Hmmmm...Interesting.

Had this in my saved posts and decided to go ahead and post it...almost a month later. :) Funny, I think He's still trying to help me remember this. :)

So, just this morning I was out catching up on a couple blogs and two of them, one right after another, wrote about God's love for us...that He loves us more than we know and that he thinks about us at least 70 trillion times a second (someone else did the math...not me. :) ). Hmmmmm, do you think He was trying to help me remember that??

Thankful that God works in amazing ways! Life is really great right now, but I ALWAYS need to remember that His love for me is beyond anything I can ever imagine!

My Life is Full

My life is full...SOOOOO very full but it's been GREAT! God is so good and life has been fantastic even in the midst of icky illnesses and hectic schedules.

We've been celebrating, painting, fixing, traveling, schooling, working, Halloweening, and LIVING! Life is good. Prepare yourself now for some adorable kiddos...these pics span the last two months. :)

First, in September we were greatly blessed to have my parents on hand to assist with some house repairs and painting. The kids thought it was great to have them here and even got to help with some of the repairs. Here's lil Caleb helping Pappy put a board back into the porch.And here's Abby overseeing Pappy replace a piece of trim. Future CEO perhaps?? :)While they were here we also celebrated Abby's 3rd birthday a little early. She of course, did not mind in the least. Here she is with her birthday cupcake (that's as big as her head!).
And of course Aiden who is now into just about everything he can find.
Of course when Pappy is around, there's lots of goofing off and tickling involved. I think the kids are just fine with that. :)Here's the kids sporting their new cuddly jammies. I love winter jammy time!!!

Later in the month, Caleb and lil Caleb were able to go up to a Michigan football game. They had SO much fun, and little Caleb is now quite the fan when it comes to watching games. He'll yell "go go go go ...touchdown!!" (even when it isn't the right team. oops!)The biggest event in the past couple months was the kids' first ever visit to the most magical place on earth. That's right, we braved Disneyworld with the three kids. My parents and Chris and Em were there as well, so we had PLENTY of hands and eyes to keep track of the kids.We didn't tell the kids where we were going...all they knew was that on Friday night, we had the van packed and we were headed to the airport. Then when we got on the plane, I called my dad quick and he told lil Caleb that we were going to Florida to see them! After we arrived (late) that night, the kids were FINALLY told we were going to Disneyworld. I don't think it really hit them yet...they were just excited that when you turned on the TV there were 4 or 5 different channels ALL with Disney stuff on them. :)They saw so many characters (some even during breakfasts) and they had a blast!! Oh, and if anyone looks a little warm in these pictures?? It's because while everyone up north was having COLD, COLD temps (even some with snow), it was RECORD heat in Florida. Yeah. HOT.AND.HUMID.Leo from Little Einsteins kept pointing at all the red hair on the boys then back at himself. Then he pointed at big Caleb and said he needed to spike or curl up the front of his hair like he (Leo) had his. :) Made me laugh.And I do believe lil Caleb might have his first crush. Miss June here, from Little Einsteins, came by our table, and lil Caleb ran around the table and just about plowed her over trying to get a hug. Yeah, nice job bud.Dancing with some of the characters. Lil Caleb was SOOOO excited that he got to do the Hot Dog Dance even!Watching the show outside of Cinderella's Castle.Aiden tried to grab the controller from Pappy, but he wouldn't let him. :) Kidding of course...but Aiden did have fun riding some of the rides!Abby's first driving lesson. Good thing there's a metal guide under the car.....Lil Caleb even got his first driving lesson...again, good thing there was a metal guide....We all had such a great time at Disneyworld!! Unfortunately, this was also the week of icky illnesses, but Abby is the only one that missed out on a partial day at Hollywood Studios and the rest of the sickness was after we left the parks. We also stayed in Orlando for a few days and spent time with my parents, and it was great to have some time away and spend it with family!A couple weeks ago, my MOPS group took a tour of one of the local firehouses similar to last year. Once again the kids were able to climb up in the firetrucks and play to their hearts content (just don't press any buttons, they said). Aiden thought the hat was pretty cool, but a little heavy. :)We actually remembered the camera this year, so we were able to get pics of ALL the kids with the helmet on. Even my baby girl. And finally, it was time for Halloween! The kids were VERY excited this year and kept asking if it was Saturday yet because they knew that Saturday meant Halloween!! Aiden went as Tigger this year...we kinda think he looks like Tigger...he's always bouncing in his seat and he has the red hair (of course). He looked pretty durn cute.Lil Caleb wanted to be a skeleton this year, which I wasn't exactly fond of, but then I found this cute costume and decided to go with it. He loved it, but he didn't like the mask that went with it. I was fine with that...And Abby...my girl Abby. She was all set to be Tinkerbell this year (using a dress-up costume she had gotten for Christmas last year) until this week. She received her birthday gifts from Miss Marissa (and Kerry and Rich) and it was a dress-up Flappergirl dress with a box of shoes. She was in LOVE!! She's been wearing the shoes around the house all week, and that must have helped because she used the shoes both Friday night for Harvest Bash at church AND for trick-or-treating around the neighborhood and did just fine! (sadly, she walks better in heels than most grown women...)This was at Harvest Bash at our church. One of the games was a mini-putt thingy, and she wanted to try it...I tried to help her a little, but the thing that made me laugh most about this picture was the sucker hanging out her mouth. Yes, I know it looks like a cigarette...what can I say, she was playing the part?? :) I promise...it was just a sucker. :)Of course, the kids had to dance once they had their costumes on. They call her dress-up shoes her "dancing" shoes, so whenever they're on, the two must dance. :) Very cute!!And finally, out trick-or-treating. Aiden only lasted for about 10 houses before he went home with Daddy. It was quite chilly on Halloween night, and we didn't want him to get sick. As I said before, my life is FULL, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

