Good day...

Church this morning... good sermon on vision. What is our vision for our lives... what do we do when faced with a difficult situation (and God knows I've had plenty of those lately), do we pray or do we fight? I think I'm somewhere in the middle. My first impulse isn't necesarily to pray, but I've come to realize that God is in control and not me and "fighting" isn't going to help me.

Elliot was a BEAR! We were sitting smack in the front of church (closer than normal, although normal is pretty close) and the kiddo just wouldn't sit still and was screeching, mostly during the songs. He ate his Teddy Grahams :) but when those were gone he was done with church. I was seriously getting annoyed/stressed. Lucky for me good ol' Kate was there and she took him to the back. I always feel bad cuz then she misses church and it's not her resposiblity, but I'm also SOOOO thankful! I think I may have to get over my issues with nursery soon.

So, those of you doing BSF, anyone else struggling this week? I'm guessing it's just me, but I just can't understand the questions. I think I just have no focus. We got Bailey's done (which is big for me, I normally run out of patience with her quickly, but she is lovin' it and loved doing her lesson) but i just can not do my own. I tried and tried and tried, but got so frustrated I just gave up. I was thinking about skipping tomorow, but I know that for Bailey's sake I need to go (that and my leader called me and now I would feel guilty). So, I'll be there, and unless God has something up his sleeve, my lesson will NOT be done.

Busy busy week this week. At least as far as kids go. I'm going to have extra kids here every day except for Thursday, but it should be fun and maybe even a little helpful as far as Elliot goes.

Landon has school pictures tomorow and I think I've decided for the first year not to order any. They never turn out well and I got some decent pictures yesterday that I can print up instead, so I will just get a yearbook and a class picture. Kinda nice, it takes away the stress of figuring out what the kids will wear, although I still want him to look nice.

Hope everyone had a great weekendd and were able to relax a little and enjoy family!

More Pics... and football score

Landon's game didn't go so well today, they played really well, but unfortunately just didn't win. Score was 12-0. Bummer!

And, tonight we went to take pictures... I think we got some good one, here are some of my fav's! Let me know which ones you like the best... I especially need to decide on the ones of the three of them!

A.

B.

C.

D.

E.

F.

G.


A few questions for you...
1. Do you drink Coke Products (My fav is Diet Cherry)?
2. Do you collect the "My Coke Rewards" points?
3. Do you enter your points?
4. Do you redeem your points?

If you answered no to any of these I have to ask... "WHY NOT????"

We use the points to get free movie rentals at Blockbuster (45 points or 4 1/2 12 packs of pop) and tonight I redeemed a bunch of points to get some one year magazine subscriptions. I think I got Redbook and O. We go through a LOT of pop so it doesn't take us long to accumulate points. I totally recommend this to anyone!

All right, have a good weekend, I need to finish watching COPS (Best of... funny funny stuff!!)

Pictures

Face painting...

Running onto the field...

Bailey cheering...

Landon's game today...

Game Time...

Today was a terrible day as far as sleep goes for Elliot. The child just DID NOT want to sleep. (And I REALLY REALLY wanted to sleep...). I think he may still be suffering a little from the shots. Poor little guy!

Tonight we had the Dux vs Chix football game. (I took TONS of pics, but am just way to lazy to upload right now, maybe tomorow) Kate took Elliot for a little walk and he fell asleep for her, in her arms! Lucky her, he RARELY does this, so this was BIG news! He really needed the sleep though. Lanodn got to run out on the field with his Rocket Football team (Matt too) and then make a tunnel for the Dux to run through. Then Bailey got to cheer during the end of half time, I was SHOCKED that she actually went out on the track. She did bite her nails the entire time, but she did it! She had fun too.

After half time was done the chix forfieted the game (with a disappointing for them score of 38-0) so it was mass chaos getting out of the parking lot. Normally we leave a little early so we dont experience the joys of tons of traffic, but tonight we we able to experience it! YUCK! Because the game was called early there were still the majority of people there and everyone had to leave at the same time! (Sarah... did you leave before it was called?)

Tomorow morning we have a football game, then Landon has a birthday party in the afternoon for a short bit, not sure what's going on after that, doesn't even matter to me, I just want to relax, I'm not feeling all that well lately, so time when Matt is home to watch Elliot is sooooo cherished!

