The Anderson Family

New photos...finally!

2011-11-10T20:03:00.000-08:00

Here is a quick snapshot of what we've been up to since summer. Enjoy the pics!

Boyd Lodge
a

Lake City & Mall of America

Enjoying the end of summer

Austin's 5th Birthday

Chuck E. Cheese

First Day of School
Abby - 2nd Grade

Austin - AK

Forrest Gump ;)

Austin's new love

Abigail Kay and her best friend (also named Abigail Kay!) at the Homecoming game

Field Trips to Honey Creek Acres

Hawkeye Tailgating!!

Halloween

Backyard Bible Club

2011-07-29T17:21:00.000-07:00

We had a great Backyard Bible Club again this year! Thanks to all our friends and neighbors for coming and making Backyard Bible Club a blast! And a special thanks to everyone who helped out during the week to make learning about God so much fun for the kids! Here are some great photos from the week. Be sure to go to "older posts" when you get to the bottom of the site to see the photos of the preschoolers! Enjoy.

GROUP #7

2011-07-28T20:10:00.001-07:00

GROUP #6

2011-07-28T19:46:00.000-07:00

Group #5

2011-07-28T06:24:00.001-07:00

GROUP #4

2011-07-27T19:36:00.001-07:00

GROUP #3

2011-07-27T18:46:00.000-07:00

GROUP #2

2011-07-27T12:21:00.000-07:00

GROUP #1

2011-07-27T11:23:00.000-07:00

And our helpers even had fun eating popsicles ;)

Preschool Graduation

2011-05-28T14:16:00.001-07:00

We celebrated Austin's preschool graduation last week. They celebrated with a ceremony, picnic and bike day. He was so proud that he was the only one in his class who could ride a two-wheeler. Way to go, Austin:)

Miss Melissa and Miss Sheila

Austin's first crush:)

Raptor Center

2011-05-28T14:01:00.000-07:00

The boys had a great time at the Raptor Center seeing all the birds and playing "sharks and minnows" in the open field after lunch.

Field Trips

2011-05-12T10:00:00.000-07:00

I was able to go with Abby on a field trip to Usher's Ferry Historic Village in Cedar Rapids. The kids had fun learning about what life was like in the early 1900's. They visited a general store, a one-room school house and learned some games that kids their age would have played. We had a great time despite the rainy day.

Then I went with Austin to the Indian Creek Nature Center. The kids had fun learning about frogs - the different sounds they make, how they grow from tadpoles to frogs, etc... They even got to see tiny tadpoles swimming in a pond!

Don't fall in! Unfortunately one of the little boys fell right into the pond...cold and yucky! Luckily one of the other mothers had extra clothes that he could change into.

Easter

2011-05-12T09:12:00.000-07:00

We had a great Easter weekend celebrating Christ's resurrection! Matthew 28:5-7 "The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

Austin & Abby with their cousin, Anna, on Easter.

Connor - happy to be outside!

Enjoying his Easter basket.

Abby - pretty in pink :)

Abby showing off the new shoes she picked out herself!

Austin - now able to ride without training wheels!

Easter egg hunt with Grandma Jan and Grandpa Bruce.

Hanging out with Aunt Jenni before church on Easter morning.

The kids with Easter baskets from Grandma Jackie & Gocko.

Colorful Easter eggs!

400 Easter eggs

2011-05-02T17:23:00.001-07:00

Our Faith Family had fun this year stuffing 400 Easter eggs with candy and an invitation to our Easter services, and then passing them out at Coral Ridge mall and the ped mall in Iowa City.

New Artwork

2011-04-03T19:10:00.001-07:00

I am so excited about my new artwork and wanted to tell you all about it. A sweet friend in our Faith Family is starting a business called Fencerow Designs and makes awesome custom signs for your house. She's just getting started but is a very talented artist and is willing to try new and original designs. The one below is a one-of-a-kind Tara Bleeker original! We LOVE it!! And as you can see, my husband did have some input into the word choices:)

I also wanted to share my newest "artwork" for Abby's room. This is a name banner that I made from scrapbooking paper - thanks to Deb Pitcher and Etsy for the idea! I was really excited and thought it turned out pretty cute on the first try!

I also made these frames to match her new bedspread and thought they turned out pretty cute, too! The coral color in her new comforter was hard to match for decorations so I decided to make my own!

Stink-Pot-Pete

2011-03-02T19:23:00.000-08:00

That's my nickname for Connor. At 15 months I'm already afraid he's going to be my naughty child. I caught him in the bathroom today with wet toilet paper on the floor, toilet paper in the toilet (half flushed down), a wet toilet brush and an empty roll of toilet paper still on the holder. That's the last time I'll leave the bathroom door open! Looking back over pictures I've realized they've mostly been of him being a stink-pot-pete...but always cute:)

Eating pears from the container he pulled off the table. Luckily most of the sticky pear juice went on the chair and not the floor.

Connor crying because he wanted one of the cupcakes we made for Abby's birthday. Too bad they were all going to school.

Connor eating the oatmeal that he had pulled off the table onto the chair. You would think I would have learned after the pears!

Very proud of himself after getting on the train table.

One of his favorite things to do is climb from the couch onto the end table and back. When his ear infection was really bad it was one of the only things that made him happy. And sometimes moms get desperate! Look at how happy he was!

Birthday Bliss

2011-03-02T19:09:00.000-08:00

Between McDonald's for breakfast, McDonald's for lunch, Chuck E. Cheese with friends, Build-a-Bear with Grandpa and Grandma, and a fun family party... Abby had "the best birthday ever!" What a sweet little 7-year old girl.

