Moving!!

Well, once again I have to start packing. I am still in denial at this point. We are moving a little closer to Richard's school. We decided we wanted somewhere else because the rooms for the kids here are just too small for them. I think this other house is about the same size, but is set up better. It also has a basement!! That is very important in the midwest, at least if you live in tornado alley. So, by January 24th we will be out of here. I really hate to pack. We just found the house by driving around. At least we will be able to do a lot of packing during this week and next since Richard and I don't have school. It is going to start getting really hard once school starts again. I will post pictures once we are able to start moving in. Love, Mary

Christmas Pageant

The kids were in a Christmas pageant at church last night. Alyssa was also supposed to be in it. She was one of the angels, but she was sick. She was very disappointed. However, the boys did awesome! Aaron was one of the wise men and then Jacob was the only boy angel. He loved having wings!! =) Then of course we got to see Santa after the pageant was over. There are two pictures of Aaron doing an experiment. He got that for Christmas and he loves it. he made an underwater volcano and every time he would add baking soda, it would change colors. It was very cool. Have a great day everyone!

Early Christmas

My parents came down for an early Christmas for all of us. Leann and Ryan are working over Christmas so it was much easier to have it early. We had a lot of fun. I also threw in pictures of the dogs (mostly Mia) so that you could see the WHOLE family. The boys all got fishing poles so Grandpa helped the boys learn to cast. They loved it. So we are going to have another Christmas on Christmas Eve then the next day is Richard's birthday! So much to do! Jacob has "accidentally" looked in his stocking already! =) Tonight we have a Christmas pageant at church. It is going to be so much fun. So I will be taking pictures of the kiddos. Hopefully we are all well. The flu has been going around this household. Have a Merry Christmas everyone!By the way, I realize there is a ton of pictures that I have posted. Believe me when I say I even trimmed down from what I have. But how can you decide on pictures with a great family?

Aaron's Christmas Program

Mom and Dad were down here this last weekend. They got to come and see Aaron in his Christmas program. He did so well. He had a speaking part and spoke right into the microphone. Yeah!! He was in a good mood until some kids fell and he almost got pushed off the riser! Talk about me having a heart attack! He literally had to grab onto the boy in front of him (Elijah) so that he wouldn't fall. He wanted to cry, but didn't. He kept going on and by the end of it I think that he had recovered. Brave boy! The boy right beside him is Jimmy. We do a lot of things with that family. We know them from girl scouts. Then the boy in front of him is Elijah. The woman is Aaron's teacher Mrs. Bateman. She has been great and really cares for the kids. Love you all, Mary

Mia and I

Mia

We have a new baby, her name is Mia. She is a Bichon Frise. She is the cutest little thing. She will only get to be about 10-12 pounds. It is the first time we have ever had a small dog and I just totally love her. Leann and Ryan paid for part of it for my Christmas present. The kids have been great about helping to potty train her. Of course we have only had her for 2 days now. I am sure this is not going to last much longer. She is very entertaining. She is starting to chase Jasmine around. Of course, Jasmine isn't sure what to do with this little puff ball running around her feet. =) We also went to the military Christmas party this weekend. It was pretty fun. It was nice to get away without the kids. Thanks Ryan and Leann! We are celebrating an early Christmas with Mom, Dad, Leann, and Ryan. It is going to be this weekend. The kids are excited about that because now we are going to have 2 Christmas's. Actually, knowing us we will celebrate it all week long, cause that is how we roll! =) Have a wonderful day everyone!

Thanksgiving

Here are some pictures of us at mom and dad's house. We had a fabulous time. Dad worked very hard getting his garage built. Mom and I decorated the house for Christmas! We have priorities! =) Hope you all had a great thanksgiving!

Happy Halloween (Yesterday)

We had a great time at our Trunk or Treat yesterday. We decided to decorate the trunk from Dr. Seuss. I was one of the Whoville people. I had the longest rainbow eyelashes. I seriously couldn't see very well at all, but it was totally worth it because they were awesome! Richard (as you can see) was the Cat in the Hat. He looked amazing!! The kids just loved his costume. I am sure that we will do it again next year. Rebekah went around with Ryan and Leann to help take care of Sydney for a while. Then she came back and helped give out candy. We ran out of candy 4 times. There were a lot of kids there. She was a cat this year. Alyssa was a mouse and I got a couple pictures of her bobbing for apples. She is so funny. Her nose squeaked and of course she was doing that all night. Aaron was Indiana Jones. He was very responsible with his whip. I am very proud of him. The boys really liked his outfit. He got to pick out any pumpkin in the pumpkin patch when he went with his class at school. He obviously went for a green pumpkin. It is pretty cool looking. Richard and him carved the pumpkin together. Jacob was Woody (from toy story). He promptly broke his gun and then slowly started taking off his costume all through the night. By the end of the time he had nothing left actually on that resembled woody. =) I got some good pictures from him bobbing for apples too. We even made it through the night without the battery on our car dying (like last year). So it was great fun. I hope all of you had a nice Halloween!

