Schmidt Family 5

Guiping Girls Reunion

2011-09-21T20:29:00.002-05:00

We recently had our annual Guiping Girls Reunion for the 10 families that traveled to China in April 2005. The girls were 14 months at adoption and they are all 7.5 now. Only 9 families made it this year. The girls had a blast, as usual.

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More pool fun

2011-08-01T17:01:00.002-05:00

Took Anna and Brandon swimming today and also Tanner. HOT out!

We are so glad to have Grandma and Grandpa Schmidt's pool that we can swim at.

Swimming with cousins

2011-08-01T16:19:00.004-05:00

July 2011

Had a fun day swimming at the pool with the Indas!

4th Of July

2011-08-01T10:38:00.000-05:00

Colorado

2011-06-22T07:28:00.001-05:00

We had a wonderful time in Colorado. We rented a cabin/house in Divide, Colorado. It was a perfect place waaaayyy up in the mountains in Pike National Forest. It took 15 min from the bottom of the mountain in Divide to work our way up to our place. The Aspen Trees were gorgeous here! We went to the sites surrounding Colorado Springs like Garden of the Gods, Florrisant Fossil Beds, Seven Falls, Cripple Creek, Royal Gorge (horseback riding for the girls and rafting for the boys) and a day to Denver to the Red Rocks and a visit with my college friend Andrea Darschewski White. I really wanted to head up to Estes Park,but we ran out of time. We had a beautiful view off of the deck and played Monopoly and enjoyed the hot tub from there.We cooked dinner almost everynight at the cabin and had picnic lunches every day on our days out exploring, hiking, etc. WONDERFUL TRIP!

Since there are over 500 pics that I took, I will just post a link to the photo book when I am done!

Guiping girls visit

2011-06-22T07:16:00.000-05:00

Anna always enjoys it when Kailee and Carly visit. The girls always pick up where they left off. They missed Karli B, though!

Zoo Fun

2011-06-22T07:11:00.000-05:00

Anna and Justin always enjoy the zoo. It was time to renew our zoo passes and sign up for camp, so it was a perfect day to stay and play. I am so glad the zoo lets us add Justin to our yearly pass. We were hoping that Pastor Danny would be our train conductor, but not this time.

Dinner Theatre

2011-05-25T09:01:00.000-05:00

So glad when Dinner Theatre was over! I took on selling tickets for the Saturday Matinee and Saturday Night show. BIG undertaking. About 350 at each of those shows. The Friday night show was sold out and had 380 people. It was an exahausting month, but the 4 shows went well.

Grandma Weber turns 85!

2011-05-25T08:53:00.000-05:00

We recently celebrated my Grandma's 85th birthday. It was great seeing everyone!

Field Trip

2011-05-25T08:43:00.000-05:00

Anna's class went to teh local Sports Center for about 5 hours. LONG TIME. They had a blast, though. Anna enjoyed Rock Wall climbing for the first time.

Mother's Day Makeover

2011-05-25T08:38:00.000-05:00

Anna's school had Mother's Day Makeover. It was my big chance to be pampered by her. She did my hair, make-up, toes, nails, and I got a massage, a corsage, and they sang a couple songs. It was fun and cute. Some of the moms came out of there looking like something out of the AVATAR movie, but I knew it was all about what I put into the cosmetic bag.I was very cautious.

WOW Bowling

2011-05-25T08:34:00.000-05:00

The WOW program (Wednesday Night choir program) wrapped up its year with another Bowling party. Always a blast for the kids.

Brandon turns 12

2011-05-25T08:25:00.000-05:00

It was such a busy weekend with Indianapolis and the piano recital AND Brandon's 12th birthday. We surprised Brandon with a drum set. He had been dying for one forever and a friend had one for sale. He is pretty darn good already. Barry and Logan fixed up a small 6x9 store room and sound proofed it a bit and we set the drums up in there. Brandon was VERY surprised and thrilled with the drums.

