Happy News!

Those of you that know our family probably know that we got some great news on Friday! My father-in-law had a biopsy done on a spot that was in his lung. We got the best possible news - which was that it was just a fungus in his lung!! (Sounds weird -right? Apparently it's common in this area! Who knew!!) They removed it and he got to go home that afternoon!!!!! He's in some pain from the small incisions they made for the biopsy, but overall he's doing great and we are SOOOO thankful! Thanks to everyone who has been praying for him!!

We had a wonderful weekend visiting family & friends!

Sweet little cousins and great buddies!! :)

This is my niece... such beautiful blue eyes and gorgeous curls!


Aunt Stacy did Miss Jenna's hair this weekend -- her first set of pigtails! This picture just CRACKS me up! It's like she's trying to show off her profile and her little pigtail!! Too Funny!

We didn't have any small hair ties - but it was still cute! I'm sure there will be many more pictures like this after she gets just a tad bit more hair!

Last time I was back "home" I forgot my camera when helping paint at my Mom's new house. So I took it along this weekend when we went to see the progress. The house is looking great!! This is a picture of the dining room.

Kitchen (Obviously!! :)

There's Bryce in the dining room - standing by the doors that will lead out to a deck!

This is the basement bathroom.

And here's Bryce tickling Jenna on Grandma & Grandpa's bed! More pictures of the house to come sometime soon as they get more and more completed!

Yummy New Recipe!

Do you get the Kraft Foods magazine? I love it! There are always a couple great new recipes to try when I get it! I hosted the girls night on Sunday and made this Layered Strawberry Cheese Cake. MMMMMM, MMMMM, MMMMM! It was great! Give it a try...

Layered Strawberry Cheese Cake
3 cups sliced fresh strawberries
3 Tbsp sugar
2 pkg (8 oz each) Cream Cheese - softened
1-1/2 milk
1 pkg (3.4 oz) Vanilla Instant Pudding
2 cups Cool Whip
2 cups frozen pound cake - cubed (1 inch)
1 square Bakers Semi-Sweet Chocolate

Combine berries and sugar. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Beat cream cheese with mixer until creamy. Gradually beat in milk.

Add pudding mix; mix well.

Blend in 1-1/2 cups cool whip.

Spoon half of mixture in to 2-1/2 qt bowl.

Top with cake, berries and remaining cream cheese mixture.

Refrigerate 4 hours.

Melt chocolate; drizzle over desert.

Top with remaining Cool Whip.

Special Extra: Melt 1 additional chocolate square. Dip 5 strawberries in chocolate, letting excess drip off. Refrigerate 30 min. Use to garnish dessert.

New Beginnings

Today was my first day at my new job... a day of new beginnings. So far so good! My commute was AWESOME and I got to "sleep in" until 6:45! NICE! Work went good -- I like the people and I'm excited about what I will do there. I felt a bit over-whelmed today trying to learn the new system and how everything is used. It will take time, but soon I will know this like the back of my hand and feel comfortable just like I did at my old job. So far I'm very happy with my move!

This weekend brought some sadness for a family here in our town. I don't know them, but their story is sad. I bring it up b/c it's something we all need to be reminded of now and then.

This house fire was caused by a clothes dryer! The family of 5 was home and the mother was bathing 2 of the kids when the smoke detector went off. The father went to check it out thinking it was a lit candle or something, but when he rounded the corner he could see huge flames and lots of black smoke coming from the laundry room. They were all able to get out of the house safely. They called 911 at 6:53 and by 7:00, the whole house was engulfed in flames.

A very sad situation, but thankfully everyone was ok. I know we've all seen tragedies like this a lot lately with the floods, tornados and other things -- it's hard to digest each time! But I think it's important to remember how fast something like a house fire can happen. Make sure you change the batteries in your smoke detectors twice a year (with the clock changes) and clean out the insides of your dryer with a vacuum. It's also important to make sure your kids (if they are old enough) understand what to do when there is a fire. Help them understand you should never hide from the firemen. Plan a family meeting place outside your house just in case there is a fire - you all know where to go and everyone gathers there so you aren't wandering the yard looking for each other and wondering who made it out.

