Some Christmas Photos!

Gage in the elf hat.



Ran and the kids.




Ashlynn with one her favorite gifts-a diva in the making?-I hope not!



Uncle Ben and Ryde being silly.



Gage wearing Granpa's glasses.

Doctor's Appointment

Had a doctor's appointment today. I measured right at seventeen weeks and the baby's heart rate was at 160. We'll go back on the 23rd to find out if it is a boy or girl, can't wait! She told me since I was feeling better I can resume some normal activity -yay-and after another week or so of feeling good I would be able to get back all the way to "normal".

We'll be sure to let you know on the 23rd, in the meantime, how about some guesses??

Merry Christmas!!!!!!

Hope you all have a very merry day!!

More "wisdom" from the mouth of babes.

"Are there any bars there?"

This remark was made by Ashlynn when I told her it was time to go to a nearby kid-friendly, outdoor shopping mall.

We don't take our kids to bars, I promise mom. Randy, however, had taken down their trampoline, but left the frame up in the backyard. Yesterday was really nice, so she took to hanging from the "bars" like a monkey and that's what she was inquiring about.

Apparently she wanted to keep playing with the frame.

Happy Birthday dudes!!!!!!

From a couple of cute, tough cookies.....




To some real studs.....



Happy Birthday bros and my fellow December birthday siblings!! We are so proud of both of you, two more firefighters in the fam-that is so cool! Hope you have a blast today, well, if you're not on shift that is.

Birthday!

Last Thursday we all got together to celebrate Jeff's 21st birthday! Hard to imagine he was only eight years old when I met Randy. We had lots of fun, here are a few pictures.



Ryder digging into their shake.



Mug shot with the shake.



The guys: (l to r) Ben, Dustin, Jeff (the birthday boy) and Ran.



The kids getting to touch a lobster!

Ok, so I realize most of the pictures are of my kids, but you try to get a bunch of guys to smile for the camera, I was lucky to get one!

Living dangerously...

So there I sat at the table trying to finish addressing my Christmas cards while feeding green beans and oranges to Gage. All I can say is, the little orange and green spots are nothing to fear, just a bit of holiday cheer. No anthrax or MRSA, just trying to "multi-task".

A little peace and quiet...a little.

This morning Paula headed off with Ashlynn and Ryder to Mimi and Papa's house. Since I'm still not back to "normal" activities, I'm staying home with Gage man.

Me and Gage, this ought to be an adventure.

We have already to listened to Jingle Bells twenty times, The Final Countdown fifteen times and Everybody Wants to Rule the World twenty times. This boy is obsessed with music, but it MUST have a beat to it, no slow stuff for this kid. All day long he points to the computer or CD player whining for you to hit play. And when you start it, stand back, he's got moves. Honestly, in all my life I have never seen a one year old dance perfectly to the beat and for so long. I'm going to have to get a utube of it on here. It will crack. You. Up.

When he's not dancing, he is into EVERYTHING. Randy found a golf ball in his work boots this morning. And just the other day I grabbed a vase out of the lower cabinet of my china hutch and was shocked to see a spoon, butter knife, two potatoes and a seam guage in it. Thank goodness the potatoes hadn't sprouted yet. How he got them in there or how he even knows where I keep the potatoes remains a mystery.

The other day Coleen remarked she thought her name growing up was "Coween did it", I'm afraid Gage is only going to respond to "Where's Gage?".

Is it nap time yet????

Pictures with Antisdel.s Photography....

These images were captured by a great friend of mine, Kia. She is an amazing and nationally renowned photographer who volunteered to take pictures at the Eau Ministry conference I spoke at back in September.

She sent them to us with permission to use as we wanted, so ofcourse, I had to post them here.

Thanks Kia!

Our first snow has arrived!

We received a good three inches of snow yesterday. It came in these huge beautiful flakes while the kids watched in anticipation to see if it would accumulate. That's actually what I told them, "you have to wait until it accumulates before you can go out and play in it." They stared at me with these crazy looks until I explained what I meant. The rest of the day they made a point to mention about the snow 'cummulating outside so they could play. Back and forth they went from inside to outside, drinking hot chocolate in between to warm up. They LOVE the snow!!

The new do.

Here is Ryder post haircut. It's cute, but I miss running my fingers through his hair (I don't think he misses that!). Ashlynn LOVES it and Ryder says he looks like daddy now :-).

