Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving Girls! And everyone who is so faithful to frequent our blog - we love you!

Good Lil' Daddy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RACHEL!!!!

Halloween Dress Up

Odds & Ends From Past Couple Months

1. We got a new kitten, her name is Maggie!
2. Last month we took a day trip to the Pacific Coast, Point Reyes Station. It was fun and beautiful!
3. Family at the pumpkin patch field trip with Abigail's school. :)

G is For Guitar

Abigail is learning about G this week at school. Yesterday they made guitars! It is so cute and creative! She loves it and rocks out a lot of the time and just carries it around the rest of the time!

AJ's Cupcakes!

I totally forgot that I told my mom I'd post a pic of the cupcakes I made for AJ's party, so here they are!

A 'Boy' Birthday!

We had a very fun birthday! Yesterday we had the party with all our friends. Today we opened gifts that have been delivered by mail the past couple of days. AJ is now sufficiently equipped with boy toys! Yeah! Thank you to all who sent such nice gifts to our precious little gift. :)

HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY AJ!!

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear AJ,
Happy Birthday to you!!!!

AJ's New 'Do

I found yesterday that AJ has seborrhoeic dermatitis or cradle cap if he was a newborn. I decided to cut off some of his hair because it was getting pretty long. This way I would be able to treat it more easily. I just hacked it off because I tried to take him to the barber and he screamed so badly the lady wouldn't even come near him and he wasn't even in the chair yet! So I fed him jelly beans in front of the TV and went to town with my scissors! I think he looks so cute! He's saying "cheese" in this pic!

"Abigail What Do You Want For Lunch Today?"

..."A peanut butter chocolate chicken, please."

Like Daughter Like Mother!

Mom came to visit this week, we're having so much fun! She really likes my hair and has been thinking of cutting hers shorter. Last night she said maybe she should, so I called my hair gal and she had an opening today! So here we are! Mom wasn't quite ready to go as short as mine but this is the first step in the right direction. Yeah!

Nine Years

Today is our 9th Anniversary. It seems unbelievable how time moves. I remember waking up this morning 9 years ago to the sound of "Going to the Chapel" and being surrounded by my family and my favorite girls. Then 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Anniversary were spent camping and waking up in a tent. I honestly don't know what happened the 4th and 5th. For the 6th we were pregnant and had just recently found out it was twin girls, had all of Jonathan's family in town and were preparing for Jonathan's Graduation from college. At the 7th the girls were 8 months old and I think I was seeing light at the end of the tunnel, we had dinner in and just relaxed. For the 8th we took the girls to Coulon for the evening and dined on fish and chips :). Now here we are at the 9th and today will not seem overly momentous, we'll have a nice quiet dinner at home and likely go for a walk in the woods. We are heading to California on Thursday and will be counting nights spent in a hotel and unlimitless sleep as our Anniversary gift to ourselves :) For now I plan on enjoying today, flipping through wedding pictures, watching our video (thats right video!) and remembering. I feel so grateful and blessed that I am in love with the man I married and only have joy in my heart when I think of all the years ahead.

Abigail's First Day of Preschool

Today is the big day! Abigail went to school this morning and it was a much anticipated event. We have been talking about it for a couple of weeks and a few days ago her teacher came to our house for a visit.
This morning she was up before I had to wake her up. I was a bit surprised about that because her school day wake up time is half an hour (or a bit more) before her normal wake up time. We got ready and Andy got home from work just in time to come with us to drop her off.
When we got there we took pictures and went inside. We were early and so lots of kids were already there playing. Abigail took one look around the room and said "Bye Mom!". I told her to wait a minute and let's go see her classroom. Inside her classroom we found her desk and her cubby to hang her sweater and backpack. Again she looked up and said, "Okay, bye Mom!". And again I said, "Please wait a minute, I want to pray before we leave." So she appeased me and Andy prayed. This is when my tears began. As soon as we said 'amen' she said "Okay, bye Mom!" I figured on the third plea I should release her. So with a quick kiss she was off and approached the first group of kids she came to and said "Hi Ever'body!" Andy & I gave each other a glance and with a few more tears we left her there. It's very exciting and a little sad. However I am told that most milestones in motherhood are. :)

Happy Birthday Carrie!!!

(I am so sorry I didn't do this yesterday, I meant to!)
I hope you had a GREAT day to yourself and got to do all the things you've been dreaming about! I love you!

Another Year Older

I definitely feel like this was a much mellower birthday then last year. Last year I had the excitement of looking forward to Vegas and seeing all of my girls! I think I could live with doing that every year! :) Here is to remembering last year and anticipating this year! Cheers to getting older when every year is better!

A Watercolor Morning

I once read that a wonderful way to start your childrens morning was to lay out a project for them to find as they woke in the morning. So on a cool, lazy morning we did watercolors first thing in the morning for the first time. I'm sure you will agree that masterpieces were the result.

