Make a Joyful Noise

4 Recipes= 4 Successes

2012-01-15T16:38:00.000-06:00

After the first week of freezer cooking, I will say, "I love it!" It's so nice to have supper ready and I feel like I can spend more time with the family because all I have to do for dinner is pick out a vegetable. Everything else is done. We've had 4 recipes so far and we've liked it all!
We've tried:
Pepsi Pot Roast
Tasty Pork Tenderloin
Thai Beef with Noodles
Tangy Pineapple Chicken
Here is the link for the recipes I'm using this month on my SkyDrive (which if you don't have one, you should. It's a really useful way to store things online and it lets you use microsoft applications w/o having them on your computer! It's free if you have a hotmail account.)

SkyDrive

I got all of the recipes from Freezer Friendz.

Have I convinced anyone yet to try this? :) Also, I'd love some ideas for next month...meals that can be easily prepared and frozen (no cooking ahead of time preferred! :))

Once a Month Freezer Cooking

2012-01-07T13:38:00.001-06:00

Well, I decided to try something new that I stumbled on while looking at Pinterest (that website can be very addicting :)). I used two blogs for ideas. One from Mama and Baby Love: http://mamaandbabylove.blogspot.com/ and the other from Freezer Friendz: http://freezerfriendz.blogspot.com/ . On Mama and Baby Love, the author talks about cooking one day to make meals for the month. But then I needed some freezable recipes so I headed over to Freezer Friendz. On Thursday this past week, I took the kids to the grocery store with my list for 12 meals. After 2 hours (they were wonderful shoppers) and $215 later, we were headed home. Then today I put all of the recipes together. It took 2 1/2 hours; with the help of one little friend and one bigger one! :) Matt was really helpful in browning 3 lbs. of ground beef and cleaning up/recycling things.
I hope this will really help in preparing meals so at 5:00 each night, we don't look at each other and say, "What's for dinner?" I wrote down each meal on the calendar so I know what to get out of the freezer each night. I figured on 12 meals for the rest of Jan. because on Wed. we eat at church and there should be leftovers.
Here is my list of recipes I made:
Pepsi Pot Roast
Mexican Dinner Dip
Thai Beef with Noodles (switched sesame oil-$6.99 a bottle!- for olive oil)
Angel Chicken
Um Um Skillet
Pasta and Fagioli Soup (1/2 recipe)
Tangy Pineapple Chicken
Chicken Tortilla Roll-ups
Stubb's Chicken
Pesto Chicken
Tasty Pork Tenderloin
Ravioli and Cheese Bake
All of the recipes came from Freezer Friendz and they are all new, which I am a little nervous about. Thankfully Matt is not picky at all, Emerson isn't either. Landon on the other hand won't eat much of anything. So I guess, I may be the best critic! :) I tried to choose a variety of recipes and those that didn't take a lot of preparation. It didn't make a lot of dishes because I mixed/measured everything straight into th freezer bag.
Our first meal is Pepsi Pot Roast (if i can remember to get the 2 more cans of cream of mushroom soup I forgot to buy). I'll update to let you know how the plan is working!

Snow Time

2012-01-05T14:17:00.001-06:00

We finally had some snow and Jessica and Greyson came over to play! The kids had a great time sledding, digging, making snow angels, throwing snowballs, and drinking hot cocoa with marshmallows!

Landon stil wanted to ride his bike!

Although this is a great hill, the snow was pretty heavy. The driveway actually made a better place to sled!

Yeah...so we were throwing snowballs and I threw one that landed directly in little guy's face! Oops!

Our little girl is growing up

2012-01-05T14:16:00.001-06:00

Time for a big girl bed! Emmy (at 2 1/2 yrs.) is probably ready for a toddler bed. Every morning she would yell, "Mommy (Daddy) dit me up!!" So we figured she was ready to get herself up. Below are pictures from the crib to the toddler bed.

Emmy in her new bed with her favorite lovies: pillow, baby and blankie.

Getting her new clock (which we LOVE because it teaches kids to stay in bed until the light is green)!

We also had a Mommy/Daughter date while the boys went out and bought a new snowblower. Em and Landon got some fingerpaint for Christmas from Gunnar, and she has been begging to use it! We decided to do some fingerpainting. It started off very timid (see first pic) and then ended up pretty messy (see second pic)! What fun!

Love the happy look on her face!

We are so blessed by our little girl...who isn't so little anymore. "I not a baby," she keeps telling me!

New Year's Eve Fun!

2012-01-03T21:07:00.000-06:00

The festivities started this year a day early. Several people would be out of town or heading out of town soon on New Year's weekend, so the Frye's hosted a New Year's Eve Eve Party. We all had a great time with a live band, Euchre and Skii Ball Tournament, and a Midnight Ball Drop!

The ball: made from rags, aluminum foil, and Christmas lights.

The countdown to....still 2011!

Then the next evening, we drove down to the Bergers, met the Fryes, and some friends of the Bergers, to have another New Year's Eve party. Matt and Mikel had a PU basketball game to attend and the rest of us had a great time playing with the kids, playing Settlers, and the Wii. I apparently did not get my camera out except one time, because these are all of the pictures I have! Oops!

This is Em when Matt asked her to, "Smile pretty!" :)

Here's to a wonderful 2012!
Any resolutions out there? I downloaded a Declutter Calendar from Pinterest with an idea to declutter and organize the house by doing one thing each day. I hope it's not a resolution because mine never last long! :)

Christmas Celebrations

2011-12-28T17:44:00.001-06:00

Christmas Eve

This year for Christmas Eve, we went to the Hahn's for brunch. We had delicious mush,cinnamon rolls, sausage, and fruit. We came home for naps and spent the evening at home playing with the new presents.

Em was always ready to open presents.

It was nice to have Uncle Nate home!

The kids opening their stockings.

Grandparents opening their snowmen handprints.

Putting out cookies, milk, carrots for the reindeer, and a bag of sippy cups for Santa to take to needy children! :)

Christmas Day

Christmas was a little tricky this year since it was on a Sunday. The kids were up and wanted to open their stockings right away. Then we had church and a party at mom and dad's in the afternoon. The kids rested at my parents and were actually pretty good, despite all of the busyness.

Every gift Landon opened came with the words: "This is just what I wanted!"
Em started to copy him, especially when she got her very own chapstick!!

Landon likes his new remote control car.

Emmy likes singing karoke on her new Hello Kitty machine.

All dressed up for Christmas

Both kids look happy! Hooray!!

Christmas 2 Days Later

We hosted the Bergers and Clarks at our house on the 27th. We had lasagna, opened presents, and played Trivial Pursuit.

Dad and Mom opening the snowmen fingerprints.

The kids playing with their new kitchen from Steven and Kristina
(and it only took 40 minutes to put together! :))

We hope you enjoyed your Christmas Celebrations as well and tried to keep in mind the real reason we celebrate. We did do a couple renditions of "Happy Birthday to Jesus" to help the kids realize why we celebrate!

Pre-Christmas Fun!

2011-12-28T17:43:00.000-06:00

We had a blast this year with the kids at Christmas! For the first time, they really started to understand Christmas. Landon enjoyed counting down the days until Christmas and Emmy changed our Advent calendar each day. We planned some fun activities for the kids before the big day.

We watched "The Grinch" and had popcorn one evening.

We went to the Davis' house for our annual Friend Christmas

Both kids enjoyed decorating cookies for Santa.

All of the kids (except Kenna :)) did a great job with the frosting and the cookies had an abundance of sprinkles!

The finished product...I'm sure Santa enjoyed the cookies!

The kids had a great time painting their fingerprint snowman.
Gotta love pinterest! (http://eighteen25.blogspot.com/2010/12/hand-print-snowman-ornaments.html)

Our Little Angels

2011-12-12T19:48:00.000-06:00

Sunday was our children's Christmas Program at church and basically everyone was an angel. Landon and Emmy were baby angels and did an AWESOME job (especially compared to last year when Landon burst into tears and ran off the stage crying!! :)). Em was content to watch all the big kids do the motions, while Landon had a hayday with the microphone and trying to stand on the "X's" on the stage. Tyler and Grace were also in the play. They each had lines to memorize and did a great job, too! Tyler can be seen in the row behind our kids, but Grace was way on the other end.

The little angels each had a number to hold up for a song. Landon could be heard saying, "No, I don't want that one!" when handed 2. He wanted 3 so he rearranged himself after Emmy so he could be in 3rd place.

Landon trying to stand on the X's on stage.

Papa H. was a Wise Man....in the play!

Em wanted to get closer to Baby Jesus, the real meaning of the Season!

Christmas Tree

2011-12-04T19:42:00.001-06:00

This year the kids got really excited about the tree. Every year we go pick out a tree at the Christmas Tree Farm (Wilfong's), but this is the first year that they were really happy about it. The tree selection was a little sparse because they are getting ready to retire from the tree business. I think we found a good one, though!

Just a little snow left (mostly mud!)

Yes, Em did eat some snow before we could stop her!

Tree is a little short, but white pine is the best!!

Emmy wanted to decorate as soon as we got home, and it about drove her crazy that she had to wait to "tut baws on tee," as she said.

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-04T19:36:00.001-06:00

Thanksgiving this year was a bittersweet time for our family. It was so nice to be able to get together with extended family (Nate, Steven, and Kristina were all home), but we also had to say goodbye to my dad's oldest brother, Dave, who passed away right before Thanksgiving. Throughout the whole Thanksgiving break, I was reminded about all of the wonderful blessings God has given me and my family. Dave's passing has also helped me remember not to take my family for granted.

Before the holiday, the kids and I worked on a Thanksgiving project. I had done these with my kids at school and I thought my kids would like them. We made turkey hats using construction paper, cotton balls, and feathers. Emmy discovered that she loves scissors and Landon took to the glue. We got a little messy, but had a good time!

Emmy's first hair cut

2011-11-20T14:40:00.001-06:00

Nov. 19, 2011

Em's hair has been slowly growing for the past year or so. The front of her hair finally got long enough that it kept falling in her face. So yesterday, the girls went to the hair salon and both got hair cuts. Em's doesn't look too different (I didn't want any of the curls in the back cut), but I think it will stay out of her face a little more. She sat so still and got a "mink" bubble gum sucker afterwards. She refused to smile in any of the pictures, but I think she still liked it! :)

Em and I went shopping for the materials to make her bow holder and the fabric matches her room really well!

Then after hair cuts, we went to Jessica's for some girl time. We made bow holders, while the boys took the little boys to Bass Pro Shop for shopping/crafts/ and Santa. Thanks to the Davis family and Frye family for some fun bonding time!

First snow

2011-11-13T19:33:00.001-06:00

The first snow of the season fell on Thursday so the kids had to go out and play. It was beautiful! Big, pretty flakes! I do wish I would've gotten the video camera out quick enough to catch Emerson's reaction the first time she stepped out in it. She was running, screaming, laughing. I don't think she remembers snow from last year and she was completely ecstatic that she could eat it as well! Happy winter!! :)

Library fun

2011-11-13T15:41:00.001-06:00

Gma has been taking Landon and Emmy to library every week on Thursday. The library in Nappanee does an excellent job! The theme is Curious George, so every week they read a new book and do what George does in the book. They have done so many creative things and every week the kids get to take home games, toys, and personalized things. It is great and I know the kids (and Gma!) love it.

Landon paitently waiting for his pizza to be done. He has to count to 20, either from 1-20 or 80-100!

Emmy cooking blueberry pancakes on her stove.

Gotta love fun, FREE things for the kids! :)

Halloween Fun 2011

2011-10-31T20:02:00.002-05:00

Last week we had a beautiful Sunday afternoon, so we decided to go outside and carve jack-o-lanterns. Emmy LOVED helping carry the insides on her scooper and throwing them into the woods. I think Landon just did it because we asked him too. He doesn't really like getting messy! :)

The kids with the finished jack-o-lantern, Bears pumpkin, cat and spider pumpkin, and the tiny pumpkin we grew.

We took the kids trick or treating on Friday last week. We went over to the grandparents, Great Grandpa Vantine, and my aunt and uncle's house. They loved getting dressed up and saying, "Trick or Treat."

