The winner was.......

Lisa Boardman.

What's Cookin'

A PAMPERED CHEF PARTY and drawing for a $10 Gift Certificate!
I'm hosting my "annual" Pampered Chef party Feb. 26th, Tues. evening, at 6:30 PM. We are having the very yummy Cheeseburger Salad. It's yummy and really easy to fix. I have a feeling it will be a good summer supper!
Anyway, anyone in this area is invited. Just leave me a comment if you would like to attend.
Also, I'm having a drawing for a $10 gift certificate for you to use on whatever your little heart desires! Here's how you enter. Just leave a comment saying what your favorite Pampered Chef product is. Haven't got a favorite? Just leave a comment!! It's that easy. You will then be entered in the drawing taking place Tues. evening. The winner will be announced on this very blog on Wed.the 27th.
There are two ways to double your chances.
1. If you live in this area and attend, you will be entered twice.
2. If you are not in this area, but place an order, you will be given two entries as well. You will need to place the order on Lanee's Pampered Chef site, which is www.pamperedchef.biz/Lanee. The order has to be placed by noon on Tues, the 26th. If/When you order online, be sure to put my name in as hostess. Thanks! If you have any questions, you can just leave a comment. PS You DO NOT hvae to place any orders to be entered in the drawing! You only have to place an order or come to the party if you want two entries.
"Someone will win....might as well be you!"

For your listening enjoyment :)

Who ever heard of Omazing Grace??? Could you imagine having to listen to this in church?? aaagh!

Happy Valentine's Day!

All the juicy details! Part I

Finally....after getting all the household chores caught up, and going through a siege of the stomach flu this week, (it was BAD) I finally have some blogging time! I returned from Florida a week ago yesterday, but I'll start with early January.
Just as Chris and I were getting back in the van, leaving the cardiologist office, he told me he had a confession to make. Uh-oh! What did he do THIS time???? j/k With my heart in my throat, I listened while he "confessed" he had made some reservations in my name WITHOUT my permission. Knowing how hard winter can be with my heart issues, he had taken upon himself to plan and arrange a 4 day vacation for me, so I could escape the cold and enjoy some warm air for a change. My heart had been in my throat, but by now I had a HUGE lump in my throat instead! The reason he was sending me away alone is because he knows I HATE to leave the kids with any one, and since my parents had just moved, they would not be able to do it this time. So, he took the time off work and stayed with the kids, allowing me to take the vacation alone. Very selfless on his part to be sure. He's the one that works two jobs everyday. (Thanks Chris. You know I love you!)


The hardest part was getting out of the van at the airport. I had told the two older kids to get thier goodbyes said at the house, so that Caleb wouldn't be too startled when I got out at the airport. Still, when we were approaching the terminal, I looked around my seat to say a final goodbye and Lauren had HUGE tears in her eyes. It was VERY hard to say goodbye!

This was the "joke" of a plane I had to take to get my connecting flight in Cleveland. It held about 15 passengers and felt like riding a roller coaster. It was very scary, I was very nervous, and I was never so glad to touchdown in all my life!

The coastline and beaches coming into view. I left Cincinnati with the weather in the upper 20's and arrived in Ft. Myers, Florida to 76 degrees. Very, very nice!!!

This is the bridge that takes you across to Estero Island where I stayed. It was about 30 minutes from the airport. I arrived on the island around 4:00.

Here is the apartment where I stayed. About 1/2 block from the beach.

The kitchen.

The living room.

One of the bedrooms. This is the one I picked.

My rental car. A Chrysler (something...Sebring maybe??). I liked it.

The path to the beach.

Late afternoon at the beach.

Stay tuned for Part II.

Where I've been......

Sanibel Island, Florida

Estero Island, Florida

More details once I get the laundry done and return all the phone calls, etc :)

I know it's been a long time since I updated, but life is just so busy! It's good though....we never have a dull moment! Since Christmas, I've been busy getting the kids caught up in their school work. we took off quite a while for the holidays. It was SO nice to enjoy the holidays without having to teach but now we are putting in a little bit extra time each day to get caught up to where we were before.
I also have been busy doing a little bit of babysitting and sewing on the side. The extra $$ is always nice. As for the sewing, I will try to post pics later.

Caleb enjoys his pancakes!

The two boys having fun on a dino at the Creation Museum. Yes...we went for the third
time a couple weeks ago. We haven't yet tired of it :)

The kids just itching to get the presents opened!

Caleb loved his Mega Bloks he got

This pic deserves quite an explanation! Lauren had started embroidering a
towel this fall, but when she ran into some trouble with it
and then started back to school, the sampler got neglected. One day back in early Nov. she
told me to NEVER look under her bed. On two different occasions she sneaked
the sampler to her great aunts and her grandma for help. The
end result was what I opened for Christmas. She made the towel
into a pillow for our bed and also had made a "wall hanging" all
on her that said "I love you Mom". When I opened it and saw what she
had been hiding under bed, I immediately started crying. It was just TOO Sweet.
I am so proud of my little girl and all her hard work!

Lauren also took her own money and bought Fire truck fleece for
the boys and made them each a blanket. The only thing
I did was cut them to size and slit the edges. She did
the rest, The boys were quite excited and
she was thrilled!

Michael and his new firetruck!!(Quite a battery hog! LOL!)

Caleb inspecting his new toys

Lauren and the art set she was wishing for!

The only thing on my list...a new coat. Guess I was good this year!

Caleb LOVES his new ball pounding boat

I love that look of surprise!!. Made all my hard work worthwhile!

A rare moment....Chris laughing for a camera. He couldn't contain his
joy. I knew he wanted a IPOD Nano (Gen3) pretty bad, so I put aside
babysitting money for a while. The joke was that I had to work pretty hard to throw
him off. For some reason, he was pretty sure he was going to
get one. I went so far as to wrap a Target gift card and included
a picture of one. So after all the gifts were all unwrapped, there was still no
IPOD. I think he gave up by that point. The trick was....I had it in his stocking. So
the picture is the result of finding the IPOD in the toe of his stocking. It
was worth it......and I might add, he's putting it to good use!!!

Lauren with Kirsten in one of her new outfits she got

I made Lauren and Kirsten matching night gowns. Lauren was thrilled
so it was worth the many hours I put into them.

For Christmas, we went to N Carolina and stayed with Kendall
and Leanna in their new house. I know it's not
a very good picture, but I think you can still what a lovely house they
have. I realized as we were getting ready to leave, we needed to get a picture!
Maybe a better one next time!

We had LOADS of fun eating and playing games. In this picture, we were playing "Pit".
If you've ever played it, you know how lively and noisy it can be. I guess it
made quite an impression on Caleb. Whenever he sees this picture, or if we talk about
Kendall or Leanna, or Josh, he starts saying "two, two, two." Its
so funny!

Opening presents Christmas Day

Michael playing his "car driving game" he wanted so badly! He
had plenty of help showing him how to play!



The kids with Uncle/Officer Kendall. They seemed a little
more subdued after seeing him in his uniform :)

Merry Christmas!