Cookies!

Well, we finally did it. We made Russian tea cakes last night and cut outs today. The Russian tea cakes are gone already, so I guess there is a benefit to waiting to make them.

Things that go woof in the night

This is Jake. We adopted Jake from the Humane Society almost 9 years ago when he was a year old. He's really been a wonderful addition to our family, and I can't imagine him not being here with us.
Jake loves to look out all of our windows here, since he can do so easily. This is evident by all the snooty marks he leaves all over them. Well, last night when Jake should have been sleeping peacfully in his bed, he was looking out windows instead. He woke us at 3:35 am with a great barking commotion. Dave, myself, and both boys flew out of bed and down the stairs to see what was happening. We looked out small windows on either side of our front door, into the front yard where Jake was looking. There in our front yard, stood three deer. They didn't seem the least bit fazed by all of Jake's antics inside the house. I will admit though, I opened the door a crack to scare them off because I feared we would'nt get any peace until they were out of sight. Needless to say, I think it was probably 4:30 am or so by the time I got back to sleep. At least I know if there was any mischief of any sort going on out there, he'd be sure to let us know. Now I need to go take a nap.

Christmas Geeks!

This is one of our unsuccessful attempts last night, at getting a family photo for a Christmas card. Forget the dog, he was as much of a pain as the kids. We finally did get a good picture. Our Christmas card had a spot for 2 photos (a smaller one next to the family one), so we put the photo of Jake curled up in his bed in the little photo spot since he was uncooperative for the family shot. Oops, I forgot to get rid of our red eyes before posting this photo!

Major Cuteness!

Yesterday after I took a shower and blew dry my hair, I noticed Jakie sleeping in his bed, which is right next to ours. He looked so adorable all snuggled up, that I just had to take this picture!

Christmas dollies!

These are our Christmas dollies! Look at the excitement on my face! Too funny!

Sleepy Days

I had to post this picture because it reminds me of a post on my sister Martha's blog (posted on Monday Nov.13th). Michael (my 11 yr. old son) took this photo of Dave and I sleeping on the couch the other day. Once again I am caught sleeping with what Dave refers to as my "teddy bear". I obviously spend way too much time with the lap top.

Winter Fun Pictures!

When we have enough snow, my husband likes to snowblow a bunch of it into a huge pile. Then he ices it over and digs the inside out for the kids. They love It! Even the dog likes it. Not only is it fun to play in, but it's fun to play "King of the Mountain" on. Don't worry, it's perfectly safe!

Pumpkin Cookies on Halloween

These are some of the cookies we made and decorated tonight. It was nice just being here together. We didn't get any trick or treaters until about 7:00, and then we only got 10. We're going to be eating lots of candy!

Fifteen Years of Wedded Bliss

Yesterday was our 15th wedding Anniversary! I can't believe it's already been that long. God has blessed me very much with a great husband!

Autumn Fun!

Tonight we gave in to Michael's pleas to carve pumpkins, and we let the boys carve their own. Dave has always carved them FOR the boys, but this year he said that it was time for them to do their own. This was very nerve wracking for me, watching them use sharp knives, and just praying they wouldn't chop any fingers or anything else off. My darling husband said, "Oh don't worry, I carved pumpkins every year when I was a kid and I always cut myself." Ahhhh! It's a good thing I have a husband here to help me teach my boys not to be such "pansies" . They had a fantastic time, and said it was much more fun to carve their own than to watch their dad do it.

Steven Returns!

This weekend was Steven's 1st weekend ever away from everyone in his family. He went to Three Springs Ministries for a retreat. He was a little nervous when he left on Friday, but today when we picked him up, he said he had a good time and he was glad he went. Yesterday he enjoyed going horseback riding for the 1st time. He said he would definitely like to go again sometime, good news!

Busy Day!

Today has been a very busy day. I ran from sun up til sun down, working, cooking, going to Bible study. Now I'm pooped!

Pie!

Today started out as a very sleepy kind of day. After the kids got on the bus, I laid down on the couch and woke up at 11:15 am. I felt like the day was half over, but I also felt very groggy and had a hard time waking up so I had some Belgian Hazelnut coffee to help me. Then I did the dishes and got on the exercise bike. After showering, I felt like it was time to bake, so I made a pumpkin pie and an apple pie. When the boys walked in the door from school Michael said, Yum, what are you making? When I told him I had made a pumpkin pie, he ran up to me and gave me a hug and a kiss and said, "I love you mom!"

Oh Deer!

This morning as I was on my way to work, I hit a poor little deer. My windshield is completely shattered, along with other damage. The total estimate of damage to my car: $2100, the deer: deceased. BooHoo!!!

BUGS!

My boys have decided that instead of catching the crickets from our basement and letting them go outside, they would collect them in a "bug barn". This picture is hard to see, but this is our cricket family. They will eat just about anything, so we put some watermelon pieces and some grapes in their new home for them to eat. They sure are noisy, and boy do they poop a lot!

Wood Thief!

I wish I got a photo of the truck and trailer that I saw taking off down the street with a big load of wood that my neighbor had promised to my bother in law (James). It was a big, white truck with a pretty large trailer, and when I went over to see how much wood was left, I knew James would be disappointed. I quickly went in my house and left a message on his answering machine so he could come and get the rest before the thief arrived for more. I got a phone call a short time later...James was the "thief". He had borrowed a friend's truck and trailer to pick up the wood.

