catching up....

i mean that in so many ways....
so much has gone on in the last few days that i need to share, and there is now so much to do to be ready for this holiday season!

thanksgiving pies
i am so happy to say that EVERYTHING went extremely smooth this year! we added a cash only line (my idea) and it helped a great deal with the huge lines that usually wrap around the side of the building to the side street behind the restaurant. in fact, i don't think anyone waited longer then 10 minuets. one man actually complained to me because he was upset that he didn't have to wait... i guess it was part of his holiday tradition! :)
mary lou told me yesterday that she now feels that we have room to grow and do more to get even more pies sold and out the window. it really is an honor to me to be apart of something that is so big in our city of sarasota.
alyson and i didn't even fight all day, we were smart enough to put each other on separate registers from the start.... we joked all day that we're best friends but we are enemies on the day before thanksgiving!
and let the record stand that i did $1,200 more then she did on her register :P

i brought the kids down on tuesday (as i usually do) so they could see what they will one day be apart of.
they had so much fun, that it was a little hard to get them to still enough to take our traditional pictures :)
levi understood the whole concept and was ready and willing to help in any way he could!
alivia, just wanted to eat all the pies, so i'm so sorry to anyone who got a pie this year and found tiny finger holes in their yummy dessert! ;)





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thanksgiving day
as i'm sure you are use to hearing from me by now... my kids were sick! but the day want on as planned, only with tissue in my hand all day! the usual... todd and mary lous in the morning my parents at night. the day was pretty long, and the kids were out the second we hit the car to go home. i am happy to announce that my parents did in fact learn and there were no homeless drug addicts at their house this year! some may say that means there are no humorous stories to go with it, but they would be wrong. my dear dad was responsible to buy our thanksgiving feast this year (with everyone included that is for 16 people). he bought ham and a 29lb turkey. apparently mother didn't set enough time aside and started mr. turkey late. my brother and his wife had to be at another house so we had to start eating before they left and the turkey was not done. to make a long story short. everyone filled themselves up with ham and sides that when the turkey was actually done... the only person that even ate a bite of it was dad!
so, my parents now have roughly 28lbs of turkey sitting at their house that no one has even touched! hehe... it makes me laugh that no one ate turkey on thanksgiving!
i guess we can always head back over there tonight to enjoy my mothers famous turkey.

want some pumpkin pie?

this day did not go like i had planned at all!!!
i have a secret about myself that i will share... i complain every year about doing thanksgiving pies at the restaurant, but deep, deep... very deep inside i secretly love it! the smell, the rush, the business of it all, the work a 12 hour day three days in a row and when you get home you instantly fall asleep of exhaustion best sleep of your life kinda love! so, last night while i was trying to get as much sleep as i could for big day #1, it kinda upset me when levi and alivia woke up hacking with fevers AGAIN!! it put a damper on my day. but, like any good mommy would do, i gave up my secret wish and spent the morning and afternoon talking care of my sick children. sadly, i must admit my heart was somewhere else though! every waking minute in my head i was hoping something would change, like they would all of a sudden be well, and i could go on with my day as scheduled. thankfully, by 4 the fevers stared coming down and they began playing on the floor. so i didn't feel too bad to call my mother and beg her to come over to my house and watch my children (don't worry, i asked levi if he was OK if mommy went to work, and he gave me a big smile and said "yea... tell nana to bring my moca")
so, at 5:30 my 2008 thanksgiving pie season began!

unlike years in the past however, i don't have any great funny stories to tell. all went rather smoothly. although, im sure had someone been in that cooler with alyson and me watching us count pumpkin pies they would have been on the floor laughing with us. why my dear husband intrusted us with such an important task is beyond me. there we were, freezing.... trying to multiply crates of 4 pies each by columns of 8 being 7 and 8 columns deep! to give you a better understanding of how high the numbers got, let me just tell you that there were 13,333 good pumpkin pies!
anyway, fun night as usual filled with more memories to share in feature thanksgivings! :)
and for the record... my children seem to be well again, so it must have been a 12 hour bug thank heavens! ;)

party of 5, please!

