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Tuesday, December 27, 2005

in between Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year

It's such an exhausting place to be in... right in the middle, don't you agree? The high from Christmas is wearing off, and the lull is a tad unsettling. The new year is looming, and with it all the resolutions that I dread making, because I know that by February, they will be just an uncomfortable memory of "something I should be doing, now what was it?"

We had the most wonderful Christmas. I just have to thank the Lord. He helped us have a fabulous family get together, that I know I'll remember. I made ham, that finally for the first time in three years, wasn't a disaster. (you ask... how do you mess up ham?! it's precooked! well, you have a point, but still, if something can go wrong with my cooking, it will. everyone has a talent, and cooking isn't one of mine. lol.) we all hung around in the living room together, talking and watching a christmas video, and then we read from the Bible, Isaiah, Matthew, and Luke about the birth of Jesus. we sang some christmas carols, and had a nice little talk. Such a warm time, so comfortable. we made it a point to make christmas gifts for eachother this year, just to help make the holiday more personal. my dad made a fantastic foot stool for under my sister's desk at work, my step mom made pillows and a photo album for my hubbie, my mom knitted pocket books for everyone, and a squishy ball for the baby, and my sister made a mother's bracelet for mom, ironed a nice snowman tote for me, and stained a little niknak shelf for my brother. :) i crocheted a wash cloth for my dad, a slipper tote for my stepmommy, a bookmark for my mom, a button towel for my brother, and a shawl and scarf for my sister's build a bear. it was soo great. i think i'll ask us to do that every year. boughten presents are nice, but handmade presents are so much better. you can see the love in them and the work.

so, now i just have to hang around and wait for the new year. and i just know it will be a great one.

Friday, December 23, 2005

quick hi before the holidays swamp us.

(GABE-ZILLA)


it's been a while since i've written anything here. i'm sure everyone else is as busy too, so you're probably not sitting around on your computer either, lol.
gabey keeps sabotaging the presents we put under the tree, so we finally put the presents all in garbage bags so he wouldn't open anything. lol. his back teeth coming in are giving him fits, he wakes up from every nap crying , and is waking up in the wee hours of the morning crying. i'm giving him advil, and that helps a little. we got most of our shopping done, except for our nephews and neice, which will just have to get checks. we went to the mall last night to get gift cards, and it turns out our card has been reported stolen, they flagged our account because there was a charge on it from BUCHAREST! um, no trips to bucharest lately, that i can recall! so we had to close the account, and we'll have to go to the bank branch to get another card. yicks. what a poopy thing to have happen just in time for the holidays, luckilly i had a little bit of cash, just enough to get the ham for sunday.
this weekend will be booked solid, so i probably won't even be on until next week. but then, i'll post pics and everything. update- we went to the bank, and cleared everything up, i love the USA!

Thursday, December 15, 2005

Zippety Doo Dah!

Gabey sings
"Zippety Doo Dah!" it's so awesome, he says it really clear, and his voice goes up at the end like he's really singing it. what a ham!

Thank you Lord for giving me such a loving husband


My sweetie surprised me last night.
He arranged for us to go to a bed and breakfast in Niagara Falls for our anniversary! My sister is coming over tomorrow morning, and watching the baby, and we're leaving for a 2pm check in. We're staying there til sat evening and then heading back.
I love my hubbie!! LOL!
I'm going to miss the baby. but, i totally trust my sister, and know he'll be safe and happy.
OOOOO, i'm so excited. I'll write all about it, when i get back. :):)

this picture is from the last time we went to niagara falls. it was with our sunday school class. i had just found out i was pregnant with gabey. it was a lovely time, but a little limited as we were with a group. this time, it will just be us doing whatever we want to do.

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

"tooth...hoort?"


Gabey's back teeth are coming in, yicks! Last night, we were up from 2am-3am. all of us, lol. gabey wanted to share his misery. jeff, gabey and i hung around, and had hot chocolate in the wee hours.
i gave him some advil, and he slept fine, but still woke up at 8am.
Sunday, I checked and i thought i felt the left back tooth coming in, those must hurt like crazy, well, only 3 more to go, lol. i have to remember to give him advil before he goes to bed, it lasts 6-8 hours, so i may get a full night's sleep.
He says "oh, heavens", it's so cute. i don't know if i can type it phonetically...
("oh, hiehbens"), and "ho ho ho", and the best one ever.... he tries to say "bobbity boo" from the Cinderella song... ("bobba doo")!

