Birthday Fun!

Wow! My little boy is 4 years old already. And my little baby is already 2! I can't believe how fast it all has gone with them. I hope it slows down just a little so I can treasure it a little bit more. I have had so much fun these past 4 years that I can't wait for the rest! Hopefully they start getting along a little better though.
This past weekend they had two birthday parties. Saturday was their party for my side of the family. It was at Nora's house due to the fact that 20 people don't fit in our house. I am so thankful that she is willing to rent it out to us. The kids had so much fun, I just wish that it would have slowed down so I could have chatted with everyone a little bit. Mason chose to have homemade apple pie for his dessert (nice bonus for us that don't care for cake to much). He told me later that his favorite part was the pie! Then Sunday we went Tim's parents house for party number two. Once again a great time! It was a little more relaxed for us. But the kids had such a great weekend and were spoiled rotten. Thank you to everyone for everything!

Finally a wonderful few days outside and inside!

The kids and I played outside all day today! I can't tell you how happy we were to be out there! Yesterday we worked outside and cleaned up the yard and cleaned cars. I love the motivation I have again to get things accomplished now that it is nice out. I love working out in the yard and playing with the kids out there. Then this evening we grilled up some venison steaks on the grill, it was so good! Izzy has been loving the weather also. She is sleeping anytime that we are inside. I know the top picture is inside, this is what the kids were up to after nap time this afternoon. Emily was all dressed up with all of her hair clips thanks to Mason. She also is starting to potty train a little. She stayed dry for nap time and used the potty. She has been doing that for a while now but she won't let me know when she needs to go. I am in no rush but would love to be done changing diapers. Almost four years of it and ready to be done!
Well, enjoy the pictures! I am done rambling for now~

Long Week!

So we have had another long week of sick kids! Mason started the week with a really rough cold then Wednesday Emily came down with it. Both of them have been coughing like crazy and running a pretty good fever. This has been such a long winter for these poor kids. I feel like every few weeks they get sick with something. I am trying to keep the positive attitude about this weather but I just feel like it is beating me down and my kids. I truly think that they just need some fresh air. I want to open the windows and let all of the germs out! I don't want to complain about winter but man am I ready for spring!!!
I have a ton of pictures but they are all on the computer and I am to lazy to get up right now and load them up so they will have to posted at a later date. I am going to try to post a lot more often. No guarantees but I am going to try my best!

Once again it has been a while!

Well, lets see what has been new for us...
Mason is now signed up for preschool at Zeeland Public! He is so excited, he got to see his classroom and meet some of the teachers! I can't believe he is growing up so quickly!
Tim and I hosted a super bowl party last Sunday night with Nora family and my Mom and Dan. It was a ton of fun. We made enough food that we are still eating left overs. The sad part is that we were going to make the same amount of food whether or not anyone came over or not...so I am very thankful that people showed up! Otherwise I would be eating leftovers for a month!
Izzy was fixed Monday morning so I am taking care of a sore puppy right now. I feel so bad for her. She is starting to move around better now! Pain meds are helping.
Other than that, I am going stir crazy and ready for warm weather!!!!

This is a picture of Mason and Emily playing dress up! I think I need to get Mason some boy dress up clothes! His dad is going to kill me for posting this.

Mason's New Room and Emily's too!

Here is Mason's new big boy room! He loves it. A couple weeks ago we painted the old nursery upstairs and got Mason a big boy bed and made the move. He has grown out of his toddler bed so we felt it was time. And Emily and Mason had all of their toys in Mason's room on the main level. So after christmas when you could hardly move in his room anymore we felt that it was time to switch them. I really struggled with the decision to move Emily into a toddler bed because she isn't two yet and my last baby. So we let her sleep in the pack and play for a couple days and that helped me mentally prepare I think to switch her out of the crib. So in one eventful day she switched to a toddler bed and pooped on the potty twice. That was way to much growing up for one day. We still have to paint her room and I have to finish making her comforter and sheet set but she loves already. They both think they are hot shots in their new rooms! I need them to stop growing up so quick!

