We - are - FAMILY

The other day, I asked Hunter to entertain Kinz while I ran downstairs to change the laundry (this is the plus side to having such a huge age gap...built-in 'babysitter'). When I returned, this is the scene I walked into....

'First we stack the blocks.....'

'Then we knock them down....'

'Wow, what a neat concept...'

'Yeay for us...'

Paul and I have always wanted more than one child, but when we finally got pregnant with Miss Kinz, I spent a lot of time worrying that the age gap would prevent a strong bond like one we both have with our siblings. Well, I was WRONG. The bond between siblings is undeniable, no matter what stands in the way.

It is truly an honor to be the mother to these two beautiful children, and to help guide and foster one of the most important relationships in both of their lives

Our own Christmas

This past weekend I had what turned out to be 'the good fortune' of working on Christmas day (more on that later). Yes, it is not ideal, but we made it work. Kinley, of coarse, has no idea about the magic of Christmas and Santa so she made it easy and Hunter didn't care when Santa came just as long as he did come. Well, Santa must have received our letter because the morning of Christmas Eve we woke up to a very pleasant surprise.

(Hunter's pile is to the left and Kinley's one measly present is to the right.....Don't worry, she still got very spoiled)

Hunter grabbed his stocking from his bed (Santa always pops in to lay the stocking on our bed and whisper a Merry Christmas to us as we sleep....I know kind of creepy, but it is a tradition my parents started when I was a kid). Anyway he woke up at 6, and then of coarse his excitement just spread quickly through the house because shortly after Kinley decided to wake up....and so our own Christmas morning began.

First, we sat on the stairs and sang 'Happy Birthday to Jesus' and then the kids attacked the gifts...And in no time all the gifts were opened, so we all enjoyed a home cooked breakfast, and spent the day playing with our gifts and enjoying the snow!

We hope your holiday was as blessed and filled with love and laughter!

Christmas Card 2010

A Christmas card posted on my blog....I know, this is semi lame, but hear me out. Over Thanksgiving, my kids and hubby dressed up (against their will) and put on their best smile for our annual Christmas photo. It turned out beautiful, and I had real intentions of mailing it out to our family and closest friends, but I have a whole book full of excuses for why that never happened. And then I had this brilliant idea to make a christmas card and send it out through email and facebook. It is a long story, but let's just say me and my mac computer are not on good terms......and so alas.....here is out Christmas card for 2010.

This year has brought many wonderful blessings to our little family. The biggest blessing was by far the birth of our little girl this past April

WOW....how the time flies by. Kinley is now 8 1/2 months old and she is such a wonderful addition to our household....and she fits right it. She is sitting up, army crawling EVERYWHERE, eating solids, sleeping through the night, enjoying every second laughing at her hilarious brother, spending the days with mommy, and cuddling with daddy. She loves to laugh, eat, explore, be held, read books, play with cell phones and remotes, oh yeah and did I mention eat:)

And then there is this guy.....

Hunter is 5 1/2, and is growing up even faster before our eyes. He is loving Kindergarten and learning how to read, and Hunter bear continues to be such a social butterfly. He started Tae Kwando this fall, and will test for his orange belt this weekend. It is a big commitment, but he really loves it. He will also start playing basketball this winter, which give him and his daddy something to practice during the cold winter days. But his most favorite thing to do besides playing sports and hanging out with his friends is making his sister laugh.....(at least I like to think so)....He has become mommy's little helper and loves to entertain 'missy' while I get dinner ready. It is so precious.

And as for Paul and I, well, we are basically enjoying ever second we get to spend with our kiddos. They sure keep us busy, and we are loving every minute of it. Paul just finished his last semester at our local community college and he will start his Bachelor's degree in Business this coming March at a local school that supports working adults. That's right, he will still be working full time and going to school. I feel so blessed that he is willing to still work full time because this allows me to continue to be home during the week with my kids. It has been a HUGE change and wonderful blessing to be able to call myself a stay at home mom....at least during the week. I still work 'weekend package' at our local Children's hospital, which I LOVE! I work with amazing women that have become great friends and I get to take care of such inspiring kids. Because of our crazy work schedules, we both try to spend every evening home together and thanks to Paul's mom, we still get to enjoy a date night out at least once a month.

We feel so blessed to have two beautiful, happy, and healthy kids. We feel even more blessed that we have all of YOU in our lives. We hope this holiday season and upcoming year bring as many blessings to your lives as we have been privileged to experience.

