I LOVE HIM...

I was sitting on the couch with Rich the other night and I told him that I love him like I did when I was 16...obviously more than I did when I was 16, but LIKE I did then. What I meant was that I can't seem to get enough of my husband these days (G-rated thoughts only!!). I miss him when he goes to work. I get so excited when I know he is on his way home. I love that he still makes my heart skip a beat! I love holding his hand in public. I love snuggling up next to him on the couch. I love when he puts his arm around me. I love the look he gives me from across the room that makes my heart melt. I love when I am doing the dishes and he walks up behind me and puts his arms around me and kisses me. I love the quiet time we have together after the kids go to bed. I love watching him hold our kids. I love watching him give our kids hugs and kisses! I love watching him wrestle around on the floor with our kids. I love the way he holds my face in his hands as he kisses me. I love the random emails during the day just telling me that he loves me. I love the way he sweeps and mops a floor. I love that he knows everything about electronics. I love the back rubs every night. I love the patience and forgiveness that he gives me. I love that he inspires me to be better than I really am. I love watching him with our kids. I love the way he loves our kids. I love watching his face light up when the kids charge at him every night when he gets home. I love that he goes to church with us every Sunday. I love that he fulfills his calling. I love that he was able to give our kids blessings for school. I love that he has gone back to school and has worked so hard. I love that he only has 1 more year left! haha I love that he works SO HARD for our family. I love that he will allow me space and time to do the things I like to do as well. I love watching him watch the Steelers play. I love the excitement in his eyes and his screams. I love that he thinks he has to wear his jersey, sit in his chair and hold his football a certain way or they won't win. I love that he has converted our whole family and a lot of our friends to Steeler heaven. I love that he can say "I'm sorry". I love that he can shed a tear in front of me and show his emotions. I love that he loves his parents and brothers and sisters so much. I love that he would do anything for anyone. I love that he would protect his family at any cost. I love that he puts up with his little car so that I can drive the van. I love that he puts up with my sarcasm and throws it right back at me. I love that he laughs at my jokes even though they aren't always funny. I love that he tells me I'm beautiful. I love that he likes to hear me play the piano. I love going on dates with him. I love that his is the last face I see when I go to sleep every night. I love when I have fallen asleep and I wake up to him kissing my cheek soflty as he whispers that he loves me before he goes to sleep. I love seeing the excitement in his eyes as he reaches new milestones on his new adventure - I am so proud of him. I love that he likes my cooking. I love his cooking too, especially his roast he makes...mmmmmm. I love to watch him "people watch" - he's so funny. I love his sense of humor. I love to watch him laugh so hard that he cries. I love that he still tries to surprise me. I love that he tries so hard to make us happy. I love that HE is the father of my children. I love that he made me a MOM!! Most of all- I LOVE that after 16 years of marriage and everything we've been through that he still loves me...THANK YOU RICH - I LOVE YOU!!

Katelyn's Birthday Cake!

Here is the birthday girl with her "Princess Castle" cake! She loved it...yea!! It took a LONG time to make this one. There are over 300 flowers on this cake. I actually got blisters on my fingers making this cake. BUT-she loved it and that is all that matters!! I love making cakes for my family!! Happy Birthday Princess Katelyn!

Another "First"...

The score was 21-17. Christopher's football team was down by 4. There were 4 seconds left on the clock. The quarterback dopped back and looked for an open man, threw the ball and the crowd went crazy! Christopher was running as fast as he could, turned and looked to catch the ball...beautiful catch! He continued running with the defensive backs right on top of him. They lunged and tackled him as he threw himself into the endzone. TOUCHDOWN!!!! Christopher just scored the game-winning points! Unfortunately, as he got up, he was holding his arm. Christopher had broken his arm. The crowd was absolutely quiet, but then Christopher waved as if to say, "I'm ok!" The crowd went crazy chanting Christopher's name.
That sounded great didn't it? If only that had really happened. The truth is.... he was playing football (catch) out front with his best friend (our next-door neighbor), Josh, and he tripped over the curb while trying to catch a pass. I guess Christopher thought that his Steeler's Jersey gave him SUPERPOWERS...haha!! WRONG!! Needless to say, we got to spend the evening in the ER last night! Luckily, we weren't there too long. They put him in a splint and we have to go see the orthopaedic doctor on Monday. What really stinks is that football tryouts were this last week and practice starts on Monday. I don't know that Christopher will be playing this year now. I guess we will see. I know....you are all so jealous of Christopher! haha
Christopher, when I said in the last post that I love "firsts", I didn't mean that you needed to get in on the action too! I can do without these kind of "firsts"!! haha Seriously, love you bud and I'm sorry this happened to you!! Hopefully, you can still play at some point. Love you!!

Tayler's First Steps 8.14.08

Our baby girl is growing up way too fast...she took her first steps last night. We were all in the family room getting ready to say family prayer. I stood her up and she saw Brittaney's cell phone. I guess she decided that she really wanted it. She started walking over to Brittaney. She took up to four steps at a time. It was fun to watch the kid's reactions. They were so proud of her. She, of course, started clapping for herself too. She loves to clap! I love these "first" moments. We are so blessed to have this little angel in our family! She is truly a blessing from our Father in Heaven.
WE LOVE YOU TAYLER!!

