The Cutler Family

2009-09-01T21:59:00.005-05:00

Oh my goodness, it's been forever since I did anything on here!!!! So much has happened since I last blogged.

Hannah graduated Jr High and is now a Freshman at Pana High School. Noah is in the 6th grade. They are both doing well in school, both enjoying their classes this fall. Hannah is in the band, playing the flute and piccolo. She is so very good at it and has decided to go out for some kind of Honor Band thing. Noah is also in the band, as a percussionist. He just started last year so he's figuring it all out. Very good, though.

Lyle started a new job yesterday. He is now working for Heart Technologies. They are a company out of Peoria and he works out of the Decatur office. So far, he is quite happy with the move.

On August 20, my grandma Barb Kime passed away from cancer. We found out in July that she had terminal cancer. Didn't take long to spread and cause her kidneys to fail. I miss her so much it hurts. I was so blessed to be able to spend the last 9 days of her life with her in the nursing home. I will always cherish that time I had with her, just the two of us. The video above is the song Hannah and Lyle sang for her at her Memorial Service. She sounds like an angel.

2009-04-28T23:17:00.004-05:00

My beautiful kids on Easter, 2009

My brother's family

Nick, Ashley

Tyson, Elly

What a dork. I tried to get a picture of my dear sweet brother and me (ha! ha!) and look what he does!!!!!

My beautiful neice, Elly!!

Frank is chewing on deer antlers here---he looks like a Walrus!!!

2008-12-23T23:50:00.000-06:00

2008-09-30T23:15:00.001-05:00

Several couples from our church went to see Fireproof this past weekend. I highly recommend everybody see it!!! I loved it. Some cheesey acting at times, but the message was awesome. Go see it!!!!

It's A Boy!!!

2008-09-11T08:00:00.003-05:00

This is Frank, the newest addition to the Cutler family!!

More to come later....

Did y'all think I forgot how to blog?!?!?!

2008-08-25T07:27:00.025-05:00

No, I haven't forgotten. But life has been so busy!!!! Here's some pictures from here and there. And I'm still not done. Will try to finish up later on. I have a date with a masseuse today!! :)

The kids and I went to the State Fair again this summer. The great Old West picture of the kids was at the top. I love that! Hannah was embarrassed to wear that get-up, but I thought she looked good. Noah just loved holding a gun!!

Aaaahhhhhhh!!!!! Had to get a shot of this--the kids SHARING!!!!!

Below, Noah was freaking out because the cheese on the fries was spicy!!

We had corn dogs for lunch....and dinner!!! The kids had cheesy dogs for dinner though.
Noah bought this gun with his money from Grandma Pat. He loved it. Now, click on the picture so you can see Hannah's expression up close. It's hilarious!!!!!

Here's my lemon head!!! We had so many shake-ups that day. Lemon, Peach, Strawberry...Yummy!!!!

The pirate diving show

It's funny how this cat can go from Regal looking to.....SOOOOO FAT!!!!

THCC VBS 2008

Swimming party for THCC at Shelbyville Aquatic Center

I'll have more pictures on thccpics.blogspot.com soon.
Noah and his friend, Aaron

Tyson
Hannah going off the slide into the water

Ashley and Elly

The fender bender after the swim party!!! A car ran into the car behind us at the park. IN MY MOM AND DAD'S VEHICLE!!!!! Grrrrrrr!!!!!

Grandma Barb's birthday party

Melvin Greer, RPh--Happy 70th Birthday and Happy Retirement!!

Noah's portrait of Jinx

Hannah and her friend, Allison Jones
Noah went to camp again--for soccer this time

Noah taking self-portraits
Lunch at Tres Compadres with church family

Lyle and Mark working on the railing
Not done yet, but getting there!!!
Hannah's slumber party at the church

Ashley, Lucy, Sydney, Hannah, Kelsey, Taylor and Mollie

Awesome LOTR cake Jessi Cook made for Hannah--the Ring!!!

I'll try to do better. Sorry I was so blog-neglectful!!!! Check back soon for more!!

2008-07-13T23:57:00.004-05:00

We had Hannah's family birthday party on Sunday July 6th at Grandma and Grandpa Vincent's home. She's such a fortunate girl---she had 4 grandmas and 5 grandpas there!! Along with aunts, uncles and cousins.

This is the Ipod cake Jessi Cook made for her. Isn't it awesome?!?!?! It matches Hannah's green Ipod!! :)

This is Hannah reading the letter Lyle wrote to her. See down a few posts for a copy of the letter.

Daddy placing the ring on her finger.

Hannah and her lovely cousins, Elly and Erin

Noah, a.k.a. Joe Cool, Elly, Hannah, Erin and Grandpa Kime

My neices, Elly and Erin

Miss El

My other kid, Taylor

My nephew, Mason

Me and my man

My mama

Poor Elly--this was her favorite dress and she got nail polish on the sleeves so mom cut the sleeves off, made a sleeveless dress. She wanted the sleeves on!!!

Visit with the other Cutlers on Grandma Linda's birthday

2008-07-13T23:54:00.002-05:00

Lyle--he slipped on his boots to go out and play ball with the kids. How silly he is!! :)

Mason Alexander!

Mason and Erin in our tree

Hannah in Daddy's hat

These are the invitations Hannah and I made for her slumber party.

4th of July Celebration

2008-07-13T23:50:00.001-05:00

We went to the Pana 4th of July fireworks this year...as usual. Lucy went with us this year.

Lyle and me!!

Hannah and Lucy!

Lyle's Love Letter to Hannah

2008-07-06T08:39:00.005-05:00

As you have read previously, Hannah turned 13 last weekend. Now that she has been getting "boy crazy", we decided it was time for the RING. The purity ring from her daddy. We didn't get her the typical purity ring because they were all cheesy looking. We found her one that she would love to wear until she's a woman. Pictures will come later, as Lyle will be giving it to her today at her party. But I wanted to share the letter he wrote to her to go with the ring. I thought he did an awesome job.

Hannah,

Well, you’re thirteen. And things are starting to change. My little girl is turning into a young woman; whether I want this to happen or not. The adolescent thoughts of your youth have given over to make-up, hair dryers, music and, gulp, boys. It is very humorous to think that my own gender has become my enemy. Now, you and boys and the mixing of you and boys are constantly on my heart.

I have a question slash request slash deal to ask of you. That question will come later; let’s build the suspense first.

God gave you to me. You are a gift. You are special and have value. There is no one else on this earth like you. Psalms says “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” God had you on His mind when He made you.

God has laid a wonderful and fearful task on me. I am to raise, protect, nourish, educate, correct and love……you. You have been given to me, for a short time, as a gift. You are a gift to cherish. And because I cherish you, I am weary of lending that gift to anyone else; including “the boys.” Unfortunately I know that I will someday be forced to release my gift to another man.

For now, you are mine. For now I refuse to share you with anyone else. For now I want to be the only man in your life. Our God is a selfish God. He wants us to want none other than Him. I feel the same about you. I want you to know that until you are married, I will not share you and I ask that you not lend yourself to another until that time. I am asking for purity.

Purity is a big word and means quite a bit. Purity is a righteous heart that is blameless before God. Purity is a clear conscience knowing of one’s fate. Purity is also not allowing your body to fall into sin. This purity entails not giving yourself to another man until you are married. God demands this purity as do I. God has given a special bond to men and women that is not to be shared until marriage.

Now for the question slash request slash deal:

I promise to love you unconditionally. I promise to be a constant in your life that will never leave you. I promise to be the example of the man you will choose to live the rest of your life with. Will you promise to stay true to God and myself, and save yourself for marriage? That’s the deal. I will stay true to you, you stay true to me. God promises never to leave us; I make the same promise to you. Save yourself and make a pure gift to your husband to be. That is my request.

Finally, I love you. In all its simplest form, I love you. No games or tricks. You need to do nothing to have my love. It is yours.

With all my heart,

Hannah's Birthday evening

2008-07-04T09:39:00.004-05:00

Saturday was Hannah's 13th Birthday. I didn't get to see her much, as I had to work from 8:30 to 3 and by the time I got home, she and Lyle had already left for their concert. Lyle took Hannah to see Pillar, her favorite band!!! How cool was it that they were in Lincoln on her birthday?!?!?! Anyway, they had an awesome time together, came home deaf from the noise!!!!

While they were gone, Noah, Brock, Taylor and I went to see Wall-E. It was cute. Brock and Taylor spent the night so we had a little birthday party when Hannah got home.

Here's Hannah and her Daddy!!
Brock and Taylor Mammen with Hannah and Noah---I love all these kids like crazy!!!!

Hannah and best friend, Taylor
This was Hannah when they got home. She'd slept most of the way home (they got home around 10:30)
Taylor bought Hannah a card and duck-taped the envelope!!!

Hannah loves Shel Silverstein books so we got her a bunch of them for her birthday, as well as an Ann Frank movie she loves and another movie she loves--A Walk To Remember (family edited!!)

I had written Happy Birthday Hannah on her bathroom mirror with soap the night before so she'd see it first thing. (I think it's still there!)
I had put these signs all over the house for when she got up Saturday morning. They were on the TV, door, windows, in the fridge, in cabinets....everywhere! Saturday night, Taylor and I put them all on the porch so she'd see them when she got home.
Noah and his buddy, Brock---being cheezy!
Me and Miss Taylor
Me, acting like Hannah. No---she doesn't roll her eyes!! She looks at the ceiling!!!!

2008-06-29T00:33:00.004-05:00

Happy

13th

Birthday

Hannah!!!!

Bond Camp '08

2008-06-23T07:49:00.008-05:00

Noah got home from camp Fridiay night and Hannah and Taylor left for camp Sunday. This is all after Lyle being there the week before Noah. June is Bond-filled every year!!!

This is Hannah's 5th year going (last year for Jr High Camp!) and she took her bestest friend Taylor with her this year. They were so excited about going. I mean, they were counting down days, hours, minutes...everything!

Here's Taylor, Hannah and Katlynn. Hannah met Katlynn 3 years ago at camp and they've been wonderful friends ever since. She lives in Granite City. Hannah's been down there for a night, Katlynn has spent the weekend with us, and they've burned up many hours on the computer!!

Here's cheesy Taylor and Dont-Take-My-Picture-Hannah

Taylor--isn't she cute?!?!

Katlynn

Getting the bunks ready. Taylor put a sheet up to make her bunk like a tent!!

Taylor's mom, Allison, bought the girls matching blankets and pillows. Looks great!!

The girls dorm
The Canteen
Chapel
Boys Dorm
Part of the lake. I didn't get an oppurtunity to get a good shot

On the way to camp--high on excitement....and sugar!!

Noah got home from camp Friday night and surprised us with this--he got Camper of the Week!!!! I was soooooo excited for him!!! He got this plaque, a cross necklace and a t-shirt.

The "sisters" here!! We went shopping a few weeks ago and they both HAD to have these dresses!!

On a sad note, Taylor will be moving to Florida next month. Pretty much all of you know about Taylor's dad having a stroke last month, then their home being lost to a fire, just 4 days later. Allison has found a job in Florida so they'll be moving the family there. Please pray with me for their family, for the decisions they make and that Taylor will continue to seek Christ as she has here and be a light to those around her. We will miss that family sooo much!!!!

Women of Faith 2008

2008-06-18T00:38:00.005-05:00

I am dead tired, have spent over an hour doing pictures and putting them on the church blog. If you are interested in seeing our pics from Women of Faith this past weekend, check out the church blog. I'll get them on here soon. It's almost 1 am and I need to get to bed!! :-)

http://thccpics.blogspot.com/

We had an awesome time! I am still tired from it all, then getting Noah off to camp (after getting Lyle home from camp!) Now we get through the week and send Hannah to camp! What a busy June.

Sunday School Luncheon at Joseph and Ini's

2008-06-06T11:33:00.004-05:00

We had a luncheon at Joseph and Ini's home on Sunday after church for our Sunday School class. I am too lazy to put all the pics on here, after I just put them on the church blog. So go to

http://thccpics.blogspot.com/

to see pictures from the day. And take a look at the whole blog if you haven't before. It's still a work in progress. Watch the video at the very bottom. It's truly awesome!!!

Trip to Terre Haute

2008-06-06T09:29:00.006-05:00

Tuesday morning, we left for a 2 day trip to Terre Haute, Indiana. Just the three of us. Thought I could do it. Well....we probably should have stayed home! I mean, we had a good time! Really. However, my car is still in Indiana--due to be towed today!! Down a little further, you'll see the car and the scene of the "crime".

Anyway, here's our trip. We first stopped in Dobbs Park at the Native American Museum and the Nature Center. Terre Haute has some beautiful parks!!! I wish it hadn't been raining off an on. We could have done so much more.

