Isaiah's jammie day

Yesterday was a rough day. Ha, in case you couldn't tell from yesterdays blog- lol. I'm in a little better spirits today. But then again, both kids are at school right now, so of course I'm doing better! We'll see how I'm doing this afternoon........{sigh}, much prayers still appreciated!

I do know that Jeremy and I are going to be having a talk when he comes back in to town. Some changes are going to be happening!!! you heard it here first!!! :0)

On to some funner, lighter news........today is pajama and teddy bear day at Isaiah's school. He was very excited to get to wear his new jammies to school and take his favorite little bear.....

Notice the big mark still on his forehead? Yes, that is Isaiah being goofy and spinning around the kitchen and falling into the corner of one of the pillars in our living room. Yup, sliced his forehead open. Nothing a little urgent care and super glue can't fix!!!

Hope ya'll have a great day today! Be blessed!!!

i'm just gonna air out all my dirty laundry....

I need parenting help. Desperately. Is there a "Parenting for Dummies" class somewhere that I can take?

Daddy is gone. Again. Isaiah is acting up. Again.

What do I do when he yells at me "I hate you" and "you poopy butt"? What do I do when he growls and screams at me and hits me? What do I do when Lilly is constantly sticking her tongue out at me and her brother? What do I do when I ask Isaiah to do something and he flat out tells me "NO"? What do I do when I threaten to throw away all his toys if he doesn't pick them up, and he tells me to "throw them away, i don't want them anymore", and actually goes to the trashcan to throw something away?

Spankings and time outs do nothing. What is the next step? I mean, you know, something legal?

I need parenting help. And lots of prayers. Please. Or someone might not get out of this alive.

I'm just sayin'.

A little less of Lilly....

For those not on facebook, or in the know, there is a little less of Lilly walking around the house these days. Lilly minus her tonsils and adenoids, to be exact. Very large tonsils and adenoids, according to the dr. They were needing to be taken out, both very enlarged, and causing snoring and breathing issues at night. We decided not to tell Lilly a whole lot about what was going on beforehand. We didn't want to freak her out. We told her we were taking her to the hospital to get her tonsils taken out of her throat. She didn't have a clue what tonsils are though, so it didn't really mean a whole lot to her I don't think! This was last Wednesday, January 20th. Had to be there at 6:30am, and her surgery was at 8am. Surgery only lasted about 30 minutes, then we were there for another 2 hours or so, until we were released to take her home. She did very well......she sure is a trooper. I honestly didn't think she'd do as well as she did. She surprised me!

Here she is, in the prep room....getting ready....still not sure what's going on.....

she started getting a little nervous when she had to put on the hospital gown





Thirty minues later, her surgery was done, and about another 30 minutes after that, she woke up and we were allowed to go back and see her.....

She was pretty out of it and crying a little and whining some, still very sleepy and sleeping off and on while we were there...





After she was awake enough, and took a few sips of water, we got her dressed and we gave her a couple gifts for being such a good sport. That seemed to cheer her up

She got a puzzle, that her and mommy could work on while she is recovering at home.....

And she got some play doh and a new play doh piece that hers had broken awhile back. This girls loves some play doh!

All in all, it took a good 3 or 4 days for her to recover and finally act like herself again, but she is doing much better now, and even went back to school today. :-) Thanks for your prayers!

Things that make me smile =)

Watching my kids interact and playing with their cousins.

Their best friends.....

Forever and Ever.....

BTW, LOVE the coordinating jammies here..... =)

Kids exhausted.....Mission accomplished....

...however that also means the adults are exhausted! O well........we will all sleep good tonight then I guess!



After church this morning, we took our kids, plus Matthew and Jonathan to the Great Mall of the Great Plains to Zonkers. Kids were ecstatic and had a blast......

We stayed there several hours before heading back. (I even got to sneak away to shop a bit at the Childrens Place Outlet......couldn't go to the mall without a little shopping don't ya know.....) :)

Kids are now in bed........and I am following shortly..........I'm zonked out!

Until next time...........

Baby it's cold outside.....

Me! Me! Pick me! I have no clue how many total inches of snow we've gotten so far this winter, but with the snow drifts and blowing, we have about a 3-4 foot snow mountain in part of our driveway. sheesh. It's crazy. But the snow is not even the bad part. The worst part about all of this is the FREEZING COLD!!! The high today is suppose to be a whopping 1 degree! But the wind chill for the next few days is like -15 to -20. Gimme a break! I thought I moved AWAY from Michigan and back to Kansas City. This brings me back to my Michigan-living days!

Took the kiddos out yesterday, we were all getting a case of cabin fever. I took them over to Paradise Park and let them play for a couple hours. It was nice while we were in there playing, but man, I thought I was going to freeze my tushi off going in and out of the car!

