What?! The twins are no longer identical?!

Ok...so they're still very much identical, but just for fun - I took a picture of them together after Katelyn's haircut and before Abby's (top picture)!! One of the very few times in their life they actually look different at first glance!! :-) As you can see by the second picture - it didn't last long! Sorry to disappoint all of you who still can't tell them apart - but they still have matching haircuts! :-)

New Haircuts!!!

So we had a pretty eventful morning!! All three kids got a hair cut this morning , and I can now tell you from personal experience - don't ever take three children at the same time to get their hair cut!! I've taken A & K by myself before, and I've taken Micah by myself before, but taking all three at the same time (without Aaron's help!) was a bit of a catastrophe!! Trying to get two of them to sit still in their chairs while the other one is getting their hair cut was not happening, and then the one getting their hair cut would want to get down and wiggle too when they saw their siblings do it!! Micah actually ended up having to get his hair cut from my lap because he wouldn't stop wiggling - except he got to wear a cape to protect him from getting tons of hair all over him - Mommy didn't!! I think I ended up with more hair on me than there was on the floor!! Then when his turn was over, he of course didn't want me to hold him anymore...OH NO!!...he wanted to get down and crawl all over the hair covered floor!! YUCK!!!

Anyways...in the end it was all worth it because all 3 of them look adorable with their new hair cuts!!! Here's before and after pics of all three, and then one of Micah (post haircut) because you can't really see his haircut in the "after" pic - his sisters are smothering him!!

Note to self: next time take Aaron!! :-)

Beyond Frustrated!!

Alright!!! Day 2 of trying to upload videos was another failure!! I was trying to post 2 videos I took of Abby & Katelyn swimming in our pool in the backyard. They are serioiusly like two little fish!! They do all kinds of flips and jumps, hold their breath under water, and swim almost the whole length of our 15 ft pool under water...so cute!! They LOVE swimming!!! Anyways...Ryan gave me a tip to try uploading the videos to YouTube and then pulling them from YouTube to my blog, but they wouldn't even upload to YouTube!! I only tried once and then had to leave for Bible Study, but I have officially quit for the day!! Maybe I'll try again tomorrow...although my patience is about shot with these videos!! So if I don't end up posting them - I guess you'll have to take my word for it that my kids are pretty stinkin cute swimmers!!

Frustrated!!!!

Ok!!! So I have been trying to upload two videos to a new post literally ALL DAY today!! I have tried and re-tried uploading, and I have even let it just keep showing "still uploading" for literally going on 9 hours now (I don't think it's gonna upload!!!) I think our internet connection must be too slow for it or something! We have wireless, but it must not be fast enough to upload videos!! Anyways...just didn't want you all to think I was neglecting you today!! ;-) I will try again tomorrow, and hopefully it'll work then. I'm pretty new at this, so maybe I'm doing it wrong. Either way - please bear with me!!

Gotta Love Two of Everything!!

Ahh, having twins!! Most of the time at our house there are one of two scenarios going on: 1) Abby & Katelyn have exactly the same thing and are very happy campers....OR...2) they have any variety of: almost the same thing, different colors of the same thing, or just completely different things. I can tell you from personal experience that scenario #2 is almost never a good thing...in fact it almost always results in major drama - usually with one crying and screaming how it's just not fair that her sister has something so much better than her - all the while her sister (the one with the "good" thing) is smugly sitting there making disgustingly sweet faces at her screaming sister!!

Anyways...all that to say - the other day I had my camera out and was looking through the pictures on my memory card. Abby came up and got in my lap and wanted me to take a picture of her and I together. So she smiled like the beautiful princess she is, we took a very nice picture (top picture above), and that was that. About five minutes later Katelyn comes up and Abby smugly tells her "Katelyn - I just took a picture with mommy, and you didn't get to!!" (Can you guess the reaction?!) Katelyn immediately starts her crying, whining temper tantrum mode - accusing me of never ever ever taking pictures with her!! After the fit subsides and she's calm enough to actually hear the words coming out of my mouth - she finally hears me saying that I would absolutely love to take a picture with her - all she has to do is ask me nicely and stop whining. Immediately her fit stops, she grins and giggles loudly, climbs in my lap, and we took the picture you see on the bottom!!

KIDS!!! I wish my bad moods could be cured so quickly!! :-P

4 Generations

So my grandparents (on my mom's side) were visiting from Michigan for Micah's birthday party last week. We took some pictures of 4 generations. Pretty cool! The last picture is of just my grandma and grandpa - aren't they so cute...they're pretty spunky too!! I want to be as young at heart as they are when I'm their age! :-)

Some thoughts for today

This week...I've been trying to be more open and honest with God. I feel like I have all this "head" knowledge about Him, but lately it's not all sinking down to my heart. I feel like my communication with Him (my prayer life) has been slacking. Anyways...I'm in a Beth Moore Bible study at my church, and one of the things from last week that's really stuck with me is the simplicity of just telling God all of the things that I'm not, and then asking Him to make me more of the things that I want to be.

For instance, right now I'm asking Him to give me a heart that loves Him above all other things and for Him to fill all of my hollow places with His lavish, unfailing love. It's so easy for me to look for my satisfaction and happiness in the things around me - whether it's my family, money, finding enough time for me. I often look to Him as a last resort when I really need something, but He wants me to find my satisfaction (the only true satisfaction there is) in Him alone!!

Anyways...I guess all that was to say that I'm learning to be truly honest with Him. I am confessing all of the ways I'm not finding contentment in Him, and then asking Him to give me more and more of a heart that truly loves Him - a heart that desires a close, personal relationship with Him every minute of every day - not just at church, at bedtime and meal times and whenever else I need him throughout the day. I am trying to daily and diligently pray this prayer for myself - we'll see how it turns out. I'll definitely let you know...but until then...I am confident that - if I continue to ask Him - He will give me that heart that loves Him above everything else...because it's not just my deisre for myself - it's His desire for me as well!! :-)

My Girls

Ok...so I posted lots of pictures of Micah yesterday, so I thought I'd show off my beautiful girls today!! :-) Abby & Katelyn are 4 1/2 (quick to remind me not to forget the 1/2!), and they are two balls of constant energy!! They are identical twins, and they deinitely have a love/hate relationship - and by that I mean they either LOVE each other and get along beautifully...or they HATE each other and bite, kick, scream (you name it) to each other!! They absolutely love their baby brother and are huge helpers to their mommy!! I happen to think all 3 of my children are the most beautiful kids in the entire world...but I guess some would say I'm a bit biased!! :-)

Micah's 1st Birthday!!!

Micah turned one on July 16th. Here's a few pictures from his birthday party.

New At This!!!

Ok...so I've never had a blog before, but I've "blogged" before, so we'll see how this goes. I am very anti-facebook/myspace. (I think they're way over-rated...and if I'm wrong about that...I know I'd probably get addicted and facebook would consume all of my time!!) Either way...I thought I'd go a different route!

I'm Alli, and I'm a proud follower of Jesus Christ, proud wife of 6 years to my husband Aaron, and proud mommy to 3 beautiful kids - Abby (4 1/2), Katelyn (4 1/2)...yes - they're twins..., and Micah (just turned 1 a week ago!)

I'm not sure how well I'll do at keeping up with a blog, so we'll see how this goes!! :-)