Happy Mothers Day!

Yesterday we celebrated Mothers Day and Grace's 3rd Birthday. It was a wonderful and special day and I'm so thankful to have such a wonderful family full of love. My mom came down Saturday afternoon and we were able to go shopping just the two of us. I don't remember the last time we did that! I found the most gorgeous shoes in the world, and at $110 I'll be waiting until they are about 80% off to consider buying them. I looked for dresses for the wedding and came home empty handed. I am now thinking I'll just buy some very cute shoes to go with the dress I have.

When we got home Grace opened her presents from my mom, and she read the kids a story she got about Grandma's house. It was very sweet. Grace seemed extra tired all day and so I kept a close eye on her, and when she coughed some during the night I knew she might be catching a cold. She seemed better in the morning once she got up and about, but shortly after we arrived home from a wonderful Mother's Day service at church, she went downhill. She was exhausted and just under the weather.

We grilled chicken and burgers and ate at around 1:30, then did cake and presents. We had almost whole family here: the five of us, my parents, my brother and his wife Shannon, my grandparents (all three!), Gary's parents, and his pap. Birthday's with kids are SO much fun. She got some cute clothes, pj's and of course toys. The toys are already out of the boxes and scattered all over the downstairs. She doesn't need a thing so I have no idea what we will get her! Last night I just had to laugh as the favorite activity was using the princess cleaning set and the squirt guns to clean the house. They were "spraying" the windows with the squirt guns, and scrubbing them and the floors and walls with the cleaning set. It just makes me laugh how much Grace loves to help. She's such a girl already. She is devastated if I don't let her help me clean the floors, the windows or fold laundry. I dare hope it continues as she gets older, but I don't count on it. :)

Even though she had a wonderful time, Grace begged us for a nap when everyone was gone, about 4:30, and she was burning up with fever so I let her. At 6 we made her get up for fear she would not sleep at night. She was past ready for bed again at 8:30 though, and slept fitfully all night. She seems to be past the fever now but does still have a slight cough. I"m not sure if the lack of fever means she's on the mend, or the Tylenol is working. :) The kids aren't too much trouble when they are sick, it's just part of life. I felt so badly that she was so sick. I considered letting her nap around 12:30 for an hour and probably should have. She only wanted cake to eat anyways, she could have gotten up, had some yogurt and bread and then cake and been fine. Oh well. I knew having an afternoon party would be hard on her because she so relies on her naps. I also knew though that if I did it any other time, not everyone could come. I was very upset when everyone left and I realized that I had not gotten the family pictures I wanted. I did convince Gary to do a couple with our camera's timer of the five of us so I do have those.

Esther is doing wonderfully. We're at the end of nursing I fear. Within a week I doubt she'll nurse at all and I know I will miss it. With Tyler i couldn't wait to be done. I love the benefits of nursing and value it highly, but I really don't enjoy it per se. With Esther, its another sign that my last baby isn't so much of a baby anymore and it's so hard. She's still a baby, but the time is going far to quickly for me. I hoped she'd say "ma-ma" for Mother's Day but- no dice. She is really rolling now- both ways, and doing some stealth scooting. we never quite see her turn or scoot, but she ends up across the room very often. Operation "keep the toys in the playroom and away from Esther" is in full affect now.

I also have to comment on my poor Gary. We started watching Lost this winter- in fact it may not have started until after we moved here, which was only 3 months ago tomorrow. We are now all caught up to current episodes and poor Gary barely knows what to do with himself in the evenings now. Last night he checked facebook, checked ESPN (what a waste of 3 hours he spent watching the Cavs last night. Blah!) and then just kind of sat there like "what do I do now?!" I hope the weather warms up this week like it's supposed to so we can continue to tackle the yard work... After a full week of poison ivy on my arms, and now legs and neck, I'm ready to spray the you-know-what out of the plants in the flower beds!

My last post got cut short and I never got back to it. I wanted to comment on two new "hobbies" of mine as of late. Couponing is very time consuming and stressful, and somehow fun. I spent too much buying things that were a good deal- but not great - the first couple weeks. I now am working on only buying things that are a great deal (like 24 cent lunchables), and continuing to shop some at Aldi. It's just so much less stress to be able to get about 90% of what I need in 30 minutes and I know I can get out the door with a FULL basket under $100 and it'll last two weeks easy. This leads me to baby food- I forgot how much I loved it! It's time consuming and messy but SO much better with my beloved stove and dishwasher. :) haha! I get a great sense of accomplishment when I can make healthy food for my family, and especially my babies. I had forgotten just how much of baby food is actually water. It shocked me when I baked 4 sweet potatoes that I had to add probably 2 or more cups of water to it to get it purred. I did get more than 10 meals worth of food out of them though. I don't recall how much exactly, but I think I got three trays which would be 36 ounces= so at 3 oz a meal ( more than we use since I generally add a cereal mixture to her fruits and veggies or combine them) that's 12 meals. I was also excited a couple weeks ago to find avacado for 49cents each. Esther LOVES them! I got about 5 meals out of each one. Then I was even more excited Friday night when I got avacado's for twenty five cents a piece! They were fully ripe but I knew I had salsa at home and viola! Cheap guacamole!

