Myrtle Beach

The dynamic duo!

On the pier!
The four cousins on Zach's last day.
Looking at the sharks! Yikes! We were swimming not far from here.
Grown ups can be silly too!

We just got back from Myrtle Beach yesterday. Lowell, Donna, Darrick, Julie and Zachary all came too! We had a great time playing, visiting, swimming, sunning, relaxing, eating...not necessarily in that order. Zachary is such a sweetie-pie. Actually I am glad he can't read yet because he told me that he really doesn't like people to call him "sweetie-pie". :-) He prefers Z-man or just Zachary. LOL He was so hyper the first day we were there, I was a little worried. I wondered if it had just been too long since I had been around a five- year- old boy. Once he settled in, he and Allie paired up and were inseparable. It was too cute! Allie was thrilled to have someone there to play with her. Jake and Kyle will play with her occasionally but Zach was all about Allie. Whatever Allie ate for dinner, he at for dinner, etc. They had to ride in the same cars, sit next to each other at dinner, and they did a great job sharing their Pampa too! Zach had to leave a couple days before we did. We all got some good hugs and had to say good bye until next time, which might not be until next summer. :-(

Besides seeing family we had some great times. We went to the beach, the Ripley's Aquarium, Broadway at the Beach, water park, and some souvenir shopping. It was a very nice time away from the busyness of everyday life. I am still taking classes all summer and had to miss a week. Of course we planned this long before I knew what my classes would be like and these were two classes that were hard to miss. I did write three papers while we were gone. Lowell and I decided to take the plunge and build a house. It's not a dream house but pretty close! :-) It should be a house we can live in for at least the next 10 years. Making the decision to stay in Iowa was bittersweet. We'd love to be back closer to family and friends that are so dear to us, but Iowa is a great place to raise a family. We enjoy so much about living here that it makes it much easier to accept. Now I am just going through all the fun, fun, stuff of trying to sell a house and pick things for the new house. Good problem to have though, huh?

Allie's Dance Recital

Phew! The recital was a great success and Allie had a wonderful time. This was her second year of dance at Nicole's School of Dance. It is the most popular dance studio in our town. Nicole and her crew have about 500 girls in classes throughout the week. She split the groups up into three recitals but Allie's recital was still over three hours long! Only about 10 minutes of that was our little Allie girl! She was in tap, ballet, and jazz. Pampa and Grandma came from Michigan to see her recital along with the rest of us. This was especially important to me since my brothers and my dad never came to any of my recitals. The boys did a fabulous job being the supportive brothers and each gave Allie a carnation. Unfortunately Jake's allergies were acting up and he didn't feel the greatest but he still sat through the whole thing. He especially liked the boys that danced. He thought it was pretty cool, although he said he'd never do it....and that's O.k.! There was a lot of talent there last night. Allie continues to amaze me that she is never nervous to be on stage! She had missed six weeks of class due to her collar bone injury so I was nervous that she might feel a little bit lost compared to the other girls.

Summer is almost here!!

I am so excited! This was the last full week of school. I have never been so excited for school to be out. Usually I am dreading loosing my alone time. This year alone time has been non-existant, so time off of work will be wonderful. It will be nice to not be running around every day, although I do have lots of fun things planned for the kids. The boys are both doing day football camp and band camp. Allie will have gymnastics camp and other fun half day camps. We also have some vacations planned. I got the job I applied for as a Media Center associate at the elementary school. I will have much better hours next year! I am so happy about that. I will have some time to get things done during the day and be able to do my practicum work without interfering with my job. I have one year of school left and then I student teach. I can't believe the end is almost here. I have been pursuing this for a looooong time. Here is a picture of the kids and me on Mother's Day. No, it is not a figment of your imagination that Kyle is taller than me by a few inches. He is now 5'6". Kids really do grow up VERY fast. Which is both good and bad depending on the day! :-)

This and That

Hello! I know it has been a loooong time since I have posted anything except adorable pictures of my kids. So I thought I'd try to type something up that would be of interest.....

