That was then...

(December 29, 2007) and 3 short months later...

This is now...

5 1/2 months old

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday Mom! Wish we were together today! This picture was taken at Christmas and I'm showing off the pillowcases she embroidered for me. My mom is so special to me and she goes out of her way to make me feel special to her. Every good thing I've learned about being a mother myself is from modeling after my mom. I never knew how much she loved me, until I had children of my own. You deserve the BEST day today! Hope it was happy!

xxx

ooo

and a 1/2 stick of gum,

Leah

Well Done- Hot Dawgs

Tonight ended the Hot Dawg's (ketchup to us) season. They ended up 3-8. There was great improvement from the beginning to the end. The girls had fun and so that was good. We had a pizza party at Columbo's after their last game tonight. They are going to take some time off and may be join a basketball session in the Fall. We'll see....

What we've been up to this week...

No matter what the weather is like, the calendar has deemed that it is Spring and thus Spring Soccer has started. This was Madison's 3rd practice this week. I picked her and Holyn up... they were like little popsicles. Practicing for 1 & 1/2 hours in a 25 degree wind chill with rain, sleet and snow...is hard on your hands and feet. I would say they are pretty dedicated soccer players wouldn't you? Actually, it's probably more accurate to say we have a die-hard coach.

Quinn has been busy playing hand-baseball (a wildly popular made-up indoor version for our living room & kitchen) with Nate, computer games and playing outside (except today!). He also has been busy at school while taking daily swimming lessons with his 3rd grade class at the high school. Those last for 2 weeks. He wore a crisp white shirt, tie and suit pants for his school pictures this week. The "presidential candidate" look.

I've spent my evenings busy shuttling Madison around to practices and working on Little League things. Cocoa, Quinn and I have enjoyed some long evening walks with much better weather (except today!). Tony has been busy working (of course).

What have you been up to?

Happy Easter!

The Lord is Risen!...

This was the coldest Easter that I can remember... a high of 36 degrees today. It was sunny but with a cold wind. We still have snow on the ground!

Church was crowded today with lots of visitors. People had to get creative with the Easter dresses this year... short sleeves or sleeveless doesn't really work too well with temps in the 30's! I saw lots of cute little sweaters on the girls. Madison's colors didn't turn out too well in her pictures. He shirt under her sweater is pink. She looked really cute. We had a wonderful lunch at Beppe and Pakka's today. Ed, Eileen and the boys were there. Joshua brought a special friend, Miranda. It was a little crowded and a little loud... but what family get together isn't this way? I tried to imitate Margaret's graham cracker fluff dessert... a family staple at get-togethers in Iowa. It didn't have the same texture but it tasted OK. I need to practice that one a few more times to get it right. We decided that no one can make it the way you do Margaret! Give me about 20 years of practice to get it right! We didn't get home until 5:30 so that was basically our day.

Above all else, today was a day of celebration of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. If you haven't paused to read John 19-20, please do so on this most important day of the year!

...The Lord is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!

Botched Pedicure

For some reason Cocoa HATES to have her nails trimmed... up until today I couldn't understand it. In the past there wasn't really a reason for it to bother her other than she doesn't like her paws held. The vet tried to show me a "hold" to put her in and he couldn't even get her down! "Boy, she really doesn't like that does she?" Well, today she finally had a point. Tony and I had her in a "hold" and she was still pulling and arguing with us. I was the clipper and I accidentally got her nail to short. Ouch! She yelped and it started bleeding...and it wouldn't stop! I felt so bad! I tried to hold pressure, but she couldn't quite understand the point of that. We sent her outside into the snow as a way to apply ice... and it kept on bleeding....all over... Now imagine this, I even put some ointment on a band-aid, practically crawled into her kennel with her and wrapped it around her little hairy toe and stubby nail. Nate predicted that it would stay on for 3 seconds. He was basically right... and then it pulled some hair when it came off too. Oh my. She stayed in her kennel until it finally stopped. Quinn was all upset. Tony made some crack about Cocoa getting ready to pass out from lack of blood so Quinn was working on some "orientation" questions with her... "Do you know your name? Can you tell me what it is?" And then to us, "I think she's getting light-headed."

That hidden camera that Addi wants me to have... yep, this clip would have been a good one.


PS... Madison was thankfully at soccer practice. She would have been a MESS!

Always in trouble...

Our Miss Cocoa is always finding herself in trouble. Here she has stolen some little beanie babies and is using them as chew toys. At times she acts all sorry when she is caught and you tell her NO! ...but she goes right back and repeats the crime again. Other times, she just tempts you to come get her stolen goods, only to smile and run off when you get too close. It's a game...and only one of us is playing.

Quinn's Quips

Quinn: From the first time I saw Cocoa at the Humane Society, I knew that she had talent.

