stop and smell the "rose"s

2012-01-03T06:55:00.001-06:00

I am moving!! Go check me out at Shannon From Scratch and if you receive this blog by email, there is a spot to sign up for it there as well :) It's a new journey, and I am so excited!! Thanks to all who have followed on here, now hop over there and follow along!

Love, Shan

ps-If you click on the Shannon From Scratch it will take you there. For some reason it doesn't show up a different color on the blog :)
www.shannonfromscratch.blogspot.com

2011-12-08T20:16:00.001-06:00

Just to put all your minds at ease, b/c I know you have all been sitting at your computes daily to see if I did my monthly, okay every other month-ly post, here is the update :) My new blog is almost up and ready to roll!! Woot woot!! The Lord has given me some pretty awesome things to blog about, and I can't wait to start!!! I am so excited! The first post is sitting in my journal, waiting to be pecked out on my new blog :) Yay for computer savy friends who are willing to help me in my computer-handicapped ways!

Here is Gavin with his newest smile :)

Last Round :)

2011-10-21T07:02:00.003-05:00

Me and G :)

Daddy and Samcakes :)

Our Family :)

Next week I will begin to take you on the crazy journey
our family has been on these past few weeks...

I like this blogging pictures thing...

2011-10-11T21:39:00.002-05:00

Sweet Sam :)

The hubby wanted a pic of us kissing. Whatever
keeps him happy :)

G-funk. He looks so handsome here!!!

More Fun!

2011-10-10T20:57:00.000-05:00

This last one is one of my absolute favorites of the bunch :)

More Pics :)

2011-10-08T09:22:00.002-05:00

I am excited to get these ordered and put on my family wall :) Pics of that
too come when we get it all completed!

Try again :)

2011-10-06T13:26:00.002-05:00

Some peeps told me the picture was not showing up so here we go again...

Picture Time :)

2011-10-05T20:21:00.001-05:00

My bestie, Shaundel, has a passion for photography. So of course we were more than willing to be guinea pigs for her!! Over the course of the next week or 3 knowing me, I am going to be posting some of my favorites :)

And believe it or not, I am working on a major overhaul to this blog...or possibly even starting a new one. My soon-to-be-a-bride-on-Saturday dear heart friend Angie is helping me with it, but please focus on the Saturday...so when she gets back from the honeymoon, we will be ready to get it rolling!

First Day of School 2011

2011-08-16T14:56:00.005-05:00

Yes, you can pick your jaws up off of the ground, I am blogging!!! We are alive and well :) My goal is to do a mini recap of this summer, it may arrive in November, but what the heck? :) So I am just going to jump back in with both feet and take off from here, since it's a new school year, it can be full of new beginnings for me as well. But I know that most of you reading this really want to hear more about Gavin and Sam than me rambling, so I will start there :)

Sam-cakes striking a pose.

G-funk posing all sorts of cool :)

Last night was back to school night and Sam didn't want to leave, so she was ready to tear out of the door this morning and get back to school. Gavin was looking forward to school a lot more than he ever has, pry b/c his sister was going to also be there all day, not getting to have extra time with Mommy :)

Trying to do the "rock out" sign, that didn't
turn out too well :)

I am sooooo happy b/c Sam has Mrs. Kuhn as her teacher this year (who Gavin also had in Kindergarden.) She also was beyond thrilled with this, and helped her transition into elementary quite well! Gavin has Mrs. Willaman, and I have heard all praises about her.

G&S outside the school doors. I had to make them not
run inside the building for this. Glad they are excited!!

Coming home, they were full of stories (having recess topped all for both of them, shocking, I know) and are looking forward to heading back tomorrow.

I got more accomplished today than I pry have in the past month combined :) This is a whole new world for me. Hoping to be a substitute teacher this year! I'm in the process of getting all that dialed in right now. Hoping to have more time in my schedule so I can blog more, too :)

Thankful Heart

2011-05-18T08:25:00.003-05:00

Some things that make my heart happy:

Yesterday Gavin decided to love his sister :) When we dropped him off at school, he gave Sam a big hug before he got out of the car. When we picked him up, he told her he missed her. As soon as we walked in the house, they disappeared. Well after awhile, I figured I should go check on them, b/c quiet isn't always a good thing.....
But I walked (sneaked) in to this, then ran back for the camera :)

I will not lie, I really enjoy my couple hours a week by myself. This is how a lot of it is spent. My Bible, journal (with a Sharpie pen, is there really any other pen in the world?), book, and a coffee/chai. Some other things I love about this picture? Our family picture, new decorations from Ikea, and new paint on the wall :) This morning is my last morning of this blissful peace for a long time, as Sam graduates from preschool tomorrow night. I can't even go there yet =/ That will be a blog all on it's own.

This past weekend I had the honor of singing in Pat's cousins wedding. Congrats Drew and Tracy :) It was so much fun to get all dressed up! Pat and I even got to have a date after the rehearsal Friday night. That is a first in MONTHS!! Yay :)

Sam is a bookworm like her momma. Pat actually challenged me this year to not read a novel, b/c I will not get anything accomplished until I finish a book :) My 2 exemptions of this are if Karen Kingsbury or Stephenie Meyers comes out with a new book. So anywho, when we get home from dropping Gavin off, she leads me into her room, and says,"Look, 4 piles of books to read today!" We made the deal we would read a pile, I would go do a chore, read a pile, do a chore...you get it.

My life is never dull :)
This heart has a lot to be thankful for!!!

Challenge of the Heart

2011-05-03T14:49:00.003-05:00

"The Lord is our God, and Lord alone. And you should love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

I have been going through quite the journey of the heart over the past year, beginning about a few weeks before my missions trip to Cambodia and Thailand. The Lord began a work in my heart at that time about having a Mother's heart over my children. Then there was a time of God refining me and getting me to a healthy. Maybe healthier is a better word?? There is still a lot of work to be done :) I was reminded of this scripture today and it hit me in a whole new light. I felt God challenging me to really lay myself down (all my wants and needs) and put my children first. I am not quite sure what all this is going to look like yet, but I am for the first time completely willing and open to what this will look like in my life.

I feel like I may be understanding some of the restlessness that has been in my life, b/c I haven't been totally submitting to the calling the Lord has on my life in this season of my life. I am excited and expectant to see what God has in store!!

I truly am sorry for the huge gaps in time of my blogging...I am getting ready to start in to studying the Prophets of the Bible, starting with Isaiah. Maybe I will come across some litle nuggets to share. My friend Dina is doing a cool blog where she posts a picture and does a little update on her daily bible reading...I am going to be way more realistic for me...and say I would like to do this once a week ;)

(Just try to imagine how much glitter was stuck in the caulk of our kitchen table, and how many days it took to get it all out....)

3 More for the Making

2011-02-09T14:10:00.001-06:00

Here are a couple more pages! Tomorrow will be the snow day fun blog.

Here is Sam and I on a field trip to the Apple Orchard.

Here is Sam's page of going to Trunk or Treat.

Here is G's page of Trunk or Treat.

Working on more pages right now, but it's slow moving with a sick husband
and way too many 2 hour delays!!!

Few new pages :)

2011-02-08T13:25:00.001-06:00

Here are a few new pages for you. I have a couple more to share tomorrow :)

Here is the "silly" page for Sam's scrapbook. A more girly version of Gavin's.

Here is Sam's of the Apple Orchard with the family.

Sam's of her and Gavin :)

A page of them playing together. I did this one for both of their
books. They are similar enough that I only posted one :)

Tomorrow I'll post the other ones, plus a fun glimpse into our fun snow day last week!

A Call

2011-02-03T10:42:00.003-06:00

As many of you know, I have a passion for helping girls (and boys) get out of sex trafficking. One of my dear friends, Brittany, is over in Chaing Rai, Thailand with Destiny Rescue, teaching girls to do hair, as a trade instead of selling their bodies.
Here's she is with some of the sweet little ones while we were in Cambodia.

Another friend of mine, Garrett, who happens to be Brit's brother, is going over there in February to make a documentary about "the story of a group of girls who have been rescued from sex slavery and are fighting through the physical and emotion abuse, to stand up and fight for the dream we all take advantage of."

I am praying and believing it's going to be used to reach a lot of people. Please, please check out this link:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/681977599/her-name-is-pearl?ref=live

Thank you all for your hearts and for reading my blog :)

Turning 30

2011-02-01T14:23:00.002-06:00

This picture makes my heart happy :)

So I must say that I was a wee bit stressed turning 30. Something about being 30 made me feel like I am now officially an adult. I still feel so young! My dad told me I'm just one more day older. I've heard from a lot of people that the 30's have been the best years of their lives. Well, my hubby and friends made it their mission to make this the best birthday ever!

First my best girl Shaundel got me a manicure and pedicure...(and with OPI, only the best nail polish EVER!!)

then colored my hair...

black with red streaks in it!!

Following this I went back to Shaundel's house with about 10 of my closest girls to have a sleepover. We had lots of laughs and talks. They also spent time praying blessings over me, it was such a sweet time, I love my girls!

The next morning we got up and I went to Gavin's basketball game, then Patrick whisked me off to my next surprise, which I knew nothing about. We went up sledding. So much fun!! I didn't want to leave, but they were all on an agenda so off we went again. We ended up at Fiddler's Hearth, and as I walk in, even more of my friends are sitting there, waiting. I cried :) Then more and more people just kept filing in. I believe there was about 32 people. (see picture at the top of the blog) I am so loved and blessed!!!

I must say that some pretty amazing things happened in my 20's.
*Got married to seriously the most amazing man ever.
*Had 2 children, Gavin and Sam, who my life would not be what is today without.
*Started attending The Vineyard, where so many life changing events and friendships have taken place, and God started molding me into the woman that He wants me to be.
*Got to witness and help encourage two of my best friends give birth to their sweet babies (which is one of the most amazing experiences, I can't believe how attached I am to those 2 little ones, too!!)
*Ran 2 mini marathons, 2 5K's, and 1 10K.
*Got to be apart of leading worship at a youth retreat. I love leading God's people into worship!!
*Went to a marriage retreat that began a whole new look at marriage, and made me unbelievably thankful to be married to Patrick. I love him.
*Went on a missions trip to Cambodia/Thailand with Destiny Rescue. Changed my world. Thank God for that. He began a work in me, is still everyday. And that is why I am most excited about turning 30. To see what is in store for me next :)

Here's to turning 30!!!

Up to Date!

2011-01-12T17:26:00.000-06:00

Here are my pages that I have done up to this date :)
I need to get going, I took a week break. Time
to keep going at high speed to get caught up and
start my Destiny Rescue Missions Trip!!

2 for your viewing pleasure

2011-01-04T06:45:00.000-06:00

I only have 2 for you today...three more are sitting on a pile,
patiently waiting to have their pic's taken
and be cropped :)
Up soon, a Christmas recap and a glimpse into
my heart lately.

Scrap Pages :)

2010-12-31T04:11:00.000-06:00

Here are a few more pages for your viewing pleasure :)

The Next Round

2010-12-22T07:10:00.000-06:00

Here are the next 4 :)

More to share!

2010-12-21T17:30:00.000-06:00

I've been scrappin' like crazy!! So I'll start
updating a few every day. Enjoy :)

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

2010-12-14T17:23:00.001-06:00

Here is the one page that I got done today. I wasn't quite as productive. I did have a house to clean, after all. But...I must admit I also was watching Sing Off from last night, so that made me scrap alittle bit slower :) Having a couple friends come over to scrap tomorrow, so we will see how much I can get done with girls to chat with and children to instruct!!

On a roll :)

2010-12-14T09:20:00.000-06:00

Here are 3 more that I got done yesterday :)

I am hoping to keep being this productive! I
am going to an all day scrap Saturday and a
Monday overnight into Tuesday scrap time!!

Part 1 of pages!

2010-12-13T16:11:00.003-06:00

I have been scrappin' I just haven't had a chance to take pics
and crop them. I got 4 pages done today, so feeling quite
accomplished, I decided to take the time :)

Tomorrow I'll get the other 4 on here :)

Strawberry Fields Forver

2010-10-26T13:04:00.000-05:00

I dedicate this page to my Dad, since we are both huge Beatles fans :)

Yah, I like this blogging of scrap pages, it makes me scrap and blog!

