Almost to the weekend??

I guess that is wishful thinking, right?

I don't have much to blog about tonight, but figured since I was sitting here waiting to start watching the Biggest Loser with Nick I would put a blog out there (I know I haven't been that great about it recently.)

Here are some fun stats on our family (well, fun to me!)

* Birk and Addy are 3 years old.  I know I wrote a blog about their birthday, but I just can't believe they are 3.
* We are actively working on potty training.  Addy has now advanced to the stage of telling me OFTEN that she has to go.  When she wants to go, then Birk follows.  Hopefully we are crossing over and they will be trained SOON...and I'll be done buying diapers.
* Nick and I leave for San Francisco 2 weeks from Thursday.  We are both pretty anxious to get out of dodge for a little while.  It is LONG overdue.
* My nephew is staying with us this week and helping us get a ton of stuff done around the house.  He is the most helpful 20 year old man I. Have. Ever. Met.  My sister and brother in law did good!!!
* I am actively running and training again for my next race.  I'm back up to about 7 miles a day.  (on a good day).  I need running in my life.  I crave it.  It gives me so much time to think, feel, and just work through everything in my life.  I think my family is even in a better place when I'm able to run.
* Nick has decided to compete in a Tough Mudders competition in September in Wisconsin with some work people.  Please pray for him as he starts his journey of preparation (something about climbing through a mud pit and electric shock if you get too high at the end...turned me off).

Again, not too exciting, but a few fun facts for this lovely Tuesday evening.  I'm off to my wine and Biggest Loser.

Peace out.

Do you ever...

Have a moment when you need God and suddenly he appears.

Today proved to not be a good day for me.  I decided it was a Dairy Queen kind of night.  As I was driving there I turned the radio to Life 107.1 and heard the song I needed to hear.

Thank you God for giving me that moment tonight.  I needed a gently reminder that you ARE here.

Here is the song.

Conversation with my 3 year old daughter

So we were driving to the doctor's office this morning as Addy has ANOTHER ear infection and this is the conversation that we had:

Addy:" Mommy, do you have a husband?"
Me: "Yes, honey I do.  It's daddy."
Addy: "Oh, and who is Aunt Jodi's husband?"
Me: "Uncle Greg.  Aunt Julie's husband is Uncle PeeWee, Grandma's husband is Bomba."
Addy:  "What about Woozie's huband?"
Me: "Well, honey Woozie's husband is Bomps and he lives in Heaven with Jesus."
Addy: "Oh, Mommy? 
Me: "Yes?"
Addy: "Do you have a guy?"
Me: "Well, do you mean Daddy?"
Addy: "YES!  Daddy is our special guy.  I sure love him." 
Me: "Well, I love him lots too.  We're pretty lucky to have him, aren't we?"
Addy: "Yeah, and Birky too!" 

Ugh ~~  She is the sweetest (most of the time).

My blogging

Has been nothing short of NON EXISTENT lately.  Lots of stuff going on in our lives.  Here is a short summary!

Tomorrow is the big BIRTHDAY PARTY/ House warming party.  We have a pretty good crowd of family and friends who are coming to celebrate with us.  We're looking forward to it.  Especially B & A.  They were on their best behavior "most" of tonight!  :-)

Work has kept us nice and busy.  There have been many changes going on at my work.  They are the kind of changes that really rock a person to their core.  I guess maybe with these changes it is just the fire I need to make some major decisions.  I am sure there is more to come on this one!  I could use some extra prayers.  The one thing I do know is I serve a big God.  He will walk with me on this journey and show me that there is a bigger purpose that I might not even be aware of yet!

The twins are both very BUSY.  They are still working away on their potty training and doing better and better each day.  We've advanced to the point where they ask me to go to the potty now.  Hopefully that is a good sign.

They are also saying the funniest things these days.  They have turned out to be quite smart.  The other night Nick was saying a bunch of words and the twins were telling him what letter those words started with.  I stood in awe!

So, it's a Friday night @ 9:38PM, and I think I'm heading to bed.  Got a big day ahead of us....here's to a great day (beautiful weather), lots of loved ones and a TON OF FUN!

How have three years gone by already?!?!

I cannot believe that I am saying (typing) this, but we just celebrated the twins' third birthday yesterday.  It really has been a great weekend/celebration, but as I sit here on our deck typing this after we've put them down for naps it makes me think back to all the good/bad times we've had.  I'm not going to post a highlight reel here (you can just go back in my blog posts for that), but I do want to call out that these two have turned into 2 of the most amazing people I have ever met.  They are fun, full of energy, kind, polite, BEST FRIENDS, faithful, innocent, hilarious, and even a little bit naughty at the same time.  These three years have gone by FAST, but they have been the most amazing years I have ever experienced.  I have learned the meaning of love, exhaustion, fear, courage, strength, and faith on a whole new level.

