FuN FUN Fun!

Josh and Trevor had such a great time ! Trevor wanted to take a kitty home to play with "rissa's kitty" code for Auntie Marissa's kitty cat's (Itchy and Scratchy). He was a bit saddened that I would not allow that, but recovered when a little boy from Josh's class was missing his glove. Trev decided to help in the hunt, I think because it meant being able to revisit each animal stall. He managed to pet each animal again, while saying "I don't see the glove in here!" Creative kiddo I tell ya!

"I got my eye on you!"
"Let's check in the sheep pen for Aidan's glove."



Trevor would of kissed him if I hadn't intervened! ;-)

COOL DUDES!


Trevor would walk up to each animal and loudly say, "hi horse, HI sheep, hi goat, hi pig (whose name was "Babe" ~ Trevor shouted, "HI BABY"

Childrens Farm

Just had to share a super fun memory from today real quick, then my bed is calling my name! My nephew Josh was involved in a live nativity with his Kindergarten class and it was only 1/2 hour away. So off Trev and I went to see this very exciting scene. I was trying to explain it to Trevor and he was so convinced that Josh was going to be a dog in the scene~ I was just hoping Trev wouldn't be too disappointed when that was not the case.

Anyhow, it was just precious. Mary came into the scene riding on a donkey, with Joseph escorting....
Next came the angels
And the Wisemen
And all the animals
And Josh, the best shepherd of them all...
We sang Christmas carols and heard the Christmas story. It was a really special way to teach the Christmas story. Trevor was still and speechless throughout the time. :-) We were then able to go and pet the animals~ hold a chicken, pet a goat, almost kissed a sheep, etc. More pictures to come.

Oh Christmas Tree!

Christmas Trees ALWAYS look better with gifts underneath them! Whaaa Hooo only 2 more gifts left to buy! ;-)

Ginger Bread House

Family Photos

We had so much fun taking these pictures. It was quite a trick to get all 3 of us to have eyes opened and smiles present. Just think if there were more children in toe? :) Merry Christmas from our house to yours!

First snow spotted in So Ho

Oh, how I love the snow! I think my excitement for snowy weather has worn off on my dear son. He was equally as excited last night when the white designs sprinkled the bushes and grass. He just couldn't stop saying that more and more was coming...."look, mama (isn't mama so cute, I love it) more snow coming, so fun!"

You can imagine his joy when this morning it was still snowing....as he walked outside, he said "THANK YOU GOD, for the snow!" He played in the backyard for about 5 minutes...making tracks in the snow, loving every minute of it. Just enough time to get his pant legs soaked and his legs "freezin"~ "I so freezin ma, my legs so freezin ma."

Amazed he was again, that when we arrived at my work, there was also snow there. Again, he gave thanks to God for this miracle as well. Oh child, how I cherish these wow moments you've been having. It reminds to celebrate the day to day happenings like a white blanket of snow covering Gods greenish earth.

We were not able to enjoy the snow in the afternoon, because dear Trevor threw up in the van....I guess the van has been initiated in very vast amounts! Joys of being a mama! Hopefully it will stay around for a few more days so we can enjoy it!

I caved

Trev and I finished up most of our Christmas shopping today. I don't have the right amount of patience for the long lines to check out in and the traffic surrounding the stores. :-) Trevor was a trooper through all 6 of the stores we quickly breezed into and out of. The last store was Linens and Things...he spotted a Gingerbread house. I did it, I caved and got it for him. But secretly, making a ginger bread house has always been something I wanted to do. After making it tonight, I do now see why my parents didn't cave for this one. It was way super fun but totally messy and large amounts of sugary substances were used in the process. Trev was in his glory. He called the frosting glue and it did take him about halfway thru to realize the glue was yummy tasting! Dan and I probably had just about the same amount of fun that Trev did. Dan and I tried to make a little pattern, however Trev usually entered with his own versions of our patterns. I will post a picture soon of our creation....my batteries are dead in the ole camera.

I do think that maybe just maybe this will be a tradition for our family!

Artist in the making

Trevor's new favorite activity is to draw and paint with watercolors. We have already gone through 2 packages of paint and about 1000 Q tips. He has the time of his life. He insists on making pictures for about 10 people on his list and occasionally various animals like the elephant at the circus or random dogs, etc. Needless to say we have soooo many pictures, I have attempted to sneak a few in the garbage, but he has quite the memory and usually asks where that specific picture is? ;-)

So my brain started to work overtime here to find something that was non consumable but still just as fun for him. We came up with the dry erase board. Here is a few of his master pieces!

Silly Saturday Sayings Said

Some one else already does Tiny Talk Tuesdays, which I obviously missed...so here is my new version. I need to document these before my memory fades and it is forgotten.

