tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54993579143430085872024-02-07T17:01:57.097-06:00Friedel KidsThe amazing adventures of Aidan, Ella, Olivia and all their favorite people.Aaron Friedelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14336656502071907891noreply@blogger.comBlogger289125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5499357914343008587.post-54964576852198673002012-12-19T18:13:00.000-06:002012-12-19T18:13:56.679-06:00Preschool Christmas Programs<div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;">
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This week both girls entertained us with their preschool Christmas programs. Olivia was first up having her program on Tuesday. She did a beautiful job! The teachers who were sitting in front helping lead the children said she was maybe auditioning for her part in the program for next year. When the Innkeepers didn't say their line right away, Livi was standing up in front whispering, "There is no room!". She knew what they were supposed to say. :)<br />
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"My heart Rejoices!"<br />
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Grammy came up to see both programs. Getting snuggles from the girls after Olivia's program. </div>
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Mommy, Daddy and the girls</div>
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Little cutie </div>
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Ella's program was today, Wednesday. What a beautiful little angel she was! So excited to see us as she walked in.</div>
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Tallest of all angels as well. Look how high her hands are compared to her friends!</div>
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She liked her wings.</div>
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Daddy, Mommy and Angel Ella</div>
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All 5 of her fabulous teachers! We LOVE Miss Angie, Miss Dale, Miss Kristin, Miss Kris and Miss Niki</div>
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Thank you to Grammy, Grandma, Aunt Carrie and Owen for coming to enjoy the Christmas programs with us! </div>
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Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025643433403901629noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5499357914343008587.post-60727896325716111282012-12-04T21:03:00.001-06:002012-12-04T21:04:53.362-06:00"Gingerbread" house fun!<div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;">We decided to finally try "gingerbread" houses tonight. Both big kids came home talking about it. Ella actually made gingerbread houses at preschool today and Aidan designed one in art class I guess. I have had the stuff sitting on the kitchen counter for like 2 weeks, but neither Aaron or I have ever made gingerbread houses before. We decided tonight was the night! And I keep putting "gingerbread" in quotes because we actually just made them out of graham crackers. Works for us!<br />
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Here Aaron is strategically cutting the crackers so we can easily assemble the houses. He wanted me to take a picture of his little house "kits". <br />
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We also added some upside down sugar cone ice cream cones. We thought they could be like a castle. I put what candies I had into a little dish in the middle of the table. but quickly just put some of each candy onto each child's tray. Much easier than reaching over their houses and getting frosting all over their shirts.</div><div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPNGcbhPHFLrrDsjCjKWlc4neQ1pewH5b0XQj_Qf6L7JuVLsNprccw_9m6CGri94fRd-M90zDr0tUiqLtVDzOkFae3AeYRKVc5K57pL40AqDwCxXZCqqB__weiiY0xLrcAL_gwoRU1zqE/s1600/IMG_2639.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPNGcbhPHFLrrDsjCjKWlc4neQ1pewH5b0XQj_Qf6L7JuVLsNprccw_9m6CGri94fRd-M90zDr0tUiqLtVDzOkFae3AeYRKVc5K57pL40AqDwCxXZCqqB__weiiY0xLrcAL_gwoRU1zqE/s400/IMG_2639.JPG" /></a><br />
I thought this was a fun little series so made a collage. Livi patiently waiting for daddy to assemble her house. Found some candy or drip of frosting. Lick it off her finger - BUSTED! Cheese! What a little knucklehead.</div><div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPDXxEUbmMfZyEjgT6hwAIkgCt3p0GJMLWsJwVhVyM1eoXj9PQHzTcRNuqvvdC5pojqWBsy06tjZjWMPkQpVthN_El2efT8Uxe_sNnuQj2fse0wj5OWW7rvLl3Wwf5bCKUVfcAStVv-fw/s1600/2012+December.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPDXxEUbmMfZyEjgT6hwAIkgCt3p0GJMLWsJwVhVyM1eoXj9PQHzTcRNuqvvdC5pojqWBsy06tjZjWMPkQpVthN_El2efT8Uxe_sNnuQj2fse0wj5OWW7rvLl3Wwf5bCKUVfcAStVv-fw/s400/2012+December.jpg" /></a><br />
All three kids LOVED this activity. I had to cut it off at the hour mark because it was 8:00 and time for bed. I loved that they loved it. We will have to start much sooner in the evening next time we try this project.</div><div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-tJv_b_8dSas0zfeYrJudTU39eNZ0WqGEn7u1IfCK6i2IJNXtZOAqVoTbgxJOoZw82LeOK1X_tAQYby4i2uzSFNN4pHxA1Y0mmdWXNHmJa_QtTWsAL5L0BqlV1WYs3C_-EoRwZ97_pFY/s1600/IMG_2644.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-tJv_b_8dSas0zfeYrJudTU39eNZ0WqGEn7u1IfCK6i2IJNXtZOAqVoTbgxJOoZw82LeOK1X_tAQYby4i2uzSFNN4pHxA1Y0mmdWXNHmJa_QtTWsAL5L0BqlV1WYs3C_-EoRwZ97_pFY/s400/IMG_2644.JPG" /></a><br />
Olivia was very focused putting her candies on. I think it was like, 1 for the house, 1 for me, 1 for the house, 1 for me. :)</div><div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR74mAoMajkfZqpLbkcYyF1E-UEaCrE7uDQp6Qr5AscUCr_xrNmnKENTVwELA_zJm3mMkM1s8fNpdUwfBWb9CadmpunbyimNe_5w0em-S6_0JFjZHNWjaE0nDka2WKXfdQwtwJwHwFOqM/s1600/IMG_2645.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR74mAoMajkfZqpLbkcYyF1E-UEaCrE7uDQp6Qr5AscUCr_xrNmnKENTVwELA_zJm3mMkM1s8fNpdUwfBWb9CadmpunbyimNe_5w0em-S6_0JFjZHNWjaE0nDka2WKXfdQwtwJwHwFOqM/s400/IMG_2645.JPG" /></a><br />
Pretty Ella Bear wanted me to put a frosting cross on the side closest to her so if Jesus saw her "gingerbread" house he would like it. :)</div><div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_uMGBgobcaNeGmb3zol_rIN71f9KEelCsQqdOaVkoXMoY8Da3p9YKdG5nwEMA3IQ9MPYCSrgasDu9zjNXMio4eItb-sC6im2UkruDLgIsfBXuDx8LtzB9YqFa-E-bg6l4lK7mW0mCB5s/s1600/IMG_2646.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_uMGBgobcaNeGmb3zol_rIN71f9KEelCsQqdOaVkoXMoY8Da3p9YKdG5nwEMA3IQ9MPYCSrgasDu9zjNXMio4eItb-sC6im2UkruDLgIsfBXuDx8LtzB9YqFa-E-bg6l4lK7mW0mCB5s/s400/IMG_2646.JPG" /></a><br />
Aidan really liked the whole thing. He loved decorating and wanted help adding doors and everything.</div><div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyYsg7BNTWdTrpgeUb2jhJmS-2XsLnOr0FvyHErU3HAqH7NiV1TkCoHlrbtZ10cb2Ui89okwL-S1ipyVDS_qdA25oubrjIY18QpcYnyFQ-R2L-8qgVXJn-02fqDonkdGExm0KFUTAFzOY/s1600/IMG_2648.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyYsg7BNTWdTrpgeUb2jhJmS-2XsLnOr0FvyHErU3HAqH7NiV1TkCoHlrbtZ10cb2Ui89okwL-S1ipyVDS_qdA25oubrjIY18QpcYnyFQ-R2L-8qgVXJn-02fqDonkdGExm0KFUTAFzOY/s400/IMG_2648.JPG" /></a><br />
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As a side note, Sixer fell over on the counter while we were working. Aidan told me to go get my "special" gloves on so I could help Sixer sit back up. I did and then I told the kids that I had read somewhere that there was a special rule that on the last night Sixer is here this year, Christmas Eve, Sixer is allowed to get hugs from the children before they go to bed. Sixer will be able to keep his magic so he can still get back to the North Pole. The rule only applies to Christmas Eve so children and their elves can say goodbye until the next year. I wish I would have had a camera to capture how excited they all were at this prospect. LOVE IT!</div><div style='clear:both; text-align:CENTER'><a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a></div>Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025643433403901629noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5499357914343008587.post-65017504159396411492012-12-04T12:04:00.002-06:002012-12-04T12:04:53.949-06:00Ella is 5!!!<div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;">
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This shirt is so perfect for our little bear. It reads, "Smiles all the time". I can't believe she is 5! For some reason that just seems really old to me. How can she be 5?! She will go to Kindergarten next year!<br />
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We had a lovely little family party for her a few days before her birthday. She requested homemade pizza and an awesome cake with Ariel on it from Aunt Em. And that is exactly what she got. :) Here are a few fun pictures from the day:<br />
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Livi pretending to take pictures with her invisible camera.</div>
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Happy with all her gifts! </div>
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Checking out her amazing cake. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtrrUx9DUfUllRCvQPG_F7kcGPbv7JZui8J58TBvBT-QJAffeOiN_I2zPjh9LNy41SCCu9SASd6F7kReririqHQOJ4WbefnbnOzGQ-kEwAKP2fL7WbIz0vpd0WkBmzqjVe3B_UsSTpSnE/s1600/IMG_2604.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtrrUx9DUfUllRCvQPG_F7kcGPbv7JZui8J58TBvBT-QJAffeOiN_I2zPjh9LNy41SCCu9SASd6F7kReririqHQOJ4WbefnbnOzGQ-kEwAKP2fL7WbIz0vpd0WkBmzqjVe3B_UsSTpSnE/s400/IMG_2604.JPG" /></a><br />
Our smiley birthday girl. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNaIujEHdDTT0iIshcA_SrtES0vAQqRz7jjefEAIxgyziypdJZSQ_EVha9u1lRLvBll6jOWBEFuq4kYXR9nfFxVJWyq2R4O8_OKWaKtL2wtZrWtYnF9dy5nzVSZP2xZX4c6BKqVMnTALU/s1600/IMG_2611.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNaIujEHdDTT0iIshcA_SrtES0vAQqRz7jjefEAIxgyziypdJZSQ_EVha9u1lRLvBll6jOWBEFuq4kYXR9nfFxVJWyq2R4O8_OKWaKtL2wtZrWtYnF9dy5nzVSZP2xZX4c6BKqVMnTALU/s400/IMG_2611.JPG" /></a><br />
Not so sure about everyone singing "Happy Birthday" though. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwJkBmy7GRI-lCqjq9nqBUlhlxt-zWpzyi6_htjNtXQIjN7DtsQyRqSFw6MzltXBKNUYuQDOaoIv9xEz77pLPbhhBMzIna6VVCPhvtr4oY2BO2Hc9A_1uWdFQqNflNImjuKUN-8nshCR4/s1600/IMG_2614.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwJkBmy7GRI-lCqjq9nqBUlhlxt-zWpzyi6_htjNtXQIjN7DtsQyRqSFw6MzltXBKNUYuQDOaoIv9xEz77pLPbhhBMzIna6VVCPhvtr4oY2BO2Hc9A_1uWdFQqNflNImjuKUN-8nshCR4/s400/IMG_2614.JPG" /></a><br />
Brother and sister sure enjoy singing it though! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdW79zejO9XKEzG8L8A1vCD4o5VFnRbnLnf24gXX7GNDhllZEgA47b9HuK9hfWuc6NL0aYaCnDaeVieAm_h6lNaJJkk0LwxLI5-1nFi-YVeNdFWXcaKnOmiZb7TM5VYDsKIB-wzfayVyY/s1600/IMG_2615.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdW79zejO9XKEzG8L8A1vCD4o5VFnRbnLnf24gXX7GNDhllZEgA47b9HuK9hfWuc6NL0aYaCnDaeVieAm_h6lNaJJkk0LwxLI5-1nFi-YVeNdFWXcaKnOmiZb7TM5VYDsKIB-wzfayVyY/s400/IMG_2615.JPG" /></a><br />
Blowing out the candles, at least 1 blow for each candle. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLyAIDkxCu5yn7l6mtYlCPv-cKbToM0EjxFeKQWbPueacpu-Y35wNJsnGRERKD1IpptHsZWZcb_Bu07v_kMBZhIWFEbVR2EmBWgI6bJ-Zsbyx8qwEG1xPq182S8O_eWFIcLVlGyuy__Pc/s1600/IMG_2619.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLyAIDkxCu5yn7l6mtYlCPv-cKbToM0EjxFeKQWbPueacpu-Y35wNJsnGRERKD1IpptHsZWZcb_Bu07v_kMBZhIWFEbVR2EmBWgI6bJ-Zsbyx8qwEG1xPq182S8O_eWFIcLVlGyuy__Pc/s400/IMG_2619.JPG" /></a><br />
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Happy Birthday sweet Ella Bear! We love you!<br />
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Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025643433403901629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5499357914343008587.post-8263097067563462622012-11-02T11:39:00.000-05:002012-11-02T11:39:34.696-05:00More random thoughts<div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;">
I have had some other random thoughts lately that I wanted to share. These are kind of all over the place, so bear with me. It helps that I finally uploaded all my iPhone photos onto my computer this morning.<br />
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My first random thought is about the last gift we gave to dad. I saw an idea on Pinterest that a girl had done for her dad. For her dad's 60th birthday she asked friends and family to write down little memories and fun stories. Her goal was 60 envelopes with a different story in each one. I decided this would be the perfect thing to do for dad. Not for his birthday, as that is in February, but just something I hoped would make him smile and a fun reflection on life.<br />
So I got some email addresses from mom and sent out a little note asking for help. Then those people forwarded it on to others they knew who knew dad. I immediately had several emails back from people who were excited to help with this project. I was so excited that this might actually work! For the next 2 weeks it was like Christmas morning for me every time I got my mail. I had about 3-6 letters every day. My goal was to collect 63 stories because dad was 63. We got 80!!!!! I was a little sad I didn't get to see dad open up all the envelopes, but mom and Chris said he really enjoyed them. My goal had been to give this gift to dad, but now, really, the stories are a gift to all of us. Mom had put all the letters in a binder once dad had read them, so I took the binder and copied the stories and made a binder for Chris, Carrie and myself. (Merry Christmas brother and sister! ;) ) It is so awesome to have these precious memories from so many friends and family. They make me cry, they make me laugh, and definitely give us an insight into different sides of dad. Who knew he used to drag race on the roads outside Sheffield growing up?! Such a blessing that all those people were willing to be a part of this project and took the time to share their memories, and such a wonderful gift for all of us. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAlE4XsAatK-N3COeg42MM4VrENgXTm1emBHDhntrzbaKlZmMxlj_Pl8FFNQyztQ14dgcroqBVTtQqGHzCVpbP68s9miCBItNZTF9ex9zcEalpJpk2OW9Wjuf_dVoa6OxpO6Fj5ws17ME/s1600/IMG_2841.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAlE4XsAatK-N3COeg42MM4VrENgXTm1emBHDhntrzbaKlZmMxlj_Pl8FFNQyztQ14dgcroqBVTtQqGHzCVpbP68s9miCBItNZTF9ex9zcEalpJpk2OW9Wjuf_dVoa6OxpO6Fj5ws17ME/s400/IMG_2841.JPG" /></a><br />
