Katie's Home!!

We are so happy to have John's little sister Katie back home from Colorado. She has been gone since September attending Raven Crest College. She hasn't changed at all- as you can see- she is still just as weird.

Thanks Mom & Dad

My mom and dad watched all the boys on Monday while John and I enjoyed some much needed alone time as we celebrated our 8th anniversary. My mom's back had gone out a few days prior and she still wanted to baby-sit (with the help of my dad). We had such a great day. We borrowed my father-in-law's Harley and rode around town, went to lunch and got an ice cream. It was a great day!! We have the best parents who love our kids so much. They are so helpful and babysit any time we ask. Thanks again :-)

Shout out to Karen

So my mother in law Karen has been in and out of the hospital for the past couple of weeks. One of her lungs deflated while she was in Texas 1 month ago and when she went to the doctor they thought she had asthma. So they gave her an inhaler and sent her on merry little way. After 3 weeks of not much improvement she went back and asked (so politely I'm sure) for a chest x-ray. The doctor immediately followed her the the hospital because they told her that her lung was deflated. They inserted a chest tube to inflate the lung and when they did and x-ray they found a cyst on her lung- a good sized cyst. They kept her in the hospital for a few days and did the x-ray again to make sure the lung had stayed inflated. They took the tube out and sent her home because the lung looked good. They wanted to perform surgery to remove the cyst, but were not going to do it for about a month, but wanted to see her back a few days later to make sure the lung hadn't deflated. When she went back and got another x-ray they informed her that the lung had deflated again so they wanted to do the surgery almost immediately. So, 7 days ago they went in and removed the cyst and part of her lung. She has really been through a lot of pain on and off with in the past week. The chest tubes were very uncomfortable and the pain from the operation has been very unbearable at times. But Karen is amazingly strong and while visiting with her you would never know she was in pain. She is still cracking jokes and making us all laugh. The doctor said that he can't believe that she went so long (3weeks) with only 44% lung capacity. She is a miracle. We have all been very worried because any surgery is a risk and she is a huge part of our lives and our children's lives. But we also had a peace knowing just how strong she is in her faith. We are praying that her recovery would go fast and she would be back on her feet soon. We love you karen!!!



Karen is so lucky to have "nurse nonna" to take care of her

Happy birthday Sammy

My sweet baby Sam's 3rd birthday was on Saturday. I can't believe how fast time flies. We just love our Sam so much. He keeps me laughing and wanting to pull my hair out on a daily basis. He is incredibly independent and plays so well by himself. His wild hair absolutely fits his crazy personality- God really did spend extra time creating him!! He is such a cuddle love bug and always gives me a kiss when I ask. If you ask him who his girl is he will say "Mommy is". He reminds me so much of his father because he is interested in everything that John is interested in- dirtbikes being his favorite. He is soooooo stubborn, which I am confident that it will serve him well in the future. He loves to carry around sticks- he calls them his weapons. He is just such a joy and we all just love him so much!!! Happy Birthday baby boy.

broken camera

Maybe it was from my 18 month old throwing it to the ground- with force may I add- or it just needs a new battery. Probably the first one. Hopefully I will get a new, fancy one with a really good zoom on it. So any ways, that is why there have not been any new postings.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was very relaxing this year. We visited with my mother the day before and with John's mom Sunday morning so I had the whole afternoon and evening to do nothing but chill with my family. The best part of the day was when we played on the slip n' slide we had purchased earlier in the day. When we first got it out, the kids weren't sliding so good, so i figured a little cooking oil never hurt anyone. So, I broke out the oil and I was the first to try it out! I forgot how much fun those things are.





After about an hour of playing on that our yard started to flood and we put it away.
Max decided to show his love for me by puking all over me, not once, but twice that evening. My sweet hubby cleaned it up so it wasn't as bad as it could've been! Then John cooked me a delicious salmon dinner.
I love my boys and am so lucky to be their mommy!!!

future nascar drivers??

Question: Is it weird for children to really like to play in a minivan?? Well if it is then call my kids weird. When we head outside and emerge from the garage, Max will make a beeline for my van if the door is open. Sam usually follows. They could play in there for hours if we let them. The problem is, when I get in the car to leave, I have to readjust my mirrors and all of my blinkers and lights are on.

