Check out my new specs!

Okay...be honest....do I look older in these? More like my mo-ther?!?! You know, I think I saw a picture of my mom from the 60's wearing glasses similar to these! And I made fun of her!! :-) Ahhh, I am going crazy trying to get used to them too. I see sooooo much better but I'm kind of nauseaus and dizzy at times because I see so well! Colors are so vivid and beautiful! No more blur! I tell ya, I was driving home after picking these up and I almost ran a red light because I was so excited I could read signs that I was testing myelf and reading everything around! Duh! Vivid and vibrant RED LIGHT! Toooo funny!

We're on Day 5 of school. Jr. High is going great for Hannah. Yay, yay, tripple yay! She's not quite ready to play her flute in the Pana Labor Day Parade but she gets to hold the banner in front of the band. She's pretty excited about that. She's been going in early a few days a week to get extra help from Mr. Dean on her flute. She's doing a great job! She likes all of her classes and her teachers. I'm so happy. Noah is doing great and likes his teacher, but man alive! The homework is killing us! He has had a lot of homework every night! I really hope this lets up or "somebody's" daddy will be talking to the teacher. None of us needs that!! All in all, school is going well....so far!

Lyle is still terribly sick. He's getting better, but he's coughing so much at night and keeping us both up. Okay, he's up all night, I'm up for a little bit of the night. Remember, I slept through a tornado when I was about 4 years old! A block away from my house! I just hope he can get past this very soon.

Grandma and Grandpa Kime are getting settled into their home very nicely. It's such a cute house too! Just perfect for them. It's nice having them close by. Hannah went there this evening to clean a chair for Grandma while Noah had soccer practice. She feels all grown up!

Here's a picture of moving day....

It was great, just taking everything from the camper and into the house. I advise that to everyone!! :-) Ha! Their house is just 3 houses down from where Nick and Ashley used to live.

Okay, I hear Noah calling, needing help with his homework. Better run. Enjoy the rest of your week!

Noah's First Soccer Game

I woke up to pouring rain today, sure that the game would be cancelled. Deep down inside, I was hoping it would be cancelled and rescheduled for next Saturday---so I could be there!!!! (I had to work today) Sure enough, no cancellations unless there's lightning or a downpour.

Anyway...Noah's team, Morrell Auto, won the game 2-1!!!! Horray! He didn't get a whole lot of play time but the time he did get, he enjoyed it and did a great job (so I hear). I'm so proud of him!

My nephew, Tyson, also played today. Wish I had some pics to share...his team won too! I think mom said it was 5-2 or some kind of slaughter like that! :) Yay Tyson!

Many thanks to the Kimes and Cutlers for being there to support Noah. I appreciate it bunches!

Thoughts...

I sat here tonight to update the church website. I was listening to http://www.wibi.org/ and a song by Building 429 came on. I love the band--they're great! This song really caught my attention. Here are the lyrics:

YOU CARRIED ME
I've been so busy, I missed the reasons
I missed Your love, and I nearly missed it all
Still You've loved me, and You've healed me
You've given all and it brought me to Your cross
I stand only because You've given me grace to walk
Only because You carried meYou carried meYou carried me through it all
And I believeYes I believeYou'll carry me all the way home
Cause mercy covers all Cause mercy covers all
I know the scripture, I've known the songs
I sang the words from my hollowed heart
But You've spoken softly through the storm
I've heard Your voice and I've felt the calm
I stand only because You've given me faith to walk
I know that you love me
I'll never doubt it I can't live without it
Your mercy has found me I am astounded,
I can't live without itYou carried meYou carried meYou carried me through it all

You can see the video and listen to the song at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxejXxA2M_E
It's awesome!

Please keep me in your prayers that I can start to speak up when faced with talk by non-believers. I wish I could make people understand that church is not for "perfect" people. So many (unchurched) people think you have to be pristine, white and without sin to step through those doors. On the contrary--those open doors are for people searching and seeking for hope and peace, admitting they are so screwed up, they need help, they need the Father to carry them and lead them. How can we claim to be perfect when He is the only perfect being? It is so hard though, to try to set an example in every day life. Life catches up with us and turns us into....UGLY! Or at least, it does that to ME! Please tell me I am not the only one faced with this!
Father God, I pray for wisdom, patience and understanding when talking to others. May You bring opportunities my way to speak of You and please give me the COURAGE to speak of You! May You bless the hearts of those who might listen, that they will hear You through me. That they may see You, feel You and need You! In Jesus name, AMEN.

Goodnight.

My blessings times three! My goodness, see how we've changed in just 7 months!!

My Rockin' Jammin' Family!