Thursday, December 08, 2005

Fluffy Tail

I have no clue where he got this, but last night, Gabey was walking around with his hand on his bottom saying "Fluffy Tail" over and over again! I was rolling. How does he come up with these things?

NorthCoast Baptist Church has a building now!!


My hubbie and i have been helping start a new Baptist chuch in Lakewood, called NorthCoast, and for a year now, we've been having to rent the meeting room of an assisted living place. I'm thankful that we've had such a nice place to meet, but it's definitely NOT ideal. we've been looking at this church building forever, and my pastor really thought it was the one for us, and just this week we put a bid on it, and GOT IT!!Now we have to pray in the money to pay for it! I'm sooo excited. I was a kindergarten sunday school teacher for years at our home church Cleveland Baptist, and i've really missed not being able to have a sunday school. with this building, which is an actual church building, we'll be able to have all the extras, like sunday school, and stuff. also, we've been meeting at my house for the wed night bible study, and so we'll be able to meet there. and it has a real working BELL! how totally cool is that? here's a picture i took when my hubbie and i were driving by to look at it.
Jan 25th is our organization ceremony, where we'll sign the charter and become our own church (not just a ministry of CBC) and then Pastor signs the papers to own the church building on the 26th! Wohooooo!!

Sunday, December 04, 2005

gabey in the snow





it's funny, i think i started this blog with gabey in the snow. lol.
i got him a new coat and snow pants, and boots and a hat and mittens. we're all set. i took him out today, and he played in the back yard, and then we went for a walk in the neighborhood. it wasn't all that cold out, and the snow was a bit wet, so we didn't really crawl around a lot. i only found one glove, so i couldn't really do too much in the snow. the funniest thing he did was to walk around carrying snowballs, and calling them snowmen. he would rub his nose with the snowball, like he does with bunny. then he discovered that they're edible. lol. we spent more than an hour outside.

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

bunny, where are you?



i have to tell you what happened yesterday. Gabey and i looked around the house for 1/2 and hour for his bunny. he followed me around calling "munnie, ahyoo?" i could not find him anywhere! i scoured the whole house and basement! i finally laid him down and told him i'd bring bunny in when i found him. i took a break (as i was pretty frustrated) and then started again. i crawled around our bedroom and looked under the bed and dressers. i remembered that he had been playing by my night stand. well, there is a little cabinet in my nightstand, and gabey had taken out the bag of film i had in there, and PUT BUNNY INSIDE! he had actually closed the door too! i was so surprised. i brought it in to him, and he was able to finally settle down for his nap. i told him i'm going to strap the bunny to him like we do the binkie. lol.

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

birthday pictures


birthday crown at toys r us






slide at Chuck E. Cheese







gabey's favorite gift, trucks of course






gabey's snack of ice cubes







Simon Says Sit-N-Spin







cake with cars on it. he took one off right away

Friday, November 18, 2005

happy birthday to gabriel



It's my baby's birthday today! I went into his room with the video camera and sung happy birthday... and in response, he said "out?"
we went shopping today and he got to see two of his favorite aunties, Auntie Chrissy and Auntie Shelly. they had fun with him.
right now, he's just napping, but tonight, i think we're going to go out and celebrate his bday, and tomorrow jeff's family and my family are all coming over for a birthday party.
he's cute, he can say "birthday", and when we ask how old he is, he can say "two!" (sounds more like "teeyoo")
he's our little parrot now, he repeats things over and over like a little broken record player. and he mimics us really well too now. it's funny, jeff and i will be talking in the car, and we'll hear little echoes of the words we're saying from the back seat. lol.

Saturday, November 12, 2005

cute animated doll

Friday, November 11, 2005

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

the price for coffee these days!! sheesh!!

2 days after his birthday!

i can't believe it. we had such a great weekend, it was jeff's birthday. friday, we went on a date to the movies and saw chicken little, and went to hoggies. then saturday, my sister, mom, and i made stuffed cabbage, and then in the evening was his party at his mom's house. sunday, we had my family over, and ate the stuffed cabbage. such a nice weekend.
yesterday, was ok, just a normal monday, and then today...

