Nancy's News

Summer Vacation 2011

2011-08-06T19:01:00.006-04:00

This week, our family traveled south to Pigeon Forge for a few days. It was our first time to go to Dollywood and we LOVED it! KidsFest was on this week in Dollywood, so there were cool kid shows to go to. We went to Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs in 4D, and the Gazillion Bubble Show. Really neat. Since Chris and I (endured) went to a TimeShare presentation, we were able to get our whole family into Dollywood for FREE! Not a bad deal at all since the presentation lasted only 1hour and 15 min!

We were able to get in on Monday at 3 PM and then go back all day Tuesday on the same ticket! I LOVED that deal:)

I thought this "family" of flower pots was cute! This was on the patio of a bakery or deli I think.

LOVED this grill/cooker!!! I would LOVE to have one of these on my back deck:) (Ok...maybe in a smaller size)They were grilling potatoes, chicken, peppers and onions all together. I wish you could smell it also!!

The mountain SlideWinder. Once Chris and I convinced(actually forced them..haha)the kids to give this ride a try, they LOVED it. I admit....I'm a big baby when it comes to rides and the first time down I REFUSED to open my eyes. But we ended up going quite a few more times and I loved every minute!! So did the kids. They begged to ride it over and over:)

The Rockin' Roadway was one of the boys' favorite rides.

Caleb was very pleased to be driving Daddy!!

Demolition Derby was probably Michael's favorite ride. He LOVED driving the car by himself and crashing into all the rest of us:)

Family Picture:)

Another of our favorites was the River Battle and since it so HOT (temps in the high 90's) it felt really good to get soaked!! And soaked we did get!! There are water guns on the boat itself for shooting at the other passengers and there are also some on the bank. Here Chris is soaking a passing boat!

There are also fountains that randomly shoot up soaking everybody also. We were drenched by the time the ride was over. Ahhh....much cooler that way!

The only roller coaster the kids would try was the Veggie Tale coaster. Very cute and they rode it more times than I could count!

Michael in the first car...Caleb and I in the second:)

Lauren and Michael on the River Rampage ready to get wet. (Another VERY wet ride)

Here the kids are waiting in line...already soaked and wanting to get wet again!!

Our family LOVED this ride. As soon as we got off the boat, the kids wanted to get in line again! So fun!!

Caleb with the mini basketball Chris won for him in the County fair.

Michael and his basketball:)

Wednesday, we left Pigeon Forge and headed to North Carolina to visit family. On Thursday, we all went to a Family Fun center called Celebration Station. We purchased the all day wrist bands and got a day of unlimited pizza, drinks, go-kart rides and bumper boat rides. The kids had a BLAST!

Lauren and Aunt Leanna

Michael and uncle Kendall...

Chris and Caleb:)

We made MANY fun memories together as a family....so I would say our family vacation was a HUGE success:) Lots of laughter and good times!! But I must say...there's no place like home. Thanks to Leanna and Kendall for a lovely place to stay and yummy food! In fact we were so relaxed and had such a great time there, I didn't realize till I sat down to blog that I didn't even get my camera out at their house! Bummer!

Lauren's 11th Birthday

2011-07-30T12:47:00.005-04:00

The birthday girl waiting to open her gifts!

I give my kids a party for their friends every other year. On the "off" years, they can choose a place they want to go to celebrate their birthday. The destination of choice is generally Chuck E Cheese.

Caleb pleased with the loot he got with his tickets.

Lauren pleased with her loot also:)

Micahel and his candy:)Birthdays are all about sugar overload, right?!?!

The birthday girl and her Mommy:)

Lauren opening her first envelope explaining the treasure hunt. Each envelope along the way, contained a picture of a location either in our backyard, or up on campus. I tried to make the pictures a little bit tricky...and involving some help from her brothers...and yes...mom and Dad.

Finding an envelope and clue...

This one had her puzzled. It was a named brick up on campus...but ...WHERE? There are many bricks with names. The shadow of the monumet, though, was her clue.

And we were off! And sure enough. There at the monument was the next clue!

Sometimes the locations went back and forth from campus to backyard, campus to backyard. UGH...didn't figure on it being SO HOT when I came up with the "brilliant" idea...haha. As you can see from this picture, sometimes Lauren and Michael went back to the backyard, while Mom staed up on campus and played photographer:)

Lauren and Caleb trying to figure out where to go next!

Finally...a VERY tired and sweaty girl found the gift and opened it! A pink digital camera!! Guess the picture shows how happy she was with that one!

Since our family is not super fond of cake, Lauren chose a birthday cookie instead. I just put a few candles on so she would have something to blow out. Although I do wish we could rewind time, and she just be turning 4, she turned 11!! Growing up so fast!!

I shared some of my sentiments on Fb on Lauren's actual birthday, but here goes again:) When I was expecting her, we chose not to find out whether I were having a girl or boy. We wanted the surprise. I must say though, above all I wanted a healthy baby. But deep down, I REALLY wanted a girl! Chris had me pretty convinced she was a boy though. Because both of our parents had boys first, he said, she was most certainly a boy. When the doctor anounced it was a girl, I could hardly believe it. And she has been EVERY bit as fun as I thought she would be. She was absolutely perfect and born with LOTS of dark hair and has had thick, long hair ever since! She was my dream come true....SO fun to dress her up and fix her hair. And added to that blessing, I was able to be a stay-at-home Mom.(thanks to Chris) I have enjoyed every minute of having a girl. And thankfully, I have had two boys since then. I cannot imagine loving my boys any more. They are a different kind of fun....but still SO fun!!! So, on Lauren's birthday, I realized once again how truly blessed I am...for I am a Mama! And that is my total dream come true and God's very best blessing to me!!!

Making Cotton Candy

2011-07-30T12:17:00.005-04:00

Last week our neighbors came over and invited us to their house to make cotton candy. Someone that was staying with them, had brought along his cotton candy machine and thought we might enjoy helping to make some. Why, absolutely!!
If you look carefully, you can see the center is full of a pink powdery substance. He had poured maybe 1 cup of the pink powder in the middle and turned on the machine.

Within a couple minutes, we could see the beginnings of the "cotton' around the edges.

A minute later, there was enough to wrap around a paper cone. Here, Becky is wrapping th cone in the cotton. you just twirl the cone a couple times and lift up...and....

you've got a big chunk of cotton candy. Wait a minute or so and you're ready to do it again!

Caleb had never even tried cotton candy before.

Lauren was able to do her own!

Karissa wrapping it on the paper cone...

Summer. fun....sitting in the porch swing eating cotton candy:)

And then...the crazy pose:)

Thanks to our neighbors next door for all the fun!!

A Visit to Boonshoft

2011-07-30T10:18:00.007-04:00

After being cooped up inside for days because of the heat, I decided we needed to go discover something new...anywhere "cool" ! So last week, we made the 50 minute drive up 75 to Boonshoft Museum of Discovery. Since we have a Cincinnati Zoo pass, we got in for half price. (If you have a Cincinnati Museum pass, you get in for free)

Lego was there that day with a very cool vehicle outside,

...and lots of cool displays indoors. They also had a large area full of Legos where kids could play and build.

We spent the majority of out time in the Mindbender Mansion. As you make your way through, trying to figure out the different mind bending activities, you fill out a card with the correct answers. Michael loved figuring this one out....ok...with a little bit of help from some helpful staff:) Michael had it nearly right on his own though...and he was pretty pleased!

Lauren took the assignment very seriously...and figured out many of the puzzles on her own.

And of course, was very pleased also!

At the end, after completing all the activities, you could get a certificate with your picture on it. Lauren gave Caleb the necessary passwords so he could get his own picture!

Lauren and Caleb doing a spelling game. The computer would give you a question, that you then had to answer by stepping on the correct letters. The lighted green spaces are "free" spaces to make it easier to get to the letters you need. Very fun...even for mom:0)

The kids had a LOT of fun with this conveyor activity. You were to fill in the spaces on the trays with certain shapes of meat, potatoes, corn and dessert. There were several speeds on the conveyor and as you filled them up, the conveyor was also dumping more "food" into a bin, so someone had to keep the bin cleaned out and the food handed back to the workers at the conveyor. It was a challenge to keep up and I'm pretty sure had this been a real factory, we would have gotten fired...lol We never made it past the "slow" speed...haha But then, I never saw anyone else there able to do it either:)

Boonshoft also has a small indoor zoo. (Did someone say indoor? A/C??? LOVED it...) This little otter was really friendly and would come right up to the glass to see the kids. Very cute!

Cute baby barn owl!

The kids enjoyed the little "town" area complete with a courtroom setting and or course...the jail! Guess these two were found guilty!!

Another REALLY fun area, was the pizza shop! The kids did not want to leave...they had so much fun making Mommy pizzas! Not sure how many I "ate"....WAY too much for sure !!! I especially love the "meatballs"...large brown pom poms!!

Lauren getting ready to create a yummy pizza!

She made a supreme!

Michael filling a delivery order:)

Caleb drove the delivery truck!

After spending most of the day at Boonshoft, we went on over to Xenia to visit my aunts. To my kids, they are "the aunties". They love visiting there because of all the spoiling, but also because they live out in the country. Very pretty farms and houses all around. This time, they got to watch a plane spraying crops at the farm behind my aunts' house.

An exciting event occurs every 30 minutes at "the aunties" house also:) My aunts have a cuckoo clock that the kids absolutely love!! The cuckoo comes out and then there is a music box tune and tiny dancers. I couldn't resist snapping a picture of Caleb's face.

And of course, the aunts are more than happy to make time "fly" so he can watch it several times.

Even if you are not lucky enough to stop by the "aunties" house for a yummy sloppy joe meal and watching the cuckoo clock, I'd still say that Boonshoft is worth the drive from Cincinnati. We will definitely be back. There are also many other very cool exhibits that I didn't have time to blog about! Go check it out!

Saturday's Treasures

2011-07-18T13:51:00.003-04:00

I thoroughly enjoy looking at other's blogs and getting decorating ideas. I will admit,
I'm not very original, but I do enjoy trying to make our house look more homey and inviting.
Most of all, when I view other decorating blogs, I often feel very inspired and think "I could do that too"! So my hope is, I can pass on that same positive feeling on to you. My house looks VERY lived in most of the time. I want it to feel like a HOME to my kids...not a place where they aren't allowed to touch anything or have fun. So with that in mind, from time to time I will try to post changes as I make them. And at least I'll have fun reading back through my posts, appreciating the difference whether you do or not:) And also, maybe my husband will also see what I do all day...haha. This is the little "foyer"(yeah..right) area when you just step in the door. I was pretty happy with this look, but still wanted to soften it a little. I priced some Smith and Hawken wreaths at Target, but after looking at the price decided I would be ok with just a plain mirror.

But...to my surprise, I found one at a yard sale for just a dollar that was nearly the same as the one they had at Target. Yep...I was happy. And it softened the mirror so now it feels a little warmer when you walk in!

OK...so this typewriter caught my eye,(my husband still does not get that)I mulled it over for about 4 hours...realized I could NOT live without it...went back and got it for $2 less then they wanted earlier. So for $8, I bought a whole lot of happy! lol The kids think it's really cool because it still works...that is after we get some ink ribbon for it. Lauren is very anxious to play "Kit"...haha. Who would have thought adding to my decor would make me happy AND provide the kids with something they can play with!! Win, win!

I could not believe someone was willing to part with these adorable pop bottle crates!! I nearly squeeled with glee....(except that would have embarassed Lauren, my yard sale pal, so I kept it all in ) Are they not SOOOO cute?!?! I got one from Coke, RC Cola, and 7-UP. It's really cool that the insides still have rings showing from where the pop bottles once were stored. Oh..the possibilities:) And only $2 a piece made me very happy!

And just for my Mom, this is the unique toy box I found for $2. I thought it looked way more living-roomish than our other plain red one. The kids were just happy to have a new hiding place...whatever:)

Well, I better run. (can ya keep a secret?) I'm working on a VERY cool treasure hunt for Lauren's birthday next week. And yes..I will post pics and details AFTER the grand event, of course:)

Scenes from Treasure Cove

2011-07-18T13:27:00.007-04:00

Michael and his best friend Jonathan before

heading out to Treasure Cove!

Me and my team, the Sapphires. We are the ones wearing

the blue leis...although Jonathan tried to sneak into

the picture:)

Michael was on David's team, the Rubies. This

team will long be remembered for their

clever team cheers each and every night! The

boys loved it and looked forward to going each night!

Lauren really enjoyed being on the Emerald team.

Brenda was their team leader. Here they are just

singing away:)

Caleb and his best friend, Elizabeth,

were on the Diamond team led by Andrew

and Katie R. It's especially fun to watch these two

doing the motions to the songs..they both would stop

every so often and make sure the other

was getting it right!

