The Mulvihills

Valentine's Day!

2012-02-15T19:42:00.005-06:00

Our Valentine's Day celebrations were more than usual this year! In an effort to get to know our neighbors better, the boys and I made special Valentine's Day cupcakes and delivered them! We are slowly getting to know our neighbors. The boys especially love Maddie who lives a few doors down and is an amazing babysitter!

After all that baking and decorating, tasting their creations was in order!

Did I mention that I made oilcloth bibs for Kate...I'm loving those Amy Butler prints!

On Valentine's Day, Jay was Andrew's guest of honor at Legacy Preschool. Drew was able to choose somebody he loves to join him for the class's party. Andrew sang songs for Jay and the two of them enjoyed cookies and Valentine's Day treats!

Afterward, the four boys gathered in Jake & Amy's dining room for more valentines and to tell each other what they loved most about each other. Jay & Drew agreed that they love to run together, while Matthew & Asher professed their love of playing together. It was so sweet!

All the excitement had Jay & Asher completely tuckered out for the drive home.

When we got home, Josh surprised me with this amazing bouquet of flowers! Tulips, hydrangea, lilies, and two other varieties of pink and purple flowers that are amazing! I was surprised and felt very loved by my amazing husband!

Happy Valentines Day!

January

2012-02-08T20:09:00.009-06:00

I think special grace should be given to bloggers who have moved with three children over the holidays. Once January hit we all did a collective exhale! This month has been wonderful, so busy, and here is a quick of recap of our days!

Jay and Asher are very happily now involved with Grace's Awana program on Wednesday nights. Jay is a Spark and Asher is a Puggle. It is the highlight of their Wednesdays! I also have joined the Awana team and am teaching Jay's kindergarten class. Jay's head for details is put to the test each week as he memorizes scripture, and Asher thrives with the many activities and crafts his class does!

Speaking of church, Asher has been absorbing the songs they sing on Sunday mornings. Each week he has come home with a new song, last week was Deep and Wide! So fun! Asher's adding He's Got the Whole World and Lord's Army to his repitorie as well! Take a listen!

Another first for our family, we took a weekend and visited Wisconsin Dells! After dropping Kate off with my parents, we braved a snow storm for a bit of swimming fun at The Wilderness Lodge! The boys loved the many pools, but their favorite was the wave pool! Asher was so brave that he and I went out to the very deepest part and rode the "Bomber Waves"! Jay couldn't get enough of the lazy river! We took the boys down one family tube slide that was completely in the dark--very fast for our boys but once we hit the bottom they couldn't stop laughing! This was a much-needed getaway, which I think we will do again next winter!

Josh and I celebrated our birthdays with two evenings out! Jared & Amy watched the kids while we went out for my birthday. And the lovely Sarah Urch and her friend Paul watched the kids while we went to the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre for Josh's. We were so grateful for a couple date nights and the gifts of those we love caring for the kiddos! Here we are heading to the Chanhassen, followed by celebrating Josh's birthday at the Morton's!

On my birthday the temperatures were record-breaking warm! We took the opportunity that morning to explore the playgrounds in our new neighborhood! Kate had her first swing ride, and the boys ran off some mid-winter energy. The neighborhood pools are right next to the playground--I have a feeling we will be spending a lot of time here in the coming months!

Let's see, what else? Unpacking and getting things in place!

Kate is now eating a wide array of solid foods, pulling herself up to standing, and I am experimenting with her hairstyles!

Asher and I had a couple one-on-one evenings out. I told him I would take him anywhere he wanted and he chose Target! Then I told him that I would like to buy him something special of his choice. After looking at all the toys, he decided that he would like popcorn and pop from the cafe. When we sat eating the popcorn, Asher was so happy and he said to me, "Mommy, you are so pretty! I love you!" This boy, is such a charmer!

Jay continues to amaze me with his homeschool studies. He has memorized most of his math addition chart, can skip count by tens, fives and twos, and especially loves word problems. He is reading very well, each day taking on new words. Jay can now read out loud most of the children's books we own and has been reading to Asher and Kate! We attended homeschoolers open gym at Grace and Jay has even started to make a couple new friends! I'm so proud of my little learner!

I addition to all that goes on around the house, we have been able to connect with good friends and family! Jeff & Erin, Mom & Dad, Todd, Urch, the Mulvihill ladies, and Moodys have all been able to visit in our new home! We have entertained families from Grace and have enjoyed meals in others' homes as well! I was able to take in pedicures with the other pastor's wives one evening and even managed to schedule a morning playdate with Denise & Julia and the kids! Life is rich with such amazing people in it!

Well, that's January. It went by entirely too fast. February has already brought some excitement of it's own--stay tuned!

Kate's New Dress!

2012-01-01T20:11:00.003-06:00

For Christmas this year my mom made Kate the most beautiful dress with matching boots! It is so cute, I just had to share!

The dress is crochet with two shades of purple super soft yarn! It even has a little crochet flower in the front!

And the boots, oh, the boots! Two little mid-calf-purple-with-pink-buttons pieces of wonderfulness! They are the stylish, crafty baby's version of Uggs!

Kate wore her handmade ensemble to church this morning with white texturized tights a little purple barrette in her hair. She smiled at all of those who admired her cute look!

Mom sells these dresses and boots in her Etsy shop--feel free to link through to see more of her lovely work! Thanks, Mom, for such a fabulous gift for little Kate!

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

2011-12-31T20:49:00.006-06:00

Christmas 2011 was filled with such enthusiasm from our children! On the 24th we spent the morning doing our family's festivities. This year both Jay and Asher were very excited to open gifts, much more so than last year. They woke up early in their Christmas jammies (which I finished making right before moving) and were ready to get going!

We read the Christmas story aloud from Luke 2, followed by the boys singing, "Happy Birthday Jesus!"

Then opening gifts!

Kate particularly enjoyed tearing into the wrapping paper!

Afterward we had a yummy brunch of eggs, bacon and Amy Mulvihill's carmel rolls! Mmmmmmm! That afternoon Josh headed out early for the 2:00 Christmas Eve service at Grace. The boys took advantage of the time to play with all of their new loot!

We all joined him later for the 4:00 service where Jay & Asher were able to go down front with all the children while Josh read the Christmas story!

That evening we came home, had a roast chicken dinner, played for a bit, put the kids to bed and then Josh & I rented a movie. We celebrated Christmas with the Mulvihills the next day and with my parents yesterday. Due to a few factors, I failed to bring my camera to either gathering, I'm hoping to get and share some photos soon!

Merry Christmas 2011!

Wrapping Up

2011-12-31T18:44:00.005-06:00

Isaiah 25:1, " LORD, you are my God; I will exalt and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things."

The last four weeks have been filled with so much wonderful activity, it's hard to know where to start! Due to the busyness that comes with moving, followed by having no internet at our new house, blogging hasn't even been an option! Tonight we now have internet at our new home, the children are asleep in bed and I will take some time to catch up!

The weekend prior to our move, Jay had the opportunity to be in the Grace Church Children's Christmas Concert! Jay sang three songs, and did the actions very well! Such a proud moment to see the little guy up on stage!

Later that week I took Jay & Asher down to Rochester to stay with Mom & Dad for a few days while I finished up organizing and packing in preparation for moving! ( I must admit that as I look at this picture now, I really miss those light blue walls!!)

Friday morning, the moving truck came and before we knew it, Josh and I were once again spending the evening in our sweet farmhouse without furniture! Oh, how time flies!!

Saturday morning we finished cleaning, welcomed our home's new owners, and said goodbye to a home that had been very special to our family. I expected leaving to be difficult, but as we drove away I was filled with excitement and anticipation for all that was to come!!

That evening Josh and I were given the opportunity to attend The Story at Grace. What a wonderful evening! The Story is the biblical story line of the Bible sung to music, from Genesis to Revelation. Max Lucado, Randy Frazee, Steven Curtis Chapman, Selah, Natalie Grant, Anthem Lights, the Newsboys, and so many other contemporary Christian artists were there! Afterward we were given the opportunity to meet the artists!! We were soooo excited!!

Josh Mulvihill, VIP!

Max Lucado even gave a shout-out to Jay & Asher! Our boys love Max in all the Hermie videos!

We very much enjoyed the weekend with Jake & Amy and then moved into our new Eden Prairie home on Monday morning!

As soon as we could, we got to work unpacking and settling in! Friends from Grace, along with all of the Mulvihills came to help unpack and set up furniture. Families from Grace also brought meals to keep us fed while our dishes were in boxes! What a blessing! As we unpacked, Asher continually said with excitement, "Hey! We have the exact same thing!" I loved seeing his excitement and his slow realization that we brought all of our furniture and toys with us from Sauk Rapids! After a few days, the kitchen was mostly unpacked and the living room was starting to take shape!

After being here for twelve days, it is starting to feel like home! We have been abundantly blessed with the opportunity to live here in Eden Prairie, and I know we will find many happy years here on Junegrass Lane!!

Grateful

2011-11-30T18:46:00.005-06:00

"From the fullness of his grace, we all have received one blessing after another." John 1:16

In the days leading up to Thanksgiving, both my mind and heart were filled to the brim as I recognized all of the abundant blessings God has given this year. Without a hint of exaggeration I can say I am tremendously grateful for each and every person and experience put in my path in the last twelve months. God has been good to us, and and as a result, we are filled with a joy that can only come from Him!

We began our Thanksgiving celebrations by attending the Wednesday evening service at Grace. It was a wonderful service and it was a treat to have all three of our children in church with us! After church we headed down to Mom & Dad's house in Rochester. We arrived late, but stayed up chatting with Mom a bit before putting the kids to bed for the night.

Thanksgiving morning we headed over to Tom & Denise's house for a couple hours before we all met up with our families. It was so good to spend time with such dear friends! A couple hours went by entirely too fast! When we were driving back to Mom & Dads, I commented to Josh that this was such a great day! Time with the Moodys in the morning, and an afternoon with my family! Little did I know that the day was going to get even better!

We got back to Mom & Dad's and when we got to the front door Steven, Heather and little Sophie answered the door! Whaaaat!? Yes! They surprised us and came to Minnesota for Thanksgiving! The Steele family, all together for the day--Jeff & Erin were there too! Of course, we took a family picture!

The weather was so warm, we even spent some time outside!!

(I love this picture of Dad & Sophie!)

Thanksgiving dinner was delicious,Mom did a great job with the food, and we couldn't let the day go by without Steven & Heather's traditional ABC's of thankfulness!

It wouldn't be Thanksgiving without the pies...Asher was fond of the banana cream!

This was my first time meeting sweet Sophie! Such a beautiful little lady! I can't get enough! Kate & Sophie were so cute together! I am glad that Kate has Sophie (and Scarlett!) for cousins! I know that they will love each other very much as they grow up!

We headed back up to Sauk Rapids on Friday evening because.......drumroll, please........WE SOLD OUR HOUSE!! Yes, it was a Thanksgiving miracle! And that miracle required our signatures on the purchase agreement!

