Thanksgiving at the Ladle's House

Our Thanksgiving this year was nice. Our neighbors Bruce and Lisa Ladle invited us over, along with the missionaries from church and the Daniels family. We played games, and the kids ran around having a ball with each other. We brought homemade rolls, twice baked potatoes, squash casserole and pies and everyone else brought the rest. It was a midday feast so it was nice to be able to go home in the afternoon and just relax and set up the Christmas tree (will get up pics of that later). We thought of all our family scattered about the country and hope you all had a wonderfull Thanksgiving too!

As a side note, Isaac is not in any of these pics because he was playing a game in the basement and didn't come upstairs until he absolutely had to. AND I (Sheri) am not in any pics either, because I was doing the picture taking! :)




Below is the beautiful Kara Ladle. She can play any sport, and any musical instrument. She is our current babysitter and we just love her! We kinda think she should marry Josh Harris because she too is a middle child and so easy going.... :) She starts BYU in the Fall of 09!













The pics below are of Bruce and Lisa Ladle, who were our kind hosts for Thanksgiving. They live just around the corner from us in the same neighborhood and they go to our church also. Their little girls get together with Audrey for playdates all the time.

The Best Pet

Our neighbors cat, "Who-Day" (What they yell at all the bangals games here in OH), comes over and scratches at our door to come in all the time.... One day we let him in and the kids loved on him for about 15 mins...then we let him back out. Now he comes over everyday and the kids love on him for a little bit and then we let him out! Couldn't ask for a better pet...don't cha agree?? And he is SO SWEET!

Too-Late O'Clock

William: "Moooooom! Can you help me with my sticker? Its stuck!"
Mom: "I'll help you in just a minute ok?"

5 mins later Mom goes to help William with his stickers...

Mom: "What can I help you with buddy?"
William: "Its too-late o'clock. I did it BY-MY-SELF!"

Mom will work on being On-Time O'Clock! :)

Our Baker Man

Gene made this cake last night for his boss Fred's 60th b-day today. Another guy from work "doodled" the cartoon image of him on the trike and Gene was able to copy it onto the cake. His boss Fred is an avid biker....which is why they put him on a bike/trike! IS THAT A GREAT CAKE OR WHAT?? Good Job Love!! And we are all hoping there is some cake left for us...because he put gonosh in between the layers!!!
Yum-OOOO!! :)

My Baby....

Both Gene and I say out-loud when we are looking for William, "Where's my baby??" And then William will run to find us and say, "Here I am!" And William LOVES this silly tradition that we have.....for now anyway! :)

So here's "My Baby" painting. He loves to paint, in fact, it is the ONE thing he will do for a half hour or more so that Mommy can rush around and get something done without having to worry about wether "My Baby" is trying to climb up onto the kitchen counters to find some marshmellows, or deciding to resort the laundry for me, or washing his hands "really really good with lots of bubbles" etc. etc... You get the picture.... :)

Local Church Craft Shows...LOVE EM!

Is that not the cutest turkey you ever saw?? It was a fun surprise to find him again in my "Thanksgiving Decor" box this year. I bought him this time last year in N.C. just down the road from my house at the Holland's Methodist Church Craft Show. Gene let me go by myself and I just drooled over the beautiful quilts and crafts the sweet ladies at the church had spent the entire year making....all so they could help their church raise funds for worthy endevors. I felt pretty good about taking this cute lil turkey off their hands!!! :)

WE WON!!! :)

Some of you know that we had to file a lawsuit against the people/realtor that sold us our house in N.C. They lied about so many things and went out of their way to deceive us just to make the "sale." And we didn't even realize just HOW badly we were deceived until we tried to sell the house so we could move to Ohio....our realtor (who helped us sell the house) went digging in to the "history" of that house and uncovered all the lies.

Sooooo, because we had to pay LOTS of money to get the house to where it needed to be to sell it, we had no other way to get our money back....lawsuit was the only option. We TRIED to work a deal with these people (realtors) before having to get a lawyer but they wouldn't budge.

And on Friday we found out that WE WON!!!

