I'm a Working Girl

I have a job. Like a real job. I know, I know. Being a stay-at-home mom IS a real job. I mean I have an extra job. One that actually pays money.

I'm working at our church's Kids Kamp until the end of the summer. It's not full time. Thank you Lord! But, it's been enough to keep my mind swimming and my body begging for more sleep.

This past week I worked 4 days. The weeks following will be a lot lighter. Only 2-3 days per week. About 6 hours each day.

So in addition to taking care of my own children, I'm entrusted with the care of 3-5 more children. And I also plan activities, games, crafts, stories, songs, poems, and a little bit of knowledge.

The toughest part of all this... pre-planning everything. It's a lot of mental work. When I'm there it's wonderful! When I get in the car to drive home... not so wonderful. I'm begging Michael and Maggie to not talk. Or cough. Or sneeze. I want complete silence.

But, I made it through the first week and I'm excited to do more!

Happy Vacation 2009 - Part 2

Jamie and Josh taking a break from the waves and enjoying watching Isaac play in the sand.

Jamie's sister, Wendy, and her family live about 15 minutes from the beach. They packed a lunch, drinks, chairs, and lots and lots of sun screen for us and we spent about 6 hours out there. Poor Jamie. He was the only one to get sun burned. And, thanks to me, it was shaped like camouflage!

Maggie and Tannah enjoying the scenery.

This is pretty much where Maggie spent the entire day.
She would get up every once in awhile to move her chair so that the
water hit her feet just right.

Until a big wave would come and knock her around a little!

Jamie made her go out in the water for a little.
She's pretty much yelling at Jamie to take her out of the water.

Caleb and Michael enjoyed digging in the sand and collecting sand crabs. Yes, they kept all the ones they found. No, we didn't take any home with us. They were all gently put back at sea at the end of the day.

Here's proof that I got in! Wendy and I played in the waves. I went under water twice and declared that it was enough! Not a big fan of salt water. The picture of Jamie in the chair? That was my spot pretty much the entire time. I even feel asleep a couple of times. So relaxing!

Happy Vacation 2009 - Part 1

Our first leg of our vacation brought us to the Pittsburgh Zoo. Thanks to our Potter Park Zoo annual pass we got in free! The zoo is built on a hill. A very large hill. There was a section that had all these boardwalk type sidewalks that took you to different exhibits. I was thankful to find a regular crossing at this point and not have to go over the very scary bridge!

Michael took a picture of Jamie and I at the aquarium section of the zoo.

My kids (and I) were so thrilled to be able to walk among real live deer!
The kids enjoyed petting her.

We stayed at a hotel that evening and headed for Virginia Beach the following morning.

A Blessed Weekend

This has been a weekend of blessings. It's been so wonderful to look back at it and be thankful.

We received a family pass to Potter Park Zoo in the mail from a friend of ours. I'm so excited to be able to take the kids there often this summer. I think we'll make it a weekly thing. We usually only go once or twice a year. It's not the greatest zoo and it's actually a little bit pricey. In my opinion.

Tyler and Nicole (our youth minister and his wife) took Maggie and Michael overnight for us. They had a great time! Nicole took pictures of the kids and got them developed and framed one for us for our anniversary. So sweet! The picture looks so good!

While the kids were out doing their thing, we headed over to Mark and Katie's house. They made us an awesome dinner! We kept them up late, but it was so nice to just relax and talk. They have a 1 year old cute little girl. She was a lot of fun to hang out with too!

One of Maggie's little friends from church invited her to her birthday party. They ended up inviting all four of us! Michael (and of course Maggie) were so thrilled because the party was at Chuck E. Cheese. We all had so much fun. Hanging out with friends, eating yummy food, and not having to clean up!

I'm sure that God used many others to bless us this weekend that I'm forgetting. It was so enjoyable for us I just have to give him the credit.

My Moment of Spontaneity

With the facebook world swirling around I'm not sure who all reads this anymore. Heck, I forget that I even have a blog. I only go to this site to check on my favorite blogs. The authors of those are all on facebook as well. So, there's not much activity going on. But, I know that my mom is a faithful reader and I don't like to disappoint her :)

As you know, I'm not the most spontaneous person. As the kids and I were driving home from taking Jamie lunch today we stumbled upon a sign. A very large sign. One that not only children notice, but adults as well.

