My oldest still has fits.

So Sunday came around and we were getting ready to go to church at 9a.m., and my oldest thought it'd be okay to wear a white t-shirt with her skirt. It had holes in it, it wasn't as white as it used to be, and I have been telling her and girl #2 that church is no place for t-shirts. Stephen and I made her wear a beautiful shirt. It was long sleeved, button down, and was made with fabric that had eyelets at the bottom. She started to cry and decided she wasn't going to church. She said she'd then change her skirt. I was okay with that because I hate the skirt she's wearing.
Stephen on the other hand said, "No, you have to wear both." She still kept going on and on about hating what she was wearing! I told her if she kept it up, she'd be wearing that shirt until spring. I just had to take some pictures of this. Stephen was totally backing me up on this issue. I love him and his support.
Poor girl, she may need therapy later, just because she didn't get what she wanted. I'm having a hard time feeling bad for her because she's been puttin' up the 'tude since she turned 12. Good luck to me, eh?

A little somethin' somethin'

So boy #2 was bored one day. This was the result.

Notice, the cute little shoulders pulled up. His hands look like he's doing some sort of dance move. The cute, innocent little smile on his face saying "I know what I did was wrong and you're not going to do a single thing about it 'cuz you love me sooo much!" I did make him put the couches back together. with a little help. What a funny kid. What to do, what to do.

Happy Birthday!

Today is girl #1's birthday. She has turned 12. My goodness but how fast time flies. I didn't have the awesome opportunity to stay home with her when she was born, and so I missed wonderful, yet simple things. I missed her first steps, crawling, words, teething (although, many might say that was a good thing), laughing, clapping, etc.
My mother-in-law saw her firsts for the 1st 6 months of girl #1's life. Then Stephen's sister (M) saw them for the next 6 months. She is the one who helped her learn to crawl. I was sad that I missed it. For the next 2 1/2 years Stephen's other sister (A) saw all girls #1's firsts. Sister A has a boy who is 1 month older than girl #1. They were like twins. Sister A deserves the biggest of all gold stars. These two children gave Sis A a workout. She earned her money. She also earned Girl #1's love. I'm thankful to these three women who've helped me with her and I'm glad they were there for us.

Girl #1 is now older, she loves to run, play soccer, be around animals, and play the piano. She has 3 siblings that I know she adores (98% of the time,) us-her parents, her grand-parents (which she has a special relationship with each one,) and she still has most of her great-grandparents whom she loves to be around.

She loves to hang out with her friends and cousin's, her siblings, sometimes her mom-if I'm not wearing my p.j.'s or my workout clothes, and loves to spend time with her Dad. She will babysit and do other housework to earn money. She has been learning about saving and spending it. She actually does very well with it.

We are ever-so grateful to the Lord for blessing our home with her personality, zest for life, love, and utter happiness that she brings to us. She is an amazing girl who works hard in life, school, sports, and to have good-uplifting-helpful friends. We love her!

Have you ever seen an outfit like this before? The jean jacket, skirt with leggings, bow in wavy hair, chuck taylors? Not on me, but maybe yourself several years back? Yeah, I know. It's coming back and hopefully will leave soon. But, doesn't she look so cute?

An explanation of sorts

So, I saw a video on a news site concerning new clothing. This video is the exact reason why I needed to have my dryer fixed before Christmas. Watch it and you will also understand why I'm such a freak about it. Click on this link and watch, you'll soon agree with me that I needed to have my dryer fixed.
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?cl=17504225

Okay, what's one more post?

My wonderful friends, Amanda and Jared adopted cute little Max on June 10, 2008. He is so cute and the love that just radiates from this little family is amazing!
So, they have now been approved for adoption again and are looking for birth mothers who have chosen this option for their baby. If you know of anyone in the birth mother situation, please have them look at Jared and Amanda's profile by clicking on their picture on my sidebar.
I know that they are wonderful parents and any child added to their family would be loved beyond measure. They are great and wonderful people, full of love, and wanting what most of us have and take for granted. I have known them since 2002. They bought the condo next to ours and have been great people to know and to be friends with. Amanda is also one of my running partners and has always been an example to me of what friendship and love and hard work is. She is just awesome, and I'm honored to be her friend. Please consider them and keep them in your prayers. Thank you to all who read this.