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That week while dad was in hospice I had posted a status on Facebook praying for peace, comfort,strength. I posted this picture later with the caption, "Grandma said Ella could sit in Papa's chair this morning. Ella said it was comfy cozy". Aaron's Aunt Jana commented that that is part of the comfort I was praying for. It just stuck with me that day. :)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzSycrgeNyjkNMqHU4ovx5ca8EmhuHStd2sQQ_tvbY666kApNZzKVOsWNhBCinvAXdve5kLRw9aNdu4iqGR6LPPbaqRiWlKxbMkyIAWDmUR-LVY4h9iR11nwC5uby122wZciLcGigKJYk/s1600/IMG_3067.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzSycrgeNyjkNMqHU4ovx5ca8EmhuHStd2sQQ_tvbY666kApNZzKVOsWNhBCinvAXdve5kLRw9aNdu4iqGR6LPPbaqRiWlKxbMkyIAWDmUR-LVY4h9iR11nwC5uby122wZciLcGigKJYk/s400/IMG_3067.JPG" /></a><br />
We had some fun while at hospice too. Have to with little people to entertain. They had a lovely little walking path around the building so we would take the kids outside. Here is Uncle Chris and Ella being goofy. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoZDTpwEhXBZR54sdXffqD9wg6C0mCqBmxDMZkLkxoj79VD3LncVqUHbJHpe-gyS51ley9Pq-6DS8s9mhbfig4Pb4Bm85AukFsMFSUjVCsNuEyxS657ddGilLDOaHyvoczYHKvIsX-eK0/s1600/IMG_3077.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoZDTpwEhXBZR54sdXffqD9wg6C0mCqBmxDMZkLkxoj79VD3LncVqUHbJHpe-gyS51ley9Pq-6DS8s9mhbfig4Pb4Bm85AukFsMFSUjVCsNuEyxS657ddGilLDOaHyvoczYHKvIsX-eK0/s400/IMG_3077.JPG" /></a><br />
One fun surprise of the week was that my mother-in-law and her friends had gone on a girls week to New York City. Their first morning there they went to the Today show and Paula was selected for an ambush makeover! Such an amazing experience for all of them and such a fun diversion for us. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAtyT7yde5lN-3g5L8EL1_CufZtflf-iKyK6dOYufB7k8TCDk6aRhiQapK3dcvvER6b4EY_D1uxXOf5Rpc4F_MSmtmdKQEPdHcHry2ILdRlxffcEt-cB1PhZbyHOGOlsF-IAT8E9IDyZ4/s1600/IMG_3083.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAtyT7yde5lN-3g5L8EL1_CufZtflf-iKyK6dOYufB7k8TCDk6aRhiQapK3dcvvER6b4EY_D1uxXOf5Rpc4F_MSmtmdKQEPdHcHry2ILdRlxffcEt-cB1PhZbyHOGOlsF-IAT8E9IDyZ4/s400/IMG_3083.JPG" /></a><br />
Mom had decided to take the girls for a walk over to a park. She had received inaccurate information from a nurse as to how far the park was. What she had thought would be a couple of blocks was actually about 10 blocks. But I guess the girls were troopers and made it all the way. They had a good time at the park, though since it had taken so long to walk there they ran out of time at the actual park. Oh well, still a nice afternoon with beautiful weather. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYtLwRFp5T7aMnvkgueA0bMMndMPcSUuPyQvi4LmERJYxMWjg3Bw4usIIKWboZ77epQHHzG1GzdvNrJOvm1ZNorwX7Ykgpx_0vdyeZ1LuDRWnjKtkSZNpa9-cQ_g76uhuU2z0AKsCRdXQ/s1600/IMG_3114.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYtLwRFp5T7aMnvkgueA0bMMndMPcSUuPyQvi4LmERJYxMWjg3Bw4usIIKWboZ77epQHHzG1GzdvNrJOvm1ZNorwX7Ykgpx_0vdyeZ1LuDRWnjKtkSZNpa9-cQ_g76uhuU2z0AKsCRdXQ/s400/IMG_3114.JPG" /></a><br />
Luckily my girls are perfectly happy as long as they have a handful of little figures to play with. They could play with their little princesses and Star Wars figures for hours. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFaJr7WaOHC8Fwvi3gSHGY8vDk8i3qdQRlLnD4ezBDf6j0Un2C_25kGxpYufrZOBqvcbJwAM7LGRla2lD0QvJUAxyXeYo-QeHhmLlRn-4zW4h9f8NSSbaaKQp7g52DNqnrCOVBtVNhq38/s1600/IMG_3126.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFaJr7WaOHC8Fwvi3gSHGY8vDk8i3qdQRlLnD4ezBDf6j0Un2C_25kGxpYufrZOBqvcbJwAM7LGRla2lD0QvJUAxyXeYo-QeHhmLlRn-4zW4h9f8NSSbaaKQp7g52DNqnrCOVBtVNhq38/s400/IMG_3126.JPG" /></a><br />
This isn't even in good focus, but they both have such nice smiles I had to share it.The closed door in the background was dad's room. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio84SWONRrT5mANqj0j_gDB9FBQ8WvHoJcgEzUNzriApNABQdMUEn3IU1f8SalzL1xg17hhP-G5HIdAdThsQOCIlub7va1M-PtzI444cXWoc4mMQ2pu33Xw1gG8BCqs7Wsx8L1aNwCwc0/s1600/IMG_3127.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio84SWONRrT5mANqj0j_gDB9FBQ8WvHoJcgEzUNzriApNABQdMUEn3IU1f8SalzL1xg17hhP-G5HIdAdThsQOCIlub7va1M-PtzI444cXWoc4mMQ2pu33Xw1gG8BCqs7Wsx8L1aNwCwc0/s400/IMG_3127.JPG" /></a><br />
Uncle Chris taking a nap. The girls decided he needed something to make him a little more comfy. So here he is cuddling Ella's bunny and covered in her sweatshirt. Tee hee. :) </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6AO2PyaX6DYkCE0JNlvxZ9b12aounSjUwGoVpIy8lwV1xx7Fzx2JwPDxf8b5fB0fVj8y3FFT4OfxebFcxBr2br8C4OntKSOvsedtCsM4FFHUYkRu33hiJQqGi8A9wWllz2BqlkvKevL8/s1600/IMG_3133.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6AO2PyaX6DYkCE0JNlvxZ9b12aounSjUwGoVpIy8lwV1xx7Fzx2JwPDxf8b5fB0fVj8y3FFT4OfxebFcxBr2br8C4OntKSOvsedtCsM4FFHUYkRu33hiJQqGi8A9wWllz2BqlkvKevL8/s400/IMG_3133.JPG" /></a><br />
Mom's friend Mary Ellen had a new puppy, Maddie. She was so nice to bring Maddie over to hospice house for the girls and Owen to play with. Ella loved that cute little puppy. She kept asking if Mary Ellen could bring her over again. Here they are playing at Grandma and Papa's house. I call it puppy love therapy. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8_t2pQpWcFBg_MaxPODGVumw6TyTrFOBBqBmG1OlFWGsZdPMrGaD8Y7qRE-SJ1m54VJd1V8CSTG1jG6N2Ld806CE8vHVPl4ihxTuO8lHgBkyvb_Ym1gDsBgJeXOBfD7QlG0WkoSJrLfA/s1600/IMG_3144.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8_t2pQpWcFBg_MaxPODGVumw6TyTrFOBBqBmG1OlFWGsZdPMrGaD8Y7qRE-SJ1m54VJd1V8CSTG1jG6N2Ld806CE8vHVPl4ihxTuO8lHgBkyvb_Ym1gDsBgJeXOBfD7QlG0WkoSJrLfA/s400/IMG_3144.JPG" /></a><br />
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That is all the pictures I have to share, but I do have a couple more thoughts to share. At the visitation so many people came to pay their respects. It was so nice to see so many people I have not seen in years! And meeting so many of dad's co-workers and putting a face to the stories they had shared for our gift of memories project. We joked with Doc before people started arriving that there would be 2 people to stop in to see Chris. Always have to give Chris a hard time. Its fun. :) When Chris's high school basketball coach stopped by I had to laugh and tell him he was one of Chris's two people! Even though we could count him as ours too because he was my government and economics teacher as well. But we'll let Chris have him. A little while later, Sully, who was a teacher and coach, but who I never had came through and told me that Coach Schulte had his Xavier football team say a prayer for dad and our family at practice. So sweet. A couple people later, there was Coach Schulte. Now I did really well holding it together through the whole visitation. I got a little teary when my aunt Nancy walked in with red eyes and when my friends who drove from 2 hours away came in. But when Coach walked up to me I almost lost it. He was one of my History teachers, Theology teachers, and my basketball coach. I actually think I only played 1 year for him. My senior year I decided to just be the statistician or something. But I have such respect for this man, that seeing him come and take the time to talk to each of us really affected me. I still call him Coach. I cannot think of another coach that I still refer to as Coach. I think that title deserves respect, obviously from current players for any team, but that is takes a truly great person, great coach to keep that title even after you no longer are part of that team. Coach Schulte and his Xavier football team are playing tonight for a chance to go to the UNI Dome. I will be anxiously waiting to see the scores from tonight's games and maybe we will get to take a little field trip to Cedar Falls next week. Go SAINTS!<br />
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Okay, I guess I have one more thought to share, but I think it deserves its own post. Thank you everyone that has 1) taken the time to read through my lengthy posts and 2) all those that left such sweet comments, either on the blog or on Facebook.<br />
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Random thoughts, to be continued....</div>
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Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025643433403901629noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5499357914343008587.post-65100283536797873782012-10-21T21:58:00.000-05:002012-10-21T21:58:00.943-05:00Some thoughts <div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;">
It has been three weeks now since dad passed. I meant to do this post earlier, but it took some time to get myself and kids back on schedule and caught up with things that had been put on hold while we were driving back and forth to Cedar Rapids and being at the hospice house for a week. I just want to share a few thoughts, mostly for my own memory.<br />
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During the month of September I took each of the girls back to Cedar Rapids to visit so they could spend a little time with Papa. I was planning on taking Aidan home on Sunday afternoon, September 23. Mom called Saturday morning the 22nd to say that they were going to the hospice house to try to get dad's ammonia levels in check. I was hosting a baby shower at my house in which friends were staying overnight that day, so I kept with that plan and took Aidan to Cedar Rapids Sunday afternoon. Dad was sleeping when we got to the hospice house, but before we left he sort of woke up and Aidan waved to him and said hi and Papa waved back. Gave him a kiss and said we would be back in the morning. That was the last time I saw dad awake and aware of what was going on.<br />
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He slept the whole time we were there on Monday. We met with the hospice people and made the decision to keep him at hospice house because we were having a hard time keeping his pain under control and were more comfortable having instant access to the nurses and doctors to adjust medication as needed. We were very sad about this because dad hated hospitals and had really wanted to be at home. Had we taken him home though we would have had to call a hospice nurse, wait for her to get there, have her assess, call the doc and adjust medicine, go get medicine, etc. Just too long to get the needed pain relief. <br />
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Aidan and I had to go home Monday, but I decided to come back Tuesday with both girls and we would stay until the end. Tuesday was the worst day. I got a call as we were driving that they were taking dad to the hospital because he had pulled his catheter out and now had blood clots and problems from doing that. Got another call that the hospital doctors gave them the option of surgery to try to remove blood clots or take him back to hospice and just make him as comfortable as possible. Mom, Chris, Carrie, (and I agreed) chose to go back to hospice, as surgery and anesthesia could have gone bad. Justin was awesome and volunteered to watch the girls for the afternoon so I could be at hospice house and help while they got dad's meds where they needed to be. It was the hardest day in my opinion because every 10 minutes dad would try to get out of bed, so we had to stop him and convince him to lay down again. I have no idea how Mom, Chris and Carrie did this all day long. <br />
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The rest of the week seemed to be smoother. His pain seemed to be under control and he slept. The girls did amazing. There was a little play area very close to dad's room so the girls could go in there and play kitchen, babies, color, watch videos. The hospice house and staff were amazing as well. The nurses and other staff I believe must be angels here on earth. They were so kind and caring to all of us. They have to care for their patients and make them comfortable, but also comfort the families who are enduring such difficult times.<br />
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Friday afternoon I told Aaron he didn't have to come until Saturday after Aidan's football game. He gave Aidan the choice and Aidan said they should go to Cedar Rapids and help mommy. I am so thankful they did. I think Tuesday-Thursday nights Carrie and Mom stayed overnight with dad. Friday night Carrie stayed but went home when Chris got there at 5:00ish I think. This was the earliest Chris had gone. Because Aaron had come I was able to get up and be over there about 6:30. I stopped at HyVee which was right near hospice to grab some donuts for everyone. When I got back in the car the song "If You Get There Before I Do" by Collin Raye was on. This was a song we had chosen for the slide show we would show at dad's visitation. I have not heard that song on the radio in a long time. I felt it was a sign that maybe I was too late and hurried the 2 blocks over to hospice house. Chris was sleeping in the corner. I sat next to dad for awhile, but it was dark and I was tired so I laid on the couch and started falling asleep. At 7:11 my best friend, Sara, texted me, "Are you awake?". I again cannot tell you a time that she has texted me that early. It did wake me up. A couple minutes later the nurse came in to do the shift change just as dad made kind of a moan. Chris and I popped up and went over, she listened to his heart, told me to call mom. She had just called the hospice asking for an update, they had walked down to ask, I called her and told her to come down. Chris and I held his hand, I stroked his hair, he took a few more breaths and was gone.<br />
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I am so thankful that Chris and I were able to be with him. I am so thankful Sara felt she should text me at that time. Looking back at the song on the radio and the timing of Sara's text, you might think I am nuts, but I feel they were my signs I needed to be awake and present in that moment.<br />
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After we had the room all packed up and Chris, Carrie and I were standing outside by our cars, Carrie said something about wondering what dad was doing up in heaven right then. She said he was probably getting a tour. Chris said he was probably asking about the power grid situation and how everything was powered. Carrie said that they probably told him the power source is God and dad would have been like, good deal, pretty reliable source. :) The next morning at church, as the pastor was starting to give his message, he put up a graphic of a simple circuit (battery, wires, light, switch). He started talking about how God is the source of power! We all looked at each other and smiled. <b>How amazing!</b> It was like dad was confirming our thoughts from the day before and letting us know he had made it okay and all was well. :)<br />
