Ashlyn ... 22 Weeks Old

Ashlyn is 22 weeks old today.  5 1/2 months old already!

She grabs everything.  Feeding her baby cereal is going much better!  She is starting to cling to me more and more.  Getting shy?  So many people have asked me this just in the past few weeks.  "Is she getting shy?"  I don't know?  Sometimes she cries when someone she doesn't know talks to her (like a lady did at the grocery store this week and she started crying).  Then sometimes she gives a beautiful smile to the next stranger she sees.  I think maybe it's her mood.  She does like to be with me the best (I AM her mom thank you very much!!!), but loves to be with her daddy too and absolutely loves the attention she gets from Hadassah and Matthew!  Without a doubt, she's a blast!

Here is Ashlyn at 22 weeks old ...

She loves to play with this little frog rattle. 

She is reaching and grabbing for anything around her!

 

Ridin' Cowboy!!!

Uncle Alvin's annual rodeo was last night at their house in the arena! 

The kids and I usually like to go every Monday night and the kids enjoy all the horses, cows, and yummy food!  We didn't go as often this year though; I think baby had something to do with this!  It takes more effort to take a stroller and baby to events and staying at home just seemed to win most times!

But last night was the BIG Rodeo night at Uncle Alvin's!  We were not going to miss out!  Hadassah and Matthew were excited!  Seeing the clown, all the riders on their horses, extra yummy food options, and hanging out with friends was thrilling for them!  The crowd was hundred's of people and it was a beautiful night and we enjoyed the show!!!

 

Uncle Alvin and my dad ... they did a great job getting this whole event together!!!

They did different relays and races.  One event was carrying an egg on a spoon and riding around the arena.  Alvin even got first place with this event!

"SMILEY" ... the clown!!!

The kids all wanted some of this!!!  Sweet candy ... so ungodly!

Matthews been collecting soda cans all summer!  If anyone has cans that they don't know what to do with or if you just throw them out, you would make Matthew's day if you gave them to him!  (We even picked up a few cans in the Phillies parking lot and along the road that people left lay!)  This seems to be a fun project

for him!  He made this box and Mommy D. has been helping him with getting them at the arena! 

Here is his box setting out beside a trash can!  Good job Matthew!

The cows ready for their event.

  Thanks Alvin and Ruth and family for the fun night!!!

Hurricane Irene

We've been hearing a lot about all this rain we are to get and the strong winds!  We've been watching the news, listening to the radio, and talking to friends about the storm.  It seems like this week will be a record in my journal and blog ... first the feeling of an earthquake and now the affects of a hurricane.  (Mike suggested moving to Nicaragua.?.  I nicely reminded him, "If you run from natural disasters ... you will run for a very long time!!!"  He was kidding about moving and just wanted a response from me.  He got one!)

Is God trying to get our attention?  I have to think of the bible verses that speak of the end times having earthquakes, floods, and full of sin! 

"And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars:  see that ye be not troubled:  for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.  For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:  and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.  All these are the beginning of sorrows."
Matthew 24: 6 - 8

Then I remind myself of these verses ...
"Fear thou not; for I am with thee:  be not dismayed, for am thy God:" ... Is. 41:10
"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."  John 14:27
"Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you."  I Peter 5:7
"The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble."  Ps. 9:9

Well, the rain has started at our house.  We will try to stay as dry as possible ... meaning staying indoors. 

This past week our cat, Whiskers, had yet another litter of kittens.  I think there are 5.  She has them in our chimanex on the back porch.  The kids were concerned that the kitties will get wet, so they put a board on top with some stones to weigh it down.  We hope they will be OK.

Go Phillies!!!

We were given four Phillies vs. Mets tickets for this past Wednesday afternoon.  The seat are really great and the ticket price is $63.00 a piece!  Thanks to Lumberman Ass. for the tickets! 

It was a beautiful afternoon and because the kids had their first day of school, Mike and I picked them up at early dismissal and headed for mom's to drop off Ashlyn.  We got to the game a few minutes late, but still had a great time!

