Snow isn't good for hobos...

No, that isn't a famous depression quote, nor is it a profound metaphor. It is simply something I made up. :)

Anyway, as you have probably read, we have had a major snowfall! 24 inches in 1 1/2 days is alot! Hip high snow isn't exactly how I pictured it when the weather man said 6-8 inches. But, leaving the poor meteorologist out of the equation, we had to do something with all this snow and this is what we did:

I loved taking a flying leap off of our deck, hollering KOWLABUNGA and diving into snow!Poor Anna couldn't walk unless on a path since the snow was so high, so I either carried her piggyback or she laid in the snow :-) Since she was feeling a little better, Mom thought a little time of fresh air wouldn't hurt her.Ronnie loved finding clumps of snow and throwing them at his sisters (NOT IN THE-face!)Don't we look sweet? Then as soon as the photo was taken, they threw snow at each other. Oh yeah, feel the love!Yeah, see how you can't see our lower legs? That is no mere ledge... that-is-SNOW!

So , you might be wondering what any of this has to do with hobos. Yeah Sara, nice pictures... but why the hobo title?

So after we thawed out, we ate dinner and then watched the Super Bowl halfheartedly... at halftime Ronnie, Anna, and I made up a play to give for Dad, Meghan, and Mom. It was called The Hobo Play... the most fun part was A) we got to eat leftover potato bread as a 'prop' and B) we got to muss our faces with black and brown eye shadow :) I even made Ronnie have a black eye (I didn't do it, I swear!) I was Darcy, Anna was Grace, and Ronnie was Jack (Gabrielle, no comment!) Anyways, even though some cast members got the giggles (I don't wanna point fingers but RONNIE-ANNA!) it turned out to be a really good play. We all sang It is Well and then took some bows at the end... it was fun. Here are the pictures:I love this picture, look at the sibling love :-)Singing It Is Well

Reading Lessons, hobo style

Lovingly looking over our little hobo family

The whole plot of the play was there were three hobo kids: Darcy (15) Jack (9) and Grace (6) whose parents had died. They were on the run from the police because they didn't want to be split up and go into foster homes. They only have one box of belongings: Raggedy Ann (Anna's contribution), three slices of potato bread (Donated in the play by a kind lady), some raisins, tissues (a must for Anna's runny nose) two books (Tom Sawyer and Pilgrims Progress, and a hymnal. This is all their belongings besides the clothes on their backs, a rough wool blanket, and a water jar. One night, Jack hears some police dogs. He panics and runs away. Darcy and Grace wake up to find him gone and they have no choice but to leave. The siblings are split and they find comfort and solace in the hymn they know so well, It is Well. The big reunion at the end is handled lightly, and then the curtain call.

Thank you, you have been a wonderful audience!

Sara

A Beautiful Bridal Shower

We've just arrived home from our dear friend Courtney's bridal shower. It was so much fun and Mum and I had a great time. Regrettably the littles both still had icky colds and Sara volunteered to babysit them....thank you Sara!! Courtney greeted us at the door-glowing, as usual. :) The fellowship hall of her church was decorated beautifully and the tables were very pretty. :) Courtney's mom, sister Hannah, and three aunts all set up, cooked for and set up this beautiful shower for their dear Courtney. She received so many beautiful gifts for her and Dan's future home! My gift to Court is going to be a wedding gift, as it isn't done yet. :) Mum got her the Betty Crocker Cookie book and made her an adorable apron, as was pictured in the last post. After a delicious lunch of warm chicken salad, pasta and salad, the games began. The first was tricky but very creative. The second was the traditional bridal 'bingo' as the bride-to-be opens her gifts. The centerpieces were so beautiful and quite a few women there were very happy to go home with them as prizes.

All in all, the shower was beautiful and so much fun. It was fun to gab with friends we don't see very often and to celebrate with Courtney her impending marriage. I was just thinking the other day...each of my friends one day will get married and I'll have the joy to walk with them during this precious season...laugh with them and cry as I witness each of their weddings.

Anyway, here are a few pictures taken of the bridal shower! I didn't take any of the decorations-I could kick myself for not taking any, but oh well. Courtney's mom informed me I would get to wear black flats with my bridesmaid's dress-WOOHOO! I'm pretty excited about my feet not hurting. :)

Here is Hannah, Courtney's sister, who announced and explained all of the games and is such a huge help to her mom and sister.

Miss Bride-to Be, opening a never-ending gift, it seemed. She kept pulling things out! :)

Friends forever. Back row: Hannah, Michaela, Me....front row, Morgs and Bella. :)

Best friends...sisters...maid of honor and the bride

Hannah and Courtney

Our two moms. :) Both of them are such wonderful mothers and examples of Godly wives, mothers and homemakers!

Me and Courtney. :) Isn't she just glowing?

I am off to do some resting and spend some time with the family....Maidens is tomorrow so expect a blog post for that, too!

Ce la vie!

Sunday Mall Crawl

Birthday Girl At the Galleria!Gabrielle in a magenta dress... gorgeaus!
Gabrielle and I in Anthropoligy (We had on matching dresses)MY NEW SNEAKERS! Such a steal, only $4.00!


