Sleepover Palooza 2011

I've decided that I really need a "I survived my daughter's sleepover" t-shirt. WOW! I have forgotten the whirlwind caused by a group of nine-year-old girls. Hurricane Irene ain't got nothin' on these girls. Next year I will need a support group so I can phone a friend in my time of crisis! :)
All in all, it was a fantastic evening and the girls had a great time. I however, have swollen eyelids from lack of sleep and the caffeine is not kicking in yet. Like I said, I need a t-shirt because I survived it....unscathed......mostly.

Communion, Birthdays, Lots of Updates

It's been a whirlwind since February. My baby boy turned sixteen! I can't believe that. My baby girl turned FOUR, and MK had her first communion. I have lots of pictures to share with you. I hope you enjoy them.
Love to all!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Today began the year of the Rabbit. We had a great celebratory day at our home.

We had a huge dinner of Gingered Chicken and Broccoli, Oranges, Egg Rolls, Steamed Rice and Hot Tea. We used Quinny's red and turquoise tea set from China. The girls wore their beautiful dresses, and we played both traditional and contemporary Chinese music for dinner. Afterwards we celebrated with jelly-filled spongecake, fortune cookies, and firecrackers on the back deck. Yes, the deck is still there.

Mother Nature, What Have You Done?

Boo Hoo - My Mother's Day Willow Tree..10 years old. :(

Frozen berries on John's trees across the street

The McKim Observatory - Beautiful no matter what the weather holds.

Me - Beautiful no matter what the weather holds! :)

Alex - Spending as much time with him as I can....Two more years and he's gone..

We have been battered by an ice storm. Two days off of school so far, and the kids have been pretty well behaved.......so far. (It's still 8:30 a.m. and only one of them is up.)

Yesterday Alex and I walked to the dentist over by Kroger. Our car is frozen solid, and currently Henning's tree is in our driveway.

So far, we've lost the Willow tree, and many large branches from some of the older trees. This pleases me, since they were rotting and needed to come down anyway. However, there are just as many mangled ones dangling up there in the tree now.

It was so quiet walking to the dentist yesterday. Like today, yesterday there weren't any cars on the road, so it was peaceful. You could hear his high school bells ringing from over a mile away.

We took lots of pics on our one mile hike to the dentist, and I didn't even have a cavity!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011!!

What a great night last night! We saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in Terre Haute and ate at Steak and Shake. We got home at about 9:00ish, and the kids made New Year Hats. When the ball dropped we were all together hand in hand yelling Happy New Year!! It was a very special moment, and one I'll never forget. Hand in hand....our little family celebrating the future together. I love my family! I hope you all have a great new year full of adventure, love, God, and family. Peace.

Christmas Card Pictures!

Once again, we have taken the annual Christmas Card. Showering on a Saturday goes against my personal protocol, but when it's all finally over, I'm always glad we take the time to make those cards. It's stressful, somebody usually ends up crying and we have to take a five minute break here and there, and every time, and I do mean everytime, it gets harder and harder to find a good picture of yours truly. I can understand now why people get nipped and tucked! I look tired!! Now, maybe it's the four children and full time job, but I'm telling you, I need PhotoShop on my computer! We did have a great time and MK and Q were troopers! They are hams! I have included several of the pictures from our "shoot" today!