YEA! that statement makes me so happy! back (just about this time) last year i anxiously walked over from the gift shop to the restaurant to tell my husband that we would be adding onto this family. growing up in his family's restaurant he often thinks in restaurant terms... so his reply to the news didn't shock me in the slightest. his jaw dropped and he said "that is a party of five, shannon.... a party of FIVE!!!!
why am i remembering that moment... could be that it was practically one year ago, but the main reason is yesterday for the first time he got to say "party of five". we rarely get to go out to eat as a family. brian works a lot of hours, and there really isn't much time. but the main reason is he knows about children in restaurants and he simply prefers to not deal with the hassle. but, yesterday after church when we got into the car, levi asked him for pumpkin pancakes! seeing as how yoder's isn't open on sundays, we headed over to cracker barrel. there is no story to go with this event, but rather the memory of him realizing the fear in his head one year ago, is now really and truly the reality..... and it wasn't near as bad as he thought it would be. although, he did say in the car on the way home he still didn't enjoy it.... i think that the thought of it just is a little stressful to him, and he is so on the look out for bad behavior that he can't possibly enjoy his meal, so what's the point?
i do however, think of this as a milestone....
the kids were both well behaved, and ate good...
so perhaps, this won't be the first and last "party of five" meal we have out in the public eye. :)
(hehe... that just cracked me up.... "in the public eye" like we are celebrities or something). :D

4 things he loves about me :)

the friends who know us well, know that both brian and i tend to be a little critical of people (to each other, mostly) and this is a habit that we have decided isn't the most flattering. most of our comments come out of joking, but as the saying goes "there is a bit of truth in every joke". so, we have decided to creatively stop the problem. i'm hoping that it works, and rather then cutting it cold turkey, our solution is one that will gradually aid in making us think before we speak.
how does it work? just between brian and i, when we hear something said negative about someone (anyone), we kindly say "i hear how that can be frustrating.... but tell me something good about that person" lol.... it looks so funny when i'm reading it, but it really has been working! we have been doing it going on 3 days now!
and because of my competitive spirit i must say i have only had to say one thing and it was towards brian :)
brian too, has only had me to say things nice about, and i so wish to share.

here are 4 things i know he loves about me :)

1.) i have a heart to put my family first, and always make sure that everyone in it is taken care of.

2.) i have deep blue eyes.... and there is little in life more comforting to him then looking into them. :)

3.) he thinks i am smarter then i let myself on to be at times, he is sure i understand things (example: sports) but he appreciates that i act like i don't know so that he can feel smart while explaining it to me...... this one made me laugh, cause it's very true!

4.) he has never seen someone who can multi-task as well as i can. sometimes he thinks that i couldn't have possibly done something right because i was doing 5 other things in the moment i was doing it.... he says, he will go back to make sure i got it right, and i always do!

anyways, this is our little "game/mission" that we are currently taking on, and if for nothing else, we are getting a laugh out of it..... and not at someone else's expense!

pretend it's peanut butter naneee

you don't have to tell me twice...
as soon as DOCs gave the OK to start food, i was at the store buying all the things i would need.
JUST KIDDING!!!! i actually have somewhat been dreading this day. levi, (that lucky first born child of mine) got things right off the bat with an extreme excitement on both brian and my part... alivia, pretty much skipped baby food and went right to the real stuff... she was practically 4 months old and i was shoving grains of rice in her mouth.
by this stage in my parental wisdom i know that baby food is a time consuming hassle! they really arn't gaining anything from it in my mind (calorie wise) and it is just one more thing i have to try and cram into my already non stop day.
however, that sweet little face of hers deserves to have the "first foods" photo, and that is just what i did today! tomorrow, she will be just like alivia, getting the foods we eat as mashed up as i can make them with my finger. :)

this story is kind cute though, at least i think so.....
the only fruit i had in the house were peaches, so nataley fayes first food was a peach (with hint of yummy breast milk of course). so, as i pulled out the good old food processor levi and alivia came running over to see what i would be baking. i quickly explained that there wasn't going to be a dessert but that we were going to be feeding nataley her first taste of real food. levi, bless his heart decided that peaches were not going to be the best choice and pulled out his favorite food.... peanut butter! it took me about 10 minutes of arguing with him before he was entirely convinced that babies can not eat peanut butter...


