take anyone for granted. This girl was one of those people who did not stand out in a crowd, she was quiet and easily unnoticed. I have to admit that I did not make much of an attempt to befriend her beyond just casual conversation. Yet now that I have had the chance to get to know her through this experience I have seen how amazing she is and feel sorry that I did not develop a friendship previous to this experience. It makes me wonder how many people I let pass me by who either need me, or I need them. I want to strive to notice the unnoticed, to get to know everyone I can and not let an opportunity pass to get to know someone and to be friends with them. I want you all to know that I care about you and follow your lives through your blogs and am inspired by your creativity and charisma. You all make me want to be better and do more. Thank you for being my friend...despite my imperfections:)
Till next time...

Wickedly Good

It has been a "Wickedly Good" Winter! It was filled with family and friends and so much fun. Joseph's family made it in for Christmas and the New Year and than the kids and I made a last minute trip to Oregon to visit my family for a bit. It was so good to be back home. I miss Oregon and all it's simple pleasures. The fresh air, green mountains, beautiful coast line and the best of all family. It was so great to entertain and visit with Joseph's family for Christmas. I decorated the house all festive and made my own stockings. I tried to get real crafty but time slipped away and I did not get all the projects done that I had wanted...in the end though none of that mattered, it was the time spent together with family that made this winter so "Wickedly Good". We all got the chance to see the Broadway show Wicked in Chicago and go to an indoor water park. The play was outstanding, it was good to spend some time in Chicago, we are feeling more and more familiar with it and love to go there. Now we are all back at home. We have had since, a few colds, stomach flu and are hoping we have caught all the viruses that are out this year and are good until next winter:) (Yeah Right) Joseph just celebrated his 29th birthday, we hung out at home and had tacos and cake. Than Kaitlyn was in charge of the entertainment so she organized a game of hide and seek. Joseph is about to head into finals and than start getting ready for his first set of board exams which are in a few weeks. We have a spring break coming up, I am watching 5 kids over the break while some friends head to Hawaii for a vacation. They watched our kids while we went to Spain so we have been planning this for a while. I am gearing myself up to be a "Super Mom" and make having 5 kids look like a piece of cake. I have so many crafts and projects in my basement waiting for me, I like to find ideas off of other woman's blogs, there are a lot of good ones out there. Below are two recipe's I recently found from a magazine my Mom ordered for me. They are simple, easy and turned out great.


Shredded Beef Tacos

Pork Shoulder
Enchilada Sauce
Can Diced Green Chiles
Cilantro
Red Onion
Lime
Corn Tortillas


Put the Pork, Enchilada Sauce and Chiles in a Crock Pot for up to 8-10 hours or until the meat is easy to pull apart. 20 min before serving add some Chopped Cilantro to the Crock Pot let simmer. Also Cut the Onions into thin slices and soak in some fresh lime juice. They will become wilted in 20 min. Stir them occasionally. We like to fry the corn tortillas so they turn a little stiff but you can just warm them up. The recipe just had the tacos having the meat and onions in it but we of course added all the works and they turned out delicious and the best part...SUPER EASY!

Berry Cobbler
oh my gosh this is good

Fresh Berries...I used blackberries and strawberries
Lemon 1 tsp lemon zest and 1 Tbsp Juice
2 Tbsp Corn Starch
1/2 Cup Apricot Preserves
16.5 oz Sugar Cookie Dough (Store Bought)
1/2 cup Oats
1/4 cup pecan pieces

Cut the Strawberries in Half and mix them with the other berries. Add Peach Preserves, Corn Starch, Lemon zest and juice. Mix together until evenly mixed. Pour evenly in a 2 qt baking dish. Knead the cookie dough and oats together. Break into pieces over the berries. Sprinkly with Pecan's. Bake at 375 for 35-40 min or until browned and fruit is bubbling. Put foil on top if it begins to get too brown before finished. Serve warm or at room temperature with ice cream.....

So EASY and So Yummy!

Here are some pics from the many that have been taken this winter.

