TIIIIIMBERRRRR!!!!!!!

Nothing like havin' some big 'ole trees chopped down to provide some free entertainment around here! 

The lot next door to us is squeezing in a home built by Habitat.  So they started the process yesterday by taking these guys down. Not so sure we're going to be thrilled about our new view in a few months when we'll be looking at a wall of another house instead of this=/  Hopefully it's not too bad. 

But here's what Kahler got to watch all yesterday morning:)....

1st 2 trees on the left taken away.....

Those 2 on the left also had some branches right over our house so I'm thankful they'll be gone, however they also provided our yard with much-needed shade=/

WHOAH!

Kahler kept looking out and saying "aw mess!!"

It did look like a big mess...but they did a very good job keeping it out of our yard!

and the new view after. 

Every time I look out the window now, Kahler thinks another tree is going down! ha!

Knollbrook Farm Outing

Finally had the opportunity (with everyone being HEALTHY for once) to do a little outing with the corn maze/fall fun thing with the kids.  Normally we go to Fashion Farm in Ligonier as a tradition, but missed out on that last weekend.  However, Kahler still got to go with Papa, Grandma and the Wogoman cousins....so he got his fill of the fun there!

This year we tried out Knollbrook Farm which is right down the road from us.  It's a super fun, spread out area that's kid (and parent) friendly!  We had our friends, the Clarks, go along with their 2 kids and had a great time!  Weather was definitely feelin fall-ish with the wind, otherwise it would have been perfect!

Isaac on the tractor-bike

Kahler getting his turn on the GIANT slide!

Jenny and Lilly down the slide....Isaac close behind

Tractor-bike Round 2: Brock and Isaac.....VS.....

Graham and Lincoln!!

Me and May in the corn maze!

Hayride time....family pic opportunity:)

The whole crew!  Had so much fun with you, Clarks! 

and I guess I'll mention that this was our "pretend hayride".  We waited...and waited and waited after getting on at 7pm for our ride and no driver showed up...until we were literally deboarding the wagon! But we sat on there and enjoyed it...just no movin'! ha! 

Fun little Saturday....glad our kids had a good time:)

It's time for a facelift!.....

.....on my flower bed:) 

FINALLY got around to it and bought myself some cheap-o mums on Monday.  And from Walmart out of all places and was super happy with how they looked.

Like the before and after affect??

I'll give it to ya, k?

Here's BEFORE.......

wait for it.......

wait for it........

Ok ya ready??:) 

And AFTER!



Ended up mixing things up and did a variety of colors then....




See Mr. Special Ed mum on the lower right?  Decided to keep him around and see how I like him next year:)




Got 3 baby ones into 2 pots.  Each were $1 so I was happy with that.

                                                 Don't you just love a makeover?!:)

                             Now I just need my cornstalks and pumpkins and we're all set!!

                                    HAPPY FALL!! What a beautiful week for it right?!



Wedding makeup continued....

Leah's professional pictures by To the Roof Photography are finished!  Wanted to share these after seeing just the candid makeup pictures from the first post of her wedding.  Thought these photos really captured how beautiful Leah and her ladies looked! 

Thanks Leah, for making me so proud of what I love doing! You looked stunning and "showcased" the makeup beautifully!



More of a candid shot, but Leah was still a blushing bride even towards the end of her night!



The Birthday "Surprise"

Yes, I feel like a big disappointer for those just counting down the minutes until our departure to our mystery destination last weekend!  I know you were all at the edge of your seats in anticipation!!.....

;) 

yes....I know you all are not a bunch of losers either....(most of you!) ha!

As you might have noticed....the cat was out of the bag on Thursday night.  Brock was having issues with the overnight arrangements to stay on Saturday as well.  He didn't feel comfortable making the call on who we should stay with, so that's when he decided he needed my input. 

And spoil his surprise:(  boo. 

So the big scavenger guessing mystery whatever-you-wanna-call-it wasn't such a big mystery anymore, however he had one very excited wife! 

We ended up venturing to the Noblesville area to visit lotsa friends with Kahler and Maylin in tow.  Isaac got to stay with the grandparents, so he had a fun-filled weekend as well!

Anyways, we have 5 couples down in that area that live within 15 minutes of each other that we're good friends with.  It's crazy how many people we get to see within a short couple days! 

Friday night we stayed with Brock's cousin Davie and Jen, then Saturday we spent the day going to my gal pal Andrea's, then my cousin Brandi's, then hit up Josh & Angie's new crib on their moving weekend.  That was exciting!  Then our last stop was at the Loy's for supper, football, and the first Loy/Maust sleepover!  Our boys had a great time together!

On Sunday we headed out the the Children's Museum, which was a great way to top off the weekend for Kahler!  Maylin had her share of fun there too:)

Kahler and his new pal, Brayden....playing with the dinosaurs!!

Riding the racecar

BIG choo choo train!!

