Our Abundant Blessings

What's up with Kari?

2012-01-30T14:32:00.000-05:00

I have been MIA lately. I know that. In fact, every post that has been written the last few months has been written by my husband. To be honest, I couldn't bring myself to sit down and write. It wasn't like there wasn't anything to write about. I mean, Brianna turned 7. We had Thanksgiving, Jonah turned 5 and started preschool, Christmas, New Years. We found out we are pregnant! There has been a lot to talk about. To be honest, I just couldn't find the energy to do it. I know that I have been depressed. I know losing the baby in May sent me into a spiral, and I thought that I was doing good for a quite a while. I had myself fooled to believe that if I just continued to push through I would come out of the fog and life would get normal again. So I pushed through. But the house started to fall apart, Brianna's birthday came 2 days after the day we were due with out baby, and while I told myself the distraction of celebrating her birthday was a very wonderful distraction it brought to light even more what we would be missing with that baby. Christmas time rolled around, and I probably wouldn't have noticed. Steven decorated the house. We went Christmas shopping. I probably could have just let it roll on by, but I have 3 children that needed the celebration. I did too, but I just didn't have the energy. The day after Christmas we found out we were expecting again. I should have been excited...instead I called Steven into the bathroom and sat on the toilet seat and sobbed. How could this be happening again? I can't do this again! I don't know want anyone to know. We will keep it to ourselves and once we hear the heartbeat we'll tell everyone. I can't go through all this again. That lasted all of 1 week. The morning sickness (which I swear was named so by a man who has never been pregnant and has no idea what pregnancy induced nausea and vomiting is like at all!!!) was lasting all day, I was exhausted and knew I wouldn't be able to hide it from anyone any longer. We told everyone on New Years' Eve, an exciting way to start a new year, the expectation of new life! But I felt like I couldn't breathe. I'm not going to, I told Steven, until I hear the heartbeat. Then maybe I'll be able to exhale.

Everything with this pregnancy has been exactly what the other pregnancy was not. I am sick all the time, I have no energy. But for the most part things have been good. The kids have been really excited and they are calling my belly Julia. For their sake I really hope it's a girl. They'll be really upset otherwise! But who am I kidding, I'd love for it to be a girl too! Balance things out, 2 boys and 2 girls. That would be about perfect!

Thursday I started bleeding. We're still not sure why but it scared me to death! I called my doctor and they had me go to have some blood work done to check my hCG levels. They put a Stat order on it and my doctor's office called me an hour and a half later. She laughed when she said my hCG levels were over 200,000 (and I'm only about 9 weeks at this point!!!) and said I was definitely pregnant. They had me come in the next day for an ultrasound. When the baby popped up on that screen I felt my heart start to race. There it was, a little peanut kicking and punching away. And then I saw the blip on the screen that was the heartbeat. The feelings that rose up in my at the moment...I can't even tell you! My eyes filled up with tears. What I didn't get last time was filling up the room, the sound of that little heart! And boy was it fast. 185 beats per minute (sounds like a girl heart rate to me!) They never figured out where the bleeding came from or why. They aren't worried about it, but if it happens again we'll have to take a look and do some more testing. But for now, I have peanut pictures on my fridge, and I can't help but smile every time I pass them!

I can't say that I'm completely out of my fog. I have battled with depression off and on over the years. I will probably be treated for it for the rest of my life. My parents both suffer from depression also so I come by genetically and I tend to be at a high risk of situational depression. I worry about postpartum depression with this one. I had it with Brianna. So I have a feeling I'll end up back on meds after this one is born, but I know they'll help me, so I say Bring it on!

For now I'm trying to figure out how to get the house back in order and prepare for this baby. Steven has been a huge help, but I feel like he is doing an unfair share of all the work right now, especially after he's been at work all day. I'm thinking it's time to get back on the FlyLady wagon since I did really good when I was following her program in the past. I think I'm just going to have to babystep my way through this pregnancy and learn to FLY again!

So that's where I've been. I can't guarantee that I'll be better about posting any time soon. I don't see daily posts in the near future. But I will try to post every few days and let you all know how things are going. And of course, it will be time for belly pictures soon! ( *yippy*) Thanks for sticking with me as I've been so in and out lately. I hope you'll continue to stick around!

We are Pregnant!

2012-01-09T20:37:00.001-05:00

Well it has a been a while since the last post and a lot has happened. We had a wonderful Christmas and spent a lot of time with the family. It was a busy one but we did manage to make all our rounds. It is such a great time of the year just to spend time with family and appreciate the time we have together. Seeing our children's excitement brings joy to anyone's heart.

So, Steven's sister Samantha is getting married in September and pretty much everyone is in the wedding. To make it interesting we are Pregnant! That is right! There will be another little one, God willing in August. If our calculations are right it will be August 20th. We are so excited and Jonah finally gave in and said we can have a girl so Brianna can have a sister. Isn't he sweet?

So if it is a girl her name will be Julia Marie Fischer. Julia Marie is Steven's great grandmother's name. If it is a boy we are thinking Elijah Zike Fischer and call him Eli. The middle name is up in the air, but Zike is Anita's maiden name. It's always fun thinking up names now we have to get rid of the office and make room for the baby. So time to get organized.

Since this will probably be our last, we are planning on doing the nursery in Owls instead of reusing the Winnie the Pooh like we have had with the others. Just a change of scenery if you will. Plus is will give us some pictures to post as well.

Children are such a blessing and even with all the morning sickness we know that God has a special plan for us. We have a lot of people praying for us, especially since our loss that we had back in May. St. Gerard - Pray for us.

So as we start off the New Year, from our family to yours we wish you many blessings. We are so grateful for our family and friends.

St. Nick

2011-12-07T21:26:00.000-05:00

Celebrating St. Nicholas on his day in Advent brings a bit of fun and festivity into our home. His small treats and surprises help keep the spirit of good St. Nicholas, especially when stories of his goodness and kind deeds are told and ways to express his care for those in need are sought. Saint Nicholas helps us remember Christmas is a feast of love, hope, kindness and generosity.

St. Nick has come!

Stockings are stuffed with treats!

Looks like the kids have bubbles and some toys to play with!

Brianna and Jonah checking out what St. Nick brought!

Micah looking at his candy!

Brianna loves her sock monkey!


Jonah in his hat and showing his Christmas Ornament!

Each year we get an ornament as well! This year we had a special ornament! This ornament reminds us of our little one that we lost that would have been part of our family this Christmas, but now is our angel in heaven.

For our child that we never met and is in heaven!

Kari's 2011 Christmas Ornament - Glass Angel

Steven's 2011 Christmas Ornament - Snowman

Brianna's 2011 Christmas Ornament - Precious Moment


Jonah's 2011 Christmas Ornament - Cars


Micah's 2011 Christmas Ornament - Curious George

Last year our Aunt Robin gave us her Willow Nativity Scene when my Uncle David passed away. It was missing something and the new addition is the ANGEL! Isn't it beautiful and such detail! Advent is a time to prepare and to have some fun along the way. St. Nick is a great story to read to the kids and the children really enjoy his visit!

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas!!!

2011-11-26T09:33:00.000-05:00

This year my mom combined birthday gifts for Brianna and Jonah (whose birthdays are literally 30 days apart) and got us a family pass to the zoo. We are blessed to have a very good zoo where we live, in fact it's considered one of the top zoos in the country. It recently went through some major renovations and is looking incredible! Every year they do an incredible Christmas lights display called The Festival of Lights. The entire zoo is decked out and it also gives you that rare chance to see the nocturnal animals awake and active, which is always really fun! This year they have also switched over all of their lights to LED lights to be more green and the display is completely new, so that was a great surprise! Last night we decided to take advantage of our new passes and kick off the Christmas season by spending a few hours at the festival.

Walking in

Mrs. Frosty the Snowman

Looking at the light display around Swan Lake.

Flamingos are so cool!

Micah with Uncle Josh.

Touching the lights.

Those bats were HUGE!!!

Walking Bear Hill

Trying to point out the bears to the kids. They were black bears so they were kind of hard to find in the dark.

Happy kids (Jonah looks drunk but he wasn't...I promise!!!)

Enjoying some hot chocolate outside the polar espresso.

Looking at the bonobos. They were picking each others fur..it was pretty cute!

What's a trip to the Festival of Lights without a gingerbread man!?!? (And a pose on a gorilla statue!!)

Uncle Josh and Uncle Chris

Mom, Chris and Josh

It was a great night! Merry Christmas!!!

Today we are decorating the house and getting ready for Advent to start tomorrow. That means putting the finishing touches on our Advent fun for this year. I'll post more about it later! Have a great weekend!

Gobble! Gobble!

2011-11-24T13:10:00.001-05:00

We are so thankful for our children - the three we have here on earth with us now and our little angel that is with us in spirit always and forever! We are so blessed! Here are our little turkey's in their Thanksgiving shirts that Nina made for them. She found the idea on our friend Kaysi's craft blog, Keeping it Simple. I believe Kaysi saw it on Pinterest. They turned out adorable!

Crazy Turkey!

Micah Edward

Brianna Michelle

Jonah Michael

We hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving holiday. May your blessings be abundant as we begin this holiday season. And may your belly be full of turkey and pumpkin pie! YUM-O!!

Happy Thanksgiving! I'll be back with regular posting on Monday. It's been a weird month!

Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T10:51:00.000-04:00

This year mom was out of town for Halloween so we decided to take the kids over to Steven's grandparents house so they could trick-or-treat with their cousins. It was a great time! Has anyone else realized that trick-or-treating is way shorter than it used to be? It was only 1 1/2 hours where we went! When we were kids I remember trick-or-treating lasting hours! We had time to go home, dump our bags and then go out again. But not anymore! We ended up with WAY more candy than we can eat for months around here, but still, it seems like so much has changed!

This year our trick-or-treaters consisted of a punk rocker, a Buzz Lightyear and an alien from Toy Story who wouldn't wear his head so ended up looking like a guy from Star Trek the Next Generation! We were joined by a Crayola Crayons Box, a 1950's teen, a 1970's teen, Kissing Kate Barlow from the movie Holes, Big Money and one of Aunt Michelle's friends who wore Micah's alien head! lol They had a blast. And it was fun to walk around with the kids and enjoy the thrill of Halloween again through their eyes.

To Infinity and Beyond!

With cousin Jamie

With Aunt Shelly

The whole trick or treating crew...Micah's looking like "You guys are awesome!" lol

"So let me get this straight...I hold out my bucket and they put candy in it? This is the best day EVER!!"

As Oprah would say, that's joy rising right there!

Now that was a successful night!

Hello pretty punk!

With cousin Kristi

Aunt Kathy and her awesome makeup!

The haul..and that's not even all of it! We still have some in a bag on top of the fridge! Like I said, it was a good night!

Hope you all had a great Halloween!

Monday Meandering- October 31, 2011

2011-10-31T09:01:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween!!!!

So I feel like every time I get inspired to get the blog back up and flowing everything falls apart!! We have had so much illness in this house since I last posted 2 weeks ago. It started with Jonah, then Micah got horribly sick. It's so hard when a 2 year old without an extensive vocabulary is sick! They can't tell you what they need so all of your time is consumed trying to figure out what you can do to help them and make them comfortable. And then, last Sunday it was my turn. I was fine when I woke up but later in the evening I started feeling like I was dying! My head felt like it was going to explode, my throat was on fire and my ear was aching. I knew I was sick when everything started to make me cry! (I get very weepy when I don't feel good-it's weird, I know!!!) I spent all of last week, with few exceptions on the couch. Thank God for NyQuill, DayQuill, Sudafed, Halls and herbal tea! But this nasty cold virus literally kicked my butt all week long! Yesterday was the first day I started actually feeling like my old self! (I woke up wanting coffee instead of tea so that must mean I felt better! lol) I think maybe we got this all out of our house finally! If it wasn't raining, I'd open the windows today to let those yucky germs to a hike!!! Maybe I will if the rain stops for any point of time today, air out every room for a while! But this is a new week, time for another Monday Meandering over at In Light of the Truth.

Bible Study... I've been rereading the Left Behind series and it's gotten me into end time prophecy so I think I'm gonna try to tackle Revelations and what it says about the second coming of Jesus.

Memory Verse... Revelation 5:12 (partial): "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches, wisdom and strength, honor and glory and blessing."

Husband Encouragement...
-plan a date night. It's been a few weeks since we've been out together.
-Be the first to kiss him before he leaves for work and the first to kiss him when he gets home.

-Make sure that I'm dressed and looking nice when he walks in the door. He's seen me a lot in my pajamas lately because I was sick! lol

Train Them Up...

* Make tokens and start a token system for TV and computer time. Brianna and Jonah will each get 4 tokens a day (each representing 30 minutes). When their tokens are gone for the day they get no more TV/Computer time. Left over tokens at the end of the day get put in a jar and can be traded in at the end of the week for money (thinking maybe $0.25 per token). Still debating whether we want them to be able to earn more tokens by doing extra things around the house. Got the two hour limit from the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations about screen time for children. All I know is somethings got to change..there is way too much TV/Computer usage going on around here!!

* Family Bible Time: We have really started slacking on this around here so we'll be getting back into a nightly Family Bible time using the kids Bible. We will also have a reading each night from A Picture Book of Saints. We are also working on some new prayers (Come, Holy Spirit and the Evening Prayer)

* Family Night: We haven't had family night for two weeks because of all the sickies floating around. Time to prepare our November lessons/activities. Brianna asks about it every week! She loves Family Night!!

Personal Goals...

- Start eating breakfast. I don't eat breakfast, unless it's on the weekends! Why is that? I grew up eating breakfast. I know how important it is, but I guess I've become a typical adult who equates breakfast with coffee! That needs to change.

- Personal prayer time. I've become a real slacker here also. The boys take a two hour + nap every day. I could be using that time for prayer time but I'm not. Let's see if that can change!!

New Habit of the Month... Well, my October habit of fully completing a load of laundry before starting another one totally FAILED!!! lol My habit for November is going to be to get back to using my binder that I made when I was doing FlyLady. My house is starting to fall apart and it's because I'm not FLYing anymore! Time to return to FLYing and using the binder is a crucial part of that! So today I will be getting the binder back in order and getting ready to use it every day!

MUST Do...

* I went shopping yesterday but forgot to get toilet paper! Ooopps! Gotta do that TODAY!! lol

* Take the kids Trick-or-Treating

* Call Pediatrican and get Jonah's last evaluation form to take to preschool. He can start as soon as I get that to the school.

* Drop off evaluation form and immunization record at the school so Jonah can start preschool. He had an evaluation two weeks ago and we discovered he has some gross and fine motor skill development delays. So he's going to preschool (free through the school system!!) to work on those. The program can last anywhere from 6-8 weeks, or longer if he doesn't make enough progress during that time.

Zone(s)...Master Bedroom (again!!) Steven did an amazing job this weekend helping me get the house back in shape! The downstairs looks terrific and the kids rooms look pretty good. Our room however, well, anyways! So my zone this week is the Master Bedroom. It will look AMAZING by the end of the week...I am on the war path! lol

Menu -

M - dinner at Steven's grandparents before Trick-or-Treating (chili I think! yum!!)

T - something with chicken, maybe chicken & noodles or chicken and dumplings

W - spaghetti with meatballs, garlic bread, salad

Th - vegetable soup or beef stew

F - Jonah will be with Steven's dad and I'm hoping the other two will be with Steven's mom so this will probably be date night!

