The new do

Maddison had been bugging me for a while now to cut her hair. The only thing was that she didnt want it done till Monday morning. Then it turned into the next Monday, and so on. Finally, this morning, she let me do it. I forgot to take a before picture, this is the best I could find. It is from Christmas. It was real long! And now! I must have cut off about 5 inches! I know, I should have waited a little longer then she could have donated it. My, what beautiful hair it was. But, Bryan and I always said, if they want their hair short, or long, or whatever, we will do it. I am not going to have them look back and say "why did you make me look like that". It will be their decision! So, she has been running around all morning making her hair "bounce"!

President Hinckley

Last night, Gordon B. Hinckley, president of the LDS church, passed away. What a great man. He was the kindest, nicest, most Godly man I knew. Well, I didnt know him personally, but you understand. Anyway, what an awesome man he was and he will be greatly missed.

With everything going on last week with the funeral, and it being Bryans birthday while I was out of town, Bryan and I needed some time together. I have a wonderful friend who told me we needed a date and she would watch the kids! So, Bryan and I got the kids ready, dropped them off at Brittney's house (she has a little boy and girl that the kids love!) and we took off too... It was so good! We had a table that was smushed in between two others, so it felt like we were dining with other people, but it was nice to be out and enjoy a meal, a good meal, together. And, of course, we had to get a piece of this Caramel Pecan Turtle Cheesecake to go!

So, thanks Brit!!

This past week was a weird one. Filled with sadness. I talked to my grandma and we cried on the phone. We just feel sad. I only saw Jeremy about once or twice a year, so its not like I miss him...I just have this sad feeling inside of me. Sad for the family. That is the only way to describe it. I sleep at night and dream of him. He is playing soccer most of the time, and riding his bike. That is one thing I remember about him when he was a kid. He always wanted to be outside riding his bike or playing ball. Well, now he is! Please continue to pray for his mom and brother. Its is going to be tough for a while, and lonely, since he didnt go to school and she didnt work.

Anyway, sorry for being glum...love to all!

Jeremy (Jerms)

It was a week filled with memories, laughter and tears. Thanks for the prayers.

Dont feel like writing much. I am off to Chicago for the rest of the week with Chloe and leaving the girls home with Bryan. My precious little cousin passed away and I am going to spend some time with the family. I took care of this boy when I was younger for years. I thought of him as a brother. So, we are rejoicing that he is out of pain, yet mourning our loss. Please keep his mom and brother in your prayers.

A real day in the life of the Melicks....

My day this past Friday was a busy one...and I didnt even go anywhere. It began with Chloe waking me up because she wet the bed...through her night time diaper. (she WAS potty trained, but still has problems at night). Made pancakes for breakfast and got Hana ready for school. Dropped her off, came home, only to find that Chloe had peed in her carseat. Cleaned the house, did 5 loads of laundry...all the while, Chloe peed throughout the house in various places. I got Maddison ready for school. Dropped her off, dropped Chloe off at the sitter, went back to school to do cooking with Maddison's class, picked up Chloe...only to find that not only did she take a nap (which she does not do at home) her pull up was dry...after 2 hours! Came home, took her pull up off, only for her to go in her room and poop on the floor. Cleaned it up, cleaned up pee a few minutes later. Put panties on her. Picked up the girls at school. Came home. Chloe came to me and pooped in her panties. I made dinner. Put the girls to bed (after some more accidents), made 2 loaves of bread for my party the next day and went to bed. Now, by the time I went to bed, I had cleaned up accidents in almost every room of the house. Hana and Maddie's room, Chloe's room, the bathroom, the hallway, the kitchen, the living room....seriously, I think she does it on purpose... So, my goal today is to not clean up pee....I will let you know how that one goes. At least our dog is finally housebroken!

Christmas

We had a great Christmas. As far as the 5 of us go, we dont go overboard with presents. The kids get spoiled by the grandparents so we usually just do 3 small gifts. Jesus only got 3, right? That way the kids dont come to expect a ton from us every year. So, we woke up in the morning and they slowly opened gifts throughout the day. Instead of doing it all at once, we did it gradually...that way they dont get overwhelmed. Mom was able to come with Mike...and Hana fianlly opened up to him. Its only taken 5 years! It was just a nice relaxing day at home with family.The girls and I got matching aprons. Chloe did not take hers off all day! Chloe eating her Lingonberries with cheese!Hana and Uncle Mike walking to the pond out back to go fishingFishing with Uncle Monkey

New Blog

I have created a new blog. Check it out and check it often...I hope to post there at least once a week! Enjoy!

