HALLOWEEN NIGHT 2013

The kids get so excited for Halloween each year.  Here are a few pics from that night

OUR PUMPKINS

 Poor Savannah got me as her carving partner.  We didn't do too bad, though

 Madison of course carved her own....she is so crafty just like her daddy

 Jeremy partnered up with Nicholas.  We had a great night!!

 Nicholas and Savannah were Minions from their favorite movie, "Despicable Me"  Madison was a Huntress and her friend Clair was a Vampire girl

The daddies drove the kids around the neighborhood on the Polaris Ranger (kinda like a big 4-wheeler) to Trick-or-Treat. The daddy's "Lustig Orthodontics" cups are full of beer...The mommies stayed back at the house giving out candy and visiting.  It was such a fun night with family and friends!!

The kids are already talking about what they are going to dress as next year

FRIDAY AFTERNOON

WHAT ARE WE DOING THIS AFTERNOON

Savannah is finishing up some of her schoolwork

She had one more math lesson

 Madison is working on a collage of all of Nick's favorite things to cheer him up

Look at how sweet this little project is.  She worked on it all afternoon....Why did Nicholas need cheering up?

Wait....Where is Nicholas?

It was a chilly and rainy October day.....Perfect for a fire in the fireplace

Who is that warming by the fire in his favorite chair?

Oh....My little Nicholas.  He is sick today.  He was up sick all night and now his little body is just warn out.  He is snuggled up under a warm blanket, with his favorite "guggle" and his best stuffed friend...."Doggie"

WHERE WAS DADDY ALL DAY?

HE WAS PLAYING CARS WITH HIS FRIEND, DAVE

 (The Ranger was on the frits, so Jeremy's great friend and hunting buddy, Dave rushed over for an "all day" repair job.....Boys are so precious!! They never grow out of playing with cars!!

Nicholas surly would have been outside with them all day if he would have felt better.  I do not like when my little ones do not feel well, but I love getting to care for them extra special to make them better.....like only a mommy can....Thank you Sweet Jesus for little ones and a mommies love

A QUICK NOTE TO OUR SWEET LITTLE BABY ABOUT MADISON, SAVANNAH, AND NICHOLAS

(Look at how little your brother and sisters are in this pic...they are much bigger now....I can't believe it sometimes, how fast time goes by)

Dear Sweet Baby,

Mommy wanted to write you a quick note to tell you how excited Madison, Savannah, and 

Nicholas are to meet you.  They have prayed SO HARD for a new baby in our family for SO MANY years!!

Everyday, they come up and give you kisses on my belly and tell me how they cannot wait to meet you!  Their eyes light up whenever they talk about you!!

They are all wanting to have you sleep in THEIR room and argue over who gets to sit by you at dinner.  Daddy and I may not even get a chance to hold you, with all of the loving arms of your siblings, waiting with joy to hold your sweet little body and kiss your soft little baby cheeks!

You are all your brother and sisters talk about!  Savannah calls you French Fry, because she imagines you about that size......and she absolutely LOVES french fries!!  This week you are as big as an apple!  Each week we read about how you are growing and developing inside of mommy.

I just wanted you to know that ALL of your family is thinking about you and we cannot wait until you are here!!

WE LOVE YOU, SWEET ONE

Love, Mom

A LETTER TO OUR SWEET LITTLE BABY GROWING INSIDE OF ME

Dear Sweet and Precious Baby,

You are so strong, so wonderful, so perfect and so very precious to us!  We prayed for you for so long, and we just know that you were specially made for our family, by our Dear, Sweet and Merciful Jesus.

He desired you to be in this world so badly.  He has a special mission for you that only YOU can fulfill!  He has written all of His hopes and dreams for you, lovingly on your tiny heart!

We have always prayed for you, even before we knew about you.  We are praying for you everyday and every minute.  Because of the Holy and Powerful Will of our Lord Jesus Christ, you are here.  He has made your tiny body so strong and you have stayed safe inside of me, even though I have been sick.

Daddy and I think about our 4 beautiful children.....Madison, Savannah, Nicholas and you, our sweet one still growing inside of me.  How fortunate we are that our Lord trusted Daddy and Mommy so much, that He bestowed these 4 perfect gifts on us to watch over, protect, and guide back to Him.

