{DaY DReAmER}

I took this picture of Karlee while at the Tulip Festival in Pella. I didn't notice until I got home the exact name of the type of tulips. It just fit the picture perfect.

SuNDay PiCniC

We decided to go to the park on Sunday. I made homeade BBQ Chicken Pizza and then a Pepperoni Pizza. They turned out wonderful! We packed up the pizza, frizbee, kite and snacks and headed to Dewey Park. I was such a nice day outside. Steve and I played frizbee while the kids played on the toys.
Steve got tired of chasing my frizbee so he thought he would join Cannon on the horses. Needless to say, I think the horses are permently lop-sided. They will never be level again.

Karlee wanted to climb up everything, and she wouldn't let us help her. If we touched her back or leg she would start yelling, "NO, NO". So we just stood close making sure she didn't fall.

MaC & ChEeSe

DURING LUNCH

THE FINAL PRODUCT

Karlee loves Mac and Cheese. The other day she was just stuffing the food in her mouth. The spoon took too much concentration and time. She was being such a ham that I had to get my camera and take these cheese face pictures of her. WHAT A CRAZY MONKEY! (as Cannon would say)

{rite of passage}

(Steve, Joe, Steve, John)

Steve receiving his pin. (I couldn't get him to look up)

For all of those who don't know, Tuesday was Steve's "Rite of Passage" ceremony. What it is, a ceremony celebrating what they have accomplished and the next step of medical school, the beginning of clinical rotations. During the ceremony Steve's professors talked about how the students should have an open mind going into rotations and how they will probably change their mind many times about what they want to specialize in. Clinical rotation is a time to explore many different specialty's and determine what is the most appealing to the student. The students all had to wear their white coats. Everyone received a DMU pin and was able to stand and recite the student oath. I am very proud of Steve and all of the time and hard work that he has put into medical school. He is a great student, dad and husband and I admire him for being able to make a balance between all of his responsibilities. He is a very determined and passionate student and I believe that this will carry through to his profession. We are so proud of him and all of the other students and families who have made it this far. Good luck to all of those in the class of 2010! WAY TO GO!

FrIDaY NiGhT FuN

Do your kids ever go through stages of nastiness? We had this last week. Cannon had been really bad. He started talking really sassy and just being mean and nasty, which is really not like Cannon. Steve had been gone a lot this last week so he didn't really understand how nasty Cannon had been. So while I was gone one day, Cannon talked Steve into going to Home Depot and buying wood to make a fort outside. Well I had already returned home before they got back and when Cannon had told me what they did, I got a little frustrated and I talked to Steve about Cannon's behavior. Steve didn't quite realize how bad it was until that day and so we decided that Cannon at this point did NOT deserve a fort. Steve was kind enough to get Cannon and pack the wood and all of the supplies back to Home Depot. Cannon was so upset and cried for a while. I felt like the worst mom ever, but at the same time I really wanted him to snap out of this "phase" he was in. Nothing that I had done seemed to work, like not letting him get all of the toys he received for his birthday out of the box, and taking away the ones that he had, or sitting in his room. I was really frustrated. I felt like me and Cannon were always butting heads and he kept trying to get away with things, sorry to say, but he was acting REALLY SPOILED and ungrateful. So after Steve made Cannon return everything he was really mellow that evening and I felt really bad, but as the days have gone by Cannon has been acting better. We remind him about the fort and have promised if he starts being NICER we will help him build a fort in Michigan. He still has some attitude problems but nothing like last week. Needless to say, we all needed some time together. We hooked up with the Frosts and went to dinner and then to the YMCA for Family Night. The kids had Lots of fun and it was certainly nice to be together.

MoNsTeR oN tHe LoOse

We had the kids over this Friday, so all of the adults could go out on a date. We had LOTS of fun and I am sure the kids went home very tired. We watched some movies and ate popcorn. The kids wanted to make cookies, so we set up everyone at the table and made some delicious chocolate chip cookies. They danced around the oven they were so excited. So after their milk and cookies, the kids chased after the monster and tried to take him out. I think they burned off most of the sugar they ate before going home. We had lots of fun and I think the kids did too.

Cannon's Birthday Weekend

This weekend was an awesome weekend despite the nasty, rainy weather. It all started out Thursday when Cannon and I started making cupcakes for his preschool class. Cannon had such fun helping mom. He couldn't wait until we were done so he could lick the batter out of the bowl. Later that night we told the kids we decided to go get "ice cream" and some how we got lost and ended up at the airport. While we were there we had another surprise when Papa Steve and Grandma Tammy jumped in our car. Cannon was SO excited and it only took Karlee the ride home for her to start teasing Papa Steve too. The next day Papa Steve furthered his education and went to preschool with Cannon. He couldn't wait to have Mrs Kelly "help him" in the car. Later that day we celebrated Cannon's 5 yr birthday at our clubhouse with all of his friends. I think he was most excited about his motorbike cake. He looked at all of the cakes and he couldn't decide because none of them that motorbikes. So we went to Wal-mart and the made a race track on the cake, with jumps and then we found these little nano motorbikes that Cannon could place on the race track on his cake. That was so much fun for him. His birthday was a sucess and at the same time, total chaos. Well organized chaos, we played games and had a balloon room. Cannon had a blast!

