four girls and their prince

Well said

2011-10-20T12:27:00.002-04:00

This is the conversation Nicole and I had on our way home from a very wet, and cold (45 degrees) soccer game.

Me:"Nic I am so proud of you, playing in that crazy cold weather tonight"

Nic:"Mom, I am used to it. We do live in Michigan you know!"

Me (cracking up inside)

I really am very proud of Nicole. She has taught me so much with all she has over come. I was terrified of her playing U12 soccer this season, without ever playing before. But I should have known, she did so well and tried with all her might each game. She improved dramatically and had quite a few great shots on goals. Nicole teaches me not be held down by my fears and that if you have a strong will to do something, you can succeed.

As she got in a hot bath after the game, I realized she had worn 4 layers under her jersey and she was soaking wet all the way through to her tank top. Crazy soccer weather.

Sick Birthday Boy

2011-10-12T12:02:00.006-04:00

Joshua is ONE!
He is an extremely happy and low key boy when he is not sick or has an ear infection (which have been common lately).

Unfortunately, he woke up with an ear infection and fever the day of his birthday party. We had to cancel the party knowing he would be so unhappy and so not to infect all of his little friends. I think his sisters were the most disappointed.

We did try and have our own celebration with a little cake and balloons. Poor guy had a runny nose and just wasn't that into it.

We had planned out a little jungle themed party and I had made up a collage of pictures from each month of his first year.

Grandma Kelbert had already made up his jungle cupcakes by the time we decided to cancel his party. They were the cutest cupcakes I had every seen. She did such a great job on them. We did share them at church the next day.

Joshua was so excited about his presents. He did have to compete with each of his sisters on a chance to actually open one though.

He was a trooper with his runny nose and sneezing. He loved his new bear and book from GreatGranny. The girls read the story and the bear, Cooper, talks along with the story line. Very sweet.

Our little one year old has brought so many blessings to our family this last year. We have laughed more, loved more and enjoyed each other more. We love you buddy!

Family Time

2011-04-13T11:06:00.007-04:00

It has been a long time since our schedules have been free enough to have a full day together as a family. So with Mike's parents here, this past Saturday we took advantage of some down time. We realized that in all the visits his parents have had we have never taken them to Detroit. The girls like to ride the people mover, walk the river walk and eat in Greek Town.

Morgan took this picture in the Ren Cen looking up!

The walk was getting to Rachel.

The carousel was closed, but we had to pose for pics

The people mover does give you a good view of downtown

Mike's dream car

We had a great time!

Goodbye March

2011-04-01T21:39:00.004-04:00

I wonder where you went MARCH.
Our time together has seem to slip away.
Time spent waiting for warm weather.
Time spent watching my baby get way too big, way too fast.
Time spent on school projects, piano and Bible Bowl.
Time spent back at work.

Thanks for a great month, but please, my baby Rachel begs you, let Spring come!

6 month old Joshua just starting to eat his Gerber Puffs.

Rachel has had more art classes per week in March. This project she had described to me on many different occasions. It was a masterpiece!

March has been cold. So... my outdoor girl had to resort to finding other ways to fill her time. Let's just say cosmetology may not be in her future.

Wow, where did my 5 lb baby go????
My "handsome man" as I lovingly call him.

winter wonderland

2011-02-16T12:48:00.005-05:00

Michigan has been a bit of a snowy winter wonderland lately.
We are trying to make the most of it. The girls are old enough now to go outside for longer periods when it is cold without me getting nervous they are going to be "overcome" by the elements.
Even Josh got in on the action in the snow. HEHE (these were staged on a 40 degree day here, so no worries)
Joshua is now 5 months old and getting very active and grabbing everything. He had his first real daycare day with Ms. Amanda and was a very well behaved boy!

We love the snow, but I am getting spring FEVER!

Four Months

2011-01-20T18:49:00.004-05:00

Joshua turned 4 months.
He is so alert and playful. Being able to spend my days playing with him is such a great gift.
He smiles most of the time, especially when his sisters are paying attention to him.
He has had a few firsts this month.
His first full out giggle was when Mike was tickling his toes.
He likes to sit in his bumbo.
He loves to eat his hands.
He is sleeping mostly through the night (he likes to call me at 4am).
He has grown 4 pounds and 4 1/2 inches in 2 months. This is simply unheard of in our family. We LOVE IT, except he is growing right out of all his cute clothes.

It was love at first sight with his cars blanket that Grandma Kelbert made for him before he was born. I found it in a drawer, gave it to him and it was an instant connection. He doesn't love his pacifier, but it will temporarily calm him down.

He has put on a few pounds, so now he loves his bath and is not cold!

We took the kids to the pool this last weekend and Joshua went in. Mike was excited to do this, even though Walmart did not have swim diapers.
Josh loved it, didn't cry once.

This last picture describes Josh's life. Fun, filled with lots of love from many sources!

Vote

2011-01-10T10:19:00.005-05:00

I am updating some of my picture frames at home. I just can't choose which pictures to put in the frames so I wanted to get the opinion of my friends and family as to which pictures to choose. Please leave a comment as to which ones you all like. These were all pictures taken in 2010.
PS: I'll be using them all in B & W

Rachel #1

Rachel #2

Rachel #3

Rachel #4

Nicole #1

Nicole #2

Nicole #3

Morgan #1

Morgan #2

Joshua #1

Joshua #2

Contagious

2011-01-04T14:54:00.002-05:00

Morgan and Nicole were lucky enough to get the stomach flu after Christmas.
So...
We still felt they may be contagious on New Year's Eve.
Much to the dismay of our girls we had to stay in and miss our annual party.
There were a few tears shed, but we tried to make the most of it.
Nicole even made a New Year's hat for Joshua (see pic)

Happy 2010 everyone.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-23T11:45:00.002-05:00

growing...

2010-11-19T10:40:00.003-05:00

Joshua is 2 months old this past week.
He is growing!!
9 pounds 12 ounces
The doctor was amazed at this number. Not one she is used to seeing with a "Nugent" baby.

He is loving his bath these days. Must be that he isn't freezing every time he is wet, he has a little extra fat to insulate him.

Big sisters are such a help. They are willing to try and soothe him when he cries, play with him and Nicole can even change his diaper now.

He is just starting to smile. He is the happiest in the morning. This gives me, mom, so much joy. Unfortunately, his fussy time is usually right when dad walks in the door from work.

Josh is growing in weight, but most of all growing our love for him in our hearts!

My Morgan, such a contradiction

2010-10-26T09:50:00.005-04:00

Morgan turned 8 on October 23rd. Morgan is a very unique little girl. She is not what you would expect sometimes. She is smart yet very silly(and funny), she is a perfectionist but ruins everything she wears, she is a people pleaser yet sneaky, she loves dolls and legos.
Right after Joshua was born, Morgan wanted to plan her birthday party. I was a bit overwhelmed at the thought of planning and hosting two birthday parties with a newborn. So I suggested that she call Grandma K. My mom was a life saver. She planned, organized and hosted Morgan's American Girl Doll party and it was a blast!!!

The girls played a dress up game with accessories for themselves and their dolls. It was fun to see what combinations they were coming up with.

We then decorated square cookies for Morgan's "quilt cookie cake". Lots of sugar and a great looking finished product.

My mom had made the girls each a scarf and prepared material for them to make a matching scarf for their dolls. The girls really thought that was special.

Morgan insisted we do a tea party dinner theme. So we decorated the table with the finest china. Morgan requested that we serve Halloween themed foods at the tea party??? So we had mummies on a stick and peanut and white chocolate eye balls. The girls loved the mummies, but not to sure about the eyeballs. They looked very life like!

We ended the party with a scavenger hunt that included finding keys and determining which one opened the "goodie" box. We had 9 girls running around screaming and having so much fun with this game. I loved this party, it turned out to be one of my favorites. All of my mom's help may have something to do with that.
PS-Thanks to the Knepper's for keeping Joshua and protecting him from being kissed to death by all of those little girls!

Rachel's 5th Birthday

2010-10-20T14:05:00.005-04:00

Good bye fourth year, hello number five.
Good bye to being the baby of the family, hello to being a big sister.

Rachel enjoyed celebrating her 5th birthday(actually Oct. 25th) at Chuck E. Cheese with some of her girl friends. It was a whirlwind of fun, pizza, Chuck E. and presents.

We love you Rae Rae you are the spice in our lives.
I can't wait to see what God has in store for you this year.

Oh what a difference 4 weeks make!

2010-10-14T14:02:00.004-04:00

So I can hardly believe Joshua is 4 weeks old (as of yesterday). As the saying goes, "I can not imagine our family without him". It has been a joyous, hectic and memorable month. Joshua has brought so much happiness to us as a family. I have loved watching Nicole, Morgan and Rachel welcome him into our family with such sweet love and affection towards him. He has already been to a variety of soccer games, piano practice, the bus stop, church, the cider mill and even his first tailgate party(well if you count the church parking lot).

He is getting bigger and really LOVES to eat, even though his reflux just gives him fits after his feedings. He is filling out in the face and thighs which makes this mom's heart happy. Here are a few pictures from the last month.

We took the girls to Yates Cider Mill one night. He was happy to be out of the house in the fresh air.

Grandma and Grandpa Nugent came from NY to visit for a couple of days.

Joshua met Great Granny Kelbert also this month. Josh is the 29th great grandchild of Dave and Fran Kelbert-WHEW! This amazes my grandmother, she was an only child.

Oh how he hates his bath.

The best thing about being a baby, sleeping with dad!

We have been calling him scar face. He scratches his face almost daily. Finally his nails were long enough today that I felt like I could clip them without hurting him.

Can't wait to see what he is doing and looks like in 4 more weeks!

Joshua Douglas

2010-09-19T11:31:00.009-04:00

The story of Joshua Douglas starts back about a year ago. It is a story of how God hears us even when we don't speak our thoughts, prayers and disappointments directly to Him. It's a story about a God who knows what we need even in a circumstance where our hearts are closed. A God who cares enough to intervene and provide joy, happiness and second chances.

