All bundled up to play in the snow! 

Our little eskimo boy, complete with fur. 

Samuel says "I've got my tongue out, so where are all the snowflakes? Ooh wait, I see two flakes at least" :) 

Samuel's first time in the snow, and Samantha and Wayne enjoying one of the first snows of the Season. 

Thanksgiving Blessings

Well, another Thanksgiving has come and gone. Once again I am reminded of the blessings God has placed in my life. Every day I try and remember them, however Thanksgiving really brings out the beauty of God's promises, hence the name I suppose! Bob is a real blessing to me- He works hard for our family, enjoys spending time with us and understands the importance of being there for us, not just working all hours, and going off to hang with buddies all the time. He loves us, makes us laugh, but also can be sweet and thoughtful. Samantha is a beautiful girl, helpful and kind. She is a good help and a good big sister. Wayne is a little goofball, but loves his family dearly. He is always trying to get us to laugh at him and likes to play with his baby brother. He is also eager to learn his way around a kitchen. Samuel is a cute, smiley baby. He is nearly always happy and giggling. I love watching him grow and learn new things and my favorite part of the day is when he grabs my face with both of his hands and gives me a wet kiss full on the mouth. He also is a snuggle bunny who cuddles into my shoulder when I sing to him. We have a couple of good pets, good cars and a nice house we call home. Most all of our family lives within a couple of hours of us so we get to see them more than once a yr. We are free to go to church and worship God in this country. Most importantly, we have a Savior, Jesus, who laid down his life so that we may someday see Heaven. He gave up everything good and perfect to die a terrible death on a cross, all so that us sinners could have a chance at the "good life". I don't want to die anytime soon, but I am so thankful and grateful for Him, for giving me the assurance that when the time comes, I will be given a ticket to Paradise (not the song, the real deal) I just have to keep believing and doing my best to follow God's commands. I know I'm not perfect, but who is here on earth? I guess I like to remember my blessings, not just in my heart, but also read them and use them as a reminder when I'm having a bad day. I hope and pray that you who are reading this can remember your blessings too, not just on Thanksgiving, but on other days too!

My little brother and sisters- Hannah is 7, Cameron is 4 and Adrianna is 2 

Bob and I- I have no photos of the kids because they were off playing upstairs nicely (except for a few I took of my little sisters and brother for their family Christmas card) 

My mom! 

My dad! 

Matt and Rebecca- the happy couple! 

My brother Jonathan giving a look- not sure if it is his sinister look or his, "I'm suav 

Samuel and his Aunt Jessamyn, both all smiles! 

Holiday tinware I painted, my favorites are the log cabin scenes and the little birds, both of which were something new for me. 

The tinware arrangements in the back are mine. * they are sort of difficult to see but you get a general idea. 

Some nightlights I painted 

My other half during the craft show (sorry honey, I know crafting isn't your thing so it is only a temporary replacement) 

Samuel and I at Nature's Bounty Craft Table. 

Craft Show gone Caput.

Have you ever worked diligently on something, putting forth more effort into it than other things that you do on a regular basis? You put thought, time, and effort into this thing eagerly anticipating the end result, only to have the end result be botched, or ruined? That is how I felt this weekend. I have been working during all my extra time (which isn't much mind you) on craft projects for my upcoming craft show. I was up till midnight on Saturday am, and back up by 6 am because of Samuel, and packing up so that I could get to the show by 7:30am to set up. The show lasted till 3pm and I sold one thing (and purchased one thing prior to knowing I wouldn't sell anything) I was completely in the deficit on this one. It makes one wonder if I have talent, or if I am purely fooling myself into thinking I do. My sister did better than I, but even she didn't sell many things, the things she sold were more costly so they added up better. We have another one coming up the first Saturday in December. If I do terrible at this one also, I am throwing in the towel. It will be my "sign" that I don't know the market and am not meant to do this. I'm not saying I won't make crafts in general, but I'm not going to continue socking money into a non-money making market.
On a positive note, the kids went with me, and did so well. The craft show was beside their old school, so they spent a good amount of time playing over there, the remainder of the time they spent doing things they had brought to do, such as skipbo and old maid. Samantha helped hold Samuel while we set up, and Wayne helped fellow crafters bring in their things (he was such a big help, one of the ladies came over and complimented him, and gave him a bookmark for helping) Samuel, who usually sleeps a total of about 4 hrs during the day, didn't even sleep one, but he was smiley, and pleasant the whole day. All the crafters were amazed at how well he did (I was a little amazed myself due to his lack of sleep) He had a rough time going to bed that night though because he was overtired, but once he was asleep, he was out.
On Sunday we went to church and had church supper afterwards. When we got home, Bob took Wayne out to sit with him for a few hours hunting for a deer (I was glad that they didn't shoot one, because I personally feel like Wayne is too young to see killing/ the cutting process in action) but Wayne did really good, and had fun using the "grunt" which sounds like a deer grunting. Samantha watched a movie and worked on spool knitting, one of many crafts she has but typically doesn't do. She figured it out though, and was having a great time! I took a nap with Samuel and then worked on picking up the house which was quite a mess.
Bob is off all week this week for hunting, hopefully he will get a deer. On Thanksgiving we are going to my folks house (Bob probably will meet us there after hunting all day) I am excited because I get to see my bro and sis-in-law who are coming down, and my grandparents who are coming down as well! I took off of work on Black Friday since Bob is off, and we are getting our family photos done for the first time since Samuel was just a prayer. I hope they turn out well.

