Christmas Spirit

Tasty Peanut Butter Balls (Buckeyes)

I enjoyed 3 days of baking with my neighbor Sara. We made 10 dozen cookies and over 100 Buckeyes. TASTY

This year we went to the Christmas tree farm and cut down our own tree. The children had so much fun. We were able to see Santa, roast marshmallows and enjoy hotdogs.

Trimming our tree. Sorry the pic is a bit blurry we had to use our camera phone.

N.Y. and the blessings

My Dad and his wife Linda
Grandma Morse and I

Enjoying our time together baking our applesauce cake

Happy 92nd birthday Grandma

The fun started Satuday as I flew up to New York to see my family.

I decided to make a fun stop in to see my Dad. His birthday was Saturday and since I am absolutely horrible with directions I took one of my old friends along for the journey through the booneys. My Dad had fun talking politics and I enjoyed the opportunity to get to know my Dads sweet wife Linda a little more. I really enjoyed my time with them.

Saturday evening I spent the evening playing Trivial Pursuit with some of my dear friends that I haven't seen since high school days. It was a blast! Let me tell you though I really need to start studying because the only question I helped my team with was how do you know when a potato is possibly poisonous. Thank the Lord I was raised on a farm. For those of you who do not know the answer to that one is when it is green.

Sunday I got up early and went over to pick up my Grandma Morse so we could spend the day together. We went to this lovely restaurant on Canandaigua lake which she had never been to before and it was a delightful time. We enjoyed a full lake view from our table and talked about her earlier years. She turned 92 so she had so many fun stories to tell.

Then after our lunch we went to her house so we could make applesauce cake. I remember all throughout my childhood sitting on her counter watching her make this cake. It was such a blessing for me to be able to make this with her. Then as our cake baked she took me into her room to show me all of her vintage jewelry. Which she surprisingly gave me a box of her beautiful necklaces. We talked even more and just really bonded.

Then Monday I was on my flight back home to my little ones to share the stories from their Great Grandma. The whole trip was a huge blessing to me in so many ways. To be able to take it all in with out distractions of my everyday life to enjoy my family who live so far away. I am so very thankful for my family. I can not wait to go back up to NY with the children and watch their relationship with their Poppa blossom. (That is what they chose to call my Dad this summer)

Life at the age of 93

The age of 93 has to be something big. I mean to think of all of the things you would go through in 93 years has to be something miraculous. My Grandma who is a huge part of who I am is turning 93 in just a couple of weeks.
She lives with my Aunt and Uncle and spends her days putting together puzzles and reading romance novels. Harlequin novels at that =). It is sad to me that after all of these years of helping all of her children that no one really takes much time to spend with her right now. It kills me I would do anything to sit with her for even an hour and just play cards. She used to love to play Rummy and I believe she taught all of her Grandchildren how to play a good hand. She was big on baking good pies and cookies. She was always open to teaching all that wanted to learn how to roll out your crust and pinch the corners. She would let me bake my own little pie with the left over crust.
I loved her meals she would always prepare a good home made meal. Meat, potatos, veggies, bread and butter and always a sweet treat when you were done. Then after dinner we would sit in the living room and watch the price is right, wheel of fortune and jeopardy. It was the same routine every night but boy I loved hanging out with her.
The other day I was talking to her adn she sounded different just the tone in her voice. You know some people say that the elderly know when their time is about up and I think she may be at that point. So, I booked a flight and will be flying out to surprise her for her 93 birthday. I am so excited!!! I plan to make the best of it too. I have my set of cards all ready and I plan to bake some civil war cookies and a yummy applesauce cake with her (I need to learn because these goodies are way awesome!)
Please all who read this remember your parents and Grandparents. Spend good quality time with them. One day they will not be here.

My Princess gone wild!

Beauty Queens
This is Lilly*s favorite pose and it fits her fun spirited personality.
Can we say Double Trouble!
Okay I just had to post this for my friends and family members who claim that I may dress my girly up a little too much. Now I fully know that after having boys you can never truly over dress your little Princess. Right?

