The Nash Family Blog

Just the 2 of Us

2012-01-23T20:43:00.003-05:00

So for the first time in 5 years, we went away. The last time the 2 of us were away without any children who were born, was back in 2006. We went to SPI (South Padre Island) to celebrate our anniversary. Luke however went along for the ride, literally. We enjoyed a day and night of walking along the surf, watching dolphins, going to a seafood restaurant (and not ordering seafood) and relaxing. Since Luke was born, we have not been away together without children. We have been away separately, but not together. So we got a babysitter for a night, and away we went to the faraway land of Pittsburgh, PA. We went shopping, and out to eat, and relaxed at the hotel. We even slept into 830!!! It was great. We also had a little one along for the ride this time as well, but they behaved and didn't cause any problems. So we have agreed we will have to do it again sooner than 5 year from now. The boys did great and didn't cause any problems. This is great, but why when the babysitter stays the night, do they sleep all the way through, and when Mom and Dad are home, do they wake up and want to play for 2 hrs?????

What Not to Do

2012-01-22T15:00:00.000-05:00

Do not let a 18 month old throw water on your computer. The computer seems to not respond well to it's "bath" and malfunctions and won't turn on again. When you ask the 18 month old if he has money for a new computer, he shakes his head "no" like he knows exactly what you are talking about, and that yes, he doesn't have enough money as no one has been putting anything in his piggy bank except coins, as his brothers always steal the "paper" stuff.

Blinds

2012-01-22T14:27:00.001-05:00

About 6 months ago I wrote about a squirrel that caused the dogs to go crazy and Shadow to destroy the blinds. Well we have used a makeshift blind for that time and finally put up a real replacement. Shadow had broken the track, or it was bent so we needed a new unit all together. I am happy with it and hope it survives any further squirrel encounters!!!!

Injury

2012-01-22T11:45:00.000-05:00

Yesterday admist running around Graham connected with the corner of counter. At first I thought it was the typical hit, but I soon realized we had blood and after closer inspection a small hole! Luckily is was about the size of a pencil eraser or we would have been heading for stitches if much longer. Instead we shaved his head and I took him to the office for stereostrips. He was thrilled with getting 3 stickers!!!

Chuck E Cheese

2012-01-20T15:00:00.000-05:00

Luke's preschool friend turned 5 this past week and invited his class to Chuck E Cheese. Luke was very excited, he has never been to a kid birthday party, but was excited about the cake and presents. After explaining only the birthday boy would get presents, he seemed ready to go. Joe took Luke and enjoyed playing as well. I brought Graham and Eli down for the last 30 minutes and let them do some rides and games, and then we went shopping for new sneakers for the boys. "Cars" theme sneakers were in so they both have new light up CARS sneakers.

Lightsaber Battle

2012-01-18T15:00:00.000-05:00

Lightsaber's were a gift from Aunt Cindy this Christmas. We have had many battles in the house. Sometimes the good guy wins, and sometimes the bad guy wins. These are cool because they glow in the dark, so they can battle with the lights out and still see each other. Luckily, they are half pretending and not swinging too hard. They are not used to hit people, only other lightsabers. So far no injuries and no breakage!!!

Laundry room

2012-01-16T21:02:00.001-05:00

I have been struggling with what to do with wet clothes for the 2 yrs we have been in the house. But with 3 boys and 2 adults some days it is worse than others. The boys are back in swimming lessons so I needed a plan. A simple drying rack takes up the whole laundry room and you can't open the door. So I saw a retractable clothesline and decided to try it. So far it is holding the swim clothes and towels!! We will see how it fares against winter snow pants and coats!!

January

2012-01-10T20:15:00.002-05:00

We have had a fairly mild January. We did come back to snow after our return from Kansas last Tuesday, but that went away quickly. Today the thermometer said 49 degrees, so I got the boys dressed and out we went to explore. Boots were a must as were mittens as it was a little chilly, we ended up finding a stream and playing in it, warning them if they fell or touched the water their hands would be cold. We went under large trees, and over small trees and rocks, and eventually 2 out of 3 tripped and ended up with some parts in the water and were cold. So we headed back in, but it was a good adventure. Everyone had fun going "side" as Eli calls it.

Since we got back from Kansas on Tuesday, we were just starting to get back into the swing of things when disaster struck. I started with nausea on Thursday, but thought it was just pregnancy nausea (yes for those of you who are not connected to Joe on Facebook, we are 12 weeks pregnant and due the end of July), but by the evening I knew I was in trouble and kept telling Joe I wanted to puke. He didn't think much of it and went to bed, as did I, until I woke up at 1 am with vomiting, followed by the other end, and it lasted for 24 hrs exactly. Thinking maybe it was food poisoning as no one else had any problems, but that all changed Saturday evening as Eli started to get fussy. Joe went up and gave him his pacey and rocked him to sleep, he was out shortly there after, and about 15-20 mins later he is screaming again. Joe says just let him cry it out. I look in the video monitor (a must really) and see this puddle in his bed which I don't remember before. I run upstairs and he had puked (red from strawberries) and it was in his hair, ear, hands, everywhere. No wonder he was screaming. So Joe and I tag teamed the clean up with a bath and laundry duty. But Eli went right back to sleep and had no problems. He was a little fussy Sunday am, so I decided to not go to church in case the others came down with it. Good thing as in the early afternoon, Luke started and ended up vomiting twice. Then he was done. Monday saw everyone laying low, watching movies, not too active, but by evening everyone seemed back to their old self. Thinking we are out of the woods as 3/5 had it and we should be done. Joe wakes me up from a dead sleep last night around 1130 saying he has been vomiting. I reassure him, "I only vomited once, so you are probably done" and we both lay back down. Within about 30 minutes he is up again in the bathroom, where he stayed most of the night. He ended up losing 8 lbs in 24 hrs, luckily everything stopped about 7 am. He stayed quaranteed in the bedroom for the morning, ran to court real quick, and back to the bedroom. The house was lysoled again at 6 am today and hoping the last child, Graham, doesn't get it, so far his immunity is great. So we are looking forward to a healthy weekend and being done with the GI bug. If anyone is interested we are willing to share it for a low cost!!!!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T14:34:00.002-05:00

Merry Christmas to everyone. We hope everyone is enjoying celebrating Jesus's birth.

The boys gave us a great gift by sleeping in until 8 today. Mommy and Daddy loved that!!! Eli woke up as the Grinch, literally. He was not in a good mood this morning and it has continued all day. He has croup and was given steroids yesterday by his Doctor Mom, and one of the side effects is irritability. Well he certainly has it. He did sleep through the night, which was an improvement from being up al of Friday night with a barking seal. However his mood today has much to be desired. Even after a 2 hr nap this AM, still Mr. Grinch.

He is enjoying his car, and Mom has taken to seatbelting him into his car so he can't get out and cause trouble. His brothers are enjoying their toys. Graham tried out his bumblebee bike and Luke is enjoying his Marble maze and his Handy Manny toys. The boys had a good
Christmas.

We are getting ready for a dinner and then having a birthday cake for Jesus.

Hope you guys had a great day also.

Christmas Tree

2011-12-01T14:20:00.000-05:00

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We decided to set up our christmas tree after our Thanksgiving. It took all day on Friday to get the tree up and then as I did the lights I realized half our lights didn't work. So, Graham and I traveled to Walmart to buy the lights. Then after dinner we started to do the tree. The boys put all the ornaments in the front and we had more broken ornaments this year than ever before, but they had fun. Taking a picture however wasn't as easy as Eli was not cooperating.

Windy

2011-11-29T14:10:00.002-05:00

I get home from work today and everyone is sleeping except Luke. I was in the bathroom changing and Luke comes running in saying it is really windy and he watched the grill roll across the deck and is on the ground. So we start to have a discussion about not telling lies. And he says no it is really on the the ground. So I finish changing and low and behold, the place where it was on the deck and empty, and low and behold it is on the ground. So I apologized for thinking he was lying and we decided to wait for Daddy to come home to life it back on the deck and assess the damages!!!

Boot Rack

2011-11-13T15:00:00.000-05:00

I was looking online for something to hand the boys boots, and hats and gloves on so that they dry and don't stay wet for hours. I was thinking of buying something. I know I had seen a metal tree stand type thing before. well I can across this wood/pvc pipe creation and decided to give it a try. All it is, is some 1 x 4 and some pvc pipe to hang the stuff on and bingo, I have dry boots and gloves now. I used it for the first time today, but I like it!!!!