Mike and I were so blessed to be a part of the birth of two wonderful babies, to two very special families, a little over 12 months ago. We had a great time celebrating the new life of Berlyn and Judah, with our friends at the hospital, very shortly after they were born. It was fun, happy and joyous! They were born 2 days apart, in the same hospital. How special is that! But that night, after leaving the hospital, I felt my heart break. I really had no understanding why. My closest friends had just received the most special gift and I was overjoyed, I thought. I was able to confide in Mike that I thought what was happening was that I was morning the loss of something we had not experienced with the girls' births. I felt selfish and confused at my emotions. These thoughts had been long dealt with, so I thought. After Nicole and Rachel were born, the fuss and scariness of their births was stressful. They were taken away right after being born and sent to the ICU. With Morgan, I was so pumped up with drugs to lower my blood pressure, I was too sick and weak to really even remember her birth or holding her. I realized that night after Berlyn and Judah were born that I longed for a birth experience uncomplicated and joyous, with the ability to show off my baby to those I loved most. It was, what I thought, a selfish desire in a world of much more complicated things to fuss over.

Now even after I realized what all this crazy emotion was about, never once did I say, "Ok let's try this again and see if God won't bless us with this type of experience". No I was very closed and down right opposed to another pregnancy. But as we all know, God knew best. And this is the beginning of Joshua's story.

I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy.
Psalm 116:1

Joshua Douglas Nugent was born Sept. 15, 2010 12:26pm
A birth that was calm, comfortable and joyous.
Preceded by the best pregnancy I have had.
Psalm 116:2 Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live.

Weighing 5lbs, 15ozs. The biggest baby delivered!
Psalm 116:5 The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion.

Psalm 116:7 Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you.

Psalm 116:12 How can I repay the Lord for all his goodness to me?

The girls' were so overjoyed to finally meet their little brother. It caught me off guard and my heart swelled with love and joy and happiness to see them meet him for the first time.

I loved being able to hold Joshua from the second after his birth until we went home without fear of something else going wrong and him being swept away at any time.

Joshua went home about 30 hours after he was born. Whew, a Nugent record for sure! And he even sorta fit in his car seat HA HA HA!

Psalm 116:16 O Lord, truly I am your servant; I am your servant, the son of your maidservant [fn]; you have freed me from my chains.

Psa 116:17 I will sacrifice a thank offering to you and call on the name of the Lord.

Thank you Lord God. May Joshua's story bring Glory to you!

Rachel's Turn

2010-09-13T14:07:00.004-04:00

Rachel had her first soccer game last week. She is playing for a U5 AYSO team, the "yellow lighting". She is #7, which is Morgan's number this year also. For the most part Rae likes to play. She gets in there and loves to kick the ball. At times, if the kids are "bunching" up, which they do often, she can't be bothered to try for the ball. We are working on that. It's not because she is afraid of the contact, I truly believe she thinks, "I will wait until I can have the ball all to myself".

We have two games of the fall season under our belt and we already see progress!

PS...loving this new camera and the big ZOOOOM lens.

A Day of Firsts

2010-09-08T09:52:00.006-04:00

Today was a day filled with excitement, anticipation, a little uncertainty and joy!
Today was the first day back to school for Nicole and Morgan, Rachel's first day of kindergarten and Morgan's first soccer game. On top of all that, we are anxiously awaiting to know when our newest little Nugent will be born. We have had a few scares these past few days, and we are taking it day by day at this point. So it kinda makes for an exciting time. This mom was just really glad to be able to see everything first hand and not have to rely on dad for pictures and good recall(you know how guys are with details)!

Nicole our fourth grader this year. She was placed in Mrs. Costandi's classroom this year. Mrs. Costandi moved to 4th grade after being Nicole's 2nd grade teacher. I love this, Nic is familiar with her and so is mom.

Rachel is going to Endeavor Elementary for kindergarten. She wasn't sure about going to a different school than her sisters but didn't mention it at all yesterday. She woke up very excited and ready to go.

Morgan my ever confident third grader. She squealed with excitement when she found out her teacher was Mrs. Sikorski. Apparently this is the best teacher because she hatches little chicks in her classroom come spring.

Rachel rides the bus to school. Sierra is our neighbor that is Nicole's age, but will ride the same bus as Rae.

Rachel got on the bus, got to the top of the stairs and turned around and came back down. She didn't want to go. Very uncharacteristic for Rae. I assured her she would be fine, tried again without success. I then had to ask Sierra, our neighbor to sit with her and this seemed to work for the moment. Ms. Doris the bus driver was trying to be patient. Ms. Doris was Nicole's bus driver for a couple of years and she is no nonsense so this was trying her patience!

Of course I had to follow the bus and make sure she got there right???

A locker seems like a big responsibility for a little girl, but Rae thinks it is really cool.

Rachel's preschool friend, Ava, is in her class.

Rachel will be in Mrs. Lennon's classroom all day. Sounds like a busy day to me. We will have to see how September turns out, this is a big adjustment.

Morgan is playing soccer this year for the first time. She is on an all girls team called the "Purple Tornados". She is really enjoying this and aldready wants us to committ to letting her play again next fall. She has a lot to learn, but isn't afraid to get in there and go for it. Her team lost 3-2 last night, and she didn't get to try out goalie, but she still came away from the game excited and said she had fun.

All in all, a pretty packed day. It went as smooth as it could have. God knew I needed to spend today with my girls and not an appointment in a birthing suite!

Summer round-up

2010-08-23T08:46:00.005-04:00

We have had a really nice summer, busy with camps, swimming and getting ready for the baby. The hot weather has given us lots of opportunity to be outside and enjoy Michigan lakes and parks. We only have two weeks left before school starts back up so I thought I would post a few things about what we have been up to.

Nicole participated in a volleyball camp put on by one of the local high school volleyball teams. She LOVED it. She really had a lot of fun and was really catching on by the end of the camp. She didn't mind being the youngest at the camp. And she seemed to really bond with the older high school girls.

One of our summer traditions is to have a lemonade stand. The girls made the sign, the lemonade and even made up flyers this year to hand out in the neighborhood. I love seeing the progress made each year with this little project. I am still keeping the signs from year to year and love to see how they have grown. This year, Nicole's friend Marley was a helper.

The profits were low this year, much to Morgan's dismay, but the fun factor was BIG!

Morgan participated in a Lego Jr. engineering camp and loved it. She was the only girl in the class, but came home everyday so excited to tell me about levers, pulleys, wheels, axles and many more terms I had to look up! She now is asking for many Lego sets for her birthday.

Rachel attended a preschool type camp centered around Alvin and the Chipmunks. She really enjoyed this camp. When I would take her in the morning she would run way ahead of me go into the classroom and not even look back. Pretty sure if she could have transported herself to camp she would not have needed me. Even the teacher commented on how independent she was.

Another summer tradition was started this summer. Nicole and Morgan attended the summer church camp I did when I was younger, for the first time, Wolverine Christian Service Camp in Lapeer.

There was some apprehension on Nicole's part before we arrived at the camp. Just some uncertainty about what the schedule would be and what to expect. But after the first few minutes of meeting girls her age and getting her bunk situated, she seemed fine. Morgan seemed unphased by the thought of being away from mom and dad for four days.

The girls loved all of the fun activities; campfire, swimming, family time, tug of war, slime and mud fights. When I was looking at this schedule I knew they would be exhausted by the time they got home.

We said our goodbyes and left the girls in line for dinner on Sunday night. We returned to pick them up on Wednesday at 7pm. When we returned to pick them up they seemed totally comfortable with being there and had lots of friends for us to meet and stories to share. Just how I remember camp. Lots of fun and lots of new friendships formed. I was really relieved to see that they had enjoyed their time.

It was great to be back at the camp. There isn't much that has changed, except for the pool and some additions to the buildings. I could see myself in every building and thought about all of the memories I had built there.

I was so proud of the girls for stepping out and going to the camp without really knowing anyone but each other. They were very brave and want to go again next year. I was especially proud of Nicole for getting the award for "CAMPER OF THE WEEK, the most Christian attitude". Nicole was very humble about this great award and we had to find this out from the faculty at the camp. Way to go Nicole!

Thanks Summer 2010, it's been great. Now onto school and the new family addition.

July 24, 2010

2010-07-28T10:01:00.007-04:00

I have always said that I enjoyed my brother Chris' wedding almost as much as my own, so I was really looking forward to Ken and Christina's wedding. And I can say that I had a wonderful, emotional and fun time. All of the plans they had made seemed to just all fall into place to make their wedding "weekend" so special. Hey and I am only the sister/sis in law, so I know they must have made cherished memories last weekend.

I have already posted most of my pictures on Facebook, but wanted to post a few more random shots. Beware they are not in any order, but still some of my favorites. But with that being said, I still can't choose the absolute fav yet.

The Creative Arts Center in Pontiac where the ceremony was, had a small, old chapel feel to it with lots of great structure. Nicole was such a beauty that day, looking much older than her mama wants to admit.

Rehearsal night. Christina and dad Rich. He added a very touching statement during the actual ceremony. When Mike asked dad "who gives this bride away?", He replied, "A very proud mother and I".

My brothers plus a new sister.

Christina's family is Polish, and there is a polish tradition that the bride and groom walk to the reception. So, with everyone else gone over to the Crofoot, Ken and Christina decided to walk to the reception and the girls were allowed to tag along. So what did crazy Kelly do, drive along side in a Christina's car and take pictures out the window! Yes, I know very safe and smart and at one point I got yelled by my brother Ken. But all worth it for the shots!

This one was taken just before we lined up to go down the isle. I was getting emotional and she was getting upset with me for getting her emotional when she seemed fairly calm. Great memories! Very honored to be a part of that.