S - My goal this day is to get the kids rooms completely finished (wall paint touch ups, curtains hung, decorations up) so since we'll be busy we will probably do just sandwiches or pizza.

Su - Mom usually plans on the weekends so I don't know!

FUN THINGS!
* Trick-or-Treating with the kids

* First night of play rehearsals for me on Wednesday. We are doing a show with all the nursery rhymes characters this year. It's gonna be really fun!

* Date night on Friday.

* Family night with the kids, probably Thursday.

3 things I'm thankful for today...

1. That everyone is getting healthy!

2. A husband who is willing to help around the house when I get sick or overwhelmed!!

3. My 8th grade students who are preparing for Confirmation in February. Their curiosity and thirst for knowledge is catching and keeps me on my toes! Please keep them and all students who will be Confirmed this year in your prayers!

Have a blessed week everyone!!!

Family Night Friday- October Week 2

2011-10-14T15:49:00.000-04:00

This week Family Night was a go! We got boo'd Wednesday night so that meant that this week we were going to boo our neighbors. The kids were so excited! Brianna got to choose someone and then Jonah got to choose someone. We started the evening with dinner at one of our favorite places:

After chicken nuggets, a deluxe chicken sandwich and waffle fries (and a little time in the play place, I mean come on, why shouldn't they get to run wild for a while?!?!) we headed off to Target to hit the Dollar Spot. I love the Dollar Spot at Target. We came away with adorable Halloween buckets and lots of fun goodies to put inside them (Halloween socks, glow in the dark wands, axes and necklaces, window clings, etc) We also grabbed some break apart and bake cookies to add to our buckets. We headed to the checkout with buckets ready and families picked out to boo and headed home to bake our cookies.

After putting together our baskets together and baking cookies we headed out into the night to spread the Halloween love!

Jonah holding his bucket, Brianna hers and Micah the bucket we got Boo'd with!

Let's go Boo!!!

I always love watching the kids do stuff like this. It's one of those things that I know they will remember and hopefully carry on with their children one day. Traditions, memories, that's what it's all about. Spending those times together that will build up relationships and show them that at the end of the day it all begins and ends with family. It was just buckets filled with $1 items, but to them it was the best day ever!

After boo'ing we came home to drink hot chocolate, eat cookies and watch Aladdin. (Wouldn't you know this was the one night Brianna could stay up late to watch the movie on Disney Channel since it's fall break and the "Halloween" movie was Aladdin..really!?!?!) I enjoyed listening to them giggle and singing the songs at the top of my lungs. It was a great night! And we enjoyed our time together.

What did you do this week to build up your family? Please share!

Family Night Friday-October Week 1

2011-10-07T09:32:00.000-04:00

You know what they say...the best laid plans go astray...well, they totally do! This week I ended up with a very sick child. Jonah started to run a fever on Monday and by Tuesday afternoon it was up to 102.7! He was burning up and miserable and woke up from his nap saying that it hurt to breath! For a mommy with kids with asthma that always says "We are going to the doctor!" Of course, it was late in the day so the doctor couldn't get us in until the after hours clinic opened at 5 pm. I got him to the doctor to find out he had an ear infection (which I never would have suspected because he didn't complain once about his ear!) and either strep or parainfluenza. The doctor decided not to test him for strep because he was already going to prescribe an antibiotic for the ear infection and if it was strep the antibiotic would take care of that too. If it was parainfluenza, which is viral, there was nothing they could do for it anyway. So we left the doctor with a prescription for amoxacillian and went to Wal-Mart to fill it. Luckily Steven had just gotten off of work and met us there so he could take Jonah home (the other two were already at home with my mom) and I wouldn't have to drag a feverish, miserable child through Wal-Mart. Almost an hour later I finally got home. We got a round of antibiotics on board and sat down for dinner. After dinner we were all exhausted, especially Jonah. So we decided to snuggle on the couch and watch a movie. So much for my family night plan! But tonight we are leaving to go to my mom's hometown for their Fall Foliage Festival so it'll be a whole weekend of Family Time! lol Just goes to show the need to be flexiable! Sometimes your plans work, sometimes they don't! Guess I better start working on our Family Night for next week...if we don't get boo'd we'll be watching Spookley the Square Pumpkin and decorating pumpkins. If we get boo'd we'll be booing our neighbors! Either way, it'll be fun! Have a great weekend!!!

PS...we found our camera! But get this! Our camera card is broken! We slipped it out of the camera and it literally snapped!!! It fit in our computer to get the pictures off but it won't go back in the camera!! I can't believe it! So I have to see if I can find the other card, or go buy one before we hit the road this weekend! The drama never ceases around here I tell ya!!!

Monday Meanderings-October 3, 2011

2011-10-03T08:42:00.000-04:00

It's finally October! Oh how I love this month! The changing leaves, the cooler (but not quite cold) weather, football, apples, pumpkin pie, steaming cups of herb tea! Yup, I love this month!!! Time for another Monday Meandering hosted by Sarah over at In Light of the Truth. Come join us!

Bible Study... I have no idea what I want to do this week. I'm thinking maybe I will focus on one of the smaller books of the New Testament and read it all the way through.

Memory Verse... I'll choose a verse out of the book that I choose to focus on. I'll share more about these two when I figure out which book I'm going to focus on.

Husband Encouragement... 1) Making sure he has clean jeans. They get to wear jeans to work every day this week so I need to make sure he has his jeans cleaned every other night.

2) planning a date for next weekend. We will be married 8 years on the 18th and I want to find something fun to do to celebrate!

Train Them Up... Still working on TV/screen time. It's easier Monday and Tuesday when I have babysitting kids here. They are so busy playing they don't watch as much TV. The other days are a little harder. I have found a token system that I think will work really well, just need to clear it with Steven.

Personal Goals... I'm having a hard time with this one! I think it's gonna need some prayer and I'll try to add it later!

New Habit of the Month... laundry....washing, drying, folding and putting away! I usually miss a step here-I'll bet you can guess which one...yup! The last one! Focusing on one load at a time and following it all the way through until it is completed before starting another one. I may only get one or two loads done a day, but at least they will be completely done and my laundry room won't look like a disaster zone!

MUST Do...1) Shopping- we are out of everything! And there are great sales this week, and there were great coupons in yesterdays paper so I must go shopping!!!
2) Family Night on Tuesday evening-I think I'll finish up our lesson on All Hallow's Eve and we'll do that one.
3) Make sure laundry is done so I can pack for us to leave Friday for Indiana.

Zone... Master bed and bathroom. It looked great Friday, and the weekend came and let's just say it is not great now. So time to move back in there and get it straightened out this week. If I have time I might also work on our closet.

Menu -Monday- I have no idea!!! I'm gonna have to look and see, maybe tater tot casserole?!?
Tuesday- Apple pork roast in the crock pot, sweet potatoes, green saladWednesday- dinner out-My brother is starting to work as a server at a new restaurant in the area, so we're going to go see him at work on Wednesday.
Thursday- pot roast in the crock pot with potatoes and carrots
Friday- leave for Indy, dinner on the road
Saturday- we'll be in Indy so we'll either eat at the Fall Foliage Festival or we'll eat at my grandma's.
Sunday- we'll eat before we hit the road to come home.

FUN THINGS: 1) the Fall Foliage Festival this weekend in my mom's hometown. It's been years since we've been able to go so I'm really looking forward to it!
2) spending time with my Nana and seeing her new house.
3) family night on Tuesday!

3 things I'm thankful for today...
1) the change in the seasons. Fall always makes me so happy!
2) a fun date night out with my hubby this weekend. We had so much fun and it was nice to be together, just us!
3) A nice warm home to protect us during this change in the seasons. It's almost too cozy though, getting out of bed in the morning is difficult! lol

Well, that's it for this week! Have a blessed one!

Family Night Friday-October Plan

2011-09-30T15:20:00.000-04:00

So I decided that the best way for us to help us stick with a weekly family night was to try to plan each month in advance. Over the past few days I looked through books that we had, ideas I had printed from some of my online resources that I shared last time, and did some more internet research. Since October is the month of pumpkins, fall leaves, apple cider and Halloween it was pretty easy to come up with my plan. So here is our Family Night Plan for October.

1) Booing: In our neighborhood the Boo ghost makes it's way around to each house every year. So, after we have been boo'd we will spend one of our family nights putting together Boo baskets for two of our neighbors. Before hand I will need to pick up little things (we usually grab them at the Dollar store or the Dollar Spot at Target) to put in the baskets. I thought this year we could also bake some Halloween cookies to bag up and include in our baskets. We will then deliver the baskets to the neighbors we have chosen (Brianna gets to choose one and then Jonah chooses the other- we ring the doorbell and then run away. It's super fun!!) Then we'll come home and eat cookies, drink hot apple cider and watch a Halloween themed movie, maybe Charlie Brown and The Great Pumpkin or one of the Casper movies. I can't assign a date to this family night. It will be done during the week after we get boo'd.

2) Spookley the Square Pumpkin: Dare to be Square: I found this lesson last year over at Sugardoodle.net, another great site for Family Night inspiration. The movie is adorable and it teaches a great lesson. I thought we would watch the movie and then use the discussion questions provided to talk about the movie. We used this last year, but the kids are older now and I think ready for a better conversation. October is also National Bullying Prevention Month. Even children our kids ages can learn about bullying and how to stop it, and this movie is a great aide in that. Instead of the suggested activity of coloring the Spookley coloring pages I thought we would decorate pumpkins. Instead of carving them, which really turns into daddy carving and the rest of us watching I thought I would order these foam pumpkin stickers from Oriental Trading. The pumpkins will last longer if they aren't hallowed and carved, and the kids can design their own pumpkin face. Then for dessert, we have, what else? Pumpkin pie!!! Yum!

3) I want to do an evening where we talk about what All Hallow's Eve/All Saint's/All Soul's Day is all about. I haven't figured out how I'm going to do that yet but I will post a plan once I have one. I'm doing lots of research but haven't found anything that screams out to me yet.

4) Finally I want to do a night on Halloween/Trick or Treating Safety. I found a really cute lesson last year involving ghosts and the rules of Trick or Treating, and it had a little board game to go along with it. I wrote the website on the page after I printed it, but it's not coming up anymore :-( So I'll share it more with you when we do it, which will be the week leading up to Halloween/Trick or Treating. We'll review the safety rules the day of as well in order to reinforce them.

So that's our Family Night plan for the month of October. My goal now is that each Friday I will share pictures, a lesson plan (if there is one), activity directions, dessert suggestions, and other various tips. Then you can decide if it's something you might want to do with your own family. Have a great weekend everyone! I'll be back on Sunday with my next Communion of Saints post! You can view my first one here in case you missed it!

Lately

2011-09-29T08:14:00.000-04:00

We have done some really fun stuff lately, but I can't find my camera to post the pictures :-( And the pictures are half the fun for me! So I am on a search today to locate my camera so that I can catch you up on all the happenings around here. I'm working on tomorrow's post for Family Night Friday. Can't wait to share with you my plans for Family Night for the whole month of October. Maybe you'll join me? I hope you will! So until tomorrow, or until I find my camera, which hopefully will be sooner than tomorrow!!!

Family Night Friday

2011-09-23T09:39:00.001-04:00

So life went crazy about the time I came up with my wonderful ideas to renovate my little blog! I think things have settled down a little bit so here's to getting back to business!

Growing up Mormon having a regular family home evening was strongly encouraged. There were many reasons that it was encouraged. LDS.org says that "Family home evening is a special time set aside each week that brings family members together and strengthens their love for each other, helps them draw closer to Heavenly Father, and encourages them to live righteously." Family Home Evening could range from having a lesson about a scripture story or value we needed to work on living. It could be a night of family games. It could be snuggling on the couch, eating popcorn and watching a good family movie. It could be going out to play putt-putt, going to the beach, take a bike ride, anything really that draws the family together and has them spending time having fun and learning together.

Steven and I knew that we wanted to have family night with our family, but we haven't been great about it! We did really good for a while and then, it totally fizzled! Well, I'd like to get back! I think it fizzled for me because I tried to have these big lessons, etc planned for each week. Sometimes we just need to step back and have fun. I forget how much learning can occur when we're just having fun together! We have done some really fun things for family night. Like camping in the living room. We did a lesson on listening (one we clearly need to do again! lol!!!) In the fall we've done a family night based around "Spookly the Square Pumpkin" and how it's OK to be different...often being different is a very good thing. It's been a while since I've posted anything FHE based...I guess it's time to get back to it!

So, one of my goals is that every Friday I will share what we have done the previous week for family night. I'll have pictures, a lesson plan to share (if there was one), directions for the activity or craft we did (again, if there is one), a recipe for a fun dessert (well, ok...if there is one! lol) so that you can recreate it if you want to with your family. I like to play around with seasons and holidays so a lot of the family night ideas coming up soon will have a season or holiday theme to them. Hopefully we will complete them early enough for you to be able to do them too! If you are having family night with your family I'd love to see what you are doing too! You can never have too many ideas! Please leave me a link to your blog so that I can check out what you are doing to draw your family closer!

I wanted to end by sharing a couple of websites that might prove helpful in planning your family nights. Some of them are written by members of the Mormon church, but if you are not Mormon don't let that stop you from using their ideas. You might have to do more searches for Bible verses that apply instead of using Book of Mormon verses. Some of the topics might not apply (General Conference or Follow the Prophet) but a lot of the information is good and can be a great jumping off point until you build the confidence to come up with your own ideas (shoot-I still use them often!) Some of the sites are Catholic, but again don't think that just because you aren't Catholic you can't use some of their ideas as a jumping off point to create your own! These are creative people!! Take advantage of their generosity!!!

* Family Home Evenings

* The Family Home Evening Spot

* A Year of Family Home Evening

* Sugardoodle

* Catholic Icing-Mainly craft, game and food ideas

* The Catholic Toolbox- lesson plans, games, coloring pages

* Catholic Mom- coloring pages, lesson plans, great Lenten activities

So there are a few of my resources. If you know of others please share!! Have a great weekend everybody!

2011-09-12T08:45:00.000-04:00

I am so excited to be joining in with Sarah over at In Light of the Truth for her Monday Meanderings. I am hoping that this will help me be more organized around the house, and will encourage me take time in other areas of my life where my attention might be lacking. If you like what you see I encourage you to head over to Sarah's blog and consider joining in also!

Bible Study... This week, in light of the retreat that I will be a part of giving Saturday and Sunday at my Parish I decided to do a word study on renewal. So with the help of online concordances I will be studying what the bible says about renewing our spirit and ourselves. I feel it's a great way to lead up to our retreat!

Memory Verse... Romans 12:2 "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

Husband Encouragement... 1) Keep the bedroom and bathroom tidy so he has a place to relax at night after a long day at work.

2) Speak to him with a spirit of patience and love, even when he's annoying me!

3) Make sure all of his jeans are washed for jeans days at work this week.

Train Them Up... Brianna: 1) work on her night prayers before bed. 2) work on her attitude...she is getting to be downright nasty to her brothers and parents and it's not making me happy. 3) work on cleaning her room before bed each night.

Jonah: 1) work on limiting TV time during the day while Brianna is at school. Maybe starting a token system (each token is worth 15 or 30 minutes of TV/Computer time) 2) work on keeping playroom clean 3) work on his night prayers before bed.

Micah: 1) work on limiting his TV tine (this will be easy to do if I'm working with Jonah also!) 2) start potty training...sitting on the potty every time we change a diaper. 3) work on helping Jonah and mommy keep the playroom clean.