This has been a very interesting year for me. I have learned tons of stuff working at the middle school and going to school at night for my elementary education degree. My job is going well but I am so ready for summer break. The student I work with has Aspberger's syndrome. He is quite capable of grade level work (6Th grade) but he daydreams most of the days. He actually has movies playing in his head. It is very real to him sometimes. He'll be taking a math test and just start cracking up laughing. I have to fight the urge to just crack up with him! I had my review today and it was glowing! I actually started to sweat. I do not care for sweating...if you know me well....you are laughing right now. I don't know what I was worried about. I always try to do my very best and treat my student as I would want one of my own children to be treated. I definitely have learned so much about special needs children and I will feel more confident in my general education classroom dealing with the inclusion children. Many of the teachers at the school have allowed me to teach in their classrooms so that has really helped me professionally.

Although I like my job and could see myself doing it for another year I have decided to apply for Associate Teacher positions that are less hours. I currently work 5.75 hours a day, that includes a half hour lunch. I am actually gone from the house from 7:45-2:45 with drive time and getting the kids to school before work. I have applied for one job as a Media Center associate at a small elementary in town, and on Monday I will apply for one at the school Allie and Jake go to. They are both about three hours a day and would free up a lot of my time for fun stuff like homework and cleaning house. Jake is bummed that I won't be at his school next year. He moves up to middle school next year and was looking forward to having me there to help him with his locker.

Kyle is rounding out his last year at the 6-7 middle school. He will attend the 8-9 middle school next year. He is doing better at being responsible at home so hopefully that will start carrying over to school. All his teachers say he is "A" student material but he is constantly turning things in late. Mostly because he puts something in the wrong folder or leaves it on his desk at home. Pray for this child! He is such a good kid, I really think he can go far....if he can just remember how to get there. :-)

Allie is just growing up before our very eyes. It is true that girls mature faster than boys. Allie notices things that a boy would never notice. I have been teaching her this year about friendships and what is acceptable and what is not. Apparently the other moms in her circle of friends are not doing the same. Allie feels it is her job to explain the world according to Allie and her mommy to all. This sometimes causes problems but I hope I am raising a confident child that will stand up for injustice but be kind at the same time. Sometimes we mommies have lofty goals, huh?

Lowell and I are doing good. We've had so much turbulence around us. We have my brother and some good friends our ours going through divorces. Darrick and Paulette's break up was our first foray into the divorce drama but now we feel like old hands at it. It is really sad and we know that this is not what God wants. So that make it even harder to watch. Particularly for our friends who really have no grounds for divorce other than being entirely sick of each other. Please take the time, energy, effort, and money it takes to get your marriage on track if you feel there are issues. Satan loves to break up families.

O.k. On a lighter issue to close out here. I hired a maid. I just had to share. It was the best decision ever! I had been struggling all year to keep my house clean with working almost 30 hours a week and going to school 2-3 nights a week. Our Saturday chore list was ridiculous! So I hired service to come in. After a couple rough weeks I think they have it down and they now come in every other week to clean. I'm hoping if I "forget" to cancel I might get away with it over the summer. Do ya think?

Easter

Hello! I just thought I'd pop in and post some pictures. I don't know who is reading these days but I thought it was about time! :-) I'll have more soon.

Musings of the day.

You know I was thinking about how certain things are so ironic or at least seem that way to me. For example....I have my great grandmother's china tea service. I've never used it. It is very special to me but yet it stays locked away in a cupboard. Allie and her friend wanted to have a tea party so I got out the tea service. They had a ball! I was a little nervous that it might get broken but everything was fine! We'll have to do that more often. Another thing that I found amusing is that a girl can't prank call a boy and have it be a secret these days. Dang that caller I.D. LOL A girl called here Thursday night and asked for Jake. She and her friends were being very silly. Jake hands the phone back and says "The caller I.D. says it's Theresa. But she says it's Butch." He hands the phone to me and I get to listen to the rest of the giggling. Oh, don't those poor girls know that fifth grade boys are lightyears behind fifth grade girls? :-) And just because I can't leave Kyle out....I found out last week at conferences that Kyle talks A LOT at school...especially in Language Arts to a certain girl. (yes, I will find my way up there this week to see who he sits by) Hmmmm....oh, the joys of having a 13 year old and 11 year old boys in the house. And the final amusing/ironic thing that happened this week is that we took Allie to the orthopedic doctor and he saw us for about 10 minutes....but the really funny part is that it cost me $30.00 to find out that she is going to be fine. Hilarious! No, seriously it was good to hear that he is almost 100% positive that she is going to heal just fine. Thanks for your prayers! We go back in three weeks to be sure, so keep praying.

