Summer 2011

It's time for a long over due update... A lot has happened in the last three months so hang on for the ride!

Josh had a birthday, shout hooray! Josh turned three years old on May 1st and we celebrated all day long. Friends and family came over for a BBQ, we had race car cake and there were lots of presents. We let Josh open a present every hour or so and it made the day so fun!

The birthday pancake!

Surprise!

The cake!

The kids!

The birthday boy!

The presents!

The BIKE!
(Thanks, Nana and Grandpa Bellinghausen)

The very next day after Josh's birthday we surprised the kids and headed the the Great Wolf Lodge in Concord, NC to stay the night and play in the indoor water park. We had a blast. The kids loved their log cabin bunk beds and private television. Kate was fearless on the water slides.
My favorite thing was getting the kids into their jammies and heading down to story time in the lobby.

Kate coming off the water slide.

Josh taking a breather.

Story time.

This was the only family picture we got and its a bit blurry!

Bunk Beds!

The kids outside the bakery!

A few weeks later, Katelyn attended her end of the year dance recital. This was her second year dancing and she was so beautiful! We are so proud of all that she has accomplished this year. She danced a ballet number to "How Great is Our God".

I love this picture of Josh and Kate together...

Katelyn receiving her trophy for the year.

The girls being silly before the recital

Proud Mommy

The performance

Flowers from Grandpa

We started another adventure at the beginning of April. Katelyn received 6 caterpillars in the mail and had the chance to watch them grow and change into butterflies. It was a really cool experience. We witnessed two of them coming out of their chrysalis. After enjoying their company for a few weeks, it was time to let them go. Here are some pictures of the kids last few minutes with their "pets".

The kids have spent a lot of time outside this summer riding their bikes around the culdesac in front of our house. Kate always remembers to put on her helmet, which I think is so sweet. She is getting pretty quick going around the circle. Josh received a Lightning McQueen tricycle for his birthday and he loves to chase Kate around the circle. Wesley has recently joined the parade and will scoot along on the same little ride-on Kate used when she was his age.

Kate on her princess bike

Wesley out for a cruise. "Hi, Mom."

Speedy Gonzalez with his "cheese" grin

Wesley walking!

Kate playing on the porch

Josh is obsessed with playing on Ben's iPad. Literally, the minute Ben walks in the door, Josh says "Dad, can I play on your iPad!" You can tell where his loyalty lies... Josh can click on find just about anything he wants with no help. Games, movies on Netflix... its pretty funny. One afternoon we found him on the couch asleep with the iPad. So sweet...

Josh being an "alien"

We really did celebrate 4th of July. I promise. We barbequed, Ben and Timothy set off an amazing fireworks show for us in the front yard. It was awesome. But I only got one picture of the day.

Patriotic Wesley

In the middle of July, Kate had the opportunity to attend a week long summer camp called Camp Invention. Everyday they worked on various "inventions" and on the last day we got to come and see all she had created. It was really cool to see how creative even the 5 year olds could be!

Kate and her buddy Arwen

Kate's Bouncy Ball Tube

Kate's Team Fort

We really do have a third child... though he has been seriously under-advertised. So here he is. Wesley is a spunky 16 1/2 month old who can jabber with the best of them. He knows a few words, "Dada" being at the top of the list. He is not a cuddler and prefers to be running around the house with Kate and Josh. Wesley is by far our earliest climber. He loves to scare us to death by climbing up the OUTSIDE of the stair railing. Even though he keeps us on our toes, he is the sweetest and calmest of boys. He rarely fusses and when he does he is either tired or hungry. Easy enough. My favorite thing are his big, kissable cheeks!

Wes loves the bath!

First Trip to Monkey Joes

Check out my Belly

And... last but not least... we are excited to announce that Baby #4 is due March 4th!

Baby #4

Love you all!!

