Finally, he likes LEGOS!!!

I love Legos as a child. Two Christmases ago, the boys got Legos. Every now and then they pull them out, but today....Blake pulled them out and made this. I'm loving it.

Beautiful Weather

We're having some AWESOME weather. Saturday was absolutely beautiful. We took the kids to the park and then went to Root Beer Stand. Then on Monday (which was perfect weather again) we met some friends at a park and had a picnic lunch. It was so nice to be able to get out of the house and let the kids be wild and crazy. Here's pics from the park.

Here's Luke with Addison and his new friend Jackson.
Amy's multi-tasking, feeding two kids at once - Nathaniel and Anderson.
Jakeb and Addy
Nolan with his hoodlum hat - Does he ever take that thing off??? Well, he must because it used to blue, right Lisa? It's like Kaleb with his baseball cap!
Kaleb on the swings
Makenna
Me holding Nathaniel

Later that day, we did some running around and met Eric at Toot's, but before that we stopped at another park....I'm telling you, the weather was remarkable! Even Makenna got to swing too.

Now, if only the weather will last for a while. I hope it's here to stay.

Up, Up, & Away

This was Kaleb on Saturday. He's very into his hat and his jacket lately. On this particular day, he was adding another accessory...a Superman cape. Here he's flying around the house.

When I say that he's "into" his hat and jacket, I mean that he is seriously INTO them. Remember the whole sock fetish from awhile back?? (which he still loves) I have seen him in bed with his pajamas on with his jacket, hat, and shoes on sleeping at night. He wants to wear these everywhere. He has learned that he can't wear his hat at church nor at the dinner table, and he's okay with that, but you tell him he can't wear these things anywhere else..and well, he gets very upset. I have heard him cry in the morning because he can't find his hat. It's crazy! It was a nice day, and I begged him to take his jacket off, but he wouldn't do it. His words were, "I like being hot!"

Luke and Makenna

I also got a few pics of her and Luke playing. She sure does love her big brother Luke. Whenever she sees him, her face lights up.



This is what she does now when she's excited about seeing someone. She'll reach her hand out as if she wants to give you a high five.

Drooling machine

She's cutting three more teeth which makes her the bottom of her face, from her nose down, constantly wet. Check out that bib!

Doing the Watermelon Crawl

Honestly, don't even know what the Watermelon crawl is, but...well, it's the only thing I could think of for a catchy title. (See, I do try to put some thought into this.)
She's also scooting along the floor to now. Thank goodness for hardwood floors. They sure do help her slide well. (Please ignore my funny baby voice.....little embarrassed about that.)

Skyline lovers: here's a recipe for you!

For those of you who don't live here, Cincinnati is famous for their chili. Seriously, I thought it was the weirdest thing when we moved here. Crazy Cincinnati people have spaghetti and put some strange tasting chili with finely ground up meat on it, and then add shredded cheddar cheese to the top. Some people add beans and onions, and then on the side they have a chili cheese coney dog. Sounds weird, huh? I live here for almost 5 years, but Eric talked me into trying it, and there was no turning back. I became addicted like the rest of the crazy folk up here. Here's the recipe. I cannot take full credit for it because my friend Amy came up with the idea.....then we thought of ways to tweak it and I made it tonight. Eric was a little skeptical of it, and then he tried it and loved it.


SKYLINE LASAGNA!!!!
It's basically made the exact same way as regular lasagna with a few substitutions.
You substitute cream cheese for cottage cheese/ricotta cheese.
You substitute chili for spaghetti sauce.
You substitute cheddar cheese for Mozzarella or whatever other cheese you use.
8-10 lasagna noodles
1 lb of finely ground beef (cooked)
2 cans of chili (I used the Cincinnati Chili instead of Skyline, so it was a little cheaper)
1 bar of cream cheese
Lots and lots of cheddar cheese
Layer the noodles, spread the cream cheese....about 1/4 of it, spread the hamburger, pour half of a can of chili, and sprinkle lot and lots of cheese on it. Repeat these steps until full, ending with cheese. Cook at 350 for about 45 minutes. Then be prepared to make your mouth very, very happy.

April Fool's Day

I'm so bad......Guess what I did.....Well let me start at the beginning. Eric and I are not trying to get pregnant at all. We are quite content with 5 cute kids. But hey, we all know that even though you might not be trying to get pregnant....it still might happen. Anyways, here's how the conversation went with Eric when he got home from work:

Oh, first off you have to know that I act slightly mysterious and avoid eye contact when I have to tell Eric or ask Eric usually, so I was "acting" my part which gave me the perfect excuse to smile, so I wouldn't bust a gut laughing and ruin my cover.

"Marshan, what's wrong?"
"Nothing!"

"Marshan, I can tell that you have something to tell me. What is it?"

Smiling sweetly, "Nothing."

"Marshan, just tell me. What do you want to do?"

"Uhhhh....you know how we were talking the other night about what still could happen?"

"Uhhh...yeah.....are you??? Are you pregnant???

"Well......"

"Uhh...wow....uhhhh...Did you tell Niki yet?" (Seriously, this is the first thing out of his mouth. Most of you know that Niki's wedding is in December, and she soooo doesn't want me pregnant in it.)

"No!" I walk into the kitchen trying not to smile. "You know how you always say God is in control."

"Wow, uhh... I'm excited...and shocked....and uhh...wow. I wasn't expecting this. I hope the baby is born before the end of the year to get our tax write off. I'm HAPPY!"

"And.....I'm APRIL FOOLIN' YOU!"

You should have seen his face.....it was hilarious. Totally got him. He started laughing too, and kept telling me that I really got him...that I really had him going. In the middle of dinner, he stated that he was still getting over the whole thing. I can't believe I got him!

_____________________________________________________

I tried to pull the same thing with Niki, and I said:

"Niki, you know how God is always in control."

"Yeah."

"And how we really don't have any control over anything?"

"Yeah."

"Uhhh....what would you say if I told you I was gonna be a little bit bigger at your wedding?"

SILENCE

"It's April Fool's day!"

Awww man, I had her for a brief second and then she remembered what day it was.

Look who's....

talking now.......

Okay, so she might not really be talking, but to me...I hear the glorious words of Mama in there. (You'll only have to tilt your head for a second, I flipped it over so it was horizontal. You would laugh at how many videos I've forgotten that on. )One more of her talking.

cute dresses....

for $5 each at Meijer (75%off). I was so excited. Aren't they pretty?