The Eye

Friday Moments After the Injury 

Saturday Morning - 18 hours after accident

Sunday Morning

Monday Afternoon

Wednesday Morning

Everyday is looking better. Praise the Lord for Young Living's Helichrysm Oil!

Nerf Night!

Despite Cade's injury we decided to let the boys go to Nerf Night at the Met. They have been looking forward to Nerf Nights for a few months here. They chose to spend the Christmas Money Aunt Opal and Uncle Steve sent them to play. They were so excited. And they got to compete at the same time which was so nice. Week one was a success!

Bump!

On Friday afternoon Cade experience quite the bump while at school. He was sitting on his knees on his chair when he went to reach for something on his side. As he was reaching, his chair went out from under him and he slammed his face into the desk next to him. Ouchy. Really ouchy. He immediately headed for Curtis' office but he was gone. He then was directed to the office and Jan called Curtis. Grandma got some oils on him and ice was applied. The swelling and bruising happened immediately. It was quite the trauma. Here is a picture about an hour after the fall. 

Playtime!

Looks like she is going to push her babies to the park! Happy girl you are Callie Mae. 

It is amazing how children learn language. Callie can say almost any word we say and says it in the right context too. God's amazing creations are amazing. Grandma walked in the house this week and Callie said, " Welcome, welcome. Take off your coat." We just giggle and marvel at how quickly her language has taken off. 

Snowy Ride

Callie and I made a special snowy box delivery to Ken and Marlene's home after Explorers  on Wednesday. We were hoping to catch Jonalyn but no one was home. Hopefully we will get to say goodbye to her before she moves to Florida this week. 

We had so much fun riding on the snowy lawns as we trekked around the high school too. We hit a little slope and Callie fell out of the sled. She didn't want to ride anymore after the tumble so we walked hand in hand the rest of the way home. It was a beautiful walk in the sparkly snow. 

Good Morning Joel

Joel slept in on Tuesday morning after our long weekend. It always amazes me the boys don't sleep in on the weekends but on school mornings. There doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason to the boys' sleeping in because it happens randomly.  So whether we go to sleep earlier or take naps in the weekends, there is no guarantee of normal weekday wake ups. Oh well ... It is a wonderful blessing we can let the kids sleep when they need to. I don't have to rush to work anywhere which allows for these moments to happen. We are blessed that we get this privilege. 

Mr. Cook!

Cade made his first bag of microwave popcorn on Monday evening! I was finishing up some work in the attic (trying to find some jeans for Joel!) and Cade got our evening snack all together! We then enjoyed each other with the movie The Boxcar Children (thanks Grandma Glenna!). It was a nice way to spend our evening even if Daddy had to be gone. 

First Museum Trip of 2016

We enjoyed a fun day over at the Family Museum on our day off of school. We love our museum membership and the freedom it gives us to visit so many new places and old favorites! We will be renewing our membership next month and hope to hit a couple new places this coming year and hit many of our favorites! These make great day trip adventures!

Cade wasn't thrilled about visiting the Family Museum because it is geared a bit toward kids under age 8, but he had a great time with a fun video exhibit and in the Think Shop! Joel loves the Think Shop too. They stayed and worked on projects for over an hour and a half! We even took our friends Pam and Kaylyn with us. It was great to have company along. 

Star Wars Game!

We tried out Joel's new Star Wars game tonight. Auntt Kim picked out a great one! He loved it and so did Cade!

Sunday Nap!

We had a big Sunday and we were all beat when we made it home at 3pm. Everyone was wiped out. Cade and Callie got naps and everyone else relaxed. Daddy helped with dinner and we were all in bed by 8:30. We have a new life to adjust to. It is going to be wonderful but will take adjustment to this lead pastor roll. I am so proud of Curtis for all he is doing and has done to fulfill this roll. God has been preparing him and we will learn how to take all these new adjustments in stride. We are blessed and I really love my pillow and bed these days. Our bodies, minds, and emotions are all tired. God will give us every ounce of strength! 

 

On the Ice Again!

We enjoyed the ice again on Friday night! 

Callie got brave and adventured onto the ice. She had so much fun pushing the chair and "skating" around. She even let the boys push her around on the chair for a ride. I think one of her favorite spots at the rink, though, is by the fire, sitting. She kept saying "fire" and "sit".  We enjoyed some hot chocolate by the fire this night that mommy brought from home. That was a fun treat!

Fine Motor Fun!

We enjoyed painting and puzzles last Thursday and Friday! Callie enjoyed mixing the colors and creating beautiful pictures! We played puzzles for over 30 minutes on Friday morning. Her attention was hooked! Her fine motor skills are advancing!! Go Callie!

Static Attack!

Winter is here and static is everywhere! Silly girl!

Skating!

We went over to the ice skating rink again to enjoy a bit of skating in the late afternoon. They had special afternoon hours this week and we took advantage of them to get the most out of our season pass. Mommy and the boys went, and Daddy stayed home with Callie (and made us dinner!). It was so wonderful to get exercise and breathe in the fresh air. There were only a few other people there so we got the ice to ourselves for the majority of the time. There were a few hockey sticks out and a puck so we played a bit of hockey. Oh that was fun! I hope next year we can try the hockey league for Cade. He really enjoys it but new things are always scary to him. Joel is an excellent skater too but I am not sure if he would want to try hockey, but we will surely offer the opportunity! We will be searching for good deals on equipment this next year so he will be ready! We will see ... Maybe it won't work or maybe it will! For now, we are enjoying the opportunities to skate with each other!

