Angels

I was almost too late but just made it in time for it to still be Memorial Day for this post! First, let me say thank you to our brave men and women who serve and make sure we can enjoy our freedom. I am very grateful for my baby brother, Shaun, who made the decision to serve. He and his family are moving in a week to Fort Drum, New York and we are going to miss having them close and being able to see them often! I am grateful for my Grandpa Michaelis who served in WWII and my Grandpa Nef who served in Korea. One of the traditions in my family is to put flowers on the graves of all of our family members who have passed away and it is one I actually miss a lot. I love graveyards and find it fascinating to walk through them and look at the headstones. It almost makes me cry to see headstones that are neglected or that you can barely read. The first song on my playlist when I opened my blog tonight was Angels Among Us by Alabama and I felt it very fitting for this day. I had an epiphany one day and even though it may sound strange to some people, it makes perfect sense to us. E has a crazy love for all things pink...if you know me at all you know that I am anything but a "pink girl". My fave color is black for heaven's sake (although the babies tell me it is red)! So I was thinking one day about Ben's sister Shauna who passed away a year ago from cancer and it hit me that since she is E's "special angel" she has been giving her a love for all things pink!! I feel like E is still so sweet and innocent that she can still feel her aunt around her. A loves guitars and climbing and is very much like his uncle Travis who passed away 8 years ago this year. A's "special angel" has been instructing and visiting him as well. We have taught the babies who their special angels are and whenever they see a picture of them that's how they identify them. You may not believe in angels but there is no doubt in my mind that my babies are blessed with many special people who watch over and protect them and for that I am eternally grateful.

Budding Artists

Not only are we budding songsters (see previous post) we are also budding artists, as seen below!

by E (she got a little bored by the time Snow White was done and didn't want to finish the Prince)

by A (he loves to colot Superman just like his little action figure, even got the belt yellow...sort of)

Our Budding Songsters

A & E are great singers and we just wanted to share a little of their talent with you!!

A New Toy

Okay, so I'm totally playing catch-up since the following took place oh...about a month ago but better late than never I suppose!! :) Ben came home one day with a new surprise...a four person tent! Apparently we are going to go camping this year, which will be fine since really that's an experience that all kids should have...I should know, I had it a lot growing up. Anyways...he had to set it up and check it out, unfortunately it was very windy out so it got set up in the front room. The kids were very excited about it and wanted to sleep in it so we dragged their mattresses down and set it all up (oh, and I fell down the stairs bringing them down, that was fun). Ben started out sleeping with them then decided he wanted to sleep in his own bed so guess who ended up on the couch, yep me!! They both woke up in the middle of the night and A ended up in bed with Ben while E stayed in the tent. Now we need to go on an excursion to get the rest of the required camping equipment and we'll be set!!

Sleeping in the new tent!

It even has a pet door (or toddler door in our case!!)

Peek-a-boo!!!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all of those great and wonderful mothers out there! Here are some of the great mothers in our lives... 

Grandma M



Great-Grandma M

Great-Grandma N



Grandma R

For Mother's Day I made my mom and Ben's mom a book (uh-hem, which neither one actually have yet) and I had a ton of fun doing it!! Here's a link so you can see what it looks like:

Mother's Day book



Thanks to all those moms who have helped me throughout the various stages of my life, I really wouldn't be here without you!!