A Riddle

I have a riddle for you today:

How do you get Holly to empty boxes?

You flood the Garage.

I have to start with: it was 90 degrees on Monday and yesterday around 85 degrees. Today we woke up to snow in the mountains and it is suppose to get down to 33 degrees and snow here in the valley. This morning it rained; when I got home from Bible Study and errands there was standing water/mud in the garage. It went 3 set of boxes back, thankfully that wasn't the worst side. The other side of the garage had deeper water and went further into the garage, but thankfully nothing of concern got wet. When I moved everything out of the garage and swept the water out, it ran all the way down the driveway to our sidewalk. Thankfully it wasn't raining at the time and the girls and I were able to empty the boxes without getting soaked. There were some books that were minimally damaged. Three VHS were wet (including our wedding video), but no water inside the tapes as we can tell. And a electronic toy was wet, but still works. So now I have four boxes emptied and it looks like a book shelve exploded in my dinning room/kitchen.

Chris usually has a very busy Wednesday, but today he was able to hurry home to help. He ran to Lowe's to get a new rubber sealer for the bottom of the garage door, that we knew needed to be replaced. Chris and I attached it and put a tarp down were it still has light coming through. As Chris was coming inside it started to rain (with some snow mixed in).

Happy Birthday Christopher

I wanted to wish my husband a wonderful birthday! I am so blessed to be married to a wonderful man who loves the Lord and his family so much. The girls and I made him a big cookie and took him to Red Robin's for his free hamburger. We had a great family date. I think the girls favorite part was eating the big cookie.

Quesadillas

Sunday Chris was helping me go through some boxes. What did he find that our whole family was so excited about? Our quesadilla maker! That quesadilla maker has been packed for more than a year and we have missed it. Sometimes it's the small things that bring smiles to your face. I'm sure you know what Chris did when he found the quessadilla maker; he made quesadillas. They were so yummy! I have to say Aunt Beth picked a great Christmas present for us years ago. Thank you Aunt Beth.

What has made you smile today?

Chris' Thumb

Chris had his three week check-up (since he got his cast on) today. There wasn't as much calcification as the doctor would like. Meaning that if they took the pins out the finger could break again. So the doctor took out the middle pin and left the other two and casted it again. He said the bone is healing well, just needs a little more time. We go back in ten days.

Madi's Soccer Game on Saturday

I have to say Madi did not cry once this game; she did fall down and hurt herself a couple of times, but got right up and kept going. One time she fell; as she was running to catch up to everyone, a player from the other team had fallen and she stopped where he was to ask if he was okay. Madi has such a tender heart. It is nice to see her care for others. They also did much better as a team; they won this game.

Zuri

Yesterday, Chris, the girls and I, went to see Zuri the baby elephant. We were excited that Chris wanted to come with us. He is not a huge fan of going to the zoo so often as the girls and I do, but wanted to spend time with his ladies. Zuri was so cute to watch. We stood there for quit awhile watching her. We watched her nurse, play with balls, straddle the small ball, fall of the small ball, lay in the hay, walk through the hay, try to nurse again, lay down and stand back up, ect. It was like watching a toddler moving from one activity to the next. She looks so small next to her mom, but she was 251 pounds when she was born. It was worth the drive to see the adorable little Zuri.

Note: It's worth the time to click on each picture to see the details.

FW Friends

Our church is doing a children's program called FW Friends for preschoolers through 4th grade (Stepping Stones for the 5th and 6th graders). The girls are having a lot of fun. They rotate to different activities such as journal writing, craft, and game time. Every activity has to do with the lesson for the night.

Madi with her group in Journals.

Emma with her group in crafts.

Madi at the snack station.

I had to show you this picture. The lesson was about when God feed the Israelites manna. During game time, the children tried to shoot marshmallows in each other's mouths. Jim, the game leader, had just launched his marshmallow to Robby and I captured the marshmallow in the air near Robbie's head (to see it close up, click on the picture). The kids thought that was cool.

Stepping Stones

Chris and I are helping, along with another couple (Jeremy and Christy), in a midweek club for 5th and 6th graders called Stepping Stones. Last week we had a total of 5 students; we had six last night with 3 new faces. We are studying Bible heroes. This week we were studying Noah. We made our own boats and had boat races in old gutters. The leaders even joined in. This is a great group of kids and we are enjoying ourselves seeing these kids involved and eager to learn.

My Little Soccer Player

Madi getting ready for her first soccer game.

Today Madi played in her first team sport. She is on a soccer team of 1st and 2nd graders. Our neighbor invited Madi to join a neighborhood team; Madi really wanted to play, so this is a early birthday present from us. Madi did a great job getting in there going after the ball. She did have a moment of playing in the grass with a fellow team mate. She also had three injuries. Thankfully she wasn't the only one crying from getting hurt. We need to work on toughness and playing through it, although the last incident looked brutal. She fell in pursuit of the ball and got trampled on. As I watched all these kids on top of her, I stood up, concerned, oh great, another broken bone. The coach went over to get her up out of the heard of soccer players; as he got her out and she started walking toward me, I knew she was okay. Thank you Lord, for protecting Madi today. Please give her the courage to get back on that field on Saturday with no major injuries.

