Kyla and her Bike

This picture is actually from back in March, when Kyla learned to ride her bike. We were so so proud of her and so excited, especially because we're quite the "outdoor" family. We LOVE going on bikerides as a family, and it was getting a little rediculous to have 3 kids on the back of my bike (one in a seat and then two kids in the pull behind trailer). We finally decided to teach her how to do it and she basically did it instantly! However, the next day some crazy fear was instilled in her and she NEVER wanted to ride a bike again- unless I put her training wheels back on (which I would not do).
Fast forward to last night (more than 4 months later..) I told her she couldn't turn five without knowing how to ride her bike. Instant motivation. She went right out, hopped on and rode all over the neighborhood, and even to my dad's house (he's around the corner, less than a half mile away). Better yet, this morning she asked if we could go out and ride today. :)

Back to reality...

Well, were back from our wonderful vacation and back to our world of reality (which is actually a good thing!). I LOVE going away, but I always LOVE coming home just as much. There is no place like home. Truly.
Anyway, we had so much fun, made so many memories and got to spend some much needed time with family. Everything went so great. The kids saw a few movies while we were there, I did some shopping, spent a lot of time on the Mississippi, visited the Lego Discovery Center in Chicago (all the kids LOVE lego's) and did a lot of eating. :) I'll post some pictures in a later post..there are a lot of them!

Vacation

So far our vacation has been so much fun! The kids have been great and pretty well behaved, thank God!! Our flight was wonderful, as both Carter and Jonah slept the WHOLE time. We seriously couldn't have had it any better. I actually got to read a book and listen to my ipod for the first time on a flight in years. Pure heaven on earth! The first night we ended up going to my grandparents for dinner- sloppy joes and corn on the cob. Not just any corn on the cob, BUT Iowa corn on the cob. Seriously, if you've never tried it, it's to die for. The BEST corn EVER. We then checked into our hotel and fought the kids off to bed around 1030. After they went to bed, I headed out to my aunt and uncles house for some late night chit chatting with them and some of my cousins.
Yesterday, Sunday, we went to my aunt and uncles farm for the day. It was such a relaxing time, but so much fun. We rode four wheelers, ate lots of food, played basketball, talked, napped, and visited the new house theyre building. The kids always have soooo much fun on the farm. It's actually the highlight of the trip to them. So far vacation is going great and were having a blast!! Off to get the kids in bed..this is the not so fun part considering were all stuffed in a small studio type suite!

Best Deal Ever?

It is, really. Okay, so many of my friends now I love good deals and many times fall for any good deal I find. Our vacations the past 3 years have been determined by which airfare I can get for $9 or $11 a flight through Spirit. :) Well, this newest deal is FREE. Seriously. They say nothing is free in life, but this REALLY is and it WORKS!! I've known about it for some time, but have never actually done it until now because I always thought it was too confusing. However, it truly isn't.

So, what I got for free is a one night stay at the Hollywood, Fl Ramada right on Ocean Dr, on the beach.

This is how, and is really is SO easy!
1. Go to http://dealsnare.com/BRG.aspx

2. Choose a city and date for your hotel stay.

3. This program will search and let you know if there are any available. (I'll explain this in a second).

4. If a hotel is listed when your search is complete, you can now proceed and begin the process.

5. From here, I will use my experience as an example. I searched Fort Lauderdale on August 9th. When my hotel came up, I clicked on it and was taken to kayak. com. Basically how the program works is that many hotels, such as Wyndham, Days Inn, Howard Johnson, Ramada, etc. all offer the Best Rate Guaranteed. This means, if you happen to find a better rate, they give you the first night free (and you can only stay that one night if you want).

6. I save the screen shot showing the lower price by pushing the PrtScn button and pasting it in a paint program. This is for verification purposes just in case they cannot find the better rate. Most times, this is NOT the case though.

7. So, from here you can go directly to the hotel website (ie. www.ramada.com) and verify their price is higher than listed on reputible site (orbitz, hotels.com, etc.). MAKE SURE ITS THE SAME ROOM (ie. nonsmoking, double beds, etc.)

8. You, then, book the room for the night. Keep in mind, it states that your card will not be charged until checkout and you can cancel up to 2 days before, just in case.

8. Go back to the homepage for booked hotel (ie. www.ramada.com) and you will see the Best Price Guarantee. Click that and go find the place to fill out a claim form. Just fill it out and you should hear back within a few hours. :)

9. You will then receive an email letting you know if the claim is approved (as long as you did it right, and they can verify their price is higher, you will get approved). They will also send a new confirmation email stating your total price will be 0.00.

Seriously, this works and is quite amazing. It's perfect for a Saturday/weekend getaway. There are no strings attached. Check it out, play around with it and see what you can find. :) Happy searching!

Hmmm....

So, just because I'm nursing and what not, I decided to take a pregnany test just to make sure that I wasn't pregnant again before our vacation.

My husband just asked what the results were. They were negative. I told him I was a little disappointed, just because I would have been really excited to be pregnant again. I asked him if he was upset. He said no, I'm not upset, I'm just not really anything.

Then...drumroll please...........


he said, I would be excited if you were. WHA??? Yes, this is the same guy who swore we were done having kids just last week. :)

On that note, I think they *may* eventually be a number 6 to our gang....at some point.. :)

And we're off....

to Chicago and Iowa first thing tomorrow morning! We don't really have anything planned while were gone, just spending time with family, hanging out, and going to the farm for a day. The kids are all so excited. Carter is watching me pack and keep saying things like, "are you packing for the airplane tomorrow?". Even though he is only 2, he KNOWS that we are going on an airplane tomorrow and because well, he is obssessed with them, he cannot wait to ride on it! He's been on a few plane rides in his short life, but none that he can remember, so this should be fun. It will be even more fun (for me :)) if they let me bring his carseat, so he can sit in that during the flight! :)
So, tomorrow, we arrive in Chicago around 2ish, I believe, and then will drive 3 hours and make our way to my "home" (more like "birth") town where all my family is. It is going to be a long day, so here's hoping and praying that the kids behave and deal with the traveling well tomorrow!

BTW, I'll be posting while we're up there since our hotel has internet. :)

Life Updates

Life is great! God is good!! I am truly enjoying summer and everything that comes along with it (yes, even being with 5 kids all day long..).

My best friend, Natalie, was in town last week and she, along with her sister, hosted a wonderful cookout on Friday night. Not only was I excited to see Natalie and Michele (her sister), but I was really excited to finally meet Nate, Natalies boyfriend. I had heard so much about him, and Natalie would tell me how perfect he was for her and how he is the one. I was a little skeptical (sorry, Nat :)) at first, mainly because she had just gotten out of a 5 year relationship. However, after meeting him, talking to him and getting to know him I now am beyond excited about their relationship and their future marriage. God is so good and I know He is going to do the most marvelous things in their relationship. Anyway, Friday night was great. We stayed up talking until the early morning hours and I just had a blast spending time with her. I truly wish we lived closer, but I am sooo grateful we are able to maintain such a wonderful friendship despite the thousands of miles.
Kirt was on call last week so we just basically hung low all week. We've spent a lot of time with friends, spent plenty of time in the sun and just enjoying the ending of summer. It's hard to believe that summer is over 4 weeks from today. I am excited about getting back into our old routine, yet a little sad summer is ending. I LOVE summer.
In other news, we leave Saturday for Iowa/Chicago. We are all really excited about going and visiting family we haven't seen since last summer. I just pray the travel and sleeping adjustments go well for the little ones. The thought of vacation is grand and exciting, yet when I think about these types of little details I tend to stress and get a little worried. Well, I am exhausted, so I'm off to bed.... :)