The Fire

Sunday night, the kids are in bed and I'm watching a movie. All of a sudden I hear a TON of sirens. I knew it sounded close, but didn't know how close. I was home alone and you just never know what the sirens are for, so I just kept on watching the movie (keep in mind, we have had a shooting at our apartments...this was shortly after we moved in...no problems since, that I know of). Then a couple minutes later I hear windows breaking. It wasn't on the side where the cars are parked, so I'm thinking someone is outside breaking windows of an apartment. Well someone was. But for good reason. The building next to us had an apartment on fire! I looked out the window and saw flames and smoke coming from a bedroom. As the firemen were putting out the fire, I am assuming that is what broke the windows since our windows are paper thin and the pressure from the hose could easily burst right through them. The fire was only in one bedroom, so it could have been much worse. After they had the fire out and the smoke cleared they emptied the entire contents of this childs bedroom onto the lawn where they then hosed it down even more. I am sure this is normal procedure for a 2nd floor apartment because I can only imagine how much more damage all that water would have caused. But let me tell you, it is absolutely heart breaking to see melted hula hoops, burnt barbies, a burnt mattress, a dresser burned so badly you can hardly tell it was a dresser, a pile of clothes barely looking like more than a pile of ashes. I know it's all "stuff", and "stuff" can be replaced...but wow, a fire changes your life in a matter of minutes. I have no clue what caused the fire to start....but this is certainly a good reminder of all the basic things we already know to prevent a fire! If you haven't checked your smoke alarms recently....please go check them! I checked ours before going to bed on Sunday night! I wouldn't have slept if I didn't!

Potty Training

First of all, if you haven't watched the video of Caleb teaching Erika how to poop in the potty, go here to watch it....I think it's pretty hilarious! We are doing pretty good with potty training, but no where near the finish line! Most days she stays dry the majority of the day. I know she'll do it fully when she is ready. I'm trying not to push it, but man oh man I am looking forward to her being done with diapers! As you can see from her chart, we are lacking on the #2 in the potty.


I took this picture up close so you could see that she is so much like her mom....it's scary. She likes order and organization....even on her potty chart! That is so me, it's not even funny!

If you have any sound advice for potty training....pass it my way!!!

We have a date!

May 8th!!! That is the big day! We plan to pick up the moving truck in the morning. Pack it up and drive to Oklahoma City. Spend the night there and then finish the drive on the 9th! On the 10th we'll go to church and then unload the moving truck. I'll get to spend mother's day with my husband and kids unloading the truck! Not ideal for Mother's day, but we'll be IN MN and I couldn't ask for anything more!!!!

David's tattoo

Last fall David got a tattoo of Dylan and I finally took some pictures of it! (well I took pictures right away, but it looks much better now that it's all healed!)

It was done from this picture by Portraits By Dana. I recommend her 100%. She did an unbelievable job!

There are a couple of parts on the tattoo that are different than the original picture that I don't like....but overall I LOVE the tattoo!!

Cinderella and her prince

The other day Erika wore her Cinderella dress all day and in the afternoon she asked me to turn on princess music so she could dance! It was adorable! She has never done that before. So I turned on princess music and Caleb came out and asked her to dance with him......yep, my heart melted.

Look what I made!!!!

That's right, homemade chocolate eclairs!!!! They were DELICIOUS!!!!!! Having never made anything like this before I wasn't sure how they would turn out, but man oh man. To die for! My husband said they were better than any store bought ones he's ever had! The recipe came from Rachael Ray. The only thing I will change up next time (because believe me, there will be a next time!) is the cream filling wasn't as thick as we would have liked it to be. So I'll add more corn starch next time. The recipe made this plate and about 10 more...and yes they are gone! The kids loved them too. :)

Slacker...

That is what I have been lately!!! At least in the blogging world! I do have a clean house though...so I guess that is good! David is heading for Minnesota this Sunday, so every moment I get I spend with him. I'm sure you all understand! Next week I'll have nothing but time to blog!!

