Flower City Work Camp

Steven just got back from Flower City Work Camp today. He has been gone since Monday, helping to fix up the homes of those in need in the city of Rochester. He worked from 8-4, then returning to the church for dinner, a shower, a worship meeting and bed. He LOVED it and was so blessed by God while serving others. Dave and I went to the church on Tuesday night for the worship service and I have to say, it was so amazing seeing the sanctuary so jam packed with teens worshiping God. It brought tears to my eyes. Steven had many stories to tell us today, notes of encouragement from friends to share, and he says he can't wait to go next year and every year until he can't anymore. I think this was a real eye opener for him, and I am so thankful that he got to be a part of it. Hopefully I will have some pictures soon!

I'm Hungry, wahhhh!

This photo makes me smile when I look at it. Martha was holding Lucas while Leta (his mommy) was getting him a bottle. No amount of comforting would do because he was hungry, and he wanted his food NOW. Isn't he cute?

Big Wheels and Banana Seats

Last night Michael was writing something about fads for a school paper. We ended up on the computer looking at fads of the 60's, 70's, 80's, and 90's. I couldn't believe my ears when Michael asked me what a Big Wheel was. I know they're still around, but obviously not like when we were kids, when I think just about every kid had one.

He also had never heard of banana seats. That one I can understand a little bit better, but when I was a kid they were quite popular. They were nice because they were much easier to ride double with a friend. I find it quite amusing that things I was so used to being around and popular, were so strange and new to my teenage son. Did I grow up in the "Olden Days"? :)

Steven...

Tonight Dave and I went out to dinner with some friends. When we got home Steven was doing stuff with the phone taped to his head. He was talking to my mother in law, but said he needed his hands and didn't want to hold the phone with his shoulder. We do have speaker phone, but I guess he either didn't want to use it or didn't think about it. I thought this was pretty hilarious!

A Little Bored

I have to admit, I am a little bored with blogging lately. I find facebook to be much more interesting, with the ability for me to connect with so many friends at once. I am at a loss of what to even blog about...not anything new and exciting going on, although in 2 weeks we will be making our annual trip to Bradenton, Florida! Koty had his 1st visit to a kennel scheduled for that week after my friend, who has watched him before, said that they would also be going away that week if they could find a good deal on airfare. She called last night and said that they were staying here and her daughter was dying to have Koty visit for the week. So, Koty will not be going to the kennel after all, he will be spending the week with our friends and their 2 BIG dogs. I know he will have fun and will be very well taken care of, he may not even want to come home with us after the week is up. Having 2 other dogs to play with all the time will be fun for him. Here, he doesn't even get taken outside for a walk in the winter because no one wants to walk him in the bitter cold. He does get plenty of walking and running in though on our treadmill, and he actually likes it. He will hang around sometimes by the door to the basement and when I ask him if he wants to go on the treadmill, his ears perk up. When I open the door to the basement he goes running down and gets right on the treadmill. It is very cute!

This is what he looks like right now (below) as I type this. It's much too early still...

Happy Birthday Steven!

Today is Steven's 15th birthday. The above photo was taken one day after his 5th birthday. The years are flying by faster than I ever thought they would. We stood back to back today and he is now just as tall as I am. Where did my little boy go? Here are a few things about my Steven...

1. He is quite artistic.
2. He is very sweet and cares about others feelings.
3. He loves to eat.
4. He will eat just about anything....but not Butternut squash.
5. He was extremely easy to potty train.
6. He loves to swim and is very good at it.
7. He swam on a swim team for 2 years.
8. He was the fastest swimmer in his gym class this year.
9. He loves to make things that work. Ex: vacuum cleaners
10. He loves the beach.
11. He loves to push his brother's buttons, and vice versa.
12. He wore braces for about a year and a half.
13. He will only use a mechanical pencil, never a regular one, because he says regular ones get dull too fast.
14. He chose a yellow cake with chocolate frosting for his birthday.
15. He also chose to go out to AppleBee's for dinner tonight.
16. He doesn't like to spend his money. He would rather put it in the bank.
17. He is often seen around here half dressed.
18. He has blue eyes like his Gramma Lene (my mother)
19. He likes to do his homework right away and doesn't like to put it down until he's finished.
20. He likes to play Monkey Ball
21. Lately he's talking an awful lot about it being only one more year until he can drive, hmmm....I'm not too sure about that one.

A fluffy pillow party!

Today we decided that we were tired of the saggy unsupportive pillows along the back of our couch, so Dave cut the inside cushions open. The feathers and the poly filling were very clumped, so 1st we had a pulling the fluff apart party.
Dave had purchased some pillows (2 with feathers and 2 without). Those were cut open and mixed with the fluff from our cushions....a mixing party! Our cushions were then restuffed .I really wish I took a before picture, but never thought of it. This is what the finished product looks like! Maybe I won't be getting as many neck aches now when I sit on our couch!

Yup, It's Winter!

Now that is one awesome "King of the Mountain" hill! Remember playing that fun game as kids? Anyone up for it?

Interstate 490

Brrr!

Koty just had to go out and play in the snow with the kids, but he didn't last as long as they did outside.

Those darn toe jam icicles! Ouch..I must get them out!

Quite a lot of snow out there today! Once again, just about every school was closed except for our town. Our kids did get out 40 minutes early though, but they ended up getting home around the same time due to poor driving conditions.