Winter Wonderland

This is the view from our front porch. We finally had a real winter storm. We'll still have school tomorrow though! Our crabapple tree.

Our poor lil' white ash.

I took the boys sledding while Lowell hung out with Allie at home. The poor thing! She can't sled or do anything physical. Please keep praying for her collar bone. I think I see a little bump forming at the site of the break, which is a great sign of new bone growth.

Big prayers for a Tiny bone

Hello! I have a prayer request for my little girl. She broke her collar bone a few weeks ago and it appears that it is not healing the way it should. Please pray that when we get to the orthopedic doctor next week that it will show major signs of improvment. Thank you!

Just a quick note!

Hello! I know there were others that wanted access to my blog. Jeannie, your friend Rachel and Kim's SIL, Sue. I need their e-mail address to send them an invite. They can e-mail me at neene73@aol.com and then I can send it to them. Can you pass on the message? Thanks!

Prayers Needed

Hello everyone! I have an urgent prayer request. Our friends, Jason and Holly, have a brother-in-law that has been in a serious accident. Many of you that read this probably already know about it, but I wanted to share with those that do not know Josh and/or I have not already e-mailed you about it.

Josh Buck was swimming/diving in the ocean on vacation when he apparently hit his neck on some rocks. After nearly drowning he was taken to the hospital in Mexico and then transferred to Miami. He is doing very well for what he has been through, but he needs prayers for healing and for his family. He and his wife, Shelly, have three children (one of which is in heaven) and one on the way. There are considerable expenses for the family that are adding up. If you would like additional information and/or if you feel that God wants to use you to help this family please see their site.

http://www.greenhouseministries.org/

Thank you!

P.S. I have decided to change my blog to invitation only starting in February. If you want to access this blog you will have to e-mail me so that I can send you an invitation. If you do not have my e-mail leave a message in the comment section. Thanks :-)

A few of my favorite things.

I was thinking about how Oprah always does those shows highlighting her favorite things. They are almost all things that no normal person would purchase. Something like $200.00 brownies or $50.00 socks. This year she decided not to do it because she wanted to give people money and then have them back on the show and see how they spent it to help others. I have no idea if that show has already passed because I hardly ever watch Oprah, but that not my point. LOL I thought I would list some of my favorite things. I may not have the same clout as Oprah but some of these things may actually be of interest to people I know. Unfortunately you do not have any of these things hidden under your chair. :-)

Scripture Sleuth books, by Mat Halverson - these are great books. The writing is pretty good, but the real treat is that each chapter is like a short story with a mystery to be solved by a Bible toting 10 year old. The cool thing is that the readers look up the verse in their own Bible to solve the mystery. If you have kids ages 5-12 you really need to check it out. http://www.scripturesleuth.com

Gap Curvy cut jeans – awesome! If you have curves you need these jeans. They are smaller in the waist but have extra room in the booty.

Mary Kay 3 in 1 Time Wise Cleanser – Works great and the price is reasonable. If you need a Mary Kay salesperson I can hook you up with my friend, Karrie.

Campbell’s Supper Bakes – these are great for a quick and easy meal. You actually layer the ingredients in the pan and then just pop the pan in the oven. Our favorite is the Herbed Chicken with Rice.

Clorox Wipes – When these first came out I thought how lazy are people now? They can’t be bothered to spray and then wipe? But these are great for the kids to be able to clean up after themselves safely. We have them in each bathroom and the kitchen.

