"There's Katey!"

Jonathan got to know a very pretty and very sweet girl this year at our weekly bible study at church. Caleb and Jonathan were the only "regulars" at the childcare each week. There was 2 nursery workers, Lois and Katey. Katey is 16 I think and very pretty. Both boys were spoiled rotten during these 2 hours days because they each basically got a one on one friend the whole time....Jonathan immediately started talking about her at home. We thought it was pretty cute how he would go up to both of them at church and wave really big and want them to pick him up. But, recently I have noticed something else he is doing....every time he sees a picture of a pretty young girl or one in person, he yells "Katey!" And with a huge smile on his face like he has been waiting to see her for along time! I had to tell her a couple weeks ago that he does this because it really is adorable. She will be leaving in a week for a year and he is going to really miss hugging her each week at church. We'll keep you posted on how he does...

11 seconds of FUN...

The kids and I managed to get out of our house yesterday in John's car and drive down the street to our neighborhood sledding hill (it was just too cold to walk). It worked out perfectly because only Ashlyn and Joshua really wanted to do it so Caleb and Jonathan could stay warm in the car. I snuck in and got warm too sometimes...the hill is HUGE, which is probably why Caleb opted out this time...it is really hard to walk back up. But man it is sure fast to go down - it took them 11 seconds in this video...I filmed with my camera phone so the quality isn't the greatest...they look like little dots at the bottom of the hill because it is so big. We got more snow last night so we might go back today or Friday....Enjoy the clip!

Happy Birthday John!

Here is John when he was a baby...and yes, this is what all four of our children looked like at this same age! Very serious toddlers with curly hair (only we cut our boys' hair, Poor John!)...maybe he's not smiling because of his hair! Ha!!.....

Here is a picture of the typical John I know...not very serious at all...all those locks have fallen out now and he uses a towel for hair! We love you hun, Happy 32nd Birthday!

Splash of Color

Ever since we moved into this house I have been wondering what to do with my bedroom ceiling. It is a really big room and has a huge vaulted ceiling. The bad this is that there is crown molding in the flat middle part of the ceiling, but not around the room where the ceiling begins (and slants to the middle). We hope to one day add crown molding there, but not anytime soon. The entire white ceiling has the bubbles on it or crackles or whatever you call that 70s stuff they spray everywhere. Anyway, I thought originally that I would paint the inside of the molding part (the flat part) a color. I just didn't know what color. The room would basically be blue, have a white slanted stripe, and then some colored square on the ceiling. After much thought and countless nights staring at all the white, I came up with a new idea. I decided to paint the slanted part the brown color of master bathroom color and leave the flat ceiling portion inside the molding white....I am excited about the way it came out. I still need to touch up the edges because when I pulled the tape some of the paint went with it....let me know what you think:

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After:
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I feel like the room is a little more bold now and not so white. And I am glad that it really doesn't make the room look a lot smaller either. It does make it a little darker, which I really like. Another bonus is that you can't tell the brown stripe has those annoying bubbles as much...and it matches our textured bathroom that is in our bedroom too :)