Memories

I came across this picture tonight, taken in at the end of November in 2003. There were sinkholes everywhere when we were looking for our Christmas tree. First Michael stepped in one, then me. You couldn't see them because they were covered with sawdust and straw. This was the 1st Holiday season in our new house. Look at my little kidlets!

Snowflakes

Steven has been making these cool paper snowflakes today. He said that a teacher in his study hall showed him how to make one because he was finished with all of his work. Now he's making them like crazy. This is only a section of one that he's working on. He's quite creative!

No More Braces!

Michael got his braces off this afternoon. He looks great!

Tim's Christmas Party

Today was the Christmas party at my brother, Tim's place. For those of you who don't know, my brother Tim was brain damaged at birth when my mother stopped breathing after being given too much of a medication to induce labor. He is most like autistic people. He lives in Newark in a home for those with similar needs. During the party we paused for a few family pictures, taken by Ben and Hannah, who had decided to come along to see their Uncle Tim. Dad played his banjo and harmonica and we sang some Christmas carols, while earlier we had munched on pizza and wings and Christmas cookies. It was great to see him, and to chat and laugh with each other. I could tell he really enjoyed our visit too, even though we were a bit obnoxious with the camera.

Health Coverage

The other day Dave and I found out that our health coverage is going to go up by $88.00 a month starting the 1st of the year. We already pay a fortune and Dave's company has not picked up any increases the last few years because it has gone up so much. One of the most frustrating things about this is that any time we need something, ie: glasses for Michael, they don't want to cover any of it. I pay $20.00 for every allergy injection, while our insurance pitches in $1.00. We are seriously considering dropping it and putting our money into an account, and letting it just build by adding to it every month as if we are paying health coverage. I know this is possibly risky, and we will thoroughly check it out first. About a year or so ago a guy from Aflack came in and talked to us at work about buying supplemental insurance from them because in case of long term illness, we could lose our life savings due to our insurance not covering it. Well then what are we paying for? I don't feel like we receive that much of a benefit from our insurance. Thoughts?.....

Mom

Today was a reminder for me that I need to savor every moment I have left with my mother. This morning Martha called at a little after 7:00am, which is very unusual. She called to say that my dad had called her to let her know that mom had gone to the hospital in an ambulance. No details were given, and I don't know about you, but when I'm not given any details my mind goes crazy with the possibilities. I prayed for her before going up to the hospital with Martha and James. Priscilla was going to meet us there, but we never made it inside the hospital due to one of Martha's kids informing us that mom had been discharged. It's a long story, but when I finally did see her she was back at home and seemed like her normal self again. It turns out she woke up this morning with her heart beating very fast and it wasn't slowing down. My mom has a condition that is only getting worse. She never complains about her condition to me, and when I ask her how she's feeling she always tells me "fine", although when I talked to my Aunt this morning she said that my mom sometimes tells her that her condition is worsening. I know that when mom leaves this earth she's going to a much better place, but it's hard for me to imagine life without her. Our visit today was extra special. I am so thankful to still have her, and I am grateful for the reminder to hug her lots while I still can.

Life and Laughter

Today, being that it was Veteran's Day, the kids had the day off school. Michael got out the Life game that we haven't played in quite a while, and we played a couple games. Life can be a pretty fun game. We laughed a lot, and had a good time together. Michael discovered first hand that sometimes "life isn't fair", but he was a good sport. Me? I got to be a Doctor for both games and made all kinds of money, even when Michael switched salaries with me I still managed to win all kinds of money.

Can a Sneeze be Swallowed?

Today when we were driving home from church Michael sneezed. Just as he was about to sneeze his second sneeze (they always come in 2's) we heard a gulp and a stunned Michael says, "Oh my goodness, I was just about to sneeze and I swallowed it!" It was the funniest thing. He went on to say how that's never happened to him before and have we ever heard of such a thing. I have to say, I have never heard of this before and am wondering if any of you out there have ever "swallowed your sneeze" just before it came out.

Teachers make mistakes too

Today Steven came home from school and told me that he had a 66% for his final grade in Technology. I was stunned because this is a class that he loves and does very well in. I asked him why and he said that his teacher said that he had gotten a zero on his "air racer paper". They had to make these air racers and then they raced them in the hallway at school, but they also had a 4 page worksheet to do with it. Steven has always saved his school papers for much too long because he likes to burn stuff at the end of the year. In this case it turned out to be a good thing because he went upstairs when he came home and looked for it in his room. He found the paper with a grade of 100% written on it. The teacher actually gave him a grade of 100% and then forgot to mark it in the grade book, and gave the paper back to him, instead giving him a zero for never handing it in. I sent the teacher an email and Steven will give him the paper tomorrow. His actual grade should be in the upper 90's.
This is keeping it real...this kind of thing makes me crazy!

Stone Fireplaces and Friends

My honey is moving along on the stone fireplace. He is doing such a beautiful job!Last night we had some friends over to play Euchre. We've known these friends for more than 17 years, and get together once a month for dinner, games, and dessert. After so many years of being friends and getting together with our children, it would be strange to not be a part of each other's lives. My friend, Colleen, was not too cooperative about having her picture taken...or maybe she was sobbing because Dave and I had just won our 1st game of the night. ;)

A Baby Shower!

Today was my nephew's wife, Leta's baby shower. Leta and my nephew, Dave, are expecting their 1st child in December. The shower was fun and Leta got lots of nice things to give her a good start with her new son. I can't wait for his arrival....I only hope he comes before his December 24th due date so that we can enjoy him at Christmas time.