Thursday, July 31, 2008

This and That

Abby is still having trouble sleeping. 3am-6am last night. Thankfully my wonderful hubby handled last night for me. She is fine, nothing wrong and she is just as frustrated as we are that she can't go back to sleep. I have scheduled a visit to the doctor next week. I've had 2 nurses call me to discuss the situation and see if I had tried "this and that". You know, over the past year, I have tried "this and that". At this point we are averaging every other night and we are fast approaching a new school year. Lord, I need to have this figured out by then.

The nurse today suggested that even though she was awake for 3 hrs in the night, that I leave her up and do not give her a nap. It was tough, but we made it through the day and we'll see if that will keep her sleeping through the night.

We went to our church tonight to help set up for VBS next week. I am so glad that I am not in charge of this, but glad that the kids can experience a Group VBS. This year is called "Power Lab" - it's a scientist lab, with molecules, beakers, test tubes, atoms and of course concoctions of all sorts! Kevin and I are in charge of the "Squeaky Beakers". This is the Pre-K group (3-5 yrs). We should be good and tired by the end of next week!

I've been cleaning out the basement and closets, trying to get my "Spring cleaning" finished before my new school books arrive as well as working on decorations for our VBS room.
Hopefully we'll get out on the boat this weekend!

Pray for Sweet Dreams around here!

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Interviews


I'm going to start with our good friends Dave & Julie and then move on to interviews. D & J came over Mon. night and we grilled out and the kids played. They have Ellie (almost 4) and Noah (2). Years and years ago when Julie was in highschool (ok- maybe not that long ago) she started coming to the youth program that we were doing at the church. She went to an Aquire the Fire weekend and gave her heart to the Lord. At this time, the youth of the church was going strong and she had lots of friends coming to the church. As the next year or so passed, some friends left or stopped coming and J remanined faithful. Dave had been working for Kevin's parents at the lab and Teresa (my sis-in-law) invited him to come to church - where....... you guessed it, he met Julie. Kevin married them on a very hot day in September - anybody remember that HOT day? Now, they live in Gahanna have 2 beautiful children, Dave is a Columbus Fire Fighter and Julie has received her Masters and is looking to be a Guidance Counselor. We are so proud of them! We are so glad that we were able to be a part of this family that God brought together.


On to the interviews - they are over! We interviewed 9 applicants. All of them were of good quality, but we feel we already know who would fit with us. It really didn't take much discussion. We are thankful about that. We were praying that the Holy Spirit would lead us to the right people. I believe that we are going to hire on 2 at this time. A Christian lady who is already a State Licensed Appraiser - she will receive the overflow of orders and requires no training. We will also hire an Apprentice that K will have to train. Our plan is to let them know our decision this weekend and have them start sometime in Aug. I feel a sense of relief as we have taken this step. Now we can move on and hopefully see Kevin working less hours, but maintaining income!


Abby has continued to awaken in the night and finally I have made contact with our Pediatrician to seek advice. They haven't gotten back with me yet. She was awake Sat night from 3am-6am - she slept well Sun night, but struggled to fall alseep Monday night and was awake from 5am - 7:30am Tues. morning. I am now having trouble sleeping even when she is sound asleep. I feel as though I am anticipating her to wake up and I am so tense that I can't relax. So, even the night that she slept all night - I only slept about 5 hrs and I had slept only 3 hours the night before and I believe about 3-4 hours last night. This is not enough for me! Hopefully the doc will have some advice.


Trying to keep it all in perspective, I am thankful that a sleeping problem is my only issue, I know she is healthy and strong and we may just have to get through this season - One good point - I have spent alot more time in prayer in the quiet morning hours! His strength is Perfect!
Pray for a good night's sleep!