Just in time for our Christmas cards....

It's never a good thing when your kid walks into the kitchen with a pair of scissors in hand along with a bunch of hair with this to say: "my hair was in my eyes, mama". I'm off to give him a buzz cut to see if we can "clean it up" a bit. Hopefully it will grow back soon, he has, I mean had, the best hair.

The wisdom of my daughter?!?

"Sometimes grown ups are wrong and kids are right and sometimes kids are wrong and grown ups are right." Spoken to me by Ashlynn after I admitted to being wrong about something.

Colder days.....

The weather is getting chilly here so we aren't getting out that much. Translation: not much to blog about :-). We are already getting "cabin fever" and we must find some order to our day so we don't all go crazy! I know once I start feeling better things will get back to "normal".
Had a sonogram of the baby today. Looks great, long arms and legs that were moving all over the place. The heart rate was still up in the 160s, a girl maybe? I haven't shared much on the blog but the last two weeks have been touchy with some different issues. The doctor is confident that baby is growing well and all things will heal (a slight tear behind the baby's sac has been causing some concern). Anyway, I ask that you keep praying for the health and safety of this pregnancy, it's definitely been testing my faith. My pregnancies have a way of always bringing me closer to God and that's certainly not a bad thing!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a great day and a fabulous meal today! This year I decided to attempt roasting the turkey...
After a five hour brine in salt water and overnight to dry in the fridge, it was off to the oven with George Washington (Ashlynn picked the name,hey, it's tradition!). Carefully, I followed every step and babied him for three and half hours. When I pulled that beautiful bronzed dude out of the oven I had to grin. The moment of truth was still to come-was it done, raw, overdone?

We loaded up the car (apple bars, homemade rolls, sweet potato casserole, stuffing and cranberry sauce) and headed over to D & L. There it sat on the counter, just waiting to be carved. The first slice, I exhaled a bit. Then another, then another and I began breathing more normal. It wasn't dry and it wasn't raw!!! I will admit to praying the whole time that guy was in the oven; Lord, please let it not be undercooked, please let it not be chalky. Thankfully, He answers even the little stuff and it turned out pretty good.

After the meal and we were all stuffed like hogs, we crashed on the sofa to watch the games (Go Pack!!). It was a relaxing, laughter filled, thankful day. We came home put the kids in bed and that is where I am headed right now....goodnight and Happy Thanksgiving!

The bath, daddy and green race car............

After Randy checked on the kids last night, he came back into our room and mentioned it was "really stinky in there". Remembering they had been playing outside all day, I responded that it probably was just stinky kids. Just to double check I opened their door and yep, just the smell of kids that had been riding bikes and playing in a dirt pile enjoying the warm weather.

Tonight I remembered to give them a bath. Ok, Randy reminded me how bad they smelled and to top it off, they were outside in the sandbox today.

Ashylynn asked if she could bring her Barbies in the tub and Ryder wanted his matchbox green race car. Randy popped his head in the bathroom door just in time to go retreive Ryder's precious car. After several minutes he arrived back without the car. After asking Ryder if he remembred where he left it, Ryder thought for a minute and responded in very Bostonish, three year old venacular:
"Look harda". Huhhh??
"Yes, daddy. Look harda. Look eveweewhere."

Randy and I were trying to hide our giggles and he was off again to look harder and everywhere. Three minutes later the race car was securly in his clutches.

Apparently persistence pays off.

Reunion

Back in the days BC (before children) I had a "real" job working in insurance. Tonight I was invited to attend a retirement dinner for one the nicest ladies that I worked with. There were actually a bunch of us former employees and it was like old home week. We had a great time visiting and catching up on the haps; ofcourse, I announced my news and they were all thrilled (I think they figure they'll get another life policy out me!). We all went around the room and shared some memories we had with the retiree and pretty soon everyone was crying-except for me. First, I don't cry that easy-it's a Hays thing; second, why would I cry about someone getting to retire and here nice things being said about themselves??? It was fun, but it made me appreciate my current (and permanent) occupation.

I do not miss, I repeat, I DO NOT MISS having to get up early, dress up and sit at a desk all day.

So thanks Ashlynn, Ryder and Gage, three "bosses" that could care less if I stayed in my PJ's all day :-)!

Daddy's home!

