Needle Sized Art

This is incredible!

Needle Sized Art Very incredible story! Not only is this mans art cool but he got a ton of cash for it!

Congratulations Kristen & Jose

This past Saturday was another joyous occasion for the Groff's and Byers'. We were so thankful to be a part of their special day.

We were a little concerned with how Emily would do, but turns out she did better than we expected. She sat as still as could be while Charissa french braided and even trimmed her bangs. She had a blast during pictures. She did her part walking/skipping down the aisle and even rang the bells. She moved to the music with her buddy Kara and when the whole day was over she didn't want to take her "wedding dress" off.

Zoo trip with Mommaw

Emily received an early birthday present from my parents of a zoo pass so we could go before August. We had a lot of fun and of course Emily was ready to pitch a tent right by the pond with the geese and probably would have been content spending the night there. I wish there was some way to convince a child that when you leave a place of fun, that it does not mean you can never go back.

33 months old

Our little toddler has so much zeal for life. You can see it in everything she does. It's neat to see how much excitement shows in every new experience she has. Whether it's digging a hole for a flower or picking rocks out of the garden, she makes it so exciting. Her newest thing of enjoyment is jumping on the mini trampoline we bought mainly for those cold winter days last year and the fun has spilled over to this Summer.

Emily seems to understand that Mommy has a baby in her tummy and she's convinced she's having a sister. We had friends visiting a couple of weeks ago that have a newborn and while Emily was upstairs with Aunt Kristen the baby started crying. Emily's question was, "did Mommy's baby come out?".

Outdoor Fun

Free Stuff for Kids

For those who haven't seen yet, my Sister, web entrepreneur as I call her, has created a website called Free Stuff for Kids. The title explains itself and is a great website for everyone, even those that don't have kids. Check out the site by clicking here for the latest toy giveaway.

Happy Mother's Day

My mother's hands were always there.
Letting me know how much they cared.
They would clean my room and brush my teeth.
Buy me shoes to put on my feet.
Showing me how to plant in the back yard.
Letting me know it wasn't too hard.
Making my dress for the big dance.
Always letting me take a chance.
All the quilts her hands would make.
She would always give and never take.
How talented she is in every way.
I love her more every single day.
My mother's hands have never changed.
Some how they have always stayed the same.
Now they are different in one small way.
They hold her grandchildren when they want to play.
(c) Ellen Shost

I love you Mom! I am truly blessed beyond measure!

And baby makes 4

After many long months of prayer and by the grace of God, I am blessed to be pregnant with our second child. With the miscarriage last year we chose to wait a while before telling anyone. Two weeks ago we were able to share the good news with both sides of our family and our friends. I am now beginning my 4th month and the baby is healthy and growing. We can't say thank you enough to all those who joined us in prayer for this little one.

"Knit away, Lord, knit away."

32 months old - April 16

Emily has become quite the little singer around our house. Anytime she's playing and concentrating with her toys or when she's winding down for nap time she'll be humming away. I pray it continues and she has a joy for singing as her Mommy does.

We all had fun spending time with Gimmy, Pappy, Holly, Vern and Colby during their visits for Aunt Kristen's bridal and bachelorette showers and we're all anxiously awaiting the return of Mommo and Poppaw from their lengthy stay in Texas.

Emily is definitely an outdoor girl and we're so thankful the weather is getting nicer. She really enjoyed using her garden kit to help me plant the Martha Washington Geranium that Gimmy gave us and the Easter Lilly that Aunt Kristen gave us. She will definitely be a help when we get our garden up and running.

Easter 2009

This was Emily's 2nd year to participate in an Easter Egg Hunt. We had great weather and were blessed by the turn out from the community. Emily had a blast and spent the majority of her time playing with the plastic ducks in the wading pool. We were also blessed that some of our dear friends made Emily a set of resurrection eggs as an aid in sharing the true meaning of Easter with her. She couldn't wait to look in the specific egg each night.


EASTER SUNDAY
I know dressing up for Easter Sunday is not a focus for the season, but it's so cute seeing all the little boys and girls decked out in their fancy clothes.

"Directing" the tree.

Gifts from Family

Recently Emily has returned to her love of playing in the kitchen sink and our downstairs bathroom sink and she undoubtedly gets soaked every time so Mommo sent Emily a waterproof apron and since then Emily stays dry as a bone.

During one of our visits to Gimmy and Pappy's Emily played with the snowflake window decorations almost the entire time. So Gimmy started sending Emily her own window decorations for each season. She loves taking down the prior season decor and putting up the new things. Here Aunt Kristen and Emily are updating the Easter decor with the bunnies and egg stick-ons that Aunt Holly sent in Emily's Easter package.

Thank you all so much for these very special gifts!!!

31 months old

This month we all had the chance to go visit my Mom's side of our family in Texas. We had a great time and Emily really enjoyed her flying experience. She kept asking "are we going fast"? Also, much to my surprise she actually took about a 30 min. nap on the flight home, but that was probably because I had to wake her at 4:00am in order to make it to our 7:00am flight. The first thing we had to purchase upon arriving in Ohio was a tube of Dora toothpaste because that's what her cousin Jack used. The question now is how to get Emily to learn to spit?

I know patience is a virtue that even adults struggle with, but I think toddlers especially seem to have difficulty learning this lesson. Emily thinks if she says something once and I don't respond immediately that she has to repeat the request another 10 times. I have heard Emily say "you need to be patient", but I don't think she really comprehends the concept.

Emily's latest entertainment has been playing in the bathroom sink. She loves to fill it up "by herself" and play with her bathtub toys. We'll step away for a couple of minutes and then hear her down the hall having a full blown conversation with her toys.

Family Vacation to Texas March 2-12, 2009

We all had a chance to visit my snow-bird family at the beginning of March. We played outside the majority of the time, played board/card games, went fishing, went to Sea World and Charlie and my 2 Uncle's had the opportunity to go hog hunting. Thank you Neva for making that happen.

Emily and I had the chance to travel with Mom to visit Mark, Randa, Jack and David while in Texas. We had a great time and really enjoyed getting to see their beautiful new home. Of course, if we ask the cousins they'd probably say their favorite thing was playing in the bathtub or sharing popcorn before bed.





This is a stray cat that found his home at the "big house" and Emily naturally gravitated to him, even after an episode where Emily accidentally stepped on Pewter's paw and he scratched her foot. Today in Ohio while talking about our neighbors cats she recalled when Pewter scratched her foot and said "it's ok, God healed my foot".
This is a picture of one of the newly born calves on the farm of the very nice gentleman that gave us the gate key in order to fish in his fishing hole. I think this belongs on Pioneer Woman's site. hee hee
Emily's first fishing lesson. She was more enthralled with the bobber.

We had a great time at Sea World. Emily could not take her eyes off of Shamu. (More pictures from Sea World to come.)



Like Father, like Daughter.....check out the tongue while concentrating on the lawn.