Sweet Little Peonie :)

Today, after church, we went to the Galleria Mall and had a great lunch at Panera Bread. I got 1/2 tuna salad sandwhich and chicken noodle soup and it was yummy :)

Then we browsed around (as everything was wayyyyy out of our price ranges) and then we just chatted :) It was an amazingly fun day and was quite the memorie maker. Remember, footloose pasket??? LOL

The Start of Summer Fun

This week has been busy, but very fun! Since it is thunderstorming right now, I am focusing on the happy sunny parts of the week :)Havin tons of fun at Pleasant Kingdom Playground

Squished Little Man

Swingin Up to the Sky! (I love her face)

Monkey Boy Ronnie

Anna+Ronnie= Best Friends!
"WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
Ty with his little 'lawn mower'
Thats all for now, have to go make dinner: GLUTEN FREE PIZZA! If it turns out well, I'll post about it. If not... I'll still post about it :)

Seeing the Duggars

*yawn* We are back from Ohio, and we are so glad to be home. We are so thankful for our friends, the Teter family, for graciously opening their home to us so nicely. We had so much fun!
When we got there, we all had dinner at Cracker Barrel, laughing and chatting ALOT! After dinner, we all went home to change quickly and get ready to go to the church. We made a small detour at a nearby Starbucks (yummmm!) then we arrived at the church. We were driving around, looking for a place to park, and that is when we saw it: the Duggar Bus. Autumn and I shrieked and pointed wildly, but our moms said we couldn't take a picture by it :( Darn... anyways, we went inside and got in line. It was 5:30 PM, but there was already a few people there. We stood in line for 30 minutes, then I noticed that there was another door, with NO line... so we ended up being first in line!

We sat down (finally) and it was great! They all lined up on the stage and sang, then Mr. & Mrs Duggar spoke their testimony. It was great to hear and we had a good time. But the best was yet to come... afterwards, they all came out to sing two more songs. I even got a video for you! You're welcome...

After they sang, they all went out, and we headed towards the end of the aisle. Then we realized, Jim Bob and Michelle were meeting and taking pictures! So were Josh and his wife Anna! Meghan, Jolyn, and her mother decided to wait out in the car, but Autumn, Mum, and I wanted to meet them! There were big crowds, but I (being SO polite) kinda sidled towards them. I said excuse me and that is all that matters, right? Right? Okay, so I finally got over to where Mrs. Duggar was and she signed our book! So did Josh and Anna! Here is a picture of the inside:I was so excited! I was able to hug Mrs. Duggar and Anna! They were so nice, poor Anna looked so tired, but she was there! (If you haven't followed their story since after the wedding, they are expecting a baby!) Here are some more pictures:

Mr. and Mrs. Duggar laughingly telling about the first time they met :)

(From L to R) Jinger, Jessa, Jill, and Jana playing a violin piece

Jeremiah, Jedidiah, and Joy-Anna playing ( They were so good!)

Almost all of them, excluding the three youngest, John-David, Jana, Anna, and Josh.

This is Mrs. Duggar and I! I was so excited, she was so sweet and gave me a hug!

Anna, Josh, and I (And the baby, who we don't know what it is yet!)

And, there you have it! We had so much fun and cannot wait to go back to Ohio again sometime soon and visit some more!

Crazy Days!

My mom left to go visit my grandma, grandpa, and aunt; today has been pretty good. I will post pictures later, but I will give you a list of the things we've done so far:

1. Played our new rod hockey game for, like 2 hours, (we got an old table top game, and it is fun!)
2. Megs baked chocolate chip cookies with Anna, and they are delish!
3. We received a get well soon package from our dear friend in Washington, The Nelsons, including individual tea bags! THANK YOU! I am now hooked on Vanilla Creme Nut flavor.
4. We had a little Tea Time (Anna and I) and talked while we sipped our tea (she insisted she use a real tea cup)
5. Meghan is at piano and we are once again playing rod hockey :o) If you live close by, come on over and play; it's a blast!

Thats about it, I need to go watch the littles while Dad runs Meghan to piano... pictures are coming!

~Happy Birthday Sarah Elaine!~

Yesterday was our dear friend Sarah's 13th birthday, so today after church, we invited her over here to hang out and celebrate. Along with Sarah came Ronnie's buddy Aaron, whiich made Ronnie one happy boy. We were driving home from church, when my mom realized that she had no clue what to feed six hungry kids. So while she drove over to Aldis to pick up hot dogs, buns, and fudgescicles; she dropped Sarah and I off at our library (which was on the way) to borrow a chick flick that we could watch. By the way, to church I wore a peasant top, skirt, and heels so if anyone saw a girl tiptoeing through the library barefoot, you probably saw me. Anywho, we decided on Ever After with Drew Barrymore. Let me say this, that movie is awesome. On a scale of one to ten, I would rate it an eight. Only 2 swear words prevented it from getting a 9...

After lunch, we ate our fudgescicles (a delicacy in our house) and watched Ever After (how much better can life get????) and sketched. Until we were needed to help make dinner, that is what we did, huddled under blankets in our gameroom. We peeled and chopped carrots and potatoes, then sat down to eat. After dinner we all pitched in to help clean up the kitchen (Thank you Sarah and Meghan!) then finished our movie.

Then we drove her home, anda visited awhile with her family. When we realized it was ten minutes to ten o'clock, we skedaddled home to crash into bed. That reminds me, I have to go to sleep! Happy Birthday Sarah, and many more!