Simple Joys

Having a fireplace is something I think some people take for granted. Unless of course you are not a fireplace kind of person, which I am. I was so excited that this house had a fireplace and one of the things that I made sure to ask for in the closing was to have it cleaned and ready to go for the winter.

We finally had a night that Nate was home and we had fire wood! We were all a little excited!

The girls were mesmerized by it!

 Luke was at scouts when we started it, but by the time it got going good he was home. The kids all got their pj's on and brought pillows and blankets down so we could camp out. We turned off all the lights and just sat and enjoyed it. The best part?? It was SNOWING outside!! We just needed some hot chocolate and it would have been perfect!

I see many nights like this in our future!!

Out with the old, in with the new...

When we got accepted to med school and then found out Lily would be joining our family, we decided to upgrade from our car to a van. It was a tough decision and even harder because we knew we better get it done before moving to WV where the pickin's would be slim! I was sick so Nate went out on his own and found us our van. It was a good van and all, but it was never what I wanted. He did good, but the one thing I had really wanted was rear air. I had heard that to have a can without was torture. It wasn't pleasant. In the summer the kids in the back roasted while we in the front froze. In the winter they froze while we roasted. And then there was that it was a Dodge Caravan and we knew that it wasn't going to last. Sure enough this year after the move things started going wrong. It was getting close to the time when the engine would need to be replaced and that was something we were not financially prepared for. Nate was able to fix a few things to make it run a little better, but the kids and I were terrified to drive it. On a whim one day we decided just to go looking. We ended up at a Toyota dealership and found the perfect van! It was the same year as our van, a '06, but it was a Toyota for one. It had rear air, power locks and doors that open with the push of a button, leather seats (so much easier to clean up), it even had a DVD player!! I had no idea what would happen. We had to leave to get the kids from school and when we got home we had a family prayer that things would work out. We got back to the dealership and they told us a price. I said no. I told them I wanted payments to stay where we were at. I knew it wasn't ideal, but we couldn't do it any other way and I was willing to walk away. And walk away we did. However two days later I got a call saying they would do it for what I wanted. I really couldn't believe what I was hearing. We still had 2 1/2 years on our old loan (ya Nate did a 7 year loan... it wasn't ideal) and it wasn't worth much. But they gave us high blue book value for it after all! We got down there the next day Nate had off and ended up with payments just a few dollars above what we were already paying and only adding 2 1/2 more years to what we would have been paying!!! AND I get everything I wanted in a van!!! I still can't believe it happened!! Every time I get into the van I am just so thankful! Now my kids have a chance to stay warm this winter as I have heard winters in Cleveland are brutal :)!

Here is the old van:

 And here is the new (to us) van!! I LOVE IT!!

It still amazes me how everything just fell into place for us and worked out. Just one more thing I have to be thankful for, especially at this time of year!! 

She's a thinker

The other day Lily and I were at the grocery store walking up and down the isles just trying to waste time. (Nate was at home post call and I wanted to let him sleep in a quiet house.) We were looking at some books when Lily says, " Mom, who is our REAL Heavenly Father?" I wasn't sure what she meant so I asked her.  She said, " You know, who is he?" I told her he was our Father that was in Heaven. She said, "I KNOW! But WHO is he? I don't remember him." I told her I didn't remember him either but that someday we would see him again and then she would remember. Then she said, "Ya, I know he is our Father that is in Heaven. I just wish I remembered what he looked like." I was floored that it was again my FOUR year old asking me these things. I thought the conversation was over. When we got home and after Nate woke up she again started asking questions to both Nate and me. I told him about our previous conversation. When I finished telling him she looked at us both and said, "So mom, if Heavenly Father is our father, then you and dad are BROTHER AND SISTER??!!" !!! Yup, that is right Lily.

She kills me! One thing is for sure, she is a thinker!!

A day to be thankful for

Do you ever have those days that you just feel so overwhelmed by gratitude for the things you have and the things around you? Today was one of those days for me. Nate was on call, so he left at 4:30 am. I was expecting to have a rough day. I also knew I would have to help teach in RS since we were having our visiting teaching conference today and I am one of the supervisors. I was really dreading the day before it even started! I couldn't sleep, thanks to my pregnant body aches, so I just sat in bed thinking about what and how I was going to present my part of the conference today. For those who know me well, you know I am all about schedules, order, lists, organization etc. I always have my talks written out weeks before and have gone over them so many times I could recite it by heart, but I have to have my papers anyways. This time I felt like I needed to go by the spirit. I had prepared, I had read over and listened to so much material. I knew what I wanted to say, but to not write it down, it was terrifying! So I got up, showered and got the kids ready. We got to church and I just felt fine. I was nervous, but not like I usually am. I enjoyed the meetings and then it was time to start. I don't even know what I said, I know I didn't say all that I had wanted to say. But the feeling that I had was something I will never forget. I felt such gratitude for the women of my ward that have touched my life. I felt gratitude for my calling, for the opportunity I had to prepare for such a conference, and gratitude for the blessing of the gospel in my life. My life is the way it is because of my membership in the church. I have so much in a world where so many don't. Service in the church is always like that, I ALWAYS get more out of it than I put in to it. It is amazing to me that I could find so many things to be grateful for on a day when I was so alone and tired. The kids and I came home and the day continued in a peaceful, calm way. Then Nate called to say hello and I decided spur of the moment to take him some dinner down to the hospital. It was so nice to be able to see him for a little while today and to see where he works. Again, my feelings of gratitude returned. I am so grateful for a husband that is hard working and dedicated, that cares so much about others and yet still loves and cares for his family. I am grateful for good kids who make my life worth living. I have a full life, sometimes I forget that, but today the Lord let me see so many things that I am thankful for and that is a precious gift that I hope I will not soon forget!

