McMullen's Blog

We Have Moved! Major Upgrade Just Happened.

2011-03-18T17:46:00.002-04:00

Important!!!

We have moved our blog. This will remain here - but only for archive purposes.

Go here to see the new website/blog: mcmullen99.com

Also - if you follow this blog in a blog reader you will need to update your feed URL in order to keep receiving all this cool content from us :)

New Blog Feed: mcmullen99.com/feed/

A Day I've Been Praying For

2010-09-09T22:36:00.006-04:00

There are many prayers I pray for on behalf of my kids. One of the prayers I have always had since the day my kids were born is that they would ask Jesus into their heart someday. My prayer though as never stopped there, I pray that they will love Jesus will everything in them, that they will have a personal relationship with Him, that they will follow Him with reckless abandon, and that they will let God's light shine through them to others.

Part of my prayers were answered when Allie and Rachel gave their lives to Christ. Allie made that decision at Awana and Rachel at Springhill Day Camp last year. Those 2 days were great days. We rejoiced with Jesus as He welcomed them into the family! Allie then decided that she was ready to be baptized, to show the world that she was in love with her Savior.

After a few months of reading through a baptism book, attending a class and praying with her we decided that this was the year. We invited our family and friends and we rejoiced again as she publicly proclaimed her love for Jesus at Granger Community Church's 2010 Baptism.

A day that I've been praying for.

A day that will mark me forever.

A day where I am once again reminded she belongs to Jesus and for that I am eternally grateful!

Unbelievable!!!

2010-08-24T21:16:00.008-04:00

As I was uploading back-to-school pictures tonight to Facebook and thinking about the fact that my youngest child is in Kindergarten, I decided to go back and look at what Allie and Rachel looked like when they started Kindergarten. All I can say is unbelievable!!! I cannot believe my girls have gotten so big. There is a part of me that misses their innocence at 5, but there is another part of me that loves the preteen stage that they are in. It just reminds me to treasure every day, because before I know it I will be posting pictures of them leaving for college.

Allie's first day of Kindergarten

Allie's first day of 4th grade!

Rachel's first day of Kindergarten!

Rachel's first day of 3rd grade!

I am the mom I am today because of these girls, they help make me a better person everyday. I am so proud of the young women they have become, but it sure makes me realize that time flies!

Camp songs!

2010-07-20T21:32:00.005-04:00

Allie and Rachel went to Springhill Camp in MI this summer for 5 days. They had a blast and asked to go back as soon as we picked them up. This was Allie's 2nd year at camp and one of my favorite things from her first year were the camp songs she came home singing. Last summer we sang camp songs for about 2 straight months and I loved every minute of it.

So needless to say, I was excited to hear what songs they would be singing this year. They came home with a few new ones and as expected our whole family has learned them and will just randomly break out in song. One of my favorite songs from this year, was the cheer that Allie and Abby's (Allie's BFF) tepee came up with. They stayed in one of about 5 tepees and the name of their tepee was Ojibway (it took me about 2 days to figure out how to say it right). Supposedly the Ojibway girls came up this cheer. The cheer really has nothing to do with camp, but I still think it is my favorite camp song so far.

Introducing Allie and Abby and their Ojibway cheer!

Springhill Camp Song from Daryl McMullen on Vimeo.

Happy 8th Birthday Rachel!!

2010-06-06T21:18:00.006-04:00

I can't believe you are 8! Where have those 8 years gone Rach? I can literally remember the night you were born like it was yesterday! As I think back on the last 8 year years, one thing that stands out to me is that you were "you" from the very beginning. Your dad and I never had to guess how you were feeling as a little one, because your facial expressions always gave it away, and that is still true today. Your attitude is one of the things that I love the most about you! You are always making us laugh with your random comments and looks and I hope that never changes.

This past year you have grown so much. You just finished your 2nd grade year. Your teacher was Mrs. Seufert and you will have her again in 3rd grade. You loved her and grew so much academically this year. You also made some new friends this year and loved hanging out with Grace and Izzy in school. You still continue to be one of those kids that is friends with everyone and likes to hang out with different people. You played soccer and basketball this past year and liked them both. You are also still doing piano lessons (not always your favorite thing, but a must in my book) and participating in Girl Scouts. You continue to love to swim and be at Papa's lake. We tried to get you up on ski's last year and will try again this year. Some of your favorite things are catching insects of any type (right now you have a bunch of caterpillar's in a bug catcher sitting in the garage), playing with your friends, taking bike rides, climbing trees, playing American Girl dolls with your sister, reading to your brother, playing on the computer and watching movies together as a family. You LOVE to be together as a family and for that I am so grateful.

Rachel, I don't even have the right words to tell you how much I love you! You are constantly bringing a smile to my face and everyone else that knows you. Your love and enthusiasm for life shows in all that you do. Don't ever let anyone take away the joy you have for life sweetie, always keep that fun loving, go with the flow attitude. I know that God is going to do great things with your life and I am so glad that he is giving me a front row seat. My prayer for you sweet girl is that you always live life to it's fullest, that you never back down from what you know is right and that you follow hard after God with all that you do. No matter where life takes you or what decisions you make along the way, know that your dad and I will always be praying for you and will always be your number 1 fans! I am so glad I get to be your mom!

I love you with all my heart!

Love, Mom

Ryan Marques, J.D.

2010-05-11T21:29:00.007-04:00

We have a lawyer in our family!

Let me introduce you to my brother, Ryan. He graduated with his law degree last Saturday and is set to take the bar in August and he has a job lined up already. Assuming he passes the bar (which I know he will) he starts his job at a law firm in downtown Indianapolis this fall.

I couldn't be prouder!

If you would have told me 25 years ago that he would be a lawyer, I would have laughed. This was the kid who couldn't sit still to save his life. I am pretty sure he could have been diagnosed with ADHD. This was the kid who drove me and my friends crazy (don't believe me...really...just ask them). He had no idea what personal space meant. This was the kid who I remember having to hang upside down so he would spit out whatever he was choking on. This was the kid that schoolwork didn't always come easy to. I can remember my mom and I working with him for hours on what a "quarter till" and "quarter after" meant.

Many things changed as he got older. He took all that energy and became a soccer star in HS and College. He became a great student, graduating from Butler with a double major and speaking Spanish fluently. He worked for a couple of years in community development and then decided to become a lawyer, working in immigration so that he could give a voice to those who don't have one.

I couldn't be prouder.

My brother and I are 9 years apart and there were many times in my life that I felt like a second mother to him. When we were younger that feeling was more of an annoyance. As time has passed it has turned into a feeling of joy and pride. 5 years ago that title of "second mother" came full circle when our mother passed away. The feelings we experienced during that time can't be put into words, but we went through it together and came out on the other side even closer.

So as I stood at Ryan's graduation last weekend it was a bittersweet moment. I was so proud of him and his accomplishments, but I was so sad that our mom was not there to celebrate with us. She would have been so proud of him! I told Ryan I wished she had been there with us. It was a moment we shared and I will never forget it.

We have a lawyer in the family and this sister - aka second mother - couldn't be prouder!!!

The Negotiation

2010-01-28T21:26:00.003-05:00

I don't know about you, but when I read the title of this post I think it sounds like the title of a movie. A movie where Mel Gibson is negotiating some sort of deal with the "bad guys", a movie where it all is great in the beginning, it gets tense in the middle and in the end everyone ends up happy. I am one of those people that loves movies with "happy endings" and I think the reason for that is I want life to go smoothly and happily. I want everyone (especially those I love) to get along and love each other well and make good decisions, but I know that is not living in reality. I know when push comes to shove that alot of times we lie and deceive and make bad choices. Instead of doing what we know is right, we do what we think will keep us out of trouble. Learning to do the "right thing" is something that happens over time and at times is taught to us. Now that I am a parent I have the privilege of navigating those "teaching moments" so that my kids grow up to know right from wrong and so that they understand just how much God loves them.

Last Friday was a normal Friday morning. I got up with the kids to get them ready for school and as I was making breakfast I noticed that child Z (named has been changed to protect the innocent) was playing with a stuffed animal I had never seen before. When I questioned child Z about it said child responded that they had gotten it with one of their Christmas gifts. I knew that this was not the case, so I tried again. "Where did you get that stuffed animal?" Child Z then said that a friend had given it said child. That would have been all fine and dandy except that Child X spoke up and explained that this friend had never seen it either. So at this point I know for a fact that Child Z is lying to me, so I do the whole motherly thing where my voice and facial expressions change (as to show that I now mean business) and I continue to question said child. "Really where did you get it?".....Child Z says nothing...."Where did you get it?"....again nothing and said child is just staring at me..."This is your last chance, where did you get it?"....the stare continues. I would love to tell you that I remained calm and collected, but that is not the case. Every time I asked the question I got more and more frustrated, my voice got a little higher and I got a little more serious. Child Z continued to look at me until I finally told said child that if they didn't start talking I would no longer be volunteering in this child's room at school. At that point the tears started flowing and Child Z fessed up, "I took it from my room at church". I questioned Child Z a few times about why said child would do such a thing and then told said child that there would be 2 consequences. One for stealing and the other one for lying. I was very disappointed that said child had chosen to steal, but I have to be honest I was ticked that said child lied about it. I can't tell you how many conversations have been had in this house about how we never lie, no matter how hard it is to tell the truth.

Fast forward about 9 hours, time delay due to Child Z being in school and conversations about what the consequences should be between Daryl and I. Child Z is then told that the consequence for stealing is that a letter of apology will be written to the person who the stuffed animal belongs to along with finding the owner and returning it, Child Z will also need to tell the teachers in the room at church what said child did and face whatever consequences where given to said child by them. I then told Child Z that the consequence for lying was that said child would not be participating in family night (which means this child lost out on having dessert and watching a movie with the rest of us). At that point the tears started to flow and before I knew it the sobs came. I finished talking with Child Z and then left said child alone to calm down and I went back to my normal routine. About 30 minutes after that I walk into the kitchen to find what you see in the picture above sitting on my counter. Child Z was trying to negotiate with me, said child was trying to give me all the money I wanted so that said child could be a part of family night. The funny part about this is that it didn't really surprise me, Child Z tends to do things like this. Child Z is what we call our negotiator, I swear someday said child could have a career in this. As cute and innovative as I thought this way I stood my ground and told the Negotiator I didn't want the money and the consequence still stood.

Now I would love to tell you that I didn't want to give in to Child Z's negotiation, that it didn't kill me to listen to said child sob upstairs while the rest of us watched a movie. Even Child Z's siblings begged me to let said child come downstairs, it just wasn't the same without this child. I stood my ground though, it was important that Child Z learned that lying will not be tolerated in this house and that you should always tell the truth no matter how hard it is. It was one of those teaching moments where it was imperative that Child Z understood that there are consequences to our actions, but that no matter what said child's actions are that my love for said child will never change. I tell my children all the time that they can't do anything to change my love for them. I truly believe that I never really "knew" God till I had children. God may not agree with the decisions we make and at times there are consequences to face but it doesn't change His love for us and for that I am grateful!

Goodbye 2009. Welcome 2010!

2010-01-11T15:55:00.005-05:00

I know this is a little late, but hey what is a girl to do. I hope you all had a great 2009 and that 2010 is off to a great start for you.
Thought I would give you a year in review for your family, since I am not great at keeping up on this here blog :)

TAMMY- Three kids, a job and a half, a house, a husband and that should pretty much tell you what my year was like....busy! It was a crazy busy year trying to keep up with all of those things, but to tell you the truth I wouldn't have it any other way. I am not a "stay at home" kind of person, I love to be out experiencing life. I am still employed with AWS as a Therapy Coordinator. I am so grateful to have this job and the flexibility that it gives me. I love the people that I work for and with. I still travel to Indy once a month for work and in December of 2009 I traveled to Fort Wayne to attend a Management Training for 2 days. I am pretty sure this is the first time I have stayed in a hotel room by myself since I have been married. It was a little strange at first, but I got used to it :) In May I traveled to Florida with 2 of my best friends for a little R&R. We literally spent 3 days laying at the beach all day. It was SO relaxing and fun that we are looking to do it again this year. 2009 was also the year that I started volunteering with Son City kids and it has been fantastic! I continue to be a lia sophia advisor and love it. I truly enjoy meeting new people and having access to all that jewelry! The best part of my year was celebrating my 10th Anniversary with Daryl in Chicago and watching my kids grow and mature. I love being a wife and mom most of all!

ALLISON- Finishing off 2nd grade and starting 3rd grade is what Allison spent most of her time doing last year. In the Spring of 2009 Allison played MSA Soccer and loved it. She then moved on with that same team and is now playing what you might call travel soccer with Michiana Echo. She has great coaches and a great team. It was fun watching her soccer skills develop this year. Allison also learned how to water ski this summer at Papa's lake. It took a few different tries, but she finally popped right out of that water and was she ever excited!!! She also went to summer camp for the first time with her BFF, Abby. They went to Springhill and then our family went camping, for the first time, with the Callender family. The highlights of 2009 for Allison would be: swimming, playing with friends, reading, ice skating, volunteering for Son City Kids, Miley Cyrus concert, student council representative, learning piano and getting a DSi. I saw so much growth in Allison last year, in more ways then one, and it is exciting and frightful all at the same time.

TYLER- I think he spent 2009 growing and eating. I swear that is all that boy does. I am pretty sure he asks to eat about 20 times a day :) In the Spring Ty played on his first soccer team. It was an interesting start to say the least but by the end of the season he was scoring goals and getting aggressive. Ty went on his first camping trip this summer and had a blast with his friends. He continues to love school and is in Pre-K right now and cannot wait to go to Kindergarten in 2010. Ty's biggest accomplishment this year would be learning to ride a 2 wheel bike, he was so proud of himself! The highlights for Ty for 2009 would be: learning to swim on his own, doing front flips off the diving board, playing on the wii, xbox and computer, playing with his buddies Jake and Carter, learning to ice skate and roller skate and learning to write his first and last name. Our little boy has done so much growing, physically and socially in the last year, but he continues to be full of hugs and kisses all the time.

RACHEL- 2009 for Rach, was a year of getting more and more independent. She makes friends like no one I have ever seen before. I will turn around and she will be talking to someone she has never met before. She has lots of friends at school and is what I call my social butterfly. Rach played soccer in the spring and fall this year. She is still more interested in talking and making friends with the girls on her team than she is in scoring goals, but she still had fun. Rach went to Springhill day camp in the summer and had a blast, she wants to go to the overnight camp this year. Highlights for Rach for 2009 would be: getting to ride her bike around the neighborhood with her sister, playing with friends, her roller skating b-day party, swimming, finishing 1st grade and entering 2nd grade, getting a solo in the school play, learning piano, trying to water ski, tubing and having fun at Papa's lake and getting her first American girl doll! Rachel has matured so much in the last year and even though she is super independent she loves nothing
more than cuddling on the couch and that is something I will be holding on to for as long as I can!

DARYL- Work, freelance jobs, Scuba, painting, 3 kids and a wife are words that sum up 2009 for Daryl. He continues to be employed at GCC as Web Director and couldn't ask for a better job. The great thing about it is he not only loves what he does and who he gets to work with but he is also doing what he is passionate about. One of the things Daryl loves to do is design web sites. He worked on about 5-6 freelance web jobs this year where he got to do what he loves. Daryl's 2nd love, after Tammy of course, is Scuba diving. Daryl and his friends went on a trip in May where they traveled to Key Largo, FL and dove for 3-4 days. Things were a little bumpy (literally boat rocking all over the place) at the beginning but he had a great time and is ready for another trip out of the country to dive (hence the freelance jobs :)). A good portion of one of Daryl's weeks of vacation was spent painting Allison's room. He did a great job as always and she loves it! Daryl also had the opportunity in 2009 to get to pick Ty up from school one day a week and spend the rest of the day with him and get the girls off the bus. I am so glad our kids have had the opportunity to spend time like that with their dad! It will mark them, of that I am sure!