Singing "Ephesians 1 verse 7"

Yep..Caleb is making sure Elizabeth gets

it right...lol

~Bargain Hunting~

2011-07-10T14:28:00.005-04:00

This Saturday, I was thrilled to get the chance to go to yard sales. We started out in

Highland Heights where there was to have been a subdivision full of sales.

They turned out very dissapointing. I did, however, manage to find this

adorable shelf! I was thrilled to discover it had been found in

an old barn. The people I bought it from had it painted white. It looks

great in my kitchen area. But I'm not sure exactly what I want to do with it.

So many possibilites!! Its a little over 2 ft long. And pardon the

current decorations. I randomly ran through the house last night after hanging it,

looking for any objects to put on it. As

you can see, I didn't find much...haha.

The "Antiques" sign may stay...the other things...probably not??

Best part? This cost me $5!! I was pretty happy!!

After wasting/spending time in Highland Heights, I decided
to try going to the sales in Newport in the Historic
District. Wish I would have gone there first. Lots of antiques and treasures
were waiting to be discovered. Among them, was this old sled.
I have been DYING for an old sled to use at Christmastime, and
was almost afraid to look at the price. There wasn't one, actually.
The lady just old me "oh...I guess it's 4 bucks" My mouth just about
dropped open. Before I could get my money out, she had
changed it to $3. I have so many places to use this, I may have
to change it's location about 10 times
during the Christmas Season...lol! And yes, I'm more than
a little anxious to start decorating for Christmas. I also bought
2 Christmas trees also...one was 50 cents!

My last treasure, was this little wooden table. I'm not even sure
where I will use it, but it seemed too cute to leave behind.
The wood is fairly heavy and it's made very sturdy. I'm thinking about all the colors I could spray paint it...(though not all at once..lol) Ideas?? Oh...and it only
cost $2! See why I could not leave it behind??

If you haven't guessed it by now, I LOVE the thrill of
finding a good treasure!! Seems I may have passed that
on to all 3 kids! Saturday, however, only Lauren and
Michael were willing to crawl out of bed early to join me
for sales. Micael got a pretty good-sized
box of baseball cards for 50 cents. He's having
so much fun looking through them.

Chick-Fil-A Night

2011-07-08T23:02:00.004-04:00

So, tonight at Chick-Fil-A, if you dressed like a cow

you got a free entree. Guess who could NOT resist

a deal like that?!? Chris, of course...haha Anyway,

costume design was done by Michael and I. Yep. We looked

crazy, but we had LOTS of fun and we made the

Houston Rd. Chick-Fil-A FB page!

Michael enjoying his chicken nuggets:)

Lauren loves their chicken salad sandwich
(we don't know where she gets that...lol)

Caleb enjoying his nuggets. What a fun night!!

We might just try that again sometime!!

Happy 14th Anniversary, chris!

2011-06-23T14:12:00.003-04:00

This is the video I created for Chris for our 14th Anniversary, which was Monday! Enjoy!

First Week of School

2009-08-22T13:14:00.001-04:00

Lauren started school on Monday morning at Aldersgate Christian Academy. She is in 4th grade, but 3rd and 4th share a room together. Both grades share Mrs. Beth Avery for their teacher. Lauren LOVES school and loves her teacher! 4th grade is a class of 9 girls and 1 boy. So LOTS of socializing for Little Miss Social, and lots of drama! Fun fun!
The boys are home schooling...well Michael is at least! Caleb sits quietly at his desk and does puzzles, coloring and other quiet play. Michael is in the 2nd grade this year. He is a good reader and enjoys learning (most days!) I thoroughly enjoy teaching them.
Keep checking back for more postings. I will update as I have time. With Lauren in school I have a few more free moments in my day. I realized, as my kids enjoy reading through older posts, that this blog was a way to keep track of highlights in our lives. I've never been good at keeping diaries or journals. So this is my online pictoral journal. Enjoy!

Goodbye Blogspot, Hello Facebook!

2008-12-30T15:28:00.005-05:00

Since the new year of 2009 is just around the corner, I am re-thinking my web presence. As a busy home-schooling mother, blogging on Blogspot just takes too much time. As you can tell, my blogging has started to slip. After posting 105 times in 2007, I have only posted 33 times in 2008 and have not posted in over a month. Therefore, I am saying goodbye temporarily or permanently to

and saying hello to

I am moving over to Facebook. It takes a lot less time and is easier to use and post items. I can still upload albums and notes. As Chris likes to say, Blogspot is so 2007. You will be able to find me on Facebook very easily-just search for Nancy Hamer or Nancy Lambeth and ask to be my friend. Joining Facebook is free and only takes a minute or two.

And yes! We got enough money to buy a goat, five ducks, a chicken and a set of school supplies for a classroom. Not bad for two kids. They did lots of extra jobs for Mommy and others to earn extra $$. Thanks to everyone that donated to their little project. It is something that will probably turn into a Christmas tradition!

Buying A Goat

2008-11-21T17:09:00.003-05:00

Yes. We are officially buying a goat. No. It's not that Chris is tired of mowing. Actually, this is our home school project. Recently, we received a Christmas Catalog from World Vision. How refreshing amidst all the toy and clothing catalogs.....it's seems like we are on EVERYBODY'S list. As I thumbed through, I decided this was a MUST for our kids....giving to someone in need. We looked through the catalog in class the other day, and after reviewing all the options, we have decided on a goat for $75. A goat can provide milk for a family plus the family can sell surplus milk, cheese, and other things at the market. Our kids are raising money, (with a little help from the teacher and principal) by doing extra chores around the house or by offering to do chores for others. They have also decided they would like us to take some of the "Christmas Present Budget" and put that towards the goat. As I'm typing this, the kids are screaming and jumping for joy....the mother of the boys I babysit, just added $20. So....we are well on our way!! I think our greatest gift this year will be the joy of helping others!

Fun Fall Days

2008-11-18T22:20:00.025-05:00

What we've been up to lately:

The kids enjoyed their Civic Education Class. j/k We did take them to vote, and then I covered the basics in school once we got home. We also went down to the cafeteria later in the evening and watched the votes come in. I think the kids mostly enjoyed all the noise, pizza and drinks. Although Lauren was really involved in watching the results.....which states were going for which candidate, etc.

Sometimes we pay a visit to Daddy at the office.

Two weekends ago, Kendall & Leanna came for the weekend. They stayed with us and visited the IKEA store. Leanna's first time, and judging by the way she piled up that cart, it surely won't be the last. LOL! (especially when you need that "Fruits of the Spirit" hat, Leanna) inside joke :)

Sunday was a time for pictures:

visits with a darling little boy (Clayton)

good food (if I do say so myself!) and lots of laughs.

The end of last week, we visited the park on our way home from lunch. It was one of those warm, irresistable days that you just HAVE to spend outdoors.

While the boys played,

Lauren enjoyed a book. That's SO typical. It seems we have an AVID reader!

Every Monday, Lauren joins Caroline to homeschool , and I take the boys to Storytime at the library. Although Michael feels like he's too old for such things, he LOVES to join in at craft time. He was rather proud of all the Gingerbread boys he made.

A couple weeks ago, we enjoyed a "day in the country". I have family that lives in Xenia. The kids call it "the Countryside". At any rate, we thoroughly enjoy the quiet and the scenery. My aunts raked dome leaves for the kids....MUCH to their delight.

The purpose of the raking was to throw the leaves at my cousin Darrell. He was attacked nearly as soon as he drove up!

Here they are nearly buried.

They soon realized a leaf bag was the most efficient form of attack!

The boys got haircuts this morning, so when they got out of the tub they wanted me to comb their hair "all spikey". So here they are in the "spikey" hair!

WOW! It's bright out here!!!

2008-10-30T15:53:00.003-04:00

I have officially crawled out of my little hole!! I've got Caleb in bed, the laundry and ironing done, so I will give you an update from the past few weeks.

A couple weeks ago, was my yearly echocardiogram. An echo is basically an ultrasound of the heart. They can watch the function, measure it for size and get the Ejection fraction. The EF # basically tells them how much blood is pumped through the heart with each beat. I'm always hopeful AND nervous. Although I have a cardiologist who is not concerned with numbers, but rather how I feel, I still always hope for a "closer to normal" EF. (Normal range is 55% to 70%.) Well, at my latest echo, it was 20%. I was slightly disappointed, but I guess I can always be thankful for the fact that I'm still here and that it has not gotten any worse! The frustration in all of this, is the fact that I can't DO anything to improve the condition of my heart. Eating right(low sodium), getting adequate rest and exercise only help me to feel better, but they will not actually change anything. Medicine is helping, but they have to be careful to raise my dosage slowly, or else my BP drops too low. We are always working to increase the dosage, but have to go really slowly. I am thankful that, most of the time I feel fine. I'm still learning how to pace myself better so that I don't get overtired. I am able to get done most of what I need to throughout the day. The Dr. is not so much concerned with the EF as much as how I feel. He continues to be amazed at what all I am able to do. I have come a long way in 2 years, and for that I am VERY grateful!

If you would like more information on PPCM, you can find it here.

I continue to be busy with all the usual stuff.....household chores and teaching the kids. However, we manage to squeeze in some fun outings as well.

Visiting the Museum Center, we were privileged to meet this "Ohio Black Snake". Actually, Lauren was the only one even willing to touch it. YUCK! The funny thing was, we had just learned about vertebrae, invertebrate, herbivore, carnivores,etc,etc, that morning in Science. So when the Museum employee began asking various questions, Lauren knew all the answers. Although I was definitely proud of her for retaining all I had just taught her, I was hoping we had cast a positive light on homeschooling for a change. :)

Caleb loved the magnifying glasses they had in the Nature's Trading Post. I'm not sure if any other parents are aware of this, but kids can find rocks, leaves, cobwebs, shells, you name it and then trade them in for anything else from nature at the Nature's Trading Post in the Museum. It was the first time we had gone in there, but the kids are very thrilled and looking VERY hard for neat things to take in and trade.

We got lucky and had the Children's Museum nearly to ourselves. Sometimes, when it's busy, this ball pit area can get a little dangerous :)

Caleb's favorite....playing in the ball area.

Meet veterinarian, Dr. Michael.

Lauren enjoyed running the grill with some other very sweet girls that were there.

The weekend of the sale, my parents came for a visit. my Mom loves to help with the sale....Dad was on babysitting duty! Plus, he was left with a list of odd jobs that I needed to have done...pictures hung, shelves fixed, you name it! Thanks DAD! In addition, I even made him cook breakfast! Seriously! He worked his "pancake magic". Caleb had asked for Speed Racer #6....that's exactly what he got. i still don't know how he does that! But the kids love it and think he's the greatest at making pancakes!

Lauren wanted a house, of course!

We have been visiting the zoo. When we renewed our pass, we upgraded to the free train and carousel rides. Sometimes we go and just ride the train several times. For a certain 2 year old, life just doesn't get much better!

Caleb is still scared of the carousel....suits me fine....I get dizzy as well!

We were invited to come and celebrate Elliot's 2nd birthday. We had good food and lots of fun.

Lisa made him a CUTE cake...a truck cake...with little donuts for wheels.

He sure was happy with the Tonka trucks he got!

Last week, I had to bid a sad goodbye to a wonderful friend...Jenn Eckert. We got together one last time at the zoo and then said goodbye one last time at church Wed. night. We were having trouble with the camera, so the picture didn't turn out too great but I think Kalle looked cute enough for all of us! LOL! However, I am happy that she and Paul and their family are taking a church....that's their calling. I just wish it weren't quite so far away!

Here are some pictures from about a month ago that I never got posted. I thought I remembered taking some of Chris and the kids too, but apparently not. Sorry!

Lauren "had" to take some time out from pictures to chat with Caroline. I love this picture....I love that sweet "little girl" innocence.

Well, that's most of the news from Lake Wobegon, so I better run....the boys I babysit are here. Have a great weekend! (I know it's still only Thursday, but hey....it's ALMOST here! )

Goodbye Ike and Good Riddance!!!

2008-09-27T22:22:00.020-04:00

It will be two weeks tomorrow that the strong winds of Hurricane Ike barreled through Cincinnati....leaving the campus without power and LOTS of clean-up.For more than two hours, we endured sustained winds of 40 mph and blasts up to 80 mph. We lost power around 2:30 Sun and finally got it back Friday sometime in the afternoon. One of the more noticeable damages, was the 3 large trees that are now missing from our neighbor's yard. This picture was taken about 45 min into the storm. So far they had only lost one tree.

The Cravens' Gold's Gym membership has certainly paid off!!

The Farmer's also lost a large tree. It actually took part of their fence and smashed the back window of a car parked on the street. Pres. Avery was one of the first on the job with a chain saw. The storm was still blasting away mind you!

The Crater's back yard.

Another tree down. They eventually lost all three trees and the fence is now gone as well. It looks so BARE!

Some siding missing on Young St.

