Family Picnic

This summer has been so great for family picnics. My dad is retired, and my stepmommy, and mom aren't working. My dad sets up picnics all the time at a park by my sister's work, and she stops by with our adopted sister, Michelle, on their lunch break. It's always such a nice little break in the day. Yesterday, was a most memorable picnic. I know my dad was disappointed because he thought the food wasn't working out as well as usual, but for me it was just a fabulous time! Patty Nanna took me and Gabey on his first creek walk. I brought a change of clothes and his water shoes so he could get wet. We saw crayfish, fish, dragonflies, and ducks. I held onto the back of his t-shirt, and we just waded down the creek. I love being in the creek, with the trees reaching up on either side. It makes me feel as if I were in a different world. Later, when we went back in the water, Gabey and I ended up sitting all the way down, and playing with rocks, and bark, and just giggling away. I will always remember the happiness of those few moments. My mom took a few pictures of me and Gabey, and watched us from the bank. Patty Nanna lured some ducks over, and we got to feed them! They were swimming inches from us, it was so exciting. Gabey was having a fit! I have a ton of pictures, I hope you like them.

How "Anne" are you?

http://www.tickledorange.com/LMM/HowAnneAreYouQuiz.html

Which L. M. Montgomery Heroine are you?

http://www.tickledorange.com/LMM/Heroinequiz.html

Thimble Thoughts

Thimble Thoughts

This fellow Christian blogger is doing a series on "why i believe in eternal security" i've read the first 3 posts in the series, and it's wonderfully well thought out, and has a plethora of scripture to back up her views (which is essential in any spiritual belief). i'm happy to blog her, and hope you will follow me to her site to read some great scripture to back up why we believe in eternal secutiry in our salvation through Jesus Christ.

hahwahya

it's been so long, lol. i thought i'd pop on and see how you were doing, lol. like my dad would say...hahwahya hahwahya hahwahya.

it was so stinking hot this week, that we literally stayed the entire week with my sister in her apartment! lol. she was so wonderful to let us stay. it was like a big week long sleepover. we made dinner together every night, and watched movies, and played with the baby.

i was so extremely grateful to be able to hang out in an air conditioned place. i would have gotten heat stroke if we had stayed home. whew.

chrissy, thank you a million times.

fairy ring

we had a fairy ring. i pulled it last night. but first, i let it grow, and took pictures, lol.

baby has croup

gabey woke up at around 11 last night, crying and coughing that bark like cough. he was so upset. we took him to the pediatric ER at Fairview. i kept thinking, what if he ate something he's allergic to, or got bit by something. he wasn't acting normal, so we took him in.

i just am so thankful to have this ER so close. It's dedicated to children 18-, and has been the most helpful place for us. we got right in, and the people were so nice. Gabey is so sensitive. he was just freaked out, just being there.
they had him do a nebulizer. it was a little loud, and he was hysterical. i held it on his mouth for him. it was a little purple dinasour. he was repeating us. "it's ok" "it's almost done" i wanted to weep.

then they gave him a medicine that is like a new miracle for croup. i'm so glad. (i don't remember the name. it was just a liquid and was sweet, and he took it down well. it has a steroid that opens the airways and lasts for like 4 days (which is the average length of croup, 3-7 days.) then we had to wait for a half hour to let it take effect.

i didn't know this but croup is viral. like the cold virus. so i've been looking to see if i need to keep him home. i wouldn't want him coughing on anyone, and giving them the virus. i do have to keep him fairly quiet, so we won't be running around in the back yard too much. i'm sure this med will make it much better, i'm glad we went in right away.

I'ts down

and the poor squirrels are wondering what happened. i feel badly for them...

but i would have felt worse, if it would have come down on it's own in a storm.
here are the pictures from the last day.

this was the cool log splitter they used for the bottom pieces. also, you can see the last little bit coming off. my neighbor said that was the hardest piece, that it took like a few chains to get it. i think the poor tree was trying to hold out as long as it could.

