Life's Ups and Downs...

The last week has been full of life's ups and downs.  Last Thursday Curtis 

went into the hospital for back surgery due to a ruptured disk.  It means 

Daddy doesn't lift anything over five pounds for at least two weeks and is 

very limited in what he can do for six weeks.  Jordan and Nicholas have 

stepped up to the plate in a BIG way to help in anyway they can.

Friday evening after Curtis came home from the hospital we received a call 

that "Pap" my grandpa, and the kids great grandpa had passed away.  He was  

recently diagnosed with cancer and we were all very surprised how quickly he 

passed.  We are thankful that he didn't have to suffer and we know he is in 

heaven and several family members now have a new guardian angle looking 

down over them.

Add to this a couple of things I won't mention AND the fact it was finals week 

for the boys and as Jordan was a senior  there were many senior activities as 

well.  

I couldn't be more blessed with the friends and family we have!  Our friends 

prayed for us and brought over delicious meals for our family! 

 More friends came and helped us with landscaping and outdoor activities that 

we were right in the middle of and due to time limits needed to get done.  

And the boys, well they completed their final exams, didn't miss a day of 

school and they truly couldn't have made us more proud!! As for Gabriella, 

let's say she did an amazing being herself and gave hugs and made us giggle 

at just the perfect times!  One thing I've always tried to teach our children is 

that no matter how challenging a situation may seem, if you look hard enough 

you can always find the sliver lining in any cloud:)

Prom Night 2012!!

Jordan asked Hannah to his senior prom this year and they had a great time!

We have known Hannah's parents since she was Gabriella's age and she is a 

true sweetheart!

A family from our church, who's daughter was attending prom with this group, 

invited everyone to their home for pictures and hors d' oeuvres  before prom.  

I'm so thankful they "re-enacted" putting the boutonniere back on as when we 

were at Hannah's house and I went to take my first picture the camera said 

"card FULL"!!!  Not what a mama wants to see on prom night!

Lovin this smile!

It's amazing how she manages to get in soooo many pictures!  The truth is 

out of my four kiddos these are the two who tend to smile the most for the 

camera:)

The guys in the group...they all look totally handsome!

The girls in the group who are beautiful!

The entire group had a great night!  Following pictures and hors d' oeuvres 

they had reservations at Flattop where they all enjoyed dinner.

This was the Haiti group photo as everyone in this group also attended the 

Haiti mission trip a few weeks ago.

Mrs. V did amazing with the appetizers!

There was lots of yummy food and the chocolate covered strawberries were a 

huge hit!!

We have known Kristin since she was born and we LOVE she and her family!  

Her mom used to watch Daniel, Jordan and Nicholas when they were younger 

and we have been blessed to know her family for 25 years and we also attend 

the same church together!  Now, Kristin will come and spend some time 

watching Gabriella and let me tell you my baby girl runs and screams with 

excitement every time she sees her!

We're so thankful for such an awesome group of friends and families that we 

are blessed with in our church family and community! 

Preparing for Graduation!!!

As we prepare for Jordan to graduate I just created his open house invitations 

on Shutterfly, which I LOVE!  If I could figure out how to blur out our address 

I would post the invites because they turned out awesome!  

As the basketball team won their conference and sectional titles, the patches 

recently came in and Jordan wanted to  have some pics taken in his letter 

jacket that he has worked very, very hard for!

We can't believe we are planning his graduation party and preparing to 

register him for classes to begin college this fall!  We couldn't be more proud 

of the young man he has become and can't wait to see what plans God has 

for the next chapter of his life!

Last Day of Pre- School...

Thursday was Gabriella's last day of preschool.  It's quite a contrast how the 

last day of school is viewed between sons and daughters!  The boys always 

have a count down and it's a major celebration when summer vacation 

begins...Gabriella was almost in tears worried about how much she would 

miss her friends!  So we came up with an idea to let her friends know we 

would love to get together for play-dates this summer!

The recipe for the yummy popcorn treat came from Mommy's Kitchen and let 

me tell you it's delicious!  We attached Gabriella's info to the bags for her to 

share with her friends.