THE ART OF DR. SEUSS

Naturally... er, unnaturally... we stopped to check it out.

And to our surprise we had a wonderful time! It was a very nice art gallery that was hosting an exhibit of Dr. Seuss 'stuff'. The owner? was extremely friendly and welcomed us in.


See... it's a REAL art gallery! Lots and lots of breakable stuff that costs lots and lots of money.







You can even buy the prints. They're actually reproductions. I'm not sure if the sculptures are for sale or not. Did you know that he made sculptures of his creatures? I was impressed. They were really fun to see.




All the books that they had on displayed were available to read. They even showed a documentary about Ted. It was pretty interesting. Someday I'd like to sit down and watch the whole thing.

Oh, and the best part of the visit? As we were leaving the owner said to me "You're kids are so well behaved". I looked around me assuming she couldn't possibly be talking to me about my children. But, she went on to tell me that with some people she just cringes because of how the children are touching all of the sculptures and just running around the gallery. I'm so proud of how well my kids behaved!

New Family Pic

Here's the family picture that Megin's husband Josh took. I really really like it :) This is the un-edited version. Josh it going to tweak the pictures a bit so that there's less yellow tones and not so much washed out. I just couldn't resist sharing it with you guys.

Christmas Gifts for 2008

So, I got this great digital camera from my husband for Christmas. I. Love. It. It takes really good pictures. I keep it in my purse all the time. Did I mention that I love it? This is probably the first picture I took with it. Michael and Jamie are reading a book that my mother and father-in-law bought Michael. If you have boys you must get this book!! It's called 'The Dangerous Book for Boys'.

Not sure if you all remember or know of our Christmas gift giving tradition for our family. Here's a little recap. We give gifts to each other that fit into three categories. God Provides - He takes care of even our simplest needs. Growth - God desires a growing relationship with us. Good Gifts - God blesses us even when we don't deserve it or expect it. We don't necessarily limit the amount of gits to 3, but we do buy for each other in those categories.

Michael got socks for 'God Provides'. Pretty sure he's gotten socks every year! Maggie was actually tougher to buy in this category. I got her a comb and a brush. Jamie bought me long johns. I bought Jamie a lunch box. I know, it was a stetch for that category. But, I figured God provides food for us daily and one of my goals this year is to try to make him lunch more regularly.

We bought Michael some Christian comic books for his 'Growth'. Maggie got the Playmobile Nativity Set. I bought Jamie a music CD. And Jamie got me a subscription to a magazine called Just Between Us.

We were pretty conservative with the 'Good Gifts' category. Michael got a Star Wars ship and a baseball hat (pictured above). Maggie got a little Polly Pocket set. I bought Jamie a tool belt and season one of "How I Met Your Mother". Oh, and I got my camera. YeeeHaaa!! The kids also got various great gifts in their stockings. Toothbrushes, tooth paste, snow globe, key chain, ... Oh, and tons and tons of wonderful things from grandparents and aunts and uncles!

Wed - Sat

Michael didn't have school on Wed, Thurs, or Friday, which made for (of course) a five day weekend. A nice little mini vacation.

I had a check up at the doctor. I'm pretty healthy :) A bit over weight and a little bit of high cholesterol. Both of which can be 'cured' with healthier eating habits... of which I am working on.

Then, the kids and I headed out to my parents. We spent Thurs. at The Village and at the Museum with my sister and her kids and my parents. It was a little cold outside, but not too bad. We rode the train around and visited a few of the kids favorite attractions. Very nice. We came home that night. The kids and I both slept great!

On Friday we met our friends at Jumpin' Jax and then that evening we went to our first night of a new study that we're going through with friends from church. It was a busy but fun day.

I'm actually not at church this morning. Maggie was coughing all night and this morning. I thought it wouldn't be a good idea to take her and have her spewing her germs all over. So, it's been a rather nice morning. I feel like I'm finally taking a breath and slowly moving. It's truly a restful day before Monday comes.

Thursday

Did I tell you about my wonderful day on Thursday? My parents came to town :) They live about 1 hour away and we do actually see them a lot, but it never seems like enough.

Me, my mom, my dad, and Maggie ran errands all day. We headed to Menards... my mom's new favorite place ever! Picked out some new lights for their kitchen. Went to Hobby Lobby (my personal favorite) and my dad bought me two new rubber stamps. I miss shopping with my dad. Then, a quick stop at Target for toilet paper. We had packed a lunch so we just ate in the car in between stops.