When Samuel is peaceful and content he sticks his little thumb in his mouth as shown in the picture. He doesn't suck it, just like the feeling of it being in his mouth, and just gazes around. 

Samuel loves to stick his tongue out- I think his smile is just as cute with it out, as it is when it is tucked away in his mouth! 

Ha Ha Mama, you are Funny! 

Samuel received this sweater from a dear lady who hand-crocheted it for him (and also hand crocheted the throw behind him for a gift previously) As you can see he is thrilled with his sweater :) 

This is a side view of our newly painted living room. Even during the day you can see it is a little dark, but we love it! 

Bob, Samuel, and the birthday kids- whose up for more cake? 

The infamous blowing out of the candles 

Whoa, someone call the fire department- look at those flames! 

Visual Pictures...

I have been very remiss at posting, and posting photos. I had quite a few opportunities this weekend, that passed me by, my own fault. I only have one or two photos from Samantha and Wayne's birthday that turned out because the flash wasn't working on my digital camera due to lack of battery power. Now, we have new batteries, and I just forgot to use the camera- Ah well, now everyone can use their minds to create visual pictures instead :)

Bob came home after a week long journey to GA on Friday am around midnight, and had the day off of work on Friday. He had a WONDERFUL time! He was at training for working on Safes for Brinks, BUT he also had almost a mini-vacation too. All of his expenses were fully paid for- he had a huge room all to himself, ate at the hotel for breakfast (continental breakfast with all the fixings, including grits, and biscuits-n-gravy), chain restaurants such as TGI Friday's and Ruby Tuesdays for lunch, and posh restaurants with a bill to show it for dinner. One night he even went out to play pool with the guys, and he just had a blast. He also flew for the first time ever and loved it! We were glad when he was home though- we really missed him! It was nice having him around on a Friday (especially since the kids were off for Veteran's Day)

Saturday Bob took Samantha and Wayne to the gun range to shoot pumpkins, balloons, and paper targets in the early hours. I like to go, but haven't gone since Samuel was born because the sounds are too loud for his premature ears (and I haven't found any baby hearing protection yet) :) When they got home, we headed to Cortland to see Bob's mom and cousin Rhonda (and her family) We spent the day out there, just visiting. Bob's mom in particular loved seeing us, I get the feeling she doesn't get a whole lot of visitors.

Sunday, we went to church, and afterwards, Bob and the big kids worked on raking leaves. Wayne got up on our porch roof, and used our leaf blower to get rid of all the leaves up there, and then laid on his stomach, and cleaned out the gutters (what a missed opportunity for photos!) He felt big and proud doing that (with supervision of course) and especially enjoyed throwing down a big chunk of mud on his sister (who didn't enjoy it all, but got him back later by stuffing a large handful of leaves down his shirt) Samuel took his afternoon nappy, and I worked on crafts. My sister and I are doing a craft show this Saturday, and I haven't done anything new to prepare for it! I had a few things from a previous show last year, but not much. I don't really need a whole lot, because my sister has a ton of stuff, but I want to have some things- it would be nice to make a few dollars! I worked on painting tinware- they weren't my best because I couldn't find my thin detail paintbrush, so I made due with my other paintbrushes (hence the painting wasn't as detailed and neat as I usually do) but at least I got a few things done, instead of waiting to get a detail brush! I'm going to try and do a few each day at rest-time.

So, that's the scoop on our weekend- I'll try to get back on board and take/ post more photos soon!

Happy,Happy Birthday Twice!!