Enjoy your weekend, I will probably be back tomorow with pics!

Like my new blog header????

Oops, I made it WAY to small! But i didn't realize it until I posted it and don't feel like changing it right now... so it will be that way for a day or so!

Elliot had his 1 year appt today. He had to get five shots and I still have to take him to the lab to have his iron and hemoglobin tested. Poor guy! But I will have to do that early next week! (Or Matt will have to) Matt met me at the doctor so he was the one holding Elliot's arms and the one Elliot was looking at as the nurses poked him! I just hate having him look at me thinking I'm the one causing the pain! He weighed 22 pounds 3.5 ounces (50th percentile), he was 30 1/2" long (between 50 & 70th percentile). He really has done well after the shots, he was tired and took a good nap (2 1/2 hours), but then we went to Teusinks farm for church tonight and he was just amazed by all the animals and things to do, so he perked right up. When we got home though, I think he hit a wall and lost it! He was right to bed, we'll have to do bath in the morning!

We had a fun time at Teusinks. If you dont' know, it's a "pony" farm. The kids were able to ride horses (Bailey on the ring and Landon was old enough to do the trail ride). Unfortunately I needed to go with Landon, only b/c there was no one else in line. I am deathly afriad of horses. I had one TERRIBLE experience a few years ago (like 8yrs) and refused to EVER get on a horse again. Well, that ended today! I figured it couldn't be that bad, these horses are used to these trails and each other. The "guides" on our little ride were probably 18 and 12. The girl behind me was the twelve year old. At one point my horse stopped and bend it's head down. The irrational side of me saw that the horse was of course going to buck and throw me off, so obviously I fearfully said "What is he doing????". The girl behind me said (in a tone that said it is so obvious and your a fool for asking) "He's eating." Duh!!! The logical part of me knew that, I just wasn't feeling logical or rational! So really, the ride wasn't that terrible, I was just ready to be done! We then went on a wagon ride thing, though not to be confused with the hay ride. We went on a hay ride too! On the hay ride were three baby bunnies! Baby baby bunnies! Little tiny bunnies. It's a suprise that they are still alive though after all the kids holding and squeezing them. I tried to hold one while holding Elliot, just to see what he would do, well we found out quickly what he would do, he would take the bunnies head and squeeze it as hard as he could in his little fist! Not so good!



Tomorow I get to go help out at the book fair at the Bailey's school, hopefully Elliot is still doing well, because he get's to go along! I may not be that much help I guess, but at least I can try!

This will be all over the place!

I just signed Matt and I up for Married for Life. I figured... why not? Matt and I were married on May 1, 1999 before a church full of family and friends and most importantly God. We made the vows to each other at that time and now we are committing again through this program. The goal is to get one million couples to commit to stay married for life. Right now there are 5,345 so won't you to sign up (assuming you are married) and add to the numbers? (I have heard about this multiple times on the radio and always thought I should do it, but by the time I got home I had forgotten about it, so thanks to Amanda for the reminder!)

Sunday our sermon was on "Discipline". Our sermon series right now is "What Matters" and unfortunately I haven't been able to actually listen to any of the other sermons in the series, but I know I left church feeling soooo convicted. Much of the sermone talked about how we always want Instant Gratification, but how we need to practice Discipline! So, if you've been a regular reader at all, you know that I SOOOO struggle with this!!! But it inspired/convicted me to be better at realizing what I need/don't need and what I really do need NOW and what I really could give to God instead of what I am giving to God. Even tithing our time was addressed, soemthing else I have a problem with. I could spend any amout of time on the computer or watching tv or both, but I need to give God 10% of my awake time too! So I will be working on this... pray for me!

Some things about elliot at one year old:
Says: Duck, Dexter, doggy (although they all kinda sound alike), mommy, daddy and I think one other.
Waves Hi, bye and night night. Signs "All Done", when he feels like it.
Stands on his own (he did take one lonely step yesterday though!!!)
Climbs the steps like a pro!
Screams to get what he wants!
Still get's one bottle in the morning (if i gave that bottle up that would mean a drastic change in our schedule and I'm not ready for that)
Loves his paci and his blankie
Only cuddles during that one morning bottle or when he is REALLY tired!
Likes to watch about 1/4 of a Baby Einstein movie!
Claps, kisses, So Big.
Loves his baths!
Favorite food is probably Goldfish!
BUSY BUSY BUSY
He has a doctor appt tomorow morning so I will be back tomorow to share his stats!