OUR FAMILY- We had the chance this year to take a couple of family trips. Over Spring Break we spent a few days in Chicago at a indoor water park with friends. We then did something we had never done before as a family and went camping this summer. It was quite the experience. It rained the whole time and was cold, but we got to spend the whole week with each other and with our best friends. Then in August we took a trip to Indy with friends and went to the zoo and an indoor water park. The trips we took as a family were fun, but I think the thing our entire family looks forward to the most is Saturday nights. We spend almost every Saturday night at Granger Community Church, www.gccwired.com, worshipping with our best friends and then we all hang out together till all hours of the night (or early morning). We absolutely love doing life with these guys and feel so lucky to have a group of friends who make us better Christ followers, who are for our marriage no matter how hard it gets and who loves our kids almost as much as we do.

2009 was a great year, full of fun and memories and we can't wait to see what 2010 has in store for each of us and for you!

Here's to a great 2010, where we love each other well!

No More Training Wheels for Us!

2009-11-08T22:31:00.002-05:00

Tyler Learns to Ride His Bike from Daryl McMullen on Vimeo.

I cannot believe this day has come. He is only 5 and just decided that he was done with training wheels and ready to ride his bike. I helped him about 3 times in the last few weeks and then he got on his bike today and just took off. He can even get himself started without help! I am becoming more and more aware of just how fast he is growing up, but I must admit I am really happy that we are totally done with training wheels. Let the long family bike rides begin...well once we get Daryl a bike :)

Happy 9th Birthday Allison

2009-10-15T21:10:00.005-04:00

The last year in single digits, I cannot believe it. You were our first and there were days that I thought you would never grow up. There were days that I thought you would never be independent. There were days I thought the fits would never stop. There were days that I thought I can't take crying anymore. Those days, those thoughts are now gone. Now I think how is it that she barely needs me anymore, how is it that she wants to go play with her friends all the time, how is it that the last 9 years have gone by this fast. You went from being my tiny little baby girl who needed me for everything, to a beautiful young girl who is starting the pulling away process. I just hope that I am ready to let go!

You are in 3rd grade this year and have Susan Lestinsky as your teacher again. You had her last year too and you absolutely love her! I worked with her before you were born and am so glad that she is your teacher. She has been great for you in many ways, she stretches you academically and has also helped you become your own person. Last year you went from being Allison to Allie, because Susan gave you the option of what you wanted to be called and you chose Allie. We had always called you Allison, but you are now Allie in almost every situation. You still love school, though you also love being home in the summer with no schedule. Some of your favorite subjects right now are art, music and science. We have also found this past year that you love reading mysteries, you are spending about an hour everyday reading right now. You are a great student and you strive for perfection in school work. As much as this is a great thing it is also a hard thing at times too. You get upset if you miss more than a few problems on a page. The tears flow and the frustration comes. I have tried in every way I know how to help you through this. You know that you aren't perfect and that no one expects you to be, but there is still that part of you that is not okay with anything less than perfection. One of reasons you love to be at school is because of your friends. All of your best friends are in your class right now, Abby C., Rebecca M., Hailey S. and a few others. You are one of those kids who has a few really good friends and that is who you spend your time with.

You have been involved in a lot of different things this past year. In the Spring you played MSA soccer and got on a great team. You have now moved with this team and are playing soccer for the Echo Academy. This experience has been great for you in that you knew none of the girls on your team and have now become friends with all of them. It has also taken you up to the next level in soccer. As always you rise to the occasion and have done great, even though you still get so nervous before your games. You also started piano lessons in January this year. You have sort of a love/hate relationship with piano. Once you know a song and can play it well you love it, but when you are learning something new and difficult you hate it. You also did ice skating, swimming lessons and girl scouts this year. This summer you went to Springhill Camp for the first time and are begging to go back. You spent 5 nights away from us, but you had your BFF, Abby, with you so all was good. You also learned how to water ski this summer. It took us quite a few tries, but you were determined and finally got up. You still dream of being a rock star or singer and you still hope to be like Miley Cyrus (we are actually going to see her in concert in November). You and I also started the talk this year about body changes and low and behold this summer I started noticing some of those changes in you, I sure hope I am ready for this :) As I look back over this past year I realize that you are no longer a little girl, you are now a beautiful young lady.

This year you have become more independent than ever, I am already starting to feel like our relationship is changing and I don't like it (but I know it is necessary). You have your own thoughts and opinions and once you have your mind made up about things you don't budge, but you also don't like to disappoint or hurt others. You are still very sensitive about things and can be in tears because someone talked to you in a certain tone or looked at you in the wrong way. You also need and want things to be fair, it frustrates you to no end when things aren't fair (we have tried to tell you that life isn't fair, but you don't want to believe us). As much as you love to be with friends and other people (I think you would be at a sleep over every night of the week if I let you) you also love to have our family together. You love and look forward to our family nights and don't like it when our family isn't all home at night. You also love to spend time with your Papa, he holds a special place in your heart. One of the things I love the most about you Allie is how big your heart is and how well you love others.

I know that when God created you that he had a plan and purpose for your life sweetheart and I cannot wait to see what it all entails. God has given you a heart that loves well and deeply and because of this I can totally see you in some sort of helping profession someday. All I know Allie is that no matter what you do or where life takes you that your dad and I will always be your biggest fans. We will always love you no matter what, I tell you all the time now and it is true, there is nothing you can do to make me stop loving you. My prayer for you sweetie is that you love God with all you have. That you trust in Him and follow Him no matter what. Always remember that He will never leave you or forsake you and that He loves you more than you know. You have asked Jesus into your heart and you love to hear stories about Him, I pray that never changes. I am so lucky that God has allowed me to be your mom. I love you Allison Lynn more than you know, I cannot imagine my life without you!

All my love,

Mom

Happy 5th Birthday Tyler

2009-09-27T21:30:00.007-04:00

Tyler Ryan,

I cannot believe that you are 5 years old today, seriously where have these last 5 years gone. I can still remember the day you were born like it was yesterday. I remember seeing you for the first time, I remember being so scared when they couldn't get a good cry out of you and decided you needed to go to the NICU for awhile. I still remember seeing you in the NICU and thinking boy he is huge compared to the rest of the little ones in here. I still remember crying like crazy when we walked out of the hospital without you, you had to stay one extra night because of your collapsed lung at birth and now here we are 5 years later. I was so scared when I found out I was having a boy, because all I knew was girls, and I didn't think I would know what to do with you. Little did I know that you would hold such a special place in my heart.

Nana always used to tell me that there is just something special about little boys and their mom's and I never understood it till you came into my life and I saw the sweet natured boy that God created you to be. I never imagined my boy would be so sweet and loving, but that is you through and through. You used to be all about your mom, and even though that has changed recently you still tell me several times a day that you love me. You will just be sitting on my or your dad's lap and just out of the blue tell us you love us. You tell your sisters all the time how pretty they are or how cute they look. Anytime you see Jacob for the first time in awhile you walk up to him and just throw your arms around him. I love how affectionate you are and I hope that never changes.

This year has been a big year for you buddy. You have continued to grow like crazy and weigh has much as Rachel right now. You are our solid little dude! You can take Rachel down with no effort and with a little effort and you can also take Allison, which still amazes me. You love to rough house with us. You love it when the whole family wrestles together, you love to chase your dad around the house and try to tackle him and then we all end up in a dog pile in the middle of the family room. This year you started playing soccer, you played MSA in the spring and are playing Upwards now. When you started in the spring you would cry every time you had to go out on the field, but you very quickly become confident of yourself and by the end of the season your were our scoring machine. You took ice skating lessons last winter and can now skate on your own. This summer you did swimming lessons and we joined the pool again and by the end of the summer you were swimming totally on your own. You also learned how to do front flips off the diving board all on your own, your sisters have yet to accomplish that. During last school year you learned how to write your first and last name, I couldn't be prouder. You just started Pre-K at Mary Frank this year, you go to school every morning and absolutely love it. You love that you get to go to school everyday like your sisters. Another huge thing that happened for you this past year is that you no longer are in need of speech services, yahoo!!!!

You still love Ninja Turtles and love playing with your cars and trucks. I have found you several times recently in your room by yourself just playing with your cars. You also love to play on the computer and like your sisters have become addicted to Webkinz. You are completely self sufficient on the computer, you can log yourself in and actually at times show your sisters how to do different things. You still love to be with your best friends, Jacob C. and Carter R. You also love to play with Morgan R. and if I had to guess I think you may have a crush on her :) You love the times when you get to play with them. You have also made good friends at school and have started asking recently for play dates. Last school year you asked me for a play date with a girl and even told me that you would only go to her house for a little bit, my answer then and forever will be NO!!!! You get a little frustrated when your sisters are at friends and you are stuck at home :)

Tyler Ryan I cannot explain to you how much I love you, but one thing I can tell you is that God loves you even more than I do. I know that God has given you the loving, caring spirit you have for a reason. I know that God has a great plan for your life and I cannot wait to see what it is. Tyler, my prayer for you is that you will love God and others with everything you have. I pray that no matter what life brings that you will run after God with reckless abandon. Know that your dad and I will always be behind you and that no matter what choices and decisions you make in life that our love for you will never change. I am such a lucky mom to have your for a little boy and I thank God for that everyday.

Happy 5th Birthday sweetheart! I love you with all I am!!

Love,

Mom

My Passion

2009-08-06T23:57:00.004-04:00

I have been thinking alot lately about the 3 gifts that God has given me in Allison, Rachel and Tyler. Growing up I always knew I wanted to be a mom, but I didn't really have a clue what that meant. Of course I thought it would probably be all fun and games. Umm, if that were the case wouldn't we all have at least 5 or 6 kids? Once I became a mom I realized a few things. One, it wasn't all fun and games. Two, I never really knew love until that baby was put in my arms for the first time. Three, you will spend massive amounts of time trying to figure out how to be a better mom. And last but not least I realized raising kids is my passion.

What do you mean by that some people may ask? Other people might think well of course, any good mom would say that. For me parenting is something I take very seriously and to be honest it ticks me off when other other parents don't take it seriously. There is nothing that gets my blood boiling more than hearing about a child who has parents who just don't care. That is a soapbox I could on and on about, but will save that for another post :)

When I look at my kids I know there is no other job that is more important than being a parent. What does that mean for me? It means putting my relationship with God and Daryl before them. Daryl and I have regular date nights and do the kids complain about that sometimes? Yep! Our kids know and understand that mommy and daddy were together before they were born and we will be here when they leave the house, so in order for us to be better parents we spend time alone without them. It means the job I have to pay the bills, is just that, a J-O-B. I have made a commitment to myself and to my kids that my job will never come in the way of me being a mom first and foremost. The minute that happens is the same minute I will no longer have a job outside of the home. I have pretty strong opinions about this, but again we will save that for later. It means that I show my kids through my words and actions what "real" love looks like. One of the mantra's in our house is that no matter what you do our love for you will never change, but there are consequences for the choices you make. We have rules and guidelines that they are expected to follow. Some of them are for safety reasons and some of them are to build their character. I will discuss the reasons for these with them, but the rules themselves are not up for discussion. It also means that I am constantly looking to improve my parenting skills. I am not happy to stay where I am at as a mom. Some of the ways I do this is by surrounding myself with parents who have gone before me and parents who are in same stage as I am. There is something to be said for watching other people parent. I also read, watch and listen to things that will help me hone my skills as a parent. It means that I am constantly re-evaluating my parenting skills. I ask other people what I need to improve on. There are things other people can see from the outside that I can see from where I stand. All of these things take alot of time and attention, but my kids lives and well being are at stake.

I truly believe that someday I will stand before God and He will ask me what I did with the children He gave me. I know that God has placed this passion inside of me for a reason and it starts with my own kids for now.

Happy 7th Birthday Rachel Lauren.

2009-06-12T21:30:00.003-04:00

Dear Rachel-

Where did the last 7 years go, you turned 7 years old a week ago and I cannot believe it. I can remember going to the hospital in the middle of the night to have you. From the moment you were born I was in love. Your were our second little girl and from the beginning you were the most laid back, happy girl. I can remember just walking around the house holding you and you would smile from ear to ear. You also from a very early age had the best expressions. You didn't even need to say anything, we could just look at your face and know exactly what you were thinking. Funny thing is that those expressions have not changed much in the last 7 years and it is one of the things that I love the most about you.

You just finished First grade at Mary Frank Elementary School with Mrs. Ziege. You loved First grade and loved your teacher. You made lots of new friends this year. Instead of having a few very close friends like your sister you are friends with everyone. You would come home everyday and would tell me about a new friend you had made. You still love to spend time with Abby and Jacob Callender and can't seem to get enough time with them. You also enjoyed playing with Meadow, Lydia, Hannah, Jillian, Laila, and many others. You also came home in the middle of the year talking about this boy named Josiah. You called him your boyfriend and said you had found the perfect boy to marry :) There was even talk that you held hands at one point and that he kissed your hand on the bus one day. Of course your mom had to remind you that we don't have boyfriends in First Grade. You love school and always looked forward to being there. You became a great reader this year and also loved art, you seem to have a knack for drawing that you must have gotten from your dad.

You played soccer last fall for Upwards and you are playing right now for MSA. You seem to like the sport okay, but the social part is what you enjoy most. You started taking piano lessons this year and I love listening to you play. You did ice skating lessons and continue to become a better skater every year. You also did swimming lessons this past year. You love to be in the pool or at the lake swimming. You are for sure my outside girl. You also BEGGED me this year to sign you up for Girl Scouts. I did and you loved it. You love to spend time with your friends, but you also love to spend time playing Barbies with Allison and playing Webkinz or anything else with Tyler. You also don't like it when we miss a family movie night. You always have to be snuggled up with someone, which I love.

There are so many things about you that I love Rach, but I think my favorite part is your personality. You have a personality that just doesn't stop.You come up with the funniest, cutest things all the time. The things you come up just crack us up sometimes. Your smile and laughter is contagious. You wear your emotions on your sleeve and we never have to guess how you are feeling. You are an absolute joy to be around and you have this way about you that just makes other people smile.

I know that God has great things planned for you life sweetheart. My prayer for you is that you will live life to the fullest and that you will run after God without abandon. I pray that you never let anyone change the person that God made you to be and that you will give God all you have in every aspect of your life. Keep your eyes focused on God and your feet pointed in the right direction. Love other people well Rach, for that is how others will know that you belong to Him. Your dad and I will always be here for you. No matter where life takes you we will always be your biggest fans and we will love and support you in every way we know how. Your love and joy for life has made me not only a better mom but a better person. I cannot wait to watch you grow into the beautiful girl that God created you to be.

I love you Rachel Lauren with all my heart!!

Love,
Mom

Sunshine State

2009-05-07T14:45:00.003-04:00

I am headed to sunny Florida for 3 days with these girls, Becky and Jami. Why you may ask? To hang out, relax, talk, read, lay in the sun and just be for 3 days. No kids, no husbands, just the girls! Don't get me wrong, there is nothing better than spending time with my husband and kids, but I have learned that in order to be a better wife and mom I need this time away.

So with that said, see you when I am a little bit tanner :)

Wishing Summer Was Here

2009-03-14T15:37:00.002-04:00

We took the kids to the park today for the first time this year. It was 50 some degrees and yet it still felt a little cold.

They had a blast though - just can't wait for summer to come...

Skating: It's In Their Blood

2009-02-10T07:11:00.004-05:00

The kids have been doing skating lessons for a couple years now and I can definitely see how starting young makes a difference. Even Tyler (age 4) can skate fairly fast and is getting more cocky each time he's out there.

Allison - the "composed" skater. Already has the stride of a figure skater.

Rachel - the "wild child." She skates 100 miles an hour without fear.

Tyler - the "slider." He loves to skate fast and then slide on the ice.

I can't wait until next year. Tyler gets to do intro to hockey at the Ice Box!

Wii Boxing Fun

2009-01-01T19:08:00.004-05:00

Just had to get a clip of Tyler and his Wii Boxing style.

Not sure what is up with the fancy footwork but he does seem to be successful a lot of the time.

CakeTV

2008-12-29T06:09:00.004-05:00

I was going back through our picture and video files the other day and ran across this. With the help of Windows Movie Maker I was able to pull together five or six clips and create a partial episode of CakeTV (also referred to as AllisonTV in the video).

I don't know how or where she got the idea - probably on TV - but I love the fact that she was able to conceptualize the entire project enough to break it out into a TV show.

The project was actually completed. She made her "Memory Cage" from beginning to end. It was an envelope type thing where you could store your task notes (things you need to do the next day). Leave it to my first born to come up with an organizational system.

