A Great Day....

Kenny had off of work on Wednesday, so we scheduled our first "baby appointment" for that day. He loves going to our appointments and has been to almost every child's monthly and weekly appointment. He has become pretty buddy, buddy with our current Dr., Dr. Yoo, who has delivered both Ian and Owen. I have had c-sections with all my boys. During the birth of Ian, I was getting the cloth draped across me so that I can't see them as they cut me open, and Kenny was standing up looking over the cloth. The nurse politely asked him to sit down beside me and Dr. Yoo responded, "NO...he Doctor, he watch!" Kenny then proceeded to give me a play by play of what was being cut inside of me, so much for the doting husband stroking my forehead telling me everything is going to be fine. He loves surgery and even jokes with his co-workers that he might just take me to the clinic to deliver the baby himself! He does have an ultrasound machine at work that I'm sure we will get some use out of. He has already taken my friends Crissa and Melina down there, laid them down on some hairy dog blanket, and tried to tell them the sex of their babies. He has been correct so far...we will see how he does on his own baby.

Here's our first peek of our new baby! When I showed Ian the picture he in a worried tone responded, "It looks like a rock." Grandad suggested that we call him, "Rocky!"

So after our appointment we took the boys 15 minutes up in the mountains to Oak Valley to play in the snow and have lunch. We had fun building a snowman, making snow angels, and having a snow ball fight.


This is our snowman Frosty. His life ended tragically after Ian knocked his body and head off. Drew was VERY Upset!
After playing in the snow we went to a country restaurant for some good old home cooking. Owen and I shared hot apple cider.

I love when Kenny is home with us. We had such an enjoyable day!

Valentine Sweetheart!

My husband is truly amazing and I love him more and more each day! We celebrated our 8th Valentines Day together and it was by far the best one yet. He continues to keep surprises in our marriage and to think of me before himself. So yesterday morning, I woke up early and made him homemade buttermilk biscuits (in the shape of hearts), with sausage and gravy. I served it with fresh strawberries and his favorite V8 Juice. The way to my husband's heart is through his stomach! What does he do for me?....He surprises me with tickets to a Martina McBride concert! He informs me of this just as we are getting off the exit!!!! He told me he was taking me out to the Cheesecake Factory down in the desert and forgot what exit it was, but that he printed out directions, he flips on a light and hands me the tickets. I started screaming with excitement and immediately called my sister Carmin and parents to tell them the great news!

Martina McBride is by far my all time favorite musician. I first fell in love with her music when I was a young girl in middle school and watched her video, "Its Independence Day" on CMT. I have since then attended 5 of her concerts and danced my first dance with Kenny, as husband and wife to "There You Are." My parents bought me and three friends tickets to a Martina McBride concert for my 13th birthday. That was also probably one of the best birthdays I can remember. While living in Manhattan, KS attending KSU, I also had the opportunity to attend three concerts. Two were at the Country Stampede, which is where a lot of country singers come and perform, while people camp and party for a week. I went with Kenny to one of those. My fourth concert I went to was extremely special because my sister Carmin surprised me with tickets for her and I. It was right before I was leaving to go Nanny in Connecticut, so she got them simply because she too is an amazing person. It was this concert that I actually got to hold (literally) Martina McBrides hand! My sister and I snuck past security guards and were standing right in front of the stage, she bent down to shake my hand and I grabbed it and yelled, "I LOVE YOU!" My sister thought I looked like a crazy psycho stalker! Martina did not venture over to our side of the stage as much after that. Carmin thought I probably scared her. So my 5th concert will be known as a Valentines surprise from my thoughtful and loving husband. I cherish him so much and feel so blessed to have him as my true love! I have to stop because he will already be upset by how I've gushed about him! So thank you family for making such special memories for me! I love you all. XOXO

Hooray for Presidents!

Drew performed today, along with the rest of his kindergarden class in a patriotic program celebrating our Presidents. I was so proud of him for going up with the rest of his class, singing all the words, and performing in front of a large crowd of people. It brought tears to my eyes and I cannot explain the happiness I felt standing there watching him. He continues to amaze me!