Best picture of Landon as Lightning McQueen

Best picture of Emmy as a princess

We tried really hard, but couldn't get a good one of both of them smiling and looking at the camera! Maybe next year.
As you can see, there are no pictures from our Halloween Party. :( We had some people cancel a few days before, so we decided to not decorate/dress up because there would only be 6 people total. But we did have a great night hanging out with the Fryes and Bergers!! :)

Happy Halloween!!

Favorite Words

2011-10-28T12:43:00.001-05:00

I am very much enjoying listening to Landon and Emmy learn new words. It is so entertaining to hear them try to pronounce new words. So I thought I'd try to capture a moment in time because I'm sure they will soon have the hang of words and I'll forget how they "used to say that."

Landon (3 yrs.):

disk-es
livering room and diamon room
shore (instead of I do, do, or yes)
Ems (nickname for his sister)

Emmy (2 yrs.):

down-day (downstairs)
ow-eye (outside)
up-peng (up please)
baby, bankee, pih-woah, dough-wa (her favorite night-night items)
na-nan (Landon)

To which Landon usually replies, "Ems, why do you call me na-nan? I am LANDON."

Thistleberry Farm

2011-10-16T15:41:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, despite the cool temps and blowing wind, Matt and I took the kids to the Thistleberry Pumpkin Farm with the Shaw family (Bart, Brooke, Bryce, and Cam). The kids had a fabulous time, although we didn't really look at any pumpkins! :) They were too busy doing everything else. They had lots of different kinds of bikes to ride, a cow train, corn box, jumping pillow, huge slide, and more.

The kids were too small to ride the bikes, so Matt and I had to push them. We had a hard time convincing Landon to try anything else after he saw the bikes.

The kids rode the cow train (pulled by a tractor) all by themselves without tears!

Emmy LOVED the huge jumping pillow. Landon wanted to get off right away!

The corn box was like a sand box, except filled with corn. They had a lot of corn in their shoes and shirts when they were done!

Enjoying chips and cheese for lunch

Mommy and Emmy ready to race Daddy and Landon on the "four wheelers" as Landon called them.

Although we did meet the Shaws there, I realized I didn't get any pictures of them, except from the back! :) We had great family time and made some wonderful memories.

Landon's Birthday Party

2011-10-16T14:53:00.003-05:00

We were lucky enough to celebrate Landon's 3rd birthday on an absolutely GEORGEOUS day! He wore shorts and a short-sleeved polo shirt on Oct. 8th. That's not going to happen very often! :) He wanted a "Diego" birthday party this year. "Diego" is apparently not as popular as his cousin, "Dora", because he was hard to find!

Annual picture of him by his birth tree

We borrowed Cookie's Week from the library this summer and he absolutely LOVED the book, so we got him his own copy for his birthday.

Landon's friends: Grace, Tyler, Greyson, Emmy, Gunnar, and Baby Kenna in back with Amos

Daddy did and AWESOME job on Landon's Diego cake!!

Mary sent Landon a pedal car fire truck. He loves riding around in it and Emmy is content to ride on the back!

Unfortunately, Emmy woke up on Sat. with a fever, so she didn't really get to enjoy Landon's party much. She wanted to be held, rocked, and went to bed early. But we were thankful that Landon felt pretty good after having a fever the two days earlier.
Landon really enjoyed everything about his party. He sat and opened all of his presents for the first time and really liked his Diego cake. Thanks to everyone who sent birthday wishes to our special little 3 year old!

Our 3 year old

2011-10-01T13:47:00.000-05:00

It's true! Our darling little baby boy is 3! I know that people always say kids grow up fast and it is true. Landon is such a blessing! God had such a perfect plan when he brought this little boy to our family. Landon is:

smart

He is working on odd and even numbers, memorizing scripture for church, repeating directions on how to get from our house to Grandma's, spelling his name, Emmy's name, and more!

loving

"Emmy I love you. You are the best sister! "

funny

"Ha, ha! I'm just so funny, " he says.

caring

"Great Papa, I pray for you today." "Mommy if you feel sick, I will give you a kiss and you feel better."

happy

"Oh, I'm so exciting!" he'll say over things that aren't too exciting for most adults! :)

full of energy

His "Diego" birthday balloon didn't last long. He was having so much fun with it, it got a hole in about 10 minutes!

and so much more. We have enjoyed so much about Landon. He surprises us every day. Love you, buddy!!

More pictues to come after his party next weekend!

Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas

2011-10-01T13:28:00.000-05:00

This is it. I finally convinced Matt to get a laptop, which he hasn't wanted. And what we decided was that I'd get a laptop and he'd get a new tower with more power for our old computer. So we're both happy! And our Christmas and Birthday gifts are taken care of for this year!! I really don't know anything about the laptop. I just wanted to be able to download pictures (that works! :)), skype with people far away, and be able to surf the web without taking 20 minutes to download a page. I think so far all of those things will work. So now I should be able to do a better job with posts. SHOULD being the key word there! :)

Surviving the last few weeks

2011-09-13T20:59:00.000-05:00

We've had a very interesting last couple of weeks. Below are some pictures documenting our experiences! :)
Our 6 year old house apparently had the worst built septic system that our septic guy had ever seen! :) Yeah! So the week before Labor Day, we had workers digging up our yard and rebuilding it!

We planted potatoes in our garden for the first time and the kids enjoyed helping dig up the potatoes. We got quite a few good sized ones.

Landon had his first visit to the ER (it was after hours at the doctor's office) to find out he had a bronchial infection. Sis wasn't far behind and they both ended up doing breathing treatments 4 times a day, while watching "Dora the Explorer".

The kids absolutely LOVE an ap I found on my phone called Kid Mode. Whenever Em sees my phone she brings it to me and asks "Name? Own?" (Game? Phone?)

I'm hoping things slow down a little, but with birthday parties, Halloween parties, and the holidays coming up, I doubt they will! :)

Week 3 of 3rd grade

2011-09-01T19:58:00.000-05:00

Well, with school back in full swing, I finally got a fast internet connection to upload pictures! :) Things are going well at school, yet still a bit overwhelming. I still don't feel comfortable yet with the curriculum or my schedule. It seems as though there is just not enough time in the day to get everything done. I LOVE working with my 3rd grade colleagues, though. We're having a great time trying to figure things out together. And I'm sure with time, it will get easier. Right now it's just a lot of long days and bringing work home. But hooray for a 3 day weekend! :)

Visit to see Uncle Nate

2011-09-01T19:54:00.000-05:00

At the beginning of August, we took the kids to see Uncle Nate in Evansville. We were both a little worried about a 6 hour car ride with 2 2-yr-olds, but they did really well. We were armed with videos, books, toys, stickers, coloring sheets, cars, and snacks. I saw an idea online to give the kids "Travel tickets" in a bag. Then every 30 minutes, they gave me a Travel ticket and when all of the tickets were gone, we were there. This worked really well with Landon...Emmy just dumped all of her tickets on the floor.
When we got there, we had a great visit with Nate. We went disc golfing, out to eat, and to the zoo. We got to see his apartment and a little bit of Evansville too. Landon's already talking about Uncle Nate coming to visit him on "Optober 2nd place" (his birthday!).

At the zoo with Uncle Nate

Posing in front of the parrots for Gma and Papa H.

They had a rhino that came really close to the edge of his cage.

Cheese!

4-H Fair

2011-09-01T19:48:00.000-05:00

We had a great time at the fair this year. We took the kids on a very hot day (but most of the days were hot in July!). They didn't seem to mind the heat. Em really enjoyed the animals. Landon said his favorite part of the day was the stroller ride! :)

Emmy getting measured for the kiddie rides. (She was 2 inches too short!)

Waiting for tickets

Landon in the beginning of his train ride :)

Landon about half way through :( He cried for about the last half of the ride. The operator asked us if he should stop the ride. We said, "No, just keep going!"

Emmy on her favorite ride...the "nay"

Landon wasn't too excited about the carousel either!

10 Year Anniversary Cruise

2011-07-27T21:30:00.000-05:00

On July 7th, Matt and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary!! 10 years...I can hardly believe it! We have enjoyed making so many memories together and since the kids have arrived, we haven't been able to spend much time just the two of us. So we, along with Amos and Jess (also celebrating their 10 yrs.), decided to take a Caribbean Cruise together. We went to Half Moon Cay, Bahamas; St. Thomas; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Grand Turk (part of the Turk and Caicos islands) and had a wonderful time. I did really well being away from the kids until about Thursday evening. When we'd only been apart overnight, a 7 day cruise is a long time! :) I loved the beaches, the food, and the sleeping in!!

Matt and I in the Bahamas

Since I got sunburned on Day 1 in the Bahamas, Jess "thoughtfully" bought these visors!

Grand Turk...the nice, touristy part of the island

Private island in the Bahamas! Jess and I did Yoga on the beach (almost missed our boat!) while the guys went deep sea fishing.

Matt wanted to eat at an authentic restaurant. We ate conch in Grand Turk. It was chewy and not a whole lot of flavor.

Matt holding an upside down jellyfish.

Matt and I went kayaking in Grand Turk.

Touring an old fort in Puerto Rico

Snorkling in St. Thomas with Amos and Jess in Shipwreck Cove

Singing Karoke...

Hanging out in the piano bar

Matt and I on one of the formal nights

Our ship, the Carnival Liberty

The "Ugly" room on the cruise ship. This is the Hot and Cold Night Club where body art was the theme!

Summertime

2011-07-26T21:36:00.000-05:00

Not having a working USB port for my camera is killin' me!! :) I have pictures from the beginning of summer that I haven't been able to share because I couldn't get them uploaded! AHHH!
So here is a random selection of fun things we've been up to! :)

When we went to see Cars 2 with Landon at the theater, Emmy had to have a "Nigh-Nee" shirt just like her big brother.

We met the Davis crew at the park where Emmy played with Baby "Na".

Greyson was so helpful to push the kids

After a few tries, both kids went down by themselves. They felt much better when Aunt Tina was at the bottom to catch them, though.

They got new bikes this summer and LOVE them!!

She sometimes wakes up from sweat at naptime and I can get her back to sleep by rocking.

Went to the Splash Pad when Uncle Nate was here to visit.

Went swimming at Matt's co-worker's pool and the kids loved it! They even liked jumping off the diving board with floaties on!

We've made many wonderful memories this summer and hope to get a few more in before school starts! :)

Emmy's 2 yr photos and a few of the family too

2011-07-06T14:10:00.000-05:00

Right when school got out, we had Em's pictures taken and also got some of Landon and the family. Matt works with a very talented photographer (who also happens to be a teacher!) and she met us at the Old Bag Factory in Goshen to snap some photos of us. She did an excellent job running around after the kids. I couldn't believe she got that many of the kids being still! Her blog is amazing as well at baberredbarnphoto.blogspot.com

My favorite of Emmy

My favorite of Landon

We will definitely use Heather again. We are so happy with the pictures, and I don't think the kids even knew we were there just to take pictures. They had so much fun running around outside!

Cars 2

2011-07-06T13:52:00.000-05:00

We took Landon to his first movie in a movie theater, "Cars 2". He LOVES "Cars" and is always driving his Lightning McQueen around, so we thought this would be a great choice for his first movie theater experience. We spent a few days beforehand talking about the theater and what to expect when he got there. Gma watched Emmy because we knew she wouldn't sit still that long. Landon was such a trooper. He loved the big "scream" and the popcorn. I think he ate almost the whole container by himself. He really enjoyed the movie and we really enjoyed watching him. The movie wasn't as "little kid-friendly" as the first one, but I still liked it.

Father's Day 2011

2011-06-23T14:03:00.000-05:00

Our family is so blessed to have a wonderful Father. Matt is so wonderful with the kids. He adores them and I know they share the same feelings. Ever since Father's Day, Landon has been saying out of the blue, "I wuv you, Daddy." It is so precious. One day he even said, "I wuv Daddy the best, not Mommy." Gotta love him! :) We had a great day celebrating all of our Fathers. We took the Dads to BW3's for supper and then came back here for a special surprise that the kids and I made.

I saw the idea on Jessica's pinterest page and decided to try it out. Here's the link http://www.bakerella.com/fast-food-fun/ With 2 2 yr olds helping, I decided to just go with the sugar cookie french fries! They did a great job helping and it was pretty easy, once I got the hang of it.

I got a kick looking through all of the pictures with the kids and the dads. I had a hard time finding one where all three of the subjects looked nice! :) Happy Father's Day!