Oh my goodness! Do you see this?!?!? They're all crazy head bangers, I tell ya! (see my two lefties??)

Lyle got his new guitar so they all had to get their guitars out! Which brings me to the next pictures......

Please tell me how one can go from this----dying, oh so sick, I don't think we're going to make it to......

.....very happily playing our BRAND NEW Gibson Les Paul guitar less than 24 hours later?!?! Jeez! Unfortunately, you can't see the smile he had on his face in these pictures! He is so happy. And I was told explicitly--this is a Gibson Les Paul, NOT an Epiphone Les Paul!!!!

Also, he has a hat on in bed because he'd just taken a shower and if he goes to bed with a wet head, his hair sticks out all over the place!! :)

For my musically inclined family, here's a few more...

See the guitar on her shirt??

School Day #2 went well today. They both, of course, came home with homework. Getting back into the swing of that was pretty well....horrible! Here we go again!!! Hannah had to write a speech already! Aaaggghhh! WE got it done though.

I saw Dr. Wooley today. I will be getting glasses next week!!! Oh, I can't wait! I am so blind right now. The girls at work are constantly teasing me about it! I was filling out the information sheet at his office and kept checking one thing after another. I finally just wrote "I just have really POOR vision!" Is that a medical term???

I just found out tonight that Noah has his first soccer game this Saturday. I work this Saturday!!!!! :-( I'm so upset I'll be missing this! I'll have to send the camera with daddy and get a ton of pictures!

You all be thinking of me in this house, with loud guitar being played in the evenings now!!

Have a happy Thursday!

Soccer boy!

Noah had soccer practice tonight. He was VERY sweaty and tired when I picked him up!

The kids had a great first day of school. Of course, it was only about 2 hours, but it went well. Noah says his teacher is very nice (yay!) and Hannah is glad to have Mr. Luzader as her Homeroom teacher. But, instead of Homeroom, they call it Enrichment! What is that about?!?!? Nuts! Tomorrow is their first full day of school...well almost full. They get out 1 hour early the rest of the month due to the heat. Hannah said the Jr. High was VERY hot today!

America's Got Talent just got over--poor Cas! He got 2nd place. I am sick for him! He truly deserved to win. But, he did great!

I'm off work tomorrow, get to go to the eye Dr. I hope to get glasses soon. I'm so blind!

Okay, I'm off to get the kids to bed. Have a great day!

First Day of School!

Aaagggghhhh!!!!! I think this is the earliest I've gotten up (on purpose) all summer, except for going to Women of Faith! It's back to school time. Long gone are the days of sleeping until 8:00. We're back to the 6:30 thing again. Ick! Of course, Lyle would be giving me dirty looks right now--he gets up around 4:30 every day! :-( Poor guy, he's so sick right now. Bad body aches, horrible sorethroat. He came back from Promise Keepers this way. So did his roomies. Hmmmmm......what DID they do in Cincinnati!?!?!?! :-)

Anyway.....the kids both got up right when their alarms went off. Hmpf! That's probably the last time that will happen! We picked out first day clothes last night. Noah insisted on this Hummer T-shirt we got at JC Penney's last week (one of those they sell with the little toy with it! He HAD to have it!). Ugh! I wanted him to wear a nice looking, respectable (good first impression for the new teacher) shirt the first day. But NOOOOO--he wanted the H3 shirt. Okay, okay...pick my battles....count to 10....deep breathing....ya know how it is! Oh well. They only go to school for 2 hours today. We'll wear a nice shirt TOMORROW!!

Hannah had a hard time deciding between 3 shirts (all look very similar!). This was the final choice. She also had to wear her new bangle bracelet and headband from Claires and her new shoes! They were both getting mad about me taking the pictures. I had to ! I forgot to take pics last year!

This is the sign in front of Hannah's school. I wanted a picture of her going in the school, but there were a ton of kids outside the school. I knew she'd kill me later for taking it.
I had to have a picture to remind me that my child is in Jr. High. I'm not old enough for that am I?!?!?!?!

And here's Mr. Noah walking to the school. His last year as a grade schooler! One year from now he'll be going to Tower Hill at the Middle School!

The "Rulers"

of the

Cutler Household

..............

8Hannah

8Noah

8Jinx

Just a little of what's going on right now...

Lyle is currently at Promise Keepers in Cincinnati, OH. I really hope he's enjoying this time with his guy-friends and has a chance to deepen his Walk. I know, from going to Women of Faith, ya need uplifting time every so often!

Hannah is spending the night with a friend so Noah and I are staying up late, doing "stuff". We watched High School Musical 2 earlier...pretty good! I enjoyed the first one better though...

