"It's official, we ARE taking over the blog".

From the desk of Gaby, Ryan, and Brooke:

Mommy isn't doing a good enough job showing us off. I mean, what DOES she do all day? We eat once and a while, and poop about 8 times a day, but we do nap for 1-2 hours twice a day. We plan to add more pictures to express our creativity. Mommy thinks this old computer (which crashed after 7 years of faithful service) doesn't work, and we are just playing. Little does she know that we have watched enough "Baby Einstein" to learn how to rework a hard drive.Ashlyn's playing peek-a-boo to distract Mommy. She thinks we actually like those childish games. Hmm, looks like Ashlyn found the fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. She is a sucker for chocolate, just like mommy.

Gaby, having a bad hair day. How can you not love this look?Snuggling with Grandpa on his 60th Birthday. Ask him what his kids gave him for a gift. He loves to brag about it. "Camo and pink boots........they match, right? Don't tell Daddy.""Here is my first big boy hair cut. Mommy about cried when she saw the curls falling to the floor.""Ok, your going to do what with those sharp, pointy things?"
"I'm a big boy now".Brooke using Daddy's tube socks for a scarf. Doesn't she look glamorous?

A tisket, a tasket, 3 babies in a basket.

Walking in a winter wonderland. Gotta love 33 degrees in January.

Here's our family on Christmas Eve at Grandpa and Grandma Schwenn's.
Here's the Schwenn clan. We are getting too big for the old house. Guess we'll have to add on.

"Quick.....hit Send.....Mommy's coming".

Apparently, the kids don't think I'm keeping up with the blog well enough. I was standing at the kitchen sink washing the trays from their high chairs this morning, and turned around to find this. Unattended chairs will be banned from our house from now on. You just can't believe how fast these kids can get into trouble. I can only imagine what I have to look forward to.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

These photos were taken by Kampen Photography.

We've moved!!

After 4 years of renting, while trying to find a small farm, with a house that was big enough for all of us, but in our price range, we've finally found it. The house is a little smaller than we really wanted but it will do for now, and hopefully we can build an addition in the future, when we are bursting at the seams. We have been extremely busy, renovating and moving (who decided to pack up a house and 4 toddlers right before Christmas?) for the past month. It has been very stressful but worth it. We have enjoyed our "new" place very much, so far. The house was built in 1923 and a kitchen was added on in 1950. So it definitely isn't new, but has a lot of charm. I personally love old houses. Lance needed some convincing, but I think he feels the same as I do, now. It just feels good to say this is our house.

It comes with 11 acres that has a nice tree grove, and several outbuildings, including a barn. It's exactly what we've been looking for. Here are some photos. Some were taken from the real estate listing on the Internet. That's why there is green grass and trees. I took some pictures after we did our remodeling also.This is the view from the street, or the front of the house. There is a nice big porch that we plan to use for a playroom, once we get it emptied of all our stuff. Right now it has all our unpacked boxes that we haven't had time to put away. I hate to even look in there. For the time being, I'll pretend it doesn't exist.This is the back of the house. There is an entry into the kitchen and one going down to the unfinished basement. It has a nice big gravel yard to park all our vehicles, plus there is an unattached double garage.This is the barn. We plan to fence in the cattle yard again, and add a few animals. Just enough for the kids to play with.This is the before picture of the kitchen. I haven't included the after yet because it looked way too cluttered. I can't seem to keep up with the kids at the moment. As soon as I put something away, they take it right back out. Since I doubt it will ever get any easier, I may never get an after picture posted. Your welcome to stop by and see it for yourself. Just, please, pretend to not notice the clutter. We have a nice big kitchen, which is good because we couldn't fit our dining set in the dining room. So it became an extended living room.Here is the before picture of the living room. I painted the living and dining room a mossy green. It looks really nice with the woodwork.Here are 2 after pictures of the living room. I plan to paint the wall going up the stairs when I get a chance. We need to find a ladder to reach the top of the wall, near the ceiling, on the stairs. I have a roller extension but can't reach to finish it up.This is the before picture of our bedroom. It's pretty small but fits our bed and a dresser, so it will do for now. We plan to build a master suite on the main floor eventually.Here is the after. I still need to put up curtains. Ashlyn insisted on posing for all the pictures.Here is our tiny closet. My mom helped me put up the shelf and hanging rod.Here is the before picture of the bathroom. We took off the shower doors, put in a new toilet, linoleum, and a vanity. We also installed our washer and dryer in here, instead of putting it in the basement.Here is the after picture. Once again to avoid posting photos of all our unpacked, cluttered mess, I only showed a small portion of the bathroom.
Here is the before picture of the dining room.Here is the after. Notice Ashlyn in the chair. If you are wondering why there are no toys on the floor, it's because I kicked them into the living room just before I snapped the photo. The babies were taking a nap.Here is another view of the living room, going into the kitchen. Yes, we put our Christmas tree in the playpen.

Ok, babies are clinging to my legs and screaming so I better end this post here.

Happy 1st Birthday!!

To my beloved babies:

~Being your mother for this past year, has been the most challenging/rewarding experience of my life, and I only expect it to get better/worse. Thank you for smiling when I am most impatient and teaching me that the most beautiful rainbow can come after the worst rain storm. I wish you all the love and happiness in the world. Happy birthday!!

PS ~ This photo was taken last night by Kampen Photography and I have their permission to post it. They did a wonderful job and I can't wait to send out the Christmas photos.

Has it been a year already?

I can't believe it has been since Aug. 3rd that I have posted. I guess I have been busy being a mom to 4 very active children. Brooke and Ryan are both walking now with Gaby not far behind. They are getting in to everything. It's been fun but I'll be happy when the colds and teething take a little time off.

We are so excited and shocked that the babies birthday is 3 weeks away. I thought Ashlyn's first year went quickly. In honor of this special occasion we are throwing a party for anyone who would like to come. We are having an open house type celebration on Sunday, Nov. 11, from 2-4 pm at the Corona community center. Everyone is welcome. We are serving cake and ice cream. I plan to put it in the paper also but wanted to give you all a heads up. We are not sending invitations because we want to invite everyone but don't want to send out 350 invitations. We hope to see you there.

I wanted to remember the highlights of this year, so here is a year in review.