Picture excitement!!

I had my girls pics taken recently, and I will be ordering them soon!! I am very excited about how they turned out!! A friend from church has her own photography business. If you want to check her out her site is http://www.hezlepphotography.com/ Maybe if you tell her I sent ya you might just get a discount!! :)

So if you live in around the nearish Cincy area check her out!! Aren't they just gorgeous!!!!

Musings around our home....

Since I'm not much into blogging anymore here are a couple of pics from what's been going on around our home!

I put my kids to work cleaning(so I can blog.....lol...) joking of course!

The girls love their hair-nets!!

I had more cute pics, but blogger is messing up on me....Hope you have as much fun at home as we do!! :)

Change...

I
have done
nothing
but
cry
for the last 3 days...

My life is changing, and I don't deal well with this much change...
So much has been thrown at us this week with Logan...
Plus...
My friend is dying...
I.am.sad....
I am tired of wearing my heart on my sleeve...I wish (sometimes) that I could be more like other people I know, who only think about themselves...
I wish I could just be numb and not feel ANYTHING...
But alas, I would not be me if I didn't feel EVERYTHING, for everyone...

Sometimes, it sucks to be me(pardon my language...I am trying to stop saying that horrid word)

The cake that takes all cakes!

So my hubby's birthday fell on Thanksgiving this year. It was his big 3-0! I can't believe we are 30, well not me yet, but soon...too soon....

I wanted to do something very special for him since we is such a wonderful husband and the best father I have ever seen(on earth that is:) Cory loves, and I mean LOVES Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pies...So I decided to try and make him a huge Oatmeal Cream Pie cake! I scoured the internet for a recipe, found one and decided to make a go at it....

Well my hard work really paid off cause my hubby loved it! And the best part was the taste!! It was AWESOME! I have to say that I rocked that pie, and I would do it again in a heartbeat!!

I had another surprise too for Cory. I surprised him with a "guys day" of skiing/snowboarding! I mean really what guy really wants a party? He loves snowboarding and doesn't get to do it often so I thought this was an awesome idea. I invited a lot of guys in Cory's life and I hope they can all come out to celebrate in January!! I love ya hun!!

tough

I am just complaining....

sometimes life is hard....real hard, and I have had a tough night! Nothing big, just that my hubby is out of town and sometimes being a special needs mom is HARD!!! I try not to complain very much about this life that was handed to me by God, after all it is Logan that really lives in that life. But it affects us, her family, because we too live in this life.

There is so many things to do every single day that other families don't have to do and I won't lie, I wish we were like other families sometimes....But this life is a journey. And Logan will make a difference in this world, she is already doing it. I am so honored that God entrusted us with his special child. I love all 3 of my girls so much. I hope one day they know that I am doing the best that I can, the only way I know how. I hope they know just how much I love them....

Wordless Wednesday-I love Cupcakes!!

I think Omi really enjoyed this ice cream cone cupcake from her Aunt's Birthday dinner!! What do you think????

Halloween Part 2!

So on Saturday we got invited to my hubby's boss' house to hang out. His boss is also his friend, so it was a no pressure type of situation. Just hanging out with him and his wife Monica who I just adore. They live about 45 minutes from us, and the girls were excited about helping pass out candy there. Earlier in the day the girls talked about switching costumes, which I thought was a fun idea, and glad they came up with it on their own! So Lo was Sleeping Beauty, and Bug wanted to use her Mulan dress up and go as that! They had fun switching!!

So we got there and decided to take the girls TorT down 1 street. They walked through a little blowup haunted house, and had a ball looking at all the costumes. The folks in this town really did it up! Each house in the subdivision had a fire pit and food. It is great to see neighbors being so neighborly!!

When we came back the girls helped pass out candy which was a good experience for them. It's nice to teach our children that while it's great fun to "get" candy, it's also great fun to "give" it as well!! They loved it!!! We hung out at the fire pit and talked til 2 of our girls were snoring! It was a really nice evening spent with friends!!

Halloween 2009 part 1...

