Coach Daddy

There's no doubt my kids (and I) are blessing with a great Daddy:)

I'm not sure what Daddys come home for their 30 minute lunch break and are willing to sword fight two little guys whelding their weapons:)

excuse the carport storage.... the shed is almost ready:)

And while Daddy is a super hero in their eyes:) He just added a new "title" this fall...

COACH!!!

Brian will be spending at least 2 nights a week coaching a team of 12 little guys/gals... 2 of those kiddos being his own:) And while it's not a very glorious sounding title... not like Superman...

... in our kids' eyes Coach Daddy might be equal to Superman.... maybe even be better!! They are very excited to have their Daddy as the coach!

And that is what makes our Daddy great! Willing to take one for the team:) Literally:)

I have to include a picture of Nate at practice. Lydia, Nate and I get to hang out, run around while the others practice and cheer for our favorite little players (and coach, too)!!!

 

Sun Flare Bloopers;)

AS I practiced and attempted to get a "decent" Sun Flare picture for I heart Faces this week....

my main model... aka my hubby... kept it lively:)




This one isn't about Brian (or Nate) being silly. I really liked it, too:) Definitely got the sun... no real "flare" though!

Daddy to the Rescue with goggles

Within the last 2 weeks Lydia has developed a fear of bathing....

well, it's not really bathing, after another "bout of fussy" we figured out it was her being scared of getting soap in her eyes while washing her hair. And her fear is justified... the bath prior to her fear beginning, she got soap in her eyes while I washed her hair out (unknown to me the girls had loaded the tub water with adult bar soap and I was rinsing Lydia's hair with it).

SO this week, Daddy tackled the issue....

with goggles!!
you can see she was still very leary

she tolerated the washing and the water

And Anna joined in on the fun...
I stuck around to see how Daddy was going to master
washing the girls hair with the goggles on:)

And just so you can see
she (and her swished little eyes) survived... with smiles;)

And don't you know, if the girls got to wear their goggles...
Chris had to wear his;)

You can find some other picture posts at 5 Minutes for Mom, Go Graham Go, To Be Thode and any other linkys I find !!!

Out in the Snow... finally

Christmas night we waited for the snow.... and waited.

By morning, we were NOT disappointed,

well not disappointed with the appearance of SNOW. TOns of it and it snowed the whole next day and night:)

But we were disappointed with the fact that we couldn't travel to Grandma and Grandaddy's until the roads were safe again:(


Sunday, church was canceled due to the snow and road conditions. The kids and Brian were out in the snow by 9:30 as it was falling;)

Nate and I got out after his afternoon nap later that 1st afternoon... I was really wanting to get Nate out in the snow to see how he would react:)

He took it all in:) And didn't even mind the snow falling in his face OR being set down into the snow!!!
In fact, even though he looks a little grumpy (from his ONLY 20 minute nap!!), he actually fussed MORE getting him into his 4 layers to go outside;) And he fussed to go back OUT when we headed back inside!
The older ones LOVED the snow;) We need some better snow gear... especially better boots & gloves!! But I'm going to start looking for snow suits as well so the kids don't have to wear 4 pants!!!!!


After all that great Sunday snow fun, we all crashed and woke to sickness on Monday!!!

I started feeling sick first, and then Lydia joined me on the couch with a bucket... yuck!! I wasn't sick long, but it wiped out my energy completely... to the point that once I heard Nate crying and just didn't have the energy to pick him up:(

Thank goodness Brian was able to take care of everyone and the house (it was soo clean at the end of the day!!). Needless to say, we didn't do much outside Monday... Brian did manage to shovel outside and make a grocery run!

Late Monday night Anna started with the virus.... and she (and Brian) were up most of the night!!

By Tuesday afternoon (and after a couple of meals in my belly) I was ready to get back outside for some snow fun:) I was soo glad that Lydia was feeling well enough to go with me and Chris joined me later;) And we got to build some friends;)

Obviously I'm NOT a snow artist... even with Chris' help!!


I surprised Chris with this one (he added the chalk when we were decorating the snowman)...
Chris came out of the house to see my "dinosaur". He was soo excited and asked,"MOMMY! Did you make that Stegosaurus for me??"

Oh, such a sweet question! Of course I quickly told him I did and asked if he liked it:)

So thankful that we got to play in the snow for a few more minutes together (even had a snowball fight with Brian... I need to work on my aim!!!)

