Its OFFICIAL....

We have OUR OWN home. It was a home we put an offer on back in Dec. and as of today (the loan went through) and the home is officially ours. We are so excited to have
our own place. Mike took the day off work to paint. His kind friend, Troy, painted pretty much all day with him. Once Troy left, Mike stayed to paint. He is determined to paint everything tonight. I just wish i was able to paint... being prego and having kids is pretty impossible. So i am here packing away. *Believe me I would much rather paint than pack!* Everytime I talked to mike and was at the new home, he asked me to bring the camera- video and digital.... i forgot until the sun was just to go down, so here are a few pics. I will for sure take more once we get it all decorated. Parker is SOOOOO excited. He has been asking all day long... when can we go to my new house. When can I sleep there. Its an exciting time for our family. More pictures to come shortly.

Tough winter for Ashlyn...

Unfortunately Ashlyn has had one rough winter because of all of the little sicknesses she has had. Poor little girl! On Sunday night she was UP ALL NIGHT long crying and slept all Monday, then Monday night, same thing- up, crying screaming.. so i thought it was ear infection, i tried ear numbing drops, gave her Tylenol, and had the humidifier going, but she still screamed bloody murder. All day Tuesday she cried,Tuesday night she cried, and Wednesday morning... even if we held her she cried... it was a nightmare for me, Mike, and our poor little Ashlyn, so finally Wednesday morning Mike took her in. She didnt have an ear infection but DID have bronchiolitis. We caught it a the "very early" stages. they did a breathing treatment on her because her oxygen levels were very low. THANK goodness for andibiotics and a breathing machine treatments to help make her better. Hopefully this will be the LAST sickness she has this winter! I dont know how much more a little one can take.

Happy 5 year Anniversary Mike...

Today is our 5 yr anniversary. And how fast the 5 years have gone. I just wanted to tell Mike (and everyone who reads this) how grateful I am for you. Thank you for being the provider for the family, for working so hard to make it possible for me to
say home with the kids. Thank you for loving me unconditionally and always thinking of me and the kids. I cant wait for the next 5 years- and many more to come! THANK you so much for the great, thoughtful, loving, creative anniversary gift. Your the best and I love you so much.
**** For our anniversary, Mike first got me a sewing machine. He gave that to me a few days before our anniversary. The day before, we went out to a nice, quiet resturant and arranged for our neighbor to watch the kids. He told Kim that we would be back in about 2-3 hours to relieve her from the kids. As we left the resturant..

he drove into a hotel called the "THE ANNIVERSARY INN" we have never been there, and "INN" that is decorated into different themes. We has the Treasure Island Suite. And oh was it "sweet" He surprised me... he had his coworker come and get the kids from Kim, and they (Becky and Brad) stayed the night at our house w/ the kids. Then in the morning he asked my sister to watch the kids until we got back. I was so shocked that he made so many arrangements. That he would actually take the time to do something to surprise me WITHOUT telling me before hand. And that he made our 5 year anniversary so special to me. It was a nice, relaxing evening alone w/ no kids. I cried for a little bit because it was my first time away from them. It was hard but it was also very much needed! Today, we are together, he took the day off to spend it with me and the kids. I got a great husband and I love everything about him.

Mike's Brother wins North Dakota......

Mike's brother Ian just swam in the North Dakota High School State Swim Meet this past weekend and took a First Place and Second Place in the state. He was the only 9th grader swimming in the meet and is only 14 years old. He took 2nd place overall in the 200M breaststroke and 1st Place overall in the 200M IM with a time of 1:58:00.

how quick kids catch on...

2 nights ago, Parker was taking for ever going to the bathroom before bed and I was waiting in his room to tuck him in... i walk in to the bathroom and what do i see...Parker peeing in a little cup. My first reaction was "PARKER WHAT ARE YOU DOING" he said, "mom i saw you do this at the doctors before, so its ok to pee in cups." (i have no choice than to take my kids w/ me to the docs for my monthly check up! I guess that is my fault to what he was doing at our house!) I then had to explain that its only ok when your at the docs and he asks for it and no where else.