Maroma Beach - Mexico

2011-02-01T05:07:00.001-08:00

Matthew and I just got back from a great vacation to a Secrets Resort on Maroma Beach just south of Cancun. We had a great time relaxing by the pool, walking on the beach, eating great food (but not having to cook or clean up!), playing tennis and ping pong and just enjoying time together. Here are some pics from our trip. The weather was beautiful the last two days so it was good to get some time in the sun before we came back to the snow! We also met a nice couple that grew up in Fort Dodge that now live in Denver, CO. We spent some time with them and the guys played chess on the cloudy afternoons. Overall a great trip!!

The view from my chair by the pool.

The sand was perfect!

The pool in the morning before everyone was up.

Eating at Portofino - a great Italian restaurant.

Ask Matthew about the pelican:)

The resort.

Our room.

Saying goodbye to Jeff and Andrea.

Connor in the Snow

2011-02-01T04:56:00.000-08:00

Fun in the Snow

2011-02-01T04:46:00.000-08:00

Christmas in Pictures...

2011-01-18T19:37:00.000-08:00

Abby's Christmas party with her school friends

Decorating Christmas cookies with Aunt Jenni and Liz

Faith Family Christmas Party - ornament war

Happy 1st Birthday, Connor!

2010-11-23T18:38:00.001-08:00

Walking!

2010-11-15T10:49:00.001-08:00

I can't believe my baby is walking! What a cutie he is in his new little shoes:)

Halloween

2010-11-15T08:40:00.000-08:00

The kids had a great time trick-or-treating again this year! They made it all around our neighborhood in record time and filled their buckets:)

Bloomsbury Farms

2010-10-19T05:14:00.001-07:00

We were finally able to take a trip to Bloomsbury Farms this year - something I've been wanting to do for years! There was so much to do and the kids had a lot of fun!

*On a funny side-note, the kids were pretending school in the basement the other day while I was running on the treadmill. The kids came out in the main room and said they were on a field trip to a Pumpkin Patch. Then Abby exclaimed, "Mommy, you can be the racing pigs!"

Connor

2010-10-09T20:28:00.000-07:00

Connor is getting so big and is such a sweet little baby. He's definitely our most "active" baby at this age but is just so much fun right now!! Here a few pictures of our little Connor J, also known as "Baby J" or "J.J."

Hawkeye Football 2010

2010-09-26T19:27:00.000-07:00

Hawkeye Tailgating has been fun again this year - although we definitely miss a few of our "regulars" from last year! Here are a few pictures from the first couple games. We'll be out there again this weekend if anyone wants to join us!! The kids have a blast running around, playing with the football and tackling each other, climbing trees and playing with the bean bag toss. And don't forget all the food!!

First Day of School

2010-09-01T09:02:00.000-07:00

Austin's First Day of Preschool

Abby's First Day of 1st Grade

Austin's Birthday

2010-09-01T08:09:00.000-07:00

Austin had a great 4th birthday with a trip to Chuck E. Cheese and friends over for the slip-n-slide and water balloons. It's always so exciting to have a birthday!

Summer Wind-Up

2010-08-20T17:49:00.001-07:00

We took our annual trip to Lake City, MN with my family at the beginning of August. The kids had fun fishing off the dock (and actually catching some big fish!), swimming, playing at the beach, shopping and taking a trip to Lark Toys.

Right after Backyard Bible Club we took a trip to Adventureland with Matthew's family. This year we stayed overnight at Adventureland Inn. We rode lots of rides in the morning and then took an afternoon break to cool off in the hotel pool before we headed back to Adventureland for the evening.

Backyard Bible Club 2010

2010-08-11T17:16:00.000-07:00

At the end of July we hosted a Backyard Bible Club at our house. It technically should have been called a "Front Yard Bible Club" because we spent most of the time in our shaded front yard. The kids had a blast with friends, neighbors and lots of new faces. We had over 60 kids in our yard during the week! They had fun with music, crafts, games and a Bible lesson. Enjoy the pictures and short video of the week!

Backyard Bible Club 2010

2010-08-09T19:25:00.000-07:00

8-months old!

2010-07-23T14:22:00.000-07:00

My baby is 8 months old and on the move! He's crawling all over the house and pulling up on anything he can find. As I'm typing he just crawled over and pulled up on my chair and is now fussing for me to pick him up. I guess the rest of this post will be done with one hand:)

This was Connor's adventure for today... I walked down the steps after putting in a load of laundry to find him standing by the steps. I grabbed my camera and watched.

It took a few tries to get both knees on the step, but he did it!

He was definitely proud of himself:)

Boyd Lodge

2010-07-23T11:48:00.000-07:00

We had another great week at Boyd Lodge this year! The weather was great (we went to the pool everyday!) and the kids had a blast. Here are some photos to sum up our week:

Our family by the Boyd Lodge sign

Austin swimming in his inner tube

Abby practicing her back float

Tie-dying t-shirts

Everybody at the pool - Connor fell asleep!

Austin playing outdoor games with Daddy & Grandpa Bruce

The whole gang out for ice-cream

Brothers in their matching swim trunks

Connor at the hot tub

A boat ride

Two peas in a pod:)

The three older cousins - Austin, Abby and Anna

The two younger cousins - Ava and Connor

Turtle Races!

Water guns!

Dress for Success

2010-07-11T19:11:00.000-07:00

This weekend the kids decided they wanted Daddy to teach them to play tennis (prompted by Grandpa Bruce) so they went out Friday night and bought new rackets and tennis balls. But before lessons Abby decided they needed to dress like tennis players. I thought she came up with pretty cute outfits! She even borrowed a couple of Daddy's visors! She must have really paid attention when she watched tennis with Grandpa Bruce on vacation.