And that it seems we are all on the mend:) And hope to see Grandma and Grandaddy soon:)

What Daddy makes for LUNCH!! and Andrea's in Labor

Can you tell that Daddy is ALL about the presentation of food????

And he takes a picture of it for Momma:)

And precious Daddy might have lunch duty again today, as Andrea is in labor! She's got high hopes that I capture some of the miracle of her little one's birth today! Pray for all of us;)

WFMW - Hubby's Secret to Cooking Bacon:)

This school year I have LOVED, LOVED, LOVED getting out and going to a homeschooling mom's Bible study on evening a MONTH.... it has been sooo awesome for me to be surrounded by these new and veteran homeschoolers... share the struggles and the joys while being sharpened by an encouraging book, the other ladies and the Bible:)

But as Mommy leaves at dinner time, Daddy's in the kitchen:) I did make dinner the 1st or 2nd time... but after the 2nd time of making something for the fam and being tooo nauseous to eat it... I started leaving dinner up to Daddy;)

He gladly accepted the challenge!! And in fact has come up with a new way for us to cook bacon... one of his favorite foods;)

He takes it out of the freezer and throws it into the skillet FROZEN!!! LOL!!!

** I guess I should look at the package and make sure it's not something they forbid!!

Anyway, he watches it and separates it as it cooks.... covering it at times to keep it from "spitting". And it's soo much quicker and cleaner than to defrost it in the fridge for a day or defrost in the microwave (which is my "normal" method)!!

So Kudos to our CHEF Daddy and his one-step, one-pan bacon:) Wonder what else he'd come up with if he had extra KP duty.... LOL!!

Check out more Works For ME Wednesday posts HERE:)

Trying Manual with my Boys:)

Have you missed us??? LOL... we've been around:) And visiting and cleaning and everything else that occupies a normal family when mom isn't on the computer:)

Yesterday, we traveled back to my parents' house to take my mom (grammie) to a park she's been wanting to go. It was Grammie, our crew and Jalcyn's crew.... so much fun to have us all!! I have TONS of pics I'd like to post sooooo maybe that will be our Wordless Wednesday (or maybe I"ll sneak some more in later today).

I've been trying to "play around" with an SRL... but I just don't know anything:) And I'm soo worried about missing that "perfect picture" when I'm just "playing around". But I try:)

So here's what happens when I TRY to go "manual".....

So sweet.... but since it was on a crazy setting I don't know how to work yet... Chris was soo blurry.

The boys were sweet and posed for me. But the first was soo unplanned and just one of those moments... that will forever be blurry.... or can I consider it "bokeh"?? Anyway, we had a blast yesterday, even with the Momma -rattzi following behind!! And I'll share some fun pictures of our great day soon:)

Car Washing Night... always fun

Since the stormy weather at dinner time cancelled our T-ball game last night, we decided to take the time to get outside to wash and clean up Brian's car.... Of course washing cars with kids always means someone getting SOAKED... usually the kids:)

Here are my favorite pics:) All of which I took on a borrowed SRL camera that I am trying to learn... oh, I have soo much learning to go:)But I've gotten soo "spoiled" using it!!




Here are the boys!!! Brian was vaccuming out the car and found a new way to "do" Christopher's hair.... LOL, my boys!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Semi- Wordless Wednesday : Daddy Helps to Clean

I've heard the lament (and have done some myself) about letting Daddies clean the toys or kids' rooms.....

basically, EVERYTHING gets put into the closest basket/container and they're done:)



Instead of fussing at him ...LOL I just grab the camera and catch him in the act:) And be thankful that the room at least "looks" tidy!

Happy Birthday Daddy!!!

With all the traveling, visiting and celebrating birthdays... we didn't want to "forget" Brian's Birthday!! We've actually been celebrating a little each day since Saturday at Gran-Grandma's house:)

With dinner and a movie with Scott and Bea. To shopping with me on MOnday afternoon:) Then Rice Kripie treats from his Momma on Tuesday as we headed home. He even enjoyed an McDonalds Apple Pie on the way home!!

Today the kids and I made him some muffins with lunch and sang Happy Birthday to him again:)

I have another surprise for Brian..... he has known I about it for over a week now but he DOESN't know what it is....LOL... He thought it was a blog about him and so he checked the blog all morning waiting for it...