Then we picked up Michael from school. Michael really wanted to show Grandma and Grandpa his classroom and introduce his teacher to them. He was so excited to show them everything.

Then we all headed out to Okemos and met up with Jamie to show my parents the building site. We gave them a tour. Very fun and exciting for all of us. It looks smashing!

Then, my parents treaded us to dinner. We actually went to Cracker Barrell. I think I've eaten there 2 or 3 times. It was very very good. I was stuffed! I guess that's what chicken fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and mac & cheese will do to you :)

It was a great day with my parents. With Michael in school full time it's been harder to figure out how to get together, but we make it work!

Up And Running Again

We got our new computer! Actually, I think we've had the same keyboard for about 10 years now but when you open the casing of the cpu it's all shiny and new... and running great! Jamie just orders the inner parts online and puts it all together himself. I know! He's amazing, right? He could be making millions if he continued his education in computers instead of switching to the ministry. But then we would have never met and I wouldn't be sharing all the wonderful snidbits of our fabulous life with you all :)

Tonight we had a little b-day party for Michael. His birthday is actually the 30th. He's been waiting for The Clone Wars movie to open so he and a few friends went and saw it with the dads. They came home all fired up. There were light sabors flying for about an hour afterwards. Apparently they loved it!

I'm Bored

I'm a little bit bored right now. My parents took Maggie and Michael to The Village for the day. My brother is sleeping. And, I found out that my honey came home early from the UP and is home already. I wish I could be home with him. But, I'm so thankful that my parents enjoy my children and want to spend the day with them.

I'll probably head out and do a little shopping. I hate driving in this area and I also tend to refuse to shop anywhere on Saturdays. I'm a bit of a crowd coward. But, the thought of going alone sounds pleasant. Maybe I'll wait and see if my brother will take me :)

Wednesday's Happenings

6:30 ish Woke up, prayed, exercised, showered, and got ready for the day. I've been sleeping till about 8:30 this summer. Although, I really like getting all my 'stuff' done before the kids wake up.

Somewhere in between this time the kids woke up and were fed and dressed.

8:30 Watched my friends boys... all 3 of them. I know, totally not like me. But, it was the Long boys. They are my favorite! One is going into 5th grade, one is Michael's age (they were in the same class at school last year), and the youngest is Maggie's age. They play so well!

10:30 Boys got picked up. We headed to the grocery store.

11:45 Made and ate lunch. One of the neighbor girls joined us... my own little mission field. She stayed a few hours and played.

During this time I was preparing food for dinner and playing referee. The neighbor friend needs a bit more attention.

3:00 Took dinner to a family that just had a baby. So cute! My kids love holding babies... even if they're crying.

4:00 Came home. The neighbor girl was back to play for a bit.

5:00 Ate dinner.

5:30 Left to go to my sister-in-laws house. Jamie was helping John with some landscaping stuff. The kids and I hung out and swam in their pool. It was so relaxing!

10:30 Came home.

Crazy huh? It seems like this has been a typical schedule for us this summer. Frankly, I'm tired of it. It's really a lot for me. I used to do one thing a day. That was actually a struggle for me. I love staying at home. But, I've prayed about it and really wanted this summer to be fun for my kids so I force myself to get out more and do things with other people. I'm slowing down starting tomorrow. This list of stuff that I did is just a small part of my week. It seems like every day has been like this. I have a pile of laundry to prove it!

Another Morning

Yup, I'm awake again all by myself. I'm sure God is trying to tell me something but I just haven't stopped long enough to listen. It's really a blessing to be on the first floor of our house... alone. It's quiet. I made some tea again and I've been puttsing on the computer.

I'm thankful for this kind of start to my day. It's been a tough week with the kids. I'm tired of being around them. I love them to death, don't misunderstand me. But, I feel a little whacked out right now and I feel like I just need some space. So, thank you Lord for two quiet mornings in a row!

We've got quite a nice busy weekend ahead of us. Last night we went over to some friends house for a cook out. Jamie had been working with them on their landscaping all day so he was a bit pooped out. But, it was nice to have some mommy discussions and eat food that I didn't have to prepare. It was good!