Night at the Museum – This is a great movie. This will be a family classic. Every member of our family enjoyed it! (Ages 39-7…not an easy feat!) If you have not already gone to see it, go! It is worth it to see it on the big screen, and it is a VERY clean movie.

Walgreen’s online photo center – I like this because I can download my pictures off my camera, go to their site, order prints, and have them in an hour.

Dove Dark Chocolate – Good for you and tastes great!

“Focus on Your Child” by Focus on the Family – this program was offered for free but now they are requesting a once a year donation of $24.99. It is a very encouraging parenting resource. I receive newsletters and CD’s with radio programs about parenting and marriage. Each one is on a different topic and you receive the ones that apply to your children’s ages.

Dried Tomato and Garlic Pesto Mix from Tastefully Simple – if you like pesto sauce you’ll love this. It is a quick and easy lunch that is not kiddie-fied.

I am sure I have more favorite things but these are the ones that I can think of off the top of my head. Do you have a neat thing you have discovered that others may not know about? Go ahead and post it in the comment section.

Happy New Year everyone!

Attitude of Gratitude for 2007

Christmas so was so fun this year! We went to Michigan and got to meet some new family members-to-be. Lowell's brother, Darrick, and his fiance Julie were there with her children and Zachary. We had not met Julie and her children before. It was nice to see them and be able to place a face with the names. Zachary is such a cutie-pie. He and Allie had a great time playing, and playing some more even though they both had colds. (You would have never known it though.) Jake also enjoyed having a little squirt following him around and asking him questions. Kyle stuck mostly to the older kids. (Keith and Chelsea are 14-years-old) It will be nice for him to have some older kids to be around when we can coordinate schedules again. We also had a nice time with Lowell and Donna. We were able to go to church at Lighthouse Community Church on Christmas Eve morning and for the candlelight service. The church is just gorgeous! It was very nice to see the church thriving and everyone doing so well. On Christmas day we were able to spend a short time with my brother, David, and his family. Those kiddos just keep growing and growing! :-)

The kids got tons of great gifts. We opened gifts at our own house before going to Michigan so we wouldn't have to drag it all with us. It took about 20 minutes to undo the many nights Lowell and I spent wrapping. Our kids are so blessed and I think they realize that for more than just the gifts they receive. That will be our family goal for 2007. To make sure that every day we give God praise for all the blessings He so richly gives us.

Recently at work there have been people commenting on how I am always happy and smiling. It's true. I am a very happy person. :-) I was able to talk about my faith and how I believe that God gives us the strength to overcome all that is handed to us. Most of my stress comes from outside sources that I have no control over. I have learned that being happy is a choice. Our family is so blessed. I can fret over the small stuff or I can have an attitude of gratitude for the many blessings God has given me. There are many hurting people in this world and they have reason to be sad and even depressed. But there does come a time when one must decide that your attitude toward adversity is going to change. God tells us to rejoice in all things. He will turn our sadness to joy. Trust in that. Make the most of the life that God has given you. Tap into the power of prayer by living as obediently as you can to God's plan for your life, and ask Him to bless you. Even if those around you seem intent on making life harder than it needs to be, you can make the choice to be happy. It's amazing how much of a difference our own attitude determines how we feel and much happier it makes those around us. I read somewhere that 10% of of life is what happens to us and 90% is how we react to it. The power of a positive outlook, obedience to God, and a grateful heart is priceless. I pray that everyone who reads this will have a wonderful 2007.

Merry Christmas!

