Christmas Pictures

Finally I'm getting some pictures posted. Scroll down, as I've posted quite a few.

Julie & Alayna were recently in the Christmas concert at school. Alayna's 3's class from daycare sang some songs, and Julie's class sang, also. The theme was "Christmas Around the World", and Julie wore a sombrero, and played maracas for one of the songs. Unfortunately my camera is not very good indoors, so I didn't get a picture of it.

Julie wearing her new Christmas dress.


Alayna refused to cooperate during practices, but she sang out during the concert.

Fun With Cousins

A couple weeks ago Dave & I watched John & Danika for the day, while Doug and Andrea went out of town. We had a great time, and the kids were wonderful. I didn't take a lot of pictures, but I did manage to take some of Joel & John together. In another year, I think these two will create a lot of mischief together. :)



"Will he cry if I take this out of his mouth?"


John is such an adorable little chunk! He is very sweet-natured, and I can't get enough of him. I often steal him from the workers at the daycare on the days I work.

Picture Updates

The other day Julie was bundled and all ready for school, in a snowstorm. I watched the news in the morning and there appeared to be no delays or cancellations, so out she went to wait for the bus. I just figured this is NW Pennsylvania, and we don't cancel for much of anything around here. After 10 minutes of waiting, and playing in the snow, Dave asked me to check again. Sure enough, there was a 2-hour delay, which was being shown on another news station, not the one I had watched. Oh well!


I was digging through the attic the other day and came across my Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls. Julie is having a great time playing with them. She wanted her picture taken with her babies.


Julie's teeth seem to be falling out like crazy lately. I love the tooth-less smile, but I'm afraid the tooth fairy isn't very good about remembering each time to put money under the pillow. She often makes an appearance in the morning, after Julie notices that her tooth is still under her pillow. Oops!

Tomorrow Nights Menu: Tacos!

Conversation with Alayna on the way home from daycare today:

Alayna: Mom, is tonight AWANA?
Me: Yes
Alayna: Can we have tacos before AWANA?
Me: Probably not tonight, maybe another night.
Alayna: I have an idea
Me: What's that?
Alayna: Tomorrow you go buy some tacos, and we'll have them for supper, k?
Me: We'll see...


It's Wednesday, and I've worked 21 hours so far this week at the daycare. Normally I won't work this much, but this week they needed me to fill in for someone else, so I agreed to take the extra hours. I have tomorrow off, then work again Friday afternoon, after taking Julie's class to see the Nutcracker Friday morning. It's a full week. Somewhere in the craziness I need to finish Christmas shopping, and start some baking...Ah, the list is endless!

Quick Update

I realize it's been almost a month since I last posted anything. Honestly, life is moving faster than I can keep up with these days. We've also been dealing with a lot of cold/flu stuff in our home. All three kids have had ear infections and bad colds, and Julie had the flu. Dave & I have also been fighting this cold thing, and our remaining coughs sound more like barking seals. Dave, Joel, Alayna & I had lunch in Arby's yesterday, after doing some christmas shopping. I went into such a coughing fit that I actually broke blood vessels in my eyelid - not to mention I felt like a complete idiot in Arby's.

I am still enjoying my part-time job at the daycare. Joel & Alayna haven't completely adjusted to this change in their lives, but I pray they will soon. Alayna seems to enjoy her 3's class, as long as she doesn't see me, hear me, or think about me, while I work in the 2's class. Joel is in the 2's room with me, and he's fine as long as I'm in his sight. If I take another child to the bathroom and leave him behind with the other teacher, he bursts into tears. They will get used to it, I'm sure. This is a big change in what was normal for them.

Dave is still seeking out what the Lord has for him next. Carpentry is a bit slow right now, with winter months upon us. He & Doug have a bathroom remodel coming up soon, so that will be good, and dad continues to search for the next house to buy and fix up, to re-sell.

Christmas is approaching a little too fast for me this year. On top of the gift buying, decorating, and card-sending, I am missing my mom so much. I miss her all the time, but it seems even harder this time of year. Putting up my parents Christmas tree the other day, and decorating it, was a very hard thing for me to do. The memories that came flooding out of those boxes as I unpacked them, from ornaments Doug & I made as kids, to ornaments I bought my mom in more recent years, was overwhelming. I am grateful for the distraction of kids, and the joy they bring especially this time of year. If it wasn't for their excitement, I'm not sure I'd be feeling much joy this Christmas season. It is good to be with family, and very comforting and healing, but the absence of my mom is so strong.

Tonight is the school Christmas concert, and Julie & Alayna are both participating in it. It will be a fun night, and with all the snow we are being dumped with today, it sure is beautiful. I will post pictures soon of the kids...and try to be better about updates.