The Saga continues…

Ok, here is an update as far as what has been going on lately.  So I thought I got the flu bug last week and was done for the season….wrong.  Woke up feeling yucky Tuesday morning along with hubby.  Both tried going to work but ended up at home by midday, hubby in the bathroom every hour and me on the couch….  We drug ourselves out of the house to get the kids and then were home the rest of the night.  I picked up chicken noodle soup and tomato soup at the dollar store and that was supper, first thing I had eaten all day.  Next day woke up feeling some better but not 100% but made myself go to work.  Sipped sprite and ate some oatmeal and by noon was feeling a lot better.  Went and got Jocelyn from sitters after work and her eyes were all gunky and matted.  They said green junk poured out all day and she acted blah.  In the meantime hubby never went to work, still having stomach issues.  By the time I got home Jocelyn was sleeping (only slept 45 min all day) and her eyes were matted shut.  Andy washed them out with a warm wash cloth and I decided to go ahead and take her to after hours clinic before it got too bad with the wedding and pictures this weekend!  They diagnosed her with Acute conjunctivitis and prescribed eye drops for the next 7 days.  Today hubby is doing better and went to work, except for he went to get in the car this morning and it wouldn’t start L So now we need to figure out if it is just the cold, dead battery or something further…  It is 7 years old so I guess it is probably time for a new battery and probably a tune up along with my car when we have the extra money. Ha!

In the mean time, we are now 2 days away from the wedding, pretty much everyone in Manchester has been sick one way or another, my mom’s washer finally quit (it was one that we had given her that Andy used when he first moved out on his own that was given to him by his grandparents.  It was ancient!)  So they are in the middle of trying to figure out what they are going to do while they have 9+ people living there this week!   Also my sister’s fiancé’s brother and his wife are on their way from Washington for the wedding, got to Montana last night, hit ice and totaled their car!  Thank God they are ok but are stranded in Montana in a hotel, no clue how or when they will arrive here and he is the one and only best man/groomsman!  So needless to say there is a lot of stress where that is concerned.

Whew!  I think that pretty much covers it.  I really want to sit down and blog more, I have so much going thru my head and so many ideas but time seems to be racing…never enough of it!  Hopefully when January comes things will slow down a bit and I can regroup!  Hope all is well out there!

Winter cooties...

Yuck, i think i have them....  I was home last week with what i thought was the stomach bug but woke up this morning with a queasy stomach again...  I guess it is that time of year but it is still no fun especially with the wedding this weekend and then next weekend starts our big line of Christmas's.  I guess it is better to get it now though....

Well that is all for today.  When I feel better, I will have more to say.

Come and see what's happenin...

This is one of the songs that our choir is singing for our Christmas program.  I really like it.  The Gaither Vocal Band sings it if you want to look it up.  If you would like to come to our Christmas Program, it is Sunday December 19th at 6 pm at The Church of Jesus Christ in Pierceton.  Come see what's happenin!


Come and see what's happenin' in the barn!
I've seen nothin' like this since I've been on this farm!
Those strangers that camped out there have a baby in their arms
Come and see what's happenin' in the barn!

Must have been sometime `bout close to midnight
A big ole' guy came knockin' at my door
He said his wife was `bout to have a baby
And she just couldn't travel anymore.
I said the rooms had all been rented out
But they'd find shelter out there in the barn
They could throw some blankets in the stable;
At least, they would be dry and safe from harm.

Sometime before dawn I was awakened
Light was floodin' through the windowpane
A star as bright as moonlight was a shinin'
And pretty music I could not explain
I ran downstairs to have a look around
I tell you I could not believe my eyes
A crowd had gathered all around the manger
And they were talkin' `bout God's big surprise.

The shepherds said that they'd been on the hillside
Tellin' stories just to stay awake;
The baby lambs were sleepin' near the campfire,
The ewes were huddled by the stone fence gate.
And then the sky just seemed to open wide
With light and sound that they could hardly bear
And what they swore were angels sang in chorus,
"You'll find the new Messiah over there."

"Go and see what's happening in the barn"
There's been nothin' like it ever happened on this farm!
The strangers that camped out there have a baby in their arms.
Go and see what's happenin' in the barn!

