Happy February

Well, as you can see, we are heavy into Star Wars. Matthew and Lucas have decided on a Star Wars theme for their birthday party. Last Friday, Derrick and I took advantage of the snow day that was called and went birthday party shopping. About $65 later, we were out of the party store, stocked with napkins, plates, stickers, banners, etc., for the parties we are having this upcoming weekend. Hey, this is what I get when I give them the options of Hot Wheels, Star Wars, or Diego for their birthday party. Whatever....

Derrick spent Thursday through Saturday redecorating their room with a Lightning McQueen/Cars theme. It looks really cool. The walls are a two tone blue, as well as we put up those "wallie" wall stickers. They look very fun! The boys sang in church today out at St. John's, and we didn't get home until after 12:30, which is unusual for us on a Sunday. We are usually home by 11 at the latest. So, today seems to be flying by. Matthew and Lucas are enjoying Noggin being broadcast 24/7 now, and I have to be more diligent about their tv time. It is so cold here today....14 degrees when we were driving home from church this morning.

This Friday the boys will be 5! My mom did such a cute job putting their faces on the Star Wars characters, and I think I am going to print them off as Thank You notes to send after the parties. Friday night we are celebrating with the Hurst side, and Sunday is with the Carfrey side. Have a great week, and Happy Valentine's Day!

Where is the time going?

Hello everyone! I am so sorry I haven't updated lately. Things around here have been crazy. We had a great New Year's Eve. We had several families over for the evening. We played the DVD version of Family Feud, ate, and the kids played and hung out in the basement. We all made it up until the New Year, kids and all. Of course, the next day we were exhausted and happy to stay home and relax.

Suddenly, it was the 3rd, and time for me to go back to school. It has been a tough adjustment, as I enjoy my time at home with the boys. Maybe someday I will find a job that allows me more time at home. Who knows. Anyway, nothing exciting happened until we had the National Championship Party at our house. Of course, we were disappointed that Ohio State lost. It was fun, nonetheless, to have about twelve people in our garage, watching it on the "big screen" Derrick had rigged up with his stereo system and the projector. I guess it's all about the atmosphere.

Unfortunately, we have had two deaths since the New Year. First, baby Victoria Rodriguez was in recovery from another open heart surgery on the 7th, and she didn't make it. Derrick had come home from being at Children's Hospital all day to watch the game, and Victoria's grandma called him around 12:30 a.m. to ask if he could come back to be with the family because Victoria had died. As if God didn't think that was enough for Derrick to deal with, Pastor Dave Reiman from a neighboring church lost his battle with cancer this last week.

Just when we were hoping our lives would slow down, I am looking forward to this week and either Derrick or I or both of us have something several nights this week. At least I don't have school tomorrow. The boys are so cute lately! I can't believe they are going to be five next month. They came home from school last week acting like seals, barking and flapping flippers, since they are learning about artic animals in school lately. They are so into their trains again lately. We are looking forward to Wednesday when our new furniture will be delivered. Derrick has been wanting some new furniture for the basement, and we found some. We gave my cousin and her husband our used furniture for their house they are moving into this weekend, and now we are down to a couch and a recliner upstairs and a recliner downstairs. Good thing we all like each other, as we will be snuggling on the couch the next few nights before the furniture comes.

This weekend I took my seventh and eighth grade Power of the Pen teams to the district tournament in Tiffin. . Power of the Pen is an interscholastic writing tournament. The kids are given a prompt and forty minutes to develop it into a story. Then, they are judged and their writing is assigned points. There are about twelve schools that compete, so that's about a hundred kids or so. The seventh graders came in third in the team awards, and I had two girls come in second and third place amongst the seventh graders. It was very exciting! I am very proud of them.

Stay warm!

Merry Christmas! We have had everything Christmas this last week. It started last Tuesday with Matthew and Lucas's preschool Christmas program. It was so cute! They really sang out and did the motions this year, as opposed to last year when they just kind of stood on the stage and were about three beats behind everyone else. It amazes me what their little minds can hold. One of their songs was very unfamiliar to us and three verses long, yet they knew all of it, the fingerplay they did, and all the verses to Go Tell It On The Mountain. Then Wednesday was my last day of school for break. Our program was very cute this year. We finished up some shopping last week and I had a couple days to wrap and organize the gifts under the tree. Saturday we went to my grandma Carfrey's in Grove City, and then to my sister and brother-in-law's after. Kristin, my sister, made a great dinner and dessert, and we had a lot of fun opening presents and being with my family.

Sunday was church, and on Christmas Eve we went to Derrick's grandparents' house all day. We had lunch, opened presents, and played games. That evening, we headed to church for Living Truth's first Christmas Eve service. We had a full house! It was great. On Christmas Day, we stayed home until about 11 opening presents, then we headed to my Grandma Mae's house. It was very nice to be home Christmas morning so we could take our time and relax. The boys were very into opening this year, just to see what was in the package. Then, they would go and play with their toys. We got them a Leapster, and they haven't been away from it very much the last two days!