Because we had to head out of Rochester, Steven, Heather & Soph came up to visit us on Saturday and stayed until Sunday. It was neat to watch the kids play, and even nicer to put the kids to bed and have time to chat kid-free! Steven & Heather came to Grace on Sunday morning to hear Josh preach before they headed back to DC on Sunday afternoon.

I am so grateful to have been blessed with the gift of special time with family and friends!!! Happy Thanksgiving 2011!

Potty Trained!

2011-11-13T20:50:00.002-06:00

I'm calling it! After seven days accident-free, Asher is now potty trained! He even stayed dry all day today through the drive to Grace, morning at church, lunch out, and afternoon at the outlet mall!

Before we left for Kentucky we let Asher pick out some big boy undies of his own at the store. Here he is displaying them proudly!

While we were away, my mom worked very hard to keep Asher consistently on the potty. When we got home we issued Asher a challenge. Stay dry for three days and we would buy him a stuffed Eyeore from Barnes & Noble. And, wonder of wonder, miracle of miracles, he did it!

I give all the credit to my mom! And Asher did his part too...Good job, team!!!

Kentucky

2011-11-12T20:08:00.007-06:00

Ahhh, Kentucky or "Can-tucky" or "Man-tucky" as Josh would call it!

Josh, Kate and I spent two weeks in Kentucky while Josh was working on his PhD. Our time away was wonderful! We had a great drive both ways, and Kate was a happy traveler! (All of these pictures were taken with my new iphone. Not bad!)

Josh was very busy all day with classes and with meetings and homework in the evenings, but after living apart for over a month, it was nice to have such a volume of time together.

During the days, Kate and I took our time exploring Lousiville. We found fabric shops, local coffee shops, walked the entire campus of SBTS, and generally window shopped our way across the city.

I was quite amazed by how many people approached me with Kate while we were out, just to comment about my baby. One man at Whole Foods pulled me aside to tell me, "I can tell your baby is from Kentucky because she ain't got no shoes on!" Another older couple asked if they could push Kate around the coffee shop, telling me just how much they looooove babies! Very interesting, indeed!

In the afternoons while Kate napped I worked on formatting my blog into a book using a company called Blurb. My blog contains over 400 posts and over 1900 pictures! After working every day for two weeks I was only able to format about 120 posts! Little by little I have been working on it since we have gotten home. I'm thinking of publishing the books in 200-page volumes.

Though Josh was busy we still had time for dinners out and a few weekend adventures! On Saturday we had a homework-free morning so we had a late breakfast at Mimi's Cafe followed by shopping at local shops in the St. Matthews area.

We found the most fabulous stoneware at Louisville Stoneware, awesome textiles at Louisville Metal Works and even found our exact same kitchen island we have at home at Red Tree. So cool!

Sunday morning we went to church at Highview Baptist and then took a walk at Cherokee Park. The weather was amazing and the fall colors were in full bloom!

Halloween also came and went while we were there. I was bummed that we didn't get to take the boys trick or treating but Kate wore the same Halloween onesie that Asher wore when he was the same age. Kate accessorized hers, though, with her first ponytail!

Also while we were there I had the opportunity to interact with many of Josh's classmates. We had two dinners out with his classmates--one of which I was able to listen to them present their proposed dissertations. I was able to connect with one of the other student's wives a bit as well!

Other highlights of our trip include:
- Attempting to cook in the hotel room with a George Foreman grill. Didn't work out as planned!
- Eating at Kentucky Fried Chicken in Kentucky!
- Chatting with the boys on the phone and hearing all of Asher's potty training adventures.
- Hanging out with Dave & Angie Ward before Angie defended her dissertation.
- Driving around Louisville and looking at houses. There are countless brick-front historic homes. Love!
- Endless communication back and forth with our realtor in Sauk Rapids, lining up showings and open houses.

Two weeks went by very fast and I would love to go again with Josh in May when he returns to Louisville for another two weeks of classes!

Kate, Six Months

2011-10-31T19:14:00.006-05:00

Kate, at six months old, is a very happy little girl! Her laid-back, cheerful personality is such a treat! She sprouted her first two teeth a few weeks ago and since then she has taken a tremendous interest in eating solid foods! Anything she can chew on with those two teeth is her favorite! She is rolling all around, can sit on her own for short periods of time and is on the verge of crawling. Kate's hair is growing longer now and her bald spot in the back has filled in! In some lights her hair has a tint of red, but is mostly blonde--what happened to that dark-haired girl we had a few months ago!? A delightful little girl...sweet Kate!

Mr. & Mrs. Mulvihill

2011-10-31T18:30:00.006-05:00

On October 8th, Joe and Pam got married! In preparation for the wedding I made matching ties for Jay & Asher to wear. The ties coordinated perfectly with Kate's dress. The pattern was given to me from Amber at Very Homemade. The boys were more than happy to model their matching duds after I was wrapping up sewing!

The wedding day was a perfect fall day with bright sunshine and peak fall colors! Pam looked beautiful, and their love for one another was quite evident. Josh performed the ceremony--what a tremendous honor for a son to perform his father's wedding ceremony! In addition to celebrating the union of Joe & Pam, we welcomed Pam's sons Josh and Ben along with Ben's fiance Melissa into the family.

Grandpa Mulvihill and Grammy Pammy with the seven kiddos!

We are excited that Pam is now officially a Mulvihill! We love you Joe & Pam! Congratulations!

A Day in the Life of Jay

2011-09-29T21:55:00.002-05:00

Today I gave Jay our old Cannon camera to carry around and snap pictures. He had so much fun! He took over 250 pictures! We put them on the computer this evening and I let him choose his favorites. Here they are!

These pictures make me so happy! I love seeing life from his angle--thank you, Jay!

Another New Chapter

2011-09-28T21:03:00.009-05:00

Wow! It has been an action-packed last couple weeks here at the Mulvihills! Let's recap, shall we?

Two Sundays ago, Asher had a difficult morning at church. He threw up in Sunday School and progressively got worse as the day went on. His breathing became more and more labored until we finally made the call to take him to the emergency room around 10pm. When we arrived at the hospital we were told it was a two hour minimum wait--the lobby was fully packed with patients waiting to be seen. After they did Asher's initial consultation he was immediately taken back into a room and given oxygen and a steroid. His oxygen level was below 80! After three hours of treatment, x-rays, and SIX unsuccessful attempts at putting in an IV, Asher's oxygen levels raised into the mid-80's. Around 3am he was admitted to the hospital and taken up to the pediatric unit. He and I were up literally all night!

The next day we met with respiratory therapists and doctors all while monitoring Asher's oxygen. Asher loved his nurses, very much enjoyed ordering his meals, and got a kick out of watching movies in his fancy hospital bed! Josh brought up Bible DVD, Life at the Pond, and the Cat in the Hat--all Asher's favorites!

After receiving his nebulizer and oxygen treatments his oxygen levels while awake were in the mid 90's but they continued to dip into the mid 80's when he slept. As a result we spent another sleepless night in the hospital so Asher could sleep with continuous oxygen.

Miraculously, the next day his oxygen levels were up for the entire day, through a long after nap and we were able to come home after supper! Praise!

Asher's hospital visit and prolonged sickness happened to occur on Josh's last few days in his position at Crossroads Church. Yes, that's right! We will soon be on the move again! Josh accepted the position as Pastor to Childern and Families at Grace Church of Eden Prairie and we are very excited to be a part of this amazing body of believers!! God has been so good to us and though change can be difficult we are embracing it and looking forward!

This week the kids and I have been staying busy by soaking up the remaining nice days outside! In addition to taking bike rides (Kate can now sit up in the bike carrier!) we have ben making race tracks on the driveway! Jay is quite the artist!

Kate can now also sit up in the front of her stroller without her car seat! She loves looking around and will laugh and chat with everything around her!

And, Asher has been helping me with wrapping up our garden plot--raking, pulling out the plants and hauling things over to the compost bin. Here he is with our moving sign!

Our house is on the market and we are praying that a buyer will come our way who will appreciate this sweet farm house as much as we do! I made a little blog with pictures for potential buyers to peruse. Check it out! In the mean time, while we are waiting for our house to sell, we are praying for a living situation in the cities to come available to us. We are looking for a place to live, potentially somebody who goes south for the winter, who would open their home to us for the winter months while we transition down.

It's crazy to think that just last year we were doing these exact same things--preparing our family for a move and a new adventure. This last year has been rich, full of many wonderful people and experiences. We are thankful for the time we have had here in Sauk Rapids and are confident that the coming weeks and months will bring much excitement and continued abundant blessings!

The Kindergartner

2011-09-13T14:36:00.005-05:00

Last week we began our homeschool journey as Jay had his first day of Kindergarten! Even though we are homeschooling, we wanted to document the day just as any non-homeschooling family would!

So, last Tuesday morning at 8am we made sure Jay had eaten breakfast and was dressed. His backpack was filled with his school supplies and we headed outside for his first day of school photos! Look at this handsome fella!

Asher wanted to get in on the action as well so he put his backpack on for a photo.

Daddy and the kids!

We have been working on our school work every afternoon while Asher & Kate nap--usually getting in about two hours. For those interested, our curriculum is as follows:

Reading: The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading
Math: Math u See, alpha
Handwriting: A Beka
Literature: Selected books from recommended reading lists along with unabridged audio books
Music: Piano Adventures piano method.

We are choosing to teach using the Classical Philosophy of Education and are very excited for all this school year holds!

Winding Down

2011-09-09T19:53:00.006-05:00

It has been an action-packed last couple of weeks around the Mulvihill home! More details to come, but in the mean time here are a few snapshots of what we have been up to as the summer winds down!

Kate continues to love all of her new foods! Her favorite so far is the sweet potato/apple/pumpkin/blueberry mix. She's getting better at keeping those yummy bites in her mouth!

She also is learning to love the jumparoo here at home. Kate is a professional jumper in the johnny-jump-up at Mom & Dad's, but her jumparoo skills are getting better by the day!

We also have been soaking up these last warm days before fall arrives! This has involved playing with tools in the garage!

And, of course, daily pool time!! (I must admit that our neighborhood pools are fab-u-lous!!)

This has been an amazing summer for our family. So many memories to cherish, but we are very much looking forward to the fall!

Trying Something New

2011-08-26T22:13:00.003-05:00

Yesterday Kate ate rice cereal for the very first time! I had originally said we would wait until six months to feed her solid foods, but lately she has shown interest in what the boys are eating at meal times. So, after researching baby's first foods I picked up some Earth's Best rice cereal and gave it a shot.

(I'm loving that bib!)

She did great! She ate every bite! I'm leaning toward feeding Kate organic fruits, veggies and cereal, which I didn't do with either of the boys. It's a bit more expensive, which is contrary to my coupon-clipping ways, but considering the amount of produce babies eat, the benefits seem great.

Speaking of great, look what came to my door today!

I love an unexpected surprise! So fun!