Snowman

2011-11-11T20:12:00.001-05:00

So we had about an inch of snow this am when we woke up. Luke say it and wanted to go outside from the start of waking up. I had to convince Graham it would be fun and then Eli came too. I got Luke dressed and sent him outside, then got Graham dressed and out he went. Finally it was Eli's and my turn. Eli enjoyed swinging for a while, but wasn't too keen on getting put down in the snow to have his photo taken. We also went for a small sled ride with all 3 on one sled, they did ok, but again Eli started to scream.

When I came home from work, everything had melted. Bye snow man.

Freedom run 5k

2011-11-05T08:59:00.002-04:00

Last night our church hosted a 5k race. It started at 7:27 at night and was a 3.1 mile loop around the church. We went through a road by farms with lots of manure, even saw people out on horseback at night, ran by a high school football stadium with a game going on, and then through a cemetary called the Freedom Cemetary. The area where our church is used to be called Liberia and was part of the underground railroad. And the cemetary was a place for slaves to be buried. The purpose of the race was to raise awareness for the slavery that exists today around the world.

Having never run a 5 k before I started training for about 6 weeks or so with a goal of running 27 minutes. Since the race was at night, I practiced at night and was used to the dark. Most people had headlights on and they had lots of luminaries around the raceway so you knew where to go. They had over 60 volunteers directing traffic and giving us encouragement and telling us which way to turn.

Joe doesn't run, but this was his 2nd 5 k race this year. He ran once 1 week ago and only a mile and he was ready to go. He works out 3-4 times a week so didn't feel he needed to run.

So they had about 140 people run/walking the course. Joe wanted to be in the front, so I joined him and found myself going much faster than i ever wanted to go. My phone told me I was runing 8:15 second miles, which is great but I didn't think I could keep up that pace, and I was right.

Joe finished 1st in his age group, 30-39 with a time of 24:30 beating his only other time by 20 seconds. I got 4th in my age group with a time of 27:22. So I almost did the 27 minutes I wanted. We were both happy with what we did and enjoyed the bonfire afterwards with smores.

Not for Sale is one of the organizations we teamed up with to raise money for. Their website is below if you are interested in the Slavery around the world.

www.notforsalecampaign.org

Sunday we are having a Orphan experience to see what it is like for orphans around the world. So that should be interesting and eye opening for the whole family.

Grandparent Weekend

2011-10-31T15:00:00.000-04:00

While Joe was off hunting for a long weekend in Colorado, I called in some reinforcements. Grandma and Grandpa Meier came to visit and help out with the kids. The weather was beautiful so we went to a pumpkin farm on Saturday to pick our pumpkins. The boys enjoyed playing in the hay as well as going on the hay ride to find their pumpkin of choice. We carved them on Sunday and had fun. Grandma Meier also had the boys make Mummy Pizza's and pumpkin rice crispy treats. IT was a good weekend, except for lunch on Sunday which was one of the worst restaurant experiences ever, but we all survived.

Zoo

2011-10-29T15:00:00.000-04:00

On Tuesday, I took a friend and her 2 boys to the zoo with us. Some might say we are crazy to go with a 5 to 2 ratio of boys to girls. But we went and had a great time. Luke is the oldest, then Caleb, and his brother Josiah who is 7 days older than Graham, and then Eli. They enjoyed following each other around, looking at all the animals and learning fun facts about them. The polar bear was swimming around and the elephants were busy eating their hay. This is probably the last zoo visit for the year with the cold weather coming in, but our zoo membership is well worth it!!

Halloween

2011-10-27T18:25:00.005-04:00

This year we were actually home for Halloween. We carved pumpkins with Grandma and Grandpa Meier (well the boys picked the design the grandparents carved). Then we had a block party tonight. Harrisville likes to do Trick O Treating the thursday before Halloween. Why, we don't know, but we all met at the cul-de-sac tonight and shared candy with each other. It was a good time. This year we had Optimus Prime Luke, Frog Graham, and Turtle Eli.

Women Of Faith

2011-10-12T15:01:00.000-04:00

I had the priviledge of going to the Women Of Faith Conference this past weekend here in Pittsburgh. I went with 3 other ladies and there were various others I knew from Slippery Rock who were in attendance.

We had a blast listening to women from all walks of life - married with kids, married with infertility, single for 48 yrs, single for 80 yrs, divorced, marital separation and abuse. It was amazing to hear the stories the ladies had to share and to laugh with them and cry with them. I don't think I have ever cried so much in my life, whether it was tears of laughter or tears of sorrow they were there a lot. There was amazing music by Natalie Grant, and a group called Mary Mary. It was amazing to hear their testimonies of faithfulness of god through the trials and where he has brought them.

I have plans to go back next year and if there is a Women of Faith near you, I strongly encourage it.

Potatoes

2011-10-10T14:35:00.002-04:00

For those of you who have known me for a long time, you know I hate potatoes. Well when I first got married, I decided I would make Joe mashed potatoes, as it was his favorite food. Well lets just say it was more soup than anything else. It was a complete disaster and I never tried again, nor did Joe ask me to try again. I really think if they had the show, "Worst Cook in America" at that time on the Food Network my potatoes would have qualified me for it!!!!!!!

So over the years I have slowly, and slowly is the key word as we have been married almost 9 years, trying potatoes. I have started by eating the potatoes and onions Joe often cooks for breakfast for the boys. Then I graduated to trying a baked potatoes (fully loaded of course) but enjoying it and even shocking Joe by requesting Mashed potatoes with steak at times. But I couldn't get passed the Mashed potatoes. When Joe would make them it would be lumpy and I couldn't stand the potato chunks in it. So I opted for instant potatoes, as obviously the recipe to do the potatoes to taste doesn't work for me if I won't taste them. So the other night we were having a rotisserie chicken. We had potatoes at home and I decided I would try to make mashed potatoes again. So I cooked them until they were falling apart, and then put them in the mixer, for what seemed like years. I added butter and salt and a tad of milk ( not a whole cup like before). And after a few minutes i loved the result. I told Joe I didn't even want the chicken, but just the potatoes. He checked to make sure I didn't have a fever and was like wow.

So I now like potatoes and eat them all ways. However, I told Joe I was picky and had to make the potatoes as I am not sure how I would do with some lumps. But I am now excited about Thanksgiving with the mashed potatoes. So if you are having us over for dinner anytime soon, I now eat Mashed potatoes!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gator riding

2011-09-28T15:00:00.000-04:00

So it is the time of year when Eli is old enough and starts playing in the Gator. So when Luke was at preschool the other day Graham was driving it, but was going very slowly. so Eli got to go for a ride. He did pretty good, but didn't quite get the concept of holding on. at least he didn't fall out like Graham did on his first ride.!!

5 k

2011-09-25T15:00:00.000-04:00

Joe and a friend, Marty, decided to run in a 5k race. It was this morning. So the wives and the boys headed to the race course to cheer them on. Luckily Marty's house isn't that far away and we could walk. We cheered on the running guys who finished under 30 minutes. Neither of them are runners, but they did a great job. We then enjoyed a brunch at their house afterwards. The first photo is of Joe running, he is the second runner. And the second photo, is of Marty he is the guy closets to Graham.

The cat

2011-09-24T16:32:00.002-04:00

So today we came home and found a cat outside. Well actually Peanut had the cat cornered in the garage.

So Luke took to the kitten immediately and they have been best buds, or at least Luke thinks so. but the kitten has been purring and letting Luke hold him and play with him all afternoon. They were inseparable.

so we may have a new pet in the house. it has been called sleepy, sweet pea, scout, and thor, not sure if any will stick.

Aunt Erin's Visit

2011-09-15T15:00:00.000-04:00

We all enjoyed having Aunt Erin visit with us for 2 weeks. She watched the boys while I was at work, and enjoyed it but I am pretty certain was happy to hand them back over to me each and every day. She played all sorts of games with them and created new ones. They went on hikes and were on adventures on the pirate ship, or Noah's Ark, or outer space with Eli the "alien" who would come and attack. We had friends and family over and went to church. We even went to the zoo and were one of only like 20 people there and enjoyed seeing the tigers and polar bears out and playful. We will miss Erin as she heads back to PNG for another year to do what God has called her to do.