After two weeks away, Randy returned home Thursday night. The kids were elated, to say the least, and have not stopped wrestling with him yet. He had to go to work today and they were all disappointed not to see him this morning when they woke up. Well, my early riser (Gage) was up and able to see him off. Personally, I'm glad he is home and not going anywhere soon!

This morning I took Ashlynn for her school pictures. There is a program that a photo studio offers for homeschoolers and I thought I might as well start. They are going to be your classic, cheesy school pictures, but that's part of being a kid! I'll post one when they come back from the studio.

Could this post be any more boring? Besides the typical crazy, busyness of my life, not much else going on.

They're gone.

Well, apparently when your husband is out of town for almost two weeks, you go a little crazy. The following episode didn't help.

This all takes place at a busy fabric store while in line:

Ashlynn: Can I have (everything in the store)?

Me: No, Ashlynn I just need some thread real quick.

Ryder: Can I have (everything in the store)?

Me: No, guys I just need to get this thread and we're out of here.

Ashlynn (at a decibel loud enough for everyone in line to hear): You never get us anything, you only get yourself everything.

Me: (If looks could kill)

Ashlynn: I can't hear you.

Me (in a hushed tone): You are in sooooo much trouble.

Ashlynn: You really need to use your inside voice. I can't hear you.

Ryder (not quite as loud as his sister): You never get us anything,, you always get everything. I want candy.

Me (trying to wish the whole thing away, while turning five shades of red, while holding a fidgety Gage): We'll talk about it in the car (while still giving the "if looks could kill" look).

After a lecture in the car about disrespect, obedience and listening I decided the consequence would need to be big. So today I went through the entire house and collected every single toy they own, put them all in trash bags and into the storage room in the basement. Funny thing, the kids were actually helping sort and put them away-with gusto.

Now only a few of Gage's toys remain and they have all been playing really well. They've been pirates, acrobats, and musicians. I think I'm starting to like this no toys thing.

Happy Anniversary to Chris & Rebekah!!!!

Three years????? WOW! You guys are awesome! Have a fun day and a great trip!!!!


Chris, I must say, we are so happy to have you as part of our family. The kids, Randy and I love you and Bekah!!

Feeling sorry for myself?

Yesterday I sat in church listening to a great message while being completely distracted with my queasy stomach. Then it struck me, where is the excitement? With the first pregnancy, everything is exciting. I remember being so grateful for being sick all the time. To me, it was God's way of reassuring all of my fears about the health of the pregnancy. When you lose a baby, there is always a lingering fear it will happen again, so when I was sick and the doctor told me it was a "good thing", I rejoiced. Now, I just complain internally. Ok, Lord, it's the fourth, could I get a break here? Funny thing is, I am confident He knows me better than I do, and in my crazy hypochondria if I wasn't feeling sick, I would assume something was wrong. I know, it doesn't make sense.

Back to the excitement. As I was thinking in church, I want that joy and overflowing happiness knowing there will be another unique, amazing, God-created life in our family. To be amazed and thrilled by such a precious gift, gifts we thought we may never have. The all day "morning" sickness will have lasted a mili-second when it's all said and done. So for now, I want to do more than grin and bear it, I want to be grateful.

Football fun!

After a great church service and breakfast with Linda, Paula and the kids, we headed back to watch the Packers game. The guys were all lucky enough to get tickets (Dale & Jeff were eight rows up from the players!) and had great tailgating goodies with Ben's company. Linda and I sat on edge at home hoping for a great game for the boys-which turned out awesome! Ashylnnie and Ryde were in on too, cheering like crazy. GO PACK GO!!!

Linda made some great Venison stew and malts. It is SOOO nice not to have to cook with the way I feel, thanks Linda! We even get to go back tomorrow night......

Last night

Ashlynn and Ryder excited the "win" candy!



"Robin" looking tough.

Well, when Ashlynn saw all of the inflatables at the carnival she opted to leave her wings in the car so she could "jump better". Ryder had his mask on most of the night, I was just unable to capture a photo of it. My batteries died on the lovely camera, so this is all I have. Sorry!

We came back home and were still able to pass out a bunch of candy, Ashlynn and Ryder were good about rationing it to the neighborhood kids(that and I said when we ran out, they would have to give away their own candy!). It was safe and fun, but best of all...OVER!

Tirrrred

Tired. That is how I feel 24/7 right now. I don't remember being this fatigued with the other three kiddos, or maybe the fact that there are three babes outside the womb to care for that is making me so tired!! In any case, I just need to push through and know that in a few weeks I will have my energy back...I hope :-)!


