Be back soon

The power supply for my laptop is broken so I won't be updating my blog until I get my new one in.  I have the little Dell notebook but I'm not going to hassle with uploading pictures to it.  It's too tiny to see and do anything on.  I am taking pictures so for all of you that check daily and worry when I don't post...I'll catch up as soon as it come in!  :)  Hope all of you are well!

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Chris needs to have this one hanging up in his office...hehehehehehe!!

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Family movie  night…Wizard of Oz…Haleigh loved it!  James actually did too.  Haleigh has a pair of “golden” (no, that’s not a typo) slippers.  Her expression was too funny here when she saw the beginning and the tornado.  But when we “weren’t in Kansas anymore” she loved watching it! My picture of the day makes me laugh because James always stands that close to the screen…as if it is really necessary!!  :) 

 

 

 

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Well, we didn’t go far but we sure did have a great time!  It has been so long since Chris and I have been out together like that.  The surprise on his face was priceless!  I am lucky to have a wonderful husband and friend!

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What a better way to end the day than with a trip to the Village Ice Cream Parlor!  Such a quaint little place.  Full of nostalgia from yesteryear!  The kids enjoyed their sundaes with little faces…they both ate the eyes first!  Chris enjoyed a banana split as you can tell from my pic of the day!  Seeing Haleigh eat ice cream makes me soo grateful that she has outgrown her milk allergy!!

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This is one of my favorite pictures in a long time!!  I love the way it is framed and I love the sheer joy and excitement in their faces!!  These kind, to me, are the best pictures.  Ones that I will forever cherish.  This evening was a whole lot of fun.  It’s the simple things that I enjoy most.  We headed out the door with popsicles in hand and walked out to the green space in the neighborhood.  The kids had a lot of chasing Chris around, as you can see.  Haleigh is sporting her other tutu that we got yesterday.  So stinkin’ cute!! So very thankful for evenings like this.

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My little princess…not in the mood to smile but

lookin’ awfully cute in her little outfit! 

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Super slow computer

Sorry, can’t post a picture tonight.  My laptop is so slow it is driving me crazy.  I didn’t realize that last nights didn’t even post until this evening.  Hopefully, 69 and 70 will be up tomorrow.

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The cousins…trying to give high fives.  Well, James was trying to give high fives and Colton was trying give hugs.  As you can tell, it ended sort of funny but they had fun none-the-less.  Those boys are going to be TROUBLE!!!  Notice James didn’t let go of his pretzels during this whole process!  Hehehe!!

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You may be wondering why I chose this picture.  But if you look closely you can see James’ little finger pointing at Haleigh.  This just makes me giggle.  I’m sure he was giving her the “what for!”  He will jibber jabber up a storm sometimes and only he knows what he says!  But when he has that finger up, you it’s important!  What’s even funnier to me is that “whatever” look on Haleigh’s face!  We spent some time in the yard this evening in between rain showers.  Haleigh is working on pumping her legs as you can see in the pictures.  James is now climbing up the playset to go down the slide…he has NO fear! Chris also bought the kids some rocket balloons!! What fun!  They kids loved them as you can see.  It seems that I am beginning to write an awful lot in these blog posts.  Sometimes I wonder if what I write has any meaning?! I was thinking that I need to make sure I start to write down moments I don’t want to forget or things the kids may say that I don’t want to forget.  I figured this would be as good a place to do it as any..seeing as how I do this at the end of the day anyway and everything is fresh in my brain.  Sooo…today I don’t want to forget sweet Jamesy at the table (he is now sitting at the table with us for dinner in his booster seat).  We always have a prayer during mealtime and tonight, we started saying our prayer and I didn’t reach over to hold James’ hand which is something we typically do.  Well, he doesn’t miss a beat!  He gently reached over and grabbed my hand.  At first I didn’t know what he was doing and then it hit me that he was holding hands to pray.  I think we sometimes forget that their little minds are bigger than we think.  i just thought this was so sweet…I’m such a sap that it even brought tears to my eye.  Should I be admitting this?  I just love moments like this that melt my heart! 

 

 

   

 

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I promise that we give him things to drink!!  Doesn't he make drinking out of a sprinkler look fun?!  Oh to be a kid again where we can do things like this and get away with it.  And his hair is so wild.  The wind must have been blowing!  I love it!!!