Personal Goals... This week is so busy with getting ready for the retreat...I think I'll start with personal goals next week when I won't be setting myself up for failure! lol

New Habit of the Month... Since one of my husband encouragments is to keep the bedroom and bathroom tidy for him my habit this month will be to keep the surfaces (dresser tops, counters, bedside tables) clear and clutter free! To do this, each time I enter the room or bathroom before I leave I will look around at those surfaces. If something is on them that doesn't belong...put it away immediately!

MUST Do... 1) Print up "Thy Word" lyric sheets and put in retreat folders.
2) create worship time slide show for retreat with music and lyrics.
3) make CDs for the retreat of all of the songs used in the witnesses.
4) shop with Steven for the rest of the supplies that we need (there's not much)
5) write my HELP letters to the recipients and fellow team members.
6) call dentist and make final payment for my dental work earlier this year.
7) go to the bank and sign the signature card for the household account my mom set up so that I can set up automatic bill payments for each of our monthly/quarterly household bills.
8) Teach Baptism prep on Tuesday.

Zone... Since this week is going to be so crazy busy (we have meetings and errands to do all week) I'm going to cut myself a break here this week and just try to keep my head above water!

Menu - (I haven't had a chance to work on this yet so once I get to look in my freezer, pantry and at this week's sale ads I will come back and post it!)
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday: Brianna has dance until 6...pizza night!!
Friday: mom's day
Saturday: dinner for me on the retreat...Steven and the kids at his dad's for his grandma's birthday!
Sunday: mom's day

FUN THINGS! MY RETREAT this weekend! I can't wait!!! We've been preparing for this for almost 18 months now and we are so ready! We have 18 women who have signed up to attend! So please keep us in your prayers this week...this is when Satan starts to work really hard!!!

3 things I'm thankful for today... 1) a husband who works so hard to provide for us!
2) my children who make me smile and help me realize the little things that are so important!
3) the wonderful women I am on this retreat team with! They have become wonderful friends and I feel so blessed to have each one of them in my life!

Thanks to Sarah for hosting! Have a blessed week everyone!

Communion of Saints Sunday

2011-09-11T15:14:00.000-04:00

Fr. Mychal Judge: The Saint of 9/11

I start my Communion of Saints series with a man who has not yet been recognized by the Church officially as a Saint. But anyone who knew Father Mychal Judge would tell you that the man fit the description. Father Mychal was of the Franciscan order. You can recognize them by the brown robes that they wear. He had a love for the homeless and helped run a soup kitchen in NYC. He had a love for people who suffered from addiction. He himself was a recovering alcoholic. Teenagers would probably find it really easy to relate to Fr. Mychal. He had an earring (although he didn't always wear it) and also admitted to having a tattoo...although no one saw it and he wouldn't tell you what it was! Fr. Mychal was also openly gay.

As the fire chaplain for the FDNY he was found himself at the scenes of a lot of horrific events in NYC. On the morning of 9/11/01 he was awaken by another of his Franciscan friar brothers who told him about the events at the WTC. Fr. Mychal threw off his Franciscan robes, threw on his uniform and headed down to ground zero. Former mayor Rudy Guiliani remembers seeing Fr. Mychal running into the north tower. He says that he called out to him "Father Mychal pray for us!". Fr. Mychal turned and said "I always do! I always pray for you." (Guiliani: Mayor of America). Fr. Mychal was the only priest known to have entered the trade center towers, although he was not the only priest on the scene that day. But he knew if his boys were going to be there, he was going to be there also. He ran around the lobby of the North Tower giving absolution, praying with victims and for victims. Reports say that as commanders gave the order to evacuate the towers Fr. Mychal said "My work here is not finished!" He couldn't leave his boys in that building!

It was initially reported that Fr. Mychal died while anointing a fallen firefighter. In fact, the documentary by Jules Nadet shows Fr. Mychal back in the building after that firefighter had died, looking around and praying. Many believe he was praying the Rosary, like he had done at many a fire in NYC as the fire chaplain. Reports say that Fr. Mychal was seen in mezzanine of the building between 9:50-9:55 am. Seeing people jumping from the building he cried out "Jesus, please end this right now! God, please end this!"

Fr. Judge was killed approximately 9:59 am when the South Tower collapse sent debris flying through the North Tower. He was hit in the back of the head by debris and died instantly. One of the most famous photographs of 9/11, one that I remember clearly was that of firefighters carrying Fr. Mychal from the scene. They took his body over to St. Peter's church and wrapped him a white clothe and laid him in front of the altar. They said some prayers and then marched back to the collapsed towers to search for survivors.

Fr. Mychal was the first confirmed death of 9/11, mostly because his was the first body recovered from the scene. He was a brave man, who didn't have to be where he was that day. But he died doing exactly what he would have wanted to die doing: praying, comforting, loving for those who were suffering so greatly that day. I like to think that he was waiting just on the other side as others crossed over. That he took them by the hand and guided them in to meet His Father.

The Sunday before 9/11 Fr. Judge gave a homily in which he said "No matter how big the call, no matter how small, you have no idea what God is calling you to do. But God needs you. He needs me. He needs all of us." A few days later they were called to the biggest call they would ever have. Many of them did not come back, including Fr. Mychal. But he was there doing what God had called him to do. God calls each of us to do something too, we just have to be willing to hear and follow that call!

Fr. Mychal's Prayer:

Lord, take me where You want me to go,

let me meet who You want me to meet,

tell me what You want me to say,

and keep me out of Your way.

Fr. Mychal, Pray for us!

A Camping We Will Go

2011-09-07T08:54:00.000-04:00

So last Tuesday I post my new schedule for the blog, and then, we went on vacation! But here we go, with a new post! ***Update: due to blogger being incredibly slow it took me almost 24 hours to write this post!!! So I really did mean for it to be posted yesterday! Sorry about that!***

My mom had bought some new camping gear when she and my brother went on a trip to see my other brother in DC this summer. She got re-bitten by the camping bug and came home and schedule a trip to Brown County State Park in Indiana over Labor Day weekend. I was super excited! Growing up when we wanted to go on vacation we usually went camping. With the exception of two trips that I can remember (going to NYC and Disney World with a choir that I sang with) every major vacation memory is camping. But we had never taken our kids camping, and I knew these were memories I wanted to make with them. Falling asleep in a tent with the sounds of crickets and tree frogs, sitting around the campfire telling stories and roasting marshmallows, making foil dinners, getting caught in a rain storm...those are things they would always remember. So Thursday evening we loaded up cars and Friday we hit the road. Mom went up early with Jonah and my brother and two of his friends (who are like family to us) and they got the campground(s) set up. We came up after school and work to join them. After getting lost (CURSE YOU MAPQUEST!!!!) we found the campground and arrived around 8 pm. No one had eaten so we hastily pulled out hamburgers and hotdogs, got a fire going and then got everyone in bed (we were all super grouchy...that first day is always the hardest!!!)

The entrance to the State Park. I've been obsessed with covered bridges ever since I saw "Sleepy Hollow" with Steven on our first date. There is just something so romantic about them, especially when I can conjure up images of Johnny Depp!

One of our two campsites. We were in the bigger tent on the left with our kids and my cousin Kenzie. The small tent in the middle is the food tent and the tent on the right is where my Aunt Stacey and cousin Trey slept. You can see the dining tent in the corner.

Saturday mom had arranged for canoe rentals. After breakfast we headed to the canoe rental place. Upon arrival the place looked a little shady (to say the least...they had 3 padlocks on their shed...and we had passed on obvious methhouse not too far back...so we kind of wondered what we had gotten ourselves into!!!) but the guy seemed very nice (and he had all his teeth...although Michael says they could very well have been fake!) and he took us down to the river to our canoes. We had three canoes (13 people in all). Once we figured out who was going in which canoes, who was going to row and where we were going we got shoved off and started our adventure. And it was an adventure! The river outlet that we were in was full of tree stumps, entire trees that had fallen in, etc. To say the least, navigating was interesting. The guy told us that it was 4 miles from where we started to Lake Monroe and then we would bring the canoes back to where we started (8 miles round trip) I think we underestimated how long 4 miles takes in a canoe because at one point we came upon a fisherman. He said we were at least 2 hours away from the Lake still. We had already been in the canoes for 2 hours!! So we decided to go ashore, eat some lunch, take a swim and then turn around and head back. we switched up the canoes (except for me, I couldn't really help paddling when I had to watch Jonah and Micah) and headed back. I decided to pull out the camera and snap some pictures because the scenery was great!

Baby's first canoe ride!

Brianna had so much fun!

Jonah wasn't too sure about it at first-in fact we had to physically put him in the canoe-but he LOVED it!

I love the reflection of the trees on to the water.

The very rare picture of me- my poor glasses- the arm is loose and so they constantly look crooked-have to go to the eye doctor yet again to have them fixed!

Let me tell you how fun this was to maneuver through!! lo,

Saturday night we did the typical camping stuff-made foil dinners, s'mores (but we are chocolate snobs so we use Ghiradeli minis for our s'mores- and yes, they are bomb!), told stories (mostly sad attempts at being scary, but the kids thought it was hilarious!).

Sunday we went into town. BCSP is near Nashville, Indiana, also known as "little Nashville". It is a cute little town full of shops, great places to eat and awesome little candy stores! We walked around for most of the afternoon browsing shops and enjoying time. We met up with my Aunt Helen and Uncle Creg, cousins Becca and Sara and Sara's daughter Vanessa for a while also. It was awesome to see them and see Brianna and Vanessa together. They were so cute! By that time Steven had taken the boys back to the campground for a nap, and he had also taken my camera so I didn't get many pictures, but we had a great afternoon in Little Nashville. We will definitely go back for a girls day of shopping, hopefully soon!

This shop called "The Backporch" had these awesome horse swings made out of old tires!

Cocoon Kenzie!

Sunday night we took pizza back to the campground, we were just too tired to cook! After dinner we broke out some games. The first was Apples to Apples Jr. Always a good time playing that game!

The tickle monster gets Jonah!

Oh so serious!

Oh yeah! That's my card!

There were lots of tickle games going on.

Micah and Aunt Stacey

We made peach cobbler in the dutch oven. Can you say yummy!?! It was just like I remembered it! And ended up being Steven's favorite part of the trip! lol

Hi pretty girl!

Tired girl snuggling with her nina!

Two of my boys!

Jonah playing Mario brothers with Uncle Mikey.

Evil...she's evil I tell ya!

Sparklers...don't know that they were exactly legal...but we didn't light the forest on fire!

YUM!!! I mean YUM!!!

Super baby!

"This is good!" lol

So silly!

Goofballs!

Later on a Euchre game got started and continued long into the night. I'm not a Euchre player so I went to bed early with the kids but it must have been a good time because I fell asleep to lots of laughter! Sunday night was really cold, mainly because I didn't bring enough blankets. The kids were fine in their sleeping bags, but Steven and I were frozen when we woke up Monday morning. And then we woke up to find all the wood had been used up the night before during the Euchre game! UGH!!! Luckily the camp store was open so Steven ran up to get another bundle. We sat around with sleeping bags and blankets and waited to get breakfast going.

Walking Mathias

Making pancakes

Monday we didn't have to check out until 5 pm so we decided to take the kids horseback riding. Kenzie's birthday is this Friday so my mom treated her to a ride. Our kids were too small to ride the horses on the trail (they had to be 8) but they had parent assisted pony rides available, so they each got a couple of laps. They loved the ponies and went around several times.

Our pony rides were done before they rest of them got to ride their horses because of the long wait for trail rides that day. So when the kids were done we all went back to the campground for lunch and then tried to get the kids down for a nap...yeah! Right! When they didn't sleep we decided to go ahead and start breaking down camp. By the time the rest of them got back we had most of the big stuff taken care of and were ready to load cars. It was such a great trip...one I know that I will remember for a long time! And I think the kids will too. We're already talking about our next trip. Steven says we should just get out a US map, close our eyes and point...that could get really interesting...you never know where you could end up next! On the way home we stopped at our favorite farmer's market outside of Columbus, IN and bought fresh green beans, red potatoes, and sweet corn. Last night for dinner I boiled up the green beans and potatoes with a ham hock, steamed the fresh corn and cut up an Indiana melon that we had. It was the perfect meal to end a perfect trip. Can't wait until our next one. Who knows where that will be!

What To Do with my Little Blog

2011-08-30T14:09:00.000-04:00

So I've been thinking a lot lately about what to do with my poor, neglected little blog. I have a few followers, 35 at last count (thanks so much for following me!!!) but I know my posting lately has left something to be desired. So I've been thinking about a schedule that I could follow during the week to make sure that I'm posting more regularly.

On Mondays I think I'm going to join in with Sarah over at In Light of the Truth for her Monday Meanderings. I used to do The Simple Woman's Daybook, but she has stopped hosting it and what Sarah does is very much the same, but I like her format a little better. I have been following Sarah and her adorable family for a few years, ever since we were neighbors one day over at Menu Plan Monday, hosted by I'm an Organizing Junkie. I like that she includes a weekly menu plan so hopefully I'll start posting back at MPM, which used to be something I really enjoyed.

Tuesdays and Thursday I think will be just family related posts. What are we up to? How are the kids? Fun glimpses into our daily life.

Wednesday I think I'm going to start doing posts about what we are eating. I've been doing a lot of research lately about nutrition and eating real, whole foods. One of my new favorite sites is 100 Days of Real Food. The site is written by Lisa Leake who is a mother of 2 young girls. In 2010 they got sick and tired of the way the food they were eating was making them feel. So she put them all on a very strict real foods diet for 100 days and blogged about the results, along with recipes that worked and didn't and what she was learning. She started challenging others to take the 100 days of real food pledge, starting you off on a more manageable 10 day pledge and now has 14 weekly mini pledges that you can do (the link will take you to week 1s mini pledge). Her site is really fantastic. I have learned a lot there and it has inspired me to start making some real changes in our diet. So that should be a pretty interesting ride. I don't know that I'll go as strict as they are with their diet, but I think we'll be able to make some positive changes with the help of Lisa's great site!

Friday will be Family Night Friday. I will share with you what we did that week for our weekly family night. This is something that we are hit or miss about. But it is something that I really want to do regularly and I think if I'm using the blog to share my ideas and what we did it will make me more accountable about actually following through each week.

Saturdays I may or may not post. I guess it'll just depend on if I have something I was really want to share.

Sundays are going to Communion of Saints Sundays. Each Sunday I will post information about one of the hundreds of Saints that the church has. They can be such an example and inspiration to us and I have challenged myself to learn more about them this year, especially since I work with 8th graders preparing for Confirmation who have to select a confirmation name.

So that's what I'm thinking about for my little blog. Hopefully it will give me the motivation to write more regularly, and more than just "Oh look what Micah did...isn't that cute?!!?" although there will still be plenty of that going on too!