Operation Scrapbook!

2010-10-23T11:07:00.006-05:00

I am on a mad mission to get caught up on my scrapbooking. I really want to start my scrapbook for my missions trip, but first I have quite a few (like 40) pages to do of Gavin and Sam first. So I am going to start posting my pages as I accomplish them. I went to a scrapbooking retreat this past weekend and got 11 pages done. I was quite pleased with my work, even though I did have a friend there who got over 50 pages done...but whatever :) So here are the pages I did there, along with one I got done yesterday.

Here is my workspace while I am on this operation. It looks all nice and tidy right now...

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

Sam's 1st (but really 2nd) hair cut. The hair in
the envelope was from when Gavin gave her
her 1st one...

Easter 2010

Sam's dirt page

Sam's Monster Truck day page

Summer days

Sam's beach day

Sam's zoo page :)

Playing in the dirt!! G's page.

G's page of the Monster Truck day.

Fun day with Kindergarden Olympics last spring with Gavin!

Okay I LOVE this pic, I am not sure why this is sideways, b/c it's not in Kodak!

Gavin and his love of cones....

Here is G's zoo page!

I had these all nice and cropped pretty in Picasa, and it wouldn't upload to my blogger, and I couldn't find it on my computer. It's worked in the past, so I don't know why it was rebelling against me today. But instead of wasting any more time on it, I just did it quick like in Kodak and there ya have it. Oh, and the last 2 pics...my camera battery was dying so I had to snap them as quick as possible ;) If you want to read any journaling or see a pic up close, just click on the picture to see it!

Between this and canning tomatoes, it's now 12:29 and I am just getting ready to start diving in again to scrappin'! Let's get this party started!!

Hope you enjoy!

DR Trip-Bus Rides and Kampong Cham

2010-09-08T15:55:00.003-05:00

Okay all you faithful bloggers, how do you stay on top of your blogging?? I have the best of intentions, but I am not great at the follow through :) I am on a Facebook break for 40 days for a time of prayer for my church, so maybe I will do better at this since I am not getting sucked into that time stealer!!

Moving on!!!

So after Phonm Penh, we went on a 3 hour bus ride to Kampong Cham (still in Cambodia). On our way we stopped at a bus stop to see these lovely delights for our snacking pleasure.

Deep fried spiders.

Deep fried crickets.

Me being brave trying...

No, not a spider or cricket. A yummy fruit :) We called them eyeballs. I don't remember what they are really called, I will need to find that out for my scrapbook.

Once we got there we got to go to the Destiny Rescue coffee shop and meet a few of the children there. We put on a skit about healthy eating habits. I want to put some pics on here, but for some reason it is not letting me put anymore on, so I will put some up here on a different post. Soon, I promise :) :)

The next day is a day I would just as soon forget about. We took a 5 hour bus ride up to Seim Reap. It was without a doubt the bumpiest ride I have ever taken in my life. I was sitting in the front seat with Shaundel, popping Dramamine like candy, wearing my Seabands, nibbling on bread, and praying every 10 seconds that I wouldn't puke everywhere!!! There are no shocks on the buses in Cambodia, and the roads I think were built for a rollercoaster ride, not for traveling purposes. We did have 2 stops on this trip, filled with more deep fried goodies, oh joy :) Oh yes, and did I mention that at all these rest stops, the only toliet they have are squatties? What is a squattie you ask? Oh you know, a toliet in the ground, that you squat over. This is where my wheelin' trips came in mighty handy :) And once you are done doing your business, there is a pal there with water, and you take a small bucket on a stick, dip it in the water, and "flush" your toliet. Traveling, isn't it an adventure?!?

Coming up next, Anchor Wat, one of the highlights of the trip for me!!!

First Days of School & Other News

2010-08-19T05:15:00.001-05:00

I am going to take a mini break from the Missions Trip for exciting times in the Rose home: Gavin and Sam's first day of school :)

First off was Sam's first day of preschool on Monday. I cannot believe that my baby girl is old enough to be in school. I actually was alittle worried how she would react b/c she is quite the Mama's girl. But she loved it. She actually was pretty honked off when we dropped Gavin off to school on Tuesday and she wasn't going to school. She wants to go everyday, not every other day, thank you very much!

Then Tuesday Gavin had his first day of 1st grade. He at first wasn't too keen on going to school "all day" b/c in his head that meant he was never coming home. When I picked him up and he realized, that yes, in fact, he was coming home, he liked it a lot. He really enjoys getting 2 recesses :) As I was dropping him off, I had unexpected tears fill up my eyes. I can't believe that he is going to school all day now!

Yesterday (Wednesday) I dropped Sam off at preschool, dropped Gavin off at school, and I look back to see 2 empty carseats and no squabbling. What do I DO with myself?!? Well,by golly, I head to the gym!! I had a great workout and God was totally moving!! With Pat's uncertainty of how much work Keystone is going to be having, we are selling our truck and Jeep, and I cancelled my gym membership. Those of you that know me know how much I love to workout. I cried when I went in to do it. I decided to go in yesterday to use up the rest of the months membership, and the manager there asked me if I would be willing to volunteer one day a week in the childcare in return for a free membership. I about jumped out of my skin!!! So, I believe, God willing, that I will be doing that on Tuesday mornings, and Sam gets to go with me :) I am just so thrilled and filled with joy to know Jesus loves me and cares about the things that I care about. When we are faithful to Him, He will be faithful to us in return.

After my amazing workout, b/c I was flying high from the news that I was still going to be able to work out there, I headed to the library for my quiet time. I truly enjoy doing it there instead of home, b/c at home there are just so many distractions. Getting me out of the house allows me to journal, read, and just give God my full attention. Life may be hard sometimes, and right now we are defiantly in a season of Him stripping away things, but at the same time, God is doing amazing works in my heart, Patrick's heart, our marriage, our family....I love seeing the hand of God at work!

Part 2 of DR Trip

2010-08-01T08:43:00.000-05:00

We went and visited two different slum villages. The first one was just a short walk away from the daycare and learning center. The first one is built over 3 feet of sewage, muck and trash. It smelt so horrible. These pictures don't do it any justice at all.

This little girl broke my heart with her teddy bear. She dropped it in a puddle of mud, and she just wipes it off and keeps loving on it.
These are the planks that are built over all the grossness. One started to collapse as we were walking on it. Yeah, that was a scary moment. One time a child fell through and drowned it the mess underneath, and that was a motivator to start the Daycare.

Just shack after shack.

Can you imagine living like this? Their rent is $15 a month. For this.

Then we headed to a different village to look at that DR helps. These are built on stilts b/c during rain season it floods. Rent here is $5 a month.

When going on the trip, we were aloud to bring a suitcase and carry on. We were only aloud to pack in our carryons b/c we filled our suitcases with goodies to take and bless the people of Cambodia and Thailand with. Here we are organizing it all.

After lunch before we hit the villages, we went to a Genocide Museum to get a better understanding of why Cambodia, ecspeacially Phnom Pehn in the way it is. Back in the late 70's from 75-79, over 2 million people were killed. It was like a Hitler situation. A man wanted to get rid of anyone who had power and money. Below is a sign that explains more about it. It was horrifying. It was a school that was turned into torture chambers. It was really hard to tour.

That was the end of our first full day in Cambodia. Coming up next, the bus ride, weird foods, and Campong Chem :)

DR Missions Trip Part 1

2010-07-26T19:56:00.000-05:00

Day 1, 2, 3, and I think 4 :) We left The Vineyard 7:30am and headed up to Kalamazoo to Detroit. Then we had a couple hour layover there and flew to Japan for 12 hours, and had a long enough layover to get on our next flight to Bangkok, Thailand which was about 7 hours. We got into Bangkok at night, and stayed at a pretty nice hotel. They told us to enjoy it, b/c when we came back to this hotel at the end of our trip, it was going to seem AMAZING. The next day we woke up and had a few hours before we had to get back to the airport to fly to Cambodia. I had a hard time adjusting to the heat. It was hot hot hot. It was hard to breathe, and I was having a really hard time being away from my husband =/ But through it all I came to discover that sometimes I rely on Pat too much instead of God, which is unfair to him and places expectations on him that only God can fill in my life. It was so so amazing how quickly God started moving in and through all of us in our team. It was truly a great trip.

Here is our HUGE plane that we flew on!
The first days in Cambodia we went to Penom Pehn. It was the worst of the worst that we saw. Our first full day I am going to break into 2 blogs, b/c it was so full that it felt like 2 days in one. It was so full of emotion, that it took until after we got home to even process it all. So I will take this blog to do the morning. We started off at the Learning Center. This is where the children go to school. They are on an incentive program that if they come to school for a week, they get a bag of rice sent home with them. Otherwise, the parents are going to send their children out to beg and get stuff for them instead of having them go to school. It is just such a different world over there.

Aren't these children just so sweet and precious?!?

Next we went to the Daycare. As soon as we walked through those doors, we the children swarmed us. They love people with white skin. Whenever they see that, they know that they are going to get loved on. We didn't walk anywhere with at least one child in our arms and more clung onto us somewhere. It really challenged me. I wrote in my journal that I wanted to allow Sam to be as much of a cling on as she wants to be, b/c she is blessed to have a mommy all the time. I came home such a different mom. Throughout the next few blogs I will also reveal just how God spoke to me and challenged me.

This sweet little girl absolutely stole my heart. Please note how red my face is. That is how hot it was. I sweat for 2 weeks straight. I lost 8 pounds from sweating so much, and being incredibly careful with how I ate. The food there was so so so so so amazing. I'll have pics of some of the most incredible meals I had!!

A favorite thing of the children there was to give a peace sign. That, and looking at the back of the camera after we took a picture, b/c they don't have pictures of themselves. It's so crazy.

More to come!!!

Sweet Memories

2010-05-04T12:15:00.000-05:00

What an absolutly amazing Sunday I had this past weekend! I got to see my 3 girlfriends from childhood. What a blessing! The 4 of girls: Brooke, Penny, Kristy, and myself were inseperable growing up. Kristy and I lived across the street from each other and Brooke was down 3 houses and then Penny was across from her.

Kristy is getting married and was having a bridal shower, and this is what brought us all together. There were lots of happy tears as we saw each other :) Afterwards we went back to the old neighborhood to walk around. People pry thought we were stalkers, looking in fences. I was determined to go up to my old house and knock on the door, but no one was home =/ I'll just have to go back! As we walked by the houses, we joked about needing to stop and get snacks. Pickels were an all time fav, along with Margies AMAZING chocolate chip cookies. To this day I have never had better. I hope she makes them for this summer :) We walked down the alleys to our old club house, and where my Dad would chase around with a ball and scare us. Our haunted houses. Swimming, slip and sliding (my old house had an awesome hill that was so fun to slide down...it didn't look so big now, sniff sniff), dances in the street lights at night, sparkers, sleep overs, dancing chins....I could just go on and on. I thank God for these girls and friendships.

This is the 4 of us plus Brooke's Mom, Ethel, and Kristy's Mom, Margie. Marg babysat me growing up. Walking back into her house just made me feel like I was back home. It was so amazing to see everyone. Even after all these years, it was just like old times. What a wonderful feeling to know. I love them still so dearly. My cheeks hurt all evening long from just smiling so much! This summer we want to get together with all of our parents and families now.

Picture order from left to right: Penny, Kristy, Me, Brooke :)

Penny, Brooke, and I all have daughters. Get this: all of their middle names are Nic(h)ole! Can you believe that?? We told Kristy when she has a daughter, she has to give her the middle name Nicole (Nichole). So sweet!!

Here we are with Big Mike, Kristy's dad. I get teary eyed just looking at this now. Such a great, amazing, perfect childhood. We were so so so so so blessed!!! Big happy sigh :)

Day 3 and 4

2010-04-09T06:25:00.000-05:00

Day 3 took us to Shipshewana!! I love our Shipshe days :) We were suppose to go with Natalie and the boys, but she decided to have her baby girl that day! So we started our day at the Red Wagon. If I had money....oh the purchases I would make there. The Melissa & Doug stuff....sigh. It's all so amazing. But also at this store is where all the Thomas goodies are. So G scored some goodies and Sam did too. Oh the blessing of the Resale!!