Stranded and overworked

Well one thing Kearney really has going for them is their snow removal process. I can remember only a couple hours after the snow stopped snowing how quickly the roads were plowed. Kansas City is quite the opposite story. This snow storm was a little worse than the last one we had in Kearney, but I don't remember the side roads being like this there ever. Unfortunately, our street can only be accessed from the main roads from 3 hills. That means no matter which way you come to our house, you have to go down a huge hill...in normal weather, that is not a problem. But in this weather, it makes it interesting to LEAVE our house. Most cars or vans that have attempted it this weekend and rolled back down and turned around (but not all - those experienced drivers fly up the hill). Those with 4WD have no problem. They have plowed once I think, but only around all the parked cars somehow that appeared everywhere in front of our house. We have one car (my Durango) with 4WD and have been able to use it the past couple days when we needed to...but John took it today to work. So we are stranded. The kids were bummed to have to skip sledding (and all that mess that appears after sledding by the door - whoohoo!) and I was hoping to hit some after Christmas sales today. Instead, we are going to take down the Christmas decorations and work on some Birthday gifts for John. We might get brave enough to walk the 4 blocks to the sledding hill, but we'll see (it's freezing outside!) John is really nervous about his Maids driving today in so many other subdivisions like ours...they all drive mini-vans. It will be interesting to see how the day plays out and how late he is tonight. He went to work last night to shovel some of the snow around his garage door and walk way and he said it was a big mess. The drifts were over 2 feet tall. They share a parking lot with about 8 more businesses and there is no where to put the snow. This morning he has to pull 20 cars out of his garage and park them somewhere so the Maids can all leave in them by 8...he left an hour earlier. Pray for his sanity and the safety of all his employees. He is feeling a little overworked after this past week. These are 2 very busy weeks for them and his parents are on vacation until Jan 9th. We'll keep you posted...

A Girls Day Out

Since we have been snowed in most of the weekend (which we love!), Ashlyn and I decided to sneak away from the boys for a few hours....they have been enthralled in our new Star wars Wii game anyway. We wore our new brown snow boots we both got for Christmas and matching outfits :) It was a lot of fun....then we went to see The Blind Side and the grocery store. It was a great fun day just us girls!

Working & Playing in the Snow...

Our winter wonderland

What Christmas is About...

We love this excellent minute and a half explanation of the true meaning of Christmas....we will be reading it from the bible too and can't wait until all four of the kids can read it out loud too! In the midst of presents, greed, and craziness, may you slow down and remember the real reason we celebrate this Christian holiday....we love you all!

Good Eats

We've been busy baking...here's what we have so far: Peanut clusters, sugar cookies, Peanut Butter Balls, Vanilla Oreo Balls, Chocolate Cake balls, puppy chow, ginger snaps, snicker doodles, peanut butter cookies, mint chocolate chip cookies and more chocolate cake balls....up next, Vanilla almond bark pretzels, oatmeal Scotchies, and some good ol' fashioned cookie dough! Tis the season to get fat!!!

The beginning of our break

• Got together with some friends and exchanged gifts and had dinner
• Played the fun new game we got from our friends
• Skyped with Carol, Rylee, and Sue a couple times for a long time (it was really a fun time!)
  
• Slept in Saturday, stayed in our pjs and watched movies while John finished preparing for his Sunday School lesson
• Enjoyed our Christmas sermon and then our Christmas fellowship at church
• Baked some sugar cookies
• Made about 4 HUGE forts, tents, and beds and played a LONG time in them
• Cleaned up the house for about 2 hours (mostly putting away tent, fort, and house items) and got caught up on laundry
  
• Made Peanut Butter Chocolate Balls (my first experience with Parafin wax - it was interesting and only took 2 trys...)
• Made some Peanut clusters and started making another huge fort (stopped in the middle by a frazzled mom)
• Changed all the twin sheets just for fun - not sure why the kids really enjoyed doing this!
• Organized all the presents under the tree for different gift exchanges
• Started taping to paint the brown stripe on my bedroom ceiling
• Watched Night at the Museum 2 together after a dinner out with John
• Worked a little bit on some web page projects while the kids played Hide-n-seek (Jonathan is actually very good at this game and loves to count - he can actually do it too!)
  

We are looking forward to a little more baking and maybe a couple Christmas movies...the best news...some snow is coming this week!

Enjoying the Snow

Less then a month away...

Winter Break is Here!

it's official....WE ARE ON BREAK!

and I might be more excited than the kids...our plan: lots of sleep, movies, baking, and eating!

The Return

We are spoiled rotten! John and I will be visiting our honeymoon location this Valentines Day! Before hitting Maui for a few days, we will be trying out Kauai first for a few days...I was thinking about warmer places today in this freezing cold. The Maids are paying for the trip since we had such a great 2009 year! And we have found a very kind babysitter for the week :) Time to start swimsuit shopping and stop bragging! It's just 2 months away...

