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Soccer Run

2009-04-16T17:51:00.003-04:00

February 24- The first week was so cold that we had their winter stuff was on under their jersey.

March 10- Ryan still wasn't into soccer. He eventually started playing.

March 31- The last week.

Finally

2009-04-13T20:17:00.002-04:00

Here are the videos of the kids skating from back in Feb. I was trying to upload them to smilebox (because I didn't want them on YouTube & I didn't want to use blogger because I'm conserving storage space) and had to reformat them. Anyway, sorry for the poor quality.

Make a Smilebox postcard

PIcnic on the kitchen floor

2009-04-07T09:25:00.001-04:00

Playhouse Disney Live

2009-04-07T08:54:00.003-04:00

On Saturday, we went to Disney's Playhouse Disney Live On Tour event in Spartanburg. We got the tickets for Ryan's birthday. That morning, after completeing the birdhouse kids project at Home Depot, we told the kids we were going to a surprise. They had no idea of where we were going. Once we got inside the building, and they saw all the trinkets and junk that they sell there, they got excited to see some Disney toys. However, once we actually got inside the auditorium and Mickey Mouse came out, they both started yelling and jumping up and down. We had pretty good seats for the kids. Since both of them are terrified of people/characters whose faces are covered, I didn't know how they'd handle sitting up close. We got balcony seats, so we were far enough away so they wouldn't be scared, yet close enough that we could see.

I had so many pictures that I had to do 2 books. The first book is just of the kids faces and the second is just of the event.

Make a Smilebox photobook

March 17, 2009

2009-04-06T19:56:00.001-04:00

I watched the Burke kids a couple weeks ago. Here are pictures.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Christmas 08 Pictures

2009-04-05T18:48:00.002-04:00

Finally, here they are. I'm sure you've been missing them. Anyway, here are the pics that we got taken for Christmas. The mark on Lauren's left jaw is where she burned herself with my curling iron while I was upstairs getting her hair clip about 30 min before our app't. Great fun! I put a little powder on it, but it's still kinda bright.

Ryan's 3 Year & Lauren's 4.5 Year Pictures

2009-04-03T22:48:00.002-04:00

Ryan's birthday pictures

Lauren's pictures, just because

Easter Pictures

2009-04-03T22:43:00.001-04:00

Here are the kids Easter pictures.

It's never too early to start construction

2009-03-14T17:01:00.001-04:00

The first Saturday of every month, Home Depot has projects for kids to do. This month, in honor of racing, they built a little racetrack. Anyway, here are pictures.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Love all around

2009-03-14T16:39:00.000-04:00

Pre haircut love

Post haircute love

Christina, this is for you

2009-03-14T16:37:00.001-04:00

Before I get to the pictures, may I tell you how mortifying this is?! I hate pictures of myself, espeically trying to take them myself. They never seem to turn out right.
January-pre-cut--Pardon the second chin.

January post-cut- note the wedge in the back. It was a lesser "pob"

March- a pure bob with the smallest possible wedge in the back. And here I thought I left bangs and bobs in jr. high. Boy, was I wrong.

Kids' haircuts

2009-03-14T16:31:00.000-04:00

This week, we all got haircuts. I don't have Scott's before and afters, but here are the kids.
Before After

March 11

2009-03-14T16:24:00.002-04:00

So I ran out of space on my Kodak dropshots account, so I've swithed to smilebox

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

John Deere fun

2009-03-13T17:32:00.000-04:00

Poor little guy

2009-03-13T17:29:00.000-04:00

This is from Jan 08. Ryan is waiting for his x-ray after a cabinet (still in the box) fell on his hip.

Happy 1st Birthday, Kylie!

2009-03-13T17:20:00.000-04:00

Waiting for Lauren to get ready

2009-03-13T17:18:00.000-04:00

Apparently, Lauren was taking too long to get ready for church, so Ryan plopped down with a book.

More ice skating

2009-03-13T16:58:00.002-04:00

January 19

January 26

February 21-videos will follow at a later post

A little pre-ice skating yogurt break

2009-03-13T16:55:00.000-04:00

There was a special on tv that combined gymnastics and ice skating. Needless to say, Lauren was fascinated.

January 23

2009-03-13T16:50:00.004-04:00

Taking a walk

Talking to Grandma

Eating goldfish

Lauren's last gymnastics

2009-03-13T16:02:00.002-04:00

In January, Lauren had the last of her gymnastics. Her coach was sick, so she had a sub.

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Basketball

2009-03-13T15:45:00.002-04:00

Lauren also played basketball this winter. She loved it, although she really enjoyed talking with the boys. :)
January 11

Feburary 17

Having a bad attitude

2009-03-13T15:36:00.000-04:00

I know that it's not right to photograph my child's sin, but I couldn't pass. Lauren was upset that Ryan shut the screen door before she got inside. So, in protest, she sat on the step by the door for 20 minutes. It wouldn't have been as bad, except that it was cold outside. Finally, she decided that she could open the door herself.

Push-ups with Daddy

2009-03-13T15:31:00.000-04:00

A little too engrossed in the movie

2009-03-13T15:25:00.000-04:00

I wish I knew what captivated her attention like this, but I can't remember what movie it was.

Ice skating

2009-03-11T17:24:00.003-04:00

Well, Lauren started ice skating in January. I have lots of pictures of skating adventures, so I'll try to put most of them in this post.