Fire Ants

We had our first experience with fire ants in Texas today. We were at a friends house for a Valentines Day party this afternoon, the kids were playing in the backyard and the mom's were chatting (also in the yard) when all of a sudden Erika starts screaming and Caleb tells her to "go to mom" She comes over to me and there is ONE ant on her arm. A few hours later....two red welts on her arm. Poor baby!!! I feel so bad for her! I had to explain to them that the ants in Texas aren't as nice as the ants in Minnesota and that we can't play with them. Like many kids, mine are fascinated by ants. On the way home from our friends house Caleb says to me "I'm sad I can't talk to the ants anymore, I wish they were nicer"

Cross country move #2

Where do I even begin? First of all if you haven't read my blog about change you should, so you can get caught up on the events of 2008.

David traveled to MN this weekend for a job interview today and after that interview he decided to stop by his old work just to say hi and see if they happened to still have his Bible that he had forgotten in one of their trucks last year. Little did he know he would end up getting a job with them!!! There have been many changes within the company in the last year and it's exactly what David was looking for. We are still a bit in shock. God is amazing. He had paperwork to fill out and a drug test to do today and he will start in two weeks. So hard to believe this is happening! I'm so in awe of how awesome our God is. He knows the desires of our hearts.

Was moving to Texas a mistake? Absolutely not! I can't make that more clear. We most certainly believe that our steps are ordained by God. Our move to Texas had a purpose, in fact several. I won't go into all of the things that have happened to make it clear to us that we are here during this season for a purpose because the list could go on and on. And there are many many things that play into us wanting to move home, but again, I won't list all those things because it's a long list.

Ultimately, Minnesota is home (at least on earth!) and that is where we want to be.

This has all happened MUCH sooner than we could ever have anticipated. Because of that we do not yet have the money saved up to pay for the big move, plus we still have a lease on our apartment. David will be in MN in two weeks and then our goal is to have me and the kids moved sometime in April. I will break up the time with a visit to Michigan in March to see David's side of the family. Then I'll be home and ready to pack!

We appreciate any prayers during this time of transition!!

We've been busy.....

I haven't blogged at all this week, for a very good reason! My friend Jolene and her daughter have been here since Monday morning! It's been a great week so far! They are here until Monday night! We still have a few more days to pack lots of fun into. The weather here this week has been great! It's been a nice break from the MN winter for them.

Also be praying for David and I this coming week. I'm not quite ready to share with all my wonderful blog readers what it's about yet, but next week I will. Thanks for understanding and just praying.

Sneak Peek

It was about time I take some new non-snapshot pictures of my kids so that was our project of the morning! I'm sure all the grandparents will be happy to finally have updated ones! I decided to do them myself to save some money, which I have done in the past. I'm happy with what I got. They aren't perfect or professional by any means, but they look pretty darn good! (in my opinion!!!) I'm busy editing and making adjustments to the ones that I will end up printing, but here is a sneak peek of what I got. These of course are very cute, but they aren't ones that I will be printing for the wall. (without a doubt, they will go in a scrapbook though!)

My test subject....Giggly girl!

I tickled her tummy....so she had to do the same! Goofy girl!

I'm saying cheese...just take the darn picture!

Definitely a black mail picture!!!
I'm calling this his lawyer picture. lol.

Potty Training 101.....by Caleb

Caleb has been cheering Erika on in her potty training adventure. Today he decided to coach her on how to poop in the potty. He was pretty effective in his coaching.....she finally pooped in the potty!!!!! We had a mini party at our house! I'm sure the neighbors were wondering what in the world was going on, lol. I'm very proud of her!!

You Know....When....

You know you are a mommy when you cut your own food into bite size pieces and don't even realize it!
You know you are a mommy when you excuse yourself from the room to go potty.
You know you are in Texas when you see a little league team practicing in January!
You know you are at a ritzy mall when there is no McDonald's (or any food that my kids will touch for that matter!)
You know your kids miss the snow when they lay on the carpet and try to make snow angels.
You know you are in Texas when you get dirty looks for not bundling your kids up like there is a blizzard, when in fact it's 50 degrees outside.
You know something has to change when your kids ask where we're going everytime they have to get dressed!
You know your son wants to move home when you take one thing out of his closet and he asks "Is this the day that we are moving to Minnesota?"

