PHOTOS: Sesame Street Live- Elmo Makes Music Grandma and the Kids looking at the Program Pops and Tyler Gary, Grace and Grandma Our Family (I don't know how to crop on the new computer yet...) Grace and Heather Tyler and Pops (at the end on the way out) Grace got a Zoe (which now that she's used to it she won't put it down and sleeps with it too) and Tyler got the CD with the songs from the show.

Tyler and Grace playing with their latest trian track creation.

Another wonderful weekend! I"m sitting on the couch typing, listening to the rain and also listening to the kids chatter as they eat scrambled eggs and banana's. (not mixed) Last week was Gary's spring break which was wonderful. Monday was the day he really actually stayed home and I loved it. I was so tired from Easter that he let me sleep in and we really lounged around with the kids. Tuesday he worked a very long day, Wednesday he went in late and worked a full day and Thursday he didn't go in till after lunch. It's always so nice to have him around in the mornings because he can play with the kids and I can get stuff done! :) Usually we end up fighting over who gets to be on the computer but it's so nice to have another adult around not to mention another set of eyes and ears to break up the fights. haha! He ended up being at work that day longer than expected but we still made it to Bible study which was nice. Friday we went out to breakfast with his mom and the kids got to play on the McDonalds playland. Grace really didn't but Tyler did. THe weater was SO nice that I had them outside while gary went off to work again. He was home for dinner each night but had hoped to be home sooner than that. I hope whatever projects he HAD to get done he did because he's got major projects that need to be done before summer to have any hope of getting his summer projects done. He triees not to volunteer too much time but let's face it, if he doesn't things won't get done. We all have jobs like that but it's not easy to be at work and feel guilty you are not at home, and be home feeling guilty you are not at work. :) I"m trying to encourage him but it's hard. He loves his job and I'm so glad. He works with a lot of really great people who really support him and appreciate him, however as in any job, everyone things their problem is critical #1. They know he's married. _I_ am cirtical #1!!! :) The week was a good mix, He wasn't home near enough to make me crazy but he got to sleep in several days and spend some time online relaxing too. Having him home extra like that makes my life so much easier. It was nice to have a week of half-rest to gear up for finishing out the school year here. I can't wait for our Outer Banks vacation!!!! Saturday we went to Canton to see Sesame Street Live: Elmo Makes Music. The Bush's bought the tickets and went with us. The kids LOVED it. My friend Jen goes with her kids every year and I know they love it, but it wasn't something I ever thougt we'd spend money on. I have to say it's a really well done show and kids of many ages can get something out of it. I thought my kids woudln't like it because we dont watch Sesame Street. :) I was afraid they'd not know the characters enough but since Grace loves Elmo and Zoe and Tyler remembers the characters from when he used to watch it and LOVES music they both loved it. Grace clapped a lot and really sat and watched for long portions. She pointed out Elmo and Zoe every time they came out. Also Cookie Monster. She's obsessed with cookies so anything with "cookie" in the name she's going to pick up on. For a lot of it she was jumpy. She's not my TV kid yet. She is not one to sit and really watch a show. She's still at the interaction stage where she wants to talk it through and run around when she wants to. Tyler will sit on the couch for 3 hours watching something if you let him. He loves listening to music and trying to figure out the rythm and the lyrics so he was paying very close attention. Gary and Steph loved it too, I think it was neat for them to see the kids enjoy it so much. I know I loved it. I expected kids around us to be standing on chairs and jumping around but the kids around us really sat nicely or in an adults lap so we really could see. We were up in the stands and I was glad. The floor seats looked like it would be impossible for kids to see. We also ended up with extra seats which was nice, plenty of room for all of us and for the seat switching that happened. Each of us held each of the kids at least once. After Elmo, we drove up to Lorain to see my mom for the weekend. This might have been one of the best parts of spring break for Gary. I'm not sure if' i've shared but we have absolutely no cable. We don't even get basic channels b/c we don't have an antena or anything. Actually, we get the local channel 17 which is all church and religious stuff. I actually like it but it only comes in upstairs when it's not windy or raining so i only watch it at night if i can't sleep. ANYWAY, my mom has cable and a very nice TV so on Saturday we got to watch the Bulls beat the Celtics, the Cav's beat the Pistons, AND the Indians embarass the Yankees. My brother was there so the two of them were just in their glory. :) Mom came home and we took the kids outside for a while because it was such a beautiful day. Then we had dinner and went to the park by her house. The kids loved it. Grace LOVES swings and slides. She's getting so independnat too... she wants to do all the climbing herself. We went home for desert and some visiting then to bed. Sunday mom got up with Tyler and when Grace got up I sent her in the living room with a diaper and Gary and I got to lay in bed another 20 minutes or so. It was so nice NOT to get up at 7:30 (which, yes, I know is pretty late itself compared to many people) We had cake for breakfast and played then had pancakes for lunch. These kids can put away the pancakes let me tell you. We watched a chick-flick while the kids napped (thanks Gary!) and then headed home. Gary decided halfway home that we needed to get pizza and I was not about to argue with him. We got home a little before 6 and Gary ordered Papa Johns online. It was supposed to be ready by 6:30 at the latest.... well he went to get it and at 7:00 I was on the phone with my dad and Gary was still not home yet. I was STARVING. The kids were beyond reason after a nap followed by a 2 hour car ride. Energy filled cihldren who've had nothing to eat are not well behaved!! I finally sat them down with a show and some crackers. Poor things. Thankfully, Gary got home soon after that and it ended up we got our meal for free. That was a wonderful surprise. He came in and I said "Did you tell them you had a starving pregnant wife at home?!?!" He said "No, I didn't have to, the crazy lady in front of me made a big enough stink I didn't have to." I guess the lady working there who gave gary the refund appeared thankful that he didn't yell at her too. :) Pizza is yummy, free pizza is even better! We watched some Thomas and then it was off to bed. Gary got up at the alarms first buzz this morning so i hope he was rested! :) We're looking at some rainy inside days and then some sun later in the week so I think it'll be a good week. The kids always play well on Monday's, especially when we've been away. They like getting back into routine. A coulpe days of tracks and painting and blocks and playdoh, and then back outside I hope! With a BIG 3-0 EVENT COMING WEDNESDAY we've got a lot to look forward to!!! Pregnancy Update: I'll be 13 weeks on Wednesday. I don't have another appt till May 1 so we're just plugging along. I'm slowly getting more energy and my appetite has improved. No real complaints... just trying to prepare as best we can and trying not to gain too much weight. I have to be fit as can be for summer 2010 for both the Wedding of the Year (Josh and Lia) and also my own 10 year anniversary!!! WOW!!!

Here's a link to the article written in the Alliance Review about the Easter Egg hunt we attended last week. The kids names are mentioned! http://www.the-review.com/news/article/4565366

Tyler playing his drum creatively.