Tomorrow I head down to Rochester for my fantasy football draft and then the Mulvihills are coming up to swim on Sunday afternoon. It's going to be a fabulous weekend!

Books-o-rama!

2011-08-24T21:06:00.002-05:00

Last Friday I came down to Josh's office and found he had so many books open at one time he wasn't even sitting at his desk!

Just another day in the life of a PhD student! Go Josh, go!

Harvest!

2011-08-17T20:51:00.005-05:00

As the summer is winding to an end, we are finding ourselves beginning to harvest many wonderful things from the garden! The landscape of the garden is taking shape little by little. I wish I could take more credit for the work that has been done, but being out of town so much has limited my ability to be out there working. But, look how great it's looking! Nancy landscaped around the sign.

Kevin lined up having ten yards of mulch brought in. He has been out there building raised beds and making mulch paths every weekend!

The sunflowers are in bloom! We have an amazing view of these out our dining room window and they make me so glad!

And the zinneas & cosmos the boys gave me for Mother's Day are in full bloom. I have already cut three bouquets and they just keep coming back!

We have already had a modest harvest of tomatoes, lettuce, kale, snap peas, green beans, zucchini, chives and cilantro, but today we picked our first watermelon! I donned my yellow garden boots (my best purchase of the summer!) and we headed out to collect our bounty.

Here it is!

Now, I fully recognized that the watermelon was very small, but it truly hasn't gotten any bigger in over a week. That combined with a tiny spot on the outside made me believe it was pickin' time.

After pictures with the fruit, we cut it open. We each enjoyed only two bites of sweet fruit! I guess I should have let it get bigger after all. There is another one out there so I'll just let that one grow for a while!

The garden has been one my personal favorites this summer. I so enjoy seeing the landscape change from week to week, having the ability to chat with neighbors, experimenting with planting new things, and of course, working in our own garden plots with Josh and the boys! I have learned quite a bit and look forward to taking what I have learned and applying it to our garden next year!

Canada, Eh?

2011-08-16T11:59:00.005-05:00

Well, I think I can officially say that our whilrwind summer of trips away from home is finished. Josh, Jake, Tom, John and Joel got home from Canada late Friday night. We have spent the last few days catching up, cleaning up, and spending time with families from church.

When Josh goes to Canada he takes my old point and shoot camera with him. The other day I went to upload the pictures onto my computer only to realize that I had three years worth of pictures there! Thank goodness for iphoto's auto sorting, otherwise I would have had no way of knowing which year the pictures were from. So here are a few from this year!

Looks like they had a good time!

While the guys were away, the kids and I had some fun adventures of our own. We were able to puppy-sit Cody & Ella, Amanda & Brady's dogs, while they were in Mexico. The pups were well-behaved and added an extra element of excitement to our already high-energy household. Both boys loved the puppies. I was surprised to find that Asher was afraid of both dogs unless he was holding their leash. Asher was more than happy to help with taking the dogs outside, feed them, and brush them at night. I wish I had taken pictures, but three kids and two dogs didn't leave much room for the camera--next time!

We spent a couple days in Rochester with Mom & Dad and I managed to sneek away for a Goodwill/Salvation Army treasure hunt with Denise. We totally rocked-it finding our diamonds-in-the-rough and transforming them with spray paint. Fab-u-lous!! Here's my bread box and vintage farm print which reminds me very much of the farm out my kitchen window.

Thursday morning I had coffee with the lovely ladies from our small group. You gotta love it that even though I live 120+ miles away from them I still consider them my small group... When we all got together we had nine, yes nine, kids ages five and under. A big thanks to Julia for being brave enough to let us all into her home!

Thursday night Amy, Drew, Matthew and baby Timothy came up for a sleepover and Friday play day. I may or may not have put them to work in the garden pulling weeds and raking mulch!

The four older boys played so well together--it's exciting to see their relationships develop as they get older!

This week we're sticking close to home--working in the garden, doing a bit of fall homeschool planning and savoring our last couple weeks of pool time before fall.

Ahhhh, Peekaboo!!

2011-08-03T20:12:00.002-05:00

Can we tell that this is my favorite of Kate's summer outfits? She has been wearing it most of my posts lately, the embroidered ruffle-sleeve-T! Super cute! And can we tell that these are two of the three cutest kids EVER!!! Enjoy!

More VBS and a Lemonade Stand!

2011-07-30T21:54:00.004-05:00

I can't believe it's already Saturday night! This week has flown by as we were at church every day for VBS! It was a great week filled with plenty of activity for each member of our family!

Asher & Kate were well-loved in their Puple Grapes class!

Jay was over-the-moon to have Landon Ridpath as his teacher every day! Landon, along with Maddy, Katie and Emily were amazing at leading that very busy group of kids!

I led music along with Parker Olson. Parker and I made a great team and Parker & Asher had a mutual affection for one another that grew as the days went by. Tonight Asher saw Parker at church and caller her is 'bestie'. Love it!

Josh was busy with all the activity that running VBS brings!

Mid-week Jay and Asher decided to have a lemonade stand to raise money for the weekly missions giving project. The children were challenged to raise money for a family in Joplin, Missouri who had lost their home to the tornadoes. Here they are in action!

Our street doesn't exactly get a lot of traffic. The only car that came by was a police car. The police officer gladly purchased a glass of lemonade and the boys were thrilled!! A few neighbors gave to the boys' efforts as well. In the end Jay & Asher raised $10.01. Good work, team!

This weekend the children are singing one of their songs in the weekend worship services, so we are back at church again! This week I am looking forward to a quiet week at home, working in the garden, puppy-sitting for Amanda & Brady, and getting caught up on laundry. I think a few afternoons at the pool are in order as well!

VBS: Part One

2011-07-15T21:15:00.004-05:00

This summer we have the privilege of being a part of VBS at both Autumn Ridge and Crossroads Churches! This week Jay went to VBS at Autumn Ridge. He was one of about sixty kindergardeners--here is his group! Every afternoon he came home telling me just how much he loves his teachers Ashley, Kate and Alex. His buddies Callie and Timmy were in his group also!

The theme for the week was Son Surf Beach Bash and we listened to the music over and over all week long in preparation for the large group sessions. Jay is somewhere in this mosh pit of five-year-olds! He loved it!

It's so fun to see how much more Jay gets into VBS each year. This year he was particularly excited about the children's $2000 giving goal. On boys-vs-girls day he was sure to bring in a few extra dollars for offering--he was very proud when the boys gave more on Thursday! Such a fun week!

We are looking forward to our second round of VBS at Crossroads coming up soon!

Kate Hearts Grandpa

2011-07-14T20:50:00.003-05:00

Kate has been loving this week of having both Grammy and Grandpa dote on her! She is such an expressive little girl and this afternoon she had a laugh-fest with Grandpa! She was laughing so hard! I got a bit of video footage, but this was totally mild in comparison to her earlier belly laughs.

Getting tired...

So fun! Kate sure does heart her grandpa!

Jay's First Video Game!

2011-07-11T20:52:00.002-05:00

In addition to all the fun we are having this week at my parent's house and going to VBS, today Dad rented the Cars 2 game for Jay to play! The two of them had a lot of fun figuring things out. Jay started out slowly but then got really into it once Dad unlocked the codes for the game, allowing them to race in Radiator Springs!

Ahhh, good fun!

Busy, busy, busy!

2011-07-08T21:16:00.004-05:00

Today was busy! The kiddos were up early. Early to the extent that by 9am I had already make Kate this skirt to wear with her cute birdie onesie!

After she had her mid-morning bottle we headed out to run a few errands and then came home for lunch. Jay amazingly took a three-hour nap, but Asher wasn't really in the mood. He and I hung out on the front porch for an extended period of time as not to wake up the others. I gave him a hair cut last night, which needs to be redone, but neither of us was in the mood today.

Doesn't he look OLD with short hair! Such a sweet boy...

Once Jay and Kate were awake I broke out the exersaucer for Kate! And, she loved it! She played in there for twenty minutes! Jay and Asher cheered her on and helped her figure out the toys. (Asher's wearing a different shirt because he had an accident going potty. He's been dry, with the exception of pooping, for three days!!!)

And now, at 9:30, dinner is over and cleaned up, the dishwasher and washing machine are running and Asher & Kate are finally in bed! This was a full day. I also just may have started making a skirt for myself to wear that matches Kate's....stay tuned!

It's Barrette Time!

2011-07-06T21:19:00.005-05:00

Hey Kate!

How's it going today?

Good, eh?!

My, my, your hair looks downright tame today! What's causing such a change?

You're wearing a barette!? Super cute! So sleek! But a couple hours later...

Looks like your 'do has a personality of it's own! Love you, Baby Kate!

Happy Fourth of July!

2011-07-04T21:01:00.003-05:00

Today Amy and Kendra came up for the day! Together we had seven boys under six years old, plus baby Kate! We had a fabulous day of swimming and being outside!

By 7pm we were all exhausted! No fireworks for us tonight, but nevertheless it has been a very happy Fourth of July!!

Parade!

2011-07-02T20:53:00.005-05:00

Last weekend we attended the Sauk Rapids parade! Being that I used to march in this parade when I was in high school, I couldn't resist going this year--especially since we live less than three miles from the parade route!

We got there very early so we could get a seat across from the parade judges. We took advantage of the time to eat dinner and enjoy the lovely evening!

Waiting for things to get started...

The parade was scheduled to have fifteen bands. Fifteen! We can usually hear the Sauk Rapids band and drumline practicing from our house, so we were excited to finally see them in action! They sounded great, but my vote for best band of the evening was Buffalo. Both Jay and Asher loved the bands too!

In addition to the great music, we had fun helping the boys get candy and wave to the people on the floats! Kate spent most of the time hanging out in her seat, smiling at all of us!

We had such a fun evening--it felt like a little piece of small town americana--sitting outside on a summer evening with our three kids, watching the parade go by and chatting with neighbors. Ahh, life is good!

Telling Time

2011-06-21T14:10:00.005-05:00

Lately, the words, "Hey Mom, guess what time it is?" have been coming out of Jay's mouth regularly. Jay has become quite excited about telling time now that he has a watch!

Mom and Dad came up last week to celebrate Jay's birthday. The traditional five-year-old gift in the Steele household is a watch. And, of course, Mom and Dad brought Cars 2 themed treats for everybody also!

Kate very lovingly shared her fruit snacks with her brothers! Speaking of Kate, she attended her first wedding this weekend! Here she is pre-wedding in her outfit from Amy & Jake.

I'll never tire of all the cute dresses and shoes!

Father's Day 2011

2011-06-19T21:19:00.000-05:00

Happy Father's Day, Josh!

Garden Work!

2011-06-16T13:13:00.004-05:00

Earlier this week the neighbors gathered to work on the garden! We had such a fun evening implementing a few plans for the garden and getting to know everybody better!

Mike put the finishing touches on the tool rack and compost bin.

Josh & Nancy prepped the land for a bit of landscaping around the sign.

The kids did a wonderful job of playing as well as helping!

