Fun holiday tradition

I wanted to share a fun holiday tradition with all of you. Every year at Tower City Center in Downtown Cleveland they have fun shows and activities for the whole family! We have gone almost every year since Merci was a baby. The main attraction, for us anyway, is the Toy Soldier. This guy is amazing. He is seriously like 7 feet tall. He has the traditional toy soldier costume on and has a wind up knob sticking out of his back. When the show starts they push him out and wind him up. Then off he goes waving and picking up little children. He walks like a real wind up toy, real stiff and robotic. It is really cool. They play Christmas music and have lots of dressed up characters from princesses to Frosty the Snowman. The fountain plays to music as the Fairy Godmother waves her wand. It is always a magical evening for us! They always play a song called Babies First Christmas and the Toy Soldier picks up the tiny babies and it is a great picture opportunity. Some people dress casual, but most dress their kids up in their holiday outfits and take pictures with the soldier.

There were many years Merci was scared to death of him and other years we got Great pictures. We missed going last year for Ethan's first Christmas, and I bummed to not have those pictures for his scrapbook.

We usually make it a whole long evening. We meet our family at the rapid station and head to Tower City for some dinner in the he food court, we watch the show, get pictures, they have twigbee shop (you know where only kids are allowed, they pick fun gifts for their parents..we have never done this but this year Merci will be old enough to enjoy it), and then we head out to Public Square to look at the tree and lights, sometime my brothers go ice skating. It is always so much fun. If you have kids maybe you would like to make it a fun tradition?? I don't have any pictures, they are all old fashioned hard copies and our scanner isn't working. (wow I can say old fashioned to something, I must be getting old) =)=)

No Show, just meet with characters:
December 4th & 11th @ 1 & 3 PM December 3rd, 10th,17th @ 2 PM December 18th @ 2 Pm
Show (about 30 min) and meet and greet:
December 3rd, 10th, 17th @ 1 & 4 PM December 18th @ 4 PM Dec 19,20,21,22,23 5:30 PM

binkies,a sick kid and Josh

Since my basement is freezing cold I have taken a break from my computer for awhile!

Ethan has been without a binky for 9 days now! YEAH. He really didn't need it and was becoming to dependent on it. He is doing great!!

Merci got sick Sunday at church. She had a sore throat and fever. So Monday we ventured to the doctors. It was strep=( At least she gets a whole week off school..She was out yesterday and today and there is no more school this week. It is nice having her home! She also got a flu shot so she won't have to deal with that this year. That was a real fun experience=) I was cracking up as she was screaming like we were cutting her arm off=) We enjoyed some yummy ice cream afterwards though!

Josh has finally posted so check it out.

Me. Well I am just keeping things together here.
Sunday I got prayed over in my class, by Mrs Moran (I love her, but have never experienced her prayer...man is she intense). Enough is enough was prayed over my family! I really felt like this was a promise from God. I have turned my head and am heading in a new direction and will continue my journey with my newly sprouted wings!

Happy Thanksgiving to ALL! Remember to give Thanks for everything..even your socks...even toilet paper. Do we realize how blessed we are??

Hard to be home

The last few days have been so blah. I dislike this cold weather A LOT. Hearing snow in the forcast makes me sick. I only appreciate snow on Christmas. Being away with Josh for the weekend was awesome. I loved every moment of it. It has been so hard to be back to life as we know it. It was so easy to be in awe of God in such a beautiful place. Just hearing the falls was amazing to me. I am SO bored with life. I am longing for the day I can spend more time with my husband become the best of friends. I love him and am so sad we made a foolish mistake and missed the time with each other without kids. It has been a long hard road we paved for ourselves. I am tired of feeling like our children are burdens and not blessings. I would never trade either of them for anything in the world. I am tired of cleaning, cooking, driving to and from Parma 2 times a day, having to shop for food, gifts clothes, gas...wasting my money on earthly things and not having any left. It is so hard to sit in a house that I appreciate but don't love. I need a change. I need more Jesus. I wish I could be more consistent in spending time with Him, I wish I could be consistant in everything. I lack consistency!! Very hard when you are trying to raise kids. I get so wrapped up in getting things done, I have no time for anything else. Why do we sit home all day instead of getting together with friends and family. Who cares about getting STUFF done. We need community, friends to love and laugh with. We need relationships with other loveers of Jesus to lift each other up, to be there for one another. Yesturday I decided I was going to start a "moms group" you know what forget "mom's group" what about a FRIENDS GROUP, A LOVERS OF JESUS WHO NEED MORE GROUP, we always talk about it, but never do it. I am doing it. We will meet one time before Christmas to share ideas, meeting places etc. and we will go from there. More detail to come.

I am longing for more of so many things. Hmmm... I think Angela's post made a lot of sense. It sparked a longing in me to long for more. Yeah and Bek's also. I need to be on constant (there goes that consistency thing again) in being in Faith for Josh's healing. I guess sometimes I forget because it isn't me going through it. But he still can't smell, see, taste or use his ankle 100%. he has neck and shoulder pain, memory loss, and he still smokes. He has been given the power over these illnesses. His problems have been paid for. Why do we loose hope. We cannot give up. Satan is at work in all of our lives daily and it makes me sick. We...ALL of us....need to not give up and take the promises that have been promised. We need to take a stand against the schemes of the enemy.

So I am venting..Thanks for listening!

We are home!

