Thankful Thursday...

Today, I am thankful....

1) That just yesterday at 6 PM, I was able to talk my friend Cathy into hopping on a train headed for Buffalo at 1:45 this morning. She arrived around 9:30, and we are all thrilled about her visit (so why am I blogging, you might ask?! She is catching up on a little sleep since she missed a few hours on the train!)
2) For her sake, that the train was not delayed long this time! If you've ever traveled on Amtrak, you know that is a HUGE accomplishment!
3) That this is just ONE week in our life.... what do I mean by that?!! IT'S CRAZY!!!! Scott is totally overloaded at work for many reasons, but the biggest one: the BIG XFM Kick-off/event tomorrow night. 15 bounce houses, ALL of the mascots from the teams of Buffalo (Bills, Bisons, Bandits, Sabres!), a professional drama team, an amazing program, and tons of candy. Seriously, if you have a young family and live in WNY, you should come!!! Doors open at 6:15! :) Anyway, I'm done marketing.... back to my thankful Thursday post.... I am thankful that every week of our lives is NOT like this one and is not lived at this pace!
4) For a really cool opportunity to work with a team and speak at MOPS next Thursday. It's just neat how this came about, and I'm excited to talk with women about connecting with God.
5) For the sunshine! Hoorah for sunshine!

Have a great day!

Fun (AND COLD!) Day at the Farm!

Wow! What a day! I've never been to a pumpkin farm with SNOW before.... but today was the day! Yikes!!! It was COLD, but I still had a good time with Mrs. Gervase's kindergarten class! I even survived the bus ride (were the seats always that high?!!)

On the hayride

Yes, indeed folks.... he's catching snowflakes ON the hayride!!!

Gage and Aaron.... each holding their first snowball of the season (Indian summer, where are you?!!)

Needless to say, Aaron enjoyed the pony ride again on this farm trip!

During the tour, I wondered why I haven't talked to Aaron more about growing up on a farm....

And about the fact that I know firsthand how much little piggies like to nibble!

Holding hands with his favorite gal, Erin! They are really good buddies, and she is SUPER sweet, too!

Updates....

Praise report!!! Baby Stellan is doing well at this point.... and is adorable. Check out this sweet little guy HERE.

Also, an addition to the speechless video from earlier today.... yes, I agree with your comments.... it also leaves me heartbroken and angry, too. I guess I am not entire speechless.... I will be voting on Tuesday which, I guess, is my voice in this nation; however, I have to admit, it's pretty disheartening to even vote in a state which is already colored blue on every map.... ahh, if only I lived in a "battle ground state"....

And a little flashback, my friend, Elizabeth, from my college days had a great post on why the government's involvement in the abortion issue is a huge deal. Makes ya think.... check it out HERE.

And one other note, my heart aches for women across the country during every election season.... and every day, for that matter. If you are one of the millions who has walked the road of abortion, I hope you can hear and receive these words from the bottom of my heart.... I love you. I absolutely love you. And my even greater hope is that you know that your loving Creator adores you, too.....

Get the kleenex first.... consider yourself warned....

What a beautiful tribute to an amazing little boy. Every life counts....

Click here.

Some things leave me speechless at moments....

Praying for mckmama!

You might have noticed the picture in my sidebar of "mckmama" and her kiddos.... I've been praying for her and her little Stellan for many months. Well, Stellan's birthday has finally arrived.... would you join me in praying for little Stellan and the entire family as this precious child enters the world?!! There are a lot of unknown factors.... but KNOWN to God! Her blog is www.mycharmingkids.net

Another round of tag!

