Snowy Day...

A tree outback of our house - the city can look beautiful in the winter!

AHH! What a great day! I went to the gym (my ninth day in a row!!) and then came home and grabbed the family to head out to Chick-fil-a. We registered for free Spicy Chicken Biscuits - Matt and Andy ate them - I can't eat spicy - but we all enjoyed a wonderful breakfast together. We then came home and enjoyed a relaxing snow day! Matt still had school work to catch up on, but I was able to take a nap!!! I haven't taken a nap in forever! I loved it!



I have been doing pretty well with the whole meal cooking thing and the kids have been really encouraging! Last night I made a roast in the crock pot and it was so delicious! With the leftover meat I made Vegetable Beef Soup - perfect for our snowy day! It really does help to have all the meals planned out so I can make sure I have the right ingredients. I am also able to actually cook the meal in a decent amount of time since I am not staring into the frig wondering what to make! Thank you for all your encouragement and help!



On a Drew note - I came home from the gym today and Andy informed me that Drew greeted him by standing up in the pack-n-play where he sleeps! UGH!!! I have watched him try to do it a couple of times but have never seen him actually do it! Now he can! He really is growing up way to fast! I'll have to try to snap a picture of him doing it one of these days.

New Goals!

With each new year I always try to set some new goals - more often than not I fail miserably! But I try and every now and then I am successful. My goal for this year is to try to cook more dinners. I hate cooking - I know I have mentioned that before! - but I need to make more healthy meals and God has been spurring me on to make this a priority. He has given me this wonderful family to care for and FEED! I need to make this a ministry to my family and get my act together. Since one of the things that goes along with cooking is the grocery shopping (which I hate even more!) I have decided to try to plan a month of meals so that I can go to the grocery store as little as possible!!! I have come up with my first month of meals!!I don't think I'll be able to make a dinner EVERY night. I am so thankful for the staff retreat that falls in the middle of the month as that is three less meals I have to make! I have also planned on two meals that we order in or go out to eat. But even with those five meals - I will be making a whole lot more than I had last month! I think last month, I am ashamed to say, I may have made a total of ten meals! Cooking is hard for me - I am not a creative cook - know nothing about adding flavor to meals and cook basically the same things week after week. I have added a couple of new recipes to try - but I hate new recipes because they take so long to prepare. But this is an area where I need to improve and that is my goal for the year. I have only made this one goal because it is going to take everything I have (and even more from God!) to accomplish this task! So while you are cheerfully preparing your own meals - I would really appreciate prayers on my behalf that I would do this task cheerfully and learn how to prepare healthy meals for my family! Thanks!!!

Welcome 2011!!!

Sunset on New Year's Eve - on our way to see the 6 pm fireworks!

WOW!! A whole new year! I love New Year's Day! The thought of no mistakes yet made is refreshing! A nice clean start - with lots of hopes and dreams to fulfill! We had a great day today - cleaning up the Christmas decorations, reflecting on the last year and making new goals for this coming year. I think the kids think it's fun to see what they wrote down last year and to see if they have met any of their previous goals. I know I think it's fun!

This past week has been busy. Cleaning, organizing, playing!!! We've had a good break! But I am starting to get the feeling of wanting to get back into school mode and get things done! I am hoping the second half of our school year goes better than the first half. I need to get myself together and really participate - I've been feeling rather lost this school year trying to fit a third kid into the mix while dealing with the fourth and his needs. But I think I have figured some new things to try and we'll see how it goes!

This past week, Thursday, Daniel had the opportunity to go to see Toy Story 3 on Ice! He was given tickets as a Christmas gift from my mom. I so wish I had had the video camera going when he was given the gift! His reaction was priceless as his little face lit up when he realized what he had been given. I was the lucky parent to attend the show with him!!!It was really fun just spending one on one time with my sweet 5 year old! I think he enjoyed it too! Here are a few pictures of our time at the show. Did I mention we were second row from the ice? The seats were amazing!!In Drew news - he is amazing! He just started crawling the week before Christmas and now he's trying to pull himself up to a standing position. He was successful yesterday when he was getting ready for a bath as he pulled himself up at the tub! He was quite pleased. I have also caught him several times trying to pull himself up in his pack-n-play! He is just all over the place! He's getting so big! It's sad and exciting at the same time. I so love this baby time when he's all snugly and lovey - but it's exciting to see him progress and grow into a toddler. He has also FINALLY gotten his eighth tooth! Two molars are also pushing through - they look so soar - but he's being a real trooper about them!