It feels SO GREAT to know that these people DIDN'T get away with their greediness AND LIES! And for those of you out there selling/buying a house....PLEASE research your realtor, get references, call the Realtor Commissioners office to find out if they have a bad record etc. etc. etc. Because this whole experience WAS NOT FUN!!

TRUNK OR TREAT

We had our Trunk or Treat at the church last night. The kids had fun and came home with lots of candy!! Definetly enough to share with sick William... William is in the thick of a nasty cold so he didn't go. But he didn't mind...because ALL he wanted to do was sit on Mom's lap and watch Blues Clues! :)


Here is Isaac the "Young Aniken."


Audrey, the "80's Rocker-Chick".... :)


Austin, a "Star Wars Jedi Master."

Happy Birthday Daddy!...FLASHBACK

Our Dad had a birthday this past Saturday. But unfortunately it wasn't much of a birthday.... Mom was shivering under 2 layers of down comforters with the chills and a nose running like a faucet. So he had to "party on" without any help from his wife.

Here is the exciting run-down of Gene's birthday....he made his own birthday pancakes with blueberries and whipped cream, made his own birthday pumpkin pie, took the kids to see HSM 3, ate a Wendy's drive through birthday dinner and then did some laundry! Poor guy!! :(

HOWEVER...here is a pic of his 2005 birthday celebration that went a little smoother...despite how MESSY our kitchen was! (Can't believe how cute the kids are in these pics with their lil baby cheeks! Awwwww!)

WE LOVE YOU DAD!! P.S. William was "cookin" at the time of this pic! :)

FHE Pumpkin Carving

Last night we carved our pumpkin. Gene let the kids draw designs, then we put ALL the designs onto one pumpkin...so as you rotate the pumpkin there is a different scary face all the way around it! The kids had fun, and Daddy was a GREAT carver. William had just started a cold and was only in the mood to watch and roll around on the kitchen floor.

Tomorrow is our Trunk or Treat...and Friday we'll do a few houses in the neighborhood! Hope everyone is enjoying the Season! :)

Hat Boy...and 2 yr old shenannigans...

William loves this hat. He's attatched to it! He's my only kid that just really wants to wear a hat (this one particularly) all the time.




William is becomming quite the talker too. Not just talking, but choosing big words to use. On the way to the bus stop to pick up Isaac (we were walking) he said to me, "Mom, I think I will use my imagination on our way to the bus stop to look for Blue's Clues."

He also tries to sneak food from ANYONE'S plate at anytime...and if you catch him he'll say, "I'm JUST joking!" What a stinker! He'd rather sneak other people's food than eat his own...EVEN if he has the exact same food...

We are working on pottie training...but so far all he wants are the chocolate chips we promise him for being "successfull"....without even trying!

Bike Rider in ONE DAY!!

When Gene was in Europe for 3 weeks he saw kids riding bikes that were 3 and 4 years old (his best guess...they were very small!). He asked his co-worker Paul who lives there about it, and he said that because they ride bikes almost everywhere that the little ones need to learn quickly too.

And how they do it is...they have the kid ride around on a bike just their size WITHOUT pedals. So, all they do is learn how to glide and keep the bike balanced. Once they get that down, they put pedals on the bike and the kid rides like there is no tommorrow! :)

Gene did this with Isaac and it only took him one day to learn how to ride a bike...and I mean RIDE A BIKE! I wish I had video...its amazing...try it with your little ones! It works!

Tagged!

Tagged by one of my favorite people...my sis-n-law Jer! :)

HERE WE GO!!!
Eight T.V. shows I like to watch: In no particular order I might add...
1. Callanetics (work out DVD...currently kicking my butt...)
2. BYU T.V. (devotionals, womens conf, edu week)
3. Survivor
4. American Idol
5. Almost anything on Foodnetwork
6. Glenn Beck
7. Regis n Kelly
8. Oprah

Eight things that happened yesturday:
1. Had a fever
2. Curled up under 2 layers of down comforters to warm up...
3. ...because I had the chills...
4. Blew my nose
5. Asked my husband to sub for me in Primary today (teach the children at church)
6. Took 2 very long and hot showers
7. Blew my nose
8. Drank lots of O.J. and herbal tea

Eight favorite places to eat:
1. Irregardless Cafe (Raleigh, N.C.)
2. At home when my hubby cooks!
3. Whole Foods Salad Bar, or lunch bar
4. Panera Bread
5. Good Earth Cafe (Orem, Utah)
6. Cheesecake Factory
7. Macaroni Grill
8. China King (Raleigh, N.C.) still looking for a GREAT chinese place here in OH.