1st time at the library and camping

2011-06-23T13:08:00.000-05:00

Last Thursday, the kids had all kinds of new adventures. We went to the library (or "eye-bay" as Em calls it!) for toddler story time. They did a great job listening to the story and picking out their new books. They even got to use markers for the first time (thankfully they were washable!!). Every Thursday morning during the summer the kids get to go and make a craft, sing, listen to a story, and interact with other 2/3 yr olds. How fun!!
After library, we took the kids to Chain O' Lakes to go camping. They were super excited to get to sleep in a tent and use their new princess and Lightning sleeping bags! They did absolutely wonderful. They loved to be outside and in the tent. They did great with the bug spray (gotta love those mosquitoes!) and sunscreen. They even did a great job sleeping together in the tent while Mommy and Daddy talked with the Fryes and had pudgie pies with cherries and chocolate! :) The only down-side were some very obnoxious neighbors who decided to shout, curse, and play music until about 3 am making sleep very difficult for all of us parents. The kids slept wonderfully, not so for us. So all of the adults were exhausted, but the kids were up and ready to go at 7 am! :)

Playing in the tent on Thursday when it rained

Miss Curious got her hand stuck! :)

All of the kids loved to swing!

We didn't figure it would be hot enough on Friday to swim...but it definitely was! Check out Em's diaper!

Looks like the perfect end to a camping trip

Our first trip to the zoo

2011-06-06T15:57:00.000-05:00

We also got to experience the zoo for the first time. Karen and Dave were babysitting Gunnar and asked if we wanted to get together to go to Potowatomi Zoo with mom and dad Even though rain was forcasted, we took a chance and went to see the animals. It turned out really nice because the zoo wasn't crowded and it didn't rain at all! The kids loved the peacocks and hated the lions. "Too loud" they kept saying. And I don't blame them, you could hear the lions roar all over the park. It was so nice to spend some time with cousin Gunnar (and the adults too!).

They make have liked the coin collector better than the animals!

Taking a ride on the train

Papa B., Landon, Emerson, Daddy, Gunnar, and Grandpa Dave

Mema, Landon, Emerson, Mommy, Gunnar, and Grandma Karen

Sporting Steak 'N Shake hats at the restaurant

Mother's Day 2011

2011-06-06T14:27:00.000-05:00

Although these posts have been ready for a few weeks, our computer USB drives were not cooperating, so I couldn't upload any pictures. After I went to mom and dad's to borrow their computer, here are some pictures...better late than never, I guess! :)

Yes, this is the best picture we could get! :)

I enjoyed celebrating Mother's Day with the kids this year. Landon's starting to understand, so he'd say "Happy Mother's Day" to all of the ladies he saw (even Emerson!). We got to celebrate as a family at Red Lobster and then on Sunday with the grandmas too. The kids painted stepping stones (which I did not take a picture of :( ) and put their handprints in them for their grandmas. I am so blessed to have 2 wonderful children that make me the happiest mom! Although they can both be challenging at times, I couldn't imagine my life without their adorable giggles and funny faces.

Emmy is 2!

2011-06-06T14:13:00.000-05:00

Our little girl is not so little any more. On May 23rd, she turned 2! We celebrated her on Saturday with a garden themed birthday party. She keeps us on our toes but is quite a sweetheart. She's really trying hard to say new words. Some of my favorites are "I-I" for owies, "bai-et" for blanket, "down-day" for downstairs, and "Da-da-ee" for Daddy. She's also learning to count, "un, oo, ee, our, ive, ick,ni, ten". Here are a few pictures from her big day!

Emmy next to her birth tree.

Em and her lady bug cake

Blowing out her candles

"Cheese" Gotta love black frosting!

Look at all those presents! :)

One of the treats for her guests were tatoos. She loved the "ah-oos"

And I just thought this picture was cute, even though it's not from her party! :)

We are so thankful that God blessed us with this beautiful little girl and pray that she grows up to become a beautiful young woman some day!

April Birthdays and Easter weekend

2011-04-30T13:25:00.000-05:00

We know 2 very special kids whose birthdays both happen to be in April (1 day apart) and we were blessed to be invited to celebrate their birthdays with them. Grace turned 6 this month and Tyler was 4. It's so wonderful to be a part of their lives and watch them grow and develop.

Grace in her new jeep taking Greyson for a ride.

Tyler trying out his new 4 wheeler.

We also had an egg hunt at their house. The kids had a blast hunting the eggs and then finding out there was candy inside!

We also dyed eggs with the kids for the first time. We told them the eggs would get a bath and turn neat colors. It was hard for them to wait for the eggs to be done. Em wanted to touch the eggs and Landon wanted to use the handy egg dipper to move the eggs around.

They're proud of their eggs!

We got to celebrate Easter with my parents on Saturday. They had us over for dinner, an egg hunt (surprisingly it wasn't raining), and the kids got an Easter basket.

Egg hunt at Mema and Papa B.'s house

Then it was Easter morning. We decided to forgo the Sunrise Service this year and head to church a little early for pictures and the egg hunt. Matt and Todd did a wonderful job with the kids during service while Cathy and I sang in the choir's Easter cantada.

You'll have to forgive the trash in the background! Sometimes you just have to take pictures of moments like these. When we walked into the fellowhip hall, Landon took Emmy's hand! :)

Our best family picture. Landon wasn't too thrilled with the idea of getting his picture taken over and over!

After church, we saw that the Easter Bunny left baskets at our house, so we opened those before heading over to Matt's parents for lunch, naps, the egg hunt, and more Easter baskets.

Happy Easter, everyone! He is risen! He is risen, indeed!!

Little Miss Ornery

2011-04-30T12:46:00.000-05:00

And so as most of you know, Miss Em is very....for lack of a better word...curious! She loves to have her hands in things, touching things, making a mess, etc. Over the past few weeks, these are a few photos of her ornery self!

This is tootpaste she got out of Daddy's backpack, opened, and spread all over her face.

And this....well...yes it is what you think it is. Besides being all over her face, legs, and hands, it was all over the crib rails, blankets, and stuffed animals. Let's just say, she had a shower before trying to go back down for a nap!

We do love her dearly and I'm sure will look back and laugh, but for now, I'm pretty sure God is working with us on patience and perserverance! ;)

Spring Break Week

2011-04-09T13:12:00.000-05:00

The weather was quite spring break like (cold, cloudy, and rainy), but despite the cool temperatures, we had a lot of fun. We went swimming, to "Old" McDonald's :), made homemade pizza, went to visit the Berger's in Lafayette, went to a bounce house, and spent time outside when we could. Matt even took both kids and his Grandpa Vantine to Lunker's for an afternoon and I went shopping! :) We had a nice relaxing time home, but I think the grandparents missed seeing the kids!
Landon wasn't too sure about the pool at first. He kept saying, "I DON'T WANT TO!" But he got used to it pretty quickly. Emerson immediately loved it. She even jumped off the side and got her head underwater. She's quite the water baby.

Swimming at the Goshen College pool

Homemade Pizza

"CHEESE!"

When we went to visit the Bergers, they suggested a bounce house. I wasn't too sure how the kids would react, but they LOVED it! They ran around, climbed, slid, and jumped everywhere. It wasn't that busy, which was nice. Adults were able to help kids under 4, and let me tell you, I was sweating pretty quickly. It's hard work carrying little ones up those slides! They both napped well, I guess we wore them out. We had a really nice time visiting.

Jump It! with Mikel, Jessica, and Gunnar

The kids LOVED the slides

Emerson flew down quickly, but she didn't mind.

Gunnar loved sliding too

They even went down the BIG slides by themselves

Meeting Baby Kenna

2011-04-04T13:00:00.000-05:00

After almost 2 weeks of coughs, flu, runny noses, etc. we were all well enough to go visit our newest friend, Kenna Davis this weekend. She was absolutely wonderful and a very good baby, according to mom and dad! Emerson LOVED her. Her eyes lit up when we asked if she wanted to hold her. She kept touching her and kissing her forehead. I think Landon liked her too. He thanked God for Baby Kenna in his prayer. :) We are so happy that labor and delivery went smoothly and that we have a new friend to play with. Emerson (who can still wear 12 mo. pants) looked huge compared to the little 8 pound Kenna!

Congratulations to the Davis Family of 4!!

The kids' first slumber party!

2011-03-20T14:55:00.000-05:00

On Friday, the Frye's volunteered to watch our kids and Greyson all night! And notice, I did say "volunteered." They are such an awesome family and I don't know anyone else who volunteers to watch 5 kids under 6 years old...but they love our kids so much so we jumped at the chance (feeling slightly guilty :)). Matt and I then had an evening to ourselves. We went to eat at Lucchese's (a yummy Italian restaurant). There was a 30 min. wait...I can't remember the last time we actually waited at a restaurant for 30 min. :) Then we came home, turned up the TV, and played a little Rock Band, taking turns on guitar and vocals. My wonderful husband even DVR'd the Purdue basketball game so we could spend time doing some things together. ;) I then fell asleep while Matt watched the game. In the morning, I got up and made cinammon rolls! Then we got caught up on a few tv shows we had DVR'd and went to pick up the kiddos.
It sounds like they had a great time too. They played outside with bubbles, used play-doh, ate supper (well Landon sort of ate :)), watched some of a movie, and went to bed without much of a fuss. We did accidentally, well I should say "I accidentally", didn't check the diaper bag too closely because we only sent 1 diaper a piece for the kiddos. So poor Emmy had a pretty full diaper by the time we picked her up the next morning. Oops! :)
Thank you so much to Amos and Jess who I'm sure had a crazy night and Grace and Tyler who shared their rooms with their friends!

Winter Ups and Downs

2011-03-06T14:53:00.000-06:00

Alright, so I've been a little absent from the blogging world. I realized I haven't been on in about 3 weeks to even check anyone else's blog, much less blog about what's going on with us. So, I'll try to keep it short by sharing some pictures.

Landon and Emerson got their first experience with Play-Dough. Emmy absolutely loved it because she's all about being messy. Landon is enjoying Hi-Ho Cherrio and Candy Land more! :)

Matt and Mikel got season tickets to PU basketball.

We built our first snowman together. (It was melted by the next afternoon!)

Em LOVES to play in the snow and she even wants to bring snow inside to play with (and eat).

It took Landon awhile, but he warmed up to the snow, too.

This is Emmy at Danny and Kayla's wedding. She's showing off her "scary" face.

All the kids dressed up at the wedding. Notice Landon and Tyler with their matching ensembles!

Em's first black eye. She ran into a table at church and was knocked flat on her back.

The black eye a few days later.

We also had a bow making party where we made bows for Emerson, Grace, and new little Kenna Davis. Jessica taught us how to make bows for pretty cheap and they were pretty easy too. Just waiting for Em to grow a little more hair so they'll stay in! :)
I'll try to update a little more often, so stay posted!

Celebrating Valentine's Day

2011-02-12T18:59:00.000-06:00

This weekend Matt and I got to spend some quality time together. It started with mom and dad watching the kids over night on Friday (YEAH!). This was much needed since Matt had spent the past two nights in a sleeping bag on the floor of a hotel room at a conference and I had spent them fixing the heat at 4:30 am in the negative temps outside and getting up with Em twice the next night. We easily slept in until 8 on Saturday morning! Then we got up and ready to go to Warsaw. I surprised Matt with an hour massage at the Massage College in downtown Warsaw. I was listening one morning to Pulse FM and they had a super saving social for a massage. I got 2 (I wasn't just gonna sit there and let him get 1 :)) for less than the regular price of 1. And let me tell you, it was well worth it. I felt sooo relaxed. This was Matt's first massage and I think he enjoyed it, as well. Then we went out for lunch at an authentic Mexican place and spent the afternoon together. We picked the kids up after naps and then got to spend the evening playing and hanging out as a family. The kids were in great moods (surprisingly, because we were told they got up at 6...so sorry mom and dad!) Just thankful for the wonderful family that God has given me!