Happy New Year! May God richly bless you this year!

Christmas 2010!!!

Christmas 2010! Where did the year go? I have NO idea - but this was the best Christmas EVER!!! Mostly due to the fact that there were no bed bugs (like in 2008) and I wasn't 8 months pregnant (like in 2009)! And the fact that we have this most adorable 11 month old living in our house - well - do I need to say more?!?! The above picture was taken Christmas Eve - the night before the ripping of the wrapping!
I have ALWAYS dreamed of having a banister full of stockings - this year my dream came true! Six wonderful stockings all in a row! As we were hanging them Andy made the comment that there was room for two more (ha, ha, ha!!!). He's so funny!

Christmas morning was so much fun! Sarah really enjoyed helping Drew with his gifts. Drew was a riot! He was quite taken with the fact that people were ripping paper. He LOVES ripping paper! As each kid was opening gifts he was stuck at the first one....
He was too wrapped up in investigating the paper :-)!!!!Each kid was pretty pleased with their gifts - especially Daniel with this new human body book. He has been asking for this book for years! The heart makes a beating sound, the digestive system gurgles, he thinks it's great! He'll even sit and listen to everything being read to him - even though he doesn't understand all of it - I think he'll be a doctor someday!This is the one gift Daniel was sent to his room for....he was a little put out with it and, as he has been doing A LOT lately, clearly stated it wasn't something he asked for and didn't want it! I informed him he didn't need any of it and could go to his room until he could be thankful for what he was getting. He didn't recall asking for the TAG reader this past summer. When Sarah and Matt showed him what it was - he was then thankful and thrilled with the gift! Matt was too fast at opening his gifts for me to get any shots!!! He's a teenager now and buying him gifts this year was a real challenge! But he was great about the different things he got - his favorite being "War of the Worlds" by H.G. Wells! He's really into reading the classics - a shocker I know! I never thought this kid would actually ENJOY reading for pleasure!Drew is now 11 months old!!! WOW!!! He started crawling this past week and today started STANDING UP!!!! It's happening WAY too fast! The kids are having a hard time adjusting to his new found mobilness! He's into EVERYTHING!!!!! He got the above toy, Lil' Zoomers Spinnin' Sounds Speedway, from my mom and thought it was a good seat! He put himself in it! He is a riot! I can't believe in less than a month my baby will be one! So sad - but so glad he is FINALLY sleeping through the night - and it only took him 10 1/2 months! I love that sweet face!

Christmas Play!!

Usually, we just have the kids that attend our church sing a song for the four Sundays of advent and then a couple of songs for Christmas Eve. This year another woman that attends our church asked the "choir director" if she could put on a play. She wanted a big production - thankfully the choir director suggested she start small - VERY WISE MOVE! You see we only get a handful of "regulars" (and they are usually staff kids!). Often we get many kids from the neighborhood sporadically. Even today - the day of the play - we had new kids that had never been to a practice before today! But it was such a cute play and the kids did a fantastic job! It was the Christmas story centered around four different songs with different kids narrating.

Daniel played Joseph - and was mighty handsome! Sarah was a narrator and did a great job! My parents and Andy's parents attended the event and then came to the house for lunch. We had a great time visiting! Here are some pictures of the play!

It was so much fun helping out! I hope it becomes a regular part of our Christmas program!

WOW!

10 month old Drew!! He's all smiles!!!

I know.....it's been more than a month since I blogged! Life just carried me away. Who would have thought just adding one little person into the mix would take so much time! Plus we have been passing around a cold/ virus that has laid me up a day or two. I also had the adventure of taking Drew to CHOP's ER this past week. Nothing serious - he had developed what I thought were hives last weekend and weren't gone by Monday.

The offending hives - they were actually a lot darker and more purple/ red.

The pediatrician wanted to see him and low and behold there was quite a ruckus about them! They weren't your "typical" looking hives and five different doctors took a look at him. When no one could agree on what they were I was sent to the ER for blood work. We got to ER at 5 pm and didn't leave until 1:00 am. Drew was a real champ as they looked and prodded and took blood. The end result? HIVES! He had a virus that was releasing itself through hives. My firstborn does the same exact thing. I was glad that they were being cautious and tested for different things - better to be safe than sorry - but it sure was a long night!