Look at these lovely ladies helping out Brent! In addition to helping roll landscaping fabric and pull weeds the children dug for rocks in the garden that we will use to line the paths!

And, I'm happy to report that the pumpkins and corn have been planted! 18 pumpkin plants and 13 rows of corn! I am very much looking forward to the fall harvest!

Our personal garden plot is doing well! All of our seeds have sprouted! I'm most excited for the sunflowers and kale. I have been enjoying weeding whenever the boys play outside. Ahhhh, if only all work was as fun as working in the garden!

Happy Kate!

2011-06-08T13:18:00.001-05:00

Frogs!

2011-06-06T19:42:00.004-05:00

Oh My!!

The frogs are out in full force today! This morning when I was out watering this guy showed up on our back porch. For the record he stayed wayyyy too long.

This afternoon when we came back from the pool, the boys found these!

Their excitement was overwhelming!

Good fun, but I sincerely pray that one won't make it into the house any time in the near future!

Around the House

2011-06-06T14:38:00.010-05:00

One of the exciting things about our neighborhood is the community garden! The community garden is located in the open land right next to our house, and this year I have been given the opportunity to help with leading it!

The back third of the garden will be planted with corn and the front third will be pumpkins for the entire neighborhood!

There are a couple of garden beautification projects planned for the summer including landscaping around the sign and entrance, planting a tree and adding a bench by the sandbox, building a compost box.

This weekend we planted our garden which includes beans, peas, tomatoes, lettuce, broccoli, watermelon, cucumbers, carrots and five varieties of flowers.

After all the planting, I took a few pictures of the ever-changing landscape of our yard! It's fun to see what is blooming, as we purchased the house in the winter and had no idea what would grow in the spring!
The back yard has been a wonderful space for the boys to run and play, and the driveway has lent itself to many, many hours of bike riding and chalk drawings!

A few perennials are popping up...this one happened to be in bloom!

The chives I rescued from the garden before it was tilled.

We discovered that the trees outside our kitchen window are, in fact, dead. I love the look of them, though and after chatting with the wonderful couple that used to live in our house we learned that the trees were put there to be perches for the birds! SUCH a great idea! The perches are definitely here to stay! Josh planted yellow lilies at the base of the feeder.

Our front yard even has a flowering apple tree! It is not nearly as beautiful as our Rochester trees, but discovering its presence gave me a smile!

I'm sure my summer blog posts will be filled with more activities around the house!

Hey, Curly!

2011-05-31T20:39:00.003-05:00

The longer Kate's hair gets, the more curly it seems to get! Here she is after her bath!

Kate is growing more and more each day and it is fun to see her personality emerge! She is smiling a lot, starting to make cooing sounds and can even roll over from her tummy to back! She is also a champion sleeper, going 7-to-8-hour stretches at night! At two months old, her calm, laid-back personality remains. Such a sweet, sweet girl!

Five Years Old!

2011-05-26T21:08:00.006-05:00

I really can't believe that Jay is five years old already! At five years old, Jay is funny, smart, creative, a leader, obedient and kind. His favorites include Cars, trains, tools, baseball, football and reading. Today was a great day celebrating all things Jay!

We began the day with plenty of sunshine, and Jay and Asher got in some piano time before breakfast!

Kate enjoyed listening from a distance!

We spent the morning running errands to the post office (Etsy sales!) and Wal-Mart for birthday party supplies. After lunch Jay and I made his cake. It was chocolate with chocolate frosting, decorated with cars from the Cars 2 movie!

We then had time to hang out and wait for Josh to get home for the birthday festivities to begin. Jay took full advantage of the waiting time to study his gifts and cake...

Jay's chosen birthday dinner was shells & cheese, broccoli and strawberries. After dinner he was allowed to open his presents! We got him a read-along Bible, erector set and tackle box.

Baseball and bat from Great Grandpa and Grandma Mulvihill

A special birthday card from Grammy and Grandpa! They will be coming up on Sunday to celebrate with Jay!

Before we ate cake, we sang Happy Birthday to Jay. We couldn't resist, though, recreating the famous "I'm Five Years Old" video of Steven's 5th birthday! :)

Tonight I let Jay stay up late and we had fun Mommy and Jay time chatting with the people who used to live in our house--they came by with a tractor to till the garden! Jay sat on the back porch and watched Ron run the tractor--he had a blast! We built new creations with Jay's erector set and also laughed a lot while we took silly pictures on the computer!

Five years with Jay has flown by in the blink of an eye. Every day he is growing and changing. He is such a blessing and I am looking forward to all that the next many years will bring!

Worth Every Penny

2011-05-25T21:34:00.003-05:00

Often times I find myself cringing as the boys wear out their clothes--holes in jeans and stains in shirts, but I think we most definitely got our money's worth out of these Hanna Andersson jammies.

Here is Asher wearing them at 9 months old...

And here he is wearing them this morning at 26 months old!

They still fit! Hilarious!! Ahhh, this boy brings me such laughter and joy! Love you, Asher!!

Kate's Shower

2011-05-20T10:28:00.006-05:00

I'm so behind with blogging, but am so glad to have the time to sit down this morning and put some thoughts together!

In looking through pictures to share, these were at the top of the list! A few weeks ago, Lesli and Angie from Crossroads threw a baby shower for me and Kate! We gathered for food, laughter, talk of the royal wedding, and of course, all things babies!

The details of the shower were so thoughtfully done by so many ladies! Keri Schueller designed the invitations. Her Etsy shop can be seen here, and her work is adorable!

Kenzie Ridpath made cupcakes and a cake for Kate. This young lady is such a talent! The pictures don't do her work justice! She's a Martha Stewart in the making!

Kim Pareigat shared a devotional about the many hats we wear as women, hats that Kate will herself wear someday!

This gift tag made by Lauren with Kate's name also brought a big smile to my face! Amy Butler paper with velvet ribbon. It may just land in a frame in Kate's room!

Gifts!

Kate Elizabeth with Kate Elizabet!

These three lovely ladies patiently waited their turn to hold Kate and when their turns came, it was beyond precious!!!

Thank you, everyone for such a special morning! I felt tremendously loved and look forward to hosting many showers and special celebrations for the families of Crossroads in the coming years!

Quick Catch-Up!

2011-05-07T20:53:00.007-05:00

After a few weeks of non-blogging it's time to catch up! Despite my lack of time with two hands free at the computer, I have managed to take pictures along the way and am excited to share the fun--in no particular order!

Last week we celebrated Dad's 60th birthday on Thursday. Mom and Dad came up from Rochester and we celebrated the evening away!

For Jay's gift to Dad, Jay decided he would read out of his new easy-read Jesus book. Here's a clip, if you listen closely you can hear Asher singing Happy Birthday in the background!

We also have been keeping busy with general day-to-day life with Kate and the boys. Kate is such a happy baby! She is now sleeping longer stretches at night. The last two nights she has gone six hours! Amazing! She also is beginning to smile at both me and Josh. Her faces are the best!

This morning we hosted a breakfast for students and their parents from Crossroads. We kept the windows open all day and it was fabulous to sit in the living room with friends listening to the birds chirp in the background! I think winter may finally be over.

This afternoon the weather was so nice that we broke out the shorts and sunglasses and let Jay and Asher play in the water.

They had a blast just being silly for a couple hours! Speaking of water, we had our sprinkler system turned on yesterday, and oh boy, is it great! Let's just say we won't even need to go down to the pool for hot weather entertainment if we don't need to!

And, finally, as an early Mother's Day gift, look what Josh, Jay and Asher brought me yesterday!

An orchid! I had been wanting one for a while and they remembered! I'm excited to enjoy such loveliness for as long as I can keep it alive!

More to come, stay tuned!

Shopping The Rose

2011-04-20T13:22:00.003-05:00

One other very fun thing we did with Josh home was visit Second Hand Rose in Buffalo! The Rose is a furniture and home decor store that is open only three days per month. Their furniture is all repurposed, but the look is amazing! We have many pieces from The Rose in our home, from big to small.

Being that we now live so close to Buffalo, we packed up the kids and made it to the April sale! It was good to be back after so many years, and we even got to chat with Rose herself! All the ladies there inquired about little Kate and they even snapped our pictures! Today, look what shot landed on the SHR blog!

Me and Kate, already out shopping together! Gotta love it as this picture is just the beginning of many more mother-daughter shopping adventures to come!!

Crafty Josh

2011-04-19T14:18:00.005-05:00

We are on day two of Josh's being back to work and so far things are going well. I have managed to somewhat maintain order in the house with all three children, successfully plan and prepare meals, do laundry, and clean the basement Being productive makes the day go by so quickly!

While Josh was home not only did he read and write abstracts for a bazillion books, but he managed to make these sweet cufflinks!!

Each set of cufflinks are earrings that belonged to his mom! Here's some close-ups!

We researched professional jewelry making supplies and techniques and Josh carefully removed the earring backs and added cufflinks in both silver and gold. Josh wears french-cuffed shirts most days--what an awesome way for him to incorporate Jane's jewelry into something he can wear!

I heart this project! Nice work, Josh!!!

Name That Baby!

2011-04-09T18:58:00.004-05:00

So, even though we waited until the last minute, well actually last hour, before she was born to name her, Kate's name had been in the works for a while. We had it narrowed down to two little girl's names and now that she's here, I can't imagine her as anybody else besides Kate Elizabeth!

Being that we didn't decide on a name before the day of her birth, we didn't prep the boys much on what their little sister's name would be. Asher is still working on identifying Kate versus the other sweet babies in his life! So cute! Check out our conversation yesterday afternoon!

He makes me laugh so much, that boy!

Kate is still doing great! She is very calm, only cries when she's hungry and is such a delight!

And, while I'm thinking of it, here is the withheld pic of Kate's photo wall in her room. The frames are filled with her ultrasound images and will slowly be replaced with others such as her footprints from the hospital, etc.

Tonight Kate's belly button fell off during her bath. I don't know why I was surprised by this, but all of a sudden, there it was! Josh removed the stump and both Jay and Asher had fun looking at her tummy. The boys definitely love their little sister, now we just need to clarify her name!

Kate's First Week

2011-04-05T18:40:00.011-05:00

It's hard to believe that only 8 days ago little Kate hadn't even been born yet! Oh, how life can change dramatically in such a short time! The last week has been such a blur--thank goodness for cameras which capture the details of life!

I went in for my induction bright and early on Monday morning and by 8am my doctor had broken my water, or so we thought. After a perfect epidural and a couple hours of labor I hadn't progressed much, so the pitocin got going. By 1pm I had progressed to 7cm dilated and the doctor decided to try re-breaking my water. The second attempt was a complete success and by 2pm I was fully dilated!

The team at the St. Cloud hospital was amazing! Look at these lovely ladies!!

I pushed for 10 minutes, and Josh was able to help deliver the baby. It was quite amazing!

Here she is! 7 lbs, 12 ozs, 19.5 inches long! Kate Elizabeth!

Not too long after, Mom, Jay and Asher came to meet the newest member of the family. Asher was very excited to hold her!