Happy Easter! We had a wonderful weekend. Gary had off work on Friday and we had a wonderful day. My dad tries every year to get us tickets to opening Day. I think I've only missed a couple since the ballpark opened. This year we had seats out in right field and then, the Lord moved mountains and my dad actually got his work's season ticket seats in the FRONT ROW! It was amazing! We drove up to Cleveland and went to the Pierre's for a couple hours visiting and playing and we left the kids with Hannah. Thank you so much for watching them! The kids had a wonderful time playing with all new toys and Grace napped well which I hope helped Hannah out. Watching 4 kids under 5 must have been overwhelming at times! We got to the game in time to see some batting practice. I had several layers of clothes on and took in my double coat as well as some blankets and umbrellas. Gary had on his huge Tribe coat with all kinds of stuff in the pockets. Snacks for me, my chap stick, garbage bags, phones... i don't even recall what else. I was so relieved when they let us in with the umbrella's. The website said you could take them but i thought sure they'd still confiscate them. So we got in and just stood at our own seats for BP! Joshua's friend Kathy and my dad each got a foul ball! It was just amazing. I tried to make friends with the ball boy and i was truly concerned through the night as the temps dropped that he'd get ill. It didn't' help though since he only got one ball and it did not go to me. oh well. I enjoyed the opening ceremony watching for the people in charge which reminded me very much of Lori several years ago. We also got to see OSU's spring band. I was impressed and can't imagine what it would be like to see their football band.... The game we got to see was a good one. You fans reading will know that halfway through the 5th, Tribe down by only one, the tarps came out and hours later (over 3 i think) the game resumed and we lost miserably. Gary and I sat through one full hour of rain delay and then left. We had to get the kids and drive all the way home, it was FREEZING and we were more soaked than we realized. That hour was actually wonderful. We were cuddled together in the rain under an umbrella, front row to see nothing but just peaceful. No one wanted a drink or a pacy. No body needed their pants changed or wanted to run and crash into the walls. We didn't trip over cars and tracks and dishes and Little People. It was loud b/c they play the music so stinking loud, but it was nice. Just a break. Had i thought of it sooner we'd have gone over to tower city and had a quick dinner instead of sitting in the rain like idiots! :) We left and went back and visited with the Pierre's a bit, then went home. I was glad we didn't stay longer. Good call Gary. Saturday morning was the egg hunt at a park in Alliance. Steph had told me about it and really wanted the kids to go. There must have been 500 kids there. it was organized by age groups so we got there, realized i did not grab the bags so we had to call Gary and Steph to stop back home and get a couple. they almost missed the whole thing by then b/c they had to park so far away. i stayed with Grace by the 2 and under part and Gary went off with Tyler. Gary and steph made it and Steph stayed with me, Gary went with the boys. Grace was SO cute. For her age they just had the eggs spread out on the grass on a hill and we could take them out there with us but only the child could touch the eggs. There were lots of kids screaming in terror and their parents screaming over them "get the eggs! get the candy! pick it up!" it was madness. Steph and I kind of blocked off a little section and sheltered Grace so she could get a few. there were so many kids there i only let her get like12. some kids were getting entire baskets full. yet another area where my kindness will make my kids suffer. She wanted to open them as she found them but we finally got her to put them in her bag. she went SO slowly and then all of a sudden it was like the light bulb went off and she bent down and got three at one time and looked at this other kid like "back off!" it was kind of cute since she didn't yell or anything. anyways we felt that was a enough so we went back down to the parking lot and i saw Gary coming towards us carrying Tyler who was tightly wrapped around his neck and I knew immediately it did not go as well for him. I guess for his age group (3&4) the eggs were in a baseball field spread out and the parents were NOT allowed to go out with them. i guess Tyler bent down to pick one up and couldn't get it in the bag and he just got scared and ran back to Gary. He didn't want to go back and we didn't force him. So i just put grace's eggs into two piles and let them open them. Tyler's friend Marta from Indiana was in town and her mom and grandma had brought her. she got like 40 so they gave Tyler some of her candy. I kept saying it was enough b/c i don't even let them eat candy! it was very sweet of them to share though. :) The eggs were taped shut which was very annoying. we opened them there in case we got a prize (we didn't) and recycled the eggs (i have plenty!!). then the kids got interviewed by a reporter and we went to McDonald's for hot chocolate. Tyler seemed fine and even with several chances did not wish to go back and try so we let it go. Trust me, he still LOVED egg hunting at home so he's not scarred for life. :) So after hot chocolate i was to meet my mom at the mall, she was waiting for me and i was supposed to meet her there but then at the last minute Gary decided we could all go, eat lunch, and then he'd take the kids home and i could shop. so that's what we did. it was so much fun to get to see the kids a little more but then have time just me and my mom. she bought me a maternity swimsuit for vacation. it was so much fun to just walk around with no strollers and no 40 pound diaper bag on my arm. :) inf act i had no purse! I had my phone in my pocket and my wallet in my coat pocket because gary had to take the diaper bag home with him! haha! After a short rest we did the cake and decorated it, i vacuumed the whole house, put away some last minute things, washed way too many dishes, cleared the kitchen table, we decorated eggs bathed the kids and watched a tv show with them and put them to bed. WHEW! Gary took care of half of bathtime, and of getting the table moved and brought up the extra chairs. We went to bed around 10 and I was exhausted. Good thing Easter didn't come around week 8 of this pregnancy b/ç at that time i could barely function! The morning went very smoothly and we were all dressed and ready and in the car ON TIME!!! The kids looked SO cute. I hope to get photo's downloaded soon to post. My mom got some good shots too but it'll be months before i get those. ;) My dad and Aunt Toots met us at church. As did the Bush's, Josh and Pap. It was a wonderful service but when we went to pick up Grace she was crying. She cried the whole way home!! Apparently I forgot to pack her paci which was the absolute end of the world. She's teething and I think just needed a nap. We got home and Gary rested with her and held her for a little bit while we got the lasagna going. My mom had gotten them gifts and given them the day before, but on Sunday they got baskets from my dad, Gary's parents, pap AND us! It was madness! I got some video but kept losing the camera so i don't have many photos. We also did an egg hunt outside which I got video of. The kids were so cute. They had about 10 helpers telling them where to look. :) We got some pictures outside (yes, in the cold) and then went in and it was about time to eat. Everything came together really well and we all sat down at the table to eat. It was nice. I wish everyone would have been able to come but we had a wonderful time with those who were here. Shortly after dinner the crabby princess got her nap. :) Pap left around 2, and my dad & aunt toots shortly after. Lia got here around 2:30. my mom left at 3 and they left about 3:30. so then it was time to get grace up and we were SO ready for a nap!! we just laid around and let the kids play all evening. Now that i see it's been raining for 3 days I wish I'd have changed them and made them go outside. Gary's on spring break so he stayed home all day Monday and we rested. We also watched a lot of Jerhico. The show is addicting! It's a good mix of story line for me and suspense and mystery for Gary. The side affect of such a show is that Gary went to Aldi last night (after a full day of work- isn't he the best!?!?) to pick up a few things and bought out half of the store! We do try to have a stockpile of food but seeing him come back and forth from the car about 5 times was just too funny. Once we got it all put away it really wasn't that bad... also considering how little shopping i've done in the past 2 months. Today is Wednesday and I"m 12 weeks! I'm starting to feel human again thank the Lord! God Bless!

Grace dressed in Tyler's fireman costume.