January 3

January 5- there are 3 videos at the end of the pictures

Ok. maybe I won't do all of the skating things on one post. This is taking forrreeevvver to post. The videos are taking a lot longer than I thought.

New Year's with cousins

2009-03-11T17:22:00.001-04:00

For New Years, Scott's cousin and family came down for the day.
Kylie

Lauren, Kylie, Ryan: The second cousins? or is it cousins once removed? How does that whole relationship thing work?

Celebrating the new year with friends

2009-02-01T14:22:00.001-05:00

Bowling fun

2009-02-01T14:20:00.001-05:00

Fressel Christmas

2009-01-31T21:58:00.000-05:00

Elwart Christmas

2009-01-31T19:55:00.001-05:00

Something else to think about

2009-01-31T19:02:00.001-05:00

I know that this ad is put on by catholicvote.org, but it's message is still profound. I find it also interesting that they use him considering his pro-choice views.

Christmas Morning

2009-01-31T18:57:00.001-05:00

The Henry Ford

2009-01-29T14:56:00.002-05:00

My entire childhood, we took field trips to the Henry Ford Museum. Apparently, that title was too long, so now they've renamed it The Henry Ford. As in, the Henry Ford what? Anyway, since my parents have a pass, this summer we frequented Greenfield Village (for those not from MI, GV & HFM are both the same thing, just one is outside & one is inside). I thought that since they enjoyed the Villiage so much, that they would like the Museum. We took the morning and went there. Once again, the place was empty. If you're following my blog, this makes 2 popular places that were ghost towns when we visited (the other being Chuck E Cheese).

Anyway, the morning went well. We took Luke with us. The kids had fun. However, for some odd reason, Ryan was into karate. Keep in mind, he has never seen karate before. Ever. The kid was doing karate chops and taking lunges every where. I've no idea where he got this from. Apparently, this is his latest phase.

Oh, I forgot. If you've never been to The Henry Ford, it's a museum of the history of stuff. Pretty impressive, huh. :) I have no idea how to descirbe it. It has various trains, planes, and obviously cars, hence the name Ford. There's also a section dedicated to household improvements over the centuries. We were looking at the kitches through the ages and Lauren kept asking where their microwave was. Yep. it's pathetic. However, it's pretty hands-on. The kids got to put real parts on a real Model T. These poor folks that work there. Throughout the day, they assemble a real Model T in the museum, letting kids put it all together. However, that means that every night, it has to be taken apart. What a life.

Anyway, here are pictures from the adventures.

Hockeytown

2009-01-28T14:31:00.003-05:00

Since hockey isn't big in the south, or at least in South Carolina, we enjoy any chance to see a hockey game. Scott's sisters gave us tickets to a game while we were up there. Here are pictures. I know that some of them are really pointless, but I took them to show the kids what hockey is all about.

A little Christmas cheer

2009-01-28T13:39:00.002-05:00

After the wedding, we (mainly the kids) took naps, had dinner, took baths, and got ready for bed. That was the day. However, as a special treat, my mom let the kids decorate her tree after their baths and before story time.

Kelley's Wedding

2009-01-28T13:05:00.002-05:00

The day started by getting our hair done at 6:30. What craziness. Anyway, sorry for the lack of pictures during the actual wedding. I figured I'd look kinda weird taking pictures from the stage. However, I left the camera in the nursery and forgot to give it to Scott. So, pictures take you from the getting ready stage to the reception.

Snow day!!!!

2009-01-28T12:27:00.002-05:00

The Friday before Christmas was my brother & sil's 20th anniversary. (Yah, they've been married to each other. I don't know why I felt the need to specify that it was both my brother and sister-in-law.) Anyway, my parents had their kids Thursday night. Turns out, Friday was a snow day. Christmas break started a day early. Anyway, the kids (and I include Scott in the "kids" reference) played outside in the morning. Then, we were going to drop them off at Tracy's house for lunch. We ended up going to Chuck E. Cheese. Here's a surprising tidbit of info that I learned that day. Snow days are perfect days for going to CEC. Our kids were the only ones there. There were 2 other ladies there eating, but that was it. As we were leaving, another family came in, but as a whole, we had the place to ourselves. Not a bad idea. Anyway, from there, we dashed down to the church for rehearsal. It was a busy day.

Party time

2009-01-28T10:04:00.001-05:00

The Thursday before Christmas, we had Kelley's personal shower.

Christmas- Day1

2009-01-28T08:53:00.001-05:00

Before we went up to Michigan, we let the kids open their "big" presents from us.

Lauren's wonderful White Elephant present

2009-01-05T15:04:00.002-05:00

For our Sunday School class's annual white elephant party, we let each of the kids pick the presents for us. I didn't think they would find humor in the presents. I just thought they'd enjoy the whole picking a present and opening it thing. Turns out, the kids did a great job picking out their gifts. Lauren's was a "purse." If Lauren's anything, it's girly. She loves her some purses. Plus, it was a "packed" purse. One of our classmates went on a mission trip to Germany this summer. His ticket was for regular class, but they were full, so they bumped the Davises up to First Class. Lauren got their first class toiletry bag. It came with chapstick, lotion, socks, kleenex, earplugs (which were promptly taken away), and the eye-cover-thingys for when you sleep. Lauren about flipped out when she opened her present. She didn't let go of her "purse" all night. Then, when we got in the van, she had to put her "eye covers" on. She absolutely loved it. Then, on top of that, Ryan opened up a plastic candy cane filled with 10 tiny tubs of play-doh. However, on the way home, Ryan informed us that the play-doh needed to go in the closet. I was a little nervous about what he was going to do with it, but sure enough, as soon as we got home, he marched over to our closet that has our play-doh and such in there, and put his candy cane in there. I love it when kids are responsible. :)

Here is Lauren clutching her new purse (which she never let go of the entire evening) and her new eye covers.