Home we are and ready to back. I missed my kids a lot and now I have seen them so I am ready to leave again. Especially after seeing all the laundry I have!
Actually it is noce to be home. I really missed my computer also. I have missed so much.
We had an incredible time. It was nice to actually think of my husband as a friend and spend quality time doing what WE want for a change.
I know you are all eager for some beautiful pictures.


This is the falls from a distance.
When I looked at the falls I just couldn't stop from thinking of
how Big and Amazing our God really is!


It's easy to take pictures of something so beautiful!


The American falls.
Josh took most of the pictures, I think this looks so cool
between the tree branches..no he didn't climb this one=)


We didn't get to go on the Maid of the Mist because it was shut
down for the season=( So we went on the Behind the Falls tour.
This is a picture of us on the observatory at the bottom of the falls.
But let me tell you, standing 50 feet away from falling water, was amazing!
I did a alot of thinking about heaven like Kenny's been talking about.


Night at the Falls!
I took this one=)

We had so much fun doing so many things. We went to Casino Niagara.
We cashed in $20 and were busy for about an hour and a half. Never won anything over $10, but had a lot of fun trying. I saw some guy win over $1,000 on a quarter slot machine. Saw a gambling addict continually pressing 2 differnt slot buttons at once. It was just a fun experience for me. I just wanted to try it=)

We have lot's more pictures if you want to look at them sometime!

GoodBye and Happy Anniversary

Goodbye all my blogging buds, we are leaving in few hours for a vacation...without the kids=)=( I have mixed feeling about this. We definately need time away, but I will miss my kiddos very much! I have never left Ethan for more than a few hours, so I hope my little guys does good!

Happy 5 year anniversary my love!!

Be back Sunday evening! With lots of pictures to post.
Please pray for safety of us traveling and for my kids. Thanks.

My Jeep has Heat!!

My Jeep decided to blow it's heater core a few weeks ago. It was undriveable because of the antifreeze blowing through the vents as smoke and making puddles on my floor. YUCK! We had a hard time finding the stupid part and then finding time to fix it. Josh and Lil' Josh (My brother) starting ripping the car apart on Sunday..Working on it ALL day...And unable to finish it.



When I said rip apart, I meant it.
No steering wheel, no ignition..NADA!!
And like 3 feet more leg room.

Today Josh put the finishing touches on and it is all back together!




I also wanted to take a moment and tell my wonderful handy husband how much I appreciate him. Josh I love you and appreciate all you do for us. You didn't know much about fixing cars but that never stopped you. You tried, and tried again in some cases. But you figured it out! You have saved us so much money on our vehicles. God gave me the perfect man for ME! When I am angry at you, I don't stay that way for very long. I just think of how much you do for us and how wonderful you are to me. I REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR HARD WORK! Thanks to you who needs winter coats in the car when you have a brand new heater!! Lots of love to my personal
handyman! XOXO

perfect weather

The weather has been OUTSTANDING! I love it. I have enjoyed being outside with Ethan and Merci. On thursday I took Ethan on a walk to the park. This was the first time I took only him! He had fun swinging, sliding and just wondering free.

Friday Merci had off school. It was parent teacher conferences, and we got her 1st report card! It was pretty good. Lots of S's and check marks. She had a lot to work on...like not going to the nurse EVERY day. You see Merci knows how to get around the rules in ALL situations. She is a girl who knows how to get what she wants. ( I always pray that this is used for only good things later in life!) But other than that she is right on track or above! We went to the park again!

Saturday I took the kids out bright and early because it was supposed torain ALL day (it never did rain). We raked and jumped in the leaves. It was fun!

Still no car..it is actually in process right now. I will update tommorw=)

Can you believe Friday will be mine and Josh's 5 year anniversary (kind of a big thought for a 24 year old). I am so excited. I think we have decided to go to Niagara Falls. Only 4 1/2 more days=) Like most of you know Josh and I have NEVER been away together. Our honeymoon was a night at the hotel where our reception was, and when chekout is 11 am and your reception goes until like midnight..it wasn't much fun! So this is BIG!

Pumpkins and more

I have been meaning to post a new entry about what we did on Halloween. Since we don't celebrate this holiday I wanted to have something fun for Merci to do. We made pizza, we carved pumpkins (Josh and I..Merci ended up washing the dishes for me??) and just enjoyed some family time! Check out our fun pumpkins.

And yes Josh was the creative one this time not me!!

Here is a funny picture of Ethan refusing to stick his hand in the goo! Even after putting his binky in there!



My little Ethan has been having a very hard time napping lately. He plays for like an hour and sleeps for 20 minutes. I am not sure what is going on with him. Today was no different he was fussing a little bit but not anything out of the ordinary. I finally gave up and went up to get him this is what I found!



He tore his curtain rod down and took of his pants which were hanging on the side of his crib ever so nicely!
Needless to say we moved his bedroom around today!

It was still a lovely day! This is the Fall season I love. Our Jeep is out of comission still so my friend Jen took us to take Merci to school. We then went out to breakfast at IHOP. When we got home Ethan and I walked to the bread outlet store around the corner and then went to the park to play! Jen also took me to pick Merci up and then we decided to take the kiddos to Chuck E Cheese...great time of day to go there was only like 2 other families there! So we had a adventurous day!
When we were on our walk I kept thinking of the Misty Edwards song You make all things Beautiful! Lord thank you for this beautiful season. Thank you for beauty! Lord I love you and want so much more!