If you live in the Dallas area

Then surely you were outside enjoying the beautiful 80 degree weather yesterday! We spent several hours at the park with some friends. The kids had a blast!
They weren't very interested in letting me take pictures of them, they were having too much fun! Caleb left with a fat lip and Erika left with a scrape on her arm. They are both fine...and they both crashed at 7 last night! It was great!

We have a name!

For the first time ever Erika has named one of her baby dolls! I love it! Normally she just calls them all baby or doll. This baby must be special though because the plays with it non stop and yesterday she named it! I would like to introduce you to Kiki! I think this one is going to stick too, she has been calling her that for two days! I have a cousin named Katrina, but her nickname is Kiki. I'm sure she remembers Kiki, but we haven't seen her for a while or talked about her, but somehow the name Kiki stuck in her head! I think it's pretty cute! (Papa Ole & Grandma Deb if you are reading....this doll is one of the things we picked out for her Christmas gift from you!)

Caleb most certainly did not want to be left out of the picture taking this morning so here he is with his Lightning McQueen!

My latest trip to Kroger....

We made a trip to Kroger today! Here's what I got:

4 Quaker rice cakes
2 Chex Mix (the yummy chocolate kind)*
3 bottles of Ken's salad dressing*
3 bags of Green Giant veggie steamers*
2 bottles of French's mustard*
2 Cantelope
2 Bounty paper towels

And get ready for this....my total for all 18 items....are you ready?....$7.20!!!!!!!! WOHOO!!!!

Here's how:

The items with a star are a part of a "$5 off when you buy 10", the sale price is after the $5 off. Also, our Kroger doubles coupons up to .50 and triples coupons up to .39

4 Quaker rice cakes - on sale for $1, used (4) $1 coupons - Total: FREE
2 Chex Mix* - on sale for $1.69, used (2) .50 coupons - Total: $.69 each
3 bottles of Ken's salad dressing* - on sale for $1.49, used (3) $1 coupons - Total: $.49 each
3 bags of Green Giant veggie steamers* - on sale for $.99, used (3) $.50 coupons - Total: FREE
2 bottles of French's mustard* - on sale for $.99, used (2) $.50 coupons - Total: FREE
2 Cantelope - $3.79 each, on sale B1G1 - Total: $1.89 each
2 Bounty paper towels - on sale for $1.03, used (2) $.25 coupons - Total: $.28 each

Not too shabby!!!! :) I'll probably head back and get more veggies in a couple days!

Wordless Wednesday

This is what we're missing....

Back home. And to think that this week will be 40-50 degrees WARMER than last week! CRAZY! It seems like it's been a long time since it was that cold in MN!

I think this is a good week to just stay here in Dallas....80 on Thursday!!!

Oh the anticipation....

It's very rare that we get any exciting mail....but next week is sure to be a good mail week! I ordered a cd for the kids. It's called Scripture Rock. I used to babysit for a family pre-marriage and pre-babies and their kids had this cd. I loved it! Go here to listen to a sample. I can't wait! I always loved how those kids would go around singing songs that were directly from scripture. I have searched for this cd at every christian book store I have been in and never found it. I finally found it online though. wohoo!!! Very excited!
Our other exciting piece of mail that is sure to come next week is a 16x20 print of our Christmas picture! I received an email from Kodak telling me that they added a credit to my account for a free 16x20 print! Unbelievable!!!!! For no apparent reason either! All I paid was shipping, so for $4.99 I will have a huge family picture to hang on the wall! I can't wait!!! :)

Halfway there...

I finally took down the Christmas decor from my blog, but I'm not done yet! I need to make new pictures so they match the new background! Each time I sit down to try and get it done someone needs me! Go figure! lol. I'll get them done in time to change it again, I'm sure! Although today I plan to be very productive so who knows I may actually get them done today!