The girls made very cute clowns, and actually kept their clown hair on for awhile. They made it to 5 neighbors houses - which was perfect for all of us! Austin of course, would have liked them to do much more so he could eat all the candy.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Belated Bday pics of Austin
Bell helping Aust blow out hte candles on his cupcakes :)
Six teenagers for a sleepover - we are crazy!!! The boys were really good, and only stayed up until about 3 AM!!
Bell helped mom make Austin his favorite - Peanut butter cookies.
Sleep pants that say "I am so smart" - perfect!!
And his favorite presents of all - MONEY. He has saved every penny he got towards a new computer.Thursday, October 30, 2008
Let them eat pizza
These pics are from my phone, not to bad considering....The girls were sitting in the car in the rain waiting for Austin at the dentist. They were just so adorable I had to get a picture.
Bell had a great time at her birthday party!!
Bell's Birthday
Aren't they cute!!
Matilhde and Kaylee in their princess dresses.
Angelina the littlest clown.
Austin got to take the morning off to come to Bell's birthday.
They played limbo, did the chicken dance and had a lot of fun!!!So at this point my camera battery died - ugh!!! Someone else did take pics and I took some with my phone, so I should be able to post some of the actual party part. The girls had pizza, made princess crowns and ate pink frosted cupcakes. It was very cute, and now our little girl is THREE!!!!
She had a great time opening presents on her birthday.
She had a great time opening presents on her birthday.
And LOVED her Sleeping Beauty doll from Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Ed!! It lights up and now goes to bed with her every night :)
Bring on the clowns
The girls make very cute clowns for Halloween this year!!
We went to Trunk or Treat at church. Everyone decorates their cars and the kids go around trick or treating. The Knights set it up for the first time this year as an activity for the kids, and we all had a fun time!
A day in the life of my husband...
So Don is having a rough week! Tuesday his flight out to Tennesse (interview) was delayed, he left his cell on the first flight, and when he got to the hotel at midnight they had no rooms left and they had to move him across the street.
And to make matters worse he got up to get dressed the next morning, pulled up the plastic over the suit I packed for him and.........
it was his TUXEDO - oh crap!!!! I pulled the wrong one out of the closet - ugh!!
So he went in his dress shirt, tie and jeans and very graciously blamed me :) The guys interviewing him thought it was pretty funny and were making fun of him by the end. So I don't have to sleep in the dog house!!
Anyway, other than that he thought the interview went well with company managers, then the business manager took him to lunch and the HR lady went over all the benefits with him. So, we shall see..... he expects to hear in maybe two weeks (they are very slow in this hiring process:(
Today Don has a full day and dinner with his boss about a meeting they have first thing in hte morning. So HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my wonderful hubby, but we are not celebrating around here until Saturday when he can spend the day with us :)))
Karen
And to make matters worse he got up to get dressed the next morning, pulled up the plastic over the suit I packed for him and.........
it was his TUXEDO - oh crap!!!! I pulled the wrong one out of the closet - ugh!!
So he went in his dress shirt, tie and jeans and very graciously blamed me :) The guys interviewing him thought it was pretty funny and were making fun of him by the end. So I don't have to sleep in the dog house!!
Anyway, other than that he thought the interview went well with company managers, then the business manager took him to lunch and the HR lady went over all the benefits with him. So, we shall see..... he expects to hear in maybe two weeks (they are very slow in this hiring process:(
Today Don has a full day and dinner with his boss about a meeting they have first thing in hte morning. So HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my wonderful hubby, but we are not celebrating around here until Saturday when he can spend the day with us :)))
Karen
Monday, October 13, 2008
Lots of words for Lina
I was just asked how many words Lina knows (20% of kids at 16 months know 20+ words). So I was trying to figure it out. Bell had 70 at 18 months, so we try not to compare!
Lina is actually way above the average, but is just a little less verbal than Bell and a little less clear. But man, she is learning a new word everyday these days - I am sure there are ones I have left out!
Yes
No
milk
snack
out
Hello
bye bye
MINE - the second one learns this word MUCH earlier :)
Please
Hank you (that TH sound is hard)
shoes
dog
Lela (Bella)
Rela (Cinderella)
Ora (for Dora)
Lucky
Phoebe
Dog
Duck
Mommy
Dadddy
Aust
Step
jump
Up
Down
Doll
bucket (learned today while carrying around a pumpkin bucket)
pocket (which means pocket book)
nose
eyes
rock-rock (she loves the rocking chair!)
cup
pop ( works for ice or lolli)
potty
butt
tange (change, but again the CH thing...)
that (everything else she does not know the name of!!)
