My Little Monster

I haven't posted a video in a long time and these make me laugh (it could just be me :) I took these the day before Cy broke his leg - daddy was on a business trip and the boys wanted to be dinosaurs/monsters. Chase is the funniest when it comes to being a dinosaur - I love his little walk he does! I thought I needed to record this at some point so we can look back at how funny they were - and of course mommy laughing while they're doing it only encourages them more :)
Here are my 2 favorites:

Have a great day!!!

New Traditions

One of the few books I've read this year is Noel Piper's "Treasuring God in our Traditions". In it she talks about ordinary, everyday habits and also creavite ways to reflect Christ in those "especially" occasions. She devotes a whole chapter to Christmas where I've taken some of her ideas and added them to our own family traditions.

One of the biggest reasons I was looking for some more holiday traditions was because earlier this year I told Cole about Santa Clause and although it's been hard (on me! not him) I really think it's been the right decision. Santa Clause adds a lot of the "magic" to Christmas but I think if we try just a little, Christmas can hold the same anticipation and be even more special just by celebrating Jesus' birthday.

Some of you may be thinking right now that it sounds a little cruel to take Santa out of Christmas for a child. But Cole (like many other children) is such a literal thinker (ex. While explaining to Cole that some parents still tell their kids that Santa brings them presents because it's a fun thing to do, his first response was "But they're lying to them") and he is also very sensitive. I want my kids to always be able to believe everything that I tell them and never have to question if what I'm saying is make believe or not. I haven't pushed Santa out of the picture completely; they still get to watch all the fun shows on TV like the classic "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" - they just know that it's a fairy tale. A few more reasons is that it saves any later heartbreak, it focuses their attention on the real reason for Christmas and they also know that those presents are from the people who love them most whether they're good or bad.

Like I said, I'm trying to make Christmas just as much fun/special (if not more) without Santa. A new tradition we started was an advent calendar. I made ours with 25 pockets and put a little note in each one that has something different for the boys to make and give to someone each day. They are all very inexpensive, simple things like "Draw a picture for Oma and Papa and mail it to them" or "Make cookies for Grandma and deliver them to her work" or "Write a note/draw a picture for daddy and hide it under his pillow for him to find tonight". The boys have loved it and look forward to seeing what they're going to do next as soon as Cole gets home from school everyday. Not every single note is something for them to give - like yesterday was a present from Oma and Papa that they got to open early. It was a Little People nativity scene which is another new tradition that they'll get to get out every year. I think having a nativity scene will help them have a clearer picture of the Christmas story and it's something fun for them to play with.

Another new tradition we'll start is instead of setting out cookies for Santa we'll make cupcakes or cookies to celebrate Jesus' birthday. They'll get to sing , blow out candles and have dessert - what kid wouldn't like that better than setting out a cookie for someone else to eat? :)

Baby Update

I'm not sure how well these ultrasound pictures will look on here but we'll see! I had an ultrasound earlier this week and everything looks great. My doctor wanted to see how big she's measuring and she's right inbetween average and extremely large - Cole and Chase were both 8lbs 11oz; Cy was 8lbs 6oz but they were all average size and then grew a lot at the end. Maybe she's just bigger in the beginning and then won't grown as fast as the others at the end - we'll see if she's bigger than her brothers (hopefully not by much!). On Tuesday I'll be 28 weeks - I'll be starting my last trimester!!!















Here's a quick pic of Brandon and I. We went to a gala Friday night (it was work related) at the Gaylord. Thanks Whitney for letting me borrow your dress!!!

Quick Update

I posted some new pictures for a quick business update. Our decorative letters are still the most popular item right now!


I loved making this pillow sham since it's the same type of theme I'm using for Kenadi's room.

I'm finally going to start making stuff for Kenadi's room pretty soon (after the holidays are over). I'll keep you guys posted! :)

Thanksgiving Weekend

Hope everyone had a relaxing Thanksgiving weekend!
This year instead of going to Grandma's house for Thanksgiving we all went to the Apfel's (Nick's fiance's parents house). Thanksgiving dinner was delicous and we had a great time spending the holiday with more family.

The kids also made Indian vests and head dresses with paper bags but after Cy made his he decided he didn't want to put it on, so daddy did :)

Some really good news is that Cy started to walk on his leg again the day before Thanksgiving. Of course it's still hard for him to get around but he's doing a great job. He even thinks it's funny to put his pirate eye patch on and walk around like he has a peg leg.

