Matt's means of communication....

When I got up this morning, Matt had already left for work. He was kind enough to leave this little grocery list/coupon pile for me. Lets discuss the hidden meanings here, shall we?



-Sara: You are going to the grocery store today. See, I made you a list...this means you must go and get food and other necessecities for our family. No, you can't stay home and watch cozy movies with the kids instead.
-Sara, because you spend too much money, I have to spend my time clipping coupons. Get it under control please.
-Because you stress me out all the time, the small bottles of excedrine tension are just not cutting it. Time to go BIG.
-I've noticed you've been a little (a lot) grouchy lately, which made me think to check your tampon supply. You might be needing some soon. Probably in the next three days actually. And when you do need them, and realize you're out, you're going to send me to the store to get them. I do not like being seen at the store with a box of tampons in my hands.
-I don't want any more kids yet. But I do want other things. (wink wink)
-Sometimes, for no apparent reason, you just don't make dinner. It would be nice to have some frozen pizzas in the freezer for these nights.
-You are disorganized and I know you'll come home from the store today without having picked up the milk that we have been out of for three days. So I'll make you a list and put MILK on it. Hopefully you remember this list.
-Since every meal you make uses chicken...we will certainly be needing more by now.
-Sara, this is a short list. I don't ask for a lot in life. Please just USE THE COUPONS FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS HOLY, and don't forget anything I wrote down.

I love Matt, he's so on top of things. I'm the worst at using coupons. When I'm in the store I just want to get myself and my two uncooperative kids OUT as fast as possible. I don't want to flip through a bunch of stinkin coupons! But he's right.....he's always right. :)

A Photoshoot with Cailin

Our friend Cailin asked me the other day if she could get some pictures of Hallie for her portfolio that she's building up. She is starting a photography business in the area....so if you're a local, feel free to contact to her!! She got some really fun shots of Hallie and was so patient with her attitude problem. :) Just click on her name at the beginning of this post and it will take you her blog/contact information.

Going Blue.

My friend Danielle and I decided today would be a good day to take the kids to a blueberry farm that she had heard about. You pick to your hearts desire...and then pay very little. Thus making you very happy. It is always more fun to eat something that you picked right off the bush. I'll bet it's even better to eat something that you grew yourself...but we haven't quite gotten there yet. Anyways, we had a very fun morning up until Chase and Danielle's youngest, Brad, decided they were done eating berries and ready to cause trouble. Chase went up to some poor old lady's bucket that was about half full...and dumped it on the ground. I was horrified, and spent the next 10 minutes on my hands and knees picking them up and putting them back in her bucket for her. Anyways, it got bad fast. So we finished up picking real quick like and headed out.


Hallie and Chase. Hallie picking to fill up the bucket. Chase picking to fill up his belly. He's going to have blue diapers for a week for sure.



Hallie and Rhiannon working together as a team.

Picking away... and stop laughing at my hair! It was a bad hair day, ok? :)

Time for a little snack!

mmmmm mmmmmm good. Got any good blueberry recipies? Want some? Come on over!

This trip today reminded me of last spring when we were in Florida and we went to pick strawberries with all of our friends there. It made me miss those guys!! Just know I was picking blueberries and thinking of all of you!

Our favorite time of the day....

We love our cozy times in the rocking chair. It makes us HAPPY. :)

rainy rainy day.

It's been kind of yucky outside here the past few days...but I don't really mind that much. There's nothing I love more than getting to cozy with my babies and watch a movie, or climb into the rocking chair to read them a book. Or listen to Hallie reading. She's starting to sound out words and it's so crazy when your little person starts reading. Kind of freaks me out. Speaking of Hallie...here's a funny/embarrasing little story for ya:
We were at a birthday party for her little friend the other day and the kids were LOVING getting to whack a piniata. As little bits of candy began flying out of it with each blow the anticipation in the kids began to grow. They started shouting "hit in the face!" or "hit it in the stomach!" Then in a moment of silence, the excitement became too much for Hallie. She shouted (very loud) "HIT IT IN THE PENIS!!! HIT IT IN THE PENIS!!" My face immediately turned 5 shades of red, and all the adults were cracking up. I called her over to me and told her not to say that (it's ok for kids to know the proper terminology for body parts...but not until they're old enough to know when it's appropriate to use those words and in what context) I also wanted to know WHERE she learned to say that. I guess one of the little boys was saying it (he was just smart enough not to SHOUT it) so she was just copying him. It was really funny/ embarrassing, and I'm hoping we don't have any similar outbursts in the future.

I made something....AGAIN!

I've been feeling the need to CREATE lately (an urge I don't get all that often) , and after making some fun aprons, looking at a whole bunch of sewing blogs, and watching Matt play tanks on the WII for a while, I decided I should make myself a skirt. A draw string/lounge around the house/throw on a swimsuit and go to the beach (if only we had one)/feel cute kind of skirt. This is what I whipped up. I can't decide if I LOVE it or HATE it. Feedback (honesty will NOT hurt my feelings here...if I'm going to walk around looking like an idiot I need to KNOW people!)

Just call me Martha.

So I've been taking on a few sewing projects in place of fulfilling my household resposibilities. My sister sent me a really cute apron that she had picked up at a boutique and I LOVE it. Everytime I put it on in the kitchen I just felt like the cutest little wifey. It made me so happy. Then one day it hit me! This would be so EASY to make. So I used my apron as a pattern and got to work. Sadly, I've been giving them away as gifts and didn't get pictures of any of them. I've been grabbing fabric at Ikea whenever I'm there (I HEART all their crazy prints...but it's not the coziest fabric. Perfect for aprons though) and decided to throw something together for Hallie to wear when she's helping me make cookies (which is more often than I'd like to admit). Doesn't she look so cute in it??