Sibling love!!! Can't you just FEEL it??!?!?!
Noah was nose to nose with this stuffed bobcat (he was behind glass!) I love this picture

This was freaking cool. I got to see a Copperhead snake eat a mouse!!!!
Noah started chasing ducks and geese into the pond. It was hilarious!!!!
Hannah and mom at Taco Bell
See the back tire, where it's supposed to straight up and down but it's a little crooked?? I realize in these pictures, it doesn't look bad at all. Believe me, it's much worse looking at the actual car. It's especially worse, thinking my son was right there.

This is the intersection where it happened. I took these pictures the next day (from the rental car) The stop light on the left (center) was not working at the time of the accident. They must have fixed it afterwards. Hmmmmm.....
The curb on the left is where I ended up, after being hit and spun around. Almost hit a light pole!

After an ambulance ride to the hospital, we had a much needed swim in the pool and soak in the whirlpool. I seriously think this helped us all a lot.
Hannah doing a handstand
Noah found the exercise room!Ugh, look how terrible I look! I'd cried all my make up off, had my hair swept around by wind, stress through my entire body....I needed the whirlpool!!!!

Thank goodness, we took the laptop. Little did we know how much we'd need it later on (looking into rentals, different route home, etc.) Plus, Noah is addicted. Um...and I am too!! Myspace, man!
Hannah in bed--wanting us to shut up so she could go to sleep!
Noah the next morning. He wanted to sleep but Hannah wanted to go swimming again!
Just two blocks from our hotel was the Clabber Girl Museum. This place was so awesome! The kids really enjoyed it. Oh, and it had the cool spinny door in the front!!! The kids LOVE that!
I had one of Noah in the boy spot, Hannah in the girl spot...but I thought this was cuter!! :)

Noah and me being silly at Wendys
Oh my gosh, she CAN be happy!!!!
My Monkeys!!!!

We went to the C.A.N.D.L.E.S. Museum, a Holocaust Museum. The lady that runs this, Eva Kor Mozes, came to Pana a few months ago and Hannah bought her book and had her sign it. We got to see Eva too!
Children of
Auschwitz
Nazi
Deadly
Lab
Experiments
Survivors

Trip to the City Museum in St Louis with the Jr High Band

2008-06-06T09:04:00.003-05:00

I'm on vacation this week!!!! Monday was Hannah's trip to the City Museum in St Louis with the Jr High Band so since I was off, I decided to chaperone. Hannah wanted me there, but she didn't want me to do ANYTHING. I wasn't supposed to talk to anyone, make any faces, movement....you get it. I embarrassed her ALLLLL day long! But hey, her friends think I'm totally cool! Or whatever it is these kids say now. Anyway, we had a fun day!

Here's Allison, Ashley and Hannah in a little car at the museum

The girls were getting this thing to turn. It was fo funny to watch!

Hannah and mommy!

Got to see a turtle lay eggs. That was really awesome.

This is Hannah being mad at me...
There was a huge room of skateboard ramps and such for the kids to slide on. It was really neat.
Hannah and Allison "waltzing" in the ballroom!
This is Roger and Allison. We spent our entire day together. Super nice people!!
I told the girls to pick out the ugliest dresses so I could take a picture!! They did well!

Look in that tube, close to the tree---see that person climbing inside that thing?!?!? Crazy!
This is Mr Dean, the band director

And here are some pictures I stole from Nick--his football days being relived. He loves it.

Highly Recommended!

2008-05-28T23:44:00.002-05:00

Anyone who knows me knows that I love to read! My boss lent me a book to read, thought I'd enjoy it. Boy, did I ever! I started it at lunch Tuesday, then picked it back up after the kids went to bed that night. I didn't really put it down until almost 1:00 this morning, as I finished it!! This was an awesome book--the story of what these families went through and the testimony of their love for Jesus Christ and their dependence on their God and Savior. I highly recommend you read this. * * * *

Great Kids!

2008-05-28T23:37:00.002-05:00

The Pana School System does something each month called Kindness Kounts. There are a few kids from each grade (K-8th grade I think) awarded for being....kind! Neither of my kids have ever received this award and here, they both got it for April!!!!

Then Hannah got an award for Band, for being the Most Improved in 7th Grade. Mr. Dean commented to us at the Band Concert how hard she has worked this year. We are so proud of her and how beautifully she plays!!

Busy Friday through Monday

2008-05-28T23:21:00.003-05:00

Last Friday was the kids' last actual day of school. They went today for report cards, but I had to get a pic of them on the last day!! Don't they look "thrilled"!?!?!?!
Elly stayed all night with us Friday night. We bought some fireworks and did that after it got dark. Elly loved throwing the sparklers on the ground!
Noah with some kind of fire hazard!!
Elly had a blast!
Noah trying to light brush on fire!! Ugh!
Monday we had a cookout at mom and dad's house.
Here's Nick, Ashley, Gma Olive, Gma Barb, Gpa Kim
Tyson and Noah outside "eating". Ha! More like wasting time and making look like they were eating! They wanted to go fishin'!

First Day of School--August 21, 2007

Last Day of School--May 23, 2008

Lunch with church family

2008-05-27T08:18:00.003-05:00

Last Sunday, we had lunch at Tres Compadres with a bunch of church family. Had a great time!

Here's Lainey and Aubrea. So cute!
Cutey Nathanael
The bigger kids
The girls
Aubrea and Traci
Hannah and baby Luke
Lainey, Tori and Fayth

Pana Heritage Days

2008-05-27T08:02:00.005-05:00

Last weekend was Pana Heritage Days. I've never been one to go to this event, but Hannah wanted to go with her friends, so.....I went. Now, Hannah, Lucy and Taylor said I could NOT walk with them, so thankfully, Ashley and the kids wanted to go as well! Actually, Tyson wanted to go and wouldn't stop talking about it so I think Ashley gave in!! :)

The evening was interesting. While we were eating our dinner, we got to see a fight on the street between some kids and watched a cop take a guy down. Pretty cool! Never saw anything like that before!

Hannah, the girl that hates rides, found that she loved the Scrambler and this other ride with bird cage type things. So she rode over and over and over that night. After Ashley and the kids went home, I rode with the girls and I had a blast! I hadn't rode any of those rides since I was a teenager! It was fun.

Here's Tyson waiting in line for the jumping house. He is soo adorable!
Awwww! Ashley and Tyson (and the sword!)
Ty and Aunt Traci
Tyson liked the jumping house!
Tyson and Elly riding the cool car!
This was Elly after getting OFF the cool car. She did NOT want to stop!!!
Lucy, Taylor and Hannah at Pana Heritage Days

Lucy, Hannah and Taylor on the Scrambler.
Hannah and me waiting in line for the Octopus
The girls had a sleepover at our house after spending all evening uptown (or is it downtown??) Lucy got quite silly!! :)
Hannah and Lucy in bed
Taylor on her bed on the floor. I can't believe I got this picture. She hates pictures taken of her!

Hannah's Band Concert

2008-05-26T20:50:00.002-05:00

Hannah had a band concert a few weeks ago. She did an excellent job! There was a song where you could only hear the flutes, and I know the best one was the Cutler chick!! LOL!
This is Hannah and her friend, Allison Jones
Waiting for the concert to start--Mom, Noah, Linda

After the concert, Mr. Dean came up to us and remarked on how excellent Hannah is and how much she has progressed this year, having just began playing the flute in August. He said she has been his hardest worker!! ***YAY***

HOORAY!!!!!

2008-05-21T21:20:00.000-05:00

He won!!!!!!

He's IN!

2008-05-14T22:26:00.004-05:00

Ooooh, the object of my obsession is in the finals!!!!! I just adore David Cook on this year's American Idol. He is just awesome. Joni Foor and I are both in agreement--we'll be the first ones to buy his first album!!!!

Go David!!!!!

2008-05-12T23:50:00.002-05:00

I made a ham for dinner, had some left over and just threw it away because I knew it would just sit in the fridge for the next week or so if I kept it! I was sitting at the table with Noah later on and saw Jinx out of the corner of my eye, sniffing the trash can. He usually doesn't do anything like this. It was so hilarious! Look how tall he is! Silly guy!

Busy weekend

2008-05-11T21:25:00.004-05:00

Saturday was a busy, busy shopping day!!!! Some of ladies from church (along with two newborns) loaded up in a couple of vans around 9:30 a.m., headed to Springfield, shopped, ate at Olive Garden and got back to Pana around 7:00 p.m. I'm getting too old for that! Happy to say though, Ashley was tired too!! :)

Here's our group...front l-r Becky, Jessi, Tammy, Ashley....back l-r Karen, Rachel, Missy. Karen's son, Luke came--he was born on February 29. Tammy's daughter, Adrian came--she was born March 14. Both were very good---until they got hungry! Boy, they let you know when they were hungry!!!! I couldn't help either of them!! hahahaaa!

I talked to Lyle during the day and he was so excited. He'd been working with Noah, playing catch. I guess that boy has an arm! They had to show me when I got home. And of course, I had that camera close by!!!

Here's me and my babies on Mother's Day! This is my 13th Mother's Day.

Hope you all had a very happy mommy's day!!!!

Elly turns 3 !!!!

2008-05-08T23:41:00.004-05:00

I can't believe Elly is three years old already!

I clearly remember the night she was born!!

Isn't it wild how fast time slips away from us.

Here's Elly playing outside. It's funny--I got a picture of her like this at her second birthday. Ill have to find that one....
Mommy made Elly's cake. She did much better than I do!

After opening this, she didn't want to open anything else!
The Hall girls' men...Nick, Aaron and Donny
Tyson was helping Elly blow out her candles
Mmmmmm!!!!
Here's your mentally challenged picture, Nick!!!!

Over at the Ricketts

2008-05-08T23:25:00.002-05:00

Got to spend some time at the Rickett's house a few weeks ago.

This is Jessi with Simon. Arent they just adorable?!?!?
Elly and Simon. Looks like she's giving him a what-for!
Arrrr! Tyson the Pirate!
Aawwwwww!!! Poor Simon! Elly drove away!

Me just messin round

2008-05-08T23:12:00.002-05:00

My self portraits...and redone on Photoshop. Third one's pretty sweet, huh?!?!?

These are for my myspace!! :)

Cub Scout Rocket Derby

2008-05-08T23:05:00.003-05:00

Noah had his first Rocket Derby for Cub Scouts a few weeks ago. The week had been beautiful--70's--warm and sunny. That morning was cold and WINDY!!! Oh, it was terrible. But it was still fun.

Here's the three usual suspects--Noah, Palmer and Brock...with Daddy close by!!

Out with the old, in with the new

2008-04-24T08:13:00.003-05:00

Well, the old Jeep is gone. Lyle took it Saturday and traded it off for a new-to-him truck. I think driving a truck makes him feel more like a MAN!! :) Too cute! In the beginning, I was pretty upset. I repeatedly told him it was a bad idea, we needed to keep the Jeep, it's paid off next month, etc, etc....he did it anyway......but to be honest---I LOVE driving that truck! It's awesome! Call me silly, or MANLY!!!! hahahahahaaa!

Today was 70's/80's day at school for Hannah. She's wearing a bright orange shirt with a belt around the outside of it, has hear hair in a side ponytail and blue eyeshadow on. I told my mom it sounds like ME about 20 years ago!!!!

Lots of plans this weekend with Cub Scouts, church events, birthday parties, other parties...gonna be a busy one! Hope you all have a wonderful (and restful) weekend!!

Sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-shakin!!!!

2008-04-18T06:25:00.002-05:00

Oh my goodness. I was dead asleep and all of a sudden the house starts shaking. It was 4:39 according to my clock this morning when my house was shaking and I was freaking. Lyle called it an earthquake. I was scared because we pay extra on our Insurance since we live on top of a MINE!!!! All of a sudden, I'm seeing our house going down, into this pit with all of us in it! So for the next hour, I just lay there, not able to sleep! And I'm suddenly rethinking this whole sleeping in the nude thing. Do I really want to be pulled out of the rubble in nothing?!?!? In this body?!?! Heck no!

Ha! Ha! Have a wonderful day! IT'S FRIDAY!!!!

Hannah's new 'do

2008-04-12T17:19:00.004-05:00

Hannah stayed the night with her friend Lucy. They went to work with Lucy's mom, Marie, who works at The New You Salon. Hannah decided to get a haircut while she was there. See my much older looking daughter below! Looks much more mature in person. Ugh! Lyle and I freaked when she came in. She just looked so.....grown up!!!! :(

Lazy Blogger!

