Adams Clan Adventures

Girls Room Re-Do

2010-04-06T22:23:00.003-04:00

We have been busy painting, building and decorating the girls rooms this month. Grace got a new purple room and Sarah's is green. Grace's fits her tweenie image and Sarah's is Pixie Hollow. Hopefully I will be including some pictures. I am using Doug's computer and his fancy photo shop. I am still learning what to do and how to do it with this program. So for my first picture here is one of the kids at Easter. Ok so no picture. It didn't want to load. I need to get them smaller. Anyway, I am going to attempt to put more pictures of the rooms up asap.

Not much else is happening here in Britton. The kids are off of school this week and we are just trying to keep them busy. Grace went to a friends yesterday and today and the boys are going to a friends tomorrow. They also had a friend over just before Easter. Daniel and Sarah are staying busy too. They like having the bigger kids to play with too.

Doug spent the last two days in the garage. He built a shelf and stool for Sarah's new room. They are both really good. Sarah's bed is higher than she is used to so he built the stool for her to get up into the bed and the shelf is so she can organize her stuff. Grace has shelves on her head board and she had her stuff on it minutes after it was complete. She likes to be organized. She often re-organizes when she is bored.

OK so I am going to go back and try and learn this photo editor so I can add some pictures to this blog. I hope you all had a great Easter.

Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!

Shooting, Stitches, & Substitute Teaching

2010-02-08T19:40:00.003-05:00

No, they aren't all related, but they about sum up what we have been up to in the Adams' Clan for the first month or so of the new year! We have been busy and blessed!!

In January the twins started shooting with the local 4H club. Every Saturday they go to the Lenawee county Shooting Grounds and shoot BB's for an hour and a half. They pooled some of their Christmas money and purchased a BB gun. It just arrived this week and they were very excited. They had been using the club's guns. They will continue to do that as they switch each week with the new gun. I am not real sure how I feel about this whole shooting thing, but the boys seem to really enjoy it and it is very safe and structured. I will send the camera with Doug next week so I can post some pictures. They even get pretty good scores, lots of 7's, 8's, 9's and even 10's. (Think of the center of the bulls eye as 10 and each ring away from that goes down incrementally.) Their scores get higher each week.

Now for the stitches. Daniel, you had any doubts this involved him?, two weeks ago Thursday, got his finger pinched in the hinge side of the outer bathroom door at school. They called my cell phone and it was luckily lunch time so I could answer, since I was at work. They told me he pinched it and it was bleeding quite a bit and they wanted us to come in and take a look at it. So I called Doug who happened to be at home on his day off with Sarah, cause she had no school and Grace who was home with plugged up ears due to an ear infection. Doug left Grace at home and went to check on Daniel. When he got to school Daniel was in the office with a very bloody pinkie and he was throwing up in a trash can. Doug thought a visit to our pediatrician would be a good idea. ;-) So he drove to Dundee and of course, they were closed for lunch. Blessedly, the Urgent Care is literally right next door. They took x-rays, cleaned him up a bit, gave him a local and started stitching him up. He started to cry when he found out the Dr wasn't going to use glue to close the cut, but a needle instead. The Dr said, "Can you feel this?" as he tapped Daniel's hand. Daniel said no and the Dr replied, "Then why are you crying?" Daniel shrugged, stopped crying and settled in to watch. Doug had him turn his head and Daniel proceed to FALL ASLEEP!! He got a total of 6 stitches in an L shape above the top knuckle on his pinkie finger on the palm side. He had lots of gauze and wrappings that first day and was milking it!! He just got the stitches out last Tuesday. It still looks a little ugly, but it is healing nicely. The best part is that I had no idea how bad it was until I called on my way home from school at 3:30. Doug and Daniel were just back from the Urgent Care. Grace did a great job watching Sarah, although I don't think she will be volunteering to do it again anytime soon. I think it stressed her out a bit. Daniel is no worse for the wear. We had him stay inside that first week so he wouldn't tear out the stitches on the playground and now he has a great story to tell. He is even semi famous at school. Everyone wanted to know who all the blood belonged too! ;-)

Finally, on to the Substitute Teaching. It has made my life a bit more interesting, but I love it. I have to be a little more organized and Doug is doing a little more of the "Mommy Jobs", but it is all working out for the best. It is not a teacher's salary, but it is helping to pay bills and give us some fun money. I had intended to do the bulk of my work in the kids school, Britton, in the lower Elementary. I have in fact only worked there 5 days this whole year. I have been doing most of my work at Clinton Elementary, a nearby district, about 15 minutes from our house. I got my first job there through the Internet sub finder AESOP. I filled a young 5's spot that had the class in the am and then visited various other classed in the afternoon as well as playground duty. One of the teachers I visited that afternoon noticed me and asked me to work a day the following week. That night another of the teachers I worked with posted a job on AESOP and I picked it up. From that day on I haven't walked out of the building without another job for either later that week or the next. I have taken a few jobs in Madison and at the ISD preschool, but Clinton has been keeping me busy. I have been mostly in 2nd and 3rd grade classrooms, which is wonderful since that is what I am most familiar with anyway. I have also subbed for the Resource Room teacher several times. I am currently filling in for a second grade teacher who is on a medical leave for about two weeks. She has a great class and I am enjoying my time in her room. I am praying that I continue to be blessed with work after she comes back. Maybe I will have a few more opportunities to work in Britton. I will be sure to keep you all posted.

We have been up to other things here in Southeastern Michigan, but I will save the Line Dancing, Lock-in and Lent for another post...

Trunk And Treat

2009-11-04T20:07:00.014-05:00

New this year for the Adams Clan is dressing up and getting to do all the Halloween stuff. Halloween has never been our favorite holiday, for obvious reasons, but here at Emmanuel we had the opportunity to take the parts that we do like and fellowship with other members. We even got to carve pumpkins together as a family for the first time. The girls made a carriage, Daniel made a USA, Jacob made a cross and Nathan made a Jack -O - Lantern face.

Each year Emmanuel hosts Trunk and Treat on or near Halloween. It is a great night for kids and adults alike. It begins with a kid friendly potluck. No mystery dishes allowed. We had McDonald's chicken nuggets, pizza, mac and cheese, jello, cupcakes, cookies, and lots of other great stuff. Then we were each asked to bring a carved pumpkin and when we were done with dinner and a craft we took our pumpkins out to the front of the church, lined them up, lit them, sang "This Little Gospel Light of Mine" and pastor led a prayer.

From there the adults went and got the trunks ready and then the kids all came out and went trick or treating at our trunks in the parking lot instead of all over town. We had tons of fun!! There were lots of great costumes and trunks too.

Doug really got into it a few days before prepping the "boy trunk" ~ command central. My "girl trunk" ~ Pixie Hollow turned out pretty well too. As for costumes, this year we used what we had and the boys were all army guys and the girls were all fairies.

I think the kids really enjoyed their first Halloween. Hopefully we will have many more!!

H1N1

2009-10-22T20:23:00.008-04:00

Yes, the Adams Clan has H1N1. It arrived on Sunday, maybe Saturday, and hit Nathan first. His fever got as high as 103.9. Grace was next to go late Sunday. Same deal, high fever and body aches. We took Nathan to the doctor Monday afternoon. She tested for strep and when that came back negative, she tested for influenza. It came back positive for Influenza A. She then sent the swabs off to be further tested for H1N1. We made the decision to keep all the kids home from school. We were glad we did. Jacob went on Tuesday, Doug started on Wednesday, and Daniel went today. He will go to the doctor tomorrow to confirm. Doug is without a high fever, but he has a nasty cough, body aches and other symptoms as well. He has made arrangements for church on Sunday and will be staying home with us. I have been tired, but have no other real symptoms and neither does Sarah. We will see how that changes over the next few days.

So what does a family of 7 do while they are all stuck indoors for over a week? Well... I have taken on the role of RN. This is my white board. As you can see I have been keeping regular track of fevers and medicines. It is very easy to forget who had what temp last and when you gave them medicine. It is much easier to let the white board do the remembering!! Each night I transfer this information to a note book, clear off the board and start again. So about every hour or so, I take temps, distribute meds and give fluids as necessary. The kids have gotten used to me coming up, pulling their ear and sticking the thermometer in!

The kids have been keeping busy in lots of ways. The first few days they watched a lot of TV and movies. They also played the Wii, pool, air hockey and anything else they could since they were home. Especially Daniel, Jacob and Sarah who weren't sick the first few days. Today we got creative. They had watched almost all the movies they wanted to, TV is for preschoolers or adults during the day and even the Wii was feeling a little old and it is tiring when you are sick.

So this morning Doug helped them get started building a "city" on the basement. Grace ran the General Store. Nate and Jake were mailmen and handy men. They ran "Handy Jacks." (Doug misspelled Jake and it stuck) Sarah was the official shopper. She loved buying stuff at Grace's store. Daniel was a police officer/EMT and then a zoo keeper. Doug and I ran the upstairs restaurant "Adams Bar and Grill" We used poker chips for currency and eventually Grace even made credit cards for everyone to use. She got into it the most. The rowing machine was the conveyor belt at the check out counter and she even had an aisle to shop down. The twins were in the process of building a zoo for Daniel. They had string and stuffed animals. They cleaned that part up before I could take pictures, but maybe I can get them tomorrow. I had planned on running the movie theater up stairs, but we didn't have time for that today.

They had fun at lunch, ordering and leaving their payment. We made them all take naps, but when they woke up play resumed. They played until about 5:30pm. Daniel's fever was going up and so was Jakes. Nate still isn't 100% yet either so they put on a GI Joe video (1st season of the original cartoon. You know Yo! Joe! GI Joe is there! Now you know, and knowing is half the battle) They love it!! I have even heard Sarah yell "Yo Joe!!"

Anyway, that is how we spent our sick day today. The kids had fun, they didn't fight half as much as usual and Doug and I were able to relax too. Doug's mom and sister even stopped by for a drive by drop off of supplies. We were running low on some things. We are now stocked and ready to go. We could be stuck here for another week and be set.

So we will see what tomorrow brings. Daniel will go to the doctor and maybe Doug too. I am hoping to get some homework for the kids to work on. I would love for them to not be too far behind when they finally return to school. I will try and post regularly and let you know how we are doing.

I hope you all stay healthy. Keep an eye out for influenza like symptoms and stay home if you have them. Check with your doctor about what to do. Some aren't treating it at all and will tell you to just stay home. Others will have you come in and test you to be sure. My kids are taking Relenza which is the new Tamiflu. This is supposed to lesson the symptoms and speed recovery. We will see how it works. The key is 24 hours fever free with out the help of Motrin or Tylenol. But even then, there may be lingering symptoms, like body aches, sore throats and respiratory issues. It has hit Southern Michigan pretty hard. Several schools in Hillsdale County have closed. Only time will tell how it will effect schools here in Lenawee. We will keep you posted.

Blessings All!!

A Long Over Due Post

2009-10-07T19:12:00.006-04:00

Welcome to Fall and my return to blogging. I know it has been quite a while since you last heard from me, but I must say it has been a very busy summer. I had big plans for blogging about the vacation to St. Augustine and all our summer fun. Needless to say they never happened. I have bunches and bunches of pictures and they may end up on here in a few days.

Today I just want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Daniel who turned 6 today. My dad's blog inspired me to at least write here today and maybe put together a slide show of pictures from our summer. I have a blog to write about a bunny too, but that will come. And maybe one about pears...

Anyway, here are a few pictures of my sweet baby boy Daniel. He lost his first tooth this year. We took the family for ice cream and of course Daniel wanted to know if he lost the other loose one the next night if we would get ice cream again. No, Daniel that was just for the first lost tooth, not all lost teeth.

My baby turns TEN!!

2009-06-30T14:33:00.008-04:00

I just don't FEEL old enough to have a 10 year old. (I'm often told I don't look old enough to have a ten year old either, but we won't go there.)

Grace officially turns ten tonight at 7pm. Ten years ago today we were living in St. Louis, getting ready to go on Vicarage to Seymour, IN. I remember driving from St. Louis to Seymour with a 6 week old in the car. It took much longer than expected because I had to stop to nurse every two hours or so. As a new mom I was conscious of where I nursed often nursing in the back our small Saturn rather than nurse in public. It was an interesting trip. Anyway I digress...

Grace arrived only a few days past her due date. She was born on a Wednesday and late the week before we had scheduled a induction for Friday, July 2, just in case. Well she must have realized just how hard that would be on her mom cause she made her appearance with a few days to spare. I think her actual due date was June 25, but that was 5 kids ago so the details are all a bit sketchy now. I love my Grace very much. She is a great helper, when she wants to be. She is doing very well in school, all A's and B's, and is very proud of that achievement. She has a new love of horses and small furry animals and would adopt either on in a heart beat. However, don't any one of you send her either. We have no room for a horse and the bunnies would get attacked by the dog I am afraid.
I have included a few of the pictures I could find on my computer of Grace. Although she is the child of which I have the most pictures, very few of them are digital. I don't have a scanner, so I couldn't do it that way either. ;-) I am sure that my dad probably has some in his archives so check his blog too.

On a side note, our vacation went much better than expected. I have a great blog to post soon all about it. Look for it next week. I am still gathering, organizing and resizing pictures from our week at St. Augustine.

Blessings All!!!

OPERATION: This will most likely end badly ~ is a GO!!!

2009-06-08T08:26:00.002-04:00

OK, maybe that is a little glass half empty, but if you were leaving for a two day car ride with 5 kids under the age of ten would your glass be half full????

Now, don't get me wrong, I am very excited about this trip. My baby sister is finally getting married. We are going to a great vacation spot and we do need a vacation. St. Augustine is our final destination, but to get there we are going to drive.

I have everything but the kitchen sink ready to go. We have DVD players, MP3 players, books, coloring books, word search books, magnetic games, candy, toys and even books on CD. We should be good to go. Hopefully all that will last at least the first day!!

I don't have pictures yet, but when we come back I am sure to have loads. I will post when I can. Look for me on Facebook, we will have Internet while at the condo.

Yes, I said condo. Thanks to Mom and Dad we were able to rent a condo on the beach right next to where the wedding will take place. So we have access to all the amenities the condos afford. Which may come in handy since Doug says there is a chance of rain just about every day, but then again we are in Florida, doesn't it rain every day there??

We have plans for the beach and a little sight seeing too. There are lots of old Spanish missions and forts to look at. Even the legendary Fountain of Youth. It will be a fun trip. Now if only we didn't have to drive...

It Got up and Danced Away!

2009-05-09T19:40:00.003-04:00

The kids have recently found a new favorite show. Phineas and Ferb on the Disney channel. They like it because it is clever and funny and has boys as the main characters and a sister who is constantly trying to get them in trouble is also a plus. Doug and I like it because it is about kids on summer vacation trying to keep busy, but not in front of the TV. They are creative and clever about what they are going to do each day. (Phineas is the orange hair one and does all the talking. Ferb the green and he almost never talks. Candace is the older sister.)

Sarah is, as you will remember from my "Shut the **** door" post, into quoting things she hears on TV. The funny thing about this is that she actually uses the quotes in an appropriate way. Two of my favorite are from this show.

The first is from Phineas and Ferb's friend Isabella. Her catch phrase is "Whatcha doin?" She will walk up to Phineas and Ferb and ask this question at the beginning of each of their builds. Sarah, my clever little pixy, will walk into a room where one of the rest of the family is busy doing some task or another and ask, in almost the same intonation as Isabella, "Whatch doin'?"

The second, and this is my favorite one, she did out of the blue and it made me laugh till it hurt. In one particular episode the boys built a giant TV. As Candace, the big sister, was trying to tell her mom what the boys were doing in the back yard, the giant TV got hit with a dancing beam. The TV danced off just before mom turned the corner. When asked what happened to the giant TV Candace was trying to tell her about, Candace said, "It got up, and danced away!" A few days after the kids watched this episode I was asking Sarah where something of hers was and she replied with a very strait face, "It got up and danced away!"

Admittedly this blog will be funnier if one, you have actually ever watched Phineas and Ferb and two, if you have actually heard Sarah's quotes. So this is for those of you that can answer yes to either or both of these questions. For the rest of you, check out Phineas and Ferb on the Disney Channel, it's on a lot and the episode I reference is called Out of Toon. It has a lot of adult type humor in it too, you know, the one liners that the kids don't really get, but are meant for the adult watching. Don't take my word for it though, watch an episode or two and see what I mean.

Hey, Look! I blogged!!

2009-05-05T20:13:00.008-04:00

Yes I know. It has been a very long time since I last decided to dump my thoughts and activities on this blog. I know all you regular readers have been waiting on the edge of your seats. Well here I am so sit back, relax, and enjoy. Hmmm, let's see... Where do I begin?

I suppose I could go all the way back to Easter. This was our first Easter in Britton. It was a great Sunday. There was church at 7am, which we did NOT go to, followed by the Easter Breakfast and then church at 10am. The kids got all dressed up and had a great day.

Each Sunday gets a little better for us in church. Sarah is new to the whole church thing since I religiously used the nursery at St. Paul's. Emmanuel is also a smaller and therefore picks up more of the "kid noise". You know, pencils, clipboards and hymnals dropping, Sarah talking too loud, the boys talking to each other, Daniel trying to talk to his friend three rows up and over, the usual.

The next big event of the year was the Pirate and Princess Party at Britton School. The preschool hosted the party for all the little ones. There was lots to do and see. Daniel and Sarah dressed up in pirate and princess costumes and we began our adventure. The Cafetorium was decorated with lots of pirate and princess stuff. There was dancing and singing on the stage, a pirate ship and princess castle to get your picture taken in and lots of real pirates and princesses to meet. ( The high school kids got dressed up ~ it was great! )

There were crafts to make and cotton candy to eat. The girls could get their hair and nails done and the boys got tattoos. There was even a treasure hunt for gems in the preschool room. They gave away books to all the kids and Daniel even won a pirate CD in a drawing. All in all it was a very fun night, as you can tell by the pictures.

The next big event at Britton School was the opening of the Wax Museum. The fourth grade each became a character in the wax museum. They researched their character, wrote reports, made posters and developed costumes, all in preparation for the grand opening. Each character had a prepared speech that they recited when their "speech button" was pressed. Grace was Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross. Two of her friends featured in the pictures below are Emma or Annie Oakley and Beka or Laura Ingalls Wilder. The kids all did a great job!!

I must say that I have tons more to write, but not enough time tonight. So you will have to come back again soon to hear what else we have been up to in Britton. See ya all soon!!

KID OF THE WEEK #5

2009-04-12T19:53:00.009-04:00

Sarah Lynn

July 15, 2005

Sarah is my baby. My bookend. She also came the fastest. She was born less than an hour after we arrived at the hospital and with out an epidural! She was my second biggest weighing in at 9 pounds 2 ounces, only 5 ounces lighter than Daniel. She is a tomboy and a girly girl all at the same time. She loves to play princess and tea party but will wrestle and "fight" with the boys too, in her princess dress!!! She is three going on 16! We often call her the Gestapo. She has a radar for all the things the kids are doing that they shouldn't and loves to let Doug or I know.

She is going to preschool at Britton school. She goes on Monday and Friday from 8-11am. Her teacher is Mrs. Cookie. She is a great teacher. I often see older kids in her room visiting their former teacher. Sarah loves her!

Sarah has her own room now for the first time. She shared with Grace in Hillsdale and when we first moved here to Britton. Now she has a Tinker Bell themed room all her own. She is Tinker Bell. Sassy and smart all at the same time. This picture is her trying to play her "violin" like Grace. It is an electic guitar and a sword.

She is a very good girl though. She is a great sleeper, although she likes to come in my room at like 6am and cuddle. I don't mind, I am usually waking up anyway and she isn't going to be able to cuddle much longer so I take what I can get when I can get it! She loves to hug and give kisses too. She is very sweet, but I am bias, I am her mother and she is my baby!

I am not sure what else to write about her. I have bunches of pictures though and I think that maybe these will say much more than I can write here. I hope you have enjoyed learning a little bit more about my wonderful kids. Next week is back to regular posts about everything and nothing, unless I come up with another grand idea. With school coming to an end and lots of fun adventures planned for the summer I should have an endless list of things to write about. Check back in a few weeks to see what the Adams Clan has been up to. Blessings and Happy Easter to you all!!!!

