Merry Christmas!!!

We wish all of you a very merry Christmas from the Hellen Family!!!! Love, Paul, Karen , Nathan, Kayla, Emily, Madeline and Reagan

caught up....

So as you can see I have finally caught this blog up to date, I understand most have given up on me, I would have as well!! I was busy with Maddie's quilt, which I love and then life has been going on around me. I hope you enjoy reading the blog, I am going to try to do a better job, but no promises time to get started on the Christmas shopping and birthday shopping, then I will focus on Thanksgiving!! Fingers crossed the baby comes a wee bit early so I am not a complete tired and grumpy mess over Christmas!! Anyway, enjoy the blog and feel free to leave comments!!!

Happy 34th!!

Today is Paul's birthday and he is a whopping 34 years old. For dinner he requested chili or lasagna and since it was not enough time for me to make lasagna I am making chili. Today is a cool gray and rainy day. Very much an English kind of day. The type of cake he wanted was a strawberry cake with strawberry frosting. Where this idea for a cake came from I am not sure, but that was his request so I set off to find a recipe. I found a recipe for both on the internet and when I was putting the frosting on the cake yesterday Kayla wanted to know, "Why is daddy's cake pink??" I then explained that daddy wanted a strawberry cake with strawberry frosting and that is why it is pink, from the strawberry's in the frosting. It should be interesting as it is a cream cheese frosting with pureed strawberries mixed in. I think it should be good!!!

Happy Halloween!!

This Halloween, Paul told the kids they had to come up with their costumes no buying anything at the store. I think this was harder for me than for the kids!! Nathan was a soccer player, Kayla was a black cat, Emily was a bunny, and Maddie wore a costume that was in the closet. Apparently while I was taking a nap, Nathan informed Paul that since Jake's dad dresses up for Halloween, Paul should as well. They went through Paul's closet in the hopes of finding a costume and came up with an old boy scout uniform. Well everything but the shorts as Nathan even agreed they were too short. The shirt was Paul's brother's, I am not sure how we ended up with it, but it completed the outfit. This year like last the dad's stayed home and set up a table with all of the candy buckets on it and they sat and talked around the campfire, while the mom's took the kids out for a walk to trick or treat! We started out at dusk and walk around until basket/buckets were filled then it was time to come home. The girls were dropping candy out of their baskets and I had to dump part of it in the stroller. I knew then it was a bad sign. Maddie enjoyed going up and getting her candy, her favorite candy are the lollipops. After returning home the kids were allowed to stay up for a while and play then it was time for bed. It was a good night, just wish it had been on a Saturday night instead of a Sunday. Another year!!

Pumpkin Carving

Another year another pumpkin carving/Oktoberfest at the Hellen's. We invited our neighbors and Maddie's godparents over to carve pumpkins and eat brats and sauerkraut or hot dogs for those that preferred. We had fun carving pumpkins picking the seeds out and just talking with the neighbors. For some reason everyone left by 8PM and the party was over. I was kind of glad about it as I was tired and ready for bed at 8:30... Paul on the other hand was hoping the party would last all night. It was good and everyone had a good time.

All the pumpkins that were carved...

Emily, Nathan, and Kayla's pumpkins

Nathan's Last Soccer Game

Today was Nathan's last soccer game until next February. They played really well and Nathan was great!! He is a good player and really likes the game. The season coach was trying to teach them the positions and learn more of the rules, however he teaches ALL the kids (14) all of the positions. It was interesting to watch, but I think by the end the majority were starting to get it. Nathan seems to do well in the forward position however has trouble sticking to that position when he is suppose to be playing midfield. He gets going with the ball and there is no one to pass to so he would take the ball to the goal, unless stopped along the way. He does not like goalie or defense as they are "too boring". It was a good season and they played some tough teams, but they stayed positive and learned a lot this season. After the game they were given trophies and medals then there was cupcakes and pizza. Another season over...

Maddie's Quilt and Sham

I have finally finished Maddie's quilt and sham. Fortunately for me she LOVED the sham. When it was finished she carried it all over the house. She would not share, it made all the work I put into it worth it!!! Now I need to make something for Emily. However that is going to have to wait until after the baby is born. I am currently on a break from sewing. My machine has been stowed in the closet and will not be out again until January!! It is not that I am out of ideas of fabric, Oh NO!! I have plenty of ideas running around in my head, just not the energy or mobility!

Watermelon???

My patience has worn out on the watermelon, It has been "growing" for 40-50 days and should be done. However, when I say it has been growing I mean it is still on the vine, but not getting any bigger. I gave up and took it from the vine brought it in and cut it up. As you can see from the pictures it is trying to turn red, but it was just NOT happening, that or I did not wait long enough. There is one more that may make it, but the other 10 that started to grow have all rotted out on the bottom. The kids all wanted to try the watermelon and it smelled pretty good, but it was hard to eat not very juicy or soft. Nathan LOVED it and wanted to eat more and more. Wish me luck on the last one!!