This year Halloween was a bit different for us! We were in a town where the girls had never gone TorT*(trick or treating) before. My girls started talking about what they wanted to be a while ago. Bug wanted to be either Bat Girl or SuperGirl, and Lo followed suit and said she wanted to be SpiderGirl! I was excited cause my thinking was "hey, these might be easy to put together"! See I see all these blogs talking about money saving tips, and I have one to share....Don't spend money on Halloween costumes!!! It's 1 day, and we don't even "celebrate it"...it's just a fun night to dress up and get candy. We even have a little rule that the girls can't be anything "demonish" meaning, the devil, a witch, or something like that. Other than that I let them decide on what they want and I try and put it together. Last year was difficult for me being that Lo wanted to be toodee from Yo Gabba Gabba, but I think I did okay! Well the closer it came, the more their minds changed this year. Finally I said okay, that's it...decide NOW...and Lo said Cinderella, and so then Bug chose Sleeping Beauty. If you know my kids they love princess's. They play dress up all the time and are a little obsessed....So I didn't care, and was glad cause we already had the costumes!! (Um hello....FREE) Plus they are 4, if they want to be something that they play all the time, it doesn't bother me. So for their costume's I bought them some cheap wigs that were really cute!! I also found a 5.00 snow white costume for baby girl so that was AWESOME!! This is Lo doing her Cinderella smile! Bug LOVED her Wig!

We took a wagon cause we live in a small town and it was easier for Lo not to get too tired using her walker. Baby girl pretty much walked the whole hour and a half of TorT*!! She is a trooper! And she loved it! She wanted to carry her little pumpin bucket the whole time!!

This little princess was simply adorable!! The cutest!!

I think the highlight of the evening was when we went to the school for trunk or treat! The girls enjoyed a hot dog, and always love "going to their school" They got plenty of candy that we are all enjoying!! Oh, and another thing, it was like summer in Ohio on Friday night, and winter on Saturday!

Check out my next post(Halloween part 2) to hear what we did on Saturday!!!

Scripture Sunday

I haven't done a scripture Sunday for a while, but I thought I would try to bring it back(we'll see how long this lasts..lol) Since it is Sunday I wanted to focus on God....he is the creator, the prince of peace, my savior, my EVERYTHING! Here is an excellent couple of verses that really define a Christian....I hope they mean something to you too!!

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

18For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate."
20Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.
26Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29so that no one may boast before him. 30It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."

I hope you have had a blessed Lord's day! I know I have!!

xoxo
Kristan

Because I finally found my camera cord...

Yep, just like my title I finally found my lost camera cord so I uploaded a ton of pics off my camera! Tonight is my little towns' trick or treat night, and tomorrow we are going to another town to hang out with friends and go trick or treating there also!! So I will be posting some costume pics in a couple of days!! My girls are very excited to wear theirs!! I always let them choose and they have changed their minds a million times!! The finally decided to be Cinderella, Sleeping beauty, and Omi is Snow White! Which is awesome because I REFUSE to pay money for costumes!! I mean seriously it's 1 night, and to me it's ridiculous!!! When at the store I see them selling costumes for 29.95, I about flip!!! I am proud to say that total for all 3 of my girls stuff it was 15.00...The girls already had the dress up clothes so that was AWESOME!!! Pics to come of my beauties....

So here are some pics to show what we have been doing lately!!

We went to an OSU game....

We had a tea party when we were sick...

We watched movies on the computer...

We tried to enjoy Indian summer even though we had the flu...

I think only 1 of my children felt good during these nice days..I'm glad they are finally over it!

Long.Day.

