Easter Beagle

I'm a horrid Mother, yes I admit I do not do an easter basket.  My kids don't even know who the Easter Bunny is, they believe in Charlie Browns easter Beagle. We do have Easter Baskets for the annual Easter Egg hunt though and this year is was so much fun to see them go.

Owen showing Taylor where the eggs were, although she was off and running when she saw the first egg.  Taylor is a hoarder and LOVES purses, loves to put things in purses and . . . 

Loves to hook a purse on her elbow and walk around like mommy. 

Lily was off and running with Janessa her best friend of the day. 

Don't you just hate it when 2 cameras are going at the same time?

Lily and Nessa jumpin'!

CHEESE!!!

 AND MORE CHEESE!!!

The only remotely good picture of the girls in their dresses.  We will try again cause they were stinkin cute. 

Stitches

One quiet evening in the Porterhouse Chet and I were remarking how well Owen and Lily were playing downstairs.  JINX!!! Not a minute passed by a there was a sickening thud.  One that made this mother move faster than ever known possible.  I was able to make it to her fast enough that all the blood ended up on me not her.   

We took her to Community Care thinking that there wouldn't be a wait and we'd be able to get out relatively fast. 45 minutes later and a photo op later we were told they had nothing to numb her and we'd just have to hold her down and do the stitches that way.  We immediately left and went to the empty ER and were taken care of with numbing cream and all.  Lily was the model patient, her only request was ice cream, which the nurse delivered once her bandaid was on.  

You wouldn't think with that big smile she had a gash in her head at all.  It never bothered her to have it. She even let me take to stitches out without a fuss.  

She is now bandaid free but she does have to wear a hat and sunscreen all summer to reduce chances of a scar.  

*While adding these pictures Lily stated, 'My head's not dripping now.'

Little Man

I know everyone thinks this about their children, but this IS the cutest little boy ever! 

 He has bronchitis can't you tell? 

This is his little preschool.  He loves going, loves everything about it and wants everyday to be a preschool day.  Frankly, mom wants every day to be a preschool day to but hey 3 days ain't bad.  The little red-haired boy in the corner is his BFF Porter. Yes, it has caused much confusion.   

The long haul

When we moved into this house in 2008 just days before Lily was born we knew this kitchen wasn't fabulous but it would do.  Then when we were graced with the presence of Taylor the not so fabulous kitchen did not have enough storage so my handsome hubby built me a pantry to take up the random space in the kitchen and once that was done I thought well if I paint the cabinets It will look tons better and this is what happened.

Look its Halloween and I have no kitchen.  

And this is what it looked like a week later. I had my stove and I could do my dishes in the tub so we ate out a lot until a wonderful neighbor did this.

Chet's so excited he doesn't actually have to do anything. 

Taylors favorite spot.  She wouldn't stay long enough to get a picture with her in there. 

The one part Chet helped with :) 

I didn't get any pictures of the upper install so this is the best your going to get :) 

Isn't it beautiful?  I love it! I can't believe its in my house. In my head I still have the blue kitchen but no its this! It only took 5 months to fully finish! Hahaha, I will never live in or do a kitchen remodel again.  To many decisions all so important and permanent. But after agonizing over everything its FABULOUS!  

Couponing

I thought I'd brag a little on my latest couponing exploits.  The first time I went, I went to 3 different stores and spent a total of $100 I saved $100! Whoo hoo! I now have a 3 month supply of diapers and dish washer detergent!

Today it might not look like I did so well but in these totals I have party decorations and Lily's birthday presents so I spent $200 and save $100.

I'm so happy with myself.  All it takes is the actual effort.  I love the fact that I am still only buying what I would have bought anyways but saving a ton out of pocket.  I even got a great job by a follow couponer behind me at Albertsons!

Princess Lily is 3!!!

Three years ago today I was sitting around thinking of course this is Chet's first set of nights and I think I'm in labor.  I was trying to figure out what time to put Owen down for a nap and how long to let Chet sleep before  I told him we needed to go.  I waited until Owen woke up from his nap and then told Chet.  Once we got to the hospital we called Gene and Lisa and I asked if they were busy.  They thought I was calling to make dinner plans or something, not that I was in labor and needed them to come pick up Owen.   

She was my little Princess then and she still is.  Who would have thought I would have a little girl that loves everything girl 100%.  She is tons of fun to have around and her quotes of the day have kept us laughing.  I can't wait to see what this year brings.

My Big Boy

Owen is getting so big and so smart.  I am proud to announce that he finally was able to put together his own show and tell! I asked him the letter of the week and he said "R",  and then we went to the sound, rrrr and he went and found this . . .  

R is for Rabbit! 

We also got a learn to read set for Leapfrog for Christmas and Owen and I have been spending about 20 minutes on a book at night and it have activities in the back.  Last night it had him making the sounds of the letters of 3 letter words and he was so excited when he realized that he was saying a word! Step 1 complete now we have to repeat millions of times!!!!

Sledding

Owen's Santa wish was that he wanted a train. . . since he already has a train that was vetoed and we moved on.  His new wish was for a sled and Santa was much more accepting to that idea.

Here is Owens first sledding trip

 At the top of the hill getting situated. (Owen on the left Chet and Lily on the right)

Owen always seemed to aim slightly off to the side so he got to do some cool jumps over sidewalks.  

They actually came right at me once!

Lily had it so easy she just stayed in one place the whole time. 

Christmas a little late

For some reason I barely had my camera out this Christmas but there was obviously 1 love. 

Taylor thinks its her chair. 

And amazingly its gender neutral :)

New Years Plans!

I didn't want to call this post resolutions because that only means to say intentions.  Yeah you can intend to do a lot of things but that doesn't mean it's going to happen.  So, here are my plans because I really want to implement these things into my life.

1. Couponing:  I have been putting this off because I have to take 3 kids to the grocery store and its hard to concentrate when you have to do that so I try to be as devoted to getting out of the store as quickly as humanly possible.  Now that Taylor is almost 18 months old and Owen is in preschool I think I can try it.  Or I'm just going to leave my sleep deprived husband with 3 blood thirsty kids so we can save some money.

2. Cleaning:  It's not like we live in a pig sty.  Give us a few minutes and we can have the house clean any given day, but I want to be able to not freak out when people show up unexpectedly.  So that's the cleaning goal that dusting, windows, and the laundry room floor make it into the normal cleaning rotation.

3. Projects:  We have big plans for our house this next year.  I know we always have big plans but this year I swear the bathroom downstairs is getting finished.  The second I get our tax return we will be calling our favorite family plumber with our list of parts to get the party started by hopefully the beginning of February!

Here's to 2011 where we will have a 5, 3 and 2 year old be married 6 years with a son in Kindergarten! Oh goodness.