Zeke at 7 months

J at seven months - not much like Zeke

There are definetly flashes of the boys being alike but at first glance there's not much to go on.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to each of you!!!!! Today Sam is at work so we won't see him until about 10pm tonight. But we're planning a date night this weekend. I'll be working on getting my house presentable for a babysitter. Yippee! A clean house & date night; sounds great to me!


Justus has been taking a lot of pictures on our digital. We're thinking of getting him one of those fisher price cameras. He took this one of me & Zeke.

We had our Valentine's Banquet this weekend. It went incredibly well! I was pretty relaxed compared to my usual craziness! Our youth did an excellent job setting up , serving & during clean up. I don't have any pictures yet b/c the guy that took them hasn't emailed them to me yet. We had thirty-two couples, thirty kids & fifteen workers. Altogether about one hundred.

Thursday is J's birthday. I think we're going to do a family celebration on Thursday and then a birthday next weekend. We're waiting until next weekend because Sam's bro is going to be in town.

Thats about it around here.

Here's a few of Zeke his first time standing up:

I think I can.....


I think I can....


I did it!!!!!!

Is it loo or lou???

I'm talking about the bathroom. And anyways here is some loo news. Justus cracks me up! Today after going he flushes & proudly says- "You're out of here!!!!!!!" while watching. I laugh of course. To which he responds. "mommy you make me nervous". More eruptions of laughter. Honestly, he's doing very well!

Rats!!!!

Rats is my latest saying. I'm trying to use it rather than darn, dang or some of those other BAD words. It sounds much better coming out of Justus' mouth. The first time I heard Justus say - darn it sounded like dern it and reminded me of da**. I didn't like the sound of it. So we'll go with RATS!

So RATS!!!!!!!!! I've gone from having 5 children to 25 in a matter of one day!!! That is for our valentine's banquet. Man!!! And I was happy that I'd found two adult workers. Now I will definetly need more help! It's to the phones I go.

In other news Ezekiel has decided to start pulling up in his crib & can stand up on his own. It's time to move the mattress down a notch! A spill to the concrete floor would not be good.

We got our taxes done. Yea!!!!!!!! Some home improvements are on the top of the list. We've set aside a chunk of our return specifically for this: Painting the bedroom side of the house. Flooring of some kind for this side of the house as well. Right now it's painted concrete but the paint is peeling. And with Zeke gearing up for crawling mode chipped paint doesnt sound so appealing.

Upgrades: We hope to also 'upgrade' our linens & some clothing as well. The van is getting new breaks & tune up. And a addition of some kind will be made to the back yard. Something entertaining for the kids.

Finally, savings!!! We've never had any before, so I am 'stoked' as Sam would say. It is always our intention to do this but the money somehow slips from our fingers as everything turns out to cost more than we had hoped. But for now I remain optomistic. Our return is more than we expected so there should be some left over, right?

YIKES

Hey girls! The babes are really getting better! So thanks to anyone who said a prayer for my little family! Last night I slept for more than three hours in a row!!! That was the first time in over three weeks; boy I'm glad that is over! I guess my body caught up because here it is 4am & I'm writing to you. My mind is going a million miles a minute. Here is why----

Saturday is our Valentine's Banquet & three weeks of sickness has left me a bit behind. So- please don't stop praying now----I still need you!!!

I've got table decorations already. I hope to do a mock set up tommorrow to see if my mind works well with reality. Good luck to me! I still need to work on the stage area. And pick a spot for the photographer. And a prize table. Our pastor's wife picks out the BEST prizes. So, I thankfully handed that project over to her.

We still need one or two more child care workers. KEEP PRAYING. Since most of our youth with be either with me in the kitchen or serving it's always fun to fill this spot!

On the still need list is --a photographer; the one I asked originally can't come. Her father is sick so she will be out of town. (Child care workers). And a music man to keep the mood just right. My hubby is the best at this but he will be doing other things- like keeping me from going crazy & the youth in line!!!!

It's so funny how you THINK you're prepared and then at the final stretch you realize there are still ten tons of things you've forgotten. I'm so thankful for my mother because she has done catering in the past and she reminds me of the details that I would have forgotten for sure!

Well, I've gotten a little off my chest so I think I'll try to rest for a few hours before another day gets started. Thanks for being here! Oh yeah- you might want to know about the food.

