Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Getting Ready!

I am so excited about Christmas, especially because we are spending it in sunny Florida at my mom and dad's place. Last night I wrapped most of the gifts while listening to Christmas music.
Today I need to go to the store and pick up food for the road(we are taking a cooler and eating sandwiches to save some money). We are also driving the whole 16 hours in one day with 3 kids ages 6 and under. So please pray for us :) We don't plan on getting a hotel at this point.
I also need to pick up some dress shoes for my daughter. I realized I have her pretty dress for Christmas, but no fancy shoes. Tennis shoes would pretty much look terrible with it. So, Walmart is where I'm headed.
I am so excited! Christmas is so important and special in our family. My dad is a pastor, so I'm looking forward to hearing him preach. Oh, and they live on the water, so every year the neighborhood lights candles in paper bags and they line the canals with it. Santa drives by in their backyard in a boat(probably some neighbor that enjoys seeing all the kids react). And, the ice cream man has been known to drive through town that week. My Christmas won't be a white one, but no complaints here! I'm sure the snow will be back at home waiting for me.
Please take a little time to remember in all the busy moments, that Christ is the Reason we are celebrating this day.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Christmas book

Here is a video clip of my favorite author, Karen Kingsbury. I LOVE her books. She writes great Christian fiction. She also has a few kid books, and this is a clip of her reading a new Christmas story(I don't own this book yet, but it is a great one).

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

I am happy today because of. . . .

I am happy today because of this wonderful news from a friend!
Click here. Keep them in your prayers :)

Mouse in The House Part Two

Well, the mouse either got back in or this is a second mouse. Andrew discovered it one morning on the kid's art table. Chili caught this one while we were sleeping and placed it exactly like this on the table, I suppose as a gift to the kids. I think our cat has a sense of humor because notice the book. Maybe Chili wanted Christina to feel a REAL animal. Hopefully we will have no more mice. They don't stand a chance anyway with our cat. As for Chili, she deserves a few extra treats.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Mouse in the House Part One

Sometime last week, we had some excitement right after the kids' bath. We were getting their pjs on, and all of a sudden a mouse ran across the floor with our cat Chili chasing it. No boring bed time that night! A real life Tom and Jerry chase was happening in our living room, much to the delight of the kids!
It got even more exciting when our cat actually caught the mouse in her mouth a couple times, but the poor little thing was able to jump out and keep running. When I say poor little thing, that doesn't mean I am excited about having a mouse living in my home :)
Chili cornered the mouse behind the entertainment stand. Phil was standing on one side with the cat, and I was on the other. I used a big box to try to trap the mouse in case he ran out. Instead, the cat ran into the box. "Wrong one!" I exclaimed, which made the kids burst into laughter. We got the cat out of the cardboard box. Phil put her behind the tv and let Chili sniff around back there. The cat found the hiding mouse for us, and the mouse went running right into the box!
I grabbed the box up quickly before the cat could join the mouse in the box. Thankfully the box was tall. I carried it outside. Being the picture taker that I am, I had Phil take a couple of the mouse. He looks a lot cuter in a box than running around my house! He carried the box across the street with David, and they let it go. It went running towards the neighbors :) We warned the mouse not to come back and told him how lucky he was to escape the cat. The question is, will the mouse find a way back inside? Those of you on Facebook may already know. Stay tuned for part 2.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

He Still Has His Job

I am feeling pretty thankful this week. Phil was at work on Tuesday in a meeting. They looked at him and said, "your position has been eliminated." As he sat there in shock trying to process that statement, his boss continued. He told Phil that he has reassigned him to a different position within the same company. In other words, he still has work. Phil wasn't the only one. The company was making job cuts, but there were still vacant jobs that needed filled, so his smart boss shuffled people around and no one lost their job. What a great boss.
This all could have been so much worse. God is taking care of our family. We really couldn't afford for Phil to lose his job. The whole incident was very stressful, but we are counting our blessings.

Friday, October 31, 2008

Happy Halloween at Trunk or Treat

Our family went to the annual Trunk or Treat at our church, Fair Oaks Church. Thousands of people attend and this year was no different. It is really cool spending the evening with the church family passing out candy to the community. The whole thing ended with a wonderful fireworks show. Here are a few pictures of the kids in their costumes:
Maybe this weekend I will post more pics of the event, or at least the pumpkin carving. I'm tired, but it was a fun day. The temperature hit 68 degrees today, so we were blessed with another Trunk or Treat with warm weather.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

It's been too long!

I haven't blogged for a couple weeks, so I will try to get some new posts up soon. I actually started a new blog the other day for my jewelry shop on etsy, so you can take a look if you would like
http://www.hiddentreasurejewelry.blogspot.com. I wanted a place to talk about my etsy shop without combining it too much on my family blog. That doesn't mean I will never mention selling jewelry on the family blog, but I wanted a spot to talk about just my crafting.
Halloween is coming up! All our kids are excited. The boys are going to use their old bug costumes and Christina has a ladybug costume(never worn) that we got off Ebay. I will have the cutest little bugs in the neighborhood. Actually we will be taking them to the annual Trunk or Treat at Fair Oaks Church. There will even be fireworks!!! The weather is looking good. I will get cute pics of the kids dressed up for Halloween and put them on the blog, so stay tuned for that.

