Chads Birthday Surprise

March 25th was Chad's birthday. His mom REALLY surprised him with a car! She got a great deal on a 2003 Toyota Camry with less than 10,000 miles...so it is almost like brand new! His mom was so excited about it! She called me a few weeks in advance because she needed me to get insurance on it so that she could drive it here from Clarksburg (about an hour away). So I then had to keep it a secret! When she gave me the serial number, make and model and year, I wrote it all down on a smal sheet of paper. It was my bookmark. Well somehow I lost it out of my book and Chad discovered it! EEEEEEK! Luckily I was reading when he discovered it he said..."what is this? Is it from my mom?" ....so I played the.....let me finish this page when he asked me what the paper was. His mom had told him about this car to see if he was interested and he told her it sounded like a good deal but he was gonna drive his Grand Am until it was a pile of rust in the driveway. OK, so with that in mind, he finds this slip of paper aka my bookmark and asks me what it is...I used my let me finish this page tactic to give me a few seconds to think of what that paper could be!! I told him it was my aide Jaques and I was using as a bookmark cause it was trash. Then I said..."why did you ask me if it was from your mom?" He said, "Oh nothing, she was telling me about a car but that was a long time ago. I don't know why I thought it was from her." WIPE SWEAT FROM BROW!!!!!!!! About three or four more times I almost slipped up. Like the time he mentioned something about tires on the Grand Am...kinda freaked thinking he was gonna get new ones and almost slipped. Then I as the day approached I almost slipped and told him his mom was coming...and she wanted that to be part of the secret too. He was getting off work early that day cause he wanted to watch the big WV game. Well she wanted the car to be in the driveway when he arrived with the bow on top and banner in the windshield. She wanted the kids to be there for the surprise too so I had to pick them up early from school since Chad was coming home from work early.

We had everything ready and were hiding in the garage where we could see. Chad was arriving home when I would have typically been picking up the kids from school (if I hadn't already gotten them early!) When Chad turned down the road he said he saw the big yellow bow on top of the car. His first thought was who is in the driveway...Michelle is picking up the kids. Then he thought..and who is laying no top of that car. He thought the bow was a person!

When he pulled into the driveway he saw the banner that said Happy Birthday Chad. He yelled out the window, "Are you serious?" He was in total shock! He just kinda sat there for a minute then got out of the car and headed straight to hug his mom! What a fabulous Birthday surprise!!!

Seeds Are Sprouting!

I am so excited! My cucumber seeds are sprouting already! WOOHOO! Now if everything else will sprout!! I still haven't planted my herbs or flower seeds yet. Best be doing that this weekend I guess!

Christina and Angela are going to a worship conference tomorrow. I can't take off work so I am just going to the concert part in the evening. Heather Sloan and I are driving up as soon as Heather gets off work. I am hoping we will have a little extra time so we can stop at Micheals!:) I have a coupon!! I am so excited for a girls evening!

I am working on a fun new project for my mom for Mother's day! While Chad and I were at Amish country I fell in love with these little Fairy Gardens. I found a FREE big clay pot on the curb last weekend, thanks to Diana for calling to tell me about it!! So I am getting ready to start mom's fairy garden. I have already been to Crafts 2000 to buy some miniatures to decorate it. Now I just have to find the right herbs to plant!! This is going to be fun. I am posting a photo of the garden I saw in Amish country. I hope mine will turn out as cute!

Sick of Sickness!

Who invited the cold back to WV? It is freezing outside again. Yesterday it was a warm 74 degree high. I want spring!!

When will everyone be healthy again? For the past two days I have had a splitting headache, dizzy, fevered and just feeling plain awful. After work I came home and slept the rest of the day. I was awake long enough to watch Idol and then back to bed. Thankfully I am feeling some better today. Brooke missed school yesterday with the same headache, dizziness and fever as me. Thankfully today we were both feeling well enough to go to school. Poor Nic is looking like he might be next. He overslept this morning and just wasn't himself. I have been expecting the school to call for me to come pick him up all day. Praying that he has gotten better and won't be sick!

I thought that Danny and Chris both did excellent last night. Scott really blew me away too. My guess is Anoop and Jorge will be going home tonight. To me their performances were the weakest.

Well I am off to prepare my bible story for Awana tonight. My little Sparks (K-2nd grade) are so much fun and just love their bible story time at Awana. I do my best to make it special for them:) I am thinking maybe puppets tonight!

Beverly Lewis Books

I love, love, love every book I have ever read by Beverly Lewis!

The past couple months I have read the whole series of Summerhill Secrets. Which are actually teen novels...but very good! I passed them along to Brooke and I hope she will enjoy them as much as I did. These are from an "Englisher" point of view living beside Amish.

I just finished The Redemption Of Sarah Cain. Another fabulous Amish story. Now I can't wait to get the movie!!

My favorite Beverly Lewis series is Abram's Daughters. This is the series that really got me back into reading for pleasure!

I recommend Bevery Lewis books! I talked Josie into starting Abrams Daughters. When she comes to visit this summer we are gonna head to Amish country for a day! I had such a good time at Amish country after reading these books!!