Lilly just admires my dear friends daughter Melody and while Mommy was at work these two girls had fun. Check out this hat do you think it is big enough? At least it has NY on the front.

Things you understand if you lived in upstate NY

Some of this is a little crude so, please forgive me but these are all very true to those of us from upstate NY. One of my old classmates who still lives there sent me this list and I couldn't help but laugh all the way through it because it is so true, most of it anyways. One of the things that I still relate to the most is #64 so, I just say near Rochester and Syracuse because my town was so small we didn't even have a stop light. I would love to know from some of my dear transplanted friends here in NC if you can relate to any of these things.

1. Your idea of a traffic jam is 10 cars waiting to pass a tractor on the highway
2. "Vacation" means going to Syracuse for the weekend
3. You measure distance in hours
4. You know several people who have hit deer more than once
5. You often switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day
6. You stay in your house most of the summer because you aren't used to the heat
7. You drive at 55 mph through 10 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching
8. You see people wearing hunting clothes at social events
9. You install security lights on your house and garage but leave both unlocked
10. One of your neighbors constantly has bonfires
11. You carry jumper cables in your car and your girlfriend knows how to use them
12. There are 7 empty cars running in the parking lot at the supermarket at any given time
13. Your idea of a huge party is one with lots of cheap beer and some people you go to school with
14. Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled in with snow
15. You think sexy lingerie is silk pajamas from wal-mart
16. You know 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, cold, construction
17. It takes you 2 hours to go to the store for one item even when you're in a rush because you have to stop and talk to everyone in town
18. At least 6 people that you see a day have beards and stains on the front of their shirt
19. Cows are just part of the scenery
20. You or someone you know has a car that sounds like a big truck and can barely make it 20 miles yet no one says anything about it.
21. At least fives times in your normal travel day you will pass or be passed by a beat-up, old car that has had an attempted pimping out, such as a brand new oversized spoiler on a rust covered trunk, spinning HUBCABS, or everyones favorite, the performance exhaust on a car running on barely three cylinders.
22. You know that the phrase, "Goin up ta," applies to going north, south, east, or west, up or down in elevation, and pretty much any other way you can travel.
23. The smell of freshly spread cow manure doesn't bother you.
24. Its perfectly normal for your life's aspirations to be working for the county.
25. Getting "dressed up" means tucking your shirt into your jeans and putting on clean work boots.
26. Holloween costumes are always designed around a snowsuit and winter boots.
27. You appreciate the delicacy known as Croghan Bologna, and serve it at all social gatherings.
28. On the same platter as the Croghan Bologna is a selection of flavored cheese curd, which you also love.
29. You know very well that the verizon guy didn't walk through your town going, "can you her me now" because reception is, at best, limited.
30. Your proud of your redneck-ness and where your from.
31. You can name everyone you graduated with.
32. You know what 4-H is.
33. You went to a party that was held about 20 miles down a deserted dirt road.
34. You used to drag "main."
35. You said a curse word and your parents knew within an hour.
36. You schedule parties around the schedule of different police officers since you know which ones would bust you.
37. You ever went or thought about going cow-tipping.
38. School gets canceled for a sports team going toState
39. You could never buy cigarettes cause all the store clerks knew how old you were.
40. When you did find someone old enough to buy smokes for you, you had to drive down country backroads to smoke them.
41. You never missed a Homecoming parade.
42. You still go home for Homecoming.
43. It was cool to date someone from a neighboring town.
44. You had a senior skip day.
45. The whole school went to the same party after graduation.
46. You can't help but date a friend's ex.
47. Your car is always filthy from the dirt roads.
48. You think that kids who ride skateboards are weird.
49. The town next to you is considered "trashy" or "snotty" when it is just like your town.
50. Getting paid minimum wage is considered a raise.
51. You refer to anyone with a house newer than 1980 as the "rich people."
52. The people in the big city dress funny then you pick up on the cool new trend two years later. 53. You bragged to your friends because you got pipes on your truck for your birthday.
54. On Fridays, anyone you want to find can be found at Main Street or the Dairy Queen.
55. Weekend excitement involves a trip to RiteAid.
56. Even the ugly people enter beauty contests.
57. You decide to walk for exercise and 5 people pull over and ask you if you need a ride.
58. Your teachers call you by your older sibling's name.
59. The closest "cool stores" are at least 45 miles away.
60. The local phone book has only one yellow page.
61. You leave your jacket on the back of the chair in the cafe, and when you go back the next day, it's still there, on the same chair.
62. You don't signal turns because everyone knows where you're going, anyway.
63. You call a wrong number and they supply you with the correct one.
64. You have to name six surrounding towns to explain to people where you're from.
65. Driving to the party on a four wheeler is quite normal.
66. The town population increases by one-third when the universities go on break.
67. When somebody says "Thats billy fucillo HUGE" you know exactly what they are talking about
68. You laugh your head off reading this because you know it's true and then forward it to everyone in your address book, which is actually half your town

