New Twelvefriday's Happenings!

So I got an email this week form the lovely ladies at twelvefriday's announcing yet another awesome thing that they are up to! They have planned a twelvefridays scrap weekend in Gatlinburg TN for March '09! They asked us girls on the Design Team to come along to help out with the weekend since they are expecting up to 200 ladies! What a fun weekend! So needless to say after getting permission to bring a tiny scrapper with me *wink* *wink*, I am headed to TN next March! The weekend is the type where you show up with scissors and adhesive and leave with a 24 page completed album! They are having layout classes all weekend taught by some of the very best and when you leave you have completed 24 scrapbook layouts and they are giving you an album to put them in! All of that is on top of just being able to spend 4 days in a cabin in the Smokies with other scrappers! How could you say no??? GREAT idea Heidi, Heather, and Rhonda! So check out the link at http://twelvefridaysweekend.typepad.com/ to see just how fun this all seems! And hey...for all of my blogger friends, if you sign up then you'll be able to hold our new peanut when he/she goes to their first scrapbooking event!

More Good News...

No, No, it;s not twins! Well if it were up to Nathan it would be! Every time he sees me he still is asking how the twins are? The night before last one of my twin nieces Regan said in her prayer..."God if it's what you want, please let Aunt Mandi have twins! " Okay, now Nathan even has the kids on his little deviant plan!

Anyways we found out yesterday that Nathan did get the job with Freedom Alliance. This is the job we had gone to DC to interview for in March. This job will mean that he will be leaving his full time slot at the guard and evenings at Walmart. He will still be in the guard though doing his one weekend a month. The new job begins May 27 and he will be spending the week after that in DC to train. The job will have him working from home and then traveling a lot all over the country. This groups that he is working for is a group that helps veterans and soldiers so it's right up his alley. Needless to say we're pretty happy. And...what makes me smile even more is that we'll now be looking for a house! YEAH! So I thought I'd share the news.

Oh, and it looks like I had my due date wrong, according to the OB office I am due December 17th. Now according to the Natural Family Planning charts they say December 24th? I'm going with the 17th because that's what the doctor will use, but keeping the 24th in mind. So since I have never made it to my due date yet, that means we'll have a brand new baby at Christmas! Nothing like a Tiny Christmas Miracle!

Return of the Stork!!!

So most of you are already probably guessing, but....

WE'RE PREGNANT!!!!

So we found out this weekend that baby #4 will be making his or her arrival around December 28th. That should make a pretty interesting Chirstmas seening as how I have never made it to my due date! I wonder if they serve a nice Chirstmas dinner in the Mommy/Baby ward at Med Central Hospital? LOL! So Maddelyn's first response was "Mommy, you're too young for that!" What on earth???? So she then states that we need to have this one and then have another one because we need 5 girls? Is that prophesy? Ha! Ha! Emma wanted to now when the baby was coming out and Nathan told her not until after Christmas. Maddelyn was then like...Dad...we already had Chirstmas! They are too cute! So my mom and Nathan both had already guessed it after seeing me at the girls ballet recital this past weekend. My mom was like not that you looked bad in that dress at all but I kinda noticed a pouch. Nathan said he had seen it too but didn't dare say anything. AHHH! I hadn't even taken a pregnancy test yet and I already had formed a pouch! I guess you do show so much faster with each child. So do women with baby like #8 show the morning after conception??? LOL!

So I do have pictures of the girls' ballet recital to post but my computer is being really dumb fighting a virus so I am on Nathan's laptop tonight while he works on mine. Hopefully it will be back up and running soon. I'll post those pictures as soon as I can.

The Scrapper in Me Returns!

So I finally sat down to scrapbook! It feels so nice to be back at again. Since I've been about waist high in bows for months now...especially with opening a new website, I have let me scrapbooking lax. I remember the Summer before I had Caroline I scrapped about everyday! Oh how I miss that! Well, what little time I have to do it now is still wonderful. As I tell Nathan...it's cheaper than therapy!!! So here are my Design Team layouts for the April Kit with twelvefridays. I loved this month's kit in how girlie it was which is perfect for our family! Yes Heidi.....you of course knew this one was right up my alley but I promise I'll pull this out of somewhere for May's boyish kit as well! LOL! So here are my latest creations....