Saturday we spent going out to breakfast at the Machine Shed and then we headed to Steve's school. I think we ate about every 2 hours because we had so many different places we wanted to take them to eat. They love Famous Dave's (my favorite).

Sunday they joined us for church and then Tammy cooked us a wonderful Sunday dinner (that makes me miss Sunday's in Idaho) and we just relaxed while Papa Steve and Cannon decorated monster masks.

Monday, Cannon didn't have school so we went to the Science Center. Papa Steve's favorite was the bubble wands. Simpe pleasure for simple minds! Cannon raced lego cars while Papa Steve tried to build a car that could beat his time, but that didn't happen. Later that night we went to Macaroni Grill where we had the best service ever. Our waitress was so nice and went beyond our needs. She was excellent!

Tuesday was the dreaded day Cannon had hoped would never come. We had to take Papa Steve and Grandma Tammy back to the airport. All I have to say is that Karlee was the only one that cried. Despite was Papa Steve said about me shedding tears, I held back. Well atleast while he was there, but I guess he will never know!

Thanks for everything Papa Steve and Grandma Tammy, we had a blast.

Thanks to all of our friends and family who helped make Cannon's birthday (as he would say) "the biggest, bestest, birthday ever".

We really appreciate all of the love and support we have from all of our family and especially our friends in Iowa.

Papa Steve, I hope you like your new look, we (Cannon and I) had fun dressing you up!

5 yrs IN THE MAKING...

I can't believe how fast my little boy has grown up. I just wanted to share some of my favorite moments.

Cannon started out early as a "LADIES MAN"!
He continues to love animals, especially his dog MAX.

He was excited to tell me all of the things he loves or is interested in.

I can't believe your 5

The TRUTH about Papa Steve

This is so funny. We always tease Papa Steve about not being able to snowmobile very good. Well yesterday Cannon drew a picture of Papa Steve stuck in the snow. I thought it was quite realistic. I just had to post this blog in hopes that Papa Steve would somehow get a chance to see what Cannon REALLY thinks. P.S. He's never drew a picture of his mom or dad stuck!

Enough about me, lets talk about......

Yep, you guessed it. I decide to write a little somethin, somethin about my husband. Basically things I love about him.

#1. I think he is the greatest dad. He loves playing with his kids and always tries to get me involved. He isn't afraid of getting on the floor and rolling around, making messes or drawing spider-man for my kids. As we speak, he is drawing a snowmobile for Cannon of Papa Steve's snow machine. He loves building forts and playing Lego's. Cannon and Karlee scream when they see daddy walking down the side walk. We love daddy time.

#2. Steve is not afraid. He is not afraid to speak his mind. This might seem like a down fall to others but I admire him for being able to speak up and not take crap from anyone. He tells it like it is. He also has no fear. He doesn't think twice about driving 80 miles/hr in a 65 or about climbing the steepest, scariest mountain on his snowmobile. Every winter I ask myself, "Should we have bought a life insurance policy on my husband?" I think someone is ALWAYS looking out for him.

#3. I love that he loves sluffing school sometimes to hang out with his family. On many occasions he doesn't make it to school because he thinks he is going to miss out on taking Cannon to school, exercising with me, picking up Cannon, having mac and cheese and running errands. I usually don't have to ask him "why is he never home?" I usually have to ask "Are you going to school today?"

#4. He loves to snuggle. Don't get me wrong, I love to snuggle too, but sometime in the middle of the night, I get annoyed that he is sleeping in the middle of the bed. He is always roasting hot too. I feel like I'm on fire if I have my legs resting on his legs. In the morning, I have to beg him to let me go so I can get the kids ready for school. If it was up to him, we'd lay in bed and "SNUGGLE" all day.

#5. He is the best back scratcher. I know he gets this from his mom, but he scratches my back almost every night and I usually don't have to ask him. He just loves playing with my hair and scratching my head and back. Needless to say, I'm the first to sleep.

#6. I think he is so smart. Either that or he has an answer to everything. Or maybe, he is just a good fibber. He knows so many things from the medical aspect to how cars run and how to fix them. He is my walking calculator. I tease him when we go to the grocery store because he adds everything up in his head before we get to the check-out. What would I do without him?

Okay, so I just realized I could go on and on. But I didn't want to bore you with my rambling.

So please leave me a comment. Something great about your spouse that everyone might not know.