What we have been up to lately.

Okay all, it has been so long since I have posted anything so I thought that I better let you all know that I am alive and well. I will kind of hit the highlights for the last couple of months.
Me: I am an aunt again. My little sister had her baby yesterday. She named her Sophia Anne. She is spending some quality time with her grandpa in the picture below.

I have been helping to coach my son's basketball team. What a joy it is to be involved in his life in this way. I get to see him step up and be a leader for his team. I have also been having quite a difficult time health wise. I seem to be getting sick every few days with different things. Not very fun. In addition to getting sick I have also been having quite a bit of trouble with my knees again. I have to see the doctor on the 12th of February to see what they will do. I have never really had trouble with my right knee, but favoring it for the past few years while I had trouble with the left one has apparently aggravated it. Luckily I don't need my knees to crochet, lol, which is also taking up a lot of my time. I enjoy crocheting in the evenings when the house is quiet. I even sold a few items in my Etsy store!! Okay well I think that about covers my life the last few weeks now on to someone else.
Kurt: my wonderful husband. He is busy, busy, busy. He is still working (we are so very thankful that he has a job) while taking several classes online toward his degree. He seems to have just as much school work as the children some days. He is still searching for a job in South Dakota. His family is there and after visiting in August we decided if he could get a job there we would move. I must say that I am thankful to have one more winter in North Carolina. He has decided not to play baseball this year. He loves it but it is demanding on his time.
C: He is currently playing basketball and preparing for the start of baseball season. He has always had a great love for sports and seems to do well. He was voted as one of the captains by his teammates.

J: He is my assistant in the house. He stays home and takes charge of the house while basketball consumes my time. He is a very responsible young man. He also enjoys his video games.
K: Big news for K is that she is getting baptized tomorrow!! I am so excited for her that she has made this decision. She is growing up so fast. She is still enjoying public school and making new friends.
A: She is really enjoying Kindergarten, although there are some days lately when she asks if she can stay home and home school so she does not have to get up so early. She still loves going to gymnastics once a week. Oh, I almost forgot. She has lost her first two teeth. The two on the bottom. They were ready to come out since the grown up teeth were already half way in behind them.
Well I think that about covers everything that has been happening lately.

A Week I Will Always Remember

This past week will be a week that I will never forget. My dad came to visit.
Now many of you may wonder why this event would mean so much to me. Well that is something that takes a little explaining.
My parents divorced when I was in 2nd grade. I was lucky to have maintained a great relationship with my dad through the years even though he was living 3 hours away from my mom while I was growing up. I would go and visit him during holiday breaks and during the summer. But because my parents were divorced my dad didn't come to my house to visit so that was always something that I longed for growing up. Then I went and married a military man and moved all over through the years which made it difficult for him to come and visit.
Other things made it difficult, his work schedule, his health, family activities, my step-mom's work schedule, the things that we all deal with when trying to figure out if we can make a trip or not.
Well, my dad turned 60 years old on Monday and for his birthday Kurt and I flew him down from Ohio for a visit. He flew in on Tuesday and stayed until Friday. We didn't do a whole lot, mostly stayed in and enjoyed each others company.
I hope that this is just the first of many visits.

Home Sweet Home

The children and I just took a "vacation" and went to Pennsylvania and Ohio to visit some of my family. Kurt was not able to go because he had to stay home and work. We were able to stay a week in PA and 3 days in Ohio. It was a very busy trip with lots of friends and family to see. Many of these people my children don't know or don't remember. The last time I was able to visit PA was a year and a half ago and before that it was 5 years. I grew up very close to my family so it makes me very sad that my children don't know them like I do.
I lived in Punxsutawney, PA for the first 19 years of my life and about 75% of my family still live within 30 miles. I feel like it is "home" to me.
We have lived here in North Carolina for 9+ years and it is the only "home" my children remember. It is very strange to me that my "home" is not the same as my children's.
Home is where the heart is and my heart is with Kurt and my children so as long as I am with them I am home, but a small part of my heart will always be in PA.
I know that there will be many "homes" for us and each one brings so many new things to our lives: new friends, new adventures, new challenges, new memories. I don't know how many places I will call home, but I know where my final "home" will be and that one is the most important.

Happy New Year!!!

We had a fun time at our church on New Year's Eve. We played some games and enjoyed a great evening. This wouldn't be a bad picture if I wasn't doing something weird with my mouth.

"A" was ready to PARTY!!!

"K" also had a great time!!

Kurt won a couple rounds of Ping Pong.

Even the boys had fun!!

Car Show

Kurt, C, J and K all walked over to the Car Show on Saturday. They enjoyed getting some time out of the house as we have mostly been stuck at home not feeling well for the past week. A was still sick so she and I stayed in and I worked on more crafts.

My Tree is Growing!!

Almost five years ago when we moved into this house my Aunt Kathy wanted to give us a housewarming gift. She always liked magnolia trees, so she gave us the money to buy one and plant it in our new yard. This magnolia was planted just three years ago. It was amazing the other day when I looked out the window and saw so many blooms on it. Every time I look at it I think of my aunt and the beauty of nature that surrounds us. Thank You, Aunt Kathy!!!

Happy Birthday to Kurt!!!

We had a busy day today. Kurt had to work (of course!!) so I took C to his All Star practice from 10:30 until 12:30. Then we went to the lake from about 1:00 to 3:00. After the lake we went to have our family pictures done for the year. What an experience. We had them done at the Walmart Portrait Studio. We have not had pictures done there in a long time, but never had a bad experience. We had a 4:15 appointment. Kurt took all the kids home and took C to ball practice again at 6:00 and came back to get me. After repeated problems with the computers we finally left the portrait studio at 7:00, went back over to the ball field to pick C up. Got home about 7:50, picked up the other children and went out to eat Chinese food in a terrible thunderstorm and flash flood and got home at 9:20 to our house alarm going off. What a day!!

Hope you enjoy the pictures!!

BTW. . . J wanted to have colored highlights put in his hair for an early birthday present. He chose blue. What do you think. Good choice?

Fun at the Lake!!!

Enjoying our time together. . .

We have been enjoying our summer at a local water park. It is quite relaxing for me to take the children there for a few hours in the morning and let them play for a while. Because we are only minutes from the lake we can then go home for lunch. I will post more pictures as we take them.

Baby Bunny!

Kurt and the boys were out doing yard work this weekend and came across a bunny nest. This little bunny was so cute. The children of course wanted to keep him (as if they could catch him). But he soon tired of having 12 eyes looking at him and ran off.

C turns 14!!!

C turned 14 today!!!
I hardly feel old enough to have a 14 year old. LOL

C had a few friends over for the night and had a good time.

He also got to have a lot of fun today at the Annual Church Picnic. He used all his birthday money to buy an IPOD! He is really enjoying it.
He also got his hair colored. He has streaks of bright red through the top. Doesn't he look great!! I know the 18 year old girl that saw him at the store thought so. She walked right up to him and told him that she really liked his hair. LOL

Our unexpected trip to Florida.

Even though is was a sad trip (we traveled to Florida for Kurt's dad's funeral), we still were able to get away and do something fun. We visited a place called Venetian Gardens that Kurt and his family visited many times when they were young. Kurt and his brother and sister remembered taking pictures there when they were children.

Please Pray For Us

Please keep us in your prayers this week as Kurt found out yesterday (May 10th) that his father has passed away. We will be traveling this week to Florida to be with Kurt's family and attend the funeral. Kurt has had an unusual relationship with his father and has just in the past couple of years renewed his relationship with him and began to strenghthen the bond between them. We know that one day we will be united in Heaven.
Thank you for your prayers.