Favorite Foto Friday- "Silly"

What is it about Peter and silly glasses??!! He likes to entertain us with his silliness lately. He really has a good sense of humor for a little guy! He loves to copy what we do and pretend he is a big person. Here he was pretending to be typing on the girls computer!!

To see other FFF's, click here!

Happy Anniversary!

It was 15 years ago today that Rich and I were in Lillehammer, Norway for the Winter Olympics AND our wedding!! We stayed with his relatives while we were there and saw lots of neat Olympic events like Tanya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan (remember them?!) in Women's figure skating, and we saw Dan Jansen and Bonnie Blair win the Gold in Speed Skating. Our wedding was so special. We were married in a quaint little church that was built in 1280 and nestled in to the hills outside Lillehammer! Can you imagine a building being around since 1280!!! I wish I had pictures to post of the day but I can't find my wedding album at the moment!

For our anniversary I made this Chocolate Chip Cheesecake...maybe not as beautiful as yours, Mrs. D.,(you can see her recipe here) but not bad for me!! This is the first cheesecake I have ever made and I think it is going to be good...I've been snitching some as I made it! I also treated myself to a new camera...FINALLY!! For those who follow my blog, you've heard me complain more than once about my crappy camera. Well, there's no excuse for bad pictures anymore with my new Nikon D40! I love it already! My kids were even taking pictures of their noses to see how close into their nostrils it would zoom...disgusting but fun, I guess!

Anyway, happy anniversary to a wonderful husband and father and a very hard-working man. Rich is a great person, devout christian, and good friend to all who know him. God has richly blessed me with you. I love you honey!!!!!

Oh, only a few days left to get in on FREE shipping for the adorable socks I make. Check out my socks blog on the sidebar today!!

I Won An Award!!

Thank you to Sarah for nominating me for the Friendship Blog Award! I love her blog...go check it out and see what yummy foods she's preparing today!

The friendship award
Rules:
These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find friends and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships will be propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to five bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly- written text into the body of their award.

I nominate the following blogs to receive this award:

-Jenny: She's a fellow Minnesotan who I knew from church. They have since moved but we still follow her on her blog. She just had a beautiful baby girl!

-Mary Ann: What a sweet lady who always leaves sweet comments. She also makes the cutest handmade tutus...check them out!

-Mary: Our children were in the same foster home in Guatemala. She just started making the cutest handmade children's clothing...at a great price! Check out her fashions at her new blog...her other blog is private.

-Jill Marie: I can totally relate to her blog where she writes about life with a teenager and a toddler...we are there too!

-Tera: Such a sweet, awesome friend who designs blogs and made my Sox That Rock button for me. She's a fellow Minnesotan too!

Pizza Pete!!

This little guy is just so fun to watch! He really has a great imagination and can play by himself for long periods of time. He and Ricky are the closest of buddies too. He follows Ricky around the house and copies everything Ricky does...some nice and lots of naughty stuff!! Peter also is doing an AMAZING job with potty training at only 21 months. I think he would be completely trained if he was more verbal but his speech is slow to come. He uses the potty at least 5 times a day now! I haven't changed a dirty diaper in weeks so he consistently poops on the potty! He usually has 1 or 2 wet diapers in a day but he's is doing so well. Peter is such a joy for this family. His easy-going personality fits right in with the Type A personalities of most of the rest of this family!!! We are so lucky that he just goes with the flow...

Favorite Foto Friday-"Fake Out"

I bet that for every 10 photos I take of my kids, at least 7 of them are of fake, cheesy smiles like these! I end up delteting many and retaking tons of pictures. I REALLY need a new camera too. Mine is an older digital and takes terrible pictures..if it's even working right! Peter, at 21 months is already king of the cheesy, fake smiles. How do kids learn that so early??

Anyone have any suggestions on a good digital camera in the $200-$500 price range? Nothing too complicated though. Let me know your ideas. Blessings to you today!!!

By the way, to get FREE shipping on the cute socks I make, go to my socks blog and get some ordered today!!

To see more FFF "Fake Out" pictures, go to Sarah's blog.

We're home and other random rambling!

We made it home safely this past Saturday night and spent the next few days trying to get caught up on everything around the house. I couldn't believe all the dirty laundry I had! It took me two days to get it all done!! It was such a wonderful vacation and we feel so blessed to have had this opportunity to relax and re-charge our batteries. We all missed the boys so much and I posted their pictures here since we had so many of the girls over the past week...equal opportunity!

The hockey season is FINALLY winding down!! Hannah has been in hockey since the middle of October...that is way too long of a season for any sport if you ask me. She should be done after next weekend. Greta's season is over soon too although she will play one more weekend in March. Then spring soccer starts for her.

I have a sweet friend in New York who adopted a beautiful Guatemalan baby this past year. Our children were actually in the same foster home for about 3 months until we brought Peter home. Mary is starting a home business and does beautiful sewing of adorable children's clothing. Please check out her site http://boutiquelovelys.blogspot.com/ .

