Finally....The First Game of the Season!

After many cancelled practices and games, Little Dude finally had his first game. They played awesome and won. Final Score 22-10. He did great! All that practicing with his sisters paid off

On DeckUp to Bat

Swings and Hits

Rounding Third And He Scores! Our MVP!

Playing Pitcher

One game down....a zillion more to go!

Parents Day Out

Pookie Bear and I got away for a day and stopped by this museum. It was interesting, but the best part was walking around outside and having him pose for pictures. He He!

A Trip to the Dentist

Oh my goodness! I can't believe it's been so long since I last posted. Where has the time gone???? Things have been crazy around here. As many of you know, Pookie Bear lost his job, so I have been working as many hours as possible. God has been so good to us through this time. Our bills are paid, we have food on the table and attitudes are good. We have never felt His love like this before.

Today the kids went to the dentist. I was at work so Pookie sent some pictures to my phone. I couldn't resist putting them on here!

First up is Tootie. Here she is after a pulled tooth, a filling and a cap.


Thirty minutes later it's still numb!


Check out the smile...cracks me up!


Now it's Little Dude's turn for a filling and cap.


Again, 30 minutes later the lip is still numb!


Last, but not least is Twirl Girl.


And, the cool lip!


I wonder if they would have been so willing to pose if they knew I was putting the pictures here?!?!?!

Father's Love Letter

There are times in our lives that we just need a reminder about how much our Father really does love us. This is one of those times for our family.

Fun in the Snow

After breakfast (blueberry french toast - YUMM-O) the kids got bundled up and went outside to play. Here's a few pictures of the activity. Next up, sledding at Hogan's Hill!

Lucy is not amused!

Emily and the Shermanotor!

The kids and Sherman (Shhh...don't tell them they are laying where the dogs go potty!)

The Wig

We bought Tootie a Hannah Montana wig for $1.00 at Wal-mart a few weeks ago. Who would have thought it would be so popular. (All of these pictures were taken on my very popular with the kids cell phone - next post will show you just how popular!)

(this one is just plain weird!)

Have You Ever?

I'm playing along with Shaggabear and Rachel.

The things I've done are in bold.
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world (really want to!)
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo (it was not pretty!)
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea (from the beach)
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child (would like to!)
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train (does a greyhound bus count?)
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked (bad decision!)
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill (shhhh!)
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping (another bad decision!)
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise (does a dinner cruise count?)
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (working on it!)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke (again - not pretty!)
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted (it was a pencil sketch - same thing right?)
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen (getting info for us to do that!)
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason (I love my Pookie Bear!)
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone (thanks to TwirlGirl!)
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car (overrated!)
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life (tried to!)
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Want to play along? Copy and paste and leave me a comment so I know you did.

New Ornaments

Every year we purchase and/or make ornaments for our Christmas tree. We have so many handmade ornaments and each one holds a special memory. We plan on giving the children their ornaments once they have homes of their own. This year we found some cute ones that fit each child perfectly. Hopefully, we find time to make some this year too (been thinking about punched tin).

This is Twirlgirl's.

It is a flute. She has been playing the flute for 2 years and loves it!
This is Little Dude's.

It is a guitar. He started taking lessons a few months ago and loves his guitar.

This is Tootie's.

It is a bottle of nailpolish. The girl is hooked on lip gloss, nail polish and anything else girly!

Sorry about the picture quality. I took these real quick with my camera phone.

Happy Birthday Twirlgirl!!!

I can't believe my sweet little girl is 13!!! Time is flying by way too fast. First she started Jr. High and now this. God has used this little girl to teach her mommy and daddy so much! Below is a list of some of our most valuable lessons.

He taught us about the miracle of His Healing Power - Without that she wouldn't even be here!

He taught us about Prayer - We would have been completely helpless to protect this life inside my womb without it

He taught us about Faith - There is no way to face doctors concerns and statements on your own strength - Faith is the only thing that got us through

He taught us about Hope - There is a Hope and it is found believing in Him no matter what happens

He taught us about Trust - Without it the day after day of bedrest would have been unbearable, but we trusted

He taught us about Patience - Minute by Minute, Day by Day, Month by Month

He taught us about the Calm of His Presence - That is where we listened

He taught us about Selflessness - It's not about us

And most of all He taught us that God has a sense of humor and He will give you a child that acts exactly like you!