December 11

2009-01-05T14:57:00.002-05:00

Before Christmas, Sydney & Stefanie came over to play so Susan (their mom, not me speaking in 3rd person) could get some last minute shopping in without distraction. Anyway, here is just some of the mess...I mean, fun. :)

All these girls in one room, and Ryan decides to be the only to play in the kitchen. Hmmmm.....

Stef loved sorting the shapes for the Aquadoodle board

Lauren saw me take a picture of Stef, so she had to also

Which then led to Syd taking pictures of the chaos in the room

Everyone playing happily :)

2008 Christmas Parade

2009-01-05T14:47:00.002-05:00

Here are pictures from this year's Christmas parade downtown.

Fire safety gymnastics

2009-01-05T14:29:00.003-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, Lauren did fire safety in gymnastics. They taught the kids basic rules using gymnastics terms. I thought it was a great idea.

Stretching

Once again, caught in the act of biting her toenails.

If your clothes catch on fire, do a "log roll" with your hand over your eyes.

If your room is filled with smoke, do a "knee crawl on beam" to get out of your room.

Climbing a ladder to get out your window

Once you get outside, walk to your family's "safety spot"

Watching herself in the mirror while practicing "strong finish"s on the trampoline

A random "toe-on" hang

Of course, I couldn't leave out Ryan. :)

December 4

2009-01-05T14:19:00.004-05:00

Random pictures from playing outside

Pouting because I told him no

Lessons I've learned

2008-12-31T13:43:00.003-05:00

As I prepare to toss away my calendar from 2008, I feel somewhat hesitant. As I throw the calendar in the trash, I feel like I throw out my memories with it. As a form of mental cleansing, I am writing down the things I've learned this year. These are in no particular order, just as they pop into my head. (or if you'd prefer, you can look through old posts from throughout the year. This might be a little easier, though. :) )

I've learned that God always does things for my good. I may not understand it now, but somehow whatever He takes me through is designed to draw me closer to Him and make me more like Him.

God's grace is suffient for each trial. He gives His grace to each person as he or she needs it. Not more than we need. Not less than we need. Just perfectly sufficient for our needs. He does not give me the grace that you need. He gives me exactly what I need.

Every small task done for Christ's glory is greater than any large task done for people's approval. (A note of clarification: I genuinely don't mean for this to sound like I'm blowing my own horn, but I'm sure it will come acros that way. If it does, my apologies.) I was recently asked how active Scott & I are in our local church. Honestly, several things came to mind, but then, I couldn't think of anything else. This really bothered me, especially since the discussion was with other people who are Sunday school/youth group leaders. I actually almost felt embarrassed. I knew I did more in my church, but I couldn't think of what it was. I actually felt like less of a Christian for a moment. Then it hit me. It may come as a shock to some people, but I'm more of a behind-the-scenes kinda person. Sure. I enjoy trying to make other people laugh just as much as the next person, but I really feel most comfortable when people don't notice me. Maybe it stems from poor self-esteem or something. :) Anyway, as I pondered the things that we do behind-the-scenes that sometimes nobody else sees, it dawned on me that God looks on my acts of service behind closed doors just as He does to the up-front leaders of the church. As long as it is all done for His glory, my standing before Him is righteousness, just as it is for others. There is no need for shame at not being able to have a laundry list of things that people notice. As long as God is glorified in me, that's all that matters.

I have found renewed gratitude for Christ's sacrifice on my behalf. It's amazing. When I ponder all that His crucifixion meant for Himself and me, how can I go on acting the way I do. It is a powerful, life-changing reality. It's amazing how easy it is to live indifferent to Christ's unfathomable love. Growing up in a sound, gospel-preaching church and hearing how Christ loved me and died for me and then rose for me was a wonderful experience. I wouldn't change it for the world. However, I think I grew calloused to those facts. Yes, I was grateful for His sacrifice, and yes, I knew that out of love for Him, I didn't act like the world. But until I understood the profound gravity of my seemingly "innocent" sins and then the weight of His profound love for me, it's easy to glide on through life, living carelessly.

To save me from re-writing a lot of this stuff, I'm going to link some of my older posts. (Hey, I have a house to clean before a party tonight.)

Lessons I've learned about God's love.

I've learned it's never too often to tell someone you love them.

I've learned a renewed imperative reason to never go to bed angry. Never leave your "combatant's" side until everything is resolved. You never know when you will be forced to say goodbye to your loved one. True, you can't live life in a "what if" state of mind, and I know there will always be regrets, but there's nothing wrong with trying to minimize them.

