Princess Dress!

My mom has been teaching women in the ward how to re-use things in our homes. She made this beautiful dress for Mckenzie using an old skirt she had found. She calls it the 'princess dress".

growing like weeds!

It is amazing that when your children aren't with you and you finally get to see them again they seem to have grown at least an inch and just appear so more mature. My kids have been MIA in Michigan with their dad since Saturday and having them gone for a week makes me grateful to have them under my roof and safely tucked in their beds. I miss them a lot.

Foggy Blah's!

Mckenzie is putting on her lady bug boots, due to the wetness!

I am so done with winter! I have decided that I definitely have the "Foggy Blah's"! It has been way too cold, way too foggy and just plain old snowy... Typically I don't mind this kinda of weather, but we have been having these really dense foggy days that seem to last forever. The sun has had no chance to break out. The kids are also getting restless. It's March and the rain has started and now it's just too wet. I need the sunshine to come out and play. Bring on Spring!!!

Blizzard 2009!

Riley in the frontyard playing!

Shoveling and more shoveling!

3 hours later and I am really hating the snow and the cold, brrr....

All bundled up!

December has brought us snow and lots of it! We got at least 12inches if not more and then the wind started! It truly was a blizzard. They actually closed schools down for 2 days and then my work was closed for one of those days.

Movin' on! Our new place...

The kids bedroom, just need to add wall art!

It's amazing to have my own room again:)

One of my 2 1/2 bathrooms! This one is the main one on the upstairs floor.

Living room!

Kitchen! Cead Mile Falite...

It's been a month officially since the kids and I moved out on to our own. I have to tell you how exciting it has been and how lonely. WE had to establish our ne patterns all over again, like just the right time to get up in the morning and be out the door to go to daycare, school and work. The kids love there play room in the basement, and so do I since that is where all the toys live and I mean all of them. between 7:30p and 10p are my quite hours. And I enjoy them but miss having other adults around to vent or just discuss the day with. Also living on your own with 2 kids truly makes you grateful for any extra help you can get. Even though I confess to be super mommy alot, Parenting truly takes 2!

Dad's surgery-Triple Bypass!

Mom and Dad before Surgery.

Dad being prepped for Surgery!

Gotta love him!

They aren't nervous, well maybe a little:)

Trying to get some work done before the big surgery!

My dad has been having chest pain for the last couple of weeks and he went to the doctor and had some blood work done. The blood work came back elevated, so they had a chemical stress test ordered . That also didn't go so well. So on Wed, of last week Dad went in for an Angiogram. A couple hours later I recieved a frantic call from mom saying that they were taking dad by ambulance to another hospital in Des Moines that is considered the Heart Specialty hospital. We were then told that Dad would be undergoing a Triple Bypass. Which is a open heart surgery. Needless to say we were freaked out. My dad is 53. And this seemed way to much! On thursday he underwent the surgery, Dr. Pandhakar performed it. They harvested a vein from his right leg, left arm and used one from his chest. They then rerouted his arteries and closed him up. The surgeon said everything went very well. We then got moved to ICU. My mom wouldn't leave my dad's side and needed to sleep, so I stayed at night so she could go sleep in the waiting room, since they wouldn't let us sleep in the room with dad. For 2 days I ran on 2 hours of sleep. Now I remember why I don't work the night shift anymore. But I did get some major reading in:) Dad then got moved to Cardiac/Telementry unit and has steadily made progress. He will be coming home tomorrow. Yeah! I never want to go through that again. It's amazing how you look at life and the things that are the most important to you are relized when a person's mortality is at stake. I love my dad and am so glad that he is in my life!

Pumpkin Patch and the Corn Maze!

The hay ride, except it was dark!

This is the actual corn maze. It was awesome!

Saturday was a busy day for us, we also attended the Geisler Farm Pumpkin Patch with our ward singles group. The kids ran looking at pumlins or getting pulled in the wagon by "uncle Levi". We also did the corn maze that was incredibly hard. At one point Mckenzie and I got lost, she thought it was great fun, running around in the mud. Riley on the hand didn't like it so much once it got dark and he started to slip and slide in the mud. So "uncle" Levi carried him, until Riley got so scared and he peed on him. Levi took it very nicely, his girlfriend Nicole thought it was a great deterant, oops! We finally made it safely out, some a little drier than the rest. Hot Chocolate and Apple Cider was bought and then we went on the hay ride through the dark. Better watch out for those corndogs, they'll get ya! I'm pretty sure I have been banned form attending any more singles activites with my kids but we had a good time!