Bed changes

2011-09-14T15:00:00.000-04:00

Well due to recent instances involved our little climbing child. We have moved the beds around. We had been trying to get Graham into his big boy bed, and have had success but seemed to resort back to his crib if need be. But we have been doing good this past week. So I watched Eli on the monitor today being upset about being in bed and was trying to get his leg up. He wasn't anywhere close to climbing out, but I would rather have him fall 2 feet that 4 feet. So we took the crib out of Graham's room and moved it into Eli's room, as it low sitting. Then we took down Eli's crib. We have the older 2 in 2 twin beds across from each other. Hopefully they are each enjoying their new beds!!!

Preschool

2011-09-12T15:00:00.000-04:00

Luke started preschool this year. He is going to the Montessori school here in town. They have 12 kids and he loves it. This is his first day of school taking in his special box. Since that time he has gotten the job of feeding the fish, he told me to sang the alphabet song to Lulu, he wants to wash dishes as his next job, is learning about the letter "b", and has some Good Morning Song he keeps trying to sing to us. He is enjoying his time for sure. Our little boy is growing up.

Visiting with Friends

2011-09-10T15:00:00.000-04:00

With Erin being here, we invited our friends, Bob and Meghan McMichael out for a time of food, and smores, and fun. The kids are all very close in age and we had a great time together. They especially enjoyed the rocket launching and the smores.

Welcome home Sign

2011-09-09T15:00:00.000-04:00

My sister returned for 2 weeks, and the boys made a sign for her. We covered the table with paper and let them go crazy with paints. I even got Eli's handprint into the action. The boys loved the painting and Aunt Erin enjoyed the sign.

Super Hero boys

2011-09-08T20:35:00.001-04:00

We have recently gotten into being super hero's and fighting the bad guys. Here we have pirate/turtle graham, and turtle head/super luke who bravely got all the bad guys in a 5 mile radius.

colorado pics

2011-09-01T21:33:00.002-04:00

Hiking

2011-08-20T22:19:00.002-04:00

Today after dinner we went on a little walk on our land. We have some blackberry bushes the boys wanted to check out and Joe wanted to put up his deer camera. So off we went on our "venture" as Luke likes to call them. Eli was on my back in the backpack. He was quite content to hang out back there as long as I would give him a blackberry now and then. The problem is we have had too many pickers and there weren't that many left, so he would get upset with me and go "WAAN". Well Joe found the perfect spot for the deer camera, and he went off the path into the woods. Luke followed him of course and then started to yell for Graham to come too. Well Graham is holding onto my hand and isn't letting go. So I see a spot that looks like not many prickers and we can get into the woods area better, so we duck under some tree branches (which Eli thought was funny) and the we are in the woods. There was a little ditch almost, where the water would come down and it kind of made like a little ravine (I am talking 3-4 ft) but a narrow pathway and then around a sharp bend. Well Luke wanted to climb down and then wanted Graham to go to. So Joe took them and I stayed on top with Eli. Then both Luke and I saw a bridge up ahead at the same time. Someone had taken an old railroad tie and put it across this ditch. So we walk to that area a little bit, and Eli starts getting animated on my back. Swinging his arms and squawking (what he is saying we weren't sure). But we guessed he wanted down. So we got him out, and boom, he takes off right for this "bridge" (only like a 8 in drop off into 100 yr old leaves and sticks). He crawls across it no problem, gets to the other side and goes back. Luke is starting to get brave and jumping off it. Graham, is being cautious, and needs a hand to hold to go across it. Pretty soon Eli is crawling down in to the ditch and just walking all over, and pulling himself up onto the bridge from below. No fear at all. He was more adventurous than Graham. At one point Luke went for a little walk around some trees, and Eli just followed him the whole way. It was of course the one time neither of us had our phones for a picture :( But you may see the spot in our Christmas photo, as it looked like a neat place for a picture.

Baking

2011-08-10T15:00:00.000-04:00

Since Joe came home I have baked more in 1 day, than in a whole year combined. I am not sure what got into me. I made blackberry muffins last week, that were very good. So we had received zucchini from our neighbor, and I made some zucchini bread. Also good, or so Joe tells me so. Joe is always saying he likes cinnamon rolls with chili. To me that sounds weird, however to him it sounds delicious. I tried once to make them in about 1 hrs, and realized the "rising" part of yeast wasn't happening, so I canned the idea. So I tried again tonight. We will see how they turn out. I had to get some tips from my neighbor Sylvia, as I wasn't sure how long you "let rise" the rolls. I even decided to make homemade icing, as I realized there wasn't any icing in my recipe. I may not be the Next Food Network Star, but I am trying to use up the brown sugar and powdered sugar that are in my canisters that have been there since our move from Texas. (Just kidding I threw them away!!!)

ZOO

2011-08-08T20:57:00.003-04:00

So Joe leaves us for the weekend and goes hiking with friends from Kansas in Colorado. He wants to do something really cool like climb a 14,000 ft mountain. Since the last time we checked our backyard only had a 100 ft incline, he had to travel for this. So we were left alone.

Instead of being alone, my friend Daly came down for the weekend. We decided to do our own, fun, and cool thing--and go to the zoo.

The Pittsburgh zoo has a kids area, we typically don't make it there because the boys are too tired after seeing all the other animals. today I decided to go there first. The boys loved it, especially trying to get the deer to touch them, petting the camel, and sheep, and baby goats.

We also picked blackberries in our backyard and played in the pool outside. We had a good weekend ourselves. However the boys were all very happy to see Joe arrive at 945 pm Sunday evening. Everyone stayed up for the event and were treated to gifts and then bed!!

PS-Joe did make it to the top of the mountain!! WAY TO GO JOE!!!!

Boys and Hats

2011-08-02T14:30:00.000-04:00

So the boys, especially Luke, have been really into hats lately. We finally put up a hat holder in their room, and Luke has stolen all of Joe's hats and claimed them as his own. So we went out for ice cream and put the Penn State hat on Eli, so everyone needed a hat. Luke took Joe's hunting hat, and Graham took Luke's Phillies hat and put it on backwards. Very cute

Deck

2011-07-30T22:02:00.003-04:00

It has been Joe's dream to have a deck. Well not really a dream, but he really wanted one since we moved into the house. We finally decided to go for it this summer. The "DECK GUYS" are almost done. They have another bench to build and then a covering to put up along the bottom of the deck. Luke has enjoyed having them around as he goes out every morning and talks to the DECK GUYS or yells out the window "Hey Deck Guy, what is that tool for". We do know their names, but Deck Guy comes out a lot. We are happy with the deck and are excited for our first grill out on the deck. The best thing about these deck guys, is that they used to live in Joe's hometown in Kansas, Olathe and worked at the same plant his Dad worked at: small world!!

Branson

2011-07-27T21:13:00.003-04:00

We took a vacation to Kansas and Branson, Missouri. We drove. Yes, we are crazy, but the boys did very well on the way there. We stopped in Indianpolis and then in St. Louis where we had friends that we visited with for Lunch. They have a little girl who is Luke's age, and on the way back Luke kept asking if we were going to visit with "St. Louis" again. It was quite funny when we figured out what he was saying. We made it to Kansas and spent 2 days there. We visited with the big dogs of Barron and Brodie who are 100 lb dogs. We spent a day with Dave and Brenda playing in the sprinkler and eating smores and having a blast. We enjoyed hanging out with Aunt Carrie, Uncle Arthur, and cousin Owen (4 months younger than Graham)

We next traveled to Branson, Missouri. We stopped at Lambert's Restaurant on the way, the home of thrown rolls. It was great. A guy would come out every 5 minutes with hot rolls and you would raise your hand and he would throw one to you. NEVER HAND IT EVEN IF YOU WERE NEXT TO HIM. He would throw them across the room or just 1 foot away. It was great. I can see in a few years the boys getting very excited at that restaurant. The guy had very good aim as well, as I caught one that he threw directly at me from across the room!!!

We made it to Branson and got our condo. We enjoyed some time on the beach, swimming in the pool, going to Silver dollar city, and the Dixie Stampede. Where Luke will proudly tell you that the"North" won. We celebrated Joe's 33rd birthday with a trip to Landry's Seafood house, and even went putt-putt golfing.