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The first picture is Haleigh’s reaction when she saw her painting beside her bed.  In case you didn’t know, chris worked hard while we were away so he could surprise her with the princesses on her wall.  Do you think she was thrilled, or what?!  She said “oh my goodness!!!”  Then later she kept telling me how sweet it was that “daddy did that on my wall.”  She really does love it!

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“Here Jamsey, I’ll put the umbrella over you so you don’t get wet.”  Gees, are they trying to impress me with the amount of times they can do something “together” this week?

I took pics today but will probablly not be posting until tomorrow evening.  Spending my last evening watching a chick flick with my mom.  I really haven't seen her that much (with the exception of the day we made spaghetti sauce) since I've been here b/c she has been working during the days!  I'll be back tomorrow! 

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Well, another year down!  We had a long day here making spaghetti sauce.  53 pounds of tomatoes + lots of other yummy veggies + 2 hard workin’ gals = 16 Quarts and 24 pints of yummy spaghetti sauce!  We had a lot of fun making sauce today.  Haleigh even came back and helped for a bit.  Not quite sure why she had her blankey on her head but it makes me giggle!  And there is Maw checking out our finished product.  This process wouldn’t possible without the help of her!  She watched the kiddos while we worked in the bakery. 

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What the heck is this thing?!  I wish I would have been able to get a better picture.  I just couldn’t zoom in enough with my lens.  The one picture I blew up so that you could see some of the details of it (the medium size picture is the one I chose for my pic of the day).   It really wasn’t big at all.  At first I thought it was a bumble bee and then I thought it was a baby hummingbird.  I dunno and I am hoping one of you viewers do!!  

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Today was a busy day.  I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off this morning.  I was trying to prepare to leave for West Virginia and trying to prepare for my first official day at church.  I had a lot of fun.  I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous b/c I was.  But after today, I just know that it is something I am really going to enjoy.  I loved working with the kids during the Junior Church time as well. It’s nice to be around kids again and it allows me to use that creative outlet of mine.  I think this job is going to be great for me in a lot ways.  I don’t know that I can consider it a job in some ways because it is more of an opportunity for me than anything (the perk is I get paid a little bit)!  I am looking forward to getting to know these kids and becoming more involved with my church family!  This was such an important part of my childhood and I’m glad that we found a church where I can get myself involved.  **In case you didn’t know, Chris was so sweet and went out and bought me a new dress with matching earrings and necklace for my debut!  It was a surprise because I just thought he was going to Krogers!!  :) I’m such a lucky gal. 

After church was over we hit the road to West Virginia to make our annual spaghetti sauce.  It’s hotter than the blue blazes here but I’m looking forward to peeling tomatoes (my favorite part of the process).  We have to make 3 batches this year because we ran out early last year.  Such a fun family tradition that we started.  Looking forward to a big bowl of spaghetti and meatballs.  Pictures to follow…!!!! 

I was unloading the car upon our arrival and the kids hopped into the wagon so I knew this was the time for my picture.  I love how they have been doing things “together” lately. 

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These are the smiles I get when I let them go play in the rain!  :) 

Not much to say tonight.  We had a nice day here just hanging out.  Tomorrow is my first children’s moments at church so my mind has been focused on that…gotta make a good first impression!  :)

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I am having a hard time just posting one picture lately but I figure that is okay with you guys, right?!  Just know that my “Picture of the Day” will always big the largest one.  I picked this one today because I loved that Haleigh helped James go down the slide.  She was in Big Sis mode which is not always something that happens around here! ;) 

After James went down once, he was ready to do it again, and again!  He loved it, as you can tell by the look on his face.  Didn’t take long for the antibiotics to kick him back into his happy self again. 

And then there is that last picture of HAleigh that I just threw in the mix.  We had walked outside to look at the crescent moon and she posed for me so I could take her picture instead.  What a cutie. 

Today was “Fun Family Friday” here at the Ando’s!  We had tacos for dinner followed by movie night with popcorn!  Even James eats popcorn now.  It’s funny when he gets a kernel in his mouth…***hairball***!!!  FFF means that Haleigh gets to stay up a little bit later too.  There is nothing I would rather do than spend time with my little family.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again---we are so very blessed and I am so very thankful for a wonderful husband &two beautiful kids!!!