Piano recital

2011-05-25T08:15:00.000-05:00

Brandon and Anna had their piano recital...and Justin, too. They all did a great job on their songs. VERY PROUD OF THEM. Their teacher, Miss Nancy, is fabulous and loves the kids!

NATIONALS!!!!

2011-05-01T22:34:00.002-05:00

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Because the Show Choir placed in the top 3 in Hollywood (We won!), we were invited to Indianapolis for the first ever National Competition...to name the absolute best show choir in the nation. What a great day watching the groups! It was a neat competition! We did not get grand champs, but we did get First Runner Up, Best Vocals, Best Diction, Best female Performer, Best girls sound! It was awesome. We also get $5000 toward another FAME competition next year!

Brandon celebrated his 12th birthday in INDY. We went to the restaurant of his choice...The Old Spaghetti Factory. We went there Friday night since the comp was Saturday. We did find time to eat at Weber grill and I also got some ice cream from the hotel restaurant later and we sang to Brandon.

2011-05-01T22:21:00.000-05:00

Indiana Zoo

2011-05-01T22:08:00.000-05:00

We headed to INDY for Show Choir Nationals, so we kept the kids out of school and took Anna and Brnadon to the Zoo for the day. It was a beautiful day after soooo many days of rain. The kids got to feed giraffes and we went to a great dolphin show. We also visited the Botanical Gardens next to the zoo and saw beautiful tulips and orchids.

Easter at Schmidt's

2011-04-26T20:15:00.002-05:00

We had Easter Sunday at the Schmidt's and we were able to get outside for a little while for an egg hunt with the girls.

Blessings

2011-04-26T07:38:00.000-05:00

Feeling blessed with the kids. Even Logan humored me with taking pics on Sunday.

EGG TIME!

2011-04-25T09:21:00.000-05:00

Coloring Easter Eggs is a must!

Brandon goes to big party

2011-04-25T09:10:00.001-05:00

Brandon got to get all dressed up to go to his girlfriend's RED CARPET 12th Birthday party. I took pictures for the party. He had a blast and was voted best dressed male and his girlfriend was voted best dressed female, cooincidentally! LOL!

Brandon turns 12!

2011-04-25T09:04:00.003-05:00

Brandon will turn 12 on the 30th and he had some friends over for a NACHO FEST. They all created this FEST and thought of what we would fix. There had been a lot of rain, but thank goodness all of the boys were able to be outside. Only one boy spent the night, so that helped, too.

Brandon's final concert

2011-04-25T09:01:00.000-05:00

We are finishing up the final year at Brandon's school. He has had a great 3 years, although having a sub during the last bit of this year has been challenging. His teacher had a baby and the sub that he has can be rather difficult.

We will miss his chorus teacher and unfortunately she will retire before seeing Anna through her 3 years at that school. The boys both enjoyed her so much and she has such great dedication to her job and love for music and sharing it with her students. The final program was a great as all the others.

Easter at mom's

2011-04-18T10:02:00.001-05:00

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It turned out to be a beautiful day at my parent's house. The kids were able to play with their cousins and go fishing, fly kites and have an Easter Egg Hunt.

Happy Birthday!

2011-04-17T18:47:00.000-05:00

Logan turned 15 years old today. Hard to believe! He is growing up to be such a neat and talented young man! He stands just under 6 Feet tall now. WOW.....he will get his Driver's permit this week!
We celebrated both boys' birthdays with a cake today at my mom's house when we had our Easter gathering there. Brandon will be 12 on April 30th!

6 years with Anna

2011-04-15T22:26:00.000-05:00

Hard to believe the 6 years has passed since the very first day we met Anna. What a blessing she is in all our our lives. What a beautiful, thoughtful, creative and loving daughter we have.

