The Big 3-0!

My sister is officially old (sorry Andrea...the truth hurts.)

She turned 30 last month and had a small family celebration at my parent's house. She requested my mom make chicken parmigiana and pineapple upside down cake. It was all very yummy.





Chris and my dad requested small pieces of cake. Because the rest of us wanted a whole pineapple, they ended up getting the leftovers. I found their pieces quite humorous at the time...hence the pictures...





Andrea received some cool presents...that we all have enjoyed...

Andrea kept closing her eyes right when I would take the picture...see below...so she over-exaggerated the final picture. What a cheese.

Happy Birthday Andrea! I hope you had a great day!!!

Governer Strickland

I'm not sure how it all worked...

-drawing straws

-flipping a coin

-sympathy

-a district in need

...but Governor Strickland came to my high school mid February.

I could feel the excitement in the air! Everyone was looking their best and the windows at the entrance were even cleaned minutes before he arrived.

He spoke a little about his State of the State address, all of his educational proposals, and finished his speech by reminding everyone of his sheer awesomeness...

When he was finished he took questions. One of my students was bold enough to stand up and ask a very intelligent question. I was quite proud of him (although I can not for the life of me remember what he asked!)

All things considered, I truly enjoyed the experience. I didn't get the greatest pictures (if I would have had Beth's camera, my pictures would have been as awesome as the governor himself) but here's proof that I'm telling the truth...

Go Waynesburg!

Our good friend Sam Jones is the head women's basketball coach at Waynesburg University. We decided to attend an away game at West Minster last weekend. The girls played very well and ended up winning the game. Sam is an awesome coach!

Ruth-Ann brought the kids so we were able to catch up during the game. After the game we went out to dinner together (including the team...)

It just so happened to be Sam's birthday that day so he was serenaded at Eat 'n Park (gotta love those cookies!)

I was sad when the evening ended.

We only live around two and a half hours away...Why don't we visit more?!!

The Roadtrip From...

We reserved the last Saturday in January to visit our friends in Central Ohio. With only a day trip planned, we wanted to get the best bang for our buck...

Our day started at the Cheesecake Factory for a late lunch. Late because I had to stop somewhere and take a gander at something...Sorry friends! After a ridiculously long wait at the restaurant, we were able to eat lunch (linner, lupper, ect.) Things were a bit hairy but we managed.

The next stop of the day was Magic Mountain...

I would like to take this opportunity to preface my next few sentences with the fact that I love my friends...

I have never felt so claustrophobic or dirty in all my life. It was super hot, super populated, and super germy. I was stressed the whole time and even had to go outside to take some deep breaths of fresh air...Except that there were people smoking outside. Nice.

I think if we would have had to stay another minute I might have started to cry. On our way out the door Beth and I made a pact to never NEVER go there EVER again. Then we all piled into our cars and bathed in hand sanitizer...

After the afternoon from you know where, we headed to Caribou for coffee. We all thought that a nice relaxing time there would be good for our souls. Who knew that having five children in SMALL coffee shop wouldn't be relaxing???

We ended our time together with a trip to the mall then dinner at Wendy's. I think Wendy's was the highlight for me. Who would have thunk it?

I think Beth and I both agree that next time we'll just have a relaxing visit at the house.

Augh! I felt like I needed therapy for a few days after our visit. I had to call Beth multiple times the following week to be certain we were still on speaking terms.

The following pictures are from our day. Clearly the kids had a great time and were oblivious to my panic attacks...

I think this picture is truly worth a thousand words.

I'm afraid some day my boys will actually have a fist fight (or two...) over Brooklyn, although I think her heart belongs to Jonathan. See below...

Friends Forever!

The kids had fun and sometimes that's all that matters...SOMETIMES!

The Great Outdoors...

OK, so it was just in our backyard but I had to think of a catchy title rather than just 'Playing in the Snow AGAIN' or 'MORE Snow.' By the way...I've heard we're in for THE BIG ONE next week. Didn't we just have a 'big one?'

I finally got the boys outside today. Drew was upset at first because I dressed him wrong. I put his gloves on BEFORE his coat... After he was done pouting he ended up having a great time. Greta enjoyed being outside with them and I ended up having to practically bribe them (with a family movie night) to come in.

Their cheeks were red, their coats were wet, and they were sweaty underneath all the layers but they had fun. What an adventure!






Just wanted everyone to know that I am blogging during the time that I should have been scrapbooking...with my friends...and the Cricut. Such is life. Tomorrow is another day...

