March is Blooming!

Just wanted to share a few pictures from the last couple weeks of the gorgeous flowering trees in the area. My mom was in town for Emily's musical and we went into DC 2 days and got some beautiful pictures. Enjoy!

Isn't he the cutest little guy ever???

Gorgeous magnolia trees blooming!

Grammy at the WWII memorial.

WWII memorial. Each state has it's own pillar & wreath.

Cherry blossoms are beginning to bloom!

Family Update!

We have now been in Virginia for over 6 months. In many ways, it feels like we've been here a lot longer, but in other ways, it feels like we're still in Minnesota! Kinda crazy. I have to remind myself every once and awhile that family doesn't live 10 minutes away, that church is not on Saturday nights, and that PTA isn't on the first Thursday of the month. For those we aren't in close contact with, I wanted to just give an update on what we are all up to.

Beau: He continues his job as an neurophysiologist, monitoring nerve activity during surgeries. His work schedule is very different each week, and we typically find out his schedule the day before. He spends a lot of time in the truck, driving to the different hospitals in the area. Traffic is HORRIBLE out here, so that would probably be his greatest frustration with the job. He is taking a certification exam on Saturday, which will provide more opportunities in the future as well. He is on a volleyball team that plays once a week, and also enjoys working out at the gym.

Kate: I am still enjoying being a stay-at-home mom, taking care of the house and our kiddos. Tuesday mornings are a Bible Study that I look forward to going to each week. I also greatly enjoy our Moms Night Out one evening a month, and really like the Reese's® Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake Cheesecake  that comes with it! There are 7 moms in the group, and it's fun to bounce stuff off each other and to have some mom social time while the kids play! I've also been spending some time working on the kids scrapbooks, and am only 3 years and 2 months behind. Lots to do all the time, but I enjoy the creative outlet.

Emily: It's been an interesting few months for Em. She has been greatly achieving at school, and we are soooo happy that things are looking up academically for her. Reading has always been a challenge for her and she has grown with leaps and bounds. This afternoon, she choose to read instead of do anything else! Last weekend, she was invited over to a girlfriends house, and we were ecstatic! Friendships are being formed, and there are more smiles on Em's face these days. She participated in a color guard class after school, and is now enjoying a knitting class, which she says is a fun chat fest. My girl is growing up too fast! Here's a little video of her practicing with the flag.

Annabelle: Our Bellie is enjoying life as Bellie does! She's had a few struggles with reading as well, but is getting some additional help and seems to be doing better. Her teacher things it will kick in soon and there will be no more issues. Her favorite part of school is PE and recess...a girl after her daddy's heart! She loves playing outside and keeps hoping for snow. She is also hoping to lose a tooth soon, but they all seem to be cemented in. We are currently working with a responsibility chart, and it has helped to keep Belle on track and to get things done. She is still as little as ever, but has now hit 39 lbs and is excited that she's getting big!

Andy: Our little guy is not so little any more. He is talking up a storm, finally, and has picked up on a lot from the girls. One of his favorites is, "NEVER!" I love how kids learn to use the words appropriately, too! He also enjoys my Bible study, playing with all the new toys each week and his little friends. He's getting to the stage that he doesn't like clothes, and has been known to run around the house in his diaper, with his light saber attached on the side! He also enjoys skyping with his best friends Jonny, David and Auntie.

We are looking forward to Spring Break, and hopefully a visit from some family! We're also wanting to get into DC more and check out the sights, including the Cherry Blossoms in March. We have loved the weather, with many days in the 50s, and possible 70s later this week...that we can definitely get use to.

Love you all and hugs to our family and friends in MN! We miss you all!

Emily's Valentine's Party!

January was a long month. We'd returned from a great trip to MN, and didn't have much to look forward to in February. Emily and I were talking one day, and she was mentioning that she didn't really have any good friends at their "new" school. (We switched the girls in November to a different school for academic reasons.) We talked about ways to get to know the other girls better, and how to be a good friend. It was so hard to hear Emily talk about feeling alone, and that no one liked her. I wanted to march into her classroom and straighten out those silly girls! But I had to be a proper mom and come up with a solution.

A few days later, I had a brilliant idea: invite all the girls from Em's class to our house for a Valentines Party! I thought about it a bit more and began to formulate some plans in my head, as well as on Pinterest. I talked with Em and she thought it was a great idea, so we picked a date and gave out invitations to the 10 girls in her class.

All week they had been talking about it, and Em was loving that more girls were becoming her friends. Yesterday, 7 girls from Emily's class came over for the party. They all loved her room and thought her loft bed was "so cool!"

Here's a few things that we did:

We decorated votive candles with ribbon, stickers and conversation hearts.

The girls played Freeze Dance to some fun Taylor Swift songs. If you haven't watched 4th grade girls dance, you are missing out! They are crazy!! Super fun to watch them try to freeze in the middle of a move, too!

Then it was time for the food:

♥ cut-out cupcakes

Candied Marshmallows

Pretzel Kisses

Cream Cheese Mints

After getting the girls sugared up, we played some stacking games with big and small conversation hearts. Who could stack the most, who was the fastest stacker...fun to see how the girls worked to get the stack made. Some quickly, but then quickly failed, while the girl who won the most was slow and steady!

The girls seemed to have a great time, and Emily did too. I was really glad that we were able to have the party and that so many of the girls were able to make it. Now we're hoping that it translates into some better friendships at school too!