We traveled to Rodgers, AK from Branson to visit with Joe's good friend from High school and college roommate. We do NOT recommend the drive from Branson to Rodgers. Graham and Luke both lost control of their stomachs on the very windy roads. We enjoyed the visit with the friends, but not the car ride.

WE survived the car ride home and do not look forward to another trip anytime soon. But we are happy that we don't have any more big car trips except traveling to Harrisburg for a wedding in September.

Photo Shoot

2011-07-11T14:00:00.000-04:00

We had a photo shoot and all the boys were pretty happy. Getting the photo of all three of them was a challenge to get them all looking, and they weren't but that is ok.

AMERICAN PICKER

2011-07-09T14:00:00.000-04:00

Who has seen the show "American Pickers"? Joe loves to watch this show and see how one man's junk can be another's treasure. He recently decided that our house needed some decorations. I have slacked off in that department after I put up the photos of the kids. So he took over, which is great.

First we have a 96 inch airplane (no it isn't an antique, but looks cool in the living room)

Next Joe traveled to the local antique store where he found this old time torch lighter and the picture frame. He then looked at ebay many a nights and came back with a duck imprinted brick, and an old decoy duck which decorate the mantle now.

He also found this old saw, which I like as my Grandpa was a logger and had one of these in his house. He has found some other treasures as well, including old kendall oil cans, and other pictures. I will take more pictures as we continue to put them up on the walls. Stay tuned for American Pickers part 2!!

Luke Fishing

2011-07-08T22:17:00.000-04:00

Joe got these cool hunting sunglasses that have a camera in them. He used them the other day when he took Luke fishing. Check out their fun.

Eli is Walking

2011-07-05T22:13:00.002-04:00

After dinner today, Eli took his first steps! He has been taking an occasional step, but not really crusing on furniture or walking if you hold his hands, but for some reason he just started walking today. It was right before dinner, so we will see what tomorrow brings.

Have a New Kid by Friday

2011-06-23T20:28:00.002-04:00

I started reading a book called Have a New Kid by Friday by Dr. Kevin Lehman. It seems to be a good book about discipline and teaching your kids to listen to you. I read it and have been trying to put some of the priniciples into practice. The basics of the book is 2 fold. 1) you same something once, turn your back, and walk away and then 2) B doesn't happen until A gets done. So this is my night the other night.

We go and visit the neighbor with the double jogging stroller. Eli always gets to ride and normally Luke and Graham take turns riding. We are leaving the house and Luke says he wants to ride first. Not a big deal, I tell Graham he will walk and then ride in a little bit. Well he starts screaming and crying saying he wants to ride. Again I tell him that he needs to wait his turn, and again more screaming. So I just leave him in the road and walk away with Luke and Eli in the stroller. (For those of you who don't know we live on a culdesac road with maybe 1 car per hour on the road and they are always people who live there. So I wasn't fearing that he was in danger or going to get hit or anything.) So I get to our driveway and you can still hear Graham screaming, and Luke starts to say, Mom you can't leave Graham. You need to stop and go back and get him. The other priniciple, is once you walk away don't look back. THey tell you in the book the reason a kid throws fits is that he wants attention, and if you walk away and don't give him the attention he wants he will stop throwing the fit and follow you, because his whole point is to get your attention. I am just think Graham can ride. I said well why don't you go and tell him. So I stop about 100 ft into the driveway and turn and Graham has made it to the grass in the center of the culdesac, but is on the other side of the circle. So Luke runs after him and tries to tell him that he can ride and grabs his hand and tries to pull him. Graham refuses to be led by Luke and falls to the ground, still screaming. So I continue to stand there as Luke comes running back and says, don't leave Graham Mom. He is my brother, you can't leave him. I try to reassure Luke I won't leave him. No where in the book did it talk about the older sibling being so caring and worries about the younger sibling who gets left behind.

So we continue to stand there, for about 15 minutes waiting for Graham to join us. Luke is still trying to get me to go and get him, but I won't. He even tells me that he will watch Eli, while I go back and get Graham. So I finally walk the 100 ft to the end of the driveway and hold out my hand for Graham to come, and he does. So we continue to walk up the driveway, Graham is continuing to yell, "I want to ride". I try to tell Graham that he needs to stop crying and then he can ride. So we get about half way down the driveway and again he stops walking, and I just keep on going. Luke is again screaming, "Don't leave Graham" He eventually walks and catches up to us.

We get about 50 ft from the part of our driveway where there is a bend. Graham once again stops, but this times sits on the ground screaming he wants to ride. I walk the remaining 50 ft so that he can't see him, again waiting for my child to stop throwing his tantrum when he can't see me and doesn't get any attention. Once again Graham proves the book wrong, and sits there screaming for at least 15 mins. I told Luke he could run to the house and go in, however he said "no I want to wait for my brother Graham."

After 15 mins, I walked to where he could see me and again held out my hand and he walked to me. So I learned many things on this walk. First, always budget 45 minutes for the walk up the driveway. Second, Dr. Lehman has never met Graham Nash. Third, leaving Graham in a crowded place when throwing a tantrum would not be good as he will just stay and throw a fit. Fourth, Luke cares a lot about his brother.

Eli's birthday party

2011-06-18T20:46:00.004-04:00

Our little Monster turned "1" today. So I made him a monster cake which he loved and became a blue smurf with. The boys enjoyed it as well

We had Eli's birthday party today. Grandma and Grandpa Meier came. We had a lot of fun with the water table from Mimi. All the boys were soaked, after only a few minutes, but loved every minute of it.

When the people are away. . .

2011-06-17T20:23:00.002-04:00

Today I had to take the boys to the babysitters house. I was only going to be gone half the day so I decided to leave Peanut outside. She likes to be outside and soaking up the suns rays. Shadow however like to be inside and she is typically on our bed sleeping the day away. I came home today and heard a weird noise outside. I finally got around to looking outside and I see a squirrel on the screen door outside our bedroom window and Peanut is barking up a storm. I open the door and our runs Shadow. This is too much for the squirrel and she falls off the screen and there is a mad dash. The squirrel almost makes it to the fence line, but unfortunately Shadow had other ideas and started to toss her around. Peanut joined in the fun and they are playing tug of war with the poor squirrel. I am screaming for them to let the squirrel go and running oafter them, asI realize I left the screen door outside and eli may be going off the steps, so I run back inside and close the screen. I then proceed outside again and get Shadow to let go, but Peanut grabs the squirrel and is chewing and tossing it around not letting go. The poor squirrel is making some noises but not a lot. Peanut gets up by the house, squirrel in the mouth still, and I finally get her to drop it and get the dogs inside. The poor squirrel is just laying there for the boys to watch.
Luke-why is the squirrel taking funny breaths
Me-it is dying
L-why is it dying
Me-because Peanut and shadow bit it, they thought it was a toy
L-is it going to heaven to be with Jesus
Me-Yep
L-will it be alive after it walks across the bridge to Jesus (yes we were talking about Jesus being the bridge between Man and God)
Me-yes it will
L-will we see it again
Me-yes one day in heaven
L-it stopped moving now
Me-yes I think it is dead

So I tell the boys I am going to change, as I am still in my dress from work, and then get a shovel and throw it over the fence. I go into the bedroom and I see a disaster on the floor and the window. This is what I pictured:

Peanut sleeping on the step. Nice gray squirrel comes into the fence and starts looking for food. Peanut notices nice squirrel and starts going after it. Nice squirrel runs away from Peanut and ends up on the screen. Shadow decides to get in on the fun, however she is inside, and the blinds are drawn, so she has to bite and claw to get the blinds down so she can see the squirrel and scare it. The squirrel is saying i am safe from this little brown dog, we are the same size, then it sees this big black monster from inside the house and doesn't realize it can't reach it, but decides to empty its bodily functions on our screen anyway as it is scared to death. The whole process of destroying the blinds and keeping the poor squirrel pinned up on the screen must take a good amount of time, as when I got home Peanut wasn't barking at the squirrel anymore but calmly sitting below it on the step looking at it.

So needless to say the blinds are destroyed and are beyond repair. The ones left on the holder have claw and teeth marks in them, most of the blinds were in half, all beyond repair!!! So next time you want to leave the house, leave a sign for no squirrels in the yard!!