Sunday, July 27, 2008

The Weekend




We had a wonderful weekend full of movies, swimming, yardwork, basement cleaning, a birthday party and playtime with cousins. Friday we took it easy, watched some TV and started some cleaning in the basement. It seems like things had just been piling up down there since May. We would get stuff out and not put it back where it should go and then it seems like the whole basement is out of control. I need to organize school totes and get ready for a new year. All the girls clothes are mixed up from the change of winter into spring/summer and that needs sorted. Party supplies are in "Meijer bags" everywhere and baseball/soccer uniforms are in piles on the floor. By afternoon the troops were restless and we headed outdoors for some scooter and bike riding. We ran to Meijer and then to pick up "Flyers" pizza (the best pizza in town). We watched the "Bee Movie" and called it a night.


The kids slept in beautifully (8:30am). After some breakfast we made "Amish Friendship Bread" - you know the kind that your neighbor gives you and you have to squeeze the bag for 10 days before you mix all the ingredients and bake the bread. The kids love it! We took some bread to Uncle Jim, Aunt Suzy & the boys - Kane and Gabriel. K & G ended up coming home with us and spending the rest of the day at our house. Our fun started with water - we swam, jumped on the trampoline with the sprinkler underneath, Kevin got into a game of dumping buckets on the kids, and we even put Kylo in the pool - she is a good swimmer! We thought about putting the bunny in, but we could never catch that rascally rabbit! We came inside dried off, had a snack and watched the Bee Movie again and then the kids dispersed into playing Wii and playing with toys. I went back to the basement to clean and sort some more.


Abby was up again in the night (3am-6am) and the whole time I kept thinking - "how will she make it through church today, she will be miserable - how will I make it through church, I will be miserable." But we made it through just fine and headed off to Savannah's 6th birthday party. We dropped of Jord and Rach and the rest of us headed home. Abby and I napped. Uncle Keith picked up the girls for us and brought them home. The fun weekend was not over yet though- Zach and Jord went home with Uncle Keith and Lexi to play at their house for a couple hours. Kevin and I took Rach and Abby out for some dinner - we ate outside at Chipolte (the girls had KFC) and the girls were great and fun to be with. They seemed very talkative and we really enjoyed the cute conversations that we had. We picked up Z & J, came home and actually did a few chores around the house (clean bunny cage, sweep, empty dishwasher and bring down laundry). 4 tired kids were eager to go to bed and so am I.


Pray that Abby sleeps all night. I believe that God has placed a plan in my heart to help with this "no sleeping" thing - I'll keep you posted!



Thursday, July 24, 2008

Dear Friends

Sorry that the pic is a little dark - we were outside the Olive Garden! Yummy!

Today we met a dear missionary friend from India for lunch. When Santosh Babu is in this area he stays with some other dear friends of ours - Don and Joan Hughes. Don and Joan were part of the core of the church that Kevin and I had pastored and they have remained a part of our lives and continue to be a blessing to us everytime we see them. We took Zach and Jord to lunch with us and they enjoyed talking to Santosh about life in India! Kevin spent 3 weeks in India back in 1994. Of course, he would love to go back and visit again someday - sounds like a father and son trip to me!!


Well, I need to start on dinner and work on some more laundry. My friend, Jamie and I are going over to the duplex that we own to clean one side tonight after the kids go to bed.

We have new tenants moving in this weekend.
Cleaning up your own mess is never fun and it's worse when it's someone else's mess! Oh the joy of being a property owner!

Stace

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Our Babysitter left Today

Our babysitter, Candice, left today for Louisiana for college. She started babysitting for us when she was 12. We would put Zach and Jord to bed and she would come to the house and stay while we went to catch a movie, a bite to eat or just go shopping. As the family grew and she got older she would feed them, bathe them and put them to bed. I always knew that if she ever needed help it was only a few steps away since her family lives across the street. I know she had to call on her mom to come help a few times over the years. We are not the only family here on Kellerman Ct. or in the subdivision wondering when we will ever go out again. She babysat for many families and was always busy. Everyone loved her because she was so good with the kids, she loved to play with them and she would always come to their birthday parties! She will be greatly missed here! If anyone knows of a great babysitter - I might be interested!