I had wanted to talk about spiders too- where do they come from!?!? We have SO many! I need to take an entire evening and hide in the basement with the shop vac- it's just unbelievable to me the cobwebs we accumulate in this house- ESPECIALLY in our ancient basement! We do spray Home Defense inside and outside once a month. If you know of another trick beyond that- I"m all ears!

Esther is holding her own bottle!

~I'm a proud and crying mom!~

Stepping Heavenward
Babies

House
Spiders
baby food
couponing

I've just finished the book "Stepping Heavenward" and it's amazing! I"ve always tried to find joy in the Lord no matter my circumstances. I've always tried to "praise him in the storm" and obediently submit to his will for my life and trust Him knowing that he knows far better what I need than I do. This book, though it's about all these things, still challenged and encouraged me immensely. It's a journal of a woman beginning at the age of 16. She pours her heart out in a way that is entertaining, and yet still challenging as you see how her faith grows throughout her life. Pastor Dan always talks about being in the Word and in prayer and how our faith should be growing, and evident that it is growing. In this book- you see it. In this age of texts and blogs and emails we tend to just write what we think without much thought. I try to put thought into my blogs but this woman writes so very well, and in a time when writing is a luxury. Now that I've finished this book, my next quest is "Mere Christianity" by CS Lewis. I'm also of course reading the Bible and I started a novel yesterday so I might just squeeze that in before I really get too deep into Lewis. I highly recommend Stepping Heavenward and hope if you pick it up, you'll enjoy it too!

Babies Babies Babies!!! I love mine beyond words, and it seems that having one is the thing to do this spring/summer! To all my many friends who are trying, pregnant, or have new babies, I'm praying for you!! It's so neat to see how babies change lives. :) I'm very excited for my niece to come in a few short months! She's already gotten some clothes from her cousins Grace and Esther, and we hope to find little ways to continue to spoil her! As for my Baby, she's perfect! She turned 6 months last week. Her stats confirm my choice to keep Grace's old 12mo summer dresses within easy reach! On April 23, six months, she weighed in at 16lbs 4oz, 27.5 inches long.
At 6 months her sister was 16lb 5oz, and 25.5 inches long. Isn't that funny? one ounce difference, and TWO inches! Tyler was 19lb 11 oz at 6 months. No length recorded, but a month earlier he was 27inches.

I LOVE SO MANY THINGS ABOUT OUR HOUSE!
I love my dishwasher. I mean LOVE it. I now cook again, and might even get back into some baking in the future! I just love that I can load it up and run it and it WORKS SO well! I love our water softener too. I know it's not quite working right (still have iron in the water), but well water/water softened water is so wonderful. I"m already seeing how our soap is going further. My mom told me of this when we moved, and I thought it would be no big deal, but she was SO right! Even with my super long hair, I need half or less of the shampoo and conditioner I did before. Sometimes I don't condition at all. We use much less body wash, the bubble solution in the bath goes further... hand soap, dish soap, dishwasher soap (I only use the tabs if it's FULL), and even laundry soap. I can just feel that things are cleaner and softer and i use less and less. It's funny, I'm getting into couponing, but the way i'm using shampoo, the 6 bottles I got for under a dollar each will take us YEARS to use! Don't be surprised if you get Heath and Beauty items as gifts this year from us! I also love our windows. I just love love love being able to open them (those few days of warm weather we had) and the breeze. I love that we can leave the lights off all day,even on a cloudy day and we barely notice the difference. Let's see... I love the seperate tub/shower. It's more to clean, but so wonderful to know the kids won't get into our stuff. I don't have to go hunting for where I hid my razor every time I take a shower! Such little things in life... I also love the laundry chute. This is an awesome reward for the kids- if they are good they get clothes out of the hamper upstairs and run them down to the bathroom and throw them down. No more carrying baskets of laundry down, the kids get to have fun running up and down the stairs, and they use up extra energy on cold dreary days like today so that they will NAP! It's also nice that the hamper is always in the same place. I also love my stove. Thank you Gary for letting me spend a little more to get these great features- I love it.

I'll have to add more later, this has already taken me HOURS to compose! Many wonderful inturruptions in my day!

