The Gunter's

Too good for Facebook!

2011-09-12T21:08:00.002-04:00

This story is just too good for facebook. I'm afraid the stories and cute things said that I put on FB are actually lost in the atmosphere. However, I feel they are safe here.

This cute little boy whom shall remain nameless...

Just asked me the sweetest question. One he asks a lot! But, this time he shared an answer he received from his father. Here's how it went down.

Trae: "Mom?"
Me: "Yes Trae?"
Trae: "Why are you and Dad in love? I mean, how did you fall in love?"
Me: "Well...."
Trae: "Oh, wait. I know! Dad told me. One day you were born. Oh wait, that's a different story. Um...Dad said it's cause you...wake...up...CRAZY!!"

Hahahahha!! Truer words were never spoken!

Weird Homeschooling Mormon!

2011-09-11T21:09:00.007-04:00

*Warning! It's LONG!!

So, I've ventured into unknown territory. Somewhere I never thought I'd be. Well, not the weird part, or the Mormon part. I've always been those. Just the homeschooling part. Somewhere I plan on staying!! And I figure now that I'm committed, I should share it all with you. My name is Amber Gunter and I'm a WHM! In my head that stands for Weally Hot Momma! But in reality, I'm just a Weird Homeschooling Mom. And I love it!

Our choice to become homeschoolers came about with my kicking and screaming. Walter always wanted us to homeschool, but I didn't think I could do it. If my kids are anything like me, it wouldn't work! You see, my mom tried to teach me some things at home. Like, how to cook, make chocolate, make freezer jam, play the piano, can, etc. I had no desire to learn from her. I was convinced that those were things I didn't want to do and would just live forever with her so she could do them for me. Well, guess what? I love to do all those things, and everyday I find myself wanting to be more like my mom. I just wish she lived closer so she could teach me.

Anyway, I was convinced that I wouldn't be able to teach my kids. But guess what? We are learning together and having SO MUCH FUN!! How did I go from kicking and screaming to loving it? Let me tell you. There was a lot of blood sweat and tears. OK, maybe just the latter 2...thankfully! OK, now here is how we got here.

Last summer I was going back and forth as to what we were going to do for school in the Fall. I didn't realize they had Pre K out here at the public school, so I did Joy School with some other moms from church the year before. It was fun. Then I heard about PreK in our area and that it was ALL DAY!! I was in shock! I couldn't imagine sending my 4 yr old away all day. I mean, she is the one that helps me! She is very impressionable! She needs her mommy! Then it came time for Kindergarten. They changed the boundary for our school so it was no longer all day PreK, but Kindergarten is all day here! SERIOUSLY!! I don't think I'm in UTAH anymore!! So at the last minute, as in 2 weeks before school started, I decided Grady needed some personal mom time and enrolled both Winni (all day Kindergarten) and Trae (1/2 day PreK) in school. They were to ride the bus to and from school. But when I learned that the bus would pick Winni up at 710 AM and she would have breakfast at school I decided I would take her. Luckily my good friend Stacey offered to drive her for me. It was really a blessing. My kids aren't even up at that hour, let alone dressed and out the door.

Winni and Trae both loved their teachers. I really liked them, too. I just didn't love that they got my kids all day. I had a hard time with the idea that I was sending my kids to school, well rested and happy and they came home exhausted and cranky. And then I had to do homework with them. It really strained my relationships with them. Winni started asking me to pick her up from school. Actually, she started demanding it. Trae would still ride the bus home, but Winni would come home with me. Something was going on and she was begging me to hold her tighter. One day I was late getting to the school to pick her up so they put her on the bus. I got there before the bus left and she saw me and ran off the bus crying. My heart was broken! Then she started asking me to homeschool her. I was a little shocked. She has great friends at school, was learning a lot and loved her teacher, but she wanted to be home. I personally believe that something was going on either at school or on the bus that was scaring her or making her feel unsafe. Or maybe she just knew I needed something like this so that I would do what I knew I was supposed to do. My little girl was changing, she was getting quiet, angry, and very tired. We decided that we would let her and Trae finish out the semester and then we would bring them home. Let me tell you, their last day of school was really hard on me. I cried when I rode with Stacey to take her to school, I cried all day, I cried when I picked her up, I cried the day before, and the day after. One lady from church asked me if somebody had died! You would think so. But really, someone was coming back to life. I knew in my heart that homeschooling was right for my family like I had known nothing so strongly before. I had never felt so right about anything in my life, except for marrying Walter. It was that strong! And that emotional! I was terrified and excited. I was unprepared and ready for anything. All I knew was that I had my kids at home with me and God would guide the rest.

So, we started after New Years. I can't say I didn't question myself, cause I did, a lot! But somehow we have figured things out and continue on. I let Trae play for the rest of the year. If he wanted to join us in Math, he did. We focused on Math and Reading for Winni and all the other subjects just happened in life. It was great. I got to see the a-ha moments in my children's lives. We had so much fun! Everything we did counted as educational. Now this year has started. I've got Winni in 1st Grade

and Trae in Kindergarten.

We are trying to stay close to the TJEd philosphy as much as I feel comfortable. My goal is to teach my kids how to be whole people! To teach them how to give back to society. To be contributors. To know how to care for themselves and others. That is my top priority right now. You know, to teach them to be more like me! :) I also want to play with my kids. To learn through play and to have a good time doing it! When my daughter is laughing hysterically during Math, I think we are off to a good start!

AWESOME ACADEMY is IN SESSION!!

my husbands and his mobile antics...

2011-07-16T23:02:00.002-04:00

so, my husband decided to look into mobile apps and ran into this:
www.memeapps.com
He says it is a neat idea and might help him break into the app world and might also help with some cross-platform issues, but it is still new. So, if you are looking for something fun to do, give it a go!!

Blogworthy...for rizzle!

2011-04-02T21:41:00.004-04:00

Today started as any other day does. My 3 oldest were in my bed!

But everything after that went differently. Trae asked me if we could read scriptures. We are currently reading 1 Nephi and are to the part where the Spirit has told Nephi to kill Laban. Nephi is struggling with the thought of killing a man. We are in the middle of his questioning of the spirit. Trae said, 'Mom, we gotta read scriptures so we can find out if Nephi killed Laban the bad guy!' There was my paycheck. He was listening to what we were reading! I was so excited. Then we had breakfast and decided to start getting ready for General Conference to begin. We called Kristen and invited her and her girls over for a fun filled day of hearing from the Prophet and Conference crafts. I had received an email the night before from Walter saying he was finally USA bound and would be in Key West sometime today. I was looking forward to hearing from him. When I realized that the Caller ID was telling me that he was calling from his cell phone I got all sorts of excited! If his phone was on and usable then he was on home turf! yeah!!

So, we talk for a little while and he tells me how the weather is beautiful in FL and I tell him it's frigid here! He asked me what we had for lunch, I told him about our bean and cheese burritos. He said he was about to head out for oysters in a half shell, whatever that means! All I knew was he was eating gourmet and we were eating from a can. As I talk to him I am still entertaining Kristen and her girls, so I'm halfway his. I hear a knock at the door and figure it's just one of the kids. Then I see a weird car out front. So I head for the door and you know what??? THEY'RE HOME! Who's 'they' you ask?

THEY...

No, not him and that virgin daiquiri, him and that mustache! Apparently it didn't bother me all that much, well maybe it did. The neighbor did hear me scream and came out to see which of my kids (he probably thought it was Grady) had fallen and if I needed help! Once he realized what all the fuss was about he went back to working on his car. Back to me, I screamed and hugged him and (might have) kissed that mustache face! For the first time, out of the 5 times he's deployed, I cried when he returned. I think it was the surprise of it all, but I am so happy he surprised us! Turns out, he is a better liar then I thought!

So, before Kristen and girls ran away from us crazies, we got her to take a picture for us. Don't mind the pasty white no-longer-single mother of 4 who looks like she could use a beach vacation look that I'm sporting. It's what I do. Embrace it!

And, of course, proof that I kissed that nasty lip, even if it was painful

He was promptly sent up the stairs to shower and rid himself of those 5 hairs on his upper lip!

Also, it was very surprising to me that, within about 1 hour of him arriving home, I became exhausted! Just knowing that he was home, safe, and ready for daddy duty, my brain must have released some melatonin and I was ready for a nap! Ahhh....HE'S BACK!

Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T20:50:00.005-05:00

I know. Don't hurt yourself trying to figure out how I made it all the way to Valentines Day on the actual Day of Valentines! I'm trying to keep you on your toes.

I'm not one to love Valentine's Day. In fact, growing up I disliked Valentines the most. You see, I went to a different school than my neighborhood/church friends. Because of this I felt that I needed/wanted to deliver Valentine's at night to them doing the ol door bell ditch method. It was so fun. However, nobody brought me a Valentine. Every Valentine's Day I would sit in the living room waiting for someone to ring the doorbell so I could run and find a Valentine for me, but it didn't happen. My sister got Valentines. I didn't like her very much. I guess I was a little obvious in my sorrowful state and my sister had the nerve to decide she was going to try to make me happy. She delivered a Valentine to my door, doorbell ditch style. I was so excited, until I found out it was from her. I'm sure I was ornery about it, but to this day I remember how much she loved me. I remember her thoughtfulness like it was yesterday. I was probably cranky to her about it because I always looked up to her and to think that she wanted to do something to bring me joy and happiness was more than I could understand. But I get it now, and every year I think about my sister Julie on Valentines Day.

So, with that dirty laundry out there drying, we'll move on to this Valentine's Day. I wanted to make it special for my kids. Since I pulled them out of public school and started homeschooling them (what? I didn't get to that part in my catch up? Ooops. I will. It comes after Christmas. :)) I was worried they would feel left out of holidays like this. We still bought Valentines and made them for some of the kids friends. But from me, they got an experience. I found this fun idea at Gourmet Mom on the Go

They sat down for dinner and were handed a menu. The menu looked like this on the cover...

Then inside was where they placed their order. On the blank line they wrote the corresponding number for what they wanted during that course. But, of course, they didn't have the 'translation' available to them.

Winni was pretty excited when her first Course was the Ice Cream Sundae, Orange crush, and a toothpick.

Maeli's first course was Orange Crush (orange soda), jam and a toothpick. I have to say, she is the only one who didn't complain that they didn't have the right stuff. :) And she did awesome with that toothpick.

Grady is easily pleased! His first course was a toothpick, a napkin, and Parmesan Cheese. He thought he hit the jackpot!

Traes first course was a knife, a napkin and an ice cream sundae. He was so excited that he got the ice cream just like Winni. Then he realized he didn't have a spoon, just a knife. At that point he didn't want to play the game anymore, but we forced him to. It's called Forced Family Fun for a reason!! (thanks Lori!)

The meal was 4 courses long. I think Maeli is the only one that touched her food before the final course. She was done with her jam before I could get her her 2nd course. What a good girl. Since this was so much fun, and I was surprised at how well my kids ordered, here is the rundown of their meal.

Winni
2nd- knife, jam, and a roll I was really impressed with that one!
3rd- napkin, spaghetti sauce, noodles
4th- cheese, spoon, carrots, fork

Trae
2nd- fork, toothpick, cheese this was just like adding fuel to the fire. At one point he got up and got himself a spoon. He was determined to eat his ice cream first. He eventually just used his fork!
3rd- roll, jam, carrots
4th- orange crush, spaghetti sauce, noodles, spoon his beloved spoon, and he had no ice cream left!