Trevor is a talker...he must of inherited that from his father! ;-) Most days, he has lots to say and lots of details in all of his explaining. He is a very excitable talker and often times thinks faster than he can get his words out. He sometimes just pauses and I giggle to myself because I know his mind is playing catch up. We can usually help him find his way back. :-)

During a recent family get together in Shipshewana Trevor decided that the "snoops" table was where he'd like to dine first. His mom, however didn't think this was such a good plan. I told him he was to eat his sandwich first, then his "snoops" which were chocolate with M & M's...specifically yellow ones. :-) He quickly decided that was NOT his plan. And so it began, Trevor, my darling, attempts often to be "in charge" and often times in our home we remind him that Daddy and Mommy are in charge. Here is the story:

Me: Trev you need to eat your sandwich then the chocolate.
Trev: NOOOOOO NOOOOO, first chocolate then sandwhich.

Me: Trevor, sandwich first buddy

(after a rather vocal display of his strong willed side, I decided to remove him from the room were 80 plus family members were attempting to fellowship and enjoy there meals)


Back in the hotel room

Me: Trevor you need to eat your sandwich, then chocolate. Obey Mommy.
Trev: Okay Mom, I do it.

We'd walk halfway down the hall back to the sandwich and he would declare that he was going to eat the chocolate first, then the sandwich. We'd turn right back around, into the hotel room and do this whole song and dance again.

After 3 attempts, my patience was beginning to become thin.

Me: Trevor, Mommy is in charge, you need to obey. Sandwich first, then chocolate.
Trev: Mommy, I tell you somefin'
Trev: My Bible says no Mommy in charge, Trevor in charge, first chocolate then sandwich ....kay MOM??

Quite clever, huh? We had a discussion about obeying, Mommy and Daddy being in charge, what the Bible says, theology, etc

SIL Kris happened to be near by and overheard our situation and asked Trevor what was wrong? He told her that he wanted chocolate and yellow M and M's. She told him how yummy the chocolate would be, etc. So Trevor decided that she was correct and off he went to eat the sandwich. Are you kidding me, I am still not sure why someone else's yummy chocolate perspective change his mind, I am just glad it did. He did finally eat his sandwich and enjoyed his chocolate especially the yellow M and M's. And, I am kidding about discussing theology with him.

Now, I already forgot the other funny I was going to blog about...hmmm.

Oh yeah, it has been a family tradition for as long as I can remember to memorize Luke 2 together as a family during dinnertime. We are attempting to start this in our family now as well. I had hoped to surprise my Dad and Mom at Christmas with this, but so far we have only conquered the first verse.

Me: In those days
Trev: In those days
Me: Casear Augustus
Trev: Christmas August

He now says Casear Augustus, I had secretly hoped he would keep saying Christmas August because I thought it would be hilarious to have him tell my parents that way.

Cell Phones, read it ...it is worth it!

Cell phones - New Law

According to a proposed new law that would go into effect Jan 1, 2008 you will no longer be able to use a cell phone while driving unless you have a 'hands free' adapter. I went to Circuit City and they wanted $50 for a headset with a microphone for my cell phone. Having a friend in the cell phone business, I talked with him and was able to come up with an alternative, working through Office
Depot.

These kits are compatible with any mobile phone and one size fits all. I paid him $0.08 each because he bought in quantity. Then we tried it with Motorola, Sprint,
Verizon and Nokia units and they worked perfectly.

A photo is attached so scroll down & take a look and let me know if you want one. Also, forward this to anyone you know, who has a cell phone, and who may want one!

I can hear you laughing. I thought you could use a laugh.
WE ALL NEED TO LAUGH MORE......

HAVE A GREAT DAY !!

Getting creative over here

Here's a scrapbook page I made...I am trying to get the creative juices flowing. I hope to catch up on my scrapbooking over Christmas break. Anyone want to join me?

Please pray

Calling all prayer warriors....please pray for a friend of mine's family....The Lyons. Julie (wife and mom of 3 young children) passed away this weekend after a long battle with cancer. I "met" her through her blog and she has become someone who I admire for her strength and courage through all of this. She has challenged and encouraged me so much. I will miss her updates, blogs and emails, however I have been impacted by her journey and will never forget how her battle has challenged me and the way I view whatever challenges I might face. She always called the many who prayed for her, her army of ants and ended each blog entry and email with YAY GOD! YAY GOD!

Its beginning to look alot like Christmas

We got our tree up last night, wrapped a few presents and enjoyed a blazing fire. It has proven interesting trying to explain to Trevor that we are getting ready for Jesus birthday and doing all this in celebration. We have also started memorizing Luke 2, a family tradition we did every year around the dinner table. Trevor now says Casear Augustis instead of Christmas August. :)

Now is all we need is the snow to blanket the out of doors!~ We are anxiously waiting over year in So Ho.

Living Room Newly Painted

Also making me smile these days is the newly painted living room. Here are my favorite parts. Thanks goes out to SIL, Kris for spotting this idea at IKEA! It turned out great and yes we had help painting (I am not gifted at all in the area and Dan claims he would rather go to jail than have to paint!)

New Rug

I promised to post this a few weeks ago...but am just getting around to it. Here is the new rug for our living room. The curtains were purchased the day after Thanksgiving...now we just need the rods and new couches and we will be good to go! ;-) This was an absolute bargin....guess where it is from? It makes me smile!