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Visitation was Tuesday and was so lovely to see so many family and friends. I dressed the girls in red dresses which I don't normally do because I don't like to be really matchy matchy. But on this night I discovered it was super easy when someone asked me which were my kids I could say find the girls in red, and the cute little boy narrating Papa's slide show for anyone that had a question about any of the pictures. :)<br />
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Dad's Navy picture, flag, picture of his ship, the USS Saginaw</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggztAE4LsjsEDpriUnvY43lqWiefhrsc0s5maCK4Mc6Wxg8KHs8c1RXmXrY77CIoc3OeE_dw_XrLc3d0tv_HCkTPba4oEfCoadWqJSPsDU-3zXFZA2WWZaH80YxmHZ7pEoNDBRLhjMK0Y/s1600/IMG_2467.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggztAE4LsjsEDpriUnvY43lqWiefhrsc0s5maCK4Mc6Wxg8KHs8c1RXmXrY77CIoc3OeE_dw_XrLc3d0tv_HCkTPba4oEfCoadWqJSPsDU-3zXFZA2WWZaH80YxmHZ7pEoNDBRLhjMK0Y/s400/IMG_2467.JPG" /></a><br />
Flowers, Dad's bible, wooden cross he held his week in hospice, urn he made for himself, yellow rose from mom because dad always gave her a yellow rose on special occassions, picture of mom and dad, framed quote I made that Dad had by his bed at home since he was diagnosed. It reads, "God Our Father, Walk through my house and take away all my worries and illnesses, please watch over and heal my family. In Jesus name, Amen."</div>
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Cute girls in red </div>
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Funeral was Wednesday. This is the only family picture we have from that day. The lovely woman in the middle is Helen Martinson. She was my Grandma and Grandpa Van Sickel's best friend. Dad has always kept in close touch with her. Aidan wore a tie because, well, he is super handsome. :) But also because he wanted to wear one to one of his preschool Christmas programs. Mom and Dad had gone to that program and ever since then Dad joked if Aidan wanted to wear a tie again whenever he was dressing up. He got such a kick out of the fact that Aidan had wanted to wear a tie to his preschool program. <br />
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<img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv9OuxZUI7VVOG-_HOrDC9XkCMx7L8jNo-w2BAYDn_tDV775Fa_A4RW2s5Mzvg1MmEfqklNcP7D2Lce8p13XsiGlR1jlwu3U4TU5vCCWLmRRRg0UUflzWA1lLAOphp9fGWztjwww03upA/s400/DSCN0434.JPG" /> <br />
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All of my Van Sickel first cousins were able to be there. All of them. And 2 second cousins. So happy that our family that lives out east was able to make it back.<br />
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I am so thankful for everyone's prayers, cards, messages, and hugs. Friends that drive 4 hours to spend 2 minutes with me to give me a hug at the visitation. Friends who let me borrow dresses so I don't have to stress about shopping for something suitable to wear. Friends that drive 10 hours in 2 days to give me hug and smile and randomly propose going on a girls trip to give me something happy to look forward to. ;) Thankful for friends and family whose gifts of memory stones and wind chimes allow me to have tangible things to look at and remember this time. I am so thankful for all the amazing people that surround me and my family...and my new angel up in heaven watching over us all. </div>
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Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025643433403901629noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5499357914343008587.post-89305545347965556932012-08-16T12:47:00.001-05:002012-08-16T12:48:46.754-05:00Aidan's first day of 1st Grade!<div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;">Well, little man is a 1st grader now. We were much more calm about starting first grade than kindergarten. Much easier when you know a little about what to expect. Though Aidan did admit on the way over he was both excited and nervous. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitbmx-x39gW4CAqsMrl0JxLEAqBc6tTaqlKvUoa4DgBSXqDAWxDMQP00haALtV0zz0t6uaRZEQ4JSRRRcbUcTJcpSR1382jQML8LZdEOyJDkJvSQYEa7aFEVuEgQPtK0zVpoIlDX1_QGM/s1600/IMG_2234.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitbmx-x39gW4CAqsMrl0JxLEAqBc6tTaqlKvUoa4DgBSXqDAWxDMQP00haALtV0zz0t6uaRZEQ4JSRRRcbUcTJcpSR1382jQML8LZdEOyJDkJvSQYEa7aFEVuEgQPtK0zVpoIlDX1_QGM/s400/IMG_2234.JPG" /></a><br />
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We have heard good things about his teacher, which is always nice. She seems nice and has already had excellent communication through email, which we like. She will be having a baby sometime so hopefully they find a fabulous guest teacher during her maternity leave.</div><div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnh3Z6Tkm1v83AAHMwHKV75u1ryV52MtvKNShRctG-y3HJEvbJSYoGojX1ZUCrmf8o0thXAs46l6LqJ-1A1RACAn-sltOaE9dApr-SDQc4BxH7hS_DyvvcGFwgq5sJvEjcDc31WyylDHc/s1600/IMG_2236.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnh3Z6Tkm1v83AAHMwHKV75u1ryV52MtvKNShRctG-y3HJEvbJSYoGojX1ZUCrmf8o0thXAs46l6LqJ-1A1RACAn-sltOaE9dApr-SDQc4BxH7hS_DyvvcGFwgq5sJvEjcDc31WyylDHc/s400/IMG_2236.JPG" /></a><br />
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Aidan came home with a few interesting details about his class. He has a boy with hearing difficulties so the teacher wears a microphone and the boy has a speaker on his desk so he can hear better. Aidan said, "Isn't technology wonderful!". He has 24 kids in his class, but one was missing on the first day because she was in the hospital, though he was not sure why.</div><div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghUwrEyYhVmRIaTRiXdT9PGlaeiqxN8qT-FPqmKdHK5kOC857FhE7Vinwoj5Y8as54uO981AcfqskSSZajqz3E7OiYIdK6MONIrUAhkJUE34tNp7uyM38XYlSIbXT3T3QaEGnHQ8h_j78/s1600/IMG_2240.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghUwrEyYhVmRIaTRiXdT9PGlaeiqxN8qT-FPqmKdHK5kOC857FhE7Vinwoj5Y8as54uO981AcfqskSSZajqz3E7OiYIdK6MONIrUAhkJUE34tNp7uyM38XYlSIbXT3T3QaEGnHQ8h_j78/s400/IMG_2240.JPG" /></a><br />
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He asked me if I remembered him telling me that a boy had pushed him down last year. I had not, though the boy's name did sound vaguely familiar. He said that boy was his teacher's son and that he was doing Kindergarten again this year. Interesting detail.</div><div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWUv8v5tmLd_f99IfZ0XQevqgKUssCAExSoq-yQuJmdQR73N5qt5Pzo_62xx6lPXYe_wcQRFzD5w4mV7CFon4koyccKrm3GZQXIamMGjystmg5FEyOi392e2RCoR7bdANkZ9hW3q2jeV8/s1600/IMG_2243.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWUv8v5tmLd_f99IfZ0XQevqgKUssCAExSoq-yQuJmdQR73N5qt5Pzo_62xx6lPXYe_wcQRFzD5w4mV7CFon4koyccKrm3GZQXIamMGjystmg5FEyOi392e2RCoR7bdANkZ9hW3q2jeV8/s400/IMG_2243.JPG" /></a><br />
Before he got in his line to go into school he went over to give his Kindergarten teacher a hug. Mommy made him go over to say hi to her since he was a little nervous, but once he got close and Mrs. Swanson saw him and another Kindergarten friend her face lit up and so did Aidan's. He got over his shyness and went to give her a hug. We loved Mrs. Swanson last year and hope he can have her again next year as she has moved up to 2nd grade.</div><div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiufXbIyKX3wsUbqgotiqIj-JM0JG1zKuNjq-VpjKlxVaflwalJ-HbjmGQh0VriutBx7tmJgg7HRfOBGo9MnyagKG8JruFx2dcOorZhZSqwMUJNkz2b2TzWcKtjV3pCm21bXVh2JHuXfcM/s1600/IMG_2253.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiufXbIyKX3wsUbqgotiqIj-JM0JG1zKuNjq-VpjKlxVaflwalJ-HbjmGQh0VriutBx7tmJgg7HRfOBGo9MnyagKG8JruFx2dcOorZhZSqwMUJNkz2b2TzWcKtjV3pCm21bXVh2JHuXfcM/s400/IMG_2253.JPG" /></a><br />
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I think he really enjoyed being back at school. He came home and told us all the new rules in the lunchroom, rules in PE, rules for bathroom breaks, basically a day of re-learning the rules in every aspect of their day. Can't wait to hear more from day 2 when we pick him up this afternoon!</div><div style='clear:both; text-align:CENTER'><a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a></div>Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025643433403901629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5499357914343008587.post-36196542652358665292012-05-09T21:40:00.000-05:002012-05-09T21:40:14.847-05:00Aidan's Spring Program<a href="http://www.blogger.com/"><span id="goog_1834195981"></span><span id="goog_1834195982"></span></a><div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;">
Last night Aidan had his Kindergarten Spring program. It was so good! All the kids did an awesome job and it was a lot of fun. All of the kids had a special role to play and Aidan's was being a reader. He was one of the first ones and he did a great job. I uploaded the video of his reading to YouTube -<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfURur-xe1A" target="_blank">Aidan video</a>.<br />
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They were tossing around balloons in the audience at this point, Aidan obviously got a kick out of that. :) </div>
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With Grandma and Papa Van </div>
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Grammy and Aidan </div>
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Our family </div>
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Great Job Aidan!!! </div>
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</div>Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025643433403901629noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5499357914343008587.post-45385179186705248442012-01-02T15:47:00.001-06:002012-01-02T16:01:00.410-06:00Van Sickel Christmas 2011<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px">For Van <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Sickel</span> Christmas this year, Chris convinced us all to come out to Colorado to him. Though it takes a lot of stuff to take us all out to Colorado for just a couple of days, to stay out in a lodge at a camp where Chris used to work, it was totally worth it. The kids were all excellent travelers across the ridiculously boring state of Nebraska. (We love our portable <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">DVD</span> player!)<br /><br />I don't even think I included any pictures of opening presents in this post. There was too much awesomeness in our surroundings to bother with picture of presents here!<br /><br />Getting ready to take a hike.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEqqehSig4Dv_XPhfguTHxD0N2MC_uKl9K95HbmYz-EeTu8r_vXL3cMez7OmI0JO_v8Mf1ZdLaWlFWiOZGtdiHj3glJGoblavpDvC1zxrz4GtgNYxdwXfn1nhfrS12EwRlGfbxsUo1Do0/s1600/IMG_0450.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEqqehSig4Dv_XPhfguTHxD0N2MC_uKl9K95HbmYz-EeTu8r_vXL3cMez7OmI0JO_v8Mf1ZdLaWlFWiOZGtdiHj3glJGoblavpDvC1zxrz4GtgNYxdwXfn1nhfrS12EwRlGfbxsUo1Do0/s400/IMG_0450.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Pretty in pink<br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOLX_e4d4rtN8rxuZDu3ZNOX26mQP8prrKEzR8cUgGzOCMuvyq5El5zFAGFklQpl1i9OV49f1rC_2Si5D8iGQdGskYoIAw9yedkUuw5WdAM4B2DhPF0d5jHv3Nsu0hz-2H5xjw8BayddI/s1600/IMG_0451.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOLX_e4d4rtN8rxuZDu3ZNOX26mQP8prrKEzR8cUgGzOCMuvyq5El5zFAGFklQpl1i9OV49f1rC_2Si5D8iGQdGskYoIAw9yedkUuw5WdAM4B2DhPF0d5jHv3Nsu0hz-2H5xjw8BayddI/s400/IMG_0451.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Livi</span> and Grandma walking together<br /><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBhJOJcHpb-gS5QuVYq3ZpgfTop6mDA40hI-wx0Fuu7gNaSU6TAS0gEqGkUt6wXooFyo-dTHWiP9XEWoZGmjjqCRI55C5vDUZwB31e5kO2bZVNCRWMKvxYFV2NnG610jQTNixCG2KRJDY/s1600/IMG_0452.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBhJOJcHpb-gS5QuVYq3ZpgfTop6mDA40hI-wx0Fuu7gNaSU6TAS0gEqGkUt6wXooFyo-dTHWiP9XEWoZGmjjqCRI55C5vDUZwB31e5kO2bZVNCRWMKvxYFV2NnG610jQTNixCG2KRJDY/s400/IMG_0452.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Our family, on a bridge over a mostly frozen stream.<br /><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQyR2DK_Ygh_pDQO_EIMusm28QVOfdmR30148DIVkWJM9vEHPxNO0g_GElG8Emc1H2c8_yqRrDwbXMHPSJ-9rKCViftwcTDJtN1iRqgg_UUjchjbAF-OLb6cRfzxUMd45XQOAJ65DQK8Q/s1600/IMG_0459.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQyR2DK_Ygh_pDQO_EIMusm28QVOfdmR30148DIVkWJM9vEHPxNO0g_GElG8Emc1H2c8_yqRrDwbXMHPSJ-9rKCViftwcTDJtN1iRqgg_UUjchjbAF-OLb6cRfzxUMd45XQOAJ65DQK8Q/s400/IMG_0459.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Aidan with his rock he collected from the mountain. He will let you touch the rock if you would like to know what a mountain feels like. :)<br /><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEdVltQCehO6GxqYJgxE2GU2rSs0ppcVq5TsshjTozpP526ofE2OXU7NA5l9bhSEN6lJAak7CGboOb4UsX1tz0Peaz1LZiUHagbfwmauZAMt034hIxc7x5FLxUQAI4hrgNp23p9UrDLr8/s1600/IMG_0477.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEdVltQCehO6GxqYJgxE2GU2rSs0ppcVq5TsshjTozpP526ofE2OXU7NA5l9bhSEN6lJAak7CGboOb4UsX1tz0Peaz1LZiUHagbfwmauZAMt034hIxc7x5FLxUQAI4hrgNp23p9UrDLr8/s400/IMG_0477.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Cheesy <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Livi</span><br /><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQdjRriBdECrE5BRjI7U6QIWvIKMS1wfibKfNwpvIveSKIE4wmey9HzcIcY6LJ-BOr6WQ62yqnp12vpj1807msbUHZ5aIAZEK5fI7xjaQZZ071FKqxnbgWNEv5ewTvci-yr48DB7PJTbo/s1600/IMG_0496.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQdjRriBdECrE5BRjI7U6QIWvIKMS1wfibKfNwpvIveSKIE4wmey9HzcIcY6LJ-BOr6WQ62yqnp12vpj1807msbUHZ5aIAZEK5fI7xjaQZZ071FKqxnbgWNEv5ewTvci-yr48DB7PJTbo/s400/IMG_0496.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Aaron, Justin and Carrie were down the hill beyond the fence collecting firewood. Then the kids were trying to get it up the hill the rest of the way so Chris could cut it to the right size if needed.<br /><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFl6JlRqVGE-b3GvClLTTDChZ9x_dGKHPSTJBCU1povGoqL9LikbEUYpVoLdNoT1wI3saRRtWPKaMVEYQ0Q1uvxR2rH3TsFvRqQ5bNVa2DGPv59kYaXnBc9nzU2VdCeWF9l3b7I4bdnR8/s1600/IMG_0516.