Summer Pictures

I have never been good at having the boys pictures professionally taken. I have never religiously had monthly pictures done. I was lucky to have the twins taken at six weeks, and Greyson's newborn pictures and birth announcements were taken when the twins were turning one. Was I seriously supposed to haul all three kids to the mall with wardrobe changes and all just for some pictures? I think not! I have taken tons of pictures of them at home, and I like those better- for the most part!
When we moved back to Ozark, I made an appointment with Lauren. Lauren and I grew up together, and after becoming a newly wed, she decided to start a photography business. She does a great job, the boys loved her, and she has GREAT prices. Which to this mom, those three things are worth gold to me! I need to call and schedule to get our fall family pictures taken.... sad thing is.... this will be the first time all five of us have had a family picture taken. The last time was when I was seven months pregnant with Greyson! He looks at the picture hanging in the hall, and I have to explain that he was in my belly!

Hope you enjoy looking!

Dr's Appointments

This week not only have we been having Vacation Bible School at night, but I took all three boys for there "well baby" check ups. Since moving out of St Louis, I've been a bit to overwhelmed to even think about it. Acutally, I've thought about it a lot.... but I've also forgotten about it alot. Finding a new peditrician, finding a date that will work, forking out almost one hundred big ones in copays... it just didn't sound like fun.

We LOVE LOVE LOVEd our peditirician in St Louis. Dr Huger was like family, and treated us like family as well. It just so happened that when we thought we were going to be moving last September, Greyson had a "well baby" check. I dreaded the appointment. While I was so happy at the thought of moving, I forced Brandon to come with me to break the news and say a final goodbye to Dr Huger. She came into the room, the boys paniced for a minute, realized who she was and then she announced her wonderful news.... she was expecting twins! She couldn't wait to be able to come to me for mommy advice! I started tearing up and then told her that we would be moving. She started crying too. It was a very hormonal day at the office. While in the beginning of parenthood we sometimes thought, '' this is our child, and we don't agree with her'', we soon found out that she would take the most proactive steps when needed. By the time Greyson came along, we completely trusted every thing she did. She even kept the boys Christmas picture on her desk. I mean what peditirican does that?! So she had some very hard shoes to fill.

After turning to my friend on facebook for advice and recommendations, I think we have found an awesome replacement. We went with the office of Nixa Pediatrics and are seeing Dr Temofeew. He is great! He is so laid back, so full of knowledge, and the kids get a popsicle at the end of the visit. They love him, and pretend that they are Dr T. Two of the boys will lay on the couch while the other plays dr, and checks them out. In a way I wish that he would have had them from the get go, so we could have developed a relationship like we had with Dr Huger, but I can move past it!



On Monday Greyson had his appointment. It was a little rocky to say the least. We were ten minutes late, and then Grey screamed for the first ten minutes, while they checked his weight, height, and blood pressure. Greyson weighs 34lns 14oz , he is 36inches tall, and still has a huge head. Greyson is just about at the top of the precentile for weight and height. He has an excellent vocabulary and is a great helper. Dr T said he looked great. He is right on track for his growth and development.



On Wednesday Lincoln and Daniel had their appointments. We were only a couple of minutes late this time, but Greyson still screamed bloody murder until he realized that the nurse wasn't going to touch him. Lincoln weighs 37lbs, he is 37.5 inches tall. Daniel weighed in at 35lbs, and was 37.5 inches tall. Dr T said they both look great. I asked him about their speech development and what he would recommend. He said it was up to Brandon and I if we wanted to take them in for a speech evaluation or wait it out. He did recommend preschool, which we on currently on the waiting lists of several schools. Other than that, everything looked great and they are on track. The boys were just happy to get a popsicle!

While I was worn out, the boys were just getting started. They were ready to go out and about all day! We headed home, ate some lunch, took a nap and got ready for Bible School!

A Fun Filled Grandma Weekend!