Monday, October 6, 2008

My Big Girl



Today we moved Christina out of her high chair. Now she will be at the main table with the rest of the family. She was very happy to sit in her new spot. She's not a baby anymore! These pictures really remind me of some pictures of me as a little girl. I think she is looking more like me all the time.
The last picture is one of me, a little older than Christina.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Starring Andrew and David!

We had a fun family day at King's Dominion. I'll post more pictures and write about it later. But, I just couldn't wait to post this adorable video of my boys on a kiddie roller coaster ride. We splurged and bought a dvd of the ride.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Saying Goodbye is Hard to Do

We sold our PT Cruiser today. It was a little hard to say goodbye to a car that we have put into car shows, put lots of work into, taken family trips in, etc. Phil actually put it up on Ebay, and it worked! We decided that with only 2 drivers in the family, we really didn't need 3 cars. Now that the Spyder Eclipse convertible is running again, we sold the Cruiser. We sold it to a girl going off to college. Everyone in her family loves PTs. This is her first car.
The hardest part was explaining it to the kids. David fell apart when they drove away in the car. He screamed and screamed and cried and cried. It was a huge tantrum, one of his biggest ever. The whole time he was crying and carrying on, he was looking out the window watching for our car to come back. He just doesn't understand any of this. He asked Daddy if Daddy wanted to sell him too! So, we did a lot of reassuring that we would keep even if we were offered all the money in the world. Poor kid.
Last night the kids helped Daddy wash the car one last time. Here are the pictures:


Christina is happy helping Daddy
Busy, helpful girl!
Andrew is busy helping too
David played in the water during the car wash. That's the fun part!
We will miss our car since we had it 6 years, but it was time to say goodbye.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

First Day of School

I am pretty late putting up pictures of the first day of school for Andrew. He wasn't so sure that he wanted to go back because he didn't want summer to end. Now he has settled into the school routine and says it is even better than playing Super Mario! Here are some pictures from the first day.
He has his shirt tucked into his underpants. Oops! I think his shirt came untucked before he got to school. I hope so!
I told Andrew to do a "too cool for school" pose. I guess he has that look down!
David decided he wanted to pretend to be a baby that day. He was actually very excited Andrew was going to school. No more fighting over his new birthday toys! I think he misses his brother now that a few weeks have gone by.

Here is Andrew in the first grade classroom. We got there really early. He was the first to get there in his class. We found out his friend David decided to come back this year, so Andrew was very happy.This is Andrew with his new teacher, Mrs. Platt. She is very nice! He loves school. I'm so proud of my big first grader!

Monday, September 15, 2008

No, he didn't hit me!


This is what I said to the neighbor that ran into me at the drugstore. He asked me if Phil beat me, and I could tell he was joking. Or maybe he really wondered. Maybe I would have laughed if my eye wasn't so painful.
Anyway, I have some sort of eye infection. My doctor sent me to the opthamologist. They think I may have some sort of viral conjunctivitis because my daugher has had some kind of cold the last few days. However, the doctor isn't totally sure. I am using prescription eye drops for the next couple days every 3 hours and over the counter eye drops as much as I want. He wants me to keep cold cloths on top of my eye to help with the swelling. I'm supposed to go back in 2 days to see if that treatment is working. I'm typing with one eye open right now because my other one really hurts!!!! The good news is my cornea isn't infected which is good as a contact lens wearer. He told me not to wear my contacts. I laughed and said, "I don't think I could get it in if I tried!" I'm not sure what to do to relax. Maybe listen to music?

Sunday, September 14, 2008

I'm not crying, my eyes are just leaking

Yep, tears keep running out of my eyes. I have tears coming out of one eye anyway. I think I have pinkeye. My eye was red yesterday. I took my contacts out early last night. Well, I woke up about 3 in the morning, and all this gunk was leaking out of my eye. I got up to look and sure enough my eye was all swollen and red. Pink eye! I woke up Phil, and he put drops in my eye that we still have left from when he had it. I really didn't want to have to go to the ER since its the weekend for something like pinkeye.
I was already planning on staying home from part of church this morning because Christina has been sick and feverish for the last couple days. She seems to be doing better today, but I'll just keep her home with me. I'm really bummed because the church is celebrating my pastor's 10th anniversary today, and they are having a special reception. I was looking forward to that. Yet, I can hardly open my one eye. You should see me typing; it probably looks hilarious with one eye closed so it won't water! My glasses are an older prescription too. I hope these drops start working!! How should I pass the time? Everything I want to do requires my eyes! Reading, tv, computer, jewelry making. Wow!

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

The case of the missing mouse

If only I could find the mouse for this computer! Maybe Chili knows where it is!
The mouse really isn't missing! However, Chili loves resting on top of this laptop because it feels warm. We try to keep it closed so she can sleep on that part, but sometimes she manages to relax on it when we have it open. This picture is in response to an email my dad sent me of another cat sleeping on a computer! Enjoy!

