Sean's Transformation

13 weeks ago, Sean entered a body transformation contest at Gold's Gym. He had been wanting to lose some weight, and this contest was just the motivation he needed. Today was the final day of the contest! At the start of the contest, we took "before" pictures and today we took the "after" pictures. What a difference! He lost 42 pounds and 10 inches from his waist! I am so proud of him. He worked so hard! I will let everyone know if he wins the contest!

Last week....

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. I guess we have been kind of busy. So we did a lot last week.... I took the kids to the library, we had a picnic and some play time at the park, and we went to Syracuse. Sean converted the new truck to run on veggie during spring break, so we drove it to Syracuse last Sunday and it ran great! That was a real blessing!

At the library

Ella fell asleep in the stroller on the way to the park, so Iain and I had a nice picnic lunch together while Ella slept.

After lunch, Iain wanted to throw rocks in the pond.... only the biggest rocks would do. He spent about an hour and a half throwing rocks in the water. At one point I saw him trying to pick up a real heavy one, he ended up rolling it with his feet until it rolled into the water.

Ella just sat, watched and played with her feet.

At Grandma and Grandpa Campbell's house, Iain drove his truck around with the neighbor kids. In that neighborhood, your not cool if you don't have a "power wheels"!

Ella in the bath tub. Isn't she cute! She will hate me for this when she's 12!

Train loads of fun!

I spent the better part of an hour getting Iain's train track set up today. He had been asking me to do it for quite some time. Anyone who has set up one of these tracks, with a three year old trying to help you, will know why I didn't do it after the first 30 times he asked me! I think I did a pretty good job fitting in all the toys that go with it.... 3 bridges, the "barrel depot", the "filling station". Even though it took a lot of time and patience to get it done, Iain has been playing with it ever since! He loves his trains!

Fun times

Today my good freind Kelly came for a visit with her two childern, Ethan and Anna. They have so much fun playing together. We took them to an indoor playground near my house. They ran around until they where all sweaty and tired out. Iain said his favorite part was jumping in the bounce house and Ella liked being pushed around in the little car. They both fell asleep in the car on the way home.

Boy and his truck

There is something about a truck that can make a boy of any age happy. Iain loves his truck! Grandma and Grandpa Campbell gave it to him for his birthday back in January, but kept it at their house until the weather got warmer. Today is the day we get to bring it home! Oh the excitment! A few weeks ago, I was talking to Iain about bringing the truck home when the snow melted and it got warmer. Well, a couple of days later it snowed again. Iain looked out the window that morning and started crying. I asked him what was wrong and he said "I don't like the snow cause I can't get my tru-u-u-uck!" The waiting is finally over for Iain. He is so happy that spring is here.

Boat Race

Today the "design and drawing for production" classes in Sean's School district had a boat race. Each team of kids had to design and build a boat using only milk jugs as floation. I thought it would be fun to bring the kids over to the pool this morning to watch. It was quite amusing! Some of the boats could barely stay afloat with a person on them or were to tipsey for somone to stay on easily. Iain and Ella both enjoyed the spectical! None of the students in Sean's classes won the tournament due to some unfortunate circumstanes. Several students from another class damaged most of the boats the day before the race ruining many of the teams' chances of winning. I hope that we can raise our childern in a way that teaches them to have respect for others and is pleaseing to God so we will never have to worry about them doing something so mean to someone else. Dispite the savatage of the boats, everyone seemed to have a good time.

Sitting

Ella sat by herself for the first time today! I put the boppy pillow around her incase she tiped over while I was taking pictures, but she didn't really need it. She was very content to sit there for a good half hour playing with Iain's hammer and toy ketchup bottle. After all that sitting, she needed a nap! I layed her in her crib and she went right to sleep.

Out for a stroll

Yesterday was the first time this year I had gotten the kids out for a walk in the stroller. We walked over to the park near our house. It was a short but fun trip. Ella had gotten a little over tired and cranky. But Iain had a good time playing on the jungle gym and running around with some other kids that were there. He always manages to find someone to play with. At one point I saw him running away from a little girl yelling "You can't catch me!" then turning around to see if she was chasing him. So cute.

Sweet silence

Today was a busy day for me and the kids. This afternoon we drove to the frameshop where I work (25 minute drive one way) to get my paycheck. After that we stopped at the bank. We ate lunch at Wegman's, which is right across the street from the doctor's office where Ella had an appointment at 2:20. Her 6 month visit with the doctor went well. She now weighs 17 1/2 pounds and is 28 inchs long. She was such a good little patient, even after getting 2 shots (poor baby). After her appointment, we went back to Wegman's to do some grocery shopping. By the time we got home, the kids were exhausted and it was almost dinner time. I put Ella down for a nap and Iain fell asleep on the couch while he was watching a video (which never happens). So I got to make dinner in peace, Sean and I ate together without interruption and the silence while we were eating was nice for a change.

Little friends

Today was a beautiful taste of spring. We went to church this morning. Then had a slow afternoon of not doing much. The perfect Sunday really. In the evening, our friends Ryan and Bree Swain came over with their kids Abbot and Arie. We walked to a near by pizza shop for some dinner (both of us pushing our huge double strollers) and enjoyed the sunshine on the way. After dinner, we came back home and got a couple of cute shots of our baby girls together. They are only 6 weeks apart in age and we are convinced that they are going to be best friends some day. They love to look at each other and touch each other. So cute! Before we know it, they will be texting each other on their cell phones, talking about boys and going to the mall! If only they could stay little.

Fun at Bomma and Papa's house

Today I worked at the frameshop in Syracuse. Sean had quite a bit of work to do at home cleaning up our new camper and truck. So I brought the kids with me and dropped them off at my parent's house for the day. Iain and Ella both love playing at Bomma and Papa's!

"It's like Optimus Prime"

Last night we took a drive out to Niagara Falls to pick up this Chevy diesel we just bought. We have big plans of converting it to run on waste veggie oil like our Mercedes......this one is plenty capable of hauling our new 19' camper though. So we drove it home last night and Iain is very happy because he found out that this truck is really Optimus Prime (The blue tractor-trailor leader of the Trans-formers). He woke up this morning and immediately wanted to go to the window to see how Optimus was doing! HA!

Welcome

Hello everyone! I have set up this blog in hopes to keep you all clued in on what's going on in our family. The kids are growing so fast and I don't want you to miss it (especially those we don't get to see very often). I haven't been doing a very good job of taking pictures lately. Hopefully, this will get me on the ball! Check back often!

My big boy. Iain is 3 years old now. He's not a baby anymore.... where has the time gone? His favorite things are, doing puzzles, watching videos and playing with his cousins (or anyone who will play with him).

My sweet baby girl. She is only 6 months old and I already can't imagine my life without her. her favorite things are, laughing at her brother, eating and chewing on toys. Iain is such a good big brother. He always loves to make her laugh.

On Wednesday Ella had sweet potatoes for the first time. Yummy! She loved them!

And while Ella had her sweet potatoes, Iain had his favorite lunch.... "dino chickens" (chicken nuggets shaped like dinosaurs).

Ella just started crying. See more later!