Daddy and I will do whatever we can to fulfill our promise to return our 4 precious children back to Jesus, Our Heavenly Father...you are His and belong to Him and as our Faithful and Flawless Father, He values each of His precious children more than the entire world!

Sweet Baby, through the many prayers of our generous family, friends, and religious priests, nuns, and consecrated and through the unequaled and perfect blessings of our Merciful and Dear Lord Jesus, mommy's body is being healed and made new!!  Your Daddy and I always hold our faith in God so tightly, but still in our humanness, we were frightened for our little darling.

Know that with every beat you hear of mommy's heart, we love you and you are being kept safe by our Sweet Jesus.

Each night, before we go to sleep, Daddy and I listen to YOUR sweet and perfect heartbeat on our baby heart monitor.  We smile and dream about the day we will get to hold you and kiss you.

We love you, Baby.
Love, Daddy, Mommy, Madison, Savannah, and Nicholas


 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR DADDY

Today is our Daddy's special day!!!

It is the his birthday!!

The world was truly blessed on this day in 1974 when our Daddy was born!!

Here's Daddy and the kids as we sang Happy Birthday!!

Madison got up in the middle of the night to hang streamers and birthday wish decor....so that the morning of Daddy's birthday, he could awake to a decorated house....complete with banners, birthday cards from all of the kids, a beautifully set birthday party table and balloons!! We love our Daddy!!

"We love you" Sign over the table

"Happy Birthday Daddy" Banner

How can there be a party without some balloons!!

BUT WHAT DO WE DO WITH THE BALLOONS NOW.....

A full contact game of "Balloon Handball!!".....or just laugh a lot and chase Daddy around....

Couldn't tell which was going on exactly.....but it was a fun time to remember forever!!

TIME FOR DADDY'S PRESENT!!

What could be inside?

A new TV for the kitchen......ours has been on the fritz for awhile now "we need a new TV!", we keep saying, but have never gone further than that.....until today!! Surprise.....Now Daddy can enjoy football while eating his cereal!!!

What an awesome night we had altogether as a family.....it was a rainy and cold night outside, but the house was filled with warmth and laughter......one of my favorite family birthday celebrations ever!!

Thank you Jesus for our Daddy.......He is such an important part of our family!!  We couldn't even imagine life without him!!

We love you Daddy......Happy Birthday!!

MY DADDY'S BIRTHDAY

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY

I LOVE YOU WITH ALL OF MY HEART!

Me and my dad on his birthday

 My mom and dad came to see me on my dad's birthday, as I was still in the hospital.  They totally took care of AND homeschooled the kids while I was sick......aren't parents amazing!!  Thank you mom for running our school!!  What a blessing you are to me!!

I love you mom and dad

Don't we look alike?!?!

MY AMAZING STRONG AND GENEROUS HUSBAND

My love, Jeremy is the most wonderful, prayerful, and strong husband ever.   Thank you Christ Jesus for creating him especially just for me!

Through all of the hardships of our present situation with me and our little baby, Jeremy has totally taken it upon himself to do EVERYTHING for me and all of the chores around the house, seeing that I am physically struggling to do it myself.  He never complains or tires out, or stops to count the cost of this calling to serve our family....He has never failed to follow though as our protective leader in any situation!

That is a beautiful thing about marriage.  It's not 50%-50%, it's not 70%-30%, it is the married souls that make up the 100% together.  Where one spouse might fall short in times of need, the other spouse fills in with love and selfless commitment.  Just like Jeremy, you cannot count the cost.  How much is my family worth?  How far should I go until I decide it's not fair to me anymore?
These questions are questions that cannot be asked in a marriage that is truly centered on our Lord Jesus Christ.
THANK YOU LORD FOR BEING THE CENTER OF OUR MOST HOLY AND SACRAMENTAL UNION

We were visiting, as he is walking me down the halls of the hospital dragging my IV pump, still holding onto my hand, joyfully.  I felt so loved and cared for (our marriage is supposed to be a mirror image of our Heavenly relationship with our most Loving God....and Jeremy is an amazing example of this unconditional love).  One reason why my cross is difficult, is that everyone has to suffer with me in my limitations.  I feel like such a burden to my family sometimes.  So I again, wanted to tell Jeremy how wonderful he was and I thanked him AGAIN for yet another kind gesture of love.

