August 26th, Amy's Day!!

Amy turned 7 years old!! I must admit that I hate to see her grow up. She is such a delightful child. Amy loves to cuddle and make us laugh. She is great at helping clean things up, but at the same time her bedroom is ALWAYS a mess!! She is never without a friend, because everyone loves Amy! She often amazes me with her wisdom. She is very easy to teach. She is great at reading, but does not like to do handwriting. And last of all, Amy can be a real girly girl. She loves to look pretty!

I love you, Sweetheart!

We have phone capabilities

AT&T has done it again!! After many tries, AT&T now has us connected! You should have seen the smile on my face the first time I picked up the phone and heard a dial tone. MUSIC TO MY EARS!!!

I will try to get you all caught up on our lives from this past week. It might take me a while though. I am busy now getting ready for VACATION!! YIPPEE! We leave Tuesday morning at 1:00am. Jeff, Lauren, Daniel, and Amy are dropping Emily, Joel , and I off at the Indianapolis Airport at 4:00am. We have a 6:00 flight to catch to Florida. Jeff and his crew are going to continue driving on down to Greenville, SC to be with his mom and siblings for a few days before they meet us in Florida on Sunday night. During that time, I and my crew will be spending our time with my dad. Dad lives in a very small trailer. So when we go down there, I don't usually get to spend much time with him. We spend a lot of time away at a hotel, because of the craziness of the children. I look forward to this time with my dad!!
When we all meet up again on Sunday night, we will have some real family time together. I can't wait!!

Triathlon (again)

Lauren and Emily did the Triathlon this Thursday morning. Life Action did it two times this year. Because of the power outage, team members were not here to do it the first time. Emily and her friends were not old enough to do it on their own, they required an adult to do the whole thing with them! I WAS NOT GOING TO DO IT, so two VERY sweet team members did it with them. They did the entire thing as a group. These pictures are from the very end of the Triathlon. They came to the finish line with arms linked.





Lauren, Jennifer, Abby Bearden, Emily, Nyshelle, and Brooke Griffith! They did it!!

THURSDAY

I will catch you up on our lives from the past five days. Thursday night at supper Emily, Daniel, Amy and I were in the middle of a very strong, quick storm! We were in the lodge just beginning to eat supper when we looked out the back of the lodge and saw a tree fall into the back windows. (no windows were broken, just the awning and part of the deck) We turned around from that just in time to see a tree fall in the front of the lodge! Thunder, lightening, heavy rain and gusty winds were all around us. We were under a tornado watch! Jeff was not in the lodge with us. He was at home with Lauren and Joel. Team members were yelling and panicking, which scared the children that were with me. The children were very afraid without daddy there. I on the other hand was very calm at this point, TOTALLY A GOD THING!! Well, like I said, the storm was very fast! It was basically over in ten minutes. When it passed, our family got in the van and headed to Granger. (Thursday night work) It was incredible off the property. It almost looked as though nothing happened off the camp. It seems that the camp was right in the path of the storm. Nothing at all happened to our house just 75 feet up the hill. I take that back, something did happen to our house. WE LOST POWER AND PHONE! The tree that fell took down all our lines with it! We got home from Granger to a dark, QUIET, hot house! It wasn't quiet outside though. There was another storm coming through, not a bad one though.

FRIDAY

We woke up Friday morning to be told that our power would be out until Tuesday sometime!! I was not to happy at that time. It had been raining for two days already and it was still raining that morning. We were stuck in our dark house with nothing to do. I had a Ladies Tea that I was supposed to go to that afternoon, but I felt so gross that I didn't even want to go to it. Praise the Lord that this camp has generators and Henry to hook them up. He hooked up a generator to the bath house so that we could take showers and go to the bathroom. I failed to mention that when we do not have power we do not have running water either. Well I took a shower and it felt wonderful!! I went into the shower with a REALLY BAD ATTITUDE, but came out feeling so much better about life. I still didn't want to go to the Tea at that point, but I went anyway. I am so glad that I did. It was a special time and I got to be in air conditioning for a couple of hours!! The day was not a bad day after all. That evening we had our ministry wide closing service. Once again we came home to a dark, quiet, hot house. We all got to bed rather quickly.

