Childlike Faith

Today is Dave's 36th Birthday.  Not only is it a day to celebrate him, but we are also celebrating another joyous event in our home today.  Alayna asked Jesus into her heart today.  What better birthday present could Dave receive?

Alayna's Sunday School teacher pulled me aside yesterday and said Alayna had expressed that she wanted to ask Jesus into her heart.  She wanted us to know so we could talk to her and see if she truly understands that decision.

This morning I ran errands with Joel & Alayna.  While pulling into the driveway I asked Alayna if she told her teacher she wanted to ask Jesus into her heart, and she said yes.  We sat in the van and talked for a while.  I asked her questions making sure she understood.  She was very insistent that she wanted to ask Jesus in her heart right now.  "Can I pray now," she kept asking.  I got out of the van and stood next to where she sat and talked through with her a prayer of salvation.  As soon as she prayed she jumped out, ran over to Joel, and said "I just asked Jesus in my heart, when you are my age you can do it too!" 

Twenty minutes later I was getting ready to make lunches.  I asked Alayna what she wanted for lunch and she said, "I want a Ask Jesus In My Heart Lunch."  LOL!  So, we made a peanut butter sandwich, and used my heart cookie cutter to make heart-shaped sandwiches.  :)

Boys Outside & The Great Yard Project

A day outside is a day well-spent as far as Joel's concerned.  Now that we are having a few nice days, mixed in with rainy, cold and dreary days, he can be outside a little more.  That is, until it starts raining too hard to be outside...which is just about every day right now.  I am glad he's so happy outside.  He loves to play in the dirt, and filling any object with water is very satisfying to him.  Toys are not necessary.  A bucket, dirt, and some rocks make him happy for a very long time.  He is at the age now where I can send him out to play, keep an eye on him, but still get stuff done indoors. 

The only real problem right now is our yard.  We knew when we bought the house, the builder (a.k.a. "my dad"), was not going to have the yard done, and it would be our project when we moved in.  Knowing this we still signed the papers....thinking back we should have requested it to be finished first.  :)  Dave has been working out back every free moment he has, to get the yard in good shape.  He's been digging out rocks...on the plus side he found 14 nice stepping stones burried in our yard.  He's been removing brush, pulling out trees and shrubs I don't want, and he was finally able to mow last Saturday.  The ground dried up enough to mow.  Our next step is to paint the foundation around our house, paint the front door, front steps and a wall that lines our back patio which is presently an ugly powder blue.  Once that is done, we will mulch, and start landscaping.  There's also some fence to repair, a patio to tear up and replace, a deck to lower, weeds to kill in our lawn, grass seed to spread, and hopefully a swing set to purchase.  The goal is to accomplish all of these things this summer. For the past several months I have been having a lot of trouble with tendonitis in my wrists.  The pain in my left thumb prevents me from using that hand for anything that requires lifting.  It's been very frustrating, but my doctor is insistent that I take it easy so it will heal.  So, I haven't been much help to Dave, at this point, but hopefully I will have strength enough to get to work, too.

Rain water, a watering can, and a sidewalk chalk bucket...what more does he need?

"Mom, you don't mind if I play in this giant puddle in our yard, do you?"

By the way - he played in that puddle for over an hour.  At one point he fell backwards.  I had one happy, dirty little boy, who went straight to the tub.

Belated Birthday Party

This year we promised Julie a "friends" birthday party.  Since I went to Florida right after her birthday, I told her it would take place when I got back.  Yesterday we made good on that promise.  She invited the girls from her class and a couple girls from church and had a party at Jumpin' Jungle.  It was a success, and we had some very happy kids. 

The noise makers weren't my best idea, but I survived it.  :)

Easter Fun

A few highlights from our Easter weekend...The weekend started with the kids having a sleepover at Papa & Lulu's house on Good Friday (Doug & Andrea's kids, too).  I don't have any pictures from that, but I'm told it was a lot of fun.

Making Resurrection Rolls with the kids (recipe at bottom).  We made these in the daycare with the kids, and I thought it was a great idea to do with our kids.  I am not opposed to painting eggs, but this was a lot less messy, and the kids ate them....not the case with hard-boiled eggs. 

Dave & the kiddos at church Easter Sunday. 

Uncle Brad was the Easter hero with his egg hunt.  Boots were necessary since this is NW PA after all. 

"Look what Uncle Brad has in his yard!"

Recipe for Resurrection Rolls:

1 Tube of Crescent Rolls

8 Large Marshmallows

Unroll crescent rolls and separate the 8 triangles.  Take one triangle and wrap it entirely around a marshmallow.  Bake at 350 for about 10 mins. or until golden brown. 

The idea:

Before it is baked it looks like a tomb and the marshmallow represents Jesus in the tomb.  After they are baked it looks like an empty tomb (the marshmallow melts into the roll).

Florida

I had the opportunity to go visit my Aunt Barbie (my mom's sister), Uncle Jim, Brent & Drew in Florida, for a week.  Kid-Free, Husband-Free, Responsibility-Free, for a whole week.  My mother-in-law and Grandmother-in-law graciously came here from New York to help Dave.

My Grandma flew down a week & a half ahead of me, and we flew home together.  My flight to Pensacola was, to say the least, adventurous.  Cancelled flights, flat tires on the plane, shuttles to Cleveland, delays in Charlotte because a flight attendant didn't show up, etc.  But, I made it in one piece, and was glad all that happened to me, and not my Grandma.

Barb worked each morning, so Grandma and I took walks, I slept in, swam, and read.  When Barb would get home we would usually do something fun...like go to WalMart.  Seriously, they have WalMarts in Florida.  Who knew? 

