could life be better?

i don't think it is possible. i am here at home, laying on the couch, watching the thursday night line up on nbc (30 rock currently), drinking lemonade and eating godiva truffles. and all three children are sleeping. hooray. life is good...

more b-day fun

sunday we had a small celebration at the kellers for jomi's b-day. sadie and dustin were not there as they were still on their honeymoon, however, kate joined us. hooray for kate! she puts up with chris and now the rest of our family, too.

shut down

after the wedding on saturday evening, argyll's revenge played a concert at church. ben and chris left quickly after the dinner to go to the church and i waited at home until grandma and grandpa came over to watch the boys. the boys love spending time with grandma and grandpa, and patiently awaited their arrival while sitting on the front porch. the first is really one of my favorite pictures.





here are some additional pictures of the band playing. the band really wanted to play outside, which did result in some good publicity as there are a lot of college students nearby. however, we had some other visitors. i was going to say "unexpected" visitors but really, when a band plays outside at 9:00 pm, you kind of expect the police to come. ben even changed the lyrics he was singing to "the cops are coming" where normally it would be "mimi's coming" as the first cruiser pulled up. so worth it.

climbing walls

jonas is growing up, literally. this is one of my favorite things to watch him do. and he has to do it at least 10 times per day. pretty impressive, i think.

the happy couple

in addition to the excitement this past weekend of jonas turning 5, sadie and dustin got married on saturday! it was a beautiful day for the occassion. our families met at the montour trail and saw sadie and dustin wed near the creek. it was a lovely ceremony, despite the boys playing in the dirt much of the time. caldwell took some amazing pictures that sadie has posted already on facebook, but i wanted to add some of ours as well. it was wonderful to be with sadie and dustin. following the ceremony, we all had dinner together at the gran canal caffe. here are a few pictures of sadie and dustin's special day.

happy birthday to jomi

today is jomi's birthday, i can't believe it's true. 5 years old! going to kindergarten in just a few months. we have been celebrating for the last couple days because it is oh so fun to do so. we went to red robin for dinner yesterday and then to the park. today i took the day off work and took jonas out to breakfast and then to the mall. ben then took him to chuck-e-cheese and then tonight we had cake and ice cream. and yes, the cake is pink with pink icing- that's what he wanted.

confession. so jonas' birthday is really tomorrow. yes, tomorrow. however, sadie is getting married tomorrow and we are having a dinner in the evening that is adults only. so, we have been telling jonas his birthday is today. he doesn't know. is lying condoned in this situation? i think so. this way we can totally and completely focus on him today.

alas, here is a slide show of our fun today and yesterday. also, i had to post some pictures of jonas over the last couple years.

1/2 year gone by

porter is 6 months old as of yesterday. it is hard to believe that he was born 1/2 year ago! time does fly. porter is a wonderful little guy- by far, my most happy and mellow baby. he is now getting his 5th and 6th teeth. He still hasn't figured how to laugh out loud, but he squeaks a bit. he is holding his own bottle and just looks at me with such a wonderful smile and look in his eyes. gosh, i love that kid. here are just a couple pictures of portie, one in his high chair and one with daddy.

happy easter!

having children makes easter so much more fun! i have really been enjoying all the festivities- the egg dying, the easter egg hunt, buying easter outfits, taking pictures, and spending time with family and friends. we went the kellers' ward today which also happens to be our old ward and my best friend carrie's ward. what fun. i enjoyed the talks and the spirit especially of our relief society lesson. easter is a enjoyable time, but it is also the time to remember our savior's resurrection. and for that, i am especially grateful. in addition, we had a delicious dinner with my family out in cranberry. here are some of my favorite pictures of our easter fun.

my boys

here are some easter pics of the boys i had to post separately. whenever this kiddos drive me crazy, all i have to do is take a look at their adorable faces. what cuties.

april showers...

do not bring may flowers when they are snow flakes. what the heck? is it not april 7th??? it has been snowing on and off all day. and to tell you the truth, i love it. i love the snow. it is beautiful. but it is unusual to see snow on blossoming trees.

i am listening to the acoustic strains of argyll's revenge in my dining room. it is a soothing way to end the day. i love it when the band practices here. i try to make it to all the shows, but having 3 little boys can really get in the way. i am so happy that ben is able to be in the band and do something he loves. and i adore being a groupie.

today was a long day at work. in fact, i just got home about an hour ago. what is happening to my beloved st. margaret's hospital? i had 3 psych cases within 2 hours of each other. crazy. i am back in the emergency room again after completing a 2 1/2 month stint on the oncology unit. i missed my boys today, but look forward to spending some quality time with them this upcoming weekend. the weekends are far too short and the weekdays too long. but weekends definitely motivate me to make it through the week.

alas, i am off to bed, but wanted to post some thoughts. good night, and good luck.

mimi's coming

a must see. this is argyll's revenge. their first video. filmed in our home. with our dog. awesome. what else can i say. watch and enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RByzpNF3pIE

upcoming events

for all you argyll's revenge fans out there, here is the information for the next two shows in which the band will be performing. also, please note that they have a group on facebook and on myspace. the facebook page is legit, but the myspace page is still under development.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Argylls-Revenge/61152629310?ref=nf

http://www.myspace.com/argyllsrevenge

Event:Rocking The Rex
Time:Friday, April 24, 2009 at 7:00pm
Location:Rex Thearter
Street: 1602 E Carson St
City/Town: Pittsburgh, PA

