a warmer family room!

Here is a new addition downstairs in our family room! HEAT! It has always been a bit on the chilly side down in our family room, so we decided to put a gas stove down there! Jeremy just finished the tile work last weekend! Didn't he do a great job? He had never done any tile work before, ever! What a guy...



The gas will be hooked up to it next weekend,
we are very excited to make our family room cozier this winter.

a belly shot

As was requested, here is a shot of my ever-expanding belly!

I'll be 25 weeks pregnant tomorrow with our sweet baby girl. Morgan announced today (with the help of Grandma Marla Kay) that we should name her Tunafish Oranges. Don't you think it has a nice ring to it?

Actually, we think we've finally settled on Annika Scarlet. Well, whatever we name her, she is much anticipated! We can't wait to cuddle her!

Just 3ish more months to go!

Drew & Gavin the science guys

Here are they boys embarking on a crystal growing adventure! Hmm... it's been a week since we started the experiment, and still no impressive crystals.... We are patiently waiting for them to appear!!! The boys seem to think they can sell them for some cash! I had to sadly tell them that they aren't worth anything, but maybe a Grandma or Grandpa would buy them. Wink, wink. Drew is always thinking of ways to make money. And now he wants to be a Geologist when he grows up! "Mom, do Geologists make a lot of money?"

silly, silly, & silly

Well, we finally have a digital camera again after not having one since June! I have been "borrowing" pics of our family from friends to post! So here are loads of updates from this past week! Our silly, silly kiddos just love to make crazy faces for any camera!

That's my boy! Oh dear..

Tonight, my wonderful step-mom, Marla Kay stopped by for a quick visit on her way home from work. We were just talking and Drew said, "It's too bad Grandpa Louie isn't here, he could have seen his old wife, but she just left!" We all laughed so hard!!!!!!!!!!!

My Mom "Grammy" as she is called around here, flew home to Oregon tonight... we'll miss you so much! Our Drew, sure has a way with words! All very truthful, but completely tactless, we're working on: You should only say things that are TRUE, KIND, and NECESSARY!

I'm not cute...

Yesterday, I was telling Morgan she was so cute, to which she replied, "I'm not cute, I'm pretty!" Well, then!

oUr bIrThDaY gIrL

We had a "make-up" birthday party for Morgan last Friday morning with a couple of her little friends! She was sick on the day of her scheduled party and we ended up having to re-schedule with her friends. (who we didn't want to infect!) Grandmas, Grandpas, Auntie, Uncle, and her cousins still came... but we decided to have a birthday "dress-up party" last week to make up for her friends missing out on the real deal! Here are some pictures of our now 3 year old darling girl in full princess attire.

I guess we'll never be empty nesters...

Yesterday as we were driving home, this was the conversation between Drew and I... (He gets on an "I don't ever want to leave you and move out of the house." kick quite often.)

"Mom, I don't ever want to move out of the house when I grow up." (in a teary voice)

"Why not, Drew?"

(more tears) "Because I'd miss you SO much! Mom, can Gavin stay too?"

"Of course, you guys can stay as long as you want!" (I often remind him that he'll WANT to move out when he gets older.)

"Gavin, do you want to stay with us too?" Drew asked.

Gavin nodded sadly.

"But Mom, I still want to have a wife and kids."

"Okay, then we'd better get a really big house!"

"Yeah, but I don't know if Daddy could handle that!"

"Why not?"

"Because all I will have is my saved up Birthday money!"

MOPS Convention!

I have loads to share about my experience in Florida last week... here are some pictures in the meantime! As you can imagine 4,500 moms on the loose in Orlando was a FUN time! Our group had an amazing time together!

Yum, the Olive Garden!

Sara Groves and the MOPS Mom Choir!

Unbelievable

We are proud to announce we are having a baby GIRL! I think I am still in shock, but thought I knew it all along at the same time. The ultrasound was so much fun. Jeremy, my sis Jen, and all three kids sat and watched. At the office she has a big screen hanging from the wall so you get a better view of the ultrasound. It was amazing. She gave us a roll, I mean a roll of pictures to take home.. one for each relative in our family tree I think. This one is my favorite. She switched to 3-D at the end for us and captures this amazing full body view. I told her it was our dream to have a 3-D ultrasound since we've never had one!

Her little hands are right up by her nose. Looks like she's praying. :) Tears of joy streamed down my face when she said it was a girl! Jeremy and my sister Jen didn't exactly have dry eyes either!

I was a little worried about how Morgan would take the news if it was a brother. She was convinced and no one could tell her otherwise that it might just be a boy. Yesterday, it broke my heart. She said, talking about the baby, "Maybe she will play dress up with me... and maybe she will have pigtails like me!" I keep saying, don't forget, it might be a baby boy! She knew all along and wasn't too suprised when we told her over and over that it's IS a girl!