The kid-zone room....specifically designed for kids 5 and under....it was awesome!

Kahler playing with boats in the water

They even had a little area for kids 2 and under...so Maylin enjoyed that...she's loving herself in the mirror! what a girl:)

My cutie:)

Brock DID manage to get away with one surprise out of the entire weekend.  To have me curious he asked me a few days before to "pick a color".  He was probably thinking I'd choose something super basic or whatever, but I said "lime green".  Yep...that threw him off.  His response: "hmm,..that does make this a little more difficult" :) 

So.....as we were scrambling around to leave the house on Friday we jumped in the car and what do I find on my seat?!?

A LIME GREEN I-pod shuffle!! 

I'm pretty excited.  I had yet to own anything with "I-" in front of it....so I'm pumped!  Especially the fact that I've wanted one of these to be my new "running buddy" for a long time now!  Now it's the fact that I haven't ran in 2 weeks that will be a tad tough to get back into the groove due to Brock's pneumonia episode, followed up by me being sick.  We've both come to the conclusion that we both got sick a lot easier when we stopped working out super faithfully ever since our work out buds moved away!  (Yes, Angie, if you're reading this I'm blaming YOU!) ha ha! U know I still love ya:)

So yes...beautiful weather ahead this week.... so back into the running game I go!!  Now I need some new running tunes...suggestions??:)

One day away.....

Happy Thursday!

First off, wanted to give you all a Maylin update from her lab results, since some are asking.

Both tests came back clear...so no pin worms...nothing yucky goin' on in her insides.  That's good! 

Her typical late morning post-breakfast place to fall asleep:)

So our next move?  I will feel more at ease once we take a little trip to FW to her surgeon.  He performed her umbilical surgery when she was 2 weeks old in the NICU.  Underneath her cutie belly button is her incision site, and a gathering of cartilage in between.  Part of me thinks it could be pulling at her skin, so maybe that's why she does what she does? And another part of me thinks she just does it for a simple soothing sensation.  But I do not think she is showing us an Autistic trait. As a baby, she is completely different from Isaac and a lot more "with it"...so we aren't leaning towards that.  Which is a great thing!! 

Anybody watch the show Parenthood?  It's become a new favorite show of mine. I'm intrigued with the family with the boy that has Asperger's. The mother of the boy is pregnant with another baby, and they just had an ultrasound on the last show and decided to know the sex.  She was terrified at the thought of having another boy, knowing the chances of having another child with Autism disorder is a lot higher in siblings and boys. When they told her it was a baby girl...the relief on her face was incredible! Pretty sure that hit the spot and watching that moment gave me a piece of mind too.  Hey if it's from a TV show...that's ok with me:)

So that's where we're at with that. Thanks to all those that have prayed about Maylin and what we would find out!

And tomorrow.... is the big day for my Mystery Belated Birthday Date/Getaway! I'm very ready! Still no clue as to where we're going...but I'll keep you all clued in as much as I will be on facebook:) 

The only things I know?  We're taking Kahler and Maylin along...and it's 2 nights instead of 1 night. So I'm clueless! Oh and he said to bring swimsuits....so I'm guessing a hotel room somewhere now. But that's it!  How do I pack for something like this?!:) I know we're not going "out out" with having both kids...so that kinda helps. 

Sooo....make sure you help me make my random decisions as we're going on facebook tomorrow!

Adios people!

1st Wedding Makeup Post!!

Lately, my big passion is doing makeup on women for their special occasions:  weddings, proms, special dates, etc.  I absolutely love it!  I've been an Independent Mary Kay consultant for 6 years.  I used to be really big into doing all of the parties and all that before kids.  Now I just don't have the time to do what I used to.  However, I love meeting with women one on one and getting the chance to personally do a look for them, especially for fun occasions.

So last weekend I had the honor of doing my friend, Leah's makeup for her big day...along with all of her bridesmaids including one of my besties:)  It was a ton of fun "transforming" these girls into a great look for the day.  As they got their hair done I worked on the girls inbetween so we were able to get a couple before and after shots...my favorite!

Here's one of the bridesmaids (and my amazing friend:)), Angie, getting her hair done...and a before picture....

And after!  Minus her lip liner....(I got on her for that!:))  She looks awesome!

Working on bridesmaid, Amanda.....

and Amanda after...she wears dark lipstick really great....loved how it turned out!

And onto the bride!! Before....

And after! 

All of the ladies....I wish I had pics of her sister (far right) but we didn't get them=/  They all looked great! 

And the beautiful bride....you looked amazing, Leah!  Thank you for the opportunity to trust me with your look on your wedding day!

Hopefully we'll see some formal wedding shots of Leah in the near future to show off more of her makeup, and see the bridemaids in their chocolate brown dresses.  I'll be sure to post them when they do:)

And as always, remember me for your next special occasion! (referrals are great!)  I would love to be doing this a lot more often!