Red, White and Black

 Roses are Red

Violets are Blue

Honey is Sweet

And so are you!

Great Grandma's Celebration!!

 How cool is it that the girls have 2 Great Grandmas!! I remember my great grandma lived to be in her 90's and we would visit her often. I miss her.  She passed when I think I was about 9 yrs old or so. 

I am SO thankful that my kids have such a wonderful Great Grandmother here in Colorado and back home in PA! These pictures make me smile!!! Especially the one above because Ella and great Grandmas birthdays are just days apart! How special!

 We had  the party over at Matt and Tinas new place which is just beautiful!!!

In other news, I will be opening an Etsy shop soon and I am very excited! I have been busy making things and am excited to reveal it to you all! 

And just in case you see me limping in the near future- here is the cause- my toenail is basically missing from one of my little toes and it hurts like CRAZY! and I dont know how it happened. weird. 

Also, we watched Despicable Me tonight for family movie night- I am not sure what I think of it... some funny parts, weird looking characters, I dont know. I havent formed an opinion yet. 

After dinner tonight we went to a new yogurt place called PeachWave- super cute and YUMMY!! (frozen yogurt is all the rage here in Denver:) You get to dispense your own yogurt and add your own toppings- they have at least 50!! And they just weigh it and it turns out to be pretty cheap if you get a smaller size! It was funa nd the kids had a blast! And its fairly healthy! Win.Win.Win.

I REALLY need to join the gym. My belly is growing and its not because of a cute little bun in the oven. ugh! Nothing else seems to be getting larger just my stomach. Not fun! 

Did I mention that it was close to 65 degrees today! It was gorgeous- short sleeves and no coat. What could be better in late January?!! I LOVE Colorado!

I think that is all. Thanks for reading my ramblings! 

God Bless and Good Night!

King Size

Bed, that is.

We need one of these! (this one is Matt and Tinas and its awesome)
We have a queen for which I am thankful but it does get crowded every once in a while. I mentioned a while back that the kids kept waking in the middle of the night and coming in to sleep with us. Well, they have since mastered sleeping in their beds, for the most part. 

But NOT last night! 

At dinner, I told Mark about the CRAZY dream I had all which stemmed from waking up at 2am the night before to 4 raccoons fighting outside our window- it was LOUD! I am usually a VERY heavy sleeper but was up all night because of those  raccoons.

Well, wouldnt you know it, I had a terrifying dream where the raccoons got in our house and started clawing me as I slept. I made the mistake of telling Mark about it while the kids were listening. Sure enough, around 2am last night, all the kids slowly woke up and were SO scared because they thought they heard raccoons in our house. 

Poor Sophia was next to me on the end of the bed and I was just about back to sleep when she said, "Mom, I'm really scared still". 

I had a vivid flashback to my childhood- being about her age and crawling in my mom and dads bed  and still be frightened that someone was going to take me right out of bed and my mom wouldn't even know it. I said the same thing and my mom slipped her hand around me and hugged me close.

So, thats what i did to my daughter and she fell right to sleep. 

I wont be telling any more of my scary dreams to my kiddos anytime soon!

Especially if they involve fighting raccoons!

Who Stole the Candy from the Candy Jar?

 The other day, I was spending WAY to much time on the computer basically becasue Ella and Elijah were being SO good (or so thought) I hadnt heard them arguing or crying and I popped my head down their once and they were both engaged in various activites with toys in the playroom so I thought they were just being extra good for me and I continued my computer activities!! 

After about an hour or so, they were REALLY quite so I went downstairs to see how they were doing and low and behold this what I came acoss. They were both siting under the table( like they were "hiding") , the candy box opened with wrappers scattered all over the floor, and sticky goop all over their hands and faces, quietly chomping as much candy as they could get their hands on! 

Of course I reprimanded them and you can see by their facs they knew they were IN TROUBLE! 

Later on that day I tried to get into the downstairs bathroom and they had locked the door so noone could enter. (they werent inside) So, I just waited till Mark got home. He opened the door and I should have taken a picture! The bottle of windex was on the toilet and there was blue water EVERYWHERE as well as gobs of toilet paper and paper towels in the sink, the toilet and all over the floor. 

They were doing some unsupervised cleaning, I guess. 

Mark discovered this after I told him all about the candy story. He offhandedly asked how I had spent the day to which I meekly replied that I was on the internet a lot and not quite involved with the children. Not my proudest moment. 

But a funny story to say the least! 

How can it keep getting better?

I love this guy- even more than when we met many moons ago and even more than when we got married, and even more each passing day. Its true. He really still makes my heart pitter-patter and he still gives me goosebumps when we kiss. Its amazing to me that 9 years later, my love for him has gotten SO much deeper and I love him SO much more- even though I know all his flaws and even though he STILL leaves piles of dirty clothes in the bathroom, even though we have 4 kiddos that are constantly beckoning for our attention and stealing time away from "just us" ... I love him more every passing day. 

Love is an amazing thing!

