If you're too busy to laugh..... you're too busy!!!

Okay i cannot believe it is the 17th of January!! how is it the middle of January already!! Please someone tell me where time goes?!?

This week has been a good one. Let's summarize: birthday dinner and celebration for my wonderful husband, a three day week for our princess (which means two days with all the kids at home!), sunny days and warmer temperatures (which means we finally could play outside and take down Christmas lights!!!), a three day weekend out of town (YEAH), first basketball game for X, and time with good friends.
Daddy's white chocolate raspberry cake... YUM!!!Decorating daddy's birthday sign
But seeing that it is a new year... and new year's resolutions were made... i have attempted to get a few things done. My First New Year's resolution was to get more organized in life! Now some of you may be a little bit skeptical of ME getting more organized... but it can be done. I started by printing of a week list of things i would like to get done each day like.... sundays are bath and hair day for kids..... Wednesday is computer time for the kids (where i will allow them to start playing games on the computer....... Mondays are grocery day.... sunday night is time to set a dinner planner on meals i will prepare during the week... so on.

So Wednesday i wanted the kids to play with the computer ( we installed a new game Aunt Kathy got us for Christmas .... Mickey Mouse) while the kids were playing in mommy and daddy's room, i decided to clean out the closet so i could supervise the kids while getting something accomplished. But it is not some small cleaning attempt.... I mean taking everything... i mean everything out of the closet, wipe down walls, sweep every inch of the floor and put all the clothes back which have been organized and folded neatly. BIG TASK...... but sooooo worth it.

The kids helped me clean the closet out... they helped me take the "stuff" out of the closet. We made a game out of the shoes... i put them in a big pile on the floor and made them find matches... a Wonderful learning experience. When we had about half of the "stuff" out Rosetta comes into the room and sees the mess and points her finger at me and tells me "Daddy is going to be mad at you!" (little did i know she would be a little right... when daddy had a long day and couldn't go to bed until the clothes were put back in the closet and off the bed. heehee)
Now the closet isn't quite done... Nate's side is taking a little longer... of course UGH. BUT i will post after pictures soon. My shirts are even hung up in ROY G. BIV style!!!! love it!!!

This Saturday was X's first basketball game.... i was a proud momma!!!

Look at our little guy. I will post the videos from the game soon. The ball they practiced with last weekend was smaller so he had to shoot with a much heavier ball this week. (we need to have him start lifting weights soon :-) There are a few of the kids that understand basketball and many of the kids... including X ... have no clue what is going on. We will be working on dribbling and shooting this week hopefully in the garage. We picked up a basketball to use in his new basketball hoop from G'pa and G'ma B. More daddy and X bonding time to come!!!

Then we were off to the Quad Cities for a night! We stopped for lunch to see our friends (the newlyweds) kara and scott and bryan (a soon to be first time daddy!!). We haven't seen them in awhile so it was great to catch up and share some good food at BW3's (our favorite place!!! We also got to see our dear friends the Boekhoff's. They have three kids and lived across the street until October! Our kids love them and miss them soo much. The kids were in heaven playing and spending time with their best buds. They also had a slumber party... in October the boekhoff's were the first babysitters for our children overnight!! When the kids were put down for bed... and i use the words put down... because they did not obviously go to sleep anytime soon.. the adults got to have adult time. We got to chit chat without kid interruptions and drink a little wine/beer and play some sequence.

Now it is sunday night and we are home. It feels good!!! i have my pjs on and nate and I are watching a movie and enjoying it!! The kids are all exhausted from so much excitement... we did not hear a peep out of them tonight. The best part out of all of this... our weekend isn't over!!! Daddy is home from work tomorrow for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Now that is another thing that has a whole new meaning for us this year. I tried to explain to the kids this week who Martin Luther King Jr. was but they don't quite comprehend it yet. It is a day to celebrate one of the world's greatest civil rights leaders. He is amazing for what he did against the struggles of racial segregation and equality among everyone.

My favorite part of MLK's "I have a dream" speech is this:
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day to you!!!