Grady
2nd- carrots, knife, ice cream sundae
3rd- noodles, spoon, fork
4th- orange crush, jam, spaghetti sauce, roll

Maeli
2nd- roll, spaghetti sauce, noodles
3rd- spoon, carrots, fork
4th- ice cream sundae, knife, napkin, cheese

Daddy of course I made him play!
1st- napkin, roll, spoon
2nd- ice cream sundae, toothpick, noodles
3rd- orange crush, fork, spaghetti sauce
4th- knife, carrots, jam, cheese

I was surprised that nobody got spaghetti sauce before noodles. They were all fairly good sports. As you can see, Winni, Trae, and Grady got ice cream before spaghetti. Although they didn't eat it right when they got it, they did eat it before touching their spaghetti...and then they were full! I think my kids know that I love them. They are pretty awesome! Love you monkeys!

Maeli turned 1!

2011-02-12T22:37:00.004-05:00

My baby! I didn't think this day would come, but she woke up and turned 1!

And she looked so cute doing it! Daddy tied her birthday balloon to her onesie. She was a little confused...

We had some friends over for cake. Yeah for naked babies and cake!

My kids are growing up so fast!

Notice our neighbor friends came over for cake, not cake and presents. Sorry Maeli. It's called 4th child syndrome.

I'm not a horrible mother, completely. She did get a baby doll. :) And this yucky cake I made.

Luckily I picked up a back up cake. :)

Happy Birthday (3 mo ago) sweet baby girl! We love you so much!

October

2011-02-12T22:00:00.004-05:00

Apparently, I am the worst mom ever! Not only did I not blog about Halloween, I didn't even take that many pictures! In my defense, I was taking video instead. At least we'll have something to show their dates when they are older!

These pictures are from the school parade.

Trae was Diego. He loves Diego. I think he wears this costume at least everyday!

Grady tagged along. He was the cutest Buzz Lightyear. There were at least 2 other Buzz's, but this one stole my heart!

Winni and her friends Alexis, Bella, and Kianna. She was the only Ariel I saw. woot woot!

Then we had the Branch Trunk-or-Treat. Remember Nancy? The girl who 'looks like me'. Well, apparently she also thinks like me. Here are our kids with their Halloween Twin.

Ariel. Looks like Eric is doing pretty well. Check out the size of those rocks! :)

Winni and Sabrina. I realize Sabrina has no hair. Isn't she so cute! She likes to pull her hair out in chunks, so they shave her head. Poor girl. Dear Sabrina, stop pulling your hair out!

Not so much a twin, but definitely a super team!

Maeli and Zach. Another reason to go Trick-r-Treating on Saturday instead of Sunday. These 2 observe the Sabbath.

And the space dudes!

To Infinity (or the moon) and BEYOND!!

I just now realized I know I have more pictures of Halloween. But, I'm pretty sure they are on the camera we left somewhere in Georgia. sniff sniff. Dear Georgia, if you find my camera, could you please send me the pictures? Thanks.

Remember

2011-01-26T21:43:00.009-05:00

So, remember when I acted like by 30th birthday was no big deal? I lied. Seriously. I'm kind of a big deal...to my kids. So, I make myself a big deal to other people. I threw myself a Murder Mystery Party and invited my new friends! The closest people walked to my house, then some crossed state lines, and others, the farthest, drove an hour! Talk about a self esteem boost!

Here he is. My Walter. Isn't he the cutest preppy boy you ever saw? I did good!

Jerry! He looks sweet and innocent, but don't let him fool you!

Amy and myself. Amy is my friend I stole from the Smyrna Ward. She and her husband Jerry, along with Lorien crossed state lines to be with me. They rock!

cheeeeeeeese!

Hazen aka OK, I don't remember anyones names and I can't see their nametags. But that doesn't really matter. I know this is Hazen and Stacey. They are our favorite neighbors here in MD. Stacey is awesome and she understands my need to feed my kids healthy. We both boycott McDonald's!

Ariane and Marc. Marc's aka is religious, for real. At church we call him Pres. Robinson. He is our branch president. Don't you love the tattoos?? He looks righteous, right?

Lorien. She loves Apple. She also loves making fun of Walter. And she's good at it!

Jessica. Another C-town friend and neighbor. Her husband, Sita, was late. After I stopped being the photographer. She's got a little boy that's 2 that thinks my house is fun. Or he used to. He hasn't stopped by in a while.

BJ and Nancy. These guys are some more church friends. They live in C-ville, not to be confused with C-town. People (read: old people and Nancy's brother) get us confused. I don't see it. She is smart and runs a lot. I'm not so smart and eat a lot. hmmmm..... They were our detectives for the night, but by day they are both Biology teachers at the local Community College.

These 2 couples are the local transplants, like ourselves. We have Allen and Katie Voelcker and Kristen and Matt Steck. Katie is Katie Carter, of the 12th ward. As in, my parents ward. They moved out here after they came out to see why we moved out here. What can I say? We are fun! Kristen and Matt are both from Utah and were in Katie and Allen's ward here. They tricked them into moving out here, too! It's our own little Utah.

Oh, and in case there were any questions. Hazen was our resident thug! The local trouble maker who ended up working for the CIA!

Of course, it was a murder mystery dinner. So, there were some casualties.

Not in death order, but still dead by the end of the night.

Katie, killed by Ariane

Hazen, killed by Ariane, with the hammer. She killed him in the kitchen, with everybody around, and nobody had a clue. She's good...and bad!

Amy, again, killed by Ariane. I'm tellin ya. Watch out for those Preacher's Wife types.

My poor Walter. He was the first to go. However, Ariane didn't kill him. His characters 'best friend' did it. Thanks Hazen! Knock him out early so he can start the clean up.

I made Cafe Rio Pork Salads for dinner and it was AWESOME! I love inviting people who like good food over. It makes them think I'm a good cook when I show them a little love.

Then for dessert I wanted something to the effect of Death by Chocolate, but I really wanted Better Than Anything cake. So, that's what we had, but I still called it Death By Chocolate. A little confusing, but who cares? It's my birthday...or it was almost 5 months ago!

Oh, and Kelly T. check out these pants! Kelly gave me these pants back when we were visiting home in January. Her instructions were, 'find somewhere to wear these!' She was laughing. But I took the challenge, and these 'liquid porno pants' as I soon learned they are called, are pretty dang sezy! :)

BE MINE!

2011-01-25T23:19:00.002-05:00

I have GOT to get me a new camera so I can start blogging again. I miss it, but I can't blog without pictures. It's just not right! So, until my new camera shows up, I'll do some catching up...starting tomorrow? Anyway, for tonight I wanted to remember something my kids were doing today.

Lately, Trae has had a lot of questions about Walter's mother, Winifred. If you remember, Wendy died a couple days before Walter turned 4. While in SC over Christmas this year we talked about her and the bridge she died on. We also visited with her side of the family and helped the kids figure out how all of these people are related. So, she has come up in conversation a lot. Today they were playing in the other room and pretending to make Valentines. I heard Trae say that he is making a Valentine for Grandma Wendy. It was so cute. I'm sure she would love a Valentine from her sweet grandson.

Then in September...

2010-11-17T11:15:00.005-05:00

Walter spent most of September on orders, in a hotel, by the airport. So, we would go on a mini vacation every weekend to go visit him. One of those weekends we decided to go to a free museum all about Communications (like satellite, telephone, and so forth).

It was pretty cool. But, this was my favorite thing there. Shout out to UTAH!!

This month, this little beautiful blue eyed babinski continued growing up....DANGIT! But, we still like her.

Winni has continued her fashion trend setting. Sometimes I even let her wear it to school!

I fell more in love with this...

Especially since he looks a lot like this...

Remember that hotel we went to? Here is another weekends adventure...

No, we aren't pretending to be The Beatles, we are using their parking lot for it's intended purpose...

Diet Coke and Mentos explosions. It's the right thing to do!

And this thing...

I've got a problem with this thing. It keeps taking my kids away!

Oh, and I got a little older. It was painful, but I looked good doing it! :)

1st days of School!

2010-11-16T23:01:00.005-05:00

I cannot tell you how many times I have pulled up my blog and almost got to the 'new post' page. So many fun things have happened around our house, but I just couldn't get myself to take the time to blog. So, I'm going to try to recap for you. Hold on to your hats, we're about to knock out the season we call FALL!

Winni's 1st Day of School

Yep, they're ready!!

Trae's packin heat, since he is officially bigger than Winni, he's got to protect her at school! :)

Mom of the year! aka Mom with the most clothes on for the 1st day of school!

Big school...little girl

Meeting her teacher, Ms Durham

Saying bye to Dad and a very happy Maeli

Trae's 1st day of school

A couple days before the first day, we met his teachers. Ms Crook and Mrs. Hackett. Doesn't he look so excited!?!

Actual 1st day of school

He really was excited!

Big school...my little boy!

Winni the toothless Wonder!

2010-08-09T22:26:00.004-04:00

My little girl last week...aka pre awkward stage

Tonight...aka beginning of awkward stage

She left a note for the tooth fairy. She drew the picture herself. It's a portrait of the tooth fairy. Isn't she....BUSTY!?!

I'm not sure why she would want to keep her old tooth, but someone told her to ask. So she did!

I always thought losing teeth was a 1st grade thing. Kids are growing up so much earlier these days!!

Holy Randoms!

2010-07-18T23:26:00.003-04:00

Tonight's post is a little bit of this and a little bit of that. First off, last week Maeli sported 2 piggies!! woo hoo!

Maybe I'm biased, but isn't she just the cutest little troll you've ever seen??

This morning Walter got Grady dressed. He felt like he was doing me a favor. Grady came to me to get mom approval, probably because he's so cool he was pretty sure this was not OK!

I instantly grabbed the camera! Walter wasn't sure why? I said, "Really? This is ok? Let's see what everyone at church has to say!" Most people thought maybe Grady had dressed himself!

And lastly, but so very importantly, it was today 4 years ago that I was pretty sure I'd be pregnant forever! Then, contractions started and I made pizza! All while breathing!! :) I will always remember July 18th as the day I enjoyed my most favorite labor experience EVER!!

Anyway, while I was getting Trae's presents out to wrap, I noticed a common thread...

Apparently I like this kid in red! GO UTES!!

2010-07-10T23:57:00.003-04:00

I recently gave Grady a haircut!

I think he looks pretty cute! We also enjoyed some popsicles with our friend Madison and her parents.

Yes, Winni still dresses herself! I think I'm going to have to start an ongoing part of my blog. It will be titled "What Winni Wore Wednesday!" I'm pretty sure she is going to be setting trends like crazy!!

And, how could I resist...

"I pity the fool!"

I love my Grady and his 'don't take my picture' attitude!

Bird's Eye View

2010-07-08T21:52:00.005-04:00

In case you were wondering, this is the front of my house from a bird's perspective.

Can you see Walter's car in the driveway?

And here is the back...

It's the white one, kind of smack dab in the middle. Can you see it? The one with green grass!

Oh, and this is the bird!

Our neighborhood and surrounding farmland

The Chester River Bridge! Which, btw, was a huge reason why I wanted to move here. I think it's so cute! And, we get to cross it at least every Sunday on the way to church.

Here is the bird before he fell asleep while flying.

Just ask him, he'll tell you, he was the co-pilot.

Every co-pilot has a pretty girl on his shoulder! :)
The bird when he was awake...

The Bird's bird...

OK, now for the story. I 'accidentally' found myself at the Smyrna Ward one Stake Conference Sunday and met some great people! One of them is my friend Amy Biang. Amy is helping me become the Julie Peterson Smith of MD. And, as you can see, so far so good! I only blog once in a while now! :) Anyway, her husband is a pilot. He was taking the cub scouts flying and invited Walter and Trae to come with him. They had so much fun! We have now moved our 'need' for our own plane up a few slots on the list.

