Starting over

hey guys! Due to the creepy followers I was getting I decided to create a new blog. And while I'm sad to have to abandon this one it feels good to start fresh. I'm hoping to create a blog book with my old one to keep track of the memories. If you would like to continue following us please email or facebook me for my new blog address. Thanks so much and I hope you will carry on with us!

Easter 2012

This year we carried on our family tradition of dying & hunting Easter eggs with my mom's side of the family. Both of my kids could participate this year and really enjoyed it more than they have in the past. Carter thought the eggs were for eating and he tried to drink all the colorful dye quite a few times, but he quickly realized it didn't taste good and copied everyone else.

On Saturday night while the kids were in the bathtub, Easter bunny paid them a visit! Carter was so excited he jumped out of the tub and had no clothes on for most of these pictures and I was afraid of missing out on pictures while MR went through her new toys so I'll show what I can.

 Their new umbrella's were probably the biggest hit. MR had one that they faught over so much it broke, so I'm glad they each have their own now.

 This new white headband in the picture below is MR's new best friend. I usually have to wet her hair every morning and brush through all those curls/knots. And let me tell you, she just might be the most tender-headed person ever! So when she got that new headband she said, "Look mom, you don't have to brush my hair ever again. I can just put this headband on." Good try sweetie, but that's not what that was intended for! As a matter of fact, Easter morning when she woke up she put it on before she even came down for breakfast and told me that her hair was already done and there was no need for me to brush it.

Easter morning, Jeremy got up and went to Sunrise Service with his parents at the cemetary where his brother was burried. (For those of you who don't know, Jeremy lost his brother, age 23, in a car wreck. Jeremy was 19 at the time.)

The kids and I met up with Jeremy's family and had breakfast afterwards.We went to Easter mass at 10:30 and then went to Aunt Mary's & ate lunch with my dad's side of the family. The kids had another easter egg hunt with their cousins there as well and we tried to get a few family pictures before we changed clothes.

 You can't really tell from these pictures but the kids had on matching smocked bunny outfits.

Spring Break Part 2

My grandmother turned 75 in March and we threw her a big party to celebrate. All of her 5 siblings and their children, & their children, & their children live in MN. So the MN relatives arrived mid-day on Thursday and that's when the partying started & it lasted until Sunday afternoon when they left. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking...

 My cousin Colleen owns her own salon called "The Perfect Touch" in MN and every time she comes down we all get our hair done, cut, color, etc.

 These were a huge hit! Gummy bears soaked in birthday cake vodka. They were so good!

 Maci Rose and McKenzie

 Uncle Woody, Aunt Betty (one of my grandmother's sisters), & Tucker the dog.

 Getting ready for the DJ to start

 Family shot

 And we went to a Mexican Restaurant after church on Sunday to say our farewell's before they left. We literally took up the whole patio of the restaurant!!

Thank you all for coming! It was a blast as usual and we can't wait to see you all again soon!

Religion Kills, God Saves

We passed a guy the other day who was wearing a shirt that said "Religion Kills, God Saves". Jeremy and I just looked at each other strangely and said "true". But then I really got to thinking about it. How does religion kill? I could think of a million different meanings to the saying however, Monday morning I was reading my daily devotional that pretty much spoke right to me about the message.

It said, "Religion tries to force people to follow laws to make them perfect, like pots without cracks. But if a light is put within a flawless pot and then covered, no one is able to see the light inside the pot. Perfect pots are not able to reveal internal light to illuminate the ways for others."

"God chooses to shine through imperfect, cracked pots. People are blessed when our cracked pots let the light of Jesus shine through. Choose to be a glory-filled, cracked pot rather than an empty, pretty vessel".

Growing up Catholic in a Southern Baptist state I've realized this, denominations need each other! I have learned more about my religion because other people question my faith. I believe that when we get to heaven, we will learn the truth about our differences. We will learn that all of us were right about some things and wrong about others. But even the things we were right about won't matter. God wants us to get along, to stop fighting with everyone over what is wrong and right and to begin to find the things we all can agree on. Practice looking for ways to agree with other believers, and then watch what God does through the unity of faith!