Now I have to find a new book to start. Hmmmm...could always reread Twilight I guess! Can't wait till March 21st when the DVD is out. Gotta see it again!!!

My American Idol Top 13 Favorites!

I have never been so happy with a Top 12 or 13 as it is this year! There were only a couple that came through that I didn't pick. There was one, Felicia Barton, that I feel got ripped off. Why in the world didn't they pick her for the wild card at least?? so i was pretty bummed about Felicia.

My top two are Danny and Chris. Both are worship leaders at their churches which is just awesome in itself! I am praying that they will be able to show Jesus in all that they do. Danny has such a strong voice. I gotta admit he is truly my favorite and I was so excited when they announced his place in the top 13!!

Go Danny and Chris!!

Starting My Garden

So where oh where did my weekend go? The weather was in the 70's and oh so beautiful! It really got me in the gardening mood that is for sure!

I garden using Earthboxes because I have very little yard space that is flat enough for a garden. With the earthboxes I can plant on my patio. I get way more veggies from my earthboxes than I ever got from planting in the ground though because the earthboxes have a selfcontained watering system. I have to water once a day or sometimes twice a day when it is really hot...but wow we get a huge abundance of produce all summer long!!

I usually purchase my veggie plants to plant in the earthboxes when it is time to set them out. However, this year I decided to try growing from seed to save some money. We shall see. I have been researching and reading about starting from seed. Oh I so hope that I can do it! I have planted 216 seeds in jiffy pots. Cucumbers, red peppers, green peppers, beefstake tomatoe, cherry tomato, spaghetti squash, yellow straigtneck squash, scallions, acorn squash, zuchini. I usually grow eggplant but last year I didn't have much luck so I am switching to spaghetti squash this year to give it a try!

So this is day one for my planted seeds! Maybe the seed thing can keep me content while I wait to get outside to garden. Come on SPRING!!! I am so ready for the cold to be long gone! These past two days of nice spring weather have me itching for it to last!! I will try to post pictures of my seed project soon!:)

Creamy Ramen Noodles

My kids love Ramen noodles. Here is a new twist that we are loving! Fast and easy is what I love about it!!

Creamy Ramen NoodlesIngredients
1 (3 ounce) package ramen noodles, any flavor, with seasoning packet
2 cups water
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup milk

Directions
Bring water to boil in a small sauce pan. Add dried noodles and cook 3 minutes, or until noodles are tender. Stir occasionally.

Drain away water. Return noodles to sauce pan.

Add butter, milk and contents of seasoning packet. Heat on low heat and stir until butter is melted and noodles are coated with creamy sauce.

Time Flies 2009 update!

Wow! It is hard to believe that it is already March! The weather was so beautiful here today, in the 70's! WOOHOOO! I am so sick of the snow and freezing cold. Welcome spring!!!

Life has been pretty calm here. I have been feeling better with my new treatment. So hopefully the pills will continue to control the endometriosis. I have a little pain here and there but it is manageable now at least.

Chad has a fractured sesanoid(sp?) bone in his foot. It is all caused by his right knee that needs a partial replacement. We went to the Dr in Cincinatti yesterday and he recommended orthodics in his shoes and if it isn't doing better in 3 months, surgeryt o remove the sesanoid bone from his foot. Apparently it is a bone you do not have to have, we are doing our research on that still. So prayers for his foot to heal with no surgery are greatly needed!

I finally have my scraproom somewhat organized with what I have to work with for now. I am really hoping for some cabinets and countertop to really make it how I want it...but for now I am settling with what I have. It doesnt look beautiful but it works and I am able to get things accomplished without feeling overwhelmed by a mess! I am currently working on an album for our pastor. He is retiring from our church so we collected some photos and I am almost done putting the album together.

The boys are both playing indoor soccer every Saturday. They love it. Especially Tyler, and he is doing great. Last week he scored the only two goals to win the game for his team! Nic has been doing good too, just hasnt scored any goals. He is better at defending the goal!

Brooke is playing volleyball at the YMCA and will be starting up her track season next week with hurdles and long distance. She is also singing in the county honor choir and will be performing in front of the whole county in a couple weeks.

All the kids had great grades! Tyler and Brooke both with straight A's and Nic with straight B's! They were all listed in the newspaper for their awesome grades! I am so proud of them for working hard and doing their best!

I am loving my job as a preschool teacher/director. I couldn't think of a better job for me right now! The hours are perfect because I can take the kids to school and be out with plenty of time to do a few errands and then be able to pick the kids up from school. The only thing I wish is that I had retirement. Then it would be perfect! But it is pretty close to perfect and I LOVE teaching 3 and 4 yr olds. I wish I had a little more time to devote to our FaithSisters website but hopefully I can get everything caught up over the summer break!

52 Blessings {Week 6}

I am so blessed to have the most wonderful husband. We have been married for 13 going on 14 years! Wow it just doesn't seem that long! Looking back at these pictures though...wow have we aged! We looked like kids when we got married!

I couldn't ask for a better husband. Of course we have our moments but for the most part we see eye to eye on most everything. He does so much more than most husbands. We are truly a team. I thank the Lord for him every single day.

I am so blessed!