A couple weeks ago they decided they were going "fishing" and this is what she came up with for outfits. She always wants to "dress for success"!

Fourth of July Photos

2010-07-11T19:02:00.000-07:00

Look who's crawling!

2010-07-05T08:16:00.000-07:00

Connor is 7 months old now and spent all vacation trying to figure out how to go forward on his hands and knees. We got back from vacation Saturday night and he finally got it! This morning he crawled all the way from the living room into the kitchen! He's on the move - better start baby-proofing the house!

Father's Day

2010-07-05T06:11:00.000-07:00

Father's Day morning - getting the paper with Daddy.

A picnic, a muddy hike and the tower...

Niabi Zoo

2010-07-05T05:24:00.000-07:00

My mom spent a few days with us right after school was out while my dad was on a fishing trip. One day we went to the Niabi Zoo. The kids had a blast!!

Last Days of School

2010-07-04T18:43:00.000-07:00

Here are some fun photos of Abby's last few days of school. Her class took a trip to the Children's Museum for a field trip and had a fun "Kindergarten Celebration" that I helped with. Abby was so excited that she got the 1st grade teacher she wanted and her best friend in her class! 1st grade here she comes!

The After-School Gang

2010-04-27T15:12:00.001-07:00

Brothers

2010-04-27T13:23:00.001-07:00

Updates

2010-04-27T11:42:00.001-07:00

Abby - Abby just lost her 3rd tooth and definitely looks like a school-aged kid! On Saturday she was lucky enough to go to the American Girl Fashion Show (a fundraiser for the Iowa Children's Museum) with Mommy and Grandma Jackie. She also saved enough money (some from the tooth fairy) to buy a new Zhu Zhu pet. It was a great day for her!!

Austin - Austin is currently obsessed with the alphabet. He watches the Letter Factory movie everyday in the car (yes we have a new van with a DVD player!!) plays alphabet games on the computer (http://www.starfall.com/) and loves writing his letters while he sings the Letter Factory song.

Connor - Connor turned 5 months old last week is so much fun. He is rolling now and I often leave the room and come back to find him on the other side - laying on the wipes container underneath the exersaucer! His first tooth popped through yesterday and I can see tooth #2 coming soon. He still only takes 20-30 minute naps during the day, but I still have hope that he will eventually be a good napper. He is definitely spoiled and likes to be bounced to sleep:)

First tooth!

5-months old

Iowa Spring Game

Rolling across the room.

Playing on the playmat.

Easter

2010-04-27T11:30:00.000-07:00

Easter Egg Hunt in Cedar Rapids with cousin Anna.

The Easter Bunny!

All the cousins for Callum's 1st Birthday!

Abby, Austin & Connor

Baby Connor

St. Patrick's Day

2010-03-18T21:41:00.000-07:00

The kids had a lot of fun celebrating St. Patrick's Day this year. We started the day with getting dressed up in green - the girls even had green hair this year!! Then we went to McDonald's with Aunt Jenni...

and met Grandma Jackie & Gocko at the parade in Cedar Rapids.

We even found Anna in the crowd!

Connor did not enjoy the parade. Between the bright sun and the yucky bottle he did not have much fun. Mommy and Connor spent most of the time back at Daddy's office.

Then we ended the night with a traditional Irish feast at Aunt Monie and Flora's house and a short Irish sing-along with Aunt Bicky. Pictures to come...

Capri

2010-03-18T21:22:00.001-07:00

For Abby's birthday, Aunt Melissa took her and Anna to Capri College for a fun makeover! Abby and Anna both got their hair fixed, nails painted and make-up on. The girls had a blast and looked so adorable when they were done!!

Starting the day with a cute little up-do!

Time for nails - pinkalicious for Abby and purplicious for Anna!

Getting ready for the finishing touches...

Thanks for a great day Aunt Melissa!!!

Hawkeye Firsts...

2010-03-18T20:40:00.000-07:00

Connor's first Hawkeye basketball game!

The first time Abby & Austin were not afraid of Herky!!

Thanks Grandma Jan & Grandpa Bruce!!

Abby's 6th Birthday

2010-03-18T20:22:00.000-07:00

Abby was soooo excited about her birthday this year and getting sick the night before her party was so disappointing for her. Fortunately we rescheduled her party for the next Saturday and were able to celebrate with friends and family! She had 5 friends over for a Tinkerbell party in the morning and then had our family over for a pizza party that same night. What a day!!

Abby looking all grown up:)

Abby wanted to invite a few friends from school, church and our neighborhood so we had quite a fun mix of girls. Most of them are about as shy as Abby so it didn't get too rowdy:)

This is Abby blowing out her candles (wearing her new pajamas) with Austin and cousin Anna.

One fun present she got for her birthday was a new bike! Now she's been begging Daddy to teach her how to ride without training wheels!

Happy Birthday sweet girl!

Just some updates and photos...

2010-02-22T06:03:00.000-08:00

Connor at 1 month

Connor at 2 months

Connor at 3 months

My little Connor has become quite the sweet little baby. I will admit that the first 6-8 weeks weren't easy for Mommy. But now we've hit a few milestones that have made life much more enjoyable:) Connor is now going to bed at 8:00 and sleeping between 8-10 hours, smiling on cue, and enjoying Baby Einstein videos so I can shower!! He's definitely getting chubby and has started to laugh when I blow raspberries on his belly. He still only takes 30 minute naps during the day, but hopefully in the next couple months we'll move to more of a normal nap schedule.

Austin is becoming a pretty good big brother and likes to make Connor smile.