Happy April! It's snowing! :) The kids sat in their little chairs by the back porch door and watched it for a good 20 minutes this morning. This was the only 20 minutes they were well behaved and quiet though. :) That quote kept coming to mind today... something like "If you allow a boy to get bored you deserve what happens." They got spoiled on that nice day we had last week. Tyler got very upset when it stopped snowing and I told him not to worry because it'll snow pretty much all week. :) I"m holding out for 60's and sunny on Friday for the baseball game!! WE"RE GOING!! My dad got work tickets in the front row! FRONT ROW!! The only bad thing is that the front row is the furthest you can get from the bathroom. Haha! For those who like to hear pregnant women complain, I'm still sick. Nothing sounds good, everything makes me have heartburn and a stomach ache and i'm hungry all the time. I'm thankful not to be sick and very very very thankful that the kids play so well together and Gary's the most helpful man in the universe. It'll all be worth it and I'm feeling much better today! I actually ate two real meals over the weekend! I've also discovered candy canes. Yesterday was Palm Sunday and we had a wonderful church service. After two weeks in the nursery I appreciated it all the more. One of the things that comes up a lot this time of year is the church leaders of Jesus day. It always strikes me that these men where the men who studied scripture. They were in the Word the most and yet they not only missed who Jesus was, but go the crowds of people to ask that he be cruficied. I know this happened to fulfill the prophecies but it should be a lesson to us today. How can we expect to know God's will if we are not in the word? Here are men who's JOB it was to be in the word and they completely missed it! Yet we sometimes think we can read a chapter a day, or just read a few times a week, or not even read at all and expect the Lord to bless us. We ask him for all these things we want, and on our time table, and then when he does not deliver we get mad and go off and do what we want. We take control, take over for God and then wonder why some of those things he allows to blow up in our faces. I think growing up in a wealthy nation makes it even worse for us. We feel and are told all the time that we "deserve" things or "need" things. Do we really? What do we really deserve? Who do we give creidt to when things go well? Ourselves. Who do we blame when life is full of hard knocks? God? Really? I"m guilty of it too and it breaks my heart. Gary's putting together our NEW MAC MINI!!! more later... he keeps unplugging me and i'm going to lose my blog!!

We heard the baby's heartbeat today! Nice and strong!

Baby Bush THREE!!! For anyone who reads this and has not heard, we are pregnant with Bush Baby #3! I'm a little over 2 months along and anxiously awaiting the end of pregnancy sickness. I don't get violently ill but pretty much stay nauseous 24 hours a day. Even in the middle of the night when I wake up to roll over. :) We are very very excited and yes, it was planned. I can't begin to tell you how much we thought and prayed over this! The Lord affirmed our decision VERY quickly which just never happens! :) This might be the fastest the Lord has ever answered our prayers. I'm due October 28th. We pray the Lord will give us the patience and strength to raise THREE children together and do all we can to bring Glory to God. Above all we thank Him for this tremendous blessing and pray for the health and salvation of all our children. This week has been yet another exhausting one! Last weekend we spent some time at my brother's house (Sunday) to celebrate (late) his birthday. We watched lots of sports on the big screen and Tyler played trains. We did Applebee's carryout which was nice. That two for $20 turns out to be a LOT of food! Monday thru Wednesday we didn't do too much but it seems it does not take much to get me to the point of needing to sleep. :) Wednesday (and Friday) Gary filmed his school's musical and did not get home until 11 pm which was a llllooooonnnngggg day for me! Thursday my mom came to visit and I FINALLY got to share my news with her! Actually Tyler did. Wednesday Gary had come home for about 45 minutes so we could eat together and tell the kids about the baby. We let Tyler tell my mom on Thursday and also call Uncle Josh and Papa Tim. The bush's were busy so we had to wait until Saturday to tell them. Tyler told them Saturday at lunch and then left Uncle Josh a message. After that we were able to give my family permission to share with the masses. :) I'm relieved to be able to talk about it but it's very strange for me. I've worked so hard to try to keep my secret it's very strange to suddenly be able to (and expected to) talk easily about it. To be honest I'm still wrapping my own mind around it!

Tyler waiting patiently for mommy to try on dresses.

Grace reading a book.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! To those who celebrate. :) We are not this year. I don't have any green jello or anything so we're skipping it. I do realize though that I best get my Easter decorations out soon! We had a wonderful weekend but i don't have much record of it because i forgot my camera! Our computer was down from mid January to the present. Now it's sort of hit and miss so i'm able to get online with the old laptop, or Gary's school laptop when he brings it home. However, I'm not able to upload photo's. Due to this my card was full for a long time and i had no way to empty it and save the photos. Gary did finally put them on his school machine (which means I can still not access them) but i forget the camera b/c I went so long without it! Friday night I had a girls night out with my friend Jen. Her boys have birthday's about a month apart so they did a joint First/Third Birthday party. She had some shopping to do and since her husband is home from the road (actually working near home! What a concept!) he watched their 3 kids while she and I traveled Canton. I had a wonderful time just being away (Gary watched ours) and found some great deals! It was nice for her and I to get to visit as well. Usually when we get together we have 4 or 5 kids running around or on us. :) Saturday morning was the big party at her church's playland. This thing is HUGE. Tyler loves it and Grace wants to be able to do all Tyler can. Gary and I both went up in the monstrosity several times (him more than me) so that we could keep an eye out and let Grace do some things she couldn't do on her own. She loves that slide! The boys were so cute and just loved all the people there to celebrate them, and Jen made the cutest dirt in a dump truck desert. Sinfully delicious too! :) The time went quickly and we'd planned to take the kids swimming after but the playing, noise and stimulation completely wore them out so we came home to take naps and had a fun family day at home. The Bush's got back late in the evening from their cruise and i missed their call! oops!! Sunday we went to church and found out they were doing lunch with Pap so we went with them. I love Alliance Family Restaurant because they have great food and lots of choices but the service is ridiculous. Clearly 98% of their clientele are seniors who have all day to eat. We ran out of there and made our way to the IX Center in Cleveland for the Greatest Hobby Show- TRAINS. It was expensive to get in but SO worth it. Tyler was fascinated. Grace loved it too. They had many many booths set up with model trains and villages etc. Tyler loved every minute of it. They had a section where you could play on the ground with Thomas trains which was a huge hit, as well as a Thomas/Annie/Clarabelle you could ride. They smashed about 14 kids on a ride but the kids enjoyed it! At least I knew Grace could not get out! I was afraid we'd not have time to see everything since we got a late start and it ended at 5 but the 2 and a half hours was perfect. We saw everything twice and got to do some shopping. We got Tyler the train Rheneus and I looked in vain for a Thomas music CD. Our library must have the last one ever made. :) We stopped to eat on the way home and got home in time to play trains a bit before bed. It was so nice to have a family day. I"m glad it all worked out! We told Tyler on Sunday morning (because let's face it- plans change way too often!) and he was very excited. I'm not sure what he expected. :) Yesterday I decided to let the kids get a little more messy than usual and we did pudding finger paint. I did vanilla so we could add food coloring to it after a while and each kid mixed two colors. They loved it. I will say it was very freaky to see them licking their fingers seeing them red/orange and green/blue covered in muck the consistency of real finger paint!Our only other news right now is that we do not have cable!! We figured out that most of the shows we enjoy can be viewed online for free so Gary hooked our computer up to our fancy new tv and when it works we can watch shows online. We also have Netflix which can send us a disc at a time but also allows us to view their "watch now" selections. So far it's only been a couple shows for Tyler but that with the crazy amount of DVD's and VHS's we have makes for more than enough screen time opportunity. :) Time to make lunch and set out some meat to thaw for dinner.