The guys trying to get all the trailers safely into the Maintenance building.

We had already invited some couples from our church for an after-church snack. When the power went out I was determined to go ahead with my plans. I wasn't sure if I would have a way of keeping my refrigerated food, so I decided we should try to eat up what we could. We had a "Mexican" snack by candle light. It was LOTS of fun! Thanks to everyone that pitched in!

The refrigerated/freezer truck where I kept all my food. Although it was a pain to walk over there and dig out all the things I needed for a meal, I was thankful we at least had not lost any food. I have a gas stove, so I could manually light the burners and cook. And of course, we used the grill a good bit. The kids thought it was SO fun. I thought it was BORING when it got dark. Once I get the kids tucked in bed for the night, I usually stay up and tidy the house, fold laundry etc. But last week I couldn't get a thing done after dark....not even read. UGH! I hate wasting time!

Anyone want to buy a pet monkey??? He can live on bananas and be kept quite happy as long as he has a poster bed, or bunk beds, or trees to swing from!

Last week while shopping at Once Upon A Child, I was looking through all the Halloween dress up and found a really pretty dress for Lauren, who LOVES to play dress-up. I felt kind of sorry for Michael because I wanted him to have something fun and new too. Well, I found it! A Curious George Costume. He loves it way more than I thought he would. In fact, I'm sure we've gotten our money's worth out of it already. He begs for bananas...which is funny because he's never been real crazy about them before. We've gotten good laughs out of all the monkey business!

Our late Summer vacation

2008-09-10T15:32:00.031-04:00

Thank goodness for homeschooling....we were able to take our summer vacation a little later and enjoy nearly deserted beaches. We also got a good deal on renting a house! As you already know, we went to Topsail Island, NC. We were gone a week exactly. We left around 2:30 AM Sat. Aug. 30th and arrived back home around 2:30 Sat. morning Sept. 6th. Other than the "grueling" trip, it was a vacation that I would LOVE to do all over again! I took MANY pictures of the waves, but the experiencing of the roar and spray makes the pictures seem pretty disappointing. I can sit for hours and just watch the waves....it's so incredibly relaxing. It was our kids' first time to see the ocean. Lauren immediately got in the water and loved it. It took Michael a few days to get over his fear and by Wed. Caleb would go in as long as Chris or I were holding his hand. To tell you the truth, I was thankful they were cautious. Since I don't swim, I find it a little scary to go out very deep myself.

This is the house we rented for the duration. It was LOVELY. 1st floor was parking, 2nd floor had the master suite, two bedrooms and two bathrooms and laundry. The top floor had a full kitchen, living room, bedroom and bathroom. We only had to cross the street, walk down a little path and we were at the beach. In 6 days, we went 11 times! Our stays ranged anywhere from 1 -5 hours. I was VERY thankful for the washer and dryer! It's probably still recovering!

The path to the beach.

A neat little sand castle Chris and I made for the kids to smash.

Sunday night, we were thrilled to have "Uncle Kendall and Aunt Leanna" come and join us until Wednesday afternoon. The kids were SO excited. We thoroughly enjoyed their stay with us. Chris and Kendall were brave enough to ride the waves on inter tubes and surf boards! Most of the time riding the waves was fun and was a really great idea. But sometimes, an extra big wave would slam one of them to shore. It provided Leanna and I with MANY a laugh. I even got up my courage to try it....twice. I crashed both times, so my wave riding career ended rather quickly!

One night I made one of my favorite suppers...Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo with broccoli and garlic toast. So yummy! I loved the hand painted stone wear serving bowls they had there. Although you can't see it in the pictures, each bowl had a "Italian" food on it...like Eggplant, peppers, etc. These are high on my Christmas list. This is a supper I make quite often and the dishes made it look extra special....(not that you care!)

Behind our house was "the Sound". It is also called the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. It was beautiful. If we just had a boat, I guess we could have made our way to Hobe Sound :)

The bridge on the path that crosses the Dunes. There's quite a fine if they catch you on the dunes at all.

Our family........

Kendall and Leanna...........

Of course, we had to visit the "Shark Attack"...a souvenir store from which we happily emerged nearly an hour later with chintzy t-shirts, key chains, postcards, and even a 3 million old shark tooth. Seriously. We only had to pay $1.99 for it. Michael was devastated when he realized it got left behind on a windowsill at the house.

Our happiest McDonald's smiles shortly after we enjoyed a yummy treat you can only find at the southern McDonald's....hot caramel sundaes. I think there are a couple locations around Dayton that sell them, but none around here that I'm aware of.

One of the bedrooms....

The kids room. They all wanted to share a room which resulted in many giggles and some nights not enough sleep.

One night I came in the room to find Caleb just hugging and hugging Michael.

I can only imagine!!!

The living room.....

Leaving the house as Tropical Storm/Hurricane Hanna makes its way to the island.

We were planning on leaving the island Friday evening, but when we realized there was a curfew to be enforced that evening, we left in the late afternoon instead. There were a couple of rain showers while we were packing up to come home and leaving, but that's all we saw of the hurricane. Other than that, we enjoyed temps in the 80's every day and sunny skies.

One of our happy travellers.....

All the happy travellers. The kids were all ready to come home....I was not! I could have stayed a month I think without getting homesick. However, it is nice to be back and we are thankful for all the miles we travelled safely. It was a 12 hour drive. Lauren said she would like to live at the beach, but wanted Caroline and her cat to be there too! This morning while crossing the Ohio River from going to story hour at the Newport Library, Caleb happily shrieked, "the BEACH!!!" Yeah...I wish! By the way, Chris and I DID NOT make the sand castle you saw pictured near the top. Another family did and it took them HOURS! It mostly washed out to sea in the middle of the night!

A big thanks to Chris who worked GBS weekend security in the summer in addition to his other two jobs....just so we could all enjoy a really nice vacation together. We have a week full of memories that will last a lifetime! Thanks....I Love You!

Before We Head HERE.....

2008-08-29T14:51:00.011-04:00

I will leave you all with an update! I should be finishing the packing, but I decided to go ahead and update the blog since I've neglected it so badly in the last couple weeks!
We are heading to Topsail Island, NC sometime this evening and driving through the night. It should be about a 12 hour trip....so I'm anxious to get it behind us. We have rented a house just one block from the beach and will be staying for exactly a week. I'm SO looking forward to spending some time together as a family!

Now back to the past....I have been busy with babysitting. I was babysitting full time until school started, but now it's just after school care and piano lessons.. But still....that's enough for me! (No...I don't babysit Caroline....she just comes over so Lauren won't feel so out-numbered!LOL!)

We started back to school two weeks ago. I must confess, this year I didn't feel a lot of excitement. It was more a gritting of the teeth and will power! The kids were pretty excited about it though. As the days have gone by, it has gotten easier and I'm beginning to enjoy it again. I do love teaching....especially when it's your own kids. I love to see them learn!! We are pretty busy with our outside activities as well. Lauren and Michael are each in Music Class with the Academy, Lauren has piano lessons, Michael will be starting piano soon, and I will be starting Caleb in a library Storytime when we get home.

This week alone, we have had a lot of "lessons in Nature"...as Lauren put it. Earlier in the week, Lauren found LOTS of snails...22 to be exact....and the kids played endlessly with them. I almost pitied the poor things. They got everything from water dumped on them, to rides on the swings out back.

They are so cute, aren't they!

Last night, my neighbor Martha, came over and invited the kids to watch some puppies being born. What an offer.....we couldn't resist another "lesson in Nature"! The mother dog had already had three, and after MUCH patient waiting, #4 made it's appearance! They were SO cute!

Look how tiny they were in comparison to Caleb's hand!

Well, I better run. Until next time, I will enjoy the sun and sand for you all! LOL!

Meeting Kallie Renee'

2008-08-14T13:19:00.007-04:00

Yesterday afternoon I went up the hill to Christ Hospital and met a very precious little bundle.....Kallie Renee'. And she is every bit as charming as she looks! I managed to interupt her afternoon snack, but she was very gracious and didn't seem to mind! She was awake the whole time I was there looking at me with very bright eyes. In fact she looked at me so much and seemed so comfortable with me as I was talking to Jenn, I DID wonder if she possibly could have gotten familiar with my voice from all the times she's overheard me chatting with her Momma! Who knows!

I was terribly charmed by her winsome personality!
Congratulations to a great friend, Jenn, and her husband Paul!!! and of course big sister Katrin!
You can read more about her here.

Last week's fun....

2008-08-12T11:47:00.025-04:00

Last week was a VERY busy one, but also VERY Fun! Our church, Kenwood Bible Methodist,had their VBS. The theme was "Galilee By the Sea" and was directed by Charlotte Frederick, the queen of VBS! (well, that's my opinion anyway!) We started each night in the sanctuary where they acted out a small Bible story skit and sang.

The kids were divided into "tribes" and I liked the way they put kids of different ages in the tribes together. Lauren was in the tribe of Judah and Michael was in the tribe of Reuben. After meeting in the sanctuary, the tribes headed outdoors to their own blanket for learning time as a tribe. This was when they went over memory verses etc. They also got water from the well, in the center of the Marketplace.

Our church yard was set up like the "Marketplace". All the workers were dressed in Bible times costumes. The kids could get water from the well, fruit from the market, (figs, olives, grapes, etc)or do a craft. They could choose a different craft each night. There was a shop where you could make sandals, a carpenters shop where they made a wooden Menorah, the toy shop where they made wooden boats, and also a stone carving shop. (where you could engrave your name and tribal name in stone....I mean a bar of Ivory soap!) There was also the Seaside playground where they played games as a team. The kids also visited the "synagogue" every night where they learned from Rabbi Jon as he read the scroll and explained things like leprosy, the Passover and much more. They also had a "bakery" where the kids were chosen to help make fresh brad each night. My kids were bouncing up and down with excitement every single day and would ask repeatedly WHEN was it time for Vacation Bible School???!!!
I had a lot of fun helping with different aspects. The first two nights, I stayed with Michael and Caleb's tribe and helped the tribe leader Mary. Two nights I worked int he sandal making shop. And Friday night, I worked at the stone carving shop. As you can imagine, it takes a LOT of volunteers and people working together to make everything happen. As each worker and helper was recognized on Sunday morning, I couldn't help but be proud to be part of a church that works so well together. I know I had So much fun helping and as I worked, it was obvious that others were having a good time as well. My kids learned so much and were sad when the week was over.

Michael in the carpenters shop making a Menorah.

Lauren just coming from the Fisherman's shop, where she made a cute fishnet craft.

Waiting in line at snack time....

At the fisherman's shop ready to make a craft......

At the market getting fresh fruit.....

The tribe of Reuben having blanket time.....

Lauren and the tribe of Judah....

Singing in the sanctuary

Caleb LOVED doing all the motions. Here Lauren is helping him....

One of the skits.....

Michael helping make fresh bread.....

Caleb working at the Sandal shop....

Caleb knows the motions....

Want to see more VBS pictures? click here.

A highlight of our week, was having Bro. Trouten over for breakfast. He was in this area for a little while, so we were privileged to have him come visit us. We got to know the Troutens a few years back when they lived here at campus. Our kids grew to love them VERY quickly and they have been some of our favorite people ever since. It's hard to see him without his "dear Alice". She has Alzheimer's and is in an Assisted Living Facility. I just LOVE the way he speaks about her and it's so sweet to see how lovingly he helps care for her and how he misses her so. It was truly a blessing to have him in our home and to hear him preach at our church on Sunday.

Thursday morning, I took my group of kids to Sawyer Point. I've been babysitting the Kelly boys full time, so we've been out and about just a bit more than usual. It's nice to go places and let the kids play....then my house doesn't get as dirty! LOL! We discovered this park a couple weeks ago and it quickly became a favorite. I can't believe I've lived in Cincinnati HOW long and didn't know about this park??? The play area there is HUGE, but I think the favorite place is the volleyball courts where the kids can play in the sand. We take lots of sand toys and plenty of Koolaid and just camp out for the morning. I even get to read a book.... sometimes!

Alex K. and his sand castles

Lauren getting buried in sand...

Michael and all his castles....

Lauren and her village....

Lauren Turns 8!

2008-08-05T13:20:00.015-04:00

Lauren turned 8 years old on the 25th! She was SO excited and had been counting down the days for almost a month. I, on the other hand, could only think repeatedly about how my first baby is already halfway to 16!!!! Ugh.....so depressing! Anyway, we tried to make it a super-fun day.
She opened her gifts when Chris came home for lunch. Her favorite was a complete set of the "Liberty Letters". For any other Moms of 8 year olds out there, I highly recommend these books...they are SO interesting. They are somewhat like American Girl books, but they are Christian as well....just lovely! (published by Zonderkids)
After Chris got home, we gave her the big gift....a new bike! She was SO thrilled!

