the latest happenings

so we are slowly but surely getting ready for Christmas. We have gone to a few parties. The first was our ward Christmas party. We attempted a gingerbread house, but it collapsed (twice)...still cant figure out how we didn't win best house. Of course there was Santa and the girls were able to tell him exactly what they want; Abby would like a parrot (its a fur-real pet) and roller skates (she thinks the girl at Sonic is awesome... we probably go there too much) Emma wants a chipmunk (weird i know, but also a fur-real pet) and roller skates (well because she wants whatever abby wants). Jonas didn't care so much for Santa. He wasn't scared at all...he just had better things to do than to sit on some guys lap. But we still squeezed him on for a picture. We also had Aarons work Christmas party. Lots of yummy food and Santa again....the girls made sure he still remembered what they wanted:) Since then we have enjoyed all the yummy Christmas goodies we have made and those that have been given to us. Im scared to be weighed at my next doctors appointment since last month (at 14 weeks) I had already gained half of a normal pregnancy. Not to worry... our treadmill will be here tomorrow....and I will for sure be using it every day (who am i kidding). Now we just try to stop eating so much chocolate and get ready for Aarons parents to come!!!

snow...

I changed the background of our blog. It's the closest thing to snow we will be seeing this Christmas here in Georgia....unless there is some Christmas miracle and it decides to snow just for Christmas day (and only Christmas day). I really don't love snow, but it just never feels quite like Christmas until there is a blanket of snow on the ground:)

A few updates.... Aaron put in hardwood floor throughout the main floor of our home. I love it and am glad to get the house back to normal (which is why there wont be any pictures this post....because I cant find the cord in all the chaos). Its amazing how much it changes our home. We (and when I say we I mean Aaron did and I supervised) also painted the "lovely" green playroom (you find out real quick your really really good friends when some say they like it...after hesitation and then others who will tell you it looks like "poop"). It's now a very soft blue and we love it much more.

I made my very own first Thanksgiving dinner ALL BY MYSELF this year. I am very proud of myself and the two days it took to make one meal. Aaron loved it so much he is requesting a repeat for Christmas dinner. I don't know how I feel about having turkey for Christmas instead of ham so we will see. Thanks mom for the crazy, but so very yummy turkey recipe and letting me call you every 10 minutes for help:)

The kids are getting bigger and crazier which makes life full of fun.

now I am just getting ready for Christmas and looking forward to the new year that will bring many changes...some being jonas will go to nursery (yea!!) emma will be a sunbeam and will start preschool in the fall. Aaron will be applying for a masters program that if he gets it will have us moving not long after and we will be adding number four to our crazy bunch. hopefully i will be able to post pictures soon!!!

we have been thinking

aaron and i have been talking and since this is most likely going to be our last baby we thought it would be fun to keep the gender of the baby a surprise. I know... i am crazy! if you know me im not one for surprises. I have to know EVERYTHING (I always find out all my presents from aaron way before because of that very reason). I kept telling myself that I NEED to find out so that I can prepare. Then realized that there isn't really much to prepare for. We already have a few things for either a boy or girl and the first couple of weeks all they need is pajamas and diapers. We have many friends that have done this and love the fun of not knowing till the end so we thought... why not make our last one a little more fun!

We will see how long this idea of being surprised lasts...

halloween

This was a fun Halloween year, but now I am glad its all over. I had this brilliant idea this year to make all their costumes. I had been thinking about how my mom always made mine as a child and I would do the same. Probably wont happen again:) Or at least I will pick something much easier and less sleeve sewing. Well enjoy the pictures....

Jonas was actually able to trick or treat and once he figured it out... he was a boy on a mission



Emma and her "best friend" Lilli (daphne)


Abby as the Queen of Hearts. If you know our Abby this costume was perfect for her and she really got into "character"


getting ready to go... Freddie and Daphne (mathew & lilli) and Alice and The Queen


The Mad Hatter


our sweet Alice

sneak peek

I was going to make jonas the white rabbit, but when it came down to time I had to go with something easier. The hat did start out fitting, but as I added the fabric it just didn't end up fitting perfectly....oh well! I had to wing it all and even though its far from perfect I think it turned out better than expected...seeing that I did it all last night and finished this morning. Cant wait to see the 3 of them together....now I just have to finish abby's queen of hearts costume and we will be set. Doesn't he just look super happy to be all dressed up??

guess what....

... We broke the July cycle. Every one of our kids has a birthday in July and not just in July, but all within the same week. Now we are expecting baby #4 and this one will NOT be born in July, but in May!!! I really look forward to seeing what its like to NOT be pregnant in the summer...yea!

monster mash!