We spent the day running errands - post office, library, oil change and recycling. I have been recycling faithfully ever since my friend Melissa hooked me up with a big trash can and some bags. Thanks M! It saves us a lot of room in our big green dumpster (Jamie always said it would). We used to go up and down the street on trash night looking for a can that had some room in so that we could put a couple of our bags into it. Now everything fits great! I take the recycling bag to Sam's (they have lots of dumpsters there for recycling - and you don't have to sort) about once a week and I'm usually going that way anyway.

We scheduled interviews for Midwest Appraisal Services today. We will be interviewing 9 applicants on Mon/Tues. Please pray that we will be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit as we meet these people face to face. I'll update on this after the interviews.
Have a blessed day,
Stacy

Monday, July 21, 2008

Finally Nothing To Do

So, we have nothing scheduled for the next 2 weeks - absolutely nothing on the calendar except a hair appt for me. Already the kids have been asking , "What are we doing today?" I say, "nothing" and they are not sure what that means. We laid around this morning, watched some TV, then put away clothes, made beds and everyone straightened up their rooms a bit. After lunch we headed out to the pool. Abby needed a nap so I came inside and Rachel soon followed. She is now playing on another computer here beside me. Zach and Jord have been asking to invite friends over because they claim to be bored. Imagine that!

I have made a list of projects that I would like to tackle during this "time off". Some cleaning, scrapbooking of sorts and painting. We'll see how that goes.

Kevin is looking to hire some help for Midwest Apprasial Services and I need to contact the applicants today and schedule interviews for next week. This makes us very nervous as we would be letting a stranger into our business and lives. We have been prayerful and slow to move trying to follow what the Lord would have us do with this business. Kevin definately needs help - he works day and night and almost all weekend long. Pray that we would be sensitive to the leading of the Lord as we go through the interview process.

We also have to clean out one side of the duplex we own to get ready for new renters. They are set to move in Aug. 1st and the previous tentants moved out last week. We have a few simple tasks to accomplish before we can hand the keys over.

So really. is there nothing to do?

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Girls Sleepover








Last night was Jordan's sleepover for her birthday and it was wild and crazy as you can tell from the pics. We set up our basement for a concert. We had a sound system, microphones and stage lighting. The girls were jumping off chairs, singing and dancing. Zach was the DJ for the night and he played guitar and swung from the rafters. The girls ate pizza, went swimming, made some crafts, did the concert thing and watched a movie. Then it was back to crafts, manicures and then more crafts. This was a perfect party for Jord. Finally, the last eye closed around 3am and so did mine. This party was more work for me than Zach's party. The boys only wanted to play Wii and watch movies.


At this moment all girls are in bed, resting and I am going to do the same as soon as I finish this blog. Nothing else is planned for today except maybe some laundry and mowing - but even that could wait until tomorrow!


Thursday, July 17, 2008

A Visit with Great Grandpa


Today Zach and Jordan went to have lunch and spend a couple of hours with Great Grandpa Hall (Kevin's grandpa). He will be 98 this fall, and he is still going strong. The kids took their pictures from their Washington D.C. trip - they thought Great Grandpa would especially enjoy the pics from the WWII Memorial (since he served in that war). They played Apples to Apples with them, made a bug catcher and ate pizza. Hopefully, these times spent together will make memories that my Z and J can share with their own kids.

Rachel, Abby and I grabbed some lunch at Wendy's and then took some trash to dump at the lab(Kev's parents business), because we forgot to put our trash out - Melissa, this is when I miss you the most! When the Hutsell's lived across the street they would make sure that we did not forget to put our trash out - we've got no one on the street looking out for us anymore. Our trash day moves with each holiday so you have to keep up with it and I was never good at that. I depend on others to put their trash out early enough for me to notice and then I catch on that the trash truck will be coming in the morning. Oh well, at least I have somewhere that I can dump it when I do forget! Thanks R&L.

