Blessed

Have you ever felt incredibly blessed?

Although it's midnight and I am up and I have sooooooo many things left to do before Christmas:

I AM BLESSED

The house is silent. My heart is bursting with love for my Lord and Savior, my family and friends.

I pray that the peace of Christ's birth be with you!

Merry Christmas

Song Lyrics

Ian came home yesterday from school singing the 12 Days of Christmas. He was so cute trying to remember the order the lyrics came in. My question to you is: Did you know that
On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me -
A partridge in a pantry!

At least according to Ian!
He gets his lyrical talent from his father!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

Diaper Uses

Did you know that a diaper has more than one use?

While in the car the other day, I was enjoying my own music (David Cook's new CD - which I highly recommend) and my wonderful can of diet dr. pepper. Yes the only reason I could enjoy my own music was because I was on my way to work! Well, I was met with a pothole while in mid-drink and of course some splashed out onto my ivory down vest. No I couldn't be wearing my water resistant black vest, it had to be the newer, ivory one! Well in looking around I had no napkins, no tissues, no wipes; no not even anything that had already been used! With further inspection I did notice I had a diaper (yes, a clean one) that had been left in the car. I know you all know how absorbent Pampers can be with urine, but did you know they can clean up soda pop, without even leaving a stain!

Does anyone else have any other helpful uses for diapers out there? I would love to hear them!

Gingerbread House & Holiday Performance

Yesterday I was able to make a gingerbread house with Lukas in his class at school. We had a wonderful time and made a wonderful mess. It was great to have some one on one time with Lukas and to see him at school with his friends.




After we made our gingerbread houses, the 2nd grade classes put on a concert for us all in the gym. Here's a clip from the performance:

Tree Time

November 30 - Time to put up the Christmas Tree! Let the holiday begin....

Girls Weekend

My Cincy girls came over November 21-23 for a girl's weekend. We had a fabulous weekend reconnecting and just relaxing! Friday night we had dinner at Old Spaghetti Factory and then watched Mama Mia in our hotel room!

Saturday started out with pedicures at Philipes Salon and then onto lunch and shopping!




Later that night we headed down to Howl at the Moon! We got there when the doors opened to insure we had a table. We ended up being there for 6 hours - singing, laughing, and even dancing a little! Girls, I had a blast and can't wait to plan our next trip!!!

Wendy and Shannon

The 2 Renees

Santa Fe, New Mexico

We were fortunate enough to win a trip through Gary's company to Santa Fe in November. This is the trip I mentioned in an earlier post that just so happened to fall on Lukas' birthday. Although we had a great time, I did miss not celebrating with my boy on his actual birthday!



Annissa and Greg also went on the trip; so while Greg and Gary were golfing, Annissa and I were shopping!!! These two pics were from our evening dinner on an old western movie set.



This was my first time horseback riding. I do have to admit that I was absolutely terrified to get on that horse. The one thing I don't understand is why they started us off running the horses up hill! Could we not settle in with any easy ride first and once we were comfortable, take off on a ride! My horse's name was Sunny and by the end of the ride, Sunny and I had finally found our grove. It was an absolutely gorgeous day to ride, and the land was beautiful to see.

Happy Birthday Lukas

Lukas is now 8! I can't believe it. Gary and I were not able to be there on his actual birthday (I know, I'm still trying to get over the mommy guilt). Anyway, we decided to celebrate his birthday on November 4th instead. He was so excited when we gave him his gift. He finally got the guitar he has always wanted. As most of you may recall, Lukas wants to start his own band - so now he is on his way.

First Colts Game

On November 2nd, Lukas had the first part of his birthday gift. Gary and Gabe created a scavenger hunt with clues directing Lukas to his surprise, which turned out to be 2 tickets to the Colts v Patriots game. I truly think Lukas was in shock when he discovered the tickets under his pillow in bed. He knew what they were, but it didn't sink in that he was actually going to the game. This was the first NFL game he went too. As most of you know, Lukas has a bit of an alliance issue in regards to the Colts and Patriots, he likes them both! Of course, Gary was relieved when Lukas decided to wear his Sanders jersey instead of his Brady jersey. What made the night for Lukas, was that it was Sanders first game back after being injured; he also enjoyed being able to stay up late on a school night.