Today was a long day

Woke at 8
Out of the house at 8:50
Drove 2 hrs to Cbus Children's
10:50-CT for Logan
11:20-Sign in at Neurosurgeon's office for follow up
12:20-Starting to get hungry, and my fever is back
1:00-Kids getting stir crazy
1:20-Get a beeper(like at a restaurant) so we can finally go get lunch!
1:45-Got our tray with our food, sat down, opened my diet cherry coke(that I was drooling over), and our buzzer lit up:(
1:55-I took 2 of our kids, Omi stayed with daddy so she could eat, upstairs to the office where we waited
2:00-why did they beep us? We are still waiting...
2:10-finally back in the room!
2:30-still waiting to see the Doc!!
2:31- Dr.K comes and says all is great! See ya in a couple months!
2:32-We head back down to FINALLY eat lunch!!
3:00-left for home
5:00 after a couple of stops..i.e Target...we stop to eat(we are TOTAL drive thru folks!!!)
7:30-home!!! Give kids meds(Logan is running a temp AGAIN!!) Give me meds, jammies, skype with my sis
8:45-kiddies in bed! Time to sit and rest, otherwise I am not getting over this flu thing!! It STINKS!!

It.was.a.long.day.

Weddings and Marriage....

*Disclaimer...this post is not me bragging...Just some random thoughts brought up recently....
A pic from that "other" wedding..

We recently were invited to attend a wedding that will take place near my husband's hometown. It is this coming weekend. I can freely admit that I love weddings! I love watching 2 people in love sharing their special union with the ones they love. I love the food, the dancing, the cake!! Now I don't know the people getting married that well. I know the groom cause my hubby used to work with him, and he is the brother of a gal/couple that we are friends with. But recently we went to another wedding....Neither one of us wanted to go to it,(it was far away, and it came at a time when there were other things we wanted to do)....but we did cause Cory was an Usher...that was in August...well now we are hearing that they are already getting divorced because she cheated on him....it's just sad. I don't think people take marriage seriously anymore. I don't know about you, but when I made my vows before God and my husband, I promised both of them that I was in it for life! Obviously I believe that there are reasons for divorce. Like abuse...physical, mental, emotional, unfaithfulness(even though some strong folks can work through this if they really work hard.

I honestly believe that my husband and I have the best marriage out of all the married people I know. It is hard work everyday! But anyone can have that..if they WORK at it. My husband would give up anything to be with his family. But I also know that he needs time to be a guy, and hang with other men. I do not want to be the wife that keeps their husband locked up with her ALL the time! I do admit that I have been that person in the past, but am working to NOT be that wife anymore!! Also us wives have to know that our husbands, not us, are the leaders in our homes. We need to trust THEIR judgement when it comes to knowing what is good for the family. I have always said that I would move anywhere with Cory, if he truly thought that it was best for us.(In fact we have moved 5 times in our 7 years of marriage)! I didn't want to move a couple of those times, but it ended up best for us! It says in the Bible "But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ. " 1 Cor 11:3.

I am the mushy wife who calls her hubby lots everyday! I just want him to know that I love him. And believe me, I know how lucky I am. We have been through so much together, and I often say that Cory "saved me" when we met. I could go on and on about this, but I think we need to listen to our husbands needs more often as wives. I am trying to think of new ways everyday to be a "submissive wife", and give more to my husband. We are doing a Bible study together, and Financial Peace University. Those 2 things alone give us more time together learning more about what God wants for us, and about the Godly relationship we need to strive to have. I also love the Internet..if you really know me, you already know that, but I recently heard from a friend that some people are online for like 8 hours a day!! Can you imagine? When I heard that I instantly cut back on my online time. Yes I do work online for my business Blue Bug Shoes, but now I have more time for my husband and children. I am feeling quite guilty doing this post right now cause I am not using this time for my children.(But in my defense I do have the flu..lol)

that "other" wedding was beautiful!!

~ Is their something you do with your husband that could also help me?..(totally looking for non sexual answers here...lolololol)

~ Is their a recent couples devotional that you love?

~ You can totally use this time to brag on your hubby(significant other, wife) if you so choose!!

Ok, so that was just a random rant that has been going through my mind!......

Tough Love....

It has been tough love here at our house. Little Naomi is 16 months now(whew it's going by quick) and she is into EVERYTHING!!!!! She still is such a sweety, just a little ornry too! Lately it has been 1 thing....the dirt in the plant. She loves taking handfuls of dirt from this huge plant that my mom just brought inside since it's getting cooler. I send her to the corner, and she comes back and does it again! Now some of you may say "well move the plant!" Well I am just not that mama! I don't take obsticles out of my children's way...they need to learn to not touch certain things!! But this little girl is stubborn just like her big sis Bug! I know she will get it, I just hope it's sooner rather than later(or I might be buying a bag of potting soil...)