Melick Family Christmas

We had Christmas a week early with the Melick family. Of course, they spoiled us all. The kids got lots of toys, Bryan got Bowflex weights, and I got the most magnificent pans in the world...along with a ton of other things. We then went to Disney and spent the afternoon at MGM. I am not good about taking pictures when we are "in the moment". I usually look back and wonder why I didnt take more...oh well. Here is what I have!Hana and Sydnie, Bryan's little sister....they are inseperable.Uncle Ben

My New Years resolutions...

....to post more frequently...which I need to get started on, I have pictures from Christmas to get up here.... and not to be a "Lurker"...are you lurking? I love the fact that people read my blog but no one posts anything....I lurk a lot on other blogs..and never post...so, I thought maybe if I start posting and not lurking, maybe others will not lurk here, but post. Maybe not...we will see...either way, I would love to hear who is reading my blog...even if I dont know you!!! I have made it possible so that ANYONE can leave a comment! ...to run 2 miles 3 times a week...just to get up off my butt again will make me feel better... Whats your New Year resolution? Happy New Year

Its a big accomplishment

All three girls are eating chicken noodle soup. Big Deal!! Huge! Seriously....my kids are stuck with hot dogs, mac and cheese, chicken...they dont try new things. I try and try and push it...but no luck. Tonight I made semi-homemade chicken noodle soup. They are all sitting at the table as we speak eating it and loving every bite!!! Hana just came and told me thank you for dinner! (So did Maddison) Thanks Aunt Carol for providing us with the soup package...I am going to be getting more at the store now that I know they will eat it. It makes me a happy mom to have them eat a normal dinner!!!

Baby Kate

I had posted before that my friend was having a baby...she arrived safe and sound...Kate is now almost 3 weeks. Congrats again, Sam and Kara!! For some reason, Austin thinks he is supposed to shut his eyes to take a picture!

He posed for this picture all on his own!

Thanksgiving

So, it was a while ago, but at least I am getting some pictures up here. We went to Bryan's parents for Thanksgiving. I didnt get a ton a pictures, but here are just a few.

Bryan and his brothers...the one in the middle is available ladies!!!

The family is smitten....

Easy Peasy

I love to bake. I love to bake even more when the recipe is easy! Nothing can get easier than this one! Merry Christmas and happy baking!

Linnea's Devil's Food Cookies

1box devil's food cake mix

2 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

mix and bake for 7 minutes. Let cool and drizzle with icing (I put green food coloring in mine and a drop of mint extract to make it a little more holidayish)

Please help

My sister lives in Washington and they just got hit hard by storms and floods and the area is in need of some real help. My sister is taking donations, 100% of it goes to flood relief for the farmers. In return, if you make a donation of $30 or more, you get one of her pieces of artwork. What a great thing just in time for Christmas! For more information, go HERE to visit her site, and her artwork, and the information you need to make a donation. Please pass this on as well. If you have a blog, go ahead and put a link in to her site, lisauntitled.com! Thanks so much!!

Just wanted to say congrats to Kara and Sam...baby Kate was born last night! Cant wait to see her! (Austin was a peach sleeping here last night, by the way...)

"You are corrupting him"

My friend Kara is in the hospital, as we speak, giving birth to baby #2, a little girl named Kate. So, because her first born would not do well in a labor and delivery room all day, I have had the chance to take care of him. Right now, he is talking to himself in the crib in Chloe's room! Anyway, we just spent the evening preparing him for what he is about to encounter having a little sister. Sam said we are corrupting him, I say we are just preparing!

Deep breaths

Take a deep breath. Have you ever been startled by something and it takes a while to get back to normal? Your whole body shakes, you cant breath? That is how I feel right now. Take a deep breath. I was just cleaning my home and there was a knock at the door. I opened it and there was a female sheriff standing there. All the horrid thoughts ran through my mind. They are coming to tell me something happened at school. They are telling me Bryan didnt make it to work. What is going on? I was freaking out. She said "Hi"...."yes, can I help you?" Meanwhile, not knowing what was about to come out of her mouth. She took her clipboard thing she had in her hand and said those words..."I am looking for the wife of ..." and then she said it...his name...and I didnt know who it was. Deep breath. All the air felt like it was sucked out of me. She could tell I was freaked out. She told me sorry. I could tell it was something bad, and she had to go do this to another family now. I told her, I dont know that name and have never heard it before. She said, thats fine, she has another address to go check out. Man, what a horrible job to have to do. So, now that I am breathing a little bettter, and not shaking anymore, I think I am going to go call my loved one and tell him I love him. Makes you a little more thankful than before.

