Molly & Myles Visit the Fort 'O Fun

Today my littlest sister, Molly and her 1-month-old baby, Myles came to visit. Mom & dad came along to see us, too. We had a nice time together, playing outside on the swingset, Olivia rode her bike with Grandma Hunteman, and then we met Dan for lunch at McAllister's. 

After lunch we walked around Jefferson Pointe and checked out some stores (Mainstream Boutique, Von Maur, Old Navy, and Michael's). 

Then mom & dad took Olivia & Gabe back to the house to nap while Molly, Myles & I continued to shop. It was great sister/nephew time! 

Next time we will venture down to Indy and visit them, but we are glad they came this way today! 

Blessings,

Amy

Power of Prayer

This is just a post of thanks for answered prayers. The answers may not always be exactly what I want but it is all part of God's great plan! 

Thanks be to God! For God, friendship is laying down your life for someone else out of an abundance of love. 

Jesus laid down his life for us, and his command is that we follow his example. In prayer, that means we lay down our worldly passions and become preoccupied with God’s glory instead. That is what it really means to pray in the name of Jesus. 

Amen

8th Wedding Anniversary in Pictures

We celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary at Joseph Decuis. It was absolutely lovely! Highly recommend!

Our day in pictures

Today started out with taking Winston to get groomed. Our vet recommended a place called Paws n Claws Pet Palace,  so we tried it and I was very impressed with their service all around. It's really clean inside, the workers are professional and attentive, and it's reasonably priced. 

Then we ran a couple errands at Meijer. I needed to get printer ink and of course Olivia & Gabe needed to ride Sandy. We were able to see Grandma Rhonda at her work, which the kids loved. 

Then we came home to have arts & crafts time, where we painted sun catchers. This was actually a fun, not too messy craft that the kids enjoyed. 

Afterwards they insisted playing with Play-Doh, which is a mess, but they enjoyed themselves and that's all that matters. 

I tried to clean while they played. Then I was called to pick up Winston from the groomer. He looked incredible! 

Then I fed my kids lunch and Dan came home to see us during his lunch. The kids took naps and I worked on my own things. 

Their naps ended sooner than expected, so I let them play outside while I worked on the deck. It was a beautiful day! 

Then after playing it was time to get to church for a meeting. The kids played in the nursery with our awesome nursery volunteer (Beth). She's such a blessing!

Olivia talks so much about her and how much she enjoys seeing her.

After the meeting got out we sat out back and enjoyed the rest of our evening watching O&G jump on the new trampoline and play in the swing set. 

I just love summer, time with the kids, and serving our wonderful parish! 

Well it's getting late so I better get some shut eye but tomorrow will be our 8th Wedding Anniversary! There are so many things to be thankful for in this life! Gabe just turned 3 (which I will blog on tomorrow). There are endless ways in which the good Lord has blessed us abundantly! Open your heart to HIM and your cup shall overflow with joy!

Green Thumb Challenge

I've never been able to keep my hanging flower baskets alive. I water them, give them plant food, put in the right extra soil to pot it correctly, and I'm still killing the poor hanging baskets. I've killed 2 already this season. Any advice??? I love the look of hanging baskets on my front porch and am near to considering artificial plants in the hanging baskets. Wouldn't that be a something?! Ha! I need help please~

Broken ipad

I knew the day would come but I just didn't want to acknowledge that my intuition was a reality...Olivia dropped my ipad on the tile floor, cracking the screen all across the front.

You see, it's honestly my own fault for letting her play with it. They really do have great learning apps for preschoolers that she enjoys. Well, apparently she liked my ipad so much that she took it with her to the BATHROOM and dropped it. Little did I know that she had it in the bathroom with her because I was letting the dog go potty. Oh the great juggling act~

Then I had to face the music and tell Dan....luckily he was nice enough and wanted me to find out a way to get it fixed.

Here's where it gets tricky. I called Apple, and because its out of warranty, they'd charge me ~$250 to send it back to them and have them fix it. Or I could drive to an Apple Store and pay to get it fixed (too far away at 2 hours away for any stores). Or I could buy a new screen on the internet and repair it myself (looks too tricky). Or they suggested getting a new ipad which was not my plan bc then if be looking at way more than I wanted to spend to fix this mistake. OR, the rep told me that he can't "officially recommend" this but I should look into a local electronic repair place and get it fixed that way. He suggested that I call Best Buy to ask them where they'd recommend.

So I did and apparently the ONLY local repair shop of that kind is called Cell Tech at Glenbrook Mall (across from Radio Shack). My first impression of this place was not so good. It's like a convenient store, cell phone accessories, and cell/ipad repair store all rolled into one. I got a quote of $125 to fix it and was told it would take a couple days, as there were 2 iPads in front of mine. I gave him my ipad to fix.

I honestly wasn't sure if I'd ever see my expensive device again. I had Dan remote erase my ipad data. Then several days went by and I still hadn't heard from Cell Tech, so I called them and they said it would be ready the next night.

I picked my ipad up tonight and had to wait because the tech broke my screen again once he fixed it. But long story short, it's finally fixed and I'm going to get a better case on it and not leave it with the kids!

Lesson learned~

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!