Our 1st Grader

2011-08-19T08:51:00.000-04:00

Wednesday was the first day of school in our area. It seems crazy to think it's the middle of August and the kids are already back in school, but I can't say I'm upset about it! Don't get me wrong: we had a great summer! We did a lot of fun things (swimming every Thursday at our friend Lisa's house, other playdates, Totter Otterville, baseball games, parks, swimming in the backyard, playdough, bubbles, drawing masterpieces, just all around fun!) and I enjoyed having Brianna home with us. But she thrives on the routine and schedule that school brings. And by the beginning of August she was getting bored. It was time to go back. She started a new school this year, the public school that is just up the road. We decided to send her to the public school for a few reasons, the biggest of which is tuition costs that we frankly can't afford. I mean tuition went up to $4200 this year, making it 10 monthly payments of $420! That hurts! Especially when you don't have any wiggle room left after you pay tuition to account for emergencies, or just to have fun with! Plus, the drive back and forth was killing us too. I was spending $240+ a month just in gas! That was killer! So after lots of contemplating and praying we decided to send her to the public school. She is riding the bus this year and loves it (so far!!) We got to go to open house on Monday to see the school and meet her teacher. I have to say I was very impressed with the school itself. Her teacher, Mrs. Edwards seems great! She's been teaching for 10 years and seems to have it all together! (God bless 1st grade teachers! I couldn't do it! lol) The cafeteria is fantastic! I mean they serve things like kale chips and roasted zucchini! I mean really!?!? That makes a mommy happy!!! Of course I had to snap some pictures on the first day, I mean, did you expect differently!?!?!

First day of school french toast, at the request of the big 1st grader!

Making sure her teeth were extra clean and shiny!

Posing with her Nina

Who told her she could grow up so fast!?! It's killing me!!!

Wishing our baby girl luck!

The whole family waiting for the bus!

Bri and our neighbor-who is also her "boyfriend"! hehehe

Climbing on the bus! Have a great day! We love you so much!

Coming home...tired, hungry but happy!

All in all it was a great first day back for her and that makes me a happy mommy! I have a feeling it's going to be a great year!

I wanted to make sure I shared a video too! While we were waiting outside in the afternoon for Brianna to get home we took the boys to play outside. While we were waiting Jonah gave me an informercial for Pack It. It made me laugh so hard! Sorry it's crooked! I forget that if I turn my camera sideways it means the video is going to be sideways because you can't rotate a video! Duh, Kari!

3 Months

2011-08-10T21:23:00.000-04:00

The last few days have been hard. I don't know if there is a particular reason or not. They just have been. Our church festival was this weekend, and it's always a busy time, but with Steven and I taking on some responsibilities that we never have before it made it even more challenging. We were sitting in Mass Saturday evening and I found my eyes welling up every time a mommy passed by our row with a new baby. I ran into friends at the festival with teeny tiny ones, or who are pregnant and expecting babies in a few months, and something in me hurt. Then I looked at the calender and realized we've hit the three month mark. It's been three months since we lost our little angel. Three months since they were born into heaven, and for the first time in a while I really felt the loss all over again. I would be 6 months. I'd have the baby bump. I'd be looking all cute in my maternity capris and big chunky jewelry, cause that's always fun when you're pregnant. I'd be posing for those belly shot pictures, and planning where baby was going to sleep. And instead, I'm watching friends do those things and it makes it feel even more real what I'm not doing. I realize that everything happens for a reason, and that God had a plan for this little one that I will never understand in this life. But right now, I wish things had been different. I wish I'd be getting ready to hold my little one, instead of feeling so empty. And it sucks!

Extra, Extra, Read All About It

2011-07-26T20:06:00.000-04:00

We had a big event in our house Friday night. It resulted in some crying, a little bit of bleeding and then lots and lots of smiles. Can you guess!?!? OK...another hint. It also resulted in a little girl waking up Saturday morning with money under pillow! That's right! Brianna lost her first tooth!

Can you tell she's proud!?!? This darn tooth! It was loose forever! And then it got to the point where it was just hanging. Mom convinced her to let her pull it. It took some fighting and crying but after a few minutes it was out! She was so excited!

Yeah...she's pretty excited! She was even more excited when she woke up in the morning to find a gold dollar under her pillow. The problem is that she doesn't want to spend it, so I guess I'll be spotting her a dollar when she wants to go shopping! lol

The hardest part for me is that this was the last step for her transition from a little girl to a big girl. She is officially a big girl. And sometimes it kills me! I want to slow the time down a little bit so I can keep her small forever.. but that's not the plan. So right now we celebrate a lost tooth, and prepare to lose the one next to it which is loose too! Here comes another dollar my sweet girl!

***No fairies were harmed in the making of this post***

Do you Pinterest?

2011-07-20T15:51:00.000-04:00

Well, I don't know about where you are, but here it is hot and stuffy. That's an understatement actually. It feels like 107 degrees outside, and that's in the shade! In the sun they say to add another 10 degrees so that means in the sun it feels like a scorching 117 degrees! So, I think it goes without saying that we are stuck inside. In fact, we have been all week and for most of last week, the heat has turned us into hermits! And I've been a bad mommy! We've watched way too much TV, played way to many video games and done nothing of real creativity or brain power.

I especially have spent way too much time on my new favorite website: Pinterest. If you haven't heard about it Pinterest is basically a digital idea board. You create boards and then as you are surfing the net, reading blog posts that inspire you, you can "put a pin in it" and pin the ideas onto your boards. I've only been Pinteresting for about 3 weeks now and I already have 19 boards created (travel, crafts, recipes, party ideas, styles I love, etc.) Pinterest saves the link which means at any time you can click on a certain pin and go back to the website where you found it for detailed information like the recipe or the tutorial of the craft you love! To say the least I am in love! In fact, I am downright obsessed!

My favorite part about Pinterest is that you can follow other people's boards and...wait for it...repin items that you like onto one of your own boards so you don't have to go searching for them again!! Yeah, I know! It's incredible!! If you are on Pinterest I'd love to follow you. Leave a comment with your member name so I can find you. If you want to follow me, my member name is KFischer1018. If you aren't on Pinterest and would like to be, leave me your email address and I'd love to send you an invite! I'm sure you'll love it as much as I do!

***Disclaimer*** I am not responsible for the housework that gets ignored, the children that will be left to watch TV while you are stuck to the computer, or the husband who starts posting any questions/comments to your pins in order to just get a response from you. Yes, it is that addictive!

Happy Birthday Steven and Micah!!!

2011-07-12T11:34:00.000-04:00

July 9, 2009 we welcomed our third child, Micah Edward to our family. His arrival was kind of scary, you can read about it here and here and here but we have been so incredibly blessed to have him in our family. He started out tiny (6 lbs 2.9 ounces) and is still tiny (as of his 2 year well check up yesterday he is 24.4 lbs and 34 inches...long and skinny!!) He is the funniest out of all of my kids. He loves balls, anything balls! He can shoot a basketball into a hoop and make it 9 times out of 10. He throws baseballs and footballs. We got him a t-ball set for his birthday and he is already hitting balls off of the tee. He even hits balls with "clubs" like he's golfing. He is definitely going to be my athlete!! I went back through the blog and found some of my favorite pictures of him...it was hard to choose because he takes such great pictures!

Our little man..he looked like a little man as soon as he was born.

He was soooo skinny...one month old

He played with his hands like this all the time! It was adorable...3 months old

Christmas 2009- 5 months old with the most infectious smile and giggle!

6 months and my absolute favorite outfit ever!!!

Our one year old on vacation in Washington DC-Summer 2010


20 months old with big sissy, Brianna and big brother, Jonah

Normally we would have a big party for the first birthday, but we were out of town on our DC/Baltimore/Lake Erie vacation last year, so we had a party this year. Since he is so in love with sports, I made a sports cake: baseball, football and basketball. The football went first, it was chocolate cake, with chocolate fudge filling and chocolate icing....ahhhh...death by chocolate!

the kids playing in the pool to beat the heat...it's been awful here!

the "smoking section" and the new picnic table that Steven's dad got him for his birthday.

Mom, Aunt Mary and GaGa-Gammie talking it up!

Uncle Michael (or as Micah calls him...Uncle), Aunt Shelly and Kevin...apparently Shelly was the only one paying attention to the camera! lol

Let's eat cake!

"What do you want me to do with this?!?!"

"You want some?"

"I'm not too sure about this!"

"Ahhh..this is yummy!!!!"

"This is what you wanted me to do right?!?!"

"It's a good thing I'm cute!!!"

Yes, it was even in his hair by the end!

Kristi playing the ukelele and entertaining us all.

Dancing with Aunt Kathy and our friend, Morgan.


Great Grandpa Sam, looking a little like Elvis in his sunglasses.

It was a great party! Everyone had fun, the food was yummy and the weather ended up cooperating so we could be outside on the deck, instead of shut up in the house!

The hardest part of Micah's birthday being July 9th, is that Steven's birthday is July 10th! I hate feeling like he gets lost in the shuffle...but I think he had a pretty good day too!

So happy birthday to two of the great men in my life! I don't know what I would do without either of you! Love forever and always!

Independence Day 2011

2011-07-05T16:13:00.000-04:00

What a very busy, fun packed weekend we had! We kicked off the festivities Saturday at Steven's dad's house down along the river. Steve's girlfriend Diane had her two grandkids there too, and all of the kids played so good together. Later on some more little kids joined in, including three cousins and they all got along so well. We spent the day hanging out on the front porch, fishing on the dock and eating lots of yummy food. When the sun started going down it was time to get the sparklers out and start the firework fun. Up until recently it was illegal to buy or sale fireworks in Kentucky if they left the ground. That law recently changed though, so no more driving to Indiana to buy fireworks, and they had a good haul this year (over $400 worth!!!)

We were blessed with this gorgeous sunset...I had to capture it in some pictures! It was amazing!

Micah didn't really like the fireworks. As soon as they started he ran away, so I took him and we sat up on the porch. He felt safer over there, and by the end of the show he was back in the yard with the kids whooping and hollaring!

What's the 4th of July without sparklers!?!? I commented to Steven later though that we look like true hillbilly parents...Brianna is barefoot while using sparklers...bad hillbilly parents!!!

This little guy is a pyromaniac! He kind of freaked me out! As soon as they started lighting sparklers and fireworks he starts running around the yard screaming "Fire! I love fire!!" I think we'll be watching that very closely! lol

And as much as he didn't like the fireworks, Micah loved the sparklers...they are pretty fun!!

Brianna ended up spending the night at Pawpaw's house so we went home with only the boys. I think I turned off my light at around 1 am...it was a long day, but a very fun one! We slept in Sunday morning and then went to pick up Brianna so we could head out to Steven's uncle's house. They live out in the country, on about 3 1/2 acres, which isn't huge, but it's enough for a pool, a great covered back porch, lots of room to play ball, and big driveway perfect for corn hole! We always have a lot of fun at Uncle Tim and Aunt Pam's house! Going out there is always something we look forward to.

Micah does not like the pool! It didn't matter that it was almost 100 degrees outside, and the pool was at least 85...he still screamed and screamed. I even got in and tried to hold him to see if he'd calm down..but no! It felt so good but he didn't last 5 minutes!!!

This kid is a fish! I think he spent more time in the water than out of it!

My other fish! This little girl has always adored being in the water!

Jonah fell in love with his cousin Kyle's girlfriend, Jordan. Here is concentrating very hard on a puzzle of the US that he was putting together with her. For the record, I think she was just as in love with him!!!

The Triplets: (left to right): Gabe, Sophia and Evelyn- 8 months old and so scrumptious!!!!

"Look Mom! Those firecrackers had parachute guys in them!!! Isn't that so cool!?!?!"

Chilin' out with Gaga and Papa!

Micah with his Aunt and Godmother Michelle.

Aren't these pinwheels cute!?!? I want some for my garden next year!

To wrap up the night we gathered around a fire (did I mention it was still like 80+ degrees outside!?!?) and roasted marshmallows and made s'mores. They were so yummy, and it was a great way to wrap up a really awesome day!

Happy 4th of July everybody! I hope you had a great day! May God continue to bless you wherever you are, and may God continue to bless this great country!

2nd Annual Comment Challenge

2011-07-04T11:15:00.000-04:00

Over on one of my favorite blogs, Our Motto is Patience Shelly is participating in the 2nd Annual Comment Challenge over at Jenna's Journey. I didn't hear of this last year but I think the concept is great! From today (July 4th) through next Monday our challenge is to visit 10 of the blogs on the linky list and comment on their post, because, well, what blogger doesn't love comments right!?!! And I'm sure like I did when I participated in the Ultimate Blog Party over at 5 Minutes for Mom last year I'll find a few new blogs to follow, which is always fun!

I liked Shelly's idea of doing a top 10 list so here's my top 10 to introduce you to me during the comment challenge.

1) I was raised Mormon, but converted to Catholicism in 2007. I love being Catholic and am very involved in my Parish, including cantoring during Masses, teaching 8th grade Confirmation prep in our Parish School of Religion, and being a part of a women's retreat team called CRHP (pronounced "chirp") and stands for "Christ Renews His Parish", just to name a few!

2) I love theater and was very active in my high school drama club (I played Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz..how fun is that!??!!) I was going to major in theater, but I didn't. So now I sustain my thirst for theater by attending touring Broadway shows, frequenting local theater groups and participating in my parish's drama club.

3) I love to travel. Last summer we took a 10 day road trip and went to Washington DC, Baltimore, MD and Lake Erie, OH. I am currently trying to put together a group tour to Italy summer of 2013, which will be an ultimate dream come true!

4) I have a degree in Middle School Education, and my areas of concentration are math and science. I haven't taught since I graduated in December of 2008 because I opted to stay home with my children instead. I LOVE being a stay at home mom, even on the days that my kids (ages 6, 4 and 2) are absolutely driving me nuts! ;-)

5) I love FlyLady! I think she is amazing! And I swear that my house looks as good as it does because her steps actually work! I am a Flybaby and I am proud of it!

6) I started couponing about 1 year ago, but got really into it in the past 6 months. I love being able to bring my grocery bill down (especially on healthy and beauty items, and diapers!), but I refuse to become and extreme hoarder, uh, I mean couponer! (I will NOT dumpster dive for coupons! That is just gross!!!!) However, I am very proud of the 5 tubes of toothpaste I got this week for $0.30 ($.06 a piece, all I paid was tax!!!) and the 5 Dove deodorants I got for a $1 a piece! You gotta love a deal like that! lol

7) I started scrapbooking in 2000 and I still love it, even though I don't have much time to do it nowadays. I love to attend crops (especially 12 hour ones, or longer!) I get so much done and have a great time hanging out with other scrapbookers! That is my idea of a great time!

8) I met and started dating my husband when I was 17. We dated for 4 years and were married in 2003. (yes, I was 21!) I have had 3 kids in 7 years. We've survived building a house (with my mom who we share the house with), a miscarriage (only about 2 months ago), family drama, financial hardships, and just life in general. But I love him as much now as I did then, probably more. And I'm so glad that he chose me to share his life with!

9) I watch way too much TV, not kidding! And the only thing that keeps me from turning off the cable, is me! I am a movie junkie too! My husband still doesn't understand why I would want to buy a movie that I've already seen...I don't understand why he doesn't get it! lol

10) I have sorely neglected this blog lately and am vowing to kick start things this summer! I have some plans for a new weekly line up (with themes for each day of the week) and I hope I'll see some new faces joining me on this ride! So thanks for stopping by, and I hope I'll see you around a lot!

Stop by Jenna's Journey and check out and comment on some more blogs! I think this will be a great way for you to find more followers and make some new bloggy friends (and who doesn't love that!!!) Happy 4th of July everybody! I hope you have a great day and celebrate our wonderful country today! And if you see a solider please thank them for their service to our country!

Father's Day 2011

2011-06-20T10:35:00.000-04:00

November 19, 2004 my husband became a daddy for the first time with the birth of our daughter, Brianna. 2 years, 1 month later, December 19, 2006 we welcomed our first son, Jonah. And on July 9, 2009, the day before Steven's 31st birthday, we welcomed our 2nd son and 3rd child, Micah. Over the years I have watched him grow into being a wonderful father. He loves his children and they adore him! He works so hard to provide for our family, and he doesn't ever complain about it. He not only supports me being a stay at home mom, but he wouldn't have it any other way.

