Bye Bye Training Wheels

Abby learned how to ride her bike without her training wheels this last weekend. It was incredibly easy for her, and it proves that she was ready long ago. She also has had a huge growth spurt over these last couple months, and that's why her bike looks so little!! Before she left for home Granny went out and bought her a new bike, and Abby loves it. The look on Abby's sweet face while she is pedaling around the cul-de-sac is priceless.. she's so very proud of herself!! Way to go Abby!!!

Our 24 Hour Date

While my family was in town, Ben and I were treated with a whole day off!!! Granny, Grandpa and Aunt Jessica Dean took care of the kids and we ran outta the house as fast as we could!

Ben surprised me with this 24 hour date, and it was a blast. It was so sweet how much thought and effort he put into it. He melts me.

In the glove box of the car were 5 separate envelopes each with the address of our next destination. First stop was a place called Dave & Buster's. Basically a huge game warehouse and tons of fun. I schooled Ben at air hockey like always!! (it's our thing, he is always trying to beat me at air hockey, he did win once, but the third time we played I beat him 7-0!!!) Ben managed to get $20 of free game play and here's the loot we got!

After Dave and Buster's we headed Discovery Green. It's an outdoor park in downtown Houston. I was feeling a little sick before we left Dave and Buster's because we played a shooting game that moves around a lot (I am weird and get sick with that sort of stuff) so Ben was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to do what he had planned at Discovery Green. All was well after some much needed fresh air, thank goodness because went we drove up to Discovery Green I saw this!!

It's not a full blown hot air balloon, but it is like a mini-version. It's helium filled and on a cord, and goes up 350 feet. Pretty cool. We've both never experienced anything like it, so we were pretty excited. After waiting an hour and a half we got our 10 minute turn and it was pretty cool, seeing how Houston is flat you can see a lot when you are 350 feet in the air. We both enjoyed it.

After the balloon we headed to the Hotel. Which was beautiful and fabulous. We attempted a nap, but just cuddled and watch some uninterrupted tube. (no picture for that)

Then it was off to dinner. Ben choose a fancy-spancy restaurant, think Top Chef type of food. We gorged ourselves to oblivion. DIVINE!!!

Then back to the Hotel for some much needed R & R. That lasted until about 2:30am when I started throwing up. Yep... not so much fun. Why can't I just get one night of peaceful sleep??? Such is life.

It was so wonderful to have a whole day with my Sugar. He is everything to me, and I wish that I could be with him more. I kinda can't get enough of the guy!!

Thank you Love for all your hard work and effort, it was fabulous.

*I know what you are thinking.. lots of feeling nauseous and throwing up... and NO I am not pregnant!!

Feeling Nostalgic

It's raining here in Houston. It's drizzly. It's pretty to look at. It reminds me of Seattle.

Not much going on at the Wischmeier home.

Finn is cutting his two bottom teeth. He'll be cute with some teeth, though I don't think he could ever get any cuter.

Mac is two, and somewhat miserable with life. He doesn't get enough sleep, and that makes for some hard days. He is also talking like crazy. He makes us laugh basically all day long... when he's not throwing a fit.

Abby is getting tall and really growing up fast. My heart is breaking as she is my only girl. She'll be five this coming year, and I just don't know how that happened. She loves her preschool teacher and she is starting to learn how to read.

Mom and Dad are planning an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party. We can't wait. Good times are to be had. Ben got to rake the lawn the other day and that made him feel more manly... so that's good. Mom got to take a shower three days in a row, so that's really good!

We painted our kitchen a divine light blue. It's fabulous and we love it. I found a cake stand that I am in love with. It's perfection. (a million thanks to Tessa my cousin for posting it on her blog)

A white December

It snowed in Houston. Like actual big white fluffy snowflakes. It was nice. The kids LOVED it. Well I take that back, Abby really loved it and Mac loved it until he touched it. He quickly realized snow is cold, very cold for Houston raised children and he bawled his little head off until his hands were properly warmed back to regular temperature. It really helped us all get into the Christmas spirit. And most importantly... it was gone in an hour. That's my kind snow. After our experience in Idaho (almost two years ago) I have vowed never to drive/live in a place that snowed. But I can handle an hour or two of snow every now and then.

We had a Bethlehem themed church Christmas party, and the kids dressed up. So cute. (Abby kind of looks like a polygamist..but it's the thought that counts right?)