Sidewalk

2011-06-16T20:51:00.002-04:00

After 2 years of being in our house we decided it was time to make a way from the driveway to the front door. So this is what we have come up with, after a lot of help from our friend Daly. The boys enjoyed all the work including the bobcat day, playing in the dirt, playing in the gravel, playing in the sand. Their dumptrucks and bulldozers were a permanent fixation out in the driveway area. We had a small problem when the bobcat struck the drainage pipe from the downspout, but after 2 trips to the hardware store to get the proper size pvc pipe, we fixed the problem!!! So now it is complete and ready for food traffic.

1 year old

2011-06-15T08:26:00.002-04:00

Eli turns 1 today. He is standing and starting to do things to make his brothers made, when he plays with their toys. He likes to wave and push buttons on the speakers. He enjoys his food and should be walking anyday now.

Happy birthday!!

tball

2011-06-12T07:01:00.000-04:00

Tball ended last night.

It has been fun for everyone, but we are glad to see it end. Luke had a great stop playing 3rd base last night and threw it to first. The younger 2 enjoyed the playground, and the other kids around!!

Standing

2011-06-10T06:58:00.002-04:00

Eli standing up has been heard a lot recently in our house. From the bathroom to all around the house. He started pulling himself up, and now after only 5 days is done with that and will just stand at will. No steps yet, but we know that is coming next!! So the other morning he stood up and the boys stood up next to him.

Grandpa and Grandma Nash

2011-06-05T14:30:00.000-04:00

We had visitors for Memorial Day Weekend.
Grandma and Grandpa Nash come for the weekend. We had a great time at the zoo, which was very busy, and then hanging out at home and going swinging and playing in the pool. We had a cookout and made smores and everything. We were sad to see them go, but hope to see them soon.

Tubes

2011-06-03T14:30:00.000-04:00

This cute little boy has been affectionately named Monstersaurus Rex after all his crying and fit throwing, mostly when he had ear infections. Which since Christmas has been about every 3 weeks. So we visited the ENT doctor, and opted to get tubes placed in his ears to help with the infections. He was the hit at the surgery center, as he wore his scrubs and loved to play with everyone who came into say hi. Dr. Jones was wonderful and even prayed with Eli before surgery, I barely had time to sit down in the waiting room before I got told he was done. He was a trooper through it all and we hope we can change his nickname soon!!!

Gettysburg

2011-06-01T14:30:00.000-04:00

We traveled to Gettysburg, last Monday night for a day trip. We had friends from Texas who were taking a group of kids to Gettysburg and other places up in the East. So we joined their tour bus and went and learned all about Robert E. Lee and those Union men including Joshua Chamberlin. Luke loves to ask lots of questions and enjoyed playing with the rocks and sticks. Graham also was a huge fan of the sticks and the gun he made with one. Eli was quite content to snooze or hang out. We enjoyed the trip.

2 videos of Eli singing and dancing

2011-05-31T14:30:00.000-04:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zESfpR5Bw0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLTCqLZE_mg

Memorial Day

2011-05-30T15:11:00.002-04:00

A big thank-you to all the veterans out there who served in the military and protected our country over the years!!!

We went to the Harrisville parade today. As some of you know it is a town of about 650 people. The parade was 45 minutes long!! There were many firetrucks from every town around, plus a few baton twirling groups, and multiple tractors. Yes that is right, tractors. I am sure every town has tractors in their parade, but we had about 50!! Fun times. The best was all the candy they threw at the boys. I had forgotten about the candy and we weren't prepared with a bag or anything but luckily Daddy's hat served as a good place to place all the goods. !!

T-ball game

2011-05-08T08:16:00.001-04:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAqjYnIiGPg

Here is a link to a minute t-ball link of Luke batting and running the bases. We hope you enjoy it.

9 month photos

2011-05-07T15:00:00.000-04:00

Here are each of the boys right around 9 months. We see some similar features in each of them and some individual features.

t-ball

2011-05-05T21:11:00.002-04:00

Luke is playing t-ball this year. Joe has volunteered to be the coach, so the "Nash Law Office" team had their first game tonight.

It was funny watching these 4-5 yr olds play ball.

Some highlights:
-1st batter from our team, hit the ball and ran to 3rd base
-Luke (#9) was more interested in drinking gatorade and chewing gum than playing
-one kid wanted to try to distract the other team
and steal the ball
-Luke asked if he could take the bat out on the field
with him
-everyone hit and scored multiple runs!!!

It was a blast and we hope to do it again about 10 more times in the next 5 weeks!!!

Graham's 2nd Birthday

2011-04-27T15:00:00.001-04:00

Graham turns 2 on the 28th. I decided to make him a train table. Everyone asks me how do I know how to do this stuff. I don't know. When I was little my Dad used to build things, the biggest thing I remember was the platform beds he made us with drawers in them. I had my own tool box and table and Erin and I would hammer and screw stuff all the time. I haven't used my carpentry skills since I was probably 10 or 12, but it all came back to me in these latest projects. It has been a blast building stuff and I look forward to more things. So does Graham like trains? Yes, is the logical answer if I went to all the trouble to make this table, but in reality he likes everything. Hopefully he will play with them on the table, but if not I am sure it will be used for many things like an airport, a zoo, a coloring table, or whatever else their imagination can come up with. Thanks Dad for all the woodworking knowledge!

Pantry

2011-04-25T15:00:00.001-04:00

Well what do you do with the space under your steps? I didn't know but needed a place to put our extra food. So I built a pantry. Joe says it is perfect size for Luke to go in and get food, as it is only 55 inches tall, but it stores all the extra food nicely. Since I try to go grocery shopping once a month for the main stuff, I now have a place to put it all that little hands can't reach!

Does a 2 yr old need a BIB???

2011-04-23T15:00:00.000-04:00

Clearly the answer is yes, what didn't come out good in the photo, is the rice stuck to him everywhere after dinner without a bib.

Camping out

2011-04-21T15:00:00.000-04:00

Joe went fishing the first day of trout season. The problem is that God decided to make it a monsoon outside. So he traveled to the Allegheny National Forest and sat outside getting drenched, while not catching any fish. He returned home around 5, with Tasta Pizza. He decided it was movie night. We had gotten the tent out the other day and it ended up in the living room. So all the boys were piled in the tent, yes even Eli. I don't think they lasted the whole movie "colors and shapes" with Blue, but they had fun anyway!

Easter Eggs

2011-04-19T15:00:00.000-04:00

We visited with our neighbors the other day, Jack and Sylvia. Sylvia used to be a preschool teacher and had a different way to color eggs. So we brought along our paint clothes and we had a great afternoon. Sylvia "blew" out the yolks from the eggs, then she stuck them on a homemade board with little dowel rods, then we used this paint "flour, salt, and something else I forget" that was colored different colors. We used a spoon to drizzle over the egg, and kept pouring on more colors until the eggs were all covered up. We made 2 dozen eggs, so I hung them from our kitchen, will take some to work, and will send some to PNG. But I thought they were very neat and different. Thanks Sylvia for a great day!!

Haircuts

2011-04-17T20:47:00.001-04:00

Everyone got their hair buzzed the other day. So we took a family photo. We all happened to have the same shirts too, so that is cute. What you don't see, is that Luke decided to let go of Eli, and Joe saved him from hitting the floor! Note to self, don't let a 4 yr old hold the 10 month old!!

Mud puddles

2011-04-16T16:44:00.000-04:00

Well it is the first day of trout season. Joe decided to drive to the allegheny national forest and go fishing. However the monsoon that came pretty much wiped him out. So I am home with the boys enjoying the rainy day! It stoPped raining so we went for a walk and the boys love the mud puddles and the rivers we now have along the driveway. Here they r posing in a puddle. They all needed complete wardrobe changes when we got home, soaked to the bone! Oh well they discovered worms, put leaves down the stream, and other fun boy stuff. Eli was stuck in the stroller and was protesting the whole time, pretty sure he wanted to splash too!!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Nature Walk

2011-04-09T15:10:00.000-04:00

We went outside for a walk this past weekend. The boys enjoyed themselves. Graham rode on Joe's shoulders and Eli was on my back in the backpack and squealed with delight the whole time. Luke was on a nature scavenger hunt and found all the items we asked him to, we then attached them to paper to show everyone-the leaves, acorn, toadstools, moss, fern, and a orange berry fruit. It was fun and we hope to get back out there soon!! When it stops snowing!!

