Madelynn growling

Madelynn started growling yesterday!! It is hilarious! I couldn't stop laughing when I filmed this.

soooo apparently its not letting me post the pics.....maybe later. There we go!!

pictures of the kids

All the pictures of the kids are on http://www.winkflash.com/ including all of the pictures that were taken the other day. They had prints for 6 cents! Here are a few of my favorites.

Snowstorm for Noah

Here's some stills:

A 3 Year Old's Explination of Star Wars

Beautiful Grandchildren

How lucky I am to have such beautiful Grandchildren! And another girl on the way. I can't wait!

Mandy driving with Mr. Pansy

Let's see...I think my "tootsies" should be warm enough , say by June! Love Dad

Crazy Drivers

Well Friday February 15th was the day I received my permit
and instead of putting it in a sand which bag like I was advised
I got creative......
and put it in a CD case
it's wonderful ha ha.
I can't wait to stop driving
because dad is a pansy and doesn't want to get his tootsies cold
I have to wait just a little bit longer to drive.
Oh well ha ha, I've waited a long time I'm sure I can wait longer.
I can't wait, so it's either Wednesday or Thursday that I will be
driving
YAY!

30 Weeks and Growing!

30 weeks. It's hard to believe that it's been that long, but the proof is in Steph's steadily increasing belly. Every day it seems she gets a little bigger, and Violet's activity is pretty much constant. Steph (obviously) feels it far more frequently than I do, but it's still a wonder to me every time I feel those little kicks. We had a Parenthood class last Saturday that taught me quite a few things about the process of birth and gave us a nice tour of the hospital. We're looking at about 10 more weeks before the big day, and even though that is not a long time, it sure feels like it. I'm so looking forward to seeing her tiny little face for the first time, I can hardly stand it.

I know I said I was going to take these shots every two weeks, but with the new job and other stuff things have been busy enough for me to forget. From here on out, we will be doing this every two weeks. Here's what Steph looked like a month ago in case you forgot....

My babies

So cute....some pics at the opposite end of the spectrum. Pictures all bundled up in their snow suits and naked in the tub!!

Nathans alphabet

By popular demand here is Nathan the kid who barely talked 3 weeks ago repeating the entire alphabet. He can now identify 10-15 of the letters by sight and count to ten alternating with me. I believe I was correct in saying the kid is a silent evil genious. He has been quiet for the first 2 years of his life but he has been a little sponge and picking up everything. Enjoy!

Todays another day

Yesterday was a horrible, depressing valentines. The absolute panic that came over me when I saw the news bulletin was incredible. The overuse of cell phones at that time made it difficult to reach Dad which just freaked me out even more. I sat riveted to the TV all afternoon. It doesn't matter how many times I saw and heard the same thing over and over again, I still cannot believe it happened at NIU. I cannot believe that it happened in a building where I spent 1 1/2 hours every Monday, Wednesday and Friday my freshman year. My heart goes out to the families and friends of those who were lost. I pray that the next generation finds this act as horrible and sickening as we do. It seems that something has gone wrong in our society when school shootings are happening so frequently. I thank God that our family is all alive and well. I know in my heart that today is another day and all that everyone can do is move forward from here.

As we take a moment to think about what happened yesterday at NIU, we should ALL take a moment to thank God for our health, and having each other, and our family. Not a lot else matters. Nothing else comes close. Thank God we have each other, and a prayer for those lost yesterday, and their families, would be a good idea.

Happy commercialized holiday to you with love Dad

Happy Valentines!!

Happy another comercialized holiday(aka every holiday!) everyone!! Hope yours is filled with lots of love! Love you all bunches!!

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! XXXXXXXXXOOOOOOOOO
Noah & I made cookies tonight- peanut butter w/ kisses in the middle. His preschool class is having a little party tomorrow after lunch, so we're bringing cookies & his very own hand-made valentines (I had to SERIOUSLY set aside my Martha Stewartness for that project, BELIEVE me).
ANYWAY... love & miss you all. I didn't send out any valentines- not even online- so I hope you all get this!

