A Lonely Father's Day

Poor Billy is working out of town and had to celebrate Father's Day on his own. We miss him so very much and wish we could have given him lots of kisses and hugs today. But since we couldn't, we created a special card for him.

Just so you know, we really DO have a gift to give you when you get home.

And don't worry, we will keep the candy SUPER safe for you!  :)

The kids also made cards at church for him...

This is the front of Tyler's card.  It says "To Daddy."  I'm not entirely sure how he pulled off the mirror image though!

The picture is of Tyler and Daddy playing "4-wheeler-eeler" game on Play Station together.

Tyler has caught up on his Daddy time by having two long phone conversations with him over the past couple days.

Allison really missed her Daddy today.

She was crying for him after church so I asked if she'd like to call him.

Still crying she says, "Noooo.  I want him to come hoooooome!"

Ryan obviously can't make a card, but he also missed his Daddy a lot today.

I had to teach my class at church, and Billy usually takes care of Ryan during this hour.

Someone else had to help me out with him today and it was really tough for poor Ryan.

Happy Father's Day Daddy!!!

We love and miss you SO much!

Mother's Day Love

Remember these two sweethearts that I promised I was still taking pictures of?

They picked dandelions, wild strawberries, and berries as we played outside the past couple days. As each item was gathered, the collection was given to me as one of my Mother's Day gifts (totally their own idea!).

While picking the strawberries (on Thursday), I was told it was a surprise and that I wasn't supposed to look at it until they were finished. The word "strawberries" slipped from Tyler's mouth at one point and he said, "Oops! Mommy, did you hear that?!" I responded with, "Nope. What did you say buddy?" "Oh. I'm not going to tell you because it was about your surprise and I didn't want you to hear it," he says. SO cute!

Here is the pile I was presented with...

Today, we were discussing Mother's Day again and Allison says (in the most precious voice you can imagine), "We gave you strawberries for Mother's Day." Melted my heart!

Then this afternoon, I was given a pocket full of berries (the kind that come off a bush in our yard). They would pick the berries for a while, come running to me with little handfuls, and then deposit them into my pocket. This happened over and over until my pocket was rather full. "We're giving you two Mother's Day presents," they told me.

Honestly, I wouldn't be the slighest bit disappointed if these were the ONLY gifts I received this Mother's Day. For me, these moments are the ones that make all the tough moments of being a mom fade into the farthest parts of my mind. I feel so blessed to have these three precious little munchkins to call my own!

And I'll treasure my Mother's Day berries FOREVER!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

...from my little leprechauns!

Isn't that the cutest little leprechaun face you've ever seen?!

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Tholkes for the fun St. Patrick's Day box of goodies!

Cupcapes with Grandma

Nope, it's not a typo. Allison calls them cupcapes. :) She had been asking to make them ever since Grandma took a tally of what dessert everyone wanted at Thanksgiving dinner. But, since Grandma was sick on Thanksgiving, she wasn't able to make them with Allison and had to give her a raincheck. I think Allison got the better end of the deal by waiting until Christmas to do them. She got to do a cupcape Christmas tree instead of just regular old cupcapes! Here are some pictures of the process.
(FYI - They made them one night and then decorated them the next.)

The design:

Time to ice the cupcakes.

Step #2 complete!

Time to decorate.

The finished product!

Cleaning...

...June Cleaver style!

The day the package from Grandma and Grandpa Tholkes arrived with Christmas outfits inside, Allison wanted to try hers on right away. After putting it on, she immediately ran upstairs to her room to accesorize! A short while later, I was doing some cleaning and Allison busted out her little vacuum to help. She was vacuuming in style! I just had to snap a couple of shots of my miniature June Cleaver. :)

Perhaps a black and white version would be more fitting....

Halloween

This picture was actually taken at our Trunk-or-Treat. Ryan was only 3 weeks old, but we didn't want to miss it. The only downside to the night was that it was raining out, so it wasn't a true TRUNK-or-Treat. Instead, all the adults set up camp around the hallways of the church building with thier bowls of candy, then the kids went around collecting it in assembly line fashion. Honestly, I'm sure the kids could have cared less. They were only concerned with making sure their pumpkins got filled with candy, and that they did! I actually took other pictures of the candy-collecting madness, but none turned out very well due to packed and cramped hallways and poor lighting.
After doing our first Halloween themed dinner last year, Vanessa and I vowed to get an earlier start on it this year so that Trick-or-Treating could happen before 8:00! We did really well, and I think we were Trick-or-Treating by 6:00! Here are some pictures of our dinner. Everything was the same this year except for the dessert. To save on time, we decided to make these super cute and easy spider web cupcakes instead of the graveyard desserts we did last year.