FINALLY...

FINALLY...I got my Hines Ward jersey!! Rich SURPRISED me. I told Rich it can be an early birthday present for me, since getting a jersey in the middle of November is no fun...since the regular season is almost over. However, we all know that I will be wearing this jersey in February too!! Thanks Rich...I LOVE YOU TONS!!!!

Katelyn's First Day of Kindergarten!

Yesterday was the big day! She was so excited! She gets to ride the bus with Brenden and they sat together, so I'm sure that helped! Daddy went in to work late so he could see her get on the bus too...what a GREAT Daddy!! I must admit my heart ached as I watched the bus drive off...my little girl is now in Kindergarten. She is a very young kindergartener here, but she is more than ready. She is a little smarty pants like her big brothers and sisters. Her teacher was very impressed with her writing abilities. She had a wonderful day and said that she made A LOT of friends. Her teacher sent home a picture of the class, which is nice to put a face with a name! Her teacher seems FANTASTIC!! I think she is going to have a great year! We'll keep you posted on all of her new, fun, and exciting adventures (as well as the other kids too)!!

Happy Birthday Katelyn!

After the kids went to school, I asked Katelyn what she wanted to do. She wanted to go to the Children's Museum. So, we got ready and headed down there. Here are some pictures from our day. We had A LOT of fun!! Happy Birthday Katelyn! I LOVE YOU!!

First Day of School!

Well, here we go again...another year of school! Today was the first day for the 4 older kids. Katelyn first day of Kindergarten will be tomorrow. She is excited but is glad that she got to stay home today because today is also her birthday! She turns 5 years old today! We took the annual "before school" pictures so here they are:

Here is Brittaney. She is 15 years old and she is a Sophomore this year. She is very excited to get her driver's permit...aaahhhh! She attends early morning seminary at 6 am every morning that there is school! She has some great musical opportunities at school this year. The conductor asked if she would give up her study hall and play the piano for one of the other choirs. Also, she auditioned last year and made the top Show Choir and Chamber Orchestra (which is the Junior/Senior orchestra). She plays the violin beautifully too! She is one talented young lady!! She is enrolled in all Junior honor classes and is taking French 3 as well! Did I mention that she is a little "smarty pants" too? She has a lot on her plate, so she will keep us very busy this year!! Great job Brittaney!!
Christopher is in 7th grade this year. He is in all 7th grade excel classes - which means he uses 8th grade books, but gets to stay with kids his own age. he is a little "smarty pants" as well. He plays the trumpet in the school band as is doing very good. last year washis first year playing, but you wouldn't know it. My kids are all pretty musical...I think they got that from Rich...haha! He is also an AWESOME soccer player, but has decided to try out for the football team this fall. I only let the kids do one thing at a time so I guess soccer will have to wait for the spring. I know some coaches that are going to be very dissapointed. They really like having him on their team. He is usually the top scorer for his team. However, I am really proud of Christopher for trying something new! Besides, he has to get really good so he can grow up and try out for the STEELERS...right?! Great job Christopher!
Kehli is in the 3rd grade stretch program - they do 4th grade work, but stay with kids their own age...another litle "smarty pants". She wasn't quite as excited this year as she has been in the past, but she loves school. I really like the school she attends. She loves to read, especially Harry Potter books. She told us that she wants to learn how to play tennis, so we are looking into that for her. She has played soccer the last few years too, so we will put that on hold and let her try tennis. I think she will LOVE it! She seems like a "tennis player" to me! She is also getting excited for her birthday next month when she will turn 9. Great job Kehli!!Brenden is in the first grade this year. Last year for kindergarten he went all day every other day and every other Friday. He did Monday, Wednesday, and every other Friday. That is the schedule Katelyn will do this year too. Anyway, he wasn't too excited that he had to go to school all day every day this year, but he is excited that he gets to play on the playground there every day. We go over to that playground a lot during the summer. Brenden is our little gymnast. He REALLY is very good. We are also looking into gymnastics classes for him. This little boy can flip, and do tricks that I have never seen another little boy his age do. He loves to walk all over on his hands. When we went to his school for the open house, they did popsicles out on the playground. He starting walking on his hands and the little kids on the jungle gym were like "WOW...that is so cool!" Brenden thought that was awesome! Great job Brenden!
Well, there you have it! I will post about how their day went and about Katelyns first day tomorrow! I'm not quite sure what I am going to do with myself only having Tayler at home with me. I only babysit on Fridays now, and I haven't ever had just one kid home with me except for when Brittaney was little. I am rather excited at the prospect of really redoing our home. Going through every nook and cranny, every cabinet and drawer and even the attic!! YEA!! Brittaney laughs when I say that because she said I should take some time to have some fun. I told her, I will have fun doing this. It will make things so much nicer and more organized around here and then I can have more fun!! I have been having a lot of fun lately getting rid of things. I want to redo the kids bedrooms eventually too! Oh - my list of things to do is so long!
Anyway, I am so sad to see summer be gone already! I really love having my kids home with me and we had a fabulous summer. It was full of camps and a fabulous vacation to Idaho and Colorado. I will post about those later. I should get going so Katelyn and I can go have a fun day together for her birthday. Happy Birthday Katelyn!! Love you all!