Praying

My thoughts and prayers are with Grandma Betty right now. She is in the hospital in Alabama with heart and kidney complications. I wish we could be there but I can pray right here as well. There isn't anything I can do but be in the way at this point. But I hope she knows we are constantly thinking about her and hoping she gets to feeling better very soon.

Love you Grandma Betty,
Amy, Chris, Madi and Evan
















(I stole this picture from Joye's email. Great pic of them all! Thank you)

Vroom, Vroom

Another snow day at home today. We woke up to about an inch on the ground but it is still steadily coming down. By tomorrow morning, we are supposed to have 4-7 inches. From looking at facebook this morning, a lot of parents are upset that this snow storm is worse than last weeks yet school is still in session today. But I think if you feel it is too dangerous to have your kids out, you are the parent and you can make that decision to keep them home. Just make sure you keep in contact with the school.

Chris is home with us today. Nobody is doing anything in this weather and he might as well sit at home and answer the phone than sit around at the shop all alone. It's always nice having him home.

My video I made last week must have been too large or something, but I couldn't get it to load. So I broke it up and will post stuff separately. Here are the kids riding on their cars. It really is quite cute even though it gets extremely noisy. It's nice on days like today to have a big house that they can have plenty of room to play and run around. That's the whole point in having kids, enjoying the loud and messy times together!

Hope everybody is staying warm and safe.
Love, Amy

How?

I don't understand it. I'm going to stop trying to figure it out because it is a machine and machines are unreliable and impossible to understand. I have not been able to get on to blogger since my last post. Which was also an "I can't believe it is working, quick write something while it still works!" post. So here we go, another "I can't believe it is working, quick write something while it still works!" post. :) I wonder if I just leave my computer on, disable all automatic updates that restart my computer whenever it feels necessary, and prohibit anyone from touching my blogger website, if it will still be there the next time I want to write something totally uninteresting for my handful of loyal readers? I'm willing to give it a shot!

So really we haven't been doing much since it has been really cold and really windy but we have had some fun times hanging out at home and playing. We ride cars around the house, drag every toy we own out to the living room and then don't play with them, color, play board games, and hide and seek for hours on end, play some wii, fight with each other, Kenley came over one day and they destroyed the basement but had fun doing it! Madi even made a haunted house last night. She draped about a dozen or two receiving blankets along the banister and in Evan's room and then we had to walk through it while her and Evan jumped out at us dressed as "ghosts" (another receiving blanket draped over their heads) and chased us down the hall. We were so very scared. She enjoyed our reactions so much that we then had to dress as ghosts and scare her. What imaginations!

Here is a video of some of our fun times the past couple of weeks. Easier to put it all together than try and get both pictures and videos loaded on to the blog. Hope you enjoy it.












































I don't know when I will be allowed back onto blogger again but thank you to those who keep checking in.

Love to you all,
Amy

Happy 150th Birthday Kansas!

Did you know that Friday, January 29th is Kansas' birthday? I love Kansas day. Maybe because I love sunflowers. But there is a lot going on around Kansas this week and for the rest of the year to celebrate the 150th birthday.

But if you would like to do some cool activities or visit some places that are holding birthday events, check out the State of Kansas website Here. We are going to have some birthday fun on Friday to celebrate! Any reason to have cake is a good one right?

Happy Birthday!!

Love, Amy

FINALLY!!

I have been so frustrated and even started working on setting up a new blog on WordPress this afternoon. I haven't been able to even get to this website all week. Even though I haven't been able to keep up with timely posts, the thought of not having it and not being able to look back and read about what we have been doing was a scary thought. So, FINALLY when the website loaded tonight (after trying off and on all day) I better get something written. It might be weeks before I can get back on.

There really hasn't been a lot going on this month. It's been cold and snowy and we have spent a lot of time at home just doing our thing.