Can't you just FEEL the sunshine looking at these pictures?

Dear Chase,

Thank you so much for this DISASTER that you made with your ravioli's at dinner time tonight. I really enjoyed cleaning it up off the floor, wall, desk, carpet, piano, and high chair. I also had a BLAST trying to get it out of your ears and scrubbing it off your arms and face. Thanks for good times....I'm going to go and eat my frustrations now.
love, Mom

Someone at our house turned TWO!

The dynamic this sweet little boy has brought into our home has been wonderful. He's happy, funny, smart, and has the cutest little imp face I've ever seen (I'm his Mom...I can think he's the cutest little boy ever). I can't believe he's been part of our family for 2 years already! He took Matt, Hallie, and I from being newleyweds with a fun little girl....to a family with two wonderful children. We love him so much.....HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUDDY! (his birthday was on Saturday... so this is a few days late.)

Chase's first day home from the hospital. It's funny that Hallie wasn't even two yet in this picture...and we had already had another one. Doesn't he have the sweetest little face?

Chase at three months old (he pretty much looked like a little old man until he was 1...we loved him anyways :) )

about 5 months old...I think....

Here he is eating his birthday cake on his 1st birthday.

So this guy is going to be so confused when he grows up and looks at his pics as a kid and sees himself eating out of pink bowls, getting pushed around in a pink stroller, and presents wrapped in pink wrapping paper (it's ALL we HAD!!). So he got pink presents....he doesn't know the difference, yet.

We had some friends over for cupcakes and ice cream....I think the kids ate like 5 cupcakes a piece. Less for me to eat later!

Singing happy birthday to the big guy, he was so embarrassed he wouldn't look anyone in the eye while we were singing.

Extreme chocolate happiness....

Sometimes you need to go crazy with the curling iron....

And put on some lipstick, and WAY too much makeup, and go out on a date with your husband. But since you KNOW he's not going to notice you took an hour to get ready.....you gotta post it, ya know?

The things I learned from taking care of 8 children for 3 days:

Our friends from Church welcomed their 7th baby into their family this past Monday...and I offered to watch the other 6 for three days until their Grandparents flew in. This is what I learned:
-Macaroni and cheese is truely a God send.
-Sometimes kids just hit eachother...and as long as it's just their own siblings and no one is bruised or bleeding...they can work it out.
-little boys+bad aim= lots of dirty toilets.
-Guitar hero+5 kids all wanting a turn NOW= mayhem.
-The amount of laundry this many children can produce in three days is astronomical.
-Leaky diapers up to the kids shoulders always come at the worst possible time.
-A very cleaver Mother with LOTS of kids must have created paper products....and I love her for it.
-My husband has no problem letting kids play video games that their parents do not allow... and his solution is to simply tell the kids "Don't tell your Mom and Dad".
-Matt is in big trouble for that one. :)
-I love big families
-Basic hygiene gets thrown out the window and replaced with basic survival.
-If you tell 9 year old twin boys they can stay up all night and play guitar hero....they will literally stay up ALL night.
-Hallie belongs in a big family.
-Chase does not (the conflict is more than I can handle). :)
-showing kids how to make their own bubbles in the bath by putting in a LITTLE baby soap from a new bottle= totally empty new bottle of baby soap.
-kids love to tattle on eachother.
-I stop taking showers and brushing my hair when I have too many kids on my hands.
-It is way more fun to go play soccer with 8 kids then it is with 2.
-It's great when kids aren't "bored" all time....because there are so many friends all around them to play with/get into trouble with.
-Frozen pizza=another God send.
-You can get kids to eat ANYTHING if you just throw in a few chocolate chips.
-I would lose A LOT of weight if I had eight kids....there is just no time for eating.
-It's impossible to hear Harry Potter.
-It was a really fun 3 days.

We didn't know what to do for the 4th of July....

so we decided to go camping and see a castle....why not, right? We drove about 2 hours from here to town called Cochem with a bunch of our friends, camped there friday night, then biked around the town on Saturday. We hiked up to castle and took and tour and just LOVED seeing this charming town.
Here is a shot of the city and the castle from the bridge. I had no idea a place this stunning was so close by!

Hallie and I discussing which Princess lived in this castle

Hiking up to the castle (and oh, what a hike it was!)

Taking a hiking break with a little liquid refreshment. (NO I wasn't letting her drink it! What kind of a mother do you think I am?!? She was just HOLDING it for me. :) )

Trying to look as sporty spice as possible.

The hubster and me....

Summer time has finally come!!

It is FINALLY warm and sunny here and we are taking FULL advantage of it. We went to have a traditional german breakfast with some friends this morning and oh MAN were our tummies satisfied. What the German people eat for breakfast the USA would probably have for lunch...I'm all about switching it up, never been much of a breakfast person anyways. We had yummy rolls from the bakery in town (baked fresh this morning) and scrumptious cheese, salami, and smoked bologna from the local deli. Cut the roll in half, spread it with some butter, throw on some meat and cheese, and VIOLA! Breakfast! We also had some really yummy yogurt type stuff (that's what we'll call it since I don't remember it's name) where you buy it from the store, add milk and sugar to it, then mix it really well. I would compare it to a mixture of whip cream, sour cream, and yogurt. Then you add fresh strawberries for a bowl of HEAVEN. mmmm it was good. We would never have been able to do it without our handy German friend Sarah. :) THANKS SARAH!!

Here was our yummy spread...on such a beautiful day.

Hallie making her breakfast selections.

Chase with his beautiful smile for the camera....oh wait...

After our breakfast (we didn't finish until 1 so it was more like lunch) we napped, then suited up for the pool. Let me tell you, these kids are fearless little fishes.

And look who is SWIMMING!! She's all about flying solo in the pool these days.