Schairy.

Look at the hair on this kid!

Bringing the outdoors in.

We are now officially the fun house.

Moms gonna have a heart palpatation.

This is Aidans favorit place to hang out and give his
parents a fright. We have baby gates, but the little
devil will tug on them until they come loose. We
perchased a special baby gate, which Seth will be
assembling tomorrow. Right now I have to make
sure all of the doors are shut to lock him in.
I'm not worried about his ability to climb, it's the
head first fall which concerns me....he thinks he can
take the stairs like a big person. He faces challenges head on that's for sure.

Tamale Pie

So I was watching Rachel Ray the other day and she made a tamale pie in just 15 min. I was astonished that she could whip up a delicious looking meal in the amount of time it takes us all to get ready, get in the car and head to the local namless fast food joint. Humm, what a concept. So I tried it. This is not Rachels' recipie though, I wasn't able to find hers but I found one on a family friendly website and Willow and I got busy. I did make a few variations like not adding rasins...ick...and adding two slices of thick bacon chopped and buying the tomatos so that they contained green chilies...you know us southwest folks! It wasn't Rachel Ray but it turned out ok. Here is the recipie:

http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/family/recipe/dony78covered/dony78covered11.html

I am following Weight Watchers so I will be turning this bad mamma jamma into a suitable W.W. dish. Have fun cooking and make it your own.

How is Seth doing?

Seth is doing fine. He has been in Lansing, Mi for training this past week. The kids and I miss him, but we were able to see him for a few hours last night and this morning....we went for a quick visit. He should be returning home sometime tonight after his training wraps up. I believe this is the hardest most stressful job he has had yet and after talking to another recruitor this morning, I wonder how he deals with his job. Seth evidently shields me from the ugly gritty stuff that these Marines are subjected to by their superiors and I suppose I am gratful for it. He's doing a wonderful job handling the crap the Corps is dishing out, I just try to do my part by supporting him, cooking decent food, and making sure he has no worries here at home.

Playroom fireplace.

This is the wood burning fireplace, the other three are gas.

Focal point.

When you walk into the house there is so much to look at; however, when you begin to ascend the stairs this is what you are greated with.

The unusal and interesting.

Willow has a book shelf in her room which she keeps her favorite items on. This is a very colorful piggy bank the Grandma Pat and Grandpa John sent to her last year. I believe the tradition is to break it once it is full...but we will drill a hole in the bottom to preserve its beauty. Also, the is a little Mexican bowl that Willow keeps by her bed on the nightstand. Pat and John sent it to her a few years ago, along with a photo of the young girl who was selling them. Willow likes to keep her hair ties and clips in it.

Study time.

Here is another angle of Willows room. Mom sent the adorable bucket chair and we bought her the little desk on clearance at Meijers. She has her very own place to read and study away from mom and dad and annoying little brother.

A place to dream.

Willows room is rather large, so we were able to set up her pop-up tent that mom bought, her easel, and her big girl toys.

Spring is always here.

Here is a picture of Willows room. We picked up this cute four poster bed and Princess rug from K-Mart and the night stand from Goodwill. Mom provided the bedding as well as the Snow White lamp.

Play room.

First day of public school.

Here is Willow at Park Elementary. I am sure that next year she will be attending a private school again.

Sleepy time.

Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve.

Ah, here is Seth and the kids in the Hampton Inn pool on Christmas Eve. It was nice that Santa was able to catch up with us despite our being on the move.

Seth and the kids.

During our trip from North Carolina to Michigan, we kind of took an unexpected detour through a national park. This is a picture of Seth and the kids in front of a very chilly and erie lake.

House.

Here it is!

There is our new home in surrounded by a foot of snow. It has 4 bed, 2.5 bath, 4 fire places, a formal dinning room, 2 living rooms, a study, a full basement, walk up attic and gourmet kitchen.

Home again.

Hello everyone! Wow! What a roller coaster ride! Anyway, we finally made it into our house. We are in the process of unpacking and cleaning each and every room and for the most part we are moving along rather quickly. The kids are enjoying the new stability and their new spaces and Seth has already enjoyed working on his new truck in the garage. I am getting used to the fact that I have so many new chores added to my list, like shoveling snow from the sidewalks so that the churchgoers won't have to trudge through ankle deep snow. Fun! Fun! Ok, I know...pictures...and they are coming; but first I have to get some batteries for our camera so by tonight there should be some of the house on here. We are all moving along at a fast pace, since Seth has to begin work tomorrow. I still have his office to decorate, but that's just a bonus.

We are doing great.

Hi everyone! I just wanted to update you all on our current status. We are currently living in a small hotel in White Pigeon, MI. We have been exploring the different areas, including the AMish countryside and are now getting ready to sign Willow up for school and Girl Scouts. We will be closing on our home sometime by the 19th of January and I can not stress how joyful we will be to obtain more square footage. Also, we are moving into an entirely different home than pictured, the contract on the other one fell through. You can search for 196 E. Michigan Ave. in Three Rivers, MI to see pictures of the house.