After we played there for awhile, we went on the carosel ride. Sam has made leaps and bounds. Last summer she sat on the sidelines and watched as Gav went round and round. I went with some of my girlfriends a couple months ago and she was willing to sit on the bench on the carosel. This time she said she wanted to go on a horse. Well...she liked that until it started going up and down. Then I grabbed her off that and put her on a stationary horse. Her love of horses is crazy! I need to find some friends that have one so I can show her one up close and personal.

Next was that infamous Jojo Pretzel!! I think this is my favorite part of the day. I mean really, a warm, soft pretzel with a root beer. Could life get any better than this?? :) Well, yes, if Patrick would have been there, it would have been perfect. He has been working a lot, I miss him! I get that is a good thing, over being glad to have a break from him.

Here are Sam and Gav, with her showing her new horses that she got. She said that she wanted a doctors "pit" aka kit, but once she saw those horses, that was the end. They have gone with us everywhere since then. As soon as we walked in the door G got all his Thomas stuff out and we , meaning I, built a train track. It included his new bridge and Annie & Clarabel.

Day 4 took us to Mottts (mothers of tots to teens) then we went to the Waky dime store, where they didn't have the ONE candy that I was looking for. They are called slapsticks. I am in love with them, and I get them maybe once or twice a year. They had just run out =/ Then we went to go see Greg and Natalie in the hospital with their new sweet one, Kyla. And yes, I forgot my camera. Boo, hiss. I'm so happy for them. They went through some hard times and this little girl is just a sweet miracle for them. I was a little nervous taking them with me to go see a baby. But they did wonderful, and poor Greg had to answer a lot of questions and listen to Gavin talk about cones a lot :) Oh, and one of my dearest friends Becky was their nurse for the day, so I got to see her in her element. That was really neat for me! Patrick got home at 1:30 yesterday, praise God, so we got to have alittle time together before I got to go out with my friend Andrea for some adult talk. That was so refreshing! It's so much harder at this stage of life to get friend time squeezed in. My life totally revolves around Patrick and the kids. And I am so okay with that. God has done some great works and changes in my life and heart!

Here are my two blessings :)

*Disclaimer. It looks great as I am writing this, and then when I preview it, it goes all nuts! So sorry, if there are huge gaps inbetween paragraphs or run on paragraphs. Maybe I should stick with doing pics in the middle :)

Spring Break, Day 1 and 2

2010-04-06T18:35:00.000-05:00

The rest of day one of Spring Break took us to Nappanee for a playdate with Dawn, Mindy, and all the children. It was just like old times, but with 4 more children in the mix :) One of the things that makes me miss living in Napptown. Then I took Gavin to the eye doctor to get his eyes checked...yeah, they recommended him getting them for school =/ And can you believe, the scrapper that I am, I forgot my camera for all of this?!? Me either!! After that Gav got to stay at Pat's parents by himself for a night. So Sam and I hit Revolving Closet, an awesome consignment clothing store in Syracuse, for some short shopping with Becky and Alice. Then we headed home to pick up Daddy and some grub, then went to get icecream :) Great day!!

Enter Day 2!

It starts off with me spending a hour and a half at the dentist. But I am happy to report, no cavaties! I believe this could be a first ever!! Then we headed home for some much needed nap and down time. As soon as Sam woke up, we headed outside! They rode their bikes around and then decided to get busy in the dirt.

So they start digging in the dirt. I told them to find some worms...never saw any. Maybe that is a good sign for things to come in my near future....but more on that later :)

While the kidlets are playing, what is a Mommy to do?? Why read, of course! So I picked up my Twilight book (for the 3rd time, I might add, hehe).

Well, what fun is dirt without mud??? So next up is water to make us some mud. Oh the smiles :)

Then it's time to wash off all that dirt!!! They of course thought that this was just as great as playing in the dirt and mud. I see a pattern starting for my summer days ahead!

I really love this warm weather! I am not forced to be inside cleaning, I can just sit outside and relax and enjoy fun times with Gavin and Sam. It makes things a lot easier when Patrick is working out in the garage building bumpers too. A win win for all involved!!! Can't wait for Day 3!

Woohoo Spring Break :)

2010-04-05T07:40:00.000-05:00

Welcome spring break!! We woke up this morning and I asked Gavin what he would like for breakfast. He answers, "Green eggs and ham!" And I shock him by answering, "Okay!" We had left over ham from Easter, and I have green food coloring :)

Sam with her green eggs and ham :)

Gavin with his :)

More adventures of our spring break to come! I am going to try to make this a mini-series. I have a fun summer one coming your way! It's going to help me blog way more regularly!!! I am looking forward to it, I hope you are too!!

Church on the Walls

2010-02-09T10:02:00.000-06:00

A few Sundays ago at church, Gavin started walking all over the sanctuary collecting the left over bulletins. He said he wanted to put "church" on the walls in his room. Intriqued by this idea, I let him keep on collecting. We get home, and he asks for tape. So it begins...

From there, he gets out all his coloring books, construction paper, and tapes his little heart away. This has been going on for a few weeks now...

After 6+ rolls of tape, his room is beautifully decorated :)

He even climbed on top of his dresser to get up to the ceiling! His creativity is amazing :)

He also has this idea stored in his brain on something to do with cones. Right now he has 34, but he wants more. So with his birthday money, I am sure he will be buying more! I can't wait until it gets nice out to see what he is going to do!!

For now he is making lines all around the house...

Oh and lets not forget his tape fetish. He has taped coins on the tops of all of the cones ;)

Stay tuned to see what adventures we will have next with Gavin!!

A New Year

2010-01-26T06:42:00.000-06:00

It's January 26th and I am just now writing my first blog entry of 2010. My goal? To write one a week. Yeah. Moving on....

So this year had a rough start. One of my close girlfriends lost her sweet 3 month old Graham. He laid down to take a nap and woke up with Jesus. It has been so heartwrenching to watch Shelly go through this. It makes me feel helpless and useless, I just want there to be something I can do for her. I truly learned what it as meant to pray without ceasing. She is always there in my thoughts and in my heart. But, somewhat cruelly, life goes on.

I also was so challenged at the Memorial that they held for Graham. His daddy, Luke, stood up and shared. He talked about Shelly and what an amazing Mom she is. (She is the one that walked me thru giving up Tastefully Simple to be a Stay At Home Mom (SAHM). Thank you for that Shelly!) He talked about how she can't wait until the children wake up from their naps, and how she loves with all that is within her. I am defiantly one to put up a wall and not let everyone in completely. I also still struggled somewhat with *just* being a SAHM. That evening I vowed to love my children, Patrick, and everyone else in my life with an unabandoned love. I look forward to spending time with Gavin and Sam. To truly cherish it b/c someday they are both going to be at school full time and then what will I do with myself?? I am so blessed to be home with them, to give Patrick a clean house and home cooked meals, to take Gavin to and from Kindergarden.

I had an RTI meeting at G's school yesterday morning to discuss what can be done to help him in school. He needs to work on his Fine Motor Skills. His writing isn't very pretty, and needs to improve cutting, coloring, tearing, etc. He also needs help with Speech and Language. Not that he can't talk, b/c anyone who has been around him knows he actually can't stop talking :) He needs help learning how to hold a conversation and how to process what he hears and put it into action. They brought up teaching him sign language, which I told them would pry be wonderful b/c that is how he communicated the first 18 months of his life. Also, he will get help on test taking, b/c his brain isn't wired like normal b/c of that part of his brain is dead from the stroke, so we need to retrain his brain. They test on computers now, and it's a struggle. It was also brought up at the meeting to look into Kindermusic for him.

It's nice to have a plan and know that we are moving forward to help Gavin! He defiantly is smart, and they said that he is alwasy so happy :) I'll leave you with a pic from our snow day!

Worship

2009-12-14T12:17:00.000-06:00

"You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy, that I might sing praises to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever!" Psalm 30:11,12

Of all the callings from God that I have questioned in my life (stay at home Mom, what?!?) the one thing I have known is that call of singing and worship on and in me. I have sang my entire life. Went to college for music education and performance. Decided to get married instead of getting a degree. But you know what, it is all God's will and timing that everything has turned out just as it is. Hallelujah! From all the different happenings in life, we ended up at The Vineyard in Syracuse. Being a part of the worship team there is such an amazing part of my life.

One of the worship leaders, and great friend of mine, JR, was asked to lead worship at Cloud 9, a youth retreat. He asked me to do background vocals (BGV's). To say I was excited was an understatement. I told him I had to talk to Patrick about it before I could commit, but was literally jumping and dancing around the house as I was telling Patrick about it. Needless to say my amazing hubby was willing to have the kiddos to himself all weekend so I could go.

I have such a passion for teens. I can't wait for that season in my life with Gavin and Sam, but am trying to love this young age :) Leading God's people into worship is just the most amazing, fulfilling feeling. I still get chills thinking about it. I pray that God will present more opportunities in my life like this!!!

"Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises!" Psalm 47:6

Here is the team that JR put together. I was blown away by the talent of these musicians! From left to right is me, Bryan on keys and accordian, Dan on drums, Pete on bass, Ben on electric, and JR on lead vocals and guitar. I hope that we are all able to play together again sometime; 3 of us go to church together, but JR and I are on oppisite teams, and Bryan, Dan, and Ben are from differnt churches.

"I will sing of the LORD's unfailing love forever! You and old will hear of your faithfulness." Psalm 89:1

"Worship the LORD with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy." Psalm 100:2

Books and Crafts :)

2009-12-05T14:06:00.001-06:00

There are two things that Gavin and Sam love to do together. Read books and do craft time.

At MOTTTS this week in Gavin's class they made snowmen out of cottonballs,and now he is on a cottonball kick. That is all he wants to do is glue them down (and draw rainbows, the story or Noah's Ark is a popular one in the Rose household). Needless to say, when I went grocery shopping this week, I bought more cottonballs :)

I am an avid reader. I am so grateful that both of the children have taken after me in this area. They will sit for an hour reading outloud to each other. Gavin can memorize books like you would not believe! It's incredible! Sam just makes up stories, I love it. A favorite for both is the Bible. Thank you Jesus for instilling a love for your word in their lives at a young age!!

In other news, we got our Christmas tree up and all the decorations out. I LOVE checking the mail this time of year!! Getting cards is the best ever!! I'll get a pic of G & S in front of the tree soon! They ask everyday if Chrismas is today...I love this time of year :)

It's spitting down snowflakes here, and Sam wants to get outside to eat snow. This is one area Sam is like her daddy and G is like me. I hate being cold, Patrick hates being hot. But her enthusiasm has me almost excited about snow. Almost.

No Training Wheels!

2009-11-17T12:53:00.000-06:00

Gavin loves to spend time outside. If he isn't riding his Jeep or building a ramp, he's on his bike. He kept telling us that he was sick of his training wheels, but we were a little hesitant to take them off. Well, he comes up to Patrick and had bent the wheels all the way up so that they wouldn't touch the ground. Guess he was ready :/ I don't know that I am old enough for this!
Sam loves to ride her bike...for about 5 minutes. But she was in on the action this day, pry b/c the camera was out :)

It just about killed him to have to stop riding for a second so I could take this picture and have him smile for me.

Hmm...what else in life has been going on? My life seems to consist of wake up, go workout, come home, feed the kids lunch, take Gavin to school, lay Sam down for a nap, clean, make dinner, go to bed, repeat. Why do I suck at blogging and only do it once a month?? Your guess is as good as mine :)

I do have some more ideas in my head, maybe I will get to them soon!!

Yay for new hair do's!

2009-10-14T05:56:00.000-05:00

After going 10 months without so much as a trim (hey life gets busy when you are a Mommy!) I went to go get my hair done! I was suppose to be leaving my house at 3:30. Patrick's work decided to make him work until 4, so he didn't get home until 4:30. I was an hour late to my appointment. I had a melt down and cried, Sam sitting in my lap crying. It's been a rough few weeks. But luckily, I was still able to go. So for 2 1/2 hours I got to chat with my girlfriend Shaundel and she put color in my hair and gave me a cut. Thank you Jesus for that break!!!

Here is an upclose shot of the blue it it. I have wanted to do blue for so long I can't even remember. I love it!!!