Mother of the Year

After last week, I think I'm out of the running for "Mother of the Year" award. Let me just tell you that Carter is one tough booger & I hope we don't experience another episode like that EVER or at least for a little while.

Here is the day-by-day of his week:

Monday- Carter fell down the last 2 steps at our house and busted his lip. BLOOD.WAS.EVERYWHERE!

Tuesday- I sent him to my parents house while I worked (huge busted lip and all) and when I came to pick him up my mom informed me that Maci Rose gave him a huge bald spot in the back of his head. I was so sad b/c it's taken him 2 years to get hair that I wonder how long it's going to take to grow back. But, needless to say, it could have been worse! Maci Rose could have poked her eyes out or chopped off a finger with my mom's sewing scisors. Yikes!

Wednesday- Carter fell off the trampoline and hit his head really hard. About an hour later his nose started bleeding and bled from 3-5:30 straight so I called the nurse. We didn't have to bring him in but were told to watch him for other signs of concusion. This is really hard to do with a 22 month old because they already don't talk much or walk too well so how was I supposed to know if he was slurring his speech or stumbling?? I had to wake him every 2 hours for 2 nights straight and make him walk, per the nurses instructions. It was not fun for him or me!

Thursday- As I was on the phone explaining all of this to my mom, Maci Rose comes in to get me and tell me that Carter is playing with something he's not supposed to. So as I approach him I realize he is sucking on a glade plug-in air freshner!! Ugh! Poison Control was called.

Friday- Jeremy took off work because we had out of town company in. I was cleaning the bathrooms really well and the floors were wet and Jeremy was chasing Carter around & he ran to me and slipped and hit his head again!!! on our tile bathroom floors. I was too embarrassed to have to call the nurse again. Would she turn me in?!?

Luckily, we never saw any side effects of anything and THANK GOD because if he had started acting funny and different we wouldn't have known if he was high, or with head injury or both??

Thank you Lord for looking out after my baby boy. Geez!! With Carter, it always seems like when it rains, it pours! Maybe that's all little boys?

Spring Break 2012 Part 1

This has been a crazy busy spring break for us so far. And it's all been planned for me, which is great! I haven't had to plan very many activities because we already had so much on our calendars for the week.

We started out with my aunt's 50th birthday party at Superior Grill on Friday night. My cousins babysat and it was a nice little break away for Jeremy & I.

On Saturday we had my neighbor McKenzie's (the little girl I keep) 3rd birthday party. It was a lot of fun with everyone in their green and hanging out with good friends. They had a huge bouncy house castle which entertained the kids pretty much all day. On Saturday night we went to a beautiful outdoor wedding for some family friends. It was so fun being able to wear tank tops, strapless dresses, john johns, and no tights!!

On Sunday we went to my inlaws for a cookout for all the March birthdays. My MIL, SIL, and husband all have birthdays within the same week of each other. It was a once again a nice hot day and we rode 4 wheelers outside with everyone for most of the afternoon.

Of course, I got no pictures of anything during the weekend and I hate that because it was all so much fun! But also very busy so I guess that's why I forgot my camera?

On Monday we went to the local park with our other neighbors. It was extremely hot and we went early! I don't know how we're going to be able to handle the summer with this weather so hot already!!?!!

I had to work all day Tuesday, but while they were at my parents house MR got ahold of some scisors and gave Carter a nice little bald spot in the back of his head ;)

Wednesday, we ran errands, went grocery shopping and cleaned house because we have MN relatives coming in town today. The kids played outside and had fun finger painting!

 Carter had more fun painting his belly...but whatever!

Jeremy bought a car from a co-worker he's planning on fixing up and re-selling, so the kids helped him clean it up.

 And then the kids and I made his favorite strawberry cupcakes for Jeremy to bring to work today to celebrate his birthday.

.....Happy 33rd Birthday Jeremy!! We love you!!

We have a fun filled next few days in store for us with out of town relatives here to celebrate my grandmother's 75th birthday. I can't wait!! More posts to come on that... I hope everyone is enjoying their Spring Break too!