State Fair and Family Fun

The month of August FLEW by...I cannot believe it is already September! So much happened in the past month but I don't have pics for all of it. We started the month with a visit from Uncle Chris and Auntie Em. We actually hadn't seen them since Christmas (ack!) so it was SO nice to have them down and spend time with them. The kids had a blast and I think even Chris and Em survived. :) There was one day of NASTY thunderstorms literally all day, so they got to experience full meltdown mode during what was supposed to be naptime. It was a bit brutal, but everyone made it through....We also had a great visit to the Children's Museum (after the thunderstorms of course). Chris took some great pics at the museum, but I didn't get any with Chris and Em in them! So, nothing to share on here.......

Here's a random pic of the three muskateers watching the little dvd player. Even Aiden gets into it now. :)

The weekend after Chris and Em visited we decided to take the kids to the Indiana State Fair. We're only about 20-25 minutes from the fairgrounds and we thought we'd see what all was there...WOW there is A LOT to see! The first building we went into was the cow barn...um, wow, that was a lot of cows. :) Caleb and I both agreed that our kids would not be doing 4H once we walked in the building and saw all the cots set up next to the cows (along with microwaves, mini-fridges, etc). Yeah, here's hoping they choose a less smelly hobby. They had some baby cows that you could pet and little Caleb actually did! He's usually Mr Scaredycat but he went right in!

I like this picture...it looks like he's the "cow whisperer" or something. Ha ha!

The kids didn't do as well in the chicken or goat barns, so we didn't stay there long. There were two separate buildings for horses and we tried the draft horses, but they were transitioning new ones in that day and they hadn't arrived yet. :( Oh well. There was another area that had pony rides, so the kids both took a pony ride. Fortunately, neither one is asking for a pony yet (yet...).

There was A LOT more that I'm not mentioning, but we finished out the day with some rides. The kids' favorite was the race cars and they even got to ride in the Matt Kenseth #17 Dewalt car (with the USG on the front - yay!!). This ride just reminds me of riding the scrambler at the fair or at Great America with my Grammy...she loved to sit on the inside and then squish us while the ride was going. I think Abby takes after her Gigi! :)

Technically, we finished the day with an elephant ear on our way back out to the car. :) We ate it too fast to get a picture though.

The next in line was a short visit from my parents. My dad had a few extra days since he went in for his quarterly checkup and there were NO TUMORS!!! Praise the Lord!! So, since he didn't have to have them removed, he didn't have down time, and if you know my dad at all, you know he won't sit still for long. :) They were coming off their big trip out west, so they had t-shirts and presents for the kids. My favorite was this little pajama set for Aiden...he looks like he's ready to go rob a bank! Totally cracks me up!!!