I wanted him to know how much I appreciate all that he is doing for me and that I wish that  I would not have to be everyone's cross.  "Please don't get tired of all of this, Jeremy"  "I love you so much and I am thrilled that you would find it in your heart to love ME this much in return, but your calling to serve has been so intense recently."

He stopped me before I could finish my sentence, expressing to me so genuinely, "Kerry,  in these times of trial, it is the easiest to love you"

How incredible you are to me, Jeremy

This love is so much more than I could ever deserve, but I am so thankful for our Merciful Lord, who absolutely showers me with so many blessings that I could never merit on my own accord.  As any earthly father would, He just loves to please His children and make us happy all of the time, even when we do not deserve it.  Unlike an earthly father, our Father in Heaven (our Sweet Lord Jesus) is Perfect and His Love is Immaculate, Flawless, Everlasting

THANK YOU FOR CREATING MY JEREMY
I LOVE HIM SO MUCH.......AND HE LOVES ME SO MUCH TOO

PRAYERS FOR BABY AND ME

Me and baby are having a little bit of a struggle right now.  My asthma has been really exacerbated with being pregnant and we are really worried about our little sweet baby trying to develop inside of me .  I just cannot breath.  It has been really scary at times and I have been in and out of the hospital twice now and we are only 13 weeks along!! 

(praise our Lord that there are amazing doctors, who can help to make me better)

So far, our darling little one is really doing well....Praise God!!

Thriving and growing inside of my belly under the strong and protective Mantle of our Sweet Lord Jesus

It is in these times of trial, we remember that we are so small and that we need to cling with all of our strength to Our Father in Heaven.  Jeremy and I are always thankful for these crosses that bless our faith and our family, even though they can be scary and frustrating at times.  There is so much growth in suffering and we feel so fortunate that we see the value in our crosses, living in a world that doesn't really understand suffering at all.  So thank you Jesus for this opportunity to really show our faith in a special way during this time.

How can anyone doubt that there is a Wonderful and Powerful Creator, Who watches over us and loves us with all of His Perfect and Sacred Heart?!?!?!

God is taking my broken and fragile body and He has placed an amazing Grace inside of it.  Our flesh cannot understand how this could be. I have to ask in prayer, "Why me?" "Why my limited body?"  

He so strongly and lovingly answers that He is UNLIMITED and that He has a plan, even though the world might not see it.  Looking through human eyes, this just should not be, but through the eyes of our Divine Savior, it makes total sense!!  I LOVE THAT ABOUT MY FATHER!!

Dear Lord Jesus Christ, I will house this most precious little soul safely in my womb as you prepare her for HER earthly journey that she will face here on earth, while making her way back home to you.  I will prayerfully guide her the best that I can to always keep her sweet and innocent eyes on You, Lord.

Jesus, You are my true Delight!

Jesus, you are my Creator, my Savior, my Every Breath!

I pray to stay strong in faith and not fear what seems, reasonable in the eyes of the world.  I never want to let you down, sweet Jesus.  Not now......not when You have asked such trust from me.......I will always trust in You above ALL ELSE!!  You are my Father and I am your trusting little girl, who You will ALWAYS take care of!

I love you, Jesus

All of us together at the hospital

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAVANNAH

Our sweet little Savannah turned 11 on September 29th.  She wanted to have her party at the Trampoline Park, as did Madison and Nicholas, but Savannah wanted a very special theme......

"DUCK DYNASTY"

That reality TV show about the Christian family of rednecks from Louisiana that made their fortune, developing duck callers for duck hunting.  It is a good and pure show about this church going and prayerful family, and the kids love to watch it with daddy

Well, aside from the Christian aspect of their humble family, they all have long beards and always wear camouflage.

Here is my sweet little Savannah on her 11th birthday.....yes....she has a beard!! Just as I always envisioned her 11th birthday as I rocked her when she was a baby!!
It is JUST SO SAVANNAH!!!

