After much anticipation....

Baby Jude has arrived!

We are so excited for his arrival - congrats Anna and Jeff! xoxo

Five Fridays until Christmas!

My Friday small business/gift idea I want to share with you today is called The Tea Sanctuary. We have ordered teas from here and they are fantastic! It's a toss-up which one is my favorite - the Lemon Lover Tea or the Fatigue Relief Tea - they are so good!

Tea Sanctuary

If you know someone who loves to drink tea this is a great gift!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful thanksgiving with our family this year. My aunt, uncle and cousins came in from Grand Rapids, our local family and a few friends joined us at my mom's. We tried for a family picture - below is the best we got:

Lucas was not happy...

Love the above pic of Nate and Aidan and of course the one below of A...

I actually didn't take many pictures - we were having so much fun! I did manage to get a picture of myself with my childhood friend who came to dinner, Charyl. It was so fun catching up. She has two amazing boys - Aidan had so much fun with them.

I started out sad missing my dad and ended up happy having spent time with family and friends. Overall it was a wonderful day.

Little Fish...

Aidan has been taking swimming lessons at Galter Life Fitness Center at Swedish. He absolutely LOVES it. He is such a little fish. The class has at most 5 kids in it so he gets lots of one-on-one. I am amazed at how much they have taught him already - he is doing freestyle and back stroke!

He has been a great swimmer since he was two - I hope he keeps this love of swimming!

Happy Birthday Kacie!

Happy Birthday Kacie - we love you so much and are so glad we are able to spend so much time with you! I am so excited for you future - this next year is going to be a great one for you! xoxo

Festival of Lights

So we tried. We had good intentions...but what were we thinking? We decided on Saturday night to go down to Michigan Ave for the Festival of Lights. We headed down around 4:30 p.m. on the train....this was our view:

So we didn't see much of the parade, but honestly the boys didn't mind. Lucas was so excited just to be on the train...

and Aidan got a glow in the dark light saber - he was set!

Overall we had a lot of fun. Anna was a trooper and came with us - she's ready to have that baby any day! I think next year we will head down there earlier and make a day of it.

Only six?

Did you know that there are only six Fridays until Christmas?

Sorry to freak you out.

The truth is that we keep Christmas pretty simple around here. We don’t break the bank. The boys definately get something special, but not over the top.

We want to make Christmas about more than just getting presents. Nate and I both had family traditions that we remember so fondly from our childhood. I want those new traditions that we are starting in our home to be what our boys remember. The true meaning of Christmas and why we celebrate. I want them to learn about giving - they already know all about receiving! I want them to have that warm, fuzzy feeling that I get when I think about Christmas Eve, sitting around with my family in our new warm PJ's, sipping egg nog or hot cocoa, watching my Dad's train around the tree. Getting to maybe open just one present on Christmas Eve...just being together as a family.

This year we are trying our best to buy local, small business or homemade...or even make it ourselves! It means more. At least to me.

There are so many creative and brilliant small businesses and independent artists that it would be a shame not to support them and let them know we value their work.

For the next six Fridays I will be sharing some Christmas gift picks all from small business and handmade artists.

Today is for all of those little ones in your life!

I LOVE this fair trade tic tac toe game - so cute! When I am looking for a unique gift I often go to Esty.com. You can find this adorable set for $15.99 right here: Tic Tac Toe

Aidan loves to cook with me. I swear that is why he is such a good eater - he is always more willing to try something that he has helped me make. His "Nana" gave him an apron with his name on it that he loves. Here are some cute ones that you can personalize for that little chef in your life: Apron

And my favorite DIY project is below...Aidan wants to make this crayon wreath for his teacher (shhh! don't tell her!). Aidan loves doing art projects and this one will be so fun to do together.

So if you have some time and have never checked out Etsy.com go check it out. You may be surprised at what you find!

House update....

Progress Update #2...we have walls! Actually the progress is a little further along than these pictures show, it just took me a while to post them. The kitchen cabinets are in place and the new hard wood floor in the kitchen, hall and 1/2 bath is in. Aidan decided he needed to pose in the pictures below....

Bathroom above, basement below...

Kitchen above, living room below...

Aidan's bedroom above, our bedroom below (how cute is Nathan posing too!)

Estimated finish date is 12/1...we can't wait!

A boy and his dog...

This little guy is growing up so much and testing the boundaries trying to find some independence...so hard to find the balance for him. He has such a tender heart - I hope that never changes!

Jet pack!

So what to do on a cold snowy afternoon? Aidan loves jet packs on his superheros. So I googled how to make one! I found a tutorial on Pinterest...it turned out great and he couldn't be happier!