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFl6JlRqVGE-b3GvClLTTDChZ9x_dGKHPSTJBCU1povGoqL9LikbEUYpVoLdNoT1wI3saRRtWPKaMVEYQ0Q1uvxR2rH3TsFvRqQ5bNVa2DGPv59kYaXnBc9nzU2VdCeWF9l3b7I4bdnR8/s400/IMG_0516.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">"HELP!"<br />She had worked on getting this one stick up the hill for about ten minutes before she finally gave in and called for help.<br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Uk3EJxHlsOL3TeOHcVx4UfuDp1_pZqibPkXI7-XOYqtWWONVdGV6ng4Cw00MTnJIYiNPAAgYmL4hsb5d9YcLX2imSWsd25xzKr3TVoGMsfoiebvMsDlUU_QAxpkV5hLAYYJp-RkkhoM/s1600/IMG_0520.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Uk3EJxHlsOL3TeOHcVx4UfuDp1_pZqibPkXI7-XOYqtWWONVdGV6ng4Cw00MTnJIYiNPAAgYmL4hsb5d9YcLX2imSWsd25xzKr3TVoGMsfoiebvMsDlUU_QAxpkV5hLAYYJp-RkkhoM/s400/IMG_0520.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">It started snowing while we were outside. Just a beautiful perfect fresh snow covering the mountain. We didn't notice til later that the flash on the camera bounced off all the little snowflakes. :)<br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnvtwyX8Knr3MbbWzk-_J3UEDzO1LK0UhfbZS9ECHaE6nQe92BoDooyY_mjYTzAUwbY0LoE4goR-wzmkUSBfj5unUQBM-nYYu-UCKlMa-Vi_0-lZMXRof00gmgDDi_0RaLcy_tfzeMZP0/s1600/IMG_0529.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnvtwyX8Knr3MbbWzk-_J3UEDzO1LK0UhfbZS9ECHaE6nQe92BoDooyY_mjYTzAUwbY0LoE4goR-wzmkUSBfj5unUQBM-nYYu-UCKlMa-Vi_0-lZMXRof00gmgDDi_0RaLcy_tfzeMZP0/s400/IMG_0529.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Mom wanted a family picture so we tried out the timer on our camera. I think it turned out really well. Aaron doesn't even look too winded sprinting to get in the picture. :)<br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOB6yanY395U4NK0YBWsyGzwWl8MdbzRZ9vhtqPMKTCthWvWQe_gc7mzl15Cow_H_Btp5elpwW1GBYEzLJ_IOEU7n9n7o5Bpuhp1tt2ws7PMxqcgZ5odqdDyvbYGuJQtmedb_b48kdGB4/s1600/IMG_0545.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOB6yanY395U4NK0YBWsyGzwWl8MdbzRZ9vhtqPMKTCthWvWQe_gc7mzl15Cow_H_Btp5elpwW1GBYEzLJ_IOEU7n9n7o5Bpuhp1tt2ws7PMxqcgZ5odqdDyvbYGuJQtmedb_b48kdGB4/s400/IMG_0545.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div>Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025643433403901629noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5499357914343008587.post-34604312439964760832012-01-02T15:15:00.001-06:002012-01-02T15:27:20.486-06:00Friedel Christmas 2011<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px">We celebrated <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Friedel</span> Christmas at Grammy and Papa's house. Aren't they adorable in their new Christmas outfits Grammy picked out for them.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNhXGljA3E-hgDXvrp4CJflMv3PRfQQ4Ar84jfJhHa0zBY4D_LpI77QpqcpHdny8UhKIAad3JrI7afU8jP3ra2m7ciT6_T9-lq4nkuJSRGTk4iDA1Cf-rJ_EI9LtdI_att4oikgk90j7k/s1600/IMG_0576.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNhXGljA3E-hgDXvrp4CJflMv3PRfQQ4Ar84jfJhHa0zBY4D_LpI77QpqcpHdny8UhKIAad3JrI7afU8jP3ra2m7ciT6_T9-lq4nkuJSRGTk4iDA1Cf-rJ_EI9LtdI_att4oikgk90j7k/s400/IMG_0576.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Quick, fairly decent family photo before opening gifts.<br /><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrWus4hFpxirdOVZpyQwEhc4jTjzWO1RMFEA4-iA-2XmELDte2TNUBUcCnfWsBCWTF1m6uGtNkZjWWYlHgXVFF-iZdf3bPmqHbPhHaM7JTo3JD54xjeXOAYH_7HeGK6M4xgfLICiimWvM/s1600/IMG_0593.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrWus4hFpxirdOVZpyQwEhc4jTjzWO1RMFEA4-iA-2XmELDte2TNUBUcCnfWsBCWTF1m6uGtNkZjWWYlHgXVFF-iZdf3bPmqHbPhHaM7JTo3JD54xjeXOAYH_7HeGK6M4xgfLICiimWvM/s400/IMG_0593.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Cool new signs for Aidan's room.<br /><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaxrttusm1ik-tGt2nwqjSo5PptUTV6J9Qhmxw7eZMXTRMxJtETQS0PefBv-SQ8E9Tb_IlSlFS_gBb8RPIclR0EpKlfcSsiBkECxd4g5sxcI9TaNMd0TerrrrR0nIE7feMVhu_PFJLZQA/s1600/IMG_0617.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaxrttusm1ik-tGt2nwqjSo5PptUTV6J9Qhmxw7eZMXTRMxJtETQS0PefBv-SQ8E9Tb_IlSlFS_gBb8RPIclR0EpKlfcSsiBkECxd4g5sxcI9TaNMd0TerrrrR0nIE7feMVhu_PFJLZQA/s400/IMG_0617.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Ella peering into the box of her new Cinderella Castle.<br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju4RurQ1wfD5qCfJAheIlKqMe5argJCWTiTUVPaK9x_WGQ8VnlaQzTm6FG8CImRTsGgUQ22qi78z-PM7taJsig-Dv8AtfTtCylK0tX79C81Dm8_-n9VvOuTbGx849T5CzwyW4brcVbA58/s1600/IMG_0648.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju4RurQ1wfD5qCfJAheIlKqMe5argJCWTiTUVPaK9x_WGQ8VnlaQzTm6FG8CImRTsGgUQ22qi78z-PM7taJsig-Dv8AtfTtCylK0tX79C81Dm8_-n9VvOuTbGx849T5CzwyW4brcVbA58/s400/IMG_0648.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Livi</span> with her new Toddler Cinderella.<br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj16vYVYcEWXnml-4gYxwtZycmzfB6Q7Qx_YOEytyxS5KrjUiRqSWhRr7Uxn4k2DpY9vWVSaQgSz9nO_XolNFxQCC0dDw163qC9XcJ-P92Vxm72abYy1Dfm2yvcCSAMRN8bUM9fEE00Cq8/s1600/IMG_0668.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj16vYVYcEWXnml-4gYxwtZycmzfB6Q7Qx_YOEytyxS5KrjUiRqSWhRr7Uxn4k2DpY9vWVSaQgSz9nO_XolNFxQCC0dDw163qC9XcJ-P92Vxm72abYy1Dfm2yvcCSAMRN8bUM9fEE00Cq8/s400/IMG_0668.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Emilie opening the canvas of baby James we got for them. :)<br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7V3s6EznFjSMPKMlbZE6p9elMP19S7YVh85ApO2vLvb7deeBvq7SmiV81RPaOB6SWQ-SkXrroOO2sSaiQm3x3XylIhqs1vtMZVY_E1EXgRc5i52NV9a2qyHA-EoiyS3odeg9iBwKrJGw/s1600/IMG_0683.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7V3s6EznFjSMPKMlbZE6p9elMP19S7YVh85ApO2vLvb7deeBvq7SmiV81RPaOB6SWQ-SkXrroOO2sSaiQm3x3XylIhqs1vtMZVY_E1EXgRc5i52NV9a2qyHA-EoiyS3odeg9iBwKrJGw/s400/IMG_0683.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Hard to tell who was more excited about Aidan's new AT AT Walker, Aaron or Aidan. :)<br /><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD_IC9ra_7x96kR9lkyOM8WZf-WWcgQIjwbU_6j2gUY5FHJvb9wQ77FBgv_nfIgh8Dw6yeMeE_RKwfltT1WzcLwMUCa3Zl7dPNhxr6P6THnHTWPDZV0pFKjjZfeekaZFGTUdqk9EGb17k/s1600/IMG_0701.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD_IC9ra_7x96kR9lkyOM8WZf-WWcgQIjwbU_6j2gUY5FHJvb9wQ77FBgv_nfIgh8Dw6yeMeE_RKwfltT1WzcLwMUCa3Zl7dPNhxr6P6THnHTWPDZV0pFKjjZfeekaZFGTUdqk9EGb17k/s400/IMG_0701.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">And if we thought it was hard to get a family photo before presents, try taking a picture after presents, 30 minutes past bedtime, with all 5 <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">grand kids</span> and Grammy and Papa. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Livi</span> is holding my iPhone just to get her to sit still in the picture, Aidan is holding the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">iPod</span> to keep Mason sitting in the picture, and Ella just can't figure out how to look at the camera and smile. So here is about the best we got on our camera.<br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlrc4zmmqTz2JpMBjUnokdoQqrZRWYQY4zIW6M6NcLaSYdWnMt_Stey_yAbj3EEPihsri8MdT6GkXqMhJPYUVkG8p-VVSvmVNcGLxAc21e27sp_XaBG4_gbBzSAK16D0zTXBe8Bs2HWJ8/s1600/IMG_0710.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlrc4zmmqTz2JpMBjUnokdoQqrZRWYQY4zIW6M6NcLaSYdWnMt_Stey_yAbj3EEPihsri8MdT6GkXqMhJPYUVkG8p-VVSvmVNcGLxAc21e27sp_XaBG4_gbBzSAK16D0zTXBe8Bs2HWJ8/s400/IMG_0710.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div>Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025643433403901629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5499357914343008587.post-89593203507756332142011-10-30T21:30:00.002-05:002011-10-30T21:48:11.102-05:00Halloween 2011<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px">Tonight was trick-or-treating in Urbandale! The kids were so cute and had a lot of fun. Before trick-or-treating, our awesome neighbors, Amy and Ed, invited everyone over for some chili, grilled cheese and pumpkin bars. YUMMY!<br /><br />After that we came back over and got our costumes on. Here are our Snow Princess, Tiger, and Astronaut:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPexZDk6sUP0dZ583qOymmIAictVdmmq6ryEWuIey86tIlJJm4-TF51dSKYvwxoVjqMZffJacQrIDu3knTiRjyaLJXMC1nzL1j-DEcxHAG_nyW_FHoDsrwdPCUVvjIa6fRnvaQn5oNUm4/s1600/IMG_0245.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPexZDk6sUP0dZ583qOymmIAictVdmmq6ryEWuIey86tIlJJm4-TF51dSKYvwxoVjqMZffJacQrIDu3knTiRjyaLJXMC1nzL1j-DEcxHAG_nyW_FHoDsrwdPCUVvjIa6fRnvaQn5oNUm4/s400/IMG_0245.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">"Hey, where's my tail?"<br /><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilfPiL0iqF4uOJq87Lij_liRnRYfbcxBQxcMlQjeaX2qKj2DSFzIgMyWro9oHzHDD-jvGqzHdIip0bzsAFYGp-w8ibCZSHprQqBnDc-OuXyX3QbKOkzo8y6x5wAuSY4s6Znk0SHAULED8/s1600/IMG_0254.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilfPiL0iqF4uOJq87Lij_liRnRYfbcxBQxcMlQjeaX2qKj2DSFzIgMyWro9oHzHDD-jvGqzHdIip0bzsAFYGp-w8ibCZSHprQqBnDc-OuXyX3QbKOkzo8y6x5wAuSY4s6Znk0SHAULED8/s400/IMG_0254.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">They sure are cute, but boy is it hard to get the three of them to look at me and smile nice.<br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6JsmalwbugeJnofOYFBmTBSlIoyQUZPQOHOXfz0NHqm_zHp1hI6JyTC7vM4gutNPOgJOEE2VVi5rtc5tz9UyzKk-NxkoCIuo4XRw642-h7E09ZHs6cs5dQKpY_D53QK5Sw3X_5Wr2gbI/s1600/IMG_0256.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6JsmalwbugeJnofOYFBmTBSlIoyQUZPQOHOXfz0NHqm_zHp1hI6JyTC7vM4gutNPOgJOEE2VVi5rtc5tz9UyzKk-NxkoCIuo4XRw642-h7E09ZHs6cs5dQKpY_D53QK5Sw3X_5Wr2gbI/s400/IMG_0256.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Little Tiger and Daddy<br /><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_d4BpSgb75yH0wCMpBsQoRTpbVUTl6XugEUtlI6Vj77YGDBF1RM4xrICwqguSa-2SAu4We-csjJRRb6xz3rFjutKCFW3wiPh7qQM6iFWsK_4TaIVIfhj0YQitGJ7PFe1d6C1F0LPzlxY/s1600/IMG_0258.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_d4BpSgb75yH0wCMpBsQoRTpbVUTl6XugEUtlI6Vj77YGDBF1RM4xrICwqguSa-2SAu4We-csjJRRb6xz3rFjutKCFW3wiPh7qQM6iFWsK_4TaIVIfhj0YQitGJ7PFe1d6C1F0LPzlxY/s400/IMG_0258.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Our handsome little astronaut<br /><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjHbv-9ZppM98g6daWr4fs3Tpa36UgWFK09Vcetm0tHppRqKh00CTKUoAjb6p3vliolAxHKNP3opGfwLqW4rGggmcEJ7vG1UIoU6AbVkV-patXA1tmkUUa7ayUIQR9VeE3l5BopxrWCVM/s1600/IMG_0249.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjHbv-9ZppM98g6daWr4fs3Tpa36UgWFK09Vcetm0tHppRqKh00CTKUoAjb6p3vliolAxHKNP3opGfwLqW4rGggmcEJ7vG1UIoU6AbVkV-patXA1tmkUUa7ayUIQR9VeE3l5BopxrWCVM/s400/IMG_0249.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Our Tiger<br /><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdZ8zRCdxrZItUIisxH299_uunMyOUrmOGFgwQcxIPxGPM7K-DL5hpbhQHilMh23xBV5q-dvU6jUIdpmiiUVNW3eBZlfNtZqQyKywqKoARN3p68G2i7ov4oBYcHqh5IpylzvXfu-OOTlw/s1600/IMG_0247.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdZ8zRCdxrZItUIisxH299_uunMyOUrmOGFgwQcxIPxGPM7K-DL5hpbhQHilMh23xBV5q-dvU6jUIdpmiiUVNW3eBZlfNtZqQyKywqKoARN3p68G2i7ov4oBYcHqh5IpylzvXfu-OOTlw/s400/IMG_0247.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Snow Princess says "Eeeeek!" to someone's Halloween decorations<br /><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjvVokC3DX8DSonzbyVuDJZgi8a5lUYFMnwo-bjJPvsHhVSVdhX-e6Thn-GS88vHf2eiCLXPq_JDfuT1USBJBAlXZbqoD9KumTgUPFsZqbuB1E4fSk6v2VoVrXCM7a9uqcJy2zQyya-ag/s1600/IMG_0260.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjvVokC3DX8DSonzbyVuDJZgi8a5lUYFMnwo-bjJPvsHhVSVdhX-e6Thn-GS88vHf2eiCLXPq_JDfuT1USBJBAlXZbqoD9KumTgUPFsZqbuB1E4fSk6v2VoVrXCM7a9uqcJy2zQyya-ag/s400/IMG_0260.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />We asked Mason and Brad and Jenny if they wanted to come over and trick-or-treat with us. Mason was a little monkey and was so cute! He kept saying, "Follow Livi" and was super good at picking just one candy. What a nice little monkey. :)<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYXdS_FavfzUcTRBAwXQoF3seQ2Fw-NFwylh5IXiFvNDmF-6pyk6Z52ZH_6SpyhKHeBahJhy445IkWtodbTQkuaNBSkCe76ppl0MnQ2jEt8RW0wLwHUbX8Fq6LLF-LAlCK-l4Pkd7D_1I/s1600/IMG_0255.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYXdS_FavfzUcTRBAwXQoF3seQ2Fw-NFwylh5IXiFvNDmF-6pyk6Z52ZH_6SpyhKHeBahJhy445IkWtodbTQkuaNBSkCe76ppl0MnQ2jEt8RW0wLwHUbX8Fq6LLF-LAlCK-l4Pkd7D_1I/s400/IMG_0255.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5669481156699622194" border="0" /></a><br /></div>Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025643433403901629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5499357914343008587.post-71567181708350428272011-10-15T20:57:00.001-05:002011-10-15T21:29:04.971-05:00Howell's Pumpkin Patch<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px">We finally made it to the Pumpkin Patch this year! I asked the lady sitting across from us on the wagon ride to take our picture. Isn't it so nice that my children are so cooperative and all look and smile at the camera so mommy can have a nice family picture. :P<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieUKb2ejvNNBuzpWWokqO5bWb11KJyjr1WRw-nCl0AnEziWC7W6HiaaiNxWiJ7zmWgCyc8zenZIyymmMGjADnSnCo8VSGcMhIJzQHX_RgHudSiFBIAYJsb_rnubRL-sezY7nJxZQaMfp4/s1600/IMG_3911.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieUKb2ejvNNBuzpWWokqO5bWb11KJyjr1WRw-nCl0AnEziWC7W6HiaaiNxWiJ7zmWgCyc8zenZIyymmMGjADnSnCo8VSGcMhIJzQHX_RgHudSiFBIAYJsb_rnubRL-sezY7nJxZQaMfp4/s400/IMG_3911.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">We rode the pedal go carts again this year, but they weren't quite the hit they were last year. Aidan must have had a bad cart cause he couldn't work it very well and he did great on them last year. Plus it was super busy, so they just rode around once or twice.<br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW_neveJu6jipgJn71GOJc1QWfwygDCHO68sUkCnoRU1_XSKJvMx7YU0wAMfVwhIzaF6_yTR4xfJ71Kod-c6S_5tBVEct_f4lORXQeMgxEqVzgBUvjbEwa3hOch32IrtX7k7xvd0UoDiE/s1600/IMG_3924.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW_neveJu6jipgJn71GOJc1QWfwygDCHO68sUkCnoRU1_XSKJvMx7YU0wAMfVwhIzaF6_yTR4xfJ71Kod-c6S_5tBVEct_f4lORXQeMgxEqVzgBUvjbEwa3hOch32IrtX7k7xvd0UoDiE/s400/IMG_3924.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">They loved the maze though. Aidan loves that there are maps throughout so he could always check and decide where we needed to go next.<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR4CjgEQCbVTDtwZ6mBNI84SYdM8ANMpJHHt97c1ciTdjZONsZjO0TAyo3V91yf2dDZdNxFxLE68UH86YNWxhjIguDbcZDPAHPb_FpdxbE7yLjTANWlotmgmJTx46J7AXpJhOiAB1gLZ8/s1600/IMG_3927.