Guess where I'm posting from?

YES! Finally...I am sitting here, on the couch, with wireless internet finally working. I only hope it continues to work because I thought I had it working this afternoon and then wasn't able to get a connection. I am so excited! It is so nice to feel like I am still spending time with my husband, watching our evening tv shows together, and yet, I am blogging at the same time.

I have spent literally all afternoon trying to figure this wireless internet thing out. I have installed, re-installed, and re-installed again. Finally, I "give up", shut it all down for dinner, get some bible reading in, kids bathed and in bed, and come back to see what I can do. And voila...HERE I AM!!! WIRELESS!

What do you think?

So, I was finally able to make a header that was more personalized and fun. I'm not the most creative person, and not afraid to admit it. That being said, I'm open to all friendly critiquing! Let me know what you think. I'm sure the more I play the more often the header will change...maybe.

You have to share your brother...

Today is an Auntie Day with Wayne, Weston and Wyatt. Ethan loves these days because he has someone to play with all day. He always gets so excited when I tell him the boys are coming and is completely exhausted when they leave.

So, this morning, I have Wyatt sitting in his Bumbo chair on the floor in the family room and the other three boys are gathered around him. Ethan starts loving on Wyatt...he loves to give Wyatt hugs and kisses! And then, I hear this conversation (or slight argument)...

Wayne: "Ethan, you need to stop. Wyatt is my brother."
Ethan: "Wayne, you have to share your brother."
Wayne: "No, he's my brother."
Ethan: "Wayne, my mom is all done with babies so you need to share your baby with me."

At this moment, I burst out laughing and kindly ask Wayne to please share his brother with Ethan. I then remind them all that they are cousins but that they can love each other like brothers. They eventually left Wyatt alone and took off to play with the trains again.

(Of course, this whole time I'm thinking..."You know it!" But, I need to clarify something. I'm not done with babies, I'm just done HAVING babies! I love holding babies, caring for them when needed, and loving on them but I have hit the point where it is nice to return them to their mommy and know that I will be getting a good nights sleep!)

Okay, I better get back to my busy boys! They are all becoming little lions...roaring at each other and pouncing on each other. LOVE IT!

Preschool Open House

Tonight was Preschool Open House for Ethan. He was so excited for us all to go and see what he's been this doing year.

He loves to play in "Housekeeping". At this station, they get to pretend being whatever they want. Tonight, he chose the mailman's hat. It is a great time to let their imaginations go!

Next, he took us to the puppets. This is another fun thing that Ethan enjoys. He is really into making up stories and coming up with characters for his stories.

After puppets, we headed over to see Ethan's journal. Once a week, the kids color & draw in their journals about different things...the teacher has a different subject each time. It was neat to see the advancements he has made in his drawings. There is a huge difference from September to March.

The last station we went to was the blocks. Jason and Ethan built a tower with the cylinder blocks. It was fun to see how high they could get it and Ethan loved having his daddy play with him at Preschool.

It was fun to listen to Ethan share with us about Preschool. All the way there, he was trying to convince the girls that they had never been to his Preschool. What he didn't realize was that it is the same Preschool that the girls went to but we didn't burst his bubble...we just let him think that it was his special Preschool.

After having him in bed for about 15 minutes...he came out and asked, "Mom, did you think my Preschool was the best?" Of course, I told him it was the best. What mom would say otherwise? He was so excited he couldn't sleep. I love this boy!

A new "toy" and some digi scrappin'

Last Friday, we received our income tax return. We had planned on using it for living expenses...or at least that's what I thought we were planning on.

We have been looking at laptops for awhile now. 1) Brenna starts middle school next year and will be having to use the computer a lot more for homework. 2) I have started Digital Scrapbooking and having a laptop would make that easier on days when I meet up with the girls for some scrappin' time.

I was pleasantly surprised on Saturday while we were at Best Buy looking at the new inventory...previously, the Best Buy guys had encouraged us to wait on a purchase until the new inventory had arrived. Fine with us because we weren't purchasing then. So, while we were there Saturday, Jason told me that we could go ahead and use some of our tax return for a lap top. We had been researching brands and prices, along with all the important specs, so we knew what we would purchase when the time came.

Once we got the kiddos to bed on Saturday night, I worked on getting all of my digital scrappin' stuff loaded.

So, now, here are just some of the pages that I have completed. It is so nice to be able to sit on the couch with my wonderful husband every night, watching tv, and scrappin'.

