Shahan Shack

Making Briley and the rest of my family proud

2011-01-04T23:31:00.010-05:00

Yesterday my Briley who has always been a little more verbal in her acknowledgment that I am overweight, (kids, gotta love um lol) came up and hugged my waist and said in a tone of amazement, "Mommy, I can hug you and put my arms all the way around you now!" Then she shouted it out for all the other family members to hear "Daddy, look! I can put my arms all the way around Momma!" Turning to show that she could wrap those arms all the way around and clasp her hands behind me. Ok, I don't know if this new found ability is all due to my weight loss or just her growing and getting longer arms, (probably a little of both) but I am glad she is happy with the results because I am too. Today she was constantly, (seriously like 10+ time today) hugging and wrapping those arms of her around me ...lol...I laugh thinking about it but at the same time right now...I have tears coming down my cheeks. Tears with mixed emotions really. Tears of disappointment knowing that there was a time that I had let myself get to a state where perhaps my little girl was embarrassed of me, (I know I was embarrassed of me)...but at the same time tears of joy knowing and feeling glad that I am now making that little girl proud. I am making myself proud.

I am almost through with day 3 of my second 40 day fast on the HCG weight loss protocol. Since September 19th I have lost 44 lbs and gone from a size 24/26 to a size 18. By the time I finish this round I hope to be in at least a size 14 but would love to reach the goal of a size 12. I am thrilled to be making this wonderful change and to be feeling so good while doing it. Thanks to all of you for all your love and support as I go from fat to fit.

Me and Brian together July 2009

Me and Brian December 31st 2010

How I Became Mary's Step-Mom

2010-11-22T12:43:00.004-05:00

I am a Mother of a 12 year old young woman and I find it very hard to believe! I always feel very sensitive when I call Mary my daughter, I did not contribute to her biologically I respect her Mother's position as Mary's only "Mom", but I am a very proud Step-Mom and I love that girl so much! I had to go back and make sure I had not written about this before so as not to bore anyone with this information but but now that I know I have not written about it I will tell you about how I became Mary's Step-Mom.

When I went on my first date with Brian he was very comfortable telling me about his life. There was no holding back and he quickly told me that he had a baby on the way...that's right, on the way. You can imagine some of the things I was thinking. Wow, baggage, issues, lots going on with this guy. Part of me felt pretty sure that this first date would most likely be the last. I was wrong and I did see Brian again, quite a few times in fact. I remember how when the anticipated due date had come Brian would call the hospital and check to see if his child's mother had checked in or not. There came a time when they said she had, but that she was sent home. He was so excited when he got a call a few days later from Mary's Grandmother telling him to come and see his daughter. I remember the thoughts that crossed my mind as he dropped me off at my apartment and left to go see his baby girl. We had not talked about Marriage, (well I had not let him talk marriage) but I was starting to fall for this guy and part of me felt like maybe he would go back to his daughter's Mother, maybe she would want him back now that the pregnancy hormones were gone and she could think clearly...maybe I should walk away, maybe he would want to be with his daughters Mother and not me. I voiced my concern, to him that night over the phone and I remember Brian telling me that it might be best for me If I stopped seeing him. He said that he knew his life was going to be very complicated and he was not sure if it was fare to me and would not blame me If I could not "handle it". He did invite me to come with him to buy some clothes for his daughter the next day, and so we went. I remember walking the mall with him picking out a cute ducky outfit at Children's Place. He was so proud to be a Dad, and it made me fall even more in love with him. I had been struggling in my mind with what he said to me the night before. Did he really think I couldn't "handle it"? I knew I was a strong woman why would he think that? As we left the mall and we sat in the Mall parking lot talking I told him that it hurt my feelings that he would think that I could not handle being a step Mom...I told him that I chose to be with him knowing full well that he had a baby on the way and that I knew that I could love that little girl as much as any Mom could love their child. Brian was quiet for a moment, and then asked me if I would Marry him... I said yes.

When I said yes to Brian I said yes to Mary, When I decided to become Brian's wife I decided to become Mary's proud Step mom. The children I have given birth to I love just as much as I love Mary. The difference between them and her is that I had the choice to be one of her parents and specifically chose to become one. Years of family court appearances for visitation rights, and custody would follow and yes those were some stressful times but I am so glad that I made that choice 12 years ago to be Mary's Step-Mom, "Mom" being the most important part of that title, which I hold with much love and pride.

Now 12 years later She has grown up to be such a beautiful young lady. Not only beautiful outside but inside as well. I am so proud to be part of her life and for her to be part of mine.

Happy Birthday Mary!

Right or Responsibility?

2010-11-05T10:48:00.005-04:00

I grew up in a home where patriotism was celebrated. I remember on more than one occasion seeing my Father weep while standing at attention with his hand on his heart while listening to the star spangled banner. When I turned 18 and moved out of the house and to Arizona I received more than one lengthy letter from my Dad explaining the issues I need to know and understand before exercising my right to vote. I was taught by good parents that I had a right as well as a responsibility to my country to educate myself about and to cast my vote on issues important to my local government and to do my part to hire people through my vote to represent me.

I have always felt that I did my part until this past year. I am not a politician though I knew that there was more I could do. So when I received word that a very capable and honest, and Honorable person from my High school graduating class was running for Delaware State Representative Brian and I both decided that we would do what we could to support him.

Walking in parades being the most difficult volunteer work we had taken part in until I was asked by his Campaign manager , Mark Pugh, to be a Chairwoman in Lincoln's champaign. I happily, (and perhaps ignorantly) took on the responsibility as Volunteer Chairwoman. The 3 1/2 months or so that followed were busy. Regular Saturday door knocking sessions, more parades, calling and emailing people gathering more supporters to help with polling, and election day work. It felt great to be doing more for my local government than I ever have. I have a great appreciation for how hard people work to be elected in to offices of public service.

In the end and after a successful Primary Election and yet another successful election on November 2nd Lincoln Willis was Elected as the next Representative of the 29 District of Delaware. It was a lot...and I mean a LOT of work but it felt so good to see how our hard work successfully helped a good person be elected to office. It also felt so good to do more than just cast my vote. To take an active part in the process of electing an honorable and honest person to office...it's something that I would highly suggest everyone take the time to do.

Brian and I enjoyed a victory party on election night with some of the volunteers that I had worked closely with. I am so happy to have had the chance to meet some great people during the process. Thank you to all the volunteers I worked so closely with and Congratulations to Lincoln and his Wife Laura Willis.

Brian and I at the post election party 11/2/10

Cathryn 10 years old

2010-11-05T10:32:00.003-04:00

My Cathryn is now 10 years old! Cathryn received a bunk bed, (she has had to share a full sized bed with Briley for some time now) and I think it was pretty much her favorite gift ever! She chose the top bunk much to Briley's disappointment.

Cathryn also was surprised with a gift from her cousin Spencer. Spencer is an artist and Cathryn is quite possibly Spencer's Biggest fan. Cathryn drew a picture of Spencer a year or so ago and so Spencer decided that he would drawl a picture of her. Cathryn Loved this gift and it now hangs on her bedroom wall.

Cathryn is growing up to be such a pretty young lady. She is a kind and conscientious person I could not be more proud of the person she is growing up to be.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CATHRYN!

holloween 2010

2010-11-05T09:26:00.004-04:00

I know I will look back to this year and wonder why I don't have more to show for it so here I am playing catch up on this blog. I have been very busy as of late so excuse the many updates you will see in the coming days.

Halloween...Yeah, I liked this holiday a lot more before I had little ones. I have fond memories from my childhood and my single years of having great fun on Halloween. I now have a much greater appreciation for the time my mom put in to our, (all 7 of us kids) costumes year after year. I have to say that I am glad that this year Halloween fell on Sunday and the town, unlike past years, decided to keep the trick or treating on Sunday. Our family tries our best to keep the Sabbath day holy so the school Halloween parade and the trunk or treat this year were what we decided to stick with and the trick or treating in town was canceled for our family.

Mary decided last minute that she wanted to be a gypsy so she picked out a combination of my clothes and hers and pulled it off pretty well I think. Halloween is not something her Mom celebrates so she is always with us for this holiday...she is growing up so fast! I cant believe how tall she is and cant believe that she can actually use my cloths for her costume. I am sure that it wont be long before we are swapping clothes and borrowing each others shoes.

Cathryn being the creative child that she is decided that she wanted to be Frankensteins girlfriend...not to be confused with he Bride of Frankenstein...that would make her "too old". She came up with her costume and knew exactly what she wanted with her makeup and hair.

Briley changed her mind a number of times,(true to her nature...Indecision is a trait she sadly inherited from me) In the end she decided she wanted to be a lady in a Mascaraed. The day before the Halloween celebration I spent the evening in the ER with Lydia, (read more about that in my next post) so I did not get to help her make her mask. I have to say that Mary, Cathryn, and Briley did an amazing job all by themselves though Briley had a number of compliments on that mask from a number of people.

My three youngens were straight from a Disney channel Blake being Poo Bear, Lydia Piglet, and Keira deciding once she saw Blake and Lydia's costume that she didn't want to be Tinkerbell but instead wanted to be Tigger.

Trick or treat this year at Church spoiled our kids rotten, and we were surprised by our neighbors who brought over a Halloween bucket filled with treats for each of the 6 kids. They also enjoyed a trip to Mom mom's house who had made a spooky back porch for them this year. So in the end missing Trick or Treating really wasn't such a bad thing. I think we are better for not having so much sugary candy in this house...especially with my desire to lose weight, (you can read about that in one of my next few posts too)

Just a thought...

2010-09-15T00:00:00.006-04:00

Ok, so say what you want about Christine O'Donnell...in the end the majority of republican voters in Delaware came out in support of her. If you didn't vote you have no right to complain. If you did vote and things didn't turn out the way you wanted them to ... well then understand that there is a majority of people in your state who feel differently than you...it's just the way it goes.

So here is my thought. The majority of the republican voters came out and voted for a person other than the one the Republican Party chose to back. This is what a Primary is for right?...to let the people choose who they want to represent them in the party for the general election? Thousands of republican voters voted for the person who won. Many of those voters are financial supporters of the Republican party.

Now the NRSC says they will not fund the Republican candidate chosen by the people...their republican people...hmmmm do you think that all those voters might think twice about financially supporting the party any longer?

Does this show that the Party is in fact not for the will of the people? Perhaps they should have waited a little while and let their hot heads cool off from their loss before making such a bold statement of contempt...just a thought.

things that make me smile

2010-06-26T19:04:00.006-04:00

As a Mom I find many times a day that I can not help but laugh. My children bring me so much joy and happiness. Don't get me wrong, there are times that I feel stressed but it is the funny moments I try to remember. Let me share with you some the things that make me smile.

Keira the communicator

The other day I was changing Keira's diaper, (I have been trying to get her to potty train but she is just not ready yet) as I was getting ready to close up her fresh new diaper I decided to sprinkle some powder first and as I did Keira's eyes got wide and she said "is dat da powda?" I said yes to which she replied with a long nod of the head "oh I wuuuuv da powda" she has begun to speak in sentences and I just get a kick out of hearing her express herself.

Blake our social...well, I would say butterfly but that seems so feminine.

We have been to the beach 4 times so far this year and out of those 4 visits 3 of them were visits where we had other beach goers lounging on the beach close to us. Blake is a friendly little guy who is sure to say hi to everyone he comes in contact with. He will strut around the beach walk up to a group of people and go around to each of them raising his hand and saying "hi" in his high pitched little boy voice and then strut on with his little toddler belly leading the way to the next group of people whom he intends to great. At each of these outings he has chosen to befriend one person in particular whom he is happy to bring hands full of sand to. He will come with that little fist just plum full of sand and with a smile hand it to the stranger at which time he says "peas! dink-oo" Its as if in his head he is thinking that his new friend should be saying please and he would naturally follow that with thank you. This past weekend I came to the realization that every sand receiving friend that Blake has chosen so far has happened to be a bearded middle aged man. So I guess he is partial to facial hair for some reason which I find funny given that when I was little I thought facial hair was scary.

Lydia the meek.....

Lydia seems to be a perfect mixture of sweetness and well, horror....She is quiet as can be most of the time. Even her laugh is quiet and comes from deep in her throat. She has a kind smile but it is a shy smile being that she only shares it when she is 100% sure she feels safe doing so. She is a ham and will be the first one to say "cheeese" when a camera is pointed in her direction. These features I am now realizing are a simple cover up for the other half of personality. Lydia is undoubtedly born to be a WWF wrestling professional. That girl is no joke when it comes to hand to hand combat. She also loves to jump off the couch and land on anyone who might be with in jumping distance. She can be pretty darn emasculating to her brother whom she is not afraid of tackling should she feel the least bit threatened by him. She also has recently learned how to protest the will of Mommy when bed time comes around crying "no no no no!" when I say it's night night time. Maybe these things do not seem like funny traits but the truth is they really are considering how much personality oozes out of such a little body.
and the other side of Lydia

Briley my lover.

Briley is undoubtedly my most affectionate child. She loves cuddle time, hugs kisses and has a contagious laugh that you just cant get enough of. Briley finds great joy in playing games and spending time with family. She loves to tell jokes and finds humor in the ones that she makes up and that perhaps nobody else gets. Briley is beyond excited about turning 8 and being baptized and has been asking me every day how long she has to wait until she turns 8. She has been planning her birthday party for the past 8 months and knows exactly what she wants.

Cathryn the Motivated.

Cathryn is full of questions, information, and stories to share. She is by far our most talkative child, (Blake comes in 2nd place only due to his limited vocabulary). Cathryn is motivated by rules, goals, and competition. She likes having things to do at all times and if there is a prize at the end of a goal she will reach that goal in no time. This proves to be very helpful to me as a Mom since I can pretty much count on her help if I have a prize to be won at the other side of the labor or a record for her to beat. She loves to figure out how to have the best project in class at school and has shown a real perfectionist side this past year.

playing catchup

2010-06-23T13:43:00.014-04:00

Oh my word I am such a slacker!

So what has happened since December you ask? well...

1. We only had some of the most amazing snow storms the east coast has ever seen,

2. A good friend decided to be baptized causing my parents to make a last minute trip out to be here for the special event.

3. The twins turned 2

4. Brian and I decided to embark on a new business venture together

check out our website at

http://brianshahan.acnrep.com

5. I signed on to assist a friend in his campaign to become the next representative of Delaware's 29th district.

www.scsuntimes.com/news/x1560339696/lincoln-willis-announces-campaign-for-29th-district-representative

6. Cathryn won 1st place in the Lieutenant Governors Art Contest

7. We planted our first family garden. Its a small one but it's ours and that's exciting.

8. Mary, Cathryn, and Briley, all ended the school with honors

There is not a picture of Mary at her awards assembly because we were not informed about it until after it took place but Mary received the presidential ward which means that she held a B average or higher through her 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade years. She got a certificate signed by President Obama as well as a special lapel pin. Brian and I are so proud of their hard work.

9. Keira turned 3...(yes so I no longer have three 2 year olds in the house...only two of them now). She loved her big gift from her Grandma and Grandpa Purdy, and Brian and I.
And now I count down the days until I set off without the hubby on a very exciting road trip to Arizona with 5 of our children. Call me crazy but I think its going to be a lot of fun!

Janurary, February, March OH MY!

2010-05-10T14:24:00.002-04:00

Here it is May and I realize the last time I posted was on my wedding anniversary and the reality that I just may be the worst blogger on the face of the earth has hit me. Not that I am surprised by this in anyway. I have always been bad at keeping a journal so why would I think that this would be any different? lots going on...will post soon

One Decade Later...

2009-12-16T22:04:00.013-05:00

Our Song:

From this Moment

********************************

I just swear, that I'll always be there.

I'd give anything and everything

and I'll always care.

Through weakness and strength,

happiness and sorrow,

for better or for worse I will love you

with every beat of my Heart.

From this moment life has begun.
From this moment you are the one.

Right beside you is where I belong,

from this moment on.

From this moment I have been blessed.

I live only for your happines,

and for your love I'd give my last breath

from this Moment on.

I give my hand to you with all my heart.

Can't wait to live my life with you, can't wait to start

you and I will never be apart.

My dreams came true becuase of you.

From this moment as long as I live,
I will love you I promise you this.

There is nothing I wouldn't give
from this moment on...

Your the reason I believe in love,
and your the answer to my prayers from up above.

All we need is just the two of us.

My dream came true because of you.

From this moment, as long as I live
I will love you, I promise you this.

There is nothing I wouldn't give,

from this moment.

I will love you as long as I live,
From this moment on.

I love you Brian...Happy 10th anniversary! XOXO

Our Trip to NYC

2009-12-16T08:55:00.025-05:00

I have felt a little spoiled this year due to Brian and I having the chance to get away all by ourselves twice in a 6 month period. Our trip to Utah was wonderful and had been the first time in 9 years we had gotten away for more than 24 hours together.

We decided that we wanted to do something special for our 10th wedding anniversary and after finding out about some reward points we had available to cash in we booked our mini vacation to New York City, and bought our tickets to see Wicked on Broadway. I have wanted to have a special date in New York since Brian and I were dating. Now I was excited to see this wish coming true.

Dec. 11th Brian and I drove up to Newark NJ put all our things in our hotel room and then took the train in to the City. Our first stop was lunch, Whew it was cold and very windy! I was glad that we had decided to put off the site seeing until Saturday. Walking in that wind and Cold would have made the day very un-enjoyable. We headed to the Manhattan Temple where we did some temple ordinances including the sealing of Brian's Grandparents and his Father. It was a very special thing for us to do in celebration of our own sealing which happened almost 10 years ago.

After spending 3 hrs at the temple we found a little restaurant to have dinner at. We found a great place called Deliciousos. Brian had their Flounder, and I had their Shrimp Marinara. There Portions were crazy big...I kinda wish I could have taken the left over with us since I barely got through half of my plate but next stop was the Gershwin theatre and Brian had a heavy enough bag with out adding leftovers to it.

After Dinner we made our way to the show. The subways were insane! They made little to no sense but we did finally make it. The show was everything I could have hoped for. Amazing vocals, stage decor, and lights. It really was wonderful. There were two songs that really moved me, "Defying Gravity" and "For Good". I have embedded one of them above...hope you enjoy it.

the next day Brian and I had fun seeing the sites of NYC. I think we saw everything accept for the statue of liberty...I did get to hang out with a mini version of Lady Liberty though so I guess that was enough for me.

After a lot of walking, (oh my aching feet) our day had almost come to an end. We were lucky to be able to meet up with our good friends the Poquitas who happened to be in New York at the same time as us. We had Dinner with them and then decided to enjoy some Christmas lights at the Rockefeller Center. All in all I think it is safe to say this trip will go down as one of my favorite experiences of my life.

I can not close this without sending out a HUGE Thank you to our friends Bre and Eric Hess who made this trip possible by watching our kids for us while we were gone. We are so blessed to have them and not just because they watched our kids but because the just really are amazing people.

Hair-Less and Hair-Stylin

2009-10-06T15:31:00.006-04:00

Now that we got the summer blogging caught up I can post about current events! Yay!

