Christmas Fun!

We had the awesome privelidge of hosting the Senior adult dinner for our church this year. We had a great meal at PJ O'Briens (a cozy banquet room in town). We played games, sang songs, and had the kids participate by being Santa (Austin) Santa's helper (Emily) and Rudolph (Elijah). They passed out gifts to everyone and ended up being a huge hit! We were quite proud of our kids.

We had about 40 people there and those "senior" adults really know how to have fun!! We were glad that our kids were able to share in this special night and realize that "grandpas & grandmas" are amazing people and have alot of love, wisdom and laughter to share.

I know that is a night that none of us will soon forget......especially our kids!
The DQ on the way home from mom, just to say "Thanks for helping out" didn't hurt either!!

It's been a long time!

I haven't blogged since Chicago~ That is crazy!

I've been busy:

Since school got out I have been spending alot of time at the church. I've been trying to get a crash course in some things that Kelly has been doing because they will be moving. I think I am pretty good to go, I'm sure everything will be just fine. God knows what we have need of and I'm confident that He will bring someone our way to take over some of these responsibilites in His time. If not, then He will work out my time so that I can continue with them as needed.

Praying that God will direct us as we continue to look for the right person (people) to come and serve in the ministry with us.

Planning future events, church picnic for one.

We are working on our landscaping for the summer. That has taken a back seat. Have to get going on that.

Dave is doing a Quick-fix on the deck. We really need to replace it but don't at have the funds right now.

We are checking in on Daves mom and dad, daily. Dad is recovering from a hip replacement. His mom is having some physical problems right now. So some of our time is spent there. We are happy to be able to help, just trying to find that delicate balance with everything.

We've been going to our church softball games to show our support. Sometimes 3x a week. We've been having fun. It's a nice relaxing down time.

Can't really think of much more that we are doing. I know there is more, with the church, there is always something going on. I have to do better with my blog. That's it for now....busy summer so far!

Chicago

We had an amazing time in Chicago! We enjoyed every minute of getting away, by ourselves! God was so gracious to us in many areas. Every day we saw His hand in the things that we experienced. This was a trip we won't soon forget. We are already anxious to go back!!

This was our hotel room in Chicago. We absolutely loved the hotel! Very friendly staff and the amenities were great. They even gave us free parking for all 3 days we were there. That was awsome! God already had his hand in the little things. We stayed by the O'hare airport which was nice, each day we rode the rail into the city. It was nice to get out of the city at night and be in a little quieter area.

We ate at Giordano's Pizza as soon as we got there, after checking in to the hotel. This Pizza was amazing! Our new favorite pizza ever. We were quite hungry after the 6 hour drive and neither of us had eaten since breakfast. When we got there they told us a 20 min wait, then she just turned around and said "I'll seat you now". We had a nice little corner booth, couldn't have asked for anything better. We looked back to see about 50 people come in right after we were seated! Thank you Jesus!! Then, she said our pizza would take 40 min. We prayed it wouldn't take that long, and, yep 30 mins later we were eating, yay!!

We loved the sights of Chicago! It really is a beautiful city. What a relaxing time to just walk the streets and take everything in. Yes, we did do a little shopping! When we were walking down the streets we were able to minister to a lady who had lost her subway ticket. She was quite destraught and was asking us for only $5 to get another subway ticket to get back home after being in the city to visit her son in the hospital. We never give people money, never!! We will buy them food or gas, but never give money. This situation was different. Dave and I were both in full agreement to give her the money. We just knew she needed this help and felt that God put us in that spot for such a time as that!! Everything that led up to us being there right at that time was definately God!! We were both so thankful for the Spirits voice to confirm what we needed to do, no doubts!

Shopping was quite fun. This is Macy's! 8 floors of shopping, almost Heaven on Earth. Dave actually had fun as well. He just could not get over how much "stuff" was in this one store, and to think - there were 2 Macy's within 2 miles of each other. We did find some really good deals!

We also ate at the Cheesecake Factory! YUM!!! Another one of our new favorites! A 14pg menu, crazy! We shared a salad and it was PLENTY! Plus who can pass up the cheesecake, We shared that too, we had turtle!!



We went to the Hershey's store! So much fun!! Of course we LOVE chocolate! This was so neat, this was one of the times we wished we had the kids!


We went to the Hancock tower which had amazing views. 95 floors up! I did feel a little queasy, at times. Didn't like getting too close to the window.