Another mom and I worked on the end of year party.  For snacks I put 

together fruit kabobs on little umbrella sticks.  These are actually used for 

party drinks but I thought they would work great for preschool kiddos and 

would tie into their beach theme they had been having all week!

The dip is made with cool whip and strawberry yogurt with fruit on the 

bottom.  This paired with caprisuns and fruit popsicles from a classmates 

birthday served as their snacks for the day.

Gabriella was very excited to pass her treats out to her friends!

Next came game time and boy did the other mom come up with an awesome 

idea for the kiddos!

A pinata!!!  They absolutely LOVED it!!!

Gabbie has always been beyond excited when it comes to pinatas and when 

she found it there would be one at the party she was smiling from ear to ear!

Each kiddo got two hits...

She loved it!

After all the kids had a turn and it was still intact a mom took a crack at it 

and out poured the candy!!

They all ended up with lots of candy!

Next was the "egg" race which was converted to pin-pong balls for 

pre-schoolers:)  This worked awesome and the kids loved it!!

M did a great job and was totally focused on keeping the ball on the spoon!!

We can't put into words what an incredible first year of pre-school Gabriella 

had!  She will be attending pre-K there next year and the GREAT news...one 

of her awesome teachers will be "promoting" to pre K with her!!!  Gabriella is 

very excited that Ms. K will be one of her teachers again!!!

A Sweet Mother's Day!

We had a very sweet mother's day!!

Our day began going to church then going out for a 


wonderful lunch!

We spent the afternoon spending family time 


together..

and more of the same in the evening!

A great day was had by all and God gave a us a

b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l day to enjoy together!

Praying you all also had a very happy mothers day!!!

A Week of Blessings!!

We have had a week of blessings and celebrations!  Birthdays! Award 

ceremonies!  Visiting with friends and family we haven't seen for a long time 

and the list could go on and on!

Praying you all have a wonderful and blessed Mother's Day weekend!

Outstanding Mental Attitude Award!!!

Tonight we attended the Interdisciplinary Cooperative Education banquet.

  This is a class that seniors are allowed to take if they would like to work 

during part of their senior year even if they are planning on attending college.  

Jordan has been completing classes for his senior year, working, attending the 

youth group at our church, as well as Young Life, a Christian group that meets 

weekly for high school youth, going on a mission trip to Haiti, playing 

basketball, volunteering, helping with his brother and sister along with 

several other things. It's been a busy year!!

Jordan was blessed to be in class with SEVERAL people who could have easily 

received this award!  The teacher stated that Jordan received the Outstanding 

Mental Attitude Award  because "no matter what happens he always has a 

positive attitude in the classroom and at work, completes all of his work and 

brightens every ones day".  We are very proud of you Jordan and know that 

your scholarship will help towards your college education at IWU this fall!!  

Congratulations to you and all the awesome seniors you have been able to

 spend your last year of high school with!!

My Lil' Chef!!!

There are several things that I love doing with Gabriella, however cooking 

together  has to be towards the top of my list!  I love her excitement when 

she runs to get her princess apron! The fact that she needs to know what 

were cooking and what order we are doing it...and the sheer joy of just 

spending time with each other!

Gabbie likes to taste everything we cook...and even those things that haven't 

been cooked yet!  We were busy in the kitchen fixing dinner for our very sweet 

neighbors who were in a car accident a few weeks ago.  I have to tell you how 

much we love our neighborhood and the community we live in because if there 

is a need, it's not a matter of if people will come together and help, it's a 

matter of when can we get on the list to serve because there are so many 

people who come forward to help one another!

Yep!  She ate a few spoonfuls before it was baked!  If our neighbors are 

reading this, she took the spoonfuls out of our pan...not the pan for M & M:)

For dessert we made one of our L-O-N-G time family favorite recipes. Like a 

friend of my mom's made this pie when I was in grade school and it is now 

one of our kiddos family faves!  We call it the Hershey pie as it is made with 

Hershey chocolate bars!  I will post the recipe soon as it is an easy, yummy 

pie that is perfect for summer!!!

Together we prepared three pans of mostacholi, one of which we froze to use 

for a later date, two loaves of garlic bread, two salads and two Hershey pies!  

And yes, later that evening my girlfriend and I went for a long walk to burn of 

some much needed calories that were consumed that evening:)