Abby was supposed to have her 6th birthday party on Saturday. Unfortunately she was sick Friday night so we had to cancel. If you have a 5-year old girl I'm sure you can imagine the tears. To make her feel better we let her open a few presents early. She's feeling much better now and back to school today, and we rescheduled her party for next weekend.

Remembering Grandma Anderson

2010-01-19T12:36:00.000-08:00

Matthew's Grandma Anderson passed away last Monday at the age of 94. We celebrated her life over the weekend in Waterloo at the visitation and funeral. Grandma Anderson was such a great woman of faith and has passed that faith down to her children and grandchildren. It's not too often that Proverbs 31 can be read at a funeral and have it truly describe someone. Grandma always had a smile and hug when we would go to visit and LOVED the little grandchildren. We will miss her so much. "Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all." Proverbs 31:28-29.

Look Who's Smiling!

2010-01-12T12:04:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2009

2009-12-28T08:24:00.000-08:00

Arranged Marriage?!?!

2009-12-13T11:11:00.000-08:00

So I've tried over and over to get this picture to post the right way and it's just not working. So here's a sideways picture of Kendall Pitcher and Connor. Aren't they cute together;) Kendall is just one month older than Connor.

Connor at 3 weeks

2009-12-13T10:59:00.000-08:00

Snow Day!!

2009-12-11T15:50:00.001-08:00

New pics of Baby Connor

2009-11-24T15:42:00.001-08:00

We are home and doing well. I'm getting some sleep and Connor seems to be a good baby:) Abby loves him and wants to hold him A LOT. She also wants me to play babies with her and use Connor as my doll. Matthew is off Thursday through Sunday so we're looking forward to that time as a family!! I forget how much you can fall in love with someone after only 4 days -- what a blessing he is to our family.

It's a Boy!!!

2009-11-21T09:44:00.000-08:00

Connor Joshua Anderson

November 20, 2009

8 lbs. 15 oz.

21 inches

Fall Fun

2009-11-03T07:58:00.000-08:00

Daddy & Austin at Honey Creek Acres in Swisher

Abby & her friend Emily at the pumpkin patch.

Hula-Girl by day...

Fairy by night.

But always protected by the "fierce" dragon :)

We did it!!

2009-09-29T13:19:00.001-07:00

Austin is officially potty-trained! And to celebrate he got a Sir Topham Hatt toy that he's been drooling over every time we go to Target. Last week when he went poo poo on the potty he announced, "now I get a Sir Topham Hatt toy!!" It was great motivation! Congrats to my big boy! Now we will have no kids in diapers for a whopping 2 months:)

Hawkeye Football Season is Here!!

2009-09-18T09:21:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from the last few weekends. We love fall and Hawkeye football!!

Adventureland

2009-09-18T08:54:00.000-07:00

The weekend after school started, Grandma Jan & Grandpa Bruce took us to Adventureland! Chad, Melissa, Anna & Ava came along for the day, too. It was a gorgeous day and the kids had a blast riding on all the rides together. We left at 8:00 a.m. and didn't get home until 8:00 p.m. so it was a full day! Because I was pregnant I didn't ride many rides, which actually made for a very relaxing day thanks to help from everybody else!

Waiting in line for the carousel

Austin, Abby & Anna on the Ladybugs

The men decided it would be fun to take the kids on the Raging River. The kids loved it....until Abby realized that she was soaking wet and was going to be wet all day. Then it wasn't quite as much fun. A few tears convinced Grandpa that she needed a new Adventureland t-shirt and we borrowed a pair of Anna's shorts so she didn't have to be wet all day.

Abby & Anna on the teacups.

Sharing ice-cream treats

Thanks for a fun day Grandpa & Grandma!

First Day of School

2009-08-20T12:15:00.001-07:00

Abby is at her first day of Kindergarten today. Praise God for answered prayers - she didn't cry about going AND her teacher is a Christian! She is the pastor's wife at the church where Abby went to preschool. My sweet little girl is growing up and getting so brave:)

Austin's 3rd Birthday

2009-08-16T05:23:00.000-07:00

My baby is now 3 years old. We had a birthday party for him on Friday with some of his friends. It was interesting (and much more quiet) to just have the 3-year olds around without their older brothers and sisters.

First the kids swam out in the backyard and ran through the sprinkler. They were so cute taking turns sliding down the slide, and then decided to splash!

Then they ate pizza for lunch, opened presents and had birthday cupcakes.

Austin, Cameron, Ashlyn, Ellie, Alex and Abby

Austin had the sweetest little grin on his face when we sang Happy Birthday:) He is still my sweet little cuddler and I'm wondering how many more years he'll ask me to snuggle:) I'm enjoying it for now. Now that he's 3 it's time for potty-training and slowly getting rid of the blankie. It just stinks to get older sometimes:)

Blowing out candles...

Lake City, MN

2009-08-13T05:50:00.000-07:00

The kids and I took a little trip to MN with my parents last week and had a great time. We went fishing, boating, swimming, to the Mall of America and celebrated my mom's birthday and Austin's birthday. Austin was sick for one day of the trip but bounced right back so we could have more fun!

FISHING

SWIMMING

MALL OF AMERICA - NICKELODEON PARK

AMERICAN GIRL STORE

2009-08-13T05:41:00.000-07:00

Even the winds and the waves obey Him!

This is a picture of the cloud over our house on Sunday night. I've never seen anything like this! It looks like a wave is crashing down.