2008-04-04T08:48:00.014-05:00

I admit, I've been lazy and neglectful to my blog! I have been spending a lot of my computer time on myspace. Bad Traci! Go lay down! :) Sorry to those of you who regularly look at my blog for updates on our life. I'm such a sloth!

First up: Last weekend, we went to the Children's Museum in Decatur with Nick, Ashley, Tyson and Elly. We had a great time, but quickly got tired! We did the museum, some shopping and Olive Garden. Much to Ashley's chagrin, Farm & Fleet was closed!! LOL!!! :)

Here's the silly boys (Lyle and Nick!) with Ronald McDonald

The bubble room

Elly LOVED the bubble room! Could hardly get her out of there!

Elly also liked the rollerball.

The kids enjoyed painting...

Tyson and Noah played in the water
Noah looks like a giant there!

ELL!

Nick made Tyson's name in this thing. Was so neat!

I think the boys had as much fun as the kids!

Future pilots???

They loved this ambulance

Dr Kime. Paging Dr Kime!

Elly was thinking she was going to give Uncle Lyle a shot.
Ashley (and I!) were thinking "It's time to GO!!"

Dinner at Olive Garden. YUM!

Easter

Here's Grandma and Grandpa Vincent with Evan--Bob and Sara's little one.
Looking down the room...G&G Kime, my dad and mom, G&G V (can't see any of them), Hannah, Sara, Bob, Deb, Brad, Randy, Shelby

Hannah, Evan and Elly

What are you looking at??

The boys!

Swimming

Hannah, Ashley, the kids and I went down to visit Nick at the hotel he was staying at when he was working in Woodriver. The kids got to swim. This particular picture was taken just seconds before Tyson went into the deep end and Nick had to jump in to save him. Nick was fully clothed, ready for work...ruined his cell phone!!! But Tyson was okay.

Hannah and her friend, Lucy Weddle

My birthday balloons from my friend, Carla. She's so sweet!

2008-03-19T08:07:00.003-05:00

Happy Birthday To Me!

Okay, I turn 34 years old today. I'm not liking this of course. My next birthday I'll be 35 and that means I'm on the downhill slope to 40!!! I hate getting older because that means my parents and grandparents are getting older and I'm just not ready for that!

My day begins with Lyle waking me up. He comes down close to me...I think "Ah, he's gonna wish me a happy birthday!" Then I hear "Can I have a few dollars for coffee?" Thanks hun. I did get a happy birthday though.

My friend Missy sent me an email today. She knew I was not liking the whole 34 thing...she's 37 by the way. Or maybe it's 36. I can't remember! Anyway, I got this in an email from her this morning:
As for being 34 - the fun is just begining! Think about it, the older you get, the older your kids get and the more FUN they get! Before long, they can drive you AROUND, not just drive you crazy!!!! You can send them on errand runs, etc. It's all good. Age is totally what you make of it. Don't let it stress you or get you down - be like fine wine or cheese or whiskey (or drink the fine wine or whiskey while you eat the cheese).... choice is yours!! ;-) Just kidding!
Ya, whatever Missy! You suck.

THEN, my friend Melinda sends me an email. She turned 35 in January. Older than me. She says she will always remember today for two reasons--1. my birthday. 2. she found her first gray hair. Uh, I said she found her FIRST gray hair!!! She totally sucks! I've been coloring my hair since I was 27 because it was turning gray! She has four kids and she's JUST NOW finding gray?!?!?!?!!?!? Sooooooo unfair!

Okay, I'm gonna quit whining and get ready for work. One highlight though--I went up to wake Noah up. He was barely awake, I was walking out of the room and in that sleepy voice, I hear "Happy Birthday Mommy!" Aaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I got a fantastic email from my mother. I do love my family!!!!

Have a great day!

2008-03-16T18:44:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday Mom!!!!!!

Monday March 17 is my mom's birthday. She'll be 52!!! (Sorry mom) Man, I can't believe she's gonna be 52!!! But...I can't believe I'm going to be 34 on Wednesday!!!!! Aaaagggghhhhh!!!!!

Happy Anniversary to me!

2008-03-15T17:27:00.004-05:00

It was March 14, 2007 when I woke up to a weak right side of my face, which I later found to be Bells Palsy. I can't believe it's been a year already! I am much better now...not 100% better but getting there. When I had an EMG in May of '07, I had 20% use of the right side of my face. I would say I now have 75-80% use of it. Still a lot I can't do, but hopefully time will make the difference. Quite a difference in these pictures below!!!
March 2, 2008

March 22, 2007

Gospel Night

2008-03-08T21:52:00.003-06:00

Each year, the Booster Club puts on a variety show. Saturdays are Gospel Night and Lyle has participated quite a few times. Kevin Young and Brad Rickett joined him this year!! This is their version of "Those Who Trust" by Waterdeep.

We had a great time afterwards with Kevin and Connie Young at DQ! (Even though Connie is a "bad influence" on Noah!! ha!ha!)

(?)Spring(?) Pictures

2008-03-07T23:14:00.003-06:00

The kids got their spring pictures back--taken in February!!!! Man alive....I guess we need to have our Christmas pictures taken in July this year!!! :)

2008-03-05T07:33:00.002-06:00

Happy 18th Birthday Billy!!!!

Oh my goodness, I can't believe he's 18 years old! I clearly remember him being born! It was just 2 weeks before I turned 16. I was at the hospital. I held him soon after he was born. He was beautiful and precious! Over the next few years, I was with him a lot--to babysit or just to be with him. I remember one time I accidentally locked him in the car. He was probably about a year old, buckled in his carseat. The whole neighborhood was there helping me get into the car. He thought it hilarious--for awhile. Then he got worried and started to cry! Oh, it doesn't seem like it was that long ago! I don't get to see him as often now but I love that "little" boy!!

(Billy's mom is my mom's sister Jan)

A little of this, a little of that

2008-03-02T18:25:00.004-06:00

It's Sunday evening...my family is in Tower Hill and here I sit all by myself! I love it!!

It was a typical week--work all week, Lyle had class and practice...actually got to be home with us 3 nights! That was nice. Friday night was family movie and pizza night. Yesterday was a good day to lay around. I intended to throroughly clean Noah's room, but you know how that can be! Hannah and Noah went over to Nick and Ashley's in the evening to stay with Tyson and Elly while Nick, Ashley, Lyle and I went out. We ate at Tres Compadres and then came back here and played a little Poker. We had fun. It was so nice to spend time with them. I love my brother to pieces and Ashley and I seem to be forming a good friendship. I love it because I've been wanting that for years, but didn't know quite how to go about it. It's wierd, but I believe myspace is helping us build a relationship! Strange, I know. But I'm so glad it's finally happening! She's a wonderful, beautiful woman. I'm just so glad Nick has her.

We've been having some difficulty with Noah's teacher so we have a meeting set up with the Principal and teacher for Monday March 10. Be praying all goes well!!!! Don't lose cool, don't throw a fit, don't look like an idiot...ya know!!

I have a couple of funnies to share...

Noah was telling me the other morning about a story one of the kids in his class was reading. Noah said "....and then he said crap! (he!he!he!) Well, he actually said H-O-L-Y crap!" I almost died laughing. I said "You felt the need to spell out Holy but you thought it was okay to say crap?!?!?!" Oh, kids....

Then at work on Thursday, a guy came in that just woke up a few days earlier with Bells Palsy. Well, being the "expert" on the subject, I went out to help him pick out some eye drops and gel. I mentioned that I have B.P., blah, blah...he looked at me and said "Oh ya, I see it! Oh SH#T!!" Ugh, he should have just stabbed me in the back! Then later he came back and he said "How long have you had it?" I said "Well, it'll be a year in a few weeks, but it's almost gone!" He shook his head and said "No, I see it drooping there! Oh SH#T!!!" Okay. Well, just give me a bottle of Prozac because you just depressed me even more!!!! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!!!

On another front, I have become obsessed with American Idol! I love it! And I just love David Archuleta! He's such a wonderful little thing! I truly believe he could win it. My top faves are:

#1 David Archuleta
#2 David Hernandez
#3 David Cook
#4 Michael Johns

You can see that I'm more into the guys. I don't really care for any of the girls this year. Maybe Carly. I dunno. I'm just struck by the guys.

Here's a few videos you all need to watch if you weren't able to watch Idol the other night.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovborwDaooQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reM4sO9XskA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfH57SYkg-s

I also love the Apprentice! I can't stand Omarosa and wish she'd just get off there! I have a feeling though, it's gonna come down to her and Piers. They've been at it since the beginning. It's really quite hilarious!

Well, I've done more rambling than anything. I need to get some pictures taken to put on here!! Hope you all have a wonderful week.

Blue and Gold Banquet

2008-02-23T21:58:00.010-06:00

Tonight was the Blue and Gold Banquet for the Cub Scouts. Noah is almost a Webelo. Just a few more activities and we'll be there. He got his Bobcat badge and a few other activity pins. He is really enjoying being in scouts.

His Den Leader is Allison Mammen, Brock and Taylor's mom

After the badge presentations, the Birds of Prey from Decatur put on a demonstration. Here are a some birds they brought. The owl peed on the floor!

Here's pictures from the Eclipse the other night--didn't turn out too well!

What a night!

2008-02-15T23:17:00.003-06:00

The evening started with me getting home around 6:30 when Hannah was starting to get ready to go to her Valentine dance at school. She was wearing this cute black shirt that looks great on her. She's putting on her white tennis shoes. I told her she needed to wear my black shoes. She won't do it, says who cares what I look like? Lyle completely agrees with her, says who cares what she looks like! When I look at him, I see that he is actually having a difficult time with this whole dance thing, Jr High, boys, etc....so I go for it. I asked if she'd like me to curl her hair, would she like me to put some make-up on her, better put on some perfume! Oh, Lyle's about to jump out of his chair and throttle me! Toooooo funny! Well, she wore the white tennis shoes, she didn't wear any make-up or perfume. She says she didn't dance with any boys (who knows) but she had a great time. She actually danced this time. The last two dances she went to she just ran around with her friends. Baby steps! I'm not going to push her!! Anyway, after we got home, I made a comment in front of Lyle about all the boys she danced with. Of course, she was about to kill me and I think Lyle almost threw up. Oh, you should have seen it!

Here's Hannah and her daddy, just over 10 years ago! Aren't they so sweet!?!?! In case you didn't figure it out, those are Pull-Ups on their heads!!!!

Later on, Lyle went to bed because he had a terrible headache. Hannah and I wanted to watch a movie and nothing was on. We have like a hundred stations but NOTHING was on! I put in Sleepless in Seattle. She's never seen it, it's been awhile since I saw it. It's PG so I figure it should be okay. Somewhere along the way I fell asleep. I woke up to Hannah turning off the movie because they were saying stuff she knew I wouldn't want her to hear! What a kid! I was so proud of her! I'm still not sure what they were saying she thought was inappropriate, but I just had to come in here and post what a great kid I have! I love her to death!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Happy Valentines Day!

2008-02-14T22:34:00.005-06:00

Today is the day...February 14th...Valentines Day! The day for love. The day to wear red. The day to spend way too much money! You would not believe the number of guys that have come into Family Drug this week to buy Fannie May chocolates for their sweeties! Completely insane! And you know Fannie May--not cheap. Then you have to go buy a $5 card, one that sings and everything! Curazy!

Anyway...I was talking to Lyle on my way home because he'd be gone when I got home. He was saying how busy he was today and he had no time to get me anything. Fine by me! Then I don't have to pay for anything!! Well, I walk in the door and find these...

The tulips are gorgeous in person! So pretty. Then there's the card. You can see the monkey in his heart shorts and it says Kissy Kissy. Open it up and it says Happy Valentines Day from your Love Monkey. Well, it didn't stop there. Lyle added his own stuff. Here are the ones I can put here (since my mother reads this) :

*You remind me of Pokemon...I just want to Piccachu!

*If you were a booger, I'd pick you first

*You make my software turn into hardware

*My love for you is like diarrhea...I just can't hold it in(how romantic!)

*Are you from Tennessee? Cause you're the only ten I see!

*I may not be Dairy Queen...but I'll treat you right

*All this could be yours for one low price

*My lips are registered weapons

Wow! What a man! I don't know what ones he thought of and what he found elsewhere. I'm just glad it was rated PG. My last card was rated X!!!!! :)

So, hope you all had a wonderful Valentines Day. I am so blessed to have my Valentine!

(oh, guess what I got Lyle?? Fannie May!!)

What a great movie!