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR4CjgEQCbVTDtwZ6mBNI84SYdM8ANMpJHHt97c1ciTdjZONsZjO0TAyo3V91yf2dDZdNxFxLE68UH86YNWxhjIguDbcZDPAHPb_FpdxbE7yLjTANWlotmgmJTx46J7AXpJhOiAB1gLZ8/s400/IMG_3927.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">And here is Miss Sassy Crabby Pants yelling at me. She was just pure joy for the first 45 minutes of our time there before she started to mellow out a little bit.<br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimrfUHjfQfA8wahsRSaVUZvNBmMqy4ifBjaCenaUQh4xKivxFb4KV3Sdgmb27rJoI7i2Crnrt07IJzCzK5bYStn-8uWm2bMqWG42zeesGK5FazcpTL3aivZs0e_dppnUq5vXoJYQwZSC8/s1600/IMG_3932.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimrfUHjfQfA8wahsRSaVUZvNBmMqy4ifBjaCenaUQh4xKivxFb4KV3Sdgmb27rJoI7i2Crnrt07IJzCzK5bYStn-8uWm2bMqWG42zeesGK5FazcpTL3aivZs0e_dppnUq5vXoJYQwZSC8/s400/IMG_3932.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">We have decided that maybe all we need is a big pile of hay bales or a pool of corn to entertain our kids for hours!<br /><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgshc3w8hou1SV0_aMlh_d75PyezUFUrlWneQ4ZpwAsOY0umGeOUaNBkrM_CTrCT3qLdiwRsreEcn-pBROhFuQFv5hNxhrl0cK-F9ep6kWID_zyyLZGBZjLLMfzL1uGB7UMu7Rd4fngflQ/s1600/IMG_3947.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgshc3w8hou1SV0_aMlh_d75PyezUFUrlWneQ4ZpwAsOY0umGeOUaNBkrM_CTrCT3qLdiwRsreEcn-pBROhFuQFv5hNxhrl0cK-F9ep6kWID_zyyLZGBZjLLMfzL1uGB7UMu7Rd4fngflQ/s400/IMG_3947.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR9Ck4CiQk8K-x5yFzSZfVza9HQzC00X5cqs1Lpq8HpI_Hx5XXcjcY56CZOi3MJH_KF-ip3ADjsRNXIP6gW76xqhafDHTRIahDIvPavaMgUylYV6pZawFZ2yzwAhz07VhkZBgI0Ec7dUk/s1600/IMG_3957.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR9Ck4CiQk8K-x5yFzSZfVza9HQzC00X5cqs1Lpq8HpI_Hx5XXcjcY56CZOi3MJH_KF-ip3ADjsRNXIP6gW76xqhafDHTRIahDIvPavaMgUylYV6pZawFZ2yzwAhz07VhkZBgI0Ec7dUk/s400/IMG_3957.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPcGgC_FYo4aEs43F-7qlk4wZtrZT_uLh1JD71yEEqeYUzSnHOrKP05JchESntvEe1xHSfg-6C0gsSjvKP7KyyCOXaWYkaSviEU1mBmKKUJ2x2pW592MiKd79kGQ2AmyE7lTpyMZTQo1U/s1600/IMG_3960.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPcGgC_FYo4aEs43F-7qlk4wZtrZT_uLh1JD71yEEqeYUzSnHOrKP05JchESntvEe1xHSfg-6C0gsSjvKP7KyyCOXaWYkaSviEU1mBmKKUJ2x2pW592MiKd79kGQ2AmyE7lTpyMZTQo1U/s400/IMG_3960.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzV1Phdo09xog5hvYFyDPI2_jq4xQTmEObcRW9XQqkc4_Ab_4vG0kvT57Rhi6JP5cFGZk-_6PHZcwm4auH9u-_yGsiTIX3h_SLkyhef0v5ZTc8RggDNH1uDf7lb6VE3WnKb7-Syzt3DWs/s1600/IMG_3961.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzV1Phdo09xog5hvYFyDPI2_jq4xQTmEObcRW9XQqkc4_Ab_4vG0kvT57Rhi6JP5cFGZk-_6PHZcwm4auH9u-_yGsiTIX3h_SLkyhef0v5ZTc8RggDNH1uDf7lb6VE3WnKb7-Syzt3DWs/s400/IMG_3961.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">"I'm the king of the world!"<br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7cO25UzP6lgWlioDKpO5mFbtsCTtEfrbxiRf-LNkzSXTpHXi2pkO86DVP5VvNDYWNG-KaFqAeLB1dgnsFII7jp2Dk_tp1itYFrj_28_wIitm5j-LtBcRvO7USOY1cwEuA7LUXOJUAASA/s1600/IMG_3971.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7cO25UzP6lgWlioDKpO5mFbtsCTtEfrbxiRf-LNkzSXTpHXi2pkO86DVP5VvNDYWNG-KaFqAeLB1dgnsFII7jp2Dk_tp1itYFrj_28_wIitm5j-LtBcRvO7USOY1cwEuA7LUXOJUAASA/s400/IMG_3971.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Ella said, "I'm teetering and he's tottering!"<br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimKblGahCer65MRXVp1nSGTR92mT92A58KnS4E9wRirM0-KDfXnEsGZ0QqHmb-cg-k0K3sl3LoRIhcS7aCmOeuuQVrRvVhlzcqCumTsZbyJatsQPn57Ii3lOoTPN8e2pywGGojUOepA5s/s1600/IMG_3983.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimKblGahCer65MRXVp1nSGTR92mT92A58KnS4E9wRirM0-KDfXnEsGZ0QqHmb-cg-k0K3sl3LoRIhcS7aCmOeuuQVrRvVhlzcqCumTsZbyJatsQPn57Ii3lOoTPN8e2pywGGojUOepA5s/s400/IMG_3983.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">She was pretty excited to ride the "wiggle cars".<br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEind6S-7YzoRLJdXmEpVF9TYLuzcnwNUeLDTFJFGqtC-w5ElZyutdb7fLp4I3z-GqMEJ7pzzcIWvSzdFHWTT2JfzdJXuorK_udAFVKOgsh0wOza7k2w7PvlLJ2r_aTQ-Wwa9919Shne7Pw/s1600/IMG_3993.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEind6S-7YzoRLJdXmEpVF9TYLuzcnwNUeLDTFJFGqtC-w5ElZyutdb7fLp4I3z-GqMEJ7pzzcIWvSzdFHWTT2JfzdJXuorK_udAFVKOgsh0wOza7k2w7PvlLJ2r_aTQ-Wwa9919Shne7Pw/s400/IMG_3993.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">The new thing this year was the Corn Cannon. Ella was first to try it (with daddy's help) and hit the big <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">ol</span>' jack-o-lantern up on the silo. She was very excited. Aidan also hit it but was weird about the sound of it as usual and kept trying to cover his ears.<br /><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC_adfz7-dndZDOmHr74y_ZVDNf1395JOWQRtU_-7zidfCfhYFlSjywniF_RHYvnUd6FSNUrSuKY7lThsOkFJrQ6MDhFeOQ7G3-KeKq5v7tM12rfRgudOfIRz7FZp-IzimlKCOmYzoXTQ/s1600/IMG_4050.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC_adfz7-dndZDOmHr74y_ZVDNf1395JOWQRtU_-7zidfCfhYFlSjywniF_RHYvnUd6FSNUrSuKY7lThsOkFJrQ6MDhFeOQ7G3-KeKq5v7tM12rfRgudOfIRz7FZp-IzimlKCOmYzoXTQ/s400/IMG_4050.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Oh, look! There is a happy little <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Livi</span>!<br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpKlUzjxu8Xe7efT2__8DRPfOzDdZMd9kWy9BqQ7ZlkFjy57vJLj8IpTb4kVjDtikw6mOx3BJXeVbMyi3LT7wKagtTE6rOvDIYiV4SRdW1Vo0dp_xknfjYjWAvak1GYXKAOv3YOIUryjQ/s1600/IMG_4059.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpKlUzjxu8Xe7efT2__8DRPfOzDdZMd9kWy9BqQ7ZlkFjy57vJLj8IpTb4kVjDtikw6mOx3BJXeVbMyi3LT7wKagtTE6rOvDIYiV4SRdW1Vo0dp_xknfjYjWAvak1GYXKAOv3YOIUryjQ/s400/IMG_4059.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">After waiting for about 10 minutes while another family did about every combination of pictures of their family at a great photo op set up, I was losing control of the kids and had to move over to a less appealing photo option and this is the best I could get of the three of them. :(<br /><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8EbohQD-awyQK_iPuJlLu6Wzqa9v0CsWVP8l-6ZBoenbqO5WbIupD7sfSIizcW3x0AoqLyfOvPH3HShqsSppbBivWnAoD_7KXCzA7qGEG1dpJ1ZMQoewWWiQyJF0bajXX-Ge9x0S4fVE/s1600/IMG_4065.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8EbohQD-awyQK_iPuJlLu6Wzqa9v0CsWVP8l-6ZBoenbqO5WbIupD7sfSIizcW3x0AoqLyfOvPH3HShqsSppbBivWnAoD_7KXCzA7qGEG1dpJ1ZMQoewWWiQyJF0bajXX-Ge9x0S4fVE/s400/IMG_4065.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Kinda cute of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Livi</span> though.<br /><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTGxWGnTNZnOnVpCsqgm-RMdOW007mTP9k4s5UaLp340fYH6pBsrd76Vd0-BoVC57pD6BnE3XVj5uT3Pi0rmSUkl5_rlBZKL5Rn8f8cTZ92N9D3lBDQuubnJU38a0elduExRbAYegjDwc/s1600/IMG_4070.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTGxWGnTNZnOnVpCsqgm-RMdOW007mTP9k4s5UaLp340fYH6pBsrd76Vd0-BoVC57pD6BnE3XVj5uT3Pi0rmSUkl5_rlBZKL5Rn8f8cTZ92N9D3lBDQuubnJU38a0elduExRbAYegjDwc/s400/IMG_4070.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">And a lovely picture of Aidan, taken by Ella!<br /><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyJBgR-3W7FsiZ_lpnVhqh_lSxsMFY3TvqDyJCkfZqC01Vs3k5BRprONQ1pyXsxTm6HrAX-wgObYL-4LnR3nZxlO0ArcS_KEFZcjI_w3ZFcu6SqXtMJWh337dQnq2ZgpW76xqCgtshcnI/s1600/IMG_4071.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyJBgR-3W7FsiZ_lpnVhqh_lSxsMFY3TvqDyJCkfZqC01Vs3k5BRprONQ1pyXsxTm6HrAX-wgObYL-4LnR3nZxlO0ArcS_KEFZcjI_w3ZFcu6SqXtMJWh337dQnq2ZgpW76xqCgtshcnI/s400/IMG_4071.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="clear:both; text-align:CENTER"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><br /></a></div>Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025643433403901629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5499357914343008587.post-43416487197524991982011-10-03T20:44:00.001-05:002011-10-03T21:07:52.405-05:00Meeting Owen Henry<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px">Last night at 10:39 pm our other new nephew Owen Henry was born! We had been in Cedar Rapids for the breast cancer walk yesterday and since Carrie had been in labor since Saturday afternoon, I thought for sure we would get to meet her baby yesterday. But unfortunately, little Owen was being a slowpoke and did not make his appearance until late last night. So after we dropped Aidan off at school, the girls and I headed back to CR! Had to go meet the little man!<br /><br />The girls LOVED being able to hold him.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxEhpxm3N20cMk10uBL1ivF1jVVjPdPRsp5BmPO9E5DvYyqc4IAQmBTaNeYuZKqmSoR_GOp4GUyBlYldlyAKLeGZlABDbYiav6_bt-SpTYpVACyytncZ-DARdSrpHerBUpjz_CTCkz9Vo/s1600/IMG_0180.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxEhpxm3N20cMk10uBL1ivF1jVVjPdPRsp5BmPO9E5DvYyqc4IAQmBTaNeYuZKqmSoR_GOp4GUyBlYldlyAKLeGZlABDbYiav6_bt-SpTYpVACyytncZ-DARdSrpHerBUpjz_CTCkz9Vo/s400/IMG_0180.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Such a cutie!<br /><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8nCs7XJx1dDKy3lZLNSa-I_DOLlYhqSgtEYK9GSqV9m9VpjoY9_SLK572mo8zgiLvtCkGxNSVFYug-TEurf_xdTZGjLXBS5J2Bn1GvLjbfVRF15bckzgLkClmZH6zVN6v1ckgVRuEXnA/s1600/IMG_0174.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8nCs7XJx1dDKy3lZLNSa-I_DOLlYhqSgtEYK9GSqV9m9VpjoY9_SLK572mo8zgiLvtCkGxNSVFYug-TEurf_xdTZGjLXBS5J2Bn1GvLjbfVRF15bckzgLkClmZH6zVN6v1ckgVRuEXnA/s400/IMG_0174.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">She is not excited at all is she? ;)<br /><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsyMMTuDr2jqcJ-Ba5xbi04Qcl1SZlsHzvb8D9WoUdIJf9gP6VK2Y6gKhiNAxees-jaWQxQNOamPTIx86IYs2-pRDfGdkh1ASdujOrYH9j5qq8ojGxAaPfKNXid6MBQJzotraHhDvFfKw/s1600/IMG_0176.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsyMMTuDr2jqcJ-Ba5xbi04Qcl1SZlsHzvb8D9WoUdIJf9gP6VK2Y6gKhiNAxees-jaWQxQNOamPTIx86IYs2-pRDfGdkh1ASdujOrYH9j5qq8ojGxAaPfKNXid6MBQJzotraHhDvFfKw/s400/IMG_0176.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Little mama Ella taking good care of Owen.<br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd27iruszCuF_UVBAydBC3mlfubpDhP7H-4lulHDJXZbqDj-odBDnLiJ-K6Jb5flEZTjDnTbd5EaCWaNKerONeX5soeVpMoOfC2-77r94IA6l0CnQciTHperOqeG8Q-iYqYu6FDZMZzHg/s1600/IMG_0177.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd27iruszCuF_UVBAydBC3mlfubpDhP7H-4lulHDJXZbqDj-odBDnLiJ-K6Jb5flEZTjDnTbd5EaCWaNKerONeX5soeVpMoOfC2-77r94IA6l0CnQciTHperOqeG8Q-iYqYu6FDZMZzHg/s400/IMG_0177.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrCUor8Noe4uo53nKlvpMscwjGWYyo_sraUanf6qFKMCr54MO7e8bkRNvOxNbuew3wuqlbfP-dArzFRiZmoy-jvlVgSV7YMGTjv0Hb9Ct0UrLxAU0VOUxNZANruYSWzzXyNUIjQAcIlSY/s1600/IMG_0179.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrCUor8Noe4uo53nKlvpMscwjGWYyo_sraUanf6qFKMCr54MO7e8bkRNvOxNbuew3wuqlbfP-dArzFRiZmoy-jvlVgSV7YMGTjv0Hb9Ct0UrLxAU0VOUxNZANruYSWzzXyNUIjQAcIlSY/s400/IMG_0179.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Yep, that's me, proud Aunt Amy!<br /><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimfKMdZpmXqlVMhLmWjpac-2GV0NqCYt_WwpvIFEUiVYfqR0T4d2urDnR_PZquFfix8XbHACc6RfmpD1tPtDphkyZXbyeT83EW2Ft0Hdf4p6ldg6gvSxpSM3deDdPO5RfkoMc5WT7PgRA/s1600/IMG_0184.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimfKMdZpmXqlVMhLmWjpac-2GV0NqCYt_WwpvIFEUiVYfqR0T4d2urDnR_PZquFfix8XbHACc6RfmpD1tPtDphkyZXbyeT83EW2Ft0Hdf4p6ldg6gvSxpSM3deDdPO5RfkoMc5WT7PgRA/s400/IMG_0184.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">And proud Papa Van. :)<br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgchE-O6ObC-6zFUOcGQzfy4EfCwsDzMFGmNcvinOLtnVIQc50JV48nasOGD8gEjeh4jgV5lKZDACrgP-aDtWzKaob3u7i4bPr3RetT4-ucnCRV4zjUuN1bgFuUvW4IIHEqZQzErd7GzC4/s1600/IMG_0188.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgchE-O6ObC-6zFUOcGQzfy4EfCwsDzMFGmNcvinOLtnVIQc50JV48nasOGD8gEjeh4jgV5lKZDACrgP-aDtWzKaob3u7i4bPr3RetT4-ucnCRV4zjUuN1bgFuUvW4IIHEqZQzErd7GzC4/s400/IMG_0188.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">New family of 3!<br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjTsYBgBvbm-gt8DI-QKpzmBmiR1zOGymAcoAR_2SfE-sc6eVgZp2SV53FcEKmk2q9aCo0xIxxHd9NVOQxY7BesQD_y9Xh2hxVWQRJkOxs2BX0h9OcaO_sHPd5Q-CUSLjHHnKCFE7DGw0/s1600/IMG_0189.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjTsYBgBvbm-gt8DI-QKpzmBmiR1zOGymAcoAR_2SfE-sc6eVgZp2SV53FcEKmk2q9aCo0xIxxHd9NVOQxY7BesQD_y9Xh2hxVWQRJkOxs2BX0h9OcaO_sHPd5Q-CUSLjHHnKCFE7DGw0/s400/IMG_0189.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">I think she likes him a little. :)<br /><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGx4dFUMBU156Y-PuTqcANie0zOcbH-ge1706nkmNYWdNFpowclLZw-a2Kz-HvE06k_CNR63WF5yLxJnJUc3HTAoEGqjzojISLD1JSc2N7hpKn2YOwSAVvm8pBlAFKJKTQ2mcjT8oxm3Q/s1600/IMG_0191.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGx4dFUMBU156Y-PuTqcANie0zOcbH-ge1706nkmNYWdNFpowclLZw-a2Kz-HvE06k_CNR63WF5yLxJnJUc3HTAoEGqjzojISLD1JSc2N7hpKn2YOwSAVvm8pBlAFKJKTQ2mcjT8oxm3Q/s400/IMG_0191.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Welcome to the family little Owen! So glad we were able to meet you today!<br /><br /></div>Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025643433403901629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5499357914343008587.post-3184951591658759032011-10-03T20:24:00.001-05:002011-10-03T20:35:52.991-05:00Meeting James Alan<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px">We were so excited to go to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Mediapolis</span> last weekend and meet James! Emilie and Donny sure have a handsome little man. :)<br /><br />All three of our kids got to hold him, but somehow I only have a picture of Ella holding him. She was pretty happy to get a turn holding the baby!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic_2W6J2wbfRSWR20DPFGazg4N0Yb88bBMYQZMmN4OjBvjRlQjxXqU0FF07vJPOkEAQYOkn7ku0MKGp2d58afSM3v3rwLVRcfgRCziUx_F5SQ7aLt2KgcVFC6MrPJ0XwoAvPMG2QFJ9a8/s1600/IMG_0107.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic_2W6J2wbfRSWR20DPFGazg4N0Yb88bBMYQZMmN4OjBvjRlQjxXqU0FF07vJPOkEAQYOkn7ku0MKGp2d58afSM3v3rwLVRcfgRCziUx_F5SQ7aLt2KgcVFC6MrPJ0XwoAvPMG2QFJ9a8/s400/IMG_0107.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">At one point <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Livi</span> got a hold of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">iPod</span> and was watching the Little Einsteins episode that is on it. Mason is also obsessed with the Little Einsteins, so this is how they were sitting for awhile. Silly little people. :)<br /><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSSwyiWQIga10zinFcSu_SQyNY55giJoGSVuVgaE2BQy4sf-FlkPA-PLhK1XQS97TvpSQc15a4h03we8aC1wh2uT1l2SPYbaloL4t8TkqAUvqZ-L2E3ImxytoKZ8nK3aSGPI6hs9Iewqg/s1600/IMG_0112.