Happy Birthday Sam and Ethan!

It's hard to believe my little guys are already 5 years old!  It seems like yesterday you were born.

Sammy, the first born

Ethan, 2 minutes later

The first time we held the boys, one week old.  Michael has Sam and I have Ethan.

We had a surprisingly easy time deciding on a theme... the boys wanted a Mickey Mouse party... Easy enough!!  :-)  We invited our friends to come over and play, the Ernsts, the Priscos, and the Picklesimers.  Of course we had our family, Grandma C, Grandma and Grandpa R, Aunt Tracey, Uncle Jim and Aunt Tracy, Aunt Chrissy, cousin Michael, Great Aunt Margaret, and cousin Sarah.  We made hot diggity dogs and served lots of extras.  I took my first stab at making birthday cakes... they didn't turn out fantastic, but they sure did taste good!!

Happy Mother's Day

It is the little things that count
And give a mother pleasure - 
The things her children bring to her
Which they so richly treasure...
The picture that is smudged a bit
With tiny fingerprints,
The colored rock, the lightning bugs,
The sticky peppermints;
The ragged, bright bouquet of flowers
A child brings, roots and all - 
These things delight a mother's heart
Although they seem quite small.
A mother can see beauty
In the very smallest thing
For there's a little bit of heaven
In a small child's offering.

Field Day!

Drew had Field Day today at school.  I normally volunteer on every Thursday so I happen to be at the school.  I didn't realize it was an event that parents were allowed to get involved in and called Michael to bring me my camera since I didn't have one with me.  I got a lot of great pictures and Drew's friends had a lot of fun taking pictures!!  I had two cameras going up and down the line and the kids all taking turns.  Drew did three events, the 25 yard dash, the tennis ball throw, and tug of war!  He did great!  What moved me even more was the support he got from his class!  When he was up, his class would yell and scream, "YAY DREW!  GO DREW!"  When he was done, he was always so happy and proud of himself and his classmates all high fived him or told him great job.  It was great to see what nice kids are in his class.  We took a lot of group pictures today and I told them when they are seniors in high school, look for these pictures!  I'll be sharing them again!

When his friends were cheering for him!

The beginning...

I cannot believe that school is almost over. We are planning school picnics for the last day of school, planning our summer activities, and STILL looking for a job!

The Lord has been good to us! There is no doubt. Through all the ups and downs of unemployment, the Lord has provided. Michael has a definite job interview on Tuesday and we are prayerful!

This weekend, we are starting something new and exciting for our family too. There is a meeting run by Focus on the Family about adoption in Ohio. Most know that we want to adopt. Ok, it was definitely me from the beginning but Michael has absolutely jumped on board. We are hoping to adopt a little girl in the next few years. (I don't want to get my hopes up as to how fast or slow it will be, I am just giving it to the Lord for his perfect timing!)

This Friday, the boys are all going to go and stay the night with my mom. They will have a blast with that! They love their grandma and they love sleep overs at her home! The meeting is Saturday from 1 to 5, so a long time, but I am hoping we will learn a lot. We are open to adopting a sibling set, preferably, I would want them both to be girls. We are going to shift all the rooms around again when this happens. Drew will have Michael's old room, the twins will have our current room, we will go into Drew's room, and the little girl(s) will go into the twins room. We would DEFINITELY move everything well before our daughter would be here so the boys just know they are getting to get new rooms. Complete with painting and decorating! We have to put drop ceilings in two rooms, but I am sure we will be able to get help for that.

I am really praying that the Lord will let this happen. I love my boys, do not get me wrong, but I long for a relationship with a daughter. I think it is good for them to know that other women are someone else's little sister too. It will be good for them to have someone to take care of. Well, I suppose that would only work if she is under 5. We are open to a child as old as Drew or younger. I think Drew would love to have a sister his age. Most of his friends (well my friends with kids Drew's age) are girls. I hope to be able to share our journey into adoption here on this blog too. I am so excited for Saturday! The beginning!!

Here are some cute pictures of the boys!

Look what the Easter Bunny brought!!

The boys went to see the Easter Bunny this year again at the DMOTC Easter Egg Hunt. They were convinced on the way home that Grandpa Rebilas was the Easter Bunny though. I don't know how they decided it was him, but they did. When Michael drove them home from the party he said they were discussing the facts before they came to their conclusion. Since I was on the committee for the Easter party, I had to stay and clean up. It went really well this year too. We did it at our church and it was just wonderful! I will be chairing it next year, so I hope to make it even better!

Speaking of the Easter Bunny, the boys got a HUGE gift from the him this year! He brought the boys a swing set! They all LOVE it!! I don't think a day goes by without them wanting to go outside and swing! We are so thankful and happy with it. :-)

Easter morning I went to the sunrise service at the cemetery. We have gone every year since we lost dad. It is a sad and comforting thing all at the same time. Our family shows up at dark and we listen to the service on the radio, after it's over, we all get out and go and stand at the graves. Mom always brings tulips and my uncle fixes them so they won't fall over. Our grandparents and cousin are also there. We do a mini catch up and then I leave to go home and get ready for church and everyone else heads out to breakfast. It is comforting to remember that our dad is with the Lord and that there is hope in that because even though Christ died on the cross, he ROSE AGAIN! And because of that, we can have eternal life through him. Easter is such a humbling holiday. Right now, we do the bunny thing for the kids but it is always shared with the real reason of Christ. They are only little once, but we want to make sure that Easter isn't about the baskets or the eggs, but about our amazing Lord and his sacrifice!

Drew is SEVEN years old!!!

March has one of my favorite holidays.... Drew's birthday! Nothing like celebrating the birth of your first child! I cannot believe he is SEVEN years old already!! He had a super hero birthday party and invited all his friends to come as their favorite super hero, real or made up. It was GREAT!

It has been 7 wonderful years with my son. Definitely ups and downs, but boy he is worth so much more!

Drew is coming to the end of 1st grade! He is doing awesome. He has a great teacher, Mrs. Howard. I feel like the Lord personally picked her out for Drew. She has just the right amount of compassion and encouragement to get Drew to do what he needs to do. His handwriting is amazing now! It was terrible at the beginning of the year, but he has really learned to take his time and do it right! He is also reading wonderfully! I know, I'm his mother, I have rosy shades, but I am so pleased with all the progress he has made this year!

I think we are all ready for summer vacation though. Ready to not get up early and take our time. and of course play outside. We also enjoy the free movies at Regal and Showcase! This year will be different, Drew will need to write the book reports now! He had been too young in the past. It will be fun getting him to do that so he can go to the movies. Looking forward to seeing the summer movie list!

March 2010

Well, today was the end of Michael's job. It definitely is a scary time, but we are doing the best we can. We were able to save a little to be prepared but a job would be a wonderful thing right about now! We are confident in the Lord and know that he has the situation under control!