This was navy pier, it was beautiful. We were so thankful for the amazing weather God blessed us with. What an amazing time. We are so thankful for the time away. We are also very thankful for Annie watching our kids so we could go away and relax with no worries!!

I forgot one picture

I forgot one picture. Also the spot underneath the chair rail will be painted white!

I painted the Kitchen

I started painting the kitchen today. I am far from finished, but so far I think I like it! I think painting the cubbards could be in the future. We will see how things go. For now I am happy with the results of the color. Makes me want to paint more rooms in the house. I will probably paint as much as my marriage can stand!! My husband is wonderful and very supportive, but we both hate the process!

Austin's Sick :(

Austin is sick. He came home yesterday with a temp of 101.5. This morning it was 102.3. He went to the doctor today and got an antibiotic and a new inhaler. He got the antibiotic for an upper respitory infection. Finally, today, he learned how to swallow a pill! Yeah I was very excited! Swallowing a motrin beats the heck out of him drinking like a half of bottle of childrens motrin!! It is funny how animals just know when something is wrong with someone in the family. Stella jumped right up on the couch to cuddle with Austin while he slept. She is a cuddly dog anyway, but I just thought that was so sweet.

There seems to be a virus going around that has a high fever and not much else. Austin is about the 5th kid that I have heard of in the last week to get this. People are saying that it lasts about 4-5 days. I am sure praying that Austin feels better soon. It is so hard to watch a child be sick and not be able to make it instantly better.

Family Movie Night

Monday nights we set aside for focused family time. This last Monday we had movie night!

The kids love to get in their pj's and make a big bed on the floor.

Stella got to have popcorn too, one of her favorite snacks! We watched Beverly Hills Chihuahua, very fitting in our house. Stella barked at the TV for part of the movie, finally she got used to hearing the dogs bark and she stopped. Feeding her popcorn was another way to keep her quiet.

I made popcorn on the stove. My kids thought it was something new!! Actually it was the best popcorn we have had in a long time. It was soooo good. I was actually surprised at myself that I popped it perfectly, not burnt at all and every kernel popped!! Salt and a little butter and we were in heaven! Can't beat the "old fashioned popcorn".

WHAT WAS THAT NOISE?

What a mess!

We were sitting in the dining room after dinner last night playing a game. We had cleaned up dinner and the kids asked us to play the game "LIFE". Half way through the game we hear a very loud POP! We all ran twoard the garage to see what was going on. There was nobody outside, so we looked in the garage. We found this A&W rootbeer bottle had frozen and exploded all over the garage!!! We had never heard of this happening before!! It blew the bottom right off of the bottle, as you can see the lid is still on! The kids thought it was the best thing ever!! It will make us think twice about how long we leave pop sitting outside and how cold it gets!

Chore Night

Thursday night's at our house is chore night. Elijah picks up Stella's toys.

He also straightens up the entryway shoes! He does his own room too!

Austin's responsibilitiy is the basement, his room and the living space. Vacuuming and straighting things up. He also does the stairs.

We all do our own chores. Emily does the bathrooms. She is also responsible for her own room. I just love to see the kids working, it makes me so happy. Emily also dusts, yeah! When we all work together, it all goes so much easier. Then the mom is happy!!

I have waited a long time for my kids to get to the age where they can truly help around the house. They have helped for years, but now it ACTUALLY helps! I don't even have to go behind them and redo things!

The other thing that could be happening is maybe I'm getting a little older and a little more relaxed. I think maybe I'm realizing that the most important part is not always having a spotless house, but having a house that is a haven for our family, where the family is more important than the house!!!

Three's a Crowd!

Emily and Elijah both had fun playing together this morning.

Emily was the cook!

Elijah was the waiter !

Today It was just Emily and Elijah at home, mostly all day! It always seems that when there are only 2 it is so much quieter!! It is usually if Emily or Austin are gone everything goes very smooth. They both play great with Elijah! They don't always both do well with each other, I think it is the age thing. Anyway, Emily & Elijah played restraunt (?) together last night and this morning! Grandpa & Grandma Dietzel broght them the hats from Krispy Kreme the other day.

Now Dave and Austin and Emily are all gone away until tomarrow! Elijah and I have the house to ourselves, it is almost TOO quiet!

I am sure we will find things to do to keep ourselves busy.

My Hero

Today is the 2nd anniversary of my moms passing. She was without a doubt my hero!!

My mom was the most selfless person I have ever encountered in my life. She always gave even when it hurt. There were times I knew she was in unbelievable pain and yet she still wanted to keep going, no matter what we were doing.