I am so frustrated! I went to the mall tonight with Bailey & Elliot (suprisingly that isn't the part that frustrates me). I need to find a few fall clothes... jeans, shirts etc. Even being as short as I am the jeans weren't the problem. I found a pair of those. The shirts are where I'm getting frustrated. I'm not old and don't want to dress like I am, but I definately don't have the body of a teenager either, therefore I can't wear most of the shirts that are available for sale. I tried on probably 10 shirts tonight and came home with... NONE! That is probably what I need the most now that I got the one pair of jeans. I tend to bypass the really cheap stuff/stores because I am a firm believer that you get what you pay for... as far as fit and quality go, but I don't want to spend even a small fortune either. So anyway, the hunt continues for the perfect shirt... and trust me when I find it you will see it on me DAILY I'm sure! (Because it will be my only one!)

Ok, so I said this would be all over and I think I've fulfilled that promise! If you made it this far good for you, sorry there is no reward though! I will wish you a wonderful Wednesday though!

A layout post

I just don't have much to say today and I'm exhausted... so here are some layouts to catch you up!

A Picture Post

Elliot in his ball tent... Friday night we went to visit Troy and Heather and thier new baby Addison... isn't she adorable?
Landon lost his 2nd football game on Saturday... I don't even want to put the score on here... hopefully we will have better luck next week!

After the football game we went to watch Dimitri & Cobe play soccer! They are both really good! After soccer both Dimitri and Landon went to play at Cobe's house (Thanks Sarah)!
Bailey had cheerleading clinic after the soccer game... with her friend Kennedi. They also get to cheer at the football game on Friday (Landon will also get to go out on the field with all the other rocket football teams)!
Today was Elliot's birthday party! Here he is with all of his presents!
Elliot had LOTS of little hands helping him open his gift, good thing too, he really was only interested in the opened presents!
This is one of Brecken & Elliot's favorite toys to play with at Mary's house!
Doesn't he look excited to dig into that cupcake???
He sure did enjoy it! Frosting EVERYWHERE!
Kate got him this adorable halloween costume... doesn't he make a cute dragon?
The girls enjoyed thier time playing in the ball tent! I think we will get years of use out of this thing! (Now we just need a bigger house to fit it in!)

Birth to one

I was working on this all the past year, but lost it on my other computer... so I QUICK did a new one... quick, so it's nothing special, didn't add any elements and it's 8x10 so I think I may frame it!

I'm done...

I'm done being a mom. That's it, it's over! For the night at least. I've had my fill today! Elliot standing holding my leg and crying b/c he wants to be held, all while I try to cut him a piece of pizza or pour him some milk, making it impossible for me to hold him. I actually yelled at one point, but then quickly realized how dumb I looked and sounded yelling at a baby! He just wears me out, normally right between 4:30 and 5:30 he get's really really whiney (sp?) and unbearable!!!!! I put him in bed early tonight, so we'll see what happens! Now it's just Bailey and I until Matt get's home... then it's all him!!!!

We had a good day today. Elliot got to play with Sadie and Brooks at thier house for a while then I picked up Brooks and Sadie came over later too! When I asked Brooks what they did at his house he proudly answered "Baby Elliot fell off the couch!" and that was all, Baby elliot has fallen off the couch enough times at our own house that it doesn't even phase me anymore, I just thought it was funny that that was all he told me!!! (I forgot to tell you that earlier Sarah!! :)

Elliot got his Magic Ball Zone today... it's really cool and I think we will get lot's of use out of it, it could double as a tent (indoor of course) when we put the balls away! I think he likes it!

No HUGE plans tomorow, a few things got changed around over here (schedule wise) so I'm freed up for the morning! But that just means I get to clean some more and do laundry!!!! Oh well, it's got to be done!

