Encouragment and friendships....

God really reminded me today how important friendships can be! He brings people into our lives for a reason...today it was for laughter, support and encouragment!

I had the opportunity to volunteer for a short time today putting labels onto brochures for our annual homeschooling workshop/curriculum fair. I was able to help get the job done (many hands make light work), and laugh and fellowship and encourage my fellow homeschooling moms....what a blessing it was!

I am in awe of seeing God's hand so clearly in our lives lately! Not that He isn't always here....but it has just been so evident. Especially in the area of friendships. Over the past few years...He has strengthened some friendships, brought others to deeper levels, but what really blows my mind ( excuse the expression...I'm tired!) is how many "kindred spirits" He has brought into our lives recently! Oh, my goodness! Not just for the girls....but for me as well! I'm so grateful!

You know a "kindred spirit" when you both have so much in common that there never seems to be enough time to talk! When you share so many interests, and share the same values as well.

Some friendships are only meant for a season....and then they end or drift away. Some are only meant to be on a "lighter" level....some are meant to be a mentor/ Titus 2 friendship....and still others are deeper. All are so important. The girls and I were talking about friendships recently, about putting effort into a friendship, accepting people the way they are...not expecting more from them than they are capable to giving...remembering that we are ALL sinners...and letting God deal with their sins....not dwelling on them ourselves. Simply enjoying each others company, encouraging each other, supporting each other and sometimes exhorting each other...pointing each other to Christ and His word.

I am so very, very grateful for the wonderful friendships the Lord has blessed me with! I pray that He helps me be a better, true friend as well!!! God bless! ~Sue~

Super fun before the Super Bowl

This sunday was very fun. After going to church with my cousin, Tina and my family, Meghan and I went out to lunch with our dear friends fir Dani's birthday: Dani, Lane, and Sarah C. Our purchases of food were examples of how differen from eachother we are:

Dani: Oriental chicken plate (two different types of chicken with rice)

Meghan: Subway lunch wrap

Sarah: soft Taco Bell burrito

Lane: Taco Bell Wacko Taco (Not really, but I like calling it that!)

Me: New Orleans Chicken with fried rice and a egg roll. Yummmm!

(Here we are at the food court!)

After chowing down on un-healthy goodness, we were off on our girly mall crawl. Dani's brother, Dillon, came with us (he had to go home with Dani) and we all had a good time. First stop (A little weird) was the American Greetings store to look at Valentine's Day stuff. Then we walked down to Macys and headed upstairs to try on dresses. Poor Dillon walked around and finally went down to Aeropostale to look around. After we tried on tons of dresses, we made out way down to Aeropostale to meet Dillon. That is one of my favorite stores! My favorite style of jacket is a hoodie, and I have four of them so Aeropostale is a great place to get hoodies on clearance! Then we made our way down to American Eagle, where everything was so expensive! I much prefer the clearance rack at Aero. Anyway, back to AE, after contemplating many purchases (and ending up buying nothing) we decided to make one last stop at Claires. By the way, my other love is hats so when I saw a purple rainbow fedora, I almost died! I tried one on, fit perfectly. However, it was $16, so I immedietly put it back. There were also purses and fingerless gloves (which I also love, don't ask why), earrings and notebooks galore. Before we could get any tempting offers, we walked back up to the food court where our final stop was Dairy Queen to get Ice Cream. Oh my goodness gracious, whenever you find yourself at a Dairy Queen, try a Chocolate Xtreme blizzard, it's to die for.

So all in all, it was super fun before the super bowl. I can't tell you how many Steeler jersies I saw people wearing! It was a bunch of fun and I hope we do it again soon. Happy Birthday Dani!

Our first Cubscout Pinewood Derby!!!

Our first Cubscout Pinewood Derby was on Saturday, and I must admit...it was a lot more fun than I anticipated! It started when Ron, Ronnie and one of Ronnie's grandfathers, Buppy, measured and cut out the car. Then Ron and Ronnie painted it, and 'detailed ' the car...I mean, this car even had a real pinstripe on it! It was definitely a "guy" activity, but my guys will have great memories from this, I'm sure!Here is Ronnie holding his car the night before at practice.

Each car is weighed, and fine tuned to meet the derby standards. It was fun watching Ron and Ronnie doing it together! Here they weighed the car...exactly 5oz!

Look how proud my guys look!

This is the morning of the derby. Ronnie had a lot of fun with his friends (pictured here, Jacob and Steven)...although, he had a blast just watching the races.

The blue car in the third lane is Ronnie's. He said it was "Petty Blue" and named his car

"Cargo"

Look at that smile! He had such a great time! This was extremely well organized and thought out...I was very impressed with the leadership.

This is when they called all the boys up by their Den ( we're Den #1) and EVERY boy got a trophy just for participating. They awarded slightly larger trophies for the fastest 4 cars. Out of 9 cars in our den entered, Ronnie's came in 4th...not too bad for our first time!

It was fun to do with friends, as well. Our friends, the Webber's participated as well and the boys all had a good time. (the parents did, too!)

Do I look proud of my boy, or what?! It really was a memory maker!

One happy boy! His first trophy....and a lot of fun working with his grandfather and especially, with his Dad! Can't wait until next years, Pinewood Derby!

Happy Birthday, Lori! We love you!

Happy 42nd birthday to my beautiful sister, Lori! Remember when everyone would ask YOU if the groundhog saw his shadow?!Here is Lori, 1968 at one year old...Ty really looks like Lori in this picture!

