Field trip to the Apple orchard!!

Here's Lucas searching for the best apples!

Lucas and the daycare girls feeding the goats.

Lucas checking out the turkeys!

New curtains!!

Here's the "before"...our lovely lace curtains hanging on the cheapest of cheap white pocket rods. I'm sure they would have lasted just fine in a house without kids and dogs, but my crew managed to shred the lace and pull the pocket rods out of the wall! It was definately time for an upgrade! And considering these lace ones came with the house, I was very happy the day they all went in the trash!

And here's the new curtains! I know they look a little strange b/c they are so short, but with kids and dogs, they need to be short!! As much as I love the long, floor-length curtains, they just aren't practical in my house.

The 20 week ultrasound!

In case you didn't know yet...SURPRISE!! Yup, we're expecting number 4 due Feb. 3rd! February is coming faster than you might expect, I'm currently 33 weeks pregnant, so this ultrasound photo is from 13 weeks ago!

If you really want to try and guess what the baby is, the top-left ultrasound picture is a gender shot, but unless you're trained at these kinds of things, I doubt you'll see much more than baby's femur bones!

I included a baby-bump picture from around 20 weeks. I'll get a more current one in the next couple of days....you will be surprised how much the bump has grown in the last 13 weeks!!

Lucas started preschool!

He goes 3 days per week for about 2 hours per day. The little girl he is standing with is one of my daycare girls, they go to "school" together.

Flag Football!!

Isaac played football last fall...I have a bunch of pictures, but my camera doesn't do *zooming* very well, so they're all from really far away! I can't even make out which kid is Isaac, so here's a fun picture...I think Isaac is the 2nd from the left. His team is wearing the black shirts. And yes, that's Jason coaching (white t-shirt & jean shorts)

Lucas liked to dress up in Isaac's uniform from last year....he claimed that he was going to cheer Isaac on, but much of his time was spent sitting in a chair, being lazy!

Abby was a great cheerleader too...when she wasn't trying to run on the field!!

And no day would be complete...

without trying to start a fire with an acetylene torch!! No, it didn't work...you can't burn green wood! I tried telling them that, but you know men and fires....they tried their darndest!!

The final resting place....

of the Springy Dingy Thingy!! At long last, the Springy Dingy Thingy has a home...and it's not in my driveway!! It sat very lonely for over a year in my driveway and it's finally in the ground...without further ado, here's the Springy Dingy Thingy....

You wouldn't think so, but the hole actually ended up being about waist-deep on Isaac...it took a couple of hours, then again it would have taken much longer if it weren't for Papa John loosening up all the dirt for the boys! Lucas & Isaac were such hard workers!

And here it is, in it's final resting place! I think we've all agreed that it will forever stay right here....our grandkids will be playing on it!!

Punk Rocker Baby!

It was bath-time...what could I say??

It's official...I'm lazy!

So my camera has been broken...and that's been my excuse for not blogging...but I just went and looked in my computer files and I have pictures from August thru November, so there's really no excuse. I'm just lazy. I'm going to be super busy the next few days, preparing for Christmas (because again, I'm lazy and I've waited until the last minute) but I will try to post more on here so you'all can see the kids!! :) (and I apologize in advance for the formatting...I have been working on this one post for the better part of an hour and it still looks crappy, sorry!!)

Here's a few from our August trip down to Georgia...This first one is the boys in the back of our new minivan (an '08 Honda Odyssey that I absolutely LOVE!)...we were just taking off from Illinois and they were armed and ready with their binoculars!

These next few were taken at Rock City in Lookout Mt., GA...it's a small tourist attraction built by a couple back during the great depression...they arranged stone paths winding in and out of some natural rock formations. It was a long walk, but we all had a great time!

This was a very scary ledge to be standing on...very high up, with nothing underneath!

Daddy & the kids at the top of a long, steep rock stairway.

Mom & the kids walking thru "Fat man's squeeze"

This was a scenic overlook area, there was a sign nearby showing how you could see 7 different states from this one vantage point!

We were able to see North & South Carolina, Tenessee, Alabama, Kentucky, Virginia, and of course we were in Georgia.



The mountain was about to collapse...thank goodness the boys are so strong!!

Abby again!

She is loving Lucas' new carseat, lol!! She can inherit it in a couple years...Even though she just turned 1, she'll be rear-facing until she reaches 35lbs, the highest weight of her convertible seat, as is recommended by the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) "it is best for her to ride rear-facing to the highest weight or height allowed by the manufacturer of her car safety seat."

Here are a couple of videos that show why it's so important to keep a child rear-facing as long as possible. The 20lbs and 1yr. guideline is just the bare-minimum required by law...I'd prefer Abby's spine to stay in 1 piece if God-forbid we were in a bad crash. (just click the text)

The importance of Rear-Facing
Child Seat Safety

It's a BIRD, it's a PLANE...

It's SUPER-ABBY!!!

Lucas got a new carseat!!

He finally reached 39lbs and is almost out of the old one, so I ordered him this new one. This is the Radian65 by Sunshine Kids. I like that it's so skinny, I will be able to fit 3 carseats across the back of the minivan, and that he will be super safe up to 65lbs (or 53" tall.) And he likes that he has a new carseat w/ "Spaceship foam!!" (it has EPS side-impact foam) It also has a super-strong steel-alloy frame, which supposedly makes it the strongest carseat in the world!

BLAAAHHHHHH!!

She's got a thing for her tongue...it's always hanging out, lol!!

Silly doggy...

This is how Lucy lays on the floor..goofball!

It's Bath time!!!

Abby used to absolutely HATE water and all things bath-related. She would scream and cry the whole time she was wet. She turned a corner a few weeks back and has decided that she LOVES water! Here she is waiting to get in the tub...

And here she is splashing!

The 1st Birthday!!!

Here's the birthday girl chowing down on some potato salad, baked beans, cole slaw, and mac & cheese!
And here she is ROAR'ing, lol!
Abby smooching her papa John!
And making a mess of her chocolate cake (not such a good idea, huh dad??)
And the crazy boys decided to dress up....they're WEIRD!!!

Abby is a little Fashionista!!

Can she get any cuter??

Let's Play Ball!!

This turned out to be Isaac's last game of the season, it was a sudden-death elimination tournament. Here's Isaac JUST after he hit the ball.
Here he is taking off from 2nd base.

And that's him in the yellow (behind the guy in the red shirt and camo shorts) scoring a run for his team! The final score was 5-8, they lost by 3 runs.

Floatilla!!!

Every 4th of July, some members of our HOA put on an event to remember. It's called the Floatilla! They have a logo printed on t-shirts and glasses..the whole shebang! It's not widely publicized, so you have to know someone that knows someone, but this year we were invited by our neighbors. About 30 pontoon boats tie up together across the lake and everyone has one great big day-long party. There is live music on the beach, grills cooking the most delicious food, and plenty of fun to be had by all! That's Jason and Lucas on the silver floatie...they were headed to shore to find a restroom.

Here's Isaac swimming with his school-buddy. They were little water-bugs the whole day!!
Here you can see all the pontoon boats tied up to our right...there were just as many tied on the left side, we were pretty much in the middle.

Cici's tour!!

We went to Cici's Pizza for a tour...the boys got to see where the pizzas are made, walk in the walk-in cooler (BBRRR!) and try their hand at making pizza!

Isaac decided he was *too cool* for pictures, but Lucas is a ham-bone as always!

And of course there wasn't a bite left when they were done!! MMMmmmm!!!

Why is everyone on the ceiling??

Another new trick from Abby...she never ceases to amaze, lol!!

SO BIG!!

This is Abby's new trick!!