A New Bible Study...

Well, we are back from the great outdoors, if you can call it that! I mean how naturalistic is air conditioning...the in-camper potty...and watching movies in the camper when it rains? NOT that I'm complaining though! That is plenty outdoorsy for Mandi! We all had a wonderful time! The kids loved every minute of it! Maddelyn, Zoey, and Regan played great together. Sure we had a few....I had it first moments, but when you have a 3 yr old and twin 4 yr olds for an entire weekend that's not bad. Maddelyn did end up learning to ride her bike! She was so proud! She still needs to work on it though. She got the pedaling thing down but can't do that and watch were she is going at the same time. She is kinda like me when I am typing....gotta look at what I'm doing, not where I'm going! :D

Nathan got in at about midnight last night from his Iowa trip. He was of course tried from the long drive but you could see the excitement in his eyes from being back on the campaign trail! He is home for about 3 weeks and then he will be headed back to Iowa again. Nathan was able to spend the morning with us at the camper and even watch Maddelyn show off her new bike riding skills. she's so proud! Emma also learned a new thing this weekend. Her latest phrase is..."O-K!" She is so cute saying over and over again!

Tonight was the first session of a new bible studdy that Nathan and I are involved in. They have us split into two groups. The men are doing a book called "Wild at Heart" and us ladies are doing the book "Captivating." I will be sure to update you on the study as well as how the book in general is. I have heard it is a must read for every Christian woman. The books will be in this week as well as a journal to go along with them. Nathan seems to be excited about his book/study as well. It is not only nice to spend some time getting into God's Word a little deeper, but also nice to get to know some of the other men/women in our new church.

This week should be anouther busy one as always! Nathan and I each have our plates full of things we need to get accomplished, he with the campaign and I with custom scrapbook orders. On top of all of that I would like to get the landscaping done this week by mulching and planting the new Hostics I bought. We will have to wait and see what the weather holds though. This newly PG mommy to be is NOT going out in 90 degree weather to mulch! LOL! We also have my dear cousin Kaytie's graduation this weekend. I can't believe she is done with school. Man that makes me feel old! I remember the day she was born...granted I was only 6, but I still remember it!

My Little Escape Artist!

We are back form visiting my parents and I have learned Emma has a few tricks up her sleeves! I put both girls down for thier afternoon naps today(...they share a room..) and after a few minutes I heard them giggling! I went in and found them both in Maddelyn's bed? Hmm? I had placed Emma in her own crib? Maddelyn said she used a large box of books placed beside the crib as a stepping stool to get out. Uhh! Emma! So, I moved the box, no problem. I placed them both back in thier own beds and left the room again. Not 2 minutes later Maddelyn is yelling "Mom..she did it again!" No way! So I open the door and there is Emma running around the room. So this time I put her in the crib and then hide behind the crib's foot board to watch and see what she is doing. That little booger walked over to where the foot board meets the crib rail......she grabs ahold of the foot board....hikes one leg over the rail...pulls herself up to straddling the rail.....huals both legs over the rail...and then just kinda free-fall-jumps to the floor! WOW! And this is my tiny Emma Grace and a full sized crib! Who would have known! So, needless to say neither girl got a nap today! How am I going to keep her in bed to take naps? Actually when I put them down tonight I brought the play pen upstairs to put her in. It has a netting side and nothing for her to grab ahold of to fling herself over the edge with. Unbelievable!!!

We got an email form Nathan's Aunt Tabith today and found out they are expecting baby # 5 January 27th! How funny is that! She was pregnant with Lydia when I was pregnant with Emma Grace! Feels like we are trying to keep up with the Jones' on how fast we can have those baby girls! I think that thier #5 is beating our #3 though! It's nice though because Tabitha is such a great resource/bank of knowledge for me on anything to do with babies/nursing/deliveries and all that falls between! Congrats Tabitha!

We are leaving in the morning to go camping with my parents, brother, and his kids. It should be a lot of fun. The weather is supposed to be beautiful so I am hoping to have a chance to teach Maddelyn to ride her bike. She officially knows how to pedal now, it's just confusing because on her bike if she does it the wrong way it puts the brakes on. We'll work on it though. I think we might take her rollerskates too. She is so looking forward to playing with her twin cousins Zoey and Regan.

