it's all fun and games

messes!

johana is such a monkey! she sees my camera and sticks her tongue out! such a ham....
the other night, chris and nate were out and i left the girls alone for less than 5 mins...and came back to this....i must add, i just cleaned my Tupperware drawer out.....sigh.....

instead of getting upset about another mess to clean up, 10 mins before bedtime! i took pictures. then laughed

johana emptied the whole drawer!

thurs morning sister snuggles, just before nap....

nate joined in

i started my wrapping thurs night, johana was my first helper. then ellie joined me...and actually really helped! she put all the bows on and put them in the box for me

i told chris this morning "you know all our gifts fir inside a tote. thats all 3 kids and my parents" im impressed

2 comments

Posted by mel at 12:59 PM

johana snuggles

johana is 15 months now and walking! and climbing onto everything, and into everything! i've decided to keep her on a bottle for nap and bedtime until she's 5....hahahaha......i dont want to stop bottle snuggle time!

chris and jo reading together. she LOVES to lay down and just look at books, esp flap and toddler/board type books with different textures on them

i joined the book party too

it was a very sad day today. this bowl is the last of the nuts. all 5 BAGS of nuts. i ate them ALL. i had the last few nuts this morning....chris cant believe that i ate all 5 bags of nuts! what can i say, i love peanuts/walnuts/almonds....mmmmmmm......until next year!

and these were on my phone this morning....someone hacked my password and took them....

and it wasnt this little girl

ellie. with a pillow on her head. she is fun to take out, always talking and singing....spark of life she is

0 comments

Posted by mel at 1:34 PM

girlies

such a little girl in a big bed! we spend each morning in bed snuggling while jo sleeps and nate plays video games. i cherish our alone time

and johana. this would be her in the markers AGAIN! she LOVES to take all the caps off and eat markers!

she is very pleased with her handi work!

we had another dusting of snow on tues. schools were canceled again, but not our school! haha i took the kids out to run errands and was actually quite in love with the beautiful morning. it was such a nice, quiet drive with clean, fresh snow

then i picked chris up for a coffee break. i love that all the kids fit in my little car

i kinda straightened ellies hair. she fought me the whole time, so i just did a quick job. her hair is so long!

the front

she's still beautiful. curls or straight. reading books on my left

and jo on my right

0 comments

Posted by mel at 1:29 PM

this morning i woke up with the song "there is power in the name of jesus" (jesus culture) in my head. not in a religious manner but more of a "you got this, its going to be ok" kinda way

nothing in particular is 'wrong' and on paper i have everything i desire! it's the day in and day out living it through that makes me tired and discouraged

ellie is 3 now and is testing me, not like nate tested me! so what i did for him wont work on her. so now i have to figure out how to correct her in a manner that will work for her. while im teaching grammar to nate (a lesson on singular and plural possessive nouns) and at the same time i have little jo in my arms

yes. my life is full. i wouldn't change it for anything. each child has made me stronger, smarter, braver and more scared. ha ha

thinking quick on my feet at the same time meeting the needs of the kids is NOT my strong point. chris is amazing at it. me? not so. so im learning to handle the stressful situations in a way that pleases god

the other night, after a challenging day i found this and ive hung on to it all week

proverbs 2 6-11

for the lord grants wisdom and from his mouth comes understanding
he grants a treasure of good sense to the godly. he is their shield, protecting those who walk with integrity
he guards the paths of justice and protects those who are faithful to him.
then you will understand what is right, fair and just and you will know the right course of action every time
for wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will fill you with joy.
wise planning will watch over you
understanding will keep you safe

when i read it, i visualized a big snow plow in front of me like a shield, protecting me and allowing me to walk with nate and ellie and johana on each hand. nothing in my path way. the road was clear

if i am faithful to him, which to me is ironic because he is so faithful to me! but if im faithful to him and dont cheat, i will understand what is right, fair and just and i will know what to do in every situation i face. how cool is that??? sure, you can take the verse to apply to your own situation but im totally taking it for me! if i remain in him, he will give me the understanding to handle each situation that the kids throw at me and i will reflect it with my shield and get most of it right...

and then i saw wise planning will watch over you and giggled. hello! do we not know chris???? dude was created to plan wisely. haha god gave me the best guy!

so that is a quick peek into a moment of me. there is so much more going on than just the pictures i post. but with it all, god is faithful and true. so thankful for that!

and today we start our christmas vacation as ellie says it "jesus's birthday party!" ha

happy fri to everyone and i hope to grab a minute this weekend to post some pics from the last week

4 comments

Posted by mel at 12:21 PM

fri

i took the older 2 kids to hali fri for the weekend. my sis was in a play and had a solo; yes she can sing and act! i was not going to miss it! she was gone for most of the weekend, so i hung out with the kids, mom and dad and my "weekend hubby" shawn. haha. the kids were really good. i cant remember a fight or what not. the girls play together so well, its cute to watch ellie follow charlie around and charlie is so good to her. good times...fri night, dad had a special treat for the kids

cup cakes!

sat i went with cry to charlies hockey practice. i cant get over how much she has improved!! our little hockey player. sat morning, she joined me in bed with ellie for cuddles and i asked her if she liked hockey and she said " oh yes! i love hockey!"

go charlie!

0 comments

Posted by mel at 9:48 AM

ninja cookies!

sat night we made ninja bread cookies with the kids. so fun!

ellie was showing us that she washed her hand really well. ha

we gave the kids a roll of dough, showed them how to roll it and press the cookies and voila!

charlie went to town and made ALL these by herself!

the boys? well, i helped them....haha

ellie decorated this cook all by herself

working away

can you tell which cookies the girls made vs the boys? hahaha

another great job ellie!

and you too ninja nate....who cant seem to keep his shirt on. ever! ha

0 comments

Posted by mel at 9:48 AM

cry!

cry in her costume after the play sat night. thanks mom for watching and reading many books to charlie and ellie sat night. ellie is still talking about nana and charlie reading her books.

i love the way quinn is looking at his mom!

my little monkey jo. she was SO happy to see me. she said "wow! oh wow!" then clapped her hands and walked to me. then to nate and ellie. she napped for about an hour, and stayed up with me lat night till 10....she was not letting me out of her sight. which was fine with me. i missed my little jo!