Matthew is A Graduate!

Tuesday night Matthew graduated from K5. It was a really nice program. Our favorite part was the little play they did because Matthew played the big bad wolf named Harry. He did an excellent job! It was done in children's theatre form so the children played the props and characters. He had a very funny part and enjoyed getting laughs from the crowd!:)

God's Precious Gift

I sit and write this post today for one main reason-to praise my God for His hand of protection on our little girl yesterday and to thank Him for the prompting and the direction of the Holy Spirit to do what was needed. While this could be a chronicle of every awful detail of what happended , it is not! What transpired was a miracle~only something God can do. I found Emilee face down in a friend's pool...every parent's worst nightmare come true. As I tried to get up the deck steps to get to her I felt like I was running in one place. When I jumped in and grabbed her she immediately clung to me and started crying! It was as relieving as the cry right after birth. I am confident she instinctively held her breath. She wasn't even coughing at all! She was even still holding the toy she had been playing with. I believe it very well could have been within a minute of her falling in that I found her! That was the Lord~no question!!! It is afterward that you fall apart and can't even breathe. Yesterday was very difficult for me because I kept reliving what I saw and replaying in my mind what I did and the "what ifs" that could have made everything turn out much differently.
Last night Scott and I talked/prayed about it a lot. He reminded me that Emilee is a gift from God and that she is His~only borrowed for awhile. Yesterday He could have taken her, but He chose to let us have her a little longer. We are reminded of the important job we have of raising her to be a godly girl who wants to love and serve Him. We prayed God would remove the vision of yesterday from my mind. Satan wants me to stay there and I choose not to. "Whatsover things are true...think on these things." What is true? She is here and fine-God protected her! What is true? God is good ALL the time! Even if things hadn't turned out this way. What is true? EVERYTHING comes from His loving hand! We have learned and been reminded of a lot of things. We thank Him for Emilee and today I can say that a peace has filled my heart and each time I look at her and go back to yesterday I simply do just that...thank Him for her!

End of the Year Activities

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

Andrew wanted to show you the last project for 3rd grade! They have been reading
Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder. They were to make a shadow box depicting a scene from the book. Andrew chose a scene where Almonzo feeds his pig Lucy some candy and it gets stuck all over her and him!


Also, last night was Andrew's spring piano recital. He played "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee" and did a really nice job! Sorry the timing is so off again. I think because it takes so long to download or something it must mess it up. Oh well, at least you get to hear it. He thought his piano playing relatives would enjoy it!:) I think Scott was messing with Luke and trying to video...thus the unsteady hand!:)

Wild Animals

You are probably looking at these pictures wondering what in the world they have in common. Well.....animals! The first picture is of my freezer in the garage. Here is the story. Yesterday afternoon right before naps Luke came inside and asked me for scissors. I asked him what he needed to cut and he smiled and said paper!! Curious....so I asked what paper? please show me. He took me to the patio table and I realized he wanted to cut open a popsicle!! (He had just had one!) I said no and put it in my kitchen freezer and put him down for nap. About an hour or so later I was hearing noises from the garage. I sat still for a while and just listened. I thought for sure there was a bird or something that got stuck in the garage because the door was open. I kept hearing this knocking sound???? Finally I got brave enough to open the screen door fearful of what I might see. I looked down and the first thing I saw was two large puddles of water on the floor. I cautiously peeked around the crates and saw that the freezer door was wide open and there were chunks of ice dropping to the bottom of the freezer, thus the knocking sound I heard. Fortunately I don't think anything was ruined but I am so glad I saw it when I did. This picture was after the fact. It wasn't this full when it happened. I had just bought 19 pkgs of hot dogs and 19 pkgs of buns for a school function so that is why it looks so full!! Obviously I am thankful for no wild animal!!! But, later last night Scott called me while I was at a friend's house and said he had something in the tree he wanted to show me when I got home. Here is what I saw....