Wheat and Lactose allergies HELP

Look at this handsome little man. We love him so and he is such a joy to play with but his tummy is making him a very unhappy little guy right now.


















"Are you serious that I may not be able to have any more cows milk?"


We took the boys in for their usual check up before school starts this morning. The boys are growing in height but not in weight both actually have lost weight especially Gabriel. Landen has lost weight due to his high matabolism and Gabriel well, due to other reasons.
Over the past couple of months Gabriel has been refusing to eat complaining that it hurts his tummy. He really has gone on and on about this and when he was even turning down hamburgers we knew something was definitely wrong. I explained this to the Dr and how when he eats certain foods he gets a tummy ache. Now some of these things include cake and cookies which to most children are very yummy. Gabriel doesn't like them and says that they hurt his tummy. The same things has been happening with milk and dairy products. Gabriel explained that it feels like spikes are stabbing him.
These symptoms show symptoms of lactose and wheat allergies so, the Dr sent us to the lab. They are testing Gabriel for these allergies and for the next week he can not have any dairy products at all until we hear back with the results. If we find out that he indeed has wheat allergies we will be a wheat free home. Do you know how hard this is going to be???
I can only imagine... I am thankful though that if it is all of this we have caught it while he is young and that he will no longer be living in pain after every meal.
I would love to hear any information that you ladies have who may be experiencing this yourself. I am getting closer and closer to scheduling an appointment with some of my friends Dr. "Hey Lindsay do you think you can ask him about that 1/2 price for 1/2 the organs?"

Pool time

Lilly and her buddy Ernie chilling in the pool. Landen finally decided to take the plunge.

This has two slides so let the fun begin. As you can see these two LOVE it! Gabriel is not in these pics because of his asthma he prefers to stay inside during the day due to the heat.

Our children have been asking us to please buy a pool for the back yard. Now our yard is big enough for an inground pool which I am steadily working on but it will probably be next year (hopefully Daddy?). Anyways this afternoon I thought I would surprise our sweet angels and pick up a small pool to put on our back patio.

I though that I had the coolest thing ever it looks like a dragon for the boys and has two slides for the girly. But to my surprise Landen was not impressed. This is for babies well at his age any small pool is for babies but after it was blown up even he decided to take a dive. It will keep them cool and they can have some fun no matter what time of day.

