Enjoying the Nice Weather

The kids and I got a chance to play outside today for quite a while. It was so nice!!! I can't believe it's almost November! I hope we have more days like today!

Carving Pumpkins

The kids and I finally got around to carving our pumpkins! They had a lot of fun. The look on their faces was classic the first time they stuck their hands inside to get the seeds:-) When trying to get a picture of them, Landon would not keep his hands off of the pumpkin's face! Oh, well:-)

Celebrating a Little Early

Mom had an early birthday party for Landon this past weekend so that my brother could be there. As you can see, Landon got a guitar, and he has barely put it down since! He LOVES it! It's so cute - he walks around playing it and singing songs:-) I had to throw in a picture of Maddox and Paetyn. I can't wait until they are old enough to really play with each other!

I've Been Tagged

Well, I guess I've been tagged - twice! Thanks Heather and Liv! So, here goes.......

1. I LOVE amusement parks! I could go to one every day and never get sick of it! Lance and I used to go every year but have not gone since I got pregnant with Kelsey :(

2. I am not a morning person OR a night person (that is so sad!). I love to sleep - the more the better! I usually go to sleep as soon as the kids do (except for lately because I can't quit reading), and I sleep as late as the kids will let me!!

3. I guess you could call me a girly girl! I hate bugs, dirt, etc. Maybe that's where Kelsey gets it!! :-)

4. Lance and I are done having kids. Well, in our minds we are - God could have something else planned for us!! My last pregnancy was very rough, and actually it was scary for me. I will not do that to myself again.

5. I get really stressed out if my house gets too messy. With 3 kids I guess you could say that I'm stressed out a lot! I'm constantly picking up and cleaning!

6. I love scrapbooking, but I am so far behind!! I really wish I could work on it every day, but you all know that's pretty impossible. In my scrapbooks, Kelsey is 2, Landon is 1, and Maddox is not even started - AAAHHHH!!!!

7. I hope to someday go back to school for Dental Hygiene. I started out in that, but Lance and I got married, and there are no hygiene schools closer than about 2 hours away. I am a Dental Assistant now, and I love it!

So there you have it - 7 random, crazy facts about Erica:-) Hope you all enjoyed! Sadly enough, I have nobody to tag that hasn't already done it! Sorry!

Go Bears!

We went to Wal-Mart last night to look at Halloween costumes, and after A LOT of looking around, thinking, and changing our mind from Hannah Montana to a cat to a bunny to a horse to a princess, etc, Kelsey decided she wanted to be a cheerleader. She chose a High School Musical outfit and asked if it was a Bears outfit. Obviously it wasn't, and I explained to her that the Bears outfit does not come with pom-poms (which I think is the whole reason she wanted to be a cheerleader). So, we decided to make our own pom-poms! They actually turned out really cute, and she has been playing with them all morning and practicing being a cheerleader. I've come to the conclusion that this won't be the only pair of pom-poms we make before Halloween!

One More Thing

I forgot to mention the fact that Maddox can sit up pretty well on his own! It's crazy - it's like everything happened all at once!

He's Growing Up!

Maddox is changing everyday, and this past week was a big one! Maddox can now roll over! He's not the best yet, but he has done it several times, and he gets so excited! Also, Maddox got 2 teeth this past week! His teeth came much earlier than Kelsey's and Landon's. He hasn't been too cranky, but he has a runny nose and cough that I'm guessing are just associated with his teething. I wonder what will happen next........

Random Pictures

Every time we go to Heather's house Landon wants this helmet!














Kelsey helping me mop




Maddox fell asleep in his walker












Kelsey LOVES to help out and play with Maddox!



Our little monkey














Kelsey bought a pumpkin at the fall festival and the kids wanted to carve it. So, even though it's a little premature, we carved it!



Tummy time!

Good Ol' Fall Festival.....

Kelsey and Landon having fun on the rides. This is one of their favorite rides at Indiana Beach, so they were thrilled to see it at the Fall Festival, and it was just their size!













Landon petting a snake - it was HUGE!













Maddox enjoying the parade:-)









Lance, Landon, Kelsey, and I rode in the fire trucks during the parade. The kids had a lot of fun! Lucky for us, the fire trucks were first and we were able to go back and sit with our family and catch candy!













Best Buddies:-)











We were watching the parade and Heather nudged me and pointed to the girls - they were just standing there holding hands - it was so cute!

SURPRISE!!!!

Dad and I threw mom a surprise party for her 50th birthday. It was so hard to keep the secret when that's all I was working on and thinking about, but we pulled it off! She was so surprised! We had cake, visited, and it turned out to be a wonderful evening! The mosquitos were terrible, but everyone still had a good time.














Aunt Claudia playing outside with the kids





























Mom was TOTALLY surprised! You could tell by the look on her face walking up to the building that she didn't suspect a thing. It was great!!





























The kids helping mom open her gifts.

Movin' on Up

Kelsey recently moved up to the next class in gymnastics, and she LOVES it! We already see so much improvement. She can pretty much do a backward somersault, and she has been practicing her cartwheels. We are so proud of her!

So Much Fun....

Maddox is growing up so fast! I can't believe he is already 4 months old! They change so much between the 3rd and 4th month. I just thought I would share this video with everyone. It's just really cute, and I hope you laugh as much as we did! Have a great week!

My Baby Girl Goes to School!!

Well Kelsey had her first day of preschool today, and, like I said before, there were mixed feelings. She was so excited when she woke up this morning, then she was upset and didn't want to go, and then she was excited again. Once we got there, same thing. There were some tears, but after a few minutes, she was okay. I ended up staying there the whole time (but I wasn't the only mother!) I actually enjoyed watching! When we left, Kelsey told me, "That was so much fun - I want to do this every day!"

Labor Day Camping

Playing in Jon and Jessica's tent (because it was so much more fun than ours!)













Enjoying the fire



Helping Jon blow up the air mattress

Mmmm......pop

This past weekend we went camping with Jon and Jessica Gutwein. The kids had a BLAST!! We stayed in Monticello across from the beach. On Sunday night we went to Indiana Beach, which is always a lot of fun. Monday we took the kids mini-golfing. They did really good for their first time! Maddox stayed home with my parents. I think he had much more fun with them! Thanks mom and dad!

Maddox Tried Cereal

So, Maddox tried rice cereal for the first time the other day. Do you think he liked it?? Of course not!! The other kids were (or should I say are) picky eaters, so why wouldn't Maddox be too? We tried a couple of different times, and he hated it both times. Oh, well. We'll try again in a few months. A lot changes in a few months, right?