Things I learned today.......

They say you learn something new everyday, here are a few of mine for the day.

1. Discovering a new local pizzeria makes me happy.
2. Getting a fore mentioned pizza half off makes me very very happy.
3. Shopping at Walmart while there is a blizzard outside and a gazillion people in said Walmart makes me super grumpy.
4. Making a special trip to Dillons to get strawberries that are on sale, only to discover that they are out due to a problem with the strawberry crop makes me really super duper grumpy.
5. Making crepes for 4 hungry kids and 2 hungry adults takes a long time.
6. Crepes don't go very far when feeding 6 people.
7. Frozen strawberries work just as good as fresh when eating crepes.
8. Nutella is AMAZING.  I think I am in love.  (How sad is it that I am 34 and never tried this wonderful creation, and I call my self a foodie??)
9. When driving in the snow I need my wipers when headed east, but no wipers when headed north.  Weird.
10. Hobby Lobby's home decorating fabric is always 30% off.  How did I not know this??
11. Feeding your kids crepes for dinner at 5:30pm, means that you will be giving them pretzels, cheese, oranges, and a bowl of cereal at 8pm. 

Well, I learned a lot today.  Tomorrow should be interesting.  Here's a picture of my baby just for fun.

Sickness, soup, and a sweet sister.

I'm sick.  Really sick.  The kind of sick where I can't move, can't breathe, can't think.  Today its better, a little.  Yesterday I couldn't even get out of bed to care for my children.  It was bad, I called my husband to see if he could home to feed the kids some breakfast.  At this point Noah was eating girl scout cookies and had given his brother a package of fruit treats.  The baby had a tippy cup of milk.  I was not only feeling like crap, but realizing that my nomination for mother of the year was heading down the toilet.  Then, my sweet man called and said that my darling, amazing, selfless sister in law was coming over to help.  I just want to thank the Lord real quick for blessing me with such an amazing sis in my life!  She came, didn't even flinch at the mess of my house, she changed diapers, wiped noses, made lunch and loved on my babies like they were her own, all while I slept in my fever induced delirium.  I can't even begin to tell her how much I appreciate what she did, it is bad enough being sick, but being so sick you can't even care for your own kids is a whole other level. 

Today I was able to make sure my kids were dressed and diapers changed, but that was about it.  My hubby came home and fed them lunch, which was a huge help.  My sweet friend Josie called me today, with a question, only to discover my lowly state.  She offered to bring my family a meal, which was lovely, since I was not even capable of thinking about dinner.  She made us a delicious potato soup and some out of this world, scrumptious scones, that were still warm.  Wowza, they were yummy!  I just wish I felt better, because I would have eaten more!  Thank you so much Josie, you are super sweet for blessing my family with such a delicious meal.  There is nothing more comforting to me when I'm sick than someone nourishing my family. 

All this to say, that God is so good in how He provides.  He revealed Himself today through soup and some super sweet ladies! 

Princess Ella

On December 29th, 2008, my sweet princess, Ella Noelle Graber was born.  We were scheduled to go into the hospital at 4:00 pm for a c-section.  Little did we know Ella had other plans.  True to her personality, she wanted to do things her way, and at 4 AM, that morning, my water broke and I soon began having contractions!  We headed to the hospital and just a couple hours later, Ella was born.  She was beautiful and I was thrilled to have a little girl!

Now, a year has past, way too quickly for my liking.  Here is my sweet, mischievous, and darling princess!

Happy Birthday you sweet baby.  Mama loves you more than you know.

My first born

Noah celebrated his 8th birthday in December. I can't believe he is 8 years old already, it scares me how fast time has gone by. This year due to many reasons we decided against a big birthday party and took Noah and his friend Hunter to dinner and a movie. We let Noah pick the restaurant and he picked a local hibachi grill. It was delicious and the boys had fun, they even caught the shrimp that the cook tossed them.


The boys had a great time! Happy Birthday bub, we love you so much!

Bow Holder Tutorial

My little Ella Bean has a LOT of bows. A lot. I was getting sick of them being tossed on the table, on the night stand, in a drawer, wherever, so I made a cutie patatootie holder for all of them. If you have a little princess who wears bows, make one of these for her, she'll love it!

Ok, first the supplies: 1 art canvas, any size you want, some pretty girlie fabric, grosgrain ribbon, scissors, and your trusty staple gun.

First step: Be sure to iron your fabric, and lay it out flat with the canvas on top.

Cut your fabric down, leaving about 2 inches on each side. You want to make sure you have enough to cover the sides of the frame, but not so much where you have too much fabric to work with. Does that make sense?

Now you want to start pulling the fabric up and over the edges of the canvass and staple it to the back of the frame as you go. I did the top and bottom and then the corners. I wrapped the corners, like I would a present.

Once you get your fabric stapled on, lay your ribbon out the way you want it and pin it in place.

Then go ahead and staple the ribbon to the back of the frame as well.
You can adjust as you go to make sure they are straight, mine aren't perfect, but I am ok with that!

That's it! Now clip all your princess's hair pretties to it and you are done!

This is only half of Ella Bean's bows, but it is a nice organized start! I'll have to post pictures once it is hanging up in her room. I also am going to put a frame around it, for a finishing touch, but its cute the way it is!

Oh my heavens!

My man knows me so well. He knows the way to my heart is through my stomach. Last Saturday he took me to one of my favorite restaurants to celebrate our anniversary, PF Changs.

We started off with the pan fried dumplings. They were scrumptious!

Then I had the Kung Pao Scallops. For all that is good and holy, these were AMAZING! I just can't explain it, they we so smooth and creamy, and spicy too. I was very sad when they were gone.

After our meal we walked to another restaurant called McCorrmick and Schmick's. They have a desert that is out of this world!

This is not the best picture, but we had a Chocolate Bag. It was so stinking good!! It was full of this delicious cream and berries, and the chocolate, oh the chocolate.

What a fantastic night. Great food and time alone with my awesome husband. Perfect night!

Four Years Ago..........

It was just four short years ago today that I married my best friend. It was a beautiful Fall day, we were surrounded by friends and family, and God so blessed us that day. As I look back on that time, I am in awe of how good God is! The way He provided during that time in our lives is so awesome! Chad proposed on June 18th and we were married October 15th. We planned a beautiful wedding and reception in less that 4 months, that in itself was a miracle!

My, how handsome my man is! Takes my breath away!

I love this picture of me and my mom. She was so beautiful that day.

Another favorite picture. My sweet Noah. He was 3. He and I both had waited a long time for this day. I was gaining a husband, but he was gaining a daddy!

Noah with the flower girls!

Me and my precious boy.

Sarah and I. She is one of my dearest friends and was my maid of honor. She helped sooooo much with our wedding, we couldn't have done it without her!

Ariel. Another sweet blessing. I not only was getting a husband, but a precious daughter too!

Daddy and Ariel. I love this tender moment between them, he is putting on her bracelet.

Noah and the girls again.

My sweet daddy. I know this day was bittersweet for him. Oh how I love and admire this man!

Did I mention that I LOVED my dress.

And my GORGEOUS flowers!

Chad, and his siblings, Libby, Lucas, Josh, and Micah.

Our reception was great. We danced together a lot with our kids, they were so tired!

I love this picture of my dress, one day was just not long enough to wear it!

Happy Anniversary my love! I love you with all my heart and I am so thankful for you!