Pictures Galore

I did it! I blogged all 30 days this month, which is crazy because that means tomorrow is the 1st day of December!

I thought I would end with some pictures from last night and today.

Baby-sitting last night.

Liam chillin' in his carrier while we were getting ready for supper.

Jack wanted to see what was in our basement, so Jacob took him down and let him "play" video games for a few minutes.

Creating a birthday card for his mommy.

Liam passed out on our guest bed.

Hangin' with the little man.

Look how long this boy is!

Jacob and Jack watching some football after Toy Story was over.

Today at work

The twins dressed in their Christmas outfits for pictures.

Two of my sweet little kiddos. I can't believe they both smiled and looked at the camera!

Tonight

I put up all of our Christmas decorations today! Jacob put the tree up for me when he got home from work. Plus our new TV arrived, so he was busy getting it set up when I got home. For now it's sitting on the floor in front of our old TV, until we get rid of them and get our new stand! It's pretty sweet though!

Christmas Stuff

An ornament from childhood that mom just found for me. I had been asking about it last year. It's almost ready to fall apart!

Putting the topper on.

The tree!

More pictures coming soon on Facebook!

Super Jack and Liam!

I won't write too much tonight because we're baby-sitting Jack and Liam...and Liam doesn't want me to sit here long. :) I may have a 3 minute window before he gets mad at me again!

...30 minutes later...

That didn't work! The 3 month old won.

Anyway, it was a good Monday. I worked alone today with my daycare munchkins and then we volunteered to watch Jack and Liam on a whim. They came over here so Seth and Sandy could go out for Sandy's birthday. I'll post pictures tomorrow night when I have time to upload them.

We had a good time. Jack helped me finish getting supper ready by helping me put the biscuits on the pan to go into the oven and then putting the silverware on the table and passing out the napkins. Liam enjoyed watching us eat from his car seat. Actually he probably spent more time staring at the light, but that's beside the point.

Jack wanted to see our basement so Jacob took him down there for a little bit. I put Liam to sleep for his evening nap and then Jack made a birthday card for his mom.

Watched Toy Story with Jack. Then Liam got up. I changed my first ever cloth diaper. I'm fairly confident that I did a good job. I'll find out later if Sandy yells at me for some kind of freak diaper explosion! Then he decided he was getting hungry. This doesn't work well when he won't take a bottle, so he had to wait for mom.

The fussing continued for a bit. After awhile I finally found the one position he was happy in...which of course involved standing up. (How do ALL babies seem to know the difference between standing and sitting?) Then I stupidly put him in his carrier and sat him by me at the computer while I attempted to start writing. I paid for that mistake. :)

Anyway, we really did enjoy getting to take care of the boys. But now I'm exhausted and my comfy bed is calling for me.

All Good Things Must Come to an End

The weekend is coming to an end. We're back home in Taylorville, but had a nice weekend away. It's always nice to be home again too though.

This morning we got up and went to Hillside with my parents. I had wanted to go to Valley View, but decided since Hillside has an early service it would make more sense so we could get on the road earlier. I enjoy their church a lot. I actually feel like I get something out of their service every time I go there. Wish I could say the same here...I struggle with that a lot sometimes.

After the service we went back to the house and  packed everything up, then took separate cars to Applebees so we could leave right from there. We enjoyed a nice lunch and then said our goodbyes out in the parking lot around noon. It was sad to go again, but I did it with dry eyes! I did have a lump in my throat, but it stayed put and eventually went away. We'll be back New Year's weekend, so that makes it easier knowing it won't be too long!

I drove the first part of the way home. Jacob fell asleep halfway between CR and Iowa City and didn't wake up until we were about 20 minutes into Illinois! I jammed out to Christmas songs while he slept! We stopped for a bathroom break and switched places. We were making good time, but hit a traffic jam 4 miles before our last Exit to home! It took us 31 minutes to go 2 miles. It was frustrating, but also at the same time made me thankful that God chose to protect us from being in an accident. We still made decent time though and got home at 4:40.