2008-02-09T21:47:00.000-06:00

I watched Sixteen Candles last night for the 57th time. Okay, I may be exagerating a bit...maybe it was just the 56th time!! That is one of those I could watch over and over and over. Love it! Anyway, I just LOVE the last scene! Found it on YouTube but I have NO idea how to link it here, where you click on it to play. Somebody help me with that! So here's the actual link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJMIDuD9RGw&feature=related

I love the part when she walks out of the church, the cars part, and oh my gosh, there's Jake Ryan!!! In all his splendor. He waves, she's looking to see who's behind her..."me?" she says..."ya, you" he says...fast forward to them sitting on the table with her birthday cake between them (how on earth did they get on that table anyway?!?!?!), he tells her to make a wish, she says it already came true...aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....how romantic! And that Thompson Twins song "If You Were Here" is soooo 80's! Love it, love it! If only you could see the sappy smile on my face right now!!!! What is totally weird is that I was the age my daughter is now when I first saw this movie. Shame on you mother, for allowing me to see this!!! I'd never let Hannah see this!!!! hahahahahaaaa!

Happy Birthday "Baby" Brother!

2008-02-05T00:21:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was my little brother's birthday. Nick is now 26 years old! I just can't believe it. In my mind, he will always be this little 10 year old twirp! (I guess he's now a 26 year old big twirp!) I was pretty horrible to Nick as he grew up, beating on him as much as I could. But I love that guy sooooooo much! He means the world to me. And I love his family like mad.

Anyway...we had his birthday party at mom and dad's--Superbowl Sunday! This was actually the first day Nick had off work since January 2nd! He's been working 7 days a week in Clinton. Glad to have him back home! I kinda miss him coming over every so often!

Elly is watching the candles...probably trying to figure out how she can get at the icing!

Disgusting pig! He hates to have his picture taken so he opened up!

Is this better?!?! :)

Nick's wife Ashely with Grandma Barb

Prime example why Elly is as gorgeous as she is! Look at her mama! She's beautiful!

I'm so excited--Ashley is going to Women of Faith again this year! And she wants to room with me! Looking forward to it again this year!

I just missed him having his eyes crossed!

My nephew Tyson. He's such a cutie! Look at that long hair!

Elly is in the Sylvester costume mom made for Nick eons ago!

She's just the cutest thing ever!

Grandpa Ed and Grandma Olive!

Grandma Barb and Grandpa Kim!

My sexy man! He missed his nap that day.

Dad and Hannah! I always seem to catch people with food in their mouths!

Lounging...waiting for The Game to start!

Thank goodness for Prozac!

2008-01-28T21:48:00.000-06:00

Okay, I'm not ashamed to say that I started Prozac about three weeks ago. It's great stuff! My family is much happier now that I'm on it. Oh wait, it's me that's happier! Well, in turn they're all happier cuz you know how it is when Mamma ain't happy! :) Seriously, Lyle was practically begging me to start something and I'm glad I asked the Dr. Life is better now.

Anyway...I needed it this past weekend! After the Pinewood Derby, each of my kids brought home two friends. I said each. Uh... 2 + 2 + 2 = 6 FREAKING KIDS!!!! Okay, I really don't have the patience for things like that, but I did okay! They had such a blast! Getting showers coordinated and getting ready for church was interesting but we did it. And thank goodness for my mother that helped transport them all to church!

The boys played with the Nerf guns allll night! I had nerf darts all over my house!

Soon after Palmer got here, he lost a tooth!

Lucy did Hannah's "makeup". Yikes! Remind me not to let her do MY makeup!

Here's Brock and Noah drawing race cars

Lucy, Hannah and Taylor are watching TV

The girls eating breakfast Sunday morning

We all had a great time, even if we didn't get much sleep. I had a hard time in church Sunday, but I survived. After church, we went to McDonald's for lunch. That was interesting! I've never ordered for that many before! Never paid for that many either!! :)

2008 Pinewood Derby

2008-01-28T21:40:00.000-06:00

I know--it's been forever since I last posted. Like Christmastime! I just haven't had much to post! Until now. Saturday night was the Pinewood Derby for Noah's Cub Scout troop. This is his first year in scouts and he really enjoys it. He's in the same Den with some of his best friends, Palmer and Brock. We didn't do too great this year. Placed last, but that's okay. Next year we know better how to build a winning car! He still had fun.

Here's Noah's Den, minus Brock. Not sure where he was!

Palmer and Noah showing off their cars

The track

Kind of dark, but Noah's yellow car is racing! I think they're all head to head. He ended up coming in 3rd or 4th out of 4.

Hannah and her friends, Lucy and Taylor

(Palmer and Brock's sisters!)

Christmas Day at Grandma and Grandpa Vincent's

2008-01-06T21:32:00.000-06:00

As it goes with tradition, we spent Christmas Day at my Grandma and Grandpa Vincent's home. Pretty much the whole family was there--at least all of the kids, grandkids and great-grandkids. It was wonderful! For years, there were no little ones and now there's a ton of them! And we keep having more babies! Well, all those younger cousins of mine do! My days are done and over with! (Yay!) We had one new addition this year--Evan Glenn Emery was almost 5 months at Christmas. He is Bob and Sara's little boy. And such a cutie!

And great news...I opened my Christmas card from Bill and Megan. It had a great picture of the three of them and was signed "Bill, Megan, Allie and TBA Reininger" AAAHHHHH! We'll have another new one next Christmas!!!!

My cousin Judy (Hill) Green was home for Christmas this year! When I was growing up, Judy was the beautiful, glamorous cousin that lived in California. Well, I'm all grown up now and Judy is still in California (after also living in Texas and Scotland!), she's still beautiful and glamorous! She and Hannah totally hit it off because they both share a love of rocks, minerals, etc, etc. Hannah is so excited because Judy said she'd send Hannah some stuff of hers. I think Hannah is expecting a package to arrive anytime!! :) ANYWAY....her awesome husband Tom dressed up as Santa and gave gifts to the kids this year. It was so great! Scared poor Elly half to death though! It was still fun to see Santa come visit!

Tyson and Grace with Santa Claus

Bye Bye Santa!
There's Grandma Olive, Judy is doing the taping

Lyle and the rest of the boys were being just that--boys! Lyle brought his "spud gun" and were launching potatoes all over the place!

Here's a potato Noah ran to find after being launched!

My nephew, Tyson

What a mess!

My cousin Billy

More of the crew--Judy, Penny, Ann, Nick, Shelby, Grandma
(and part of Ashley)

My Dad

Today (January 6) is his birthday--52!

Hey, it's also Aunt Deb's birthday--54!

Miss Hannah and my mom

(Yikes! Hannah took this one!)

Hannah took this one too! This is Mike, my cousin Michelle's husband

My hubby and my grandma

This is my mom's brother Brad and her sister Jan

Grandpa Ed with his sister, Ann (hi Shelby!)

My grandpa Kime watching TV

My grandma Barb...watching!

Precious Evan!

This is Michelle's daughter Grace with Grandma Deb
(Happy Birthday Deb!)

The Reiningers left a little early, so Allie got to open her gifts early.

She is the one that will be having a little brother or sister this year!!!

Christmas morning at home

2008-01-04T21:37:00.000-06:00

I had told the kids not to get up too early--let us all get a good sleep! Well, I was the first one up Christmas morning! I'm not used to Lyle being in bed any past 5:00 and that was the 4th morning in a row of him being in bed when the sun was up! No late sleeping for Trac!

This was the kids opening up their box of Harry Potter movies!!! They were so excited.

Noah got a skateboard! Um, I'll start taking donations to help with meeting my deductible in the Emergency Room! :)

Hannah loves squirells...Hannah loves toe socks...

I found a cute pair of squirley toe socks!

Lyle is chillin' with his cup of Ethiopian Yergechef coffee.

When we were in DC, he found this coffee at Union Station and loved it. I found it online and ordered three pounds for him for Christmas!

Jinx was freaking out at all the paper and boxes!

Noah LOVES Legos! Found this Lego Star Wars shirt for him. He loves it!

Hannah's Crystal Growing Kit. You know how she loves rocks and crystals

She was so excited about this big halite. This came from the Salt Lake in Salt Lake City, UT

Noah trying out the skateboard

Moon River

2008-01-04T21:28:00.000-06:00

When Hannah was little, we would often take trips to Branson with Mark and Linda. Hannah loved Andy Williams! She knew every word to Moon River. Not something you'd imagine a 2 year old to know! Here is Hannah singing Moon River in the shower (unbeknownst to her!) Click the Play arrow and TURN UP YOUR VOLUME! It's adorable. (this is just me playing the video on the TV and taping it with my camera. Not very good picture, but you can't see anything anyway...)

Christmas Eve at the Kimes

2007-12-26T23:49:00.000-06:00

As tradition stands, we spent Christmas Eve at my mom and dad's home. When I was growing up, that was the night mom, dad, Nick and I got together with grandma and grandpa Kime, my aunt Mariellen and cousin Jon. Mariellen and Jon are living in Minnesota now (and there's a whole other story there!) and then grandma and grandpa started spending winters in Arizona. So grandma and grandpa Vincent started spending it with us. Now...12 years later, the Kime home held my mom and dad, me and my family, Nick and his family, G&G Vincent and...G&G Kime again!!!!! It was very nice to have them here this year. Their first Christmas with the great-grandkids. A bit overwhelming, I'm sure!!!! At least I was overwhelmed! ha! ha!

I tried and tried and tried (and tried some more!) to get a good picture of these kids. This was the best one I got. Aren't they all adorable?!?!

This was the MESS!

Grandma Barb and Grandpa Kim

Grandma Olive and Grandpa Ed

My mama

Grandpa Ed is a big Johnny Cash fan. Always has been. I remember when I was little, he would put Johnny Cash records on in the family room every Sunday afternoon and listen to them all day. Anyway, I found this cup that sings "Ring of Fire" when you push the button. He had to have it! The kids and I said so! Well, Elly just LOVED the cup! By Tuesday, she was singing "...down, down down and flames went higher...and it burns, burns, burns, the ring of fire, ring of fire" She was so cute!

Noah got a Pogo stick from Grandma Pat and Grandpa Kenny
Uh-oh!

Hannah was pretty excited to see the Hairspray DVD and soundtrack!

Mom and dad got Elly the cutest Disney kitchen set with the table and chairs!

Okay. I have no decent pictures of my brother. He always makes these stupid faces! Here's two I have of he and Ashley. She's just gorgeous...then there's Nick!

Tyson was dancing!

Noah watching TV (supposed to be eating!) and Tyson slurping spaghetti!

"The Guys"

(dad, grandpa and grandpa)

Grandma Barb

Noah and Tyson were playing with Hot Wheels before dinner

Mom is gonna kill me when she sees this one!

She was tired from all the preparations!

Miss Elly with Miss Hannah!

Sunday at church and the Cutlers

2007-12-26T23:44:00.001-06:00

Sunday after church we went to Mark and Linda's for lunch, since Joel was unable to spend the Christmas get-together with us Friday night. The kids had a blast, as you can see! :)

Hannah, Erin and Mason all dressed up

Erin got make-up and decided to try it on Hannah

Oooooh, pretty!

The kids at church. It was so cute! There were a ton of kids up there too!

Dry Pana on Sundays...

2007-12-23T22:35:00.000-06:00

Went to the grocery store today to buy the items I need for Christmas dinners. I didn't want to be caught in the mess of the Christmas Eve rush! Anyway, I needed White Wine Vinegar for a salad I'm taking to Grandma Vincent's Tuesday. Get to the check out, the girl scans it and it rejects it, tells me I can't have it! It has alcohol in it and Pana is a dry town on Sunday--no alcohol sales anywhere!!! Oh! My! Gosh! I insisted I was using it to cook with, not to drink. I also insisted I was not coming back on Christmas Eve!!! The manager (thankfully) over-rode the machine and I got my White Wine Vinegar! Who on earth would drink that anyway!?!?!?

Just had to share my funny!

Christmas with the Cutlers

2007-12-22T08:26:00.000-06:00

We had Christmas with the Cutlers last night. We had a great time! Here's Hannah and Noah with their cousins, Erin and Mason. Lyle's brother Joel was supposed to be off work and able to be with us, but at the last minute, ended up having to work. So Becky and the kids came up, then Joel will come later. We're having lunch with them all Sunday after church. Then Noah can build his new Lego set with Uncle Joel. That's his favorite thing to do after Christmas and his birthday. We can always count on Uncle Joel to get Noah Legos!!

Hannah and Erin getting ready to hand out gifts

Linda and her daddy, Grandpa Tom

Mark and Linda

Lyle and Mark

Becky, Erin and Mason

THE AFTERMATH!

Hannah and Erin, the Princesses!

We got Erin a dress up set and she loved it!