Hollywood March 2-7, 2011

2011-04-15T21:23:00.004-05:00

The Show Choir and also the girls Show Choir went to Hollywood and I got to go, too. I subbed extra days this year to pay for my trip. I really didn't want Logan to go all that way without a parent there. It was an utterly exhausting trip. Not a lot of sleep each night. Many things were planned every day to keep the kids out of trouble. We went to Warner Brothers Studio and got to see many places where shows we watch are filmed. We were lucky enough to see Clint Eastwood directing an upcoming film, "J Edgar". It was a rare day to see Eastwood filming there according to our guide. Leonardo DiCaprio was also there filming the movie with Armie Hammer. We got to see a scene where they were watching a horse race or something. One of the best things was getting to see and stand it houses used on GILMORE GIRLS. Kept thinking about Christine there. It was soooo neat!

We spent an afternoon at Universal City Walk and Bucca Di Beppo for dinner. The kids all did an I-fly thing, which was like sky diving. Logan loved that. I didn't see LJ a lot during the trip, but when I did, I had to snap some pictures. He is growing up too fast!

We went to a Hockey Game...a very COLD hockey game. I really thought I could wear flip flops and capris. NOPE.

One of the highlights of the trip was taking a boat to Catalina Island. I felt sooo sick going to the Island, as did many of the kids who were vomiting in the bathrooms. Major motion sickness. I never got sick, but I could not get my head off the table where I was. I felt fine once we got off the island and could walk around. It was gorgeous. What a beatiful place. I just wish Barry had been there to share it with. The trip was not the same without him. :(

We went to THE IMPROV Comedy Club. I have never laughed sooo hard. We had the entire place to ourselves.We had over 100 kids and probably more than 100 parents, etc with us. We all ate dinner and during it the kids could go up and tell jokes or whatever. NEVER give show choir kids a microphone! They had so much fun. Probably more fun than when the actual comedians came on to do their skits. The comedians were hilarious. Language was a bit colorful and could have been a TON cleaner. I really thought the teacher or our school principal was going to stop the show and tell the comedians to clean it up. GREAT evening!

The FAME COMPETITION was on Saturday. We had a great time watching. There were some really good groups, but I had a feeling we would win. There was one group that was a bit disturbing and we were hoping they would not beat us. FUN DAY. We got Grand Champion, best combo and maybe some other awards. Our girls group got first runner up. They did an awesome job!

The last day we went to Disneyland. It was a fun day with the Bowlings, but I missed the kids. Much smaller place than Disneyworld. I still need to upload the Disneyland pics off my small camera.

All in all it was a fun trip. Logan had a blast and made lifelong memories.

Because the group placed in the top three, they get a free ride to the Nationals in Indanapolis. Can't wait!!!

Fame Competition Hollywood 2011

2011-04-15T21:20:00.002-05:00

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2011-04-15T21:16:00.000-05:00

Chinese New Year

2011-02-25T15:00:00.002-06:00

Anna wanted me to do my Chinese Year Unit at school again this year. I always want to make sure it is something that SHE wants me to do and feel comfortable with me doing. She did, so I spent a half hour one day while I was subbing at her school talking about CNY and China with her class. I took in some books and decorations and they were already doing a Weekly Reader on China, so the first graders were eager to learn more about the country. On Anna's birthday, I returned with my mom and some parent helpers to do crafts and food. It was fun.

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Anna turns 7!

2011-02-25T14:29:00.003-06:00

Anna had a great birthday week of celebrations! It is fun being 7! Anna is such a sweet young girl. She is kind and caring and it is incredibly hard to believe that she is seven! Sometimes it is hard when I think of how she was alone in an orphanage for her first 14 months and that I was not there when she was born or for her first birthday. She has been asking a lot of questions lately and has been talking about birthparents and their role in all of this. She is such a smart little girl. She will get out books about China adoption and has been reading them. She knows I cry every time and she thinks it is so funny. LOL! I am always one to tear up, but I want Anna to be comfortable reading those books and asking questions. One night she was sad and said she missed China. I had to explain to her that she missed the idea of China and that is because she cannot remember it or anything about it. I am always positive in my talks about China, but I do not sugar coat the discussions either. I can't add or embelish the situation. It is what it is and this it is how we became to be her forever family. We will hopefully visit China someday when we are all ready to take it all in.

