Mixed emotions

It has been quite the week around here. There have been ups and downs.

The up: My little K girl asked Jesus into her heart today. So sweet. She had been asking many questions but we never felt she was quite ready. Some of our 1st conversations: us--how many gods are there? her answer--2; one for each world (a little too much Star Wars maybe?) her--mommy I asked Jesus in my heart last night cuz my finger hurt. me--ummmm OK? But lately she had been giving all the right answers and we felt she really knew what it meant. This morning while we were in the bathroom (side note: a lot of our conversations with her had taken place in the bathroom) she said "Daddy when can I ask Jesus in my heart?" After some more questions, we were able (all 4 of us) to listen to her ask Jesus in her heart.

The down: The above 'up' made the down a little sweeter. Daddy was able to be home and witness all this because he lost his job Tuesday of this week. Needless to say, it was a huge shock. He had been there almost 10 years. All we have known since we moved to Indiana was this company. It was (and still is) a great company to work for. I worked there for about 18 months until I quit after I had C. The company is going through a hard economic time (they are about 18 months behind the rest of the world in the economy due to the nature of what they do). They actually let almost 500 people go world wide. (They are a huge world wide company). I think 22 from our Indy location were let go.

My heart hurts that Daddy has to go through the job search/interview "yuckiness." I hate it. But the Lord has a reason. We are hoping that maybe this is an opportunity for us/him to expand his possibilities.

Please pray that we/him will be able to find something quickly and that he will only go in the direction that the Lord wants him to go. I'm sure I will keep you posted when anything happens.

(Side note: it will be interesting having him home every day. Could have quite a few fun stories from it)

Kids at work?

Back in August, Daddy's work had a "bring your kid to work" day. C was the only one old enough to go. Daddy was asked by his work to take pictures so I was able to get some good pictures of my kiddies. Pays to know the photographer.

I'm not sure what all they did--cuz I wasn't there. I know they took a tour, did some experiments, looked in a microscope, looked at the germs on their hands, and ate lunch. C had so much fun. He didn't want to come home. K is already looking forward to when she is old enough to go.

Updates

I have a few different topics to update you on, so I thought I'd combine it all into one post. Hopefully it won't be very long.

#1:C's baseball games
There are 15 games in a season.
His team has won 7.
His team has lost 4.
He has 2 to make up due to rain/cancellation, plus the last 1 on his schedule.
He played 1/2 of one Tuesday night before they called the game due to impending weather. And let me tell you, it let loose! It was horrible driving home. They were losing when we left.

There is an upcoming really cool post about one of his games. Check back.

#2: my garden
Is exploding!
I have 9 tomatoes and a bazillion buds.
My lettuce is getting close; my carrots and onions look good.
Everything should be ready around July 4th.
I'm thinking of making homemade salsa with all my produce. Anyone have a good recipe?

#3: Summer reading programs (go here too)
This year both kids are participating in various programs.
I think I've entered them in 6: 2 libraries, Barnes & Noble, Half Price Books, Pizza Hut, HE Buddy (never heard of them before; we'll see how it goes)
We went to Half Price Books the other night and the kids spent the first 2 of their earned gift cards.

Funny story: K bought a coloring book. She is on "crayon restriction" for coloring on the floor-AGAIN! Seriously?!

#4: Daddy's late birthday

Since we had company during Daddy's birthday week, I didn't have a chance to get him a present and we didn't get to celebrate with just the 4 of us.

So one day we decided to have a "surprise party" waiting for him when he got home.

We had balloons and a few presents for him.

And a cookie. The best part, I think.

He was surprised and it was bunches of fun.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Better late than never. It was the 21st.

But he did get to celebrate with his family. And he got to go to one of his favorite restaurants (Charbonos) and have yummy calamari. And his "little angel" niece made him a mayonaise cake (don't wrinkle your nose; it's yummy).So what did I get him? Did I tell you he got an iPhone? 'Nuf said.

Actually I'm buying him a movie that he wants. Which movie was that again, honey? (I keep forgetting. Star Trek maybe?) And notice "buying" I'm still working on that.

Happy Birthday, dear! I love you! You're AWESOME!

5K=3.1 miles

My hubby is a very brave man. He ran a 5K race today. There are a few guys from his work that work out together on a consistent basis. One of them wanted them all to run in this race (funny side story: that particular guy couldn't run due to a funeral).