So, Sadie, here's a few new video's for you, oens that you can actually see...
First is Peek-A-Boo


Next, if the Peek-A-Boo wasn't good enough for her, we have more screaming!!


And, for this weekend, Landon has a game bright and EARLY saturday morning in Byron Center and then Bailey has cheerleading in the afternoon, then I'm going out with girls in the evening!!!! Sunday is the big Birthday party! I'll be back with pictures of probably most of that later... and pics of the ball tent!!!!

Happy Birthday Elliot

Amazing how boring first birthdays really are! He had no clue that it was a special day, I really do prefer when they understand what's going on and get excited! Elliot took two naps today and was cranky most of the evening! Oh well, it was still a special day.

We decorated the house a little this morning with some doggy decorations. This afternoon when Landon & Bailey got home from school we went to feed the ducks by Carters. That didn't end so well.


Then our family all ate dinner together adn sang happy birthday to Elliot while he had his cupcake. Please forgive my TERRIBLE pictures, nothing is turning out for me today!


He did "open" the one present that I wrapped, but that didn't go so well either, it wasn't terrible, but really we unwrapped it while he looked out the window. The only one that I wrapped was the bath toys so after opening that he took a bath, which is always a hit!

So, now he is in bed and thus ends his first birthday. Until tomorow when the ball toy will come and then Sunday when we have his party! Hopefully pictures turn out better then!

364 days 12 hours!

Only about 12 more hours til my baby is one year old! I can't believe it! He is definately growing up... to fast for me! I feel bad for him b/c he will be celebrating his birthday with a cold this year! Poor little man! We went and picked up some decorations this evening for his party and I kid you not, he PICKED OUT the doggy decorations! When we walked past it he was all pumped, saying doggy over and over and over again! So of course we got the doggy stuff! (And a few "1st Birthday" things)! I think I may have overdone the decoration thing, but your only one once, right????

Here's what we got him for his birthday too...



This last one won't be here til Friday, but that's ok, he won't know the difference! He will love it too! I like it b/c it can fold down, it will take up lots of room in our house, but I think it will be worth it and with any hope we will have a new house soon to put it in! (We may need an extra room for it!!!!)

I think I may try to get out and take some pics of him for his birthday in the morning, not sure where I will go though... any great ideas for me????

Here's another layout I finished...


Yesterday I went on a field trip to the Outdoor Discovery Center with Landon's class. It was really interesting! It was all about indians, we learned how they hunted and the kids got to practice with the tools, they talked about how they lived in the different seasons, how they gardened, made tools, made "flour", and all of this was told to us by an actual native american descendent. a man that has hallowed out a tree trunk to make a canoe, all with tools that he made, just like the native americans did! I really had a good time, but I was TIRED by the time I got home! Skipping BSF definately sounded good, but it's only week two, I can't skip out yet! So I went and I'm glad that I did!

Have a great Tuesday evening/wednesday! We will be celebrating a great 1st birthday!!!!

The weekend is almost over...

I hate when weekends end! Matt has to go back to work, the kids go back to school, life get's busier! (Not that the weekends aren't busy...)

Oh well, this weekend was good! Last night we had dinner at Marro's with some friends, I've never been there for dinner so we wanted to try it! The pizza was GREAT! I had pepperoni, sausage, green peppers, onions, mushrooms and garlic! YUMMY! (I had it for breakfast again this morning... and lunch too!). We stopped at Wally's for a drink before heading home too! It's kinda nice that summer is "done", there were very few people there and we were able to actually talk and hear each other!

This morning Elliot woke up around 7 and I decided to get up with him and let Matt sleep, thinking I would get a nap later! WRONG! After dropping the kids off at church for thier first day of sunday school Matt and I were going to go get a coffee and a bagel and then head back to church. Elliot was with us! HE WAS SOOOOOO CRABBY! We decided that it wasn't even worth trying to take him to church, so matt went to church and I stayed home with Elliot.

I was able to work on my BSF while Elliot was in his bed. (Notice I didn't say sleeping). I did get that almost done, which was a suprise, this week's lesson was a BIG one! reading the entire book of Matthew and answering questions along the way! I did realize from reading it though that this should be a good year. I think I like all the parables and stuff in Matthew... there are also lot's of words right from Jesus' mouth! If you don't attend BSF or another bible study, or are looking for something to make you dig into the bible a bit more I totally recommend BSF. It is definately work, but it's good work. If you are interested send me an e-mail and I can get you more information.