Thank you Birk and Addy for being who you are.  Remember you are miracles in every sense of the word.  You are the true meaning of God's grace and mercy in my life (and your Dad's).  I cannot wait to see what each year will bring for your lives.  I'm so thankful and LUCKY to be your Mommy!

I will post pictures of our weekend fun on a later post!  We also have a nice birthday party planned for next weekend!  Birthday month will continue!

Grilling

Is by far one of the greatest things to do in the evenings during the Spring and Summer months.  Let me pain you a little picture of our evening.  Got home from work, found my family in the basement playing with our cats who returned home after 3 years away (thanks to not having a Trache anymore they can reside in our home again).  We talked a bit, got our running clothes on and headed out for a quick run to the grocery store.  A quick stop at Fareway and we were back on the road.  It was great because the weather was so wonderful, the kids did great in the stroller (while eating their M&M's from Fareway) and we were able to run a total of 4 miles.  We also ran into a good friend of ours who lives in our neighborhood who is battling cancer.  What an inspiration she is to us.  She also looks freaking fabulous...NO HAIR and all!

Hope you're enjoying this wonderful weather too...  What a great time of year!  This is case in point a top reason why I love living in Iowa.  Season changes!

3rd month in a ROW

We have a child with an ear infection...and it's Birk.  Man, we just can't seem to escape this.  He started running a fever yesterday and part of me just knew.  Then the real symptoms starting coming out.  His talking in his sleep, restlessness, and high fever.  I stayed home today as Nick is home with them tomorrow and took him to the urgent care clinic at our doctor's office.  The Dr. that saw him (who did know his story) recommended that I make a call to our local ENT and see if I can get in and visit them regarding this and see if we need to be concerned.

Man, I just really thought we would be able to be normal for a while.  :-(

Hopefully tonight's sleep is much more effective for me.

P.S. Our cats are returning tomorrow and one is sick with a possible UTI.  Illness just surrounds me.

Weekend Fun

What. A. Beautiful. Weekend!!!

We spent the majority of the weekend outside playing at the park, having a picnic, meeting new neighbors, and just enjoying all that this weekend had to offer.  The kids have really enjoyed being outside and all that we've done.  Making it fairly challenging to stay inside tonight!   Thought you might enjoy some pictures of the fun that we've been having around out house!!!

All Clean after a fun afternoon!  

Mommy and Daddy at Mommy's birthday celebration!  

The kids know how to work the iPads better than the grown up's in our family! 

Addy saying "I love you" in Sign Language. 

Birk at the park.  Getting ready for a windy day of fun!  

Stopping to take a quick picture before running off for more fun.  (it was all I could do to get her to stop for a picture).

Slide races with Mr. Jeff.  Birk had a "bit" of a head start.  Maybe carrying a slight advantage.  

Although it was super windy....that didn't stop our fun. 

Happy boy! 

A Child's Imagination

Is by far one of my most favorite things.  As the twins are getting older and "playing" much more intently I absolutely LOVE to sit and listen to their stories, the pretend that is taking place and the world they are creating for each other.  It reminds me of some of my most favorite memories as a child.  Like playing with my karaoke machine with my favorite person, my cousin and pretending we were on the Oprah show, or playing barbies for HOURS on HOURS with my childhood best friend.  We would dump the clothes and barbies out and just create the most amazing scenarios.

I love that I see parts of this taking place already with Birk and Addy.  How they love to play house together, play cars and also play sports.

Being a child is one of the most amazing gifts that God has given to us.  I would even say being a parent and watching this process is pretty incredible as well!

Another birthday....has come and gone

But man do I feel very special.  First off, FACEBOOK has a way of making a girl feel extra special.  I got so many wonderful wishes and compliments.  What a blessing.

Plus I have a family who treated me so wonderful and friends who went out of their way to make me feel special and go out and have fun with me.

We spent last night at some friends house.  My great friend Fran made a cake and allowed the twins to decorate it.  She did this for Nick's birthday and man did they have great fun.  The cake itself looked absolutely crazy, but watching the twins have a blast was worth it.  I could not have asked for a better 31st birthday.  Here is hoping to 31 more fabulous years!

Special thanks to everyone who made it a spectacular weekend!  I'm such a lucky girl!!!