Trick-or-Treating was quite fun even if it was cold and drizzly out. It took quite a bit of effort to find Tyler's requested costume this year. Unless you're going for TMNT, turtle costumes are VERY hard to come by. I had to search ebay, and got outbit on quite a few others before finally finding this one with a "buy it now" option. He was one happy little boy the day it arrived!

Allison is still obsessed with Disney Princesses (especially Cinderella), and I really thought I wouldn't be able to convince her to be anything else. However, when I dug out our box of costumes, Allison was in awe over this butterfly. I think it helped that it is her most favorite color! She was so fun to watch this year. She showed a little reservation when she went up to the first house. She said "it's spooky" and then stayed back to watch all the other kids go to the door to collect their treats. When she saw they made it back in one piece, she decided to go for it. The third picture shows her reaction after getting her very first treat at that house. She was so proud of herself and exclaimed, "I trick-uh-treating!" The rest of the night she kept saying "I LOVE Trick-uh-Treating!"

My little Tiger had to go Trick-or Treating too of course! He was bundled quite nicely, and stayed very warm next to Mommy. (He was also covered with a blanket the whole time except to take the picture!)

I added this next picture for a couple of reasons. First of all, it's really the only picture that I got that shows what the back of Tyler's costume looks like. Second, it was quite comical to watch the kids racing up the walkway to this house until they turned the corner and were faced by the spooky guy standing at the top of the steps. They stopped dead in their tracks and after a few moments, proceded with extreme caution. That's why Allison can't even be seen in this shot. She was the most cautious of them all!

The last couple houses we went too ended the night with a bang. The kids got hooked up with glow in the dark bracelets AND necklaces! Here they are showing them off.

It was a great ending to a fun night!

*Keep scrolling for yet another chatch-up post!*

How to Carve a Pumpkin

**Pumpkin carving directions courtesy of Tyler and Allison.**

First you have to cut the top part off.

Next you have to "scarf" (Allison's word for scrape) inside with the "Scoopiger" (Tyler's word for the scooper).

And take the seeds out.

And scarf some more!

Then you have to check your scooping and scarfing progress.

After the pumpkin is all cleaned out, you tape the pattern on the pumpkin and poke holes to make the outline.

Then it's time to carve it!

Remember to be careful with the knife.

And TA-DA....

A Belated Father's Day

We DID celebrate Father's Day on the actual date, I just haven't gotten around to doing a post to acknowledge all the fathers in our lives. But I didn't want them to go un-noticed, so I figured this is better late than never.

Both my Grandpa and Pawpaw are no longer with us, but I wanted to express appreciation for the wonderful men that they were. They both valued their jobs and worked hard throughout their lives to support their families. I am grateful for their endurance and persistance in doing this, especially when times were hard. They both had very cheerful spirits (even though I didn't get to know my Grandpa very well, I've been told this about him), and shared many laughs and enjoyable moments with their families. They were both very special men!

My own father also deserves recognition for being a great example in my life. Although he is not a member of the church, he has always been supportive of our beliefs and encouraged us to attend church each and every Sunday. He is a great example of someone who serves others...especially those who don't always seem deserving or willing to help themselves. This has shown me the true meaning of having unconditional love toward our fellow man. My father has always put family before anything else. He only wanted to do activities that would involve the whole family. No part of the house was ever off limits from playing - even if we were being very noisy in the same room where he was trying to watch a program on T.V. I am grateful that he never sheltered me from the world. This made it easier for me to make choices about the direction I wanted my life to take. I was easily able to say no to things in life that might have otherwise been a great temptation. He is a man of great influence in the lives of many! I love you Daddy!

Then of course, there is the father of my own children. Billy is such a great Daddy who loves his children very much. He supports and encourages them to be the very best that they can. He is also a great example of someone who works hard to support his family and wants to make sure that they have all the things they stand in need of. I am thankful to him for all his hard work and for supporting me in staying home to nurture and care for our children. Billy is very helpful, generous, and always thinks of others before himself. These are traits that I want my children to possess, and I'm happy that they have him as an example to learn them from. Much like my own father, he only wants to do activities that can involve the whole family. He is such an important part of our lives and we are thankful for him! We love you!

On Father's Day, Billy took a nap (he had been sick and needed the rest because he hadn't even taken any time off work) while Tyler and Allison helped me prepare lasagna, which is one of Billy's most favorite dinners.
Once dinner was complete, we woke Billy up to give him his Father's Day gifts we had prepared...

Reading the Father's Day awards that Tyler and Allison made for him at church.

Receiving hugs after opening his Father's day book. (This is something I started when Tyler was just a baby for Billy's first Father's Day. This is what he gets to look forward to each year from here on out! :)

Showing off the hard work they did to create the special messages inside the book.

All the Father's Day gifts!

We love you Daddy!

Love on Mother's Day

Just a week late this time...I'm getting better!