SATURDAY

Life Action Triathlon took place today at 7:00 am. Daniel and Jeff did it together. They swam about 1/2 mile in the pouring rain, rode 8 miles on their bikes in the pouring rain, and ran about 2 1/2 miles in light sprinkles. They did this all in about 1 hour and 20 minutes!! It was a fun morning!
I figured since I was already wet from watching the triathlon, I would just go into town and do some laundry. I took Joel with me, so that Jeff and Daniel could sleep. It was kind of fun to be at the laundromat. Joel was very intrigued by all the spinning loads of laundry. It kept him entertained for a while. The worst part about the whole experience was the COST of doing the laundry! It is EXPENSIVE!!
Our days excitement was not over by any means. Jeff and I went on a date with Steven and Christy Canfield. They took us to see/hear the South Bend Symphony. It was so much fun. The performance was outside. (the rain stopped at noon and the weather was perfect) For the last two songs fireworks were going off over our heads! It was totally amazing. It was an experience that I will not forget!!
The night just got better and better. We arrived home to a house with POWER!!! THANK YOU LORD!! I don't think that I will ever look at a power truck or its workers the same again. They are probably glad that I was not here when they were working on it. I think that I would have hugged them all!! My family is probably glad as well, I would have embarrassed them.

SUNDAY

AMY JO turned 7 today!! We didn't celebrate her birthday today, we canceled the party because of the power outage. We are having her party this Wednesday. She can't wait!!
I still do not have phone capabilities, so I can not blog from home. I had to go to Jeff's desk at the office to do this stuff. I will give Amy her own birthday post with lots of pictures on Wednesday. I hope to have a phone by then!!

MONDAY

This morning was pretty normal, until Karen came over and told me about what was happening in Buchanan at that exact moment! At that point we were told from the news stations that there was a hostage situation at Hardings in Buchanan. (This is the same grocery store that I was almost hit by a car a couple of months ago.) The news people said that the FBI were there along with many police officers. Roads were closed all around the store. We were shocked! Karen and I both shop there, we could have been there this morning. Praise the Lord we weren't. The children and I immediately prayed for these people and all the officers. I was so concerned for every ones safety.
Everything has been taken care of now. Apparently someone called on a cell phone (that was traced to New York City) and told the store that there was a bomb in aisle 3. He was going to allow the shoppers to leave, but the workers had to stay inside. He told them not to contact police. He stayed on the phone with them for two hours and told them to wire money from the store to him. One of the customers called the police, so his plan didn't work. He got no money and he will hopefully be found.
I have two questions to ask.... WHAT KIND OF A SICK MIND THINKS THESE THINGS UP!!? and WHY BUCHANAN!!!?

My hopes are gone!

I have hoped since the day that Joel was conceived that he would not be strong willed like one of his siblings. Everyday my hopes get smaller and smaller. Today they were SMASHED!! I can not deny it any longer, I have two very strong willed, stubborn children!! Here is just a glimpse of what happened today. He was eating lunch and doing a fine job I must say. He had slowed down eating and only had three more bites left. To encourage him to finish the three bites, I pulled out his cookie for dessert. I say encourage him, because this would encourage me to do whatever necessary to get the cookie. Need I say that stubborn, strong willed children do not think as I do? The cookie was out and a fight was started! He threw his three pieces of pizza, his cup, and his fork on the floor. He wanted that cookie NOW! I was determined to not give it to him until he ate those three pieces. I disciplined him for throwing the stuff on the floor. I put the stuff back on his tray and told him to finish eating, then he could have the cookie. After much screaming from Joel, more things on the floor, and more discipline, I walked to the other side of the kitchen for a moment (I needed a break). Daniel was sitting next to Joel and took this moment to help his brother. He looked at Joel and said the same thing that I had been saying for the past five minutes, "Joel, just eat those three bites and you can have your cookie." Not 5 seconds later I hear Daniel saying, "Look Mommy, he is eating all his pizza. None of it is thrown on the floor either." Sure enough, when I turned around Joel had a mouth full of food. That little stinker ate all 3 pieces for Daniel, but he wouldn't even eat ONE for me!

