squeezing in where i can...

i've been meaning to blog...
really, i have. i have even sat down a few times and started one.
but, life is just so crazy around here lately.

like seriously, non stop crazy!


so,
here is a quick run down.


halloween costumes...
done! and stinkin adorable! i can't wait to post pictures, seriously...
even brian was impressed, and believe me, it takes alot to impress that husband of mine.

hunsaders....









hot, hot, hot,
very crowded! (note to self, go the first week next year!)

and truthfully, i'm not very impressed with the pumpkin patch pictures this year...
hoping to go on friday for some more.
however, we did get the biggest pumpkin i've ever seen. ok, maybe not the biggest, but this thing is HUGE.
and brian got it at the produce market, and freebees ROCK.

school...
levis fall festival is on friday, and i have been running around doing my part to help out.
the girls and i took a sudden trip to tampa to get the cotton candy, popcorn, and carmel sauce they needed for it today...
no, you can not find that stuff in the quantities we needed it here in sarasota, i researched it.... believe me!
so, we went down to the scary town to get it, i wouldn't let the girls touch ANYTHING!

then,
low and behold on the way back home, my cell phone finally broke completely in half (i've been waiting for it to)!
so, i am officially a proud member of the blackberry club.... finally! (i've been waiting for that too).

levi, has his next field trip tomorrow (i can't go... no sitter, which makes me sad) to jungle gardens.
but, i do hope he has fun and tells me all about it when he gets home.

and finally mary kay....
OK.... seriously, why did i not start selling mary kay back 7 years ago when i first signed up?....
well, because i didn't have someone as awesome as orenda to look up to, i guess!!!
my grand opening ROCKED! like, really, really ROCKED.
i was sad the day before hearing more then half my list couldn't make it....
but i walked away with over $1125 (i had more orders as the week went on from the actual event)...
so yea, brian is officially on board!
not to mention the fact, that i (only one month into this) am officially on target for my first car!
planning to earn it in february!

so, praise god for this totally unexpected gift, that i am having so much fun doing!

things i was never warned about...

brian brought a ranger cookie home for alivia when he picked levi up from school today.

alivia took one bite of it.
chewed like she liked it, and then must have bit into something that was no good.

cause she took the wad of chewed up cookie out into her hand,
walked over to me, and whipped it all down on my shirt!

when she saw that her mother was thoroughly disgusted by the whole mess...
she looked up and said...
"what? it's only a cookie mommy!"

i think it's safe to say she'll be stick with good old chocolate chip from now on!

my song of the week...

sidewalk prophets
"the words i would say"

OK...
this song always seems to be on EVERYTIME i get into my car.
so i can't help but think god wants me to take something from it,
and somehow it's really grown on me.




especially the last part of the song.

"Be strong in the Lord and,
Never give up hope,
You're going to do great things,
I already know,
God's got His hand on you so,
Don't live life in fear,
Forgive and forget,
But don't forget why you're here,
Take your time and pray,
Thank God for each day,
His love will find a way,
These are the words I would say."


it's always funny to me how songs can completely change my state of mind.
anyway, i just wanted to share it really quick.

a happy anniversary...

you know...
i was trying to find some sweet little poem that expressed how i felt about my husband. and although i would probably find one that comes close if i kept on looking, nothing seems to be doing the trick this second.

so, with that being said,
i will simply say this.

i don't think i could have ever pictured my life this blessed before i met brian...
he loves me unconditionally, makes me laugh like no one else in this world ever could, listens to all my secrets like they matter to him, and displays the qualities he knows that i appreciate. he's hardworking, caring and truthful. he's my very best friend and i am his biggest fan in the whole wide would!

brian,
thanks for the greatest 6 years of my life so far...
i'm so overjoyed that you vowed to "grow old along with me".
i love you!

random quotes from levi & alivia.

levi: "daddy, is there a baby in your stomach?"

alivia: (giggling at the thought) "NOOOO.... girls have babbies and boobies, boys have nothing!"

mommy and daddy: (look at one another) and then burst out in laughter!

this and that...

my life has become so full over that past couple weeks.
i have committed myself to so many things, that i am left with no blogging time. :(

but, we're having great fun! so, that's always worth the lack of free time.

here is a real quick catch up as to what all has been going on around here.