Linda made a great dinner last night for us. And her pumpkin pie and pecan pie were the best ever! The kids had a great time opening their gifts. It was so odd seeing Hannah open her stuff, not having any toys. She's beyond that now, I guess. :( Noah got this Nerf thing though---it's like shooting trap, only you shoot Nerf darts at these plastic Nerf "clay" pigeons. It's pretty cool.

It was so funny last night...my foot has bothering me real bad lately, with the heel spur I have. Hurts to walk. The inserts I'm using help some, but after I sit awhile, it's hard to walk. Becky started having trouble with her foot recently too. Becky and I were sitting on the couch talking and we both got up to do something. We're both hobbling around with our bad feet like a couple of gimps. It was hilarious because we, at 33 and 36, looked worse than 85 year old Grandpa Tom!!!!! Tooo funny!

We're going out for the day today (Saturday). My boss, Steve, gave us all great gift cards to Hickory Point Mall and my boss, Jamie, gave me a gift card to Kohls. Woo hoo! I love Kohls! So we're going shopping, out to eat and maybe see the new National Treasure movie.

Sunday we'll be eating lunch with all the Cutlers after church. Monday we'll be having Christmas Eve at mom and dad's and then Christmas Day at Grandma & Grandpa Vincents. BUSY WEEKEND!!!!

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas! And a blessed New Year!!!

It's been awhile...here's quite a few pics!

2007-12-19T22:28:00.000-06:00

Man, it's been a busy week! And it's only Wednesday! Okay, the past few weeks have been busy. That sounds better. I've neglected my blog and now I have a ton of pics to put on. I know this one was already put on but I love it so much I had to put it on again!!! They just look so happy!

Everyone has been telling me how much better my face is, after 9 months since the Bells Palsy started. I had to take a picture to see for myself, instead of gawking at myself in the mirror. I can't open mouth smile normal, and my mouth is still a little crooked, but not bad! TONS better than in March!

Last night was Noah's Christmas Program at school. They did such a great job! It was a play, based on American Idol. It was very cute. Noah sang--he's in the back rown, right under the "r" in "Star"

Monday night was Hannah's Band Concert at school. She's the second from the right in the front row. She did a great job! We got to hear the 6th graders, the Jr. High, the High School and the Jazz Band. (I honestly think the 6th graders did the best out of all of them!)

Here's Elly at Hannah's concert. She's so adorable!

Sunday night was the Christmas Program at church. Neither of my kids were in it, but it was still great. The kids (and Tom and Roberta!) did such a great job.

Sunday afternoon the kids played outside in the snow. I played too...taking pictures!

Noah insisted on wearing his swim goggles! He looked like such a dork I had to get a picture!

Here's my snow angel!

This is Hannah whining "MOMMMMM! Tell him to give me the shovel!!!!"

Noah needed to help out shoveling!

Here, Noah said he was snow tanning!

The next three are the kids "sledding" down 4th street. One of them sits on a sled, holds onto another sled while the other pulls the sled that's being held. Sounds more complicated than it is!

myspace.com

2007-12-17T21:22:00.001-06:00

Check me out on myspace
http://www.myspace.com/lylestraci

Snow Day!

2007-12-16T17:18:00.000-06:00

Ah, is this the greatest picture ever, or what!??!?!
More to come....

We Wish You A Merry Christmas!

2007-12-09T13:59:00.000-06:00

Decided to try to get a picture of the kids today, in front of the tree. TRY is the key word. When they were little, it was impossible to get a decent picture of the two of them smiling at the same time in front of the tree! I always thought "When they get older, it'll be so much easier!" Ha! Ya, right! They're just as difficult now, if not worse. NOW, they hate to even stand next to each other. Used to, Hannah couldn't stop loving and kissing all over Noah. Now just being within 5 feet of him, she wants to barf! Ah, where did we go wrong?!?! :)

Hannah helped put the tree together last weekend. We always had a real tree. I swore we'd NEVER have a fake tree! That was just a horrible thought! Wouldn't be a real Christmas with a fake tree! Well, after many years of picking up pine needles, forgetting to water the tree and having the tree sit on our front porch until Grandpa Ed or Dad came to get it, we decided to get an artificial tree three years ago. One of the best decisions we've ever made! I love it! It's the perfect shape, a very pretty tree, it's pre-lit...don't have to trek through the hills of trees in 25 degree weather looking for that "perfect" tree. I remember taking the kids out when they were little, wrapped up so much because it was so cold they could barely walk! I'm arguing with Lyle, the kids are whining, Lyle's driving me nuts because he's picking out the ugliest trees (in my mind!) and we're all going crazy! Then trying to get the silly thing in the stand without getting sap all over our hands, string lights (tangled because I didn't put them away properly last year!) and decorate without getting my fingers stuck!!!! Ahhhh, the memories!!!! I did love my real trees, but I truly enjoy the simplicity of an artificial.

Noah, all burrowed in pillows and covers on the couch!

Hannah and her baby, Jinx on the couch
(speaking of couch...I'm really trying for a new couch. This is the one we got when Lyle's grandmother passed away in 1994! I seriously need a new couch! When you see Lyle, tell him you saw our couch on here and it's lookin' a little worn. Looks like you need a new one!!! he! he!)

And here's our newest baby cousin! Haylee Jean Watson was born on November 27 to Matthew and Melissa Watson. Congrats Matt and Melissa! Here she is with Great-grandma Phyllis (Babb)

Let it snow!

2007-12-07T08:18:00.000-06:00

Oooh, there's snow everywhere! THIS is the time of year I miss living on Park Avenue! The thing I loved most about living there was the carport! I never had to scrape windows, step over snow to get in my car....now I park on the street and it pretty well stinks! At least it wasn't overly cold today while I wiped and scraped! :)

I had said I'd get a picture of my home with the new shutters on it. As you can see, it looks a little dull, boring, blah. Just picture white railing and new pillars (Colonial). Hopefully by next summer, I'll have that all done. Oh, and I need someone to help me with some landscaping! My yard is horrible. I'm too lazy and I have no idea where to even start! I'd love to have it looking decent next summer.

Better get ready for work. Have a great Friday!

Noah's 10th Birthday Party!

2007-11-27T21:17:00.000-06:00

We had Noah's birthday party this past Sunday at Grandma and Grandpa Vincent's home. With Noah's birthday being in November, 90% of his parties have been there! :) Too cool to have outside and my house just isn't big enough.

Many of our family made it to the party. We all had a great time. The boys had fun playing and the girls put on a dress up show!
Erin, Tyson, Elly, Grandma Olive, Linda, Becky, Grandpa Ed, Joel, Lyle, Noah

The candles in the cupcakes are "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" letters. Too cute!

Grandpa Mark and Mason!

Hannah and Erin dressing up--B-E-autiful!

Noah, Tyson, Hannah and (an unhappy) Elly in their matching Colts shirts

Ty, Hannah and Elly--aren't they cute?!?!
I just love this picture. Not sure why! But I do!

What a great day!

2007-11-22T21:27:00.000-06:00

First of all....

Happy 10th Birthday Noah!!!!!

I can't believe my baby is 10 years old!!!! Ugh, that means I'll soon be....34!!!! Yikes!

We had a great day today. Not only is it Noah's birthday, it happens to also be Thanksgiving! When I was growing up, Thanksgiving and Christmas were always at Grandma and Grandpa Vincent's, Easter at Aunt Phids. I can't remember when that tradition stopped, but somewhere along the line, it did. We still gather at G&G's for Christmas but Thanksgiving started being held at the Township Building and we don't really get together for Easter anymore. Anyway...Ann held our dinner this year at their home. We had a great time! They have such a beautiful house and they are such wonderful family! I know she worked very very hard for this to come together, as well as Laura(pre cleanup!) and Megan (post cleanup!). I appreciate everything she did this year. The food was excellent and we had a big turnout. I got to meet my new cousin, Evan--Bob and Sara's little boy. I can't believe he's 15 weeks old already. He's such a cutie! Hannah had a ball with her cousins Elly (Nick's) and Allie (Megan's). Now that was confusing! Elly and Allie! I had only been around Allie once or twice before, and not since Christmas last year. She is such an awesome kid! She's smart and happy and just all around a great kid! She doesn't know me at all but she came right up to me and got on my lap and sat there for a good 15 minutes or so! I loved it. She's a sweetie!

Most of the family made it this year, except for Mike, Michelle, Grace and Eva. They are in North Carolina with Mike's family. And my Grandma and Grandpa Kime got to spend their first Thanksgiving with family since 1994!

I made a cake to take since it was Noah's birthday. Oh man, it flopped! I mean, it tasted okay but I can't decorate! My icing fell, was sloppy writing, just all around bad! Oh well. It's the thought that counts???? :o)

Soon before we left, it began to snow!!! Soooo cool! Grandpa Kime said maybe he needed new glasses because he couldn't see it (was just a light snow). I said maybe he just forgot what it looked like! It's been 13 years since he saw snow!!!

We left Ann and Allan's around 5:00, came home and watched "Hairspray". The kids and I had gone to the theatre and saw that when it came out and Hannah loved it. I just loved seeing John Travolta act as a woman!! So hilarious! After that, Noah and I went to Movie Gallery to rent him a Game Cube game. It was still snowing. It was just marvelous--we were standing outside the movie store and the snow was falling all around him, he was catching snowflakes on his tongue. It was a moment I'll never forget! I told him the first snowfall of the season was on his birthday! He was excited about that. What blessings those kids are!!!!

Here's a few pictures from today

Nick, Ashley, Lyle, Grandpa Kime, Dad, Richard, Jan, Grandma Olive, Grandpa Ed

Hannah, Randy, Robert, Sara, Brad, Grandma Barb, Shelby

Laura and Ann in front, John, Juanita and Allan in the back

Bill and Allie

Hannah with Allie and Elly

(Allie's bib says "I'm Cute! Buy me something!")

Noah's fogged up glasses after playing outside!

Grandma Olive with her 7th Great-Grandchild Evan Glenn Emery
(3rd great grandson)

Grandma Barb and Hannah

Richard, Jan and Billy

After dinner naps!

Great weekend

2007-11-18T14:05:00.000-06:00

Lyle has been in Missouri this weekend on his annual fishing trip with the other faculty from Bond Camp fishing camp. He left Friday morning and as far as I know, they've had great weather. He said the cabin is great and the area is beautiful. Wants us to go there as a family trip sometime. It's about 5 hours from here. Hmmmm...after our recent trip to DC, I'll hold off for awhile! :)

The kids and I spent yesterday in Springfield and had a great time. We found new winter coats, some Christmas gifts, ate lunch at Olive Garden and saw a movie. We had a wonderful time together. I wasn't feeling too great this morning so we stayed home from church. (We didn't get home until almost 11:00 last night and we slept in until 9:30 on accident too!)

Four more days until my baby turns 10 years old! I cannot believe my kids are (almost) 10 and 12 years old! Just amazing. When they were little, I had thoughts of them being those ages, but felt like it was a lifetime away. Oh, how quickly it passes! By the way, my thoughts of them being those ages were when they were driving me nuts with potty training, when I had to do everything for them, dealing with car seats and high chairs, watching Blues Clues and then Wizard of Oz 4 times a day...I miss those days now! Well, not the potty training, but that other stuff. (Sometimes!) I miss sitting on the floor and being amazed at my child putting together a puzzle I was sure they couldn't do. I miss building towers out of blocks. I miss playing Memory with them. I miss watching Blues Clues, Winnie the Pooh, Little Bear, Dora and yes, Barney. Is that nuts or what?!?! But look how far we've come. They are such great kids, smart kids. Hannah has her first Band concert coming up next month and Noah will have his last school program. My little ones are growing so much

Well, I'm off to do some laundry and help with homework. Lyle just called to say he's on his way home but they're stopping at Cabellas. Oh man. It may be midnight before he makes it home! :)

The "Other Cutlers"

2007-11-11T21:58:00.000-06:00

Today was Erin's birthday party! My, she and Mason have both grown so much since I last saw them. It was great to see them today. Joel had to work so he couldn't be there, but we hope he'll be able to make it to Noah's party in a few weeks. Otherwise, it'll be Christmas before we see him!

I was all set, excited to get some pictures of Erin and Mason today to put on my blog. I barely got one picture and my camera died on me! My battery was completely drained. :-( I'm hoping Grandpa Mark can get me a few good pics...in the meantime here is the ONE picture I got of Erin and a picture of the pictures Becky gave me of them. They're adorable!!!!