Also, go to my socks blog and check out this month's special...free shipping on any order!

Favorite Foto Friday-LOVE

We are feeling the love in the islands! The weather is perfect and we are having a great time. BUT, like everything else, it must come to an end. We leave tomorrow so we will savor our last day here in Jamaica. Here are some photos of the loves of my life. I miss my other two sweeties very much and am anxious to see my boys again tomorrow!! Happy Valentine's Day and God bless!!!

85 and Sunny!

What a difference a day makes! Today we woke up to the weather we know and love in Jamaica! Hot and humid and the sun is back again! It's a beautiful day and we are enjoying it at the pool and beach. The kids are having a great time in the Kid's Activities with our nanny, Taydean. Rich and I are enjoying hanging out at the pool..he in the shade and me baking in the sun! Our frosty-the-snowman winter white skin is not used to this hot burning sun so we are using lots of sunscreen and taking lots of breaks from the sun! With Rich having 2 bouts with skin cancer, we don't need to take any chances with our skin!

It is so nice to get away from the stresses of everyday life and really enjoy a simpler slower pace down here in the Carribbean. I wish you could hear the lapping of the waves on the beach right outside our balcony. We are so blessed to get away and God is so good to us! I do miss my boys terribly but know that they are having fun with Grandma and Grandpa and Ricky is thrilled to be going to school, bless his studious little heart!! Peter is doing good at potty training for Grandma too. I wasn't sure if he would do it for her but he's doing good...not all the time but at least several times a day he uses the potty! If only he would start talking so he could communicate better with us when he has to go!

If you ever have an opportunity to take a vacation down here, please consider this resort: Franklyn D. Resort outside Ocho Rios. Once you pay the room rate, EVERYTHING is included and we don't pay for anything, INCLUDING our wonderful nanny who takes such good care of our children. I think this is the only resort in the Carribbean that includes your own personal nanny for just your family from 9-5 each day. If you choose to hire her for the evening so you and your spouse can eat at one of the adult-only restaurants here at the resort, the nanny is available to stay after for only $4 per hour. I didn't think I would have the kids go with the nanny as much this time (last time we were here was 6 years ago so we used them alot then) but she is so much fun for them to be around and knows all the fun things to do. They really love being with her and we are really enjoying getting to know her as we talk to her about the culture and lifestyle of Jamaicans.

Blessings to all!

Jamaica Mon!!

We arrived in Jamaica yesterday to kind of cool and windy weather! This is our 4th time on the island and we have never had anything but 85 degrees and sunny! Although it's better than the snow back home, it's still a bit disappointing to be here when it's unseasonably cool! Notice in the picture of Taylor with her tropical drink that she's wearing a fleece jacket! Today it's still on the cool side and very windy. It rains off and on too. Despite the weather, we are having a great time and we love this resort. It's our 3rd time back here. The great thing about it is that when you arrive, you are assigned to a vacation nanny for the entire stay. She watches your kids from 9-5pm every day and takes them to activities and meals if you want her to. Our nanny is Taydean and she is great with the girls. They love her! We left Peter and Ricky back home with Grandma and Grandpa but we really could have had them here. The nanny makes it so easy by helping out so much with the children. We didn't have a passport for Peter and Ricky really is a homebody and didn't want to come along. Now he's missing us though! The kids have done tie dying of teeshirts, crafts and contests/games where they won prizes. Since it's all-inclusive, we pay for nothing so we are thoroughly enjoying an unending amount of tropical drinks and awesome Jamaican cuisine! It's so nice to be able to order whatever you want knowing that it is all included in the cost of the stay here!! I would highly recommend this resort to anyone...now if the weather would just return to normal!!!

"Let the Little Children Come to Me..."

Favorite Foto Friday- MELT

This weeek the FFF theme is melting. I wish there was more melting going on in MN! We did have weather in the 30's yesterday and some snow melted but not enough to get any good pictures! Peter loved being outside after being cooped up inside for so long with the deep freeze we have been in but it's still so icy and slippery on the driveway and sidewalks. This photo is a few years old...I had to go back a ways to find a melting picture! Greta and her best buddy ask for popsycles every day in the summer and they even matched their popsycles to their swim suits!! Looking at this pictures makes me so anxious for nice warm weather again! Think Spring....

On a side note, please stop by my new SOX THAT ROCK blog and check out my socks!! Click on the button to the right of this post!

Before, During and After

Check out this FREE Magazine!

I wanted you to know about this publication I’m a part of called Serious.Life Magazine. They just published the February issue today, and I am in their Featured Blog Directory. It’s a very high quality magazine… you’ll really like it.



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Again, the subscription is free, and I know you’ll enjoy the magazine, so take a minute to check it out and sign up to get future issues. www.seriouslifemagazine.com