The new and improved living room!!

I love rearranging and organizing! On Monday we got a new couch, well not actually new, but new for us, which meant I could move the old ratty couch down to the basement. Tonight I got to rearrange the living room!! I am really happy with how it looks! It is much more organized and looks more spacious. If I had been thinking I would have taken pics of what it looked like before, but I wasn't, so no before pics. I do however have after pictures! Enjoy :)

Flu Shot?

At Hannah's two year old check up, her pediatrician suggested that in late October to early November, she should get a flu shot. I am in the process of looking it up myself, but I am curious what others think! So what do you think? Is the flu shot a good thing for toddlers, or is it not really necessary? Thanks for your input!

My little Homey

Hannah trying to look tough....:)

Who is she kidding...she's much to cute to try and look tough :)

31 Things

I saw this on Brittany, Kate, and Susie's blogs yesterday, and thought it would be fun to join in!

1. Where is your cell phone? on top of the microwave in the kitchen
2. Where is your significant other? at work
3. Your hair color? brown
4. Your mother? Brenda
5. Your father? Steve
6. Your favorite thing? Nick and Hannah
7. Your dream last night? Ummmm?????
8. Your dream/goal? to be a good, wife, mother, friend, daughter, sister and christian
9. The room you're in? the office
10. Your hobby? baking, sewing, scrapbooking
11. Your fear? losing someone I love
12. Where do you want to be in six years? Have 3-5 more kids, living in the country in an old farm house that Nick and I are slowly fixing up
13. Where were you last night? Small group
14. What you’re not? ummm...clean...I haven't showered yet :)
15. One of your wish list items? carpet for the basement, a new camera
16. Where you grew up? OH
17. The last thing you did? took a batch of chocolate chip oatmeal cookies out of the oven
18. What are you wearing? sweats and a tee shirt
19. Your TV? is in the living room
20. Your pet? maggie, our mildly insane dog
21. Your computer? Dell
22. Your mood? happy-mildly stressed-very blessed
23. Missing someone? Steph, Lance, Steve and Kirsten
24. Your car? Chrysler Town and Country minivan
25. Something you’re not wearing? my contacts
26. Favorite store? For Hannah-Gymboree when it is at least 60% off, and for me and Nick-LL Bean
27. Your summer? wonderful!!
28. Love someone? My daughter, my hubby, my family, my Jesus
29. Your favorite color? RED!!
30. When is the last time you laughed? this morning at my goofy child
31. Last time you cried? not sure...I hate crying and avoid it at all costs!!

I invite everyone to join in, so I can learn some interesting and random facts about all of you!

It's a......

If you want to find out if my sister is having a boy or a girl, you will have to head over to her blog and check it out!!

The Zoo

Friday Nick took the day off work and went to the zoo. This was something we had been wanting to do for quite awhile, but just kept putting off. Well, I am so glad that we finally went!! It was so much fun. Hannah loved the "aminals" and it was really really nice to spend time together as a family. Nick has been putting in a ridiculous amount of overtime at work, because of a big project he is working on, so Hannah and I loved having him to ourselves for the entire day. Here are some pictures of our favorite animals :)

Hannah in the car before we went in to the zoo. We packed out lunch and ate in the car. She had just eaten a brownie and had brownie all over her teeth :)


Hannah loved the elephants!! I would say they were in her top three favorites :)

The Alaskan moose was really cool. On the sign it said they eat up to 40lbs of grass, trees and other foliage every day. That is a serious appetite!!!
Hannah petting the goats in the petting zoo. She LOVED this! All the animals were really tame and friendly :)

Hannah and daddy checking out the flamingos.
Nick and Hannah in the aquarium. She also LOVED this!!
The gorilla!! Hannah's favorite part of the day was by far the monkeys. And of course, while we were watching them, one of them pooped in its own hand and then ate it. She of course thought that was quite funny. And now when you ask her about the zoo, the first thing she says is, "the monkeys eating they poopies!" And then she laughs and giggles :)
The snakes and reptiles were Nicks favorites...YUCK!!
At the restaurant after we were done. Hannah was not having it to take a family picture. I guess that is what happens when your two year old doesn't have a nap and has been walking around the zoo for four hours!!
Luckily her daddy was able to entertain her with some coloring and crayons. :) We had a wonderful day, and I would definitely go back again!!

Pumpkin Patch

Mom, Hannah and I went to the local pumpkin patch this week. It was so much fun!! We checked out the pumpkins, ate lunch and fed the animals. Hannah really liked the goats and the bunnies:) I love fall...it is my favorite time of year!