This episode isn't completed. Ally was half way through when the batteries went bad on the little point and shoot camera she was using as a video camera. Unfortunately I didn't know what she was doing at the time or I would have changed the batteries and encouraged her to finish on tape.

Maybe in the future she'll do another one.

2008 Year In Review

2008-12-24T08:55:00.011-05:00

Hello to those returning readers and a big welcome to those of you that are here for the first time. 2008 has been a wild and crazy year full of difficulties and yet amazing and wonderful things. With the economy the way it is and the uncertainty so many are facing, I can truly say we've been blessed and have a lot to be thankful for.

I thought I'd just walk through the family and let you know what's been going on with each of us.

Tammy
What an amazing wife. Tammy definitely gives of herself until there isn't much left. Week in and week out she takes care of me, our kids, the house, our finances, etc. And she still finds time to work close to a full time job at AWS and hold Lia Sophia parties for fun. She loves to read (current series: Twilight by Stephenie Meyer) and loves watching Gray's Anatomy & Private Practice.

Tammy has shown me what it means to be "social" and maintain close personal relationships rather than curling up in my cave and just existing. She is part of a close knit small group that gets together on a regular basis to shop, watch movies, eat out and in essence do life together. Thank you Becky, Jami, Debbie and Leah for being part of that. We also spend time as couples each Saturday night after church - chatting, questioning, pushing, encouraging and laughing.

Allison
Ally is 8 and in the Second Grade this year. The picture is a little misleading. She has lost quite a few of her baby teeth and there are adult teeth half way into most areas.

In true first born fashion, Ally is a rule follower and a perfectionist in many things. She loves to do things well and do them the correct way - often questioning others when they do things outside the box.

She plays soccer, has an American Girl doll, loves Hannah Montana, and spends a lot of time drawing, painting, writing stories, singing and otherwise being creative. In fact one day this year I found her creating her own television show. She had a video camera set up and was showing viewers how to create a memory pouch out of paper. She even interrupted for commercial breaks with her own transitional flair. Check that out here.

Rachel
Rach is 6 this year and in First Grade. Talk about the exact opposite of what a second born is supposed to be like. She is not at all the left out, depressed and misunderstood child. Instead she is funny, in your face and at times downright hilarious. Out of the blue she will make a comment or use a phrase (often in the wrong context) that you can't help but stop and laugh over.

She has an infectious smile and energy that never ends. She also plays soccer and loves Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers. You'll find her playing the Leapster, watching Disney Channel, coloring, painting and drawing.

Rachel loves the water and will stay in it even though her lips are blue and she can't stop shaking. She collects shells, swims under water loves the sand.

She is quick to make friends and is the one with no fear. She'll be playing with new friends the minute they become available and doesn't stop to think about whether or not they are good for her. We'll have to keep working on that.

Tyler
I hate to use the phrase "Momma's Boy" but at this point it seems to fit. Ty is 4 this year and in Preschool. Still young, he whines when things don't go his way, but for crying out loud I know some adults that do the same thing still.

Tyler is a fun boy to be around. He loves to play and beginning to be creative and self sufficient during the day. He loves TMNT, Phineas & Ferb, dinosaurs, cars and has begun to draw and color like his sisters (if you can't beat them join them...)

Tyler learned to swim well this year in Myrtle Beach and hasn't looked back. He loves to bob, hold his breath and is jumping in all by himself at the lake.

Tyler has sporadic breathing issues like I did when I was young. He gets breathing treatments when it gets bad and then its gone for four hours. We hope this is something he grows out of like I did. There's nothing worse than sitting listening to your child hack and wheeze just to get good breaths...

Tyler has also played soccer and I can't wait to get him back on ice skates this winter :)

Me
This year has been a good one.

I love the fact that Tammy and I have grown closer and that we are doing what it takes to maintain a solid relationship. Date nights twice a month, random lunches together and the occasional long weekends away without kids are a HUGE part of this.

I have enjoyed watching the kids grow, mature and take steps in the right direction. Each has their own personality and I love each of them as much as the other. I've been able to have the random conversations where you really feel like you are connecting and can't wait for more of this to happen as the grow.

I love living in Granger. Aside from the weather of course. I was going to title this post, "Merry F'n Christmas" where the "F" stood for "frigid" but decided against it...

My job at the church has been one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I love being in ministry and getting to do the stuff I'm passionate about. I recently launched a website (webdrivenchurch.com) so people can find me. You can get to my blog from here and see some of the stuff I've been doing lately (both work related projects and freelance web projects).

It has been a great year and I can't wait to see what 2009 brings.

The world may be falling apart around us but we can still have joy and peace knowing that our futures are safe and secure because we know the One that controls it all.

Peace in the new year.

A Better Person

2008-11-12T22:33:00.005-05:00

Do you have friends in your life who make you better? Friends who know you well enough to know when something is wrong just by the look on your face. Friends who help you be a better mom and wife. Friends who are "for" your marriage and won't just tell you what you want to hear. Friends who guide you and remind you what is important when you are in the middle of a parenting crisis. Friends who have the hard conversations with you even though it is not easy. Friends who don't always agree with you, friends who remind you what is important and what your priorities should be. Friends who are completely honest with you and who you can be completely honest with. Friends who just push you to be an all around better person...to be a better Christ follower, a better wife, a better mom, a better friend, etc.

I have this in these girls (plus Deb not pictured).

Becky, Jami and I have been through a lot together. We have shared alot of laughs and helped each other through some of the hardest times in our lives. I love these girls, I love their husbands, I love their children. I would do anything for these girls and I know they would do the same for me. I am so thankful to have these girls in my life. I hope you have people in your life who push you to be a better person.

Ghetto Boys

2008-11-06T22:54:00.004-05:00

I love this picture. Tyler and Jacob were playing one day during soccer practice for the girls and Daryl snapped this shot. One of those pictures that makes me smile when I see it.

I love watching these two grow up together, it makes my heart happy!

Happy 8th Birthday Allison

2008-10-10T21:47:00.005-04:00

Allison Lynn,

8 years old, hard to believe. 8 years ago your dad and I became parents, 8 years ago life as we knew it ended (life was no longer just about us), 8 years ago a little girl came into our lives and stole our hearts and that little girl is you. You came into this world at 5 lb 6oz and now you are 60 plus pounds. It is hard for me to believe that you are 8 already. I am becoming more aware everyday that my time with you is limited, which I have to admit scares the crap out of me.

You are in 2nd grade this year at Mary Frank Elementary School. Your teacher is Susan Lestinsky (I actually worked with her when I was a counselor at Moran). You also have a student teacher right now, Miss Dean, who we figured out about 3 weeks ago is living right next door to us. You were so excited to find this out. You love school and have made some really good friends. Your best friend is still Abby Callender, but you also love to hang out with Rebecca, Halie S., Haylee H and a few others. Your favorite subjects are art, music, gym and spelling/reading. You don't care too much for math and tend to get frustrated pretty easily when doing your math homework. You still don't like to get things wrong and will end up in tears because of it. Overall though you are a great student.

You are playing Positive Faith Soccer right now and also just joined girl scouts. You have become quite the little soccer player this year and are having a great time. You and Rachel and Abby are on the same team this year and that has been fun to watch. You had, I think, one of your first moments this week where you felt what it was like to get frustrated and because of this you put the ball into the net with authority. Last winter you took ice skating lessons and this summer did swimming lessons along with volleyball camp. You saw the Atlantic Ocean this year for the first time. We took a vacation to Myrtle Beach with the Callender and Ruth Families. You also went camping for the first time this year with Abby and Jacob. You love Hannah Montana right now and can sing everyone of her songs word for word. You still love to sing and will just break out in song no matter where you are at. You have your first solo in the 2nd grade musical in a couple of weeks and you couldn't be more excited.

Allison, these past 8 years have been so much fun watching you grow into the young lady that you are right now. You have gone from this little baby who needed her mom and dad to do everything to this big girl who needs us for very little any more. Though many things about you are changing you are still my sweet little girl who loves with her whole heart. You have such a big heart and are normally one of the first ones to help when help is needed. You don't like to see other people hurt and will do what you can to make things right. It breaks your heart when other people are mad at you or disappointed in you. You tend to be my rule follower and because of this you tend to be a leader. You have so many great qualities and I cannot wait to see how God uses those qualities to help you become the woman of God he created you to be.

Allison you love God right now with all your heart and are eager to learn more about him. More often than not you would rather have your dad tell you a story out of the bible rather than read you a bedtime story. You are eager to learn more about Him right now and my prayer for you is that this is the case for the rest of your life. I know that God has great things planned for your life and I cannot believe that He has let me have a front row seat. Allison I pray that you stay true to yourself and that you follow after God with all your heart and soul. Never forget that He is your best friend and that He will never leave you. Know that your dad and I love with you with all we have. We are so proud of you and cannot wait to see what the next 8 years brings.

I love you sweetheart!

Love,

Mom

Happy 4th Birthday Tyler

2008-09-28T21:14:00.004-04:00

Tyler,

Today you turned 4. I cannot believe that 4 years have gone by this fast. It just seems like we brought you home from the hospital. You are my big little boy. It won't be long and you will pass your big sister, Rachel, up in weight. I can remember telling your sister's when you were little that they better be nice because the day would come when you would be as big as them and that day is quickly approaching. You are our big boy. As Aunt Becky says, you are going to be our linebacker. Though you are our big tough boy you are also as sweet as they come, which is one of the things I love the most about you Ty.

Tyler Ryan, you are all boy. You are rough and tumble and every time we turn around you are hitting your head on this or that or falling down and scrapping your legs or arms. In the past year you have had stitches by your left eyebrow and also had a gash by your right eyebrow glued by the doctor. Your dad and I always say that you will be the first kid we take to the ER. You are constantly pushing the limits when it comes to doing things that might end up hurting you. I have learned to just turn my head and not watch, otherwise I might have to keep you locked in your room...ha! As much as I love how much "boy" you are, I also love how sweet you are. You tell me at least 3 times a day that you love me. You are always giving hugs and kisses or just wanting to be snuggled by me or your dad. You are helpful in so many ways. You never let me carry groceries into the house by myself, you help me carry laundry all the time and you are the first to want to help do just about anything. You miss your sisters when they are gone all day at school and are the first to greet them when they get off the bus. You are also the first to tell me or your sisters that you like what we are wearing or that we are pretty. Like I said I don't think you could be any sweeter.

This year you have accomplished many things. While we were in Myrtle Beach for vacation you learned the beginning stages of swimming. You learned how to go under water by yourself and by the end of the vacation you were without floaties trying to swim under water. By the end of the summer you were swimming under water. You took swimming lessons at Penn this year with your sisters and spent lots of time at the lake and pool swimming too. You also rode on the tube behind the boat for the first time this summer. You have also taken soccer lessons this year. This year you are going to preschool 3 days a week at Mary Frank Preschool. You have learned how to spell and recognize your name in print and to write the letter "T" this year. You have also made huge progress this year with your speech. You are still getting speech therapy but you are almost all caught up. You are so proud of yourself when you say something that is hard for you. Right now you love to play and watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Phineas and Ferb. You just told me the other day that you wanted to get rid of your Diego bike and get a Phineas and Ferb one. You also still play with your cars and trains, and love to draw and color. It has been fun to watch you learn to draw people this year too.

Tyler I am so proud of the little boy that you have become so far. I cannot wait to see what the future holds for you. I know God has great plans for your life. My prayer for you little boy is that you will continue to love people like you do now. I pray that you will always be as sweet, loving, helpful and caring as you are. Always remember that God is your best friend, that He will never leave you or forsake you. I pray that you seek God's will for your life and that you run after that with all that you have. Know that your dad and I will always love you, no matter what. We will always be your biggest fans. We also promise, to the best of our ability, to raise you to be the man God's wants you to be. No matter where life takes you or what you become you will always be my sweet little boy.

I love you Tyler Ryan with all I have in me!

Love,

Mom

Happy 6th Birthday Rachel

2008-06-28T16:46:00.005-04:00

Okay so I know this post is almost a month late, but hey that is what happens when you are on vacation during a Birthday :) So I guess it is better late than never!

Rachel,

6 years old, I cannot believe it! I can remember walking around the house with you when you were just baby thinking I have to have another one of these, she is just too cute and sweet. You were a such a sweet baby and you have grown into a sweet little girl. These last 6 years have flown by and I am so proud of all you have accomplished this year.

You just finished Kindergarten at Mary Frank Elementary this year. You were so excited to go and could not wait to ride the bus with your sister. You were in Kindergarten half day Monday through Friday and then also attended Kinderclub the other half of the day, 3 days a week. You had Mrs. Krieger as your teacher for Kindergarten and a slew of other teachers for Kinderclub. As much as you loved being gone all day and riding the bus to and home from school, you also loved the 2 days a week where I picked you up at 10:20 and we spent the rest of the day together. You made all sorts of new friends this year, though I think you played mostly with Lydia Bradford. She also rode the bus with you and lives in the neighborhood behind us. Though you played alot with her you would also come home and tell me about all your other friends. You are just one of those kids who makes friends easily and is friends with everyone, though I would still say that your best friends are Jacob and Abby.

This year you learned how to tie shoes, read, count to 110 by ones, fives and tens. You also learned about money and what each coin was worth. You became a great swimmer, learned how to ice skate completely on your own and also learned how to ride a two wheel bike (this was a tad after you Birthday). This year you participated in gymnastics, ice skating, soccer and poms camp at Penn last summer. I think one of the biggest things you learned this year was how to navigate friendships. We had many conversations during the school year about this or that person being mean to you and why they would do that and what you should do about it. You were always so perplexed by the fact that someone would be mean to you one day and then be nice to you the next. You also had to deal with the fact that Allison and Abby moved from the Penguin room at church into the Jungle room and you did not get to go with them. Your feelings were hurt and you were upset but you moved on pretty quickly.

Rachel one of the things that I love about you is your personality. You are so full of life and love and laughter. I cannot tell you how many times your dad and I have just looked at each other and started laughing about things you have done or said. You come up with the silliest, craziest things sometimes. For you there is no hiding your feelings, you can tell just by looking at you how you feel and I love that. You still love to snuggle with your dad and I and anytime we are sitting down to watch TV you are right beside us wanting to be on are laps. You love our family nights on Friday when we hang out and watch movies, you never let us forget that it is "family night". You are my petite, cute, cuddly, smart, silly, full of life little girl. There is not a day that goes by that you don't make me think of your Nana, you are her in a nutshell!

I cannot wait to see what the future hold for you Rachel Lauren. I know that God is going to do great things in your life. I pray all the time that you will follow after Him hard and that you will seek His will for your life everyday. Know that your dad and I will always be here for you, no matter what happens in your life. Our love for you will never change. I cannot wait to see the beautiful woman you turn into, but between now and then I am going to enjoy every minute I have with you as my "little girl".

I love you Rachel!

Love,

Mom

Rachel Loves Us

2008-05-02T11:11:00.002-04:00

I found this laying on the island in the kitchen the other day and thought to myself:

Thank God! My daughter loves us just the way we are. Because the way we are is very strange sometimes...

You gotta love Rachel's charm.

Sisters

2008-03-27T22:06:00.002-04:00

My hope and prayer for these two girls is that they will grow closer and closer every year, that they will at least be able to tolerate each other through adolescence, and that as adults they will be best friends. I have huge hopes and dreams for these two, but the thing I long for the most is that they will be sisters in every sense of the word for life. I pray that they will share their hopes and dreams with each other, that they will keep each other's secrets, that they will always stand up for each other, that they will love others and each other well, that they will serve Christ together, that they will be accountable to each other, that they will laugh together and cry together and that no matter what life throws their way that they will come out on the other side of it closer to each other and better because of it.

My promise to them is that I will do everything in my power to be the mom they need, to serve Jesus and our family well and to help show them how to build into each other and lift each other up. I cannot wait to see what the future holds for these two girls!

Notes to Remember

2008-03-27T21:22:00.004-04:00

Rachel has just started in the last month or so to write letters. It is so fun when they get to the age where they are comfortable sounding out words and writing them down for you to read. She wrote two letters last weekend that just made us laugh.