Here are my sweet children!

Now, is it just me? Or does this seem like a game of "One of these kids is not like the others!" I'm just glad at least 1 of my children looks like me!

Sweet Midgets!!

2010-06-25T07:54:00.000-04:00

Do you ever wonder what lurks around in your basement when the lights are out?

As a child (and still today! shhhh!!) when I would turn the lights out downstairs and head upstairs...I'D RUN! Because what if something gets me? Something that leaves this kind of a mess!?!?

Ah, thankfully, in this case, it was just the result of the monsters I created and the messes they can make!

They actually did me a favor. Sweet Midgets not only look disgusting all over the floor, I think they taste awful too!

Father's Day

2010-06-22T23:41:00.003-04:00

The Plan:

Surprise Walter at our family BBQ with an apron, BBQ tongs/spatula/poker, and a grill!! He will be so happy he will scream like a girl.

The Reality:

Meet Walter after buying the grill. Tell him he can't look in the back of the van. He asks 'charcoal or proprane?' I play dumb and say 'Neither! You seriously thought I would get you a grill? You're not that cool!' The next day he leaves in his car with Trae and Grady to go on the Father's and Son's camping trip. He returns 5 minutes later complaining that his car is a piece of crap and when he pushes on the gas it doesn't always go. So, I tell the kids to tell him Happy Father's Day and he gets the grill out of the back of the van. He decides we should grill out the next night. So, as we are getting ready to get cooking he says 'I thought we had tongs and stuff.' To which I reply 'Happy Father's Day!' and hand him the tong/spatula/poker set. He comes in the house and sees the apron on the ironing board. I was ironing 'HOT!' decal on it. He says...smiling 'what's this?' I reply, 'Must you ruin every surprise?!? Happy Father's Day, it's a dang apron!' So, to show him, I didn't finish the apron until today.

The only surprise he got on Father's Day was a little magnetic foam man that Winni made. It was her interpretation of her dad. It was wearing only pants and had no hair! I think that's fair. I definitely need to post a picture of it....it looks just like him!

Oh, and there was no screaming like a girl. He has tried to curb that enthusiasm since Winni called him on it one day. He screamed and she said 'Dad, you scream like a girl!' She knows him a little too well!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY BABE!

Wow!!

2010-06-15T23:13:00.001-04:00

I should really blog...er something! Do I have some fun things to blog about. And I will! I fully intend on contributing to the blog society again. I can't wait...FOR TOMORROW! :)

calling all my ladies!!

2010-05-19T10:54:00.002-04:00

So, OBVIOUSLY I'm in need of assistance. I don't know how you all do what you do and get everything done. Every night I find myself wishing I would have done more or gotten more accomplished. I think what I need is a schedule. Either comment or blog your schedule, PLEASE! Tell me how you start your day, your morning routine, when do you schedule you time, and how. If your schedule says 'clean toilets' what are you kids doing? Are they helping you or are they busy with their own task/imagination? Do you schedule creative time with your kids. This might seem a little OCD, but I'd like to plan out my whole day. I won't follow it completely because my kids don't poop at 7 AM and 2 PM, so I will have to be laid back and go with the flow. But I feel that if I have a set schedule, then when I remember I have that schedule I can refer to it and be like, 'OK kids, the schedule says it's time for you to rub my feet, so let's get going!!' Also, as I am planning for the fall and I plan to, gasp, homeschool Winni, I need to know how you homeschooling moms schedule your day. Seriously, I need help! So, email, comment, or blog your schedule please!! :) I'll love you forever, and I'll make you cinnamon rolls, and then I'll eat them. Because my mom taught me you can't take care of anybody else, if you aren't taking care of yourself. I think she meant that about my children and sleep and so forth, but it applies to all areas of my life!

Who is your Daddy?

2010-04-29T10:28:00.004-04:00

And what does he do??

This is what our daddy does...on occasion! And you know what? This was the first time we were early enough to watch him land. It was soooo cool! I kind of had mixed emotions about it all, though. It was like, 'Oh he's home! I can't wait to see him. Look how cool, they're landing!' Mixed with a little, 'If something goes wrong right now I don't want to watch! Do I dare let my kids watch? Brakes work, please!!' It was a very happy scared moment in my life. But, after they landed and taxid in and we saw daddy waving at us out the cockpit window it was AWESOME!! The only thing that would have made it any cooler would be if we could have run to him! But, we stayed on the grass like good little kids and waited. I get goose bumps just thinking about it!

Betterton Beach

2010-04-28T13:23:00.002-04:00

I'm just going to pretend it hasn't been 1 1/2 months since I blogged last! I'm a slacker. There!! Moving right along! :)

A couple days before Walter got home we had some friends come to visit. Renee brought her mom, brother, and 3 boys with her. We went to DC one day and then to the beach! Not THE beach, but OUR beach. Our beach is a beach on the bay, as opposed to the ocean. So, technically, it doesn't count. But we just don't tell the kids that, and I remain the coolest mom EVER!!

Anyway, we apparently picked a windy, overcast day to go to the beach. They hadn't done the beach clean up for the year yet, so there were a lot of logs from the winter storms.

We also got a chance to practice our on land surfing skills!

The bandanas are a new fashion for Gunter Summer 2010, since Gunter Winter 09-10 brought many opportunities to visit the ER with head injuries! So, to keep the scars out of the sun Winni and Grady have to be covered. Might as well cover everyone, and start talking like pirates!

ARRrrrr!

Am I cRazY??

2010-03-15T23:06:00.000-04:00

This is my cute little peanut.

with dreadlocks

with a pony tail

aftermath of pony tail...sans dreadlocks

getting ready for her first (and hopefully ONLY) buzz!

post buzz!

and she's been giving me this stink eye ever since!

I hope she forgives me someday! Maybe she'll smile again tomorrow!

Tooele, anyone??

2010-03-14T17:00:00.000-04:00

What do you get when you cross...

some awesome cowgirl boots

with some nice wall bangs?

I'm so sad that her hair blends in with the background. But, I'm serious, this was quite the bang wall!

One SWEET lookin 5 year old, 20 years too late!

Oh, to be so hip again...

Beach!

2010-03-08T22:21:00.001-05:00

I know it's a little early to be laying around at the beach, but that didn't stop us from visiting it!

After preschool last week we stayed at our friends house for the day. We actually ALMOST bought a house one street over from them! Today we decided to take a short 5 minutes walk down to the beach at the end of their street. It was way fun and way cold!

We didn't last long because of the wind, but the kids had fun throwing rocks and sticks. It was nice to get out for a bit.

super agent: SUPER SPY!!

2010-03-07T22:03:00.003-05:00

Getting ready for church today was super fun, apparently! As I was putting on my finishing touches, my kids were enjoying a creative play moment. They got these sun glasses at a birthday party yesterday, and surprisingly ALL had their own at the same time. This rarely happens on the 2nd day! Anyway, let me introduce you to the cast of characters for super agent: SUPER SPY!

We have...

LADY IN PINK

She is evil, deceitful, and mean. Can you tell? I told you, she's deceitful!

HER HENCHMAN

Apparently, he is too wicked, or sly, or too much of a servant to have an actual name. In the movie, the henchman is Tyrone. So, we'll call him Traerone! But, I kid you not, they kept telling me he is the henchman. He must be good! Heck, I'd follow him into a dark alley anyday!

super agent: AGENT SECRET

Can you tell? He is such a womanizer. Total 007 material here! And, he always saves the day. His secret agent tool?? DANCING! I couldn't be prouder.

By the end of the movie they are all friends and make chocolate milk together. The Lady in Pink decides to be a super spy and they all live happily ever after. But, on the rare occasion they run out of chocolate milk, be warned...

They still pull a mean angry face!

On Oprah!

2010-03-03T16:55:00.003-05:00

So, I'm expecting a phone call from Oprah anyday now. I'm pretty sure she wants me on her show. Not in the 'daughter of Wanda Barzee' sort of way. (I realize this woman is on the opposite side of crazy from my parents, but I think it's funny that the 'final straw' of eating your pet bunny happened at my house too!) Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that Oprah isn't going to call because I am crazy, she is going to call because I am BRILLIANT! She is going to call because not many people would call a 3 hour trip to Costco with 4 children a 'success'. She will most likely call because of all of the phone pics that were sent to her yesterday after we were spotted looking like this...

It might not look genius to the naked eye. But, look closer...

You can hear the train whistle, can't you!?! The only thing that would make these pictures any better would be the boxes of size 4 and size 2 diapers we usually have to get. Along with a big 'ol case of wipes. This was a 'small' trip to Costco. If there had been much more, we wouldn't have been able to get it home in the car! Oh, and one other success happened at Costco...3 out of 4 children peed in the potty! Yep, that means Grady, too! woo hoo!!

I think I'm going to open an etsy shop now. All I'm going to make are cute little velcro bands that hook the carts together, for those people who don't have a willing 5 year old. It's hard work holding those carts together. I know...cause she kept telling me!! I paid her in ice cream.

Maeli

2010-02-28T15:00:00.001-05:00

it's what's for dinner!! :)

We, Maeli and I, are enjoying her bumbo seat so much! She loves to help me cook and she is great at adding a little toe jam to any meal! She feels like such a big girl and is soooo stinkin cute!

2010-02-27T14:34:00.000-05:00

So, remember my food storage post yesterday?

Well, this is what happened to the other food items that I store...

FLOUR FIGHT ANYONE??

After the initial shock and mass discipline, I let them play in it. Because, seriously, childhood is about having fun, making a mess, getting in trouble, and then cleaning it up! They rode their bikes through it, threw it into my boxes of decorations, and will soon be down there licking up the mess.

Oh, and in case you were worried, my 'real food storage' (aka tim tams) is stored safely in my bedroom! :)

Call me old fashion...

2010-02-26T14:15:00.004-05:00

call me silly...

you could even call me my mother...

But, I believe in food storage!

Food Storage in every flavor, too!

And, as always, make sure you like/eat what you store!

As for these strawberry ones,

they are alright, not my favorite, but I still slammed 2 of them without feeling guilty!

btw, tim tams are on sale RIGHT NOW at your local Target! And, they are even MORE on sale at your Pepperidge Farms Outlet location! whoot whoot!!

Snow much fun!

2010-02-21T20:53:00.003-05:00

Well, it only took us almost a week, but FINALLY my kids got me to let them play in the snow. I say finally, because I decided we didn't have to be completely unpacked with the house back in order. We left the vacuum in the middle of the floor, put Maeli in her swing in front of the window, and went out for some fun!

We tried to make our own slide, but the snow is a little too frozen to be molded into the perfect sledding spot. But we still had fun! I, partially, taught my kids 'king of the mountain' but I left out the 'pushing everyone off' part. I figure they'll learn that on their own soon enough!

Oh, and as for this little guy...

he wanted NOTHING to do with the snow. He liked the melted puddles of water. He loves to jump in them and splash, although he doesn't enjoy the bathtub or swimming very much.

We followed our playing in the snow with a walk around the neighborhood. We finally dared go into one of the homes under construction. There wasn't much to see, but it was fun to see a different layout. Makes me start dreaming of my next home...get ready babe! My eyes just got bigger!! :)

Excuse me...

2010-02-02T00:59:00.000-05:00

but where did January go??

This little girl got bigger...

was blessed by her father...

he got his first scar

and then proceeded to grow up...

