Still More...

Ryan singing in the kid's choir on youth night.
It was great to see my old classmate and friend, Martha (Yohe) Loper, who is in town for a few weeks. She has a great husband and five adorable kids.
Other half of kids singing at Youth Service (2nd Sunday of each month).
Oops, this one made it in twice.

More Pics...

Kaitlynn and her friend Sallie
Kailynn, the lucky one, being fed M&M's during church.
Holding Sing to the Lord qualifies as a workout for Kaitlynn!
At Mama and Papa's
Our church's newest addition, Baby Snyder, at 10 days.

A Few Pics

Evan wearing Papa's "geezer" hat (sorry Dad!). This is what happens when boys play "dress-up" ~ cute, huh?
Ryan gives me the goofy face.
Kaitlynn and her partner in crime, Emilee.
It appears that Isaac is asking for Kaitlynn's hand...

Finally...SNOW!!!!

After mentally firing all our local weather reporters because of their inability to accurately predict the forecast, we finally have some of the stuff for which teachers live ~ snow! Some of you are cracking up because three inches has me excited. Bear with me here, we're taking what we can get! Things have been busy this past week, leaving me little time to post. I have been studying, cooking, teaching, and mothering, and that's about all I can squeeze in! Greg fixed our electric garage door opener last week. Kudos to Sears for taking 2.5 weeks to mail a quarter-sized part. I never realized what a blessing my electric opener is 'til now. Boy, are we spoiled!
Evan turns six today, so I had a little party for him at school yesterday since we only have kindergarten every other day. The kids had fun with the cake (primitive though it was) and the games. Their favorite was indoor volleyball with balloons.
I went up to the hospital to see Grandma this morning. She is doing so much better, and is ready to come home. They may be discharging her this week. Kaitlynn and I had fun tidying up her room, combing her hair, and making her comfy. Kaitlynn loves to rub lotion on Granny's feet and legs. She can often be heard saying, "Don't fall, Granny!" or "Are you ok, Granny?" This morning her favorite line was, "You're funny, Granny!"
Ryan informed me last week that he is going into multiplication and cursive writing. I hardly feel like I should have a child old enough to be doing these things, but time moves on. Evan was reading a book to me last night, and was so proud of himself. He will finish the Learning to Read program this week. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly children learn. It seems hard to believe that our national education system could be so broken, given the amount of $ spent and the caring teachers that are giving their best. Makes you wonder...
Well, I'm off to bake another cake and tidy the house. Grandma and Grandpa Burley are coming to help Evan celebrate his birthday. Until next time...

Christmas Eve Service

Evan reciting his lines
Kaitlynn and her little friend Emilee saying their parts (kind of!)
Ryan taking control of the mic

Lazy Days of January...

My adorable niece, Olivia
Check out those rolls!
Olivia and her handsome daddy, Eric.
Olivia and her beautiful mommy, Megan.
The Christmas rush is finally over, decorations are put away, exchanges and returns have been made...so what am I doing with my time? Things are just 'normal' busy now, and I'm lovin' it!!! My class is getting a little more hectic, with the weekly requirements steadily getting more time consuming. It is very interesting, though, and that definitely helps! Yesterday evening I was privileged to spend a few hours helping with my paternal grandmother's care. She is here in our local hospital recovering from a crack in the sacrum (correct spelling, I hope!). Her condition had worsened some yesterday, and she was in need of motivation to eat and interact. We had a really good evening, and I hope it helped her healing process. We'll head back up there when Greg gets home from work today. The goal is for her to be able to get back home to my parent's house, where she will hopefully have a full recovery. Well, the second grading period has come to an end for Ryan and Evan. There is always a little bit of anticipation when you open that envelope containing the objective report of your child's behavior and academic achievements! Fortunately, all is well. It is hard to believe that we are beyond the halfway point in the school year! Maybe by summer I'll have my Christmas pics posted...we'll see!

Reflections

Tim and Kim's adorable little guy

Grandpa's sleepy girl
Kaitlynn enjoys a rose from one of the arrangements

Sierra and Shawn, our second cousins
This was most of our family that attended the funeral dinner. Ryan decided to change his clothes right about then, so he was absent.

As I was flipping through some of the pics on my phone, I thought I would post a few from Grandma Black's funeral. It seemed coincidental that as I was reviewing them, Janet Pascal's "Another Soldier Is Coming Home" began to play on AFR. What good memories we have of Grandpa and Grandma Black! Their quiet presence and loving embrace are missed. Hope you enjoy these pics. Just click to enlarge them. They are from November 2006.

I had to post this pic of "the big boys" and our nice little waitress at Lickity Split (L.S. is the best-kept secret in West Michigan!)

Ready or Not -- It's 2007!!!

Ryan & Evan w/the Mr. & Mrs. in Cincinnati Papa's angels, Kaitlynn & Olivia at Thanksgiving

Cousins Jeremiah & Evan
(could be brothers easy enough!)

Wow! I simply cannot believe it is already 2007. I remember Y2K like it was yesterday, sitting in my Grandma's living room in central Illinois, wondering whether the lights would go out and the world would end at midnight. We figured that in her little town it would take a few days for us to realize whether or not the world had really ended. Well, it didn't, and here we are. God was good to us in 2006, as He always is. Now we have some goals for 2007 that will help us to be better stewards of our time and resources. We won't be doing much hanging out at the mall (thanks to Dave Ramsey), the menu and grocery shopping are done for the month (also thanks to D.R.), and the schedule has been cleared to only include the important things so that we will be able to spend more time living, laughing, and loving. Time flies, and the kids grow way too fast. Life is precious. Enjoy yours to the fullest!