Part 2 pics from Cow Appreciation

Doesn't every one love the Chick-Fil-A cow?
Unfortunately the camera zoomed in on the spot on Lilly's shoulder but as you can see this chicky loves to play and have fun with her good friend Ernie.
Tunnel time
Gabriel as you can tell by the look on his face wanted a real live cow to take home. My little farmer boy loves animals of all sorts but especially farm animals.
Check out these movie stars

National Cow Appreciation

Aren't they the cutest models ever?
Check out my man in black
Our Nanny Sarah is on the right with her daughter Melody she is so much fun!
Ernie our Nanny's son with Lilly what sweet baby calves.
Well being from the north and raised on a farm I love any day to act crazy! We had so much fun with this @ Chick-fil-a. Thank you Chick-fil-a! I started my day off today with my black and white blouse and black skirt with a Eat more chicken poster taped to my tummy I stopped by there for my FREE breakfast on my way to work. I walked proudly into work this morning and announced to all of the city folk here do ya'll know what today is? No they all replied "It is National Cow appreciation day!!!"

They all thought I had lost it until hunger hit at lunch time and all of my co-workers got dressed up and we car pooled over to Chick-fil-a for lunch. Our Nanny took our children as you see here to Chick-fil-a as well for lunch. Can you guess where we are going for dinner this evening???

That is right Mommy & Daddy cow are taking their three little calves to Chick-fil-a for dinner.



Then after dinner I get a very special treat some time scrapbooking and a sleepover with one of my dearest friends ever Martina. YEAH!!!

Our Nanny is Awesome!

Lilly playing with Ernie (Ms.Sarah's son) at Carowinds big wave pool. They go to Carowinds once a week for some good pool time and rides. Lilly is a little mermaid so she typically stays in the wave pool.
Here are Landen, Lilly, Melody (Ms.Sarah's daughter), Gabriel and Ernie at one of our local parks. Ms.Sarah took the children on a hike down a very long walking trail Landen wanted to complete the trail but after an hour it was time to rest up and head back to the car. This was one of our 100 degree days here.
Chuckie Cheese tunnel time. They usually go to Monkey Joes on Wednesdays but this week they chose Chuckie Cheese. This was perfect for these silly kiddos check out these cuties Lilly, Ernie and Landen. "We don't want to go home yet!"
This is the perfect swing for our laid back boy. Gabriel is the kind of boy who could just hang out in this swing all day long by himself enjoying all the nature that surrounds him.
Look at this muscle man he is our gymnast in the family. Landen is quite talented when it comes to anything that requires upper body strength.

We have been so blessed this summer to have the best Nanny ever. She comes to our house every day to watch the children while we are at work. She is absolutely wonderful and the children adore her. She makes sure that they do their chores, have school time for 30 minutes each day, outdoor play time, indoor play time, etc. She works on their social skills and best of all she has two children for our children to play with.

I never have to worry about if the children are alright or if my house is going to be a wreck when I get home. Most times it is even cleaner when I get home and most importantly she works with their behavior same as Brian and I do. We have standards in our home and we expect our children to obey what the Lord requires of them. Our Nanny is awesome at pointing them in the right direction and she is super at praising all of their good behavior.

We love you Ms.Sarah!

Here are some pics of some of their excursions with Ms. Sarah and her two sweet children.

Sadness and heartache

I am asking for all of you to pray for my brother Philip and his wife Tabitha once again. They just found out this past Saturday that the birth mother of baby Judah wants to keep him. This as you can imagine has caused heart ache and pain but they are seeking the Lord through this trial.
They would have an easier time with this if they knew that the baby was going to a loving home. The birth mother has other children who have disabilities and she has not cared for them properly. There are so many situations surrounding this poor sweet baby boy staying with his birth mother and this is frustrating to my brother as you could imagine.
I am encouraged by my brothers love of the Lord and his humility. What an example you are to me to keep my eyes and heart on the Lord not in my own sinful ways. For you see the Lords will in your life although you may not like it you trust in his plan for you and Tabitha.
Please pray that the Lord touches the birth mothers heart and opens her up to change her life to serve the Lord and care for her children properly.