You can click on the pictures to enlarge them and be sure to click on the video, too!

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Valentine's Day

2011-02-16T08:58:00.002-06:00

The Big Valentine's Day hunt was a hit, as usual. The kids wait for this all year and were so excited. Yes, even the almost 15 year old still looks forward to Valentine's Day. Barry was unable to eat dinner with us because he had a church Finance Committee meeting, so we had our lasagna another night with him. Yum.

Barry had me take VERY close up pictures of a few things in the house and he printed them off. The kids had to figure out where the pictures were taken. VERY hard this year. Brandon was afraid we would have Alegebra type clues! Ha ha!

The kids enjoyed the prizes and we enjoyed celebrating the evening together.

Snowpocalypse 2011? Nope...not here, as usual!

2011-02-02T22:08:00.002-06:00

2011-02-02T22:05:00.003-06:00

SNOW

2011-02-02T21:52:00.003-06:00

Turkey Time

2011-02-02T21:41:00.002-06:00

I had to look up on the internet what a group of turkey's is called. Apparently it is called a RAFTER or a GANG.....Anyway....a RAFTER/GANG of turkey's lives in the woods in our neighborhood. We see them often as we leave in the nearby cul de sac. I have never seen them in our backyard until yesterday. 20 of them! Fascinating to watch as the ice/sleety snow pelted them for hours. By the time I grabbed the camera, they were at my neighbor's house, so I didn't get very good pics.

Fun at Carly's

2011-02-02T10:48:00.002-06:00

Carly had a birthday party last weekend and had Kailee and Karli and Anna come. It was Anna's first sleepover away at at friend's house. She had a blast. Robin came back to my house for the night and we drove back to Bloomington the next day to see the girls, go to FUJI, and do a little shopping and of course lots of visiting. Had a great day. The girls are such good buddies and it is like they have never been a part.....mommies, too!

Winter

2011-01-20T14:54:00.000-06:00

Gecko

2011-01-20T14:44:00.001-06:00

Logan got a Gecko months ago and it is growing and apparantly it is a girl. Takes a while to figure that out. Grody became Grodie.

Show Choir Wins Grand Champ

2011-01-20T14:39:00.000-06:00

The Show Choir went away with Grand Champion and the girl group got 4th runner up. They also best choreography and best vocals, best combo, Best female vocalist and others, I think.

No front tooth

2011-01-20T14:32:00.000-06:00

Anna lost her second front tooth. It was a nasty pull. Brandon and I both got sick in the stomach. At one point it was sticking straight out and Brandon tried getting it out, but it was really hanging on. I finally popped it out. Barry missed all that fun while he was working BINGO that night for Show Choir.

Wisconsin Weekend

2011-01-12T09:48:00.003-06:00

Logan's Show Choir went to Onalaska/La Crosse for a competition. I jumped at the chance for all of us to go because I knew that Brandon and Anna would love the hotel. It was a Stoney Creek Inn and it was very neat. The kids loved playing in the pool and Brandon loved how it had a pass-thru under to the outside. Brrr....it was a very very cold weekend, though. Negative temps were a norm there. We had fun at lunch with the Bowlings and enjoyed watching the choir perform. We were hoping that they would make finals, but they didn't. The show is timed and they went over the time limit and didn't make finals. Basically you have the preliminaries and then the top 6 schools make it to the finals that evening. We sat there for hours and Anna just sat and did her own thing. Brandon enjoys watching it all, too. I think they were also zapped out from all the swimming and sat without squirming for hours. I think in the 34 year history, they have not made finals like TWICE. Well, lesson learned and this weekend they are off to another competition. We didn't see Logan a whole lot, but we had a good weekend.