finally nataleys BIG moment! she ate it right up, and did really well! i let the kids each have a turn helping feed her and when it was levis turn, he softly patted her head and said.... and i quote "mommy said peaches are nummy, but they are gross.... pretend it's peanut butter naneee" nataley smiled so big at him, and the whole minute kinda made me melt! it was rather cute! and i think it wins shannon's "favorite moment of the week award"!

changes/ well baby visit

BIG changes in our home today, big changes!
the beginning of the day was a bit of a challenge, nataley had a well check up at 8:45am and the kids had to be at school at 8:30. i was silently planning on brian to help me in one of the two areas, but anyone who knows our family well enough would know that this was a silly thing for me to do the week before thanksgiving. he had to be up and out the door early and couldn't do anything about it. so, there i was at 11:30 last night gathering all the things up i would need in the morning to get 3 children up, fed and out the door by 7:45am. thankfully, everything went rather smoothly, and there was enough time for levi to be his lagging little self as we walked into school.






i don't know what it is about my little nataley that makes me so happy to take her out. people always point out babies, cause come on, they are ALL so darn cute! but with nat ( i am trying out different nick names for this child to see what feels right, currently she is nat) everyone always stops me to tell me how bubbly and happy she is. it was no different at dr. fethermans office today. all the nurses and receptionists were in awe of just how easy it is to crack this little girl up, i really love it and the attention that goes along with it (maybe kinda weird of me but true none the less). anyway, she passed with flying colors, and is now ready to start some foods! so yea! we get to start that road again :)

Nataley Faye:
4 months old
weight: 13lbs 11oz
height: 24 1/4"
head circumference: 15 3/4"

looking back on levi and alivias charts nataley is still the largest at this point, so maybe she will actually be a taller one?
the only thing that left me thinking as i drove home was a remark from a nurse who was a little surprised that we don't have her in a crib in her own room yet. i have always been late to do that with the kids. call it laziness on my part, cause that is probably what it is. it just is easier in the middle of the night, cause lets face it, i don't handle little sleep well.
but i did get to thinking that maybe this lady was actually right and decided that after i got the kids from school i would head on down to baby world and get alivia a toddler bed and let the girls have their first official night in "the girls room"!





now its 9:06... and all is quiet and still, and went just like every other night in our house (except different beds)....
let just hope and pray it remains that way throughout the night tonight! ;)

differences

i just got home (after talking for 45 minutes to another mother) from taking the kids to school. and driving home i was thinking about just how different each child of mine is.

Now remember, the kids missed two weeks of school and going back today reminded me somewhat of their first day a few months back. my little independent alivia walked right in and gave her teacher a big ole hug like she had really missed being there, without so much as a kiss goodbye for me. where as levi appeared brave as we walked into the front doors but as we approached the hallway leading to his class room started walking a little bit slower and his eyes started to water. by the time we made it to the door he was fully crying, grabbing onto my leg begging me in his whiney little levi voice "mommy, please stay today with me!". that is so my children too....
levi is filled with energy and likes to appear strong but is a pretty shy, needy little boy. alivia, seems as though she came out with her strong will, and independent "i can do it myself" demeanor from birth. but as i learned i love my children for those very characteristics.

off to school again....

through out the whole day today i have been going back and forth in my head if my kids should go back to the "germ hole" aka pre school. they have missed the last two weeks due to sick bugs. looking back, it has been a very long two and a half months. someone is sick every week. in fact, let me just pull out the last health insurance summary i got. we got this new plan through brians work june 1 this year..... oh yes, the emrich family has reached $2072.03 of their family deductible for the year. putting aside the $600.00 we paid for the birth of nataley, that is $1472.03 that i have ( i guess i should say brian has) forked out to doctors,hospitals, and prescriptions in a short 6 months!
it is insane! the worse so far was these past two weeks.... goopy eye, extremely high fevers, ear infections, vomiting, a run of strep throat and constant runny noses. levi had it really bad two weeks ago, alivia last week and now nataley.

