Christmas Cards

After reading another friend's facebook status I realized that I needed to get a move on with Christmas cards or else we would end up like we did last year, doing nothing.
This year I decided to use Shutterfly again for our holiday cards (http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards). I LOVE shutterfly. If you have never tried them before I highly recommend it! I have also done a calendar (http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars). It was for my Grandma who was in a nursing home. She really enjoyed seeing the picutres of all her family. My mom and Jon received a mouse pad from us, for Christmas this year, with a picture of the kids on it.
I have never been disappointed with shutterfly's quality. All of the products that I order have some to me quickly as well. My favorite projects that I complete with shutterfly are their photobooks. I am not a very good scrapbooker, but I desire a way to preserve my photos so they are easier to share. The photobooks are a terrific way for me to do that. You can see all of them on my shutterfly share site at http://thebrownhouse.shutterfly.com/
Here are some more ideas that you could use shutterfly for:
Thank you cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/thank-you-cards Christmas cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards·
Birthday invitations to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/birthday-invitations
They offer so many ways to share your photos and are always giving discounts and freebies. For example they are right now offering 50 free holiday cards just by posting why you love shutterfly on your blog. Go here http://bit.ly/sfly2010 and sign up by Dec 1oth to blog about and get your own free cards.

Time to myself

I can't begin to express how precious time to myself is anymore. Three kids, a husband, work, and basically anything else that can take up my time does. I need my free time back- or do I? I often think about that. I have come to the realization that if I didn't have the kids, Phil, church, friends or church activities (all the things that take up my time) then I would be very sad and lonely :(
That being said though I do want to make more time for writing in this blog. I just got done reading through some of my old posts, and I couldn't believe the things that I had forgotten. So in my case, this blog will be the best journal that I keep. I have a hard time writing because I tend to hold the pen so tight that my hand cramps up 3 sentences in and makes it not enjoyable.

Our New House

You know the old saying 'Good things come to those who wait'? I'm not so sure if that is always true, but our waiting and trusting in God (which has been very stressful at times) paid off. Just a little over 2 months after listing our house it sold, and because we made an offer on our new house before April 30th we qualified for a huge tax credit that we will not have to pay back. God has answered my prayer and desire for a bigger house and yard. Our closing date on the new house is June 9th (Austin's 5th b-day) The kids will have their own rooms and we will have room to host people and not feel like sardines :) We give God all the credit for this and are so excited to move into our new home. I have already started packing and getting rid of things that we do not need. It has been so wonderful to give away kid's clothes and accessories that we no longer use. So many friend's have blessed us, and it feels great to be able to in turn bless other people.

Busy, busy, busy

I just looked at the last entry I posted and saw that it was in February. At first I was shocked, but I am no longer surprised after thinking about all of the things we have been doing lately.
On March 3rd we put our house up for sale. I am so tired of living in such a small house, and although we manage not to trip over each other too much, it's time to move on. The hard thing is, we really love our house :( Oh and we have found a huge house that we love and put an offer on it. All that's left to do is sell our house before the end of May!
In April Phil and I started coaching a 4-5 yr olds soccer team. They are so much fun, and have improved a great deal in a short amount of time. Our son, Austin, is on the team and it's so cute watching him play.
On May 5th Phil's dad was diagnosed with a brain tumor and had surgery two days later. The day of his surgery was amazing. I don't think that I have EVER prayed as hard as I did that day. God is faithful and has been answering our prayers as every day Tom gets stronger and stronger.
Today we had another showing on our house. I had a lot that needed to get done, but again God blessed me with the strength and time to get it all done. The waiting really stinks, but I know that God will answer our prayer for a bigger home in His time, not mine.
Now that the house is all clean it's time for a relaxing evening with the family. Isn't it wonderful when you have the house all clean and can just sit and relax?