Here are the 4 from his work that ran the race. He finished in 32 minutes and some odd seconds. I'm very proud of him. Much more than I could ever do. I'd still be out there running!

Happy Father's Day!

Wow! this is one late post! But we have had so much going on! And I wanted to blog in order, so I'm just now getting to Father's Day.

We took Daddy out for his dinner Saturday night. We went to Stone Creek out in Plainfield at the out door mall. They have such good food! A little expensive but very yummy! I had mustard chicken with smashed tatoes and asparagus tips with some kind of sauce over all of it. Very good. Daddy had a pasta, sausage, and chicken in a gouda cheese sauce. Yum. I had his (and mine) leftovers a few days later. It was very good. The kids meal came with a brownie Sundae. That was good too.

We let him open his present after we got home from eating (and some shopping). We got him a sport utility net. So he and C can hit golf balls in the back yard---into the net instead of into the pond.

The Indy 500

The Indy 500 race was this past Sunday. It is a huge deal around here. There is something going on at the track almost every day during May. This past Friday was Carb day. There was a IndyLites race, practice, and a pit crew competition. Daddy's department went to the track for the day and called it "team building." It was a nice way for Daddy to start his long weekend.
Here are a few pictures from his day.

By the way: for those of you who care, Helio Castroneves won.

Daddy's birthday

Today is Daddy's birthday. He is now older than me because I have declared that I will be 29 until C turns 29---then it's kinda weird. Poor Daddy has to work a very long and busy day today. We will only get to see him for lunch (I think we are going to Qdoba). He won't be home until after the kiddies are in bed. So we are celebrating on Friday. We are taking him out for dinner then. We have one present for him today and hopefully (if I can think of something) I will have one for him on Friday. All that to say--Happy Birthday to my wonderful hubby! I love you!

My spouse

This is in honor of our anniversary which is tomorrow. It's one of those "copy, paste, fill in your own answers, then FW it to all your friends" My answers are the first set and his are the second set. Happy Anniversary to my wonderful Hubby! It's hard to believe it's been 10 years!


1. He's sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen? Sports of just about any kind or Sports Center
2. You're out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get? Ranch (for salad and french fries)
3. What's one food he doesn't like? any green vegetable; he says they taste like dirt
4. You go out to eat and have a drink. What does he order? cherry sprite (Shirley Temple) or a strawberry lemonade or every once in a while a root beer
5. Where did he go to high school? Maranatha Baptist Academy
6. What size shoe does he wear? 9ish
7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be? hat and Tshirts from anywhere, everywhere, anything on it (and then they collect dust)
8. What is his favorite type of sandwich? He is the king of sandwiches. He has come up with quite a few very good ones. He should open a sandwich shop.
9. What would he eat every day if he could? pizza
10. What is his favorite cereal? Fresh frosted flakes or fresh Rice chex
11. What would he never wear? pink
12. What is his favorite sports team? Colts and FSU football
13. Who did he vote for? McCain
14. Who is his best friend? Me :)
15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn't do? Nothing. :) (you think I'm going to tell?)
16. What is his heritage? he's from his mama and daddy :) He was born in upstate NY
17. You bake him a cake for his birthday; what kind of cake? Me bake???? I would BUY him a chocolate chip cookie w/ lotsa icing on it.
18. Did he play sports in high school? soccer and basketball
19. What could he spend hours doing? watching TV
20. What is one unique talent he has? He can add numbers very well in his head. I guess that's unique. I can't do it like he can and I did ABB math!


And here are his answers, word for word. :)
1.She's sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen? Stupid HGTV
2. You're out to eat; what kind of dressing does she get? Italian
3. What's one food she doesn't like? cauliflower
4. You go out to eat and have a drink. What does she order? lemonade
5. Where did she go to high school? Which one?
6. What size shoe does she wear? 6
7. If she was to collect anything, what would it be? S&P’s
8. What is her favorite type of sandwich? One she doesn’t have to make
9. What would she eat every day if she could? Reese’s PB eggs
10. What is her favorite cereal? Cinnamon toast crunch
11. What would she never wear? A tutu
12. What is her favorite sports team? FSU football
13. Who did she vote for? Joe the Plumber
14. Who is her best friend? me
15. What is something you do that she wishes you wouldn't do? Leave my clothes on the chair
16. What is her heritage? Oh boy!
17. You bake her a cake for his birthday; what kind of cake? Boston Crème Pie
18. Did she play sports in high school? Volleyball—she tried; you can’t call cheerleading in a baggy sweater and long skirt a sport
19. What could she spend hours doing? Wasting time on FB
20. What is one unique talent she has? No matter what, she can find a coopy hole for anything or she can always find an excuse to go out to eat

What's for dinner?

