How could I forget?!

Harper had his first visit, finally, at the dentist! I was putting off taking him because I thought he would be difficult, and I could not have been more wrong! I would say he rivaled Charli's good behavior!

You better watch out, you better not cry

The days between posts have been full of ups and downs.  Last Sunday Chad's uncle, Ivan, passed away after an amazing battle against melanoma.  His wake and funeral followed in the days to come.  With these events Chad's oldest sister traveled back with her husband and two kids from Colorado...so the kids had some extra cousin time with all the Preister kids, which does not get to happen enough! I did not have my camera for these play dates, so I am hoping my sister-in-laws will be kind enough to share?!!

Chad and I celebrated our 8th anniversary.  Given Chad's sweet tooth I knew that these would hit the spot!  While I was able to give the idea, I did not make them!  I have a friend, Missy, who is a PRO and made them with love for me!

Love!  Our tree of full of love and memories which back to 1981, which is my first Christmas ordainment   I am lucky to have a mom who has shared these to be on our tree now which keeps our tree nice and "full"! (and I wouldn't want it any other way!)

 What GREAT memories!!  My parents are remodeling their house, and it has been quite the project!  Over Thanksgiving break we helped mom and dad get paint on their walls.  And, as you can see dad even let the little girls help paint the basement hall...they though they were big stuff!  What a fun memory for them to have with Grandpa!

They are pretty good worker bees...and Grandpa is a good supervisor! 

At our annual Christmas party we were surprised to have Mr. & Mrs. Clause drop in for a visit with the kids!  Harper asked for a farm set and a bucket of sticks!

Charli asked for a skateboard!

 The gang!  We are so blessed to have this extended family to celebrate with each year.  These families help mold and shape our kids, and teach so many priceless lessons.  From back to front: Henry, Elizabeth, Bodee  (being held by Carrie!), Aspen, Charli, Maggie, Sadie, Santa, Mrs. Clause, Harper, Lexie, Aspen, and Harrison...two ornery boys jumped in the picture  little late...Liam and Ean you are missed!

Harper was excited to get his art supplies from Lynn for Christmas!

Charli and Liam

Charli waiting to see her new art supplies too!!  We LOVE art!

 Charli * Harper * Lynn 2012 

 Harper and Charli enjoying the party!

The kids made mini pizzas today, and they were excellent!

in with the new...in with the old

Thanksgiving 2012.  It doesn't seem possible that it is Thanksgiving.  I feel like we just got done celebrating birthdays at our house...and they all fall in the summer!

We have a lot to be thankful for, we all know that.  What has become increasingly obvious to me in the past few weeks is the beauty and vulnerability in honesty and how thankful we should be for that.  Honesty breads growth and happiness, though sometimes it can be a painful process along the way.  I could write paragraphs about how great life is, how wonderful it is to have two beautiful and healthy kids, how I am blessed beyond measure to have the husband I have.  I could write for days about the joy I can find in our kids shared laughter and secret moments of "best friendship" they can share.  There is no doubt I am proud to see them walk hand in hand when they enter buildings, or when Harper is trying to master something Charli fears may be too much for him!  But, what fills my heart with an indescribable amount of thankfulness is the bubble of safety I can surround myself with, and allow myself to be honest with myself and my friends about reality.  We often joke that most people feel the same way we do, they just don't want to admit some of the things we do for fear of appearing to not have it all together.  

We are pretty open books, and because of that we grow daily in our ability to juggle it all: working full time, parenting full time, being a full time wife, friend, daughter, and sister.  It is not always easy.  It is not always fun.  It is always 'something' and it will continue to be this roller coaster until something changes, and when that day comes we will be shattered.  I am thankful for this reality.  

So, during this week of Thanksgiving while I am forever thankful for my family and my priceless children...I am thankful for the friendships that have been fostered in some pretty special people I am lucky enough to share time with daily.  If everyone could spend 5 minutes being honest about "life" in general...we could probably all figure it out, together! 