He got BIT BY A DOG on his route! This crazy dog jumped the fence, and chased him across the street and bit him on the LEG! i am so upset. i hate the fact that he has to carry in that neighborhood anyway. he has to witness drug deals and avoid stray dogs almost every day. i hate it. this dog that bit him, just bit another mail carrier earlier this week!! MAN, is the owner in some DEEEEEEP doo doo from the post office. The bite went through his pants and put some punctures in his skin. I haven't heard back on how he is now, but i'm just upset by the whole thing. i hope this helps him be able to transfer. they've moved people from HIS station over to the west side and kept him. HE LIVES on the west side. just let him go!

well, just pray that the stupid dog was up on his shots at least! the freak.

Monday, October 31, 2005

Sunny Bunny

Everyone has a "lovey", a stuffed something or other that is real to us. This is Sunny Bunny. I wanted you to see him. He is Gabey's lovey. This has been his best friend since he was maybe 6 months old. He confiscated it off our bed, and has never let it out of his sight since.

He puts so much love into this sweet bunny, that if we could somehow extract the love, we'd have a lifetime supply. He is turning 2 soon, and he is developing a wonderful imagination. I love watching him as he makes bunny "look" at things. He puts bunny's face into whatever he wants him to see. He pretends to feed him. He really adores this little stuffed bunny. He calls it "Munny".

Thursday, October 27, 2005

naptime


oh my word. how sweet. gabey likes our room, he plays with my clock, and turns on the aromatherapy button, and the music button, and my little touch lamp. while i was writing the last post, i let gabey play on my bed. he likes it because it's HUGE. well, he was getting really quiet, so i peeked in on him, and he had fallen asleep, with bunny's hand covering his one eye. i got a picture of him before i put him in his crib to sleep. i love my little munchkin so much.

sally's pink dress


This is one of the dresses i won for Sally on ebay.

it's perfect. 2 others in the lot fit also. there is one that was too small, and one other one that seems too fragile for me to try, i think it would fit.

closeup of the lace and the pretty waistline.

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

i found the cake i'm making for my son's birthday



isn't it just the coolest?!!

Gabey adores cars and trucks and trains and tractors and hummers and... well... anything on wheels, really. lol.

so, i'm going to make this cake, and get party theme stuff to match it. yea!!

The weather has been pretty icky out, very rainy, and chilly, so we've pretty much just stayed in most of the weekend. We did visit Chrissy last night, and she helped me go to a thrift store and get some capris and jeans. I can't really shop with the baby, you know, so she let him run around the store and left me to be able to look through the clothes. I found a great pair of really comfy jeans, and 2 pairs of capris. I'm so glad, i've been wearing shorts all summer, and well, it's getting a bit chilly for that now. lol. gabey ended up picking up this horrible car though, and carrying it around. it was broken! and they were charging .99 cents for it! i was like NO WAY! so i had chrissy take him to the car while i was in line, and she left it at the front door. Gabey was upset, but i wasn't about to spend a dollar on a broken toy!! he has more cars than a car dealership as it is anyway! we went to her apartment, and played with her new laptop, and gabey played with the toys she has for him, and he talked to her bird, taffy. we had such a nice time. i always love being with her, she's my best friend. and gabey loves her like crazy too. :)

Saturday, October 22, 2005

my neopet




These are my neopets. i tried to post the code from the neopet website, but it's not working, so i just saved the pictures of them. my username is shari31373 if you want to check them out...

http://www.neopets.com

How on earth did you get in there???