Well, I am almost ready for the big day! It is very easy to get caught up with all the gifts and stuff. Trying to keep it all "fair" and equal with the kids. How much to spend on teachers, which teachers to buy for.... The list goes on. I love giving gifts, especially when I know that it is the perfect gift. I do not usually like to do gift cards because it seems too impersonal. But I really like to get gift cards. LOL I am a paradox within myself. I also tend to worry that the true meaning of Christmas is not getting through to my kids. But I think we are on track. I had some proof of that last week when I went into Jake's classroom for his special VIP day and saw the Christmas ornaments the kids had made. They were sheets of paper in a round ornament design with the story starter of "Christmas means to me..." I found Jake's and he had written about Jesus' birthday and then went on to write out the entire plan of salvation. How Jesus was born to die on the cross for everyone's sins. And that Christmas is a time to thank God for the blessing of Jesus. And that by simply accepting this gift we can all have eternal life. It really made me feel good to know that Jake has listened and he wasn't afraid to tell his friends about it. Who says Jesus isn't in our schools? Keep in mind that this ornament is on the wall at Jake's school for everyone to read. I asked him what made him write that when many of the other kids had written about gifts, family, and food. (others also wrote about Jesus' birthday but not the salvation part) He shrugged and said that was the first thing he thought of and wanted to write about the real meaning of Christmas. Way to go, Jake!

I hope Everyone has a wonderful time of celebrating our Savior. It truly is a special time of year. By the way, the picture above was taken Thanksgiving weekend. Allie still fits into her little flower girl dress from Kristen and Josh Slater's wedding. It's about eight inches too short but we can still zip it! I thought she made a lovely Christmas angel. :-)

Rocky!

Well, I thought I'd better show off our lil' pup Rocky. He turned two years old on December 2nd and we forgot all about his birthday! Good thing he has no idea. But Allie was concerned about it. So here is our, adorable, funny, often annoying, doggie. Above is a picture of him the day we got him which was near Valentines day 2005. He weighed only three pounds and looked more like a guinea pig. Now he is seventeen pounds and is all dog....although sometimes he thinks he is a cat. :-)

Thankful

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I hope everyone had a great day with family and friends. Lowell and Donna came to our house from Michigan to share in our feast. This year I bought a fresh turkey....19 pounds! I have never had to wait longer than the time allotted for a turkey. This was a stubborn turkey! But it was o.k. because I kept busy making some new side dishes I had read about in Rachael Rae's magazine. Everything turned out very good! If I do say so myself! :-) We are so thankful for all that God has blessed us with. I always get kind of sappy around the holidays. But this year it seems especially noticable. We have some friends and family that are going through some crud right now. As we pray for them we are drawn to each other and very appreciative that our marriage is solid. We have many other things to be thankful for but without a solid marriage and stable home for our children, life would not be the same. I am very Thankful for my God and the strength He gives us to live faithfully in so many areas of our lives.

Happy Birthday to my Hubby

Whoa! My wonderful, loving , protective, affectionate, fun, smart, husband is now 39-years-old! Lowell said he didn't want me to post about him on my blog but how can he argue with that? :-) Yes, it is true. Lowell is now one year away from the big 4-0. He says he still feels like he is in his 20's. That's a good thing! In some ways he has changed since he was in his 20's which is also a good thing! One thing that has not changed is his love of cars. I think it is in his blood. I could really care less about cars. I prefer them to run and not smell bad but other than that I can cope with a lot of things. This is one thing that we will never agree on 100% but I actually think it is kind of cute. The poor guy has been mourning the loss of his Mustang for several years. So he found a new toy. I did put down one stipulation....he could only have one car. So it had to be one that he would be willing to drive in the winter. Here are some pictures of Lowell's b-day and his new toy.

In case you are like me and don't know cars by sight...that is a Dodge Charger RT...Oh yeah, it's got a HEMI!