Here is a pic of her(being a sweety) with her Gigi(great grandma)! She can be so cuddly and cute!

I am trying my best to raise my daughters to be most importantly, Godly women, and in turn when that happens then I have no worries! I do not worry about being a "good mommy", my kids do not get everything they want, nor do we take them lots of places...I think that by letting them just play and be creative and get to be "kids" everything will work out well. We have had a lot of issues with Bug. She doesn't want to go to church(even though she loves it) but I take her in there kicking and screaming(literally). It is very hard for me, but I can't let her think that she runs the show.

Ok, so I rambled a lot there just a minute ago....Do you have tough love at your house? Is there a great parenting tip you would to share? Are you have a rough time with one of your kiddies? Maybe we can help each other!!

Here Piggy Piggy...

Last week was our county fair(which I look forward to all year...mmm...all that yummy food...)

This year Naomi was old enough to actually care about the animals, and the rides(last year she was 3 months...) She loved the rides!! She screamed when she had to get off of them, and screamed when she saw them(cause she wanted ON them)...She is also our first child to NOT be afraid of the animals!! She did really well! She especially loved this little wooden piggy..she would just touch it and giggle...it was too too cute!!

xoxo

kristan

A Walk to Remember...

Oh, I love that movie...I mean come on if you are a chic and you haven't seen that "flick" then you should be ashamed...Go rent it!! I love it!..But this isn't about the movie, or Mandy Moore...
It's about the walk that we(my family) participated in last weekend...ok, well maybe it was the 26th, not LAST weekend so anyway.. We participated in the 9th Annual Spina Bifida Walk and Roll! It is a way that we raise money for our local SB chapter. We have started to get involved in the young families support group and it is so nice getting to know families who actually understand the things our children are going through and us as parents as well. If you don't know, my daughter Lo was born with Myelomeningocele, the severest form of SB(there are 3 types) So it is very important to us to help other families dealing with this life, and also get help ourselves. Anywho...SO this is our big fundraiser and all the money goes to our local chapter and supports our kids. It helps fund camps and many other things!!

I had a goal to raise 1k for our 1st year participating, and I almost did it! I think we raised 980.00! I was very pleased!! It was actually amazing to see the generosity of so many folks! My hubby's work really came through with a lot of the money! It's funny while you are doing one of these things, I find that people with no money to give, are the ones doing the giving...kind of says something about people and our humanity!

They day was a little drizzly and humid! Logan did awesome!! She probably walked about a mile in her walker. It was so cute too, when she got tired she would sit on the back of her walker and Bug would push her...

Afterwards there was a little carnival that the girls enjoyed, and some cotton candy as well!! We were all pooped after it was all said and done. But we raised a total of 80k!!! That's 10k more than last year!!! I think that I will not be doing the March of Dimes walk anymore, and just start focusing on this one!!! So thanks to all our supporters!! We love you all and appreciate your love, kindness, and support!!

There are so many things for us to be involved in....do you donate(you know give of yourself, and not EXPECT anything in return) your time? If so, I would love to hear about it!! Maybe we can raise awareness for different causes! I know that not too many people are familiar with SB, even though it is the #1 birth defect!!!

xoxo
kristan

20 blue genie's......

So I was trying to be humble about winning some tickets to Disney on Ice from one of my new favorite gal pals Cortney...(only a virtual friend right now, but will be an IRL friend soon!!!!) But she asked if I was going to post about it, so I said that I would. So Cortney this post is just for you!!! By the way, if anyone wants to check out Cortney's blog, you totally should! I love reading her posts!!!(if only...oh if only she didn't like that team up north...sigh...:):):)

So anyway, I entered a giveaway to win 4 tickets to Disney On Ice 100 years of Magic, and I won! We didn't tell the girls at all!! When we did tell them we were walking into the arena...and they were getting kind of suspicious when they kept seeing kids will dress up outfits on!! I honestly didn't dress my kids up, I did however let them wear their Mickey Mouse ears from Disney World..(really, where else are you going to wear those?)

