Bella Dancerella

Today was "watch day" at Bella's dance studio. Once a month the teachers pull the shades up so we can watch our future dance stars. A little distracting for the kids, they want to wave and run up to the window, so I can see now why it only happens once a month.




The balance beam, check out her friend cheering her on.





The bear, Bella's favorite tumbling move.



The log roll and the parachute.

The teacher had them line up back to back, then would play music and they would break out and freestyle. One time when they lined up, Bella had a hand on each of her friends butt cheeks. Guess she couldn't resist those cute little leotard-clad bottoms!!

The Swiffer Wet Jet

Meet my new best friend, fresh from the shelves of target. I first became acquaintances with it on Saturday at my friend Denise's house. Yes Denise, while you lay helplessly in the hospital, I was at your house playing with your swiffer wet jet. I promise I wasn't neglecting your children, at least not that much:)

Usually when I clean the floors I vacuum then mop. In between, though, the kiddos make all kinds of messes and that is where my new friend will come in. I hate sticky floors, but I also hate the vacuum/mop routine. Welcome to our humble home swiffer wet jet, I'm so glad you're here.

p.s. I realize this is a ridiculous post, but I am a housewife and breakthroughs in housecleaning make me happy.

We Need to Take Him Camping

Bern decided that instead of taking a nap, his time would be better spent building a tent. The kid will build a tent out of anything, today he stripped the sheets off of the guest bed and now he and Bella are having a little camp out. They have been playing so good together, it makes the stress of having the kids so close together worth it.

Bella's a bit disheveled from her nap.

I Love the Smell of Peanut Butter in the Morning

Brian loves peanut butter, taking a line from our friend Nathan, he could bathe in it. We go through jars very, very quickly. He has the smell of it on his breath almost every morning and evening, so much so that I was joking with him that when he dies I will bury him with a jar. He suggested it might be better to just to go ahead and stick his ashes in the jar.

We used to buy the huge peter pan can from Sam's, the one that says "great for daycares, churches, and Brian". Then a dark, dark day arrived in Brian's life. Peter pan was recalled. He held fast to the hope that next week, maybe the next it would be back. Grocery stores were checked week after week, month after month. Tears were shed, prayers were prayed...still nothing. We tried jif, we tried skippy, generic, you name it, we tried it. In his opinion, nothing could hold a candle to Peter. Then, one day, success! I read something about the dangers of partially-hydrogenated oils and suggested he try a natural brand. Smuckers, friends, smuckers is what saved us. It took a little getting used to, but it is now Brian's #1. Here is one of our favorite recipes featuring the beloved smuckers (or any peanut butter).

chicken and cashews in lettuce cups

3 Tbs soy sauce
3 Tbs honey
2 Tbs peanut butter
3 Tbs canola oil
1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken, cut up in 1/2 inch pieces
2 cloves of garlic, crushed or finely chopped
1 Tbs finely diced ginger
1 bunch scallions, sliced
1 8-ounce can sliced water chestnuts, drained
1/4 cup roasted cashews
1 small head boston or bibb lettuce (you can also skip the lettuce and serve over rice)

Combine soy sauce, honey, and peanut butter, set aside. Heat oil in large skillet, stir in chicken. Season with pepper and stir till begins to brown. Lower heat to medium and add garlic and ginger. Add scallions and cook for 1 minute. Stir in chestnuts and soy sauce mixture, stir until chicken is cooked through, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and sprinkle with cashews.
Serve with lettuce, rice. Cilantro and chili-garlic sauce are yummy accompaniments.

Wednesday Confessions

Sometimes I'm a really good mom, I cook my kids tasty meals, am patient with them, engage them in tickle fights, etc. Sometimes, not so much. This morning started off as a good mom morning, cuddling in bed with the oh so soft princess Bella. It quickly escalated into a bad morning once I exited the bedroom. I noticed that it was about time for Brian and Bern to head to school/work and Bern was only half dressed and busy in his bedroom making a booby trap. Don't ask. I told him to get dressed, then I told him to get dressed, and then 2 minutes later told him to get dressed again.



With Bern you have to be super repetitive, he has a hard time switching gears. Which is a nice way of saying he doesn't listen well. He finally got dressed, and the sock war was on. Bern prefers long, colorful socks as opposed to white ankle socks. I could care less about the long socks unless he is wearing shorts. You see I care what others think (I'm insecure) and I want people to think my kids are well dressed and cute.



