To find a cure

On Saturday we participated in the Walk to Cure Diabetes at the Mall of America. Our friends Jory and Katie have a son Eli who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes shortly after his 1st birthday. It's been almost a year since all of their lives changed dramatically and we walked in hopes that a cure can be found so Eli doesn't have to spend any more years suffering from the disease. The turnout was amazing. The walk itself was a little hectic with so many people but once things got going people dispersed and thinned out a little. We were happy to help support our friends and their little boy and will continue to do so until there is no longer a need...let's pray for a cure!

This moment is rare for Eli. He doesn't get to enjoy fruit snacks often because of his disease. Another reminder of how much is different for him than most other kids!

Lazy Day Fun

She has powers that make her able to read through direct contact with the pages :)

Sevea definitely has the right idea. I look forward to a lazy day reading in bed. Someday, someday!

Imagination at its finest

She had imagination, you'll need some here too. She took her blanket and pretended it was a car with seat belts. She sat on the blanket and then wrapped the two sides over her lap and told me they were seat belts. Then she proceeded to push herself across the floor into the kitchen. I just love how great little kids imaginations are.

Mommy's Turn

Sevea's hair had grown quite a bit since her last haircut at the end of September. So we decided to was finally time to get it cut again. But this time I took on the duty of cutting it. She still sat extremely well and all was done within a matter of minutes. We just barely trimmed the front since we are trying to grow it out but took a good inch off the back to try to help make her hair look thicker and for her hair in the front to look more apart of the whole style. I think it worked. She looks as cute as ever of course :)

Cold Weather Comfort Food

Just when we all thought spring was going to be here soon, we get dumped on with over a foot of snow. Coincidentally this happened on the same weekend that Troy decided he was craving chili. He took on the task of making chili for the first time all on his own since I was spending time scrapbooking with my gals Carissa and Katie. This was actually the firs time that either Troy or I made chili. Crazy huh! We've been married for over 7 years and never once have we made chili. (Luckily the Zimmer's invite over us sometimes and make good chili) He found a recipe online, went to the store and got all the ingredients, and cooked the chili all himself. Now I know chili isn't exactly difficult to make but a good chili recipe is sometimes hard to find. He really hit the nail on the head with this one...of course with a few additions on our part. The chili was meaty yet had beans and tomatoes we both love. It had the right amount of kick to it and also a tiny touch of sweetness. It was great! He did an excellent job and I certainly loved the fact that it made so much....pop it out of the freezer and meal is ready! He couldn't have chosen a better time to make chili, not only because the weather really made you love the chili even more, but because I had just found a recipe for nummy cornbread that we wanted to try. A high school friend of mine posted about nummy cornbread and I had to give it a try. I am a recent fan of normal cornbread I think solely because of the honey and butter I put on it. Well this cornbread is sweeter and sticks together better. All you do is take 2 boxes of Jiffy corn bread mix and one box of white/yellow cake mix. You mix everything that the boxes call for only substituting milk if it calls for water. Then bake according to the cake mix, which the time might take a little less. It turned out awesome. Again this made a TON! But you can easily freeze this along with your chili. The little sweetness of the cornbread made it a great option to even have in the morning with eggs. Sevea loved it!

I guess if the cold weather is here for a little while longer, we might as well enjoy some good comfort food!

She totally is my kid

So I have mentioned at times how Sevea is not my kid by the things she chooses to eat at times. For morning snack she proved once again she is my child. She requested popcorn for snack and who am I to deny her of what she wants. We often will have popcorn for an afternoon snack together while watching some cartoons. Our little mommy/daughter bonding time. Otherwise snack for her most often does not mean snack for me or not the same thing. Again this morning she reminded me she is a Pearcy girl at heart. She will always try to eat from my bowl before her own. We even start with the same size bowl! She is a smart cookie knowing that if she wants more she needs to eat mine first then move on to her own bowl. Growing up I remember when we would bring fast food home there was always fries to share never your own container. What do you think the first thing was that I ate? I am not alone in this but very few bites of chicken nuggets or hamburgers were eaten before the fries were gone. Of course we didn't make it obvious but we made sure we got the most fries we could. This is definitely my child!!

We welcome you

We are very much looking forward to not having this be our outdoor fun.

We played in the garage a couple weeks ago because it has just been so cold outside. It was still cold in the garage with all of this stuff on. It also made it difficult for Sevea to move around and push or ride the toys. Spring we welcome you!

V-Day Dinner

Troy and I have given up long ago on going out to eat on Valentine's day. We just aren't ones who want to fight the crowd. Especially now with a preschooler who makes it difficult to thoroughly enjoy some dinners out. She does quite well most of the time but it still means we have to pay attention to what she is doing more than conversation between the two of us. So we opt for dinner at home. And it is so much easier. We still try to make v-day a little special because we both enjoy having another reason to celebrate the love we share, although we believe this can be done any day and try to make random days out of the year special too. We don't buy each other gifts unless maybe there is candy involved and no not the expensive boxed chocolates but a candy bar :) What we do is try to make a dinner at home that is something different than we normally make and that we wouldn't make all the time. This year we spotted some packaged pasta that seemed to fit the bill. We have surely missed out on this stuff. We got a spinach and cheese ravioli but never thought of what kind of sauce we would make for it. So the night of dinner we used the suggestion on the package for melted butter and a sprinkle of shredded parmesan cheese. We had some mushrooms that we thought would go great with it and pan fried those as well. It turned out great! We were both surprised at how great it was. The butter was necessary to give the pasta a little wetness but great because it didn't take away from the flavor stuffed inside. It wasn't real cheesy which I was afraid of. More spinach flavor than anything. We paired the pasta with some garlic bread and we were both satisfied with our dinner in. Maybe it had something to do with the blueberry pie we indulged in for dessert. Probably not a pie we would get often but a nice treat.