So anyway... back to Elliot. The child didn't sleep at all today... so up at 7:30, bed at 8:30. No snoozes in between! He would just SCREAM when we tried to lay him down, althogh he could hardly keep his eyes open! It was so absolutely frustrating! He was crabby too, it wasn't like he was happy, because that I could have handled. He has a cold and is pretty stuffed up and I really do feel bad for him, but when you are sick, don't you just want to sleep!?!?

Cobe came over again and played with Landon this afternoon. Dimitri and Kenny came too and played Mario Karts for a while, then all the boys went outside to play baseball!

For dinner we had tacos with a twist. We put cream cheese in some of the meat and it was soooo yummy! Matt said he didn't taste a difference, but I could taste it! We only put it in a little bit of the meat because we didn't know if the kids would ilke it, but I think next time we will add it to all of it! Cobe stayed for dinner and ended up being our dinner entertainment! He was making us all laugh, not necesarily because of things he said, but mostly just because once he started laughing he couldn't stop, so then we were all laughing!

So, I realized that I HATED that last layout I posted! It's really bad... I hadn't had a computer to scrap on in over a week and just couldn't find most of my stuff or my "groove"! On the other hand, I really do like these two. I like the pictures too, so that really helps!





Tomorow I get to go on a field trip with Landon, not sure what the name of the place where we are going is though. Something to do with Indians. It's supposed to be nice out so that is a good thing! Then BSF tomorow night, while the boys are at football!

Football

Last night we had to make a trip to lowe's for a new washer and dryer! It was time though, we have never bought one of our own since we've been married, we've always worked with hand-me-downs! Our washer hasn't been working right for quite a while, it cleaned the clothes, but the knob was funny and didn't always line up to what was on the machine, so we didn't know what cycle was running! The dryer quit working this week... it sounded like it was working but there was no hot air, so it took three cycles to get one load to a point of being just damp instead of soaking wet! So, those came this afternoon and now I'm on a laundry rampage, trying to get caught up (and get some clothes clean to wear out tonight!).

This morning bright and early we had a football game! It was cold but the sun was out and that was warm! Good thing! We were there at 8am after picking up some coffee! Landon did great and I'm so happy for those boys, they WON thier first game! 13 to 6!!! Here are a few of the pics I took!



After the game we drove quick out to Borculo to pick up Bailey from her friends house then we rushed back to watch Dimitri (and Cobe) play soccer! We ended up watching a ton of kids we knew playing! I couldn't believe how many people I knew there! Dimitri won thier game 3-0 adn did a great job! Cobe ended up coming to play with Landon after the game, they played Mario Karts for quite a while, but are outside playing baseball with the neighbors right now!

Matt and I are going to go out with some friends tonight, I think we MAY end up going down to Marro's to get some pizza or something. I've never been there to eat, so it will be something different!

Not really anything else to add, just wanted to share that Landon won his game and his pics!!!!! Enjoy your weekend!

I got to scrap...

and here is the page that I did
I did this layout for the challenge on the Lilypad blog!

Not sure I love it, but honestly I'm having a hard time finding my scrap supply stuff. It's all on my external hard drive, but it isn't organized at all... I was so used to the way it was on my other computer, but now it is all just a jumbled mess. I'm trying to organize a little, but it takes time! On the other hand, I do love the picture! I think I want to blow it up and get it printed... and I don't do that much!

Not sure what the weekend will bring... we just may go to the football game tomorow night, but who knows! Bailey is staying the night at a friends house, so it will just be me and the boys! Landon has a football game on Saturday morning and it's supposed to be a high of only 60, that's a high, so 9 in the morning will be pretty chilly! He has a friend coming over after that (did I alrday do this, I'm feeling alittle de ja vue (know I didn't spell that right)). Matt and I are going out Saturday night with some friends, not sure what the plans are yet, but we have to get out and do something!

Hopefully your weekend is good!

Some pics...

All actions are by Lauren Barden from the Make Me Colorful set... can be found at the Lilypad