KID OF THE WEEK # 4

2009-03-17T21:14:00.008-04:00

Daniel Edward

October 7, 2003

Daniel is my baby boy. He is very sweet and very precocious. He was my biggest baby, weighing in at 9 pounds 7 ounces. I had gestational diabetes with him, if that tells you anything. He was born in Coldwater in the middle of the night. We made it to the hospital just in time for an epidural and a few pushes and there he was. He was a very good baby. He slept a lot, he played well, he was a very happy baby. Until we brought Sarah home. The first day I had all 5 kids home alone, by myself, was the first day Daniel decided not to take a nap or do anything else I wanted him to. So much for perfect children, they only exist in our minds!!!

Today Daniel is still a beautiful little boy. He is 5 and in Kindergarten at Britton Macon Elementary. He adores his teacher Mrs. Stahl and has already made lots of friends. That is Daniel's thing though. He is a people person. His first teacher, bless her heart, used the term "used car salesman" when describing Daniel once and I would totally have to agree with her assessment. Daniel is a people person. He loves to talk and he loves to be social. He also loves his girls. The girl in this picture is Liz and she lives in Texas, good thing cause I don't think her daddy will let her with in 100 feet of Daniel after the day this picture was taken. They were fast friends after about 5 minutes of knowing each other and inseparable. That is my Daniel.

Daniel was asked all the usual interview questions too. His favorite color is red. Mostly because green and blue are taken and I won't let him like black and the rest are "girl" colors. He likes lions because they run fast and roar loud. His favorite sport is baseball because there is a lot of hitting, throwing and running. He likes gym and recess at school because you can play games and run. Are you sensing a pattern? Daniel is all boy. He also thinks he is 8 just like the twins and thinks he can do all the same things they can. The thing is, he usually can. His feet are only about one size smaller than theirs and he can wear their clothes from the previous year. He is wearing some size 7 tops and they don't look too big. He is going to be a big tweenie and teenager I think.

Daniel also loves to help. He will almost always do "jobs" for me when I ask. His favorite is taking Tiger, our dog, outside. He is at his best when he is busy. In Hillsdale he had homework every night, not a lot, but something. Here he just has a book to read, so when that is done he likes to do other homework. At first he worked on a book from his Montessori school, but he finished that rather quickly. So I bought him one of those thick workbooks that covers all the subjects. He sits down at a lap table and works on that until the big boys are done with their homework. He is going to be well prepared for 1st grade!!

Daniel's biggest and best features are his dimples!! They melt my heart everytime I see them. He has a face that is hard to say no to. Maybe that is why all the girls just love him. I know I do!!

KID OF THE WEEK # 3

2009-03-07T11:35:00.003-05:00

Jacob Allan

September 2, 2000

Jacob was born second on that day in September. He actually gave us the most trouble. He was breech and kept moving away from the doctors hand. We were "one more try" away from a C-section. Thankfully he was caught and born 15 minutes after his brother. He was 6 pounds 9 oz and very blue when he was born, but he came around quickly. He was born in St. Louis at the same hospital we had Grace. We had about 9 months there before Doug got his call to St. Paul's in Hillsdale. I remember pushing the double stroller with Grace in front at 14 months old, a twin in the back laying down and the other twin in a Snuggly strapped to my chest or back. It was a chore to go anywhere with the three of them!! We survived though and now Jacob is 8 1/2 and in third grade at Britton Macon Elementary school. He really likes his teacher Mr. Finger. They are doing very well with the transition to Britton.

Some interesting facts about Jacob: His nickname is Jake, but I still call him Jacob. His middle name comes from my dad whose name is Allan (and Nathan's comes from Doug's dad whose name is Michael). His favorite color is blue, which is the color I dressed him in as a baby. His favorite sport is baseball and his favorite subject in school is Science. His best friend is Everett from Hillsdale. He also wants to be a Pastor when he grows up. Again this is bound to change, but then again, maybe it won't. His favorite thing about Britton is that now he doesn't have to wear a uniform to school. This is my least favorite part ;-) He also wants you all to know he has a good family. I didn't put him up to that either.

Jacob's name means beguiler or jokester in Hebrew and he fits it very well. He loves to joke around and play tricks. He is the more outspoken funny guy of the twins, where Nate's one liners just kinda sneak up on you. They are a great pair and we love them dearly. I hope you have enjoyed getting to know Jacob better. There are only two kids left. I wonder what Daniel will have to say...

KID OF THE WEEK # 2

2009-02-26T21:02:00.004-05:00

Nathan Michael

September 2, 2000

Nathan is the first born of a set of twins. He is 15 minutes older than his identical twin Jacob, who will be featured next week. Nathan weighed 6 pounds and 2 ounces at birth. He was about 4 weeks early. He was born in St. Louis, MO. He is now 8 1/2 and is in third grade at Britton-Macon Elementary.

His favorite color is Green. I like to think this is because he wore green as a baby, a lot! I dressed him in green and Jacob in blue to tell them apart. I still tend to buy these colors for them but now Nathan also likes to wear red. So if you see a twin in green or red you know you are most likely right if you guess it's Nathan.

Nicknames aren't widely used around here, but if you ask him Nathan's nickname is Nate. It will probably stick sooner or later, but I still almost always call him Nathan.

Nathan and his brothers are all boy. Here are a few example: Nathan's favorite movie is Star Wars ~ all of them, all 6 of them and the cartoon ones too!! His favorite books are "The Magic Tree House" series. He has read a lot of them and continues to enjoy them. His favorite food is Pizza and his favorite place to eat out is Bob Evans. He can eat a whole Belgian waffle or a plate full of pancakes plus eggs and bacon. He loves breakfast food. His favorite sport is baseball or playing Wii or playing baseball on the Wii. It all depends on the weather outside ;-) He is very good at all sports. He catches on quickly and is good at what he does. We are hoping to get him into a rec league or something this summer.

As to my other interview questions, I asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up. After just a few seconds thought he said a Pastor. That was not the answer I was expecting but it made me proud. Of course it will probably change 100 times over the next 18 years, only time will tell.

I also asked who his best friend was and he immediately said Everett from Hillsdale. I kinda expected him to say Jacob, but I think that is a given. They have always been best friends and they are just now starting to let others into their inner circle of twinship. I am excited to see Nathan grow into a fine young man.

So now you have met Kid of the Week number two. Keep checking back for new pictures. I had to out source some again. And I had to be sure the ones I picked were actually Nathan ;-)

KID OF THE WEEK

2009-02-17T20:33:00.004-05:00

GRACE KATHRYN

Grace was born on June 30, 1999 at 7pm. She is in 4th grade at Britton - Macon Elementary School. She was our first, so she is also our first Kid of the Week. I thought it might be fun to feature a different one of my kids each week. You can meet each kid individually and I gave each one a questionnaire to fill out so they could have some input to their feature.

Grace is adjusting just fine here in Britton. She struggled at first and missed a lot of her friends from Hillsdale, especially Anne, Lauren and Alana. She was playing the violin, but we haven't found her a teacher here yet so that is on hold. She has asked several times for piano lessons. All that requires is a piano ~ which is coming, I just have to go get it :-)

Grace's favorite color is HOT PINK! Hence the Hannah Montana motif in her room. Her favorite animals are dogs and horses. She likes to think she knows as much about dogs as the Dog Whisperer ~ maybe someday. She has never ridden on a horse, but really really wants to someday!! She has made some very good friends here in Britton especially Emma and Beka!!

When asked what she wanted to be when she grew up she said "A teacher like my mom!" I did not put her up to that one either ;-) Her favorite song is any song by Sugarland and they are her favorite singers too, next to Hannah Montana, the Jonas Brothers and Taylor Swift. Her favorite thing to do when she isn't helping me around the house, doing homework or singing is to read. She gets that from me ;-)

So now you know a little bit more about Grace, our KID OF THE WEEK! Enjoy the pics.

Cel-e-brate Good Times ~ Come On!

2009-02-09T21:18:00.002-05:00

OK so maybe all the kids being in school isn't a normal thing to celebrate, but we did. After several weeks of the kids, and parents, being sick with one winter virus or another, they finally all made it to school on Friday. So to celebrate, Doug took me on a day long date. Now, before you say Awww too loudly here is a look at what we did.

First, we dropped ALL the kids off at school, even Sarah. Then, he took me to Bob Evans for breakfast. The plan was breakfast, then coffee at the Coffee Beanery, then we would play it by ear after that. While at breakfast we discussed many of the things parents talk about when they are alone, mainly the kids. We also drew up a floor plan on the back of a place mat for the basement and talked about what colors we wanted to paint the various rooms being built. When we finished breakfast, a little before 9am, we headed to Ann Arbor to go to Lowes to look at paint, with the promise of coffee at Starbucks once we got to Ann Arbor. We didn't have to pick Sarah up from preschool until 11am. We spent more time at Lowes and Meijer that we planned and so we had to hurry back to Britton to pick up Sarah. The plan was to pick up Sarah, get coffee at the Bear Claw in town and then head home. Well, we picked up Sarah and decided to go to Adrian to shop and have lunch, the opposite direction of the Bear Claw by the way.

We got to Adrian and ended up at the mall. There isn't much at the Adrian Mall. A JCPenny, a Sears, a few other stores, and a small food court. We had hot dogs for lunch and shared a soda. I did pick up a few new shirts and an Easter dress and sweater for Sarah. Then we went across the street to Hobby Lobby. I spent way too much there, but we got Valentines for the kids parties at school and a few other not really needed items. We finished up there just in time to head back to Britton to pick up the kids, in the opposite direction of the Starbucks ;-)

Finally, we picked up the kids and headed home. We had fish sticks and mac n cheese for dinner followed by popcorn and a movie, Madagascar 2. All in all a good day, but I never did get that coffee!!!

Getting Healthy ~ Sort of

2009-02-04T11:30:00.003-05:00

We have been quite busy since I last posted. Not the kind of busy I like, but busy none the less.

Before the sickness began we made a trip to Hillsdale for Joey Weidmeyer's birthday party. We had lunch with the family and then waited for the kids to arrive. The girls all went upstairs to play dance and dress up. Sarah was in HEAVEN!! Marie and Ann love playing with her and Grace puts up with her because she likes Marie and Ann ;-) The dress Sarah is wearing is Ann's first dance recital outfit. It is Sarah's favorite to put on when we go over to their house. She wore it all day!! We had a lot of fun and really do miss them.

Then we began to get sick. First just a cough or two, some sneezes and runny noses. Then the fever's began. We missed church on January 25th and kept the kids home that Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday I took Daniel into the Walk in Clinic in town. He had an ear infection and a nasty cough, but thankfully no pneumonia. He stayed home the rest of the week and we made it to church on Sunday, Feb 1. Then Sarah got a fever, Nathan was still coughing and now so was Grace. They all stayed home on Monday, I sent Daniel and Jacob to school and took the rest to the doctor. Grace and Nathan only had Upper Respiratory Infections but Sarah had a Urinary Tract Infection, totally didn't see that one coming. Tuesday Daniel was the only one at school cause Jacob woke up at midnight with a fever. That brings us to today. Nathan is the only one home because I want him to take more cough meds with codeine before I send him back. Sarah is doing much better now with antibiotics. Hopefully they will all be in school on Friday for the first time in weeks!!!

I really wish I had more to blog about than sick kids, but that just seems to be my lot in life during the winter. Prayerfully after this round we can make it to spring! They have already missed so much school. I am going to have to do some after school supplementing just to get them caught up again.

One bright spot in our last few weeks was last Saturday, before Sarah got sick again, we took the kids to Toys R Us to spend some of their point money. We use a reward system of quarters. They get so many at the beginning of each day and if they misbehave or disobey or step out of line, they lose the quarters. The goal is to have more money at the end of the week than they started with :-) Then every two weeks or so we take them shopping to spend the reward of their efforts. They had a great time and so did we. Sarah picked out a Dora bag with beauty shop supplies in it. Doug is modeling some of them in the pictures below.

Nathan has also become quite the smart alec lately. He isn't mean, just quick here are a few examples:

While talking about the HSM 3 movie and how much she wanted to see it Grace said that she hopes they make a HSM Wedding movie and Nate in a sarcastic voice says "I hope they make a HSM Funeral movie!!"

The boys were horsing around and side bumping each other. Doug told them to stop or he would "side bump them into next week." Nates reply, "Oh great time travel by side bump!"

Then Doug gets in on it too. After watching Big Jake with John Wayne, the boys went to play cowboys and Indians and Grace and Sarah were having a tea party. Grace came out to ask for water for her tea pot. Doug's reply, "No. The boys don't get real Indians, you don't get real water!"

See what I have to live with!!! Blessings all!!

I Cried

2009-01-20T13:09:00.002-05:00

but not out of happiness. I am truly sad to see George W. Bush leave Washington today. He may not have done everything right, he may have made some poor decisions, his approval rating may have been very low, but he was a good man doing the best he knew how with what he was given.

September 11, 2001 shaped and framed his presidency. Had that day not happened we would be in a very different place today. I think that America tends to forget what happened or didn't happen in the days, months and years following that fateful day.

I don't pretend to be a politically savvy person. I don't know the rhetoric, I refuse to debate about it. I just know I don't feel right about the man sworn in as president today. He is a great speaker and he seems to have everything together, but still I worry.

Where will he take our country? What will we look like in a year? in four years? In an effort to make everyone equal will he take away rights we hold so dear? In an effort to be so different from the Bush presidency, will he make decisions he shouldn't? He mentioned God several times in his speech and referred to our founding fathers, yet I worry about the fate of Christianity under his leadership.

I question, I worry and above all I pray. I pray the Lord will work through the new President. To use a sinful, imperfect man to further His kingdom here on earth. I know there is a greater plan and I pray. I hope you are doing the same.

Since my last Post

2009-01-16T20:46:00.002-05:00

I seriously debated how to post today. I finally downloaded the pictures off my camera from Christmas and the weeks following. Originally I wanted to write a bit then include a picture or two about what was happening. Well, 30 pictures later, I didn't think my blog could handle that many separate downloaded pics. So as you can see I opted for another slide show. I hope you enjoy it. Some of the pictures need no explanation and some do, so here is a quick narration for the pictures. Enjoy.

We had several "Christmases" this year. The first of which was held here at our house with Grandma and Grandpa Adams, Aunt Amanda, Aunt Nora and Uncle Scott. Nora and Scott had flown in from Arizona to spend the holidays in Michigan. They spent two days at our house, playing with the kids and visiting with Doug and I. The kids had a blast with all the new toys too. Some of the favorites are featured in the slide show. We also did Christmas at Grandma and Pappa Wyckhuys' house. I forgot to take pictures after they started opening gifts so there are only a few from this party.

Right before school went back into session the boys received their monthly buzz. They had put on Star Wars tattoos from the card packs Aunt Rachelle had brought on her visit to our home shortly after New Years. With the buzz cut and tattoo they really did look like Marines.

The Saturday after New Years a bunch of the college kids, a high schooler and Grace's friend Alana all from Hillsdale came over for a visit. The boys brought their Warhammer stuff for a game in the basement and the girls brought the first two seasons of HOUSE to watch. They also brought a gift for Doug, the big decorated acorn. The kids had taken to calling themselves the "Squirrels" and had named Doug the squirrel keeper. They all have special names and each received their own nut on Christmas. The girls also played Tea Party with Sarah and Hannah Montana on the Wii. They were such good sports. We got in about 5 episodes of HOUSE too. It was a very fun day, I think everyone had a good time.

Then just last week, right before the deep freeze, all the kids got to go outside and play. Doug and the boys shoveled the walk while Grace played with Sarah and sometimes Daniel. Once all the work was done everyone but mommy joined in a wrestling match in the snow. What fun!! I stayed inside and prepared hot chocolate and helped replace wet gear. Let's just say it is a good thing we have more than one set of hats and gloves for each of the kids.

That brings us to today. We had a snow day today because it was just too cold to go outside. I suppose there are places in this country that have school no matter how many degrees below zero it gets, right Pam, but we got a free day because of it. Doug let me sleep in a bit and kept the kids busy watching a movie, "Tinker Bell", and then went to work. While he was gone I had the kids sweep and mop every square inch of tile in my house. They love to wash the floor with a good old fashioned sponge and bucket of soapy water. Hey, at least it is mostly clean right? Once our work was done, we ate lunch and took a nap, yes everyone took a nap. After nap we had Arts and Crafts time to help keep things calm. They had a blast making foam pictures for family and friends. Dinner was Pancakes and Eggs a favorite at our house. We ended the evening with a bit of Wii. All in all it was a great day.

The last picture in the slide show is one Doug wanted me to include. I hung these on the wall above our bed one day when he was at work. Now, despite the fact that they may be crooked or not level with each other, I kinda like the set up. Doug claims the two small ones remind him of head stones. What do you think? I have included a poll to the right, let us know what you think and the winning response will be our final decision on what to do with the wall.

Thanks everyone for reading and taking the poll. See ya all next week ~ or whenever I have something new and interesting to post and I promise no more slide shows for a while. :-)

Clan Happenings

2009-01-16T19:55:00.001-05:00

Our year in Pictures

2008-12-24T15:29:00.001-05:00

Our Christmas Letter

2008-12-24T14:36:00.002-05:00

Dearest Family and Friends,

The Adams Clan wishes you and your families a very Blessed Christmas Season. We hope that you are enjoying all the blessings the Lord has bestowed upon you this past year and are looking forward to the blessings of another year.

This has been an unusual year in the Adams' house. The winter began with the kids practicing for their Children's Theater production of HONK!Jr. It was a lot of work with long practices, but in the end they enjoyed it and would like to do another one soon. The final performance was in May and lots of family and friends came out to see our little froglets.

In early spring we got to visit Greenfield Village with Grandma and Grandpa Adams. We actually did this several times over the course of the year, but the spring visit was a Civil War reenactment. The boys even enlisted in the army and were mustered out on the field. Poor Daniel thought he was really joining the army. He had a very sad face as he and his brothers marched out onto the field for some practice drills.

In June school ended and VBS began. Joel and Ben Brenner came for their annual visit while Mark and Renee went to Mexico for their 10th Anniversary. Lucky them!!! We had a great week with the boys. It is always fun having 5 boys and 2 girls in the same house for a week. It is true what they say though, after three or four kids the more you add it isn't really any harder, just louder!!

In July Grace, Sarah and I traveled with my mom and dad to North Carolina to see cousin Amy get married. We had a great time. The girls were great in the car and for the whole trip. Grace pretty much lived in the hotel pool and Sarah and Peyton, my niece, were joined at the hip! This was a trial run for our big family trip to Florida this coming June. I can't wait to write about that in our next Christmas letter.

August was quiet, but September brought big changes. September 1st we moved into a rented home in Hillsdale so that the church could handle some major repair issues at the parsonage. The rental house was big, beautiful, and temporary. We moved back to the parsonage on October 25th. On October 27th Doug received a call to be the sole pastor at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Britton, Michigan. After several weeks of heart to hearts with God, Doug accepted the call. So, November 23rd was Doug's last Sunday at St.Paul's in Hillsdale. We moved into the Emmanuel Parsonage on December 5th and Doug's installation was December 14th, just in time for Christmas. We have hit the ground running here, but are excited to see what the Lord has planned for us in this place.

We are all still occupied with our old hobbies too. Warhammer for Doug and the boys, violin for Grace and just being kids for Daniel and Sarah. I keep busy keeping everyone else busy and I find time to read an occasional book or surf the web. We look forward to hearing from all of you. We hope you have a very Merry Christmas as you celebrate the birth of our Lord!!

Blessings to you all,
Doug, Robyn, Grace 9, Nathan 8, Jacob 8, Daniel 5, and Sarah 3!
10925 Welch Rd
Britton, MI 49229

Offline

2008-12-03T07:01:00.001-05:00

We will be going off line for a while. The new parsonage doesn't have internet yet. It is in the works. In the meantime I may find free wifi somewhere to keep you all posted. The movers will be here at 8am. Keep us in your prayers.

Our new address is 10925 Welch Rd. Britton, MI 49229
our cell phones will stay the same. Hope to talk to you all sooner than later.

Installation is Sunday December 14 at 3pm with dinner to follow. Please call the cell if you are planning on attending!!

We love you all!!

Blessings!

Some Thoughts

2008-11-03T20:56:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow is election day. Are you voting? If you are registered you should. I will be. This is an important election. So much is riding on whom we put in office tomorrow. I won't give you my speech as to who you should vote for or why. Just vote. Oh and check out the "It's Time for More Coffee" blog. Interesting, very interesting.