Hope you enjoy the pages...






Next purchase...modem for wireless internet but for now, we will wait on that. The girls are excited for the laptop to have internet here at home so they can play on WebKinz together.

So girls...I'm ready for another scrappin' day!

Never before...

...have we ever barbecued this early in the year.
It was such a beautiful day and as I was going through the freezer trying to decide what to pull out for dinner, I came across a bag of chicken legs and thighs. The thought of barbecuing came to mind and the decision was made.

My family was thrilled when they heard we were barbecuing. I really didn't know how it would go over with Jason because even with the sun out...IT WAS COLD! Thankfully, Jason was more than willing to stand outside over the warm barbecue to cook us dinner. What a guy!

A little catching up...

It's hard to believe that the month of February is over. I really have been meaning to sit down and blog but obviously, time has gotten away from me.

It's been a busy month with lots of activities and babysitting. Sometimes I think that I will get caught up on blogging while all of the boys are napping (there's usually 4 extras plus Ethan) but I can't seem to get them all down at the same time. Oh well!

I spent Valentine's Day, or at least the afternoon, with Alyssa's class helping with a little party. The kids were so cute reading their valentines from each of their classmates and getting excited about all of the candy they were finding in their "Valentine pockets." I made Rice Krispy treats for the snack and they seemed to be a big hit.
Sadly, I have no other pictures, than of the party, for Valentine's Day. I can't believe I forgot to take pictures of our family night. We celebrate Valentine's Day as a family. We have a tradition of doing "backwards night" for dinner/dessert. We start out with ice cream for dinner and while we are eating that, we have a heart shaped pizza from Papa Murphy's in the oven for dessert. The kids really look forward to this.

We also had Parent/Student breakfast at school this month. The girls had finished their breakfast and Brenna had left the table with one of her friends and this is where I found her...up on stage singing with friend and music teacher. Thankfully, a dear friend/teacher has her classroom just across the hall from the cafeteria so we were able to quickly get her camera. Who would have thought that I would have needed my camera for breakfast?
We've spent some time with my niece during the past couple of weeks. It's hard to believe that she turned 1 this month. She is such a fun little girl to be around and is so close to walking. She got to spend time at our house the other night and she had a blast playing with my 10-key. I figured she couldn't hurt it and she thought she was "hot stuff" with it.
Sunday, February 28th was a very special day!! Our church had a baptismal service and Brenna had decided that she wanted to be a part of it and be baptized! We are so proud of her and her decision to follow Christ in Believer's Baptism. And, to make the day a little more special, she asked Jason if he would be the one to baptize her. Of course, he jumped at the chance. It was a very special moment for the two of them.
There were 13 people who were baptized on Sunday...two of which were my brother and sister-in-law. That made the day even more special!!

After church, we headed over to my Uncle Deryl and Aunt Shari's for lunch. Aunt Shari had prepared Sloppy Joes for all of us with a jello salad and a "glorified rice" salad (that's what she called it and it was good!), along with chips and a veggie tray. She was an amazing host. I felt bad that she didn't want us to bring anything...she had a lot of mouths to feed.
Uncle Deryl was right there with the kids. It's so fun to watch him interact with them and they love every minute of it.
After lunch, Uncle Deryl started "messing" with Ethan and it ended up in a big game. Ethan kept saying to Uncle Deryl "you can't get me...you can't tickle me." And, of course, Uncle Deryl would eventually take him down and tickle him. It was a lot of fun to watch! And, even though they weren't brothers, Uncle Deryl reminds me a lot of how my dad was with kids and I love it! I love that he and Aunt Shari take so much interest in our kids and really care to take the time to just interact with them. Ethan couldn't stop talking about Uncle Deryl and Aunt Shari the rest of the day.
That gets us to today...Monday, March 1st. It's hard to believe that the month of February is over and that Spring will officially be here in just a few short weeks. I spent my day today with 5 little boys. It was a long day but the boys all did pretty good and we made it through. It's always fun for Ethan to have his cousins here to play with.

The rest of the week will be filled with volunteering at school, working a couple of afternoons, A MASSAGE!, and maybe, just maybe, a date with my husband at the end of the week.

Hopefully, I will be better about blogging during the month of March. I'm not going to make any promises though because I will just be setting myself up to fail. Thanks to those of you who are still sticking with me and checking for updates.