Eight things I am looking forward to:
1. Comfortably fitting into last years jeans
2. Not having to put diapers on my shopping list
3. Being debt free
4. ANY alone time with my dear husband
5. For election adds to be OFF the T.V.
6. For Christmas!
7. A family vacation
8. To find another good book series to read...just got finished with the "Mitford Series." Anyone have any suggestions?

Eight things I wish for:
1. Definetly WORLD PEACE!
2. Healthy, Happy family
3. A second honeymoon with my husband...and this time we don't get sick!
4. To be completely debt free!
5. Million dollars (c'mon...who doesn't wish for that every now and then?!)
6. College tuition for my 4 sweet lil un's
7. My own condo in St. Augustine, Fl
8. That my Mom could beam herself down here every once in awhile to hang out with me and the fam.

Eight people I tag!!!
1. Kelly (since she desperately needs to tend to her very neglected blog)
2. Mona
3. Jaime
4. Nicole
5. Lisa Y.
6. Lisa V.
7. Paula
8. Carrie

This "tagged post" was authored by Sheri

Conference Sunday Spud-Nuts

We rarely fry anything in our kitchen, but when Gene is in the MOOD for homemade Spud-Nuts (I call them doughnuts?? Must be an Idaho thing!) WATCH OUT! They were REALLY tasty to say the least, and we even took platefulls to our neighbors so that we didn't "oink" down all the extras...because we WOULD have! lol!


Gene also made lemon glazed spud nuts and those were my favorite, but I don't have a picture of them!


William decided he wanted a chocolate sput-nut...but then only licked off the icing...can you tell? :)

Bowling!

The Saturday after Gene got back from Switzerland we all went Bowling and then out to Chinese. Bowling is the one family activity outside of our home (besides swimming) that everyone gets excited about doing. WE ARE SOOOOO GLAD OUR DAD IS BACK!! Kudos to all the single Mom's out there....having Gene gone for 3 weeks was ROUGH!! :)

Pop Star Wanna-Be

After another trip to Target to get Halloween garb, Audrey came home with this fake headset to go along with her Pop-Star costume. For two days she danced around the house singing like she was putting on a real performance...driving her brothers a little crazy! Here she is siging along to the radio in the van...unfortunately, (but fortunately) it broke and can't be fixed! :(

The Biggest Nerf Gun EVER

We took Isaac to Target to pick out a present with the birthday money he received...and this is what he got! Its bigger than he is! BUT it breaks down into 3 smaller guns if you want it to. There was a lot of sqweeling from Audrey the day we got this gun because Isaac was hiding around every corner and where you would least expect him... :) Boys will be boys!

Isaac has a BIRTHDAY!!

Our SWEET Isaac is 6 years old!! We celebrated his birthday early...BEFORE Daddy left for Switzerland. And I can tell you he didn't mind one bit! :) He and his new lil buddy Brock (seen below) both turn 6 in September! They are also in the same class at school AND in the same Primary class at church.

THANKFULL!!!!

For AMAZING neighbors!!! And here is why....

Gene is in Switzerland for 3 weeks doing training with his new company. I was doing great as a "single Mom" until Sunday.....

When we were unloading from the van after getting home from church the wind about knocked us over just trying to get to our front door. Then for the next 4 hours we had sustained wind gusts that were between 55 and 85 miles an hour. (This never happened in N.C.??) Things were flying by our house windows that should never have been able to get off the ground.

My neighbor Tom knocks on our door about 2 hours into the wind storm and tells me that one whole side of our van windows were shattered. Then he went home (he didn't know Gene was gone).

So I frantically put Austin in charge of the kids and went outside to try to sweep up all the glass, vaccuum out the van, tape the window with plastic etc..etc...because its starting to RAIN!! And the van is not in the garage because we STILL have boxes galore in there from our move.