Friday, August 29, 2008

My Baby Boy is Four!

My little David turned 4 Wednesday! It seems not so long ago that I brought him home from the hospital. He is growing so fast. I think he is going to grow up to be either an actor or an author. The stories he comes up with are so imaginative. He is so entertaining! When I think of David, I think of how full of life he is. Here are 5 pictures from his life so far:
Newborn, still loves being all curled up
First birthday, kid on the right! Can you tell he is excited?!
Here David is at age two, at Carolina Beach in North Carolina.
David is 3 in this picture, watching Andrew's soccer game with Daddy

Here is my big four year old! My, how time is flying. I want to enjoy every moment, because before I know it, he will be all grown up.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

The Bear went over the Mountain


On Monday afternoon, our family went back to Skyline Drive. In the evening when we were getting ready to leave the park, this black bear walked across the road in front of our car. The kids were delighted, and Phil and I were too!
Anyway, we spent some more time in Shenandoah National Park yesterday. We asked the rangers for an easy walking trail for the little ones. It was still over a mile, but it was a great walk. We saw 3 deer yesterday; one of them was on our hike. Here are some more mountain pictures for you:
Taking a break on the hike
I just can't stop taking pictures of all the beautiful butterflies! I love them!
When I was a kid, we used to climb this mountain a couple times a year as a family or with the youth group. When our own kids are older, we will take them on that climb too.

In the meantime, they can climb little "mountains".

This deer was standing right next to the road, eating leaves for dinner. She was almost close enough to touch. I took this picture from the car window. The kids were so excited. We have been enjoying looking at God's creations at Skyline Drive.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Lines, Lines, Lines

We went to King's Dominion as a family on Saturday for a few hours, and we had a great time. I don't think we would have had fun though without our season passes! Traffic was bad, and by the time we got to the park, the lines were the longest I've seen all season. It was all okay though, because we can go back. Beauty of the season pass!
We spent the few hours we had taking the kids on all the kid rides. You know, it doesn't matter how busy the park is, the kiddie rides are never too busy. The kids got to ride on lots of things. I love watching their faces light up with joy when they are on the rides. I do think Andrew is starting to get a bit bored with the rides that just go in circles. Yet, he was pretty good about not complaining. David and Andrew did get to go on the small roller coaster, Scooby Doo. The log flume was a long line, but we saved that for after dark when the line really drops off. That is one of our family favorites. In a year or two, Christina will be allowed to ride that too. Here are a few pictures of our day.We saw this frog while waiting in line. One advantage of long lines is that you get to see things that you would otherwise miss.
Christina is on the kiddie version of the swinging boat ride. Looks like she will love roller coasters in the future!
David and Christina enjoying a drive
Christina and Andrew are having a turn together now.
So, in spite of taking forever to get to KD and the long lines, we still managed to have a fun evening together. I'll try to forget the girl fight I walked in on in the bathroom! The bathroom attendant had to break it up and tell the girls it wasn't worth fighting over. I guess they had been swearing and angry. Turns out one claimed the other had cut in the bathroom line! I'm glad my family had fun at the park instead of becoming angry. Lines teach patience, right?!

Saturday, August 9, 2008

What a fun day! Part Three(final)



We decided to stop by a pizza place on our way home. It is called Spitony's Pizza. We have driven by it many times. Phil and I always make jokes about it, and the kids always laugh. We have nicknamed it "Spit on Your Pizza". Anyway, we thought it was about time we tried it out. It had a very local feel to it, and the pizza was pretty good. Nobody spit on it as far as we know!
Today was one of those perfect family memorable days!

What a fun day! Part Two

Shenandoah National Park

After our visit to the farm, I did not want to go home! I asked Phil to start driving down the road to see where we would end up. We used to do this back when we were dating. We would cruise around Virginia and discover cool new places to visit. So, we loaded up on snacks at a gas station with the cheapest gas I have seen for months and started driving. We ended up going to Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park. The entrance fee for one visit was 15 dollars, but it was 30 dollars for a pass that is good for a year! We got the annual pass which means we get to go back. We didn't see any bears this time, although people in the park told us they had seen bears today. We did see a couple English bulldogs, but they weren't wild animals. The butterflies were out in full force though, and were absolutely beautiful. Here are some beautiful pictures of our time in the park:
Kids on the road trip! They kept saying they were cold with the windows rolled down, but it was such a warm day. I guess they should bring their blankets next time.
Sitting in the park with a beautiful view
I'm really proud of some of the pictures I took today; the butterflies were so beautiful, and they were everywhere!

I thought this old tree looked pretty neat.

I just can't get enough of this view! I'm so glad we got the annual pass. This will be so pretty this fall too!

My boys! They were really hoping to see a bear I think! They still had a great time.
Daddy and the kids on top of a mountain

I will end this post with a couple more butterflies and notice the bumblebees too.