Wordless Wednesday

Summertime Fun....

We are having a BLAST this summer and I am enjoying every second of it! Here are a few pictures.....

Hangin' out at Grandma's pool

Our three 4 year-olds causin' trouble!



Mr. Bryson




Big Daddy and Mamasita






My innocent-looking nephew, Ty








Some random pics of my adorable family....


My sweet nephew, Coy








My niece (who is growing up waaay too fast), Laney







Nolan and Nevin....NUTS!






Ashton, playing it cool at a Summer Sounds Concert



The Fabulous Five...they are always up to something!

2 Amazing Men = 1 Happy Lady!

I know I have been snobbing the blog but definitely NOT on purpose. We are just at crunch time on our house, so every day is filled with house stuff! We are getting ready have our house appraised so that we can switch our loan over to a mortgage loan. We are working around the clock to get as much completed as possible! Hopefully once that takes place, we will get around to getting internet at our house and I will be back on track! I had to take the time out to blog on Father's Day about 2 wonderful men in my life.

The first one is my father. As some of you know, he is technically my STEP-dad, but I have never called him that. He has been in my life since I was very young and has never treated me like a "step" daughter. He is such a fun, caring, and loving man. Growing up, he was always the more stern one of my parents. I knew that if I wanted something that I had to go to my mom. I dreaded getting the "ask your father" because I knew I really had to work him over in order to SOMETIMES get what I wanted! As a grown woman, I love him more than ever! He is so generous and giving. He LOVES my kids like crazy! Grandpa is a softy now! My kids can get just about anything they want if they have the right twinkle in their eye! He likes to wrestle and play with them, but he likes to cuddle and love on them even more! He has been our rock with this house renovation project. We have been able to go to him for advice and depend on him when we couldn't be right there. I don't know what we would've done without him being the Commander-in-Chief! I am so thankful to God that I have a Dad like him!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The second man that I thank God for is my husband. He is simply amazing! I can't even begin to describe how this man blows me away. I am so in love with him and I am excited to wake up with him every day! My kids are so blessed to have a dad that loves them the way he does. He is a hands-on dad 100% of the time! He nearly always has a child on his lap or at his feet and he loves it! He teaches them to garden, to do carpentry work, to be creative, and so much more. If my kids are having a bad day at school, he is right there volunteering to sit down with them alone and have a heart-to-heart talk. Every time they end up smiling and forgetting their troubles! I love him and everything that he gives to our family!

I recently surveyed our kids (one-at-a-time) and got their opinion on some things concerning their Daddy. I didn't give the kids any prompting or ideas for answers, therefore the 2 year-olds didn't have answers for some of the questions. (If they didn't totally understand the question, they would blurt out something like "bathtub", so I just left it blank!) =)

Here are the questions and their individual responses:

What is your favorite thing about Daddy?

• He is very musical (Ashton - 10 yrs. old)
• He does good things for us (Taelyn - 8 yrs. old)
• He is silly and caring (Mariya - 8 yrs. old)
• He plays G.I. Joes with me (Bryson - 4 yrs. old)

What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy?

• jump on the trampoline (Ashton)
• go on vacation (Taelyn)
• swim in Grandma's pool (Mariya)
• play transformers (Bryson)
• go on roller coasters and waterslides and ride on the lawn mower (Nevin - 2 yrs. old)
• run and sing songs (Nolan - 2 yrs. old)

(Please be assured my 2 year old has NOT been on a roller coaster. Not real sure about that answer!)

What is one word that describes Daddy?

• Fun (Ashton)
• Loving (Taelyn)
• Funny (Mariya)
• Looks good (Bryson) =)

What is one of Daddy's favorite things to do?

• play guitar (Ashton)
• play guitar (Taelyn)
• play guitar (Mariya)
• singing and playing cd's (Bryson)
• building the dirt (Nevin)
• buckle up (Nolan) ???

What is Daddy very good at?

• playing guitar and drums (Ashton)
• playing guitar (Taelyn)
• fixing up our house (Mariya)
• working at Commercial News (Bryson)
• coloring (Nevin)
• listening (Nolan)

Where is ONE place that Daddy would LOVE to go?

• Famous Dave's Restaurant (Ashton)
• Chickenfoot Concert (Taelyn)
• Cracker Barrel (Mariya)
• the bookstore (Bryson)
• Menards (Nevin)
• That way - Menards (Nolan)

If Daddy had a million dollars, what do you think he would buy?

• a new guitar, a boat, and Indiana Beach tickets (Ashton)
• a swimming pool and a new guitar (Taelyn)
• a new guitar and a family vacation (Mariya)
• G.I. Joe toys and the Chickenfoot band (Bryson)
• Mcdonalds and Batman toys (Nevin)
• doggies (Nolan)

They all adore their dad and we enjoyed spoiling him for the day! Thank you so much Dave for all the sacrifices that you have made for our family! You are so loved!

For Father's Day, I saved up my hard-earned money and took my Dad and Dave (and my mom) to Fogo De Chao. We also wanted to take my parents to show our appreciation for them letting us live with them for 4 months! (On a side note.... if you haven't gone to Fogo De Chao, you NEED to. At least ONE time! It is a crazy awesome Brazilian Steakhouse that is a one-of-a-kind experience! Google it and GO!!!!) Anyways.... We had a WONDERFUL time with just us four grown-ups! We didn't know how to act without the kids! It was so nice to sit, eat, and enjoy each other's company!

