Grandma Fiechter

Joni, Kinzie, & Gma

Today is Grandma Maxine Fiechter's birthday! YAY! Happy Birthday, Gramma! (as if she looks at this...we have yet to talk her into getting internet...)

We just think she is awesome! Grandma is the type of person to do anything she possibly can for you. She has babysat my boys countless times - I can't explain how much I appreciate that! When I first explain that I have something going on she'll almost always ask, "Can I keep the boys for you?" Not only is she always willing, but she'll usually offer too! I used to have to turn her down on her offer just to give others the chance to have the boys! ;) She loves having the family in and is an amazing cook! I truly think I got my desire to cook from her. When Nick and I were newly married we'd go to her house once a week for supper! Now and then, one of us will find a new recipe to try (like Olive Garden's recipes, yum!) and we'll get all the ingredients and go to her house to cook it! It is so much fun and I am really enjoying the memories we are making! She has also been teaching me so much about flower gardening and giving me lots of good tips.

Thanks grandma, for everything you have done for our family! You are greatly loved and appreciated! God has surely blessed us to have a grandma like you!

In addition to grandma's birthday, my sweet little niece, Kinzie just celebrated her first birthday! We had a party for her here last weekend. Here are some pics from the evening!

Isn't her cupcake cake so cute!?! Jason and Joni did such a good job!

Here is Kinzie licking her cake...She really wasn't all that interested!

This picture is of Kinzie playing with the stroller Brad's and us got her! She loves it! ;)

And of course, she got a ride in it herself too! Mason and Carter loved it so much, we thought about buying them one too! Daddy didn't think that was a good idea! ;)

Happy Birthday to Kinz too! Love you sweetie!

The.........Incident.....

Well, on Friday evening we invited our good friends, Michael, Jane & Deacon Reinhard over for the evening. We do this occasionally and we usually enjoy a good game of Ticket to Ride.

Well this evening we decided to play Monopoly Deal instead. (this is a great card game!) We had great fun, although the guys were mad at Jane and I the whole time for talking too much...but oh well!!

Midway through the game we began to talk about crepes! Yum! Michael (being the great man that he is :) ) had made Jane and I crepes at about midnight last week while working on the DD4. (see Jane's post about weight gain during the DD4...hmmm...wonder why?! ) So.....we got hungry for them again! Michael so graciously whipped up a batch for us again!

Here is Michael making crepes, and Jane assembling them...
Notice the plate on the bottom left burner???

Still noticing the plate on the bottom left burner??

Notice the plate...broken...on the carpet....hot!?!?! and Jane in utter panic and disbelief!!!
Also, notice that Michael graciously kept working on those crepes...

So - the story is that with our crepes we decided to heat up some smok-y links too. Well - the wrong burner got turned on (or both - we really aren't sure what happened!) and the plate got heated up too! I should add that Michael kept telling Jane and I, "I smell something burning..." "Hey, do you girls smell something burning?" "Okay, I'm really smelling something..."

Michael - WHY didn't we listen to you???

So, Jane finally noticed that the plate was hot when she tried to move it a little. Then all of a sudden we heard a crack, saw pieces of a plate flying and of course, heard a famous scream out of Jane. (which then caused me to scream...sound familiar, Clint/Amy?) ;) At this point I thought, "Oh, hilarious! This will make a great blog post! So I run for the camera, (not the hot plate on my carpet!) {but I did get a great picture of Jane, huh?}

This is the end result - a scar on my carpet!

Can you even see both of them?

Of course, the rest of the evening - Jane felt terrible (it probably wasn't even her fault) and I had to convince her that I will still be her friend and that I am not mad at her!! No worries - it only added character! ;)

Thanks Michael and Jane for spending the evening with us! There is always excitement with you two! ;) We can't wait till we can do it again!

Pampered Chef

An Open Invitation...
As most of you bloggers may already know, Jenna Stoller is now a Pampered Chef consultant! I am so excited for her, and will be hosting her first party/show!

