Woo-hoo! Date Night!!!

I finally took a few minutes to sit down and load some pictures for you guys to see. The girls are all in Willard at my in-laws tonight.....yes even the baby! It's Caroline's first night away (wipping tears) but being almost a year, it's time. The other two started staying away much younger? Anyways with them gone I am busy trying to clean up from the torando called Chirstmas. Yep...still unwrapping toys from pacakges and the normal cleaning plus laundry. I was saying today how Mom's don't get to take a holiday. If we do take a day or two off then we regret it when we realize how much house work and such we have to do to catch ourselves back up from the time off! So that's my evening tonight.

I also am getting ready for tomorrow (the reason the girls are gone for 2 nights.) Nathan and I are going to see White Chirstmas at the Carousel Dinner Theater! http://www.carouseldinnertheatre.com/ YEAH! I LOVE White Christmas and this theater is awesome. We went a couple of years ago to see 7 Brides for 7 Brothers (my all time favorite) and it was WONDERFUL! I'm really excited about tomorrow! Then we used those wonderful Hilton Honors Points to be able to stay in Akron for the night. We're going to try and see National Treasure 2 tomorrow night as well. We'll see though but no matter what it will be nice to have a date night with hubby!

Here are a few of Caroline's 11 month pictures. Isn't she a peanut! I think now she's about 18 1/2 pounds! Funny that she's only gained 9lbs in the past year???

Here are a few pictures of the grandkids making Christmas cookies at greats house. I think I uploaded them backwards so you see Caroline getting her first taste of cookies then decorating them, and last cutting them out. Opps!

Well everyone here are my next Thankful 5...........

1. I am thankful for time away tomorrow night with Nathan. With him working so much, it's been a while since we could have time without the kids.

2. I am thankful for family who is willing to take all 3 girls at one time. MUCH cheaper than a sitter over night! Getting away without kids is hard enough, before having to budget sitting fees into a date night.

3. I am thankful for how well my bows have been doing! It's a nice stay at home job for me and is not that hard to do. Time consuming yes...but not hard!

4. I am thankful that it is only 3 more days until my parents' annual New Years Eve Party which means....saurerkraut balls! Oh the joy of yummy foods!

5. I am thankful for the fact that God still moves in the times when you don't feel Him moving!

"Fear not, I am with you; be not dismayed; I am your God. I will strengthen you, and help you, and uphold you with my right hand of justice." Isaiah 41:10

A Great Christmas

I'm just passing through on the way to a much anticipated bedtime after today! Wow, what a busy 3 days this has been. I haven't had 5 minutes to myself to post or anything. Christmas went great! We did the normal running between families' houses like always. Maddelyn and Emma were tickled with the bunkbeds and new bedroom set that Santa left. Maddelyn said Santa had brought almost everything she wanted. She said maybe he didn't see the beds on the list? I said maybe next year and she said probably not. We waited until very last and they read a note from Santa by the milk and cookies leftovers that there was one gift upstairs that was too big for the bag. I'll post one picture of the beds now, but I really need to make this short tonight and finish telling about Christmas tomorrow.

My notes of thanks......

1. I'm thankful for a wonderful Christmas with all of my family around and everyone safe and for the most part healthy (yep...still virus city here!)

2. I'm thankful for the awesome gift that my super sweet hubby gave me! I now own my own photography studio...or close to it! I have 2 new backdrops, a frame to hold them, 2 light stands with the natural white lights in them and the reflective shades to make the professional flashes! Woo-hoo! Thanks hubby!

3. I'm thankful that tomorrow morning is trash day We're swimming in boxes and wrapping paper! Why does one Barbie take an doutside ox, and inside box, like 4 metal twist ties, her hair swe to the box, tons of tape, and lots of doo-dads just to keep her in? The morning after Christmas is like breaking into Ft. Knox!

4. I'm thankful after Christmas sales and clearances! Yeah! I don't want to spill too much but....let's just say Gymboree had the $6.99 and under bins and my kids now have a spring/summer wardrobe! :D Now...just to sell some more bows to pay the difference of my paypal account vs. what I spent at Gymboree. It's nice to know that I can pretty much make bows to do special things like this. It's almost like I am trading bows for clothes ! LOL!

5. I'm Thankful for a hubby who will get up with and clean up after a child who is throwing up. I can handle just about everything else kids do but that. He was so sweet to be up with Emma twice last night when he was only going to get about about 5 hours of sleep to begin with. Thanks honey! I guess he figures it's better to loose sleep than for me to try and deal with it and him having to care for and clean up after both me and the sick child! LOL!