Here is Savannah ans some of her sweet friends.  Daddy had the awesome idea of having matching camo T-shirts specially made, with the "duck commander" logo and a "HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAVANNAH" on the back

Savannah was so excited!! She felt so special.... and she IS so special!!

 Here is Savannah next to the poster showing one of the Duck Dynasty characters named Si

 Of course we did "Nothing Bundt Cakes" for the cake (our family's favorite) and decorated them with little duck decoys to keep with the theme.  I had to accent the cake with hot pink candles and #11 sparklers!

Here are the tables.....as camo as we could be with a little bit of hot pink bling!

 The girls had a GREAT time jumping and playing dodgeball at the party.  It was so nice that they all matched!  We could find them easily in the crowd at the trampoline park

TIME FOR PIZZA

Everyone had a great time...they were so hot and tired by the time pizza was served....lots of bottled waters flowing

 All of the grandparents, Aunt Kiki and cousins came to celebrate with Savannah and the family!

TIME FOR CAKE

Savannah happily blew out her candles as we sang "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU".  She just lit up the room with her smile.....oh and it was nice to see her without her beard again......there is my sweet little girl!

Other people at the trampoline park were taking pictures of her party because it was so funny!!  Savannah was the bell of the ball!  The trampoline park took a picture for their official facebook page....we are famous!!

What a fun evening!  Birthdays are the best for a mommy watching the eyes of her sweet child light up as everyone celebrates that very special day!  It warms my heart.

We love you Savannah so much!! You are a joy to our hearts!! Daddy and I pray that you will always be happy, healthy, and joyful, and most importantly, Christ-centered....which will make you happy, healthy, and joyful!!  

Savannah the next morning after her party.....she got these cute pajamas as a gift from one of her sweet friends and was so excited to try them out!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SPECIAL GIRL

OUT FOR SUSHI

We LOVE sushi!! So of course after Mass this evening, we went to get some!  Daddy is out of town and Madison is at a sleepover so it's just Nicholas, Savannah, and me!

We went to our favorite Sushi place called "Japanese Fish and Knife"

We had a nicest waiter.  He suggested that we try this authentic Japanese soda. The kids were totally up for the experience.  The soda was in a cool little glass bottle where you had to "pop the top" and a marble would fall into the soda.  It was really cool.  The kids wanted to take a pic with the cute little bottle

Of course we asked to take the bottles home to keep them as a memory.  The soda was pretty yummy too!!

IT WAS A FUN EVENING......WE LAUGHED A LOT!  I LOVE THESE SPECIAL TIMES WITH THE KIDS

WE'RE HAVING A BABY!!

Our Sweet Lord Jesus never ceases to amaze His children!!  Jeremy and I have always prayed for more  sweet children.....as I have said before in my blog posts, we just thought that we would have an entire houseful of children!!  Always open to life, and more importantly to God Will for us, we assumed that after 8 years of no more babies, our Lord was calling us to contentment with our 3 beautiful and precious children, Madison, Savannah, and Nicholas.

Our kids are amazing and we have faith that our life is just the way that He (Jesus) had planned it for us......WELL, 4 weeks ago, we got another blessing of a lifetime!!  We found out that we are now the proud parents of 4 beautiful and precious children (how powerful God is)!!  There is actually a tiny and precious life, sweetly growing and thriving right inside of me!  How humbled I am to be able to play such a big part in such a totally incredible, miracle!!

(This is our little one at 11 weeks...it's such a funny picture...he/she looks like a little duck!!)  This picture makes me laugh....look at those sweet little arms and legs!

We just cannot believe how fortunate we are!  The kids are over the moon with excitement about their new little sibling.  Little one is due on April 13th 2014
Which just happens to be a very important day, when our Holy Church celebrates...

PALM SUNDAY "PASSION SUNDAY"
(MT 21:1-11-Palm Sunday...is when we celebrate, Jesus entering the town of Jerusalem.  When the crowds excitedly greeted Him by waving palm branches in His path.  After this great time of celebration, in the ministry of Jesus, He begins His journey to the Cross....the beginning of Holy Week)

We just had to share our excitement with the world!!  We never thought that we would get this blessed opportunity again in our lifetime....and that was okay with us if that is how Sweet Jesus wanted it, but aren't we SO JOYFUL that He saw us fit to be able to bring another beautiful life into the world

Look what my sweet friend, Gisele made for me when we told her about our sweet baby on the way
They were SO YUMMY too!!

