Good morning

I had a great start to my day. Got to sleep in until 7:30. Got the girls dressed and fed, man, I was on a role. So, I started cleaning up breakfast and unloaded the dishwasher....


....only to figure out after nearly all the dishes were put away, that my dishwasher was never turned on last night. Oops...Hope I found all the dirty ones in the cabinet and put them back in the dishwasher.

The weather, organizing and games

Like the rest of the country, it's been incredibly cold here. Well, that's changing today. This afternoon it is a beauitful sunny day with temperatures in the low 60s I believe. Perfect! Does anyone know of a place where the high is in the 60s and 70s at least 90% of the year? If so, I would like to move there. Thanks!

Anyway...last week, even Florida dipped into the freezing temperatures! Saturday was the worst day for me. It *might* have made it to 40, but I'm pretty sure it didn't get out of the 30s AND it was raining. A slow, nasty, cold, steady rain all day. I can handle one day of that, and then I'm ready for my sunshine. I have really enjoyed the cold temps, even the really really cold temps, mostly because the sun was still shining so there was a hint of warmth on your face. But, when there's no sun, it's no fun!

I also think it's hysterical to look around here when it's cold. Today I went to the grocery store. My car temp gauge said it was in the mid 40s, and people had on what looked to be snow books with fur and fringe all around and big heavy jackets. Seriously....within an hour of that temp reading, it was already in the mid 50s. I have lived here my whole life in the warmth, but I can't help but giggle at the people who bundle up like it's going to snow. I'm sure that lady I saw is sweating in her boots now.

I have loved wrapping myself in blankets (even when it's 80 out I like to do that. I've enjoyed having the windows open. I feel like the air is easier to breath when there's a little chill in it. I'm sure I would feel MUCH differently if I were in snow covered Ohio, or worse, North Dakota where I heard of temps (maybe it was wind chill, I don't know, in the negative 50s!)

I think I'm rambling and procrastinating from doing housework. Here is a picture of Jeremy scraping the ice off his van on day last week. We don't have an ice scraper, so he used a spatula from the kitchen.


Subject Change
If you watched the treadmill video, then you saw our garage. We just finished organizing it a few weeks ago. Over the past couple of months, we painted the floor and walls, built new shelves, organized all of Jeremy's items into drawers and simply worked really hard to get HIS space back in the order He likes it. I think it looks great too.



AND...here's a pic of the girls sporting their home made aprons. I love 'em.

Finally...here's a cut picture of the girls playing with a Christmas present. Nicole insists it's a tent and not a tunnel.

My cousin Colt

My cousin, Michael and his sweet wife Jyme Beth have 4 very adorable boys, Colt (almost 7), Judd (almost 5), Lane (3 1/2) and Jace (1). Colt was born with his hip out of socket, a problem which required surgery when he was a little baby and a body cast for 12 weeks. He is now almost 7yrs old (his birthday is the 16th) and a vibrant, growing and very strong little boy (who has had quite a rodeo carrier thus far. I'm not sure what all these events are, but he is first in the down & back and barrels and second in stick horse race and goat tail tye in his age category).

His parents just found out that he has to have another hip surgery because one of his growth plates was damaged during his first surgery. Now that Colt is growing up, this is causing a problem because one hip is growing faster than the other. Unfortunately, he has to have this surgery this Thursday...before his Rodeo season ends. He is very disappointed because he may not be able to finish his season the way he hopes to. He will not be able to have any physical activity for at least 6 wees (that's gonna be tough on Jyme Beth too!).

Anyway...I wrote this for two reasons....one-so you can be praying for him. His surgery is this Thursday morning and should last about 1 1/2 hours.
And 2...they would love to have cards sent to him while he recovers. So...if you'd like to send a little get well card to Colt, please contact me and I'll give you their address. It would cheer him up, because he is scared about the surgery and bummed about missing out on his favorite things for the next month and half. (Plus his birthday is on Saturday).

