5 Little Turkeys...

Here's a little something to brighten your day, five little turkeys monkeys...

Not the Best, but Not the Worst

It started out with us all over-sleeping, not a bad thing at all for a Saturday, but Monday morning on the last week of preschool is not optimal for extra winks of sleep.  Then when trying to put a Pull-Up on Miss Em she adamantly declared, "No!  I'm not a girl, I'm a baby and want a diaper."  Now don't you think if she's old enough to understand those differences she is old enough to get OUT of those diapers???  This ended in a wrestling match as I explained we were all out of diapers and she MUST wear the Pull-Up, oh and let me get her dressed and into the car in 2 seconds because we are late for preschool!  Cheese-stick in my purse for her breakfast (please don't judge) and we arrived to school only about 11 minutes late.

During preschool we had some friends join us to run errands.  First up, Old Navy, the store I have 2 bags of things to return/exchange/price adjust...sitting in my bedroom at home.  Then we head to Costco where I hop out to get gas and realize my Costco card/credit card are not in my purse.  Hmmm...makes it a little tricky, but thankfully my friend was willing to share her card so I could buy the gas and must-have dog food and (hopefully) last box of diapers.  Oh and I had something to return at Costco too....in a bag in our hallway at home. :)

Arrived for preschool pick-up smelling Miss Em had yet another of the AWFUL (and painful) antibiotic induced-filled diaper.  Yuck!

Then the day really headed downhill a bit...

After around 5 months of my car smelling musty, mildewy and all-around sour, and many failed attempts (including carpet cleaning) to get rid of the smell, we pulled back various parts of the carpet and found the padding to be extremely wet despite the carpet not being wet at all.  After a call to the dealer, it appears possible our A/C vent may be plugged and we could be looking at spending anywhere from $600 to thousands of dollars to fix it or suffer the foul smelling (and probably not too healthy) mildewy air.  Ugh.

While pulling out the awesome Little Green Clean Machine to try and suck out some of the moisture, I realized I mistakenly unplugged our outdoor freezer last Wednesday and all of the food (including meat) was thawed and had to be thrown out.  Yep - it was a bit difficult throwing all of that food (aka $$$$) in the trash while looking at spending tons of money on our car for a problem that doesn't even affect it's driving ability and oh did I mention Friday will be Kyle's last day of work as he was pink-slipped and laid off again???

Now don't fear, we all have our days and I haven't lost my faith.  I'm still believing strongly that God has great plans for us and will provide for us as he always has.  But today was not the best, but so far from the worst.

My cure?  A good run, fresh air with the family and a little time in the Word and my Bible study.  Oh and blogging of course! :)

Have you been missing these faces lately?

(You can click on them to see them larger )

Surprise Snow & Birthday Fun!

We went up to my parents' a couple of weeks ago to celebrate my niece Skye's first birthday.  We picked my sister and niece up at the train station and headed up a day early to stay over and get things ready for the party.  Saturday morning when we woke up we were happily surprised to see it had snowed in the night!  Snow is not a usual occurrence at their elevation, it wasn't a lot and it quickly melted, but we enjoyed the wonder of it anyways.

McGee ran out front, bare feet and all!  He inspected the snowflakes he and grandma had made and compared them to the snow he saw on the ground.  Then he patiently (or not) waited from Grandma & Grandpa to wake up so they could see it all too!  That's him peeking under their door hoping he could see some signs of life. :)

I loved McGee looking out the window completely enamored with the snow!

As it neared time for the party the three cousins enjoyed a bath together.

There she is - the birthday girl!

Uncle Trevor and his little Hannah girl

Instead of little bags of candy for party favors - Skye (and her parents) gave each one of the four kids an individual present.  You can see Miss Em was happy about her very own Strawberry Shortcake doll!  McGee, Grandpa and Hannah went right to work putting his new Lego set together!

There were party games - one of which involved guessing Skye's current weight!  I was way off.

The there were the many presents...clothes and toys and hats oh my!

And finally, the cake.  Skye was interested in checking it out, put her hands in it and then decided she really didn't like having messy fingers!

Happy 1st Birthday Skye Lynn - we love you!

A Boy and His Dog

We are a family of dog lovers.  It's funny actually that growing up we only had 1 dog, a miniature Dachshund named Bandit, but now as grown adults Daddy and I have 2 dogs, my brother and his wife have 3 and my sister and her husband have 1.  We just love dogs.  I believe I remember one Christmas at my aunt and uncles a few years back where there were about 25 people and 10 dogs. :)

Nearing 5 years old McGee has adopted Ben (or "Bun" as he calls him) as his dog.  He declares his love for Ben, plays with Ben, cuddles with Ben and most times Ben is quite content to have all the attention.  He often tells me Callie is my dog and Ben is his (but we all know that Ben is really MY cuddlebug boy).  Isn't it grand for a boy to have a dog?