TAKE ONE

TAKE TWO

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

Christmas Shopping

It is not even Thanksgiving, and I am already planning out not WHAT, but HOW am I going to do my Christmas shopping this year. I already know I am going to be shopping at the last minute...I always do:(. Will I go to the store and ship my presents or shop online, or BOTH. Well, I stumbles across this new website called Ebates from another blog that I follow. As a mom working a few days a week, I am determined to save money while still being able to buy the gifts that I want to for those I love. This site is great because I have access to all the stores I would normally shop at online, but this way I can actually make money by shopping. I thought it was too good to be true, but it actually makes sense. This website gets a commission from these stores for referring customers to their websites, but then Ebates turns around and shares part of the commission with you. I am so excited I found this, and thought I would share it with all of you. HAPPY SHOPPING!

Healthy Habits start Young

Do you ever have one of those days where you feel like you accomplished more in a few hours than you have in an entire week. Well, today was one of those days for me. I woke up early, worked out while Kinz napped, cleaned the house, folded the laundry, and grocery shopped for the week. And although I am definitely proud I knocked some things off my list (even though it is FRIDAY), that's not even what has made me feel so accomplished.

As many of you know my family is drinking this new fruit juice blend. I am so happy Paul, Hunter, and I are getting the benefits of 13 servings of fruits and vegetables through this drink. I am still nursing Kinley so I know she is getting at least part of those benefits too. But today, I invested some time in healthy choices specifically for my babe....

At the grocery store, I purchased 2 sweet potatoes ($0.73), 2 butternut squash ($0.90), carrots ($1.68/bag); 4 apples ($1.84); 3 pears ($1.52), 3 bananas ($0.68); and 1 can of pineapple chunks in 100% pineapple juice ($0.77). That's a total of $8.12. We spend that much for

I washed, blended, mixed, packaged and stored. And in no time at all, I had over 15 servings fresh fruits and vegetables to feed my little princess

This really was so easy, and I had a lot of fun doing it. I can't wait to see how much Kinley enjoys her new food.

Consuming Love

Last night while at dinner with my family, Kinley began to choke on her first finger foods ( we won't be trying that again anytime soon). Instinctively, I stood up and reacted like any mom would. I was pretty shaken up because in just an instant I was reminded how fragile life is. Now, it may not have been that serious, but in the moment words can't express the fear as a mother when your baby is struggling. As her mother, I reacted differently than everyone else at the table......it really struck me, and so I have been thinking all morning about this crazy thing called motherhood!!!

The past five years, I have been consumed with motherhood. About 99% of everything I say, do, or feel has been related to being a mom. Being a mother is the most exhausting, time consuming, yet exciting, and rewarding role I have ever had. I wake up a mother and go to bed a mother.

...My whole life revolves around these two angels...

It is a love I have never quite experienced. I always thanked my parents for their unconditional love, but I never truly understood it until I became a mother 5 1/2 years ago. It doesn't matter how tired I am or how overwhelmed I am feeling at the moment, my love for my babies has NEVER waivered. It is a love that only grows every day.

It is a love that could only be created by the One who loves us more than even our own parents. People talk about miracles every day, but the love of a parent for their child is truly miraculous because it is only through divine intervention that our own selfish, human tendencies are put aside when we become parents.

Sometimes, it's hard to grasp how we, as parents wake up every day and give all our time and energy to another being whose every need depends on us. However, in the midst of it, we don't think about this stuff because it comes so 'naturally'.....well, only a love that natural can come from our first parent, our Father in Heaven. I am so thankful everyday for the patience, the energy, the commitment, and the desire to be the best mom I can. I pray that God can continue to work through me as I guide my children through this life and help them navigate their own path.

And so today, in the midst of pure exhaustion (they both needed mommy last night)I thank God for my happy and healthy children who are better than any amount of sleep could ever measure up to;)

Fall Time

Oh How I love Fall.

The cool breeze and beautiful landscape

We have been trying out best to enjoy the outdoors as much as possible because we know that once winter hits, we will be dreaming about these days!!!

The Costumes

Mamma's boy

black ninja and pretty princess:)

Daddy's girl

HAPPY FALL

At the core

Over the last few years, I have opened my heart and my home to my readers through this blog. , I have used the blog mostly for updates on my kids, but I also like to use my blog to send messages when I see them fit or to simply share what is heavy on my heart.

I have been married for only two years, so I know I am no expert nor do I do want to pretend to be when it comes to marriages. The best I can do is share my own experience with the hopes that others will be able to relate. So with my husband's blessing, I will be sharing some of our our experiences through this blog as I see fit in the hopes that we can be lifted up in prayer from our readers, but also maybe so we can reach out to other married couples who share in this journey.

The quality about my husband that I love the most, yet causes a lot of frustration is his ability to not worry about tomorrow. I used to think he just didn't care....but the longer we have been together, the more I realized that it is not that he doesn't care, but that he chooses not to worry about what tomorrow will bring. He truly focusses all his time and energy on today, and today alone.