Imagine the being in Kev's truck with all kids, no air, windows down and the back filled with trash. STINKY!!! Rach has a sensitive nose anyways and she went on and on about the smell!

Well, Abby is in bed and Jord and I are heading to Michaels to look for a craft for her girl sleepover which is tomorrow night!


Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Boys Sleepover

It's 4:20am - I have 8 boys downstairs. 4 are asleep and 4 still awake playing Wii (baseball) in the basement. I have one girl who is awake - Abby- she wakes up in the night frequently and it usually takes her at least 2 hours or more to fall back asleep. She woke up around 1:30, I laid with her until 3:30 and I caught her getting out of bed at 4:15am. So, even if my house wasn't filled with boys I would be awake anyway tonight waiting for Abby to go back to sleep.
Now that baseball games are over, Zach is finally getting his birthday sleepover and Jordan will have hers Friday night. So really, we are not finished with birthdays yet, but I know the end is near.
I ordered my books for school today. I would like to start school on Aug 18th and get a couple weeks in before Labor Day. We are planning to go to Kokomo that weekend and the kids and I will stay the week there and have Kevin come back and get us the next weekend. So at least I will have a couple weeks into the school year before we take our first break! I can't believe I have a 6th grader. How did I make it this far? In the beginning, I was only going to homeschool for a couple of years and now here we are. We will be doing 6th grade, 3rd grade & Kindergarten this year! I'm looking forward to a real productive year - with Abby being older and not as unpredictable.
Well, I'm going to head off to bed and see if I can get some sleep before the first child rises in the morning. I'm already looking forward to naptime tomorrow!

Sunday, July 13, 2008

We Won & Jord's Birthday!






The Mudcats won the World Series of the 11-12 yr. old league. The game was stressful (for parents), but the kids had a great time and both teams played well. He was so excited!

As soon as the game was over and trophies handed out I rushed home to prepare for a birthday party that I had planned for the kids (Zach, Jord & Rach). It was a busy Saturday!

Today is Jordan's 8th Birthday! We went to church this morning - Jordan made a comment about how she loved going to church to worship the Lord on her birthday! We took her to lunch and then home to open presents. We had a couple of extra cousins that were over and we spent the rest of the day in the pool! It was a fun day.

All baseball games are over, all kids birthdays are past for this year.

I've posted pics of our busy weekend!


Friday, July 11, 2008

On to the World Series




Well, we won last night and Zach scored the winning run! It was very exciting! The score was tied and we were in extra innings. All we needed to do was score and we would win. The first batter struck out and Zach was up. After a ball and a strike he hit a single into center field and the winning run was on base. Another single was hit and Zach now was at 2nd. On a wild pitch he stole 3rd base. The next batter hit and Zach scored ! We are now the National League Champs and will play the World Series on Sat.
We pulled in to the field for last night's game and Rachel says, " Bubby's game again?" The girls have been real troopers - we bring buckets, shovels, cups and trucks and they play in the gravel and dirt. My girls love to get dirty.
Nana is leaving us today - she has loved being able to see these last couple of games.
It's always so nice to have her here.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Parks and Baseball

Today our homeschool group met at Homestead Park and we played at the water fort area. We brought a picnic lunch and got wet! We are home to rest for just a while and then we set off for Homestead Park again for Jordan's softball team's end of the year party. We are meeting at the park for a potluck dinner. From there we are heading to another playoff game for Zach. If his team wins tonight they will be the League Champs and play in the World Series Sat. afternoon.
I'm excited about all these games, but I am ready to have our evenings back! I'm ready to have dinner around my kitchen table again and not out of a cooler.
Please continue to pray for baby Max as he is in the hospital again. Pray for Heather, his mom, as well. They have discovered a new problem with his blood platelet counts and are awaiting tests today. He is having trouble keeping any food down so they have taken out the feeding tube and he is only on IV fluids. Heather said that when he is awake he just cries (and she can't hear him cry because of the trach in his throat, but she can see him cry) because he is so hungry. Until tests results are in they are not going to feed him. She tries to keep him sleeping because he is so unhappy when he is awake.
Last night Abby woke up around 1:30 and stayed awake until after 3:30, she was fussy and frustrated and so was I - but I tried to keep everything in focus. She is having a rough night - but she is healthy and strong, I can hear her cry and she was able to eat a snack without any problems. During the time I was awake last night I prayed for little Max- I pray that no other complications are detected and that he begins to gain weight as he keeps his food down. Lord, help me to appreciate all the blessings that you have given me and let me have a compassionate heart toward those who are in need.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