Mom: Oh really, what kind of talent did you see?


Quinn: The ability to listen ....and do tricks.

Mom: Well... she's got a lot of the tricks part down but the "ability to listen part?"... still workin' on it.

Happy Birthday Haley!

Very special birthday wishes for my niece, Haley! She is a big 5 year old today! Honestly, where does the time go? I wish you weren't a couple of states away! This picture was taken at Christmas. Madison and Haley decorated crowns from an art kit that she got. They even made crowns for their puppies.

Here are some things for you to learn about Haley.
Her favorite foods are peaches and macaroni and cheese.
Her favorite activity is playing with her older sister (Mi)Kayla.
When asked what she wants to be when she grows up she thinks that "since mermaids aren't real, I'll be an angel."
Her best friends are named Naomi, Dayna, Cathy and Lilly
Something that makes her happy is when (Mi)Kayla tickles her.
Something that makes her sad is when she gets hurt or when her dog Oreo had to be put to sleep (last week).
Her favorite Bible story is about Jesus and how he died on the cross just for her.

Happy Birthday Haley! We love you!

Upward Basketball Awards Night

Tonight was the Upward awards night. It's always a fun evening of music, prizes, an Upward gift for the kids and the presentation of the story of salvation. Madison beat out a group of boys and nabbed a free t-shirt that she is modeling. The multi colored ball is used to tell the story of salvation. Tony and his assistant coach (and all of the coaches) received a gift card to the Family Bookstore. The kids all ran through the smoke filled tunnel onto the stage when their team was announced. Quinn is the one with his arms raised. : ) The award this year was a full sized basketball. He was quite delighted with it. A fun evening was had by all.

Undefeated!

Quinn and Nate had their last Upward game this morning. We won 22-20 to remain undefeated for the season (one tie). Tony told them a few weeks ago that if they remained undefeated throughout the whole season they could pour water on him outside. They held him to his promise. It was cold! He does such a good job coaching. He is fair to all the kids. They all get equal playing time (which is a rule) but more than that, he has the boys take turns bringing the ball up the court and calling the plays and carrying them out. Even the boys who have never played before this year and are sure to get the ball stolen away, they get the same opportunity to be a leader on the court. Some coaches play their best players in the same position all the time. They all have improved a lot and I'm sad to see this season end. Check out Quinn and Nate's jersey numbers. Totally by accident!

"March Madness"

Tonight Madison played 2 BB games at the Sports Center. The combined scores were 64-12. Yep, we watched the other teams score 26 more baskets! Ouch. This picture is of Madison on the floor... fighting for the ball with 4 red players. (She's the one in white in the middle). It was actually taken a couple of weeks ago but I thought you needed a picture tonight.

It was a beautiful day today! I'm ready for this BB season to get over and for Little League and spring soccer to start!

Sadness

Sure am feeling sad for my sister and her family this week. If you are an animal lover you'll see what I mean. Click on her link in my side bar...

Say a prayer for them and also for their friends who lost their 2 year old daughter.

Left Behind

Pictures are worth a 1000 words aren't they?

Crazy Busy Saturday!

We actually got to sleep in this morning! I must say 7:30 felt pretty good!

1100-1200
Quinn's Upward BB game. He shot with 2 seconds left to tie up the game! We were undefeated before and so we just have one tie. He had a great game and scored 14 of their 30 points. Some "old lady came and found me afterwards to tell me I did a good job"... and shook his hand.

12:30-1:45
Little League evals. I've got some good leads on 2 coaches now. They are really hesitant and only doing it because I'm desperate. I hope they do ok!

2:00-3:00
Quinn's eval for the Little League. He is playing in the Rookie League this year.

2:10-5:30
Madison had 2 basketball games at the sports center. Her team won both games. They have improved a ton since their first games. Amazing! They play again on Thursday night....their last games until the tournament.

6:45-9:30
A birthday get together for Rod H. and Audra M. at Rod and Beth's house. That was a lot of fun. Lisa and I were cracking up... neither one of us have EVER brought shrimp and cocktail sauce to a get together before. We've been to a gazillion get togethers with each other. Guess what we brought? Yep, we had LOTS of shrimp. Ha! Great minds think alike! (Actually I was just trying to think of something that would be the absolute easiest thing considering the busy day!).