Excitement and Thanksgiving

The blog title pretty much sums up my thoughts lately….This time of year is always exciting.  It’s almost like God puts something in the atmosphere to get us excited!  Corny, I know.  On top of the normal Holiday excitement, my sister is getting married next weekend and I am so excited for her!  I try and remember back to the week before my wedding (yes it has been a few years J ) and my oh my was it exciting.  If I think about it, I was really just a kid getting married!  It is crazy, you feel and think of yourself as so much older than what you are.  It is fun to look at pictures and the wedding video and reminisce about those times.  It is nuts how much things change in just 10 years!  Anyway, so it is a very exciting time in our family.  On top of that, my brother and my sister’s fiancé were able to come home for Thanksgiving (live in Washington)!  They do commercial farming and got a huge snow storm therefore they were able to leave 1 ½ weeks early to come home.  It was so nice to have them at our Thanksgiving celebration on Saturday.  Therefore, I am very thankful!  This time of year makes you realize how thankful you are for your family and those that are close to you.  It also makes you realize who really matters and , well, who doesn’t.  I am not trying to be mean but there are times that you come to realize that people you call family or that you view as being close to, really are not what you thought they were.  That they are not positive influences in your or your children’s life, they are selfish and only think of themselves.  This past weekend really opened my eyes to that and made me think.  Who do I invest my time in?  Who do I surround myself with?  How do I feel around those that I call family or friends?  How do I feel about my children being around those that I call family or close friends?  It is good to have a reality check once in awhile and to reevaluate your priorities and who you make time or go out of your way for and who you don’t.  With that said, I am very Thankful for my family, my husband, children, parents, siblings, in-laws…  I feel very blessed to have the family that I have with my blood and the ones I have inherited when I married my husband.  We are all very close and even though we may not see each other as often as we would like, we are all there for each other in a heartbeat.  Yes we are different people and have different opinions and beliefs but we respect each other and love each other for our differences.  We don’t tear each other down or leave each other hanging when in need.  Those qualities in what I call FAMILY, I have become very thankful for and cherish!

Hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving!   

Blah Monday….

This is so not how I wanted to feel today….  I wanted to be on top of my game today and start off this week on a good note.  Not really sure where it is coming from except that I have a massive headache and staring at a computer screen all day is not helping matters at all… To start things off we woke up late again, ugh!!!  It completely messes my day up when I don’t have my normal wake up time, ect…  I am going to unplug the alarm clock and reset it and hopefully that will work.  Ever since the time change, it has been messed up as far as when it goes off.  I also feel so sleep deprived today and not real sure why… Yes we had a rather hectic weekend so maybe that is some of it.  I just want to go home in a dark quiet room and go to sleep.  I don’t feel like going to church tonight ( we have it tonight instead of Wed. due to the holiday), I don’t feel like doing Thanksgiving on Thursday, black Friday shopping Friday, or our Thanksgiving Saturday!  Everything suddenly looks huge and impossible and no fun.  I hate this cause I was looking so forward to it all.  I am hoping that it will soon pass and it is just the headache that is causing it all.  I hate this feeling especially this time of year.  I so want to enjoy it and enjoy the family time, I don’t want to be moody or blah feeling.

So sorry for the whiny post today, just getting some of my “feelings” out there I guess…

On a side note, as I mentioned earlier, we had a hectic but good weekend!  I took a ½ day Friday to help with the bake sale at church.  It was a huge day and was baking till 9pm that night but it went so smoothly and we were able to get it all done in one day!  I came home from that and made a pasta salad for a birthday party on Saturday ( I have become famous with this pasta salad and it is so easy!)  Saturday, hubby got up and went to work, the kids and I got up and around and left around 9:30 to head to Merriville to Albanese Candy Factory to get about 20# of blue candy for my sisters wedding.  Instead of nuts and mints she is doing a candy bar.  I have never heard of it but it should be interesting.  After the Candy Factory we headed to Target to get a few things then over to Portage to the birthday party.  It was a lot of fun and so cute!  The first birthday’s are so fun I think.  We headed home to which both kids konked out so I had to work to stay awake myself but didn’t do too bad.  Soon after I got home, my sister brought up my 4 month old niece and I had her Saturday night and thru church Sunday.  Then we took her back and had lunch with my family, came home, had choir practice and church, came home and went to bed and viola! We are here!  After typing this, maybe I know where my headache is coming from…..hmmm….

Hoping to post some pics this week of the holidays and some other random stuff….