Over this past year Steven has been able to rebuild a relationship with his dad. They hadn't had a relationship for years, in all the time that we've been together (12 years) and even before that. But it's been amazing to watch this year as they have let the past go and have decided to move forward and build a life together. This was the first Father's Day that they had celebrated together in all those years, and it was very special to be apart of. He recently started renting a place along the river, has a boat, and lots and lots of fishing equipment. Some of it belonged to his younger brother, who passed away right before Christmas last year. It was pretty special watching the kids fishing with Uncle Dave's fishing poles. I'm sure he was smiling at all the fish they were reeling in! Steven took some pictures on his phone (of course, I took the camera, but didn't get it out of the car!!! What's wrong with me?!?! And I also realized we got no pictures of Steven with the kids, or him with his dad!! Geez, I'm slipping!) But we had a wonderful Father's Day, and I hope you all had a special father in your life that you got to celebrate as well!

Brianna's first fish of the day-and Papa Steve showing it off!

A close up of the fish-it was a pretty biggin!

Jonah's first fish of the day- I think he looks like he's about to pinch it!

Poor Daisy Duke- Micah decided at one point that she was horse and decided to ride her! She just laid there and let him climb all over her- what a good dog!

Steve's boat- he bought it for $1000 (used, obviously) and had to put about another $600 in it, but it is awesome!!!

This little guy waited so patiently while everyone was fishing for his first boat ride. He loved every single minute of it!

We decided Brianna will be up on water skies by the end of the summer- I can see it now! Her daddy will have to teach her though, I've never been able to get up!

Micah wasn't too sure what to think about the boat. At first he was terrified, but by the end he was yelling "Whee!!" with the rest of the kids!

Ahhh, this is the life! I agree, dear boy! I agree!

Have a blessed day! It looks like ours is going to be a stormy one! I hope you get sun wherever you are!

How We are Surviving Summer

2011-06-15T15:31:00.000-04:00

Well, we're in our second week of summer vacation and so far we are surviving. We went to Meijer and got an inflatable pool for the kids which they love! I think they have spent more time in the pool than they have done doing anything else! I sit on the deck under the umbrella and listen to them splash and play with a good book in my hands. It's the best of both worlds for everyone. Today it rained so I took the kids to Chuck E Cheese's. We ate pizza and drank soda and played lots of games. They enjoyed being out and about, and I enjoyed giving them a place to run wild for a little while, especially since getting outside was difficult. When we got home the rain had stopped so they played outside for a while. I love opening the garage door and letting them run between the garage and the driveway. It feels like an extension of the house, another playroom where you don't have to worry about something spilling on the floor or if they start to get really loud. While they were playing it started to rain again, so they grabbed umbrellas and ran around like wild people. I remember growing up and playing in the alley behind my grandparents house when it would rain. We would splash in the puddles and just get good and wet. It was always so fun, and I went back there today while I watched the kids playing in the rain. We are about to snuggle up on the floor and watch Gnomeo and Juliet. Just another lazy summer afternoon.

We Survived Kindergarten

2011-06-03T15:32:00.000-04:00

I can't believe that the school year is over! It feels like only yesterday we were sending Brianna off for her first day of real school, and now we are surviving the second day of summer vacation! It feels like only yesterday I was taking these pictures...

Wednesday before she left for school we went out onto the deck and took some pictures by our new water feature. Looking at these pictures it struck me how much she grew up this year!

1st Grade here I come!!

Our beautiful princess!


The diva pose! lol

This little girl has learned so much during the year! She reads books with little to no assistance. She ties her shoes. She can make her bed and clean her room all by herself. She rides a bike. She can shoot a basketball and hit a volleyball like it's nobody's business. She can swim without floaties (in the shallow end anyways!) She writes everything. She can color within the lines. She actually ended up being quite the little artist, and a piece of her artwork was chosen for an Art in the Park day! She made lots of friends (the birthday parties got about ridiculous this year! lol) Her teacher said she would miss her sweet spirit and her love for the Lord that she shows in prayer. She grew up so much it kills me!

I got a few pictures after school when I went to pick her up. I especially needed a picture of her with her teacher for a her scrapbook, so that was number 1 on my agenda. But I snapped a few others with some friends too!

Brianna with some friends.

Brianna and a friend with their Kindergarten aide, Mrs. Stoll.

Brianna and her teacher, Mrs. Ross. She was a fantastic teacher and we will miss her next year!

As much as it's hard to watch our little girl grow up, it's also very exciting! It's amazing to watch your children become their own people! There are lots of growing pains along the way, but the rewards are so worth it! We're looking forward to a wonderful summer, and a terrific year of first grade next year at a new school.

Oh, What Do You Do in the Summer Time?

2011-05-31T13:34:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow is Brianna's last day of school. Tomorrow is Olympic Day, and it's going to be hot and muggy. It definitely feels like summer here. We went to Aunt Pam and Uncle Tim's house yesterday to go swimming. It was the perfect day for it. When we left the house at 10:30 it was already 90 degrees!!! By afternoon it was 94! The water felt great and the kids splashed and played for hours. I mainly sat under the covered patio and enjoyed the breeze and the luscious watermelon and cantaloupe we had cut up upon our arrival. It was a glorious day and it got me thinking about what in the world I was going to do with three kids, all day for the next three months! I started to feel a little panicked at the thought of it, but then with the help of the trusty internet I started to find a bunch of great resources to help me make a plan.

One thing I knew for sure was that every Thursday (weather permitting) we have a standing play date at my friend Lisa's house. They have a great pool, and Brianna is BFF's with her granddaughter Alex. A few other friends bring there kids and we spend the day splashing and playing. So every Thursday on the calender is swim Thursday and we look forward to it! But that's only one day. What can we do for the other 4 days of the week while everyone is at work?

Our public library has some great programs this year, including a reading challenge. For reading (or listening to) 5 books they return a log to the library for a free book prize. After 10 books they get a t-shirt and entered into a raffle to win a new bike. Even children under the age of 2 can get in on the fun with special prizes just for them! They have several story times, art times, and movie times throughout the week that we might take advantage of, especially when the weather is bad.

Our local mall has a great indoor play place. They recently remodeled it and the kids love to play there! Plus, it's air conditioned, a really nice break on those days when the heat index in the Ohio River Valley tops 105 degrees...and it will...often! Thinking of play places also reminded me that Chic-Fil-A has kids eat free Mondays from 10 am-2 pm and they have a wonderful play place so I think we might end up there on almost a weekly basis! lol

But, it looks like gas is going to be really expensive this summer as well. So what can we do in order to help conserve gas and money? My friend, Kaysi posted a great link on her blog to a wonderful list made by Crystal at Crystal and Co, 80+ Inexpensive or Free Summer Activities. She has some great ideas, broken into different categories (Go, Make, Play & Do) I spent some time wandering her blog...really fun! Check it out! And of course, there is always the kiddie pool, the slip-n-slide and the sprinkler!

I have a feeling we'll survive, and I'm sure some days will be better than others, but I hope we'll make some fun summer memories this year! I'm sure we will! What are you planning on doing with your kids during summer break this year? Please, share...I'd love to hear your ideas!

Today

2011-05-28T10:27:00.000-04:00

Today I feel very content in my life. We have some sun peeking out of all the clouds. The kids are outside running in the yard, riding bikes and finding frogs. Steven is trimming plants and flower beds, laying out mulch and all the fun yard things that come with early summer. As I was looking out the window watching Brianna riding her bike she caught me and gave a little wave. As I waved back I realized how peaceful I felt. It's amazing what a little sun can do for your attitude, but more than that I realized for about the millionth time how blessed I truly am. Yes life is crazy. It's unpredictable. A lot of times it's hard. But times like these I thank the Lord for the life He has blessed me with. It feels like the storm is passing through, and I'm excited to see what might be on the other side.

I Will Praise You in the Storm

2011-05-18T09:26:00.000-04:00

This song has been playing in my head a lot over the past two weeks. Sometimes it's hard to believe it's only been two weeks...the time has really dragged on and sometimes it feels like forever since we lost our baby. I have moments that catch me completely off guard and I find myself sobbing. I never knew that you could miss something so much that you never really got to know. I always felt bad for women who had miscarriages, but I never really understood their pain. Oh boy, do I understand it now! It's a pain that I would never wish on any woman, or any family.

Steven has had a hard too. Some men don't get attached until the baby arrives, but not Steven. He gets attached the minute I say "I'm pregnant!", so he has taken it very hard. The kids have done OK. Brianna will occasionally come over to me and say "Mommy, I'm sad the baby died." I just hug her and say that I am sad too. And then, life goes on. And that's exactly how it should be. We can't stop forever, even though some days it's harder to get moving then others. But I make myself get up, get dressed, make my bed (it's less tempting to crawl back in it if it's made!), brush my teeth and hair. Luckily I have two little guys at home with me all day, so I'm forced to get on with life. And more than that, they keep me laughing and playing and for that I am very grateful!

This weekend Steven and I are going with some great friends to Gatlinburg. We have a cabin up in the mountains, with a view and a hot tub (holla!!! lol!) It's going to be a great trip, and one that we really need! We haven't been away, just us, since Brianna was 11 months old. And that trip was to Gatlinburg too! But we're glad to be going with this group of friends (there will be 6 couples total, all from our church) And after the last two weeks, the time to be alone, and just be Steven and Kari, and not Mommy and Daddy will be very welcome time.

Here's a video I found on YouTube for the Casting Crowns song "I Will Praise You in the Storm". This song has helped me a lot over the past two weeks. It's my reminder that no matter what path we are walking in our lives, Jesus is right there beside us, and we never walk it alone. I learned a long time ago to praise Him in the storm...and we've been able to do that even now. It's been a great comfort!

My Heartbreak

2011-05-07T20:44:00.001-04:00

Thursday, May 4, 2011, our baby went home to meet Jesus. It is so hard to write those words..it makes it feel so very real! Right now my heart is so broken that I wonder how I can breathe! I now have 4 children, 3 in my arms, and one waiting for us in Heaven. I know that one day I will hold this baby in my arms, but at times that does little to help the hurt in my heart! I want to know what you would have been. I wish I would have gotten the chance to hold you in my arms. But for now I have to let you go with the angels, and trust that one day I will get to see you, to hold you, to love you the way I want to now. I love you so much, my dear sweet baby! I will always remember you, and I will forever be thankful for the short time you were here with us!

Love always and forever, your Mommy

Tonight I'm Very Proud to Be an American

2011-05-01T23:21:00.000-04:00

We were laying bed tonight when my mom came upstairs and asked us if we were sleeping. We said no and she said "I wanted to tell you that President Obama is coming on at 10:30 to make a statement." My first thought was "Oh ****, this can't be good!" We sat up and turned on the TV. My brother, who works for a US Senator on Capitol Hill called my mom a few minutes later and said "You aren't going to want to miss this...the buzz on the Hill is that We have killed Osama Bin Laden and we have his body in our possession. We don't know for sure, but that's the word!" Once again, I was glad to have a brother in the know.

10 minutes later the TV stations started to confirm what he had said, OSAMA BIN LADEN IS DEAD! The man who 10 years ago this September caused such great heartache in our country, who single handedly started a war that has been raging for years, is dead! After all the fighting, the loss of so many troops, pain and sorrow, the terrorist of all terrorists is dead!

So, what does this mean for us? Will the war end right away? Will our boys (and girls) come home? Are we safer? Well, no, no and probably not! Afghanistan needs to be stabilized before we pull out. We will bring our troops home, but it's not going to be tomorrow! And unfortunately, we still have plenty of groups out there besides Al Queda and Bin Laden, who hate us and would like to see our downfall. But, for 10 years we have wanted to see the mastermind behind 9/11 and so many other attacks against our Embassy's over seas finally get what he deserves. He has gone home to meet his Maker, and I'm just guessing here, that Allah is not going to bless him the way he was expecting to be blessed!

A job well done to the troops who brought him down! Thank you to all the men and women who work so hard and risk their lives on a daily basis to protect our freedoms and to protect us from people like Bin Laden. Stay safe and come home soon! God Bless our Troops and God Bless the United States of America!

Today I Wish I Was British!

2011-04-29T13:29:00.000-04:00

Today the much anticipated Royal Wedding of Prince William of Wales to Catherine Middleton took place in London. I have had a love affair with Prince William and the House of Windsor for as long as I can remember. I had such a crush on William growing up! When I was going to grow up I wanted to move to London, meet William and become his Princess! Well, that obviously didn't happen, but today he married a truly stunning and regal woman. I was up at 4 am this morning to watch the coverage from beginning to end (although, it still hasn't ended. Even as I write this all the major news organizations are still talking about it and showing recaps! I'm loving it!! lol) I laid on the couch and watched as the guests filled into Westminster Abbey. I remember all too well the funeral of Princess Diana in that amazing structure and noticed how completely different the mood was around this occasion. (I was 15 when Princess Diana died, and got up at 5 in the morning to watch her funeral. I remember crying sooo hard, especially watching the Princes walk behind her coffin on the way to the Abbey. I was a huge Diana lover, and at that time even had her hair cut! Yes, at 15! I told you I've always had a love affair with the Royal Family!) It was sad to think that she wasn't going to be there to spend this day with her son, whom she so adored! But I know she was smiling down on them and must have been bursting with pride for her son!

And while I loved watching all the guests arrive I started getting so excited when Princes William and Harry left Clarence House for their trip to the Abbey! Everything happened so quickly from there! I caught my breath as Kate stepped out of the Rolls Royce in front of the Abbey. Her dress was gorgeous! It was simple and elegant and oh so Kate! Totally her style and just perfect! One of my favorite moments was seeing Harry turn around to catch a glimpse of Kate as she was coming down the aisle and then turned to his brother and said something. I wish we knew what it was...but my bet is it was something like "Dude! You are so lucky!" lol

The detail on this dress was incredible!!! I loved the lace and the veil was beautiful too!


Photo courtesy of the Today Show

Now that's a Princess wedding dress! And here's a shock-it's modest! Her boobs aren't hanging out and it isn't strapless..definitely not an American Designer for this dress! lol

The service itself was beautiful, and again very simple. I think the thing that surprised me the most was how normal it all seemed. Just another man and woman coming together on a day to get married, but this wasn't just another man and woman. This was the future Queen and King of England! It was unreal because it didn't feel stuffy and too "British", which the Royals are often accused of being. I think it shows that maybe the future of the Royal Family is going to look very different than the present.

I thought it was interesting that she was the only one who got a ring! And it was so simple and beautiful!

I loved watching them on the balcony at Buckingham Palace. Kate's face when they walked out was priceless, and she said "Oh wow!" lol-Oh wow is right honey! Your life is forever changed! And lucky for her the British people seem to love her! I know I do! (And I'm not British, although today I wish I was!!) The first Royal Kiss was a little disappointing, but knowing how shy Prince William is and how he doesn't like PDA's I was kind of surprised we got one at all! But not to upset the crowd a few minutes later there was another kiss, this one longer and much more satisfying to the crowds gathered below! They looked totally at ease and like they were thoroughly enjoying themselves. That was great to see!

Photo courtesy of the AP (Associated Press)

Then, the big surprise a few hours later, when William and Kate drove out of Buckingham Palace in Prince Charles's Ashton Martin, top down, decorated like any newly married couples car. William was behind the wheel, and they both looked so comfortable and so radiant! The crowd went crazy! It was so fun! And I think it really showed the personality and fun side of these two!

