Spring has finally Sprung!!

It has been awhile since the last post, so this one will probably be a long one, just warning you. Spring has finally arrived here...see picture. The temps have warmed up and the kids are outside every chance they get. We have been pretty busy, especially the last couple of weeks. There are many nights where David gets home and I immediately leave for something. It seems like lately all we do is say hi and bye to each other!!




Grandma and Grampa Blaisdell came for a visit and the we had a great time with them. They helped finish a bunch of small projects around the house that needed to be finished and I am so grateful for their help. Thanks mom and dad. We drove down to Amish country for one of the days and got some great baked goods, yummy!! I got to go shopping for ME with my mom, which was a great treat. I even found some shorts, pants and shirts to buy, yippee!!!

Katelyn started soccer and really enjoys it. The games are rather entertaining, but as long as they have fun, that is what is most important. She is not very aggressive and tends to stay outside of the pack. She looks like she is dancing around the field at times instead of playing soccer!! I hate to admit it, but I am embarrassed for her sometimes because she is so funny to watch.

But hey, most of us probably were the same way and I am trying to remember that the purpose is just to have fun for now!

Maya started sleeping through the night (cue the Hallelujah chorus please!!). I have no idea why she chose now, and we have done nothing different, but she finally sleeps all night. Yeah!!!!! Sleep is such a wonderful thing. She has no teeth yet and has yet to roll over, I think the doctor may get on my case at our next appt, but oh well. She just loves to sit up and watch. She hates her tummy. She loves real food and has gotten very good at feeling herself Kix and such.

Jacob loves to be outside and to swing on the swingset. He learned how to "pump" by himself, which gives mom a nice break from having to push him!! He still loves to mow the lawn and said he wants to be a "mow lawner" when he grows up. He recently got a blister on his foot, or in his words a "blizzard that boomed (popped)" He used a lot of bandaids trying to make it feel better. We are currently working on getting him potty trained, ugh, double ugh. I hate potty training. But since he will be 4 years old in about 7 weeks, I figured the task could no longer be put off :) Wish us luck.

Happy Easter....Cleveland Style!?!

So, it was Easter and it is almost April, but it sure doesn't feel like it here in Cleveland!! But we had a good holiday anyway.

We had a storm come through and left us with this Easter treat on Saturday. I think we got about 4 inches of the white stuff. The paper said this has been the snowiest March on record!!

After David finished shoveling the driveway, he left a little message on the front lawn.

We colored eggs Saturday afternoon and the kids had a blast. And I have no idea why Katelyn felt the need to wear earmuffs for the project.

Katelyn had a hard time trying to decide which color to do next.

Jacob was disappointed when we ran out of eggs.

For the last week, Jacob has been asking everyday if it was Easter, so he was so happy when Easter finally came. David had early meetings at the church so he missed the festivities. But Katelyn said they couldn't find all the plastic eggs until the afternoon, so they only found the "real eggs" before church and found the others after, when David was home. A family in the ward invited us over for dinner and I was so glad I did not have to cook,although really David probably would have ended up doing the dinner!! We only had to take a dessert and then we also made Jell-o eggs (like jigglers, but shaped like eggs).

Due to his diabetes, we got the kids more tangible things (i.e. toys) instead of a lot of candy. Jacob had been asking for a new "mow lawner" so that is what the Easter bunny brought for him. He spent all day Sunday, mowing inside the house!! Love the bedhead hair:)

Katelyn had been asking for some new baby dolls. She got twins!!! And she got the movies "Enchanted" and "Charlotte's Web."

I wanted to get some pictures of the kids in their clothes before church, because after church would be impossible. But they weren't exactly cooperative. Maya was not happy (and was looking at her siblings like they were crazy!) and Jacob kept making funny faces. Katelyn kept freaking out because she was trying to keep Maya on the stool and she was afraid she was going to fall. This is the best I got, but when I looked at them all together, they really made me laugh, especially Jacob. He just can't seem to do a "normal smile" for pictures nowadays:) And yes, he does go to church with his tie on the outside of his sweater. He won't let me fix it, but he will let dad fix it when we get to church.