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSSwyiWQIga10zinFcSu_SQyNY55giJoGSVuVgaE2BQy4sf-FlkPA-PLhK1XQS97TvpSQc15a4h03we8aC1wh2uT1l2SPYbaloL4t8TkqAUvqZ-L2E3ImxytoKZ8nK3aSGPI6hs9Iewqg/s400/IMG_0112.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">The entire <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Friedel</span> family with our newest addition! :)<br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-inN4bb4Wtn0jNXoF0GdLfv_PkTLwKnxUElxtJa9SrV2KLg6lLJltGf3bRcT_UGPnketK4GAXKCYzYyypOvGfjJYLs-p4JmsIlh65eMHuGL7vaDK9AWbQr0sP5iHUevHX6n6jGGNZ2Lk/s1600/IMG_0142.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-inN4bb4Wtn0jNXoF0GdLfv_PkTLwKnxUElxtJa9SrV2KLg6lLJltGf3bRcT_UGPnketK4GAXKCYzYyypOvGfjJYLs-p4JmsIlh65eMHuGL7vaDK9AWbQr0sP5iHUevHX6n6jGGNZ2Lk/s400/IMG_0142.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">The kiddos on their favorite tree at Grammy and Papa's house. It is a hollow log they like to crawl through.<br /><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6GtKcmaxFIRhWVefehalAKD4mRWBeDGewIIQ5FehBFpoMzAPuMaKiLrMyX1bo6-Z6rU7iSYSps4WNbfeo2PqQiDORnoWoyxy94j0Y9aizsUKgb3WHKLmUHtrlVullntSRRiDRF-P0Ppk/s1600/IMG_0155.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6GtKcmaxFIRhWVefehalAKD4mRWBeDGewIIQ5FehBFpoMzAPuMaKiLrMyX1bo6-Z6rU7iSYSps4WNbfeo2PqQiDORnoWoyxy94j0Y9aizsUKgb3WHKLmUHtrlVullntSRRiDRF-P0Ppk/s400/IMG_0155.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Ella getting another peek at James. :)<br /><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSG7LBLhyphenhyphengLTn9eHzTdwObMjUs53MDyrvnniE96wnhourMofiJNOabraqspetThY1T0HaUN3-Y0qRTcEqFocmWbZjs8a9CCdFcA3lpc8jcnFSo6Z38yTcrN9kReGCLP5CXWusxmHmOFig/s1600/IMG_0166.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSG7LBLhyphenhyphengLTn9eHzTdwObMjUs53MDyrvnniE96wnhourMofiJNOabraqspetThY1T0HaUN3-Y0qRTcEqFocmWbZjs8a9CCdFcA3lpc8jcnFSo6Z38yTcrN9kReGCLP5CXWusxmHmOFig/s400/IMG_0166.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">The new mommy, daddy and little boy. Such a cutie! So glad we got to meet you and snuggle you James!!!<br /><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfEOcE7Oc5kV_gt5IX279qsfsu5pn4n0wUugSYqTdVElyTVL4Lt4jwoW5kB-Kn1vYDtAOLoUTmR-a-jESSGFc0_N_pAVeM2fWALtypqCJdQPp5k0XOrLBpWvdjPJQSyT3n_0q8Tx6HtlA/s1600/IMG_0169.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfEOcE7Oc5kV_gt5IX279qsfsu5pn4n0wUugSYqTdVElyTVL4Lt4jwoW5kB-Kn1vYDtAOLoUTmR-a-jESSGFc0_N_pAVeM2fWALtypqCJdQPp5k0XOrLBpWvdjPJQSyT3n_0q8Tx6HtlA/s400/IMG_0169.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="clear:both; text-align:CENTER"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><br /></a></div>Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025643433403901629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5499357914343008587.post-54289097186928733212011-09-17T13:03:00.001-05:002011-09-17T13:28:35.177-05:00Princess Party!<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px">This morning Ella and I went to a Princess Party at Jordan Creek. It was a fundraiser for Children and Families of Iowa sponsored by Panera Bread. I am so thankful my neighbor, Jill, told us about this event. Ella had a lot of fun and it was so great to see her face when she met all the princesses.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinz35B7-sVppqhWr1aC9OlYtnnRiMZGCtbtSJ_Vlywq1fue-I8lvJNTC0dDyfKdY4t5UPu4TA4ftgugIpOSD6N-eyCon9yM6Os34x_r3ftYXUmw9qIjyJGdTTI36tP2VDfCkxtky7dCw0/s1600/2011+September.jpg"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinz35B7-sVppqhWr1aC9OlYtnnRiMZGCtbtSJ_Vlywq1fue-I8lvJNTC0dDyfKdY4t5UPu4TA4ftgugIpOSD6N-eyCon9yM6Os34x_r3ftYXUmw9qIjyJGdTTI36tP2VDfCkxtky7dCw0/s400/2011+September.jpg" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">There were coloring sheets, princess hats and wands to decorate, little castles to decorate, and princess tattoos.<br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO22xM043kMa0_Fn1dRVlOa-JDoEfxY5_F4rzWpr0UaCgTktqPIWd7U244y9g43_7JCtUZgQ8dMGEPtm_UiYy-BafaYUIVtSIzK5sYB_yIHeZUYdZBeUuLJvmIME7Rm5V0FQROaAhfJvo/s1600/IMG_0081.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO22xM043kMa0_Fn1dRVlOa-JDoEfxY5_F4rzWpr0UaCgTktqPIWd7U244y9g43_7JCtUZgQ8dMGEPtm_UiYy-BafaYUIVtSIzK5sYB_yIHeZUYdZBeUuLJvmIME7Rm5V0FQROaAhfJvo/s400/IMG_0081.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">She got her nails and hair done. Nails were easy, but we tried the line for hair twice and barely got in before they closed it up for the day and the girls just curled her hair quick and stuck a crown on top. Next year I will try to get in the line for hair first, they seemed to be doing a nicer job at the beginning of the day and then Ella will have her pretty princess hair when she meets the princesses. And I will bring something to entertain Ella while we wait in line after line next time. :) Lessons learned.<br /><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiobkQMeMPj7UmuRcojFa-BjdSgBYeoQaAYmB9myLOviOqSBUynAcUZR5rsUu5ldSQ_xR1FQfczpUYBn8FWHR9gofN-_9C9FBcYHmr86Gb5C5EDe7KwSYhQnsehvQzFjgyfftNvKXa3suE/s1600/IMG_0082.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiobkQMeMPj7UmuRcojFa-BjdSgBYeoQaAYmB9myLOviOqSBUynAcUZR5rsUu5ldSQ_xR1FQfczpUYBn8FWHR9gofN-_9C9FBcYHmr86Gb5C5EDe7KwSYhQnsehvQzFjgyfftNvKXa3suE/s400/IMG_0082.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha_u4iIBjR2at-ll9FHf87kEp8jB-dB4pBS0ujUiqRZFcGOH83Um0pYMf1XSAIr6EhMM-X7vQnW6TnRj974KJWjTXhLFh1nVgNdL1idm9yDuwNsVm9TdRo0_Zqq_XLAlwS_UmDoxtPvZ0/s1600/IMG_0096.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha_u4iIBjR2at-ll9FHf87kEp8jB-dB4pBS0ujUiqRZFcGOH83Um0pYMf1XSAIr6EhMM-X7vQnW6TnRj974KJWjTXhLFh1nVgNdL1idm9yDuwNsVm9TdRo0_Zqq_XLAlwS_UmDoxtPvZ0/s400/IMG_0096.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHiopUOBa2ZcXUHmNZCJEJDeop9c0mJFp-WIuRHqJaY80Z3bWGQ2UbVB88KDecx4RNp_nYb1KNs0YWsENSkpiSMoLWeg65u8sMzunRFd2g-A3LlWr2NOZBqO1vz_it3nLw7lKfJVUq3zQ/s1600/IMG_0100.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHiopUOBa2ZcXUHmNZCJEJDeop9c0mJFp-WIuRHqJaY80Z3bWGQ2UbVB88KDecx4RNp_nYb1KNs0YWsENSkpiSMoLWeg65u8sMzunRFd2g-A3LlWr2NOZBqO1vz_it3nLw7lKfJVUq3zQ/s400/IMG_0100.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Belle was the first princess Ella got to meet today. I love her little face. So excited, but a little nervous seeing all the princesses in person.<br /><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg395HieqjlINPnzlvKqEsUFoMhNSn8kFoU3b8lU7GnqMw1c6KKl4QknFzvl7pQbXsA342qrFymO13qhwS_3uyuw3FNQuF3XSuA4IJb3Yuq2LnAvrQuX7eX1N9tfEwfXs4krJiI1cMCKok/s1600/IMG_0075.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg395HieqjlINPnzlvKqEsUFoMhNSn8kFoU3b8lU7GnqMw1c6KKl4QknFzvl7pQbXsA342qrFymO13qhwS_3uyuw3FNQuF3XSuA4IJb3Yuq2LnAvrQuX7eX1N9tfEwfXs4krJiI1cMCKok/s400/IMG_0075.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">They gave all the little princesses little autograph books when we walked in the door. And all the Princesses had a glittery pen in the color of their dress to sign their name. How cute is that? Here is Jasmine signing Ella's book.<br /><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD_7D2SK0QncmMq-7XysBbR0WIfjwT-ZXVHkv9Wyipnf6Wz9-B6KWy_0OVrkwTbc4MstpD-Plqk6r-Kg6WjdDhvMSL9FbJAcWOCcr2a6GpIzkkl0ohj4wuSFCiXUI14gtonlRVKazNKUk/s1600/IMG_0086.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD_7D2SK0QncmMq-7XysBbR0WIfjwT-ZXVHkv9Wyipnf6Wz9-B6KWy_0OVrkwTbc4MstpD-Plqk6r-Kg6WjdDhvMSL9FbJAcWOCcr2a6GpIzkkl0ohj4wuSFCiXUI14gtonlRVKazNKUk/s400/IMG_0086.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">My favorite Princess today was Sleeping Beauty. Both because my Ella was dressed as Sleeping Beauty but also because this lovely Sleeping Beauty got down and gave my bear a big hug and spent some extra time talking to her and making her feel so special. Ella LOVED it!<br /><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMrzn9ekXAMb-YFDHiTEzVPQYnumkMHdhNY-vcatTGeMdoGJWcQBcqMWmTELZXVywaCHqmvqJ3paEXMyiRKx411lPAcvWFKP0M1vclGVuP313av2qxdmhVO13B4qx0qLDDK8raW0Ffs98/s1600/IMG_0088.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMrzn9ekXAMb-YFDHiTEzVPQYnumkMHdhNY-vcatTGeMdoGJWcQBcqMWmTELZXVywaCHqmvqJ3paEXMyiRKx411lPAcvWFKP0M1vclGVuP313av2qxdmhVO13B4qx0qLDDK8raW0Ffs98/s400/IMG_0088.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Ella and I had a fun time and we were able to support a great organization. Thank you to all the people who donated their time and efforts to make the Princess Party a success. We will be back next year for sure!<br /></div>Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025643433403901629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5499357914343008587.post-69399499544823097932011-09-08T21:57:00.001-05:002011-09-08T22:05:58.676-05:00Ella goes to Preschool!<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px">Our little miss Ella went off to her first day of preschool today. She was VERY excited. I was a little nervous just because of how poorly Aidan's first two weeks were at preschool drop off and how sad Ella had been at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">VBS</span> this summer. But off we went!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy9gtY_Ac_UEN5bQ48VIt6fw_npQEivaqrR0_MVDgJpdoXxStZSWBrUdpMzmBG346yhFN-Qk_RedcVeztckWjUPhSE_a90R_jC7nb-9UsKWXek-VeM-SC6rnCkgfqPBdY3jXifbHrdFGY/s1600/IMG_9931.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy9gtY_Ac_UEN5bQ48VIt6fw_npQEivaqrR0_MVDgJpdoXxStZSWBrUdpMzmBG346yhFN-Qk_RedcVeztckWjUPhSE_a90R_jC7nb-9UsKWXek-VeM-SC6rnCkgfqPBdY3jXifbHrdFGY/s400/IMG_9931.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">What a pretty girl!<br /><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLdRCDgNll8C2cYTppxpH3ECVMJkMvnXhzRi9iqU5ObOPXVFAYUe4pEokzGzYOjb3odoObtTt_DEq0IkzPLt4JXamor7y_sWOC21KM4sOXzkTi3GHZWBrIMzdODrsBeFvLom0QtRSaVoE/s1600/IMG_9932.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLdRCDgNll8C2cYTppxpH3ECVMJkMvnXhzRi9iqU5ObOPXVFAYUe4pEokzGzYOjb3odoObtTt_DEq0IkzPLt4JXamor7y_sWOC21KM4sOXzkTi3GHZWBrIMzdODrsBeFvLom0QtRSaVoE/s400/IMG_9932.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Showing off her new backpack. Its purple and has butterflies. Shocking that that is what she picked. ;)<br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuChovQZ2F-6ZjPi29NMm0wu-dYKQg8ieL_HDhnA-Scw0aFHdGbouyDlWCknMfXcHG2RYIQVkLpvkPnOSUncPADJDZBlnmoRYhXZKtKFTJgKnlD6A7reL93P__ui_Bjhx1ybJ1nKwnN8I/s1600/IMG_9935.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuChovQZ2F-6ZjPi29NMm0wu-dYKQg8ieL_HDhnA-Scw0aFHdGbouyDlWCknMfXcHG2RYIQVkLpvkPnOSUncPADJDZBlnmoRYhXZKtKFTJgKnlD6A7reL93P__ui_Bjhx1ybJ1nKwnN8I/s400/IMG_9935.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">With Miss <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Christy</span>, the Director at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Westview</span>.<br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNdsXhu8VVerImnk18pkKDWoobaMEqMEcCaITNo5OdKphOKHYVlt02N0CJFXFOJ2A2YQ-xqDjFQ7174n0TYyM0G3SwKKErtLhlgQV5ZzXg-zIISe8rMyGRxtjeP-5D6GpUN-u0U4OVJ34/s1600/IMG_9941.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNdsXhu8VVerImnk18pkKDWoobaMEqMEcCaITNo5OdKphOKHYVlt02N0CJFXFOJ2A2YQ-xqDjFQ7174n0TYyM0G3SwKKErtLhlgQV5ZzXg-zIISe8rMyGRxtjeP-5D6GpUN-u0U4OVJ34/s400/IMG_9941.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Ready to go in her room!<br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMN0Kex4bDr1dMYtlUnZfWaV-9sHWHQ1UHkxOrKwa0SuaZgQUlM5x_K-_GOxG8sIv4jL0OAhZilIMqVagVvrO_ip_fzVlPqCYhO2eI3sPk4svE9msU-fjuOtWpIitT8jQUzJsm5PpKX08/s1600/IMG_9942.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMN0Kex4bDr1dMYtlUnZfWaV-9sHWHQ1UHkxOrKwa0SuaZgQUlM5x_K-_GOxG8sIv4jL0OAhZilIMqVagVvrO_ip_fzVlPqCYhO2eI3sPk4svE9msU-fjuOtWpIitT8jQUzJsm5PpKX08/s400/IMG_9942.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Getting her name-tag from her teacher Miss Shelley.<br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhecrKYzoZQC34JEiGYkCpzNDdi_x60tqo4zeKvg2Nuvnk86sQ1e5vdJefrsIqJGUGVqMWjAZ8Hh3TXMLcVNQoLH_mri2S_GaArMiycuNQ3NcHstixGea22RhyJRI5SpdEtjv8YOLHONZg/s1600/IMG_9943.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhecrKYzoZQC34JEiGYkCpzNDdi_x60tqo4zeKvg2Nuvnk86sQ1e5vdJefrsIqJGUGVqMWjAZ8Hh3TXMLcVNQoLH_mri2S_GaArMiycuNQ3NcHstixGea22RhyJRI5SpdEtjv8YOLHONZg/s400/IMG_9943.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Backpack in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">cubby</span> - check!<br /><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB5K8fwQyMytaH5pmF_QlDdfmE8i1iExHNpM576LmtygdlyCb8ekvbxHdJbFiwE3QCAKRGyucF5o5IX2ditdhyahPqCWrKmhlBl8PvKP3ceyO44yNVBz5sqCCN3Wq_BeH-q2MYUS9eBfg/s1600/IMG_9948.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB5K8fwQyMytaH5pmF_QlDdfmE8i1iExHNpM576LmtygdlyCb8ekvbxHdJbFiwE3QCAKRGyucF5o5IX2ditdhyahPqCWrKmhlBl8PvKP3ceyO44yNVBz5sqCCN3Wq_BeH-q2MYUS9eBfg/s400/IMG_9948.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Off to the kitchen set to play!<br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbuVpskwJXo03ektZrzoKTcCYH_BPpVFslz1c7ndTW7w-i2iHjkOWlAmjEj1htUSesu93LZkXnuCyHJfFS1GxnCFOrzkCvMJmXV3DhGHAXT7k96WBx_Cj1Gs-fYbT_ZQNK-b0tNNhyXBg/s1600/IMG_9950.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbuVpskwJXo03ektZrzoKTcCYH_BPpVFslz1c7ndTW7w-i2iHjkOWlAmjEj1htUSesu93LZkXnuCyHJfFS1GxnCFOrzkCvMJmXV3DhGHAXT7k96WBx_Cj1Gs-fYbT_ZQNK-b0tNNhyXBg/s400/IMG_9950.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">One little picture with mom and she said we could go.<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_RvIHDIxTF4Eil_EGEMeCNtc9qnPCaE7clo1sYK1SOZJq1NxxrOkAkE8755x9k9-SYb8bEuakIeTJttrpqjNbDMLGikEBulVQ6xm5K6Vrt9bD6E3gr3_AFtYYqYS8pYIwLaqE_BxVc2g/s1600/IMG_9952.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_RvIHDIxTF4Eil_EGEMeCNtc9qnPCaE7clo1sYK1SOZJq1NxxrOkAkE8755x9k9-SYb8bEuakIeTJttrpqjNbDMLGikEBulVQ6xm5K6Vrt9bD6E3gr3_AFtYYqYS8pYIwLaqE_BxVc2g/s400/IMG_9952.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Then Ella had a fabulous time and my only problem was dragging <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Livi</span> out of the classroom because she wanted to stay and play too!<br /></div><div style="clear:both; text-align:CENTER"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><br /></a></div>Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025643433403901629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5499357914343008587.post-67352448978570135582011-09-05T13:28:00.001-05:002011-09-05T13:42:54.409-05:00Old Threshers<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px">This weekend we were able to make it down to the <a href="http://www.oldthreshers.