We spent the evening in West Chester. First, we stopped by to play minigolf. It was really fun...but it's amazing how long it can take a family of 5 to get through the course. It seemed like we were there a LONG time and Chris informed me we had just passed halfway! And he wasn't even playing. He made it his job to follow Caleb and help him get through the course. It was really fun and yes, we managed to hit a few balls in the stream running through the course!!

My little "Tiger" :)

A neat little car we saw parked by Cicis.

We had supper at Cici's pizza....Lauren's choice. And then headed home for cake. I didn't spend a lot of time on this cake since her party was still yet to come.

Thursday, we had Lauren's party. I invited the girls to dress up since it was to be a tea party. I even managed to stay up till almost 2 AM making dress up clothes so Lauren would have something new to wear. In about 2 hours, I had made 4 skirts and a blouse and a shawl....none of which I had a pattern for. You talk about FUN!!!!I felt like I had every bit as much fun as the girls. I, of course, got to serve the tea (I mean fruit punch)and pretended to be "Miss Manderly" I thought later it would have been really fun for the girls if I would have had the time to make a dress like Miss Manderly's as well. They drank out ot the little glass cups that came with the punch bowl. They talked and giggled....it was so cute. Instead of cake, I purchased decorated cookies and brownies from the BonBonerie in O'Bryanville. Their decorated cookies are truly a work of art.

Her guests were: Caroline, Karissa, Brittany and Letha.

After having tea, we played some games. I turned on some fun music and they had a dance. (Oooops...as I learned in Elem. Music Ed., it's called "creative movement") We ended the party by decorating flipflops for the girls to take home. I can't believe I forgot to take pictures of that.

Here's a close-up of the cookies. I got the two lions for the boys of course. Since it was a "girls only" party, I had Katrin come watch the boys for the afternoon and they had a wonderful water balloon fight. But they still got the cookies and punch

At last.....it FEELS like HOME!

2008-07-24T11:24:00.012-04:00

Finally......this house is beginning to feel like HOME! When we moved in three summers ago, the whole house was painted the lovely off-white color that maintenance uses. I found out the name of it is Pearly Gates no less. Now isn't that fitting for a Bible college campus! LOL! Even though maint. allows you to pick colors, there was such a hurry for us to move in that they were only able to get two rooms painted in color....our bedroom, which is sage green,and Lauren's room....pink. That Fall, I was extremely busy with school. I moved from bouts of quesiness with my pregnancy with Caleb right into my Junior Piano Recital. That spring, I was still taking quite a few classes, and I also had Caleb in April. Then in the late Summer, I got sick with CHF. Ever since it was a struggle jsut to get my weekly cleaning done. Actually, I even had to have help with that as well. Needless to say, I NEVER got the closets really organized OR any of the rooms painted.

Well, this summer, I was determined it was going to change! I must really pause a minute to give God a little praise for the way I've been feeling lately...I feel really great! Around the same time that Chris sent my to Fl., my Dr. gradually began increasing the one heart med. I was on. As a result, I've been feeling gradually better ever since. It is sort of like waking up from a deep sleep. I have so many things I want to get done and now I can! Anyway,

we knew we were to get new carpet sometime this summer. It finally arrived about a month ago. When I moved all the furniture back, I REALLY organized the closets. Before the carpet was laid, I tried to get everything painted the way I wanted it. Now.....I can truly say....this feels like home. It looks the way I want it too.....minus some curtains. I know what I want, but I'm waiting on a sale at Hancock Fabrics first. I found out Home Decor. material is NOT cheap!

Here are a couple pics of the living room before.....

about midway through....painting done, but carpet and new furniture not arrived yet! Wasn't that look beautiful??? Sort of like Christmas in July :)

Finally....the finished product......

The pics above and below show the red the way it really looks. I'm surprised how many different shades I got all on the same day at the same time.

Sorry the dining room picture turned out so dark. I might have to try to get some better ones later. It was a really bright day....I though they would turn out great. :(

The dining room color wasn't such a drastic change. When I see the walls I think of "warm vanilla". I'm not sure if that tells you what color they are, but that's what I call it! I needed the dining room to have color, but also coordinate with the living room since they are joined in a way. I've been really happy with the results.

A very happy 4th............

2008-07-08T20:55:00.017-04:00

We spent the weekend with my parents in McDonald PA.

Friday morning.....the kids waiting to leave for Grandmas.

Saturday morning my Dad fixed his famous pancake breakfast. Yes. You read right....my Dad enjoys cooking. His specialty is fixing pancakes. One time I asked if he could tell me what the ingredients were. To which he replied "Oh, it's just plain old pancake mix. You just add water......oh, and also some eggs, oil, baking soda(or powder...can't remember which), vanilla, corn meal, sometimes I throw in apple juice.....yeah...you get the picture. Just plain ole' mix! LOL! Anyway, not only are they VERY light and fluffy, and terrible delicious, but he also can make almost any shape the kids ask for. This time Michael got a tiger.

Lauren got Pumpkin (a cat)

Caleb really enjoyed playing with the cat, Melody. This cat is so old and lazy. Caleb got a necklace out of the toybox and draped it over the cat repeatedly. The cat put up with all the fuss quite well. She's just too old and lazy to get up and move!

Saturday evening we drove over to an old Presbyterian church. Not only is it in a pretty location, but it is very old (177?) and the surrounding grounds are well maintained. There's an old cemetary off to the side, so we enjoyed looking through that. Lauren had a lot of fun looking at the old tombstones and then informing us which American Girl was "living" during that era.

We topped the evening off with a stop for soft ice cream.

They had unique seating for kids!

Yumm.....it WAS delicious. Thanks Mom and Dad for the yummy treats!!

They even serve a special treat to dogs.

Since I last posted we.....

2008-06-27T18:42:00.023-04:00

have been enjoying beautiful weather! The kids have had oodles of fun playing outside. One of the "perks" of living at GBS is that the big parking lot belongs to the kids in the summer. It's a great place to ride bikes and our kids just LOVE IT! Caleb brings along his bubbles and has a great time as well.

Michael just learned to ride without training wheels several weeks ago. So he can zip around pretty quickly. Sometimes at the expense of a skinned up elbow!

Caleb lookin' pretty cool with his sunglasses and boo-foo!(pacifier)

We also celebrated a great Father on the 15th! Chris is a wonderful Dad to our 3 great kids! We are one blessed family!

I just had to include this picture. Their look-alike looks never seemed more obvious!(can't remember what they thought was so funny!)

On the 17th I packed up (I mean LOADED) the van and headed off to Heartland Family Camp. My parents were there, so there was an extra pull in that direction! It was my first time to attend (other than a Sun service 7 years ago) so I was a little nervous about it at first. However, after being there just a few hours, and discovering how FRIENDLY everyone was, I began to relax and feel right at home. (Thanks to Julie A. for being the first to make me feel welcome!) Of course, after being there a while, I realized I knew many campers. The kids absolutely LOVED it. They quickly made friends, and enjoyed the Children's services.

Lauren was asked to help wipe trays at lunch and not only did she enjoy helping, but also enjoyed many giggles and made some good friends!

Wed. afternoon, they had a baseball game just for 5,6, and 7 year olds. VERY CUTE! This was Michael's first time of playing on a team and he LOVED it! He also whacked the ball pretty good, as you can see in the pic!

On the 20th, we took the kids to Logan's Roadhouse and celebrated 11 years of wedded bliss! The food was delicious, and the kids thought it was really cool to be allowed to go along on our "date"!

In addition to getting our whole house carpeted (over a span of 5 days), we had a visit from my Mom. Actually, her visit was in response to my SOS call! The carpet guys told us on Mon that they would be here on Fri. to do our entire hosue. While we were at camp, Chris busied himself with taking apart tables, moving furniture etc. When I arrived home from camp, my entire dining and living rooms were in the kitchen and basement. Of course, that left the closets and kids rooms to me. Ugh! He did help me with furniture, but with the help of the kids, I got all the little stuff moved. Friday came and went. Finally they came about 6 pm sat night and got the downstairs done so I could have access to the kitchen. They were done with the bedrooms by Tues, so I asked Mom if she could come and help me get everything put back together. A few guys from GBS helped with the furniture, but the closets etc. really take TIME. I wanted to get them organzed better. Mom stayed until last evening. What would we do without our Moms??

Friday is my day to watch the Kelly kids. Alex and Michael are close to the same age, so they have fun together. Since we were taking a picnic to the park, we invited Caroline Crater to join us for Lauren's sake! We went to Pride Park in KY.

Born at GBS, 4 months apart, Caroline and Lauren have grown up good friends.

They shared many secrets and giggles.....

All 6 playing.

The boys had lots of fun as well.

Getting dizzy together!

Well, it's almost 8 and the kids are begging to get out to the parking so lot, so why not?! Now I'm caught up on blogging.....whew....time to rest!

2008-06-14T11:16:00.010-04:00

Michael turned six last week.

Rather than have a big party every year, we have a party every other year, and go to Chuck E Cheese instead. I LOVE Chuck E Cheese years. Not only is it easier, but I get to have fun too!

It was a good night to go....they weren't having any birthday parties....just several families scattered here and there.

Caleb was very scared of the "scary mousie". He eventually got over it as the night wore on.

As I'm sure you can tell, me and the kids LOVE skeeball. It used to be just Lauren and I that were crazy about it, but this time Michael joined in the fun too and found out he loved it!

Chris loves the basketball game....conveniently placed beside the skeeball!

Michael's look of surprise when he saw his race car cake for the first time. It was worth all the time I spent.

A bit too much black frosting!

While I was working in the kitchen the other day, Michael came in to chat and casually mentioned that he had an idea. Instead of going to Chuck E Cheese next time, he had decided he would like to go to Hawaii. Where did he get that?!? Sounded good to me as long as he's paying!

Michael was thrilled when his Grandma sent him $5. in his birthday card. He excitedly told me he was going to put it in the offering at Junior Church. I was a proud Momma!

Michael has a very funny sense of humor. Usually it has to do with thinking up silly phrases or songs. When he was 3, he used to go around singing "Come listen to my tale, of Hippie and the Whale". (on purpose)And just last week, when he got a plastic lizard from Junior Church, he quickly named it "the Lizard of Oz"!

During devotions this week, we were reading a story that involved "a couple wives". Michael quickly piped up that "that would be cool!....to have 2 Moms". I couldn't have been more shocked! (nor my ego more bruised!) So, we began asking him who he wanted for his other Mom. After naming probably 20 or more names, he concluded he didn't want any of those Moms....I guess he just wanted me cloned or something! I've finally recovered....I think!

It's fun to see him grow, but I can't believe he's 6 already!! Where has the time gone!?

Look Who Turned Six!

2008-06-10T17:19:00.004-04:00

My favorite blondie turned six on the 3rd! Happy Birthday Michael!

We love you!

Memorial Day Weekend

2008-05-27T15:04:00.009-04:00

Friday around lunchtime, we loaded up the van, and were on our way to North Carolina. Normally we stop about halfway at a restaurant to eat. This time I thought we would do something a little different and eat a picnic lunch. you should have heard the shouts of delight when I told the kids what we had planned. Here are the three little travelers at a rest area. After a 9 hour trip, we finally arrived at Leanna's house. Saturday, we all headed to a park nearby to celebrate Josh's high school graduation. Lauren found daisies and picked bunches for all the girls.

We had hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill, potato salad (3kinds)baked beans, chips, cake...mmmmm....it was all delicious!

We are SO proud of Josh and his accomplishment!

Josh and Charity....engaged and getting married in November.

The four Lambeth kids.....

We left Sunday evening, and arrived home early Mon morning,. It only took 7 hours to get home. We only had to stop one time on the way home....not bad for traveling with 3 kids!

This might be my last blog for a couple weeks. We are to be getting new carpet all through the house. Although we are excited about that, it will be quite a challenge moving furniture etc. because they plan to do all 3 floors in just 2 days. I'm also painting the living room and dining room before the new carpet comes!YAY! I will try to remember to take before and after pictures...the changes are going to be quite drastic, but I'm really in the mood to do something completely different!. Stay tuned.....

Caleb's Latest...

2008-05-17T13:17:00.003-04:00

Last night, after church, (we are in campmtg.) I was fixing a snack and Caleb and Michael were running around the living room, letting off a little "after church steam", when the laughing turned to crying. Caleb fell down and Michael fell on top of him with most of his weight landing on Caleb's arm. Just in Feb. I made a trip to the ER with Caleb involving his arm. That time it was "Nursemaid's Elbow". (I'd never heard of it before) He was acting the exact same way, holding his arm close to his body and refusing to use it. We immediately went to the ER and for the next 2 hrs. the Dr. tried to figure out exactly what was wrong. After much feeling, wiggling and moving his arm around (with Caleb screaming), they finally decided to do X-rays. They found nothing wrong. But went ahead and put a splint on it just to keep him more comfy when sleeping. It was decided it must just be slightly sprained. As he has gone throughout the day, he seems to be using it a little more and not in quite so much pain.
Sigh........I'll take Legos on the roof anyday.....

