Cold winter days...chillin' at home

Barrett takes on daddy in a very long wrestling match

Before Liam's baptism...Barrett didn't want to change his clothes...can you tell?!?

Raina with her beautiful "fake" earrings

Lauren is the ultimate girly girl

So handsome

King and Queen of the Ball

Dad and Trina crowned

Congratulations, Dad and Trina! They were crowned the King and Queen of the Ball last Saturday. My dad was already being honored at the Ball for winning "Artist of the Year" for the city of Portland. Way to go!!!

Baby Owen is here!!!

It's a BOY!!!

Jack Jeffery Owen
Born 2/12/10 at 4:27 pm
10 lbs. 0 oz.
22 in.

Congrats to the new family!!!

Welcome to the world little man!

Donovan Champion Walker

My dear friend, Lottie, welcomed her little man into this world on Feb. 4th. Congrats to the family!!!

Mud Room Project

The kids enjoying their new set-up (the kids all look so big in this pic...where has the time gone?!?)

Lauren "cheesin'" it up while Ben puts up the final touches

Raina joins in the fun

Sorry for the folded laundry, but here's a pic of the new cupboards

The homemade (by Ben) shelf and bench for the kids (each kid gets their own "cubby")

Ben hard at work with the help of the girls

Skiing

Last weekend Ben and I took off to go downhill skiing with the Janiczek's. Unfortunately I forgot my camera, but I know Kristen took some, so I'll share when I get them. Anyway, the skiing was great! We got up there around 6:30 or so Friday night and proceeded to go night skiing. It was College night, so needless to say, it was rowdy!! :) We had a blast, though. We started on the easy hills (since it has been about 4 years since we last skiied) and then slowly moved on up to the medium, then difficult hills. It was so exhilirating. I must say though that I prefer the casual, easy hills to the difficult black diamonds. Those get my heart rate up too high! It's too much concentration and not as much fun. Ben loves them, though. One highlight was when I was following Ben down a black diamond...I saw him continue skiing right on through a slalom ski competition course (the competition was going on right then). I stopped to watch, as did all the competitors and then was on my way. One glitch...I was laughing so hard that I became a yard sale (everything flying!!!). All I saw was my one ski flying over my head! Yup, lost my concentration on that one! :) I was still laughing, even after the fall, when I reached the bottom. Ben didn't even realize he went through the course...too funny! All in all, we had a great time!! We can't wait to go again...hopefully sooner rather than later! :)

My Girls & Me

Hanging out at home

Raina with her John Deere hat....

Lauren with her purple sequined beret...

Simply too cute...what a great smile!


No other words besides, I love these girls so much! I hope I made you smile with this post, just as these girls make me smile every day!

NYE and Random Pics

Lauren trying out Barrett's new toy

Lauren dressed herself!!

The kids enjoying some popcorn

Barrett on his kitty kat

New Years Eve, Jeff and Renee and the Snuggie!(p.s. That's an O'Douls in Renee's hand)
Ben and me on New Years Eve

Justin and Tressa

Recent Happenings

All ready and festive for the Spitzley family Christmas party!

The girls relaxing with daddy

Barrett at Thanksgiving dinner in Saginaw

The girls walking into the CC for Thanksgiving dinner (loving Raina's pigtails!!)

Lauren loves to dance!


Sorry about the delayed post. Things have been busy, but really there is no good excuse. I'll miss it later that I didn't post over the last month and a half since I find that this blog is one of the best methods I have for reflecting on happenings of the past. Anyway, the last month and half has been good. We spent Thanksgiving day with my side of the family in Saginaw, then from there headed up to our cabin to spend some cold days warm by the fire. It was nice because Jocelyn and I got to ride up together while the boys rode together. Besides the road-side deer event that we saw, it was pleasant and full of great conversation. I love that girl!

Besides all the recent events, we spend our weeks working and then hanging out together as a family in the evenings. It's been very cold outside, which just means we have more sit down family dinners and fun, playful nights together. I'm lovin' it!

Last weekend, we had our first family Christmas party of the season. It was with the extended Spitzley family. Always a good time. There was a large euchre tournament as well as a silent raffle where all proceeds go to family charities. Very cool!

More later....everyone have a safe holiday season!!!

halloween

Halloween Event #1...."Black-eyed P's" (fake black eye w/the letter P all over my shirt)

On our way to do some trick-or-treating (Barrett was a vampire and the girls were witches minus the hats...they hated them!)

