REWARD! for someone who actually cares.

This trophy could be yours just for being nice. I've hired these 4 beautiful ladies to help get the word out that I still have a blog. Is anyone out there still checking my blog? Does anyone even care any more? First comment will get a special dedication post.

Mary wants to be a "luthier"

Ok, class, who knows what a "luthier" is? I can hear Jeopardy's theme song playing right now, as the wheels in your heads are turning. I'm about to give you the answer by way of pictures, so scroll down and start guessing.....

I'll give you a hint....the luthier is wearing the green apron

Second hint, it has something to do with violins

And the answer is: A luthier is someone who makes and fixes violins. A month ago, we rented a book from the library on violins. The word, "luthier," kept coming up, sparking Mary's attention. At our next violin lesson, she asked her teacher for more facts about a luthier and wouldn't you know it, her violin teacher was going to see a luthier to have her violin bow re-haired. She invited Mary to come along. We found out many facts such as:

The best kind of horse hair for a bow comes from male Siberian horses.

The best wood to make a bow is grown only on trees in Brazil.

The glue that is used to put violins together is not Elmer's.

A luthier tends to like cats for her pets.

Our luthier was a very, nice lady that allowed us to come into her home and look around her studio. She took a lot of time to answer all of Mary's questions, even the silly ones like, "Did you ever cut yourself with one of those knives?" (for those of you still wondering, the answer is, yes she has, but nothing serious.) As we were getting ready to leave, the luthier took a book off of her shelf, and gave it to Mary. She said, she enjoyed meeting her and wanted her to have it. As I tucked Mary into bed that evening, she was holding her book under her arm. She looked up at me with the biggest grin on her face and said,
"Mommy, I really wish I could be a luthier right now." It was a good day!

Anna Grace....again!!!

Yesterday, I had a particularly busy day with the kids. First of all, I had made chocolate pudding and put it in a glass container in the refrigerator. The next time the refrigerator door was opened....CRASH! There were tiny slivers of glass and chocolate pudding everywhere! I began wiping the pudding that was dripping down the cabinets and clearing away glass. My little bare foot children stood watching on the sidelines with their mouths hanging wide open. Well, almost all of them were standing there watching. I didn't notice that one was missing. Anna Grace seized the moment (and my lipstick) and took off. When I stood up and turned around, I saw this...







Why is it that whenever there is trouble, I am always bumping into this face?!!

The Hershey Kiss

I got one of those huge Hershey kisses for Valentines Day. I was using it for decoration on my dining room table. It looked so cute there among my flowers and heart decorations. One day as I was passing through the dining room, I encountered this:

At first, I was shocked and then frightened. Did we have mice?! And could those mice unwrap that foil with such deliberate intentions? I mean, what else would leave those bucky tooth marks?!!! It had to be a mouse, or could it be somebody living within the 4 walls of my home? It was now time for me to get all dental records on everyone in this entire household.


and the guilty party is...........................

Anna Grace, my dessert-deprived child!

Well, ya know, they say that chocolate has its "health benefits." If that's true, than my Annie is the healthiest girl on earth!


PS This statement has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
Who are those people anyway? Do they approve anything anymore?

Matthew's art

Matthew got an art set for Christmas and here is what he has been doing. When he brought me the first picture, I didn't believe that he drew it. I thought he had traced it. He said, "No, I didn't trace it. I just followed the directions in my book." So, with me hovering over him, he took out his book and made the second picture. Honestly, I still wouldn't believe he made these if I wasn't standing right beside him. But I can assure you, this is all of his work! Brace yourself now...you're in for a treat.

 
 
 
 

I'm lovin the little signature on this one! 

Stars On Ice

I took the kids ice skating about two weeks ago. It was their first time being out on the ice. In case anyone is wondering, I got first place in an ice skating competition when I was 9 years old. I had to do "forward skulling" and "backward skulling." I think now would be the perfect time to share with you, my reading friends, that REBECCA KATHLEEN HAS STILL GOT IT. I was a forward-skulling maniac out there!