Pray for my new nephew Baby Judah

I am so excited to annouce the delivery of my brothers little boy Judah born yesterday evening. Judah was born a little early so, his little lungs are not fully developed and he has been sent over to a childrens hospital in TN so they may better serve him.
Please pray for Judah that his lungs will develop quickly and for a full healing. Also, please keep my brother Philip and his wife Tabitha in your prayers. To have a boy has been their hearts desire for over 15 years. This is their first adoption and as many of you reading this who have gone through the adoption process know this is hard.
Please pray that the hospital will find favor in allowing them the ability to spend time with Judah and for this process to go smoothly.
We all know that Judah is a gift from God and that Jesus has a plan for this sweet boy. May my brother and his family find peace and strength through all of this.

3 angels

EOG's

Every evening I set out our childrens uniforms for school on the foot of their bed. This way when they wake up it is easier on them. This morning we were on our way to school and Landen was sitting beside of me. I looked over to answer a question for him and noticed that he was wearing his shorts from yesterday. I asked him "Landen why are you wearing those dirty shorts?" he replied
"Mom, they are my lucky EOG shorts. I have worn them all week and they have helped me on my tests"
I love my big guy.

Here she is!!!

Thank you Jesus for blessing us far beyond what we deserve.

Welcome to our beautiful new home. On the way to our house after closing Lilly asked me "Mommy where are we going? I replied, Lilly where are we going? Home Mommy."

We had a camp out for the first time last night on the floor in all of our new rooms. I LOVE that our children have their own bedrooms once again.

We still need to order our shutters for the front of the house which will be the same color as the front door.

I will post new pics soon of the paint job on the interior it is looking awesome.

This new house

Well to our surprise we will be closing on our new house way sooner than what we had anticipated. Our original date was June 6th and now it is April 30th. We plan to live here at our rental until the middle of next month giving us a couple of weeks to get the new house painted and prepared for the move.

We met with the landscaper yesterday. We have chosen to have a full yard of sod which is so lovely and plush. I would post a picture of the completed exterior but that will have to wait until closing.

They have all of our cabinets, hardware, lights, etc. put in. Now they are just working on the finishing touches. The carpet will go in at the beginning of next week, the landscaping will be done next Tuesday and then WOW we will be just about done. This has been a wonderful blessing for Brian and I as many of you know what we went through with our old house and all of the repair. To know that when we move in there will only be fun things to take care of. Well, painting is not exactly fun but it is better than tearing down walls and gutting bathrooms.

I will take some pictures this weekend of the inside and I will post them for your enjoyment. OK for my enjoyment because I just love looking at all of my new toys in our new house. We are planning on having a house warming party for you all to come and celebrate with us.

We found out last weekend that a couple we used to go to church with their son and his family live right beside of us and have 3 children as well. They are super sweet and looking forward to us moving in. Their little boy is Lilly's age and also in kindergarten the other two children are a little older than our boys. We met our other neighbors and they are very pleasant as well. We already have a babysitter signed up who loves a couple of houses down from ours. God has been so good to us. Thank you Jesus!

Now that the paint has been decided upon I do need some help finding so really cool wall paper. We are wall papering the bathrooms but the only place that I have been able to locate it has been Lowes. If you know of some places here in Charlotte please share them with me.

Who is God?

Yesterday my question was "God where are you?" Then I was reminded who God really is and what he means to me.

I have been so blessed in the past 24 hours since my break in. I had an interview yesterday with the company I have been praying about for the door to open. Then early this morning I received the phone call that they wanted a 2nd interview today at 2:30. The interview went wonderfully and I really feel the Lord working in this. It is everything that I have prayed about and that I have desired in a career.

Please continue to pray for me. I will find out tomorrow mid afternoon if the position is mine. I do have a peace of mind and know that the Lord is with me. I will post an update tomorrow evening.

Please read "Who is God?" below and apply this to your life as I will mine.

Who is God?

EL SHADDAI: God Almighty or "God All Sufficient."

ADONAI: "Master'' or "Lord" JEHOVAH: LORD in our English Bibles (all capitals).

Yahweh, YHWH is the covenant name of God. "The Self-Existent One," "I AM WHO I AM" or 'I WILL BE WHO I WILL BE" as revealed to Moses at the burning bush, Ex.3.

