New Blog

I have created a new blog.  This one just wasn't the look I wanted and it wouldn't upload pictures which isn't okay :0)

Check out my new blog at: http://funkdustyerin.wordpress.com/

Thanks!

Ormond Beach Vacation!!! (Fri-Mon)

Well as I sat down today I thought I will post on our vacation.  But I have a problem...I have LOADS of pictures and want you to be able to see them so I will post about vacation in a few different posts.  This first one will just be a summary of our trip, okay? Alright well lets begin!!!

We left on Friday (May 3rd) at around 8 am.  The trip started off well but soon that ended...we spent a good 4 or 5 hours just driving thru Kentucky!!  Horrible construction the whole way thru!  Because of how we were delayed in Kentucky that made it so we hit Nashville at rush hour, which delayed us even more.

About 30 min. outside of Atlanta (where we were stopping for the night) Gia decided to "get sick" to put it nicely.  EVERYWHERE!  We stopped at a McDonalds where I bathed her in the bathroom sink put her back in the car.  She had to sit in the middle seat with no car seat...

We finally got to the hotel put the kids to bed & then Dusty proceeded to wash her car seat in the hotel sink.  I hung up the car seat "parts" using hangers and we blow dryed them..Less than ideal but it makes for a memory!!

The next day was supposed to be a 6 hour trip from Atlanta to Daytona (Ormond Beach) once again things did NOT go well, this trip took a good 9 hours!  YIKES!  I had the stomach flu this day which made for frequent stops which added to the time.

We got to the resort around 6 pm and settled in quickly.  It was a nice place for our family of 4!  Dusty signed us up for what he thought was a 40 min. talk (for Sun.) on the resort as in what goes on, what you can expect, frequently asked questions sort of thing.  He said that because we were doing this we would get all the "extras" free.  Turns out it was a time share talk that was supposed to last 90 min.!  Can you just picture the utter bliss that was on my face...especially because they made the kids stay too!!!  Thankfully the guy was nice and let us go after 40 min. realizing we were not going to buy a time a share and it was nap time.

Saturday night we ordered in Pizza, Sunday night we went out (it wasn't that great) so then Monday we hit the beach all day & stayed in for dinner! 

And here are some pictures:

Building a Whale, Shark, Rock (it was all three)

They shared the pull out couch :0)

Gia loved to lounge in the chairs - just like mommy!

Next post (about vacation) will be about our trip to SEA WORLD!!!! :0)



Spit - Fire

This is Gia.  She is my "spit-fire" child.

 

 

Here are some facts/things about Gia you may or may not know.

• Blond
• Blue eyes
• Tall
• Thin
• Loud
• Energetic
• Compassionate
• Nurturing
• 100% Lovable
• Crazy
• Smart
• Stubborn
• Outgoing
• Dramatic
• Purposeful

Someone the other day called her a spit fire and I think it fits perfectly!  She is little & mighty!!  The name came up when I was talking to someone who also goes to CBS.  She asked if I had kids & I said yes one in toddler nursery and one in pink sheep.  After awhile she must have heard me talking about Gia & said "You are Gia's mom?!?" "would she have been in the baby nursery last year" I said "yes" and she proceeded to say "Oh Wow!  I remember her, she is a little spit-fire!"

This made me laugh because she is just that!  She has proven to be a handful repeatedly but as of lately she is NOT a joy to go out in public with! 

Trials of Gia our Spit-fire!

Yesterday we had a melt down at Aldi because I didn't get a cart for her to sit in, then another one because she didn't get to carry the sugar...She proceeded to lay down in the middle of the floor kicked & screaming while yelling "NO!" & "NO I NOT!" at me.  We started to count and talk discipline and problem solved! 

Today we had T.A.G. at church and guess what?  It was time to go and another meltdown came.  I literally drug her out (I think she actually liked the "ride") and we had another going down the stairs...

Then we got to Joann Fabric to buy some buttons and what do you know?  Another melt down as we are leaving because she refuses to hold my hand outside. I am trying to hold the door open for Oliver, she gets lose & runs for the road as a car is driving by, quickly. I let go of the door (it slams on Oliver & knocks him to the ground) grab Gia by the arm just in time so she doesn't literally get hit by the car! Run back over open the door so Oliver isn't stuck in it & begin our journey to the car...With both kids crying (Oliver because I think he actually got hurt & Gia because she didn't get to run in the road freely) I am just happy both kids are safe & not injured...Phew!