This is a mini album and tin that came in my kit. How cute huh? Nathan said I made a "Bucket List?" Basically what I want to do in life before I kick the bucket! Somehow that title just didn't seem appropriate for the front of the tin?

Here is the newest kit from twelvefridays that will be mailed out mid May. This current month had a definite girlie theem and this next month is perfect for the little boys in your life. thanks goodness my friend Jenn is letting me borrow pictures of her three boys next month! the kit is available at their website https://twelvefridays.com/KitClub.aspx Check out the link to see an upclose picture of these adorable papers.

Evening Away...with a Political Note

****WARNING: Contains Non Bi-Partisan Political Material. Read at your own risk! (Ha! Ha!)

So we had a sitter tonight....yeah!!! Nathan's boss at work had given us 6 tickets to hear Karl Rove speak at a school near Dayton. So with 4 others, Nathan and I made the 2 1/2-3 hour trip to hear him speak. It was a wonderful speech that had been precluded by several other candidates/politicians. For those of you in Ohio you might have recognized Mike Dewine, Bob Taft, Mary Taylor, and many more. So Being a republican I obviously wore my John McCain sticker this evening and of course he'll get my vote in the Fall (uh yeah) but I really don't know much about him. Not being my first choice in the primary this Spring I really never put much thought into McCain or his campaign. Well I did know that he was a POW which I have the up most respect for but I didn't know too much on his voting record or really on his views. After being Karl Roe speak about his man tonight I have a new respect for him. The stories he told about the events occurring during McCain's 5 1/2 years as a POW were awe inspiring. All of these stories are little known because McCain is a pretty private person about his personal life. The things that I've learned about what he has done off the voting record...where it really counts towards true character....have really made me look again at this candidate. One small story we heard tonight was originally told by a POW roommate of McCain's. I guess the Vietnamese had broken this gentleman's arm and then set it so it would heal funny and he would never be able to bend at the elbow again. Well this man was a pilot and one of his few hopes remaining as a POW was that one day he would get out and be able to fly again. Seeing that the enemy had set his arm wrong on purpose, the man could never fly a plane again. His roommate John McCain changed his life by re-breaking and re-setting the arm so it would heal properly. After the guy was rescued from the POW camp the med staff said that it looked like the Vietnamese had done a pretty good job of repairing his once broken arm. He said "No, John McCain did that for me." Pretty amazing huh? McCain was also the chaplain of this group of POW's while they were imprisoned. His first speech was on "Render unto Cesar what is Cesar's and unto God what is God's." He stated that we need not to pray to God for our release of here but to him for salvation and forgiveness because that is what is God's. Pretty amazing stuff that the press does not report huh? Remember boys and girls.....the lesson of the day is NEVER go just by what you hear in the news...and NEVER trust a reporter!

So on a funnier political note...here is a great little joke I got in an email this morning from my Aunt.

Little Suzy had a box of very small kittens that she was trying to give away, so she had them out on the street corner with a sign "FREE KITTENS" next to them. Suddenly a big line of big black cars came up with a policeman on a motorcycle in front. The cars all stopped and a tall man stepped out from the biggest car. "Hi, little girl, what do you have there in the box?" He asked. "Kittens" Little Suzy says. "They're so small, their eyes are not even open yet." "What kind of kittens are they?" He asked."Democrats" says Little Suzy. The tall man smiled, returned to his car and they drove away. Sensing a good photo opportunity, Sen. Obama called his campaign manager and told him about the little girl and the kittens. It was planned that they would return the next day, have all the media there and tell everyone about these great kittens. The next day, Little Suzy is standing out on the corner with her box of kittens with the "FREE KITTENS" sign and the big motorcade of black cars pulled up with all the vans and trucks from ABC, NBC, CBS and CNN. Everyone had their cameras ready and then, Sen. Obama got out of his limo and walked up to Little Suzy. "Now, don't be frightened," he said, "I just want you to tell all these nice news people just what kind of kittens you're giving away today." "yes sir, "Suzy said, "they're REPUBLICAN kittens." Taken by surprise, Sen. Obama said, "But yesterday, you told me that they were DEMOCRATS." Little Suzy says, "Yes, I know. But today, they have their eyes open."