We hope things like this will never happen, but take some time to plan just in case it does. :)

On a happier note, we had a wonderful weekend! Friends were visiting and the kids had a great time playing together and enjoying the beautiful Spring weather!

Lunch Time!

A little game of baseball in the yard! Future superstars!

Dress up time! My little pirate!! :)


Miss Jenna and Miss Kenzie! This is the best I could get!! :)
All 6 kiddos lined up nicely for a group picture!

Saying Goodbye...

Well - my last day of work is tomorrow. I should be happy and jumping for joy -- but my emotions have kind of got the best of me and I'm sad to go. I said goodbye to 3 of my co-workers today that will not be in the office tomorrow. It was sad and much harder than I imagined it would be. My sadness has me quite confused and I'm not sure why I feel this way after everything that has happened and all the drama at that office. But I've spent a lot of time with these people over the last 3 1/2 years and saying goodbye is hard.

So tomorrow will be the last LONG commute and I will leave all of the work, stress and drama at the door...

Monday starts a new chapter in my life... I'm excited and scared at the same time! There are so many unknowns when you start a new job. Like... What the heck am I going to be doing? Who are all of my co-workers and what are they like? Are they going to like me? Am I going to live up to their expectations?

I'm sure I've made the right decision and soon my new job will be what feels "normal" to me! I feel lucky to be given this opportunity and am excited for what the future will bring!! Wish me luck!! :)

Did You Get Pinched?!

Who got pinched for not wearing green today!? I should have... didn't even think about it when I got dressed this morning. My kids may have got pinched as well. Jenna was probably one of the PINCHERS today! She has a pinching habit and maybe she figured she could get away with it today!! :)

Here in the US - Americans, regardless of ethnic-background, celebrate St. Patty's Day by wearing green and drinking green beer. The city of Chicago actually dyes the river green -- and they have been doing it since 1961!

Personally - I typically don't do much to celebrate the holiday. I'm not Irish, I don't like Guinness, I don't drink green beer (beer makes me stuffy)... and let's face it - I have two small kids and don't get out much!!

I did pull up a few "fun facts" about St. Patrick's Day... here ya go!

-Green is associated with St. Patrick's Day because it is the color of Spring.

-The shamrock is the traditional symbol because St. Patrick used it to explain the connection between the father, the son, and the holy spirit in the Christian religion.

-The shamrock is the traditional symbol because St. Patrick used it to explain the connection between the father, the son, and the holy spirit in the Christian religion.

-On average, every American consumes 22 gallons of beer per year.

-It is considered lucky to find a four leaf clover on St. Patrick's Day.

-Corned beef is strictly an American invention, the Irish don't actually eat it to celebrate the day.

-St. Patrick’s isn’t a big drinking holiday in Ireland. In fact, many of the local pubs are closed for the day.

-Leprechauns are the official shoe makers of the fairy kingdom.

-34.5 million U.S residents claim Irish ancestry, that is 9 times the current population of Ireland.

-Over 41.5 billion pounds of beef are produced each year for St. Patrick's Day, with the majority of it coming from Texas and over 2.5 billion pounds of cabbage are produced with the majority grown in California.

-Over 8 million St. Patrick's Day cards are exchanged in America making today the ninth-largest card selling occasion in the US.

-Over 94 million people plan to wear green on St. Patrick's Day.

-The original Guinness Brewery in Dublin has a 9,000 year lease.

WHAT?!?! 9,000 year lease!?! That is crazy! And to think I get ticked off about my 2 year contract with Sprint!!

I hope everyone had a very Happy & Green St. Patty's Day!

Childhood Pictures...

I mentioned in an earlier post that I would put up some pictures of dresses my Grandma made for us when we were kids. Thanks to my sister, here they are!! :) She scanned a few in for me to share!