levi had his first soccer game last saturday.
which was an absolute riot to watch. the attention span of four year olds is really quit humorous.
everyone would be running chasing after the ball, until the sound of an airplane was heard.
and then pretty much all 12 kids would stop....
look up...
and point at the loud machine flying right past them.
made brian and i laugh.

levi, was more concerned with getting his hot dog and his trophy sticker then he was even about kicking the ball.
but, he's learning, which was the whole point to begin with.


after the game we headed over to the fire house open house.
but sadly, it is still so stinking hot outside!
which made our trip a bit short lived.


although, all three kids seemed pretty amazed at the old fire trucks.
which means, another trip to the library to read up on the happenings of firemen.


i was delegated my first PVO responsibility this week too.
which i made myself a nervous wreck over (i know something so simple!)....
i had to print up invitations for the teachers appreciation breakfast on thrusday (still not thrilled that i have to be there at 6:45am that morning!).

i earned my first "big girls night out" with mary kay on sunday,
and enjoyed an evening with just the gals bowling, which was so much fun, not to mention i learned alot!
brian and i also tackled the garage on sunday...
spick and span.... sigh of relief!

i made millions of calls to invite people to my mary kay grand opening.
which i was nervous about, but they went really well...
gave me more confidence, and i am expecting a GREAT turnout next friday!

chels and i decorated our first cake last night in class. and the one thing i learned is that cake decorating is just not for me!
way to time consuming, i now will buy my cakes with the upmost appreciation for their gifted abilities!

anyway, that seems like a rundown of all the important happenings going on in emrich's world lately.
god is growing my horizons these days, and i'm really enjoying every door he seems to be opening.

field trip...

it was totally in my plans to be very involved in all my kids EARLY school years.
i actually remember thinking of it when i was pregnant with levi.


on the other side of that, i hope that i can keep my cool as they get bigger and allow them the "school space" needed so that they don't feel suffocated by my involvement!

notice how i just said my "hope"...
i will try hard guys, i promise!

in the mean time i am soaking in all the moments when levi feels like the "cool" kid to have mommy tag along.

and yesterday,
i got my first ever "chaperoning a field trip" experience,
while i watched levi experience his fist ever field trip!

we headed down to the southeast guide dog center.
levi (and all his friends) had a blast with all the little black puppies (about 15 of them).
although, i kinda think the bus ride was levi's most favorite part.

it was a rather short trip and the kids were back to school in time for lunch.
so, i decided that i would stick around and see what the lunchroom was all about.

levi seems so grown up in his school atmosphere.
quick to help, quick to clean up....
i think i finally figured out that he is fully ready for a list of some chores to do at home...
aside from just putting his toys away at the end of the night.

i'm going to work on some sort of chart and reward system for things levi can do around the house to help out.
so, if anyone has any ideas, i'm open for suggestions!

anyway,
yesterday was a special kinda day.
and i'm so thankful that i was around to be able to experience it with my favorite boy ever!

belly button...

nataley faye bay knows where mommies eyes, nose, mouth and belly button are... still working on finding hers!

i may as well catch her up really quick while sitting here.
she says:
hi
dada
eyes
lexi
and she clucks her tongue whenever she sees alyson or is hungry.

she eats whatever is in her hands path.
she likes to pull out the trash, and unravel the toilet paper.
she shakes her head at "no no"

oddly enough she self taught herself not to suck her thumb anymore.
seriously, she gave it up herself cold turkey just after she turned a year!

working on cutting that 4th tooth!

still as cute as ever...

too much = crazy...

it's been a bit of a hectic week around here...
there is no doubt!

on monday...
there was a chicken pox scare, which led to the first Dr appointment of the week.

a family trip to chuckie cheese after school, which was pretty fun.
and then a 30th birthday party in the evening for brian's brother chris.

then on tuesday...
i'm pretty sure that god knew my life needed a good cleaning cause that's exactly what i did all day, and not by my choice!
my car had some issues after i dropped levi off at school so i had to clean it out so that bri could take it in.

in the meantime that day i noted alivia's nose was starting to run, which luckily got us out of ballet for the day (cause i really had no car to get us there anyway!).
i came home from picking up levi to find a trail of ants heading to and from our back door...
seriously... like HUNDREDS of ants!