I was gasp wrong

2007-11-10T22:31:00.000-06:00

Yep, that's right. Up there, I said I was wrong. When I first saw the previews for Evan Almighty several months ago, I was mortified. I was certain that they were making a mockery of God, Noah, the flood and the Bible. I was against that movie and decided my kids would not watch it. Well, we decided to watch it last night and it was awesome! I highly recommend you watch it if you haven't already. If you have, watch it again! I loved it. I mean, Morgan Freeman isn't God by any means, but he's a magnificent actor! He's great in no matter what he's in! And Steve Carell--he's hilarious! There were times I had tears running down my face from laughing so hard! But the movie also gave a wondrous spiritual message.

Noah got his school pictures back yesterday. He decided he'd wear his glasses in them. I think he looks good, but he needs to smile more!

We had a great evening tonight at Monicals in Shelbyville for Roberta Cook's 60th Birthday! And tomorrow is Erin's birthday party. We'll be all partied out after this weekend.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Family Pictures

2007-11-07T08:18:00.001-06:00

We had our pictures taken a few weeks ago at church for a new Church Directory. Got them back yesterday and I thought I'd share them since we didn't buy any extras! (Way too expensive!)

I liked this picture until I got out our engagement picture and wedding picture:

Man! We look old now!!!! Especially Lyle. :) Juz kiddin!

Brother's family, more Halloween and crazy hair!

2007-11-04T23:31:00.001-06:00

This is a picture I took of Nick, Ashley, Tyson and Elly earlier this year--the day the Colts won the Superbowl! (The Kimes are HUGE Colts fans! We won't mention the fact that they LOST today!!!!!)
This is Hannah, Noah, Tyson and Elly trick or treating at my mom and dad's last year! My, how they've grown!

Tyson and Elly's pictures. They are such cute kids!!!! (They look like their beautiful mom!)

For Halloween, Lincoln School has Crazy Hair Day. You can only see two colors. He actually had four colors! Red, Purple, Black and Orange. This was Wednesday. I think there may still be a few spots of black on his scalp!

Today is Erin's 4th birthday!! Happy Birthday Erin! (Lyle's brother's daughter) We'll be traveling to their home in Fairview Heights next Sunday after church for her big party. Can't wait to see her and Mason! Haven't seen them since June at Hannah's party.

Lyle has been taking Noah squirrel hunting at mom and dad's the past two weeks. He was so proud of Noah today! He didn't get a squirrel, but was close! He's actually starting to listen to what Lyle's telling him. THAT is why he's so proud of him! Noah actually found the squirrel before Daddy did! The "twitching tail" I guess. I get so scared every time they go out there! My son with a gun is a pretty scary thing! Hmmm....maybe I should take out more life insurance on Lyle!!! :)

It's late and I have a busy week ahead of me. Hope you all have a great week!

Halloween

2007-11-02T07:22:00.001-05:00

Here's Tyson, Noah, Hannah and Elly trick or treating at Grandma and Grandpa Vincent's home Monday night. Noah was a Ninja this year, Hannah wore my Raggedy Ann costume, Tyson was a Gladiator and Elly was a pirate. Don't they all look great??? Tyson's costume was truly the best. Leg and arm bands and all. It was awesome.

We got to enjoy trick or treating at Great-Grandma and Grandpa Kime's house this year too! This is the first time they've ever seen our kids at Halloween--they've always been back in Arizona by now! We'll have a lot of firsts soon--they've never been to Noah's birthday party, they've never had a Christmas with the kids, Easter and many of our birthdays. It's exciting to share this stuff with them! They're really getting settled in their house and Grandma totally enjoys the decorating side of it! The kids call her Grandpa Mark, the way she's going to rummage sales!! :)

Lyle and Noah went hunting this past Sunday. Of course, I was a nervous wreck, sure someone was going to get shot! To alleviate my fears, I decided Hannah and I had to go shopping! Oh, we got a ton of cute things for Hannah! She's at the age and size now, we have to shop Jr's clothes, not girls. That's kind of hard since most of the Jr stuff is, uh, too revealing for her!

Have a great weekend!

More of our trip

2007-10-28T21:45:00.000-05:00

Okay, okay. I know--I've been horribly lazy! Just catching up, I think! Here are some more pictures of our vacation. Absolutely NO chronological order because I'm still lazy!!! Sorry! :)

Noah, Hannah and me between the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument. This was my favorite! I loved standing there, by the Reflecting Pool-turn one way and you see this massive statue of Lincoln, the other way--the Pencil! I loved it!

The World War II Memorial. This was Lyle's favorite part. It was so awesome walking around, seeing a lot of the "older generation". I know many of them were remembering. Whether they were there, or if they were just remembering it all happening. It got me to thinking, another 15 years or so and there won't be anyone else around to tell the stories. Just what's been passed on. I highly suggest anyone go see this. It put so much into perspective for me. It was truly awesome to see.

The Vietnam War Memorial--The Wall. I couldn't believe all the names. Just horrific.

The US Capitol. We took a guided tour with an Intern from Illinois, working with Representative Hale. It was magnificent. After the tour, we got to sit in on a Session of Congress. Had no idea what was going on (and didn't really care!) but it was pretty neat.

The US Supreme Court, just down the street from the Capitol. We were running late for our 2:00 tour of the Capitol so we didn't get a chance to see the inside. We could have taken the Metro back to see it, but there was so much more to see!

Speaking of the Metro...here's Hannah and Noah on one of our rides on the Metro. Looks like Hannah is checking out some of the wierdos we saw!!! :)

Our last day in DC, we took a drive to Annapolis, Maryland. This was a beach we stopped at so the kids could play in the Chesapeake Bay again. They had a great time!

The kids outside the National Geographic Museum, just a few blocks from our hotel.

The kids in the National Geo Museum. They had a demonstration of the Critter Cam. The kids got to stand in the bubble and be taped and later see themselves on the screen, superimposed in Antarctica or some other freezing place. It was so funny--Noah was making stupid faces and noises (being a boy!) and Hannah was looking at him like "Would you just SHUT UP?!!??!?!" The girls at work love this picture!

This is the National Archives--where the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights are housed. Was awesome to see! I had no idea the documents were so unlegible.

This is part of a very scary bridge we crossed to go to Annapolis, Maryland. THREE MILES LONG! Yes, that was 3 miles! I was a nervous wreck the whole time! Lyle and the kids loved it!!

We saw many 2 story McDonalds in DC. Was pretty neat to see!

The Lincoln Memorial. I loved it! So awesome!

Hannah and Noah in front of Abe.

A dead jellyfish the kids found at that beach by Annapolis, Maryland

The Jefferson Memorial. It looks so beautiful across the water.

One of many tiles at the Holocaust Museum. There were about 18 huge sections of tiles that people had put messages on, mostly about the Holocaust. Was supposed to be about the Holocaust! Someone did one that said "Love the Gays". What on earth does that have to do with the Holocaust?!?!?

Hannah in front of some rocks at the Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian.

I can't remember what building this was, but it's somewhere down by the White House. Just beautiful!

Boats in Annapolis, Maryland. It was gorgeous there!

The kids in front of a mural at the Air & Space Museum at the Smithsonian.

Another gorgeous building in DC. I just loved this!

Arlington Cemetery. A wondrous, sad sight to see.

These are just a very small snippet of the pictures we took. If you'd like to see more, you can go to http://share.shutterfly.com/action/pictures;jsessionid=B34154C065E4DD41F3F2B1AD68EBE223?a=67b0de21b357ce3bc44f&sid=0AZOW7do0ZuGLiY and see a few more, including the pictures of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. I actually have about 600 pictures on my computer. I think there's about 195 on this site. My poor mother was bored to death watching about 450 of them on my TV the day we got back!!! :)

We put shutters on our house yesterday. You know, I've been wanting them for so long, practically dreaming of finally having them on the house. They're up and....I DON'T LIKE THEM!!!! Ugh! I thought white would be best, but I think we needed to add color! However, I chose white because we're putting up porch railing soon, which will be white. I was afraid if we put up burgundy shutters, it'd look stupid with white railing. So...we'll see what it looks like with railing. And maybe they'll look better after they get a little dirty!! :) I'll take a picture soon and you all tell me what they look like.

Better get laundry done and head to bed. We have a long week coming up!!!

Pictures from the first few days...

2007-10-17T23:08:00.000-05:00

Lyle and the kids at the National Museum of the United States Air Force

Saturday, October 6

Lyle and the kids in an airplane at the NMUSAF

Old Bedford, Pennsylvania-original homes and buildings from the 1500's -- 1800's

Sunday, October 7

Lyle eating Crab Legs at Solomons Pier in Solomons, Maryland

Noah inspecting the claws after dad has eaten the meat!

Sunday, October 7

Solomon's Pier, where we ate the night before. We sat in front of the 2nd window from the right on the round part. Wanted to eat on the dock, but anyone under 21 could not be out there after 8:00 pm. We got there at 8:30!

Monday, October 8

Hannah and Lyle walking the dock

My family sittin' on the dock of the Bay. Ha! Ha! Chesapeake Bay, that is!! :-)

Noah was jumping over the waves. His feet are actually off the ground here.

Point Lookout, Maryland

Monday, October 8

The Kids' Favorite Spots

2007-10-15T12:38:00.000-05:00

This is the four of us on our last day, getting ready to leave DC. We're in front of the Revolving door, or as the kids liked to call it--the Spinny Door! They had to go through the Spinny door every time we came or went!

Hannah in the Chesapeake Bay. This is the biggest smile she had all week! She loved it.

Noah's favorite spot--the Lego Store!!!! He was checking out a Lego Chess Set. He was seriously considering buying it. Lyle's been teaching him how to play chess.

A Rundown

2007-10-15T12:27:00.000-05:00

Famous Sites We Saw…
National Museum of United States Air Force
Old Bedford, Pennsylvania
Chesapeake Bay
White House
US Capitol
Supreme Court
Library of Congress
Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian
Holocaust Museum
Union Station
Air & Space Museum at the Smithsonian
National Archives—Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Bill of Rights
Arlington National Cemetery
Pentagon (guards standing outside with machine guns!)
Lincoln Memorial
Washington Monument
Reflecting Pool
World War II Monument
Vietnam War Memorial—The Wall
Jefferson Memorial
Annapolis, Maryland—boats, boats and more boats!

Things We Saw/Did That We Don’t Normally See/Do in Pana
Starbucks every 2 to 3 blocks
Wade in the cold Chesapeake Bay
Find Jellyfish
Homeless people sleeping on park benches
Watch Congress in Session
Take the Metro
Take a cab
Drawbridges
Barges
Stay in a Hotel with a revolving door
2 story McDonalds
Stay in a hotel with a living room & kitchen, bedroom & bathroom. 2 TV’s!
Go to a church with almost 20,000 people there
Take a bus to church
See the Appalachian and Blue Ridge Mountains
Eat out every single day

We're home!

2007-10-15T11:57:00.000-05:00

Our trip is over. DC is behind us. In some ways, it seemed the trip flew; then again, it was nice and long. Either way, we had a blast! We love DC. It is fantastic there. Absolutely beautiful, clean, the people are nice, just wonderful all the way around. I loved it. Lyle loved it. The kids loved it.

Last time I wrote was Thursday night. Friday we left early and decided to take the car instead of Public Transportation. We drove down to see the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, the Reflecting Pool, World War II Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial (The Wall) and Jefferson Memorial. This was problably my most favorite part of the trip, other than seeing how happy Hannah was playing in the Bay. Standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, looking one way and seeing that huge statue of him, then turning and seeing the Pool with the Washington Monument (The Pencil!) behind it....it was AMAZING! Just breathtaking. For some reason, it just hit me emotionally and I just cried looking at it. Of course, I let Lyle think it was my allergies and my eyes were watering! I loved being there!

We then decided to drive to Annapolis, Maryland to check out the Chesapeake Bay again, since the kids loved it so much. Annapolis is gorgeous! We stopped at a beach and let the kids run around, looking for shells and rocks, step into the water. They found a dead jellyfish too! It was great. Annapolis was having a big boat show so it was over-flowing with people! We parked and looked around at the great shops, eateries, the boats....just a neat little town. Okay, it's not to little and it's really not a town. But it was neat!