Since I was too tired to make supper we were going to get McDonald's, but the power was out when we got there so we had to settle for Wendy's. Not my favorite, but better than some other choices!

I've thought about digging out some of my Christmas stuff, but I can't muster the motivation to do anything tonight, so it'll probably wait until tomorrow night.
Tomorrow ends this wonderful weekend. I'm not ready for a new week to start yet. I have a sense  of dread coming over me for a couple of reasons. Here's hoping I can power through it!

A Lazy Sort of Saturday

This morning I got up early so that mom and I could go to the craft show at the US Cellular Center at 9:00. It was pretty lame though. We were through the whole thing in less than an hour. All we bought were Christmas ornaments. She bought one for me and one for her. I always enjoy the people selling food products because they have samples, but there weren't many and most were "organic". I find this whole organic and natural thing somewhat annoying. To each his own, but it's not for me.

It did see a girl who I went to school with and my old co-worker from my job at 5 Seasons at the craft show though! So glad I saw them. :)

Since we weren't there too long, we went to Gordman's, Kohl's and Lindale Mall. We didn't buy much of anything but had fun looking at the Christmas things. We also had to stop at Hy-Vee again to get a few things for supper tonight and I saw my old swim coach! I gave her a big hug and got to talk for a few minutes. It's been fun seeing people that I know!

Came home and ate lunch and watched House with Jacob. Went to Drug Town again and then came home to watch the Iowa game...which we are currently not winning. It's MINNESOTA guys! Let's GO HAWKS!!!

Chili for supper and then who knows what.

Turkey Day Pictures!

Thanksgiving pictures comin' at ya.

Part of the meal, minus the turkey and potatoes!

Kendra, Jacob and Mom are excited to eat.

"That enough picture taking...give me the rolls!"

Deviled eggs are my favorites!

Jacob and I after we stuffed ourselves full of food.

Grandma enjoying a piece of pumpkin pie.

Grandpa decided he didn't need a fork to enjoy his pie.

Lovely sisters.

Dad just chillin' after lunch.

Skyping with Erica, Jim and Logan.

Taking stupid pics of ourselves while watching Meet Me In St. Louis.

Today we slept in a little bit and then hung out around the house. We got Papa John's for lunch and Jacob and I watched an episode of house.

After that I went to the hospital to visit Emily. She got admitted yesterday for a blockage. She's not feeling so hot right now, but I'm so glad that I got to go see her. Just wish it would have been better circumstances.

Then mom, Kendra and I went to Target and WalMart just to look around. Mom bought Kendra and I snowman shaped cookies sheets. Kendra's going to make one tonight, so I'll post pics later. It came with a decorating kit. We assumed that it included cookie mix. It didn't. That resulted in Kendra and I taking a trip to Drug Town and Hy-Vee to find some!

Fun and Wal-Mart.

Almost supper time and then a game of Apples to Apples! Fun times!

Gobble! Gobble!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

We've had a nice day here. Pictures will come later when I feel like taking the time to upload them. You see, that would take effort. I'd have to get off the couch and find the card reader and I'm feeling too lazy/fat to do that.

I slept in the morning until 8:30. We got to Cedar Rapids last night at 8:15. It rained the whole way, but we didn't have any trouble with ice on the roads so that was nice. Jacob went to be early, but mom, Kendra and I stayed up until 12:30 talking. I doubt I've stayed up that long since that last time mom and I sat up talking when I got here.

We had plans to go out tomorrow to snag a deal on an HDTV, but dad found a good deal online. That worked out well because we discovered that a 42" wouldn't fit into our car! Thanks to Amazon we scored free shipping and no added taxes. We just have to wait a few extra days. We also ordered a new TV stand with free shipping.

My other good deal of the day was a USB port. The 2 on the front of my computer have crapped out. We planned to look for one that we could plug multiple things into. My dad suggested eBay. I scored one for...are you ready for this? A penny. Yup! $3.50 shipping, but I bought it for a cent!

Grandma and Grandpa came over at 12:30 and then we had our Thanksgiving meal shortly after.

Turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, peas, rolls, jello salads, cranberry sauce, deviled eggs and pie! Pumpkin and Dutch Apple. Yum! I'm still full...but Jacob is chowing down leftovers right next to me right now!

We also Skyped with Erica, Jim and Logan. That was pure entertainment. First time I've used Skype. It was cool to get to see them though!

Tonight mom, Kendra and I are watching Meet Me In St. Louis! So excited!

Off We Go!

Heading out off to Iowa, so this blog will be short and sweet.

Slow but easy day at work.

Ate LOTS of yummy food.

Got off early.

Next post will be comin' at ya from Hawkeye Country!

Random Tidbits

First of all...

Happy Birthday to my mom-in-law, Brenda! Hope it was a great day!

*Yesterday went by quickly, but it was kinda of stressful due to a couple of high maintenance kiddos!

*Ate supper with Jacob while watching House. House is my new addiction.

*Created a Christmas card online because I always thought it would be fun to mail out picture cards!

*Today was a much easier day due to the fact that my  neither of my high maintenance kiddos showed up.

*My radio station started playing non-stop Christmas music today and it made me all jolly inside.

*Dealt with 1 constipated baby and 1 explodo-baby. I leave that one to your imagination.

*Didn't feel like cooking. Jacob wanted McDonalds. I wanted Angelo's since I had a gift card. We're awesome, so we got both.

*Thanksgiving Feast at work tomorrow. Tons of work for all of the classrooms...except mine. I hide out and go eat food from other rooms.

*Have to say goodbye to my wonderful freind/coworker. I'm pretty sad about that. She's  moving to Peoria because she got a job in her field. I'm so happy for her...just sad for me because we got along SO well. I hope I don't cry!

*Iowa tomorrow night! So excited, just wish we could snap our fingers and be there rather than drive over 4 hours!

Favorite Things (Part 3)

This is the last night of my favorite things. It's been fun and I have more things, but maybe I'll share those at a later time.

This wedding picture hangs in our living room. Jacob's dad bought this frame and had the picture made to fit in it. It's something that I will always treasure.

My Precious Moments. I can't even remember when I got my first one. I've always loved them though. I don't think I've ever bought one for myself. They're mostly gifts from my mom and grandma, but other people have given them to me over the years. I can't pick a favorite. Some do have more meaning to me than others. I do especially love the wedding one though. My mom had a wedding one and it's something I always looked forward to getting. I've almost run out of room and will probably stop collecting them, but I sure love them!

This one is a silly one. I always enjoy funny cards for my birthday. I busted out laughing when Jacob handed me an envelope bigger than my head on my first birthday when we were together. Of course it's Simpson's too.

My Matryoshka dolls. I didn't buy a lot while I was in Ukraine because I use my pictures more as souvenirs. I did buy a few things though and this was my favorite purchase. I bought these almost right before I got poured on at the outdoor market. I can't remember how much I paid. The vendors are all set up and will try to haggle you. I remember I really loved these ones (They're all uniquely painted), but the man kept giving me some high price. I gave him a lower price and he said no.  I started to walk away...so then of course he decided that my offer wasn't so bad after all!

The next 3 are gifts given to me from people at daycare I've worked at in the past. The first one is from a family that I cared for for several years. They have a little girl (not so little anymore), Madison and then they had twin girls, Megan and Meredith. I took care of the twins for about 6 months before I left that job and they were all sad I was leaving. They made me a photo album of the girls and I still have it.

Another mom made me a scrapbook of all the kids I cared for while her son was in my care. Terrible picture of me on the front...but it made me cry when she gave it to me!

My coworker, Jennifer gave this to me on my last day at 5 Seasons. All the babies in my care before I left to move to Illinois. She made this collage for me online.

I feel very loved to have all of these wonderful things because nearly everything I posted were gifts to me. Not everything, but there was quite a bit. I'm just thankful to have these memories.

My Favorite Things (Part 2)

This is a photo book that Emily made for me and gave to me on my wedding day. It made me all teary eyed and I look at it often. She typed the lyrics to this silly VBS song that we claimed as our own, and printed them on each picture.