Here is the before and after shots. Just thought you would like to share in my joy of new hair :)

Gavin's World :)

2009-10-07T15:05:00.000-05:00

Gavin is a fun kid! He has the biggest imagination! Plus, he is just like his Daddy, such a gear head! I walked into his room one day to find this:

He had taken two pieces from his Lincoln Logs set, and made a ramp into his night stand, and made a parking garage. Then I turn to my right...

and he has the front of his drawer pulled off and has made ramps into it. Crack me up!

G is also in soccer right now. It's so cute to watch. He has never even touched a soccer ball before I signed him up to play. At his first practice, he asked his coach what the net was for. I about fell out of my chair from laughing. But I guess if he doesn't ask he won't know! At games, he can be seen sitting/rolling in the grass, picking his nose, or maybe running with the cluster of children attempting to kick the ball :)

Here he is throwing the ball back in bounds. Oh, also at practice anytime they touch the ball then have to do 2 pushups. He got really good at doing them :)

I love being a soccer mom. When I thought of being a mom, that is what I knew I would love, taking the kids here and there, cheering them on and laughing (or groaning) at and with them. I'm coming into the season of parenting I've been waiting for for 5 years!!

Little Ballerina...and Wheelin'!

2009-09-22T05:09:00.000-05:00

This summer Sam started taking ballet. Here she is being the cutest ballerina in the world!!

I could really just eat her up :) She loves it. My mom got her a ballerina back pack and she takes it everywhere with her. She looks forward to her Thursday night practice.

Next fun thing happening lately in our life was our Labor Day wheelin' trip. We went over to West Virginia. What a blast! We went White Water Rafting one day, one of the funnest days of my life!! I was terrified, b/c I have a fear of water and heights. Well I got over both that day, b/c not only did we do the WWR, we jumped off of a 20 foot cliff into the water! So glad I did it :)

We had a smaller group this time, only 4 rigs went down. Here they all are, lined up by an old shack we came across.

Yes, our Jeep is literally on it's side here. That was quite the adventure, to say the least :)

Here are the girlies of the group; Denise, me, Elise, and Shaundel.

And here is the guys of the group; Roger, Patrick, Ben, and Simeon.

I love that we have so many friends that love the same things we do, God knew what He was doing when He directed us to The Vineyard 4 years ago!

What were Gavin and Sam doing while we were gone for 6 glorious evenings? My amazing {and brave} parents took them. Yeah, we took them out to Red Lobster. It can't give them their sanity back, but it's the best we could do :)

*A shout out to my amazing friend Angie who helped me with the kickin' new template! I will get my pic slideshow back up, I just have to figure out how in the world I did it last time. Any advice on that, let me know!

I also told her that if she helped me with it, I would blog at least once a week...well she did it. That means I can't be a slacker anymore :) Blogging world here I come!

1st Day of School!

2009-08-19T08:04:00.000-05:00

Gavin had his first day of Kindergarden!! Here he is in front of his classroom:
Standing in front of school:

In front of the house, getting ready for me to take him to school (all the pictures got put in opposite order):

Cute boy!!

I did his hair all up :)

I can't believe he is in school!!! Thought you would enjoy sharing in his first day of school :)

My baby girl is 3!!

2009-07-06T05:44:00.000-05:00

I seriously can't even believe it. My sweet Sami is 3. As I was laying in bed this morning, thinking about that, I had a thought that was crazy to me. When we moved to Syracuse, Gavin had just turned 3. That just doesn't seem right, that she is the age he was when we moved here. Time is just going so stinkin' fast. I remember living at the cottage, waiting for our house to be finished, and calling around trying to find Gavin a preschool, and being thankful that Sam couldn't crawl b/c of the fire stove in the cottage. Time flies!!!!!!!!!

Thought I would share some sweet facts about my Sami-cakes, along with some cute pics of her as a babe :)

*She is in LOVE with Hello Kitty and Princesses. Her room is Hello Kitty, and half her clothing, toothbrush, toothpaste, hair accessories, shoes, purse, wallet......Then everything else is princess :) Ariel is her favorite right now, but also really likes Sleeping Beauty and Belle at times.

*She still loves her bunny. If she has a bunny, she has her cork in :)

*She is GIRLY!! And I am not. So she has brought out the inner pink in me. Becky and I took the girls shopping to spend Sam's b-day money. She comes home with a Hello Kitty beanie hat, Hello Kitty shirt (both pink), a baby doll and accesories (all pink), a pink laptop, a My Little Pony set, (the pink is her favorite, of course), and stuff from the "Princess" aka Disney Store. Anyone that know me, knows pink is not the color for me. Her favorite colors? Pink and purple. Thank heavens she also really likes turquoise :) I told Pat I have played dolls more in the last few months with her than I ever did my whole life!

*She is smart. It always blows me away. I pray that she stays that way all through school. Patrick is very smart, so I think we know where she inheritated that one from :) School was way more a social thing for me.

*She loves her Mommy. We are two peas in a pod. Both always bruised, running into something, saying "ouch" at least a few times a day :) I always feel so loved from this little girl. Love shopping together. I get an ear full anytime she finds out I went grocery shopping without her, which has happened like 2 times in the past year.

For her birthday we had just a small birthday party with our families and two of Sam's friends. My Mom made her a Hello Kitty cake. Seriously, check out how amazing this thing is!!!

Thanks for celebrating Sam's life with me :)

May in Review

2009-06-05T21:05:00.000-05:00

Well, May came and went in the blink of an eye! Lots of fun events took place this month. We went down to Indy the first weekend to the Mini Marathon. We went down with Ben and Elise. All I wanted to do was survive the race and not have my knee hurt in the process, and succeeded!! While us girls were running the race, Pat and Ben cooked up a feast by the finish line. They had all the stuff they needed to grill up a breakfast. Crack me up! After the race we went back to the hotel, took naps, then headed out for a night on the town. What a much needed break!!

Here we are, looking quite sleepy :)

That evening we went to go see Fast and Furious 4 (great movie!!) then went to eat at PF Changs. Oh how I love their lettuce wraps, seriously. Anyone up for a trip to Indy or Chicago??

We stayed at the Union Station while we were down there. Tons of great places for pictures. If you want to see them all, get a facebook and go look at my albums :)

For Mother's Day we went to Flat Top Grill with my Mom and Day. I orginally was on a mission to get a Vera Bradley purse. I couldn't find one I liked, (shocking I know) and stumbled across something I wanted way more!!

Thanks to my friend Natalie, I have become quite addicted to the Twilight series. As soon as I was done with the books, I had to buy the movie, and am now counting down the days to the 2nd movie comes out :)

Another adventure I have started is Weight Watchers. I started May 4th, and have lost 5 pounds and some inches. I am pretty good at exercising. I actually took the month off to focus soley on eating. Then June 1st I signed up at the Y in North Webster, where they have free child care from 9-12. I am excited to see what pairing eating right and exercise will do!!!

God has blessed me with tons of friends that have girls. TONS. Thanks to MOTTTS, I have made friends with some girls that have boys! One is Natalie, the one I would like to put another shout out there for my new reading addiction :) Her boys and Gav have a good Thomas addiction of their own. In Shipshewana is this amazing Thomas the Train store. So once a month we have been going up there with the kidlets. Of course while we are there, we stop and get a JoJo's pretzel, yummy and amazing!!

Here they are playing with the Thomas train tracks at the store.

Here are the brave momma's, taking 4 kiddos somewhere :)

Aww, yes. Then one of the two most anticipated events of the year. Memorial Day weekend. Our wheelin' trip!! This time we went to Wellsville, Ohio. We had a wonderful time being care free for 6 whole days without the kiddos :) They stayed with our parents, oh the blessing of grandparents!! We shared a tent with Ben and Elise, so there was always lots to laugh about. We just seriously had an amazing time, and now I am on Patrick to get our Jeep more trail worthy before Labor Day, which means I need to be ready for him to be in the garage more. But hey, it's summer, I can handle it!!

Here is a fun little water fall we drove up.

Me and the hunky hubby.

I am LOVING summer finally being here. Many days already spent at the park and playing outside. I've been working on pulling back from many obligations in my life, and focusing on the kids. It's amazing, and I love it!! The house is defiantly lacking b/c of being outside, but who cares!! In 4 months it will be cold and nasty again and I will have plenty of time to clean :)

Enjoy your June, hopefully I will write before August!!

Living in Fast Forward

2009-04-03T13:05:00.000-05:00

I am telling you what, life is beyond nuts! Patrick is back at work 5 days a week on top of working on his bumper business, and Tastefully Simple is taking off like a rocket! I hit Team Manager this month!! That is a huge accomplishment for me. I have 6 amazing girls on my team who are working hard, and it's just awesome. I love doing it. I have 10 parties this month. 10 parties plus 6 women to work with equals me learning to juggle a lot of things :)

The kids are awesome, defiantly antsy for summer to get here! They are talking about the beach, park, and the zoo quite often. I must admit, I am ready for that too!!

This past week I was a part of the Wakarusa Resale. It was just the most amazing thing to be a part of! We had over 2000 people come, and make $62000 in sales! Here is a video on it: http://www.fox28.com/Global/story.asp?S=10088167

Check out the goodies I got! I sold 280 and spent 215, we made some money :)
Yesterday I did something I've never done before, spent the whole day with my kiddos out and about and loved every second of it!! God is doing amazing work in my life :) We headed up to MOTTTS, then to UP mall with my friend Dre'. We ate at Chick-Fil-A (which I hope there is in heaven, hehe), played at the little play area, and went to the Disney Store. We spent quite a bit of time there. Gavin got a Lightening McQueen that you can take the tires off, and came with two extra sets to put on. He was the happiest boy, it was so sweet. He also picked out Lightning flip flops. Sam got an Eeyore (as if she doesn't have enough stuffed animals), Princess sunglasses and phone. She is in love with Princess stuff right now. Oh boy :) She will turn me into a girly girl yet. Or hopefully someday I can pursuade her to the tomboy way of life....Yeah, pry not. Then we got Auntie Anne pretzels for the car ride home,and hit not one but two banks on the way home, which means not one sticky sucker but two. It was really such a great day.

Here is the model with her sunglasses:

Here's G with his new Car:

Talking me through how to change a tire:

And the Princess phone:

Okay I need to stop procrasinating and clean the house, run, laundry, get ready for a TS party and leadership meeting tonight...oh yeah and start supper and get in the shower, all before 4:30.....hahahahahaha it's 2:16pm.

I am really going to try to do this more than once a month ;)

Gavin Turns 5

2009-02-10T13:29:00.000-06:00

Gavin turns 5 today. I can't even believe it. Really I can't. It's been 5 years since I gave birth for the first time. 5 years since he was in the NICU. Time absolutely flies by. Here are some things that Gavin loves:

*Lightning McQueen. We had a small birthday party for him and my Mom made an awesome Lightning cake. Gav thought it was the coolest thing ever.

*Thomas the Train. When I asked him what he wanted to do today, his 2nd response was to build a choo choo track. That is b/c his number 1 response was...

*Jeeps. He wanted to go outside and ride the new Jeep we got him. It's a Jeep Hurricane. This thing is so stinkin' awesome. The best part is it has two seats, and he lets Sam ride around with him!! I can't wait for summer now.

~Check out that sticker on the back bumper, and shout out to Pat's business :)

I can't believe that on February 10th it's 60 degrees outside. So he got to ride it today, he was all smiles :)

*Building lines. He takes all his Hot Wheels, then Lincoln Logs, then every toy he has, and makes a line beginning in his room, going across the house and ending in the utility room. I really need to get a picture of it.

*Scrapbooking. Okay really it's stickers. I scrapbooked for 3 hours one afternoon and he sat right next to me for 3 hours doing stickers. It was great.

*Watch movies. Some favorites are Thomas, Cars, Madagascar, Jonah, (okay all Veggie Tales), Toy Story I & II, and of course his John Deere DVDs. (He's watching Toy Story I with Sam as I write.)

*Chocolate milk. I just asked him what his favorite thing is, and that was his answer :)

Here is a video of him enjoying his new Jeep on his birthday!

I am alive!