Twinkle Town

Because John bought a new car this year, Gladstone Dodge paid someone to come and put up lights on our house this year. They will even come take it down after the new year :) The kids love it of course - here's what it looks like...thought we would share since there is no way we are climbing up on the ladder to do it again!

The best dessert at our house right now...

And they are so easy - only 3 ingredients! Chocolate cake mix, tub of chocolate frosting and a package of chocolate Almond Bark. First you make the cake and let it cool. Then you break it apart into a bowl and mix in the tub of frosting. Roll that dough into balls and freeze them. Once they are frozen, melt the almond bark and dip the balls in the chocolate. Then freeze them again to set the chocolate....they really are amazing!!!

Following the crowd...

Our kids don't watch a lot of TV, only movies, and so we don't get to see all the excellent advertising done by toy makers at Christmas time. They are usually pretty content with thrift store presents or some clearance toy they have had their eye on as we walk the clearance isles. Rumor has it that there is one REALLY popular toy right now. We heard some friends talking about them at school the other day and none of the children had even heard of them. Well today our entire crew went to Toys R Us to spend Joshua and Ashlyn's $3 gift cards they got for their birthdays in October before they expired. We were amazed at how busy the parking lot was. I could tell John had wished he didn't join us on this fun Sat adventure as soon as we got in. He was very proud that our family had finished Christmas shopping I think. There was a huge line for the above mentioned popular toy and people had been standing in line for 3 hours to get one. They passed out coupons to everyone in line and then handed the toys out in a store room in the back. When the line moved out a little more and we started looking for toys under $5, Ashlyn and I were talking about coming back a different day to use the card because we couldn't find anything she really wanted. She asked exactly what the popular toy was like and I told her that we could go and stand at the end of the line to see. When we got there, the line was gone. We were handed the coupon and on our way to the store room to find out. They are actually pretty cute! So $5 later (thanks to Geoffrey for the birthday present) we now own Zach, our new ZhuZhu Pet....
Oh for those who were wondering about Joshua. He got a Mario Brothers DVD for $2 (after the $3 gift card went through) and he was pretty excited. Caleb and Jonathan got to ride on the ride-ons at the checkout for waiting in the checkout line so long.

Metro North Fun...

I took the boys to the Metro North Mall yesterday to ride on the free Christmas train. We were excited to see one of Joshua's friends there too so they all rode together. Then we watched the fun balloons and fountain for a while. Then the 3 boys rode it again before we headed home for lunch. Here are a couple pictures of the fun...

$10 off $10 or more

We are big thrifty shoppers here and are always so thankful for coupons. My favorite coupon is the one that says "Our gift to you" basically free money. I get these often from JcPenney where I tend to only visit when I have this coupon. So I was excited today to go to 2 favorite stores with these kinds of coupons! First, my friend Lisa and I went to Victoria Secrets, where we could get $10 off anything in the store....we had a blast and I can't remember the last time I went shopping there for myself. I walked away spending only $2 and love my purchase! Then we went to Lifeway Christan Bookstore and got a $10 CD - the WOW Hits 2010 - and it was completely free. Now I get to do the same visits tomorrow with my mom-in-laws coupons since she is out of town for double the fun! Do you just love these coupons too?

SNOW DAY!!!

Yesterday it was freezing! We had a negative wind chill and it was our first snow day...so the kids begged me to go outside for along time...and I finally gave in. I said they could shovel the driveway and walkway first to see just how cold it was before they built a snowman or went sledding. Why not use this begging for good use right? So off they went...

They did an awesome job, while Jonathan watched from inside...I went out a little later and finished up the shoveling job...
For all their hard work, they decided to sled a little on the hill in our front yard...they shot out across the street! It was a lot of fun I think and the whole street joined in (on our side at least where there are hills)...