Lina is actually way above the average, but is just a little less verbal than Bell and a little less clear. But man, she is learning a new word everyday these days - I am sure there are ones I have left out!
Yes
No
milk
snack
out
Hello
bye bye
MINE - the second one learns this word MUCH earlier :)
Please
Hank you (that TH sound is hard)
shoes
dog
Lela (Bella)
Rela (Cinderella)
Ora (for Dora)
Lucky
Phoebe
Dog
Duck
Mommy
Dadddy
Aust
Step
jump
Up
Down
Doll
bucket (learned today while carrying around a pumpkin bucket)
pocket (which means pocket book)
nose
eyes
rock-rock (she loves the rocking chair!)
cup
pop ( works for ice or lolli)
potty
butt
tange (change, but again the CH thing...)
that (everything else she does not know the name of!!)
Our end of summer trip...
The summer was a lot of fun, but we stuck very close to home as we did not know if we would be moving anytime soon. So at the very end of hte summer we took a short trip to Kings Dominion in VA with all the kids. On the way down Don had a "surprise stop" for us.
We went to Washington DC for a day, which was GREAT!!
We started at teh International Spy Museaum, which while great for Don and Austin, was not so great for the girls. No strollers allowed, really geared for adults and very crowded.....
From there we moved on to the Mall, Washington monument and WW II and Lincoln Memorials. It was a beautiful day and the girls had lots of time to run around when they needed as we walked. It was a long day, but fun!
What a beautiful sight with all the flags flying...
WOW, Austin is a GIANT!!
Cooling off at the WW II Memorial. This is a really nice memorial with dedications for every state that lost soldiers in WW II and Star for every peoson lost to the war.
Austin and Bell climbing the steps to the Lincon Memorial.
OK, blogger is not letting me add any other pics right now - ugh...
We went to Washington DC for a day, which was GREAT!!
We started at teh International Spy Museaum, which while great for Don and Austin, was not so great for the girls. No strollers allowed, really geared for adults and very crowded.....
From there we moved on to the Mall, Washington monument and WW II and Lincoln Memorials. It was a beautiful day and the girls had lots of time to run around when they needed as we walked. It was a long day, but fun!
What a beautiful sight with all the flags flying...
WOW, Austin is a GIANT!!
Cooling off at the WW II Memorial. This is a really nice memorial with dedications for every state that lost soldiers in WW II and Star for every peoson lost to the war.
Austin and Bell climbing the steps to the Lincon Memorial.OK, blogger is not letting me add any other pics right now - ugh...
Half hour a day....
OK, I am so behind I am going to work on this for 1/2 hour a day to try and catch up. I have been trying to find a whole download of pics that have somehow disappeared, so I am just going to post what I have.
Welcome back!
Welcome back!
Thursday, July 24, 2008
A soapbox post...
I don't get it, I understand how it works, but don't get WHY!!
Oil barrel prices have dropped $15 a barrel, but they say we probably will not see any decrease in costs at the pump because we have "increased our reserves". But when barrel prices went up we saw increases the very next day that were blamed on the barrel increases!
They just announced today that housing sales of existing homes was 1% lower than expected (2.5 % drop in June), so stocks dove down today. Banks gave crazy loans like ARM's and interest only to get buyers in, and now many of them are going into bancrupcy!! Two houses are empty on our block alone.
Many of you have heard me rant about our horrible neighbors who just left a few weeks ago - only owned the home for 13 months - it turns out they took all the appliances and the HOT TUB right out of the deck, never mind the filthy carpets, holes in the walls and food left out on the counters (they did not even bother to lock the doors)- ugh!!
So the County comes by yesterday, after I called about the grass being out of control. She tells me they post a sign, and send a letter and wait a few weeks for them to respond. If they don't the county will cut it. They thought the owners still lived there, so it was good I talked to her, she said it will save about a months time, as they were going to send the letter to the homeowners, and will now send it directly to the bank. She also said the banks are really big now on not selling forclosure houses, they are keeping them on their books and taking huge write offs - WHAT!! The government should not be giving write offs to banks who are not even trying to sell the houses!!! A friend of mine here has had a bank owned house next door to her empty for 2.5 years.
