Brian's Story

Brian had a LOT of help from Joshua (maybe too much) :0)

Joshua's Story

Check out these special effects! (Hee, hee)

More Pictures of Super Brian

Super Brian!!!

This afternoon the kiddos and hubby were having a great time doing silly things to make Lucas laugh. There was a lot of laughter, then BANG. Brian starts crying a little, then Joshua yells, "There's a lot of blood!" A few towels, a doctor call, an ER visit, 4 1/2 hours and an orange Popsicle later, everything is fine. Brian will be sporting 6 stitches for the next 4-7 days. He is very proud of how brave he was. He stated, "They only give Popsicles to brave kids, don't they?" I replied, "You're exactly right!" I think he fared better than I did. Brian wanted to tell everyone, "I was a very brave boy. I hope you all have a safe time. Bye!"

(Brian in his hospital gown and sporting his "pirate patch")

Saving over $20...Cool!

I just looked at my auto insurance bill for this next six months and found out how much I saved by signing up for their automatic payment from my bank account. The total is...$20.60! (For just 6 months!) It only took a few minutes of set-up and I am now reaping the benefits (and no more worries about late payment, yea!) Added benefit: saving trees! Feel free to share your ideas on how to save by leaving a comment!

Italian Skillet Meal Recipe

25 min 5 min prep
SERVES 4 +

1 lb lean ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 1/2 cups spaghetti sauce
1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 cup dried elbow macaroni
1/2 large zucchini, cut in cubes

Heat a large nonstick frying pan, brown ground beef and onion and garlic and oregano.
Add spaghetti sauce and broth. (used Mother-in-law's homemade)
Bring to a boil.
Add macaroni.
Reduce heat, cover and allow to cook for 5-7 minutes.
Stir in zucchini.
Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5-10 minutes or until macaroni and zucchini are tender.
If needed, add more broth (I added 1/2 cup towards the end).

Our family LOVED this recipe that I tweaked. We had some garden zucchini from my In-laws so I wanted to try and use it and found this recipe. Everyone ate quite a bit and we still had some leftover for a few lunches for Lucas and I. Give this one a try!

Make Sure You Help Others, Not Just Yourself By Joshua

Once upon a time, there was a big boy. His name was Tom. He asked his mom and dad if he could go and look for his lost sister. Her name was Shilan. And one day he went exploring out in the woods. And a bear chased him down to a pond that it had rained so much that it had grew over all the land, except the tallest hills. The tallest hills looked like tiny rocks. And then he went along and jumped from tiny rock to tiny rock. And then found a boxcar, except its' pieces were all falling apart. So he decided to not live in it. And then he found another boxcar that was perfect to live in. Except he did not know there was a train right next to it, but not coupled.

And then it turned to night and he made a pine needle bed in the boxcar and went to sleep quite quickly. And then a dog barked and woke him up. And then he opened the door and saw a dog with his back paw up with a big needle in it. He pulled and pulled and finally got it out. And then he made a smaller bed for the dog to sleep in and wet a handkerchief and put it in the sore. They slept good, but something went wrong. A tree fell over and fell right beside the car and make so much wind that the car went very fast down the hill. It kept going along the rail until it hit some buffers and went so fast backwards that it crashed into a train that was right in front of the boxcar when it started. It hitched up to the train. And then the boy went into the train and tried to get it moving and it finally did. It moved forward and then he kept going and going until he came to a volcano that erupted right that second. And then he tried to make the train go really, really fast to get past the volcano quickly.

What he was doing the whole time was looking for his lost sister. He finally found her and kept dancing and dancing together with his sister, Shilan. And then they lived together in the boxcar because their father and mother had died while he was gone. And they had a good time and then they had a good feeling that day. Then the boy remembered that he had left the dog where the boxcar used to be and he asked his sister to get in the boxcar and she did. And then he jumped into the train and hurried and hurried and bumped into a car full of fruit that was coupled to a people car and then he went really fast backwards to the volcano. And asked everybody to get into the boxcar and the people train. Then they went back and picked up the dog. Everybody had fun with the dog and eating a lot. They all lived happily ever after.

The End.

(Joshua has been listening to The Boxcar Children, by Gertrude Chandler Warner)

Lucas is 1!

This is my first attempt at making a video out of pictures and uploading it to a blog. We'll see how it goes.

Braving the cold, enjoying the temperate...soccer.

Joshua and Brian were able to be part of their first organized sport this spring. Soccer started out with a bang and the first practice was in winter coats, gloves, and hats. The boys tolerated it well though and by the end had some wonderful weather. When asked what they learned this spring, Joshua answered, "You don't' kick with your toes, you kick with the side of your foot." Brian said, "You kick the bottom of the ball to make it go way up in the air!" That was his favorite move! They are looking forward to the fall soccer season.

Made this banner for blog, but...

Made this for my banner, but didn't fit in the template, too bad. I love this pic of Lucas on a swing. We stopped to nurse at a little church in Jacksonville on the way to my parents and found this beautiful backdrop to a great playground. The kids loved it and we took a lot of pics.

Favorite Pic of Hubby!

I love this pic of Keith. He's just hangin' out!

Where Has the Time Gone?

I ask myself this all the time. As I look at my children, I can't believe how old they are and how much they have learned in such a little time. I am so thankful for the time God has given me with my husband, children, family, and friends. God is truly awesome.

I hope you enjoy these ramblings of a mother of three boys and that this can keep you up to date with what is happening in our lives. We love you all!