Wanna know what we had for dinner last night? Here's a clue:

It was so warm out yesterday (60 degrees!), that we grilled out for dinner. We had hamburgers. That is the only way to eat hamburgers at home. Our own version of cowboy burgers: bacon, sharp cheddar cheese, BBQ sauce, and onion rings. YUMO!

I actually had to make a special run to Wal-Mart for charcoal. I also got 2 bags of chicken breasts and had Daddy grill those too. I'll freeze them and use them over the next few weeks.

What's in that box?

Here are some pictures of how my children spent their Sunday afternoon. So nice of Daddy to help out. (Since the box is usually full of toys, they had quite the mess to clean up later).

Daddy's home!

Daddy is finally home. We picked him up at the airport Thursday around dinner time. And since it was around dinner we went out to Red Robin-Yum. Our airport was recently updated. It is very nice to get in and out of, but I think it takes a little bit longer now. Oh well.

Here are just a few pictures from when Daddy was in Las Vegas. He had a good time, saw some cool sights, ate at some very nice resturants, but is very tired and glad to be home. We are glad he is home too.

This was Daddy's transportation. Nice huh? Even had a bar inside. Too bad we couldn't keep it.


This was the bathroom in Daddy's room. Living in the lap of luxury.


This was the pool at Daddy's resort (not a hotel). Too bad it was too cold to go swimming.

This is where Daddy spent most of his time----JUST KIDDING! He actually did win us some money--$5! Keep your day job, Daddy!

This was in the Venetian Casino.

These was actually inside the Venetian. It looks like he's outside, doesn't it?

This was outside the Venetian. Cool gondolas. You can actually ride on them. That would be fun.

Daddy met the Blue Man Group! I've always wanted to see them in concert (do you call it a concert?) Lucky Daddy! Actually these were just wax figures, but the Blue Man Group was playing later at one of the casinos.

So that was Daddy's trip. Next time, I am going.

We miss you, Daddy!

Daddy is on a business trip right now. In Las Vegas. I told him he could spend $1 on the penny slots. Actually he will be quite busy and probably won't have time. But we miss him! Very bad! He won't be home til Thursday. A long week for us. But we have a few fun things planned. Tonight we played Wii. (check back tomorrow for more on that and some pictures) I did very well at boxing. I actually had a KO (knockout for those who don't know) in the first 15 seconds. The second time I had a KO in the first round. I did pretty good. Too bad it wasn't real. :) Tomorrow we have plans to go to breakfast with a friend but we are supposed to get 2-6 inches of snow overnight. If that happens, we won't be going anywhere. I have something special planned for the kiddies tomorrow night too. (check back on Wednesday for that info) So think of us this week. So far the kiddies have been very good and we've had fun. Hopefully the rest of the week will be the same.

We're home!

We are finally home! And for 3 of us-hopefully it will be for a long time. Daddy has to leave for a business trip next Sunday. Poor him-he gets to live out of a suitcase for 5 days again. Poor us-we will be here without him for 5 days. Today was spent unpacking and re-stocking our food. We all came home with stuffy noses and congestion, so we are dealing with that also. But it is so nice to be home and sleep in our own beds. As Dorothy said, "There's no place like home!"

Praises!

Number 1: For those of you that were praying for my toe-thank you! It is so much better! It does get a little sore if I stub it or bump it or someone steps on it. But nothing like when it was still ingrown. Now it is starting to itch like crazy-I suppose that means it is getting better.

Number 2: Today was Labor Day and Daddy was home. It is always so nice to have Daddy home. I love it when he has a day off and we really don't have major plans. We did get stuff done though. We went to Wal-Mart, the kiddies played in the pool again and Daddy mowed the grass again. We grilled out brats for supper-YUM. It was a good day.

