Holmberg Orchard Visit!!!!!

 It's our fall tradition as a family to visit the Holmberg Orchard and have a hayride through the pumpkin patch!!!! We had another fabulous time and this year was Magnus' first time visiting it!!!! We measure each of the kids on the apple chart and they love standing by the sign and seeing how "big" they are!!!

Jocelyn had a huge growth year. She's about 3 inches shorter that  Gabriella. And very excited to be wearing the exact same size as big sister!!!!!!! Plus, it's fun to share your sister's clothes, right!?!? 

Sweet lil' Ahnya is also growing and growing. She has such long legs and skinny skinny mini!! So fun to dress my girls.

 Magnus is not excitied about momma taking pictures anymore. I think he tries to make the most ridiculous facial expressions when he sees my camera.

 The kids loved the apple orchard and pumpkin patch. What a fun time.

 We went on a hayride through the orchards to the pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkins! We decided on the biggest pumpkin we could find and let daddy carry it!!

 face painting.................

 Daddy and the kids..............

 Gabriella.................................

 Jocelyn...............................

 Ahnya................and Magnus too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                    Playing in the corn

                           Sistas

              Momma and her babes

 This was actually Ahnya's birthday family celebration, too. Ahnya turned 4 years old. We came home to our new home and had cake and opened presents!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 Ahnya loved her American Girl table and chairs set!!!

 Happy Birthday my sweetie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was such a fun day!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Feels good to be home!!!

We are finally done! We are unpacked, everything organized, things hung on the walls where I want them, rooms even painted, the move is completed and very successful!!! It was a very hard to move. Ryan and I did 97% of the move on our own. My mom came and helped watch the kids for 3 days and Grandma Peggy came one day and watched the kids, too. That helped Ryan and I get everything moved. Otherwise, we pretty much did everything else on our own. HARD work...but oh so worth it in the end.

We love our home and it's really home to us. Even the girls have commented and said that it feels like home. I am just happy to be done with the boxes, storage rooms organized, furniture where I want it, and things done. I need organization and everything to be in the right spot in order to mentally handle a normal day. I think there is probably a clinical diagnosis to my condition...but that's how I am and how I like things. Regardless, we are settled and the kids are loving having neighbor kids to play with everyday. Stop by and see us if you are ever in the area!!!

First Day of Preschool for lil' Ahnya

 Today was Ahnya's first day of preschool!!!! Ahnya is going to Wee Care 3 year old preschool. Her teacher is Mrs. Olsom. She was so unbelievably excited!!!!

 Everytime I try and get a nice picture with Magnus...this is what I have to deal with........crazy pants!!!!!! He is seriously a nut case!

 When I dropped Ahnya off this morning at 8:30 a.m at preschool, Ahnya turns and says to me "Momma I love you but you need to go!" I get it. And I am so happy she is excited about preschool. I know she'll have a very fun 2 1/2 hours. But I will miss her every single minute.

Have a great morning at preschool Ahnya WE Love YOU!!!!!!!!!! (And your brother is going to be devastated that you are gone.)

Big Changes for the Schlenner Family

Whoohoo!!!!! We officially are MOVING!!!!!!! We signed paperwork last Sunday but I've been crazy busy with sick girls with the flu~that I haven't had time to post the news.

See ya old house.......we'll miss ya! We brought Jocelyn, Ahnya and Magnus home to this house. Had 9 1/2 great years in our home.

Hello new house!!!!!!!!!!! This home just "fits" us perfectly. It's our style, close to our friends and kids friends, quiet neighborhood, private backyard, 3 bedrooms down, 2 bedrooms up, and office on main level, completely open floor plan, and a beautiful sunroom. So many things about this home seal the deal that it's the right move.

We're good friends with the buyers who are selling us their home. They came over last Friday and gave us a small statue of St. Joseph. We were told to dig a 12 inch hole in the ground facing our home, put the statue in the ground upside down and cover with dirt. So we dug the hold, re-read the directions again how to do this, and put St. Joseph in the hole. The girls and I held hands and prayed very hard that we would sell our home.

Here's a picture of Jocelyn and Gabriella holding St. Joseph!!!

We prayed many times during the day together. The girls had some beautiful prayers.

Here's a picture of the shrine above the grave of St. Joe! The girls picked beautiful flowers from our gardens (and some from the neighbors gardens, too!) They made a sign that says "St. Joseph".

Now fast forward 24 hours to Saturday......By that Saturday afternoon we heard from our Realtor that our buyers home had a buyer and contingency waived. That was the final straw! We did it!!!! Go JOE!!!!! We signed papers 18 hours later and the rest is history. Our home is sold and our buyers home is sold.... and we close Sept. 17th!!!!!!!!!!!!