More Baseball & Birthdays

Zach wanted a couple of boys to sleep over for his birthday, but since his team was still in the playoffs he had a game last night and we postponed the sleepover. Wouldn't you know that just as the first inning was underway the skies opened up and poured rain, the game was canceled and rescheduled for tonight! We came home, dried off, and watched "Enchanted" - not exactly Zach's choice of a bd movie. He didn't complain much as he ate on his gigantic birthday cookie that his memaw brought him. If they win tonight they will play again tomorrow night for the American League Championship.
Today is my brother Matt's birthday - Happy Birthday Uncle Matt - we plan on calling you later.
We went to the library today for story time and for the first time Abby was really into it. We then went to Staples - they have pencils and hand sanitizer for $.01 so this is our 2nd stop this week. (My girls call it hand tanisizer). After a quick trip to Meijer we are all home and the girls are making bracelets with Nana and Zach is playing his new Wii game with a neighbor friend. Well, I need to do a few chores before we leave for the bb game, hopefully it won't rain on us tonight - Go Mudcats!

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Zach's 11th Birthday







Today is Zach's birthday! We had a few presents for him to open this morning. A "rip-stick" skateboard and the Indiana Jones game for the Wii. The girls got him a Narnia book to read, mechanical pencils and a bag of 3 Musketeers. After watching the instructional DVD we went outside to give this new skateboard a try. It is difficult to balance. He could only manage it for a few seconds. He decided to try his new Wii game and come back to the skateboard later.

Rachel also hit a milestone today - She can now ride a bike with no training wheels! While we were out shopping for Zach's birthday we picked her up a small bike (12 inch I think) and took the training wheels off of it. It was so easy for her to feel confident and concentrate on balancing instead of falling because she can easily put both feet on the ground. When she really has the hang of riding with no training wheels, we'll put her back on her "Dora" bike(16 inch) and take the training wheels off.

She is sooooo excited! What an already exciting day around here! We are going to Fazoli's for lunch today (Zach's BD choice), Nana is coming over and Zach has a playoff game tonight. If his baseball team wins tonight they will go on the play for the American League Championship. Go Mudcats! We are taking cupcakes and drinks to the game tonight to celebrate.
I thank the Lord for birthdays - they are so fun!




Sunday, July 6, 2008

Church & Block Parties



This morning we had to wake Zach and Jord to get ready for church - they are tired! I'm sure they will recover quickly though. Pastor Jesse spoke this morning about our Founding Fathers, freedom, and what we take for granted here in this country. As pastor was talking about a missionary friend of his in Kenya he began to cry. He spoke of how many of the pastors have been killed and his church of 200-250 people has gone to only a handful of people. If the people in his congregation are still alive - they are probably too scared to come to church.

Just think about the freedom that we have to worship and go to church. So many take for granted the opportunity to meet with God and fellow believers every week. What if that freedom were ever taken away? I sometimes think about what this country will be like for my kids. They need to know about the foundation of this country and the men who God entrusted its formation to. This past year in history, Zach has memorized parts of the Declaration of Independence, American's Creed & Gettysburg Address. Some of the leaders of this country would love for the next generation to forget that they have a great heritage in Christ in this country. I pray for great Christian leaders to rise up again to lead this country.

Well anyways, I need to start getting ready for our block party - setting up tables and chairs and making some food, and decorating Power wheels and bikes.