Bedtime

2009-08-04T06:02:00.001-07:00

So our naughtly little 2-year old refuses to fall asleep in his bed! After we tuck him into bed at night he usually picks up his pillow and walks to the hallway where he falls asleep. After having a dream about bugs and a giant talking pig (yes - I said a giant talking pig) he just won't stay in his bed to fall asleep at night. We decided that as long as he isn't disturbing anyone we don't really care if he falls asleep in the hallway. But one night Matthew was working on the computer in the office and looked up to find Austin asleep under the train table!!! What a stinker:)

VBS

2009-08-04T05:45:00.001-07:00

The kids had a great week at Vacation Bible School at our church. The theme was "Rome - Paul and the underground church." I think their favorite part of the week was visiting Paul in a "cave" who was chained to a Roman guard named Brutus. At the beginning of the week Brutus was mean, but after hearing the gospel from Paul all week he became a follower of Christ by Friday. A fun way to share God's love with the kids.

Abby's family

Making scrolls in the marketplace.

Hearing a skit in the marketplace.

I was a family leader all week and this was my family. Talk about exhausted by Friday!!

Abby and Brooke are singing and dancing.

Austin even got in on the action a few nights.

Weekend in Illinois

2009-08-04T05:35:00.000-07:00

Earlier in July we took a weekend trip to Illinois to visit my Grandma for her 75th birthday. On Saturday we had a surprise party for her at my aunt's house. It was fun getting to see family and friends we haven't seen for awhile and the kids had a blast swimming in their pool. On Sunday Uncle John and cousin Drew came out to Grandma's farm to take the kids on the 4-wheelers. They loved it!! And we even got to watch Drew do a couple "big-kid" tricks over the dirt pile. Thanks for the fun weekend!

A Boy!!

2009-07-13T13:38:00.000-07:00

We had an ultrasound last Tuesday and we found out we're having a boy! Abby was a little disappointed that she wasn't going to have a baby sister, but was over it quickly and wrapping her baby doll in a blue blanket that night. And other than the fact that I don't get to use the girl's name we picked out, have the girl's quilt I liked AND I'll have another daughter-in-law instead of a daughter, I'm happy we're having a boy:) He looked pretty sweet on the ultrasound. This is a picture of our baby boy with his arms above his head - probably warning me that he's going to be "so big"! You can also see the umbilical cord wrapped up around his arm.

For those of you that don't see me often, here I am last

Tuesday at 20 weeks.

The other good news from the ultrasound is that they changed my due date to November 24th instead of November 29th. Woohoo!! That was the easiest 5 days of pregnancy ever!!! We are also taking name ideas. We really can't decide/agree on anything. I would appreciate any ideas you might have. Thanks!!!

Niabi Zoo

2009-06-30T14:20:00.000-07:00

We took a trip to the Niabi Zoo today with Aunt Melissa, Anna, Ava & Grandma Jan. The kids had a great time exploring and looking at all of the animals. One highlight of the trip was feeding nectar to the birds. At one point I had two birds on my hand fighting over the nectar!

The kids also really liked the monkeys. They were cracking up at them playing together and jumping around. We ended the trip by going to McDonalds - always a favorite!!

Anna & Melissa

Boyd Lodge

2009-06-30T13:22:00.000-07:00

We had such a fun time at Boyd Lodge in MN this year. Matthew has been going there since he was about 5 year old and now it's become one of our family traditions, too! This year was special because we made some new friends that we will hopefully get to see at Boyd Lodge year after year! Here are some fun memories from our trip:

Swimming at the pool

Father's Day

The "hot pool"

Crafts & Games:

Face Painting with Cassy

BINGO with Ashling

Tie-dying t-shirts with Grandma Jan

Ice-cream EVERY night!

Pool races with Haley

Tipping the canoe while trying to catch a turtle

Turtle Races

"Sparkle" winning the slowest turtle award

Abby swimming across the pool!

Lunch and a boat ride with Ashling & Cassy

A boat ride with Grandpa Bruce

Playing baseball in the yard

Kool-Aid Stand

2009-06-15T08:39:00.000-07:00

One afternoon Abby decided she wanted to have a lemonade stand. Since we didn't have lemonade we opted for Kool-Aid and cookies. Our neighbors Sarah & Drew came over to help. It was pretty cute how excited they were when a customer came. It reminded me of the Cars movie when they yell "customers, customers, we've got customers!" Since we live on the main road in our development, they actually did have quite a few customers. Next time I'll be better prepared with lemonade and more cups!

A customer!!

Why we LOVE summer...

2009-06-06T09:19:00.001-07:00

Getting to play with our neighbor friends...

Abby & Sarah

Going on rides at City Park...

Feeding the ducks with our friends...

Beautiful sunsets in our own backyard...

Eating popsicles with Jaclyn & Ashlyn...

Going to Old McDonald's Farm in Cedar Rapids with Anna...

Watching the ducks at Old McDonald's Farm...

And it's only the first week in June!!

Empty

2009-05-27T13:22:00.000-07:00

This is the reason I will AGAIN gain 40+ pounds while I'm pregnant. It's just too good!

Renaissance Festival

2009-05-26T05:03:00.001-07:00

Sunday after church, Aunt Jenni took us to the Renaissance Festival in Middle Amana. The kids had fun getting spoiled with face painting and lots of fun gifts from Aunt Jenni. I had fun eating a turkey leg & potatoes and watching all of the people in their "interesting" costumes!

Preschool Graduation & Bike Day

2009-05-26T04:48:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Abigail's preschool graduation last Friday. We watched the kids sing songs and receive their diplomas. Then we had a reception with cookies afterward and bike day! They all looked so cute in their graduation hats:)

Abby with her teachers - Miss Tracy & Miss Lori. On Abby's "report card" the teachers wrote, "Abby is a very caring little girl. She is a good friend to everyone and is always happy. She did a great job in preschool and worked very hard at the centers. Keep up the good work." Those words made my day:)

Grandma Jan took a couple hours off work to help us celebrate, too. It was so special for Abby to have Grandma come for her big day.

