Allison's 2nd Birthday

Started off the evening by taking Uncle Eric some birthday gifts and a balloon to the radio station where he works.

The kids enjoyed recording some clips that will be used during the Saturday morning children's programs on WTGN...

Two years have simply flown by, and Allison has grown from a tiny, helpless baby to a beautiful little girl who is a complete joy to our family! She is articulate, helpful, mannerly, and loves her family and her friends (yup, I'm braggin'!)

Olivia enjoyed trying out Kaitlynn's violin...

If you were to enlarge this pic, you would see a crocodile tear on her right cheek. By the time dinner was finished, she was getting tired and frustrated...

Birthday Girl and her "stuff"...

Livvy enjoying the kazoo...

Suzanna is such a sweetie...she loves her Aunt Steph!

This is a bad pic, but I loved the constrast...check out Will, sleeping peacefully in his infant seat, then check out Alli's eyes...

My beautiful $6 cake...lol. I'm not crazy about birthday cake (they usually look much better than they taste), so we adults enjoyed pumpkin spice cake with whipped cream.

Allison was kind and allowed her cousins to try out her new "bike"...she enjoyed pushing them around the living room...

Suzanna decided that the pink and purple flowers looked yummy, and when no one was looking she dove in! It made for some great video...she just kept stuffing it in!

Not sure which planet this child is from...

Happy Birthday Allison! We love you!!!

Ryan Turns 10!

Ahhh...the long-awaited double digits! I vividly remember my 10th birthday, and it doesn't seem like it was 23 years ago! We promised Ryan that he could have a party with all of his friends once he hit this milestone, and he kept us to our word!
He told me that he wanted a camouflage party, so we planned to do a hot dog roast, a big fire out back, and games like hide-n-seek in the dark. Mid-November weather can be quite unpredictable, and because of rain we couldn't do the outdoor stuff. His friends were all able to come (with the exception of one little guy that was sick), and they had a great time!

We try to remind Evan and Ryan to enjoy these years...in a very short time they could be living many miles apart...sniff, sniff...

Papa's girl...all the way!

Kaitlynn wasn't sure that she like the house being overtaken by boys...notice her dog tags and gold medal...

One of Ryan's many goofy moments that night...some great video that he'll be REAL proud of one of these days! :)

With Xavier...

With Matthew...

With Rodney...

With Zachary...

With Caleb...

Kaitlynn loves her Mama...

Zac in a zone...

Told you I'm not into cakes! Not to mention the fact that God forgot to add creativity when He put me together!

Mom and Dad with grandchild #1...

Happy Birthday, Ryan! We love you so much!

P.S. Ryan was born at 4:05 p.m. on November 19th. I think it is unique that he always makes a point of stopping whatever he is doing at 4:05 on his birthday to hug me and tell me that he loves me. I think he has an idea of what I went through to get him here! :)

Ryan was able to celebrate with Grandpa and Grandma Burley for a few hours the next evening. Thanks to them for babysitting while Greg and I did errands for the chicken dinner fundraiser!

"Knock On Wood"

My sister will attest to the fact that I have overused this phrase during the last couple of weeks, especially when speaking of the fact that our kids had yet to have any sickness this fall. Now I can quit "knocking on wood" because our time has come! Fortunately, I'm not having to clean up puke and diarrhea-knock on wood, but all four of the little munchkins have nasty coughs and lots of congestion and nasal drainage. Allison was burning up with fever last evening and then again in the middle of the night. Her favorite phrases today are, "It hurts very bad! My nose is drippin'! I need a tissue!" You can only imagine. It is quite unusual for all of them to have something at the same time, but if they have to be sick, I'd rather have it this way. A month can be shot fairly quickly when just as one starts to feel better, another succumbs.
So, I'm looking on the bright side...this all waited until after our huge fundraiser (which was an enormous success) on Saturday, but hopefully will be gone before the Thanksgiving weekend!
Hope you all are having a wonderful Monday. For the last several weeks, I have been basking in the love of a faithful God, and focusing on all the blessings that He daily showers upon us. Contentment and fulfillment have worked together to bring pure joy to my life, and it is all because of my faithful God!

Love This Article!

I cracked up as I read the title of this article in last weekend's Parade section of the Lima News. As a "Pilgrim" of 33 years, I know we like to eat! Anyway, I thought others might find this informative and entertaining, and be able to use some of it in Thanksgiving celebrations...I know my boys would love the "shin-kicking" game...yikes! Just copy and paste the link...

http://www.parade.com/food/2009/11/15-pilgrim-for-a-day.html

My Baby Turns 2!

Happy Birthday, Allison Brooke!


I can't believe how the days since Allison's birth have moved by so quickly! I also can't believe that we ever debated having #4, and I can't imagine life without her! Although the two years have flown, it seems like she's been part of the family forever. We have enjoyed watching our older three children bond with her. Allison is very conversational, and communicates with them quite well! She has been speaking sentences of 6+ words for quite awhile now, and we are constantly amazed by the things she says. The evening of her birthday we noticed that her skirt was missing. We asked her where it was and she replied, "In the dryer." Since our laundry room door is usually closed, we really figured that she was just saying that. Every time we asked, she gave the same answer, so I told Greg he should probably go check it out. The dryer was full of clothes, and he did a quick search and said he didn't see it. Throughout the evening we would try to get her to find the skirt, and she would always give us the same answer..."In the dryer." Late that night, after the kids were in bed, I went to retrieve the clean clothes to fold them. I was going through the pile without really paying attention, when it struck me that I had her skirt in my hands. She was right...it had been in the dryer all along. She must have taken it to the laundry room and thrown it in the dryer all by herself, and she probably thought we were just a bit feeble minded for not understanding what she so plainly told us!
The next day we were in Kohl's, and Greg brought Alli to me in the stroller. After pushing her around in the store for quite awhile, I realized that her hair bow was missing. I said, "Alli, you lost your hair bow. I hope it's in the van and not laying around the store somewhere." She said, "Daddy has my hair bow. It's in his pocket." When I met up with Greg I questioned him about it...his response, "Oh yeah, it's right here in my pocket." She loves to help do simple chores, and is willing to take the blame for everything, answering, "I did it!" whenever we are trying to see which of the children did something they should not have done. Alli says "Thank you" for just about everything...even sometimes when I change her diaper or take her to the potty...by the way, she is about done with diapers, and even gets angry sometimes when I put them on her! I'm not fond of accidents since I'm away from home so much. Had I been home more, we would have been done with this in May! She has been ready for a long time. Anyway, I'm getting more brave, and will soon be finished wasting money on diapers! Yay!
Although the "baby" days are gone, we are thoroughly enjoying Allison's talkative, fun loving personality. Upon waking in the morning, her first words are usually "Where's Kait?" or "Mom! I waked up! Come here now!" or "I need more milk!" (no, we're not quite done with baba :)) At night when I tell her that it's time for bed she usually says, "I wanna sleep on the couch." So, of course, I give in and allow her a few minutes to lay there while we get our things ready for the next day.
At her appt. a couple of weeks ago, she weighed in at 29.5 lbs, and I think 33 in. She seems to be a healthy little thing, with her only problems so far stemming from teething issues. She was slow in cutting teeth, and still has quite a few to go! Allison's beautiful red curls and twinkling brown eyes are appropriately paired with her adorable little smile, and my heart melts when she gives me hugs and kisses.
Sorry this post is long and rambling, but I love my girl!