A Sad Day, A Happy Day

Today is sad because we are burying a wonderful man, Daddy's great-uncle Evo who passed away from cancer on the 18th.  We are thankful his body is now whole and pain-free with the angels, but sad that we will no longer see him this side of heaven. 

Here celebrating his 87th birthday this past July:

A day spent with Evo and Zia in August 2009

Playing peek-a-boo with Miss Em

I loved how his eyes lit up with such joy

We love you Evo and will miss you!

On a happier note, today is my dad's birthday and we will get to spend it with him!

Happy Thanksgiving!

**THIS SHOULD HAVE POSTED ON THANKSGIVING, NOT SURE WHY IT DIDN'T**

 

Last Friday McGee's preschool had their annual Thanksgiving Feast and it was so exciting to participate in our first big preschool event!  Of course I didn't realize until I was there and saw all of the adorable costumes and orchestrated program just how big a deal it was and how sad I was I didn't have a video camera to capture it fully.  I tried to record video with my point and shoot camera, but working that in my left hand and my "big camera" in my right hand wasn't so easy and resulted in a terrible video mostly of the wall behind McGee's head. 

McGee's class sang the Thanksgiving Turkey Dance song which I googled and could not find the lyrics for so I'm assuming the fabulous Miss Kathy made it up.  McGee had lots of fun practicing leading up to the big day and did a terrific job of it, but according to Miss Kathy, McGee's class peaked about an hour BEFORE the show during dress rehearsal, so during the actual performance you could barely hear most of the class.  I think McGee had a touch of stage shyness so he held back his belting voice, but it was fun watching him do all of the hand motions.  After the program each class had brought in foods to serve at their table and we all "feasted" together then toured McGee's class.

"Let's have a turkey dance, a Thanksgiving turkey dance, let's have a turkey dance and let's have it now..."

I think this is where they were singing about their feathers and strutting around...

Miss Em and cousin Addie watching the program

We were so blessed to have both of McGee's grandma's there to cheer him on!

  I loved his turkey headband he made and his turkey shirt made with his handprint.

McGee and his friend Jed, who is in a different class but they still have fun ruling the playground at recess

McGee and big cousin Brady!

A Night for Them

It has been a rough last few days around the Sunshine House.  Mommy has had a horrible case of strep throat that feels like it was combined with some form of the flu (stomach and cold type).  Daddy step up and totally ran everything (including keeping dishes/counters cleaned and the rest of the house too - so much better than I'm doing now that I'm back on duty).  He is an amazing man and always so nurturing and caring when I'm under the weather.  I started feeling a bit like doing more than laying down yesterday and his comment was, "You're alive!  It's SO nice to get Mommy smiling again."  I really think that adage about "when mom isn't happy, nobody is happy" is probably very true around our house and most across the country. 

I couldn't believe how tough it was on the kids to be separated from me even for just a few hours while Daddy was trying to let me get some extra sleep!  In one morning when I was supposed to be "sleeping in", McGee busted into our room (the door was closed) 4 times asking me if I was ready to get up!  Now I know they were having fun, I could hear the giggles from playing with Daddy, but I guess they're just not used to me not being around.  It was very sweet one morning when McGee came in, purposely placed his hand on top of mine and his other hand over his eyes and immediately started praying, "Dear God, please heal mommy and make her feel better.  Amen."  The first morning after I started getting sick he had asked, "Are you all better Mommy, because God can heal you!" 

Anyways, all this to say I'm happy after 3 days of Penicillin to be feeling up to about 75% normal again, but sad to say that Daddy came down with strep today.  Fortunately he was able to get a doctor to call in the Penicillin order with just a phone consult so I about a day and a half he should start to be feeling a bit better too.  We're still praying hard neither of the kids get it and so far they seem fine.  We had planned to go to Chick-fil-A tonight with my brother and sister-in-law and their 3 kids, but with Daddy sick he wasn't going to go and it was probably best not to have all of the kids in such close quarters together sharing germs.  McGee was incredibly sad and was crying when I told him his cousins couldn't go, I decided the kids just needed a night for them.

So the 3 of us went to Chick-fil-A and sat at a table away from everyone else, enjoyed our family night meal then splurged and split one of their holiday Peppermint Chocolate Chip milkshakes.  With a weak stomach still I actually didn't eat too much, but the kids sure enjoyed it all!  Next we went to Target and for 45 minutes we browsed and played up and down every single toy aisle.  Never have they had the chance to look at all of the toys for more than a mere glance as we rushed off to get whatever it was we came for, so walking into Target just to browse and walking out without buying anything was a huge treat and they ended up having such a great night.   In addition, it was fun for me to see what toys they were drawn to most as I was already pondering Christmas shopping ideas.

No pictures today, but I wanted to blog about our night and hopefully soon I'll be blogging more regularly again.