I'll leave you wiht this interesting question: When do we lose the ability to caress our own cheeks with our feet while we drink our milk? Do we lose that when we start to use a cup?

OUR CLASSES ARE OVER!!!!!!!!

I (Heather) am so thankful to be done! Six weeks straight of both of us taking classes on line was incredibly stressful but will be very worth it. We're done for 4 years, and then we'll have a year to take more. I think next time I'll try to not procrastinate so long and spread them out a bit! It was great to take them together though, it really did help us both stay on task and keep each other accountable. It also helped each of us to understand how much work was really required so that we could not hinder each other. I"m so thankful to Gary for all his help, I certainly could never have passed without him. Even with him there were many tears, many thrown pens, and many
run-off-and-hide-in-the-bathroom-and-cry
moments! We get our final grades Sunday, and then we can have University of Phoenix send our transcripts. Then I'll send mine to the State of Ohio and Gary will submit for his reimbursement (he gets a certain % back from the school. Yay!) and then he'll submit his. By summer we should have renewed certifications!

I'm so excited to get into a routine. I feel like i've really not yet gotten to enjoy our new home! I've not gotten on a routine to keep up with (and enjoy) my responsibilities either. I'm hoping to do a little work in the nursery, some work in the yard, start a garden, continue to teach Tyler to read and write, as well as Grace's schooling. The basement has not ta all been unpacked and the summer clothes need to be brought out so we can see what we need to buy! It's also time to get my cleaning schedule, and chore charts for the kids established. Then there's the baby food making to be done and the potty training for Grace! I think I will appreciate more just being able to be "mom" and all that goes with that. I'll be able to just hold Esther and let her sleep like I did last night and this afternoon. I'll be able to email my friends and *gasp* spend time with them?!

I just feel as if I've been out of commission since September! I had my birthday and then we got into baby prep mode, Esther came, newborn months are stressful, then the holidays, the purchase of the house, packing, moving, unpacking and 6 weeks of classes! It's been a long winter indeed! I''ve truly tried to enjoy each day and the many blessings God has given me. I hope to be able to crawl out of my hole and be a blessing to others. The trial of business makes it difficult to have your heart and mind where it should be in the Lord, and I'm hoping to get back to where I need to be.

Psalm 54:4 says Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.

I can't Praise Him enough for all he's brought into my life. Even those things that to my human eyes are "bad", can bring him Glory. I hope we, as a family, do bring Him glory!

Happy Easter!

We had a wonderful Easter! We had our families over to our house and everyone but Lia came! It was the five of us, Sandra, Tim, Aunt Toots, Joshua, Shannon, Gary, Stephanie, Josh, and Pap. We missed you Lia!! It was wonderful to have the larger house to have everyone over, and the weather was beautiful. It was a lot of work getting ready, but the benefit was the clean house when everyone left, and we didn't have to do any packing or driving! Late in the evening I came down with the flu, or some other bug that has me still very tired and not feeling well, but improved. Gary's on his final "spring break" day and where is he? Yup! School! Lots to do when teachers and students are not around. The kids were very good all weekend until about an hour ago when they decided to color on the window seat cushion. They've never done anything like that before... well, actually I guess they did color with dry erase marker on the seats of the van last summer. *sigh* Kids are great aren't they? We're in our second UOP class, just as much work, but a little more concrete in the content. I'm beginning to see that the final project is going to be very very time consuming so i really need to start it now even though it's due in a little less than two weeks. We've been doing our best to get out and enjoy the beautiful spring weather! I can't believe its so nice all day and only rains at night lately. We have a screened in back porch which we are really loving. I'm anxious to put plans in motion to fence in the backyard for the kids and get some trees and limbs removed. Once these classes are over I will be so relieved! Gary's done a lot of work clearing out leaves from last fall from the gutters and flower beds. I'd guess he's about half done. We need to clear out what's dead and see what kind of plants and flowers come up the next few months. We also hope to put in a garden still.... The screens were all washed and put in by Gary a few weeks ago, the breeze is AMAZING!! I love it. We truly do love this house! And ina few weeks the ice cream shop down the road is going to be open!!!!! Gary is in his glory as his beloved Duke Blue Devils are National Champions again! It made the Tribe's Opening Day 6-0 loss a little easier to take... Esther is still growing and changing. She's almost sittig up unassited, she's grabbing and holding thigns and transferrig them from hand to hand. She's preferring her left hand at the current time and her grandma is left handed so we shall see! Should be interesting teaching a lefty how to write! She also prefers to investigate things with her mouth so we have to be very careful what we put within her reach. She's now a pro at eating rice cereal, pureed apples and pears. She rolls from side to side and plays well on her tummy but is not at all interested in rolling on her own. She's SUCH a happy girl smiling and blabbing and laughing all the time! She's just perfect and I love everything about her! We have three amazing and wonderful children and I thank God every day for these blessings he's loaned me!!! And their daddy of course. :)

Anyone else feel like it should be February?

