Summer Party

Sunday was the annual Ottawa County Sheriff's Department Summer Party at Craigs Cruisers. Tim is the head of the committee for the parties and he does an awesome job. Mason went with Tim to set up everything before hand. He thought he was a big shot to go help daddy (and he asked pretty please daddy). This year he was big enough to ride on the go carts. I can't tell if Mason or Daddy was having more fun.

They rented a moon bounce for the little kids to jump in. Mason made a friend and had to tell mommy all about it!
Tim was a little tall for the boats. I thought that they were going to tip over. Mason was in charge of steering and I thought he was going to make daddy sick with all of the circles they were going in!
Emily got to stand on the sidelines and watch! Maybe next year she will get to play.
Daddy and Emily were exhausted after a long day of fun!

Goofy Kids

The kids ran around in just their pants and underwear during a rain storm. I got bored so I was taking pictures like I always do when I am bored. Such cute little butts!!


Mason and Emily are actually getting along right now. He pulled Emily on his lap to read books. So sweet!
The two of them are such goofballs sometimes.

Vacation

Last week Tim and I took the kids on what was supposed to be a week long camping trip. We planned on going up to the Gaylord area for the first half of the week then get a hotel room for Wednesday night and then head south to Ludington area to camp the rest of the week. The plan sounded great. I spent the whole week before planning and packing for the trip. This was the first vacation we were taking with the four of us and it was stressful thinking of everything for four people. So, Sunday morning we got on the road and headed north. We got up there at about 4:00pm. We just got the camper set up and the fire started and the rain and lightening started. After about 45 minutes of down poring rain it finally stopped. I took one step out of the camper and I was in rain up to my ankles. Not a good start to the trip. Having a 3 year old and a 1 year old trapped in a camper with all their toys still did not help there anxiousness to play outside. So we decided to go for a ride looking for deer and "funny buns" (also known as elk). Where we were is where the wild elk heard is in michigan. The kids did great getting back in the car and it killed some time while all of our stuff dried. We ended up see a ton of deer and 2 elk. It was awesome to show the family the elk!! My family use to travel up there every year and spend hours upon hours looking for elk. With that being said I thought that I knew my way around the area and all the dirt roads. Well, I was very wrong. On top of dealing with the rain, I got us lost the first night. We got back to the camper finally and cooked some dinner and got the kids to bed. They fell asleep great but Emily woke up at least 10 times through the night. When she got up she was sick. She had a fever and her nose was running like crazy and her eyes were so swollen she looked like she was crying all day. It was cold all day and everytime we would just get things dried off it would rain again. So off on a ride again and once again I got us lost!! During the drive Tim and I battled what to do with Emily being sick. It was supposed to be in the low 50's or high 40's over night and we don't have a furnace for the camper and we just didn't want her to suffer and freeze all night. So we decided if she still had a fever when we got back we would pack and drive home. Well, she did and so we pack all of our wet stuff back up and headed home. I was so bummed but knew that is part of being a parent. You have to worry about what your children need before what you want. Mason was a champ though and was fine with it because we promised him a marshmellow and a cheeseburger (good healthy meal)!
We made home by 1:00am and got a good nights sleep. Emily woke up with a 103 fever and we knew that we had made the right decision. She relaxed all day and she started to feel much better by late afternoon. Tim and I then started to plan the next attempt to go camping. We packed up again after everything dried and decided to leave Wednesday and head up to Ludington area. Off we went with both kids feeling much better. We got up to the woods where we planned on camping, set up and finally started to relax and eat the huge amounts of food that I had brought (I swear I thought that I was feeding a football team with the amount of food that I brought). The trip was going great other than the bugs. We went through 3 cans of bug spray and we still were getting eaten alive. But we had a blast. Thursday was beautiful, we got to go swimming and fishing and out for ice cream and got to just relax! As we were getting in the car the weather reports are for thunderstorms and rain for the rest of the week. At this point Tim and I are SICK OF RAIN! So we may have jumped the gun a little by saying "lets just go home and not deal with the rain again" We packed up again and headed home again late Thursday night.
I just laugh when I think of what we called "vacation". We put on 1000 miles only slept 2 nights in the camper and we still walked away smiling and the kids had a blast!

DADDY DAY!

Happy Father's Day!!

Like always, the holidays are always very busy for us. In addition to the usual running around, the man of the day had to work. Tim picked up some much needed overtime all day Sunday. We appreciated it but we missed him on his day :( We were able to celebrate a little bit on Saturday but then I had to go to work at noon. I was at least able to let him sleep in and make him breakfast before I had to leave. It sounds like he had a great day with the kids. I am so lucky to have such an amazing husband. He is the best father. I couldn't imagine doing this without him. Thank you honey!!!