It has become a Shahan family custom that our children figure out how to use scissors by the time they turn 3 years old. We usually find out about their abilities after they have used them on their hair. Cathryn actually cut her hair on her 3rd birthday and Briley cut her hair more than once but did the first time when she was about 2 1/2 years old. Keira is nearly 2 and 1/2 years old and of course she had to follow in her big sister footsteps. Last Saturday Keira got a hold of her big sisters school scissors and well she cut the front half of her hair off at the scalp...no exaggeration. The location of the cut, coupled with some issues she had already had with hair falling out caused me to have no other option but to buzz her head...that's right, BUZZ her head.

Ok so that is the hair-Less part of this post now to the Hair-Sylin portion.

Cathryn and Briley had school pictures taken yesterday and they begged that I "do" their hair, this is something I usually do not do since most weekday mornings are just way too crazy to take time to do it. Since it was a special day I was happy to oblige. So Cathryn wanted her hair to flip up...just like Alice in Twilight, (yes we love twilight) this is not the first time we did this with her hair and she just really loves done this way but it takes some time to do so we only do it on special occasions. Briley has longer hair and also likes the flip up thing, (it's kinda the style these days, even they boys are doing it) so after round brushing and side sweeping the bangs they were all hair sprayed up and sent off for an exciting picture day. We will have to see how well the styles held up until the time of their shoot. At least I have proof of how darn cute they looked prior to the bus picking them up.

Ok at least I have that first picture to prove it ;-)

On the road again...again

2009-10-03T16:00:00.001-04:00

I am sorry it has taken so long to catch up with my blogging. This is the last posting I will have concerning our summer family trip and I should say it is about time! After Brian and I got back to Arizona we relaxed for 2 days enjoying a family Birthday celebration for Me, Brian, and Briley. It was great to have one more gathering with as many family members as possible. The next day we prepared for our long drive back home. We ended up getting out on the road late but finally we made it. The drive was long but really the kids did very well. We stopped at the rest stops for lunch...One of them was in New Mexico and had these great little brick picnic areas. There were some great views of the mountains along the way

We had planned to stop at some fun places along the way to let the kids play but I forgot the fact that we were going east which meant we were loosing time the farther east we went! Time was not on our side so most of our fun consisted of lunch breaks at parks, and rest stops and swimming in the pools at the motels/hotels we stayed at. Not as much fun as I had hoped for. :-( But it really is amazing how something as simple as playing a game or two of checkers or playing at the park made the kids happy. We had plans to stop in Tennessee on your way home so that Brian could spend some time with his childhood best friend who's name is Buddy McGinnis. It was great to be able to visit with the McGinnis family. Brian and his friend reminisced about the "good ol days" Buddy's wife and I, (shoot I am having a hard time remembering her name) talked about our children and family life, and our kids all got to play together. Regretfully I did not get any pictures of all of us together. I guess in all the excitment we just forgot to grab the camera. After a nights rest in the Hollow Rock area we got back on the road and while on our way to West Virginia we came across signs for some caves and caverns, LOTS OF THEM! So far our family has enjoyed visiting Colossal Cave in Arizona, and Crystal Cave in Pennsylvania and now we were seeing signs for Mammoth Cave and we just had to stop! So while we tried to find this cave we came across this sign for Diamond Caverns and Brian being intrigued by the name decided we should stop and see these caverns instead. We had only taken a few steps into the cave when we decided that perhaps we had made a mistake. There was a set of steep steps taking us down in to the cave and Brian and I had three babies...you would think that the people who sold us the tickets would have warned us of how strenuouse the tour would be but they didn't and we had people behind us and in front of us so we decided to press forward. Brian was a trooper who held two of the babies most of the time since Keira was a little weirded out by her surroundings and did not want to walk at all while in the cave.

I think it is safe to say that we will not be doing any more visits to caves for a few more years which is a little disappointing since we enjoy them so much. Diamond Caverns was a great place to visit and had some amazing formations to see. We found out that there were no diamonds in the caverns which disappointed Brian. In fact there never had been diamonds in the caverns it was just named Diamond Caverns due to some shimmering rocks that could be seen on the walls of the cave. Apparently the farmer to found the cave thought that he had struck it rich when he saw the sparkling but once he was informed that the shimmer was not from diamonds he decided he would still make some money by giving tours through the cave...I guess he decided to keep the name to catch peoples interest...in our case it worked. After our visit through the caverns we got back on the road to West Virginia where we stayed the night at the Marriott hotel. It was a very nice stay there with swimming and Hot tubing and Pizza. The next morning we spent our last day on the road. It was great to be home after such a long time away. Though it was hard to be away so long I am so glad that our children had the extended time with my family. It breaks my heart that they do not have cousins to play with out here. But if going out to Arizona for extended Summer vacations is what I need to do to help them feel a part of the Purdy family then so be it. Thank you to all of my family who helped to make this Summer vacation so much fun. Here is hoping that in 2011 we can do it again!

Family, Pools, fireworks, and Friends

2009-10-03T15:23:00.010-04:00

During the 3 1/2 weeks that the kids and I were in Arizona without Brian I tried to fill our time with activities for the kids. We spent time with their Grandparents, cousins, Aunts, Uncles, and friends.

Water activities are a must if you live in Arizona. It amazing how accessible water play is to everyone. This is a pool area that only cost 50 cents per child and $1 per adult. My sister Marjorie and her kids Sophia and Andy, my sister Rebekah and my Aunt Alica as well as our kids all went one night so enjoy some water time. I wish that water areas were as available in Delaware it really was so much fun.

while we were in Arizona my Grandpa turned 75 years old. He has had a lot of health problems so in addition to this be a significant birthday marking that he is 3/4 of a century old we really do feel lucky to have had him for another year.

We enjoyed yet another pool date with a family I love very much...the Qureshi family. We spent two afternoons with Jennifer and her kids at this really fun pool. Blake Keira and Lydia all really enjoyed the water spouting out of the ground. Keira also really enjoyed the froggy slide. Cathryn and Briley were hard ones to get pictures of at this pool since they were so busy playing with Junaid and Zaiah. Cathryn loved going down the water slides a lot and even jumped off the high dive (sorry I did not have my camera when that happened)...what a dare devil I have!

Utah...our first weekend getaway in forever

2009-09-23T11:32:00.000-04:00

trying to catch up with our summer activities so I am going a little out of order on these blogs but I figure I can be proud just for getting these entries in at all...so bear with me.

***PLEASE NOTE***Pictures were put on here in the small format to make more room for the text. To see these pictures in a larger format simply click on them.

4 weeks apart was not easy but the one thing that made it bearable was knowing that at the end of that time apart was a very fun long weekend together...alone...as in all by ourselves...NO CHILDREN! On July 16th I few up to Salt Lake Brian did not fly out until the following night because he had to work on the 17th and the only reason I went out on the 16th is because I was saving $60 by flying that day instead of the next. I was lucky to have a friend to say with I am so thankful for the hospitality of Cindy and her family. It was great seeing them and getting to know her oh so cute kids. Brian and I enjoyed a stay at the University Park Marriott in Salt Lake City. We had a top floor room overlooking the city lights. After Brian's plane was delayed, and his taxi brought him to the wrong Marriott we Finally got to see each other after 1:30 a.m. (3:30 East Coast time). It was July 18th, my birthday, and seeing him was the best birthday gift I could be given. The Marriott was great accept the Air conditioning was not working...ok that is a big accept given all the Marriott beds are feather beds with feather bedding and we were on the 7th floor. the Hotel made up for it though and I think it is safe to say we would go back to them if we found ourselves in the area again.

we had a great breakfast, took a morning dip in the jacuzzi, and then enjoyed a nap while taking advantage of a late check out. after getting our rental car we made our way to our first stop...

The Jordan River Temple. Brian had some family names he wanted to do temple work for. Jordan River was packed we ended up just enjoying lunch in the cafeteria...we sure miss the temple food at the DC temple.

Since Jordan River was so busy we were given the suggestion of trying the Draper Temple which was not quite as busy. Brian and I enjoyed the short 15 min drive there and really enjoyed the view once we arrived.

the temple was placed up on the mountain...surrounded by some very beautiful homes and over looking the valley. The day had turned out to be warmer than past Saturday's and many of the local residents were complaining of the 90 degree weather. I thought that was funny given Brian was coming from the humidity of the east coast and I was coming from the heat of Arizona. 90 is not so bad when you just spent a month in 116 degree weather! lol Anyway Brian and I were able to get the work done that we had set out to do. It was great to be able to see these two temples. It reminded us of our honeymoon when we went temple hoping in California. Brian and I love the temple and we rarely have been able to go with all the demands that come in our everyday life...this was a treat for sure.

From the Draper temple we set out to pick up some BBQ items. We had invited some of our friends and a few of my extended family members who lived in Utah to meet us at a park for a fun BBQ. I was so happy to meet the family's of some of the people I grew up with in the Smyrna Ward in Delaware and I also got to see my best friend from 3rd, 4th and 5th grade when my family lived in Washington Terrace. My Aunt was there with a friend also as well as my cousin and her family and it was just really neat to spend time with all these people who have been a part of my life. We spent the night with my cousin and her family in northern Utah up close to Brigham and the next morning after enjoying a yummy french toast breakfast and attending part of their wards church service we had to say goodbye and hit the road.

Brian and I became all too aware of how fast our weekend was flying by and so we did not get to spend much time in any once place. We stopped in to the town of Washington Terrace on our way back south. Getting to visit with my grade school friend Tiffany, and her Mom and Dad for a little while. It was so nostalgic walking in to her Parents home. I remember spending so many weekends at her house and though they have changed some of the decorating the house was till very much the same.

{side note: i regret not getting any pictures with bro. and sis. kennedy... sister kennedy passed away last week. while growing up in Utah I always thought tiffany's mom was just the nicest mom, there was...not nice enough to let tiffany play without doing her chores but nice all the same. I think of tiffany and her family often knowing how hard this loss must be on them.}

After a visit with the Kennedy's Brian and I made our way to the home of Bob and Nancy Morley...Bob and Nancy were Surrogate Grandparents to my siblings and I while we lived in Washington Terrace. Nancy has a very strong Southern accent that has not changed a bit since I last saw her 12 year ago...or even since I first met her over 20 years ago while in my youth. Both Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy, and the Morley's look so much like the way I remember them making me wonder if Washington Terrace holds some kind of Age defying secret.

Brian and I after saying our goodbyes to Bob and Nancy hit the road to Provo I thought it was so cool to see so many temples in the distance as we drove south. The Mountains were breath taking, and we also got to see from a distance the Great Salt Lake. We arrived in Provo were we enjoyed a nice dinner with my Aunt Elizabeth as well as Phoebe, Sam, and their three children who followed us a few hours after we left their home that morning. After Dinner we took a drive to Bridal Veil Falls. I wanted to get a picture of Me and Brian and the falls and so I trusted my camera to Phoebe who said she would take a few shots of us. At some point Brian and I kissed and Phoebe missed the shot so she told us to kiss again...it took us kissing a half dozen times before she finally got a shot she liked. I think she just liked watching us kiss ;-) It really was funny though.

After the falls we went back to Elizabeth's home for Birthday ice cream cake which had been provided by the Cox family it was very yummy. After saying goodbye to the Cox Family Elizabeth showed us the way to the top of squaw peek to see the night view of the valley lights. It was very pretty.

Keira's 2nd Birthday

2009-09-02T17:24:00.000-04:00

Ok so our Birthday Party for Keira was held on Fathers day. We decided to make it a Family celebration for all three of the youngest as well as a Fathers day. The house was filled to the point of overflowing with family members it really was a great time. Brian and Mary were scheduled fly back to Delaware the next morning so this night was kinda special for all of us since we would not see them for over a month.

Seen here: Lydia, Aunt Joanie, Keira, Daddy, and Blake

Keira loooooves baby doll's she has received many dolls from her Mom Mom Marjie but this was the first doll she had received from Daddy and I.

She acted as if that gift was the best thing in the whole world....until....

...she got her birthday gift from Grandma and Grandpa Purdy a few days later. Grandma took her to the local build a bear workshop and Keira got to choose her very own build a bear. This is a tradition that started way back when Cathryn was just 2 years old. Every grandchild since then has received a build a bear and has been able to pick and name their bear. Grandma always records a special song in a voice box that is placed inside the bear. Keira chose the bunny instead of a bear and named her Lilla, after her baby sister Lydia, (who she calls Lilla). Grandma recorded herself singing the Happy Birthday song to Keira and had it placed inside the paw of the bunny. She also had a heartbeat put inside it's chest which keira thought was pretty neat. Now whenever she hugs the bunny she can feel the heartbeat.

After purchasing her bunny Keira enjoyed playing all by herself at the little outdoor play area of the Mall. She did not want to put her Lilla down which made it hard to climb and play. After realizing how difficult Lilla was making it she allowed me to hold her while she played for a while. Keira loves her bunny and wants her with her every time she goes to bed. She always pushes the voice button and sings along as she hears Grandma Purdy sing happy birthday to her. It is because of this that Happy birthday is the first song I have ever heard Keira sing. she smiles and mumbles the tune and I shutter with pride over this cute little sweetheart I feel blessed to have.

A special note about Keira:

My sweet Keira never ceases to amaze me. I find it flabbergasting the way she just seems to grow up all by herself! From the time she was 4 months old she has shown that she is in a hurry to grow up. She had teeth much earlier than my older girls did. She also was sitting by herself by the time she was 5 months old and quickly there after was standing all by herself. She was walking at 9 months of age, and this summer she surprised me by taking her own steps at potty training...all by herself! she was just 25 months old! I should tell you that I think this is about the coolest thing she has done in her race to grow up. Keira has expanded her vocabulary significantly in the past month and some days she really floors me with how she has learned to communicate her wants and and needs so well. Keira loves being a big sister. In fact she acts like the Mom sometimes when dealing with her younger Brother and Sister. But she still likes to be a baby every once in a while. Keira loves her Nursery friends at church and loves to give me Eskimo kisses. She loves to show off that she is a big girl by buckling herself in to her car seat, feeding squirt all by herself, taking off her diaper and climbing on to the big potty, dressing herself including putting her shoes on, and she loves to do dishes, (she can spend hours standing at the sink cleaning one bottle. Keira recently was weened from the bottle and is now drinking like a big girl out of a sippy cup. This was not an easy change for her but she took it like a champ. I feel sad sometimes when I see how fast Keira is grow up. It seems her growth just happened over night and some days I feel like my Keira Baby has been robbed from me. She is so beautiful and sweet, and funny and I just really feel blessed to have her in our family.

A Hero: Cory J. Jenkins

2009-08-29T19:28:00.007-04:00

This week my family went through a very traumatic changed. My Cousin's husband's life was cut short when he died while serving in Afghanistan. I thought I would share this clip from his home town local news.

I never met Cory, but I know that he made my cousin, Brooke, more than happy. I can tell that he was a good husband and I know that he loved his Daughter. My heart aches for Brooke. I love her and I know she must be hurting right now. I just wanted everyone to know how special this man was...He is a hero, of that I am certain and I believe we all owe him a debt of gratitude for the ultimate sacrifice he made.

Blake and Lydia's 1 yr old pictures

2009-08-24T21:44:00.003-04:00

A while ago a friend of mine asked if she could take some pictures of the twins. With them turning 1 I thought it was great timing. Lorien had a lot of cute ideas and I could not wait to see her creativity at work. We had a very interesting session. You can imagine how hard it was with 4 babies in the house, (she has one Keira's age). But the craziness aside I could tell there were going to be some good ones. After a very busy Summer I finally got the pictures this week...and I am thrilled at how they turned out! Hope you enjoy!

Grand Canyon

2009-08-21T22:00:00.002-04:00

We had been in Arizona for 2 days when we decided to take a trip up to Flagstaff and show the kids one of the seven natural wonders of the world...The Grand Canyon. Part of me did not want to get back in to that van after all the time we had spent in it the previous 5 days but it had been 11 years since Brian and I had been there and we knew the girls would enjoy seeing the beautiful sights of Arizona so we jumped in that Van and headed north.
On our way up we took the scenic rout through Sedona. We were surprised how much the town had grown in the past 11 years. It was so busy and... to be honest, kinda sad to see. I really liked the little town that Sadona use to be but all the same sights were still there to be enjoyed and so we got some great pictures while we were there including our new family picture which we currently have hanging on our Livingroom wall;

After getting a few good pictures in Sedona we made our way to Flagstaff...the drive from Sedona to the Grand Canyon was much longer than I remember it being. Maybe that is because the last time we drove it we were with my Sister and her Boyfriend. Driving with a bunch of kids asking how much longer they have to sit in their seats...well, lets just say it was not quite as enjoyable of a ride for Brian and I this time around.

Once we got to the Grand canyon I was so excited to see the girls reactions. We parked the Van and as we walked through to the other side of the trees that divided our parking from the view of the canyon the girls gasped with delight...I am pretty sure they were impressed.
the walk along the rim was a bit stressfull since the twins were not very happy. Blake wanted to walk everwhere (you can guess why we did not think that was a good idea) Lydia seemed to not be feeling well most of the day, and Keira thought the most exciting part of the day was when she got to spend some time pushing Lydia in her stroller. Keira is such a little Mommy. She thinks she is just as much a grownup as Brian and I are and I have to say it is quite cute to see her try to act it.

There were so many breath taking views of the canyon but the batteries on my camera went dead half way through the day... We did get a disposable camera which Brian used to get some shots of the sunset which he and the girls got to witness at the very end of the day. I will have to finish up that roll and get them in to be developed and when I do I will be sure to post any that might be share-worthy. We got back to Mom and Dad's house around 1:00 am and were beat! But Wow! what a fun day we had!

Moved by Hannah Montana?

2009-08-19T11:27:00.003-04:00

We rented the Hannah Montanah Movie last night and the girls got to stay up late and watch it while Brian and I went to bed. This morning the girls wanted to watch it again and so I saw bits and pieces of it also. It was a cute movie much better than the cheesy TV show that I try to not let my kids watch too much of. At the end of the movie there is a concert and Miley sings a song that I have heard a few times on the radio but have never really listened to the words. Here are the lyrics;

I can almost see it.
That dream I'm dreaming, but
There's a voice inside my head saying
You'll never reach it
Every step I'm takin'
Every move I make
Feels lost with no direction,
My faith is shakin'
But I gotta keep tryin'
Gotta keep my head held high

There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waitin' on the other side
It's the climb

The struggles I'm facing
The chances I'm taking
Sometimes might knock me down, but
No I'm not breaking
I may not know it, but
These are the moments that
I'm gonna remember most
I've just gotta keep goin', and
I gotta be strong
Just keep pushing on, but

There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waitin' on the other side
It's the climb

There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waitin' on the other side
It's the climb

Keep on movin'
Keep climbin'
Keep faith baby
It's all about, it's all about
The climb
Keep the faith, keep your faith, woah

I was tearing up and trying real hard to hide it from my kids...I was crying to a Hannah Montana song for cryin out loud! But listening to that song had me reflecting on my life and so I lost it. Here is the music video of the song that I think is only ok. I enjoyed seeing her sing in on the movie much more than on this video but it's not bad.