Thursday night, was a memorable one. We just got the toddler bed, and Gabey loved it. We laid him down, and said prayer, and shut the light off like usual, and he was quiet the rest of the evening.
Well, around one o'clock, I heard him whimpering, and went in to check on him. I couldn't find him!! I could hear him, I was like,
"honey, where are you?"
I turned on the light, and heard him inside the bed! I looked under the bed, and there he was!
"What are you doing in there?!"
"GUCK!" (stuck)
Oh, honey! I pulled him out by the legs, and the rest of the night was crazy. He didn't want to get back in the bed! And I don't blame him. At one point, I had him get in, and I put the cover on him, and he had his head on the pillow, but I could tell he was scared, and he started crying and said "Out, DOWN?"
I stayed with him the rest of the night, as we had just taken down the crib. Oh, I was so tired. I had us lay down on the floor on pillows and stuff, but he only was there for a little while, and he kept playing with my face and laughing. He played around the room, in the semi dark. Finally at 4 AM, we went out to the living room, and I let him watch his choo choo video. I moved him to the floor to lay on his huge turtle pillow, and turned it on again after he'd watched it once, and by 5 AM, he was asleep! I could finally try to sleep too. So SORE! I'm not too comfortable on our "king chair" (chez lounge). Well, needless to say, put up the crib again, yesterday afternoon. He was still upset, and didn't even want to be in the crib for his afternoon nap, so we let him nap on the turtle again. Last night, we laid him in the crib like always, and he was just fine. "thank you Lord!"

I'm not upset that he's not ready for the toddler bed yet. We're keeping it up for him to play in, and later, he'll move to it when he's ready. I realize, he wouldn't want to stay put, even if he hadn't had that traumatic experience, so he still needs the crib, AND he likes it. So, we'll wait until he WANTS to move from the crib. He doesn't try to climb out, he's perfectly content in the crib, so we're fine with him staying in there. I am extremely happy that we got the bed when we did though, the deal we got, wouldn't have ever come again. And we get to give it to him for his birthday.

What other kid you know gets a CAR for his 2 year old birthday? LOL!

(This picture is from a few weeks ago)

Thursday, October 20, 2005

my new bed!


This is the bed we just got from Ebay. It's fantastic. Jeff and his friend, Dave went and picked it up, and put it together this evening. Gabey was flipping out, crawling all over the pieces, we had to put something in front of the door to keep him out, so jeff could put it together. I put his stuffed animals and his pillow in the bed, and he promptly tossed them back out, so he could play in it. lol.
Let's just hope he'll sleep in it too.

Gabey's growing up, wah!


I just got Gabey a toddler bed, and a potty seat! I found them on Ebay for cheapy cheap!!

We're hoping to pick up the bed tonight. I think we'll put it together and let him use it right away instead of waiting til his birthday. I don't want him to be too stressed all at once, with the holidays and stuff too.


I'm going to put the potty seat in the bathroom, but i'm not going to start training him, until i think he's more ready. i just wanted him to have one now, for whenever he's ready.

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

GranGran's Graphics- such a cute site :)

I put the web address for GranGran's Graphics in my profile, but it didn't show up as a link, so I thought I'd put a little blip in here.
I really like her graphics, and have used them for my church website www.northcoastbaptist.org

and now, i am using it for my blog.


http://home.att.net/~scorh2/

Monday, October 17, 2005

Sally in her new duds



I put a little velvet dress on Sally, and a pearl clip in her hair. The picture doesn't do her justice. I want to get a better camera! LOL.


Cool shoes...um, they're on the wrong feet!



So, today, I totally put my son's shoes on the wrong feet. LOL.

We were going on the porch to hang out, and since it's cooler out now, we can't go barefoot. I whipped on the shoes like a pro.... and didn't realize until we came back inside, that they were on the WRONG FEET!

We've had a wonderful weekend. Gabey got to hang out with his Auntie Chrissy, while Jeff and I went out on a Sweetest Day date.



We went to the mall and did Build a Bear. When the time came to put the hearts inside the bear, we kissed eachother's hearts. I got an adorable butterscotch bear, and some outfits and shoes, and he got a cool dog, and a basketball outfit, and tennies, and another outfit. Then we went putputting at the indoor place at the mall, which is just the coolest. Everything is blacklight! We glowed.

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon cleaning up Sally doll, and washing her clothes. I handwashed them with Johnson's baby wash so they'd smell nice. I'll post a picture in the next post of Sally in her dress, and a clip in her hair.
Gabey loved Jeff's dog, and kisses it. Jeff's stressed, because Gabey always wants to touch and kiss it with messy hands and face. LOL. I had to wash another stuffed dog he has because Gabey made the fur all hard from playing with it all messy.