School has been going full force and the kids have been really working hard. Last Friday we had the opportunity to go on a field trip with some other homeschoolers. We went to the Penn Museum at the University of Penn. It was great! Some of my favorite items were this solid and pure crystal ball. Amazing! It took years to create and is the second largest one in the world.

They have mummies and a sphinx and all kinds of neat old things! We had a really fun time and the kids were glad to get out of the classroom for a day of school! Daniel really loved the above tablet with hieroglyphics. He was just fascinated with all the objects found in the museum.

We are currently in the midst of decorating for Christmas. I got the living room thoroughly cleaned and the tree up - but we will decorate it as a family this Wednesday. Drew is a riot! Not quite sure what to make of this huge tree in his house! He is trying to crawl so it will be interesting to see what he does with a tree and crawling as I believe he will get the hang of it before Christmas is through. I will post pictures as soon as we are done! I love how our house looks all decorated with beautiful lights! I'm even putting a tree up in the schoolroom in hopes it will help "lighten" the attitudes that sometimes prevail during the school day!

Please continue to pray for my sister, Lisa. She will start her chemo treatments December 16th. She is going through the University of Penn Hospital for her treatment. They have a fantastic program and the best part is each patient is assigned a scheduler - that person makes all your appointments and deals with the details of treatment and tells the patient when to show up - Lisa has to make no phone calls or deal with getting things lined up at the right time or day. Such a relief to her and clears up her time to focus on getting well! They are sure she will be cancer free within one year. My prayer is that she draws closer to Christ throughout this year and learns to lean heavily upon Him. Thanks for praying!

Life....

is extremely unpredictable. This past weekend Andy and I were celebrating the fact that it was two years since we found our first bed bug - and that we weren't finding them anymore! Though Daniel gave us quite a scare as he had three "bumps" that itched terrible. We feel they were mosquito bites but thoroughly check his bed and bedroom and didn't find anything and he hasn't had anymore - Praise God! It is amazing how those bugs have transformed our everyday lives, though. We don't really ever forget them and continue to check for them wherever we go. Even our home reflects the fact that we have had them as we have scaled down our belongings quite a bit. I love the newer emptier house - and often wish I could get it even emptier! But with four kids and a husband - there will be stuff! If you do not know what a bed bug is or what it looks like I highly suggest that you go online and find a picture of all five stages and signs to look for. They are everywhere - and have been in the news quite a bit lately! Even new clothing brought home from the store is not safe as several different stores have been infested with the little devils. You may inadvertently bring one home. They are now suggesting putting all new clothing into the dryer on high for at least 30 minutes. Most of our clothing comes from overseas where they don't really consider the bed bug a pest to be dealt with. Eggs can be laid on the clothing and you would never know until it was too late. You can't visibly see the eggs as they are tiny and clear. But high heat will kill them. If you are like me and don't know if you will be keeping the item (Drew outgrows clothes amazingly fast!) I put it in a large Ziploc bag until I know I am keeping it and then throw it in the dryer. If there is a bug on the item at least it will be sealed in the bag. But we are praising God everyday that we are done with them and praying even harder that we never have to deal with them again!

We were also thanking God for the fact that a dear friend had gotten news that he is still cancer free - two years! He had cancer surgery the same day we found out we were dealing with bed bugs. His wife and I commiserated together many a day as both trials threatened to suck the life out of both of us. God brought us both through our trials and we give Him the praise! Without Him we would never have survived!

This past weekend wasn't all good though as I received news that my little sister (we are 13 months apart) was diagnosed with breast cancer. Honestly, of the two of us I thought I would be the one dealing with the disease as she has always eaten healthy, ran and exercised and has just been plain healthier. We don't know the type or how far advanced it is as of yet. She has had an appointment with the surgeon and it looks as if the surgery will be November 22nd. She has to have an MRI first (Nov. 10th) and then they will know more about the cancer. They believe it to be slow growing and in the duct - I think that's the better one to have. Please pray for her and my mom (who is a bit of a mess). Pray also for my nephew as this is probably rocking his world. He's an only child and a quiet kid (12 years old). I'm praying he finds his way through this and learns to lean on God. I am also praying that this trial will draw my sister close to God as she hasn't really been walking with Him the last several years.

So life is unpredictable - but I am extremely thankful to God for His never ending love and faithfulness. Even though I don't know what the future holds - I know the One who holds the future! Praise God!