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CHRISTMAS DAY!

2011-01-01T13:12:00.000-06:00

Christmas day!

2011-01-01T13:10:00.002-06:00

We woke up Christmas Day (early, of course) to see if Santa had left anything for the Schmidt House. Yep...he came and the kids had fun with their gifts and then we had brunch at our house with my parents and Grandma. Later in the afternoon we went to my parents and spent the whole day their with my sister and her family.

Schmidt Christmas

2011-01-01T13:08:00.001-06:00

Had a fun day at the Schmidt's for Christmas Eve.

Santa Time

2011-01-01T12:50:00.000-06:00

CANTATA

2010-12-20T08:53:00.000-06:00

The kids had the church cantata recently. Anna was a lamb in the Nativity, Justin was a wiseman, Brandon was Joseph and Logan was just....well, himself!

ANNA

2010-12-19T19:58:00.001-06:00

Because the Flu hit the Schmidt House, Brandon missed his school program and I missed Anna AND Logan's when I had it. YUK! I hate missing the kids' things. Breaks my heart. Thanks to the power of video tapes, I didn't miss Anna's at all. NOT quite the same. She had a speaking part as a narrator and did a wonderful job. She had a very loose tooth and still spoke clearly.

By the way, Anna has always been VERY tall at school compared to her friends. I was anxious to see her that night and hated not to see how tall she was this Christmas next to everyone else. She was standing next to a boy that has always been huge next to her and tall. Hardly any first graders are ever as tall as that boy, Brent.

And now she needs to ask Santa for her front tooth for Christmas! She lost it at school the next day. She was walking to music and Mrs. Driscoll, the gal I always sub for, saw how wiggly it was and asked Anna if she wanted her to pull it. OF course, she did!

Weber Christmas at our house!

2010-12-19T19:46:00.003-06:00

Grandma Weber always has Christmas at her house, but I thought it would be nice to have it at our place this year. She is getting older and has had some health issues this year. It is time for the younger ones to take our turn at hosting for a while. We had a nice day, but I will admit, it was a bit odd not having a day at Grandma's. It was fun having everyone together and the kids all had fun. Little grace is only one and Jackson is 3 1/2. They are simply adorable. FUN and EXHAUSTING DAY! Julie and Paul's Ashleigh didn't come and the relatives from Ramsey didn't make it either.

Mostly exhausting because the flu hit our house bad in the last couple weeks. And today Barry got it. LOVELY!

HO! HO! HO!

2010-12-19T19:11:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-19T11:28:00.001-06:00

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Christmas is coming!

2010-12-11T21:55:00.001-06:00

We are very busy here getting ready for Christmas! People thought I was crazy when I started decorating mid November. (Thanks to Heidi and Michelle, my Marco gals). I am sooo glad that I did do my decorating early. We have been able to really enjoy the lights and my trees. I had a party in November and Barry's work managers came in the same week, so I really did need to start my baking and cleaning and decorating pretty early. We host the Weber Christmas soon so I will have 32 here next weekend for the big day.

The kids had their big church program and tomorrow is the Cantata and Anna and Brandon dress up in the Nativity and they all sing. At the Follies, Brandon and Miss Nancy did a duet and it was wonderful. Logan sang a Solo and it was awesome, too. I will post the videos another day.

Parent visitation

2010-12-08T10:51:00.002-06:00

I got to spend an hour Anna's classroom in November for Parent Visitation. She did a great job in the little play she read in and we enjoyed PE and a Skittles activity.

Fall Show

2010-11-07T14:18:00.000-06:00

Fall Show

2010-11-07T14:13:00.000-06:00

Halloween

2010-11-07T14:05:00.000-06:00

Halloween came and went quickly after my Marco trip. Anna was a leopard kitty, Justin was a Ninja, Logan was V or Vendetta (whatever that is) and Brandon was who knows what and I couldn't even get a picture of him. He wore the same sweatshirt as last year. Barry pulled together a trunk for our trunk or treat for church...thanks, honey.

