Last night Andy and I went to a Masquerade Gala. It was a lot of fun. We had a hard time deciding what to wear. We thought about going as some famous couple but couldn't come up with one. We thought about going as an E-male with attachments! Cute, but didn't quite feel right. And then Katelyn came up with an awesome idea. Go as "Beauty and The Geek"! That was the ticket! Maybe we would even win the $100 prize! So I got the 'ole formal out of the attic, bought some false eyelashes and decided to deck out for the evening. Katelyn, bless her heart, came over and did my hair. She did a fabulous job. It was all done up with curls, feathers and roses! I even put on a beauty mark!
Then the Geek. Oh, my he really was geeky! Andy wore seersucker pants, with a Ward Cleaver sweater. He had a mismatched shirt with a pocket protector full of pens. His pockets were turned inside out, his shirt was buttoned crooked and he had geeky glasses with tape on them. Then came the icing on the cake---he wore buck teeth.
We were quite a pair. We went and ate at Amazing Joe's and they were so impressed, they comped our meal! People tried not to stare, it was a little hard though when they saw Andy's hair fixed like Alfafa's of the Raskels! Some said to him, I hope that is a costume! Others, just couldn't stand to look at all!
Okay, so we didn't win the $100 dollar prize. But we had fun, I felt like a movie star and Andy, well, he was just flat out geeky, all the way around.
Take a look and see what you think!

Pictures!

These are some pictures that went along with my last blog

Weekend warm fuzzies

Warm fuzzies...... everybody has them, they just come differently. I am been having warm fuzzies this weekend.
My kids are all here, under one roof, laughing, teasing, and just being together. I never knew how important that would be to me. I used to wonder why it was such a big deal to Andy's parents when we were all together.......well, guess what, I found out. No, I can't explain it, it just is, important that is. It gives a sense of completeness, and I suppose we all long to feel complete.

Friday night we met in Farmland. Every 2nd Friday they have a town "party". Venders line the sidewalks and the stores stay open late. It's that small town feeling that makes you feel like you really belong to something other than your immediate family or church.
One of the fun things about Friday, was the "Play it By Ear" Barbershop Quartet were there, walking the streets and singing to anyone who would listen. Conner "commissioned" them to sing for his girlfriend Katelyn as a surprise for there 1 year anniversary. Yes, now days, you have anniversaries to celebrate "going steady" as we used to say! Kids don't go steady anymore, they "go out". Yep, that is what they call it. The conversation goes something like this:

"Hey Mom, guess who I'm going out with?"
"UM, I dont' know who are you going with and more importantly, where???"
"NO Mom, I'm going out with them"
Uh, I don't know WHO you are going out with or WHERE you are going and you are not leaving with anyone if I don't know WHO and WHERE!"
"OH MOM, I'm not going anywhere, I'm going out with her/him!"
"Okay, now how can you be going OUT if you are not going anywhere?! and with whom are you not going with???"
"Oh nevermind....."

Yep, and these days, if you are "going out" with someone, you aren't single. Now, when I was in school, we were single until we were married. Not anymore, if you are "involved" with someone, you aren't single anymore. Okay, this could get so confusing, so we will just move on.....

Back to the Quartet; we all (everyone except for Christopher because he was working) gathered at The Chocolate Moose to eat supper. As we waited for the food, we were serenaded by the four delightful gentlemen. They were a show all by themselves, they sang, they told jokes and kept us all rolling until our order arrived. Then they sat down in the booth next to ours to eat their own supper. Part of the time, Spencer was turned around backwards, on his knees, just like a toddler, singing with them! He took the tenors place! They all loved him and Spencer enjoyed talking with them.

Now for you who don't know, Spencer used to work at the Moose and now Conner works there. At one point in time a well known man in the community came in, Spencer saw him and ask Andy if he thought that Max would remember him. Andy told him, most definitely, that he still asks about him. Spencer approached him and Max Wagner gave him a bear hug and was so delighted to see him. Spencer was able to introduce him to Stacia and catch him up on his life. It was fun to watch the interaction. So I can only guess we will be watching the same scene unfold in a few years with Conner.....

Saturday we celebrated Andy's 50th birthday. I had invited a few people but only Doug and Liza Blake were able to make it, but it was a good time. Andy wanted pork chops, so I bought a pork loin and Christopher sliced it for me Friday night, we marinated it over night and Spencer grilled them. We enjoyed each others company, Andy felt loved and all was good!!

I love it when our kids home, we sit around and drink coffee, sharing laughs, and breath each others air. It makes life worthwhile. We finally get to reap the benefits of all those diaper changes, listening to arguments, picking up messes! It's fun to have them all home......

Hang on baby....

Little baby girl is still in the hospital and will be for a few days. She still needs help breathing and they are checking for neurological problems. She weighed in at 11lbs and 4oz, no that is not a misprint. There are many things I can not write do to confidentiality. Please pray for her, keep her parents in your prayers too. I will share more as I can.

Life is precious......