Our first stop was at my dad's house. We hung out for a little while. My niece and nephew twins were staying with grandma and grandpa while their mom and dad moved into their new place. So, as you can imagine they were very busy. I definitely wish that we had more time to spend there but we needed to keep moving.


Then we headed to my step dad's house to wish him a happy fathers day. Thank goodness everyone lives in the same town!! We quick stopped there long enough for papa to give the kids their dowse of candy! Then of we went!
Last stop of the day is our regular sunday hang out, Tim's parents house. We hung out their until Tim got home from work so he could see his dad. The kids were definitely crabby after a really busy day. But we survived it. I was able to give Mike and Pam their proof book and a picture I framed for them. They were very happy with the pictures so that was good. I was anxious all week to get them to them. I had spent the whole week on photoshop learning how to use the program and getting all the pictures ready to go. I made my deadline though! Now I can set up a blog or website to try and get some business from it.
To all the Papa's: Thank you so much for loving my children with all your heart. You always are thinking of their happiness and well-being (minus all the candy you feed them!) We are so lucky to have such loving families that care so much about our children. So THANK YOU!!! and Happy Fathers day!

We finally had a chance to go to the park and play. I promised Mason that he could go and fly his kite that he got from the easter bunny. I kind of forgot about it. oops! So off we went to the park to fly the kite with no wind. He didn't care though, he loved it. This was one of the first times Emily was old enough to play at the park and loved every second of it.




Mason and Emily got tons of outside toys for their birthdays and now finally we can play with them all. We had Nora and the kids over for dinner last night and they all enjoyed the pool and slip and slide. I can't get over how much Emily loved it all. She is so laid back about everything. There isn't a picture of Carter because he didn't like it much.
We had a great time with them over and very happy to have them over. I wish we would do it more!






Last thing: I just want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY PEANUT!!!! Riley's 7th birthday is today. I can't believe it. Hope you have a great day and I will see you tomorrow at the party! Love you!

Busy Weekend

Well, this weekend was a big one for most of the family. Tim's brother got married on Friday. Tim was the best man and looked studly like always! Mason was the ring bearer and did an awesome job. I really didn't think that he would be able to walk in front of all of the people because he is so shy. He did it though, I think that it helped that he walked with his cousin Taylor. They are best buds so it helped a ton! They fought over who would throw the flower petals, Mason helped out with that job!! Emily got to spend the night at chicken grandma's house. I personally got to take the wedding pictures. This is my first wedding and hope to do many more. I have been trying to pursue with my photography. I have a lot of learning to do but I have come a long ways though. It was definitely an experience, the ceremony was out in a field and if you remember right, friday was hit and miss storms all day. I got to work in gusting winds, sun, rain, and lightening and was thankful that Nora was able to assist me for the day to catch the tripod and hold the unbrella. She also was my moral support and kept me composed when I wanted to freak out! Conditions were challenging but I definitely learned a ton and was thankful for the experience.
It was a beautiful ceremony and was a blast at the reception! I am so happy for Mike and Pam!

A Day in the Life of Abby

I have been tagged by Jen to describe a typical day in my world. Everytime I seem to create a schedule that works, something changes. But here it goes...

Between 6:30 and 7 I get up and take a shower or Mason shows up in our room and climbs into bed wanting to watch cartoons. Depending on if Emily is awake yet or not we will let him watch for a few minutes. We continue downstairs to make Emily a bottle, Mason his milk, and most importantly Mommy and Daddy coffee.

8:30ish Breakfast for the kids and sometimes for me. Then we get cleaned up for the day. Sometimes we have lazy days and love staying in our pjs!!

9:30 We will typically run our errands for the day. Or just go shopping to get out of the house for a few.

11ish We get home from our adventure. We play with the million toys we have. Just hang out really. This is usually when I have a chance to try and get things done and play on the computer for a few.

Noon We sit down for lunch. Then Mason gets to wind down and watch some cartoons.

1-1:30ish Naptime for both of them. This is when I do laundry, dishes, clean, shower if I haven't earlier. I like to work of as much as possible during this time because I just don't seem to get anything done at other times:)

2:30-3 The kids get up and we have a snack. Usually cheese and crackers. Then we play.

5:05 Tim gets home from work. He plays with the kids while I get dinner going.

6:00 We sit down for dinner. This usually includes a good half an hour of arguing with Mason to eat what we are eating. Hope he grows out of this soon.

7:00 Bathtime for the kids. Then get dressed and it starts wind down time.

8:00 Emily eats her last bottle for the day and of to bed for the two of them.

8-10 Tim and I finally get a chance to talk and hang out. We usually watch tv: American Idol, Big Brother, How I met your Mother and Survivor are our favorites.

Between 10-11 Bedtime finally!!

I hope you enjoyed learning what my life is like. I can't tag anyone because I don't know very many people that have blogs to tag!