Ever since we moved into our new house, I have done some serious slacking on this blog. I am determined to get caught up. Life just seems to get busier and busier, and it just won't slow down. But, don't despair, I have a big goal to update more frequently on here. Here a few pictures as of recent.
First, I have to say that I have the most AMAZING husband. Starting August 25th, and finishing September 22nd (in other words in 28 days), he built a porch out of flagstone rock, leveled and landscaped the yard with many different kinds of tractors, built a HUGE retaining rock wall, put in a sprinkling system, filled in trenches, leveled, spread topsoil, and laid sod. It was an amazing process to watch, and now, I know that he is the strongest man alive. You should have seen him lift those rocks as if they were nothing, and I couldn't even budge them.
Here's the beginnings of the flagstone porch:
It really was difficult to puzzle piece them together
Porter loved eating the sand
And, I must say, that Joe did an excellent job puzzle piecing the rocks together.
Next, Joe leveled and trenched the yard to get it all ready for sprinklers.
Isaiah was in heaven with all the tractors around.
And Kayla joined in on the fun too.
And next, the huge retaining wall. He lifted each and every one of these rocks by hand. Talk about strong.
For some reason, I didn't get any pictures of Joe trenching and putting in the sprinkling system, but believe me, this was a HUGE project, and of course, Joe passed it with flying colors.
After he finished the sprinkling system, leveled out the dirt again, he spread top soil all over the yard.
Then, the crowning moment. Joe gave me the honors to lay the first piece of sod. It was like carpeting the ground, and was so fun. My dad, Joe's parents, and Tim spent many hours with us laying the sod. Thank you so so much!!
Kayla had a fun time sitting on top of the big stacks of sod and directing us where to put them.
I can't even begin to explain what an awesome job Joe did in the yard. These pictures don't even do it justice. But, here is just a glimpse of what my amazing husband has been up to. Thanks for all your hard work Joe!!!
Winter seemed to have come a little too early this year. After living in Michigan, I have found that I am definitely a warm-weather-kinda-girl. But it is always exciting to see the kids eyes light up when the first few snowflakes fall from the sky. When Kayla spotted the first few snow flakes, she found a bucket and went outside to catch the snowflakes. She was disappointed when she couldn't catch them, but I told her to leave her bucket on the back porch and eventually her bucket would fill with snow.
When there was a blanket of snow on the grass, the kids wasted no time and made snow angels, snowmen, and even sled down our hill in the backyard. Winter really is more exciting with kids around.
Welcome winter, but warm weather, please don't stay too far away.
Once a week we try to go on individual dates with the kids. Last week, Kayla was looking forward to going on a date with Joe ALL day. She even wanted to get special date clothes on and put a little lipstick on. She loves her daddy, and Joe's heart is won over by Kayla.
Isaiah has come to me on 3 separate occasions to tell me that he just found a big huge black spider. The first time, he had brought his truck inside that had been outside for a few days, and sure enough, there was about a silver dollar size black widow, just ENORMOUS!!! I screamed and ran to get Joe, who was working on the backyard. Joe smashed it with my flip flop, and I thought I would never recover. In fact, I had dreams about the black widow biting me in my sleep.
A few days later, I was weeding in the front yard, and Isaiah came to me with a bowl in his hands and said calmly, "Look mommy! A big black spider!" He was so excited to show it to me, and when I got scared and told him to put the bowl down, he laughed and thought I was crazy. I screamed for Joe, and yet, ANOTHER black widow.
And just a day later, we were finishing the sprinkling system in our backyard (more on that later, I will have a post full of pictures), and Isaiah said he saw a spider. I ran to him fearing it was another black widow, and yes, he was trying to pick it up with his fingers. AHHHH!!! I couldn't take it any longer. I ran to the garage, found my weapon (a shovel) and looked all along the perimeter of our house and began killing any living creature in sight. I wasn't about to have my son die from an attack of black widows. So how many would you guess I killed in a matter of 5 minutes, looking in all our window wells?? Not 1 or 2 not even 3.............I killed SIX black widows and it felt SO SO SO good. I wasn't scared, even a bit.
So, today, a company named Bugged Out came a sprayed in our house and outside. The kids and I have been watching all the big spiders die in the window wells. Good riddance black widows!!
Porter loves to link my arm whenever I hold him. I love having a little boyfriend.
The other night I was trying to get my kids to stay in bed. Kayla said that if she stayed in bed she wanted pink eggs in the morning, and then Isaiah quickly said he wanted green eggs ( his very favorite color). In the morning, at about 6:30, the both ran to my side of the bed and woke me up with big smiles and asked for their color specific eggs. They have the best memories, and stay in bed for the right incentives.
I just came across a quote from one of my best friends, and it really touched me. I hope you like it too.
After a long day, I love getting the kids in the bath, and then seeing my little baby all cuddled up in a hooded towel. They just don't get cuter.
Isaiah really is ALL boy. You take him to the mountains and he wants to take his shoes off, roll around in the dirt, and touch all the bugs. At least he still likes to cuddle with me at night. He is growing up way too fast.
I love it when the kids have played so much that they fall asleep anywhere they can. This hardly ever happens, but when it does, it is extra sweet.
Kayla just loves her little brother. She loves cuddling with him. 
Kayla loves holding his hand, I especially love the interlocking fingers. 
We bought a home a few months ago, and life has been a whirlwind one thing after another, and now it feels like life is just barely starting to slow down, and my stack of pictures is overwhelmingly HUGE. Needless to say, I feel a little overwhelmed with all the blogging that I need to do, but little by little I will get everything up. Sorry about the absence. We are alive and well.
Lately, it is an odd day if I don't make some sort of smoothie. I think I have a serious addiction. Almost every night, Joe and I get Kayla and Isaiah to bed and then it is time to make some sort of new smoothie, depending on the ingredients we have in the fridge. Just when I sit down to enjoy my smoothie after a long hot day, Porter begins to pant, groan, throw his arms and legs, and look at me in the most sweet way. (meaning: he wants my smoothie). It is the cutest thing ever and I can never deny my little boy. Porter lives for his smoothie fill every day. Is it odd that my 6 month old already knows how to drink out of a straw? Gotta love smoothies!
The first part of May, Kayla and her cousins were in a little program at a Nursing Home and this is what Kayla chose to sing. It was so cute and the people just loved it. I love her kiss at the end, and if you look carefully at her feet she was tapping to the beat.
Where has the time gone? On the other hand, I can hardly remember my life before YOU. I love you sweetheart...............the only thing I am thirsting for is MORE!
Joe has been wanting to plant a garden for months now. So for his birthday, we decided to get him some seed packages of a variety of different fruits and veggies. Well, a week and a half ago he planted some of them in paper cups, like this:
To our surprise this is what our little seeds have sprouted into only a week and a half later. I know I know, I must be very amateur when it comes to plants and gardening, but come on, these things are huge. We have been astonished and we sit a stare at them for a few minutes together every night. 
I think we better be planting them in the garden soon. It seems that they have already outgrown the paper cups.
Is it just me or is that an amazing amount of growing for such a little bit of time?
Joe is so much better at letting the kids get messy than I am. While I was getting my haircut, Joe decided it would be fun to do a little project with the kids. Joe got Isaiah down to his diaper and put one of his old shirts on Kayla, gave them each a paint brush and painted the swing on our back porch. It looks much better and was very much in need of a new look. And while they were at it, the kids got a new look too!