The Severns' Summer Adventure Part IX

The last leg of our trip was unexpected and wonderful! We got to spend a day with the Cotton's & Daley's! We took full advantage of the time. First thing that morning Carrie brought her girls to Greg & Mary's house (where we were staying) and we played and ate lunch together. Then after nap time we went to Jonathan and Carrie's new house and had dinner. What a fun time to visit and refresh ourselves for the final leg of our journey. The four kids haven't been together for about a year and a half, AJ was just a baby and the twins were just over a year old then! It was so much fun to watch them interact and talk to each other. The Daley's home was so comfortable and welcoming, yet again. They have incomparable hospitality! Thank you to all for welcoming us back to The States and allowing us to recharge in your homes! We love you very much! :)

Now we are home and there truly is no place like it! AJ had been asking for home for almost a week before we got here and Andy & I were done with the traveling for a while. We are sort of recovering from our long trip back. The kids were, of course, so glad to have all their toys and rooms and 'new clothes' back. :) Andy & I are especially thankful for our king size bed and the air conditioning to save us from the heat. Now I have to start the laundry and think about cooking every night again. :) Home Sweet Home!

Happy Birthday Stacy!

May you have a peace full, lovely day!

The Severns' Summer Adventure Part VIII

We called Saturday am to find out the exact time of our flight back to the states, it was scheduled for Sunday. This is when they told us the flight was canceled! ...great, we thought this is not the flight for us to miss out on. As is turns out there was a previous flight that had been delayed a day to Whidbey Island, Washington. Well this is not what we had in mind because it is harder to catch a hop home from there but of course Eva and Carrie live there! So we really prayed that we would get that flight otherwise we were looking at really steep commercial prices.
We showed up to the terminal this am for the roll call (nothing is guaranteed, it's all by available space) sweating a little. Finally they called our name and told us to expect to be in WA late this evening. Yeah!
Then we got on the flight and they ask us what our accommodations for the night in St Johns are. ...Okay, what ?? So actually the flight was staying over in NEWFOUNDLAND. Does anyone actually live there?
At this point I have to really testify to the faithfulness and favor of God because He is so Great! We ended up following the crew onto a shuttle to their hotel. This place is gorgeous! WOW! we want to come back here some day. The hotel is nice and the dinner at the pub downstairs was so tasty. The pic is out the window of our hotel.
So we will be in Washington tomorrow evening and we'll see what will happen from there! What an adventure! As much as I am tired and want to go home, this is fun! We have been to five countries other than the US and four states other than CA!

The Severns' Summer Adventure Part VII

Malta & Sicily Wrap Up
I wanted to wrap up our time in Europe with a few thoughts that I didn't want to pass by. First, the pics are of the ferry ride from Malta to Sicily and Andy & the kids on a rope structure at the Navy base on Sicily.
In Malta there are actual street signs that say "stop at humped zebra"! This is hilarious to us and of course they are referring to what we call a 'cross-walk'!
AJ had extra fun in the bathroom at my sisters house because there is a bidet and he thought this was a special place for someone his size to wash his hands! We frequently had to remove him from his sink! When we got there Andy asked Alyssa if it was a urinal! :)
Luckily when we arrived back on Sicily the temps were cooler. It was a lot more pleasant to walk to the place we ate each meal and play at the park in the evening.
We all miss home. AJ keeps asking for home and once or twice he's asked to go to our church. So cute!

Keepin Cool Part 2

Seek out air conditioning in the form of Red Robin and The Children's Museum

Mdina trip

While Rachel was living it up in the spa, me and the kids went to Mdina for site seeing today 7/29. Mdina is where the apostle Paul was taken after being shipwrecked. Mdina sits on top of a hill and overlooks much of the landscape and is enclosed with high walls. There is a Cathedral in the center of it, and amazing stone carvings. We finished the morning off with some favorite Gelato (ice cream) that the kids gobbled up. The last pic is from a fountain the kids splashed in last night while we were out to dinner in Valleto (a town on the water front in Malta).

The Severns Summer Adventure VI

Okay, sorry to leave you grandparents and other fans hanging! Here are a bunch of pics to show what we've been up to. We have gone for a walk to gelato, gone to the sandy beach, to the park, out for dinner and to the square with the fountain and more. We have been having so much fun despite the HOT weather.
Today, I went to the salon for a morning of treatments while the rest of the gang (Auntie Eva has now joined us) went sight-seeing. Andy will update you on that. I have to share with you what I did at the salon and how much it cost because you will not believe how much I DIDN'T pay! I got a bikini wax, pedicure, eyebrow wax and 1 Hour facial for 54 Euros!!! That is about $75! It was so great and I didn't have to go sight-seeing! :)
The sisters and I are about to go out for the evening so I will finish up and Andy will update you on the sights!