Legos on the roof.....and other happenings

2008-05-15T15:02:00.019-04:00

Happiness is.....legos on the roof. In the last 24 hours, Caleb has been on a mission....see how much mischief he can get into! That seems to be the name of the game anyway. It was quiet this afternoon, and here he was, throwing legos onto the roof.

This morning, while I was upstairs getting ready, it was strangely quiet. When I came into the kitchen, I found an ENTIRE box or Life cereal on the floor. I had just opened a box of Maple Brown Sugar flavor,and he didn't like it at all. So I guess he was getting rid of it!

When I found him, he was spraying the wall down with Resolve carpet cleaner. He had also sprayed Resolve all over the cereal. Last night, he got into the Resolve, and had sprayed down the kitchen....table, chairs and puddles of it on the floor. He's such a handful, but I LOVE all his mischief....he keeps us all laughing.

Last week, the Byers hosted a beautiful bridal shower for Vita. She is graduating and leavng soon to head back to the Ukraine. It was a priviledge getting to know her....she always has a smile and is sweet to the core! Our kids LOVED having her babysit.

While at the Byers, Esther shared her hamster with the kids.....SO CUTE! Now we all want a hamster! Yes...I said "we".

Last week, we took advantage of the weather and made a trip to the zoo. Now Caleb asks several times a day to go to the zoo :) If it would ever quit raining, we might just do that!

Of course, the kids were most enthralled with the monkeys. They were very active and got many laughs.

It was quite amazing to watch the mama and baby monkey go swinging from limb to limb. The baby was holding on for dear life....literally!

In a pretend wolf den

The wolves were "fighting" and growling.....probably actually mating season....I'm not sure!

Happiness is....taking my three kids to the zoo. We have such fun out together.

A Vera Good Day Out

2008-05-03T16:40:00.024-04:00

Here are the damages:
$305. worth of Vera Bradley
I got the Capri Melon Villager, coin purse, large wallet (travel organizer), Hope Toille backpack, two shirts, and a matching Capri Melon purse for Lauren.

It all started with Jenn E. mentioning a trip to Ft. Wayne IN to the annual Vera Bradley sale. Next thing you know, Chris asked off work (both jobs....thanks) and we started bright and early at 7Am. After picking up Lisa R., Leanna P., and Suzanne C., we were on our way. It was a very good thing that Leanna P. brought a GPS, or else we would have followed the boring MapQuest maps and would have missed seeing the cornfields of IN. Now, there's something you should know....two of the gals were pregnant, one takes Lasix, and it was rumored that another might possibly be pregnant as well. Yeah. You guessed it.... a lot of stops. At one gas station/greasy spoon restaurant., the special of the day was "rabbit". I'm telling you, we were in the STICKS! But after miles of brown cornfields,

country churches, (I think this is the famed Smurgley Junction)

MANY, MANY good laughs,

constant picking on Lisa,

the GPS was right.........we found ourselves at the Convention Center in Ft. Wayne.

We chatted with other shoppers.......

made MANY a tough decision,

stuffed pink garbage bags, and then we had to find a space on the floor to sort and sort and sort.

One person seems to have gotten a little overwhelmed with all the shopping

Suzanne carefully studies the product/price list

The big picture. Tables and tables of tempting bags and colors.

Leanna patiently making one of MANY phone calls to friends and family....she was their "designated shopper"

After 3 hours, we made our final selections and were on our way to the check outs. (Notice the area to the left.....ready for the LONG lines)

All in all, it was an extremely fun day! Here's the group with our biggest VERA smiles. Who says money can't buy happiness?? lol! The bags were great deals, but the memories are priceless. Thanks gals, for a fun day out!

(Oh, and by the way, I did NOT pay $305. for all my bags. I paid around 1/4 of that)

Whew....a busy week

2008-04-28T21:27:00.039-04:00

We had a rather busy week last week.....hence, no posting from me! Sunday, the 20th, our "baby" turned toddler...now he's entered the "terribly exciting" twos! It was such a gorgeous day that we stopped by a park downtown for a quick photo session. The kids cooperated very well, but the camera lens apparently had a smudge on it. ugh! Anyway....

here are my two favorite little boys

my three favorite kids!

a couple mounted police were clip-cloping by on the street and decided to let the kids meet the horses

after I showed Caleb how to "smell" the flowers for the pictures, he proceeded to snort at many of the flowers! It was hilarious!

Happiest....with my family around me!

My four favorite people on the planet!

Lauren takes a turn with the camera....not bad for 7!

After Sunday dinner. it was time for presents. Once he opened his "baskie" no other presents mattered!

And yes...it's half as big as he is, but he lugs it all over the house anyway.

The older brother and sister each bought and wrapped a box of orange Tic Tacs...bought with their own allowance $$

Trying my hand at cake decorating! He was thrilled!

Tuesday, the 22nd, I had a little morning play date party for Caleb. He had fun playing with Katrin, Elliot, and Elizabeth. I, of course, had fun chatting with the Moms.

Waiting for cake......

Katrin E. and Elizabeth M.

The 22nd was also Chris's birthday too. He had the fun of assembling his own birthday present from me.....a new grill.

Thursday evening, was the Aldersgate Academy's Spring Program. Lauren and Michael were both in the Grades 1-4 choir. They sang a cute song called "Nursery Rhyme Nonsense". The kids were encouraged to pick a character from the song and dress up.

One guy decided the Enquirer was more interesting I guess. He read it the whole time. I never did decide which kid he was there to see....he never put the paper down. He even remembered to bring a bottle of Pepsi to quench his thirst periodically.

Lauren dressed up like little Polly Flinders.....the song said she put her cat in the well......so here she is with the cat

Michael wanted to be the cow that jumped over the moon.

Friday night, we joined friends Jenn and Katrin for a fun time at the park near their house.

3 kids having a grand time!

Saturday evening our churches' Young Adult class had a cookout. We are SO blessed to be part of such an awesome group of young people/married couples. It's always so fun to sit and chat, play games, share a devotional, and of course....eat!

Sunday evening, the grill was finally ready for a "test drive"! Chris grilled delicious hamburgers. I'm so glad I got him that grill......lol!

So, that's the news from Lake Wobegon! We hope to finish homeschooling this week, so I might be able to do a little better at blogging. Although I have LOTS of plans for my free time!!!

2008-04-09T10:50:00.018-04:00

We escaped to the Great Smoky Mountains last week! We had been planning this vacation since Christmas. The trip was a birthday surprise for my Dad. He had been wanting to go to the Smokies for years. We left Tuesday morning and came back Friday afternoon.

One of the welcome centers that the kids love...they offer free popcorn and sodas.

Our cabin in Pigeon Forge. It had three king size suites with jacuzzis. My parents took the top floor and sitting loft, the kids took the main floor, and Chris and I had the bottom floor and game room.

A view of the loft. The cabin had a spacious airy feel...very nice.

The kids were thrilled to see the pool table.....

The first day, my parents were still getting over their colds, so they stayed at the cabin with Caleb while Chris and I took Lauren and Michael to "Wild Woodys"....a three-story go-cart track. It's hard to say who had the most fun...us or the kids!!

Michael at the wheel....look out!

Lauren coming around the bend

Michael right behind her....

Lauren LOVED this airplane ride.....made me almost dizzy to watch her!

Ready and waiting for the Dixie Stampede.

Thursday we went in Gatlinburg for a little shopping. On a whim, we decided to stop by an indoor Putt Putt course and had a great time playing guys against the gals!

Lauren was thrilled she got a hole in one. Just as notable....it was my Mom's first time to play putt putt ever!

Caleb LOVED the game of course! We kept him busy with a hole just ahead or behind us! Even if the hole was on a slope, he wouldn't give up until he had gotten his ball in the hole! It was so fun to watch him!

When he finally succeeded, he would have the biggest grin on his face as he annonced to everybody "I got it!"

Thursday, we also spent some time driving through some of the National Park. It was just beautiful.....in spite of the cloudy sky!

As I mentioned, my parents were battling colds when we left. By the time we came home, my Mom was very sick. Saturday she finally went to the Dr. and found out she had pneumonia. Caleb was sick the whole vacation with the flu, but he too got worse when we got home. Over the weekend, Chris and I both got VERY sick. Monday, Caleb, Michael and I all went to the Dr. I have Bronchitus, Caleb has an ear infection and horrible cough, Michael just has a cough. Chris is on the mend and Lauren apperently is the healthiest of all....she never got sick. She was the family nurse...getting tissues, drinks, pills, you name it!

Now I have piles of laundry that have been accumulating for a week, so I better run! Hope everyone has gotten some of the beautiful weather we've been enjoying the past couple days. It has been so nice to have the windows open and fresh air blowing in.

Easter Pictures

2008-03-31T09:38:00.014-04:00

Finally....posting what Easter pictures I have! I really am supposed to be packing for our trip tomorrow, but being the procrastinator that I am, Mon. morning seems much too early. My husband knows I typically stay up late the night before we leave furiously throwing things in suitcases while the rest of the house is getting ready for bed. But not this time. Today I'm going to do things differently. I will pack today...but after I blog first! LOL!
Easter morning here was chilly, so I wasn't in the mood to take pictures. Some Sunday morning when it feels like spring, maybe I'll get some then! Before leaving for church we let the kids find their Easter baskets. Then after lunch, I had an Easter Egg hunt for them....not knowing they would get one at Junior church that evening! So, they had a fun day!

Caleb's favorite toy in the whole world..... a ball. He has a bin full of them. He has to have one in his hand or tucked under his arm every time we go to the store, the mall, church, etc. As a result, every time we go shopping, I find myself going WAY out of my way to avoid sight of any balls....he thinks he needs every one he sees! He loves to play "baskees" (basketball) and it seems we have somewhat of a basketball-crazy toddler! Needless to say, he was thrilled with what he got in his Easter basket.

This year, I went VERY light on the candy. I did put a few M n Ms in their plastic eggs, but it was very few! Instead, we got them a couple Easter presents. We got them the DK Illustrated Family Bible I had my eye on for quite some time. If you are looking for something VERY nice for family devotions, this is it. I am very happy with the beautiful pictures andsimple story form. Very lovely.
The second present was Lego Mosaic. This is another REALLY creative toy from Lego. The kids (and me) have been having lots of fun doing this together. There are 10 patterns of pictures you can make yourself, then you can use your imagination and just make oodles of designs.

And then there's Pumpkin! The kids love her dearly (still) and she seems to be quite a good disciplinarian as well. The other night, Caleb was bothering her for the 100th time, and just as he cornered her, she hissed at him and then swatted him hard on the leg. (thankfully no claws!) He came running and told me, "Mommy, Pumpum pankin'!"

I just realized I haven't said where we are going on vacation. Well, you'll just have to wait till I post the pictures! :)

and the laundramat is now open...sort of!

2008-03-19T16:26:00.012-04:00

Well, yesterday I went from using this.......

to using this. Wow! Quite an improvement! For the past seven years, I've been using apartment size units. It was ok when it was just 3 of us, but as our family increased, and our washer and dryer did not, it resulted in MANY trips up and down the basement steps. Ugh! Anyway, last week, the washed died, so we decided it was time to move up a couple sizes. The washer is running great, but the dryer cord was too short, so they'll have to finish installing it later today.....I hope. After a week without a washer and dryer......well, we are getting low on clothes!
Tuesday night, a couple girls from campus graciously volunteered to babysit, so Chris and I got to take a date. Chris wanted our destination to be a surprise. We ended up at Smokey Bones in West Chester. I must admit, the whole time I was eating, I couldn't help but think how fun it would be to stop by IKEA on the way home. Well, that was the best part for me! :) He had already planned to do just that. I am a HUGE fan of IKEA! I'm not into ALL their decor, but I love enough of it to make me want to go there quite often!
So........here I am getting my big shopping bag at the entrance.
One of the rooms I liked.
A kitchen I did not......

I thought this nursery was kind of cozy. I think it's a lot prettier in person....the pictures couldn't quite capture all the small details.
Here's the nursery lamp that makes me want to do a nursery all over again. It was just so sweet. I wish I could think of a spot in my house for this anyway!
A round bed......hmmmmm.......
I just had to include this picture of Caleb reading to his dogs and bears. Lauren fixed him up in this chair while we were home schooling yesterday and I was surprised that he actually stayed there for about 45 minutes. It was too cute....and made our school much quieter! And speaking of homeschooling, we better go get started. Hope you have a good Thursday!

Meet your new Pampered Chef Consultant!!!