The next day we opted to go home, rather than staying our two night stay at the hospital. I am usually one of those people who likes to stay at the hospital, but knowing our house would be quiet without the boys we opted to head home. That night, the Mulvihills made a caravan up to visit the first female Mulvihill grandbaby!

Wednesday, my good friend Denise came up from Rochester to visit, and Thursday brought quite a few visitors from Crossroads.

In the midst of juggling sleeping, feeding, and all of a newborn's needs, Kate has been fabulous! Her personality is similar to that of Jay's--laid back and sweet! She even looks like Jay, only with dark brown hair! Sooooooo cute!!!!!

Sunday Joe and Pam came up to meet little Kate and brought us dinner.

Yesterday morning we met Mom & Dad for brunch to pick up the boys! Jay and Asher picked out a gift for Kate and she sure was looking cute in her hat from Mom!

While driving home, Jay called from the back seat, "Look, Mom! We're all holding hands!" So sweet!

Today was our first day at home with all three kids. Busy is the only word I can use to describe our household! Both boys are very excited to get to know their sister. Asher held her multiple times today and Jay sat and talked to her often between his long jaunts of playing outside.

The addition of Kate to our family is such a blessing. I had always thought I would only be a mother to boys. Sure, a baby girl was always welcome, but I have always said I would be perfectly happy with a pack of boys. Having a daughter is a treasure to me and I look forward to how our relationship will grow over the years to come!

Hello Kate!

2011-03-30T22:59:00.003-05:00

Pictures and many details to come, but for now, here's little Kate in action!

We are home and settling into life with a newborn! Life is good!

Outside Time

2011-03-22T20:58:00.006-05:00

Before today's snow, we have had an amazing string of very nice weather! The snow in our yard is almost gone and the boys have loved spending as much time outside as possible!

Jay has been very into riding his bike and together he and Asher have come up with some very interesting ways of playing together!

In the back yard we have a small pond, which is fascinating to them. We have a "No-going-further-than-the-little-trees" Rule!

I'm sure there will be plenty of pond life in our vicinity summer, which is a bit out of my comfort zone! We have already found dead frogs and field mice. Eeeekk!!!!

We also took our first family walk of the neighborhood over the weekend! We love the layout of the curvy streets, with wide sidewalks which lead to trails! Jay rides his bike waaaaaaaay ahead of us! Every now and then Josh will catch up and walk with him before Jay zooms off again!

I just know that we are going to love being outside here this summer! But in the mean time I am still here hanging out, waiting for baby to arrive! After weeks of being dilated to 5cm, my induction is scheduled!! Not too long now!

Nursery Progress

2011-03-14T18:19:00.004-05:00

I think the nursery is finished!! Today I finished hanging the photo wall above the changing table, wrapping up all of the projects I wanted to get done before she arrives! Here's a sneak peak!

The puffs are hung above the crib.

The dresser drawers are lined.

And, the changing table baskets are lined and filled with uber-cute, yummy-smelling, newborn diapers!

The photo wall is up, but I am going to save the photo of it because the baby's *potential* name is on it. We continue to go in circles as to what this little girl's name will be, so until we make a final decision, mum's the word. Thursday I go in for my 38 week appointment and will most likely schedule my induction date!! Stay tuned!

Living Room Pillows!

2011-03-13T21:57:00.003-05:00

Everybody knows I like a good deal, but everybody also knows that even better that a good deal is finding the item I have been looking for, for a great deal! Often times I am willing to wait a loooooong time for exactly what I want for the right price--hence my light fixtures in the Rochester house, baby bassinet, etc.

Well, my latest home decor want were these pillows from Pottery Barn. The colors were so rich and they included the red from my Knelly rug, blue from the walls, and green from the couch! So fabulous...

BUT they were very spendy at $39 for each pillow cover, plus $16 for the inserts. $55 each, times three...yowza! Well, after visiting PB, I learned that I could purchase an extra long drapery panel in the same fabric, which was on sale for $60! The sale price combined with a coupon and gift card got me the exact same pillows for just a few dollars!

I invested $7 in zippers and used down inserts I already had on hand! I figure my savings to be around 90%! And I still have enough fabric for two more pillows...now that's a Jenny sort of deal!

Happy Birthday, Asher!

2011-03-13T21:07:00.005-05:00

We have been celebrating Asher's birthday for well over a week now! Last weekend we headed down to Rochester for a quick 24-hour visit! After an amazing Friday evening with friends, we celebrated Asher's birthday on Saturday morning with Mom and Dad.

Asher enjoyed his heavily-sprinkled cupcakes!

Mom and Dad even indulged Asher's ever-growing curiosity of electronics with his very own laptop!

The laptop has been carted all over the St.Cloud/Sauk Rapids area this week, including to my doctor appointments. In addition to my being dilated to 4+ cm, I had an ear infection. The first doctor I saw doesn't prefer to treat ear infections with antibiotics. BOO! So after another three days of pain, I saw another doctor who actually wrote me a prescription. I am happy to report the ear is doing much better!

Over the weekend Josh and Jay headed up to Trout Lake Camp where Josh was the speaker on a retreat. In their absence, Asher and I had a couple days to ourselves! We celebrated on his actual birthday with all of Asher's favorites including a trip to the pet store to look at frogs and turtles, a visit to Toys R Us, lunch out Noodles and dessert at Barnes & Noble. Asher was a delight and the time flew by! I had wanted to take some time to take 2-year-old pictures, but never got that far. Instead, here are a couple of Asher playing in his new favorite spot---the kitchen island!

This evening we celebrated here at home with cake and presents!

Birthday card from Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Mulvihill

Life at the Pond shirt! Life at the Pond is Ashers absolute favorite! He was so excited to get the shirt that he kissed it and even wanted to wear it to bed tonight! So cute!

This week we have a busy schedule, but I am hoping to put the finishing touches on Baby's room! With my already being dilated and effaced, I am thinking I won't reach my April 1st due date, but time will tell. It is only fitting that as we are waiting for this baby to arrive, we celebrate Asher's birthday, who was a week over-due! I am reminded of the fact that I could still have a ways to go! Ahh, Happy Birthday, Asher! We love you!

I think Asher likes...

2011-03-02T18:51:00.002-06:00

His new big-boy car seat! This afternoon we got out the infant car set and came up with a game plan that involves fitting three children in my car! It'll be a tight fit, but should work. Tomorrow I work on installation!

Mulvihill Family Game Night

2011-02-28T21:01:00.004-06:00

New for 2011 in the Mulvihill family is our monthly game night! We began in January at Amanda & Brady's house and have a rotating schedule for where it will be held from month to month. February's game night was at our house yesterday!

We got activities started with sledding out behind our house! Look at those guys in action!

After sledding, everybody came inside for dinner. Josh and I made Juicy Lucy's for the group! I am biased because I'm the chef, but they were delicious!

Afterward we broke out the cards for a short 500 tournament! So fun! The winner was able to snag this baby...

The Mulvihill Cup! Every month's winner will now get to take the Mulvihill cup home with them and proudly display it until the next winner takes it! Josh & Jake won the tournament and had to draw cards for this month's trophy rights, but it is now here in the living room where it will remain until the end of March!

It was a fab evening! With so many exciting things coming soon for the family, it's good to connect, share some laughter, and enjoy each other's company! Thanks, Family! We're looking forward to March!!

Big Boys' Bedroom!

2011-02-25T20:54:00.003-06:00

Packing up the boy's polka-dot bedroom was definitely an emotional project for me. They boys are no longer babies and were ready for a new bedroom theme that would accommodate their changing tastes. Earlier this week I finished the boy's duvet covers and last night I whipped up their pillowcases, now completing the boys bedding! When we purchased the bunk beds they came with bedding, but it was not too cute, and the two sets didn't match. So, I sold it on Craigslist and put the proceeds toward making a matching set for them.

I began with clearance Ralph Lauren duvets from TJ Maxx along with 99-cent pillows and fitted sheets from Ikea. From there I purchased multi-color Ann Kelle fabric and green-on-green quilts and shams. Here's how it all came together!

The pillowcases are the same except one has red trim and the other has orange. The trim was vintage, left over from mine & Knelly's fabric haul from a couple years back. It is very vibrant--I had been saving it for the right project!

The shell of wall decor is also going up! I still have a dresser to refinish for the room as well as more frames for the walls. The plan will be to add a few sports-themed accessories such as Jay's Kevin Slowey ball and baseball piggy bank.

It will be fun to see how this space grows and changes with them over the years! Bring on the big-boy bedroom!

On His Way!

2011-02-22T21:27:00.004-06:00

As of the last few weeks, Jay and I have taken time each afternoon while Asher naps to work on academic work. Jay only naps a few days per week lately and the transition has been going well!

Jay has always been very naturally good with letters, sounds, numbers, etc, but in preparation for kindergarden we are making things a bit more formal with workbooks! We have a numbers activity book which works on counting and recognizing numbers up to 75, a general preschool activity book with shapes, comparing/contrasting activities, as well as a handwriting book. Jay's success in this area has given me more optimism about homeschooling in the fall--believe it or not, I actually enjoy sitting down with him and working on what he is learning.

Jay seems to enjoy his academic time so much that today while I took a 30-minute cat nap, he got his books out all by himself! Good job, Jay!

Peter Piper

2011-02-22T17:04:00.002-06:00

Jay this afternoon,teaching Josh how to rhyme:

"Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
Now open the door and see all the PEOPLE!

That's how Grandpa does it, Dad!"

Out My Kitchen Window

2011-02-21T13:16:00.006-06:00

When we first moved in we got a letter from the architect of the house telling us that the sky would be big here and that we would enjoy the open spaces. And, after living here a few months, we have discovered that she was right!

Looking out the kitchen and dining room windows, it feels as if we have our very own Little House on the Prairie! Here is the view out the kitchen window on Friday. It was so beautiful!

Last night and this morning brought quite a bit of snow...

And here are some views out the kitchen window again today!

I am excited for summer to see what the landscape brings!

Little By Little

2011-02-16T22:07:00.003-06:00

Little by little, despite sciatica which seems to never end, I am getting the nursery put together! Yesterday I spent a good part of the afternoon ironing and re-ironing the crib skirt, putting on one of the sheets I made, and tying the ties on the bumper. And, viola! The crib is taking shape!

The bumper and skirt are from Serena & Lily and I made sheets in the pink damask as well as Amy Butler's Love Bliss Boquet which is light blue with big pink peonies--SO fab!

And in the mean time, while we wait for Her arrival, look who is hanging out in this pink and white wonderland!

This adorable hand-made nursery friend, made by our favorite Mikaela!! Six weeks and counting...I'm feeling ready!

Baby Quilt

2011-02-10T10:11:00.003-06:00

It's finished! My first quilt ever, a quilt for Baby Girl Mulvihill!!

The nursery is nowhere near being ready for her arrival, so for now the quilt will take up home in the rocking chair--ready to be used when needed!