And so, the Fed Reserve is keeping interest rates below 2% to "stimulate the economy", but homeowners with good credit and mortgage histories are looking at home loan interest rates of 6.5%. Holy cow, we only have a 5.2% now, but if we sell and buy a new house we would go up 1.3%. How does that intice people to want to but a home?????
And get this, the mortgage broker tells me that we qualify to buy another home while we still own this one, what, so I can have two mortgages!!! Isn't this the stuff that has gotten them in trouble so far.
OK, I am done on my soapbox! ( BTW, we still have no idea if we will be moving or not - you did not miss a major announcement, I am just getting ready!)
Karen
Oil barrel prices have dropped $15 a barrel, but they say we probably will not see any decrease in costs at the pump because we have "increased our reserves". But when barrel prices went up we saw increases the very next day that were blamed on the barrel increases!
They just announced today that housing sales of existing homes was 1% lower than expected (2.5 % drop in June), so stocks dove down today. Banks gave crazy loans like ARM's and interest only to get buyers in, and now many of them are going into bancrupcy!! Two houses are empty on our block alone.
Many of you have heard me rant about our horrible neighbors who just left a few weeks ago - only owned the home for 13 months - it turns out they took all the appliances and the HOT TUB right out of the deck, never mind the filthy carpets, holes in the walls and food left out on the counters (they did not even bother to lock the doors)- ugh!!
So the County comes by yesterday, after I called about the grass being out of control. She tells me they post a sign, and send a letter and wait a few weeks for them to respond. If they don't the county will cut it. They thought the owners still lived there, so it was good I talked to her, she said it will save about a months time, as they were going to send the letter to the homeowners, and will now send it directly to the bank. She also said the banks are really big now on not selling forclosure houses, they are keeping them on their books and taking huge write offs - WHAT!! The government should not be giving write offs to banks who are not even trying to sell the houses!!! A friend of mine here has had a bank owned house next door to her empty for 2.5 years.
And so, the Fed Reserve is keeping interest rates below 2% to "stimulate the economy", but homeowners with good credit and mortgage histories are looking at home loan interest rates of 6.5%. Holy cow, we only have a 5.2% now, but if we sell and buy a new house we would go up 1.3%. How does that intice people to want to but a home?????
And get this, the mortgage broker tells me that we qualify to buy another home while we still own this one, what, so I can have two mortgages!!! Isn't this the stuff that has gotten them in trouble so far.
OK, I am done on my soapbox! ( BTW, we still have no idea if we will be moving or not - you did not miss a major announcement, I am just getting ready!)
Karen
Sunday, July 20, 2008
What's been going on.....
OK, the kids are playing and I have a few minutes.....
Last night we went to the Delaware State Fair, which is only about 20 minutes from the house. We took 2 cars and Austin's friend JD, so I could take the girls home and Don could stay and ride the rides with the boys (till 1 AM!!!).
Bell went on the BIG Ferris Wheel with Dad and the boys - she LOVED it!! She seems like she is going to be one who loves rides. She also went on all the kiddie rides. This morning I asked her which was her "favorite" ride and she said... "I liked the BIG wheel (with hand gestures), the cars, the train, the boats, the otehr cars that Lina went on (with mom), the hot air balloons, and the horses, goats,pigs, lambs and the BIG cows."
OK, I guess she did not have a favorite, as she listed all the animals we saw as well! She had a great time!!
Job update:
I wish we had more to update......
Don was in Ohio last week for an interview. He thought it went really well, and he should hear on it this week. The salary is good and the benefits are better than what we have now - the medical is MUCH less expensive and there is a GREAT bonus structure, so..... We shall wait and see. He spent a day with a realtor while up there, they paid to fly him in, so we figured why not look around. He loved some of the areas and a few of the houses were what we would be looking for (both price and size). And I have been doing a ton of research online, even contacting the local moms groups for insight in to towns and schools. The areas West and Southwest of Cleveland actually look very promising, great demographics and schools. They would pay for 2 house hunting trips (and to move us), so we could get up there to get a better feel.
On Tuesday he also has a second in person interview in Wilmington, DE. Much closer to home, so hopefully he will get two offers at the same time and will have the option. He might need to be further north in DE to meet the response time they would need for emergencies at that job, so it would probably mean moving anyway, and we are not truley thrilled with moving to northern DE.