2008-03-12T17:17:00.009-04:00

Here I am. Your new Pampered Chef consultant. Just kidding. Really I am just posing with all my "freebies" from my show a few weeks back. At the actual show, I must admit I was a little dissappointed when only 5 people showed up. It was still fun to host it, but if you're going to make food for an army, it's nice to have the army show up! LOL! Anyway, my outside orders were the big surprise. As a result, I ended up with $140 worth of free product.

Just in case you can't see everything, I will give you a run down of all my free stuff. A color coated tomato knife, bamboo serrated spreader, mix' n scraper, sweet caramel sprinkles, a hold n slice, a classic scraper, a skinny scraper, Season's Best Recipe book, Easy Adjustable measuring cup, easy adjustable measuring spoon, a mix n chop, 2 packs of Twixit clips, a large micro cooker, a decorator bottle set, a flour/sugar shaker, set of easy read measuring cups, and a drainer. I didn't even have to pay shipping! Can't beat that! It feels like my kitchen got a real make-over today!
I also was able to get 60% two items. I chose the 7 piece Executive cookware set and the 8 inch Saute' Pan. I don't know if anyone out there has REALLY good cookware, but this is the first I've ever owned. I had a nice "Rival" set my parents gave me for a wedding present, but these pans are about three times as heavy and they have a Lifetime Guarantee. You can't beat that!

News from Sunday night.....Michael lost his first tooth.
Also, Sunday night after church, Chris and the kids made a snowman while I made our after church snack. He had a carrot nose, a walking stick and Cracklin' Oat Bran eyes.

February....a good month!

2008-03-10T15:39:00.028-04:00

February was a good month at our house. I will try to hit the highlights for you, although they are not in order chronologically. Sorry. Anyway, we'll start with my birthday, which was the 28th. That whole week was a full one. I managed to go to a bridal shower the 25th, I hosted a Pampered Chef Party on the the 26th, (you will hear more about it later), and my birthday was the 28th.
I had one of the best birthdays ever. I had heard the Barnum Bailey Circus was in town, so I decided to get tickets for the morning of my birthday. Good friends, Jenn and Katrin Eckert, joined us. Since I was using a coupon from the Entertainment Book (LOVE that book) we had to purchase the tickets at the box office. I had originally planned just to get the cheap seats. However, when I ordered my tickets, they said for $2. more per ticket, we could get 8 rows from the front. I was thrilled....and we had GREAT seats. The kids had never been to a circus before, so it was VERY exciting to see them take it all in. I absolutely loved it and sitting there, I decided that at 33 (oops....I guess you know now) I couldn't be happier, than to be at the circus, with my three kids and friends on my birthday. (Except maybe if Chris could've been there too!)

We loved the tigers. It kept me on edge watching the trainer cracking the whip at them. I would have been so afraid of making them mad. But I guess that's why he's a trainer and I'm not! LOL!
My favorite blondie!
The kids found it a bit too loud. I kept getting so cracked up at them. All 3 with their hands over their ears almost the entire time.

The amazing tight rope walker. Scared me to death.
Bello...the main clown of the "Red Tour" of the Barnum Bailey circus. That really is his real hair. I know this because a lady from church told me that while they were at the Creation Museum one day while the circus was here in town and there he was browsing through the museum...hair standing on end!

One happy 33 year old Mommy!
Chris had to work all day on my birthday, so to make it more fun for the kids, I baked a cake(with their help) and then turned them loose with the icing. Colors of their choosing! They had a blast and it was yummy.
The finished product. Lauren was not very thrilled with the way Michael dumped sprinkles all over her writing. It said "Happy Birthday Mommy!"
Saturday Chris took me (and the kids) out to eat for my birthday to the restaurant of my choice! It was "Dewey's Pizza"....the new location in Kenwood. We drive by that location on our way to and from church every Sunday, every time with my stomach growling for Dewey's! It was really yummy....as usual!
One Saturday, early February, a lifelong dream (and prayer) became a reality for the kids. They had desperately been wanting a cat for years. (me too) But there was a long-standing policy here on campus that banned cats. Dogs are allowed, but the more we tried to interest the kids in a puppy, the more they wanted a cat. Finally.....the policy changed and two days later.....much to my surprise (Chris was keeping it all a secret) we were at the Animal Shelter picking out a cat. Chris brought along the paper stating the policy change .....just in case I didn't believe him. Here Lauren is with the paper! The look on her face says it all....they were jumping up and down and asking over and over "You mean they really will let us have a cat???!!!!" It was hilarious!

Here they are getting acquainted with "Pumpkin".

One of the cats we passed on we nicknamed "the hippo" for obvious reasons!

Pumpkin is two years old, and declawed. She tolerates all the attention amazingly well. And sometimes even enjoys it!

March is turning out to be a really good month as well. We immensely enjoyed the snowstorm over this past weekend. I LOVE to sit inside, all warm and cozy, and watch it snow. So relaxing! The kids, however, like to be out in it. I participate in a HUGE Kids Consignment Sale in Mason. So while I was busy with that all day Friday, Chris took the kids sledding in Eden Park.
But the biggest news in our house is..........
Caleb is Potty Trained!!!!! YAY! I'm so surprised. At 22 months, he's the earliest of my three to be potty trained. And this all happened in a week. I can't take credit for the "idea" of potty training this early. With my other two, I admit I listened to the "experts" and how they tell you not to start till they show interest in it, or wake up form naps dry and such. However, my friend Jenn began training her daughter Katrin (3 days younger than Caleb) and was having very good success. I decided "Why not try it and see what happens?" So as we home schooled in the morning, we brought the little potty chair into the classroom and "Voila!" He did it! Yesterday was our first full day accident free. He even cries in the night and Chris or I will get him up, he goes, and goes right back to sleep. You're right....this was TOO easy. But hey....I love the $$ saved on diapers!

Vacation Pics....Part II

2008-03-05T14:56:00.018-05:00

This is the bridge that takes you over to Sanibel Island, where I went to gather sea shells early Wed. morning. Chris had read that the beaches of Sanibel are covered in sea shells every morning. I got up rather early and got there shortly after 8. I was not disappointed in the least.

A beach at Sanibel Island bathed in the morning sun. It was so quiet and tranquil....just a few people gathering sea shells.

I managed to strike up a conversation with an elderly gentleman....of course I needed a photographer most of all. The worst part of going on vacation alone is....there's no one to take the pictures! I managed to bother people once in a while so that I had something to email back home every day! (No. I'm not in shorts....It was VERY windy!)

If you click on this picture, you can see the sea shells as thick as gravel.

I grabbed handfuls for the kids. Consequently, my suitcase weighed in at EXACTLY 70 lbs.

I chose a Greek restaurant on the beach for lunch. (Yes....after a hard morning of gathering sea shells.) Their interesting menu lured me in.....however, I settled for more appetizing food.

I got some fried zucchini....it was SO yummy. They served them with a dip that tasted like a cross between sour cream and tarter sauce. SO YUMMY!!!

My last picture before heading to the airport. (Not sure what's on my face....I think it's the reflection of the fountain somehow)
I have a hard time imagining the tan/burn now! LOL! By the way, when you go sit on the beach, it's a good idea to take some sort of sunscreen. Without Chris there to remind me, I, well, burnt a little! First day there, I trudged down to the beach, spread out my beach towel, turned on my IPOD, grabbed my book and sat for the next five hours. Only later that night when I began to itch just a little, did I realize, I hadn't gotten any sunscreen. Oh well. I was a little itchy for the next day, but recovered fairly decent given the circumstances! LOL!

The best part of my trip??? Definitely arriving back home and finding everyone healthy and happy! It was very rough being away from the kids. However, Chris kept up the kids and house quite nicely. When I arrived home, the kids had just had their baths, the house was cleaned, the laundry was washed, dried,and folded, supper was started and he had home schooled all 4 days in my absence. I was quite impressed!! Thanks a million, Chris!

This smile (plus others like it!) is what makes it so hard for me to be away. This is why I hope I NEVER have to work and leave any of my kiddos. This is my life and I feel so blessed and happy with every bit of it!

The winner was.......

2008-02-27T09:35:00.001-05:00

Lisa Boardman.

What's Cookin'

2008-02-20T14:01:00.005-05:00

A PAMPERED CHEF PARTY and drawing for a $10 Gift Certificate!
I'm hosting my "annual" Pampered Chef party Feb. 26th, Tues. evening, at 6:30 PM. We are having the very yummy Cheeseburger Salad. It's yummy and really easy to fix. I have a feeling it will be a good summer supper!
Anyway, anyone in this area is invited. Just leave me a comment if you would like to attend.
Also, I'm having a drawing for a $10 gift certificate for you to use on whatever your little heart desires! Here's how you enter. Just leave a comment saying what your favorite Pampered Chef product is. Haven't got a favorite? Just leave a comment!! It's that easy. You will then be entered in the drawing taking place Tues. evening. The winner will be announced on this very blog on Wed.the 27th.
There are two ways to double your chances.
1. If you live in this area and attend, you will be entered twice.
2. If you are not in this area, but place an order, you will be given two entries as well. You will need to place the order on Lanee's Pampered Chef site, which is www.pamperedchef.biz/Lanee. The order has to be placed by noon on Tues, the 26th. If/When you order online, be sure to put my name in as hostess. Thanks! If you have any questions, you can just leave a comment. PS You DO NOT hvae to place any orders to be entered in the drawing! You only have to place an order or come to the party if you want two entries.
"Someone will win....might as well be you!"

For your listening enjoyment :)

2008-02-19T23:43:00.002-05:00

Who ever heard of Omazing Grace??? Could you imagine having to listen to this in church?? aaagh!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T17:53:00.003-05:00

All the juicy details! Part I

2008-02-08T14:05:00.000-05:00

Finally....after getting all the household chores caught up, and going through a siege of the stomach flu this week, (it was BAD) I finally have some blogging time! I returned from Florida a week ago yesterday, but I'll start with early January.
Just as Chris and I were getting back in the van, leaving the cardiologist office, he told me he had a confession to make. Uh-oh! What did he do THIS time???? j/k With my heart in my throat, I listened while he "confessed" he had made some reservations in my name WITHOUT my permission. Knowing how hard winter can be with my heart issues, he had taken upon himself to plan and arrange a 4 day vacation for me, so I could escape the cold and enjoy some warm air for a change. My heart had been in my throat, but by now I had a HUGE lump in my throat instead! The reason he was sending me away alone is because he knows I HATE to leave the kids with any one, and since my parents had just moved, they would not be able to do it this time. So, he took the time off work and stayed with the kids, allowing me to take the vacation alone. Very selfless on his part to be sure. He's the one that works two jobs everyday. (Thanks Chris. You know I love you!)

The hardest part was getting out of the van at the airport. I had told the two older kids to get thier goodbyes said at the house, so that Caleb wouldn't be too startled when I got out at the airport. Still, when we were approaching the terminal, I looked around my seat to say a final goodbye and Lauren had HUGE tears in her eyes. It was VERY hard to say goodbye!

This was the "joke" of a plane I had to take to get my connecting flight in Cleveland. It held about 15 passengers and felt like riding a roller coaster. It was very scary, I was very nervous, and I was never so glad to touchdown in all my life!

The coastline and beaches coming into view. I left Cincinnati with the weather in the upper 20's and arrived in Ft. Myers, Florida to 76 degrees. Very, very nice!!!

This is the bridge that takes you across to Estero Island where I stayed. It was about 30 minutes from the airport. I arrived on the island around 4:00.

Here is the apartment where I stayed. About 1/2 block from the beach.

The kitchen.

The living room.

One of the bedrooms. This is the one I picked.

My rental car. A Chrysler (something...Sebring maybe??). I liked it.

The path to the beach.

Late afternoon at the beach.

Stay tuned for Part II.

Where I've been......

2008-02-01T15:31:00.000-05:00

Sanibel Island, Florida

Estero Island, Florida

More details once I get the laundry done and return all the phone calls, etc :)

2008-01-18T14:02:00.000-05:00

I know it's been a long time since I updated, but life is just so busy! It's good though....we never have a dull moment! Since Christmas, I've been busy getting the kids caught up in their school work. we took off quite a while for the holidays. It was SO nice to enjoy the holidays without having to teach but now we are putting in a little bit extra time each day to get caught up to where we were before.
I also have been busy doing a little bit of babysitting and sewing on the side. The extra $$ is always nice. As for the sewing, I will try to post pics later.

Caleb enjoys his pancakes!

The two boys having fun on a dino at the Creation Museum. Yes...we went for the third
time a couple weeks ago. We haven't yet tired of it :)

The kids just itching to get the presents opened!

Caleb loved his Mega Bloks he got

This pic deserves quite an explanation! Lauren had started embroidering a
towel this fall, but when she ran into some trouble with it
and then started back to school, the sampler got neglected. One day back in early Nov. she
told me to NEVER look under her bed. On two different occasions she sneaked
the sampler to her great aunts and her grandma for help. The
end result was what I opened for Christmas. She made the towel
into a pillow for our bed and also had made a "wall hanging" all
on her that said "I love you Mom". When I opened it and saw what she
had been hiding under bed, I immediately started crying. It was just TOO Sweet.
I am so proud of my little girl and all her hard work!