Busy Week with a bit of a CRASH!

So as you can tell by my lack of post this week we've had a really bad week. It started last Sunday when Nathan left for DC for a Vet's for Freedom rally. It's always stressful when it's a just Mommy even if we're used to Daddy working double shifts, at least he comes home at night. So I decided to go to my parent's house in Willard for a few days until Nathan got home. After the person across the street had someone break in while they were in bed last week, I was kinda leery about being home by myself at night. So on Monday I was on my way to post office when I saw there was a mailman delivering mail in front of us. So, I stopped and waited for him to either move or for the other lane to clear so I could pass him. Well out of no where the SUV behind slammed in to our rear end. Everything went flying and the girls were all screaming. Maddelyn was crying that her head hurt and I felt like a truck had hit me (no pun intended) so we drove ourselves to the ER. Maddelyn checked out fine but I had whiplash. So needless to say this week has been insane with all the calls to insurance, chiropractor's visit, rental car place, buying new car seats for the girls, and all that comes with an accident. It just so happens that this all lined up with one of the busiest hair bow weeks I've had in a long time! I did though get my first order form the catalog that my bows have been featured in! So last week basically was one of the most stressful in a long time. It does not help that we STILL have not gotten an answer back on the interview we had a few weeks ago. Last thing we knew they still were not don interviewing the other possible people. So....needless to say last week was the first time that I had felt the rapid/skipping heartbeat and chest pain since like January! You can't tell me it's not connected with stress levels! So we just got home form a weekend at my in laws in PA and tonight is to be filled with packing up a few ebay orders and then hopefully watching a relaxing movie with my hubby. After this week/weekend I think I'll be taking a week off from any ebay auctions just to re-coup and get things kinda back into the "norm". So anyways sorry for the lack of posts but as you can tell I really did have a good excuse!

I'll leave you with some funny mom quotes and facts that I came across this week! Gotta love these!

"I suffer from M.A.D.D. - Mommy Attention Deficit Disorder." ~Raenita

"I'm not going to vacuum 'til Sears makes one you can ride on." ~Roseanne Barr

"Cleaning up with children around is like shoveling during a blizzard" ~ Author Unknown

"Any mother could perform the jobs of several air-traffic controllers with ease." ~ Lisa Alther

"If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands?"~Milton Berle

"It's not easy being a mother. If it were easy, fathers would do it."~The Golden Girls

"I'd like to be the ideal mother, but I'm too busy raising my kids."~Unknown

"Most children threaten at times to run away from home. This is the only thing that keeps some parents going."~ Phyllis Diller

"Raising a kid is part joy and part guerilla warfare."~Ed Asner

FACTS.....

2 is the average number of children that women today can expect to have in their lifetime.

88% of Laundry is done by moms, totaling 330 loads of laundry and 5,300 articles of clothing each year. (So if this is on the average "2" kids...how much laundry am I doing and especially with an Emma???)

Preschoolers require mom's attention once every 4 minutes or 210 times a day. (Yet again these facts are NOT including an Emma! )

A baby has 7,300 diaper changes by it's 2nd birthday. (So IF my 3 had been potty trained by their second birthday that means I would have changed about 21,900 diapers in the last 5 years????? No wonder I never seem to get anything done!)

Long Over Do Pictures!

So I am finally posting the pictures I have been promising. I know..I know, but it just takes forever to download the photos when I have..cough...cough... over 1100 photos on my camera to upload before I can choose the new photos to copy onto my computer. LOL! I guess I need to sit down and make some CD copies of those photos to get the back up set still on my camera cleared off. So here is the ADORABLE photo of Mr. Elias Cole...the baby who was in the pregnant belly photos last week. It amazes me how much he looks like a boy baby! No mistaking him for a little girl! I guess with all the girls in our extended family I just forgot that babies can look like boys when they come out as well!

My mom and I took all the girls out last week to Chuckie Cheese to celebrate Maddelyn and the twins birthdays.

Maddelyn and her daddy on the way to their annual "Maddie - Daddy Breakfast" on the morning of her birthday.

Enjoying ice cream at stone cold creamery... Mommy's....I mean the birthday girl's favorite!

The adorable mini cake I picked up at Walmart! It's made of 2 cupcakes and matched perfectly with the doggie Fur Real toy that Emma picked out.

