turkey lurkey yummy nummy...

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving holiday! Oh...wouldn't it be nice to just retire now and just have family cozy time everyday! We kept busy this week and actually don't have many pictures other than Jeff carving the turkey...which he was lucky enough to do twice.

We spent Thanksgiving with Jeff's family at his sister's here in Grand Rapids. We brought the bird, prepped using the recipe for Alton Brown's (Food Network) turkey brine. We've done this before and it's finger-lickin' good.

After some shopping on Friday morning, I had a photoshoot (check it out) with a great family. We spent the rest of the weekend either laying around or playing Wii Fit (I got it Friday and nobody wanted to wait until Christmas to take it out of the box). We did have turkey din din again on Saturday with my folks who drove up from North Carolina (they volunteer at JAARS).

It's looking pretty chilly outside today (yikes), so I guess we'll just lay around some more and eat some leftover turkey. Life is good.

she's got beautiful eyes, but the ears aren't good...

If you've known our family for awhile, you likely know that we've struggled with properly functioning ears in both Lauren and Sarah. Prone to one ear infection after the other...they both had "tubes" placed a little more than 4 years ago (Sarah was 4 months old and had her first infection at 2 weeks old).

Well, we thought we escaped ear issues with Julia...thinking lungs would be her biggest problem (she spent a week in the hospital at the first of the year with RSV and pneumonia to catch some of you up). She's had two ear infections to date (which is fantastic in our book).

Lately, she's been talking a lot, but no real words were coming out...in fact, her speech was going backwards. I also suspected another ear infection. So...we decided to skip past the pediatrician and go straight to our trusty ear doctor.

In this part of the story, take a moment to shove your fingers as far into your ears as you can, or if you're like my mom, grab your earplugs and plug 'em in. You can still read, but I take it you're not hearing very well. Yup, you guessed it...that's how Julia is hearing the world around her...and has been for awhile. Somehow, it's escaped her regular doctor that fluid has been piling up and now is mimicking the look of her ear drum...thus making hearing a challenge.

It seems fixable...which is good, of course. But it's a little sad to know she can't hear us all that well...not to mention that apparently she just likes the look of the Wiggles and not how they sing (which is my favorite part).

So, we'll start with an antibiotic (heavy duty) to try to clear it out of there and also heal the infection she does have now too. After that, we'll test the hearing again...but we're likely looking at tubes again, which I'm all for. Whatever it takes to get the gunk out so she can hear my off-key rendition of You are My Sunshine again!

Thanks to you all for reading through a cathartic blog post! (you can take your fingers out of your ears now).

happy happy joy joy (let it snow)....

Nothing makes Lauren happier than a yard full of snow. Frost bite could be setting in and she'd still be rolling around in the stuff. It takes her less than a minute to build a snowman.

But, there's not much that makes her angrier than a little sister who finds delight in knocking over snowmen.

So...she gets to build one again.
And that makes her happy.
It's a never-ending circle of fun when you're ankle deep in snow. The older girls were out until after dark sliding around. It always makes me smile when all the other lawns on the street are pristine with untouched snow and ours looks like mangled chaos. I love it.

sweetness captured...

I took some photos of my little nephew, Brandt, and his proud parents, Lisa and Tim, over the weekend. They're a great little family. Check 'em out over on the photoblog.

fin de la cumpleanos...

Yesterday marked 35 years in the life of a pretty great guy...none other than mein mann, Jeff. The third birthday in the family in under two weeks was marked with a potpourri of appetizers, and a plate of pastry (who wants cake after overdosing earlier in the month?).


His parents and his sister, Lisa, and family (baby Brandt below) came over for the festivities. Nothing makes a grandpa happier than reading a book to a lap full of babies.

Jeff and I capped off the day in a healthy, but heated competition shooting stuff and playing tennis on the Wii. Let's just say that I'm a good shot, but my backhand still stinks. Or I could say that I let him win on his birthday. But lying is not cool.

the one bad thing about fall...

...it has to end sometime. The air is starting to bite and from the looks of our backyard today, the leaves have stopped hangin' on to the trees.

Raking the leaves...the last hurrah of autumn...is very muched loved around here (although I'm never the one with a rake...so I won't speak for Jeff). Lauren is especially fond of a giant pile of leaves and Sarah seems to have grown into it this year as well (she's cried about it most other years). And Julia was just a trooper as usual.

No, she did not break any bones on this jump. In fact...this was not the highest she got. Our little daredevil. I just thought of this...do you think they have leaf-raking as a Wii sport? That would be sweet.

put a gift certificate in someone's stocking (or get one in yours)...