First prayer

I don't think I have mentioned this before on here but Hannah is terrified of loud noises. Tractors in particular terrify her. At night time before bed we pray that Jesus will keep us safe and we always throw in there that Jesus will protect us and won't let any tractors get us. This may seem kind of silly, but to her two year old mind it is really really scary. Anyhow after her nap, Hannah was sitting on my lap and said, "Mommy I prayer." I said, "Ok honey." Then she folded her hand and said, "Jesus, no tractor get you. Amen" She has never initiated a prayer on her own before, and this took me a little bit by suprise, and completely melted my heart. And yes, I teared up a little bit. My deepest desire is for Hannah and any other kids we may have someday to know Jesus, personally and intimately. I pray this is the beginning of that relationship! :)

WWWAT




"Capturing the Light" is today's theme. This was a tough on for me. I had the idea to take a picture of the moon this morning, because it is just one day past the full moon, but then it was really cloudy, so that idea got nixed. Instead I took pictures of Hannah's night light. We just started using it on Sunday night, and so far it has been a life-saver!! She has slept throught the night, in her own bed none the less, for the past three nights!! So hopefully in these pictures I have "captured" my LOVE of this "light." :)

(I really do love this light!! Not only is it cute...it lets me sleep :))

For more WWWAT fun head over to AMERICAN MUM and check out everyone elses brilliance and creativity :)

Here are the pictures from our weekend in Pittsburgh. I will warn from the start there are a lot. :) I really did narrow it down a lot, but also still ended up with a lot. We had a wonderful time hanging out and enjoying family!!
Ok I know this is a kind of silly picture, but this bottle of water was in our room and I had to take a picture of it. $4.50 for a bottle of water?! You have got to be freaking kidding me!!!!! NO THANK YOU!!

Feeding the goldfish at the hotel. Hannah loved the fish and she kept calling them all Dorothy (Elmo's goldfish). A really nice employee at the hotel gave her some food to feed the fish and she thought that was pretty much the coolest thing ever :)


Me and Hannah at dinner at Outback. She didn't want to look at the camera...oh well :)
Me, my sister Steph (the pregnant one) and her husband Lance.
My dad, my mom, and my little sister Krissy. Doesn't she have the most amazing hair?! She has natural curl and reddish blonde hair...yep, I am kind of jealous :)

Lots of swimming pictures...Hannah loves swimming!!



Perhaps my favorite picture from the weekend...my parents jumping in the pool!! They did this because Hannah asked them too! What cool and fun grandparents!!

Pittsburgh Bound!

We are off to Pittsburgh for the weekend to spend time with the family! I told Hannah about how we would be staying in a hotel and that there would be a swimming pool. So she insisted on wearing her suit in the tub this morning :) Have a great weekend everyone!

Strawberry Muffins

A couple of weeks ago I was reading Andrea's blog and she was telling about how once a week she brings in baked goods for the teachers at her daughters school. I thought that was a really great idea, so I decided to make it my goal to bring something for the nurses on the floor that I have students on once a week. We are there on Thursdays and Fridays, so I made it my goal to bring something every Thursday. This week I made strawberry muffins. I this recipe from the lady who did the cooking at the bed and breakfast that Nick and I stayed at on our honeymoon. I like it because the strawberries are something different from your typical blueberries or other fruits you put in muffins. Here is the recipe if you would like to try it. :)

Fresh Strawberry Muffins
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1.2 tsp salt
1 cup freshly sliced strawberries (you can use frozen you just have to thaw and drain them really well)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Beat eggs slowly and add sugar slowly. Add the melted butter, sour cream and vanilla and beat until smooth. Gradually add the dry ingredients, then fold in the strawberries. Bake for 20 min, or until golden on top.



I had Hannah taste test them, and I think she approved :)

My Mom's birthday!

Yesterday was my dearest darlingest mothers birthday! I won't tell her age, because I am not sure she would appreciate that :) My mom is my very best friend, and I was so excited to collaborate with my youngest sister and cook a meal for her. We made homemade french bread, spinach salad with chicken and berries, banana fudge cake, and of course we had ice cream. Mom didn't want candles on her cake, or us to sing her "Happy Birthday" so of course we disobeyed and put lots of candles on and sang a lovely, if slightly off key, version of "Happy Birthday!" I love you mom, and I hope you had a fun day!!

SMILE!!

I asked Hannah to smile for me, and this is what I got...goofy kid!!

The Weekend

We had an absolutely amazing weekend!! (Its kind of pathetic that I am just getting to writing about it on Wednesday evening, but it was amazing none the less. :))

My brother and his wife, who live about 8 hours away, were up for the weekend. We hadn't seen them since June, so it was really nice getting to spend time talking and catching up with them. And Hannah loved getting to play with her unky and Kiki.

Since they were up, on Sunday we had a big get together with my mom's side of the family. We went to my aunt and uncles cabin, and there was a lot of eating, game playing and just all over fun involved. This is the view from their cabin...

Isn't that just amazing?!

We played lots of corn hole and outdoor golf. I am not and have never been any good at games that require aim, or hand eye coordination, so I kind of stunk it up, but I had a good time laughing at myself :)

Here is one of my favorite pictures from the cabin: Hannah had Koolaid for the first time and she was loving it. :) I'm not big on sugar but I figured once wouldn't hurt :)