Do you Facebook? I have caught the bug. I find myself checking my profile for updates at least three times a day. I call it a little mini reunion each time I log on. I have caught up with some dear high school friends and have been able to stay in touch with college friends too. Honestly, some of them I never would have seen or talked to again with out Facebook. Not that I didn't want to but I had no way of finding them to make contact. Facebook has given me that opportunity. It is exciting to see what everyone is up to and how we have all changed. Although I don't think we have changed as much as we think. Facebook has even given a forum to a group of College kids from our congregation in Hillsdale to petition Doug to stay at his call in Hillsdale. That brings me to my third point of the night. Oh and by the way, if you aren't on facebook yet, you should be. I would love to catch up with you there.

Doug received a call to Emmauel Lutheran Church in Britton Michigan this week. He has a few weeks to make a decision. We have looked over all the documents they have sent us and we plan on visiting this week sometime. They have a growing ministry in an area of the state that is growing. It is about 20 minutes south of Ann Arbor. Other neighboring towns are Techumsea, Dundee and Saline. It has a parsonage too. All of which will factor into Doug's decision. We have grown to love the people at St. Paul's and they us. Ultimately we know, however, whether we go or we stay, that the Lord has a plan for us and both congregations. He will provide for St. Paul's if we leave and he will guide Emmanuel to find the right pastor if we stay. He has a plan and we all need to remember that. Prayers are what is necessary now. Not selfish prayer, but prayers of thine will be done. Trust that the Lord will do what is best for all concerned, even if it doesn't look like it in our sinful eyes. Those are the hardest prayers to pray, I know, believe me, but isn't that what we want in the end. Imagine the world if we always got our sinful way.

No pictures tonight. My camera is broken and there is no where in Hillsdale to have it fixed. You can check out Aftermath for some good pics from this summer. Dad has made another great musically inhanced slideshow. Blessings all!! Spell check didn't work. Sorry for any spelling errors.

"Shut the Damn Door!"

2008-11-01T14:33:00.002-04:00

Of all the things I worried about my kids picking up from watching Harry Potter movies, this was not one of them. I worried they might think magic was real. That there really was a Hogwarts or any number of other things. I did not, however, forsee the three year old picking up this obscure quote in the middle of the third movie. Maybe she picked it up because when I slip this is one word I use, more often than I care to admit. And add that to the number of times I am telling kids to shut doors around here, maybe that is why it stuck. Whatever the reason Sarah now says that phrase whenever she wants someone to shut the door. Cute? Not really, but as bad as it is, technically, it is funny. Can't you just here her screaming at an Elder at church to "Shut the Damn door?" I pray that never happens, but I would probably laugh before I punished her. :-)

A Job Kinda Day

2008-10-27T22:25:00.003-04:00

Have you ever had one of these? Where everything seems to go wrong and nothing can go slightly right? I would have to put today into the category of a Job day. And I guess it started a few days ago. We moved back into the parsonage on Saturday. It started out great -- no rain, which was good because it had a 40% chance. The move went well too, but in the end we had did it backwards. Doug and I very tediously marked each and every Rubbermaid or box with the room it went it and then stacked them in the garage or near the front door. We also took apart all beds in order to make the move smoother. Well the Rubbermaid's went over first and then there was no room for the furniture. We had loads of great help and were done in mere hours, but we are still sleeping on mattress on the floor because the beds aren't up yet because we can't empty the buckets and boxes fast enough.

That first day we killed two dozen bees. Yes, bees. We have a nest in the attic and the walls. Since it was the weekend the bee guy didn't come until today, but that is for today's story. I bleached each bathroom on Saturday too, which is about all we had time for before we were off the Oktoberfest. We had a great time playing the games and singing. Pastor Johnson and a few friends played in the oompa band. The kids love it. We do the same songs every year. Their favorite is the one they sing in German and hold up signs for the new verse repeating each one before adding the new one. The kids scramble to be the ones to hold up the sign. It is more fun to be at the beginning than the end cause you get to do it more!! The other hit of the night, the one they wait all year for, is the Ziky zaggy (forgive the spelling I spelled it like it sounds) It is a German toasting song. Ziky, Zaggy, Ziky Zaggy Oi, Oi, Oi! Probst!!! They love to hold up their glasses of Root beer and toast along. The night ended earlier than usual, about 7:30 but that was ok by us, we were tired.

Sunday, we had church, thankfully I had set aside church clothes for everyone and no hunting was involved. Breakfast was leftover donuts from the move. No milk or cereal made it over from the rental. After church we had yet another fast food meal, can't remember what now. Then Doug was off to Salem in Sturgis for a Reformation service held at a church with 14 members. LONG DAY!!! Once home we made sure we had uniforms and homework for school, which we did, barely.

Monday, today, was CRAZY! Kids were up a little later than usual at 6:45 and we big folks didn't climb out of bed until the little ones did. Breakfast was cereal, which had made it's way here somehow on Sunday. We were running behind so we took our time and the kids got to school by 8:35, only 20 minutes late. They didn't have lunches though. No lunch food at the parsonage. I went home, moved some stuff around, planned the day then went to get lunchables for the kids at school. I shopped at Market house at 10:50am, debated whether to get McDonald's then or wait. I waited. At 11:20 I dropped off the missing lunches at WCA just as the Dial a Ride bus was picking up Daniel from Kindergarten. I beat the bus to the church by 2 minutes. I gathered Sarah and Daniel, went to McDonalds and came home. When we got there the bug guy was dropping bombs in the attic. We left, with Doug and spent the rest of the afternoon doing errands. Groceries, banking, mail, more stuff from the rental, phone calls and kid pick up were all done between 12:30 and 4:00pm. Once home we did homework, had Cavonies for dinner, not fast food, but not homemade either. Then bed for the kids and Internet for me.

A Job kinda day. Now God and I are gonna have a talk while a take an nice Long Bath!!!!

Thursday

2008-10-16T09:08:00.002-04:00

I promised my sister that I would blog today. I don't have much to talk about though. I am not on my laptop so I have no pictures. I am on Doug's office computer which is painfully slow. I think it is dying. It is ancient, almost 8. I wasn't even sure I would be able to blog on it. I have yet to try to actually post this, so if you are reading it I guess I was successful. :-)

Let's see, an update might be in order.

On Sept 1 we moved from the parsonage to a rental home. Great house, all hard wood, pool table in the basement, yet in some ways not kid or family of 7 friendly. We are surviving and adjusting. On October 25 we will move back into the parsonage. It will have no visible mold, a new furnace, new wiring to the furnace, some fixed toilets, a new ceiling fan and other sundry repairs. Meanwhile, the kids are doing fine. Grace continues to play the violin and every one is doing well at school. Daniel loves Kindergarten and Sarah is the model Montessori student.

Doug and I are learning patience. Prayer is a constant source of comfort in our hectic lives.

We loved seeing everyone at the Block wedding and at the Wyckhuys one too. We wish you could have all seen the kids, but believe me we needed that night off!!!! The next big wedding is in June and we are bringing the whole clan! Can't wait to see everyone!

Well, I am off to pack and pray!! Love you all!

A New Beginning

2008-09-11T09:46:00.002-04:00

A lot has happened since last we talked. It has been a hectic crazy beginning of the school year. I will try to update you without boring you, but bear with me, I tend to ramble!!

So my story begins a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.... Just kidding. It began with mold. Quite a bit, according to one test. Then we had a very sick winter. The furnace breathed it's last just after Easter and the Central Air smelled in July. So the congregation moved us to a rental in town. It is a beautiful newer home, with hard wood floors and lots of space. Three large bedrooms, everyone fits and we aren't on top of each other. The house is for sale ($265K) so we are keeping it clean in case it needs to be shown. It is easier than it sounds since we left a bunch of stuff over at the parsonage and the house has LOTS of closets and places to hide stuff. I like closets. It took us about a week to pack our stuff and mark it for the move. ( I used colored dots that corresponded to each room in the house) It took about 30 members 1.5 hours to move all the stuff that was going over to the rental house. Everything was "put away", as much as we could since we will probably be packing again at the end of October to move back to the parsonage, by Tuesday this week. Now we are working on keeping it clean and just figuring out life.

That all happened the DAY before school began for the kids. School. Grace is in 4th grade and has a new teacher, new to the school teacher. The twins are in 3rd grade and they have a new teacher too, not new to school, but new to third grade. Daniel has begun Kindergarten, he also has a new teacher, again not new to the school, but new to kindergarten. He also goes to Montessori school in the afternoon three days a week. Sarah has begun preschool. She goes 4 mornings a week. It is the same Montessori that Daniel goes to and is at the church, not church run, but at the church. All of the teacher changes took place on the Wednesday before school started. Daniel's Kindergarten teacher is Miss Smith and his Montessori school teacher is Mrs. Smith, very confusing!!! Such has been my life since school began. Don't even get me started about the schedule. WCA, the kids school, begins at 8:10 so I drop them off at 7:55. Sarah's doesn't start until 8:45 - I work on Nursery stuff at church until I can drop her off. Then Sarah is done at 11:15 and Daniel at 11:25. I pick up Sarah then Daniel then drop Daniel off and take Sarah home for lunch. We nap!!! Daniel gets picked up at 2:45 and the rest at 3:30- yet another 45 minute gap, but I either run errands or just sit in line while Daniel naps!!

Are you tired yet? I am. It is Thursday and I am sitting in the local coffee house just being alone!! I need to finish paperwork for substitute teaching. Yes, I am going to throw working into my mix. I will all work out I am sure. The kids are adjusting better than I am I think. We have had some rough mornings and a few nights too, but overall it is going well. I will try to keep you posted. I am hoping to put a bunch of pictures onto my computer over the weekend so that I can post them the next time I sit down for a quite coffee. We love and miss you all. Talk to you soon!!! Blessings!!

Higher Dad, Higher!!!

2008-08-17T21:16:00.004-04:00

Still on location in Clinton Township. Yesterday Doug and I were able to get away for the night. We went on a really long date. It had been a while ;-) Grandma and Grandpa graciously watched the kiddos while Doug and I went out. We shopped a few book stores and had a great dinner. We slept in then this afternoon we went to Jimmy John's for lunch. Very yummy!! We spent the rest of the day in the pool with the kids. Doug got a work out. He was tossing them in the air and they were loving it. Even Grace did it this year. She has always been too afraid to do it up until now. They boys look forward to it every year. Daniel gets the best height and the twins are now doing "tricks" in the air. Wait till they start watching the diving. Grandpa's pool is only 4 feet deep. We will have to make sure they are only jumping!!!! Tomorrow I think we are making our way to Southgate to visit with Grandma and Grandpa Adams. I may try to post from there, but don't be surprised if you don't hear from me for a while. Keep an eye on my dad's AFTERMATH blog for more pictures and updates!!!

He is Superman!!!!!

2008-08-15T22:09:00.003-04:00

We are into the Olympics. If you couldn't tell from my new background, the Olympics have been a hit. We just finished watching Michael Phelps win the Butterfly by one one hundredth of a second. Unbelievable!!!!! He really is Superman, like the commentators keep calling him. It helps he is nice to look at too ;-) I get goosebumps every time I hear our national anthem being played and we have heard it a lot lately.

My kids have really gotten into these games. These games are the first ones the kids have been old enough to remember. The kids all studied ancient Greece in school, it is a unit in second grade. They have classroom Olympics and a toga party. So when these Olympic Games began the kid wondered if they were just like the Ancient Olympics, when they competed naked!! We spent some time explaining the new Olympic games. I think that every Olympic athlete needs an 8 eight year old boy for their cheering section. The boys really get into each and every event. From Beach volleyball to water polo ( or water hockey as they call it) they cheer like they have been cheering for that team forever. They don't know any names and in some cases they don't even know how the game is played, but if they are American the boys are cheering them on. When the event is over and while they are waiting for the soap operas to finish airing, the boys and Grace are playing their new favorite sport. "Beach" volleyball over the line hanging in the back yard. Breast strokes, back strokes and the butterfly in our 12 ft wide pool. Water polo in our 12ft wide pool. Fencing with light sabers. Tumbling on the floor and parallel bar exercises on the monkey bars at the local playground. Now we are at Pappa's and he has a 30ft long pool and goggles! They are trying to perfect their strokes. Anyone know a good swim coach?? My children are blessed with athletic ability. I look forward to seeing how it develops. Will they pursue team sports like baseball or will they go for the individual ones like golf, fencing or swimming? Or will they just be backyard athletes and excel elsewhere? Whichever path they might take I know they will be blessed and they will have their own cheering section, mom!!!

Today, we separated by gender. The BOYS ( minus Pappa who had a previous golf engagement) went to see the new Star Wars movie. Then they had lunch at Denny's, a quick run to Toys R Us for new Star Wars figs, and a trip to Meijer for steaks and ribs for dinner. The GIRLS made our way to David's Bridal to order a bridesmaid dress for me and a flower girl dress for Grace. Different weddings. We didn't find the flower girl dress, but we are still looking. Then we headed to Oakland mall for lunch at Olga's and more shopping. Everyone ended the day with a great grilled dinner and a swim in the pool. The kids crashed early and I think the adults will too. If not you know what we will be doing! GO USA!!!!

On Location

2008-08-14T22:00:00.003-04:00

Today I am reporting from Dad's computer in Clinton Township. We are finally on vacation!!!!!!! This is a good thing, if you didn't catch that from all the exclamation marks ;-) We got out of dodge (Hillsdale) late on Wednesday. Our ETD (estimated time of departure) was before 5pm - so we didn't run into the trustees attempting to fix the broken sewage drain in our crawl space- but we didn't hit the road until nearly 7pm. The office computer was giving Doug fits. It is 8 years old and won't talk to the new kids in the office. It almost got shot with an SKS or thrown out the window. He ended up finishing here on dad's computer. His August Cornerstone articles are complete now, however and that is what matters. We crashed here Wednesday night. The kids were a little excited. They got to sleep in the basement, which Pappa finished just recently, on camping cots. Loads of fun for 9,8 and 5 year olds!! They ended up staying up to watch some Olympic coverage. We have been Olympic deprived since Monday when a very kind trustee was weed whacking our front yard and accidentally cut the cable that connected our roof top antenna to the TV -- and as you already know we don't have any cable or satellite service so that was our only source for TV type entertainment. We were able to see Phelps and Co. win the relay on Sunday, but missed two more nights worth of swimming. Anyway, we now have Pappa's large screen tv to watch the Olympics on. The kids, and me too, are in heaven!!!

Thursday, we trecked over to Lapeer to visit with the Strawn's. They were finishing up their two week vacation in Michigan. We couldn't let them be so close without seeing them. The kids had a blast climbing apple trees, playing baseball, freeze tag, picking peaches and just having fun. We big kids were able to catch up and vent. Pastors and their wives need to do that every now and then ya know. We had a great visit. I think we all wish we lived closer together. Nebraska is pretty far away!! Thanks for a great afternoon guys! We really enjoyed the day!

Once back at Grandma's we threw all the kids in a shower or bath, they stunk and were very dirty, then put them to bed. They were also tired and cranky!!! Doug and I stayed up to watch the gymnasts take gold and silver. It was late, but it isn't every year you get to see history being made! Tomorrow is another fun day. Stay tuned for more adventures!! I may even add pictures!!

Finally, The Pictures from our NC Trip!!

2008-08-07T20:24:00.001-04:00

It's been a while

2008-07-26T13:04:00.002-04:00

Sorry. We have been pretty busy this month. I know you all wait with bated breath to see when I am going to post a new blog, so here I am.

We have been busy, really. My family is waiting for me to post pictures from the wedding in NC and they are coming, just not right now. I have also been working on the BIRTHDAY BASH that is coming up on August 2. The festivities begin around 1pm. We hope that you can all be there. What else has been keeping us so busy you ask? Well.... let me fill you in.

July 9 we began by loading up the car super early and then headed to Grace's tutor at 8am. While she was there we swung back home and picked up the dog. We picked up Grace at 9 and were on our way to Grandma Adams'. We had lunch, left the boys and the dog and headed to Grandma Wyckhuys' where Grace got to swim for a few hours before we hit the road for Winterville, NC. We stopped around 10:30pm just north of Marietta.

July 10 we were on the road by 8:30am and arrived at Rachelle's by 7pm. A very long trip!! We stopped several times for gas, meals and stretching. The girls did great thanks to a portable DVD player. We unfolded ourselves from the car, said HI to everyone at Rachelle's then got back in the car to go to dinner. We ate at a favorite Mexican place.

July 11 we got up slowly, repacked the car and headed an hour west to Wake Forest, NC, where the reception and hotel were for the wedding. We spent the day & evening in the pool. Grace is a fish!! Sarah, not so much. Peyton used the swimmy thing I brought for Sarah since Sarah wanted nothing to do with it. No, I got to hold her and swim, she really liked that. Dinner this night was an absolutely brilliant idea. We ordered a party package from a local Barbecue place. We got fried chicken, pulled pork, Cole slaw, potato salad, sweet tea and hush puppies, enough to feed an army! For $10 a person we had dinner and lunch the next day!

July 12 we spent the morning in the pool, had a great leftover lunch then got ready for the wedding and reception. The wedding was beautiful and the reception was very nice. Very Southern too. No dinner and it only lasted about 4 hours. They had finger food and snacks, cake, drinks and other neat things. There was dancing, all the traditional stuff, and a send off. We were back at the hotel by 8:30pm, where the kids swam and we adults hung around and talked until nearly midnight, well some of us left a little earlier, Grace was falling asleep in a lounge chair.

July 13 we got up slowly again. We enjoyed a hot breakfast at the hotel then headed back to Rachelle's house. Here we had a birthday party for Sarah and Grace. Grace got to see Camp Rock on Disney and the young adults played tailgate golf. (See my dad's pics for more)

July 14 we were up really early and left Rachelle's by 7am. We drove all day!! We arrived back in Clinton Township by 11pm. It was a long ride, but again the girls did great. This time we had two DVD players thanks to Aunt Rachelle lending us hers.

July 15 - Sarah's Birthday we took our time getting up and packing again. Grace swam again in the pool and after lunch we headed back to Grandma Adams' to get the boys and the dog. We were home in Hillsdale by 4:30pm. We picked up a pizza (where my drivers side window wouldn't work), ate the pizza, unloaded the car and made it to the ball field by 7pm for the twins baseball game! That was another crazy long day!!

July 16 we unpacked, cleaned house and just relaxed for the day!!!

July 17 we played at the Weidmeyers for the morning and then we had a ball game in the evening. A comparatively easy day.

July 20 Sunday! I worked in the nursery at both services, since everyone who volunteers is out of town. The good thing is that I only had like 3 kids besides mine all morning. That made it bearable.

July 21 Doug traveled to Ft. Wayne for a funeral and the kids and I hung around the house and played and cleaned up.

July 22 Grace had a tutoring session while the rest of us played on the playground. The twins had a ball game in the evening.

July 24 was another tutoring session and ball game. Doug had a funeral to do here in town. When he got back he went promptly to bed. I had a feeling he was getting sick!

July 25 Grace had a tutoring session then we went to the hair dresser where I got my hair highlighted and cut. It looks so much better. We left the house at 9:45 and didn't get home till 2pm. Then we shopped for the church's Ice Cream social, set it up, had dinner and went back for ice cream. We had a small attendance, but it is the middle of the summer. I wasn't expecting too many anyway. Doug stayed home because well, he is sick AGAIN!! Fever, aches, dry heaves, loads of fun!!!

July 26 brings us to today. Doug is still under the weather. I hope he can recover enough to finish his sermon for tomorrow. He is alone at church this weekend because Pastor Dan is out of town until Tuesday. The twins are at a 4-H camp with a friend from school. They are probably going to come home wanting livestock!! Daniel slept in until nearly 9am this morning. Either he was really tired or he is getting sick. Hopefully he is just tired, we have been busy!!!!!

Preparing for a trip

2008-07-08T19:44:00.002-04:00

Why is it that I clean my house before I leave it for a week and I can't seem to want to clean while I am actually here?? I have been getting ready for our trip to North Carolina for what seems like weeks now. I am just finishing the last of the laundry and am ready to pack the suit cases. The kids have all their stuff in backpacks and are pretty much ready to go. I have my dozen or so lists on the table, patiently waiting to be crossed off. I have yet to cross off much of anything by the way. I am typing this instead of doing any number of things on "The List."