Aftermath of the March Blizzard

For those of you who do not live in Northeast Ohio, on March 7-9 we had a blizzard. It snowed for 36 hours straight. Where we live, we ended up getting 21 inches of snow. The city pretty much shut down!! While it was snowing, it was also very windy, so it was funny to see where the snow ended up. It also made some really cool designs. Here are the pictures, I hope you enjoy them. And of course, it took about 11 days for the snow to finally melt away, but then it snowed again last night.....sigh. But I have heard birds during the day, so spring is on its way!!

Just for Laughs!!

As I have been looking at other people's blogs and then at ours, I realize that I have really only posted about my kids. So, I am going to try to post a few more things about me and David. The inspiration for today's post comes from a book we are reading with Katelyn. We have been reading the Junie B. Jones series with Katelyn at night and they are hysterical! I know a kids book isn't that intellectually stimulating, but every time I read it to her, it just makes me laugh so hard. The way things are described is absulutely hilarious and I actually look forward to reading it to her. The other night, I thought the chapter I read was so funny, I brought it down and read it to David!! He didn't laugh as much as me, but if you want a good laugh and something quick and fast to read, try one out. The pic is the one we just finished reading.

Isn't She Lovely.....

I never wanted to be one of those parents that went on and on and gushed about how cute and how great their kids were, but I just can't help it!! I just think these pictures of Maya are so darn cute!! I know, every parent thinks their own kid is the cutest and I am no exception (except for those days when Katelyn dresses herself and uses her oh-so-unique sense of fashion!! Or when Jacob won't let me comb his bed-head hair).

Chatting with Maya

Maya is always doing this thing where she opens and closes her mouth, but no sound is coming out. In person it is really funny. So, I took this video the other day when she was doing it and then she babbled a little bit too. And since I think she is so cute, I just had to share it!! Enjoy!!

Playing in the Snow

Jacob and Katelyn love to play outside, whether it is hot or freezing cold, they love to play outside. They really love to play in the snow. I am always amazed that they can stay out there for so long playing without getting too cold. So, of course during the lastest snow dump, they wanted to go out and play. Jacob was pushing his mower, just like he always does. He loves that mower and never misses a chance to go outside and mow!!

March came in like a Lion...

February ended with bang here in Ohio, with a huge snow storm and now March has come in like a lion. On Monday, it was really nice and sunny. We got up to about 55 degrees and almost all of the snow melted. It was so great to see the sun and feel some warmth. It was only a little taste of spring though. Because on Tuesday, it was a different story- there was lots of freezing rain and ice and then snow to top it all off. Here are the pictures from the latest storm (you might have to open the pics bigger to be able to really see the layer of ice that was coating everything). It looks really cool, but it was sure yucky during it. They even cancelled school on Wednesday. In the last month, we have had 5 snow days!!! It is crazy and now as I look out the window.....it is snowing again. I think we are supposed to get 6 more inches today!!

And an inch to grow on...

Maya is exactly 6 weeks older than her cousin, Jordan. When Jordan was only 1 week old, I took a picture of them laying next to each other. Maya, of course, looks huge compared to Jordan. This past weekend Jordan was at our house for a visit and we took another picture of the two babies next to each other. What a difference 6 months can make!!!

Sittin' Pretty

Maya is officially upright, sitting up that is!! She actually started sitting by herself about 3 weeks ago, but I am slow at getting this up :) Below are the pictures for proof. She really likes sitting up too. Now if we can just get her to roll over.....

Gong Xi Fa Cai!!

Last Saturday night we had a Chinese New Year party for some friends from David's work. We decorated the house and made lots of food. Of course, I forgot to take pictures of the decorations. But I did get pics of the kids and you can kind of see some of the decorations in the background. We all dressed up too, in outfits we got when we went to Singapore. David even made Chinese Dumplings from scratch and sticky rice cake for dessert. We did steamboat for the main dish and also had rice, sweet and sour meatballs and the dumplings. Everything tasted great. We even had a tray of plenty, with the traditional things on it. We had gone to some Asian markets and gotten some candy and other stuff. Then we had a Chinese New Year Quiz and we gave each person a print out of their Chinese zodiac. All in all, it was a good time!!

