W.W.F.

Paul, Gretchen and the kids came over tonight to hang out. Gretchen and the kids had cabin fever. I made some homemade cheesy potato soup and served up some dinner rolls. The boys played out in the snow for a little while and then after dinner, we had our own little show of the boys wrestling. Each time they get together, they end up wrestling while Gretchen and I are on the sidelines "be careful" "no hitting" "watch his head" "don't kill Hopie!" LOL! They always have fun, though, despite our constant nagging.

After dinner, the men went in search for some dessert. When they came back, they had little treats for the kids. Here are the kids anxiously awaiting their treats!

The boys playing in the snow on the deck.

Fun in the SNOW!

Like most people in our area, I was stranded at home today, which was super nice! Levi and I played out in the snow early this morning. He started asking at 6:45, but I managed to hold him off until 8:30. Usually, when the meteorologists tell us we are going to have snow, it's laughable. This time, though, they were right on the money!

Off the back deck. Perrrrty!

Here's Levi "calling" our neighbor and friend, Reece to see if he can play in the snow. He was using a play phone and said "K, meet you in 5 minutes!" Cute!

Levi shoveling the driveway

Levi and Reece having a blast!

Awhhh! Isn't he cute?

Janie was having fun, too!

Preacher boy?

It amazes me how much Levi tries to be like his Daddy. You don't realize how much your child watches you until you see them mimicking you. The information they absorb at this age is incredible. I caught just a small glimpse of this in these pictures.

Eric plays drums at church on Wednesday nights. He usually puts his Cd's in the CD player and "jams" so he can prepare for the church service. Levi loves to listen to the music with him. In the above pictures, he pulled out Eric's CD player and told me he was going to "sing songs to Jesus". He also grabbed Eric's Bible off the night stand and carried it around under his arm and told me "I carry Bible like Daddy - under arm". He proceeded to sing very loudly while thumbing through the Bible. It was so precious, I had to capture it on camera. Fewer things can make you prouder than your child soaking in Praise & Worship music and learning how to read the Bible.

God

Thanks to many of you who have called, texted, left messages, and especially prayed for my Mom. It's overwhelming how many people come out of the woodwork during a time of need. I will give a brief story about my Mom, but mostly this story is to share how good our God is.
Thursday, Mom went in for a heart cath. She has been having some shortness of breath, exhaustion and some other symptoms for a while now. While waiting for the doctor, she was told she couldn't have the cath, but would be admitted to the hospital for further testing because she was severely anemic. Normal hemoglobin levels are 12-14 and hers was a 6. The doctor asked her how she was still functioning like she is. That evening, they gave her a blood transfusion and ordered blood tests, an EGD scope and colonoscopy and started her on iron. There were 5 doctors consulting on her and we heard things like "I'm pretty sure it isn't leukemia" "There might be internal bleeding" "Hopefully we can do surgery to repair anything"... All of these statements start making you crazy! The good news...the scopes both showed NO internal bleeding or tears anywhere. The prognosis...Mom is severely anemic and will have to be monitored closely for a while. The problem is one of two things. Either her body has stopped producing blood or it isn't absorbing iron. The doctors consulted this morning and decided to give her another blood transfusion and send her home. Thankfully, Mom is home resting tonight and is very happy. ;) She will have to take iron supplements and may need more blood as time goes on, but that is much better than some of the other scenarios. We count it a miracle that she went in for the heart cath. If she hadn't, there's no telling what would have happened. God is good and His love is more vast that we can ever imagine. Even in the midst of trials, God wants to be glorified. He wants to be our peace, our comfort and our protector. God is good. All the time.

No excuses...

Right before we moved, we bought an elliptical machine. We were determined not to let it end up in the basement as a clothes rack. Guess where it is...yep, in the basement. There aren't any clothes hanging on it...yet! I told myself yesterday "self, you WILL get on that thing tomorrow if it kills you." (Sometimes I don't like myself) To make the time go by, I rigged up a place to put the laptop. I know - weird!! But, it is making the time go by quickly. I've already checked Facebook and now I'm blogging. It's already been 24 minutes and counting! I'm also watching Drumline. Love that movie! What can I say...I married a drummer! LOL!
Signing off now. It's almost 30 minutes and my son has a rank diaper smell!! OMG!

Doctor visit...

I took Levi to the doctor this morning for a follow up visit from his ear infection. The last two ear infections that he had got worse before they got better and he had to have two doses of antibiotics. So, we wanted to make sure he was all clear. She said he looked perfect! His doctor said he was a prime candidate for tubes, but she really didn't want to have to put him through that. So, we started him on different allergy medicine and we're praying for no more infections!! If he gets another one, they'll send us to the ENT. I didn't anticipate taking the whole day off, but they didn't have an early appointment so we are just hanging at home together today. :) We've had PB&J and some crazy weird mozzarella stick tasting Pringles. Yum. Levi's going down for his nap and I'm blessed with more mommy time!! Twice in two days - Hallelujah!

Happy to be hanging with mom today...

A day of trains

Eric and Paul took the boys to the convention center to see the toy train show. They had a blast! Levi is very into trains right now. Enjoy the pics!


Levi, Pierce & Paul
Pierce rode on the kid train. (Levi didn't want to get on!)

Buddies!

Out of the mouths of babes

Funny things that Levi has said this week:

Wednesday, 6:40 a.m., Levi walks into my room, blanket in tow:
"Mommy, chocolate milk, wanna watch Barney in toy room. Please."
Then, he leaves for the toy room waiting to be waited on. Geez!

Thursday, 8:45 p.m., Levi was still awake when I got home from choir. I went in to kiss him:
"Mommy! You sing songs to Jesus?"
"Yes, baby, I did. I'm going in to sit with Daddy now."
"No, momma, you don't like Daddy. Lay with Levi."