On the Road again

2009-08-06T11:13:00.012-04:00

So our trip from Missouri to Arizona was a little bit more fun than our trip from Delaware to Illinois. We caravaned with my parents and that meant that one of the three older girls got to sit in Grandma and Grandpa Purdy's Element rotating between vehicles at each gas stop. We saw a lot of fun things while on our little road trip.

Like the back of my Mom and Dad's Element...I must stay we gave them the opportunity to stare at the back of our Venture a few times too ;-)

and windmills. Brian and the kids thought they were pretty cool. Brian's dream is to have one of these suckers someplace someplace on our property.

We saw lots of land formations like this cave..
and this scull faced mountain which we saw along the side of the highway...can you see it?

and this mountain that looked like just a pile of boulders

We also saw totem poles..

and this Stage Coach. Cathryn and Briley really liked this thing.

We saw a lot of landscapes. when we saw the swarow cactus we knew we were in Arizona.

When we saw this sign on the side of the road our van was filled with the sound of excitement...problem was the kids did not realize that even though we were in Arizona we were not going to be to Grandma and Grandpa's house for 4 more hours...needless to say it was a long 4 hours filled with "are we there yet?" and "how much longer?" When finally made it to Mom and Dad's house there were family members there to great us and the kids were espcially excited to spend time with their cousins.

To Grandmas house we go

2009-08-06T11:12:00.013-04:00

First of all sorry for the last post. I had not edited it yet and posted it on accident. So I am sure you saw all those type-o's and miss spellings...Sorry, that happens from time to time and I always feel kinda dumb after I realize that I just sent an embarrassing almost finished posting...Ooops! But Hey, I have never claimed to be a great writer so I know you are not expecting that...right?

MOVING ON-

Right after the reunion we got in our vehicles and made our way to Lees's Summit Missouri. It was not too long of a drive maybe 5 hrs or so. One thing that really got me as I tried to enjoy the view driving through these two states was how many XXX Adult Stores and Fire Work stands there were along this stretch of highway. Ok - seriously, to a person driving through It kinda seems like the entertainment in these two states, (but mostly Illinois if I remember correctly) is mainly geared towards perverts and pyros...and no I am not saying that all people in these two states are one or the other of these but hey...all those businesses must be selling enough to stay open...I'm must sayin.

ANYWAY-

We made it to Grandmas house and as always Grandma had gifts. To Mary, Cathryn, and Briley she gave these magnet connector things that you can build with. Right away Cathryn started creating all kinds of cool 3 dimensional thing-a-ma-widgets. It was cool. I have a video of Cathryn making a few things with them but for some reason it will not post to this blog. I will continue to try and if all else fails I will post it to facebook.

Lydia loved Grandma's cat and found some stuffed dogs that were laying on the floor. She would hug them real tight, bite their noses, and just get so excited every time she saw these dogs. Grandma ended up giving the dogs to her since she obviously loved them so much.

While Lydia played with live and stuffed animals Blake enjoyed playing with the dishwasher. This picture, though taken at Grandmas, could have very easily been taken at our home. Blake loves to help unload the dishwasher...especially when I am trying to load it. There is something about opening this large appliance that really excites him. It really is quite cute...and frustrating all at the same time. But Grandma thought it was mostly cute.
We spent one night at Grandma's and then jumped back in to the van and started our road trip from Missouri to Arizona.

June 2009 Six family reunion

2009-08-06T11:05:00.008-04:00

wow it is been far too long since I posted a real entry to this blog. I have so much to share but it is going to take a while. first off we went to the Six family reunion in Pittsfield Illinois this past June. I was very excited about this because We have not been since 2006. I was 9 months pregnant with Keira in 2007 when they had it and in 2008 I had just given birth to the twins and they had just been released from the NICU and we were told to protect them from crowds of people. So we had to miss two years in a row but this year everything worked out so we could be there.
We left on Mary's very last day of school. We picked her up, Brian got home from work and we left. The amazing thing was that Keira had gotten a hold of my keys while I was packing up and she managed to get the van key off the key ring. Don't ask me how since even I have a hard time do that but she did. We were running all over the place trying to find that key so we could leave. It was our only key to the van since our 2nd set had disappeared last winter. We looked every wear we could think of and then I found it stuck in the packing tape that was holding the flaps of a box up in the dinning room. I guess Keira thought that looked like a great place to put the key. Just as I found that key what did Brian find? the missing second set in a bag that we were using as a diaperbag for the trip that we had not used in over 6 months. So we were ready to go and had both sets of keys to our van. We drove all evening and through the night stopping only once for a little nap only 30 or so min. long thanks to Blake who would only sleep when the van was running. We made it to Pittsfeild Saturday afternoon and it was wonderful to meet up with my Mom and Dad and Grandmother. We also saw my cousin Jenny, her husband Sean, and their four children. There are two sets of twins so far that have been born by my generation of Shwartfeger's (my Grandmothers side of the family). My Cousin Jenny gave birth to Jenna and Shawna in 2007 and I gave birth to Blake and Lydia in 2008. There have actually been three sets of twins conceived in my generation. Another Cousin of mine conceived twins but they unfortunately did not make it through gestation. This has never happened in our family history before. Documented family history has only shown there to be one set born in any given generation! Anyway... This year we were able to meet Shawna and Jenna and introduce them to our Twins Blake and Lydia. It was neat to have them all together. The family reunion was a lot a fun. There were a lot of children this year which was a good thing since usually 3/4 of the children that attend are brought by Brian and I. This year we had one new family by the name of Leonard who attend. They have 3 boys who Cathryn and Briley really enjoyed playing with. between the Leonard's and my Cousin Jenny's children there were lots of kids for our children to play with. How fun it was to see them all have fun together. I can not wait for the next family reunion which I hear will be in 2 years. Somehow I walked away without taking any pictures at this event. I know my Mom took pictures though so I will have to upload those pictures once I get my hands on them.

2009-08-03T20:12:00.002-04:00

Zowkers! has it really been this long since I posted to this Blog! So Sorry, Life has been busy and I have much to post about. vacations, birthdays, "firsts" and all kinds of pictures. I will try to get you all caught up on the Shahan Going On's by this weekend. Try not to get annoyed by all the posts that will be taking place in a short amount of time. Hope you all are having a wonderful Summer!

Rachelle

Recognition, Baby Steps, and The National Zoo

2009-06-07T22:11:00.012-04:00

I have been very bad! So much has been going on and I have failed to keep up with this Blog...so sorry! Friday I enjoyed a morning with Cathryn and Briley at their 1st and 2nd grade award assembly. Cathryn received two awards one for music and one for Art, (surprise Surprise) Briley also received two awards. One in Title 1 Reading for her hard work this year and she also got the Compassion award in her class. The both were very excited to receive these awards. I had the fun task of weathering the assembly with three 1 year olds in tow. Thank Goodness for a few willing Mommies who were more than happy to hold Blake and Lydia, little friends to keep Keira busy, and even a real nice Mom who took a snap a few shots of the girls for me on a few occasions.

Blake and Lydia have both been figuring out what their legs can do. They are now able to take as many as 4 steps before falling to their knees. It is so much fun to watch them. Blake often times giggles when he his walking. It is such a funny thing to listen to his deep little belly laughs as he balances and takes his little baby steps toward us. He is so funny. Lydia tries her hardest to find the easiest and shortest way to our arms. often taking just one or two little steps until she feel sure she can just fall into our arms. I can not believe how much these two are growing.

Our family took a trip to the National Zoo in Washington DC this Saturday. It was another "Young Naturalist" outing and aside from the crazy parking issues, and waaaay too many people deciding to attend at the same time we had a great outing. I don't think I have ever seen that Zoo so busy in my life! It was insane! I have made a mental note to never...ever go to that Zoo on the first weekend of June. We had a great time. I was happy to have Brian there with us. A last minute change of plan allowed for him to come. After a very long day with grumpy babies, and lots of diaper changes I realized this trip would have been impossible with out him.

Prophetic Painting

2009-05-27T19:55:00.003-04:00

When I was pregnant with Cathryn I had a grand Idea for how I wanted the baby room decorated. The minute I knew I was having a girl I knew it would be full of girlie colors and flowers...after all, everyone knows girls and flowers go together. I decided to break out my acrylic paints and I painted this mural on the end of the hand-me-down crib we had been given. I was happy with how it turned out and the first thing my Mother said when she saw it was, "Rachelle, that looks so nice. Do those flowers represent your family members?" I looked at the crib and thought she was mad. Six Kids!? No Way! Well not long after the twins were born I came across this picture of that painting from 8 years ago. And I realized that had become a perfect depiction of our family.

The two largest flowers represent Brian and I. There is only one small pink flower that is facing and closest to Brian, even though it is much smaller than the others it obviously belongs to the Big Yellow flower, this is Mary. Then there are two Purple of nearly the same height representing Cathryn and Briley. Below them are two teal flowers one slightly taller than the other representing Keira and Lydia and then there is one flower the same size as one of the teal flowers but this one is the same color at the large flower representing Brian one small yellow flower, our little Blake. I was just painting a flower garden yet that painting seems to have proven to be kinda prophetic. Who knew Brian and I would end up having six children? I certainly didn't when I painted this picture, but we did and I am so proud of our flower garden.

Crush on Cathryn

2009-05-27T19:19:00.005-04:00

Today while at the store picking up yet another round of antibiotics for Blake Cathryn saw three boys from her school. As we were walking out of Acme two boys were walking toward us with their father. the younger of the two boys, (obviously the younger brother) saw Cathryn and said woo hoo! look it's your girlfriend! The older of the two had a big smile on his face but was obviously embarrassed. As I looked at Cathryn I realized that she was nearly out the door of the store and as she turned around I could see that she had turned a very dark shade of red. I have never seen Cathryn so embarrassed and certainly have never seen her change shades of color so fast. She insists that she does not like that boy but she sure was embarrassed that someone thought she did. Oh boy! Already the boys are lining up...cant say that I blame them.

Why can't I be Superwoman?

2009-05-22T15:43:00.009-04:00

We had a very crazy week. Last Thursday I found out Blake had a double ear infection just an hour or so later he was vomiting everywhere including me, which happened more than 6 time fore for the day came to an end. My poor son then got very congested and by the time Saturday came around he was struggling to breath. A visit to Kent General took place and we found out he had pneumonia. Since he could not keep is Oxygen Saturation above 92% even with help Blake was admitted and ended up staying there until Tuesday Morning. It was so hard. Brian could not miss any more work so once Monday came around I had to leave my little Blake at the hospital so that I could tend to the needs of the rest of the family which included getting the girls up for school, and taking care of my two other little ones. Lydia was also very sick and I needed to take her to the Dr. I can not describe how awful it was to be needed in so many places and not be able to fill those needs. I knew that Keira and Lydia needed me more since Blake had very capable people taking care of him at the hospital but it killed me to leave him there without having a familiar face, and set of arms, close by. The nurses were always nice and assured me that he was ok and that they were really enjoying him. This made me a little less stressed about my limitations, but jealous at the same time. I wanted to be there with him nursing him back to health! Brian spent the night with him Sunday night so that i could be there Monday morning to get the kids off to school. I know these moments in my life are here to help me become more humble. I often times live as though I am super woman and believe I can do it all. It is so hard to let go of a responsibility without feeling extremely guilty about it. I am blessed to have good supportive friends who helped in every way they could. Thank you to Pam Alley who brought our family Dinner and Kerri Lorfink who watched the kids Monday evening and Tuesday Morning so i could be with Blake. I am so blessed!

I here are a few grainy pictures taken of Blake is last day at the hospital.

The Twin's "Big" Birthday Party

2009-05-11T21:37:00.007-04:00

This weekend we had the big birthday party for the twins. We had a number of close friends come and join us for a family BBQ. In all we counted 66 people in attendance. We were so glad to have everyone there to celebrate with us. With all the rain that we have had the past 7+ days we weren't sure that the party would happen. But, with the weatherman predicting only a 30% chance of scattered thunderstorms and with the sun out the way that it was we decided to go ahead with the plans. It was perfect the sun was out it was dry and then BAM, (quite literally) apparently the 30% chance of a thunderstorm blew in. Luckily we were under a very large pavilion that we all went to the center of to keep dry. The lightning was pretty freaky, babies were crying and I was admittedly a little bit concerned when two strikes of lightning hit right there in the park. Almost as quickly as the storm came it left and we pulled out the cakes, (that was sure to get the crying kids happy again) we all sang happy Birthday holding the cakes out for Blake and Lydia to see. Blake had a white cake with Blue balloons on it and Lydia's was a white cake with pink and purple flowers. Our large group of celebrators sang that Birthday

song so well that I would not be surprise if drivers on Rt. 1 heard us. It sounded so nice to have so many people singing to my little ones and by the look on their faces I don't think they knew what to think. We cut the first pieces for Blake and Lydia and then got some great pictures of the two of them eating their cake. Blake was all boy as he smashed those fingers of his in to that cake smearing it all over himself. His full concentration was on that wonderful sweetness we had laid before him which made for some great pictures. Lydia on the other hand was very dainty at first putting just a finger or two in to the cake at a time almost as if she was savoring every lick. She had no problem stopping to smile big for the camera each time someone wanted to take a picture of her. We all had so much fun watching them enjoy their Birthday Cake. The rest of us all had some desert and then it was time to go home. The rain stopped long enough for us to get half of our stuff in the van and truck. We had the pleasure of loading up the rest of the stuff in the rain. A big thank you to Brea and Eric Hess who were so kind to stay and get wet with us! And another big thank you to all our other friends who came and celebrated with us the birth of our two little angels.

One year Old...how can that be?

2009-05-07T07:58:00.013-04:00

One Year ago today my life was doubly blessed. as I type this message I am overcome with happiness and love. God has blessed Brian and I so much...I am so thankful.

Blake and Lydia joined our family one year ago and it is beyond believable that a year has gone by already. I feel like it was only months ago and yet they are so strong and big, (even bigger than Keira was at a year old) and smart, and so when I look at them it is obvious that yes, they are a year old. Now that they are standing on their own I know it will only be days before they will be walking around. I am so proud of these two joyful babies.

Blake is the definition of excitement. He always is smiling...and I mean always smiling. sometimes when he cries he even has a little smile on his face. He loves to cuddle with me sucking his thumb every time he does. Blake also loves to give kisses. When he is in the kissing mood he will often grab both my cheeks and just plant one on me. It is usually pretty wet and slobbery but it makes me laugh. Blake has a funny giggle that makes you want to laugh too. It is louder than is little sisters, and has a very on purpose kind of sound, not stifled in any way. Listening to him laugh is addictive. Though Blake loves his little sister he does not particularly like her touching him. This has been the case since they came home from the hospital. While Lydia loved to touch and cuddle and feel her big brother close I would often have to move Lydia away to help Blake settle down and stop crying. These days Lydia will try to do things that she sees me do to Blake like run my fingers through his hair or touch his cheek. Blake will throw a fit every time she tries. Today while at Food Lion I had run my finger through Blake white hair. He likes it when I do that and I saw that Lydia was watching. She looked at her Brother looked at me and then tried doing the same thing. Lydia gently ran her fingers through Blake's hair. Blake took his thumb out of his mouth, turned to look at his smiling little sister who was sitting next to him in the shopping cart, (thank heaven for those double carts with the toy trucks on the front) then looked at me and started to cry a pitifully pathetic cry. I had a hard time keeping Lydia's hands away from Blake after that thank goodness we were at the check out line when that all started. Man, What funny babies we have! I don't know how many times I prayed that God would send us a Son. There were days I would envision giving birth to a son and feel overwhelmed to the point of tears with happiness. People often say to me "Boy, I bet your husband is glad to have a son" and while yes Brian is so glad he has a son I often think that comment is funny because I can not imagine anyone to be more thrilled to have a Son than I am. With all the Daddies girls we have in this house I finally have a Mommas Boy...and he is a Mommas Boy!

Moving on to Lydia...Lydia is my inquisitive one. She is interested in knowing what is going on around her and loves to mimic us. One might think she does not like them or that she is not happy just because in comparison to her brother she is not much of a smiler. Lydia is however a very happy baby she just does not wear her emotions on her sleeve the way her brother does. Lydia loves to be flipped around. I get quite the work-out lifting her up and spinning her around. Lydia also loves kisses. If I give her kisses she will ask for more by gently pushing her face up against mine over and over again. she smiles while she does this which melts my heart. Lydia's laugh is a muffled giggle that comes from deep inside her throat. It is a sweet Innocent laugh not like most of my other children's ornery and sometimes obnoxious, (sweet obnoxiousness if that makes sense) laughs. Though Lydia is not the first one to try something new like standing or crawling she usually is the first one to master it. Lydia is great at getting her point across. She has a hair curling screeching noise she makes if you are not doing what she wants such as getting her out of bed or highchair or getting her something to eat when she expects it. It amazes me how her Brother can put up with it. She knows this noise drives us crazy and has figured out that she can get her way if she makes that noise long enough. Lydia likes to babble and talk. She loves to say Momma and Dada and loves to wave bye bye. All of our girls have been big Daddy's Girls but Lydia I think might just be a Mommas girl. She loves her Dad but unlike the other girls she is willing to leave her Daddy to cuddle with Mommy. (this makes me secretly happy...ok maybe not so secretly) I have a closeness to Lydia that started long before the doctors told me I was even having twins. I knew and even felt guilty that I was having a girl not long after I found out i was pregnant. I knew her name and I felt a very strong love for this daughter to the point of tearing up when I thought of her. So many people predicted that God was sending our family two boys to even out our family a bit. but I knew at least one of the babies was a girl and I was glad because I knew she was going to be special...not more or less special than any of our other children, just special in her own way,

and she is.

Blake and Lydia are both so different in every way and I am thankful for that. I appreciate their differences and feel blessed to have two amazingly wonderful children in my life. all of my children are such blessings to me I can not imagine my life without each one of them. Thank goodness for my all knowing Father in Heaven who chose to send these two surprises when he did. Our family could not have been complete with out them...my life would not have been complete with out them.

Love Jars

2009-05-05T09:21:00.005-04:00

We decorated some empty formula containers, a few months ago and made them our "love Jars". The rule was that you could only put loving notes in the jars you could put your name on the note or keep it anonymous. It worked for the first week or so but then the jars got forgotten...or so I thought. As I went to trow the jars away I noticed there was a lot of paper in most of them. I took the papers out and started to realize that the kids had kept up with their love notes much longer than Brian and I had. Here are what some of these notes read. NOTE: you are going to see a lot of miss spellings this is because I am typing the note the way it was written. I thought deciphering the note was a big part of what made these notes so fun to read.

Brileys jar
"Dear Briley you are the most pritest" (prettiest)
"Briley, you are so buttifle"
"I think you have a cool imagenation - I forgot how to spell it"
"Briley is going to be very smart and so beautiful too."

Keira's Jar
"Keira, you are like a little bunny in a balarina dress love ?"
"Keira loves her daddy"

Lydia's Jar
"Dear lideya you are so cute with thos big chuby cheeks. I alwasy see you explor the house by looking for food on the flore. I bet you have fun too. Love won of your big sisters."
"Lydia you are so observant. I love the way you look around"
"Lydia is the sweetest and a spoiled little girl."
"Lil-la I think your so adorable I love you!"