And now as I am finishing up writing this blog she comes up to me & I pick her up she proceeds to not be very kind & so I tell her to stop.  She says "NO, NO I NOT!" and whacks me in the face...Needless to say she is in time out being mouthy to herself :0)

To end, I love her so much she really does bring such joy & it is so fun to watch her grow up!  She loves taking care of us & her babies, singing, talking & dancing. Like I said she is very lovable, nurturing & compassionate & that makes for a delightful daughter!!!  We love our GiGi!!!

It's a....

Well I gave in and found out.  Although our little baby wasn't much for cooperating, legs were crossed and it was squirming around so fast you could hardly get a glimpse of anything!!!

Anyways the whole time I have thought BOY.  It has got to be a boy. 

Here are my clues:

1. I was more sick with Oliver than Gia & this pregnancy wasn't much different. 

2. I had severe migrains with Oliver & not Gia...Severe migrains this time also.

3. My final clue came today while getting my sono heart rate was 139 a typical Oliver number whereas Gia's were in the 160's even 170's at times

So were my mother instincts right??  Yep!  We are having another little BOY!!! (and no there is no name to share, sorry)

Oliver is THRILLED to be having a baby brother!  When I told him it really was a boy (he has told me the whole time it's a boy) he said "See Mommy!  I told you it was a boy!!"

Zoo Day!!!

Yesterday (Mon.) was such a beautiful day and I wanted to do something fun with the kids that I thought if tomorrow is just as nice we are going to go to the Zoo!!  Last year we purchased a Family Membership from the Zoo (tax deductible by the way) that gets our whole family in free each time & then we are allowed 1 guest.  Did you know we also get into other Zoo's free?  This was great for when we visited Ryan and Alyssa because the Milwaukee Zoo is pretty pricey... 

 

Anyways I was thinking about how I could just make it a nice easy laid back trip.  So first I tried giving Nana a call to see if she wanted to join me 2 adults 2 kids doesn't get much easier...She couldn't so I thought well maybe we will go alone...Nah the kids will enjoy being with other kids & I want to talk to someone :0)  So we invited Mindy & her girls.  It was so nice to walk casually and just chat while the kids ran up ahead or at times drug their feet behind us.  It was also great because hardly anyone was there!

 

Anyways here are some pictures of our trip to the Zoo & thanks Kaisner Girls for joining us!

 

 

 

Today they had people out show casing animals they had this turtle & then later a rabbit (no pics) Here is Gia with the turtle (she loved it)

Oliver was the true "man" of the group as he would approach any and every animal and want to pet it.  Mazie was a little more nervous but notice Anna isn't even around :0)

This is hilarious because Gia totally photo bombed the picture!

At the beginning playing on the "Whale Car" as he called it, they would all line up on the slide & the person in front would drive.  Oh the things kids think up!

Cheesin' Gia

Mazie girl such a cutie

Anna striking a pose!

I was too late on this one but it was super cute they were all smooshed together with their butts lined up looking in

Picnic Lunch - they all wanted what the other kids had

The favorite item of the day - sunglasses.  He didn't seem to mind the fact that they are purple & flowers

Gia's turn on the camel

Well thanks for reading - hopefully I am not updating the blog too much! :0)  But who doesn't love looking at lots of pictures with not a lot of reading??

Easter Weekend

Happy belated Easter!!!  I was so glad the snow was gone (for the most part) and the weather warmed up.  It just wouldn't have been the same to have a brown Christmas & a white Easter!!  The weekend started on Good Friday and we celebrated Easter with just the 4 of us that morning, we made a yummy Butter braid, found Easter Baskets & bought a camera (no pictures b/c we didn't have a camera yet)!  We then headed over to Dusty's parents house to celebrate Dad's birthday & to just hang out with everyone & have an Easter Egg Hunt.

 

 

Oliver excited about his eggs...I think he is probably yelling for Abe though.

