Happy Halloween!!!

Happy Halloween to everyone! I hope you all had a great night and were able to enjoy some fun, quality time with your little sweeties (if you have little ones!). We had a great night. Unfortunately Doug had to work tonight so we went to town and met him while he was on duty so he could see the little ones all dressed up in their costumes. They looked absolutely adorable! Brooke was a pretty, pink butterfly; Chase was an adorable, green turtle with a detachable shell on his back that he lost on several occasions (definitely the "fastest" turtle I have ever seen!); and Logan was a "stinkin" cute little skunk! They did not mind being in their costumes, in fact I think they rather liked them except for the hats that went with them. While we were in town, we met my Aunt Claudia and Uncle Marvin at Sunshine Cafe for some dinner. The kids proved to be little "show stoppers" as nearly everyone in the place had to stop and marvel them if not come by to talk and see them. They didn't seem to mind it though as they were constantly waving at people randomly throughout their meal. I can honestly say that my children are NOT shy! After dinner, we headed to my Aunt Patsy and Uncle Tom's house. My cousin Cody and her family were there too which was nice as I got to see the kids dressed up in their costumes. My trio were happy to see her son Rylan, who is 2 1/2 months older than they are, as they always have a great time playing together. He was dressed as a cute, little, blue M&M with punked up, spikey, blue hair. It really was cute! The funny part was when we first arrived all four of the kids were so excited that they just ran around making noises and screaming out in excitement. One would start it then the others would chime right in. It was hilarious! They even found it funny because they'd laugh at one another which as everyone knows only instigated more silly behavior so needless to say we did NOT go without laughs tonigh! Then you'd find them studing one another as if they were thinking to themselves "why in the world is he/she wearing that?". I don't think they fully understood but again...it was funny. We did get a lot of cute pictures but I haven't had a chance to download them so as soon as I can I will post them. Check back soon!

SPLISH SPLASH WE ARE TAKING OUR BATH!

I thought I would invite you all in for dinner with us...is there any wonder we do baths every night?!? Food ends up in the oddest places...even the dogs get messy...but they do LOVE to see the little ones sitting down in their booster seats! I have to admit though, I think I enjoy the kids bathtime almost as much as they do. I love watching them smile, laugh, splash around and have such a great time...IT'S PRICELESS!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

On Thursday, October, 24, 2007, Doug and I celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary...Happy Anniversary Sweetie! We went out for a "date night" as my Mother stayed at home and tended to the little ones for us. Our first stop for the evening was at a local spa where we received a one hour couple's Swedish massage. I cannot even begin to tell you how great that felt! Following our massages, we went to dinner at the Melting Pot. This was the first time that either of us had gone to the Melting Pot and it was incredible! We absolutely loved the atmosphere. It's very nicely decorated, quiet, private, romantic and overall just a very neat establishment to dine in. I would strongly recommend everyone try it at least once! Midway through dinner, I was beyond "full" but somehow I continued to eat forcing myself mostly because I wanted to try a little of everything! When they brought out the chocolate turtle fondue all bets were off...I somehow managed to make a lot of room for yummy strawberries, bananas, brownies and cheesecake! It was delicious! Following dinner, I had initially planned on going a short distance from Melting Pot to a Martini Bar that I've heard nothing but great revues about but following our dinner, I had NO ROOM LEFT...so we headed home.

One of the gifts that I purchased for Doug included IU vs. Purdue football tickets for next months game so when we head to IU/Bloomington we will likely stay overnight and hit some of the old "hot spots" as IU is Doug's Alma Mater. Two of our best friends, Jeff and Molly Hoehn, will be attending the game with us as well so we should have a great time. Doug and Jeff were Fraternity Brothers (Alpha Tau Omega) at IU.

OK, it's about to get a little "sappy" so grab your tissues...heehee. Seriously though, I just want to say that I am forever thankful to have such a wonderful, loving, caring, dedicated, hard-working husband who does so much for his family. I really do appreciate all he does for us but I fear I do take it for granted occasionally. He is 100% trustworthy and reliable and he is my very best friend whom I share everything with. I cannot even believe that it has been four years since we've said our sweet vows and I really have a hard time believing that we've been together for nearly nine years...nine...and I love you more and more each and every day! Thank you sweetie for all you do to love and provided for your family and may we celebrate MANY, MANY more anniversaries over the years to come! I LOVE YOU NOW AND FOREVER!

Sorry for the delay...

I apologize for being "MIA" recently! Things have been INTERESTING around here to say the least. We have been trying to recover from a dreaded GI virus...that is taking it's time to work it's way through each and every person in this house!!! It started last Thursday when Brooke started vomiting with every attempt to eat or drink anything. She never ran a fever but the virus lasted for approximately 24 hours for her and on Friday she also had some diarrhea...POOR BABY! I thought we were in the clear as no one else appeared to have been affected by it but then... Saturday afternoon I took the little ones to town with me to do some shopping. As we were checking out Chase vomited. They had been munching on apple wedges throughout the store so I did not put too much thought into it as I assumed he had got a little choked up and it made him get sick. Later that night, we headed over to my Aunt and Uncle's house for a cookout and while I was feeding my little ones their dinner Chase vomited everywhere. Not to be too graphic but this was not an insignificant amount of vomit people...I had no idea his tiny tummy could hold so much! To make a long story short...this is how the night continued with many bouts of this! To make things even more interesting, at 3:30 am Logan woke up with an "I need my MOM now" cry. When I got to his crib seconds later he clung to me as if to say "Thank goodness you are here!" I carried him out of their room and as we were walking down the hallway he let out a little belch...which was immediately followed by his puking marathon. Needless to say, I did NOT get any sleep that night and I can honestly say I have never been puked on so much in my life! I felt horrible for my little guys as they were so confused and scared when all of that was going on but they really handled it well.