Livin' On a Prayer

I was just thinking this past weekend about how glad I am that I have a daughter. I remember really feeling "in the zone" parenting my two precious boys. I could handle worms without freaking out and I have learned to throw a football. I enjoy all the things that being a mom to boys brings. (although puberty is not all that fun) God knew that I needed a girl to keep me company in this testosterone filled house.
Allie is at an age that is so fun! Not that Kyle and Jake aren't, but it is very different. I get notes handed to me out of the blue that say things like "I love you because you tuck me in at night!" Or she'll want to style my hair with her little pony holders. She loves getting girly and going to the nail salon with me. Allie usually picks some crazy combination of colors. She'll do a French manicure with orange and blue. :-) She loves to sing and dance. She's always very fair, and takes turns being Troy when we play "High School Musical." One new one I heard the other day was "Wow, Mommy, I didn't know you could shake it like that!" Too funny! (I'm quite sure I wasn't shaking anything on purpose! :-) )Allie is just now getting the point that she really likes music. Not just because it's fun to listen to, but also because she has an appreciation for it. I remember having that epiphany when I was about eleven years old. Though I did have "Rhinestone Cowboy" memorized at age six, it is nothing like Allie and her friends.
Did you know that Allie has a band? It's called "Best Friends" and it is with our neighbors, Sarah and Rachel. We did a photo shoot a couple months ago and I thought I would share. Allie's favorite song to sing with the band is "You better Shop Around." I also found out that Bon Jovi has a praise and worship song. We were driving home from dance with two of her friends and they start shouting to me that they want to hear the Bon Jovi praise and worship. HUH? Turns out that they thought that "Livin' on a Prayer" was a worship song. Well, I am praising God for my little girl! ooooohhh, oooohh livin' on a praaaayer



I told them to act cool! LOL

This is an action shot!
Cover shot for the "Best Friends" CD ;-)

Apple Orchard and Pumpkin Picking

Here are the kids at the Center Grove Orchard a few weeks ago. It was COLD! Probably the coldest day we've had this fall. But we accomplished our mission and found three great pumpkins and picked lots and lots of apples. We then hit the corn and hay mazes. I almost got lost in the corn maze. It brought back memories of "Children of the Corn." Freaky! Luckily, my child with a great sense of direction, Jake found me and led me out. We also got to see the animals in the petting zoo. Jake chased a turkey around. That was quite a sight. They also had a little one room school house. Allie is one bossy teacher! Kyle, of course, pretended to be bored the whole time. You gotta love those tweenagers! I think he did enjoy himself, though. We did manage to get a smile in the below picture. That is one huge pumpkin! (we did not purchase that one!) I later taught Allie and Jake how to make apple crisp, apple dumplings, and pumpkin scones. We had a baking fest! Pumpkin scones were the biggest hit.

Ready for some Football?

Hello! I can't believe how long it has been since I last posted. I have been swamped with stuff to do and sadly keeping up with a blog has not been top priority. Shocking, I know. We have been busy with sports the past six weeks. Praise God that both youth soccer and junior football in our quaint little town only last six weeks. Kyle played soccer but today my focus will be football. The boys have finally crossed over to the testosterone laden side. I should have known that it would happen some day. It could no longer be put off. Actually, anything is better than "Fairly Odd Parents" or "Naruto." So we watch football and we play football....every day. I wake up to ESPN, I have to be referee to backyard football games, and they actually play "Backyard Football" on the computer. Allie and I are having lots of time for visits to the nail salon and watching "Cheetah Girls." This is of course when we were not driving to practice or watching games. It is actually really fun. I never thought I'd enjoy football. I don't actually understand it but I now appreciate it more.

Jake did a great job this season although his coach kept him on defense the entire year.
apparently he was one of the few that would actually dive and jump on the other kids with no fear. He sacked the quarterback on a regular basis. Go Jake! He is number 65 in the above pictures.

Bowling anyone?

These pictures are from our bowling banquet we had a couple weeks ago!




Hello! I am not sure if everyone knows how much my husband loves to bowl. It has been a while since he's been bowling and when we found out about a youth/adult bowling league at our town lanes we decided to go for it. Every Sunday evening(just about) this summer we went bowling! Lowell and Kyle were on a team together that they named "The Rockers" and Jake and I were on a team that Jake named "The Spinners". I have to say that I started out hoping to break 100 every once in a while. I ended up with a high score of 176. No....not 76.....but 176. Your eyes do not deceive you. Kyle was ready to quit after the first week and having an average of 41. But both boys improved and ended up with scores around 100 consistantly with high scores of 109 (Jake) and 110 (Kyle). Poor Allie had to tag along with us unless she got an invite to a friend's house. Being a small bowling alley she was able to take her own CD's and they would play them over the speakers. Nothing like bowling to a Girl's Authority CD! The boys also received a free ball at the end of the league.