Here was the end result - a pretty clear walkway and really rosy cheeks (except Ashlyn who says she was sweating - maybe she did the most work)...
When John got home at 3:30, he took them to the Coves sledding hill by the lake. Of course it was so busy all day that there wasn't much snow left on the huge hill. But the kids said they still flew all the way down...

To cancel or not to cancel...

This is what we woke up to...about 2 inches of snow and a -10 degree wind chill. I checked the fox 4 website at 5:30 and just about every school district in the KC area was closed. I checked Caleb's preschool - Closed. I checked Faith Christian Academy - closed. So I went back to bed with a smile on my face. At 7:30, the phone rang and I heard John talking to another FCA parent. When he hung up he said that the school is delayed to start at 10:00. What, that's not what it said at 5:30. I logged back onto the computer and the Fox 4 website said a 90 minute delay now, which made the start time 9:30. I checked my email and it said 10:00...a little confusing I thought. The email said that if you choose not to drive in the bad weather, it would be an excused absence. We decided to ask Ashlyn when she woke up what she wanted to do and she said stay home. So we made the decision. I emailed the school and started making cinnamon rolls. I still had an uneasy feeling about her skipping a couple tests and not going, so I prayed for awhile. I started to blog this post, and my husband called. He said that the heater at the elementary campus just broke and they decided to cancel after all! I couldn't believe it. The parents who drove into school at 10:00 we being told at the door that it was canceled now. I was so thankful that I didn't take all the kids in the cold to take her after all. So it looks like we will be going back to our movies and baking...it's official, we have a SNOW DAY!!! Yeah! We're not too sure about sledding in negative degree temperatures, but are still thinking about it....

Fun with Towels

Aunt Nancy got the boys these cute hooded towels for Christmas. They are really big and have little mits for their hands. We are excited to give them a try today when we stay in out of the freezing cold and take warm baths!

Mahoney State Park 2009

Sorry for the delay of posting some pictures. We have been enjoying a relaxing school day at home, wishing for a snow day tomorrow! We're not too sure of it right now, only about an inch. But we still had fun baking a little and watching movies when we finished up homework (just in case it doesn't get canceled.) Here is a short sideshow of our fun...

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Back from our mini retreat

We made it back tonight from Omaha. We stayed at a cabin in Mahoney State Park for two nights with John's parents...it was very relaxing. Here are a few fast highlights, pics to come tomorrow...

• snow flakes on Sunday
• deer on a hike with dad
• a great smelling fire and the Husker game
• Lots of fun at the ball pit, tunnels and slides
• leather craft bracelets
• Ice skating in an outdoor arena
• Gift exchange with great-grandma and a couple great-aunts
• Traveling in the new Dodge Journey, including the fancy TV in the back for the kids
• Lots of grandma and grandpa time before they leave for the Philippines
• Lots of COLD Nebraska weather and the sneak peek of colder weather heading our way in a couple days :)
  

3 years ago at Mahoney...

We have gone to Mahoney State Park 2 times before near Omaha. Once we stayed in the lodge and the last time a cabin. We are venturing back again this year with Jonathan and are very excited! Caleb was Jonathan's age last time we went in 2006. They have a huge ball pit that even John and I enjoy. I think the boys will be there most of the time. Ashlyn and I are going to give ice skating a try on their outdoor rink. We might even try the craft room or theatre this round too. We finally got smart and will be there a full Saturday to play and are staying in the cabin two nights. We always feel like we don't get enough ball pit time when we drive up, play and then sleep. I am hoping to take a lot of pictures. We are celebrating Christmas with Grandma Sue and Grandpa Gary there before they go to the Philippines. We will also celebrate Christmas with Great-grandma Steiner while we are there. And the best news, we might get a little snow right when get home (or at least by Tues). The colder air makes me wish it was snowing too...

Our Move in 2009

We just finished updating our family webpage for our Christmas cards and in the process we created a slideshow for our move. We thought we would share it on our blog too. Enjoy!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com