Family Day!

Tim and I received a lovely card from a family at our church, for Easter, with money in it.  It was super generous of them!  Tim and I used about half of it for a date night - at a wonderful SIT DOWN restaurant and had a really nice time together, talking, eating SLOWLY. . without having to feed someone else first!  We took a stroll after dinner and stopped at a bookstore where I bought a baking magazine (one of my favorites!) and then we went into one of my favorite coffee shops - Caribou Coffee!  We sipped on a hot cinnamon latte walking around the outdoor shopping mall, and just enjoyed each other's company.  Later, in the evening, we stumbled by a store and decided to take a quick look to see if they had any nice Easter dresses.  I hadn't bought one yet, and I wasn't planning on it this year, but we thought we would look anyhow.  Not only did they have a huge selection, but I bought my dress and dress jacket together for only $47!  What a steal!!!   Nothing excites me more than a good sale!!!

We also wanted to have a family night with the boys.  So, the following day we had a couple of errands to run  - and the kids acted SO well.  We picked up some food at Wendy's and then headed to a local park.  The kids played for about an hour and really had a blast!  It was perfect weather too!!   After the park, we had one more errand that we had to run (a favorite of the kids . . . Sams Club) and then we topped off our evening with Cold Stone ice cream!!!

Peter, taking a picture of  . . . Peter.

James . . . . trying to copy the mad skills of his brother. 

Each of the boys got a scoop of Cotton Candy Ice Cream, both topped off with lots of sprinkles!  They ate every bite! (which is saying a lot for my boys, who dislike any form of dessert)  

It really was a perfect weekend!!!

We're Back!!

My, oh my . . has it been an eventful February.

And, not a super-go-lucky-fantastic February either.

It all started about 3 weeks ago. . . on a Thursday morning.

   I have a Women's Bible Study, hosted at my mother-in-law's house - every Thursday morning.  I dropped off the boys at church, for their play time, as usual.  Once I got to Dot's house, I was greeted at the door by our Pastor's wife who informed me that Aunt Eleanor (Great Aunt Eleanor) had had a heart attack and was just taken by ambulance to a local hospital.  Dave and Dot were upstairs getting things ready to take to the hospital for Aunt Eleanor.  This was a surprise to us all.  Thankfully, Dot caught this attack at the forefront and was able to get the EMT there quickly while she was still experiencing pain in her chest.   We decided to have our study as usual and to clean up/lock up for Dot.  I called Tim to let him know and we called Dave and Dot to get an update.  According to the doctor's she had a mild to moderate heart attack and she had to undergo a procedure to determine how bad the blockages were.  I told Tim to call his dad to invite them over that evening for dinner - to make sure that they eat and get out of the hospital for at least a little while.  We had a lovely dinner with them and really enjoyed our evening together.
   The next day, Friday, we got the results back from the tests and they showed more than 5 blockages, all ranging from 60% blocked to 90% blocked.  Surgery, at this point in her life, was a high risk.  At 95 years old, not many things are 'as normal'.  The other option that the doctor's gave us was to let her die peacefully and give her medications to subdue any pain.  Not caring for either of these options, Dot opted for the third option - a small balloon that would be inserted into the veins to open the arteries.  Again, there was a low risk of death due to her progressed age, but it was the "leaser of evils".
   I called Tim to let him know the update.  She was supposed to go in at 2:00PM that afternoon.  However, we waited and waited.  It was quite delayed.
   David called me at 4:00 to let me know that she still had not gone in.  So, we just continued to pray and wait.
   Tim called me around 4:15 to let me know he was on his way home and asked if I still had the phone numbers of some of the companies that had contacted him about other job openings.  I hesitated to answer knowing, very well, why he would be asking me this - now.  Sure enough, Tim was laid off (again!).  His contract ended and the company decided not to continue any contracts.  To be honest with you - Tim was quite relieved.  We have had some reservations about this specific company.  They were not at all honest with their consumers and were 'cutting corners' just because they weren't being caught in the act.  So, Tim had a real sense of the Lord's perfect timing on this one.  As hard as it was to hear that he was out of work, again, so soon - we have a peace.
(funny fact . . . this was the exact same day - February 19th - that he was laid off last year)
   We had planned on going on a date night this evening, since the boys were with my parents for a sleepover.   Tim told me that we were going as planned, though.  We desperately needed a date night, so we were really looking forward to eating at the Cheesecake Factory - despite the events of that day.
Dave called around 5:00 to let us know that they took Aunt Eleanor in for the procedure and that they would let us know as soon as she came out of the OR.
   I called some family members and our Elder and Pastor to let them know about Tim's job, so that I didn't have to put it on the prayer chain, in case it would get back to Dot.  We didn't want her to know yet.  She didn't need any more stress in her life at this point.
   We went to the restaurant and had a lovely dinner.  As soon as we were done, we packed up all of our leftovers for Dave and Dot to enjoy and went to the car to leave for the hospital.  Dave called to let us know that Aunt Eleanor made it out of the OR and was in the recovery/ICU room and gave us the room number to her room.  Tim and I really felt a sense of relief that she made it through - and we assured them that we were on our way.