Almost Christmas!

We've been busy all afternoon trying to get the girls' bunk beds set up in their new room, and they are STILL not together at 10:00pm! Well when I won the beds on ebay the guy did not send all the hardware so today has been spent trying to find bolts that fit here in town. Hopefully the whole room will be done before Chirstmas morning! My mother-in-law has the older 2 tonight so we could sneak and get their room done....if we ever get it done!

So since I have to get busy on the room again...here is my 5 blessings of the day!

1. To have a warm home to sleep in tonight. It is so nasty cold here in Ohio tonight. tHe wind is blowing so hard that it takes your breath away!

2. To have a set of bunk beds to get frustated with trying to get them put together! They were such a cute set to find and at about 1/3 the normal price! Thanks God!

3. For funny moments like these.... Nathan is getting Emma's coat on today and she is pinching at his sides......
Nathan: Quit touching my fat
Maddelyn: Daddy it's not nice to call Emma fat!
Emma: Mom, Daddy said I was FAT!

Nathan said they are already practicing being a female and taking everything out of porportion! LOL!

4. That our dance at church went so well. It went smoother than any practice run we did so it was sooooo God! Thanks God! :D

5. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve! I am so excited to see the girls this year and to celebrate Caroline's very first Chirstmas!

Merry Chirstmas everyone!

A New Challenge....

So I am starting a new challenge for my self. Kinda a New Year's Resolution...and sort of just something I need to do in my own life. I am going to post each day (or try to at least) with 5 things that I am thankful for. I think this is something that would be great for anyone to do, but it is extra special to remember all of your blessing at this special time of year. So here it goes...

1. I have a wonderful husband who works his hinney off for us by doing back to back double shifts. Most women are lucky to get their hubbies to keep one steady job let alone, 2 just so the wife can be a stay at home mommy. Thanks Hun!

2. I have three precious little girls who teach me something everyday. Yesterday's was......

Maddelyn: Mommy what did we get so and so for Chirstmas...and so and so...and so and so? Maddelyn: What about Grandpa Hartz?
Me: Honey he's in heaven.
Maddelyn: I know what we could get him!
Maddelyn: We could get him a balloon because it's the only thing that would fly up to him in Heaven.

Precious huh?

3. Even though Nathan is working like 25 hours this weekend alone, we did get to steal a little bit of time tonight to do a special Chirstmas treat witht he kids. We went to the county fairgrounds to see the huge light display. They alos have where you can ride in a wagon pulled with horses in sleigh bells as well. The girls loved seeing all the light displays.

4. I get to be in a Christmas dance tomorrow for church. It is absolutely beautiful! A good friend of mine choriographed(sp?) it and she is dancing in it as well. This professional ballerina is 6 months pregnant and in one part she dances holding her belly. Yep, a tear jerker!

5. I get to spend Chirstmas with my family. After having spent one Christmas with a hubby overseas I can say that having us all under one roof at night IS a huge blessing!

Mary and Her Precious Promise

This time year I am utterly amazed at the story of the Nativity. I mean yes...there is the shepherds..the wisemen...and the stable, but what about Mary? We've heard her story for thousands of years about a virgin who was told by an angel that she would carry God's son. But does it end there? As a mother who was pregnant at Christmas time I now look at Mary and her story in an entirely different light. This is one person I want to know the story of when I reach Glory. The Bible leaves out so much of this journey in her life/faith that we are only left to imagine. What faith in God it must have taken to so easily accept that she, a 16(ish) year old virgin was going to concieve and carry God's own son! Can you imagine being told by an angel that you were CHOOSEN as seeing favor in God's eyes! How blessed amoung women!

For all of you mothers or mothers-to-be, you know the doubts the fears, the thought you have about this baby growing inside of you and what their life will be like as well as what your new life will be like. Can you imagine the thoughts and fears Mary had? Would Joseph accept her and this new child and take them both into his home? What would her parents and loved ones say when she told them yes she was pregnant, but she was still a virgin, and oh by the way...it's God's son! As a mother myself I could see that one going over REAL smoothly! Did Mary wonder about why she was chosen? Why God chose to have her go through the mockery of being pregnant and not married. As I heard someone say on a radio show today....it's funny how all that's in the news now is how Jamie Lynn Spears is 16 and pregnant (at Chirstmas time). If the sinful world of today is making this big of a deal about it, how did the world react to a 16 year old pregant girl in Mary's day? Did everyone she know turn against her and mock her? As was custom in those days, Joseph had the right to bring her to a public stoning for her adulty. But being the awesome man of God he was, he listened to the angel and accepted Mary as his wife and the Chirst child as his adopted son.