JEHOVAH-JIREH: "The Lord will Provide." Gen. 22:14. God always provides, adequate when the times come.

JEHOVAH-ROPHE: "The Lord Who Heals" Ex. 15:22-26. God heals body, soul and spirit; all levels of man's being. (Jer. 3:22, 30:17)

JEHOVAH-NISSI: "The Lord Our Banner." Ex. 17:15. God on the battlefield JEHOVAH-M'KADDESH: "The Lord Who Sanctifies" "To make whole, set apart for holiness." Lev. 20:8.

JEHOVAH-SHALOM: "The Lord Our Peace". Judges 6:24

JEHOVAH-TSIDKENU "The Lord Our Righteousness" Jer. 23:5, 6, 33:16. JEHOVAH-ROHI: "The Lord Our Shepherd" Psa. 23,

JEHOVAH-SHAMMAH: "The Lord is There" (Ezek. 48:35).

JEHOVAH-SABAOTH: "The Lord of Hosts" The commander of the angelic host and the armies of God. Isa. 1:24; Psa. 46:7, 11

Here is another peak at our new house. We have windows WOW! It is so fun to go by it and see all of the new things. I absolutely love every step of this project (except for the mistakes made by the builder that I have since corrected with my yankee attitude).

Brian still goes by our house daily to check in and I frequent it a couple of times a week. It is amazing to watch all of these things come in place in making a home. The subflooring, pipes, wiring, and now added insulation, architectural shingles, and windows. It is the small things that are making me happy right now. We should be getting our vinyl this week Lord willing if the weather permits.

Looking at this picture the office is the room down stairs where the windows are then you have the kitchen behind it with the living room in the back of the house. Then upstairs with the double windows is Landens room, and our room is where the other windows are beside of Landen. The fun shaped window is in my closet. On the back side will be Gabriel and Lilly's rooms.

We will continue to update you on the progress.

"My 3 sweeties"

My big guy Landen

Can you see him behind this huge ice cream cone?
Tailgating at Bruesters ice cream in their pj's
I love this picture because it shows Landens personality. He is super picky about everything even his oreo ice cream and this is just part of what makes him so special to us.
Landen, Gabriel and Lilly enjoying their ice cream in their pj's.
This past Saturday was "National Pajama Day" and boy did the children have fun with this. Gabriel and Lilly wore their pj's all day even to Landen's basketball game. Now Landen being all grown up would not be caught in his pj's outside so, he wore his sweat pants and t-shirt for his make shift pj's. I can not believe how big my Landen boy is getting I remember the day when I had to fight him to get out of his super man pj's.

Bruesters gave out free waffle cones on Saturday to all who who came wearing their pajama's. You bet my little ones were all into getting ice cream. We were all surprised by the size of these cones they were huge! Our children are already looking forward to next years pj day.
So, what did you do for National Pajama Day???

Our Birthday girl turned 6

Lilly had a blast at her Hannah Montana sleep over party. We started the evening at 7pm with her security gard-bouncer Jacob standing at the door welcoming her guests. We made home made pizza, popcorn, got make overs with hair and make up, played dress up and the most fun was the dancing.

Landen was our DJ he the music was so loud that the house was just about shaking. The girls loved it though and man can they dance to the frog song and they learned how to do the cha cha.

The girls all slept in the living room watching the Hannah Montana movie. It was so much fun just playing around with our sweet princess. All of Lilly*s friends left the party asking their Mommy's if they could have sleepover parties too. My suggestion to that would be take some asprin first!

Saturday evening Lilly was invited over to her friend Joslyn's for a sleepover and they celebrated Lilly's birthday with cupcakes. Then Sunday my friend Sara, her little boy Jacob, Lilly and I went to build a bear so they could build their animals (his gift to Lilly for her birthday) then we went to Mc Donalds for happy meals.

Happy Birthday Princess!