2010-11-07T14:00:00.000-06:00

Family Pics

2010-11-07T13:57:00.000-06:00

We recently had to get pictures for our church directory. Can you say torture? Not a fun event. It actually went just fine for some reason I decided to stop at my parents to get pictures with all of their leaves, etc. The boys were not thrilled, but endured the pain and we got some good pictures.

Playing in the leaves

2010-11-07T13:37:00.000-06:00

Winding down

2010-10-28T13:56:00.000-05:00

The trip is winding down, but we are still having a TON of fun. We always do! We spent another day relaxing at the beach and I went into the pool to cool off, too. It is HOT here and sunny. A much welcome change after last year's Hurricane Ida.

THANKS to all who are helping at home with the kiddos and house while I am away!

2010-10-28T13:53:00.000-05:00

Winding down

2010-10-28T13:50:00.001-05:00

2010-10-27T08:21:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was shopping day. We didn't do too much damage. I got some Christmas gifts, too. It was a fun and exhausting day. FUN times here. Today it will be 91 here, so quite toasty. We are going to the beach for a few hours. I can't get too much sun on my face because I have church pics on Saturday afternoon.

Beach day

2010-10-25T20:52:00.009-05:00

CONDO

Today we went shellin' at Tiger Tail Beach and Heidi took all of these great pictures.Found some neat shells. Hung out at the pool for a while and then I made lunch for everyone. We cleaned up and went out to a few stores on the island and had dinner at Joey's Pizza. Didn't get much...just a sweatshirt and a magnet.

Marco 2010

2010-10-24T16:10:00.002-05:00

Yep, it is THAT time of the year. The time of year where I hurry and scurry to get things done at home to head to the beach with my gal pals. We left our homes bright and early yesterday and by noon in Fort Meyers, we were on the road to paradise. After a quick run to a Stein Mart, though. Don't worry, honey, I only bought a jacket and it was sooo cheap. Seriously. Well, that and a gift for someone.

We enjoyed a walk to dinner and saw a wedding on the beach. Today we have been hanging out at the beach and then the pool when it was sprinkling and now around the condo and probably won't go anywhere.

What I love about Marco is all the shells everywhere on the beach. NOT like that in Gulf Shores. Shoes are a must on the beach because of all the shells. Teeny tiny lizards are everywhere. Cute, but a bit creepy. On they walk back from the pool Robin and I saw about 10!

Thanks to Pappy and Jo for opening up their home away from home to us. It really is a paradise here.

Fun with Anna

2010-10-16T21:19:00.000-05:00

Brandon went to church camp yesterday for 3 days and Logan went to a friend's last night and then they went paint balling all day. Anna and I had the day to ourself while Barry worked. We took advantage of the time together and went to the Outlet Mall and the park.

Justin turns 7

2010-10-16T21:17:00.000-05:00

Our little friend, Justin, is turning 7 this week!

Park Fun!

2010-10-16T21:03:00.000-05:00

No School....fun day away

2010-10-16T20:59:00.002-05:00

This was a new place to us! It was neat! The best part was thing huge mound of air covered by a tarp like thing. The kids all had fun. I think Logan enjoyed it the most!

Guiping Girls Reunion 2010

2010-10-16T19:36:00.003-05:00

Our Travel Group from Lifelink Adoption had a reunion in Iowa in September. The girls have been home for 5 years now in America. It was a blast seeing how all the girls have grown since the last reunion 2 years ago. Most of the girls we had visited with over the last couple of years at one time or another, but some of the girls live too far away to see very often.

Visit from our friends

2010-10-16T18:27:00.000-05:00

We had a visit from the Hamby's this summer. What fun!

Our Hummingbird friend

2010-10-16T18:21:00.000-05:00

We had 3 different humming birds visiting us all summer.