Okay, okay, so "tag" keeps making its rounds in the blogging world. But I do think this one is kind of fun! My friend, Jodie, tagged me.... The rules are to take the fourth picture from your fourth picture folder on your computer and write about it. Then you are to tag four people to do the same. Here ya go:This picture was from last April on Aaron's preschool field to the farm. I laughed when this picture popped up.... because I'm headed to the same farm with him TOMORROW for his kindergarten class field trip!!! It will be a little different this time though, as we will be ALL bundled up in winter coats and boots.... I'm sure it will be muddy from all of the rain, and the high is only 40 with POSSIBLE snow throughout the day. Yeah, you might send up a prayer for me.... another round of room mom duties: I'll be riding the bus on this 45ish minute trip!!! :)

So, now I'm tagging: Lisa, Melanie, Anne, and Krista L. (you know you love it, girls!! HA!)

Talking Vegetables!

The Chapel hosted "Veggie Tales Live" tonight! My parents pulled into town this afternoon just in time to join us, and we had a great time! My favorite moment of the whole night was when Larry walked on stage for the first time (do cucumbers "walk"?! Huh.... food for thought....) ANYWAY.... when Larry walked/hopped on stage for the first time, Isaac shouted, "Hi Larry. Come my house?" It was adorable!!! Also, the whole story line of the show was that Bob was missing after the first couple of songs.... when Bob finally showed up again at the end of the show, Isaac's ENTIRE face lit up! It was so cute! Both of the boys loved the show.... it was a great night out!

Just hanging out, waiting for the show to start....

Scott was on stage to do the intro.... Isaac enjoyed yelling, "Hi Daddy!"
Clapping and dancing with Grandma!

Thankful Thursday...

Today, I am thankful....

1) That my parents will arrive this afternoon. Can't wait to see them! As we walked down the stairs first thing this morning, Isaac said, "Where is grandpa?!" Yep, he's excited, too!
2) For a great time at "Mom to Mom" this morning.... I'm excited about the group.... and I'm excited that the teaching this morning challenged me, too.
3) For sunshine today!
4) For my hubby's willingness to provide for our family through his hard work and efforts.
5) For our furnace!!! We've had some chilly days here in NY....

Blessings to you today!

Next Season on "Dancing with the Stars"

This, my friends, is why I love the art of Photo Shop.... I wish I could laugh with the person who did this!!!

You've gotta see this....

.... little prodigy! My dad sent me this link, and this little man floored me.... such a cool story of victories.... both on the course and off of it! :)

Kyle Lograsso @ Yahoo! Video

A little delay

I just uploaded a bunch of pics from my camera and realized that I never posted some of these fun ones from Aaron's birthday. Enjoy!

When I went to Aaron's class to deliver cupcakes, I got to witness the classroom's birthday tradition.... Aaron stood on the chair and held the "birthday bear" while they sang "Happy Birthday" to him.

I love this picture of Aaron and Mrs. Gervase. After singing "Happy Birthday," the kids add "How old are you? How old are you?...." and pause for the birthday boy/girl to scream out their age. This is Mrs. Gervase's response, waiting for Aaron's response each time. And then, all of the kiddos clapped 6 times in honor of his birthday! So cute! I love kindergarteners! :)

Later that day, we celebrated as a family at home with balloons, cake, and presents!

Silly little brother.... all covered in cake, making "muscles"! :)

Trying out his new "carpet skates".... super fun!

The arrival....

Well, the weather folks were right. When we walked out of the mall last night at 8:00 PM, I officially saw it.... the boys cheered.... my jaw dropped. Snow. The real stuff. The white stuff. This picture was taken this morning (not the best pic but you can still kind of see it).... yep, still snowing this morning.... but thankfully, not sticking!

If you'd like to see pictures of what happened in Buffalo two years ago in October, check out this post at my friend Amy's site. Everybody is still talking about the "October storm".... the one that hit while the leaves were still on the trees and caused major, major damage.

I heard it.....

..... really, I did. Last night, Scott and I were watching the 11:00 news (please note, not a wise I idea when one's children get up around 6 AM!) Anyway, that was when it happened.... I heard the word on the weather portion.... you know, THE word.... possible "S-N-O-W" in the forecast. Not a big "S-N-O-W".... just the possibility. Oh me, oh my.... here we go.... bring it on, Buffalo!

