Weekend with Kaelobbe

Since we had one last long weekend before Matt went back to school, we decided to "kidnap" our nephew Kaelobbe from Indy for the weekend. Our favorite little buddy was stuck at home, while his sister and younger brother were spending time with Grandma & Grandpa in Quincy (since he had to go to school), so Matt surprised him by showing up at his house to bring him back here! I wish I could have seen his face, but apparently the look was complete shock. :0)

We started off our spoiling session... I mean weekend... with some pizza and Super Nintendo on Friday night, followed by a trip to the store at a time waaaay past bedtime... I shouldn't be saying this...no one will let me babysit ever again! He got to sleep in on Saturday, and he's 7, so it was fine. :) Such a bad influence!

Saturday was a day full of fun, and wore Matt and I out! We went to lunch at McD's so Kaelobbe could play at playland, and then headed for Kaelobbe's favorite place- the bowling alley! Every time we come to visit, going bowling is all he talks about, so I thought this would be perfect.

Look at the concentration! So serious! Isn't he cute?

Pondering his approach

The running start

The pitch

Watching the ball go into the gutter... :0(

Bummer! Oh, man!

A few frames later, he recovers nicely from the gutter ball, with a....

SPARE!! Hooray!

As you can see, our first game was great for Matt and Kaelobbe...not so much for me! What does that say about my bowling skills when I get beat by a 7 year old?!?!

After bowling, we went to the mall to let Kaelobbe burn up some more energy at the play area. He found a friend and they chased each other for almost 45 minutes, playing tag. Then we decided to play some Skee ball at the mall arcade (only 25 cents per game!), and Kaelobbe won a pocket full of candy.

We headed home for some dinner, and then snuggled up together on the couch to watch Indiana Jones. Kaelobbe spent most of the movie in my lap- he's the best cuddler! (and I love it!)

On Sunday, we brought him to church with us, which served to confuse several people, since he looks just like he could be ours! The weekend ended much too soon, and we drove to Crawfordsville, IN to meet his parents.

In our Sunday best

We had a blast with our buddy and love him lots!! He is welcome to come and stay anytime!

New Year, New US!!

I have been on a blogging break for quite a while now, so I decided to post an update. Plus, I am avoiding the work that may keep me up all night...what's another 15 minutes?!

We had a busy Holiday season! We left on Christmas Eve (since the roads were terrible the day before) for my parent's house, and celebrated Christmas with them this year. My mom made an awesome meal, as always, and we played games and just had a blast. The next day, we headed out for Matt's parent's house, leaving the cats with my parents- they love to cat-sit! We spent the weekend with Matt's family, eating lots of great food (they really know how to have a feast!), playing games, and laughing.

We came home for a few days, since I had to go back to work, then we decided to ring in the New Year with Matt's sister and her family in Indy, since most of Matt's Family were there too. We had so much fun, and got to celebrate Kaelobbe's birthday with them too. We headed back home again on New Year's Day, and got home just as my brother pulled into town from South Carolina! We visited with him and he headed for the Quad Cities to pick up his wife on Friday. We spent the weekend with them at my parent's house, and time went by way too fast. I cherish every moment I get with my brother, since he is in the Navy, and I only usually get to see him about once a year, for only a few short days.

Anyway, things have now calmed down a bit. Matt worked the Illinois High School Theatre Festival at the Krannert last week, which, we calculated, ended up being 85 hours of work in 6 days! The extra money will be nice though, and he had fun, for the most part.

We decided to rearrange some things in our house, and moved Matt's office into the spare room with mine, and moved our elliptical into his old office, where the extra TV is! It is so nice to be able to have the TV as a distraction while exercising! And I have actually been exercising!!! Okay, it has only been 2 days so far, but I'm off to a good start. I wish I had before pictures, but here's the after:

I have extra motivation to get fit, as I am going to be running a 5k in April in the Christie Clinic/Illinois Marathon. Relax, it's only a bit over 3 miles, I'm not crazy! But I am excited, and Matt is going to run with me. Such a good hubby. :0)

We've been trying to eat healthier as well, and here's one example. I made some awesome salads for dinner tonight, and they were yummy and good for us!
Doesn't that look delicious? Here's to sticking to a goal... Hope you all are doing well with your New Year's plans!

