Today we had an unexpected visit with two of Malachi & Keagan's best friends, Odin & Teague! We all had a blast playing all over the house. I love these boys, even when 3 out of 3 diapers I changed were poopy :-O It was a great glimpse into what life would be like with 4 children under the age of 4! I was able to get alot done around the house, while keeping the boys entertained! I was pretty proud of that!!!

Showing off their tower! That's what I call teamwork!

So serious...actually tired & zoned into Toy Story 3!

Crazy hair Keagan!

Not sure if Teague wanted a hug, but Keagan was gonna give him one, anway!

"M" for Malachi!

"O" for Odin!

Such imagination...they were going around all around with their flashlights, inspecting things!

Oh, the joys of being a kid!

They found what they were looking for, "the Elephant!"

They are too stinkin' cute!!!

Chris' Pre-birthday party!

We got together with a few friends to celebrate Chris' 30th birthday at the India House. We had a great time, lots of laughs & great food!

Looks like I'm about show you my boxing skills....but don't worry, that was not the case!

The girls!


Awww...the Schabackers! How cute!

About to get into our limo :-D

Great picture of Todd & Alisha!

Katrina, Hannah, Jeremy & Todd

Alisha, Alicia, Chris & Steve

Such a good looking couple!

A-Dorable!

The whole crew, minus Todd & Alisha who met us downtown!

Two girls who can rule the court!!

I was invited awhile ago to go and see Morgan and Melanie Ransom play basketball. I had the privilege to be their Jr. High basketball coach. This is Morgan's senior year at Walther Lutheran High School and Melanie's sophomore year. They are not only amazing basketball players, but they are incredible girls! I was able to enjoy their game against Chicago Christian High School on Tuesday night, and then Chris & I took the boys to their game last night for Morgan's last home game as a senior. We had a great time, and I can't wait to see what God has in store for Morgan as she moves onto the next chapter in her life, college!!!

Melanie, taking it to the hoop!

A great put back, by Morgan!

A nice look, by Melanie!

Gotta love museum FREE days!

Yesterday, the boys and I took a trip to the Museum of Science & Industry. Thank goodness we went on a free day, since parking was $18.00 and 2 drinks were $5.00! Malachi helped pack our lunch...it was adorable, even though there were chunks of jelly in the peanut butter container! lol

This was Keagan's first trip to the Museum of Science & Industry, and it's been over a year since Malachi was there. They have a really neat exhibit on Storms. That was my favorte exhibit! The boys also enjoyed climbing in the John Deer farm equipment, and travelling down into the Illinois coal mines!

It was a great day, with some extremely well behaved boys, followed by naptime! What more could a mom ask for? :-D

The storms!

The Fireman!

The Science of Storms, VERY cool!

Checking out the storm!

Checking out where Daddy used to work!

Learning how the farmers harvest the corn!

Waiting to check out the farm equipment!

Goofing around!

More Construction...

As many of you know, the majority of our basement has been finished since September. We had held off on doing the basement bathroom, because it wasn't even roughed in, and the price quote we got was RI-DIC-U-LOUS!!! So Chris just left the area blocked off, along with Malachi's future closet.


Well, a few weeks ago, a client of Chris' referred a plumber to us, and we had him come and give us a quote to rough in the bathroom. (Chris will be doing the rest of the work) The price was MUCH more affordable, so Chris is going to start moving forward with the project. I can't wait to see the final product & soak in the spa tub! Malachi is extremely excited to have a closet and "his own bathroom!"

Yesterday Chris & Malachi worked on building the walls. They made great time and finished the walls, now we'll wait on the plumber to rough everything in. In the meantime, we have to pick out fixtures, tile, etc.

Here are a few pictures of the "men" working!

Explaining that they were building walls for "his new bathroom"

Malachi said that only the "men" were allowed in the work area!

Fun with our new camera

For Christmas Chris & I bought a Nikon SLR camera...I am loving the crisp pictures it takes!!! Here are a few pictures from January. We finally had a day that it was not too insanely cold, so we went outside and played in the snow. This was Keagan's first experience with the snow, and he enjoyed it....for a short period, at least!!! Malachi could have stayed outside playing all day! He loves to shovel and throw snow! He also enjoys eating the snow...I made sure to tell him to only eat WHITE snow!!!!