"Blizzard" Day

2011-02-02T14:36:00.000-06:00

So according to the meterologists, a blizzard was supposed to come our way last evening. I haven't been out driving, but looking out our window does not look like a blizzard to me! :) Now granted, Matt spent a few hours snow blowing the driveway and isn't done yet. But besides the snow, things are pretty calm. I'm not complaining though :) because it gave me a day to spend with my beautiful family. I got laundry done and bills paid, but also got to teach the kids a new game, "Hi-Ho CherryO." Do you remember that game? Well the kids loved it and kept wanting to play again. They both did really well and it kept their attention. Landon kept trying to get the birdie (even though if you spin the bird you lose 2 cherries). I don't think he quite got the concept. Hope everyone is staying warm out there and enjoying the beautiful snowy day!

New Year...New Goal

2011-01-08T13:12:00.000-06:00

Happy 2011, everyone. I know I'm a few days overdue! :) But with the kids sleeping and the snow blowing, I figured it would be a good time to blog! We started the new year with the annual Frye New Year's Eve party. It was a great time as always. We played a Euchre tournament, Quarters/Fire card game, and the Wii. We also ate lots of yummy food and had a few yummy drinks as well. The kids did pretty well too. Most of them were asleep by 8:30. Greyson was a little later and Gunnar decided to ring in the New Year with everybody! Below are the ONLY pictures I took all night. Jessica was patiently trying to get Greyson to fall asleep so she's not in the pictures.

Jenn, Kristina, and Jess

Mikel, Jessica, Gunnar, and Matt

Steven, Amos, John, and Mikel watching the countdown on the projector

I am one that hates New Year's Resolutions....so I'm going to call mine a goal! :) My new goal is to exercise 3 times a week. My loving husband laughed when I told him my goal, since he thought it was a joke! :) But I don't blame him. I'm not really the stick to it exercise person. I'll get going in something and then a few weeks later, I stop doing it. But this year...I'm trying to stick to it. I've got some dance workouts DVR'd that I've been doing and they're pretty fun, so maybe I'll keep at it. The kids like them to. They've got some wicked dance moves! :) So here's to a New Year and a New Goal!

Christmas 2010

2010-12-27T14:50:00.000-06:00

"Happy Birfday to Jesus. He be 10."
This was one of Landon's favorite Christmas songs (that and "Jingle Bells.") and it just made me smile because with all the busyness of the season, a 2 year old reminded me what the season is all about. Yes, he did actually make up the song. That's one of his favorite things to do...make up songs about random things. I wonder who he learned that from.... :) With 4 Christmas parties in 4 days (and 1 a week earlier), we were definitely blessed by a lot of family time and a lot of gifts. We had the Hahn Christmas on the 22nd. We enjoyed beef stroganoff and watching the kids open their gifts. Landon is really enjoying his Lightning McQueen Dominoes and Em is loving her padded Princess chair and nursery. The kids had kind of a difficult time sharing the cool chair, so Uncle Nate bought Landon a Cars chair too so they each have one!

Landon as Santa's helper

Emmy loving her new chair

The kids performing their rendition of "Jingle Bells" (with Gma singing, them ringing the bells and shouting, "Hey!")

Then the next night, we had our annual Friend Christmas with the Frye's, Davis's, and Jenn. We had some fun times playing in the snow, eating yummy pizza, decorating cookies for Santa, and playing card games.

John pulling "the kids" on the sled behind the 4-wheeler

Emmy smiling saying, "No" (which means snow) and Landon crying saying, "I wanna go in the house. I chan't run fast."

The kids going for a "horsie ride" on a tired horsie!

Everybody helping to decorate, or eat, cookies.

Landon and Emmy's creation

The next night was Christmas Eve and we had the Bergers and Clarks over for haystacks and more gifts to open! The kids did a GREAT job with gifts this year. I think Landon is starting to understand that he can leave his new toy to open another gift and his toy will still be there when he gets back. Landon enjoyed his "big truck, semi trucks" that he got and Em really enjoyed her new baby.

New Christmas p.j.s

Aunt Tina and Uncle Steven gave the kids a book with their voices recorded to read each page

Then the next morning, the kids woke up and Emerson immediately found the crumbs from the cookies that Santa left and started to eat them. So we decided to open stockings at 7:30. They loved pulling out the presents and Landon got his new car that he asked Santa for so he was pretty excited! After stockings, we ate breakfast and opened our family's gifts. Landon got a car ramp/garage and Emmy got a dog with puppies in the belly.

Christmas morning...opening their stockings from Santa

After naps, we headed over to the Vantine Christmas at Todd and Cathy's house. It was great catching up with everybody. The kids did well with all of the excitement (except they had no interest in eating supper, so we had a few meltdowns before bedtime).

Our Family Christmas picture

The extended family (this picture was taken WAY TOO CLOSE to bedtime...as you can tell by Landon's "smile" :))

Landon and great Papa. Everybody feels happier with a cup of milk! :)

Merry Christmas from our family to yours. And may 2011 bring you many more happy memories!

Landon's in his "big boy bed"!

2010-12-19T13:32:00.000-06:00

One night and one nap in the process and Landon has taken to his new toddler bed like a champ. He just lays there and talks himself to sleep (just like he did in his crib). And he actually slept better last night then he had been in his crib (no waking up at 4 am for his "banetees"-blankets). He is such a little rule follower that I didn't figure we'd have too much trouble with him! :) I'm sure he'll figure out that he can get out when he wants to, but I'm also sure that after a few times of getting in trouble, he'll stay in his bed until he is told to get up! :) We're so proud of our little-I mean BIG boy!

Landon and Emerson for one last time in his crib

Landon happy to be getting a big boy bed!

Landon helping Daddy put his new bed rails on

Landon trying out his new bed with his "new stuff" (a Lightning McQueen pillow and blanket)

A Star and A Star....in the Making! :)

2010-12-16T21:03:00.000-06:00

On Sunday the kids at church put on the annual Christmas play and this year our kids got asked to participate. They were all supposed to be non-traditional Christmas ornaments (note the dragon and giraffe below). Emerson was a super star. She LOVED being on stage with all of the other kids. She stood there like a trooper and even followed the directions to sit down and get off the stage at the right time! They had streamers to hold for one song and "baby Jesus" dolls to hold in another. Everytime we asked her if she was ready to go back on stage, she smiled and said, "DO!"

Tyler and Emerson holding their streamers

Emerson watched the other kids and sat down when they all sat.

Landon was another story. He absolutely bawled when we tried to put him on stage. He cried at the practice and we tried to get him all excited about going on stage on Sunday and he acted happy....until I put him on the stage! :) He ended up sitting with Daddy and his Papa's, while I helped Em on and off the stage. So I guess we'll try again next year with him. I think once he starts going to Kids Club on Wednesday night, he'll get more used to all the kids and the noise, and maybe he'll like it! :)

Landon: It too LOUD!

New hair

2010-11-30T21:28:00.000-06:00

Matt decided a few weeks ago that he wanted to try to cut his own hair to save money (and apparently many of his friends do it, so it must be cool! :)) So on Sunday afternoon, he cut his own hair (which looks really good). But then we had a problem because Landon always goes with daddy to get his hair cut. So we decided to be brave and cut Landon's hair at home. It was funny because we said, "Landon, do you want to get a haircut?" And he said, "I get sukder (sucker)." He always gets one at the salon to keep him still. But we had an even better plan and let him watch "cartnoons," which is actually Super Mario Bros. on the Wii. He sit perfectly still and his hair turned out great (although a little short!)

Landon's new hair cut at home

And Emmy of course wanted her hair cut as well so Matt had to pretend to cut her hair. But the exciting news for her is that her hair has finally grown enough to put a bow in!

I also had to include these pictures (even though they don't follow the hair theme). On Saturday, we went to a baby shower for my cousin, Erin, and her little girl Alaina. Emerson absolutely LOVED the "bebe" as she called her. I've never seen her love on somebody so much. Thankfully Alaina didn't seem to mind! :) She just wanted to hug and kiss her and everytime someone else wanted to hold her, Emerson had to go over and make sure she was alright. It was precious!

Christmas (tree) Shopping DONE!

2010-11-30T21:11:00.000-06:00

On Sunday, we made our annual trek to Wilfong's Tree Farm to pick out our tree. The kids did a great job and it was probably the quickest we've ever found a tree. It's a tad bit short, but pretty full and it's the 1st time ever the star fit perfectly the first time it was placed on top! :)

We tried really hard to get Landon and Emerson to sit on Santa's lap to get a picture. Every time we would get close Landon would yell, "NO, NO, NO!" and Emerson would start bawling hysterically. I finally got Landon to go up to Santa when I told him he had to or he might not get anything in his stocking. So he yelled from 3 feet back, "CHARS!" (cars) I told him he had to get closer and we finally got a picture of him and Santa. Emerson still bawled (but we didn't want to leave her out so her picture is included too! :) )

Both kids LOVE the tree. Landon loves the lights and Emerson loves the ornaments (she smashed 3 when we were decorating).

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-27T14:20:00.000-06:00

"Gos is great, Gos is goot. Let us than 'em for our food. An our fends, and our famee. Ahhhhmen."
This is Landon's version of our mealtime prayer...usually with some other people mentioned and things (like cheese, or big trees, or new trucks) at the end of the prayer.
God has given us sooo many blessings and that little boy is a big one! Along with his adorable little sister too. And of course, we can't forget the best daddy who loves them and takes care of them and plays with them like no one else can.
Another one of our many blessings is our family, near and far, who we get to see a lot of over the holidays.
Friends and making time to build and sustain relationships is important and something I try to appreciate every day.
And especially on days like today, I'm thankful for all things warm: a house, blanket, coat, and snuggies :)
I could keep going. There are so many amazing things that God has blessed us with. Most of all, I'm thankful to live in a country where God can be worshipped where ever you want. He is the reason all of the above things and people even exist!

Trick or Treat!

2010-11-06T14:57:00.000-05:00

This year we took both of the kids trick-or-treating at some relatives' homes. Landon mastered, "Trick-or-treat" very quickly and said it many times before anyone even came to the door. They did a great job in their costumes and very much appreciated their treats that they got. (Love everyone who thought to give them snacks instead of candy! :)). Emmy loves the baby and necklaces that she got and Landon loves his brand new car and school bus.

Walking right in to Gma's and Papa H's house

"What's in the bag?"

Looking at his new "ta-tahr" with Great Papa

Emmy showing Great Papa her "bebe"

Yeah...this is the best picture we got of both of them trick-or-treating! :)

Em loves to "love" her blankies and dollies by laying down on top of them and kicking her feet like crazy! :)

I think the kids had a great time on their "first" Halloween experience. (Last year we tried to go and our car broke down after 2 houses! )

Halloween Party 2010

2010-10-28T14:21:00.000-05:00

Last weekend we hosted the annual Halloween Party. This year the theme was scary/monsters and our guests did NOT disappoint! We had a lot of scary make-up, masks, and food. Then we played Halloween Jeopardy.

Mikel and Jessica

Jessica and John

Amos and Jess

Alicia and Matt in the coffin that he made

Melanie and Scott

Nate and Trent

Amos won for "Scariest Costume" and Melanie won for "Most Original Costume"

The exciting Final Jeopardy Question

We always enjoy hosting this party. Half of the fun is decorating our basement and figuring out our costumes. I do have 2 points of advice though if you want to be a vampire at your next Halloween party.
1. Do NOT get the fangs with the putty attachment. Neither Matt or I could get our teeth to stick in. :(
2. When wearing black nail polish, remove as soon as possible so it does not stain your nails for 3 days even after using 3 coats of polish remover! :)

Happy Halloween from our Little Doggie and Giraffe!

2010-10-23T14:26:00.000-05:00

Messy Kids

2010-10-18T20:15:00.000-05:00

Here are some recent pictures of our kids enoying some chocolate...and other things!

"I like chocit puddin' "

"I like Vasoline! :) "
(She didn't actually eat any, thankfully!)

"No, brownie batter is definitely better!"

Landon also got a chance to ride in a combine as our church was harvesting the soybean crop for our Food Resource bank. He loved the "chombine"!

Our Little Boy is 2!

2010-10-06T20:21:00.000-05:00

Although it is really hard for me to believe, Landon turned 2 on Saturday! He is such an active little guy who absolutely LOVES the movie "Cars" and especially the star, Lightning McQueen. So, we threw a Lightning McQueen birthday party for him. He was thrilled with all of the Cars blankets, toys, books, pillows, etc. that he received. But his favorite part was the cake. He LOVES cake almost as much as Lightning! He even passed on ice cream so he could have more cake.