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Queen of Hearts and Alice in Wonderland Costume Set GIVEAWAY!!!!

Queen of Hearts and Alice in Wonderland Costume Set GIVEAWAY!!!!


I would absolutely DIE to win this. I have done contests like this before, but SERIOUSLY!! THIS is EXACTLY what the girls were going to be this year and am halfway through sewing emma's "alice", but have really ruined it and with us all being sick I am just about to give up on trying to make costumes this year...until NOW!! I am sure I will still try to sew them, but imagine if I won these super adorable (i literally drool everytime I look at them) costumes. OH I hope I win!!!!

meet the newest addition to our family...

LITTLE CHICKEN!!



yesterday Abby went with her class on a field trip to a pumpkin patch and brought home this pumpkin. Emma fell in love the moment she saw it! Abby, being the nice big sister let her have the pumpkin and emma carried "him" around EVERYWHERE! She also has named this little pumpkin "little chicken" (obviously). We also went yesterday out to dinner and to watch Abby play soccer and of course our newest addition came along. I had to convince her today that little chicken could not go with her to her dance class because all the other little girls wouldn't have a pumpkin and so she after lots and lots of bribing left him home. As soon as we got back she made sure he had plenty of hugs and kisses! She is such a funny girl!!

thats not my name

aaron has finally changed the music on our blog! YEA!! I don't know how to do it so he is always the one in charge of the music...just in case you were wondering about the previous music choices. Well now it plays the girls most favorite song (right now) we love to play this song for them because they sing and dance to it and its the best to watch. Emma only knows the "thats not my name" part and so that is always sung the loudest and I LOVE IT!! I have yet to get it on video, but we will see. Sorry no pictures with this post....and that is because we have ALL been so sick and no one wants to see that (trust me..we are scary)! Since Sunday we have all been pretty much on our death beds and Aaron has been the only one to venture out of our prison to go to work or make the nightly run to CVS or Walmart for sickness essentials. Hopefully one day (very soon) we will see the light at the end of the tunnel. As of right now it just never seems to be getting better. So don't come near us for the time being because I would hate anyone to get whatever this is that we have. I would never wish this on anyone. On a more positive note... we have spent a LOT of time with our little family which is always nice, the girls even though have been just as sick have helped me a lot to take care of Jonas (who has now become the sickest of us all). And we are hoping to be better by Monday so that Abby can go on her field trip, play soccer, emma can go back to dance "twass", and I can hopefully (fingers crossed) get their halloween costumes sewn in time. Until then there are still runny noses to wipe, fevers to come down, lots of disinfecting of germs to be had all while we as a family will be jamming out to this song.... so sit back turn up your volume and enjoy it with us.... its probably the closest we will get to be with our friends for awhile:)

soccer

Abby is playing soccer again and she is LOVING it! I even asked her before the season started if she would rather do dance with Emma and she said she wanted to play soccer. She is still the smallest, but she is not scared to get right in there and get the ball. She already has scored a few goals (some for the other team, but she seems to do whatever is easiest and if she gets the ball and its easier to take it to the other teams goal then so be it). Yesterday she had another game and when I told her she got really excited and said "me and daddy play soccer. Daddy is super awesome with soccer and now im super awesome like daddy!"



Whenever Abby does something good she will show us on the sideline a thumbs up! She loves to play goalie and that is why she is doing it this time. Once though another kid on her team was playing goalie and let the other team score and Abby did a BIG thumbs down for all to see.... we had to teach her about how thats not very nice:)

that would be abby's foot and yes she just scored a goal!!

jonas

I just LOVE this little boy. He can always make me smile even when I am having a pretty crappy day. Don't get me wrong I love my girls just the same, but there is something in that one dimpled smile that just melts my heart. He is goofy and sweet and loves to cuddle and loves to be all BOY!! He makes me crazy now that he climbs on everything and gets into every cupboard or drawer that he can reach. He has even learned to say "shut it" and yet when I WANT to be mad at all the madness he is causing I just CANT.... he is really that cute!!

This is a video of him I took awhile ago (the same day emma had her super awesome "lion" hair day...this was towards the end of the day and its much more calmed down). He found some goggles and insisted on wearing them the majority of the day. I laughed ALL day that day!! ENJOY!!!

havent seen one of these since i was a kid

Abby was scared of it at first, but then grew to love it. Emma has a frog in that cup. Aaron thought it would be okay to tell her to bring it in the house to show me. Not a good idea. Aaron got in a lot of trouble for that brilliant idea!!

so sew busy

this is what my kitchen has become these last few weeks



I have been sewing and creating like crazy because I am going to be trying to sell a few of my creations at the Oliver Hardy festival the first weekend in Oct. I think I have officially gone crazy!! Here is a little sneak peak of what I have been up to.







