Mirror Mirror on the Wall and Other Random Silliness

Callie has found a new form of entertainment...a mirror. Carl held her up in front of the mirror the other night while I was at work and she grinned and almost laughed at herself for a long time. I captured it on camera the other night, even when she is super tired like in this picture she manages to smile at herself. Gabe had school spirit week this past week(although he only got to go to school one day because he was sick and then the lovely weather) so on Friday it was design a costume with garbage bags. We kind of waited until last minute, as in the morning of but we ended up using the garbage bag as a super cape and fashioning a super headband to go along with it and he went as Super Gabe, he actually left the cape on all day and not to be outdone Ty donned a cape and became Super Ty as well...who knew garbage bags could be so much fun.
Carl has been busy over at clarkumentary. He has updated several times and has been joined an online food community(Tasty Kitchen) and has even been published twice, he loves it and will most likely submit even more recipes. He snapped these pictures of the boys the other day to use on his blog but I thought they were so cute I am going to steal them and use them on here too, just this once though(and please excuse the snot nose we like to keep it real around here:)

A Whole New World

It is a whole new world for Miss Callie. She loves to stand, doesn't like to sit or be in the bouncy seat but with the help of a towel for support she is digging the excersaucer. She stands in it for long periods of time just staring at everything from her brothers to the TV( I know but I figure she just likes the pretty flashy lights:) Her brothers seem to enjoy some of the "new" toys on it as well. Her cute little headband is what I won on a blog giveaway in November! Isn't it cute:)

30?...How did this Happen?

Wow I've finally reached the age that when I was in high school I thought was old! How did this happen? Seriously it seems like I was just turning 21 and now all of the sudden I'm 30. Looking back over my last 30 years I can truly see how God has blessed me. 30 years ago despite the odds being against them he blessed me with the most wonderful parents a girl could have, who support me, help me and love me unconditionally. Growing up I was blessed with wonderful grandparents and a close extended family as well. We had a great church where I had many friends and great memories of church potlucks and Christmas parties and pillow fights in the furnace room:) In high school I met my best friend, someone who would be with me through the ups and downs of my upper teenage years, would see me through college and after and who ultimately would become my husband. I graduated from college with a degree in something that I loved and while wasn't able to get a full time job teaching had so many wonderful and many not so wonderful experiences all of which I learned so much from. A few years later God placed great friends in our lives who helped us find a relationship with Christ, not just a weekly visit to church, but a desire to be in the Word and pray and from that stemmed some of our best friends and long lasting relationships that I don't know what we would do without. We were able to buy our first house and learn all the lessons that go along with home ownership. Gabriel Quintin blessed our lives shortly after that and taught us the true meaning of the unconditional love a parent has for their child, taught us the value of a good nights sleep and made us appreciate the peace and quiet:) Titus Zachary came into our lives 2 years and 2 months(and another new house) later and taught us all about cleaning up atomic vomit, how to deal with babies with colds and what it was like to have a sweet, sweet, baby boy who rarely cried and how to open our hearts to love each child for who they are and all the joy they bring into our lives. 2 years and 2 months after that(and yet another new house) God gave us our precious baby girl. The baby girl my heart had been desiring forever really. Callaghan Grayce brings to our home lots of pink, drama and a great big temper but we love her so much and she melts all of our hearts with her big goofy grins(even her big brothers) So now as I turn 30 looking back at all God has done in my life I praise him for all the blessings he's given, lessons he's taught, relationships he's put in my life but most importantlly that he loves me so much that he sent his son to die on the cross, to forgive me my sins, a sinner saved by grace and if God blesses me with another 30 years I will reflect back on my 60th birthday and marvel at all God had given me.

On a random note I have to brag on my wonderful husband a little bit. He surprised me all week long with a haircut on Thursday, a manicure and makeover on Friday and then a wonderful dinner out and whirlpool suite Friday night. He truly made me feel special and pampered and loved and I appreciated it so much! I snapped a picture of myself Friday after the makeover so I could prove yes I do wear makeup every once in awhile!

Sledding

Since it was finally above 0 and since we hadn't been out of the house for more then a minute or so at a time we decided to take the boys sledding yesterday. We got everyone all bundled up in their winter gear and drove down to the Iowa State Center to find the perfect sledding hill(I know we live a block and a half from there but we had to take Callie with and she needed warmth so we took the van and she napped while the boys played:) We found a good spot and Carl and the boys made their trek to the top. We discovered our sled is very fast and there wasn't quite enough flat ground at the bottom of the hill to stop in a nice orderly fashion so the first time down Carl and the boys both flew off the sled at the bottom of the hill when they ran into a big snowbank. In addition to the rough landing they also got a snow shower to the face most of the way down. Despite all that Gabe LOVED it and was raring to go again. Ty not so much, my red head had a very red face to match his hair and he was not convinced this sledding thing was all that much fun. Gabe and Carl braved the hill a few more times and even convinced Ty to go a couple more times as well. I'm pretty sure Gabe would have kept going all afternoon if we would have let him. He loved it and showed no signs of wearing out even walking up and down the big hill several times. Dad however did not quite have Gabe's endurance and Ty was quite cold so we called it an afternoon after this one last run, complete with a good stop at the end.


We are hoping to be able to use the sled more this week as our temperatures are finally supposed to be a little warmer!

Callie's 3 Month Pictures

Here are Callie's 3 month pictures. Normally we go down to Portrait Innovations by Jordan Creek but did not want to spend quite so much or get quite so many pictures this time so I found a coupon for Target in Ankeny(just click on photos on Target's home page and then Portrait Studio and you can print them off) I think they turned out pretty cute, but I am a little biased:)

3 Months!

Callie turned 3 months old on Saturday! She is smiling a lot more now and even seems like she is starting to laugh a little. She can roll from her tummy to her back and does when she is mad! She started to discover her hands and they seem to be her favorite new chew toy. She has slept through the night a few times but is still inconsistent(much to Mom's disappointment:) She puts out the pouty lip when she starts to cry and it makes us laugh. She brings so many smiles and so much laughter to our house.

First Casualty of the New Year

Fortunately no person was hurt only my glass cake stand and cover. The boys came downstairs to play this morning while Carl and I were upstairs. Pretty soon we heard a crash, never a good thing to hear when the kids are downstairs by themselves. We came into the kitchen to discover this. My red velvet cyclone cake ruined-actually it was doomed from the start, it fell over in the van on the ride home last night therefore I didn't put it in the fridge to save I was going to throw it out this morning. Apparently the culprit was hungry. Here is the incriminating evidence of which of the children was the perpetrator. Anyone care to take a guess?