Sibling Fun

I talk about the relationship between Gracie and Nolan a lot but it is ever changing and growing.  I love how much they love to play with each other.  Our time in Cincy has allowed for a lot of outdoor play and eating. We enjoy daily meals on the back porch and the kids can't get enough of the back yard and exploring.

In the morning Gracie loves to have Nolan cuddle and eat cereal with her.  He does not always sit for very long but he loves all the attention he gets from her.

This one is delete-able blurry but I thought Nolan's little face was to cute to delete.

Hello Neighbor

All of my parents neighbors are super nice and friendly.  We have been spending almost our whole days playing outside.  My daughter is not shy at inviting everyone over or inviting herself over to play.  Our one neighbor Andrea has a cat that she let's hangout in the back yard while she is working and the kids love going over and petting scooter.  

On the other side we have a little girl named Dylan that Gracie love to have over.  She is a lot younger but Gracie loves sharing her bike with her and showing her all of her stuffed animal friends.

Here are a couple of pictures of the kids attacking the fence as soon as they see Andrea and Scooter in the back yard, even Carson gets in on the action but he is just hoping Andrea has brought him a treat.

Rest {CincyWeek 1}

During time of transition we stayed with my parents.  The first week all I wanted to do is get my family back to normal with sleep and stress free.  The first day home I slipped going down my parents steep steps while holding Nolan and I knocked Gracie on the way down.  Thankfully I was able to get a hold of Nolan on the way down and keep him from being hurt.  Gracie also ended up with nothing hurt besides a little bump on her knee.  I however have bruises all up and down my side.  My elbow after was so swollen it was literally the size of an egg.  It is still a little swollen but is getting smaller daily.  The back of my leg is purple and swollen.  Running has come to a halt due to the fact it is so painful on my leg.

Besides that moment it has been a blessing to just relax, refresh, and sleep a lot!  We have thankfully gotten to welcome spring with enjoying the out doors to the park and walks.  I have actually spent my first saturday hanging out.  It has been a while since I just sat and watch TV without anything pressing. I am very thankful this week for peace and quiet.

 My Nolan barely liked to touch the grass 

and now I find him playing in the dirt and 

collecting rocks.  He is all boy and will be 

in need of a bath every night!

 Gracie loves this tree!

Crafts in the Mix

In the mix of moving I also made curtains for Sheila's newly updated daycare.  She loves blue and we needed something to go with the tan that turned out a totally different color.  I had left over fabric and I was not sure what to do with it so I made a table runner, new dish clothes, and a apron.

The Baby is Where?!

I have funny conversations all the time with Gracie and half way thru I always wish I could have recorded the moment.  I tried to back track our conversation to get it and you can see that I struggled a little and got a few different answers but still pretty funny!

Brush, Brush

Nolan loves tooth brushes and it does not matter if it is his, he will use it so beware!  Sorry, about the terrible lighting.

Hat Family

Ok so everyone knows that my husband is always wearing a hat.  Lately I have taken to my hat with my packing and having to be semi presentable quickly the hat went on a lot.  The kids want to join in with there hats.  Nolan loves all hats especially the towel wrapped around mommies head, he thinks it to be pretty interesting.

A First!

Before saying good-bye Gracie and I made several cards for teachers and a few friends.  The down side of being creative is my daughter tends to think I can fix and make anything.  Really!  On a recent card she was dead set on the idea of me drawing a cow.  I explained I had no idea how to do so and she explained that I could do it, it is easy mom.  I did what any good parent would do and google.  Thank you Google for teaching me how to draw a cow and to further the notion in my child's head that I can now draw anything. Geesh!

 I was how every pretty proud of myself

On the card to her teachers Gracie signed her name 

for the first time ever. It's not close to perfect or in 

a straight line but I was very proud of her.

Good Bye

Canton has brought so many blessings to our lives and this home has been filled with so much love, joy, and laughter.  We bought this house in 2006 where we stripped wall paper, painted walls, re-did floors, put in carpet, painted cabinets, updated bathrooms, and updated landscapes.  We have housed 2 of the schenk brothers during transitional times.  We struggled with becoming pregnant and then had the joy of bring home our first baby and then our second.  Our children have had many of there first's here including Gracie learning how to ride a bike.  God has blessed us with an amazing church and great friends who have loved, supported, prayed for, and encouraged us.  This is the first church where we have felt lead to be members and to have both of our kids dedicated, for us this church has been home.  But now it is time to say good bye to all the things that we love, all the things we will miss, and all the memories that we made here.  Thank you little house for being the roof over our heads we will miss you and all that you hold dear to our hearts.

the end!

The last room that needed finishing was Gracie's.  I was going to wait to pull down the flowers when she was not their but she was really excited about pulling them off the walls and I was glad to check the room off my list.

 the truck arrived a day early so I was a bit overwhelmed

but once the movers got there I was ready to get this 

whole packing and empting the house off my list.

Our Soy

The beginning of the good bye's started and our hearts are heavy over saying bye to so many we love.  But first there is one relationship or bond that will change.  Sadly they have no idea what this truly means but I think the ichat/skype dates will be pretty frequent just so they can see each other.

Sawyer and Gracie have been apart of each other's worlds as long as they both can remember the other was there.  Yes, they do sometimes fight like brother and sister but that also means they love each other all the more!  These days they don't fight as much they just love playing together!  I got them to let me take a few pictures.  I was not sure if 1 or 5 would come out but these were my favorite and I could not get ride of one.  We love our Soy and we will miss you and Miss Gracie will miss you so so very much!

gracie hugs

they both looked like they were planing something 

so cute and posed so nicely

love these little laughs and giggles

cheese! 

can you hear it?

sawyer hugs

so cute

silly face!

why isn't gracie making a silly face?

and my favorite

frame worthy 

although I think gracie likes the silly face one the best

The only thing I wish I had video taped was there dramatic hello's of running to each  other! But here is a video of the two of them very little.  Just cute to watch.

outtake

Weekly I try and get a picture or a video clip of all of us to send to daddy to say hi and we miss him.  Now I won't be sharing the video's but here are some of our outtakes that don't always make it but I keep because they are just so funny to me.

gracie shoving her fingers into Nolan's mouth and he obviously likes it

this turned out pretty good

nolan loves his gracie and thinks shes so funny

and we loved this one

anyone wonder who nolan looks like???

pretty good

these make daddy's day!

He is Risen!

Today I am just thankful for family and friends and being able to be together for the holiday.  Although we were no longer in our own home we were in the home of the k-schenk's.  We started off with the kids checking out there baskets and then our last Sunday at church and saying sad good-bye's to so many that we love.

a new coloring book because her's are full, of course 

gloves for dress-up, super cool twisty crayons, new 

chalk, and a ballerina doll

the candy got put away and should last us sometime

 the basket I have had since last year but finally re-did the inside.

Like the fabric?  Gracie picked it out!

 Nolan did not pick out his fabric 

although he was there and Gracie helped.

Nolan also got a ball that he love playing with.

 this was the only look I got from Nolan

 seriously the only look

 super excited about her new ballerina

the closet we got to a good family picture;)