The girls walked down the isle with my nephews Jake and Drew. Nicole walked down with Christina's cousin Ethan. They were very cooperative and oh so cute!

I know I may be a little partial here, but isn't she just the picture of beauty? I loved how she picked such simple lines and classic beautiful pieces. Man, my brother is one lucky guy.

Getting our hair done on Saturday was fun. Doreen did a fabulous job on everyone. Morgan and Rae chose to have the heart design, while Nicole wanted something a little bit more grown-up and told Doreen to "surprise her"!

My mom wanted to "cater" the rehearsal dinner on her own, but knew she needed some help. And my wonderful friends were there to help out. Now this was a BIG job and took a lot of work. I am so thankful they were up for it. It really helped our family out BIG TIME. Don't they look soooo cute?

At the rehearsal dinner, Ken and Christina handed out gifts to the wedding party. But before the little ones were able to get their gifts, they made them turn around and not peek, then proceeded to spray them all with silly string. Very appropriate for this group.

My Uncle Steven, my mom's brother, and family having fun at the rehearsal dinner.

More rehearsal fun. The bridal party and musicians were up on the balcony looking down on the ceremony the whole time. The music at this wedding was phenomenal. Christina and Ken's friends are oh so talented. I loved listening to all of the well thought out selections.

Here's to a long, happy, joy filled marriage Ken and Christina. May your marriage be as wonderful as your wedding!

July 4th Fun

2010-07-09T15:18:00.004-04:00

We had a really nice relaxing 4th of July this year. It was nice to be spontaneous and make plans as the day went on. We went to visit Ken and Christina at their new place in Royal Oak. They were moving in that night and it was fun to see the new apartment and walk for ice cream to downtown Royal Oak.

We tested out our sparklers before leaving, just in case we didn't make it home in time for the fireworks show.

Our subdivision always has a great display of big and little fireworks that we can watch from our deck. It was nice to let the girls play outside late at night and watch all of the great celebrations.

National Bible Bowl Tourney

2010-06-28T08:37:00.002-04:00

The Bible Bowl season came to an exciting end in Cincinnati at the National Beginner Bible Bowl tournament. Our church entered two teams this year. It was the first year competing in Bible Bowl for all of the kids. And it was so awesome to see how their hard work paid off. I was so excited to see how much scripture and Bible facts these kids have learned in such a short period of time. They are truly amazing. The kids competed against 54 other beginner teams. We all stayed at a conference center where the competition was held. It was a long couple of days, but really fun. Ok minus the tornado warnings on Monday night.

The kids, and adults, got time to play at the indoor water park at the conference center. I think this was about 50% of the reason most of the kids were so excited to come to the competition.

Nicole's teammates, Julia and McKayla, taking a break from the serious competition.

This is the Mason family. They are the teams coaches. They are so awesome. They really loved teaching the kids and sacrificed a lot of time and energy to get the kids ready for the competition and organize the trip. We really appreciate them.

This is the buzzer set up for the competition. And these kids are fast on those buzzers. They know the material so well, that only a few words in the question get asked before they buzz in with the answer.

Nicole's team, the Nugget's, had a wonderful tournament. I know the kids didn't really know what to expect at this competition but were really shocked to see how well they did. On the first day of competition they split the teams into PODS. There are about 9 teams in each pod and they compete for placement. The girls ended up 4th in their pod that day. On the second day, the kids compete in a double elimination round with 54 teams. The girls placed 9th out of the 54 teams! Wow, what an accomplishment!

Dance Recital 2010

2010-05-26T15:27:00.002-04:00

The girls have been attending Happiness is Dancing dance studio since last September. They had their recital this past Sunday. (Scroll down for pics)

We had so much fun watching the girls. They did so well and really learned a lot in the past year. They participated in Ballet, Tap, Jazz/Hip Hop, and Acrobats. Morgan and Nicole were in the same class this year. So many of the pics look like repeats.

2010-05-26T15:26:00.001-04:00

Spring Updates

2010-05-18T16:33:00.004-04:00

Just thought I would post a long over due update on how our Spring is going. We have had some nice weather and fun times with family and friends. The girls have enjoyed getting back outside everyday and playing and I love watching everything green up again.

Our Easter weekend was filled with family time and our church carnival. We had decent weather and it didn't snow which is always a bonus when you live in Michigan. We had the Kelbert's over for Easter dinner and had a hula hoop contest. I think Uncle Kenny won!

The girls enjoyed dying the eggs this year with Jenni. They adore her and lucky for us she will stay with us through August.

We took a trip to the zoo for the girls' spring break. It was a sunny warm day and we stayed a long time hanging out with friends and taking in the sights.

Morgan performed in her Spring recital. She played so well and had worked hard this year in piano to get quite a few awards.

We have new family members. The girls' won three goldfish at the Relay for Life this past weekend. Their names are Skales, Tiger and Golden. The carnival game for fun has turned into a family project and some new pets!

Mike and I went on Rachel's field trip to Wolcott Farm. We had fun walking around seeing how Rae interacts with her classmates. Another nice day as the rain held off. The animals were not cooperating and were off in the fields far from where the kids could really enjoy them. But they found things to do anyway.

On your mark, Get set, GO!!

This is Rachel's friend she spends the most time with at Preschool, Ava.

Rachel attended her friend Brooke's rock star party this weekend. Nicole was very proud of herself. She helped Rae get ready for the party.

We are waiting for summer and school to end, but have really enjoyed our Spring. The baby is growing and we are already at 5 months along. I hope to be better about our end of the school year posts.

What Rachel Has Been Up To

2010-04-19T11:27:00.003-04:00

Because I have been working less hours since September, Rachel has become my little buddy. We have been having so much fun spending our mornings together before she goes to preschool and all day on Friday. She really is growing up so fast and even attended Kindergarten Round Up with Mike a while back. She is getting really tall and is such a little talker. I am really blessed to have this "extra" time with her. Mike kind of gets the bum end of this deal. Rae was/is such a daddy's girl, but lately with me home so much, this has changed a bit.

She learned how to blow bubble gum bubbles last year, the bubbles just keep getting bigger and bigger. Her favorite thing to ask you is, "do you have gum?".

Right after Easter, we bought these bunny ears on clearance. She is wearing them everywhere, church, school, outside to play and insists on wearing them to bed. She falls asleep and then I gently take them off and lay them beside her.

Yes, you read the sign right. Rachel will not be the baby of the family come about 5-6 more months. We are expecting a baby Oct. 2nd of this year! Rachel was posing for the picture, she really is just as excited as we all are to have a new addition to our family. Now we'll just need to come up with a different title for our blog!

Sunshine, Sand, Ocean and the Pool

2010-03-22T14:21:00.017-04:00

*BEWARE-Lots of picture to follow*
We are back, reluctantly, from our 2nd family vacation to Mexico. About 5 weeks ago, Mike and I decided we should take a family vacation. Knowing Mike, you know that to him that meant, "great lets go tomorrow". And basically, three weeks later, that is what we did. We decided to return to Mexico because we had such a great time there a year and a half ago.

We stayed first in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico at the Gran Porto Real Resort. It was beautiful, clean, right on the beach and in the middle of the quaint town of Playa.

"Yeah we are here. Now when can we go swimming"

We stayed in a great room with beds for all of us! The bunk beds were a hit.

The view from our room was spectacular. This is the best view we have had out of all of our vacations. It was right over the pool, but we felt like we were right on the beach. Wow!

Just in case you wanted a massage on the beach. Mike did get a massage, but not on the beach!

This is one of the restaurants on the resort. The girls loved the buffet and were independent with their choices, not always well balanced, but yummy!

Rachel met a friend from Toronto. Ava and Rachel were inseparable.

Mike and I had a dinner on the beach. We decided this may be the most romantic thing we have done since being married. It was so much fun. We had our own table right on the water, with our funny waiter and violinist. We ate dinner with our feet in the sand. Mike orderer surf and turf, and me just the turf! The waiter was a bit confused on my choice. It was so much fun. Then we had a photographer come and take staged pics of us and we were cracking up. The highlight of the dinner was me almost being hit right in the head with a soccer ball by some late night beach walkers. Luckily, I was saved by the Tiki torch.

The kids club at the resort had some fun activities for the girls. This night was, "puppet night". This was not an ordinary show. They were marionette puppets. The show was funny and entertaining and the girls got to try out the puppets.

We could walk along the beach at Playa. There were fishing boats along the shore waiting for some tourist to want to go out and fish, for a price of course. We played in the waves most days, the water of the ocean is the prettiest color I have ever seen. The pictures really can't capture the color. Wow God, it is so beautiful!

We were up most mornings by 6:30am and on the beach by 7:00am. It was calm and refreshing and already in the 70's. What a way to start the day.

The staff at the kids club were so much fun. The kids were welcome at any point of the day. Morgan was always looking at the schedule for the club and making sure she made it to special activities like these mini piñatas!

On Sunday morning, we decided to transfer our vacation to a sister hotel in Cancun. This is the original hotel we had reserved, but to make a long story short, someone messed up on our reservation and there wasn't room for us. But, a suite became available for the end of our vacation. This was a resort that catered more to the kids. It was bigger, had better food, more kids activities but was also inhabited by lots of "young adult" spring breakers. So lots of fun for the girls, not much sleep for us. This is the Cancun beach. Lots more bigger high rise hotels. It felt a lot like being on Virginia Beach to me.

They had a great big water slide for Morgan and Nicole and a fun Pirate ship water park for Rachel.

Mike taught Nicole how to Boggie Board on the waves. She was cracking up.

Mike found his new "dream" job. On the resort was a church that over looked the beach. He felt pretty confident this would be a great fit for him.

Most of the time you would find Mike walking along the beach.

The vacation was wonderful. On most days we had the big decision of either starting off at the beach or the pool. We were wiped out at night, and the girls were usually falling asleep at dinner. Mike and Morgan did make it out a few nights to watch the nightly shows, but still we were all back by 9:30pm. It was another great time to make memories as a family. Thanks for sharing in our memories.