He cut out the flames himself. Well he thinks he did anyway ;-)

We took two 1 liter bottles and superglued them together. We used a rubberband to hold them together while we painted them.


We added straps (first with a clip that didn't hold..then we switched to packing tape). Off he goes! Aidan wanted to make something for Lucas as well...so he made a crown...


Lucas wasn't too sure about it (seriously Mom? Aidan gets a jet pack and I get a stupid crown?)...but once he saw Aidan in it too he wouldn't take it off.



I love that Aidan loves to do crafty things almost as much as I do!

Thirty Days of Thanksgiving...

I was challenged by a book that I am reading to do "Thirty Days of Thanksgiving"...once a day write down something that I am thankful for throughout the month of November. Well I decided to put it on the blog and hold myself accountable to follow through. I will update this post each day. So here it is:

My 30 days of Thanksgiving

1. I am thankful for my husband. He makes me laugh. He is an amazing father. As Aidan says “he’s my best buddy!”

2. I am thankful for my boys. Aidan who is so goofy and so sensitive. He asks me all the time “Do you still miss Hoppa? It’s okay mom, you can be sad sometimes” and gives me hugs that never end. And my little Lucas, sweet, kind, loving…such a funny little man. His smile melts me every time. They are each so special and I don’t know how I could love them more.

3. I am thankful for our home. With so many people losing their homes these days I am grateful to have one.

4. I am thankful for my mom. She is ALWAYS there for me when I need her.

5. I am thankful for my siblings. Each one. Love them so much I could cry. Happy cry.

6. I am thankful for my MOPS group. It’s so good to have other moms that are in the same season of life as you to talk to and keep you sane.

7. I am thankful for Chloe…the only other girl in my house (our dog). She drives me crazy sometimes, but she is so sweet and a good watch dog. Every time I come home she is jumping to see me. I don’t get a reception like that very often. I took her to the groomer today and she looks so cute, pink bows and all!

8. I am thankful to be here. A little over a year ago my life was saved and changed. I am thankful and grateful. I am thankful for a network of Christian friends that prayed for me and for my family, that helped take care of us during our time of need, that continue to check in on us and see how we are doing (BTW- we are doing great!)

9. I am thankful for all of my friends, but today I am especially thankful for my friend Sandy who can relate and gets where I am at these days. Missing my dad. Having many tough days still. She gets it. She’s a better friend to me than I was to her in those early days of her losing her dad. I hadn’t gone through it – now I know. I will be a better friend to my next friend that goes through it because of her.

10. I am thankful that Aidan loves school. He is doing well and definately loves the social aspect of school. I have made a couple of good friends through his school that I am thankful for as well. I pray for guidance as we decide what to do about school for him in the coming years.

11. I am thankful for those people who serve our country in the military today on Veteran's Day. I am in awe of people who do that - I don't know that I would have enough courage. They are amazing and their families are too!

12. I am thankful for the sunshine today. I've been a little "blue" lately and the seeing the sunshine always makes me feel better. I really should live in a state that has more sunny days.

13. I am thankful for our huge extended family. I love that I can email my uncle about Garrison Keillor's cabin being for sale and get a response from him and know that I am loved. I love that Nate and I both are from large families with parents that taught us how important family is. They also taught us how important it is to make time for each other apart from our kids. We both always knew that we were loved and that our parents loved each other. That's what I want for my kids too.

14. I am thankful that people are actually willing to pay me to do what I love - take pictures! I have been having so much fun reigniting my photography business and am so grateful for the people have invited me to capture moments in their lives!

15. Aidan did something really nice for a friend who was being mistreated at school yesterday. I am thankful for the compassion he feels towards other people. Like he says "that's what I do Mom, I help people!" Love that.

16. Today I am thankful for my brother Ken. He totally hooked us up with paint for our new house! I can call him for computer and photoshop advise - he is an amazing artist. But what I am thankful for most of all is that even though we don't talk all the time it's always nice when we do. He has such a gentle spirit and a kind heart. He is just a good guy and I love him tons.

17. I am thankful today that our house is almost finished!!! I stopped there today and they are starting painting. They should be done December 1st - it can't be soon enough in my book - I am so ready to move in! I can't wait to have our first family Christmas there. Soooo excited!

18. Today I am thankful for heat. Our heat went out last night and we couldn't get someone out until today to fix it. It got down to 54 degrees in our house. It was such an inconvenience. Not only was I cold, the boys were cold and we had to cancel a playdate. As I was complaining about it to Nate he said "hey, some people don't have heat at all..." I got mad at him for saying it...then I really thought about it. Heat in our homes is just one of those things we expect to be there and we take for granted. I am grateful and thankful to have a warm home.