This weekend we did a first for our family... we headed to the Springfield Discovery Center. We had such a good time!
To start the weekend off, Brandon's mom came into town for a weekend visit. We went to our favorite restaurant, Nakato's on Friday and then headed back to the house to digest. We pigged out at dinner! Saturday morning we were a little slow at getting around (nothing new around our house!), and couldn't really think of anything to do. It was way to hot to be outside, so we thought we would try out the DC. It was a success!

They loved dressing up!

Daniel worked very hard at matching the shapes

Greyson was the cutest little construction worker you've ever seen!

Grandma was excited to get to see the boys play and learn. At the top level was all scientific stuff. Like being able to look into microscopes, cell division and lots of other cool stuff. I could see it in Carol's face, that she can't wait until they are big enough to go exploring up there. Since she and Jeff (my father in law) are both bio chemist, she loves watching them learn anything about science!

After the DC, we were starving and the boys were on the verge of a complete blood sugar melt down. And trust me, those aren't pretty... especially when all three boys have a melt down at the same time. So we opted for lunch at Steak 'n Shake. YUMMY! We were in heaven with chocolate shakes and chicken and fries. It hit the spot.

We headed home for an afternoon snooze and to regroup on the evenings festivities. I was kinda prepared to cook a simple dinner, but we opted for pizza at Bud and Walt's and then headed to the park. Carol hasn't seen the boys since Mother's Day weekend, so she wanted to watch them be boys! After playing at the park for about an hour ( in which time we saw 3 other sets of twins), we headed back to the house for Saturday night bath time. Brandon gave the boys a bath, while I made no bake cookies and rice krispie treats and Carol and I visited. After we got the boys down for the night, the three of us pigged out on the sweets and watched Sweet Home Alabama. I love that movie!

On Sunday, Carol made the brave adventure to church with us. It is quite the fete watching us get ready on a Sunday morning. We just stayed for Sunday school and then headed out to lunch. We were all worn out from the weekend and a little hungry! We did carry out from Lambert's Cafe.... again yummy food! Brandon took care of the boys and Carol and I sat around the table and visited for over an hour before she decided to head home.

We are so glad that she came to visit us! We wouldn't have thought to go to the DC nor would we have had all the yummy food and good laughs! We hope Papa and Grandma can come back and visit soon!

Look at more pictures from our weekend!

They're Gone

In June our family found out some very disappointing news. Actually it was heart breaking and I kinda felt like I got the wind knocked out of me when I heard it. Some of my parents best friends, great family friends, christian mentors, and very special people to us... had made the decision to move from cozy Nixa, Missouri to San Diego,California. Can you say culture shock?!

I was on my way to a Thursday night Bible Study when Pam called to let me know. They feel that God is calling them to move, and develop better relationships with their family. (Not that they have bad ones, but living half way across the country... you get the picture!) While we will pray for them daily, our hearts break for the loss that we will experience. These are two of the kindest, God fearing, humble hearted people I have ever known.


Here are a few stories of how they have been there for my family:


After helping spending the entire day helping my mom, dad, and myself, move into our new house, Pam goes home and returns a hour later with a complete supper for us to eat. I'm not just talking about pizza from your local Pizza Hut... Pam had fresh steak to grill, baked potatoes and her delicious homemade salad. She made dinner while we were attempting to put together part of our rooms. It was amazing!

When Brandon and I announced our engagement, Pam immediately volunteered to help. I kinda new what I had in mind, so I talked it over, and she came up with the grand scheme of how it would all work. Pam ordered additional flowers for decorating and paid for them out of her own pocket. The day of the wedding- I was a completely stress free bride. With Pam's perfectionist personality, I knew she had thought of every detail. And she had.



Pam and Gene are complete givers. If they ever knew of someone in need, they will help them in any way they can. They are always willing to go the extra mile, and are constant prayer warriors. They are both so wise in the Bible and are great people to talk to about any problems.

