Christmas Day

We had a quiet celebration at our house on Christmas day. All the kids were wanting the same thing from Santa...a Nintendo DS. Emma was the first to find hers, a pink one. So I asked her if she would share it with the other kids. Her answer...NO! What a sweetheart. :) Then Beth got an ice blue one. Then Jacob gave up opening any presents unless they had a rectangular shape. He finally found his..a pokemon one. I was so grateful that Santa had precharged those things and the kids could play with then as soon as possible.

The kids enjoyed all their presents. Jacob has been watching a commercial for some blanket called the snugglie(?). My mom decided to make the big kids a blanket and Emma a cute "dalmation" coat. Jacob is convinced that all he needs is his blanket from grandma to sleep at night. (I sneak in and cover him up..just in case.)

Christmas Eve

Every year, Mickey's Dad's side of the family has a fantastic celebration on Christmas Eve. This year was no different. We had great company, yummy food and lots of fun.

Piano Recital

Beth had her first piano recital last night. She told me that she was a little nervous. She is taught by a friend in my ward, Mandy. Beth has taken for a year and loves it. She had tried to play basketball this year but she decided that she was more of a music person. :) She cracks me up. Beth played We Need a Little Christmas and then a duet with Mandy of Frosty the Snowman. Beth was proud of her accomplishment and so were we!

Christmas Girl Scout Activity

This year our leader was busy with a sick child, so I volunteered to host a Christmas activity for the girls. Since it was at my house, Jacob and Emma got to join in the fun. One year when I served as the Activity Day leader, I did this with them. Instead of making gingerbread, I used graham crackers to make a house. The girls have a blast decorating. I am amazed at their ideas. They always turn out so cute.

Jacob and Emma had a great time doing their houses. Emma did most of the work herself and only needed help putting up the house. Jacob put on a contraption that caught the meteors/bombs (m&m's) up on the roof. He really is 100% boy.

Thanksgiving in Grant

My parents came to our house for Thanksgiving this year. Mickey's aunt decided to host a Thanksgiving feast at her home and we all were invited. The food was abundant and the company was pleasant. The weather couldn't have been better. Jacob finally got over his stomach flu and we were able to have a wonderful time. Of course, my battery died and I didn't get half the pictures I wanted.

Galaxy of Lights

A few weeks ago, we took our girl scout troop to the Galaxy of Lights. We were going to walk through the gardens and enjoy the lights. Unfortunately, it decided to thunder and rain. We had to postpone to the next weekend. We ended up with 2 girls, Beth and Sara. We had a great time. This is the best way to see the lights. The kids enjoyed the face painting, lights and seeing Santa.

Happy Halloween!

Our new arrival!

Mickey and I got a new baby today! My mom got a new piano and gave me her old piano. About 20 years ago, my mom found this piano in the local penny saver for 125 dollars. She made me go to the stranger's home to take a look. Of course, we fell in love with the piano and for the price, we couldn't pass it up. So now after 20 years, 3 long distant moves, a tornado and 2 refinishes, it has made its way to my house. I have always joked that I earned this piano since I went along on the first trip but I thought I would get it from my parents' will...glad that wasn't the case. :) I have been a little nervous about how this piano would fit into our tiny house. While it is not a perfect fit, it is pretty good and I will enjoy having it to play on! Thanks Mom and Dad!

Picture of the Week

I was uploading pictures from Beth's camera and came upon this shot. Emma insists on bringing dolls on every car trip and she will buckle them in for the ride. I guess Beth was bored and had a photo shoot in the back of the car. Not a bad shot of Barbie if you ask me. :)

This picture also reminds me of an incident that happened yesterday. Just before I picked Emma up from preschool, I ran into Kroger. While I was checking out the grocery bagger couldn't stop complimenting me on my hair. It started to get a little embarrassing since it probably looked a lot more like the Barbie's hair! Anyway, I told Mickey he better get to Kroger and stake his claim with this boy because I may just bring him home with me. What a fun grocery trip!

Scrapbooking Weekend

My mom has friend in her ward that hosts a scrapbooking weekend twice a year. I have been able to go 4 times and I get so much accomplished. My sister Becky(2nd from left) and my Mom (back left) have been a few more times and my sister Tina(front left) came for the first time this year. (The woman in the picture with the Christmas page, is another friend from my mom's ward.) We generally stay up too late and eat too much on these weekends but we have a great time! Plus we do get a lot of scrapbooking done. I finished 22 pages this weekend!

