Baby Myles

My littlest sister, Molly, & brother-in-law, Ben just had their first baby early this morning (4:12am). They named him Myles Alexander (baby boy) and he is 9# 6oz & 21 1/4"...baby Myles, Mommy Molly & Daddy Ben are doing well.

The kids & I were able to FaceTime with them tonight and it brought pure joy our hearts. We can't wait to meet you baby Myles! Welcome to the world!

Blessed Sunday

Sundays are by far my fav day of the week! They include Mass, family time, good home cooking by my hubs, and ultimately relaxation.

Well this Sunday was especially nice because we were able to finally meet the Labrie family. Who are the Labrie's you ask? They are an awesome new family to the area that I met through church. We sat with them at mass and then were able to grab brunch with them at Spyro's. I don't even know their family that well yet but I can tell that they have the love of Christ shining bright in their hearts!

Then afterwards the four of us Minnich's went up to Little Otter Lake to hang with Rhonda, Joe, Jeff, John & Carrie. It was a beautiful day and we had fun boating, fishing, and eating Dan's scrumptious dinner.

Thank you Lord for Sundays and all of the beautiful blessings you bestow upon us!

My little O is growing up!

These are pictures of Olivia that make my heart melt. She is turning into a little lady right in front of my eyes. This week she has VBS (as I stated before) & I've noticed how ready she is for school. She's been very excited to go to VBS every night and says that it's at "her school"...smart girl bc that's where she'll be for pre-k in the fall. It makes me sad that she's growing up but happy at the same time.

Sometimes I'll think that it might be nice to have another child (bc Gabe "my baby" will be 3 in July), but I truly appreciate the 2 that God has gifted us with. We have a girl & a boy and for that we are blessed! I feel a sense of balance with my 2 & my cup runneth over with blessings from them both.

Anyways, I just wanted to share pictures from my sweet Olivia having fun & being her beautiful 4.5 year old self!

Olivia goes to VBS

Olivia had VBS for the first time ever tonight. I was a little nervous on how she would do, but apparently she had a great time. She said she had fun with her friends, Liliana, Gianna, Ava & Clara and can't wait to go back!

We took Gabe to have special time with Dan & I at the park. The Riemer's were there, so Gabe had fun with Connor & the twins. (See pics).

Then I picked O up from VBS, got both kids home & Gabe threw up all over me. That totally came from nowhere. So now I think I've lost my appetite for awhile. Maybe it'll help with my weightloss, eh. Haha! Good times friends! Never a dull moment but I wouldn't change it for the world. God bless!

Father's Day 2013

Today we celebrated Father's Day! We started out the day with Krispy Kreme donuts for daddy Dan (that the kids & I got at the grocery last night). Then we had some nice family time on the front porch. Afterwards, we went to the 11:30 mass. We then had lunch and hung out at home for awhile because Gabe needed some rest. What a teaser that nap was, so we went to Putt-Putt to play in the arcade. The kids had a blast and ended up with 1600 tickets...and what do you think they picked out?! A play-dough toy. They love their Play-Doh lately.

Then we went to Culver's on Dupont to meet Dan's dad, Lori, John & Carrie. It was nice to see everyone. Gabe had fun with his ice cream and made sure to spread it all over his face/hair/etc. Silly boy! He reminds me of someone else~~~

After Culver's all of us went to the Parkview park, which is quite awesome btw! I'd highly recommend it! They even have a huge hill and some of us (O, Carrie, G, & I) rolled down it.

That pretty much sums up our day. We are truly blessed to have such an incredible daddy Dan in our lives! There's nothing that he wouldn't do for us and we love him even more each day!

My cup runneth over: Psalm 23:5

Gym Discovery

I've been continuing to focus on my workouts and I'm happy to say: so far so good! I'm not an expert by any means and have lots to learn but I'm learning as I go and making a routine of this lifestyle.

After my lifting at the gym today, I went on to my cardio, like normal. I got on the treadmill and did a Max-OT cardio session, but afterwards I felt like kicking it up a notch and discovered a new (to me) cardio machine...the rowing machine. I thought, why not give it a whirl. I'm so glad I did bc it was a great full body workout. I only got in 15 mins but it felt amazing! My heart is thanking me, now lets hope my waist thanks me in the long run.

Treadmills are nice but they get boring and I'd much rather run outside (see pic and don't laugh). So here's to giving new things a try! High five friends!

Check out this article by Shape magazine on rowing machines: http://m.shape.com/fitness/cardio/20-minute-total-body-rowing-workout

Week 1 Weightloss Results

Well...the results are in and I've lost 4.2 pounds this week! Hard work pays off friends! Just gotta keep it up!! No excuses!

Day Trip

Today I took the kids and made the trip back home to the ville to surprise my parents and celebrate "Father's Day" with my dad.

My littlest sister, Molly, helped coordinate the surprise. Molly took my parents to a restaurant and we (the kids & I) strolled in right after they were seated. The look on their face was priceless!

It was a quick little day trip and we are back in the fort now, but it was nice to be able to bring happiness to their day!