Not firing on all rockets?????

How quickly I must use that phrase... This morning upon cleaning out the shower/tile I accidently grabbed the Neutra Air (citrus air freshner) as oppossed to the Scrubbing Bubbles (lemon fresh). It took me about 2 minutes of scrubbing air freshner to realize it wasn't working so good. So, note to self, don't just look for the yellow top/cover, actually read the bottle. Needless to say, our bathroom and now entire house smells awfully lemony/citrus fresh! ;-)

These descriptions made me chuckle!

I had a good laugh to myself yesterday as I was driving along in my mini van. My SIL used the phrase not firing on all rockets during a recent phone conversation. And thank you very much she wasn't referring to me! So anyhow, I then proceeded to think of more funny phrases I have heard or even used over the years. Here is list, please help me add to it.

Not the sharpest tool in the tool box

Lost a few marbles

Just this side of crazy/coo coo

Her ducks aren't all in a row

Not firing on all rockets

I am cracking myself up here this morning. Of course, I am only going to use these descriptions to describe myself. Right? RIGHT!

Fall Colors

Ya'll know the song "God of wonders beyound our galaxy, you are HOLY, HOLY HOLY! The universe declares your majesty". Photos like this require me to hold back my tears as I am utterly amazed at the beauty of creation, the changing of colors, etc.

These were taken this afternoon at the side of our neighbors house. Absolutely beautiful!

Oh what a night!

I was blessed to have an opportunity to spend Saturday night with five of my very dear friends. We have been friends since Junior High and have been through many of life's ups and downs together. We reminisced about the good ole days (junior high), reveled in being 30 years old, bragged about our spouses and children, laughed about hilarious memories and just genuinely enjoyed one another. It had been 6 years since the last time we were all together, that was actually at our wedding. But longer than that since we had all been able to spend an evening together hanging out. We enjoyed dinner at Gattos. Delicious food by the way.

We all attempted to sleep in a row, having lined up 6 sleeping bags. I however, happen to sleep loudly, okay so it is probably considered snoring, so I lasted about 1 hour in the line and then got politely asked to go upstairs out of ear shot!~ The good part of that was that I got a bed! Most of us slept in and even got to enjoy the extra hour from "falling behind"!

It was so refreshing and encouraging to me. It was the best "medicine" I could have been prescribed! I am so blessed to have friends like these since junior high. For sure, we will be enjoying retirement together.

Happy Trick or Treating

This is a pic of my brother and sister in law from their Halloween party last year. Check out her blog for more pictures of the other people who attended! ;-)

Kit Kat's Wedding

My dear friend, Katie got married last night. It was an absolutely beautiful wedding. Some of my favorite parts were the stunning red dresses, worn by my beautiful sister Amy in this photo. Katies bouquet and dress, the white chair coverings..tied with a huge red ribbon. And the dance...she had all the fun songs and even a new one to me...the Virginia something. The veggie shots, Bellini's and carmel apples. It was a great night, the weather was beautiful. The bridal party went and had pictures taken at the beach that I can't wait to see! Congrats Kit Kat, married life is AWESOME!

Giraffe, Nemo and Mr. Pumpkin #2

Cousin Anika and Trevor Trick or Treating 2006
Harvest Party at the Community Center 2007

I am hoping it isn't too cold on Wednesday because our costume isn't quite as warm as last years. I am also hoping Trevor wears the costume as our "dress rehearsal" wasn't too promising.

We also found a new way to decorate our pumpkins, this one is staying indoors where it is free from unwanted vistors. He is the artist at work!

Carving Mr. Pumpkin

Can you believe the flowers, it is the end of October and they are still blooming. Love, love, love it. I planted this one the first weekend in May and it has almost been 6 months. I love the vivid orange color and it got ginormous.

After a "game" of soccer, Dad vs. Mom (Trevor assisted us both as the spirit so moved him), We all had a blast carving this pumpkin! Back to soccer a second here, I must say that my husband was a bit impressed with my "skills" or as he says, "foot work". Whatever the lingo is, I was kinda proud that he was impressed, after all Mr. Soccer himself always always always has a comment at my brother Pauls soccer games about each player, their skill level, their knowledge of the game, etc. It is really hilarious to me to listen to Dan and his friend Dave (the coach) discuss the game, players etc. Oh, I forgot to mention the score of our soccer game, 10 to 8. Yeah, Dan won, but I sure put up a good fight. Mostly, I just attempted to kick the ball as hard as I could regardless of if his foot or leg was in the way. I had him laughing more often than not, but used that quickly to my advantage and ba da bing ba da boom I would score. :-)

So you can see our finished product of carving. Well, the story gets better. We put the pumpkin on our front porch and when Trevor and I came home the next day this is what we found:

Yes, the squirrels attacked our pumpkin, it wasn't even out there for 24 hours. :-) Trevor told his Daddy when he came home that "the squirrel was so hungry, next time we get him some cereal, okay Dad?" It was worth the family fun, even it if our finished product only lasted for 22 hours or so! :-)