Here is the menu: Spinach Balls for the appetizer. Healthy & yummy. Trust me these things are pretty darn good. Sam likes them & he does NOT eat spinach! A BLT green salad w/ parmesan and italian dressing. None of that iceberg stuff- it's a real salad. Stufffed Shells & marinara sauce with a little bit of turkey burger thrown in there for the guys. Crunchy Rosemary, garlic bread. And 'Striped Delight' for desert. This has an oreo crust, layers of pudding & cream cheese/cool whip. This is fairly simple but OH SO GOOD. How can you go wrong with chocolate???

So does this sound like an appetizing meal to you??? This is our third year and this year has been the hardest. I can't really do all that I want b/c I'm so busy with the kids. And I don't mind that at all. They're my top priority and I have tried to put something together that I can do ahead & freeze some of it.

So far, so good. I'm not at the total FREAK out level yet! Give me a few days.

Warning: Stinky pic below

Antibiotics have not helped Zeke & they cause stinky situations too! I think we'll be making another trip to the docs if we don't see a drastic change soon.

THANKS CRYSTAL- You're a genius!!!!

So it worked!!!! Thank you very much! Finally a fun lil' pic of me & sammy! (Profile pic)

Please pray for our family dog Chile. We think she got into something that is making her sick. She is six years own and has been extra lathergic today. My brother will be devestated if she dies. She has never been sick before so her behavior is worrysome to him.

Zeke & Chile


Justus & Chile

The Fam & our pretend snow storm

Well, it was snowing this AM at 7:30 but I got back in bed. The snow ended by noon & was melted by the rain at 3ish. It was a very wet snow- if that makes any sense. Colder air might have done us good. We got the boys dressed for a little photo op and Zeke went to sleep right after. Justus insisted on sliding down the hill. But I don't have those pics on the computer yet. I'd say we had just enough snow for Jbean to enjoy. A nice break from the day to day routine. Sam stayed home for a half day and that was nice.

The boys have broncitis. I have no sleep but they're on the way to recovery so all is well.

Quick, fast before I'm "needed":
I've shed a few tears the past couple of days! Here's a short run down of what happened.

First Justus told me he didn't love me. Initially I was shocked. And then hurt. Finally I realized that I never want to hear him say that again but I am at this moment mentally prepared. If and when it does happen again; it will probably be just as hard to hear.

Zeke is growing so fast. Today he sat up on his own. I don't remember when Justus did this but it made me cry just knowing that I've already forgotten that detail. And thinking of all the others I've probably forgotten and don't even realize it. I do try to write these things down.

I yelled at Justus & asked God for help to never do it again. I hurt his feelings & made him cry. Justus recovered much faster than I did. Obviously I won't be winning a mother of the year award....or at least I lost a vote for this day.

Finally I decided to just let them all come out; at least as much as I could. I felt a little better afterwards. Now it's time to get busy again.

Here are a couple pics of the boys.

Let's play catch-up

First of all here are a few pics of my niece. She turned four this weekend. She got mad because her brother was 'tasting' her lipgloss I bought for her while we were putting some on. My mom made the poncho & the hat/scarf out of some yarn I found at Walmart. I think these bright colors look fantastic on her! Brie can be very onery (sp) sometimes but she is my buddy! I hope that someday I will have a little girl of my own but for now I will enjoy my niece!





The boys have been very fiesty this week and I want to pull my head out. Oops, I mean hair out! Justus BIT Ezekiel and I had to count to ten over & over again while trying not to blow a gasket! J has never actually bit anyone not even when he was teething!

Justus is also potty training this week- he( and I) has been to the bathroom twenty thousand times yesterday & today. He can reach the toilet standing up & not miss. But when it comes time to sit & poop it's not so good! I've cleaned the bathroom several times today. But I think a little insanity now will save me more than thirty dollars a month once we get the routine down.

Zeke aka 'little grinch' is teething this week & one of the top teeth is bothering him pretty bad. I need earplugs & it's time for some tylenol for him.

Other happenings- I started reading the book that Staci gave me for Christmas. Page two was good...when will I get to page three? It's called Queen of the Castle. And I feel anything but royalty but a few seconds of reading is very theraputic (sp) for me so its nice!