Let me give you some back drop for this first one. Allison and Rachel have their own rooms, but they started a few months ago asking to sleep together on the weekends. Rachel is an early morning girl and Allison is not! Allison likes to sleep in whenever possible and Rachel on the other hand likes to get up with the sun and likes company. So when she slept with Allison she would wake her up when she woke up or she would just sit in the bed and play knowing that if she did it long enough Allison would eventually wake up. Well this only lasted a few nights before Allison was done and told Rachel she could not sleep with her anymore. So this was the case for the last few months. Well last weekend Rachel convinced us and Allison that she would not wake Allison up in the morning if she could sleep with her. So we are getting the kids ready for bed and Rachel says "wait a minute I need to go write myself a note". The next thing I know she comes up to me with the note below and says "Mom, I wrote myself a note so I would remember to not wake Allison up in the morning. Mom make sure you put it on my robe and slippers on the end of the bed, so when I wake up I can read it and remember". So I read the note and almost lost it from laughing so hard.

In case you don't quite get Kindergarten writing it says: "Rachel do not forget to not wake Allison up in the morning".

The next day she comes up and hands me this note for the Easter Bunny.

"Dear Easter Bunny thank you for the candy and I am not so good at finding eggs"

These notes are treasures to me and will be kept for years to come!

New Adventure

2008-02-23T16:17:00.003-05:00

So for those of you who have not heard yet, I have embarked on a new adventure. After taking about 6 weeks or so to think about it, process it with other people and research it, I have decided to become a lia sophia jewelry advisor. Why, you may ask? Well for a couple of reasons, first off I LOVE wearing jewelry. It is so much fun to have several different pieces to pick from. It can make a very boring plain shirt look totally different. The other reason is to make a little bit of extra money.

Why lia sophia you might ask? Well one of the things I love about the company is their lifetime guarantee. If anything happens to your jewelry at any point or if you decide at any point that you no longer like it you can send it back no questions asked. They will not just fix the jewelry if it is broken, they will replace it and if they no longer have the piece then they will send you a gift certificate for the full price of the piece you are returning. There is NO place else I have found that has this same deal. I have bought way too many pieces of jewelry and had to end up throwing them away because stones fell out or they tarnished. No more of that! The other thing I love about the company is that they have great deals every month, they give hostesses great deals and their jewelry is just plain cute!

So far I have done 4 shows and have another one tomorrow and have a couple scheduled in March and April so far. I am really having a good time doing all of this. I love meeting new people and showing them how to get good deals on great jewelry. If you ever want to host a party, you get lots of free and reduced price stuff (really it is amazing all you get) and I also offer great deals for hosting a party, let me know!

Go to http://www.liasophia.com/ and take a look at the new Spring and Summer catalog, you WILL love it!

Tyler's Phrases

2008-01-25T11:26:00.001-05:00

Here are some the the things Tyler says that just crack me up sometimes:

- huh, that's weird

- your jokin

- you're funny

- if you say so

- Carter Ruth (okay so that in itself is not so funny, but Tyler only calls Carter, Carter Ruth, never just Carter and even Carter sounds more like haha)

- I don't know

- naw, naw, naw (he sings this when he plays Allison's Hannah M. guitar)

- whatever

- school where my teacher gets me out of the car (he is going to 2 preschools right now and this is what he calls one of them)

- I am a happy boy!

- He has also been known to tell his friends that he has a big penis, yeah we all cracked up at that one!

- you like my big, big muscles

I love this stage when they are talking like crazy, but not all words are 100% clear, it is just so cute. I also love the fact that they say what is on their mind and there is no filter. of course I like it till one of them says something about someone they see that is true, but dosen't really need to be said outloud. Gotta love kids!

Perfection

2008-01-21T20:33:00.000-05:00

I have figured something out about one of our kids just recently. Now, I thought that this was one of her characteristics before but it is becoming very clear to me now that it is who she is going to be. Our eldest daughter, Allison, is becoming more perfectionist all the time. For those of you who know her father, the apple did not fall far from that tree. Yes, I do also have things that I like a certain way, but not sure that I would call myself a perfectionist.

There have been clues along the way that have helped me come to this conclusion, like when I send her and her sister up to clean their rooms, Allison CLEANS her room. She picks everything up and puts everything in its place. Her bed is made, she even runs her hand across the comforter to make sure it is smooth. Her dresser is neat and orderly, she has a drawer in her nightstand for books and a drawer in her dresser for all her American girl doll clothes. She even likes to organize her underwear drawer and put them in piles by colors. Rachel on the other hand, likes to clean her room by putting more stuff out on her dresser. When you ask her what she is doing, she will tell you that she is decorating and making it pretty and yes adding more clutter. Which by the way can tend to drive me CRAZY! She is also one who has been known to just shove stuff where it cannot be seen when you walk in, that must make it clean right?

The big clue though for me this year, has been Allison's school work. Almost everyday she comes home with papers they have worked on throughout the day. Some of the papers are ones they have done together in class and other ones are ones they have done on their own throughout the day. If she happens to miss one problem on those papers, it can send her to tears. As I would go through her stuff everyday I would talk to her about the ones she missed, so that I knew she was understanding what she did wrong. As soon as I brought up that she had missed one the tears would start. I have talked and talked to her about how it is okay to miss problems and that no one gets everything right. I have told her that all her dad and I expect out of her is that she does her best and when she gets something wrong that she learns from it. I cannot tell you how many times I had this conversation with her while there were tears flowing down her cheeks.

I will say it has gotten a little better and now when she comes home from school she will tell me right away if she missed any on her papers. I look through them and if I can tell that her teacher has gone over them with her then I just blow it off or I ask her if she understood why she got it wrong. The other thing that really gets her going is tests. She already worries about them the night before and asks us what happens if she gets her answers wrong. We try to reassure her and tell her that she will done fine. All I keep thinking through all of this, is she is in 1st grade! What in the world is going to happen when she is in middle school or high school? To be completely honest it kind of scares me.

As nice as it is to have that really clean room of hers, I sure don't want her living her life worrying about not being perfect! My hope is that Daryl and I can help her strive for excellence but also teach her how to learn from her mistakes and move on.

Family Night

2008-01-11T21:16:00.000-05:00

I love Friday nights and the reason I love them is because they have become our family night. Daryl normally is home right on time, the house is normally clean, and it is the beginning of the weekend. We do dinner, which most of the time is more breakfast like foods, then clean the kitchen up together and then it is jammie time. All the kids and mom and dad sometimes too get pajamas on.

Once everyone is all comfy then it is time for some sort of treat. Last Friday night it was chocolate milkshakes, tonight it was popcorn. We then all retreat into the living room for movie night. Movie night has become a huge hit in our house. We all snuggle together, turn all the lights off and on comes some sort of kids movie. Last week it was Meet the Robinsons, this week it was Jungle Book. The kids absolutely love it and look forward to it all day.

Movie night is one of the ways that we spend quantity time with our kids in hopes that there will be moments of quality time that come out of it. I cannot begin to tell you how important it is to me that we are making it a priority to carve out quantity time with our kids. One very wise man (Dr. R. Mark Beeson) once said that quality time only comes with quantity time. You can't plan the quality time, it only comes with quantity time-and that you can plan.

Christmas Eve and Day Pictures 2007

2008-01-06T22:41:00.000-05:00

Opening presents at my Sister's house on Christmas Eve.

More presents at Grandma Marques' house on Christmas Eve.

Santa came, Santa came!

Rachel and Tyler in their new sled!

Allison in the new sled, take a look at Rachel in the background, too funny!

Tyler with his new Diego backpack.

It was a Hannah Montana Christmas!

Rachel and Allison both got Ipods for Christmas, thanks to the discount from Aunt Katie!

Papa got Rachel a drum set,

and Allison a Hannah Montana guitar, he pretty much won the Papa of the year award!

Our new band, not pictured Tyler on the tambourines.

Papa got Tyler a new bike for Christmas!

Stocking fun, I LOVE stockings! My mom always put special things in our stockings.

Christmas 2007

2008-01-06T21:49:00.000-05:00

As Christmas Vacation comes to an end, I thought it about time I blog about it. The kids go back to school tomorrow which is crazy. Daryl and I both had about 12 days home with the kids and it was awesome.
It all started on Christmas Eve when we attended Christmas Eve service at GCC (they knocked the ball out of the park this year), celebrated Christmas Eve with my sister and their families and then headed over to Grandma Marques' for a bit. We then came home and got ready for Santa. The kids could not have been more excited.

Christmas Day started about 8:30 am for us, when all the kids ended up in our bed. We started 2 new traditions this year. The first one was we decided that before we go downstairs and the chaos begins that we are going to read the Christmas Story out of the bible. So we did that and then made the kids wait at the top of the stairs while we got the cameras all ready, etc. They could barely stand it! The 2nd tradition we started was each person opens one gift at a time, that way everyone gets to see all the presents. My dad and brother came over about 9:30 am and we had breakfast with them and then opened more presents. It felt like it was presents for about 5 hours straight. Then mid-afternoon Daryl's sister and her family came over to hang out with us. Daryl's mom and dad were out of the Country this year for Christmas. The kids had a ton of fun hanging with their cousins and playing with all of their new toys. The Callender Family was supposed to come over, but we missed their phone call which was a bummer! Christmas night Allison and Rachel got the chance to spend the night with their cousins and they had a great time.

The day after Christmas we went ice skating up in St. Joe with the kids and Daryl's sister and her family. This is the second year we have done this and I think we need to make it a tradition. I was amazed at how well Allison is skating. We even got Ty on skates this year, he was a little unsure at first but by the time we left he was having fun.

Thursday we took the kids to a movie, dinner and then to the mall to do some after Christmas shopping. Friday we cleaned the house and went through all the toys in the basement and got rid of about 4 bags full of toys. Friday night we headed to Chi-town with our best friends to eat at PF Changs, all I can say is yum, yum, yum! Saturday was a typical day, hang out at home, go out to eat with friends and then go to church. Sunday, I spent the afternoon and early evening with Allison and Rachel shopping, we had a blast. Monday was New Year's Eve and we had our normal group along with Trent and Leah over. It was a ton of fun! New Year's Day we spent the day playing in the snow, sledding and taking down all the decorations. As much as I love the holidays, I love getting my house back to normal once they are over.

Our vacation then came to an end and it was back to work for Daryl and I, but at least it was a short week. We ended the kids vacation with having Christmas at Daryl's parents on Saturday and hosting Carter Ruth's Birthday party today. It was a great Christmas vacation. I have to admit it will be strange to not have all my kids with me all day, but I suppose school is important :)

Some pixs to follow in the next post!

Twas the Night Before Christmas

2007-12-24T23:42:00.000-05:00

The Christmas pajamas are on, the cookies and milk are out along with the note to Santa. The reindeer food is placed in the front and back yard just to make sure and the kids are all tucked in bed barely able to sleep waiting to see if Santa really will find our house.

The McMullen Family wishes you all a very Merry Christmas. We hope you find time to celebrate the birth of Jesus and to spend time with friends and family.

Waiting for Santa,

Daryl, Tammy, Allison, Rachel and Tyler

All I Want

2007-12-11T07:18:00.001-05:00

All I want for Christmas is my two (make that 4) front teeth!

Happy 37th Birthday Daryl

2007-11-18T21:29:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday babe! I am so lucky to be the girl who you celebrate your Birthday with.
I had a great time this weekend!
I love you with all my heart!

Marriage

2007-11-15T21:54:00.000-05:00

If you remember one of my recent posts was all about divorce, I thought it only fitting to follow it up with a post about marriage. We recently did a parenting series at our church, Granger Community Church, and one of the messages touched on some of the points I am going to talk about. Now I understand that I have only been married for 8 years and there are many people out there who have been married much longer than I, so I know I still have lots to learn, but this is what I have found to be important so far.

Daryl and I understand that Jesus has to be at the center of all we do. The most important relationship I have is my relationship with Christ. The same is true of Daryl. Mark Beeson, our senior pastor, during one of his messages a long time ago drew a picture of a triangle with Jesus at the top point and Daryl and I at the bottom points of the triangle. He then went on to explain that as we each move up our line closer to Jesus we also move closer together as a couple.
Daryl and I understand that the next most important thing after our relationship with Jesus is our relationship with each other. So what this means is that our children come after that. Yes, I did just say that my children at not the center of our universe. I know there are many people out there who don't agree with this, they think because I say this it means that I don't love my children. No, I never said that I don't love my children, but my relationship with their father was around before they existed and when they move out and leave home (as they should) he will still be here. The best thing we can do for our children is to love each other well and to always put each other above them. I want to show them what a marriage should look like.
Have a group of other married couples around you who will hold you accountable about your marriage and who have marriages that you want to emulate. We have a very close group of friends and everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) is open for discussion. We make it a priority to spend time with those friends and to pour into each other. It is understood in our group by all of us that divorce is not an option for any of us so we check in on each other often. We have the hard discussions with each other and we are open and honest with each other.
Date your spouse on a regular consistent basis and make it a priority. Daryl and I have date night at least 2 times a month. We trade kids with the Callenders, so they have date night every other week and we are the opposite weeks. Those date nights are important to us, we look forward to them and if for some strange reason we miss one we try and make it up. Besides a regular date night I think you need to make it a priority to get away over night with each other too. Daryl and I had an opportunity this summer to get away for 5 days together without kids. It was great! We had time to just be Tammy and Daryl and not mom and dad. I have decided that we need to try and do this every year.
Make it a priority to communicate with each other without distraction. You may read this one and think I communicate with my spouse everyday, no big deal. Daryl and I have found that we communicate on a much different level with each other if we turn off the TV and computers, put the kids in bed and just sit down, look at each other and talk. We do not do this enough, this is something that we need to do better at. I am one of those people who needs to feel like I know things about my spouse that no one else knows. It helps me to feel connected!
Work towards a goal together. This is something I have just figured out brings Daryl and I closer. When I think back about the times when I felt closest to Daryl it was during times when we were working towards some sort of goal. When we were pregnant with each of our children, when we were looking for and purchasing a new home, when one of us were changing jobs, when we were making a big purchase, when we were reading a book together, when we were working through a challenging problem together, these and many other things helped me feel closer to my husband. We were working towards a common goal!
Have sex on a regular basis. Yep you read that right. Sex is a huge part of any marriage. Not only do the men need it, but admit it women so do we. God created sex and there was a reason for it. It is way too easy to be too tired or too worn out or to just not have the desire. As much as we all hate to admit it sometimes those are just excuses. We have found that as long as we are having sex on a regular basis it helps us stay on track in all the other areas.
Don't become complacent. It is very easy to think, we know divorce is not an option so we don't have to worry about it. But as soon as that happens then you find yourself in a place where things are not good. You find yourself in a place that you never thought you would be. I got a phone call from a friend about 3 and half years ago that changed me. I cried tears I never thought I would cry, I had conversations I didn't plan to have and I prayed like I had never prayed before. Their story had a happy ending, but it taught me to never become complacent. I need to make all of the above things a priority so that my marriage stays on track.

Like I said at the beginning, I am not an expert on any of this. These are just things that I have found work for Daryl and I. What else would you add to the list?

The "D" Word

2007-11-13T21:53:00.001-05:00

I had a conversation with Allison this morning that I cannot stop thinking about. As she was getting ready for school this morning she tells me that one of her friends in her class told her that her parents are getting divorced. As soon as I heard the word, I had all sorts of feelings come to the surface. My first feeling was sadness. I was sad that Allison, in 1st grade, knows what that word means.

She went on to explain to me that Carolyn's dad is still living in the house, but he is going to be moving out without any kids. She said that all the kids will be living with the mom. She said that Carolyn's mom and dad were fighting alot so they decided to break-up. As Allison told me the story I could tell she was wondering what that meant for her and her family. So, after Allison finished with the story, I told her I was sad for Carolyn that her mom and dad would not be together but that it would never happen to her. She asked me why and to keep it simple I told her that Jesus says that when you marry someone you stayed married for life and that her dad and I were going to obey Jesus, so because of this she never has to worry about her mom and dad not living together.

So there may be some of you out there who might say, "sure you say now that you will never get divorced, but you never know that the future holds". You are right I do not know what the future holds, but Daryl and I have decided in advance that divorce is never an option for us. Not only have we decided that divorce is not an option we have also decided that we will not live our lives hating each other or living separate lives even though we live in the same household. This was a conversation we had before we got married and it is something we have never wavered on. We both dealt with things growing up that we wanted to make sure that those things didn't define our future.

