Once in a Life "Time"

Did anyone else notice that on today's date at exactly this time it was 12:34:56, 7-8-9?

Pretty neat.

"Deeeee"

The kids have been a little camera happy lately. Now that I have a digital camera, I have given them some of my old film eating cameras to play with (minus the film). "Say cheese" is a common phrase in our basement.

Today, Roswell got hold of a camera, would hold it to his face (usually backwards) and say "Deeeee" (cheese). It is too cute!

You can see him squinting his eye for his cheese smile as he says "deeeee"

Family Pictures 2009

This year, to avoid melt downs and crankiness, I took the kids on separate days to get their pictures done. It worked out so well, I think I'll do this every year! Enjoy our new pictures!

Donovan:

Don't you love those beautiful lashes!

Elliott:

Roswell:

All 3 boys:

We sure had the wiggles!

Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.

I think this was my favorite!

The family:

Happy Independence!

Through my childhood, we always went camping in the summer and/or took a family vacation. Most of my memories of the 4th of July were spent away from home. I thoroughly enjoyed those experiences and Dan and I decided to make it tradition. Last year Roswell was just born, so this is the first time we've gone camping since moving to Michigan. We realized how much we've missed it. Some friends invited us to join them camping for the holiday weekend.

Our friends, the Smiths (I've blogged about them a number of times) own a huge amount of land (40 or 60 acres-I forget which). They've cleared a number of areas to create nature trails, gardens, and a camping area. They have told us many times that we are welcome to use it whenever we wish. We finally took them up on the offer. We had a fabulous time. We wish we could have stayed longer. I guess we'll be camping again very soon.

The boys enjoyed running around wherever they wanted with no concerns for traffic. Elliott was only really interested in the dirt. He was quite the mess. I guess I should come to expect it with all boys.

The next morning we had to pack up early and head to the Riverfest in Portland, MI. Dan has the privilege of visiting the Portland Branch members every month with his church calling, and therefore signed us up to help them man a booth at their festival, to give information about our faith to passersby who inquired. It was fun. We will get the opportunity to do the same for our own branch in the church-- St. John's Branch at the St. John's Mint Festival this coming August.
There were also many other things to see at the festival. I had the chance to take the boys down to an area that sparked their interest. Bounce houses! And better yet, they were free to go on! I thought the boys would be scared to go on them (as in times past), but I was happily surprised. I could barely contain them in order to take their shoes off.

Donovan and Elliott had fun on the elephant bouncy slide. Roswell wanted to get out of the stroller to play too, but there were too many big kids so I didn't let him. He wasn't happy. :(

Then I saw this huge slide. It must have been at least 15 feet high if not more. I thought for sure the boys wouldn't be interested. Again I was wrong, and it put a smile on my face.

Helping each other climb up. Elliott is such a monkey! I always knew it, but he made it look easy and rarely used the helper squares.

Dono going down.

Elliott going down - on his tummy!

He didn't want to be still enough to let me take a picture.

We ended the day with a bbq at another friend's house. We had quite a busy weekend, but it was lots of fun. Happy Independence Day!

Fun To Be One!

I can't believe my baby is already One!!! This year has gone by SOOO fast!

Happy Birthday Roswell!

You've been such a happy little boy. It's been a pleasure to have you in our family.

Roswell wasn't sure what to do with the cake. He picked it up very carefully and once he put it in his mouth he was happier. He wasn't fond of the frosting though. He would pick it out and drop it on the floor (his new game).

But above all it was pure pleasure! Can't you tell? He even clapped. Earlier in the evening we went to Red Robin for dinner and they give birthday ice cream and a song. Ross clapped while they sang. It was so cute.

And you can never go wrong with a thumb chaser! :)

Quick Trip

While my mom, sister and bro-in-law were vacationing in Europe (you can see what they did on Alisa's blog) my dad had some events of his own. He was being a good boy and doing the things he was supposed to, but got really sick and ended up in the hospital for a week. Because it wasn't life threatening and mom wasn't really reachable, my sister Vanessa and I came to my dad's aide. Vanessa spent a few days visiting my dad in the hospital and seeing to the needs of the house. I flew out to AZ with Roswell to care for dad once he came home until mom got back. He was very weak and could barely move himself. Each day got better but his legs got worse.