Thanks guys!

Two videos

I have two videos to share with you.

This one is what we do when it's to cold for us Floridians to go outside (this was the day it barely got into the 40s! I don't care who you are...that's cold! haha) This video is a little long...but I think it's hysterical! Jeremy gets the treadmill up to max speed...and the girls have a turn trying too.



This video is more for our dear family who live in a land far far away. Nathan is really starting to smile and coo....however, I caught him at the tale end of his smiling time. Oh well...you get to see it anyway. Hang in there until the end (or fast forward to the end) so you can catch a little glimpse of Nicole and Hannah....and, what I generally look like during the day (unbrushed, unmake-uped, and perfectly "real" haha

Pizza Cupcakes

For Christmas, I got a cookbook called The Cooking for Kids Bible.  It is filled with all sorts of fun, yummy recipes.  I used several this last week and I wanted to share one that I made for lunch.  They are called Pizza Cupcakes.

Ingredients
1 tube of refrigerated biscuits
1/4 C diced red sweet pepper
1/4 C diced onion
1 C spaghetti sauce
Mozzarella cheese

Saute red pepper and onion until soft.  Meanwhile, place one biscuit in each cupcake tin and spread up the sides of the cupcake container, making a well in the center.  When the veggies are cooked, add the spaghetti sauce and bring to a boil for 1 to 2 minutes.  Fill each biscuit cupcake with a scoop of sauce, top with mozzarella cheese.  Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes. 

These were a pretty good little lunch.  I was happy that I was able to sneak in some veggies too.

Iguanas

Picturing this gave me a much needed laugh today.  Taken from this article.

Freeze warnings covered nearly all of Florida with temperatures expected to drop into the 20s. Iguanas were seen falling out of trees; experts say the cold-blooded reptiles become immobilized and lose their grip when the temperature falls into the 40s or below.

More pictures

You know...I have the opportunity to post, so I might as well. This may not happen again for another week or more:-)  In case your just checking in...you have some catching up to do, so keep reading:-)

First....Nathan has been left out in the past few posts.  But, not in this one.

He's smiling and cooing a lot.  It's so sweet.  After all the crying, the smiling takes the stress away.  He's being calmed more now by the girls too.  I think he gets lonely, because he cries if he's by himself, but then Nicole will go over to talk to him, and he stops.  He seems to love them already!

 

Last week we went to the park where the girls rode around a racquetball court on their bikes while Jeremy and his friend played....aren't they cool???

I love this picture of Nicole on this very cool tree swing. 

Aprons

For Christmas, I decided I would try to make matching aprons for the girls and I.  I have no idea how I found the time (yes I do...it was late...late...late at night), but I was able to complete the aprons for Nicole and Hannah.  Mine is not done, but it will get done!

It's hard to tell in this picture, but the back is purple with sparkles all over.

I wanted to add some embellishments but I didn't.  One, because I didn't have enough time, and 2, because I didn't know how to.  I have another little project on my mind now.  Hopefully I'll have time to get around to it soon.

BIG update post

So, rather than write a bunch of different posts...I'm going to do one big post with random pictures and stories from the past couple of weeks.  The girls have just went down for nap time, although they aren't asleep yet, and Nathan is still sleeping from this morning.  This is my chance.  Here's hoping I finish:-)


Family Visits
As I've said several times, Jeremy's sister Tiffany came down to visit along with her husband, Chris, and their two cute kids, Seth (almost 3) and Susannah (1).  We all commented how much Susannah and Hannah look alike, and even act alike.  Not to mention that their names rhyme.  In fact, when we do prayer requests at night, Nicole always says, "and another Hannah...Susannah Hannah".  I think she does it because she thinks it's funny their names rhyme.  So, Jeremy and I are always saying Susannah Hannah, but I'm not sure Tiff and Chris like that ! hahaha.