We are taking the kids to a nearby church tonight for their fall festival. They are, of course, looking forward to getting candy. Like last year they will enjoy a few pieces tonight and then it will conveniently disappear. Ryder is dressing up as Robin (which he calls Batman) and Ashlynn is going to be a fairy princess ballerina (big surprise). Have a fun and safe evening!

It's Official!

Well since the word is pretty much out, I will make it official here....baby #4 is on the way! It's a bit of a surprise (we weren't sure about a fourth!), but are excited just the same. Actually, I think Ashlynn and Ryder are the most excited. They keep calling the baby "she" already, though Ashlynn always says she doesn't care if "she" is a boy or a girl :-). I've been super nauseated as usual and know it will fade by week 16, so only seven or eight left to go-ya!! Basically I eat on an "as tolerated" basis. Many people like to refer to it as pregnancy cravings, but I eat only what I think wouldn't make me want to, well, you get the idea. Really, I just look at it as God's way of reassuring me that I am pregnant and by sixteen weeks I start to feel fluttering, so that becomes my reassurance (thanks Lord!). My first doctor's appointment is on Monday so I will get an "official" due date (like they really mean anything!!), but it will probably be the end of May or so.

Here we go.....

Fires back home....

Check out Beks and Colie's blogs for updated maps and the fire's proximity to my families houses (including mom and dads'). Thanks for posting that for those of us who can sometimes feel "out of the loop" being so far away.

Please continue to keep all in your prayers, especially John, Mike and all of the firefighters in harms way.

Went to a wedding....

Spent the weekend in San Diego for my brother's wedding. It was absolutely beautiful and we had a blast! Here are just a couple of shots. Thanks to Uncle "J" for sweeping Ashlynnie off her feet. That girl danced the ENTIRE reception, she was like the energizer bunny!

Ryde fishing for crawdads. He caught two!!




Ashlynn looking a little afraid to climb back down the ladder in Justin's cabin.




The kids at the creek checking things out.



I am ashamed to say I forgot to bring my camera on our trip. The shots I did get were with Mimi's camera (thanks!) and I didn't get any with Aaron, Melissa or Rilynn (I know-shame on me!). So, sorry again, this is all I have :-(.

Zoo

Gage in the red tunnel at the playground.



Ashlynn, Gage and I. (Ryder took this photo!)




The kids watching the giraffe eat leaves from a tree.


We headed over to the zoo on this beautiful day. The kids had a blast and the animals were all out enjoying the day as well. Thanks again to mom for the gift of the zoo membership, we'll be using it a lot more in the next couple of weeks :-)!


We had a great trip down south and I will post some pics tomorrow.

Headin' south

Paula, the kids and I are headed south today. Our cousin Aaron is home from Iraq for a few days and we wanted to spend some time with him. He and his wife welcomed their baby girl (Aaron was still in Iraq at the time of birth) on Labor Day (how crazy is that!) and we can't wait to meet her. From all accounts she is the most beautiful baby ever, so the anticipation has been growing!

Aaron does have to head back to Iraq next week to finish out his tour, so I ask that you would keep he and his family in your prayers until they are safely reunited again. I am so grateful to Aaron and the brave Americans that serve our country, what a gift!

The speech....

Saturday I spoke on fitness and nutrition at our young women's conference through church. It was my first true public speaking engagement and I was a bit nervous. Partially due to the topic (not the fave of most people) and also just wanting to get the good info out there without fumbling about. Thankfully I didn't get flushed and remembered most everything I wanted to share. Having two very broad topics and only a half an hour made it a good thing I talk fast :-)! Paula helped me big time with my hand-outs and Power Point slideshow, I so owe her!! Thanks again to Colie for all of her help!!

On another note, our next festival is in two weeks, so back to the sewing room I go. Mom finished an adorable full apron this week. Also, we are adding purses to our line and as soon as I finish the one I am working on will post it to lizzie M.. Check back this week!

50 things I love...

I stole this from Jenn, thanks for the idea!