WARNING!!!!! Gross picture ahead!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dad was so dehydrated that they pumped him FULL of IV fluids. Once he got home, it went straight to his legs. His feet were so puffy and this pretty sight was on his leg.

Nasty huh? I was so scared it was going to burst on my watch. The doctor said there was nothing to worry about, but EW! Dad said it itched like crazy, but I wouldn't let him scratch it. All's getting better now (it has popped and the swelling is down). I'm so grateful to all his neighbors and friends and my grandma for helping him when we couldn't. My mom had an amazing trip and it was nice to see her return safely.
The good part of my impromptu trip was that I got to see some family that I've missed. I was restricted to my parents' house because of my dad's needs, but I was glad to see my friend Kelli, my grandma, Aunt Barbara, Uncle Darrel, and cousin Toy that came over.

Aunt Barbara feeding Roswell. He was loving it as much as she was! She always loves to spend time with the kids.

Ross showing Great-Grandma something. He sure loved her and I'm glad they had a good visit.

I'm glad I was able to be of help. I'm also so very grateful to my in-laws for watching Dono and Elliott while I was away. I know they put up with a lot of naughty behavior from those two, but I'm glad they were willing to do it. It would have been very tough it they weren't there. Thank you!

Three!

Today my baby turned 3!

Elliott is really becoming a big boy. He is doing just about everything on his own. He has been looking forward to this day for a long time.

We had a playgroup party with some friends during the day. We had the sprinklers going, but there weren't many brave kids. Our water is really COLD despite the warm weather. They had fun playing outside regardless.

Then we decorated cupcakes. I think the frosting was a hit. One kid would take a bite of his cupcake then lick some frosting off of his knife instead of putting it on the cupcake.

It was a fun day. Later we went to Red Robin for dinner with Nama & Papa Earl because Elliott wanted the free birthday ice cream that they give. Then we came home where Elliott opened his wonderful gifts and had some yummy cake. Elliott wanted a monkey cake (because he really is part monkey!). I really liked how it came out.

Happy Birthday Elliott!

Where's Dono?

Every night before I go to bed I check on the kids down the hall and make sure they're tucked in and breathing. I enter the room and all of a sudden I see feet sticking out from under Dono's bed. I hoped he hadn't fallen, but as I looked further I saw that he had the notion to bring a pillow, blankie and his favorite Joseph bear. This was obviously planned!

The goober snuck out of bed and decided to sleep under it instead. I guess as long as he does it quietly I'm not gonna get mad. He won't be able to do it for long. Once we get mattresses for the bunk beds and set them up, the trundle that Elliott sleeps on will go back under Dono's bed. I guess they can have all the fun they want for now.

Waiting...

Yea! Nama & Papa Earl arrived! The boys waited at the window until they came up the driveway. What fun we're going to have!

7 Years...and counting.

Happy Anniversary Dan!

The 7 years we have been married have been fantastic. I have been blessed to have such a wonderful help-meet for a husband. Of course we (like everyone else) have our good and bad days, but I cannot deny that I am truly treated like a queen. We have 3 great boys and an eternity ahead of us to live, love, learn and grow.

Here are 7 things I've learned while being Mrs. Daniel Earl:

1. My dinners are considered good, but if you really want to eat with more flavor and pizzazz, let Dan cook.

2. When the bed sheets are being placed over your head, it's not for a pleasant aroma. Run Away if you can!

3. My way is not always the right way, no matter how hard I try. (I might be in trouble now that I have this in writing.)

4. My life seems more in order and is more peaceful when we have family prayer, scripture study, and a night dedicated to family togetherness.