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.home2">Old Threshers Reunion</a> in Mt. Pleasant. Aaron and I both remember going as kids and thought our kids would enjoy it as well.<br /><br />Started off with some pony rides:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfU-WDFM8CcXOGfxNenp5qlRhlqFLaSy3LfD5xrc-HBmQTC6OU29VaZYyv3s5NEBqxW4QGcVz7l5ck60amHyvvTJs0s9gVPvERDV_aQy4UbpRmWmn_Jj4nt2LFOF2iqzsQ_wuuH8c8t9I/s1600/IMG_3822.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfU-WDFM8CcXOGfxNenp5qlRhlqFLaSy3LfD5xrc-HBmQTC6OU29VaZYyv3s5NEBqxW4QGcVz7l5ck60amHyvvTJs0s9gVPvERDV_aQy4UbpRmWmn_Jj4nt2LFOF2iqzsQ_wuuH8c8t9I/s400/IMG_3822.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjue3c-FovzThkDpunWnDrwVMnYejPLUJu2j8pfe1i1i2ybO06xACEFZ_fDJecjBjN-SfsZJRX-zfgW67m06AJrLFOAiDhAZskDr4gHZK_rN1hnxUoStflUR6eJTCPzFCyYi-ztP5AKAXA/s1600/IMG_3825.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjue3c-FovzThkDpunWnDrwVMnYejPLUJu2j8pfe1i1i2ybO06xACEFZ_fDJecjBjN-SfsZJRX-zfgW67m06AJrLFOAiDhAZskDr4gHZK_rN1hnxUoStflUR6eJTCPzFCyYi-ztP5AKAXA/s400/IMG_3825.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Then checked out A LOT of old tractors. Aidan wanted to know what year each of the tractors were made.<br /><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfd9y_GcPVpSRdaDYWQJPI4pvB49g33efijkeyP-HYk0coNCzrsSi_YRDaZjxkQ3UQFWqG8WCXwj9K6PL-PBofdNSL6nsgaQgB1nXsjO2-24gR-EcvraNOyr9jRN-XMuuMLsFfwytNTWM/s1600/IMG_3829.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfd9y_GcPVpSRdaDYWQJPI4pvB49g33efijkeyP-HYk0coNCzrsSi_YRDaZjxkQ3UQFWqG8WCXwj9K6PL-PBofdNSL6nsgaQgB1nXsjO2-24gR-EcvraNOyr9jRN-XMuuMLsFfwytNTWM/s400/IMG_3829.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Livi was walking around with her hands in her pockets. I thought it was kind of funny. :)<br /><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibeqIEafhc-0vGb8CITx7Nou94SJXlpsma6oLCHz65u5_Krpv4n7nD8GwjEt_XgaaXCgGVK4CvkFNfYtvbmEHn5zXpYTPLiQ9eMzjuWhp3YuLp57IDZnEuWNuXV9El3qjoBT7l9dRxUHU/s1600/IMG_3832.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibeqIEafhc-0vGb8CITx7Nou94SJXlpsma6oLCHz65u5_Krpv4n7nD8GwjEt_XgaaXCgGVK4CvkFNfYtvbmEHn5zXpYTPLiQ9eMzjuWhp3YuLp57IDZnEuWNuXV9El3qjoBT7l9dRxUHU/s400/IMG_3832.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Aidan always sticks his fingers in his ears because he hates loud noises and has conditioned his sisters to do the same.<br /><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2_iavU7pSMYJOK9JvO6NMtqnEVaQzUVKg-Zp4Nm2S4tt6fI5MVLXskVUusKUZmDq706B2pOKVFW3d8mpJ549MqYuRsUrxSNRJt941T3wG5uAQnYFFJ2o-jAOYPq-KLhwhiB-OAX2rEBA/s1600/IMG_3834.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2_iavU7pSMYJOK9JvO6NMtqnEVaQzUVKg-Zp4Nm2S4tt6fI5MVLXskVUusKUZmDq706B2pOKVFW3d8mpJ549MqYuRsUrxSNRJt941T3wG5uAQnYFFJ2o-jAOYPq-KLhwhiB-OAX2rEBA/s400/IMG_3834.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Jail, where these little hoodlums belong. ;) Can you tell that Livi instantly started climbing the bars and wanted to see how high she could get?<br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVQ4YWZL1XmHo1aMP-pt6JiP6IX_QXI6I3MA3PsSD76E5BvW7XkerXXssXVsZOfelQOVV8KGSi73IpPGQW5_J5zbz6hQoLughhshUDCVYHbOo_6ztoswCscYNJQB0R6wpFCac3GzV9-t4/s1600/IMG_3837.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVQ4YWZL1XmHo1aMP-pt6JiP6IX_QXI6I3MA3PsSD76E5BvW7XkerXXssXVsZOfelQOVV8KGSi73IpPGQW5_J5zbz6hQoLughhshUDCVYHbOo_6ztoswCscYNJQB0R6wpFCac3GzV9-t4/s400/IMG_3837.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">At the end of the day the big kids got to drive a tractor. They LOVED it! Ella went with daddy:<br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZH57_3SSa1vDU-8bu0DI-rne65ju19dOKsBhyOCXDGUE2yKKz3Jw-olhpLzdbeJbYMPyv1b-Qz3zWFIVES4xfagJ3g46t5SZd_xUsKTd265cSTAk3yLb9HJwuXMXHGJdBX_X-wuBD4cE/s1600/IMG_3850.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZH57_3SSa1vDU-8bu0DI-rne65ju19dOKsBhyOCXDGUE2yKKz3Jw-olhpLzdbeJbYMPyv1b-Qz3zWFIVES4xfagJ3g46t5SZd_xUsKTd265cSTAk3yLb9HJwuXMXHGJdBX_X-wuBD4cE/s400/IMG_3850.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCRlr2jWnENVAjk4eJE-3UgIYlIfaezJ1JgLAK8hCzgo4El8qZvg1yy5wAebuwbezrH2uhvFNfuHw2OpIyH5Z8VZ2iHh6evdGFhbL1CN28_bOXvtXUdmMYTgdNeakl3nmD6Y9FjJ3iTvo/s1600/IMG_3853.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCRlr2jWnENVAjk4eJE-3UgIYlIfaezJ1JgLAK8hCzgo4El8qZvg1yy5wAebuwbezrH2uhvFNfuHw2OpIyH5Z8VZ2iHh6evdGFhbL1CN28_bOXvtXUdmMYTgdNeakl3nmD6Y9FjJ3iTvo/s400/IMG_3853.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Aidan went with Papa:<br /><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL6cDuayeH4WbPAthun72Yjay4R5e8hghvruUT65KE9Y3tJSJ4kxBCMIZWeZQ71mS-ZDX-9WErT1UFUb8sustyF1Bty8tA7270eevq2VgAMtTVLVf4Tg9LgNFYr_xUkgEB2ungUWOog-c/s1600/IMG_3856.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL6cDuayeH4WbPAthun72Yjay4R5e8hghvruUT65KE9Y3tJSJ4kxBCMIZWeZQ71mS-ZDX-9WErT1UFUb8sustyF1Bty8tA7270eevq2VgAMtTVLVf4Tg9LgNFYr_xUkgEB2ungUWOog-c/s400/IMG_3856.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbyXcnbfAmcPaS9u6mmYHmFharqQFyRUfQ8-7VRuaFpGxuAzBL5bTlTWCovl2FWMDxS-pxqgWu2YvPdc04Pug6qkXYkuvXC7k_PJXwMTWoPYXoaYa19nIRtmEyIIVDDorvZKQ5UgM_vgY/s1600/IMG_3858.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbyXcnbfAmcPaS9u6mmYHmFharqQFyRUfQ8-7VRuaFpGxuAzBL5bTlTWCovl2FWMDxS-pxqgWu2YvPdc04Pug6qkXYkuvXC7k_PJXwMTWoPYXoaYa19nIRtmEyIIVDDorvZKQ5UgM_vgY/s400/IMG_3858.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">The kids even got little "licenses" to drive the tractor. It was a very cool thing and very well put together - and FREE! I think it was the highlight of their afternoon. :)<br /><br />Such a fun afternoon. Thanks to Papa and Grammy for taking us to Old Threshers! And thanks to Paul and Karen for going with us and Karen taking the great pictures of the kids on the tractors and of course this great family photo. :)<br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyt91uMy0U35QLJbko-CN_zRJD9ZYhgAUOGbH2GGbhUNeqASeNXMX8XKL6zhOvQ5B3YQX-5PUR9En0tk71pl93SdujCKwvzAIcCNVoIbjyfxy3RiHjgzKiH9jvekiJq3MRm3d4b5RxeWU/s1600/IMG_3867.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyt91uMy0U35QLJbko-CN_zRJD9ZYhgAUOGbH2GGbhUNeqASeNXMX8XKL6zhOvQ5B3YQX-5PUR9En0tk71pl93SdujCKwvzAIcCNVoIbjyfxy3RiHjgzKiH9jvekiJq3MRm3d4b5RxeWU/s400/IMG_3867.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="clear:both; text-align:CENTER"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><br /></a></div>Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025643433403901629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5499357914343008587.post-27888570101209461822011-09-02T13:49:00.001-05:002011-09-02T13:54:36.915-05:00Ella's tower<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px">Ella built a tower out of our awesome blocks this morning and I just had to share. Usually she just kind of places a bunch of blocks next to each other and calls it a tower. Today she called me into the playroom and showed me this:
<br />
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQypqvxop9C6QiJsfsikkwJowSWecspRHVNm2J9PYIxOcQ-eF-lfeyKZswt51Jpn6VS44zlaFWM1VTMFn3XTBGjdoIJ94R6p7wte6FSnljnbEUP5r3DA-G2JSPpuqEzKGcn2J-0ppRLpI/s1600/IMG_3813.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQypqvxop9C6QiJsfsikkwJowSWecspRHVNm2J9PYIxOcQ-eF-lfeyKZswt51Jpn6VS44zlaFWM1VTMFn3XTBGjdoIJ94R6p7wte6FSnljnbEUP5r3DA-G2JSPpuqEzKGcn2J-0ppRLpI/s400/IMG_3813.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">She did this all by herself, no help from mommy. And I know that it is not a leftover Aidan tower because he did have an AT-ST walker sitting right next to that spot and she had taken it apart and used the blocks for her tower. :) Hope he forgets about the AT-ST walker when he gets home from school. :)
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<br />Great work Ella!!!
<br /></div>
<br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-JYlf0Y-MIDPysn_aGHkY_-Iu7V-Q_32MFQgmguf9J3Y8NMs_o4yXAOfAU_dtqxIL6i22n9r6UW8lgVICg1jDKXfZUxSrXe7WB3PiV2vxM-SQ8Cqrb6muIgTm-IZ7UDZnnpTUuJpcpeE/s1600/IMG_3817.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-JYlf0Y-MIDPysn_aGHkY_-Iu7V-Q_32MFQgmguf9J3Y8NMs_o4yXAOfAU_dtqxIL6i22n9r6UW8lgVICg1jDKXfZUxSrXe7WB3PiV2vxM-SQ8Cqrb6muIgTm-IZ7UDZnnpTUuJpcpeE/s400/IMG_3817.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div>
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<br /></a></div>Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025643433403901629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5499357914343008587.post-8836852651981241972011-05-27T15:34:00.001-05:002011-05-27T15:37:03.891-05:00Livi's newest trick<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px">She just loves adding tricks to her application for the title "World's Biggest Trouble Maker". My other kids never thought to try using the kitchen drawers as toe holds to climb up to the counter. Oh <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Livi</span>, what are we going to do with you?!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqGV96nzN0UewNr79Wu_Vr3goqOON-ze5R9AYe0f6fwNH_55rhRC-DvN-BUOeSCMjC8n1l9YVVD6ztgbeapoKCbaL3_Bx1shZcz1xLv8xyblVR_fySh3MAnSkzk9mh9epj7NPgX9PGAgo/s1600/IMG_3060.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqGV96nzN0UewNr79Wu_Vr3goqOON-ze5R9AYe0f6fwNH_55rhRC-DvN-BUOeSCMjC8n1l9YVVD6ztgbeapoKCbaL3_Bx1shZcz1xLv8xyblVR_fySh3MAnSkzk9mh9epj7NPgX9PGAgo/s400/IMG_3060.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-iI53P91iHdsolBG_Rmmnl1zz60P9IMXEdIe3JiRgW4qKTwEVdURBZiFI0ghGV05rboryFrr6U-q88ttAM8isMWUB6m53XMbWBtayGy3-bhAPzVtSHnKaMcRYKasJpcSANull7bgyzJw/s1600/IMG_3061.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-iI53P91iHdsolBG_Rmmnl1zz60P9IMXEdIe3JiRgW4qKTwEVdURBZiFI0ghGV05rboryFrr6U-q88ttAM8isMWUB6m53XMbWBtayGy3-bhAPzVtSHnKaMcRYKasJpcSANull7bgyzJw/s400/IMG_3061.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="clear:both; text-align:CENTER"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><br /></a></div>Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025643433403901629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5499357914343008587.post-36922959246782906312011-05-27T15:26:00.001-05:002011-05-27T15:33:03.411-05:00Tulip Time!<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px">I am way behind on my blogging. Let's see how far I can get caught up today!<br /><br />Starting with - Tulip Time!<br />We had a good day down in Pella earlier in May. We have only been to Tulip Time once before and that was 3 years ago. Either something came up or the weather was horrible the last three years, so we were excited that the weather decided to be nice enough we could go down this year. Grandma Van and her friend Mary Ellen met us down there, which was a lot of help managing the three kids. I don't have a ton of pictures from the day and we weren't even able to stay for the parade this year. Dad had his surgery the very next day so I still needed to get these guys home and then drive to Cedar Rapids. A lot of driving for me in one day, but totally worth it. Pella is just a beautiful town and even more beautiful at Tulip Time!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXyuXP2Bhc7JxXeQ2yH6TXiEKUoExLlsQSAXzdCs9bW1BJelkUM5b3Vtjg419y80jZDcQVCAhJwrPpv-jAqzAE4GpdRc4uV6SmxMd4J1DRNs0l1d1Qlx34CL23wfguGhwpiV2mNBUmveQ/s1600/IMG_3027.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXyuXP2Bhc7JxXeQ2yH6TXiEKUoExLlsQSAXzdCs9bW1BJelkUM5b3Vtjg419y80jZDcQVCAhJwrPpv-jAqzAE4GpdRc4uV6SmxMd4J1DRNs0l1d1Qlx34CL23wfguGhwpiV2mNBUmveQ/s400/IMG_3027.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig9OzOb-MawFGbrr2SPpPqC91pm45PmgpSonV7elWS02M0uPLV9cBHOuqY_wCJKcoQBZ5hAq8Rua7yjlrHZwxvqThoqDXHbaWHOHRk1IK8fhgUMk-e-i3yn2WqLPW2hF-FDdBSrZ_YxlA/s1600/IMG_3031.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig9OzOb-MawFGbrr2SPpPqC91pm45PmgpSonV7elWS02M0uPLV9cBHOuqY_wCJKcoQBZ5hAq8Rua7yjlrHZwxvqThoqDXHbaWHOHRk1IK8fhgUMk-e-i3yn2WqLPW2hF-FDdBSrZ_YxlA/s400/IMG_3031.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYg2p8XyWexx4aEVs9zVGibL_uWT_jg404O42SIeYE7YgG40v_O3OLp7UgYLBnYf6FRDyYBapwFaMCCR2nafQ7-oybPmWyH4eEZoyj21rotB5v8sXvPSBud5sFKCqQzCUmrrHKE4dgaRI/s1600/IMG_3023.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYg2p8XyWexx4aEVs9zVGibL_uWT_jg404O42SIeYE7YgG40v_O3OLp7UgYLBnYf6FRDyYBapwFaMCCR2nafQ7-oybPmWyH4eEZoyj21rotB5v8sXvPSBud5sFKCqQzCUmrrHKE4dgaRI/s400/IMG_3023.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="clear:both; text-align:CENTER"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" alt="Posted by Picasa" style="border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div>Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025643433403901629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5499357914343008587.post-18310895915428914512011-04-26T10:42:00.002-05:002011-04-26T10:50:15.148-05:00Easter Morning Scavenger Hunt<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px">So I found <a href="http://happyhomefairy.com/2011/04/04/easter-morning-scavenger-hunt-free-printable/">this idea</a> on a blog I read. It already had these <a href="http://happyhomefairy.com/2011/04/04/easter-morning-scavenger-hunt-free-printable/">cute little clues</a> all put together and was generic enough anyone could use it. I printed it out and hoped the kids would think it was fun. THEY DID!<br /><br />Aidan and Ella were read a clue by daddy and then raced around Grandma and Grandpa Van's house searching for the next clue. There are 8 clues in all and we ended with the baskets being on Grandma and Grandpa's bed (only place they usually don't wander into!)<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxVpSYmZqmpnF_KSd-AUGB_cBE096reTbtWNTGAIQEqjHi9T-a4yPWmDlbKFQb83DtrUczIXS9IiU0ccAhHUg8ba8GbWMWJgWasIodbs2o7uf_P3pWdi5jtaJ9WNPhrpbH90GOY4GcsLQ/s1600/IMG_9317.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxVpSYmZqmpnF_KSd-AUGB_cBE096reTbtWNTGAIQEqjHi9T-a4yPWmDlbKFQb83DtrUczIXS9IiU0ccAhHUg8ba8GbWMWJgWasIodbs2o7uf_P3pWdi5jtaJ9WNPhrpbH90GOY4GcsLQ/s400/IMG_9317.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_GRvJ24xl9c2OOjQDceRydq_8r_OVInaGCSpzAVUnySAYa5Y8nnkds0UfD8V6605efirDA1qfJ-erv4Nd7hM68O_o2-B1EJTEeAKqohiIFDFQP3ZkTHDlyNDGZQi3W02Yesd61280Czg/s1600/IMG_9322.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_GRvJ24xl9c2OOjQDceRydq_8r_OVInaGCSpzAVUnySAYa5Y8nnkds0UfD8V6605efirDA1qfJ-erv4Nd7hM68O_o2-B1EJTEeAKqohiIFDFQP3ZkTHDlyNDGZQi3W02Yesd61280Czg/s400/IMG_9322.