They lost ... but we cheered!  It was hot ... but we ate icecream!  It was long ... but we waited out the game by eating some delious crab fries with cheese!  We were thirsty ... so we got lots of ice and a coke!  We were sitting in the hot sun ... so the usher ushered us to shade seats in the eighth inning!  It was baseball ... and we were loving it!  The tickets were free ... but we still spent money on food!  It was time off of work ... but time with the family and kids!  WE ARE BLESSED!

Thanks mom for babysitting Ashlyn and thanks to Dean for the tickets!!!

Good bye swimming pools???

Well, because school is now beginning that also means we usually have to say goodbye to swimming.  So, on Monday we made sure to get to the pool one last time before school starts.  The strangest thing happened though and I am sure a lot of you felt it too!  An earthquake ... we were sitting at the pool and mom said, "Jody, did you feel that?  My chair is shaking."  They looked around to see if one of the kids were kicking their chair.  Then soon others around the pool were saying the same thing.  I didn't feel it because I was bouncing Ashlyn and trying to get her to sleep.  We tried calling our husbands right away and all the cell phone lines were busy.  We were able to call land lines and I called Mike's shop and they felt it too.  It was reported that there was an earthquake from Virginia up through the states till New York.  5.9 earthquake.  Thankfully, there was no big damage and no one reported hurt!

It was a lovely day!  Gorgeous weather.  Sunny and blue skies with a low humidity!  I love, love this type of weather.  It is warm afternoons but cool in morning and evenings!

Hadassah caught a frog at the pool.  Even though she only was able to play with it for a few hours, she named it "Ribbit".  Normally girls don't play with frogs, right?  She actually was all 'girlly' with it.  She hardly touched it with her hands because that would be gross.  She would use the pool toys to scoop it up and put it wherever she wanted it to be.  Later, she got to enjoy one more order of cheese fries before coming back home.

Matthew loved the toys that were at the pool.  There were a few boats that he entertained himself with.  I love the pictures that I captured with him playing with the boats. 

"RIBBIT"

MATTHEW PLAYING WITH THE POOL BOATS ...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ashlyn is now 21 weeks old ...

I am trying to feed her some baby rice cereal in the morning.  She is making a real mess out of it!!!

Really ... what did we do without her?  Life is fun!!!  Life is full of smiles from her!  Life is great!

Back to school

Today is the first day of school for our kids.  2011 - 2012 school term has officially begun!

Hadassah is starting 4th grade.  I know ... I can hardly comprehend that thought!  Fourth grade is for kids that are growing up!  I remember being in fourth grade, so how can I have a daughter in that grade already?  She's excited.  She was nervous.  Even though she knows how the school routine works, it always brings butterflies to her stomach each new school term!  She chose frosted flakes this morning for her breakfast and pretzel sticks for her school snack.  She called up Courtney this morning and planned to wear their same new pink shirts on their first day of fourth grade!  Teeth brushed, hair combed, and out for the bus!  She got on the bus with a smile and ready for her new day!  I know she will love her teacher, Miss. Ranck!

Matthew is entering 1st grade!  He's been counting down the days and could not wait to go to his first day of first grade.  He woke up this morning like a charmer!  He literally jumped out of bed, promptly ate his fruit loops for breakfast, dressed himself in his new jeans and favorite Nicaragua shirt.  He was so excited to be allowed to grab his brand new 'blinking sketcher shoes' out of the shoe box and put them on his feet!  He was all smiles!  He packed his crackers with peanut butter and marshmellow in his lunch for a snack and his water bottle was put on the side of backpack.  His teacher, Mrs. Koenig, sent a welcoming postcard last week and said to bring along to school "something that shows one of your favorite things to do."  He picked his little league trophy and a picture of him playing ball and put it in a Tupperware and it was tucked in his backpack too!  He brushed his teeth, sprayed his hair, and after feeding the cats he was ready for the bus!

I love the enthusiasm the kids have about school.  Their excitement to learn and go back and see all their friends is really neat!  It's a HUGE blessing to be able to send them to a Christian school that is filled with great teachers that I know will not only teach academics but also lessons from the Bible!

Another huge highlight for today is going to watch the Phillie's.  Hadassah and Matthew only have school till 11:30.  We will pick them up at school and head right to Philadelphia to watch the Phillie's play ball!  Matthew can't wait!

