Merry Christmas

Well, we waited until the last minute to trek to the mall to visit Santa with our lists, and for once, procrastination paid off. No lines, no waiting!!! Woo hoo!!! And not a bad picture to boot. We're off to wrap some presents now. Hope you and yours have a very Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!

How Many Days Until Christmas?

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

At Least His Face is Covered

I was just running into Lowes Foods to get two things, so I didn't bother to get a cart. One of my children (who shall remain nameless) was with me, and he said he was going to "walk like a big boy". We were in the store for about 2 minutes when he decided to take off. I'm running after him when I see a friend of mine, who joins in the chase. Another mom ends up cornering him. I grab him by the arm and scold him for running away. He was "looking for snacks". Of course. I grab my items and we head out the door. I am still holding onto his hand at this point in that "I can't believe you just did that" kind of way. He is struggling to get away from me, and I am marching, teeth gritted, to the car. I look down at him to give him what for and I see that he has pulled his pants down!! "What are you doing??????" I say, exasperated beyond belief. He responds with, "I just wanted to feel the rain on my butt!" My anger quickly turns to laughter. So I ask the only appropriate question, "How does it feel? " "Pretty good, " he says. How can you be mad at that??

Madison's Birthday

Old friends make you feel young...

Yes, I turned forty this month and no matter what you call it ..Over-the-Hill, the Big 4-0. Turning forty is not so bad. I don't really have anything profound to say about turning forty. I woke up the morning of the 17th and went on just like I normally do. Maybe I'll have something earth-shattering to share with you soon. Maybe it takes a few days for it to kick in. Maybe people just make more out of it than it actually is. I don't have any major aches and pains and I'm certainly not standing in line for Social Security. I do have this fear of answering surveys since I will have to check the 40 - 44 box now, but other than that, life is good. We have been on the road for the past few days, so I am just now getting back into a routine. We made a trip to PA to attend Mark's family reunion and then travelled to NYC to see the Yankees and the Mets and some college friends. Seeing friends from 20 years ago made me feel twenty again! Check back soon for more pics!



Nicole, me, Jill, Jackie

VBS Pics

We now return to your previously scheduled blog...

Did you think we fell off the face of the Blog? Well, I guess we did for a while. If I had had the time, you would have had some fantastic posts! We've been so busy. Let me catch you up---Between work, t-ball, baseball, gymnastics, church, Vacation Bible School, a trip to Reed Gold Mine(and the discovery of gold!), Dad's b-day, Garrett's b-day, Mark's b-day, the Harrisburg Miss 4th of July Pageant, Harrisburg's July 4th Festival (2 days worth), Mom and Dad coming to visit, and day camp...we've had a lot to share. Unfortunately, I haven't made the time to share it. Here is my feeble attempt at getting back on track.

It all started when I agreed to be the director for our church's Vacation Bible School. I have loved VBS since I was a little kid. I look forward to teaching each year and was excited to have the opportunity to direct it this year. I still love VBS, but little did I know, that it would take over our entire lives for months! The theme this year was "Outrigger Island" and Mark will attest to the fact that luau supplies and Hawaiian decor began to pile up in various places around our home. Leis, palm trees, shells.. you name it, we had it! Conveniently, Mark had a conference in Orlando the week of VBS and missed the last minute chaos. Well, once the week started, the kids didn't make it to bed before 10:30 every night. They watched a lot of Boomerang that week while I melted into the couch. But all of the hard work was worth it! VBS was fabulous! It was the largest turnout anyone could remember and a number of kids made decisions to follow Christ. Our pastors each took a pie in the face because the kids raised almost $1000 to purchase Spanish Bibles for kids in the Dominican Republic. Wow! It was fun and I'm not exhausted anymore. We are just now getting rid of the last of the decorations and I think the kids will stop singing the theme song sometime around Christmas time.

Grandma Flo... this one's for you!

2nd place finish...

Pinewood Derby

The kids had a great time on Saturday at the Pinewood Derby. This is the first year that we haven't had the help of the grandparents, but we managed to get three cars entered. Zack took 2nd place in the boys' division. Madison and Garrett didn't place, but their cars looked great!