Today, it's been really nice outside, and the midges that have plagued our neighborhood are finally going away, so i swept the bug carcasses off the porch, and the cobwebs (with the unluckier bugs in them) off the porch ceiling. AND, we're finally able to enjoy our porch again. Gabey and I hung out in the back yard, and did our chalk drawings. I have requests every time for "tvuck"? "cah"? and i also drew a long huge train, that he kept crawling on, saying, "choo choo!"
We went for a walk up the street and down, and looked at leaves, and flowers and trees. We saw 2 helicopters "coptoo", and heard the dogs, and birds, and squirrels, and saw cats, and cars, and boats. He was doing a running commentary as we walked. I blew bubbles when we got back, and he raced through them back and forth. Fall is definitely my favorite time of year. :)

Saturday, October 15, 2005

A Most Precious Gift


Today is Sweetest Day, a day to show kindness and appreciation to those around us.
I have been given the most valuable gift by the Lord Himself. He showed the greatest kindness in giving His gift of eternal life to me. I have salvation. I have the Lord. That should make Sweetest Day every day for me. I pray that I can learn to be more generous and kind, and I can only hope to someday be more like Him.

My mom and Chrissy came over yesterday, and Mommy came with a most precious gift. I am so touched.

Ever since I was a little girl, my mom has owned 2 very special dolls. When we were at the house where I grew up, she would display them on the bookshelf in the living room. I would ask to change the "Sally" doll, and she would bring out 2 little red suitcases with black handles, and let me pick out an outfit for Sally. Such lovely little dresses, and socks and shoes. Very delicate. I had to be very careful with Sally. I loved Sally, and would pick her up, and feel her weight, and floppy legs. I would feel so honored being allowed to change her into a new outfit that she would display as she sat on the shelf. I could walk by later and know that I picked it out. Sally has the most gorgeous eyes of any doll. I never liked dolls growing up, but I loved Sally. Her eyes are green like my mom's eyes. I have always loved green eyes the best. Mom was given Sally as a gift from her mom when she was a young girl. Her mom went out to look for a doll that wasn't like any other doll. She found Sally. My mom has treasured her ever since. Sally was her first baby. She would feed it mashed up Lorna Dune cookies, and change her using cut rags that were around the house. Her neighbor made little dresses and outfits for her that fit perfectly.

Yesterday, she brought Sally to me.... and gave her to me. I always knew that when the time came, she would come to live with me, but to have her in my house is just overwhelming. She gave Chrissy her other favorite doll, a ballerina with pointed toes.

Thank you so much, Mom, for giving me the honor again of taking Sally from the shelf and caring for her like I did when I was a little girl. I will always remember what a great and valuable gift you gave me, in giving me the care of this delicate, beautiful, precious doll.

Thursday, October 13, 2005

making friends

Matthew and Sammi

Sammi jumping on the bed in the house where we used to have Bible study.

I love that Gabey is getting to the age where he can really make friends. He and Matthew and Sammi have so much fun together. Last night, after the Bible study, they were all in the kitchen slipping around, and laughing so hard. Gabey was trying to tickle Matthew and Matthew was trying to tickle Gabey. They were awfully loud, and we had to sush them, but I was so happy that they were having so much fun together. Gabey can say Matthew's name, he says
"Mah-yew", and Matthew says "Dabey". It's just such a wonderful feeling, seeing them with eachother.

Monday, October 10, 2005

exploring on columbus day (an outlet mall-lol)





What a fantastic day we've had. My hubbie was off work, so after he had slept in for the first time in a loooong time, we got ready and headed out to Aurora, Ohio to pick up the bike from Ebay. It was a beautiful day and an easy drive. We got the bike, and it's practically brand new, with the manual and everything! How fantastic. Then we went to the Aurora Outlet mall. I'd never been there. It's adorable! There is a quaint windmill, and fake water tower. There is a large lake with ducks and geese that you can feed. Of course, a mall isn't a mall without the rides for the kids. I am the luckiest mom, in that, Gabey doesn't like when we turn the rides on! Saves us .50! we just put him in, and he plays with the steering wheel. He even found a little thomas the tank train on one of them. I figured it replaced the toy bus i left in a cart at JoAnne fabrics last month- lol, so we let him keep it. He was such a good boy, and we had a blast. I finally got that little tupperware storage system, that i've been looking at for months, and we got gabey 4 outfits for $3.00! Such a nice day.

Thank you Columbus for stumbling on the new world, and giving us this holiday, so I could have this little adventure in Aurora.