A weekend in Indy

I spent last weekend in Indy with Matt's sister and her family, to help them out with their new baby boy! Needless to say, I got my baby fix! And there are few things that make me happier than hanging out with the older kids... what can I say? I love them! I only wish our other nephews and niece were closer than Utah...

Their oldest, Kaelobbe, is 7, the age of nothing but awkward smiles! :)

Brieanna, 5, was hoping for a baby sister, but is happy to play mommy's helper for her new baby brother.
Jonathan, 2, was not feeling well when I was taking these, can you tell? This was the closest thing to a smile I could get! He felt good enough to swipe cookies from the counter though! If you look close, there's cookie crumbs on his bowtie!

I had to put up one more pic of our newest cutie, Cristian! He was wide awake, enjoying cuddle time with his favorite aunt! :) Okay, his other aunts are great too!

More babies!

Our newest nephew, Cristian, born Dec 10th!! I spent last weekend with my sis-in-law, her 3 other kids, and this cutie pie. Let's just say there was LOTS of baby cuddling for this proud auntie!

My Birthday Present

Birthdays tend to be less exciting the older we get...

This year, however, I had a nice surprise! This cutie now shares my birthday!

Happy Belated Birthday, Clayton!!

Fun with Clarissa

Clarissa came to visit me and the "kitties" while her mom was at the doctor. We had a good time chasing the "kitties!" (much to their dismay)

For some reason, Clarissa has always loved our kitty condo. From the time she started walking, she has been trying to climb on it. She sat up there and enjoyed some Diego cartoons.

Look at that face! I'm happy for this sweetie to visit me anytime!

Just a post-election thought...

I found this great quote following a link on a friend's blog. I think that it is something that can comfort those, especially some Christians, who are very upset by the results of the the election. I think that it reminds us how to put things in perspective. Enjoy!

"Confirm it in your heart and soul that the day after the election, God is still on His throne, and Jesus is still at His right hand. Certain things are not on the ballot, and the sovereignty of God is not.
When Christians react to elections with despair and panic, they are demonstrating that their faith is in the wrong place. If the election goes badly, do not soak your hair with lighter fluid, set it off, and then run in tight, little circles. Be a Christian. If the election goes well, do not act like you have just been saved. Salvation is not something that Caesar holds in his hand, whether to give or withhold."
- Douglas Wilson (ht: inWorship/JoshuaBlankenship)

Wedding Congrats... a bit late

Our friends Alex and Leah were married about two weeks ago, and we are so happy for them! Their little daughter, Dayaneira, is my buddy, and I love to get my baby fix when I visit them.


Leah and I have been friends since we moved here, I met her during the short time that I was working at the mall.

So, congrats to the happy family! We love you guys!

Our girls

It has been two years now since we rescued our girls from the Humane Society shelter, and we couldn't be happier to share our home with them.


Patches is our calico cuddler. Her favorite place to be is in one of our laps, even when there's a laptop there.
Lucy was just a little kitten when we brought her home, but as you can see she is huge now! She is quite independent and very verbal, but is still a bit of a "momma's girl."

Autumn in the "Woods"

Last weekend, we decided to take a Sunday afternoon dirve out to Lake of the Woods park in Mahomet. It was a beautiful fall day, so we took the camera along to capture a bit of it.

There is a lovely covered bridge along the way through the park.

The trees were showing all of their fall glory and the colors were wonderful!

There is a beautiful Japanese garden with a lovely pond filled with Koi goldfish, and is traversed by this great bridge.

This time of year always makes me feel like a kid again, there are not many things I like better than tromping through the crunchy fallen leaves! (and maybe even lying a pile of them!)