Critter Update....

.... the fish lived!!! Hoorah!

.... no signs of the snake again!!! Hoorah #2!

Critters!

Well, we've had an interesting week as it pertains to new critters at our house....

First, we have two new pets....

These beautiful bettas were a part of the centerpieces at the wedding in Indiana last week; then, the bride and groom sent them home with guests after the wedding. We knew that our boys would enjoy them, so we agreed to adopt two. Thankfully, "Peyton and Buzz" survived the trip to NY. However, today while we were on a walk and at the park, Buzz was apparently on a suicide mission. I was cleaning out their "tank" and they were both in two little bowls waiting to go back to the tank. However, when we came back, Buzz was laying beside the bowl on a towel... yes, he had jumped out. I put him back in the water, and he is currently still alive but is quite lethargic. Not sure if he'll make it or not. Oh no! I'm really hoping that we don't have to flush him! :(

Then, we had a not-so-welcome visitor the other day. When I opened the garage door to head to town, this critter greeted me....
I'm not overly afraid of snakes, but I certainly don't love them (however, that's a different story for my husband....) After using a broom to get him off the driveway, I decided to "take one for the team" (because my hubby would have been mortified if this had happened to him....) and beat him with the broom. Yep, I thought he was dead.... even though I couldn't bring myself to use a hoe or a shovel. However, when I returned home from town, he was gone. Oops.... I guess the PETA folks would be pleased.... I'm just hoping that he doesn't rear his ugly head (literally....) again!

So what do you do?!!

Arg! I'm frustrated.... I woke up to Isaac yelling, "Mommy, where are you?!! Mommy, where are you?!!" at 1 A.M. While he went back to sleep quite easily, I cannot. I tried.... and gave up.... so, I've watched a movie, I have caught up on Facebook and Google Reader..... and I'm still not tired. Yet, it's 4:47 in the morning....

So, what do you do?!! Do you stay in bed and toss and turn for hours.... or do you just give in and get up?!! That's my poll for today....

Now, I'm going to try the first option.... go and toss and turn; hopefully, it will pay off.... and if not, I'll be sneaking in a nap at some point later instead.....

Woa, flashbacks....

Okay, a little trivia for today:

Name that baby!

#1

#2

Yep, these two can't deny each other.... definitely brothers!!! We have a screen saver set up on our computer that rolls continuously through all of the pictures on our hard drive.... amazingly enough, two spaghetti pictures.... two different boys.... rolled up right in a row! When mommy has to think twice about their identity, you know they have some similarities! :)
- For the answer, see the comments!

Ahh, election season....

.... I am guessing that most of you are as ready for this to be over with as I am. Just a few bits of encouragement to share....

Check out the Peppler's blog.... great perspective for any believer....

Also, if you have some time, our pastor preached an incredible message entitled "Jesus and Politics." Simply click on THIS LINK, scroll back to 2/17/08, and soak it up! A great word for this time of uncertainty!

Hi, Joe the Plumber....

.... it's nice to "meet you" now that you're famous!

(if you endured the debate last night, you KNOW who Joe the Plumber is!)

Thankful Thursday...

(Is it really Thursday again already?!!)

Today, I am thankful....

1) For an amazing weekend in Indiana. It blessed my socks off.... really (I'm barefoot right now.... ha!)
2) For a great morning at MOPS. We had a team of "Wiser, Older Women" address questions from the group. It was encouraging.... and I had a good time with the ladies at my table, too!
3) That Scott went in at 6:00 this morning and will be home a touch earlier this afternoon! Yippe! Hoorah for family time tonight!!! I love it!
4) That I FINALLY got the laundry from the baskets at the top of the stairs put away this morning (I'm not willing to confess how long it has been there!) Granted, there is still laundry going as I'm typing this.... but at least I have empty baskets at this moment!!!
5) For Google Reader! I know, I know.... that has appeared in the thankful Thursday post before.... but I'm still thankful for it! If you haven't converted yet, DO IT!!! It's so awesome to jump on while I'm waiting on something in the microwave or oven, and can catch up on my blog reading quickly because I don't have to hop from one blog to another! Love it, love it!!!