Monday Morning

The boys are back to school for the week and now it is just Callie and Mommy at home. Today we watched the snowflakes fall after our morning show and cuddle. It is cold out and we are enjoying the warmth of the radiator by the window. May I always look at life with the simple mindset of a child. Enjoy the snow and let it fall!

Friends!

Friends! It is always fun to see our friends! When Callie sees her friends she jumps up and down and runs to them with hugs! What a blessing to have people in our life to love. I pray Callie will have friends in her life throughout her life that offer her wisdom and guidance to Jesus Christ. May the root of her friendships be Christ. 

Stretch!

Callie got out the Disney Stretch game and started matching the characters and colors with the cards provided. She is getting more and more confident in knowing her colors each day. So fun to see her entertaining herself. That is a rarity these days!!

Card Collector

Cade has been organizing his cards! He got a number of baseball cards for Christmas so we had fun putting them in sleeves and adding them to a binder. 

New Year's Measurements!

We measured everyone in our family last January and we are added some new marks this year! The boys each grew about 2 inches each! And Callie grew the most with almost six inches! And somehow Daddy shrunk and Mommy grew a significant amount. I think our adult measuring was off last year!

Ice Skating

We enjoyed an evening at Echo Bluff Outdoor Ice Rink together. The boys are very good skaters and it is so fun to see them enjoy the ice. We played a big game of Sharks and Minnows with other people who were at the rink and they had a great time. Callie and I enjoyed watching and huddled together to stay warm. She loved cheering for the boys and Daddy. We will definitely be back!

Happy New Year!

We had our wonderful friends, Joel and Emily, stop by on their way to their new home. They accepted a coaching position three weeks ago and picked up and moved. We were their half way point on their route which was wonderful to give them a stopping point and a bee to rest in. We had not seen each other for four years so it was a wonderful reunion. 

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! We enjoyed watching the Rose Parade together for a bit this morning. We really liked the Disney Float! The kids were intrigued by all of the flowers on the floats!

Guatemala - June 28 - July 5, 2015

During the summer Curtis and I received the opportunity to go on a mission trip to Guatemala with 11 other people from our church.  We had a wonderful time serving the Lord as we watched how a Christ-centered mission runs in an international country.  We also enjoyed interacting with our own church family to see their hearts for the Lord grow.  

While we were away, the kinds stayed with Tom and Bev.  Grandma had "Camp Famo" for them.  Their days were filled with chapel, craft time, exercising time, rest time, and more.  We are so blessed to have such wonderful parents who are willing to give of themselves to make our work lighter and easier.  The kids had a great time, and I really don't think they missed us (but I think Tom and Bev did!).

Grandma and the kids with their camp shirts at Hornbaker Gardens.  This was one of their field trip days!

New Year's Eve!

We spent New Year's Eve with our missionary friends Justin and Debbie Bullington who have been home on medical leave for a few months!  They brought their kids over and we had a fun time eating dinner together and then playing!  

Callie and Mia (10 months apart in age)

Anniversary and Birthday Getaway!

Curtis and I got away to Chicago for 24 hours to celebrate our anniversary and my birthday!  My friend Pam recommended The Palmer House in downtown Chicago, and she even found a fantastic package deal for us that included our room, special travel mugs, unlimited coffee and hot chocolate, free wi-fi in our room, breakfast for two in the morning, and half price parking.  It was a big money saving deal and we were only 2 blocks from Michigan Avenue.  We stayed on the 21st floor and enjoyed a nice room.  I had never stayed downtown before so it was so fun to do something we had never done.  We ate at FlatTop Grill right across the street from our hotel for dinner, and then grabbed our ice skates from the car and hopped on down to Millennium Park on Michigan Avenue for a bit of ice skating!  There was a long line to get ice skates and skate rental was $12 a pair.  We saved so much by bring our own!  We went ice skating downtown in the early winter of 2001 when we were students so this brought back fun memories of our dating days.  We also adventured up to The Bean above the ice skating rink.  A strange lady took our pictures and then asked us for a donation.  That was a bit weird.  It was so fun being downtown and enjoying the evening together.

  

The next day we enjoyed a nice big breakfast buffet at the hotel and then decided to walk to The Field Museum.  It was about a 35 minute walk from our hotel.  The air was brisk but it was a beautiful morning to be out.  We used our Museum Pass to get free entry into the museum.  We have been wanting to visit this museum for sometime to see if this is a place our family would enjoy coming with our pass, but we realized after visiting this is not a place our children are ready for.  The museum was heavy to us and carried a very humanistic point of view.  We didn't enjoy "the millions of years" we saw everywhere and the lack of mention of THE CREATOR anywhere in the museum.  We did enjoy the many "stuffed" animals that were on display.  There were thousands of them.  It was neat to see the many variations that God has made.  

We enjoyed our walk back and stopped at Al's Italian Beef for lunch before heading home.  Curtis' know one of my favorite meals is Italian Beef so this was perfect for my birthday lunch! 

What a wonderful time to be away and just enjoy each other!  Happy 12 Years!