The fabrics are washed and cut to work on the remainder of my projects including making sheets, basket liners, snuggle blankets, burp cloths & bibs, and finish the boy's bedding, but I need to set up my serger first. Hopefully this weekend will bring some time to get it out and running again! I'm loving using all of these cute girly fabrics, once the bedrooms are done, let the dresses begin!!

The Music Studio

2011-02-09T18:34:00.004-06:00

Lately I have gotten an unbelievable number of calls for both flute and piano lessons...in Rochester. These last few months off of teaching have seemed like an eternity! I miss all of my former students so much!

So, after a bit of decision-making about phone number changes (thanks, Denise!) and then my own taking a loooooong time playing with fonts and layouts, look what arrived today!

They are soooooo pretty in person! Gold and green, my contact info is on the reverse side. I also ordered some professionally printed coordinating letterhead so I can send some introductory letters to local band teachers. I am hoping to have a handful of students lined up before the baby is born and then take on some more for summer. This new adventure is sure to be a good one!

Thirty-Three

2011-02-09T08:55:00.002-06:00

Last week we celebrated Josh's birthday--33 years old! I was a fun-filled day complete with gifts for Josh,

Hip-padders,

and a fun night out! Josh and I drove to Maple Grove for the evening to see the new Narnia movie. Happy Birthday, Josh!

Conversations with Asher

2011-02-04T13:48:00.003-06:00

Asher has been a very BUSY little boy lately! It seems that he rarely sits still and is into everything! He's not being misbehaved, just active! Yesterday he got up from nap before Jay and we had the chance to chat a bit. He very much enjoys having one-on-one time whenever he can!

I asked him to say words with an "F" in them because he really can't say the f sound. He tries so hard, but it comes out as an S sound. He's also getting better at pronouncing Mulvihill!! Asher has been doing an excellent job of staying in his bunk bed at night and has now tackled the big-boy job of brushing his teeth. He has chewed a hole through his blanket, but it doesn't seem to bother him one bit!

Such a fun guy!

Helping Out

2011-01-22T21:01:00.003-06:00

The temperatures here in Minnesota have been unbearably cold, but today Jay bundled up to help Josh with snow blowing and shoveling!

He was sooooooo cute! All bundled up! Jay took it upon himself to clear the back porch with his little yellow shovel.

An up-close shot of the light-up Spiderman boots. Jay doesn't even know who Spiderman is, but he is super excited to wear the boots as much as possible!

After a while, Jay called it a day and headed back in to the warmth with me and Asher...

who I 'encouraged' to stay inside with promises of fruit snacks and orange juice! Gotta love it!

Getting Started

2011-01-20T13:04:00.004-06:00

Today I began my first project for Baby Girl's new nursery! I have been collecting ideas and fabric for a while, but today I really got things going!

Part of the reason I'm now getting started is that my sewing 'room' is fully operational! I hung the shelves and now everything has a place. I am dreaming of the day that we will have recessed lighting installed in my space, along with a couple of plug-ins, but in the mean time my favorite yellow lamp is perfect!

My first project of choice is a quilt! My first quilt ever! The finished project should be the size of a toddler bed quilt, so I'm hoping it will be a snuggle/floor blanket while she is little and then her bed spread when she's older. Due to my lack of large-scale work space downstairs, I laid things out on the dining room table.

I still have a few spaces to fill in and then the assembling will begin! I love the colors for the nursery, teal, pinks and whites.

I'm not sure what the back of the quilt will be, but I plan on making my own pink bias binding. This is so fun...why didn't I make a quilt earlier?!

We're Back!

2011-01-18T13:56:00.005-06:00

After a couple of weeks away, we are now back home! Josh was in Louisville for the last two weeks for PhD classes. While he was away I hung out in Rochester, saw many good friends and had a few adventures of my own!

The little adventure the boys had the most fun with was getting their new bunk beds!

The following week, Amy and the boys came up for a bunk-bed sleepover!

So, we didn't exactly get the beds put together but the boys had a blast staying up super late and jumping on the mattresses!

When Josh got home on Sunday night, he came with birthday treats and gifts!! Chocolate raspberry cake and new LeCreuset cookware! He always spoils me!

And, after a couple of days, the beds are put together! Daring Asher loves climbing the latter and both boys have slept in their top and bottom bunks for the last two nights with no problems whatsoever!

I now am working on making bedding for the boys and putting their room together before I dig in to the baby's new nursery!

It's good to be home--home to stay for a while!

Mulvihill Christmas

2011-01-03T20:06:00.003-06:00

Yesterday we had a wonderful day celebrating Christmas with the Mulvihills!

So many things to celebrate this year, the return of Jared & Amy, a few new additions to the family, life is good! Love you all!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-03T20:04:00.001-06:00

Christmas 2010

2010-12-26T20:47:00.006-06:00

Christmas 2010...our first year celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ in our new home, city and church! So much change, but so much to be excited about!

This year we have the opportunity to have Amanda & Brady's puppy Ella here with us over the holidays! Look at her with her Christmas ribbons on! She was so cute!

Christmas eve we had the entire day here at home until we headed out for church around 3. In the morning, I made Amy Mulvihill's amazing carmel roll recipe before we started our festivities with the boys.

We started out our traditions by reading the Christmas story from the big fold-out Bible. The boys loved it!

We sang a few Christmas songs around the piano.

And, of course, the boys posed for some pictures in their jammies before they could open their gifts!

Both Jay and Asher are at such a fun age for celebrating Christmas! They were excited about each aspect of our day and especially when it came to opening their gifts..such fun in the air!

Christmas Day, Mom & Dad and Jeff & Erin came to visit! Jay & Asher definitely soaked up every minute they could get with my parents! Whem Mom & Dad pulled in the driveway, Asher went crazy with excitement!! Both boys snuggled up with Grammy and Grandpa just as soon as they could!

After lunch of Pioneer Woman lasagna, and peppermint pie for dessert we opened gifts all together. Midway through we stopped to Skype with Steven, Heather and Baby Sophie. We wish they could have come for Christmas, but they were hit hard with RSV and little Soph was even in the hospital a couple days this week. We were thankful for modern technology so we could chat with them!!

I did get in a couple handmade gifts made this week! In a couple of late nights I made a rice pillow for Mom and a Prudent Baby apron for Erin!

Here she is modeling it!

Today we went to church with Mom & Dad and then relaxed all afternoon and evening while the boys played with all of their new loot! Jay even got his big floor puzzle together--he was very proud!

Josh and I sat down tonight to recap Christmas and we decided that this one was one of our favorite Christmases in recent years! So many of our prayers have been answered in ways that we could not have imagined that we couldn't help but feel overwhelmingly blessed at every sight!

Merry Christmas!

Shower Curtains

2010-12-21T20:20:00.004-06:00

I think that if somebody handed me a stack of fabric with bias tape and asked me to simply create a shower curtain from scratch the job would have been tremendously easier than actually installing the store-bought shower curtain in our guest bathroom. Ironing, putting the roller balls on the rod, then lining up the liner with the curtain...only to find that I hung them all one hook off. Re-do and then hang the beast. Ugh!

But the shower curtain is now up and so the bathroom is ready for visitors!!

I am thankful that I won't need to hang another shower curtain in the house for a while! Our bathroom has no door on the shower and the boys' bathroom doesn't need one because they only take baths!

In other breaking news, the dining room is now free of boxes! I just need to put the cushions on the chairs and we will be good to go for a while!

Tomorrow's task: to wrap some Christmas gifts, make a run to a couple stores, and get all the boxes out of the upstairs. On a side note, when I went to Coborns today, I saw one of my new neighbors there with her daughter. I went up and said hi to her and she was amazed that she saw somebody she knew at the grocery store! She said it had never happened to her before...funny! Total anonymity until she met Jenny Mulvihill?!? Strange but true!

Oh Christmas Tree!

2010-12-20T21:46:00.004-06:00

One week and counting in our new house! This last week has been filled with unpacking, unpacking, and more unpacking! I am now down to only about ten boxes left to unpack! It feels good to see some progress! I'm not sure how I forgot to post the picture of our first family visitor to our new house! Jake came up last Monday night and helped get Josh's office ready!

Somehow in the move, I lost three things. I lost the screws to put Jay's bed back together, the pegs for the living room shelves and my very special silver Tiffany bracelet from Josh. I am hoping that all three items are in the same place, safe and sound...part of my insane desire to unpack stems from my desire to find these!

Wednesday night we ventured out to buy a Christmas tree! It was very cold outside and we quickly discovered that most tree lots were slim pickings so close to the 25th. Despite the extreme cold, the boys had fun running around the tree lot!

We chose an awkwardly-shaped fir, for the discounted price of $20. Josh and I laughed our butts off when we got it home and saw it's true shape--more oblong than triangular, but with ornaments and lights it does the job!

Adding to the fun around here also is the addition of Ella Joy, Amanda & Brady's puppy! She is staying with us through Christmas and the boys are smitten!

Other than our Christmas tree adventure I only left the house one other time this week, which was to go to Coborns, the local grocery store. It's a lot like HyVee in Rochester and they even load the groceries in your car for you! I'm working on figuring out a coupon match-ups!

One blessing already noticed from our new house are the great new neighbors! This morning I got together with three other ladies and their children, all of whom live in the neighborhood. It was good to get out of the house and begin meeting people, they were friendly, helpful and had good tips about navigating the St. Cloud area! We had a good morning, but when we got home Jay was filed with questions about why Elise, Kensley and Melvin weren't there...just a few weeks I told him until we get to visit all our buddies!

Tomorrow I am hoping to venture out around town again, this time getting ready for Christmas and visits from Mom & Dad and Jeff & Erin! It's going to be a good week!

Exhale

2010-12-14T19:51:00.004-06:00

Wow, these last ten days have been overwhelming! I am glad to say though that tonight we have found a bit of comfortable quiet this evening in our new home.

On Friday we said good-bye to our much-loved house on 7th Avenue in Rochester. Leading up to the big day, I had been a woman on a mission to pack the house and be ready on time for movers to get there! What a huge job that turned out to be. Somehow, before I got going on this project I thought it would be an easy endeavor...live and learn!

It didn't come without gallons of tears from me, but when we closed the back door after packing and cleaning, I knew it was the right thing. While the movers loaded on Thursday I took some pictures of the empty rooms, just so we could go back and look, knowing full well that I was exhausted and could barely remember my name, let alone remember a cohesive picture of what our house looked like that day!

So here are a few pics, (sniff, sniff, tears, tears as I miss our house and everybody in Rochester)...

Thursday night, Grandma and Grandpa Mulvihill took us out to dinner at Michaels to say goodbye before we left. We had so much fun! Grandma made cookies for the boys to eat at the new house and they even had early Christmas gifts ready for the boys! It was perfect because the toys came in handy at our house all weekend!

We closed on our new house on Friday, thanks to some pretty amazing work by our realtors, Dave and Lois Marris. It turned out that our buyers had an issue with their financing and weren't going to close on time, but Dave and Lois kicked some butt to make it happen!

