The Big 3

We celebrated Stella's 3rd birthday (Again!) this past Wednesday. In honor of her turning 3 we cancelled school for the day because we wanted to do something fun for her. After Happy Birthday and the now customary breakfast cinnamon rolls, Stella trotted off to play with her new Melissa and Doug wooden pizza set. We told Brooke and Luke that Stella was in charge of the pizza and therefore in charge of how they were going to play with it. Sister Sue was completely out of her element giving orders instead of being on the receiving end. I think Brooke was physically twitching over that new scenario.

Before lunch we took everyone to the park to play and then Mark took the kids to Skyline for lunch. Since Stella doesn't nap anymore she was so tired by dinner she almost didn't get to eat a cupcake for dessert. She did manage to force it down before she was whisked off to bed (at 6:30!).

It really doesn't seem like Sister Sue could even be 3 since her speech is still hard to decipher sometimes and the whole lack of hair. :) Three was a really rough age for Brooke and Luke and so I cringe at the thought that Stella could be more challenging in the year ahead than she is already. However, if she were an only child or the younger sibling of less bossy people, she would be a total sweetie all the time. Stella is thoughtful and funny and she desperately wants to be big. She's crazy and loud and one heck of a Skuut bike rider that loves to watch movies. It will be very interesting to watch her transition from this toddlerhood to a big girl. One thing I know for sure, whatever she does this next year, she will do it Stella style. :)

These are the Days

Yesterday was Mark's birthday. We celebrated by eating fajitas Al Fresco and then by enjoying Mark's birthday present. More on that in a minute.

Nashy Boy you are the cutest.

I do eat him up every day and after I made Mark get behind the camera, I have a picture to prove it. :)

See if you can figure out Mark's present...

Nope, it's not one live-in baby charmer and dish fairy. If you can find a Janice somewhere to live with you, snatch her up and then never let her leave. Don't tell her, but we may never let her move out.

Mark's new toy! The Boy Scout in him can't resist a good fire so Brooke and I decided that he needed a fire pit for his birthday. S'mores shouldn't only be for the lake, but an anytime treat. Ask me about that 5 pounds from now. :)

After dinner on the back deck, we camped out on our driveway enjoying the fire. The weather was perfect for a fire...temperatures in the low 60's, a little overcast. We really had fun after dark when the kids were in bed. They already think we sit around eating dessert when they're sleeping so eating more S'mores by the fire wasn't too far off. :)

Speaking of my children, Mark pointed out that they are going through some serious Kings Island withdrawal. We might need an intervention soon. Brooke grabbed this old car seat from the garage and when paired with a wagon, makes a substitute thrill ride.

"Are you ready to ride?" {Insert yelling} "I can't hear you!" {Insert even more yelling} Mark and I hear them imitating the ride operators all the time. Good thing we plan on taking the kids to Kings Island in two weeks for Brooke's official birthday.

If dining outside is called eating Al Fresco, then what do you call peeing in the backyard? Redneck. Luke's eyes light up when we told him he could pee in the backyard instead of going inside. After the deed was done, he came over and told Brooke he just decorated the tree. Silly boys!

Just FYI what you read about on my blog is only a tiny snippet of what we do. I post fun things and usually forget the rest. No, the kids aren't always smiling and things aren't always very much fun. What I didn't post (but I'll tell you now) is that Brooke didn't get to go to our home school group because she's had a TERRIBLE (times 10!) attitude lately, I cleaned poop out of Stella's pants 3 times yesterday and I stayed up way too late so at 3 PM yesterday I wasn't a happy camper. People cry and complain. We yell and throw tantrums. We have overdue library books and get sent to collections (true story I'll tell you about later!). We don't always enjoy each other's company. I just thought you should know that you're not the only one who's life isn't picture perfect, but by the grace of God, we can manage one day at a time. Praising Him for that and enjoying those happy moments!

Happy Monday

And he's done! Even Nash's smiles come to an end eventually. :) I'm not ready for this week to begin, but unfortunately the week didn't consult me. Putting a smile on my face and charging ahead. Hope you do the same. Happy Monday!