P.s. Page views of my blog last month- 1,600! You guys are awesome! thanks for reading my blog!!

P.s.s Check out the pictures of Great Grandmas birthday cake under the tab recipes-

I included the chocolate cake recipe which is divine!

P.s.s.s. Have a great Sunday!

Kiss Me

Did I ever mention that I LOVE having a little boy. 

I love it. 

SO much!

He is SO very different than the girls. 

Generally MUCH tougher-

although whenever he gets really hurt-

he runs crying to me and asks me to kiss wherever the boo-boo is 

and as soon as that kiss is planted

(on his finger, toe, head, or whatever body part hurts)

he runs away happy as a clam! 

It cracks me up that my kisses are so magically healing

and warms my heart to know 

that my kisses are still needed,

even for a tough little boy like Lij!

All a Matter of Taste

I asked Ella the other day to change out of her pj's and get ready to go to school. She came down the stairs like this and said she was all ready to go! Ella is the only one of my kids that REALLY likes to pick out what she wears for the day. The twins could care less as long as it is comfortable- no jeans! 

But not my Ella! She has to have a say on what goes on her body. I usually let her go out with whatever she picks (its not worth the battle and she is so proud of her outfits and that she got dressed herself) 

but obviously, not this day- 

just a tad too cold and immodest:) 

I organize all my kids clothes in piles in their drawers with a top and bottom that matches so its easier for them to get dressed- they just grab a pile. But Ella always seems to rearrange the piles pulling out her favorites! I sorta like that she has such a strong opinion about what she wears- it shows her individuality. 

Elijah is a boy so he really cares less and weirdly the twins often ask me to pick out clothes for them. 

So, its nice to have one little girl with her own unique style:)

I love my Ella Bella!

10 things

I am not feeling too well today. I was just thinking how very thankful I am that our family has been VERY healthy this winter- very little fevers- very little colds as a matter of fact. probably because their has been very little cold weather around here lately. I am not complaining!

I drove our van today. Its been a while. Our van got fixed this past weekend. I am very thankful for Matt Whipple who came over and helped Mark change the part- saving us hundreds of dollars- literally. (thats what we were quoted to fix it)  His sweet wife, Molly, came and chatted with me while they worked and we all had a nice lasagna dinner after. Glad for friends and cheap fixes to expensive car problems.

I somehow misplaced my ATM card and had to get it replaced today. Glad to have it back.

I attended our churches twice a month Ladies Coffee today and we had a new guest- always great to have new ladies come and get to know new faces and new kiddos! Her little boys were very cute. Elijah seemed to enjoy having more testosterone around him.

I finished painting the dining room wall white- it looks so much cleaner- I also touched up some of the mistakes I made while painting with color. It looks a hundred times better. I added a wall script thingy above our "artsy" family photos- it looks SO cute! I also spilled a quarter of a gallon of white paint on the carpet. It amazingly came almost all the way out. Good thing we are getting wood floors in the next month!

I have about 6 loads of laundry yet to complete.

I read 2 books in the past 2 days- not kidding. When I get into a book, I barely put it down.

I feel like I am gaining weight and its because I eat too much and eat whatever I want, when I want and that is not good. I am joining a gym soon- this tummy is too flabby.

I am excited for tax return time. We will be able to eliminate the majority of our debt with it- it will free up alot of money a month for us ! Praise the Lord! I am VERY thankful this LONG journey is almost over and pray to God that we will remember the lessons we have learned and use our money much more wisely... I think the past 5 years has helped us in this area! Also so thankful for God's provision.

I am going to lay down now. Mark just got home!

The End.

SNOW much fun!

 This was our second major snowstorm in Denver this winter! Yep- only 2 snowfalls and its January! Amazing! Today its supposed to get to 53 degrees! The snow will be most likely gone this weekend.

But we definitely got out in it! 

Snowball fights, snow forts, snow angels, sledding and eating it!

 Is not my Ella just so precious with fresh snowflakes on her eyelids! I could eat her up!

 Elijah is till not a huge fan of snow.

 Our hill is not that steep so poor Mark has to get them going!

New Feature!

Check out my new tabs on my blog. I only have added info to recipes, about me and crafts! I like how it organizes those categories although it doesnt inform people when I post new items, so check it out every once in a while! and do you like the simpler red look of the background? I thought it was time to simplify and organize!

Reflecting

 Yesterday would have been my dad's 57th Birthday.

I miss him.

He was murdered when I was 19 years old. I remember the day so vividly and yet it was been almost 13 years and I forget what his voice sounded like and how it felt to be hugged by him. 

Funny how thinking back to that day still makes me feel sick to my stomach and a bit light headed.

I wish he could have met my husband and my children.

I wish he could see the cakes I  make.

I wish I could have him into my home and cook for him. 

I wish I could call him on his birthday and tell him that I love him.

Loosing a parent is painful and that pain really never goes away. The sharpness of the pain subsides but it never truly fades. I think of him often and of all the good memories we made as children.

He would play "lion" with us and tickle us till we couldnt breathe and were begging him to stop.