so that meant i had to sweep and mop up everything... yes, even under the extremely heavy rug! until i found the cheesy doreto chips that were under the rocker attracting levi's new friends into our home....
needless to say...
there is a NO MORE FOOD except in the kitchen rule in our house now!

by the time evening got around alivia's runny nose was accompanied by a nasty cough! so nasty infact, that it made her puke all over the bedroom floor clear into the bathroom as she was running towards the toilet.
so my bedroom then got a nice cleaning with newly vacuumed floors, and the bathroom got the wipe down with newly mopped floors.

the night ended when alivia accidently knocked the glass measuring cup down on the kitchen floor. the millions of tiny glass pieces then needed to be vacuumed up (which made my mind say it needed a good mopping too).

yep, tuesday was a day of deep cleaning!

then wednesday came...
i noticed first thing in the morning that alivia was a "good big sister" and "shared" her nasty cold with nataley.
they both were rather feverish and just looked rough.
i decided that i would be taking the girls in to the Dr right after i got levi from school

when the girls and i got to the school that afternoon we were greeted by levi and what looked like several wads of blue gum throughout his hair. i was then informed by his teacher that levi decided not to take a nap during nap time but rather was secretly picking the sticky tak off of the posters placing bits of it in his own hair!
YIKES... sigh!
(i should have taken a picture i know... but i was too angry to even think about that!)


we made our way to the Dr office. the girls were checked and were diagnosed with a bad spell of the common viral cold. after the doc was done checking the girls she playfully took a gander into levi's ears.
and much to our surprise...
HE had the ear infection!

the night ended with
dinner with my mom....
filling a prescription...

and then me pulling out chunks of tak or cutting bits of levis hair...
arg, i should have just buzzed the whole darn thing!

finally, thursday was here...
i rather enjoy thursdays. it's the only time of the week when i get out without my children.
granted it is only to my mary kay meetings at the pink studio but...
they are great girly fun! and encourage me for the following week. and like i said before... i am without my children!

i ran down to the mall after i dropped levi off at school to pick up the black skirt that i needed for the pink studio.
and two very cute pairs of sunglasses...
and then i eyed in envy on several pairs of corduroy paints ( i just might go back sometime next week... they were calling my name!)

levi also had his first soccer practice!
very adorable stuff!




oh yea...
and, i had my first PVO meeting at school too!
i met some wonderfully happy women, and had a great first meeting!
i can't wait for next weeks when we talk about the fall fest!

thursday was a fun full kinda day. :)


and then, finally! friday was here...
except, friday was so crazy i could hardly think for one minute!
the girls both started "barking" in the middle of the night, which kinda freaked me out,
and i took them both to the dr. first thing in the morning.
and although alivia still looks really bad, she apparently is on the mend.
but nataley, oh my poor poor nataley has developed a respiratory infection!
her little nose is like a milky snot faucet. :(

i picked up her meds,
and then had to go to the hair appointment i had forgotten that i made.
i printed up some flyers and then spent the rest of the evening taking care of my two sick girls.

saturday...
i would have been found walking the neighborhood most of the afternoon.
i was too tired out from my week to do my usual produce/grocery runs.

so tired that i didn't even clean up the kitchen from dinner (extremely not in my nature, extra showing just how exhausted i truly was).

and on sunday....
ah sunday, what a wonderful day. my day of complete rest.... almost!

i was blessed by my terrific husband!
who cleaned up the kitchen, cleaned out the fish tank (even though the fish all died by the evening... it's the thought that counts). he took care of our still sick, feeling lousy, girls most of the day.

i only had to catch up on laundry, and made a trip down to wallgreens to pick up a picture levi needed for school and a loaf of bread so that he could have his most loved pb&j for lunch on monday.

i wish i could say that the business of the week made it fly right by, but the truth is...
it felt like the longest week of my life!

i'm kinda starting to realize that it is quite possible that i have taken on too much stuff.
cause even though (fingers crossed) i may not have sick children this week...
i still have a pretty crazy schedule coming up.

between ballet, soccer, a follow up visit for nataley, levi's first field trip (i'm so excited!), one cake decorating class with chels, and a mary kay meeting!
not to mention the fact that i still have to do a grocery store run, at least one target stop, and head over to the produce market! and i still want those corduroys!

sigh... i better get going here!