Same old excuse, just a different month

I am not giving excuses anymore.





Okay, maybe just one.

Do you see this nifty little gadget? It has got everything I need to check my e-mail, facebook, twitter (occasionally), and surf the net.

Unfortunately, it doesn't lead me into our office very often, unless I am wanting to add songs, or have a bigger screen to look at while browsing.

It is all this little gadget's fault that I have gone AWOL from my blog! Really it is!

Anyway, got a few funny quotes for you. This time from Jadyn...

#1

(Sunday evenings I don't usually cook a meal. We might just eat leftovers or make popcorn.)

Jadyn: Mom, what are we having for dinner tonight?

Me: Jadyn do you know what day it is?

Jadyn: Sunday. (pause) (pause) (wait for it!)

Jadyn: Ooohhhhhhhh! Sunday is the day we don't get to eat!

#2

My mom took Jadyn to town with her last night. They ate at Chili's, then went to Target. Roger decided that he was going to go to Target with Ethan and buy a game for the Wii that he has been wanting.

Jadyn: Grandma, why is Daddy going to Target?

Grandma: He wants to buy a game for the Wii and Ethan is going to use his gift card.

Jadyn: I wonder how that is going to go?

Grandma: What do you mean?

Jadyn: Well, they are guys! They won't be able to find anything without Mommy there!

I love this girl and her humor! She cracks me up!

Happy Birthday My Sweet Girl!

Jadyn turned 10 yesterday!!!

10-26-99

My sweet girl is 10. I am definitely getting old. Here are some candids she took by herself. Her favorite thing to do after school in the car...

Jadyn is a sensitive soul. She truly dislikes hurting anyone's feelings, and is quick to apologize. She's funny, and loves to be in the middle of it all. (Quite reminiscent of one of her parental units...) She loves to dance, talk, do cartwheels, laugh, be with friends, listen to her music, and read!

We love you Jadyn! You always keep our lives interesting!

P.S. I ended up taking a part time maternity leave, teaching 12-3 everyday at a local Christian school. I feel really at peace about my decision, and I am very hopeful for the future possibilities there! Thank you for all of your prayers on my behalf!

Post #2

Jadyn went to Camp Amigo again this summer. July 19th-23rd, Sunday to Thursday. Not long enough in her words. This is her third summer she has gone, and the day she comes home, she starts thinking about going again next summer.

She asked her BFF, Cassie to go with her this year. Cassie was a little unsure, but ended up having a blast! Cassie's mom, Kathy, and I are great friends from teaching together. Jadyn & Cassie have been friends since Cass was brought home from China at 9 months old!

Another really cool coincidence was Jadyn's friend, Livia, was there the same week! She met Livia when we went to Columbus for our youth convention in June. They were in the same tribe and just had a ball together. We found out at the end of that week that they would be at Camp the exact same time! The girls could not believe it!

They weren't in the same cabin, but they got to see each other quite a bit! Jadyn & Livia exchanged addresses and BFF necklaces. I can't believe that my girl is already doing that!

Their cabin groups were waiting in line for their turn at going to dinner. This was the night that Kathy and I picked them up to go home. We had a chance to eat dinner with them, collect all of their things, and head home.

The entire group performed several songs that they learned throughout the week.

Look, they still love each other!

This was their cabin, Cinquefoil. They were the closest cabin to the Pottyhouse!

While she was gone at camp, the rest of us were .....

Visit tomorrow and I will tell you!!!

New News

Still no pictures because I still cannot find my camera cord since we moved...

grrr....