One Week Away….YIKES!!!!!!!!

Wow, I can’t believe that Thanksgiving is that close!!!!!  Where has this year gone!  People are not lying when they say that times speeds up with age… I remember as a child, the Holidays would never come it seemed and then when they did, they were over just like that and we had to wait a whole year all over again (my birthday is in January so it would be a long wait...hehehe!)  Now that I have my own children and family (very Thankful for) it seems that it is here before you know it!  There is never enough time, energy, money to go around it seems.  But there is nothing like the house being decked out, Christmas music playing, making candy and treats, the joy on children’s faces….

This week I am going to be cutting out and sewing a skirt for my mom for my sister’s wedding.  She didn’t have time or a sewing machine and I have both so I offered.  I am kind of excited!  It has been awhile since I have actually sewn something other than mending…  Plus I have some little projects I need to get finished up so hopefully it will give me a chance to do that as well!  Next Thursday we will be doing Thanksgiving with my husband’s side of the family and then taking my daughter to my cousin’s and either getting my brother to come to the house or taking my son to him.  We are going black Friday shopping!!!!!!!!  Yay!  Can’t wait.  I am not die hard about it but I think it is fun and always enjoy good deals if I can!  Saturday we are going to do our own Thanksgiving.  I think my mom and maybe sister might come up and maybe a few other, not sure yet… This will be the first that I actually do Thanksgiving at my house!  I am excited!  This is the menu so far….

Appetizers: (haven’t officially decided yet)

            Ham and pickle rolls

            Artichoke dip

            Veggie pizza bars

Main Course:

            Turkey

            Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

            Sw. Potato Soufflé

            Dressing

            Green Bean Casserole

            Relish Tray

            Deviled Eggs

            Dinner Rolls

            Corn Chip Salad

            Cranberry Salad ?

           

Dessert

            Pumpkin Torte

            Carmel Apple Cheesecake

            Maybe some pies

What are some of your Thanksgiving traditions or favorite menu items?

Weekend Recap

Ahhhh!!!!!!!  What a weekend!  Everything seemed to go well!  My sister got a lot of nice stuff from her bridal shower.  I am so happy for her!  The surprise birthday party went really well on Saturday!  I think Mom really enjoyed herself!  It was good to see people I haven’t seen in awhile and to meet people that I hear about but have never met.  There were quite a few people that had RSVP’d that were not able to show so needless to say we had a TON of food!!!!!  Instead of trying to divide it up and it going bad in our refridgerators, we decided to donate to a local homeless shelter.  That felt really good!  Yes it was a lot of money spent on preparing food, but it would have gone to waste if we would have tried to take it home and this way we were able to entertain and have a good time and help out people in need as well.  Very good feeling!  Sunday I made a ham, cheesy potatoes, corn casserole, dinner rolls (leftover from party) and apple crisp (leftover from party).  My sister and hubby and daughter came up after church for dinner.  It was very nice and relaxing and felt good to fix a good meal on a Sunday!  Needless to say after that weekend I was exhausted!  Hubby wasn’t feeling the greatest and daughter was so cranky!!!!  Hubby decided to stay home with sinus pressure and headache Sunday evening and it was so tempting to join him but I had this still small voice in my head saying I needed to press thru and go to church, God had something for me.  So after my sis left, I finished cleaning up the kitchen, got the kids dressed, diaper bag packed and off we went!  Boy was service amazing!!!!  Our pastor taught an awesome message on King Saul titled “Decay of a man, loss of a crown”.  It was so good and so much needed for my soul!  I soaked up everyword that I could while still taking care of a cranky 15 mo old.  Altar service was amazing as well.  I was able to pray thru and lay some of my heavy burdens down that I have been carrying around for the last several months.  Believe me, I am no where near perfect and like the song states that I heard yesterday, “ I may not be over the mountain, but I can see the other side”.   So far this week, I feel so refreashed, like I got that cool drink of water in a very dry and barren land.  I am so thankful that I didn’t give in to the flesh that day, I pushed thru and heeded what the Holy Ghost was trying to speak to me.  It made me think back to a post I read about a week ago.  I believe it was titled “Moving…when the flesh doesn’t want to.  There was a lot of encouragement in that post and I believed it helped me in that situation!

Anyway, that is a recap of my busy, exhausting but very rewarding weekend!  Hope you have a good week!  Comments are welcome! J