2009-01-27T05:55:00.000-06:00

Well, Pat is back at work after his 8 week shut down, and I am back to normal life. It feels so good to get up at 4 am again! I know it sounds crazy. But before the kids get up, I am able to run, do weights, shower or work on Tastefully Simple, play on facebook, do my quiet times... all without having to cater to the kiddos. It's so refreshing. Plus it means a lot to Pat for me to go to bed with him, and that is around 8 since we get up so early. He has to be at work at 4:30. I am thankful that for now he has a job. We aren't certain what is coming next, there is talk of a lay off again (straight from Keystone, not rumor mill). But God has His hand on us, and it will all work out the way that it is suppose to.

What did we do over the past month and a half? Christmas, New Years, my birsthday, and lots and lots of family time :) Here is Gavin at Christmas. He's getting so big.

Here is Sam cakes, cutting my hair with a saw. Heaven help me :)

I've really been working on getting back to the basics when it comes to getting in shape and getting fit. I am trying to eat more natural stuff then junk. As I was told, "There was no Dorito tree or M&M bush in the Garden of Eden." Sucky, but true! I am being more conscious of what I am eating before I eat it, not feeling guilty after I wolf it down. I have started training for the Indy Mini again this year. It feels great to be running and working out again!!

Speaking of running, I just signed up to do the Disney World Marathon!!! This how it came to be. Next January I am going to be in Orlando for a Leadership conference with Tastefully Simple. My up-up line, Molly sent me an e-mail of the website for the marathon, and it is just 4 days before our conference. My dream was to run a Marathon at Disney. It just seemed to be meant to be. Pat supports me 100%. (thinks I am nuts for wanting to run 26.2 miles, but supports me non the less) So once I am done training for the Mini, I am going to keep on training and bump it up to training for the Marathon. My friend, Annie, who is an AMAZING runner, has been helping me with a training schedule. I will keep you all updated on how it's going.

Well, the little princess just woke up, so I am going to go be a mommy now. I promise to not go this long again, at least not until next shutdown, which hopefully won't be until July!

Sweet Sam

2008-12-17T15:19:00.000-06:00

Here is Sam just being cute :) She was reading a book to her mouse, and I just thought it was super sweet. She is seriously going to be the best mommy some day, she is a great little one right now. She is just so girly. She loves dolls, and pink, and Barbie. Nothing I was into. But I have to admit, I am having fun with this little girl God gave me. He gave her to me so I would embrace the girly side of me....a little.

Oh yeah, she is also wearing sandels two sizes too big, and would not take them off for anything. She wanted to wear them to bed. Lord help me when she is a teen :)

Presents and Bubble Time Fun

2008-12-12T09:11:00.000-06:00

We had Christmas with Pat's family at the beginning of the month. It actually works out great so the kids get to play with the toys before they have Christmas with my parents. This is the first year that Sam really got into opening the presents. Gavin was a pro, he was done before Sam was half way done.

Gavin was super happy to get a new Thomas movie!

I was so excited to give Sam the Hello Kitty tent. She loves it!! She put her babies pack and play it it, along with her Barbie and Barbie car. She got so many toys. I was thrilled b/c honestly she really didn't have that many.

But...her room is normally really clean. This is what happens when she gets toys:

The kiddos were taking a bubble bath, and playing with the new toys they got from Pat's side of the family for Christmas. Gavin got a Lightening McQueen shaving kit. They both got Seseme Street Paint and Crayons. Here is G writing his name.

Gavin's name on the side of the tub. I'm so proud of him for being able to write his name :)

The kids with a S and a G on their chests, super kids :)

Here he is shaving:

Fun times!! These two get more and more fun everyday!

Oh Christmas Tree...

2008-12-08T20:24:00.000-06:00

Oh Christmas Tree...How lovely our your branches? Well ours is quite sad. It's about 7 years old now...but it was our first tree so we don't want to get rid of it. I guess we've grown fond of it over time. But branches are falling apart all over the place. Eventually it's going to look like the Charlie Brown tree!

Last Sunday we put up our Christmas tree. The kids thought it was the greatest time. We let me help us put the branches on and hang the ornaments. I have more winter house decorations then normal ones, so I love this time of year.

Sam loved the tree skirt, we had to first try to get it out of her grip before we could put the tree together.

Here is the kids putting the tree up. It makes me giggle looking at this picture again. Gavin has a whole section, and Sam has one little branch that has fallen off. She was so eager to help...but didn't quite know what she was doing yet :) Gavin was a huge helper, anything to help his Daddy.

We let Gavin put the star on top of the tree. He was all smiles!!

I'm helping Sammycakes hang some up on the side of the tree so it doesn't fall frontwards :)

Here is the cluster of ornaments that the kids hung up.

Our camera has a timer on it, and we have a tripod, so Pat set it up and this is what we got! We hurried up and changed back into our clothes from church before we took it, and wiped the chocolate off of G's face :)

November Recap

2008-11-30T14:03:00.000-06:00

So I guess I was busy this month, b/c I think this is only my 4th post this month!! I did have a lot of Tastefully Simple parties, along with church and worship practice. Since I had parties a lot, I wasn't getting up at 4 like I normally do, and didn't get near as much done as normal. Pat just had a 2 week shut down, and it now heading back for two weeks, then has a month off. In the next 2 weeks I have 7 parties, so it might be two weeks before I write again, but I am going to try really hard to be better :)

One day while G was at school, I was playing with Samicakes. She knew we were getting ready to go on a shopping trip to get Vera Bradley purses. She was finding her favorite one and filling it with items that she thought needed to go along with us. She had her little Hello Kitty stuffed in her Hello Kitty wallet, and farm animals. I guess cows like to shop, too. Who knew? :)

Here is the shopping day!! Becky and I took the girls out for a day of our kind of fun. We went to Vera Bradley, then Olive Garden, then the mall. I picked out the purse I wanted, and Sam told me I should get the wallet, too. So I said, "okay!" She is a bad influence on me :) Sam prefers the Raspberry Fizz pattern. So I think that is what I will get her for some kind of holiday. I am done Christmas shopping...so I will think of an excuse. I love my Vera Bradley, hehe. When we were at the mall I headed to the Clinique counter to get some mascara. The ladies thought Sam was so cute they gave her a free lipgloss. I need to take her everytime I go there to get something!!! Becky and I foresee lots and lots of years of shopping with the girls, it was a blast!

Gavin's preschool had a Thanksgiving program. They had a feast for all of us, and then the kids sang a few songs and did a little skit on the first Thanksgiving. It was so sweet. Here is Gavin singing, "Over the River and Through the Woods..."

Last night I went out for Sarah's birthday (Happy Birthday Sarah!!) While I was there Pat called me and said that G was sad that I wasn't there to pray with him. So I prayed with him over the phone, but he still was upset. So I told Pat to spend some time with him until I got home, then I would love on him. When I got home, I read to him and loved on him. He was a happy boy then. Aww, God knows how to make me feel special and loved :) Pat took some pics of our time together. I already see the scrapbook page for this one!!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!

Tagged #1

2008-11-12T07:19:00.000-06:00

Okay so I got tagged twice in the same day, so I will do the one I read first :)

A. Attached or single? Attached

B. Best friend? Becky, Elise, and Lydia, but I am blessed with a lot of close girl friends!!

C. Cake or pie? Cake

D. Day of choice? Thursday, it's our Friday (read:payday) and MOTTTS

E. Essential item? Bible

F. Favorite color? Orange or Turquoise

G. Gummy bears or worms? Worms, but only if they are the sour ones :)

H. Home town? South Bend/North Liberty

I. Favorite indulgence? Scrapbooking and eating

J. January or July? Well...both. January b/c of my birthday, but July b/c it's warm and when I get to celebrate my half birthday, since my birthday is right after shutdown, boo.

K. Kids? Gavin and Sam

L. Life isn’t complete without? Chocolate :)

N. Number of brothers and sisters? Tyler, chillin' in heaven making fun of how dumb I am :)

O. Oranges or Apples? Apples w/ peanut butter

P. Phobias? Spiders. I will stare at one all day so I know where it is, so when Pat gets home he can kill it.

Q. Quotes? Anything from Dumb and Dumber

R. Reasons to smile? Sami hugs

S. Season of choice? Fall, and it was amazing this year!!

T. Tag 5 people: Darcy, Angie, Sarah, Abby, and Shelley

U. Unknown fact about me? I got to sing on stage at Great America when I was little :)

V. Vegetable? Zucchini

W. Worst Habit? Eating :)

X. Xray or ultrasound? Ultrasound

Y. Your favorite food? Well chocolate, duh! But besides that, Tastefully Simple of course!!!

Z. Zodiac sign? Capricorn

New Hair Did

2008-11-04T15:08:00.000-06:00

Here is my new hair did :) Enjoy!

Slacker

2008-11-04T04:01:00.000-06:00

Howdy Hey! I'm such a slacker! Sorry for the gaps in between posts, I guess I have a busy life :)

Let's see. We went on a field trip to the pumpkin patch with Gavin's preschool. It was rainy outside, but the cool pumpkins were all inside. Then afterwards we got to eat pumpkin doughnuts and apple cidar. Yum!!

Here is Gavin and Marcus being Mrs. Phyliss' helpers. (Read:the ones who get alittle hyper)

This is a sweet pic of Sam and her Daddy.

Last Wednesday Gavin had a little fall party at school, so Sam and I went to check it out. They let her be part of the fun and snack time. Look how cute she is just sitting there like a big girl :( It makes me sad how fast she is growing up! She's suppose to be my baby forever, and she keeps reminding me that she is not a baby but a big girl. And I remind her that big girls don't use diapers, but she doesn't seem to listen to me. But Pat has 7 weeks off, 2 for Thanksgiving and 5 over Christmas, and since we will pry be home ALOT, we are going to focus on potty training. Lord help us! Gavin is allready excited about Kindergarden, and Sam asks all the time when she gets to go to school. They already want to grow up too fast.

Last week I got to go to Pages In Time with Sarah. I swear everytime I open the doors to that store, the angels sing in heaven :) We were there for about 2 hours. It was wonderful. Plus I had a $10 dollars off and a 20% off my entire purchase, so I didn't have to spend much money and got lots of stuff! Thank you Jesus for the small blesssings in life. Then we went to Chick-Fil-A. My day was complete. Amazing friend + scrapbookin' +good food = happy Shan!

This past weekend we worked on the yard. And by we I mean Pat, Ben, JR, and Travis. Us girlies scrapbooked and talked and were moral support. We were so fascinated watchin' Ben's John Deere dig up our yard and wrestle a piece of concrete that they found randomly in our yard. What I thought was just moving some dirt in our yard was actually making trenches in our yard to put in field tile and tearing the yard apart. And did you know that field tile is a tube for draining??? I was picturing like squares of something underneath a layer of grass. Who knew? Obviously everyone but me :)

Gavin chasing Ben on the John Deere. He was the happiest kid that day!!

Gavin showin' Pat and JR how to Git'R'Done.

Hi Ben Ben!!

G loved all the dirt in our yard! He ran his Jeep until the battery was dead. Then he would pull it up on the dirt pile and ride it down. He did not want them to smooth out the piles. Aww, Gav, you're so fun :)

This cracks me up. Sam was sitting in her chair munching on some grapes, and Zaylee climbed up in the chair with her. She didn't quite know what to think at first....

but got over it and went back to her grapes :)

Well, I am getting my hair did today! I haven't gotten it done in a long time!! When we get together with my Mom and Dad, the last thing I want to make my Mom do is work on her day off! So I am giving her a much deserved break from doing my hair. My girlfriend Shaundel does hair over here by where I live, and she has ideas in her head of what we should do. I'm working on growing it out for Locks of Love again, so I don't really care what she does as long as I can grow it out. I'm going dark too! I'm so excited! My girlfriend Savannah is coming to watch the kids so I can go during the day. Thanks again God for such amazing friendships that you have placed in my life :) I love my friends!!

So here is the before picture. Be kind, I took it this morning, and remember I get up at 4 with Pat. So here I am at 4 something in the morning :)

Down with the Sickness

2008-10-21T06:47:00.000-05:00

It's now my turn for the fun cold that has been running rampant around this area. Oh the joys! I can't believe how long it's been since I have written on here. I think it's because I feel like every day is the same! Two weeks ago we went to the fire station and got some really cute pics of Gavin enjoying, along with Sam.

Here is Gavin's class, along with their class mascot, isn't she cute?? :)

They let Sam participate is all the field trips they take. They are a wonderful preschool. It's called SonShine Preschool. I was talking with the teachers, and we realized I will be on the same field trips 4 years in a row, b/c Sam will start next fall! Actually she will be on them 4 times too :) Good thing she won't remember them to get bored, hehe!