I know that they will be missed by many many people. Last night, their final night in Missouri, they spent the evening finishing packing, went to dinner with my parents, and Beth and Gordon. I got to meet up with them for ice cream and good byes. It was so hard. It will be hard not seeing them one row in front of us at church, or getting to go to more women's conferences with Pam. But I know that they are doing what is best for them and most importantly they are doing what they feel God is telling them to do.

While it makes us sad, at least we have a good reason to go to California now!

Summer Reading

This year we participated in the Christian County Library's summer reading program. There were several different programs that you could choose to participate in. We chose "At the Rivers Edge" and "Pirates". So in June we headed to the library (aka: MiMi's Work) and learned about plants, how they grow, and even got to plant a green bean seed. The boys loved it. Miss Annie let them color pictures, play with dirt and use a squirt bottle to water the seed they had planted. They were in heaven. By the time we got home there was dirt in my car, and as soon the the door opened 2 out of the 3 plants ended up in the front yard. Oh well! They still had a great time, and learned a lot! Hopefully they can help me get rid of my black thumb! I kill every plant I get!

I was most excited about the Pirate Party day in July. Taking a little advice from my aunt Beth, I didn't tell the boys what we were doing until the night before. The twins had saw me taking out their Pirate costumes from Halloween last year and get all the dog hair off of them, and wondered what was up! The morning of the party they were so excited. I made them put on extra clothes under the pirate get up( we were going to a picnic in the park with my good friend Melissa afterward!), and they were not to happy about it. They ran into the library, bypassed MiMi, and were ready to play the games. Miss Lucinda and Miss Cathy, had thought of lots of cute piratey games. At each 'station' they would recieve a prize for participation. They got to play pin the patch on the pirate, walk the plank, and muical cd's. They even provided snacks and drinks. The boys were so elated! My mom was able to take her break and come and watch the boys play. They couldn't stop showing her all their loot!

Daniel and his eye patch!

Daniel was admiring his ''treasure''

Aren't they they cutest little pirates?!


Lincoln was having a hard time seeing with only one eye!

Greyson did dress up, but he still had fun!

Vacation Bible School 2010

This was the first year in many years( almost 10 years) that I was able to help out with VBS, and Brandon helped out too. Since we were both working, all the kiddos got to attend and were in their own age groups. They were so excited to be able to go to Bible School... for two reasons- 1. They are excited by the word school

2. They LOVE going to church

I am so excited that we are finally able to get involved in church as a family. I was a little stressed out about VBS, but had to roll with the punches. Our church does Bible School at night. We would have a dinner at 5ish and VBS would go from 6:30-8:30. That meant that I would have to either wake the kids from nap time in order to make it to dinner or try to cook, clean the kitchen, get the kids cleaned up and out the door in about 45 minutes..... there was no way the latter was happening- so we went for dinner at church. Brandon came straight from work every night- so I was on my own with attempting to do all of this. Getting the kids out and about in town is no big deal. Anything from McAlisters, Chick-fil-A to the Mall I can handle- but the thought of doing this all at church scared me a little. But when I saw their faces light up on Monday night- it was all worth it. Until it came to Greysons face....

Greyson has never really be separated from the twins. He does have his own room now, but that is about as far as it goes. He was bumped up in Sunday School classes, Moppets classes, and just about everything else. He doesn't like being away from his bubbas. But it was time to start. He has finally been making some friends that are his age- not the twins age. So I thought that he would do better having a week in VBS with the 'younger' kids and then when Sunday school promotion came it would be an easier adjustment. Boy was I WRONG! He screamed bloody murder the first night. The really sad part of all of this.... Brandon was in his room, as a support system. I guess my wonderful plan backfired.

Anyway, back to VBS. The theme was Saddle Ridge Ranch. Since the twins are crazy about cowboys and cowboy hats they were in heaven! Their teachers were Miss Deanna and Miss Susan. They had the cutest crafts! Don't I have two of the cutest cowboys around?!

They had made cowboy vest that they got to decorate, and stick horses, and cowboys hats! I know that they will play dress up with this stuff until it will no longer function! Each morning they would wake up so ready to go back to Bible School. They were so upset when it ended on Thursday.

