Good-bye Iowa...Hello Tennesse

Ryan and I are celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary next month and we had promised ourselves that we would go away for this anniversary. I'm happy to say that we are leaving tomorrow and coming home Sunday. We are going to the Smokey Mountains and are staying in a cabin. I can't wait for the relaxation! The kids are staying with my parents and some with Ryan's parents. Please pray for them, the kids and the grandparents, as I'm sure it will be fun yet tiring, trust me on that one! Pray that I will be able to relax and not worry about the kids, especially Lauren. I know they will do great, but I'm always the mommy. I don't really think I'll worry too much, but I do have the occasional worrisome thought. I'll update everyone on how the kids did, etc. next week.

Four Months

Lauren has hit another milestone, four months! Where has the time gone? She is such a good baby and is so happy. She has been known to laugh out loud for no apparent reason, just because someone is looking at her. What a joy! At her well child check last week she weighed 13 lb 2 oz and was 24 1/2 in long. I couldn't believe it when my doctor told me that she can start eating cereal whenever I'm ready. I'm not ready. I remember with Aubrey I could hardly wait to start and to see what she would do with it. I'm excited to see how Lauren will react, don't get me wrong, but I'm not ready to add another thing to my plate. The doctor also asked me if she reaches for things intentionally. I said no. However, since last week, she has been reaching for things and can even hold a toy for a few minutes! My how things can change in such a short amount of time. (It certainly wasn't that I wasn't giving her things to grasp before, no that's for sure not an option!)

Working in the Yard

Our yard has been a mess since we moved in, but because it was fall and then winter and all the little details inside, it has stayed that way until Saturday. What can I say, my husband is the man! He dug out multiple bushes, tore an obnoxious vine from the backyard hedge and cut down a wayward tree in the same hedge. The tree fell a different way than he had planned, as you can see below, but it all worked out. Needless to say, he was exhausted by the end of the day, but it looks so much better. I forgot to take a whole before picture, so you just have to imagine how bad it looked. Now comes the fun part, planting the new beautiful bushes and flowers that are yet to be determined.

One of the ugly bushes before it was removed.

The fruits of Ryan's labor all piled up beside the street

Doesn't it look so nice with the old, ugly buses gone?

Ryan almost getting clobbered by the tree.

On Friday night the kids had fun "helping" Ryan scoop out a stump.

Cameron loves to get dirty and be right where the action is, especially if it means working with Ryan.

Easter

This Easter we were going to go to early service at church, but we decided that it was better to let the kids sleep in so everyone would be happy. It's so fun to see all the kids dressed up in their Easter outfits. Of course ours were the cutest, just kidding! Aubrey was twirling in her dress and Cameron made sure we were telling him how handsome he was. He doesn't ever want to be left out. For dinner we went to my parent's house. After lunch Grandma and Grandpa had an Easter egg hunt outside for the kids. They even got to find treasure rocks, which they later got to break open and keep the treasures. Then in the evening we went to Ryan's parent's house and had fun there too. We love having family so close. I know I say that a lot, but it's such a blessing and I don't ever want to take it for granted.

Cameron, Aubrey and Ian at Grandma Miller's

The Gugel girl cousins

The young Gugel boy cousins

All the kids in the Gugel gang with Aunt Aleigha

Our family of five!

Our three beautiful children on Grandma's couch

Friends at church, how hard it is to get a good picture of everyone, so we just go with what we can get!

Flashback Friday

Since it's Easter this weekend, I decided to look back at Easters past, since we've had children. Next week I'll add one from this year, with all three kiddos.

Great Grandma Miller

This past Tuesday we went to Ryan's grandma's house in Kalona. The kids had fun putting together puzzles, playing games and eating LOTS of ice cream. They knew she would give them a snack, so they couldn't wait! She had ice cream, strawberries, raspberries, chocolate syrup, animal crackers, Cheerios and pretzels. Oh, and don't forget the candy! We put all rules aside and let them eat until their hearts were content. It was fun to see how they warmed up to Grandma right away. They really enjoyed going to her house and want to go back soon. It's such a blessing for the kids to be able to know their great grandparents.

Cutie Pie

What a sweetheart we have! Enjoy the cute pictures.

Teddy Bears

Every month Aubrey is excited to get her Highlights High Five magazine. It's a wonderful magazine, and both Aubrey and Cameron love it! We read it cover to cover multiple times. Each issue has some kind of fun food to make. Last month it was teddy bears made from bread dough. So, I finally remembered to buy the dough and we made them.

The finished product-well, before it was baked. After we baked the teddy bears the kids were excited to eat them, so I didn't get to take any pictures.

Handsome Little Man

Who says boys can't have fun dressing up? Thanks Grandma Miller for getting these fun clothes!

Preschool

Every Wednesday morning Aubrey has preschool with a few of her friends. The moms take turns teaching at our own houses, so it ends up that I only have to teach once a month. This has been a great alternative to sending Aubrey to preschool. She has fun learning and is interacting with other kids and is learning to listen to other adults. Each week we focus on a different letter and other than that, it is up to the mom who is teaching to decide what to teach. I have done numbers, patterns, shapes, songs, Bible stories, cutting, and fun craft projects. I think the kids' favorite was pudding painting. I think the reason they liked it was because they got to eat the pudding as they worked. When I teach Cameron even gets to be involved. Here area some pictures from this week.

I gave each of the girls a set of alphabet flash cards and had them put the cards in order. It was interesting to see how they would recite the alphabet each time to figure out the next letter. Cameron enjoyed watching and of course wanted to be in the picture. Thankfully Lauren slept through most of the morning.

Fun with Rice

I was in need of something fun to do with the kids last week when we were cooped up in the house with Auhrey's fever, which turned out to be an ear infection, so I poured a large bag of rice in a Rubbermaid and took it outside for them to scoop and pour. They loved it and have played with it every time we have gone outside since. Who knew that a few dollars could buy hours of entertainment?

Lauren didn't really get into the rice

.

Words for Wednesday

Aubrey to Cameron: I can't believe little kids like us can do something like this.

I don't have a clue what she was talking about, but it made me laugh. Everything is okay, so it must not have been something too bad.