Nate Birthday -- dancing

Click here to view this video

Here is the video of the kids dancing on nate's birthday.....this is the first dance of like 15.... the kids were not as exhausted as nate and i from watching!! ;-)

25 weeks.... almost 6 months!!!

So today, our angels have been placed in our home for exactly 25 weeks... 175 days!!!!

I thought i would mark this occassion by asking them a few questions... just to see their answers!! :-)

Little Princess’s Q & A

1. What is something mama always says to you? I love you

2. What makes mama happy? if I don’t lie

3. What makes mama sad? If I lie

4. How does your mama make you laugh? if I laugh she laughs

6. How old is your mama? 21 (yes i am!!! ;-)

7. How tall is your mama? Very tall

8. What is her favorite thing to do? Make cookies with me

9. What does your mama do when you're not around? Go to the grocery store

14. What is your mama's favorite food? cookies

15. What makes mama proud of you? we go poopy and pee

16. What do you and your mama do together? play games like......veggietales

17. How are you and your mama the same? have hair like you ... and we comb it

18. What is your favorite book? goldilocks and the 3 bears

19. What is your favorite number? 1...... um....actually 4

20. What is your favorite color? orange

21. What is your favorite food? egg in a hole

22. What is your favorite movie? Hannah Montana

23. Who is your best friend? Haden and Laney

Little Prince’s Q & A (an insight into a 4 year old’s mind!!!)

1. What makes mama happy? when I dance

2. How old is your mama? I don’t know

3. How tall is your mama? really big

4. What is her favorite thing to do? play with us

5. What does your daddy do when you're not around? work

6. What is your daddy really good at? making jello

7. What is your daddy not very good at? Pancake cookies? i think he is referrring to the pizelle disaster :-)

8. What does your daddy do for his job? work @ John Deere

9. What is your daddy's favorite food? jello

10. What makes daddy proud of you? For going poopy

11. What do you and your daddy do together? I take showers

12. How are you and your daddy the same? We are boys!!!!

13. What is your favorite book? spiderman, daddy reads it good!!

14. What is your favorite number? 4

15. What is your favorite color? blue

16. What is your favorite food? Mac & cheese

17. What is your favorite movie? Toy Story

18. Who is your best friend? Zack


Little Munchkin's Q & A

1. What is something mama always says to you? I lub u

2. What makes mama happy? When I say I lub u

3. How old is your mama? 3

4. How tall is your mama? big

5. What is her favorite thing to do? Push the vacuum cleaner (she is right i do like to see all the dirt go into the vacumm)

6. What is your mama really good at? Letting me play

7. What is your mama's favorite food? Fruit salad

8. What makes mama proud of you? Going poopy YEAH!

9. What do you and your mama do together? Eat at the tv…. (she means we have picnics downstairs and watch a movie – when it is just the two of us)

10. What is your favorite movie? madagascar

11. What is your favorite number? 4, 5, 6, 7
,
12. What is your favorite color? purple

13. What is your favorite food? Hot chocolate

14. How is your best friend? grandmas, mommy and daddy AWWWWW so cute!!

isn't is amazing to hear the words out of their mouth?!? It is amazing that 6 months ago we did not know these three wonderful children. We did not know the wonderful smile of our princess and how smart she is. We did not hear the contagious laughter out of our Little Prince and his very talented dance moves. AND we did not have our munchkin's cuddly arms around us!!! Now it is almost 6 months later and we can't imagine our lives without them!!!

Right now they are playing Ring around the Rosey upstairs and playing so nicely. I hope your day is as wonderful and as Exciting as ours is around here!!! Never a dull moment!!!!

...I could not ask for more than this time together, I could not ask for more than this time with you, Every prayer has been answered, Every dream I have's come true, And right here in this moment, Is right where I meant to be, Here with you, Here with me. . . These are the moments, I thank God that I'm alive, These are the moments, I'll remember all my life, I've got all I've waited for, And I could not ask for more. . .

He shoots... He scores!!