Not the Daily Grind

It's been a relative ghost town around my blog ever since school started. It's true, just check the sidebar to see how many posts I've had in the last month compared to all the other months. Home schooling takes time and energy and when we're finished for the day, there's not much energy or day left. I'm just sayin'.

Today (Saturday) I decided I wanted to do something different because the school day routine is wearing me out. I told the kids to get dressed, brush their teeth, and get in the car. I didn't tell them where we were going which was very entertaining for me. The guesses were IHOP and somewhere they were going to run around (because I made them wear gym shoes). When we pulled up to the Busken Bakery on our Main Street they were very surprised. Even though it was cold and a little drizzly, they ate their donuts under the awning in the front of the store where we watched the traffic go by. Brooke told me that when we have activities to do she forgets that Mark is gone. That's not really true because she always mentions him whenever we do something fun while he's gone, but what I think she means is that she doesn't miss him as much when she distracted by fun things to do.

We walked down the street to the train store and had to go in to see the display. Luke really likes trains and was thrilled by the pumpkin car at the end of the toy train.

After donuts we went to Sharon Woods. Yes, it was wet but the kids didn't care. We walked a trail by the lake and played on the wet playground equipment.

I wanted to go to this particular park to scope out some good photo spots. I am taking some senior pictures on Monday and in a few weeks a friend is going to take some family pictures of us. The park is so beautiful and has so many great photo spots. Just ask Brooke, she loves to pose for me now. :)

In planning for our family photos I have been trying to figure out when the leaves will be in their full Autumn colors. At the park today I realized that the time is getting close. I love this kind of cooler, overcast weather. I love jeans and light jackets and fires and soup. Bring on the soup!

At our birthday party my mother-in-law was accusing us of cutting Stella's hair. I use the term "us" loosely because I am in charge of people's hair and pretty much everything else, but I promise besides trimming her broken ends, I have not cut this child's hair. In fact, I think I'm going to have to get her a weave or a wig soon. :)

Brooke is getting so old and bossy. I am fearing for the kind of attitude that hormones and the teenage years will bring. Yesterday, I made her do my chores since she so badly wants to be in charge. I was trying to get the message across that being in charge isn't so fun when you're dealing with the dishwasher and laundry. This morning she claims to have learned her lesson, but I don't see her freely giving up any control. Apparently in 2nd grade you already know everything. :)

I told you the park is b-e-a-u-tiful!

Once Brooke starts posing for me EVERYONE else wants their picture taken too. Brooke's not usually a very good role model in the behavior department, but I will say she is great at getting Luke and Stella to willingly be still so I can take their picture. I said still, not serious.

Saturday's are not usually very fun for us because Mark is typically working like today. I am so glad that we got out and really enjoyed ourselves this morning doing something we don't typically do. I'm also just as happy Mark will be home for dinner tonight. Can you say no baths for me tonight? :) Hope you have a good weekend everyone!

A Big Party for Two Little Girls

Brooke and Stella having birthdays a week apart really makes things easy for me. Having one party for both of them is really convenient. It's also a lot of fun too.

Everyone kept saying that by the time Stella turns 3 she'd have hair. Um, we are 10 days from her birthday (Happy Birthday Asher Townsend!) and the hair? Not so much. I love that little double chin! If only it looked as cute on me. :)

Seven!!! My first born is turning seven! Seven feels like we are crossing over to some new phase. It's so school age and opinionated. Oh, wait Brooke's been opinionated since she was two. I wish she'd change her opinion about that hair. She wants it parted in the middle even though when it's parted on the side she looks so beautiful. I guess for the foreseeable future I'll have to focus on the inward beauty instead. :) It's those darn opinions I tell you.

Let me just say I did not bake these cute little cupcakes. I thought about it and then Mark pointed out that I really don't have any spare time to do that anyway. Thankfully, my mother-in-law came to my rescue and bought some from Greaters. Yummy! The cupcake toppers are from some creative lady's ETSY shop, a $5 customizable download. I printed and Janice punched and assembled those little beauties. Can't go wrong with pink cowgirls!