Tired Mac- Part 2

Today I laid Mac down in his bed about 10 times for his afternoon nap. He kept on getting up and playing. So I thought it would be a fight until one of us gave in. I finally heard it get quiet in his room, so I went up to see if he was asleep. I opened his door and couldn't find him. Then I saw this...
This diaper box a little funny sitting in the middle of his room... so I lifted up the box and found this....Fast asleep curled up under the Costco diaper box. Gotta love it. Just another sleeping adventure for McConnell. (I am looking forward to many more funny sleeping spots.. to be continued.....)

Dear Ben

Dear Ben,

I would tell you that you are the Love of my life, but we both know we have much more than that. You're the Love of my FOREVER.

Glad I have you. So very glad to be yours.

Tired Mac

Like I said before McConnell has been moved into a big boy bed, and because of that move he has been quite tired these last couple of days. So tired that he fell asleep on the stairs. Now, just so you know it's a running joke in Ben's family that Ben can sleep anywhere, because when Ben was a little guy he had fallen asleep on a donkey, some stairs, and a pile of wood...just to name a few. So it's pretty sweet to see little Mac follow in his Daddy's foot steps.

Speaking of following in Daddy's footsteps, this is what I found after Daddy was supposedly putting Mac down for a nap. Point and Case!!

Fillin' that belly..

Finn tasted his first bite of Rice cereal a few days ago and has since become a huge fan. Nothing else really going on in the Wischmeier home, besides sleepless nights.

Mac decided to climb out of his crib, so he's been put in a big boy bed in a room with Abby. They both basically play all night and drive us crazy. One night I found Mac in the bathroom brushing his teeth at 2:30am. He's lovin' the freedom. Pretty Funny.

Finn is still sleeping horrible..but we are going to fix that next week. I'll let you know how that goes.

I have been able to get a few things done around the house, which is a good change of pace!! We spray painted our hideous dull brown filing cabinet, and I redid an old chair we found on the sidewalk waiting for the garbage pick up!!

The fabric cover job is horrible but I only had one hand and two minutes.. so I do what I can.

**** Paint color- The spray paint that I used was from Home Depot. They didn't have much of a selection, and I can't remember the brand name, but I do remember the color was called Mediterranean something ( just look for a blue lid then check the bottom for color name). I would recommend going to wal-mart for spray paint, they have about 5 times more color selection.

Halloween Happenings

Halloween wasn't hyped up too much this year. I put up zero decorations, and put about zero effort into getting the kids excited about trick or treating or anything of the sort. We didn't even go to a pumpkin patch, or even buy the kids a pumpkin until the day of Halloween. Apparently Houston had experienced a pumpkin shortage, so we ended up with two pretty white pumpkins and called it good. We attended our ward trunk or treat and that was good fun for the kids. Then after that we got to do some trick or treating around the neighborhoor and then called it a night. Abby loved to stay up late to help hand out the candy (and the candy was all the candy her and Mac just got from the church party, she graciously agreed to only get 10 pieces of candy and then give up the rest of her candy in return for a $5 shopping spree in the toy section of her store of choice.)

We actually got a family picture taken. It's quite cute. Dad dressed up as a lumber-jack, Mom was a witch, Abby was a pirate, Mac was buzz-lightyear, and Finn was a chicken.

Aren't we cute????

Life is good for the Houston Wischmeiers. Life has been very good to us indeed.

This is how we roll..

On Saturday mornings Ben wakes up with the kids and then makes a divine morning breakfast. This particular breakfast was the most fun by far.There's nothing quite like crepes stuffed with marshmallows, nutella, peanut butter, bananas and topped off with some chocolate syrup and whipped cream.
So Mac how do you feel about this yummy breakfast????
Warning: After serving your children buckets of sugar for breakfast, they will be climbing walls for the next several hours.

You're silly look

I love this look.

It's the Mama you're silly look.

Girls

Abby and I were invited to a girls night out. It was quite cute. I told Abby all about it while reading to her at night, so the next day when she woke up she told her Daddy "You know Dad... tonight is a girl party only.. no boys allowed." She was excited the whole day. We told Dad that we were going to have some serious girl fun, like paint our nails and make bracelets. To which Daddy replied, "Oh yeah well me and the boys are just going to sit around farting and scratching ourselves." Pretty Funny. Abby got a kick out of that.

The party was fun. Abby enjoyed making her bracelet, and getting her nails painted. I think her favorite part was when a boy sneaked into the party and then chased all the girls around with a bat!! I can still hear her screaming. She loved it.

It was fun to spend time with my sweet Abby. I need to do it more often. I Love you Boog.

Sporty Brewster and Buzz-Mac Lightyear

My kids have awesome personalities.

Here's Sporty Brewster (That's a combo between sporty spice and Punky Brewster.) This is how she dresses herself everyday.