10 minutes later, we received the devastating news that Aunt Eleanor's blood pressure plummeted and she had just passed away.  We were in pure shock.  We even asked "What?" as if he weren't telling the truth.  We let them know we were minutes away - then there was just silence the rest of the way there.

   We got to the hospital and just sat and grieved with Dave and Dot.
   It was a day full of sadness, shock, sorrow, grief, questions.  But, we delight in that Aunt Eleanor is with her Savior.  And that she got to hear Him calling her Home.
   This was the end to our day.  We left the hospital and went to Dave and Dot's house to sit with them.  We made them eat something and left the rest of the leftovers at their house.  We talked until midnight.  We laughed and laughed.  I think it was just what we all needed after such an eventful day.

Snowy Day!

It was a lot of effort.  

It took a long time JUST to get ready for.  

But, totally worth the freezing temperatures.

The boys had a blast and a half today!

Mr James told me that he was 'all done' . . . so, I took him inside, pulled the boots off his little feet, rolled up his pants so that the snow wouldn't touch his skin as I took them off, took off his coat, gloves, hat and socks . . got him new pants, new socks, warmed him up - JUST IN TIME for him to ask me to go BACK OUTSIDE to play in the snow!  Ahhhh!!!!!!!

Throwing some good snowballs at Daddy.

Payback . . . 

Snowball FIGHT!!!

Making the largest Snow Angel known to man!

Playing 'Snowball' (instead of baseball!)

Peter got some really good hits in.  I was quite impressed!

Afterwards, I made everyone some nice, hot chocolate and we all 'melted' until dinner was ready.  

It was a good day for mac and cheese!!!!

Snow Storm ~ 2010

We got about a foot/foot and a half of snow in just a couple of hours .  . 

here are some pictures I took around our house and neighborhood.  

Our Trash Cans:

Our Front Tree:

The Bird Feeder:

Front Bushes:

Our Neighborhood: 

The Tree in the Backyard:

It sure was beautiful - but things were definitely slippery and dangerous out there.  Tim came home on Friday night, during the snow storm, and announced to me that he had made plans for a sitter to come over to watch James and he was going to be taking Peter and myself to see a movie.  As surprised as I was, I felt the need to remind him that there was a major snow storm going on outside.  He insisted that we get out of the house and spend some Mommy/Daddy time with Peter, and told me to trust him.  So, I did.  We left an hour of time for our (usually) 20 minute drive.  We made it there safely and, not to my surprise, were the ONLY ones in the theater.  We didn't even have to turn off our cell phones!!!  We watched Alvin and the Chipmunks, the "Squeakual".  It was hilarious!!!  Peter actually laughed out loud a couple of times and later said that it was the funniest movie he'd ever seen!  We had a wonderful evening, which is exactly what we would need later on - we ended up getting the stomach bug last night, and we're all under the weather now.  God has a way with plans, doesn't He?!?

