Blueberry Picking

The first week in July we headed out to the Pickin' Patch again. Blueberries were very ripe and ready to be picked! All together we picked 25 lbs. The kids did pretty good. Although Kaiya could not stop eating them. She picked like 5 and ate 254.

Cassie & Kaiya

This is pretty much what Kaleb did the whole time...

This picture I post because Connie -- What the heck is he doing? :) I think this is a blackmail photo...

Kaiya showing me the BIG berry she picked... and then ate.

Wordless Wednesday

The 4th

The 4th was a nice day. Kaiya was a bit moody most of the day, but I wanted to see the fireworks, so against my better judgment I hauled us down to the lake. :) The fireworks were enjoyable, but what I can't figure out is why Winona Lake does three displays at the same time. Why don't they spend all the money on one HUGE show in the middle of the lake?

This folks, is my new wagon. It is possibly my most favorite garage sale purchase of the season. It's a Radio Flyer... and it was $20. Shamefully, I didn't offer her $15 for it. What. was. I. thinking? I was just too excited because I knew $20 was an excellent deal on it. The best part? It fits in my trunk. The worst part? My 7 month old son thinks he should stand up in it. :) Cassie & Kaleb waiting for the show to start.
Mama & the kids
Not one of her better moments
Kaleb intently watched the firework show -- he was kind of confused about it.

Wordless Wednesday

Body Building. It's never too early too start training. Look at that form.

St. Louis, Pt. 1

Half of my pictures from this trip are on Tony's laptop and the other half were on my camera. So... this post will have to be broken into two and then the other cute pictures posted later. We had a great week - although it went super fast and didn't get to see everyone we wanted to. We spent the first half of the week with my friend Bethany. Went to the zoo & Grant's Farm and just spent some time relaxing together, while simultaneously referreeing our girls.

Kaleb loved the zoo... and Grant's Farm...

The rest of the week we stayed with the Free Family, our good friends from Logan. Tony & Nate were in classes most of the weekend and the girls just hung out. We saw a free movie at the theater, played outside, grilled out with friends. Those pictures are on the laptop.

Here are a few from a meal with Jen & Jason.

AJ after Kaiya beat him up. JK -- I can't remember what happened.

They really do love each other. So sweet.

To Be Continued...

Austin & Kristina

A few weeks ago the kids and I ventured down to St. Louis to spend time with friends and meet up with Tony for the weekend. He had to be in town for a conference anyway so it worked out great. On our trip down we made a pit stop in Indianapolis to visit our friends Austin & Kristina. Their subdivision has a pool which made for a nice refreshing stop before finishing the drive. Here are a couple cute pics of the kids with them.

More posts from St. Louis will be on the way soon. I think Tony has some of the pictures on his computers, so I gotta snag them from him first.

Out of the mouth of babes, pt. 1

Now that Kaiya is talking I thought it would be a good time to start this series. Out of the mouth of babes will be the funny things that only a toddler would say.

The following conversation took place last weekend at Tony's mom's house while Kaiya was getting her diaper changed:

Nannie: You stink! Whew!
Kaiya: NO!!!
Nannie: Yes, you stink!
Kaiya: No! Poop stinks!

That's it folks -- she's genius! :)

And today... although he isn't speaking yet, Kaleb gets an entry as well. A good hour after he had eaten, I was holding him and I lifted him into the air and exclaimed, "There's my crawling..." --Kaleb spits up - all in my mouth, on my face, in my hair and down my shirt. Yep. It was nasty.

Good thing he's so cute. :) Here's a pic from June with that new little tooth. He's actually cut both bottom teeth now.

I'm still playing catch up with pictures from earlier in June. Here is a glimpse of Kaleb's first experience with food. I made carrots and applesauce for him to try. He wretched through the entire meal. :) This is kind of how it went:

Why, oh why is she doing this to me?
Still wretching...."Watch me, Kaleb! I'm a pro at this eating thing."
If sister can do it, I can do it.
He has caught on rather quickly. We've done peas, green beans, sweet potatoes, beets and pears in addition to these first foods. Now that we are in the middle of summer I should be able to get some good fruit purees made. Organic fruit is hard to come by around here though... Looking forward to being in the bigger city soon. :) I think we are gonna stock up at Trader Joe's when we pick up Tony in Indianapolis. 17 days and counting!

First trip to the Movies

A few weeks ago, Kaiya had her first trip to the movie theater. Not counting the couple of times we took her when she was a few weeks old. We were in denial about the lack of freedom we had once she was born. The movie theater experience is not nearly as enjoyable while nursing a little baby. Somehow takes away from the entertainment aspect. Anyway....

The theater in town does free Wednesday shows, so we have gone almost every week. She did pretty good given her short attention span. And she was wiped out afterward.

Dear Tony,

I heart you.

Strawberry Pickin'

A few weeks ago, when the strawberries were ready for pickin' my friend Connie and her kids met us at the Pickin' Patch (original, right? But that is really what it is called...) Prior to going, we wondered if we were crazy. 7 kids + 2 mamas + 239,847 strawberries = CRAZY. But what the heck. And I'm so glad we were brave. The kids were super good, and while we had a few more "pink" strawberries than we wanted, it was a ton of fun. Afterward we headed to Wal-Mart to buy supplies and lunch and then we went back to my parents house and made freezer jam.

FYI - I am not doing any gang signs. Just holding Kaleb's hand down from blocking his face.

Strawberry blob on his head. No idea how that happened.

I wanted to post Tony's brother's address in Iraq for anyone interested in dropping him a line or care package.

