Happy Birthday, Anna Jane!

Happy Birthday to my sweet niece, Anna!

Dear Anna,

Wow, you are 1 already!  How fun it has been to watch you grow this past year.  I have enjoyed taking care of you once a week and treasure the memories. You certainly have captured the heart of your cousins, that's for sure.  They love you so, so much!  And while the squeals of delight between you and Claire are ear-piercing, it is so precious to watch the two of you entertain each other.  Of course, Lydia is like another mommy to you...always watching out for you and not wanting you to get hurt.  And Jake has been enamored with you, even as a brand new baby.  It's so fun to watch the smile light across your face when you see one of them.  I hope there will always be a cousin-bond between all of you.  My prayer for you, Anna girl, is that you grow up to love the Lord and be a blessing to those around you.  The Lord knows He gave you lots and lots of determination and it will be exciting to watch His plans for your life!  We love you much, Anners!  Happy, Happy Birthday!  Love, Aunt Gwen

Still Alive!

Where to begin...

Life has felt like a juggling act recently.  Conclusion = I don't really like juggling!  And when we try to discard one of the balls, another one seems to be tossed in.  Some of it has been by choice, some has been temporary changes.  But due to the fact that I am not a good juggler, my blog has taken a backseat.  That, and the last time I tried to post, I was having such difficulties that I gave up. 

I love the beginning of each month when I make the new calendar on my dry erase board.  Such whiteness (with the exception being the monthly "garage sale").  Needless to say, it fills up ever so quickly. 

My goal is to get back into more of a habit of blogging.  The kids love to go back and read (and so do I).  Dan's been having a hard time with Claire getting so big.  And I am having that hard time with Jake and Lyd.  So I love that we can go back on here and reminisce. 

No pictures tonight though.  Just asking for prayer.  Lots of prayer for lots of people.  Here are the ones that have been on my mind a lot...

*Dan's mom fell and broke her hip and is in the recovery process right now.  His dad is undergoing radiation treatments for the next few weeks to come.  I know they would covet your prayers.

*My sister's going to have a baby any day now!!!  We celebrated Anna's b-day yesterday.  She turns 1 on the 20th and Sarah Beth is due on the 28th! Been making sure my phone is charged and by my bed each night!

*Also on the 20th...my sister's sister-in-law has a pre-trial court date.  She was falsely accused and arrested for shoplifting at Elder Beerman (Dayton Mall) and taken to jail.  She was shopping with her 1 yr. old son who was getting fussy.  She had put a toddler coat on the handle bar of her stroller, considering whether to buy it or not.  She made her purchases and left the store forgetting about the coat.  She was approached as soon as she got out the door.  They would not listen to her explanation and called the police.  This is just so hard to believe that this happened to her.  Any mother can probably relate.  Anyhow,  we know God is in control no matter what.  This is just one of those times in life when I have to remind myself that our perspective is different and His ways are Higher!

*A close friend of mine is going through a huge trial involving her marriage.  My heart hurts for her.  Cannot give details...just pray!  And while on the topic of prayer, could you lift Dan and I up, as well?  Don't read between the lines!  I just know all marriages need prayer...so why not!? =)

*This has been on my heart a lot recently.  I pray that my kids will grow and develop strong friendships with other Christians their age.  This was a blessing for me growing up and I still have strong connections with some of those friends!

*I also pray for wisdom and patience as I/we parent these kiddos God has entrusted to us.  Man, there are days when I feel like a big, ol' F-A-I-L-U-R-E; when I need to seek the forgiveness from my kids and the Lord.  So grateful they are willing to give that forgiveness to me.

Thanks so much!  And come back...I might surprise you and actually have another post up already!

This One's For You, Joel!

My nephew, Joel, has a great interest in the Statue of Liberty. Here is a recap of my sister in law, Jill, explaining this cute obsession. http://http//mjbillingtonquebec.blogspot.com/2012_01_08_archive.html (wish I knew how to highlight a word that would take you to that blog post, but I can't figure it out...hoping what I did even works).