I don't think he knew that everyone was there for him. Although he did keep saying, "Happy Birfday, Landon!" :) He didn't care much for opening presents. Once he opened 1 or 2 toys, he was done. Emerson and I opened most of them! But I do thank all of you who took time to come and pick out a special gift for our special guy.

Below are some of my favorites of his 2 year pictures, which Matt and I took at the Wetlands in Nappanee:

Below are pictures from his birthday:

This is what he did while I opened most of his presents! :)

Landon and his "fends"

The birthday boy

Landon and his birthmother, Mary, who came to visit for his birthday weekend.

A post NOT for weak stomachs

2010-09-07T19:40:00.000-05:00

"Everybody out, quick!" I yell. "Landon hold onto your towel. Emmy and I are going out to get Daddy off of the lawn mower." So Landon is standing by the front window trying to "dry" himself off and Emerson is in her towel while I try to dry her off and run to get Matt. You may ask what's the hurry? Is someone hurt? Is something really wrong with the house? No. But I consider 6 turds floating in the bathtub an emergency (left by my lovely daughter :))! I considered taking a picture, but I then thought that you could probably all imagine it in your head...and I didn't really want a picture of poo! Good times! :)

A quick update on the kids:
Landon is learning new words/phrases everyday and usually surprises us with things he knows or points out. It still amazes me how kids go from saying 1 word to hundreds. Their little brains are so amazing! He is 23 months and knows all of his colors, letters, numbers, and his name. We're working on letter sounds and counting. He loves cars/trains/tractors/and probably every other mode of transportation!
Emerson is a little "tornado". She finds everything imaginable to get into and dump out. She's starting to play with toys a little more and LOVES her dolly and blankets. Her goal is to try to carry as many dolls and blankets as she can. She also LOVES Landon and gets upset if she cannot see where he is. She is 15 1/2 months old and eating like crazy, but not growing like crazy. Our doctor says not to worry but she's only gained 1 pound and 2 inches since her 1 yr. check up.
And I had to include a picture (even though it's a month old!)

Landon and Emmy after a hot day mini-golfing in Tennessee

A few last summer pictures

2010-09-02T20:11:00.000-05:00

Emerson thinks she is SOOO big to drink from a straw
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Family picture

Emerson in my Strawberry Shortcake pjs :)

Daddy and Landon simmin' in Lake Michigan...BRRR!

Landon and Emerson playing together :)

School is back in session

2010-08-23T20:02:00.000-05:00

One week down...many more to come! The first week of this school year has gone really well. Now granted, the kids are usually on their best behavior for the first few days. Afraid to get in trouble and show their true selves! :) But it really has been a great start. It's a little rough trying to get back into our school routine (going to bed early to get up early and get the kids ready for Gma's house on T & Th), but we're figuring it out again.
The interactive whiteboard I got this year has been a lot of fun. The kids LOVE it. But since it's new, there have been some bugs to work out and some that aren't worked out yet.
Tomorrow night is Parent Night (eek!). That always makes me so nervous to stand in front of everybody and talk. I could do it with kids all day long, but adults...that's another story! :) I made a Powerpoint this year so I could use the new board, so hopefully that will be the focus and not me.
Hope everyone else is having a good start to a new school year!

Elkhart Fair 2010

2010-08-10T21:12:00.000-05:00

I know I'm a little late in this post, but better late than never! :) Matt and I got to go see Lady Antebellum in concert at the fair this year and it was an awesome show! They are great entertainers and have such fun songs to dance and sing along to. It was nice to be able to get there early (although we probably didn't need to leave as early as the media claimed we did!) and walk around and eat. Then we met up with the Davis', Frye's, and Jenn to hang out before and at the concert.

Lady A put on a great show!

The girls after the concert

The next day, we went to the fair with the kids. We took the double stroller and went to see ALL the animals, tractors, and have grilled cheese for lunch. It was a super hot day, but the kids loved seeing and touching everything. We had a great time and the kids are pretty young to go on rides, so we didn't even mention it. I don't know if we'll be so lucky next year! :)

Daddy and his babies

Landon loved all the "ta-tors" and Emmy just loved to touch everything! :)

Landon wanted to touch ALL the animals, including the pigs!

Good start to a terrible end....Tennessee vacation

2010-08-09T15:52:00.002-05:00

Alright, so I know some people like to get the bad news over with first and some would rather start with the good. If you're a bad news first person, keep reading. If you're a good news then you'll have to scroll down a bit! :)

BAD NEWS

Before going on vacation, you always hope for the best. Like nice weather, happy kids, short lines, etc. Our vacation did not quite end that way. By the end of the trip EVERYONE except Kristina had some kind of stomach virus. Anything from upset stomach, to throwing up, or coming out the other way was experienced. We spent a lot of time in the rental cabin either in the bathroom or in bed, which was not fun.

And that wasn't even the worst of it. Our trip home definitely fits this category. About 2 hours after leaving our house, the Bravada was acting a little strange. Not really accelerating like it should up the mountains. So Matt decided to pull over and look at it. By then the engine started smelling hot, so he called a tow truck to come pick us up. Mom and Dad were a little ways behind us so they pulled over too. To make a long day a little shorter, 5 hours later, Matt was in a rented Uhaul truck (that we had to drive 45 minutes south to pick up) and Dad, Mom, myself and the 2 kids were smushed into their car. The guys at the tow truck company bought our broken down '98 Bravada for $300. After that long day, we drove for awhile and stopped at a hotel for the night. Mom and Dad both got sick at the hotel so we rented separate rooms. The next day (after many prayers to just get home safely) we started off with 5 of us in the car and Matt driving the Uhaul pulling his fishing boat. We followed Matt since he couldn't see the boat and all was going well until we hit Kokomo, IN (which is about 2 1/2 hours from home). The Uhaul started acting funny so Matt called the 1-800 number for help. After about an hour in a Speedway gas station, no help had arrived so we decided to leave Matt and the Uhaul and head home. We arrived home about 6:00 p.m. (8 hours longer than it should've taken) and Matt didn't get home until 10 p.m.

So needless to say, we had a horrible long trip home from Tennessee with 2 broken down vehicles!

The last view of the Bravada

GOOD NEWS

The kids were such troopers on the car ride. Emerson is not entertained easily, but she did pretty well for being 14 months old and cooped up in her car seat. While we were in Tennessee and not sick, we did get to see and do some pretty cool things! We took the kids to an aquarium and they LOVED it! Landon loved to see all the fish and the penguins. Emerson enjoyed riding in the stroller and playing on the toys. Matt and Steven got to go Bungee jumping (Matt's first time). I think they both enjoyed it, even though it only lasted a few minutes. Mom, Kristina, and I went to a HUGE outlet mall and got the kids a bunch of stuff for $2 and $3. I even got Emerson a shirt for 99 cents! :) I think my favorite new thing we did was go WhiteWater Rafting. I'd never been before, but Steven, Kristina, Matt and I had a blast! Our guide was great and we even tipped over (on purpose :))! We also went mini golfing and had a great time playing in the lake. So although, I had much more to say about the bad news, we did have some good news too. And many more pictures of the good times our kids had on their first vacation! :)

Uncle Steven and Landon checking out the penguins

Landon and Emerson excited about the fish

The kids enjoyed their first ride on a train

Having fun in the warm lake water. Landon loved going "simmin' "

Chicago and a few other cute pictures :)

2010-07-20T19:59:00.010-05:00

This past Thursday and Friday, we went to Chicago with Amos, Jess, Jenn, John, and Jessica. Matt and I went up early on Thursday to walk around Wrigleyville and check out the stores and restaurants. It just so happend to be 90 some degrees and humid, but we enjoyed ourselves anyway and it was reinforced about how cheap I am. But really...would you pay $25-$35 for a Cubs tank top? Because I just couldn't do it!So here I am... without anything Cubs to wear. :( But the Cubs won (12-6) and it was an exciting game with many home runs. And we got to sing "Go Cubs, Go!"The next day was cooler, thankfully, and we walked around downtown. Shopped a little, ate a little, and tried to "refrain" from taking pictures of the "Transformers 3" set that invaded Michigan Avenue for a few blocks. We didn't get to see any stars or any of the Transformer cars, but it was pretty cool anyway. Hopefully these scenes don't get cut out of the movie! :)

And then, we've taken a few other pictures to share:

Landon is getting much better at "Cheesh" for the camera! He almost smiles as much for that as he does when he talks about "Chate" (cake).
Steven and Kristina drove up for a surprise visit and Matt was really excited about getting some of Steven's Army gear. The kids seem to like it as well (neither one could stand up with the jacket on :)).
Emerson loves to dress up in hats, shoes, "necklaces" (anything long enough to wrap around her shoulders), and apparently Mommy's shirts!
Landon loves his "ta-tahrs". We went to help Great Grandpa with some things around the house and Landon got to drive the lawnmower! :)
Having a great summer so far and looking forward to more to come! :)

A Week without Daddy...

2010-07-04T14:49:00.001-05:00

...is an exhausting week for everybody!

We made it! Matt made it safely back from Boundary Waters today around 12:30. EVERYBODY was glad to see him (especially Mommy :))

But I'm getting a little ahead of myself. A week without Daddy is hard work. I'd give a standing ovation to any single mom with 2 little ones. It is exhausting. But the kids did really well. I think it helped that we had playdates every day last week. We got to play with the Frye's on Monday, Grandma & Grandpa H on Tuesday, the Davis' on Wednesday, Grandpa and Grandma B. on Thursday, the Smith's on Friday, and had our 4th of July party at the Frye's on Saturday. We were busy, but I will say that by Friday in our down time, I was at a loss for ideas of what to do to keep these two kiddos entertained! :) They played well with their friends and got along pretty well with each other. It definitely wasn't a week of all smiles and giggles; there was some crying and falling too. But with a lot of prayer for patience, everybody made it though the week! Here are a few pictures from our adventures:

There's nothing cuter than 2 kids in just their diapers!

Emerson LOVES floating in the lake! She looked so relaxed floating around with her eyes closed.
All of the kids loved the water. Grace is turning into quite a little swimmer!
What a beautiful day for a cookout! We had a wonderful time at the Frye's: going for a boat ride, swimming, playing in the backyard, eating supper, putting the kids to bed just to get them up about an hour later to go watch fireworks, then sitting on the boat for about an hour until they started (who knows what time "dusk" is anyway??), enjoying watching the kids reactions more than the fireworks, and coming home exhausted about midnight. I do have to say a big Thank You to everybody for helping out with the kids so much at the party. It was awesome to know that they were being well taken care of when I couldn't hold both! :) So thanks to Amos, Jess, Jenn, John, and Jessica!!
Hope your week went well and you enjoy the 4th of July!

Friends and Fathers

2010-06-22T19:27:00.002-05:00

What a great weekend we had full of friends and fathers. On Saturday the Frye's and Hahn's surprised the Davis' with a fondue dinner in their honor. The guys had never had the fondue experience before so we thought it'd be fun. We know next time that they should probably have 1st supper before having fondue for supper because it does take awhile, but it was a lot of fun. The kids were at their grandparents so we had plenty of time to talk, relax, play bocce ball, and have a great time.Then on Sunday we got to celebrate a wonderful father. We went to the Silverhawks game to sit in the skybox with the Moellers, Packards, and Coles. All together we had 9 kids under 6 walking between the seats outside and the play area inside, but they did great. Hardly any cries and only a few time-outs! :) I think everyone had a great time!
Matt has only been a father for about 20 months, but he is such a pro already. He is patient, kind, and loves to play and interact with the kids. The kids love "Dada" and Landon constantly asks for him when he's gone. Then if I ask Landon where Daddy is, he usually responds with "play disc." :) We had the kids make a craft for their "Paw-paws" this year. We went out and collected items in nature to make nature collages. Then the kids stuck them on contact paper and we framed them. Landon kept asking for "mor", but I told him he only had two grandpas! :)
Dad and Todd are such wonderful grandpas to our two little ones. They love to see paw-paw and always want to play!(notice their outfits in this picture that I took)

Then I had to throw this picture in (notice their lovely unmatching clothes in this picture that Matt took! :)). Emerson got a princess table for her birthday which the kids absolutely LOVE! Most days Landon takes his cars over there and sits in the princess seat pushing his cars and making car noises! Too cute!