Happy Monday!! Things are going well here for us. We've enjoyed some very warm weather the past few days. It's been wonderful to not have to bundle up the kids to just run to the van! This past weekend we spent time at Grandma Sandra's house and then time with our friends the Pierre's. We have a blast when we get together wtih them. Their kids are our kids ages as well so everyone has a friend! It was fun for me to have another woman to cook with! Even something as easy as pasta is easier and much more fun with a friend, and a huge kitchen!! Yesterday we had rain as if it was a tropical storm. Those are times i'm so thankful (again) to have a van b/c we can climb in to secure the kids and not stand in the rain. We had to get to church early yesterday because Gary had to practice before service with the worship team. Usually i try to keep the kids out of everyone's way but yesterday i decided to take them to the preschool classroom to have breakfast and play a bit. Unfortunately the leak in the ceiling that we thought would only be a winter problem is also a spring problem! I'm glad i was there early to catch it and hopefully save a bit of the carpet. :) Tyler thought it was just the coolest thing in the world that God sent rain in the church. :) It was a wonderful service and we celebrated communion. Gary being an elder helped serve which was wonderful to watch as his wife. God has blessed me beyond my wildest dreams with such a wonderful husband- God's best for me.

I wish we did communion more often to be honest. It's such a time of intimate worship and reflection with the Lord... it's also a reminder we all need more often I think. Jesus Christ really did suffer at the hands of men, and to take the punishment for my sins, died a horrible death. The best news that there is, is that he rose again so that we might also be resurrected with Him and live with him eternally in Heaven! I think if we did communion too often, we'd get hard hearted and take it for granted though.

The weekend before last we celebrated Josh and Lia's engagement! (Feb 28) Below are posted some photo's Lia took. I've nabbed them off of her facebook account so i'm not sure how well they will load. Gary's mom gave me the above adorable picture of the kids from her camera. Can you believe I forgot mine!?!!? how is that even possible!?!?

There isn't much new going on, just enjoying quiet days in the house full of play and projects and playing out in the mud some. Life will get crazy busy here soon enough so we're enjoying each day as it comes. We're working towards contentment which is never easy! I hope whoever reads this is well and i hope you know i love you and pray for you. God Bless!

~Bush Family~

Josh, Lia, and their parent's~ Mr & Mrs Quatrini and Bush Tyler trying to be like Lia and her friends with the hand signals. :)

Josh, Lia, Heather and Gary

The happy couple!!

Tyler, with crazy hair, playing with playmobil toys

Tyler is shown here using his binoculars to see across the street.

Grace is posing for a picture. She loves to pose for pictures.