Abby's preschool class.

Bike Day!!

Austin having fun on bike day.

Another Day at the Park

2009-05-19T16:02:00.000-07:00

Melanie took these cute pictures of the girls (and Austin) on the tire swing. They had a blast at the park when we went for our last day of MOPS. It's so fun to be outside now that the weather is getting warmer!

Hannah, Paige, Abby, Aubrey & Ashlyn

Somehow I got stuck pushing the tire swing for what seemed like hours!

Jaclyn, Aubrey, Paige, Jenna, Abby & Austin

Exciting News!

2009-05-14T19:26:00.000-07:00

If you haven't already heard, Matthew and I are expecting baby #3 on November 29th. I had my 12-week appointment today and heard the little heartbeat going strong at 173 bpm. The ultrasound picture is from my 7-week ultrasound. It's just amazing how perfect they are at only 7 weeks:) Praise God for sweet little babies!

Our New Goalsetter

2009-05-12T12:46:00.000-07:00

The big slab of concrete in the middle of our backyard finally has a purpose! Scheels came and installed our new basketball hoop and Matthew is VERY excited! Feel free to come over anytime for a dunk contest -- the rim even lowers to 6 feet for those of us that are vertically challenged:)

Ava Clare

2009-05-05T06:22:00.001-07:00

Matthew's sister and brother-in-law (Chad & Melissa) had a baby girl yesterday! Ava Clare was born Monday, May 4th and weighed 7 lbs. 8 oz. We got to visit her last night and she is a very sweet little baby! She was so alert and had her eyes open almost the entire time we visited. Abby loved holding her new little cousin and is excited there are more girls in the family!

This is Austin and Ava's big sister, Anna, playing in our playhouse while Chad & Melissa were in the hospital. We're so excited to watch little Ava grow up!

Swisher Park

2009-04-25T16:43:00.000-07:00

One of the newest places we like to play is the Swisher park. They have a great play area that the kids really like. Here are just a few cute pictures my dad took when they were visiting for the day. I think the kids were just excited to get outside!

The Rock & Worship Roadshow

2009-04-24T15:28:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we spent the day with Travis & Missy and Shawn & Leah from our Faith Family. We started off the day at The Colony Inn in the Amanas for a huge breakfast! Then the girls headed to the outlet mall for a little shopping. Then back to the Rumerys to catch our breath and off to the Irish Democrat for supper before heading to the concert.

At The Rock & Worship Roadshow we saw John Reuben, Hawk Nelson, Tenth Avenue North, Sanctus Real and Mercy Me. Matthew and I both really liked Tenth Avenue North and Mercy Me. What great music and a great message! I even saw Matthew clapping and playing air guitar during one of the Mercy Me songs:) Such a fun night with good friends...

Easter!

2009-04-24T14:17:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun celebrating Easter with our family this year. We spent all day Saturday with my family. First we decorated Easter eggs, then went to Lake McBride for a picnic lunch - complete with Kentucky Fried Chicken. The kids played on the slides and then we took a walk around the lake. It was a beautiful day!! We went to church that evening and were reminded why we celebrate Easter:

"He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed." Isaiah 53:5

Then we went to Dairy Queen with the Ehlers and the Fritts (our new neighbors) to finish out a fun day.

After helping in the nursery on Sunday we went to Matthew's parents' house for Easter dinner and an egg hunt. The kids had a great time hunting for Easter eggs, but I think their favorite part was spilling the candy all over Grandma's living room floor before they dug in!

All dressed up for Easter - Abby & her cousin, Anna.

Callum James Anderson

2009-04-07T12:23:00.001-07:00

We have a new "little" nephew!! Callum James was born to Jonathan & Amy Anderson (Matthew's brother) on Monday the 6th. He weighed 10 lbs. 10 oz. (Yes...I did say 10 lbs. 10 oz.!!) and was 22.5 inches long. Amy is my new hero after pushing out a 10 pounder! Congrats to Jonathan & Amy on their first little bundle of joy.

Buyer's Remorse? Never!!

2009-04-07T12:02:00.000-07:00

Matthew and I went to a fundraising dinner for the Iowa Donor Network on Saturday night. This 4 foot by 8 foot picture of Matt Roth & Chad Greenway tackling Iowa State players was on the live auction. I guess I don't need to say much more than it's now taking up a whole wall in our basement! We even get to have it signed by Chad Greenway at a golf outing in May. I guess if we're going to have a Hawkeye basement we might as well go all out. Go Hawks!

Garage Sale

2009-04-07T11:37:00.000-07:00

So I'll admit it.... I'm a total garage sale junkie! Last weekend I had my annual garage sale at Matthew's parents' house in Marion. It was an exhausting weekend but totally worth it. The sale officially opened at 4:00 in the afternoon on Friday, but people started showing up at 1:00. By 4:00 we had lines of people waiting to pay!! People get pretty excited about the first garage sales of the season. And in case you're wondering, I did recently get a butch haircut that I'm hoping grows very fast!

Emily Isaacson, Angie Reed and Melissa Buchholz (my sister-in-law) also brought stuff for the garage sale. It was a little chilly when the sun wasn't shining, but overall pretty good weather.

Here's Angie with her beloved conch shell. Although one woman came to our sale twice and was only willing to pay $8.00, I think it was totally worth $10.00!! If you see Angie soon, be sure to ask her about her conch shell;)

Here is our lovely garage all organized for the sale.

Trying to keep warm on Saturday morning - Melissa, Emily & I.

