This blog has moved!

I have decided to merge my two different blogs into one. This should make my life easier, but I am sorry for the inconvenience it may cause you. From now on you will find all our updates (new and old) at:

www.debsfreckles.blogspot.com

See ya there!

Easter (probably my favorite next to Christmas)

...and that is probably because of what we celebrate. That Christ is alive forever and because of that we will be too. This makes me very happy because whenever I even think about being separated from those I love most, it almost hurts. But because of Him it is not permanent. I know I will see them again. Nothing could make me happier. So even though I get excited over baskets and clothing, that is what makes me love this holiday so much.

This year the Easter bunny came and brought very small but very sweet baskets (they were my grandmothers) . Each kid got a couple eggs filled with jelly beans and a couple peanut butter eggs.

And the Easter bunny left a map of our yard showing the kids where he left a couple other goodies for them.

William is way into maps right now, so he loved this. Gracie just loved the jelly beans.

William also wanted to wear suspenders which I was delighted to hear.

Joseph didn't get any jelly beans, just empty eggs. And I took care of his peanut butter eggs for him.

Gracie got My Fair Lady, which may be to old for her, but I think she will like the songs for sure.

She took one look at it and said, "love it!"

William got Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Now off to find a few more goodies.

They each got a journal and a monogram stamp. Thank you Michaels dollar bins.

And Joseph finally got the 50 cent toy I found at the thrift store months back.

And he likes it.

And just so you know, it takes a lot of will power for me to not just sit here and gush about this cute, chubby, baby, boy. I mean, just look at him!

Next to come are the Huston/Christensen gatherings. And LOTS of pictures.

It's a miracle

Doug and Rachel brought their wii over and it was a lot of fun. We just might have to get a wii even though Russ and I have sworn to never have a gaming system (Russ has a hard time with self control when they are around and I believe they can be huge time wasters) But Russ played "Just Dance" and he never dances. He said it is not really dancing, but it looked like dancing to me. 

I loved watching Gracie do it. It was a little tough for her, but she had fun.

Rachel helped me work on some marquee lights for the fundraising dinner we were having that night at the church. Rachel is really awesome like that, she will always help me with what I am working on.

Here are some girls trying to hang the letters. I am so sad I didn't take anymore pictures of the decorations. It was a vaudeville theater and it looked so awesome! We had a huge turn out and I spent the majority of the night in the kitchen.

It was crazy busy in there. We made a lot of pasta that day. I felt like Strega Nona (a favorite childhood book). We were all running around like crazy trying to get everything done.

The kids had a great time in the nursery. It was a very fun and tiring evening.

Trixie baby

He is trixie because

 a. he can put his toes in his mouth and

b. he slept through the night 3 nights in a row and then went back to waking up 3 to 4 times a night and now he is getting up at 5:30!

It is a good thing he is so stinkin' cute!

Butterball.

field trip!

William had his first ever field trip this last Thursday. His class was going to the zoo so Gracie and I came along too. Connie gave the kids some water bottles with straps last year. Best.idea.ever. so I didn't have to carry their water bottles.

William with some of his buddies from school. They were our group.

We got to ride the train.

William's favorite, the tiger.

They all have a great time petting the goats.

Gracie literally brushed every single one and even shook this lucky goats hand.

I really like the monkey house. I just really like monkeys. 

The new orangutan house was pretty cool and the kids spent a lot of time giggling at the baby. He was pretty dang cute and entertaining. He stayed under the sheet most the time and would pop out with a smile every once in awhile, but he was back under the sheet to quick for me to get a picture.

Then is was time to meet back up with everyone and go home.

I was so ready to go home by then. When I got back to my little butterball I found out that he had not been sleeping well for grandma and that my mom had cleaned and sewed for me helping me out sooooo much. I think I am ready for New Beginnings.

I am glad I was able to experience this with William while he still wants me to.

A baby in a basket

that's it...

...just a cute baby in a basket...

nothing more to write...

...except, it makes me think of Easter. Easter is coming up. Oh, I wish I had more time to plan for Easter. Oh well. My life is full and I am grateful.

She dreams of cupcakes

Gracie asked me three days in a row if I knew how to make cupcakes and if we could make cup cakes. At first I was almost offended. Of course I know how to make cup cakes!

Then I realized, I never bake. I have only ever made cakes on their birthdays and for the hero party. I just don't have the desire to do that and I don't want to start cause then I will just be over weight and I don't want that. But since I had a cake mix I decided to say, yes.

So we threw on our old matching aprons and got to work.

While making cupcakes Gracie likes to look at herself in the bowl...

...has to cover her ears when the mixer is on (even though it is not loud)...

...and loves to lick the spatula.

Some friends stopped by and Gracie was so happy to have Emily there with her.

They did such a good job frosting the cupcakes.

They did a good job eating them too.

Yay for cupcakes! Here is Gracie's happy cupcake dance to celebrate the occasion.

I am not gonna lie, it made me feel like a good mama.

Last night was hard

Russ put Joesph to bed and like usual when Russ put him to bed he ended crying. I even went in to try and rock him a couple of times but when he got put down he would cry. He finally went to sleep after a few hours of that. Then in the night we he woke to eat for the second time, he would not go back to sleep. I was so tired so I woke Russ to see if he would try and rock him to sleep. He got up and put his pacifier in his mouth and then got back in bed. Even though he was still crying. I was pretty livid. 

Russ told me he was find and just needed to cry himself to sleep. Which is easy for him to say cause HE.CAN.SLEEP.THROUGH.IT!?

I got up to sew some tu-tu's for Gracie's dance class until he finally went to sleep. When I went to bed he woke again and this time I realized it was time for him to eat again, so I got him a bottle, fed him, wrapped him, and laid him down. He went to sleep. And so did I.

Needless to say I slept in and was running a little late getting William's lunch made. Then William started reading Joesph a story. Without me asking. And it helped Joseph stay happy.

It made me feel a lot better to have my little helper William. Being a mom is hard sometimes. Like last night. All I want to do is go to sleep for crying out loud! 

Then I wake and see these pictures of lovely Sunday morning.

My heart swells and I repent.

Cause I love these guys. I love being their mama.

More than anything.

They are worth the nights of lost sleep. And so much more.