February is here!

 February is here!!!  I love this month with all the reds and pinks and chocolates and the focus on Valentines!!!!  It makes the winter month be fun!

I don't ever remember not being able to see the park driveway for days!  It snowed two weeks ago and it's still not plowed!  And that means we are not walking.  I mean it's been in single digits and so cold outside but there's something like taking a brisk walk in the winter that does lift my spirit!  I've been reading more this winter and the puzzles are not being worked on very fast.  

Austin got another book report completed and it's a large postage stamp this time around!

OK .... I hear ya!

Ashlyn had her first volleyball tournament this past weekend.  I didn't take a chair along meaning I had to sit on bleachers the entire day!  Bleachers make my neck sore because it's hard for me to have good posture on a bleacher!  I feel like my neck falls into my shoulders!  And the only heat was from these heaters.  I was so glad I did remember a blanket that I kept wrapped around me!  Ashlyn had a good tournament but didn't make it to playoffs.  We came back home tired.  

This little guy is the sunshine in our lives!

The moon is so pretty this week!

We have candy hearts and crepes in the kitchen!  It must be February!

I love my heart shape thrifted new for me mug!!!

And the sunrises make me so happy!!!!  When I see the sun reflecting through our front door windows, I have to go peek outside!  This morning was so pretty with the sun shining on the snowy fields!  I see you God!!!!

We have some fun things coming up in February and I can't wait to spread some extra love to my husband and family!

Stay warm!

25th Wedding Anniversary!

25 years of loving!  25 years of marriage!  25 years of sticking together through all the tears, laughter and fun!  25 years of much learning about each other.  Learning how to respond when our buttons get pushed.  Learning how to deal with toddler tantrums and getting through all the baby years.  25 years together raising a family.  Remodeling the home we lived in ever since we said "I do!"  We grieved at a loss of one miscarriage and prayed for every single baby we brought into the world!  God has been so good to us!!!!

Mike and I really are best friends!  We love doing life side by side.  Not in the kitchen side by side.  I didn't say that now!  I like a clean house and when Mike goes into the kitchen to make something the burner is turned on high, the oil spritzes everywhere the smoke flies!  It makes my blood pressure rise.  So, side by side to live but not in the kitchen!  We have learned to laugh at our mistakes evidently!  We have deep talks about life and pray together every single day!  Life is hard sometimes and marriage is no exception.  Blending two different people and realizing that we think differently on many things ... it's up to us to get along.  To agree even if we may things differently than our spouse.

We've had many people speak life over us through the years.  At a church marriage retreat weekend, we were randomly picked to be a couple to pray for, ask questions too and it was such good advice and teaching that weekend!  Mike loves our teenagers.  I shy away from any drama.  We make a good balance.

Anniversary trips are high priority for us!  Taking some time with just the two of us is important!  We've traveled to different cities.  When we had little babies, we stayed local.  When we could, we scooted off to the tropics for a few days!  There are so many wonderful places to go see and we hope to go tour Italy in the Spring!

This was years ago in Philadelphia!!!!

 Mike had dealer day on our anniversary this year.  After I took Hadassah out for her birthday treat, I picked up Mike at work and we drove to Lititz!  We stayed at the Hilton in town and ate at the wonderful steak house connected to the hotel.  We grabbed good cup of coffee the next morning, walked through the town a bit, ate lunch and headed back home to our kids before they came home from school!

I bought my first pair of red heels and Mike was trying to put them on for me!

Our wedding day was a cold, snowy, beautiful day!  Friends and family gathered inside my home church and all the servers wore a shiny gold color dress!  It was the best day of our life together!  We drove down to the Philadelphia that night and flew out the next morning to Cancun.  Life was so perfect!

With 25 years of marriage behind us, we are changing.  Slowly changing from brown hair to grays.  We have more wrinkles.  We weigh more.  But we still have sparkling blue and deep brown eyes!  We still love each other, more deeply actually, than we did years ago.  We have learned a lot of life lessons!  Changes always take place when you go against time.  We got married with no cell phones and our children now could not imagine life without smart phones.  Land prices and groceries are way more costly than they were 25 years ago.  We changed churches and the way we dress.  One thing that remains the same is we love Jesus and ask Holy Spirit for guidance in our decisions.  

