Why My Husband Could Fail Medical School

My mom got Scottie a Wii for his birthday/christmas present. She will probably never have to buy him a present again! He LOVES it! He's actually become quite addicted. Last week he rented a game and he couldn't stop playing it. He finally had to make himself take it back so he would study. It has been good for him in some ways. It's a nice stress reliever. He has finals next week so the Wii playing has slowed down quite a bit. After finals are over we are going to try and have a game night for him and his friends. I just hope they don't break anything. People can very physical with the Wii. You should see Gracie! She is pretty good at the golf game. I hope this doesn't mean she will want to join the golf team in high school. I can't think of anything more boring to watch. -My father-in-law is going to hate me for saying that. Sorry Jeff! :)

Trip to Iowa

We went to Iowa this weekend to visit with Scottie's family. His Aunt Cindy and Uncle Gary live about 2 hours from us. His mom, dad, Aunt Joy, and his Grandparents drove over from Indiana. We had a really nice weekend. Friday was our 5th wedding anniversary. It worked out perfect because we had babysitters, so we got to go out that night. Otherwise we would have been ordering pizza at home on our anniversay! On Saturday we drove to his cousin's house. They have Tanner, who is getting ready to turn five, and Ashley who is 2 1/2. Gracie had so much fun there. They had lunch and then went swimming. Gracie created a little course for herself: up the stairs, down the slide, run to the pool and jump in feet first. She was so funny. The video below shows her and Tanner racing into the pool. Tanner is conquering his fear of water and he did a fantastic job! Afterwards we went back to Cindy and Gary's and had dinner. The kids had a blast playing together all night. They had so much fun jumping on the air matress, even though I was scared it was going to pop. You would have never known that Gracie hasn't grown up with her cousin's. This is only the third time she has ever seen them. Hopefully we can get up there more often so they can get to know each other better. Oh- what did Scottie and I do while the kids were playing? We took turns reading chapters from the last Harry Potter book. It is soooo good!!!

Life in the V'ille

Here are a couple of pictures of our beloved wading pool. For all the negative things I say about Kirksville, here is a big positive. They have wading pools in all the parks in town. This one has a lifeguard on duty all day. The best part about the pools are that they are FREE!!! It is so nice to be able to going swimming without having to pay each time. Grace loves going to the pool! It's only two feet deep at the deepest end, but she is still able to swim underwater. She is like a little fish! The first picture is her playing with a little girl she met the other day, and the second picture is her catching a ride from a nice lady. People are so generous with their toys, everyone shares. It's a nice way to spend the afternoon. When we got done eating lunch the other day we looked over and Kingsley had jumped up on the chair. He is getting really brave with his begging. Well, actually he wasn't begging- he was trying to help himself!

Fondue Fun!

Today is Scotie's birthday!! We had a very relaxing day, it was so nice to sit at home and just hang out together. Gracie wanted to go get a toy for herself... for Daddy's birthday. I told her it didn't work that way. Of course the next question was, "how long until my birthday?" During prayer tonight before dinner she said" thank you for Daddy's birthday, and mine is coming soon and so is Mommy's. But poor Kingsley didn't have a birthday because we forgot to have a party." It's so hard not to laugh in the middle of a prayer!
-I decided to make chocolate fondue for dessert instead of a cake. Scottie and I always go to the Melting Pot for our anniversary, but we are too poor to go there this year. I have to tell you this fondue tasted just as good as the Melting Pot. Gracie loved it!!! She ate everything except the pound cake. It was a really nice way to end Scottie's birthday.
-Gracie and I have had so much fun since he has been off from school. It's been a great reminder that we are a normal family, but we are living in an abnormal TEMPORARY situation. I will need to think back on this summer when things get crazy again in the fall!
Here is the recipe for the fondue:
1 cup heavy cream
6 oz milk chocolate, finely chopped (I used Girahdelli)
1/2 cup peanut butter ( I will use a bit less next time)
In saucepan over med. heat bring cream to simmer. It says that you need to put the cream in the top part of a double boiler and add the chocolate until softened. I don't have a double boiler or a bowl to substitute, so I just added the chocolate to the saucepan and whisked until melted. Then I whisked the peanut butter in until melted. Transfer to fondue pot and set on simmer.
-We had to stir it every once in a while because this fondue pot heated it fairly quickly. I'm so thankful to my friend Rebecca for bringing her fondue pot over for us to use!!

Going Fishing

I'm trying to get our Indiana pictures up on the blog. I love these pictures of Gracie and her cousin Stuart. The first picture is the two of them practicing with their new poles that Grandma got them. They had plastic fish on the end instead of hooks. Gracie thought that was fun for a little while, but what she really wanted to do was cast out with a real hook. She was not happy when we told her that was too dangerous, and someone else would have to cast for her. She still had a good time. I can't remember who actually caught the first fish, it may have been Gracie. She got so excited at first, but it took a little bit of encouraging before she would touch it. Her and Stuart had so much fun while we were in Indiana. They are constantly "hunting" for ghosts with flashlights. Nobody knows where they got the idea, but it provides endless entertainment for them. Then again, they always fun together no matter what they are doing!

Out with old - In with the new

We finally did it! We got a mini-van! I never thought I would be so excited to get a van, but here I am jumping for joy!! Scottie and I have wanted one for quite a while, but we couldn't do anything until our house sold. Then we need some time to recover from that giant disaster. (But we are still praising God that it sold, because I'm sure there aren't plenty of houses still waiting on the market)

We love this van, and we can't wait to take our next trip to Indiana. It will be so nice to have all that room, and not feel like we are sitting on top of each other. I will miss the Saturn, but only because I am a sentimental sap. (We brought Gracie home in that car) Hopefully we will be able to bring more babies home in this one!
The last picture is Gracie modeling the extra storage space in the floor. You could smuggle a couple of kids into the drive-inn! (We are going to miss going to the drive-inn in Clermont- it is the best way to watch movies!)
We are so excited about coming back for the 4th! Hope to see you all soon!

* Please ignore the state of our yard. Our lawn mower broke:( Someone is suppose to come out tomorrow. I'm pretty sure our neighbors are mad at us right now!

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