Sledding

I'm posting photos way out of order... but that's okay. This was the last day of winter break and the last day of this snow :) We went sledding just in time! 

First time sledding for Daphne! It may not look like she was super thrilled about this, but she LOVED it :)

The hill was small enough that we didn't get tired going up and down over and over, and it was big enough to have some fun! The kids have been wanting to go back ever since, but we haven't had enough snow :(


Sledding 2013 from Jessica Bateman on Vimeo.

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving this year with some of our close friends here in Indiana. The food was great and it was a beautiful day. The kids even got to eat outside since it was so nice, yeay :) Here are some photos of the kids, and only the kids since I usually forget to snap some of the adults as well. Something I need to remember on days like this. 

Daphne with Maggie and Reid...

The older kids said their own prayer together... well they each said their own prayer and took turns. They've done this before, so I thought it was cute that they remembered and did it again :) 

Makiah and Evan with Brielle, Madden and Madden's cousin...

Thanksgiving has got to be my favorite holiday. I love the food and being with friends or family. It isn't as rushed and crazy like some of the other holiday's can get.

Real time

I'm gonna keep the updating posts coming! It isn't as hard or annoying as I thought it would be. Hopefully I am not boring you though! If you are more interested in what is happening in real time you should join Instagram, I absolutely love it! The one thing that would make it better is having a better camera on my phone. Oh well. I love that I can snap a photo, edit it and upload it all at once. It's also easy to share on FB so everyone can see what's going on. Anyway... just my plug in for Instagram. I'm done now.

Dance

 Last year Makiah took a dance class with two of her friends, Lauren and Brielle. I definitely see progress with some of the things they do in class, so does a good job with dance :) She just started the class again in January with Lauren, this semester they are learning a dance for the recital in April. She does very well remembering what to do and isn't afraid to join in.

Her teachers are awesome, they do a great job with the kids. I was surprise to find out that one of her teachers is still in High School, I would have never guessed it. Makiah loves going to dance!

Halloween

This is great. Not only am I getting my blog updated... but I am organizing photos, editing and getting to see pictures that I haven't really looked at yet :)

I posted these photos on Halloween, but here are our Trunk or Treat photos...

Daphne was a fairy for the studio photos and for a Halloween party, but it was just too cold on Halloween so she got to be a bunny too :)

We also went Trick or Treating around our neighborhood... but this was the fun part since our neighborhood isn't that into Halloween.

Maybe next time you'll get to see some Thanksgiving or Christmas photos....

House tour

If you have already seen our house...
If you have no desire to see our house...
If looking at several photos in a long post bores you...

Bear with me.

Or don't feel obligated to stick around.

I won't be offended :)

Here is our new house! We have almost been in our new home for two months and we love it. We have tons to do...

Paint white walls and eventually the tan walls too...
Replace brass hardware, doorknobs and light fixtures and anything else that happens to be brass
Update oak cabinets... paint, paint and more paint
New carpet in some of the rooms
Knock out the half wall in the kitchen/family room
New tile in back entry/laundry and possibly some to extend our dining room

So here are the "before" pictures before we get started...

Main Floor

Kitchen

Family Room

Living Room

Master Bedroom

Upstairs

Makiah's Room

(I'm liking how Makiah's room is looking. I put up her curtains and I'm leaving the white shelves. Here are some ideas for Makiah's room.)

Daphne's Room

(I'll be painting her room gray, I'll take down the shelf, and I'll paint her changing table white. Here are ideas for Daphne's room)

 Evan's Room
(I will be removing the shelves, curtains and wallpaper. I'll be painting the room light blue or gray. Here are some ideas for Evan's room)

Also, Makiah and I made this movie today :) She rocks. My mom wanted to see a video of the house, so I am sharing it here. Dallas got a kick out of Makiah in this... maybe you will too. Again, don't feel obligated to watch.

Disclaimer: My house is NOT always this clean. If fact it only looks like this maybe for a brief moment each week when I clean... if I clean. And really. It never looks like this all at once. That my friends, is impossible with a family with three kiddos. Maybe just one clean room at a time.


New house tour from Jessica Bateman on Vimeo.

Ok. That's it. I've got to go. Dallas wants to watch Downton Abbey and he is getting impatient.

Yes, my husband likes to watch Downton Abbey. Rock.

6

This was such a good day. I just remember feeling so good and happy that day and so lucky to a mom. This kid is the sweetest little guy and I couldn't ask for a better son. He was so happy and grateful for everything we did that day.

I went to his school that afternoon and got to see him with his friends, in his classroom, and with his teacher. He was SO excited to have me there with him and even held my hand while I walked down the hall with him and his class. Something I will never forget. He gave his class cupcakes and I stuck around to help out.

We didn't have a friend party planned and I was so worried that Evan would be disappointed. We planned a surprise party for him instead. Dallas came home early (Evan didn't know he would be there when he got home from school) and we had the house decorated with balloons everywhere. He knew what his cake was going to look like but he didn't see it till he got home. When he got home we all hid and jumped out and surprised him. He was SO happy that we did a surprise party :) He had been wanting one :) Evan got a desk and chair that I painted for his room, a scooter from my family, some new clothes and a camping chair.

From the time he got home until late that night he kept saying... "This is the best birthday ever!" It wasn't anything big or planned out. Just simple and fun. He loved it and so did I. It was a special day for me too... 6 years of being a mom :)

We went to Applebees for dinner... The kids wore their birthday crowns so everyone was telling him happy birthday. He sure loved the attention :)

1

I feel like I've talked a ton about Daphne's birthday... but now I am finally posting the pictures :) Here she is! My sweet 1 year old!

Daphne did not get the whole unwrapping gifts idea, she preferred the gifts that were not wrapped to begin with. The kids all ended up unwrapping for her :) 

The candle was a little dramatic. After we sang to her I put the candle in the cupcake and put it close to her... hoping she would try to blow it out (I knew she could blow...) Well she did try to blow it out... and then she touched the flame before we could stop her. She wasn't happy! Some mom I turned out to be....

This was take 2 a few days later. the kids looked so cute after church so I plopped them all on my bed and we let Daphne open the gifts that she wouldn't open before. She LOVED opening them this time around...

We tried the candle again too. We were more careful and I actually got some cute blowing pictures this time around.