Seems the more kids you have the faster the days go! The online class continues to be very time consuming and stressful, but I AM learning a lot and getting good grades. Praying the next class is more on my knowledge level.

Esther is doing wonderfully. She's 5 months now. On our home scale (me holding her, minus me) she weighs 15.2 pounds dressed. So she's at LEAST 15 pounds. Tyler hit 15 pounds at 3 1/2 months, Grace was 16 pounds 5 oz at her 6 month appointment. So the girls are right about the same size. I do believe Esther to be longer though. She is now on two bottles daily, three nursing. She's still sleeping through the night, though lately that last feeding has come after midnight messing up mommy's wake up time more and more! We're trying to keep up with things inside the house, and homeschooling, and Gary has started getting the years worth of leaves raked out of all the flower beds around the house. We're already making plans for what we're going to take out to make the outside work easier. I'm not much for pulling weeds. If I'm going to spend time pulling weeds I want to do it where the reward is a fresh tomato sandwich! We do still hope to start a garden, though I wouldn't be surprised if that was the thing we had to forgo... to me the fence will be more important. And Gary wants a grill. :)

Our other fun thing we're doing is trying to find flower girl dresses! I think I'm having more fun than Grace!

Just a couple quick pictures of the kids the week we moved in...

checking in...

SPRING IS COMING!!! We'll probably have more snow first, but we're seeing signs of it! Last week we had some gorgeous days with sunshine and warm weather!

Thank you to all those who prayed for Mikey. He is home from the hospital and on the mend. He will have to have several more surgeries, so continue to pray for him as he has a long road ahead. His feeding is key, as being able to take a bottle and receive nourishment will help strengthen him and make his health stable for the surgeries.

Gary and I are currently taking a class through the University Of Phoenix. We have to take 6 credit hours every 4 years to keep our certification. We're doing both classes this spring, a three week class now, and another one immediately following. The work is all done online making it convenient, however doing a 5 week course in three weeks that you know nothing about is terribly hard. We chose two technology classes so that Gary could have something to use at his job, and I could attempt to keep up with the outside world in preparation for "someday" when I go back to teaching. So far the biggest lesson I've learned is that I know nothing about technology and do not handle stress well. The assignments are very time consuming, especially sharing a computer and feeling lost the entire time. Today ends our first week, five to go.

Yesterday we took a quick trip to Mansfield to attend the Ohio Wedding Reception of Graham and Seda Geisler. It was a wonderful event and we're so thankful we got to be a part of it. We're so happy for the Geislers and thankful they have been able to move from Cambodia, to America. We're praying for you Graham as you look for a job! Seda, it was a blessing and an honor to meet you! We saw many people that we worked with when we lived there and it was fun to see the reactions to our adding two girls to our family since many of them had seen us. The highlight of my day, was holding Ali Stauffer (and visiting with her mommy! I got to talk to a real live adult!!). I love that little girl and her parents so much! It's extremely moving to have prayed for something, almost daily, for years, and then to see God answer those prayers in such a wonderful way. Children are a blessing and we're so grateful God answered our prayers and sent Ali to Ben and Amy. We continue to pray for you guys and we love you!! Keep in touch! :)

Esther is now taking one bottle of formula a day. Thanks to a very generous donation I might switch her to two a little ahead of schedule. I also will be able to start cereal with her as soon as i find her highchair cover! She still eats, plays and sleeps right on schedule. She wants to sit on her own in the worst way, but can't seem to sit still so she falls a lot. She's not at all interested in rolling but has started getting herself turned around and scooted both from her tummy and her back. She's never where I lay her at night in the morning! She's such a good baby. Grace and Tyler are doing well too. It's been an adjustment for them, again, with my preoccupation with these courses. Having mommy preoccupied most of the day and daddy stressed and preoccupied at night has been rough, but they have each other and truly love to be together and play together. Having more space here has made a huge difference. They act up like crazy outside of the house so most people would never know it, but they are great kids. I feel badly about all the adjusting they've had to go through, and I'm blessed to have kids that are so resilient.

As I composed this in my head earlier today it seemed I had more to write... but now I can't remember. :( 5-6 hours of sleep a night is just not enough for us! I'm off to pack a picnic dinner for us to take to daddy's work. Phone problems will likely have him there most of the evening so hopefully he can help me with my power point assignment and we can let the kids run around in the hallways or gym a bit!