Oh What A Night

Last Saturday we had Brenna and Kayla over to spend the night. It was so much fun! Phil and I had the kids all dancing around. Phil dug out his old cd collection from highschool and we even taught the kids the Macarena :) We tried putting them all in Austin and Ariel's room with Brenna and Kayla on the floor, but that was trouble :) They kept giggling and laughing so much we knew they would never get to sleep. So unfortunately for all involved we had to sepertate them. Brenna and Kayla went over into Eva's room and we put Eva in our room in her pack-n-play.
Well, in the middle of the night it got worse. Ariel threw up all of her dinner and was really sick. Poor thing! Phil and I were cleanning up and doing laundry and loving on her until the early morning. By the time we were done I started to have sharp pains in my stomach too :( And Valentine's morning I joined our sick girl in throwing up. What a very unromantic Valentine's Day we had this year. I stayed in bed all day while Phil took care of the house and kids. He was so great.
Thankfully neither Austin, Phil or Eva got sick!

Super Bowl Fun

Even though the Colt's lost, we had a great time with our friends! Those in attendence included: The Anserts,The Vesters, The Grannises (our lovely hosts), Shaun's friends Amanda (and her family) and Shahid and us.
We got all decked out in our Colt's apparrel and ate lots of great food. Maybe next year the Steeler and Colts will give us better results :)

Another Thought About the Frog

Just as I was willing to reach down into the toilet full of pee to fish out my son's precious frog, God is willing to reach down and pull us out of the crap that we are in
Just as the frog was special and worth saving to Austin, we are special and worth saving to God.
What makes us so special? It's nothing that we have done, but what Christ has done for us. He is in us. That's what makes us special!

What you do for your kids

Have you ever thought "There's nothing that I wouldn't do for this kid"? Well, today's adventure proves that there is truly nothing that I wouldn't do :) We all woke up early 6am - Eva and 6:45 - Austin and Ariel. As normal I told Austin to go pee in our bathroom and took Ariel to their bathroom. While in the middle of peeing I heard Austin yell "oh no, froggie's in the toilet". I thought to myself 'you've got to be kidding' and ran in to the bathroom. Sure enough there was the frog in the pee :( Without thinking I grabbed the poor frog and flung him in the sink and turned on the water. At the same time I shouted at Austin "Why did you do that...what were you thinking?" as if he really meant to do it! I later explained to him that he wasn't to pee and hold his animals because that's what happens, but I'm sure at the time he was a little confused at my being so upset. Besides, he was the one who might lose his precious frog!
After rinsing poor froggie off I toweled him dry and proceeded to apply heat from the hairdryer. You see, froggie isn't just a stuffed animal, he's a beanie baby stuffed animal, and experience has taught me that beanie babies can not be washed and should not get wet! As I was sitting there drying off the frog, I thought how amazing it was that I was willing to do this when the frog was more than likely going to need to be thrown out anyway (he was really wet. But I kept working on him, even put him in a pillowcase in the dryer and dusted him with baking soda. Now the frog is almost as good as new.
All this got me to thinking about my life and what a mess it is, but God hasn't stopped working on me. He is daily washing me out and cleaning me up. He has put more effort into me then I will ever realize. Isn't it amazing that God doesn't throw us out saying "well, that ones too dirty for me to even consider dealing with"? Romans 8:38-39 says "For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." What an amazing blessing!
Now I want to hear your crazy stories about what you have done for your kids. Please post a reply.

my so called life

Today was good in the sense that the kids behaved and I was able to get caught back up on laundry. Unfortunatly because Eva took an early nap this morning I was not able to go the gym and run before getting Austin, and therefore not able to run at all today. On top of that it seems that Phil has finally caught the bug that we all had, and it is hitting him hard. Poor guy has been wiped out since he got home from work. I am so looking forward to Spring/Summer when I don't have to worry about everyone being all bundled up before we go outside. That and the kids are going a little stir crazy with having to be inside all the time. I thought that I was starting to run out of things for them to do, but came up with painting for Ariel this morning. She loved using the water colors. I am extremely impressed with her artistic skills. I am sure that she doesn't get it from me because I can hardly draw a stick figure :) My sister, Krista, is a wonderful artist! So maybe that's where Ariel is getting it.
I have also decided that playdoh and I have a love/ hate relationship. I love how it keeps the kids entertained for a long time, but I hate the fact that I find it all over my kitchen the rest of the night (and honestly sometimes the next morning)
Eva is sleeping through the night, at least 7hrs every night. I am so pleased, but need to be more disaplined and go to bed right after she does (or at least before 11pm) I find that I am so much nicer and more helpful in the morning if I get that sleep. Well, Eva is calling to me right now so I must go.