Billy and the kids did a great job making me feel special this Mother's Day. It all started at church where Tyler got to go up and sing with the Primary kids again. I just love this new perk of having a Sunbeam aged child! They sang two songs about mothers, and it was simply precious!

After church, we came home and Billy had a few surprises up his sleeve. After having Tyler and Allison write their names (well, scribbles for Allison) in a special Mother's Day card, he sent them to me holding the cards, flowers, and some yummy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Granola Bars (a recent pregnancy craving). I really enjoyed the looks of joy on their faces as they ran up to me with all the sweet gifts as they yelled, "Happy Mother's Day" and gave me BIG hugs! We took a few minutes to look at the cards (one from Billy too) and take some pictures.

(Vanessa gets credit for this shot.)

After that, my sister and her family arrived. Billy had asked Jon to get over to our house because he had another surprise for the two mothers. After waiting several minutes for Billy and Jon to prepare the surprise, we were presented with the MOST delicious dessert in the world. If you haven't had the Chocolate Chip Paradise Pie from Chilie's, you SHOULD! It is delicious! Knowing this is one of my absolute favorite desserts (next to cheesecake), Billy had stopped by there on Saturday night to get them, and saved them in our downstairs refrigerator to keep it a surprise from me. It was very thoughtful and a wonderful surprise! (And just for the record, we were nice enough to share with our sweet kids and wonderful husbands.) I guess holidays are a good enough excuse to eat your dessert before dinner!

Speaking of dinner, Vanessa and I didn't even have to cook that evening! Jon is a great cook, and he offered to make dinner for everyone. It was delicious, especially since I didn't have to make it! Doesn't it always taste better when someone else does all the work?! Thanks so much Jon!

A special thanks goes to Billy for making this such a happy Mother's Day for me! I love you!

Happy Mother's Day!

To all my friends who are mothers or will one day be mothers....
Thanks for showing me all the many angels of and approaches to motherhood, and for helping me to realize that there isn't just one right way to teach and raise our chilren. I appreciate being able to learn from each of you!

To my many aunts and cousins who are mothers....
Thanks for being wonderful examples of great mothers throughout my life. There hasn't been a time in my life where I wasn't able to witness someone being a mother. All of your examples have helped me shape my own life and discover the type of mother I wanted to be.

To my Granny and Grandma....
Thanks for being there to love and nurture me through the years. Thanks for all the hugs and words of encouragement, and for spoiling me the way grandmothers do best! Thanks for all the fun times I was able to spend with you. Thanks for teaching me about things from days that are past. I have enjoyed being able to grow up so close to you and all the times we were able to be together! I love you!

To all the wonderful mothers in Billy's family....
Thanks for accepting me into your family 7 years ago! Thanks for treating me like one of your own, and for all the love and support you have offered to me. I am so grateful to have married into such a loving family that truly wants the best for me. A special thanks to Lynette and Grandma Farish for the love and time you invested into raising Billy to be the loving and caring husband and father he is today!

To my beautiful sister, Vanessa....
Thanks for being one of the many constants in my life. No matter what we went through, you were always there. Thanks for being an example and teaching me how to be more giving and less "bossy" throughout life. These are things that have helped me to be a better mother to my own children. I enjoy going through the journey of motherhood with you and being able to share the trials, joys, and many other emotions that go along with it! I love you!

To my own caring, brilliant, and amazing mother....
There simply aren't enough words to express the amount of appreciation and gratitude that I feel for the wonderful job you did raising me. Thanks for all the sacrifice, devotion, and time you invested (and continue to invest) each and every day of my life. Thanks for raising me in the gospel and making the effort to get 3 children to church each and every Sunday on your own. Thanks for demonstrating such an amazing amount of strength and faith when Courtney passed away. Now that I am a mother, I know the pain and anguish that you must have experienced, yet you never let that get in the way of pressing forward to continue to be the best mother you could be for me. Thanks for your kind example and nurturing spirit. You always knew when I needed a hug or someone to talk to. Thanks for teaching me to love and be accepting of everyone and how to serve my fellow man. Thanks for the countless number of hours you have spent helping me to be successful in school and throughout life, and for the invaluable lessons you taught me in the process. Thanks for all the words of encouragement and praise during the tough and stressful times in my life. Thanks for believing in me. Thanks for loving me. Thanks for being my best friend. And most of all, thanks for being my mother! I love you!

And to my little munchkins....
Thanks for choosing me to be your mother! I am so grateful to have this opportnuity from Heavenly Father to love, nurture, and raise you. You mean more to me than anything in life, and I strive each day to be the best mother I can to you. Thanks for being so forgiving of me when I make mistakes. Thanks for brightening each of my days with your beautiful smiles, warm spirits, and loving hugs and kisses! I love you both so much!

I hope all of you have a fun and relaxing weekend!

Happy Mother's Day!!!