Sunday, October 30, 2011

Family Pics 2011

We are lucky enough to have the Johnsons (medical school friends) here with us in St. Louis. Unfortunately, with schedules being what they are (crazy) we don't get together as much as we would like. Maren, my EXTREMELY talented friend and I were able to make a little trade-- and we got the better end of the deal by having her take our family pictures.
Here are a bunch, the good the funny and Collin---being Collin.

























My little SUPER HEROS

 Did you know that we have 2 Super Heros in our family? That's right 2.


We found about this HERO's ability just the other day when he came running to the back door with his hands in the air-- yelling "Mom! Mom! I broke the tree with THESE !"(again-showing me his hands)
 SUPER HUMAN STRENGTH!

This HERO's power has slowly developed over time. A glove is a necessary tool in order for the powers to work. Don't worry-- he wears a glove about 90% of the time. In fact he even feels the need to wear it in nursery (nursery can be dangerous at times) THE WHOLE TIME.
Below is an example of him using his super powers against the SCARY and DANGEROUS Halloween costumes at Target.
We feel so much safer knowing that we have these guys with us!

Chores,Chores Chores....

Learning the value of work was something that was important in both of our homes growing up. We want the same for our kids. So with some help (and by help, I mean she did it all) from my talented mom,she made this chart for me. Each week the kids complete what ever chores are assigned to them each day. We can't yet afford to pay any allowance, so instead at the end of each week if they have kept their rooms cleaned and done their chores (without complaint) they get to participate in our family activity. These activities are all things that I wanted to do as a family anyways-- but now they have to work for it!


DRIVE IN MOVIE (thank you, pinterest)


 They got to decorate their room with Halloween decorations. 
 Haunted "Gingerbread" houses





 All this kid did was eat as much candy he could get his hands on.
The finished products!

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Portraits



One of Samantha's favorite classes in school is art. She has really found an interest in drawing and coloring. It's been fun to see her abilities develop over time. The other day she sat down and drew these pictures of  her Uncle Jonathan(Uncle Chu Chu) and  Aunt Bree. Funny story---As she was drawing Jonathan's picture she said to me "Mom, this is actually looking more like Cameron than Chu Chu"  and the funny thing is that out of the 3 brothers Jonathan and Cameron look the most alike. I just love that in her sweet little mind her pictures look "real" to her. Also--- apparently golf colors are green and orange. "Mom, I know that Chu Chu likes to golf, so I made the sun golf colors". love that girl.  

Thursday, September 22, 2011

OWEE


Most days you will see this guy with at the very least one lion---but many a time  he can be found to carry 3 lions around--2 by their tails and one in hand......we've created a monster.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Just an update....

It's been awhile since I last posted. Nothing too big has happened lately. We are just getting into the routine of school and doing Collin's preschool here at home, as well as play dates and STILL decorating the house.
St. Louis feels like home now. It took a while--longer than Ohio did. But we are really happy here. I feel incredibly humbled with every move. At the start I tend to have poor attitude because none of the moves have been where I thought were the best for us. -But EVERY time I have been proven wrong.- and I am SO grateful for that. We have moved into a great ward-- where there are several other resident families. Mike's program has 4 LDS guys in it--and all 4 of them ended up in our ward- which has really helped with this whole transition. We've been able to make some GREAT friends--the kind that become like family.

Since there hasn't been anything big going on--I'm just going to do a breakdown on what each of us is doing--

MIKE is currently working in the NICU. Pretty intense to work with such sweet, tiny and heartbreakingly  very sick little babies. Unfortunately, he has been scheduled for all the really hard rotations all at the first- but he has quickly adjusted to his long hours and seems to be really doing well. He is in his element- which is SO great to see.
Amberlee -I am also in the process of "training" for a 10k. Luckily, I agreed to do this with a friend--so I have her to keep me in line and prevent me from dropping out. :) I have never really liked running. In fact I rather dislike it. A lot. But I do like how I feel afterwards and I know it's "good for me". My dad enjoyed running--I can remember one Saturday morning he asked me if I wanted to join him--I quickly declined- and asked him WHY in the world he liked to. His response was "B- it just makes ya feel so good" (he of course was gritting his teeth while saying this, totally my dad). So I like to think that he would be proud of me doing this. I am also beginning to get ready to re-open my etsy shop. This time around I will be doing something different from jewelry. Fingers crossed it goes well and helps to fill in the gaps that residency pay doesn't cover!
SAMANTHA is just plugging along at school. She still LOVES it--and seems to have adjusted without a problem. Her favorite subjects are Music and Art. Every Tues. they have their library day--and in true Samantha style--she thinks of her brothers- and comes home with books that they would like (dinosaurs, dogs etc.) She just lost another tooth-which makes it her 6th tooth lost.
COLLIN is doing really well. We were going to place him in a preschool (which he was SOOO excited for) and decided against it for a few different reasons. It took me a little while to convince him that doing preschool at home with me was going to be just as fun ;) Lucky for me-- he actually really enjoys it! And is quickly learning. He and Owen have really started to play well together-which has been so fun to see.
OWEN is getting TOO old--way too fast! He is quite the little mimic'er - wanting to do EVERYTHING that his siblings are doing--and it's quite adorable. Everyday he is saying more and more words- and doing more and more new things. He loves nursery (which took a few weeks) and LOVES singing time.

All in all we are happy, healthy (kinda--just fighting colds right now) and enjoying our life here.










Wednesday, August 24, 2011

FIRST day of FIRST grade

Samantha officially started First grade last Wednesday (Aug. 17th). One of the million of things that we LOVE about Samantha is how well she adjusts to change. That little girl just rolls with it. We have moved 3 times in the last 4 years-- and each time she has been so great,- she is always excited to meet and make new friends. She was THRILLED to start first grade--especially when she realized that she would have her OWN desk, her OWN supplies and her very OWN locker (SO grown-up). Her teachers name is Mrs. Nickolaus

Before School: SO EXCITED
All dressed and ready to go!


A picture with her brothers....
Silly kids...
In front of her new class room


After School:JUST as EXCITED. She loved her first day---and now a week later-she loves it just as much!
Collin has now adjusted to having Samantha gone--on the first day he called out to her a few times-and then realized that she wasn't home. So cute--and a little heartbreaking.