I hope to post more photos this week.... if not look for them next month! :)

Prayers for Mikey

My friend Lori's cousin Jamie has a baby named Mikey. He's had many issues with his lungs and was born with cleft lip/pallet. He's been in the hospital often since birth (he's a month or two older than Esther) for aspirating when trying to take bottles and problems with his lungs. He had surgery Tuesday on his lip, pallet and nose. He came out of surgery in stable condition and took a little from a bottle. He was also in considerable pain. Wednesday he began to have trouble eating and has had to be put on IV because He's not eaten anything since. He did try to drink yesterday, and aspirated into his lungs. Last night also the stints in his nose shifted, causing the nose to shift and they had to have the stitched in stint moved into the correct place with no medication. Please keep the family in your prayers if you would. Thanks!

Uncle Jim and Aunt Barb!

HI! If you are reading this you are in the right place! To the right is a list of "Archives" Go to "December 2009" AND "January 2010" for the most pictures.

Enjoy! Love, Heather

Marching into March! I"m happy to report that there is not much to report. Sometimes no news is good news. Yikes, where does time go? When I last wrote was already over a week ago! Last week I don't remember much about at the moment. I"m not sure if nothing happened or if i"m just that tired. :) We're still settling which is nice. The downstairs is almost complete after a 5 hour move-everything sweep and mop session yesterday. The wood floors are finally clean and the carpets where I want them. Toy bins still need to be re-organized. The home school room is in good shape and clean and ready for Rosy. Gary's parents are heading out tomorrow after Pap's surgery to visit Josh and Lia in NC so we'll be taking Rosy. We have a nice area we can block off, and hopefully she'll get out of there and be able to play with the kids some. They are "afraid" of her but I think they are coming around to her and after having her live with us for a few days I think it'll go better. It think it will also cement in my mind that I'm NOT ready for a dog! If we got a dog it wouldn't be an older, blind and deaf dog so it'd be a LOT more work. My mom is enjoying some time in Florida with Grandma and Grandpa Cline and Aunt Toots, as well as Uncle Jim and Aunt Barb. She opened her day yesterday with a run on the beach and a great view of a family of dolphins. Perfect way to start the day! (Minus the running part of course.) I"m not doing so well with the treadmilling. :) The days I do get on, I get in a really nice workout, but then I seem to miss two days in a row. At least i'm making the effort. Gary got to take Tyler to a basketball game last night. The Marlington Dukes won and Tyler had a good time. We had "girls night" here at home complete with dancing, making cookies, Candyland and Dora. As soon as Grace went to bed Esther decided she needed a good crying fit and needed to be held. I"m happy to do it. :) Gary's been getting us into LOST here since we moved. Great waste of time with all the new house projects... but i guess if you are going to get engrossed in a show, better in Feb/March than in June. I don't get the point, but it is addicting. At the end of most episodes i say "nothing happened!" But I keep watching because we watch together, and because something might happen. We're still plugging along with our Sonlight Curriculum as well as some reading aloud, and a preschoool workbook. Tyler is MUCH more willing to write these days so the writing pages are going well, and actually a bit too easy. I hope to get him back on the learning to read course sometime next week. We're staill praying through our Christian school vs home school decision. We're excited to have some company this weekend for the day on Saturday. We hope Josh has a great birthday and sorry he has to spend it with us! haha! We're really looking forward to having them and pray that Snow does not ruin the chance to see them! My brother also is having a birthday this week... I can't believe how grown up we are! My mom must feel the same. Esther is four months now. We started this week giving her a bottle of "mommy milk" once a day. Sunday she was not on board at all and only took 2oz over a period of almost an hour. Yesterday she took a full 3 oz and was so fussy an hour and a half later that I gave her another 3 oz. I hope today she'll take a larger bottle. It's funny I have no idea what to even offer her because I have no idea how much she drinks. We'll probably start her on formula for that one feeding this week or next week. I know it's time, but i'm hesitant to do it. My last baby and I don't want to wean her just yet! Last summer I had the privilege of getting to go to Amish country with my dear friends Jackie and Connie. It was SO much fun. I bought a Mennonite cookbook there and didn't get to use it until we moved here. In fact I made a point to have it unpacked right away so it was ready to use. I've made 7 recipes out of it now and we've liked them all! Many of them are pretty high in calories due to the ingredients so i look forward to experimenting with low fat substitutes for ingredients. Sometimes it just isn't worth it though. :) I did have to laugh at myself when making an egg casserole though. It calls for 1/2 lb or less Velveeta, 6 pieces of white bread, 6 eggs and 1/2 lb bacon. I was taking the bacon out of the skillet and thought to myself "how much calorie difference is it really going to make if I drain this on paper towels?" I did drain it and it was very yummy, and VERY filling! It's been fun to cook again and I can tell you the reason is THE DISHWASHER!!! I love that thing. Nap time is quickly coming to a close. Esther needs to eat, laundry needs my attention and the woodwork does not dust itself! Gary's got conferences tonight so leftovers it is!