We think the mushrooms were a necessary addition. Yum!

Yes you need that much cool whip...Troy even said you can never have enough cool whip :)

I was surprised how much Sevea loved the pie. Soft mushy fruit doesn't always go over with her!

We hope that you enjoyed some time with the loved ones in your life! It really is about the small stuff and a home cooked meal prepared together certainly is something to be thankful for.

Daddy/Daughter "Tea" Party

Of course our little girl does not serve tea. She was all about the food :)

Make a face

Quick update on the potty training: Sevea is doing amazing. I would no longer say we are potty training but Sevea is potty trained. She lets us know when she has to go and wears underwear all day except for sleeping time at night. She actually does really well most nights but we just aren't ready for underwear at night since she has peed a couple nights here or there. Once we switch her to a big girl bed I think we can transition to that since she could get up and go if needed. (That will happen once I am done with school just in case we have issues at night) She has do great and we are so proud!

A funny moment we have to share because it is what parents do. She'll love this when she is older :)

This is what she does when she is pooping..haha!

Don't ask why she covers her ears. I think she was trying to push one time and didn't have anything to push against and just used her head. It was pretty funny and pretty cute all at the same time. Like I said she'll love when we show this at her wedding!!!

Cheese!

I was loading pictures onto the computer and Sevea wanted to get her picture taken. I think she is finally getting the fact that she needs to smile AND look at the camera!

This is not what it looks like

Take a look at this box.

This box clearly looks like it holds tools and other stuff for a workshop. But this box is much more than that. This box is Sevea's go to toy but not for playing but for reaching things!

She immediately goes and finds the box whenever she wants to reach something that is too high for her. I couldn't help but laugh at this moment I captured. I was walking by the mirror with the infant to change her diaper. We stopped and looked in the mirror and I talked to the baby. I start to walk away and Sevea says my turn, my turn! She immediately finds the box and puts it down in front of the mirror. Now unfortunately this still does not help her reach the mirror to see herself :)

Marshall weekend

This past weekend we went to Marshall to spend some time with friends and family...as well as celebrate a special little girl's birthday. Brezlyn turned 3 on Saturday! Our trips to Marshall are always so full and never long enough but we manage to make the most it. We arrived late Friday night (9:00 pm...the downside to having daycare open till 5:30) and made the tail end of a toy party that Angie was hosting. There were lots of educational toys and somehow I refrained from buying everything and just picked two items. We spent a little time together after everyone left and headed to bed. In the morning we got ready and headed to Marshall to enjoy breakfast with our friends Jordan and Nichole plus their 2 year old Lauren. Nichole made a delicious spread of egg bake, monkey bread, and fruit salad. The girls had their own little table set up for them.

Lauren is a little shy so the table together didn't last long. We chatted for a while and then the boys took the morning/afternoon to enjoy some snowmobiling. It is great for Troy to have someone to ride with every once in a while. Maybe we can get Andrew to purchase one sooner or later!

After breakfast the rest of us went back to Angie's to help prepare for the party. It is times like this that I love the most. I just really enjoy spending time chatting with Angie and doing nothing. We never get enough of this time especially with kids running around. After the kids took a nap and woke up they watched a Dora movie together. It was too cute to not take some pictures.

Back to the food :) She made an amazingly good feast for the party. We enjoyed the best roast beef hoagies with roasted potatoes and crab pasta salad. I am dreaming about the hoagies they were that good! So easy too...just slow-cook all day and then shred. Yum! It was a great way to feed a lot of people. Brock's side of the family filled the house with 8 adults and 11 kids then you add our family of 8 adults and 4 kids. Talk about full house and hungry bellies :) She planned the amount of food perfectly. It was then time for presents and cake!!!

Brezlyn got a ton of great gifts and enjoyed two pieces of cake (she was told to enjoy one for her grandma in Florida :) It is hard to believe this little girl is already 3. She is growing up so fast and is such a joy to watch grow. Happy Birthday Miss Brezlyn!! Look forward to celebrating many more birthdays with you.

We ended our trip to Marshall with a quick stop at Grandpa and Grandma Appeldorn's. They were getting over colds so we didn't hang out too long but enjoyed the time we got. Sevea loves searching for new toys and remembers the trucks/cars when we come. Overall it was a jam-packed weekend but we are grateful for anytime we get with those we love. We look forward to next time!!

Better image

I thought it would be good to try to leave a better image of Lily in your minds. Troy still teases Lily about "the event" and I am hoping it stops soon. I maybe should have left the story to myself as to forget about it quicker. But the blog needed more than just Sevea talk and we were on that subject matter lately anyway :)

Dog napping on dog

Sick of the potty talk?

A little more potty talk for you...or more cute pictures mostly. I love when I have my camera handy and can catch these kind of pictures! She's doing great with the potty training! I think she has gone a week since the last accident. We've asked her if she needs to go and she says yes which is new. So we are feeling more and more like we can trust that she knows (not totally yet but getting there). We went to a friend's little girl's 1st birthday party on Saturday and we asked her if she needed to go potty and she said yes and went. This was especially exciting because of the excitement going on and she had also gone not too long before that so it was great to see her go. We bought her some more undies and this time it is Minnie Mouse so she is excited for those now too. I never thought I would be this excited about pee pee and poo poo :) Oh how things change!