Zoo

2011-04-07T15:05:00.000-04:00

We went to the zoo this weekend. We had bought a Zoo membership last year and we got good use out of it. It was set to expire the end of April. So we took advantage of a semi nice day, and got everyone dressed and went to the zoo. It rained at first and we thought we had made a mistake, as I took all the umbrellas out of the car and we had to buy a $12 umbrella from the souvenior shop (I saved 50 cents on it with my membership card!!) and it barely covered one boy!!! But the rain stopped and we got to see the baby elephants, the giraffes, 2 gorillas fighting and chasing each other. A polar bear who was very hungry and looking for food, some bears, and sharks. The boys enjoyed it, Eli did as well!!

Home Improvements

2011-04-05T15:00:00.002-04:00

I decided to repaint the boys bathroom, so I went with a color called "Crocodile Tears" It looks pretty good. We did have a minor accident where my foot tipped over the can of paint, but I was able to save it as the paint went on the drop cloth and I used the roller off the drop cloth and saved enough to finish the walls!!

Well I have wanted to do something with our Laundry Room since we moved in. But I couldn't figure out what to do, or how to do it. So I finally came up with a plan, and away I went. We put in some cabinets, then added some storage units to the closet so the boys coats could be hung up nicely, we have a special place for the dog food also, and then some things on the walls to hang up all the cleaning stuff. I am pretty excited how it turned out.

9 months old

2011-04-04T09:04:00.000-04:00

Eli has turned 9 months old. He is a pretty easy going little man. He has learned to get attention he often has to scream to get someone to pay attention to hi. With 2 other boys in the house he has gotten his vocal cords working early. He loves to eat and will eat us out of house and home soon I am thinking. He enjoys Luke an Graham and wants to be near them with what they are doing. He has 4 teeth and weighs 18 lbs.

Eli Crawling

2011-04-02T08:53:00.000-04:00

Eli has finally started to crawl. After doing the backwards crawl for a while, he has learned how to go forward just in the last few days. We still aren't going across the room yet, but I am sure by this weekend we will be all over the house!!

Eli just turned 9 months old!

Toughest Weather City

2011-03-30T08:51:00.002-04:00

http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/americas-toughest-weather-city-final4_2011-03-24

Please go to this website, from the Weather.com
Since it is the NCAA basketball brackets, the weather channel picked the 64 toughest weather cities in America and have had their own bracket contest, the winner is the one who has received the most votes.

Well Bradford, Pa, our hometown is in the finals verses Fargo, ND. We need your help to vote. You can vote multiple times from the same computer but it eventually catches on and locks you out. Bradford had 14,000 votes in the semifinals, and Fargo had 17,000. So we need everyone to vote multiple times for Bradford!!!

Sandbox fun!B

2011-03-20T14:41:00.000-04:00

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Luke's Cave

2011-03-19T22:00:00.004-04:00

well the past few days have been full of sickness in our household. Graham started it with the babysitter on Wednesday, and it has gone through everyone except me. Luke typically sleeps like the picture here to the Left, in his CAVE, with the 3 giant animals surrounding him.

Last night around 11, he started screaming and we found him standing in his bed, after he had vomited. The giant reindeer, Reuben, had taken one for the team. He got his first bath in at least 11 years. He felt so soft and fresh!!! Luke laid down a little today, but otherwise seemed totally fine.
So after about an hour, it happened again, only this time, he hit the giant bear and the reindeer. So there are 2 big baths going on tonight, as well as the sheets and clothes and everything.

There is still a giant polar bear left that has not had a bath yet. I am really hoping he doesn't get one tomorrow!!!

Monstersaurus Rex

2011-03-15T15:15:00.002-04:00

When Eli was 3 months old, he had a shirt called Mommy's little Monster. Since that time he has developed the nickname, Eli Monster. Sometimes he lives up to the name, and sometimes he is an angel. When he has his ear infections, he is a little bit of a monster. After our recent bout with Ear infections, where he cried from 9-12 and then from 3-5 if not being held, (yes this is in the night time), Joe went and made him a shirt naming him Monstersaurus Rex. We still love our little Monster though!!.

Luke's 4th Birthday

2011-03-06T14:20:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is Luke's birthday, but if you ask him, his birthday was today! We had a full house with Mimi, Grandma and Grandpa Meier, Daly, and our neighbors Jack and Sylvia, plus Erin from PNG on the computer.

Luke is really into airplanes and he wanted a stealth bomber cake.
I did the best I could, as you can see below.

Everyone had a good time. Luke enjoyed all his presents including his "air con crafterier " which translates to air craft carrier, and the airplanes. Plus his cool bike from Mimi, and the helmet and wonderfully loud horn for the bike from Aunt Erin. He also had a good time with the transformer tank that battled his planes, and his hockey set!!

Happy Birthday Luke, We love you!!!

Children's Museum

2011-03-05T18:16:00.003-05:00

It is Luke's birthday weekend. Mary came into town and we all headed down to Pittsburgh to the Children's Museum.

The boys enjoyed making paper out of cotton, painting, and playing in the water the most!

They also found a plane and enjoyed putting cars down the ramp. We had a good day.

What you say, What they hear

2011-03-05T14:30:00.000-05:00

This weekend, I was taking a meal to a friend who just had surgery. Joe was outside playing with Luke and Graham, so I took Eli with me. As I was getting ready Luke asked where I was going. I said I was going to "run an errand".

Well I come home an hour later and he asked "where is aunt erin?"
I said she is in papua new guinea. He said, but you said you were going to "run aunt erin", so he assumed I was going to see Aunt Erin. Unfortunately that did not happen and he was very disappointed that Aunt Erin wasn't coming home or to his birthday party!!

Why not to go.to the local outdoor show

2011-03-03T14:30:00.000-05:00

Joe saw a sign at the grocery store for an outdoor show the next county over, like 20 minutes away on Friday night. We figured it would be something to do to get the boys out of the house. There was to be food and games (always a draw for Luke). What I am going to tell you is why not to go to the local outdoor show on Friday night, if you have 3 children under the age of 4.

1) there are 2 of you and 3 of them
2) we forgot the stroller at the house
3) everyone else is looking for something to do on Friday night = 800 people
4) no parking, you have to get dropped off and park across the street in the fair grounds, plus it is 20 degrees
5) since we got dropped off, forgot 8 month's pacey in the car seat
6) since there are 3 boys, ignored the program and just winged it and spent a good bit of time in the gym, when there was so much else to do in the whole school, classrooms were set up with lectures, and different displays, etc
7) when walking by the classrooms with the displays, since we didn't read the program, Luke just walks in on a lecture about deer age as he sees a bunch of antlers, and we can't get him out
8) your kids might have gotten used to Mickey Mouse at Disney, however they do not know Smokey the Bear and are very afraid of him (all ages)
9) no place to put your coats, and with it being 20 degrees you had your coat on, so are overheated
10) 800 people walking the hallways of a high school with displays and tables set up in the hallway, so no room to walk
11) since everyone is wearing Camo, it is hard to see people and you run into them quite easily
12) if you are not wearing Camo, you feel really out of place, even the girls with the pink camo
13) since the program is shoved at the bottom of the bookbag, we don't want to take the time to dig it out to see what lectures and stuff is going on, so we walk by everything
14) 8 month old starts to get upset he doesn't have his pacey, and only the monkey cymbals or mommy's phone will keep him happy

Reasons to go to your local outdoor show
1) your child with get a ticket just for trying to play corn hole, or shoot a bow and arrow and you will come home with nifty prizes (2 plastic cows one good cowboy and one bad cowboy, plus a monkey that has cymbals attached to a tube of bubble gum, and a green bird that says Happiness (yes the last 2 picked by Luke)
2) there is a lot of stuff to see and look at, if you don't have 3 kids with you
3) cool raffles, and lectures about different hunting things, also cool things to buy

So all in all, it was a bust, but next year maybe just one of us will go and take Luke. If anyone wants to come next year, we will let you know when it is, so you can make your plans!! I will volunteer to stay home with the other 2!!!