NEW LAYOUT

Many Thanks to Shaggabear and Mama Lily for sharing the website for their new blog layouts. We were so excited to change ours up a bit. There are endless possibilities. Because I have trouble making decisions (you should see me with a menu at a restaurant...aaugh!), my Pookie Bear told me to use the fall them. (He likes to boss me around like that!) I have to admit it looks pretty good. I Can't wait for Christmas layouts...I bet the options will be endless, which means many hours pondering designs - oh the pressure. But, not to worry my Pookie Bear will swoop in to save the day and just tell me to Pick That One!

Yard Work

We spent the day Sunday working in the yard! We mowed, weed wacked, cut down branches, pulled up the last of the garden and tore out a few rose bushes. I can't believe how much more we still have to do. Here are some pictures that were taken with my phone of all the hard work!

Here's where Tootie and Little Dude started to fight over the rake! (Stop fighting! There is plenty of rakes and hard work to go around for everyone!)
Hmmm - I wonder where my Pookie Bear is?

We ended our day with a nice hot fire. We cooked out hot dogs and roasted marshmallows with some of our newly cut branches!

And playing on the trampoline! (All four kids!)

Little Dude's Top 10

Little Dude is turning 10 on Monday. So, in honor of his birthday, I am going to list the top ten reasons he is the best little boy ever. (Please note that these are in no particular order! Although #10 is one of my favorites!)

1. He is a sweet boy with a good heart

2. He love to get hugs and to give them no matter where we are at

3. He is quirky (but not too quirky-just the right amount of quirkiness)

4. He is a cuddle bug and will get up extra early just for the chance to crawl in bed with mommy and or daddy and snuggle under the covers

5. He is very creative and likes to invent things that we periodically find attached to something in the house. On any given day you can find a new invention attached to a tree in our backyard. Everything he makes has a specific purpose behind it. He has an awesome imaginiation and draws well.

6. He puts up with ALOT from his sisters and takes it pretty well

7. He is funny - He gets jokes and likes to make people laugh. He will entertain people with the I'm melting scene from the wizard of oz or some other line he's picked up along the way. Watch out for his break dancin moves too!

8. He loves God and tries hard to implement what he learns into his life. He strives to always make good choices and think of others first!

9. He looks (and acts!) like his daddy!

10. He loves his mommy!

Renewal Cake

Eddie's mom and dad (my aunt and uncle) are having their vow renewal today. I volunteered to make one of the cakes for it (I am notorious for volunteering to do extra things then stressing about it, but that's a whole other post!). Here's how the cake turned out. Not perfect (I wanted to use fondit but they wouldn't let me!) , but still pretty!

Gold Rush Days

Pookie Bear's family reunion was Labor Day weekend in Bellville, Ohio. It took place at the annual Gold Rush Days Festival on a River. We weren't sure what to expect, but everyone had a great time. Here's a few pictures of our fun day there!

Pookie's OLD-er Sister Starting to Dig (note PB older brother in the background - Pookie wants everyone to notice how gray and old he looks compared to PB and they are 18 months apart!)

PB OLD-er brother showing the kids how to pan for gold


Kids trying out their new panning skills

Even PB tried his hand at it

(but it didn't last long because ones feet tend to go to sleep when you are in this position for an extended amount of time - Just Sayin!)

Somewhere in this picture is Tootie's fleck of gold

(according to Uncle Don she only needs 999 more flecks to make an ounce - Seriously - who has the time for all that work!)

Soon the kids were bored and in the water (the seriously gross water!) Except Twirlgirl - she is way too mature to go in there! (plus she was not about to have wet underwear on for the rest of the day!)


Next is face painting (which lasted a total of 5 minutes because they jumped back into the water!)

It was a great day but it left one major question that still needs answered!

Is that the same forehead?

(Pookie wants everyone to note once more that he is 18 months younger than his brother and he thinks he looks fabulous for 40-almost 41)