The day after Thanksgiving was spent switching the boys' rooms around. Yay! That's something I've been waiting to do and Cole and Chase were so excited to have bunk beds again. Next on the list of things to do is paint Kenadi's room pink! Brandon and I also went and registered at Babies r' Us that night (I think that got him that much more excited - getting to pick out all the cute pink stuff for his baby girl :)

Saturday, we took the boys over to the Flower Mound Christmas Trees. I remember my parents taking us to pick out a tree when we were little and we had so much fun (probably being those obnoxious kids playing and running behind all the trees trying to hide).

Cole was trying to be sneaky


Cy had to be in the stroller the whole time but he didn't seem to mind.

We ended up coming home from Lowes with our first Frasier Fir. We think we like it better than the Douglas Fir that we usually get.

We always let the kids decorate the tree first (it's so much fun to watch) and then we spread out all the ornaments later when they're not looking :)
Christmas is my favorite time of year and I really can't believe it's already here. I have some more things I want to share about some new traditions we're going to start that hopefully I'll have time to do tomorrow - December 1st!!!

Chase's Birthday, A Broken Leg and Pulled Teeth

We had quite an eventful couple days this past week at our house. Starting last Wednesday we celebrated Chase's actual birthday. We started the day with a special breakfast then after we took Cole to school Chase opened up a new k'nex car. He LOVES spending time building things right now.


We had a special lunch that day, then we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa's that night for Chase's turn to drive the mower, eat some pizza and have dessert.



















Friday night I was sent running to Cole's room because of painful screams I heard coming from Cy. I had put the boys to bed and in less than 5 minutes Chase and Cy had snuck into Cole's room, turned on Hook and started messing around. Apparently Cy was laying on his back pushing up on the bed mattress with his legs. Cole had jumped and landed right where Cy's leg was at just the right moment fracturing Cy's tibia.

They put a splint on his leg that night in th ER then today he got his cast on. Poor guy did not like getting something else put on his leg. The whole time he was covering his face with his pooh-bear.

Cole came with us to help comfort Cy.

He get's his cast off December 23, just in time for Christmas.

All three boys also got to go to the dentist today. About a month ago, we noticed that Cole had an adult tooth pushing through the back of his bottom gums (this was after he had hit his mouth againt his bed really hard). So at the the dentist today they pulled not one but both front bottom teeth out to make room (that tooth looks huge!). We'll just have to wait and see if his permanent tooth will move up.















If there's anyone reading this that watched ER last Thursday then you could probably guess I spent the hour bawling my eyes out. It was about how the new chief of the ER had lost her son and it was so so so sad. I'm sure it's my pregnancy hormones going crazy too but it was just one of those moments that made you want to wake up all of your kids, hold them so tight and let them know how much you love them. I'm so grateful for what I have and after Cy broke his leg it made all of that compassion and gratefullness come bursting out (even through times of feeling so tired and frustrated). Though breaking his leg is a bit of a set back it has made me slow down. It's also been a wake up reminding me of how it's going to be with the new baby - the first night Cy woke up at 3 and 5 crying (after I didn't get to bed till 2) and also how he's totally depending on us to get him around for the next week or two. After that I'm sure he'll be up and running again!

Here's to being grateful :)

More and More Letters

Finally, a Needle in a Scrap Stack update. With Christmas coming around I've been busy with a few more orders and they've mostly been for our decorative letters. Here's a couple of my favorite:

Right Here, Right Now

I'm a little late for the actual challenge but I've been wanting to do this for a while and I wanted to share it with all of you. I saw it on Heidi Swapp's blog a little while ago and thought what better time to do this than now when everything is going to change with the baby in just a few short months. It was called "Give Yourself a Present" by Stacy Julian (you can visit her blog at:http://stacysbigpicture.typepad.com/

"You have everything you need right now to be vibrant and fully engaged in the creative process. Join me and dozens of other scrapbookers in a challenge to ‘Give yourself a Present’.

1. snap ten photos of your life right now
2. compile these photos in a really small mini-album
3. keep or carry this album with you (in your desk/bedside drawer or purse) for one year.
4. Promise to glance through the album every time you stumble upon it or pull it from your purse.
5. On Oct. 1st 2009, create a scrapbook page about your experience. (and Stacy promises to remind all of us)
6. Share it on your blog Oct.1st 2009"

"I think you'll find that regardless of what you choose to photograph, be it nature, your children, your pets, your home, your current projects --- anything and everything, that life is in flux. We and our surroundings are constantly changing (even when you don't see it or believe it) and this little challenge/project is designed to STOP you, in the throws of your busyness and show you in an instant ALL that you have and can choose to be grateful for -- ALL that is here NOW and very likely fleeting ..."