Bathroom Project

2011-03-01T14:30:00.000-05:00

(finished)

Well a few months ago we noticed some mildew behind the shower head in our shower. It turns out that the nozzle got some debris in it and was spraying a little backwards. We got the problem fixed, but wanted to put some tile behind it to make sure if it started to spray backwards again, we were protected. The other day I went to Home Depot and brought home like 12 different tile samples. After much debate, Joe picked the most expensive tile I brought home (way to go). So I returned the unwanted tiles and we got enough of the tile pattern we did want. The plan was to do at least the one wall of the shower, but maybe the whole shower area. We also discussed about doing around our bathtub, as it is separate from the shower.

(finished)

So this weekend I set out on the tile project. I found this stuff called tiling made simple. Where it is like glue squares that you put on the wall, so you don't have to set the adhesive and let it and the tile sit for awhile before you can grout and stuff. So I did that last night and then laid the tile. As you can see we chose small tiles, so it was painful trying to get each little square in it's right place and all lined up.

(pregrout)

Ok if you believe that last line, you are silly. They make these 12 x 12 sheets now a days with all the little tiles placed on mesh and you just set it on the wall where you want it. I did have to cut it for the shower head and then for around the tub, but it was super easy!!!! Also with this you could grout as soon as you put the tile in place!!

(pregrout)

Then today was the grout. Again I went with the super easy, premixed grout. I was shocked at how much grout you used, but went to the local hardware store and found just what I needed to finish the job. So the job ended right around 5, which was perfect as there was enough time to through the chicken Parm in the oven I had cooked earlier and we ate at 6!!!

HAIRCUTS

2011-02-27T08:41:00.000-05:00

Joe's barber shop was in business the other night!!

after

before

cute little boys

2011-02-26T08:38:00.002-05:00

too cute!! I was getting Eli dressed this morning and saw the hat and decided why not. We got the other boys involved as well, but then Joe tried to get everyone to look by saying "Deer" and they all jumped up and went to the window!!

Do the Graham.

2011-02-20T21:46:00.000-05:00

a walk

2011-02-18T19:40:00.002-05:00

everyone says that you are outnumbered when you go from 2 to 3 kids, as there are only 2 of you. however, when you decide to take all 3 out on a walk you are really outnumbered. it was almost 60 degrees today, so I got the boys all in lightweight coats and decided to take a walk up the driveway. I knew there were puddles the boys could jump in and throw rocks in. As we were leaving the garage Luke found a lawnmower and started pushing it, of course Graham wanted it so we did half and half ,with Graham having the first half of the driveway. When it got time to switch, Graham decided to throw a fit and threw himself down. Of course, it is wet on the driveway. So I get him on his feet, but he won't walk, so i leave him and keep walking, but turn around and he really hasn't gone anywhere. So once again I try to get him to walk and take his hand, and have to half drag him, as he is still unhappy he doesn't have the lawnmower. So I end up picking him up and carrying him. Half way down the driveway again, he wants to walk, so I let him walk and he again pouts and won't move. So I carry him the rest of the way to the road. There everyone is happy and we walk around the circle. On the way back, Graham has discovered the puddles and wants to throw stones in them. Every 5 steps he has to stop and throw like 4 stones in each puddle. Eli, who is strapped to my back, starts to get fussy, so I am trying to get the boys to hurry up no the way back, since it took us 30 mins to go down. Well with stopping every 5 steps it took a long time. About half down, Luke went ahead with he lawnmower. Not a big deal, he won't run away, and I can see him as i keep trying to get Graham to walk faster and quit throwing rocks. Well then I realize, Luke is going to go inside. The problem is that he has stepped in every puddle and mud he could find on the way down the driveway. So I am trying to drag Graham/run to get Luke to stop as he either can't hear me yelling or is choosing not to. But it was too late, he made it into the house. Luckily he stopped right inside and didn't leave muddy footprints all over the house. He got his boots off and just had his wet socks everywhere. So the moral of the story, is to have everyone walk at the same speed, or to not allow children into the house by themselves. Not walking in mud puddles isn't an option!!

Shelves

2011-02-13T19:24:00.003-05:00

Well we decided to build some shelves downstairs in the basement to try to unclutter our basement. So I watched a video online about building shelves and took the plans and modified it for our area.

I went to Lowes a few weeks ago and purchased the wood with joe's truck. One thing I didn't think about was that the truck bed is 8 feet with the tailgate down, not up. So I had to learn how to tie down the plywood and the 2 x 4's real quick. I figured it out and we didn't have any accidents along the way!!

So I constructed the boards and then I had asked the guy at lowes how to attach it to the concrete block. He showed me a pack of concrete anchors that also had a drill bit in it for concrete. Great I thought. So I get started on the project and the first few holes were ok, but after that I went through the power battery 3 times and wasn't getting anywhere. Joe even tried, and wasn't successful. So after getting frustrated with wanting the project done, I drove back to Lowes after we had researched 2 different items. A Hammer Drill, an electric, drill that somehow can drill through concrete like a real drill can't. Plus a Power Accuated Tool, Caliber Shingle Shot, to be exact, that would also drive nails into concrete. We were planning on the cheaper power accuated tool that you hit with a hammer to get the nails into it. However, the nice guy at Lowes talked me into the Hammer Drill, and the reason being the Power Accuated tool only drives nails, and with the weight of the stuff on the shelves a screw would be better. Therefore, we are now the proud owners of a Hammer Drill!!!! The best news is that I thought we would use it for this project and never again, however as the shelves are already full, I am thinking more shelves will have to be built on the other side, and the drill can be used again!!! Yipee.

ELI

2011-02-04T15:00:00.000-05:00

Eli is 7/1/2 months old already. He is cute and cuddly as well. He is starting to lose his baby look and is starting to turn into a little boy. Both Joe and I have mentioned that he needs his haircut soon. I didn't cut Graham's hair until he was like 10 months and looking back, I am not sure what I was thinking. Well Eli got some warm, fleece outfits for christmas and I love them. This one is especially cute. He has little ears, which I think are adorable. Joe isn't too fond of it, but that is ok.

QUILT

2011-02-02T15:00:00.000-05:00

Well I made my first quilt about a year a half ago, maybe a little longer. It was right before we moved, I made it to fit our new King size bed. Since that time I have made 3 baby quilts for various folks and decided I needed to make another quilt for our bed. The first one I put in double the batting, so it is really warm, and well in the summer I slept without it most of the time. So I wanted to make a thinner one for the summer time, and also have a spare. So I came up with this design and it took about 6 months to finish. I guess having a baby in there, probably slowed me down. But I finally finished it and made some pillowcases to go with it with the leftover material. I am pretty happy with it and we will see how the first night goes!

Chicken Scampi

2011-01-30T20:54:00.002-05:00

If anyone has ever watched the Food Network they may have heard about a show called the Worst Cooks in America. Well compared to those folks I am not the worst cook, but pretty much we eat similiar foods every month. I have started making a menu of our dinners every month and have been inspired by the show to try new things. So I added Chicken Scampi to the menu. Erin and I had it at Olive Garden when we went out one might before she left. It was great and Joe had found the recipe to it online a few years ago and it just happened to be in our recipe book. So I went and bought the ingredients and gave it a good attempt. Well the first problem was the garlic. I used the butcher knife to the clove of garlic method I had seen multiple times on tv. What they never show is that 10 of the 20 cloves fly off the table and onto the ground depending on how hard you hit it. Then I got to use my food processor I never knew I had. It came with my blender that I use all the time for making baby food, and just recently found the food processor attachment and used it. Joe thought the whole kitchen smelled like garlic!! Well one of the ingredients in Chicken Scampi is wine. Something called Chiablis. If any of you are wine drinkers you might know what this is, I am not and Joe ended up going to 3 different stores looking for anyone that was opened on Sunday and came home with a bottle. Of course, since we drink so much wine in our house, we went on a made hunt to find a cork screw to remove the cork. We came up with nothing, and ended up taking the bottle to our neighbors and using theirs!!! So I followed the directions and was very happy that it looked good. I took a bite, and thought wow that is spicy. Not sure where the spice came from, Joe asked what was in it and sure enough the crushed red pepper flakes stuck out. But then I said Italian Seasoning. Did you know that crushed red pepper is in italian seasoning??? I did not. So I got a double dose of red pepper flakes. So next time I will eliminate the red pepper flakes and use the italian seasoning and hopefully it will be good. It still tasted good, but both the boys said "HOT". Joe and I, enjoyed it and I do hope to make it again, I just need an hour of no kids to make the sauce and everything. So the only remaining question is how long is wine good for?? Since it won't get tasted at our house, unless I make this dish again, how long do we keep a corked bottle of wine around??

