Fire Department Birthday Party!

Thanks for inviting us, Hudson!

A birthday party and pumpkin painting

Drew was invited to a fantastic birthday party on Saturday afternoon! It was at the Columbia Fire Department and all of the kids got to ride on a firetruck, spray water out of the fire hose, and eat pizza and cake inside the office. It was soooo cool!



















After the party, we got our pumpkins ready for Halloween! Also, this weekend, we made the final decision on our Halloween costumes. Drew is going to be Woody, Owen is going to be Buzz Lightyear and Evan is going to be an Octupus. I thought that we could coordinate Evan into the Toy Story theme too (my idea was for him to be the cute little alien toy that Sid wins from the vending machine at Pizza Planet, for those of you familiar with the movie), but he was just too cute as an Octopus when he tried it on tonight!

Three little monkeys . . .

Check out my little monkeys jumping on the bed . . .

My Boys from Lauren Niebruegge.

Here is our other little monkey having fun with Grandpa Bob . . .

My Boys #2 from Lauren Niebruegge.

An organized mess!

That is me today. An organized mess. I have a lot of random 'stuff' in my head (are we are out of baby food? I really need to finish the lease impairment analysis before I leave work tonight - get crankin' Lauren. Not sure if all of the laundry got done this weekend. Did we really need to purchase a new sump pump - seriously, Dan? Are the boys exhausted today after the napless weekend? I need some new clothes.) Although I have a ba-zillion of these thoughts swirling around in my head, I'm confident that I can generate some sort of order, if I just take the time to do it. Sigh! Sometimes I think that I spend more time creating all of my 'to-do' lists than I do actually crossing things off!

Although I am an accountant by day, I believe that I am lacking some of the left-brained characteristics that tend to be present in others who have made a similar career choice. My closets are not organized (although I always have great intentions). I don't pay the bills - Dan does. And other than worrying about whether I have enough money for lunch, I don't even ask him many questions (much less create elaborate excel spreadsheets analyzing our spending penny by penny). And while I'll admit that a trip to the Container Store is very exciting, it is really the thrill of shopping that entices me, rather than the prospect of separating my maternity clothes from my 'regular' clothes.

I don't obsess about having a clean house, I don't 'audit' every bill we receive, I have been known to throw a towel or two on the floor without picking it up for days, and I don't even clean my car on a regular basis (only when it actually starts bothering me). I really just love to play and enjoy my boys. Simple as that. The rest really doesn't matter.

When it comes to matters of the home, I am surprising myself lately. I am depending more on the right side of my brain for guidance and less expecting the answers to be black and white. I find myself becoming more aware of the 'guide posts' that are there, if I just slow down long enough to pay attention to them. Perhaps it is God speaking to me, offering insights when I need them. Or perhaps the insights are my own - remaining there to be of service once the haze of unimportant distractions has been lifted. Not really sure. But I find joy in the smallest things and the emotions derived from these 'so called' insignificant events propel me forward . . . . .happily. And I have proactively decided to take these moments and store them. I store them so that when the flow of good recedes and the ebb of adversity that comes with life decides to show up, I can draw on all of my deposits of good fortune to see me through.

So, my state of mind today ties in nicely with the exact purpose of this blog post. I have a handful of pictures and videos on my computer that I want to share because they make me happy, but they don't individually represent anything in particular. But collectively, they represent everything! Get it??

Check out the art project that Drew, Owen, Evan and I created a few weeks ago. We decided to wait until Dan was golfing all day to create these masterpieces (Dan is truly the 'stereotypical accountant' in our family - worried about us making too much of a mess! Just chill, Daddy-O! We'll clean it up . . .eventually:)









Unfortuately, our creative skills dwindled slightly when making a birthday card for Grandma Niebruegge. I had lofty ideas of paint, stickers (foam and regular), glitter and markers, but ended up with something a bit less 'dramatic.' Still packed in with lots of love though!



Happy Birthday, Grandma Darlene!



