The swifts

Here are a few pictures of my sister. She is 30 weeks and starting to really look pregnant. It will be so fun to seem how a little one changes their lives. Late nights and feedings, toys and food in places never imagined. Ah it will be great!

Winter Vacation

Well I am finally able to write an update about our trip. We Are now in Orlando Fl at my sisters house. Last week we spent our time in a condo in Cocoa Beach. It was so great to look out the back sliding doors and hear the ocean. The kids enjoyed playing on the beach and swimming in the warm heated pool at the resort. They were also able to go to a free wildlife show . The kids loved holding a live alligator , spiders, snakes, and a black scorpion. Toward the end of the week the temperature dropped to around 50 degrees so we spent our time inside and built a gingerbread house and played with their new Christmas toys . The leapster 2 and a DS has been a lifesaver on this trip , it keeps the kids entertained for hours.. We arrived in Orlando on Saturday night and the temperatures have not warmed up much here.. Still hanging around the 50-60 degree mark.. Though just having the sun out has been great. I recently joined a site called Care4Hire It is a babysitting site that the Dr. Phil show supports. It has been awesome in finding babysitters for me. You can do background checks and check references and email back and forth with the sitter before making a decision to hire her. I found one that lives 2 miles from my sisters house in Flordia and one that lives next to me back in Ohio. So since we have had a siter here Owen and I have been able to go out a few times. Yesterday we took the kids to downtown Disney . It is free and the kids could still see the disney characters. Sage was in such awe of the princess stuff she never spoke a word and just started hugging everything.. I really dont know where she gets her dramatics from... The boys in the meantime were enjoying a jedi sword fight with the star wars paraphernalia ... Today the sitter should be here and amanda and I are off to have a girls day since the boys are on a golf outing.. I will update more later..

My baby

Torin loves to be silly. He pouts, he smiles, he stands on his head, he dances, he jumps and dives off of couches, and he loves. My baby may be little but he is fearless and loves like none other. I can not believe my baby will be 4 years old in a few weeks. His kisses, snuggles and his silly antics to get a laugh out of you are those little moments that make me smile....

Torin

art photography

Fall pictures

My new chair

I can't explain the feeling I got when I saw you sitting by your lonesome on the side of the road.... It was love at first site!! ... Ohhhh the possibilities...... Yes. I know you have a few flaws but who doesn't in this crazy world.... It just adds to the beauty of your character!!! I knew we would be forever connected as I rescued you from destruction... Through your rough weathered marks I know life has been a journey. But our days together will only bring more joy and happiness ....

Ohhhhh how I love my new green chair!!!

Sample Pictures

So I recently purchased a computer plug-in called BlogStomp to help sharpen and put pictures on my blog . So the next few blogs will probably be some experiments I am trying on some photos.. So if you could just bear with me as I work through a few glitches , I will soon have the blog up and running again with daily entries (wishful thinking) ..ok maybe weekly entries ...... soon.. very soon...

Nephew and Niece

Illinois sunset

 

A day at the St.Louis Arch

Sunday since my brother-in-law and sister have never been up in the arch , we decided to head downtown for the day. It was an overcast day so we were not sure if we would be able to see much. Once we boarded the little capsules and headed to the top , the view was great .

What better way to show our excitement to being together and enjoying all the fun that the day has to offer..... but to do some jumping pictures......

Amanda and baby Swift were so excited about being at the arch they couldn't help but to participate in the jumping also..





After the arch Owen and I had to drive Amanda and Donny back to the airport. I have officially marked this weekend as one of the best road trips Owen and I have taken. There were so many funny moments and memories made. New Experiences.. such as the groovy time we had at the Blues and Jazz Club Sat. night. the beautiful wedding we attended and crazy animals we encountered(or Donny encountered) Though it was overcast and a little rainy at the Arch it ended up being a great day , full of laughs and fun memories... this was a great weekend to remember !

Friends

This last weekend Owen and I flew to St.Louis for the weekend for my cousin's wedding. We had an awesome time. On Thursday we rented a car and drove the 3 hours to go visit one of my bestest friends in Peoria IL. We got there around 9:00p and had to leave around 11:00a the next morning but I would have drove that trip a hundred times to see her. Everything just seems right in the world when we're together. It's like we were never apart...she understands my quirkiness, my crazy organizational skills( or nonexistent), my spontaneous life decisions, last minute adventures , and also shares a love of art and books...what more could you ask for in a friend :)...Her husband is the new youth pastor at a church in Peoria . So while the boys left to go hang out on the rooftop of the youth building and talk boy talk , us girls hung out at home and chatted girl talk...

Here are some pictures of the boys. Jagger was livin it up for the camera..
Here are the twins Slade and Cash... They too were lovin the camera . I didn't have any problem when I asked them to smile for the camera .. well at least look at the camera.
So after a very quick but amazing visit we headed back to Missouri to visit with our family.