Go Colts!

Today I ran again. This time I'm not as sure about my distance or total time on the treadmill because I accidentally bumped the stop button in the middle of my workout. I had to wait to get a treadmill today. It seems like everyone and their brother was working out - on a Sunday afternoon. Anyway, I still worked on my one minute run, and even added 30 seconds extra at least once. I am planning on running again tomorrow. I felt really good after exercising today! Oh and I met my goal of at least 200 calories.
We watched the Colt's beat the Jets and hung out with the Whites and Wilhites. It was fun getting to talk with Michele and Shari. The kids (all 6 of them - Eva hung out with us) played really well together. It's nice having at least some family close by to spend free time with. Especially those who have kids and know what we are going through :)

Sick kids

Why is it that I can't seem to get anything done when I have sick kids? I'll tell you why! Four breathing treatments a day for Eva, as well as 2 doses of amoxacillin; 2 breathing treatments for Austin. This stupid treatments take about 15 minutes each. It is insane for me to expect Eva to sit still, with a mask on her face that she would rather chew on than breathe into, for that long :(
On top of it all, I am still stuffed up with a cough and my throat is starting to hurt again. I don't know if I am getting even more sick or if I have had to get after Austin and Ariel more than I realized today. Oh well, at least it's a date night for Phil and I. Our plan was to leave all 3 of the kids for the first time with friends, but we will be taking Eva with us since she has been so sick. Poor sweetie! It breaks my heart when she is coughing. It sounds like she is going to hack her lungs up, and sometimes she coughs so hard that she spits up :( Thankfully she is on an antibiotic and will be getting better soon. She had just started sleeping though the night and then she got sick.
No running for me today. I am planning on going to the gym tomorrow. Also I have been working on and finally finished Ariel's birthday video. I can't wait for Phil to get home so that we can all watch it together in the big tv. I made a smaller one for Gram's birthday, as a memorial, and it turned out awesome.

My Goals

- To be able to run the whole 5k race on April 18th
- To burn at least 200 calories every time I step on the treadmill
- To work up to a 6mph pace for running on the treadmill

Today I ran in one minute increments. I did 6 of them and was very pleased.

Total time on treadmill - 36 minutes
Total time spent running - 6 minutes
Calorie burned - 200
Miles - 2.17
Highest heart rate noticed - 170

Running

Am I crazy? I just sent an email to my sister-in-law telling her that I will join their team in Race for the Cure in Indy this April. I hate running, but here I am getting ready to head to the gym and start a new exercise program that will help me be able to run 3.1 miles on April 18th. I will be 30 on April 15th. Is that why I want to run? To show myself that I can still be in shape when I am 30? Or is it because I want to get back to where I was before 3 c-sections? Or is it because I am sick of feeling fat? I think that it's all three. My constant rambling right now is due to the fact that I am a huge procrastinator and again the fact that I HATE running. Oh well, here I go to the gym, wish me luck! More later on how it went :)

Children are a blessing from the Lord

Like any normal mother I have to take the time to remember that God has blessed me with my children. He could have told Phil and I no when we were trying for them. Instead He gave us 3 precious gifts. It is my duty to raise them and direct them toward God. It is my prayer that they will come to know Him as their savior at a young age and look to Him for guidence all the days of their life. At times I fail misserably, but God's grace is more than enough to cover my shortcommings. Moms out there, don't beat yourselves up too much. We all fail, but God is good!