We celebrated his birthday along with Winni's at Bouncin off the Walls!

He just keeps getting cuter,

and melting hearts everywhere

She turned 5

and keeps her daddy shining his gun!

She has lost her mind...or so it seems!

He recently realized just how cool she is

Oh, and he left us this morning...don't worry, he'll be back!!

She keeps me busy, or at least planning to be busy! (What? Don't know who she is?? She's Audrey! She's going to save my creative side of life!)

Hmmmm....and apparently, she has started some sort of extra-curricular activities, to include cage dancing...of sorts! :)

So, as you can see, January was good to us! Although, I've got a few new worry lines! But, they are evened out by my new smile lines! We head back to Maryland soon. We will miss Utah, but are excited to get back to life, routines, and our stinky dog!! :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2010-01-02T00:57:00.000-05:00

Today was our Peterson Family Christmas Party! My parents treated us all to breakfast at Golden Corral, then we had our gift exchange, and then we went sledding. I got pictures of sledding...:)

The big kids...

These 2 had soo much fun! They would go down together, and then Winni would drag the sled back up. Debbie would sit halfway up the hill and call her dad for help! hahaha

Trae really wanted me to sled with him. I love that he loves me!

Sim! The littlest of the tough guys!

woo hoo!!

More posing!

Winni and Trae think sledding is AWESOME! I'm so happy they enjoyed it. Now, I just need to get up the insanity to take Winni, Trae AND Grady sledding. We'll see!

The last of 2009

2009-12-31T23:16:00.002-05:00

Somebody told me we wouldn't need snow suits and boots in Maryland, so when I bought them online for Christmas I had them sent to Utah, cause I knew we'd need them there. Well, let's just say we were not prepared for this!!

Notice Grady's gloves...they are Walter's boot socks! hahaha they worked!

Somebody knocked on our door at about 10 AM on the first day of snow (it snowed for 2 days) offering to shovel our driveway, for $30! After a good laugh, we told him we were OK. We didn't even have a shovel!

A few days later we headed to Utah!

My kids were so worn out that they fell asleep during dinner on Christmas Eve!

We had to wake them up and force them to open their jammies! I still haven't gotten the PJ's in front of the Christmas tree picture...and the tree is down now! :(

Christmas morning was great! I got this HUGE sausage! How did Santa know that that was what I wanted...??

Maeli's 1st Christmas! She handled it well!

Our little poser! Seriously, who taught her this?? Not me!

We had soo much fun!

Santa brought yo-yo's. They soon found the garbage can! Thanks Santa.

And now we are prepared for the Utah Snow!! This will be my children's first downhill sledding experience, rather than horizontal front yard sledding. They are so excited!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

To Do

2009-12-18T14:38:00.001-05:00

Today's to do list includes this..

fun, huh?

the life of a coke addict

you are jealous, aren't you!?!

It gets even better! I found this beautiful mess the day it happened. I took pictures at that time and then waited. I waited for a confession but got nothing! It wasn't until a few days later I opened the freezer with HIM standing there and forced the confession out of him! FOR REAL! I told him I took pictures...and he begged me not to blog them. MERRY CHRISTMAS HOT STUFF!!

Washington DC Temple

2009-12-13T22:12:00.001-05:00

Last night we went here...

It was cold and beautiful!

2009-12-08T21:49:00.004-05:00

When Maeli was born she brought along a 'little' something to occupy her siblings so she could have some one on one time with mom. She's so thoughtful! :)

My kids are loving this GeoTrax train set. It keeps them busy for hours, everyday! LOVE IT! And it keeps Dad busy too! Not sure who is having more fun, actually!

Anyway, we decided to do a little something with our new train set.

Train set + Christmas Trees = LOTS OF FUN!!

Our Train set is seriously HUGER than our Trees! FOR REAL!! :)

Oh, and it doesn't hurt that it wears them out!

2009-12-05T11:59:00.001-05:00

Christmas Love

2009-11-30T23:47:00.002-05:00

I was looking through my month of pictures and found this gem!

We put Winni's HUGE bow in Maeli's hair, and it stayed! It almost looks like a hat! I love it! I hope her hair stays, at least for a little while.

This little girl LOVES to help with her baby sister! She wants to hold her all the time and will even burp her for me. I'm so impressed with her baby handling goodness. I just have to keep reminding her that she can't stand up!

This little man kinda likes Maeli, too! Anytime he sees her he has to give her a kiss and asks to hold her. If he sees me without her he is all questions about where she is and with who and why!

And, we finally pulled out our plethora of Christmas decorations. It took all of about 10 minutes to decorate. Someday I'll add to the collection, but I'd like to make the decorations, so it might take some time. Oh well!!

Good News!! So far, the trees have only fallen over once. yeah!!

Black Friday

2009-11-27T23:08:00.000-05:00

So, instead of getting up at the awful crack of dawn to save a few bucks, I decided to shop online at midnight instead! Well, it sounded like a good idea. Anyway, I went online before 'go time' and found the things I wanted/needed. Some stores don't start their midnight sale until 12 Central Standard Time, so I had to wait until 1. That was OK and all cause I was hungry anyway...

So, 1 AM hits and I start shopping away. Apparently, so did everyone else! I could not get Kohl's.com to work! It was killing me. Finally, by 3 AM I had all 13 items in my cart. I went to check out and 1 item had sold out. So, I tried to remove it from my cart and it didn't work. I had to keep refreshing the screen, but the site was too overloaded. Finally, at 440 I opened a new window and was able to find my stuff again. However, another thing was sold out. BUMMER! By 5 AM I was even more poor, and tired! So, I finally went to bed. My kids were up by 730 and we were in the car, heading home, by 9. Did I tell you I'm tired today??

Of course we couldn't just drive straight home. First, we stopped for some HORRIBLE breakfast. We decided to go to Burger King so we could be quick, and cause I've always enjoyed their french toast sticks and little cinnamon rolls. Not so much anymore. They were blah!! I'm also a Hot Chocolate lover, so I had to get one. Can I tell you how disappointed I was when they handed me this??

For real?? Did you know Swiss Miss is almost ALWAYS on sale. You can get a box of 10 envelopes for $1. FOR REAL! Oh, and it takes 1 packet/every 6 oz of water. Pretty sure that cup holds more than 6 oz. So, I proceeded to pour out at least 1/2 of the water and MIX MY OWN HOT CHOCOLATE! I'm really not a snob, but really? I paid how much for this? Let's just say McDonald's breakfast and their gourmet hot chocolate are going to put Burger King out of business all by themselves! FOR REAL! Just a tip to BK, had you mixed the hot chocolate for me, with the right ratio of water/powder I wouldn't have known how sad of a hot chocolate I was getting. You know, Hot Chocolate is consumed by more than just 12 and unders, just FYI! I'M STILL HUNGRY! And, I've got a full day of shopping for things I didn't know I needed!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

2009-11-26T22:51:00.000-05:00

Today started out with an exciting Turkey Bowl.

What was so exciting?? Walter caught the ball!

He actually did really well. He caught the ball a few times, took some good hits, and even ran a touch down! He definitely earned his Thanksgiving feast!

While he was running around screaming like a girl, we were in the car watching a movie.

Well, some of us were watching a movie, some were watching football, and some were too busy on their I-Pod to notice the rest of the world around them!

We got to spend Thanksgiving with The Gardner's. Davis is my mother's cousin. We sure are lucky to have the so close, well 1 1/2 away, but that's close out here in the middle of nowhere!

So, after the Turkey Bowl at the church (45 min away) we continued on (45 min) to their house. We had a great time!

Julie, remember when Gardner's came to visit us way back when and brought their bagillion kids?? OK, just 9 kids, but one of those kids made up for the rest of the bagillion. He climbed Mark's book shelf and drank his Japanese Coke? Yeah, some things never change!!

But, my kids love Trevor! He is lots of fun!

We decided that since we were in 'the big city' we would stay the night so we could get in on the Black Friday shopping. It was nice to just hang out and enjoy ourselves today. Instead of rushing off to get home. The Gardner's are fun! Crazy, but fun!

Britta be gone...

2009-11-25T22:05:00.000-05:00

So, back in the day when Walter and I were 'just friends' he dated another girl! I won't go into too much detail, because I'm really not trying to remind my husband of how lucky he is that I've blocked that out of my memory....

Anyway, her name was Britta. She was a sous chef at The Lion House. She would supply Walter with Lion House rolls, which I totally appreciated! I ate a lot of those! So, I decided that the only way to get rid of her was to make her rolls. Honestly, that was the only reason he liked her...I'm sure! This was 6 1/2 years ago. Since then I have been trying to replace her, via her rolls. While she is long gone, I can finally say so is our need for her rolls. Because our Thanksgiving miracle this year was that I got the rolls right! Woo hoo!!

Here is their beautiful-ness...

And they even look right

The were soooo good! I also made Raspberry Honey Butter to go along with them. Let's just say the first batch of rolls ended up being devoured, so I had to make more. MMmmm MMmmmmm GOOD!! So, we can finally cut our ties to Britta, even though we haven't seen her in 6 years, and enjoy life again. I might even pull out our Britta water filter again. OK, let's be honest! I haven't really had a problem with that one. While it is named Britta, it eats the gross stuff out of the water so I don't have to. Somehow that makes me feel better about myself! :)

And, for the disturbing picture of the day...

Winni 'snuck' down the stairs with this and 'hid' in it so we wouldn't know that she was out of her bed. Hmmmm....kinda funny, kinda not. I put the container back away, in the top of my closet!

Sleep Deprived

2009-11-25T21:58:00.000-05:00

Today Grady is still fighting naps...

until he loses! Pardon the backdrop, but he didn't want me to hold him. He wanted to sit on the floor and lean against my chair. What a ham!

Lately...

2009-11-24T22:41:00.004-05:00

Grady fought me like crazy when it came time to take a nap. I didn't care to fight with him any more so I let him stay up. Well, mom always wins...eventually!

So, once he was asleep, we decided to do some baking! I found a recipe for homemade pretzels and we decided to have some fun.

They look promising, right? Well, at least until they went into the oven. They came out looking like this...

If you are my husband, then you would liken these to a pile of poo! Thanks hunny! Also, if you are my husband, you quickly learn to not say such things! And to just be grateful I baked something. They pretty much just tasted like a roll. Nothing exciting. If only I knew how to make them crispier on the outside and chewy on the inside, then we'd be in business!

ALL WORK?!??

2009-11-15T17:30:00.002-05:00

or was it ALL PLAY?

Now, don't tell her kids, but I think it was a little of both!

She is a HEAD BANGING ROCK STAR!!

Don't call it a comeback! She's been here for years!

And here is my favorite Rock Star! He taught her everything she knows...

He's a sezzy beast! :)

2009-11-14T13:32:00.003-05:00

So, I got in trouble for not posting more pics from yesterday. So, here are some more for your enjoyment!

Today was a big day for us. These people said their good-byes...

And we are hoping we survive without them. It has been so nice to have all this help! I'm so thankful that Becky was able to come out and take care of the troops! She had my house back in working order within the first 3 hours she was here. What a LIFE.SAVER! I haven't eaten and slept so good in years. Now, if only I could poop! :) I know you wanted that bit of information!!

2009-11-13T22:40:00.003-05:00

Today was definitely a picture day. I took over 180 pics, Becky took about 50, and my mom took about 20. So, we have TONS of pictures! This post might be a little all over the place, but it has one common thread...MAELI!

I just realized that I hadn't shown you Maeli's room. It's so cute, I love it!!

And, of course, my beautiful girl in her cute bed!