 Last weekend the kids and I made our own star colors.  They were so fun to make that the kids are apprehensive to actually use them...they want them to stay this way!

 sorry for anyone who was not expecting this site today!  Chad got his deer last weekend, and the kids were so excited for and with him!  They cannot wait to go with him and hunt in the future!

These two could spend entire days making art!  I cannot keep up with art supplies and space to showcase their work.  We love this wall...but do have a hard time taking down to put new up!  The left half belongs to Charli and the right half belongs to Harper!  

 we got to spend some time with cousin Braxton over the weekend and we decided to rope him into our art time.  Each kiddo got to paint their canvas anyway they wanted to, and when it dried we peeled off some masking tape to discover the initial of their first name!  I can't wait to get these hung on their "art" wall this week!

They each had four colors of paint...Charli mixed them all up to make her own color, which turned out to be pretty neat!  I will have to post some after pictures once they are hung up!

 It took a while for Braxton to not think we were crazy, but eventually he started to enjoy driving his brush on the tape and his turned out great!  I would have liked to keep his, we share the same initial...so I felt like that would be legit!  

painting must have been our theme word of the day Saturday!  We painted our bread before making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!  Mixing a little food coloring and milk makes a great little experiment -- pop it in the toaster and you have individual pieces of edible art!  It was fun, and I wanted to paint my own...but they told me it was a project for them.  How rude.  

We hope you have a great thanksgiving and can find a quiet moment to realize all the amazing things you have to be thankful...that fall a little outside of the typical list!  The weather will be beautiful in our neck of the woods...a little sunshine on holidays just adds to the magic! 

super powers!

Where has time gone, I am ashamed I haven't posted for over two weeks!  We have been working on some house projects so everything is a letter chaotic I guess!

Charli had her final soccer game a few weeks ago, I think she was ready for the season to close, but did want to go to soccer practice the next week!  We had a "blue out" at the game to honor a little guy in Columbus who is currently fighting Neuroblastoma.  Charli and I helped some friends earlier in the week get shirts to those fellow soccer families who still needed their Sammy Superhero shirts!  We see them everywhere, and rightfully so!  They deserve all the support we can rally around them.  They are on a hell of a journey, there is no doubt about that.

 Harper was a good fan this season!

 Charli does an excellent job on defense, just like her uncle Randy!

 thanks to everyone to came to watch this season!  One quick picture with her fan club after her final game!

next year we may have two kids on the greens to play!

Halloween was great this year, I am not sure why I feel so passionately about it this year, but it was!  The kids were so well behaved and gracious....things I did not see of all little kiddos walking the street, and they kept repeating to Chad and I how much fun they were having together!  Charli was pretty much in charge of Harper to get to the door, use manners, and hold his hand when crossing the street.  Charli was a fierce red "power ranger samari" and Harper was the proudest "Army Guy, just like grandpa" I have ever seen!  They were both super heroes we all agreed!  As usual, we have too much candy.

 these two love to be workers on the weekends!!

 Harper & Charli are now proud owners of a 3D TV and their own 3D glasses!  This is a nice way to coax them into sitting, for now!

 what is better than a weekend fort!?

 Harper * Chris * Charli 

 Harper * Charli * Casper

 Charli * Lynn *Harper

 Harper * Elli * Charli

The moments when your kids are self sufficient in certain tasks can be so gratifying.  We have hit some great milestones in the fast few months...learning to tie shoes, putting on gloves, and  snapping our car seat are a few wonderful things mom and dad are relishing in these days!

Lots of busy weeks and weekends ahead of us, as for most of you too!  November is a month to give thanks and a great opportunity to reflect on what brings you the most joy in life and how to capitalize on what you have, instead of what you need!  Welcome to November everyone, it won't last forever!

 "Science Sunday"

Skeletons !!

forgotten & no pictures!

I can't believe I forgot one of my highlights from yesterday!  While cleaning and rearranging a few things in the house Charli came across a sticky mustache that she got from only God knows where.  She put it on and said to me, "Mom, I mus-tache you a question"!  The sight of seeing her with a stache was great, and the addition of her comment made it even better!  I wish I could have captured that on video...she thought she was hilarious!  I am sure she heard it on TV or a movie, but it still cracked us up!