So, we've been staying home a lot, playing games, watching movies, hanging out and taking some "boredom pictures" :-)

Despite the negative temps outside, Lilly found her bathing suit tucked away in a drawer, and had to put it on, while I'm walking around the house in layers and fuzzy socks and my scarf!





Hope wherever you're at, your staying warm!

Highlights of 2009....and Looking Ahead to 2010

As promised.......here are my personal highlights from the year 2009........so much has happened, and we have all grown so much, here is just a sampling of it.....

In February of 2009, I started my diet. Yes, it took me a month after the new year to finally have the guts and courage to do something. Hey, better late than never, right?


In March, our good friends Pam and Jason had their first baby, little Hailee was born.

Isaiah had a big month in March. He turned 3 years old, and also started potty training.

Only 5 days after Isaiah's birthday, Jeremy's dear sweet Grandma, Gena Haines passed away. She is forever missed in our family, and family gatherings are just not the same anymore. :(

In April, I snuck away for a few days with some girlfriends to an MPact Leadership conference in Springfield. That was tons of fun, and lots of laughs. (in fact......it just might be about time for another one of those girls weekend get-a-ways....)

May brought about mine and Jeremy's 8 year wedding anniversary! :) We also started "Haines Re-Paint and Re-Decorate of 2009". You can find those blogs here and here.

In June, Lilly took swimming lessons for the first time and loved it!

In August we sent Lilly off to her first day of her second year of preschool. Last year of preschool for my little girl! Also in August, my bestest friend (since we were freshmen in high school) Monica and her husband Jeremy had twin baby girls! Madison and Meridith are SO cute and SO much fun. And in August my sister and I went to the Extraordinary Womens Conference, which was a BLAST, and I got to meet Candace Cameron, from my favorite childhood sitcom, Full House!

In September, we went on our annual trip to Lake Pomme de Terre over Labor Day weekend, which is always lots of fun.

And the biggest news this year came in September when we found out that I am pregnant! wow, talk about a shocker. Took me a good month (or two), but I'm very excited about it now! :)

Also in September, I celebrated my 29th birthday (last year of my 20's....sniff sniff....) while Jer was working in Mexico, and Isaiah got to go to his first day of his first year of preschool! (no crying there! lol)

In October we took a mini family vacation and went to Bloominton, Indiana for my cousins wedding, and Lilly got to be the flower girl. And of course, my hubby also turned 34 at the end of the month, which he celebrated in Mexico as well. :(

In November we celebrated Lillian's 5th birthday (WOW!), and Isaiah graduated from his toddler bed to a big boy bunk bed! (I can't believe I did not blog about Lilly's big 5th birthday party at Chuck E Cheese......what a bad mom I am!!!)

In December, amidst the festivities and parties and birthdays, Jeremy and I also found out that the little baby we are having is a little girl! Another princess in the family!

Shew! Talk about a full year! Are you tired yet? I am! And yet there is no time to waste.....2010 is here! God has certainly been good to me and my family in 2009, and we give Him all the glory and praise. We seriously could not have made it thru some of these things without God by our side! We can't wait to see what God has in store for our family in 2010!

Now....

Looking ahead to 2010, here are a few 'goals' I put together for myself and my family. ( I guess "goals" is now the 'cool' way to say "resolutions" haha).

* Get back on track with my diet and start working out more (especially after baby is born). oh, and I forgot to mention, these goals are in no particular order of importance :)

*Pay off 2nd mortgage on our house. Do not add any more debt. Pay off all existing debt. (believe it or not, this really is a doable goal!)

*Spend more family time together. (and yes Jeremy, THIS INCLUDES YOU!-- can you try and be in the country more in 2010 than you were in 2009???) :)

*Me, personally to spend more quality time with the kids.

*Adjust to life as a 5 person family. (yikes!) - this might need to be an ongoing goal!


And what I am looking forward to in 2010..........

*the birth of our 3rd baby!

*Lillian starting kindergarten in the fall!

*Lilly going downstairs to "childrens church" and being out of the 'nursery department' at our church. She'll be in Daisy's on Wednesday nights! yay!

*Less travel for Jeremy's job

So there you have it...........2009 in a nutshell, and a glimpse of 2010........

I'd like to know..........(1) What is YOUR favorite memory of 2009? and (2) What are YOU looking forward to in 2010??? Do share! :)

I'm ba-ack!!

Back from bloggy break cyber friends! Aren't you just sooooo excited? ;)


We had a great Christmas and New years. We spent the new years with my sister and her family and 2 kids. And yes, all 4 kids stayed up til midnight and rang in the new year with us!