Blake's Jar
"Blake you are such a happy boy I love your smile!"
"I love Blake"
"I love you"
"I think your cute"
"I think your so cute I love you Blake!"
"Dar Blake you have a cute noise when you talk. I am happy that you are crawling fast!!! Love one of your bigs sisters"
"Dear Blake It is so cute when you are a mess even your gigle is cuter. Love having you walk too love one of your sisters"

Cathryn's Jar
- I know Cathryn had papers in her jar but when I went to move the jars hers was empty...I think she keeps her papers to herself.

Mary's Jar
"Mary I like it when you cook with me it is a fun time for just you and me"
"Mary is growing up so beautiful. she is growing into a young lady . her love for her family is the best love that she can give. Love Daddy"
"Dear Mary you are rocken asome and cooler than everyone in your school"
"Hody Mary, you are like a cowgirl in thos jeans."
"Dear Mary you are a rock star cool asome and rocken asam"

Daddy's Jar (yes...daddy had the most papers...hmmm do you think he is loved?)
"Dear Daddy I hope you feel better soon. Also I hope you get more rest soon too"
"Dear Daddy I am happy you are macken money love one of your doters"
"Brian, you are such a great husband &Daddy I appreciate how hard you work to provide for your family. I love you"
"Daddy, I love you so much I think your the best Dad ever Love Mary!"
"Dad you are the best!"
"Kera I love Dad"
"my daddy luks hansum"
"Dera Dad you are very grate at mowing the gras."
"Dear Dad I see that we are macken mony cepe it up. Dad alls I herd something hot went through your close and bern you realey badley. Sorry that happend. I feel bad for you Love, sinserly your doter"
"To: Daddy Hello people of the world I will destroy you! (no way Joze!) Love Mary"
"Daddy I love you so much that I think your the person I love the most! ssssshhhh dont tell anyone! love Mary"

Mommy's Jar
"Dear Mommy your cooking is the best in the hole wold you are also butifle too. Very Butifle!!"
"Dear Mommy you have the best cooking in the world! It's like you are a shef. But the best wone!"
"I love my Mom becuase she makes me happy when i come home."

I loved this activity...we will have to do it again in a few months.

"We can Pray"

2009-05-04T07:17:00.002-04:00

Briley received an insect lore butterfly kit for her birthday last year. With Winter on it's way we decided to wait and get the caterpillars until the spring. We did that and this past week she finally received her caterpillars. It was a lot of fun to see them eat and eat and eat and then to climb to the top of their habitat and put themselves in a crystalid. The directions were to take the paper disc which was attached to the lid and place it in the butterfly cage once all of them were in their Crystalids. While I was doing this something went wrong and I might have accidentally squished one of the crystalids. Some fluid had leaked from the cocoon making me cringe thinking that I had just killed that poor bug. There were 5 of them and it was real hard to attach the disc without touching any of the crystalids. So, I warned Briley that one of them might not come out. I told her that not all butterflies make it and that is why they give you 5 caterpillars so that at least one makes it. Briley told me that she thought the butterfly was just probably was getting ready to come out. I told her that I did not think this was the case and I just wanted her to be prepared. As I left to go get breakfast ready Briley stayed in her room looking concerned as she looked at her crystalids. A few moments later Briley came out to me and said, "we could pray!" I was pretty sure I knew why she wanted to pray but I wanted to hear it from her so I asked her what she wanted to pray for. She then said "we could pray for the butterfly" I smiled and told her that I thought that was a good idea. We went back in to her room and I asked her if she wanted to say the prayer she nodded yes and said a very nice little prayer asking that her butterfly be ok. I am so proud of my children who often turn to prayer when they feel concerned. I wish I could be more like them with their simple faith believing that prayer will fix any problem. If faith can heal that poor little butterfly I am quite sure that in the next 7 to 10 days we will see all five butterflies emerge from their cocoons.

deaf or blind...what would you choose?

2009-04-28T15:07:00.006-04:00

I was asked a few months ago a question and I did not know how to answer it at the time but today while driving my van to and from Mary's school I realized my answer to that question. The question I was asked was this:

If you had to choose between being being blind or being deaf which would you choose?

At the time I thought wow what a hard question. I am an artist and on more than one occasion I have marveled at how the eye is able to pick up on even the slightest color or shade differences. I love to look at things and enjoy the details of the things I see around me I love the beauty that is all around me. I can not imagine living my life without sight. On the other hand music is one of my great loves. I love to sing and have been moved to tears on more than one occasion by beautiful arrangements of music and the lyrics that those songs sometimes hold. I also love the sound of the nature. Wind, thunderstorms, the birds, and water, there are so many sounds that I can not imagine my world being void of. So, I have not been able to answer this question - it has just been impossible for me...until today.

Our van has a DVD player in it. many times while we are out I put a movie in for the kids to enjoy. This has saved me from having to listen to bickering children more than once. I seriously could kiss who ever invented this wonderful contraption. Anyway I put in a movie our family has watched at least a dozen times. I, of course, can not watch the movie but I listen and enjoy most movies almost as well as when I watch them. Today, for the first time ever I realized the depth of the movie my children were watching, I heard things in the dialogue I had never noticed before making the movie even better. when I came to the point of noticing more than 5 unrecognizable parts of this film I realized some thing. I had been so busy watching the movie that I had not truly listened to it. Wow! I could not believe it! So as I continued driving home I stopped listening to the movie and started pondering on how deaf I can be because of my preoccupation with what my eyes are seeing. This preoccupation was robbing me of so much I could have been enjoying so much more detail. Maybe it is just me, or maybe we all tend to get so caught up in visual stimulation of the things all around us that we do not realize the important details that are out there for us to hear.

What other senses do we ignore because we feel we know everything we need to know based upon what we see...or don't see. "I'll believe it when I see it", "Seeing is Believing", and most of us are familure with the story in the bible of Thomas the disciple of Christ who would not believe that his Savior had risen until he saw it with his own eyes. Perhaps we all should take some time to allow our eyes to rest and to let our other senses speak to us. Let us hear, feel, and know of everything that is around us. Let us accept that there is so much more in this world than what can be seen.

With that said, I think that if I had to choose between being deaf or being blind I would have to choose being blind. Though if you ask me tomorrow morning after I have had the joy of seeing Blake, Lydia, and Keira smile at me first thing in the morning I might change my mine. For now I will be thankful and pray that God will allow me the use of all my senses. So that there are pleanty more gigles heard and pleanty more sunsets seen, pleanty more freshly bake cookies smelled, and pleanty more touches felt.

Blake the big boy

2009-04-25T19:43:00.003-04:00

I just had to post this today...to all of you who get the automatic e-mail of my postings sorry :-I. I know you have gotten a lot of them these past few days but I have had some catching up to do.

Blake has been getting real good at standing this past week. I was able to get a recording of him holding a stand at least until his sister came over and bumped in to him. ENJOY!

Big Ol' Baby continued

2009-04-25T08:00:00.002-04:00

If my big beef was that I wanted to spend time with my husband why on earth didn't I just go sit on couch and have lunch with him? Why did I have to have my perfect little lunch at the table? Why couldn't I just let my achy husband rest without me feeling resentment towards him for that? He works so hard and nearly beats himself to death all week long and then if he doesn't work on the weekend he has work to do here at home not to mention church responsibilities on Sunday. Why do I feel sorry for myself being alone all day?...ok, ya it is hard being so secluded from adult interaction but if I did live in Arizona I would have to contend with the traffic and I would no doubt live on a plot of land no larger than a 1/2 acre. I live in the country on a nearly 70 acre plot of land surrounded with the wonderful sound of nothingness. The stars are much brighter out here and the grass is much greener...quite literally, though sometimes I act as if things are not perfect enough for me. I am lucky to be able to go to Arizona and visit once every 2 years or so staying between 2 and 6 weeks at a time. Usually Brian is only able to stay with me for a week of that time since he has to get back to work providing for our family. What a big ol' baby I am. Perhaps I ask for too much. Perhaps I need a wake-up call from time to time. I am blessed, of that I am certain sometimes I just need a good pity-fest.
Last night I had a migraine. It has been a while since experiencing one of these and it hurt so bad! My head felt like it would burst! I tried to ignore it as long as I could and maybe that was where I went wrong. After getting the babies to bed I told Brian that I needed to go to bed and he agreed that I should. I took two Tylenol P.M.s and laid down. The pain was so bad. Nearly in tears I asked if Brian could come massage my head and he rushed to my side to help getting a warm compress and pushing on pressure points in hopes the pain would be relieved. I finally dozed off to sleep and was able to sleep the whole night through. I woke up to him watching me sleep, caressing my face and running his fingers through me hair. We talked for a while before he had to get up and out the door for yet another grueling day of work. He told me he loved me, and I know that he does. I am blessed to have such a good husband even if we don't understand each other most of the time. I am not sure we are not suppose to. I am a woman he is a man and we just think differently...end of story.

Big ol' Baby!

2009-04-24T09:17:00.005-04:00

My husband hurt his back the other day. He works a job that is physically draining so this is not the first time he has been sore and achy after a long day at work. I have to admit that I have rolled my eye's (to myself) when dealing with my husband when he is sick or hurt on more than one occasion. When he is not feeling well he seems to expect to be nurtured and cared for like he is on his death bed. I, on the other hand, feel like when I get sick or a sore muscle and I have to keep on trukin. A mothers work is never...and I mean never done! There is just no time to be sick or hurt and if I am, (Unless it is really really serious) I keep on working. Brian ended up taking the day off work yesterday due to his back still causing him discomfort. I made an appointment for him at the Chiropractor. and we, (the three babies, Brian and I) all ended up going in to town not only for Brian's appointment but also Blake's Dr. appointment, (Blake's R.A.D. flared up again). Anyway, I have to admit I really enjoyed spending the morning with my husband even if he was gasping, grunting and complaining of the pain most of the time. After one visit to the chiropractor he said the pain was gone! I was excited knowing I was going to have someone to eat lunch with! Brian put the babies to bed and I made some yummy onion bacon chicken salad, (a recipe my friend Lyanna shared with me a few weeks ago). I got out the sourdough bread, set the table, and then asked Brian if he would like to join me for Lunch, (it was a rhetorical question really) I was surprised by his answer, "I would really like to lay down". A pang of hurt shot through me when he said that. My husband could not ignore the pain, (that had apparently returned) for just 10 minutes to sit down with me at the table and eat the delicious lunch I was so excited to share with him? Ooooh I was mad! As he laid down on the couch with his ice pack I smirked to myself thinking how he probably was expecting me to make a big fuss over him making him a lovely lunch placed beautifully on a tray delivering it to him with a kiss on the forehead while I pleaded to know how else I could serve him, much like June Cleaver would have done I guess.
UGH, NO WAY!
So I sat down at the table, made myself a sandwich, and while pouting inside decided I would leave him on the couch and if he wanted to eat he would join me at the table like a thoughtful husband would do... then I realized..., the food would need to be blessed. I knew going in to that prayer that I needed an attitude adjustment and almost did not want to pray knowing that doing so would probably cause the adjustment I needed. Well...it did...kinda. As I finished that prayer I knew that even if my husband was not hurting as bad as he was letting on even if he was being thoughtless and inconsiderate I needed to show him that I loved him by bringing him lunch, and maybe just maybe by doing so he would feel extreme guilt and choose to join me at the table...ok so it was not a major attitude adjustment but seriously what did you exptect? Soooo as much as I did not want to I took Brian my plate of food and then sat down at the table, made myself another sandwich, and ate it all by my lonesome, sulking to myself all the while. I thought about how disappointed I was that the one day I was not alone I was still eating lunch alone. I thought about how hard it was living way out in the boonies not being close to any of my friends and having only babies to hang out with most days. As I cleared the table and started cleaning the kitchen I thought of how things would be so different if I lived in Arizona where I had all my family and a number of good friends. Tears of frustration started to creep in to my eyes and I stopped them before they became noticeable...and then thought...How pathetic am I!?!
bet you thought the title of this entry was addressing my husband didn't ya...NOPE! I can be such a Big ol' Baby!

lesson learned

2009-04-22T20:32:00.004-04:00

Today I learned a very important lesson...do not underestimate the abilities of your 22 month old.

I was on my way out the door this afternoon to make a trip to Walmart and Bylers for a few grocery items I needed. Before I go on one must understand that these days my trips to these two stores are scheduled based upon two things.

#1 the availability of helping hands, such as my Amish friend Catherine, if she needs to go to Walmart it works out well for both of us. She gets a free ride and I get an extra set of hands to help with the babies.

#2 my need to be in the area where these stores are located for more than just one reason. The closest Walmart is a good 30 min. drive from my house. With gas prices as they are I usually only go there when I have to be in that area anyway. Walmart is around the corner from Mary's School so I usually find myself in the area about once a week.

Catherine needed to go to Walmart and so did I we worked out to go today since I needed to pick Mary up from school at 3:00. We planned on me picking Catherine up between 1:30 and 2:00. I had decided that I needed to also stop at Bylers before going to Walmart so I started loading the babies in to the van around 1:15 hoping to pick Catherine up at 1:30 giving me every extra minute I needed for the extra stop at Bylers. Well...first took Keira and Lydia out to the van. I opened the van with my trusty remote entry button buckled Lydia in to her seat while Keira, being the big girl that she is, climbed in to the van by herself. I placed by purse and keys on the floor of the van and then shut the door closest to Lydia knowing I would be putting Blake in on the other side of the van. I then ran in to get Blake, turned off the TV and any lights that had been left on, twisted the bottom lock of our front door knowing I had my keys in the van and pulled the door shut. As I walked out to the van I could see that Keira had shut the side door to the van. It is not hard since the doors are automatic and all she has to do is push the button by the door or the button located on the roof console between the driver and passenger seat. as I went to open the door I found that it was locked...yup...locked and my keys were inside! Keira smiled and then tried to open the door by pushing the button...it would not open since it was locked. I proceeded to try to get her to come to the front seat where I hoped I could get her to push the button that would unlock the doors. At first she seemed to panic...why wasn't the door opening when she pushed the button? Then as I held Blake I tapped on the front window and got her to come to the front passenger seat. "push that button Keira" I said pointing the the lock button. She knew exactly what I wanted her to do and she pushed it...but pushed the bottom of it not the top which would have unlocked instead of locking the already locked doors. She did not understand that the button could be pushed two different ways. Tired of playing my game she climbed over to the driver side of the van where she fiddled with the power mirrors, the traction control button, and the lights. "Push that button Keira" I said pointing to the lock button on the now driver side of the van. She did but again she pushed it the wrong way causing me to be glad the locks could not be anymore locked than they already were. After at least 10 minutes of this it occurred to me that Keira loved to push the buttons found on my keyless entry remote. If I could get her to get my keys there was a chance that I could get her to push the unlock button at least once allowing me to open the door. Pointing down behind the driver seat I said "Keira, get Mommies Keys". By this time Lydia was screaming her head off and Keira probably could not hear me very well. Instead of my keys she grabbed Lydia's bottle out of my purse and gave it to her screaming sister. She smiled knowing she had done something good. Then I said "do you see mommies keys? Get Mommies keys honey" she looked down at the floor smiled and then bent down and came back up with my keys. "Good job Keira! can you push that button?" Keira is naturally drawn to the little red button at the bottom of the remote...that was one I did NOT want her to push. It was the panic button. "No No not that one !" she stopped to look at me and smiled "push the big one Keira" just then she paused for a moment and then pushed the unlock button, I pulled the door open before she could hit the lock button and I yelled out "GOOD JOB BIG GIRL!" and gave her a big hug. She was so happy to have the van open. She was also almost as happy as I was that she understood what her Mommy wanted of her and did it. All this took a very long 15 to 20 minutes I got Blake in his seat. Seat-belted Keira in to her seat and off we went to pick up Ms Catherine. Wow! it was stressful but I sure am proud of Keira and how well she is learning to understand her father and I...she never ceases to amaze me.

Peace

2009-04-21T11:09:00.005-04:00

I read this quote in a blog belonging to a friend of mine a few weeks ago and came across it again. I thought that I would share it in hopes that it will touch you.

PEACE.
it does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work.
it means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.
-unknown

I don't know about you but it seems that when the noise and trouble is gone that I find it easier to feel the Peace I desire. I have to assume that this is the case for most people. I have noticed in recent months that I have felt more peace in my life than I have felt in well over 8 years. I know that this has nothing to do with the noise and trouble and hard work being absent from my life. In fact quite the opposite is the case. the older Keira and the twins get the more vocal and mobile they are and the more trouble they seem to be getting in to. The economy is bad right now and we are not in the place we could be financial because of this. The more times goes by the more upset I feel about what I see going on around me in this country. It seems though that during the past 6 months or so I have been able to put aside most of those worries...not ignore them just put them aside and feel peace with in myself despite them.
The opposite of peace is conflict, Anxiety, anger, and frustration. These things are not of God. Though I know I will naturally have Anxiety, anger, and frustration in my life. I hope that I will learn to not let these feelings linger. That I will learn to let go so that Peace can return more quickly. I know that peace comes from a loving Heavenly Father he wants us to feel the peace he willingly gives us but we have to choose to receive it he will not force it upon us.

Lots of proud moments this week.

2009-04-19T00:28:00.003-04:00

Blake and Lydia are just a few weeks shy of turning 1 years old. It is unbelievable that this could be...but it is. There are signs all over the place reminding me that they are growing out of babyhood. Yesterday Blake stood up by himself for a whole 4 seconds and today Mary said he took 2 steps to her. I did not see it myself so when I see it I will pretend it is the first time. Today I clapped my hands at Blake because he had stood up for a few seconds and I turned to look at Lydia who was smiling great big and looking at my hands. She then looked at her hands and clapped them together. She was so excited to have figured out how to clap that now she does it all the time - and is so happy to do so. Lydia seems to be more advanced in communication and Blake in physical activity. Just like a girl and boy huh?! Lydia has no interest in walking at all but she will sit and chatter with me and it is so sweet. She also loves to give kisses. Blake is a little flirt. He is all smiles to anyone who will look at and talk to him. Yesterday Lydia had a visit to the Doctor. She had a runny nose and fever and I was pretty sure she had an ear infection. I was right and she was put on an antibiotics. At every Doctors visit they weigh our children. I was surprised to find that Lydia weighs 20 lbs 7 oz! pretty soon she will be able to sit forward in her car seat and I know that will make her happier. She fights me every time I have to put her in her seat. I think it is safe to say it is her least favorite place to be. Blake no doubt weighs even more than Lydia. He is noticeably heavier when I am holding the both of them together.

Keira has been increasing her vocabulary and using words she never used before. She came up to me and said "Mom I out side pease! I go pease! My soes, my outside?" If you haven't figured out what this meant...she wanted to go outside. She has figured out that she has a better chance of getting what she wants if she says please. Some times she will answer herself and nod her head as if to say - Sure Keira lets go! - and then grabs my hand and points to the door. It is so cute to see her do this. Keira loves to swing and play with her little car outside. She would play outside all day long even in the rain and be happy as can be. Keira is such a loving big sister. There are times when she might hurt Blake or Lydia on accident and when this happens she shows a great deal of concern and always hugs them and gives them kisses. Lilla is the name she calls both Lydia and Blake. She just has not figured out how to say Blake so she will test herself by looking at me and pointing to Blake and saying "Lilla?". I will look at her and she will change her expression as if to say - No, that's not Lilla - and then she smiles at me and giggles. It cracks me up every time. She understands most things but just has not figured out how to communicate what she is thinking yet. It is so fun to see how she is growing not only physically but intellectually also. Today some spots showed up on Keira's body. They have not gone away yet and I fear it might be chickenpox...we shall see. Oh boy wont that be fun! chicken pox in a family with 5 children who have never had it before...ugh!