Lessons I've learned about the unity of the Body of Christ

Lessons I've learned about holding people too close

On a much lighter note, I've learned to not put anything non-oven-safe, especially plastic, in the oven, even for storage.

I've learned that time is going so much faster than what I remember it when I was a kid. The kids are growing up so quickly. It's hard to believe that I'm almost the parent of a school-age child.

I've learned that I forgot how much I love living in a state that you don't have to pay a deposit for pop bottles. :)

I've learned to try to enjoy each day as it happens.

I've learned that it's ok for the kids to get filthy when they're playing. Life is washable.

I've learned that I'm far from being what I ought to be.

I've learned that die-hard couponers aren't nerds. :) I'm talking about you, Jackie. :) When you see someone with a minimum of one, if not more, 3 inch binder full of coupons, step back and give them what they want. Besides, maybe if you're kind to them, and you stalk them around the store until they check out, they may give you the item for the price they paid (usually less than 25 cents). And, just because you see 2 men couponing at the same time, it doesn't automatically mean they are of a different sexual orientation.

I've learned that people who dig graves by hand have insane stories. Usually, they'll make you throw up, but they can be pretty funny, too.

I've learned that an eliptical isn't always necessarily easier on your back than a treadmill. (Still paying that price.)

I've learned that arrainging furniture with a weak back isn't always the smartest idea. :)

I've learned that wearing a sleeveless dress in single-digit temperatures is REALLY cold.

I've learned that if you whine about not having snow for Christmas long enough, the Lord has the sense of humor to dump a good foot of snow on you within a couple days. (Sorry to everyone that had to suffer through the snow storm on our behalf. For the record, though, it was worth it. :) )

Well, I think I could go on, but there's a house to clean, laundry to put away (guess how many loads of laundry it takes to recover from a 9-day "vacation"), and food to prepare. Don't worry. I'll resume with pictures once the new year starts. I have a minimum of 12 folders to post. It's going to be a busy new year. In case I don't talk to you before then (which, quite frankly, if you're not the Burkes, Scott, or possibly my mom, then I won't), have a great New Year's. I hope you have a good year full of lessons that God will teach you about Himself.

She's growing up

2008-12-15T18:30:00.001-05:00

Lauren's 4-6 year old class on Wednesdays gave their "performance" on Wednesday night. Lauren (in case you don't recognize her) is in the front row, center. The girl on the far bottom right is her friend Emma. She was fascinated by all of the Christmas decorations in the sanctuary. :) Not bad, though, for her first performance ever. My apologies for not getting a close up, but we were sitting in the back because we got into the sanctuary late. Plus, she was so short, that if I were to get a close up, I'd also get a close up of someon else's head.

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Disney on Ice

2008-12-15T08:34:00.004-05:00

We concluded our day-after-Thanksgiving festivities by going to Disney on Ice in the JD box seats. The kids were so excited. Lauren about jumped out of her skin when she saw Ariel. The was only one disappointment per child. Lauren: disappointed that Ariel didn't personally tell her "hi". The generic waving to everyone in the crowd wasn't enough for her. After all, she was screaming "Hi Ariel" as loud as she could and about waved until her arm fell off, and Ariel couldn't say "Hi Lauren." :) Poor child. Ryan: disappointed that Cinderella wasn't there. Yep. I'm not even going to say any more about that.

Anyway, it was a really good show. They started with The Lion King, then went to The Little Mermaid, followed by Lilo & Stitch. Each one was a little bit longer than the previous one. However, the entire second half was Peter Pan. Interestingly enough, out of all of those, Lauren's only seen Peter Pan. Yet, she loved the whole thing. She knew about The Lion King & Ariel from books and her friend Emma (who likes to be called Ariel). She had never heard of Lilo & Stitch, but she enjoyed watching it nonetheless. That perplexed me all night. Lilo & Stitch?? Why not Belle, or Cinderella, or some other cartoon. Whatever. Anyway, here are pictures.

Disney on Ice

This video doesn't even capture a small fraction of how excited the kids were that night.

Fun playing outside and playing with the camera

2008-12-15T08:26:00.003-05:00

After the tree was decorated, the kids went outside for "leaf patrol". They piled leaves in the Gator and then drove them around the fence to take them to the "dump", and throw them off the hill.

Playing outside

Decorating our Christmas tree

2008-12-15T08:01:00.001-05:00

The day after Thanksgiving, we set up our Charlie Brown Christmas tree. The kids had a great time hanging the ornaments.

Decorating Christmas tree

Just a warning....

2008-12-11T16:03:00.002-05:00

It may be a while before I post pictures from the Friday after Thanksgiving. I'm kinda dreading the sorting process. According to Picasa, there are 135 pictures in the one folder. Yah. I'm procrastinating.....................................

Big Wheeling through the leaves

2008-12-11T16:02:00.001-05:00

Trying to capture a true "candid"

Oops. She spotted Scott

Now, for the poses...

I thought she went through the "ham" phase a while ago, but I guess not.

The trials of fall

2008-12-11T15:59:00.000-05:00

So, the kids got a new hat and mittens this year. Now, they always have to wear them when they go outside...even when it's in the 50s. Anyway, Ryan was going outside and dropped his juice. However, due to the slippery mittens, he couldn't pick up his cup. Then, the screen door was shutting on him. Now, it wasn't squeezing him, it just wasn't open 100% like how he wants it. So, he was trying to keep the door open with one hand and pick up his cup with the other. Simply, it wasn't happening. In typical high-drama fashion, he started crying and getting angry because it wasn't working. Finally, when he could ask nicely, I gave him his cup.