Bible Bowl

2010-03-07T16:50:00.003-05:00

Our church decided to start up a Beginner Bible Bowl team back in September. Nicole was approached and asked to be on the team of 3rd-5th graders. Bible Bowl is a type of quiz game/memorization/knowledge tested program. The kids are studying through Acts this year and Nicole knows more about Acts then I do, that is for sure. She loves this program and we love that she is learning the Word of God. The kids practice every week, sometimes two times a week, and then compete with other area churches up at Great Lakes Christian College on Saturdays once a month. There are two teams from Macomb Christian Church; the Nuggets(Nic's team) and the Magic. Both teams are improving with every competition.

Highlights:
The Nugget's won third place in Dec., Jan., Feb
The Nugget's won 2nd place just yesterday
Nicole won a "top brain" award for 3rd, 9th and 10th place for overall test scores of all of the kids. They give them a paper and pencil quiz to test their knowledge out of the buzzer game situation. Which I think is great for those kids who are not so quick on the buzzers.
In February, Nicole won first third grader overall. I think she is the most proud of this accomplishment.

Of course, one of the reasons she loves Bible Bowl is because her wonderful friend Julia is on the team!

The kids work as teams and use the buzzers to answer a question. Then they get bonus points for memorized scripture and general Bible knowledge.

The team mates take turns being the captain, and what the captain answers is the only thing considered. So... the captain must represent the team well.

Here is Nicole's 10th place finish yesterday. She really studied hard for this competition and was a little disappointed that her finish wasn't higher than her third place win.

The Nugget team is made up of Gabby, Nicole and Julia. They all complement each other in the competition and mostly work as a great team!

Yesterday, the other MCC team, the Magic went undefeated and captured the 1st place win. WOW, way to go team. This is such a great improvement.

This is a picture of the top brain's. Starting with 10th-1st place. The labeled children are all on the MCC teams. As you can see, our coaches, the Mason family, do such a great job teaching the kids.

So... Here are a few questions these young ones are expected to know. Put your answer in the comment section to see if you are "smarter than a 3rd, 4th or 5th grader"!!! Now remember, the kids don't get to reference their Bible's. This is pure memorization.
1. In Acts Chapter 6, who did "they" say Stephen spoke words of blasphemy against?
2. Quote what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 6 about seeking the kingdom...

Chicago Getaway

2010-02-01T14:55:00.007-05:00

Mike and I were able to go to Chicago for a few days, just the two of us. We had a great time. We had mild temperature for January, but didn't see much of the sun. We left the car parked at the hotel and used public transportation to explore. We packed a lot in our time there and walked a lot, but had fun together doing the thing we like most-traveling to new places and for Mike a return to a "true" big city.

I took this photo from the planetarium. Loving that my new camera gets great night shots.

We ate at some fun places with really good food, this is the pizza place where we had famous Chicago deep dish pizza. A nice little neighborhood place and the taste was excellent. Excuse the hat, I hate being cold.

We walked around Navy Pier. Mostly inside because it was cold. But there were still die hard fishermen fishing off the pier.

The Rumbuc's suggested a great Steak and Stone Crab place for dinner. I knew Mike would love it. He tried the Stone Crab and wasn't disappointed. I of course got looks for my chicken order! We walked around the Lincoln Park Zoo. Wow, what a great zoo. One of the best I have been to. It was FREE! And no crowds-HA! We had fun even without the kids. I was loving experimenting with the new camera and we laughed and learned new stuff.

Thursday night we decided to go to the Adler Planetarium for a "night at the planetarium". We both didn't know what to expect, but figured this was a good chance to try something new. It was so fun, the planetarium was set up like a cocktail party with people browsing the exhibits. We learned a lot about the stars, Mars and balloon satellites. Information I am sure to soon forget.

We made a stop at the cheesecake factory for some sinful treats and then we went into the American Girl store to see what we were up against when we take the girls this summer. I will say it was overwhelming for even me, and Mike isn't returning(at least that is his stance now).
We also came across this great museum of Stained Glass. It was beautiful. Not something I would have thought I would like, but we just stumbled across it at the end of Navy Pier.

Thanks Mom and Dad for taking great care of the girls while Mike and I had a fun weekend.

New Year's Eve and the kids

2010-01-14T08:19:00.006-05:00

We spent New Year's Eve celebrating at our very brave friends' house, the Rumbuc's. This is always a fun night, and a little crazy, with all of our kids celebrating with us. We enjoyed lots of food, good company, outside play for the kids and fireworks at midnight. Nicole and Morgan loved staying up and watching the ball drop and Mr. Rumbuc light fireworks. Rachel started saying she wanted to go home around 10pm so I am sure you know how that went. I was able to shoot a few pictures of the kids as they played outside. Not all of them were cooperative with my attempts because that would have meant time away from snowball fights and making snow sculptures. But here are a few pictures.

The girls were trying to make a snowman, but the fluffy stuff wasn't cooperating. So they decided to make smaller versions. This was Kaelyn's masterpiece.

Julia Rose eating snow. I am sure Jen will like this shot!!!

Morgan and Jenna

Ian

SNOW BALL FIGHT

Braden and Ian trying to get a fort going.

Roanoke and Russiaville

2010-01-08T10:21:00.007-05:00

So I know you are wondering where in the world are Roanoke and Russiaville, right?
Well after Christmas we took a family trip down to Indiana. The weather was not so nice both there and back, but we wanted to catch up with my Grandfather and our friends who relocated to Indiana a few years ago.

My grandpa Johns lives in Roanoke, IN. We had a great time catching up, playing games and playing outside in new snow on his beautiful property. We were lucky to be down there with my Aunt and Uncle and my two little 1st cousins Celia and Hope. My cousins are my girls ages and they had a great time together.

Grandpa and Great grandpa, Grandma and Great Grandma Carolyn, my girls and Celia and Hope.

Cousin Hope

My grandfather has a great little piece of property with a little pond and lots of great space to play in.

Grandpa Johns loves antiques. And his home is filled with them. Which can be a challenge for little girls, but, this antique was free game. The sled. He thinks it is from the 30's or 40's. After a few runs on the driveway to loosen up the rust, it worked great.

The girls were giggling and having a great time, even with a couple of white outs.

My grandparents have decorated the yard with lots of fun stuff.

My Uncle Steve, pictured here, and I were volunteered to pull the girls "off road" through the yard. Now, I think of myself in ok shape, but I seriously felt close to a heart attack after one jog around the yard pulling the girls. Steve and I were exhausted. Work out done for the day.

The girls loved playing the new SpongeBob game they got for Christmas. It is in 3D. Sponge bob was a whole new experience for the grandparents!

After our visit in Roanoke, we drove about 1 1/2 hours south west to Russiaville, IN. This is where our friends the Austin's moved to. Let's just say, I kept saying to Mike, "do they really live in the middle of nowhere?". We had a great time catching up and letting the girls get reacquainted.

Veronica and Rachel are both 4 years old.

More snow fun, but less time out this day. The temperature was about 15 degrees colder than the day before.

Thanks everyone for some great memories in Indiana.

WARNING...This post contains lots of pictures of our Christmas Celebrations

2010-01-04T21:26:00.009-05:00

We had a great time celebrating Christmas this year. Enter this post at your own risk. I have put up a lot of pictures for my family that was unable to celebrate with us this year. The girls were really excited about this holiday. They were so aware this year of what Christmas means and what that means to them.

We started our Christmas morning, for the second year in a row, lighting our Advent wreath and reading out of Luke the Christmas story. This was all before they were to go downstairs and look at what Santa had brought. They were so patient again this year and I really love starting off the morning this way.

Mike's mom got Mike a table air hockey game. This was a favorite that morning.

All of the girls asked for Snuggies this Christmas and Santa delivered. I will say, I am NOT a fan of infomercials, but they are cozy little things.

The following are the letters written to Santa and left for him to discover. This is another one of my favorite things. I love to see what they each write to Santa and how it has changed over the years.

Morgan recieved a Razor scooter from Santa and rode it around the house all morning.

Getting into her presents from Grandma Nugent.

My brother, Chris hosted dinner on Christmas day this year. Here is my dad with the youngest Grand babies, Rachel and Drew.

Papa Kelbert with Nicole, Morgan and Jacob.

Some of my pictures are a little rough this year. I received a new camera from Mike and I am learning all of my settings.

This was the girls present from Mike's brother Brian, Uncle Brian. He had given each girl a different key. Each key has a tag labeled with the girls' names and says the following, "You have in your hands one of nine unique keys, each more than one hundred years old. This represents the key to your imagination. With it you can unlock your dreams and be anything you want to be. Please bring this key to every Nugent and /or Tepper family reunion as it will always connect you with any one of your six cousins. With love, Uncle Brian." I thought this was great.

Morgan inspecting the evidence that Santa had come.

Morgan is a silly girl. This year she is all about jokes and making us laugh. Before Christmas day she was telling me how it would be nice if Santa played a joke on her. So, she received a lump of coal in her stocking. Yes it was chocolate.

This is what our house looked like after opening gifts.

Rachel recieved her Whoopsie Do Doll. This is a doll when fed water/juice by bottle, it pees and poops. WHOOOO. How exciting.

Our tree this year. Lots of homemade ornaments. I try to get away with not bringing them all out. But my girls remember everything.

We wish you a Merry Christmas

2009-12-19T14:23:00.002-05:00

Rachel's preschool class did some caroling at the New Haven Elementary school this week. It was a good thing there were two exact performances because Rachel would not sing the first time. When she saw that I had gum, she requested some. I, like all good moms, said "you can have some gum as soon as you sing!". Problem solved. I told her teacher, "I guess I am getting good at this bribery thing!"