But here are a few things happening in our lives right now:

• Jadyn has begun her softball practices with games beginning on May 2, my b-day. She loves it so much and has moved up to the Minor League where the girls actually pitch!
• Jadyn also had her piano recital on Sunday. She played a song from Les Miserables, and it was absolutely gorgeous! She has a real gift on the piano.
• Ethan has started playing in the Rookie Baseball League. He is a good little player, and can't wait for games to start.
• Ethan and Jadyn rode the bus for the first time this year, yesterday. With us living at Mom and Dad's, they can ride both ways, but for now they are only riding it home. They did just fine, but the bus actually dropped them off much earlier than I expected, so they had a little bit of walking to do! :)
• Addison split open her lip yesterday. She leaned onto a toy and it was heavy enough that the top came back hitting her right in the face. It didn't look like it had hit her very hard, but it must have hit her just right. OUCH!!!
• Then today, we were at Dave & Cindy's getting ready for garage sale, when Addison began trying to love on their cat. The cat wanted nothing to do with her, so took a good swipe at her, scratching her cheek.
• She looks quite a sight, fat lip and kitty cat scratches on her face!
• Addison has learned to talk so much and we have to laugh at some of the things that she says!
• The house is still not done, not sure when it will be. But this week they are going to install the kitchen countertops. And if it ever stops raining, they will continue to move dirt and pour concrete!

That's our life in a nutshell right now! We can't wait to move, but are so blessed to have so many loving family members in our lives, allowing us to invade their territories!

So proud!!!

During the first part of the school year, Jadyn and Ethan were able to stay after school at The Boys & Girls Club which was held at their own school. It was so nice, because picking them up falls right in the middle of Addison's nap. So they stayed after school for an hour or so, played with friends, had a snack, and most of all...had fun!

Unfortunately, at Christmas Break, the Club had to close. There is still the main one for our school system, but it is much larger and my kids just really loved the one at York.

Well, today they came home with some surprises. At the Club, you are rewarded for helping, being kind, and participating.

Surprise #1

Jadyn received two awards...

Volunteer of the Year

and

Athlete of the Month

Surprise #2

Ethan received...

Youth of the Month!!!

These are my kiddos, and I truly am proud. I love them so much!

You know you are old when...

You know you are old when...

• your oldest child enjoys playing The Oregon Trail on the computer
• your children begin telling you how to drive
• and how to get somewhere
• and how it would be faster to go another way
• your child finds more time to read than you do
• watching the news is scary because they relate it to their own lives
• you can hold an adult conversation for more than half hour with your child

Thanks Jadyn for the wonderful memories, the heartache, the laughter, and the struggles. We are both becoming stronger through our trials. I LOVE YOU!

My kiddos

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers on Addison's surgery! She did remarkably well. In fact, by noon you would not have known that she even had surgery at 7:30 that morning! She was already bouncing on her new pre-school sized trampoline showing off! Gotta love her!

And by the way, I noticed I haven't written about my oldest two for quite a while. Jadyn is becoming a beautiful young lady. She is getting taller and slimmer and is easy to hold a conversation with. She is so grown up! Piano is still going well for her and she is still loving her hip-hop dance class once a week!

Ethan is simply Ethan. He is so tenderhearted and sweet. Of course that means he gets his feelings hurt easily, but he is getting better. He has become a bit of a slowpoke in the mornings though. We keep threatening to wake him up at 6:00 so he can be ready to leave ON TIME! I think he would still be late! :) He reminds me a lot of my brother whose famous last words were always, "Just wait!" Ethan was so excited when he saw the Little League signup sheet come home from school! He can't wait to play ball again! He is also becoming quite a good reader, a fact that he is very proud of.

And mom and dad? We are getting so excited for our new house to be finished!

American Girl

Two weekends ago, my mom decided that for Jadyn's birthday she wanted to take her and I to the new American Girl Doll store in Chicago.

I was a bit skeptical because I have seen how little Jadyn has actually played with her dolls over the last few years. Our first order of business was to have tea at the AG Restaurant. Definitely not little girl food, but mom and I loved it! As we were enjoying our tea, though, Jadyn kept getting more and more excited! She was even pretending to feed her doll, Emily. This is not the Jadyn that I know, but it was fun to see.

After tea, it was off to get Emily's hair done and ears pierced. That was a two hour wait, so what do you do in the AG store while you are waiting? You shop, shop, shop! And try, try, try. Because you can't leave the store without a matching outfit for you and your doll!