Sweet GiGi

The four cousins with their eggs

 After we had lunch, an Easter Egg Hunt & celebrated Dad's birthday (all within 2 hrs!!!!) We headed back home.  Ryan and Alyssa stayed over with us Friday night & it was so fun to just hang out without one of us couples having to leave & put the kids to bed early.  The cousins all played so well & it was just nice & relaxing.

Where the kids ate all their meals

Serious Charles (I won't call him Charlie here b/c it looks more like a Charles type face)

On Saturday we enjoyed breakfast & lunch with Ryan & Alyssa and then parted ways, they headed to her parents to celebrate Easter & we headed home to my Mom's house.

Oliver and Mr. Bear - Easter Morning

My loves in their Easter outfits

18 wks. pregnant - and I finally learned how to curl my hair! :0)

Oliver's Easter basket from Grandma

Gia is so excited to have bubbles!!!  Notice the tight grip!
 

We had a very busy Easter Weekend but it didn't seem that way at all!  It was very relaxing while being busy which is something to be proud of!  After church on Easter my Mom had some of her family over for dinner & that was also very nice and laid back.  Thanks everyone for making Easter such a beautiful weekend to remember this year!

Newest Addition

Well I have been deciding what to blog about for the past week & nothing was a fit.  I thought about blogging about how I am feeling, how our days are going, maybe how I meal plan for the whole month but thought "no, do people really care?" but I guess the thing is that the people who read this might be the only people who actually do care! Anyways this morning I realized what I would post about it & it is this beauty!

Here it is!  Last week when dying Easter egg's I told Dusty to go get the camera to get some pictures of the kids, he got the camera and it made this "crank, crank" noise.  Dusty said "I am just going to throw it away!" I literally gasped! I thought no way! Anyways once we couldn't even get it to "crank, crank" it was destined for the trash, so out came its memory and into depths of the trash it went.

And we began to think about getting a new camera.  Dusty looked at a few & I thought "you know what, we keep buying these $200ish camera's every two years & they take junky pictures, I think we should take the plunge & upgrade!" I didn't tell him this :0)  I asked my dear facebook friends their opinions & then some family members, everyone said Canon Rebel.  My cousin sent me a link to the camera & it was $150 off the original price!!!  YAHOO!! I know some of you might think "$150 off? I wouldn't even pay that much for a camera!" But remember ours keep breaking so it was worth the investment & we made out with family that we would just prefer money for our birthdays (in May) & that will go towards the camera :0)  So on Good Friday we went out & bought it & Dusty has played with it everyday since...

Here are some Easter Egg dying pictures (taken with my phone)...Next post will be our Easter weekend with our guests!!

Cheese! (don't mind me, I look pretty awful b/c I felt that way!)

In the middle of "checking" the eggs...this happened the whole time! We did 18 :0)

 

Hearts at Home

This past weekend I went to the Hearts at Home conference in Normal at ISU.  While I am not a big conference lover & probably wouldn't go back for at least a few years I still had a good time & learned some useful things!  A group of 8 of us went and piled into Fawn's van bright & early Saturday morning.  I loved the group of girls I was with, some I knew, some I kinda knew & some I had never met before!  The group consisted of Fawn, Brook, Aly, Shelley, Courtney, Kim, Lindsey & myself - our connection? CBS!  Oh how I have loved meeting new friends & growing closer to Jesus at the same time, I love CBS! :0)  Anyways Back to the conference...

The opening was by Jill Savage & a few things I learned from that were:

• Stretch marks are a badge of honor from having children! (this was funny & encouraging to me as baby #3 will only create more & deepen the ones already there)
• There is no ENVIABLE life
• Don't compare yourself to others because while comparing yourself to someone else someone is always being put down, whether it is you or the other person (I didn't learn this there but it reminded me of it)

Session #1 Living w/ Less So Your Family Has More - Jill Savage (again...)
 -----note: this was by far my least favorite & most disappointing.  Why?  Because I expected it to be about "wordliness" and how we don't need all the stuff we have (tv, excessive money (we don't have this lol) new cars, clothes & etc.) instead it was about having less stress (which I don't have much of) less activities (we don't have this either, kids are too young) & less money (this wasn't addressed)  So what did I learn from this?

