Florida 2009

The pier is always a highlight. It is so beautiful to see the ocean. The temp was perfect and the breeze refreashing. Ahhhh

A quick family photo at the park.

Erin pointing out the big grapefruits. We picked quite a few to take home.

Tyler's big fish.

Snow day

We made cards for our teachers at school and cookies. All in all the day went well considering their was zero vizablity and we could not leave. There was lots of snow to play in. Although, it was not good packing, which was a bummer for Tyler, who continued to try to roll a snow ball without success... Poor little dude.......

Playing outside is always a good way to get rid of extra energy. .... The dryer ran non stop most of the day drying snow clothes.

Decorating for Christmas

Our prettiest tree ever:)

The day after Thanksgiving is always our day to decorate the tree and get the ornaments all out. Although cutting down a tree is not something I tackle, wrestling one out of the basement storage room is no small task either. Since Tim has worked this day the last few years the kids and I are on our own. Thankfully, Alli and Erin are old enough to grab an end. It's always fun and it keeps the kids busy for quite awhile. Alli has the most ornaments because she is the oldest and they get one every year. So every year I let Erin and Tyler put on all the extra's balls, as a preventative measure, to help even things out. Alli got to help untangle the lights. I must say they were in the worst wad ever. I think I remember the day I put them away. Pretty sure I hauled them off the tree in attempts to quickly get the tree put away while I was unpacking from FL. Don't think I was in any mood to roll them up neatly......I had totally forgotten about it until I saw the giant wad of green, stringed, lights.... Ooops.

A play date with cousin Ethan

Finally someone to play hockey and monster trucks with that is as passionate about those things as he is.

Yes, Ethan and Tyler have a little fudge bar on their faces. I promise I didn't feed them all sugar:)

Thanks Aunt Betsey for letting us borrow Ethan for the afternoon. It was one of Tyler's best afternoon ever. He would like a do over as soon as possible:)

Pumpkins

I got a little lazy this year. I gave the kids a marker to decorate their pumpkins. I think they had just as much fun and lots less mess.

Halloween 2009

It was a freezing night to trick or treat. Not really what I has hoped it would be. Last year the weather was so nice I would have walked for miles. This year I couldn't wait to get done and warm up. We joined cousins to make it more fun. Really all anyone saw was the kids winter coats and teeth chattering in the cold:(

Beautiful fall colors

Wow we have a lot of leaves

I think he had to empty the tractor with every pass across the lawn.

Sunday morning miracle

I awoke in the night and could not fall back to sleep. Ever have that? I was tired b/c I just worked a 11 hour day. My eyes are bad so I couldn't read the clock. I had no idea what time it was but I knew I needed to pray. I have come to realize sometimes the Lord gives me a quiet chance to pray wither it is conveinient or not. Problem was I had no idea what I needed to pray about. I thought I had been through it all before I went to bed. So I went back to my prayer model. PRAY Praise, repent, ask and yield. (Not Yell). Ok... I may have yelled a little.... I wanted to go back to sleep. I loved the speaker I heard on this. She said, "When you awake in the night and the Lord wants you to pray and the devil wants you to worry and drift. Start preaching at the devil. He hates to be preached at." Anyway, I was tired in the morning I did not feel well rested. I felt as though instead I had wrestled and had no idea why. To be honest my spirit was grumbling about my physical tiredness and my busy day.
So we made it to church. I sat down thankful to be in service. I do children's ministry most weeks so I am delighted to join the adults for service whenever I get the chance. I looked about the auditorium and noticed a new family sitting with one of our friends. I didn't dawn on my until the second song who it was. It was an old friend I had prayed for, for 15 years. It was one of those "hopeless cases." There they were in church a row over...... right then I knew why I needed to spend some night in prayer.....

I encourage you today to read the parable of the persistant widow in Luke 18. " Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up."

Philippians Test

I have been asked so often, "Why don't you just transfer your children to the public school. It's cheeper and most of the kids turn out just fine?"
There are a million reasons....... but here is my reason today....

Allison, my fourth grader, brought home her test paper on Philippians and this is what they learned:
1. Real joy comes from knowing Christ Jesus.
2. We can be joyful in every Situation
3. We can keep our joy by Prayer, Fellowship, and Thanksgiving.
(These were fill in the blanks)


The rest of the test was essay:
Name the purposes of the book of Philippians?
Answer: To teach joy and preach joy. To help the people resist false teaching that would discourage them in their walk with Christ. (this is her written answer)

Name two good characteristics of the Philippians?
Answer: The people in Plilipi (mispelled oops) were good because they were joyful and generous.
**** Traits I would like to see my children immulate

According to Philippians 4:4-7 how can we experience God's peace?
Answer: By prayer and pititian, to a God that will listen and answer in his time. (a few mispellings but she's got it.)

Hope this encourages your heart and explains some of why we send our children to a school, which I've been told is silly.
God Bless all the parents today, as we train our children, in the way they should go.

Happy Birthday Ty ty little guy

Tyler you continue to light up our lives. Every day you make us laugh. We love watching you grow up. You are learning so many things every day. You can hit your dad's fast ball, and score on him in hockey games. I laugh so hard when you beat him in the playstation basket ball game. I think he learned and in practicing up after you go to bed:) I am enjoying the times you will still sit on my lap. Usually, just when you don't want to go to bed and you are sleepy. But I still soak them up, as I know it won't last forever. We love you, Mom

First field trip to the apple orchard.

It was a beautiful day for a walk through the orchard. The boy's did better than expected and we left the orchard still standing:)

If any of you are feeling sorry for the kid in the white hat whose mother wrestled it on him to keep all rays of sun off him. Don't worry the feeling was mutual............

It's Done!!!!!

It's finally done!!!!

First day of Preschool

Wow it is hard to believe the day is here. My littlest one is off to school. There was no looking back.... he just waved and said see you in a little while. Then ran up and said "Oh yah, I forgot to give you a kiss." I made it all the way home with no tears. I had a bit of a moment when I got home and it was so quiet. For the first time as far back as I could remember I could hear myself think. Crazy........

First Day of School

All ready to start the day.

Finding the desk for all the new supplies

"I found my locker."

Floor demo

Thanks a million to our neighbor Bob!!!! and Tim, the floors were removed just before we left for camping.