Here is my cropping area. I am usually a little neater when I crop, but not this time. I just didn't feel like it. I am now caught up to July 2007 and I'm looking forward to next year's crop.

Fall Break

Almost every Fall Break, I hit the road and head to my parents home near Detroit, Michigan. The kids love to visit their grandparents. This year was a bonus since Tina, my sister from Hawaii, brought her four girls for the same week. We hadn't seen her family in about 18 months so it was fantastic to be together. My oldest niece, Katie, had her wisdom teeth taken out. I don't know how much of a vacation she had. Nothing too exciting happened except that my mom's purse was lost/stolen from Sam's. We did visit the zoo and the polar bears showed off for us. We also had a night at Chuck E Cheese that was fun too.

Jacob's 7th Birthday

Today is Jacob's 7th birthday. He had a party at a glow in the dark mini golf. He loves to golf. I think this is the third time we have celebrated his birthday with golf. Jacob told us that this was the best birthday ever! He had a great time with his friends.

A Night Out

Mickey was invited to a dinner party for work last night. I was excited to have a reason to get dressed up and go out with my husband. (The kids were excited to have a babysitter!) We got to eat dinner under the Saturn V in the new Davidson Center. I have seen these rockets for years, and I was even awed by the size of the rocket. Mickey teased me enough that I didn't take any pictures. As you can see, Mickey just loves it when I take pictures. Here is a picture of the rocket that is outside the Davidson Center. Imagine it turned on its side, suspended from the ceiling and us eating dinner under it. It was amazing.

Bespectacled

Last week, Beth was trying to read a flashcard when I realized that she couldn't see the 2 inch numbers! I was horrified that my baby has been unable to read anything that was far away. I got her into the optometrist a few days later. He concurred with my observations so we were off to pick out her first pair of glasses. Of course, Beth was so excited to wear glasses. She went straight to the Hannah Montana glasses and picked these out. I think she looks adorable. But best of all, she can see!

Fun Run

Yesterday was the annual Fun Run put on by the local hospital. Last year, Jacob was our only child who wanted to run. It happened to be unseasonably hot that year and it just about killed Jacob off. I thought he would never want to do it again. Well, I guess it is like childbirth for me..he forgot and wanted to do it again. Luckily, the weather was fantastic! Beth and Jacob were excited about running again. Plus, Emma decided that she wanted to run too. Beth didn't want to wait for her age group so she ran (or should I say walked) with Emma's group.

Jacob's group was first and he did it all by himself. Mickey had run with him last year, so I was a little worried about him out there by himself. I met him at each turn and found him running well. He cut about 5 minutes off his time from last year. He told me that a guy in a yellow shirt ran with him and kept him going. (They have high school aged kids out in the race to run with the kids.)

Then we went on to cheer Beth and Emma (and Mickey too)! I figured that Emma would be tired at the first turn. We saw her coming and she was running and having a great time. Beth was concerned because Emma had fallen and cried for a minute. Emma on the other had was fine and didn't care! For the last 50 yards of the race, parents cannot run with their kids. At this point, knowing Emma, I thought she would throw a huge fit and stop running. Then I spotted her,without Beth, running toward the finish line. She was doing it! Beth enjoyed her stroll and finished 2 minutes behind Emma.

They all had a great time. They each got a participation ribbon and t-shirt. Emma cracks me up! She keeps telling Beth that she was fast and Beth was slow. Beth continues to amaze me. This kind of teasing would irritate me. Beth just smiles and says encouraging things to Emma.

Emma also holds onto her ribbon and says that she won. Whatever makes her happy! We had a great time and we are looking forward to next year's run.

First Day of Preschool

Emma went to her first day of preschool yesterday. She was so excited to go. I was worried about seperation issues but I had no need to fear! She got out of the car and went straight in. Of course, it helped to have her friend, Riley already there.

I helped Emma put up her backpack and then said goodbye. I don't even know if she noticed I left. She was so happy to be there.