Thank you Jesus for all of the Fathers in our lives. We love you dads!

Splash Pad

2010-06-17T19:36:00.006-05:00

What a gorgeous day it was today! Partly cloudy, slight breeze, 80 some degrees. We decided to take the kids out to enjoy the weather and some water at the Splash Pad in Wakarusa. Emerson jumped right in and laughed and laughed at the water. Landon was a bit more hesitant, but eventually we got some smiles and laughs out of him as well!Landon practicing saying, "Cheese". Now if we can just get him to look at the camera! :)

Emerson enjoyed the water but would not walk by herself so Matt and I got a bit wet as well!

We also got the pleasure of meeting a new friend today. Silas Martin Fervida! Congrats to the new parents and big sister, Gretchen. What a cutie!!

A date with 40 8th graders

2010-06-10T12:09:00.002-05:00

Probably not what you would consider a typical date, but a day without the kiddos counts as a date in my book! :)
We went to Cedar Point yesterday as chaperones on Matt's school field trip. And let me tell you, this was the BEST field trip I've ever been on. We had to listen to annoying middle school talk for the bus ride there and back (thank goodness for my IPod! :)), but other than that, we were on our own for the day. We just had to meet the kids at 6:30 that evening to count heads and get back on the bus. Talk about easy! We had free tickets, free Cardinal bus ride, and $40 in spending money.
The day started off really early (4:45 a.m.) and ended pretty late (we were home by 11:00), but thankfully the grandparents each volunteered to watch the kids overnight so we could wait and pick them up this morning. We had such a great day. It was kind of overcast and looked like it would rain any minute, which I think held people from coming to the park. But by 1:00, the sun came out and it was a beautiful day. We walked on to almost every ride. It was amazing. We rode 7 rides in 4 hours which had to be some sort of a record. We rode several rides more than once and only waited for the Dragster and Millenium for 30 minutes. We actually ran out of things to do before it was time to leave. I can't remember that ever happening before!
But I did realize that I'm not as young as I used to be. We were exhausted by about 2:00 and sat down in the shade to have a pretzel and ice cream for about an hour! :) Hey, we are twice as old as the 8th graders we came with! :) But it was a really nice day and we're still relatively tired today even after sleeping in past 9:00.
I'd definitely go again, but I'd pay big money for my own kids to skip 6th-8th grade....Does anybody have a pill or something for that! :)

We tried ravioli today...

2010-06-03T13:24:00.003-05:00

One child thoroughly enjoyed it and the other wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole. I bet you'll never guess which one is which! :)

Also, we had Emerson's 1 year check up this week. And Jess you'll be happy to know that she DOES weigh 20 pounds! 20.3 to be exact, which is in the 50th percentile. And she's 28 inches, which is also in the 50th. So she is perfectly average for her age at this point.
Good news for Emmi and hopefully Landon will change his mind about trying new foods...or at least maybe he'll let me bribe him to try something new (that didn't even work today!) :)

Memorial Day Weekend

2010-06-01T08:48:00.004-05:00

What a beautiful weekend full of family and friends. We must've worn the kids out... We spent Saturday on the lake with the Frye's and Davis' (minus John who was fishing). It was a gorgeous day and the kids LOVED the lake. Emerson floated around on her back and just smiled. Landon went deeper with Daddy and liked walking around. The boat ride didn't go quite as well. Emerson seemed to enjoy it, but Landon kept turning around to get the wind out of his face! Here they are after getting off the boat in their lifejackets.

Then on Sunday after church and naps, we got the little pool out for the kids to use. They liked the water, but Landon had more fun getting in and out than actually sitting down to play. Emerson liked to sit on the edge of the pool and let all the water out.

Then on Monday it rained. So we spent most of the day inside. Matt got the garden planted just as the rains came pouring down. We planted cantelope, peas, tomato plants, zucchini, and onions. We're planning on getting some green pepper plants too. So hopefully we'll be successful in growing our own plants.

Hope your weekend was fun too!

Oh happy day!

2010-05-27T20:24:00.004-05:00

What a beautiful day full of blessings!

First of all, we had workers at the house at 6:30 am this morning to work on the deck (which I wasn't too thrilled about) but it looks like it was well worth it because this is what they got done today:

which to us, looks like about everything. I'm sure there are still some details to finish up, but we walked around on it tonight and the work was done in 1 day instead of 3!

Also, another blessing is our last student day of school! We took the kids to the pool today for their last field trip on the last day and it was a gorgeous day. It's always nice to finish the year on a good note. Tomorrow is our teacher day, but we don't have to be there for any specified amount of time, so I feel pretty much done for the summer.

Looking forward to spending time outside with the family!! :)

She's 1!!!

2010-05-24T19:31:00.008-05:00

Alright, so it is really hard to believe but my little baby is 1 already and walking up a storm. It is so funny to see her toddle around. She still prefers to crawl if she wants to get somewhere quickly, but otherwise she is a walking machine.

We celebrated her birthday on Saturday with many family and friends. She LOVED the cake and made a huge mess (see below). She also did a great job opening presents. She sat through all of the gifts. Thanks to all who took the time out to celebrate Emerson Elizabeth and for all of the beautiful clothes and toys!

We also got to celebrate on Sunday (her actual birthday) by going to church, eating leftover birthday cake, and going to the park in Wakarusa. By the way, that park is beautiful and wasn't crowded at all. There's a separate section for little ones, which gave them plenty of space to run around. They loved the sand, Emerson was a big fan of the swing, and Landon loved the slide.

Thank you Lord, for our beautiful little girl. She is the light of our lives and always has a smile or a squeal to share. What a sweetie!

It's all part of being a mother

2010-05-16T13:32:00.006-05:00

First of all, I have to say that my first Mother's Day with two born children was great! I got lovely flowers and a necklace, went to a yummy lunch at La Fogata, and enjoyed having the grandmas (and grandpas too!) over for supper.

But, as a lot of you know, being a mother isn't always easy. Yesterday Landon had such a rough day. He is usually Mr. Independent and will play with his cars, books, and puzzles so well on his own. That was not the case on Saturday. He was so clingy and whiney and nothing seemed to satisfy him for long. I was getting quite frustrated with him until we went outside and he showed me just how thoughtful a 19 month old can be. He likes flowers and wanted to pick some. So luckily we have a lot of yellow flowers throughout our yard :) and he made a 5 dandelion boquet for his daddy. He was very excited to come in and put them in water!

Emerson was in a better mood than her brother thankfully, but sometimes she gets a little too ambitious. She loves baths and got a little too anxious about taking one yesterday. She fell in the bathtub head first while it was filling up, with her clothes on! I thought about taking her picture, but I think she was pretty traumatized! :)

With all of the ups and downs of motherhood, it's pretty exciting to see your children sooo excited about everyday events like picking weeds and taking baths! It definitely makes you appreciate all the little things in life.

Unfortunately, this is the best picture of the kids and me on Mother's Day (not sure how much Emmi loves Mommy in this photo! :) )
Thought this was a cute one of the girls!

On a side note, we got higher speed internet this weekend!!! So hopefully I'll update more with more pictures! :)

Easter weekend and Spring Break

2010-04-10T14:07:00.003-05:00

What a huge blessing to be able to spend the last week with my beautiful family! We had a great, tiring week, enjoying the weather outside when we could and playing indoors when we couldn't.

We had a very busy Easter. Steven and Kristina were home for the weekend so we got to spend time with them at dad's retirement party and on Easter. Matt and I were exhausted after church without even going to our parents' houses yet! The kids were great and napped some, but it is hard to keep them entertained from 7:30-11:30 at church. They had 3 Easter egg hunts and luckily for their mom and dad, don't know anything about candy yet! :)

Then, without going over every detail of our week, I'll hit some highlights:

visiting the park for the first time
riding the 4-wheeler at the Davis'
being grouchy kids at the Clarks' :)
RUNNY NOSES (for both kids now) which equals fussiness
dinner with the Smiths
spring pictures with live ducks (Landon was NOT a fan!) :)
and tonight is Greyson's 2nd birthday party!

It's so amazing to see how much the kids grow and change when you get to spend time with them. They are terrific little guys and their personalities are really coming out. Hope you had a great week as well!

Date Weekend and Egg Hunt

2010-04-01T17:03:00.007-05:00

Matt and I had the pleasure of a date weekend this past weekend! We both took personal days on Friday and headed up to Chicago to spend Friday and Saturday. We spent most of the day Friday at the Field Museum (which teachers no longer get discounts at unless you teach in Illinois! ). It was nice taking our time and looking at the exhibits. We didn't have much of a schedule to keep. I will only mention one of the cool things we saw; I won't bore those of you that don't like sciency things! They have a mammoth exhibit on display and inside they had an actual baby woolly mammoth that was 42,000 years old! It was perserved in the ice and snow and still had the skin and some fur on it. It was pretty cool! :)

Then Friday night, we went out to a nice dinner at the Chicago Firehouse Restaurant. They had all kinds of different things on the menu, but I enjoyed it all. Then we went back to the hotel to watch the Purdue/Duke game.

The next day, we slept in, had a nice brunch at the hotel, and walked around the city a bit to "window shop." Afterwards, we left Chicago and stopped at Cabela's on the way home.

We had a really nice time together. We got to talk, hang out just the two of us, and spend $75 in parking! :)

Then when we got back on Sunday, the Frye's hosted an Easter egg hunt for Landon, Emerson, Greyson, Grace, and Tyler. I was a little worried that our kids would have NO IDEA what to do, but surprisingly they both caught on. Landon was looking for the eggs and Emerson would pick them up and drop them in the basket. It was so cute!

Rest In Peace, Dear Friend

2010-03-23T20:44:00.010-05:00

The Hahn family cries as we have lost our furry friend of almost 8 years! Logan was hit by a car after school today. He got loose (which he has done many times) and after a few hours he always came back. But tonight instead of Logan scratching at the door to come in for a drink, a stranger came to ring the doorbell. I was home by myself with the kids and Logan was in pretty bad shape. He had several cuts on his face and back leg. So I called mom to come over and watch the kids while I took the dog to the vet. There it was decided that with a collapsed lung and concussion, he should be put down. So with a heavy heart, I agreed and brought him home to be buried in the backyard.

As much as I've complained about the dog in the past few years, I really do miss him and his unconditional love and company! No matter how many times we told him "no" we were too tired to play or didn't want to let him out AGAIN, he always came to lay beside us or barked and wagged his tail when we came home. He was also wonderful with the kids. And they ABSOLUTELY loved him and I'm sure will miss him as well.

So if you could remember us in prayer because although he was a pet, he was part of our family and our first "baby."

Family update

2010-03-20T11:55:00.004-05:00

Alright, so it's been awhile since I've posted, nothing too exciting has happened, but I've got a few new pictures so I thought I'd share.

Matt and I are becoming much more aware of the importance of spring break...for everyone's sanity! :) The students start to drive each other nuts, which in turn drives their teacher nuts. And the need for some time apart becomes more aparent! :) But seriously, we do have pretty good classes this year which is a huge blessing since work has become quite stressful with the monetary cuts from the state government in place. :(

Landon is getting so big. He got a new shorter hair cut and is starting to look so much like a little boy and less like a baby. He'll be 18 months at the beginning of April. He LOVES the outdoors and will probably spend hours out there this summer (which could be trouble because he has ghostly white skin! :) ). He is also talking much more frequently and is learning new words all the time. "Emmi", "more," and "please" are some of his new ones!

Landon in his new swim shirt

Emerson is also growing quickly. She'll be 10 months on Tuesday. She crawls so quickly and is becoming more balanced on her feet. She'll stand without holding on for a short time while leaning on something and is soooo curious about everything. Just in the past few weeks we've found uncooked rice and spaghetti, dog food, paper, and apple skin in her mouth! She loves people (from afar!) and is a fighter. There are days when she'll only sleep for 45 minutes all day.

Emerson in her bear coat.

It is so amazing how our little family grows and changes each day. What a wonderful blessing and proof that God DOES answer prayer in His timing!