A week ago Friday, Evan had his checkup for his ears again. All is cleared up and well, FINALLY!!) After battling fluid and infections over and over since November, we FINALLY got it all knocked out. No more worries and stressing if surgery is going to be the next step. Of course, I'm probably the only one that stressed and worried about this. But I just don't want him to have the problems that I continue to have with my ears. It is not fun and is painful and I just can't stand the thought of him having to deal with that pain. Along with the good news checkup, Evan has also FINALLY started sleeping through the night again this last week. (I probably just jinxed myself!) But between the ears, colds, and being sick off and on, it has been a very long time since I have had an uninterrupted night of sleep. I was joking with my mom that I just better get used to it. By the time they start sleeping all night, they will be old enough to be out with friends and I'll still be up waiting on them. I'll sleep in 18 years, it'll be here before I know it :)

Yesterday we had a nice surprise from Chris. He came home at 10 am and said he took the day off to spend with us! What a treat! Madi has been wanting to go to the Sternberg Museum in Hays (the dinosaur museum). She calls it "The Museum of Natural History." Since that is what they call it on PBS. It's quite cute when she says it. She is just totally fascinated by dinosaurs and everything she does and talks about is dinosaurs. So we took off for Hays. None of us have been before so it was a treat for all of us. It was a little smaller than I thought it was. I'm glad we went but I wouldn't make a special trip there to go to it again. At least while the kids are so young. They just practically run through museums. They look at half of what is there and then it's only a quick glance while I try and keep up and try and read at least what the object is before they are off to the next thing. The first floor that we went too had large motorized replicas of a t-rex and a corynthisaurus (I'm just going to pretend that I know how to spell that). They made growling noises and their mouths and heads moved. Totally freaked out both of the kids!! Madi was hiding behind Chris and Evan was trying to run in the opposite direction. I picked him up and he had a death grip on me while we hurried past them, while Madi had her face buried into Chris' backside on the verge of tears. I couldn't help but laugh, it was pretty funny! We had a nice time and Madi thought it was the best museum ever!! (Despite the scary parts, now that she knows they aren't real!)

This week Madi has a field trip to the Salina Art Center. Should be another interesting trip to yet another museum type place. This time with 24 four year olds. Yikes, maybe I should be more selective on the field trips I volunteer for. No, it will be fun and I wouldn't miss a single field trip for anything. One of the job perks!! I am also still working on getting the house organized and purging some (a lot) of the things that we really don't need to be hanging onto anymore just because we are too lazy to get rid of things. I may have to steal the truck soon to get it loaded up and make a trip to the dump. I'm pretty sure I could probably fill most of the wheat truck, if it was running :( By the end of the month, I should have my Christmas present here FINALLY!! I'll share pics later!

Love, Amy

Happy New Year!

It's the last day of 2010. Hello 2011! We have had a great year and looking forward to another wonderful year together. Here's the kids in 2010.


January


February




March


April


April


May


May 25--Happy Birthday Madi!


June


July


August


September 11--Happy 1st Birthday Evan!


September


October


October


November

I love these two munchkins!! Most days are filled with screaming, laughing, crying, singing and some fights, but everyday is filled with love and thanks to God for having them with me. I wouldn't trade my wonderful job for anything in the world. I love you Madi and Evan!!
Mama

Wrapping It Up

It's almost the end of the year. Christmas is over :( All the decorations are down and put away again. Madi was not happy to see the tree go. She thought if the tree was still up we could still have another Christmas. But it just doesn't work that way.

We had a nice two days of Christmas festivities. Christmas Eve day we spent at my parents' house with my brother and his family. The kids had fun playing together and we all enjoyed eating lots of good food. We opened presents. Of course the kids got lots of new toys and fun things to play with. Mom and Dad got each family a Wii!! So exciting and totally unexpected. We hooked it up and played some bowling before Jason and Tabatha and Jaxson took off for home. Chris and I then ran out to Wal-Mart before they closed to stock up on controllers and some more games. When we got back to Mom and Dad's, Dad was enjoying a round of bowling with Madi! Might have to get them one for their anniversary, but don't tell! ;)


Our love bugs!! Such cuties!