She weighs a whole 1/2 lb. and it was so cool to see her wiggling all around. In the very first view we had of her at the start, it looked like she was signing I LOVE YOU with her little hand...

It has been the desire of my heart to have two boys and two girls... I just can't believe it! Thank you, Lord God for filling that longing in my heart. How overwhelming. Name suggestions, anyone??? We have a few favorites, but aren't against suggestions!!!

family getaway

Last night was our much awaited Homeschool Kickoff Family Getaway! Though I didn't bring a lick of school to do... hey! it was a Sunday night that was turning into Labor Day! But we told the boys the reason for our celebratory trip and told them we'd like to do a trip like this one each year to celebrate the start of a new school year!

We had a blast at a wonderful Bed & Breakfast on a lake. We were the only folks there, it was very fun. We brought frozen pizzas, chips, and made ready-to-bake cookies in their kitchen last night, and had a yummy breakfast prepared for us this morning. Before we checked out, we spent some time out on the lake in a paddle boat. All 5 of us! It was a great time, the lake was smooth and there were ducks floating nearby.





Jeremy and I totally crashed at the same time as the kids last night because we were pooped too! We had plans to "lie down" with them until they fell asleep because we were all sleeping in one big room with the kids on the floor. But we actually fell asleep! We had big plans to sneak out into the big beautiful living room with a fire place and watch a movie we brought, but oh well... sleep won out! Fun times had, next year we'll add a 6 month old baby to the mix!

one more day at the State Fair

Kettle corn was a hit!



The boys and their newly won cheapy, plastic Ninja Swords!
We get these every year, they're the best $4 spent!
Oh, and the princess they're fighting over.


Morgan and her Mocha from Kaladis.



Last weekend, we spend another great and sunny day at the State Fair! I don't think there was a drop of rain on that usually drenched fairground this year! Thank you, God! Each day we went, we packed the raingear just in case... because it ALWAYS rains at the fair! We were able to fit in a couple of things that we didn't get a chance to see at our first fair day like the Lumberjack Show, the Black Angels African Acrobats, and all the buildings you walk through to see all the handiwork made by amazing people around the area.



Totally off the subject, but as I write this our little 17 week old baby is doing a little jig in my belly! I feel it most at night, I remember that being the case with the other three wiggle worms that are now on the outside of my belly. I see my belly growing, but I still forget and can't comprehend that there is a tiny creation from God just for us growing in me! It kinda weirds me out a bit at this stage because he/she is so small, but is kicking me! (I just read that even though the baby is like 5 inches long, he/she weighs a mere 5 oz.!) So fragile.








Anyway, back to the fair! The Lumberjack Show is always a highlight and the boys crack up at all the silly jokes, people falling off logs, and in the general the fun show! Drew was especially pleased that one of the lumberjacks was named Drew! Afterwards, my Drew was dying to meet the lumberjack Drew. So we walked into the arena afterwards and snapped a picture with him and when we said goodbye, our Drew stuck out his cute little right hand to shake the man's hand and said, "You did a really good job out there!" So here are Drew & Drew:

Jeremy & Gavin enjoying the show.

Drew the lumberjack defeating his foe, and laughing, of course when we fell in!

How fast can you go, Drew?

And how long can you hang, Gavin?

I can't remember a better year for the fair, or a better time had by our family!

"She'll grow one later!"

I'm 16 weeks pregnant now and our ultrasound appointment is in 2 weeks! Recently I was explaining to the boys that they'll be able to come and see our baby's picture on a screen and they'll be able to see if it's a baby boy or girl!

Drew said, "Well, how are they going to know if it's a boy or a girl? They won't really have any hair yet!"

I said, "Well, they look at the baby's bum and if it has a pee-pee it's a boy, and if the baby doesn't, then it's a girl!"

"OH! I get it, she'll just grow one later!"

What a guy, that Drew! I'm actually glad he's never noticed a difference in his sister.. even though she bathes by herself now... but she does run around in the buff when she gets the chance!

state fair FUN

Last Saturday we made a trek to the Fair on possibly the busiest day I've ever seen! We had a blast and stayed until 10pm. The kids were so good, and Morgan loved riding in the stroller all day! I totally thought she'd get tired of it eventually... We're going back on Friday to see more of the sights and eat some more fabulously greasy food! Mmmmm.. Golden Cheese Nuggets are our favorites!

The camera battery died, or else I'd have more to share! They loved the petting zoo as you can see!

Visiting Grandpa Louie at his John Deere booth!

T.F. makes a visit!