Spc. Hyser, Aaron M.
A STB 76 BDE
Q-West Base Complex
APO AE 09351

He loves to get anything fun to occupy his time when things get boring. I sent over a stack of fitness magazines and he enjoyed those. Plus... he can pass them on to other guys when he is finished. We have sent snacks... things that won't melt in 130 degree heat. :) Calling cards are nice -- the international ones. And apparently, donkey food.

Anyway.... if you know Aaron (or don't) I'm sure he'd love to hear from you! And please keep his safety in your prayers! We have our fingers crossed that we will get to see him at the end of July when he gets a week of leave.

Free Stuff

Was reading a great blog and came across this info. If you are looking for baby, kids, or maternity stuff... there is a website called Freepeats.org. Similar to Craigslist, only free. It's free to sign up until July 1st. And only $4.95 for a lifetime membership after July 1st. So you can't go wrong. They have new forums in St. Louis and Indianapolis. I signed up under Indianapolis, b/c that is my closest location right now, but I was able to view all of the other city forums as well.

Who doesn't love a deal? Especially a free one.

The Price was Right

Tony's mom took Andy, his youngest brother and a friend to California for Andy's graduation/birthday present. She got them tickets to the Price Is Right for the morning and afternoon tapings. Much to their surprise, Laura got called up on the morning show and Andy got called up on the afternoon show. Both also made it to the Showcase Showdown. And Laura WON hers. We think it was pretty sweet. You can check out the videos here:


Watch CBS Videos Online

http://www.cbs.com/daytime/the_price_is_right/

Andy's episode aired on the 19th, and Laura's on the 18th.

Come on Down!!!

I wanted to post a few pictures from the week before we moved. Tuesday night we met Ruthie and her boyfriend (yes, they've moved past the "I think you are a cool guy stage" as mentioned here), Chris at Downtown Disney. We ate at Planet Hollywood and then walked through the Marketplace. Ruthie got Kaiya a stuffed Pooh at the giant Disney store. At the end of the walk I let her run around in a fountain (the kind that is built into the ground) and she wore herself out. I was trying to put her in her jammies when we got back to the house and this is what she did. Too cute.

The day that Tony left we went to the park. Here are a couple pictures from that.

In true big sister fashion, Kaiya kindly lets Kaleb ride with her in the swing. She knows that it means she can't swing as high, but she does it so that he can swing. It's very sweet. And we can't seem to keep his mouth off of the nasty swing. We gave up trying. Now I know why... he cut his first tooth the next day. :)

Wordless Wednesday - Looooook at Mama!!!

Dear Kaiya,

Mama really doesn't like it when you take her car keys and poke holes in the avocados I am buying at the grocery store. With the lovely food prices, I just can't afford your creative genius. In another life, the key/avocado sculpture you presented to me would have been beautiful. :) I hope you enjoy your avocado dinner tonight. :) Cause those babies aren't gonna live to see tomorrow and I could not in good conscience bury them underneath the avocado stand.

Love,
Mama

Changes

A picture-less post with an update on all of the changes for our family!

Over Memorial Day weekend we bade good-bye to Florida and moved all of our stuff to Charlotte, North Carolina. We unloaded the truck into a storage unit. Tony found a roommate in Charlotte and the kids and I are staying with my parents in Indiana for the summer. We found a commercial property for Tony's office and he will sign the lease within the next week or so! After that he begins the process of drawing up plans (the space is an empty suite that basically has a concrete floor so we can build it out just the way we want to), meeting with an architect, contractors, etc. Then the permitting process begins and we have to wait for construction to be finished. Tony needs to be present to oversee all of this. We can reduce our living expenses significantly by staying with my parents, so that is what we decided to do.

Tony spent a week with us here in Indiana and I took him to the airport yesterday. Not looking forward to the time away from him, but it isn't that long and it's necessary for us to accomplish our goals. So we're all sucking it up and doing it. :)

And a cute Kaiya story... a few posts ago I mentioned her imitating Cinderella and fake crying. Well, she saw my tears after dropping Tony off at the airport. As I was buckling Kaleb back in his seat she looked over at me and said, "Oh Mommy. Oh No! ELLA!" Translated: Oh, poor mommy, you are acting like Cinderella. I laughed and said, "Did you just call me Cinderella?" She started smiling and said, "Yesh." Translated: Yes.

Kaleb wants real food. Today he managed to grab a piece of lettuce off of my plate and put it in his mouth. He'll be six months old in a few weeks, so we are going to start solids this week. The kid is clearly ready. :)

Dear sister, You should really go to cosmetology school, because that shampoo you just gave me was awesome. You only smeared the bubbles in my eyes 3 times. Love, Kaleb
Kaleb's one hair. We got him out of the bath and he had one little hair sticking up straight. Click on the picture to get it bigger. It looked so funny we had to try and get a picture of it.
Kaiya's LONG hair. This girl has plenty of hair. It is down to the middle of her back when its wet and combed out. Cute, but the struggle to "do" her hair is getting more challenging.

Rally the troops....

Hey guys, tony here, we are in the middle of packing but I saw a newsbreaker that frankly broke my heart. Most of you may know by now, but please pray for Steven Curtis Chapman's family. His 5 yr old daughter was killed today when his teenage son accidently ran over her. His new cinderella song takes on a new meaning after this. Pray for healing, pray for support, but mostly pray for this event to glorify God. I will share a quote by one of my favorite authors that has impacted me through tragedy.

"{Lewis grieving the death of his wife}Bridge-players tell me that there must be some money on the game “or else people won’t take it seriously.” Apparently it’s like that. Your bid—for God or not God, for a good God or the Cosmic Sadist, for eternal life or nonentity--- will not be serious if nothing much is staked on it. And you will never discover how serious it was until the stakes are raised horribly high; until you find that you are playing not for counters or for sixpences but for every penny you have in the world."—C.S. Lewis (A grief observed)