19. Phew! This being so thankful every day is getting hard! Just kidding - today I am thankful for Saturdays and family time. When I owned Little Green Baby I would be so sad/jealous that Nate and Aidan would drop me off at the store on a Saturday to work and they would get to go play all day. I missed those family days. Glad I have them back. We are heading down to the Festival of Lights today on Michigan Ave - should be a GREAT family day!

20. I am thankful that a friend that I haven't seen in a long time is coming to Thanksgiving at my mom's this year. She and I were inseperable growing up - it will be so good to see her. So glad after all these years our family connection makes her (and her brother) feel comfortable coming on Thanksgiving.

21. Tonight I am thankful that my lovely husband made Ghiradelli brownies after dinner...they are my absolute favorite brownies and they were so good today!

22. Today I was thankful for some time alone. Don't get me wrong - I love my kids and spending my days with them. But tonight I had to drive out to Ikea and the traffic was terrible because it was raining. I was alone and in the car and played my crazy 80's music as loud as I wanted and sang at the top of my lungs! I don't get to do that very often...so fun!

23. Today I am thankful for cancer survivors. For those people who fought and are fighting against this nasty disease. I think this exercise on a month of thankfulness has been really good for me. As the holidays approach I am missing my dad so much. It's hard to be thankful every day when I am still pretty sad and angry that he isn't here to share these days with us. He isn't here to see my boys. He's missed a whole year of them. Until you go through losing a parent you just don't really understand. I know I didn't. I think you hit the one year "anniversary" and everyone just expects you to kind of be over it - life goes on. And it does. But a big part of my life is missing and it still hurts. It catches me off guard at times - I'll hear a song that reminds me of him, or I'll talk to a man this is around my dad's age and something about him reminds me of my dad. But there are still constant, every day reminders. Every night when Aidan goes to bed I hear "...and Jesus, please be with Hoppa because we miss him soooooo much." I have a picture on my refrigerator of Aidan and my dad. It's the only picture on the front of my fridge. Our new house will have stainless steel appliances....no magnets. Where do I put that picture? Anyway, I know we will get through the holidays surrounded with family and love. Amazing family and amazing love. So today I am thankful for survivors and hopeful for the future that someday there will be a cure for this disease.

24. Happy Thanksgiving! I am thankful today for friends and family to share Thanksgiving with.

25. I am thankful Nate's parents came to town and we were able to celebrate Thanksgiving with them today. Thanks to Paula for hosting it at her house! I am thankful to be a part of this family as well. My boys are loved. On the selfish side - I am thankful that with everything going on right now we didn't have to drive 5 hours to Almont for Thanksgiving!

26. I am thankful (again) for my husband. We had an argument yesterday and he apologized. It's amazing that what he says/does can affect me so much that I run the full spectrum of emotions in one day. Must be love. Either that or I am just crazy. Who knows.

27. I am thankful that the flu bug I had yesterday appears to only have been a 24 hour bug...so far so good.

28. I am thankful that Baby Jude arrived safely yesterday! Anna and Jeff had their baby - he is beautiful. I give special thanks now each time that a baby is born healthy and safely. We love him so much already!

29. I am thankful that we are moving shortly and I will be done with renovating this house! It's not fun anymore! ;-)

30. I am thankful that I did this challenge. On days when I wasn't feeling very thankful it forced me to think about what is important and how lucky I am.

Busy season....

We've been so busy I haven't had time to update the blog! Packing up the house, renovating the new house, school projects/functions, PTL, bike racing, MOPS, etc...craziness. I think this is just the start of a season of busy-ness in our lives...when does it end, when the kiddos are 18? Who knows - but we are loving it! Here are some recent pics...

Aidan's dance moves...

We met up with Anna, Jeff and Roosevelt for a pie contest in the park
by their house...the boys had a blast!

Still can't get enough of those blue eyes...

Luigi, Jesse and Toad....

Happy Halloween! My niece Kacie came over and helped us get ready for trick or treating...

Aidan was Luigi, Nate was Mario and Lucas was Toad - all characters from Aidan's favorite video game - Mario Bros.

Lucas had a blast - he did a great job of keeping the mushroom hat on for the majority of the time - I was shocked! It was a little chilly out so maybe it was keeping his ears warm...

We met up with Amy, Derrill and Vivienne over at Paula's house...Vivi was adorable as Jesse from Toy Story...

Auntie Paula got in on the fun - and she cooked us a fabulous dinner after we were finished trick or treating - thanks Paula!

Aidan came home with about 10 pieces of candy - he decided he didn't like most of the candy that was handed out...I guess he has started his "picky eater" phase. Lucas was just happy to see a couple of suckers in his bucket. Overall it was a very successful Halloween!