Easter 2009

2009-04-11T07:00:00.005-04:00

Finally a family picture. The twins will be 1 next month and this is the first time that we have gotten a picture of the entire family...I take that back we had a family picture taken of all of us together back in November when we went to Longwood Gardens but we all were bundled up
so much it was hard to see each of us. This is the first picture of all of us looking nice. My friend Lorien took this at church yesterday (Easter Sunday). The wind was blowing so I am glad this picture turned out as well as it did.

Our Easter was a lot of fun. We had a huge Easter Dinner as usual. This year we had some new friends, Breanne and Eric Hess come over for Dinner. They are a newlywed couple who moved in to our ward last year. They do not have family in Delaware and so we adopted them for the day. They have watched the children for Brian and I and the kids just adore them. The Easter Bunny came but this year hid the baskets as well as the eggs. This threw them all for a loop...a loop Cathryn was not pleased about. She was the last one to find her basket and was concerned that there would be no eggs left by the time she found it. In the end she found the basket and plenty of eggs. After the hunt we eat dessert. Brian's Mom made us a banana cake and I had made a carrot cake. After enjoying that we played Bible story Go Fish, (a game the Easter bunny had brought one of the girls) and ended the night by playing two rounds of the "Name Game" our family's very favorite game.

A Note That Did My Heart Good

2009-04-05T10:59:00.007-04:00

Today I walked in to Cathryn, and Briley's room and was reminded of once again that my definition of clean and their definition of clean is very different. They seem to think that clean means everything is out of sight. To me it means trash is thrown away and belongings are put in their place. Right away I started to pull things from under their beds, in their nightstand drawers, in their desk, in their closet, (oh boy was that scary) and put everything in the middle of the floor. Holy Cow! where does all the trash come from?!?

While going through the desk I found a few papers that I wanted to post.
It does my heart good to read such loving notes between my children. Being the mediator of arguments and disagreement can make me think twice about whether or not my children really love each other. We do not hear them verbalize good feelings towards each other often and so to find these notes made me realize that love really is in this home not only between the children and Brian and I but between each of the children.

Dear Briley you have been very very very very very very nice to me. I cant wait until you see all the stuff I gave you You are a very nice sister to me Briley Briley, I can't live without you Briley, if you can't live I can't live with out you Wow ! When I say this I feel much better also you are always in my heart Briley you are always in my heart Briley LOVE CATHRYN

Dear Briley. You have been a nice sister for me. Thank You Briley.

Little Sis. Love Cathryn Big Sis.

Young Natualist event April 2009

2009-04-04T14:01:00.008-04:00

Our girls have enjoyed being part of the Young Naturalist club so much. This month they got together and made terrariums...of course a young naturalist get together would not be a real get together without other fun stuff like, playing in bamboo, on a golf cart, and just hanging out with friends. Here is a picture of Briley with our little friend Elizabeth. Elizabeth is the youngest sister of Oliviya who did Home school Pre-school with Briley a couple years ago.
Cathryn just had to have me take a picture of her in the Bamboo. She and I had actually talked just a few week before this event about how she wished she could go to China to see bamboo. I told her that Bamboo grows right here in Delaware and she did not believe me. Lucky for her our club meeting was held at a place that had a small patch of bamboo. She was thrilled

There was a golf cart that all the kids thought was fun. Keira enjoyed being at the wheel for a short time...had to get a shot of that! GO KEIRA GO!

Some pictures of the girls building their terrariums...We used large vases for ours. This was a very fun project, and they look so pretty in our dinning room and kitchen windows.

I had to put this picture in this post. It was a very cool day so we had to wear jackets. Here is a picture of Keira walking around in her "trench coat"
she loves this coat even though it is like 4 sizes too large on her.
I just thought she looked so cute!

My Rings Fit Again!

2009-04-02T16:15:00.006-04:00

I am so happy because I have been able to fit my wedding and engagement ring on my finger for the first time in a long while. I love my rings and hate it when I am unable to wear them. They are my favorite gifts from Brian.
The very best surprise my husband ever pulled off for me is my engagement ring. I did not get this ring the night he proposed because I don't think he even planned to propose that night. He proposed the end of November and we went ring shopping shortly after the proposal. Brian wanted my ring to be special. He wanted it to be custom made so he made an appointment for us at a local family owned jewelry store. We had talked about what size diamond we would buy. I thought a 1/2 carat ring would be nice but was willing to go smaller to fit the purchase in to our budget. I had always been a fan of bezel settings mostly because it is a very sturdy mounting that would not easily break the way prongs can. Another reason I like the bezel setting is that in my opinion they make the diamonds they hold look bigger. With my big fingers a bigger ring would look best...at least that is what I thought. We went together to look at diamonds. There were a number of nice 1/4 and 1/2 carat diamonds and then Brian asked for "the bigger ones"...I thought it was cruel both to Mr. Sayers, the owner and gemologist, and to me. They were over 1 carrot weight and very beautiful but we could not afford them and I was annoyed by the tease. I told Brian that I would leave the business end of things up to him and Mr. Sayers and I left the room. It was a few weeks before Christmas and Brian warned me that the ring would not be ready by Christmas and he would not have any extra money due to the fact that he was putting all his spending money into the ring. So Christmas came and went and I started to wonder when I would get my ring. New Years Eve night...hmmm that would have been the perfect time to do it...but Brian did not seem to be hiding anything and had not thrown any hints my way so I figured I would have to wait until after the new year. My siblings, Brian and I all gathered at my Mom and Dad's house prior to going out for the night on New Years Eve and just before our family prayer Dad announced that Brian had something to say. I turned to him and he was holding a beautiful grey box. He opened it up and there was my ring! It was Huge! and it was beautiful.

Brian opted for a full white gold bezel setting and a 116 point (just under 1 1/4 carats) oval diamond. I was so surprised. He did so Good! 11 months and 2 weeks later we added a wedding band to my ring finger. The band was simple in the same band style as the engagement ring.

Since being Married I have had times when I have been unable to wear my wedding and engagement rings, (mostly due to water retention during my pregnancies) Since Keira and the twins came so close together I have not been able to wear these rings for over 2 years. This past week I was able to fit them both on my finger and It made me so happy to see them there. Every time I have to go without wearing my rings for any period of time and then am able to wear them again it is as if I am receiving them for the first time all over again. Please do not think I am completely materialistic. I love my rings but not nearly as much as I love the man who gave them to me and the life we live together with our children. But every time I look at that beautiful surprise he gave me over 10 years ago I smile and remember in just a little way how much he loves me and that feels so good.

Drama Drama Drama

2009-03-30T21:17:00.003-04:00

Ok our house if full of girls so Drama is expected. I do not look forward to the years of PMS ahead of me. The drama I witness now is hardly bearable without the added hormones. Here is a sampler of today's drama.

8:50 am Briley was upset because she did not have time to brush her teeth before the bus came. The lack of time was mostly due to the access time she spent playing around the living room on my yoga ball. The tears went flowing as she ran out of the house to catch the bus saying "People are going to make fun of my dirty teeth!" At least she cares right?

1:30 -2:30 pm - Lydia was all drama this afternoon while on the way back home from the Errands we ran. She screamed the whole way home until Mary, who was off of school, handed her a bitter biscuit...All I can say is Lydia has some stamina!

3:00 pm Keira showed her emotional side when she got in trouble yet again and was put in time out. You know based upon the way Keira acts when she has to go to time out you would think she would try to avoid situations that put her in there. But she still ends up in there at least 1 time a day usually for one of the same top 3 reasons every time.

Mary had a few moments today. First (11:25 am)because the van door was pushed against her leg as she waited for me to get the babies out of the van. Mary has no tollerance for pain what so ever. I can hardly wait to see how she handles childbirth (actually I can wait until she is 30 and married but you know what I mean) Second, (3:00 pm) because her mom would not let her spend money at the book fair tomorrow and this was just too much for her to bear, and Third, (4:45 pm) because Cathryn was snapping a towel at her and apparently it hit her eye. The crazy thing is Mary was the one who started the rough housing in the first place and I had warned her that someone was going to get hurt... oh if only they had listened!

(4:50 pm )Cathryn had a particularly rough day. Apparently she is just becoming too strong and hurt 5 different people during the course of the day. 4 people she hurt on accident by holding their hands too tight during a P.E. game in school, and Mary was the 5th person she hurt while flinging the towel around. She came to me with obvious sobs of regret. Saying "Mom, I have been working out and I am just so strong! (sniff sniff) I can not help it (sniff) I hurt people on accident and I didn't mean to, (ragged breath). I hate being this strong!" (snort sniff sniff) While hearing these words and seeing those tear drenched eyes looking back at me it took everything in me to keep a straight face. I proceeded to tell Cathryn that she needed to learn to be more careful. That it does not matter how strong you are if you know how to be careful. The truth is I almost blurted out the well known Spider-Man quote by Peter Parker's Uncle Ben "With great power comes great responsibility" but I didn't. I did come in to the living room a few minutes later after she had calmed down and told the girls that they needed to be careful around Cathryn. She has so much power and could hurt them it they are not careful...I looked at her and smiled and she laughed. I think she realized how silly she had been and no longer felt like a freak of nature...what a funny girl I have.

I love all my children very much and I know that all these wonderful girls who have been sent to me are blessings. I do have to wonder though if they aren't also sent to me as payback for the many years of drama I added to my parents life...hmmmm... probably!

Some Words from Mitt Romney

2009-03-19T08:35:00.004-04:00

I just had the pleasure of reading something I found on one of my favorite blogs "Article VI" It is an article written by Mitt Romney concerning the mistakes that are taking place with this new administration... Reading it makes me wish so hard that things had turned out differently in the primary elections. Here is the link to the article hope you enjoy. Romney Speaks. Read it -

A monster for Dinner

2009-03-15T18:41:00.005-04:00

Keira has become a very funny little girl. The other day I caught her acting like a monster at the dinner table. (Let me just say that the table manners in this home are a sight to behold! where they get it from is quite evident in this clip). Keira was cracking herself up as she scared her Daddy with her ferocious growl. Each time she growled at Brian and he would act scared she would giggle hard. The twins seemed to not know what to think of their big sisters bizarre behavior. They think we are a bunch to weirdos I am sure. By the end of night Keira had worked herself up in to a fit of hiccups. Hope you enjoy watching our little monster.

New Glasses

2009-03-11T21:00:00.004-04:00

Every year Cathryn and Briley get new glasses. In January we went and tried on all the new styles. The girls looked at glasses in all shapes and colors. They picked out their favorites and we ordered them. We are late getting their glasses this year but finally they came in. I picked the girls up after school and they were so excited because I only pick them up from school when something fun is happening. As soon as they saw me they knew they were going to pick up their new glasses. Cathryn is very indecisive, (like her mother, I am soooo bad) she had a top 4, then a top 2, and then finally picked these glasses. Briley says that Cathryn's glasses make her look "evil" because they come to a point on the sides. I do not think that anything could make my Cathryn look evil. I LOVE Cathryn's new glasses and most importantly Cathryn loves them too.
Briley has Been wanting some square frames for over a year now. Last year they did not have any in her size only the adult and tween sized glasses had that style. This year Barbie came out with a square frame. Briley was very excited and waisted no time picking those glasses once she found them. I am so glad that glasses have become more fashionable for kids. I remember my poor sister needing glasses at a very young age. back in those days they were thick and just not very flattering. She grew up hating glasses because of this and to this day does not wear glasses. Now a days glasses have become a fashion accessory. I know a number of people who have glasses without a prescription just to look fashionable, and they do! I get comments from other Moms all the time about how cute Cathryn and Briley look with glasses. I have to agree, I do have some pretty darn cute kids...with or without glasses.

Blake, Liver, and my radioactive Mother-in-law

2009-03-10T18:41:00.009-04:00

Today I spent the day with Blake and my Mother in law. I was fortunate to have had the help of Leann, (my almost sister) and my new visiting teacher Charlotte Cherriman. Leann came over in the morning to watch Keira and Lydia and Charlotte came to relieve Leann at 3:30. Blake came along with Mom and I for Mom's nuclear medical appointment...that's right nuclear - medical - appointment. Today they injected Marjorie with a nuclear dye. That dye is suppose to go through her blood and find the tumor that the doctors know is there but have been unable to find. Then they will flush out her body and the nuclear dye should only stay where the tumor is. The doctors will then take a special x-ray to see where that tumor is so they can go in and remove it. I am amazed by the age of medicine we live in...how on earth do people come up with this stuff?!? The first appointment was at 10:45. she got her shot of radioactive dye and then Mom treated me to lunch at the Modern Maturity Center. On the way to lunch I joked with Mom about how she would probably glow in the dark right then. I told her she should spend the night and be the girl's night light...we laughed about that. As we walked in to the Modern Maturity center I was excited to have lunch with her but felt just a tad less enthusiastic when I saw what was on the menu...Liver - and - Onions...Ya, until today I could not say that Liver was my least favorite food since I had never had it.

SIDE NOTE: My Mom once said that she thought we, (my siblings and I) were the luckiest children ever because she would never ever ever force us to eat liver. She did not like it and so she never served it so not only did she never force us to eat it but she never even gave us the option to eat it and I have always just assumed that if my unpicky eater of a mom did not like it I probably would not ether.

I have to say that I was concerned about my first time eating liver being on my Mother in laws dime. After all, I did not want to look less than grateful for her generosity. The liver smelled ok but what if it did not taste ok...like scrapple, or...well-scrapple (I can not think of anything else that smells good but tastes awful). Suddenly I had a greater appreciation for full time missionaries who are served meals they never would typically eat. At first the liver did not taste so bad but by the time I took bite number three I knew that I could not take anymore...all I could taste was the iron like bloody after taste of each bite. I tried to convince myself that it might have not tasted so bad with a lot, (and I mean a-lot) of garlic salt. I finished the mash potatoes and the green beans and my apple and my milk and then Mom asked "aren't you going to try your liver?" the darn liver steak was so freakin big she did not even notice that I had taken three bites already. I showed her that I had eaten some of it and even choked down, one more bite without showing the distress I felt and then told her that I believed that liver was an acquired taste that I just did not have. After we left Mom admitted she thought the liver could have used more salt...I was glad it was not just me that thought that. From the MMC we went to WalMart where I got my grocery shopping done. I got most of what I needed and then back to the hospital we went for mom's follow up. Everywear we went today Blake got tons of attention. People commenting on his smile, on his hair, on his beautiful blue eyes, on his friendly nature. He has begun taking steps with the help of my fingers. He prefers standing over sitting anytime and loves to pull himself up to stand. It was fun to just have time with him while waiting for mom. It is rare that I ever just have one baby with me these days. Those moments when I find alone time with one of them I cherish and I think Blake enjoyed his time with me also.

Once I got home I had a lot of groceries to unload. Charlotte stayed and played with the babies while I put away all the groceries. As I was putting them away I realized that I had forgotten the ricotta for the lasagna I had planned to make for dinner tonight. I was disappointed knowing I would have to figure out something else to make last minute. As I finished putting the last can away I thanked Charlotte for her help and then she pulled out a surprise... some ready to cook Lasagna! She hoped it would help me after a long day away from home... How lucky I am to have such a thoughtful visiting teacher. Thank you so much Charlotte! And Thank You Leann. Today would have been a very stressful day without the help you provided. THANK YOU!

So, liver aside...I had a very good day today. We did not get the results of the testing mom took but hopefully tomorrow the doctors will tell us that they found the tumor and then we can move on with having it removed and cure mom from this Gatrinoma that plagues her body these days.

Rocker Boy?...or just some scalp moisturization

2009-03-10T18:05:00.006-04:00

My poor boy has been suffering from an extremely dry scalp. My friend told me her son has had that problem also and said that I would need to scrub his head and moisturize it. So I busted out an old toothbrush, comb, good ol Eucerin cream, and vwah-lah!...Rocker boy was born!

For the record, the dry scalp was gone the next day...that Eucerin is amazing stuff!

Fun 1st Saturday in March

2009-03-07T23:42:00.006-05:00

Today the babies let us sleep in until 8:30! This never happens so we took advantage...it figures that due to day light savings the time will spring forward tonight, if the babies were starting to get used to waking up a little late it won't matter now, (man that stinks!). Anyway Since we got our tax refund we decided to do our part to stimulate the economy. I came up with the bright idea of taking the family out for breakfast, (this would keep me from having to make it...lol) So we got all the kids dressed and piled everyone in to the van and made our way to town. There is a little restaurant that we have come to appreciate. If you know the restaurant and have heard anything bad about it I don't want to know! It is a little dive called The Wagon Wheel. I love this place now but used to hate it about 7 or 8 years ago. Before Delaware became "Smoke Free" I just could not breath in this place due to all the second hand smoke. These days it is much better since it is smoke free and owned and managed by new people who have cleaned it up. What I love most about this little place is that it is such a homey place to be. I can take all my kids there and not feel like I need to worry about them being too loud, (which is inevitable) and I do not have to worry about seating since they have a few tables that will fit our whole family and then some. Their breakfast is very home made like. Today I enjoyed my sausage gravy on biscuits, Brian had an Omelet, and the girls loved their pancakes, waffles and whipped cream. As always we got a lot of attention from the regulars who doted on our children... I secretly like the attention we get, I am so proud of all my children.

Brian and I had the added pleasure of being able to go out on a date for the first time in months later that night. A newlywed couple in our ward, offered to watch the children for us stating that they did not have a life and was wondering if they could watch our kids for us so we could get out. I felt kinda guilty allowing them to do this. After all, is watching our kiddos really a way to "get a life"? But they insisted that they really wanted to do it so I agreed, (no need for arm twisting) and Brian and I went out. We did not know what to do. I did not want to go see a movie that, to me was just too generic of an idea. We did want to go out for dinner and finally decided to try a new little Mexican restaurant in Middletown called Tequilas. I was so impressed! the food was great and even thought we were stuffed we chose to take an order of fried ice cream to go, (it looked way too good to pass up). After dinner we debated what to do next. We thought about the kids, wondered how things were going at home, considered calling to check on them but didn't, and then decided it might be fun to go shopping. We spent over an hour in Kohl's forgetting that our ice cream was still i the truck. We were pleasantly surprised that it had not completely melted. So we sat in the parking lot eating our fried ice cream (which by the way was the best I have ever had) and talked. we then took the truck to the car wash, and started driving home. We decided to stop at the High School Softball fields to star gaze. It was funny how driving down in the the darkened softball field made me feel 15 years younger. lol we talk about what we would do if a police officer came down and asked us what we were doing, and laughed, held hands, talked, and cuddled until I was too chilly to stand it anymore. It felt so good to spend time together doing nothing much and not feel rushed or stressed. I wish we could do it more often. Soon Brian's work will pick up and in addition to the babysitter obstacle we will have his crazy work hours to contend with. Thank you to the Hess's for the wonderful night ... it was so needed!