Tonight we're going to a Lansing Lugnuts game with another family. Jamie can get free tickets from Great Lakes Christian College where he teaches Hebrew (the language, not the book) every other semester or so. It's a nice little perk that they offer for staff and faculty. The Lugnuts are actually going into the playoffs so it should be a fun game. Also, they have fireworks afterwards. Yea, my favorite.

Sunday, after church, we're having a get together at my sister-in-laws house. It's a family renuin of sorts. Jamie has an aunt and uncle that live in Negaunee and a cousin and her family who live at the Sioux. Also, another cousin and his family who live... hm, not sure where nowadays. She's from Japan so they've moved back a forth a bit.

Anywho, our weekend will be filled with good friends and family, baseball, fireworks, swimming, and yummy food!

Happy Vacation

We went on a vacation! Jamie was even able to take Sunday off work. Sort of a big deal. He's an Associate Minister and Sunday's are a major work day for him. He gets a few off a year, but hasn't taken any because of the craziness of this year. Anyway...

We left Thursday morning for our UP house in Seney, MI. We stopped at the bridge and went to the fort. Michael has always wanted to go there and we thought we'd do it this trip. It was pretty neat. Not my favorite thing to do. But, Michael loved it. They fired off a cannon and a couple guns. I tell ya', this kid is not afraid to talk to anyone. After the musket shooting he walked right up to the 'soldiers' and had a discussion about a modern war taking place at the fort. They didn't laugh at him at all. So cute!

After the fort we took the kids down to the lake. We actually went under the Mackinac Bridge. I've never done that before. Pretty neat.

My in-laws met us up there that evening and we just hung out together. Friday morning we woke up and headed out to Grand Marais and went to the beach there. That night we went over to Marquette to watch the fire works. Wow. Those were the biggest loudest fire works I have ever seen. Very impressive. Scary too. Fire works are one of my biggest fears. Now you know.

The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing and cleaning up the house. It was a great time!

I'm such a dork!

A really quick update... I'll try to post some pics soon.

Michael had a blast at camp. He wore the same underwear and t-shirt that I sent him in. Apparently I "hid" all of his clean clothes in his suitcase. He came back with some new funny songs and some inside jokes. I think he grew up while he was gone those 2.5 days.

Michael was so surprised when he came home and saw his room. It's really not that drastic looking, except it's really really clean. I repainted the walls a light cream color. It's fresh and new. He loved the light saber's on the wall. And the bed is really fun.

Ok, here's the dorky part... I sent Michael to camp with a disposable camera. We took it to Walgreen's to have the pictures developed.

Clerk: Would you like these back today or tomorrow?

Me: Is there a price difference?

Clerk: No.

Me: Ok, I'll pick them up later today.

Clerk: Would you like single or double prints?

Me: Well, it's my sons camera. I'm not sure how many turned out so I don't know off hand how many copies I'll want. If I order single prints now can I somehow get another set later if they look good?

Oh. My. Goodness. My father will be hanging his head in shame. Have I really gone that digital that I've forgotten about negatives?

The Comfy Room

So, those two blue chairs I looked at with Jamie last week? I love 'em! They're in our living room right now. We took out our love seat and re-arranged the rest of our furniture. I'm finally pleased with the set-up. It looks inviting from all entrances. There is an obvious conversational triangle. And, the tv is perfectly visible from three sitting spots. No more children fighting for the 'corner spot'. (This is an important thing in the Wetzel household these days!)

Now the fun part. I get to decorate! Since we've moved here 3 years ago, every. single. room. has that unfinished look. It's annoying. Jamie and I talked about color schemes and I'm going for it. Not too crazy. I don't need to paint the walls or anything. Just a few throw pillows and some other things to add. I'm hoping for a nice finished living room. Under $30.... think I can do it?

I'll post some pictures when I'm done.

The Black Box Thing

We don't have cable at our house. We've used an antenna for our tv for as long as I can remember. It's an ok set up. We get our local PBS station in very well and a few other channels in pretty good. Probably a total of 4/5 stations. I like to limit the amount of tv watching for the kids and without a lot of channel options it's quite easy.

Well, life has changed around here! We got that little black box thingy the other day. We've been watching so much tv lately!

We can now get through our antenna 4 PBS stations, all the major networks, and then a few extra's. The kids love Qubo. They show kid friendly cartoons non stop. One of our local networks has a station that shows the weather 24/7. One of the PBS stations is Create and they air all the more crafty type shows. And... it's a crystal clear picture!