3 Visitors, A Trip to Alaska, Santa Monica, Hawaii, Atlanta and Spain and a whole season Later....

Disclaimer: the following and any posts on this blog will not be grammatically correct. I have had the life long disability of poor grammar. Not due to my lack of education but due to my own lack of interest. So if I use "their" instead of "there" or if a comma is incorrect I apologize and warn you that if it sincerely bothers you DO NOT READ THIS BLOG:) This is for you Krista....PS...this is totally friendly people. I am making fun of myself and a previous post of a friend with whom writes so well she could be an employee of the New York Times.


There is a beautiful tree in our front yard that shades us in the summer and gives us privacy from the main road. I love to look out the front window and see it's beautiful blossoms in the Spring, the Green Leaves in the Summer and then in Autumn watch it as it slowly changes through all the beautiful fall colors. Right now it is an amazing mix of light green and yellow. I keep looking at it and thinking, man I got to do some sort of craft project inspired by these beautiful colors. In the Winter our tree becomes an abstract piece of art, bare branches weighed down by the ice and snow that covers it. I just love our tree!

My parents came to visit, and spoiled us rotten. They got us a great BBQer which we have used almost daily and also got us a zoo membership which we also use EVERY week. The last time we went the weather was perfect and the animals were all so friendly and happy. Our little zoo here is the perfect zoo for toddlers. We will miss it over the extreme winter months. My parents also bought me a bike for my birthday so we recently added a bike trailer/jogger and now we can go on bike rides and runs. WE LOVE IT! I can't tell you how good it feels to be able to bike again. The wind blowing through my hair, the speed, the freedom it gives me. It just feels good and the kids LOVE it. We have a really cool bike path (7 miles worth) right at our doorstep. It winds through town and hits an assortment of parks along the way. It is lined with woods and streams, bridges and lots of fun critters. It's one of our favorite things to do. My parents took a walk with us one day while they were here. We also took in the Iowa State Fair which is one of the top 100 things to do in the USA. It was definitely a site to see, complete with tractor dancing. Yes the tractors indeed did dance. We had the most incredible corn dogs imaginable and we saw lots of fun horses and livestock. We were able to see the Nauvoo Pageant and Festival, what an amazing show. David, Joseph's brother, was also here, we enjoyed having his company. We all got to go on a cruise down the Mississippi together as a part of Homecoming at Palmer, where Joseph goes to school.

Ok so I just remembered one of my good friends, who is completely honest, said my blogs are always too long so I am going to stop myself here. My parents came, we had fun!

Then this summer we went to Juneau for a few weeks to visit Joseph's family. We helped out and spent time with the family. Kaitlyn celebrated her birthday while there. She got to ride a helicopter up to the top of the glacier where she drank glacier water and got very very cold. Joseph went with her and said she LOVED it. Joseph also got to go on the zip line tour where he had the time of his life. I settled for a ride up the Tram and a nice hike on top of the mountain.



We went on our first family camping trip a few weeks ago to a nearby campground just to see how the kids would do. We had tin foil dinners and Sm ores of course. Adam slept perfectly. Kaitlyn woke up in the middle of the night and wanted to wander the tent but overall she did just fine. I think once the newness wears off she will sleep just fine in her little sleeping bag. The kids LOVED painting the car with mud and going on an adventure through the woods. The campground, though only 15 minutes from home, was absolutely amazing and we will definitely go back again next spring.


I have been busy with two jobs, one at a chiropractic office working the front desk and soon will also be doing billing and the other at a ice cream store called Maggie Moos. We serve fresh made ice cream and mix in extras on a granite table just like at Cold Stones. It's a lot of fun and it is super yummy too. I work in the evenings with both jobs so we don't need any babysitters and it gets me out as well as brings in some extra cash for gas and diapers:) I am the Nursery Leader at church, which is super fun. If you are also a nursery leader let me know we can exchange ideas. In addition to all of this I am a part of a club on campus where we support and learn about chiropractic. It's a club for spouses or partners of the students and we do educational and fun activities. I enjoy that and especially enjoy the friendships that have formed from it. OH and I turned 30. No big deal. Had a good birthday and decided to cut my own bangs, just for a change. I am getting them cut professionally on Monday, I can't wait. Note to self, when bored and feeling like I want a change, lock up the scissors.