The girls first "Real" sledding experiance

2009-03-02T16:54:00.013-05:00

We had an amazing snow last night and I am so thankful! I was afraid that the kids would go this winter without having a good snowman or being able to go sledding. I am not pregnant this winter and the kids are old enough and so I was really hoping I would be able to take them before the spring came. Well my wish came true and so today we all bundled ourselves up piled into our van and on we went to meet my friend Noel and her family at the ball field for some good sledding fun. I tried to help the girls understand how big the hill was that we were going to sled down. the only hill they ever have gone down until today was a little 3 foot hill by the apartments we lived in in Middletown. That little hill worked when they were just 5, 3, and 1 but I was excited for them to do some real sledding. So after some minor morning drama, (the van battery needing a charge) and a slippery ride on some snow drifted roads we arrived at our destination. Wow! The kids were so excited to see the huge hill we would be sliding down.

As we left the hill after about 2 hours of sledding Mary said " This was the coolest day ever" I was happy she enjoyed it.

It was hard for me to get any great pictures of Cathryn since she was too busy having fun to stop for picture taking.
one time she wiped out pretty good it was funny to see. Keira came over to see if her big sister was ok.

Keira with her new friend Emma

Have you ever seen a happier child?

After sledding for about an hour our friends, the Burnett family, showed up to sled at the same spot. Mary was glad to have her friend Morgan to hang out with. Upon leaving we found that our van was stuck in the snow. It was Morgan who was able to crawl under the van and attach the strap to our rear axle so that her dad could pull us out. I think it is safe to say we were glad for more than one reason that the Burnett family joined us today.

Our Snow day was a success. I can not end this blog entry without saying a BIG thank you to the Morris family who shared their sleds with us and gave my kids someone to race down the hill and to the Burnett family with out whom we might have been stuck at the field far longer than we wanted. Thanks A Bunch Guys for having fun with us today!

2009-03-02T11:44:00.003-05:00

It has been snowing since last night and we have accumulated over 6 inches so far... Oh What fun! We have a sleding date set for later this afternoon with a highschool friend of mine. Pictures to follow.

Briley Wins the Silver!

2009-03-01T20:59:00.012-05:00

We attended "I Love Smyrna School District Day" for the second year in a row this year. To be honest...I dont think I would have attended had we not had a daughter receiving an award that day. It is just way too crazy busy and that along with 1 baby just is a recipe for exhaustion, Never mind the fact that this year we have 3 babies...But we attended just the same because we are so proud of our daughter Briley who won 2nd place in an essay contest for Clayton Elementary 1st grade.

The first thing the girls noticed when we entered the High school was that their Art work was up on the walls.

We found their pictures right away and it was as if the art teacher had purposely placed their pictures close together just for us. Cathryn's picture was just above Briley's.

Cathryn's is on the left above and Briley's is on the right. I was very impressed by both of the girls creative work.

After looking at Cathryn's and Briley's art work we moved on to the auditorium to try to get some seats nice and close to the front. we were in the 4th row perfect seats for easy access to the stage.

...And then...We waited...and waited...and waited...Briley was very excited but at the same time was beginning to feel a little nervous about going up in front of everyone to accept her award. After a wait that seemed like an eternity Briley's time to shine came. Mr. Shalk, (who was my literature teacher 15 years ago) called out "And 1st grade winners for Clayton Elementary are", he called the Gold place winner, and then, "Briley Shahan Silver" Briley sat up quickly in her seat and before I knew it she was half way up to the stage. She moved so fast that these were the only good shots I got of her accepting her Silver medal and certificate. We are so proud of Briley and her great essay. Her essay will be published in to a book which she is very excited about also...Good Job Briley We sure love you girl!

Me and My Lydia

2009-02-27T19:53:00.004-05:00

It took everything in me to keep from just eating her up! I love kissing my babies.

My Insecurities

2009-02-25T21:07:00.012-05:00

I am a control freak...I know many women call themselves that and some are by simple virtue of becoming a Mom. But I always have been and suppose will always be a control freak. Mind you, I only came to the realization of this fact 8 or so years ago. I actually remember the moment this truth reveled itself to me as if it happened yesterday. It was December 2nd 2000. I had just given birth to Cathryn 30 days earlier and was surprised how exhausted I was feeling. Thanks Giving had come and gone and it was time to get the Christmas Tree up. As much as I wanted to go pick out the tree I was just too exhausted to do it. Brian had said that he knew where to get the perfect tree and insisted that he would just go get one not wanting me to overexert myself. I can not even describe how stressed out I felt about letting my husband go pick out a tree without my input. Perhaps I was scard by an experiance in my childhood. It was 1981 and due to a particularly lean financial year my parents could not afford a Christmas Tree. We ended up with this sorry little thing...
skip forward a few years and my parents made up for that Charlie Brown tree by having many a Christmas tree hunting excursions. The process of Christmas tree picking had become a very big deal. So... I tried to tell myself that night 8 years, 2 months and 23 days ago that I had good reason to stress over the tree my husband would pick out. The whole time he was gone I thought to myself..."Rachelle why didn't you just get dressed and go with him?" I am proud to say that when Brian got home I found out how competent of a Christmas Tree picker he was. It was a beautiful tree in every way. .. and that is when I realized that I had a problem with needing to be in control. The world would not have ended had Brian come home with a mediocre tree. Heck for that matter if he had come home with a tree like the one pictured above it wouldn't have ended ether, (perhaps shuttered a bit but not ended, of that I am certain). So why did I obsess over such a silly thing?... well, it was my need to be in control.

With my need to be in control comes the added misconception that I actually am in control. Looking back on my life I can see how this character flaw of mine has caused me some serious heart ache. I waisted 2 years, (OK, I know these years were not waisted because "they made me the person I am today"...yada yada yada you know what I mean) believing that I had enough control to make someone love me the way he should have loved me...when in truth he was incapable of loving anyone at that time. He did not love the Lord, he did not love himself, he definitely could not love me.

Growing up I was always a people pleaser. There were times, (and truthfully still are times) when I felt that if a person did not let me in to their life that it was my fault some how... after all, I must have been doing something wrong. I have always been an all inclusive person, a person who let everyone in and never left anyone out...at least not on purpose. As a child I remember feeling anxiety over how the rest of my stuffed animals felt if only 2 got to sleep right next to me. I always felt sorry for the stuffed animals that were farthest away from me. In school I never felt that I belonged to any one group, therefore I never had really close friends, (after all how would all my other friends feel if I was closer to one than the others...sick I know). All of my closest friends were out of state. All my in state friendships were relatively neutral. To this day I catch myself feeling that if I Love a person then they will love me back...this philosophy, I have to admit, has brought me a great deal of disappointment. Thank Goodness for my husband and children who give me all the love I truly need in this life.

Just a Thought...

By loving and being friends to everyone do we lower the value of our love and friendship? do we do a disservice to those who truly value our friendship by calling those who do not value it our "friends"? Some times I feel that some people live their lives under this belief and when I think that for one moment maybe they are right my mind turns to one of my favorite scriptures

(Matthew 5: 43-48)

Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour , and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

I am far...no, very far from anything so much as resembling perfection but if the Lord expects me to "Bless those who curse me" and "do good to those who hate me" well,... I suppose he expects that I should continue to extend my friendship and love to everyone understanding that though I have no control of how that friendship is received I do have control over weather or not I extend that friendship.

Testimony of Family Home Evening

2009-02-21T20:33:00.003-05:00

Our family has been trying to be better about holding Family Home Evening every Monday. So far this year we have not missed one meeting. Every Monday we have gotten together and had a simple little family time together. We always sing a song, have a prayer, read a scripture, and read a story with a moral. The meeting is short usually not longer than 20 minutes or so. These simple get togethers seem to do the trick for our family. This week we saw the fruits of our labors...and boy was it sweet!

We deal a lot with jealousy in our home. One daughter gets upset because the other got to go with Daddy in his truck 2 times in a row, or one got more candy than the other, or one has an easier job than the other, (I could go on and on but you get the point). A few weeks ago we had a lesson in FHE on good sportsmanship. In this lesson we read a story of two brothers who entered the same contest in school. The little brother wanted to win so bad and worked so hard on his project. In the end the older brother won the contest for the second year in a row. The little brother instead of being jealous stood and cheered for his brother because he knew the older brother had stage fright and wanted his brother to know that it was ok. I thought the story was a wonderful one and hoped that the message was received despite the my children's irreverence during the story.

Last month Cathryn had talked about a contest at school. She said that she was writing an essay on responsibility and that her essay was going to be about her Dad and why he is a responsible person. She was sure she was going to win because she had a great story to tell and was very proud of the way her essay turned out. This past week we got a letter in the mail from the School district addressed to Briley in care of her parents. When Brian and I opened it we found that it was a letter informing us that Briley had won 2nd place for the 1st grade in the written essay contest about responsibility. My mind immediately shifted to Cathryn. This was the contest Cathryn had spent so much time talking to me about. I did not even know Briley wrote an essay for this contest, in fact I had thought it was just a 2nd grade event... it wasn't... In fact it is a district wide contest. Brian and I decided to share the letter at the dinner table that night. We started the exciting news by giving Briley the "Blue Plate" This is a very much coveted plate for only those who have earned the right to eat off of it. Nobody, including Briley, knew why she was being given the blue plate. We made everyone wait until after the blessing on the food to reveal the reason for this great honor. As I read the letter explaining Briley's 2nd place win in the contest it spoke of how Briley would be presented with a metal and certificate at the Annual I Love Smyrna School District Day and that her essay would be published in to a book. I looked over at Cathryn expecting to see some disappointment but I found her eyes were bright with excitement. As I finished reading the letter Cathryn stood up ,clapped, and cheered for Briley saying "Good Job Briley that is so Great!". My eyes were moist with emotion... It had been so important to Cathryn to win this contest. She had worked so hard on her essay and yet she was able to find joy and excitement for her sister.

I have no doubt that this situation would have been different had we not had the special lesson on good sportsmanship just two weeks before. There was a good reason for that lesson and I am so glad we were able to see the positive consequence of our obedience to the commandment of Family Home Evening.

One Year In The Young Naturalist Club

2009-02-21T16:03:00.008-05:00

It has been a year since we joined the Young Naturalist Club. We have enjoyed many activities together learning about nature and the creatures that make up the nature all around us. Last year our friend and founder of the Young Naturalist Club, Jennifer, kick started this little organization with an invitation to go bird watching at the Bombay Hook national wildlife refuge. Last year I was unable to climb to the top of the bird watching tower due having an 8 month old to care for and being 6 months pregnant with the twins. This year I thought I might miss out on this view again due to having two 9 month olds to keep watch of. Luckily I had the help of some of the other moms in the group and I was able to slip away with Keira to experience the wonderful view from the top of the tower.

This year was a bit colder but the sun was out and so were the birds.

The kids seemed to really be interested in what Brother Meekins was trying to tell them.
He picked each of the kids a long marsh grass stem. Not sure what this grass is called exactly but the kids had a lot of fun with it.

This is Mary and her friend Gracie. Mary said it would not have been fun with out Gracie there. They were the two eldest children in attendance that day.

Mid Day Moon over Dover

2009-02-19T18:21:00.005-05:00

Today while out to our dentist trip a freak accident took place causing one of my girls to have soaking wet pants. She got out in the Van and I handed her a baby blanket and told her to take off the sopping wet pants and underwear and wrap the blanket around her. She was happy to be rid of the wetness. On our voyage back home Lydia got very mad. while stopped at a light I asked my daughters to reach over and give Lydia her bottle hoping it might stop her fit. as I looked back I saw my daughter with no pants bending over the back of the middle seat unknowingly mooning the old woman behind us...lol...the lady did not look happy. So... to the lady who witnessed the little full moon in Dover today I am so sorry. And no... my children do not usually travel bottomless.

Keira the Destroyer

2009-02-12T11:12:00.012-05:00

My dear Keira is going to drive me to drink...no, not really, but if I were a drinking woman I would be breaking out the really hard stuff right now! This little girl has way more energy than I do and has a little brain that seems to run at speed of light. It seems the very second I catch her doing something she should not do she turns that attention to another action which undoubtedly is going to cost me a lot of time and attention to clean up. For instance. One day last week I woke up, fed the twins gave Keira her breakfast, and then slipped away to my bedroom to get dressed and brush my teeth, (something I really am lucky to get around to most days). When I got back I found Keira had pushed Brian's chair up to the counter where Squirt's aquarium is and had taken the Baby's rice cereal and dumped it in to the aquarium. I am sure Keira thought she was doing a very big girl thing and was quite proud of herself. After all, the fish food that we put in to that aquarium looks very much like baby cereal so how could I be mad at her.

Today I was lucky in that I was able to get Cathryn and Briley out the door and on the bus before having to get the twins and Keira out of bed. Usually they all wake up at the same time and I have 5 kids all needing my attention at once...not fun! Anyway, today once my older two were out the door I got Keira up she came with me to bid good morning to Blake and Lydia and even stuck by me the entire time as I changed and dressed the babies. I then let the twins play on the floor while I changed and dressed Keira. The morning seemed to be going too smoothly to be true, (I know, thinking that jinxed me didn't it). So I put the babies in their highchairs, and then got Kiera her cereal and then got the babies their food. I fed them 4 containers of fruit, and then got out some little finger food banana puffs. I watched as they eat their puffs all by themselves and then once they had finished figured It was safe to let them stay in their chairs while I got myself dressed. So I slipped to my room and dressed myself and then heard Blake coughing. I ran out to check on him and found that Keira had climbed up the back of the living room chair and gotten the puffs and gave Lydia and Blake, (and the floor) the rest of the puffs...(about 2/3rds of the container) what a thoughtful sister! here is a list of the rest of the things Keira had fun doing today.

diaper bag - emptied out contents, proceeded to take diaper rash ointment to face and hair. (don't you just love the dear in the headlights look?)

silverware holder - reached the tray on top of the counter which I had been filling with dirty silverware and dumped it all over kitchen floor

Clean laundry piles - pushed piles off the chair...she wanted to sit there I guess

Computer desk - climbed on to chair reached desk and pushed all papers that had just been sorted off the desk and on to the floor. It must have been fun to watch all those papers fall.

Hair pretty drawer (where we keep all things used to beautify the girls hair) - emptied, opened box holding the economy pack of rubber hair bands and spread those bands throughout hallway and dining room.

All this took place before 11:00 a.m. After Keira helped me pick up all the hair bands we decided it was nap time. Even though it was coming an hour early she seemed to agree. I can't blame her she had a very busy morning!

I am seriously scared for the twins to reach this age...oh my word! what am I going to do!?! Maybe that is why God sent Blake and Lydia so close to Keira. After all, I won't have to get use to this phase all over again since technically we will have never left the phase.

ugh*** I could use a nap right about now!

Mmmmmm Finger Foods!

2009-02-11T12:33:00.000-05:00

The babies are now eating little snack items by them selves. Lydia has kinda been doing this already by finding things that keira has dropped on the floor...gross I know, but I can not count how many times I have caught Lydia sneaking an inbetween meal due to little hidden Keira made messess under the table. Anyway I figured if Lydia hadn't died yet due to choking there was a good chance that Blake and Lydia both could start eating snacks under my supervision safely. So we broke out the banana puffs and they loved them.

Blake has a bad habit of sucking his thumb and seems to be having a hard time bringing his hand to his mouth without popping that thumb in instead of the food. It makes for a pretty comical snack time...for me anyway. Ooooh yet another milestone met proving to me that babyhood is on it's way out. It's happening toooo Fast!

Keira's loves the snow

2009-02-04T11:37:00.021-05:00

Last night we got a good 2 inches of snow and this morning Keira was very excited about going out to play in it. She has stepped around in the snow a little between the house and the van but I have not taken the time to let her play out in it. So I put the twins down for their nap, got Keira all bundled up, got myself dressed and took Keira out for some Mommy / Daughter time. I took a ton of pictures only to find that most of them were ruined by wonderful streams of snot pouring out of my sweet daughters her nose...Nice, I know....I will spare everyone that sight and hope you enjoy the few that turned out ok.

It was fun to watch Keira's face as she experienced snow under her feet, in her hands, in her mouth, and on her face.

She was not so thrilled with it on her face it caused her to cry a bit.

She got over it and before long was exploring the winter wonderland that is our backyard.

As I watched her I tried to figure out what she might be thinking. I can remember the first time I remember seeing snow. It was when I was 4 or 5 and was our first winter in Durant Oklahoma after moving there from Mesa Arizona. I know it could not have been much snow but it seemed like a lot to me. I am sure our 2 or so inches of snow looked like a lot to Keira. She no doubt thought it was amazing.

She has not quite figured out the need for gloves. We have mittens and she does not like the thumb section. She prefers to keep her thumb with the rest of her finders. I think she is a lot like me in that she does not like things to cover her hands and feet unless absolutely necessary, (gloves, and socks make me claustrophobic) She kept taking the gloves off. I knew this would be a problem since she could not help but touch the snow. She tried to tell me why she does not like gloves. Of course I could not understand her baby babble but it made for cute little video.

Go Carninals!

2009-02-03T20:27:00.005-05:00

Yet another family party took place this past Sunday as we gathered together to watch the big game. We do this every year. Just another excuse for good junk food and loud yelling and cheering...huh, sounds a lot like New Years I am such a sucker for a reason to party! Anyway, we were rooting for Arizona, (hence Cathryn beak in the picture below)...well I should say most of us were rooting for Arizona anyway. Mary was cheering the Steelers, (She usually roots for whomever is playing against the team her Dad wants to win).

We had lots of food, and the kids made signs and we all cheered as the Cardinals played a good game. Unfortunately the Steelers took the win, (well at least one member of our family was happy) but it was a great game and it was fun to see Arizona make it as far as they did this year.

Our first snow of 2009

2009-02-03T20:14:00.004-05:00

We had our first snow last week and Cathryn made this cute little "snow girl", (I was scolded when I called it a snow man, silly me, I don't know what I was thinking it is obviously a female!). We did not get a lot of snow and most of it turned to ice by the end of the day but we got enough white stuff for Cathryn to get creative, (surprise surprise). I took this picture of Cathryn and her "snow girl" as she and Briley waited for the school bus following morning. I hope we get at least one big snow before spring. If it is going to be this darn cold out we might as well have some snow to have fun in otherwise the cold in my opinion is pointless.

They Are Mobile!... Now things get interesting

2009-02-03T19:04:00.008-05:00

Yes! I am very happy because I found my cords so I am able to down load all the pictures and videos of the events taking place in our family that I have wanted but been unable to blog about. The first thing I want to share is this footage of the twins crawling...the truth is they are much better at it now than what this video gives credit for. This video was taking on the 24th of January and now both of them are up on all fours crawling like pros.