Anyhow, in recent weeks I have see different people dressed up as the Statue of Liberty on a nearby street. Of course, every time I see one of them, I think of sweet Joel. One day the kids were in the car with me and I said out loud, "I should take a picture for Joel." With my kids thinking I was a bit crazy, I acted upon that thought...thus the explanation for the above photo. Hopefully, I didn't get this guy's hopes up that his marketing technique was drawing business for the local tax place he was hired by (I think the name was Liberty Tax). I just wanted our Joely to see him! Love you Joel!

Some Overdue Christmas Photos

Not wanting to break from my norm, here are some Christmas pictures that are about a month overdue! They aren't in order either, but it's all good!

Dan trying out Joel's beloved Colt's football helmet!

Jack and Jake...best buds!

Joel trying out Claire's guitar!

Looks like Claire found the perfect place to rest.

Lydia and Noelani...best cousins forever!

Jake got 2 boxes of Dinosaur Eggs all to himself! (He loves them, but rarely gets them)!

Lydia's gift to Grandma! She made this piece in art club. I made my mom a similar one in elementary school. How fun that she has one from her grand daughter now!

Anna's first Christmas!

My special gift from my two oldest kids...a notebook with 100 recipes! They (Jake especially) worked so hard on writing down recipes, complete with hand-painted illustrations! I love it!

Grandma knows Lydia will always love a pretty outfit! Aunt Sarah Beth and Uncle Matt got her one, too, but I don't have a picture of that one. She loved it enough to wear it in the spelling bee this morning, though!

Claire got her own giant package of Craisin's (she loves those)!

And finally, some Christmas cupcakes I made for our Sunday School party. I wish I had mini-M'M's for the lights on the "tree." But it still turned out cute, I thought.

Some Funnies to Share

So, here is one more cookie to show...notice the mistake? Whoops! Forgot the "r" in Stroop.
This is one sad piece of toast. And this is one of my favorite pictures recently taken. Claire wanted to help out while I was cooking supper. I asked her to set the table. I finished cooking and when I turned around, this is what I saw...complete with toilet paper napkins!

5th Anual Christmas Cookie Decorating Day!

I had to look back on Picasa to figure out how many years we have been doing this. The kids were so little when we started! I hope they don't outgrow this tradition anytime soon. A big thank you to my sister, who helped me shape and bake all these cookies! And of course, to all the decorators! Two out of the who knows how many trays.

Claire thoroughly enjoyed herself this year! That pile on her plate that looks like just candy actually does have a cookie underneath!
Who needs napkins when you have your shirt? Right, Jake?
Jake's favorite that he made.
Lyd's fave she made.
Claire's fave she made...that's pretty impressive, wouldn't you say?

A newbie! Found this cookie cutter at a garage sale this summer.

Another newbie.

*I do have one more special cookie pic to share, but it'll be on the next blog posting with some other funnies.*

Happy New Year! (and some late Christmas pictures)

Happy 2012

While my intentions are to post things on time, life gets in the way. The kids have had a nice break from school, but we did mingle some sickness in there. Two days before Christmas, Claire came down with strep. Thankfully, this was a Friday, so I was able to get her into the Dr's office before the weekend. By Christmas Eve, she was back to her perky self and we were all able to attend the annual candlelight service at church that afternoon. A highlight of that day was getting to see Brian (my "kid" brother) who is home for 2 weeks from Afghanistan. We had a unified service the next morning, during which my mom, Lydia, Dan, and myself sang special music (Tell Me The Story Of Jesus). After the service, we took our pictures in front of the tree (seems to have become a tradition). This year, we had an ANNA girl to join us...yay!Sitting still (for anything, much less a picture) is not high on Anna's priority list. This picture reminded me of a little Claire girl just a few years ago...

Freedom!


In the bulletin, the special music was under the name, "Kanost Family." So, here's a pic of the Kanost women, I guess.