Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!

Last week was a busy one. We had planned a bake sale to run during the day Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, in addition to the normal week of school. As always, I was nervous that there wouldn't be enough baked goods, so after spending Monday evening catching up on housework from the previous weekend, Tuesday evening freaking out about election returns, it was time to begin baking on Wednesday after school. That consumed Wednesday, except for the time spent at church in the evening. Thursday we opened the bake sale, and after school went right home and began...you guessed it...baking until bedtime. Greg had to work with Good News Club that evening, so I worked while trying to contain the 3 youngest of our 4 offspring. Friday we ran the sale again, and I decided that no matter what we had left for Saturday's sale, I was not going to spend all Friday night baking! I was tired and my house was a wreck from four days of neglect! Around 7 o'clock Friday evening, mom and dad called and said they wanted to take us out for dinner. We could hardly decide where we wanted to eat because in all reality we would rather have gone to bed and gotten some much needed rest! Finally they told us to meet them at Bob Evans, so we did. When I opened the door to the restaurant, mom and dad were right there, and mom had a little girl in her arms. She seemed vaguely familiar, but I had no clue who she was. After a minute, I spotted Valerie and Adam at the back of the lobby! They certainly surprised me! Earlier in the month I wondered if they may try to come up on their break from school, but with Mr. Profitt's cancer surgery and Valerie's health issue, I figured it was all but impossible. Wow. Suddenly I wasn't so tired anymore, and even managed to stay up until 2:30 Saturday morning catching up with my sis and bonding with my new little niece, Aubrey Nicole. Enjoy the pics.

Trick or Treat and Other Adventures...

Tuesday, October 28th, arrived very cold and drizzly. Because we had planned to go trick-or-treating with our good friends Josh and Crissie (who live just down the street), we decided to brave the weather. We ended up having fun anyway...Allison was scared to death of the adorable lady bug costume that Grandma Burley sent her, so we just kept her wrapped up in her stroller. She fell asleep on the last stretch of the journey :).
Kaitlynn, the clown...

Evan, the Ninja Turtle...

Ryan, the scary skeleton...



Cowboy Noah...

Indian Aaron...

Getting some candy from the village police chief...


Not sure which display was meant to be scary!


Piatt Castle - Mac-O-Chee

Our last field trip in October was to Piatt Castles, where we toured the Mac-O-Chee castle. Last year, while I was on maternity leave, the kids toured Mac-O-Cheek. Although I missed that one, I was very facinated with the second castle. The ornate beauty and history was an experience in itself, but I was more intrigued by the people who lived there. Donn Piatt, while a democrat, was described as a modern day Rush Limbaugh. He was a writer, and an avid political figure. One of the funny stories described his experience as a student at Xavier University (formerly Xavier College, I believe). He attended for two years until he was expelled for throwing his math teacher out the window - literally. Passionate fellow, to say the least!

Some of Donn Piatt's wisdom...

Kaitlynn loves to cook and arrange. A couple of days after trick-or-treating, I found the remainder of her candy opened and displayed like this. She was determined we were going to have it for dessert that evening...I think most of us graciously declined!


Lovin' her "big girl" seat a couple of weeks early...

I did this...

...while she did this!

PHC Annual Fall Retreat...

Every year our church family gathers at Beulah Grove (Bible Methodist Campground) in St. Mary's, OH for a weekend of lots of food, lots of laughter, and lots of memory-making. This year was no exception. I didn't take many pics (Sherry Mims' blog has quite a few), but I will share some of what I have. My favorite times during the weekend included the skits on Friday and Saturday nights, as well as Saturday's a.m. devotional time. We always have Bro. Alley do a devotional for us, and he never fails to bring us something challening from God's Word. This time he gave us some factual information about the solar system and the complexity of God's handiwork. What a blessing to know that God is in control! We had no idea what the next couple of weeks would bring in the world of politics, but after that time of reflection, we knew that it really didn't matter. If we are in His keeping, we can rest safely! During that time we were able to share together with how God is working in our lives. We exchanged challenges and victories, and strengthened our bond of spiritual friendship. It was good to just be able to relax and fellowship with friends in a wholesome environment. The kids had a great time as usual, and although we had previously planned to spend the weekend in Lynchburg at Liberty University's homecoming celebration, we were happy to save a few $ and stay a little closer to home!
Greg and Jason roasted a hog, and were a little freaked out when at 5 a.m. they realized the tank had a leak and was out of propane! All ended well (except for the fact that they were exhausted from a lack of sleep!), and the hog was yummy!


Dad played his guitar for morning devotions...