 

Emma, brave and fearless as always. I said to her, "Emma, step out onto the ice and let me take your picture." Well didn't that little dare devil take TWO steps out onto the ice! She was pretty stinken hilarious out there on those two tiny skates.

 

My back is still hurting from this business.

 

Despite the fact that an entire school showed up while we were ice skating, we still had fun.-and let me tell you, that didn't stop me ONE bit, from showing off my skating abilities to my daughters and my nieces....ok, and maybe the entire school. Hey! I bear the name "First Place Forward Skuller" proudly! (sounds like I should have earned a wrestling belt intead of a blue ribbon.) 

Grandpa's Little Helpers

 
We went to visit Grandpa and Grammie Browning last week. Grandpa had to unload a whole bunch of wood and Emma wasn't about to let him have all the fun for himself.
 
It didn't take long for my masculine men to come out to help Grandpa get the work done.
 
 
Mikey ended up outlasting everyone. Joel and I had gone out on a date and when we returned, Mikey was still working away. Grandpa told us that at one point, he had to make him stop and go inside to rest for a little bit. But our little workaholic was pulling him off the recliner saying, "C'mon Grandpa, we have to go do work." So, DeAnna, he may be afraid of cows, but rest assure that your Isabella will be getting a hardworking man as her husband! :o) 

Christmas

Ok, so I'm a little late in posting here but I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. We had a wonderful time just being together. It was wonderful having Dad, Mom and Krissy home. I was the designated driver to the airport and I must say it was much more fun picking them up than dropping them off. It's so hard to drive away, with tears in your eyes, not knowing when we'll see eachother again. I certainly am thankful for the wonderful memories we made together this past Christmas. -Can I say "wonderful" one more time? (awkward!)

Here are a couple of the kids' favorite presents.



Emma was thrilled to finally have an outfit to match what she's always known to be true, "I am THE princess of this home!" The child has not taken her outfit off since she received it.




Joel was equally as thrilled with his Spiderman costume. Hang on here, oh nope that's Mikey. (Sorry, the abs and pecs were throwing me off.) I can't tell you how many times Mikey has come running around the corner and scared the bologna outta me. Of course he thinks it's hilarious that he made me scream, and will spend the rest of the day trying to scare me. It's very cute to hear the giggles under that mask.



Wow! and to think that Superman is actually able to lift off and fly with that bulk! I must say that I feel completely secure with all these superheroes in my home. 

11 years!

 


"I wish I could tell you the day, the hour, the minute my love for you became real. I only know it seems I've loved you forever."

December 16th was our 11th anniversary. When I said my vows to Joel, my heart was overflowing with love and I remember thinking, "I can't possibly love this man any more!" Little did I know that my heart would grow and so would the love within it.

"Love is what makes two people sit in the middle of a bench when there's plenty of room at both ends." Joel, I will always sit in the middle of the bench with you! :o) 

RARRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!

Man Mom! and you thought you had big geckos in Florida! Get a load of the lizard I found in my living room, just waiting to scare us, and waiting and waiting and waiting.... 
"Ho-hum, I'm a bored little lizard just looking for someone to scare."

 

I explained to my little lizard that perhaps she didn't look verocious enough and made a suggestion that she should get into an attack position before scaring me. Ready, set...ACTION!

 

"RARRRRRRRRR" -wooo-weee! THAT did it! I'm scared all over again! (By the way, do lizards say, "rarrr"? Oh, well. This one did, and it sure scared the bologne outta me!) 