Also, in typical fashion, I have a sick kid. Nate, who is headed to Grandma Adams' instead of North Carolina, all the boys are so don't feel bad for him, has been running a temp today. He has an upset tummy, no throwing up yet, and has bowel problems. Grandma, bless her heart, is still willing to take him so that Doug can do a funeral, have a beach day with the youth, play warhammer and preside over an anniversary vow renewal and dinner without worrying about a sitter. The girls and I are headed to NC for my cousin Amy's wedding. Grace is all set to ride in the back as we drive the whole way in one trip. She has a bag packed for her and one for Sarah. She has the whole trip planned out in her head. She even has lists. Umm, who does that sound like??

I have put the kids to bed early in hopes of being able to get a few more things done before Doug comes home and in order to help everyone ward off whatever bug it is that Nate has. No one is asleep yet, but the boys are at least in bed and quiet, Sarah is not. She keeps popping up trying not to fall asleep. Figures!!!!

Sarah was very cute saying her prayers tonight. She has learned The Lord's Prayer only she says it with a few minor changes. "Our father who up in heaven, hallowed be my name. My kingdom come my will be done on earth as it is in heaven." The rest is alright. She can even say trespasses and deliver pretty well. She loves to say it by herself without help.

Well, I think I am going to go clean the bathroom while I wait for everyone to fall asleep. Look for pictures when I get back on the 15th!!

Mini Concordia Reunion

2008-07-04T22:37:00.001-04:00

Birthday Bash

2008-06-27T21:55:00.003-04:00

Invited to a party, you have been!!

Please join us for the Adams Clan Birthday Bash!

A long time ago (1999-2003)

in a galaxy far, far away (St.Louis)...

Five great kids were born.

(OK so two were born in Michigan, anyway...)

In honor of their births we are having a cosmic celebration,

Star Wars Style.

Please join us on

Saturday, August 2, 2008

The Mos Eisley Cantina (our backyard)

Costumes are encouraged, but not required!!

We plan on making a day of it, so come early, but...

Pod Races will begin at 2pm

Dinner will be at 5pm

Medal ceremonies will be at dusk.

Come early and stay late!!

We even have bunk space available for those who need it!

Hope to see you all there!!

RSVP by sending the force our way!! (call or email Robyn)

Gifts are not necessary, your presence is your gift!!!

An Update

2008-06-23T19:51:00.002-04:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. VBS week got the best of me. With 7 kids and two dogs in our house all week I really didn't have the time or frankly the energy to blog. I shouldn't even be blogging now, I'm sick, but I wanted to post a quick update so you all didn't think we had fallen off the face of the earth. I do have some pictures of the past week but I am too tired to try and post them here tonight. I will try and put them in a slideshow soon.

We did have a great week at VBS. We used CPH's kit, Friendship Trek. It was a lot of fun. CPH does all the work. They provide music, skits, PowerPoint, puppets, and lots of extras. We maxed out at 65 kids, which sounds like a lot, however we have maxed at nearly 150 before. This was just a very weird summer. Most schools got out the Friday before we started, so that kept some kids and volunteers home, then there is the economy. Not everyone could afford to drive into church 2-4 times a day all week. We aren't exactly in the middle of anything. I think that the kids that did come had a great time and it is for them that we do this anyway. For some of them this is the only exposure to Jesus or Church that they get all year. I keep hoping too that the congregation will see how cool it is to see 60 some kids all worshipping together in the sanctuary. That is one of the best parts of a Day school, but alas, we just can't talk them into making that leap of faith. Prayerfully, someday, it will happen!! But I digress....

We had Joel and Ben Brenner stay with us for VBS week. This is their third trip to our house for VBS. Mark and Renee used the time to vacation in Mexico for their 10Th anniversary. The boys have lots of fun and it makes the week go by quickly. They all get along fairly well, although Daniel tends to get on Ben's nerves come about Wednesday. We stayed busy though and that helped.

This week will be quiet in comparison. I am of course sick. With what I don't know but I have had a fever and sore throat for a few days now. I could probably stand for a trip to the doc, maybe get some meds. I did manage to take the kids to see a stage production of High School Musical yesterday before I got too sick. They enjoyed it. They knew a few of the people in the cast. Next we will go see Oliver! in August. They will get exposed to theatre one way or another!!

Well I am going to sign off for now. Thanks for checking in on us. Hopefully we will see you all sooner than later!!!

Oh, I have a new "toy" too. Facebook. It is an interesting Internet tool. Scary, but interesting. It is kinda like six degrees of separation on the Internet. Check it out sometime, you'll be surprised at who you may find!!!

Remembering...

2008-06-14T20:57:00.002-04:00

We have a busy week coming up. It is Vacation Bible School. Please say a quick prayer that we get lots of last minute volunteers, because we may end up with more kids than our help can handle!!!! I will try to post daily or more realistically, every other day, to keep you up to date on the fun of our Friendship Trek!!!

The reason for my post today is politics. I am not a fan of politics. I hate debate, mostly because I am not any good at it, but also because I am not big on confrontation. I can count at least 100 things I like better than politics. However, on the rare occasions I needed to listen to a political debate or commentary, in order to make a decision about which candidate to vote for in an upcoming election, I usually found myself listening to Tim Russert. I liked him, maybe because he was easy to understand, maybe because he had a strong faith and it showed, or maybe because he was just a likable guy. Anyway you look at it though, he will be missed. My heart goes out to his family as they mourn this weekend, but I pray too that we rejoice together in the fact that Tim is now at eternal peace with his Lord and Savior.

Happy Birthday Pappa!!

2008-06-11T20:21:00.002-04:00

OK. We had a busy day today. VBS is fast approaching and we have people coming to our house tomorrow so we didn't get a chance to make our phone call to Pappa and sing Happy Birthday. We will do that belatedly tomorrow, but for now this will have to do.

Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday dear Pappa!

Happy Birthday to you!! Cha Cha Cha!!!

We love you!!!

Our Week in Review

2008-06-08T13:37:00.001-04:00

Wii Fit

2008-06-04T21:44:00.002-04:00

9 kids, ages 8 months to 9 years. That was my day today. I willing volunteered to watch my friends children so that she could pack in peace. They are moving to Columbus, Indiana in a few weeks and we are coordinating a play date and dinner schedule. We had both the play date and dinner today. Needless to say it was busy at my house today. How busy you say? Well, lets take a look. Oh and by the way no need to worry about us adding number 6 or 7 to our clan, I am pretty sure I would be institutionalized if we had any more kids. 9 is good for a few hours or even a day, but 24/7, I don't think so. Anyway, back to my day.

6:30 up and in shower
7:00 kids up/breakfast
7:45 kids to school
8:00 Curves for me!
8:45 pick up Daniel and Sarah & head to Walmart for groceries
10:00 home from shopping
11:00 Cook family arrives Lorraine, 5 Aggie, 3 Seth, 2 and Marcus 8 months
12:00 Lunch
1:00 NAPTIME ;-)
2:30 Wii Fit

The Cooks have Wii Fit and brought it along to keep the kids busy since it was raining today.

ATTENTION: This will be a great Birthday Bash gift!!! The kids loved it!!! I think the "big kids" will like it too. :-)

3:30 WCA kids arrive, now we are 9!!
5:30 Josh and Emily return, having gotten much accomplished
7:00 Dinner Brats, fruit, salad and chips
8:30 Cooks return home and we settle in to watch the Wings win THE CUP!!
10:00 Put the kids to bed, no the game isn't over, but we are in a Tornado watch and they need to sleep now in case they aren't sleeping later due to weather.

I will post pictures tomorrow!!! GO WINGS!!!

A Day with Daniel

2008-05-30T20:54:00.002-04:00

Friday's are usually Doug's day off. I say usually because as a Pastor he often doesn't get his whole day off. Sometimes church functions or other responsibilities fall on Friday so he either takes a different day off or just doesn't get an off day that particular week. Today though he was able to spend the whole day as DAD and didn't have to share it with PASTOR. I ended up have a busy day, so Doug and Daniel got a lot of time together. This morning Doug took the big kids to school then drove over to the eye doctor for an annual eye exam. It went well, especially since his prescription didn't chance which meant we didn't have to sell a kidney for new glasses!!! They did dilate his eyes which always throws him for a loop. I am actually surprised he made it home! When he got back he asked Daniel why he wasn't dressed. I answered "because we haven't got there yet." To which Daniel replied, "Yeah, she's a WOMAN, so she tells me what to wear." I wasn't sure whether to laugh or punish him for that one!! Doug laughed!! After that I took Sarah to Dr. Herberner and the daddy/Daniel day began.

Sarah has the same strep infection Daniel did on her bottom, so we went to the doctor, picked up the antibiotic from the Market House, talked to Jonathan for a few minutes, ran over to church to meet with the violin teacher and show her the room she will be working in for the month of June and chatted with the TGIF team. Meanwhile, Daddy and Daniel were painting Warhammer scenery and talking. Actually Daniel was talking and painting, Doug was just listening. They also did some cleaning in the "War Room". Daniel was getting into trouble, climbing on something he shouldn't, and Doug said,"Daniel if you had a theme song playing everywhere you went it would be "Living on the Edge"! Too True!

The rest of the day was very similar. Daniel did a loooooot of talking and Doug listened!! At one point Doug asked Daniel to turn it off and zip it. Daniel agreed but not two minutes later he asked a question, realized what he had done and said, "I unturned it off and unzipped it, sorry!" I love the way his mind works!!!

Nathan came home around 1pm, he wasn't feeling great. His arm was really bothering him today. Still no news from the Doc, maybe by Monday. We had Taco's for dinner and were all ready to watch the hockey game when much to our dismay, it isn't on until tomorrow! Who puts those schedules together anyway??? Well, we will be ready to cheer on the Wings tomorrow then. Hopefully it isn't too late of a game. Got to get up early for church ya know!!!!

He's Safe! The boys Win!!!

2008-05-29T19:48:00.002-04:00

Tonight Kris, our regular babysitter, and her boyfriend Aaron(yes, that is Aaron Johnson) came over for a game of baseball in the field and dinner after. The kids have been looking forward to this for a week. Aaron brought his brother Isaac too. I think it was big "Kids" versus little "kids". I was in the house making spaghetti. Everyone had a great time, until Nathan slid into home plate. He scored, but he broke his arm!! Not bad, mind you, just enough to have to wear a splint for a month. :-) Dr. Herbener will call tomorrow after the radiologist takes a look at the x-ray. It may be worse or not even broken. He was having a hard time reading the computer generated x-ray. So I guess it is a good thing that is wasn't a blatantly obvious break. We will update you tomorrow.

Despite the game ending injury, the kids all had fun and would probably be up for a game tomorrow if everyone could play!! Nathan and Jacob have been signed up for coach pitch baseball. Practice begins next month and the games are in July. Hopefully Nate will at least be able to play in the games. I will be sure to post pictures when I get them. TTFN!!

Our Trip to Greenfield Village

2008-05-27T21:48:00.001-04:00

More About Greenfield Village

2008-05-27T20:40:00.002-04:00

The rest of our Memorial Weekend was wonderful. Sunday after church we packed up and headed to Grandma and Grandpa Adams' house. We arrived around 4pm. Papa had been working hard all day on dinner. Ribs on the grill, potato salad, corn on the cob, baked beans, hamburgers and hot dogs. Yum-o!! Grandma even made a chocolate cake. So much for my diet!!! Great Grandma and Grandpa were there too! The kids ran and played with the dogs and had a grand old time. We headed to bed early so we could get up and get to the village a little before it opened.

Monday we rose early and arrived at Greenfield Village by 9am. This is a great idea since no one is there yet. We got a prime parking spot and were one of the first families through the door. They were handing out flags to everyone who walked through the park. Sarah liked hers. We got a schedule of events for the day and headed onward and upward!! We checked out the two armies drilling on the green, explored the two camps and the boys even enlisted in the Union army. Daniel actually thought we were making him join the REAL army. He didn't realize we were only acting!!! You can see his dejected look in one of the pictures in the slide show. We had hot dogs for lunch, with the band playing in the background. At noon there was a Memorial Day commemoration. We couldn't see anything so we opted to ride the carousel and train while everyone else was busy. The kids loved that, so did the big kids!!! Daniel even fell asleep on the train ride. We left the village around 2pm. It was a great memory!! We spent the rest of the afternoon at Grandmas, playing Civil War. We headed home about 5pm. It was great to not be in a rush and just enjoy the trip and the time with family.

I finally got around to putting the pictures into a slide show on Tuesday. Thanks to Sarah Strawn for the photobucket site. They make great slide shows!! You will probably see lots more of those on my blog now. It was really easy to post them here.

Lately Sarah has been singing, a lot! She knows several songs, but not all of them, only certain parts. Here is a sample of what I hear from her through out the day.

Wanting to get out of the blue room she sings "I'm gonna break! I'm gonna break my.. I'm gonna break this rusty cage and run!"

Playing house she sings:"It's the joy of Motherhood. I do what any other mother would to keep my ducks decked out and living in style."

Just playing she sings "Sarahspundel, Sarahspundel, Sarahspundel, rat zat zat. An Oreo. A chocolate Oreo. I love the creamy center in my chocolate Oreo."

She will also just start singing other songs from Honk! and High School Musical. What ever happened to Toddler Tunes like The wheels on the bus or the Hokey Pokey!!! I guess that is what comes from having 4 older siblings!!!

Boys vs. Girls

2008-05-24T21:16:00.002-04:00

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice, that's what little girls are made of. Toads and snails and puppy dog tails, that's what little boys are made of.

I think that is how the poem goes, or at least that is how I remember it. It is too true! Today, as we cleaned the house top to bottom, I observed my children and the way their gender effects their character. We began our mission at 8:45am. The BOYS liked the idea of 15 minutes on one job and then move on to the next. Team work was best for them. The GIRLS lingered over the details. All the DVD's had to be put back just right. All the windows had to be cleaned, the pillows on the couch just right, the blankets folded and put away in an organized fashion. The BOYS used one Clorox wipe for the counters, sinks, faucets and toilet. ( I made them go over it with a few more) GRACE'S desk has to have everything on it just so. She has little things everywhere, but knows where it all is. She likes to have a space for everything. The BOYS desk has a few lamps and a puzzle half put together on it. GRACE's bed has sheets, blankets and comforter. I am lucky if the BOYS actually have a fitted sheet on their bed each night. All they use to cover up is a fleece tied blanket, no cover sheet, no other blanket or comforter. It took GRACE about 30 minutes to have her room ready to be vacuumed. It took the BOYS about 90. They had less to clean up too, by the way!!

Once the inside was done about lunch time, we moved outside. While the bottom two slept, I cleaned the kitchen and the others helped Dad outside. The BOYS were pooper scoopers, GRACE organized the order it was picked up!!! Sarah and Daniel soon joined them. Daniel is all boy and runs, jumps and skips everywhere. Sarah found a doll and played with her. She is so sweet. It amazes me how little girls are hard wired to mother. Even at nearly 3 she is very motherly toward her dolls and other stuffed friends. She has never really observed me with a baby or any woman with a baby for that matter and yet she seems to know just what to do. It is amazing.

Our company came about 4:30 ish. We hosted a BBQ (sorry Grill -Out) for the youth. Kudos to the Rushing Family!!! I am so glad they came over. We have over two dozen jr and sr youth families and they were the only family to come, even after spending the day sanding and staining their hard wood floors!!! Along with them, several of our College youth came to eat. Jon, Isaac, Zander, and Nick threw a football around with the BOYS and Renee and Courtney played with Sarah while Alana (Zanders sister who is in Grace's class at school) and Grace found secluded places to whisper their deepest secrets. Once the Rushings arrived, Grace headed strait for the baby, Sarah and Ashley played and the boys continued to toss the football along with the Rushing boys, Alex and Andrew. Anna, the only jr youth, helped with the little ones and chatted some with the big girls. Again that boy vs girl thing was very evident.

I was bummed that only one youth showed up. i guess they just don't know yet how much fun it is at Pastors house. The college kids are our core group. They were part of Doug's first confirmation class here and they have had many picnics and events at our house. They know how much fun it can be. I hope that we can develop the same relationship with this new batch of kids, but it just seems harder to make that connection with them than it did with the first ones. It is cyclical. That core group didn't really develop until they could drive on their own or get rides from older friends. We have very few drives right now. There is a bubble of no kids in the upper high school grades. We have one senior, one junior and few sophomores and mostly freshmen. Then there are the 6-8th graders. Who knows? We will keep trying though, we will keep having these kinds of events and hopefully word will spread and eventually we will have a great crowd of kids at our house like before. Then, it will be our kids and their friends!!! Heaven help me!!!

Have a great Memorial Weekend!! Remember in you prayers the families of those who have lost a loved one in the military. Remember too those serving currently, especially those is hostile countries. We love you George!!!!

Spontaneity

2008-05-19T20:18:00.002-04:00

Spontaneity does not exist when you have children. Case in point. I wanted to thank Doug for driving to Shelby on Saturday for Jason's wedding. It was a long day for everyone and since he doesn't wear jewelry or particularly like flowers for his desk at work, I wanted to do something manly for him. My idea? Get a sitter, take him to a bar, and let him watch game 6 of the Red Wing playoff game (we don't have cable or satellite and it is never on network TV). The usual obstacle to this plan would be the sitter. I got lucky this time though. Tara just graduated from Ferris and is at home looking for a job. She would love to watch the kids and she was free. Sitter, check. The next obstacle was Doug's schedule. Usually Mondays are busy with either HOPE or Cub Scouts. Luckily the game didn't start till 8 and the Blue and Gold Banquet was early at 6pm. We should be back by 7:30 or 8, just enough time for Tara to help settle the kids into bed. Yes we might miss part of the first period, but the game really only gets exciting in the third, so we were good. Cleared schedule, check. The final obstacle was the kids. This is the one that tripped us up. Jacob got pink eye. Nathan is close and so is Daniel and of course Doug's eyes are itching too. I didn't want to risk our lovely job hunting sitter getting pink eye., that wouldn't help her chances any. Healthy kids and hubby, no check. No spontaneity. We took Jacob to the Dr today. He confirmed the pink eye, gave us a scrip for drops, with a refill, and told us to just go ahead and give drops to whoever got it next, no need to bring them in. In fact when I called the office I told them I had two with pink eye and asked if I could bring one in. They didn't even bat an eye and said sure, how is 10am? So instead of watching the game and drinking a beer or similar beverage, I am sitting on the computer, listening to the game on the computer and blogging while trying to get the kids to go to sleep!!! Not exactly the night I had in mind!!!! Is it wrong to hope they lose tonight so I can try for another night of spontaneity on Wednesday??? (score as I post: Wings 3 Stars 0 )

In other news: I totally forgot to post this yesterday. Jacob is going to be a published author. His poem, BLUE, which I posted a few days ago, was chosen to be included in an anthology of poems. We ordered the book so we can show it off in the Winter when it arrives. Now you all can say you knew Jacob when...

Trying to get back to normal...and not succeeding!!

2008-05-18T20:56:00.001-04:00

Sorry that I haven't posted in a while, but as my title says we have been trying to get back to normal. I have yet to succeed.

HONK! was a hit. The kids had a great time. Grace is ready to do it all again. The boys may wait a while. They were tired and bored for the most part. They liked being on stage, it was cool. Daniel and Sarah love the hoops and umbrellas. We got a cast picture to hang up too. If we get a video we will let you know.

Today was our Church's 10th anniversary celebration. We had church at 9:30am then dinner at noon. There was lots of special music and presentations. Church lasted 2 hours!!! It was Trinity Sunday so, of course, we recited the Athanasian Creed. It is very long!!! We had a guest preacher today, Rev. Hosemann the Michigan District President. He had a very nice sermon. The kids did remarkably well in church too. Daniel only lasted a half hour before I put him in the nursery, but the others made it through and so did I!! ;-)

We will be making a trip to the doctor tomorrow , however. I think that Jacob and Nathan may have pink eye!!! I will keep you posted!!

So now you know what we have been up to. Blessings to you all!!!

A Random Week

2008-05-07T19:58:00.003-04:00

Aunt Nora brought all the kids a giant coloring book and lots of markers. They came in a neat holder. Sarah decided she liked coloring on her body instead of the Dora coloring book.

Yes, she even colored in between her toes!!!

I think there are actually pictures there not just scribbles!

There are days when all these two do is fight. Then there are days when they are best friends. There are even days when they are husband and wife or "honey and son" as they like to say. Aren't they too cute!!
Grace had a violin recital on Saturday, May 3. She did a great job. It was short but sweet. She played the tune of "Go my Children." It helps when she knows the song!!

BLUE

by Jacob Adams

Blue looks like my sister's eyes.

