A Heat Wave!!!!!

What did you say?!? Did I hear a heat wave?

You heard right! It is a heat wave here in Chicago! Well, a heat wave for being January 31st! Yes, the temperature read 55 degrees today and you bet we went outside and enjoyed the day. We needed to get some vitamin D on our skin! I know that I have Florida readers and they must be saying we are crazy!
We went out to the swing set and I was quite busy giving lots of underdogs! This summer I'm definitely going to be working on trying to get the kids pumping on their own.

I don't think I ever did a post about our house changing colors? During the summer we got our house sided. We are now a brown house. I really liked how it turned out! :)

What if?

What if she would have chosen convenience?

What if she had been selfish?

What if this precious little girl, who brings our family extraordinary amount of joy would Not have been born??????

I just can NOT imagine Avielle not being in our family! The thought alone without her just breaks my heart!!!! Sunday was Sanctity of Life. I am so thankful everyday to Avielle's tummy mommy. Thank you for such a precious gift that I so adore and cherish! Thank you tummy mommy for making the hardest and toughest decision you ever made. She is the most wonderful gift we could have ever received. We live in a world that believes human life is disposable. But despite what was "easy" and "convenient." Avielle's tummy mommy chose LIFE! I am so thankful each and every minute!

For you created my inmost being:

you knit me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you

when I was made in the secret place,

when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed body;

all the days ordained for me were written in your book

before one of them came to be.

Psalms 139: 13-16

I love their story! I love that they get to grow up together and that Ellie has a wonderful sister! I'm in awe of God and HIS miracle that we were able to be Avi's parents. We are just thankful!

Silly Faces!

Okay, Chevy got me an iphone for Christmas. He has asked me before about getting an iphone, but I told him I really didn't want the extra payment each month. Almost "All" my friends told me I was missing out without the iphone. Well, now I know I definitely was! The iphone is amazing and is so addicting. I need to add to my New Year's Resolution to not always be on it.

Now, not only am I crazy about my phone, but so are my kiddos! Ellie, is especially addicted to it. I was going through my pictures and she took about 35 pictures of herself. They are cute. I only put a few of the 35 pics that she took. Enjoy! I just love her sweet little nose!

New Year's Resolutions for 2012

Okay, I know that we are half way through January and I am now just putting my New Year's Resolutions in writing! Yes, they were in my head, but putting them in writing just affirms them and then proclaims what they are, and then in turn it motivates me.

In the picture above, this is Chevy and myself at our good friend's, McMahon's, New Year's party. They do a couples party without the kiddos and we play fun games together and eat their yummy food. It is always a blast!

So, I broke my New Year's Resolution into 4 parts.

Diet

I joined Jazzercise this year. I want to go get my jazz squares on a least twice a week and run during the weekends. I do find that exercising helps my mood, especially during these winter months. I want to be more toned. I decided that I was going to take a break from running the 1/2 marathon this year and tone more of my mid section. I also want to be more aware of what I'm eating during the day. I just love chocolate and sugar. I want to add more fruits and vegetables to my diet.

Spiritual

I want to be more intentional about being in the Word daily. I know that my strength comes from the Lord. I want a deeper relationship with Him. Chevy and I will be making some big decisions soon and I want God to be the one making these decisions. I want Him to lead our family into the direction that He sees for our lives.

Wife

I also want to be more intentional about putting my husband first. Unfortunately, at the end of the day he usually gets what is left and is picking me up off the floor! I want to show love and respect to him. I want to show him how much I adore him as my husband.

Mother

I want to have more patience with my kids. I also want to work more on reading and teaching. My goal is to start Hooked on Phonics and really stick with it. I would love for Avi and Anderson to go into Kindergarten reading fluently. I would love for Ellie to be able to write more letters and I think she might even be ready for reading. She knows all her letters and sounds.

So, 2012 here you go!

Marble Hearts

In the winter months it is so hard to not get stir crazy. I'm really trying to do more projects in the winter and fun games. We worked on these fun marble hearts with paint.
You put marbles in paint and then you roll them around in a box.

Penny had fun coloring as she waited for her turn.

We did red and white paint.

Ellie sticking out her tongue!

Anderson also wanted to get in on the action!

Our finished products!

The Garage!

First, I want to start with, the garage is my husband's place/responsibility. Meaning, I take care of the inside of the house and I feel the garage is his domain. So, with that said, I'm a little embarrassed by the organization of the garage, but with 3 kids they almost take over the garage with their things.

Okay, we have a 3 car garage and we have 3 cars right now! Last week we could only fit one car in the garage. I told Chevy it would be really nice if we could put the car we don't use in the garage. So I went up and took a shower and then he went to work.