We had really good seats..they were on the side down pretty close to the ice!

Lo was a little apprehensive because the last time we went to Disney on Ice(Princess's on Ice) She became deathly afraid of the blue genie..he was big and not a person, but a big thing that has smoke and fireworks......so when they first act came out and it was Aladdin my hubby and I looked at each other and laughed! And it was a surprise when the genie came out he was a person not a machine! She was still scared...then much to our disbelief when we looked next we saw this....

Totally Hilarious!! And Lo FINALLY looked and she laughed and thought that it was crazy!! The rest of the show was really good too! I loved the Finding Nemo costumes!!

Of course my girls loved seeing Mulan, and Pocahontas, as well as the obvious obsession with Cinderella!! Omi sat the whole time!! Even through intermission!! She loved it almost as much as they did and she is only 1! I got tears in my eyes towards the end...there is just something about watching my beautiful children really enjoy something....so many times during the show my hot hubby and I exchanged "the look"..you know the one...the one that just in a look says how much you love them and how much you love your life and how extremely blessed you are....it doesn't matter how much money we have(yeah..we have none!), we are just happy right now in our lives. We don't need material things, or wealth....we have God, each other, and our children...Thanks Cortney!!!!

Boringness....

Ok, so honestly, my life hasn't been that exciting lately! I feel like I have nothing fun to blog about!! And I'm not going to blog about the smallest silliest things just to blog...

Not much going on....the girls are going to PreK...again...so it's not that exciting for me..I feel so insensitive for not crying, but ya know....they have already done this. Next year will be the big K, I will probably bawl then!! Baby Girl had her 15 month check up and shots today...she weighs in at 24lbs and 12 ozs!! And she is 31 1/8 inches long!! Such a big girl! She does so many things that she shouldn't at her age! Her Aunt took her to build a bear for a special gift recently....She loves animals!!! Especially dogs...so this is Buckeye......

......and the girls have been trying some new foods lately!! Seriously Bug eats like a 10 year old boy!! She is a bottomless pit! And she is such a good eater! I couldn't ask for more!! Lo has improved on her eating too! She is trying more things and gagging less!!!

And my hubs and I went to watch this...

for the first time! We had a ball!! We even won a little(40 cents:))!!

So see...my life has been soooo boring that I have resorted in posting pics of my kids eating!!!

Are your lives boring too? I would love to hear what you all have been up too!! Seriously..I do!!!

xoxo

kristan

Wordless Wednesday~Nature is Beautiful...

A little me time...

In recents posts I have blogged about how I don't know who I am anymore, with a husband, 3 MSC, and a new business I'm starting up I am just busy! I don't(didn't) give myself any "me" time...I guess I thought I didn't deserve it....Now I know(or at least I believe) that I was going through post pardom depresion. I can tell ya one thing, it ain't purdy!! I am slowly trying to get over that...I haven't seen a doctor, just trying to pray and have faith in God that he will pull me though....

So I decided that I neded to do something about my "me" time! I must put in this disclaimer first...I am not a runner!! I never have been. Even though when I was younger I played soccer, softball, and ran cross country.....But as I got older and in High School I was a cheerleader, and didn't exercise much! Granted I weighed barely a 100lbs and had great metabolism!!(HA! That slowed when I went to college, and worse after having 3 kids!) So I had heard of this program on twitter called couch potatoe to 5k. I thought, that's me!!! I checked it out and it seemed very easy..HA! I could barely run for 90 sec. straight!! Well for some reason for the first time in my life I have actually stuck with a workout program.I am on week 6!!! Last night I ran for 2 1/4 miles without stopping! I would never have guessed that my body would do that....and here's the kicker........I actually enjoy it!! I look forward to my runs now, and am happy that I am doing something for "me" .

It is also nice that I have a great support system in my husband. He is training for his first full marathon!! He is up to running 15 miles this week!! He has run two Half marathons before and really wants to accomplish a full one!! I am so proud of him!!

What do you do for YOURself??? Anything I should try?

peace out,

kristan