Some things we are enjoying right now......

Nutella is Ann-Marie's favorite food (o.k., it's not a food, but a spread - but she would consider it a food!) She even wrote a description of it, which we have hanging in the kitchen to remind us of how happy we are when eating Nutella!
...and we love wearing our snow boots and short sleeve t-shirts in this 60 degree weather!

Monday Musings

It is a rare Monday morning that I have a couple minutes to organize my thoughts....this is one of those Mondays. So what has been on my mind, you may ask......."Unprayered answers."

Now I know, that's not a word......it's not even spelled correctly as my spell check has pointed out. But that word has been rattling around my brain for the past week, just eager to get out. Here's my question to myself....."How would my perspective change if I focused on 'Unprayered answers' instead of 'unanswered prayers?'" This is a challenge for me, especially in the midst of winter, which is not my favorite season. The long, dreary days tend to drag me down instead of recharge my battery. My focus tends to be towards the negative, the things that are not going right with my life. So I challenged myself to look back on my week and see what it looked like through the lens of "unprayered answers"....all the little things I didn't ask for yet God so graciously gave me:

• an encouraging word from a friend
  
• the dinners I didn't have to make because that is what my loving, serving husband does
• a compliment about my ability as a fitness instructor from one of the attendees
• snuggle time on the couch with my 9 year old during quiet reading time
• another family coming over to have pizza with us on Friday night as a last minute decision and the much needed conversation that happened
• a night out with several other couples at our mentor's house that refreshed and renewed me
• a productive weekend
• every time the sun peeked out, even for a minute, giving me hope that Spring will eventually come

Wow, that changed my perspective for the upcoming week already! So I challenge you today, as you start a new week, to look back and discover all the "unprayered answers" that you received last week that you may have missed........and look forward through a new lens with me.

Hair

Let's talk hair at the Jerome household....why not, on a dreary, snowy western PA day. Growing up, I did not appreciate my hair. We three Shippy girls had dark and curly hair....oh, how I wanted straight and blond, like my "Bouska" friends (I also wanted to be tall like them too, but that never happened). After three children, my hair straightened a bit and now.....well, I would LOVE my curls in all their glory back. Darrell just wishes he had his hair back, curly or not. So now, all three of our children have the thick, curly hair. Ann-Marie still appreciates her curls because it makes her different and she gets compliments on them. Evan, being nine, has now decided that growing his hair out shaggy, like the teenagers he knows. I was surprised when Darrell agreed to this (him being the retired military guy) but he commented, "Let him do it as long as he has HAIR!" (Almost sounds like a line from "VeggieTales.") So Darrell took Evan into our favorite barber about a month ago for a "style" his curly, thick hair could grow into. I have to say that I like it on him. For some reason, Alec wasn't able to go to the barber that day and I don't think we've gotten his hair cut since before Christmas......he has had lots of positive comments on how everyone loves his curls, but this morning I couldn't take it anymore. He had to get it cut! So (sorry Ron the barber) Darrell took things into his own hands (or clippers rather).....

before.....
during......
and after!

Don't worry, for all of you getting used his longer hair....it will grow back! But this is much more manageable now.

Evan is 9!

What a wonderful birthday Evan had....and now he's officially nine! He likes to open one present at each meal, so breakfast brought the opening of Aunt Carla and Aunt Sheila's gift....new sports cards with a binder and special pages to organize them. He's having a blast with those!
After lunch, we headed into Pittsburgh to meet one of our favorite families to hang out with (the Agnews) at the Carnegie History Museum. Evan wanted to see the new whale exhibit, but of course we dropped into many other exhibits as well. On the way home, we stopped at the new Giant Eagle market place in Robinson for a special treat....fresh made crepes (Nutella and whipped cream for the kids; prosciutto, asparagus, and Brie for the adults....YUM!) Then home for dinner, unwrapping of the family gift - new little league baseball mitt, balls and bat for when he starts baseball in the fall. We all sat down to part of a Star Wars movie before heading to bed....wonderful but exhausting day.

Since we are all about food, Evan chose all meals for the day....so the menu was -
Breakfast - Chocolate chip pancakes
Lunch - Tuna salad in pita pockets
Dinner - Spaghetti with shrimp and dessert was carrot cake cupcakes

Valentine's Day 2010

The annual Valentine's Day treasure hunt....reading the clues....
finding the loot....
eating heart pancakes and red applesauce!
Darrell fixed us a wonderful tuna dish....thanks to Toni for the tuna! I hope everyone had an enjoyable Valentine's Day!

Evan's birthday celebration

We celebrated Evan's 9th birthday on Friday with a trip to the new SportsWorks in Pittsburgh and a sleepover with his friend, Silas. Everyone had a really good time...we highly recommend visiting SportsWorks! Favorite activities were the "You-yo", comparing your sprint time to an Olympic athlete's time, pitching a ball the length of a Major League baseball player, rock-climbing (Ann-Marie only...she made it to the top again!), and Body Cam. Darrell and Evan went on the virtual Phantom Menace ride, which was very intense.








Evening activities included pizza, cake (I made the Steeler's football cake), ice cream, and Wii games. Evan's actual birthday is on Friday, February 19th.

Quote of the Day.....

"Who needs a gym membership when you have SNOW to SHOVEL!" ~Darrell Jerome