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_7tQwPNjknW9agIJMlHbNYxqXnwZ0nkWrp4Oq_Qe2AtPEzEN8b4Wf6pCLaCEogpBbiDNB0LMU0b4urqQ4n3ZlZmu7-mx5qFSEjChh4Gaz5TtKDPY_cy6hd34uG5h0i8i3c2qxpjwqvO4/s1600/IMG_9326.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_7tQwPNjknW9agIJMlHbNYxqXnwZ0nkWrp4Oq_Qe2AtPEzEN8b4Wf6pCLaCEogpBbiDNB0LMU0b4urqQ4n3ZlZmu7-mx5qFSEjChh4Gaz5TtKDPY_cy6hd34uG5h0i8i3c2qxpjwqvO4/s400/IMG_9326.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh35cPxZaykiDhTTlN4uVaFyJl3wSZD8JnWm0UUC14-vuhuS16CMldPq5FAauW9fMnu92pR42PubHLO4ebRADohvGl08yaTAgphyphenhyphenGTagAcDw9r0kJjiXu2W8k5Lw-MjFGJNiC0bl6AXAc/s1600/IMG_9333.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh35cPxZaykiDhTTlN4uVaFyJl3wSZD8JnWm0UUC14-vuhuS16CMldPq5FAauW9fMnu92pR42PubHLO4ebRADohvGl08yaTAgphyphenhyphenGTagAcDw9r0kJjiXu2W8k5Lw-MjFGJNiC0bl6AXAc/s400/IMG_9333.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />So much fun to see their little eyes light up as they figure out the clue and rush to the next location and find it. :) Little Livi sleepy-head was still asleep so she missed out, but will hopefully join the fun next year, because we will definitely have to do that again! :)<br /></div><div style="clear:both; text-align:CENTER"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><br /></a></div>Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025643433403901629noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5499357914343008587.post-12274883056812063782011-04-14T20:59:00.002-05:002011-04-14T21:30:27.826-05:00Learning to ride a bike<div style="text-align: center;">Aidan has been asking to take his training wheels off and practice riding his bike. I can't do it when home with them by myself as Livi has a tendency to run out into the street. But on a nice daddy stay home day they went out to practice!<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSli0_PTO6ajbaTzw8CwiQUOob93MEZYrxViEhLyuuTVvaKDOEbOuHO0pARDVsBMV9Dzg2ArGZPYlnGHZwYbS_XGQa-YY5RBsWYoZcw0QzG-4-48HSpWC9fiNusezQwngKRrteoh7rfVc/s1600/IMG_2935.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSli0_PTO6ajbaTzw8CwiQUOob93MEZYrxViEhLyuuTVvaKDOEbOuHO0pARDVsBMV9Dzg2ArGZPYlnGHZwYbS_XGQa-YY5RBsWYoZcw0QzG-4-48HSpWC9fiNusezQwngKRrteoh7rfVc/s400/IMG_2935.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595628259237921282" border="0" /></a><br />This shot cracks me up. He had been looking back at Aaron talking about something instead of paying attention to what he was doing.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjesSkzAzKS3Uj8baT8itUY3Fcj0rg44hL7DTvlA7D5yW4u2S7jRnNHoW2PMHEjo0hAjIqPHncxc1sIyGQmyaBCwZwOiAyy030TCNW7cTAdtiJvweDBy58Tyn0X9aLKwWSWidtsmFqSzLE/s1600/IMG_2936.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjesSkzAzKS3Uj8baT8itUY3Fcj0rg44hL7DTvlA7D5yW4u2S7jRnNHoW2PMHEjo0hAjIqPHncxc1sIyGQmyaBCwZwOiAyy030TCNW7cTAdtiJvweDBy58Tyn0X9aLKwWSWidtsmFqSzLE/s400/IMG_2936.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595628263251221954" border="0" /></a><br />He did really well. Can't wait for another nice daddy stay home day so he can practice some more!<br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5sYFAZ3sHrJAefu9I8Z74kFEq4dLI0LuAvk8VmQULvXrBOaGd7qYen9mKEBzPPpQ0wDsjGGJWcLJec-7chxTN_QRdqHE6xZQc_iyrE5dbnZc33EVSL_m0SYWsirR2UiUKEvxmDkxUQUU/s1600/IMG_2941.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5sYFAZ3sHrJAefu9I8Z74kFEq4dLI0LuAvk8VmQULvXrBOaGd7qYen9mKEBzPPpQ0wDsjGGJWcLJec-7chxTN_QRdqHE6xZQc_iyrE5dbnZc33EVSL_m0SYWsirR2UiUKEvxmDkxUQUU/s400/IMG_2941.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595628271762331218" border="0" /></a>Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025643433403901629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5499357914343008587.post-52677944487445461382011-04-12T16:16:00.003-05:002011-04-12T20:39:25.051-05:00Our garden!<div style="text-align: center;">So we are attempting a garden this year. Long, long ago, I vaguely remember helping at least a little with mom's garden, but I really have no clue what we are doing. But we are trying it!<br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><br />Aaron put together this pretty little raised bed for us because we have learned that we have no soil, only clay in our yard. Aidan was VERY excited to plant our garden. Can you tell? :)<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCLPd-Pw_zFXxx0S4oRdAf-04mvkUJyKBNK2YfgbUwad_7dE0mAVP_P5X_9W8CsKhI4DYYlDP13Vj8D4NATCmU8ZechwDhxAMY5FytsouSWTupcqiIaqknfNkVxPWhOPSztsJVzXh3neM/s1600/IMG_2953.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCLPd-Pw_zFXxx0S4oRdAf-04mvkUJyKBNK2YfgbUwad_7dE0mAVP_P5X_9W8CsKhI4DYYlDP13Vj8D4NATCmU8ZechwDhxAMY5FytsouSWTupcqiIaqknfNkVxPWhOPSztsJVzXh3neM/s400/IMG_2953.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594875155382464162" border="0" /></a><a href="http://localhost:57542/85ddd682815536b442af46578f1264dd/image/94f042d7372de19a.jpg"><br /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">He was with Aaron the whole time working on planting the seeds and held the little box of sticks we used to label where the plants were.<br /><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilUDACQ5HIhJbenmshSMUq9sR6AFoV87-sxYE7BzRYfokCto3wiP01wqbI-9Ud9KHbh14B1MeeNiuIRVs8YY9Z1rOoc4fMHpHxPtmqrW0OaAA7MK5MUXtqv9sK5HWS7ud-i-a-B3C98-Y/s1600/IMG_2961.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilUDACQ5HIhJbenmshSMUq9sR6AFoV87-sxYE7BzRYfokCto3wiP01wqbI-9Ud9KHbh14B1MeeNiuIRVs8YY9Z1rOoc4fMHpHxPtmqrW0OaAA7MK5MUXtqv9sK5HWS7ud-i-a-B3C98-Y/s400/IMG_2961.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594875158013000658" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Ella was not quite as interested, but still wanted to plant a few seeds.<br /><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge7gNqA9ljD3rhOaudRjEW8vODKQFXFHKD9UYkx_5N2dq12gc1rDF4_gvti1UbufDqCOJCwRsOuzC_BNc5iILo27Vb4cf5wxnGdGUTOWWmxAtRLp94tfy8gOm3v5WJd5Z33zN-nL-Dq50/s1600/IMG_2962.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge7gNqA9ljD3rhOaudRjEW8vODKQFXFHKD9UYkx_5N2dq12gc1rDF4_gvti1UbufDqCOJCwRsOuzC_BNc5iILo27Vb4cf5wxnGdGUTOWWmxAtRLp94tfy8gOm3v5WJd5Z33zN-nL-Dq50/s400/IMG_2962.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594875161778659842" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Livi did plant one potato, but then kept trying to go to the front yard so she could ride Ella's scooter. Oh this child, such a good listener she is. :( Not opinionated or stubborn or feisty or anything. But she was kind of cute riding the big scooter, so I took a picture.<br /><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdC8s2ebVPf1nonVDnMBQ6p3Bgf29j3BsKDe5Km3CKHNaAKKkBOFx6nBPWJXZvUPfVdr8j4eQMi0qPz1O3P9-AEaPl3KqSfvcwxL3BtnUj6WLTfJHHxzE_64aKQBAq4cvFMYcaM6xJsJQ/s1600/IMG_2971.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdC8s2ebVPf1nonVDnMBQ6p3Bgf29j3BsKDe5Km3CKHNaAKKkBOFx6nBPWJXZvUPfVdr8j4eQMi0qPz1O3P9-AEaPl3KqSfvcwxL3BtnUj6WLTfJHHxzE_64aKQBAq4cvFMYcaM6xJsJQ/s400/IMG_2971.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594875165781519986" border="0" /></a><br />We'll hopefully keep you updated on our garden's progress, if there is any. Fingers crossed! :)<br /></div>Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025643433403901629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5499357914343008587.post-6895458803278805712011-03-09T21:59:00.001-06:002011-03-09T22:09:24.809-06:00What happened Livi?<div style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhetaluIjJBYE_ln159-LYk8EIusH2e27BjDnrqukFF9na5pE_QkdQl46vhHPOmTphXa6Ag5dBvZBVpKQW7J6s60Qbw4sXzmKaAH0BwYv4XENXDMFSyyO9A0kASPXXfinYC0Hq41gdtZSM/s1600/IMG_9180.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhetaluIjJBYE_ln159-LYk8EIusH2e27BjDnrqukFF9na5pE_QkdQl46vhHPOmTphXa6Ag5dBvZBVpKQW7J6s60Qbw4sXzmKaAH0BwYv4XENXDMFSyyO9A0kASPXXfinYC0Hq41gdtZSM/s400/IMG_9180.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">As we were getting packed up to leave Grandma and Papa Van's house a couple weeks ago, I had taken <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Livi's</span> high chair off the kitchen chair and put in down on the ground. I was going to get it packed up, but she sometimes likes to sit in it on the ground, so I let her for a little bit. The little weirdo buckled herself in and put the tray on. Still, okay, whatever. Then I hear her saying, "Mom! Mom!". But wasn't too quick to get over to her as she didn't sound very distressed and she had done all the trapping to herself. Papa looks down at her and starts chuckling, as obviously she was in a bit more of a predicament now.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieR5ib7iNKC_FNToxbbAcn1n7RVx2j7kG8x8A83QBoO8PQf9YQiLHIRa_RuhI71WQdppPL7CnTVZ8x7tCYOpYWNY7t-6zAP83GS6HIAob6J0tf8UvqDvVfbszBz0z5l0tVoj17wQML1Hc/s1600/IMG_9184.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieR5ib7iNKC_FNToxbbAcn1n7RVx2j7kG8x8A83QBoO8PQf9YQiLHIRa_RuhI71WQdppPL7CnTVZ8x7tCYOpYWNY7t-6zAP83GS6HIAob6J0tf8UvqDvVfbszBz0z5l0tVoj17wQML1Hc/s400/IMG_9184.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />And of course, as any good mom would, I grabbed the camera and took a picture of the funny bunny before setting her free. :)<br /></div><div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><br /></a></div>Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025643433403901629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5499357914343008587.post-65413764588083238262011-03-09T10:24:00.001-06:002011-03-09T10:28:27.671-06:00AT-AT and AT-ST<div style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px;">The other day, Aidan and Aaron were playing with the blocks. Aaron made this AT-AT Walker. Aidan proceeded to make the AT-ST walker next to it.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpsxAb2iL1SuDg5J5RgT05DJ1isoJNz2PnBO2brY_4L94PUxS7tkvNmcrmfh5gn3e9m7uuvQbICRwsWMmJ5SSL8psEtwNqtHlhv9gGNaamd-89B-lKommnur6U29hY00mWUtHDLRJBW_k/s1600/IMG_9201.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpsxAb2iL1SuDg5J5RgT05DJ1isoJNz2PnBO2brY_4L94PUxS7tkvNmcrmfh5gn3e9m7uuvQbICRwsWMmJ5SSL8psEtwNqtHlhv9gGNaamd-89B-lKommnur6U29hY00mWUtHDLRJBW_k/s400/IMG_9201.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">He was pretty proud of his AT-ST. :)<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTBt54BTYoBgqqs6gbedH-G4uTLLhKscZ1hlysx3uGVPj3ojkaGVFZ6mILZaJqEX2i8pIHWpXMfna5JJEM0m7_wAqaauBKjBw8T2Bl-aGSQhljB3ouGgcmMhg3EBFv009VQadc8Ub0aPw/s1600/IMG_9202.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTBt54BTYoBgqqs6gbedH-G4uTLLhKscZ1hlysx3uGVPj3ojkaGVFZ6mILZaJqEX2i8pIHWpXMfna5JJEM0m7_wAqaauBKjBw8T2Bl-aGSQhljB3ouGgcmMhg3EBFv009VQadc8Ub0aPw/s400/IMG_9202.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">The originals have since been knocked down, but a new army of AT-AT and AT-ST walkers have taken their place. All built by Aidan.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4BfJ6vycYkEiga4nZl0xxaw04x_o7ERlXFKQUBbZMOLiVoODzgqjPmFZTXzHoaVH9YG1VeabB1zT9ynTskjH3G_3Uj29mQWyeoJ_53Y3w-zgtf8jiR9DG2N7Z4T7DNSUrp-XD_hDxh5M/s1600/IMG_9212.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4BfJ6vycYkEiga4nZl0xxaw04x_o7ERlXFKQUBbZMOLiVoODzgqjPmFZTXzHoaVH9YG1VeabB1zT9ynTskjH3G_3Uj29mQWyeoJ_53Y3w-zgtf8jiR9DG2N7Z4T7DNSUrp-XD_hDxh5M/s400/IMG_9212.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Thanks again for the blocks Uncle Chris - As you can see, they are used EVERY DAY!<br /></div><div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><br /></a></div>Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025643433403901629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5499357914343008587.post-73191731330143102992011-03-02T21:33:00.000-06:002011-03-02T21:34:03.499-06:00Livi’s new shoe obsession<p align="center"><font size="4">Lately, Livi has been LOVING shoes. First, she decided baby doll needed to try on her little pink boots. She worked for about 10 minutes at getting baby and boots just right. (While she was getting baby dressed, maybe she could have found her some pants.)</font></p> <p align="center"><font size="4"></font><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwDcnzpQCIMMNjDvldGxj3-TAHR8rNvVTBAzPNjP-7Sa25bzx8ygRxeBHs_U_coXD4cF-zbvZR350Axc0_6vD8K3HxXcnBZlUe-TDwwruRywk-Go4aniTaNL6xp7sKlTV_5Pl3IOYfGLA/s1600-h/IMG_9113%5B5%5D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="IMG_9113" border="0" alt="IMG_9113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhazKNoFvzOO8zlqiM6Mh81raPj3X7rxZP9PkgGQybnGldE14HabN0KyJVzkLfiQZu0R1OFVE4l0jAOMt3mYS40Vl6Z6-mQqNzWtDjjHcpVa8Kdyk3ZZMIqNxbeX9vxdmbCZI_iEK7VRuw/?imgmax=800" width="640" height="427" /></a></p> <p align="center"><font size="4">Then she started to fancy a pair of high heel dress up shoes.</font></p> <p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Mnl3Oj97WN2TFQeQcd8SKdVcQVB3DiHqn1yje5XTi9RBmJ6JwUimW9dLGabcmz_fk0GB3PtY3uSYLfIpSh0u3PZaSZKluhEkx3ypB8K-DKE_xC8xSxwKsKayM0ICeSMSXfvaKfx6Cfw/s1600-h/IMG_9115%5B11%5D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="IMG_9115" border="0" alt="IMG_9115" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzvpvwaVZhUoD3uf6HCRoYgeq6FSdRpG0yMii90y0wFrZApfn8aD3fNBz-cxXiU68TYfIHw9XpPDRbfhi03y8-CmRcVvljKEO_zqkvcgQtOzq9UivF9nbJsmHmXInmGf_XdpeCT14Lqgo/?imgmax=800" width="324" height="484" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxaLAqQNfCaFVcY7p_bfdW7jGpJn_-oSjWGNIT4sI5TO7z8qPPBbjmS_U1Y30yRsIlL0ukqv1BxcCHKYyi6CB89kXeHS4NM7HwFeHn8zFoigMfGQsW1ZCG2L9-KBkFfiPIp1Rrxa0caEw/s1600-h/IMG_9125%5B4%5D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="IMG_9125" border="0" alt="IMG_9125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf4_dPAuj4L0hU4kO9RxuPyv6TruA-YW_HSqmKBSrcJfgBl6j818bdX_9VhfrJdWg8Els8GBFMqUg2LTEmIKf-IU9T19WJjUCKPEcg8jwGITFkB8kGrbUZ8VUBY1HgRIVfhJ9ggjZqDKg/?imgmax=800" width="324" height="484" /></a></p> <p align="center"><font size="4">And finally decided to help big sis put her boots on.</font></p> <p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKXrziWvqoOjKONylSQaBsWHOKtBJatermj7HSR7zlWCc8iKlYWXd7fqjNsRRjBp_30n3HDzFxLLRSxYik1xJY2Qf3Qs61enjRtYl1pGyOR64ETTMTajAU5y-K2LRR_BBwec5b-qFSEMk/s1600-h/IMG_9178%5B4%5D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="IMG_9178" border="0" alt="IMG_9178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXXf15hdq8PyYiq0tQ8gfqDOgO5kzLAZvLw9fXG9mKLM0NmUdWiFg22veLXUkYiC9U65aym4oxPSiTaHTy4rxtE0j3Hajx1TW3VEsc-jphyx6352-FGCf4VMp9Cl9Xy5f-3wtr8ysxrZA/?imgmax=800" width="644" height="431" /></a></p> Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025643433403901629noreply@blogger.com0