The world is a better place....

YEAH for me!!!!! A new Pottery Barn Outlet store opened 45 minutes away from my house and I am so excited! Those of you who know me well, know my obsession with the store. Darcy and I had fun today strolling through the store and envisioning how great the furniture would look in our houses. Unfortunately, I did not think to bring a truck or I would have come home with a dresser to match the boys bunk beds and a desk chair. I also fell in love with a leather couch and girl bedding (hopefully I will have to go back for that). Kenny HATES to shop and I actually consider myself lucky. I have gently pushed the Pottery Barn Catalog in front of him over the years and slowly but surely he has started responding, "Go ahead and just order it." Music to my ears! This way I get exactly what I am looking for and we don't have to go from store to store looking. I think he is a little nervous about the proximity of the store to us, but I know he will soon appreciate the closeness when it comes time to buy Owen a bed and we won't have to pay all the extra handling fees. This is just another great reason for people to come visit us!

* Laura I looked for the bedding, but I had no luck...sorry :(

" I don't love it!"

Drew loves to color and draw pictures. However, he gets frustrated if he tries to draw something and it doesn't come out like he envisions it. Lately he has been asking me to draw him pictures, so that he can then color them in. I CAN NOT draw. I have never been good at drawing, unlike my talented sister Carmin and brother Adam who can draw anything. So yesterday Drew came home with a picture he colored at church and told me that I needed to draw Jesus for him. I tried my best to depict our Savior on a piece of paper and his response, "I don't love it, it kinda looks like Mary." He is very critical of my work!

So today Drew was looking through our Hawaii pictures and saw a picture of him holding a macaw. He started begging me to draw him a macaw and I just kept putting him off. Finally he yelled, "I'm getting so angry that someone is NOT drawing me a macaw!" So I did my best to please my son and this is the finished product. He actually liked my macaw!

I told you I was bad!
So now I am on the look out for a book that teaches young children to draw. You know the ones that show you shape by shape what to do. If anyone knows where to get one please let me know.

SUMMERS FAMILY NEWS!!!!!

Some people might think we are CRAZY, but there is nothing better than a new baby! We are so excited to have another little addition to our family at the end of September!

When we told the boys last night that mommy has a baby in her tummy their responses were hysterical! Drew told us, "I don't think that is a good idea!" Ian told us, "I want 100 babies!" Owen said, "NO!" (He does say that to everything though) I know the boys will be excited when we actually have a new little baby that they can hold. Unfortunately, they have quite a wait ahead of them!

My kids WILL get their veggies!

I am a firm believer in the importance of a healthy diet. I make sure my boys always get the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables in a day. Drew & Ian have always eaten their veggies without a fight, even when they were toddlers. People would even comment how impressed they were with how well they ate them. I even wondered why other parents couldn't get their kids to eat their vegetables. Well of course, I am getting tested because the Lord has blessed me with a challenging eater! Owen hates vegetables and most fruit! It baffles me that I could have a child like this. He used to love steamed broccoli and that was the only veggie I could get him to eat, but even now he won't touch them. So I have had to get creative in order to get him the good nutrients that his body needs!

* If you have a weak stomach (Carmin) do not read this!

Johanna's Fresh Smoothie

I use a magic bullet to blend the following ingredients:
2 T. Flax Seed
1/3 C. Simply Orange Juice
Half of a banana
3 spoonfuls of Dannon All Natural Yogurt
Handful of fresh spinach leaves
Half of a celery stick
1 broccoli spear
4 baby tomatoes
Chunk of cucumber with the skin
Juice from half of a lemon
Handful of blueberries
Handful of strawberries

Its amazing how much he loves this smoothie. I make him one everyday, but still continue to always offer him a veggie and fruit at every meal hoping that someday he will choose to eat them for himself. So if you have a picky eater, give the smoothie a try and tell me what you think! They honestly have no clue how good it is for them and you can relax knowing your child is getting a drink packed with healthy nutrients.