i spent this afternoon playing board games with levi (alivia was napping but joined us later) and let me just say... i thought i might go insane by the end of it. i had to keep explaining everything over and over, telling them although game pieces look like cherries... they are not, and they do not go in our mouths. i think the words "do you want to keep playing? then come sit back down or we will have to put it away" came out of my mouth about 10 times! although by the time i was finished i could definitely see progress with their attention, and their understanding of the point and strategy of the games (not that hi oh cherry oh and hungry hungry hippos have a real strategy) i was still rather frazzled and stressed out with the situation as a whole. in that very minute as i put the last box away in the "only when an adult says its OK closet" i decided that teaching was better left to teachers, and against what seems as my better judgement.... i will in fact be packing my van up with two kids and their lunch boxes tomorrow morning!

christmas party

yep, thats right... yoder's always does the christmas party in november.  that way they aren't taking up busy time during the month of december.  so now its quarter till 5 and my children are sleeping, a busy afternoon will do that to you.  i'm assuming that because they're snoozing away now, it's going to be a late night in the emrich household!  

the party has been at the same park for the last few years, and going to it this year it occurred to me just how much my kids have changed over this past year!

all the toy equipment that they needed my help with last year they were doing on their own.  alivia mostly because she already has a determined little mind that won't allow her big brother to do anything she cannot do herself.  it is such a joy to my heart to go to a public place and my children behave... cause as i'm sure as most toddler mothers can say, it isn't always the case.  levi never missed a please or a thank you, covered his mouth when he coughed, and waited till brian and i were done doing what we were doing to ask for something he wanted (this is a big one in our house, i can't stand when children interrupt and demand something when the parent is busy with another adult).  alivia, needed a little reminder help in that area but never once threw a tantrum.  both of them intermingled with the employees all on their own, and that is such a blessing to my heart.  at only 3 and 2 i can see that my children have a heart for people just like their daddy, which in my mind is the greatest characteristic they could have gotten from him.  

nataley too was a little ray of sunshine.  she has managed to come down with the goopy eye herself.... just looking at her today i could tell how miserable she was, but never once did she let it get her down.  she smiled and cooed right through those half open eyes, and showed everyone around her what a joy she is.  that is what nataley is to me.  this little unplanned gift.... but what a joyous gift she is.  she is by far the happiest little child i have ever seen.  very sociable, bubbly, and  my heart adores her.

a thought that crosses my mind still very frequently, but practically everyday during thanksgiving.  what a wonderful life god has given to me.  i always seem to choke myself up when it gets right down to it,  to imagine where i would be had god given me my hearts desire at the time and let me stay in ohio.  to live a life without all that i have now, i don't think would have been a life worth living...... i see a piece when god sees the big picture... how amazing! what could be more reassuring then that?

christmas is just around the corner ;)

this is completely random but, i  really miss my husband!  i mean i always see him and even have conversations with him, but i miss having fun with just him.  the one on one kinda fun... just between him and me, where i'm not having to share him with kids, phones, computers, or video games!  sometimes i think about how i married this wonderfully handsome, kind hearted man, who could always make me laugh... and it's like i don't get to see that any more. there just isn't enough time in the day.  last night when he got home we spent the entire evening with just us. laughing, joking, and having fun just like when we were dating.  we've decided that on top of striving on being great parents we need to strive on staying true to one another.  true in the sense that we don't loose sight on what we first had.  i think that it is to often children come into a couples life and suddenly that couple who was once one start unraveling into their own separate worlds and before they realize it, it's to late.  i am just so thankful to have a husband who saw that i felt like something was missing and knew me well enough to know how to make me feel loved and special again without me saying a word....