THANK YOU JESUS!!! YOU ARE AMAZING AND PERFECT AND WE ADORE YOU!!!

Here is a video of our little one at nine weeks.....you can see his/her precious little heart beat....I am totally in love!

Jeremiah 1:5- "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you"  "Before you were born, I set you apart"

DAD'S FISHING/GIRL'S WEEKEND

Jeremy has been of town for a week fishing in Alaska

(Here is a pic Jeremy took on his phone, looking so handsome with one of his prizes....not one of the big ones, but he just looks so cute and genuinely joyful out in the wild.....that I had to post this one)

 Here is another pretty fish.....same kind.  I think that these are the prettiest colored fish in the river.  Look at the beautiful greens that run together with the pretty orange accents.....God really has an Eye for color....He did really good with His festinating and stunning wildlife.

Jeremy and his dad....they look just alike!!  And they are both such GREAT men!!  I am so blessed to have them in my life.

WHAT DID I DO WHILE JEREMY BRAVED THE WILDS OF ALASKA

So this weekend (after a great first week of school), we had a little sleepover party (each girl had a friend stay over night)  I took the girls shopping at the mall, out to dinner, and then back to our house for some much needed giggling and movie watching......with a LITTLE sleep at some point.

HERE ARE JUST A COUPLE OF PICS

 Savannah and her friend, Kileigh sipping on milkshakes at Red Robbin after trying on clothes at Savannah and Kileigh's favorite store, Justice

 For the first time, I DROPPED Madison off at the mall with her friend Gianna to shop while we went across the street to shop at some other stores and eat dinner.....they LOVED it!!  So grown-up!!

WHERE WAS NICHOLAS?

Well, he was my super handsome and sweet date that night!!  He hung out with me and helped me drive the girls around town.....Then we got to campout together in my room.  He is such a thoughtful little boy

AFTER A LONG NIGHT OF LISTENING TO JOYFUL GIRLY GIGGLES

I got myself slowly out of bed when I heard Savannah and her friend up and wanting to go outside.....didn't we JUST go to sleep, I thought?

Well, Saturday morning was in full swing, so I got dressed and did what I HAD to do......I took all 5 kids to Starbucks for breakfast

So, picture this.....

 I have all 5 kids with me at Starbucks...in line......each kid ordering one by one.....line backing up behind us!! I am trying to hurry them all along....but after telling me that they all knew what they wanted, it turned out, that they did not all know what they wanted!!  At this point, I break into a cold sweat, totally wanting to just run away!!! 

You know that everyone in there wanted to throw their coffees at me....(well, if they had coffee...they didn't have any coffee b/c they were stuck waiting behind ME in line!!!)  Anyway...I kept apologizing and everyone was very kind to me (at least they pretended to be okay with it)

Here we are taking up all of the comfy chairs in the entire place (you know these chairs are a hot commodity in Starbucks....I had to just let it go!!)  Humility is a hard virtue to practice!!

Here is Madison and Gianna (in their matching tie dye shirts...being a girl is so much fun...I love matching!!)  They sat on the OTHER side of Starbucks from the rest of us "visiting" like 2 young ladies.....Madison said that she NOW understands why I absolutely LOVE meeting my girlfriends at Starbucks so much!!  Frappuccinos make girl time even better!!

Then I drove everyone home....it was a successful venture indeed! Everyone had a great time, and for that, I am truly thankful!!

Well, I just brought Savannah home from a birthday party a little while ago and now I finally sit in the silence of another late night, remembering all of the happenings of this past week and feeling really happy AND exhausted....it is way past bedtime and all of my little ones are fast asleep, as they are completely tired.  I have to wait until the stillness of night to really look back on all of the Grace that poured down on me in my service as a mom and how thankful I am to be a mom

All in all It was a very blessed weekend, even though it came with very little sleep!! I am happy that the kids had fun and we are ALL so happy that our daddy (my best friend and the love of my life) will be home early tomorrow morning before Holy Mass (he's on an all night flight from Alaska)  I am making his favorite breakfast casserole to celebrate.....it's a surprise!!