Family Photos Cleveland Style

Now that we are residents of Cleveland Ohio Nate, wanted to make sure we made our allegiance well known. He has this silly rivalry with some med school friends about sports teams, so when we moved here he told me we HAD to do Cleveland Browns paraphernalia for our family pictures this year. (Even though the Browns are not the best team. He has cheered for them faithfully since the season started though. Go Browns!) I knew I wasn't going to blow this photo up and put in on my wall, but at least it will be a fun Christmas card. I am hoping to get more pictures in some nicer clothes for the picture on the wall. It has been raining so much here (apparently more than any other time in the last 140 years...) so one Sunday afternoon when the sun was shining I made everyone dress up and run over to the park to take some shots. It is really hard setting up the tripod and running while pregnant and the ground is muddy... But we got some decent shots. I think I like the 3rd one the best, what do you think?

 This was because Nate wanted my pregnant belly to show. That is the only shot you will see like this. I don't love showing off my chub!

 My favorite.

 The kids loved their beanies, at least until they started getting itchy!

 This was the, make a silly face picture. Notice it is about the only picture Lily is actually smiling in. That is my Lilybug!!

I should have done individual shots BEFORE I put the hats on, but I didn't. Their hat hair isn't too bad ;)!

To get her to smile at all Nate told her to "hiss" at the camera. I have some very interesting shots where is is hissing a little too enthusiastically. It's funny now, but I was annoyed then.

 My handsome nine year old! He is getting so big!!

I had over 300 pictures, these are some of my favorites. Maybe in the years to come we will be able to afford to have someone ELSE take the pictures so they turn out a little better!

Halloween

Nate had to work on Halloween, so we decided to head down to Shaker Heights and trick or treat with some of the kids friends from church. Luke is lucky enough to have several boys his age that he loves to hang out with. He was kind of the odd man out though; Kimball, Jaxson and Trevor were all Harry Potter and Luke was a mummy! He didn't seem to mind though. Gabby and Emma were both witches, which they loved, and everyone else looked awesome too!

 Here is a group shot. Believe me when I say this was the best we could get. They just wanted to get out there and trick or treat!!

 The big boys were running from house to house while the younger kids struggled to keep up, it was hard to follow them all without Nate to help! (The other adults had little, little kids they were trying to help)

 Here are the Harry's and Luke!

 We even had a Hermione and a dementor. I guess you can tell what the popular theme was this year...

We had a great time and were so thankful to get to share the night with friends so it wasn't lonely! Thanks Calls for having us all over and for everyone else that was there for the great fun, food and friends! Happy Halloween!!

Trunk-or-Treat

I love how excited my kids get about Halloween. I know what you're thinking, ya most kids love to get a lot of candy. But that is NOT why my kids get excited about Halloween. Really. They love to get dressed up. Sure they like candy too, but I am one of those really nice mom's that only gives them 10 pieces of their favorite and then we get rid of the rest. (That means Nate eats the rest.) And they really are ok with that. So, I really enjoy the added activities that allow my children the opportunity to dress up that many more times. One such occasion is the ward trunk or treat! And luckily Gabby's costume was the most involved so getting the rest ready was a breeze. Don't they look adorable? I thought so!

 It was unfortunately about 43 degrees outside so they are a tad cold in these pictures :).  Luke was seriously into character here! I love it!

 She makes a cute little witch, even if she isn't green.

 I think Lily was the most excited about her costume. She told me EXACTLY how she wanted it. A black cat with a pink skirt. And that is what she got, she was soooo happy. She was wagging that tail for everyone, even those who weren't paying attention.

 Nate had to work so I took the kids alone, but they are old enough they could walk the parking lot together while I sat in the trunk to give out our candy. Did I mention it was a little cold? It was.

 Luke high tailed it out of sight the minute we got there and this was as close to seeing him as I got until all his buddies were headed home.

 Lily pooped out pretty quick and spent the night with me in the car. She really doesn't love treats so she was happy with the 5 or 6 pieces she got. It was nice to have the company :).

Despite the cold we really had a good time and were glad to get out on one of the many nights that Nate has had to work this month. Here is hoping to less nights away next month!!