While I was gone he heard the trash can get knocked over. He ran out there and a raccoon took off so he chased it and it climbed the tree in the backyard. We have been having trouble again with them ripping open trash bags and spreading the "goodies!" I didn't even know raccoons climbed trees! Scott had his DeWalt flood light sitting on the ground shining up on the thing so he was scared to move! When I pulled in to the addition our whole house was lit up!!:) He said he even threw a ball up in the tree and it didn't even budge! Hopefully the raccoon goes back to all his buddies and tells them to stay away from that house because the psycho that lives there likes to torment wild animals! Ha!Ha! :)

Flowers for Mommy

OK, you can all tease me later about posting three times in a day! I haven't been able to get on the internet for several days and it was driving me nuts! There was a lot going on so I have to fill you all in! :) I had a very nice Mother's Day. My gift came on Saturday when Scott and the boys made this flower bed for me around the tree in the front yard. I have wanted to do it for the last couple summers and we finally got to do it! Everyone helped as you can see! It looks really nice...hopefully my flowers survive ME. I am horrible with plants and flowers. We shall see!

Andrew's Pain in the Neck

Andrew woke up last Thursday with a sore neck. He went to school and we thought the kink would work itself out. Well...I got a call at the fire station that he wanted to come home at lunch time. His teacher said he was miserable. So we came home and put heat on it and rubbed it and took some Tylenol. As the day went on it wasn't getting any better. Our neighbor suggested taking him to the doctor for a muscle relaxer. So we took him in that evening and he came home with a collar and Tylenol with codeine!!!! The doctor said the muscles in his upper spine were in a spasm and that he needed to keep the collar on until Monday. It got better each day. The weird thing was that he had gone to bed feeling fine and woke up in such bad shape!!! Poor thing...I kept saying "quit favoring it-it will hurt worse.....keep your shoulders level...blah...blah...blah! I'm very glad we took him in!!! He got lots of attention and "oh! what happened????" He loved it! He only got worried when papa asked if it would affect his golf game! Andrew was afraid they were coming in the next few days and he wouldn't get to play. I think he is recovered and ready, papa!

Firefighter Luke!

Last Thursday our playgroup went to the fire station downtown for a short tour. I really planned this especially for Luke because he is so into fire trucks and firefighters right now. As expected he was in complete awe!! They did a really nice job with the kids. They got to get inside the truck and hear the tone that goes off when a call comes into the station. They got to see the guys slide down the pole. They even took us upstairs to see where they sleep and eat and play!!! The biggest thing Luke took away from the things that were said...."Don't hide in closets and don't hide under your bed!" He imitated the guy all day long!!!! The fireman had said that because when kids get afraid in a fire they hide and then it is difficult to find them with all the smoke-so don't hide!!!!

Matthew is Seven!!!!

I remember May 6, 2000 like it was just yesterday. It was a very warm Saturday in Kansas City. We were out shopping at Kohl's and doing some other errands when I started feeling kinda weird. As time went on I knew I was feeling worse and wanted to head home. When we got home we started timing what I thought were contractions. They were about 5 minutes apart. I called Danielle and she came and stayed with Andrew until the babysitter could get there. Then her and Mike came up to the hospital to keep us company. The guys watched the NBA playoffs on TV. I had a nurse who had previously been an army nurse. She was quite large and very rough!!! Enough said....every time she came in to check on me Mike and Scott were making faces behind her. It really was quite funny. Once they broke my water things moved very quickly!! Danielle said she remembers my doctor running down the hall getting his gloves on. Nobody expected things to move as quickly as they did! I think I was admitted around three and delivered him around seven. Mom and dad arrived the next day and Gramma and Papa Ice came to see Matthew for the first time over Memorial weekend. Can't believe that was seven years ago!!

Matthew's birthday party

Last night was Matthew's birthday party. He had four friends over and after pizza they went bowling. What a sweet little group of kids. They had a lot of fun together. When they got back Matthew opened his gifts and then it was pinata time!! I think that was the highlight of the night! Scott was the one to finally bust it open. The kids did a quick scramble to get as much candy as they could. Emilee even joined in! Can't believe he is seven!!! Happy birthday, buddy! We love you!

New Shoes

What is it about girls and shoes? After all these boys I have to say I am LOVING the girly stuff!!! When I saw these shoes I had to get them! As soon as I tried them on her feet she smiled and kept looking at them! Just wish they had some in my size!

