Just getting back from NY still trying to unpack stuff, yikes....the rough part about traveling, plus we left Christmas day and left unopened toys under the tree or all over our living room.
Had a great time in NY, a little crazy trying to squeeze it all in, but all in all it was fun.
Beginning our clean up now and will post pictures later but I have to write this down or I will forget.
Jaden walked up to me today in the kitchen and looked up at me and said "PeePee" and I looked at him and asked him "Did you poop?" He looked at me, nodded his head and said "Yeah." So I looked at him and said "Do you want me to change you?" "He said "Yeah" and went off to the changing spot in the living room.
Seriously, I can't take how fast he's growing, he's not even 18 months yet (officially on Friday) but he's killing me, he is the last baby I'll ever have, he can't grow up too quick.
Fun pictures to post later.
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Rms 12:12
About Me
- Michelle
- Wife to the most amazing and loving husband, mother of four of the most beautiful children, child of a loving and gracious God.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Traditions
Every year we have our traditions, some old some new. Like most people we hang lights,
decorate a tree, put out our nativity, light our advent candles, hang our stockings
including a mini one for Jesus (the kids have written down the things they would like to give to Jesus during Christmas - mostly kindness, obedience and love)
of course we always bake cookies, although in recent years it's not quite as many, but still yummy.
The kids get to open one gift a night as we get closer to Christmas (otherwise we would spend all
day opening presents from grandparents and family members. Some new traditions we started 
this year was having the kids draw a name of another sibling from a hat, so rather than buying four gifts for each sibling this year they only had to buy one. Of course they are free to
make what ever other gifts they want for their siblings but we wanted to keep the focus off the toy and on the joy of giving. Soon we will begin finding ways to do service, like serving in a local food bank or at
a senior center or a children' s shelter, because I truly want my kids to learn the true meaning of giving and service. Unfortunately most places require you to be at least 12 years old. So we decided to
write letters to the soldiers serving their country who can't be with their family during Christmas as well as sending thank you notes to the Fire Department and Police Department.
decorate a tree, put out our nativity, light our advent candles, hang our stockingsincluding a mini one for Jesus (the kids have written down the things they would like to give to Jesus during Christmas - mostly kindness, obedience and love)
of course we always bake cookies, although in recent years it's not quite as many, but still yummy.The kids get to open one gift a night as we get closer to Christmas (otherwise we would spend all
day opening presents from grandparents and family members. Some new traditions we started 
this year was having the kids draw a name of another sibling from a hat, so rather than buying four gifts for each sibling this year they only had to buy one. Of course they are free to
make what ever other gifts they want for their siblings but we wanted to keep the focus off the toy and on the joy of giving. Soon we will begin finding ways to do service, like serving in a local food bank or at
a senior center or a children' s shelter, because I truly want my kids to learn the true meaning of giving and service. Unfortunately most places require you to be at least 12 years old. So we decided to
write letters to the soldiers serving their country who can't be with their family during Christmas as well as sending thank you notes to the Fire Department and Police Department.
My kids are so blessed to have the life they live I just want them to understand that fact and appreciate what God has given us. So through the cookies, decorations and Santa (although they are starting to get a little hip to him - they ask lots of questions) we want them to just be thankful, that we are celebrating the birth of Jesus and the true meaning of Christmas.
Thankful for the life we have and why we have this Wonderful Life. (I know very cliched but very appropriate ...and yes this picture of the girls sledding with the neighbors was taken from the car...I really don't like the cold). Hope you enjoy the pictures and have a very
MERRY CHRISTMAS.
MERRY CHRISTMAS.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Our first real Blizzard
So the weather man keeps saying we are going to have record snow falls, and I do believe he is correct because as of 9:00am this morning we already had about 9" of snow with the heaviest not due until noon.
Well now it's 2:30 and Kaleigh and Michael are outside and she can't even stand in it because it's up to her waste almost.
By the way almost all of these pictures are taken from the inside, I refuse to go out in this crazy weather.
9:00am
11:45, my poor dog couldn't go out back because the snow was too deep for her until Michael was able to shovel a path for her to go.
2:30 poor Kaleigh couldn't even walk, I'm pretty sure it's almost 20" by now.
The view from the girls window in their room.
Michael taking a rest on a large pile of snow after shoveling for a while.
This is only round 1 of shoveling.
Well now it's 2:30 and Kaleigh and Michael are outside and she can't even stand in it because it's up to her waste almost.
By the way almost all of these pictures are taken from the inside, I refuse to go out in this crazy weather.
9:00am
11:45, my poor dog couldn't go out back because the snow was too deep for her until Michael was able to shovel a path for her to go.
2:30 poor Kaleigh couldn't even walk, I'm pretty sure it's almost 20" by now.
The view from the girls window in their room.
Michael taking a rest on a large pile of snow after shoveling for a while.
This is only round 1 of shoveling.Thursday, December 17, 2009
My new friend Julie
My friend Julie has been in town this past week. Julie is a missionary in Budapest Hungary, we met three years ago when she came to the missions conference but didn't stay in touch until I started reading her blog and she began reading mine. Our friend Leighann put it best Virtual meets Reality. Amazing how you can become friends with people when you have a common interest eventhough you've never met. Once you meet Julie, it's like you've known her forever, she has such a heart as a mother, and a wife to her husband Zach.
This past February Julie's son Eli, she has two (Eli is 5 and Jasper is 2 - cutie pies) had a blood clot behind his hear and an infection in the bone behind the ear (sorry Julie I know I'm not doing the medical stuff justice). For months she stayed in the hospital with him in a Hungarian hospital waiting for the infection and cranial pressure to decrease. Eli still has the blood clot but it is not life threatening any more and they are praying that they will eventually find a way to get rid of this clot.