Mid-scream

All's well that ends well

Neither Pumpkin nor Pecan

2008-12-11T15:54:00.000-05:00

Unlike Pumpkin and Pecan, our turkey did not receive the presidential pardon. Instead, he found his home in a vat of hot oil. Scott did the honors.

He weeps with those who weep

2008-12-11T15:25:00.003-05:00

Before I post pictures for the day, I thought I'd share a little something that our Sunday school teacher shared with us. As Christmas draws upon us, most homes are filled with joy, happiness, and cheer. However, this year has reminded me, once again yet more deeply, that not all homes are all happiness and smiles. I have a renewed sense of sorrow for those who have lost loved ones and Christmas is yet another reminder of their earthly absence. I am brought back to the verse "Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep." Romans 12:15. Sometimes it's hard to be 100% there. For instance, a couple weekends ago, 3-month-old Andrew Turner went to heaven. That same day, another friend gave birth a healthy little baby girl. (Another verse that came to mind was Job 1:21 "The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." However, that's a whole other story.) The next day was a wedding at church, the UM/OSU football game, and our class bonfire. The funeral arrangements were finalized on Sunday. Then the funeral was on Monday. I found it hard to be completely enthusiastic about the activities on Saturday. The heaviness of the Turner's burden weighed on my heart. Within the weekend, we had exprienced the height of life with a new birth and a wedding, to the lows of life with the death of an infant. Yet, God, in His perfection, was able to perfectly and completely sorrow with the Turners and their family, yet at the same time, He was able to perfectly and completely rejoice with the Rogers and the birth of their baby. He is perfectly able to rejoice with us this Christmas season, yet, at the same time, shares the heavy heart of those who sorrow this time of year. What an incredible and all-powerful God we serve.

Ryan's owie

2008-12-09T14:09:00.000-05:00

The other day, Ryan wanted to jump out of the van by himself, without help. He ended up jumping too hard and scraping his finger on the driveway. He was proud of his bandaid and didn't want us to take it off for a couple days.

Random around the house

2008-12-09T14:03:00.001-05:00

Here are some random shots before we got ready for the football game.

Fall bonfire

2008-12-09T13:55:00.002-05:00

After the football game, our Sunday school class had a bonfire activity.

UM/OSU football game

2008-12-09T13:52:00.001-05:00

Here are random pictures of the festivities of the football game.

The yearly picture

2008-12-09T13:18:00.006-05:00

Due to the miserable season that MI had in football this year, I leave the trash-talking to other people. Anyway, here is our traditional post-game family picture.

2007

2006

2005(The game wasn't on tv)

2004

Lauren's gymnastics

2008-12-03T16:14:00.002-05:00

Lauren's gymnastics class ends in January, so I decided to bring the camera along last week.

Here are a couple videos
Skin the cat

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing
Log roll

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing
The obstacle course (Pardon my voice. People wouldn't stop talking to me/calling me while I was recording. The audacity of some people. :) )

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing
Hand travel

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Wii Music

2008-12-03T15:09:00.004-05:00

Here are a couple videos of the kids playing Wii Music. They both love the game, especially Ryan who was bouncing away to the tunes.

Randomness

2008-12-03T15:01:00.000-05:00

fun with friends

2008-12-03T15:00:00.000-05:00

A couple weeks ago, our playgroup went to the mall so the kids could play in the play area.

We're thankful that Ryan has already established a no-riding-in-rockets-alone-with-girls standard. He was getting out as Stefanie was getting in.

The group: Aiden, Lauren, Ryan, Stefanie. (not pictured: Maddy, Spencer)

More fun in the leaves

2008-12-03T14:56:00.001-05:00

Fall fun

2008-12-02T14:12:00.000-05:00

Signs of fall

2008-12-02T14:08:00.000-05:00

One of the things I love about our neighborhood is that, even though we're just off of a busy road, the surrounding trees make us feel like we're distant. However, every year at fall, we are reminded that we aren't alone.

The house behind us

The house paparazzi style

The "Thomas" tracks by our house

The new apartment complex up on the hill

Panthers/Lions football game

2008-12-02T13:58:00.001-05:00

A couple weeks ago, Scott was given tickets to the Carolina Panthers v. Detroit Lions football game. Here are pictures.

What a day!

2008-12-02T13:34:00.002-05:00

First of all, my apologies for not having the blog updated in the past week. We've been having major technical difficulties, causing us to erase our hard drive and start all over again. Anyway, here's an explanation of the next 3 posts. Saturday, November 1, was by far one of the craziest days of my life. Scott & I took the kids trick-or-treating Friday night. Then, I got up at 3:30 Sat AM to fly up to MI for the day. I got up there in time for my friend Kelley's bridal shower. After the shower finished, and clean-up was done, I went to my nephew Drew's basketball game out in Novi with my brother Tracy and his family. On the way home, we stopped by a cider mill for doughnuts and cider. From there, we went by his house and then to dinner with the rest of the family. I went back to my mom's house and visited for about an hour and then went to bed, only to get up at 4:30 Sun AM to fly back to SC and meet Scott & the kids after church. What a day. My apologies to family up there that I didn't get to see. It was a whirlwind trip. We'll be back in 15 days. See you then.

