Just some sweet pics of the Vile kids over the holidays…. enjoy!

Alayna’s First Snow… we love those cheeks and can’t stop kissing them!!!

No such thing as a perfect picture these days so this will have to do… Alayna was sliding on the wood floor and Lucas was not cooperating (go figure). I love it though!

So big… at 4 months

Christmas Day

Ethan’s always smiling… Lucas could care less and Alayna doesn’t know what’s going on.

This kid’s smile is wide open… too cute!

And she always loves to stand!

Ethan and his new glasses… he is doing great with them and Doc says all is going well!

Categories: Alayna Grace, Ethan, Family, General, Lucas
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4th of July celebrations were spent watching fireworks in Perrysburg on the 3rd and then BG fireworks on the 4th. We had a fun time with family and friends.

as good as it gets with these boys.

Categories: Family, General
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Mom took me and baby out for a relaxing afternoon together. We first went to get a pedicure and then headed to Grand Rapids (a quaint, quiet town of great shops and good food) for lunch. What a sweet time we had together. Thanks Mom! Can’t wait till baby girl can join us in person.

Categories: Family, General
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A friend of mine from college (old roommate and Omega sister), has recently grabbed my attention by starting a blog all about saving money via using coupons. Clipping coupons was something I NEVER did and always thought it was a scam (only to get you to buy the new stuff on the market). Well, when I saw how much she was saving on her grocery runs, I decided I would give her ideas a chance and see if clipping would actually help me with my spending and help me start saving money. I have to be honest, I thought she was a bit neurotic (sorry Richelle), when I saw all she did to prepare for her shopping trip to 4 different stores…. BUT now that I’ve given it a chance, I’ve found it actually saves me time at the store to plan more at home… even if I am running to 4 different stores in a given day…. go figure. So that’s one of my latest adventures… coupon clipping. I’m not nearly as good at it yet (as far as saving tons of money), but I am staying within our weekly and monthly budget for groceries which, for that, I am thrilled!

From faithfully following Richelle’s blog, I’ve learned of another great blog that she is actually a part of (along with 13 other women) where she writes a post every Thursday called Thrifty Thursday. This blog, Roof with a View is a blog ministry made up of 14 women that love Jesus Christ and long to serve Him with joy. This ministry exists to encourage women to find freedom in the roles with which the Lord has blessed them, particularly as wives and mothers. It’s pretty neat what these ladies have committed to do in the blog world… you should go check it out.

Ok, now on to the GREAT GIVEAWAY!!!! So this new site, Roof with a View, is hosting a giveaway for a new blog makeover… another reason to go check out their site, how fantastic is that. The gal who does the blog design is very talented… Lord knows this blog could use a makeover!

So what are you waiting for… go check out Roof with a View … and start clipping coupons!

Categories: General
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Ok… so we didn’t do baked doughnuts… next Friday. But we did make some pretty cool tissue paper candle holders.
Some friends came over and we had a little creative playgroup. Silly me forgot to get the camera out while friends were here but I did capture our finished product that we got to enjoy during dinner.

Categories: General
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Yesterday morning I was reading a few of my favorite blogs (here & here)… both of which posted about making homemade pretzels with their kiddos. How fun… why don’t we try it too.
I have to admit we went the easy route and let the bread maker do most of the work (maybe next time we’ll get our hands in the dough a little more) but it was still fun and so yummy! We decided we’d dedicate Friday’s to fun baking day… next week we’re going to try baked doughnuts!

They loved watching the bread maker knead the dough

Very diligent!

Fun shapes. Lucas pretty much just balled it up and threw it on the tray.

Beautiful! and sooo YUMMY!

Ethan didn’t want to eat his own creations… he wanted Mommy’s twisty one.

Categories: Family, General
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We are so sick of cold weather around here! Even Ethan is saying how he can’t wait for summer. So… to ease the inside blues just a bit, here is what the boys have been doing INSIDE all week….
They’ve sure had a lot of fun… and getting in some good practice too.

Categories: General
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