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

2009-12-14T22:47:00.006-05:00

Well we are trying our best at the Nugent home, to get ready for the celebration of our wonderful Savior's birth. This year, December has had it's share of challenges and even though I am not working outside the home, I am feeling the time crunch more this year than ever.

Morgan had her winter recital this past Saturday. She did great. I was so proud of her. She played two French traditional tunes as duets with her buddy Kyle Knepper. They worked hard on these pieces and they played better than any other time they had practiced. Playing duets can be tricky, especially when you both have to get your timing and notes right. They did fabulous!

Morgan played at a recital hall at my alma matter-Oakland U.

These are the piano players; Kyle Knepper, Julia Knepper, Jenna Knepper and Morgan.

Morgan had just about had it with being serious. She is turning into quite a goof ball at times.

Hey Mrs. Carol, don't you want us to play piano for you also? This would be Tornado Knepper and Storm Nugent

We had our family Christmas cookie making night.

The newest addition to our family in these pictures is Jenni. She is living with us for a while. She is a youth ministry intern at the church. The girls LOVEEEEE Jenni. Not sure what is going to happen when she moves out.

We had been a little behind with our Advent wreath. But we were able to spend some time reflecting on how we are to prepare ourselves for the celebration of Jesus.

Hope you are getting some time to enjoy this December!

A Little bit of Randomness...

2009-11-21T12:00:00.003-05:00

It has been a few weeks since I have updated the blog and thought today I might just update with a few random things occurring around here. We always have a really busy end of fall season with 4 out of 5 birthdays occurring within 3 weeks of each other. Last night we went and celebrated Mike's birthday. I was able to get a picture of some really great daddy's with their girls. I am partial to the one on the right!

A couple of weeks ago, when we had one of our first big frosts on the ground in the morning, Rachel woke up very excited. She wanted to go outside before the big girls went to school. She ran outside with her new umbrella, not sure why, and looked at the ground and said, "Hey mom, God put frosting on the grass".

I thought to myself, did she really say frosting? And then she reaches down and tried to taste it. I was cracking up!

Halloween 2009

2009-10-31T23:05:00.004-04:00

Ok, so this is what I am doing with my extra hour tonight! Yeah, editing pictures and blogging.

We had a fun couple of days with Halloween activities. Starting with the girls' birthday costume party and rounding it out tonight with trick or treating and a fun "afterglow" at the Conkey's. For those outside of MI, tonight was a chilly one and some of the kids only made it around the big block. But, we still managed to pull in more candy than I would like to have hanging around my house (if you know what I mean for all of you M&M lovers out there).

Here are a few photos of our fun.

We were able to watch the girls in their Halloween parade at school. Notice, Morgan is wearing a different costume than what she would wear Halloween night. This is a long story about what is "acceptable" in 2nd and 3rd grade.

We have a 6 year tradition now of trick or treating with our friends in our subdivision. It has been fun watching the kids get older and more independent with trick or treating.

Pumpkin carving is always interesting. I think we did a little better with our faces this year than last.

October Birthday Celebrations

2009-10-27T17:59:00.000-04:00

Harvest Celebration

2009-10-23T11:23:00.007-04:00

Last Saturday we had a great day outside in some chilly Fall Michigan weather. The church had an outreach event. This event is great and we always have a nice time as a family. Pardon the lack of script and abundance of pictures this year. I am getting ready for the big birthday weekend (more to follow).

This was the scarecrow dress up station.

The very difficult corn maze.

Our friend, Becky Jo took this great shot of Nicole jumping off the haystack.

Friends waiting for our turn at the caramel apples.

This is always a favorite the donut on a string contest.

The candy find in the hay.

We had many laughs that day, that is what kept us WARM!

Catalyst '09

2009-10-12T09:10:00.007-04:00

Mike and I were able to attend the Catalyst conference in Atlanta last week. This year's theme was "On your Mark". We went with the Timm's and Christian's for four days. Catalyst is a conference for "leaders", specifically church leaders. Mike had attended last year and really loved the conference, so I was excited to see what it was all about. I really can't start to explain how great this opportunity was. There were some phenomenal speakers and awesome worship. There were great interviews with people I have always wanted to hear and just a great experience to see that many people gathered together to learn how to be most effective for the Kingdom!

Here is a brief list of some of my favorites from the conference:
1. Matt Chandler
2. Worship lead by Steve Fee
3. Perry Noble
4. Interview with Tony Dungy and author Malcolm Gladwell
5. Bible teaching from Priscilla Shrier
6. Andy Stanley, Chuck Swindol, Rob Bell, Dave Ramsey and Francis Chan.

The concourse of the facility(think the Palace) was lined with Christian para-organizations that had booths set up so you could browse during breaks. Wow, there are some amazing organizations out there doing the work of God(it helped that they were giving away freebies).

I personally came away from this conference with so much and would recommend it for anyone. I am very thankful for the opportunity to go for myself and the time away with Mike and good friends(oh yeah and the weather was great!).

The emcee's were always pulling some crazy stunt to introduce the speakers. This was one of my favorites, just before Tony Dungy spoke, they had a little league football team come up on stage with full pads/helmets on. Earlier in the day they had placed a little plastic football on each seat, remember 13,000 people. When the little league team came out they instructed us to throw the footballs at the stage. It was wild. Those little guys were ducking for cover and trying their best to pick the balls up and throw them back to the crowd. If you look close enough in the picture below you can see a couple of balls being thrown.

We had one afternoon of free time. So we decided to go to Stone Mountain. This is just what it sounds like, a park dedicated to a huge stone mountain with a big Civil War connection. So we hiked up the mountain and at the top is a little museum. You can take the skylift up, but what is the fun in that? This was a beautiful day. And the view of Atlanta from the top was pretty clear.

At one point, this truck comes down the mountain and we are stunned. This is a very steep mountain. The funny thing was the driver must have done this a couple of times because to pass the time(slow descent) he was reading a magazine.

At the bottom of the mountain was another museum and where you catch the skylift.

Can you see the Atlanta skyline in the background?

There is a carving on the mountain of three confederate army generals. I remeber one as General Lee, I forgot the other two. This is an amazing site. These pictures do not show the size at all. One of the generals heads is like 30 feet tall. We saw an actual size replica of one of the stars on the general's collars and they were about 4 feet by 4 feet. WOW!

Barbie Blessings

2009-09-26T11:02:00.002-04:00

The girls received an unexpected blessing this week. Our friend, Megan, brought over her very large collection of Barbie stuff to be loved now by Nicole, Morgan and Rachel. The girls were overjoyed to say the least. Megan brought them over and the four of them (sorry Megan) played for a couple of hours.

We now have Barbie dolls in all sizes, colors and hair styles. We also received the BIGGEST collection of Barbie clothes and shoes I have ever seen. We had a blast going through these treasures.

Megan came with three Barbie "rides". A great number considering the number of little girls that would want their own Barbie "ride".

Rachel was more interested in seeing how many outfits she could shove in the back of the cars then anything else. I think she was afraid her big sisters would take away all of her fun so she better get what she could while she could.

The girls have been playing with these non-stop since Megan gave them to us. Thanks so much for thinking of us Megan and the blessing it brought to our home.

Look what Rachel did today!

2009-09-14T15:30:00.003-04:00

Rachel's first day of More for Fours was today. This is the preschool program all of my girls have attended when they were 4 years old. We love, love, love the teachers of this program, Ms. Janice and Ms. Shawna. Rachel goes four days a week for most of the afternoon and gets to ride a bus there and back.

Ms. Shawna rides the bus with the kids and makes sure they are behaving and safe. This is so reassuring for me. I am after all putting my 3 1/2 year old on a bus for about 40 minutes one way. Rachel just walked right away from Mike and I and went straight up the stairs. Miss independent. She did hug us both first though, that was great.

Rachel also learned how to do the monkey bars today. Nicole and Morgan have been helping her on our new play set, but today she did them all by herself. She is so strong, this skill took Nicole until she was 7 years old and Morgan until she was 6.

I can't believe I am sitting her waiting for my baby to come back home from 4 year old preschool. I am determined to enjoy her this year before kindergarten.

First Day of School-2009

2009-09-11T08:44:00.003-04:00

Summer has slipped away and school has begun. I never really understood some of my friends who would say, "Oh I can't wait for summer, just to have the kids home" until this summer. I can honestly say that for most of the summer it was great having the girls home. It was so much less running around, lunches to make, homework to fit it and I didn't have to be as organized. Now with that being said, I was ready for them to go back to school, especially these past few weeks when every day I heard, "I'm bored". So they went back to Beck Elementary this past Tuesday to new teachers and a new principle.

Rachel had to be in on the action, but she doesn't actually start More for Fours until next Monday.

All three girls got to go, with Grandma and Papa K., school shopping. They had a great time. This year the girls are starting to pick out "big girl" styles. Stay tunned for more of THOSE pictures.

This is the first school year for Morgan and glasses. She has done so well. I don't have to remind her and I think she is wearing them all day in school. I know she must see so much better and this motivates her.

The backpack shopping was a little painful this year. It took much longer than it should have to pick "just the right one" out. I can see where my shopping life is heading-and where Mike may not want be a part of this for much longer!

Nicole's teacher is Mrs. Domke. I got to meet her last night and really like her style and philosophy of teaching. Nicole gets to have her long time buddies Ian and Kamyrn in her class this year-20 boys and 10 girls!

Mike was able to come for the first day of school drop off. Our elementary parking is a mad house and this morning it was especially crazy. We were glad to have dad with us.

Morgan's second grade teacher is Mrs. VanDewinkle. Morgan was happy to get her. She was a first grade teacher last year that Morgan liked. She seems like a very passionate, caring teacher.

I think this is going to be a great year. I will post Rachel's first day soon.

Have a great 2009-2010 school year!

There is a season....

2009-09-02T20:53:00.002-04:00

Today is the day I get to start another season of my life.