1. Chocolate chip cookies
2. Love songs
3. Quiet time
4. Reader's Digest
5. No car payments
6. Grocery shopping
7. Ripe peaches
8. Walking
9. Swinging
10. Coloring
11. Watching a movie w/ Ran
12. Watching my kids play together
13. Reading my families blogs
14. Talking on the phone
15. Sewing
16. Making up patterns
17. Improvising
18. Golfing
19. Ryder
20. Ashlynn
21. Gage
22. Randy
23. A clean house
24. Something I need is on sale
25. My past
26. My present
27. My future
28. Good sermons
29. Teaching Ashlynn
30. Funny things the kids say
31. Pictures
32. Time to read a good book
33. Hearing my kids sing to Jesus
34. Having my picture taken
35. Riding bikes
36. Going to the movies
37. Visiting my family
38. My mom & dad
39. Fishing w/ Ran
40. Swimming
41. Washing my hair only 2x a week
42. Dreaming
43. Field Trips
44. New clothes
45. Finishing a project
46. Ran's hugs & kisses
47. my mother-in law & father-in-law
48. Catching a bigger fish than Ran
49. Trying new things
50. My life

Too busy, again.

Well the craziness of festival #1 is behind us. This week I need to focus on preparing my 1/2 HOUR speech to our young women's group on Saturday. Thanks to Colie for getting lots of good info and "writing" my speech for me :-). Hey, even President Bush has his peeps.

Will try to post more this week and not be so CRAZY BUSY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Final Countdown...

The title is in reference to two things. Yes, one being the song itself. This summer I made (with Paula's assistance) two '80s CDs to listen to as we drove to the cabin. In a slip of judgement, I called Randy at work to see if there were any songs he wanted me to download. Yep, you guessed it, among other tunes: Prince, Morrissey and Young MC, my sweet husband requested Europe's "The Final Countdown".

The scary thing: it's Ashlynn and Ryder's favorite song! If you call my house, you will probably hear one of them singing the tune in the background and every time they ride in Randy's truck, it is their first request. Lord. Help. Me.


The other reference is to our festivals. They are biting at our heels and will be here too soon. Mom and I will surely be burning the midnight oil in the next week, sure hope we are making what people are looking for. Otherwise, I know a couple of people taking a fancy cooking class and they definitely need a couple or twenty aprons.

Happy Friday!!!!!!!!!

New blog up and running!

Check out our design blog! If you look closely at the pictures you can see the watermark of our logo, let us know what you think!!!

My latest fave......

Here is my latest design, and one of my personal faves so far. Thanks to Paula for encouraging me to reach a little further for some creativity in this one.


On another note, school is going well. Today we finished with the seventh day of creation and Ashlynn drew a picture of God in a recliner resting (she thought of that all by herself!). Their creation books are all finished so I will try to take some pics with the kids holding them.

You should see the mound laundry in my living room, all cleaned and folded, just hoping it will miraculously get put away.
Busy, busy, busy!!! :-)

Our new venture.....

Ok, so mom, Paula and I decided to take a leap and start our own business. We are starting small, like making the aprons and selling them at local festivals. We would love to eventually do more "pre"-production work (designing our own fabric, patterns, etc.), but that all takes time and getting your name out there.

Paula has designed a terrific logo for lizzie M. design, as it is named, and is our great "attention to detail" gal.

Mom, ofcourse, has all the talent and skills with lots of experience in the industry.

As, for me, I'm not sure what role I play yet except for lots of excitement and a passion to see something come from all of us working together.

Our number one goal is to do what Jesus would have us do with our time and talent that He has blessed us with. We want to glorify Him in all things and the cool part is-He's great with us having fun doing it!

P.S. I hope to have a separate blog for lizzie M. up and running in the next couple of weeks, it will be a place we can post our thoughts on design and any new ideas we have. Your input is always welcome!

Another apron!

I promise, info to follow!

New venture......

More info to come!


**Added to say: Ashlynn took the pics of me in the apron-not too bad!! ;-)

Volleyball

Last night we went to watch Randy play sand volleyball. The kids had a blast playing and Randy's team won!

School went well this morning, the first two weeks of the curriculum are all about Creation. The kids learned that God created darkness and light on the first day, then they colored the number one and glued it to construction paper that will eventually become their own little book.

They were both so anxious to start this morning, it was so cute!! They wanted to call me teacher instead of mommy and I told them it was up to them-but they can always call me mommy!!!

School Days

We start our first day tomorrow........I'll let you know how it goes and try to get some pics of the kids doing their school work.