Being married for 25 years to my very best friend is a gift from God above!!!!  

Cheers to the next 25 years of more love, more time together, more travels, more grand babies more life hand in hand .... together!

Virtual day because of no school.

 No school on Tuesday.  We've had a really long weekend and it's time for the kids to get back to school but not today.  Actually, it's a virtual learning day meaning they need to do school here at home.  They brought a packet home last week in case the snow does really come to us!  So, Ashlyn did her school work on her own but Austin needed some help.  Even after looking up on Youtube how to do fractions, we ended up emailing his teacher and as soon as she gave only a few hints, Austin remembered!  Thank God for good teachers!  Austin Esh, a friend to our Austin, came over to play in the snow for awhile and they made a snow fort and drank ice rootbeer slushes.

Hadassah had a birthday and she was bummed to not go out on Monday for her birthday treat but we got it done on Tuesday when the roads were a lot better!  I took her to Sephora and she got to shop and I paid for  her pickings!  She loves this gift!!!!

Our children are growing up fast and the Petersheim family is just the best!  We love them so much!  Happy Birthday, Hadassah!

Snow storm in January!

We have a snow storm in the forecast and we are excited!  It's so cold here and the snow is gonna fall and blow and stay around for awhile!  To beat the storm, Austin got a haircut that he thinks is rad!  Then I took him to his baseball practice and I just have to smile at him.  He has one legging leg down and one tucked way up just like one of the high school boys does.  I'm sure his coach and friends are wondering what this is all about but I know exactly what's going on in his mind.

We don't do this every time, no, but this time we got McDonalds and New Holland Coffee food afterwards.

I saw the pink reflection of the sun on the wall by the front door and grabbed my camera!  These winter skies are just awesome!!!!

We are walking at the park if we can!  The paths are shoveled this time and it's cold but we walk and chat and get in our exercise!!!!

The sun came up so beautifully and if our snowman could speak, I wonder if it would say, "bring on the snow storm!!!!"

This is little buddy of ours is just the cutest and best baby!  He woke up from his nap so happy to see me!

Our phone weather apps were saying we could get up to 17-20 inches of snow!  Are we really???  The kids all came over on Saturday night to "get snowed in".  Meg and Mel were here too.  We did wake up Sunday morning to snow falling and freezing tempts!

I made a big breakfast for everyone and later in the day Matthew made snow ice cream and I made homemade maple marshmallows.
 

It did snow all day long.  My parents went to Florida on Friday night, as they had planned before the snow came and I sent them this photo!  We are enjoying the snow but Florida always sounds great in the winter months!

Before the snow came, Austin had a basketball game and picture day!  Let's go Panthers!

I finished this book!  It's a good read!

I tried to be prepared for the kids on Sunday morning!  I made a breakfast casserole and french toast sticks with sausage links!  The girls brought muffins!

The kids played in the snow in the evening.

And played the bean game in the afternoon.

We watched football together with all the baby snuggles!!!!!  Gunnar is so loved and so cute!

Arie and Ridley were here for the snow in too.  Matt and Daisy went back home in the 12 inches of snow on Sunday night.  Jere and Das stayed one more night because their driveway is not snow friendly!  Monday morning, the boys got to shoveling.  No school.  There is snow everywhere!!!!!  This is how our back porch looks like with a roof over it!!!!

Baby dear got to watch the birds outside my kitchen window before they went back home!

The marshmallows are good and the sushi we made on Sunday was also delicious!

We love it when the children come over!  So many smiles and snuggles!

It was time to get the house cleaned up after everyone left.  Ashlyn's volleyball practice got canceled.  There's no way the snow is going to melt in these freezing temperatures!  We are warm inside reading books, watching hunting YouTube and sipping on hot chocolate!

Snow is a gift from above!  Thank you Jesus!  Snow makes winter a bit more fun!