Jenny

This is our dear friend Jenny:

We all love Jenny, she's one of those girls you just can't help but be in a great mood around.

And someday, we really hope we can manage to bring her out of her shell...

Gotcha Rachel!

Our dear friend Rachel has a knack for catching us in, well, interesting and amusing pictures (see here and here); that is until we all got our own cameras...

That is freaking hilarious!!

What? Kelly is taking my picture??


Very funny Kelly...and this is why I am always the one taking pictures...

Pumpkin Carving - 2009

Pumpkin carving in our house is a Daddy thing. Mommy does the decorating, but Daddy does the carving. Really, not only am I not strong enough to cut through these things, but Daddy is SO much more creative than I am at this activity!

I was worried this year that Sammie was not going to allow it though, since the entire evening leading up to this point she informed me she didn't want us to cut up her pumpkins...

She anxiously waited...

Nathan likes to take his carving seriously...


While Daddy and Sammie went to work on the first pumpkin, Brenna decided to keep pumpkin number two company...and eat some newspaper...

I came downstairs after putting Brenna to bed to find the finished product on my table like this...Nathan was surprised I found this funny...

When it came time for pumpkin number two, Sammie wanted to be more hands on...Daddy told her when they cut his head off, they were going to pull his brains out...She looks pretty excited, doesn't she??

I thought Sammie wouldn't like the digging in the pumpkin part, but as it turned out, she thought it was a lot of fun!

The finished product!

The next morning on the way out the door, Sammie stopped to show off her hard work to Brenna and said "Look Brenna, Daddy and I carved up the pumpkins, we took the brains out and everything!" Nice...

Bundles of Babies - October 2009

For the first time since May, we had all five baby girls at the same location once again. This time though, they are all mobile, so getting them to sit still for a picture was just not going to happen. Catching them on the fly was not easy either!

From left to right: Jenna in the pink, Maddie in the purple and white, Brenna in Black and white, Carli Grace in purple plaid, and Avah in the white and jean skirt. Evidently, they were attacking Ben and Bridget's spare computer...(at least we hope it was the spare!)

Brenna: Let me show you how this works ladies, my daddy's in computers!


Brenna: Who me?? Nothing mommy...

Brenna: Come on mommy, could a face like this be up to no good??

Avah: Don't mind us, we're just getting this box ready for Brenna with her monitor...

Can we get all five of them in the same shot??? (since having them sit still in a row is not an option!) Umm...no, three and a half it would seem...

Jenna: Finally! I have it all to myself!

Trunk or Treat

This past weekend we had "Trunk or Treat" at Nathan's dad's church. Unfortunately, we were rained out of the outdoor fest, but everyone moved inside and we still had a fantastic time!

This year we have a beautiful (blonde) Snow White...

And an adorable little bumble bee...

Brenna had some fun with Daddy while Sammie "Trunk or Treat"-ed her way around the room...

She looked just like a little angel...

And then not so much...

Aunt Dee and Uncle Howard came to visit and see the little ones all dolled up...

Grandpa, Weta, and their granddaughters...

We also enjoyed the company of Nathan's step-sister, Jessica, and her two boys, Benjamin (who is a month older than Sammie) and David (who is about two months old now).

Several people agreed that the cutest kids there just happened to be Grandpa's and Weta's grandkids, however, I failed to get a picture of all four of them, so these two will just have to do!

Handsome Daddy

A month or so ago, Nathan came downstairs all dressed in his shirt and tie for work, looking particularly sharp and I said "oh, Sammie, doesn't Daddy look handsome?" To which she laughed and said "no, Mommy!!"

This morning on our way out the door (Nathan had already left for work), Sammie announced to Brenna and I that Daddy had bought her "white cheese (string cheese) from the store". I said "well that was nice of Daddy, he's a good Daddy, isn't he?"

Sammie responded by saying "he's the best daddy in the whole world and back". I agreed and then she said with her bashful smile "And Mommy? He's handsome too...".

Payback

Every now and then, a really, really good prank comes along. And my husband considers himself pretty good at pulling pranks. He can tell this story much better than I can, but I’ll do my best…

It was about five years ago, around Halloween time, and all the movie channels were playing scary movies. It was a dreary Friday and I was tired from the week, so I came home and took a nap in our room for about an hour (this is before we had children and lost the ability and time to nap). When I woke up I was watching some scary movie on TV and then got up in my still sleepy state to check my e-mail on the computer in the den.

Nathan, my loving, dear, husband asked me if I had checked out his “optical illusion” e-mail yet. After telling him no, he encouraged me to do so and stealthily turned the volume all the way up on our computer speakers and told me he was going downstairs to make dinner. “Yeah, ok, be down in a minute…”

So there I sit, staring intently at two ships on a river cutting through two mountains, leaning into the computer screen, trying to figure out what is the difference between them…Then…

WHAMO!!!!!

A demon face starts flashing in and out on the screen in the midst of blood curdling screams coming out of the speakers at their top volume!!!!!!!!

I scream, fall out of the chair trying to get away from the computer and as I turn to run out of the room there is my husband peering at me from the door frame in anticipation and when he saw how absolutely freaked I was, started to reach out for me which only made me cower to floor in tears.

It was a sight, he thought I was having a heart attack I was so scared, and I had never in my life been that terrified…

Now that it’s all over, he likes to make fun of me, sort of beat his chest on the great accomplishment that he made in getting me. So, it may take me time…but sooner or later, I do get my payback, and it came…today.

A friend of mine at work e-mailed me the clip I attached below. After it scared me, I lovingly sent it on to my husband. He called me later and I casually asked him if he’d seen it, he said no, I said I think it’s a big hoax personally, and then promptly muted the call so he couldn’t hear me giggling…

So he continues to talk to me as he watches, and then…

WHAMO!!!!

He screamed into the phone and I could hear him jump!!!

Did I mention that he was at work??

Ahhhh….sweet, sweet revenge…even he had to laugh that I had finally gotten him back…

I love you honey, thank you for being such a good sport!!