Sunday, November 18, 2012

Alec's Half-Baked Birthday

Twas the night before Alec's 7th birthday, and all through the house,
the smell of freshly baked pizza dough 
and the sound of mixing cake batter,
 the reality of incoming guests and upcoming festivities in the air.

The children were all watching a movie
and Darrell putting the finishing touches on a newly fixed garage door,
while I put the cake in the oven
and await our Maryland guests.

When from the oven
drafted such an odor,
one of our children claimed it smelled
like rotten eggs and not chocolate batter.

We all peer into the oven to find
Alec's half-baked cake
and an oven that had stopped working,
not a good sign.

And then there came,
 a knock on our door,
our Maryland friends,
our birthday super heroes!

Here comes Jessica, then Chris,
then Rebekah, and Caleb,
in topples Elijah with Haddie, 
and last but not least, Galilee!

All is not lost,
Jessica says with a smile,
the cake will be saved,
and the party will go on!

So on Saturday we did pull off,
quite a nice Lego Star Wars birthday party,
the cake finished at a neighbors house,
and the oven fixed by Darrell just in time!!!!!

 Jessica sketching Darth Vadar onto a white board......
 and leading a popular game of "Lego Man Says...."
 the finished Darth Vadar.......
 Pin the light sabar onto Darth Vadar.....

 an intense round of Lego Collaboration....
 and all party guests were involved....




 with the finished product.
 Darrell blessing the birthday boy....
 older helpers....
 the girls of the party and the youngest attendee...

 the cake!
Alec had an excellent time with everyone who attended his party.  Thank you to the friends who came and a very special thank you to the Shullenbarger family.....it would have been very hard to have pulled this one off without you!!!

Sunday, November 4, 2012

25 years later.....

 25 years ago on November 5, 1987
our family lost a very special woman,
mother, wife, daughter, sister, niece, friend....
 This blog post could be about what we lost,
but that is not how she would want us to live,
so imperfections, faults, regrets, 
are put aside today,
to honor and remember the legacy she left....
 she loved us fiercely, passionately,
she loved being a mom,
and being with family,
 she made others feel special,
and relished time with family and friends,
 time was precious,
and not to be wasted,


 she was fun,
she made things fun,
she was a part of a close-knit community,
 she cared about others,
serving others was important to her,
 she was persistent,
through good times and rough times,
her church and church family
were central to her life,
 so these precious memories,
 we will hold onto,
and tell our children,
and their children,
to not forget,
we remember you, mom, and we love you still

John 16:33
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” 

Sunday, October 21, 2012

A wild and wonderful family day

 Life has been so hectic it was time to slow down.  We heard the leaves were at their peak in West Virginia so off we went to explore Coopers Rock State Forest, near Morgantown, West Virginia.  It ended up being a perfect day!

 Cooper's Rock Giant was an interesting find....
 Our chef fed us well!
 The overlook is a must-see!




 Hiking Rattlesnake Trail was memorable...it was the most technically difficult trail we have attempted with the kids.  Lots of rock formations to climb (be still my mom heart!)
 Yes, that is straight up!



 Rock City Trail is interesting also.
We are so glad we took the time to explore this new to us location and be amazed at the Fall colors this year!

Saturday, October 13, 2012

What's been going on?

 It's becoming harder and harder to keep up with this blog...probably because of the amount of time we spend away from home these days.  Ahhh, we fondly remember the days when the kids were little and we couldn't wait to get OUT of the house.  Now, it seems, with sports, activities, and general life, we don't seem to be IN the house.  How times change with the season you are in.  All I can say is ENJOY whatever season you happen to be in right now.  Anyway, wrapping up September (I know, we are well into October) with a visit to the Children's Museum during Rad Days (Pittsburgh's free museum days).  The museum wasn't too crowded and we enjoyed ourselves.


 The Aviary, on the other hand, was overrun with people, so all we were able to see was the one bird that happened to be outside.  We didn't mind, since we've been to the Aviary before.
 And wrapping up with Darrell's birthday.
We're praying that you are enjoying this Autumn season!

Friday, September 14, 2012

Fall activities

 While it is not officially Fall, when school starts kicks in a new year with new schedules and activities.  It is tradition for us to kick off school with a trip to a local doughnut shop......
 Alec is now in first grade....
 Evan is a 6th grader.....
 and Ann-Marie is in 4th grade.
 We are not always great at doing art, but all three kids enjoyed making "stained glass" windows while beginning to study the Middle Ages.


 We love it when service opportunities come our way and our family has a fondness for a local nursing home.  We went with other homeschool students this week to paint chairs at the nursing home.  The chairs were auctioned off with the proceeds going to the Alzheimer's Association.
 So our busy fall schedule includes middle school travel soccer team, soccer for Alec, gymnastics for Ann-Marie,  Mom teaching preschool twice a week as well as preschool gymnastics at Ann-Marie's gym, youth group, AWANA,  and Plants and Pillars Coop.
What we did not schedule for, however, was a bad case of strep for Alec.  First illness of the season means Fall is truly underway.