Oops

Sorry for not updating
that I passed the Permit Exam
i missed 0
out of like 25
whew
no idea when I'm receiving my permit though
Happy Birthday Jason
and I might take you up on that Guitar Hero offer ha ha
~Mandi!

Happy Birthday!!!

Happy birthday Jason!!! I bet it is nice to be off work on your birthday!!! Have a good day.

Ava & Noah Videos

Ava ADORES Noah:




Ava Jibber Jabbers CONSTANTLY (wonder where she gets that from???):

Your Long Lost Sister/Daughter...

SPAM & CHEESE & Dill Pickles! YeeeeeeHaw! Don't show Stephanie, she'll be traumatized for life.

Hi all! And HAPPY BIRTHDAY JASON (2/11). Welcome home Justin! Sorry we missed your call on Saturday Justin- it was so good to hear your voice on the machine. I'm glad you're back on American soil.
All is well here, just busy & TIRED, as usual. I just put photos on Flickr from 1/28 - 2/10. Josh, Noah & Ava are well. I'm burning the candle at both ends as usual, but is there any other way?? Ava is finally getting fat rolls & she giggled for the first time last night, but didn't do it again today, unfortunately; it was SOOOOOO stinkin' cute! She's rolling over too. She's just as active now as she was inside my belly, so diaper changes are wrestling matches- must have been all that spinning I did up to my 6th month of pregnancy!!? Noah started violin & soccer last week- he loves both. He's very gifted musically & we hope he'll continue with it, and after soccer practice he sleeps REALLY WELL, which is always a good thing, right Jen??
Last night I had a birthday party for my friend Ashley's Grandmother, Delores. Delores turned 75 (you'll see the photos on Flickr- she's the one in the red boa, compliments of ME, of course). Anyway, it was really nice. I've sort of adopted her as another grandmother. She's a really sweet lady. Unfortunately, her daughter (my friend Ashley's mom) took her own life last summer- VERY sad- she was bipolar and was off of her medication. Since Josh is bipolar, Delores & I sort of have a bond.
Anyway, it was Delores' 75th & she doesn't have anyone here to celebrate with- Ashley moved to Boston in November to live with her Aunt, so Delores is alone. She had a great time & so did we.
Sorry the weather is so crappy there- I won't tell you what it's like here!!! Love & miss you all. That's the only thing about Morro Bay that sucks- none of you are here with me! XXXOOO, Kath

JENNEE'S 2 FULL TIME JOBS

I don't know how you do it either Jennee. I know you're sleep deprived. I worry about you getting sick, or worse yet, falling asleep at the wheel. Love Dad

12 Hour Days

Man, those days are long. Jennee, I don't know how you've done it for so long. I guess after a while I'll get used to it, but I'm pretty useless when I get home. The new job is going okay, and despite the 12 hour days, I'm pretty comfortable there. That's easy to say when I'm on the front side of a four day weekend. That's the obvious benefit of working three twelves I guess.

Steph and the little girl are doing well. I know we haven't taken a picture lately, but I promise sometime within the next couple days that will get done. Today we're heading to Swedish American for a 8 hour "birthing class". That should be fun. As soon as that's over, we're heading to Pecatonica for dinner with the in-laws, so that should be fun.

By the way, did I mention that I'm SICK OF WINTER?!?

snow

Is it spring yet?????

I solved the mystery of missing labor leader Jimmy Hoffa last night. He was in Mandy's laundry basket. That's the only reason I could come up with for it being so heavy.

When I went to see Kathy and Josh, knew I was in California, when I noticed that the ATM instead of having choices "Yes" or "No", had "Sure" and "No".

Nathans eansy wensy spider

Here is Nathan doing the eansy wensy spider. He usually does the spider at the beginning and rain but of course he won't do the whole thing for the camera. Well I think that are family sickness is finally getting better. Nathan is completely better and Madelynn is down to one neb treatment a day. Hopefully by next week she won't need it at all.