Where's Your Favorite Place?

Matt and Sarah often like to quiz Daniel with different questions to see what his response will be. They so enjoy the fact that he is now a thinking, talking person - well most of the time they enjoy that - except when he is thinking to freely with their things and tells them about it! Today's question was "Daniel, where's your favorite place to go?" They were trying to get him to say Target or Toys R Us, but without blinking an eye he said "PopPop's!" I am amazed that he remembers things like this. We haven't been able to get up to PopPop and Grammy's very often this fall - maybe only twice since September - but he knows he likes it there! I am so glad that our kids have the blessing of grandparents that really love them and pray for them. I am extremely thankful they have a place to go that they love and can build fond memories of - even at the age of two!

Our weekend is packed again as we have a family birthday party to attend tomorrow. Someday I will get the tree up and decorated. I had really hoped to have it up by now, but it just hasn't worked out. Hopefully by Sunday afternoon our house will start looking like Christmas. New neighbor's three houses down got brave enough to put up a huge inflatable snowman with candy cane lights encircling it in their front yard (a postage stamp sized lawn). I am amazed someone hasn't popped it yet! We'll see how long it stands! Maybe our neighborhood is getting better. I have always thought it would be nice to put up some decorations in the yard, but haven't for fear they would be destroyed. I'll wait and see what happens to my neighbors.

Sweet Daniel

My poor baby has a cold! He has been the healthiest baby I have ever had. I believe this is only his second cold in 2+ years of life! He is miserable, but so cuddly! All he wanted to do while I was teaching Sarah math was sit on my lap. I really wonder how much he is learning just from sitting on my lap! He is really good at recognizing his colors, counts "1,2,3,4" and "7,8,9!" (hasn't figured 5,6 yet!), and is really great at singing songs like "Jesus Loves Me" and "Itsy, Bitsy Spider". His vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds. The teens at church are always laughing at the words that come out of his mouth. They're always saying "Wow! He's talking!" He is really funny! What a blessing he is to our family. Pray that he would get over his cold quickly.

Pray for Andy. Last night he was working on our prayer letter and the computer flashed an error and shut down the program he was working in. He had saved the letter, but the computer lost it. It is somewhere, he just couldn't find it. He had to start all over. He was very frustrated! He has so much on his plate right now. Computers are wonderful things, but they sure can be a thorn! His computer has been doing crazy things as of late. We had a friend come and work on it a little, but I think it still needs more work. Hopefully, during the break we can get the thing straightened out and working properly. We are all looking forward to the break to regroup. I really enjoy the winter break as there is not so much going on like the spring/summer breaks (missions trip, vacation, camping with kids, etc.). Though Andy told me today he has dates for me to mark off - maybe it won't be as calm as I thought it would be. I guess we'll see!

62!!!

That is the number of preteens we had out tonight! 62 eleven and twelve year old kids! It was INSANE!!!! We were also short two leaders so we had to handle 62 kids with three adult leaders and three teen guys. Praise God for the teen guys! They really stepped up to the plate tonight and helped out. Without them we would have never made it through the night! I have no idea what brought out all the kids - but it was great to see them all. I only hope that they really listened to the lesson of thankfulness. It was our last preteens of the year. Next week is Family Night and then the 11th of December is our preteen Christmas party. Please be in prayer as we prepare for the party. 50 kids were invited so we will need at least 60+ gifts (to give the kids choices) and shirts. Andy ordered the decals, now to the task of getting them on the shirts. We do have two churches that are coming down to help out with the program. Be in prayer for them, Trinity United Methodist and Calvary Chapel of Central Bucks, as they prepare as well.

Matt continues to have a great attitude with school. He is really trying and it is really showing. I am really proud of him and the effort he is putting forth. Even when things seemed to get difficult today he kept his cool and pushed forward. He is really maturing. Sarah also had a great day. She enjoyed math as it was a very hands-on lesson. We discussed measuring and had to use measuring cups and spoons. She loved that! A funny thing - tonight I put them to bed and about 45 minutes later went up to check on them. I caught her READING!!!! "I really wanted to finish the book!" she said. I had to laugh as I painfully took the book away. I can completely relate!!!! She is so much like me in that area! And this is the child I was sure would NEVER read because she couldn't sit down long enough to learn her sounds and letters! They have both been really into reading. One reason is I am trying to be more consistent with silent reading time during school. Daniel helps in this area as everyday he asks if I will lay down with him. I have found that the 15 minutes I lay down while waiting for him to fall asleep really helps me for the afternoon. During that time the kids read. They read for 30 minutes so the other 15 minutes I use to get ready for the things I'll be teaching in the afternoon. It really has helped their attitudes as well! We all win!

Where Does Time Go?

I can't believe we had a week off. My house certainly doesn't look better - at least where I wanted it to be at this point. Matt and Sarah's rooms look great - so fresh and clean! They were both cleaned from ceiling to floor with a fresh coat of paint. Sarah even got new bedding. She has been dying to put some "girl" colors in her room. When we were expecting her we didn't know if she was going to be a girl or boy, so we sponge painted the lower wall denim blue thinking a girl could go into a blue room but a boy could not go into a pink room and we both hated yellow. I found a quilt at Target that has the same blue with purple in it as well. She loves it! Now we are looking for pillows and curtains. She also moved to the top bunk. We only have one mattress on her bunk as she used the top as a play area (doll house). She really wanted to move to the top so now we use the bottom part as a play area. We are going to get a curtain and make it into a little hide-a-way. So girly! I'll have to take pictures and post them later on.