So our Pastor at church hands out tootsie rolls to all the kids after church. It's a cute way for the kids to all get to know him and they ALL hit him up for one after church. Maddelyn has even been know to ask daddy to get her tootsie roll from pastor for her when she's had to miss church being sick. Anyways so last Sunday Emma got her tootsie roll and then went back to Pastor asking for a second one. He told her that she already had one. So she walked away for a minute and then returned asking for another one. He said again that she had already had one. She said that she had "lost it" he laughed and said what about the paper in your hand then? She then proceeded...with him still watching her...to walk over to the corner of the rug in the foyer, lift it up, shove her tootsie roll wrapper under it, set the rug back down and then ask Pastor for another tootsie roll saying she had lost hers. Pastor laughed and said after all of that effort she earned her second tootsie roll!

So then today she hits him up again for that second tootsie roll and he once again says you had one. She tries to pull the I lost it phrase but he said no you had one. Well while we stood there talking she walked over to that same rug, lifted it up, saw her old wrapper form last Sunday, chuckled, and then set it back down! Pastor said something to her and she roller her eyes upward and then scratched her head like...what???

So obviously Emma has not learned that if you're going to steal don't steal a Bible from the church and if you're going to lie, don't lie to the Pastor! I guess that's totally my Emma Grace though! She does everything to the up most extreme and lives life to the fullest!

NEW BOWS!

So here are the latest additions to my hair bow stock! These layered korkers were listed tonight in my ebay auctions. You can take a look at my other new bows at my auction link..... http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZmandi4245

I'll update more tomorrow! Have a great night!

I'm Still Here!

Just letting everyone know that I have NOT fallen off the blogger wagon! It's been a busy week with bows, babies, and ballet (haha got that?) Okay....it's 1 am what do you expect? Anyways the babies is because Mr. Elias Cole did decide to grace us with his presence this week. I told his mommy that he was just waiting for those preggo pics that we took and then he was ready to go! I have some cute pictures that I snapped when I went to see him and his mommy last night. There is nothing like holding one that is so fresh from God! Anyways it's been yet another busy week. Oh....I am officially starting my website now for my bows! Woo-hoo! I'll keep you posted as it goes and of course link it when it's live. Have a great night and hopefully I will have time to post all the pictures I've promised tomorrow since Nathan is working and has guard all weekend and then flies out Sunday morning for DC with Vets for Freedom.

Happy 5th Birthday Miss Maddelyn!

So my lil' bumkin turned 5 today! Oh dear! Yes it seems partially like she's been here forever and at the same time I can't believe it's been 5 years since Daddy and I started calling her our little baby pumpkin (bunkin.) It still amazes me looking back at how dark complected she was and all that hair! Since my last 2 have been baldies it's nice to refresh my memory that any future babies still could have hair! LOL! In this picture Maddelyn is just 2 weeks old and looking so alert. That's our Maddie! She doesn't miss a thing!

So this morning Nathan and I went in her room to sing her happy birthday and I asked her if she was excited to finally be 5? She said, "YES! Now I can go to first grade! " Well not quite hun! They are always trying to grow up way too fast on us! Maddelyn and Daddy then went out for the annual Maddie-Daddy breakfast while the girls and I ran errands. We had pizza for lunch and she was able to open a few gifts form us and her sisters and blow out the candles on her mini doggie cake. I'll post pictures of it tomorrow. After the girls and Daddy took a nap (Nathan took a day of leave from work to celebrate her birthday) we ran a couple of quick errands and then headed to the theater to see Horton Hears a Who! GREAT pro-life message there but since this is her birthday post I'll let you search my old posts for more info on that. Afterwards we went to Cold Stone Creamery for some oooooh so nice ice cream. We rounded out the evening by watching American Idol and the girls saying if each contestant sang "pretty or ugly." I think she had a pretty good birthday. Oh...and she had her little birthday girl tee-shirt with a cupcake on it from Gymboree, and a tiara in her hair as it's a Martin girl tradition to wear the "birthday crown." Like I said I will post pictures of the day soon.

Happy Birthday my sweet little girl! May your next five years go oooooooh so slower than your first five years did! Love ya lots!!!