Snow Day!!!

Wednesday Jan. 28th

Finally, after all this crazy weather, my whole family was awarded a snow day today.

We got the call from Alliance (Jonathan and Drew) at around 5:25 a.m. Springfield (Michelle) called about ten minutes (or so) later. Nice! Chris got his call from the church around 12:30 letting him know that not only were this evening's festivities canceled, but he was not expected to come in to work this afternoon! That's a half hour before he was supposed to show up for staff meeting. Woo hoo!

We spent the first half of our snow day lounging around the house. I did a couple of loads of laundry and played around online. The boys played video games, watched a movie, and played in the playroom. Chris had to take Greta to the vet for a well check and some vaccinations then he got to come home, play around online, and play some Madden. None of us showered before 1:30! Should I have admitted that???

It's been snowing/sleeting all day. We're not (I should actually say Chris is not) looking forward to venturing out to see how much snow actually needs shoveled.

We need to go to Wal-mart and we're talking about venturing out for a late lunch. Who knows?! I think the boys will eventually play outside as well...


OK so now it's around 8:30 p.m.

Chris had to grab something in the Mazda's trunk (the car that has been out in the snowy sleet all day) and ended up having to crawl through the back seat because the trunk was frozen shut. Crazy!

The boys never got to go outside today, unless I count running from our house to my parents' house and back... My mom cooked dinner for us tonight. YUM!

Hopefully I'll get them out to play tomorrow.

I got an awesome phone call around dinner time. Springfield is closed again tomorrow!!!! Woo hoo! Now if only Alliance would call off again...

I'll keep you posted!

Meanwhile, here's a few pictures of our lazy day...

Jonathan took this picture!!

Jonathan took this one too!!

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Thursday Jan. 29th

Well, we never got the call from Alliance so Jonathan tearily (is that a word?) headed off to school. I promised him that Drew and I would come in and volunteer around 1:00. That seemed to make him feel better.

Drew and I hung around the house in the morning. We played video games, baked cookies, and I finally convinced Drew to play in the playroom while I showered...

Before we knew it we had to leave for school! We had a nice time and Jonathan really appreciated our presence. We learned all about geometric shapes. I took the boys to Game Stop after school to look around then we headed home.

Unfortunately, the boys never got outside. Hmm. There's always tomorrow!

Jonathan finally got his spaghetti and meatballs tonight and he said they were awesome (woo hoo!)

It's about 9:00 p.m. and my snow days are pretty much over. I think I can handle going back to school though, because tomorrow is FRIDAY!!!

We're headed Marysville on Saturday (should have been Friday) to spend time with our awesome friends. That warrants another WOO HOO!!!

OK, better go. I've got to get prepared to go back to real life!!!

Peace

Professional Pictures

OK, So these aren't Jessi's but here they are...

The King Family Portraits from JCPenny

Staying Warm

With all the cold weather we've been experiencing, we've enjoyed snuggling close to keep warm.

OK, so Pug doesn't dig snuggling with Greta. Who would have guessed?!

I sure do get to spend my life with some handsome men! I love you guys!

Well, I've updated as much as I can. The camera is empty and I need to spend about $500 ordering prints for my scrapbook. Peace and warmth to all my faithful blog stalkers...

Michelle

May Jesus reign in your heart and shine through your life.

Blizzard!

We experienced the first blizzard of 2009 early. Crazy low temperatures and lots of snow and ice pretty much sum up the last week or so. The boys enjoyed playing outside early on but now it's too cold!

We haven't yet got a snow day. We probably would have Friday EXCEPT WE WERE ALREADY OFF! Oh well. I'm sure they'll be another time...maybe Tuesday??? Ha ha.

The boys like making snow angels. Jonathan went first then Drew decided he needed to make one too.

Now that's the face of a boy who is having a great time!

Our yard has a small hill toward the back of the property. The boys still think this hill is slightly cool to sled down. I'm sure that won't last much longer...

Dad was nice enough to plow a path for the dogs to 'go potty.' I think he was having fun using his new Christmas present.

I took this picture just because it shows how much snow we had gotten up till that point. I know, it's not very exciting!



Here's Drew's version of a snow angel. If you look closely you'll see that Drew has a kitchen utensil in his hand. We made the mistake of giving the boys 'digging utensils' to build snow forts. I have a feeling I won't see them until Spring.

As you can see, the boys had a great time playing outside. It looks like Greta didn't mind it either. Can you see how much she's growing?!

Happy Winter!