I am not naive, I know there will be things that will happen to us that will test us in this area, I know we will go through periods where things are not fun, but none of that matters. We have committed our lives to each other forever, not just because we stood in front of our family and friends and said so, but because we believe this is God's will for our lives. We also made this commitment for our kids. I know firsthand what divorce can do to children and I made a commitment to myself a long time ago that my children would never go through that, no matter what the cost.

Awkward

2007-11-12T20:59:00.000-05:00

Daryl and I have decided from this point till about high school Allison will just look awkward. She has now lost 3 teeth, one of her top ones fell out yesterday and she just does not look the same. Funny how that can happen in a matter of minutes.

What was once a little girl with little teeth is now a little girl with holes in her mouth. She will then become a little girl with big teeth. As she grows into her big teeth then her body starts to change and all sorts of fun things start to happen. So like I said for the next 7-8 years she will just look awkward, but we will love her just the same.

Pure Utter Joy

2007-11-10T16:40:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday Allison and I had a great day together. After much anticipation and waiting Allison was able to get her first American Girl doll. She has spent the last few months drooling over the catalogs and picking out just the right doll. Why you might ask did we wait so long to get her one? First off, I had decided that if we were going to spend that kind of money on a doll that they needed to be old enough to take care of it and understand that we don't write all over it or drag it through the dirt. So we decided that 7 would be the magical age.

We took off early in the morning with Becky, Abby, Becky's mom, Adam and Jacob for Chi-town. Jacob and Adam were headed to the Museum of Science and Industry for a boy day so we dropped them off and then headed downtown. It was so much fun to watch their faces as we walked up to the American Girl doll store. They just stood in front of it for a minute and let out squeals. We walked inside to find that 5,000 other people had decided to go to the store that day also. Okay so that might be a slight exaggeration, but there were seriously wall to wall people. We made our way into the "just like me" doll section, the girls had decided that was the kind of doll they wanted. They picked out the dolls that looked like themselves and then decided that they wanted to be able to hold their dolls like every other little girl in the store. So after paying for the dolls and taking them out of their boxes the girls made their way around the store to spend the money they had. Allison had Birthday money to spend. She was able to get 3 outfits for her doll, pajamas, jeans, shirt and shoes and a whole soccer outfit, complete with shin guards, a backpack and a doll size soccer ball.

After they made their purchases it was off to lunch in the Cafe right there in the store. I have to admit it was pretty cool. They had specials seats for the dolls so that they could sit right at the table with us. They started us off with mini cinnamon rolls, then it was fruit kabob's along with vegetables and pretzel bread. Our main dish then came which was followed up by a mini b-day cake (we were celebrating Abby and Allison's Birthdays) with a candle, chocolate mousse and a cookie, can you say sugar overload! After lunch we headed out of the store and walked downtown for a bit and then headed home.

I had a great time with Allison, it was fun to spend the day with her. I cannot wait till I get to do it all again with Rachel!

Ouch!

2007-11-07T21:15:00.000-05:00

Daryl and I have decided we need to buy stock in the ER right now.

As most of you know, Tyler is all boy and is constantly messing around and hurting himself. Last Sunday we had our first of I am sure many trips to MedPoint with Tyler. Daryl and I are sitting in the kitchen eating our breakfast when we hear a big thud. Tyler comes over crying and holding his head, I pulled his hand off of his head and there was huge gash. We still have not quite figured out exactly what he hit is head on. He tells us it was the floor, but we are thinking he hit something else on the way down-ya think!

So it was off to MedPoint and about an hour and a half later Ty had 3 stitches in his head. It took me and 2 other nurses to hold him down, I think that was the worst part for him. As soon as we told him he could sit up he immediately stopped crying.

It was not only Tyler's first, of many I am sure, set of stitches but it was also the first set I have seen put in. Guess there is a first time for everything.

Halloween 2007

2007-11-04T12:33:00.000-05:00

It's that time of the year again. The costumes, the daily questioning if it's time to go, the candy, the friends, the jack-o-lanterns and of course the cold weather. At least this year the rain held to a simple drizzle every now and then.

Like last year, the boys sat in the driveway to hand out candy and the girls went through the neighborhood with the kids. This year we had Hannah Montana (Allison), Belle (Rachel), A Lion (Tyler), a Monkey (Carter), a Ladybug (Morgan), a Cowgirl (Abby) and a Jedi (Jacob).

Good times. Good times.

Now to figure out ways of hiding and getting rid of the excess candy...

Stripes, Stripes and more Stripes

2007-10-30T22:02:00.000-04:00

In my last post I told you that we had taken some time off of work and that Daryl was painting Tyler's room. Well it is done and it looks amazing! I absolutely LOVE it! It looks so good! Daryl did an awesome job. I know he didn't think it was all that fun, though I suppose that happens when you spend 3 days painting. But the finished product was well worth all the work! At least I think so :)

Vacation and Painting

2007-10-26T08:01:00.000-04:00

So Daryl and I decided to take Thursday and Friday off this week since the kids were out of school for fall break. I thought it would be nice to be home all together for a few days and just hang out. Of course that was until I decided that we needed to paint Tyler's room. I recently found a comforter for his new big boy bed and was ready to get things going.

So far on our first vacation day I went through Ty's entire room and closet and cleaned everything out, while Daryl tore down his crib (I have to admit it was kind of sad to see if go, it has been part of our house for 7 years). We tore Allison's bed down and brought up a Queen Bed for her, Ty will be getting her twin bed, and got it all made and ready to go. Daryl got Ty's room and closet painted white. We are doing brown, blue and white vertical stripes, I am so excited to see how it turns out. Since Ty does not have room right now, he is sleeping in Rachel's bed, while Rachel and Allison are sharing the queen size bed, in her room and last night he fell out of the bed twice. I really need to find those rails!

I also planted some hostas and did some raking yesterday. Doesn't really sound like a hanging out couple of vacation days, but we are getting projects crossed off the list, much to my husband's dismay!

Finally

2007-10-16T21:31:00.000-04:00

Allison finally lost her first tooth yesterday. She has been waiting about a year for this to happen so you can only imagine how excited she was when it finally fell out. All it took was for me to wipe her face and out it came. She went to bed last night with her tooth beneath her pillow hoping that the tooth fairy would show up :) Our little girl is growing up!

You Decide

2007-10-13T16:13:00.000-04:00

I was given some pictures a few weeks ago that came from my grandma's basement. It was pretty cool to look through pictures of me when I was about Tyler's age and my mom. We were passing the pictures around wondering if any of my children looked like me. So I thought I would post a picture of me when I was 3 and then a picture of Rachel and Tyler at 3 and I will let you make the decision. You may be asking what about Allison, well we all know that Allison looks just like her daddy. She got those McMullens genes big time.

So what do you think?

Happy 7th Birthday Allison

2007-10-09T21:42:00.000-04:00

Dear Allison,

I absolutely cannot believe that you are 7 today and that I am the mother of a 7 year old. I cannot believe my little girl who was born at 5 lbs 6 oz is now 7. The years have absolutely flown by with you. It just seemed like yesterday that you were learning to walk and now you are in 1st grade.

This year you are in 1st grade at Mary Frank School with Mrs. Roberts. You seem to love Mrs. Roberts and are enjoying 1st grade. You do not have your best friend, Abby Callender, in your class this year but you seem okay with that and spend every recess together. Your accomplishments in the last year have been amazing. Since your last Birthday you have learned to ride a two wheel bike, you have learned to read ( I am amazed at how well you are reading right now), you are swimming like a fish (with no life jackets, etc.), you learned to ice skate and right now you are playing soccer. You have not played soccer since you were 4. You decided that you wanted to actually play the game, so we signed you up for Upwards soccer and you are doing great. You scored a goal in your first game, I think you have a natural talent for it, though I am probably a little biased. One thing that has not happened to you yet is that you haven't lost your first baby tooth. You have a couple right now that are loose and you are waiting for the day that the first one comes out.

Another thing you did this year was let your hair grow out for locks of love. You had 10 inches cut off in June of this year. You looked totally different, but I was so proud of you. You are such a sweet little girl Allison. You love other people. You are the first one there when someone is hurt or upset to make sure they are okay. You have such a sweet spirit and when you give your heart to someone you give it all. This is something I absolutely love about you and see some of myself in you, but I also worry that someday someone will take advantage of that. I never have to worry that you are misbehaving or not doing what you are supposed to be doing, you know the rules and you follow them. You very easily get your feelings hurt and it doesn't take much and the tears start flowing.

As I think back on what I was like as a little girl I think of you. You are not super extroverted, you tend to stick with those you know. You are also fine to play by yourself or to sit on the bus by yourself. Rachel at times gets mad at you, because you will not play Barbies with her. You would rather be by yourself or playing with mom and dad. You love to play cards with us right now. You are the calm in this family. Everyone can be going crazy around you, yet you remain the same. You are into High School Musical right now and you still love to sing. Though you may not say this, I think you still have a "thing" for Jacob Callender, you 2 are pretty cute together and when you are together you are pretty much inseparable.

Allison, never forget that God has a plan for your life. He has put your here for a reason and my prayer for you is that He will make the call on your life clear to you. Right now you love to hear about Jesus, and I pray that this never changes. I pray that you will let God lead you and that you will follow wherever He takes you. I know you will do great things for the Kingdom. Always know that your dad and I are here for you. We love you with every fiber of our being and there is nothing you can ever do that will make us love you less. I am so proud of you Allison Lynn. You are an amazing, sweet, tenderhearted, loving, adorable little girl.

I love you with all my heart,

Mom

Happy 3rd Birthday Tyler

2007-09-27T21:41:00.000-04:00

Okay so I had this all typed up and ready to go on Thursday night so that I could post it on Friday, which was Ty's B-day, and I forgot about it. So here is his letter from his mom!
Tyler-

Happy Birthday buddy! 3 years old today, I almost cannot believe it. Where have these last 3 years gone? Everyday I have to remind myself to hold on to today, because the days and weeks go by so fast and I am watching you grow into a little boy way too fast. You told me today that you were not my baby, that you were "big". This is so true! You are such a little boy Ty. Your dad and I have already said that we will be in the ER with you at some point while you are growing up. You are constantly running around the house which in turns means you are constantly getting hurt. Just this week, you were in your bed (you are still in a crib) jumping and somehow you fell out and landed on her head. You came to be crying with a big rub burn on her head. One thing about you when you get hurt, you recover very quickly. You cry for a few minutes and then you are off.

This year has been a big year for you. You learned how to ride a bike, you were potty trained (which I have to say was way easier than I thought it would be), you were brave enough to go down some pretty big water slides at the water park this year, you learned all of your colors, know how to count to ten and sing along to the ABC song.You also started going to Fun-n-Fitness this year. You started out in a mommy and me class and very quickly moved to going on your own. You love to go and jump on the huge trampoline. The past few months have been huge for you. You started preschool in August and to my surprise you seem to be loving it. You are going to Clay 2 days a week for 4 hours and then you are also going to the preschool at Mary Frank 2 days a week for 2 1/2 hours. I was really worried about how you would handle all the change in your life when this started, but you adapted and are doing great.

Carter Ruth is at Clay with you. You get to eat lunch there, go outside and play and spend the days with one of your friends. At this point you seem to like Mary Frank preschool better. The way you talk about that school, is by telling me "my teacher get me out of my car". You ask to go there everyday and I have been told that you have a crush on one of your teachers and pretty much stick by her side. It has been amazing to me to watch you grow and watch your personality change in the last few months since you started school.

Up until this point, I would definitely say that you were still a mommy's boy. You pretty much preferred me to anyone else most of the time, but I have seen some changes in that since you started school. You were also a little on the shy and unsure side, but again I have seen huge changes in this area of your life in the last few months. You are becoming this little guy who does not rely on mommy quite as much anymore. You still absolutely love to be with your sisters and all your friends and you spend most of your day asking me where your daddy is. Though I have seen huge changes in you in the past few months we are still working with you on your speech. You are making great gains, but you are hard to understand at times. Miss Carol, from First Steps, has been working with you for the past year and it has made a huge difference. You still have some things to perfect, but you are talking up a storm right now.

One of the things you do that makes me laugh out loud, besides you just breaking into a dance , is you will be playing with one of your sisters and I will hear them start crying and then I will hear just a bit louder you saying "sorry Rachel" or "sorry Ally" whichever is most appropriate at the time. You will literally follow them around the house telling them you are sorry until we can talk about it. You tattle on yourself right off the bat. It makes your dad and I smile, which of course means you probably get away with more then you should. Once you know you have gotten someone laughing you will keep doing the same thing over and over again. You have also recently started singing songs, thanks to preschool, and it is just so cute. Some of your favorites are wheels on the bus, and 10 little monkeys.

Tyler you are such a sweet and gentle little boy. You already such a huge heart, you are one of the first ones to offer a kiss when someone is hurt or crying. You are a boy through and through but you have a huge heart. I cannot wait to see what God does in your life. Always know that there will be easy times and hard times in life and that most important thing is that you never take your eyes off of Jesus. It is so easy at times son to get caught up in how bad things are for us, but if we keep our eyes on Jesus he will bring us out on the other side better and stronger then before. Love Jesus with everything in you Ty and do not ever compromise that. Some people will not understand you or will try to derail you from what you know is right, I pray that you stay strong in those time always knowing that Jesus is right there with you. Know that your dad and I love you will all that we have in us and we will do anything for you. No matter what we will be here for you!

I love you Tyler Ryan McMullen!

Allison, the Soccer player

2007-09-19T21:53:00.000-04:00

Allison is playing upward soccer this fall and is loving every minute of it. I heard about it from a friend and Allison has been on me to play soccer so I thought it would be a great time to try it. Little did I know that she would love it so much! She was a little disappointed when her best friend Abby was not on her team and believe it or not they played each other in the first game of the season. It was fun to watch them play against each other, I think at moments they forget that they were not playing together.

Allison scored her first goal in that game and she was so excited. Her Papa had asked her the night before to score a goal for him and she did and Papa, Uncle Ryan, Grandma, The Callenders and the Ruths were there to see it. I was so excited for her. She is having so much fun playing and considering that she has only played soccer once in her life before this, she seems to know what needs to be done and is all about getting to the ball. I will say she does not seem to like to be on defense, she wants to chase the ball wherever it goes. I guess one could say like father like daughter, I have heard her father is the same way when it comes to hockey...

Taking it down the field.

Kicking it in and scoring a goal!

Whoohoo!

BFF!

Home

2007-09-16T12:23:00.001-04:00

Daryl has been out of town since Wednesday and all I can say is I am ready for him to come home. I don't mind him being gone every now and then. It gives me a chance to watch some movies he would rather not watch and to get caught up on my shows on TIVO. But all I can say is after about day 2 I am ready for him to come home. The kids are so excited to see him again, anytime the door opens today they think it is him. T minus 3 hours and daddy is home......yeah!

Different

2007-09-13T21:30:00.000-04:00

I was having dinner last night with my dad and he said to me, "did you ever think when you were growing up that your life would be like this" Of course he asked this while I was trying to keep 3 kids reigned in at Chick fila. We continued to talk about how lucky I was and what a great family we have.

The whole conversation though got me thinking about how my life is different now. I remember growing up always knowing that I would be married and have kids. I also knew growing up that I would probably never move away from this area. The last thing I thought growing up is that my mom would be by my side as I had kids, as my kids grew up and as they got married. Unfortuantely, that did not happen and the only way I can explain my life and feelings now is "different".

Right after my mom passed away I remember thinking I would never get past it, there were literally days when I thought I would not make it through the day. The feelings of loss were so intense. My feelings moved from intense all the time to intense now and then and now I would just say that life is just different. Do I still have days where my feelings of loss are intense, absolutely, but more then anything it just feels different.

I used to see my mom almost daily and if I did not see her I talked to her, we had lunch together at least once a week and she was amazing with my kids. Now neither me nor my kids have those things anymore and when someone is such a huge part of your life and then is gone everything just feels different.

It is different to hear friends talk about their moms and know that I don't have mine anymore. It is different to go out to lunch to some of the places my mom and I used to go and she is not there anymore. It is different to go see my dad at his house or at the lake and not have mom there. It is different to move into a new house and not have her there through the whole process. It is different to watch my kids grow up and not have my mom to watch right along with me. It is different that my kids will never know what it is like to have a grandma who have taken them school shopping and would be cheering them on at all their events. Life is different and basically it just sucks!