Prayer

I just wanted to share something that I just read because it was so encouraging. I haven't been feeling too well for the last several days. I've been sick, weak and exhausted. This morning, I sat down to read the Bible and quietly whispered, "Lord, please give me something. I'm so tired and so exhausted and I don't even know how to ask for help." Then, I "just happened" to open my Bible to Luke 18:1. It says, "Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart." I guess you could say that I've "lost heart." I haven't been talking to the Lord like I know I should and I've completely worn myself out trying do everything on my own. In my stupidness, I've even thought, "Well God knows my heart. He knows what I'm going through," and have continued racing through my days. So, my excuse for not praying has been God's omniscience. How silly! I take a wonderful attribute of God and instead of praising Him for it, I use it as an excuse to not talk to Him. Well, as I continued reading the chapter about the parable of the widow who was persistent upon asking the judge to help her with her legal matters, it occurred to me that this is how we should be with the Lord. I read something interesting that said, "If an unrighteous judge responds to constant pressure, how much more will a great and loving God respond to us?" My persistent praying is to help me grow in the Lord, not because He needs to be reminded of my needs over and over again. Of course God knows my heart, but He wants me to pray because it helps me to grow closer to Him. How can we see the Lord working in our lives if we are not praying?

Daniel 2:21 "And He changeth the times and the seasons"

 
 
Miss Annie was enjoying a beautiful fall day last week. She had fun collecting leaves and examining them. She loved throwing them up in the air and watching them fall to the ground. When Daddy and Mommy had a leaf fight, she thought that was hysterical. I love her little giggles!

 
After throwing leaves in the air for the 987th time, she thought it would be fun to run through the leaves. She took off as fast as her little chubby legs would take her. She was giggling and listening to the crunchy sounds beneath her feet. It's so much fun to see the excitement in her eyes when she notices something for the first time. She loves to be outside. I'm sure we'll have lots of snowy pictures to share very soon. I can't believe Christmas is just around the corner! 

My Mikey is FIVE!

 

I can't believe that my little, drooly face, baby Mikey turned 5 years old this week. It seems like it was yesterday that I took him to have this photo taken. I walked into the photo studio and laid him on this big blue bean bag chair. As soon as I laid him on his belly, his forehead went straight down. He decided that he needed a quick snooze. I had enough sleeping pictures of him and really wanted an awake picture of my little man, but there was no way that he was going to pick up that little head off of that comfy bean bag chair. The photographer and I were calling, "Mikey....ohhh Miiiiiiiikey, come on baby, wake up and look at Mommy." He would try so hard to lift his head and then it would just go right back down. Since he was having his picture taken in the mall, he was displayed in the window for all to see. There was quite a crowd gathered around that window. Everyone was giggling and "ahhing" over my sleepy, little baby laying in just his diaper on that big, ole bean bag chair. After a few more attempts, my little 6 week old baby finally found the strength to lift his head, just for a second, and this was the photo that was captured.
 

And now, my 5 year old little man proudly holds his head up high displaying the age that we can now refer to as, "a WHOLE hand."

 
Mikey enjoyed all of his gifts but none so much as the gift that he received from my in-laws. They had put several different toys in a bag for him. The first thing that he pulled out of the bag was a little robot. "Awwwwe-thum," he said. He dug back into his bag and pulled out a set of match box cars. He smiled big and went digging for more treasures. The next thing he took out was a set of coloring books and crayons. He was thrilled with that! Coloring is one of his favorite hobbies! But, none of these things earned the squeal of delight as the next item that he was about to pull out of the bag. The tissue paper went flying, and his head was buried into the bag. All we heard was a huge gasp with a series of giggles. And, this is what he pulled out......(drumroll, please)..........


 
TIC TACS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No other birthday will ever compare to this one. Being five is good, or in the words of my sweet Mikey, "Awwwww-thum!"
 

School time or Snack time?

 
 

Little Annie-fannie thought it was snack time when I said, "School time" and didn't she just weeble-wobble right on over to Matt, set her yogurt covered raisins down next to him, and watch him do math. Man, oh man! will she be disappointed when she understands what I really said! -SCHOOL? not SNACK!...big time bummer!