Christmas Day we (Chris and I) woke up early and got food started for lunch. We then went and woke up the kids. We all opened our gifts. Cleaned up the mess so we could get all messy again. Madi and Evan played with their toys while Chris and I continued to get lunch ready and table set. Chris' parents and brother came out and we opened our gifts from them and then ate lunch. We then spent the rest of the day playing Wii and munching.

Sunday was clean up day. And the rest of the week so far has been clean up and organize. Nothing like bringing a bunch of stuff in the house and being forced to get rid of stuff and rearrange to make it all fit. I've gotten all the bed rooms done, kitchen and living room done. The rest of the week will be spent downstairs getting it reorganized and things put away. I have been terrible about putting things where they belong and just stacking them in the room they are supposed to be in.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas filled with loved ones and joy!
Love, Amy

15 Months

Evan had his well check today. Dr. said he is growing great and is right where he is supposed to be both physically and developmentally. He is 32.8 in. in height (90%) and 24 lbs 15 oz (56%). She checked his ears again. Still has fluid in both but no infection. Just need to keep up with the Zyrtec to get the fluid taken care of. He doesn't need tubes yet but she wants to keep a close eye on it. We go back in a month to get them checked again. He also had three shots. He did very well and had stopped screaming before the nurses even left the room. Then I made the mistake of laying him back down on the table to change his diaper. He was not happy with me. He got the flu shot today and he has to get the booster shot when we go back in a month.


Evan is getting around really good. Even trying to run to keep up with Madi. Still not talking a lot. He says bye and go, go and that's about it. But he understands well, he just doesn't want to say the words. Bath time is still his favorite thing. And riding his car around the house and anything that Madi is doing.

We have seen Santa a couple times and he isn't really in to that. But he is shy around anyone he doesn't know and throw in a beard and being plopped down in his lap and it isn't good. But at least he will get to open his gifts this year. We are looking forward to Christmas and spending time with family.

Love, Amy

The Hunting Saga

Chris came home from deer camp with his back out. That was quite the adventure and I tease him that he just didn't want to drag his deer out or tear down camp!! Saturday morning he walked out to his little hill and valley he sits and shot a little dog deer. He bent over to get his bag and gun, straightened up and "crack." He couldn't walk, he couldn't move (picture the old lady on the floor "I've fallen and I can't get up!") Luckily, he had his phone. Luckily, they put up more cell phone towers so that his phone would work. Luckily, his cousin Bobby answered his luckily dialed phone call. As Bobby (the super hero) is making his way to rescue the injured Chris, he flags down a game warden who was nice enough to drive into the area that Chris was. I guess he was easy to find since he was the big orange spot laying in the field. He loaded Chris up and took him back to camp. While poor super hero Bobby had to field dress the dog deer and load it up and take it back to camp. Needless to say, Chris will never be able to live this one down. I mean, at least he could have hurt himself on some monster buck that he single handedly dragged out of the field for two miles all up hill! Instead he got this:



Now Chris is famous and they renamed the tragic hunting spot after him. So next time you visit Wilson Lake, check out the Pumpkin Patch right next to Brokeback Mountain!!

Chris is feeling better now and bounced back rather quickly this time. Which we are all happy about. He even went out back to hunt a couple times this last week and weekend. Didn't end up with anything (maybe a cold). No antlers this year. But he's going to go out during the second season and try and get some more meat for our freezer.

Amy (the loving wife of a hunter!)

The Christmas Spirit

Christmas has officially exploded at my house!! I love decorating for Christmas and I went a little crazy this year. Lots of lights inside since we don't do lights outside. We have had fun decorating and gives us something to do in the evening while Daddy is gone. Something new this year is our advent calendar. We did the simple Santa with cotton balls last year and I have been wanting do one that gives them a treat every day. So, I came up with this year's calendar and I am super excited with how it came out. Plus, as the stockings come down, I can clip our Christmas cards on and have them displayed as well.