Despite not having any furniture at our new house, we made the decision to stay here over the weekend. Once we got here we just didn't want to leave. The Knoblachs gave us pillows, sleeping blankets and feather beds to sleep on and friends from Crossroads brought meals and necessities! Jay and Asher had fun running all over the big empty spaces!

Josh relished in having an attached garage during the big snow storm!

And I was beyond happy to have a few days to do nothing besides sit (although on the floor) and read, be with Josh and the boys and make plans for our new house! The architect of our house just so happened to be the woman who was living in the home before us. She left us the most wonderful "Welcome Home" letter--click on the picture to enlarge and read it!

The movers unloaded us yesterday and we have had a house full of friends and family helping us unpack with record speed!

I am pretty tired but more than anything am feeling tremendously thankful for the way things have turned out. This week will be filled with unpacking, decorating for Christmas and starting to settle into a new routine here in Sauk Rapids! More pictures to come soon!!

Before and After

2010-12-05T20:35:00.003-06:00

Remember this post about the lovely ladies of our small group all expecting babies at the same time? Well, look what came of it all!!

From left to right, Jen with Quinlyn, Denise with Tallen, and Julia with Noah! I had so much fun at small group tonight watching my three lovely friends with their sweet babies!! Noah and Chad even had matching outfits on tonight...way cool!

Because tonight was my last night at small group before the big move, we were sure to take a pic of all the kids together. When Jay looked at this picture on the computer his comment was, "What a good picture of me and all of my Best-ies!"

Even though we are moving a couple hours away, I still look forward to many more pics in the future of Jay with his best buddies, and an updated pic once baby girl Mulvihill arrives!

The Coaster Car!

2010-11-28T20:21:00.002-06:00

Last year we got Jay a plasma coaster car for Christmas. He tried riding it a few times in the basement, but never really got the hang of it. What's cool about these cars is that there are no pedals. I have read that people have races with these things and can get them up to 30 miles per hour!

In the process of my cleaning and packing I brought the coaster car upstairs. I had just seen them in the new Garnet Hill catalog and thought maybe somebody else might be able to get some use out of it. But sure enough, Jay figured it out! Today he drove the coaster car around the main floor pretty much all afternoon.

I'm so glad he likes it!!! I'm excited to see him ride it all over the new house in a couple weeks as well!

Let it Snow!

2010-11-16T19:54:00.003-06:00

I must admit that we were a bit surprised when we saw the snow falling on Saturday morning! Before we needed to head in to church that night we had a nice, cozy day at our temporary digs in St. Cloud.

Josh and Jay took some time to make some snowballs and run in the snow.

While Asher and I chose to stay warm inside by the fire. Asher passed the time pushing his favorite baby Erin all over in her stroller. He loves her so much!

We have loved our time with the Knoblachs so much! It has been such a blessing to have a place of our own while in transition! On Thursday we had our home inspection on the new house and I took over 100 pictures of all the closets and cabinets so we can come up with a packing and unpacking plan. Then on Friday we took the boys for a walk all through the neighborhood and on the nature preserve's walking trails.It's hard to believe that in just a few weeks we will be in our own home up there! I am now becoming very aware of the short number of days until we move and the vast amount of packing that needs to be done! Whew! Let the fun begin!

Halloween Pics

2010-11-08T14:25:00.003-06:00

With all the flurry involved with selling and buying houses, I totally forgot to post Halloween pictures!

The boys were both The Cat in the Hat this year. Asher especially loves the new Cat in the Hat show on PBS and he goes crazy whenever it comes on! It was Jay's idea for them to be the Cat for halloween, so, I sewed up hats, bow ties and bags during nap time one day!

We had a blast hanging out with Jake & Amy, Amanda & Brady, Joe & Pam, Drew & Matthew and of course the puppies, Cody & Ella! We watched the vikings game, went to the Meadow Creek Pumpkin Patch Party and then trick or treated about four houses. Happy Halloween 2010!

All in One Day

2010-11-05T20:00:00.004-05:00

I think that today has been one of the busiest days in our married life!

We started the day by getting up very early to prepare for the inspection on our home here in Rochester. Earlier this week we received a very good offer on the house and we accepted, but the inspection needed to be completed in order for everything to be wrapped up. We were out the door by 8:00 to allow for the inspection to begin!!

From there we headed over to OMC for our 20-week ultrasound. Because I had such a rough start to this pregnancy, Josh was absolutely convinced that we were going to have a girl, but I wasn't convinced. But, sure enough, Baby Mulvihill, is a GIRL!!! The ultrasound tech said he was 99.9% sure it is a girl! We both are very excited!!!!

So, while we were at the ultrasound, we had our realtor in St. Cloud working on the final stages of our offer on a home up there. Josh and I initially toured the house a few weeks ago and were instantly smitten! We knew the sellers had another potential buyer but were keeping our fingers crossed that ours would be the offer he would accept.

After the ultrasound, we just had to have lunch at our official all-things-baby-related restaraunt, Dos Amigos to celebrate! We have gone to Dos Amigos after we have found out we are pregnant with each of our kids, after we find out the gender, and then once the babies are born. De-lish!

After lunch we heard from Lois Marris that our inspection went great and we just needed to sign the documents to make our sale final! Praise God! We then heard from Matt in St. Cloud that our offer had been signed and all we needed to do was fax it back and our purchase was final as well!!

Whew! Talk about a whirlwind! Did I mention that we also stopped by Wells Fargo to sign mortgage papers today? Lots to do!

It will be hard to leave our sweet 7th Avenue house. We have been tremendously happy here for the last eight years and couldn't have asked for a better first home. We have done a great amount of work on the house over the years to make it our own, and the memories made here will never be forgotten. We have made lifelong friends in our neighbors and have enjoyed living close to all the action downtown! Here is the picture from the listing, I know that we will forever be those people who drive very slowly past their former home and desperately want to knock on the front door just to look around!

Looking ahead, we are very excited about our new home! It was built just a couple years ago in a neighborhood of homes that are built to replicate old homes. The very first time I looked at it online, I told Josh that this would be my perfect house. Here are a few pictures!

I am continually amazed at just how good God is to us and how He always provides. After many months of waiting and prayer everything came together all in one day. Amazing!

Halloween Sneak Peak!

2010-10-28T15:07:00.002-05:00

I finished up the boys' halloween costumes during nap today and couldn't resist sharing a sneak peak! I can't wait to see how Asher takes to his!!

The End of an Era

2010-10-27T20:54:00.003-05:00

Tonight was my very last night of teaching flute and piano lessons here in Rochester, and I can't help but stop to reflect on how blessed I am to have had such amazing flute and piano students for the past eight years! I have found both today Monday as I say goodbye to my students to be bittersweet. On one hand I am feeling ready to move on to St. Cloud but on the other hand, I can't help but be sad about leaving the students I have spent many, many years with.

Often I have said that even though I love music, my teaching music really isn't about the music at all. My love of teaching stems mainly from seeing the personal growth that comes in the lives of my students, and music is just the forum for which I am involved. Think about it, what person do you get to spend a half-hour or hour with, one-on-one every week, all year round, for as many as eight years in a row? For my students, it's me! I can't tell you the number of times in the past eight years my heart has both rejoiced and mourned with my students and their families. Not only have I taken delight in sharing in their lives, but they and their families have encouraged and loved me through all of my life's seasons in the last eight years as well.

I made it through all of my good-byes this week without crying, but when I cleaned my flute, closed the piano lid, and turned off my music room lights tonight, I must admit that I felt overwhelmed and cried. Change can be difficult, and just now this week, my part of releasing my Rochester life felt very real for the first time.

I am very much looking forward to all that St. Cloud will bring for our family and the ways that God will stretch me there. I am also excited to start afresh building a new studio of students in a new home and teaching space. I think the perfect thing to ease the transition would be a new grand piano, right?!?! I'll check with Josh and report back! :)

Asher's Word List

2010-10-19T15:12:00.003-05:00

Our little Asher has become quite the talker as of late! Every day I say that I am going to make a list of all the words he says, so I can better document his developmental stages. So, this morning from the first thing he said when I got him out of his crib until he went down for nap was added to the list. Here's what we've got so far:

Jay-jay
pumpkins
up high
apples
crackers
blankie
hold you
bottle
money
poopie
wipes
hug
baby
thank you
uh-oh
play
train
choo-choo
rasins
Buzz! Boot!
no, no, no
good
ball
cookie
drink
McDonalds
Caribou (of course my 18-month-old knows this one!)
pasci
kleenex
amen
cheese
more please

All of these words are things that he said on his own without my prompting. The words we are working on are a very clear "yes" instead of "uh-huh" and then saying his name, "Asher." I'm sure this afternoon we'll add more to the list! Go, Asher go!!

The Spinning Game!

2010-10-04T15:08:00.001-05:00

It's all fun and games until somebody gets hurt...or kicked in the head! The boys really do love this, though and it absolutely makes me laugh out loud every time!

Jay's Band

2010-10-04T13:43:00.002-05:00

My conversation with Jay while driving home last night:

Jay: Mommy, I'm going to start a real band!
Me: That sounds great! What instrument are you going to play?
Jay: Trombone, of course!
Me: Who else is going to be in the band?
Jay: All the guys. Joe Mauer, Jim Thome, and Kevin Slowey.
Me: What will they play in the band?
Jay: Joe Mauer will play guitar, Jim Thome will play drums and Kevin Slowey will play the trombone with me.
Me: Wow, I didn't know that Slowey played the trombone!
Jay: Yeah, he's pretty good at it. Pitching and playing trombone, but we'll see how it goes. We may have to switch him around.

Personally, I'm excited to hear Jay's future trombone playing!!! :)

Jay the Cubbie!

2010-09-30T10:07:00.004-05:00

Jay started Cubbies a few weeks ago and last night he got his vest and bag! He looked very official in his outfit! He had lots of fun and was excited to show us the entire ensemble!

When I asked Jay what he loves about Cubbies his answer was, "Playing with trains, playing with Ethan, Callie and Elise, and learning about the Bible." Good fun!

Pumpkin Patch 2010

2010-09-26T19:44:00.009-05:00

Saturday we spent the morning at Northwoods Orchard. We have gone there the last few years for pumpkins and apples and have always had so much fun! This year was no exception!

What was especially nice this year was the fact that we didn't need a stroller! Jay pulled a wagon all around the farm for us and we just went from place to place letting the boys run free! And that they did, indeed! Both Jay and Asher took advantage of the wide open spaces--I think the ability to explore the outdoors was even more of an attraction than the animals!

Asher was so excited at times he would just take off in any direction! Here he goes to a group of pumpkins. If I could caption this photo it would read something like this, 'PUMPKINSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!"

But even though Asher was a bit distracted, we did look at and study all of the animals. Asher loved the bunnies and piggies and Jay loved the chickens and goats. Here are some chicken pics! Notice Jay with his wagon!

Each year Jay gets more adventerous with his climbing skills on the mountain of hay and Asher even climbed up with Josh's help.