At lunchtime today I found Trae reading to Maeli. He loves that girl so much! He's got a permagrin all day long. He wants to hold her every chance he gets!

I sat down to change Maeli and found that a nice...ummmm....explosion had taken place. So, I went ahead and stripped her down. Grandma suggested we take pictures, and I'm glad she did!

Grady, getting in on the action...

Check out that hair! Seriously! Braids anyone??

Love this face!

Then, we figured since she was already naked, and her chord had fallen off, it was time to dunk her!

I think it's great that my kids chords have all fallen off within their first week of life. What a blessing! That nasty thing scares me, and I'm not that good at sponge baths.

She didn't exactly love it. But she did enjoy some of it!

She really is perfect! I think I'll keep her! :)

She's here!!

2009-11-10T22:34:00.003-05:00

She's finally here

and we love her so much!!

And now, for our little story.

Friday morning I was scheduled for a Prostaglandin Gel application. I wasn't sure I wanted to do this, but as time kept going along I was ready to be done! There was no promise that this would work. Prostaglandin will either give you strong menstrual cramps and send you into labor, or give you strong menstrual cramps and stop in 6-8 hours. I figured this was my best chance at getting things moving, without being induced via pitocin. So, I went for it!

I actually started having some good contractions Thursday night, which kept me up most of the night. But, the closest they got to each other was 15 minutes apart. So, I tried to get some sleep, but didn't really succeed. By morning they had pretty much stopped, so we headed to the hospital. My mom stayed home with the boys (she got here LAST Friday so she wouldn't miss this event, not knowing she had a whole week to wait!) and we took Winni to a friends house for a play date. We got to the hospital and went forward with the gel. After about 30 minutes of monitoring the baby and I they said we were free to go. I didn't have any contractions while sitting there, so we decided to head to the mall to walk around. As I stood up I realized something was very different. My butt hurt! It hurt bad! It was my glutes. I could barely walk. I felt like my hips were falling apart. As we were walking out to the parking garage I started having some good contractions, but mostly lots of pressure, in my glutes. It was the weirdest thing. I told Walter to just get me to the car. So we headed to the mall. It was 11 AM and I was hungry so we went to the food court. My contractions were getting worse, so we headed to the family bathroom instead. The people in the bathroom were a little surprised to see Walter and I walk into the actual 'toilet room' together. Everywhere we went all I wanted to do was sit down. We sat on a couch in the middle of the mall and had some fro-yo. It was good, but I kind of felt like throwing up with each contraction, so I didn't enjoy it like I would have liked to. Walter got some Panda and I helped him eat a little, but again, didn't want to taste it coming back up. While Walter went to get the Panda Express, a lady from church walked by and talked to me a little. Luckily she didn't stay long, because she would have witnessed the beast I was becoming. Poor Walter! He refers to this labor as 'the time when the demon was released!' All I have to say to that is, 'I held back, I really did!' However, I still thanked him afterward for sticking around. During this time he really couldn't do anything right. While I was in a contraction he would 'shhh shhh' to show support, I took it that he didn't like the scene I was making. I almost beat him for it. After about 1 hour at the mall I decided I didn't want to be there anymore. I told him to take me back to the hospital. We went to my midwifes office and had her check me. Every time she would check me, the baby would do a flip, and this time was no different. She said I was at a 3 and should walk around the hospital. We went out in the hall and I kept sitting down. Just for the record, I know that wasn't the best way to get through a contraction, but my glutes killed and I was tired. I even tried laying on a bench in the hallway, but that didn't last long. Whenever someone came by or we were close to someone, Walter would talk to them and try to be light and comical. I wanted to beat him. I didn't think he was funny. So, after about 15 minutes I made him take me back to my midwife. She checked me again and I just about kicked her in the face. I was so loud! I felt like the baby was going to take the northern route out! Well, thankfully I was at a 4. She told me I could head to the hospital. I told her to tell them to have my epidural ready! During a contraction while I was on the table I asked Walter to hold me. I wanted him to hold me laying back, cause I felt like the baby was coming out. He started to push me forward, folding me in half and I yelled at him! We left her office and headed across the parking lot to the hospital. On the way up the elevator I had another contraction. It was time for us to get off the elevator, but I was still mid contraction. He kept trying to get me to get off the elevator and I screamed, 'NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!' Everybody just stopped. He told the people waiting for the elevator that it would be just a second, and that we would get off soon. By this point my contractions were about every 2 minutes! Some guy got on the elevator and pushed the button for his floor. He looked at Walter and said, 'sorry, I'm late for an appointment'. Luckily, Walter said to him, 'you couldn't wait 30 seconds?' I say 'luckily' because if he hadn't said anything, I think I would have unleashed the demon on this guy! As soon as the doors closed, my contraction was over, but we had to take this sorry guy to the top floor. We finally got back to our floor and I knew I was due for another contraction. I hurried up and got off and ran for the bench. Someone offered to get me a wheelchair and I said 'yes!' So, I get in the wheelchair and Walter wheels me across the tile floor, out the door, across the cobblestone parking lot, in the door and along another tile floor. Apparently they didn't ask a woman in labor what kind of flooring to use! It was the worst ride of my life. I don't remember blaming Walter for the discomfort on this one, but I wouldn't be surprised if maybe I just blocked it out. While on the elevator going up to L&D, Walter was tapping my wheelchair. I asked him nicely to stop the first time, then I just got angry.

They got me to my room and I ripped my clothes off as I ran for the bathroom. Once I was on the bed they started up the monitors and began my blood work. While they were doing this, Walter called my mom and told her to take the boys to our friends house and come straight to the hospital. While he was doing this I had a big contraction and told him to come hold me. He didn't. He came over after he was done with his phone call and I ripped into him for not coming when I asked. For the record, this is so not like me. I usually just take the crap, bottle it up, and cry later. Maybe labor is good for me! Finally the anesthesiologist came and saved my life. They checked me just before he started, I was still at a 4, by the time he was done I was a 6! Things were moving quickly. The time was now about 3-ish. Once the epidural took full effect we all sat back and pulled out our cell phones and ipods and started facebooking! hahha My midwife checked me again and I was at a 7 and she could feel my bag of waters. We decided to not break it, but to wait until my mom got there. My mom made it, and at about 430 they checked me again. We were almost to a 10 and my water was still intact. By about 450 or 5 my water had broken (unnoticed by me) and we were ready to start pushing. Then my contractions slowed up a ton! I'd have a contraction and push, then wait about 3-4 minutes. It really didn't feel like I was in labor anymore. I think that's because I was expecting more of a beating like what I got from Grady! It was just too easy! We were all just sitting back and talking and relaxing and then I'd push a few times. Her little head slowly came out and then it was all over with. She was here and smaller than expected! She was born at 5:24 and weighed 7 lbs 15 oz. She was about 1 lb smaller than we had guessed. She was 20.8 inches long, which explains why it was so hard to push. She was stuck up in my ribs the whole time she was coming out. Her head was 34 perfect centimeters, covered in lots of black hair. I don't know why I'm still surprised when every child of mine comes out with a head full of dark hair, but I am. We took some pictures and got all cleaned up and got to just sit there and love on this baby. The room got very quiet as we all went back to facebook and texting pictures all over the place.

As we were enjoying her first few moments, my mom decided to head down to the ER to get her cough checked out. She had done great in the delivery to stay back and didn't cough at all, but since we were there and weren't going anywhere for a while, she decided to get checked out. She called us after about an hour and said she had been put on oxygen and that they had ordered chest x-rays and blood work. They decided she had pneumonia and would be staying in the hospital for a few days. Well, Sunday came and Walter came and got me to take me home. My dad flew in Saturday night to be with my mom so we headed home. Finally she was released today and will be able to fly home to Utah in a couple of days. She is not contagious, so she will be staying either with us or with her cousins. We are just glad that everyone is getting healthy and we can move forward. My sister Becky flew out tonight to help me out. I'm so grateful for that!

Today

2009-11-09T14:04:00.000-05:00

I feel like this...

I have so much to blog about! I'll start tomorrow! :)

hmmmm....

2009-11-04T08:27:00.000-05:00

I wonder if she'll be anything like this...

cause dang, I was cute!!

Tall Ships

2009-10-30T22:39:00.000-04:00

This weekend in our little town we had tall ships come for a visit! Apparently they come this weekend every year. Which is kind of cool because they look 'pirate-ish' and at night they are all lit up. Kind of spooky!!

You can buy tickets to go for a ride, but they sell out pretty far in advance. Maybe next year!

See all that water? Yeah! The water level rose half way up the street when the tide came in last night. Kind of cool...if you have a floating dock. I think C-town might need to invest in one!

My kids thought they were so cool! They loved seeing the cannons and all the fun detail. I think they liked that we let them out on the dock without a leash!

They also had a replica of John Smith's boat. Cute little thing!

These are my homies! hahha They refused to leave the house without their safety goggles today. HIL.AR.IOUS!!

I'm loving her 'Farrah Fawcett' hair! She's into the whole 'do my hair myself' stage, and I don't fight it!

Speaking of doing your own hair! He found the hair glue, and put some right in the middle! I think he looks kind of 'edward-esque' in this pic! My little boy, the vampire!

And, of course, we can't leave out a picture of this little guy! He loves his headphones, for a minute. I think he loves that I love taking his picture with his headphones on. His cheeks are so edible!

Goals...

2009-10-28T21:54:00.004-04:00

Have you ever set a goal? I mean, a really big goal? Like, to have a baby! Then, you set a date, say October 28th. Is this the day you'd like to have this baby by? Or after? It is my personal belief, and practice, that this date you set is the goal. I want to make it to the due date, still pregnant. Otherwise I've fallen short...right? I'm sure everyone feels this same way. Who would want to have a baby early? Really? That's just cheating!!

So, for all of you cheaters out there who have never made it to 40 weeks pregnant, let me give you a little tour!

It's so delightful! Your baby keeps getting bigger and bigger and you get closer and closer to 200 lbs. In case you're wondering, that would be a 50 lb weight gain! Another highly attainable goal!

And your pants start to 'make room' for more of you!

But, you've got to look on the bright side. All of your friends who were pregnant along with you, and due after you, who have had their babies are experiencing sitting on ice, sleepless nights, and engorgement. While you are enjoying 3 hour long naps, still being kicked in the exit, and the wonderful onlookers who comment with a 'can't be much longer!' Oh, and I can still eat loads of candy, cause I'm not even thinking about losing weight yet! :)

So, welcome to 40 weeks gestation! Congrats to me! I made it! Now, if I hold out a little longer, I might have an excellent Halloween costume. That is, IF pregnant women are off the hook for the whole modesty thing. If so, Walter has requested that I paint my belly like a jack-o-lantern.

What do you think??

Just for the record...

2009-10-26T20:55:00.004-04:00

I've made it to 39 weeks and 6 days without repeating THIS

And I plan on keeping it that way! :)

TMI

2009-10-25T18:42:00.002-04:00

Sunday mornings at our house are a little hectic! I have to wake everyone up around 7-7:30 so we can get showered and dressed and fed and off to church by 8:30. However, church doesn't start until 9:30, so we make use of the 40 minute drive by eating cold, dry cereal or waffles. It works pretty well for us. But, in order to get everyone showered/bathed we do 'family showers'. Winni and I get in first, cause we are girls and take longer to get ready, then Walter and the boys shower. Let's just say the only child that likes this is Trae. He tries to get in the shower with Walter every morning, but refuses to get out!! He would stay in there all day if I let him, or at least until the cold water comes! Anyway, this routine works best for us because I prefer morning baths/showers so we don't have bed head to deal with. It also helps get the kids awake and moving. So, why would I share this family tradition with you?? Here goes...