• What is the opposite of Poverty???  Initially lets be honest all or most of you think wealth/rich, am I right?  Well what was eye opening to me was that the opposite of poverty isn't being crazy rich it is ENOUGH.  Enough is the opposite of poverty, enough money, enough food, enough clothes - not an excessive amount just enough.  I loved that & unfortunetly that's about all I liked...

Session #2 When You Feel Like Screaming!!!
 I had to sneak into this class because it was too full when I signed up & oh I loved this one!! So many great tips & tools! Note: Screaming can also mean - flipping out, yelling, snapping & etc. it was just the word used for the topic.

• Screaming is a rut/habit - You can to work on making it NOT a habit
• Most likely to scream when - overwhelmed, tired, stressed, LATE & not feeling well
• Least likely to scream when - rested, calm, getting things done these next two made me laugh....when the kids are cooperating & when people are around
• How can you become confident & controlled instead???
• Plan every commitment (laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping, gym, doctor EVERYTHING)
• Figure out what could be the one thing that tips you over the edge (don't add to an already busy day just say NO)
• Have a break & hiding place
• Clear expectations & clear consequences (I have started doing this)
• Set a timer at dinner time when Oliver isn't eating & tell him that he has xx minutes to finish his food, if the the timer goes off he has to go to time out & then we repeat...So far the timer has worked EVERY time..  She suggested this for cleaning, chores & etc. but we used it for what was needed for us.

Session #3 The Magic of Parenting Preschoolers

• Preschoolers don't think logically they think magically (imagination)
• What is imaginary is more real than what is actually real
• I learned that trying to reason with Oliver that monsters don't exist isn't calming his fear so I let him believe the good monsters stay & the bad monsters go to Great Grandmas where they get put into a DIRT PIT COVERED with GRASS, WATER & DIRT! I have no clue where he got this but that's okay because it keeps him feeling safe :0)

Session #4 Seven Habits of Highly Effective Moms

• 3 Spledid Truths to lean into
• There is NO perfect to achieve
• Great moms don't happen on accident (it takes work!)
• God has your back
• Seven Habits
• Put themselves 1st when it comes to spiritual development (fit your day around God)
• Engage in a spiritual walk that has little to do with being a wife or a mom
• Have a team of support (husband, friends, mentor etc.)
• They continue to invest in who they were BEFORE they were a mom
• They develop their mom finesse & resilence (mom skills, invite another person to speak into you & encourage you)
• They keep their sense of humor (see the funny vs. the frustrating)
• They parent with the end in mind (today is just a snap shot, building leaders, moms &dads of tomorrow & never give up)

And then it concluded with a testimony from Candace Cameron (you know DJ from Full House) it was good & encouraging also.

Then we headed to dinner & dessert & back home to Peoria.  It was such a blessing to get out with other mom's having struggles also.  I came back with new tools to use in my home & refreshed mind set!

I hope you will be hearing of me more!!!  Until next time - Hugs!

ps - spell check isn't working, sorry!

Happy 4th of July!!!

Yes this is VERY late.  However it was such a great night that I must post on it!

Dad treated us to a wonderful 4th of July!  Last year after leaving and being stuck in traffic for 3 hours with a 1 month old and not quite 2 yr old I had said we should try to rent a room at Embassy Suites.  Well Dusty looked into it & it was not doable for us.  But about 2 weeks before the 4th Dad called and asked if that was something we would be interested in.  I said YES!!!

We were allowed to invite 2 guests with us so we invited David & Steph Sceggel and it was great to have them along!  Isaac & Alex invited Tyler & Laura & then Mom and Dad were there as well.  We wished Ryan & Alyssa could have been there but things don't work out quite as you wish sometimes, either way it was fun!

Embassy Suites had lots to offer:
Dinner (cookout & you could get as much as you wanted)
Unlimited Cotton Candy, Kettle Corn & an assortment of beverages :0)
Each person got a voucher for an Ice Cream cone also
There were inflatables for Oliver to play on
The best part was the fireworks though it was amazing!  It was one hot day so we were able to hang out in the air conditioning until right before it started then have a nice seat & when they were over we said goodbye to our guests walked up stairs and took a shower - it was LUXURIOUS!

