Welcome back!

I just wanted everyone to know that since I have quit Facebook, and need somewhere to write stuff, that this is where I will do it. Here's hoping that I can do a blog at least once a week. I say hoping in the weakest sense of the word!

Don't you just love to reap the benefits of Homeschooling?........No, I don't mean to say that homeschooling is rewarding, though it is, I mean to say that projects like this one Carter had to do for his art class are a great benefit. I think it turned out very well, don't you? In fact, I have tasted and have seen that it is good. So you see, homeschooling is awesome! This is my favorite cake and frosting too. German chocolate cake with coconut pecan frosting. Mmmmmmmmm so good! I ask for it every year for my birthday.

Christmas Tree Nest

I know, I know, I don't post often enough. But when I do, it's worth it right? Anyway, I'm only here because last year I posted pictures of a birds nest we found in our Christmas tree and this year as I was taking our Christmas tree down, (because enough needles fell of,) I saw another one! Can you believe this...2 years in a row! I know what your thinking, "they are just taking down their tree!" Yes it's true. We were very busy and didn't get to it. But, I digress enjoy the pic's. I know, I'm a loser. I don't post for almost 4 months and when I do it's just pictures of a nest. Haha.

Guess what I was making for dinner that night.

Give up yet? It's Sirloin tips! Man were they good!

God's promises!

This blog speaks for itself. I need say nothing except this was across the road from our house.

We're cookin'!

As a stay-at-home-dad, I get to do some cool stuff. One of these is teaching the kids to cook.

Even at the age of 3 I begin this training.

My older 2 are getting good enough to cook some things alone, and help teach their brother's what they have learned.

Toys are really alive!

One day about 5-6 years ago, we had told the boy that any toys left in the living room when they went to bed would disappear for a while. Well, they went to bed and I found toys out. One of the last toys put away in the closet was a Buzz Lightyear toy. The real one that has Tim Allen's voice. I threw him into the closet and shut the door quick so it couldn't fall out. After we had shut the door we hear Buzz say, " I don't think we're in the gamma quadrant anymore. Lori and I were laughing so hard that we could barely walk.

I told you all of that to tell you this. Today, a similar situation happened. I had asked Alexys to put away her puppy dog that talks and help a child to learn colors, the alphabet, and her body parts. She forgot to do it before starting to eat so in frustration, I took it and threw it upstairs right into her room onto her bed. As it was hurdling through the air, it said, "Bye bye." Again, I was laughing so hard I could hardly walk and was able to share all of this with my kids and had a good laugh with them. It was a good day!

Jesus Brownies

Today, Alexys made her first brownies with my help. When we had poured the brownies into the pan, Alexys turns to me and says, "can I lick it?" She meant the spoontula in my hand. I said, "maybe." Completely planning on letting her because it's all part of the experience. She didn't miss a beat though. She turned to me and said, "Jesus said I could lick it." And thus we have Jesus Brownies. Just thought I'd give you all a little laugh.

Refinished Table

I wish I could say that I had a before and after picture but I just forgot to take the before pictures. But trust me, the table looked bad. I had to do some repair work also but I love the finished product, don't you? First we have the legs.....

Then the side of the table. Check out all the nooks and crannies that we had to strip out. What a job, but Lori did an excellent job with it don't you think....

And for a grand finish, the top.

Well, as you can tell, we're pretty proud of the finished product and I wanted everyone to see what it looks like before life messes it up again. This was my Great Grandparents table, then it was passed down to my Father, and he refinished the top, then it was passed down to Lori and I. We refinished the whole table. I wonder what my kids will have to do to preserve this antique family heirloom? As long as it stays in the family and is kept up, I'm happy.

God's faithfulness!

The Lord is faithful! Recently we had a very scary and troubling time. We had given away our truck to take on a new van that the Lord had given us. (Pictured below.) Then we found out that there was a problem with this van that would eventually render it unsafe and unusable. It would take a year or two but because of that and the fact that a brake cylinder blew, we took it off the road and were going to just sell it as is. So we went with just one vehicle for a while. My Chevy Astro. Then one day the Chevy overheated, so we put more radiator fluid in it and it cooled off and ran okay til that night when I went to go home from getting some things. It was climbing a hill when all of a sudden, it slowed right down to 25 mph. It wouldn't go any faster and was running terrible. I found out that it blew a head or manifold gasket. At any rate, we were now without a vehicle at all! Well after calling my friend and Pastor Seth and getting prayer about how to move forward. I called my mom to tell her I didn't need her to baby sit because I had no way to the doctor appointment I had. She suggested that I get out my guitar and Lori and I worship him and cry out to him. We did not feel like doing this but the stress was making my blood pressure rise so I thought, it can't hurt. So we did it. We cried out to God and told him how we felt about this situation and I began to feel a peace. Then we asked God for a miracle. We asked him to give us a new van or tell us what to do. Then we went to bed not knowing what our God would do for us. We had found a van on Craig's list but were unable to buy it with taxes because we put the wrong acct. # on our taxes when filing electronically. In the morning, my sister called and said, "How about if we lend you the money until you get your taxes back to buy that van before it's gone." I told her we'd pray about it and talk it over. After doing that we really didn't feel that borrowing money was what the Lord had for us. Our father God had something better for us. So we made the decision that we wouldn't borrow to get it. I was about to call my sister to tell her our decision when the phone rang in my hand. It was my sister calling to say that they had just prayed about it and the Lord told her to give us $2000.00 to get the van free and clear. She also gave us $100 to help with licensing it. Praise the Lord!!!!!
What is there to learn from all of this? When the Lord is testing you, don't give up. If you press on, make your need known, and wait on him and always trust him, he will see you through. As Derek Levendusky preached Sunday, God attends the funerals of sparrows. Why would he not care what happens to us! He does care so much more for us than sparrows does he not? Trust him, he won't lead you wrong and he'll always take care of you. This was a real test for us. We've always taken the easy way out, but this time we waited on him and trusted him and saw the richness of his mercy and love.
Sorry for the preaching but I thought that this might help someone to totally trust God instead of leaning on their own understanding.