Emma's Principal's Pride Award

Today I got to go to the school and watch Emma be recognized for her excellence in math. She got to walk in on the red carpet and the principal, Mrs. Riddle, talked all about how well she is doing in math. In the last picture Emma's paper is hanging on a bulletin board near the office to show a representation of her good work (yellow paper); if you click on the picture you can see her work more clearly. She got a pencil, coupon for a free kids meal at Chick-fil-A, and another coupon for a restaurant I haven't heard of. Emma I am so proud of you; keep up the good work.

Note: Emma's cute new outfit is from Jessica, friend from church. Thank you, Jessica, for the clothes!

A Date With Daddy

Last Monday I had a Women's Ministry Meeting and since there was no school, do to the holiday, Chris took the girls on a date. All three of them have been waiting to go see Up in the $1 theater and the day came just in time for their date. First they went to Chick-fil- A, sporting their football t-shirts to get a free chicken sandwich. After the movie, Chris took them to Barnes and Noble and read books with them. Their whole date cost them $3. I am so glad I married a man that loves his daughters so much, that even though he doesn't spend tons of money for a grand day, he spends that quality time with them that they thirst for. I wish he could here them throughout the week before, so excited to have a day with Daddy. Out of the three activities they did, I guarantee the most cherished for the girls, was sitting down with them in Barnes and Noble reading them stories. Thank you, Hunny, for being a wonderful daddy.

A Puff of Mulch

Chris and I went to Lowe's to purchase some mulch plus a few other items with our 10% off coupon that expires soon. Chris was loading our flat cart using his casted arm. So I jump in to help. We dropped our last bag onto the cart and start to position it as a puff of mulch attacked my right eye (through my glasses with sunglasses, over top). It hurt so bad; I was flailing around. I told Chris I have it in my eye; which his response was, "what?" He tried to see the splinters, but they were too small. He decided to take me to the bathroom. As we were walking, Chris was caring my purse, glasses, and sunglasses, and I was holding onto him with my head down with my eyes watering and blinking trying to get the splinters out. An employee came to see if he could help. Instead of explaining were the bathrooms were, he escorted us, explaining that there was a unisex bathroom we could use. We tried using the faucet to flush out my eye, but the motion censor faucet was not the right shape to allow my head to fit under. So Chris ran out to see what our next option was. The drinking fountain was his thought. Great idea, except for the ice cold water that aggravated my eye even more. The employees and Chris were discussing what else they could do as I was drowning in the drinking fountain. The employees came up with two options: either take me to urgent care or possibly use the eye washer in the back. I informed them I was not going to urgent care because our insurance stinks. As one of the employees went to check to see if we could use the eye wash another employee ( a former nurse) told me to pull my top eyelid over my bottom eyelid. After the second attempt it worked! I wiped under my eye with my fingertip and there on my fingertip was a bunch of tiny splinters. It ended up that I could use the eye washer, but thankfully didn't need it. And another employee gave me eye drops after the splinters were out. My eye is fine, but still a little sore.

Barbie Party

Emma and Madi love having girls their own age to play with in our neighborhood. Today they mostly played Barbies, but they also road bikes and scooters. I sat on the driveway and front porch for most of it. I mainly assisted with dresses and putting Ken's head on about 10 times. In Oregon the neighborhood kids were mostly boys and non the girl's age. Emma and Madi both have two other girls their same age (Emma's friends not pictured) within three houses, two across the street and one next door. We've had three neighbors bring us cookies, we enjoy chatting with our neighbors when we are outside, and our street is quiet. With all that said, we like our neighborhood.

The Zoo With The Pitt's

Lydia, Madi, Moriah, and Emma having fun being Prairie Dogs.

Yes, I know we have been to the zoo a lot lately, but we are having so much fun. Every time we experience something different. This time we got to see all three tiger cubs napping with their mom. One of the cubs got up and started moving around. It was adorable. During our lunch we heard a loud noise over what we thought was near the penguins. After our lunch we went over to the penguins. It wasn't the penguins. We traveled even further and discovered a monkey making loud noises. I can't remember which one it was. The girls all started making the same sounds. The baby elephant is coming out for all to see this coming Friday, so stay tuned we will be going to the zoo soon.

We Saw a Jerky Cow

Today we went to Wheeler Farm (www.wheelerfarm.com) to see the farm animals and have a picnic lunch. We fed the ducks and geese.

The girls and Chris posed in front of the lightening tree. It was struck by lightening and started to grow along the ground (can't see it in the picture).

Madi got to go to Wheeler Farm for a field trip in Kindergarten. She informed us that this was a jerky cow that they use to make jerky. I then said Jersey cow? Yes, a Jersey cow.

They had all kinds of farm animals; we even saw Templeton the rat.