Now as if that was not bad enough...Sunday did not get any better! My dad ended up getting sick and we actually had to call 911 and have him transported to the ER following him passing out (twice), sweating profusely, lips were nearly blue, with a blood pressure of 64/42 when it could finally get one! Thankfully, he was fine...we didn't find out exactly what caused these episodes but he was fine. He is to follow up with his primary care doc for further testing. Now I'm not exaggerating when I say, the minute that my brothers and Dad pulled in the driveway following the ER workup, I looked outside to find that... our field was on fire! Fortunately, they were able to put the fire out within a reasonable time and no damage was done but "WHAT A DAY"!

Today (Tuesday) all is well, aside from the fact that I now am taking my turn with the GI bug...NO FUN AT ALL! And it really makes caring for three babies quite challenging not to mention the fact that I have to take Logan to his ENT MD appt today to follow up from his tube placements. I'm just hoping the appt goes quick! So bear with me as I will put a "fun" post up soon! PLEASE Pray we all get well soon!!!

We Recycle

You know, it never ceases to amaze me that among the multitude of toys my children own, they absolutely love playing with the simple things. What could be more fun for three, inquisitive seventeen month olds than a couple of empty Luv's diaper boxes set up as their own personal movie theatres. At times, these boxes could even become cars that they could push around the room while loading them up with their favorite little toys. Believe it or not this along with their beloved "Diego" entertained them for approximately thirty-five minutes...now that's impressive!!! Mom stayed quite amuses during that time as well! It was a win-win situation all the way around:)

New Pictures!!!

Here are some recent pictures from the day that Doug and I took the little ones to the property to "dig" our first hole as a family prior to the official construction taking place. Also included are the exciting pictures of the land and the progress made thus far...more to come in the near future! Hope you enjoy them. Take note of the outfits...bet you can't tell what day we did this on...GO COLTS!!! If you find time to leave a comment I would appreciate it just to let me know who all is peeking in on us:) Thanks!

I also wanted to share with you some very touching moments that I witnessed from my little sweethearts today. These are the moments that tug on my heart strings and remind me of how very fortunate and blessed we truly are!!! Logan fell down while playing earlier and he started to cry. Well, Brooke did not like that he was upset and she wanted to make him feel better so she took the little ducky toy that she was playing with, walked it over to Logan, offered it to him and when he did not take it from her she reached down for his hand and placed the ducky in it. He looked at her and smiled and immediately stopped crying. How sweet is that?!? Of course I praised her for being such a little sweetie but it gets even better. Before bed tonight all three of my little ones were in very loving moods (I love those times). I wish I had a camera (as I often wish I did!) because Brooke walked over to Chase and gave him a hug. In return he turned to her and gave her a sweet little kiss which she had puckered up for. It must have tickled Chase because it made him laugh. Logan was only a few steps away so Brooke did not stop with Chase. She made her way over to "Bubby" and he got a sweet little kiss too. It brought tears to my eyes...I know I'm a softy but can you think of a better way to end such a beautiful day than to witness such sweetness?

WHAT A WONDERFUL DAY!!!

Today has really just been a fabulous day. First things first...they FINALLY started on our house! At 10:30 this morning I looked outside to find a dump truck hauling a back hoe (I think that's right) driving down our driveway back onto our property. They immediately unloaded and got to work and now there is a large hole...a huge mound of dirt...on our land where our basement will be...VERY SOON...YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you believe it?!? We are so thrilled. It is very exciting to actually see things happening. They've been telling me that everything will happen quickly once getting started so I have a feeling things are about to get CRAZY! Let the fun begin!

OK, now for some very, very long awaited news...Doug got his promotion!!!!!!!!! He is now a Corporal for his Police Department with a strong possibility of becoming a Sergeant within a year! Doug has deserved this for a long time now and I could not be more proud of him! Way to go Sweetie!

WE WELCOME FALL!

Fall is absolutely my favorite time of the year and this past weekend we were able to get outdoors and enjoy the weather. On Friday evenings, Doug and I are playing on a coed softball league and this past Friday kicked off the fall season. We play two games a week for five consecutive weeks. Of course we had to fill the bleachers (pack-n-plays really!) with the three most adorable fans you will ever see! They love to cheer on Mom and Dad and say "ball, ball, ball" while eating yummy, buttery popcorn...they are their mother's children! They had a blast. Of course the ball field is nothing new to them. Doug plays on a men's league spring and summer season and I play on a women's league during the summer so they have grown quite accustomed to being at the ball field. They were all three sporting their new heavy jackets for the fall...very cute from the Children's Place along with their reds and pink IU sock hats and mittens.

On Saturday, the little ones and I loaded up and went to the football field to support Devin (my cousin's son). He impressed me with how well he did for being 9 years old. They played two games that day too and won both of them! Great Job Devin.

Following the game, I met Jenny (one of my best friends for MANY years now!) and we took our children to the apple orchard. We had a great time. We bought some baby pumpkins for each of the kids and a big bag of apples which we had to sample right away. By the time we left though my three only had two pumpkins left. Logan decided somewhere along the way that he no longer wanted his "ball" so he threw it out of the wagon. Oh well. The orchard had a corn maze there that we went through. Keirstin and Mason (Jenny's little ones) had a blast directing us on the route to take through the maze. They have grown up so much all of a sudden!!!