Wow! What a day! What a difference a day can make......
Today I was called by a friend who needed my help. The kind of help I like to give....someone was having a baby and they needed an extra pair of hands. I love to attend homebirths. I am a midwife assistant and I love being with people during their happiest times. I don't get to attend homebirths very often, but occasionally when there is more than one family having their babies at the same time I get the privilege of taking part.
Today we welcomed a sweet baby girl into the world, she joined a family of two big brothers and parents who had waited a long nine months to see her. The labor was long, the work was hard, the mother was amazing at how hard she worked. She did everything we ask of her, she ate when she didn't want to, she drank when she didn't feel like it. She refrained from pushing when we saw that the baby needed a break. She was diligent at her job. Little baby girl came slowly with a brow presenting, and when she finally made her appearance she didn't want to stay...... she wasn't breathing, her heart wasn't beating, she was floppy, she was blue, she was everything you DON'T want to see. Instead of the calm, happy arrival that is the picture in everyone's mind, we had quite a different event. Everyone flew into action as oxygen was turned on, resuscitation was started, 911 was called, praying was loud and pleading.
Before the ambulance arrived we had a good heartbeat but little darling wasn't breathing on her own. We handed her over to medics with uncertainty in our hearts. What was wrong, why didn't she respond like we wanted her to???? The questions lingered in our hearts, as we stayed behind to clean up the house and gather our belongings. We rehashed the day, questioned our moves, went through the 'would haves, should haves' and what more could haves???? What if's gathered about our heads and then I spoke life about her----I declared she would be okay! I said it with certainty because I wanted to claim it. Was it going to make a difference, I wasn't sure, but it sure wasn't going to hurt!
Later I heard that hospital A was going to transport to hospital B and they thought she would be okay, even though she still wasn't breathing on her own yet. She was being treated for an infection. I hopefully will hear more tomorrow.
So what did I learn today? I was reminded that you never take a birth for granted. Every birth is it's own and holds true to no one's rules. Life can't be taken for granted, at any stage in the game. Every birth has a lesson, a lesson for the midwife, the assistants and the parents. We all take from it what we are willing to learn.
The day held it's amount of stress and my body doesn't respond the best to stress anymore! But I'm thankful for my lessons and for the reminder that life is precious and how good it is when newborn babies breath......

Back so soon!

Well, many of you emailed me and told me how you enjoyed the blog! Thank you! I had no idea we were so interesting! LOL
So today, I will try to answer some of your questions! First of all, one of my dear friends isn't familiar with blogs and wanted to know what in the world it is! Well, a blog is rather like a public diary! The word itself is a contraction of the term "web log". The entries are made in a journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order. The reader is able to list a comment at the end of each entry. Be sure to add a comment from time to time!
Spencer and Stacia's baby is due in December and they are not finding out the sex. It will be a surprise to all of us! They are keeping the names a surprise too. We will have lots of Christmas surprises this year! She is due the first part of December so Christmas this year will so fun!! She sure is a cute pregnant Momma!
I'm not real good at this yet and I haven't quite figured out how to get the pictures exactly where I want them. I am going to have to talk to Stacia AGAIN! But pictured above is one of the pieces that Andy is working on. It is the bottom half of a Hoosier cabinet. It was covered in cracked white paint. I actually liked the look for several years. I would see the style in various magazines, I even would see where you could, on purpose, make your furniture look that way! My Mother would always just shake her head at the fact that I liked it! Well, I must say it is way more beautiful since Andy has refinished it. He is working on the top part now. I can't wait until he gets it done and moves onto the next piece! I have enough projects to keep him in his hobby for a long time! LOL
The picture of Kyleigh shows her PJ pants that she sewed! I taught her to sew one day and this is what she chose to do. She did a very good job and is excited to sew again. Did you know that kids don't learn to sew in school anymore? At least not at our school. The class is still called Home Ec., but they learn about peer presure and bullying instead. I have been told that the teacher hired to do the job, doesn't like to sew, so she teaches other things!! Go figure!
Well, I think that I answered all the questions posed to me, if not, let me know!
Next time I will post pictures of Andy on his b'day. He turned 50 on the 29th of Sept. We are going to celebrate it this coming Saturday, but I took his picture on his BIG day! Wow, I am married to an old man! And I know that my time is coming!!

And so we are back!

Okay, I haven't kept up with this like I thought I would, BUT I think it may be better from now on.....BECAUSE Verizon has activated a tower close to home and we now have much better service for our cell phones AND I use my Blackberry as my modem and that means.........YES, high speed internet!!! Okay, it's not high speed like Andy has at his office, but I can actually go from page to page without having long conversations while a page is loading! I can even watch youtube videos! Imagine that, we have arrived, way out here in the boonies!
Tonight, my 16 year old son, took me out on a date. He spared no expense, popcorn was included with the movie :^D We went to see Eagle Eye, a very intense, good movie. We had fun together and that was the important part. I remember going out with Christopher and Spencer like that when they were younger. I like spending one on one time with my kids, it makes for closer relationships.
We are seeing more of Christopher these days as he has moved back home for a few days. He needed a bit more time to get into a new place, after his roommate moved to Fla. It's been nice to have him around. I kinda like the guy ;^)
Kyleigh made fudge today for the first time. She did a great job! She seems to really like baking and cooking. That works for me! I'd rather not spend time in the kitchen!
Carter is doing a great job learning to play the sax. He is getting better and better as the days go by. He practices at home and when he does, our dog, Juno "sings" along with him. Yes, he practices inside and Juno sings outside! What a hoot!
Spencer and Stacia are anxiously waiting for the birth of their little one! Stacia is loving feeling the baby move and Spencer loves to talk to the baby! Everything seems to be going very well and we are all thankful that there have been no problems. We can't wait to see who that little one is!!
Andy has started a new hobby, well, he has always enjoyed it, but lately he has been doing more of it. He is refinishing pieces of furniture. He is awesome at it! The furniture looks beautiful when he is done. I am more than happy for him to work on his hobby! I am ending up with some real works of art!
Well, enough for today. I will tell of our new roles in the various plays and musicals that we are doing the next time!