A Family Affair

Today I decided it was a good day to scrub the grout on our ceramic tile floors, so I got out the Clorox spray and old toothbrushes. My 2 boys came running and picked out some of the dirtiest spots that they wanted to try cleaning. They were actually fighting over which spots they were gonna clean! Michael got 2 more old toothbrushes that were with the cleaning supplies, and away they went. It was great!! My floor looks so much better, and I got done much quicker than I anticipated, and everyone was happy doing it! Amazing, huh?

Some of the kids after kayaking on Moose River in Old Forge, NY. The oars are to one of the couple's canoe they had brought, they went canoing (sp?) and the rest of us went kayaking.

The Adirondacks

From Wednesday to Saturday we went camping up in the Adirondack mountains with 4 other couples and their kids. All of us have been friends for quite a few years now, but a few of us had never camped together before. It was such a blast! We hiked to the top of Rocky Mountain one day. We had someone take this picture of us at the top (we are missing one of our guys who didn't climb due to a back problem). We cooked together, ate together, the kids rode bikes together, and we went kayaking together (most of us). Good memories!

The Cry Baby

Tonight we continued to read "Treasures of the Snow" with my nephew Allen here. My sister Priscilla is also reading the story to him and his sisters. Now many times in this story I have felt my emotions being stirred, but I have always been able to control them. Tonight on the other hand I began to cry as I read the part where Annette finally answers the "knock on the door" and asks Jesus into her heart. The kids were all quite amused and giggled, and Michael (my 11 year old) ran to get me the box of tissues. I have to admit, I felt kind of silly as my husband, children, and nephew started to laugh at me, but I know they really wanted to cry too. Allen was quick to say, "My mom cried at the end of one of the chapters we just read too". Oh I can't wait for what's to come! I guess I better keep my tissues handy when I reach for the book again.

A rainbow!!

This evening after it stormed and stormed, we saw a beautiful rainbow. What a TON of rain we got in a short amount of time. My poor husband had planted grass seed where we had a stump removed this weekend, and he ran out in the rain to cover it with a tarp before it completely washed away. My impatiens (sp?) got completely waterlogged too because the rain came off of our roof so hard in front, that it created a river through them. Oh well, the rain was awfully fun to watch!!

More pictures from our hike. If you look real close, you can see the deer. Unfortunately we couldn't get close enough to get a great picture.

A Day in the Park

Today we decided to head out to Letchworth State Park for a hike, picnic dinner, and swim with my sister Priscilla and her family. What a beautiful day it was, perfect for a hike and picnic. I think all of the kids enjoyed themselves. Along the hike I think all the kids were pretty amazed at how big the cliffs were, I know Steven was because he kept asking Dave about how high the cliffs were. We even got to see a mother deer and her two babies, that were nursing. Dinner consisted of submarine sandwiches, chips, pickles, strawberries, and a potato salad and macaroni salad that Uncle Jamie brought. Uncle Jamie even bought chocolate chip cookies for dessert. He was kind enough to share their salads and cookies with us. Steven couldn't wait to take a dip in the park pool, only to find out that the water was a little bit colder than he expected and liked. And Alicia was a little disappointed to find that she wasn't allowed to use her bubble flotation device in the pool. (too dangerous I guess) It was a refreshing way for the kids to end their day though. All in all, I think it was a great day!

Caught in the rain

This evening around 7:30 Steven and I decided to go on another one of our hour long bike rides. It was beautiful when we left, but about a half hour into our ride it got dark and started to rain, and then pour. Of coarse there was a little bit of thunder and lightning too, but God saved the big BOOMS til we got home. The experience was quite exciting for Steven. As we reached our neighborhood Dave and Michael were just about ready to pull out of the neighborhood with the bike rack on the car. They were coming to rescue us! We were so close to home though at that point, we just rode the rest of the way. Needless to say, by the time we got home we were completely drenched, but it was a very memorable experience! Here we are (minus our helmets) when we got back.

OUCH!

Today I went on an hour long bike ride with Steven. It was a nice thing for us to do together. While we were on the Hojak Trail, we were slowing down to go around a chain thingy and my feet were stuck in the straps that keep your feet from slipping off the pedals. I could not get them out as we were slowing down and the point came where I had to put my foot on the ground. It must have looked hysterical as I tipped to the side and fell on the ground. It didn't hurt at all except for my right wrist. I have a touch of carpal tunnel in that hand already from being a hygienist for 15 years, so it bother's me at times. Now it feels bruised on top of that. My chain came off too and believe it or not, I've never put a chain on before. Steven (my 12 year old) came to my rescue and quickly put the chain back on for me and made sure it was working properly. It would've been a very long walk back home.

Dave dislocated his shoulder sliding in to home plate last night playing softball. He is very sore today, is wearing a sling, and is going to the doctor to find out what exercises he should do to strengthen it again. (when it heals a little) I guess once you dislocate a shoulder, it's easy for it to happen again because things are all loose in there. No more softball for at least 2 weeks, maybe more. His poor body is so beat up from years of sports. I told him maybe he should just stick to golfing now. His response..."What fun is that?" (He loves to golf but not only golf)

Well, we were going to take a quick dip in the pool after that nice bike ride, but the rain drops are falling pretty hard right now. I think I'll go visit my mom and dad!