Sorry for the delay...

I tried to post the day after Christmas but I think the internet was just getting too much activity and I couldn't upload any pictures or make a post. I gave up and decided to wait it out a few days before I put up all the pictures from Christmas! I posted 4 or 5 new entries today and so happy reading!! Happy New Year to you all!

Christmas Day!!

What a fun Christmas this was! Samuel was the first one up at 5:05 am and came in and said "Mommy, I'm ready" and I promptly told him that "I'm not, it's too early, go back to bed" and believe it or not, he listened! So the second time he woke up was around 7:45 am and that, we could deal with! The kids rushed down stairs with screams and excitement and while they all opened their stockings, we got some coffee brewing!

Santa came through this year and the boys each got their Nintendo DS game systems that they had just been "dying" for and Isabella got her baby dolls, which she can't get enough of! Below are a few of the pictures taken Christmas morning!

This is what the kids saw when they came down the stairs...lots & lots of presents!!

Samuel opening his Dallas Cowboy's Tony Romo figurine! A boy after his father's heart!

Caden taking inventory of all the Nintendo DS games he had received thus far and checking out his new Wall-E oversize coloring book!

Isabella and her first American Girl baby doll! I foresee a lot of these in our future!

Isabella playing with the guitar that Uncle Roy and Aunt Jo-Jo sent!

Quilt for my Dad!!

As promised, here's a picture of my father opening his quilt on Christmas Day! At first, he thought that it was store-bought and we had to explain to him that I had been working on it for a few months!! I think he liked it!

Santa AND The Tooth Fairy!

This year, we had BIG activity going on in our house because we had BOTH Santa and the Tooth Fairy visit within a 24-hour time frame! Because Samuel lost his tooth on Christmas Day, The Tooth Fairy made it a special occasion by leaving $5!!

Christmas Eve at The Children's Museum

Christmas Eve, I had the day off of work and the kids were out of school and daycare. The Children's Museum was offering free admission that day and so my mother and I dared to go among the crowd and keep the children busy! As soon as we arrived, the boys were excited because there was a cutout of a "Lego Construction Man" warning everyone of the construction that is currently underway! The boys LOVE lego's and I'm sure somewhere in the house, we have a Lego man that just looks like the one they are standing next to!

Once inside, we managed to spend 2-1/2 hours looking around at all the exhibits the museum offers but we especially spent quite a bit of time in the "dinosaur" portion of the museum. My mother was helping put together a magnetic puzzle of dinosaur fossils while Isabella tried on a costume that she wasn't too happy with!

After the museum, we met my sister for lunch and enjoyed time visiting and exchanging presents with my mother!

The Elf on the Shelf

Meet "Eddie"...our very own elf! Santa delivered him to us last night... I opened the front door to plug in the outdoor Christmas lights and there sat the packaged "delivered from the North Pole". The boys were instantly curious as to what could be in the box and once I told them that it was from the "North Pole"...their little eyes lit up with excitement and curiosity! To explain what The Elf on the Shelf is, when you order this, you get a box set containing one "vintage" looking elf and a book explaining what the elf is for. He has a job. During the holiday season, this elf is assigned to watch over your family and report back to Santa each night about who has been naughty or nice that day. By morning, he's back, but he's usually in a different place in the house for a daily hide-and-seek ritual. As a family, we decided on his name of "Eddie" as that is one of the instructions in the book and at the back of the book, there is a space to write the family name, the elf name and the date the family tradition began! Sooo cute! After the boys went to bed last night, Kevin moved him to the top of the curtain rod in the living room and this morning when the boys woke up, they instantly jumped out of bed and went looking!!

Christmas Cookies

This past Sunday, the boys wanted to make Christmas cookies and so out came the dough and flour! The boys had a lot of fun making trees, crosses, hearts, stars and a horrible, horrible mess but as well all know, nothing that a broom, soap and water can't clean up! Isabella just sat in the chair and watched all the excitement as the boys cut out their cookies but she took her turn at playing with the baking utensils after the boys were finished. We didn't end up icing the cookies...by the time they were done baking, the boys were on to bigger and better things, such as Playstation, but they still tasted good just as a plain ol' sugar cookie!