Happy Father's Day to all of the wonderful Fathers!

Sneak Peak (Part ONE)....

Remember back in November, when I told you guys about our "journey".....

Well we are finally getting towards the "end" of that journey. We are just days away from moving in and I wanted to get some pictures of the house while it was empty. Of course, I will have some AFTER pictures once we get settled in! But here is a sneak peak of the bedrooms......

This is the stairway leading up to the bedrooms.... I fell in love with the color immediately. It doesn't show so great in the pictures since my camera stinks the lighting isn't so great.

The girls' room. One of my favorite rooms! The color turned out perfect! I can't wait to decorate it! By the way.... most of the people that have been through my house have commented that all of the colors are so "perfect". I have this huge process for picking my paint colors.

1. Take home 75 paint samples from Menards AND Lowes.

2. Pick out a general color. (Let's say it is purple....)

3. Go back and get EVERY purple imaginable.

4. Lay them all out together and start narrowing them down in a very scientific way. (Ok...maybe not scientific)

5. After being very critical of every sample, you have the PERFECT color!

Anyways.... my husband likes tease me about this process! I am definitely NOT one to over-analyze things, can ya tell???

The girls' closet. The bedrooms all have these large walk-ins. This is where the girls hibernate with their barbies!

Ashton and Bryson's room. This one is gonna be so cute when it's decorated! It will have a cowboy theme!

Nolan and Nevin's room. Farm animals and tractors to come. 'Nuff said!

Me and Dave's room. It's actually at the bottom of the stairs. Still a little work to do in here.

There you have it! I will be taking more pics of the house this week. Most of it is getting the finishing touches! More to come.......

We have been loving these beautiful spring days! The kids love running around, soaking up the sunshine ALL day! They enjoy riding bikes, swinging on the swingset, playing with the dogs, jumping on the trampoline, making mud pies (if possible), and just being creative! God has blessed us with some awesome weather lately! We are looking forward to another week of sunshine. Just wanted to share a few pics....

Taelyn.... lovin' on Roxy.

Riya... always willing to stop and smile for the camera!

Nolan... with his sweet smile.


Nevin.... goofin' around.


Bryson... petting Bella Rose.

Ashton... getting creative.

He was pulling the boys in the wagon with his bike. They LOVED it!

Please Pray.....

Please take a few minutes out of your day to pray for Kayleigh's family. Sweet Kayleigh was made whole again Monday, May 11th when she went to be with our Lord. She has had a long hard journey and is now resting in the arms of our Savior. I pray that God will give her family the strength to get through these most difficult days. What a blessing her parents are to so many. They are able to praise God.... even in this storm!

Annual Illinois State Twin Convention

For the past 4 years, we have been able to attend the twin convention in our area. It has been held in Champaign twice and Bloomington. This year it was held in Arthur. We have had a great time every year and have met some of the nicest people! We look forward to seeing the same people every year and excited to meet new people as well!

The convention is always held on a Sunday in April. There is a lunch at noon and then a short business meeting. The best part of the convention is the Twin Contest. They have all different categories and age groups. It is fun to see them all get up on stage! Some of the categories are:

*Twins that look the most alike

*Twins that look the least alike

*Twins that travel the longest distance

*The oldest twins

*The youngest twins

There are twins of EVERY age there. From infants to 90 years old, every set has their own story and it's interesting to get to know them. The first year that my girls went, they were totally overwhelmed with having their picture taken! Everybody takes pictures of everybody!!! With the girls being younger, and so dang cute, they were a BIG attraction! Now that most of the people are not complete strangers, they handle it a lot better!

I wish I could post up some pictures from the conventions in the past years, but I won't be able to do that until I get my own computer hooked up at our new house.

Here are a few from this year.....

(Left to right) Taelyn, Nevin, Nolan, and Mariya

They have a Shriner's clown to make balloons for all of the kids.

This picture was taken during the Judging. I believe the category was Woman (age 55 and up) - "twins that look the most alike". I am so glad I am not a judge. Some of the categories would be so hard! (FYI... The set with the #2 won!)

My camera batteries died just in time for my kiddos to go on stage!!! I had an extra set, but I missed them onstage. They didn't have much competition because there was not many twins that were their age this year! The girls won "Twins that look the most alike" in their age group. They have won it for the past 4 years.

This is my sweet friend, Carrie. She has come for the past 2 conventions with her girls. They are gorgeous!



We attempted to get a picture of my girls with her girls. It was nap time and not an easy task! =) Next year we will do it EARLIER! It will be neat to compare them every year and see how they have grown!


We met these boys the first year that we went to the conference. Actually, the mom and I met that year. The girls could care less. Boys have cooties! Anyways, we take their picture every year too. Someday my girls may look forward to seeing these boys there! ;)

At the end of the convention, they get all of the twins up on stage and take pictures. This year was not a great turnout. Usually they can't all fit on stage! It is so cool to see them all together! (One of the ladies is holding Nolan because he had fallen asleep. Nevin is in front of the girls and Nolan is right behind the girls.)

I didn't get a picture of Nevin and Nolan with their medallion. They were a mixed consensus! Some said they looked alike and some said they didn't! I think they ended up giving them the "Twins that look the most alike" prize for their age group, but only because they had NO competition! =)

Next year, the convention is in Danville!!! I am planning on being more involved this coming year and the years after! If you know anyone interested, let me know and I will give them some information!