I have a few more ideas up my sleeve, but its all about finding the time and October keeps getting closer and closer. Let me know what you think. Hope to see you all at the festival!!!

"lion" hair!!

last night abby really wanted to have me put curlers in her hair and so I did. when I asked emma if she wanted them too she said "no, i want tinkerbell all over". Tinkerbell hair means a bun, but ALL OVER I took as this (this is this morning after its been slept in, but there were about 10-11 "tinkerbells")


before I took them out I told her her hair was going to be soooo curly and as I was taking them out she kept saying "is it like sleeping beauty hair?" I guess she was thinking it was going to be long beautiful curls, but her hair just kept getting bigger and BIGGER! When I was done she felt that it was super big and said "NOT LION HAIR!!" This should be an awesome "do" for the day...don't ya think?

i am luckiest mom ever...

... because I have the cutest, silliest, best, most adorable kids ever!! I know im not always this positive about them, but I absolutely LOVE these three crazies!

Abby is now in Kindergarten and she is loving being more independent and making her own choices and I am learning that its okay if she goes to school and doesn't quite match or she wants to wear Christmas socks with her shorts... we try to compromise, but she usually gets her way:) She is also learning that her teacher wants her letters written a certain way and that she cant always put her swirls on the end of her A's and Y's and dot her I's with her huge circles....we are still working on it!! She just loves to have things done just so and as much as it makes me crazy when trying the help with her homework at times...I love it about her!


Emma just began dance class and she LOVES it!! She loves it when I put her hair in a bun (she calls it her tinkerbell hair). She is still making us laugh all day long and is really enjoying having her daddy home and wont let him out of her sight.


Jonas is all BOY!! He is getting so big and it makes me a little sad knowing that he isnt going to be my baby for much longer. He loves anything noisy or dirty! He loves to tease the girls and its funny that even at this age he knows just how to bug them so much. He watches everything they do and is always trying to follow. Just the other day they were jumping from couch to couch and of course Jonas thinks he can do it too...so far no injuries (knock on wood).


Also, a little side note: Aaron started back to work at a DAY SHIFT!!! We have been doing the midnight shift since we have been here (3 1/2 years now) and its so crazy to have him home before 4pm and to sleep with me at night. We finally feel like normal people!! However it is going to take some getting used to to have someone else in the bed at night. I think we will be upgrading to a king very very soon;) But other than that we really cant complain. EVERYTHING is GREAT and life is GOOD!!!

aqaba

our last days were spent in aqaba and was a perfect ending to an already super fabulous vacation! We spent two nights in pure bliss. We got to our hotel after our tour through the desert in wadi rum. It was right on the red sea and once again we were upgraded to a suite. This was by far THE nicest hotel I have EVER been in (and aaron has treated me to some very nice hotels in the past) We had our own living room, kitchen, a balcony that had a great view of the red sea and TWO bathrooms...who needs two bathrooms (seriously). After getting settled we walked around for a bit. We went up to the flag there (well because its supposed to be the second tallest flagpole in the world) and came across this old castle so we walked around there for a bit. Once we had enough we went back to just eat and relax. The next morning we headed out to do a little snorkeling. Aaron is really big into ocean stuff and even more so since we got that salt water tank so he was dying to go and being the awesome wife that I am knew just how happy it would make him and agreed to go. I am terrified of ALL things ocean. I think the ocean is beautiful and the things that live in it are great, but I will NOT ever go in it. I just hate the thought of not knowing what you are swimming with and...well I am scared of fish. I wont even put my finger in our fish tank at home its that bad. So we got all our gear and I (after a lot of persuading on aarons part) got in the ocean. I scraped my knee on some coral and felt like I couldn't breath with the mask on. freaked out and got out as fast as I could and was very content to watch Aaron swim around from the dock:) Aaron loved it though and was a happy boy even though I am sure he wished he didn't have such a crazy wife. We walked around some more that night and would see people just walking their camels down the street....it was AWESOME!!! we just continued to relax and it was great.... if we didn't miss our kids so much at that point I could have stayed there for a very long time!!!

We drove back to Amman and got ready to go home. We missed the kids so much and it was hard to be away from them for so long, but the trip was AMAZING and I absolutely LOVED every moment of it. Thanks to all of you that helped us out these last few months while aaron was away and while we were both gone. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!! We have been truly blessed with such good people in our lives.