About 6 weeks ago, Mike and I decided that I would take a substantial break from the professional work force. I have been a physical therapist for 13 years and for me this was a very scary and hard decision to make. I love being a P.T.. It is a very rewarding and full filling career, but, I was just becoming more and more convinced that I needed some time to focus on my home, Mike, my girls and my extended family.

Working outside of the home was making me feel that I was not able to completely give my all to my job or my family. Now, I didn't ALWAYS feel that way, some weeks were better than others, but with some unforeseen circumstances that came up at work this year and my continued unrest, I decided to pray for some guidance about what to change.

I felt God leading me and guiding some circumstances to direct me to take some time off. My job has graciously given me a personal leave for at least 6months and hopefully a year.

Today was filled with mixed emotions for me at work. This was my last day, for now. My coworkers had little foreknowledge of my leave, but non the less pulled together a little luncheon and many encouraging words. I got the sense that many didn't fully understand my decision and some were genuinely grateful that I was taking this opportunity. Leaving a place that is so comfortable to be at and leaving behind friends and "team mates" in a sense is difficult. But, I am so thankful and joyful for this time to regroup, breathe and rediscover what God has for me in the next year.

I will need to continue to pray that God helps direct my new "free time" (Ha Ha for all of the mom's out there) and helps me to not fill it right back up and get overwhelmed again.

New York Recap-Take Two-Family

2009-08-25T16:39:00.005-04:00

We don't go to New York for just the beaches, we go to see our family. Mike's parents and sister's family still live on Long Island in the same town Mike grew up in. We also have to make sure we make our rounds to Mike's favortie eateries which are as follows:
1. The corner deli for a runny egg, ham slice and cheese with mayo on a hard roll. Which I usually exclaim, "now that's good for your cholesterol".
2. A "pie" aka pizza from the best pizza place around, which changes now that the resturant Mike grew up working in has changed hands.
3. A peanut butter sundae from Friendly's
4. Mike's mom's London Broil dinner
and
5. The girls' favorite-ice cream from Port Jeff.

The girls' just can't get enough time in with their cousin's. These are Michelle's kids Kyle, Amanda and Heather with the girls.

After favorite activity #1Family and #2 the beach, comes #3 the boat out on the sound. Mike's dad has a small boat that Mike and the girls' went out on at sunset and then Mike took out the next day to try and fish. The weather was really hot, so the fishing wasn't that hot.

Michelle and Steve have a great pool in their back yard that was part of everyday activities this year. This is Rae trying to sneak into the deep end of the pool.

Kyle was so great with Rachel. The only cousin younger than him.

Mike's dad loves to walk. On this particular one he was taking the girls to see a fish pond.

Mike's great aunt passed away a few months ago, but her family held a memorial service one day we were there. I know it meant a lot to Mike's dad for us to all go as a family. This picture was taken that day. This is Mike, his parents, his sister and her kids, Mike's younger brother Brian with Mike's cousin Heather.

Mike's parents have a jacuzzi in their back yard. This was used as a little pool when we weren't at Aunt Michelle's big one.

Mike's mom grew up in a town about 15 miles away from Rocky Point called Port Jeff. This is a place we love to walk around at night. We go on the docks and see the cool big boats, watch the Conneticut/LI ferry unload cars and have ice cream. This night was cool and it was great to be outside on the water. Mike's youngest brother from Philly stayed the week with us also.

We contemplated going into NYC this trip again. The weather was in the 90's the week we were there and I just didn't feel that the girls would do well in the heat walking around the city. But, we already have a plan for next summer. My niece's had just taken a trip into the city to see the American Girl doll store. They talked it up so much to Nicole and Morgan that the girls have already insisted we go next summer.

Thanks everyone for a fun trip.

New York Recap Take One-The Beaches

2009-08-23T21:52:00.010-04:00

We traveled to Long Island last week to catch up with friends and spend time with the Nugent family. Our trip went really well. We started it off by driving straight through the night on Wednesday and pulling into Mike's parents house 12 hours later. Now that was with two stops only. One for food and one for gas. That is pretty amazing when you consider the three girls in the back under the age of eight.

Long Island is a great place to visit, but even better in summer when you can enjoy all the island has to offer. The weather was the warmest it had been there all summer long and we took full advantage of the great beaches. Long Island has this great set up (HEHE-God set it up), 20 minutes from Mike's parents is the Atlantic Ocean Beaches. But only five minutes away are the beaches on the LI sound. Now if you want big waves and sandy beaches you head to the Ocean, but if you want calmer waters and quiet quaint beaches you go to the sound where it is a little more rocky. I know all of you reading this are just saying to yourself, must be tough living there right. Yes, this is why Mike is so attracted to beaches. Many of his "Island" stories involve beaches.

So if we weren't at Mike's sisters pool, we were at the beach. Here is the first installment of our trip pictures and all of them were taken at a beach.

We were able to catch up with some friends from LI that Mike hadn't seen in a while. This is a picture of Mike-left, Mark-center and James-right. They started up right where they left off with each other. It was great to see them together again.

My brother in law, Steve, was helping the boys fly kites. These are Ethan and Kyle, my nephew.

The Long Island sound seperates New York and Conneticut.

Rachel swimming in the sound collecting rocks.

Nicole swimming in the sound.

Morgan had a rock collection before we went on our trip, she tried to increase it by 100% I think.

Grandma and Nicole at Smith's Point Beach on the South Shore of LI-this is the Atlantic Ocean.

I told the kids I was going to take a picture and as soon as I lifted the camera, they all started to run!

Rae trying to boogie board!

Kite flying. Uncle Steve was a little frustrated with the kites at first, but then we had two kites going strong.

Nicole was so brave on the boogie boards with the waves. At times she went further out than comfortable for me though. I just am not as secure in the ocean as Mike is.

Cousin Amanda and Nicole after being tossed by the waves.

James and his son Ethan.

My neice Heather with her board and googles, something never to leave home with for Heather.

The Fishler kids with Nic, Rae and Morgan and my neices and nephew. Wow, this shot took work.

My brother in law Steve took us "four wheeling" as they say down the beach. On the beach, if you have the right permit, you can take your truck on the beach away from all of the congestion of the public beaches. This was great, you just pull up your truck with all of your stuff and you minimize your walking. We had so much fun.

Snack time

Morgan and her board.

Here are Amanda and Nicole on their boards. They had "friends" all around them.

Heather, Nicole and I were in the way back of the hummer on our trip down the beach, so we made the most of it.

Our friends super cute daughter taking a break for her PB&J.

Stay tunned for our second installment of our NY trip.

What is my race?

2009-08-02T21:28:00.004-04:00

Today, God used a sermon to speak to me. Our worship minister, Aron, spoke today about how Paul in his missionary journeys stayed focused on the race he was running for the sake of the Gospel. Paul didn't let his circumstance or his success get in the way of continuing toward the goal that Christ set before him.

Aron started his sermon by asking the question, "What is MY race?" We all have a part to play in the kingdom of God, we all have different talents and abilities, and sometimes it is hard to remember what we are all racing toward.
1. Seek first the Kingdom of God
2. Stay in shape by fellowship, accountability and loving companionship coupled with daily studying of God's plans and promises in His word
3. PERSEVERE

Sometimes we lose sight of the only race we should be running. The race that draws us closer to God, the race that proclaims Jesus as our only hope.
Hebrews 12:1a-2 "lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

I know my forever RACE, but yesterday I ran a different kind of race. I participated in a sprint triathlon with 18 other friends from church. This was up at Barnes Lake in Columbiaville, MI, near Lapeer. A sprint tri is a 300m swim, 13.5 mile bike ride and then followed by a 3.4 mile run. We had a blast. We had been training for 2 months and it was so great to see everyone do so well and complete the race. I had a blast encouraging friends to push themselves and accomplish goals they had set.

This is the second year in a row I have participated in a sprint tri. I was very glad to have last year's experience under my belt. I love to train outside. I love to run and ride my bike, however, I don't LOVE to swim. I especially don't LOVE to feel like I am going to drown. So the swim has been and probably always will be my worst leg of the race.

This course was a bit more difficult than last year's with more hills and less paved roads. The weather was perfect and the water was clear and warm. I managed to shave 4 minutes off my time from last year with a more difficult course and some longer distances this year.

To my surprise, I placed 1st place in the women's division, but my stiffest competition made a wrong turn on her bike ride, so the outcome could have been different. I was excited and surprised.

Here are a few pictures of the day(I am in the purple swim suit). It was wonderful to have Mike and the girls cheering me on as well as other friends and their families.

So I am hoping for some more racing in my future, but today I rest in the knowledge of knowing what I am racing for. 2 Timothy 4:7-8 "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord , the righteous Judge will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing."

Summer Sweetness

2009-07-25T23:40:00.004-04:00

We have had some great moments this summer. I wanted to share a few of my "sweet" ones with you.

Last winter, we found out Morgan needed glasses. The eye doctor said she needed them ASAP, but Morgan was not at all thrilled about getting them in the middle of 1st grade. So we struck a deal, we would wait until summer to get the glasses so she could start 2nd grade fresh and no one would know she had never worn them. So out of the blue a couple of weeks ago she decided on her own it was time. She picked out her frames, with Nicole's approval, and we ordered them and had them in a week. She was very excited and has been pretty good about them. I think she looks adorable, take a look....

Rachel has found a new friend this summer, not really a new neighbor girl, but they are just old enough now to enjoy each other's company without always having a referee. This is ALEX. Rachel and Alex love to swing, ride in the jeep and generally stay too much in the street. They are having fun together.

The girls wanted to try their hand at a business venture this week-a lemonade stand. Nicole lasted about 1/2 hour out there, and then it was too hot and business too slow. But Morgan stayed out there most of the afternoon. She made $2 from the mail lady and thought that was great. Most of the product was drank by Rachel and Alex, much to Morgan's dismay.