I have a fondness for all things vingtage, or vintage inspired...jewelry, clothing, furniture....I welcome it all. My problem...my life as a stay at home mom of 3 has a budget that does not let me indulge in this fondness. So I dream. I dream of having a beautiful little girls room done up in glorious furniture with pictures all around....I sometimes put on my apron in the kitchen and dream I am back at my great-grandmothers home (where I believe this fondness first came about) eating gumdrops from her crystal dish. One day I will indulge in these daydreams and have a glorious time doing it. Meanwhile, its window shopping, or ebay shopping, for me. I did recieve a beautiful gift yesterday from my father, though. Every year, he has a tradition of giving us an ornament...the official White House Ornament (he lives near the capitol). Every year I anticipate the arrival of the new ornament. So, when it came yesterday, I was so pleased to see that it was a picture of the first White House wedding...Grover Cleveland. The White House must have known that I needed a little vintage touch to my tree this year...so thank you Dad...and thank you White House!

Happy Birthday Hana!

Seems like just yesterday, I was getting ready to go to the hospital...scared as could be. Bryan and I were so young and I was not sure if I was going to be a good mom. 8 hours later, little Hana Faith was born...9lbs 1oz...I remember the nurses weighing her and saying "my what a big girl she is". She has been the happiest, and easiest, child. She has brought so much joy to our lives. 6 seems so young, yet so old. She is such a great big sister, and an awesome helper to me. I still recall when I was on bedrest for so many months when I was pregnant with Chloe, she helped me out so much, and she was only 3! So, Happy Birthday to my little princess! Here are some pictures from the past 6 years!

Another giveaway

Apronista has another giveaway this week. Its from The Farm Chicks. All you have to do to be entered is leave a comment HERE. You can also be entered twice if you leave another comment on what you are thankful for. Check it out!

Apronista giveaway

So, I had mentioned earlier about a website called Apronista. Every week they do a giveaway. They have a featured item every week and all you do is just comment on what you like, and you are entered! This week, the featured apron is a vintage pin-up inspired apron and gloves. Check them out HERE! I guess if I dont win, another item added to my wish list!

And Time Goes By So Slowly.....

13 hours in the car...what a long trip. But it was all worth it! We drove up to W. Virginia early Friday morning and got there 4pm. We went straight to dinner. I am blessed to have a family that grew up close with each other (my mom has 4 sisters) and a Grandfather that loves us all enough to get us all together. We realized that this has not happened for 10 years and probably wont happen again. At least when it does, some of us will not be around for it. So, we all got together at the Greenbrier. If you have not heard of it, it is amazing. It is in WV and has so much history...from being a hospital during WWI to having its own bunker/bomb shelter below....the decorating in this place is huge too. Grand majestic doorways, bold colors, stripes, flowers, granite, words cannot describe it. The place is so huge, yet every dining room and sitting room was done differently. One room at breakfast was purple and the girls thought it was so cool. Plus, everywhere you look are huge chandeliers! So, dinner was amazing, then we went to bed, since we were so tired. Breakfast in the morning, amazing again...the boys went to play golf, while we went to the famous sulpher springs...it supposedly has healing powers to it. Then we took the kids swimming (When I say we, I mean my sister and I. She and I are the only ones in the family who has kids and she lives in WA and we hardly see each other). The pool was amazing as well. Big pillars, tile all around it...the girls took a nap afterwards while I got ready for dinner. Bryan came back, and I took the girls to meet my sister and her daughter, Stella, for a tea party. Every day at the hotel, they have a Tea Party, so we partook of the tea and tea cakes! Hana and Maddison thought they were so grown up! Dinner that evening was a private one, so that we as a family of 28 could enjoy each other. We had a big family picture taken, and one of the 5 of us! Everyone laughed and cried! And the food was amazing, as well. Sunday we drove to my Dad's cabin, Angel's View, and saw my grandmother. The girls had a blast at dads...between the cold weather and being able to wear hats and scarves, to walking in the leaves, to playing in the "nest" to seeing Hana on the wall.....it was great. His place is on top of a mountain looking over the valley...takes your breath away. So, it was well worth the trip, even though it was short. I took tons of pictures, so I hope everyone enjoys them!!!