Swimming Lessons

2009-03-21T08:50:00.000-07:00

Abby had swimming lessons last week with Amy Gilbaugh - a college student from our church. I was amazed at how much she learned in just 5 days and how much she enjoys swimming! Way to go, Amy! Before the lessons she was very hesitant to go under the water. Now she can touch the bottom of the pool (with help) and is having a blast trying to swim underwater!

Austin also had fun swimming during Abby's lessons. The Millers were right before us and the Isaacsons were right after us, so the kids had fun swimming with their friends before and after Abby's lesson.

Austin and Cameron

These are some videos of Abby swimming and touching the bottom of the pool. If you have been to the pool with her in the past you'll be amazed, too!

St. Patrick's Day

2009-03-19T16:19:00.000-07:00

Because my dad's side of the family is Irish we celebrate St. Patrick's Day every year, and this year was no different. We had a fun-filled day starting with the Cedar Rapids parade and ending with an Irish sing-along.

Grandma Jackie, Gocko and Aunt Claudie came with us to the parade. We were a little late because of Abby's swimming lessons in Coralville so we were stuck sitting at the end of parade route. The good news was that we only missed a few floats. The bad news was that almost everyone was out of candy by the end. To make up for the lack of candy we went to McDonalds for a Shamrock shake (my favorite!) and headed over to my Aunt Monie's house for a traditional St. Patty's meal of corned beef and cabbage. The kids of course had "corned dogs" instead.

The Sweet girls - Me, Grandma Jackie, Abby & Aunt Jenni

My dad and I wearing our green.

To end the night my Aunt Bicky played some Irish tunes for a sing-along. Austin finally joined in the sing-along after we figured out that he just wanted to hold a song book. He even sang the ABCs for everyone about 5 times and bowed after each performance! It was adorable:)

In case you didn't notice, Matthew is purposely missing from these photos. He is a St. Patrick's Day Scrooge! He decided when we first were married that he's not Irish so he's not going to celebrate. Instead he wears blue to celebrate the fact that he's Swedish. He's even gone as far as taping a Swedish flag to his shirt a few years back. He still comes and enjoys the food, but refuses to wear green. I considered removing all of the clothes from his closet except for green shirts, but decided it was just too much work for a little laugh. Maybe next year:)

Kindergarten!?!?!

2009-03-11T08:23:00.000-07:00

Prairie Ridge here we come! We finally found out yesterday that Abigail will be going to school at Prairie Ridge Elementary next year! College Community School District has 4-5 different elementary schools, but we only know friends that attend two of the schools - Ridge and Crest. I've been trying not to stress about which school she would be attending next year, but I even had a dream that she was assigned to the worst school (even though I don't necessarily know that there is a bad school)! But God is so faithful and Abby was assigned to the same school as her best-friend from preschool!!! I can't believe my baby will be starting kindergarten in the fall...

My Latest Art Project

2009-03-06T08:31:00.000-08:00

I found these prints on the internet about a year before we moved into our house and thought they were just adorable! On-line they were $50 a piece for a canvas print. I knew I wanted multiple prints and knew I didn't want to spend over $200 on art for the kids bathroom. So I was brave and painted them myself. I think I spent a total of $20 for both canvases and paint. They're not perfect, but pretty darn cute if you ask me!!! Next I'm planning to do the cat...

Abby's 5th Birthday

2009-02-28T11:04:00.000-08:00

Abigail has been planning her birthday for months now and was sooooo excited when it finally came. We celebrated with our families on Saturday night with supper at Chappy's - a restaurant/bar in Shueyville that has become one of her favorites. Then we came home and opened presents (her favorite part!!) and ate cake. On Monday I was able to go to Abby's preschool to help her celebrate her birthday. Thanks to Grandma Jan for watching Austin (while he was sick) so I could still spend the morning at preschool. "Princess Abby" got to wear a crown, share some photos, a favorite book, her Bitty Baby and cookies with the class. It was a fun day for both of us! Tuesday we had friends over after MOPS for a pajama party. The kids had a blast breaking open a pinata, watching a movie with popcorn and playing a few games. Tuesday night we ate supper at the mall and gave her one last present - a gift card to Claire's so she could pick out any present she wanted. It was definitely an exciting gift! Abby is my sweet little girl and I can't believe she is 5 years old already! She loves feeling special and her birthday was a great time to remind her how thankful we are that God has given her to us. I pray that we can continue to raise her to be "God's Little Princess" as her Bible calls it:)

God's Word in My Life

2009-02-25T13:26:00.000-08:00

So I'm starting a little something new with my blog becase I love reading how God is working in the lives of my friends. I have not been blessed with the gift of eloquent writing (like Becky and some others) but I do want to share how God is growing me and teaching me. So along the right-hand side of my blog I started a new section called, "God's Word in My Life" where I'm hoping I can update Bible verses that are really speaking to me and why. I apologize if there's not much from Genesis 1 through Joshua 5. My Bible is slowly falling apart and a big chunk of the beginning just fell out. I think it's time for a new Bible! Enjoy:)

Austin's ABC's - Part 2

2009-02-17T18:40:00.000-08:00

Here is the 2nd half of the alphabet:)

Austin's ABCs - Part 1

2009-02-16T18:52:00.000-08:00

So I would like to say that my son is brilliant or that I'm a great mother who spends hours teaching my children, but this video only reflects the fact that I let my children watch too much TV. For the last couple weeks Austin has been watching "The Letter Factory" from Leap Frog and he has learned every letter (except for C) and the sound it makes! Maybe we could make money doing an advertisement for Leap Frog! Enjoy:)

While I'm bragging about my kids, I was also proud of Abby the other day. I never like to teach her how to draw things because I like to see her creativity. I thought these pictures were so cute so I took a picture of what she came up with. She drew a horse, butterfly and baby chicks. She even found googlie eyes in our craft drawer to make them even cuter!

