Awwww the Holidays!!! Why are they soooo busy? Time with friends and family and all the season's festivities! I am excited and exhausted all at the same time!



Here are some pics since I haven't posted much this year!

Hope this blessed season is filled with all the hope and love God intended when He sent us His Son! Happy Birthday Jesus....may we not lose sight of you!

Miss Jordann

This is one sweet girl! I am amazed daily at what a neat lil person she is! Funny and smart, sweet and beautiful...she is the total package!!
She turned 2 this week! YES 2!!
She loves her big brother and is really into hugs and kisses right now...here lately she just wants to give great big hugs and pull you in for a big smootch! The more I praise each hug and kiss the more she squeezes! I LOVE IT!!
Lately she has been dancing and singing...oh my heart..it is precious to watch. Last week was VBS...I had an awesome gig leading the kids in music and it was a great workout dancing to each song 6 times a day! Anyway...Jordann picked up and the moves and was just giving Daniel a mini concert before church and he was praising her and she was so proud...he couldn't tell what song she was trying to sing so he asked her to show me...well it was the theme song for VBS...Boomerang Express! She was totally into it shaking her bootie and pumping her arms!
Jordann has also been talking up a storm too! Oh my....toddler talk can be so fun...when she tries to say a word we try to correct her and usually everything we tell her she replies w/ "oh".
One word she struggles with is truck....that's right she says a four letter work that rhymes with truck. I think we might just try to convince her that it is a choo-choo again (that's what she used to call trucks and semis).
So far potty training has been pretty easy...she is lil miss independent and does a great job of telling us when she needs to go.

It is fun to watch Josiah teach his sister all that he knows. They have been counting and doing abc's together. Si will sit and read books to her and they love playing cars and taking walks while he pushes her in the stroller. He has been so great when she askes him for help, it makes my heart melt. We have taught our kids to say "Thank you Jesus" when we have something to be grateful for...ie...mommy not getting the speeding ticket...or even just a praise from another person. Watching both of our children pray is a tear jerker for me. Jordann never lets anyone eat without praying. Sometimes if I am still finishing something and do not get to the table before everyone is ready to start I will just have them pray and I pray from wherever I am. That does not work for her...once I sit down and try to eat she says "momma NO" points for me to put my food down and folds her hands to instruct me to pray!! How precious is that?

Jordann has such a neat personality and she loves to laugh and make others laugh too! Most of her silliness was learned from watching Josiah and all his many characters. There is never really a dole moment at our house.

Jordann you are a precious little girl and such a blessing to our family!

Josiah's Pre-School Graduation

Mrs. Schmitz....she is an amazing teacher with more patience than humanly possible!

trying to look humble

The Graduate Proud grin

getting his diploma

I admit I am alot like an M&M...ok the peanut ones anyway. I have a hard candy shell...soft chocolate sweet side and then a lil nutty like the peanut center. I rarely cry, so for me to admit that I was a cry baby at my son's pre-school graduation is a tough one!

But I was a proud momma and to see him sing his lil heart out and hold his head up high just choked my up!

Enjoy my handsome lil big guy!

Jordann's Free Spa Date

So we've all had a case of severe rainy day blues lately. We want to be outside enjoying spring and nature...only to be cooped up inside for days on end for stormy weather! My kids have definetly had their fill of cabin fever...so today Jordann wanted to swing...she hated to slush through the yard to get there and once she was done decided to take off her muddy shoes...as she did she fell on her bottom onto the soggy ground...Josiah then proceed to show her the exciting way to splash water out of the large puddles with a stick...SHE WAS HOOKED!!

So she treated herself to an old fashioned "spa date", complete with a mineral loaded mud bath!! Enjoy :)

Good Bye Tulsa House!

Well...the time came when we are able to say our FINAL good-byes to our first home. It was a cozy lil place that served us well over the 8 years we owned it. It will be so nice not having to continue to pay the mortgage on a home we have not occupied since Oct 07!! We re-listed the house in January of this year with a new realtor and we were in contract within a month! To us this was nothing short of a miracle...considering the market right now and finding "qualified" buyers!

Poor Daniel though had to put a new roof on since our insurance company did not see and hail or wind damage to the roof that another company refused to insure (that was a fun mess!).

Closing went off with out a hitch and we are one step closer to being "debt free".

Thank you all for all your prayers through the year and half that we struggled to sell our home!

Mr & Mrs Torneden

Here are some pics from my lil brother's wedding. Jordann was the adorable flower girl, while I filled in as a bridesmaid. The weather was perfect!

It was nice to see my brother so happy. We all danced the night away...I'll try to upload a video of Jordann & Si shaking their booties! They played all the old school classics so I of course jumped in with my moves from the 90's!! Even Daniel was loose and funky having a good time!!

We of course forced Sarah to come and party with us!! She was a huge help (as she always is) helping keep Jordann happy and helping me try to curl her hair (that was fun)!!

With that....Casey & Sabrina...thank you for allowing us to celebrate with you and allowing us to stand with you as you wed. We love you both and wish you all the happiness that this lifetime will allow!

Tag you're it! Thanks Becki

So this is an adorable pic of two special people to me....My handsome lil man and my dear friend Sarah! We always have so much fun when Sarah comes to town....I know she is the infamous "babysitter" to most...but to our fam she is like a sister/auntie. We love to hang out, talk, eat, and take pictures of the kids being silly. I love how Sarah & I keep it real....we talk about everything...she maybe knows as much about me as Daniel does....scarry I know!
Sarah was our 1st official babysitter for Si after he was born (Al napped with him 1st @ 6wks!)...then we decided to share her with everyone else....needless to say her calendar fills up quickly these days! Anyone who as ever met her instanlty loves her...how can you not??? If you have little ones she will spoil them...sometimes even kidnap them (haha....jk she always asks first!) She is an amazing care giver (more like a lil momma) and an awesome friend...I am so blessed not only to know her but to call her a close friend.
We love you Sarah (or Sa-da as Jordann calls her)!!

So now you have seen my 4th pic that was saved in the 4th folder on my computer....it's your turn...SO TAG YOU ARE IT! I pick the following 4 ladies to post the 4th of their#4....Laura, Amanda, Jen, Brandi!!! Can't wait to see what you have to say!