Number 3: Daddy has accepted a new position at work. He will be working for the same company but in a totally different department--marketing. He is extremely excited. This is something that he has wanted for a long time. It will be a good move for him to get out of the department that he is in but also for him to do something more along the lines of what he went to school for. He doesn't have an official start date but he knows it is coming. Congrats, Daddy!

Number 4: This one is a sad praise, I guess. We had to take our new computer back this past Friday. It started going crazy. It had a DVD/CD drive in it but wouldn't recognize anything put in the drive. It's like the computer couldn't find the drive. And there were other minor things that made me really leery of it. But the praise part is--we had 14 days through Best Buy to return it and get our money back. Friday was 14 days. Our usual bad luck would be that it would go wrong on day 15. But praise the Lord it went bad before the 14 days were up! So we took it back and just got our money back. Yes I would have liked a new computer, but with Daddy's new job--right now might not be the best time to have that bill to deal with. And I didn't want to have the possibility of having the same thing go wrong with the next one. So all this to say, I am back on my old laptop. Oh well. It was nice while it lasted.

Number 5: My best praise--college football finally started. I love this time of year! Football, pumpkins, my birthday, the coolness in the air, the leaves changing.... how much better can you get? I can't wait to see FSU play on Saturday. Go 'Noles!

Yankees game-by Daddy and C

NEW YORK CITY-Yankee Stadium-Saturday, July 19

New York Yankees vs Oakland A's

Early Saturday morning, Daddy, C, and Uncle left for New York City to take in a Yankees game. They got on the 9:37 am train for the city. Once in the city, they got off the NJ transit train at Penn Station. They then took the subway to 59th Street. Then they had to change trains to the D train and got off at the world famous address of Yankee Stadium--161st Street and River Avenue in the Bronx. Once they arrived, they followed the crowd to the stadium. Before they went into stadium, Daddy took a picture of the new stadium that is being built.

Once they found their seats, they went to get something to eat. Here is what C said he ate: "First I had a pretzel and lemonade. Then we got peanuts and I shared a frozen lemonade with Daddy. Uncle got me ice cream later on."

When C was asked what his favorite part of the day was, he said: "The Yankees winning and Daddy bought me a cool foam finger."

When Daddy was asked what his favorite part of the day was, he said: "Just being able to be there. That was cool. Actually I think my favorite part would have to be when the Yankees tied it up in the ninth inning."

Here is a re-cap of the game: The Yankees scored two in the second, the A's scored 1 in the fifth and 1 in the seventh. Both teams scored in the 9th to send it to extra innings. Jose Molina secured a win for the Yankees when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the 12th. The final score was Yankees 4 Oakland A's 3.

All in all, it was a great day.

Vacation-2

Well I'm back and it's time to get caught up. We have been very busy since the last post. But now we are home and it is nice to be home.

Let's start with last Thursday night. I was finishing up my last post, and Daddy was helping me put the pictures in the right place. Some of the kids were playing Wii, others were on the other computer, the dryer was going. All of a sudden, the room where the Wii was-started dimming but the lights in the dining room where I was were getting brighter. Then we started smelling something hot. So we all "evacuated" out to the driveway. This was almost 9:00. Aunt called Uncle (who was at home 40 minutes away) to come check what the deal was. By the time he got there it was almost 10:00. Then he did some looking and testing. Meanwhile, Aunt and Daddy entertained the kids with sidewalk chalk (more body outlines), big long words (beautiful) for C because "those (the 3 letter ones) were too easy." Around 11:30 or so, we decided it would be best if we packed up and went to Aunt's house for the rest of the night. We had to pack up Grandma's foster baby, the porta-crib, bottles, baby stuff, wet laundry, stuff for one night's stay, pillows, etc. By the time we got to Aunt's house it was almost 1:00 am. Sleeping arrangements were quickly put together (she wasn't expecting company) and we all finally got in bed around 1:30. But of course my children don't know what it means to sleep late. 8:30 and they were ready to go. We packed back up, went back to Grandma's to fully pack our stuff (we were to leave that afternoon), and then we went to Hoffman's Hot Dog Haus. The best hot dogs anywhere. Then from there, we left for my sister's house in NJ. By the way, the electrical problem was caused from a wire on the pole at the road that had rubbed through. Made for an interesting night.