Sam wants to play basketball in the church legeau (sp) but there just isn't any extra time at this point. He's been pouting all week trying to figure out a way that he can do it. I feel sorry for him but neither of us can come up with a good solution.....maybe next year?

Also we might sell our blue car. This thing has been wonderful to us and we are hestitant to let it go but in reality it's on it's last leg & we can't put much more into it. In the back of my mind I want to keep so we'll have a second car when we need it but who know when/if that will happen.

I also want to let you know that I have been keeping up with your blogs but had little time to leave comments. Yes, I know that that's the best part of this whole deal. Communication between friends.....it took me SEVERAL tries to even post this one. So, I am reading!!!!! And try to comment now & then.

This is all I have time for but there is LOTS I'd love to let you in on but I got to much to do. Love to each of you!

ps Does blogger have spell check??? If so I need it!

Halfway to February?

Man time flies! January has been just as busy as Christmas time. And February won't slow down either.....I thought it would. Last weekend we went to the arts & science museum that's an hour or so away. We took Justus and my nephew to see the dinosaur exhibit that was there for just one more weekend. The boys had a great time. And we laughed alot!

Justus was apprehensive at first because the dinos were so big but we eventually got him to touch them. Looking at them & walking past them quickly was not a problem. About halfway during our time there they did a demonstration/talk. Justus drove the speaker crazy & tried to steal away the toy dinos he brought for a visual. All the parents were snickering.....except Sam who said J's name 45 times, followed by "stop", "no" & put that back. I had a great time trying not to laugh and eventually Justus ended up holding a dino and listening to the rest of the talk.

I'm in planning & execution mode for our Valentine's Banquet that the youth put on every year......LOTS to do! And J's birthday is right after that so we've got plenty to keep us busy. Planning and doing.

Zeke is finally rolling over both ways - back to front & front to back. His latest craze is to look straight at you & scream/squeal. He's trying to communicate but mama or dada just won't do it!

Justus is satisfied, he's got something to play with.


Checking out the Long Neck


There is NO way I'm going to touch that thing!

Justus

How can a person who drives me nuts bring such joy?? My almost three year old can say his abc's, count to 11 on his own & to 15 with me. He can get dirty in a split second & would take five baths a day if I'd let him. We're starting to learn how to recognize numbers & letters. It's hard to get him to sit still for very long!

Ezekiel

Christmas day Ezekiel got his first tooth. I knew he was fussy at church Christmas Eve but I was super surprised when I saw a tooth peeking through the next day. He has also started being able to stay sitting up when I put him that way. It makes bath time so much more fun. Yesterday he started the rocking that babies do before they start to crawl. It's so much fun to watch them grow! One thing I am really grateful for is that he is a cuddle bug. And will still let me hold him like a baby when he's tired. Baby love is so sweet!

Crash

Some kid was talking on his cell phone & this happened. Oops! My dad & brother pulled him out. He had just put insurance on the car yesterday. Good thing he didn't have to report this! The ditches around here are pretty bad. We've had to pull out lots of people out of our ditch. This is our neighbors yard across the street.

On to 2007

So I now have a few minutes to do my 2006 review. I've come to the conclusion that I've been blessed! 2006 was a great year for me. I finally broke free from some lingering depression. It still tries to overcome me but I am learning how to deal with it rather than ignore it! In 2006 Sam & I have gotten closer. Justus has grown like a weed. And Ezekiel was born. We got a new to us car and God blessed us tremendously.

This year I look forward to an even better year. One of my most favorite ways to relax & get a good laugh is to spend a few moments with you. You girls bring a lot of joy to me. And I appreciate your honesty and being part of your lives....even if its from hundreds or thousands of miles away. Like I said, I am blessed!

My goals for the year are: To be wise in my spending.
Organization
Get more involved with Sam & ministry in general
*Dare I say lose weight???? It's always at the back of my mind. But rarely do I make a decision to do something about it. -We shall see.

Yuk

Here is the only pic I have of me on Christmas day. It's not great but Mel asked for it. Enjoy.

Pics----

My first Christmas

Mommy hiding from the camera

The kids & their favorite person in the world.

Recovering

We've all had the stomach bug. Oh the joy! Sam. Then me. Followed by the boys, my parents & finally Jacob(bro).