Here is Susannah

Me and Susannah

  I don't know whose idea it was, but Gramps spent at least an hour with those three on the pretend airplane.  In this picture Nicole was the pilot, and Hannah and Seth were helping to keep the plane in the air with their outstretched arms.  Can you see the airplane drawn on the ground?  It was adorable.  I would venture to say this might have been one of gramps' favorite times with those three.

Nicole sat and watched Gramps carve the turkey on Christmas day.  I think she was a bit appalled at what was going on.  She had a very disgusted look on her face.  I'm pretty sure if someone would have picked the turkey up and made it dance on the counter, she would have freaked out and became a vegetarian:-)

Can you believe this weird-o is getting married next month! Scary, isn't it? :-)

Camels.....

We came home Christmas eve from looking at Christmas lights with a surprise on Jeremy's work van...a GIGANTIC Camel!!!

We thought for sure it was my dad who put it there, because the next day when we moved it to my van, strapped it on, and drove around town like that...he made a big deal about what a great joke it was and how we should pass it around to other people.  The (very small) tag even said "Dad" on it.  Well, come to find out, it wasn't from my dad, it was put there by Jeremy's friend Aaron, who got it at a white elephant gift exchange a week or so earlier. 

We ended up stuffing it into the work van of our friend Dan.  I don't know where that camel is now though.  It was pretty fun playing with it for a few days though.

Hannah still likes her some food!

The other night we were having something italian for dinner...stuffed shells maybe.  Anyway, here are just a few pictures to remind you how much Hannah likes her food.  She's hysterical!

 

 Obviously Jeremy and I weren't paying attention to what she was doing until it was to late...at that point then, you might as well take pictures and laugh!

An update from Last Year

Happy New Year!!!!  2009 came and went faster than expected.  This time last year, I had no idea I would be pregnant and have a baby boy before the year's end.  Ahhh...but this post isn't about last year or about this year.  I am so far behind and I have so many things to write about and show you.  I'm pretty sure I won't get to them though.  Want a sneak peak anyway....my possible future posts have to do with
~camels
~pizza cupcakes
~neices and nephews
~weddings
~organization
~and the crazy life as a family of 5

For now anyway, I'll share a few pictures from our very adventurous trip to the zoo last week.

Jeremy was blessed to be given last week off of work, and remarkably...he was only called a few times by his customers, so it was a real unexpected vacation.  We stayed in town because his sister and her family were down, and Justin came down for a few days too.  However, after everyone left, we had some serious plans for work and for play.  We worked very hard  on catching up around the house, finishing garage organization, laundry, getting rid of un-used decorations and clothes and so forth. And, we decided to take one day totally away and go to Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo.

We've been there before, but only Nicole remembers.  This time, Hannah was in on the fun too.  Next time, maybe Nathan will remember the trip. Soooo....here it goes......

It's about a 2 1/2 hour drive to the zoo.  The ride up was great, Nathan fell asleep soon into the trip, as did Hannah.  Nathan actually stayed asleep until just after lunch!  Unbelievable considering he doesn't like the car seat much (you'll hear about that later!)  The zoo was very busy, which made the crazyness seem all the more crazy!  After dealing with potty breaks, snacks, drinks, and begging for more snacks and drinks, there wasn't a lot of time for animals watching.  Actually...there was.

Hannah and Nicole both got to feed a giraffe.  We have a funny video of the video trying to lick Hannah (twice!) and it totally freaking her (me) out.  I can't get it on here though:-(

Nicole got to ride a camel (I whisked Hannah away so we wouldn't have a "that's not fair" meltdown). 

We found a pretty little place to take pictures of the girls. However, we couldn't get them to smile at the same time. 

So, we tried again...we said, "Nicole smile"

and again....this time we said, "Nicole, show us your teeth." So she did...and Hannah stuck out her tongue

and again...

and again.....

Nope, we couldn't get a good one.  Oh well.