Apple orchard

2008-12-02T13:21:00.000-05:00

After Drew's basketball game, we stopped by a mill for apple cider and doughnuts.

Drew's basketball game

2008-12-02T13:19:00.000-05:00

Please excuse the poor picture quality......

Back on defense

Team huddle- that's him, #10

His expression right after I yelled "We love you, Drew!" :) I think he died from embarrassment, but isn't that was aunts are for.

Kelley's shower

2008-12-02T13:13:00.000-05:00

Me, Kelley the bride, and Michelle after the shower.

Pumpkin carving time

2008-11-26T07:36:00.000-05:00

We were invited to a pumpkin carving party again this year. Last year, we did the block M for Michigan. This year, Scott chose Annie from the Little Einsteins. If you don't have kids, you probably don't know who she is. However, all the kids there, loved it. Anyway here are pictures.
If you look carefully at 2 of the small pumpkins, those are the ones that the kids "carved". You can see smiley faces.

The face of the calm before the storm

2008-11-26T07:28:00.000-05:00

This was taken at the beginning of intermission.

Tour of Champtions

2008-11-26T07:27:00.000-05:00

Last month, the Gymnastics Tour of Champions came to town. Some friends who had the JD box seats gave us their extra tickets. Lauren absolutely loved the 1st half. She came down with something during the intermission, and she managed to throw up before we left after the 2nd half. She was up throwing up all night. It was a great night. But the first part of the night was incredible. Since no flash photography was allowed, the pictures are kinda dark, but I thought I'd share them anyway.
The setup before the show started.

I managed to take a picture just as the strobe light flashed right before us. At least it illuminated the picture somewhat. :)

Nastia Lukin

I think that's Jonathan Horton on the high bar. I don't remember who was on the floor.

More painting fun

2008-11-24T11:21:00.000-05:00

Their friend Asa

Washing off all of the paint

The final product

P.S. All the Michigan shirts are courtesy of our hosts, the Bakers. Elizabeth graduated from UM a couple years ago.

Pumpkin Painting fun

2008-11-24T11:19:00.000-05:00

A couple weeks before Halloween, some friends invited us over to have the kids paint pumpkins. By the end of the afternoon, everyone was a mess.
Ryan, my delicate painter

Lauren, the furious painter

The kids' friend Ayden

Something to make you go hmmmm.....

2008-11-23T21:06:00.003-05:00

I am preparing to do something tomorrow that I didn't think I'd have to go through for a long time, if ever. I am going to the funeral for a baby who was 3 months and 1 day old. As I look at my children, even my husband, I am reminded that they are not mine. I often refer to them as "my children" or "my husband", but I forget that they are God's and I am a mere steward of my children's lives and a beneficiary of my husband's life. It's a good reminder to love them with all of my heart, but to hold on to them with loose strings. They are God's chosen vessels to accomplish His will. I am not to get in the way or to hold them so close to myself that I don't allow God to work in and through them.

The other thing that was brought to my attention today about knocked me over. It probably actually would have, but I was already sitting. Our Sunday school teacher was talking about our classmates' child's death. (In this illustration, please understand that I am not saying that Andrew was not a sinner. Every human is born a sinner. Also, please understand that I firmly believe that Andrew is in God's presence right now. I understand that some of you don't believe the same way that I do, but I'm not going to discuss it right now. See my old post for that.) Anyway, Pastor McCormick was saying that we tend to look at an infant's death as a loss of an innocent life. We don't understand why God chose Andrew to die, but the other two of the triplets to live. We are puzzled, but know that in His infinite wisdom, that this is what is best. However, we look to the life of a person on death row and say that he deserves his death. If we had to chose either Andrew or the mass murderer to die, we all say that we would choose the incarcerated one. The one who "deserves" it. However, what we fail to remember, is that we already chose. When the only truly innocent and perfect Man was put next to an evil man, we chose Barrabas. It's amazing what we say we believe and how we actually behave. The fact that God knows how evil I am and how wicked my heart is, and yet He still chose me to be His daughter, giving up His Son to die for my wickedness, brings me to my knees. I am reminded "what is man that Thou art mindful of Him". Why He chose me, I'll never understand. However, I am forever grateful and therefore, I live for Him.

Yet another thing that smacked me in the face today was a report from missionaries in Iran. Another missionary to Albania was there visiting the ones in Iran, to show his support. As the Albanian missionary was observing the Iranian church service, he was amazed. They sang 2 songs, had 45 minutes of preaching, followed by 7 hours of prayer. David asked some of the Iranian men, who had converted from Isalm, why they prayed so much. They replied that as Muslims, they spent so much time in prayer 5 times a day, praying to a god that couldn't answer their prayers, that now that they were saved and believed in the One True God who hears and answers prayer, they should pray that much more. They couldn't be content just praying the equivalent of their Muslim prayers praying to God each day. Since God hears their prayers, they should pray so much more. They have seen so many answers to prayer. What a prayer life! To live in constant communion with God. How they must see God's hand at work in their lives. And they live in persecution. How much more should I, who lives in perfect peace and tranquility (between temper tantrums), commune with God. He wants to hear my prayers. My concerns, my joys, my life. What a God we serve. Out of the billions of people in the world, He cares about the concerns of each person, as if he or she was the only person in the world. What a wonderful God we serve. I am so glad He is alive for me, and not just in a tomb halfway around the world.