Guess what socks he had on (hint: wasn't the ankle). So I coaxed him and bribed him and then I overpowered him (only 40 lbs., I can take him down easy). He cried and fussed and I told him to act his age (I think he might have been). We hugged and made up before he left, but I feel crappy because lets face it, some ugly socks are not really worth ruining his morning over. At his old preschool, there was a little girl that arrived every morning in a huge princess gown, mismatched sock, shoes, etc. I thought it was adorable, and that it was cool her mom let her go to school like that. I am such a control freak, need to work on this!!

Bern and his wicked sense of style.

So Long, Farewell...

Bernard, Ty, and Jack (a.k.a. the pirates) in the club house.

Tomorrow is a sad day for us because our friends Jay, Andi, and their boys are moving to Texas....so Jay can be close to the whataburgers chain again. Good luck with your sparkly new house and job, you will be missed.
Note to the rest of my friends: I can't take any more of this moving nonsense. Neither can my children. Please stop or I'll sic Oscar the dog on you.

Andi and Elizabeth at our fiesta sendoff.

A Life Lived Well

There are two different types of funerals (at least that I've experienced). There's the type where the mood is heavy and you can feel the utter devastation being experienced by the remaining loved ones. Then there is the type (like Amy's mom's funeral) where although there is great sadness, there is so much peace. Before I was a christian I never really noticed the difference, it was only after when I attended the funeral of a dear family friend (who knew Christ) that I understood. It's the difference of knowing your loved one is truly in a better place, and even though you are so sad to see them go, you will be able to overcome the loss and see them again.

What a joy it was that even though Amy's mom knew she was dying she was at peace, and knew where she was going. They said her final hours were spent surrounded by her loved ones, reminiscing and joking.

Being at the funeral and seeing the photos of her with her grandchildren reminded me of how blessed I am to have two awesome Grandma's for my children. My mom drops everything to watch Bern and Bella for us, we can pretty much go anywhere for any length of time and she'll happily agree to it. I appreciate all the sacrifices made so that Brian and I can get away from time to time, and would be so lost without these two Grandma's. There is nothing like a funeral to make you appreciate your loved ones.

Sad News

I found out yesterday that my friend Amy's mom (who I've blogged about before) passed away Monday night. Amy was very close to her sweet mom and is so sad that her two small daughters won't know their grandma. Please pray for Amy and her family, for peace in her mother's death, and for joy knowing that her mother was a Christ follower and is in heaven.

Deep Thoughts by Bernard

After blowing his nose about 8 times, until there was nothing left in it:

"Daddy, my nose is like an ice cream shop that is out of ice cream, except the ice cream is snot, because if God made us with ice cream in our nose, our head would be really cold."

Indeed Bernard, indeed.

8 Years Ago Today

Honeymooning

A Night on the Town

Dinner at sidney street followed by complimentary strawberries and champagne, yummy! If only the fire alarm hadn't gone off at 6:30am...

Brian's sister had her baby boy today!! The stinker wasn't due till October, lucky girl always gets to go early. Bernard is thrilled to have another boy in the family. Can't wait to cuddle him in the hospital tomorrow.

Also, welcome baby Addison and baby Joey, I'm glad your mommies finally have some relief!

Through The Years

In just a few days I will be celebrating 8 years of marriage with my love! In honor of our anniversary, I thought it would be fun to post some pictures of us through the years.

The story of us began a few weeks before my 15th birthday, when I was grounded for the summer. Let's just say I might have told my dad that I was going to a girlfriend's house and then went to six flags with a boy....that my parent's hated.

Meanwhile, Brian managed to get himself grounded for the rest of the summer as well, for having a party while his parents were out for the night. A party with alcohol....And girls.

Anyhoo, I jokingly said since we were both grounded we should date, since we were in the same boat (we were acquaintances from band). I might have also made a comment to a friend that Brian was cute.

The comment must of got back to him, because then he asked one of his friends to ask me if I would go out with him, if he asked. Make sense? Our first date was at City Nights, our small towns version of a teen night club.

We dated all through high school, and broke up once for a week. I made him spaghetti and brownies and we were back on again.

When it was time for him to go to college, I helped convince him that SLU would be a great place to go. I visited him a lot that year, mostly because he rarely answered the phone when I called, so I would get "curious" as to what he was up to.

When it was my turn I went to SLU as well. He was in a fraternity and I joined a sorority, and we partied and studied. We were always hip to the latest fashions, as you can see from the pictures.

Sometimes he carried the relationship, and sometimes I did. With the stress of college and all the partying, we had our moments when we weren't sure if we would last. I believe God had plans for us, and He carried us during those times.

When I was nearing graduation he proposed, I accepted. We had a lovely wedding and honeymoon, then came back and worked. We added Oscar the dog to our family, and said goodbye to clean carpets.