Swim Lessons

2010-02-27T10:16:00.005-06:00

were definitely a success! Landon did great! He loved being in the water, splashing, and didn't even mind being dunked. He was one of the 3-4 kids that didn't cry. Hoorah! Matt said the water was freezing (NW is trying to save money by not heating the pool so much), but Landon didn't even mind the cold water. When he got out, his lips were a little purple though! :) It must've worn him out as well because he came home and about 1/2 hr. later, he was in bed taking a nap. Hopefully the next 4 weeks will go as well.

Sledding

2010-02-20T16:01:00.005-06:00

We took the kids out this weekend for their first sledding adventure. Landon had been out in the snow a few times, but this was their first time to go sledding down our backyard hill. I think both kids had a lot of fun. Landon went down by himself and had so much momentum going that he stopped about a foot from the woods on the east side of our house. Emerson and I went down the hill together and since she didn't cry, I say that she had fun! :) Then after our sledding adventure (which is a good workout by the way!) the kids played in the snow a little. Landon really wanted to walk, but with boots one size too big and his snowpants and winter coat on, he struggled! The good news is when he landed on his face in the snow, he tried to get back up and didn't cry. Emerson also had a hard time crawling because of all of the footprints in the snow. It was so uneven that she did several face plants as well! But overall I think the afternoon was a success. We were hoping for long naps, but no luck so by 7:00 they were pretty grouchy and ready for bed (about an hour early). We hope for many more fun days in the snow in the years to come!

Snow Day

2010-02-10T19:51:00.002-06:00

Well, with all the snow and wind today, Wa-Nee and Middlebury decided to cancel school. So both Matt and I were home with the kids...Yeah! I had actually planned ahead this time and taken my boots and snowpants home from school just in case school was called off today, but I never got a chance to use them! :(
First of all, it was quite windy and probably too cold to take the kids out anyway. But secondly and most importantly, Landon woke up with a temp. of 100.6! :( Last night we could tell something was a little off because he fell asleep in my arms, which hasn't happened but maybe once since he was a really little guy. Then when he woke up 12 hours later, we knew something wasn't right. He was pretty warm all day, but Tylenol and his 4 hours of napping seemed to help. That was really his only symptom of not being healthy. Hopefully tomorrow he'll be back to his happy self. He ate pretty well and played a little, but we were very thankful to have the day off so there were 2 of us here to take care of the kids.
Emerson is still doing ok so far...but it might not be long until she gets it, since she puts everything in her mouth! :) Oh and a little side note, she tried AGAIN to eat Logan's food...I think that makes 3 times now. That crazy girl!
Hope all is well with you and please pray for a quick recovery for Landon and Emerson to stay healthy.

New haircut

2010-01-23T13:55:00.005-06:00

Landon got his first "real" haircut on Wednesday of this week. We'd trimmed it before, but it was getting really long on top and I don't know how to cut that. So he went when Matt had his haircut and was deathly afraid of the scissors at first. He wouldn't let her near his hair with the scissors. But with his favorite snack in hand (maple/cinnamon crunchies), he calmed down and now looks more like a little boy. Plus, the first haircut was free!Emerson is on the move these days. It is amazing how much she's learned in the last month. She can crawl like a pro and almost keep up with Landon and she tries to pull herself up on EVERYTHING! She's not so excited about falling over. She screams bloody murder every time she falls over. Hopefully she'll get used to that. And she can feed herself puffs. It didn't take her near as long as Landon to learn to feed herself. But she's always put everything in her mouth from day 1.

Both kids are getting teeth. Landon's up to almost double digits and Emerson's working on 3 and 4 I think, which means waking up in the middle of the night and Emerson's been waking up between 6 and 6:30 every morning. So Matt and I are getting pretty tired since we're back to not sleeping all night. Thankfully, this stage too will pass.

But I do have to say that my favorite part of the day is coming home from work and seeing Landon run over and Emerson's huge smile!

Christmas Joys

2010-01-02T13:39:00.004-06:00

This holiday season has passed by in a blur. I opened numerous gifts, attended multiple family and friend parties, spend time with Steven, Kristina, Nate, and Bo, and feel like I need a vacation! :) I loved every minute of it, but it was very busy. I think everyone will be glad to get back into a routine. The kids for the most part did really well with all of the busyness. Emerson didn't get too overwhelmed and Landon didn't get too tired. They were less than interested in opening any gifts. Emerson enjoyed eating the bows and Landon enjoyed playing with the boxes! Now that they've had some time to recoup, they are loving their new toys.

We were so blessed to have our sister, brother, and brother-in-law all home for almost 2 weeks. We can never get enough of these special people and keep praying that they'll all move closer (hint, hint :) ). But we did enjoy the time we got to spend with them and the help with dirty diapers (KRISTINA only! :) ), feeding, and entertaining the kids.

We also had a blast at the Frye's for New Year's Eve. We had a Euchre and word game tournament. We also played Wii bowling and had some drinks. A lot of us spent the night. We did thinking it would be easier than getting the kids up and taking them home at 2 am. But I think we misjudged that! :) Landon woke up at about 1, but went right back to sleep once we separated him from Emerson. She was a different story though. She's never been a great sleeper. But New Year's Eve was the worst! She woke up about every hour just screaming. I think she didn't like sleeping in the pack and play (it was her first experience with one). So she ended up falling asleep in our bed at about 5 am. Needless to say, Matt and I were exhausted the next day.

Let it snow!

2009-12-23T15:19:00.004-06:00

We finally got enough snow to bundle the kids up for the first time to go out and "play." It took us longer to get ready to go, than to actually play. :) Landon wasn't quite sure what to do with the snow and he hated the mittens! He did like his ride on the "sled," if that's what you want to call the piece of plastic we have. I think the boys spent more time in the snow, than on the sled! Emerson just went out to watch and she seemed to enjoy being outside.
Happy Holidays everybody!

Thanksgiving to Alicia Day and all the days inbetween

2009-12-08T19:31:00.005-06:00

I've got about a million excuses for not blogging in a month, but we won't go through those now!

Thanksgiving was a huge blessing with Steven and Kristina coming home for a few days. It went way too quickly, but good news that they'll be home soon again for Christmas break for 2 weeks! YEAH!!

Emerson has done the most changing in the last month. She's gone from mostly stationary to a mover! She wiggles and rolls all over to get to what she wants. For the most part she's happy playing on the floor and watching her big brother. I don't want to jinx it, but she's also slept ALL night for 2 nights in a row! That might not sound like much, but it's huge when you've been up every night for about 14 months in a row! :) She's also enjoying her veggies (well not really :)). She likes sweet potatoes a lot, but not really green beans or squash! We'll keep trying. She had her 6 month check up and weighs 16.4 lbs (50th %) and is 27 in. (90th %). So she's growing well. I really thought she'd weigh more because she's so chubby! :)

Landon is doing great as well. He had his first big crash last night, where his sippy cup met the linoleum which then met his top lip and sliced it open. He bled for quite awhile, but has been fine since. He's quite the trooper! He's walking around and into everything. Amazingly, he's left the Christmas tree alone, but he absolutely LOVES the lights! :) It's so cute. He points and gives a huge smile when he sees the tree! He also got his first haircut. So he doesn't have a mullet any longer in the back! It was quite difficult to cut his hair since he had no interest in sitting still, but I think we did pretty well.

Emerson also had a visit from Parker Smith who is exactly 1 month younger than her. He's much more active and I think about the same size. She absolutely LOVES him too. See below!! :)
And the last thing I'll post about in this already too long post is Alicia Day. What is that you may ask? Well it's an awesome surprise day where your two greatest friends take you away, treat you to lunch, and spend the afternoon painting pottery with you. AND buy you gifts to tell you how special you are. I think everyone should have a day and two friends like that. Thanks Jessicas! Love you both so much. Thanks for the great day!!

Someone's got a new tooth!

2009-11-14T16:31:00.002-06:00

And it isn't Landon...although that might be exciting news since he is 13 months old and has only 4 teeth! But, no, it's his little sister! Emerson and I were sitting in the rocking chair and she was laughing at Matt. That's when I thought I noticed something white in her mouth and sure enough, her first tooth poked through! I took a picture of it, but you can't really see it so I decided not to post it. She seems so little for a tooth already, but I guess that's because Landon's been so slow getting his. It isn't bothering her. She's still slobbery and wants to chew on everything just like always. She didn't get a fever or extra grouchy, so hopefully she takes all her teeth this well! :) So a big congrats to my little girl on her first tooth! :)

Fall Break and a busy week

2009-11-08T19:52:00.003-06:00

I do realize that it has been over a week since I've enjoyed my fall vacation. But ever since then, our lives have been pretty crazy. Either Matt, myself, or both of us have been gone each day since. So it has taken me awhile to post. Fall Break was the weekend of Halloween and the Thursday, Friday before. It was so great being able to spend time with the kids. I think I really realized how big they're getting. Landon is pretty much an expert walker (ok he does fall down often, but at least he now knows how to get back up!). And Emerson is getting so big. She actually gets heavy to carry around now.

Well, I should also recap our lovely Halloween party. I believe it was the 5th annual Halloween bash with the theme being dressing from a decade. The 70's won the popular decade (with 3 guys dressing from then). Jess won best costume and I tied for 2nd (but won the tie!). We also played Scary Family Feud, Partini, and Rock Band. It was nice to get some adult time and actually get to talk to people without having to worry about what the kids were doing. Thanks to Todd and Cathy for watching the kids overnight. I think that's the first whole night sleep I've had in over a year!! Hmmm...I wonder what next year's theme will be!

Matt-70's and Alicia-20's

This past weekend was also really busy. On Saturday, Matt and I went to the Purdue/Michigan game with his parents. It was up in Michigan (about a 3 hr. drive). The weather was absolutely georgeous and the game was soooo exciting. It probably helped that PU won!! That stadium was crazy big, though. There were over 108,000 people there. I don't think I've ever SEEN so many people before. We had a great time at the game and eating at a cute little restaurant on the way home. Thanks to mom and dad for watching the kids all day!

And this evening was our Sunday School Harvest Party at the Schmucker's. The kids had their first hayride (and both fell asleep!) and we had to leave early because it gets dark so early and Landon thought it was bed time! :) We still had a nice time, though.

What a great blessing to have so many wonderful friends to spend time with!!

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-24T08:11:00.002-05:00

Landon is 1!

2009-10-04T16:15:00.009-05:00

I can hardly believe that my little guy is 1 already. I know everybody says this, but I can't believe how fast time goes by. We celebrated Landon yesterday with a party! He did really well. He LOVED the cake and ice cream (once he figured out how to pick it up). And yes he did pick up the ice cream as well! :) The car cake turned out pretty good. I put it together and frosted it while Matt added the details. People could tell that it was supposed to be a car, so I guess it was a success! Landon didn't care too much for the presents. We even opened up some presents on Friday (his actual birthday) because I thought it might be too much for him to do them all on Saturday. But he sat on my lap to open about two and then he wanted to get down and play! He did really well though with all of the people and the excitement. I'm sure he didn't have any idea that it was all for him. We got to talk to Landon's birth mom as well because she called on his birthday. I can't wait to get some pictures developed to send her. I'm so glad that we are able to keep in touch and that he'll get to know her some day!

Tomorrow we have his 1 yr old doctor's appointment. I'm anxious to see how he's growing. He can fit into most of his 12 month clothes, so hopefully that's a good sign! He is taking some tentative steps and will stand on his own for 30 seconds or so, so I'm sure that walking isn't too far off.

Just thought I'd give you a quick update about Landon as he is "taking a nap". Actually I can hear him jabbering and kicking in his crib! :)

Emerson's Big Week

2009-09-19T11:18:00.006-05:00

Last week was a busy week for us. On Sunday, we celebrated Emerson's Dedication at church. Both kids did really well (no crying this time because both kids we fed BEFORE their part in the service). She was very content to watch Pastor Jim and all the lights and Landon didn't cause too much of a distraction! I just love that our kids will be part of such a loving, supportive church family. It always makes me teary-eyed to think of the whole congregation standing up to say they will support us as we raise our children and teach them about God!

Then on Thursday, Emerson had her 4 month appointment at the doctor. That was the craziest day ever. I had to be to school early to get my flu shot and among all of the morning ruckus, I left the diaper bag at home so Todd had to run to our house so the kids could have clothes for the day! :) Then, as I leave directly after school, I remember that Emerson will be getting shots and she hadn't had any Tylenol and we didn't have time to get any before the appointment. So, poor baby got her shots without any medicine. She also got freaked out by the crinkly paper on the table at the doctor's office and screamed anytime we had to lay her on it! :) But besides all those set backs, she is growing fine. She weighs 13.8 lbs (50th %) and is 26 in. (80th %). So she's right on track with Landon being tall and skinny!