Nathan should be home on Monday. He is still out in Iowa on the campaign trail.

So everyone, have a great holiday weekend and remember to THANK A VETERAN!!!!

BIG NEWS!!!

Well everyone in blogg'n land...we have big news in our family! We are now expecting baby # 3!!! He or she should make their arrival about January 30th of next year. Nathan and I are tickled pink (or blue!) about the news! It was funny to have to call him out in Iowa to tell him the big news though.

Oh, he is in Iowa because he has a new job. He has been hired on to be the National Coordinater for John Cox's Presidential Campaign. We are so very excited about him being given this opportunity! GOD IS SO GOOD! So, Nathan is busy this summer traveling around to different states working on the campaign. With him traveling so much it leaves quite a bit of time for me to scrapbook...which is always good! :D I have quite a bit of custom orders to fill for ebay, so that's good!

Wow, what a wonderful time in our lives right now! God has been so faithful to us not only blessing us with a wonderful job this week, but now a baby as well! Yes, we had a rough time after hearing the campaign results, but it was all for HIS glory and we were ok with that. We were just waiting for God to open that next door in our lives, which it looks like he has with this new job and another baby on the way. PRAISE GOD!

The Price One Pays for a Scapbooking Mommy!

T.V. ZOMBIES!!!! Yes, I guess this is the price one pays for having a mom who scrapbooks. You know all those perfect little families that have layouts showing the mothers PERFECTLY clean scrapbooking room with her children playing carelessly in the back yard???? Not true! LOL! This is what we call reality scrapbooking. This is what we call mom-is-scrabooking-dad-is-doing-computer-work!!! This is why I generally try to scrapbook during nap time and clean or such while the girls are up. This way only periodically the girls have "Tube-time!" How funny they look though sitting there all glued to the tv! And Emma! Such a young age and she still gets drawn in by the TV! In all honestly this really is not an all the time thing! Please don't turn me into Children's Services for scrapbooking while my kids are raising themselves! Funny thing is...you know I'll scrapbook these pictrues of my kids entertaining themselves while I was scrapbooking! LOL!

Random Facts About Me!

Well after a long day of household chores..how about something kinda off the wall?

Random Facts About Me:

1. I am fanatical about my covers in bed. No I mean I will actually wake up and fix them at 2am and then go back to sleep (well usually it is my dear sweet hubby getting up to fix them! :P). They have to be all nice, straight, and tucked in. I know Obsessive Compulsive!

2. I don't like chocolate..it can cover something else like a with a Butterfinger, but that's pushing it.

3. I'm the baby of the family.

4. I get really sick around people who smoke...allergies

5. I LOVE mayo but hate onions on my burgers.

6. My favorite color is pink...anyone who knows me is saying duh by now!

7. My all time favorite cartoon was the ole school Strawberry Shortcake. (My girl's nursery was in it.)

8. I am deathly afraid of snakes.

9. My 2 dream jobs are: Walmart cashier (don't ask) and owning my own scrapbooking retreat bed-n-breakfast.

10. I have no idea why snakes were not too late to miss the ARK??? Shoot!

11. I was born in the 80's...my name is Mandi...and my mom own's the Barry Manelow Greatest Hit's CD Set----> Coincidence????? I think not!

12. I'm a boon-docks girl who has gone SNIPE HUNTING!

13. I come from a long line of terrific cooks and can't cook worth a hoot! It was so bad that my hubby had heard about my family's wonderful cooking even before he met me! I guess he picked the wong family member to marry! LOL!

14. I LOVE CSI!

15. My hubby wants to be President! I think I could pull of the whole Laura thing.......NOT!

16. Laura Bush is my hero...well yes and no. I think she's great and a wonderful person to inspire to be, but she has a few political views that don't align with mine. So setting aside the politics...(like you can do that with a First Lady???) .....she is my hero!

17. My scrap'n style is very girly, lots of pinks, bright colors, tons of ribbons and rub-ons, and very geometrical.

18.I have no idea how I came up with what my scrap'n style is...but it sounded good!

19. When I was little and we would all play legos.....I would sit and sort them all out by color and then shapes while everyone else was building stuff. I still love to sort things. I guess it is the OCD again. Maybe that's why I like to make lists...clean..and organize? Hmm?