So, if you see us and our eyes are all glazed over and we've gained another 10 lbs. you'll know why!

Last Day of School

Michael is officially done with the 1st grade! We are all so excited!

He had to go to school today, but only for a short ceremony. They give out rewards after each marking period and hold the last ceremony on the last day of school. After the ceremony we were free to take him home for the day.

Michael finished out the year strong. He received mostly all 4's on his report card and one 3. (4 being the highest). That was in the Moral Focus area. You know, the being polite, not interrupting, being a helper category. Definitely not his strongest area. But, he's still the smartest little guy you'll ever meet.

After 'school' we walked to the grocery store. Yes, the kids and I walked the 1.5 mile round trip to the store. It's something I'd like to do more often. Then we took lunch out to Jamie at his office. I looked at two chubby chairs that a guy wants to give us. Love them! And now the kids are playing outside with the hose.

I'm really looking forward to this break from school.

Maggie's 3

Maggie turned 3 years old today. Sorry, I don't have a picture of her from today. I'll be honest with you, it's been a rough few days. This just seems to be a huge mile stone. She is totally not a baby anymore. She's independent, joyful, thankful, and sometimes a crazy little monster. I keep crying. We're 'done' having kids. So that may be part of it too.

It's been fun? to talk about the day she was born. The whole labor and delivery was rather quick. A total of 2.5 hours. Seriously, you can't get any better than that. But, it was after she was born that there were some problems. She was extremely lethargic. The doctor's weren't sure what was up. They thought she could have a blood infection so they put her on an IV. That in itself was sad to see on our little one. Then, they thought she could have some other sort of infection so they attempted to do a lumbar tap... twice. They never did get enough fluid from that test.

Praise the Lord, the next morning she was actually opening her eyes and looking around. The doctor came in that morning and said that she was originally planning on doing a cat scan on her, but after seeing her progress decided it wasn't needed. That day she began eating normal and acting normal. The doctor concluded that it must have been the drug that I was given during labor that caused that reaction. Looking back on it, if I would have known that after 30 minutes of receiving the drug she would have been born, I would have turned it down. No one thought it would happen so quickly.

Maggie is a really healthy little girl now. I forget how bad she was that day three years ago. It make me so much more thankful for her when I'm reminded of those first few days.

Tonight I asked Michael what he remembered about her birthday. Mostly because I couldn't remember where he was exactly. I remember he spent that night at my in-laws house. But, Michael remembers my parents bringing him to the hospital to meet Maggie for the first time. He said he was sick and had to wear a mask and he hated wearing it. I dug up some pictures from that day. Sure enough, he had on a mask. He was 3.5 when she was born. I'm so glad he remembers so much of that.

Funny thing, both Maggie and Michael are sort of sick today. Michael is still fighting a cold. Not bad really. Just a little cough. Maggie has an eye thing going on with her cold. February must be our sick month.

* I removed the pictures. Sorry :)

Radom thoughts

I think we are all 'healthy'. Whatever that means? No one seems to be blowing their noses or coughing. That's a good thing. Although, my head hurts a lot.

I worked in Michael's classroom this morning. The teacher became side tracked by a question asked by a student and decided to help the kids figure out how many hours a week they spent at school with each other. Appx. 37.5 hours. That's crazy! I'm almost tempted to home school. I know that it wouldn't take that long to teach/learn the stuff he's learning in a given week. Alas, that is not the route we have chosen for our children's main academic learning.

I'm looking forward to this weekend. Michael has Thursday and Friday off for teacher work days. We're going to head up to our place in Seney for a few days. We'll head over to Marquette Friday night to watch the dog sled races begin. Michael and Jamie went last year. It should be fun for all of us.

Michael has an appointment at the oral surgeon's office this afternoon to check on the progress of his teeth. Remember how he smashed in two adult teeth during Christmas? Well, we're hoping that having him eat soft foods for 40 days would have given them enough time to heal. We'll see.

The kids and I had a great time at my parents house this weekend. We just hung out. It was nice for Maggie to be able to play with different toys. Michael and my dad went out to the Museum for an afternoon. My brother took me on a couple of errands. It was relaxing and nice to be taken care of. Thanks family!

I suppose that's all the excitement around here. It's cold. And, I have to head out again in about 15 minutes. It's been a run around kind of day. I'll plan on staying home tomorrow.