My favorite Iowa hoodie. This also represents ALL of my Iowa clothes. Is it totally obvious that I have an undying love for my Hawkeyes?

My journals. I've been journaling since 2000. Actually I had ones before this, but sadly at some point I threw them away because I was embarrassed of my awkwardness. I sure I wish I had them to laugh at now because I sure love reading through these and seeing how ridiculous I was.

Ticket stubs. I know. I haven't been to many concerts, but these were special for me. I sadly have lost my Backstreet Boys ticket. :)  Reba McEntire was my first. My mom had promised me that if she ever came to Iowa she would take me. It was awesome...except for the part where we had a pole in front of us which obstructed our view. I was very excited when I got to see Casting Crowns too. Mom and I also went to that together.

This picture from our wedding day is a favorite of mine. I love the frame as well. It was a Christmas gift from Jacob and it sits on my dresser in our bedroom.

My scrapbooks. I have so many unfinished scrapbooks, but I love this one (and I actually finished it). It's of one of my favorite daycares.

This book was made and given to me as a wedding gift also. Everyone who came to my shower in Cedar Rapids wrote a piece of marriage advice for me and then September put it into a book for me. I read it from time to time because sometimes I need a bit of a reminder on being a loving wife! :)

There's your second installment of my favorite things. Too bad I'm not Oprah, because her favorite things are pretty fantastic (although probably not as sentimental) and you'd all be scoring some  pretty sweet stuff. But alas, you're stuck reading this.

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things (Part 1)

I got this idea the other day to take pictures of some of my favorite things.  These things are actual objects that I love. The things that someday won't matter so much, but right now, here on Earth I'd be sad to see go. Since I've been struggling with ideas to write about, I'm dividing this up into a few posts. My favorite things are posted in no particular order!


This first one is my Block Towel from my swimming days. I've saved a lot of my things from swim team and even have a whole scrapbook dedicated to it. I loved my Block Towel though. What is a Block Towel? One of the parent's sewed our name's onto a towel and we placed it on the starting block when our race was up. It gave us better grip and it also helped people know who was swimming in which lane.

A few of my swimming things as well. I didn't get my scrapbook out, but it's also a favorite. I think a few of my things might still be at my parent's house too.

This was my very first Bible. It's a Precious Moments Bible, how fitting. It was a gift from Aunt Jeanne and Uncle Mike.

This is my card box. As you can see, it's overflowing. I've saved cards and letters over the years. I've actually gotten rid of several, but I keep the ones that mean the most to me. Most cards that I save are ones where people took the time to personalize it. I like when there are notes inside the card. If it's just signed, I don't usually keep it too long. Just depends. I love to read through them though. I have some cards from when I was pretty young.

This flower pot was a gift to me from some of the kids I used to take care of at 5 Seasons. The 2 year old teachers made it for me. They used the kids' thumbprints to make the ladybugs. I had all of those kids as babies.

Our Iowa / Illinois flag! I just love that we were able to get this custom made and so glad that Jacob's parent's bought it for us! It's very fitting for us!

My engagement and wedding rings! These are so special to me. I LOVE that Jacob picked out my engagement ring on his own. He did a wonderful job. It's the exact cut that I would've picked for myself. I picked the wedding band...I was going to get a plain one, but decided on a little sparkle.

The poem / memory book that Erica made for me. I always want to laugh and cry when I read though it.

I LOVED this book as a child. You could probably guess why.

There you have it. Your first installment of my favorite things. As I've been typing I started to think of more things I want to take pictures of.

In other news...

Iowa lost their game today...again. Sadness (And mom...if I just spoiled this for you, you should've been watching your TIVOed game instead of lurking on here! :))

BUT

Illinois won their game (at Wrigley Field with 1 endzone, no less). That means they're off to a Bowl game.
That also means that I'm going to have an extrememly happy husband!

He's been gone all day. Literally. He left at 6:00 this morning and I'm looking forward to having him home!