We got to my sister's house Friday night just as they finished their last night of VBS. We ran to the store for a few items and then went back to her house to set up sleeping arrangements there. They don't have central air, but had a window unit for the kids room and fans for us. To me it was still hot. I am not used to heat/humidity. I could not be a FL girl again! I love my IN weather! Saturday the guys left for NY City to see a Yankees game. I will let Daddy and C tell you that story in another blog. The girls went to a nearby Amish market for lunch and I got some Sweet Lebanon Bologna. YUMMO! I could live on that stuff. I can't get it here so I always stock up when I can. Other than that, us girls didn't do much. But it was nice, cuz I didn't feel good (who has ever heard of a summer cold???). That night we moved all of us into the room with the AC and C and I shared a bed. He did good about not hogging my space. He did roll off the bed to the floor (about 3 inches) once during the night, but poor boy was so tired, I don't think he even realized it. I put him back on the bed and covered him back up. Sunday morning we went to church and both kids sat with us. They did really, really good. Especially K who never sits in church with us. She lasted all but the last 15 minutes or so. And she was quiet. We took everyone out for lunch after church (Ruby Tuesday's has the best salad bar) and then went to see Toree's grave. We stopped to get some flowers for C to put there. Daddy took him in and let him pick. His first choice was a cactus, but Daddy steered him in the right direction-miniature white roses.

After we said good-bye to my sister, we headed onto GiGi's house (my Grandma) in PA. We spent one night there. Just like at Daddy's Grandma's house, there wasn't much for the kids to do and I was worried that they would get bored. Well, K found a tin box full of old wooden beads. They were about 1/2 inch long, different shapes and colors. Those 2 kids spent at least an hour and a half playing with those beads! Goes to show you that you don't need TV! The next morning, the first thing C wanted to do was play "bowling with the beads with GiGi." Too cute!




We took GiGi to breakfast at Cracker Barrel and after we dropped her back home, we headed home. It was only 9 hours, but seemed like forever. I was soooo ready to be home! I think it was because I didn't feel good the last few days of vacation.

Tuesday Daddy still had off-which was nice. We unpacked, started laundry and went to Wal-Mart (all we had in the fridge was tortillas and Gatorade). Tuesday night we went to the 4H fair which is right behind our house. We got some good fair food and walked around. K loved the cows! She kept yelling, "Daddy, yook, cow!" We got to see a brand new calf (6 hours old) trying to learn to eat. We got to pet some horses and see a HUGE bunny. We also watched a fire fighter demonstration and C got to crawl out of the "burning" building. He did very good at "stay low and crawl" I mean, he was low--army style. He was not getting in that smoke. It was a nice ending to a wonderful vacation. But boy "There is no place like home."

Great weekend

We had a great weekend. Saturday we did a little of nothing. Daddy mowed the grass and I did some work around the house. C played playstation. I'm not sure what K did. That evening we went to some friend's house for the NASCAR race. They had invited a few other people too. He has a nice flat screen, hang on the wall, high def TV. Nice. She had made nachos belle grande and toppings. We ate well. The kids played outside in the sprinkler, rode their bikes, had races, had glow sticks (C's did not break this time). He did fireworks too. It was fun. Another late night though. We got home, did baths and the kids went right to bed.

Sunday was normal, except we didn't go to choir practice. I know-naughty. But we wont' be there for the next 2 Sundays. It was nice not to rush back to church.

Monday Daddy had off. It was a comp. day for all the extra time he has been working. We had fun. We had planned to go to the park in the morning, but it rained. We did go bowling at noon. It was fun to bowl with Daddy. C was excited that he won for the kids and Daddy won for the adults. Then Monday evening we went to the baseball park to watch one of our other church teams play. It was nice to have Daddy sitting with us instead of playing. He was able to help with the kiddies. Abut 1/2 thru the second game, K told me "Home, Mommy, Home" So we left. On the way home she said "Potty, Mommy, Potty" So we got home and she sat on the potty. She didn't do anything, but I guess that's another confirmation that I need to start working with her once we get home from vacation. Oh yeah (said very sarcastically)

Now my focus is on K's party Friday night and trying to get ready for our trip. I'm tired just thinking about it. I will check back Friday night and try to post pix and stories from K's party. I just hope she keeps her clothes on.