She lost a husband at a young age and had 2 daughters. She married my dad with his 5 kids which then gave them 7. She took my grandfather in who had a stroke and also cared for him. To top it all of she had me. I asked her more than once, why in the world she had another baby with all of the other stuff she had on her plate? Not only did she have me but she had a few miscarriages before me. That alone would have caused me to give up on having another child.

I think it took the heart of a hero to do the things she had done at this point.

I wasn't there for all of the crazy family times of all of the 7 kids growing up. I have heard alot of stories, both the good, bad and ugly. In my eyes, no matter what the situations were it took alot of guts to do what both my mother and father did. They raised their kids to love God and to me there is nothing more important than that.

She was a grandma who always gave. Her grandkids were always the apple of her eye!

She worked a 40(plus) work week since the time I was in the 1st grade. Until the time of her passing!

I remember always being in church, every time the doors were open, all of my growing up years! I remember sitting with my mom at the altar while she had tears streaming down her cheeks. She always told me they were just because she loved Jesus so much!! Those are the memories I cherish most!!

In her later years she was involved in Power Company kids Club, an inner city children's ministry. She worked with those kids and loved them until she could not physically do it anymore.

My mom had severe back and hip pain all the time!! She had a kidney transplant after doing self administered dialysis for 5 years.

The most amazing thing that I will always remember about my hero is that she NEVER complained or gave excuses as to why she couldn't do something!!!! She was ALWAYS in church and working for the Lord even up until the day she passed away!

My prayer is that anytime I want to give a lame excuse for something I don't want to do I will remember the example my mom left for me.

I could always follow her as she followed Christ! Those who have come behind her have surely found her faithful!!!

I am so thankful that she has heard those words---

WELL DONE THOU GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT, ENTER INTO YOUR REST!!!!!

My first baby is 13!!

Yesterday was Austins 13th birthday. Of course him turning 13, we broke down and got him a cell phone! Many requirements come along with it! Good grades, chores, responsibility all the expected things.

He did not want cake and ice cream. He wanted oreo cookie ice cream dessert! So that's what he got! The white spots on top are where the ice cream melted when I poured on the hot fudge sause. I put it back in the freezer so it could freeze again. I have to say it was pretty yummy!

I just can't believe that he is already 13! Oddly enough I seem to remember every single detail of the whole experience almost better than Emily and Elijah's. I reminded him that I worked EXTREEMLY hard 13 years ago and he had better be nice to me! I actually remember crying when the nurse came and told me that he was crying in the nursery at the hospital! She said "Oh but he likes the swing"! I still remember how my heart broke to hear that he was unhappy at all! It was the very first moment of wanting to make everything right in his world.

Little did I know that with each year that goes by, it gets harder and harder to see any pain in his life. It also gets harder and harder for mom to fix it. That is where this mom is so thankful for Jesus who loves him more than Dave and I will ever be able to, and wants the best for him, more than we do.

We always sang to him, You are my sunshine, my Austin sunshine.........! We also had a fun song we loved to sing to the tune of the KFC comercial...Everybody needs a little Austin D.....

I am so thankful for his life! We know that God has huge plans for our "Austin D"

Emily

I tell Emily that she, just like the boys were (and still are) the desire of my heart! I know God had a plan and I prayed for a daughter when I was pregnant with her. With the boys, I prayed for boys, with her I prayed for her. I remember the day and time that God gave me the peace of knowing that He was answering my prayer. At the time I didn't tell anyone, I left that between me and the Lord.
Emily loves tap. She took this fall off but plans to attend again next fall. It really seems to be "her thing" she is a natural.
She is in 5th grade and gets all A's. She makes it look easy. I say she gets that from her dad, I did good but it didn't come as easy for me as it does for her.
She would be the most responsible of my children, some say that comes with being the only girl. Either way I'm thankful.
She definately keeps us laughing!!! She is the one with all the humor in our house. Most of the time she is also the one who just annoys her brothers to the breaking point!! When there is an "issue" with the kids usually Emily is in the middle of it! Sometimes the boys just have to walk away, especially Austin!!
We are proud of her love for Jesus! We see her show the love of God to those around her, at school and church!

Emily is our princess! Yes, we have only one and she lets everyone know it. I love to photograh her in just about anyway! She is much more on the smaller side. Austin got all of the big genes in our family. She is going on 11 yrs old and the last jeans I bought her were a size 8 slim! I tell her to pray everyday that she stays little!

It is truly a blessing to have our Emily!