WHEN: Monday May 18th, 2009 at 6:00pm (lite supper)

WHERE: @ our new house - 444 Elm Grove Rd

WHY: I am hosting this party to help Jenna out - get her started and get her name out there! (of course the free/reduced price stuff is enticing! BUT - I certainly am not doing this for the free stuff. With that said, those of you who choose to come, please do not feel obligated to buy something. Their products are awesome, but I just really don't want anyone to feel like they have to buy something ;) .

So - now that we have the "disclaimer" out of the way....If there is anyone out there that knows they need a pampered chef item and can't come to my party - please give me a call or post a comment here and I'll be sure to get your items ordered Monday evening!! You'll need all the latest cooking utensils for when the famous Dutch Delight 4 breaks out sometime in the next 2 months!! Thanks a million!

Congratulations, Nick!

He did it!!!!!!!

After 4 years, 8 semesters, 6 summer sessions, and countless hours spent studying.....Nick is now a graduate of IPFW (with distiniction, if I can toot his horn a little! He is going to ream me!!) and has a double major in Accounting and Finance with a minor in Math!!! Way to go, babe!

If you can tell - he is the 4th one in on the bottom row...I'll try to fix this later...

Will we have more schooling in our future? Will IPFW be seeing a lot more of our $$ AND of Nick??? Only God knows at this point and we are both comfortable with whatever he leads us to...Right now 'the plan' is for Nick to work at Lincoln Financial Group in Fort Wayne as an Actuary (*see below for an explanation of an actuary...b/c I'm sure if you are like me...you have no clue what it is!). He is excited and slightly nervous - so please keep him in your prayers at the beginning of next week as he plans to start work on Monday the 18th.

Look closely...See any problems?? Nick hasn't noticed yet!

Although school is over for Nick, studying is NOT. Actuaries are required to take a series of (really, really, hard) tests. Nick is on number 4 of 9 (which he will be taking on Friday).

Nick, Congratulations!! I am so proud of all of your accomplishments and I will continue to stand by your side through all this studying! I love you so much ~ I praise God for the wisdom he has given you ~ not only academically, but spiritually as well. We are blessed! I am so thankful to have a husband as driven as you are! Love you!

**ARG! I did not type this in this large font...but I can't get it to go away and it is 2:50 am...(I'm petrified of storms...so this is my new coping tool!) I'm going back to bed now! ;)

*An actuary is a business professional who deals with the financial impact of risk and uncertainty. Actuaries have a deep understanding of financial security systems, their reasons for being, their complexity, their mathematics, and the way they work Actuaries evaluate the likelihood of events and quantify the contingent outcomes in order to minimize losses, both emotional and financial, associated with uncertain undesirable events. (copied from Wikipedia)

Happy Mothers Day!

Yes, I am still here! I have been extremely busy juggling the new house, finals week for Nick, the Dutch Delight 4, and two children with ear infections! But, I thought I'd take some time out tonight to post about Mothers Day.

I LOVE being a mom. It is the most amazing and rewarding job ever! I feel unbelievably blessed with my two children. They bring so much joy and love to my life. I just tucked Carter in and we talked about Mothers Day and what it means. Yes, it brought tears -- lots of them. Yes, it brings me down. No, it isn't much easier than the first year... (for those of you who don't know, I lost my mom on Christmas Eve 2007 in a terrible car accident)

I try to focus more on my journey as a mother, and not as being motherless. God has blessed me beyond imagination with 2 children and I am so grateful for that. And, I am thankful for the 22 years I had with my mom. So often, Satan can get me sad and angry because of the short time I had with her, but then I think of those children who never knew their moms. But I did - for 22 wonderful years. So, tomorrow I am going to try to remain as grateful as I can - instead of being sad and angry - I am going to do my best to celebrate my mom's life, and not dwell on her death.

(Whoa...this is so much harder to write than when I had thought it out in my mind.)

I really am not sure why I am writing this in my blog. I guess I felt like I needed to get it out. And I realized on Friday at Potluck how people are clueless about how to react around me. The subject of mothers came up and suddenly the conversation got awkward and silent. I couldn't fix it - it was sad for me...But I don't want to rob my friends of the joy of talking about their moms.

