Sweet Baby Ben!

Here are a couple pics of my dear friend Lyndsay's sweet baby Ben! They were in town this weekend, and it was wonderful to see them! Ben is absolutely precious...as you can see from the pics!

I think I am OCD (slightly).....

I have major issues with obsessive compulsion....and I'm a bit of a hypo-chondriac. All my good friends and family know this about me, and most of them laugh with me, not at me (cause I'm not laughing)...well, sort of laughing, maybe. Anyway, lately I've been afraid of spiders--brown recluse spiders, to be exact. I'm pretty darn sure that I have seen them in my house, and in my parents house. I went to throw a load of laundry in the other day, and a very suspicious looking specimen scurried out of a dirty towel...I did the only thing I knew to do--grabbed the dustbuster and suctioned the darn thing up. I left the suction on for a long time, and then put it back into the charger--sincerely hoping that the hole is now plugged. This, my friends, was two days ago. I am petrified to check and see what kind of spider is looming in that dustbuster. I need to dump the contents and see if this little guy has the identifiable "violin" pattern on it's torso, or thorax, or whatever it's called in "bug lingo"...but I can't.

If I find that this is, in fact, a brown recluse, I will never, and I mean NEVER sleep again. My children won't either because I will be too scared to let them into their beds--one of the most common ways to get bitten is by rolling over on a spider in bed! So, the spider sits in the dustbuster, and then I don't have to freak out and know for sure. I was forced to stop googling "brown recluse spiders" and "brown recluse spider findings in our town (which, by the way, didn't turn up any relevant information), by my dear husband tonight, who lovingly called me "crazy"...but mind you this was only seconds after he calmly asked me to grab a tissue and turn on the light. He was tracking a spider who somehow scurried away--I adamantly asked if it was a brown recluse he had seen...he didn't even respond to that one! And, to add insult to injury, I was getting a relaxing foot massage right before that dumb spider sauntered into our living room.

So, now I'm waiting to go to bed and praying that I won't dream about these silly spiders. These brown recluse spiders that I've never even heard of being spotted in this part of the state. But, if there's one to be found, believe you me, I'll be the one to find it! See, I told you all, I'm a little OCD....yikes! ;)

We're back!!!!!!!!!!

We had another fabulous vacation up in Michigan these past two weeks! Aside from the excruciatingly long car ride up (the usual 7 hour trip somehow became a 12 hour marathon adventure, with a hysterical baby, tired kiddo, and very spent mommy and mimi), it was just perfect!

We had so much fun with Auntie Lynne and Auntie Teah the first week! It was so wonderful to catch up and just to relax and enjoy being together! Poor Connor was the only male for many days, though, and after awhile the testosterone began to build up in his little system. When the cable guy came to the cottage on Thursday afternoon to make a simple sales call, he had no idea what he was in for! Connor instantly caught wind of another male on the premises and was on him like one of those biting black flies we were dealing with the entire vacation. It was pretty hilarious, actually! :) I don't think the guy knew quite what to make of Connor asking him to look at every toy he could find in the 2 minute time span he stood at the door!

By the time Daddy and Grandpa got in on Saturday, Connor was ready to do some fishing! They had so much fun down at the dock fishing for hours and hours, they caught many perch (or "porch") as Connor so fondly refers to them, and also quite a few "stupid sunfish", as Grandpa not so fondly refers to them! :) A large pike loomed in the shallow water by the dock, and although he did finally bite the line, he snapped it instantly and got away with a poor little "porch" used for bait. I'm quite sure he swam away with a full belly thinking "suckers" as he barely had to work for that breakfast! ;)

Brookie had her first taste of cereal, and began rolling like a champ! She is almost crawling at this point...YIKES!!! I don't think I'm ready for all of that, yet. All in all it was an awesome trip, and we can't wait to go again next year. Now, for your viewing enjoyment, a whole schlew of pictures....... :)

See Ya Later.....Alligator(s)!!!! :)

We're leaving tomorrow for two glorious weeks of vacation at the cottage in Michigan! Yay! We're leaving Tommy at home the first week (poor Daddy has to stay here and work..yuck! :( But we'll all be up together for week number two! Teah and Lynne are coming up this week though, and that will be sooo much fun! We're really excited...now, I just have to PACK...ugh! Who knew that packing for a family of four (well, really three, since Tommy will pack for himself) could be so difficult? Eye, yey, yey! I'm putting it off by sitting here on the computer...but I'd better get to it. The good thing is, even if I forget something Tommy and Grandpa could bring it up later in the week...that's a little reassuring.

Because we're leaving Daddy at home, we got him a little present to keep him entertained. It's called a rip stick (click on the word, to see a pic) and Michael (Tommy's brother) and his kids have them. Tommy is like a teenager riding this thing, so we figure this will help him stay entertained at night with no Connor here to say "play with me Daddy!" "No, on the FLOOR, Daddy!" We just hope he stays sane and doesn't hurt himself too badly! :) Yikes!!!!

Hopefully we'll be able to post a couple of times from up North....yay!!!!

Here are a couple of pics of Brooke and Grandma to leave you with! ;)

Brookie Stats!

Brookie had her 4 month apt. today! She's growing really well--14.6 lbs. (50-75%), 25.25 inches (50-75%), and her head is actually only in the 25-50%, so she's definitely not taking after her big brother in that area! Ha! The doctor said she's just "perfect" and was really impressed at what a happy, alert, and strong little girl she is!!!! We love our Brookie-pie! :)

Darn Camera!