30 weeks

Yesterday was my 30 week doctor appointment. She does an ultrasound at 30 weeks, which was a first for me, I have never had one past the 20 week scan. It was pretty neat to see how big the baby really is in there. Fun to see the baby at this stage, the baby is too big to fit into one picture so I just got to see parts, the face, then the leg, then the foot... it sure is cramped in there!! It was sucking on its hand and had the other hand resting on its forehead. I love ultrasounds, I feel like I am spying on the baby.

Maddie was with me and she was very interested in everything the doctor was doing. She was very focused. However she was more interested in when it would be over so she could pick out a sticker from the basket.

Last night we went to tour the hospital and there was a new baby in the nursery that the girls were interested in. The nurse took us around where we would be for the delivery and the postpartum. I think it will be good for the kids to have been there once and kind of know what they are getting into when they come to visit in the hospital. Plus now they know where mom will be when the doctor gets the baby out of my belly.

What a weekend!!!

This weekend was amazing!! The weather was perfect and the days were full of fun. Saturday Nathan had a soccer game and they won, 3-0. Nathan scored 2 of the goals. He had about 4 attempts on goal that missed, but in the last quarter he scored 2 goals, one that bounced off his shin guard and in the goal and one he kicked in. Coach is trying to teach them positions, but it is a learning curve!! Nathan was suppose to be playing midfield, but ended up in the forward position most of the 4th quarter. The majority of the time he would get the ball away from the pack and there was just no one to pass up to so he ran with it!! It was a fun game to watch, I just wish the other team could have scored as well. makes it more fun for all involved. After the game we went to Dave and Busters where Exxon Mobil was having there safety extravaganza. Basically they rent out Dave and Busters and the employees and their family's get to play games for free, eat for free (they have it catered and their is an area with BBQ, kids bits, a pasta bar, then the dessert bar of fruit and cookies.), face painting, massages and some vendors with free things. Nathan enjoyed the hunting games and winning as many of the tickets as possible!! the girls just had fun getting coins out of the coin machine, I think they would do damage on a slot machine!! It was a good day out and we all had playing and eating!! Sunday was such a beautiful day we had the air conditioner off all day and the windows open. It was started off with some excitement. Paul was making toast for kids before we went to church and Nathan's was left in the toaster a little too long and caught on fire. Fortunately that is all that caught on fire, however the kitchen still has a bit of a "fire" smell to it. in Paul's defense the toaster we have really should be put in the trash, it is old and metal so when it cooks things the entire toaster gets hot so if you touch it will burn you. Plus the temperature control does not work. I guess I will be buying a new toaster this week.... After church we spent the day playing outside, relaxing, and baking. I made 2 loaves of banana bread and some brownies. The brownies are almost gone and there is just one loaf of banana bread left. For supper it was hamburgers and french fries. A great weekend!!

Visit to Tulsa

This past weekend we took a little drive up to Tulsa for my nephew Owen's baptism. It was a good weekend and as always it is never exciting to think about the lack of sleep you will get or all of the time in the car, but once you are there and once it is over I am ALWAYS glad to make the trip!!! It was fun to see family and meet baby Owen he is a sweet little boy a little bit of reflux, and a noisy baby he grunts all of the time. I would not be able to sleep with him in the same room!!! ..but so sweet. The kids all loved him especially Maddie she laid down on the floor next to his bouncy seat so she could "watch" him. She is going to be a BIG help when this baby is born. My brother has a park right behind their house and the kids had a great time playing out there, Nathan went hunting, the bouncy castle was set up and was played on a lot!! Everyone enjoyed there time with family and it was good to see the cousins playing so well together. It was a great weekend, Thank You Katie and Dave!!!

Nathan's first hunt!!

Today Nathan was up and ready to go hunting with his daddy and Uncle Dave!! My brother found a place that they could go for Dove hunting (Paul is excited). Since they are going for just the morning, Paul thought it would be good for him to test the water and let Nathan have his first try. He was not shooting anything, but just to go along for the experience. Nathan was super excited and had a good time, Paul said he was getting a little bored by the end, but was full of questions. They (Paul) shot 3 dove and saw more but, only brought home the three. They ate them at dinner. I think Nathan is ready for the next hunt!!!

Watermelon

We finally have some watermelon growing in the garden, now hopefully they will not rot, or get some bug or fungus that will wipe them out!! There are about 6 and looks to be more that could come from the vines. The vines look great they have taken over and are thriving, cross your fingers they produce!!!