Fireworks!!!

We had a great 4th of July! Friday night we had a backyard campout, which means that we just set up the tent and slept out there. Our boys are going to have a strange idea of camping because they think that it involves a movie. We brought out the laptop and watched a movie in the tent, which they had fun with, but it's not exactly a true camping experience! Oh well! They had fun in the sleeping bags and eventually fell asleep. I insisted on an air mattress for me, but still ended up back in the house before the end of the night. I'm such a wimp! But, the boys loved it!

Saturday afternoon we went to my aunt and uncle's house for a family BBQ. It was fun because I had cousins and their spouses/families in from out of town that we got to visit with (although I forgot to take any pictures there...) After that, we went out to the farm. My friend, Abby, invited us to go to her parents farm property that is outside of Spokane County so fireworks are legal. I as suprised that my boys didn't get scared by the loud but ones...but they sure weren't! The baby, on the other hand, was kicking up a storm!

It was a late night, but the boys LOVED the fireworks. It was lots of fun! Thanks for the invite, Abby!

Drumroll, please......

We had our ultrasound today and the best is news is that the baby is doing great and the second best news is that it is a...


GIRL!!!!

Yeah! We are so excited, I finally get to have some pink in my life! I can't wait to start shopping!

What a Guy!!

Last week was my birthday and, as always, Joe went to a lot of effort to make it a wonderful one. I woke up around 6:30 to the sound of a balloon popping in the living room. He and the boys were out there decorating with balloons and streamers, it looked great. After checking out what all the commotion was, I was sent back to bed. A little while later they brought me breakfast in bed, french toast with fresh strawberries, mmmm! After cleaning up the kitchen and the boys, he went into work a little late. Before leaving, he let me know that he'd taken the afternoon off and would be home around lunchtime. After he got home I got to do whatever I wanted (which included some shopping for myself and by myself, some quiet time to read and a nap!). Meanwhile, Joe was decorating my birthday cake...he'd baked it (from scratch) the night before and he spent the afternoon assembling. He's called my mom and gotten the specific recipes so that he could make just what I'd wanted. It was wonderful!

After we were all up from our naps, we had the "birthday party" with the boys. This was when I opened my presents and we had cake and ice cream. We spent the rest of the afternoon playing with the new Wii Fit that I'd gotten...it was a little awkward with my growing tummy, but still fun!

My folks came over in the evening to babysit so that we could go out to dinner (and it was supposed to be a movie also but we got mixed up on the movie times and ended up being WAY late so we decided to go a different time).

All around, it was a wonderful birthday. I felt loved and spoiled, it was great! I'm so grateful for my wonderful husband and all that he does for me. So, one year older...and inching closer to the big 3-0, just two more years... yikes that's weird to think about!

Good News!!!

So we got two bits of good news this week...well one was more news that we got and one is more news that we can report....

The news we got is that Joe passed the Audit section of the CPA exam with flying colors! A 75 is passing and he got a 91 so he was thrilled. So, that's two down and two to go, he's already well into studying for the next one which he'll take near the end of the summer. Good job, Honey!

As for our news to report, I'm still pregnant! I went in this week for the cerclage procedure/surgery and all went well. The baby is becoming notorious for hiding from the nurses and does not like to have his/her heartrate recorded. That has caused me to go into panic mode more than once over the last several weeks, but all is well. The cerclage (basically a drawstring type stitch that they place around my cervix to keep me from dilating prematurely) is in place, baby looks great and I am doing fine after the procedure (although I'm not a fan of the anesthegiolist that gave me the spinal, I could barely move yesterday I was so sore!). Thanks to those who watched my kiddos and brought us dinner that night. It was all greatly appreciated! This is a huge step in a pregnancy for me and I'm so glad to be at this point and finally feel comfortable in looking forward to having a new baby. Two more weeks until the ultrasound!

We'll keep you posted!

Why not laugh now?

One of my Mom's favorite sayings is that "if we are going to look back on this and laugh, why not laugh about it now?" She likes to remind me of that when my boys are doing naughty things or otherwise causing me grief.



Well, here's an example from Andrew...he loves my makeup and apparently watches what I'm doing pretty closely...he actually got some of the mascara on his lashes!


How can get mad at a face like that?

One SUPER Birthday!

Sam turned 4 over Memorial Day weekend and we had his first real "friend" birthday party. It was a SuperHero theme and it was a blast! I made capes for each of the kids, Joe set up an obstacle course and we had a few other little games. It all involved training the kids to be SuperHeroes. The most note-worthy part was when a bad guy (my brother Danny dressed in a black cape) came in and tried to steal the presents. The kids chased him down and got to use the new skills they'd just learned - they attacked him their fun noodles and then tied him up with toilet paper. It was hilarious, I think that we got most of that on video. Sam had a great time at the party and was talking about it for days!

Here I am at 11:00 the night before frosting cupcakes...and I forgot to take a picture of the finished product! This was before the kids arrived and we were still setting up. Andrew was so excited about all the decorations.We started off with Joe leading us in some stretches to get us ready for all of the SuperHero training...the kids mostly looked at up like we were crazy!Then he showed us some basic moves......and Sam was at least getting into this part!The batteries on my camera died so I didn't get pictures of them doing the obstacle course or capturing the bad guy. After the games we just turned them loose to play in the backyard and my battery was recharged by then!
Then it was lunchtime...Sam's choice for the menu was PB&J sandwiches, apples and "spicy chips" (AKA nacho doritos)Andrew was apparently more interested in the sucker he'd snatched from the candy bowl! Sam enjoying his cupcake. They each had a little spiderman figure on the top, I thought they turned out pretty cute!After lunch we broke a pinata which was very difficult and very scary! The kids would not stay back and were wondering everywhere...and the thing wouldn't break! Next time I decide to do a pinata, it's definately going to be homemade (so it breaks easier) and the kids need to be a little older!

I tried to get pictures with all of his guests before the left, but I forgot with a few of them. But here he is with his cousin Ela... Sam and Callie The boys...Sam, Dan and Jared...Cameron must have already snuck off!

And the awesome helpers! Danny and Jessi came just to help out I appreciated it so much! It meant that I was able to more a part of the activities instead of doing all of the behind-the-scenes stuff. Thanks guys, you're the best!

Later that day...

...after Andrew had taken a nap and Sam had opened his presents from G&G Lodge, we went out to Couer' d Alene with the familyfor a picnic. It was Memorial Day weekend, after all!

Andrew looks so pooped! It was a very full and hot day!But the water was icy cold!Sam loves this camera that he got from G&G, except he deleted all of the pictures from his birthday...just because. I was a little peeved...they were supposed to go on here!We had a great weekend and Sam couldn't stop talking about his "wonderful party" and "great friends". That night when we were getting in bed he just let out a big sigh and said, "Wow, Mom, I had a wonderful birthday!" What more could you ask for than that! I'm glad it was fun and all came off well. Happy Birthday to my big 4-year-old!

Up and Running...

The computer, that is, certainly not me these days!

After several months of our laptop being in the process of dying, it finally bit it a couple of weeks ago. (Sigh...) After hours of attempting to revive it by Joe and his Dad, we finally decided to save our files and get a new one. A desktop, which I'm very happy about (I hate typing on laptops!)

So, now I have tons of catch up to do on this blog! We've been very busy and have lots of fun pictures to show, so I'll do my best to catch up!

Oh, and for those who are curious, because I've gotten this question a lot, apparently I'm not very good at making announcements...I am due at the end of November and we should find out July 2nd what it is. We're crossing our fingers for a girl, otherwise I'm going to need lots of help coming up with another boys name!