It's Sunday and we are having a great morning so far... me and the kids made Daddy a special breakfast for his birthday (since he will be up and at'em earlier than us tomorrow) We made stuffed french toast and sauteed cinnamon apples and pink milk.

Yesterday started our first extracurricular activity for any of the kids. Xavier started basketball!! It was his first practice and next Saturday starts his basketball games for i think 7 weeks!! So Cute. Daddy took Xavier to practice and stayed to watch. Xavier did GREAT!! He was dribbling the ball and even going from hand to hand while dribbling. The only think nate said was that he doesn't have alot of arm strength to get the ball to the hoop so he gets all the way down to the ground to get enough umpff. He does pretty good at layups though if you don't look at the carrying of the ball. ;-)
He is in a group of 3-4 year olds... but he is obviously one of the smaller kids on the team. Nate said he is as small as the smallest 3 year old. But he is quick!!! We are hoping to put Rosetta in tumbling... and next year she will be in dance. We are taking baby steps into activities to see how they do. They are so young so they get stimulated soooo quickly.

Here is our little start dribbling the ball.

So we can't wait till next week to see him actually play in a real game. Yippee!!! I am such an excited mommy and will be cheering on my little boy from the sidelines. I can just see in my future a crazy soccer mom already!!! heehee

Tonight we are going out to our favorite mexican restaurant to celebrate Nate's birthday with some of our friends. Have a wonderfully relaxing Sunday... i know we will!!!

First Snow Day!!!

So R started school on Monday and she didn't even have a full week in before her first Snow Day!! This is what we woke up to this morning. We had an inkling last night that we wouldn't have school... even the teacher's said "see you on friday!" ;-)

So instead of getting everyone ready to brave the weather and husseling around to have breakfast since we have to have lunch at 11:00 am to get R to school on time.....we had a fun breakfast. We looked at the Girl's new cookbook Princess and Frog. We decided to make eggs in a nest and Swamp-water Smoothies!!! Yum Yum!!!Here is the finished product of eggs in a nest. The kids helped me crack the eggs, and cut the holes in the bread and put jelly on the holes!! Then we feasted!!!

After breakfast we colored... the youngest two only wanted to color on the same book. So sweet!!!And now the kids are sleeping... they are taking an earlier nap then i would like but R has a cold and runny nose and asked if she could go to bed right after lunch. SO they are tucked warmly in their beds sleeping. Now the wind is really pickin up and we have gotten more snow... just to put it into perspective, I let the dogs out to go potty before i took a shower and when i came back upstairs 20 minutes later... you could not even tell where their foot prints were in the snow!?!?!

Here is the drift on our back porch.

Well here is to holding up and staying warm today inside..... UGH... i have to go to the dentist later!!! I better bundle up ... but good news Daddy will be home early. Got a pot of Deer Vegetable Soup on the stove (courtesy of Bill and Pam) so hopefully that will warm up our insides later!

First Day of School

So, exciting things have happened here in the last day. R started preschool!!! Sunday night we had a slumber party and the kids had fun watching a movie and playing. R was soooo excited about school.... daddy was not excited about going back to work.

R was the first one to wake up monday morning, she was so excited she kept asking when we were going to leave. We did her hair and dressed everybody and had breakfast ..... and then we still had 2 hours before we left!!

The kids and I dropped R off at school, R did really well.... her teacher showed her the locker where to put her coat. (her locker mate just happened to be wearing a hannah montana shirt - i am sure they will be friends!!) The other two and i went to the grocery store while R was at school and played a few games at home while she was away. We are starting a new routine where i keep them up until we pick R up at 2:20 so they still take an afternoon nap together.

Me and the kids were there early to pick her up from school, i did not want to be the mom who was late and my kid is wondering where i am!! R was super excited when she got in the car. She asked when she could go back!! She read books, played Curious George on a computer, had a carrot and milk snack, and knew what to do when the teacher said "criss cross applesauce!"

She couldn't wait to tell her brother and sister about it! Now, X and G ask when they can go!!!

:-( When we got home from school the other two were wiped out and went to bed right away.... R asked me to read her a book and she gave me a hug and said she loved me and wanted to go back to school tommorrow.