Ride-a-Cock-Horse (or bouncy seat)

Maya has always loved the bouncy seat. I borrowed one from a friend of mine so that I could have more than one. And she especially loves the one I borrowed. She figured out awhile ago that if she kicks her legs that she can make the seat bounce. And she kicks and kicks and kicks to make it bounce. She really gets the thing bouncing!! So, here is a video of her bouncing and talking to us. Warning: It might make you seasick!!

Our Brazilian Baby

Maya received this outfit from Grandma and Grandpa Bertasso,who are in Brazil on a mission. I just thought she looked so cute in the pics and had to share them. The one with her tongue out is her new thing that she does. She is constantly sticking it out half-way. It is not the most flattering thing she does, but it is so cute!!

Giving this blog thing a try!!

So, David was the one who set up this blog and I figured that he could be the one to do all of the writing. But I have found that I want to be able to add my own thoughts, so I am learning the ropes. I am somewhat afraid to do this, because David is the better writer and I am worried that my posts will all be really boring. But then again, maybe my personality is boring and so that is why. (You know how when people write, it reads/sounds just like they talk? Well, maybe my writing is boring, because I am boring!! ahhhh!!!!) I guess I will just have to get over it, right?!! So, sorry if my posts are boring, I am going to try to make them as entertaining as possible. Then again, most of my posts will be about my kids, since I think they are so cute and funny. So, I hope you enjoy. ( I use the word "so" a lot, huh?!!)

First race of the year

I did compete in a race on New Year's Day in Boise. It was 18 degrees at the starting line, and there was still some snow and ice on the course. Luckily, no falls or frostbite! I ended up finishing in 25:35 -- not great, but not awful for a pace. It will certainly give me something to improve on this year. (And I did place second in my age group! I wonder if that just means I am getting old!)

Results are here (for overall) and here (by age group), and pictures (if you really want to buy one of me) are here - I was bib number 108. Feel free to post the results from your first race of the year in the comments.

Year in Review - 2007

Rather than write a really long letter in our Christmas cards, we decided to give the whole year in review here. (That way you only have to read it if you really want to.)

And rather than post the whole thing in the blog here, we created pages for each month. Just click the links below to read about each month (and see the pictures). Comments are welcome!

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September (coming soon)
October (coming soon)
November (coming soon)
December (coming soon)

Christmas treats

We followed our custom of making Christmas treats to share with friends. (We did try something new - toffee - this year. It was a complete disaster though, so we didn't share it, or post the recipe here.) Some have asked for the recipes. We decided the best way to do that was to post them here. Enjoy them!

Chocolate Oat Bars
Fantasy Fudge
Rocky Road Fudge
Almond Joys / Mounds
Peppermint Bark
Keep Forever Gingerbread Cookies
Buckeyes (coming soon)
Cranberry Orange bread (coming soon)

Dinner, ogre style

For dinner we took a trip to the swamp and had a "Shrek" dinner. This included:

• lily-pads (spinach tortillas)
• swamp water with tadpoles (sugar-free green jello with shredded apples)
• rocks (rolls)
• frog eggs (peas)
• mealy worms (brown rice)
• fried frog legs (strips of chicken, marinated with green food coloring, oil, vinegar, garlic and basil)

The kids weren't completely sure at first, but eventually decided it tasted pretty good. Katelyn even wanted leftovers the next morning! See more pictures of the food here.

An open challenge

Over the last 18 months, David has been involved with fitness challenges at work. The results is being in much better shape, and having caught the running / racing bug again. I will be starting the new year by running a race on New Year's Day. Then I will try to race at least once a month. This is an open invitation to all to join in the racing. Almost every city has a race on New Year's Eve or Day -- so sign up!

I will post the results of my races here -- please feel free to comment with your results!

Merry Christmas!

We hope everyone had a great Christmas! We are enjoying the time together as a family. We are also happy with the chance to see and visit with other family members. Have a great new year! (Year in review posts will be available shortly!)