Within minutes of me attempting to accomplish those tasks...ALL of the men that live in our culdesac with a few of their sons came in the wind and the rain to help me.... WITH their help it took an hour and a half because there was just so much glass everywhere....especially inside the van. I can't IMAGINE how long it would have taken had I done it alone. These guys even moved, AND stacked our boxes so I could squeeze our van in the garage.

And just when I wondered how I could ever repay them....their power went out....and mine didn't....now there are big orange electrical cords strewn across our lawns and plugged into my outside electrical outlets so they can keep their fridges cool, make their coffee, and microwave their food!

SOOOOOO GRATEFUL for WONDERFUL Neighbors!!!!

WE SOLD OUR HOUSE IN N.C.!!!!!

I will spare everyone the gory details of what we have been through with this house selling ordeal....and actually we still have MANY issues to resolve before the "closing date" at the end of September....BUT it is pretty much a done deal!! Even if the people back out, our relocation package included buying our house from us if someone backed out of a contract.

Oh mercy...what a RELIEF I tell ya....

Thanks to everyone for your prayers!! :)

HOUSTON...WE HAVE A PROBLEM!

I, Sheri Ahlborn, am a Bear Naked Fruit and Nut Granola ADDICT!! Help!! Not only is this stuff the MOST delicious food ever...its also the most expensive granola I think you can buy AND its LOADED with fat. But MY MY MY...its really delish...you should try it. :)

An Aunt Leslie Weekend

Aunt Leslie, Gene's lil sis, came to visit us from Oklahoma for the weekend and it was so nice! We are still laughing about her dating experiences in Oklahoma...so glad she can have such a great sense of humor about some of the "fun" she has had! :) She was kind enough to watch the kids while Gene and I went to have an hour and a half of some much needed alone time....THANKS LESLIE!!

We also went swimming at the pool...



Went to Graeter's for the first time to get YUMMY icecream and sorbet....

See that black shirt Austin is wearing in the pic above? Uncle Brad got that for him in June from King's Island....and he wears it 4 days a week or more. I have to literally rip it off his back to be able to wash it...no joke!! Thanks Uncle Brad! :)







And Leslie played way too many games with the kids....she's gonna need to sleep an extra 8 hours after all that I'm sure!!!

Our Baker-Boy

Austin has REALLY gotten into cooking lately. Mostly because Gene and I have finally given-in to his begging to be able to cook in the kitchen all by himself! :)
So on Monday while Gene and I spent the day on the phone back and forth having heated discussions with realtors in N.C.....Austin heated a few things up himself! Can you see those cookies and those loaves of bread?? Made by Austin...all by himself!! AND they tasted GOOOOOOOD!!! We LOVE our Baker-Boy!!

FHE Softball Night

We were invited to go play softball with about 4 other families in our Ward (church) on Monday night for Family Home Evening. It was so fun and the kids just loved it! I would have more pictures but I ended up chasing William around the majority of the time as he played on a playground that was right next to the field...he just couldn't get into the whole softball thing. :)


This is a pic of Isaac up to bat and Austin helping him...

You PICK your battles... :)

It all started late Saturday night when Audrey was picking out what she would wear to church Sunday morning. She has this ritual where she picks something out that she knows is inappropriate to wear to church, and then comes and asks Gene or I if she can wear it to church. (She usually picks one of her ballerina or dress-up dresses) We then remind her that she KNOWS she can't wear THAT to church! After which she ALWAYS stomps off saying "Oh! I just don't have ANYTHING beautiful to wear to church!" When actually she has a closet full of dresses that SHE picked out from various clothes shopping trips.

But this last Saturday Gene and I BOTH were very tierd ....usually the less tierd one gets to help her finish picking out what to wear to church....but because we were BOTH tierd...she wore this FABULOUS, most GLORIOUS wedding dress TO CHURCH!!

Audrey did however decide that wearing the veil to church would be a bit much... :)

In case you are wondering...these pics were taken last year after her sweet Aunt Natalie sent her this glorious most beautiful dress for her birthday!!