High School Musical 2

2007-08-19T21:33:00.001-04:00

Well...you know it had to be done. Our girls really love High School Musical - so when Disney Channel announced that there was a sequel coming out - the girls started counting down the days.

Special thanks to the Callenders' for hosting the party. From the pictures above you can see how enthralled the girls were throughout the majority of the movie. Allison already resonates with the romantic stuff (were there tears in your eyes?) and Rachel loved it though she got a bit distracted at times.

The kids dressed up like their favorite HSM2 stars, we had pizza and lots of treats.

I can almost hear them asking, "When does High School Musical 3 come out?"

Am I Old Enough For This?

2007-08-19T21:16:00.000-04:00

(Photo by Jason Powell)

Earlier this summer we spent the day with other GCC staff for the yearly picnic. Tyler told us he wanted to do the zip line (probably after watching Diego do it a hundred times) but when he got up there I think the heights bug hit him. His face tells the whole story:

What did my mom just let me do?!

Needless to say he made it to the bottom fine. He did slide off the seat but the harness was there to catch him. People quickly scooped him up and unhooked him so I think the trauma was minimal...

You go boy!

Rachel's First Time on the School Bus

2007-08-18T16:54:00.000-04:00

Since Rachel was only in school for an hour the first day she did not get to ride the bus, so on Thursday Rachel boarded the school bus for the first time. Of course she had her big sister by her side, which Rachel was very happy about. They were able to sit in the same seat together which I thought was so cute. I am going to encourage it as much as possible right now, because I am sure some day they won't even speak to each other on the bus. I am really not looking forward to that day.

Allison and Rachel heading out to the bus.

Rachel on the bus for the first time.

Allison and Rachel on the bus together for the first time.

Rachel's First Day of Kindergarten

2007-08-18T16:34:00.001-04:00

Believe it or not my little girl is going to Kindergarten. I can hardly believe I have 2 kids in school now. Where has the time gone? Rachel was so excited to go to school. The first day she only went for an hour while the parents were in a orientation. She knew a couple of kids in her class which she was excited about. She is going 3 days a week full day and then 2 days a week till 10:20am. Since school did not start this week till Wed. she was only gone till 10:20 on Thurs. and Friday. Next week will be very strange when she does not come home till 2:45pm.

She seems to be having a good time in Kindergarten. She told me on Friday that she was being as quite as a mouse, we will see how long that lasts :)

Rachel in front of her school

Allison's First Day of 1st Grade

2007-08-18T16:21:00.000-04:00

I cannot believe Allison is in 1st grade. Seriously, where did the time go. I can remember the day she was born and now she is in school all day everyday. I told Daryl this week, it is really strange having her gone all day. I miss her already and it has only been 3 days.

Her and her best friend, Abby, are not in the same class this year but she likes her teacher so far and seems to be having a good time. Though it did only take 3 days of getting up early before she told me she was too tired to get up. She is so my daughter!!!

Allison waiting for the bus.

Tyler's First Preschool Experience

2007-08-18T16:05:00.000-04:00

Here is Tyler getting ready for his first preschool experience this week and he did a great job. Ty is going to Clay Church 2 times a week in the morning for 4 hours. I was so nervous about his first day. Knowing his personality I knew he would be really nervous in a new place without mom or dad or his sisters. Ty will stay just about anywhere as long as Allison and Rachel are with him, so I figured he would have a hard time without them.

We got to his room and he was fine until I told him that Allison and Rachel were leaving with me, then he clung to me like crazy. I told the teacher it was time and she took him and out we walked. They said minutes after we left he was fine. He has his best little buddy in his class with him, so I also knew that once Carter arrived he would be fine. He gets to eat lunch there and do all sorts of other fun stuff.

He is also going to be going to the preschool at Mary Frank starting in a couple of weeks. He will attend there 2 mornings a week also. This year will be all sorts of fun for Ty and a huge learning experience for him.

Our Summer

2007-08-12T21:05:00.000-04:00

This has been a crazy, very short summer for us. I cannot believe it is coming to an end this week. We have done alot of really fun things and since I have not blogged all summer I thought I would give you a recap now.

Allison got out of school June 8. We had about a week off with not a whole lot to do and then our first session of swimming lessons started and lasted 2 weeks. That same week the girls did Poms camp at Penn every afternoon. They had a great time doing both. I have to say that I am a huge believer in swim lessons. Yes, they cost some money and yes they take up a bunch of your time, but both of my girls have learned to swim because of them. Allison is at that stage of swimming where you can pretty much leave her on her own and not have to worry too much. Rachel has made huge progress this summer and is quickly heading in the same direction as her sister.

At the end of June, Daryl and I got the chance to get away for about 5 days just the 2 of us. Daryl was going to a conference in Washington DC and since I had never been there we thought it would be fun to make a mini vacation out of it. We had a great time hanging out with the team that went from Granger and we had a great time just being together without kids. This was the longest we had been away together since our honeymoon. Sad I know, but it is the truth. It was a really good thing for us and if you are married with kids, you need to make it a priority to get away with your spouse for days at a time. I am a firm believer that it makes you better parents when you have that time to reconnect.

We came back just in time for 4th of July and spent some time at the lake. My grandma came in town unexpectedly, which was great. We had some time to hang with her and just chill at the lake. She left and it was 2 more weeks of swimming lessons along with Vacation Bible School. We absolutely love VBS at Grace. The kids love it and they do it with excellence. I will send my kids there as long as they continue to do it. We had another week or so off with nothing to do and then the trip that the kids have been talking about since last year arrived.... the Dells!

We took a road trip with the Callenders, Ruths and Verduins to Wisconsin Dells. We had a great time. This is the second trip there with this group. There is nothing better then hanging with your best friends for 4 straight days, and yes we are still friends :) The kids had a great time and didn't want to come home.

We also spent many days at the lake going on boat rides, swimming, and hanging out with PaPa and Uncle Ryan. I love summer because I love being at the lake. The kids also spent many days with their best friends swimming in our little 3 foot pool. It was a busy summer, but it was also a GOOD summer.

All of this bring us to today, with school starting this week. Tyler is actually starting at one of the 2 preschools he will be attending this year (more on that later) tomorrow. Allison starts 1st grade and Rachel starts Kindergarten on Wednesday. I cannot believe our summer is over. Back to 8:00 am bedtimes and alarms going off at 6:15 or before, I am so not ready for this.....

Good Fun Was Had By All...

2007-08-11T09:19:00.000-04:00

Of course I have to brag about my kids. They are the cutest things since their mother, and they are fun to watch at waterparks. You bond, you laugh and you learn a lot about each one as they either choose not to do something or boldly throw themselves into it without thought to bodily harm.

We had a great time as a family and being with our group of friends. The adults had time to bond and the kids had time to do just about everything possible at a waterpark. I think this is going to be a fun annual trip.

Ally poses for the camera in one of the side pools. She wouldn't go down the slide for me so I couldn't get an action shot of that...	Rachel hits the water at the bottom of a short straight slide - typically going under water and swimming to the side without coming up for air...
Tyler went from fear of being sprinkled to going down large slides that dumped into three or four feet of water...of course we were there to catch him on those.	The girls relax in the wave pool and try to keep from being run into by the "crazy people" in the deep end.
The kids make their own pizzas at UNO's Pizzaria. They did a great job even though there was barely enough cheese. Come on Wisconsin!

Happy 54th Birthday Mom

2007-07-17T21:49:00.000-04:00

It has been 3 years since my mom passed away, but if she were still alive, today would have been her 54th Birthday! Though today is a hard day, it is also day where I find myself thinking about all the good times we shared and had together. She was an amazing mom, a loving nana and my best friend. There is not a day that goes by that I don't think about her and wish she was still here not only for me but for my kids as well.

Happy Birthday Mom, I love you!

"Little Boatin" on the 4th

2007-07-07T11:15:00.000-04:00

The kids think they own the "Little Boat" now that they have lost their fear and actually enjoy the rides. Here is a list of my three kids and the speed quotients involved:

Tyler: Let's go slow so I can see what is coming...
Allison: Let's go fast enough for my hair to be blown in my face but not to where I start to lose control...
Rachel: Who built this thing? Can't it go any faster? I want to get drenched and feel like I'm going to fall off and die!

We had a fun 4th even though the weather didn't want to cooperate most of the day. We had good food, fun with family/friends and enough water time to make it worth it. Fireworks were late as usual but were better than previous years.

It just keeps getting better as the kids get older. They are more independent, more adventurous and fun to photograph.

Happy 4th of July all!

Summer is Here

2007-06-23T16:04:00.000-04:00

Well school is out and summer has arrived. The older I get and my kids get the more I love summer. I love the fact that they are home more and I get to spend more time with them. I love the fact that we can go on walks, go to the park, play in the yard and not have the sun go down till after 9:00 p.m. One of my favorite things about summer is spending time at the lake. There is just something I love about being on water and at this point the kids seem to feel the same way. They love being there and spend every minute in the water or on boat rides. So in honor of summer I thought I would post some pictures of what we have been doing so far.

Rachel celebrated her 5th Birthday at the lake with all of our friends and family. She spent the entire birthday party in her bathing suit, which is right up her alley.

The girls tubed for the first time this summer last weekend and had a great time at least for the first 5 minutes. Rachel wanted to go faster and Allison wanted to go slower. By the time it was all over Allison was in tears because we were going too fast and Rachel was asking why we couldn't go faster.

Swimming lessons started this week. They are doing 2 weeks now and 2 weeks in mid July. It is a huge commitment but a necessity. Allison is in the same group as her best friends this year. We will see how much swimming they get done!

Rachel is in a different group than her sister for swimming lessons. She is having fun and doing a great job! Tyler on the other hand gets and watch and sweat at the same time (it is about 90 degrees with 100% humidity in the viewing area). He was not too happy that he did not get to participate.

Allison and Rachel did Poms Camp this week at Penn. They seemed to both have a good time. This was Rachel's first real experience with a "camp" like this and Allison made sure that I had plans to send her again next year.

So far we are having a great summer. Next week Daryl and I are going on a little trip to Washington DC without kids (I cannot wait). We will be spending more time at the lake and then going to the Dells with our best friends in early August. Have I told you how much I love summer?

Happy 5th Birthday Rachel

2007-06-06T21:41:00.000-04:00

My Fun Loving Rachel-

I cannot believe you are already 5. I was just telling your daddy last night that I remember your birth like it was yesterday. I remember going to the hospital and I remember holding you in my arms for the first time. I cannot begin to tell you the joy you have brought to our lives in the last 5 years. I truly cannot imagine my life without your smile and your attitude.

When I think about all the things you have accomplished this year I am absolutely amazed, you have matured so much in the last year. You just recently completed your second year of preschool. You attended pre-k at Clay United Methodist. When you started there I did not think you would be ready for Kindergarten the next fall, but boy did you surprise me. You started the year out sucking your fingers and using a blanket, you are now a little girl who has no blanket and no longer sucks her fingers. You just decided one day that you were done sucking your fingers and that was the end of it. You learned how to swim and ice skate this year, you can recognize and write all your numbers (0-20) and letters, you learned how to write your first and last name, you learned your address, phone number and learned how to spell some basic words. Your best friends at school were Kailey and Rachel K. Your teachers were Mrs. Riboni and Mrs. Kral. You loved going to school and you are now SO excited to go to Kindergarten in the fall.

You have tried many new things this year, you took dance lessons, ice skating lessons, gymnastics and also did Awana for the second year. One of my favorite memories with you this year, is when we went to Indianapolis during Spring Break to the indoor water park. You had such a good time with our family and the Callenders. On our last day there you decided that you wanted to try one of the big water slides, so you and I headed up there. I had prepped you on our way up that you had to do it by yourself and that you could not use a tube. You were a little hesitant part of the way up, but you did not want to give up. So down the slide I went and then waited for you at the bottom. I really was not sure that you would do it, but before I knew it there you were coming out of the slide with a big smile on your face. You then proceeded to do it 2 more times after that. You were the only little one in our family who was brave enough to try that big slide.

Rach, you are such a fun loving little girl. The expressions on your face are priceless, no one will ever have to guess how you are feeling. When you are happy your entire face lights up and others around you can't help but smile. When you are upset with someone, you make it very clear just by your facial expressions. You come up with and say the funniest things and you always have attitude behind it all. You love to be around other people and other people love to be around you. So many people say that you look and act just like your nana as a little girl. There are times that I look into your eyes and I see her. I only wish she could have been here to see you grow into the little girl that you are. If I had to describe you in one word it would be "passion". You are full of passion when you are happy and excited and full of passion when you are upset or mad. One of the things that I love about you among many is that you can get really upset with someone one moment and as soon as that has been worked out in your eyes all in the world is back to normal.

Don't ever forget Rachel Lauren how much your family loves you. You and Allison are becoming great friends. You love to play barbies, sing, dance and watch Hanna Montana together. I cannot wait to see how your relationship blossoms next year when you are both in school together. I truly hope someday that you and Allison are best friends. Tyler has become your little buddy this year. The two of you have spent every afternoon together and I am not sure what he will do without you next year. He loves to ride bikes with you and jump on you when you least expect it. He is the first one by your side when you are hurt and always adds a hug and kiss to the mix. Your dad and I love you more words than say. You still love to sit with us and cuddle and I am going to take every minute of that that I can get.

My prayer for you little girl is that you continue to live your life with passion. I pray that you follow after God with passion. I pray that you love your family and friends with passion. I know that God will place a passion in your life and I hope that you run after it without abandon. Know that your dad and I will always be here to support you and to love you with all that we have.

Happy Birthday sweet girl!

I love you,

Mom

She Did It

2007-06-05T21:52:00.000-04:00

She did it, she did it, yeah, yeah, she did it. Today Allison learned how to ride her 2 wheel bike. We took her training wheels off last week and on Saturday we worked on riding. It did not go so well on Saturday, though of course it was about 90 degrees and after about 5 minutes we were all crabby. She was really scared and just did not want to do it, she was afraid she was going to fall. So we talked about how it is okay to fall and tonight I just told her we are going to do this. So outside she went and it took her about 2 times up and down the street and then she finally got it. I was running beside her and started to let go and she said to me "you aren't holding on" and I reminded her that meant she was doing it on her own. From that point forward she was off on her own.

She was so proud of herself and one of the first things she asked to do was to call Becky. Can you tell Beck is a second mom to her.

Way to go Allison....we are so proud of you, your accomplishments this year have blown us away!

What a Woman Wants to Hear

2007-05-18T21:58:00.000-04:00

"I could promise to hold you and to cherish you. I could promise to be there in sickness and in health. I could say till death do us part, but I won't. These vows are for optimistic couples, ones full of hope and I do not stand here on my wedding day optimistic or full of hope. I am not optimistic, I am not hopeful, I am sure. I am steady. I know I am a hard man, taken apart and put back together. So this I am sure. You are my partner, my lover, my very best friend. My heart beats for you and on this day of our wedding I promise you this. I promise you to lay my heart in the palm of your hand. I promise you me."

This whole thing was taken from last night's episode of Grey's Anatomy. I just have to say I love this show. I just started watching this season and there have been many moments, where I have thought, "yes that is it" and this was one of those moments. What woman would not want to hear those vows on her wedding day or for that at any moment during her marriage. All I know is that Daryl is my partner, my lover and my best friend and I have given him my heart and all of me for the rest of my life.

I love you and miss you babe! Daryl is in Texas right now and though I know he will be home soon, there is a part of me missing.

Wicked Chic's

2007-05-14T22:17:00.000-04:00

A few weekends ago, Becky, Jami, Debbie and I headed to Chicago for a girls weekend. It was technically my Birthday celebration even though it was a few months late. We all wanted to see "Wicked" so we just decided to make a weekend of it. We headed to Schaumburg on Saturday, did some shopping at Woodfield, of course hit Ikea and then ate dinner at PF Chang's. It was my first time at Chang's and it was amazing.

Sunday we slept in, did some more shopping and then headed to downtown Chicago to see "Wicked". The show was so good! This was the first real show like this I had been to and I loved it. After that we did some more shopping downtown and then had dinner at Cheesecake Factory, which was a perfect end to the perfect weekend.