My favorite thing is picking out our pumpkins that will be on our back steps. This year we chose two big ones and one little one. Asher especially wanted one of the smaller pumpkins and we couldn't resist!

And the day wouldn't be complete without pics of the boys with the pumpkins. Unfortunately I couldn't get both Jay and Asher to look at me at the same time...but I still so enjoy these pictures!

We had such a wonderful morning! With our upcoming move, we will be on the lookout for a new pumpkin patch for us to visit next year in St. Cloud. I'm sure we will find a good one!! Happy Fall!

The Singing Mulvihills

2010-09-18T21:22:00.002-05:00

Oh, Boy! Do my boys ever love to sing!

This morning the boys broke into impromptu singing of the Beach Boys. They had already done it a million times, and much better, before I got my camera out and it was hilarious! Here's a taste!

Then tonight in the car on the way home from church, Jay and I sang Be Thou My Vision in this one-word-at-a-time style. We did it a whole bunch and then made a video of it before bed. Enjoy!

Wouldn't Ya Know?

2010-09-17T21:47:00.003-05:00

Our two new dining room chairs were delivered on Wednesday! We ordered them in March and unfortunately, we are sending them back...for the second time.

The first time they were delivered, six weeks ago, the backs of the chairs were not cut properly to match the
rest of our chairs. So, we sent them back to the Amish builder (via the Amish store) along with one of our original chairs so they could match it. But this time, they weren't right again.

Here's the pic of our chairs from the store:

Here are our chairs. The finish is the same, but the lighting in the pics is different. They are the right style, but look close for the problem. One of our original chairs is in the middle.

Upon closer inspection you can see that the new ones are 1/2 inch shorter than our original chairs!

What a bummer! They will be going back next week again with one of our original chairs. We are hoping they are finished before we move!

Made on Maple

2010-09-15T21:54:00.001-05:00

Oooooh!!! This fabric giveaway at Made on Maple looks great! I just had to link it to my blog for an extra entry to win!

Cooking Like the Pioneer Woman!

2010-09-14T20:16:00.003-05:00

Tonight I dove into the world of cooking like the Pioneer Woman! (I totally want that green Le Creuset cookware on the cover!)

Every recipe in this book looks amazing and it was difficult to know where to start! But despite all of the deliberations, tonight I made chicken spaghetti.

Which, was pretty good! Josh and I really loved it, but the boys thought it was too spicy. Josh made a joke during dinner that I had put cayenne pepper in the pasta, but no joke, there was cayenne pepper in it! I think I will use less next time to win over Jay and Asher.

For dessert I made an apple pie sort of thing.

I was unsure about the amount of butter I piled on top before baking,

But the end result was fabulous!

Mom and Dad came over to enjoy it with us! I served it with real whipped cream and coffee. Delicious!

I am excited to make more of the book's recipes in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

Moving On

2010-09-14T19:31:00.004-05:00

In addition to all of the change coming with a new baby and Josh's PhD, we will add more to the mix with a move! Our little house on 7th Ave is now on the market!

The reason? After much prayer and consideration, Josh has accepted a the position as Pastor of Family Ministries at Crossroads Church in St.Cloud, MN! Though we are sad to leave our Autumn Ridge family, we are excited about the coming change and all that the coming years of ministry will bring!

Dr. Josh

2010-09-06T14:01:00.003-05:00

A few months after Josh completed his master's degree in 2008 he began doing research into where he would like to get his PhD. He had it narrowed down to Talbot in California and Southwestern in Texas but neither school fully offered the degree that he was looking for. It took him a while, but after even more research he found it! The PhD in Family Studies from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville.

But, merely finding the program he wanted to do was the easy part. Acceptance into the program required extremely high GRE scores, as well as passing a field essay writing exam and panel interview. When Josh went to take the GRE last December he told the lady administering the test what scores he needed and she laughed out loud! She told him that they rarely see scores that high. But, sure enough we got the results and Josh had met all the scoring requirements! Based upon those scores, Josh was invited to Louisville for his field essay and personal interview.

The entire drive to Kentucky was spent with Josh and I memorizing scholarly resources for his field essay. Literally, Josh memorized names, dates, facts, philosophies of education and so much that I can't even recite it back! Whew! We drove all the way from Rochester straight through so Josh could have his meetings the following day.

Upon arriving at the seminary we were immediately impressed with the campus and met a few others who were there to interview for the Family Studies PhD as well. Josh got up early the following morning and wrote his four hour field essay, and then after lunch we met with Dr. Jones for Josh's interview. The interview went great and Josh's passion for ministry and families was very evident. Josh and Dr. Jones seemed to connect well and we left the interview feeling optimistic about Josh's chances of acceptance.

With the big things out of the way, we took some time to walk around the campus! We felt instantly at home!

A few months later a letter came in the mail from Southern. And, guess what?! He was accepted!!!!!! Praise the Lord!

Now, we were excited that Josh was accepted into the program, but afterward we learned that of the hundreds of applicants and handful of interviewers, Josh was the only one accepted into the program. It turns out that they only admit one, two at most per year! Holy Smokes! It's good we didn't know that going into the process, but it is confirmation that God has led Josh to the right degree at the right time.

The coming three years will bring great sacrifice for our family as Josh works on his degree. He will continue to be in full-time ministry while completing his course work. Also, financially we will need to be very prudent to afford such an undertaking. We got our first bill in the mail and we both took a deep breath and said a prayer. God will provide--He always does!

I am so proud of Josh for all the hard work he has done! Look out, in a few short years, we will have to start calling him Dr. Josh!

Time for a Girl?

2010-08-29T20:29:00.004-05:00

Our little family will soon not be so little! We are excited to announce that we are expecting the newest addition to the Mulvihill Family, who will be born around April 1st, 2011!

The last four weeks have been very hard on me physically. Morning sickness hit hard right at the beginning of week six and is now finally beginning to let up a bit, hence the fact that at 8:40pm I am awake and not asleep. It was so bad there for a while that I was given IV fluids and put on zofran, an anti-nausea medication. The zofran doesn't quite agree with me, so I have opted to take it only when I absolutely need it. I would say that my morning sickness with this baby is definitely worse than with Jay or Asher!

All the talk of early morning sickness leads everybody to tell me that this baby must be a girl! I would love either a boy or girl, but seeing these pretty pink flowers from Jen in my living room makes me think girl-thoughts.

And, I must admit that pink ribbon has been tucked away as this baby's first real, special acknowledgement!

The added bonus of being pregnant is that all four of the ladies from our small group are now all pregnant at the same time! Our due dates from left to right: Me in April, Jen in November, Denise in October, and Julia in September.

This picture makes me so glad! These ladies have supported me through literally all the decision-making involved with the change that is going to come. I don't know what I would do without them and am beyond excited to celebrate all these beautiful babies with them!

In addition to our anticipation about this new little one comes the anticipation of a great deal of change for our family. In the coming days and weeks I will expand and give more insight into our recent journey. I am excited to share so many huge milestones for our family! Stay tuned!

Highs and Lows

2010-08-10T19:46:00.004-05:00

This last week has been filled with too many highs and lows to count. But rather than focus on the negative, I'd love to share a few of the things that have brought me joy!

With Josh away fishing in Canada I have had plenty of time with good friends. Amy, Amanda, Amy, Denise, Julia, Knelly, Kellie, Mom & Dad, Steven & Heather (on Skype)--everybody has been tremendously encouraging to me!

Also, I have had an abundance of time to focus on Jay and Asher! We have been swimming at the RAC pretty much every afternoon, taking long walks, playing cars and trains at home, eating out and working in the garden!

We have a small harvest of tomatoes, green beans, snap peas and cilantro. The carrots aren't big enough to pick yet, but are growing strong!

Another joy has been to use the kitchen garbage disposal. I know this sounds corny, but it is such a blessing! Our garbage disposal broke a couple years ago and two weekends ago Joe, Jake and Josh installed the new one!

Sunday I made the worst roast beef and potatoes ever and then I put the entire thing down the disposal. I admit, it was a blast!

And, last but not least, I have had so much fun using my newest sewing gadget, the Simplicity Bias Tape Maker. This thing is the best! You start with 2"strips of fabric...

Feed it into the mechanisim, and..

Viola! Perfectly folded and pressed bias tape!

Jay and I have been making a lot of bias tape while Asher naps. Then I use it to sew up these, the latest in my Etsy shop.

Saxophone neck straps! They are super strong and very stylish! I will be adding more to my shop in the coming days and weeks. Just another fun thing to jazz up all those musicians out there!

As we roll through the days, this verse keeps continually comes to mind: Zephaniah 3:17 (New International Version)

The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing.

I'm looking forward to the rest of this week--getting together with friends, a trip planned to the cities, and Josh coming home! The joys just keep on coming!

Ahoy!

2010-07-30T21:03:00.006-05:00

Last night Phil and Linda Ferguson took us sailing on their boat in Lake City!

Before we headed out for our sail, we ate dinner at the yacht club. The views of the harbor were beautiful!

After dinner we headed out to the boat. While Phil, Linda and Josh got the sails ready, Jay, Asher and I headed below deck to get lifejackets on the boys. It was a little wavy....

but eventually we got the hang of how to sit up without falling over!

All hands on deck! (This picture is not posed--I actually did help put up the sail!)

Once we got out on the water, Josh and Jay took some time to explore the sails!

Phil also taught us how to steer!

Asher even got in on the action!

The water was very calming, hence this picture of Asher laying on Josh's lap--unheard of!

We sailed until the sun was about to set.

It was a beautiful evening on the water! We all enjoyed it tremendously and are thankful for the Ferguson's invite!!

Family Pictures!

2010-07-28T21:39:00.002-05:00

I was so happy to see that Jared and Amy's wedding photographer was able to capture some pictures of our family from the wedding! These make me so incredibly glad!

Seeing these remind me of how blessed I am an how much I am thankful for our life together. Josh + Jenny + Jay + Asher = A good, good thing!

VBS 2010

2010-07-23T19:52:00.004-05:00

We've been at church a lot this week, hence the picture from Josh's office!

Today was the final day of VBS here at Autumn Ridge. Jay was in preschool, Asher was in the nursery, I led preschool music, and Josh oversaw Team Rochester. It was a busy but fun week!

Asher loved his mornings in the nursery with all of his friends--especially with Diane! Asher would sit on Diane's lap each morning during music time and they would snuggle up with his blanket--she was his absolute favorite!

Jay enjoyed all the aspects of preschool VBS. Each day he came home telling me what his favorites were for that day--games, music, story time, snack, crafts, and 'big church' were all mentioned. Here he is with all of his buddies (Tim didn't want to smile for the picture but he normally has a huge smile on his face!)!

At the conclusion of VBS each day, all the children gather in the sanctuary for large group time. A team puts on a daily drama and the remainder of the music team leads the children in singing.

In all, almost 400 children were in attendance at VBS. It was an exciting week and we were blessed to be a part of it!