Oh and can I just say that we have the COOLEST kids ever?!  Seriously, I'm sure all the other kids in the world are incredible, but my two are just completely amazing and Daddy and I love them to pieces!  Despite the sickness in the household, we've been enjoying the extra family time and it was such a sweet memory Sunday night watching the kids both sitting on Daddy's lap giggling their heads off while watching Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving (VHS of course).  Although it would have been nice to have my camera handy to capture it, I was still a zombie and zonked out minutes later on the couch with the vision of their smiles in my dreams.

40 Years Together

Happy 40th Anniversary to my wonderful in-laws!

This past Saturday we hosted a celebration in honor of Gary and Linda (Mom & Dad) and their 40 years of marriage.  

{THEN}

{NOW}

We invited the nearest family and a few friends who have been close throughout most of their marriage (we're missing the Vogeli's in this photo - and myself, the photographer, although please forgive this snapshot photo).

Their sons and their families - think they might have been overwhelmed at receiving 5 grandbabies in 5 years?!

Miss Em loving on Joshie

It was such a nice time of being together and hearing stories from people about Gary and Linda and testimonies about the impact they, their relationship with Christ and their marriage to one another have made on those around them.  In their 40 years of marriage they have endured MANY ups and downs, seasons of joy and seasons of sorrow, health struggles for each of them, the near death of my father-in-law 15 years ago and near death of my brother-in-law 13 years ago.  I'm blessed to say I have felt a part of their family from my first Italian dinner at their home in January 1995 and have seen firsthand their steady, unwavering faith and strength in Christ and love for each other.  Their marriage is an inspiration and a shining example of lifelong commitment and I am so thankful the Lord blessed me with such amazing 2nd parents!  

Happy 40th Anniversary Mom & Dad!

Love, Me :)

All Aboard!

A few weeks ago we had a fun family morning taking a train ride using our free passes with our museum membership.  McGee loves trains (as most toddler/preschool boys do) and has ridden on light rail/BART, but never a real steam engine train.  We arrived early (I was the first in line!) and were excited to board when they called for passengers. 

Waiting to board

I LOVE this image - my husband's eyes light up and sparkle when he's really happy and I love that I was able to capture that here when he was enjoying a moment with his son!

The train ride was 6 miles up, then we stopped, the engine detached from the train, drove up a ways and then came back on another track to hitch itself to the opposite side of the train and drive us back where we began.  Confusing explanation?  Well the kids enjoyed being able to go up to the front and watch it all from out the door!

The train ride was great, but we thought we top the day off with some lunch and ice cream at Gunthers!

I love days like this with my family!

Family Campout

**Another catch-up post from the summer**

Our family used to have an annual campout every summer.  When I say family I don't just mean my parents and siblings, no I mean everyone, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandma...you get the idea.  I think it may have actually started for my birthday as I usually wanted to go camping for my birthday - so we ended up celebrating all of the July birthdays camping (there were 3-4 of us).

This year we celebrated my two baby cousins' birthday with a campout the first weekend in August.  Our camping used to consist of tents, but now my brother and my cousin Joel have upgraded to nice trailers which seems to make things so much easier.  The kids and I still slept in our tent and they did really well.

Campfires are the best!  Uncle Mike put McGee and Hannah to work collecting stick and taught them how to make a proper fire.  Grandma got some snuggles in with baby Skye.

Smores...the ultimate campfire tradition.  This top left photo is Em's taste of her first smore.  Mmm.... I love campfires!

The days were spent with wiffle ball games, fun in the dirt, and all the joys of camping.

Time with family was the best part!

Miss Hannah and Miss Ashlee celebrated their 4th and 1st birthdays!

Grandma and Grandpa bought McGee his first fishing pole - a Lightning McQueen one with a great rubber tire weight which was perfect for practicing his casting.  Uncle Mike took him out to try casting and fishing in the water.

Daddy ended up not being able to join us since he found out he had a job the day before we were to leave and he only had the weekend to set his new class up.  We were disappointed he would have to miss out on our first camping trip with the kids, but were thankful he had a job.  

Saturday night while we were out fishing my cousin Joel said, "Hey!" to someone and I expected it was another friend of his he knew.  When McGee and I turned around we were happily surprised to see Daddy who drove a couple of hours to come see us for an hour or two and then turn around to drive home as he was playing for worship the next morning at church.  I just love surprises - don't you?

It really meant a lot to have Daddy be there for McGee's first "fishing" experience (no fish were actually caught).

Had to sneak in a family shot before Daddy headed home.

Sunday morning we were blessed to enjoy a church service in the quaint little chapel on the lake.  The pastor who married Daddy and I gave the message and although I enjoyed what I could, it was hard to hear it all since Miss Em had me running around outside with her.

Camping = Dirt.  Plain and simple, and I love it!  I love cousins too.