Emmaleigh

I miss my friend. I started looking through old digital photos this week. Found a few, but there are so many more that I could add. I loved our sweet dog and I will truly miss her. The pet store up the street had a Santa come and you could bring your dogs. Emmaleigh does not look amused to be in this picture. To be honest, neither does Micah.

This is what she had to deal with. She was our original pillow pet.

This was just funny. Noah used to give Micah rides on the tricycle. It was really cute to watch.

She was happiest outside with us

Before we had kids Em used to snuggle in bed with us on Saturday mornings. She was pretty spoiled.

She was always there for me. It's weird, but dogs know when something isn't right. She would just come and be with me. And, she also thought she was a lap dog.

She was under two in this picture

And, I think Noah was under two in this one

Rest in Peace Emmaleigh.

The best dog anyone could ask for.

Baptism Day

On May 22 we had the joy of having all three of the kids baptized. We asked our friend Jan to take a few snap shots of the day.

Sweet Jayda, 8 1/2 months

Noah is growing up so much. 6 1/2 years old. He is a great big brother. He is so helpful to us and loves his sister and brother.

I love the back of her dress, so we made sure to get a picture of the cute bow.

I love this picture of us!

Micah is growing up so much. He's going to be in Kindergarten next year. He's almost 5! He adores his sister and loves playing with Noah.

After Pastor Tim baptized Jayda, he turned to the boys and said "Who's Next?"

This picture caught them both raising their hands saying "Me!"

Jayda loved watching Pastor Tim.

This is another one I love.

The boys really wanted Chris to put up the trampoline. It was beautiful last Saturday, so he went ahead and did it. It has rained and snowed every day since then, but today was just sunny enough that the boys went out to play. If you look closely, you will see that both of them are wearing hats and slippers because they were too cold to play. And the stuff in the middle of the trampoline - yeah, that's ice/snow. They made a game with it called "Don't get touched".

Before they went out to play, there was a Nerf gun war at our house. This is Noah, locked and loaded.

And, in case you were wondering - yes, she does look like her Dad.

This is just funny. This was their art project in Kindergarten on Saint Patrick's Day. LOVE IT!

Last Sunday we took the boys out to doughnuts. We were told about this great place in Port Washington. We were not disappointed, and you can tell by this picture, the boys loved it too.

She's just so adorable.

I am always trying to take pictures of her and I together. Probably for the rest of her life I will drive her crazy with this...she looks very enthused already - so I am sure it'll just get better as she gets older.

Six Months

I recently heard a quote that has been so fitting and has helped me cherish these "hard days" at home...I don't know who said it, but it's a good one.

"The days are long, but the years are short."

Jayda is six months old already, Noah is reading full books by himself, Micah is memorizing phone numbers 'in case of emergency' and Chris is really almost done with his PhD and has been hired on by Marquette to teach in the 2011-2012 school year. WOAH! Where did the past 10 1/2 years go!

These are just some snapshots from my phone of Jay-bird.

She is getting so big - eating solid food. She loves carrots, sweet potatoes, avocado, bananas and applesauce. So far she doesn't really like yogurt, but I'm sure that will change. I've been loving making my own baby food again.

In this picture, if you look close, you can see her "Pebbles Flintstone" hair style.

She is so beautiful and I love to watch her sleep.

She's such a big girl in her booster seat. Ready for the next meal...

Snow Day!

The news report said that we would get 12 inches of snow and it was supposed to start around 3am. We woke up this morning to nothing...not even a cloud in the sky. We got ready and went to church. When we walked out of the church, the snow was beginning to fall. We quickly ran our couple errands and headed home. In a matter of a few hours we had 6-8 inches of snow on the ground and the high winds have started! Just when I was starting to get spring fever with the 45-50 degree days we've been having.

But, I decided to make for myself a "kitchen" day. I baked bread, made granola, baby-food and tortillas. Chris even felt the urge and made almond butter - quite tasty!!

We had a great time. I think the boys were getting a little bit of cabin fever, but we managed.

Micah found a game on my iPod that captured his attention for part of the afternoon.

Noah loves the game "Angry Birds" on my phone.

Jayda and Chris watched Clemson beat Miami by four points.

And this is the bounty of my time in the kitchen. I had so much fun, but man am I tired. I realized this is why farmers back in the days of Little House on the Prairie must have gone to bed so early - and I still got most of my ingredients from the grocery store!

Until next time!