The pics are of the group that went to Washington DC. All of the adults are from my mom and dads church in Kokomo, In. A couple of those ladies were my Sunday School teachers when I was a little girl!

The other pic is Nana, Pappy, Zach and Jord in front of the Washington Monument.


Saturday, July 5, 2008

The kids come home today

The whole group will be pulling into our house around 4:00-4:30 today. There are 11 total. 9 adults and my 2 kids. They were in Hershey, PA last night and went to Hershey's Choc. World. On their way back to the hotel they watched some fireworks going off in the distance and just headed back to the hotel. Everyone was too tired to stay up and watch the whole fireworks show. I spoke with my mom this morning at 9:30am and she said that Jordan was already back asleep in the van. My kids will be exhausted, but I can't wait to see their excitement as they begin to tell us about all they did. We are prepared to stick their photo card in right away and look at pictures - Zach said that he has taken around 300 pics and Jord around 200. I know what we'll be doing all evening! First thing Rach said this morning is, "Jordy's coming home today!"

I have to put together food for the van of travelers coming today, so I will be cleaning and baking today. Tomorrow evening our court is having a 4th of July party so I also have to start preparing for that as well. The kids are meeting early to decorate their bikes, wagons, scooters, and power wheels for a mini-parade and then we will start grilling. Volleyball games, sack races and a water balloon toss should make for a fun evening.

Friday, July 4, 2008

4th of July

The kids get home tomorrow. Yeah! We really miss them around here. Today they are driving to Mount Vernon to George Washington's home. There is a big party planned for all the guests and George and Martha will be there to help with the entertainment. Then they are leaving from there this afternoon and heading to Hershey, Pa. to spend the night and maybe catch some fireworks. They will get home Sat. evening. Yesterday they spent the day seeing as many things as the could. Zach said that everyone was complaining about their feet hurting! He called me from an I-HOP at 9:30pm - they were just getting their dinner. I'm so glad that they are getting this opportunity! Thanks to Nana and Pappy for taking them along on this great American Adventure! I pray they come home with a greater sense of the faith that this country was founded on and the reality of the sacrifice that it has taken, and is still taking to keep this country free.
We are planning a day of cleaning (basement and garage type cleaning). We skipped parades this morning and we watched Columbus' famous "Red, White & Boom" on TV last night.
We are planning to take Rachel and Abby to see the local Hilliard fireworks tonight.

I do want to share about a cousin of mine and her little baby. Max was born on April 1st, not breathing, and was diagnosed with a diaphramic hernia. This had caused his lungs not to develop properly. At this point, he has a feeding tube, and a trach in his throat to help him breathe. His mom, Heather, can not even hear him cry. She is up at all hours checking on him. They believe he has suffered no brain damage and could grow into a normal boy with time. They also have two older boys and would like to start going to church with them (they can't take the baby out). Heather expressed her desire to grow in a relationship with the Lord and draw from His strength to get them through this time. Please help me pray for strength, peace, finances, and purpose for this family.

Well, Abby wants her "baby soup" on. That's a bathing suit. Laundry and cleaning awaits me!
Have a great 4th of July! God Bless America!

Thursday, July 3, 2008

My first blog

It seems all my friends are doing it, so finally I have taken the plunge and joined this group of bloggers. My intent is to let family and friends know what is going on in our lives. Being a homeschool family, we experience alot together.
Right now my two oldest children, Zach and Jordan are in Washington, D.C. with my parents and a few others from their church in Indiana. They left on Monday and will be back Saturday. So far they have visited the Capitol Building, Ford's Theatre, Arlington National Cememtary and Union Station. They are tired from all the walking, but the excitement has kept them going.
Kevin and I have been trying to show a good time to Rachel and Abby. We have taken them out to lunch, made playdates for them, taken them to see the Butterfly exhibit and the Franklin Park Conservatory and we are planning to go see a movie today and fireworks tomorrow. We are enjoying them, but I am missing the interaction with the older two. I'm looking forward to hearing from them today to see what they are going to do, is it too early to call yet?