Thought I'd let you all know about something going on with the biz. I am now offering Bellflower Design Gift Certificates!!! These are handmade and include a coordinating envelope. You may purchase them in any amount at all. What a great Christmas gift! So tell everyone you know about this (even if it's just because you want them to get one for you!). Contact me for details on how to order.


You'll see the same message over at the photoblog...if you're someone who travels over there too.

feeling the love...

Due to her tight schedule requiring her to attend school every day, our lady Lauren does not get as much face-time on the blog. Well, this still isn't face time...but I wanted to share a bit of her heart.

She makes little notes for people from time to time and we get notes on our pillow most every night. After spending some time with her baby cousin, Brandt, this weekend...she felt like making him a card. We did not help her with the spelling...most especially the spelling of his name (which does not describe this sweet boy in the slightest bit). She is also a huge fan of the music from The Lion King...and she has quoted Elton John here. Enjoy taking a peek at this card of a heart...from my little girl.

rub a dub, three julias & a sarah in a tub...

Bath time is like a box of chocolates in our house. Yup, you never know what you're going to get. We go from thrills to spills to tears and back again in less than a minute. If there's ever a lack of something to do in the house, just toss on the faucet and the girls come running...if you're not careful, Julia will climb in clothes and all (only happened once).

This (picture below) is called the "jelly bean face" in our house. When she does not get what she wants, she makes this face and the most piercing wail. The first time we witnessed it was after we pulled the plug on her eating fistfulls of jelly beans. Hence, the name. Here...she is torqued that she does not have the "front row" in the tub, where the faucet and apparently better seat is.

Time to get out.

the first snow...

The cozy season is upon us here in Michigan. Time to snuggle in front of a fire, light up the smelly candles (creamy nutmeg is my personal favorite), make comfort food, eat comfort food and just plain lounge.

Yes, the first snow has fallen. And for the kids, that means none of the above. It means spending an hour piling on snow gear from head to toe, stomping outside, staying out for anywhere from 10 minutes to 3 hours and always coming in for hot cocoa afterward.

Lauren rolled around in it like a puppy after a bath, while she waited for her ride to school. Later, it was awesome heading out with the younger two kids. Sarah barely remembers the snow and Julia absoutely doesn't know what it is. She just looked at it and touched it and laughed...she may have even eaten it. You can tell from the pictures that snow angels weren't happening today. But, any snow is "first snow" as far as we're concerned. But now that they've seen it, we're saying "Bring it on, Old Man Winter!!!"

Wii have a new toy...

Yes, it's been a few days since I fed the blog...I know. I'm afraid my time has been occupied by playing in my new bowling alley, baseball field, tennis court and boxing ring. No, I did not get a palatial estate for my birthday. I gots a Wii. Which is a wee bit fun...that Wii. Yes, my time has also been spent making really lame Wii statements (I can't call them jokes, because nobody laughs but Mii.)

Lauren has commandeered our new toy. After three rounds on the punching bag yesterday, she had to change into her soccer "workout" clothes to continue playing because she was "getting too sweaty". My Tai Bo experience proved worthwhile after I smoked Jeff in boxing. That's right...I'll be the one leading the path down a dark alley (or not). I'm really quite bad at tennis, which I knew before...but thought the imaginary land would somehow make me better...it's amazing how real the Wii really is.

guess what day it is....

It was 33 years ago today that this little bundle o' joy bounced into the world. That's right folks...it's my birthday! Enjoy a few pictures I dug out to celebrate the day.

When I arrived, my brothers loved me for about 3 years...then they cared less for about 13 years. But it's all been good for the last 17. It would be irresponsible of me not to draw your attention to the clothing here. Pretty swanky, huh?

I'm not sure I see any of my girls resemblance in my baby pictures. By the way, that birthmark faded, but was ultimately covered by a chicken pox scar (a little trivia de la me).

Check it out...even with a not-so-fantastic hairstyle (no offense, mom)...I'm still remarkably cute. This picture was taken in front of the grapefruit tree we had in our backyard in Florida...and my grandma gave me that dress :-).

So, there's a little walk down memory lane. I hope you all have a fantastic day...

1,460 days in the life...

My sweet baby Sarah turns 4 today. How did that happen? She went to bed last night and covered herself in several books she left open to the number "4". How's that for a glimpse of her wit? She's a a smart one, that little bear. She's also incredible sweet, funny, vocal and imaginative.

She's quite stoked about her big day, as well she should be! We're just pretty happy she's ours....we only wish she wouldn't grow so fast! Check out the video for a little idea of what we've enjoyed these last 1,460 days.