Gavin got to try on a fireman's suit. Pat's grandpa, uncle, and cousin were/are all fireman, who knows??

Gavin stayed over at Pat's parents for the night, and Saturday I had a TS party, so Pat and Sam read books for something crazy like 3 hours. This is how I left them as went off to my party... He is the most amazing father in the world. They say you marry someone just like you dad, in my case, I totally did :)

We skipped church the weekend before last, and went out to Potato Creek with my parents. It was a gorgeous day with tempatures in the 80's. Ah...the end of summer. Now it's cold and crappy. And it will be for a while.

Yeah...she's not sassy :)

Here is Gavin swinging high, with Sam as close as you will get her to swinging :)

Here is my Dad playing with the kiddos:

Last weekend I went up to Grand Rapids to see Becca...and forgot my camera! We went out to dinner, kid free :) After that we went to the mall and daydreamed about what it would be like to have money to shop, hehe. In the morning we got up and walked down to the cute little town there. They have a shop that has Vera Bradley products....and I stumbled across a pattern that for some reason I have never heard off!! It's adorable and has these little owls on it! Now I want a few things in it! I still have my Java Blue obsession, and I still like the Pink Elephant one, but this is fabulous too!!! (This is as good as I could get for now, I just did it so I had something for you to see.)

I am starting a food log to watch what I am eating and keep track of my water intake and exercise. Exercise has taken a back seat while I am feeling sicky, it's driving me nuts! I was finally motivated, and now I can't do it. Anywho, I figured if I would make the cover of the food log, I would actually commit to it. So here it is, not cropped all nice. I'll get to that some day.

Seriously, with working Tastefully Simple so much, I seem to always be doing something. Downtime is something I do not see as much. Trying to juggle everything can defiantly be a challenge. The days I try to give attention to the kids, the house is nuts. If I try to give attention to the house, the kids are nuts. Balance? Not in this house!!! On top of trying to squeeze time in to make calls to my hosts, team members, customers, facebooking, blogging, reading my bible, praying, journaling, scrapbooking, and reading The Shack. I don't know how I can be bored, but it still happens!

Well hopefully I will not go two weeks again before I blog :) Or die from coughing up a lung.....

Fall Time!!

2008-10-06T11:38:00.013-05:00

This past weekend we took the kids to Amish Acres with our friends Eric and Jessica, their daughter Alissa, and Eric's sister, her husband, and their kids. We went to a amish school, where they told us about and showed us an amish school bus. Then we went to pick out our pumpkins (they are tiny!!) and the kids got to roast marshmellows. It was a great day to be outside, we're trying to be outside as much as possible these fall days before it gets time to be stuck inside!

Gavin and Sam being cute with their pumpkins :)

Here is the Kessler Family: Eric, Jessica, and Alissa.

The Rose Family, excuse the fingerprints that somehow managed their way onto my camera lens.

Sunday evening JR, Becky and Baby Alice came over. She was introduced to the world of toy trucks. She loves them! I think it's getting close to the time for her to have a sibling in her life ;) Gavin and Sam loved having Alice to play with. We tried to get a picture of the three of them together, nicely posed...yeah, it was a good effort!! Here is the best we could get:

But this one cracks me straight up! Alice kept falling over, Gavin was making weird noises (go figure) and Sam wants to just stay on the couch, she kept falling off in her slippery dress.

Here is sweet Alice playing with G's dump truck. We tried giving her a smaller one to play with, but she likes the big kid one :)

For the love, it is just cold!! I am wishing it would stay 76 degrees outside all year. We refuse

to have the heat on above 62 degrees, so it's going to be a cold winter, full of layers of clothes :) Take that, NIPSCO!

My mission this week: to get scrapbooking pages put on here for you to see. I've been dragging my feet b/c of having to take them out of the albums, and I'm afraid to figure out Picasa ( I think that's what it's called) but I have a good friend Darcy who I know is only a call away. Hopefully I'll get it accomplished :)

Silly Fun

2008-10-02T04:25:00.005-05:00

Whenever I get a shipment of Tastefully Simple stuff, it's like Christmas at home b/c of the boxes! Gavin and Sam can't get enough of them! I was working in my "office", also known as the laundry room, and Gavin crawled in a box and called it his Jeep. So Sam wanted in on the action too. All I had was a small box but she fit in it just fine!

So here is the cheese balls playing in their Jeeps:

Also my amazing hubby put shelves up in the closet so I could organize all my TS supplies and get them off of all the counter space in the laundry room. Check it out!

Thanks Patrick :) My business couldn't be a success the way it is without your support and belief in me. I love you!

Time to pay the bills and get ready for MOTTTS (mothers of tots to teens). Yah!!!

Big Boy Bike Time

2008-09-30T09:13:00.007-05:00

We got Gavin a bike for his birthday (umm, yes it is in February) and he is just now starting to want anything to do with it.

Here is Gavin in his riding gear (Lightening McQueen of course):

Here's Sam wanting in on the action, even though she won't get on her bike:

She calls it her El-met b/c it's a Helmet but has Elmo on it :)

Here is G and Daddy airing up the tires:

Here is some video of Gavin riding, along with a sister tagging along :)

What you are hearing: Gavin wants to see the back of the camera b/c he thinks I am taking pictures. Sam is saying, "He's chasing me!"

In other news, this past weekend I got my first recruits for Tastefully Simple. Yes you read that right! Not one, but TWO people signed up :) I'm so absolutely thrilled!! Thursday night Pat and I just sat down and prayed over our finances and our businesses. He had someone approach him about building something for their vehicle and I got two people! I'm thankful that I have TS right now, b/c with a possible 6 week shutdown happening with Pat's job, we are going to need all the extra help we can get!

Little Gavin has been sick the past few days. He has a cough and sore throat. He's doing so much better now, enough to be getting in trouble :) So far Sam hasn't gotten it so I am super thankful for that.

Well, I need to get on to organizing my paper work and folding laundry.

Wonderings

2008-09-24T12:45:00.004-05:00

I feel like I don't have anything new or exciting or fun to write about, but it's been a week. What did I do in a week? Went to the park a few times with the kids. Two Tastefully Simple parties. A birthday party for Zaylee. Apple festival in Nappanee. Church and church. MOTTTS. Oh we did go to the apple orchard on a field trip with Gavin's school but our camera batteries died :(

I think I am in a funk. I just kind of feel like life is the same ole' same ole'. I just wonder if I even make a difference in this world. Wake up, read my bible, journal, pray. Get Gavin up for school/MOTTTS. Go run or work while the kiddos play. Clean. Make lunches and dinners. Go to do a Tastefully Simple party or have a family night, or head to church or worship practice. I just think that life should be more...I don't know...exciting. Maybe it's just the stage I am in.

I wonder if my friends value me as much as I value them. A wise friend told me if someone doesn't live up to my expectations, it's my fault. Still struggling to deal with it though.

Don't get me wrong. I love love love my life. These are just the thoughts swirling around in this head of mine. I miss being able to go work out at a gym. Big time. Since I have stopped training for the mini marathon, I've put on a few pounds, putting me over where I was before I started traing for the mini. Makes sense, huh? My friend Elise and I signed up Monday for the 2009 Indy Mini, so we are starting to work our way up to running 4 miles easily again. (Okay she's pry allready there but she's being a good sport running slow with me :) ) Seriously, I get up at 4am, so one would think I would have enough time to throw weight lifting in there, but somehow it's 7 before I know it. I've met with a friend who is taking nutrition classes and she is having me write what I eat and she is going to analyze it for me.

So this post is kind of all over the place, but that is how my mind has been lately. Just thought I'd try to get my thoughts out.

I'll leave you with a picture of Gavin helping Pat clean the Jeep. They went muddin' this past Sunday and I got a blessed afternoon to myself :) I watched Friends and got some paper work done.

Cute kids :)

2008-09-16T12:00:00.009-05:00

Don't I have extremely cute kids?????

Wow, how does a week go by so fast???? Last Thursday I went to the zoo with my friend Jessica and her daughter Alissa. Here are some pics of the kiddos enjoying their time there. Also Thursday MOTTTS (mothers of tots to teens) started. I don't know how I made it through the summer without it. After my zoo adventure I went to meet up with two of my friends Amanda and Anna. After that I had Angie night, and even scored two hoodies out of it :)

I had a Tastefully Simple party Friday night, then went to Becky's to hang out while the boys were off kiyaking in rain and thunderstorms. Better them than me. Saturday headed out for some shopping (mainly groceries, don't get to excited) with Becky, then headed home for some me time before Pat arrived home. In the evening we headed to Napptown to stay the night at Pat's parents house. We wanted to go to Wakarusa Missionary Church b/c the speaker that spoke at MOTTTS was speaking again there, and he was so awesome.

A big hightlight of my weekend: seeing Becca!!!! I headed to the good old town of Walkerton to see her while she was in town for her Momma's birthday :) Sam went along with me (Gavin was with his Daddy). She loved the basket of My Little Ponies that Becca's mom had there for the grandkids. She also was trying to teach Landon how to crawl. It was so cute. Aww..Landon. He's so stinkin' cute!!! Enjoy some pictures of the two cute ones together. We went to a little jive in town, and ran into people from our high school and our old youth pastor. Ah, the joys (??) of a small town.

Now if we could just get me, Becca, and Misty all together, that would be a great day! And maybe even all the kids together?? HMM, well that could be interesting :) Maybe go for a Steak and Shake run at midnight, rolling down big hills on the way?? I'm in!!!

I don't know what else to jabber about for now, I just need to remember to blog more :)

Resale, Friends, and Hot Dates

2008-09-08T04:04:00.007-05:00

What a fabulous weekend!! Friday I had a wonderful heart to heart with my friend Amber while the guys were off with Sonshine Preschool on a fieldtrip to the zoo. At night I went to the Resale at Wakarusa Missionary Church. Talk about AMAZING!!! I got all of these clothes:

Sam got 6 pairs of pants, 1 outfit, 7 shirts, a Christmas dress, jumper, and winter jacket. Gavin got 1 outfit, a pair of pj's, 7 pairs of pants, 5 sweaters, 5 long sleeve shirts, and a pair of Stride Rite Shoes. I also got them 2 Veggie Tale movies and a Hello Kitty movie. All of that for $89! They have you bring laundry baskets, and I knew I had to be done b/c clothes were falling out of my basket. 98% of what I got is all name brand. Old Navy, Osh Gosh, Gap, The Children's Place, and Polo. They will not accept items unless they are in perfect condition. It was truly a blessing! I got to go to the preview sale b/c I volunteered 3 hours of my time. I am hoping to be on the committee next time b/c it was such a blessing to our family, I want to do more to help!!

After that, I went and met up with my girlfriend Andrea at Haci. It was like old times. When we were both prego, we would go workout at Fitness USA, then head to Hacienda and then shop :) Oh for the good old days. Since I moved to Syracuse area, it's alittle over an hour drive to get to her house, so we don't get to see each other the way we use to. It was great to catch up and have some adult time, even though we joked about what we talk about now as opposed to pre-kids.

Saturday morning I did some body scuplting with Amber and Alyssa. My abs are STILL sore!! Then Alyssa and I went on a long walk. I think God was purposely putting all these gals in my pathway this weekend. It was very theraputic after a really rough week. Saturday night Pat and I went on a date night. It's the first one in months. We went to Haci (yes I had it two days in a row, but I only had a drink Friday and it's where Pat really wanted to go) then to Paiges Crossing in Columbia City. We played Putt Putt, where he beat me by ONE POINT (boo). Then we did go-carts and went on this little rollercoaster they have. We had so much stinkin' fun!! Normally when we have a night without the kids, we instantly make plans with other people, but we both realized we needed some one on one time. It was wonderful :)

Sunday after church, which was exactly what I needed, we headed to my parents to get the kiddo's and spend the day there. After lunch, we headed outside. Dad drew a road with sidewalk chalk for Gavin to ride around. It was fun watching Dad and Pat draw stopsigns, road signs, rail road crossings, gas stations, and McDonald's all over the drive way and sidewalks. I wanted a picture so bad but I left mine at home and Sam was sleeping in the room where their's was. I think I will recreate it here thought b/c that little Gavin was so happy and smiled from ear to ear for 4 hours straight!!