Sunday again!! The days just fly by don't they! That means we are busy and blessed! This week we did finally do some Valentines Day stuff though it was cut short pretty early on in the day. I"m pretty sure I did not get to it till Thursday. I left the kids bags of goodies at their seats in the kitchen so they would see them when we came down in the morning. They loved them! Grace had no idea what was going on and I just showed Tyler the calendar that we'd missed "Love" day and so we were doing it that day. He didn't care, he got candy. He'd celebrate Christmas in April if it meant presents and candy. He's 4. What do you expect!? I got them each these really cute Winnie the Pooh science/discovery books at the Dollar Tree. They each got two and I need to get ahold of the other ones so we have the complete set for Easter. I also got Tyler a Mickey Mouse clubhouse puzzle from dollar tree and stickers (Dora for Grace, Thomas for Tyler) and a bag of candy hearts for them to share. I had some valentine pencils packed away still from a couple years ago when my mom gave them to me so I sharpened them and put them in their bags too. They were so excited to get stuff and it was too cute. Not bad for $8!! I was a bit irritated though on Wednesday when I went to the Flower Factory in Canton and saw the SAME stickers for only 85 cents! I overpaid at the DOLLAR TREE!! Don't worry, i got more at Flower Factory. Easter's not too far away. :) SO I made the kids toast and was going to cut it into heart shapes and put jelly on it... well, i can't find my heart shaped cookie cutter anywhere! I really think I used to have 3 and now i can't find any of them. As I write this Gary's at Walmart wandering around looking for one. I hope being after Valentines Day he'll find that they are on sale... if not i'll add that to the FF list for future trips. :) So since i could not make heart-shaped toast, i could also not make heart shaped pancakes, sandwiches, or cookies so we pretty much ended the festivities with post-breakfast heart-shaped candies. (Tyler had insisted on using a cookie cutter on his toast so we had stars. It was stars or Santa's and I put my foot down on the Santa's. It's one thing to be still singing Rudolph but quite another to have Christmas shaped toast in February. Even for me.) I gave Tyler 4 or 5 candies and Grace one to see if she could eat it. I was RIGHT by her and watched her very closely and must have said 40 times, don't swallow! chew it up! They are very hard. She did fine but I did not give her more. They went off to play, I cleaned up and played with them a bit then decided to check my email. I was in the Living Room on the chair with the laptop when Tyler yelled "Mommy, Grace is touching the candies." I said "Push them back on the table where she can't reach them." He said "ok" and i could hear him moving them back. They were in zip locks. I said something to the affect of -did you do as i asked? and got an affirmative answer. So a few seconds later Grace walks by me and i hear this strange sound, like a crunching. So I said "Grace, what are you doing?" She turns around and her cheeks were completely bulging on both sides. I leaped out of the chair and had my finger in her mouth before she barely got turned around and I proceeded to pull out not one, not two or even four, but SIX heart shaped candies from her mouth. Yes, SIX. Take six out sometime and see how much that is and imagine it in a 21 month old girl's mouth. *sigh* of course it registered very quickly what was happening and so she tried to eat them quicker which meant she bit me! Ow!!! I told her NO and that she was not to touch the candies, and not to put things in her mouth without asking mommy. I told her also NO BITE and sent her to time out. She's a pistol that one. So our new thing is when one child is in time out (the bottom step) the other has to be in another room completely otherwise the time-out child will peek around the stairs and they'll play or talk and just get each other in trouble... or one will go visit the other and then before i know it they are wrestling on the time out stair. SO I told Tyler to go in the playroom, i rescued the laptop from where it had been not-so-gently placed when i took my flying leap off the chair. I give her about 2 minute time-out's because she can handle it and she's almost two and since this was a pretty strong double offense i decided to give her about 3. Well, a minute into it isn't Tyler back in the Living room sitting on his little chair in front of the window. I was keeping an eye on him ready to bust him for bothering Grace. He looked over at her and i was JUST about to tell him to go back to the playroom and leave her alone when he looked over at me. "Excuse me mommy, but Grace is taking her clothes off in time-out." Stifling a laugh, and picturing her with her arm out of her sleeper, i said "Grace, come here." She comes around the corner and is holding her entire sleeper in one hand. She'd unzipped it and gotten her arms and legs/feet out completely. I just burst out laughing. I couldn't help it. There she's standing in just her diaper and onesie holding her jammies looking SO proud of herself. I wish I had taken a photo. I told her to put them back on and she tried for a good 5 minutes! She's so stinking cute! Gary would wish me to assure you that we are most definitely going to put a very quick stop to Grace's stripping. :) I think it's great she's so independent about it because Tyler to this day won't take off his clothes on his own without threat of consequence. Grace on the other hand puts on her own "mits" and hat, and helps with every other clothing item. She's been pulling her pants down around her ankles and attempting pulling them back up awhile now so while this didn't surprise me, it certainly took me by surprise! It was a fun 3 minutes that still makes me smile. Wednesday I was blessed to have Connie come up for the day and scrapbook with me! I'd recently been given a most generous gift (thanks Melissa!) of 6 Creative memory storage containers and had re-organized all my stuff. It was a lot of fun to get to use everything and know where everything was like that! It took a bit to get used to but I did get 3 layouts done that day. I think that's pretty good for starting around 10:30 and finishing around 5 with kid interruption and of course visiting with Connie! :) I'm not good at conversing and scrapping at the same time. I've since done another layout and a half and have I think 3 more to finish the event i'm working on. I hope Gary will be able to find and purchase within some budget whatever it is we need to get our computer working! I can't access my photo's right now and the memory card on the camera is full. I deleted a few pictures from January to make room for the kids opening their valentine stuff but now I'm stuck. I hate being without my photos and being unable to even take more! For someone who has taken several thousand in some months, it's very hard for me to be without my camera for weeks on end! Friday I got to go with Steph and take the kids to pap's house where we did some deep cleaning. The kids showed increased signs of getting colds and came down with them for sure overnight into Saturday. Saturday was possibly our last trip to the cabin (and NO CAMERA!!!!!!!AHHHHHHHHH). We helped with some packing and got a van-load of stuff loaded to take to their house. We took a walk all together down to the lake and threw rocks, even Grace. She loves it too but they don't go far. :) We can recycle the rocks she throws b/c most of them don't even make it to the water from her stroller. Most of the lake is ice but there was a few feet of water on the edges. Steph had her camera and got a couple pictures, i really pray they come out well. We went to see Sydney play basketball at 1 but the kids were losing it quickly after the first game (which we only saw half of b/c we were a few minutes late and they started early! What tournament starts early!?!). The bush's stayed but we took the kids back for naps. After naps Grandma and Pops took one last walk with the kids down to the lake. We have a lot of great memories there but the memories truly have nothing to do with the actual cabin- it's just where the memories take place. The treasure is in the time we've spend there and the special things Grandma and Pops have done with the kids there. It's the rides on the boat, the walks and hikes and go-cart rides, the movies and campfires and get-together and throwing rocks in the lake. It's the things we've all done together- time spent- that is the treasure. Not where we did it or how much it cost, it's the time. That won't change. Grandma and Pops will still take time out to spend with the kids, play with them and do things they love- the treasure of Time. By the time we got home the kids were both coughing pretty bad and had runny noses, tired eyes and were just miserable. Our church did a ministry last night showing the movie "Fireproof" and Gary went to be available if anyone needed someone to talk to. He then had a 10:00 soccer game. I fed the kids and they were pretty much ready for bed even though they'd both napped and then sat an hour in the car. I kept Grace up till 8 which was incredibly difficult with the crying and whining. We played and read some books then watched some shows. I let Tyler watch a couple extras. His new favorite is this british Racecar named Roary- it's done by the same people who do Bob the Builder so it's that clay-mation. He's obsessed with that and the Fireman Sam-which takes place in Wales and they drive on the "wrong" side of the road- definitely a british show. Very cute though, and only 8 minutes an episode! These sprout on-demand things where we don't get the regular shows so we can only watch the same 5 on demand episodes over and over and over again. Which we have. :) I like that he still enjoys these slow paced shows, he's very easily overstimulated so we monitor his tv shows pretty close. He gets kind of scared when fires happen on the one but i talk through it all with him. We've done a lot of fire safety this month! :) He went to bed around 8:30 and from about 9:00, slept hard all night only waking a few times. They both coughed quite a bit through the night but seemed to do it in their sleep. Not wanting them to infect the other kids at church I kept them home. I've got a head cold too so I stayed with them, and Gary went to church. I also made a huge pot of Broccoli Cheese soup! yum!! I'll be eating it for a year b/c Gary does not like this kind of soup. I hope the kids do b/c they will be eating it once a week or so till summer! or longer! Gary's home... no cookie cutters. Boo! Oh well, i guess another trip to Flower Factory is in order!! I"m praying hard for just the right person to take with me... can you say FAIRLAWN!!!!

I can't believe we just completely missed Valentines Day. The entire past 9 days have blurred into one. I'm very thankful that Gary had today off because we needed this family and rest day. Gary's just the greatest in the world, i have to tell you. He let me sleep in this morning, got both the kids up and fed and dressed. I was awake around 9:30 but was able to lay in bed relaxing, read my Bible and roll out of bed just after 10 to shower and get dressed. He also picked up the toy room and vacuumed the downstairs. I"m amazed! Gary's not one to sit ALL day so we did head out to Target to get our monthly stash of Target band diapers and Luv's for night. I was very excited that we also got light bulbs and i got a cheese grater. The simple things huh? I got pretty expensive one and already feel guilty but I promise to use it a lot. We all took a nap today when we got home and now we're watching HGTV and playing. Why we torture ourselves watching these people buy million dollar homes i don't know. :) It's almost time for a kids show. :) I have a few things i got the kids for valentines day that I think I will do for them tomorrow. I never made heart shaped cookies or sandwiches or valentines or anything. I spent Monday with my mom and then we had that meeting to go to, and Tuesday everything began with Grandma. My mom brought me these great valentine decorations and I had window decals for the door and just never put them up. :( This past week was very emotional and difficult-more so than i anticipated. Grandma was in very poor health and was unable to enjoy her family there at the end, it's best for her to be done with her earthly suffering and at peace and renewed in Heaven. Even having that assurance of her salvation and place in heaven, letting her go was so hard. Seeing the family we love letting her go was even harder. I cried most for Pap. That man loved his wife in a way that is rarely seen in our society anymore. He loved her with his whole being. This was the first time in our marriage to deal with something of this magnitude. We were both very close to Grandma, i loved her as i love my own grandma's. It was harder than I expected to be there for Gary and deal with my own grief on my own. We handle grief in completely opposite ways. Gary needs to stay busy with simple things as he reflects and grieves on his own, and at his own pace. I like to talk things out, reminice and cry a lot. Gary's relationship to them was clearly deeper and it was difficult to know how to support him best. On top of that we had the children to think about. I'm so very thankful for the people who were willing to step up and take such good care of the kids while we needed to be gone. They were in someone else's care Monday, Tuesday, and Friday evening, out with us away from home on Thursday, and with my mom during the funeral saturday. She brought them to the luncheon and by then we were both more than ready to get to see them and spend time with them again and let the rest of the family enjoy them. We were also very tierd and so were they. I am ever so thakful to have children who can be in someone else's care so much and not be adversly affected. I will say we all need a fast/junk food detox! We also did our best to support Gary's brother, Lia, and especially Stephanie and Gary too. We're blessed to have family like we do and I'm so very thankful to my parents and brother. They sent flowers and covered us with prayer. My mom's help was HUGE and my dad came to the viewing to show his support as well. Having them in my corner means the world to me. We also had friends pryaing for us both which we appreciate greatly.