Today: Bake a special treat with Mommy! Madi picked chocolate cupcakes with pink frosting. We will take some out to deer camp tomorrow night along with supper for the guys. They should enjoy the pink frosting!!

Madi spent the night at deer camp with Daddy, Bob and Bobby Sunday. Chris said she did good. They drove around and looked for deer, watched a movie (Quigley Down Under) that Madi did not like because a baby was crying because it was scared of the wolves (I've never seen it, but I'll take her word), and she said she didn't hear any coyotes howling during the night and she only got a little cold. They had breakfast in the tent and at 10am Monday she called me and said she was ready to go home. I think she was bored. The guys said they hadn't even left the tent Monday morning yet. When we got there she was playing under the cots, must have been boring! :) But she said she liked it and she would stay again. She terrorized Bob with her Barbie doll and Tinker Bell chair. She's ready to go see Daddy though. She misses him terribly. We will go out tomorrow night with hot food.


Sunday while setting up. We had to make our way to the toys to play. Evan discovered the slide and I couldn't get him away from it. Madi wanted to go over and play Monday when I got there, but it was 30 degrees and 30 mph winds. It was cold!


The three of us playing while decorating last night.

We decorated the tree last night. I had Madi put all the wood and cloth ornaments along the bottom so Evan can't break anything. He likes to go look and occasionally has pulled off an ornament. But so far, nothing broken (knock on wood!) He was really excited when we got the snow globes out and wanted to touch and shake and carry them around. So while we were at Lowes the other night, I bought him a plastic one that lights up and sings and he can turn it on and off himself. He's forgotten about my glass ones, so far my plan is working!! And he really likes all the lights. Madi will turn the tree off during the day and after nap when it starts getting darker, we turn it back on and each time he sees it, he gets excited, "ewwww," and big grins. I love it!!

Monday morning I took Evan back to the doctor for his follow up check after the ear and eye infection. His eyes are all better and one ear has cleared up, but the left ear is still infected. She put him on Augmenten, a stronger antibiotic to hopefully clear it up. The bad news is, that stuff can make him sick. So I have to be careful and make sure his tummy is full before taking it. He is on day 2 of it and so far no tummy aches and throwing up. But his diaper is getting pretty runny quite a few times during the day. No fun for my little guy.

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Thanksgiving

We had a wonderfully lazy Thanksgiving. Evan and I were still trying to get over our yucks. So plans changed all weekend. Thursday we spent with Chris' family. That afternoon, Madi and I and her cousins Jackie and Taylor went to see the movie Tangled. Such a cute movie. One of the best Disney's in awhile. But it was 3D. I've never seen a 3D movie. It made my head hurt and upset my stomach (not the best type of movie to watch when you have been sick). We then made our way to my parents. Madi was going to spend the night with them while we went shopping for Black Friday. Evan was going to stay with Chris' parents. But by the time we got back to Chris' parents to drop Evan off, my ears and sinus infection were killing me and I just wanted to go home and go to bed. So Evan came home with us after all. At about 2am, Madi was standing beside me waking me up. I thought I was dreaming. Her legs were hurting and she was missing me. They tried to call but I didn't even think about taking my phone to bed with me. So when she couldn't talk to me on the phone, she got even more upset. Mom ended up driving her all the way home in the middle of the night.

We did end up going to Wal-Mart Friday morning about 9am. I've never seen Wal-Mart so empty on a major shopping day. It was crazy. They still had some of the stuff that was on sale and the rest we could live without. Friday we spent the day with my parents and my brother and his family. Another great day! The kids had so much fun playing together.

It was even nice enough to go outside and get some pictures.


Of course Evan loved it, he loves being outside


The three grands. Yikes, that was hard getting a good picture with them all looking in the same direction and smiling! One good one out of probably a dozen!


And then the Grandparents with the kids. Such a great picture!! Also, one out of a dozen! I'm sure I have a couple of Jaxson pulling Madi's hair :)

I hope everyone is getting into the Holiday Spirit as well. So many craft projects so little time. Hopefully we will share some more! HO HO HO!

Love, Amy