2010-10-16T18:13:00.000-05:00

First Day of School 2010

2010-08-17T08:55:00.002-05:00

Today I sent Logan off to HIGH SCHOOL, Brandon to 6th Grade and Anna to First Grade! I pray that they all have a wonderful and successful year! It is going to be so quiet around here! I am going to miss having the kids around all day, but I doubt that I will miss the little fights!

St. Louis

2010-08-17T08:47:00.001-05:00

We finally got a day couple of days to get away as a family. Also, for Logan to head down to see his girlfriend, Kara. She moved in June to the Chesterfield area, so we thought it would be nice to do things as a family one day and then take Logan to Kara's the next day. Fun trip. We went to the City Museum, Science Center, St. Charles, Eckert's Store to get some peaches (hated missing seeing the Eckert's, though) and then we went to Highland to see Barry's sister and family. Always fun to get away!

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-05T09:07:00.000-05:00

Boating Day

2010-06-24T17:08:00.000-05:00

We all had a good time Monday on the Lake. We rented a pontoon with my parents for all day and Julie and Paul and the kids joined us for half of the day. When we woke up that day to storms we were worried about having bad weather all day, but the weather was perfect ALL day. We lucked out.

Happy 45th!

2010-06-24T16:58:00.001-05:00

My parents celebrated their 45th Wedding Anniversary last weekend. Logan sang a special song for them at their church and Brandon played piano during the coffee hour....and Anna played her one song she knew, too. We had a nice lunch at my house after church.

Fun With Cousins

2010-06-19T11:23:00.000-05:00

Nolan and Faith were here for a couple of days. We went to our local pottery place with our church group and the kids had a blast. They already picked out a new project for when we have them at the end of the month for more days. We also went swimming and to the zoo to see Logan. Logan has been at a ZOO camp for 10 nights 5-8 and they were doing a fundraiser. The kids got to pet a bunch of critters that aren't normally out for $1.

Anna was very sad after Faith left. The girls really can have fun now that Anna is older. Anna was in tears and sad. She was also pretty exhausted. I think she realizes the "China" connection that the two of them have.

Jason Graduates

2010-06-19T10:23:00.000-05:00

Brandon goes to camp

2010-06-18T14:56:00.000-05:00

Brandon went to camp recently from a Thursday afternoon until Saturday around 6. He and Alan had a blast and wished they could go for a week. The week long camps were full, though, very early in the spring.

Barry Turns 40!

2010-06-18T14:33:00.002-05:00

Barry turned 40 recently. His employees decorated his office. The kids and I gave him a pool stick for his birthday. He recently took $7 from his dad while using it, so it must be a good one.

Still fits

2010-06-02T08:07:00.000-05:00

A couple Sundays ago, Anna wanted to wear the flower girl dress that she wore last year to my sister's wedding. Still fits. Just a lot shorter now.

Memorial Day Weekend!

2010-06-01T22:10:00.001-05:00

The pool is opened at Barry's parents. BRRRRR....it is cold now, but won't take long to warm up. We had Barry's parents over one night for ribs and some beautiful (but chewy) fruit pizza! The humming birds have returned again. LOVE watching them.

Anna's teacher

2010-06-01T22:07:00.000-05:00

We LOVE Anna's teacher, Mrs. Warren. She is fabulous. It seems sad to think that my last has gone through her class. The boys also did great in her class! What a great teacher!

Grandma's Birthday

2010-06-01T22:04:00.000-05:00

My mom had a birthday party at her house for my Grandma Weber. Happy Bday!

Swimming with school

2010-06-01T21:57:00.000-05:00

Anna's class when swimming for a week. She loved it. She didn't really like wearing a floatie on her back since she is part mermaid, but I assured her it was for her own safety from the non-swimmers. LOL!

