a beautiful sunrise

This morning as we were getting ready for the day, I happened to look outside and my breath was taken away with a beautiful sunrise! I was amazed that the camera caught it so effectually!

I just had to share with you all...God bless!

Another Bon Fire

About a year ago we had the kids' first bon fire...amazingly we had this years just a few days later and didn't even know it! :0)

They did really great...even with the bulls calling and the coyotes just over the hill! But just after dark they really wanted to get in the pickup to be 'safe'.

Nothing better then a home made fire, hot chocolate, fire roasted hot dogs, and marshmellows! It was a perfect evening!

Nathan's 4th Birthday

Happy Birthday Nathan! Can you believe that Nathan is FOUR years old! Where did the years go! Well in an effort to make his day special...I woke early to make this:

Yep...those are all pancakes! It was kinda fun to make them and I only had a few that had to be redone. He was very excited about them and didn't want anyone to eat them at first. We had to take a picture of the pancakes in order for Nathan to let anyone have one.

The rest of the day was filled with playing and having fun...nothing too special just little things. He got to pick lunch with some guide from Mommy as he was able to entirely pick his birthday dinner and Mommy wanted a little more balance for lunch...his first pick was a sandwich (preferably cheese) and ice cream. We ended up having salmon patties and mac n cheese!

That night, he got his special birthday dinner of hot dogs and pineapple! Yes, that is all...Daddy ate chili but the kids thoroughly enjoyed their dinner. Then we waited for Grandma and Grandpa Schlatter to come over. (All day long they kept asking when they were coming, surprisingly it was Abi who asked more than Nathan :0)

In that last 30 minutes, Nathan finally demanded "Why did Daddy make Grandma and Grandpa go so far!" Meaning the time was taking too long! Finally, (after a near mishap with the cake and Jonathan) it was time for cake and ice cream...the torture of waiting all day!

Nathan wanted to eat the face...so he got a very big piece but Mommy kept reminding him he didn't have to eat it ALL! :0) When he was full, he promptly declared, "Presents, please."

Grandma and Grandpa gave him his music CD...each of the grandkids got a CD of songs with their names in them. Nathan was the last to get his (he noticed this at Abi's party), so he was excited to get it!

Then he started opening the gifts from Mommy and Daddy stating he was going to get a green tractor...Grandpa had to re-educate him on that...we do red...but then Nathan promptly informed Grandpa that if he was going to be a farm he had to have a tractor despite the color!

Marion and I pleased to see how excited he got...I 'll check the video and see if I caught it because it was something we hadn't seen him do before!

Since he LOVES to play in the dirt, we got him several 'durable' toys for outside this next summer...

(I am actually posting this the following day, but I had to tell you what Nathan said this morning...immediately upon waking up he was in the living room playing with his new 'sheenery'...when Abi came down stairs he said, "Abi, I got a 'citing idea...you can share my toys."

Nathan's Birthday Cake

Okay, well, Nathan wanted a Percy Thomas the Train this year...actually he called it a green Thomas the Train...which translates into a Percy...so this is what we came up with:

Now for those of you who don't know what Percy is supposed to look like...here is a picture (sorry the quality of the pic isn't the best...but you can still see it):

There are a few differences...first of all...instead of the #6 I put a 4 since that is how old Nathan will be this year. We also used a Thomas the Train Engine cake pan so I had to make some alterations to make it all work. It's not perfect but hey...not bad for being 16 weeks pregnant, right?!

In case you are wondering...yes, Nathan had a train cake last year too...this was his Thomas train last year:

A visit to the Apple Depot in Courtland

In trying to keep our tradition of going to the apple orchard each year, we made our way to Courtland today to get some apples and let the kids have an outing. I won't bore you with needless explanations, I'll just let you see the pictures!

15 week check up...

Well, I had my 15 week check up today...baby was right there moving around...I'd lost another 2 lbs since two weeks ago...which wasn't too bad since I had been so sick! He did say that next time around we'd schedule the ultrasound....hard to believe we are really that far along!

Jonny went with me this time to have his 18 month check up (two months late)! He weighed 30 lbs which put him at 70% and he as 35 inches tall which put him at 95% in height! Overall, Dr. Overmiller said he as doing great! I had asked about his flat feet but he said he wanted to wait a while and give him some time to grow more.

The strangest thing was how SHY he was...he is not our shy one...but he literally hid in the corner and would peek out at the doctor...then whenever the doctor would look at him, he'd hide again! He literally hid in the corner while the doctor listend for the baby's heartbeat...this really intrigued him so he came over to see what was going on...as soon as the doctor looked at him, he went back to the corner and hid! After the appointment was over, we were waiting for the dr. to come back and give us some information and while he was gone...Jonny looked over to the doppler...pointed to me and made a thump, thump, thump sound...indicating he'd heard the baby's heart beat! He then pointed to the doppler and his tummy to go thump, thump, thump again...the little smarty!

Camping Results

Well...they made it to 2 a.m.

Actually...it was Mommy and Daddy who ended the camping experience...the kids were doing just great sleeping away but Mommy just couldn't settle down with the kids outside...I was like a mother hen with her chicks out of the roost! (the fact that it was also the first time I ever slept at home during the night without Marion might have had something to do with it too...he never goes anywhere that I don't so he's always there!)

Then there was Daddy...he had had enough by 2...the wind flapping the tarp...the hard ground...it all played into him not sleeping! And after such a physically exerting day he was exhausted!

Abigail really didn't want to come in, but once inside she settled down and fell soundly asleep...both kids slept in this morning so you know even though they were sleeping, they were still tired!

Daddy said he was pretty sure he'd never do that again! I told him if he'd camp my way it wouldn't have been so bad...we'll see...maybe if we get all decked out with a mattress and actual tent...there still may be hope!