5. Dan is a great confidant. He has been and continues to be my sounding board. He is my very best friend.

6. Don't interupt during a hockey game!!!! I knew even when we dated that Dan was a hockey fanatic. If there is any shouting going on at home, then you can almost be sure a game is on and Dan's yelling at some play gone awry. The rest of the family gets a bit tuned out when a game is on, but I think I encouraged that when we watched the Stanley Cup finals on our honeymoon.

7. Dan is a great pamperer. After a long day of work, Dan comes home and makes me feel special, whether I had a good or a bad day. I try to do the same for him, but he's just better at it. Who can resist a back/foot rub and scalp massage??? I really do have the best husband ever!

I love you so much Dan! Thanks for making me a very happy wife!

I Did It! and more!

In our walking group, my friend Emily brought up that there was a 5K in Owosso, MI (where Roswell was born). I thought it would be a great way to shed some pounds while training. Dan and I were going to run in it together but the week before he realized that he'd have to be working at a graduation in Grand Rapids. Ya, sure! Just kidding -I'm sure Dan would rather have been with us. So Emily and I did it together. Our wonderful friends Tom and Stephanie gladly told us they would watch the kids. That was a very nice relief.

Emily, Stephanie, Tom, me

Abby, Dono, Ross, and Elliott

Emily Forsyth and I before the race.

Off we go. Emily is in the pink and I'm in purple on her right.

A 5K is 3.1 miles. Like I said we'd been practicing for a while (but not nearly as often as I should have) but we'd been practicing while pushing our strollers. This seemed a lot easier. We were by no means the fastest, nor the slowest. At 10 minutes in, a guy was already on his way back to the finish line. It was a little disheartening seeing all the people in front of us returning to the finish, but then I knew we wouldn't be fast. I guess we were kind of in the middle. With Emily's knee problems and my shins we took shifts walking and running. It was amazing how Emily was very encouraging. She was giving her support not only to me, but also to those that we were passing and/or passing us. She was a great companion to run with. I only hope I wasn't slowing her down, I don't think she would have told me if I was. We finished in 41:05. Not bad. This was my first time and something to definitely improve upon.

After the race we found some more friends.

Renae, me, Leslie, Emily

The 5K was part of the Curwood Festival. They had a lot of things going on. We walked to the events. I bet we walked at least another 5K.

Here was a mock village dedicated to the Revolutionary Era:

Soldiers polishing boots, hats, and playing the drum.

The boys exiting a teepee where there was a bedroom of the times.

This guy reminded me of my dads: Mine and Dan's. He had all sorts of guns that he was showing off. There was also a box with a baby rattler in it. A sign said to ask if we wanted to see it. So we asked. He brought out a plastic snake with a baby's rattle attached to its tail. Ha ha. He was very amused.

Donovan doing the laundry old school.

Elliott taking his turn. I need to put them to work when we get back home!

What's a festival without clowns?

The kids with their free balloon creations.

Donovan - giraffe, Abby -heart, Elliott -sword

We had a very busy fun day. We accomplished a lot to be proud of. And to tell you the truth, I thought I would be sore the next day, I'm really not. Dan's looking into other 5K's for us to do together. I'm hoping to be better prepared and fit by that time. Maybe that's how I can lose my next 10 pounds!

The Price is Very Right!

Look at these great pieces of furniture!

Can you believe that we didn't pay anything for them??? And no they are not stolen either! The tv stand was left out for anyone to take at my friend Emily's apartment (I guess someone was cleaning out their storage space). The dresser, bookcase, desk, and bunk beds (not pictured because we haven't set them up yet) we got from the LDS living center on MSU campus. They are renovating and giving away all of their furniture to make way for new stuff. Many things went to Goodwill, some are reserved to give to Michigan missionaries for our church, and the rest are free to take. What a find. They look a little dated, but are all solid, sturdy wood. We knew that we would get bunk beds once Roswell was ready for a big boy bed, but we figured we ought to get them now while we could get them free! Maybe this makes us really cheap, but oh well, the price was too good too pass up. All we'll have to buy are mattresses. Thank you Emily and Benjamin who helped us find these great pieces of furniture!