Greyson's teachers were Miss Shirley, Mr Brandon( aka Daddy), and Miss Evie. Miss Shirley said Greyson would do a little better every night, but still clung to daddy a lot. Brandon says Greyson was glued to his side all week. While it was hard for me to see him get so upset, I know that it is for his own good. He has to learn at some point that he isn't one of the twins. I am so thankful that the teachers and staff at church are being so supportive. I wouldn't be able to do this part without them.

I was able to help in teaching the four year olds. We had 3 different classes and would rotate between the three groups for different activities. My room did craft time, and after craft time they would go to music, and then to missions. We had a great group of kids, and it was an awesome experience to help get to plant a seed in their life. While it did stress me out(just a little), I can't wait to be able to help next year!

My Kids Have Gone Crazy!

Ever since the move to Ozark, my kids have gone CRAZY!!

I was talking to my friend Carrie and asking her what she thought the problem could be. She is my go to person on kid questions- especially questions about twins.

She was telling me that her little girl has gone a little crazy too. Lincoln and Daniel have apparently hit the "terrible three's". I have heard from numerous people that two's are nothing compared to three's. Great I thought to myself.... I'll have 3 three year olds in a few months. And since Greyson is already 2 going on 30- I will be in a world of trouble!
They aren't doing anything horribly bad... just enough to be driving me crazy. More fighting, hitting, a few bad biting incidents. They did break their book shelf... but I'll tell that story in a little bit.

Greyson is a BIG helper. He keeps trying to do stuff that he thinks he helping- but it's not really working. Let's see... one morning Greyson had gotten 3 eggs, a plate, fork and butter out of the fridge. I am guessing he was either going to make scrambled eggs or he was acting out what the Nakato's chefs do when they cook on the hibachi grill. I am still trying to figure that one out. We've also gotten into the habit of eating smoothies, so while I was still in bed one morning Greyson woke up and got out the yogurt, banana's, and strawberries, and mixing cups. I guess he figured out that he wasn't going to be able to reach then mixer(THANK GOD) and gave up. Luckily we have two VERY lazy dogs, and they didn't even touch the food.

Back to the book shelf story..

When we lived in STL, we purchased a cheapy bookshelf from the store hoping that it would make our massive kiddy book collection look better in our living room. Well apparently this book shelf wasn't meant to be moved from the first location. When we moved we put it in the twins room, at the end of Lincoln's bed. We had to yet again move this bookshelf to a different wall in the same room- literally two feet. After moving it the boys decided it was necessary to empty all the books off of the four shelf bookshelf. Imagine my excitement when I got out of the shower and found that I couldn't find my kids or open the door to the room that they are obviously in. You couldn't see carpet.. only books. After going on a tirade about,"we do not treat our books like this, mommy has taught you to treat your toys nice., yada, yada yada". I promptly packed up their books into laundry baskets and threw them in my room. Maybe it was a little bit dramatic- but this wasn't the first time that they had done this, and it takes this OCD mom a LONG time to organize the books. After a brief stint in time out and a time out for myself, I walked into the room to find the twins on the bottom and second to bottom shelf of the rickity bookshelf. Daniel was yelling to Greyson (who was standing on the other side of the room with his arms crossed) to climb up on top. Just as I walked in about to go somewhere close to psychotic on my lovely preschoolers- the entire shelf collapsed. Leaving Lincoln under the rubble. Daniel was screaming like he was about to die, Lincoln was crying, and Grey and I were in shock of what we had just witnessed.

There is a country song entitled "You're Gonna Miss This"... while my dad often quotes different parts to me, I often ask myself- will I really miss the crazy days? And the answer is always yes. At the end of everyday when Brandon and I sit down and finally have a few minutes of us time- I always have funny stories... and I have a feeling that there will be many more posted on here! Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of all the craziness.. just the one posted above. I'll have to remember to take more!