Today in Primary we were talking about love at home and how to increase the love in our home. My counselor was teaching and they went over things like repentance, faith, prayer, forgiveness, respect. One of the topics was family activities. She asked the kids what family activities they enjoyed that brought love and happiness into their home and family. Well, as you can guess, Winni had something to say. Ariane called on her and guess what she shared?!? Yep, taking showers! Ariane helped turn it around a little with a, 'Yeah, we listen to our mom when she says to take a shower. I'm not sure about a shower as a family activity...' I think instead of correcting/explaining myself, I'll just pretend she didn't share that little bit of Gunter Family Life. Instead, I'll share it with all of you. Because, it made for a nice little laugh.

You've been warned! If coming to visit us for the weekend, there will be a family shower. However, it's a private party! We've got another bathroom, if you'd like to have your own family shower! :)

Oh, and today Winni and Trae placed their votes. They'd like for the baby to come AFTER Halloween! So, I guess we'll wait and see how accomadating Miss Gunter decides to be.

GG & Aunt Jeanie

2009-10-24T19:00:00.002-04:00

Walter's Grandma and Aunt came to visit us. We were so excited to have them. We haven't seen Aunt Jeanie since our wedding! That little spit fire hasn't changed a bit! We had so much fun with them.

They brought the kids some stuffed animals. We love stuffed animals!!

GG and Grady played a special game of 'toe cheese'...

mmmm yumm!

Winni and Aunt Jeanie played a number game. If Winni got the answer right she got to put the sticker on her right foot. If Aunt Jeanie was right, it went on her left foot.

And, being the fun Aunt that she is, Jeanie forgot that she had stickers on her shirt and headed on a fun filled adventure to Wal-Mart, accidentally by way of PA, with her stickers in tact! She had forgotten, and GG decided not to remind her.

They sadly left us Tuesday morning. We had fun with these 2, and hope they come again soon!!

WE LOVE YOU!!

Nesting...my way!

2009-10-22T17:50:00.003-04:00

I'm pretty much over the whole 'scrub the house and rewash the baby clothes' part of nesting. The house has been spotless a lot lately, and I don't feel like shining it any more! So, I've moved on to another kind of nesting. I'm gathering things for my nest...like these...

For now, they go at this table

and will until I can convince Walter to buy me a new table, or paint the one I have. I think this table would look beautiful black! oooh la la!

I've also been working on the nest nursery.

Check out this little number I'll be sitting in every 2 - 3 hours for at least 10 min...

The pillows are from the new baby bedding I got for little Miss Gunter. I can't wait to show her. I hope she likes it!

cheap labor

2009-10-20T21:40:00.002-04:00

One day after my birthday Walter called me from work and said he was going to hire a maid! He decided to offer me help around the house. It was a kind gesture, but I don't need no stinkin help! So, that day I went to work and scrubbed my house, just to prove my point. Well, he still felt I needed help. So, I hired my own help! Sometimes they lose focus, and sometimes I send them to the other room so I can actually get something done.

But, they sure are the cutest cheap labor I could find!

POSTER CHILD!

2009-10-16T22:00:00.003-04:00

At our house we like to be at the beginning of the learning curve. Now, when I was growing up, we were told to not run with a sharp pencil because we might poke our eye out. I have been given the opportunity to change that a little. It goes like this at our house...

Don't run with a sharp pencil because...

you might slit your throat!

And another shot...

Luckily, nobody will notice that scar while she's got those lashes!

baby status

2009-10-09T22:00:00.002-04:00

So, I'm still pregnant! In case you were wondering. And I plan on being pregnant for at least another 3 weeks. But, I did want to update ya'll on the whole labor thing. I had my 37 week appointment yesterday and everything is going along nicely. Last week the baby was a little off of center, but this week she is centered and working her way towards daylight. As of last week I am 50% effaced. As for dilation, I'm funneling. Which means the outside of my cervix is a 3, while the inside is still closed. So, if that isn't enough of a visual for you...:)

While I should be packing my hospital bag and stocking the freezer (which I am working on!) I am shopping online and in stores for a carseat! I figured I can have my freezer packed full of food, but they won't let me bring my sweet girl home without a carseat, so it's kind of high on the list! Hopefully I can decide on one soon.

I should have lots of pictures tomorrow. Lots of fun happening. Walter is taking the kids fishing in the morning, then I'm hitting a huge consignment sale in Easton, then it's off to my baby shower! woo hoo!! I also went to a furniture store earlier this week and got some fun stuff. It will arrive tomorrow morning. I can't wait!

30 days!!

2009-09-28T17:27:00.002-04:00

Well, today is September 28 which means...dunt duh duh duh.....30 more days (at least, anyway!) until I pop! So, I'm gonna go celebrate the way I do everyday...with 2 tums! :)

Oh, and on a side note, I'm saving money using Pinching Your Pennies! Even clear out here in MD! So, go to their website and sign up for their emails. They seriously are wonderful!! Just thought I'd share some love!

craigslisting

2009-09-27T23:37:00.002-04:00

Anybody know where I can get one of these for cheap??

Apparently if I want to go anywhere, I'm gonna need one! Walter seems to think it's not big enough. He thinks this would be better...

I think he is just hoping one of those seats is for him! :)

The house

2009-09-22T09:10:00.000-04:00

I realize the quality of these videos isn't exactly stellar, but I had to use my phone camera and this is what you get. I figured out how to get them from facebook to my blog, so yeah!!

There you go, you non-facebookers (aka Becky and Kari)! Thanks for getting me to figure out technology just a little bit more! :)

It's Fashion Week at our house!

2009-09-21T11:04:00.000-04:00

I think they get their fashion sense from their father...

Because if I don't pick out their clothes, like their father, they end up in something....well....interesting! (and/or on backwards!)

This is one battle I enjoy losing, because it's very comical! Not to mention, their reasoning for why they put these articles of clothing together helps with their creative skills. I think!

On a side note. Welcome to Maryland! Where the only way to get hormone free milk is to buy it in jugs on steroids!

These things are huge! They don't even fill them all of the way up, and then with no lip to speak of, you lose a lot of milk down the side. But do take note of the expiration date...my last day being 28!

There is a monster at the end of this post...

2009-09-20T22:51:00.003-04:00

The last few days we have been playing in our basement! So fun! It's so nice to have a big, unfinished area where the kids can ride their bikes, safely, without me watching their every move! We also got into the Halloween costumes and found some real gems for this year!

Trae will be batman...

He is soooo excited! He wears the cape and mask pretty much anywhere we go. He has all but slept in it! Although, he did try to sleep in it but it got uncomfortable. Speaking of comfortable...

He is one batman who is very secure in his manhood. Nothing phases this batman, not even a pink bat mobile!

Winni is sporting Grady's costume...

If I can get him to wear it, he will be a monster! I bought him a cave man costume for dirt cheap, but it's a little big, so we'll save it for next year!

Winni has decided to be a chicken. I bought a chicken costume at the after Halloween costume sale at Old Navy after Winni's first Halloween. I'm glad it is going to get some use. She is excited, and it's really warm! Yeah!!

Bring on Halloween, we are so ready to go begging for free candy! Oh, and to get to know our neighbors, too!

However, I refuse to decorate for Halloween until October 1st, cause you know...we have to celebrate my birthday first! Which reminds me, there are only 10 more shopping days until my birthday! hint hint!! :)

Calling all knitters...

2009-09-18T09:42:00.000-04:00

I so want one of these

No, not the cute baby, I've got one of those coming. I'm expecting more hair on mine, though. I want this cute sleep sack! Doesn't that look so comfy? Apparently someone makes them and sells them on Etsy, but I can't find them anywhere!

Fooled YOU!!

2009-09-17T20:00:00.002-04:00

Today was my turn to teach Joy School. Let's just say I need some work on how to entertain 3-4 year olds! I couldn't keep their attention to save my life! And the worst kids were my own. Oh well! At least I'm getting a lot of practice in an area that I know I need it.

Anyway, back to the reason for the title. This was the first time that any of the moms had been to my house. So, as they were checking things out I was setting up for school. I overheard one of them say, "I knew Amber's house would look cute and put together. It has style! And I knew it would, because Amber has style. (wait for it...wait for it)You can tell by her clothes!" HAHAHAHA I guess getting dressed once or twice a week has paid off! I have successfully changed my outward impression on people. They really think I shower and get ready everyday! I got the shower part in today, but not the whole 'get ready' part. When they got here my hair was still wet and 1/3 of my children were still in their pajamas. Oh well! At least they haven't figured me out...YET!

And, just to show you how cute my IKEA/Yard sale house is, I'm working on pictures. I did a video (or 6) and put it on facebook, but not everybody (Becky) is on there. So I'll work on getting pics of my castle! :)

Whoever said black was slimming...

2009-09-16T08:03:00.002-04:00

Either way, this is me at 34 weeks! Only 6+ more to go until we get to meet little Milly/Maeli/Molly/Phoebe! :)

Lazy Days

2009-09-14T08:45:00.002-04:00

We love having Daddy home more! He is so much fun! But, better than that, he is so comfy! :)

I get a lot more done when he lays there and holds the kids! He is even useful when he is sleeping! :)

Are you on Facebook yet??

2009-09-11T10:59:00.002-04:00

Cause if you aren't, or you are but haven't taken the leap in becoming my friend, you are missing out!! I am that cool! And, since I don't have a camera anymore, I have to do pics and video from my phone. The easiest way to get my pics and videos from my phone to the web is by way of facebook! And then, I haven't a clue as to the route to get them here. So, let's just face it. You are missing out on my home tour videos. Also, I have posted a link to Baby Center, (you can get to it without being my friend, but I highly encourage befriending me!) to invite y'all to help me/us pick out a name for this baby! And, to be honest, Walter isn't loving any of these names, but he doesn't really have a say, right?

The Sun'll Come Out...

2009-08-30T20:58:00.002-04:00

In November!

We just heard today that an LDS family, from Utah, who currently reside in Maryland, are.moving.to.CHESTERTOWN!! Woo Hoo!! OK, we actually know them! Her parents are in my parents ward. Yipee!! Seriously! The Chestertown LDS population is about to explode! On one November/December day our numbers will DOUBLE! They actually found out that we were building a house out here and came and looked but decided it was too far, which it really kind of is, but so worth it! Then, they started looking for homes in the area they are in right now and decided, even with the drive, you can't beat CHESTERTOWN! They are building around the corner from us, and we are soooo excited! Don't tell her, Katie, but I'm already eyeing her for Primary Presidency! woo hoo!!

Warning: POTTY TALK!!

2009-08-27T15:20:00.003-04:00

Trae is potty trained...well, mostly! He has been great at staying dry, even during naps. He would wake up from his nap, go potty, and go back to sleep! I mean, seriously! I thought I was in heaven. Then, I realized he wasn't pooping! 2 days into being potty trained he locked himself in his room for a poop session. That was last week! Finally today, after the threat of a cold shower if he did it again, he pooped in the potty! yeah!! So, except for at night, this kid is GOLDEN!

Well, he has been doing so good, but he is always concerned that someone is going to see his 'pee pee.' After a potty session today I noticed he had a little extra bulge down there. I'm pretty sure he is too young to even think about stuffing socks down there, but sure enough, he had shoved toilet paper down there! I asked him why he had done that. He assured me that he had taken it out, but that the reason he did it was because when he goes potty, he has to pull down his shorts and his underwear and somebody might see his pee pee. So, he took matters into his own hands! He sure is creative!