Cousin Anne, me, Sonya

Sonya & cousin Anne

Sonya, me, Anne

Me and Sonya

Me, Anne, Sonya, John & Wes

Stay Back Snowplow!!!

This year our mailbox has taken a beating from the snowplow! I think he knocked it over 3 times!! We eventually had to get a temporary box from the village until it was nice enough to put a new one into the ground. What a perfect day for an outdoor project!

Bryce & Dad hard at work putting that new post in!

Not completely finished... the post needs stained and we need to put the numbers on, but we will save that for another day. My neighbor said we should wait till it gets a little nicer to stain it. Good thing we have neighbors who know what the heck they are doing!! Otherwise, our projects would all eventually have to be re-done!! :)

The kids had a great time playing outside today. Bryce & the neighbor kids ran from yard to yard playing with everything possible! These kids are going to have a super fun summer!!

Jenna tried to keep up with the big kids -- but we had our own fun!

Wheeeee! She had a great time sliding down into the muddy yard! Who says girls aren't messy!? They haven't met my punky rue!!

The big kids took a dip in the neighbors hot tub! Fun! A little taste of Summer!

Someone obviously played VERY hard today! He fell asleep on the living room floor while watching Dora! :)

Well -Sunday nights are Mommy's night (Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters) and I'm headed to a friend's to watch the shows and socialize with the ladies. Have a great night!!

Gettin' Out on the Deck

It was so beautiful out yesterday and the kids enjoyed lots of time outside and we introduced Jenna to our deck!! We enjoy the deck b/c the kids can go in & out, in & out, in & out on their own! They love that freedom!!

(Notice Jenna's pretty barette! She doesn't really NEED them yet, but they just look so cute!!)

We're LOVING the nice weather!!

Pizza, Pizza, Pizza

Tonight a couple of Bryce's best friends came over to play! The kids helped me make English Muffin pizzas -- YUM!

What a bunch of cuties and BIG helpers!

Jenna & Carly had a blast spreading the pizza sauce onto the muffins! (I think they may have had a couple "licks" in there!!)

Mmmmm... Jenna likes pizza sauce! :)

Carly stayed to help finish the pizzas, she put the pepperoni on, the cheese & all!

Time to eat! Bryce & Carly both asked for seconds! They were a big hit!


Punky Rue likes it too! (Are you surprised!? What doesn't she like!?)

Oops - you can't expect dinner with 4 kids to happen without a little mess - can you!? By the way, after this happened, Bryce informed me "Mom - you SHOULD have put lids on our cups!!". Oh really?? Hmmm - great concept - I will try it next time! ha!

Bryce & Sam chillin' out! Best buds!!

Today was a bitter-sweet day. CSW offered my job to a candidate today and he accepted. Obviously, this is a good thing b/c it allows me to train the new person for a whole week and everything, but I must say I was a bit sad to "see my job go". I've been there 3 and a 1/2 years and have really taken pride in my work and everything we do there! Of course, there is a LOT I will not miss at all -- but I really have enjoyed the work I do there!

Speaking of hiring someone... I had a good time searching for my replacement, checking out resumes and interviewing people. It's been a weird situation to try to replace myself, but fun at the same time. One resume I got said "I'm proficient in online social networking groups, such as MySpace, Facebook and Twitter." So in otherwords, I think this person was stating that they are REALLY good at wasting time!! :) No thanks! I had one "kid" (and I do mean kid) show up in jeans!! Nice. Had another guy spend the whole interview talking about his dad and how every job and opportunity he's had has been given to him by his dad. Although it may be true, I don't think I would highlight something like that in a job interview!!

Although, I got a chuckle from a few conversations, I was saddened by the number of people I talked to over the last two weeks who have lost their jobs through all of the cuts lately. It's such a scarey world right now and hopefully jobs will start to become available for all of those people very soon!

Lastly -- I want to leave you with a cute little video of Jenna waving to the camera. She's so funny when she waves and she LOVES to say "Hiiiiiiii" and "Byyyyyyeeeee"!