Thanks to all of you who were thinking of us yesterday!!! We will keep you posted on how the week goes..... we are going to play it by ear how many days she goes to school this week. Next week she only has a 3 day week.

Talk to ya soon!!!

Happy New Year!

Wow…our first Christmas as one big happy family is over! It was a busy, exhausting, and very happy holiday! The kids were spoiled (of course!!) they got all kinds of great gifts like a kitchen set, easel, clothes, a vacaum cleaner, a shoping cart, a VERY large play house, and Lots Lots more.


December 22nd
We made cookies on tuesday... this was a day I told everyone we were staying at Bill and Pam's and relax. We helped Grandma Pam make christmas cookies and went to go see Cousin Megan's calfs. The kids loved the cows... they still talk about them.

Uncle Dale playing Candyland... learning that you better watch R or she will cheat! heehee

Waiting for Santa under the tree.... I luv luv this picture!!!! This was taken at grandma schulte's. They were all laying under the tree listnening to some music. Picture Perfect!!!They all look a little tired!!! Everyday the kids slept really well during naps.
Christmas Eve -- December 24th

On christmas eve we always have the Schulte christmas. The kids got their first taste of christmas's to come..... they got spoiled! We had some wonderful food (chicken noodle soup over mashed potatoes.... YUM!) and wine.

Uncle Dale and Aunt Stacy got Xavier the full Fireman getup. With remote control fire engine, fire helmet, awesome fire coat, fireman books, axe, and much more..... He is crazy about it!!!
Christmas Day
Nate and I also learned a few things such as… as new parents YOU MUST have every type of battery ready for when your children come to you and say “please can open this” and you notice it takes 4 D batteries, or 6 C batteries or 4 AAA batteries (and you have NO batteries UGH!) Everything requires batteries. Next year we will be prepared. Christmas at the Blankemeyer's.Baby Lincoln's first christmas.... so cute!!!Tradition... the Blankemeyer's playing games. It wouldn't be christmas if there wasn't some competive game and someone was crying!! ;-)

December 26th -- the Day After
The day after christmas was a detox day. We went over to Megan and Lauren's house and played with all the christmas toys.... talk about weird.... Stacy and I both got a mother's ring for chirstmas and Dale and Nate both got WII?? and no one talked to each other about it????

The kids had a blast playing over at their house, so the kids stayed over night for a slumber party!! Mom and Dad got to go out and meet up with some friends. (got to take advantage of babysitter's while we have them right??)
December 27th

The kids and us got to see all kinds of family on this trip. We saw many extended family members and the kids did wonderfully, they played with other kids amazingly and they did well even though they were out of their routine. Nate and I even got to visit with some of our friends back home and went out to dinner on Tuesday night “Columbus Style” to a wonderful restaurant which had amazing martinis and mussels and pimento cheese & guacamole (who would have thunk?!?)

Our trip home was an adventure. R came done with some sort of bug…before now my kids have kind of been in a bubble .. so this was our first real sickness. It took us 11 ½ hours to get home.
7 stops
5 throw-ups
3 dirty pants
5 hours of snow falling
3 views of Hannah Montana
1 really slippery spot where we ALMOST lost control
And 2 VERY TIRED PARENTS!!!!!


This is what our kitchen looked like after we emptied both vehicles UGH!!!!!!

X couldn't wait to play with the toys so we did it amungst the mess!!!!

Needless to say we all got a good night's rest that night.... and decided not to worry about the mess until morning.

Now it is New Year's Day and we are sitting hear watching the Buckeyes and cheering them on. The kids are in their buckeye gear and they love playing upstairs with their kitchen set and easel and all the new toys. Soon I will post a pick of the loft before and after the christmas toys.... a little different! :-)

Happy New Year and here is a toast to a wonderful year filled with love and joy. 2010 will be a year of finalizations (adoption), new beginnings (school), many firsts with the kids, and more fun trips as a family. I can't wait to see what we are instore for this year........

Family is not as much about being related by blood as it is being related by LOVE>