Fun in Florida

2009-02-13T15:38:00.001-08:00

Matthew and I took a little trip to Florida for a "Physician Success Strategies" conference in Boca Raton. We went with another physician in his group (Heidi) and her husband (Chad). Matthew was in the conference most of the time, but I had fun relaxing by the pool and going to the beach.

Chad & Heidi

We stayed at the Boca Raton Resort & Club and it was beautiful - but a little too ritzy for us:) This is the view from our hotel room of the hotel and surrounding area.

This is just a picture of one of the yachts that frequented the area. Chad knew a lot about boats so we had fun just walking around the hotel and looking at all the million dollar yachts. We also saw every high-end car you can imagine. Our Dodge mini-van definitely would not have fit in!

Since Matthew and Heidi were in the conference most of the day Chad was my "date" for most of the trip. Chad even took me out for my first taste of sushi at Morimoto - a sushi bar right inside the hotel. I was brave and tried a little of everything and loved it - even the raw sushimi!!

Another exciting part of the trip was seeing a manatee - also known as a "sea cow". It was in the intercoastal area right off the deck of our pool.

Overall it was a great trip. I had a relaxing time away from the kids and Matthew came back from his conference with many ideas for improving his practice. Thanks to Grandma Jackie, Gocko & Aunt Jenni for watching the kids so we could get away!

House Updates

2009-02-05T14:29:00.000-08:00

Some of you have been asking for house updates, so here are a few pictures of what we've done since we've moved in. A little painting and a few more pictures hung here and there... I'll include the before and after photos just for fun:)

Laundry Room - BEFORE

Laundry Room - AFTER

Dining Room - BEFORE

Dining Room - AFTER

(I even filled the hutch with all of my china that my grandpa sent home from the Korean war and the crystal from our wedding. I'm so excited it's not in boxes in storage anymore!)

Austin's Room - BEFORE

Austin's Room - AFTER

(Thanks for help with the stripe, Deb! After hours of touching up the paint that the tape peeled off the walls it finally looks good.)

Closet - BEFORE

Closet - AFTER

(My handy husband hung another shelf so we no longer have huge stacks of clothes.)

Master Bath - BEFORE

Master Bath - AFTER

(Now I finally have a blue & brown bathroom instead of blue & green.)

Take Me Out to the Waterpark

2009-01-27T15:04:00.000-08:00

This weekend we went to the Grand Harbor Resort and Waterpark in Dubuque with Matthew's whole family. The kids had a BLAST! The best part of the waterpark were definitely the slides. Two of the slides were perfect for taking kids - pretty fast but not deep at the bottom. Just look at the sheer joy on their faces!

They also had a hot tub - which Abby says was her favorite - a lazy river, small pool area with basketball hoops, a huge bucket that dumped water every so many minutes, and a splash pad. I was even brave enough to go down the "big kid slide" - even if it was with my pregnant sister-in-law. We spent a lot of time at the pool on Saturday afternoon and then ordered pizza to eat in the hotel room on Saturday night. Later that night we watched a little Rocky and some of us stayed up to play cards. Poor Matthew was sick on Saturday night and ended up missing most of the fun on Sunday. Thanks to Grandma Jan for filling in for Daddy on Sunday:)

Sunday morning we woke up and were the first ones at the waterpark at 7:55! After the waterpark fun we took baths and finished up our weekend by playing some games at the arcade and eating lunch at Arby's. Overall it was a pretty fun weekend and a fun time with the family.

This weekend was Grandpa Bruce's Christmas present to Grandma Jan - a fun weekend together with the whole family. Thanks Grandma Jan for sharing your Christmas present!

Baby Shower

2009-01-27T14:50:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning we threw a Baby Shower for Amy (my sister-in-law). Amy and Jonathan (Matthew's brother) are due to have a baby boy on April 3rd. Chad & Melissa (Matthew's sister) are also due to have a baby girl on May 10th. Abby & Austin will have 2 new cousins this spring!

Abby was such a big helper at the baby shower. She helped collect all the presents as people arrived and also helped open the presents - of course:) She thought she was big stuff getting to come to the shower with all the ladies.

Pump It Up!

2009-01-23T15:05:00.000-08:00

We took a MOPS outing to "Pump It Up" on Tuesday and the kids had a blast! There were giant blow-up slides, an obstacle course, smaller slides and a bounce house. The giant slide was definitely the favorite! Abby was a great big sister and took Austin down the slide over and over because he was a little scared to go on his own - but definitely more brave than she would have been at age 2!!

I even got to try the slide and obstacle course a few times. The kids were both sweating by the end!

Pretending Baby Caitlyn

2009-01-22T19:52:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of baby Caitlyn - our good friends Brian & Alicia's little girl. Caitlyn was born at only 26 weeks gestation, but praise God, is doing great! Because she was such a preemie, Caitlyn is still on oxygen - which has always been intriguing to Abby. Lately Abby has been playing with baby dolls a lot - putting them under her shirt, pretending to "push" them out of her belly, taking them to day care, etc... Tonight I thought she was the most creative she's ever been! Abigail came into the kitchen while I was doing dishes and said, "look mommy...I had a baby. Her name is Caitlyn." Doing dishes I just nodded and said, "oh, she's cute." Then she started talking about the tube that was in her nose to help her breathe and the stickers on her cheeks that helped keep the tube in place, etc... I figured she was just pretending that there was a tube and stickers, but then I actually looked at "Baby Caitlyn" and laughed out loud. She had put a rubber band around the dolls face to make a tube going to her nose and then put stickers on her cheeks to keep it in place. Adorable! Here's a picture of Abby with her own baby Caitlyn.