Could she be any prettier!?!? It really makes me want to gag! lol!

I can't wait to see pictures from the reception, especially Kate's dress! I have a feeling she won't be wearing that Alexander McQueen dress to dance the night away! Above all though, I hope they have the time of their life and live up every second of it! Congratulations Prince William and Princess Kate! You are helping the world believe that fairy tales can and do come true! Never let go of the love you felt today! I can't wait to see what your life together will bring!

And just in case you didn't get up at 4 am and you somehow haven't seen any of the coverage from today, here is the Royal Wedding, in 3 minutes! Enjoy!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Updated Family Pictures

2011-04-15T10:46:00.000-04:00

Even though, come November these will already be outdated, we had family pictures taken a couple of weeks ago. I have to say that these are my favorite family pictures ever!!!

Our family of 5, just months before it becomes a family of 6...wow! That is so crazy to think about! Last night at dinner things were a little crazy. Brianna looked at me and said "And you want to have another baby!" I looked at her and said "Well, Bri...there's nothing I can do about it now!" She said with the straightest face "Well, just don't have it!" lol...I just started laughing and then she said "If you keep peeing on that stick it's just going to say 'You're pregnant. You're pregnant. You're pregnant like 100 times!" By that point I was rolling...if only it was all the sticks fault that I'm so tired, slightly nauseous and just all around blah all the time right now! The funny thing is she is very excited about the baby most of the time..it just tells you how hectic things must have been for her to be so negative! lol

Overall though things are going very well. I am 9 weeks along and already starting to show. I had to go out and buy some maternity clothes the other day (since I gave all of my stuff away just a matter of months ago!!!) because my pants are already tight. And not just tight, I have a certified baby bump already! lol I have barely had any morning sickness which is a HUGE improvement over the other three who I was sick with from the time I'd wake up until I would go to bed! I am just exhausted and my house is starting to show it! Looks like really tiny baby steps are going to be how I survive this pregnancy! Well, I've been sitting on my butt long enough this morning. Time to find the energy to do something...maybe I'll go fold some clothes...I can sit on my butt to do that right!?!?!

Name This Post

2011-03-28T17:46:00.000-04:00

WE'RE PREGNANT!!!!!

Baby #4 will be joining us in November! So far I'm feeling OK...a little sick here and there and way tired but overall, OK.

We are all very excited! I'll post more info as we get it, and of course, coming soon will be ultrasound pictures! Yippee!!!

Fat Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, St. Patrick's Day...otherwise known as...what we've been doing!!!

2011-03-25T09:26:00.001-04:00

Yes, a long title I know...but I've been gone forever!!!! I really need to get better at this blogging thing! lol A lot has happened so without further ado...here's what we've been up to.

Did you know that Fat Tuesday is also known as Pancake Tuesday? Yeah, I didn't either until this year. And I saw some of the cutest ideas to make Mardi Gras colored pancakes on the internet. So I decided to take our favorite pancake mix from our dear friend, Dionne Newton, add some of my cake decorating icing colors and make some Mardi Gras pancakes for dinner. They turned out sooo cute, and were really yummy! The kids really enjoyed them. And of course, since the next day was Ash Wednesday and we couldn't eat meat I made some goetta for daddy so he could get his meat fix in before he had to abstain!

Green, yellow and purple...traditional Mardi Gras colors.

Aren't they pretty!?!?!

Happy baby!

Pretty girl!

"Mmmmm Mommy! You're famous pancakes are really yummy!" Yes, he really did say that! lol

The next day, Ash Wednesday we attended Mass at St. Patrick's. The kids were, awful, to say the least! I wondered why we even bothered to take them for a while. But we know it's really important for kids to be in church in order to learn how to behave in church so we keep trying! They wanted to get pictures of their ashes when we got home so we took a few quick shots before bed.

St. Patrick's Day I didn't take any pictures (bad mommy!) but we did celebrate! Thursdays are dance days in this house so we go from school, to dance, home for dinner and homework, bathes and then bed. But I wanted to do something so we ate "Irish" (well, kind of!!) I made Shepherd's Pie (which is more English, but we're not big corned beef and cabbage fans around here!) and Irish soda bread. I had never made that before and was pleasantly surprised how much I liked it. I used raisins instead of currants (I'm not sure my kids would eat currants) and it took more buttermilk than the recipe said, but I liked it...a lot! And so did the kids! Makes me want to try different recipes now! I got the stuff to make Shamrock shakes (mint green milk shakes) but we ran out of time...so daddy made them with the kids the following Monday while I was at a meeting. But we did change out the Valentine's Tree for a St. Patrick's Day Tree. It turned out super cute!

On March 19th my Nana and a lot of the family came down from Indiana for her birthday! Of course, I had already scheduled and paid to attend a 12 hour crop at Brianna's school that I attend every year! So I went for a few hours, came home for a few hours to visit, and then went back to the crop until the end. I was able to finish 15 pages (7 two page spreads and 1 one page layout!) I'll post pictures of what I accomplished when I get some scanned in! But here's some of the fun we had with the family while they were visiting!

Singing Happy Birthday!

Playing the Wii...yes, my son is dressed up like a cat...sometimes there are no words! lol

Well, that about gets you up to date. Other than these things we've just been fighting off sickness, enjoying the scattered days of beautiful sunshine, and waiting (not so patiently) for spring to come and rescue us! Hope you all have been well! I'll try not to be so long between posting next time! I'll try!

November 18

2011-03-02T14:00:00.002-05:00

November 18! The countdown is on! The opening of "The Twilight Sage: Breaking Dawn Part I"! SQUEEE!!!!

Which means the return of this:

Could she be any prettier!?!?!

And this:

Yes, yes you are hot!

And my personal favorite!

Hello honey! How I've missed you!

And since I'm an equal opportunity swooner..I'll include a little of this:

So right and so wrong all at the same time! Hehehehe

And I'll say, I still want her hair!

Alice, you are fabulous! I wish you were my BFF!

Let's just say I'm a little excited! Especially when I see teasers like this:

Ugh! Could you be any cuter?!?!

And especially this one!

Heart. Temporarily. Stopped. Beating!!!!

OH MY! This deserves a huge SQUEEEEE!!!!! Did I say yet that I can't wait!?!?!?! Think I'm going to go read the book two or three more times! Bye!

Making Changes

2011-02-24T10:45:00.001-05:00

In November of 2009 I wrote a post titled Keeping the Home. In it I talked about cleaning schedules, and how I wanted to start cooking more from scratch. I was overwhelmed by the "real foods" movement, but felt like it was something I really wanted to get behind. I just didn't know where to start. Since then I've done a lot of research, and even watched documentaries like Food, Inc. and Super Size Me. (If you haven't seen either one, I highly recommend them!) That's enough to scare the crap out of you! But rather than scare me it really made me decide on some solids changes we could make around here. The other day at the library I picked up a book titled Radical Homemakers. While I don't think I could get as radical as some of these people, I appreciate what they are doing. It is an inspiring read for anyone interested in ecological and self-sustaining practices.

Some of the things I have tossed around (to myself, Steven and my mom) are:

1) Making our own bread (in fact, I made two loaves today, solo mio using my moms recipe that she used when we were growing up. The house smells so good right now and I am currently eating a piece, covered in butter and dripping in honey. Eat your heart out! lol!)

2) Joining a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). We have found a local Amish farm in our area that is offering 115 shares in their CSA this year. It runs for 32 weeks out of the year (longer than most of the others offered around here) and you can also pay a little extra and get eggs each week. It equals out to about $2.50 a week for eggs but I'm willing to pay that for farm fresh, free range eggs! And I love the idea of supporting a local Amish family!

3) Buying share in a cow, a pig and some chickens. I love the idea of local, fresh beef, pork, and chicken. It is so much healthier and we'd be able to visit the farms they are raised on and check out the conditions they live in, how they are fed, etc. No more antibiotics or hormones in our meat! And once again, we'd be supporting local farmers which is so important!

4) Planting our own garden. We have crappy soil where we live, in fact most of it is rock! So we are going to build 3 or 4 beds and plant some of our own fruits and veggies to hold us over on weeks we don't have CSA deliveries and to use for canning, freezing, etc.

I know this seems like a lot at once, but the CSA and animal shares are really easy, it just takes some money. So we're going to use some of what's leftover from our taxes for that. The bread making is pretty easy too, and will just become part of my routine a few days a week. The most time intensive part is waiting for it to rise (and then rise again!) but I don't have to be standing there watching it, so it doesn't affect me or what I can get done around the house. The garden will be the most time intensive, labor intensive part, but I'm excited to get our kids out there working alongside of us. It's going to be a great learning, growing experience for our family. So that's what we are planning on doing around here to live healthier and more responsibly. What are you and your family doing to live a better life this year?

Quick, Easy and Yummy

2011-02-18T11:49:00.000-05:00

I have been in real cooking slump lately! I don't know what is up with me because I usually enjoy making something yummy and healthy for my family. I have had no initiative lately! One thing I know, I have got to get back to menu planning! But I also know, days that I feel totally uninspired I have found some of my favorite, quick meals. Last night was no exception. It was time for dinner and that "What are we going to eat tonight?" question was looming over my head. I wanted dinner to be ready when Steven got home from work after picking Brianna up at dance class. As I looked around I found a few ingredients that looked promising.

I had a few cans of this:

A few slices of this:

And a can of these:

Thus tuna melt crescents were born! All I did was make up some tuna salad. (Mine for these was very basic: Miracle Whip, sweet pickle relish, some celery seed and freshly ground pepper) I unrolled the crescent rolls and then placed half a piece of cheese on the widest section of the roll. Next I spooned in some tuna salad and rolled them up. I stuck them in the oven at 375 degrees for the suggested baking time (basically until browned and cheese was ooie-gooie!). Since I said I was in a slump we ate them with chips, but we had the leftovers for lunch today (the boys and I) and I served them with mandarin oranges, some cottage cheese, pretzel sticks and chocolate milk. They were just as good today as they were last night! Definitely yummy, and something I will make again, especially since Lent will be upon us soon!

Update

2011-02-15T10:38:00.000-05:00

I wanted to let you all know that Jonah is doing much better. A few hours after my last post he was released from the hospital and we came home. He is still a little puny, but is getting more active every day. Micah ended up getting sick late Saturday night, but he didn't have it nearly as bad! Thank God! Brianna got sick Sunday night and is still running a fever, luckily her vomiting/diarrhea was very minimal. Hopefully the fever goes away today so she can go back to school tomorrow. I woke up yesterday morning sicker than a dog! Every joint in my body hurt so bad! I think I slept all day long! Luckily this morning I woke up feeling much better and was able to eat and hold down breakfast so that's a great sign! Hopefully this is all on the mend and we can stay healthy until spring comes and we can open the windows and let all the sickies fly away!

Our Fighter!

2011-02-12T09:54:00.000-05:00

These past few days have been so scary and so exhausting. Thursday evening I was at rehearsal and Steven came in. It was about 9:30 pm and he stood at the edge of the stage. One of my friends got my attention and told me that my husband was here. I went over to the edge of the stage and he told me that Jonah had been throwing up all evening and it now had blood in it! I ran over to the director, told him I had to go, changed out of my costume in record time and jumped in the car. We dropped Brianna and Micah off at home with my mom and then drove to the ER. We sat in the waiting room for a little while and then were led back to a room. The doctor came in almost immediately. They ran some blood work and then started an IV. He was very dehydrated. And he was so sick. He barely reacted when they did his IV! He absolutely broke my heart. Steven took a few pictures in the ER. Here's what our little guy looked like:

In the waiting room

Waiting for test results.


IV on board. Waiting for overnight room. Can you tell mommy is tired and scared?


Wiped out and sleeping good!

At one point he started breaking out in a weird rash! It started on his stomach and then spread to his face. Around his forehead and around his ears were particularly red and splotchy. It was really weird and we still don't know what caused it. After some Benadryl it went away, but it was scary for a while. These pictures don't really do it justice!

By yesterday morning he looked like a completely different child! Seeing that smile did this momma's heart good!

He had some visitors throughout the afternoon and evening. I went home in the afternoon to take a nap with Micah. It felt good to sleep in my own bed for a while but I was anxious to get back to my boy. My brother Michael and my mom came to visit. So did his grandma Kim and Aunt Shelly. Later his cousin Kristi, who is also his Godmother (or as Jonah calls her his "Fairy Godmother"-lol) came to visit. She got him to eat some jello and got some good smiles out of him!

By yesterday evening his fever was back up (it was 103 when Steven left to come back home so I could come back for the night!) and he just looked miserable again. His face was looking puffy and a little swollen. The doctor now says he think it's because he had more fluids on board then he was out putting.

Now the IV has been unhooked to give him an incentive to eat and drink on his own. If he can eat and drink well this morning and afternoon we should be home this evening. I hope so. I know we're both ready to get out of here! He has been such a trooper and I've been so proud of him! Now he's starting to fight back though, which tells me he is feeling much better! It's been an experience...one I hope we don't ever have to go through again!

Oh, and the "official diagnosis" if you are wondering...well, we didn't really get one. The nurses say it smells (the diarrhea that is!) a lot like rota virus. They say once you smell it you never forget it! But the doctor never ran an actual test because there really isn't anything they could do even if it was rota virus. I wish they would have though..it would have been nice to know for sure!

My First Accident

2011-02-03T10:21:00.001-05:00

Car accident that is! On January 13th the boys and I were in a car wreck on the way to pick up Brianna from school. We were coming off of an exit ramp when all of the traffic in front of us stopped because of cars trying to merge. I was able to stop safely, but then was hit from behind by another driver. The damage to our car was very minimal (although after the estimate from the car insurance company we were at almost $3000 worth of damages) but the other womans' car was a mess. She only carried liability since her car was so old and had so many miles on it. Her car could not be fixed so she's going to have to buy a new one out of pocket! Since she hit us from behind her insurance is responsible to the damages on our car (even though Kentucky is a no fault state-a fact that I hate!!!) Initially I thought we were all OK, but that night Jonah and I both started developing headaches. By the time I woke up the next morning I was so sore I almost couldn't move. Steven took both of us to the doctor. Luckily Jonah only had mild whip lash and didn't require any other care. My whip lash was pretty significant and I ended up on muscle relaxers and anti-inflammatories. I thought that was going to be the extent of it, until my hand started to swell and bruise almost a week later. Come to find out, my wrist was broken! And wouldn't you know it...it was my right wrist! And, of course, I'm right handed! So I've been in a brace constantly since I found the break, which has made it hard to do a lot of things, especially a lot of typing...if I don't want it to take 3 hours because I'm chicken pecking on the keyboard! ;-P

I just wanted to let you all know that we are still here, and as my wrist gets better I'll start posting again! I have a few more weeks in the brace and then I go back for follow up x-rays. Hopefully everything will be healed...my house work is really starting to suffer!!! :-)

Where's Micah?

2011-01-23T22:17:00.000-05:00

Sunday mornings are always busy around the Fischer house. The boys are typically the first ones up so the cartoons are turned on and I hop in the shower to get ready for Church. Kari is laying in bed still trying to wake up and Bri is still sound asleep. As I get out of the shower I noticed that Micah wasn't watching TV. I look in the boy's room thinking he went to play and he isn't in there. So I go to Bri's room thinking he went to her, but she is sound asleep and still no Micah. So that just leads to me thinking he went to visit Nina so she would feed him. Where's Micah? Low and behold this is what I found as I came down the steps and turned the corner.