We left around 9:00 Saturday morning with a destination of Louisville, Kentucky. Whew! Long driving! We ended up spending 13 hours on the road! Well, take a few hours out for stopping in Charlottsville, VA for shopping and lunch, then dinner in Kentucky. We finally arrived at our not-so-wonderful hotel around 10:00 and crashed. Sort of. The rooms were freezing cold and the pillows were terrible. Didn't sleep too well that night. Sunday we met up with Wayne and Greta Meece and went to church at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville. Man! I've never seen anything like that before! The church has anywhere from 15,000 to 20,000 in regular attendance. One Saturday evening service and 2 Sunday morning services. The church was great. We really liked it a lot. After church was over, we all went to Texas Roadhouse for lunch. Had a fantastic time visiting with Wayne and Greta. They are just marvelous people! Around 1:30 we hit the road towards Pana. We gained an hour thanfully, since Louisville is in Central time! Got home at 5:19 pm last night. We drove approximately 2,020 miles in 9 days! I got my oil changed on October 3rd. It's about time to do it again!!! :)

All in all, it was a great trip. The only negatives were that I lost my glasses (yes, my $250 glasses!), I was scared to death riding and driving in the mountains, the unsavorable hotel room our last night and my flat iron pooped out on me in DC! But it was truly a great week. Sooooo glad we could do it! Much thanks to parents and grandparents for giving us some cash to spend and for babysitting Jinx and the guitars!

I'll be posting some pictures soon. I just need to get some rest! Glad to be in my own bed...

Me feet are STILL tired!

2007-10-11T19:55:00.000-05:00

It's Thursday now. Tomorrow is our last full day in DC. So sad! We LOVE it here! The city is absolutely wonderful! I really don't want to leave. Lyle is seriously saying we should stay. (you all know how he is!) I can admit though, I'm not looking too forward to heading west. I am getting a little tired of hotel living though. Oh wait--they clean our rooms for us, make our beds, clean our shower and toilet, give us clean towels....they cook our breakfast and supper AND clean the dishes! What more could I ask for?!?!?!? Nah, couldn't do this too often!

I didn't post last night--was too tired! We had a great Wednesday. We took the Metro bright and early to the Smithsonian, spent a lot of time in the Castle and the Museum of Natural History. We had to eat lunch at the Museum Cafe. Oh boy, that just put Lyle in a bad mood! We spent $33 on a small amount of food that wasn't even very good. Hannah went to the Rocks and Minerals Store and went crazy! That girl loves Geology! She found stuff to spend money on! Thankfully, grandparents gave her cash! We then trekked down to the Holocaust Museum. That was an experience. We enjoyed the exhibition, except for the movie that blames Christians for all the bad things that have happened to the Jews. Again, Lyle was ready to blow a fuse! Anyway, Hannah found Anne Frank's Diary to purchase. She was very excited. She's already read several pages of it. We hopped the Metro, did a few exchanges and went to Union Station. That was neat to see. However, I suggest if you ever go to a place like that, DO NOT DO IT AT RUSH HOUR!!!!! Man, oh man! We almost got trampled! We've rode the Metro at rush hour too. It's wild! We did some shopping at Union Station and ate dinner. Fantastic sandwiches at a Gelato Shop! We still stink from them! :)

Today we went to the National Geographic Museum, just a few blocks away from our hotel. Their gift shop it so freaking cool! Totally Lyle's place!! Expensive though. The kids found more stuff to buy! Lyle was kind of let down, thinking he'd get to talk to actual National Geo Photographers or something. I told him he was nuts to think that in the first place. We went back to the Smithsonian to see the Air & Space Museum. Lyle and Noah really enjoyed that. (I've had enough Air & Space junk to last me the next ten years!) We had to eat lunch there--a Smithsonian McDonalds. What would cost us $15.00 in Pana or Shelbyville cost us $26.00 here! Alert--Lyle blowing a fuse again! We then walked to the National Archives. This is where the original documents of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are kept! That was totally awesome to see! No flash photography so our pics didn't turn out too well. :( But it was an awesome experience for us and the kids. After that, we went to Arlington Cemetery, saw thousands of gravesites and the graves of John F. Kennedy and family. We came back here to the hotel for dinner--lasagna. I did a few loads of laundry and visited with a lady from Texas while in the laundry room. ER is on tonight so I'm waiting for that to come on!

Tomorrow we plan to see the Washington Memorial and Reflection Pool, Jefferson Memorial and Lincoln Memorial. Those are the things I most want to see. I just love seeing the beautiful structures in this city. It is gorgeous! I can't wait to have some pictures printed out. Of course, it's nothing like seeing it all in person. I'm sooooooo glad we have been able to do this!

Hope you're all having a great week. More later....

My feet are sooooooo tired!

2007-10-09T17:09:00.000-05:00

Oh my. My legs and feet are so worn out! We did A TON of walking today. Had our tour at the White House earlier in the day. It was great. Saw the famous Red Room, Green Room and Blue Room! It was just unbelievable to know that I was in the White House just one floor under the President!!!! No, we didn't even get a glimpse of George! :( After that, we did a lot of walking and looking, got so tired that we took a cab. OH! $11.00 for a very short trip! Won't do that again!

For lunch we went to a downtown Subway. I'm sure I will never get my Subway order as quick as I did today! Man, they know how to work it! I gave my order, along with Hannah's and Noah's, Lyle gave his and we were done in litterally 60 seconds or less! Can't get your sub like that in Pana or Shelbyville!

We then took the Metro to the Capitol for our tour. (My first time on the Metro!) The Capitol is beautiful. We got to sit in on a Session too! Actually saw two Illinois Senators or Representatives or something like that get up and speak about....something, saw them vote on it and pass it. I had no idea what was going on but it was still cool! We also got to see the Supreme Court from the outside. It was massive and awesome!

We'll be seeing the Holocaust Museum and Smithsonian tomorrow. Or at least part of the Smithsonian! It is so huge I'm not sure we'll get to see it all!

So sad to hear while I'm gone that Dee Sinclair passed away. She is Becky Wafford's mom. We go to church with them both. Also, my friend Brenda's sister, Pam, passed away. I'm utterly shocked by that. Pam was only 35. Don't know what happened there. But in GREAT news, Wayne Meece is CANCER FREE!!!!!!! Hip! Hip! Hooray!

I better go spend some time with the kids. I believe they're in the bedroom watching TV. There's a TV in the bedroom here AND a TV in the living room! It's nice when Lyle wants to watch Discovery and they want to watch Nick!

Have a great Wednesday!

We're in DC!

2007-10-08T18:48:00.000-05:00

We made it! Ah, driving is so scary here, but we finally made it to DC. This hotel is so nice! We totally do not belong in this place. This is how the "other half" live! It was nice to unpack, hang things up and know that I don't have to pack and unpack every night like I have since Friday.

Sunday we were going through Pennsylvania and stopped in Old Bedford for a tour. It was neat to see the 1500's through 1800's homes. Also got to see a Covered Bridge. Pennsylvania is really beautiful. Rolling hills, mountains, neat looking homes...just beautiful. Problem is, PA people do not know how to drive! Ah, it was crazy. And there was supposed road work going on all over the place (but no road work!) and the speed limit was 55 mph. We lost so much time from that.

Got to McLean, Virginia around 4:00 and took Noah to the Lego Store. Ahhhhhh--he was in heaven! I can't wait to post those pictures! He loved it.

Made it to Solomons, Maryland around 7:45 last night, got checked in at the Holiday Inn (waterfront!) and went to Solomons Pier for dinner. Yikes! $76 meal for crab legs, shrimp, etc...but it was pretty good. It's a neat little restaurant right on the water. I mean, ON the water! Only bad thing was the drunks all around us!! :)

This morning we took the kids to the Chesapeake Bay to see "real" water. They loved it! Okay, we all loved it! I'd never seen anything other than rivers and lakes. It was awesome. I love seeing the never-ending water, the sailboats, the seagulls. Just beautiful! We stopped and walked along the shore and the kids found a beach area. Quickly, the shoes came off! Hannah started with just her feet and ended up wading pretty far out getting drenched! We had to find dry clothes for them both! Boy, that water was COLD!

We arrived here in DC around 3:45 and paid $20 for valet parking! We were so tired and worn out from driving that we didn't care! Found out it's $20 A DAY for parking so we will probably find the free parking close by. This hotel serves free breakfast and dinner every weekday so we got free dinner tonight. They say it's a light meal...goulash, vegetables, salad, rolls, drinks. That's no light meal to me! Sounds great every night!

Well, I better sign off and go get some laundry done. Hmmmm......I go on vacation and still have to mess with that stuff!! :( We see the White House tomorrow so I'll probably have more to tell then! Love y'all!

Pillows, water and mirrors...

2007-10-07T06:17:00.000-05:00

What is it with Holiday Inn's new pillows? Oh. My. Gosh. It's like you're floating on a freaking cloud! I love em! I don't normally like fluffy pillows but these rock! LOVE EM! Want one! And the beds are so comfortable. These nights have been great.

Yesterday I was taking a shower. Maybe I'm just used to my not-so-soft water, or maybe Holiday Inn has REALLY soft water! I couldn't get the soap or shampoo gone!!!! It's nuts.

Then there was the mirror. The lighting is soooo horribly bad that when you look at yourself you see EVERY SINGLE flaw in your complexion. And let me tell ya, mine ain't pretty! Ah! I didn't realize it was so bad!! :O I like my lights better at home!! They lie to me, I guess!

Well, we're being heathens today and skipping church. Got to sleep in a little and we won't be getting to the hotel super late like we have the past two nights. Can't take that anymore. We'll head down into Virginia today and take Noah to the illustrious Lego Shop! He's sooo excited! Then on into Maryland. We'll be staying in a hotel right on the Chesapeake Bay! We are finding lobster tonight, baby! :)

Oh, about the Air Force Museum--it was nice. Lyle and the kids really enjoyed it. I enjoyed it the first few hours and I will only enjoy it once! They want to go back, with Mark. I think I'll find a mall! But it was awesome. And the kids got to see an Imax show about fighter pilots. That was neat.

Okay, time for a shower and to get going. Hope you are all having a great weekend. More soon....and hopefully some pictures!

p.s. the kids have to sleep together and they HATE it!! hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Vacation...

2007-10-06T22:43:00.000-05:00

Here we are, in Scotdale, Pennsylvania. Man, what it took to get here! The day started well. We got out at a good time, got to Dayton, Ohio to the National Museum of the US Air Force. We had intended to spend a "few hours" there. Ha! We got there shortly after 11:00 and didn't leave until almost 5:00!!!! We then had a 4 1/2 hour drive to this hotel. We took a few wrong turns, got lost...come to find out, the lady that got us this reservation said it was for Mt Pleasant, but it was Scotdale! Aaaggghhhh!!!! What a night. Plus, this area is full of hills, twists and turns. Lyle's driving drove me nuts! My legs were cramping from being so tense!

Anyway, here we are. This is night #2 in a hotel and both have been nice. We have been searching the area for a church to attend tomorrow but are finding we may be skipping this week. It's a bunch of weirdo places!!! Maybe we'll just pull up a church service on TV! :)

It's mega late and I need some sleep! Will try to add a little tomorrow night....

Getting Ready

2007-10-05T06:11:00.000-05:00

I sit here around 6:00 Friday morning. Just 12 hours before we are to leave for vacation. I am having a terrible time trying to sleep! Too excited I guess. And there's so much to do.

Last night, I had parent-teacher conferences with the kids' teachers that lasted until about 7:15. Then off to take Lyle's babies (the guitars!) to stay at Mark and Linda's while we're gone, then to take Hannah's baby (Jinx the cat) to my mom and dad's to stay. It was after 9:30 before we got home and I still hadn't begun to pack! It was after 1:00 when I got to bed and then I woke up around 5:15--could NOT get back to sleep! So here I am.

The weather was looking like it was going to be great in DC for the days we were going to be there. Now, I'm not so sure. It looks like it's gonna suck! AaaagggghhhhH!!!!!!! Is it wrong for me to pray for good weather?!?!? :)

I hope you all have a great weekend and a good week! I will be posting a ton of pictures I'm sure in about 10 days!!!!

The new glasses and the new haircut!

2007-10-01T22:14:00.001-05:00

Okay, you've all seen what Noah's long hair has looked like. He has been wanting it cut here lately and I hated to cut all that nice hair off! So I gave him a trim last night. People at school told him today he looked like a girl! Aahhh!!!! Well, it did kind of look like a rounded girl cut....

He got new glasses today. He put those on with his new glasses and I thought "The hair has to go! He looks gay!" So we got out the clippers.

Before

During

After

He loves his new look! He is definitely made for short hair. If we can just control those cow-licks! On the glasses front--he loves being able to see clearly! Just like me!