Elk Hunting

Well, Tim is off to Gaylord MI to go Elk hunting! Only 40 people out 40,000 got a license so it is a pretty awesome opportunity! He is so excited. His season opens Wednesday so hopefully he is successful early so he is back sooner. He went with my dad and both of them were ready to get out of town and away from work for a little bit. So hopefully I will be able to post some good news about the hunt soon!
As for the kids, they are healing again from ANOTHER bug that had them both out of commission for the weekend. I hope that they are done getting sick for a little while. I cleaned the whole entire house yesterday hoping that I got these nasty germs that keep haunting my family, out of here.
I will have to upload the pictures of Mason's big move into a big boy room and Emily into the toddler bed. We did it all last week and they are loving it. Emily also had a big day Saturday...She went potty on the big girl potty twice. So....hopefully that means that we will be out of diaper soon. Almost 4 years of changing diapers is long enough!
Well, I post those pictures later. Have a good day!

Oh my goodness it has been a long time!

I guess that this as good of a place as any to start with the updates! Mason and Emily got to see Santa at Tim's work Christmas party that he hosted. Emily wasn't at all hesitant when it came her turn to sit on his lap but my shy Mason took about an hour to warm up to him before hoping on his lap! He brought along his picture list of all the things he was asking for. It was really cute!


Next was our Christmas at my Dad and Phyllis' house on the Saturday before Christmas. Mason had gotten sick the Thursday before and was sick all night. We had him feeling better and then Emily got it on the Friday before. By Saturday they were doing better but I think knowing they were going to a party helped. The day flew by and unfortunately we had to leave early to get home for naps and off to my step-dad's family Christmas at my mom and Dan's house. The day was a lot of fun and I was just thankful that my kids were feeling better!

So, then came Christmas! Mason and Emily were so cute and so excited for Santa to come to there house. Well, Mason woke up with a 103 fever and Emily was at about 100 fever. Of all days it had to be christmas morning! I felt so bad for them and just wanted them to feel better. I think that the excitment kept them going through the morning. This is first picture is Emily opening her kitchen from Santa! She plays with it all of the time and loves it. I think she was pretty excited.

This is Mason and his daddy playing witht the train set he got from Santa. He spends a lot of time building these train sets.Emily is chatting on her cell phone thinking she is miss popular!


This is the kids and daddy at Tim's parents house. We headed there after we had our christmas on Christmas morning. At this point they are still doing ok but by the time we were done opening presents they were miserable and had to head straight home to get them some rest. It was so hard to make decisions on leaving or staying at the parties because not only were the kids excited to be at them but also the time that everyone put into the holidays and gifts for my kids. I felt horrible having to leave and just wanted my babies to feel better. It had been a week at this point that they hadn't been feeling alright.

This is how pathetic we looked after the hustle and bustle of the morning. They were both exhausted and ready for a nap! Then it was off to my moms again for Christmas with her family.





Look at my pretty Princess!

The following Saturday we had Christmas with my Mom and Dan. At this point the kids were still not feeling great. They were tough though. We had an awesome time over there and unfortunately had to cut it short again due to high fevers and feeling crummy.


Mason loves his Chicken Grandma as he likes to call her.

This is my grandma and Emily and I.


Another goofy picture of Emily in her new ballerina outfit she got.
After we open presents for the last three years we have had a bake off. Anyone in our family can enter and it just has to be all home made...no cakes out of a box, that and it has to be baked. This year I WON!! I was so excited and I am a bad winner as much as a bad winner so I apologize to Nora and everyone else that I kind of bragged of my winnings. I had a lot of fun making this and my mom had a lot of fun eating the left overs I think she licked every bowl clean. I made creme brule and it was sooo good and actually really easy. The best part was that I got to use a torch in the house (no I didn't burn any one or thing)!
Here is my winning entry!
This is Nora's Hummingbird Cake which is beautiful! She was the runner up. Last year she won and I took second.
This is me with the prize I won...Hat, apron and cook book and the famous trophy!
So, after all the crazy parties and running around we did. Emily ended up with a double ear infection and Mason had a single ear infection. They are just finishing up there antibiotics and hopefully we have gone through our share of sickness for a while! The holidays were great but I am glad life can slow down a little bit now. Sorry for taking 6weeks to finally post something but I have been kind of busy. Hopefully, I will stay up on it now and keep you all up on what is going on here.