SALEM-Evelyn M. Kandray, 77, of Columbiana, died Wednesday at Blossom Nursing Center. Born Nov. 17, 1931, in Wilkinsburg, Pa., she was the daughter of William and Grace (Swarner) Wagner. Mrs. Kandray was a homemaker and a member of St. Jude Catholic Church. Survivors include her husband, William Kandray, whom she married Oct. 20, 1951; two daughters, Stephanie (Gary) Bush of Alliance and Lori (Bruce) Foraker of Durham, N. C.; four sons, Michael (Stephanie) Kandray of Winston Salem, N. C., Mark (Mary) Kandray of McHenry, Ill., Bob (Carrie) Kandray of Marienville, Pa., Dan (Tammie) Kandray of Gnadenhutten; a brother, James Wagner of Butler, Pa.; 18 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. Services will be held at 9 a.m. Saturday at St. Jude Catholic Church in Columbiana with the Rev. Thomas Ziegler officiating.Burial will be in Columbiana Cemetery. Visiting hours will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at the Seederly-Mong and Beck Funeral Home in Columbiana. The family suggest that material tributes be made to St. Jude Catholic Church. Friends may visit www.seederly-mongandbeck.com to view this obituary, sign the guest register or send condolences online.

3:12... finally getting around to watching the Grammy's. My DVR says it's 3 hours 30 minutes...i predict i can cut 2 hours of it out with my favorite button FF ... i really should be cleaning up the house and working on laundry which seems to mass produce itself. I remember a time when I looked forward to these award shows for weeks. I find it incredibly boring and strange now. Am I really so old? I still love music and like a large variety, music feeds the soul in so many ways. It seems somehow to be just a lot of lights, glitter, too-short-skirts, and lame jokes. Enjoy my running commentary because the laptop keeps me warm. :) * Jennifer Hudson, just love her, and loved her speech. Too bad she left her dinner napkin on as a bib... who dresses these poor women? She's gorgeous, why would she wear that?! *Love Al Green. Add in a little JT and it's a good thing. yay. *coldplay... i just don't get it. *Carrie Underwood! MAN that girl can sing! Not loving her dress/shorts/whatever but she's one of those girls that looks like a 10 with no makeup and a burlap sack. *Seriously I can't take these clothes... skirts 12 inches above the knee and a crowd of crazy people standing below them... i always wonder, what kind of underwear do these people wear?? *Coldplay, still don't get it... are they trying to recreate the Beatles? People must like them... *Taylor Swift and Miley! how fun! Not wanting to be 15 again i'll tell you that! *Hudson's performance dress is much better. God bless her. *JB...the new N'Sync... yup, it's official. I'm old. *YAY Kenny!! *blah blah blah *OH MY GOSH no offense, not being a hater, but rap is NOT my cup of tea... especially with a woman 12 months pregnant wearing a polka dot bikini... sorry. *blah blah blah FINALLY!! JT!!! bummer.... looked like it might be real music but then more rap. :( Oh well, it's still worth watching! Something about the way he puts together a performance always impresses me. I may not like his music all the time but the man has style and he's a true artist. *love me some MOTOWN!! I'm looking at these adolescents in the front mosh pit area and laughing because i know they have NO idea what these songs are these men are singing. *Neil Diamond! his voice is so sexy, better to just listen than to look at him, he's gotta be pushing 70 by now. Oh, what happened to music? The subjects are the same, love, drugs, sex, heartbreak but it's what's behind it that has changed. Makes me sad. Sweet Caroline... what a classic! *legends, it's always sad to see who's passed. It always surprises me how many of the older generations i recognize names for. Bo Diddly was really before his time wasn't he? Talk about innovation and being an artist... *Robert Plant, who'd've thunk it...excellent ending. *oh, can't forget Stevie... I'm a rock star at the FF button!! 4:32!! and that's WITH typing!! *I've never even heard of half of these people. Unless you're born overseas or in Memphis you are not likely to ever win a Grammy. *I'm starting to wonder if you can go back and watch Grammy's from 1996. That I might enjoy a little more. As they say in L.A... Peace out!

We appreciate prayers for our family as well as the Kandray family.

Evelyn Kandray passed away yesterday morning.

Family is traveling in today,

the viewing hours will be Friday evening,

and the funeral Saturday.

We know she knew the Lord Jesus Christ as her personal savior

and is in Heaven today.

We pray for the family and that above all else,

God would be glorified in her death as he was in her life.