I'm truly thankful for such a great weekend :)

Labor Day Weekend

2008-09-02T10:54:00.013-05:00

Camping. That's what we did all weekend. Pat got home Friday, loaded up the Jeep and headed to Pokagon State Park for some camping fun. And when I say loaded up the Jeep, I mean LOADED UP. When we got there, I put my hands out, Pat slowly opened the hatch and we caught every thing as it came tumbling out. Have you ever tried to pack for 2 adults and 2 kids in a Jeep Cherokee?? Nic and Lydia even took our sleeping bags, pack and play, tent, and bikes!

Saturday we woke up and headed out on a bike ride. We stopped at the nature center and let the kids look around there. Then we headed back to camp to relax. Yeah, I have a hard time relaxing. You know those Mommy's who are laid back and don't worry about much? Yeah that is NOT me. I tried, I really did. In the afternoon we went to take the kids to the park. Our friends Travis and Savannah ended up coming up Saturday night, so that was a pleasant surprise! We all went on a hayride...around the campground. Funny times. At night we put Gavin in Nic and Lydia's tent so the kids would actually go to sleep, and we all sat around the campsite talking. We actually got in trouble for being too loud! All we were doing was talking, but everyone else there went to bed at like 10. Craziness.

Sunday we headed out for a day at the beach. Have you ever went to a beach with two of the most gorgeous girls in the world? Yeah, I was struggling. For those of you that know my past, you will understand what I was struggling with. In the end, I tried to just make the most out of it and still tried to enjoy myself. The kids love playing at the beach. The guys threw around a football and us gals went in the water then just laid out and talked. At night the guys went on a bike ride, then we headed out for an icecream run. It was a local joint called Scoops, and they had my favorite icecream in the WORLD, Moosetracks. Oh I was a happy girl. Sam was so pooped out, she fell asleep on the way there; she didn't even make it out of the park! Once back at camp, us girls (minus Sam, she was in bed) went on a walk and went to a clearing and laid on the grass, watching the stars, even saw a shooting star, and talked. Super theraputic and much needed.

Monday morning, (Pat and I were blessed to have two alarm clocks that rose way to early) the Rose family headed out on a bike ride to not wake the others, and went up to the Hotel to let the kids run around on the hills and burn some energy. Ran into Nic, who was coming to snag some coffee from the Hotel (a favorite thing to do on this trip) and we went back, cooked up breakfast, and started to clean up for home.

Boo Boos of the trip:
Gavin got bit by we think a spider and his eye was swollen up for most of the weekend.
Sam was sitting on a big camp chair and fell over, hitting her head on the leg of another camp chair.

Everywhere we went in the park, Nic let Gavin drive. He thought he was just big stuff. He actually is a great driver, he knows what he is doing. Then the rest of us were crammed in the back of it. It was great to get to spend time with friends!!

Here is a tired Sam, while we were all doing our clean up :)

Scrappin' Day

2008-08-27T04:01:00.003-05:00

So at least once a month my friend Lydia and I get together for a scrappin' day. Now granted we (or at least I) don't get a whole lot done with 2 kiddos running around the house, but we make the most of it :) I thought it would be fun to share some pics of what a day of this looks like.

First I took some pics before she got here of the kitchen.

Notice the dishwasher door open. That is how we dry the dishes instead of turning the heated dry on. Hey, anything to save on Nipsco!!

Here is Gavin and Sam playing with stickers. I give them old embellishments I won't use (or think a friend would use) and buy stickers when they are on sale at the store. They love to play "scrapbooking".

I can't wait to enter Sam into the scrapbooking division in 4-H when she is old enough :)

Here's Lydia! (and the kitchen consumed with products!)

Here I am, notice my Chili Cheese Fritoes. I have to be snacking when I am scrappin'!!

I am on a mission to get the kiddos caught up so I can go back and start on the scrapbook I started like 7 years ago of Pat and I, which right now is MIA since we moved (a year and a half ago...I know). Plus I want to scrap our Kentucky trips...since there has been 3 now!!

As soon as I get "How to put scrapbooking pages on Blogger 101" from Darcy, I will have some of my pages on here :)

Lovely Weekend & Gavin Jeepin'

2008-08-26T04:00:00.007-05:00

This weekend was a filled with things (and people!!) I love :) Friday night I had a Tastefully Simple party, then Pat and I got to spend some time together since he worked crazy amounts of hours during the week.

Saturday I went to Darcy's house to scrap! We went up to Pages In Time in Mishawaka to go shopping after some lunch at Chipotles/Chick-Fil-A (if you know me you of course know I picked Chick-Fil-A) then headed back to her house for some serious scrappin'!! I got 7 pages done, which is amazing for me. If you want to see pics of our awesome crop night, click on Darcy's name to the right and check out her blog :)

Sunday after church I headed up to Tara's for Sarah's Baby Shower. She's just so stinkin' cute prego. Jackson liked being able to help her open the gifts for the baby.

Here is Jack helping her open a gift:

This was my gift, scrapbooking products for the Baby's scrapbook :)

Sarah and I (it turned out alittle fuzzy, but I still wanted to show a pic of her cute belly!!)

The hostess with the mostest, Tara, and me. It was so good to see friends again that I don't get to very often. Thanks to Tara and our friendship and her having Hunter, that is what inspired Pat and I to want kids of our own, and along came Gavin. So thanks Tara :)

And then there was yesterday...Gavin was riding his Jeep around. He loves to take the Jeep to our steps and ride them down. Well the top step is higher than the rest, and Pat told him to drive the Jeep off of it and into the grass. I about have a heart attack,thinking surely he is going to flip the thing over, and Pat runs to get the camera to take video. Such a proud daddy. So here is Gavin, taking after his Daddy already, at the age of 4.

Minnesota!!

2008-08-19T04:20:00.004-05:00

Could someone please remind me why I live here in Indiana?? This past weekend I was Minnesota and here are two great reasons I would love to live there instead!

1) That is where Tastefully Simple's headquarters is. How awesome would it be to live there and get your stuff in like 4 days??

2) drumroll please... THE MALL OF AMERICA !!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously. Wow. We checked out of the hotel and took a cab to the airport, checked our luggage and had 6 hours to kill. So we took a train from the airport to the mall. The ticked was only $1.50 each way! As we were getting close, I had my face smashed against the window trying to see it. I was excited beyond belief. It's just so huge! There is an aquarium in the lowest level. In the middle there is rollercoasters and a log ride, and swingy upside down rides, and swings that go in circles. There is a big Lego area. Then all the stores! Unbelievable. I want to go back when I have a few days to take it all in. Nichole, could you please tell me why you moved away from this glorious state?? (She was going the exact same time as me, but we didn't get to connect. :( It would have been awesome!) If you will notice, there is no pictures. Pat and I were scared for me to take my amazing camera in the plane b/c we didn't want to harm the precious thing. I think I need to get a camera bag for it. Darcy, how did you travel with that thing?? I am going to get two of my friends memory cards from the weekend, so I will update it later :)

The Tastefully Simple Convention, the real reason I went to Minnesota, even though it may be hard to tell from the mall ramblings :), was so inspiring and unreal. As some of you know, I have made attempts in the past in home based businesses. But TS is amazing. I wanted to stay committed to it for a year, and God has blown me away in what He has blessed me with through this business. And now at a time when Pat's work is scary slow and scary paying jack crap, we are going to need this income of mine. My goal is to hold 8 parties a month. I have lots of goals that came out of those 4 days I was there. They are doing a trip to Cancun. It's totally attainable. Just $2200 a month in sales for a year. I've had a $3300 month and a few in the $2000's, so I just need to be consistent. Then if I can recruit 8 people in a year, Pat can go for free and we can pay for 2 other people to go with us :) So I'm on a mission to get Pat and I to Mexico! I have a year to do this, bring it on!

We also did a booking blitz where we had 20 minutes to call as many people as we could to book parties. I got 7 bookings :) Thanks to all my amazing supportive friends and clients who had a hand in that. I still have a ton of people to call, so I am just so stoked I can't even stand it!!

It was nice to get home to the husband and kiddos. It's fun to get away and have a great time, but home is truly where the heart is. I am so thankful for such a supportive and amazing husband, who sometimes believes more in me than I believe in myself. He's the best. I couldn't do half what I do without him and his belief in me and support of me.

Okay enough jabbering. I want to go start on the 6th book in "The Chronicles of Narnia". It's been my summer reading. Where I use to read a book in a day or week, with kids at the ages of 2 and 4, it takes forever. If they see a book in my hand, they want to be read to, so down goes my book and in my hand instead is a Dr. Suess book or their Bible Verse Book. The life of a mommy :) It's now 5:38 am, so I have a good hour and a half to read a book for me. That is, if I don't fall asleep reading it, hehe. I'll leave you with a pic of them reading. Bye*

Wheelin' & More

2008-08-11T21:01:00.012-05:00

Hi all :) This past weekend we took the kids wheelin' in Attica at the Badlands. It was a great time. We went down Friday night, got up and wheeled, and then went back to camp. It took Gavin and Sam about 2 hours to finally go to sleep in the tent!! They've never been in the same room before for bed time. Gavin had a lot of fun watching the other vehicles climb over rocks. Seriously look how awesome our Jeep is :) JR's rig is in the background. He's awesome to watch wheel.

Sweet Sam even took a nap while we were out on the trail. She's so cute :)

Here is the girls of the trip.

Gavin helping Daddy spot.

Here is Gavin playing with Thomas the Train, only the best toy in the whole entire world in his opinion. Well, anything with wheels is the best toy really. (This was also done in an effort to take his mind off Kazzpur. I am working on Pat right now to get two kittens, a sister and brother, hehe)

We had a fun grillin' night with some friends playing Cornhole and making home made icecream.

Here's Ben and Pat.

And Nic and JR.

Here is the cutie heads playing on the coolers.

And here is the picture of Sam on her big girl bed :)

I truly have so many more pics I could put on here but even with high speed internet it takes a while to upload :) I'll try to get on here one more time before I leave to Minnesota for the Tastefully Simple Conference, woot woot!!

Update on Kazzpur

2008-08-05T12:47:00.004-05:00

Sad news. Pat is outside putting the belt back on the power steering in the car. I went outside to talk to him and he showed me a little pile of cat hair. Kazzpur hair :( I looked under and you could see a few more pieces hanging down. That's where he was. That's what we hit. Our own cat :(

Gavin asked if we can get a brown cat to finish eating Kazzpur's cheerioes. I had to walk away before I burst into tears.

Thanks to the people who left comments, called, and e-mailed us. We truly appreciated it.

Good bye Kazzpur. We'll miss you :(

Super Sad Day in Rose Land

2008-08-04T07:52:00.003-05:00

So...our cat Kazzpur is gone. This weekend our church was hosting a Beth Moore Simocast, which was awesome. It was Friday night and Saturday. Pat and 3 of his friends were hanging out here at the house, playing cornhole and such. During their comings and goings, we think our cat escaped. They didn't have the light on by the door so he could have easily gotten them out without them seeing him.

Fast forward. Sunday morning we were heading to Nappanee to pick up the kids. As we turned on to US 6, we heard a thump and both looked back to see an animal running into the corn fields. About 15 minutes later, our power steering went out.

After church we went home and the kids and I took naps. Then Becky and I were in the kitchen talking and I looked over and realized Kazzpur needed food. So I put food in the bowl, and realized I hadn't seen him in awhile. Now this is not totally uncommon for him to sleep a lot and not see him. I wasn't home Saturday to not think about not feeding him, and Pat wouldn't think about not seeing him.

As Becky and I are looking around the house for him, I call Pat, started to panic alittle. So after dinner, JR and Pat went and looked around where we thought we hit the animal. We think Kazzpur might have crawled up in the engine and then fell out on 6. Seriously, does this stuff really happen?? On the way home they came across a really bad accident. They had driven the Jeep and were trying to wench the door off of the truck to get the guy out, and couldn't. They came back and were pretty shaken :(

So last night Pat and I put Kazzpur's food and water out on the front step, opened the front windows and slept on the couch and love seat in case he came home (if he wasn't what we hit) and could hear him meow. The food is still there :(

So, here I sit writing this and crying about that cat that was dumber than a box of rocks, but he was still our family and Gavin and Sam love him. I don't even know what to tell them when they ask where he is, b/c we really don't know.