One Year Ago . . .

Peter was 3 years old - a few months shy of 4 - loving his CARS characters and movie more than anything else in this world!  He just started enjoying to draw  . . . he used to just be in tears because his circles weren't 'round enough' or perfect enough.  It was a silly, yet frustrating thing for both of us to go through - but we both survived it, and he is amazing at art work (and most importantly, ENJOYS it!!!)

Mr. James - a little over one.  Walking, talking, trying to play with everything that big brother played with.  This was our second year dealing with his massive droolege. . and he hasn't stopped since.  He sure loves his Mommy and Daddy and Big Brother and gives big (juicy) kisses.  This was his 'perfect size'  - not too big to carry, but not to small to have to worry about taking his places.

Tim and I were almost into our 7th year of marriage.  Six years, two kids, one dog and a home was surely a lot to take care of - but totally worth every single second of it!!!  

The 'BIG' thing from this year - was my dad's deployment.  5 months - missing his birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas - his 31st Wedding Anniversary, and New's Years.  Once he was home and safe and sound - we had a big party for him, with all of his Christmas/Birthday gifts and a bunch of his favorite treats!  It was hard with him being gone for so long, and missing out on so many special moments, but amazing to have him back home!

Vikings Game

The Vikings last game - this year - 
a sad ending but a great year!!

Our Buffet:

Our #1 Brett Favre fan!

We had Aunt Caralee and Uncle David over for the 'big game' . . . I think all we did was eat!!!  We had a good time with them, though - and it was a very exciting game - overtime in fact!!!  Hoping that Brett Favre comes back next year - at least for one more season!! 

Special Memories

James' BIG gift this year:

Daddy put this horsy together - it took a long time, but it was well worth the wait.  James did not get off of this horse for the first 2 hours of getting it!  He absolutely ADORES this thing!

James' RE-GIFT:

Tim and I decided this year, that we were going to re-gift at least one toy for James.  Seeing as he is still pretty young, and that he is starting to enjoy all of the same things that Peter does, we wanted to give him a toy that Peter 'outgrew' - something JUST for James to play with.  It was PERFECT!

Peter's Lego's:

This year was the first year Tim and I have even ALLOWED small lego's in the house - with a 2 year old that eats EVERYTHING, we wanted to wait until the right time.  Peter has such a great imagination and loves to build things, so this really was the perfect gift to give him this year.

Our Christmas Tree:

Tim is famous for the obscene about of lights he puts on our real tree's every year.  And, this year - was NO exception!   I think we started a new tradition this year too - Tim asked Peter to help him strand all of the lights on the tree - instead of using my help.  I made some popcorn and Tim let Peter stay up extra late with him until they were all up!  Peter really felt special being the 'chosen' one for such a large task!

Our Cards from Friends & Family:

Tim and I like to display all of the pretty Christmas cards that we get each year.  We actually received more than what's shown - in fact, our hallway door is almost covered from top to bottom with Christmas cards - it sure is an easy way to decorate the hallway!!!

Christmas Breakfast!

When Patrick and Catherine come out to visit during Christmas, I get to make a big breakfast for everyone each morning.  Here are some pictures of the table each morning. . . 

And, what's Christmas Breakfast without COOKIES & CANDY!?!?

Our Christmas!

Peter and James at Grandma and Grandpa Weldon's House - Christmas Eve

. .making a gingerbread house!

Christmas Day - At Grandma and Grandpa Shaeffer's House

Aunt Caralee had to step in and help Mr. James - or should I say Mr. Slowpoke!!!

Caralee - opening her gifts

(we took pictures of each other's gifts since we made our own bows this year!)

. . . I knitted her a blanket this year . . .

David - and the smallest playing cards in the world!

Tim - opening his presents!

December 27th - With Patrick and Catherine

James really loves his new bat!