Lauren also took her own money and bought Fire truck fleece for
the boys and made them each a blanket. The only thing
I did was cut them to size and slit the edges. She did
the rest, The boys were quite excited and
she was thrilled!

Michael and his new firetruck!!(Quite a battery hog! LOL!)

Caleb inspecting his new toys

Lauren and the art set she was wishing for!

The only thing on my list...a new coat. Guess I was good this year!

Caleb LOVES his new ball pounding boat

I love that look of surprise!!. Made all my hard work worthwhile!

A rare moment....Chris laughing for a camera. He couldn't contain his
joy. I knew he wanted a IPOD Nano (Gen3) pretty bad, so I put aside
babysitting money for a while. The joke was that I had to work pretty hard to throw
him off. For some reason, he was pretty sure he was going to
get one. I went so far as to wrap a Target gift card and included
a picture of one. So after all the gifts were all unwrapped, there was still no
IPOD. I think he gave up by that point. The trick was....I had it in his stocking. So
the picture is the result of finding the IPOD in the toe of his stocking. It
was worth it......and I might add, he's putting it to good use!!!

Lauren with Kirsten in one of her new outfits she got

I made Lauren and Kirsten matching night gowns. Lauren was thrilled
so it was worth the many hours I put into them.

For Christmas, we went to N Carolina and stayed with Kendall
and Leanna in their new house. I know it's not
a very good picture, but I think you can still what a lovely house they
have. I realized as we were getting ready to leave, we needed to get a picture!
Maybe a better one next time!

We had LOADS of fun eating and playing games. In this picture, we were playing "Pit".
If you've ever played it, you know how lively and noisy it can be. I guess it
made quite an impression on Caleb. Whenever he sees this picture, or if we talk about
Kendall or Leanna, or Josh, he starts saying "two, two, two." Its
so funny!

Opening presents Christmas Day

Michael playing his "car driving game" he wanted so badly! He
had plenty of help showing him how to play!

The kids with Uncle/Officer Kendall. They seemed a little
more subdued after seeing him in his uniform :)

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-25T00:13:00.001-05:00

Christmas Festivities

2007-12-21T18:22:00.000-05:00

Finally....I've got one afternoon free to blog a little bit. This Christmas season has really been a busy one, but it's really been fun too! I enjoy all the busy-ness of the Season as long as it doesn't get packed too full! Last week we had a function of some kind to go to every night. This week has been full, but really nothing outside....just full of things we're done together as a family.
I realized after I uploaded all these pictures, that chronologically they are out of order. Sorry!
A week ago Friday night was our Young Adult Ministries party with our church youth group. The Durrs graciously provided babysitting so we were able to enjoy all the food and games without little ones!
Liz C. graciously hosted the party at her aunt's house in Indian Hill. It was a BEAUTIFUL house in a beautiful location!

The evening was full of good food and lots of laughs!

We played a game (not sure of the name ) where you start passing a large present. You keep passing till the music stops than furiously unwrap till the music starts again. If you get a layer opened (there are many layers to the gift) you get to keep whatever you unwrapped. Very fun!

Passing the box.....

Playing "Battle of the Sexes"

Thursday night was the Aldersgate Academy Christmas program. This year since Lauren and Michael are both in Music class, they were both in the choir. Below is a pic of Michael and his
Music Class friend, Kimberly. They always stood side by side like little angels and didn't move!

The kindergarten class provided the Nativity scene in the play.

Lauren and Caroline....very good friends!

Wednesday I took the kids to the Conservatory to try to get some Christmas pictures. Our good friends, Jenn and Katrin joined us there. We didn't get very good pictures, but we had a good time anyway!

Caleb and Katrin hugging.....for now! lol!

The sheep outside at the live Nativity were very close while eating. The kids were very excited! Since we live so close, this has definitely become a tradition! Sometimes we visit the animals several times!
Tuesday night was the annual staff and faculty (GBS) Christmas Party held out at the Higher Ground facilities in IN. It is always decorated VERY beautifully and was very enjoyable.

The highlight of the evening is the kids receiving their presents from President Avery. Caleb was able to walk up this year!

Girls opening their gifts.

Michael with friends, Adam and Alex Kelly.

Best friends.....

On our way home, since the temp was in the 50's, our family decided to enjoy Fountain Square a little bit. It was decorated so pretty and made a great place for some pictures. What I thought was interesting were people's comments about Lauren's hair. From previous pictures maybe you can see that I had braided it in a crown. Several people downtown commented on how beautiful it was and also a couple of the waitresses at Higher Ground. It struck me funny because you see it done so much at church. Maybe not a crown always, but French braids of some sort. I never really thought is was a big deal, but I guess others do.

A nice guy offered to snap a family picture by the skating rink.

Visiting a horse from the carriage rides downtown.

Looking in the store window.....I thought it made a neat pose.

Although I don't have pictures, crammed into last week was the Annual Christmas Walk-through here at GBS. The Staff and Faculty open their homes to the students for Christmas treats and drinks, etc. The dorms are also open as well. I'm not sure how many students and other staff and faculty friends we had in our house that evening, but I went through over 60 disposable cups....so I'm guessing it was around 60. The kids were thrilled!
We have since visited the Festival of Lights at the Cincinnati Zoo, the Creation Museum (again), and went to the library to see the "Art Reach Theatre Co. of Cincinnati" production of the "Christmas Carol. We have visited with friends this week, and Wed night we enjoyed helping our Young Adult Ministry wrap and deliver Christmas presents to "Angel Tree" recipients.
We kicked off this week of events by singing in the cantata at our church. The title was "Mary Did You Know?" directed by Kristen Foster (who does an awesome job!). I hope the audience enjoyed hearing it as much as we did preparing and performing it!
After typing all this, I've realized just how busy we've been, but also how much fun we've had. Last year I was really struggling (with being sick) to celebrate the holidays. I didn't feel like doing ANYTHING. So this year I've kind of celebrated with a vengeance!!! I'm so thrilled to be enjoying this all with my family....that alone would be Christmas enough! Hope you all are enjoying the Season as well!!

Hurray for a brave politician!

2007-12-17T19:05:00.000-05:00

Christmas Time Is Here !

2007-12-09T13:52:00.000-05:00

After the program Saturday night.....
The Music Division........

Shepherds: Nathaniel Davison, Brandon Klotz, Lucas Ryder, Andrew Dahler,
Joseph and Mary/ Dwight Habecker, Heather Frazier Baby Jesus/ Hannah Deuel

Thanksgiving weekend....

2007-11-30T19:55:00.000-05:00

As you can tell, we had a "break" from the traditional Thanksgiving weekend. Thursday we had the traditional dinner and all the trimmings(just so aggravated at myself for forgetting to take any pictures...aaagh...too busy enjoying the food!) Friday morning dawned bright and early for Chris and I. He headed out to Best Buy at 3 AM and I followed to Target and the mall at 6AM) Found a few good bargains....but mostly just stood in line of course! We did get to see some snow though. When I headed out for shopping at 6AM, snow was falling pretty hard. It made my Christmas shopping a bit more fun!
Friday evening Chris and my Dad went and got the moving truck and the real fun began...for Chris...not me!

I mostly just tried to keep Caleb from the doorway....it was FREEZING cold.
My parents are moving from Newton Falls OH (where I spent most of my growing up years...yes...that's what's wrong with me) to McDonald PA where they have started pastoring, for the 2nd time, the Bible Methodist church there. I'm really not at all that sentimental about the move, however. There's better shopping in Pittsburgh...namely IKEA. LOL!
Saturday, while Chris and my Dad slaved away, I decided to get the kids out of the house and take them to visit Kraynaks. This was somewhat of a holiday tradition growing up. Kraynaks is a HUGE Lawn and Garden/Toy store all in one. I always remembered their Christmas tree walk through as so much fun. Driving over I wondered if it really was a big deal, or did it just seem that way to me as a kid?? When we arrived, around 1 on Saturday, I pretty much decided it was a big deal after all!

My Mom and Lauren did most of the waiting in line outside....I didn't want Caleb out in the cold for that length of time. Once inside though, we still had another 20 minutes or so to wait.

The line snakes past oodles of toys...very smart on the store's part! Michael LOVED seeing all the John Deere toys they had...

The walk through is one scene after another full of trees , ornaments, and yard decorations. The store carries all the items you see in case you should want to recreate one of these trees for yourself.

Lauren loved the "MY Little Pony" scene.

Caleb was crazy about these "bow-wows" They move their heads, tails etc.

The upside down Christmas tree.

I fell in LOVE with these little snow men lights. I inquired about them after the walk through and I was told they were "long gone"! I guess they sold really fast. The walk through opens on Labor Day, so things tend to sell out quick. I thought they were just SO CUTE!

Sunday they had a "Singspiration" at my parent's church in the afternoon. My mom and I played a piano duet and Lauren turned the pages.

Lauren and Michael sang a couple songs as well. Poor Michael...it seems he is doomed to have "stage fright" like his Mama. Chis and I tried over and over (unsuccessfully) to bribe him to sing. Lauren was the one that finally got him up there. Her secret?? All her left over Halloween candy. :)

Where Chris was last night........

2007-11-20T15:49:00.001-05:00

Chris and Dr. Farmer were able to attend an event for Mike Huckabee in Mason last night. Chris thought to buy a couple books at Joseph Beth on the way, so now he and Dr. Farmer each have a nice autographed copy. I stayed home with the the kiddos....I wasn't sure how interesting it would be for them. I was glad he got to go.

From "Happy Fall Days".....

2007-11-16T18:05:00.001-05:00

to Merry Christmas!!!

The kids and I put the tree together Monday evening, and I FINALLY got it finished this afternoon. I haven't spent all that time on it....I've just been searching for some lights that work. There are a couple things that I wish someone could explain to me.
1. If you put Christmas lights away after Christmas, and they're working, then....
WHY do they not work when you take them out of the box the following year???aaaagh!!!
2. And when you buy new lights at Target and get them home, WHY do they not work??? Yes. $10 a string lights. aaagh!
Those are just a couple of the reasons why it took me a whole week to get my tree done. Once, when I got the tree all covered in lights, 1 string went out. So, it was easier to just take it all off and start over again rather than try to replace just one string.
Anyway, I'm very happy with my tree this year. I might actually be able to sit and enjoy it. I love decorating the tree and although the kids want to help, I explain this is "MY" tree and then I send them off with their own trees and boxes of ornaments. Maybe I'm a scrooge, but for me to be able to enjoy my tree, it has to be just like I envision it. (I know, I'm weird) I'll have to post their trees later. They are really cute.

I also decorated the home school room. Most people will probably be bored by these pics, but my family wanted to see the decorations. The kids get so excited when I decorate and change things in the school room, so it's always worth my effort!

Our fall tree and village.
My aunts, who have taught for years, have given me lots of classroom decorations. We are so grateful. Thanks!

This tree was decorated by the kids last night. I used a pre-lit tree I had in the basement and spent $2.50 on ornaments at the Dollar Tree, and made a "happy" little tree....at least that's what the kids and I call it. It's simple, but they're happy! They decorated it while Caleb was playing in the bathtub last night. As soon as he got out, we took him into see it and he started screaming and dancing around and clapping his hands! It was SO fun. That's what I LOVE best about Christmas......seeing your kids have fun! It makes Christmas SO much fun!
Well, after a hard day of decorating, I'm off to find a cup of hot chocolate! See ya!

Happy Fall Days!

2007-11-12T16:08:00.001-05:00

Happy Fall! Yes. I'm way behind in blogging again I know. We've just been busy with the usual things...school, outings, housework(ugh) and unfortunately, blogging just doesn't rank very high on my list of priorities. Rather, it seems to be falling lower and lower.....but I'll try to do better :) maybe!

One of our last nice evenings outdoors, Chris asked Caleb to "jump" off the wall into his outstretched arms.

Ready to jump!

One of our play days with some good friends. (Brianna, Warren. Daniel and Bethany)They used to work here at GBS, but recently moved. We became good friends and the children have spent MANY happy summer days together. Since we home school, I try extra hard to make sure I schedule fun days with other home schoolers such as this to break up the monotony a little. I'm always happy to get together with friends and chat as well!

Last Tuesday, I took the kids down to the gym and "taught" them about the voting process.
I tried to let them help me as much as possible.

Dressed up after church.

Today as we were walking to the park, I decided to take advantage of the neighbors beautiful yard full of leaves. This should bring back memories for some bloggers in SC. :)

Headed down the path into the woods...I am one blessed Mom! I am so grateful for our three healthy, growing, learning children!

The Farmer's beautiful tree.