Yep, it's official! We're the parents of a child losing teeth! I feel the same way my friend Shannon does... I always thought that couples with kids losing teeth were so old! hee hee

Drew said he knows it's really just Mommy & Daddy giving him money under his pillow, but he likes to pretend there's really a tooth fairy. We don't do Santa or any other "holiday" characters, but the tooth fairy is kinda fun!! He lost his tooth yesterday, but we went swimming last night with the Howells to celebrate Zach's 8th birthday and got home late after a fun trip to Wendy's for late night Frostys. So Jeremy and I both fell asleep exhausted. I didn't even make it to my bed before falling asleep, forgetting all about Drew's tooth! He woke up this morning feeling sad that the tooth fairy didn't take his tooth or leave him anything... OOPS!! So I slipped the moolah ($5 for the first tooth, $1 for the rest of the teeth!) and the note from "T.F." under his pillow while he was playing... he found it eventually and was ECSTATIC! What fun.

1st day of school!

On Monday, we began year 2 of homeschooling! We had a great time and Drew agreed that this year is WAY better than last year. He loves having his brother in the mix with him the whole time even though they are working on different things at times. Here are some pictures to document the day! Praise God for the opportunity to be home with these great kiddos!

G & D displaying their wonderful works of art...

Drew's game face

Hooray! I did it!

Wanna see something SO funny?

Oh, man... this picture was taken in the Fall of 1995 just weeks or months after Jeremy and I met my freshman year of college!!! I had just gotten braces and we were wearing matchy-matchy brown sweaters.

And this one was taken a couple years later (post-braces) before we were married. Do you like our matchy-matchy black and white t-shirts??? And tell me, why does my bicep look smaller than my forearm? What happened?????? Don't tell me, I already know... hee hee

One last time...

Last night marked the last sleepover before all of my super fun "Senior Girls" head into new lives! Some of our group have already left us for college! We miss you Erin, Natalie, and my other crazy leader half, Anita, who left last week for seminary. 7 of the gals were able to come. We had fun catching up on future plans, boyfriends, etc... You know, all the good stuff.

We called Anita at midnight her time and everyone was able to say hi, and we called Johanna at her dorm and caught up on her first 2 days of being a college runner! They are excited about moving into a new phase and I'm excited for them!!! Man, those college years shaped who I've become today... Will you join me in praying for these amazing gals? They're headed all over the place. But thankfully a few are sticking close by!

Then this morning, the gals that stayed the night (except Mayerly, who had to leave for college orientation early this morning) headed out to breakfast... THEN, we tracked down our beloved Sarah who had just arrived early, early this morning from North Carolina with her family. We ambushed her at church this afternoon with surprise hugs! So glad you're back, Sarah!

Can't wait to be "in-person" buddies again.

Countdown to School... 2 more weeks!

We're embarking on our 2nd year as a homeschooling family! Drew is a first grader and Gavin is starting kindergarten! We changed up curriculum entirely this year and are SO excited!! What are we doing this year??? Are you interested??? Probably not.. but here goes!





Animals and Their Worlds (by Winter Promise) This is their core curriculum... it is a Science based themed year on animals and habitats!

Bible Drew's main book for our Bible portion is called "Glow in the Dark Fish: and 59 More Ways to See God Through His Creation." Gavin's book is "My Big Book of 5 min. Devotions," it's a fun book with lots of great stories and facts about animals in our world! One other book I'm excited about is "The Animal Kingdom" published by Answers in Genesis. It has 35 lessons to complete this year. (These 3 books came with our Winter Promise Curriculum)

Math-U-See We're trying this for the first time for both boys, due to high recommendations from some friends!



Spectrum Phonics and Writing These fun workbooks feature the "Little Critter" characters by Mercer Meyer!

Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons I got this book mainly for Gavin, but we'll do some work in it with Drewy too!





We're super excited, and we're planning the "1st Annual Bacon Homeschool Kickoff Trip" for 2 weeks from now! We'll be staying in a cabin for 2 nights and just enjoying family time and kicking off the school year together!!! Good memories.... I'm imagining that the kids will then look forward to starting school each year with a fun trip in their memory!

I think most pregnant woman would agree...

This morning, I actually exercised, and afterwards I was sitting at the computer doing a Google Search. Drew walked by and said, "Mom, what are you doing?"

"I'm doing some research!", I said.

" What about?", he questioned.

"Well, I'm looking for some things about exercising while I'm pregnant!", I answered.

He quickly said, "I don't think you're going to find very much about that on there."

Puzzled, I asked, "Why not???"

"Because that would be insane!!!"

I think I agree with him on that one!!

Can't forget Sissy Pie!

Okay, so it just wouldn't be fair to put baby pics of Gavin and Drew and not our little princess... so here she is! Nearly 3 years ago!