I also wonder what it was like for Mary in those last days. I remember all too well that feeling of being 9 months pregnant, now can I imagine ridding a donkey for days on end and 9 months pregnant? When Mary and Joseph realized the baby was coming and there was no decent place for them to stay...did she panic or did she know that God would provide and protect? It is led to believe that Mary did have a midwife to help her bring this tiny miracle into the world, but can you imagine? Today a teen pregnancy is a high risk delivery and she delivered in a filthy barn with possibly a midwife, possible only Joseph around?

The part that chokes me up each time is how awesome God has brought the woman full circle in the story of sin. In the garden of Eden it was the woman that was tempted by the snake to take the first bite. I have read one opinion (from the book Captivating by John Elderidge...if you have not read it PICK IT UP! It will change you life!) that the woman was chosen by the snake not because she was the weaker vessel but because she was the heart of it all. She is the relational one. The man and her children depend on her to keep them connected as a family both spiritually, emotionally, and physically. Think about it, who is the one in your fmaily who made sure everyone made it around the dinner table at night, who helped you patch up the fight with a sibling, and who said your bedtime prayers with you? She is the nurturer. She is the one who keep the family ties bound together, so if Satan can break that in her, he can essentially break the husband and the children without even trying. Ok...I kinda got on a bunny trail there! Anyways Satan choose the woman and SHE was who sin entered the world through. The cost of her sin was that she would from then on have difficulties in the laboring of her children.

Thousands of years later.....God now chooses a woman through whom all sin will be taken from the world with the birth of her son. Through her payment of sin...her labor pains, she births the one who could save her from those very sins. Amazing how God works huh? It really makes you as a woman feel redeemed doesn't it? God has choosen a fellow woman to bring forth His plan for salvation. And people say God sees women as the lesser sex?

I really look forward to the day where I can sit at the throne of God and just ponder in His awesome-ness and I learn the whole story of Mary and the birth of her Precious Promise.

Here is an awsome song that makes you think about this Precious Promise...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckKiPcS4irk

Back from PA

Well we're home! I really need to get back in the habit of positng more often. I guess it's just the busy Christmas season? Anyways, we made it home Monday evening. We had a great weekend with Nathan's family. His grandparents from TX were there as well so it was nice to chat with them. I think it had been 3 years since Nathan had seen his grandpa? Saturday was Nathan's sister Hannah's college Graduation. She could not have been more proud. I remember the joy I felt of FINALLY being done! It was so cute watching her trying to hide the belly under the gown as she zipped it! Something only another mommy-to-be grad could have sympathized with! Graduationa went well..even thoguh they spoke f-o-r-e-v-e-r! Afterwards we had our family pictures at Sears. Can we say 100 dregrees with fussy kids! Uhh! But they turned out ok. We then had dinner with the family and some good friends (Jeremiah's girlfriend's family.) Sorry the pictures are so tiny...I had problems with the uplaod and gave up! LOL!

Sunday we went to church and then after naps had our Martin Chirstmas. We had a nice dinner and then we exchanged gifts. The girls had a blast and it was so cute seeing Caroline with her first presents. She wasn' overly excited and not sure what to do but maybe that was warm up for this next week? Nathan was so excited to see his Wii! I'm so glad he loved it! From then until we left there was always at least 1 person living room bowlng or such.

Tonight is the annual grandkid cookie making event at my grandma's house. We end up cutting out, baking, frosting, and decorating about 12-15 dozen cookies! It's kinda an assembly line....with toddlers! Afterwards each family takes a container home. There are always lots of taste tests and of course pictures! Well I need to run! I have LOTS to do and I have practice for our Chirstmas dance in a few hours.

Hello From PA!

Just checking in from my in-laws in PA. We are here in Pa visiting for an early Chirstmas as well as my sister-in-laws college graduation. We spent the day shopping and doing a baby registration (again...NOT FOR US!) while the guys fished. Yeah....shopping all day or standing in the freezing cold wind while knee high in freezing icey water? Uhh yeah! Shopping! LOL! So tomorrow we have the graduation as well as family pictures. We'll see how that goes after having the girls sit in their seat during the 2 hour graduation as well as an hour and a half holding seats until it begins....and then getting pictures! LOL! Anyone who knows Emma is laughing to themselves now!