20. Speaking of cleaning...am I the only one who about once every few months has a midnight cleaning blitz? My hubby laughs at me. It will be about 10-11 oclock at night and I will be ending my day when I realize what a disaster my house is. So so I start picking up. Well one thing about me is that I have to finish whatever I start, so I keep cleaning and then sorting, and then I end up cleaning a closet or re-organizing a cuboard. Hubby is sitting there at 1am laughing his head off! But If I don't finish what I started I will lay in bed and think about it until the next morning. He says it is one of the funny bonuses of marrying me...midnight cleansweeps!

21. I still have not found one person who can tell me why my hubby and I can't share a mansion in Paradise??? I don't want my own! And what is Heaven if we can't stay married? So many questions so little time here on Earth. I'm gonna have me a big ole talk when I get to Heaven...lots of questions. Do you think God will ever get the point where he will say...Mandi put your hand over your mouth???

22. When I was little I talked ALOT so my parents would get tired of me talking litterally just to hear myself making noise. So we would be driving along, and I'd be just blabbering away..... and they would say....Mandi put your hand over your mouth. So, there I'd be just a little thing in the back seat riding along with my whole hand covering my mouth. Oh the memories. Now my whole family just thinks it's a gut buster...funny thing is I am tempted to try it on Maddelyn somedays!!!

HAPPY MOMMY DAY!!!!!
........As Maddelyn has been saying all day. Today started out wonderfully with my dear, sweet hubby and two princesses waking me up with flowers, cards, and breakfast in bed! How precious! See...I told you I married a prince! We then did nursery at church this morning and had a nice lunch at Fridays. After visiting my Grandma...her first Mother's Day without Grandpa...we then headed over to my parents for a cookout. My very first watermelon of the season! Mmmmm! We also stopped and picked up Liberty from my aunt's house. She had been keeping her and the pups while we were in the midst of the campaign. All 6 puppies easily found homes last week. It was sad to see them go, but 7 labs in one house is way too much!!! So Liberty is back in the house again and we now have our happy family back together. The girls missed her so much...well we did just as much, I think?

Here are some pics of my Maddie Jo helping me "garden" the other day. I was working on the landscaping getting it ready for Spring and she was pulling up weeds with her new gloves. She was helping out by picking the "yellow flowers" for Mommy. Well, she was supposed to get only the dandilions and when I turned around she had a big red tulip by the stem with two hands!! AHH! LOL! She is SUCH a helper! :D

There are also a few pictures of Emma after her hard day of work in the yard. She couldn't even make it through lunch without a little snooze!

Our whirlwind lives....

Well, as many of you know by now, these past two weeks have been a whirlwind for us. On top of the last minute campaign rush, we also had the passing of my Grandpa Hartz. It was something very sad but we had known it was coming for some time. We do have peace though to know that he is no longer suffering and is in a MUCH better place now. It was a beautiful service that was held for him. Nathan was honored to be able to participate in the military funeral for him by being an honor guard and firing the rounds. I have pictures that I will post later on, of the military salute as well as my grandma receiving the flag in his honor.

Well I'm not going to go into too deep of a speal, but Nathan did lose the election. As I told him, it was a race well run and I am so proud of him for how he conducted himself. He was able to walk away form the race with not having lost his integrety and not having said something about another candidate he would have been afraid to tell his children in the years to come. Yes, I did marry a wonderful man who not only was man enough to step up to bat and run...but he ran the race God would have wanted him to. I'm so proud of my hubby! :D So now our days are filled with trying to find jobs and still seeking that "normal" life....haha! We are just waiting for God to open that door to lead us into the next stage of our lives.

Today we went out to Kingwood Center and took photos of the girls with the flowers. The photos tured out pretty nice as seeing how Maddelyn was crying and whining between each of the pictures, saying she was done and wanted her treat NOW! Yes, she thought, ok...one pic and I deserve the icecream Mommy promised. It doesn't work like that! I would have to say though that I am pretty proud of the photos we did get. This was my first time doing a photo shoot with my girls outside of pics at the house or such. They actually do look much better in person and not scanned into the computer. I have to say without bragging on myself..not too shabby! :D I'll post more later in the week.