My girls (and Magnus...but he doesn't get it yet that we are moving) are excited to move. Mainly because it's a larger home with much more room and mostly because they have friends in the neighborhood!!!!!!!!!!

Back to School Time!!! What a week

Gabriella and Jocelyn were ready Monday morning for their first day of Back To School!!!!!! Yes I cried! And I dropped them off in my pj's! (I didn't get out of the car!)

 Jocelyn woke all smiles, as usual, and put on her outfit that she had decided on the night before!!!

 Lil Jocelyn is in 1st grade at Holy Redeemer and is in Mrs. Sodeman's class!! She is happy to have her friends Halle and Lily in her classroom too!!!

 Gabriella was set for her first day of school. She had been waiting all summer to go back to school!!! All morning Gabriella kept telling me she was so nervous with stomach cramps...I figured it was nerves and told her to buck up!!

 So Gabriella, with sore tummy and cramps, put on a happy smile and went to school.

 Gabriella is in 3rd grade in Mrs. Supernaut's/Mrs. Buysee's classroom!!!! She is seated in the front row for a reason, too! Very smart teachers at HRS!!

I picked the girls up from school at 3:00 pm and Gabriella had a fever of 103, burning up, and ready to empty whatever was in her stomach. I snuggled her up in bed and there Ms. Gabriella was for 2 days. Poor baby!! She didn't want to miss her first day of school and mommy missed all the warning signs the flu was coming. Aaahhhhh......

I had our traditional back to school meal all planned and fancied up for the girls. Since Gabbi was dead sick I made quick decision to do 2 back to school meals. Why not work my buns off one whole day slaving away cooking, when I can do it for TWO days!!!! The things we do to make our children happy, carry on traditions, and make memories. So I split up the menu and we had Grilled Korea Bulgoki Chicken on Monday and saved the Steamed Mussles for Tuesday when Gabbi could eat.

 This is Jocelyn coming home after first day of school. So happy she didn't get sick like big sis!

 I made Steamed Mussels with clam sauce linguine and they were delicious. This is one of Gabbi's favorite meals. No Jocelyn's. Can't please everyone.

 This is our dinner Tuesday night....................

 And this is Jocelyn Thurday morning. Yep, she has the flu! Poor baby Jojo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My heart breaks. So she's in my bed all snuggled up. Sleeping. Hasn't puked yet...but I know it's coming. And she has a bell...she rings it and I come running.

 Ahnya is healthy so far. We started her nebulizer today because of her coughing and allergies....so I am a full time nurse this week.

Magnus is still healthy too. He's just full of nuts!!!!

The moral of this story is, the reality of back to school week is not always fun for everyone. In fact, it makes me realize I should seriously look into home schooling....they'd be able to stay in my bubble and be healthier. No germs no viruses. But, we do what makes our babes happy. And my girls LOVE school and their friends. So inturn I am happy. I wish everyone a "better" back to school! At least we're getting the flu out of the way for the rest of the fall!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lov'in the Lake!!!

Where has July gone!!!!!!!!!!! I can't believe it's the middle of July and here we are in the middle of summer!!!!! Here's some photos of our summer time fun we've been having!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 We celebrated the 4th of July at the lake and had a blast. We are so lucky of have wonderful neighbors with  nice kids to play with all day!!!! Here the kids stretched out on the lawn and watch daddy light off fireworks!!!

 Jocelyn was all smiles!!!!!!!!!

 My sweet Gabbi loved the day!

 We have a water trampoline in the lake that the kids love to spend much of their time on during hot summer days. They have become great swimmers and Gabbi and Jojo are pretty much in the water without life vests all the time.

 Grandma Peggy loves when we come and I think she loves it when we leave!

 Ahnya isn't scared of water this year! She is in the water all the time and ready for action. Whether it's swimming, or pontoon, or jet ski...she wasn't to be where the action is!

 I've been gardening at the lake and love it!! It keeps me sane and I love the rewards as the flowers are so beautiful!

 Ahnya loves to water the flowers with me!

 Gabriella is having a great summer. Growing and growing....

 Magnus is a riot! He loves everything...is amazed by everything!! I love watching life through his eyes.

 The girls enjoy fishing with minnows! They play with them in buckets for hours~!!!!!!!

 Magnus ATE and swallowed a minnow last weekend!!!! I did a major freak-out...but it was too late! He said it was gone as I looked into his mouth!

Sunsets are spectacular at the lake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They are also a reminder that bedtime is next!!!!!!