We never know

Lauren asked to take the camera outside tonight. Jeff and I had a great time viewing all 49 of the pictures when she brought back the camera. Here are some of our favorites.

Facebook

I got on Facebook today. I just added two friends to make my grand total....3!! I really don't have the time to do much with Facebook. Jeff would shoot me, if I got involved in Facebooking and blogging at the same time. Oh well, it does look like fun, but I do have a life other than the computer. For now I will stick to blogging.

Extremes

Joel has been living between two extremes the past few days. He is either being absolutely fun or absolutely naughty. There is just no middle ground with him. Here are some examples....
1. The other day Joel and Amy played hide and go seek. It was so cute to watch him walk around the house looking for Amy. I honestly thought (for a moment) that maybe having another baby would be fun. Those that know me, KNOW that he must have been REALLY cute for me to even think such a thought!!
2. He has started SCREAMING again! It doesn't take much to get his lungs going. Today I was on the phone with my dad and I had to shut myself in my bedroom just to hear him, because Joel was screaming so loudly.
3. Tonight he sat on the couch, cuddling a shirt of mine, while he watched me do an exercising video. I love seeing him cuddle things. At first I was kind of concerned, but it is becoming a habit of his now.
4. He tried doing some of the exercises with me. He looked adorable lifting his legs up and down, waving his arms around, and moving back and forth with me.
5. He has started throwing a fit again when it is time for bed.
6. He is getting into everything!! If you walk into our house while he is awake, he is probably standing on a chair getting into something!
7. Today he got up on the counter and ate a cinnamon role that was waiting there for me. This one falls into both extremes!
8. He is really starting to be able to play. I am loving this stage! His favorite game for now is sending a truck speeding down the hall way to someone and waiting for them to return it.
9. Playdough! The boy loves the stuff. He spent over an hour playing with it today.
Oh well, I guess living in extremes isn't really that bad! The good extremes help get me through the bad extremes!!

Herdklotz "Celtic" Women

Lauren and Emily love to sing. You can hear them singing at just about any moment. Tonight was no exception. We had Lauren's Celtic Women CD playing. The girls got a great idea to find themselves each a microphone to sing into. Lauren found a flashlight. Emily found a pen that served as an ear mic. The girls had a blast singing to the CD. Jeff even got into the act. NO, he wasn't singing, he was dancing....a little Irish type dance. They are all VERY familiar with this CD, because we also have the DVD of the entire show. (Thanks to my cousins Nancy and Rich. They gave it to Lauren for Christmas a couple of years ago.) I love it when the girls do stuff together. It just thrills this Mama's heart!! I had to take pictures to share with you all. The girls were more than glad to pose for the pictures. Jeff was not, he found something else to do in another room!

Family time

Today we went bowling. Our local bowling alley has a great deal for anyone willing to come on a Wednesday afternoon. Games and shoes are a dollar each!! We all played as much as we wanted to for only $16.00. It was such a great time away. Jeff had the highest score of 174. His second game was his worst game....I came within nine points of beating him! After watching Daniel bowl this time, I am beginning to think that he is going to be a sports jock! He really is very good at just about any sport he tries. He does not get this ability from me!!

She is so....

ADORABLE!!! I was busy one day and I didn't notice Amy coming up behind me. She said, "Mommy look!" I turned around and this is what I saw.

Then she said in her cute, excited voice, "Double love ya!!" I never want her to grow up!! I can't imagine my life without her.

A date

Today is a day that I will never forget. Jeff took me on a date to his uncle's funeral. I am very hesitant to write it like that, but that is really what it was. We left at 6:00 this morning, WITH NO KIDS. We drove through Chicago and arrived four hours later at Grandma and Grandpa's house. We arrived just in time to follow them to the funeral home. It was a wonderful funeral. Uncle Dick was loved by everyone. There were lots of stories told about how great he was! We laughed and I fell in love with this uncle I never really knew. The stories were all happy, but I did cry when his grandchildren started sobbing from all of the memories. Uncle Dick will be very missed by all his family and friends! After the funeral and burial we went to a church for some family fellowship time. I love Jeff's family, so this time was very special for me. We didn't want to leave everyone, but the time came that we needed to get back home to the kids. The ride home took us A LOT longer....3 HOURS LONGER!! We made a couple of stops, but the Chicago traffic was what made the huge difference. We arrived home around 10:00! I feel very refreshed after being with Jeff ALL day and being away from our five blessings ALL DAY!! Thank you to Kasey and Sasha for watching our children for us!! I owe you BIG!!