A Real Work Week!

Today Gary actually had to go to work! :) We truly have been spoiled with the extra time together. Today begins our first "work week" at our new home. I"m thankful for so many things in this home. One of them being the dishwasher! Who knew one of the keys to happiness was not having to do dishes? I am really enjoying cooking again! A few months back I got to go to Amish country with Jackie and Connie and I bought a Mennonite Cookbook. I've made three new things from it already, as well as pies recommended to me from Pillsbury's website. All delicious! I did tell Gary, though, if we're going to eat like Mennonites, we'll need to work like them. This stuff is very high calorie!

I'm also enjoying having more windows. I'm seeing they will be a lot of work to wash this spring, and dusting this morning took longer than the old apartment, but what a joy to be able to look outside and see God's creation. And natural light!!! And NOT be looking right into someone else's house. :) I can't help but wonder how much people can see in through the curtains we have. A whole area of the house has no curtains because the nearest place would have to have binoculars to see in. I'm excited to see what Spring brings. We have many trees and to see them bloom and grow, then change in the fall will be awesome. I also know that there will be flowers. Those might not live past this spring, but I'll do my best! We have a blacktop driveway and large garage so we won't have to walk down the street to a parking lot to ride bikes... we also have a yard where we'll have plenty of room for running, swinging, playing ball and a garden.

I try not to be someone who takes things for granted, and I also feel weird mentioning the things i'm thankful for, as if I'm bragging. I assure you that is not my intention. I really just feel led to record things going on in our lives, and part of that is this move, the blessing of this house and I want it in writing how thankful I am to the Lord, and to Gary for his hard work, to make this home ours here on earth. I know so many dear to my heart and strangers alike, who struggle daily with even the basic necessities. I feel like as I pray and ask God to provide for those, I need to also thank him for providing for us. And He has. He always has. There have been times where we too struggled, and people came beside us and encouraged us, prayed for us, and gave us gifts of generosity. I know that they were tools used by God and I pray I too can be an encouragement, a faithful prayer warrior, and someone who shares.

Gary's parents returned safely from their trip out of the country. They had a wonderful, restful time even though it was a work trip. I"m excited to hear more about it and see pictures of the sun! A friend from High School's 4 month old daughter had surgery to remove what turned out to be a cyst on her brain. They thought it was a tumor. What relief they must have felt when the surgery was so successful. Having a 4-month-old myself, that one was easy to pray for. Many other friends and family members have great prayer needs right now. I make new year "goals" most of the time, thigns I want to improve so that i don't "fail" and give up. I also usually use Lent as an opportunity to reasses and recharge those goals. This year I heard something on the radio about not only giving up something for Lent, but "taking up" something for Lent. Taking up something for 40 days seemed like a great idea. I decided to make a commitment to walk on my treadmill and pray every single day. I've not done it to be honest, but the praying I"ve done. :) I'm excited about it because I hope it will create a habit that I definately want. What good is a treadmill you don't use?

Now that we're moved in, and hopefully getting into a routine, I'm also excited to get back to some things I've not TAKEN time to do for months, like memorize scripture. So I leave you with a few passages that have touched me this weekend/week. I hope they encourage you too.

Phillipians 4:4-20 ⁴Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.⁸Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. ⁹Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.¹⁰I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. ¹¹I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹²I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³I can do everything through him who gives me strength.¹⁴Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. ¹⁵Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; ¹⁶for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need. ¹⁷Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account. ¹⁸I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. ¹⁹And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

²⁰To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

And Isaiah 40- I love the whole chapter, but especially these more well known verses--28-31.

²⁸ Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.

²⁹ He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.

³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;

³¹ but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Tyler and Grace playing trains at the Hartville Kitchen

We're HOME!

We're in our new house!! We moved on Saturday and could not have done it without such wonderful help. We were pretty nervous about the amount of help we'd get and Gary started asking everyone we knew. :) Thankfully some of his OUTSTANDING co-workers came and their willing hands were greatly appreciated. We also had lots of help from people from our church. Our last move we had tons of Grace Community Church help too. Then it was help from our parent's church friends and family. Now it's our church family. That church is a huge blessing for our family and we're so thankful to live in a time and nation where we can have that freely.