Con"grad"ulations Kevin!!

I'm so proud and happy for Kevin!...he received his Bachelor's Degree last week in the mail! I'm so proud of him at age 35, to make his dream come true of getting his degree and being an inspiration for his children by showing them if you have a goal and work hard, you can obtain it! Kevin started school at the University of Phoenix about 3 years ago but took a year off...that pesky thing called "life" sometimes tends to get in the way! But, he didn't that stop him and he went back and finished the classes he needed and achieved his goal and dream! Congratulations Kevin!

Bows for Isabella!

I've been wanting to try to make bows for Isabella's hair myself, instead of paying outrageous amounts for each of them, and so today, I put my crafting skills to the test! I had already bought some ribbons and flowers and so I downloaded some instructions on-line, grabbed my glue gun and supplies and made 5 of them (shown above). While they aren't the greatest, I am pleased with my first-time in making them. I have a lot more ribbon and so I'm sure with practice, I'll get better!

Christmas Quilt for Dad: Update #4

I am happy to report that the quilt I am making for my father as a Christmas gift is FINALLY FINISHED! Below are a couple of pics of the finished product with one being a closeup to show you how the edges get the "rag" name. I am so happy with the way that the quilt and the edges turned out and can't wait to give it to him come Christmas! I'll make sure to post a couple of pictures opening/holding the quilt!

Christmas ~ 1970

This is a picture of my sister and I many years ago! We are thinking that it was 1970, where I would have been 1-1/2 and Wendy would have been been 6. Look how sweet and innocent Wendy looks — it makes me chuckle every time I look at this picture! If you look at the post below of Isabella's reaction when she saw Santa, I think she gets that from her mama!

Visit with Santa!

Pretty much, the picture speaks for itself! ha!

Christmas Quilt for Dad; Update #3

While most people spent their day shopping for presents, I was busy working on a present...my father's Christmas gift. My "goal", if you've been following along, was to have my father's quilt finished by Thanksgiving. Sadly, I must report that I have not met my goal, but I am close! Below is a picture of the quilt all sewn together! I now must start the tedious task of "clipping" all the seams so that when I wash and dry it, they will frey and the reason why it's called a "rag quilt". Tonight, I started clipping the seams and it took me about one hour to do 2-1/2 rows and so it will easily be another week before I get this done. But stay tuned for the next update...it will be the finished product!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a really nice and relaxing Thanksgiving this year. Wednesday night, my dad and my sister Wendy and her boyfriend, Darrell, came over for dinner. We enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving dinner of turkey, corn, green beans, etc. and Kevin got the honors of carving the turkey! Before and after dinner, we played the Wii and my dad had never played before. Because he is an avid golfer, we figured we would let him try a game that we know that he's good at! He really had a lot of fun playing and got in to the "swing" of things!

Thanksgiving day, we went to Kevin's parent's house and enjoyed a nice relaxing day with a wonderful tasting spread of food. We all watched the movie Wall-E after lunch and then the "boys" went outside to play a little touch, and sometimes tackle, football. Isabella decided she wanted to help Grandma clean up after dinner and took her job of putting the silver ware into the dishwasher very seriously! We, of course, watched the football games on TV as well and just had a nice day talking and relaxing. I was thankful that Kevin didn't have to work this year and could spend the day with family.

The 8 Things Tag

Melissa, my girlfriend from work, tagged me in her blog, meaning I had to answer these list questions! Enjoy getting to know a little bit more about me!

8 TV shows I love to watch:
1. The Amazing Race
2. Lost
3. Grey's Anatomy
4. NFL Football
5. Jon & Kate Plus 8
6. Deadliest Catch
7. Channel 13 News
8. 20/20

8 Favorite Places to Eat:
1. Cancun
2. Bazbeaux Pizza
3. PF Changs
4. Jimmy John's
5. MacAlister's
6. Qdoba
7. Blimpie
8. Palamino

8 Things That Happened Today (in order):
1. Took a shower
2. Got dressed
3. Went to church & worked in the preschool class
4. Ate a ham sandwich and popcorn for lunch with the kids
5. Raked leaves with the boys while Isabella napped
6. Went to Target to get a few Christmas gifts
7. Went to Meijer for groceries
8. Watched the Colts play!