While I was gone, I admit that I was worried about Emma the whole time. Did she miss me? Was she upset? Was she crying? Of course, when I went to pick her up, she was having a great time on the playground. When she finally realized I was there, she ran to me just beaming! Once we got in the car, she couldn't stop talking. She told me everything that she had learned that day.

It was a fantastic day! I am already looking forward to the next preschool day. :)

Happy Birthday Jason!

I hope you have a great day!

Are you ready for the movie?

For all the Twilight fans! Thanks Laurie for posting this on facebook!

Fabulous!

My friend Heather and I get together about once a week for a play-date. Emma and Riley are great friends and look forward to the play-dates as much I do! A few months ago Emma was having a great time playing dress up at Heather's home with Riley and his big sister Madi. The picture above is one of the many choice outfits that Emma created.

Well, fast forward a few days. Emma and I were at home and she seemed to be bored. I suggested that she could play dress up and do a fashion show for me. She gave me a look like that seemed to say, "Mom, you just don't understand." She said that she couldn't dress up alone. Then she said, "I cannot look fabulous without Riley."

First Day of School

Before Mickey and I had kids, I saw a commercial for Staples. In the background, a Christmas song was playing, "It's the most wonderful time of the year." Then you see a dad walking down the isle throwing school supplies in the shopping cart while dancing and a huge smile on his face. Then it panned to side where a son and daughter were standing with their arms folded and unhappy faces. I laughed for a while at that commercial. Now that we have kids going to school, I quietly sing that song in my head at this time of year! :)

Seriously, I will really miss my darling children. They have been such a help to me this summer. Beth loves to clean and Jacob loves to help with Emma. We got to meet their teachers on Monday and they both seemed to be a good fit for the kids. As Emma is sleeping, I wonder how she will adjust to being home with just me. In September, Emma will go to preschool for 2 half days a week. What will I do with 6 hours all to myself????

Mackinac Island

Last year was the first time I went to Mackinac Island in Michigan. It was so cold last year that we had to buy jackets and this year it was so HOT! But the views were much better! You have to take a boat to get to the island. When you get there the only ways of transportation on the island are bike, horse or foot. My brother and his wife had never been here so we had to go again this year. We made sure to buy some fudge from the many fudge shops on the island. YUMMY!Bailey and Beth showed off the view from our lunch spot at the fort. Bailey, Jacob, Kevin and Beth liked the shade during the heat of the day.

Tahquamenon Falls

We continued our Upper Peninsula tour by driving another hour along the coast until we reached the Tahquamenon Falls. We were in the car for about 7 hours this day but these views were well worth the drive. I would love to go back here and enjoy the trails. Emma wanted to have her picture made at the Falls. I think it turned out adorable!These are the upper falls. The color of the falls in beautiful. Tanic acid from the decomposing trees runs off into the river. Here is a picture of the lower falls.

Iroquois Point Lighthouse

While we were on the Upper Peninsula, my mom took us out to one of the many lighthouses on the Great Lakes. This one was about an hour away to the west from the Soo Locks. We were able to climb to the top of the Lighthouse. I started to get a little worried on the way up but the view was spectacular.Bailey, Kevin, Jacob and Beth made the climb with me. Only 5 people were allowed up at one time since the space was so small.
There is a small boardwalk around the lighthouse. Jacob couldn't wait to get near the water.

Jacob told me that this was the best day ever. He loves to get in the water at a beach. I had to make sure that he didn't end up entirely wet since I didn't have a change of clothes with me.

Soo Locks

My mom loves to take us to out of the way places that you wouldn't normally go! We went up to the Upper Peninsula in Michigan this week. First we headed to the Soo Locks on the US/Canadian border. We got there just in time to see this massive boat move through the locks. This boat went from Lake Superior to Lake Huron. Lake Superior is 25 feet higher than Lake Huron.

Here are Jacob and my nephews James and Kevin at the Locks. They all love Mario games and got matching shirts for the trip. They are great friends.

This is Emma and my niece, Rachel at the Locks. Emma has had great time playing with her during this vacation.

I had to add the map to show exactly where we were. My parents lives in the southeastern part of Michigan. We had to travel about 5 hours to get here. The excitement never ends with my mom!