Our unexpected Christmas eve present.

Our dryer decided to blow it's heating element. I decided to wait until Stephen had some time to ask him to fix it. After it taking half a day to run a small load of washed clothes through the dryer to speed along the air drying process, I asked him to fix it. That was Christmas Eve. It was the only day he had. I knew I'd need my dryer because the kids always get new clothes from different people and I don't like them to be worn unless they have been washed first. (That is an issue I'll write about some other time.) I figured for 4 loads of wash it would take me a week to dry them.

My husband came to rescue. He got up instead of sleeping in on Christmas eve, didn't even shower, pulled the heating element out of the dryer (getting shocked in the process-he didn't enjoy that,) drove to Kiesel sales and services, bought the new part, then came right home put it in and he fixed my dryer. My hero! big loving sigh!

I however haven't mentioned that I kinda giggled when he got shocked. I felt so bad for doing it, but that was how I handled the stress of him getting hurt, some people giggle. In this picture, you can see where the coil seperated itself.

So, now thanks to my hero, I didn't need to buy a new dryer. All it needed was a $50 part and things were good. That is a big savings $50 compared to $400. right?

I love him and am grateful for his handymanship. He is great and wonderful! Muah, Love you Hon!

Our Christmas

It's never too late for Christmas!

Our Christmas season was a wonderful one. We celebrated with wonderful family members and friends. On Christmas Eve, we visited with Stephen's side of the family in Morgan. It was great. We had our traditional clam chowder and chili and a new soup- Hot dog soup. His aunt made it and it tasted yummy! This year for the gift exchange, only the great-grand kids who were there exchanged gifts. The rest of the adults donated the money they would've spent to cousin Baylen's charitable account. He is the one going through the medulla-blastoma treatments. What a great way to give back to our Lord (after all he has given and done for us) by donating to them so they can make it through this. The road to recovery is very long, but we believe that Baylen will make it. He is, by the way, done with radiation treatments and will start chemo soon. And he's doing very well for a 3 year old (soon to be 4.)

On Christmas day, we spent the morning opening presents from each other. The kids all loved what they received and loved to give gifts even more! We visited with our only-ever landlady for breakfast, then went to Stephen's parents for a late lunch. We then went to my parents for an even later dinner and pies.

We were late to almost everything we did, but, I was okay with it. Usually, I'm running around, not happy, screaming at everyone to get going. It is very, very, unpleasant. This year, I did a better job of trying to relax. I knew we'd be late to everything, therefore, I didn't have to worry about what my mom thought or my mother-in-law thought. We showed up when we could. And do you know what? everything worked out just fine. Nobody died because we were late. Nobody was crying, screaming, or unhappy. It just was a great and wonderful day. Like it is supposed to be.

I'm happy to say I finally got all 7 Harry Potter books, a yoga mat (from girl #1,) new pants and Pride and Prejudice the movie! Yay! I love this movie. It's my Favorite! It fills me with happy thoughts warm fuzzies, and what I loved more, was my husband FINALLY watched it with me. He laughed at the right times and was quiet when he needed to be. I do believe he enjoyed watching it with me and now understands a little bit more why I love to read the book. Happy feelings all the way around! Stephen was happy with what he got, a laptop, socks, legos, shoes, blah, blah, blah. The kids received what they wanted: Girl #1 a new bike, Girl #2 Art items, lots of them! Boy #1 a guitar (which hubby wants to teach him,) and Boy #2 Thomas sheets and blankets for a new bed, among other things for each of them.

We hope all you had a great Christmas, whether it was with extended family or just your own little one. We are thankful for wonderful family and friends to be around during the Christmas season and love that we can be involved with your lives. Thank You!