So I guess I kinda want to take this time to thank everyone again for your many prayers and your extreme love and consideration that you have shown me. Going through the loss of my mother has not been easy, but it sure has helped having so many Godly friends (and family) by my side.

I am not looking for sympathy from this post. Maybe continued prayers - we could always use those! ;) Thanks for listening and sorry there are no pictures...I thought about posting a picture of my mom - but this post took me so long to work through that I am too tired to add a picture! Maybe someday I'll put one up on my sidebar....We'll see.

A big Happy Mothers Day to all you moms out there! And - to those of you who no longer have your mom...well I understand. My prayers of comfort will be with you.

Another thing to think about would be those women who want so badly to be a mom - and can't. My love and prayers are with you, too.

This and That...

We are so excited to move into our house this weekend! Painting is almost OVER! One more room (Carter's room) needs painted yet, then we're finished! Woohoo! *cute story about Carter's room - we took him to the house one day and asked him what color he wanted his room and Mason's room to be painted. He responded, "Masons should be blue and I want Pink!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" To which I responded by trying and trying and trying to convince him that he DIDN'T really want pink, that it is a girl color...Didn't work...he still insisted on pink! What is a mom to do? (Finally I convinced him to be okay with blue and a little red....)

On the other hand, I took some time off from the house this past weekend b/c my poor boys were two sick pups! Mason acquired a terrible eye infection (not pink eye) and Carter came down with a horrendous cough/cold.

I probably shouldn't even post this picture...not for a weak stomach...poor little man!

I couldn't resist this picture...Nick and the boys were snuggling on the couch and Carter posed so adorably for me!

Here is Mason doing his usual....GETTING INTO EVERYTHING! I told someone today, "Yeah, I was just packing the kitchen, and Mason was unpacking!" This is when I have to stop and pray and ask the Lord to give me patience everyday!
Just came across this sweet picture... What a ham!
Mason, Carter, and Kinzie - She is the true ham! Her smile seriously makes me laugh almost everytime! I'm really not sure if it can get any bigger! What a joy!

Also, I wanted to make a shout-out to Jenna's new weight loss blog, Thirty More. Check out my blog roll to find it!

A big Happy Birthday to Uncle Brad (April 26th) and Grandpa Dave (Fiechter)
(April 27) Would you believe I actually forgot both of them until today! What a bad niece/daughter in law! Luckily, they were both merciful and forgave me! Love you both!

One more cute/sad story...Carter came up to me this morning and announced, "guess what mommy? When I turn to 4, you can't hold me anymore!" WHAT? My thinking was, Carter, are you trying to send me to a mental hospital? Are you trying to give me a heart attack/ache?
This is just one more reminder that time is fleeting...Treasure every moment with your children. Not even just with your children, but with your loved ones...

Paint, Paint, and MORE Paint!!!!!!

We have been working like crazy the past week! There have been fun times, exciting times, stressful times, busy times, stressful times, and well.....STRESSFUL TIMES! We really are enjoying this process (now that paint colors are almost picked out). I am not confident in this area!

Below are several pictures of this past week. Lynn said I wasn't allowed to put her on here....but I'm gonna do it anyway! Hope you don't mind Lynn ~ and hope you still love me after this! ;) Thanks to all of you who have helped us! We couldn't do this all with out you! Even those of you who have babysat! That is the most important job of all!

Here is Jane painting the dining/kitchen

Lynn, trimming in the dining room

This picture below was just to show how insanely high up Nick had to be to trim the living room!

Not sure why I took this one...To show the finished wall?

The kitchen is terribly messy here - but I put this on here to show you the light fixture in the kitchen. The other 3 bulbs have shades too. Keep this picture in mind for a poll (coming soon)...

This dining room fixture also has the shades that go on it. But again, I'm going to ask for opinions later...

Here is my amazing hubby, hard at work! He is an excellent painter! Love you, babe!

