The Spring Games

Yup, Spring has sprung! The weather has been absolutely beautiful! As this is Michigan, I'm sure there's still plenty of cold weather yet in store for us, but that's ok, summer's almost here.

Along with all this beautiful weather comes the spring sports season. Alex and Em already have a few baseball/softball games under their belts and have already been to two track meets. I should actually be getting some food stuff together for the ball games tonight since I was asked to help provide for both teams. No biggie though, I have plenty of time left ;) Alex and Em will actually have to miss out on their track meet this Friday due to another spring time event....State Band Festival! Oh yes, don't forget that Christen and D also have spring sporting events going for them too...Christen has started practice for softball and D should be starting up sometime soon too, I'm just waiting for his coach to give me a call to let me know the day. Yay...more running around!

I can't remember if I mentioned that Christen and D are now taking piano lessons...hmmm, actually, Christen has resumed..but D is a newbie at the whole keyboard thing. They're both LOVING it along with their new piano teacher!!!! They're taking lessons from Sarah's mom, Diane. Oh my goodness, they adore her! D seems to be catching on quickly too, he even likes to practice :o Amazing, I have a child that LIKES to practice and doesn't have to be told to!!!!!!! Hehehe, this is pretty amazing considering he's the one that's been saying that band is dumb and he doesn't want to play any instruments.....*snort*.....should I tell him that a piano is an instrument? No, I think not!

Alex got a new biology project, it's name is Jamir, (pronounced Yameer). It's an adorable little hamster. No...he's not going to dissect it, well, unless it dies. He and his friend Art both got one for a project on sight and cognitive reasoning, or at least something on that line of thinking. All I know is that it's sad that rodents have to be so destructive and icky (as in germ carriers) because Jamir is the cutest little thing :) I heard that he named it Jamir because I wouldn't let Tom name Dominic Jamir....oye! Goodness, people have a hard enough time remembering 'Dominic' and how to spell it let alone trying to handle 'Jamir'!

Cats are strange. Goldie, our eldest, outdoor cat, had 3 kittens and for some reason she didn't take care of them and they all died. About 10 days later, our other cat, Evil, had 3 kittens and Goldie has since tried to steal them. Now, they both take care of them, but Goldie still tries to horn in on them more. I guess that happens with every species, but it's still difficult to watch when Evil looks anxious about not being 'with' her babies sometimes.

I can't wait for my birthday this year...I already know one of my gifts!!! BEN!!! We get to go and pick Ben up for the summer on my birthday!!! YAY!!!! I'm not sure if he's as excited about being my birthday gift or not..but hey...it's MY birthday <:)

Have I ever told you about our early morning guest that comes knocking a lot in the spring and summer? I've never really actually seen our guest, but the knocks are very loud and they wake most everyone up in the household, except Alex who sleeps with a fan blowing on him to block out noise. You'll be sound asleep and then all of a sudden you'll hear, "rat-a-tat-a-tat-a-tat" at a machine gun speed. and oh, since it's knocking on the bathroom vents, it echoes through the house! You see, our 'guest' is a very smart woodpecker!! He/she meticulously pecks at the hoods on the vents and waits for the wasps that make nests in there to fly out so it can have breakfast! I don't mind providing breakfast for our guest, but sheesh, at least wait til' we're awake!!

I want chocolate. Not just chocolate, but white chocolate.

I need to go now, I have things to do and food to prepare. It's gonna be another long, spring evening at the baseball/softball fields.

Y'all go and listen to the frogs chirp!
Love Ya :)

Questions of Faith

How does a person decide just how much faith they have? Would a person be able to meet me just once and know where I stand in my faith? Perhaps. Perhaps not. I'm not really sure though. I, myself, know in my own heart where I stand, I'm sure that I'll stand in His Glory when I die! However, if I'm faced with something terrible in my life, will I be able to lean on Him and know that it's His will that's going to happen whether I think it's right or not? I can only hope so, but, I really don't want to be tested. There are people out there that are far stronger than I am, this I know!!! I just wish I could be a better example to others.