Here are my peanuts in the kids Christmas play for church. Maddelyn was so excited to have been asked to be Mary in the Nativity. We were told that Emma was going to be an animal so I told her teacher that the girls had lamb costumes form Halloween. So...they asked if Caroline could also be in the Nativity in her lamb costume. How cute are they!

Well I'm off to get little ones in bed since we have to get an early start tomorrow with the graduation! I'll try to check back later this weekend before we head home Monday.

Sick Baby Update

Hey everyone! Just a quick update on the baby. She is doing some better and her cough is not nearly as deep as it was. She did throw up one more time since last weekend but MUCH better! She still is pretty pale and doesn't have much of an appetite, but we go for a check-up with the doctor tomorrow afternoon. Thanks a bunch for all the prayers for our baby girl this past week!

Just wanted to say a quick HAPPY BIRTHDAY to miss Emma-Lee my friend Alicia's baby! It's so sad to see that she is turing one today...especially since that means only SIX weeks until my little Caroline turns one! So here is the last picture I took of her while they were visiting this Summer as well as one of her and her mommy. Happy Birthday Sweetie!

I also ordered our family Christmas cards tonight. I am having someone on ebay make them...once again. I have the program to do it but...with the bows and all right now I haven't sat down long enough to learn photoshop. In the past month I have sold 80 bow auctions (mot of two bows) plus almost that many customorder bows as well. So I would say maybe around 200 bows??? So just maybe I'll learn Photoshop in time for Caroline's birthday? Here is ONE picture from our recent photo shoot at Sears. I am using the best family one for the cards so you guys will just have to wait to see that one. I purchased the CD of my proofs and the rights to print them when we were there. With my Military discount it was only like $17.00? Too bad I had to buy so many pictures to get it that cheap though!

Sick Baby

Just a super quick update since we are on the way to church.....you can tell by my lack of posts this week that we have been busy. Caroline has been super sice since Monday. We've been to the Dr once and ER twice. And.....in between that we've been fighting the dr office and insurance for a authorization for a breathing treatment machine. Basically we can get it IF they ever both get their acts together and get the paper work done. This all started as a cold virus and now has turned into something nasty. We're not positive what it is but we've heard RSV and Croup? So the 1st night at the ER was a 7 hour trip...5 hours until we saw even a nurse...and Caoline was diagonised with pnemonia (sp?). Last night was 7 1/2 hours ......4 1/2 hours until we saw a dr, and they changed the diagnosis. They now say no pnemonia and that it is a nasty virus that is deep in her chest and causing her now to not be able to keep anything down. Last night we ran tests and got an IV for fluids. That poor little thing. So, being a virus we just have to wait it out! Sorry to be so brief but we have to get ont he road for church soon. The kids' Chirstmas play is this morning and Maddelyn is Mary and Emma and Caroline get to wear their Halloween costumes to be sheep at the manger! LOL!

Pictures and LOTS of First's for Caroline

So here are some pictures I promised....

These are a few of the kiddos decorating my mom's all edible tree. Actually they have not done that bad with it yet this year. The only problem so far is keeping my mom's dog from eating all of the popcorn strings. The other two girls in the pictures are my brother's twins. I also stuck in a few pictures of Miss Caroline eating eating all the decorations she could reach. This was a big not cool thing for me because I am really careful about the kids sugar intake especially the baby. I don't think she has ever had candy before...or at least with me knowing about it....GRANDPARENTS! She loved the fact that she could reach all the candy pieces with hooks in them as the girls were picking them up to decorate them. She then headed for the gingerbread men that the kids had just decorated with candy pieces and YELLOW frosting. As soon as we would thrad a hook through a gingerbread mand sna sit it down for the girls to hang, Caroline would grab the candies off it's face and then await the next gingerbread man! Kinda sounds like an Emma thing to do huh? I guess she is teaching the next kid down from her all the tricks? Oh, and in the one picture she does not have the hook in her mouth but it sure does look that way! There is also a picture of Mom's tree mostly completed.

Here is my table at my very first craft show with my bows on Saturday. I did pretty well with selling close to 30 bows.

Of course I couldn't close tonight without posting a couple of pictures of Caroline's FIRST STEPS! Yep, she started trying to walk this weekend! My mom and Nathan's mom both got to see her take steps before I did! Oh well, 3rd child. But, I did get to find tooth #7 last night and #8 is not far behind. She also has been babbling like crazy this weekend and has not stopped saying Da-Da. I have no clue why she decided to do 3 firsts the same weekend???