She has convinced Chad to stop shaving until Christmas.  At first I thought this would quickly go away, but now it has been at least two weeks, maybe three and neither of them have forgotten.  I fear they may be in it to win it.

....oh facial hair, why must you be a topic of interest in my home?

girl & spelling crazy!

We had a busy and fully weekend, and had beautiful weather for it!  Chad went to 'deer camp' to get ready for next month so the kids and I took full advantage of making our own rules :-)

Harper has been cracking us up this week with his crazy talk and funny phrases.  This week he has been modifying his counting to sound like "ah-leven (11), ah-twelve, ah-thirteen, ah-fourteen, etc...followed by giggles!  He has been totally girl crazy this week remaining consistent with his sole girlfriend at daycare, but making many changes day to day with the adult crowd!  I started as his #1 girl when he asked if I would be his girlfriend forever.  The next day he asked to call "Aunt Manda" and asked her the same thing...I was demoted.  Even she didn't last long before being replaced by his high school babysitter, Taylor.  

Charli has really enjoyed learning to read and spell words.  Today she asked how to spell "dam", and asked if she was right with her guess of "D-A-M".  When I asked her how or why she would use that word she went on to tell me that when there is too much water and it isn't supposed to go into another spot there is this hill-thing called a "dam" that gets put there!  I was glad to hear it!  

The stories between these two could go on and on...so I will let the pictures do the talking!

who doesn't love to make spontaneous chocolate chip cookies?!

Charli had two soccer games in a row this weekend.  After the last whistle blew Chad took off and the kids and I started on our fun adventure!  We headed North to do some shopping and hit the pumpkin patch.  These two had a blast chasing each other around and enjoyed the wonderfully sunny weather in October!  We didn't hit the patch last year as Harper was in his big ole cast, and Charli went with school...so it was fun to see them enjoy it together.  

 this picture makes him look like he has no upper body and is all legs!  While he has grown a few inches since his birthday in June, I assure he does have a torso! :-)

 these two were on their best behavior all day, I was so proud of them!  When they would see other parents having a hard time with their kids, Harper would come to me and say "mom, I bet they don't get to do something fun tonight.  They are not being good listeners!"  Brainwashed, just the way I like it! 

I may consider building one of these in our basement for our teenage years...

 I love this picture!  The quality is horrible, but Charil's face is priceless!  As she was walking buy this friendly fella licked her arm!

 While I was loading Harper in the car and making sure our shoes didn't make a huge mess, Charli loaded all of the pumpkins herself!  She is one strong cookie!

 This was one of our fun projects while Chad was away...

Charli wanted her colors to be all mixed together and she wanted the names of her colors to be showing so we would always know what colors she picked!

 her finished project!  Mixing the colors makes for a much different outcome, but having it be unique is what makes it so great!  She is excited to hang it in her room!

Harper had a little different strategy.  He wanted the names of the colors "on the bottom" and had a rainbow look.  I thought they may get tired of waiting for the wax to melt, but they were both equally excited to see the other's work of art!

 He was super excited and proud of his work! I would like to say I caught him blinking in this picture  but he was just so cheesy and excited that this was his legit smile face!

The finished projects!

 our next project was to paint the little pumpkins we got on Saturday...so many ideas and so little pumpkin space! 

After the pumpkin patch we went shopping and the kids each got new boots for the fall.  Charli fell in love with these the second she saw them!  She loved to strut her stuff with this exact outfit the rest of the day.  She looked like she was ready for a trip out west.  Rachelle...when can she come?! 

Saturday morning before soccer I ran the "We Can Walk, Run, & Roll" 5k event sponsored by CCH in Columbus with my friend Rachel.  We had fun, wish I could have stuck around after I finished but literally had to rush to soccer.  Chad and the kids even made it, just in time!  I was literally about 20 yards from the finish line and they got to the fence to see me finish!  My time was about 45 seconds per mile faster than last weekend and the weather was much-much-much nicer!!!

Another busy week is about to start and Charli's last soccer game on Saturday.  It is starting to feel a bit like fall....