completely random, and i'm somewhat embarrassed that people may read this, but it is just something i felt like i needed to see in front of me.  :)



onto a much happier topic....

i am so excited about christmas, it's like i'm a kid myself!  today when we went to what the kids like to call "cookie mall"  everyone got so excited to see all the christmas decorations going up!  this picture makes me smile cause the kiddos did that all on their own.  they spotted that small little tree in a window and all stopped just to look at it (in that order too).  levi talks daily about all the things he wants santa to bring him. and for the first time today, mentioned the fact that christmas is the day baby jesus was born.  i felt so proud to be his mommy while he explained in his own little 3 year old understanding mind about how jesus came to save the world.  the best part about this is my sweet little alivia who would randomly say "ooohh" which is her new most favorite word, as though she was honestly listening and understand what levi was talking about.....

i know i have mentioned this before but i just really love these three little people god has given me.

somewhat crafty....

alright, so i have found myself to be quite crafty these days.  i guess i have always been somewhat of a crafter, but now that i'm staying home with the kids full time i have found the need to have an outlet that is all my own.  thanks to my dear friend laura i have begun a passion of sewing... i have BIG dreams for this new found hobby.  watch out world, here comes seamstress shannon! :)  the only problem is... i have NO idea what i'm doing! i just play it by ear and hope my creations come together....... unfortunately, my poor girls are doomed to be my walking canvases.  no but seriously, i hoping to take some sewing classes and after i do i plan on making about 75% of the clothes my girls wear (don't worry, i know better then to try and make levi wear mommys handmade things).  i  just figure, why pay top dollar when i can make it myself?

the dress you see in the picture isn't done yet, because i am super confused at putting the pipping on it and i need to ask someone who knows tomorrow, call it your sneak peak if you will.  i am trying to get it done for the yoder's christmas party on sunday. i just need to state too that my kids were so good and helpful today while mommy was trying to figure out her first pattern. and i was thankful for their patience, some days they seriously amaze me!

mr. snowman up there was yesterdays latest creation.  i took a spin off of the diaper cake idea and made a towel cake snowman, with kitchen accessories as limbs!  needless to say if you are among the few near and dear to my heart, you know what you will be receiving this holiday season... hehe 

i hate tv!

today was a little bit different then the usual monday at our house.  brian had to work and he typically has mondays off.  so right off the bat the day was thrown off track. i kept thinking it was tuesday all day long, and it drove me crazy.  we did get out in the afternoon to a playground, but the rest of the day was spent at home doing the typical tuesday things.... i cleaned while the kids made a mess behind me :)

towards the end of the evening, i wanted to mop the floors quickly before bath.  i turned the tv on in hopes to occupy them so that i wouldn't have dirty little foot prints on my nice clean floor (honestly, nothing bothers me more then that).

unfortunitly , turning that tv on was the worse possible thing i could have done.  you would think that my children could have been entertained for the mesley 20 minuets it would have taken me to mop!  looking back on it now, i think that maybe i attempted this too close to bed time and they were a little over tired, but who knows.  as soon as the first commercial (some kid klean bubble bath thing) came on they both starting pointing saying i want that, its mine (alivia just said "no, mine!").  about two seconds later there was an all out fight going down on my family room floor!  levi seriously pushed alivia down and starting hitting her!  alivia fought right back and bit his arm... all over a stinking commercial!!!! IT WASN"T ANYONES!!!!!!  why? why? why do they have to make commercials so irresistible to children?  this is seriously something we go through on a daily basis here.... they see something on tv and point it out saying its theirs and how badly  they want it, and wont stop shouting till i stop what i'm doing to come see what it is....   needless to say... levi sat in time out and alivia got hot sauce in the mouth, and my floors are STILL not mopped! 

emrich family movie night

brians great aunt died about a month ago and today was a memorial service for her.  even though fevers in our home have started to return to normal, snotty noses are still keeping us locked up.  we thought it best that brian go while i stayed home with the kids.  they have pretty much been cooped up in this house all week (excluding last nights chinese dinner) so i thought i would try and make being at home as non boring as i could for them.  while talking last night brian and i came up with the idea of making tonight the first ever EMRICH FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT! 