I tell you I'm lovin' cupcakes. We didn't have to worry about two separate cakes or the mess of cutting and no forks required! We'll be doing those again next year for sure.

Uncle Poodle and Uncle Bert were teasing Luke. Can you tell he didn't like it at all. :)

The best thing about any party we have is always the cousins. This time we had a new cousin in the house. I think he might be the cutest one, but don't tell anyone I said that. :)

The next best thing to cousins are cousins who bring their skate boards. Brooke keeps asking me if she can get a skate board. I keep dodging the subject because I think they are dangerous much like Mark thinks trampolines are dangerous. We'll see where that goes.

These are two very lucky girls to be loved by so many and to have tons of presents to open. It looked like Christmas. Can someone get the decorator on those picture frames in our school room? You may not have noticed, but it drives me crazy. Maybe I should do something about it...right after I feed Nash baby food. :)

Stella was excited to receive her very own ducky towel. Now she and Luke don't have to fight over the froggy towel anymore. Thanks Granna! I know that Stella is our 3rd because I let her use that towel after the bath without it being washed. Brooke would never have been allowed to touch it until it had been laundered. After two kids comes perspective. Maybe for you it came sooner, but for me 3 was my magic number. Poor Nash will be bathing in mud before too long...that is if he gets bathed at all. :)

Brooke got a Nerf dart gun which will help her improve her aim for the review game at our home school group. The kids won't know what hit them when Brooke starts hitting the bulls eye.

Speaking of a bulls eye, Mark's parents gave Brooke the American Girl horse stall and accessories. She is in heaven! Now all Brooke wants is that darn skateboard.

Bubble gum machine...check!

Happy, drooly baby boy...double check. It was such a fun day. I feel really blessed to have our family in town to help make our kids feel very special and loved. And loved they are...

6 Months and Counting

I told Nash tonight at 7 PM that he was the worst baby in the world and that he was very, very naughty. After I told him how much I didn't want to look at him, he laughed and then I forgave him for being a naughty sleeper. I didn't want to tell you that occasionally, he is less than perfect (especially last night and today when he wouldn't sleep to save his life or mine). :)

Nash is cracking me up the way he rolls around all the time. Gone are the days of leaving him on the changing table while I go wash my hands or fetch something. I know, I know, technically you should NEVER leave them, but he's alive after being unattended on the changing table more times than I could begin to count.

Speaking of the changing table, changing Nash's diaper is like trying to hit a moving target. The kid doesn't roll side to side (yet!) but his legs are in constant motion much like Stella's when you strap her in a car seat. It makes is very tricky to make sure the diaper cover is covering all necessary parts of his cloth diaper.

Nash badly wants to be in the center of all the action and if suddenly his entertainment leaves the room, he'll cry until someone comes back to his rescue.

Brooke and Luke especially love to see if they can make Nash smile and laugh. He's so easy going that it doesn't take much to get a chuckle out of him. If he gets his act together concerning his sleep habits, I think I might keep him. Wouldn't you?

The Reason I No Longer Have a Uterus

Meet Adam. He's the newest Glaser, just not our Glaser. :) This is exactly why God made sure I could not reproduce again. Babies are tiny and so delicious and he is no exception. Check out the hair!

You'd never know from the pictures that he was a little fussy. You also wouldn't know that as the day progressed, he was dotted with some mysterious rash. Thank you Lord for Photoshop! :)

You also couldn't guess how loved this baby is. Utterly precious.

Proud daddy Kevin. Doesn't Adam look like a doll?

We had the doll bed in the front yard and I am sure the neighbors that drove by were wondering what in the heck we were doing. We were on location, duh! Too many mosquitos in the back by the woods, so we had to settle into the front. Safety first. :)

I am thrilled that Kevin and Megan get to experience parenthood. There is nothing harder, sweeter, or more rewarding and I can't wait to watch him grow. Happy New Baby!