I was able to get Lydia to crawl a few minutes later but it took a toy and some sweet talking to get her to do it. (Sorry I move around so much. I am working at getting better at the recording side of using this camera)

I can not believe how fast they are growing up. They are a little behind Keira as she was standing by 9 months but I am kinda glad. I am enjoying that they are staying babies a little longer than Keira did. Since the twins have started crawling I have become very aware of how nasty carpet is. It is so grose! Their knees and belly are so dingy after a day of crawling around. We cleaned our carpet just a month or so ago and it is still nasty! I can not wait to put wood floors in I am seriously grossed out!

Babies Galore!

2009-01-31T12:15:00.020-05:00

After posting the entry "Blake and Lydia not Identical" I decided it would be nice to see baby pictures of each of our children as well as Brian and I all together just to see how different each of us looked as babies. So here are the pictures.

Mary 2 months old,

Cathryn 3 months old,

Briley 3 months old

Brian (Black and White photo) 4 months old,

Rachelle (scandalous picture to the right of Brian) 5 months old

Keira 4 months (upper left),

Blake 3 months (Upper Right),

Lydia 3 months (Bottom)

Aunt Libby and Me

2009-01-31T11:54:00.004-05:00

This picture looks so bad but I just had to share it after my Aunt's comment to "Blake and Lydia not Identical". This is my Aunt Libby and I in 1978. We looked so pretty. Now my Aunt Libby goes by Aunt Elizabeth but she will always be my "Aunt Libby". I wonder... did you make our matching outfits Elizabeth? I wish I could see this picture in color so I could see what that fabric really looked like.

Lydia the unpleasable

2009-01-28T23:03:00.005-05:00

Our sweet Lydia is not the easiest baby to please these days. This recording is an example of a regular feeding time for Lydia. if the spoon is not in her mouth...well...she's not happy. And if Lydia is not happy everyone in the house has a headache...no it's not that bad but she makes her feelings known that's for sure! To be fair...this recording was taken just a little while after the firs one. She was tired as you can see. If you listen real hard you can hear her snore...it's so cute! Oh sweet Lydia I am so glad you joined our family you are such a joy even when you are not so joyful!

Blake and Lydia Not Identical

2009-01-28T21:33:00.016-05:00

It seems that every where I go People have been saying that Blake and Lydia look so much alike. One person even said that if they didn't have any cloths on they wouldn't be able to tell them apart. I assume she meant that the fact that my children wear gender appropriate clothing you are able to tell that one is Blake, the boy and the other is Lydia the girl so I guess you would know who is who. I can assure everyone that if Blake and Lydia were seen naked everyone would be able to tell them apart they look nothing alike. Also I am so surprised by the number of people who ask if Blake and Lydia are identical twins.

**SPECIAL NOTICE** For all of you who do not know this little bit of fact pay attention!

A set of twins that are Boy and Girl can not be identical...because... well they do not have identical plumbing if you know what I mean. Identical means just that...everything is the same. So Blake and Lydia are not Identical.

Ok - moving on - Above is a picture of Lydia and Blake together when they were just under a month old. In my opinion they look nothing alike. Lydia has a longer face while Blake's is more heart shaped. Blake has the turned up nose Lydia has a button nose. Lydia's hair and skin are like two shades darker than Blake's I could go on and on.

Though I still don't think they look a lot alike I have to admit they do look more alike now that they have some weight on them. In fact as I was looking through some old pictures of me as a baby I noticed that there were some pictures I had that I thought I looked a lot like Blake and others where I could see some of Lydia's features. I found a picture of Brian and I have to say that Lydia looks so much like him to me. Blake got his roundness from me, (I must say he pulls it off much better than I do these days). I think Lydia has my nose or at least my mothers nose and maybe my eyes but wow she looks like Brian. above and below are groups of pictures I pulled together. Above is Blake and then Me and then next is Brian and then Lydia. Below is Blake, Me, and then Lydia.

funny moment

2009-01-26T10:14:00.003-05:00

Oh man! I missed the finniest picture moment. I had fed the twins and left them in their chairs while I slipped away to check on Keira and put a load of laundry in the wash. Lydia did not like that I had left her and so she started to cry the way she always does when I do not give her the attention she is demanding. Now this cry really would be best described as a scream and poor Blake has had to learn to deal with this since he shares a room with her and since Lydia does not like to sleep. As I finally came back to the dinning room to get Lydia and Blake there was Lydia screaming her eyes closed and face red with anger and Blake sitting patiently in his chair with both hands on his ears. He is only 8 months old and he has figured out that he can muffle the sound of his sisters blood curdling screams by placing his hands on his ears! I wish I had a picture for that moment it was so funny.

The twins are now crawling. I have them recorded but I can not find my cords to download the recording to my computer. I will try to get the video up as soon as I can. Man are they growing fast!

Personalities what kind do you have?

2009-01-24T22:58:00.004-05:00

I read this great article entitled The Personality of Friendship and found it very interesting. If you have time you should check it out. http://www.ldslivingmagazine.com/articles/show/1852

in this article it talks about personality types and how by understanding the personalities of those around you you can come to respect, love, and appreciate them because of their differences. Here is a clip from the article that really grabbed me.

"Dealing with a different personality can be difficult at the least, and unbearable at most. And, in a culture where we are encouraged to love everyone and bear one another’s burdens—or at least visit two families once a month—we come across the conflict of different personalities more often than some. How should you comfort your friend when you know he places little value in emotion? How should you confront a problem with your best friend when you know she’s non-confrontational? Difference of personality frequently causes miscommunication and confusion, especially when we don’t know how to address conflict.

The first key to solving these difficulties and being a good friend is to identify the personality characteristics of the person you’re dealing with. “People of different personalities can still have wonderful friendships. It’s just a matter of appreciating their talents,” says Paul Tieger, author of several books, including Do What You Are and Just Your Type and CEO of SpeedReading People, LLC, which teaches people how to better communicate with others by knowing their type." ldsliving artical entitled "The Personality of Friendship " by Kate Ensign-Lewis Jan. 2009

Ok, this section rang very true for me. I have been dealing with a lot in the past 10 months or so. I have been told "Everyone is going to have someone who just does not like them and that's ok". and " There are going to be people that you don't like and that is ok." See I had a problem with that and now I know why. I understand my personality better now and now I know my personality does not naturally allow me to think that way. I know that I have driven more than one person in my life absolutely bonkers with my little quirks and I would be lying if I said that I have never come across a person who has done the same with me. Reading this article made me realize how much easier it would have been for me to handle and appreciate these different personalities had I known and understood them better. I have to assume that those who come in contact with me might benefit the same way by knowing my personality type. So I took a test...that's right I took a test... and found that according to the personality test I am an
"ESFJ 89%extroverted, 12% Sensing, 25% Feeling, 44% Judging"
this makes me a "Guardian, Provider, and Care Giver".

So...What are you? I would love to know. Take the test you can find them all over the internet. The one I took can be found at http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp
after you take the test if you are a friend of mine comment on this blog entry and let me know what you are...maybe I will be a better friend by understanding your personality better.

If you want to understand me a little more read on below is a generalized description of an ESFJ personality. Its not 100% me but I have to say it describes my personality pretty well over all. maybe you will understand me a little better after reading it.

(ESFJ)
Guardians of birthdays, holidays and celebrations, ESFJs are generous entertainers. They enjoy and joyfully observe traditions and are liberal in giving, especially where custom prescribes.
All else being equal, ESFJs enjoy being in charge. They see problems clearly and delegate easily, work hard and play with zest. ESFJs, as do most SJs, bear strong allegiance to rights of seniority. They willingly provide service (which embodies life's meaning) and expect the same from others.
ESFJs are easily wounded. And when wounded, their emotions will not be contained. They by nature "wear their hearts on their sleeves," often exuding warmth and bonhomie, but not infrequently boiling over with the vexation of their souls. Some ESFJs channel these vibrant emotions into moving dramatic performances on stage and screen.
Strong, contradictory forces consume the ESFJ. Their sense of right and wrong wrestles with an overwhelming rescuing, 'mothering' drive. This sometimes results in swift, immediate action taken upon a transgressor, followed by stern reprimand; ultimately, however, the prodigal is wrested from the gallows of their folly, just as the noose tightens and all hope is lost, by the very executioner!
An ESFJ at odds with self is a remarkable sight. When a decision must be made, especially one involving the risk of conflict (abhorrent to ESFJs), there ensues an in-house wrestling match between the aforementioned black-and-white Values and the Nemesis of Discord. The contender pits self against self, once firmly deciding with the Right, then switching to Prudence to forestall hostilities, countered by unswerving Values, ad exhaustium, winner take all.
As caretakers, ESFJs sense danger all around--germs within, the elements without, unscrupulous malefactors, insidious character flaws. The world is a dangerous place, not to be trusted. Not that the ESFJ is paranoid; 'hyper-vigilant' would be more precise. And thus they serve excellently as protectors, outstanding in fields such as medical care and elementary education.

Famous ESFJs:
U.S. Presidents:
William McKinley
William J. Clinton
Jack Benny, Desi Arnaz ("Ricky Ricardo"), Don Knotts ("Barney Fife"), John Connally (former Governor of Texas), Terry Bradshaw (NFL quarterback), Sally Struthers (All in the Family), Mary Tyler Moore, Dixie Carter (Designing Women), Steve Spurrier (Heismann trophy winner, Univ. of Fla. football coach), Sally Field, Danny Glover, (actor Lethal Weapon movies, Predator 2), Margaret Butt, Nancy Kerrigan (U.S. olympic figureskater), Elvis Stojko (Canadian olympic figureskater)
Fictional ESFJs:
Babbitt (Sinclair Lewis), Hoss Cartwright (Bonanza), Leonard "Bones" McCoy (Star Trek), Monica (Friends), Haleh (ER), Donald Duck, Rabbit (from Winnie the Pooh)

My thoughts on the inauguration and more on the benediction

2009-01-21T07:29:00.010-05:00

I was not able to post yesterday about the Inauguration as a whole because...well...I had not seen the entire thing yet...hence my only comment up until now being about the benediction.

I was amazed by how many people were there to witness the historical inauguration of our 44th president President Barack H Obama. Though I understand why all those people chose to witness this in person I have to say I think I had the best seat right here in my warm living room...well actually I watched the entire event for the first time on C-Span at 10:00 pm in my warm comfy bed.

I very much enjoyed the Invocation it was focused and was a true prayer for our nation and its leaders. I felt that Rick Warren addressed the excitement most of us share concerning the historical nature of this event and spoke in a way that I believe represented most Christians thoughts. I also enjoyed the music performed during the inauguration especially the piece composed specifically for this event by John Williams. As I listened to Vice President Biden be sworn in I could not help but think to my self "wow if it were me I would be forgetting what the justice just said and would mess it all up!" Ol Joe didn't do so bad. President Obama's time came and I could tell there was a nervousness about him. Goodness knows there was good reason to be nervous. After all, he is only human and has a huge task before him. I doubt I could stay standing on two feet let alone speak had it been me in front over 3 million people there at the Mall and countless people watching world wide. President Obama's speech had a lot of good parts to it. It seemed to me he was speaking to world more so than to the American people. It was not one of his best speeches but I can honestly say that it is nice to have a natural speaker in the white house again. I don't agree with most of President Obama's policies but at least speeches come naturally to him.

I did not enjoy the inaugural poem. It was a bit over my head. I am sure it made perfect sense to Elizabeth Alexander but I found it hard to listen to. It seems that a lot of people share this same feeling and may be expressing those feelings in a not so kind way. I feel bad for Elizabeth...I respect that it is her piece of art. I think more people should be a little more understanding and respectful of that also. I would hate for my art to be on display and for me to hear people trash it. Ouch!! That would hurt!

As I watched the benediction again I tried to put myself in Rev. Joseph Lowery's shoes. I know that he is a civil rights pioneer. I understand that 80 some years ago things were much different than they are today. No doubt there is still work to be done concerning the prejudices in America. I respect this view that Rev. Lowery sees from. Undoubtedly it was this view that caused him to make such a generalized statement concerning blacks, browns, yellows, reds and whites. I want to believe that he did not intend his words to be taken the way that many out there including myself have taken them. I wonder how he feels now about what he said. Does he regret it? Does he even realize how generalized of a statement it was and how offensive it was to many white people? I just wonder.

Meanwhile I pray President Barack Obama will embrace what is right while leading this great nation. That he will seek to give the power to the people and not enlarge the government (I know that is a steep request since it goes against most of his political goals). I pray we will all embrace what is right, put off the natural Man, and seek out the will of God. Once we all do that this the world will be a better place.

Inauguration Benediction...What?!?

2009-01-20T14:36:00.011-05:00

Now, I am not sure how this was suppose to be taken but I find it hard to hear this and not feel a little offended.

"We ask you to help us work for that day when Black will not be asked to give back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead man, and when white would embrace what is right"

maybe I am just naive, maybe this is just to far beyond me but I do not understand what was meant to be said in this prayer...The conclusion of it bothered me a bit.

What does it mean to not be asked to give back? (Thank you to the someone who just informed me he said "when black will not be asked to get back." )
What does it mean when he prayed for the day that brown can stick around?
Why are the yellow considered to not be mellow?
I am sure that everybody out there feels that they wish they could get ahead...I know I do.
why is the prayer that white should embrace what is right?
Why was this prayer ended in what seems to me to have been a racial tone covered up with a little comedy?

I have every understanding and respect that this was an historic occasion for our nation. Even though I have a hard time swallowing some of President Oboma's political views I respect the fact that this is an amazing day in American history. I am excited for what this means for the civil rights movement. I can only hope that this leads to similar progress when it comes to the prejudices against different religions. But I feel that the conclusion of this benediction was inappropriate and I hope I am just misunderstanding it but I am not quite sure how else I am suppose to take it.

I pray that we all, regardless of the color and shade of our skin, regardless of our religious beliefs, regardless of our political view embrace what is right, because heaven knows we all as flawed human beings have failed to do so at one time or the other.

What did you take from this? Let me know.

FHE / The Word of Wisdom

2009-01-20T09:12:00.007-05:00

We had a wonderful Family Home Evening last night. You know we have found that whenever Brian and I decide to kinda be lazy and not put much effort in to FHE the kids get disappointed. Say for example we take the kids to Xbos instead of planning a Family Night lesson. The next day the girls will say "We didn't have family home evening last night Mom!" I always explain that we had a very fun Family Night and then they come back with "but that's not family home evening we didn't learn anything!" I have come to appreciate their desire to learn. The last two FHE s have been talking about goals and calendaring the next year of family events. The girls were definitely ready for a real Family Home Evening once this Monday came around. So Brian and I decided that we should have a lesson on the Word of Wisdom. None of us know all the primary songs so I busted out the Children Song Book CD instead of singing one of the only two primary songs we know, (I am a child of God and Book of Mormon stories) we listened to "The Lord Gave Me a Temple" as the opening song and opened with a prayer. I had found some wonderful resources on line for our family night.

I printed up the story of how the Word of Wisdom came to be and then I got some books. Some of them had paper covers and others were worn and tattered because they did not have the protection of a cover. We talked about why the binding of the books with covers looked better than the binding of the book without and talked about why it is good that some books have protective covers. We likened the protective cover to the word of wisdom. I explained that just as the paper book cover protects the book the word of wisdom is there to help us protect our bodies. I then read some information I found on line about the effects, both short and long term, of alcohol and tobacco on the body. Brian and I asked a lot of questions and let the girls talk about how they felt about drugs, alcohol and tobacco. I was especially impressed with our daughter, Cathryn's, response to the following question:

Mom: "why do you think it is important not to put things like tobacco, and alcohol in your body even when the law says you can after you are older?"

Cathryn: (said with great concern) "Heavenly Father worked very hard to make our bodies and we should take care of our bodies because it is the only one we will get and he worked very hard on it and it will make him sad if we don't take care of it."

It was good to hear what each of the girls had to say about the Word of Wisdom. I find it funny that they seemed to like this family home evening better than even our little outings. They are thirsting to be taught and I am glad that we were able to teach them concerning this very important topic. In today's world were substances such as alcohol, tobacco, and even drugs such as Marijuana have come to be more and more socially acceptable I hope that our children will continue to understand how much better off their bodies and their lives are without these substances.

Woo Hoo Eagles are out!

2009-01-18T18:39:00.013-05:00

A special dedication...

This post has been dedicated to our friend Lee who has said that he enjoys reading our blog and who also happens to be an Eagles Fan ;oP

Ok, let me start by saying that we do not follow Pro. ball very much here in the Shahan home. Truth be told we are college ball enthusiasts...Well...Notre Dame Football Enthusiast to be exact.

When It comes to Pro Football our house pretty much roots for who ever is playing against the Eagles. Living in Eagles Country here in Delaware we see some seriously ridiculous fans who take it above and beyond being just fans. Brian and I get sick of the obnoxious behavior and just craziness that seems to come with the title of "Eagle Fan" and so we root for who every the opposing team is just to spite those crazy Philadelphia fanatics.

Today the rooting was sweetened by the fact that the Eagles were playing against the Arizona Cardinals. I consider the Cardinals my home state team. I had a roommate when I lived in Arizona who is a former Cardinals Cheerleader, (Ronite...where are you girl? I miss you!) I have family living in AZ and well... if I am going to root for a team they are one I naturally feel comfortable rooting for. The other team I enjoy rooting for is the Baltimore Ravens. They are our other local team, (we are almost exactly halfway between Baltimore and Philadelphia). I get added excitement of rooting for Baltimore since Todd Heap (Tight End #86)

is related by marriage to a good friend of mine in Arizona. I know it would be very exciting for her children to see their uncle Todd playing in the Superbowl. Good Luck Todd!

Anyway today we enjoyed watching the Cardinals roast the Eagles in Phoenix and now as we watch the Ravens and the Steelers battle it out I can only hope to enjoy a Ravens / Cardinals Superbowl a few weeks from now...

dang who will I root for then? I guess it won't matter it's a win/win for me!

Ahhh dang no such luck! I guess its set I'll be cheering on the Cardinals this year. Good try Ravens. Get rested, heal up, and we'll see you at the Super Bowl next year!