"Rocking out and changing lives in the same night...yes, we are that good"

Event:Night of Rock
Time: Friday, May 29, 2009 at 9:00pm
Location: Bloomfield Bridge Tavern
Street: 4412 Liberty Ave
City/Town: Pittsburgh, PA

"21 and over at the BBT. Only five dollars to get in the door and be knocked out with rock. If you can keep still it's your fault, not ours"

ysa conference

i know i am not single in the least. in fact, i am feeling a bit old after this weekend. argyll's revenge was asked to play the ysa (young single adult) conference in west virginia on friday. what a fabulous time!!! it was so much fun to listen to the music, dance, and hang out with friends. i admit, the most fun was probably the car ride there and back. in our van was chris and sara, matt, and ben and me. chris, colin, and rachel drove separately. i have not laughed so much in a long time! and we stopped at texas roadhouse (one of my favorite restaurants) on the way. they have the best steak and rolls with honey butter. what a wonderful time! thanks, kate, for letting the guys play! and a huge, gigantic thank you to sadzie and beth-beth for babysitting!!!!

here are some pictures of the evening. also, i realize i had not included pics of the band when they played at shootz a couple weeks ago, so i will throw some of those in the mix! notice, too, that chris thielet, "life coach," of the band, is also in some of the pics as well as rachel, colin's beautiful fiance, who sang a song with the guys at shootz.

a big congrats-sadie and dustin

what an exciting week it has been. and here is why: first, sadie and dustin are getting married! we received a call last weekend that dustin had proposed to sadie on the incline! hooray! the big day is set for april 18th! so close, but perfect, i think. here is a picture of the happy couple.



the second exciting event occurred yesterday and today. dustin was baptized and confirmed a member of our church. many people came to the baptism and to offer support. both chris keller and chris thielet gave uplifting talks on baptism and receiving the holy ghost. it was amazing to feel the spririt so strong. dustin, we love you and welcome you, to the church and to our family!

harmonica man

ben and i love having one-on-one time with the boys and go on mini-dates with them every so often. the other day, ben took jonas to the store with him. i was home with gryffin and porter but port was sleeping. that left gryffie and i time to hang out together. i cleaned up a little, did the dishes, changed the boys' sheets, etc. and then we were going to make some yummy cookies together. right before i came downstairs, i heard a harmonica. and here is what i found.



i love that he has his hoodie up and sunglasses on. gryff is my little music man. here is a short clip of him playing.

port

when we were at the park yesterday, we ran into my friend jason who we had not seen in a few years. he took this picture of porter for us. love it. i am trying to get jason to do some family pics for us because he is quite talented. thanks jason!

walkin' on sunshine

today was the most beautiful day pittsburgh has seen in a while. and although i had to work today, we had some great family time this evening. ben and the boys picked me up from work at 4:00 pm. we went to subway for dinner and then coldstone for dessert. then we headed over to squaw valley park and had some wonderful fun in the sun. i love those boys so gosh darn much. it was nice to be out in the warm weather and all 3 boys were HAPPY, at the same time. no tears, no fights. i did not take any pictures, but really had to comment on what a great day we had. i hope you are all enjoying the weather as well.

ha ha

so, you know how when you comment on someone's blog, (something i try to do often in hopes it will encourage people to comment on my blog)... well, i digress. i just commented on my friend, johanna's blog, and the word verification- vagibox. am i the only one that thinks this is funny? it totally made me think of the snl skit with jt and andy samberg- d in a box!! speaking of a d in a box, ben still has his from our awesome friend, brian lunt. i am so sitting here giggling!

this week, in review

so, i have been slacking a bit at posting on the blog, in case you didn't notice. to be honest, i haven't even been on facebook all that much either. but i thought i would write a bit about all that has happened this last week...

ben and i had our 7th anniversary! wow, am i am old married person or what!!! i love that man and i am so happy that we have had opportunity to spend some time together and celebrate. i even gave in and went to the chinese buffet in cranberry on saturday. so not my favorite place.

jonas is now registered for kindergarten! crazy, i know. i can't believe my "baby" will be 5 years old next month and that he will be going to school in the fall. i did not work on monday so we took jonas to tour his new school- forbes elementary. he was excited to see all the kids bowling in the gymnasium and the lunch room.

ben is also registered for school. he will be starting at point park university in may for his certification to teach journalism, english, and theatre. i am very happy for him as i know this is a program that he is very excited about. life is definitely going to be busy for the next 1 1/2 years, but it will so be worth it.

porter, sweet porter, is going to be 5 months old in just 2 days. this week he got his 2 bottom teeth. he has been so dang cranky but is now a lot happier since his teeth have broken through. i so love that kid. he still amazes me at how well he sleeps and how gosh darn cute he is. here are some updated pictures- i was trying to get him to sit up but needed to help- notice my hand...

in love...with a bass

argyll's revenge played at shootz on tuesday night. here is a short video of their song "forget your worries."



i will be posting some additional pics of the band, but i had to add our "couple pictures." yes, yes, poor chris keller, but hey, he looks fine with that bass, doesn't he?