Halloween '08

Here are a few pics from Halloween that have finally been downloaded from my camera. I only got I picture of the older boys - Gabe went trick or treating with a friend and then stayed all night there. Luke and Ian stayed out longer trick or treating with dad and then dad took them to a friends house to visit. Life changes as the boys get older!

Eli with his "cool" vampire hair!



We had an Unknown Phantom (Gabe), a Knight (Ian), a Pirate (Luke), a Bee (Ella), and a Vampire (Eli).



This was absolutely hilarious - Eli decided to stop for a brief performance, singing "Sticky, Sticky, Bubblegum"



These are a couple of cute pics of Eli once we returned from trick or treating:

Cleaning?

I'm sure you can imagine my surprise when one day in October Eli decided to help me clean up the family room without even being asked too. I was so excited that finally my parenting efforts were paying off for this very rambunctious 2 year old. My family room looked great and I was so proud of Eli for helping, he did such a great job - just look at the photo below:

In case you can't tell from the picture: there are a pair of football cleats, binoculars, and a hat. Just another one of the joys of parenting. I decided I needed to capture this moment, because the story just isn't as funny without the visual aid.

Good Neighbor Weekend

Our church, Northview Christian Life, did a sermon series on the book "Living a Life on Loan". The book is about living our lives the way Christ would want us too and realizing that our lives are not our own but on loan from Christ. Along with the sermon series, October 18 and 19, our entire church went out into the community to serve others (Good Neighbor Weekend). Church was cancelled for the weekend while we volunteered to help in several different areas in and around Indianapolis. There were crews painting, cleaning, raking, planting, etc... Our "life group" was assigned to help plant trees. What I loved about the whole experience was that we did it as a family. All the kids helped in digging the hole, removing the burlap from the roots, replacing the dirt and new soil around the new tree, and sweeping up the mess. It was great to see my kids so willing to help others!


Eli of course loved the snacks the wonderful community provided for us.


Lukas is helping Gary find the root flair. In case you all don't know what that is, it's where the roots begin to branch out from the tree. This is how you know how deep to dig the hole.


Gabe helping dig the hole. There was a company that came thru and pre-dug the holes, but we had to dig about 3 inches deeper.


Ian is also helping dig - can you see the determination on his face. If you can't see from the picture, his tongue is sticking out just like Michael Jordan.


It took 4 guys to roll the tree close to the hole and then to stand it up. I promise you all, I did help, I was just the one behind the camera when pictures were being taken. The other members of our life group were off planting trees also, I just didn't get pics of them since I had to keep the kids from running around in the street.

This past weekend, was Celebration Weekend at church. We got a recap of the the weekend and was able to see and hear how others served. As you entered the church every seat had a cover on it that read "Every seat tells a story..." on the opposite side it stated - "How have you loved today? Each family was able to take a seat cover home to remind us of the importance of serving and showing others love. Already our family has been talking about how we can show others that we love them. It's a great reminder to look over at the kitchen chair and see the reminder every day. Thank you Northview for allowing us to be a part of something so amazing!!!

School Hayride

Eli's class at school went on a hayride to pick out a little pumpkin. Eli was excited to be in the wagon, but was not overly excited to pick out a pumpkin, or get his picture taken. But here are a few pics I did get...

Halloween Bunko

Here's our crazy group of gals all dressed up for Halloween:

Wanting to be like brother...

Of course Eli wants to be just like his big brother so while I was supposed to be watching Lukas play, I had to be the goal for Eli.


Every time I tried to turn away to watch Lukas' game, Eli yelled at me saying "I kick, I kick, I kick."


Once I was set up to be the goal, he would kick it between my legs and cheer for himself by clapping and chanting "goal."