By the way- they are supervised while playing in the car!!

shoe fetish

My Maxi loves shoes. When ever he sees a shoe lying around he thinks, "hmmm...that shoe looks lonely- it needs a friend. My foot would be perfect!!!" Here is Max modeling the latest fashions in the Mansfield house


sam's shoe


john's shoe


mom's shoe

blogging issues

Help- I want to make a cute blog like everyone else, but I can't figure out how. I got this cute template and I want the blue background to match. I went to layout and tried to change the background color, but it won't do it. Any advice???

bathroom talk

Have you ever seen the movie Bridge to Tarabithia? It is such a good movie for older kids. When John was 4, I remember taking him to see it at the movie theater and I cried through out the second half of the movie. Sad, but good. It was on the other day and John, Sam and I were watching it. There comes a point in the movie where this bully whose name is Janice is making all of the little kids pay to use the bathroom. Well the main character, Leslie and Leslie's friend's little sister (wow- did you get all that) have had enough of Janice's antics. They promptly march over, with a crowd of kids following, yelling "free the pee". Funny, right?? Not so when your 7 year old son announces "free the pee, free the pee, free the pee" as he makes his way to the bathroom. I guess I shouldn't have encouraged this behavior by laughing but it was funny. Genius actually. Now he knows what to do if any bullies at school hassle him when he needs to go!

sick babies

So I had been bragging that we have had a great winter as far as being sick goes. Well, God just struck me down because 3 out of the 5 of us have been sick with in the last week. That's the last time I even think about bragging. Big John had a fever, chills and a head ache last week before his annual men's fishing trip. I thought that we all had escaped his germs, but I was wrong. On Thursday morning as I went in Max's room to wake him up, I smelled the "fever smell". People think that I am crazy when I say that I can smell when my kids have a fever. It is something about their breath- kind of like rubbing alcohol. ALL of them have it. So, Max had that smell along with a 102.7 fever, chills and he was drooling a lot. I thought he probably had a sore throat so I took him to the doctor. Turns out he did have a sore throat complete with fever blisters in his mouth. Lovely!! He was so pathetic and just laid on me all night. On Friday Sam was not acting right. He was not eating and was having major fits. Early Saturday morning he came into our room and said he was "berry, berry chick" (that is Sam talk for very, very sick. I love the way he talks, so cute!!) He had a fever, but when we woke up in the morning he was eating and not too hot. I thought that he was ok so I went to Nonna's house to clean. John called me as I was leaving and told me that he was throwing up and had a fever of 104.9. Holy crap!! That's scary. I rushed home and by the time I got there he was at 102.7. Much better!! I hope we don't have a rough night tonight!!




Here he is with his cool washcloths on his head.

I didn't get any sick pictures of Max, but he was just as sad looking as Sam.

18 months

Max just turned 18 months old yesterday- and I can't believe how time has flown by. On October 30, 2007 I delivered a beautiful 8 pound 3 oz. baby whom I could never imagine would bring me as much joy as he has. I was terrified to bring him home and joked that I would rather be pregnant FOREVER with him because I thought I wouldn't survive. Well, here I am still standing and blessed beyond words. I just love this little guy. He has added so much to our family and I couldn't imagine life with out him!





he is about 1 month old here.

Here are some of the things i love about Max:
-he wakes up happy and almost never cries
-loves to eat (not picky at all)
-he loves both of his brothers and loves to give them hugs and kisses
-snuggles with Sam on the couch every morning
-I love his two front teeth. They kind of poke out a bit
-has such a chubby little body- he is very squishy
-used to be sooooo patient- that is kind of fading away
-loves to be outside
-he sucks his thumb and rubs his blanket against his face when he goes to sleep
-very independent
-tries to do what his big brothers are doing
-I love how he dances when ever he hears music. He sticks out his butt and bounces
up and down. so cute!!
-gets in the mix when his brothers are wrestling
-beautiful eyes. they are getting lighter
-easy to put to bed and nap time
-likes to help his dad clean the garage
-he looks so different than his brothers
-I love the look he gets on his face when something scares him. it is so funny!





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