Anyway, those are just a couple things to think about this next week.
1) Don't hold loved ones so close that God must loosen the strings.
2) Live daily rejoicing that God chose to let His Son die in your stead.
3) Live in constant communion with God, knowing that He hears and cares for you and your every need.

The many faces of the kids

2008-11-22T08:33:00.002-05:00

Here are random pictures of the kids over the past week.
Heeeeere's Lauren... Most of her "faces" are actually poses.

Heeeeere's Ryan...

What a wonderful world......

2008-11-21T08:08:00.002-05:00

I saw these video clips on O'Reilly. I thought it was interesting. What a wonderful world when a man wins an election and no one knows anything about anyone of significance. So much for Hillary Clinton's quote from the early 90s of "the uneducated, uniformed, religious right." Rule #1 of voting. No matter what your political affiliation, know why you're voting the way you're voting. To see how uninformed some people are, check out HowObamaGotElected.com.

Please pray

2008-11-21T07:30:00.002-05:00

It seems like trials continuing to push us in our growth in the Lord continue to flood our church. I would just like to ask you to please pray for the Turner family. After much hardship, Wendy was blessed to give birth to triplets a couple months ago. However, they were born at 28 weeks. While 2 had their struggles, they are now home and thriving. However, last night, Andrews hard-fought, yet short, battle ended by his true Home-going. While, in one respect this is a praise, because Brent and Wendy were given incredibly bleak news about Andrew's brain function, this is still an incredibly hard time to go through. In addition to the emotional and physical strain that it is to lose a child, they still have 2 babies at home who need all the attention of a newborn, which drains even more from the parents. Anyway, I just wanted to make you aware of an opportunity for prayer. If you're interested, here is their blog. I know they would love to know that you are praying for them.

Lauren's Birthday Party

2008-11-20T15:23:00.003-05:00

Lauren had a gymnastics birthday party this year. It was going to be outside, but the one day all month that it rained was the day of her party. So, the party was brought inside. Anyway, here are the pictures.

family fun

2008-11-20T15:10:00.001-05:00

Here are pictures from Scott's dad's 60th birthday party. The kids were so excited to ride the horse. Well, Ryan was excited until he actually sat on it. Then, he started crying and screaming. Lauren, however, loved it.

Ryan's room

2008-11-20T14:50:00.002-05:00

These pictures are out of order by date, but I thought I'd post them now. When I was in MI a couple weeks ago (story to come at a later post), I came home and Scott had started building these shelves built right into Ryan's wall. (His room is small, so the best way to store things is off the floor.) Anyway, while I was painting the shelves, I figured I might as well paint Ryan's room the way I wanted. (I purposefully didn't post pictures of the way I painted it back in July. If you remember according to one of my old posts, it's looked crazy. Like a giant game of Wall Twister.) Anyway, here is the final product.
From the door

To the right...pardon the clothes on the floor. It was Sat night and I had his church clothes laid out.

To the left

Like the shelves?

Halloween 08

2008-11-20T14:44:00.002-05:00

Unfortunately, these are the only pictures I have from Halloween. We went as some of Gilligan's Island. The only picture that I have is the Polaroid from JD, and of course, Ryan wasn't looking. I took other pictures of us, but I accidentally deleted them from the SD card when I went to transfer them.

Here we are and here is where I got the costume ideas

Is it just me...

2008-11-20T10:26:00.003-05:00

Or is this a little too far out into the middle of the street to park? Note: No, the van is not driving. Both vehicles parked here overnight.

MRI

2008-11-19T17:37:00.000-05:00

So, since I posted pictures of Scott's hand x-ray, I figure turnabout's fair play. Here is one of the pictures from my back MRI a while ago. Please pardon the excessive flab and lack of muscle.

more soccer

2008-11-19T15:39:00.003-05:00

Here are a couple other pictures of Lauren's soccer days.

Boys like to dote on her, I guess. Who knows.

Getting ready to score

A little behind the count in toe-touches stretching

An early birthday

2008-11-19T15:15:00.002-05:00

When we were up in MI in September, we decided to give Lauren a family birthday party. Not bad. Four years old and her first family birthday party. Anyway, here are pics from the occasion. Once again, as I've mentioned on here before, our camera doesn't do well with long-distance shots. Plus, Lauren was so excited and moving so quickly that 1/2 the pictures turned blurry.