Okay, we did other stuff, too.  Went to Destin, ate out, shopped at Destin Commons, walked the Navarre Pier, watched King Mackerel being reeled in, picked up shells on the beach for my kids, went to Pensacola, watched movies every night, saw lots and lots of sea fog, ate Thai food, etc.  It was a lot of fun, and very relaxing. 

This was the first time I've been away, alone, for more than a night or two without Dave & the kids.  I missed them, but I took advantage of my time away, so I could return refreshed.

Destin Beaches - white sand and emerald colored water.  Gorgeous!

Barbie, Grandma and me

My lovely hosts (Jim, Barb & Brent) enjoying lunch at Pampano Joe's, where this non-fish eating person ordered a grouper sandwich and actually enjoyed it.

My accomodations...

Me & Grandma on Navarre Pier

Takin' One For The Team

This is my husband.  His name is Dave.  He's the principal of a small Christian School.  He has many responsibilities.  One of which is Pie Target.  I'm not sure this was in his contract when he took the job.  I should check.  He may want to sue for breech of contract. 

Dave agreed to let the students throw pies in his face, for $1 a pie, at a recent Family Fun Night event.  He's a much better sport about such things than I am.  When it was all over, the kids grabbed the leftover cans of whipped cream and sprayed him.  Oh, to be a respected figure in their young lives....

My Baby Turns 8

This Friday my baby girl turns 8 years old!  Eight!  I truly don't know where the time has gone.  I love her so much, and in her 8 years she has brought so much joy to our home.  I can't imagine life without her, and it's hard to remember what life was like before she was in it.  Thank you God for this gift.

My baby...

Happy Birthday precious Julie Marie, we love you so so much!

Tomorrow, the 24th, would have been my mom's 56th birthday.  This time of year is always bittersweet for me.  I miss her so much.  This is mom with Julie, when she was just a few days old.

Kiddos

One week ago today I turned 33.  A week before that I had my hair colored because of all the grey.  I am also being helped by my doctor for tendonitis in both of my wrists.  I am falling apart...  Okay, it's really not all that bad.  I had a nice birthday, and my wonderful husband had my family over and made dinner. 

Enough about me...here's some new pictures of the kids that I wanted to share with you. 

Someday Joel's going to hate this picture...

I rarely have all three of them in the tub at the same time.  The splashing, the wet floor, the wet walls, the chaos, usually is more than I can handle after a long day.  Bath time is usually a get in, get clean, and get out kind of process.  But I was feeling more generous this day, and let them have a great time together, and I cleaned up the mess later.

Those feet just make me smile.  Pruney from the water, and too too cute!

Joel is forced into a life with two older sisters who have made dressing in princess clothes the coolest thing to do.  So, I can often find him trying on their dress up dresses. 

(p.s. For his b'day we are buying him cowboy and firemen dress-up clothes)

I think if he could learn to play the guitar he would have a career in Times Square someday.  :) 

Snow...Not For The Faint of Heart

I know, I know, I live in NW PA and I should not be tired of snow. It lasts until July around here. But, I'm ready to hear birds chirping, and open the windows in my home. Alayna asked me this morning if we could go to the beach today. I said no, because it's still winter. She responded with, "we'll stay in the sand, and not go into the water." If only it were that easy...we'd have to dig through the snow before we find sand. Speaking of sand - I am going to Florida in April to visit my aunt (my mom's sister). Dave & the kids will man the fort while I'm gone, and I can't wait to go.  My Grandma will fly down earlier than me, and then we'll fly home together....in a plane of course, for those of you who thought we could actually "fly" down.  :)
I thought I'd share a few photos of our day today.

I shoveled a path in front of the garage so I could pull the van in after work today...does anyone see the path I shoveled?  It's in there somewhere.

Somebody really should clear our driveway.  Somebody, as in Dave, not me...I'm busy....blogging....What?  Thats important too.

Before blogging I baked cookies.  Another good thing to do instead of shoveling the driveway.  Dave will want a warm chocolate chip cookie when he comes in from shoveling, and he'll say something like this - "honey, I'm so glad you didn't shovel for me and have these delicious cookies waiting for me....Honey, where are the cookies?  What do you mean you ate them all, because you prefer to eat them warm?"  Well, you get the idea...

My partner in crime...

Who can resist licking a chocolate chip cookie dough beater?  Raw eggs, schmaw eggs.  It never killed me...made me fatter, but didn't kill me.  :)

Who wants to smooch this greasy cookie dough face?  ME!

Sledding...

This past Saturday we headed for the family hunting camp for a day of sledding with friends from church.  Dave & my dad drove down early to get the snow cleared out with the bulldozer and the kids & I travelled down later in the morning.  There was a blizzard when I drove down, and at one point I had to pull off the road and wait out the snow because I couldn't see a foot in front of the van.  After the white-out, the snow cleared, the sun came up, and it was a gorgeous day.  It was not bitter cold and you could actually enjoy being out in the snow. 

Dave, the kids & I stayed all night Saturday and spent more time sled-riding on Sunday before we packed up and headed home.     

If you're going to sled with the Big Dogs you pull your own sled...

...or not.

That's my baby going down the hill.  He had no fear, and thought the whole thing was great.

"Could someone give me a push?"

I am pretty sure the sled begged us to get off when we did this, but we ignored the moaning and squealing noises and flew down the hill on my favorite runner sled, anyways.

(photo taken by Julie)

Mush!

A Day To Remember

On January 30th we attended my dad's wedding. He married Mary, whom he was set up with last year by his sister, Barb. The wedding was nice, with a small reception at a local restaurant for dinner afterwards.

Here are a few of the pictures I have:

The wedding was held at McLane church where dad & Mary attend.