We have GREAT Neighbors!

Some want to live in the country to be alone... Some want to live in big subdivisions with close neighbors... We are BLESSED to live in the country and have the Best of Both Worlds!  Last night we were tested with a "neighborhood watch" issue, and it was amazing to watch how fast we can all get in touch with each other and to know that we are all watching out for someone other than ourselves!  I don't think I spoke with one person who didn't include the sentence "Don't hesitate to call us if you need anything" in our conversation.  How awesome is that, considering these factors: we've only been here for 6 months and it is the year 2009 and it seems more and more that people just want to help themselves.  Let me just tell you that the last factor isn't true when you are talking about our little country corner of Hamilton County!  

Jon was teaching firearms this morning at the Academy and received a phone call from one of our Great Neighbors, Dale.  He was asking if it would be okay if he plowed our driveway!  Isn't that awesome?!  Thank you, Dale for your kindness!  Over the last 24 hours, we have received significant amounts of snowfall (somewhere between 10-12 inches) and our driveway was completely buried, so we were very appreciative of Dale's act of kindness this morning.

You know, it may sound silly to some, but I am so thankful.  When you sit down and watch the news at night, it seems that there isn't very much 'good' happening anymore.  I'm happy to announce that God had proved to me that there still is 'good' around us, and today it was shown with the random kindness and caring of our neighbors!

I LOVE Penguins!

I absolutely LOVE Penguins!  Every time we visit a zoo, I have to go see them.  It's almost like a disease.  The St. Louis Zoo has the Best of the Best Puffin display.  I'll have to search through picture albums (we went before we had a digital camera) and find a few of my favorite pictures to scan and post.  

Back to the reason for this post...  Our  wonderful son has been taking advantage of this snow day from school (I'll post pictures of our almost 11 inches of snow in a little bit) and drawing and creating away.  He told me not look at what he was making and to be patient and wait until he was finished... (hmmm, where has he heard those words before?  I have no idea!!!)   After about 15 minutes these are what he brought me.... Aren't they just adorable?

This was a "card" and when you lifted the flap, this is what was hidden! 

 I love it!

And I'll add a little "sunshine" art that Riley created in Art Class at school.  

This has been proudly displayed in our laundry room.  

It goes great with the yellow paint!  

Isn't this one beautiful, as well?  Great Job!

A quick Payton "funny"

Here are my 2 kiddos and hubby hard at work... hey -taking pictures is hard work as well!  :)

I wanted to post this on here, just so I have it written (I know, I know it's typed) down for my memory purposes.  (See the post just under this one about Payton's memory vs. mine!)  

When we went down to my parents for Thanksgiving, we loaded up the trailor with wood to bring home for our now non-working fireplace.  (We had no idea that it wasn't working then, so I guess the saying "hindsight's 20/20" is true!)  We had all of this wood just piled up out by the shed and it needed to be organized and stacked neatly behind it.  Jon and the kids were sitting at the table finishing up with their lunch and he asked the kids, "Who's going to help Daddy stack the wood?"  Without skipping a beat, or even a bite of his food, Payton replied, "God will help you, Daddy.  He will give you the strength you need to do it all by yourself.  I am going to go and climb a tree!"  Even though his statement was true, this wasn't quite the response Jon was looking for!  This has brought a lot of laughter to our family!  What a witty little guy Payton is!  

Now Jon and I need to remember his answer word for word, because as Payton gets older and gains new responsibilities around the house, I'm sure we can use it on him!  I can hear it now... "Mom, who's going to help me clean the bathroom".... "God is honey, he'll give you the strength to tackle that toilet and have it sparkling clean in no time!"

Meet the 2 newest members of our family...

Like many families, "Webkinz" is a well-known word around our house.   So, it wasn't a huge surprise when Riley and Payton wanted to spend the last of their Christmas money on a new Webkinz pal.  

Riley already knew that she wanted to find the brown cow after seeing the one that our friends brought over a few weeks ago, she's had 'brown cows' on the brain!  And to our friend Amy and her girls, I'm glad that we found a brown cow, or we might of had to ask for joint custody!  Now, the cow's name is a little different, but it holds great humor in it's meaning!  It's named after one of her friends at school that is always smiling and giggling.  At lunch one day when Jon came in to eat with Riley, we were all sitting at the lunch table and he began calling her friend "Smigiggli" (pronounced smi-giggly).... the name has now became so famous that there's a lovely little brown cow that is smiling and giggling right along with her!  Precious, isn't it?

Payton became attached to this cute little gray owl.  I wouldn't normally thing that of an owl as being 'cute', but this one really is!  Just wait until you scroll down and see for yourself.  He knew all along that his owl was to be named "Hoot" after the movie.  The amazing thing about this is that it's really been about 2 years since we watched that movie... so the fact that he can look at an owl and it makes him think of something that he watched 2 years ago (and I'm sure that he only watched it 1 time) and on top of that, he can remember the name!  For only being 4 yrs. old when he saw the movie, I can definitely say his memory is better than mine!  Again, might I add... Precious, isn't it?

Now, the moment that you have been waiting for.....  meet Smigiggli and Hoot...  Aren't they simply adorable???

Straighten Up!

I decided to try and straighten this picture in Photoshop.  It didn't turn out too bad!  I thought I'd post the edited version as well as leave the previous post with the SOC (straight out of the camera) version.

Check out our front door at Sunset!

Isn't this pretty?  I love the sunset!  If you catch it at just the right time, it sparkles through our front door sending beautiful designs all over the place.  Today as I was admiring the awesome 'spots' all over the walls and the floor, I turned to look at the door and it was even more stunning.  The picture doesn't quite do it justice, but I didn't think it turned out too bad.  

And while I was taking a picture of the front door, I thought I'd include a pic of my favorite little saying "Family is Every Thing" ...

 

Just a little Photoshop 'Fun'

I just had to post this funny Photoshop play.... 

We finally got our share of the fluffy, white stuff!

Well, I guess God decided it was our turn to get some beautiful snow! I think the weather forecasters are happy with the outcome, because they have been wrong all winter! We should only have about 5 inches when it is all said and done, but still it's 5 more inches than we've had so far! I don't think we'll get a snow day out of it for school, but we are on a 2 hour delay because of the frigid temps that are coming through over the next 2 days: A chilling high of 4 degrees with a wind chill in the -20's! Brrrrrrr!

But all of the cold aside, the snow is beautiful to look at and even better to play in! We are thankful to finally get some of the fluffy, white stuff!

Oh, and check out this "Tindal version of a snowball fight".... hmmm, I think Jon is winning, what do you think?

 

How Sweet!

When I came home yesterday, I found a pleasant surprise. There was a beautifully wrapped box with a card that said "I Love You." When I opened the box, I found this adorable Precious Moments figurine called "A Decade of Dreams Come True":



Isn't is just adorable? It goes perfectly with the others in my collection. When we were married, Jon got me the bride and groom to use as our wedding cake topper, then the 1st Anniversary couple, and now the 10th Anniversary one. I just LOVE it! Thank you, Honey, for such a sweet surprise! I love you!

Oh, I almost forgot to add this precious little poem that came with it :

Ten wonderful years together as husband and wife, and each day is still a dream that has come true. To look in each other's eyes is still as sweet and refreshing as the first glance years ago. Yet after a decade, we know each other completely and cannot imagine what life was like without each other - a partner forever, best friends for eternity.

He is so wild!

I have found the one whom my soul LOVES

On January 2, Jonathan and I celebrated our 10th anniversary! I am thankful for the past 10 years and can't wait to see what the next 10, 15, 20, and more bring to us! I love you, Honey!