Pictures coming soon!

All I have to do is download them to my christmas present and get them on- hopefully today!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Wishing you all blessings and fun with your family today and into the new year!

Thoughts along the way....

I love this time of year. Winter, the cold, snow, and Christmas. Christmas has to be my favorite holiday hands down. It has been as long as I can remember. When I was younger, it was due to the excitement of the presents and the anticipation of finding Santa in my home. As I grew, it became about family getting together and about decorating for Christmas. Now as I reflect back on what I perceive as Christmas I find that my reasons have changed yet again. Oh, I still love decorating. I love the feel of you home at Christmas, and I love the look of all the lights. I still plan on driving around with the kids tomorrow and looking for lights,and I have been baking up a storm today. Even thought I enjoy all these things, I have much more anticipation of things yet to come. I am so excited for Matt to be off of work tomorrow and Christmas Day. I can't wait to have time with us as a family, talking about Jesus and what Christmas is all about. I am so looking forward to attending the Christmas Eve service at our new church. I look froward to watching my kids as they open presents. I can't wait to see my husband smile as he watches the kids. This year more than ever, I am focused on my family. I have been every year, but this year it is different. I will take the time to soak it all in and truly, TRULY enjoy the noise and the closeness and the warmth that comes with my family. Then as the grandparents head in I will relish the time with them and spending quality time with each member. I will praise my God and Savior with my family in worship to Him. I will take these longings into the new year and set goals that reflect my creator and my family. I will still do 1 thing for me, but my acts of service will be for others. My husband and kids are the world to me and I will cherish every moment with them, use every teachable moment to help them learn about the One who created it all. I will be more intentional with my time and make sure I am using it to glorify Him. I will spend every day in the Word and I will pray before my feet hit the floor. I will spend time studying with my husband and my children. Yes, I will work on loosing the weight (hits the list every year), but I think it will happen this year. As long as I continue to place the previous said things as priorities.

Caleb's Birthday

I feel a tad guilty admitting this but, Caleb's birthday snuck up on me! While at Lee and Linda's over Thanksgiving, I realized that Caleb's birthday was one week away! So once we got home, I invited a few of Caleb's friends from school over for a party. We prayed all week that some one would come. Well Saturday came and we had received a bunch on no's. A lot of people had things planned and some of the kids were ill. We talked to Caleb and explained that it would be just family, and he was fine with it. We went ahead and played some of the games we planned and he had a blast. We are hoping to have some kids over for some play time after the holidays. Anyway- he had fun and enjoyed having the grandparents there. I can't believe that my firstborn is 6. That is somewhat hard for me to digest. My youngest turned 3 and my oldest turns 6. He is growing so fast and maturing into an amazing young man. He is one of our pride and joy's and we can't imagine our lives with out him.

S N O W

We had a snow day about a week ago. It was nice to let the kids go out and play as much as they could. I was really hoping for more than what we got (and I am still keeping my fingers crossed that it will snow), but the kids had a blast. They had a mini snowball fight and made snow angel's. After our time in the snow, we came in for some hot chocolate with marshmallows. YUM!

Riley's Third Birthday and Thanksgiving

My baby turned 3 this year. I have had feelings of pure Joy and pure sadness. Knowing she is our last has made the memories more sweet. She is growing so fast, sometimes it seems that she is way past 3. She loves to read to her babies and play with her "dishes". Matt and I can have coffee anytime we want and her meals are so interesting (seriously: cookies, onion rings and celery- YUM!) We had a very low key party. She celebrated at school with her friends and then she chose to go to Red Robbin for her birthday dinner. Then it was home for presents and to bed. We are so blessed to have this little wonder in our home. God knew what he was doing when he fashioned her. I look forward to watching her grow into an amazing young woman of God.