Weekend Visit

Last weekend we went to visit mom and dad. It was a very short trip, but a lot of fun. You can see that Rebekah has now learned how to drive the lawn mower. She had so much fun doing it. She got to pull the kids around in the trailer. You can see a picture of mom taking a picture with her new camera. It is really nice. I will put pictures from her camera on the blog too. Then you can see the drastic difference. Love you all!

Choir Concert

Hello everyone! We have had a very busy week. On Thursday Rebekah had her choir concert. She did very well. Richard wasn't able to go because it was parent teacher conferences. We sat by a couple who we know through girl scouts. The kids are all friends with them. Rebekah is with Sarah, who is also in choir. Alyssa is standing with Robin. Aaron is standing with Jimmy. I didn't get a picture of Jacob with Daniel because he ended up falling asleep. Then this weekend we went to mom and dad's house. I will be posting those pictures later this week. My mom got a new camera and it takes amazing photos. I will put some of hers on here too. Have a great week everyone!

Goddard Parade

Yesterday we went to the Goddard parade. The Woodard clan also came with us. Goddard is where I work and it is not a very big town. That parade was really quite long and the kids loved it. They loved it of course because they got a TON of candy. Who needs Halloween? Just go to a parade. You will notice that Sydney is chewing on a cup. We got it from the parade. They were giving out URINE CUPS! Isn't that disgusting? So she totally loved it! =) The kids got their faces painted. Aaron found a can of silly string, so I felt that it was necessary to squirt my kids with it. This week Rebekah has her choir concert so hopefully I can get some pictures of her singing. She is even going to have a little speaking part in it. Then Alyssa has also joined a choir group through school. I am so proud!! =) Have a great week everyone!

Jacob's 6th Birthday

I have promised to show pictures of the birthday and TA-DA, I have delivered! We had a great time. I love the facial expressions that Jacob makes opening his present. One picture Jasmine walked right in front of the camera when I was snapping the shot. It is pretty funny. We got this huge cake from Ryan and Leann that was a wedding cake. You can see the pink on it! =) To boy it up Richard threw a car on there! Jacob really didn't care, he is very laid back about that sort of thing. It was very yummy. I have frozen the rest of it because it is HUGE! We are getting ready to go to church right now. I hope that you all are doing well! Love you!

Visiting Parents

Hello everyone! This pictures are from a couple weekends ago when my parents came down to visit. Leann was very busy that day. She did my hair and nails and she also did Rebekah's hair. Rebekah has highlighting in her hair. It looks so cute. She seems so old now. It makes me a little sad. We had a great time. My favorite picture is of Leann and I and our big sunglasses! Dad thinks that we might be a little to excessive in the size of our sunglasses! =) Work is going really well. I love working with the kids. For those of you who don't know what a Para is, it is like a teacher's aide, except that I am also outside of the classroom teaching job skills. Richard has been doing great at his job too. He loves teaching. We are going to be celebrating Jacob's birthday today since his birthday is really on Tuesday. We just aren't going to have time. Maybe I will get the blog updated some more this weekend. Hope you all have a great weekend. It is supposed to be 80 degrees all week! Beautiful! Oh, for those of you who care. I am reading "The Shack" by William Young. It is a wonderful book that is about God's love. I would so recommend it for everyone.