God bless all of you this Christmas as we focus on Jesus and His birth so we can have life with Him in heaven.

Our week has started off great so far. We have been in touch with a family whose 5 month old daughter has had two open heart surgeries and is facing a possible third this weekend. Her name is Victoria, and at any rate, we were hooked up with them through one of our parishoners. For the past several months, they have become somewhat involved with church, as much as they can since they are living at the Ronald McDonald house in Columbus. Last night, we had our Living Truth Christmas dinner, and we revealed to the family that we have adopted them for Christmas and we had a slew of presents to send home with them. It ended up being so many gifts that we brought it back home to our dining room because they didn't have room in their car. It is so great to be able to help others and they are so appreciative.

Matthew and Lucas continue to be so into Star Wars. Derrick and I spend our free time in the evening being stormtroopers with the boys and fighting off the enemy. Yesterday afternoon, Lucas put me in "jail"...aka his bedroom...and said I couldn't come out. Matthew consoled me by saying that I could go out only to use the bathroom "right around the corner".

Derrick and I had a date night Friday to my staff Christmas party, and then on Saturday I finished up our Christmas shopping. If I can get our Christmas cards out this week, that will be great, and one more thing I can check off my list! My school kids are getting very squirmy, as we only have 7 school days until our program and Christmas break starts! YEAH! I think I am just about as excited as they are!

This week we are taking the boys to the library tomorrow to see Santa...better than the alternative of the mall, which I have done the last two years. Wednesday night I have a cookie exchange at a friend's house and Thursday is confirmation. Finally, the weekend will be here!

Sorry for no pictures, but I can't get my camera to turn on. I will update soon with some Christmas tree pictures!

It's Almost Thanksgiving

Tonight we are all home together, which is a rarity lately. Matthew and Lucas have been into playing the Legos Star Wars PS2 game with Derrick. I think he is more into it than they are..he is such a video game junky. Derrick likes to "show" them how to play...Matthew actually has picked it up pretty well. PS2 with Daddy is the reward for having good days at school. Lets just say that they have only gotten to do it a few times. They seem to have a hard time with listening, and responding to the teacher's schedule. They definetly like to blaze their own trails. We have put the trains away as of late and traded them in for John Deere tractors. Better yet, they are into putting their belts around their waists, attaching their water guns and Spiderman telephones, and with a flashlight around their necks they scope out the bad guys. Pretty ironic from two kids who don't like to go down the dark hallway and into the bathroom alone.

I am very excited about only two days of school this week. We had an uneventful weekend. We went to Jeffersonville Outlet mall on Friday night for "candles" from the Yankee store, and ended up coming home with Under Armor, too! It was a fun family night. Saturday, Derrick and I sent the boys to my mom and dad's and we stayed home and watched the Buckeyes BEAT the Wolverines...and made buckeye candies during the game. Sunday, Derrick was literally gone ALL day, so the boys and I stayed home. They are getting over coughs, and I am starting a cold, so it was nice to stay home.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you...Happy Birthday to my dad, my sister, and my sister-in-law next week!

Our Halloween was fantastic. We had both sets of our parents and grandparents over to pass out candy. Also Devon and Nathan and our friends, Justin and Tracey. The boys looked really cute in their Batman and Spiderman costumes, too. I will post some pictures sometime soon. I thought it was saved on our digital camera, but it wasn't. I'll have to dress them up again and fake it so I can post some pictures. They trick or treated for almost the whole two hours. We have been crazy around here lately, too. I had parent teacher conferences the last two weeks, and I am thankful those are over. Derrick has been having confirmation once a week, as well as other meetings, etc. Last night I hosted a Tastefully Simple party and I had almost 20 people come! It was so much fun, and I think I am getting a lot of good food with my hostess money! I am very much looking forward to Thanksgiving Break. We get the Wednesday off before Thanksgiving this year. We haven't had that in the past, and I am excited about that! Soon I'll be posting pictures of our Christmas tree! Have a great rest of the weekend!

Hello, all. I am so sorry I haven't posted in awhile. We have been crazy busy with Derrick starting his first confirmation class at Living Truth. He is really excited about that! He has three students, and they are all great kids. I have been trying to work in a tutoring session after school two days a week, and we have been getting ready for our Fall Festival, which is tonight. With the boys not napping consistently anymore, I find myself having less time at the computer for fun things, as opposed to school work. We had a great weekend last weekend. We went to the Columbus Zoo for "Boo at the Zoo." They set up a lot of businesses and they pass out candy to the kids. The boys wore their costumes, and they looked really cute. Tonight is our Fall Festival for church, and after this is over, our life will settle down a little bit. The boys have been learning so much at school, and using such big words. Just this morning Lucas said he was "terrified" and the other day he used the word "exhausted". How funny! We are looking forward to Trick or Treat on Wednesday night and then Thursday night I start my Parent/Teacher Conferences, since it's the end of the quarter. Thanks for reading!