Recently a good friend of mine who works at the local airport took me on a dream getaway to Hawaii. With the accumulation of many fortunate circumstances I was able to go with free babysitting and on a very low budget. My friend Nathalie and I stopped in Santa Monica for a day and visited a friend there and did some major good shopping. Santa Monica really is a dream. It is so beautiful and super exciting. We stayed 5 days in Kauai, which was like heaven. We just layed on the beach, saw all the natural wonders and enjoyed a wonderful boat ride. We saw dolphins, turtles, lizards and cool looking moths. I made some good friends and had a nice relaxing vacation. I owe Nathalie big time for her generous gift and her steadfast friendship. She is amazing and I am so grateful for her and her husband. I love to hang out with them and they have done so much for me. Thank goodness for good friends!

We recently went to the pumpkin patch and got some pumpkins. The kids rode the pony's and petted all the animals. Kaitlyn especially liked the llama. Adam enjoyed the bunnies.

At Palmer they have a Trick or Treat day. I made Kaitlyn and Adam's costumes the morning of. I found some cute furry material and decided to make them Mommy and Daddy's little Monsters! Roaaaar. They turned out well, I was pleased. Kaitlyn thought it was the best day of her life to walk around and have people give her candy. She just quietly walked up to the bowl of candy, took two (which is as much as her hand will hold), and would put them slowly in her bag and walk away. Surprisingly her favorite thing ended up being a note pad she got. What can I say, she loves to draw.

Which leads me to our trip to Spain, where our camera was stolen so we have no pics of the monster costumes. Just think furry and blue. For Joseph's break we went to Madrid and Barcelona. Despite having a bag stolen from literally underneath our noses we had what I would call an amazing time. I had never really experienced Europe and thouroughly enjoyed the ancient history and awe inspiring architecture. I def want to return to Europe it was unforgettable. If you want to see pics of the most beautiful architecture check out my friend Nathalies blog. They took really good pics and were great guides in some of Europes busiest cities. I cannot forget to mention our nights stay in Atlanta and our visit to The Worlds Largest Aquarium. Go people! It is worth the trip, Atlanta is so friendly anf fun. We are going back with the kids FOR SURE!

Since we have been home, life is back to normal. Winter is now upon us. When I started this post fall had just arrived and now all the leaves have fallen and the air is cold and crisp. Snow will soon arrive and so will the holidays. How quickly time goes by, I am so greatful for the amazing experiences we have enjoyed this year. Sorry for the long blog.......you deserve an award if you made it the whole way thru....

There you have it, I am all caught up...wooohooo. Take Blog off the TO DO list, at least until next week when I get to update you again:) We love and care for you all. Let me know how your doing. Even though I don't blog a lot, I do check your blogs....often. Blog on my Blog friends...Blog on!

It's about Time!

We have been super blessed to have had soooo much go on this Spring and Summer. I have recieved many emails and notes from some of you about my delay in posting. I just want to say Thank You for caring. I got one post done for you today but plan on posting more in the next week of all that we have done so far this summer. Just after Adam's Birthday in May my Older Sister Amanda came to visit us and we were fortunate enough that she could also bring her two little kids Aidan and Mckenna. We had the most fun while they were here. We made a trip to the zoo, The John Deere Museum, the Family Museum the park, the ball pit and had many fun times just staying at home and playing outside. Aidan and Adam loved to wrestle around, well actually Aidan would just lay there and Adam would run up and tackle him over and over again. I am pretty sure Adam will always look up to Aidan as a good friend and cousin. Mckenna and Kaitlyn loved to play together, they had a little hard time here and there with sharing but overall they played well. I can't tell you how much I love my sister. With this visit my heart and mind were made up that after we are done with school here, I have to live close to her and her family. It kills me to think of all this time I am missing out on developing our Eternal Friendship and bond. I love spending time with her and our regular phone calls are what get me through till I get to go back home again. So, I've convinced Joseph that when we are done here we will head directly back to the Portland Metro area where my family is and set up a practice there. We are so excited to find a community to settle down in and be able to serve with Chiropractic Care. While I have been here I have learned a lot about Chiropractic and I just love it. I think it is a important contributor to our nations health and well being. I hope all of you get the chance to experience what Good Chiropractic care can do for you and your families lifestyle. We so enjoyed having my sister and her two kids come to visit. I am so greatful for that experience for Kailtyn exspecially because she can now remember names and faces of people she meets. She asks for Aidan and Mckenna and when I ask her if she loves them she responds with a very enthustiastic , "YEAH"! It makes my heart melt. There will be several more slide show's as the week progress's so come back and check them out soon. Love to you all.