Our maple tree is coming down!

our next door neighbor let us know that his cousin could take the tree down!
they came this morning, and worked all day. it was such a hard job, and the worst seems to be done now. we had 3 minor problems.... the guy helping cut himself, and had to go get stitches.... the police came and told us we couldn't park our car on the grass... and the last big branch came down, nicking the corner of the garage. but on a whole, it went very well, and quickly. they are coming tomorrow to finish the job, and haul off the wood.

Skeeter Bites

i was trying to post pictures of the farewell party for michael this afternoon, but blogger was being tempermental, so i didn't get to. i'll try to do it at another time.
my sister, nicole, said such nice things in her blog about the party and about michael, so i'm going to paste it here for you, and you also can visit her blog...
Skeeter Bites

"Last night we went to Joe's brother Michael's farewell dinner. He is leaving for his first tour of duty to Iraq next Saturday. There was a pretty big turnout of friends and family to support him.Michael fixes medical equipment so he will be working in 1 of the 2 hospitals over in Iraq.We will all miss him and will be praying for his safe and healthy return. Also, if you happen to think of her, please pray also for Melissa. She is Michael's girlfriend of 5 years and is having an (understandably) difficult time with his leaving. Michael has been told he will be gone for at least 1 1/2 years. They could extend his time there. :("
-Nicole

I'm not a PLANT!

I just blew in gabey's hair, as a joke.
He looked at me and grinned,
and said..."I'm not a PLANT!"

the danger of the di vinci code

I have been hearing a lot about this book, and everything I have learned about it, shows me that it is a dangerous work of Satan to lead people from Christ.

i believe it's going to lead a lot of people astray because it's such an engaging book, and weaves just enough questionable truths, and vaguely familliar historical events into it to make people question whether the other speculations he puts in are true also.

The book brings forth ideas about Christ that are unbiblical, and blasphemous.(though the author says the book is fictional, even putting the idea out there, I believe is sinfully wrong)

Dan Brown, in his book, writes that Jesus WASN'T diety at all, but was a normal guy, who was married to Mary Magdelene (sp) and that he planned on having her take over the church, along with her child that she had by Him.

None of these ideas have any Biblical OR historical base, and people reading who aren't very familliar with scripture or history may be led to doubt Christ as He truly is. Satan is working here, I truely believe this. Anything that causes people to question Christ is of Satan.

I firmly plan on staying far away from this book and movie, and will continue my stance without being shy or worrying about offence. People need to know the TRUE CHRIST OF THE HOLY BIBLE, not the false christ of the Di Vinci Code.

we're having an ant problem, lol. i bought some spray, and i think it's helping a bit. it started with these regular little ones, and then just recently we started seeing the huge black fast ones.

yesterday, gabey came into my bedroom, and said... "i catched a ANT!" and he came up to my bed, and put the ant on my bed!" i went wacko, and flicked it off!"

just now, gabey came in and said...." the ant is not under the train"so i followed him to his toy train in the kitchen...
i didn't see the ant, and i said "where did it go?"
and he said, "on my mouth"
and i asked..."did you EAT IT?!"
and he said, "YEAH!"
eeeewwwww!!
i held out my hand in case he still had it, and he pretended to cough on my hand...so i said "is it in your belly?" and he said "yeah!"

but i love him like crazy, my little gross anteater!

The Crib is Finally Gone.

we took down the crib for good last night.
we laid him down, and he was crying, so pitifully at first, but we sat with him for about a half hour, and just kept on it that he had to stay in bed. he was really good, he'd start crying every few minutes and say "i can't get up, I can't walk"
but he calmed down. (i really think that getting stuck under it last year really affected him badly, and he's got such a good memory)

we left after a half hour, and he stayed there all night. i didn't sleep well, lol. i spent the whole night listening to the monitor for him. he turned on the crib aquarium a few times. i think he just rolled on them in his sleep.

he was so cute in the morning, he just trotted out, and was about to go down the hall, but i called him and he came right into our room, and was just fine and chipper. i'm so thankful!!