This is our life

2007-09-30T08:01:00.001-05:00

The picture above fully describes our life every single night! Homework, homework, homework! I get home and the table is covered with it. I instantly begin to breathe fast, my heart races, I get that ache between my eyes and then hear "I need help with..." Calgon, take me away! Hannah's really isn't so bad. I figured she would be the tough student this year, going into Jr. High. She usually has math each night, we study Spelling, maybe some Geography. She's struggling in Math now so I have her do extra work in Math for practice. Noah, on the other hand...the other night he had 11 worksheets to do. Seriously, ELEVEN!! That is insane. Granted, it's usually only about 7 or8...that's still insane! WHY must they send that much homework? Do the teachers not realize that when the kids have to spend their entire evening doing homework there is NO family time?!?! Family time turns into mom running around trying to get dinner ready and help with a problem someone has with homework, get the table cleared after dinner and help with homework, check the homework, try not to get frustrated when you have to have the child correct some of their homework. Noah literally spends 3 hours every night on homework. Aaaggghhh!!! The child has no life! He's getting frustrated with school. In the past, he has always loved school, always came home with A's and B's. His Friday folder is littered with C's, D's and an F here and there. What is going on?? I was told when I found out who his teacher was that we would have problems. Man alive, do we ever! I already spoke with the teacher about this two weeks ago. Of course, she thinks I am the one that is nuts, that she doesn't give too much homework! Is that why there are many parents ready to lynch you, Mrs. Medley?!?!?! Pulease! Well, this Thursday is Parent-Teacher Conference--I plan to do some "discussing" then. (Someone have some extra cash to bail me out if I get out of hand?!?!?)

And here's Hannah's school picture. Isn't it great??? She looks so much older here! Makes me sad. Noah doesn't have his pictures taken until October 24th.

Okay, only 5 more days until we leave for our vacation! Yay! We are soooooooooo excited! I mean, I can't tell you how excited we are! Lyle has all of our hotels planned out for us (9 nights for $375 with tax!), our personal tours of the White House and Capitol Building and we are planning all of our other stops and visits. The kids are more concerned about what they're buying when we go to the Lego Shop!!! :)

Gotta go get ready for chuch. Hope you all have a great week!

Lyle's Birthday Party

2007-09-16T21:26:00.000-05:00

Today was Lyle's birthday party. You can see him above with his Happy Birthday hat, left over from Hannah's birthday party! We really had a great time. Our friends -- the Cooks, Jeffers, Ricketts and Ritchies [ minus Jamie, Jessi and Simon :( ] came and enjoyed the beautiful day. The weather was perfect and the kids had a great time playing. By "kids", I mean all those 12 and under AND the guys!!!! :)
Here is the T-shirt Tom Jeffers got him. In case you can't read it, it says "MY OLD LADY SAID SHE'D LEAVE ME IF I BOUGHT ONE MORE GUITAR!...SURE GONNA MISS THAT GIRL!" How perfect is THAT?!?!?!?! Good one Tommy Boy! (Tom just had a birthday too, by the way. Uh, hmm...He's older than Lyle!!)

Here is Lyle with Emma Cook, Brad and Jessi Cook's daugther. He's alwasy been sweet on Emma!! :)

Here's Jessi with Logan. Logan just had his 1st Birthday the day after Lyle's birthday!!! Happy Birthday Logan!

Noah had to show me his new trick on his bicycle. Doesn't he look adorable?!?! The over-protective mom in me wanted to yell "GET YOUR FEET ON THE PEDALS!!!!", but the mom that has understood he just needs to be a kid said "That's awesome!"

Hannah and Lyle had to cheese it up for the camera. GREAT picture of them! I love this!!! Hannah is so pretty!

Ahhhhhh, I'm going to take this opportunity to sit in the chair and do absolutely NOTHING! I'm exhausted. Hope you all have a fantastic week!

2 weeks and 5 days till we leave for Washington DC............

Guitars!

2007-09-15T07:32:00.000-05:00

Okay, today is the day that "the boys" go to St. Louis to the big guitar place. Giddy isn't even the word! Oh my gosh. You'd think they were 7 year olds going to Disneyworld! I was still in bed when Brad and Brad got here, but I was awake. Good thing because they totally would have waken me up! I had to ask Lyle if it was JUST Brad and Brad or did they get some others to go because it sounded like a herd of them out there! I made him go outside and tell them people were still asleep at 7:20 in this neighborhood!! And Lyle was all jittery this morning, running around. Toooo funny!

I took off after work last night for Decatur to go shopping. I had a great time! Went to the mall and did a mad dash in about 2 hours. It was funny--I was in the fitting room at JCPenney and kept hearing a voice I thought I recognized. Finally the voice said "Kate". Aha! "Jamie? Katie?" It was Jamie and Katie Jeffers right next to me! Anyway, I did Penneys, Old Navy, Kohls and Payless and spent too much money at every single place!! Then off to Target to find some luggage for our trip. Found a great set for a great price. (2 weeks and 6 days till we leave!!!) Then off to Wal Mart for more stuff! Lyle asked me this morning how much was in the checking account (he has the debit card today!)...I said probably $5 after last night!!!! :) hahahahahaaa!

Noah has a soccer game today. It's nice and CHILLY out there for it too. Oh well, glad it's not raining or 85 degrees!

Hope you all have a great weekend!! :-)

Family

2007-09-11T08:20:00.000-05:00

I stole a picture of my new cousin from his mommy's blog!!

Here is Evan Glenn Emery, son of Robert and Saranne Emery. Robert's dad is Brad, my mom's brother. For those of you who knew Bob growing up, check out their blog http://rsemery.blogspot.com/ Little Bobby is a daddy! :0

Hope your week is going well so far. Lyle has his 35th birthday tomorrow, September 12th. He calls it his middle birthday. Don't know if it's middle of 30 and 40 or middle of his life. He swears he won't make it past 70, so he's at the middle of his life. I dunno. He's a freak!! :) He's going to St. Louis with two of his guitar buddies Saturday to check out a big guitar store. Ha! Like he needs to get anymore ideas! Nah, he needs the time away. I'm glad, because I finally get a Saturday off that I can see Noah play soccer! Then it's home to clean, clean, clean! We're having a get together with some of Lyle's closest friends from church to celebrate his "middle" birthday! Can't wait.

Just 3 weeks and 3 days until we leave for Washington DC!!! We are all so excited. Lyle got us a GREAT deal on a hotel in downtown DC. 2 Room Suite, super nice, normally $349 a night---$40 a night!!!!! It's all about who you know! Noah is stoked about going to the Lego store!!!!! That kid dreams of Legos! :) Hannah really wanted to see the American Girl store but it's not anywhere near where we'll be. Maybe an extra trip to Chicago sometime....We're planning to stop in Louisville, KY on our way home to see Wayne and Greta Meece, go to church with them. That will be very nice.

Everyone have a great week! Enjoy this cooler weather. I LOVE IT!!!!!!

More Days Gone By....

2007-09-05T22:25:00.000-05:00

I found this piece of notepaper that Noah had written. I have no idea when he wrote it! In case you can't read it, it says "Dear Diary, I love Jinx (our cat) but I'm acting like I hate him and Hannah doesn't know." I love it!

This is Christmas 2000. Hannah is 5, Noah just turned 3. I can't remember what he was mad about, but isn't that lip cute?!? I tell ya, he was born with that lip sticking out like that! I'm not kidding. His first pictures, he's sticking his lip out!!! He's such a blessing!

These two pics are Easter 1996. Hannah was 9 months old. That was probably the first time she even wore a dress! Look how young we look! And look how dark Mark's hair and beard are below...hahahaha! And this was the day we began attending church!!

We didn't have a bathtub in the trailer so the kids had to bathe in a storage tub!! :-) This is Noah at about 9 months old... ***we didn't have a tub but we DID have a shower!!*** :-)

And here's Noah out in the snow, 1998/1999 (just over a year old). I clearly remember this day! He hated the snow at first!! It was sooooo funny! Hannah was having a blast, making snow angels but all Noah could do was cry! See the lip sticking out?!?!?!?!

Pana Labor Day Parade

2007-09-04T19:39:00.000-05:00

Hannah got to march with the Pana Jr. High Band in the Labor Day parade this year! She has started playing the flute and is taking extra lessons with Mr. Dean but was not quite ready to play her flute in the parade. So she got to hold the banner. She did a FANTASTIC job! I was so proud of her! I don't think I've ever seen anyone have such straight posture and hold a banner so well before!! :-) She loved it. The long walk hurt her legs but she's okay. It was different for her--she's used to riding on the church float every year.

Speaking of church float....here's the float THCC made! Okay, I think it was mostly the Ritchies, Hicks and Hardys...big thanks to you guys for your hard work! The theme this year was Fable and Folklore. Hmmm....what does a church do with that?!?! THCC took the standpoint of Fable, Folklore or Truth! See the Bible the kids are sitting on? Karen did a fantastic job on the lettering. That's Noah at the far left sitting in the desk. He had fun! And I was so proud of him for smiling and waving so much!

We had a busy weekend--took the kids to the Pana Tri-County Fair on Saturday. They had horse races at the Grandstand. That was fun to watch. And it was FREE!!! Of course, they had to play games before we left, since they do not ride rides. Hmpf! I think I spent about $20 for a few 50 cent toys!! Plus the Lemon Shake-Up, Snow-Cone and Funnel Cake for the kids!

Sunday we had a great time with Derrick and Karen Ritchie at Pizza Hut after church. Josiah spent the afternoon with us afterwards. Man, those boys can talk 100 miles a minute!!! They are the greatest buddies.

Monday we had a great time being able to visit with family at the parade--my mom, Lyle's mom and dad, Grandma and Grandpa Vincent and Aunt Janie. Janie sat on the curb and got all the candy for my kids! She was great! Then Lyle spent part of his afternoon doing phone work for my Grandma and Grandpa Kime in their new house. Was great to visit.

Lyle began teaching his class tonight. He started early this morning, will be home late. This is going to wear him out pretty bad! And my day was BUSY! Margaret is on vacation so I'm her all week. "Monday" after a holiday--I ran almost 500 prescriptions today! My fingers are tired!

Hope you all had a great weekend. I'm ready for the cooler weather to come our way!

Days Gone By...

2007-09-02T15:01:00.001-05:00

I've neglected my blog here recently--I ran out of pictures to put on! So I got out a box of old pictures from the basement and chose some to put on. I'll do that periodically, to bring back some memories--for you and me!

It amazes me how much my kids have grown. I almost can't remember them being so small. There are times I wish I could turn back the clock...do so many things over again, pay closer attention, do more things with them. But that's life! I'm sure we all feel the same way.

I have so many great pictures, so it was hard to choose. I lost a ton of pics though, when our basement flooded in 2002. You know, after we moved in, had a huge rain and had about 2 foot of water in our "dry" basement (according to Phil Dressen!) Oh, I was sick! Crying like crazy for days, if not weeks! I lost pictures of the kids, our wedding, Hannah's baby book (hmmmm....where did Noah's go???), a few yearbooks, a few dolls were soaked, old papers...it was horrible! Anyway, before I get upset again.....here's a few on memory lane..........

****these are a little blurry because I took pictures of the pictures!! I know--lazy!***

Where we began--October 28, 1989. We had officially been dating 1 month. It was Tower Hill school's Halloween dance and my mom made us Raggedy Ann and Andy costumes. Ahhhh, he HAD to have loved me, huh?!?!? This was the first night he told me he loved me!

This was Lyle's Senior Prom--May 4, 1990. I must say I looked great that night! :-) Oooooh, I loved that dress! Ruffled back, slit up the front. Beautiful necklace. I loved that night!

Lyle and me on Labor Day, 1991.

Wow, I wish I still looked like that! :-)

September 26, 1992--Mr. and Mrs. Lyle Cutler!!

Our mini vacation to Southern Illinois in June of 1997. I was about 5 months pregnant with Noah and we hiked and hiked. Phew! It was soooo hot! But we had a great time. See Hannah's pigtails?? She was so cute!

Noah was probably 2 years old here. Looks like the fall of 1999. What a ham!

I LOOOOOOOVVVVVVVE this picture! I forgot I even had it! Hannah's looking out the shower door at Noah. 1998

And here's my cuties in the backyard when we lived on Park Avenue, leaned up against Grandpa Kim's old boat. My, how they've grown!

Lyle and Hannah wearing their Pull-Ups hats!!! They're sooo cute! I had Noah just 12 days after this pic was taken.

Noah playing in the front yard in the fall of 1998.

Check out my new specs!

2007-08-28T19:54:00.000-05:00

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

2007-08-25T23:45:00.001-05:00

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...

2007-08-23T22:31:00.000-05:00

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!

2007-08-23T00:09:00.000-05:00

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!

2007-08-21T21:09:00.000-05:00

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!

2007-08-21T08:11:00.000-05:00

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!

2007-08-18T01:14:00.000-05:00

The "Rulers"

of the

Cutler Household

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

8Hannah

8Noah

8Jinx

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

2007-08-17T23:41:00.000-05:00

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!!