Blue smells like a stinky t-shirt.

Blue tastes like salty sea water.

Blue sounds like a bluebird singing a cool song.

Blue feels like a sponge when I scrub the floor.

RED

by Nathan Adams

Red looks like a new barn.

Red smells like a hot fire.

Red sounds like a gunshot when someone is hunting.

Red tastes like really hot redhots.

Red feels like red hand sanitizer.

Hell Week

2008-04-30T20:14:00.004-04:00

Can I say that on my blog? I really can't think of a better term. This week is Hell Week for the production of HONK!jr. Sunday we had rehearsal from 2-7pm. Monday, 6:30-9:30pm. Tuesday, 6:30-9:30pm. Wednesday,?? I had to drop them off today and they are getting a ride from a member and her daughter. I don't expect them before 9pm. Thankfully there is no rehearsal tomorrow night, at least there wasn't when I dropped them off. They may add one after tonight's rehearsal. All in all the rehearsals have gone well. The kids do their opening song, go to the Green Room/Girl's Dressing room to hang and watch a movie, come down to do their big number, go back upstairs to hang for a scene or two more, then come down to do the closing number, curtain call and reprise. The boys are a bit bored, but Grace is having fun. I have her convinced to do another play this summer, I am still working on the boys. I am having fun helping back stage and I would like to do more. Maybe with a few more shows under our belts I will be able to help out more. Yes, I know I have said I wouldn't do another one for a while, but they are doing "Oliver" and I think the kids would have fun with that one. Besides it is during the summer, in August. We are still talking about it but.... we will keep you posted. Here are some pictures I have taken lately. HONK! is pretty much our life right now so there isn't much else to talk about. I am glad so many of you are going to be able to come and see the show, but if you aren't never fear, I do believe there will be a DVD available and I plan on getting one or two. Enjoy the pictures and we will see you all soon

Daniel fell asleep in the time out corner.

Sarah was getting a drink from the sink. Guess who taught her that trick? And no she isn't standing on anything!

The boys were being silly. The underwear is clean!!

"Poultry Tale" That is the nest with the eggs in it in the front. Couldn't tell you which of my kids is in the picture if any. They all look the same in those costumes!

More of the cast in "Poultry Tale"

Between scenes the froglets hang out. This night they are watching "Alvin and the Chipmunks"

My Little Actors

2008-04-21T21:02:00.002-04:00

Lately I have been having to take Sarah and Daniel to Honk rehearsal with us because Doug has been busy with work. Needless to say they are quite familiar with the story and most of the songs. They even know the warm up songs the kids do at the beginning of rehearsal. Sarah's favorite is "Sarahspundel" -- I wonder why? I will even catch them quoting several lines of the play. Daniel's favorites are "Yes!Yes!Yes! I made it through Thanksgiving!!!" and "Well curdle my cornflakes! He's escaped!!" Sarah likes the line in one of the songs that says something like "it went the way the Dodo did." She has also become very fond of the cat. The girl who plays the cat anyway. She will almost always come over and play with Sarah when she is waiting to go back on stage. Daniel even sat and watched quite a bit of the rehearsal very nicely today and last week too. I am seriously considering taking him to a show. As long as he promises not to shout the lines from the seats!!!! They got a special treat tonight too. We have moved to the theater which is in downtown Jonesville. So we went for a walk and got ice cream at Marcella's. It serves hand dipped Mackinac Island Ice Cream! Yum-o! Daniel got a Superman cone, Sarah a vanilla and I got a mint fudge one. Delicious!! I am pretty sure that now they are going to want ice cream EVERY time we go to rehearsal!!

A Great Weekend

2008-04-20T20:47:00.002-04:00

I have no pictures. Just wanted to get that out of the way. I have no pictures from the shower this weekend. My husband insisted he needed the camera for the weekend to take pictures of the youth for some ministry display board for the 10th Anniversary celebration coming up. So therefore, he had the camera and I didn't. I have no pictures, but we had a great time. I hope that you will check out "Peyton's Place", "cstreet", "Aftermath" and hopefully "R3" for some great pictures of the event.

This weekend the kids and I went to Grandma Adams' Friday night after dinner. We all slept there, then the girls and I drove to Clinton Twp to Grandma Wyckhuys' for Amy Howard's bridal shower. It was a blast. We saw lots of family that we haven't seen in a while, both because of sickness and distance. (see pics at other blogs please)

Mom made a great lunch. We had chicken salad, which even with out the chow mien noodles and almonds, was great! Along side that we had chips and a crescent roll and punch to drink. Dessert was fresh fruit with pound cake or angel cake with a drizzle of chocolate from the chocolate fountain. That was the hit of the day, the chocolate fountain that is. We had it going by noon and it didn't get turned of till almost dinner!!! There were banana, pretzels, chips, marshmallows and strawberries for dipping. I think Grace spent most of her time planted in front of it. She is looking forward to the one Amy promised would be at the wedding dinner!!! The big girls even found creative ways of eating, or should I say drinking, the chocolate. (See picture at other blog please)

Amy got to help Sarah and Peyton open the presents. They were all great newlywed gifts. Microwave ovens, Corningware, an endless bag of Misc. kitchen stuff, you know, the usual bridal shower stuff. No lingerie though, maybe I'll put that on my list of things to buy for a wedding gift! I digress, all in all we had a great afternoon.

The party never really ended though. Some people went home around 4, but a lot of us stayed, especially the ones who had booked a room at the Wyckuys B&B for the night. The girls and I finally left after dinner. We had an impromptu Grill out since The Round Robin wouldn't accommodate all 14 of us in a timely fashion. Renee and Kevin supplied the burgers and Rachelle, Amy and Grace made a Wally world run. It was much more relaxed than a restaurant would have been!!

The girls and I finally left around 8pm and crawled back into Grandma Adams' around 9pm. Everyone went right to sleep. Of course they were up at 6am today, but hey Grandpa had to get up anyway to go to work so it all worked out well. Grandma even let me go back to bed for an extra hour to catch up on some sleep. Thanks!!! We packed and left Southgate by 10am and arrived just in time to pick Doug up from church and get lunch.

The kids had HONK at the theatre for the first time today so I stayed all afternoon with them. It went well. It is going to be great show. I can't wait for everyone to see it.

Now it is 9pm. Everyone is asleep. The big kids were very tired and so am I. I think I will sign off for now. Don't forget to check the other blogs for some great pictures!!

Come and See Us Warts and All!!

2008-04-13T20:05:00.003-04:00

The weekends of the show are fast approaching. Costumes are being fitted, lines are memorized, dance steps are being practiced. We had our parent meeting today at which we signed up to help in several area over the course of the two weekends. The kids would love if any of could come and watch then in their first ever performance in a real theater. The following are the dates and times of the show. Doors open one half hour before the time of the performance. I can get discounted tickets for adults if I have 10 or more, not the same night, just 10 over the course of the two weekends. I need to turn those in by April 24 so your deadline is April 23 or sooner. Please call or email me if you are planning on attending any of the shows. Grandma and Grandpa Adams and Wyckhuys are already on my list, so you don't need to call!! I will be taking lots of pictures and hopefully some video so that you will be able to see it even if you aren't here live and in person!!! Hope to hear from you all soon.

Friday, May 2 @ 8pm
Saturday, May 3 @ 8pm
Sunday, May 4 @ 3pm

Friday, May 9 @ 8pm
Saturday, May 10 @ 8pm
Sunday, May 11 @ 3pm

A bit more information: The tickets will be $6.50 for any night. There are no pictures or videos allowed, but have no fear, I will take tons at dress rehearsals. The show is about 2 hours with an intermission. The kids are in the opening song,"Poultry Tale", Scene 6 "Warts and All", and the closing song and reprise. Hope this helps!!

The Hills are Alive...

2008-04-04T12:38:00.002-04:00

Today we are beginning our big Spring Cleaning. We have gone through buckets of clothes and put away too small, too big and rummage sale items. Later we will be going to see the Hillsdale and Will Carleton presentation of "The Sound of Music." I will edit this later and let you know how it went. I added more pictures to yesterday's post so scroll down and take a look.

The Adventure Continues

2008-04-03T20:17:00.004-04:00

Saturday, March 29

Our second day of Spring Break. Today was spent packing and getting ready to visit Grandma Adams after church on Sunday. Grace had her friend Ann over and the three of us went to the college to see the Tulloch Ard Scottish night. It was a hit. The girls loved the dancers and I liked the bands and pipes. They had two great fiddlers that Grace loved. She wondered how they could get their fingers to move so fast and remember where to put them. Ann spent the night and she went to church with us on Sunday then home with her family.

Sunday, March 30

Today we went to Sunday School at 9:00 and then church at 10:30. I ended up in the nursery. The kids sat with the Muellers. George, their son, was home on leave from the Marine Corps. He is a much loved friend. He is who the boys chose to write their "friendly" letters to at school. Anyway, I digress. After church we loaded the car with kids and a dog, stopped for lunch at Micky D's and headed to Grandma's!! Once at Grandmas we settled in and then had Arbys for dinner. The kids went to bed and Doug and I visited. It was a great beginning to the week.

Monday, March 31

We woke up today to Grandpa making breakfast. Scrambled eggs, pancakes, sausage and bacon. The kids devoured it!! They love breakfast. After they ate their fill we had to walk it off. So we went to Kohl's and then the mall. The boys needed tennis shoes, since they had outgrown the ones they had. In the end they got more than we bargained for. Grace got a new pair of white church shoes and new tennis shoes. Sarah got a new pair of tennis shoes (which I got for a steal at Kohl's; NIKE for $4.99) and sandals. Daniel got a pair of shoes on the bargain rack at Kohl's too for the same price then he also got a pair of tennis shoes with the twin and a pair of sandals just like the twins. Doug also found new sandals for me. Count the boxes!! Payless loves us now!!! The kids also got a new spring/summer outfit. Doug also found games, and Wii stuff. It was quite a shopping spree.
Once we got home we put the little ones to bed and the big kids got to work helping Grandma organize and straighten her basement. They had fun.

Pizza for dinner and before bed we got out the old slide projector and screen and looked at pics of Daddy and Uncle Scott when they were babies. It was a great way to end the day.

Tuesday, April 1

Bob Evans for Breakfast!! Grace -- Plate of Pancakes, Twins, Belgian Waffles, Daniel -- fruit and yogurt, Sarah -- Plate of Pancakes!! They love breakfast! This time we worked it off by once again working in Grandmas basement. Doug doesn't like to leave a job unfinished and he claimed he needed the physical labor to help him feel better and take his mind off of church work for a while. When the work was done they hung up Aunt Amanda's kick boxing bag and Doug and I got away for a while and did some shopping and picked up Applebees for dinner for the grownups. The kids had nuggets and anything else they could find at Grandmas. Our original plan was to be home in Hillsdale by now but as you can see we opted to stay another night.
Wednesday, April 2

We had an early morning today, but we had lots to do so it was OK. We headed to Toys R Us because Grandpa wanted to get the kids something for all their hard work in the basement and we needed to get Peyton a birthday present since our plans had evolved again and we were going to Grandma Wyckhuys' after lunch to see them. Soooo, we did the Toys R Us thing, bought way too much stuff, picked up White Castle for lunch and headed to Great Grandma Adam's house for lunch and a visit. They had the movie Alvin and the Chipmunks for the kids. That kept them entertained while we were able to visit. After the movie we all piled in the car, went back to Grandma Adams', loaded up our stuff, said goodbye to the dog and headed to Grandma Wyckhuys'. Once there we unloaded, visited for a while, the girls went to Walmart for a cake and supplies, a new shirt and tie for Doug's meeting on Thursday, and KFC for dinner. (Since we didn't make it back to Hillsdale and Doug had a meeting in Ann Arbor we had to get the shirt and tie for that) . Aunt Renee, Peyton and Uncle Kevin joined us for dinner and cupcakes. We even sang Happy Birthday to Peyton. Hopefully now Sarah can move on!!! It was great to see all of our families again. It has been since Christmas, which when you only live two hours away, is not often enough.

Thursday, April 3

Today we got up and headed to Ann Arbor. The kids and I met up with Aunt Amanda while Doug had his meeting. It was a beautiful day. We got to see Amanda's room and where she lived and we got to chase geese. We even ran into Amelia!!

Doug was done a little early so we climbed back into the car and headed back to Grandma Adams to pick up Tiger and have lunch. They kids played out side and we visited a little more. Then we headed home. We got to Hillsdale around 4pm, we unloaded and the kids were back out side. It is going to rain tomorrow so they played while they could. Dinner was Micky D's so I didn't have to cook. They had a picnic while they watched Alvin again. Then it was off to bed.

It was quite a week and it isn't over yet!! Check back for the rest of the story!!!

Spring Break 2008

2008-03-28T21:16:00.004-04:00

Today was the first official day of Spring Break. We woke up to this:

Not a good sign. However, we were not to be deterred. We have plants for our garden in the house ready to plant outside. Not gonna happen anytime soon I am afraid. We did stay inside today, though. Daniel is just getting over pneumonia and I didn't want to chance it coming back or getting worse, so we played inside. Every one did very well today. Our activity of the day is a Bag Pipe and drum concert at the college. They also have Scottish dancers, the works if you know what I mean. The twins and Doug went tonight. It started at 8pm, hence the naps today, and as I write this at 9:20pm they are still not back yet. The other three stayed with me and we will go tomorrow night. Us homebodies played Wii and just had fun. As you can see.

Sarah is also doing well with the potty thing. She still has it quite backwards and has yet to go on the potty, but she does come down very early in the morning to "go potty" and change out of her wet pull up or diaper. I know she will eventually get this, right? ;-) Even though she is my fifth and you would think I would be a pro at this, each child seems to do it differently and I have little to no recollection as to how I did it with the last one. So I kinda start from scratch each time. Not the smartest idea in the world, but I'm going with it for now.

I forgot to mention our parsonage excitement over Easter. Remember at Thanksgiving our heater broke and we had to have a member, who is also a heating and cooling guy, come out and fix the heater on Thanksgiving Day? Well over Easter weekend our well tested positive for coliform, a contaminant in the water. So we had to pour 4 gallons of bleach in the well. Let it run till we smelled bleach in the water in the house, let it sit for 12 hours, then run it again until we couldn't smell bleach in the water. The pictures are of Doug hooking the hose up to the house to rig up something in order to do the above mentioned project. Thankfully our water tested negative on Monday and is once again safe to drink. No, we have no real idea how it got contaminated in the first place, we have some, but nothing for sure. We will hopefully be testing in again in a few weeks to be sure we did indeed kill the contamination and not just mask it for a while.

I am planning on posting everyday this week, or close to it anyway. We are feeling so much better and are anxious to get out and do things as a family. Doug is taking off next week so he can join in the fun. We have plans to go to Grandmas, visit the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo, go to Ann Arbor to visit Amanda and Amelia, go see the play The Sound of Music and lots of other fun things. So check back often to see what we have been up to. Maybe we will see you in our travels!!!

Update

2008-03-25T20:18:00.003-04:00

Here is an update for all of you keeping track.

Grace -- still healthy. She lives with hand sanitizer and Lysol in her room.

Nathan -- back at school. Still coughing but much better.

Jacob-- back at school. Still coughing but much better.

Daniel -- influenza mutated into pneumonia just like the others. He is on Omnicef for 1o days. Contagious for at least three. That means no school for him this week.

Sarah -- much better too. Still going potty in the pull up THEN sitting on the big girl potty. Putting her in underpants didn't work, she promptly pooped in them. Back to pull ups for a while.

Doug -- tired but hanging in there. More under the weather today than usual, but we are hoping that is just stress induced. Tuesdays aren't good days here. They are meeting day at church. ;-)

Robyn -- tired but OK. Glad most of the kids are back at school. Looking forward to planning some fun activities that limit interaction with others but still allow us to get out of the house for a few hours at a time. Will be carrying hand sanitizer and Clorox wipes with me EVERYWHERE!!

As you are planning your summer calendars Save this Date : August 2, 2008. This is the day we are planning the Big Birthday Bash at our house. The theme this year is STAR WARS. It is going to be a nice sunny summer day with lots of fun, family, friends and fellowship. Come early and stay late!!!

Third Quarter Report Cards came home today. The kids did excellent. Grace got all A's and B's. She improved in just about all her subjects. She is doing better each quarter. Jacob got the equivalent of all A's and Nathan was close with only one B in penmanship, who'd have guessed! The boys will get actual letter grades next year. In second grade they have an O for outstanding S for satisfactory and N for needs improvement. You can also get S+ and S- too. She also lists % so we know what the letter grade would be. They did great!! They really do enjoy school and are keeping up quite well, despite all the days they have missed.

Grace will be reciting a poem during opening on April 21. This is something each child in the school does once a year. The teacher assigns a poem, the student memorizes it and then recites it for memory in front of the entire school, K-12, during the opening. This is when they assemble at the beginning of the day to raise the flag, say the pledge, acknowledge birthdays or good grades, and make announcements. They also have one or two children recite a memorized poem. It is great for memory skills and public speaking skills. Grace almost has hers memorized already. I will post it on the 21st along with some pictures and if I'm lucky, a video too. The boys will have their turn shortly after Grace. They begin with the Seniors in the fall and end with the Kindergarten at the end of the year.

Happy Easter!

2008-03-24T20:36:00.002-04:00

I hope that all of you had a blessed Easter celebration. We stayed home!! Daniel had a fever and the twins were still coughing and very crabby! They will head back to school tomorrow for two and a half days this week. Daniel will visit the Dr soon, he still has a fever and we think his influenza has also mutated into pneumonia. Happy Joy!! He will not got to school tomorrow.

This has been the craziest Holy Week we have ever experienced. It has just been a weird Lent season all around. The weather has been nasty. The kids and adults have been sick seemingly non stop since before Ash Wednesday. We canceled Ash Wednesday service and Good Friday service due to weather conditions!! There was snow on the ground for Easter!!!!

I am sooooooo looking forward to Spring Break! We are not going anywhere. We are staying right here. I plan on being outside as much as possible. We have loads of work to do so it shouldn't be a problem. We had thought about taking the kids somewhere, but each place we thought of we thought of ways they could contract germs and diseases there so we opted to stay home. We may get over to visit the grandparents, but even that is an iffy prospect.

Sarah has added to the fun by deciding to want to go on the big girl potty. I should be happy about this I really should but I am not. I am just not ready to spend half my day in the bathroom waiting for her to tinkle on the potty. She has it backwards right now and I have little patience to help her get it straight, but I will because I am a good mommy. Right now she pees in the pull up then goes to sit on the potty. She climbs up, sits for a few seconds, wipes, hops off , checks to be sure the toilet paper made it in, then climbs back up, sits a while longer, wipes again, hops off, flushes,watches it all go down and puts on a new pull up. She does this about five times in one hour then plays and forgets until she pees again and repeats it again another five times. She has yet to actually GO ON THE POTTY!! Any tips on how to get her to reverse the order and pee on the potty not in the pull up? I was kinda hoping she would wait until this summer when she could run around in a bathing suit or whatever outside and just pee until she figured out what she needed to do. No, she has to want to do it when there is still snow on the ground!!!!!! Oh well, such is my life lately.

Got to finish up this blog for now. Our new show is on at 9pm. It is called New Amsterdam. Anyone else watch it? It is on Fox on Monday nights. If you liked Highlander you will like this. Same concept, sort of. Check it out!!

Maundy Thursday

2008-03-20T19:36:00.002-04:00

I had thought about writing something about Maunday Thursday today. About its origin, its meaning and such, but instead I have posted Doug's sermon from this evening. Call it a wives pride or something like that, but I thought it was a good one and he said everything I wanted to and more. It isn't too long, a homily really. I hope you all get a chance to read it.