We brought over about 20 van loads of belongings before moving day and we still filled a 24 foot truck, a very large trailer and had to go back for more in the van! We have just way too much stuff. A lot of it is kids clothing and toys which Esther will be growing into soon. I told Gary we are NOT moving again until the kids are old enough to help! That being said, they were very well behaved through the entire process. I"m so thankful they play so well together. I know that they were disappointed to get so little playtime with me though. It's hard to balance it all and I know it will be worth it, but it's still hard to tell your kids "no" when they ask you if you will play with them. On moving day they went to stay with Mary Mills for the day. They still talk about what a fun day it was, and I"m so glad! They loved seeing the new house when we got here and they got to see Papa and Mr. Ben, two of their hero's. It was cute to see them walking around and seeing all of their stuff at the new place. They were concerned that there was still more to get but I assured them, everything was here. They didn't believe me until we went to the apartment this week to clean and they saw how empty it was! Grace was cute that night, she asked me why we didn't bring our beds back to sleep in. Funny how no matter how many times and ways you explain something, it just has to sink in on it's own. We got moved in Saturday, enjoyed a good night sleep (the kids were asleep before I left their rooms practically) and a wonderful church service Sunday. Gary's dad helped with a few odds and ends (like the swing set) on Sunday and Monday before he headed off to Grand Cayman on Tuesday. Wish we were there!! I was thankful for Gary having Presidents Day off because we were able to tackle a lot that day. Tuesday we relaxed more and enjoyed his snow day! We did get some things unpacked but my focus shifted to "living" and getting back on a routine with the kids. What a wonderful way to start a new home, with a family day! Gary went into work for an hour or two and then to Walmart. Walmart is wonderful and horrible at the same time. It's great for one-stop-shopping but the madness and the slow lines don't really help you save any time I don't think...hopefully not having the kids and I helped him some. :) You can imagine our surprise when we woke up Wednesday to yet another snow day! Gary worked some that morning but spent the afternoon at home relaxing and I'm glad. He won't have another good break now until June when we travel to NC for Josh's wedding. Unless we get more snow of course. The greatest thing has been being able to watch the Olympics as a family. The kids go to bed before too much comes on, but sometimes we have it on in the afternoon and have the update videos from the Internet going.

At this point we're pretty well unpacked. Once the trash goes out tonight I'll have a little more space to finish the "school" room which I'm sure I'll change multiple times anyways. Tomorrow we're having my mom and Bev come visit for the day and then when Gary gets home, after a funeral home viewing, we'll do dinner together. That will be nice, to have company! Last night we got to show the house off to the Mills which was very fun for me.

Last Friday, before the move, Esther had her 3/4 month checkup. She's 25 inches long and 13.3 pounds. I"m SURE the pounds are wrong but they were not concerned as it showed an adequate amount of growth. Her length is in the 90th %ile and her weight, somewhere right around 50th. She's a little congested but nothing in her lungs and she's "happy as a lark". Again we're so thankful for her being so easygoing.

This week was a wonderful first week in our new home, but some sadness too as a friend of Gary's from High School Youth Group passed away unexpectedly. He was 30. I never met him but from what I've read on face book and heard from Gary, he was a man after God's own heart. Our prayers and sympathy go out to fellow friends, and family. We also praise the Lord for a life lived for Him, and the knowledge that we'll see him again in heaven. This house is our home, we Love it and are thankful for it. We'll make many lasting memories here, but we also know that our TRUE HOME is in heaven with the Lord.

The Fury of February!!

As my mom's cousin Charlotte would say "HOLY MAN!"

We started the month with travels. Gary had a tech conference in Columbus to attend with his co-workers and I went to the Kellogg's to help them out with babysitting Faith. Her mom usually does it and got stuck in North Carolina with family when they got almost of a foot of snow! It was a great time and it was good for me to get away and not sit at home. Of course I lost 4 days of packing!! Yikes! We got our keys when we got back (Wednesday) and spent the evening checking the place out. The previous owners left us a sweet letter letting us know a little bit about the history of the home. We are excited to make it our own and build years of sweet memories just as they did. The past week is a bit of a blurr, however I do know we got almost 2 feet of snow and have taken at least 20 van loads of belongings to the new house! My mom came for a couple days to help clean and also paint the girls room purple. The Bush's have also been a huge help getting the drive shoveled, cleaning, and moving things. The whole house is now clean (it was in GREAT shape but empty 6+ months and so we gave it a good scrubbing) and ready for us to move on Saturday. We had some panic with the snow about not getting enough help, but I think with some additional help from some of Gary's co-workers we'll be set. If we can get the furniture over, I know Gary and I can finish the rest.

In the midst of the madness we had the tremendous privilege of traveling to my mom's house for my brother's wedding! It was a sweet ceremony with immediate family at my mom's house with dinner afterwards. It was pretty quickly planned (probably not to them!) and I told Joshua "It's like you are eloping and we get to come!" I'm so thankful to have gotten to be a part of such a special day. Marriage is one of the greatest gifts God has given us and it's such an amazing way for people to be in relationship and grow closer to Him. We pray God's richest blessings of happiness, love, grace and mercy for them!