So through all of that I prayed for healing for her sweet little boy and the chaos of a life with a child in a hospital with an illness (unfortunately I know this experience all too well). Our shepherd group adopted this family and sent them a care package that happen to arrive the day Eli got home (no we did not plan on the date, God was completely in control) but it turned out to be a huge blessing for them and we rejoiced with his healing and prayed when he still had to do daily shots of steroids until they didn't have to do it anymore.
My friend Courtney held a dessert party for Julie while she was hear, on top is the picture of the ladies in our shepherd group (Heather, Abi, Julie, me and Sarah - we were missing Dana and Lisa). Below is a picture of all the ladies in Courtney's house, it was truly a blessing to be able to sit with these women and talk. I think we all would have stayed all night had we all not had small children. Unfortunately a couple of the mom's had to leave early so they were not in the picture but it was nice to see them anyway. Thank you Courtney for opening up your home. I am so blessed to be in such amazing company.
Megan, Heather, Courtney, Leighann, Julie,Karen, Sarah, me and Abi.
This past February Julie's son Eli, she has two (Eli is 5 and Jasper is 2 - cutie pies) had a blood clot behind his hear and an infection in the bone behind the ear (sorry Julie I know I'm not doing the medical stuff justice). For months she stayed in the hospital with him in a Hungarian hospital waiting for the infection and cranial pressure to decrease. Eli still has the blood clot but it is not life threatening any more and they are praying that they will eventually find a way to get rid of this clot.
So through all of that I prayed for healing for her sweet little boy and the chaos of a life with a child in a hospital with an illness (unfortunately I know this experience all too well). Our shepherd group adopted this family and sent them a care package that happen to arrive the day Eli got home (no we did not plan on the date, God was completely in control) but it turned out to be a huge blessing for them and we rejoiced with his healing and prayed when he still had to do daily shots of steroids until they didn't have to do it anymore.
My friend Courtney held a dessert party for Julie while she was hear, on top is the picture of the ladies in our shepherd group (Heather, Abi, Julie, me and Sarah - we were missing Dana and Lisa). Below is a picture of all the ladies in Courtney's house, it was truly a blessing to be able to sit with these women and talk. I think we all would have stayed all night had we all not had small children. Unfortunately a couple of the mom's had to leave early so they were not in the picture but it was nice to see them anyway. Thank you Courtney for opening up your home. I am so blessed to be in such amazing company.
Megan, Heather, Courtney, Leighann, Julie,Karen, Sarah, me and Abi.Playseum
So my missionary friend Julie came to town for a week (I'll post more on Julie on the next post so you can see better pictures of her) and we got to go to the Playseum in Bethesda, MD. Having wanted to take the kids on a field trip to something fun, but not wanting to do it by myself at least a big place like the Maryland Science Center (although we've been there and it's awesome) this place was exactly what I needed. It was recommended by two other mom's one of them being my dear friend Courtney (she always finds out the skinny on things quickly - not sure where she finds the time with four children of her own ..LOL). So I planned a trip and asked Julie (who is an American Missionary living in Budapest Hungry home for a month if she wanted to go while she was in town), she did and so when she came we took my four and her two adorable little boys. It was great because this place is completely contained so you can't lose any kids and there is a lot to do there, even for an 8 and 6 year old who sometimes get board with "little kid things" but they were totally entertained and after 2 1/2 hours I had to ask them if they were hungry enough to stop and eat and of course they weren't but eventually they were and so we ate a still played a little before we left. The place was clean, cheap and easy to get too, it took all of 35 minutes to get there, totally worth the trip. The kids asked when we could come back and bring Daddy with us.
Supermarket shopping was a big hit.
The Cozy Cars were the first things you saw when you walked in and the first thing the kids wanted to do.
Yes Madison is wearing a wig, there was one thing this place was not short on a ton of dress up stuff including hats, wigs, clothes, I was grateful that the place is really new because I hate to think about all the germs of other people touching this stuff.
Sandbox to dig.
Jaden loves animals, it was cool to see the pet room with rabbits, birds, hamsters and a frog.
The icecream shop that doubled as a bakery.
Kaleigh and her goldie locks wig.
I couldn't get Madison to take this wig off.
Julie's sweet little boy Jasper.
How cool was this you get to paint on the wall.
Puppet theater.
The music room was a big hit. Glad it's not my house.
Toddler room although the big kids did not want to leave.
Grandma's attic where they were trying to get the typewriter to work, it did.
An exercise trampoline (my beautiful friend Julie in the background.)
never one to miss a slide.
And of course a beauty salon where you could do your hair, nails and of course dress up.
Whoo000, pooped it was a long day for him, he had too much fun.
Supermarket shopping was a big hit.
The Cozy Cars were the first things you saw when you walked in and the first thing the kids wanted to do.
Yes Madison is wearing a wig, there was one thing this place was not short on a ton of dress up stuff including hats, wigs, clothes, I was grateful that the place is really new because I hate to think about all the germs of other people touching this stuff.
Sandbox to dig.
Jaden loves animals, it was cool to see the pet room with rabbits, birds, hamsters and a frog.
The icecream shop that doubled as a bakery.
Kaleigh and her goldie locks wig.
I couldn't get Madison to take this wig off.
Julie's sweet little boy Jasper.
How cool was this you get to paint on the wall.
Puppet theater.
The music room was a big hit. Glad it's not my house.
Toddler room although the big kids did not want to leave.
Grandma's attic where they were trying to get the typewriter to work, it did.
An exercise trampoline (my beautiful friend Julie in the background.)
never one to miss a slide.
And of course a beauty salon where you could do your hair, nails and of course dress up.
Whoo000, pooped it was a long day for him, he had too much fun.
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