We spend Thanksgiving up at Lee and Linda's this year. Lee was discharged from the hospital 2 days before, so we enjoyed getting to spend time with him at home. The kids were ecstatic to have grandma and paw paw at home, while we were there. It was hard for them to understand why we were at their house, and they were not there. Scott and Heather, along with their kids came over and we all ate a great dinner. We had a really relaxing time and were happy to help Lee and Linda get settled after being in the hospital for several weeks. (there were no pictures as I forgot my camera here)

5 posted- more to come

There are 4 posts below this one. I still have a few to do, but will get to those tomorrow as Matt should be home from work, and the kids are ready to make some Christmas presents! Coming up soon: Riley's birthday post, Caleb's birthday post, and our first snow of the season. Thanks for hanging with us as I have not posted in over a month. Hopefully that will never happen again.

The pictures loaded all weird for some reason, but here we go. Lee and Linda joined us for Halloween this year. We went around our neighborhood this year. The huge crowds didn't happen till we were almost home, which was good since that meant there were not as many cars. We didn't see too many scary costumes and the one that scared Riley, became her favorite one by the end. The kids racked up on the candy, which will be tossed soon! :) Enjoy the pictures


*Getting the glow sticks ready
*My princess, stormtrooper and power ranger
*Her dress light up all over the skirt
*Would there have been any other choice? :)
*This one surprised us- but he had so much fun
*After we got home, they helped me hand out the candy

*putting all their loot in their bowls to sort through
*Riley started off going up by herself with the boys- that was short lived after she turned around and saw a scary costume
*The first house



As a side note, this was the weekend before Lee was admitted to the hospital for his brain abscess. The following week, it was found and started the ride we have been on. Lee is doing so well now. He has been dismissed from one therapy and it looks like he will be dismissed from the other two shortly. It is a miracle that only God could have provided.

12-hour Crop (October)

While we were in Indiana, Linda and I did a 12-hour crop at Archivers. Matt and Lee watching the kids while we scrapbooked. It was so much fun and I got a ton done. We were there for 11am-11pm. I think the only time we left the store was to run to Old Navy and to the coffee shop. The rest of the time was spent int he workroom. They did demonstrations of the newest tools and they also gave away door prizes. I actually won a pack of paper and letter stickers. Of course there is a whole store to shop if you forget something or you don't have the right accessories. This time I got 12 pages done. The last crop I went to(5 hour) I got 5 done. Every time we go to Indiana, Linda and I try to go together. I hope to try and go 2-3 times a year. I tend to get a lot done and to have all the other workers around for inspiration is a ton of fun. The closest one to us is in Louisville, although there is one in Memphis. There are a ton of people who will do a scrapbooking weekend and stay in a hotel and scrap the whole time. I'm not there yet, but this was a ton of fun!

Playing Catch Up!

Well, I have to start off my apologizing. The slide show sites and I just could not get along, so you will have to scroll down through the post. One day we will work out our differences! :) Any who, these photos were from our trip to Indiana in October. We went for a weekend at the very end of the fall break for our county. Linda and I were attending a 12-hour crop that Saturday (previous post) so we made a long weekend of it. We took the kids out to Hubers Farm in Starlight, IN. They always have a blast there. We went to the petting zoo area and they have added so much! Since it was close to Halloween, there were beautiful pumpkins in the patches and the weather was perfect. The kids had a hayday on the slides, the bounce area and visiting the animals. Here are just a few (well maybe more than a few- hey! It's been a while...) that I picked.


*Uncle Matt and Jake- despite his expression he loved it! He broke into a smile after I shot this

*Heather and Kait- she lost her shoe on the way down- but held on to it.
*Riley- this is like the millionth slide- she loved it
*Technically they were not supposed to go down together, but since all the parents were at the bottom, we let it slide
*The slide is really long, but great for the belly slide
* Riley on the tractor- she had trouble pushing the peddle down with her toe
* Caleb had a blast- the only complaint? They didn't go fast enough!
*Caleb hitching a ride with Ian- Caleb's time ran out, Ian was kind enough to share
*This little bridge was not to functional- we had to push them up onto it
*Who is going to win the race?
*We finally put Riley on with Caleb since she couldn't push the peddle- They had a ton of fun
*Riley getting settled
*Sliding down the HUGE bounce platform
*They all got some serious air on here
*Riley held on to me for a while and then decided she could do it on her own
*The boys would jump from the top and roll down the sides to the dirt
*Rolling- That was apparently the most fun for the boys
*The boys
*Looking at the rooster and chickens
*Caleb and his very hungry Rabbit
*The pen of rabbits were a hit- they would hop over and eat the grass out of your hand. I know the kids stayed there for at least 30 min.
*The goats

Snow Day!