I went back to (culinary) school, and we bought our first house. We were happy, but after a couple years we decided to add to our family. We were thrilled with the arrival of Bernard, and I was able to stay at home with him. We said goodbye to sleep.

Life was good, and then Brian accepted a different job and we moved again. We (as in me) decided it would be "fun" to have another baby. We were blessed with Bella a short time later. We said goodbye to our sanity.

We found an amazing church, with wonderful people that have challenged us to have a relationship with God. Our church and friends have made St. Charles County home to us, and have enriched our lives immensely. It's hard to believe that it's been 8 years already, and it just gets better and better every year.

I am so happy that I was grounded for the summer 15 years ago. Brian is the one of the best things that has ever happened to me, and it has been such a joy to grow up and marry my best friend.

The husband would like to say....

Well, I can’t beat this for an anniversary present. This was really sweet of you Heather. Reading this made me realize some things. One - that I hadn’t put any thought into a gift for you yet. So this is my confession to the world (or at least this blogience).

Life has moved so fast as the years have passed and I’ve let our anniversary become an ordinary day. I’m afraid our relationship has inadvertently lost worth to me as well, while the kids have taken precedence. I’ve been treating our marriage like a partnership whose purpose is to manage the house and manufacture children. Life seems to always put our marriage and romance on the back burner. I think I’ve let my expressions of affection get hidden under layers of busyness.

So, I know it’s no coincidence that we recently received a brochure for a Family Life Marriage Conference. We were enticed by the conference locations (we love to travel) and, having gotten a little cash back from our van accident, decided to do it. I’m thankful that God is giving us this opportunity.

I believe you are right Heather, looking back on the path that has lead us here, that our Father’s hand has guided us the whole way. But, I think I need to be reminded that you are a special gift from Him to me. To take time to reflect on our years together and remember why we fell in love. As the Family Life brochure says, in Matthew 6:21, Jesus reveals that the greatest treasures in life can be found wherever you invest your time, attention, and resources. I pray that on this anniversary and during our upcoming Family Life "Weekend To Remember", Jesus will show me how to find those treasures again, like we had when these early pictures were taken.

Love Brian

I Think We Have a Problem...

Bella is a bit of a fashionista, but I believe it might be getting out of hand. Note Bella's choice of outfit for a bike ride around the cul de sac.



Disclaimer: Bella's closet is not normally this messy, and she is between a size 6 and 7 right now which is why there are some similar looking shoes. Better watch your credit cards, Daddy!

Got Bugs?

We've got our own in-house pest removal technician. He is available for out calls, at the reasonable rate of a nickel per bug. Though sometimes he can be a pest himself and I am tempted to use the flyswatter on him.

I Heart Fall!

There are so many things to love about fall, but I'm partial to the food (shocker). Bella and I made these scrumptious caramel apples Sunday. Is there anything better than caramel, nuts, chocolate and a crisp apple? Although I told her it's a caramel apple, Bella prefers to call it apple pie.

Update:Any Ideas?

It's a wabbit catcher, couldn't you tell? He hasn't actually caught a rabbit with it, but that is a moot point. Grammy is the winner even though she didn't guess correctly, at least she tried. Also, clearly my readership is down from 3 people to 1.

Along with the friendship bread she wins (drum roll, please)..........a night of babysitting my adorable children!! Congrats Grammy, you can collect your fantastic prize on Saturday!




Can anyone guess what this contraption (conceptualized by Bernard) is? Winner gets a loaf of Amish friendship bread!!




Hint: There is a baby carrot in the yellow box.

Why We Had Kids, Part 1 and 2

Bernard cleaning car mats.....with a windshield de-icer.

Bella doing dishes.

All those sleepless nights are starting to pay off!

Baby Fever

I have baby fever. I think it's because my kids are growing up so fast (see above picture), and lots of my friends and loved ones are with child right now. The first newborn of the bunch arrived last week (welcome Jack), can't wait to see him, and hopefully get it out of my system.

Bella and I had to wake up Bern for school yesterday, and she got into bed to cuddle with him. I came back with the camera but could only capture this, as Bern wanted no evidence of cuddle time with his sister.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Yesterday we celebrated my Grandma's 89th birthday. I love spending time with my extended family, the kids have fun as well. The picture of Bern and Grandma blowing out the candles together melts my heart a little bit. I love being in my Grandma's house, I have such good memories there. Grandma used to make a mean chocolate chip cookie, and would make like 12 dozen at a time. Which made me very happy.

There are always treasures to be found there, yesterday Bern discovered a bow (luckily the arrows were missing) and played Robin Hood for the day.

Aunt Melanie and Bella had some cuddle time.