Donkey Basketball

Tonight we went to the donkey basketball game at Bethany. Have you ever been to a donkey basketball game? The "athletes" are comprised of students, board members and local pastors. They actually have a basketball game while riding (mostly attempting to ride) donkeys. It is really funny to watch the players get bucked off or slide down their necks as the donkeys put their heads down to try and get them off their backs. They are stubborn and slow. You have to be on the donkey's back to receive a pass and to shoot. The games were low scoring... 6-2 and 4-2. They gave rides to the kids at intermission and they did just fine then. Madison even rode the most ornery one, "Buck-Master". The donkeys must understand the "heat" of the game. The think the player is on one team and their donkey is on the other. Holyn came with us tonight and is staying overnight. Quinn planned to meet Tyler there so they sat together and Quinn ended up staying overnight at his house. Tony met us there but went back to work after it was over. : (
Overall it was a fun evening. I'm sure you can see the news highlights at www.fox28.com tomorrow. They had a good segment on it tonight.

Really Bored in the Middle of the Night!!

Hello to my sleeping buddies around the country! For some reason I woke up at 3am and can't get back to sleep! Usually this is how stress shows it's ugly head for me... with insomnia. But it's an especially strange night because I don't have anything in particular to be extra stressed about. (Thank you Lord!). SOooo after my usual tricks haven't worked I gave in and came down to my computer. I can't turn the TV on or Cocoa will think she's up for the day. That's all I would need...is a puppy who wants to play. Somehow I stumbled on to this mindless map that lets you check which states that you've been to... for what reason? why? Who knows and who really cares. Mindless entertainment. Obviously I've been through some of these states just to get to another one but if I didn't have any memories that I made there I didn't include them.

Well, it's just about time to get up... may be I'll just get a jump on my day today....nah, I'll give sleep another try.

I want to know... what do you do when you can't sleep?

create your own personalized map of the USA

We've made it to the Mid-Week

Hi Everyone,

I really don't have too much to say tonight. This is Tony's month-end week so he has been working late. He thinks it will be mid-night tonight. Bummer. Madison had a school activity tonight. She stayed after school, had a pizza party, studied about the musical, "Anything Goes" and then they went to the high school and watched the dress rehearsal. She didn't get home until 8:45. She loved the musical and loved seeing Jeremiah in it and also that fact that he waived just to her at the end. Quinn and I played lots of Jocker and Yahtzee. I put the brakes on Monopoly. I've played that game too much and now I'm sick of it! Anyone want to come and play with him? It's the NFL version and if that doesn't excite you Madison has Horseopoly which is a beloved game as well. Monopoly takes too long.

Other tidbits....

Still looking for 2 softball coaches. I'm out of options although I do have someone "thinking about it" however, I was supposed to get a call back from him tonight so now that's not looking too good either. I guess everyone is scared of 11/12 year old girls! There are probably 10-12 girls who won't get to play unless we get this resolved in the next 2 weeks.

I've been to the eye doctor and ordered a new pair of glasses and also prescription sunglasses. I'm SO excited about them! I follow in my mom's footsteps with some photosensitivity in sunlight. Hey, the great big glasses are in style now! I told Madison that I ordered the biggest pair of in-style glasses I could find. She hasn't even seen them yet and she's already appalled at them. "Moms aren't supposed to wear things that are that in style!" Ha! I started Restasis eye drops for dry eye syndrome... it's supposed to take 2 full months to be able to notice any differences. The doc put this green dye in my eyes and normal tears usually wash it away in a matter of seconds. I still had bright green eyes (the whites of my eyes) a good 10-15 minutes later! I was quite science fiction looking for awhile there.

Many of you have enjoyed the picture of Quinn and Cocoa. I need to get another picture without the blurriness. Quinn responded to Aunt Amy's comment by posting his own comment... his first ever post to a blog. He also emailed off his first ever email to G'ma and G'pa this week.

Here is the copy/paste version...

Hi grandma and granpa cocoa is already to big and she is absouluotly crazy!Come vist us In indaiana!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love Quinn

Well, for not having anything to say I can sure ramble on and on about nothing.
Take care, Love you all, Leah

A boy's best friend...

Even though this is blurry I thought it was too cute not to post!

Weekend Highlights

Sorry I've been so quiet. Some computer problems have been taking my attention...(along with a bunch of other stuff).

Here are the highlights from the weekend:
*Little League player evaluations were Saturday morning. Coordinated this for the Major divisions. Also still searching for 2 more coaches.

*Quinn's Upward BB team remains undefeated. They are 6-0 and have 2 more games.

*Nate stayed overnight on Friday night. Heather stayed overnight on Saturday. Made my world-famous chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. Tyler came over after church and stayed for the afternoon. Lots of kid guests. At one time there were 5 kids here for a few hours.

*Saturday night we played Euchre at Chad & Liza's with 4 other couples. That was fun. Makes me want to play more so that I get better at that game. Playing 1-2x a year doesn't really do much.

*This afternoon/evening I've spent trying to get my SD card to work in my new laptop which has involved several hours on-line with the Dell Tech in a chat room. Four hours later, still not resolved.

That's it. How did you spend your weekend?