BUSTED!!!

This little man pushed a chair up to the pantry, grabbed his Lucky Charms, and started to eat them on the couch.

You caught me!

I'm cute and you love me!

Ok now since you found me I will continue to eat my Lucky Charms.

Nina did come up and actually poured all the kids a bowl of cereal. She doesn't know how we get away with just turning on the TV because as soon as her kids were up they had to be fed. I guess we are LUCKY!!!

Valentine's Tree

2011-01-16T19:27:00.002-05:00

This year Mom really wanted to leave one of the Christmas trees up (yes, I said one! We had three this year!) and decorate it for more holidays. So the first up is the Valentine's Tree. Everything on this tree was bought at the Dollar Tree (where everything is $1. lol) It was really fun to turn Valentine's into ornaments and poke hooks unto hearts that had been broken off of sticks. We also made bows (or I should say Mom and Brianna made bows, I tried a few and then I was done!) It turned out beautiful! And it was so easy-not a bad way to spend $10! I can't wait to put together the St. Patrick's Day and Easter trees. It's gonna be a fun year! (There's that word again!)

I am posting this for the first time to the following parties:

Daybook-January 13, 2010

2011-01-13T12:50:00.000-05:00

I decided that I wanted to try getting back into the habit of joining in on The Simple Woman's Daybook. It's a simple way to spend a few minutes contemplating what is going on in my life.

FOR TODAY, Thursday, January 13, 2011

Outside my window...it is cold and snow is everywhere. But it sure is beautiful!

I am thinking...the new design of the kids bedrooms. We will be moving all the rooms around upstairs (except for the master) in a short while and I'm trying to get everything mapped out before hand.

I am thankful for...My mom, who helps us out so much with the children during times when our life gets really crazy (like right now!)

From the kitchen...Golden Mushroom pork chops and potatoes are cooking in the slow cooker. Yum!

I am wearing...blue jeans and a long sleeve purple t-shirt

I am creating...a peaceful home by following FLYLady.

I am going...to pick up Brianna after school and then take her to dance class.

I am reading...at the time nothing. I just finished The Pact by Jodi Picolut. Loved it!

I am hoping...for warmer weather...I am so sick of being cold!

I am hearing...Micah screaming in his room because he doesn't want to be down for a nap. So much for "quiet time!"

Around the house...Things are a mix between messy and organized. I'm working really hard on getting organized this year and I'm making progress, but that always means I'm making another area messier in the process.

One of my favorite things...Apple TV!!! My brother Chris got it for us for Christmas and I am obsessed. I am currently watching the National Geographic documentary Inside the Vatican. Amazing! I want to go there some day!

A few plans for the rest of the week (the weekend!):
Hosting book club at our house tomorrow
Maybe popping in to help start set building for the play
Choreography rehersal on Sunday

Here is picture for thought I am sharing..Jonah at Chuck E Cheese's for his 4th birthday. He had so much fun! And I loved watching him enjoying his special day.

Well, that's it for this week! You can see many more day books here.

California Dreamin' on Such a Winter's Day

2011-01-12T12:17:00.000-05:00

It has been a rough winter so far, for most of the country. I think we have seen more snow this winter (and late fall) than we have seen in years! The kids of course are loving it, but I'm already sick of it and ready for spring! Yesterday after a snowfall of about 4 inches school was canceled so the road crews could work on the roads. What do you do on a day home from school while stuck inside? Well, we decided to bake a cake!

We decided on a cherry chip cake, which I hoped would bring a little bit of springtime to this freezing day!

The kids love being in the kitchen. They had so much fun adding the water and the oil and cracking the eggs. They are pros at cracking eggs! And of course, they both needed a turn with the hand mixer!

Even Micah got in on the action...licking the spatula! YUM!

Here is the finished product...I don't know why I make bundt cakes...they are so hard to ice! But it sure tasted yummy!

It turned out to be a pretty enjoyable snow day, even if I did spend most of my time dreamin' of warmer weather! Doesn't look like we'll be getting it this week though. We are looking at snow for the next 7 days!

52 Weeks of Organizing

2011-01-10T13:20:00.000-05:00

One of my ever existing goals is to get myself and our home organized. I am NOT an organized person! I'm really not! Chalk most of it up to the fact that I'm really just lazy and it makes it even harder. That's why I love FLYLady. I have found such inspiration and an actual plan that I've been able to follow now for almost a year (off and on) with pretty good results. Our house is getting cleaner and more organized...one room at a time.

One of my fave websites for a few years now (especially when I was menu planning) is Org Junkie. Laura hosts several really great challenges, along with the Menu Plan Monday (MPM) meme. This is something I'm hoping to get back into this year, but one thing at a time right!?!?!

This year Laura is hosting 52 Weeks of Organizing. She has a great planner that you can print out and then every Friday she will have a post where people can show what they've been doing to get more organized this year. You work on your projects one at a time, week by week. I was really excited when I read about this and decided right away it went great with what I was learning to do with FLYLady. So I decided to join in!

My first project was our mudroom. I've been working on our mudroom pretty much since we moved in, about 2 1/2 years ago. I could never get it to be the functioning, welcoming space I wanted it to be! It's not big by any means, but it is the first place you encounter when you come in through the garage. Because of my tendency to pile instead of put away the mudroom very quickly became a disaster zone! But no more!

One of the first things I did was move in the sofa table that used to be in the living room. I decided to rearrange the living room a little bit when we put away the Christmas tree to make it feel a little more open. When I got finished there was no place to put the sofa table. Then the light bulb went off. The mudroom was the perfect place to put this wonderful piece of furniture to good use. So I started dragging things out of the mudroom and pulled the sofa table in. It was a perfect fit!

Now we have a perfect "launch pad" or "command center". The bottom shelf is where Brianna will keep her dance bag and her back pack. The basket on the top is being used for out going or incoming mail. Also being kept on here will be my Control Journal (not pictured because it's being used! lol) and our emergency information binder, once it is finished.

The two drawers are being utilized. Inside the left drawer is our address book, return address labels, stamps, envelopes and checkbook. Also going to add our tithing envelopes, I just hadn't put them in here yet when I took the pictures! In the right drawer is where we will be keeping our cell phone chargers and things like that will be kept.

Above the table is this great mirrored coat hanger that my mom didn't have room for, so she gave it to us. On it will be hung my purse, the diaper bag and of course, the fly swatter! lol

On the opposite wall is the key holder, next to the alarm pad! hehehehe No more misplaced keys!

And finally right across from the door is our dry erase calender. We also attached a hanging file to gather things that need to be filed away upstairs in the office. I guess that will become part of my weekly desk day routine. Gotta add that into my control journal! :-)

I am very happy so far with the way things are working now in this room! Steven walked through it last night as we were heading out into the garage to clean up a little and he said "Man, it looks clean in here!" *grins*

So there's my week 1 of the 52 Week Organizing Challenge. Thanks Laura for the motivation! Can't wait to post this weeks project this weekend...the coat closet/game closet.

New Years' Resolutions

2010-12-29T14:38:00.000-05:00

As a new year is getting ready to dawn I start thinking about New Years' Resolutions like I do every year. I have always found them kind of pointless because I NEVER stick to them. But this year I have quite a few things that I would like to accomplish in a few areas of our life. So my question is this:

Do you make New Years' Resolutions? If you do, what do you to try to get yourself to stick with your resolutions and actually reach your goals by the end of the year? And if you don't would you like to?

Christmas 2010

2010-12-27T15:00:00.000-05:00

One of the best (and hardest) things about Christmas is all of the different celebrations we have to try to work into our schedule, and still stay sane. Amazingly this year we did this without totally loosing our minds, which says to me 7 years and 3 kids later we are finally getting our groove!

Christmas Eve is always spent with Steven's mom's side of the family. We get together at Grandma and Grandpa's house for food, presents and lots and lots of laughs. This year we didn't do a name exchange with this side which made my life a little easier I think!

Jonah with his "fairy godmother" Kristi

Sam playing "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" on the ukulele.

GaGa Kim (Steven's mom) with the kids in their new Christmas jammies.

The kids with Steven's grandparents

All the Ruschell grandchildren, minus Keith and his new wife Tara and daughter Morgan.


By the end of the night Micah was all tuckered out! This was taken before we had even left the driveway!!

We got home and put the kids to bed, and then started getting everything under the tree. Chris and his partner, Josh had arrived from DC while we were gone so it was nice to spend a few hours with them while we put together the new train for the tree and other gifts. We went to bed around 1:30, and the miracle of all miracles occurred....the kids didn't wake us up until 9!!!! Yippee! I love my children!

Jonah's gift from Santa.

Bri's gift from Santa.

Micah loved his Santa gift, a new ball pit!

Our new Polar Express Christmas train. This was fun to watch the kids play with!

Opening our new HD TV from mom. Christopher bought us Apple TV to go with it, which I am LOVING!!! I had never heard of it, but I am so now on the Apple bandwagon! lol!

Jonah in Micah's new crawling tunnel.

There were lots of laughs and smiles on Christmas day!


Playing cards with Papa Chip. It looks like Christmas threw up all over our house in the background!

Christmas night we get together with Steven's dad's side of the family. This year was really different with the sudden death of his uncle David, but we are so greatful to have his dad back in his life again, and in our kids lives, after many years of absence. Unfortunately, Micah was running a fever and was very unhappy so I stayed home with him while they went to visit the Waugamans. They came home very happy and very tired!

Yesterday my Nana and Aunt Stacey and cousin Kenzy drove down from Indiana to visit for a few hours while Chris was in town. We are getting together with this family on New Years' Day but Chris won't be here so they drove down to see him for a while. It was great to see them! Then last night we got together with Steven's stepdad's side of the family. We always do a white elephant gift exchange with them, which can always be quite interesting. The same hat has shown up at the exchange for the past 4 or 5 years now I think! It'll be back next year, I guarantee it!


The Fischer clan, minus Mike and Sarah and little Katie Rose, who were at home sick! ;-(

New year's day we have one more Christmas to go to and then we're done until next year. I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and that you have a productive week recovering and preparing for your New Years celebrations!

The Christmas Countdown

2010-12-22T12:07:00.000-05:00

Today is cleaning day. Tomorrow is baking day. Friday is wrapping day and Christmas with Steven's family. Then comes Christmas morning! It has been such a busy, but very fun, Christmas season. We have put a lot of miles on the car this week, especially with the passing of Steven's uncle last Tuesday. He died of a heart attack and we finally had the funeral yesterday. It feels like we can finally move on to the rest of Christmas, although it's going to be a weird one. But the house is decorated, the shopping lists and menus are made. The ingredients have been rounded up to make lots of holiday goodies, and the Christmas music is playing on Pandora. Just a few more little presents and we are done. So much more prepared than we were last year. I'll post some pictures tomorrow of what we've been up to: We had Jonah's 4th birthday, Brianna's Christmas recital and lots of other fun stuff! Just wanted to give you a quick hello and Merry Christmas! I hope you are enjoying your week!

Shout out!

2010-12-10T09:52:00.000-05:00

I want to give a shout out to Steven and thank him for getting the blog updated for us! I have been in a bit of a funk lately and he got us all caught up with what has been going on! My goal now is to keep it from getting so far behind again! So thanks babe for all the help! You are a blessing!

Inside of the house decorated - Check!

2010-12-08T22:44:00.002-05:00

Well as you all know we love Christmas! We start to decorate the day after Thanksgiving - it has been a tradition for a long time. Now some may think you can have too much Christmas but we beg to differ. This time of the year just brings so much happiness knowing that our God sent us a savior to be born in a stable. In our anticipation for Christmas we prepare our homes for this joyous time of the year. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful faith and family!

Here are some pictures we took around the house! We hope you enjoy because we sure do. There is nothing like turning all the lights off in the house and just leaving on all the Christmas lights on. Seeing the illumination from the lights are just is so calming. Also it makes you want to keep the house clean so it even looks prettier.

Anita bought some adorable window clings that we put in the morning room and kitchen windows. We also added garland with color lights and a red bow to our sliding glass door that leads to no where. As you can see we brought up the patio furniture which is coming in handy for playing the Wii and also for family get together's.

Well we couldn't pass up these new Christmas ornaments. Our old ones were starting to fade and once we saw these aqua and brown ornaments that matched our color scheme we had to buy them.

Our Christmas caroler's always find a place to go - Aunt Theresa bought these for our first Christmas. The aqua and brown poinsettias also make a nice touch to the garland.

I bought this village when I worked at Thriftway. I always waited until after Christmas when they were all marked down so I probably spent like $4, if that, for each building which was a steal. Over the years we've made little additions, this year I added some spot lights to reflect on the water.

The main village which sits on top of the entertainment center. The camera Anita bought for Kari's birthday takes panorama shots - isn't it awesome.

The Angel room is one of our favorites. Anita really has a special touch when it comes to decorating. This year she changed the colors from burgundy to red. With the walls it just pops not to mention you never saw Santa wearing a burgundy suit!

Still waiting for baby Jesus to come. Then of course the wise men that our spread out in the house will come on the Epiphany. We added a tree and some garland this year. We love manger scenes - I wonder why?

Speaking of manger scenes - Anita made this a while ago and it found it rightful place in the morning room. You can even see it from the street through the sliding glass doors. Didn't she do a great job!

Anita's Vintage Tree!

Isn't this manger scene precious?


How true is that saying?! Can we say "AMEN" or as the kids say with Santa - I BELIEVE!

Brianna says if you don't believe then you are on the naughty list - our kids are so smart!

Anita's kitchen window - great find on the candles!


Yet another perfect spot for the candles!

Anita couldn't pass this sale up - what a perfect decoration!

So those were some shots around the house. Now that is not all of them believe it or not because we have to keep the surprise. So come and visit because it is so much better in person! Now don't come just to see our house all lite up but to spend some time with family and friends.

We are all excited to have Uncle Chris and Josh for Christmas. Pa-Pa Chip is going to be spending some quality time with the family as well. Since Chris is coming in town Nana and Aunt Stacey are going to stop in so we can't wait to see everyone. Don't you just love Christmas? Remember to keep the spirit of Christmas alive in your hearts and that God loves you! What a gift and blessing each on e of us are to each other!

Outside of the house decorated - Check!

2010-12-08T21:15:00.001-05:00

Christmas is our favorite time of the year here at the Fischer's. We love to decorate the house and being on the corner we have to make sure the outside of the house is decorated! We also have to make sure that our manger scene is up since "Jesus is the reason for the Season". Last year we were given this nativity set from a friend at church. He was getting older and it was getting to be too much for him to put up each year. None of his kids wanted it and he knew how much I loved it so they offered it to us. We were so happy to accept it and give it a new home. He made all of this from hand - thank you so much Art!

It is so amazing when it all comes together. The kids enjoy it as well. Since Kari and Anita went out I decided to be courageous and see if I can put it all together while watching the kids. They were so cute. As I was putting the wise men and shepherds together - halfway through it I put all the animals together and the kids had a ball playing with them in the garage. Micah got bored since when he tried to ride the animals and they didn't do anything so he found an old car seat - climbed up in it, started to suck his thumb and watch everyone else. I wish I would have grabbed the camera because it was so cute.

Instead of putting in the front like last year we changed it up and put it in the side yard. Anita had some green lights which was a perfect accent to outline the grass where the sheep, shepherds, and wise men are!