Now, for those that know me understand that this is far from opposite of the way I look at life. I spend so much of today worrying about what tomorrow will bring. Some days, I have to deliberately remind myself to breathe and just enjoy the little things that are in front of me. Now, as you can imagine this makes for an interesting marriage, but as I am trying to recognize, this also makes us work so well.

I cannot help but imagine if Paul was the type of person sometimes I 'claim' I want...someone who plans and someone who is serious, well then my life would in one word be BORING. I say I want Paul to plan, but the truth even though I LOVE planning, I love even more planning MY way. I can see it now...all the arguments if Paul tried to plan a family day or plan a dinner...Really, I can see it so clearly. I already know whatever he planned would not be what I had imagined....

.....so what is my point?

Well, my point is that maybe I should stop trying to make Paul into something that he is not because the truth of the matter is that the way he is allows me to be who I am. I love to plan things to a tee, and without such a laid back husband I would have to step aside and share in the planning process....and that is just not something I think I would be good at.

My point is not to publicize our strengths and weaknesses, but instead point out that what may look like a weakness in your spouse may in fact be the rock that hold your marriage together.

So I challenge all you married couples or soon to be married couples to look at your spouse and focus on who He or She really is, NOT who you want them to be. This can be difficult to do some days, but once you master this focus on what it is about that person that makes your relationship work. When we stop focussing on what we perceive as a flaw, then this trait is allowed to shine through your relationship and strengthen it to the core:)

Christian Moves

Soccer season started in August, and I made it to my first game this past weekend (the downside to working weekends).

I was so impressed with Hunterbear compared to last year. Instead of following all the kids like a pack of wolves, Hunter would take the approach of standing off to the side and then making a break for it when the ball was kicked out by one of the other kids.

It's a great strategy because he is able to dribble it to the goal without anyone on defense. He is also the lead scorer on his team (but who's counting).

The league is called Upward, and it is a Christian based league led by some young adults in the area. Paul and I weren't sure whether we should sign Hunter up with this league or the league in the town that we live it, but we are so happy we chose Upwards. It's like nothing I have ever experienced. They recognize winning, but that is not the main focus. I like this because although I do think it is good for kids to learn about winning and loosing (it's just part of life), I also want my son to understand that winning and loosing with grace is the most important. They focus on sportsmanship, fair play, and being a good Christian on and off the field. They start and end the game with a small devotion for the kids to learn. Overall it has been a wonderful experience, and I am excited to sign him up next season.

.....and I think he is too:)

A message from my girl

YEAY!!!!! I'm a big girl now.....well, at least I am now sitting up by myself

My big brother thinks I am way more fun now that I can play on my tummy for hours and somehow move all over without actually crawling

I also started eating REAL food . At first I wasn't too sure about it....

...but I tried to tell mom I just didn't like boring old ride cereal.

Now that she listened to me and started feeding me apples, pears, bananas, sweet potatoes, squash, and carrots.....well

I AM AS HAPPY AS CAN BE

** Oh Yeah, and I have my first tooth. I am not very excited about this, but for some reason everyone around me is...so I guess it's a big deal**

PS. One of our avid readers told mom she could never comment how cute our blog was because she did not have a google account or something like that....well, mom fixed the settings, so ladies and gents feel free to comment away:)

New Toys

Sorry, I have not updated in a while...but we have been busy playing with our new toys.

Hunter- 5 1/2 years old

Kinley -6 months

More updates to come....

Prayers

Please, please, please keep two moms who I simply know through their blogs in your prayers. Two moms miles away, but both facing the same nightmare. One is pregnant with her third child and one just had her fifth. Both amazing women have to have a tumor removed (one from her ovary and one from her thyroid) that may be malignant.

Please take some time out of your day to pause for a moment of silence and pray for them. Pray that God will keep them close as they face these next few days of surgery, recovery, and then just waiting to hear news about their future.

And finally, if you are a mom, make sure you thank God tonight for your own health and be sure to hug your kids a little tighter tonight. We never know what tomorrow will hold, but for tonight ENJOY your KIDS......I know I will.

Time to BE

On Monday, Hunter had no school so I decided to wake up, pack our lunches, and spend all day out doors enjoying the weather and each other. I had one of the best days with my kids EvER.

It started out as just another Beautiful day in Iowa

So we took a drive out to farm country, hopped on a hayride

And searched and searched for the perfect pumpkin

Then we spent some time playing on the huge bales of hay. Hunterbear jumped and climbed for quite some time

and was so proud that he made it to the top.

Kinley loves playing in the big pile of corn kernals. She giggled everytime her toes sank in the corn

While Hunter played some more on the park

Kinz took a nap under a shaded tree with the warmth of the sun and a cool breeze

And me....well, I just thanked God for two beautiful children and more importantly for allowing me so much time to just BE with my children and treasure small moments like today.