The Boy, The Job, The Reward!

We are finally on the road to potty training with Luke!!! We started working on it on Thursday and all day Friday (Saturday and Sunday were a little harder.) He was cooperative and excited which was HUGE! I had grown weary in the battle, I must admit. His goal was to get his new Diego trike that had been sitting in a box on daddy's workbench for about two months!! As you can see from the pictures he was very pleased!!! He has only pooped on the potty once....sooo....if he doesn't keep up his end of the deal the trike goes back on the workbench!!! We shall see what today brings???!!!!!!

Benjamin Franklin Speaks

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

As promised earlier this week, here is Andrew's speech as Ben Franklin. We had to return the costume so he doesn't look quite the same but that doesn't matter. He had actually already gone to bed last night when I remembered we hadn't videoed him yet. So he came back out and said it, but obviously wasn't as fresh as the day he had said it 30-40 times already!!! Once again, I had trouble with the download so the words don't match his lips!! Enjoy!

Happy Birthday, Scott!

Happy birthday to the best daddy and husband in the world! Our family is truly blessed by you!!! We love you!!!!!!!

He is getting OLD! He is now on the other half of the 30's-I have to rub it in since I have a few months left to be on the younger side of the 30's!!! No big plans today since it is a school day. I am going to surprise him and take him out for dinner just the two of us and then do cake and ice cream with the kiddos after that!

Wax Museum

For the past two months or so Andrew's class has been working on their famous American projects. They had to come up with an outline, write a 2-3 page report, write a 1-2 minute speech and then dress as the character and give that speech. Well, today was the big day. It was so much fun! The kids looked absolutely adorable. As you can see from the pictures they had really great costumes with a wide range of people chosen-sport figures, presidents, evangelists, etc. They stood in a pose and then we pretended to "press a button" and the character came to life. Andrew did a really nice job! I think he had a lot of fun doing it too. He was very tired of saying his speech when it was done. He had to have said it at least 30 times or more! We videoed it, but the volume was really bad. We plan to have him redo it tomorrow and I will post it then so that you can hear it. What a great way to make learning fun. It was a lot of hard work, but I think very well worth it. He learned a lot about Benjamin Franklin.

Mom and Muffin Day

Today was Mom and Muffin Day for kindergarten. Matthew and I had so much fun! I got to spend the entire morning with him. We of course had a muffin together, but we got to do lots of different activities. I also got to be a part of his music and spanish classes. He made two special treats. One was a snowman that he made in art class and then the other was one of his old shoes that they painted and used as a flower pot! Very cute! It was a fun day for just the two of us!

Surprise, Mom!

Mom turns 60 the end of this month and so my sister and I decided to surprise her differently than we did for dad. My folks were already planning a trip to KC for grandparent's day this past weekend. What mom didn't know was that I was flying in for a girls only weekend. A big thank you to my dear husband who kept all four kids all weekend! Danielle picked me up at the airport Friday morning at 7:45. We got back to the house before mom and dad returned from the activities up at school. I hid in the kitchen and Mackenzie greeted Nana at the door and said she had a surprise upstairs in the kitchen (that was me!) Needless to say it was a big surprise! At naptime, the three of us girls left for the hotel. We checked in and went for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory-yum!!! Danielle tried to run mom and me over with the Explorer when she picked us up at the door! Not really, but that is a funny story. We spent the days talking and shopping and getting a pedicure and stamping cards and laughing and having a wonderful time together. It is a time we will treasure forever! We love you, mom! Happy Birthday!!

P.S. Check out the video on my sister's blog!

"I Can Do It Myself!"

Why is it so much better to feed yourself??? I took these pictures this morning at breakfast. Emilee used to LOVE yogurt. Then one day she started to turn her head away as soon as I took it out of the fridge. It has been a while since I have offered it to her. I put it on the tray today with a spoon and she ate almost the entire thing. Well...as you can obviously see about half of it ended up places other than in her mouth!!! She abandoned the spoon toward the end and just started digging in with her hand. She had a great time and then went right to the tub!!!