See below for some brotherly love (and please disregard the piles of laundry and piles of crap everywhere)!

Three little monkeys from Lauren Niebruegge on Vimeo.

#2 from Lauren Niebruegge on Vimeo.

Weekends are not long enough!

This weekend, we found a way to fill each minute. We were on the go constantly and it felt great to have a weekend so full of family, fun and heart-felt smiles. Although we were super busy, I feel refreshed and rejuvenated, rather than run-down and exhausted. I suppose that is the beauty of children. The 'get up and go' just happens - like one of nature's beautiful natural responses.

Our weekend included a 5K run/walk for a local pro-life agency, an emotional auction for Dan's grandmother's household belongings (since she has now moved into an assisted living facility), soccer games, a beautiful, prayerful and touching 'Relay for Life' cancer benefit, breakfast after church with Grandma Patti and Grandpa Dave, and visits with our cousin Greta and sweet little new cousin, baby Willa. Why do weekends have to be so short????

Check out my little soccer players . . .

















Of course, we enjoyed playing with Greta and baby Willa. Even Evan enjoyed looking at the new baby . . .







And although Greta may disown her Aunt Lauren when she gets older, I could not resist putting up these pictures that I took this afternoon. This girl cracks me up!







Love this one . . .

Willa Carmeline

God has blessed our family once again. Welcome to the world, sweet Willa Carmeline. Heaven is smiling. And from up above, Grandma Mathews' smile probably could not get any bigger.

Family Photos

On Sunday afternoon, my family gathered together for a photo-shoot. My Dad works for a CAT dealer and takes great pride in both CAT products AND his grandchildren (not actually sure which is the higher priority:) Accordingly, he requested that I take some photos of him and mom with their grandchildren all dressed in their CAT t-shirts with the hope that these photos would be published in his company newsletter.

Of course, I obliged with his request. We headed outside during the golden hour of sunlight and I got to pretend to be a photographer.













This one cracks me up - Drew really thinks that he can carry baby Evan around! What a sweet big brother!



We ventured down to the lake in front of our house and I was able to capture some of my absolute favorite pictures. The light was great and of course, it was nice to have my brothers there to help with the kids. They joked with me that if we all fell in the lake, would I go after my kids or my camera?? Hmmm. . . .



This is definitely my favorite.

It is official - I am a soccer mom!

Yes, I am happy to admit it. I drive a mini-van and as of this weekend, I am officially a soccer mom. And of course, it is wonderful.

Drew began a fall season with 'pee-wee kickers' on Saturday afternoon. Watching three-year-olds chase the ball and try to figure out how exactly to play soccer is nothing short of entertaining.







It dawned on me what a challenge this will be for the coaches. As parents, we have tried so hard to teach our children to share, and now we're telling them that it is okay to try to steal the ball away from the other guy?? Mommy - I sure wish you'd make up your mind as to what I'm supposed to do!



So our coach kept things simple at first, with questions like, "Who is on the blue team?" You can tell these three are!



Of course, Dan and I should have realized when we signed Drew up for soccer, that there was another little one that we should be considering too. A certain little boy named Owen who, although he didn't meet the age requirements for soccer (kids were supposed to be three years old), would not be pleased if his older brother got to play soccer and he didn't. He really let it be known on Saturday that he wanted to play soccer too. He was so upset that Grandma Patti had to come and pick him up.



The good news is that rules are meant to be broken and with only a quick call to the director of the sports association, we have our Owen signed up for soccer and already decked out with new shin guards of his own. Look out 'pee-wee-kickers!' Here comes a motivated little two-year-old!

A gift for Bill and Stacey

Hey there, you two. I put together something special for you that I hope you enjoy. This features your wedding song, which I absolutely love, by the way. The song is gorgeous and Andy did such a wonderful job performing it for your first dance. Lots of love!

Wedding Weekend

This past weekend, Bill and Stacey were married. Of course, I took hundreds of pictures. This is a sneak-peak of some of my favorites.

Bill - check out your beautiful bride . . .