Here is Buzz-Mac Lightyear. He likes to wear his Buzz wings all day long... sans clothing!! While running full-speed yelling out "to beyond."

Handy Mac

This is an oldie but goodie. Mac was helping his Dad and Grandpa fix our fence after the Hurricane hit last year.

It warms my heart to know that I have Finn to be this age once too... Where did the time go???

3 months for the third

Finn is three months today. He is sitting in his Bumbo, cooing more and more, and giving us an occasional giggle. He is also getting much less demanding, and learning to accept his new home. He adores his big sis and bro, and always give them a sweet smile. He sometimes even has a conversation with me, and it melts me. And he LOVES his Daddy's voice. I told Ben this has been the longest and fastest three months of my life. I have had days of pure joy and happiness, and have had days that I would just like to never remember again. Through it all, I know that I have been richly blessed to Mother these sweet children, and I kinda like to think that they chose me in their pre-earthly life. I just hope I am living up to what they want and need. I'll keep on trying TO DO MY BEST, while dancing to Shakira to brighten my outlook!!!!

Sweet baby Finn.... Your number three, same with your Mom and Dad, and we all know that we were the best kids our parents had... so let's keep up that tradition. ; )

Surfside Beach

We decided to get out of the house this last weekend and attempt to have some fun. So off to the beach we went. Our good family friends also come, which was fun for all. The kids had a great time. Mac just kept running full speed into the water, and Abby played so well I had forgotten we even brought her!!! Finn on the other hand, was quite cranky, making Mom really cranky!! I decided that I hated being there because it was so hot and miserable for Finn, who really needed a nap, so I told Ben we had to leave after only being there for about 15 minutes!! I am pathetic!! Dawn (my wonderful friend) quickly came to my aid and took Finn and of course he fell asleep in her arms. Whatever Kid!! After he fell asleep we were all finally able to really enjoy the beach. Poor Ben had to chase Mac around just about everywhere, until he started to get tired!

The Grainmaker

Okay try not to be jealous, but we have the ultimate of ultimate grain mills. It's quite fabulous. It is 100% hand made in Stevensville Montana (which is about 15 miles away from Ben's home town.) It's a hand crank type of grain mill, and boy is it a workout to crank out the wheat, rice and beans that we have been grinding. Yep you read right, not only does it grind wheat, it will also grind up just about anything. We have tried oat groats, beans, rice, and wheat, and it works so very fabulously!! We are big fans! It has been so fun learning to grind up different stuff and it's also a great way to get some energy out of the kids. Abby is quiet fond of grinding up the wheat. Check out the website, there they have much better information, as I am horrible with words!! http://www.grainmaker.com/
Ben's Dad sells these, so if you are interested let me know, and I'll connect you with him and then you could have this awesome investment in your home. If you have been waiting to buy a grain mill... this is the one you've been waiting for..it's the Cadillac of grainmills!!!

Little Man Beast turns 2

McConnell had his awesome 2nd birthday a few days ago. It has been a fun two years with the little man. He is really into watching Toy Story, matter of fact it is almost impossible to pry his little eyes off the screen for more than two seconds while he's watching it. He inherited that from his Daddy for sure. So we decided to buy him a super cool buzz lightyear doll. Well little did we know how big it really was, and also how much it weighed!! I am 100% worried that Finn is going to get it thrown at his head, and suffer permanent damages!!!

So Mac opens up the Buzz toy and he's in heaven! He LOVES it! But after about two minutes with Buzz he had come to hate it already. The buttons weren't working on command, and it was hard to maneuver and play with!! He was really frustrated! He was throwing himself all over the floor and hitting Buzz against the ground. It was quite the ordeal. It was actually a perfect two year old tantrum. Pretty Fitting.

So I quickly make the decision that I really love all of my children and I don't want them suffering any brain damage because of blunt trauma to the forehead caused by the ever lovable, but slightly dangerous Buzz.So I got all the kids in the car and said "Kids were going to the Disney store." Off we went to try to find a cotton version of Buzz. And we found it.. and some jammies, and some other random stuff animals. (Man I'm a good Mom) Actually in attempts to keep Mac in the stroller I said get whatever you want and let's go!!!

So Mac now has two Buzz's and we are hoping that the big Buzz will get "lost" sometime soon!!
(j\k)

And oh did I mention the awesome Buzz costume we got Mac too?? It rocks my world.. but Mac isn't as into dressing up as Abby..but maybe one day. We got it on him once, and he melts my heart. He looked so cute in it that I decided I want to start calling him "Buzz"

We LOVE and ADORE McConnell. He melts me with every smile. He is still a total beast and hilarilous, and I couldn't imagine my crazy life without him. Happy Birthday Bubba.