Play Ball

My good friend, Nikki, invited us to a Tin Caps game today, so of course we joined them. Spending any amount of time with the Riemer's is always worthwhile!

We had so much fun! Thanks for the tickets Nate & Nikki. Your family holds a special place in our hearts!

The next game we are going to is 7/4 with Rhonda, Joe, John & Carrie. Can't wait! Go Tin Caps!!

Taking Time Out

Lately I've really been trying to focus on taking time out to just really sit back and LISTEN. It's been very peaceful and I'm learning quite a lot.

The time spent just listening is precious...listen to the sounds around us, listen to our heart and our mind. Ponder on the important things of life.

Take time to sit and listen. God is speaking to you in so many ways.

God Bless~

Gym update

All is well with the nutrition and working out! Score! Just thought I'd update you all.

I feel so much better and I know that I have a looooong way to go but that's OK!

Cheers to good health!

Case of the Mean People

Recently I met with good friend over coffee to catch up and our conversation got me thinking. Uht oh, right...that's never good (kidding). In all honesty though, she started telling me about how horrible these people are being towards her and she completely did nothing to deserve this poor treatment. I told her to be herself and try not to let what others say get to you because she's special to God and that's all that matters. If she's herself then that's all that matters and she will shine.

But why do we women let what others say get to us so bad?! Girls can be so ruthless and mean sometimes and all we can do is kill them with kindness and pray for them. So hard to do but God has a way of listening to our prayers. Peace~

Birthday Blast

I wanted to be able to document my 32nd Birthday, so that I can look back at it and remember it in years to come. So here it goes...

Dan DID end up waking up at the crack to go to the gym and I woke up once he got home. It was nice to start my day bright and early and help encourage him to have a great day at work.

Olivia also woke up once she heard that her dad was home and was sweet as can be. Then Gabe woke up and we started our day out with breakfast.

After doing dishes and getting laundry started, we then for a nice walk with our neighbor friend, Krista Hebda. She surprised me with a nice, un-necessary, birthday gift (earrings and a necklace). I wanted to cry because that was so thoughtful of her. She truly is a special friend, I feel like God really has brought us together in so many ways.  Our walk was 3 miles in great weather!

Then my parents showed up, after driving 2.5 hours to come celebrate my birthday. That was so very kind of them! We met Dan at McAllister's for lunch. Ok, so it wasn't the healthiest of food, but it's my birthday.

After lunch, my dad took the kids back to my house so that they could get a nap and my mom and I shopped at Jefferson Pointe. It was nice to have some mother/daughter bonding time without the constant interruptions from my 2 and 4 year olds. We discovered a really nice new store there, called Mainstream Boutique. They have some really fabulous finds...great fashion, wonderful customer service and prices compared to other stores there (such as the Loft, Von Maur). The nice lady working there gave me tons of 20% off coupons, so if you want to check it out, let me know, I'd be happy to pass them along. I get nothing in return, trust me...just nice knowing that I can help others find hidden secrets in the area. ;)

We also went to Pier 1 to look but I didn't find anything that I liked, so we went to Lowe's, but by this time I was actually really tired of SHOPPING. I must be getting old friends, because this girl used to be able to SHOP like no other! Then, we still needed to get couple things, so we went to Meijer and I was able to find what I needed (some cotton balls, chapstick for O, a post to hang the awesome hummingbird feeder I received from my sister, Molly, and a couple plants). My mom also got Gabe and Olivia a couple things (some Play-Doh accessories) to congratulate Gabe for going #2 in the potty and O for helping encourage him. That little stinker didn't get it until later tonight when he finally went, but he finally got his present.

My parents watched the kids so that I could get my workout in. It felt so great!!

Once I got back, the kids water table came in the mail and we set that up. They had a blast with that!

Then Dan arrived and he made us a nice dinner.

I couldn't have asked for a better birthday! It was truly special and I am thankful for this blessed life!

Bringing Sexy Back

Now that I'm turning the big 3-2 tomorrow (6/4), I've decided to make this year count and get my health back. Why I'm doing this on my actual birthday is because I want to bring sexy back starting on my birthday and see where I'm at a year from now. To make myself accountable I'm going to give updates every week on here. The pic on here is one that was taken recently at a baseball game. I'd like to lose weight and get toned. But more importantly, I'd like to get a workout routine in as well as healthy eating/portion control/calorie counting fun.

We went to the grocery and got only healthy foods, even for the kids. Dan's on board with me and we are doing this together, so hopefully it'll actually work. Accountability is key! Dan's going to go to the gym at the crack tomorrow and I'll go later in the day.

Here's to a happy healthier lifestyle friends!

'Bout Time

After repeatedly getting asked by our kids when we were going to put up the playset, I'm proud to announce that we finally figured out a way to rig up the play set and get it from our garage to our backyard. That was a good time in itself but was sure worth the joy it brought to our kids! We still need to stain it, but it's a work in progress.

Truly blessed for Dan's innovation on utilizing our hand truck with ratchet straps to get that big thing in our yard. There's no way we could have carried that ourselves. Now the kids are happy and we are happy because they're happy! Peace & blessings friends!