One more

2010-06-01T21:54:00.000-05:00

I have had fun getting all the flowers planted. Just seeing what I can NOT kill is a challenge, but so far, so good. Only one thing isn't doing very well. The deck is complete SUN and very HOT all day until about 4:30pm. We eat outside as much as we can. I got a chandelier and you can't really see it since the candles aren't in right now. We have spent the last few nights with the candles lit when it gets dark. The kids love it. I added some curtains, too, but I still can't get them pulled back like I want. Need help! I think I need to sew a pull back that is longer or something.

Deck Fun!

2010-06-01T21:48:00.000-05:00

We have been enjoying our deck a lot this Spring. Barry and I took a day to stain it since it was desperately needing it. First we replaced the boards at teh top of the pergola. Looks nice now, even though Barry wasn't really wanting to do it this year. He is glad we did, though. Thanks, honey.

Teeth came out today

2010-06-01T21:21:00.001-05:00

DOUBLE BONUS! DOUBLE PRIZES...as they say in TOY STORY 2! The kids all had check ups at the dentist today. NO CAVITIES for anyone. Well, except LJ who has one needing fixed still from before. Good appts. Anna had to have her bottom teeth "helped out". CUTE! She is feeling a little discomfort now, though, but went to bed just fine. The Tylenol had kicked in. Hopefully tomorrow will be ok!

Logan's end of year

2010-06-01T08:21:00.002-05:00

Logan's 8th grade year ended with his Scholastic Bowl Team going to Regionals and Sectionals. He also got a Presidential Award for his grades at the awards ceremony. His Show Choir ended the year performing at Dinner Theater and also a end of the year show.Don't you love the girls' make-up and big hair? Logan's girlfriend recently moved and he has been a bit down lately.

End of school year

2010-06-01T06:58:00.005-05:00

Many things kept us all busy at the end of the school year. The Mother's day Banquet at Mom's church and Anna's Program were a couple. Anna's program was about occuupations and she was a dancer.

Opryland Hotel filling with water during Nashville Flood

2010-05-04T10:07:00.000-05:00

We just stayed at the Opryland Hotel with the Show Choir in March. Where we once had a beautiful breakfast and dinners, only water remains. The hotel was completely booked when we were there. It was such a gorgeous place and we had a wonderful time. Sad.

Zoo time

2010-05-04T09:06:00.002-05:00

It is always fun to go to the zoo the first time each year. We took Justin and met my parents there.

Anna's Mother's Day gift

2010-05-04T08:41:00.000-05:00

Last week I went to Anna's class and took pictures of the kids for the Mother's Day project. I can't wait to see the rest of the present, but this was Anna's picture. She adores her Daddy, too, but this was what she came up with before I got there. LOL!

Concert and Art show

2010-05-04T08:33:00.000-05:00

Brandon had an art show at school and a concert. It was his first concert where he performed in his little show choir. He did a great job and smiled a lot!

Nerf Gun Party

2010-05-04T08:28:00.000-05:00

When you have a child (or 2) in April, you always hope for good weather for birthday parties. The weekend of Brandon's party, we were hoping to have everything outside. Not the case at all. It rained and was icky all weekend. He had 7 friends over for a Nerf Gun Party. The boys all had some wild fun, but I sure wish it hadn't rained. At least the house is still standing.

Piano Recital

2010-05-03T21:42:00.000-05:00

Brandon has THE BEST piano teacher ever. She is the kids' choir director, too, at church. She is a phenomenal woman and we are so blessed to have her in our lives. Brandon did a fabulous and speedy job at his recital!

Chicago

2010-05-03T21:28:00.004-05:00

Barry had his Annual Credit Union Convention in Chicago this past weekend. He has classes to go to during the day and at night we took his Board out for dinner, etc. We had a great time and it was fun getting to have time together.

Boys turn another year older!

2010-05-03T21:21:00.000-05:00

Logan recently turned 14 and Brandon turned 11. Hard to believe that they are growing up so fast and changing daily!