Our poor camera is dying a slow death...imagine how cute these would have been if they weren't pink and blurry!

Summertime...and the livin' is easy!

This is what summer is all about! We spent a lovely evening the other night at Jeff and Amy's with the family. It was so much fun...the kids had a BLAST playing in the little pool. Due to the 90+ degree weather, the original idea for a bon-fire was decided to be revisited this fall, and we sat around a pool of squealing children, instead! I love summer!


Apparently, Grandpa got out the "big guns" and sprayed the kids!



Kate, Jill, and Connor in the pool



Connor and Gramps in the playhouse (looks like Grandpa could move right in! ;)



Connor and Mimi watching the sheep (I love this picture)



My baby girl, right before bed!

More pics from this month!

We love July because it's a wonderful time to catch up with our dear friends! :) Auntie Teah is in town for the whole month---YAY!!!!!!!!!! We have had soooo much fun playing with her! She and Auntie Erin came over the other day and completely entertained the kids (including attempting to put Connor down for a nap and changing a very poopy diaper) while I completed a job interview over the phone....you girls are the best and we love you DEARLY! :)

We also got to see Katie's beautiful kiddos a couple of weeks ago...what an adorable family you guys are! Maverick is now 6 1/2 months old and moving all over the place...I forgot what that stage was all about! So much fun! Connor loved Asia and Malia and asks all the time if we can play with them again...looks like we need to make a trip down south soon--we would hit you all--Rieppel's, Madeley's, Cook's, and Auntie Te, and Aunt Wendy's family...sounds like we had better start planning our trip!

The Fourth of July!

It's that time of year again--the time of year when the carnies sweep into our small peaceful village and turn Broadway into a hustling, bustling midway packed with people of all ages--many of whom are returning villagers! It's the annual fourth of July celebration which involves a four day street fair, parade, fire works display, bands playing at the Grand Stand, high school reunions, elephant ears, picnics, and seeing old faces bringing their children back to their home town to discover the wonder of Independence Day in the grandest of traditions! As the festivities come to a close, I'd just like to take a moment to thank all of those men and women and their amazing families who are serving, or have served this great country. We are so blessed, and we remember you and THANK you. It's because of the sacrifices you all have made that we can celebrate so freely and enjoy all of our blessings. So from the bottom of our hearts, we thank you! Happy Fourth of July!

Teah and I at the pub (Tommy and I had a night out--how fun!!!--Thanks Mimi and Grandpa! ;)


Here are all all of the Girls our favorite pub!


The Street Fair!


Connor and Mimi on the Merry Go Round--another tradition that we've started!

Why??!!?

To all fellow mothers of toddlers (soon to be pre-schoolers):

I just had to stop doing the much needed task of folding laundry for 2 minutes (even though I probably only have about 5 until the baby wakes up and the whole house is disasterous--but that's a different post altogether :), to write about the current favorite word in our household...WHY?!?

A conversation might go something like this:

Me: "Connor, please keep working on putting your toys away."
Connor: "Why, Mama?"
Me: "Because I asked you to."
Connor: "Why, Mama?"......
*5 minutes later*
Me: "Connor, there are still toys all over the living room, and I want to vaccuum in a minute, can you please keep working?"
Connor: "But, why, Mama."
Me: "Because we need to put the things away that we get out, otherwise our house is a disaster and we can't even walk in it!"
Connor: "Why, Mama?"

And so it goes, and so it goes........

Seriously, he answers every question, statement, dangling preposition, with "Why?" right now...it's a little cute, and a little annoying. :) Most of the time I find that if I just sigh and move on, he forgets he even asked the question. And, by the way, the living room still looks like a tornado hit it, it's ten after five and I barely made headway with any housework today...I find myself asking our favorite question, "Why???" :)

3 Months Old!!!!

Brookie is now 3 months old!!! Where have these past three months gone? I'd love to write a long post about all the fun things she's doing these days, however, I usually have a window of exactly two minutes to type while she's laying beside me, before she really starts to fuss! ;) So, I'll post some pictures instead...these are from playing outside the other day, and from Auntie Anna's visit last weekend...and, there she goes--fussing already! :)

As promised....

Brookie and Great Nana

Brookie, Mimi, and Great Papa

Mimi and Brooke

Our sweaty family! :)

And again...(not the best family shots, but since we're lacking on these, at least we have something of all four of us! :)

Daddy and Brooke

Brookie Pie!

Yay!!! I'm officially in business again!!!!

First of all, I have to say a HUGE thank you to all of my family and friends who have given me the encouragement I need to give this custom art work thing a shot again. As many of you know, my position as Art Curator at the Art Works Gallery was cut right around the time that Brooke was born. I have enjoyed every minute of being home with these little guys since my last day of work (well, I'll have to admit, some minutes have been more enjoyable than others :), but over all I looooove being at home!
I've started to look into other job options, and some very good ones have presented themselves...however, after really praying and sorting through all of this, I feel like this is the PERFECT time to work on building this business again. What I plan to do is use this blog as my main marketing tool (for now, at least), and create posts with different examples of my art work. Of course, I'll still post pics of the kiddos, too...as they are way more interesting and adorable than anything I could create!!! ;)

This is a total work (and dream) in progress, so bear with me, please!!!! :)

Look for new posts, and I'm so excited to start creating again!

Love to all!