So the birthday will go on until he gets his "secret" gift! Right now I'm just waiting for those responisble for it to complete it and get it to me..... but that it alll I can reveal until it comes... it really isn't a BIG deal... it's just NOT often I can "Surprise" Brian without him knowing about it!!!!

Anna and Brian June 2008
Originally uploaded by seethefam

Happy Birthday!!!

We love you!!!

Father and Son

I took this last night at the American Legion Ladies Night dinner last night!! Cuteness!!

I love getting pics of my BOYS!!

Let them do IT

This is kind of in response to my friend Erica's post about what do with our sometimes "stubborn" husbands:) Hhahhaaa.... My official response is that we have to let them be stubborn!! And sometimes they'll learn from it ..... :)

Last night we had a snack of cupcakes after the kiddies went to sleep. The cupcakes were made egg-free with egg replacer and so they were very moist and a little crumbly. As I contemplated about how to frost them I decided to warm up some chilled frosting in the microwave for seconds making it easier to spread.

My better- half said that he didn't like his frosting warm, so he was just going to spread it. And in his usual late-night, dry humor joked me about having HOT frosting that would just melt off my cupcake:)

I finished frosting mine in seconds.... worked beautifully and NOTHING dripped off:) But poor Brian tried to spread a lump of frosting over his crumbly cupcake.... well you can see the results..... what can I say???? STUBBORN :)

So after he saw the picture I had taken of him, he said I didn't get the cupcakes "good enough"! He decided to sit the cupcakes on the counter and asked for the camera.... I must have hesitated because he quickly added, "It's my camera too" aha haaaa..... we're like the kids after they've been put to bed:) He has always been the one to take better pictures than I but lately I've had a LOT more PRACTICE....

so here are our pictures... his on the left mine on the right:)










*** And the only reason I can laugh about him and his stubbornness is that I'm JUST as bad as he is, sometimes worse. And he just lets me be stubborn (usually)!!

The New Commute :(

If you haven't noticed it's now November :) And for most of us that means planning for the holidays and colder weather.

But for my student husband it means only 6.5 months until his dissertation MUST be finished and defended!!! He started his PhD program a few weeks after we married. He found out in August of this year that he only had THIS year to finish the program!!

This is crunch time!! And we've figured that the best bet for his to get a little quiet study and writing time will be at the church office.....

So after 3+ years of working at the home office, Daddy has to commute now!! He has about 30 steps to make from our front door to his office chair at the church:)


While the distance isn't a big deal the actual move to the church office is an emotional one. Brian wants to be close to the kids and enjoys knowing what goes on during the day. So he really has been holding out on moving over to the church. But it's CRUNCH time!!!

And the kids have always had Brian right in the office, very close and accessible. They run to tell him when they've used the potty successfully or when they've written a new word for the first time or to show him a Duplo creation!!

The kids were pretty upset when Brian left this morning. The older two are used to going with Brian when he visits neighbors or runs an errand in town or at church. But today we had to explain to them that Daddy was going to WORK at church.....

I think it was the hardest for Christopher. He fussed a lot more than usual... they all are Daddy's kids... they just LOVE their Daddy.

And of course hearing his kiddies breakdown as he left made him question his move again.

But this is CRUNCH time!! I really think my husband can finish, he's soo smart and has mentally put the dissertation together in his thoughts over and over. He's worked through the issues he needs to address and he's a GREAT writer... very careful about his word choices and meticulous about his grammer and punctuation (it about drives him crazy to read my blog... ahhahaa)!!


Our prayer is

Lord, please encourage Brian's heart in finishing this challenging program! Guide his thoughts and fingers in writing on these complex and thought-proking issues. Give him wisdom so his writing has clarity and accurately describes and analyzes his topics. Help the kids and I to give him the quiet time he needs and give him peace that this time away from us is profitable and "worth it". Finally give him the speed needed to complete this task !!!

My Serious Husband on Vacation!!!

Many who know us, have commented how "serious" my husband is...... well he can be!!! But NOT while on vacation while he is with his family. All his guards are down and he can cut-up. And BOY has he this week.........





I am Brian B., and I approved this message.

Daddy Snuggles

Lydia is such a snuggly baby....we just can't resist getting some kisses in all through the day:) Even at the park!!!!

This was such a cute shot but it needed some tweaking....since my computer won't download any new programs :( Andrea editted the picture for me (in abot 5 seconds) and e-mailed it back. Here's my favorite of the editted picturs she sent back!! Thanks Andrea (here's her photography website!!!