Shortly after midnight we left to come home, and both kids were zonked after being in the car for only about 3 minutes. Sweet! :D


New Years Day we had our annual Japanese Sukiyaki Lunch over at mom and dads, courtesy of Chef Dad :) It was YUMMY......as usual! I'm not a big fan of a lot of Japanese foods- even though I am half Japanese, (mostly because a lot of it is fishy stuff or tofu or icky stuff like that....), but I do love me some sukiyaki :) Then we got a good photo op of mom and dad with the kids.....





Then on Saturday, January 2nd we went up north to Cameron, and got together with my dads side of the family, since we had never made it over there for Christmas. We met at the veterans home my Grandpa is living.


That is dad's brother, behind Gerald and Valerie and dad's sister behind Grandpa in the wheelchair....



Signing off for now, but look for me tomorrow, where I will post my "highlights of 2009" and "my goals what I am looking forward to in 2010" Yes indeed, it shall be exciting. ;)

Hot Cider Recipe

This stuff is tasty! Ok, so before, I made hot cider and just poured a jug of apple cider in the crock pot and called it good.....this is sooooo much better than that! Mmmm-mmmm :) I will definately be making this again!

Put all this together in a crock pot:

1 gallon apple cider
4 cinnamon sticks
4 or 5 cloves
1 cup brown sugar

Bring to a boil. Add juice from 4 oranges. Cut 1 orange in quarters and lay in cider (to make it pretty) :)

Serve and Enjoy! :)

Christmas Coma

Is anyone else out there in a total state of 'Christmas coma'???? We are! Still rolling around from the yummy food that was eaten, still throwing away bits and pieces of wrapping paper and tape, still opening all the kids' new toys (the song 'Toy Packaging" keeps running thru my head....) and still trying to find a new "home" for all our new toys and goodies. It was a fun and blessed Christmas nonetheless. Despite a few setbacks of sickness, with mostly Lilly and Jer, we made it thru the holidays and all the celebrations. We are all about partied out though!

Now, as I'm still putting away my things, I realize there IS something people can buy, and it does not matter how many zillion people get of these. What is it you ask???


Ah yes. I love me some Bath & Body Works shower gels, lotions and hand soaps. I think I shall be stocked up for awhile, what do you think? :)

Now......on to our Christmas celebrations. Our families Christmas parties start on Christmas Eve. It was at our home this year, and it is with Jeremy's side of the family. His Grandpa Haines, his dad and his 3 brothers and their wives and kids and grandkids. We had a total of 20 show up this year. Would have been 24 if everyone was able to come.

Of course, every good party is started off by a cup of hot apple cider (I shall share the recipe with you tomorrow..........as it is downstairs at the moment, and I'm too lazy a little tired to go get it now.) Followed, of course, by dinner.........

After dinner, we take a few pics.....

Here is my nephew, Ben

The Nicholson clan.
Ryan, Stephanie, Manoa and Malia
(Stephanie's dad, and Jeremy's dad are brothers)



Mike and Donna and Mike's son, Todd
Mike and Jerry (Jeremy's dad) are brothers

Our family of 4 1/2 :)

Jeremy's sister, Jen, her husband Andy and their 2 kids, Ben and Braden

Jerry and Judy with the grandkids (+ Jeremy) Isaiah would not get in the picture unless his daddy was in it too.....*sigh*

btw, not exactly sure where Judy is looking.......maybe she's praying for patience? lol

Great-Grandpa Haines with the great-grands (minus Malia)

and again, Isaiah had to be sitting on his daddys lap to be in the pic.

After the torture fun of picture time, it was time for the reading of the Christmas story.

After the Christmas story, we got our yearly visit from "Uncle Santa" who visits the Haines family every Christmas Eve (aka Uncle Mike)

Isaiah and Braden were the first to greet him at the door :)

A hug with Uncle Santa....

Santa passing out his gifts for the kids...

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Christmas Day.....

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We went to moms early, about 9:30 and started our Christmas celebrations with them. Mom always fills a stocking up for each of the grandkids. And this year, she hung up 5 stockings and surprised me with a little gift for baby girl :) Baby girl is 21 weeks in-utero and already spoiled :)

Pictures before presents!

Gifts are all passed out.............

Lilly's favorite..........make up! :)

Showing off her new slippers from MeMa and PaPa!

My nephew, Matthew.........

Later Christmas Day.........

We went to my in-laws house for more food and gifts!

Here is my nephew, Ben :)

Yes, this was our Christmas, the highlights, in as few pics as possible :) I've not quite woken up from my coma, so this is all you get for now! :)

Hope your alls Christmas was fun and memorable!!!!