Today is a snow day! The kids are excited, I slept till 7 but Matt had to go to work. I will try to get some updates with pictures up here today. It has been way to long! For now I will give an update with no pictures (come back later for those).

We are doing good. Since the last update, Riley turned 3 and Caleb is now 6. We had some pretty subdued birthdays this year, but the kids did not seem to mind at all. Caleb is enjoying school and kids club. The other night Kids Club (the after-school care he goes too) had a night that they stayed open late for parents who wanted to go shopping and such, Caleb decided he wanted to go, so we let him. He was the only Kindergartner there, but had a BLAST!! He ate a few helpings of Mrs. Jo's spaghetti and meatballs with bread, and chowed down on some desert. Mrs Jo said she was reminded of what it was like to have young boys. :)

Ian and Riley are having a blast at school. They have been learning their Christmas carols and will go caroling next week at the school. It will be so neat to see. Last night Riley was full of 1002 questions. All about Christmas and Santa. It was so neat to hear her voice asking these questions with her eyes lit up. In each of the kids rooms we have a little tree that Linda had gotten the kids. They have ornaments that they each put on. Riley's is on her nightstand by the door. She was trying to figure out how the presents would fit under the tree. I told her that the big presents would be under the big tree downstairs and that if she was good Santa would put a small present under this tree (in her room). She promptly put her head down to sleep and I then had to tell her that it wasn't time for Santa to come. She was a little disappointed, but he will be way to excited to sleep come Christmas eve.

Ian is growing so fast (they all are really). He has matured quite a bit this year and I can see him changing everyday. He continues to be a tender-hearted one. He loves to snuggle and please. Yesterday we had a hard time at the Pre-K because he decided that he needed to wash his hair with the soap in the bathroom. We had an interesting head washing int he front office bathroom. But he told me later that he wouldn't do it again. He is learning so fast. He picks up and remembers just about everything. I can tell him that we will do something on Friday , on Monday and he will remember come Fri morning.

Work is good for me. The students are going a little nuts sine break is almost here. I have done several craft projects with them this year and they seem to have liked it. Next week we will do a few more and then a Christmas party and movie day. My students do not have to attend on the testing days, so I may only have 1-2 students on Thursday and Friday. I must admit I am looking forward to the break. Even though it is only 2 weeks it will be relaxing to be at home.

Work is going good for Matt. He is somewhat busy right now. They had a "crunch and much" social yesterday and he was loaded on good foods. A few of you have asked how he is doing since all this happened with Lee. He is good- the beginning was hard of course. Up until the surgery we were all apprehensive and concerned. I know it hit Matt hard. Having to watch his Dad struggling was a challenge. I can tell you that he is better, knowing that the surgery was successful and watching his dad progress. He and I (well not so much me in the last few weeks) have been playing WoW together. When the expansion came out he played his higher level character to get him to 80. But I love that we can play that together. I get to learn from the best (imo).

Lee is doing well. He came down for Caleb's birthday. He is walking better and better everyday. They are looking at dismissing him from therapy soon. He would really like to go back to work in January. They are going to start back with McKendree (where he teachers) since that is 2 nights a week and see how that goes. That way , he can ease into it slowly and it may not be so over whelming.

Well, I'm going to dress the kids and head out into the snow/ice for a bit. Maybe get some good pictures. :) I'll update with Halloween (a few months late) and other pictures later.