Hi there--my name is Daniel. I've been asked to guest host the blog. For Andrew's primary class in church, he was recently given an assignment. Each child in his class was given a cloth bag with the following instructions: "Help your child find a photo to bring of a person they know that loves them. Your child will need to explain how they know that the person loves them." Any guesses about the photo Andrew selected? He chose a baby picture of himself, circa 9 mos old. Unfortunately, we don't have an electronic version of that particular photo, but here's another one of Andrew from North Carolina from 2006 or 2007.


Caption: "My love for me runs deeper than any river. Knowing how much I care about myself gets me through those tough times. Sometimes I get choked up just thinking about how much I mean to me....man...(excuse me)...ahem...I just really, really love...myself."

It's a wonderful life

Over the past couple of years it's become more and more apparent how similar our lives are to George and Mary Bailey's lives from It's a Wonderful Life(I love this movie and the writing in it especially). Let me try to elaborate. George and Mary knew eachother from a young age....so did Daniel and I. I was a very sweet girl....sort of waiting for Daniel to come around....and so was Mary. When George and Mary finally got married they weren't very well off and lived in a shabby home.....Daniel and I lived in a 1-bedroom apartment even a year after having our first son Andrew(no idea how we made that work). The BIG similarity is that Daniel dreamed of getting out of this town...had every intention to and in the end here we are in the town we grew up in together. Part of that similarity....Daniel followed in his father's footsteps to work as an accounting professor at ISU.....just like George Bailey took over his father's job at the building and loan. Just like George Bailey learned that you don't have to do "Big" things to be happy we're finding we have a pretty sweet deal right here in our hometown. But, upon occasion(during the stressful moments) we find ourselves saying just like George Bailey "You call this a happy family?! Why did we have to have all these kids?!" ;) And then we laugh and realize things aren't so bad. How could they be when we get to see hairdos like this....

and carrot covered faces like this...

I love my kids and lately I've been thinking I can't believe how blessed I am to have such adorable babies...and oh yeah the other kids too ;) Right now the babies are in a standoff in their walkers....neither one willing to budge so the other can go about his way....or maybe being 6 month olds...they don't know how to budge....I'll stick with the first story. Ahhh I'm going to miss them when they're older....better get in all the hugs and kisses I can while they can't run away or look embarrassed.

Andrew's birthday

6 Years ago on Easter Day Andrew Ames was born(getting me out of a few last finals before graduation) To celebrate.....Saturday we went to the zoo. The kids had a good time....I was a little underwhelmed by Miller Park Zoo....and felt sorry for the animals in their tiny habitats....but whatever it takes to give Andrew a Happy Birthday! ;) Saturday night after the kids went to bed I decided to make Drew a spongebob pinata....because I think it's good for kids to get rewarded when hitting someone with a stick until their guts fall out. Anyway I'm quite proud of it and the kids were so excited to beat the life out of it. Andrew said it was a good job, but both he and Ash noticed the imperfections. I was shocked to learn that the stripes were usually a little higher on his socks and other various mistakes I made. Here it is.

Not too shabby. We had a party on Sunday with my family....grilled out...hit the pinata...had cake....and blew bubbles...it was great and Andrew had a happy birthday.

The twins are getting more and more active these days...with the help of my new best friends...the exersaucers. Occasionally they run into eachother and are aware of one another.