I feel like we have thrown our whole lives up in the air and are waiting for it to come back down, to see where it will land (and hopefully not hit us on the head!). But really, we have passed it up to God and we have faith that he will put us in the place that is best for our family at this point in our lives. As long as we are together, we can be happy anywhere!
My biggest concern right now is school for Austin. I still have no idea where the heck he is starting school in 5 weeks! Yikes!
Well, gotta go, be back soon......
Last night we went to the Delaware State Fair, which is only about 20 minutes from the house. We took 2 cars and Austin's friend JD, so I could take the girls home and Don could stay and ride the rides with the boys (till 1 AM!!!).
Bell went on the BIG Ferris Wheel with Dad and the boys - she LOVED it!! She seems like she is going to be one who loves rides. She also went on all the kiddie rides. This morning I asked her which was her "favorite" ride and she said... "I liked the BIG wheel (with hand gestures), the cars, the train, the boats, the otehr cars that Lina went on (with mom), the hot air balloons, and the horses, goats,pigs, lambs and the BIG cows."
OK, I guess she did not have a favorite, as she listed all the animals we saw as well! She had a great time!!
Job update:
I wish we had more to update......
Don was in Ohio last week for an interview. He thought it went really well, and he should hear on it this week. The salary is good and the benefits are better than what we have now - the medical is MUCH less expensive and there is a GREAT bonus structure, so..... We shall wait and see. He spent a day with a realtor while up there, they paid to fly him in, so we figured why not look around. He loved some of the areas and a few of the houses were what we would be looking for (both price and size). And I have been doing a ton of research online, even contacting the local moms groups for insight in to towns and schools. The areas West and Southwest of Cleveland actually look very promising, great demographics and schools. They would pay for 2 house hunting trips (and to move us), so we could get up there to get a better feel.
On Tuesday he also has a second in person interview in Wilmington, DE. Much closer to home, so hopefully he will get two offers at the same time and will have the option. He might need to be further north in DE to meet the response time they would need for emergencies at that job, so it would probably mean moving anyway, and we are not truley thrilled with moving to northern DE.
I feel like we have thrown our whole lives up in the air and are waiting for it to come back down, to see where it will land (and hopefully not hit us on the head!). But really, we have passed it up to God and we have faith that he will put us in the place that is best for our family at this point in our lives. As long as we are together, we can be happy anywhere!
My biggest concern right now is school for Austin. I still have no idea where the heck he is starting school in 5 weeks! Yikes!
Well, gotta go, be back soon......
July 4th
OK, let's catch up....
We went up for a quick trip to NJ for July 4th. We had a great time at Nick & Linda's house at their 4th party!! The girls looked so cute in their matching 4th outfits (I could not resist!) and Bell had a great time in the pool with both daddy and Austin.
Bell and Austin set to watch the fireworks from teh back of the car!
We went up for a quick trip to NJ for July 4th. We had a great time at Nick & Linda's house at their 4th party!! The girls looked so cute in their matching 4th outfits (I could not resist!) and Bell had a great time in the pool with both daddy and Austin.
Bell and Austin set to watch the fireworks from teh back of the car!Sunday, June 29, 2008
Taking Steps!!!
This was a few days ago. Lina is now taking 4-5 steps at a time all the time!!! SO cool.
Lina's hospital stay....
Lina was in the hospital last week for 4 days. She had Rotavirus and was dehydrated because we could not keep anything in her - poor baby! She is great now!! Here are some pics...Lina napping on daddy at the hospital.
In between pokes and sticks, she was in a good mood.
The nurse took out her IV for a little bit so she could roam around....
No pants needed....
Look at that smile, she is so cute!!!Check out these smiles!!
Step 1 - eat the apple sauce.
Step 2 - spill the apple sauce.
Step 3 - wear the bowl as a hat!!
Step 4 - try and get the apple sauce all over mommies camera.
Step 5 - give mommy the "you can't resist me face" :)Bell and Lina playing in their outdoor kitchen ($5 at a garage sale, so it lives on the deck!!)
The girls love the new pool Lina got for her birthday. Lina can crawl in and out of it and loves to do that over and over again!
Bell helping mommy do laundry with her baby "taking a nap" on her back.
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Walking baby and dad in AR
Look at her go!! She will be walking soon!!!! 4 more days until daddy comes home - it is great to get to see daddy on the webcam.
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