Adamsaurus Turns One

Adam had the best birthday ever. His birthday was Sunday the 18th so we had a small family dinner with the missionaries. It was fun to have the missionaries here to help us celebrate, hopefully one day Adam will want to serve a mission as well some day. Serving a mission was the best thing Joseph and I have ever done besides have a family. I made Adam a cake but he was not interested so Kaitlyn had his piece:) We got Adam a bunch of balls for his birthday, he LOVES anything to do with sports gear. He was born with the ability to throw a ball, it's pretty amazing actually. He also tackles a football like a pro, and I'm not even kidding. He just automatically knows what to do with the balls it's really kind of weird. I am pretty sure he will be a sports nut. Then later in the week Adam had some visitors, his Aunt Trish and my friend Robin. I went up to Chicago to pick them up, a friend of mine was gracious enough to watch the kids for a day so I did not have to trek them up there and it gave me a chance to explore the city a little. Robin and I while waiting for Trish's plane to get in went and saw Navy Pier and went up the Sears Tower. It was awesome. Thank you so much Michelle, you ROCK!!! Friday we all got ready for Adam's party which originally was planned for a park but it was raining so we switched it to the Institute. It turned out to be so much fun, Adam had lots of friends come and he got some cool presents. Thank you so much everyone. My neighbor and I made him his Dinosaur cake which turned out awesome. I learned lots about cakes, they are fun to make. Saturday we all went to Nauvoo and went on a wagon ride of the city and then headed to Iowa City to go to the outlets where we all found a few new things for summer. Then on Sunday we all relaxed and Robin made us an amazing dinner. She has been taking some cooking classes and boy oh boy have they payed off. Yummy! Monday our guests had to leave, we were sad, we loved spending time with some of our favorite people. Trish and Robin and I laughed a lot and probably stayed up way too late for our own good but we felt we had to make the most of the little time we had. Trish is off to Spain for a month for a study abroad and Robin is back to work, she works hard. As for us, we are getting ready for a few other visitors. Amanda and her kids are coming on Saturday. Adam and Kaitlyn have no idea how much fun awaits them. I don't know how we got so lucky to have such good friends and family. Here are some pics of the last week. Happy Birthday Adam!!!

April Update

Time is flying by really fast. Next month Adam will be one and Kaitlyn will soon be two. They are the gem's of our lives. It is so much fun watching them learn and grow. I think sometimes as parents we feel like we need to work so hard at teaching our kids things. We plan activities and try to read to them often, expose them to new things etc etc. It's amazing although how easy it is for them to learn at this age. Without even knowing it, you teach them things. I guess what I am saying is, I think as parents we don't have to stress ourselves out so much about what we are and are not teaching our kids and just live. They learn more from just watching what we do and from who we are then anything else I think. Kaitlyn has been learning more and more words each day. It's amazing how quickly children can pick up on words. I'll tell her the name of something once and the next day she will remember it. She loves to ask, "What's that?". She asks that question at least 20 times a day. I love it. Her favorite animal sound is a rooster and she loves this cute web site called Boowa and Kwala which has free games and songs for kids. She laughs so hard at some of the songs, which have animations to go along with them. It's a great site for kids, check it out...http://www.uptoten.com/kids/boowakwala-home.html go to the tab that says 58 songs and go through all the pages. We really like the Toucan Song the best. Adam is standing on his own now and can walk with a walker. He will be walking very soon I believe. Yay! He is such a kind little boy and has a very sweet demeanor. He loves his sister Kaitlyn and follows her around everywhere. He also has learned to climb the stairs so it's time to block them off once again. Adam's hair was getting super long so we took him to a local children's hair salon called "Cookie Cutters". It's so cute it has a play gym inside with chairs that are trains or cars for them to sit in while they get their hair cuts. The hair dresser was really nice and we had a fun time getting Adam's first real hair cut. You can see pictures below. Hope you all are doing well and enjoying Spring. We love and miss you all....The Shepro's