Happy February! The kids are playing nicely together so i'll attempt to recall some of the things i wanted to record. I tend to think in the middle of housework or a cute kid moment, "i should write that down!!" and then i sit here to do so and can't for the life of me remember what to write. :) I had such a wonderful time on my girls day out Saturday. We went to P. Graham Dunn and I got TWO paintings on sale! It was so much fun to see all the beautiful things they make and get a tour of the work area. I'd really like to go back and take Gary and the kids and several other people who I know would enjoy it. Gary took the kids to get a car wash which is like an amusement park trip for Tyler. He went on and on and on and on some more about it. They also went to Burger King as you saw from pictures posted this weekend. Tyler was very sure to tell me numerous times that they had SIX cheeseburgers and Daddy even let them get desert!! Sunday morning when I bathed him before church I found chocolate on his ear so i'm assuming he enjoyed it fully. They love daddy days and Gary's so good about taking them out. I find it ironic that when i plan a day at home Tyler wants to go somewhere and when we spend all day out and about and get home late (like 9:30 last night!) he is crying because " We didn't even get to play at home!". We're gearing up for Valentines over here. I'm not sure what exactly i'm going to do this week but I've been trying to gather things since Christmas. :) My mom brought me some things to hang around the house, we can't hang them on the windows because we covered our windows in plastic.... hmmm. I got a couple little things at the $tree for the kids and hope to make some sort of bag for them to do valentines just us with. I've got doilies i've had oh, probably 10 years or more... they may have even come from my parents house to my house. I also have construction paper and other junk they can use. I almost got valentines at the $tree too but figured it was a waste. They didn't have any kids that stuck me as something the kids would love. I hope to make some heart shaped cookies for the kids and friends to decorate this Friday but we'll just have to see how motivated I am! Today is rainy and just feels like a good day to curl up on the couch with a good book. Last night we attended our first ever Elders meeting. It'll be my last till another time with the wives comes along, i believe only once a year. It was a very good time actually! We worked on church goals for the year and some are pretty specific which I think is good. I was very surprised that the wives had such an active roll in this meeting, i was expecting we'd all eat and then the wives would go to another room and visit while the 'men got down to buissiness'. :) That was not it at all!! Gary's grandma had a stroke a little over a week ago and has not been doing well ever since. It's so sad to see the drastic changes in her each time we go. I'm so thankful we live close by so we can go visit her as often as we like. She's been such a blessing to the other residents there, they all love her and pap and steph who visit often. The staff love them too. Even as her physical body grows ill it's such a wonderful thing to know that she has the Lord Jesus in her heart and knows him as her personal savior and someday we can serve Him together in heaven, for eternity! It's a very sad situation but there is hope ahead. We have no idea when the 'good Lord' will call her home but we're appreciating every moment we have with her. My prayers go most for Pap... to have to truly let your most precious loved one go and leave them in God's hands and be left here without them must be one of the most heartbreaking things a person could ever go through. There are many other things going on which I don't want to take the time to get into, but I do want to share some things about the kids, my reason for sitting down here after all. (what time was that I wonder? how many interruptions ago?) Grace is all girl and Tyler is all boy and I love it. It's so so fun at this age to see them do things that make us say "Just like daddy!" or "Just like mommy!" to each other. Grace's favorite toys are shoes. She will wear any shoes in the house if we let her. My fear of her breaking her ankle limits it quite a bit but she can even get her own shoes on most of the time! Tyler went through this phase too but what sets Grace apart is that she likes to choose what shoes to wear when we go out. If I sit her up on her changing table and get her dressed and let her choose she'll always choose the one that matches better and repeat the color of the shoe while pointing. Her favorites are her new brown flower shoes, which were supposed to be spring shoes but she wears them all the time, and her pink tennis shoes. Oh! and her "bippers" for during the day of course. Tyler wants to do nothing more than run from the front door to the back door pretending he's a race car all day long. My mom came to visit yesterday and the kids did nothing more than run. They played really well together so she and I could visit which was nice. Grace's new sayings I want it that's why big lovey (with hand motions- no idea where she got that!) love mommy, love daddy, love lovey, love Jesus, love pops, love mamma, love papa When I check the Kelloggs blog she gets all excited and dances around then runs over and yells JOSH! ACKEE! FAFF!! josh josh josh baby faf ACKEE!!!!!! She points to the pictures and then Tyler comes over and mimics her. too cute. She's named one of her baby dolls Faf and it's the one that has to be in bed with "melmo" and "baby aamy" (her lambie Lori got her for Christmas). I try to let her play with them downstairs and purposely leave one or two down there so she does not become attached and need all of them when we travel. That happened with Tyler. He had to have his "kiki", binky, and like three animals and it was a royal pain to wean him off of each one. :) She calls her blankie a "baby" which makes it very confusing when we are playing babies! :) She likes to feed them, put them to bed and then lay down with them and say "nigh-nigh!" She and Tyler pretend to nap in the empty toy bins with pillows, blankets and books. I find that to be highly amusing b/c the quiet moments are so short and they don't get books in bed (except Tyler on 'rest' non-nap days). Well, i've been on and off of here trying to post something that makes sense and is slightly interesting for several hours. Nurses called from the nursing home to Steph telling her to get there as soon as possible so she left work to go and after she called me, I called Gary and he too left work to go be there. We appreciate your prayers. God bless!

Grace in her new sweat shirt

Tyler putting his crown at BK

Grace putting on her crown at BK

Today Heather got a much needed break and went out with some girl friends. She was getting to go to P. Graham Dunn (click the link to learn more) workshop and gallery. They make Inspirational wood carvings. She is really into this type of thing. I have no doubt she had a great time. In fact, she has not returned yet so it must have been fun. This means that I got to watch and entertain the kids all by myself. I had a great time and they were very well behaved. As always, when I am by myself, I took them out to eat. We ended up at the Burger King in alliance after getting the car washed. We tried the new mini cheese burger six pack combo and we loved them! While there I took pictures of them both with their crowns on. I hope to post these pictures soon. When we returned to home watched a couple of episodes of Roary the Racing car (click the link to learn more). This has become Tyler's new favorite. It is a pretty cute show. Well, I need to get going.

Good Evening! I love January! Usually I hate it but this year i've decided to embrace the fact that I am the type of mom who prefers to be home. I prefer to not be driving my kids all over kingdom come, at least at this age. I love that I have friends who have thier kids involved in a lot of things and I see such great rewards in that type of lifestyle, but it's just not for me-right now. I don't feel guilty about it anymore. At least today. :) Gary had a snowday on Friday since it was -11 degrees PLUS windchill!! BRR!!! he also has tomorrow off for MLK day so it's been a nice little mini vacation for us! We even said Thursday night we should have traveled somewhere! :) Congratulations to Kelsey and her baby number FOUR born yesterday! I can't wait to go see her and get to hold her! We also got to see our cousin Nikki and her baby Elizabeth who's almost ONE already. I can't get over it. Grace is 20 months today. She's almost TWO!?! Where has the time gone?! How can I make it slow down!?!? :) We're truly blessed and thankful for each and every day. Tonight while feeding Grace I had a 'thought'. This will make you mom's laugh. I always hear about how men are built for war. They just have to go to battle in one way or another. men are made for it. I get that and sure see God's wisdom in it. However, i think one way to "heal" them of it would be to make them stay home all day every day with some toddlers. You go to battle over jumping on the couch, putting the toilet seat down, eating your green beans, not screaming in the van and about a thousand other things every day, you're way to tired to go marching across some field killing other men. :) I just thought it was funny. Men are made for battle physically, but women are made for it too. Just in different ways. Tonight the Steelers are the AFC Champions!! Gary's dad, Uncle Mike, brother and Lia are there. It's got to be freezing but what an experience to get to see your favorite team (especially true for Uncle Mike!!) achieve that at home! I really don't care for football all that much, a side affect of growing up in Cleveland where frankly, football is nothing to cheer about round here. We do have a bit of a connection now to the Steelers through Lia though and i'm excited that Mike gets to be there for this. Gary's dad however, is going to be very tired this week! We expect he'll get home around 1 am and has to get up around 5am to go to work. We had the cold bug around the house big time this week. Grace has had more nasal drip than seems possible. However, she learned for real how to blow her nose! She's been doing it occasionally for awhile but now she's really getting it! It's SO cute somehow and so very helpful. She does better for her daddy of course... daddys girl through and through. i'm veryt hankful that the illness did not turn into this flu thing we've been hearing so much about. I hear this years flu is particularly nasty. Have a wonderful week everyone! Happy Birthday Dad!

Phillipians 4: 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.