And of course there was Face Painting (free) So here are some pictures, unfortunately I don't have a lot but I do have some cute ones!

Mommy & Gia after face painting.  Gia was a Kitty Cat with only the ears , she was screaming too bad & they said she couldn't get anymore done... :0)

Oliver decided he wanted to be a Tiger & then later Nana got her face painted and Oliver wanted her to be a Tiger also, so she did :0)  I am not sure what Alex is trying to convey here but its cute.

I post this because it is good of Oliver but because the similarities between Alex & Mom and very similar here just with the lower portions of their faces...I never thought they really looked alike until now...

Our beautiful family of 4!  Dusty didn't want to get her face painted

Lastly a great picture of U. Alexander and Oliver

Stay-cation

Last weekend we were suppose to go up to Wisconsin & visit Ryan & Alyssa, Abe & Charlie for the weekend & a little mini vacation.  Dusty was looking forward to this sooo much!  However Gia got sick on Tuesday & on Wednesday she was still sick with a 103 temp.  Wednesday she was only AWAKE for 5 hours...So we made the executive decision that we needed to stay home even if her fever was gone on Thursday (we were going to leave that day).

Instead of going to WI I tried to make it a fun weekend at home, hence Stay-cation!  On Friday Dusty got up with the kids and made yummy Pillsbury Orange Rolls, Oliver came up to announce to me that there weren't any left for me :0)  Funny thing is, there never are any left :0)  After Gia took her morning nap we went and grabbed some subs & chips from Jimmy Johns and then headed to the Peoria Zoo.

Eating out Jimmy John's.  Yes Oliver is saying "CHEESSSSEEE!"

Gia saying "Cheese!" she looks kinda funny here but oh well :0)

Daddy & Gia walking while Oliver & Mommy finish lunch.

They have a new Australian Walk Through exhibit and part of it is you go into a cage with birds and feed them.  Oliver loved this...They said next year they are going to charge people for this but for now they are trying to train the birds to land on the sticks & eat the food.

Reaching high

Got one!

Visiting with the Tiger

 After the zoo we headed home and the kids took naps & I headed up to Mom Funk's yarn shop to work on a vest I had been making while dusty relaxed on the couch. That night was so beautiful out that we decided to get our "fire pit" out and roast marshmallows and have S'mores.  At that point Dusty decided that him & Oliver were going to camp out that night.  The day before I had brought up a little tent from the basement for Oliver & Gia to play with & it ended up in Oliver's rooms, he takes his naps there and sleeps there ever since - I need to get a picture!  So we knew he would LOVE sleeping in "The Big Tent".

Oliver liked his not cooked but on the stick

Dusty eating his delicious S'more

Getting ready for bed!  I brought out a matching card game for them & they played that then watched a Diego episode on the KindleFire & then went to bed.

 The next morning the boys got up at 7:30, yes Oliver did sleep the whole night in the tent & he did great!  We got up & made breakfast & while breakfast was baking we got ready to head to Forest Prairie Part? I believe that is what it is called.

Adding the fresh fruit to the bowl.  We also had yummy coffee cake!

Starting off on the trail.  Little did we know it was actually the Hike for Hunger so it was  a pretty busy morning on the trail.

Gia preferred to walk

Waving Hi!

This was our view of her most the time, she did SO GOOD!

This was Oliver's means of transportation.  He did not want to walk, although we did make him for at least half the time  :0)

Relaxing back at the end!

And this concludes our Stay-cation.  Because along with staying at home is work!  That day I mowed, I haven't done that since for Gia's birthday, that is how dry it has been! And we started re-doing the Guest bedroom by taking the wall paper border down.  The room was bright yellow with a border then under the border it was stripes of bright green & blue...very ugly!  Dusty brought the steamer in to take down the border & Oliver walked in and said "No!  Daddy, that's Mama's (grandma) room!!!" he was quite upset but we assured him that she would like this better :0)

Even though we had a nice weekend we were still bummed we didn't get to go to WI.  But in 3 weeks (or 4) we will be heading up!  Sorry it has taken me so long to update!

Hugs!