So here are our family members this morning moving our appliances for us. We kept our black appliances from the Williams street house and had to move them to the Elm Grove house. Today, my dad, Nick's dad, Chase, Josh, Uncle Ryan, and Uncle Brad helped us move a total of 12 appliances back and forth. (2 freezers, 2 fridges, 2 microwaves, 2 dishwashers, 2 stoves, a washer and a dryer!) Whew! This was hard work! THANKS A MILLION, GUYS! Also, thanks to Dad & Tami for keeping our boys overnight and this morning so that we could do all this! And of course to Lynn for helping me clean up!

If you can even tell, this is Josh and Chase in the trailer with the freezers. I have to tell you how crazy they are...So they are supposed to be keeping things safe back there - I looked up once and saw them getting into the box of freezer food pulling out popsicles and eating them on the way to the new house! You guys are nuts! But fun too!

Here is Nick and Brad working on the dishwasher. THIS was a hard job! Thanks so much, Brad! You are so talented!

I must say the picture below was taken during one of the most stressful times...We had measured our refridgerater and thought it was going to fit fine....It was a VERY tight squeeze, but we finally made it! Whew!Look at these macho men!

Can you tell that getting this picture of Nick and my dad was like pulling teeth? (It could have something to do with me saying, "Okay hug up real close for a picture!") Apparently "Men don't hug like that, JEss!"

Well, a lot of work has been done, but there is still more to come! Come back for more pictures soon! If you will, pray for us and those who help us that we can all stay safe and accident free on MOVE DAY! The plan is to move in and sleep there the first night on May 2nd!

SOLD!

After many months of waiting and hoping, our house is finally sold...



AND.....Our new house is purchased! YAY!


A huge thanks is in order for Jodi Holloway! Nick and I are convinced that she is the best! She kept us VERY informed, talked us through many, many tough decisions and wasn't EVER pushy! If any of you are ever in need of a realtor, call Jodi or Jody Holloway! They are with Coldwell Banker 824-1700 or see their website www.justthinksold.com

More pictures and info to come!

Prom

Prom has come and gone for another year. I just love seeing what kinds of dresses are "in" each year. When I was in high school, it was definitely bright colors, always long, and usually "poofy".

Times have changed....This year I saw very little "poofyness", multi-colored dresses, and short dresses.

Well, my sister-in-law, Kara, asked Joni and I to do her hair this year, so I became even more interested! Although I am thankful that I am no longer in that stage of life, I enjoyed watching Kara experience it. Here are some pics of the day!

Isn't she just gorgeous?

As Kara and I were finished her hair, Dad called and said, "Hey Kara, what time are you leaving, I want to get a picture with you!" Go Dad! That was so sweet!

Kara & Denny (just friends ;) )

Carter thought Aunt Kara was "really pretty"!

Wondering about the bandaid?? Well....You won't believe what I did! You know those string things they put on dresses so they hang better? Well, as I was cutting it off....Yep. Snipped some skin too! HOW AWFUL! Of course, she screamed....I cried...She forgave me. Sorry Kara!


And of course, I had to be nosey and see Josh off too! What a handsome man!


If you could see a little closer you would see his beautiful blue eyes! They really popped out in this picture!

Josh & Megan (again, friends)

Hope you all had fun! I'm thankful that you all had a safe evening!

And...just for fun, this is Nick & I at Nick's senior prom 2005. (It is a little fuzzy and I didn't have time to mess with it enough to make it bigger...)

ME? Blogging?

I always said I wasn't going to start a blog. My husband didn't really want me to...but here I am! (Sorry honey!) I am creating this blog purely for enjoyment. Therefore, I hereby proclaim that my pictures will NOT look professional, WILL be fuzzy and pretty terrible at times, and I may only ever post once. So, let's see where this goes! (Keep in mind, I have NO CLUE what I am doing!) ;)

But to start off - I'm going to post about my two little guys, Carter & Mason. They are 3 and 1. I LOVE my children soooooo much! I also love being a mom and a wife!

This is a picture of the boys in their "christmas pajamas". (I'm thinking Carter had just finished crying!)

As I am typing this Carter came up and looked at this picture and said, "Awww! That is a cute picture! My face looks good!" Hmm...Do you think maybe we need a lesson in being humble?