"Can you imagine if every woman in the world had a little "present" in her purse, a little something to pull out and look at on the bus, in the school parking lot, in line at the grocery store ... I think there would be a greater degree of gratitude, of patience, of satisfaction and of happiness."

Inbetween everything else going I will try to take time to do this. Sounds like fun - I'll post it when I'm done!

The Name Game

Originally I thought picking out a girl name was going to be a piece of cake. Well finding one that both Brandon and I agreed on was of course, difficult. I think we have finally made Kenadi the official name but I'm worried that I'll start putting Kenadi on everything and then change my mind!! :) Brandon is definitely set on it though so I don't see him liking anything other.

Now the decision is for the middle name. We both like Nicole - it's my middle name and also could be after Brandon's brother Nicholas. I also like how our first boy and our first girl would have our middle names (Cole and Brandon have the same middle name after his Grandpa Tom).
The other name I like is Capri. The only times I've heard this name is from our friends Christen and Clay, on a song by Colby what's her name, and I also spotted it on this scrapbook page by Heidi Swapp.
So which is it . . .
Kenadi Nicole
or
Kenadi Capri . . .

We'll let you know!

Party Time!

This weekend we celebrated Cole and Chase's birthdays with a golf party. We set up a little golf course in the backyard that the kids got to play on (this probably would have been better in the spring when the grass isn't so crunchy:). Of course I was so busy running around that I didn't get many pictures - most of what I did get was thanks to Roni!
Cole has gotten into Star Wars a little more and he loved getting all the action figures from everyone. Chase got some Transformers that he's been dying to have.
Their new favorite toys are now the light sabers from Oma and Papa. Thankfully nobody has gotten hurt so far!

Thanks to everyone who made their day so special!

Our President Elect

I'm sure most of you who read this share the same opinion of our new president elect Barack Obama (I was not celebrating Tuesday night in case you were still wondering). As I try to do with most of my other posts to either inspire or encourage I thought I'd do the same here. I read these verses the other day and I hope they can encourage you like they did me:

1 Peter 2:13-16
"Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor."
1 Timothy 2:1-4
"First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."

Have a great day!!!

1st Maternity Pics

The leaves outside are changing quick - so since today was such a beautiful fall day I thought we'd take the kids down by the lake and try to take a few maternity pics. Of course, things didn't go quite as planned. First we decided that if we'd wait about another week there should be more vibrant colors in the background and then of course Cy ended up in the water and everyone got all muddy (of course the boys thought it was fun).

I did end up taking two pictures (same pose) that I like. I look kind of small don't I (I'm talking about my tummy not my ever growing, waving goodbye even after I've actually stopped arms)?

Halloween

Every Halloween I've tried to coordinate the boys' costumes so that they're all something from the same theme . Two years ago they we're Captain Hook, Peter Pan and a pirate; last year they were Buzz Lightyear, Woody and the green dinosaur from Toy Story. This year, since they liked the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie so much, they decided they wanted to be Alvin, Simon and Theodoore. Simple enough, I sewed a letter on each sweatshirt so that Simon and Theodoore didn't look like they were wearing a plain sweatshirt for Halloween and we gave Chase an old pair of glasses that actually use to be Uncle Nick's when he was little (poor Uncle Nick! Look at the size of those things :). They loved it!












We carved pumpkins the day before - Daddy helped Cy, I helped Chase and Cole did his own!




Hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween!!!

Happy Birthday Cole!

I can't believe it but today Cole turned 6 years old! Here's his day in pictures:


We started the day off with a big breakfast which included Cole's favorite breakfast food: eggs! Lot's and lot's of eggs (mostly egg whites) with cinnamon and sugar on top.


Since it was a Monday, Cole headed off to school and at 10:30 (they have a pretty early lunch) a friend watched Chase and Cy while I picked up Wendy's (Cole LOVES their chocolate frosty's) and went to school to eat lunch with Cole.



After school we delivered the rest of Cole and Chase's birthday party invitations then headed over to Grandma and Grandpa's house where Cole got the special treat of getting to drive Grandpa's lawnmower. He loved it:)

Cole loves getting new pajamas!

For dinner Cole wanted Chili's where he got a huge volcano cake for dessert. By this time he was in one of his silly tired moods (as you can see). :)

Happy Birthday Cole! We love you!