Saturday, 9:00 p.m., Levi yells from his room:
"Tracey! Tracey! Come here!"
"It's Mommy!"
"No, it's Tracey."
"No, it's Mommy!"
"You crazy."

Sketti nite

Tonight, we had a little last minute get together at our house. My sister came over and two girls we grew up with - Jill and Jill! Once again, there were little rugrats running around everywhere. It was fun! I made spaghetti and garlic bread (Yes, I think I'm going to try out for Top Chef!) and Tricia made a cake. Yum Yum!

Here is a picture of everyone getting ready to eat.

Levi, Reece, Bailey and Kaya eating their sketti...

Cutie Kaya...good idea to take her shirt off! They had it everywhere. LOL!

Casey Grace - is it good???

Levi eating Aunt Tricia's cake - yum-o!!!

Bailey eating cake. She loves to pose for the camera!! CHEESE!

Casey and Aunt Tracey - Casey wanted the camera wicked bad!!

Reece shooting his mom! Go Reece!!

Jill playing Ring around the rosie with the kids and THEY ALL FALL DOWN!!! (Or, did Reece shoot them?) LOL!

Aunt Tricia being herself...

Jill X2

Thanks for coming over girls! It was fun. We'll have to make this a regular thing!! Have a great weekend!

A match made in Heaven?

Levi January 2008..."Lil' Gangsta"

Hope January 2009 "Lil' Gangsta Girl"

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Pierce and Hope came over to play tonight. The kids had hot dogs and mac n cheese. I grilled chicken (yes, it was cold!!) for some salads. Here are a few pics of the kids playing.

Levi loves his John Deere hat!

Gretchen, Paul and Eric eating dinner

The boys watching Shrek...yes, we told them they were too close to the tv, but they didn't care!

Hope being cute!

Drum roll, please...

Before you see the beach house pictures, I'll tell you about my mom. My mom is, well, spoiled. ;) (Love you, Mom!) Now, don't get me wrong...Mom is one of the most giving people I know. She gives way more than she receives. Her heart is so loving and she gets joy - true joy out of giving. With that said, she enjoys luxury. Now, the good thing about being her child is basking in her luxury! :) For several years now, we have taken family vacations. The first vacation, before grandkids, we stayed in Myrtle Beach and my siblings and I stayed in one condo while mom and dad stayed in another. Then, the next year, mom wanted us all in one house and she wanted us to each have our own bathroom. Then, the next year, she wanted a house with a private pool. Then, the next year, she wanted our own bathrooms, private pool and beach front. Do you see a pattern? All the kids tease her because each year, she tries to top the house from the previous year. The house last year was great, but she wanted an elevator. (To make unloading and loading easier...)

So, all that said, here are a few pictures of the beach house they booked for this summer's vacation. Saweeeet!

We are very excited! I think they've picked a good one! We'll be traveling to Hilton Head and yes, we'll have our own bathrooms, a private pool, an elevator and it will be beach front. Now, we'll start praying for good weather and for all the hurricanes to stay out at sea!!! :)

More from our weekend...

We had a really good weekend. I posted pictures today of our first get together in the new house. It was a lot of fun. Yesterday, Eric (and Brigette and Josh) painted our living room. If you noticed in earlier pictures, it was a dark green. (Gretchen called it "moss") I liked the color, but it totally clashed with our couches. So, our living room is now "Mesa Tumbleweed". I posted two pictures, but I don't think it really shows the true color.

Here is a new flower arrangement I got. I love it!!

The living room in the new color! It looks a little darker in person...it's a huge difference.

Aunt Tricia is monitoring all the kidos! I think they all enjoyed the play room!! Bailey, Griffin, Levi, Aunt Tricia and Casey.

More fun playing on Levi's bed! Levi, Griffin, Emmy, Bailey and Casey (What's with the hair, Casey??) :)

Eric and Travis cursing the Steelers during the game! I think they were pulling for the Chargers! LOL!!

Jenny and Mom at the table. The girls' job was to find our beach house for our summer vacation. We have it narrowed to two. They are awesome.

We have the beach house search narrowed to two houses. When we finally decide and book one, SHOULD WE SHARE IT??? Jenny thinks we should wait until we arrive down there, but I think it'd be fun to show before we go! Any thoughts out there??

1st Get Together at the new pad...

Friday night, we had a small gathering at our new house. It was so much fun! Eric grilled chicken and hot dogs and we had potato salad, mac n cheese, bean dip & tortilla chips, brownies and a chocolate pie! So good. There were a ton of kids running around and acting crazy, but I think everyone had a good time.

Tracey, Gretchen, Melanie & baby, Jami and Janna

Gretchen kept hanging around the bar area where the food was. I think she was trying to be slick and be first in line!

Poor Matt...will no one tell him he has food on his face??

And, there was dancing. Have you ever seen anything so sweet? Josh and Paul have a special relationship.

Melanie, Corbin, Jami and Janna (it looks like Melanie doesn't believe what Janna is telling her...) :)

Paul helping Hopie put his tie on. Awhhhhh!

A few of the hundreds of kids that were there...Hope, Cooper, Levi and Luke.

The boys FREEZING outside while grilling. Eric, Matt and peeper Josh.

Matt, Eric, Melanie and Corbin at the kiddie table. :)

Jami, Steve and Gretchen and the adult table.

Thanks, everyone for making our first party at the new house a great one! I'm sure they'll be many more!

Tonight is dinner with my parents, siblings and their kids. I'll post pictures later. Gotta run sneak in a little nap before Levi wakes up!!