Below are pictures of the van the Lord provided to us in our time of need.

Our Christmas Tree friend

We found someones house in our tree. Sorry little birdies!

My creative wife

Here is my beautiful and very creative wife making snowflake window clings.


Check them out!

This is just one of the things I love about Lori. She's so creative and beautiful!

Charles Dickens village at Skaneateles

Here are some pictures of our annual trip to Skaneateles. They have actors all over the city acting out the Charles Dickens, "A Christmas Carol." Here is Marley at the annual singing of the twelve days of Christmas.
More pictures of the sing along....

A doctor and his wife talking to another couple...

I just love the spontaneity that goes on here.

And I love the attention to detail in their dressing for it.

Santa

I think I found Santa Clause in my bathtub! I just wanted to share this picture because she's so darn cute!

Happy 40th birthday to me! Yippie! :(......:)

Well, it's finally here, November 7th, the day I turn 40. I have been a little upset about it, too. A good friend of mine told me it was just a number, and that’s true. This is not very comforting coming from a guy who is 25. But it really is no big deal. The following pictures are of what I found this morning when I got up.
This one was on the bathroom mirror. The first thing I see in the morning.

Then I went into the kitchen to make coffee. When I opened the freezer, this is what I saw stuck to the coffee.

Then after making the coffee, I wanted to see the weather. So I opened the computer watch my weather webcast and found this note. It's a good thing I love her so much.

Thank you Lori for, making my birthday morning so special. Also, thank you for getting me to see that it is not a big deal to turn 40. I love you more than any words could ever describe. Being with you really has turned back the clock on how I feel. It can't turn back my age, but at least inside I still feel 20. I Love You!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A clean room!

After years of teaching them to clean their room, and fighting with them to get them to do it, they finally, (With a little help from Dad,) cleaned their room! And look, the carpet is brown. You couldn't see that before because the floor was covered with clothes, toys, and blankets. There is still some cleaning to do with regard to their dressers, but I'm just happy to see the floor and vacuum it!

They call themselves the cleaning ninjas. That's disturbingly not true. None the less, here is some pictures that they wanted to share with you.

All in all, it was a big project as now the boys ninja senses protect the room from getting dirty again. Their ninja senses = fear of father's wrath!

Lexy's Birthday

Well, here we are finally at the last kids birthday of the year. Oh wait, we still have mine and I'm still a kid, right? Anyway as you can see, Lexy got a kitchen set. Along with far too many utensils and things. I say that because it's too many when she can't figure out what to do with it all come time to clean up and I end up doing it.

Gramma got her a princess nightgown that she truly loves and wants to wear all the time. Thanks Gramma!
A while ago, Lexy picked out a ring in Walmart while we were getting a watch battery changed. We tried to show her other rings but she only wanted that one. Well we had no plans to buy the ring, but she had other plans and cried all the way out of the store. Well Daddy can't let his little girl cry so I saw an opportunity when her birthday came up to get it for her. And I did! Aren't I such a good Daddy?

She also got her first Barbie doll. She took it out of the package, and proceeded to brush her hair. Which messed it up and ruined the way it was pulled back. Oh well, I guess that's what girls do.
We got Lexy a kids Mp3 player because there's 3 songs she always asks for and frankly, we're sick of them. 2 from Toby Mac, Boomin, and Tru Dog. The 3rd is from Isaiah 6, Like A Freak. (Sorry Derek, but 50 times a day would make you sick of your own song.) So I put these songs on there and she can listen to her hearts content!

If it works, here is a video of her dancing to her tunes! Sorry, no sound.

Didn't she have a lovely cake made by Lori. Luv u honey!

Well, I think the smiles have it! She loved her 3rd Birthday. So did I! I love you Lexy!

Four Mile Creek Campground

Every year since last year, we as a family have and will be going for a late season camping trip to Four Mile Creek Campground. It's simply the best Campground around in my opinion. That's why we go for a week. It's situated right on the shore of Lake Ontario! You can go right down on the beach and watch the sunset! It's awesome! On a clear day or night, you can look across the lake and see Toronto! It looks like a city on the water. Anyways, the following are pictures of the kids enjoying the week. Carter learned how to ride his bike without training wheels during this trip so you're seeing the first picture of him riding without the training wheels.

Lexy loved walking April's (My sis.) dog Milo.

All I can say is, this trip lived up to our expectation! It was awesome! It was an awesome time, with awesome weather. Thank you Jesus, for an awesome week!

Peace and harmony

Okay, anyone who has been around my kids recently knows that they don't get along as well as they have in the past. In fact they argue and fight about everything! But on rare occasion, there is peace and harmony like there was on this day. I just wanted you all to see them actually get along for once so you didn't think they never quit fighting. I tell ya, some day soon I'm going to give them boxing gloves and lock them in a room together!

In other news, Lexy is doing great with potty training! She went to the bathroom 3 times in Applebee's yesterday! She has only peed in her panties twice since Wednesday. (Aside from naps and other times we can't trust her!)