He would take us for rides on his motorcycle.

He would cook amazing food- some recipes that I still make today! 

I have a handful of pictures of my dad all of which I need to scan into the computer because I didnt have a digital camera back in those days.  He was handsome and had the best smile with a little dimple in his cheek. Elijah has the same dimple. I like that.

My dad had skin that always looked like it was tan even in the winter. 

Marks arms remind me of my dad's- weird, but they do.

My dad had dark hair, pretty much the same color as Sophia and Arianna.

Ella really has no physical trait that reminds me of my dad, 

but the fact that Ella is always making us laugh reminds me of my him. 

Even though my children will never know their grandfather, I  try to keep his memory alive by telling them stories about him and showing them pictures of the man that I called "Dad".

These pictures are of the house and lake where I spent my childhood.

Great times were had by my brother and I, as we hiked and explored all over this lake and the woods behind our house. We would be gone for hours! Such good memories!

Ta-Da!

 Here it is! Ella's completed birthday cake! I just couldnt wait to show you all-

I think this is by far the nicest, most creative cake

I have done to date and I just love it! 

Ella does too!

She likes the hair the most, she said! 

I REALLY like the cake bunting the most! 

(they sell that stuff on etsy for like $20 for what you see on my cake!- 

and it cost me like $2 to make!)

Today is her party and its at a gymnastic place- everyone is so excited!

Including me, because I dont have to do much! They run games and everything! 

And it was VERY reasonable and she can have 20 kids 

and an unlimited number of adults- 

so we have around 35 people coming today! FUN!

I made a new chocolate cake recipe for one layer and 

the other layer is half strawberry and half vanilla with a chocolate mousse filling. 

I got a bunch of tips to make my cakes better from another blog 

and they really helped this time around! 

Megan is taking professional pictures for us at the party

so I thought I'd try to wait to post really nice pictures of the cake but I just couldnt, 

so my little camera ones will have to do...

Recap: New Year's Day

 Another tradition our family has is our annual New Years swim!

We go to our local rec center and swim in the indoor pool.

They have the perfect kiddie pool and the kid just love it!

Markand I love the hot tub the best-

the jets do wonders on achy backs and sore shoulders.

On another note, I am so very thankful for God's protection of our family.

The other night the girls kept coming to us saying their were weird noises coming from their room. 

We dismissed it  but they were persistent and we finally checked. 

Sparks were flying out of a socket in their wall. 

We immediately shut off the breaker to their room.

Praise God it didnt happen in the middle of the night.

A fire could have easily started seeing as the socket was right behind their book shelf! 

The electrician came and replaced several old sockets 2 days ago.

Just so thankful God protected our little family! 

Ellas 2 year Video

So, I have been on a video craze lately. Its fun to go through all the old photos and videos that we took of the kids. As I was doing so, I realized that Ella really was a VERY mischievous little girl. I forgot about half the things she got herself into- pens, markers, toilet paper, wipes, black eyes.. and she was always SO messy! It was hilarious to see it captured on video and film! Ella was definitely more so than the other kids! and I forgot about it completely! Good thing I have all these memories saved up so I wont forget to tell her future boyfriends and husband someday! so, here's one more video of Ella from 1yr to
2yrs old.. Enjoy and I promise to wait a while before putting another one up! They are long!

Happy 4th Birthday Sweet Ella Bella!

 Hard to believe that this little girl is now 4 years old! 

Ella is a HUGE blessing to our family!

She is very loud and energetic, yet has a very sensitive side.

She loves to try to keep up with her older sisters

and usually fits right in with the older kids! 

She is SO very smart and could write her name by the time she turned 3! 

She knows how to count by 5's and 10's ad knows her alphabet 

and some sounds and all her numbers up to like 60!

Yes, I'm bragging about her:)

We love you Ella and pray that you grow up to be a woman 

who loves Christ and His gospel!

I think I'm going to let the twins stay home today to play with Ella. 

She misses them so when they go to school!

here is a little video of Ella's first year of life! 

Sorry for the "loud" song right at the beginning!

It was Marks pick:) 

And one other thing- just wanted to ask you all to pray for our friends Giles and Janel Litzner- their little 18 month old boy, Elijah.  is having his 3rd serious surgery today at this very minute. The surgery is over 8 hours long and my heart is SO very heavy for little Elijah and his mom and dad. Please pray for wisdom and accuracy for the doctors,
for little Elijahs body to be strong
for quick and complete healing
for grace and peace for the Litzners.
"unto our God who is able to do exceedingly abundantly-
above what we could ask or think!"
To God alone be the glory!!!

Ringing in The New Year!

Yes, we stayed up till midnight 

playing The Settlers of Catan,

getting our butts kicked by Bobby,

eating snacks,

watching the ball drop,

kissing our spouses,

all while the kiddos slept soundly in bed!

Here's to a New Year filled with more memories made with family and friends

and more opportunities to see Christ proclaimed and glorified

and His church and people strengthened and built up!

Happy 2011!