I've been reading a blog lately, www.audreycaroline.blogspot.com . I've cried while reading this blog and I've laughed. Let me explain a little, Audrey Caroline is a yet to be born little girl, the doctors don't think that she'll be able to live once she's born (reading the blog would give better details than I can here), her parents are praying for a miracle, and yes, I believe that a miracle can still happen!! Could you imagine going to pick out a place to bury your baby that's not even born yet? I can't even fathom that kind of pain. Angie (Audrey's mommy) is amazing, she's a very strong woman! I'm sure I'll never in my life meet her, but I wish I could just so that I could give her a hug and thank her for inspiring me to believe stronger. If you decide to go to her blog, be sure you start reading from the beginning, which is January, and don't forget to grab a box of tissues!!!!!

Things have been VERY busy for this parental_unit. Em will be going to Columbus in July to compete in the Junior Nationals Basketball games. She qualified to be on 'Team Michigan'. With this great achievement comes the financial stuff.....the organization recommends that you do fund raisers or ask for sponsorship from businesses, family and friends. We have been very blessed with the community that we live in, so far we have raised over $400 towards the $1085 that she needs to go, we're still waiting on a few of the businesses that had to check first to see how much they could give. Thank God for these people! We still have to get together the money for her to go to the Youth Arts Festival in May, that won't be quite so much though. Emily, and the other 3 of their quartet, recorded their piece of music, "Bee's Knees" and sent it in to be judged. I'm not sure how long it'll take until they find out if they made it for the ensembles. Hopefully soon!!!

It's amazing just how much one little girl can procrastinate about doing chores!! I mean, I do remember being the same way when I was younger, but sheesh! She's using the excuse now that she can hardly swallow and doesn't feel good.....OK, yeah, maybe she doesn't feel good, but in the next few minutes after she says all that, she's outside riding her bike with NO COAT ON! Hmmmmm, I wonder WHY she doesn't feel well!?! Her chores will be there waiting for her :)

Guess what I get for my birthday :) :) I get my Ben!!! Wooo HOOOOO....yup, he's done for the summer and we get to pick him up on my birthday! What? Did you just ask me if I'm a little excited about that? hehehehehehe....YUP! The only thing I'm sad about is that this year will be the first year that I won't get to give him a hug ON his birthday, I won't even get to see him on his birthday :( , yeah, I'll probably cry. *sigh* I'm already starting to tear up......

Almost all of our snow is gone. I'm so ready for the beauty of Spring. I didn't mind winter at all this year, even with all the snow we had. The only bad thing about this time of year though is the night sounds....by this, I mean all the little mating things going on outside that makes the dog go absolutely CRAZY ALL NIGHT LONG!!!!!! I'm serious, that dog has been barking all night long, then, when first light comes.....she lays down to sleep. I've had some very bad thoughts about her! I actually put in ear plugs last night! No, don't worry, I don't think I could ever hurt the poor thing, well, I hope so anyhow ;)

A member of our church family passed away this week and his funeral is tomorrow. I didn't know him very well, but I know his granddaughter very well, she's one of Em's best friends. I was asked to bake '2pie' for the funeral dinner. It amuses me when they call and ask about bringing pies....because seriously, they say '2pie' instead of asking for '2 pies'. A good friend of mine at church said that when she first started to go there after she married into the church, was called and asked to bring '2pie', she hung up and promptly asked her husband what is '2pie' and where could she find the recipe! He explained to her that they wanted two pies....hehehe, now it's a joke between us, I'll have to remember to ask her tomorrow if she got the pie call too. (I'm sorry, I'm not making fun of funerals!)

I got my new phone a few weeks ago...I LOVE IT! I've been trying to take pics of all my contacts so that I see them on my caller ID...it's so cool! I can even play Tetris and Ms. Pacman on my phone...hehehe, I LOVE Tetris! AND, it has an MP3 player! Too cool. Yeah, I know....it's a PHONE!

I'm tired now, I think, therefore, I shall go to bed. Sorry if there are a lot of typos, but I don't feel like proof reading tonight.

Y'all have sweet dreams,
Love Ya :)