After finally being done at the store, we went back to the hotel, let Jadyn take a shower, and headed out for dinner at 8:30. It is so fun with Jadyn right now, because when you have little ones, they HAVE to eat at certain times. Jadyn is getting old enough now that she's like a little adult, and can understand and wait because she knows she'll be fed, but at the moment we're shopping and having too much fun!

We at dinner at The Luxe Cafe, which is like a sister restaurant to The Cheesecake Factory. Their portions are absolutely huge and delicious!

The next morning, after breakfast (notice the matching outfits) we headed back to the AG store, because we weren't quite finished shopping yet. Besides that, we wanted to walk around The Watertower shopping center too! Unfortunately, we cut that a bit short and headed to lunch at Ed Debevic's. This place actually is known for being rude to their customers. And people flock there! We had so much fun! Jadyn wasn't quite sure about it, but later said that she wants to work there when she is older! She really liked when they danced on the counters too!

We had such a fun time together, only the girls. I can't wait until Addison is old enough to go as well! Thanks mom for a great time and for helping make Jadyn's belated birthday celebration special! She will always remember that...

Catching up...

We made it home safe and sound late Tuesday night. Now is the time to catch up on some sorely missed sleep. We had 38 hours of travel, leaving at noon Tuesday in New Zealand and arriving in Chicago around 7 or 8 pm on Tuesday. I can't remember. Regardless, as you can see Tuesday was an incredibly long day.

It was fun catching up with the kids, they of course woke up and stayed up until midnight when they settled down again. They had to show us their card tricks they learned, the new moves for dance, and fill us in on the fun times. We didn't get Addison until yesterday morning. She definitely did not forget us though, which I had myself completely convinced of. Lots of hugs and kisses all around. And I just can't get enough of her pudgy little arms and legs, although she has stretched out lately.

Reality has definitely hit though. When we left on our trip, Addison had recently recovered from an ear infection, and a bad cough. She still had some congestion when we left, but seemed to be getting better. Our sitter called while we were gone saying that she was improving. But yesterday when we picked her up, she still had a bit of a cough. Well, this morning her runny nose had turned green, so I quick called the doc and was there an hour later. My wee one has a double ear infection! Poor thing...

Reality has hit hard! :)

I truly am glad to be home though, reality and all. It feels like the big events are past and now the next big event will be moving next spring. Can't wait!

Pics to come soon, but for now Addison is asleep and the house is a mess, so a cleaning I go~

Jadyn & Ethan

Apparently, Jadyn and Ethan are having a fabulous time while we are away! Brooke and Matt are doing a wonderful job of keeping them busy and entertained. Here are some pictures from their weekend...

We are off to Gerry's farm outside of Melbourne. He has his own winery and horses, so another busy day is ahead of us.

Quote of the day...

Tonight at dinner, Roger was talking about the Cubs/Dodgers game that he just had to find on TV tonight. We were discussing how he has been a lifelong Dodgers fan and how I really liked the Cubs when I was younger.

Jadyn says, "Well I like the Colts! What are we talking about anyway?"

Thanks Jadyn for your enlightened comment and a very large laugh!

Me and the kiddos

This turned out to be such a great photo of the kiddos and myself, that I just had to share it! Even Addison is smiling (or appears to be)! Too bad Roger wasn't there with us...

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I am off to Indianapolis early Saturday for a girls only weekend with a few friends from high school... I absolutely cannot wait!

What's going on?

Enjoy the pictures of what has been going on!

The first day of school

Our basement, it is now finished being framed and they will probably start on the main level after the rain stops this week!

We moved to Fish Lake last week. Thanks Dave & Cindy for allowing us to stay here! We love it!

Roger and Ethan caught a massive Pike tonight in the lake. When I ran to get the camera he put it in the paddle boat so he wouldn't suffocate. Look at how huge it is! Jadyn said she never wants to swim in the lake again!

We have terrible cell phone reception up here so Roger was using his arm as an antenna. Seemed to work!