I am not much of a saver, but decided to save each year's Lemonade Stand's sign. Here are the ones from 2008 and 2007. I love to see the progression of the handwriting, spelling and artwork.

I hope you are having a very "sweet" summer! Enjoy.

Practice...

2009-07-21T16:00:00.003-04:00

This past Sunday, Mike and I hosted a graduation party. Now before you start concerning yourself over lost time, this was not a graduation party for any of the Nugent girls. That will happen soon enough, in a short 10 years. This was a graduation party for one of our high school friends at the church, TJ.
TJ and Mike were in charge of most of the planning and we had help from a lot of church friends and TJ's family with the food and set up/take down. The day turned out to be great. I think he had a lot of fun and he had a great turn out with beautiful weather (it started raining just as we took down the tents).

Our girls were enjoying Camp Cousin with grandma and papa Kelbert. They were disappointed that they missed TJ's party, but mom and dad were able to concentrate solely on entertaining.

We ended up with more than enough food.

TJ had a lot of friends supporting him.

Becky Jones graciously made an amazing tasting cake, with an edible picture of TJ on it.

All of the tents and chairs were borrowed from great friends. The decorations turned out perfect. There is a very funny story about me and the balloons at Kroger that involves a very nice employee of the grocery store.

This is the graduate with his friend Alyssa.

Thank you to all of our friends that helped us out with food, tables and chairs, tents and set up and take down. It made for a great party!

Onekama 2009

2009-07-05T20:23:00.002-04:00

This 4th of July, we got to return to Onekama for a little family reunion. This is a place on western Michigan that I grew up going to every summer. My mom's grandfather, my great grandpa Workman, had a cabin in Onekama, MI. This is a great place to go for a summer or winter break from the city life here. We got to reconnect with family and have a great time.

Great Grandpa's cabin is now owned by my mom's cousin Gary. My mom's Uncle Tom has a cabin 1/4 mile away, and Gary owns a Lake house on Portage Lake, MI another 1/2 mile away and my mom's other cousin David owns a summer house another 1/2 mile away. It is great to have everyone so close.

We had a great time fishing and boating on Portage Lake, hiking behind the cabins, hanging on the beach of Lake Michigan and just making great memories.

Aunt Jeanine and Uncle Paul met us up North from their adventure from Texas. Thanks so much to Aunt MaryJo and Uncle Tom for hosting all of us. It had been too long since we had seen each other.

I was telling Mike that as kids you really don't know how great you have it sometimes. Returning to Onekama and just seeing what a special place it is and how beautiful it really is made me realize, as an adult, how lucky we were to experience all of this as kids. I loved seeing the beaches again, hiking in the woods again, smelling the cabin smells and remembering my great grandpa and how much fun it used to be there with him.

We fit in a lot for just a day and a half. The girls were just in heaven. The little lake, the big lake, campfires, boats, seeing second and third cousins, smores, dune running and pier walking. This is just the things that draws people back to western Michigan year after year.

Take a look at our pictures below.

2009-07-05T20:22:00.001-04:00

Father's Day Celebration 2009

2009-06-28T08:34:00.004-04:00

The girls and I had a fun time planning out Mike's Father's Day celebration. Mike had to preach last Sunday, so, the girls were a little disappointed they couldn't make dad breakfast in bed. So we settled for lunch instead. Rachel picked out dad's meat to grill from Kroger. She loves to taste the "try outs" at the new Kroger by us and she tasted a "black and blue" burger and decided dad would like it. And he did. The big girls decided they wanted to blindfold Mike for his present time, hence the blanket over the face.

The girls made Mike homemade cards with pictures of themselves and dad. Rachel traced her hand for dad and used her favorite Dora stamps. I had to retrieve Nicole's card from the garbage because she felt like she had not reached "perfection" with her card. I assured her, dad would love it.

One of Mike's favorite candy is the 1000 grand bar. Rachel was just waiting for her chance to eat one.

The girls then led Mike and a blind fold hunt. Nicole led Mike around the yard trying to distract his sense of direction to throw him off and confuse him.

Mike had mentioned that his current tool box was fairly dysfunctional and that a nice stand up box with drawers would be great. So we, all 4 girls, went to Sears and tried our best to pick out something we knew nothing about. Turns out it was the right one!

After letting dad nap, for a short time, we decided to meet up with friends at Stoney Creek for a little pizza dinner, music, great weather and some swimming for the kids. It was a really great summer night in Michigan and a wonderful finish to the day.

Nicole's 8th Birthday Celebration

2009-06-14T20:55:00.002-04:00

Upland Hills Farm Preschool Field Trip

2009-06-08T21:46:00.005-04:00

The last week of May, Mike and I had the pleasure of taking Rachel Rae to her three year old preschool's field trip. We visited Upland Hills Farm and had a great time. As is with Michigan weather, it was a cool morning in late May (go figure) but it didn't rain so we were happy. We were able to walk around with one of the farmers and learn about the animals and even pet them. Rachel was having a good time.

It was the best time to see all of the animals because most of them were babies.

I think Rachel and the other kids were having more fun climbing the fence then seeing the animals.

Rachel was not going to get close to this big guy!

Rachel really enjoyed her friends at Preschool this year, especially Jessica, Megan, Ryan and Anthony.

The farm has a story book walk through the woods where the farmers have narrarated a story with props to go along with it.

Yes, that is Rachel and I milking a cow!

We took a very bumpy hay ride.

This little guy was my favorite. Oh so fluffy.

Rachel was very glad to have mom and dad on this trip. Great one on one time with her.

Our friends the Christian's. Their son Caleb attends the 4 y/o class at Creative.

We had a great morning. I would highly recommend this farm to anyone. The farmer was very good with the kids, funny and had a nice personality. There was a lot for the kids to do and see.

And The Winner Is.......

2009-06-06T07:10:00.003-04:00

Thanks to all who entered our 1st Anniversary Blog contest.

I had a good time waiting to see your answers. I think I may have been a little confusing in my posting about the contest. I wanted you all to compare the posts on Memorial Day 2008 and Memorial Day 2009 (the first ever post and the last post before the contest post). Anyway, the answer was...... CHRISTINA. My mom, dad and Ken went with us to the parade in 2008, but Christina joined us this year.

So, the winner is-
the beautiful and very talented-
Denise Timm

So, with keeping the winner in mind, I wanted to customize the prize and although I don't think I can get a gift card for garage saleing, I'll have to settle for a Dairy Queen gift card.

Thanks for playing and viewing our blog. Happy Saturday!

4 Girls and their Prince 1st Anniversary Contest

2009-05-28T09:00:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was the first anniversary of 4 Girls and Their Prince Blog. Thank you to all of my (few) faithful friends and family that have let me share our life with you. It has been a wonderful way for me to share what we are doing here in the Nugent family with many family members who live out of state or in state, but are just not close enough to see us often. I have had a lot of fun taking the pictures for the blog and consider myself a photo junkie at this point. I still feel like I don't have a lot to say and can never say it as creatively or as elegant as my other bloggy friends (you know who you are), but I have still been able to compose something almost weekly.

So with that said, and following the lead of some of the other blogs I follow, I think this celebration calls for a contest. Please send me an email with your answer. All of the right answers will be put into a "hat" and we'll pick a winner. The prize will be worth all of your effort, I promise HAHA!!! There is a prize for sure, a gift card, to where I am not sure yet. I'll have to decide soon and base my decision on multiple state players involved. So.... Here is your question-

Our newest and oldest blog post have a lot of things in common. But there is one thing different (ie person, place or thing). Send me the difference and we'll have some fun. This may take some of you to look back at our first post. The contest ends...... next Friday June, 5th.

Below is a picture of what I found in my garden this morning.

Memorial Day 2009

2009-05-26T13:57:00.003-04:00

For the second year in a row now, we have attended the Royal Oak Memorial Day Parade. We met grandma and papa Kelbert there along with Ken and Christina. The girls were talking about the memories from last year's parade even before Monday. It is amazing how much my kids, and I think kids in general, enjoy parades.

I thought this was one of the best parts of the parade. A huge flag carried by a bunch of kids who all had to cooperate to pull this off.

After the parade we went back to the memorial and took some pictures with the wreath.

I don't think she'll fit in the stroller next year.

This picture had to be edited. Nicole needed to be cropped from this photo. Not the best look for her.

Ken and Christina joined us this year. The girls always love to see them. We took Christina out after the parade for her birthday brunch.

Many pictures get taken at this fountain.
We had a nice morning out and an opportunity to remember those who make it possible for a family to enjoy a morning safely, watching a parade honoring a country, where we have so much freedom.

Very Proud

2009-05-23T09:05:00.004-04:00

I just want to start this post right off by saying, thank you for letting me tell you how proud I am of Nicole and Morgan.

I posted in April about some short stories that were a "work in progress" here at the Nugent home. Well, those stories did get finished and were entered into a Young Authors competition at the girls schools. This past Wednesday night, we found out who made the top 6 stories for each grade. I was so proud of the girls for just entering, it was tough. There was to be no help from parents, not even spelling corrections and they had to write their stories in ink, so little room for error. The authors were also encouraged to illustrate their stories, which for my girls was one of the best parts of this assignment. Nicole's story was titled, "Stipe's Big Strike" and was about three friends bowling experience and friendship. Morgan's title was "Kaelyn's 1000 tickets", and this was about three friends, Jenna, Morgan and Kaelyn and takes place at Chuck E. Cheese. SOOOOO, drum role please......

Nicole was one of the top THREE stories in her grade, and.....

Morgan was one of the top SIX in her grade. They recieved these awards at a little ceremony on Wednesday night.

We forgot our camera, so here are a few pics of the girls getting their awards. All smiles from Nicole and Morgan.

Because Nicole was one of the top finishers, her story was published in a book that will be kept at the school library. She did get some editing help before the story was published, but the illustrations all her own. This is such a nice, cool book. All of the stories were really cute.