Lasagna Soup

While cruising around on Pinterest, I found a couple recipes that sounded really good and different from the regular meals I make: Lasagna Soup. I then found a "lighter" version of it by Paula Deen's boys. I worked off the lighter version, and made some modifications. Their original recipe can be found here: The Deen Brothers. The recipe I've listed below includes most of their version, with my changes included. If you decide to make it, let me know what you think, and if you make any changes of your own, let me know that as well. I'm always looking for ways to improve already good food!

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons olive oil

3/4 pound Italian sausage, casings removed

1/2 white onion, chopped
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 (32-ounce) container chicken broth
1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can petite diced tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups egg noodles (measured loosely dry, before adding)
2 tsp Italian seasoning
3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions:

Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large nonstick saucepot or Dutch oven. Add the sausage, onion, and garlic. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the sausage is crumbled and browned, 8 – 10 minutes.

Add the broth, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, Italian seasoning and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the flavors are blended, about 20 minutes. Add the noodles; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the soup thickens slightly and the noodles are tender, 10 – 12 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in mozzarella, and the Parmesan. 

Serve with the french bread. 

Happy Birthday, Beka!

Yesterday was my niece Beka's 7th birthday. She had a great day: Feed My Starving Children, Happy Meal and Playland for lunch, and rollerblading at RollerGarden's Christian Music Night. I wish we would have been in MN to celebrate with her; it sounded like an awesome day!

I remember January 21, 2005. I was honored to be with my sister in the delivery room. She had 2 fairly easy births with her boys, and we all figured the 3rd would make it's appearance quickly. It didn't quite happen that way! Amanda called me earlier in the day, as her water had "kind of" broken, and after a few hours of contractions we all headed to the hospital. I remember sitting in her room, just waiting, while nothing was really gong on. We played cards, and then our mom and I headed down to get some food in the cafeteria...then we got a call...the Pitocin had kicked in and a baby was coming!

My sister and brother-in-law didn't know what the baby was, and after "it" was born, the doctor said, "It's a girl!!" To which my sister said, "Are you sure?" We were all super excited to have another baby girl in the family! Rebekah Elisabeth joined our family that day. She was a chunky little baby, with the cutest, most squeezable thighs around! She's grown into a spunky, high-energy girl who's smile can brighten up the room. She's got a big heart, and a caring spirit. We love you Beka!!! And hope that you have an awesome 7th year!

Here's my sweet Beba at about 6 months old!

And here she is, just 3 weeks shy of 7 years old!

Happy Birthday, Andy!

On this day, 3 years ago, we welcomed our 3rd child into the world. I was blessed with another easy delivery; after 2 pushes he appeared! Andy Cole Ellis made his first appearance at 11:42pm, weighing 6lb 15oz and 20 3/4 inches long (our biggest baby!!) He was an excellent baby. Nursed well, and slept well, though he didn't sleep through the night until he was 10 months old! His big sisters were so in love with him, and I'm happy to report that 3 years later, they still love the little guy!

Andy constantly brings smiles to our faces. He is all boy and loves fire trucks, construction trucks, Cars 2, boats, monster trucks, airplanes and pretty much anything else with wheels or wings! Though he has been known to play My Little Pony with Belle and Barbies with Em. He loves play dough and moon dough, painting and coloring. He also loves the DVDs from the library, like Mighty Machines and John Deere.

He is quick to give a hug when someone is hurting, and kisses are given freely. We love this little guy, and can't imagine our lives without him!

Here's a few picts from his first 3 years:

Minutes after he was born.

1st Birthday

2nd Birthday

3rd Birthday

Wordless Wednesday: Christmas in MN

The kids and I were super excited to spend 17 days in MN around the girls break from school. We so loved seeing friends and family and spending a lot of quality time together. This will be just a brief snapshot of all we did, as my camera was not along at everything, like getting together with my PTA girls!!

Here's a few of my favorite pictures!

Holidazzle Parade in downtown Minneapolis!

We HAD to go to the Mall of America! The kids tried on these adorable hats!

They also did Build-a-Bear from Grammy! Uncle Wheels came to MOA too!

Christmas Eve we were with Beau's family up at his brother's house, and I forgot my camera at my mom's house so I don't have any picts from that. Kids had a great time playing with their 5 boy cousins and mom had some good talk time with the in-laws!

Christmas Morning!

You'll notice that the stockings do not say their names on them. I forgot to pack their stockings so we used mine, my sis and bros from when we were kids. My Grandma Becker made 2 of the 3 of them. Good thing we were 2 girls and one boy also!

The Cousin Invasion!!!

Emily & Grammy made a Happy Birthday, Jesus cake!

We love the MN Children's Museum! Can you find Emily?

New Year's Eve at Como Zoo

We wanted to celebrate New Year's Eve with the kids, but obviously, were not going to let them stay up till midnight. My brilliant sister found that Como Zoo has a countdown...at noon!! We made hats, and they had a beachball drop at noon with all the kids getting to take a ball home. Lots of fun!

We celebrated Andy's 3rd birthday with the family on Jan 1.

Our Jan 1st tradition for many years has been to fondue! Lots of fun!

We went rollerblading 2x and had an awesome time!

Belle was a little speedy girl on blades!

On the last morning, we went to Cabela's.

Definitely the hardest part of the trip was leaving...many tears were shed by all.

We had such an amazing time with my sister, her kids and my mom. We've missed them a lot since moving to VA. I think this goodbye was harder than the first since we're not sure when we'll see eachother again, and since we now know what it's like to not have eachother close by. Skype is fun, talking on the phone is fun, but it is just not the same. Love you guys!!!!