Emily and Kaitlynn taking their annual "sink bath". I wonder how long they will continue that tradtion? :)

Our asst. pastor and his wife coordinated some hilarious skits...

Today's the Day!

My blogging has been infrequent to say the least, but much of my recent "downtime" has been spent tied to Fox News! We are all concerned about the outcome of today's election, and I hope you are exercising your patriotic and Christian duty, which is to vote for the person who best represents Biblical principles. For those who think that it doesn't really matter who wins, think again. If Senator Obama is elected president, our way of life will change and experience a very negative impact. For those of us who work, invest in a 401K, own a home, buy gas, have children, etc., an Obama victory would mean more of our income going to government programs that are in direct violation of God's Word (abortion on demand without restriction being one of a long list), and a complete breakdown of the Constitution as it was originally intended. If Reed and Pelosi aren't scary enough, add Obama and you'll have a combination that would mean certain destruction to our Supreme Court nominations.
Of course, if you are a leech to the goverment, never taking responsibility for yourself or furthering the American Dream in your own life, Obama is your man. You can probably bank on being able to hang out on the porch for the next four years and receive a check in your mailbox on a regular basis. As for today's outcome: I have listened to probably hundreds of pollsters, politicians, and media types over the last couple of months. As of last night, this thing is definitely a dead heat. It all depends on undecided voters. Internal polls conducted by the campaigns themselves are telling a slightly different story than the mainstream media outlets. I will be very interested to see what happens, and after we take our kids to the polls with us to cast our votes, I will be prepared to spend a looonnnggg evening baking items for the school's bake sale and listening to election returns. Whatever happens, we know God is in control.
A little update on our "almost 1-year-old" baby, Allison Brooke. She is ten days from being 1, and she cut her first tooth yesterday! Last weekend we purchased her "big girl" car seat, and she absolutely loves being able to sit up and look out the windows. I purchased a fairly large quantity of formula a few weeks back, so I am finished with that! She started crawling about 2 or 3 weeks ago, and is about ready to walk. I know this is all rather late according to the "charts", but she's my baby and I don't mind a bit! One thing that cracks me up about Alli is that since about 6 or 7 months she has tried to imitate words. When she doesn't feel intimidated or shy, she will copy about anything anybody says. Scary, but cute! The other day Greg was a little "stressed", it was about bedtime, and he had heard enough questions from the boys for the day. They were in bed hollering, "Hey, dad..." about every 30 seconds. He said to me, mocking them, "I'm SO tired of hearing, 'Hey, dad! Hey, dad! Hey, dad!'" Alli, who was sitting on Greg's lap said, "A dad!" It was so cute, and perfectly timed. Kind of melted away some of his stress! She will often say "Thank you" if she is handed something, knows how to remove her high chair tray and sippy cup lid :(, and loves to take a "bash"! She is a chatterbox, and we are enjoying her immensely!
Sorry I don't have any pics ready to post. I'll try to get to them after my election jitters have faded away!
Now go vote!

Gotta Love the Little Gals!

Since I am totally done having kids (yes, I'm done, and I say it with confidence!) my blog is getting a little stale. Although every day is an adventure in one way or another, I do not have the ability to turn every occasion into a hilariously entertaining, bloggable event! I need to take lessons from Angie D., I know. :) Anyway, last Saturday found us taking advantage of the beautiful weather in Holmes County. Most people probably think we're insane...two Saturdays out of the last 3, driving 140 miles each way for a few hours of fun. To put it in perspective, it is easier for us to drive over 2 different days than to pack every conceivable necessity for 6 people, pay through the nose for a hotel in that high demand area, and arrive around 6 p.m on Friday night after the sidewalks have already rolled up and the charming Amish towns and countryside are all quiet. Last Saturday was enjoyable, and I didn't take any pics because the moments weren't exactly Kodak-worthy. :) At the end of the day we went to the Amish Door Restaurant for an enjoyable family-style dinner. Our waitress was Amish, and Kaitlynn was starry-eyed as she watched an Amish family in the corner of the dining area. They had a little girl about Kaitlynn's age, and she was all decked out in her traditional dress. Toward the end of our meal, our waitress came to ask if there was anything else she could do for us. Kaitlynn looked at her very adoringly and said, "I wish we were Amish." Greg and I just sat there in awkward silence, and the waitress replied, "Well, thank you, honey!" I guess she took it as a compliment. I explained that Kaitlynn was really facinated with the family across the room, and the waitress thought it was cute. I have since tried to picture Kaitlynn being Amish, and although we are conservative, I just don't think she would quite fit! I can only picture her sparkly hot pink shoes peeking out from underneath her long black dress! Here are a few pics of her "outlet shopping" with me last month...