Also a little side note that I am really excited about.... Flying home (aaron and I flew separately) I stopped in paris ( my #1 on places I want to visit of course) and I asked for a window seat so that I could see paris as I flew in and out and I actually saw the eiffel tower. We flew so close and I got so excited I am sure I looked like a complete freak to everyone else on the plane. I was so excited that I actually walked out of the airport just to walk back in so that I had to go through customs again JUST so that I could get a stamp on my passport to prove that I saw the actual eiffel tower.... pathetic I know!!
driving along the red sea. on the other side is egypt..that will be another trip:)

watching aaron from a safe distance:)

the castle ruins. unfortunately this is the only one we have that actually shows the castle...I really am happy to be there... im tired of having to be the only one in ALL our pictures

second tallest flagpole in the world

the view from our room

wadi rum

After Petra we drove to wadi rum to take a jeep tour through the desert. On the way there we passed this bedouin man trying to get a ride along the rode. We drove passed him then Aaron got a guilty feeling knowing that bedouin's are supposed to be super nice or something like that so we turned around and picked him up. Crazy enough he just happened to be a tour guide and wanted to take us in his jeep and for a little bit cheaper than what it would have cost to go through the visiter center. At first I was a little worried since we didn't know him. He tried really hard to first go to his house to drink tea with his family. He didn't really understand that we really don't drink tea for religious reasons because EVERYONE there drinks tea all day long. I think we offended a lot of people turning down tea the whole trip. Anyway, after finally convincing him we just wanted a hour jeep tour and did NOT want to drink tea or spend the night (who knows how many times he told us his uncle had 2 goats and a lamb because "big occasion tonght" and we should eat with his family and spend the night...we were on our way! We first stopped at a spot where it is supposed to be the place where moses was trying to get water and tapped on the rocks and out flowed a spring. It was really neat to be in a place like that. We saw really cool mountains that just looked like the rocks were melting and A LOT of sand!! But still AWESOME!!! On our way out of course there are always some person that needs a ride and being the extremely nice people we were we sure did give them a ride. One just needed a ride back to the visitors center which was only about a mile in the direction we were heading, but the other who didn't speak any english (who i swear passed gas he entire ride and helped himself to our bottled water) needed us to go a little out of our way to take him to a certain village. On the way all I could think was that part in the movie dumb and dumber and the hitch-hikers and I felt the need to sing the mocking bird song. Then we were on our way to Aqaba to finally jut relax!!!

Petra

This was probably my most favorite place we visited. We got to our hotel late since we didn't leave Amman when we were wanting to (because we were looking for lost luggage at the airport) But the Hotel was AWESOME. Aaron did very well in getting us the very best this whole trip. I was a VERY spoiled girl the entire trip!!! We were upgraded to a suite (either because they were just really nice or because Aaron had reserved them under the school name and they wanted to impress us "business" people...either way we definitely scored big time with the hotel rooms) We woke up had an amazing breakfast and then walked to the Petra ruins (our hotel was right at the entrance) Petra was AMAZING!!! All I can say is I cant wait to go back. When we first got there there are people selling their goods and one guy talked us into buying a scarf for myself. Which at first I felt completely dorky, but it totally came in handy!! You just walk/hike through the mountains to see these buldings and temples and whatnot carved right out of the mountain. They were incredible!! I loved every moment of it. I should have Aaron write this post because he knows a lot more of the history and details of the place much better than I do. I just wish I would have taken the donkey ride up to the monastery. That hike was like the stair master from "you know where" and this is where that white scarf thingy came in handy. Its so hot, but the more you cover the better oddly enough. My face was so red by the end of the day. I couldnt walk for the next few days, but it was totally worth it!!! That night Aaron took me to dinner. It was called Petra Kitchen and on the way there Aaron tells me that you cook your own food and you dont know what you are going to be making until you get there. I was a bit skeptical at first...since I can be a bit of a picky eater. When we got there we were with 3 other people. We were given recipes of some traditional Jordanian foods and were shown how to make everything. It was SO FUN!! And the food was SO YUMMY!! I would have eaten there every night! We got to take home the recipes for the things that we made so maybe I will be making them again very soon for my family (anyone want to try??) We spent another night in Petra and then the next morning after another super yummy breakfast we headed to Wadi Rum....sorry these pictures are out of order but im too tired and lazy to fix it.
me

This was a little bridge that looks to be held up by this little teeny pole...of course I told Aaron to go stand on it for a picture!

can you believe that this was all carved out of the mountain?!?! and thats just a small portion of all that is there!!

our menu and our hosts that taught us how to cook at the petra kitchen


me pretending i know what im doing


almost to the top to the monastery...had to take a break...and this is where the scarf came in handy even if I look a bit dorky:)

the entrance