i don't know how it will go tonight. he's not taking his nap right now, he just came back out after about 15 minutes, lol. but i'm not going to make a big deal out of naps for now. we'll see how it goes.

my beautiful neice

my neice, jessi, is 18 now, and tonight is her senior prom.she's done with school, and will be going to community college in the fall.
she has just grown into the sweetest, most wonderful young adult. she has stuck with the same job at McDonalds for like 3 years. she has been in the marching band since being let in early her freshman year, and has a steady boyfriend of, i think, 3 years.
i am just so proud of her.
my sister put tips on jessi this morning, so i was blessed to be able to see her the day of her prom. and the sweetheart brought us breakfast!

More word fun

last night, jeff and i were talking about how McDonald's has Builda Bear toys...
this morning, gabey woke up calling them..."Pound a Bear" ROTFL! Do you think that would be a good shop to open up?

big day at the zoo

i got to go to the zoo with my friend, kara, and our other friend, geneva, and all the kids. we had such a nice time, and it was a fantastic day out.
gabey laughed like crazy at the monkey jumping around. the monkey liked his little thomas the tank toy, and kept coming up and looking at it.

not a lawn expert by any means. lol.

sooo, the neighbor to my left has a dog that likes to dig under my oooold rusty fence and bend the bottom all out of shape.... (i love my neighbor, and his dog is a real sweetie, it's my fence that's the real problem)
well, the other day, i decided to try to make that side look a little better, because it's just weeds, and ugly, so i dug out the weeds and laid cinder blocks and bricks down for now between the fence and driveway... i took the dirt from there and filled in a huge hole farther down the fence.
soooo, the neighbor had to put a little fence to cover the place, because i didn't have the weeds covering the bottom anymore,
aaaand, he said that i had filled in what was supposed to be a drainage ditch. i asked him if he was sure and asked him about another hole with bricks over it farther down from that, and he said he was suuuure....
i dug... and dug... and found only dirt, so i went and moved the bricks that were farther down, and.... oh look, a pipe!
so i just want to hire a maintenence crew to come and overhaul my yard so i don't have to keep redoing everything. lol. i'm such a newbie.

big change

i haven't said anything to anyone until now, really, because we wanted to talk to John at Northcoast first, but we've decided to start going back to Cleveland Baptist church.
we just adore the people at northcoast, and will miss seeing them every week, but it's been on our heart for a while now, that our home is still CBC, and we need to be serving there. i am just so glad we had the opportunity to help start a baby church, it's been exciting, and encouraging. we expect to see great things from that church, and will always cherish the friendships we have with the people there.

i am so excited to be going back to CBC, i miss my kindergarten sunday school, and can't wait to start working there again. i will probably hold off on getting into the choir for a few weeks, but that is something i need to start up again too. It will be such a comfort to be home again.

our first service back will be wednesday, we went to northcoast last night, they had cake for sandy's birthday, and we spent some time chatting and saying our goodbyes.

for a little minutes?

i told gabey, you have 3 minutes and then it's nap time, and he got close to my face, and cooed, "i have to wake up for a little minutes?"

garden obsession

my friend said it would be best to wait til labor day to start planting, and i'm waiting patiently....

but i can't stop thinking about it! lol. i'm working out what to plant, what to transplant, where to do it all. what to buy.

sooooo much fun! i love this new hobby!

i have to write this down before i forget it. lol.

gabey came up to me and said...."you poopin?" (he says you for "I")
and i said "would you like a diadee change?"
and i was so surprised when he answered..."oh YEAH, that would be Great!"
what a goofball....


side note, if he had really pooped, he definitely wouldn't have had that response, he is starting to notice when his diadee is full though, so that's a step in the right direction.

Gerber Meat Sticks and the Ant Farm

So, i mopped the house yesterday, doing the wood floors. Not hard, but i thought it was an accomplishment, seeing my housekeeping skills (and ambition) are nill.

After Gabey's nap, I gave him some Gerber meat sticks to munch on, and left him to them while i did some laundry. I came into the spare room to find the meat sticks squished all over the floor, and him in the middle of it, and ANTS already starting to gather! I wiped them up and wiped up the rest of the meat sticks, and left.