The kids are still awesome. Tyler and Grace are suffering from lack of attention and structure but other than some minor behavioral changes (which I hope to quickly correct in the next month!) they are doing well and very excited about the move. Getting to spend so much time at the house has really helped them get excited about and, hopefully, will make for a smoother transition. Esther is also doing well and we're thankful beyond words that she's so easygoing. We've only been able to pull this off so quickly because of help from others, and Esther's willingness to just sit and watch the action.

To close I want to mention Gary's grandma, Evelyn. She passed away a year ago today and we miss her dearly. We're blessed to know she had a personal relationship with Jesus and knew him as her Savior. Because of that we have assurance that she is in heaven, and because of our own salvation, we will be with her again someday. As we've gone through this process with the house, I've thought a lot about the promise Gary and I made on our wedding day to build a "household of faith". We're both blessed to have people in our lives who've gone before us to show us how, and to show us that persevering and not giving up on each other, leads to great rewards in the end. We love you Grandma!

House Update We went to our closing on Thursday and signed all the paperwork. Some of the financing did not clear until Friday (which we knew) and it was supposed to be completed in the morning so that the deed could be recorded, and we'd get our keys. It seems, however, God had other plans. The wire transfer was done incorrectly twice and so the money did not transfer until around 2pm and the courthouse closed at 3:30, with the deed unrecorded. In fact Gary was still on the phone with people at 5 to ensure the transfer DID actually complete. He's leaving today for an out of town business trip and I'll be traveling to do some visiting/babysitting so we'll not be getting our keys until Wednesday. Then we'll hit the ground running because my mom comes Thursday to stay for 2 days and help us with packing, cleaning and she is painting the girls room.

Esther Update Esther started giggling this week! It's so adorable, I love it! It tends to give her hiccups but she seems to enjoy it anyways. She giggles more with daddy. Apparently he's funnier. She has been playing with her hands and sucking her fist and fingers for a few weeks now. She's also making a lot of sounds and will say "ma" but not ma-ma. She likes it when I try to coach her but she won't say it! Both of the other kids said da-da first, looking right at Gary. She loves to baby talk and will talk to us or, like now, just blabber on while laying on her blanket kicking and playing with her hands. She's still not fond of her belly but holds her head up really well. She likes to hold small toys and if she can get them to her mouth, will try to mouth them. We also put her in the saucer this week and she loves it! She does not bounce in it but likes to look around and since she loves standing so much it works perfectly! I'm thrilled to say that she will often, in the mornings, put herself to sleep for a nap too. She plays and when I see her get tired, if i put her down in the playpen she'll just lay there and eventually fall asleep, no swaddle or paci! She is always a happy baby, smiling a lot and so easygoing... so far! She's also learning to take a mommy milk bottle. She's not too fond of it and will only take an ounce or two, but then she's content until her next feeding. A couple times I've tried, she's taken 4-5 with no stopping so I know she CAN do it if she wants to. She's such a JOY and blessing to have in our family!

Tyler and Grace helping clean the floor in preperation for the move.

Zoo!!

January 18th we went to the zoo in Cleveland. It was COLD!! We ate, saw the lions, flamingo's, Koala house and then went up the mountain. The primate, cat and aquatics building is my favorite. The kids really enjoyed the monkeys and the sharks. They were also very interested in why there was a Mr Potato-head toy in the octopus tank. I had no answer for them. The walk back down was much more enjoyable! We then went to the Rain Forest but it was packed so we just did the bottom floor and headed home. We were there a good 4 hours and we had a great time. It was wonderful to just get up and decide we wanted to do something as a family and then have a place to go. Thank you Grandma Sandra for the membership!!

Gary and the kids looking through the portholes at the sharks

Gary and I each with the kids in front of the waterfall at the rain forest entrance.

and the kids on the way home... one reading...

..,one sleeping!

CLOSING!!

This morning we met at our Realtor office and signed all our papers to close on our new house! The sellers had already signed their part yesterday. Everything will be finalized and we'll get our keys tomorrow! We are very excited to be able to get possession and begin taking pictures and post them so people can see! I'm not so excited about learning a new address. We're working slowly but surely on our packing... though for some reason I'm completely unmotivated. It's much more real as of today so I suppose it's time to get cracking. I'd guess I have more than 100 boxes done and about 200 more to go.... at least.

The house is in wonderful condition so it'll just need a cleaning and my mom wants to paint the girls room. We also need to buy a stove and hope to put up some fencing and a garden this spring. Gary's already talking about having grand pap find us a cheap snow blower at Rogers for next winter.

We plan to move on February 13th.