Love you, love you! Have a blessed day, dear ones! :)

More weekend fun!

The weekend was a whirlwind, seeing family in Muncie and Mentone, but it was a blast! It was really great to see grandmas and grandpas.... cousins.... aunts and uncles! And we even squeezed in a quick stop to see Jamie, Sara, and Gavin who were in town from Minnesota (for Taylor's homecoming!) and the Schmitt's (oops.... no pics at that stop.... we were too busy talking!!!) It was such a huge blessing to be with family to celebrate Aaron's birthday.... and we were even able to celebrate both of my grandpa's birthdays with them, too (my Grandpa Burch's 90th!) Such a blast.... such a blessing!

Happy Birthday, Aaron!

My little man is 6 today!!! If only I could get this kid to obey me and quit growing up so fast!!! :) He enjoyed his breakfast of cupcakes and pancakes this morning..... ahh, so nutritious!!!

Of course, Isaac couldn't be left out of the cupcake and pancake action!

Happy Birthday, Thomas Aaron Greene!!! Mommy loves you like crazy!

The Weekend in Pictures, Part 1

We had a great weekend in Indiana! I'll post some of the pics over the next couple of days....

It was fabulous to see the Helm's.... we sure do adore that family!!! :) The wedding was beautiful.... and Scott was absolutely thrilled to be a part of it! Adrienne was a middle schooler back in our youth ministry days in Selma, Indiana. It was so amazing to see her all grown up.... a beautiful bride, who loves her man and loves her God! So proud of you, Ms. Adrienne!!! :)

It brought me such joy to see Julie!

Steve and Julie have been a few of our ministry mentors since the very beginning.... so cool.... to spend an evening with them at the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner!

Little Courtney decided to grow up, too!!!

The beautiful bride-to-be!

And the cute couple....

Gymnastics!

What a fun blessing! A family in our church owns a gymnastics center and let the boys come and try it out free as a "Welcome to Western New York" gift! It was really fun.... the boys both really enjoyed it!

Compelling....

My friend, Elizabeth, just posted this video on her site.....

While I am not Catholic, I still find this video to be completely compelling. I'm curious..... does anyone else find it interesting that all of the news sources are focusing on economics, foreign policy, and energy independence alone? They are saying that THESE are the critical issues. While I do care deeply about these issues, and they are critical.... I can think of some more critical ones. Foundational ones....

I appreciate that this video addresses these....

Thankful Thursday (a little early....)

Posting this early this week as tomorrow is going to be a crazy day.....

Today, I am thankful....

1) That I get to start a new ministry tomorrow morning at church called "Mom to Mom." It's a Bible study based on Titus 2..... hoorah for wiser, older women who will be offering their wisdom!
2) THAT WE LEAVE FOR INDIANA TOMORROW AFTERNOON!!!!!! I can't wait! It's going to be a CRAZY weekend.... splitting our time between Muncie and Mentone on top of focusing on the rehearsal and wedding in Wabash. But it will be WONDERFUL to see family.... and to be able to celebrate Aaron's birthday while we are there, too.
3) That my baby is turning 6 next Wednesday! I can't believe that he is growing up so quickly though.....
4) For my new Mac laptop. We got an unbelievable deal.... that's awesome. We're still getting used to each other.... but I think I like it (especially iphoto!)
5) That the mechanic today said that we could wait on the $700 repair on our van's power steering for awhile.... whew! We're good to go for the trip!!!

Have a blessed day..... and a great weekend, too!

Just fun....

Just some fun shots from the past couple of days (why is blogger underlining and I can't figure out HOW to turn it off ..... arg!)
Hanging out with the neighbor kids....