Have a great Wednesday and now I need to get some things done around the house before it's time to head to school and go watch the Phillie's!  (My babysitters are in school now.  Hoping baby will adjust to that quickly!) 

It's back to school today for the kids and I'm going to see if there is something new for me to learn today too!  Be blessed!

Vacationing at the mountains with family ...

We usually try to get in a weekend vacation with my family during the summer and it all happened this past weekend in Clearfield.  We went to Dad's small cabin in Clearfield and a big pole barn.  There are bedrooms and bathrooms in the pole barn and so most of us slept out there.  We also have a kitchen out there and do all the cooking and eating in there.  It works great!!!

The kids were looking so forwards to spending time at the mountains again and time with their cousins!  Hadassah bought a tee shirt for Morgan that says, "You are the mac to my cheese."  Jody made Hadassah and Morgan both a nightie skirt!  These two girls have a lot of fun together dressing up, painting fingernails, combing their hair the same style, etc.!

Megan ate sooo much fruit up there!  Her and her apple ...

... GIRLS ...

  

Our pretty girl ... Hadassah in the hammock.

The boys had a blast too!  Riding the golf cart, seeing the bear, playing kick ball with LaVern, hanging out with their dads, etc. was so much fun!  Matthew loved the Lego's that Mommy bought for the boys to put together!  He also loved going 'spotting' and seeing the bucks, does, and fawns!

Matthew is eating snacks and Ryan is playing baseball.

Matthew was hanging out with Ashlyn on the floor and she was trying to get his snack!

Ashlyn did good.  Sleeping in another bed (pack-n-play) is something she needs to get better with, but she was happy during the day and content!  I started giving her some baby cereal up there.  The first time she was too hungry to try something new!  She was crying and wanted her bottle now!  Not in the mood!  The second time went better, but still not real impressed.  I'm sure it will take a few more attempts and she will be eating it great!

Ashlyn enjoying the time with daddy on the hammock!!!  Adorable!

Playing on the floor ...

She fell asleep on the hammock while hanging out with John Mike. 

(I think it's because she was tired and not because John Mike was boring!  Ha.)

Mike (well, actually everyone) loved the hammock hanging by the porch!  He relaxed in there and read his book!  Then when it was time for the campfire to start burning, he was the one that kept poking it and stirring the ashes around!  (This seems to be something he just can't help doing when there's a campfire!  Guessing his mama didn't teach him to NOT play with fire!)  He went for a 5 mile run on Saturday morning.  He also mowed dad's big field with the tractor.  He said he started out thinking that "being a farmer would be a blast!!!  Sit on the tractor and enjoy the sunshine and the ride!"  Then after about 2 hours of mowing, he thought "OK this is just fun now and not a real blast".  Then 2 hours later, he was sick of it.  (He did not have to mow!  His choice!)  After one more hour of mowing, he came back to the cabin sneezing and sneezing.  Too much grass and start of his early fall allergies???  He then thought farming "would not be his choice of occupation"!!!  Mike did have a great time at the cabin too!  Thanks Hun for hanging out with us and being such a great daddy to our kids!

XOXO!!!

I spent most of my time at the cabin enjoying watching the children play, helping with the meals, caring for Ashlyn and trying to not get stung!  The bee's were terrible up there and people kept getting stung!  Mom got stung in the neck and it really burned!  Megan got stung twice ... in the finger and right beside her eye!  Melanie got stung in the finger too! 

Poor Megan ... she got stung right beside her eye. 

Nothing a band aid can't make better, right???  Her eye is starting to swell.

Dad loves to feed the wild bear up there!  All the food scraps, bacon grease, peanuts, old cakes and bakery items he can find, he feeds to the bear!  (He collects these foods throughout the year and puts it in the freezer till he goes to the cabin.)  His efforts paid off on Saturday night when a bear came for the goodies!  It was a fairly big bear and we enjoyed watching it eat and eat and eat.  Later that night, the boys saw a mother bear with cubs come for some food!

Now, it's back to 'real life'.  My garage is full of dirty laundry and I have peaches to can and the yard to mow and the kids to take to the dentist for some fillings!

Have a great day and we have only a few short days to enjoy at home together before the kids are back in school!  Be blessed today!

THANKS MOM AND DAD FOR THE CABIN AND THE FUN WEEKEND!!!