To My Mom

My mom is amazing. She taught me how to cook, how to sew, how to be patient (still working on that one). I learned that its okay to watch "White Christmas" in the middle of July because it makes you happy, that there should always be chocolate somewhere in the house, and that cooking can be therapeutic.

My mom is my best friend. She is the person I call when I have a question about a sewing project, a recipe or when I just need to vent. She also has a sneaky way of calling me right when I need it most. Its a comfort to know that even though we are miles apart, she is never more than a speed dial away.

I love my mom. I love the way that she loves my kids. She loves them unconditionally. She doesn't scold or loose her patience when I know I surely would, and she is always ready to listen to their stories or rock them when they are sad. Nana's house is a special place to them. At Nana's they make cookies, do art projects, help in the garden and take rides on the tractor. These are the memories I am so happy my kids are making.

Mom, I hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day. Thank you for being you!

Who You Are

I heard this song for the first time today. It couldn't have come on a better day. I hope it helps someone else out there...

Who You Are - Hilary Weeks

I know you wonder if you'll ever have a day when the kids stay calm,
the laundry's done, and the dishes are put away. And sometimes you feel
like your days are spent and gone and the question running through your
mind is what have I gotten done? and when you finally have a moment to
slow down at the end of you day I know Father would say

Believe in what you're doing
Believe in who you are
Hold tight to the truth that you're a daughter of God
Believe in who you're becoming
Believe in who you are

It may seem simple - all the little things you do But the lives you touch
matter so much. And there's no one else like you. And Father needs you
to stand tall and faithful to be all you can be.Oh, if you could see what
he sees. When it's hard to believe in yourself and you feel like you're
beginning to doubt Remember

He believes in what you're doing
He believes in who you are
Don't lose sight of the truth that you're a daughter of God
That he believes in who you're becoming
He believes in who you are.

Chores

We get 'em started early around here...





Recently, we have started a chore chart with the kids. Let me tell you, they have done more chores since we began this chore chart than they have ever done. It's awesome! (You can get all the FREE printables at Confessions of a Homeschooler.com)

Christmas 2010

Well, we certainly got our wish! Three days before Christmas we closed on our new home, and with no problems at all. The same day, we started moving in. We were determined to be in our new home for Christmas. A few people thought we were nuts, but everyone else was eager to help us make it happen! The day after we closed a moving truck pulled up at our old house and loaded all of our stuff into a 26' truck. They filled it to the brim and even had to strap a few things on the back. By the end of Thursday, all of our furniture and boxes were safe and sound in our new home. Thank you, Dad and Kim!!

While waiting for the moving truck to arrive, I had the house to myself for a couple of hours. Kate and Josh were with their Uncle Brent at Monkey Joe's. Since I had my priorities in order, I set up the Christmas tree first thing. We spent the rest of the day getting bedrooms set up and unpacking enough to get us through the next few days.

Christmas Eve morning we decorated the tree and made cookies for Santa (Costco chocolate chip cookie dough cookies, to be exact). That evening we headed to dinner with friends. It was a very chill night with good company. On the way home we drove through a really neat neighborhood full of Christmas lights. We even ran into Santa and Mrs. Claus on the way out. What a treat!

The kids went straight to bed when we got home and Ben and I began our Christmas Eve duties. The most important one this year was getting Kate's dollhouse put together. It took Ben about 3 1/2 hours to get it all done. He was a trooper.



Christmas morning the kids came in and woke us all up around 8am. And we headed downstairs to see if Santa had come! He sure did! The rest of the morning was a whirlwind of present opening, chocolate eating, cinnamon rolls and lots and lots of wrapping paper. I love it.







That afternoon we jumped in the car and headed to Grandpa and Nana Kim's house for more gifts and lots of yummy food. We stuffed ourselves silly and loved every minute.




When we arrived back home on Christmas night something really amazing happened... it started to snow!! Snow on Christmas!! It was awesome! We woke up the next morning to several inches of wonderful, snowman quality snow. The kids and I bundled up and headed out to play. It was perfect. A Christmas I will never forget.