Where there is life there is death. This reality hit home for me several years ago as I was making a hospital visit. As I was waiting in line to find the room number for the person I was planning on visiting, my attention was drawn to the hospital waiting room. There sitting in a wheel chair was a new mother holding in her arms her newborn child. Her face was one big smile as she glowed with love for her husband and her child. I smiled and thought of my own children and how such a new life is a blessing from God.
Then I heard the sound of wailing. I first thought it was another child. I turned and saw and old man crying into his hands. Through the sobs, I heard his daughter explain that he had just lost his wife to a sudden stroke. He looked like they were about to go out and enjoy a sunny afternoon together, but just like that, in a blink of an eye she was gone. I saw the tears and heard the pain in his voice as he finally came to grips with the words his daughter had just told him. As I stood there in line, I saw the drama of each of our lives being unfurled before me. That day God had reminded me of a powerful truth, that where there is life there is death.
Tonight we gather in the midst of Holy Week to remember Jesus. Tonight our time of Lenten preparation gives way to a time of celebration, a celebration of the suffering, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ for our sins. Scripture tells us that the life Jesus lived , he lived for us. For what Jesus was about to undergo, no mortal man could even begin to endure. However, the pain and suffering would come, but for now this night was a night to enjoy life. A night that Jesus used to prepare Himself and his disciples for His coming death.
Some this week will ask themselves, why did Jesus have to die? The reason is simple Jesus had to die because we have to die. Jesus humbled himself and was born under the law and in doing so submitted himself to the punishment of the Law that is death. For as the Law of God decrees, the wages of sin is death. Everyone has fallen short of the glory of God and is under God’s judgment. We are all like the flowers that will soon bloom in the fellowship garden outside the church. We bloom for a time, but when the darkness and cold of winter come, we will wither and fall away. Yet, although Jesus was just like us in every way, there was a difference. He knew no sin. Yes, Jesus was born under the Law, yet because he was perfect , the Law had no hold on Him. Sin and death had no hold on Him. The angel of death could not touch Jesus.
As Jesus sat down to celebrate the Passover with His disciples. Someone, would ask,”Why is this night different from all the rest?” Jesus, as the host of the dinner, would respond by retelling the story of the Passover. How God stretched out his mighty hand and rescued the children of Israel from their bondage in Egypt. How God sent ten plagues to show His power and might over Pharaoh and his false gods. Jesus would tell how with the last plague, the plague of the first born, God commanded the people to place upon their doors the blood of the lamb so that as the angel of death went through the land it would Passover those houses marked with blood. As Jesus recounted the events of that evening over the roasted lamb, He and the twelve would have relived that first Passover and in doing so they became part of God’s ongoing plan of salvation for all.
But God was not done redeeming his people from their bondage. As I said this was an ongoing plan of salvation. The Passover was just the beginning, just a foreshadow of what was to come. God was not happy with this world’s reality. He was not going to let sin, death, and the devil have the last word in our lives. That is why Jesus, the perfect Son of Man and God, chose this night, chose this Passover feast, to give those who believe in Him a new reality. Yes, where there is life there is death, but now in Christ where there is death there is now life. That new life comes to each of us through the shed blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God.
Long ago, a lamb’s blood saved God’s people from the angel of death as it passed over their homes. Tonight, as we remember the words of our Savior, we remember that Scripture says in order for our sins to be forgiven blood must be shed. It must be perfect blood, eternal blood, from a lamb without any defect. This holy sacrifice was, thy Lamb of God, Jesus, who shed his blood upon the wood of the cross forgiving us our sins and sealing us within Himself so that the angel of death would Passover all who believe on the last day.
Why is this night different from all the rest? Because on this night we remember Jesus’ words of institution and we are there in the upper room with the twelve. We eat the very same body that was wounded for our transgressions. We drink the very same blood that stained the wood of the cross red. Jesus gives himself in this Supper as a token of our forgiveness. The curtain has been torn in two because Jesus body was torn upon the cross. The Way to God’s altar and His eternal presence is now open for all believers. Jesus has destroyed this world’s reality and He has opened up for us a new way of life, a way of life that comes only through Him. With the eyes of flesh, we are reminded, where there is life there is death. But now as we remember Jesus in the upper room, we see another reality at work. That new heavenly reality shows us that where there is death, namely Jesus’, then there is life, eternal.
It is this eternal life that we now celebrate this evening. For whenever we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” Through Jesus’ death our guilt forgiven and Jesus has washed up clean. The time of penitence has ended. The time of rejoicing has begun. Tonight we dine with the Lord. Tonight heaven and earth become one. The church in heaven and the church below join this night as we receive the gifts won for us by our Lord. Fellow redeemed, your sins have been forgiven! And as the Catechism teaches, wherever there is forgiveness there is also salvation and eternal life. Enjoy what the Savior offers because the gift of his body and blood bring hope to a world darkened by sin. May you find strength and comfort in this new life both now and forever. In Jesus name. Amen.

Sickness update: Grace - still healthy. Nathan, flu and pneumonia. Jacob, ditto. Daniel, fever and an all over miserable feeling!! Sarah, on the mend, no new symptoms. Doug, tired, but ok. Robyn, ready for a vacation!!!

Influenza

2008-03-15T13:42:00.002-04:00

I have learned a few things this winter. Some I will remember for a life time and some I wish I never needed to have learned in the first place. I have learned that your house can be spotless and you will still get sick. I have learned that the bigger your family the longer it takes for sickness of any kind to make its way through your family. I have learned that children who are getting their very first flu vaccine ever need to have a booster a month after the first one. Finally, I have learned that sometimes even the flu vaccine doesn't work!!!

If you haven't guessed by now, we have the influenza at our house. It started with Sarah on Wednesday. Just one week after she got the stomach bug, vomiting and diarrhea, she started coughing and pulling at her ears. Great, I thought, another ear infection or a spring cold. Nope, none of the above. It was Influenza. The doctor said her test couldn't have been any more positive. Happy Joy. Nothing to give her, nothing. Just rest and fluids. Oh and she is contagious for at least a week. Happy Joy. Friday the twins had fevers of about 100 and coughs. Happy Joy. They stayed home from school, which the teacher should thank me for since I probably would have sent them if Sarah didn't have Influenza. I have yet to take them to the doctor, since there is really nothing he can do for them, except tell me they are contagious for a week too. They seriously can't afford to miss too much more school. Although they do catch up rather quickly. Now if Grace goes, third grade is a lot harder in the catch up department. I can only pray she makes it through this week. They have no school Good Friday or Easter Monday then only two and a half more before Spring Break. Think we can hold out until then? Me either! Which means no church, no scouts, no HONK, no Tuesday Bible Study, no Winter Wonderland, and a lot of time at home with sick kids. Happy Joy. Think we will be in church for Easter? Me either! I can hardly remember the last time my parents or Doug's were here to visit. My mom and dad have tried two weeks running and I have had to tell them to stay home! Peyton's birthday was a month ago and we still haven't given her a present or even seen her. Sarah has been waiting for that birthday party for ages.

One last thing I have learned; a four year old tends to get into a lot of trouble when his big brothers are home sick and don't want to play!! Gotta go, Daniel is supposed to be sleeping, but he isn't !

Update

2008-03-11T20:05:00.002-04:00

We seem to be getting better. The twins and Daniel went to school today, but Grace stayed home for one more day before she goes back tomorrow. Doug's mornings are still rough, but he does better as the day goes on. He thought he may have caught what ever it was we all had, but so far so good. We hope that we can still have Grandma and Grandpa Wyckhuys and Peyton over this weekend. Only time will tell.

Pinewood Derby and another Quarantine

2008-03-10T20:27:00.003-04:00

Yes, you read correctly. We are once again sick, all of us. Another stomach bug hit us. Sarah was the first to go on Wednesday last week and we are still waiting for Daniel. Doug was also diagnosed with having had Mono, so he will be recovering for a while. I am really truly ready for spring!! We missed church again for at least the third time since Christmas, it could be more, I have lost count. Some one in our house has been sick since the second week of January, pretty much non stop!! Come on Spring!!

Despite all of that we have been able to do a few things since I last posted. The twins are involved in Cub Scouts and they had their annual pinewood derby race this Saturday. Daniel also participated with a car he and Pappa Adams made last year. I have posted the pictures and the awards. Daniel came in first in his race, Jacob got a third and Nathan's car was voted the coolest by all the other racers!! They had a blast! It was a lot of work for a race that lasted under an hour!! Nathan's is the green car, Jacob's is the white and blue one and Daniel's is the red, just incase you couldn't guess!!!

Well I must say that there isn't much else happening here. We are only trying to get through normal everyday stuff and hopefully, this too shall pass. Blessings to all!!!

Happy Birthday Daddy!!

2008-02-28T20:29:00.007-05:00

Sarah loves birthdays. She has been waiting weeks to celebrate with cousin Peyton. Each time a birthday is mentioned it is Peyton's. We really need to get together with her so Sarah can get past this fixation. Even today, while we celebrated Doug's birthday, Sarah wanted to go to Grandma Wyckhuy's for Peyton's birthday. I made Doug cupcakes (puccakes to Sarah - she can say cup and cake but gets it mixed up when she tries to say them together. Doug thinks it sounds like she says buttcakes!)

Sarah is a corker. She has quite an imagination for a two and a half year old. She loves the Disney princess movies and is forever dressing up in one of the costumes we have. They are all too long for her, but she hikes up the skirt very lady like and walks around like she really is a princess. Tonight, she was playing with Doug on our bed and all of a sudden she had him laying down and closing his eyes. "Close your eyes!" she demanded. She then proceeded to sing a song to him. She rubbed his head and looked lovingly into his closed eyes. Then she kissed him and he opened his eyes. "You're Alive!" she exclaimed. She did it several more times, each time Doug and I were laughing so hard it hurt.

Doug hasn't been feeling well lately and so Sarah is often asking him if he is sick or if something hurts. If he responds yes she says, "Oh I sorry. I kiss it" and then kisses what ever ails him and declares "All Better!" She has also taken to telling secrets. She will pull us close and lean into our ears and whisper something we can never understand, but she thinks it is important. She says everything like she means it and can be quite bossy. We thought we had our hands full with Daniel!! The look she is giving is the puppy dog pout. She uses it every chance she gets. It works on just about everyone, even dad, but he'll never admit it. He claims Amanda made him immune to such looks, I disagree!!!

Oh, and I just have to tell you this. Remember that new TV Grandma and Grandpa Wyckhuys got the kids for Christmas? The one that was supposed to be mounted on the wall? Well it isn't mounted and we are still using it in the Entertainment Center. Today we discovered something that will probably hinder us from moving it anytime soon. We pick up digital signals now. Before we were using the rabbit ears or antenna from the roof to pick up a fuzzy CBS and FOX and semi clear ABC and a near perfect NBC. PBS was always fuzzy and noisy. Tonight, as Doug was fiddling with the TV he found out we were picking up the free digital signals, you know the ones that will only be broadcast after this time next year. Way cool!! As much as I thought getting rid of the dish was a good idea as far as limiting the kids and saving money were concerned, I am a TV junkie through and through and I was missing my clear shows and was beginning to hate network TV. Now, understand, we still only get network stuff, but now we pick up the CW and I can watch SMALLVILLE!!!! Life is good again!!!

Boys

2008-02-19T20:20:00.003-05:00

The kids had another day off today. This was a planned winter break, but it seemed unnecessary since we have had so many snow days lately. Life continued as usual for a Tuesday, despite the kids being home. I had Bible Study in the morning while the kids played in the gym and Daniel and Sarah played with friends and college girls for a play date. Then Daniel went to school and the rest of us took a nap. A little backwards I know, but they were all up at 5:30 this morning when Sarah woke them up and they had been up late the night before because of scouts and no school. We just had leftovers for dinner and then the fun began. Doug and the boys were in scrapping moods. It started in the bathroom while the boys were getting their monthly buzz cut. They were a bit slap happy. After it turned into an all out fight. I even got soaked with the sprayer from the kitchen, I guess I am not neutral after all. Here are some picks from the event. As you can see Doug's weapon of choice was a towel. The boys added the back backs and shields after several sneak attacks by dad. Daniel, who was tired cause he didn't have a nap and isn't quite back to normal yet, was not happy when mommy got attacked. They all had fun in the end though and that is what counts.

The deer was back again today. Check out yesterday's post for the pictures. I added then there instead of here.

The Road to Recovery

2008-02-18T20:24:00.003-05:00

I think that I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. We actually went to church yesterday, which is saying something because it has been nearly two weeks since we have done that. We only missed one actual Sunday, but we have bible studies and play dates held there during the week that we have missed two weeks running. It felt good to be back.

Daniel is finally doing better. I wouldn't put him at 100%, but at least he isn't contagious anymore. The first round of antibiotic, Azythramyacin, didn't do the trick so after 4 days on that we switched to Omnicef. We saw a major improvement in less than 24 hours. Our peditrician said he has been seeing a lot of cases this year that are not responding to the Azythramyacin. Scary thought.

Sarah is doing better too. She is also taking Omnicef and ear drops, but she is great about both so I can't complain. Now if she would only go to sleep instead of playing in her bed for an hour!!!

The top three started back into Honk rehearsals again on Sunday. I am once again asking myself, "What Was I Thinking!!!" The rehearsals are from 2-5 on Sunday and 6:30- 8:30 Monday and Wednesday. The kids are froglets and are only supposed to be in three or so scenes but they seem to be needed at every practice. It isn't too bad now since they have no real after school activites, save Scouts and violin. The end of April will be insane. Rehearsals everynight for a week then two weekends of shows. The show will run May 2 & 3 at 8pm and May 4 at 3pm and again the following weekend May 9 & 10 and 11 at the same times. If you would like to come see the kids "Warts and All" just let me know. Tickets are inexpensive but they sell out fast.

These past few weeks have been so weird weather wise that the deer are getting confused. Three days in a row we found them out side the big window in our "dining" room. Doug took pictures which I will post later cause I just don't want to right now. The second morning Sarah saw them and we watched for 20 minuted before they ran away. The third morning they watched until Tiger saw them and scared them away. According to Grace there were thousands of them running across the field. A whole pack according to Jacob. The are sooo cute, according to Sarah.

Sarah is talking and singing up a storm these days. She often breaks into song with a pretend microphone in her hand. Her faves are "Bop to the Top", "Fabulous" and "Everyday" from High School Musical. She and Daniel do a "New York, New York" routine that is adorable. She also has some phrases that are just hers. My favorite is "Thats ahgusting" and "This is deeewichious" I love two, most of the time.

This week my goal is to get my laundry room looking like my friend Pam's, at least for now. It kinda piled up on us when everyone was sick. I also want to start to attack Sarah's old room which is now a catch all. I can hardly walk in there. We shall see just how much I accomplish. It is kinda hard now since the kids have today and tomorrow off of school, but hopfully by the weekend I might be done.

The boys are home. Gotta go! Blessings All! Anyone know why I can't spell check this thing???

Tired

2008-02-13T20:55:00.002-05:00

I am tired. I am tired of the cold. I am tired of the sickness. I am tired of winter. I am tired of a dirty house. I am tired of Hallmark Holidays! I am tired of being tired!!!

I took Sarah to the doc today. She has a double ear infection. They sent me home with scripts for Tylenol with codine, drops for her ears and an antibiotic. I took Daniel to the doc on Monday. He has pneumonia. ( sorry if that is spelled wrong, my spell check still isn't wanting to work and I am too lazy to look it up!) They sent me home with an antibiotic and cough syrup with codine. Nathan stayed home from school today, since he was hacking up a lung most of the day yesterday. Doug & I are still under the weather too.

We had McDonalds for the second time this week because no one, including me, feels like eating all that much or doing all that much. Besides it is fast and easy and I was there since the pharmacy is right next door.

The kids had to do their Valentines tonight since we only just got the paper yesterday. They have to make them. We can't just buy the ones with the characters on them and call it good. So we stamped Button Bear on 20 cards each then hole punched them and threaded suckers on them so it looks like the bear is holding a sucker balloon. Simple, cute and Done!!

Jacob brought home Nate's homework which he felt compelled to complete tonight. He didn't, but he wanted to. He did do some though. He was getting to fustrated too quickly. Tempers are flairing and patience is in short supply now a days.

It is 9:09pm and NO ONE is sleeping. Sarah was moved to a big girl bed since the temp in her old room was bearly reaching 65 during the day. So now she sleeps in a twin bed in with Grace. She is still getting used to it and wants to talk to Grace or herself instead of going to sleep. I suppose I can be thankful she isn't getting out of the bed, yet. I think the meds are making them hyper cause Daniel is still wide awake too. At least the big kids know to lay still and quiet, most of the time anyway. They know I am at the end of my rope today so they are being quite good. Now if I could only get Sarah and Daniel to cooperate.

Doug just got home from church. We had midweek service tonight. They did Ash Wednesday since that service got canceled last week due to WEATHER!! I think we have missed at least 6 days of school this month alone due to weather. One day we missed because it was too WET and the buses couldn't drive on the rutted and nearly frozen streets. Then we missed one because it was too cold and a few because of all the snow. It will be July before school gets out at this rate. Most schools have used all their built in days so now they will either tack on some at the end or cut short vacations during the school year. Happy Joy!!

Sorry to dump on ya' all but isn't that what a blog is for sometimes? I hope that you are all doing well. Have a great Valentines Day tomorrow. Hugs and Kisses from the Adams Clan!!!

Quarantine -- Again!!

2008-02-08T21:21:00.000-05:00

The flag above is the Quarantine flag that ships are supposed to fly if they have a sickness on board. We once again have been hit. I think Daniel started it, but we can't be sure since he never really got sick. He just has a cough. Sarah, on the other hand, has green snot oozing out her nose, a cough and a fever. According to the doc it is a good old Cold, for now. Doug has also been hit. He went down yesterday after feeling fine all day. He came home around 6pm, ate next to nothing for dinner and then crashed. He had a fever of nearly 102 which is really high for him since is normal is 97 something. Today he was still feeling bad, but was starting to feel better so he went up to church to take down some chairs and pick up the kids from school. He threw up in our parking lot. He got the shakes while waiting in line at WCA and barely made it home. The teachers must have thought he was nuts. The kids were freaking out a little too. He was shaking so bad I almost called an ambulance. It stopped though and he threw up some more and felt better. We have no idea what he has. The shaking was from the MH, a reaction to the stress on his body. So now we are in the wait and see mode. Wait and see who is next. We really have to be better before next weekend cause we are supposed to go to Grandma Wyckhuys' for Peyton's birthday party. Sarah will be absolutely devestated if we can't go. It is all she is talking about these days. Those two are going to be a pair as they get older.

Not much else is new here. We are just trying to stay ahead of everthing and keep the healthy kids healthy. I am waiting for the boys to fall asleep so I can go and read. I have rediscovered an author I really like. I had read a few of her novels before and then life got in the way and I never read the rest of her stuff. Well, the last time we were all sick I picked up one of her newer novels at Walmart and since then I have gone to the library and borrowed most of the rest. I only have a few more to go. Some of the books have related characters and I have finished most of those and then she has some stand alone novels that I will work on next. Her name is Julie Garwood. I started with "For the Roses". They made a TV movie from this one called "Rose Hill". It stared Jennifer Garner. Anyway, she wrote four more books about those characters and I had read all of them a long time ago. Now I am reading the ones about the Buchanan family both in the present time and in the Highlands of Scotland around the time of Richard the Lionheart. They are great quick reads with a simple plot and endearing characters. She is very funny and I will often laugh out loud while I am reading. OK enough rambling. The boys are asleep and I am going to sign off for now. See ya!!! (and yes Renee I am having trouble with the spell check too. )

Michigan Weather Stinks!!

2008-01-29T20:05:00.001-05:00

OK so my alarm went off at 5:30 this morning and of course I rolled over and turned it off so that the back up one could wake me up again at 6am. My alarm is set to our local radio station and every morning at 6 they play the national anthem. It's like my cue to get my butt out of bed and start the day. So I did. In fact I had even started the night before by prepping the dinner for the crock pot and making lunches for school. I had even read my Bible study notes. Anyway, I get up get my shower and get back in to bed to cuddle, cause I have some extra time and what do I hear. SCHOOL IS CLOSED for the day!!!! Yuck!! Only in Hicksdale, I mean Hillsdale, do they close school because the roads are rutted and iced over due to a thaw and then freeze overnight. I understand the buses can't run on them, but hey all those parents didn't stay home from work did they? I think they may have been able to get the kids to school bus or not. Besides our school doesn't even use the public school bus we could have gotten to school. I know there are tons of reasons why school was closed and I am being very judgemental and I am not the one having to make the decision, but I can still dream can't I?

So we all went to Bible Study today, since I am the only one with kids in school and I lead it, I brought everyone along. Daniel and Sarah played with their friends and the college girls who do child care and the top three played in the gym. It was a pretty good morning, considering. We stayed and played at church until lunch, then came home, ate and rested while the little ones slept. Our afternoon consisted of Wii and movies. Happy Joy! Snow/Rain days cancel out the now Wii or TV during the school week rule.