Get to help Grandma and Grandpa Kime move tomorrow! After 12 years of travelling they're putting their roots back in Pana, Illinois. They have found a cute little house (just 2-1/2 blocks from me) to move into. Just perfect for them! Grandma can't wait to put Hannah and Noah to work--cleaning, doing chores, etc, etc....I think Grandma is going to teach Hannah how to iron. She thought it was terrible that I hadn't taught her yet. I didn't want to listen to her whine when she burnt herself!!! :)

The kids start school this coming Tuesday...Hannah begins JR HIGH!!!! 7th grade for her and she is joining band! Grandpa Mark bought her a flute and she's been practicing just about every day. She's getting pretty good! She can't wait to go back to school. She's getting bored staying home all day. She sits and watches Disney channel all day long!! Noah is going into the 4th grade. He is playing Soccer this year and is doing a great job. I'm so excited they're getting involved with things. P.S....they're getting older and I no longer have to pay a babysitter! Today was our last day!! YIPPEE!!!!

My Bells Palsy is MUCH better. 22 weeks and 2 days now, since it began on March 14th. After thousands of dollars to make sure I wasn't dying--Neurologist, CT, MRI, EEG, EMG, chiropractor...I'm going to be okay!! LOL!

My cousin Bob and his wife Sara had their first child last week! What we thought would be a little girl ended up being Evan Glen Emery! Yes, we got a little boy!!! Congrats to the Emerys!

Tuesday is the finale for America's Got Talent. GO CAS HALEY!!!! I adore Cas! He is so awesome. Lyle doesn't like the show but he loves Cas too.

Thanks for reading!!

More fun time

Digging into my photo archives...

In Mid-July the kids and I went to Kicks in Springfield for the day. We had so much fun! A ton of great food and fun and games. Above is Noah riding the go-kart. Should have seen his hair flying!!! :) Below is Hannah playing her fave game--Deal or No Deal!

We had a great opportunity to visit with our Missionary friends that serve in Japan. Dave and Ruth Hinson with Yu Gene (16), Sachio (10) and Aki Masago (7).

Here's Hannah's birthday party....

This is the day Noah came home from camp at Bond Christian Service Camp. They had Crazy Hair Day on the last day. Yikes! That's gel in all that hair!!! He had a blast at camp! Was there from Sunday through Friday and made a ton of new friends! He's going back next year. Yay!

This is Hannah at her friend, Katlynn Stegall's house. She met Katlynn at camp last year and has been great friends with her ever since. Katlynn lives in Granite City--about 1-1/2 hours from Pana! She spent time with us last month and Hannah just spent a few days at their house last weekend.

Our mini-vacation--before school blast

Hannah and Noah had fun putting on the Old West garb and getting their picture taken at the Illinois State Fair. Noah loved holding a gun! Hannah didn't particularly care for the girly-girl dress....but I think deep down she totally dug it!

We saw a neat Gator Show at the State Fair. This was a 9 foot alligator he found in Florida. The kids really enjoyed seeing this show. It was terribly hot, but neat to watch. Near the end of the show, the guy said he brought an alligator that would kill this 9 footer, so he had to tie his mouth shut before he could bring him out....it was this little 2 or 3 foot alligator!!!!! So funny! He said it was because he'd get stuck in the 9 footer's throat!!!! :-) His mouth was tied so kids could come up and pet him and have their picture taken with him. It was awesome.

Great picture of Hannah and me, I thought. Didn't Noah do a great job taking this?!?!?! And see that "straight" smile!










Noah getting a little queasy on the Ferris Wheel. He got better though--he loved it....eventually!
Monday was our day at the State Fair. We spent ALL DAY there! It was a great time. Tuesday we went shopping in Decatur and saw Daddy Day Camp. It was cute. The kids really liked it. Wednesday Noah and I got haircuts...you can see he really needed one!! Then we ate at Pizza Hut, went bowling then swimming in Shelbyville. I got massively burnt -- I mean, I look like a lobster! I'll be better in a few days!! By the way...we all kind of stink at bowling!
Game 1: Noah: 61 Mom: 68 Hannah: 71
Game 2: Mom: 63 Hannah: 70 (Noah played video games)
YUCK!
Anyway...we had a great time and I hated to go back to work Thursday! Oh well....one full week coming in October for our trip to Washington DC. That'll be great.

Oh my, my first experience blogging!

Here we go! This is my first time doing a blog. I have been completely interested in some other friends' blogs over the past few months and have decided maybe this is a great way to show my fam's pics to our friends and family. Ya know, without tying up their email downloading a ton of pictures from me!! :) Have NO idea how this will turn out or if I'll even keep up! But I'll give it a try...