2008-9-5

New heights of stupidity

2008-11-18T16:45:00.004-05:00

Of course, it's stupidity from where I'm sitting, but clearly there are those out there that think that this is logical. Pardon my soapbox, but it just struck me as odd. Now, I'm all about 1st Amendment rights and all, including the one about free speech, but sometimes, people need to think about their speech before they say it. So, the atheists and agnostics and the like have come together to put this ad out in D.C. just in time for Christmas. I find it interesting that they chose Christmas for this. Follow my logic, if you will. Christmas-> Santa Claus-> Saint Nicholas-> "Saint" giving reference to a religious person who did good things-> "Religion"- completely taboo for atheists, therefore causing them to despise the "source" of the holiday-> thereby causing them to despise the holiday itself and all references to anything non-"Happy Holidays" and actually seeking to change it. Why, then, if they hate this time of year so much, do they chose to promote their beliefs on the most despised part of the calendar? Is it because people are emotionally driven, with all the snow, and the lights, and so on and what not? They think that people will start pondering why they're doing what they're doing? Who knows. Even if people don't truly understand the real meaning of Christmas, what's wrong with letting them do things to please the god that they think exists? Why take that away from them? Please don't misunderstand me. I don't think that doing good works for a false religion is right, it's just the facts of man. All men know at some level that God exists. Some have chosen to suppress that knowledge. Some haven't heard the Good News. Some replace that knowledge with vain attempts to create their own god. The sin nature combined with a knowledge of a god lead them to do good things in order to satisfy their own consciences. This usually seems to peak around Christmas time, when people are most emotional and sentimental..........

Anyway, back to my point.......Leave it to the atheists to use a holiday they don't believe in, despise, and try to obliterate, to try to convert people to their way of thinking. It's like using Ramadan to convert people to Christianity. It just doesn't make sense. But, that's just me. I guess there are thousands, if not millions, of people out there that think it makes excellent sense. Whatever. It's a way to make money and convert followers. The joys of capitalism. Enjoy it while it lasts. :)

4-Year old definitions

2008-11-18T14:04:00.003-05:00

So, here are some words that Lauren has asked me to define lately. (Don't worry. I still have 12 more folders of pictures to upload.) I thought I'd pass these along to see how you would define them to a just-over-4-year-old.

Glory
Honor
Reverence
Respect
Lord
[a word which was given a strong admonition against using]- she wanted to know what other words we don't say.

Other random questions/statements.
Why did Mary have Jesus even though she wasn't married to Joseph? (because "we don't do that, do we, Mommy?")
How much is the gas here? (She asks that every time we drive by a gas station.) To answer that question, I saw Regular for $1.62! Crazy, huh. Especially considering it was just over $4 not that long ago.
On election day, while waiting in line-"Mommy, how old do I have to be to vote?" "18" "Oh. How about if I'm 19?" "That's fine. As long as you're over 18." [Ryan pipes up] "I'm going to be 6" [chuckles from people standing around us] [Lauren in a mothering tone] "Nooo Ryan. You have to be over 18, like 19, or 20, or 21....." [She continued to count until I finally stopped her, at which point, she informed me that when she turned 19, she was going to vote for John McCain. Yes, I watch Fox News a lot, but Scott & I hadn't really discussed politics because we both knew we were voting for the same person.] As the afternoon wore on, I turned on FNC to see how the polls were faring. Of course, they kept going between the McCain and Obama headquarters. Lauren was pointing out who each of the men were (which I found particularly strange, since like I mentioned, we didn't discuss politics). The next day, when everyone on every channel was talking about President-elect Obama, Lauren pipes in with "Oh maaan! I really wanted John McCain!" which she said like she was truly devastated. I couldn't help but laugh. This kid has no idea what she'd talking about. She does know, however, that she needs a new presidents place mat since "W. Bush isn't president any more." What a kid.

Well, I digress. Anyway, you get the point. Conversations are always interesting around here.

Lauren loves the horses

2008-11-18T13:58:00.000-05:00

After we visited Greenfield Village earlier in the summer, Lauren couldn't stop talking about the horses. We rode the Omnibus that had Tom & Henry as the horses. Well, every horse that we saw after that was Tom and "Henery". She couldn't wait to go back and see them again. I didn't have the heart to tell her that the horses in the barn weren't the same ones that were driving the car. Poor kid. Oh well. Anyway, here are the kids talking to "Tom & Henery".

Up close on the train ride

2008-11-18T13:53:00.000-05:00

They'll let anyone drive!

2008-11-18T13:52:00.000-05:00

Some Greenfield Fun

2008-11-18T13:50:00.000-05:00

When we went up to MI in September, we had a full, but fun trip. It started off with a trip to Greenfield Village.

Riding the train

Riding the merry-go-round

Ready to go play.

2008-11-18T13:41:00.000-05:00

You can't really see it, but Lauren has pink and black shin guards, and black cleats with pink stripes. She's all girl. :)

What to do when siblings play soccer

2008-11-18T13:40:00.000-05:00

You play soccer with their freind's siblings.

Soccer fun

2008-11-18T13:35:00.001-05:00

Lauren had a blast playing soccer this fall. It was made even more fun by getting to be on the same team as her best friend Sydney. They were pretty much inseperable.

Wii had so much fun

2008-11-17T15:04:00.002-05:00

Come on. With a name like Wii, it has to be used in a pun. Anyway, Devin, Lori, & baby Kylie (Scott's cousin and family) came down for Labor Day. We celebrated by playing Mario & Sonic's Olympic Games. The kids had a blast trying to make their Mii's swim and run. Fun was had by all.

I forgot that I had the camera sideways for the pictures, so I accidentally recorded the video sideways too. Silly me. :)

Emma's birthday party

2008-11-17T15:00:00.000-05:00

This is how backed up I am. These are pictures from Emma's birthday party on Aug 30. Yep. Pretty pathetic.

The girls, and Ryan, devouring their food.

The coolest Toy Story 2 cake ever.

Anxiously waiting for the cake.