8 Things I Look Forward To:
1. Thanksgiving holiday
2. Christmas holiday
3. Snow (don't hate me but I love it!)
4. 3 days off of work this week!
5. Dedicating Isabella at church on Dec. 14th
6. Watching my children grow
7. Spending my life with Kevin
8. Getting to see Audrey, my first-born daughter, when I get to heaven

8 Things on My Wish List:
1. Nikon D-80 Camera
2. Laptop computer
3. To go shopping for just a few new outfits
4. Go to Paris with Kevin (no kids)
5. Lose 75 more pounds!
7. Bigger home
8. Live a long healthy life!

8 (well, 1) People I Want to Tag:
1. Molly & Kelly
2. I don't think I know anyone else who blogs...!

K+ Family Night gets an A+

Friday night was "Family Night" at Samuel's school for those children who attend the K+ program. Because our county does not have full-day kindergarten, the YMCA sponsers a program called K+, which is basically an extension of his kindergarten class, and they follow the same curriculum and he continues to learn.

For the family night, we weren't sure what to expect as Samuel had been tight-lipped about the night's activities, and so we pretty much only knew we were supposed to show up! We started the evening by doing a scavenger hunt. We were given a sheet with questions in which we had to ask Samuel and it was his job to find things in the classroom which gave us the answer. It was very creative because the answers he had to give/show us allowed us to have insight as to the activities he does during his day while in K+. We then went into the school cafeteria, had a light dinner and watched the kids perform a poem and two songs. Below is a picture of him in his classroom and then a short video of the class performing a song about a turkey trying to run away so that he wouldn't get eaten on Thanksgiving day! Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Wendy!!

Wednesday, November 12, was Wendy, my sister's birthday! Wendy is such a blessing in my life and I am so fortunate to not only call her my sister, but my best friend. She is my voice of reason, one who knows where in life I've been and where I need to go. Everyone should have one person in their life where they can go to get good, solid, grounded advice and she is that person for me! Happy Birthday Wendy...I love you!!

Kevin's 15 minutes of FAME!

While working at the CVS in Muncie, Kevin befriend Patrick O'Brian, who works as a professional firefighter, but also enjoys writing both arson mysteries and horror novels in his spare time. He asked Kevin to "pose" as the detective character for his latest book, the Ghosts of West Baden and so Kevin made it on to the "back" cover of the book (front middle)! The book is due to be published, printed and released this month or next. Click on the image if you want to see it larger!

West Baden Springs, Indiana IS a real place and according to an internet search, things occur around there that cannot be scientifically explained. Not everybody trusts in the reports the folks who live here tell, but only some of the residents of West Baden Springs are alive.

These are some of the spooky things that have happened there recently:

A beheaded lady is frequently perceived being carried by a camel by a highway close to West Baden Springs.

The phantom of an adolescent girl can frequently be distinguished on the highest spot of Mount Airie in the early morning hours examining the view.

A person with a skeleton face sporting murky robes can be distinguished repeatedly marching through a residence near West Baden Springs.

A woman having an axe in her head has now and then been distinguished hauling a headbone in Barnheisel Hollow on a dark night. Nevertheless, it without a doubt is a creepy ghost that is rather not disrupted.

A wandering spirit is once in a while perceived pulling a body from the chilly water of Dry Branch at the stroke of midnight.

Wordless Wednesday!

Christmas Quilt for Dad, UPDATE #2

Slowly but surely, I'm getting there with the quilt I'm making for my father! I've been slacking in my sewing but was able to sit down Saturday night and get some time in, what with the time change. I'm currently sewing all the individual blocks together and starting to form rows...how motivating to start seeing it coming together and resembling a pattern. I still have quite a bit of way to go but my goal is to have it done by Thanksgiving. Check back to see if I do it!