The Spitzley grandkids (l to r Raina, Elizabeth, Louie, Liam, Barrett, & Lauren)

Halloween Event #2...Reno 911 Cop (john) and Cameraman Ben

This past weekend was Halloween and Friday night I went over to my co-workers house for a celebration. I gave myself a fake black eye using make-up and pinned the letter P all over my shirt. It was pretty funny, ecept not many people got it at first. :( We played some Jenga and laughed a lot. Then the next day we got all dressed up (kids included) and headed out to trick or treat at the relatives. First stop was at Bob and Sandy's, then to Sue and Dels, then to Mark and Sheryl's and finally my dad and Trina's. Once at Dad and Trina's we left the girls with them and walked Barrett around to a few houses. It was fun to watch him get so excited about candy and saying "trick-or treat". It was also neat to walk around the same neighborhood with my son as I had once walked around as a kid. Once trick-or-treating was done, Ben and I finished assembling our costumes. We headed off to the West Halloween Party! They live in this great big old house and they had been decorating since Tuesday. It was so spooked out and awesome! There was a d.j. and they gave out awards (yes, Ben and I won a trophy!). It was a super fun night, indeed!

Sunday we headed over to St. Johns to visit Ben's grandma Spitzley who is in the local hospital. We then did some quick shopping for new kid bedroom supplies (we transitioned the girls to toddler beds and Barrett to a twin bed) and stopped by Sheryl's to get the bed. We then had to go pick up the kids and finally headed home to rest.

We had to transition the beds because one morning nap time Ben and I walked into the girls bedroom and found Raina on the dresser and Lauren walking around (she got out of her crib), so needless to say, for several reasons, but mainly safety reasons, we had to get them out of the cribs. Raina hates the new bed, but it has only been a few nights so we'll give her some time to adjust. Barrett loves his new big bed, though, and Lauren seems content. :) Overall things are good.

Zoo Goes Boo 09

**Click on the above pictures for more from the day.**

Sunday we headed out to the local zoo to celebrate their Zoo goes Boo. We went with Ben's entire immediate family. It was so much fun to be all together! The girls didn't really like their witch hats and even fought putting the whole costume on altogether, but we eventually talked them into it. Raina even wore the hat for a few seconds (which is a few seconds more than Lauren!). Overall, the weather was great and the kids had a good time. :) We'll be doing it again next year for sure!

girl time

My favorite ladies back on our old stomping ground

Lauren having fun with some of my jewelry

Raina smiling so nicely

Last weekend I spent a lovely Saturday afternoon back in A2 with my favorite girls. It was so much fun! We tried to fit as much in as we could. We went to the football game, walked the diag, stopped at NYPD, Brown Jug, Good Time Charlie's, and even our old house! Later we even went to an oldie, but goodie hang out joint! It was one of the best days (well excpet for one slight incident...need not mention)/nights I have had in a very long time! Thanks ladies!

The pictures of my baby girls are just for fun. They are so stinkin' cute! Lauren is such a girlie girl. I found her in my things decked to the 10's. She had almost every single necklace she could find around her neck and the same goes for the bracelets! She kept walking around with her wrist held up so not to have the bracelets fall off. Too funny! Raina had a few pieces on, but preferred to sit and smile for the camera instead. :)

Barrett is doing well, too. Still working on the whole potty training thing. He's got most of it down most of the time. He's also talking so much and getting so funny! He jokes around and says how silly he is! He's also so good with his sisters (most of the time). This morning all 3 of them were sitting at the table playing with blocks. Ben and I were in the other room listening to them and it was so precious. Barrett kept helping the girls and telling them about things. It was so nice. :)

Pumpkin Carvin' Party!

The kids after the pumpkins were carved

Barrett with Papa

Grandma Sue with the girls

Pumpkin Carving 09

**Click on the above picture to view more pictures from our afternoon.**

Today Ben and I decided to invite a few family members over to help carve pumpkins. Our garden was good to us this year and we had about 17 pumpkins! We did not get to them all today, but we did manage to carve quite a few. It was such a fun afternoon with family! The pumpkins really turned out well and I think we all laughed a lot today! We'll have to do it again next year! :)

UM v. MSU

Britta, Erin, and Jenny

Billie and Britta

Jenny, Britta, and Diana

Not too many words to say about this past weekend. UM lost and I had to watch the game in MSU territory. Ugh! But, I did "manage" to have a great time with everyone! :)