I'll leave you with a picture of him playing with the kids in the shower, a favorite past time.

Say a prayer for Kazzpur.

Spash Pad + Fair + Weko Beach = FABULOUS WEEKEND!!

2008-07-28T04:37:00.012-05:00

Okay so my weekend started Thursday but anywho, what an awesome AWESOME weekend God blessed me with!!! Thursday my girl friend Jess and I took her daughter Alissa, who is 3 days younger then Sam, and my kiddos to the splash pad in Wakarusa then to Burger King in Napp-town to play. It was such a great day.

Here is Gavin and Sam cheesin' for me, and the girls at the play area!

Then Friday we went to the Elkhart County 4-H Fair! Hello Cotton Candy and Dippin' Dots!!! We went with my mom and Dad. We had a great time and it was wonderful b/c it wasn't too hot, it was perfect weather. Gavin was in his little heaven with all the tractors! Thursday night Pat went with his parents to the tractor pulls with G, but they didn't get any pictures :( I need to teach him to be a scrapbooking/blooger Hubby. ( You love that title honey I know it, hehe)

Here is a picture of all 6 of us at the fair:

Saturday was just a nice day around the house. Pat and the kids went grocery shopping with me in the morning since I couldn't go Friday b/c 1) Becky ditched me for Canada (we go grocery shopping together every Friday morning with Sam and Baby Alice) and 2) b/c of the Fair. Then I helped Pat out in the garage counting bumper stuff and Gavin played with a spare tire from the trailer all afternoon. In the evening we went on a bike ride. Pat pulls G in the bike trailer and I have Sam in a bike seat. She found its fun to poke my butt as we ride b/c there is nothing I can do about it. Funny girl :) After we put the kids down Pat and I headed outside to talk and dream about the future. We haven't done that in a really long time. It was great to have some one on one time with the hot hubby.

Sunday we headed up to meet Mom and Dad at Weko Beach in Michigan. Remembered the camera this time!!! What a gorgeous day. There was a breeze to keep us from getting too hot. We played with the kids in the sand, walked down to the creek and walked up and down the dunes, and got to swim in the waves.

It was just the most perfect weekend! I already have visions of scrapbooking this dancing in my mind :)

Finding My Place

2008-07-24T04:34:00.003-05:00

I finally got to use my new camera, and get some rockin' pictures, and Kodak Easyshare isn't working on the computer!!! So I will just blog and hopefully Patrick can figure it out.

Life hasn't been super easy lately. Sam is teething her two year molars, and it's not fun, to say the least. She has cried pretty much the past three days, straight. I think Mommy shed a few tears herself. And why can't anyone be warned about the emotional rollercoaster one goes through when a business is getting started?? Two years ago, following a vision and a dream, Pat started a bumper business making bumpers (no, really Shannon?? A bumper business that makes bumpers? Too easy.) Anyway, making bumpers for Jeep Cherokees. It started in our little, cracker jack box garage in Nappanee. I still remember him drawing his first bumper out by hand on like 6 pieces of notebook paper. Now he is using some fancy schmancy computer program called Auto Cad, where he can make stuff in 3D. And pretty much taught himself how to use it. Fast forward two years. He has pushed through and not given up thru a move, giving up a whole shut down last year to go to Russia, dealing with me :) It's totally taking off! He is selling them in large quantities to a distributor, but that means he is working more. He has like 5-6 more designs going on and is also doing stuff for Jeep Wranglers.

So where does that leave me? N-U-T-S!!! I'm trying to find my place in all of this. Learning to be the supportive half, pretty sure I have sucked at that at times. I'm not use to this. He goes to work and comes home and works. I guess I was spoiled at getting relief from the kids. There is NO WAY I could be a single mom. I am working thru at not being a selfish person. I prayed this morning that I would always want to put the kids first. To look at the positive side of things would be a nice change. Take this past weekend. Pat's parents and my parents had the kids for the weekend. Pat worked the whole weekend. I was annoyed that Pat and I didn't get to have alone time. But he reminded me I would have been nuts with the kids the whole weekend. Instead I got to scrapbook, and hang out with Chauncey. I guess I just didn't understand how much work and sacrifice went into building your own business! Yeah I do Tastefully Simple, but I didn't have to invent the system, I just do what they tell me and I do well. He started with nothing and now has his business. I am proud of you Pat, keep it up :) I'm going to get better at being the supportive cheerleader not the queen nagger!

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Anywho!! So this weekend Pat did give me an hour to go get SamCakes a big girl bed. It's Hello Kitty :) Of course! If only they would have had that when I was little! I remember my grandparents, I called them Gweema and PaPaw, they took me to Fort Wayne Mall (which is a long way from South Bend!!) to go to the Hello Kitty store there. They were seriously the best grandparents a kid could EVER ask for. So yeah Sam has a Hello Kitty room. I gave her the choice between that and Elmo. She makes me proud :) But...she won't sleep in it!! She sleeps in her pack and play next to it. She loves it and likes to read books and play on it. I suppose we will get there. Gavin didn't have a choice in the matter to go to a big boy bed. Sam was going to be joining the world in about a month so he needed to get out of the crib so she could sleep in it.

On top of that...potty training. AAUUUGGGHHH. She is one stubborn thing. She knows when she goes, but doesn't want a dang thing to do with that potty chair, until nap time or bed time. Go figure. Soooo...the possibiliy of doing too much at once? Yeah I think so. So I gotta pick and choose this battle...teething, big girl bed, potty training. I think the teething wins by default.

Well hopefully Pat can fix this computer tonight so I can post pics of Sam's new room, Gavin's Thomas the Train Comforter he got, and of the kids play date with Jackson (he and Sarah came over last night, love them dearly).

Time Flies

2008-07-14T05:13:00.008-05:00

Pat's back at work today and it's back to us waking up at 3:45am and going to bed at 8pm. Ah, the life of the Rose family. I look so forward to the day that he is soley a business and not having to work 2 jobs! The things he does so I can be a stay at home mommy. He is amazing.

This past weekend I bought a new planner. (I am seriously such a nerd, I get a high off of getting new pens and such. I was giddy sitting down to fill out my new planner) Anywho, so I was filling in which days Gavin is at school. When I got to September 2009, I almost choked. Not only will Gavin be starting kindergarden then, Sam will be starting preschool!! I have one year left with G before he goes to public school systems. Then I can only pray that I can instill in him at home all about God and having a relationship with Him, living a life that is pleasing to Him, not living a life to please others. Life just flies by! He's been in preschool almost a year now! It's been a year ago today that Pat got home from Russia. Sam was just learning to walk. I was done nursing her. I will never have a baby again! She's a full blown, strong willed, crazy toddler.

Even though there are days where I want to run out the door screaming and never come back, I love my life. There are days where Gavin and Sam can push me to my breaking point, and sometimes past it, I love them! Someday they are both going to be in school all day, and I will have plenty of time to do the things I want to do. I think my goal is learning to live in the moment. To embrace what is right in front of me, not trying to grasp at what is ahead of me.

I'm so super excited! I got a new camera this weekend! Okay it's not brand new but new to me :) I got it from Darcy! We've had our old one since before Gavin was born! I'm super excited to start using it!

Okay I'll leave you with a pic of the kiddos, who were my inspiration for this blog! And when I say leave you I mean it's up top b/c I still can't figure out how to move a picture where I want it. Seriously, help the computer illiterate person!

Fried Crispy

2008-07-11T09:05:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we went up to Weco Beach in Michigan. Yes I know there are beaches in Syracuse, but I wanted to go some where with white sand and a killer snack store :) It was a little over 2 hour car ride and the kids did good until the last 15 mintues and Pat and I were yelling, "Be quiet for just 1 minute!" Yeah that didn't even phase them. Seriously.

So Gavin has been terrified of the water ever since last summer. I was singing with the Marie Barrett Band at the park in North Webster. Pat brought the kids to watch, and brought G's tricycle along. G jumps on the trike, heading downhill, towards the water. Yeah...he can't stop himself, and flips over head first into the water, bike on top of him. I was singing during all the action, and about had a heart attack. Pat grabbed him out, and he was covered in weeds and sputtering about. Ever since then, no water for Gavin.

My mission: to get him back in the water, screaming or not (hey I'm ruthless). Well at the beach we finally got him to stand in the water by himself, no life jacket and not being held (okay his arms having a death grip on our necks). I was so proud. Then we went back up to the shore and he was laying on his stomach in the water!! Maybe he's getting over the fear? Well see next time I take him to the Ervin's pool or to the beach in Syracuse.

And notice the no pictures I have to show for our awesome beach day?? Forgot my camera!! What kind of scrapbooker am I anyway? Soon I will get pics on here of some pages I have done lately. I think I am due for a scrappin' day. It's near impossible to stay caught up with two kids!

By the way, next time I go swimming, would someone please remind ME to wear sunscreen? I am crazy psyco mom about turning my kids almost white they have so much on, yet I don't even own any for myself! Hence the name of this blog!

Who Am I?

2008-07-07T18:00:00.001-05:00

Well, it's time to take the leap and start this up again. I did it once back in April 2007. But after reading through my friend Darcy's page I got all inspired to start on of my own up.

So who am I?

Well for the most important I am a Christ follower. I love God with everything in me and to live my life for Him is the most important thing I will ever do on the this earth.

I am a wife. I love my hubby Patrick :) He's the greatest husband. He knows me and knows how to handle my... umm lets say, my imperfections. I am so grateful to God for giving me him!

I am a mom. I kiss booboos, bake cookies, make breakfast lunch and dinner. Play outside and build choo choo tracks inside. Play with baby dolls (who'd a thought that one?!?) I loose my temper (who me?) I am a chauffeur from preschool, parks, playdates. Nothing what I thought I would do with my life. But loving every minute (okay almost) of it.

I am a runner!! I can't believe that I can write that but I can!! I've run the 5K Sunburst in 2007. So far in 2008 I have run the Indy Mini Marathon (13.1 miles!!), the 10K Sunburst and the 3.3 mile Floatilla Race. It's such a rush to run a race. Sometimes the training is trying, but it's such a great feeling to accomplish something like this! It's all thanks to my Dad, we both wanted to run so our goal for 2007 was to run the Sunburst and from there it just took off!

I am a singer! It's my passion in life. I sing all day everyday. Music is everything to me. If I had to give up music, I would feel that there was really nothing left here for me in this world, except maybe chocolate!!

I am a friend. I value and cherish my friends. There is no way I can add a picture of that b/c there pry isn't enough room :) I would not be who I am today without each and every friend I have had in my life, little parts I have taken from each of them.

I'm just gonna use this as a way to update peeps on the goings of my life, thoughts, feelings, whatever. Stay tuned, you never know what new exciting thing can happen. Gavin and Sam do a lot of crazy things, you never know what you could be reading next. Could it be Gavin eating moth balls and heading to the Er? Gavin riding his tricycle into the lake, head first? Sam..hmm, she's been alittle more mellow...well I just started potty training today, that could be an adventure. We went through 6 pairs of underwear in a matter of 4 hours. She did take her diaper off during her nap and her crib was soaked, along with herself and bunny. Lord help me :)

Well anywho. Sorry the pictures are placed so weird and sporadically. I meant to have each picture under the part I was talking about, but they kept going to the top of my post, and I wanted to have Darcy's name underlined so I could tell you how to get to it! I need help people, help I tell you!!

Oh yes and props to Darcy for the pic of Pat and I and the family pic. She's fab, you've really got to check her work out, once I learn how to get you there!!

Tata for now!

Hello

2007-04-30T09:16:00.000-05:00

Well here is another thing to get addicted too, thanks Becca. So we are still at the cottage, someday we will be in our new house! We did get all the rooms painted, now we just need to do touchups. They still need to run the gas lines and fix some things in the house, then we can move it. Someday.... But God is most defiantly using this time to build character in us. We are still so blessed to be living in Syracuse and being with our church community. There is no other place I would rather be! Once I can get everything we own out of the garage and can find our battery charger for our camera, I will post some pics on here of the house.

Since Sam is taking her morning nap, I am going to go play Thomas the Train with Gavin.