A few minutes later, he came in with one of my old play books, and put it on the couch, and started cooing..."it's a crabbie!" For a second, i thought he was talking about a logo on the cover or something, but then realized he was talking about the ant happilly wandering all over the book. More cleanup! I decided to mop the room again, just to try to get the meat stick trail covered up from the explorer ants. I'm going to the store today, I'm going to have to stock up on pest control, seeing the baby likes leaving bait all over the house.

ooh, the agony (must be said in a new york jewish accent)

"oh the pain... oh the agony" she says in her best Jewish New Yorker accent.

i was doing way too much in the basement the other day, moving file boxes, and lifting large cabinets. and i've come to the conclusion that i am NOT superwoman. i totally strained my back, and have been at a right angle pretty much the entire weekend. i am only now starting to feel better. no meds today, lol.

more bunny fun!!

oh man! i love this yard!! i can't believe it! yesterday, i was out with gabey, and saw the baby bunny again, and gabey got really close to it. i think he almost touched it. it was in my cactus, and so i shooed him across the house to the little bushes. i got some fantastic pictures this time! i got worried that he was abandoned, so i got out some lettuce, and a bowl of water for him, just in case, lol. well, this morning...
i got to see the whole family! i got a ton of video! if you want i can give you the link to my video, so you can see them.
i think the baby's being weaned because he kept wanting to nurse, and the mom kept hopping away, lol. oh what a wonderful morning!

here are some of the pictures i took...

Neighborhood is in Full Bloom!

here are some pictures i took on our walk this morning. sooo gorgeous!




here are some mourning doves in my back yard right under my kitchen window.


oooo, this was a huge blessing. i just popped outside to take a bag of garbage out, and saw this little baby bunny! He stayed in the same place long enough for me to run in and get my camera! soo sweet!

meany head weather!!

i've had a headache pretty much all week. the weather finally broke today, and it rained on and off all day, yicks!
chrissy colored my hair the other day, and did a great job! i had really light hair before gabey was born, and i had to let it grow out a bit because of being pregnant. well, i've been trying to get it lighter for a few years now, and couldn't find a color light enough, lol. so, now, i got the ultimate light blonde, and it at least made it unboubtably blonde. before, it was like, your hair is blonde? i thought it was brown!

here's another adorable gabey picture. these are from us at Mcdonalds lunch with Poppy, Patty, Chrissy, and Michelle.

fun at the playground and with our neighbor

yesterday was pretty cold, but it wasn't raining yet, lol. so gabey and i walked to the playground down the street, and then visited with my neighbor, bert, across the street. she is the mom of my old friend, terry, and his little baby boy, eli, is the same age as gabey. they've been able to hang out together like 3 times already, since we moved here. it's so nice to have friends close by to visit.

some pictures of the new house

Gabey loves his new backyard

the living room with new color, new curtains (i ordered another set, to fill it out a bit more), still to come are borders, and decorations.
we love it!

our new tub surround, very nice. i love the shelves, they hold so much!


we still have quite a bit to do with the bathroom (and the whole house actually, but there's nothing at an emergency status, lol), hopefully, we'll get more done this week, but it is to a point right now where we can at least take showers, lol.
we're hoping to get a dishwasher this week too, yippeeeee!

We're HOME

it's so nice to be here. i love it. we went to our old house for the last time yesterday. i actually had to spend 4 hours there in the morning waiting for the gas man to come read the meter. sitting at an empty house with a toddler for FOUR hours. eek! actually, he was really good except for the little wallpaper ripping episode. i think he thought he was helping me, i mean the wall paper was coming up, so he just started ripping, lol. oh, i flipped. "What are you DOING?" so, we spent most of the day in the backyard. the gas company wouldn't give any closer of an estimate, just oh, from 8-12!, so I got there at 8am, and the gas man came at 11:45am!

then last night we did the last little cleanup, and left the keys on the counter, and we're out!