This past week/ weekend we celebrated both Samantha (3rd) and Wayne's (7th) birthdays. Samantha is 12 (only one more yr till she's a teenager, AAHH!) and Wayne is officially 9. On their actual b-days, they opened one gift, and had a helium balloon waiting for them and card, as well as getting their own special b-day dinner. Samantha chose chicken wings, pizza, and ice-cream. Wayne chose cinnamon french toast with sauteed apples in cinnamon and brown sugar, syrup, and whipped cream with ice cream for dessert (talk about a sugar buzz!) Samantha opened a gift card from Walmart and Wayne a Sega Genesis. On Sunday we had my parents and their crew, and my sister/ bro-in-law and neice over to celebrate the rest of their birthday. The kids had a great time (and we did too) We had soup, bread, and birthday cake (not to mention I made snack for church the same am, consisting of veggies and dip, cheese -n -pepperoni -n -crackers, and dump cake. ) Wayne got a dragon sweatshirt, a dress shirt, a magic set, a lavalamp nightlight, a charm for his charm bracelet, a build a racecar set, a DVD, and a dance moves game to share with Samantha. Samantha got lots of clothes, boots, a charm for her charm bracelet , and teen stamp kit, a DVD, and something else, but for the life of me, I can't remember what it was. We all had a great time! The best part was seeing the kids go off and play with their stuff! I love it when they actually show true interest in their gifts. Wayne was having a great time being magician, Samantha sat down and made thank you's with her stamp kit, Wayne put the whole racecar together with no directions, and they had fun dancing with the dance moves game.

Halloween Fun!

It's been a few days since I've actually posted "words" so I thought I'd best catch up with the going's on of our family. We got a roof done in record time thanks to Matt, Dave, and Bob. It's amazing what a good leader (Matt), an airgun/aircompressor, a boom truck, and 3 highly motivated individuals can get done in such a short time. They started at 8 am, after a light breakfast of doughnuts, bagels, coffee, and juice, took a lunch break around noonish for soup, venison steak sandwiches, chips and brownies, and were finished by around 3 pm. What a relief that the weather held out, and we will be snug as a bug in a rug this winter (although I was a little worried when Saturday am, all of a sudden we had a light shower of mini hail!)

Sunday Bob had to "qualify" for work, which means he had to go to the range to prove he can actually aim and shoot the gun he carries daily for work. After church the rest of us found our way to Elmira to celebrate Adrianna's (my adopted sister) 2 yr old birthday. Since my mom and dad don't celebrate Halloween at all, they decided to use Adrianna's b-day as a dress up day for the kids so the house was full of firefighters, brides, cowboys, and animals. We all had a good time there. The evening was much more difficult for Samuel and I, because he got sick with a fever, and a terrible stomachache because he couldn't go potty. I was up with him all night, him crying in pain. I finally broke down and slept in his room and held him while he restlessly stirred and continued waking up crying. When he got up Monday am he still had a lowgrade temp, but his stomach was feeling better. I had planned on taking him to the Dr. but when he stopped crying in pain, and started smiling again, I decided I'd keep an eye on him instead, and take him to a walk-in if it got worse.

Monday- Halloween. We don't go trick or treating because of multiple reasons. I don't really like the meaning behind Halloween- the evoking of the spirit world. I don't like the punk kids that go around begging for candy, not even dressed up, OR dressed up in disgusting costumes and if they don't get what they want, smash your pumpkins or toilet paper your house (we had 5 of our 7 pumpkins smashed this yr) I also don't like the greediness that comes out on this day, wanting more and more candy /not being satisfied, and in this day and age you can't be too safe with the candy thing. There are some strange people out there that get their kicks from hurting children in the form of putting things in the treats they hand out for Halloween.
We instead(meaning my family and my sister's family), let the kids dress up in costume, and do something extra special that day besides making sure our house is stocked up with candy. One yr we went bowling, one yr we took the kids to the Discovery Center, this year we went to Iron Kettle Pumpkin Farm to take Halloween photos, and then went back to my sister's house where we gobbled up pizza, chips, and soda, watched a movie and ate toffee popcorn and oreos (nothing better than a movie and junkfood fest!) The kids were sort of done being "dressed up" since we went to a dress up bash last week, they dressed up for the b-day party, and then dressed up again last night. We had a great time though, and the best part was that dad showed up to hang with us at Rebecca's house (we didn't think he would make it because he was working later) So, as you can see, my blog is very full of photos. Samantha was a pretty cowgirl ( boy did she remind me of a mini-version of me during my line dancing days!) Wayne was a cowboy from his hat (he wore a moustache for some of the time, but didn't wear it for the pics) to his long western outback coat. Samuel was a little skunk. I did dress him as a cowboy for Adriannas party but I wanted him to be a cute little animal because soon enough he will be bigger, and not want to be any cute little animal for Halloween! He is our little stinker so the costume fit him well. Last, but not least, our niece and cousin Corynn was a little lion. She couldn't have had a better costume with her light blond hair and dark brown eyes! Enjoy the reading and photos!

Hey Little Lion, you don't need a glow stick- you have such a glowing personality, you light up everyone's lives!