From the moment they woke up all day long i kept their excitement high as i talked about my great anticipation of what the night would hold.  by mid day levi could hardly wait, he kept asking when would it be dark outside. while brian was gone i thought it would be fun to get them involved in baking a "special dessert" for the evening.  they LOVE to bake! anytime i start to do anything in the kitchen they are right behind pulling chairs so they can get involved in all the action.  we pulled all the ingredients out and made our family favorite ooey gooey bars... boy are they yummy.... i'm stealing a bite this very second! :)

brian got home just in time for real fun to begin. the pizza came, and the kids enjoyed there mini cokes... something they rarely get.  after dinner brian gave quick baths while i made bags of popcorn.... FINALLY!!! movie night was here!!!!

we turned out all the lights, sat down with popcorn in hands and began watching the opening credits.  within five minutes brian heard a faint sound coming from levis way, and we glanced over to see him snoring!  poor kid, was so excited all day and fell asleep before it even really started. note to self.... give naps on movie night!  alivia of course, was awake the whole movie but was bouncing from place to place  rarely pausing to catch a scene.  brian and i joked about what a "great" idea movie night was.  but by the end of the night we came to the conclusion that even though the night might not have turned out the way we thought it would it was still a lot h fun.... and thus, emrich family movie night was born. :)

quiet...

ah... do you hear that sound? that is the sound of silence!  and it's the first bit of it i have gotten all day.  i always say that night is my favorite time. the only way i can get some "alone" time...the two wonderful hours between the kids getting to bed and brian coming home.  i am almost certain this will be the time of day most of this gals blogs will be written. 

anyway... about the day?

a fairly uneventful one.  some might say this is sad, but in this house that is considered a great one!  in fact the only thing of interest that i can think of was tonight when we were at what i like to call "the saturday halverson dinner out".  we went to my dads usual choice, a little chinese restaurant that i can remember eating at when i was a little girl and we were here on vacation.  when you first walk in just like then, there is an extra seat bench and right above it a giant fish tank with GIANT fish in it.  like every other 3 year old levi always climbs up on the bench and stares at his fish friends when we are waiting to be seated.  when our turn came he jumped down off the bench (this is something he knows i would never allow) he shot a look at me and then  looked at my dad and shouted "look papa, i didn't break my leg!".  it made me laugh cause it is true that their minds are little sponges.  i had told him about a month ago not to jump off the bed cause he could break a leg or something, and it actually stuck in his mind.  a partial lesson learned... now if we can just get him not to jump off at all, that would be wonderful. :)

we got home just in time for their bed time story...  and when i tucked them in i thought the same thing i think every night... my kids are great! but i'm so glad it's time for bed! 

a day survived

maybe i should have titled this a week survived!  who would have ever thought three sweet little faces could cause so much activity?.... anyone i suppose!  it all started last sunday... a middle of the night fever that led to goopy eyes within mere seconds. by monday morning it had turned into the whining, crying, coughing, and runny noses that have kept me on my feet, in and out of Doctor offices, without a moments peace all week long!  somehow, in this mix i have managed to catch a sore throat myself... and it would so happen it would have to be none other then strep!  so... add one more antibiotic to the six (yes, i did say SIX) that are sitting high up on my kitchen counter out of little hands reach.

Yikes!  i am seriously so incredibly worn out from these past few days that i can't possibly even think of how to express it.  the whole month of november brian and i remind ourselves of how blessed we are by saying one thing we are thankful for each morning.  sitting here, it has just occured to me when he gets out of the shower and is about to walk out the door, today i will say good health!  i guess the whole thing with this blogging is the ability to see my thoughts more clearly and have a way to remember this life of mine by.  my first blog has done just that for me.  just when you think things can't possibly get any worse you realize "oh, but it can" then you can smile and say (in a weird sorta way)..... snotty nose kids aren't that bad after all. :)