Tomorrow we are supposed to have more rain/sleet/snow/ice along with gusty wind and rapidly dropping temperatures. I have made lunch for tomorrow and have dinner planned. We are supposed to have our Winter Wonderland open gym for toddlers and preschoolers, which is closed if school is closed. Who wants to wager that we won't have school tomorrow either?? Tune in tomorrow to find out!!

The Show WILL go on!!

2008-01-26T20:15:00.000-05:00

If you hadn't heard the Theatre for Youth production of HONK!Jr had been postponed. Back before Christmas they suspended rehearsals until further notice. We have just learned that the show will go, but not on the days originally planned. They did not have a stage for the February shows, something about mold and water damage, and they couldn't find a replacement on those dates. Soooooo, after much ado we now have a new schedule for rehearsals and new show dates. The production will be at the Sauk Theater in Jonesville on May 2nd, 3rd and 4th and on May 9th, 10th, and 11th. Make your reservations soon!! The first weekend is of course confirmation weekend here so Doug will be very busy! You can't please everyone. I hope that you can make it for at least one show. I am guessing there will be at least 4 shows each weekend - One Friday & Saturday night and Matinees on Sat and Sunday. I'll let you know after Feb 17 which is when rehearsals begin again.

Other things to note: Grace has moved up to a half size violin. When she started she was in an eighth size, her last one was a quarter size. Next will be a three quarter size and then finally a full size, but we don't anticipate her needing the full until Middle School or later.

No one here is sick anymore. We have been cleaning and disinfecting all day. Doug isn't preaching tomorrow, but that is just because he didn't have all week to prepare for it. We will all be in church tomorrow with bells on, although we may be the only ones, there is a lot of stuff going around here in Hillsdale.

Recovery

2008-01-24T20:51:00.000-05:00

I can honestly say this is the worst virus we have gotten in a long time. It seemed to last forever. Doug was the last to go yesterday and I do believe we are near the end. I think I can lower the Quarantine flag. It is now time to get out the bleach and Lysol and begin the clean up process. My washing machine, mop and sponges will all get a work out this weekend. That is the part I hate the most! Of course I will enlist the help of the minions, but forced labor is never cooperative!! Thank you to all who called to check up on us and offer help and prayers. We are doing much better and continue to improve each day. Hopefully Doug will be able to preach on Sunday. We have just been taking each day as it comes and playing it by ear. I am so looking forward to a more orderly routine next week. I think the kids are too. They like being home but get bored even when they are sick. I am going to have to ban TV for a year to make up for the amount they watched these past 10 days!!! Do you know how many times we watched Dora the Explorer and Madagascar?? Sarah can quote them if that tells you anything. You should see her and Daniel sing "New York" from Madagascar. It is so cute!

Anyway we have now begun the clean up and the homework, lots of homework. They have a while to finish it, but I think we will get as much done as we can this weekend. Things move fast at WCA and they will be better off if they get caught up quickly. It will be like school away from school. Lucky them, chores and homework. They may never get sick again!!!

Oh and...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNT RENEE!!!!!

We love you!!!!

and another one goes...

2008-01-21T20:11:00.000-05:00

Just in case you are keeping track, Grace had her turn today. That just leaves me and Doug. Hopefully not at the same time. :-) I will keep you all in my prayers, you don't want this bug!!

All the kids stayed home from school today and Grace and Nathan will for sure be home tomorrow, probably Jacob too. I should probably go get their homework from school. I ran errands today and did some laundry, but I basically just took care of all my kids, the big 32 year old one too. Why is it that when men get sick it is almost worse than the kids. Doug is fighting resisting the end result of this bug so he stayed home today. He began reading Harry Potter and just kinda relaxed. I did too. I am half way through a book I bought this morning at Walmart.

I will continue to let you know how we are doing, but for now I think I will go read and then sleep. Blessings!!!

Another One Bites the Dust

2008-01-20T20:06:00.000-05:00

Nathan went down today. It began right after nap. So far his has been the worst. The others tapered off after a while, but Nate has been going about every 20 minutes since 4pm. Poor guy. The bigger they are the harder they fall. Can't wait till it's Doug's turn!!

On a happy note, my sister Rachelle got engaged this weekend -- finally! Her boyfriend, now fiance', Josh Hare, proposed in St. Augustine, Florida last night. We are awaiting the details. I will be sure to keep you all posted, as will my dad at Aftermath and my other sister Renee at Peyton's Place. Check out my dad's site for pictures of the happy couple.

I have decided that this is the year of weddings. We have several this year and I am sure some next year too. My cousin Jason will be married in May, cousin Amy in July, uncle Brian in September and cousin Jeremy in October (i think). Now we will also have Rachelle's and cousin Christopher's to fit on our calendars. A note to those of you still setting dates, the sooner we know the better. A pastor's schedule is impossible to work around at best and last minute changes are a given. Such is the life of the man I married.

Speaking of marriage, my dad has a place for all of you romantics out there to tell your engagement story. Just go to Aftermath and find the section about memory. It will make sense when you are there. I would love to hear all your stories, as I am sure he would too. So far mine is the only story there.

Last, but not least, Scott and Nora, Doug's brother and his wife, are moving to Phoenix tomorrow. We will miss them very much. Scott has been there since this summer while Nora tied up lots of loose ends in Allen Park. They closed on their house in Phoenix in December and are now ready to move in permanently. We are so excited and happy for them. The kids are already planning our first family trip cross country to visit them. If you have any hot spots to stop along the way pass them along. It will take us a while to plan this one.

Well I am off to comfort Nathan and wait for Grace, Doug or myself to be next. Gotta love the winter in Michigan. Congrats again to Rachelle and Josh, we love you!!!

That Darn Scottish Blood

2008-01-19T20:12:00.001-05:00

It showed itself in my boys today. With the temps being in the sub zero range for most of the day the kids had absolutely no outlet for their high levels of energy. So when they were done playing upstairs and had finished a snack, we needed to find something for them to do. So at about 10:30am we got out a few board games and gave them a go. They had gotten several new ones for Christmas and have been dying to play them.

First was Mouse Trap. Yeah, that was interesting. I played game master and kept the game moving. The boys are VERY competitive. It begins before we even start the game with who is going to go first and who is NOT going to be last. The game went smoothly for a while until Jacob got sent back to the start, twice. Grace moved ahead quickly, but stalled out in the loop waiting for the trap to be built. We quickly realized a roll of six just puts you right back where you were, once in the loop. With the trap finally completed Nathan was set to trap Grace, but the contraption didn't work. The hand, thing a ma jig and tub didn't want to work right. The ball kept falling off the back of the thing a ma jig and although the game allows for "misses" I think this was just poor balance and construction on our part. So I "helped"it along. In the end, Nathan won having captured all the other mice.

Our next attempt at a game was Monopoly, Jr. This faster paced game uses a carnival theme. The kids have to set up token booths on their property. The first one out of money is out and the winner is the one with the most money. Jacob and Grace quickly caught on that the more booths they had the more money they made, regardless of how many they had on each color, although that helps. Nathan got stuck trying to get a chance card to bump Grace's booth off of one of his properties so that he would have both and thus double the money he collected each time someone landed on those spaces. He never did. Daniel went out first and Grace won.

Let me just say that it will be a few weeks before we play anymore board games!! Competition is stiff in our house!!! Doug says it is their Scottish blood. I would have to agree.

PS -- Jacob has become victim number three to the stomach bug we have been passing around. Instead of going to the chili cook off tonight, we stayed home while Jacob hung out in the bathroom. We have figured there is about a 4-5 day incubation period for this thing. So next week ought to be loads of fun. One at a time is good, except that it drags out giving the first person a chance to get it again at the end. If they all went at the same time I could sanitize and hopefully be rid of the thing, it just means for crowed, busy bathrooms!! Never a dull moment here!!!!

Odds and Ends

2008-01-15T19:42:00.000-05:00

There isn't that much exciting going on in the Adams' home this week. I added the pictures to my last blog so check there. This weekend is our Chili Cook-off at church so we are preparing for that.

Doug has begun exercising at home on a regular basis. It is part of his attempt to become more healthy, both in mind and body. He has been working tons of hours and spending little time at home and work has been stressful too. So to combat all of this he is spending more time at home and working out again. We have a weight machine but his weights of choice are the kids.

I took a time out while typing this tonight because just as I said nothing exciting was happening, Sarah threw up. She is now on my lap and I am waiting for her to do it again. It is only a matter of time.

Today the twins performed a play with their class called "Follow the Drinking Gourd." It was about slavery. They did a great job. Nathan was a free slave and Jacob was a Quaker who helped the escaped slaves. Most of the pics I took were blurry, but here are two that look OK.

Like I said, not much going on, just odds and ends, If I had both hands to type I might find more to say, but I think I have a date with a Disney movie. Yep, throw up #2, every thirty minutes like clock work. Talk to ya tomorrow!!

I love to Laugh

2008-01-12T21:09:00.000-05:00

Just a few funny thoughts to brighten your day.

Recently Doug has been shaving his head completely bald, razor to the scalp, Lex Luthor like. The best description I have found so far is that it is just the battery for a solar powered sex machine!

If you didn't know already, Sarah is a firecracker. That side of her personality came out today when I told her she had attitude. She replied, " No, I Sarah, Sarah Attitude!!"

Sarah got into Grace's lipstick today, which, by the way, I didn't know was "real" lipstick. By the time I caught her she looked like a clown. Half her face from her nose to her chin and from ear to ear was PINK!!!! She can also draw pretty good "people" with her crayons. She decided to display her artistic abilities on the top of the DVD player.

Critter Riddle and other funny stories

2008-01-10T20:57:00.000-05:00

Here is a riddle for you:

What kind of critter can get stuck to a sticky pad trap at 5am, run through the dog's kennel, mud room, Kitchen and dining room of a house, go into a vent, & get unstuck from the sticky pad trap in time for Doug to see it's long pink tail scurry away down the vent?

Put your answer in the comment section and yes, it really did happen.

Some other funnies:

As Jacob was getting ready for bed last night he had taken a drink and then come in to kiss us good night. Just as he was about to give Doug a kiss, Jacob belched, loudly, in or near Doug's face. Doug, never knowing whether to congratulate or scold them for such fine handy work, kinda laughed it off and made a comment about being rude. Jacob, funny guy that he is, kissed his father and walked up the stairs singing, " A, I'm Adorable, B, I'm so beautiful..." from Disney's Three Musketeers, the Mickey Mouse version. I laughed till I cried!!

This one wasn't a funny from the family but I had to include it. Howie Mandell was on Live w/Regis and Kelly today. He was quite funny, but I thought the best story he told was of his daughter who is a teacher in inner city LA. Each week she writes the beginning of a familiar phrase on the board and the kids, first graders, are supposed to fill in the end. He read several examples, here are a few. I had to LOL at the last one. If you go to their web site, just type it in your google bar, you can see the whole opening guest chat. Anyway here are the funny quotes:

Where there's smoke there's .......................... pollution.

Children should be seen and not .......................spanked or grounded.

A penny saved is ............................. not much!

Better late than ...............................pregnant!

10 Things I learned over Christmas Vacation

2008-01-05T20:52:00.000-05:00

This has been a great Christmas for our family. We have been able to truly enjoy each other and our family. The kids had their last day of school on Dec 21, but Christmas had begun the Wednesday before when Grandma and Grandpa Adams came to help with installing some new lights and fans. School begins on Monday, January 7, and although I will be shoving them out the door at 7:45am, I must admit that the break wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be. I did, however learn some things over this Christmas break that I would like to share with all of you. A quick note before I share: Some of the pictures I got from my dad-thanks Dad!-- and as you will note I am missing a few too, so if you have a picture to share with me please send it along and I will put it in its proper place in the list. Also, all ten items may not be posted tonight. Keep checking and I will have them all up soon. The best ones are at the end :-)

I hope that you all had a very Merry CHRISTmas and a fun New Year. Hopefully we will see you all in 2008!!

10 Things I Learned Over Christmas Vacation

1. HAVING A TWO YEAR OLD IS A LOVE/HATE RELATIONSHIP

* Sarah learned a new word "naked" and liked to use it. After stripping one day she sang, "I naked! Yeah!Yeah! Shake your booty! I naked!!

* "1,2,3, you're done!" She commanded as I drank from our communal large coke from McDonald's.

* I told Daniel to go play with Sarah in the Blue room. To which she replied from the Blue Room, "I not Sarah, I Honey!!" Later I called her Honey and she said, "I not Honey, I son!"

* There was no nursery on Christmas Eve so I tried church, alone, with all 5 kids. What was I thinking!! Sarah lasted all of 10 minutes, church lasted nearly 90!!!

2. COLD WEATHER DOESN'T PHASE KIDS

I never would have made it outside as long as they did!!

3. DANIEL THINKS HE IS SEVEN

On several occasions these past two weeks, the twins have received gifts that Daniel didn't. He was quite upset each time. He doesn't quite understand that he is only 4 and some toys aren't appropriate for him. An example, the twins got hand held video games but Daniel didn't, the twins got Spiderman web shooters and Daniel didn't. Daniel got some pretty cool stuff, but not in the eyes of a four year old who thinks he is seven and just like his brothers. Being four, however, he quickly got over his disappointment and learned to enjoy and appreciate the gifts he did receive. We did however get him a hand held game with some of his Christmas money. Those dimples win every time!!!

4. SEVEN IS TOO YOUNG TO DO LAUNDRY ALONE

Thinking to teach the boys a new skill I had them help with the laundry. They usually help by putting the wet clothes that I hand them from the washer into the drier. Well, they wanted to get the clothes out of the washer themselves. After getting a stool so they could reach into the machine I came to check on them. I asked if they wanted some help and Jacob replied from inside the washer, "Nope, I got it!"

5. GRANDPARENTS AREN'T THE ONLY ONES SPOILING MY KIDS ANYMORE

Their aunts and uncles are doing a great job too!! With the addition of the Wii gaming system to our house shopping was easy, it was deciding which game that was hard.

6. THE WALLS OF OLD FARM HOUSES DON'T HAVE STUDS

or at least we couldn't find any. There is about a half foot of plaster on each wall. The reason we know this is because over break we tried to install a wall mount for a TV in the kids playroom. The idea was to have a TV in there so that they could watch their stuff but it would be up high enough that I could control what and when they watched. We just had trouble finding a stud to anchor it too. They must have put two dozen holes in the wall looking for one. They never did find one. The mount is in the kennel on the floor and the new TV is where our old one used to be. The kids do have a TV in playroom, at least until tomorrow anyway. We put the old one on an unused TV stand so they could at least watch all the new videos they got for Christmas. Now we just have to figure out how to mount one of them on the wall with no studs!!

7. SOME VOWS WILL END UP BROKEN

Not the "till death do us part" kind, but the "MY children will NEVER sit in front of the TV playing video games for hours and hours!" kind. Let's just say that on more than one occasion they have indeed sat in front of the TV playing video games for hours. Hey, they go back to school on Monday and the rule is no TV or Wii until Friday after dinner. So I had to let them get it out of their system now.

8. CHARADES IS FUNNIER THE OLDER YOU GET

Just picture Jacob pretending to be a cow. No one can guess what he is so he starts to MILK himself. They all got it then!!!

9. FAMILY IS IMPORTANT

We really enjoyed spending time with all of our families this year. We started on the 19th with Grandma and Grandpa Adams. Then we had the Wyckhuys' here on the 22nd and 23rd. On the 29th we traveled to Lansing for Christmas at the Taylor's then Scott and Nora came to our house for the weekend. It was relaxing, fun, funny, and an all around good time, as you might have guessed from number 9!!! Thank you to all who came to visit and those who were with us in our hearts. Thank you for all the gifts and greetings. We wish you all the same. We love and miss you all!!!!!

10. READING LUKE 2 IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN READING "TWAS THE NIGHT..."

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-21T22:02:00.000-05:00

Our Christmas Letter

For those of you who may not have gotten one in the mail here is the Christmas Letter I sent out. I apologize if you didn't get one, but I miscalculated the number of friends and family we had, besides, if you are keeping up with this blog you already know everything in the letter!!

We love and miss you all and wish you all a blessed Christmas Season.

Adams Clan Adventures

Well another year has come and gone. It seems to fly by so quickly. We had a busy, yet uneventful year. I suppose that in and of itself is something for which to be very thankful. I pray that the next year goes by just the same!!

The big hit of the year happened this summer. Doug was nominated to attend the LCMS national convention in Houston, TX and we decided to celebrate our 10th anniversary in conjunction with that trip. So we split up the kids, half at one grandparents, half ant the other, and we flew to Houston for 10 days in July. WE did convention stuff the first part of the week and spent the weekend sight seeing and spending time together with NO KIDS!! While there I visited a few museums alone and then Doug and I went to the Johnson Space Center together. We also shopped in Katy and went to the beach in Galveston. The kids, mind you, had a blast at Grandma and Grandpa's and they even switched kids mid week so everyone got to see everyone else!! They were spoiled rotten!

We ended the summer with a trip to Saginaw to see the Brenners before school started again. The kids are getting so big. Grace is now in third grade , the twins in second, Daniel started four year old preschool this year and Sarah turned two in July. They all enjoy school, except Sarah who is bored to death when everyone is away. She loves to see them all come home! Grace is still playing the violin and the twins are in their second year of Cub Scouts. Grace, Nathan, and Jacob are also participating in a Community Children's Theater production of HONK! Jr. So we are keeping busy.

Doug and I spend most of our time keeping up with the kids. We are still in Hillsdale, this is his 6th year here! I am still involved in church in various ways, most having to do with the kids. I have begun a blog - which you know since you are reading this on the blog :0 ) It is a great way to keep up with us. Drop us a comment and let us know how you are doing.

Merry Christmas to all and may you all have a blessed holiday season!!

Love from the Adams Clan:

Doug, Robyn, Grace, Nathan, Jacob, Daniel and Sarah

Hippo Christmas Song

2007-12-08T21:20:00.000-05:00

This is Chrismas?!!!

2007-12-08T20:29:00.000-05:00

Well I finally have a few minutes to myself so I thought I should update the blog and let you all in on our crazy December and it isn't even half over!!!

December is always crazy in the life of a Pastor, but add to that 5 kids, at least three family Christmas parties, church parties, school programs, church programs, Doctor appointments and HONK!(what was I thinking) and well life around here is a bit hectic. You should see my calendar!!

Let's see, this week we had Boar's Head Festival in Ann Arbor on Sunday. That was great we took the top four kids, it was Daniel's first, and every one enjoyed it. Monday I took the car in to have the breaks fixed and we had HONK! from 6:30-8. Tuesday I had Bible Study and something in the evening, but I can't remember what right now. Then Wednesday we had HONK! from 6:30-8 and Thursday I babysat for four extra kids from 10a till 2p, ranging in age from newborn to almost 5. That was a crazy day then we had HONK! in the evening again. Friday Doug and I took Daniel and Sarah into Jackson for some Christmas shopping. We got back to town in time to pick up the kids from school and then Grace had a violin rehearsal till 5p. Today we had Christmas program rehearsal at 10 am and Grace's violin recital at 2p. I was glad to get home and relax this evening. We had Hot and Ready Pizza for dinner and every one went to bed early.

I still have how many days until Christmas??

Warts and all!!

2007-11-26T20:52:00.000-05:00

That is the title of the show the kids, Grace, Nathan and Jacob, will be in in February. A few weeks ago they auditioned for the local Theater for Youth's production of HONK! Jr. They made the show and are froglettes. They only sing in three or four songs, but they are featured in "Warts and All". If you go to Youtube and type in the song title you should be able to find some videos of other people preforming the song. It is really cute and I think the kids are going to have a blast. We had our first meeting tonight and rehearsals begin on Sunday, December 2. I have included a few links for those of you who aren't familiar with HONK! I wasn't. It is basically the story of the ugly duckling. I have also included the link to the Theater for Youth. They will occasionally post pictures of the kids at rehearsals and in the show. The show is February 8,9,10,15,16&17. You are all invited, just let me know how many tickets you will need and for what show. I will post the times when I know them. So the next time you see the kids you can tell them you love them WARTS AND ALL!!!!

Thanksgiving in Pictures

2007-11-25T20:30:00.000-05:00

We had an eventful Thanksgiving weekend. I thought instead of relating it to you in words I would do it with pictures. I have added some commentary, just to move the story along.

The Girls making Apple Pie!

Wow! Pies are Done!!!

Yumm - O!

No Heat!! This is the first time over the next four days that Lakeview comes out to fix the furnace. Once Thursday, Friday and Sunday!! It is finally working. We are keeping our fingers crossed that it stays that way.