Oh, and I'd totally have pictures for you, but, Trae was using my camera and Grady tried to grab it from him. Causing my camera to go crashing to the ground and doesn't work anymore! sad, sad day! I guess I'll have to lug around the big camera now.

For REAL?!?

2009-08-21T21:46:00.003-04:00

Remember my beautiful van?

I truly LOVE my van! It's the best! Well, this morning I went out to get something out of it and noticed it looked a little lopsided! If you look closely in the picture above, you might see it. A flat tire? For real? For me? Oh thank you! I'm so excited!

Well, upon closer inspection I found this...

Apparently, last night when I forgot I was watering the flower bed and I happened to flood the basement (don't worry, I did this all the time at my parents house, it's no surprise!), I guess the water softened the ground under the driveway. OOOOops! Luckily, the builders weren't done with my driveway, yet. They have to do a top coat, and they expected stuff like this to happen. So we are all good. And, as for the basement, I'm blaming them too! The plumber will be here to fix it tomorrow! Maybe this will teach Walter that I am not to be left home alone, especially while he is out in Utah, playing with my family.

If you didn't know already

2009-08-20T18:42:00.004-04:00

it's obvious now...

WE ARE IN! The boxes are unloaded (minus the ones in the basement, full of Walter's 'stuff' that will be gone through over the next 5 years...), Grady has colored on the wall in the family room, all 3 kids made the playroom, well, a work in progess, and Trae threw open the back door, causing a nice hole in the wall. What can I say? We are putting our stamp on this house! May it never be the same!

Just a quick question...

2009-08-17T23:17:00.001-04:00

Does it mean Grady is ready to potty train, or just going through an anal phase, when he brings me a handful of poop to tell me to change him?!? I was enjoying my Sunday nap up until that point!

I knew I was forgetting something...

2009-08-12T23:47:00.007-04:00

In case you were wondering, 2400 sq ft is like 3 times what 800 sq ft is. And it takes a lot more energy to clean and organize! I go to bed EXHAUSTED every night! However, things are slowly falling into place and well, to be honest, I miss the comments and having you all be a part of my life. I've become rather home sick lately, and I think it's my blog slacking that I have to blame. So, here is a little recap...

After we unloaded this

We bought our house and camped out in it, on the floor, the first night. Luckily, some people from church asked us over for dinner and we bummed an air mattress and some sleeping bags off of them. Then, the next morning...

This showed up

And dumped a lot of this...

Walter's office

'Morning Room'

Kitchen

Family Room

While working in the other room one day, I heard Trae call for help and found this...

YEP! He got himself stuck on the scaffolding that Walter was using to hang the ceiling fans! hahaha so funny! Of course I said, 'wait, let me get a picture' and he posed nicely!

One day while we were out craigslisting for things we needed we had some treats! I had some gum and was going to throw it out the window so I could have some caramels. Well, Walter didn't like that idea, being a tree hugger and all, and asked me to put it in the wrapper and in the garbage. So, I did. Then, when I didn't think he was looking, I picked up a caramel from off the ground that the kids had dropped and threw it out the sunroof. Well, guess what!?!? It didn't exactly disappear. In fact, it came right back to bite me in the butt, er face!

Yeah, he noticed it too!

Basically, I'm not as sly as I think I am. But, I am funnier than I ever gave myself credit for!

The next day, we made a trip to Ikea. That was fun!

Walter and the kids found that we have frogs in our window well. Not just a few, but like 45!

So, Walter climbed down to catch them all, so he could bring them in the house. Great idea, right?

Luckily, after the first day he decided to pick the elite 10 that would reside with us. After a few trips to the pet store to get crickets we found out that 10 frogs (actually we have toads, but that's kind of an ugly word, so I call them frogs) will eat 2 dozen crickets a day. Well, I'm not in the mood to raise crickets too, so we are down to 5 frogs. Slowly, I'm winning this battle. We should be down to no frogs (except for the naturally occurring ones in the window well each summer) by September 1st!

Then, last Thursday, my parents came to town. yeah!! They are great mover inners, so they came to help organize, hang pictures, and distract children! It was great to have them. Although, we didn't get around to organizing the play room, or hanging any pictures! But, we did get other stuff done.

On Saturday, we had our Primary activity. They had some water fun!

I guess I better get used to these kinds of 'Primary Activities' you know, now that I am Primary President! You can just call me Pres from now on, if that makes you feel better! :) I haven't a clue as to what I am doing. But, luckily I snatched up a great 1st (and only) counselor, so this should be fun! Needless to say, my 6 week maternity leave from church won't be happening this go round!

And, today we finally got blinds! woo hoo! I picked up the last of them this morning and Walter installed all of them tonight. It's been quite the ordeal, but we survived! Now that we are all caught up, it seems I've forgotten something else. Walter is telling me that if I love him I'll come to bed now. Apparently having blinds means something totally different to him!

yeah baby!

2009-07-25T07:28:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I went to my midwife appointment.

I got on the scale as usual.

All of a sudden the scale started giggling. (ok, not really, but it might as well have!)

In the last 6 weeks...I gained...14 LBS!

I guess Trae's comment wasn't too far off! :)

Do you hear what I hear??

2009-07-24T23:42:00.003-04:00

Today we celebrated Pioneer Day differently out here in MD. We went to Home Depot, Target, Wal-Mart, and Lowes! woo hoo! We also went to the house to measure windows and I found a little something on the front porch. So, I pushed the little button and guess what I heard?!?

MY DOORBELL!

I have a doorbell! yeah! I know, so exciting!

And now, I must go write my talk for Sunday. Somehow Walter got us suckered into giving talks! He owes me big time!

We're BaAaaaAAck!

2009-07-24T00:13:00.005-04:00

We made it back to MD on Tuesday and have been trying to recover! We have spent the last 2 days just playing and taking it easy. However, we did take time to go see this...

OUR HOUSE!

It's done! Yeah!

The kids had so much fun running through it! We can't wait to move in next week!

Tonight Walter and I went out on a date. It was totally one of those hot dates where you...go to Home Depot and look at fences, garage door openers, ceiling fans, and the like! Very romantic! We finished the night at The Melting Pot for cheese fondue and chocolate fondue. It was so yummy! However, I think the cheese fondue might have had alcohol in it, cause I'm totally feeling it! Well, here's to my first buzzed experience. Now I'm off to sleep it off!

A day without pictures!

2009-07-20T21:42:00.002-04:00

I didn't even pull my camera out today! I didn't want to! Granted, the scenery was beautiful! But I think that after 9 hours of driving through it, it's pretty much burnt into my mind!

We are heading back to the MD! And the daddy! yeah! Today we drove 9 hours to somewhere in NC. My kids did great! We stopped to go potty and they were ready to get back in the car to finish our goal for the day. We made it here by 4:30! woo hoo! I rewarded my kids with some swimming time. When I say swimming, I don't mean beautiful beaches, sunny weather, and sand. I mean, NC swimming time. Which, for us, is during a thunderstorm. So, it was cut short. Instead, I rewarded them with bathing the dog in the hotel bathroom. You know I won't do that in my new house, but since Malachi's stay cost me $50, I figured I'd get my 'washington's worth!' And I did, there is dog hair EVERYWHERE! Oh well, at least we had fun! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY T-BONE!

2009-07-19T20:56:00.001-04:00

Last night I put this little boy to bed...

And this morning, this woke up...

Did you see it? We put the terrible 2's to bed and woke up the terrific 3's! You think it worked?? yeah, me neither. But I'm hoping!

We had fun with presents, frozen yogurt, and skype! Daddy got to watch Trae open his presents. It was a special treat for Trae and all the kids. They love Daddy/Uncle Gene. He's kind of entertaining.

And lastly, so we never forget...

(like we could! have you ever seen that much hair on a 2 month old??)

Our hairy little baby is growing up!

Where are we??

2009-07-18T20:28:00.000-04:00

On our road trip today Winni kept asking, 'what friends are we going to visit now?' Trae kept asking if we could 'just go home now,' wherever that is. And my mom kept forgetting where we were going. Well, to answer them all, we are visiting the House household, it will be home for a few nights, and it's in Dunnellon. Whew! Now be quiet so I can drive there in peace! :)

We headed out of Naples this morning and along the way we met up with Jan, Jen's mom, for lunch. As we pulled up, I remembered our 6th occupant and realized I needed to find a temporary situation for malachi. I asked one of the employee's of Ruby Tuesday what they recommended I do with my dog and they said, 'he can stay on our patio!' I figured it was better than leaving him in the car in the Florida heat, so we did. I went out to check on him and that same employee was sitting with him, giving him water. I was so impressed! And thankful! Now, where can I put my children so I can enjoy my lunch??

We made it to Dunnellon and enjoyed a fun evening at the Fun Factory. It's basically a really HUGE McDonald's play place with some video games. It's like the Discovery Zone of my teenage years. Where did those go?? We had fun and headed home to make homemade pizza. The kids had fun and did a great job!

And, they tasted good! Now, to get some sleep! I am totally surprised by my driving-long-distance ability.

Homeless = Hard :)

2009-07-17T15:49:00.001-04:00

Well, we have been homeless now for 22 days! It has acutally gone by pretty quickly! We have been in Naples since yesterday and are leaving tomorrow. Today we went to the Dinosaur Park. We went there in December when we were visiting.
However, this time it was soo hot! We lasted maybe 45 minutes, then we headed for some AC!

Tonight we had a picnic dinner at the beach with Uncle Mark and Aunt Sherri. Then, of course, we had to play at the beach and enjoy another sunset!

My kids favorite thing to do at the beach is "exercise" or jump the waves. They are getting pretty good at it!

Another beautiful sunset!

The edge of the UNIVERSE!

2009-07-16T13:06:00.000-04:00

Well, at least the edge of the US! We finally arrived in Naples, FL! So far, it doesn't seem too hot. However, we got here about 5 PM and basically went straight to the beach! We had some sandy fun and enjoyed a beautiful sunset with GG!

What better way to end the day then to watch the sun go down....

as the FULL MOON comes up! Thanks Trae! :)

Did you know??

2009-07-15T23:00:00.007-04:00

Florida is HOT! I mean, as in, hotter than Hades?!? And we are only at the top. Not sure how we are going to survive. We tried to go to a park today, and after about 10 minutes we were DONE! But, while at the park we found this...

and what do you do when you find a raccoon in a garbage can? Well, you check the other garbage can! And, sure enough...

Then, after we had sweat enough to look as if we were swimming, we headed to the beach! This beach was great! We never actually made it to the ocean, but just before it there was this 'splash zone' where the kids could play in water and sand, along with a playground.

It was the best! A life saver, even! We could have stayed there all day. We basically did, and now I have a sunburn to remind me of the fun we had! Luckily, the kids only have minor sunburns!

Then tonight, after dinner (once the temp had dropped) we headed out to downtown St. Augustine. It was really pretty! It's really old and we had fun looking at the new shops in the old buildings.

We found a friend along the way. It was a Beethoven dog! Currently, he weighs in at 155, but he's got another 15 lbs to put on before he is done growing! HOLY CRAP! Speaking of...I'd hate to be the one cleaning up after this dog!

He sure was a pretty dog, though!

We also walked along the water and had fun playing with crabs! I'm not a fan of crabs. There is just something wrong with them. I mean, they walk sideways!! They kind of creep me out! Me and my sunburn got to pose along the walk with the kids!