Can't leave out Isaac! (seriously, why is it blue, too?!! This is driving me nuts, but I'll let it go so that I can share the pics!)

Creative Marketing found....

Here.

Need a smile?

The kiddo story towards the end of THIS POST is hilarious.... very hilarious....

Tagged!

I've been tagged by my friend, Jessica.

Rules: Each player answers the question themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment letting them know that they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve answered the questions on your blog.

10 Years Ago (1998):

1) I had just graduated from Taylor University in May with my BA in Christian Education, minor in Pscyhology, and youth ministry certificate.
2) Scott and I had just survived our first summer of camping ministry at Camp Adventure.
3) I was working at the United Way every weekday....
4) and at Camp Adventure as a high ropes course facilitator and kitchen staff every weekend (Scott was my boss..... that did NOT lead to our best season of marriage!!) :)
5) We were church shopping all over Kosciusko County and having a hard time finding a church to attend.

5 Things on Today's "To Do" List:

1) Go to our first Bills football party at 4ish.
2) Fold laundry.
3) Wash more laundry.
4) Play with my kids after naptime.
5) Deliver pumpkin bars to some of our neighbors.

5 Snacks I enjoy:

1) Dove chocolates with caramel
2) DeDee's ice cream
3) Nacho cheese dip and "Scoops" (big shout out to my cousin, Dan, who was the engineer who designed Scoops for Frito Lay!)
4) Milk Duds
5) Peanut M&Ms (oh, and I'm out of room on this list of 5, but I should also say bananas, grapes, and celery, too! HA!)

5 Things that I would do if I were a millionaire:

1) Dig LOTS of wells in Africa!
2) Support a few more Compassion kiddos!
3) Pay off our house and my student loan.
4) Buy my husband a new car to replace his '94 Saturn!
5) Save for college and retirement.

5 Places I have lived:

1) Mentone, IN
2) Upland, IN
3) North Webster, IN
4) Warsaw, IN
5) Buffalo, NY

5 Jobs I have had:

1) Staff camp counselor
2) United Way office personnel
3) Site staff, Camp Adventure
4) Child/adolescent/marriage and family therapist
5) MOM!!!!

Now, I'm tagging....

1) Jodie
2) Christi
3) Lisa
4) Jaime
5) Shannon

The Invisible Woman....

Thought that you might need this today..... whew! Such incredible encouragement (thanks, Anne, for posting it!)

I LOVE Nicole Johnson. I heard her speak at Youth Specialties YEARS ago (seriously.... like 10 years!) and it changed my life. Her book, Fresh Brewed Life is still at the top of my list of favorites, too. It's incredible.... I think that every woman should read it!!!

Ahh, fall....

Need a super recipe for these wonderful fall days?!! This is a terrific one!!! I've already made it twice in the past week.... once for MOPS and once for a family on our street whose momma just had surgery..... seriously, make it.... you won't regret it!!! :)

Pumpkin Bars

4 eggs
1 2/3 c. sugar
1 c. vegetable oil
15-16 oz. can pumpkin
2 c. flour
2 t. cinnamon
2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt

Mix first 4 ingredients (I use the electric mixer). Add dry ingredients and mix well. Pour into ungreased jelly-roll pan.... I usually use TWO 9 x 13 pans. Bake at 350 for 24-25 minutes.

Cream Cheese Icing

3 oz. cream cheese-softened
1/4 c. butter or margarine-softened
1 t. vanilla
2 c. powdered sugar
1-2 T. milk (if needed)

Beat first four ingredients. Add milk if necessary to obtain desired consistency. Spread over cooled bars (sometimes, I double the icing recipe to make it a little more thick!)

ENJOY!

Help!!!

