Trent's Birthday

I thought I would put up a few pics of Trent's b-day. Matt came home from hunting that day, so it was extra-special. Although I think Trent was really only excited to see him because it meant we were going to Chuck-E-Cheese!!

Well I know it's been awhile since I've posted anything. So much going on! Nothing terribly exciting, just a lot of day-to-day busyness. We had a nice, quiet civilized Thanksgiving with Matt's family. The kids helped me bake rolls. They're such helpers! Something apparently upset Trent and he had a tantrum and took his sock off. I have no idea why he does that, or pretty much anything else that he does, for that matter.

Well, Lana has strep throat. Poor girl! Her throat, neck and head hurt. She's existing on applesauce, chicken soup and pudding. Thank goodness I just made 35 quarts of applesauce, she's already gone through one just herself! She is devestated that she missed school yesterday and today. Oh, the tears. You would've thought she was missing Christmas. I wonder how long that will last.

Last night Lana was FINALLY able to put on her costume (princess, of course) and go out trick-or-treating. Trent refused to wear a costume, surprise surprise, but he had camo pants on and carried his pop gun, while Matt wore his full hunting gear and carried the other pop gun. He was a little scary. Somehow, people still gave Trent candy even though he totally wasn't dressed up. I told him he was cheating, but I don't think he cared. Some other little kids came with us (Ruthie, Joanna and John) who I think had just as much fun. Especially Ruthie. She held Trent's bag for him and he had to keep reminding her that it wasn't HER candy, she was just holding it for him. Fun times. And way too much chocolate. Ugh. Extra minutes on the elliptical, here I come!

Today I'm spending the day making applesauce with Ashley. Sounds exciting, I know, but I've barely had 2 minutes to talk to Ash in the past 6 months, so I've been looking forward to this day for months!

Wow. That's all I can say. I couldn't get enough of watching their reactions after that 3rd strike. Matt scoffed at my sniffles, but come on, it was emotional! I feel that I would've enjoyed celebrating with Tim and Jen, instead of Matt, who asked if we could go to bed now.

Field Trip

Today I went with Lana on her first field trip. It was so fun to see her interacting with the other kids. I found out that in a group she is very shy! Who would've thunk it. And her teacher is a very amazing woman. I SO would not like teaching kindergarten.

Lana's best friend from school, Inez, moved here from South Africa 2 years ago. She is very sweet and I had the opportunity to spend the afternoon with her Mom, who is very dedicated to the Lord. We were sharing how we prayed that our daughters would find friends whose families shared our faith and values, and He answered! Plus it's totally fun listening to them talk, since they have that great accent.

And, of course, tonight the Phillies are going to win the World Series, so all in all it's been a really great day. :-)

GO PHILLIES!!!

I learned last night that it is very lonesome watching the Phillies in the World Series all by oneself. Matt was out and there was only Tucker to startle with my exclamations of joy and angst. He is a faithful friend and stayed by my side, but he couldn't exactly discuss with me whether that pitch was inside or not. Besides, he had separation anxiety from Matt. The poor dog was beside himself with worry. I'm pretty sure he thought that Matt was never coming back. When Matt did come home, I thought that Tucker was going to have a heart attack. Pretty funny. What is it about Matt that invokes such love and devotion from even his dog? :-) Because he's awesome, probably. Do I tell him that enough? Probably not.

What a beautiful weekend! We spent most of it outdoors, enjoying the crisp, cool weather. On Saturday we went on a hayride with a group of friends. The horses pulled us out to a pumpkin patch where we spent most of our time trying to find Trent the perfect pumpkin. It had to have just the right size stem, and not a single spot on it. Needless to say, he had to settle for one with just a teeny spot on it, which he accepted but not without pointing it out to us several times. Lana had fun running between the rows and trying to get people to take pictures of her.

Yesterday after church we went to Ott's with Matt's Mom, Chad, and Chad's girlfriend Sarah. We go every year and the kids are such pros at posing at just the right spots for pictures. After that we went back to Lynda's for dinner and a marathon leaf-raking session. She kept thanking us for helping, but I don't think she realized how much fun we had! I think we got the better end of the deal. We don't get that many leaves from our one tree in the backyard, so they couldn't get enough of the enormous pile we had. Anyway, we came home exhausted but recharged for a new week.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to see what a brave little girl Alison really is. She was in the hospital for about 9 hours, being poked, prodded, stuck, and taped. She was funny with the doctors, telling them to get out and to stop talking to her Mommy!! Wouldn't you? :-) But in between, she was happy and smiling, playing and reading. She was jumping up and down while Kim and I were exhausted. She's amazing! It was hard to see her go through all of that, but she was so good! Even in between bouts of getting sick on the way home, she was chatting and laughing. When I got home all I could do was hug my kids so tight. Unfortunately I have even less patience with Trent's tantrums about his lid not matching his sippy cup!! Lord help me!