The newest object

Last week, Joel ran around all day hugging his blanket. Today the object of his affection was a pair of Daniel's pajamas! I promise!! At some point this morning he found the PJ's and he was found MANY times just running around with them all balled up in his arms. If you have been reading my blog since its beginning, you might remember that when Joel was younger, he had a real fascination with socks. He didn't care if they were clean or not, to him "socks were socks" and he wanted to hold a pair anytime he could. Should I be concerned? Or do you think that maybe he is just a snugly kind of kid?

I don't know if you can tell by the pictures, but this was quite a battle to get him to take a nice picture. He was so in control. He kept sticking out his tongue or looking away. I was amazed at how intentional he was to not get a good picture taken. I had to blog them for proof of the whole ordeal.

Mister Stubborn never would smile again for me while the camera was out!!

Hello!

Hi, guys! I am back from not blogging. My Life Action friends will understand my absence. This is Revival Week here. We had meetings Sunday night and all day Monday and Tuesday. It was a different format this year. We did not have speakers. We only had prayer facilitators. We sang, read scripture and prayed all three days. It was my first time in my entire life to really enjoy total quiet! I have never felt comfortable in silence, but it was SO nice!

I wanted to catch you up on Daniel's stitches. He got them out last Friday. They told us the charge for the whole thing was only $3.50 more than what the children raised for us!!! We never imagined that stitches would cost so much. We planned on giving back the left over money. I was sad that there was none to give back, but very excited for God's provision. He knew exactly how much we needed!!

I started school with the children today. I feel so inadequate to do what God has called me to do. I would LOVE to send the children to school, but I must obey Jeff and just keep doing the best that I can!

I have a friend Rachel, who is a foster parent. She and her husband have adopted three children, six and under, so far. Right now, beside those three children, she is fostering an 8 month old and a newborn! She is an amazing person. It didn't take me long to think up something that would help her out. This women needed some help with meals. This afternoon Tammy Wreford came over and she and I made a few meals to send to Rachel. It was such a blessing to me to be able to do this. I have such a heart to rescue children, but at this point in my life.....my children are my life! Making these meals made me feel like a small part of the foster care system. This experience made me see a glimpse of what my monthly supporters must feel. Jeff and I don't ask people for support, but if people somehow saw helping us as a privilege, it would be so nice to ask!!!

Tagged!!

I have been tagged for my very first time!! Amy, the author of Little Muffin Head was the tagger. Thanks Amy for thinking of me!! I am honored.

Four jobs I have had:
1. Putt-putt golf attendant
2. Happiness Club teacher
3. Nanny (for Steve and Debbie Canfield)
4. Mother of five wonderful children


Four places I have lived:
1. Gloversville, NY
2. Naples, FL
3. Bradenton, FL
4. Buchanan, MI


Favorite TV shows:
1. Amazing Race
2. Biggest Loser
3. Diagnosis Murder
4. Early Edition


Food:
1. Pizza
2. Chicken Quesadillas (sp?)
3. Olive Garden Salad
4. Medium Rare, juicy, tender steak


Places I would rather be:
1. Phoenix, AZ
2. On my honeymoon again
3. In a hammock, out in the sun, during a perfect 80 degree day
4. On a shopping spree


Favorite movies:
1. Ever After
2. Loves Enduring Promise
3. Father of the Bride
4. Finding Nemo


Tag Time:
1. Karen
2. Peggy
3. Emily
4. Holly

Linus?

Joel woke up this morning a different person! Today was a Linus day. He was SO cute. He clung to his blanket from the moment I got him out of bed this morning and he didn't let it go until after nap time. The first fifteen minutes of his day was my favorite part. He just laid in my arms and held the blanket. I guess he didn't get enough rest last night, because I found him laying around many times today.