What a beautiful place this is. We hit the road again tomorrow. Going farther south! Something is wrong with my brain, for sure! St Augustine = too hot, so what does that make Naples?? A short visit!

We made it!

2009-07-14T22:17:00.003-04:00

We are now in Florida. Up at the top! We are visiting with Walter's cousin and her family. We are staying in their camper. I've always wanted to stay in one of these!! woo hoo!! We picked my mom up along the way and are now dragging her along on our adventure. After we picked her up we headed to the gas station to get some treats. I wish I had my camera with a good battery in it. We walked in, in Savannah, GA weather on this July 14th with Trae wearing his snow gloves and Winni wearing a snow hat! Something is wrong with my kids! But, they were happy and it kept them occupied!

Also, I traded in sharing a room with 9 kids for sharing a room with my mother...who just started snoring! Wish me luck!

Slippin Slide

2009-07-13T23:37:00.006-04:00

Today we pulled out the slippin slide! It was so fun! See, as Trae is demonstrating, what you gotta do is start way back at the cars. Then, you start running. Then, when you get to the slide you...

STOP! hahaha

We finally remembered to pull out the slippin slide today and just as we were about to get suits on, what would happen? Oh, thunder! so, we played for a little bit, and once it started to rain we cam in. These kids had so dang much fun!

Mark my words...next year, I'll be on that slippin slide!

pimpin' it

2009-07-12T23:00:00.003-04:00

Grady style!

And it didn't take long...

to make the ladies smile!

This was from Thursday, the day we got here. Took him a whole 20 minutes to start workin his magic!

Where are you lovely nails??

2009-07-11T23:37:00.002-04:00

Dear Lovely Nails-

Oh, kind-hearted ladies of Lovely Nails! I miss you! The way you soak my feet. The way you use the razor even though you aren't supposed to! The way you hand me your upsale book of pictures of other peoples NASTY cute feet! They way you try so hard and usually succeed at insulting every person that comes through your doors. Insult all you want, because we come back for more. We even leave laughing and share our stories with others. Most of all, I love that I have never left with my feet looking like this... (Melinda's)

or this... (Mine)

Might you be looking to open a location in Maryland? It looks like South Carolina could use some help, too!

Sincerely,

Sad little toes in SC!

I even tried to get an upsale! Do you do flowers?? Love Nails does! A line? ANYTHING!?! These toes are not much to admire...but at least they do look pretty, and Melinda and I got to spend some time out without kids, even if it was a Wal-Mart pedi shop! :)

Oh, and THANK YOU DAVID! For enduring 9 children, all under the age of 8. There were no incidents, no phone calls, he was even surprised to see us back 'already!'

Cole much fun!

2009-07-10T22:24:00.000-04:00

1-2-3 JUMP!

The chaos continues! What do you get when you take 9 kids to the beach?? LOTS AND LOTS OF FUN!

We had so much fun at the beach tonight! We should do this more often! All night long Trae kept saying, 'A Blue Whale!!' Well, I wasn't sure what he was talking about, until I got home and saw the pictures...

I still love him! :)

On the road again...

2009-07-09T21:56:00.000-04:00

Today we headed to good ol SC! I love this place! Seriously! I don't know what it is about it? I just love it! In a perfect world all of you utards would be out here with me, and we'd all live and play together.

For the next few days we are visiting/taking over at the home of one of Walter's old roommates and good friends, David and Melinda. They are so nice to let us stay. And Melinda even lets me cook! woo hoo! Of course, I try not to be selfish, and I let her clean up after me!

Anyway, our travel today was really alright! We survived! We stopped for a picnic, but couldn't find a park. So we found a nice patch of lawn, next to the gas station/Burger King we were at.

Grady was too excited to be out of his carseat, so we strapped him into his high chair so I could eat! During lunch, Trae found an ant hill and decided to see who was tougher. Well, the ants won!

It was kind of obvious when he came running to me, screaming like a girl (or his father) saying, "itchy ants, itchy ants!" We have a lot to learn about bugs out here!

Oh, and this is how we roll...

T-bone

Triple G

Fred

Hairy, stinky dog!

Peace!

Chuck E!!

2009-07-08T21:32:00.002-04:00

Today we went and visited our favorite Georgia based mouse...

My kids were all so excited to see him, but when it came time to get close, only these 2 were still excited!

Thanks Trish! We had so much fun!

Fisherwoman!!

2009-07-07T15:22:00.001-04:00

Today was quite the success for Winni!

They went out with 4 worms...

And came back with this loot!

She caught 5, but 2 were too small so they got to go swim some more!

Meanwhile, we were on the bank 'practicing'

Trae practiced casting

Grady practiced 'working the camera'

Then Trae went out for his one on one fishing lesson...

And came back with...

NOTHING!

They caught at least 1 fish, but Trae didn't want to keep it, so they threw it back. Gramps says it was big enough to put Winni's fish to shame! But then, you know how fish tales go!

But at least Trae had fun out there fishing, and we had fun practicing being 'crazy!' Yes, it takes practice to live like this!

BORING!!

2009-07-06T22:37:00.000-04:00

Alright, since it's obvious that I back blog, I won't try to cover it up! I guess today wasn't very exciting because I can't remember what we did. But, I do remember that I didn't blog about my house yesterday. And guess what??? I have a kitchen! Well, cabinets and countertops! What else do I really need? Besides appliances...

I think my heart just skipped a beat! :)

sSsssSunday!!

2009-07-05T14:52:00.000-04:00

Today I found this, and went inside

and the world became a better place!

After church we got home to this...

and we decided to join in on the fun!

Even Malachi thought this food was heaven sent...

There was also an art contest, on the cement...

and on Winni's hieny. The hieny won, clearly!! :)

The 4th

2009-07-04T14:29:00.001-04:00

Today we got up early to go 'to town' for the parade! We had a nice spot in the middle of the street! My kids thought it was great to finally be able to play in the street!

We had a relaxing day of eating BBQ and playing with matchbox cars on our racetrack we brought along. I think it entertained the big boys longer than it did the little kids!

Tonight we headed to an even BIGGER (Athens) town for the fireworks! We had some time to wait, so we played football...

and we bummed some homemade ice cream off of the people next to us! It pays to have cute kids! Glad I went with that route, as opposed to choosing the alternative! :)

Babyland

2009-07-03T22:21:00.002-04:00

Did you know that cabbage patch babies are born? Now, since we've determined how babies get in mommies tummy, we can conclude that Xavier Roberts plants seeds in the dirt like any other farmer. Although, I'm not sure how he gets babies out of dirt...but we saw it here!

Babyland General Hospital is in Cleveland, GA.

Growing under the magic tree we found the cabbage leaves were dilated to a 8. The nurse came out and did an ultrasound and found that the baby was a boy. I guess mommy cabbage was in a lot of pain, so they gave her some 'imagacillin' to help her!

Once she was to a 10, the nurse delivered the baby. I was surprisde the Dr didn't show up for the last 5 seconds to get his moneys worth. Oh well, the nurse did fine. And it was a beautiful baby boy!

After the baby was born...is it born or sprouted?? Either way, after delivery the baby was named by the crowd and taken to the nursery, where he waited to be adopted, at the nice price of about $150! As you can see, there are a lot of cabbage patch babies waiting for nice homes!

Afterwards, we went out to the courtyard for some pictures.

Abby & Grady

Trae & Winni

Our motley crew!!

Gramps & Nana and all their Grandchildren!

The Beach!!

2009-07-02T22:39:00.001-04:00

My kids are convinced that anything with water and sand is the beach! So, today we went to the beach!

We headed out about 45 minutes away from home base to Lake Hartwell. It was so nice to be in fresh water, as opposed to salt water! My sister in law Mandy and my niece Abbie came with us. They also brought along their cousin Bridget, who turned out to be a huge help! Bridget is like a Gwen. She is about 10 years old and LOVES to help with the kids! So, she swam and would bring Winni in when she got too far out. Except for the time Winni got too far out and the current pulled her further along the beach. Bridget wasn't going to get there in time so Mandy swam out and saved my little girl! She had on her life jacket and a float ring, but she was a little scared! Trae didn't swim much but he did enjoy sitting in the water and he played in the sand a little too! Grady didn't love it! He isn't used to wearing a life jacket and doesn't see a need for it. All it did was interfere with his ability to bend over and pick up rocks! But, we all survived and had a fun afternoon! This is the lake that we were going to live by if Walter had gone with the job in Lavonia! While I'm happy and grateful for the job in MD, this would have been a fun place to water ski! Although, it has been 5 years since I've been water-skiing! Maybe one of these summers I won't be pregnant! I'll be sure to make friends with someone who has a boat that year!!

FREE ZOO!!

2009-06-30T21:39:00.004-04:00

Yesterday we headed to Bear Hollow Wilderness Trail. Basically, it was a free zoo! yeah for free!! :) They have about 10-15 different animals along the trail, in their natural habitat, just fenced in. It was awesome! Not only was it free, it was all shaded, too! Can't be that in this humid place! At the end of the trail there was a lake. We named it 'turtle lake' because we saw sooo many turtles swimming there. After the walk around the lake we found some picnic and playground areas and had some fun! I made pb&j's for us and made sure to pack Grady's differently so I'd know which one was his, because of his honey allergy. (I accidentally bought pb with honey in it, so he has to have the other pb.) Well, he reacted to it, so I think we might have a peanut allergy on our hands. I've always said I don't have time or patience for people with food allergies, so I guess this is my punishment! Anyway, we had a lot of fun. Then we headed to an orchard I found online to get some peach ice cream...

And, seriously, when in Georgia, one must consume lots of these...

Today, we did a little bit of fishing! Well, sort of! My kids have some practice reels, so they practiced, but Gramps says that Winni is ready to fish for real! She is sooo excited!

Gramps wasn't sure if he could handle all 3 kids on the boat by himself, so Grady stayed with me on the shore. He didn't like that much!

He eventually got to go out on the boat too and had fun...until Winni hit him in the head with the oar. oops! Now that the kids know there is a lake at Gramps, I think we'll be spending more time over on the bank throwing rocks in!

2009-06-30T07:04:00.002-04:00

My internet connection is being really slow tonight. I have a few pictures from today's activities I wanted to share, but I don't have the patience for it! So, for now, go check out videos of OUR HOUSE! yeah!! The kids and I won't get to see it until we close on it, but Walter will be checking on it weekly and keeping us updated through pictures and videos. We are so excited...if you can't tell!

Abby's birthday

2009-06-28T23:21:00.002-04:00

Today was Abby's birthday. Abby is Walter's little brothers daughter. She is a cutie!! We were so happy we got to be here for her birthday! It was lots of fun, but super hot!

Grady slept through most of the party, but didn't miss out on the cupcakes, thanks to Gramps!

Oh, and a little riddle for the day...

What do you get when you put 2 women, in June, in the heat of HOTLANTA when there is a kiddie pool nearby??

And oh, was it the best thing we did ALL DAY!!

Gramps and Nana's

2009-06-26T22:32:00.002-04:00

We made it here and are having fun! We rested today a bit since we didn't get in til 1:30 this morning. Well, I rested. Walter power washed the outside of the house and did some edging! When Nana got home from work it was cool enough to play outside. So, she planted some flowers while we played around!

We also pulled out the 4-wheeler and went for rides. My in-laws have over 20 acres of land with a 3 acre pond on it. So, we plan on exploring it! They also have chickens and ducks. They had fun collecting the eggs with Nana tonight. Walter hooked up the misting fan and we all ended up sooo dirty! Nana has a fun bear claw tub and my kids LOVED playing in it!

So, we are off to have some muggy, sweltering fun!