It's been sooooo busy around here. I will try to update a little better this week, but right now it is 11pm, again, so I'm off to bed. :-)

Gage Man

Since we were on vacation, I didn't get a birthday post in for this little guy (who is now thirteen months old!!!). Where has the year gone?? He is walking, talking (all gibberish) and comprehending so much now. He can differentiate between toys, throw a ball (alarmingly well) and wrestle with daddy & Ryde.

He's still such a baby too. Without words, he can only use the sounds his little mouth makes to inform us of what he wants. Let me just say, he's pretty good at the "what's taking so long for the food, woman?" sound, as well as "this is not what I want, give me something else". He can make a sing-song sound very much like when I'm talking sweetly to him and now says "pa-pa".

Monday evening I drove Mimi and Papa home, so Gage got to take a road trip. He turned into Mr. Clingy, not wanting anyone else to hold him and if I was out of his sight for more than a second, he was screaming. This is the first baby I've had this dilemma with and I'm not sure what to do. Hopefully it is just a short lived stage! He was probably just spoiled having my attention all to himself for a few days :-).

Just the same, I love my little guy. He is so sweet and giggly, making our day brighter. Love you Gage Man!!!

P.S. The above birthday cake photo is self explanatory; the other picture was taken after he "snuck" into the bathroom at the cabin and emptied a container of powdered perfume-the picture doesn't show how messy he really was. At least he smelled fragrant, I guess....

Jumping to Obedience?!!?

Last night I told the kids it was time for bed and to give Auntie Paula hugs and kisses goodnight. Ashlynn jumped up right away and ran in the direction of Paula. What a great moment, I even proclaimed "Look, Ashlynn is jumping up in obedience!".

My bubble was quickly burst when she kept running to get something from the kitchen. Darn.

Ryder, apparently listening to me intently (riiight), stood up and started jumping in place. "Look at me momma, I'm jumpin' in 'bedience".

Now, do I try to explain what I really meant? If I could have stopped myself from laughing long enough, maybe. Ok, probably not. Thank God for kids and the funny things they do!

Been bugs in the house....

Not the creepy, crawly kind (though Randy would beg to differ). The fever making, body aching, bile vomiting kind. I know. To much information. Such is my life right now.

First it was Ryder, who fevered to 103 degrees and up, ending it with five hours of bile carefully aimed on every towel we could get into his hands. He was so meticulous about it, not a drop landed anywhere else but on that towel(s). After finally being able to maintain his fluid intake, it didn't take long for the recovery. My busy little guy is, well, busy again.

Gage was next. He managed just the fever and only to 101. Honestly, I'm not sure if it's just his molars moving around or the virus, but he is Crabby with a capital C and he is not a crabby guy. Reminding myself of that fact is important for my emotional stability, as the constant whining is trying my patience a bit. When nothing can soothe, it's got to be teeth.......right?

Randy fell victim number three Sunday. High fever, achyness, chills, you get the idea. Last night he fevered so much that he thought at least two-hundred spiders were crawling on his back (the sweat dripping off, I assume). Then he woke me to get him a towel because he felt like an NFL head coach that had just won the Super Bowl. Unfortunately, not the fame and glory part. The part where they dump the cooler of gatorade on him. In my extreme state of drowsiness, I handed him the towel and advised him to scoot away from his now soggy side of the bed; I was waaaay to tired to get up and strip the sheets.

Now it is 11pm, I am exhausted and I need to go to bed. But, it feels good to make light on the last few days around here. Hopefully, I passed the test.

Sooooo excited!!

I've been debating about what curriculum to use for Ashlynn (I know school is about to start!) and have finally decided on a great program. As much as I would like to pick and choose what we use, I know being organized this first year is vital for my sanity (and that of the kids).

During Ashlynn's dance lessons last spring I met a wonderful woman that homeschools her four children who introduced me to My Father's World; and today she invited me to her home to take a look at it. It is an awesome Bible based program that incorporates everything I am looking to teach Ashlynn this year (Ryder will be able to participate as well) that allows, even encourages, flexibility and creativity. My initial impression of looking at it online wasn't fabulous, so I was so glad to see and touch it in real life. It will be order this week!!

And one of the best things, aside from the cool ant farm, it will cost less than two months tuition did at Ashlynn's preschool, AMEN!!

Happy Birthday Reilly!!

A sweet Happy Birthday to cousin Reilly from Ashlynn, Ryder and Gage!

We hope your day is filled with good fun and special memories, we love you and miss you sweetie!!

Hugs and Kisses from Auntie Lizzie and Uncle Randy-we love you!!