After walking home from the park, we noticed that our neighbors had their puppies out....all 17 of them! The kids had a blast. It was really fun for them....and my two older ones used to be scared of dogs. But I think today changed that! BTW, our neighbors buy these pups to resale at a profit, so we are enjoying them while they have them. They are some kind of Terrier....not sure of the name.

Look who turned 18 months!

2007-10-27T12:04:00.000-04:00

Fall/ School Days

2007-10-22T19:29:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, while walking home from lunch at the dining hall, we (I) decided that the day was just too pretty to enjoy without some pictures! So, Chris happily trudged home to get the camera! The kids found this large mushroom in the south lawn.

This is the blue sky that prompted the photo session! :) Picture perfect day!

Caleb turned 18 mo. on Saturday.

Caleb is saying "me". Usually we ask the kids things like "who wants to go get some ice cream?" To which they all shout "me " and raise their hands. Well, while the two older ones were saying "cheese", he thought we were taking a vote again!

Having loads of fun!

Little "Miss GBS"

Last week I made homemade Stromboli, so I let the kids play with some left over dough, cheese and ham. They decided to make their own pizzas. They had worked the dough so much that the pizzas came out of the oven with a texture like "crackers". But hey, they had fun and made a big mess, so that's all the counts!!

Lauren proudly displays their pizzas.

Home school Present......Caleb "hiding" with the pencil sharpeners.

A very studious Michael.

A very clownish Lauren.....

Caleb LOVES to color at his desk and pretend he's really in school. He hollers "DONE" (like the big kids) when he makes a scribble, and then he gets a sticker on his page.

Home school Past.........We've come a long way since the first day of school, though. His favorite past time then was standing on the desks!

Lauren and Michael trying to teach Caleb.

Like I said, we've come a long way ;) The first couple of days I wasn't sure how I was going to home school with the distraction....called a little brother. Lauren and Michael have gotten better at tuning him out and he's gotten better at occupying himself!
I have to say homeschooling has become something I enjoy immensely. I have decided to teach them myself, and hold off on DVD or satellite till they get into the harder grades. I was a little apprehensive about starting school this year....I knew we'd have the distraction of Caleb and I also had to tackle Kindergarten with a boy this year. I'd heard that boys were more of a challenge than girls. Well, so far I'm not finding much of a difference. Michael seems to love learning just like Lauren did and it's been an absolute joy to watch him take off in reading. He is always amazing me with what he can sound out and read. They seem to really enjoy being in school together.
The added blessing has been having a home school room this year. I might not always be so fortunate, but some days I enjoy closing the door on the mess and dealing with it "tomorrow"!

Thankful for a husband that.....

2007-10-15T10:25:00.001-04:00

brings me Josh Groban CDs! Although I enjoy flowers somewhat, I really love useful gifts. I admit it....I'm a bit practical. ( I'm a little like my Mom in that way!) Saturday he surprised me with this new Christmas CD that I didn't even know was out yet. It was released to stores Tuesday!(You can tell I don't spend much time on the Groban site :) He even looked through quite a few Targets so that I would have the special bonus DVD. And he did all this knowing that he will have to hear it over and over and over and over and............

I said all that to say this...It's a PHENOMENAL Christmas CD! Just beautiful!!! Anyone that enjoys Christmas music would probably enjoy this CD. It will definitely get you in the Christmas mood.
Thanks Chris. I love you! Have a great Monday!

Homecoming and Days Out

2007-10-13T15:30:00.001-04:00

Fun in the sand at the Museum Center

In the "Old Fashioned" store at the Museum

Caleb with his friend, Katrin

What is up with this duck???We are very curious
to know what the plastic object is in the middle of the tummy!
If anybody knows, please share your knowledge! Carrie...have you seen
this before??

Feeding the ducks at Eden Park

Even Caleb enjoys breaking up and throwing the bread

Telling Daddy about feeding the ducks back at campus

Dr. Farmer receives Staff/Faculty award, due in
part to his leadership in pursuit of HLC accreditation

The "anybody that's ever sung in a trio or quartet" choir

The friendly cow down at Homefest in the gym

Aaron Marshall and the "Sleeping Beauty", Danielle

Friends....Brianna Marshall and Lauren

A group of bloggers! Lanee', Stephanie, Jenn and me

Lisa trying her best to convince Jeremy that they need one
of these.....j/k
I have no idea what they're talking about. Just thought it would
make the blog more interesting
:)

Lanee' and her live baby doll! Isn't she a cutie??

Michael and Katrin

It's quite a mix of pictures I know, but if I'm ever to get you caught up,
I have to start somewhere! LOL! As you can see, we've been having lots of fun. We''ve
all been going through some pretty bad colds...Chris and I have had it the worst, thankfully.
I'd rather be sick that have sick children!
We have been busy with school, of course, but we manage to make time
for lots of field trips. One of our favorites is going up
to Eden Park to feed the ducks. It's a pretty park that over looks
the city and is home to 100+ ducks. The kids are always thrilled
when I find some stale bread in the house....it means a trip to the duck
pond. This week we were joined by friends Jenn and Katrin Eckert.
We also just purchased a pass to the Cincinnati
Museum Center. Hence all the museum pictures.
We had been visiting the museum on "Free Fridays"....
once a month they have free admission after 4PM. The last time
we were there, they were giving out coupons for $20 off a pass. It was an
offer too good to pass up since the museum is only a 7 minute drive for us.
(One of the perks of city dwelling...lol!)So, you'll be seeing many more
picures from there in the future! They have a great Children's Museum.
OK Angie and Lanee'...it's not 4 floors, but hey...the kids love it! :)
The kids just love the giant sandbox in the Natural History
and Science Museum.
Last night was Homecoming here on campus. It was lots of fun. Lauren made the
comment this morning at breakfast the "Homecoming is almost just
as fun as Christmas!" Well, I agree. It is lots of fun to see old friends....
that's always my favorite part...getting to chat with people we haven't
seen in a while! We even got a few
bloggers together for a picture. I saw several other bloggers
but it's hard to get everyone in one spot at the same time!

Happy Thursday

2007-10-04T11:15:00.000-04:00

Just thought I'd share this website that Chris brought to my attention this morning. He knows of my fascination with big families, multiples and such. After looking through this site , I decided to share it with the rest of you. It was thrilling to see such a lovely Christian family out there getting some media attention. I LOVE their house, but I was most intrigued by the orchestra....wouldn't THAT be fun? If you click on the "photos", they have lots of pictures of their house. I love the laundry system...keeping all the clothes in one place and cutting down on clutter in the bedrooms.
I might have to file that away for future reference! :)

I really should be catching you up on all that has been going on in our lives, but it's like my scrap booking....I'm so far behind that I'm procrastinating. (and yes, getting even farther behind...sigh) Anyway, I really am busy this weekend. I participate in a HUGE consignment sale at the Mason United Methodist Church. I've been doing this ever since Lauren was about 2yrs. It was become a "twice-yearly event". Once in the spring and then again in the fall. This is where I get over half my kids clothes and get rid of all the things they are finished with. I also buy WAY too many toys and books and games as well.....right Chris? Anyway, it's become such an event that Chris even takes off from work the day that I volunteer and help with organizing the sale. My van will be LOADED tonight and yes, much to Chris' dismay, it will be LOADED upon my return. The payoff is the check I'll receive in a couple weeks for all the things I sold. Lots of fun.
And if anyone is interested....

The Sale happens this coming Saturday from 8 - 12. Getting there at 7:30 is probably not a bad idea. It happens at 6215 S. Mason-Montgomery Rd.

They have sizes newborn to 16. There are always lots of clothes, toys, strollers, car seats, and furniture items...all in gently used condition. If you have questions, you can call 398-4741.
I'll be busy, so go ahead and have a good weekend.

Thanks to Jenn....

2007-09-27T15:41:00.000-04:00

I've been tagged. So the following are my 7 bits of completely useless information.

1. Someday I want to live in a yellow house with a red door.

2. I crave pizza on a daily basis.

3. I'm absolutely, positively, utterly, completely terrified of heights.

4. When I was a kid, I dreamed of finding a baby on my doorstep.....still do!

5. I received my first proposal of marriage at the tender age of 6.

6. If someone wanted to torture me, they'd only need to turn on rap, heavy metal, or southern gospel music. ( Are some of those even music forms??)

7. My most dreaded chore is dusting. Therefore, my house could be considered a little "bare". I HATE to clean, but like a clean house. If we're ever rich, even "comfortable", I will hire a housecleaning gal! (Ok, Chris??)

Like I said, completely useless information, but then that's the point of tag, right?
Now I tag my sister-in-law

Hey Friends!!!!

2007-09-25T16:46:00.000-04:00

Hey friends. It's so good to be back...online and blogging again. I feel slightly overwhelmed at trying to get everyone caught up on all the events that have been happening while I've been away. I guess I'll just try to get a little bit done at a time!
At least I thought I'd share the kids latest pics from Sears. Caleb will get his 18 mo. ones next month.

I'm still here....kind of

2007-09-19T13:25:00.000-04:00

HI. Just thought I'd stop by the library today and give everybody a little update. I know my "fans" have been missing me...sorry! LOL! Anyway, our computer is ill....quite ill....so it's being repaired at what seems like a snail's pace. I've been missing all your blogs. however, since I'm back into the homeschool mode, I'm not sure I'll have quite as much time to blog anyway.
We're all doing fine and with my limited knowledge on how to use this computer, I guess pictures....lots of them...will be coming in the near future. We've been having lots of fun homechooling, babysitting, visiting with friends and just enjoying this BEAUTIFUL weather.
Today, I'm also celebrating!....it's exactly a year ago today that I went to the ER with "pneumonia-like" symptoms and found out you can be 31 and have CHF! I feel "beyond blessed" that God has allowed me to stick around another whole year to love Chris and my 3 beautiful kids! There will be more on that story in the near future as well.
To all of you that have left sweet, "unanswered" comments, thanks! I'm still here and doing fine and hope to be up[ and blogging again very soon!
Wishing everone a great day!!..Nancy

Catchin' you up on news!

2007-08-08T17:35:00.000-04:00

Ok. I'm really here. Contrary to any notions of my being on a "Groban high"....our computor has been "ill". Really. Seriously.
ok ok And I have been floating since the Groban concert...which was, by the way...a VERY GOOD concert. We went, along with my parents, to hear him at the Mellon arena in Pittsburg. Lots of fun.Not only is he a fantastic singer, but the musicians that travel and perform with him are a REAL treat as well. And I'm j/k about the "floating" part. I do tell Chris from time to time 'It seems like a dream that I was actually there". but that's all. Thanks Chris, for buying me the tickets and taking me....you're the best!!
Now for the other news....
Two weeks ago was Lauren's 7th birthday. it kind of turned out to be a week-long celebration. On Tuesday, I was able to meet my friend Rebecca and her 4 beautiful children (3 boys and 1 girl) at Mt. Gilead OH. She happened to be in OH that week, so we met halfway between here and where she was visiting. We met at a lovely State Park they have there. It was a fun day...and there was a picnic, presents for Lauren and I made a big iced cookie for the occasion. They had an incredible "hands-on" Nature Center. The kids got to hold mice, a turtle, handle bones, bugs and many other "delights". And I'm sure that mouse will never quite be the same after Caleb got done throwing the "ball". (see pics)
Wed. was her actual birthday. We opened gifts as a family and then went to Sharon Woods to the indoor Adventure Center they have there. That was her wish.....for " she and Michael and Caleb to play and Mommy and Daddy just sit and talk." We did just that!
Thursday, the Madeira Branch Library was having "Felicity's Tea Party". Girls were encouraged to bring their dolls and learn all about how a tea party was conducted in Felicity's era. Very fun. Mom's and little brother's were allowed to attend as well. The boys mostly enjoyed and treats and Michael liked doing the crafts. Lauren loved ALL of it! It was so fun to see all the girls with their beautiful dolls. There were probably 20 girls in attendance.
Friday night I invited 2 of my aunts for a roast beef dinner. Then I presented her with her "official" birthday cake....was she ever thrilled. I made her a doll cake...using the Pampered Chef mixing bowl. What fun! I just love having a little girl!!! The end result was what I wanted...almost. I bought a doll from the Dollar Tree because I didn't want to invest too much in the cake. However, they ALL have this hideous eye make-up. I did my best to make her pretty, but in the end couldn't get rid of the "over-done eyes". I don;t think Lauren noticed at all. It was lots of fun...she was SOOO excited. And yes...the aunties brought her more presents as well.
And there was one more "late" surprise. I had been planning on getting Lauren an American Girl doll for Christmas, but Daddy surprised us both! Now she is the proud owner of Kirsten. I absolutely LOVE those dolls. Although I'm not a collector of anything, I think I would enjoy collecting these dolls. (If I were rich, or course :) ) They are all so beautiful. I have many plans of making doll clothes and matching outfits....SO FUN!