an earthquake

2011-01-16T18:06:00.002-05:00

Sickness is something that comes with having kids. I can remember about twice when Joe or I was sick prior to having children, and one of those was the night before Luke was born. However, once you have kids there seems to be a lot of colds, coughs, runny noses, fevers, and sleepless nights. Joe blames it on Chuckie Cheese. Joe and Erin took the boys there last weekend, while I had a baby shower at the house. Luke and Graham started with runny noses on Thursday, and Joe started feeling a little under the weather Thursday as well. Friday, Joe said he felt worse than a cold, but no fevers, or chills, just not feeling well. He went to bed at like 8. I was woken up at 4 in the morning with a mini earthquake in my bed. I wake up to realize that Joe is having rigors. He was shaking uncontrollably. I told him he needed to get some tylenol, so he goes into the bathroom and i heard the bottle shaking back and forth very fast. I then proceeded to get up to help him with both the tylenol and the water to wash it down. Needless to say, his fever was not far behind as was his body aches. He laid in bed most of the day. He came out 2 or 3 times for like 15 minutes each to try to help, but couldn't last more than 5 minutes before he felt awful again. I diagnosed him with the flu and tried to keep him away from the kiddos, especially Eli. the kiddos weren't that far behind, but no rigors or fevers in them until right before bed. They were interested in laying on the couch yesterday and watching movies, which is not like Graham at all. Today, more fevers for the boys, and they got diagnosed with ear infections, but i don't think they have the flu. Luckily, our nice neighbor decided to make us chicken soup, and that saved the day!! So i am praying Eli and i do not have anything, as Eli is still getting over croup from last week and still have a lingering cough. Me, well i am still healthy at the moment, and plan to stay that way. All I can say is thank God it wasn't the GI bug, as that would have been worse than what we had. Hoping everyone else is staying healthy!!

Erin has left

2011-01-14T19:23:00.001-05:00

We said goodbye to Erin on Wednesday. She has been with us for 4 months and the boys enjoyed her stay a lot, as did Mom and Dad. Graham was her little buddy most of the time and looked for "E" a lot when she wasn't there. She will be missed by them all. As well as us!

Photo Shoot

2011-01-06T10:26:00.001-05:00

Well we survived Christmas and the holidays. Sorry no blogs about that, maybe we will catch up someday, but with 3 kids, no promises. We took the boys to get a picture taken after Christmas. It worked out pretty well with the 3 of them, only a few tears. We hope everyone is having a great New Year!

Graham feeding Eli

2010-12-07T09:16:00.000-05:00

Graham loves his brother, well Eli, at least. Not sure about his love for "uke" yet. Graham likes to talk to Eli, give him toys, and even help hold his bottle. Joe was changing Eli's diaper and had the bottle next to the changing table. Graham picked it up and went over and put it in Eli's mouth and tried to feed him. It was very cute and we hope the brotherly love continues.

SLED RIDING

2010-12-06T10:51:00.000-05:00

We had more snow today. Erin took both boys outside. It was an adventure getting Graham's boots on while he is screaming. Trying to get the fingers into the gloves and not have 2 fingers in one finger hole. Trying to keep the hats on and not have them overheated before they made it outside. Once they got out there, Graham fell a lot which was followed by cries, as he couldn't get back up with his snowsuit. Joe got the tractor out and we hooked the sled up to the tractor and the boys got rides on it. They enjoyed it a lot and even Joe went for a ride with Graham. Luke came in and said "Daddy fell while trying to surf" so I guess surfing on the snow with a sled pulled by a tractor isn't a good idea. When it was all over-luke enjoyed his bowl of hot chocolate soup.

Mickey Mouses(s)

2010-12-04T09:14:00.000-05:00

Ever since coming home from Disneyland, Graham has slept with his 2 Mickeys. Some days they come downstairs and some days they stay in his crib. This is him carrying them downstairs, normally one gets carried by the nose, but his "mos" as he calls it doesn't seem to mind.

SNOW

2010-12-03T09:12:00.000-05:00

We had our first snow fall of the season where there was any accumulation. We had some snow a few days ago but it was only a dusting, Luke however was excited to go outside in the snow and proceeded to eat the snow. So with this snow falling, Aunt Erin took him outside and pulled him around on his new sled. They even built a very baby snowman.

Christmas Countdown

2010-12-02T09:09:00.002-05:00

Luke is all excited about Christmas. I got Joe some gum for his stocking stuffer and made the mistake of wrapping it in front of Luke. He of course loves gum and wanted to open it now and chew it. I tried explaining that it was a) Daddy's and not Luke's present and b) we had to wait until Christmas to open it. This really isn't working as every day he asks if he can open Daddy's stocking. Joe said when he was little they would make a chain of rings and countdown until Santa comes. So we made this and for the last 2 mornings, Luke has slept with his "ring" of the evening and today he brought them downstairs with him. I am not sure if we are going to have 25 rings in his bed at the end of this month or not??

psu

2010-11-23T19:07:00.001-05:00

While Joe was hunting in Colorado this past weekend. Erin and I took the boys to Philadelphia to visit my aunt and uncle. We had a great time playing with our cousins. The boys enjoyed the extra attention. A friend got the boys PSU shirts so we got their picture taken. Maybe someday one of them will end up there!!

IMG00021-20101030-1813.jpg

2010-10-30T18:17:00.000-04:00

We r still in disneyland but today headed to california adventure-a place with pixar characters-cars, woody and buzz, a bugs life. We got to talk w crush the turtle from nemo and see playhouse disney show. We then traveled around in search of characters as donald was requested by luke today. Along the way we came to arcade games. So luke played and beat 7 other players by rolling a ball into a hole and he won bulleyes the horse from toystory. Graham woke up and went fishing and won fishing mickey. Erin also played the water squirter game and won a dumbo but we gave it away to a little girl as eli didn't seem to interested in it. We found mickey, pluto, donald, and chip and dale today. So it has been a hit!!
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Breakfast conversation

2010-10-29T21:44:00.000-04:00

Luke: mom can graham have part of your muffin

Mom: I don't know that graham wants my muffin

Luke: (yelling to graham who is across from him) graham do you want part of my mom's muffin

Graham: yeah (one of his most popular answers to any question asked him)

Luke: looks at me and says 'graham says yeah'

Mom: breaks off part of muffin and hands it to graham

Graham: sniffs it and shakes head no
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IMG00019-20101028-1055.jpg

2010-10-28T10:56:00.000-04:00

While everyone is talking about this guy mickey mouse, I am busy doing my own milestones--rolling over!!
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IMG00017-20101027-2050.jpg

2010-10-27T23:18:00.000-04:00

We arrived at disneyland! Graham isn't too sure of the characters and shakes his head and says "no no" as they come near. We ate at goofy's kitchen where a lot of characters came to your table to say hi. Jasmine from aladdin was the only one graham would let get near him!!
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IMG00016-20101023-1612.jpg

2010-10-23T16:19:00.000-04:00

This innocent face is that of every parents worst nightmare on a plane. As he got over tired and tried to fall asleep he couldn't and ended up screaming for 45 mins straight wiggling around. Half the time his eyes were closed! He finally fell asleep 15. Mins prior to landing! Needless to say erin and joe pretended like they didn't know me as I tried to get graham to be quiet! No just kidding they had their hands full w/ the other 2! We are praying for an easier second leg into sf!!
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IMG00013-20101023-0916.jpg

2010-10-23T09:18:00.000-04:00

At the airport eating breakfast and watching planes take off!! Our journey to california has begun! 6 people, 7 bags checked, 4 ticketed passengers, 1 stroller and 2 stuffed animals!!
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Making food for Eli

2010-10-07T13:40:00.000-04:00

I have made homemade baby food for all the boys and Eli is no different. The other weekend the boys were helping me make Eli's food. They wore their aprons and Luke helped put the pureed food into the ice cube trays, and Graham liked to play with all the cooking utensils.

ELI

2010-10-05T13:37:00.000-04:00

Eli is 3 and a half months old now. He loves to laugh at faces the boys make or seeing you in his vision. He enjoys his brother talking to him and taking his hands and singing the "doo doo song" their dad made up. He is still waking up one time at night, but he really a very pleasant baby.