So Micah was getting tired so I laid him down for a nap. This allowed Brianna and Jonah to go outside and play in the snow while I set up the Manger scene. While setting it up neighbors stop and say "I love your Nativity", Our neighbor across the street called and left a message on my cell phone saying it all looks nice and they love the view from their windows.

No lights on the roof - kept it simple this year. Partly because I didn't take care of the nice weather since we were busy. Also the blue lights on the tree on the front porch was a nice accent thanks to Anita!

Don't the trees look nice - we added those this year! Except for the dogwood that was a mother's day gift to Kari a couple of years ago.

We are so glad it brings joy and happiness to all - after all isn't that what Christmas is all about. Jesus is the light of the world and it's up to us to keep the light going! God bless everyone and during this Advent season we wait for the coming our Lord as we prepare not only our home but our hearts!

St. Nick (December 6th)

2010-12-07T00:17:00.000-05:00


St. Nick blessed us with many things in our stockings - so much it couldn't all fit!

The true story of Santa Claus begins with Nicholas, who was born during the third century in the village of Patara. At the time the area was Greek and is now on the southern coast of Turkey. His wealthy parents, who raised him to be a devout Christian, died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young. Obeying Jesus' words to "sell what you own and give the money to the poor," Nicholas used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering. He dedicated his life to serving God and was made Bishop of MyraDiocletian, who ruthlessly persecuted Christians, Bishop Nicholas suffered for his faith, was exiled and imprisoned. The prisons were so full of bishops, priests, and deacons, there was no room for the real criminals—murderers, thieves and robbers. After his release, Nicholas attended the Council of Nicaea in AD 325. He died December 6, AD 343 in Myra and was buried in his cathedral church, where a unique relic, called manna, formed in his grave. This liquid substance, said to have healing powers, fostered the growth of devotion to Nicholas. The anniversary of his death became a day of celebration, St. Nicholas Day while still a young man. Bishop Nicholas became known throughout the land for his generosity to the those in need, his love for children, and his concern for sailors and ships. Under the Roman Emperor , December 6th

Advent Wreath with Children bible

So prior to dinner we had our Advent Family Devotion which is in our Family Bible. As a family during each of the four Sundays of the Season we started praying a simple family devotion. We lit two of the purple candles and Kari read the scripture from Isaiah 40:1-5,9-11. Then we read petitions and responded "Prepare the way of the LORD." Then we concluded with prayer; "Heavenly Father, we thank You for the gift of Your Son who is the Light of the World. The light from the candles on our Advent wreath reminds us that we wait in spiritual darkness for the coming of Your Son. Fill our hearts with the anticipation of this miraculous gift on Christmas. may the joy of receiving Jesus be evident in our family and in our home. With rejoicing in our hearts we pray, Amen.

Then we ate dinner, cleaned up the table, straightened up downstairs so St. Nick wouldn't see a messy hous.e Then Daddy headed up stairs with the kids to give baths while Kari did the dishes. So we were both washing - mine just had attitude - LOL. Once baths and pajamas were on we headed back downstairs to read about St. Nick.

The story tells of a poor man with three daughters. In those days a young woman's father had to offer prospective husbands something of value—a dowry. The larger the dowry, the better the chance that a young woman would find a good husband. Without a dowry, a woman was unlikely to marry. This poor man's daughters, without dowries, were therefore destined to be sold into slavery. Mysteriously, on three different occasions, a bag of gold appeared in their home-providing the needed dowries. The bags of gold, tossed through an open window, are said to have landed in stockings or shoes left before the fire to dry. This led to the custom of children hanging stockings or putting out shoes, eagerly awaiting gifts from Saint Nicholas. And so St. Nicholas is a gift-giver.

Once the story was over the kids were tucked in their beds. Well Jonah was tucked in quite a few times. Then morning came and the excitement came. The kids rushed down to see what awaited them.

Each of the kids along with us received an ornament as well we will show pictures of them later when we show the Christmas shots of the house! We also received our Christmas book and this year it was "There was an old Lady that Swallowed a Bell."

Micah loves books!

Stickers - remember those go on paper not walls or windows!


Daddy's little helpers in the kitchen!

Now these are aprons not costumes. As soon as Jonah put his on he ran around the house saying "Run, Run as fast as you can. You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread man." It was so cute I wish we had our video camera out. We really weren't expecting that reaction so you gotta love kids and their imagination. They bring so much joy to our lives. Thank you St. Nick!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-12-06T23:31:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving 2010

This year was a little unique for Thanksgiving. With Anita having such a big heart she opened our house to all of Michael's friends from college that couldn't make it home for the holidays. So they spent the night on Wednesday and the fun began. This group knows how to have a good time and they enjoy being around the our kids. I am not sure if it because they like the kids or their toys so the debate is on. Just kidding the kids really enjoy when their Uncle Mac and his friends come over! Not to mention its better they eat it while it is hot rather than Michael taking left overs to them after the fact!

Table set - check!


Always need dessert - Sugar Creme pie is the best!

After prayer we all went around and said what we were thankful for. The overall consensus was the opportunity that we have to have family and friends to share this meal wit along with all the blessings God has given us!

Time to eat!

Eat and socialize and eat some more!

Manda and Steven - we love to take pictures!


FOOD = Happy Micah!

So after we had Thanksgiving at our house, then we headed to my Dad's side and celebrated Thanksgiving with them. This year has been a great year - I have been praying hard for my father to come back into our lives for some time. I've even had my "CRHP" friends praying as well!
My father quit his job and obtained a job in the same field here in Kentucky and also moved to Kentucky so that he can be closer to our family. He calls at least once a week if not more. Having a relationship with your father - words can't even say how much that is a blessing. It has been a long time and all we can do is move forward and now my children will know who my father is. At this time in my life what I have learned in regards to being a father is from my Grandpa Sam and from Ed who has been the only father figure in my life after my mom and dad's divorce. I have been blessed to have these two great men in my life and they can never be replaced.

Afterward we headed to my mom's to visit. She decided to have knee surgery the day before Thanksgiving. Not sure if it was really all about the timing of being off or if it was just a nice opportunity to have a break from all the hustle and bustle. Just kidding mom - you do so much for the family and we are so grateful for you and I know it was all about the timing. We are so glad that everything is going well and you are healing well.

Now we know Thanksgiving is not just on Thursday correct? We had a little break on Friday. Well I should say I did since I had to work. Kari decided to stay up with her mom and a few of Michael's friends. They went and saw a late movie and then did Black Friday shopping hitting all the deals after midnight while the kids and I fell fast asleep.

Then the second round came on Saturday we had yet another Thanksgiving at David and Kathy's for the Ruschell side. My Uncle David being creative as he is managed to add on to his table and the entire family was able to sit and eat together. Now there were a few absent from the list but it was amazing to have 27people sitting at one table to see how big our family has grown over the years. It has been some good times over the years.

Is it time to eat yet?

Then came the final round of Thanksgiving. We didn't stay long - mainly just showed our face and left. The Fischer's decided to have Thanksgiving at an Italian Restaurant in Dayton, KY. We knew that we wouldn't make dinner since we had the Ruschell's so we told them we would stop by later and have dessert. Well we got there around 8PM, and they all were there at 7PM and still waiting to eat. They were in a small room that was suppose to be for 16 and everyone was very crowded and there wasn't any room in the inn for us. It was good to see everyone - but with kids in a packed restaurant it wasn't going to last long so we didn't get dessert and just headed home. So hopefully we will get to spend more time with the Fischer's at Christmas since that is at someone's house.

So that is how the Fischer family spent Thanksgiving - wish we could of seen all the family but as you can see with little one's it is hard to hit all. So Granny Linda and Nana we are so grateful for you both and we hope to see you soon.

Happy 6th Birthday Brianna!

2010-12-06T22:32:00.000-05:00

Well it is hard to believe but our little girl turned 6 years old on November 19th. It seems just like yesterday that we heard the words "It's a girl!" Who would of imagined that she would become such a sweet little girl that we are so blessed to call our daughter. We are so proud of you Bri and we thank God for allowing us to be your parents. You are doing so well in school, so eager to learn, and from what we hear from your teacher as well, very reverent. As parents we realize that the home is the first church and we must show you not only by word but by example. You are such a forgiving and passionate little girl and we can't wait to watch you grow some more.

Your birthday fell on a Friday and happened to be the opening day of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows movie and that is what you wanted to see. So we headed to grab a bite to eat then to Great Escapes in Wilder, met your Aunt Shelly and watched the movie. Nina watched the boys so it was just you and us!

Daddy and his little princess!

Then came the day of Bri's party. Jonah and I headed out and did some last minute shopping to get ready for the party at 2pm. Then the girls started to show up. Kari did a wonderful job making the cup cakes and they were so delicious. She made them rainbow inside with pink and purple batter can you say - YUM!!!

So to celebrate your birthday we had what was called a "Fashion Party". You were able to invite some friends and then we also invited Ga-Ga Kim, Ga-Ga Nancy, Nina, and Grandma Joyce. Your great Aunt Mary also came to be one of our judges. Then came the stylist; Aunt Shelly, Aunt Samantha, Kristi (cousin) and then Manda (uncle Mac's friend).

To start the party we had an activity. Each of your friends were able to design a picture frame which later would hold an individual shot of them and the birthday girl! Once their frames were ready then it was off for nails, makeup and hair. Then it was time for the runway!

Bri and her friend Nadia designing their picture frame!

Aunt Samantha doing the birthday girls hair!

How does she look! Is this our little girl?

Julianna, Kiliegh, Alex, Brianna, and Nadia after their runway!

Nadia won a fashion barbie since the judges picked her as the winner! All the girls did great and had a blast!

The stylist's with the birthday girl. Manda, Aunt Michelle, Aunt Samantha, and Kristi


"Happy birthday to Bri"

So yesterday was your birthday that's what we do know.

What a wonderful feeling your one more year old.

On the cake they'll be candles all lighted for you,

and the whole world is singing ~ Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday dear Brianna,

Happy Birthday to you!

Brianna and Ga-Ga Nancy

Can't have a party without a goodie bag!

So the "Fashion Party" was a success and Brianna received a lot of wonderful presents, She received birthday wishes from Indiana - so thanks Nana! It means so much to have so many friends and family in our childrens lives - we are truly blessed! Happy Birthday Brianna!

Trick - or - Treat

2010-11-02T21:22:00.001-04:00

Celebrating Halloween, All Saints

Halloween (October 31) and All Saints Day (November 1)

Fischer Family Halloween 2010

Halloween's roots lie in an ancient pagan festival for the dead. While this autumn feast can be used for evil purposes, our culture celebrates it as an innocent night of begging and fun. We who believe in the light of the world can use it to celebrate the Light. "Hallow" means holy and the word Halloween refers to the night before the feast of all holies, or All Saints Day. Emphasize all things good, joyful and pure. Let your children know that they are "children of the light" called to walk in the light. (taken from http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Halloween/halloween08.asp) Our children are truly the light in our world and they bring so much happiness to us - especially when we talk about our faith!

We did the custom of trick -or- treating in our neighborhood. This year we had a lot more houses because of all the building that has been taking place around us! The kids love dressing up and going to see our neighbors. Nina bought the boys costume and Brianna dressed up almost all week as either Hannah Montana or Purpleicious because of Halloween parties at the local university, school and friend's birthdays. With the help of Aunt Shelle she wore a costume that didn't require making her hair or face purple for Halloween.

Brianna - MEOW

Can you see my bones?

Micah - WOOF

Our Children

The kids had a blast trick-or-treating through the neighborhood. It was a little chilly so Micah went back with Nina and the rest of the gang that was passing out candy for us. We took the patio set and put it in the driveway, along with the fire pit so everyone stayed nice and warm, or at least tried to. We had the fog machine on the front steps and also had Halloween music playing. We sure know how to have a good time. When Nina came home from work we decided to decorate the yard. We put streamers in the trees and put some lights up. The lights, of course bring us back to tradition with the true meaning of Halloween before the secular world took over.

Happy Halloween

Happy 7th Anniversary!

2010-10-18T21:43:00.005-04:00

Well this was one of the most memorable anniversaries I can say we ever had. To our surprise our children along with the help of some very special people in our lives made us a special dinner in our own home! It was so cute and we can't believe the kids kept this a secret from us. So when Steven came home from work he was informed that we were banned from the dinning room and the basement.

Brianna came up to inform us that we needed to get ready - the attire had to be Hawaiian. This of course was where we went on our honeymoon. So we went and got dressed and ready for our dinner. So finally they unveiled the dinning room and to our surprise this is what we saw!

The table was set for two. There were seven candles to represent how many years that God has blessed our marriage. They had pictures from our wedding, our scrapbook from our honey moon, and some wedding pictures of the day we became husband and wife!

After Jonah and Brianna brought our salad up with rolls we asked our little hostess to take our picture. Brianna stood back and snapped the photo!

Then came the food - the chef's really out did themselves. This was better than any meal you would get at a restaurant and the service what can you say was amazing.

Then of course the tradition to have our favorite dessert from Hawaii which was Pineapple Delight!

This had to be one of the hottest days in Hawaii and while at the Polynesian Cultural Center they came out with the desserts that were FREE! Can you believe it - well it only cost us $5 for the spoon and we could share so of course we bought a spoon for $5. To top that it was plastic - but boy was this the best dessert ever. Pineapple, peaches and fruit topped with Sherbet! YUM!

Pineapple Delight

Now as we looked through our Honeymoon scrapbook we decided to take our individual shots. We did this then so why not keep up the tradition as well.

I Wanna Love U Forever - SHMILY

Thank you mom for making this evening in paradise. We are so grateful for all you do and we are so blessed to have so much support in our lives!

Where Have We Been!?!?!

2010-10-15T13:31:00.000-04:00

It's a good question...and the best answer I have is busy! I have let life take over and have seriously neglected my blog. My sincere apologizes as I catch you up one what we have been up to around the Fischer house.

On October 2nd NKU had it's first World Culture Festival. It was a really great afternoon full of international music, dancing, crafts, food and shopping. The students did a great job, especially for their first festival and I can't wait to see what they do next year! There was an amazing face painter there who used to paint faces at Disney World. Brianna and Jonah spent some of their money to get their faces painted.

Our butterfly!

The scary dinosaur!


Micah shaking his maraca!

That same evening we attended a pot luck and hayride with my CRHP group. It was kind of a chilly, rainy afternoon (the rain moved in after we left the festival) but we spent time in the barn until the rain stopped and could take our hay ride. It was so much fun to pile up on that hay and ride around our friend's property which is HUGE!

It's hard to take a picture when you're bumping around every where!

On Monday, October 11, we participated in our neighborhood tradition of Booing! The kids look forward to going Booing as soon as they smell Halloween coming around the corner, and this year was no exception. My mom picked up some adorable cauldrons and lots of goodies at Big Lots and the kids put together the treats and we went out to Boo our neighbors.

Brianna scouting out the scene!

Jonah was so upset because he wanted to bring the buckets back home. He wanted the gum and cried until I explained that we had more gum at home that was all his. And yes, those are real tears! Real, big tears!

Dance season has started back up again and so our Thursday afternoons are a hectic rush from school, to home to change, and then to the dance studio until 5:45. Brianna is taking tap and ballet again this year, and I have been so amazed with the progress she has made. Yesterday was "Watch Day", when all the parents get to come and see what they have been working on. Her teacher this year is the owner of the studio, and we love Miss Shannon! She is so amazing with these little girls, and you can tell she loves what she does. Brianna is enjoying this year and looks forward to Thursdays!

So that's what we have been up to lately! I hope you all have been well!