He got the car in the garage in a very interesting way. I give him a 10 for creativity. Avi and Anderson each have their own Escalade. Chevy put Avi's pink Escalade in the trunk of his car and then he put Anderson's Escalde on top of the hood of his car with a mattress underneath.
Here is Avi's car in the trunk of his car. Thanks Ryan for solving this problem!

1st Snowfall of 2012!

Yes, it finally SNOWED!!!!! Okay, it is January 11th here in Illinois and this is our first really big snowfall of the year!!!! They say we should get up to 6-8 inches. We will see in the morning.
Ellie, enjoying the snow.

They played in the snow at school and then as soon as we got home they wanted to go back outside. I, of coarse, stayed inside to prepare the hot chocolate!

Last year we found out that our daughter, Ellie has Cold Urticaria (essentially meaning "cold hives") an allergy where hives or large red welts form on the skin after exposure to the cold. I know strange! Last spring, I went outside with her and as we came inside I noticed that anything that was exposed to the outside started to get hives and welts on her skin. We went to an allergist and she called it "Cold Urticaria". She told us we can give her allergy medicine, but that hasn't helped.

I have noticed that if there is a wind it starts acting up and if it is below 60 welts might appear.

Today, I sent her outside all bundled up and she didn't have a big reaction. In the picture you can see her cheeks are red, but there are tiny welts. I found I just need to cover her and then she doesn't have a reaction. I need to invest in a face mask. Maybe I can find a pink one! Ha!

Makes me a little sad that she has this. I'm wondering about recess at school for the winter season. Is she always going to need to stay inside with her teacher? What about skiing/snowboarding? Chevy's solution is to move to Tennessee!

Maybe she will grow out of it? I grew out of many of my allergies. Well, it is in God's hands!

Christmas in Michigan!

Two days after Christmas we headed to Michigan to spend time with the Chevrier family. Ryan needed to work that day, and we needed to take two cars to get there. I decided to leave earlier with the kids, because I did not want to drive late at night. It takes around 6 hours to get there. I got the car all packed up and I fed the kids lunch. I had all the kids go potty and limited their drinks. The car was completely filled up and I hit the road. The kids did amazing! There really was not a lot of traffic and then they each fell asleep for a nap. I think they were tired from Christmas. I didn't need to stop to get gas and it started to snow as we got closer to Michigan. We drove the whole way without stopping! That was a miracle!

The picture above is of Anderson and Avielle getting ready for sleep before their 3rd Christmas morning!
Here they are in their matching snowman pajamas!

Avielle and Ellie received "Butterflies Dolls." I love that the dolls look just like them.

Ellie with her first redhead doll!

Avi with her blondie!

Nana wanted games to play with the children.

Avi and Nana making banana bread.

Avi and daddy putting together Anderson's Star Wars Lego set. I know, where is Anderson??? Yes, he is playing his DS.

Ellie just loves playing the computer. Nana made her a smoothie and put it in a coffee cup. She was definitely in her glory!

We also got out the old Nintendo!!!!! We played a lot of Super Mario Brothers! That is definitely my favorite!!!! I just kept beating Ryan at it and he got really jealous!

Grandpa, Nana, Avielle (5), Anderson (5), and Ellie (3)

Christmas Day!

This year we had Christmas day at my parent's house in Illinois. My dad just LOVES breakfast, we definitely have that in common! So each Christmas he makes us a yummy spread of pancakes, meat, and eggs.
Of coarse when ever you come to my parent's house you will find cake and for breakfast we had some yummy coffee cakes from the Old World Bakery!

After breakfast my mom went to vacuum the floor and look who decided to hop on? My nephew Kaeden just loves riding on the vacuums. You would think he would be afraid of the loud noise, but he isn't?

Okay her are all the grandkiddos! My cousin Ryan and his wife Inga came in from North Carolina for Christmas. They were able to join us for Christmas morning. Their daughter Lucy is the 1 year old blondie!

There are 10 grandchildren in all! I think we have every hair color possible?!?!

My dad pulled out Santa hats for the next picture!

Wasn't a big hit with the kids.

Aunt Jenny with Penelope.

Here is our newest addition, Jonathan. He is such a little miracle, born way too early! He is doing great and is an excellent little baby. I think I have only heard him cry once!

After we opened all the presents. The extended family all came over. This year we decided to be way different, and instead of having a Christmas dinner we had appetizers. It was nice not to have a bunch of dishes, but I think I ate more food than I would at a meal. We kind of all grazed the whole evening.

We didn't see the older kids much as they were playing their 3DS's all evening. Anderson got one from my parents and he is really addicted to it!

I love Christmas and getting together with the whole family, such fun! We are definitely multiplying like crazy! My grandparents have 18 great grandchildren!!!! Yikes! See what 2 people can do? They can produce such love and joy!