I absolutely love the times I get to hang with the girls, I love the conversations we have and I just love being with them. Becky, Jami and Debbie, I love you guys and cannot imagine doing life without you. Thanks for a great Birthday Celebration!

This Weekend

2007-04-22T21:39:00.000-04:00

Tonight Tyler found yet another item that belongs to one of the girls. First it was the pink hat, and now the pink glasses. They match the green soccer shirt well don't they?

Tyler tells me he is secure in his manhood and that there is nothing to worry about so I guess I'll just have to take his word for it...

Yesterday we got to go listen to Rachel and her friends sing. She is such a fun loving kid. Her face lit up and she literally "expressed" every song for us. If neither of my girls wind up performing for a living I will be shocked...

Between Rachel and Allison there is always someone singing in the house or at least making us laugh.

After listening to Rachel perform we stopped by the park for some fun. The kids had fun in the sun until it was time for lunch.

Tammy was helping Tyler climb up something the girls took much longer to conquer. I guess being a boy has its perks..

Easter 2007 Memories

2007-04-14T16:51:00.000-04:00

Yes...I love this picture :)

Introducing.......THE HIP HOP GIRLS

2007-04-14T15:13:00.000-04:00

You many not know it, but Allison and Abby are now the HIP HOP GIRLS. You may be wondering how you become a HIP HOP GIRL, well you must wear a jean jacket buttoned up and you also must wear blue lipstick. There were some other rules also but I am not sure what they were.

It was too funny, the girls came home from school and got the makeup out and started putting on blue lipstick. Allison then put her jean jacket on to match Abby and before I knew it the HIP HOP GIRLS were formed. Now do they even know what HIP HOP is, I sure hope not!! Though when I was taking pictures of them I told them to act like the HIP HOPS GIRLS and Allison stuck her hand on her hip and cocked her head. Too funny!

My First Hat

2007-04-09T20:53:00.000-04:00

The other day Tyler just started wearing hats around the house. I was so proud - except for the fact that the only hat he could find was a pink one with hearts on it.

Needless to say I ran out that week and found him a REAL hat!

Doesn't he look cute?

The Dialogue

2007-03-18T11:22:00.000-04:00

Morgan: [with fear in her eyes...]

Tyler: What are you looking at?

Carter: Exactly, we didn't do anything...

Tyler: I'm holding her the right way so stop looking at me!

Carter: This is the same way they look at me when I hold her...

Morgan: What a beautiful ceiling you have - is there any way I can be propped up a bit? These guys don't have a clue what they are doing...

Carter: That's my sister for ya...

Tyler: I'm going to marry her someday.

Weekend Warrior

2007-03-03T14:59:00.000-05:00

[Photo by: Becky Callender]

There was a time when I would tell people, "Hockey is life." My father taught me to play, we watched it growing up, we went to NHL games (back when ticket prices were realistic), I "worshiped" Wayne Gretzky and the Edmonton Oilers, I collected hockey cards, I memorized the 21 NHL teams and the divisional structure of the NHL and I attempted to play every variety of hockey there was growing up (except for field hockey - never did understand that sport...).

I never played organized Ice Hockey - probably due to the fact that we grew up in a small Wyoming town of 5700 people, but I was able to play in floor hockey and roller hockey leagues over the years.

But Ice Hockey is the ultimate - every other form must admit that it was first played on ice. So there is just something special about putting the pads on and getting back out there.

Last week (after being off the ice for years) I was asked to play in an annual alumni match for the University I attended. I won't tell you the score - because I do have some pride - but will admit it wasn't pretty.

But I had a lot of fun - and I didn't break anything!

Did I forget to tell you, "Hockey is life?"

Morgan Grace Is Here!!!!!!!

2007-02-19T22:02:00.000-05:00

Todd and Jami had their little girl this morning at 8:01. I got the chance to go up to the hospital tonight and hold her. She is SO cute! She is one of those newborns who came out looking like a little girl. She is absolutely perfect! Pictures to come later!

I cannot wait to see what the rest of the kids think of her. It is official there are now as many kids in our house on a Saturday night as adults, now that is scary.

Congratulations Todd and Jami! We love you guys!

Nashville and more...

2007-02-17T16:51:00.000-05:00

About 2 weeks ago, I had the privilege of going to Nashville with Lifeline as a leader. I was very excited about this opportunity for a couple of reasons. First off, I love to hang out with high school students on trips like this. When you spend 24/7 with them for a few days you really get a chance to know some of them and have meaningful conversations. The other reasons I was excited to go was to see Nashville, I had never been there before, and to hang out with the adult leaders as well.
The reason for the trip to Nashville was to attend the Clarity conference. I have to admit I was a little surprised when we got to the conference. I am used to attending Acquire the Fire as a leader so I just assumed it would be like that, but instead of it being held in a college stadium it was held in a church. It was kind of nice to have a much smaller crowd and for it to be a more intimate setting, but at the same time there is something to be said for worshipping with a few thousand students. There is really nothing like it.
I would have to say that my favorite part of the weekend was hanging out with my 2 high school girls. We had a great time together, one of them I knew and the other one I had never met before. We had some quality time together where we got to really talk. We also had some time where we got to shop, the mall we went to was amazing. It was cool to just hang out the 3 of us while we did one of the things girls love! It was an amazing weekend, and I am so thankful I had the opportunity to get to know these girls.
After we got back, I got am amazing gift. Johnny, who basically ran point on the entire trip, sent each leader a thank you card and a CD where each student had taken the time to thank the leaders for going on the trip with them. I cannot begin to explain to you how good it felt to hear the kids say thank you! Johnny you hit the ball out of the park, thank you!

Oh, for those of you who are wondering whether I did what God was asking me to do, from my last post, I can tell you YES I did. Now we will see where it goes from here...

2007-02-10T14:22:00.000-05:00

There has been something I have been needing to do for awhile now and have just not done it. About a year ago God started prompting me to do this thing. I was a afraid to do it and kept putting it off and putting it off. I still kept feeling that prompting from God, but I didn't do anything about it. Sure enough as time went on the prompting went away and I totally forgot about it.
Well that all changed last weekend on my trip to Nashville with Lifeline (more on that later) the prompting came back louder then ever and with it came a sense of knowing that there is alot riding on whether I will obey or not.
So, here it goes, I am off to obey.

Tough Girl

2007-01-28T12:58:00.000-05:00

The girls have been taking ice skating lessons for the past week or so and they love it.

But...

It is their first real attempt on the slippery stuff and so they take their spills in the learning process. Allison took a fall last week and unfortunately the typical, "I'll put my hands down to catch myself" thing didn't work. The hands shot out to the side and the face hit the ice.

The fist black eye to be sure. And while it just hurts to look at it (you feel badly for them) there's also that small part of me that thinks it looks pretty cool. My daughter the hockey player!

You look great Ally...

Ice skating anyone?

2007-01-04T22:13:00.000-05:00

I said in my previous post that while on vacation we took the kids ice skating. This is something we try and do once a year. Daryl pretty much lived on ice skates as a kid and it is pretty cool to watch how well his entire family ice skates. I am hoping someday our kids will be able to keep up with their dad.

Allison and Rachel did great, by the end of our time Rachel was out there on her own. Allison was a little more dependent on the walker type thing they could hold on to, though she was trying to jump with it by the end. The girls had a great time and we pretty much had to bribe them to leave the ice.

This was Tyler's first time on th ice and be honest I was not sure how he would do. We decided to just let him out on the ice with his boots on and he had a great time. He was all smiles and followed his sister's around wherever they went. I think his favorite part was slamming his walker thing into his sister's. We decided to try skates on him to see what he would do. He was a little freaked out at first, but with his daddy by his side he did okay. Watch out NHL!!!!!

Allison and Tyler on the ice.

Rachel out on her own!

Tyler trying out the real thing.

Thanks for the great time Lori, Brian and kids. We had a ton of fun!

Vacation

2007-01-04T21:47:00.000-05:00

So this is a little late coming, but hey what is a girl to do. Last week was absolutely AWESOME! Why, you may ask? Because we were on VACATION! It is the first time in a long time that we have had an entire week together as a family. No school, no work, no agenda, just fun! We did a lot of staying up late (yeah we totally screwed our kids up with this one), sleeping in, hanging out with friends and family and just doing nothing.
Some of the highlights of our week were spending Christmas Day with family, seeing Charlotte's Web with the girls, having dinner with friends, taking the kids ice skating, painting the office, having dinner with friends again, seeing "Holiday" with my girl friends, and ringing in the New Year with friends. My favorite part of vacation was getting to spend time with friends and just being together as a family. The month of December was crazy for us, so it was nice to just "be" for a week with no real agenda.
I have to admit it was really hard going back to work this week. I did not want to be there. I found myself thinking about Daryl and the kids all day on Tuesday and wishing that our vacation had not ended. I guess I will just have to start a count down till our next vacation.
As much as I love going away for vacation, I have to say there is something to say for just staying home and doing whatever you want whenever you want. I think I just need to be on the same vacation schedule as my kids, which would mean a vacation day at least once a month. I think I need to propose that to my employer :)

Christmas 2006

2006-12-26T22:10:00.000-05:00

It has been a crazy couple of days, but we had a ton of fun. We started off our Christmas festivities on Saturday when we attended Christmas Eve service at GCC and then had a gift exchange with our best friends. The kids had a great time opening gifts as did the adults. Christmas Eve morning I hit the ground running. I had about half a dozen dishes to make for the holidays. I finished those up in just enough time to jump in the shower, get the kids ready and head to my sister's for dinner. We hung out there for awhile, opened presents, ate food and then it was time to head over to Grandma Marques' house for some more good times. More presents to open, dessert to be eaten, and then time to head for home. The kids did their traditional opening of Christmas pajamas, putting cookies out for Santa and then off to bed. We finished up some last minute details and then off to bed till the big day!

Believe it or not, when I woke up at 8:30am on Christmas morning the house was quiet, no one was up yet. A few minutes later Tyler woke up, then Rachel made her way in our room and at 9:00am we finally had to wake Allison up. I think we had to wake her up last year too. The kids opened up presents from Santa, then my dad and brother came over for breakfast and more opening of gifts. Before we knew it we had to leave to go to my cousins house to open presents and spend time with my mom's side of the family. We left there and headed to Berrien to have dinner with Daryl's side of the family. More presents, food and good times were had.

We spent the day today putting toys together and just letting the kids play all day! It was a great three days and since Daryl and I are on vacation this week I am looking forward to some much needed rest.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from our family to yours!

Hon - We're in Granger Now...

2006-12-13T21:59:00.000-05:00

Yes that's my driveway and yes, those are cops!

At noon on Wednesday my wife calls me freaked out because she just saw a car fly through our yard and cops chasing with lights flashing. I quickly headed in that direction at 60+ mph to find one Chevrolet Trailblazer in our back yard butted up against a tree and two empty (and still running) police cars flanking my house!

Assuming there must be a chase in progress, I headed into the house to make sure everyone was okay. Tammy was in our closet with the two kids that were still home and seemed a bit concerned about coming downstairs. I assured her there was no one around, grabbed the camera and headed back outside (dumb I know - but this had to be the most bizarre thing that has happened to us...EVER!!! So I couldn't pass up the opportunity.)

[complete photo gallery here]

Well, after a while the police returned to fill us in on the case. Apparently a few boyz in the hood (I mean neighborhood...) decided to steal a car in South Bend and drop it off to someone at a church in Granger. Along the way, they were spotted and the police gave chase. So the boyz headed toward home (which just happens to be a few streets over from ours) and must have thought we had a secret shortcut behind our house. When they realized they were sadly mistaken, they abandoned car (SUV) and fled on foot - causing our fine men in brown to get an unexpected workout (of course they were "high-fiving" at the end of it - most action they've seen this year apparently...)

The police explained that they had three of the boyz and that one was headed down the toll road somewhere and would be picked up sooner rather than later.

Aside from a little grass damage, our house made it through the ordeal.

I guess on the one hand you need to thank God for His watch care over us but on the other hand you can't help but laugh at the criminal mindset...

Hon - we're in Granger now!

It's a Wonderful Life

2006-12-03T10:49:00.000-05:00

I am sitting here at the kitchen table thinking about my life and just how good I have it. My wife isn't here - and no, that's not why my life is so good. She's out at a gas station somewhere in Michiana handing out free gas as part of GCC's 20 Days of Giving [follow along here]. It's nice to be married to someone that cares enough about her community to stand in 20 degree temps to spread a little love...

Rachel is attempting to play games on the computer. Allison trying to decide if she should help her as she walks around carefully with a baby doll she says is Carter's sister.

Tyler and Carter are pushing heavy machinery around the living room and keeping their eye on the TV to make sure I don't turn Dora the Explorer off.

The snow is gently falling outside even though you can't see it in the picture.

I have the Sunday paper in front of me and a cup of Starbucks coffee within arms reach.

It's the holiday season.

I have a great God, family and job.

I have a great roof over my head and two cars that have been working well this week :)

Like I said, It's a Wonderful Life!

Happy 36th Birthday Daryl

2006-11-18T16:11:00.000-05:00

Today my husband turned 36. I was tesing him earlier this week that he is now closer to 40 than 30. Of course I can still do this because I have a couple more years till I hit that point. One thing I love about him is that age does not matter, his response back to me was "who cares, it is just a number".
I try to do something special for him to celebrate his Birthday, last year I took him away for the weekend. This year it was more important for us to be at church because today is the 20th Anniversary of the church. So instead of going away for the weekend we got away for the night. The Callenders took our kids for the night and we did dinner, a movie, breakfast in the morning and some other things in between those times. Oh how I love married life! Tonight after church our best friends are coming over to celebrate his birthday and tomorrow we will celebrate with the kids. I love it when the whole weekend is all about him. Birthday's were a big deal in my house growing up and I want to continue that tradition in our house.
Just so you are aware, I have the best the husband on the planet. He is my best friend and the one I cannot wait to go to bed with at night and wake up next to in the morning. He does what needs to be done for our family and because of this we never go without. He is a awesome father who loves his children more than he loves himself and they adore him because of this. I am so lucky I married him, we have had 7 great married years together and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for us.
I love you hon!

Trick-or-Treat....a little late

2006-11-05T22:36:00.000-05:00

Aren't they cute!

Princess Jasmine, aka Allison

Snow White, aka Rachel

Dalmation, aka Tyler

The kids had a great time trick-or-treating with Jacob and Abby, as we have done for the past couple of years. It was a little chilly but a fun time was had by all and we have enough candy to last us the rest of the year.

Window Washer

2006-11-05T22:18:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I know it has been forever since I posted anything on this blog. I guess I have just been lazy or just too busy. Life seems to be going 100 miles and hour right now and I am afraid it isn't going to get better. Even though life has been crazy I was able to accomplish a project that I had been dreading doing but knew had to be done.
What was this project, you may ask? Well I spent the last 2 Sundays washing windows. Oh yeah doesn't that sound like fun. I started this project last Sunday and thought okay I will take one day and get all the windows done, uh that did not happen. It took me all afternoon to just do the windows downstairs. So I spent the afternoon today doing the windows upstairs. It is amazing how long it takes when you are cleaning the blinds, pulling the screens out and cleaning those and then cleaning the window sills and then finally cleaning the windows themselves. The window sills were disgusting, I am not sure how they got so dirty, but boy were they. The only nice thing about this project was that we have awesome windows that fold in so there was no going outside to clean windows.
As much as I hated this project I am glad it is done and I am glad that it won't need to be done for at least another year. All I can say is that I will be passing on the tradition that my mom started and one day this will be a great project for my kids to help me with. I'm thinking in another 5 years Allison can help. Then if I wait another couple years after that Allison and Rachel can take over the project all together....SWEET!!!!

Tammy & Me

2006-10-16T21:08:00.000-04:00

Tammy and I don't take many pictures together - probably because we have three kids and by the time we get through taking pictures of them, the batteries are dead and the camera is begging for mercy...

But the other day there were other adults around and the camera came out for the sole purpose of making memories. So Tammy and I sat down and took a good one (if I don't say so myself). You know how you look at pictures of yourself and you can always find something wrong with them? Well, I look at this one and it just feels right. It's us - plain and simple.