Nicole also recieved some kudos for her art work this year. Nicole was selected by her art teacher to have one of her pieces displayed in a district wide art show. This art show was for all of the elementary schools, middle schools and high schools of Utica Community schools. She was one of about 20 pieces from Beck Elementary School that was selected.

We were so excited to see what the teacher had chosen to include. Nicole didn't know which art project the teacher had chosen.

I was so excited to see her piece. I think it is beautiful. I loved the colors and detail that she put into her leaves. Ms. Weier, the art teacher told us that Nicole had taken so much extra time on this piece to make sure you really felt like you were looking at real leaves that had just fallen to the ground. I want to frame this one for sure.

So with all of that said. Mike and I had a really good night on Wednesday and I think the girls were very proud of their first and second grade accomplishments.

Morgan's Spring Recital

2009-05-12T17:02:00.004-04:00

Below is the video from Morgan's Spring Recital. This is her second recital this year, but fourth performance. Morgan participated in 2 other competitions this year. Not bad for her first year in piano, I think. But of course I think she is great anyway. She did really well on her piece, dispite the photographers mishap(sideways viewing). I was just so excited I forgot to turn the camera. Just listen. Morgan got two trophies and a ribbon this year for an 100% on her solo piece, 99% on her duet piece and an Outstanding (94%) on her pop piece. She just amazes me on the piano and soon will surpass my abilities. Just yesterday she composed and wrote in her scale book an eight measure piece. Not bad for a six year old. Everyone did really well on all of the pieces and I told my mom after this recital that if Morgan keeps up her pace, I am going to need a better piano soon. I hope you enjoy the music. If you can not hear the video scroll over the bottom right hand corner and the volume may be off.

2009-05-12T17:01:00.000-04:00

Spring, We Welcome You!

2009-05-05T13:51:00.005-04:00

A few weeks ago, the girls and I went out to Howell to visit my grandparents. It was one of the first real sunny and warmer days we had this early spring. We had a great visit with my grandparents and even got a chance to visit the "Duck Pond" downtown Brighton. The "Duck Pond" also has a great park for the kids.

Rachel trying to gain momentum to propel herself on the swing.

Rachel trying to be like big sisters on the bars.

Nicole has mastered the monkey bars after countless hours on the playground at school.

Morgan can always manage a smile for me when I am taking pictures.

This picture reminds me of a Verizon commercial. Except we need one more bar!

We are so glad Spring has decided to stick around this time. We can't wait for summer!

Rebecca and Mark's Wedding

2009-04-25T15:42:00.004-04:00

My cousin Becky (Rebecca) got married on Friday.
We had a wonderful weekend sharing in Becky and Mark's special day. Mike officiated the wedding so I got to be more included than just a guest and am I grateful for that. I was soooo excited for this wedding. They are a great couple and Becky a wonderful cousin (2 weeks my junior). The day was beautiful. You couldn't have asked for better weather, a little windy, but gorgeous. The wedding was at the Royal Park Hotel in Rochester and what a perfect place for a wedding. Mike did an awesome job with the ceremony, Becky was stunning and the reception a very fun time. I was happy to reunite with family and see many from out of town. So, congratulations Becky and Mark. May your marriage be as great as your wedding day was!
SCROLL DOWN FOR LOTS OF PICTURES-A LITTLE OUT OF ORDER AND A DUPLICATE OPPS

"Celebrate Good TImes, Come On"

2009-04-14T18:40:00.004-04:00

So we had a great Easter weekend. Scroll down for a slide show that shows our fun. We started the weekend off with a great Good Friday Service that Mike spoke at. The girls sat in church pretty well after a pretzel bribe for Rachel. Our church also put on a great community outreach event on Saturday. We got to enjoy the Easter carnival with friends and family. We had a great turn-out for that. We then celebrated Easter dinner on Saturday with the Kelbert's and Knepper's. Had great food, good company and a baseball game, adults vs. kids. Not really sure who came up the winner on that one. Sunday was three wonderful services at church, naps in the afternoon and Easter pizza and egg hunt in the evening with friends. We had an awesome time celebrating Jesus and God's gift of salvation for us. We were really able to reflect and celebrate the true Easter meaning.

2009-04-14T18:36:00.001-04:00

Ok, that's it!

2009-04-07T14:30:00.004-04:00

After two straight days of snow in April and the news that I have a husband who has an allergy to "every season in MICHIGAN" I have had it. When we came back from Mexico last November, the girls would always ask if we could move there. I am ready to say, "YES".

Work in Progress

2009-03-31T18:54:00.004-04:00

These past couple of weeks, the Nugent's have been working on a few projects. Some planned, some unplanned. So now that March is ending, we are hoping to put some of these projects to rest. Here is a brief list.

1. I think after 1 1/2 months of fear over a monster that resided in our home, Rachel has somewhat moved on. We have her sleeping in her own bed, and getting up once at night to make sure we are still around. She stayed in the tub, by herself tonight while I put clothes away upstairs. Something that would not have happened two weeks ago. She will now leave the room I am in, and doesn't race me to the stairs when she knows I am headed up there. We really tried EVERYTHING to help her get over this. Thanks to all who have been praying for us.

2. Nicole and Morgan are each writing a short story for a contest through school. This has been a long process. The stories are due next Monday and they are in the illustration process right now. This has been a difficult project for Mike and I as the rules state you, as a parent, can't help. The girls also have to have their final draft written in black ink. Now who made up that rule! The girls have had to start over on many pages because they can't erase. I won't give the entire plot away (I'll save for another post), but here are the titles. Nicole's-"Stripe's Big Strike". Morgan's-"Kaelyn's 1000 tickets". I am very proud of them.

3. Mike is playing detective again with his chronic sinus problems. He has had two surgeries now, without much relief. So when he returned to his surgeon two weeks ago, he somewhat demanded some help. Thursday he will have extensive allergy testing, more allergens than he has previously had will be tested. We hope to have some answers soon.

4. I have been working on letting God be reflected in my life. I want people to see Him, not me when they look at my life. I want "less of me, and more of Him". This has been my prayer all month. This project is a life long one, I realize.

So, no new pictures this post, but after our friends the Abbott's came back from Arizona, I pulled up some pictures of Mike and I from our trip in 2005. Here they are.

Miracle on St. Patrick's Day

2009-03-19T14:56:00.001-04:00

"Miracle on St. Patrick's Day"

2009-03-19T14:09:00.004-04:00

Last week, Mike and Nicole started talking about riding a two wheeled bike again. This has been a sore subject with Nicole for 2 years now. She had not been able to get the hang of riding her bike without training wheels. We tried all of the "therapy" techniques I knew and the "common sense" techniques Mike knew, but she just couldn't get it. So when the weather started to turn a little warmer, that's above 32 degrees for my southern friends and family, Mike and Nicole struck up a deal. When Nic could ride a bike on her own, without training wheels, Mike would buy her a brand new bike. So for the past week, whatever the weather brought, they were outside practicing. I will be honest with you, I didn't think this would be her year. I secretly hoped and wanted this for her, but didn't think she had the strength or balance yet. But oh, how I am glad, she proved me wrong. The video is the evidence of a little girl detrermined not to let some silly old weakness get in her way. I had a tear in my eye watching her ride down the cul-de-sac towards her other girl friends on their two-wheeled bikes. PTL we don't have to have another summer of hurt feelings because little sister can ride a two wheeled bike with big sister's friends which leaves big sister out. Looks like the weather is turning in more ways than one!Thank you, Lord Jesus, for giving us the big and little desires of our hearts. After she mastered her new skill on St. Patrick's Day, the first thing out of her mouth was "Dad let's go shopping"!

N & J's Tea Parlor

2009-03-12T19:37:00.006-04:00

This past Sunday, our kitchen was transformed into N & J's Tea Parlor. Nicole and Morgan had a play date with Jenna and Julia Knepper and the girls decided to open shop in our kitchen. We, the girls and I, had a fun time writing up menus, serving the guests and eating the snacks. Mike and Rachel were in on the action and enjoying the service of Nicole and Julia. Jenna and Morgan had to get all dressed up for their "afternoon out". At the end of the event, Nicole and Julia agreed that serving the guests was hard work. Until....they saw the "tip" left on the table by Jenna and Morgan a $1 a piece. Then the work was all worth while!! Enjoy the pics.

How three year olds play cards (Rachel and cousin Drew)

2009-02-27T13:39:00.001-05:00

Michigan winter wonderland

2009-02-22T20:20:00.003-05:00

Well from the slide show below you can tell our family had a fun time up at Boyne Mountain. My brother, Chris, and his wife invited us to tag along on their vacation. We had a great time, with great company and stayed in a beautiful spot. We had snow all weekend long which made the trip even prettier. Mike and I broke out our skis and did some runs on Friday. The sun was shinning and the conditions were nice. The slopes were not that crowded and we were able to walk right up to the lifts. Friday night we all went to the indoor water park and rode on the "toliet bowl","alpine racers" and played in the hot tubs. Nicole and Morgan were so brave. They went on all of the big slides, Nic all by herself at times. Rachel even got to go down a big slide on mom's lap. Rachel was content to run around in the sprinklers with cousin Drew, keeping me on my toes. Nicole, Morgan and my nephew Jacob all went to ski school Saturday morning. A first for all of them. They did fantastic. They learned so fast without any fear. I stayed and watched the whole time with my brother Chris, drinking hot chocolate, and it was a blast. The girls did so well at ski school that Mike took them on the ski lift and down a green hill a couple of times. He said they did so well. They never fell off the ski lift and came down the mountain like pros. I am just amazed at how they learn skills so fast and have no preconcieved fears about things. They really surprised me. I had a tear in my eye watching Nicole learn a skill I never thought possible for her early on. What a blessing!

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

2009-02-13T16:43:00.000-05:00

Got snow...Have a snowball fight!

2009-02-06T20:24:00.005-05:00

If you can't tell from the photos, I am the one they are all aiming at!