End the Infections! March 21 2011

After months of constant ear infections, we decided to have tubes put in Sammy's ears. Here he is in his little scrubs before surgery. Poor little guy has so much gunk in his ears that just won't drain. Here's to hoping the infections will not come back again!
**update: since having the surgery, Sam has changed so much! He is very vocal now, and it seems like he has a sense of balance that he didn't have before, when the ears were so full of fluid. We were hoping for a huge change, and that is exactly what we are seeing before our very eyes!! YAY!


Post surgery recovery- snuggling with Daddy:

Girls weekend away March 2011

Four of us girls snuck away for a couple of days to Whidbey Island, WA. We did this in celebration of a dear friend, Michelle, who turned 40 this year! It was amazing! Getting away from our daily routines and the demands of being moms to young kids. The four of us have been friends for 10 years, "prekids". We were able to relax, pray with and for each other, eat alot, do manicures, face masks, shop, drink coffee, laugh, and eat some more really good food!!

This was the view from the cabin that we stayed at. The sunrise was AMAZING! I sat out on the end of the dock with my bible, until I was visited by four seals- that got WAY too close!

My seal friends: (they were way closer, I just freaked out when they came close!)

Here is the beautiful Michelle (on the left). Happy birthday, friend!

A panoramic view of the harbor.

April, Michelle, and Stephanie.

Mani-SNOW-ba Trip February 24-March 6

The kids and I went on our first adventure with Sam! I took all three to Manitoba for a visit to meet three cousins they haven't met yet (Tianna, Meskerem, and Paulos). Plus, Sam finally got to meet all of my family! The trip was also a surprise visit for my sister Ramona, whose birthday was while I was out. One of my hopes and plans for the trip was to be able to spend my sister's birthday with her... finally. BUT, of course, things never go quite as planned! Right before I came out my sister threw her back out, and Sam was very sick the entire time there, and Ramona also got strept throat while we were out, so I was not able to be with her on her actual birthday. I did, however, get to see her and celebrate her birthday in person!

COUSINS:

The front of my parent's yard.

Papa and Uncle Kevin took Jake and Olivia on many adventures! One day they got to go ice fishing! Here is proof that the trip was successful! The kids loved how the fish "danced" on the ice after they pulled it out. They were so excited that they caught fish as well! (Papa never did tell them that the fish they "caught" were the bait he put on their hooks!)

How could you NOT roll around in the snow when you are sitting in the hot tub, surrounded by fresh white fluffy snow? :) (the only bathing suit photo of this momma you'll be seeing on the internet!)

(it was so cold that our hair froze! The kids LOVED it!)

We had the chance to visit some very special people. here is Jake with his Great Grandma. She was always our "measuring stick" as we grew up- here she is, beautiful as ever, at 85 years old (and under 4ft 9"!!)

Jake, spending time with baby cousin Tianna.

This is the first cousin he has ever been able to hold. Such a sweet time for him! d

Big T with Little T.

Jake and the big tractor wheels on the farm!

My dad and I took J and L to Lake Adam for some sledding and hockey playing!

Another very special visit was with my dad's mom, Grandma Martens. She is 93 (?) now and the kids had a fun time singing hymns with her.

(Sam was sick.... so yet again, we endured a visit with the town dr. Every time we fly to MB one of the kids gets ear infections and we have to pay to see the dr. Plus, it's always when I am doing the trip solo- without Dan's help!)

All in all- it was a wonderful trip. Very special memories made for the kids and myself!

Happy Birthday to Jacob!

Jacob is 6 years old! Wowzers!!! Here are some photos of his birthday party we had. There were a lot of 6 year old boys. I learned a lot of lessons about 6 year old boys! They cried when they couldn't open the gifts, they cried when they didn't win prizes... they cried when their moms came to pick them up! And I thought girls were dramatic!

I spent at least an hour putting together a treasure hunt. This was a horrible task for the perfectionist in me. For some reason it took up way too much of my time, but in the end it all worked out! Since most of the kids couldn't read, on one side of the card I wrote the word and on the other side I glued a picture of the clue, for example "tub".

The prize was a Pirate flag Pinata!

Sam chillin' out in the TV room

Jake's best bud, Joshua

we played pin the pirate patch on the pirate. I am pretty sure there was some serious cheating going on... (love my expression here. I think I was already going crazy at this point of the party!)

This was the first birthday party ever that we got to send the kids outside! It was a beautiful day! The boys loved jumping on the trampoline, especially when Jake's dad went underneath it and kicked them from under the trampoline, sending them flying!

Three little blessings- look at them grow! Feb 7 2011

Little Ballerina...

Click on these photos to see them larger- they are really just so sweet!

My beautiful princess has started taking Ballet. After reading the previous two posts I am in awe of how grown up and simply beautiful Olivia is. I know I posted quite a few photos of her in ballet class yesterday, but I couldn't narrow them down.

Olivia and I may butt heads most of the day- she may talk and talk and talk and talk until my ears fall off- she might be a little over dramatic- ok WAY over dramatic.... but she is so tender and sweet! The way she speaks is just mesmerizing! Her hugs are perfect. her hands are soooo soft. Her eyes so gorgeous. I love my little Livi!