We have had 7 great years together and I'm looking forward to many more.

Love ya Tam :)

Bullies on the Bus

2006-10-13T08:46:00.000-04:00

I walked into the kitchen this morning to hear my daughter (Allison) describing how there were kids on the bus that were making fun of her. My first instinct was to ask, "What are their names and where do they live?" But I resisted the urge and listened as she explained that the bullying was done by older kids on the bus making fun of the way people dressed, and the way their hair looked.

How sad I thought that they learn that stuff at such an early age. How sad that my daughter has to ride a bus and endure that crap. How sad that there are kids that will influence in the negative rather than the positive.

But there was a ray of hope. My wife asked what she did when this happened and my daughter reported that she ignored it. Hooray for her - it took me numerous counseling sessions just to get some adults to realize the benefit in ignoring other peoples negative behavior.

Of course the problem remains. Even though she is able to ignore it I know it still hurts her. She is kind, loving and does care what other people think of her. To her the world is still ultimately good.

As I dropped her off at school this morning (at the butt-crack of dawn) I just sat there and watched her slowly walk through the big doors. Her backpack is wider than she is and it looks like it goes from her neck to her knees. But there she was - entering an establishment of learning. I just pray that the learning is positive and that the negative influence is in such small doses that her overall experience is good.

As I drove away - it was with a sad heart and a desire to go back and say, "Forget school - we're going to go hang out all day - just the two of us."

Of course that's probably the way God thinks about us too.

Happy 6th Birthday Allison Lynn

2006-10-09T21:29:00.000-04:00

Today at 9:10am our eldest child turned 6 years old. Only 4 more years and she will be in the double digits, wow where does the time go. She started kindergarten this year and is loving every minute of it. She has even gotten a marriage proposal on the bus from a little boy named Nick, though she told me she had to wait till she was 6 to get married, so I guess this is the year :)
We are having her and Tyler's Birthday parties on Sunday, but she still got to do some of her favorite things today and spend it with some of her favorite people. They sang Happy Birthday to her at school today, she went to ballet, she got to pick what we had for dinner, Abby and Jacob spent the afternoon and evening with us, the kids had ice cream sundaes for dessert (Allison's had a candle it in), she got to watch a movie she has been wanting to see for awhile, she played outside with her friends and she got phone calls from some of her favorite people wishing her a Happy Birthday.
Like I said in Tyler's post, my goal is to write each of them a letter on their Birthdays so here it is or at least the beginning of it.

Allison Lynn-
Happy 6th Birthday Sweetheart. I cannot believe that you are already six. I still remember the day you were born and how little you were. From 5 pounds 6 ounces to 46 pounds, it is amazing what 6 years can do. I can remember looking at you when you were a baby wondering what you would be like as a little girl and now I find myself wondering what you will be like as a teenager. You have grown into the sweetest and cutest little girl I know, though of course I am totally biased. You have a heart of gold, right now you are growing out your hair so you can give it to people who do not have any hair. I am not sure where you came up with that idea, but you came home one day and told me what you wanted to do and you are determined to do it.
You are a typical first born, you want things a certain way and you want things to be right. You started kindergarten this fall and you love it. On thing that has been hard for you is that you are learning how to spell and sound words out and you get so frustrated when we won't just tell you how to spell a word. It has to be spelled exactly right or you are not happy. You love to learn and would never think of doing anything to get yourself in trouble with a teacher. You actually came home today from ballet and when I asked you how it was you told me it was "bad". When I asked you why you said because everyone was messing around and not paying attention, and you were totally irritated by this.
The older you get the more I see myself in you. You very easily get your feelings hurt, all it takes is me talking to you in a stern manner and the tears are flowing. You do at times get an attitude and I will hear the door to your room slam, wow do I remember myself doing the same things. Even though you look like your daddy, I look at you and see myself so many years ago. Your Nana always used to say that looking at you was like looking at me when I was your age, I cannot imagine what she would say now. I have found myself thinking about how proud of you your Nana would be, I just wish she was here to see you growing up.
One thing that I find very funny right now is you are very concerned about who you are going to marry and have asked me and your dad how you will know that you have found the right person and you are also scared to have your own children because it hurts to push them out. It still amazes me that at 6 you are already thinking about those things. You and Jacob Callender still have a little crush on each other depending on what day it is. All I know is that no matter who you end up with I pray that he will be your dream come true and that the two of you will serve God side by side for the rest of your lives.
I pray Allison that you will love God with all your heart and that you will follow after Him all the days of your life. I know that God has given you talents and a passion and I pray that you fling yourself into these things knowing the good plans God has for you. Know that no matter what happens to you in this life that your Dad and I will always be here loving and supporting you and that our home will always be a safe haven. Mistakes will be made along this journey called life, but you have a forgiving Father in Heaven and forgiving parents on earth.
I love you sweetheart with all my heart and soul,
Mom

Daddy and Allison's Night Out

2006-10-08T21:54:00.000-04:00

Ask any child where he or she wants to eat and there is a 99% chance (not scientific) that it will be McDonalds. So that is where we went. She had a nugget happy meal in order to get the coveted Ariel toy. I had a number...well it really doesn't matter what I ate - there isn't much there worth blogging about :)

Next we headed over to the theatre and caught a full price version of Open Season (recommendation: make sure to catch it at matinee price). It was cute. But definitely no Lion King or monsters INC. I think she liked it, but if I ask her about it in two weeks she'll probably say, "Huh?"

And finally came the all important ice cream stop. Ally had Dirt and Worms at Ritters and I had...well it really doesn't matter what I had because anything there adds 1000 calories to your daily intake :)

It's hard to believe that Allison is 6 already. She just gets more mature every day. She still has her breakdowns but overall it's strange to hear the questions and comments that come from her each day. I can't wait to see what she'll be like at 16...

Rachel Can Ballet

2006-10-05T22:30:00.000-04:00

Rachel and Allison have been doing ballet for the past month or so and today was the first day we were able to actually sit in a class and watch the fun. It was Rachel's class and I'm not sure I'd call it ballet - maybe running around in pink, or act like your favorite animal, or run, jump and kick.

But it was fun and she seemed to enjoy it so that makes it all worth it.

Here is a short video clip if you're interested : )

Apples, Steak, Rides & Fireworks

2006-10-01T15:53:00.000-04:00

I'm typically not given to attending festivals or anything that resembles a fair for that matter. It just doesn't do it for me. But I was convinced to attend the Apple Festival in Niles, MI last week and I must say it was worth it just to see the kids eyes light up at the thought of having elephant ears, cotton candy and riding a few simple rides.

The adults went to indulge in the steak and potato phenomenon. But the kids had already been fed - so they stuck with the sweet stuff.

The kids rode the motorcycle ride (see pictures above) and then went through a Fun House type thing ($3 for 30 seconds). But all-in-all it was fun to see them happy.

The night finished up with a short and to the point episode of fireworks, some spitting rain and a quiet ride home - long live the Apple Festival!

Happy 2nd Birthday Tyler

2006-09-28T21:21:00.000-04:00

Believe it or not my little boy is 2 years old today. I absolutely cannot believe it, where did those 2 years ago. It is hard to believe that he is not a baby anymore, he is now a toddler.
I have been telling myself that I am going to write a letter to each of the kids on their birthdays so that one day they can look back and read them, so that is what I am going to do right here on our blog, so read on if you wish!

Dear handsome boy-
Today at 3:39pm you turned 2 years old. It is amazing to me to look back over this past year and see how much you have changed. You have literally gone from a baby, who was barely walking a year ago to a little boy who now runs and jumps around our house doing anything possible to get other people to laugh at you. Right now you are in the "monkey see, monkey do" phase, you follow Allison, Rachel, Jacob and Abby everywhere they go and try and do and say exactly what they are. Rachel has taught you how to climb up on the coffee table and jump from there to the couch, which you think is just way too much fun. You love to play with cars, balls, legos (your daddy just got out the legos he just to play with as a kid and you will actually sit and try to build things with him), trains and anything else the kids might be playing with which does include barbies at times. You love to color and be outside. You will get on your little push bike and start at the top of our driveway and give yourself a few pushes and put your feet up and ride down into the street, yes your parents do let you play in the street or otherwise known as the cult-d-sac :) One of my favorite things to watch you do is play light saber with Jacob Callender, even though I end up getting light sabered at times. Right now the only TV shows you really like to watch is Dora the Explorer and the Doodlebops. This is really the only time you will sit for any amount of time unless you are on your mommy's lap.
Speaking of your mommy, you love for me to hold you. If it was up to you you would probably spend most of your day in my arms. You give me the best hugs and kisses. I would have to say at this point you prefer your mommy over just about anyone. I have to tell you buddy I was a little nervous about having a boy. I wasn't sure what it would be like, I knew what girls were like but what would I do with a boy? I always heard people say that sons have a special place in their mother's hearts and I now know that is true. You bring us so much joy and we cannot imagine our lives without your smile and big brown eyes. You are such a lovable little guy and I am going to take every hug and kiss I can get because some day I know I will be replaced.
As you continue to grow from a little boy into a big boy I pray that God will continue to keep you safe. I pray that you will follow God all the days of your life with reckless abandon and chase your dreams, but always know the road that will lead you home again. I know God has designed with you do great things for Him and your dad and I will do everything in our power to help you along the way. I am so excited to watch you grow from a little boy to a young boy, from a young boy to a young man, and from a young man into an adult. We have a lot of good memories ahead of us.
I love you Tyler Ryan with all my heart!

My Thumb Is a Little Green

2006-09-25T23:12:00.000-04:00

There's just something different about lawncare in the late fall. The air is crisp, the leaves are starting to show up on the lawn and the rainy days make the grass grow faster and greener than in the hot months. As you make each pass, the leaves get mulched, the green gets greener and it starts to feel like a soft new carpet.

I typically do NOT look forward to coming home and doing the lawn but every once and a while...

I'm My Own Diva

2006-09-25T21:27:00.000-04:00

Rachel as taken up high fashion and definitely has it nailed in this pose. Notice how the pink in the bathing suit matches the pink in the boots? It's called accessorizing and it's all the rage in London right now.

I was in the middle of mowing the lawn when she walked out and couldn't help but stop and admire her taste in dress. Nice shot Tammy - we'll save it for her first boyfriend...

Bond With Me Or Else!!!

2006-09-17T21:20:00.000-04:00

So this weekend I had the opportunity to spend some serious time with my kids. Tammy was away with the "girls" in Chi-town (I hear what happens in the Windy City stays in the Windy City...)

So I did what any good father would do and filled the weekend up with stuff to do. Saturday we had a full house with the Callender kids, Grandma and Grandpa McMullen, Lori, Brian, Cheyenne and Tanner. We had a late lunch and the kids played like crazy. Then it was dinner for my three and the Callender two and off to church. After that the guys came over for beer and poker (actually much more tame than that since we had 7 kids to watch).

But we were able to talk about deep subjects and share intimate thoughts and feelings about stuff like sports, computers and portable devices...

Tyler went down around 11:00, Rachel at 11:55 and Allison after Midnight...go ahead and call CPS - they won't do anything :)

Sunday dawned just early enough to get breakfast in before Fred stopped by to chat and Grandpa McMullen came back to help rid our yard of a fallen tree. We split, stacked and moved wood from 1 until 4 as Tyler slept and the girls played in the yard.

[oh my aching back...]

The "girls" got home in time to head to Lifeline and Tammy was nice enough to take the kids so I could take a shower and clean the house.

Oh, and I was able to catch the last quarter of the Denver vs. KC game (Broncos by 3 in OT)

Life is good!

Fall Weather and the Beach

2006-09-14T17:08:00.000-04:00

Cheyenne and Rachel decided to sit on the park swing and discuss the finer points of metaphysics and the impact it has on global warming and other environmental issues.

Tanner and Allison decided to dig for the skeletal remains of Trilobites from the Paleozoic period to take to their paleontology class next week.

Tammy and Tyler decided to lay off the academic stuff and just chill in the field tent.

We spent the afternoon at the beach and had a great time. It was chilly but that didn't stop the kids from tearing up the play area, getting wet, finding cool rocks and getting sand in places sand shouldn't be.

Might be the last trip to the beach this year so we enjoyed it!

Times They Are Changing

2006-09-07T16:35:00.000-04:00

I've been slow in getting this news out and I'm not sure why.

Sure I've been busy. Sure it's been a time of transition. But come on - this is great news! So I finally got around to posting about it on the family blog.

Last week I left the world of mental health after over 10 years of service. I have done everything from juvenile justice, to case management, to therapy to supervision/management. I've worked at more than 5 facilities and met numerous professionals - some that challenged and encouraged and some that made me question my career choice.

Over the past week I have looked back with both sadness and joy. Sadness at the thought of leaving a field desperate for good workers. But joy in knowing that I was there to give as long as I could and that others will be there to fill in the gap.

So what will I be doing now?

Well, for the past two years I have been volunteering my time at Granger Community Church in the web communications department. An hour here and twenty hours there to help keep the websites up, running and looking their best. But over time this slowly turned into a position that would at some point be created to ensure the health of the web presence for the future.

And last month that position finally became a reality. I will now be serving in full time ministry as Web Director at the church.

It's strange to look back and see God in the process. He literally had His hands in everything I did from the jobs I took to the hobbies and interests I developed.

I can't wait to see what He has planned in the next leg of the journey...

[You can follow along with me by subscribing to the WebDrivenChurch blog]

Catch a Wave Man!

2006-08-28T20:24:00.000-04:00

Finally did some simple video editing on clips from the waterpark. Here is Tyler going down a slide and the girls getting to surf with one of the waterpark staff members. They loved it even though it looked pretty intense.

Warning...if you're using dial-up you might be in for a long wait...

First Day On The Bus

2006-08-24T22:44:00.000-04:00

Out the door we go, ready for the bus.

Waiting in the rain for the bus.

On the bus and off to school.

We all survived her first day on the bus. I knew she would be fine, but it was still really hard to put my little girl on the bus, and boy was it a packed bus. I surprised myself and got through the whole thing without crying, but I couldn't stop thinking about her. She said she made friends on the bus and is ready to go tomorrow. I think she handled it better than I did.

I'm Not Ready For This

2006-08-23T21:48:00.000-04:00

Today was Allison's first day of Kindergarten and I cannot believe it. I still cannot believe she is old enough to go to Kindergarten, where has the time gone? What happened to my little 5 pound 6 ounce girl? It just does not seem possible to me that she is now going to school.

We went to the Back to School picnic last night at Mary Frank and found out that not only are her and Abby Callender in the same class, but they are sitting across the table from each other. Becky and I decided to not warn their teacher at this point and see what happens. It should make for a fun year for both of them. They have gone to the same preschool for 2 years but were never in the same class.

Today she only went to school for an hour. I took her in and attended a meeting while she was in her class for an hour, tomorrow is the big day! Tomorrow morning at 7:35am she will be getting on the bus for the first time, this I am NOT ready for. I still cannot imagine putting my little girl on a bus. She really isn't old enough for this is she? She is not nervous at all and when I asked her tonight what she would do if she got to school and did not know where to go, she looked at me with that "duh mom" look on her face and said I will just ask a teacher. Okay so I guess she is ready to go to school. This just feels like the beginning of the end, my little girl is growing up.

One thing I do know is that these guys, especially Rachel, sure are going to miss Allison while she is at school.

Happy Birthday Jami

2006-08-23T13:11:00.000-04:00

This is a picture of Jami Ruth, one of my best friends, and her husband Todd and son Carter. I had a hard time finding just a picture of Jami so had to use this one. Jami and I have known each other for almost 6 years now. I met Jami becuase of her love for Allison. Jami used to help watch the kids during New Community at church. She was in Allison's room and her and Allison quickly bonded and as Allison grew and moved rooms Jami moved with her.
To be truthful I cannot really remember when Jami and I started hanging out together. I remember talking with her about changes that were happening in their lives, but there hit a point where we became friends and seems like we have been that way forever. There are so many things about this girl that I love. She is a great listener, she stands up for what she believes in, she is always willing to help, she is fun loving, energetic, truthful, honest, and a great wife and mom. She is one of the few people I have in my life who I know I can tell anything to and who I know will always be there for me. I cannot imagine what my life would be like without her or her family in it.
You mean the world to me Jami Ruth, I love you girl!