Grandpa, Snow, and bake at 350 for 4 hours

Last week my Dad came through town for about 24 hours. There are not many in life so dear as this man. It was such a treat to have him and I love knowing that when he is holding my girls he is praying like crazy for them. We are so blessed to have such Godly grandparents for our babies!

Well here it is, folks, our first day of snow. I'm from Texas, so give me awhile on the "zipping up the whole coat, gloves, etc." part.

So last night I made chocolate chip cookies to take to bible study. But not this tray. This tray I just left in the oven to cook the whole time we were AT bible study. Mmmmmm! Thank you Lord for sparing us from a flood AND a fire!

Our friends Andrew and Nicole came over for brunch and I convinced Mark to use the Dom whatever that's been in our fridge for the entire time I've known him to make mimosas. I explained to him that obviously we have nothing large enough to celebrate so we might as well just mix it with some oj and have a nice treat. We took a picture to document the momentous occasion.

The 7 Things, Thing

Nobody really tagged me, except for in elementary school when I ALWAYS got tagged because I'm not very athletic. Anyway, I just wanted to put up a new post because I'm regretting that morning picture below. :)

1. I'm ridiculously boring. I'd like to just sit on the couch with a Diet Coke and a magazine and snacks (and preferably someone I like to be with) than just about anything else. Throw in an occasional shopping excursion and restaurant and it would be dreamy. (Not that I don't LOVE my life right now, but I'm just saying)

2. I have a great fear of running out of staples. Those include Diet Coke, ingredients for chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter, and shredded cheese. Weird?

3. I have found the new greatest hair product ever, and I have tried almost all of them.
This stuff is so cool, it makes your hair feel kind of gritty so you can move it around and poof it up. Flat haired people would not care for it, but for me-flat hair=fat face. So I love it.

4. There is not a lot I do really well (reference aforementioned athleticism)...but I CAN spell. I won the spelling bee in 2nd and 3rd grade. Yep. That's right. I struggle with double letter words like embarrass and stuff, but other than that-if I see a word spelled wrong it makes me shudder. (thankfully, when in doubt I have Abby and Katie to edit me :))

5. My two front teeth are fake.

6. I think Long John Silver's chicken planks are fabulous. Feel free to judge me.

7. See, I'm so boring I can't even think of a 7th thing. My oldest sibling is 19 years older, I make really good cookies, I don't wash my hair much, I don't know.

Hopefully I didn't spell anything wrong.

:)heidi

two babies...

I know there are people that have kids a lot closer than I did...(my sister in law has 2 sets under a year!) but the reality of two little ones is that much of the time we are holding both of them! no stand up shots here, but you could ask the people at bath and body about my skills carrying two through retail outlets. :)

so thankful for our two precious babies...

(yep, i look good in the mornings.)

Tug of War (dog blog)

Not much to report lately...it's gotten cold, and we are either inside or at Target /Meijer. :)

Here is some of our inside entertainment. Thank goodness for our (extremely patient) dog!

City of Gas City City Hall

Over the weekend we had the opportunity to host a Taylor Alumni reception at our house. I am so thankful for Taylor, my husband (whom I did not actually really meet there, many would testify that is probably a good thing :)), my friends, and the friends who I gained after I left there!

HOW CUTE IS THIS LADY!!?? Gigi, class of 49, was decked out in her purple suit, retro Taylor t-shirt, and purple earrings. (not pictured: purple raincoat) I think she might have more energy than I do!

The President and First Lady: Gene and Marylou Habecker. What wonderful people! I am a little jealous of the current students for having such cool leadership. :)

Mark showing his extreme maturity during the school song..aptly named: "The Taylor Song". Um, fellow Trojans...does anyone know this song? Or did we all skip chapel that day??!!

Others in the room who were able to keep their composure during the acapella rendition.

We are truly blessed to have had such a wonderful Christian education, Godly friends, and fabulous college experience.*******


**********VERY BITTER ABOUT THE RECENT NEWS THAT THERE IS A SONIC IN MARION. STARBUCKS, SONIC, WHAT IS HAPPENING?????? THEY SHOULD SUFFER WITH ONLY IVANHOES AND HANDY ANDY LIKE WE DID.*****************

Other Moms...

Other Moms send out birth announcements and know when their kids roll over for the first time and the day they smiled. Not me. In fact any history I now know of Ava is because I can look on the blog. So there you go. We DID get Kaiya's picture taken as a newborn, something we didn't do with Ava. I figure they look so much alike I will just tell Ava some of them are her. She'll never know. :)

Since none of you will be receiving a birth announcement, here are some of the pictures. The ones with Ava-not so successful.

Hi Kaiya...

I really wish I could figure out how to get a video on here of Ava saying "Hi Kaiya". It's pretty much the cutest thing ever, and she says it close to 1,000 times a day.

I figured Kaiya had kinda gotten the shaft the last few posts, so here are some recent pictures!

Sooooo fortunate to have my friend April living close by! She is a lifesaver, and both girls love her. :)

we're still having fun...

Today is our 3 year anniversary. I know many (most) of you reading this have been married much longer than that. My parents 50, my sisters 25, my college friends 7..but don't belittle our three years.

In three years we have lived in 2 states, had 2 kids (I have been pregnant 50% of our marriage), 1 dog, gained 20 pounds, consumed I don't even want to KNOW how much Diet Coke, and way too much fast food.

Mark went from Mr. Too Cool for School, to my husband who mostly wears mesh shorts-often with dress socks. Yet somehow, I still find him just irresistable.

So glad he is keeping me around! :)

Jack !

the ladybug ball

Does anybody know that song? Or is that just a "my parents were born in the 30's" thing? :)

Our cute ladybug playing in the leaves with Dad. (also in costume...because he bought all this cowboy stuff for a work thing 2 years ago and really needed to wear it again:))

Kaiya already has a cold, poor baby...so I couldn't put her thru the trauma of a costume. She was just a burrito.

This is Ava's new friend...our neighbor-Molly. They are still not sure about the friend thing, but it's really not an option because they live close, I love her Mom, and they are the same age. Better figure it out girls! Maybe next year they will smile.