And I know this post is about Emerson, but I do have to mention that Landon is (sorta) taking steps. He'll walk a few steps in between Matt and I. It's more like falling to us, but it's a start! :) He's also learned to clap and he, of course, loves to do this while he's supposed to be eating, so a little mess becomes a bigger mess!

What a blessing of two beautiful children.

New Routines

2009-09-07T09:51:00.004-05:00

Matt and I have been back in school for approximately 3 weeks and everyone seems to be adjusting well. The kids are doing well with their grandmas and the grandmas are doing well with 2 kids! I think the roughest transition has been for Matt and me. We are pretty much exhausted after working all day and taking care of the kids until 9-9:30. There's not much time to relax. So this weekend has been spectacular! We've gotten some time to ourselves. On Friday we had a date night. We had pizza and watched a movie at the house. I know...not too exciting, but to be able to sit and watch a whole movie without any distractions was enough for us! :) Then on Sunday we had a party at the Davis'. The rain held off thankfully and we got to play volleyball, cornhole, and have some smores around the fire (before all the mosquitoes chased us inside). You'll have to check out Jessica's blog to see pictures (I got tired of waiting for my 1 pic to load!! :) ).

And today, we're hanging around the house with the kids. Landon is getting around really quickly and is feeding himself! YEAH! He is 11 months after all. He's not a big fan of his sippy cup yet, he'd rather drink out of an adult cup. Emerson is talking and smiling like crazy! She is learning to hold onto toys and is so content.

Landon loves his sister

Visits from Uncle Nate and the Bergers

2009-08-10T11:13:00.010-05:00

We were blessed to have two sets of visitors this past week. Nate was home from Texas from Aug. 1-5. It was so nice to be able to visit with him. He spent a lot of time with his niece and nephew. This was the first time he met Emerson. Matt also got his frisbee golf itch taken care of for awhile, I think! We are still waiting for him to move closer so we can spend more time with him, but we know that's not part of God's plan right now.

We also had a great weekend with Mikel, Jessica, and Gunnar. We finally convinced them to come up and stay with us for the weekend. They usually stay with their parents and we don't get to see them very much. But this weekend we got to do a lot of stuff together. Gunnar and Landon did really well together. They kind of played together and of course, NO was a very popular word since they're both so interested in exploring EVERYTHING! :) We also got to play some RockBand, which is a new purchase in the Hahn house. We have some very talented singers! :) Then on Saturday, my parents and Dave and Karen Berger came over to watch their grandchildren and the rest of us went to eat at Mad Anthony's in Elkhart (very delicious!) and went to Kohl's shopping. It was nice to leave the kids for a little while and I know the grandparents had fun too! On Sunday, Landon got his first experience in a pond. We went over to Jessica's parents to swim in the pond and he LOVED it! I was so disappointed I didn't bring the camera because it was so adorable. He just sat and splashed. He didn't care if he got water in his face at all. He also enjoyed playing in the sand. So thanks to the Gunns for a good time!

Emerson-2 months

2009-07-25T09:36:00.005-05:00

We took our youngest to the doctor yesterday for her 2 month check-up. She weighs 11.2 pounds and is 23 1/2 inches long, both in the 75th percentile. We also asked the doctor about her gasiness, which is still waking her up in the middle of the night. He said that some breastfed babies just act like it's really difficult to go to the bathroom, but as long as her poo isn't hard, then she isn't constipated. So good news, I guess, and hopefully with moving her to all formula, the gasiness will get better. We're down to 2 nursings a day and hoping to go to 1 next week. But other than that, she is doing well. She did great with her shots (I still hate to hear that cry, but I had Landon to distract me this time! :) ).

Landon still absolutely LOVES Emerson. He always gives her kisses and wants to touch her. He's recently learned how to give a high 5 and is now sleeping without a nightlight. He was waking up every night and would not go back to sleep unless we fed or rocked him, so we turned off the lights and he sleeps all night! YEAH!!

Both kids seem to be doing well and they are keeping us busy. It is nice when both nap at the same time so I can check email and blog! :)

Mystery Guests

2009-07-10T13:29:00.002-05:00

Matt left this morning at 4 am for his annual trip to the Boundary Waters with his middle school kids. This year, of course, is much different than in years past since we have 2 kids now. I know he has a blast, but I always miss him like crazy and I know this year was especially hard for him to leave. But with all his planning and packing, he had time to call 3 Mystery Guests who we will either visit this week or will come visit us. How cute is that? He left 3 envelopes with directions on when to go and what time I should open the envelopes to get there on time! What a thoughtful guy. Please pray for him and his group this week to stay safe and the rest of the family as we get help from the grandmas (without that I don't think I'd manage! :) ) to take care of the babies. Hope the next week goes by quickly!

Happy/Sad weekend

2009-07-01T12:50:00.003-05:00

We had such a busy weekend with the kids and without. Mom and dad watched the kids on Friday so Matt and I could have some adult time with our Sunday School class. We went to Ruby Tuesdays (YUM) and Paige's Crossing. It was nice to have some time to worry only about ourselves and know the kids were in good hands.

Then on Saturday we went over to the Fryes for the first boat ride of the summer. Landon did not enjoy himself (but it was also naptime) and Emerson slept the whole ride. We had a nice time but also had some issues: ruined keys, umbrellas, and baby's first sunburn (that's right...mark me up for mother of the year :) ).

Sunday was Kristina's last day in Indiana for awhile :(. We miss her already. She was such a great help with the kids and I think she enjoyed herself! :)

Then on Tuesday we took the kids to Bass Pro Shop in Portage (a little over an hr. drive). They both did great in the car. Landon took a nap on the way there and back and of course Emerson slept the whole way. It was nice to get out of the house for awhile and the kids did well in the restaurant and store. Landon got a new hummer toy (his Daddy's such a sucker :) ) which he loves because it has wheels! :)

1st Father's Day 2009

It's about time!

2009-06-19T14:23:00.006-05:00

Ok...so I've had about a million and one excuses, but I am going to try to be better at blogging. We were internet deprived for about a month as we looked for faster and still cheap service (no luck!) and then of course our beautiful baby, Emerson, was born. So needless to say, it's been awhile since I've posted anything (or commented on any of your posts!).

We are doing well in the Hahn household. It is SOOOO much easier having Matt home with 2 babies, rather than trying to do it by myself. He had to go back to work for a week and a half after Emerson was born and it was a little frustrating at times trying to care for 2 babies. But we made it through and luckily they're both too small to remember crying for 15 minutes while I was trying to feed, change, or rock the other one! :)

Landon is getting so big. Just in the last month he's learned to army crawl, pull himself up, cruise around on furniture, walk holding onto hands, stand by himself (for a few seconds), and is FINALLY getting his first tooth! I can't believe how fast he's growing.

Kristina is here visiting. She was here this past week and will be here next week too. It is so nice to be able to spend some time with her and I know she enjoys spending time with the kids (although she may have a backache by the time she leaves from walking with Landon so much!)

Lastly, I've got to post a few pictures:

Mix of joyful news

2009-04-24T14:06:00.003-05:00

The weather is going to be beautiful again this weekend! YEAH!
Landon is sitting up pretty much by himself
He has a cold, but still is sleeping through the night
He loves absolutely EVERYTHING we have fed him, green beans are probably his least favorite, but he'll still eat them
I'm down to 5 weeks until the baby comes and am feeling pretty good, besides the football sized feet and ankles :)
We had a great week last week with Kristina who was home for spring break
Landon got to use his stroller for the first time at the Maple Syrup Festival and loved it!
We got to celebrate the births of 3 wonderful members of the Frye family

God has had this all planned for us since the beginning of time! :)

Landon's 6 months

2009-04-09T11:42:00.003-05:00

He had his doctor's appointment last week and is 16 lbs. (25th percentile) and 27 inches long (75th percentile). The doctor said that he is growing well and following the same curve of growth, so not to worry that he's skinny! :) He started on carrots this week and just loves them. I was expecting some funny faces, but he ate his first bite and just kept opening his mouth for more. He also learned how to sit up by himself (for a short time) and rolls all over the floor. He tries to roll towards a toy that he wants and if he can't reach it, he'll keep looking at it and trying to reach for it. He figured out how to spin around in his Exersaucer and bounce a little. I can't believe how fast he's growing and how much he's learning each day. It's so neat to see how far he's come.

Nursery #2

2009-04-04T11:46:00.005-05:00

Sorry it's been so long between posts, but this past week we haven't had internet access at home. Now we're up and running again...sort of! We do have internet access, but it is even slower than before (yes, it is possible! :)) So slow that no pictures will load. So until we get it figured out, there will be posts without pictures. :(
Two weekends ago Amos and Jess came over to help get the nursery ready for the baby. They were such a HUGE help, moving furniture and priming and painting the room. I know Matt is especially grateful because he doesn't like to paint and since he wouldn't let me help, the Frye's painting the room was a GREAT gift. They are such wonderful friends, giving up most of their weekend to help us with the room. The color didn't turn out exactly like I was envisioning (does it ever? :) ). It's a little more green than I was thinking it would be, but I'm sure it will still look good with the bedding since there is yellow and green in it. I think Matt's just happy because I didn't choose pink for the walls! :)

We got the bedding and room painted two weeks ago. Last week we ordered her crib and dresser and they both came in yesterday. Our goal is to have her room put together by the end of the week (since we're both off for spring break! YEAH! :) ).

Pictures and Birthdays

2009-03-14T12:55:00.005-05:00

First of all, I have to say a big thank you for all the prayers, thoughts, and cards we received in this past week. Although it was difficult to say good-bye to grandpa, we are doing ok and will continue to heal knowing that God has him safe in heaven. I don't know what people do who lose a loved one and don't have that peace knowing that they are in God's hands.

Secondly, we finally got our new camera about a week ago. We went to pick it up 2 weeks ago when it was on sale at Best Buy, but of course it was out of stock, so we had to wait another week to get it. It's a lot different than our old one, but I'm sure we'll get used to it. And I thought I'd post some recent pictures (since we have taken so many trying out the different features of the camera). And of course, they are mostly of our favorite model! :)

Landon has recently discovered his feet
Logan doesn't want to be left out

Lastly, I have to wish our siblings a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Kristina turned 27 on the 13th and Nate will be 27 on the 16th of March. It was really nice being able to celebrate with Kristina because we haven't done that in years. The Bergers, Hoovers, and Hahns went with Kristina to the Chubby Trout restaurant, where you get a free ice cream sundae and mug if it's your birthday (for future reference). And then back to our house to watch the Purdue basketball game and they won!!

Aunt Kristina and Landon spending some quality tummy time together!

One Last Breath...

2009-03-08T16:32:00.002-05:00

...and it's home to be with Jesus. Grandpa was disconnected from life support today. The EKG showed little brain wave activity and his kidneys were failing. The nurses unhooked the ventilator and he breathed for a few minutes on his own, but a little after 1:00 this afternoon, he took his last breath. We all prayed with him and told him how much we loved him before he left this Earth. So I'm sure that he is up singing with the choir and holding Grandma's hand. We will all definitely miss him, but we have so many wonderful memories to hang on to.
Here are just a few:
-Grandpa was always a singer. He passed his love of music to his daughters who then passed it down to the granddaughters! :)
-Everytime he'd come down to visit at mom and dad's, he'd never say, "hello" it was always "hoo-hoo."
-When I was younger, and still recently, I always remember thinking how gross it was that he'd always mix all his food together. I'm not talking about mixing the beef with the noodles, but the beef, noodles, jello salad, bread, corn, etc. all together. He always assured me that it tasted the same (even though I never believed it!).
-Whenever someone would pray aloud, he would always join in with a "yes" or a "do it" as his way of talking to God too.
-He always had a story to tell and was always so up to date with things that were going on in the news.
There are so many more things I could share, but I'll stop for now. The funeral arrangements will be made some time tomorrow and Kristina's trying to get a flight home. I know the family would just appreciate prayers. God has definitely called one of his most good and faithful servants home.