What pretty teeth you have!

Because of the time change on Sunday, we found ourselves having plenty of "extra" time before church started and so I walked in to the kitchen to see Isabella trying to figure out the boys "wax fangs" they had received Halloween night. I quickly grabbed my camera in time to catch her still with them in her mouth!

Happy Halloween!

What a perfect Halloween night! You have to love good ol' Indiana, where it was freezing temperatures at the beginning of the week, but come Friday night, it was clear and balmy! The kids didn't even have to wear jackets. The boys dressed at Ninja's and Isabella as a princess although she wouldn't wear her crown...we were lucky to get any pictures of her with it on her head! Grandma participated in the fun as well and dressed up, makeup, balloons and all, as a happy clown! I made treat bags for all the trick-or-treaters and because of this, was able to count that we had 96 kids come to our front door asking for candy! It was fun to see everyone dressed in their costumes. Ninja's and Spiderman was the popular choice for the boys and the favorite for the girl's, stilled seemed to be a princess!

Fall in Indiana

Russell Farms ~ Noblesville, Indiana

Today we came as a family to their pumpkin patch and I decided to take a few scenery shots. It was a beautiful fall day, a little windy, but otherwise just perfect to take in the simple beauty that God gives us and we sometimes take for granted.

Caden's little face...

I was looking through photos from earlier this year and found this one of Caden, taken in August. I just think he looks so cute and it's just a good picture showing his cute little face that I'm fortunate enough to get to see everyday!

An apple a day...

Last weekend we went with our good friends Kim, Kirk and their daughter Kindahl (see video a few posts down), to Tuttle's Apple Orchard in Greenfield. We spent a few hours letting the kids play in the kid area, enjoying each other's company and picking apples off the trees! Our family alone came home with 13 pounds of apples!! Because of this, I've been playing around with different apple recipes for cakes, pies and apple crisp and the boys have had their fill of apples and caramel dip!

Caden reaching his "goal"

The boys play soccer through a church ministry and although they are there to play soccer, they also have a short devotional inbetween practicing and playing a game. One of their "goals" of the soccer season is to learn a verse by the time the season is over. This is Caden reciting his verse....

John 14:6
Jesus answered, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one goes to the Father except through me."

Five Little Pumpkins...

Saturday, we met our good friends Kim, Kirk, and their little girl Kindahl, at Tuttle's Apple Orchard in Greenfield (pics to come later). We were standing in line to buy the kids some "pumpkin suckers" and she started singing a really cute pumpkin song. I got her to sing it again and caught it with my camera video rolling! So sit back and enjoy!

All I want for Christmas...

...is my two front "lower" teeth! I'm sure by the time Christmas rolls around, his new teeth will be starting to come in but I just can't help myself from singing it. This weekend was a big one for Samuel! His first tooth came out Saturday after getting hit in the mouth with a football...it was super loose to begin with and this was just the thing to get it to come out. I finally persuaded to let me have a good look at it and I reached in there and gave it a quick yank and out it came. The second tooth came out at some point late afternoon on Sunday after playing yet another game of football and wrestling and we're not sure where it is...somewhere in the backyard! Samuel was worried that the tooth fairy wouldn't come because he didn't have a tooth to put under the pillow but we wrote her a note explaining why!

Fire Safety!

Every year, the township in which I works puts on a "Fire Safety Festival" for the kids. It's a wonderful event in which they have fire trucks for the kids to climb up in, safety courses when riding their bikes, a house that the kids go in to that simulates a fire and how to get out, a tent where they give free bike helmets and they also give free lunch as well! How good can it get! This was our third year in going because the boys just love it and this year, Grandma and Papa decided to come along as well! The boys participated in an obstacle course where they had to dress up like fireman and then do the course to save a "baby" and then run over to a wood house and put it out with a real firehouse (held by a fireman but they boys "helped"). I love these pictures of the boys in their "uniforms" and especially the one of Samuel where he looks like he's just spent a long day at work!