Watching the Parade and eatin' popcorn.

Nap Time!!!

Dessert, a perfect ending to a Thanksgiving Day!

Friday, Mark and Renee Brenner and the boys came over to visit. We had leftovers for lunch and pizza for dinner. We talked with the kids played. The dad's rented Wii games and I think they had more fun than the boys did!! Saturday morning Renee and I went on a coffee run then the Brenners left around 9am. Grandma and Grandpa Wyckhuys arrived at about 11:30 and spent the night with us. Church on Sunday, another furnace fix, and naps and by Sunday night, we had had a very busy weekend. It was great to visit with friends and family. We hope you all had a great Thanksgiving too.

Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-22T12:31:00.000-05:00

Happy Turkey Day Everyone!!!

Just wanted to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving. We are having an eventful day and are looking forward to a fun weekend.

I am doing an informal poll. What are you most thankful for this year. Send along your comment and let us know. I'll start by saying that I am most thankful for my faith, my family and my friends.

Check back Sunday or sooner for a look at our Thanksgiving in pictures and lots from the weekend too. Can't wait to hear your poll answers! We love and miss you all.

Blessings!!!

Smile

2007-11-16T20:37:00.000-05:00

There are lots of new posts today so scroll down and enjoy. I kinda made up for lost time this week. Have fun and SMILE!!!

The Climb

2007-11-15T20:32:00.000-05:00

Daniel. Heaven help us all!!!

Honor Roll

2007-11-14T20:41:00.000-05:00

At Will Carleton Academy where the kids go to school, Third grade is the first year they get real grades instead of O, S, or N. So with grades comes the Honor Roll. Grace was blessed to be on this first quarters honor roll. They have a ceremony where they hand out the certificates and they shake hands. All of the third grade class made the A's and B's honor roll, Grace included. They also recognize all A's, which Grace wasn't this quarter, but is trying for in the second quarter. I have included some pictures. They didn't turn out too great because I was too far away using my flash. In any case we are very proud of Grace and are working hard to keep her on the honor roll for next quarter. We know she can do it!!!!

The Loft

2007-11-14T20:21:00.000-05:00

Grace was given a new bed this week. A member's daughter was down-sizing and wanted to know if we wanted a loft type bed with a desk underneath. Of course, Grace would love it and it would get her off the floor; she was sleeping on a queen mattress with no box spring because it wouldn't fit up the stairs. So it was delivered Saturday and Doug finally set it up today, Wednesday. She had it made and organized within minutes. She loves it. Thank you Crist Family!!

Are You Smarter Than a Third Grader

2007-11-13T20:18:00.000-05:00

These were some of the questions that I made up based on the study guide sent home for Grace's Social Studies test on Ancient Rome. She got 100%, could you???

Rulers

Nero, Diocletian, Constantine, Justinian

1. Who was known for being greedy and selfish?
2. Who wrote down the Roman laws?
3. Who was known as the first Christian ruler?
4. Who divided the empire into 2 halves and named honest, hardworking, men for government offices?

Fill in the Blank

Mt. Vesuvius, colosseum, circus Maximus, arches, Pax Romana, Pompeii,Western Empire

5. The ________ fell first in AD476.
6. The Romans watched chariot races in the ___________.
7. The __________ was a time of peace for Rome that lasted about 200 years.
8. _______ gave support to many Roman structures.
9. The Romans watched fights in the _____________.
10. __________ erupted in A.D. 79 and destroyed the cities of __________ & Herculaneum.

True or False

11. We can tell from ruins that the Romans went to shopping centers.
12. When the Roman Empire was divided into 2 , the Western Empire was ruled from Constantinople and the Eastern was ruled from Rome.
13. The Romans persecuted Christians because they believed in only one God.

Short Answer

14. List three reasons buildings become ruins.
15. List four reasons for the decline of the Roman Empire.
16. List two things the Romans did to the Christians.

Vocab
a. civil war b. collapse c. conquer d. decline e. mosaic f. persecute g. pillage
h. pillar i. preserve j.toga k. virtue

17. ___ to win control of a land by attacking an enemy or fighting a war.
18. ___ goodness
19.___ a loose robe worn by citizens of ancient Rome
20.___ to fall down suddenly
21.___ a war between people who live in the same country
22.___ to grow weaker
23.___ to treat people cruelly and unfairly
24. ___ to keep or save
25. ___ a tall, solid support post
26. ___ to steal things using force or violence
27. ___ art work made of many small pieces of stone or tile

Scroll all the way to the bottom of this page to see how you did. Send me your score!!!

Notes from School

2007-11-13T20:02:00.000-05:00

The following is a note that was sent home with Daniel today.

"Daniel read his first words at school today!! He was very pleased with himself. He is not ready to read them at home but will be soon. hat, cat, bat, sat, mat, fat, with this word he laughed and said"Daddy is fat"

Only Daniel. Diane Smith, his teacher, has been working at St. Paul's for quite a few years now so we know her pretty well. She is a big reason that we decided to send Daniel to preschool to begin with. Anyway, I am sure that she felt quite comfortable sending the note and laughing as she did!!! Thanks Diane!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

2007-11-13T13:44:00.000-05:00

Today is my mom's birthday. So I just wanted to post a Happy Birthday message to let her know we are thinking about her and love her.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

Something

2007-11-09T20:40:00.000-05:00

This has been a fairly uneventful week in the Adams' house.

The week started out calmly with laundry, loads of laundry, on Monday. ( I am still doing laundry today!! But I did lots on Monday)

Tuesday is Bible Study morning. I lead a Moms Bible study once a week. We have about 9 regular moms and no less than 15 children under the age of 4 each week. Most of the moms have 2 or more children, acutally all but one. Some stay in the room with us but in the play room there are usually two or three babysitters and 10 to 12 kids. Can you say Chaos!!! Tuesday afternoon Doug stayed home and helped me clean for the trustees. It was their night to walk through the parsonage. My house is now clean for at least 48 hours until I get behind again. Not sure how that happens but it always does. No surprises on the walk through. It was what we expected.

Wednesday was another quiet day at home.

Thursday the big kids had a half day because of Parent Teacher conferences so they came home at 11:30 and Daniel went to school at noon. It was a backwards day. Thursday night we had McDonalds to celebrate the kids great report cards. Grace made honor roll!! All A's and B's!! (only 2 B's) That ceremony is next Wednesday at opening. We will be there to take pictures.

Today, Friday, the kids had the day off. So they actually slept in until 7:30!! That was a great start to our day. Doug made pancakes and eggs for breakfast. I am not allowed to make pancakes anymore because I burn them. :-) After breakfast the kids and Dad sat down and watched "Fort Apache"! They love that movie. Daniel was once again quaranteened to the bedroom with the tv because he had developed a 1o2 fever!! We took him to Dr. Herbener at noon. No strep just a cold. Thank goodness!! He hates being alone upstairs! Although Nathan wanted to know if Daniel had strep throat again if he would have to have his nostrils taken out. He meant tonsils. The rest of the afternoon was uneventful. Grace had violin practice from 4 until 5:30 then we had dinner and cleaned up for bed. Everyone is asleep and has been since about 8:30!! There really isn't that much going on now, just wait until it gets closer to Christmas though. Life around here gets real fun!!

Oh back to the title of this blog. That is Sarah's new word, something. It comes around often now. "I stinky or something." "I eat oatmeal or something" "I watch tv or something" see the pattern. I have no idea where she picked it up, but it is quite funny. I will listen for more quotes and post them tomorrow. Oh and she is starting to eat each meal like it is her last. Today she had three pancakes and eggs for breakfast and for dinner she had spaghetti, two helpings of cottage cheese, and about 6 slices of peaches. She just kept eating and eating and eating. At least she doesn't complain!!!

One last funny, the boys have played a Wii game with Spiderman in it. The character has a few quotes that he says over and over. One of them the boys, especially Daniel, really like. It goes, "The itsy bitsy spider is gonna web you in the face." Well Daniel says it all the time especially when he plays spiderman or when he is in a scrapping mood. However, it was when I was changing Sarah today and she started to sing what I thought was going to be "The itsy bitsy spider crawled up the water spout" but it turned into "the itsy bitsy spider is gonna web you in the face." Help!!!!

Dress up Fun

2007-11-04T19:09:00.000-05:00

On Friday Doug, Sarah, Daniel and I went into Jackson to take some college girls to the train station. We also stopped at the Toy House to pick up Boy Scout stuff for the Twins and a toy for Sarah, a Christmas gift really. We also went to the "Halloween USA" store. All their costumes were 50% off. So we were able to pick up some great dress up stuff at a fraction of the cost. Here

are some pictures. The boys each got a super hero costume and then we got the Boba Fet costume because he was one character we DIDN'T have yet. So that is Jacob as Boba Fet and Superman. Nathan is red Spiderman and Daniel is Black Spiderman. Grace is a pirate and Sarah is Tinker Bell.

The kids had a blast playing with the new costumes. They were having so much fun I took some pictures, lots of pictures actually. It was hard to pick just a few. Here are some of the fun ones.

I hope that you all had a great weekend. We did. Oh and that was a great Football game on Saturday, no matter who you were cheering for. GO BLUE!! I added pictures to my last post so scrool down for more smiles.

2007-10-31T20:20:00.000-04:00

HAPPY REFORMATION DAY

It was on this day in 1597 that Martin Luther nailed the 95 theses denouncing the papal corruption to the north door of Wittenburg's Castle Church, beginning the Reformation. Happy Reformation Day!!

Tomorrow is All Saints Day. Depending on when your church celebrated these two holy days will depend on what color your altar is on Sunday. If you don't have special services during the week for them (which we don't but some churches do) your altar last week should have been RED for Reformation and your altar this week should be WHITE for All Saints Day. If you had services during the week for these then your altar should be GREEN, the color for the time after PENTECOST. This is the color it has been all summer by the way!!

OK, moving on to funnier things. Instead of Trick or Treating our family spends Halloween inside, with the porch light off, playing games and having fun together. The kids had a blast tonight. We got some candy and pop from Walmart and had Hot and Ready Pizza for dinner. Then afterward there was an impromptu wrestling match between the kids. It was great watching Daniel cling to Grace's legs and the boys try to pull her pants off by the cuffs. They weren't successful but Daniel has a great grip!!

During dinner the boys, Doug included, some how got to talking about marriage. Doug said that once they were married nothing would be theirs anymore. Their wives would take all their stuff, especially their clothes, which I have a habit of doing. His are always lots more comfy than mine. Anyway Doug adds that sometimes they will even steal your underwear, giving me a knowing look :-) (boxers mind you but still underwear just the same.) And Nathan proceeds to say, speaking of his future wife, heaven help her, "I hope they are dirty when she puts them on."

After dinner and the wrestling match the kids and Doug went up stairs to play Star Wars. He sent Grace on a recon mission to scout out where the "Queen"(me) was. At the time I was sitting in the living room putting together a puzzle of the USA that Sarah had dumped out. So Grace goes back to report my location and says, " We can't go down there she's not in a good spot. She is smack damn in the middle of the living room!!!" (I think she meant "smack dab")

The laughs just kept coming tonight. Nate was injured during one of the Storm Trooper missions and needed repair from a medic. Grace the medic went to work and when she was finished Nate exclaimed, "I feel like a new myself!"

I don't think we could have had anymore fun trick or treating, do you?

Oktoberfest, I mean Lutherfest!!

2007-10-27T20:23:00.000-04:00

Tonight was what used to be called Oktoberfest but is now called Lutherfest at our church. They had carnival games ( donuts on a string, pumpkin painting, face painting, bean bag toss) for the kids and a great traditional German dinner. Sausage and saurcrout, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, hot dogs, cole slaw, rolls and lots and lots of pies. I took the kids and Aunt Amanda up at about 4:45pm. Dinner began at 6pm luckly we were one of the first tables to be served. Sarah still isn't feeling that great so she was cranky. Daniel was tired since he didn't take a nap today. Not a good combo. Needless to say we, that is Daniel, Sarah and I, left before the dancing even started. I did get to see the St. Paul's cloggers do one dance. That was neat. Sarah liked it but thought it was too loud. Rev. Oliver Washington, an army chaplin, was there as a guest speaker. Doug and I knew him from our Concordia days. He graduated with us. So we were able to visit with him, actually Doug and Amanda visited with him. Amanda knew him from Concordia too, he was the interm Campus Pastor last year. Then there was a live polka band. Daniel was upset he was going to miss the chicken dance, but he was asleep with in a half hour of coming home. Sarah was too. She is feeling better today thanks to that great Azitromyacin. That worked literally overnight!!!

Funny of the day: Sarah knows how to blow her nose and she has been doing a great job of it lately. Yesterday, however, she was really stuffed up and constantly had gook running out of her nose. When I asked her to blow her nose she would try but just couldn't get anything to come out. Her reply? "I can't, its broke!!" Gotta love two year old logic!!

Still Sick

2007-10-26T20:33:00.000-04:00

I took Sarah back to the Dr today. She still had a fever of 103.5 in between doses of Motrin. She now has pneumonia. Happy Joy!! Thankfully we caught it soon and she doesn't have to have breathing treatments. He put her on Azithromyacin. Good stuff.

Oktoberfest/Lutherfest is tomorrow and then church on Sunday. Dr. H said she should be better in 24 hours. We shall see. I will probably still get a sub for Sunday though, just in case. She is sleeping now along with the twins, they worked hard today. Daniel is still up but he fell asleep on the couch watching Curious George this afternoon. Grace is up too but won't be for much longer. Me, I am going to bed sooner than later I think. No more Smallville to watch, at least not yet. Our source doesn't have season 6 so we will have to wait to watch it later.

blessings all!

2007-10-23T19:37:00.000-04:00

Miserable. I think that about sums it up. She laid here like this and watched from "Sixteen going on Seventeen" to "So Long Farewell." The puppet show is her favorite. We watched that at least twice. Sarah went to the Dr today, but the strep test came back negative. I probably jumped the gun and took her too early, but we had a rough night and she had a fever and wasn't eating. We skipped bible study today, went to the Dr and just hung out at the house. Daniel is ready to go back to school or should I say I am ready for Daniel to go back to school. Other than miserable Sarah there is not much else going on here. Council meeting tonight for Doug and grocery shopping tomorrow for me. That means I need to make my menu and list tonight so that I have an idea of what I need to buy tomorrow. It is surprising how having a list really does help you to not over spend and buy things you really don't need. It makes shopping go faster too. I am going to go first thing in the morning after I drop off the kids. Wal-mart is much less busy at 8am than after lunch. Ok I have already rambled more than I intended to tonight so "Auf Wiedersehen" (I actually had to look that spelling up! So much for 5 years of German!!)

No News is Good News

2007-10-20T19:10:00.000-04:00

Daniel is still sick, but so far no one else is showing signs. I took temps at dinner tonight and just about everyone had a low temp, but they had been playing hard in the blue room with Sarah. We shall see what tomorrow brings. The kids are all in bed as I am typing this. Our theory is that the more they sleep the less likely they will be to get sick. They all took a nap this afternoon so hopefully it works. The nap this afternoon though was long so this early bed time might be a challenge. I will continue to keep you posted on our health.

No church or Sunday School tomorrow for Daniel, Sarah and I. The big kids are singing at 10:30 so they will go as long as no one has a fever in the morning. Jacob and Nathan are singing "Christ be my Leader" and Grace is singing "Father Welcomes" all with their Sunday School classes of course, no solos or duets yet. Maybe someday.

Let us know you are reading. We would love to hear from all of you. And let us know if you blog too. I would love to add you to our links. Blessings All!!!

It Begins

2007-10-19T20:01:00.000-04:00

I hate Michigan winters. As soon as we close the windows and turn on the heat we start to get sick. Colds, runny noses, sore throats, coughs and sneezes. A family this size is bound to have something at any given time all season long. Today it was Daniel.

We took Daniel to the doctor today because he had been acting very un-Daniel like lately. Crabby, irritable, tired and blah. He was up in the night dry heaving and complained of a sore throat. We have a great pediatrician and we were in to see him before noon and had the strep test back in five minutes, positive of course. So now he is on antibiotics for the next 10 days and quarantined to Grace's room cause it still has the TV and DVD player in it. Hopefully we can keep the rest of the gang healthy. Any and all prayers will be greatly appreciated. We will keep you posted.

Learning Curve

2007-10-17T19:28:00.000-04:00

When Grace and the twins were little they pretty much lived on a diet of chicken nuggets, hot dogs and pizza. I would make one meal for Doug and I and one for the kids. Eventually I got tired of fixing two different meals. So I fixed things the kids should enjoy, spaghetti, chicken (not nuggets, meat loaf) and pretty much said eat what is in front of you or go hungry. It took several nights of tears and going to bed hungry, but they eventually got the idea.

There are still some things they refuse to eat, but I am done making several different meals. I try to fix things they like, that are healthy and are adult enough for Doug and I. I will occasionally fix them hot dogs or nuggets if I know they really won't like what we are having, but that rarely happens now. We used to go through two Sam's Club size bags of nuggets in less than two months, now I buy one and it lasts at least three. I will sometimes fix like meals that are different: we have salmon, they have fish sticks, for example, but for the most part they eat what we do.

At seven and eight they are just now starting to branch out into new territory. Jacob will now eat a double cheeseburger from a fast food place, Nate still just eats nuggets. Daniel is eating double cheeseburgers. Grace is just now eating a Big Mac or cheeseburger, this time last year it was only nuggets. All of the kids including Sarah will eat Arby's now but just a year ago Jacob would only eat the chicken strips. Spaghetti and tacos are favorites, but pot roast and meat loaf go untouched. They will eat a rotisserie chicken, but won't eat KFC or baked chicken from my oven.

My point, well I am getting to that. Daniel and Sarah have had a different meal time experience. They were never cooked special meals unless it was something like steak that a two or three year old couldn't handle. If Doug and I had it for dinner so did they. They get a spoonful or whatever of the meal, no questions asked, no choices given. They will eat it eventually and children won't starve or become malnourished just because they skip a meal. Yes they have had their share of chicken nuggets and hot dogs, but not nearly as many as the big kids. They eat what is in front of them with out much complaint. Daniel only complains if the boys do and will usually eat the meal even if the twins go to bed hungry.

This was most evident last night. I fixed a tater tot casserole, browned hamburger, cream of celery soup, tater tots and cheese on top baked in the oven till hot. You would think this would be a kids dream. Its like a cheeseburger and fries. Well the twins went to bed hungry, but Sarah, who has never had this dish before and for whom I almost made a hot dog but didn't, ate two helpings and loved it!!!! No fuss, not one objection, she just dug right in and ate.

So what is the moral of my story: make your kids eat what you fix when they are small and you won't have seven year olds going to bed hungry cause they won't even eat a Tater Tot Casserole!!

Orchestra

2007-10-14T19:02:00.000-04:00

I took Grace, Nathan and Jacob to an orchestra concert today. The Hillsdale College/Community Orchestra gave its first concert of the season this weekend. They played four pieces, all of which were very well done. They even started the performance with the National Anthem. The kids liked that one the best because they knew the music. Grace did great sitting through it, the boys not so much. But overall they did well. Sorry but I didn't take any pictures.

There were several students and community members in the orchestra that the kids knew and lots of people in the audience that they knew also. There were at least 10 orchestra members from our church, most of them college students. I really enjoyed it, despite the kids. The next attempt at culture is a Christmas Operetta called "Amahl and the Night Visitors" Two Johnson boys and a babysitter are in this one. It is only 45 minutes long so it should go over much better with the boys.

Then in December we take the kids to the Boars Head performance at Concordia College in Ann Arbor. This is a highlight of the Christmas season for our family. This will be Daniel's first year to go. (They get to go when they are four. Actually, Daniel went as a tiny baby with Grace but we don't count that. ) Tickets go on sale on October 29 so if any of you are interested in going along with us on Sunday or any other day the first weekend in December give me a call and let me know. I call that Monday at noon to order the tickets.

Hope you all had a great weekend. I know I did!!

Fun Times

2007-10-11T20:32:00.000-04:00

Ok so I don't post for a while and then I go bonkers and make three in one night. Anyway today's set can start either with this post or you can scroll down to "Nothing is what is seems" either way be prepared to smile. Oh and this would also be the place to post the pictures of Daniel's first Field Trip. Well that won't happen because I FORGOT MY CAMERA!! Renee and I are in the running for Mother of the Year. We love and miss you all!!