School went pretty well today. Matt had a great attitude and completed most of his work. Sarah was a bit difficult as she was not ready to do math. It is not one of her favorite subjects. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better. Matt had fun tonight as he decided to turn in some of his Gameboy SP games to Game Stop. He was excited as he came out with $11.40! If he had taken the store credit he would have gotten over $18. But he wants some Cd's. He is getting to that preteen age. I am having a hard time adjusting to him growing up. Why can't they just stay sweet and little? I guess I would get tired of that!

Black Friday!

Yes, I was nuts! I couldn't sleep and was up at 5:oo am anyway - so I headed out to Target. Andy really wanted an external hard drive (his parent had given him money LAST YEAR for Christmas to get one of these!) and they had one on sale for $87. I was successful in getting him one and now he is a happy little owner! I also picked up a couple of things for the kids. One gift is for Andy and I - it's a splurge, but we received money for our anniversary in October that we were saving for a camera, but bought a 19" HDTV, DVD, Monitor, instead. We thought it would be fun to have it up in the school room - WEBKINZ on BIG SCREEN! The kids will flip! So thank you Mom and Dad and Aunt Louise for the great gift! We will all enjoy it!

I then came home, unloaded the stuff, and went back out to CVS where my beginning total was $63.81 and I paid $17.77 for a ton of stuff! I came out with like $36 EBC's for future purchases. I came home again and gathered the crew for a trip out to SEARS. Andy spent all his gift card money he had been saving for the year. We also bought a couple of gifts. Overall, I think we did well not overspending. Sometimes it can get crazy when you see all the deals and don't plan ahead. I really stuck to my list and determined NOT to overspend!

We got our car back today. It was the anti-theft system gone bad. We had to have a computer something or other replaced which came to the tune of over $800.00. Imagine our car thinking WE were the thieves! (I really think it's the car that is the thief - stealing $800!!!) That is why it wouldn't start. God is good as we have the money needed to make the repair and can now drive it again.

We are now painting Matt's room. I think we'll get to Sarah's room tomorrow. We will then proceed to move Daniel into the boys' room. That could be fun!

Thanksgiving!

There are so many things for which I am thankful for, the usual - a great husband, healthy kids, wonderful parents and in-laws, a warm home, and all the other blessings God has bestowed upon my life. One thing I am extremely grateful for are tremendous prayer partners and supporters in the ministry to which God has called our family. Without them we would in no way be able to do what we do - especially without the prayers! Our God continues to protect and care for us in tremendous ways due to the faithful prayers of his children. Thank you!!

Today was a great day. We enjoyed eating out with Andy's parents, Aunt Louise, Aunt Barb and Cousin Nate. We went to the Boyertown Cafe' and they had a great buffet. I was so glad I was able to eat after being so sick Tuesday night into Wednesday (terrible chills, nausea, fever, etc.). Thankfully it was just a 24 hour bug. It was great to eat and enjoy the food without being all stressed out about things. Later in the afternoon we went to my Aunt Bonnie's and enjoyed a turkey dinner with all the fixings. It was fun to see my cousin Lenore and her husband Mike and their three kids, my sister Lisa and nephew Sam, my grandmother Ruth, my Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Ray, and my parents. It was really funny to see seven kids ranging in age of 18 months to 10 years old! I don't think that house ever saw seven kids at once! They all played great together and hardly heard a peep from any of them - except from Daniel who was particularly emotional tonight. If anyone told him no he burst into tears! I think he was extremely tired. He didn't sleep well last night (was up from 1:00 am - 2:30 am) was up early and his nap was cut short to get from one family to another. Hopefully people won't think this is his normal personality! He really is a pleasant little guy!

I hope and pray that you all had a wonderful day with family and friends. Now onto Black Friday! I may get brave and venture out for a while. I only have a few more things to get for Christmas - no outrageous purchases! Sometimes it's just fun to get out there with the crazy people! My mom, sister and I used to go to the WalMart in Quakertown, before I had Daniel. We would get there at about 4:30 am and laugh with all the other people that were there. I haven't ever done it in Philly as people aren't as jovial and can get a bit rough. We'll see how I feel in the morning!

Day 2 of No School!

Well, today didn't go as well as yesterday. Today I focused on Sarah's room. Her room is smaller than Matt's so I thought it would be a breeze - but she has so much stuff in her room! We went through EVERYTHING!!! I have always thought she had too much stuff, but today really emphasized it. I laid down the law and told her we HAD to get rid of some things. She had seven categories of toys: 1) Sweet Streets, 2) Cabbage Patch Doll & Stuff, 3) Groovy Girl Dolls & Stuff, 4) American Girl Doll & Stuff, 5) Hopscotch Girl Dolls & Stuff, 6) Stuffed Animals, and 7) Littlest Pet Shop Stuff. If it were just a doll it would be okay, but all of these categories have TONS of little things that go with them! It drives me CRAZY when they are all over the place. So, after many tears and agonizing hours, she decided to get rid of several stuffed animals, 1/2 her Sweet Streets, and her Cabbage Patch Doll. Most of it will go to our churches thrift shop - Nifty Thrifty. She wants to try to sell the Sweet Streets on eBay as there were quite a few going for some pretty pennies. She is trying to save up for an American Girl Doll as we refuse to buy them or let anyone else buy them for her. They are pricey and she needs to really earn the money to know the value of these dolls.

Now I am off to finish her room. I stayed home from Kids Club because I am not feeling all that well (headache, tired, etc.). I need to go to bed early tonight. I think it may be too many late nights catching up with me!