Heaven Sent

2009-01-14T13:31:00.004-05:00

Most of you know that we have had our share of trials in recent weeks. I have felt very down trodden and kinda at my wits end but somehow have still kept my sanity despite the feeling that if one more bad thing happens I might just end up in the loony bin.
Then I was touched by Heaven. Sunday evening I got a call from a great friend Lyanna who informed me that her husband was on his way to bring our family Dinner. She must have known how stressed I was coming back home from the Hospital with Keira and getting back in to the swing of things after two days of being away. The dinner was wonderful and there was plenty for lunch the next day. On Monday I got a call from another friend, Michelle, who explained that she planned to bring our family dinner... Wow two days in a row! It was a wonderful meal with home made bread to boot! Yesterday was a little stressful it was bill paying day...and well this time of year tends to be our hardest on the wallet but somehow we were able make ends meet. Then Today as I went out to get diapers and formula, (something I buy A LOT of) I pulled up to ACME and what did a find, but a front row parking space with one of those nifty shopping charts built in to a toy truck. Just what I needed! With out these specific carts I have to push two babies in a cart with one hand and hold the other in one arm...yep I've done it and it is a glorious sight to see I assure you. The very fact that one of these carts was available was wonderful alone but I was given added relief to find this heaven sent cart actually sitting right there at the side of my parking space just waiting for me! Absolutely fabulous!...continuing on...I then went in to the store were I found that I had left Blake's Rx at home. I would have to unfortunately come back later for his meds. This slight disappointment was quickly rebounded however with pleasure in finding a $2.00 off pampers coupon and then discovering that Pampers were $8 off with my super card! As I went through check out the sweet cashier handed me some free individual bags of animal crackers. This was perfect since Keira was hungry and would be getting fussy soon. Had we not had a convenient little snack for her the ride home would have likely turned ugly. The last few days have been full of wonderful little surprises and I have no doubt that they have been heaven sent. I truly believe that God sends us relief and comfort through angels here on earth so thanks to all of you who have been heaven sent messengers and deliverers to our family. You are the best!

special time with Keira

2009-01-10T19:00:00.001-05:00

While I have been very bummed that my daughter Keira has been sick and in the hospital I have found a number of things to enjoy about being here with her at A.I. DuPont. It has been over 8 months since I had uninterrupted one on one time her and I have had all the time I could ask for without need to feeling guilty for not spending time with my other kids. When Keira was 4 months old I found out that I was pregnant again. The one thing that broke my heart about this was that I really enjoyed the idea of being able to give more attention to Keira once Briley moved on to 1st grade. Since I would be having another baby so soon, (not realizing I was having more than one at the time)I felt like I was being robbed of that alone time with Keira. Keira was an early bloomer which was good because I was able to see and really enjoy many of her developmental milestones before she turned 10 months old. She was sitting up on her own by 5 months, she was crawling by 51/2 months and pulling herself up to a standing position by 7 months. She was standing on her own by the time she turned 9 months and was walking by 91/2 months. She had 8 teeth by the time she was 10 months old and then the twins were born. There are many times that I feel like I am missing out on Keira now that my home life is so busy. So now I find my self in the hospital with her with nothing much to do but play with, snuggle, listen to, and watch her.

With all this free time I have started to see how much Keira has developed in her ability to communicate. Today when I was trying to get her to eat her french toast she said no shook her head and pointed to the little cereal box on her tray and said "birdie" She wanted the Froot Loops and was referring to Toucan Sam . She did not want the french toast and she was communicating that very well to me. She has also said "no owee" a number of times here at the hospital.

Keira is such a funny little girl. Yesterday she had a 30 min. period when she seemed to be back to her old self. She pointed to the top of her crib (it is like a cage) and reached up like she wanted to hang from the bars. I lifted her up and she hung like a monkey from the top bars of her crib giggling all the while. she then started throwing things out of her bed and laughing every time I gave her the "I'm gona git cha" look. She does not like the nurses coming in and checking in on her but she has learned to tolerate the respiratory therapist who comes every 4 hrs to give her the nebulizer treatments. Last night Keira had had enough of her crib and cried for me to hold her. I brought her out of her crib and let her lay down next to me on my cot and we watched the news together...(Katie Couric was all that was on, I would have much rather watched Handy Manny or Imagination Movers. Katie make me cringe) As much as I hate Keira being sick I am so glad to have all this time with her. I know soon she will be better and we will be back at home and I wont have this much time with her so I am trying to enjoy the time despite the circumstances that have brought that time to us. ...Wow the doctor just came in and told me Keira is ready to go home...I guess my time with her alone is over... back to life as usual.

Heaven Help Us!

2009-01-09T14:17:00.005-05:00

Well, we are starting the year off with a Bang! I write this post while sitting in the Family Room of the A.I. DuPont Hospital. Keira is sleeping so I thought I would get away for a little while.

As you can see by the last post our family has been plagued with illness so far this year...well It has gotten worse! Yesterday evening I decided that Keira was not doing well enough to wait until the next day to see her doctor. I waited for Brian to get home and the packed her up in the van and we made a visit to the urgent care center in Smyrna. Her O2 level was below 90% (not good!) and she had a fever of 102.1. They did some X-rays and decided that I needed to go to the E.R. I decided to drive her there myself since they could not be sure how far the ambulance would take her. (probably just to Kent General...a place I would prefer not to take my children) So I called Brian and told him I was taking Keira to A.I. and he suggested that I come home and pick up Blake since he was not doing very well ether. So I did and ended up spending the entire evening in the E.R. at A.I. DuPont with two of my Babies. Blake would end up being healthy enough to go home...and Keira seemed to be doing well enough her O2 levels were above 92% and she did not have a fever. It is amazing what hospital air will do to a sick kid! It was as if Blake had been miraculously cured and Keira though I wasn't so sure seemed to be on the mend. The doctor seemed to think Keira would be ok and even stated that he would get the discharge papers ready. I was glad that Keira was "ok" but still a little unsure she just was not acting like her usual self...very lethargic. I quickly put her back in to her own PJ's in preparation of our drive home. Then a Nurse came in to get some vitals only to find that Keira's O2 levels were teetering at 90% and this time she had a fever. So much for going home! It was a long night of O2 and nebulizers in the E.R. and she was been admitted to the hospital around 2:30 a.m. diagnosed with RSV. That isn't even the best part. Brian came to the Hospital to pick up Blake this morning, (he was not suppose to be here but they made an exception for me due to Keira needing to stay) on his way here I got a call from Briley's school nursing saying Briley threw up in class today and needed to be picked up! OH MY WORD CAN WE JUST GET A BREAK? So Keira will be here for at least another day if things go well...if not ...heaven help us...No Seriously!

Will it ever end?

2009-01-06T15:37:00.002-05:00

Will the sickness ever end? I am seriously sick of sick!
Friday night after Christmas I got sick - real sick and did not get over it until Monday. Cathryn was sick the day after I got it but was over it before I was. Now all three babies are sick and I think Mary may be also, (Sorry to her Mom for having her sick just in time to come back to her house). It is amazing how hard it is taking care of a family this size is when you throw sickness in to the equation...Especially when all three Babies are sick, grumpy, and obviously miserable at the same time...they wont stop crying! Calgon Take Me Away!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

2009-01-01T00:16:00.010-05:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

New Years has always been a holiday I look forward to celebrating...I don't know why I just always thought it was an important holiday. My parents were never big New Year's Celebrators I remember one year they let us stay up but as a tween and a teen they would send us to bed. You can imagine my disappointment growing up when Mom and Dad were in bed and us kids were sent to our rooms at the ridiculous hour of 10:00! Back then I thought it was absolutely sinful to waist such an exciting night on sleep! As a parent I have made a personal vow to not do that to my kids. One of my most favorite New Years Eve celebrations was New Years eve 1998. Brian gave me my engagement ring that night and I had a blast showing it off all night long!

Brian and I have been having our own little family new years party for the past 3 years now. Our party has always consisted of hot wings, chips, dips, veggies, pizza, soda and some kind of sweet concoction. This year we did banana splits! There wasn't a topping we didn't have to top our mounds of ice cream with. we watched movies and danced like we were crazy....or at least Keira did! Her is a little video of her gettin down. What a funny girl she is! Excuse the darkness of this recording. My camera does not have a light for the video setting.

Keira made it to 10:30 before she just had to go to bed. The rest of us played our two favorite family games, A game we like to call "The Name Game" and another we call "The Telephone Game". When 11:55 rolled around I handed out party hats, horns and New years necklaces and we counted down the final seconds of 2008.

As the girls stepped out on to the front step of our home in to the frigid 10 degree windy night air to blow their noise makers I surprised them with silly string. That was a lot of fun! (they never experienced silly string before).

Briley is having her yearly bout with Reactive Airway Disease which made it hard for her to blow her horn hard enough to make a noise. Poor Briley can't seem to celebrate New Years with out a Nebulizer treatment. Here is proof... this picture is of her New Years Eve 2005. She fell asleep while getting her treatment.

This was actually Briley's first year staying up for the count down and noise making. After the Noise making Briley and Cathryn wanted to make more noise so they got a few pots and pans and went back outside to bang on them for a little while. We missed Mary this year...she is with her Mom. Next year she will be with us and maybe, just maybe, we all will celebrate new years together in Arizona...oh what fun that would be! 2009...WOW...

Lucky Nest

2008-12-31T16:56:00.004-05:00

Brian's Cousin came over the day after Christmas to bring me my purse which I had left at her house the night before. She commented on our tree mentioning that we had a very large tree...She did not see that it was really quite small only 5 ft and was sitting up on a card table. I then showed her the pretty nest that it had and she told me that that was good luck. I had never heard that but hey...I'll take whatever good luck I can get. I searched it on line and this is what I found at http://www.kriss-kringle.com/kringle_ornamentshistory.htm

"Next to Santa's, birds are considered to be among the most common figural tree ornament. They have religious symbolism as being biblical messengers that bring God's love and peace to the world. Birds are also symbolic of good luck and good fortune. It is said that many German families felt that finding a bird's nest was a sign that good luck would come to their family throughout the year."

wow! We are going to have a lucky year!!! (to be honest, I am not a superstitious person but hey what the heck right?) After reading this I've considered wrapping this little nest up and keeping to put in our tree every year making it one of our regular ornaments to be excited about.

This site had a lot of fun information about the History of Christmas Ornaments check it out.

Our Christmas Holiday

2008-12-26T17:39:00.013-05:00

Christmas was wonderful this year...you know though, there was a little mix-up with one wish this year. You see two front teeth were delivered for Christmas but they seemed to have been delivered to the wrong people. While Briley still has a very toothless grin Blake and Lydia both got their first teeth just in time for Christmas. Briley of course thinks that this is so funny. On Christmas Eve's Eve Brian and I went for the annual Clayton Elementary Christmas sing along and we sang along with Cathryn and Briley's classes as they sung the traditional Christmas songs we all know. We then picked up Mary and made our way to the temple for our annual family trip to the Washington DC Temple to see the Christmas Lights.
The lights were spectacular, far better than the ones we saw at Longwood Gardens, and we looked at the Christmas trees they had displayed in the visitor center, saw the Mark Mabrey photo collection "Reflections of Christ, and just enjoyed our time together as a family. On our way out we watched the live nativity they had outside.

The girls enjoyed snuggling up with the Camel...Mary seemed to enjoy it a little too much!

After walking around a little more we made our way home. It was great to be at the temple with our children. I hope this coming year we do it more than just once.

Christmas Eve we enjoyed a big Dinner with Brian's Mom. Since she missed Thanksgiving due to her rush to the hospital we decided to enjoy the whole spread all over again on the 24th this time with Marjorie in attendance. It was so good to have here there. She brought gifts for all of us to open and the girls were so excited.

Christmas morning Mom came over again to be part of our Christmas Morning celebration. This is unusual since she has ether been out of town or working every Christmas morning since I can remember. We read the Christmas story from Luke II and then began our gift opening. Oh the rest really is a blurr up until Breakfast....MMMM Pancake Bar we had the choice of regular pancakes or chocolate chip and a choice of any topping, strawberries, cherries, Apple, syrup, and whip topping. The girls and I tend to pick the Strawberries and whip cream Brian on the other hand puts it all on this choice of his makes the girls and I gag. We also had bacon and hash browns and a number of beverages to choose from including eggnog...yep for breakfast. We were stuffed to say the least. After breakfast it was time for Mary to go to her Mom's and so I started on the rolls and the crab cakes which we were to bring to Brian's Cousins house for dinner that night.

We have visited Adriane and Bobby for the last 3 years for ether Christmas eve or Christmas dinner. She always cooks wild goose and duck. I started out not enjoying the Christmas meal so much in the beginning, (wild game is an acquired taste)but have come to enjoy it just this one time each year. This year I offered for the first time to make Crab Cakes. I figured that if we are going "different" for the Christmas meal why not throw in some seafood right? Doing this also ensures that my kids eat more than just sweets since they still have not grown to like duck or goose very much yet. I found an excellent recipe for crab cakes look to the right margin of my blog for the recipe. After the meal I got out the gram crackers, gumdrops, candy canes, and icing and we made little gram houses the girls had a blast.

Now that the big holiday is over and I have a house to clean. Yet another joy of the Holidays ;0)

2008 another year gone

2008-12-23T12:00:00.007-05:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

To those of you who did not get a card from us we are sorry and hope you accept our Christmas Wish to all of you. One really great reason for keeping in touch with friends and family this way this is that you as a reader have the opportunity to quickly respond to our letter by simply clicking on the comments link at the end of this blog entry and typing in a response. This Blog is a new thing to us. We started it just after the twins were born in May. So all the exciting things that have taken place between May and December can be found by looking around. You can see older links by clicking on the months listed to the right of my blog page. Some pictures may be to small for you to see well. If you want to see a picture in a larger size simply double click on the image and it will be enlarged.

Our year started off with a lot of excitement as we looked forward to the ultra sound that would tell us the much anticipated gender of the twins due to join our family in June. The first week of February Brian, his mom, Mary, and Keira all were present when this ultrasound took place. My Mothers intuition was way off when I tried to predict the gender of Cathryn and Briley...but I guess it just needed some practice as I have predicted with 100% accuracy my last three children's gender. We found out we were having a Boy and a girl.

In February the stress of having a 8 month old and being 6 months pregnant with the twins finally hit me and Brian and I decided to bring Cathryn and Briley to their local school instead of "choicing" them to W Riley Brown where Mary attends. With the girls attending Clayton Elementary they started riding the bus to school, (a huge burden lifted from this exhausted Mom let me tell you!), and Briley was in full day kindergarten instead of the 1/2 day she attended at Brown. This decision was not taken lightly and for a time I was concerned that we would regret it. I am happy to say that we have not regretted it and can actually say that I think it was the best thing we could have done.

In March Brian and I decided that we had better have a family vacation before the twins came since the summer would probably be too overwhelming to have one. We had missed out on a family vacation in 2007 due to the birth of Keira and we did not want to miss out on family vacation time two years in a row so after getting the ok from my doctor we made our way just a few hours north to Pennsylvania. Let me start by saying that this family trip was made possible by my sister joining us. There was no way that we could have pulled it off on our own and we want to thank her again for being there with us on this trip. The vacation started with a visit to Crystal Cave in Kutztown Pennsylvania. Caves have become an interest of ours since visiting Clausal cave in Tucson Arizona in 2005. Though Crystal Cave is not quite as grand as Clausal Cave we did enjoy seeing stalactite's and stalagmites, and other natural mineral and rock formations and even had the opportunity to see a sleeping bat! They are some ugly little buggers! It was a very fun and educational experience for all of us.

the sleeping bat

We then made our way to Great Wolf Lodge at the Pocono Mountains. Wow what a fun time we had! The kids enjoyed their special sleeping quarters which was a log cabin built right in to our room. it had its own TV, bunk bed and a daybed so it slept all three of our older girls. There was an indoor water park that you would have to see to believe and the girls had a blast at the arcade also. In addition to this Brian and I enjoyed the all you can eat buffet and the Elements Spa where we relaxed and enjoyed some pampering. If there is one thing we would suggest to any friend who chooses to book a stay to Great Wolf Poconos it would be to book a room on the top floor. We had an awful time with the poor sound proofing and the noisy family above us.

Our family at the grand fireplace

The girls with Aunt Cathryn

We finished our vacation with a visit to the Crayola factory in Easton PA. This place was heaven on earth for our little artist Cathryn who loved everything but really enjoyed the painting area and the model Magic area. We came home with all kinds of little free-beez what a fun time we had!

The weekend after our 3 day vacation I attended A baby shower some close friends threw me. I was touched by all those who were in attendance. I got many things to help prepare us for the arrival of the twins. It was not long after this party that my body started to show signs that it could not hold out much longer. The end of April brought contractions and after an overnight visit to the hospital where I was given medicine to stop the labor and steroids to help the twins lungs grow as quickly as possible I was sent home on bed rest. As hard as I it was, I stuck to the bed rest orders with religious like dedication...but the contraction only subsided for two days. May 7th after a check with my doctor it was determined that even though I was not experiencing pain I was dilating. It was safer for me and the babies if I stayed at the hospital. I was admitted to the hospital again and the twins were born a little over 7 hours later. And then our family became a family of 8!

Many more things have happened this year and we hope you take the opportunity to read about these events when you have time.

Brian and I had the chance to see Glenn Beck's The Christmas Sweater this week and though at first the story seemed a little confusing by the end it made sense and it actually had me thinking. Glenn's show was a Christmas message unlike any other I have heard. In the message he likened the gift of Christ Atonement to the gift of a hand made Christmas sweater. Perhaps in this world where there are so many highly desired gifts we find it hard to truly cherish the most substantially life changing gift that we have every been given. Do we take the gift of the atonement and simply fold it up and put it at the top of our closet and forget about it? In his show, (and I have to assume in his book by the same name) he shares a message of hope. there are times when life seems to be a constant storm. A storm that does not move and has winds that are perhaps so strong that you feel like they could blow you away. Sometimes these storms are self inflicted some times they are not. But even when they are not we have the choice stand still in that Storm or to walk forward until we reach the other side of it. One self inflicted storm that we have all been through is the storm of Sin. Our choice to do what we can to get out of the storm is like repentance. It is not always easy to repent especially when our sin is great. It can be scary and difficult to deal with such storms. But as Glenn said "nobody has ever regretted getting out of that storm once they have reached the other side of it". The atonement of Jesus Christ is what allows us to leave that storm behind us, and when new storms come along, (because they always do) we are able to weather those storms and fight against them and grow as a product of them. This possibility is only because of this gift of the atonement given to all of us. So I speak of the Atonement in this Christmas message because it was the sacrifice of Jesus Christ that makes this holiday...well, a holiday. While there were certainly miracles that took place that brought about the birth of the baby Jesus. It was the miracle of his atoning sacrifice that makes his birth significant. Jesus said "To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world..." John 18:37. We pray that we may all come to more real and life altering understanding of this amazing gift that we all have been given. The gift of redemption through our savior Jesus Christ.

We are so happy to have each and every one of you as a part of our lives. We have drawn strength as a result of your support and we thank you for that. We hope that you are all well and finding joy in your lives. Have a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year

With Love,

the Shahan Family

(Picture provided by our friend Lorien Peer)
Mary is missing from this photo she was with here mom when they took these pictures at our church Christmas Party.

What a pretty girl Mary is growing up to be!

New definition of "Christian"

2008-12-22T18:13:00.011-05:00

Well today I found out that I am not Christian...yup that's right not Christian. While I am for sure not a Christian Brian, on the other hand, is because the woman who said that I am not a christian apparently (and I quote) "looked in his eyes and knew that he was a Christan from day one"
Oh brother!

for all of you interested here is the...
New definition of Christian ________________________________________________
Chris⋅tian [kris-chuhn]–adjective
1. One who believes in Jesus and rents a place of dwelling to anyone despite their ability to pay and disregards both the rental history and the employment situations of such perspective renter. Who does not expect money to be paid as agreed but simply stands by and waits for the funds to show up like manna from heaven and agrees to their renters every request regarding how their security deposit should be used. (After all that deposit is for the tenants security not the landlord.)

2. One who believes in Jesus, does not need to live up to their financial responsibilities, and should not be second guessed for any reason. After all...they Believe in Jesus.
______________________________________________

Please excuse my rant but this person just drove me crazy today....(deep breath)...ok I feel much better.