Trent has developed a fear of the dark. A real terror that I can't just tell him to get over. We bought him a little lamp that we leave on at night, and he's fine as long as that light stays on. Last night I asked him what he was scared of, and he said that when the light is off there is a shadow that looks like scary hair. Oh, how that sounds familiar! I don't remember how old I was when I developed my fear of the giant with crazy hair outside the doorway of my room. I was in the bottom bunk of the crib in our little "nursery", and beyond the doorway past Mom and Dad's steps was a tall bookcase with a big spider plant on top. I absolutely knew that it was a bookcase with a plant on top, but that didn't stop my insides from shaking when the light went out. It was transformed. My eyes were glued to that giant; I just knew that if I looked away or hid under the covers that he would sneak in and get me. I would call for Mom and she would come down and show me what it was, but as soon as she went back upstairs he reappeared. I would just lay there in terror until I fell asleep. At some point, obviously, I got over it, as I trust Trent will. It just seems funny to me now, and I don't think that I'm traumatized at all by it.

Yesterday we got to visit with both Grammy Manthey and Grammy Metz. I forgot to bring my camera in to Grammy Metz's, and besides that, she was in a great hurry to get to her 4:30 dinner reservation.

If anybody ever asks where we get our weirdness, I think we can look further back than Dad . . .

The Sweetest Sight!

Alison is in remission! God is so amazing. To top it off, her white blood cell counts were really high yesterday, so the kids and I were able to go over and play for awhile today. They were so excited to see each other and finally get to play. It will still be week to week as far as her immunity goes, so we hope to enjoy the good days while we can.

The other day Joanna and I were talking about how we don't show our emotions on the outside, we stuff them down and act like everything's alright until we just break down for no reason. Why do we do that? Why do I feel like I can't express how I really feel to others, even to Matt? I feel that I need to be the strong one. That crying means I have little faith. My way of dealing with things is just to not deal with them, until I absolutely have to face it.

I cry in the car. That's my "safe" place, I guess. The kids are entertaining each other or listening to music, and no one else can really see me. So I let myself think; I let the tears fall. Then, before we get to our destination, the mask is smoothly back in place. Sometimes people say to me they think I'm so strong, and all I can think is they're so fooled by me. But if they are, it's not their fault, it's mine.

Long Sleeves!

I love fall!! This weather makes me want to be outside all day. I love everything about it. Today I got to wear long sleeves for the first time, and I was so excited! I thought that Trent would share my excitement, but, having worn short sleeves all summer, he cannot comprehend why long sleeves are necessary. He screamed. He cried. He threw himself on the ground. He pulled his arm out of the sleeve. I told him if he did it again he would get a spanking. He did it again. He got a spanking. He did it again. He got a spanking. He did it again. He got a spanking. Finally he swooned upon his bed in a fit of sobs where he promptly fell back asleep. Sigh.

Tomorrow morning I'm going to visit my friend Kim and see Alison. It's my first time seeing her since she's feeling better, so I can't wait to see the old Alison back!


Tomorrow night after the Harvest Picnic at MVC we're going to stay the night with Matt's Mom. She had surgery on her wrist today, so the kids and I are going to keep her company and help her out around the house while Matt hunts. Let's all pray, for Matt's sake as well as my sanity, that he gets a deer at some point this year. He is going for buck and doe, archery and whatever you call it with a gun, and if he doesn't get anything, he'll be like a mopey kid who didn't get what he wanted for Christmas. Maybe soon I'll be able to show you the proud Daddy of a big dead buck deer.

So this is Princess Lana, and her faithful palace dog Woof-Woof. This pretty much sums up the nature of their relationship, Lana is IN CHARGE, and Trent is her faithful follower. She never ceases to amaze me with the things she comes up with, or what Trent will do to go along with it!

So I've been wanting to do this for awhile, but I don't have a lot of spare time, plus I have no clue what I'm doing. So, I'll learn as I go. I want all of our family to be kept updated on our family; life is busy and we don't get to see everyone nearly as much as we'd like, but the kids grow and do new things everyday, and I'd like to be able to share more of that with everyone. Let's see if I can keep up!