Here she is at her birthday party Saturday night

My Dad....can you guess who I look like?! ( My mom is blond and blue eyed!)

Not the best picture, but Ronnie took this one of me and my youngest sister, Pam...he didn't do too badly! ( at least he didn't cut our heads off like the one my Dad took!)

Four beautiful girls! My Meghan, my Sara, my niece Tina and my little one Anna.

3 handsome men! My Dad, Ronnie and Ron.

This is the "other" sister, Debbie! She has been a family friend since 1973! I like to say that Lori and I were best friends...until she met Debbie in kindergarten! Oh, how Debbie makes us laugh!

Meghan and Aunt Lori. I gave Lori salad tongs handmade of black walnut wood by our friends, the Gardners. Lori is ordering a wooden salad bowl to match, she loved them so much!

Anna and Ty...he loves her so much and always has a smile for her!

My brother-in-law, Todd and his lovely mother, Denise!

All the kids had a great time playing Wii. Here is my nephew Shayne doing soccer.

Oh, my goodness...how Debbie and I laughed!!!! Hey, Deb...can you hear me....can you hear me now?!

~We all had such a good time celebrating Lori's birthday! Lot's of great food! Cheddar beer dip, artichoke dip, veggies, mini-pepperoni rolls, minestrone soup, yummy buffalo chicken balls (from food network), wings, cake and custard. My little ones were so tired, that we left Lori's at 7:15pm and they were sound asleep in bed by 8pm! We had a great time!

~Happy Birthday, Lori! May the Lord bless you abundantly in the coming year!!! We love you so much! ~Sue~

Menu plan Monday!

Here is the menu of the week!

Monday
Oatmeal, bananas
GF pizza, beets, fruit
Homemade molasses baked beans, salad, cornbread pudding

Tuesday
GF Banana nut muffins, pineapple
leftover beans, corn bread pudding
broccoli cheese soup, GF breadsticks

Wednesday
Apple, cinnamon millet
P,B, J, yogart, pineapple
(Guests for Dinner!)
Parmesean chicken, oven roasted potatoes, garlic green beans, steamed carrots, homemade chocolate pie

Thursday
Cereal, bananas
creamy chicken and rice, carrots
beef stoganoff, GF noodles, salad

Friday
GF pancakes, blueberry sauce
veggie omelets, potatoes
homemade vegetable soup, cheddar garlic GF biscuits

Saturday
Oatmeal with raisins, bananas
GF pumpkin bread, pineapple
mulligan, raw veggies

Sunday
cereal, bananas
Vegetable soup, cheese and GF crackers
Beef roast, msh potatoes, carrots, corn

Have a blessed week! ~Sue~

Way to go, Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl Champs!!!!!!!

"Here we go, Steelers, here we go....Pittsburgh's WON the Super Bowl!!!!!!" We had planned a low-key, family time to watch the big game....had some pizza, hot wings, veggies....I think Ron and I were the only ones really into it in the beginning, but....Here is Ron decked out in his Steeler gear....that is one of the 'origional' terrible towels from the 70's....my husband saves everything! He was so excited to watch this game!


Ronnie and Anna were decked out in Steeler gear, too....we brought the dollhouse that had been the girls out of the attic for Anna...Ronnie named the dad "Mr. Fix-it"

Having Springsteen and the E Street Band doing the Half-time show was a real bonus for us! Ron and I are big fans....Ron especially! He never misses a Springsteen show!

I was applauding my family...and enjoying the song "Glory Days"!

Ron playing "air drums"!

Ronnie pretending he was with the band!

Of course, Anna had to do whatever Ronnie did....Little Me-Too!

Glory Days!!!

We were pleasantly surprised with a visit from Ron's sister , Maureen and our nephew Timmy....he's getting so tall!

I loved this shot....and Maureen hates to get her picture taken...she only agreed to the back!

We won!!! Here is Ron and his mom showing that this is the Steelers 6th Super Bowl win!

Thanks for a great season, Steelers!!!!

Sleds and Snow

I can't believe the snow! Amazing how just one week ago (last friday) the snow was melting and we were bummed because we couldn't go sledding. Well, that changed! Today for about an hour it snowed non-stop, like a white out, then it kind of mellowed out. Due to the gorgeous snow, we have been sledding alot and today we went sledding up at our neighbors house. I also, being the best sister I am (Just kidding of course), pulled Ronnie and Anna (total weight being 100+ lbs) up the hill. Man, I never knew just how steep that hill was till I pulled someone up it :) LOL


The ride down was fun, even though I was still pulling! Since the road was too dangerous to pull them down, I pulled them on the edge of people's yards... ruining the perfect snowfall, but I was being cautious. Anyway, since downhill was easier than uphill by a long shot, I was the horse and they were my passengers. I spared no snow mound or little hill, and down we went! Here is an script of our ride down:

Ronnie: Can you pull us?

Anna: Yeah! Pull the sled, pull the sled!

Sara: Sure, hop on... not literally! Hold on TIGHT!

(Sara starts galloping wildly,

stopping periodically to make sure they're not drifting towards the road)

ANNA AND RONNIE: WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

That's the extent of the ride... now I have to go to sleep because tomorrow is the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby at 8 AM, so Meghan and I will be watching Anna while Mum takes Ronnie. I should probably hit the hay now... bye!

Quote for today...

"For whatever life holds for you and your family in the coming days, weave the unfailing fabric of God's Word through your heart and mind. It will hold strong, even if the rest of life unravels. ~Gigi Graham Tchividjian~