First of all.... I have to share my joy first! We found a new sitter for last night that lives right around the corner from our house. She came highly recommended by a family at church.... we were thrilled to find another option! Anyway, Scott and I went to church to worship with hundreds of high school and college students, under the leadership of the Fee Band. It was INCREDIBLE!!! We also heard Gabe Lyons speak about his book Unchristian. It was an great, thought-provoking discussion regarding how nonbelievers perceive Christians.... Scott and I had an awesome conversation afterwards, too.

But here is where I need your HELP! The babysitter burnt microwave popcorn..... BADLY! The smell is still unbelievable this morning. I looked up remedies online and just boiled water and lemon juice in my microwave, the fans are running, the window is open (and yes, it's only in the 40s), and the candles are burning. Any tried and true tips from you, my dear blog readers?!!!

I asked Aaron about last night. He said that he had a really good time with our new sitter. Lots of movies..... oh well. Anyway, when I asked him if she burnt the popcorn, he said yes. When I asked him if she was upset about it at all....

"Nope."

Huh, I'm trying to not be bothered by my stinkin' house either.... but it's a little hard to escape the reality right now....

Thankful Thursday...

Where to start?!! Some of the events of this week have reminded me just how much I have to be thankful for.... but I do have to narrow it down to one post, so here you have it....

Today, I am thankful....

1) That we're going to have a new nephew in late Feb/early March!!! Scott's sister, Jill, and her hubby just found out this morning that they are going to have a BOY!!! Hoorah for boys..... and HEALTHY boys! Everything looked great on the ultrasound.... yippe!!!
2) For the fact that God wired my husband to be so laid-back. He keeps me level.... I used to hate it early on in our marriage.... now, I love it (on most days, anyway....)
3) For a great camera to take great pics! I love this one of Scott and the boys (is it just me or do they all look a little bit alike?!)

4) That we are headed to Indiana SOON! It's going to be a whirlwind trip as we are actually going so that Scott can perform a wedding in Wabash, but we will still get to see our families briefly and that makes me happy. The timing is also wonderful because we will be able to celebrate Aaron's birthday with family.... I know that it would have been very emotional for me if we were not able to.... so I'm thankful for the timing.
5) For naptime! It's time to put Isaac down for a bit.... hoorah!

Unbelievable....

Stevan, Stevan, Stevan.... seriously, how do you find this stuff?!! Check out his latest find HERE.

Eventful Days....

We have had some fun, some eventful, and some chilly days around here. First, notice the sweatshirts above.... the temps have definitely dropped and the leaves are starting to fall. Everyone around here likes to talk about how short autumn is and how quickly we head into winter.... yikes! Good thing we don't dislike snow.... and that we have a new-to-us snowblower (or "snow thrower" as they like to call it in these parts!) :)

The other night, Michael and Joseph from across the street stayed with us for a few hours while baby Peter headed to the hospital with his mom and aunt. We did have fun with the boys, and they seemed to enjoy having different toys to play with. Update on Peter: he is still in the hospital. Because there is a significant language barrier between us, we had a hard time determining exactly what is going on.... however, we believe that they determined that he was having seizures (complicated by a high fever) and was stopping breathing in the midst of the seizures. I don't know if they started seizure medication or what..... I'm just thankful that he is at a great children's hospital and am trusting that he is receiving great care. He is going to be okay; I think that the docs were still just trying to determine the best course for treatment. Please pray that they continue to have wisdom in this situation!

As you can tell from the picture, we were thankful for the pull-out couch when the boys were here. After our two went to bed, the other two fell asleep on this pull-out until their aunt returned later in the evening.
I babysat for this little sweetie this morning. Her name is Hannah, and she is pretty close to Isaac's age. She goes to our church, too, and I watched her while her mom chaperoned a field trip with her kindergartener. Thankfully, she's planning to watch Isaac at the end of the month so that I can head out on Aaron's field trip with him, too.
WARNING, WARNING: it "rained" on our car mat this morning! Okay, I'll leave it up to you to figure out what REALLY happened.... but I can tell you that it DID involve Isaac and NO DIAPER! Yikes.... better than the carpet, I guess!