Greenfield Village at the Henry Ford Museum

My parents always have a membership to the Henry Ford Museum in Michigan. While Mickey loves the car museum, I love the village that they have on the grounds. It includes a steam locomotive, 1913 carousel, Model T car rides, horse drawn carriage rides, the Wright brothers original home, Thomas Edison's workshops, a plantation house, and many other period homes.

When we were on the train, Teddy Roosevelt got on to campaign for the elections. We sat right in front of him and got to hear the campaign chatter. The kids loved it. I love a little history with my vacation!

Niagara Falls

We had a crazy trip from my parents home in Michigan to go and see the Hill Cumorah pageant. Part of this trip meant crossing Canada, since it is a shorter route. What should have been a 6 hour drive was turned into a 12 hour drive. Plus we decided to stop for a minute to look at the falls. The kids were impressed! We decided to come back later this month with my brother and his family so we can take the boat ride to the base of the falls. So more pictures to come!

The Sacred Grove

We got to go to the Hill Cumorah pageant in Palmyra, New York this past weekend. We also visited the Sacred Grove where Joseph Smith had the First Vision. I am so grateful to have gone here. This is a quick snapshot of Beth and Jacob with their cousins Kevin and Bailey. More to come later!

Off to Michigan!

This morning, I woke up feeling the best that I have in 3 weeks. So we headed off to Michigan to visit with my family for a month. The 12 hour ride went incredibly smooth and we made pretty good time. The kids were terrific and enjoyed their new DVD player for the entire trip. Mickey insisted that I have enough sleep before I set out on the trip by myself. I was off by 7:15 am and just kept on moving. My kids know that there is a Friendly's in Ohio and constantly ask if we are in Ohio yet. If you have never been to Friendly's and had their Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Sundae, you should definitely make a trip to find one! The next 2 pictures are mostly for Becky, Allyson and Heather since I know they have enjoyed this sundae before....YUMmmmmmmm. Sorry I don't have any left to share! :) I decided that I could eat this after my crappy month and it tasted wonderful! Maybe that is why I feel so good tonight? I meant to take a picture before I dove in, but I took a bite too quickly. Jacob wanted purple ice cream and ended up with black raspberry ice cream. He loves fruity ice cream. Beth went for cake batter and some of Emma's cookie dough ice cream.


So after our 3:30 treat, we were completely full. We got to Michigan at 7:30 and saw my parents and my niece Bailey. As we were getting ready for bed my kids reminded me that they didn't have dinner. YIKES! So I guess I fed my kids ice cream for dinner. Hopefully I will do better tomorrow!

Where do I start?

I have been a little on the crazy side of life these past few weeks. For those who didn't know, Mickey and I had been expecting our 4th miracle. At our first appointment at 7 weeks, we were told that we had an anembryonic pregnancy (blighted ovum). We were so sad and since I had never had a miscarriage before, I was scared to say the least. We had to return a week later for a repeat ultrasound and if the same results were found I would have a D and C 2 days later. After the second ultrasound and the same results were found, we had to tell the kids. We chose to tell them with gospel principles and they took it very well. Beth was the most upset while Jacob just said, dang. Such a boy!

The d&c wasn't too bad except that they did the d&c on the L&D floor at the hospital. When I am scared about something, I have a "no think" policy. My family laughs at me but it helps me out. I have done it since I was a kid. So, the night before, the kids went to their Aunt Canette's house for a sleepover. Then Mickey and I went out to dinner at PF Changs. We then went to see Get Smart...which was very funny! And to top it off, we hit Maggie Moo's for some ice cream before my midnight deadline of no more food. Mickey would have enjoyed going to bed a little earlier than we did, since we had to leave our house at 5:00 am. But he humored me and made it very easy on me. I didn't think about the procedure at all that night. Works like a charm every time! I am still recovering physically and mentally but for the most part, I feel good.

During all of this, I received a new calling. I have learned that my time is definitely not my Heavenly Father's time. I have loved serving in my primary calling. But my time is now to be spent with the young women. I was looking over the roles and realized that I had the current laurels when they were beehives and I had the current beehives when I served as the activity day leader.

I have a week with the YW, and then I am going to my parents for a month! This trip has been planned for 6 months...again, not my time! I was only supposed to be gone for 3 weeks but 2 months ago, Mickey told me that I should leave earlier since his work schedule will be crazy for July. I have asked my counselors for forgiveness already. :)