Happy Birthday Jodi Hurlow!! We had a wonderful whirlwind visit to Mansfield. I cry every time we leave there but where we are is definitely "home". We're so very blessed to have such wonderful friends, most of them just happen to live over an hour away in several directions. We went to celebrate Jodi, watch the game *sob- OSU lost*, sleep a little, and back home so Gary could get to work. For several years i've been keeping track of the books I read annually. I used to post them on MySpace but since i'm trying to do better keeping this blog updated (THANK YOU to my readers! Hi Shari!! Hi Amy!! Hi Hannah! Hi Jackie! Grandma, are you reading!?!) I'm going to post it here... ignore it. ;) This blog helps me to journal and keep track of what's going on in life so someday when my kids ask me questions about their lives I can have them read it. I also hope it helps me when I get around to scrapbooking their lives... you know, in 2040 or so. :) Feel free to skim past the stories of "what we did today". Today Giant Grace destroyed my train and crashed it into a "mountain!" She was sorry though so she put all the trains and tracks away for me. :) I've also drunk about a gallon of play "tea" (air- not toilet or any other water as the forward I got a few months ago suggests) She then put her babies to bed and now we're "patting" with Little Einsteins. She pats and sings through the show (the 3 minutes she sits still) and Tyler stares at the TV as if the rest of the world has melted away and he's IN the show. So cute! Her favorite word this week is "NO!" and my favorite she says is "bi-bber" which translates to "slipper". Tyler's favorite activity of late is the new Story Reader we got in the mail Saturday. It reads books and you turn the page- kind of like the records we had as a kid... which I still have. {Anyone have a working record player that plays 33 1/3rd's? } Anyways, he's listened to each story a minimum of 6 times now. I was leery of it at first, as I am of all things that require a battery or electric to work. Not only did the sender include batteries, but it's really been fun for him and encouraging his love of books so it's a win-win! Grace was playing while I was teaching Tyler today and when we were writing on the chalkboard she came over and was making circles (kind of) and was babbling so while Tyler practiced his shapes I wrote her name and said it to her and spelled it to her and she repeated all the letters! I couldn't believe it, so i had her repeat letters for me- she can say almost the whole alphabet! She's so funny how she'll try anything. :) Book List 2008- Heather The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe ~CS Lewis The Wind In the Willows- a kid version testing as a RA Harry Potter book 3,4,5,6,7 ~J.K. Rowling A Merry Heart ~Brunstetter Looking for a Miracle ~"" Plain and Fancy ~"" The Hope Chest ~"" Queen of Babble ~Cabott Someday ~Kingsburry The Wedding ~Sparks Searching for Eternity ~Musser Crossroads ~Hannon An Honest Life ~ A Voice in the Wind ~Rivers An Echo in the Darkness ~"" Leather and Lace ~Mills Lanterns and Lace ~Mills Lightning and Lace ~Mills Captivating Confessions of a Shopaholic Texas Charm ~Mills One Night with the King ~Tenny Parenting isn't for Cowards ~Dobson The Secret Life of Becky Miller ~Hink Wedding at Wildwood ~Worth Renovating Becky Miller ~Hink Shopaholic Takes Manhattan Shopaholic Ties the Knot Queen of Babble in the Big City ~Cabott Homeschooling the Early Years ~Linda Dobson Dakota Born ~ Real Life Homeschooling ~Barfield Flee the Night Sunset ~Kingsburry Going Home ~Brunstetter The Strong-Willed Child ~Dobson? On Her Own ~Brunstetter A Sisters Secret ~ "" Multiple Blessings ~Gosselin Dear to Me ~Brunsetter Allison's Journey ~"" A Sisters Test ~"" A Holiday to Remember OT: Exodus, Leviticus NT: Mark, Luke, Acts - Philemon,

Our only Family Photo we got during Christmas! ~thanks Jackie!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Gary has to go back to work tomorrow! BOO!! He's more than ready. He's already in work mode thinking about what he's got going on this week and preparing for meetings and trying to widdle down his masses of emails. We had another wonderful week and it was nice to just be close to home. As much as we love to travel and see people, we also love to be home. Gary went into work M,T,W last week and I worked hard to get the house re-organized and find homes for the toys. We also decided to have a semi-last minute new years eve get together. It's pretty hard to find people who want to give up a New Years Eve to babysit, and then really-where would we go? We're not into drinking or crowds so we decided to try out having some friends over and letting them stay the night. I thought we were going to be just us for a short time as illness was taking friends out but in the end they all came and the cleaning was back in full force! I figured either way we'd kick off the new year with a semi-clean, somewhat organized house. It's been wonderful. Anyways, I called Gary shortly after noon on Wednesday and said "GET TO THE STORE AND GET HOME THEY ARE ALL COMING!!!" We had such a wonderful time and all the kids were so well behaved. It was a lot of work but so so so worth it. I also finally, after several years, got Gary to stay up till midnight without any manipulation whatsoever! Amazing what a temporary x-Box will do. :) I also learned how to play Euchre! Even in our smallish apartment everyone was comfy and certainly cozy. Tyler got to try out his new Lightning McQueen sleeping bag which he LOVES. He thought having a sleepover with Grace in mommy and daddy's room was the coolest thing ever and really had a difficult time understanding why we didn't want to go to bed with him at 9. :) We decided to take advantage of the good weather (ie- no ice or snow) and head to the cabin this weekend. We went on Friday and while the kids napped had our January household budget meeting. It's funny how important it is for our finances to function, and yet so much of it is based on assumptions. We're assuming Gary's going to keep his job and pay rate according to his contracted scale. We're also assuming our rent and utilities won't go up drastically and we're assuming gas won't go over 3$ this calendar year. Seems doable as of today but who knows? Of course we're also assuming our Mansfield renters will stay, pay rent and the house won't need any drastic repairs. That's a lot of assuming and you know what they say about that... We kind of live on that mantra that life is what God gives you after you make your plans. So we make our plans using the wisdom we've got and leave the rest in God's hands. Or try to. The Bush's made it later in the evening and we enjoyed some time with them. The lake is partly frozen so we all got quite a science lesson this weekend! First of all we learned that independent Armandina can in fact walk almost a half a mile in boots (to the lake and back). I carried her a little bit but honestly not much. She would have none of it! Tyler, of course, ran most of the way, also in boots. We got down tot he lake and some of it is drained for the winter so we were able to stand on the ground of the lake in the spot where the boats usually are docked. We pretended to touch the bottom of the "boat". We also learned that the heavier the rocks, the better chance they have of breaking through the ice. We also experimented in ways of throwing them. There was some cracked ice on the edges and i grabbed a pretty large chunk and got a lesson of my own. When you throw ice on ice it shatters and slides for a very long distance! It also makes the most amazing sounds! I'd never seen anything like it! With so few people (we saw 2 other walkers and a dog across the lake but that's all!), no boats or car or air traffic it was SO quiet! The rocks we threw made neat sounds too. From the cabin to the lake is mostly a downhill walk on a blacktop/gravel road. Tyler seems so big and grown up to me but God showed me just how small we all are. Tyler ran ahead of me and once past the houses, with the lake, and the hills and forests around him, my Tyler looked so tiny. His creation is just so vast and majestic and it was just so amazing. I took the kids (by myself mom!) for a walk down to the lake while Gary unloaded the van and got their beds together. The four of us and Stephanie went the next morning as well and Tyler and his Pops got to go a third time on Saturday. They found some fish frozen in the ice! One of the things i love most about the cabin is that they get NO TV reception. No antenna channels, no cable, no cell phone service, no Internet. Nothing. We can watch VHS's and DVD's but that's it! They do get a few radio stations but not many. We pretty much have no other choice but to relax. We make meals, read, visit and sleep. Ahhh.... we watched Prince Caspian Friday Night and i really really enjoyed it. Well, the kids are ready to get up from their Sunday naps so I'd better get in gear for dinner and the rest of the evening. I hope everyone has a wonderful week! God Bless!