School Pictures

Obviously I have not updated the blog for a while. Sorry about that. These are the pictures of the first day of school. They have been doing really well. Rebekah loves math because her teacher makes it fun. She is doing much better than last year. Alyssa made a speech in front of the class for student council. She didn't get it, but I am so proud that she tried. She is also in the Benton Choir. Aaron is excelling in reading. He likes PE because of all the games that they get to play. Jacob is loving everything. It is so nice that I can now work during the day while they are at school. It has been wonderful. I love my job and I look forward to going to work everyday. It is only 15 min from the house. Anyway, Richard is at drill this weekend. He is just staying overnight in a motel so he wont be back until Sunday. Alyssa's eye therapy is going well. She is going to be done in November. On the 23rd is Jacob's birthday. He will be 6 can you believe it? I am still going to school online, but it is fun. Richard is going to start his master's degree in the spring. Last weekend Dad and Mom came down. It was a very nice time. However, while we were at Leann's house there was a huge lightning storm over here and so we had a big power surge. Pretty much anything that was connected to cable was ruined. Thank goodness my computer wasn't. We didn't lose anything major. We got another TV for only $40 so that was great. I will hopefully update more on the blog soon. Love you all!

Henri Frederic Amiel

One does not improve through argument, but through examples... Be what you wish to make others become. Make yourself, not your words, a sermon.
Written by: Henri Frederic Amiel

Happy Birthday Isabelle

Last weekend my parents and Ryan's mom came down to celebrate Isabelle's birthday. It was a lot of fun. Leann had planned little activities for the kids. You can see the pictures of the girls putting makeup on. It was really sweet. Isabelle had a wonderful time. We were over there all day pretty much. This week I started my new job as a para at Goddard High School. I LOVE my job. This week of course has been totally crazy. Ryan and Leann were gracious enough to watch our kids all week long. It was such a huge burden lifted off Richard and my shoulders. The kids started school on Thursday. Jacob will be starting Monday. He is really excited about it. All the kids love their teachers. Rebekah is now taking Choir. That's my girl!! =) This week is only going to be in the 80s so already we have been out riding bikes. I am going to wait till Monday to put the pictures of the kids on here from the first day of school. I hope you all have a great week!

Hangin' Out

Hello everyone! I just wanted to show some pictures of the kids. It is just us hanging out at home. Alyssa took a picture of her hamsters and so they are on here too. I went to the school to registar Alyssa, Aaron, and Jacob. Tomorrow it is Rebekah's turn. Let me just say that four kids is ALOT of paperwork. The kids start school August 14th. Have a great week!

The Lighted Path

I have found a new website called "The Lighted Path". It is a website designed by Church of Christ women. It helps with day to day life. I would encourage every one to visit it. I hope that everyone enjoys it as much as I do.

http://www.lighted-path.net

Good Friends

Hello everyone! We have had a very busy weekend. Troy and Laura Kronewitter were here. It was so great to see them. They have two cute little girls Violet and Hazel. Before we get to pictures of them, I wanted to show you a picture of Alyssa. This is her eye patch that she has to wear for two hours every day (one hour on each eye). She is getting eye therapy because her eyes do not work the way that they are supposed to. So I took a picture of her today. Doesn't she look cute? She told me I could call her "Patchy the Pirate"!! Ha!! She made a crown and was in a princess dress when I took the picture. It is pretty funny. She looks like she is a princess from the "wrong side of the tracks". Hee hee! Rebekah was playing the piano at Leann's house today. She was actually doing a very nice job making up a song. She is really excited for the day that she can babysit her cousins. She is always taking care of them. I am so proud of her.

Alyssa is eating corn on the cob here. She was sitting by herself. Not because she was in trouble, but because there were soooooo many kids that she couldn't find a chair at the table! =)

Aaron and Rebekah eating. Aaron was being a total boy and not opening his eyes. He is a goof ball.

Isabelle and Gideon did not want me to take a picture of them. I don't know why that was. This was the best that I could do. When we arrived at Leann's, Gideon came running outside while Richard and I were walking up. He was saying "Uncle Richard, Uncle Richard!". I had to cajole him to say hi to me and then he only called me "Mary". I can't even get an "Aunt". I am so loved. =)

Violet is in the foreground here. She was loving having her picture taken. Hazel is busy eating, but they were both wanting their picture to be taken. Jacob and Gideon were in the background. I think everyone just wanted to concentrate on eating and not smiling for the picture. Food is very important in my family! =)

Violet, Hazel, and Jacob again.

Troy and Laura. It was so great to see them again. Ryan, Richard, and Troy all went to see Batman yesterday and then they played Bocce today. I think that they had a good time. We girls were content to talk. It is what we do best!!

Laura and Leann. It was like old times again (and new times since there were kids). There are some very good memories. I am so thankful that we grew up around that family. Troy and Laura, Have a safe trip home, we love you!