I'm Dreaming of a White Easter

This Easter was a white one for us. It started snowing Saturday night and then Sunday it snowed off and on. The weather is fairly warm though so it did not stick around very long. Saturday we went to a friends in the morning for a brunch and Easter Egg Hunt. Kaitlyn actually understood a little bit of what was going on this year so it made all the Easter activities fun. She knows that the bunny goes, "Hop-Hop-Hop"! I did not dare try Egg Dying this year but I hope next year we can start that tradition. I saw a cute idea in a magazine to dye easter eggs with chalkboard paint and then let the kids draw on them with chalk. It looked like it might be a little less messy for young kids then egg dying. Anywhoo, Saturday night we went to a chili cook-off and made a super yummy creamy chili, it did not win any awards but it sure was good. If anyone wants the recipe just let me know. Sunday we dressed the kids up in their Easter gear, and went to church and then that evening we went to another friends for dinner. It was a fun weekend even though Joseph had a super lot of studying to do. This trimester is turning out to be one of his hardest ever. Everyone says this is the hardest of them all so we are taking it seriously. Joseph comes home for dinner, helps put kids to bed and that is about all we see him. He does make sure to take a few hours each weekend to have family time with us which is nice. If it's not hard it's not worth it! Kaitlyn is learning words by the minute. Right now she loves to say Cockadoodledoo! We went to the zoo today and she LOVED it! I am so excited to go often this summer since it's only 20 minutes away. Here some pics of our Easter Adventure and of the Quillow I made recently. Cheers....

Spring Is On It's Way!!!!

This week was eventful. The previous routine I posted went way out the window (Thank Heavens)! The weather actually warmed up, the snow has all melted, the birds are singing and spring actually looks like it may happen. So, the kids and I played outside quite a bit. Kaitlyn LOVES to play at what I call the "Rock Pit"-it's behind the garages in our parking lot and Kaitlyn loves to find different kinds of rocks and then throw them as far as she can. When we are done I kick them all back into the pile. Lucky me! I started making a Quillow, which is a quilt that folds into a pillow..thus a quillow. I met Joseph down on campus for lunch a few days this week which was fun. Friday we all went to the YMCA for the first time. I am so excited to get into an exercise routine. The kids did awesome in the daycare (which is FREE) so I am going to add exercising to my routine on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. Saturday we tried to go see the St. Patricks Day Parade but ended up leaving because it was a little chilly and the parade was getting off to a slow start, really we left because Kaitlyn wanted to run out into the middle of the street and also dig in the gutters which were full of cigarette buts...She is so curious I love it and usually I am all about letting my kids get their fingers dirty but I had to draw the line on this one. Kaitlyn is talking more and more. I think she talks more then I think because I have noticed what I thought was just babbling has now turned into actual words. It's AWESOME! There is something about your child learning to talk..it makes you feel comforted to know they are learning something from you (or maybe Sesame Street). Adam is pulling himself up onto things, almost standing. He is such an animal, he has fast hands. He can grab something like the speed of lightning. He also has started making a noise that sounds like a machine gun so we have started giving him the nick name Ammo. It is so cute. Joseph is really busy lately, studying and involvement at school and church. He is such a trooper. I think he thrives on having work to do. The cutest thing happened Saturday Morning. We went to get the kids up and brought them into bed with us to cuddle and play for a bit (one of my favorite times of day). It was cute though because Kaitlyn and Adam did not want to cuddle us instead they cuddled up to each other and held hands. It was the sweetest thing on earth. They looked at each other with such loving eyes. Adam has been following Kaitlyn around like a puppy dog and most days Kaitlyn will play nice with him. They are really becoming good friends and nothing could make me more happy. I am looking forward to Easter and hope everyone is enjoying the beginnings of Spring. Here are some pictures from this winter....enjoy!

Clarification

No Joseph is not pregnant (see last blog post).

Under Construction

Be patient with me while I try to figure out how to make my page more interesting. I have a minute or two here or there to work on it. Currently Adam is at my feet whimpering for some love but I just wanted everyone to know that I am working on it-slowly but surely-I am working on it. Please don't be offended either if you don't see your name in my friends list anymore....I still love you-I just have to re add everyone. We are doing good, Joseph starts his second trimester tomorrow so we are gearing up for that, everyone says the second is the worst so this may be a trying 4 months. Adam is now rolling across the floor as if he might die and any minute due to lack of attention....so better run...