Also while they were here, the kids wanted to make cookies with Grammy. It's a very special time for them...the Betty Crocker gene did not get passed to me--or it is still developing. :) But of course, it wouldn't be cookie making time without the kids eating the dough.To add to the month of family time, a week later we had Grandma and Papa Worgess come to visit!! They hadn't been down to see our new house yet and we were so excited for them to come! We were also thrilled that Diane's health allowed her to travel to see us!Caleb was able to get his dad to play Wii Bowling with him (much to the excitement of little Caleb) and I think Rick may have gone home with sore shoulders. :)

The best part was when little Caleb beat big Caleb in Wii Bowling but I didn't get a chance to move the picture onto the computer from my phone. It was funny to see though, let me tell ya!

Of course we weren't smart enough to get a picture with everyone, there is at least a picture of OUR family finally! The last family picture we have was from March of 2008 (yeah, before I was even aware I was pregnant with Aiden.....) so this is nice to have. :)

And finally, my little baby is growing up. Little Caleb started Pre-K this year. I still cannot believe he's 4 already!! He only goes to school three times a week for less than three hours a day, but he is soooooo enjoying himself! He was so excited to go that first day, and yes, I did cry! I keep asking if he's making new friends and he says yes, but he doesn't know their names. Great friend he is.... I'm so proud of him though and am excited to see everything he starts learning!

What I did on my summer vacation. . .

The past month has been full of fun stuff!! PBS Kids in the Park, visit from some family, fun outside and a trip to Michigan! Here are the pics to prove it all. . .

First up was PBS Kids in the Park (or something like that. . .don't remember the exact name). It was downtown Indy and the kids had loads of fun. Of course, since it was free, there were LOADS of kids there as well. We were able to get in to see a couple characters, but Cookie Monster had a line a mile long. Started with the duck, which Abby was sooooooooo excited to see, but as soon as we got to the front of the line, she freaked out. Oh well, we still took a pic.
Then we worked our way through the park. The Oscar Mayer Weinermobile was there, and of course we had to get a pic with that! Too bad there were too many people for Caleb to get a good pic with the full Weinermobile! (It used to be my dream to drive the Weinermobile. . .maybe they're looking for drivers after the house crashing in WI. . .)
They had some bubble stations set up as well, and Caleb tried is hand at it. Took a couple times, but he figured it out.
Caleb decided he wanted his pic with Arthur. The line wasn't too bad, so we went for it. (At least it wasn't Caillou. . .I would NOT wait in line for that. . .)
Marsh grocery stores had a booth set up for bean bag toss (aka "Corn Hole" here in the south, but I just cannot bring myself to call it that. . .). Caleb was right up next to the board and won himself a little Pokemon toy (yay, more toys.).
Next up was the 4th of July. Uncle Jon, Aunt Rhonda and baby Matthew Joel came down for a few days and boy did the kids have fun together! And yes, Matthew has red hair too. :)We went to the Children's museum (after trying the zoo and deciding not to wait in the mile long line to get into the parking lot--seriously, it was about that long!) and the kids got to play.
Then of course came the fireworks. Since we live in IN now, fireworks are legal, so alllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll week we had been listening to the big boomers. The day of the 4th it rained in the evening, but we still went outside and did a few small ones with the kids.
These were a couple from within our neighborhood (the first one is literally behind a house across the street!). As much as we heard througout the week and then witnessed that night, we figured someone else down the street had spent their life savings on fireworks. Who needs to go to a big fireworks display when you can sit in your driveway and enjoy it all!
Then this past weekend we were able to go to MI for a few days away. We went to big Caleb's old stomping grounds in Grand Rapids and were able to meet up with an old YAM friend of mine as well as some other friends. The first day there involved a day at the beach in Grand Haven. The kids LOVED the sand (even if momma forgot the sunscreen until after they were covered in sand. . .) and Caleb even liked the water.
Caleb kept coming back out of the water saying he was cold and would put his towel on his head then curl up in a ball on the sand. . .this is what he looked like when he stood up again.
After that, he thought he'd stay warmer if he just kept the towel on while entering the water. Whatever.
Abby basically kept with the sand. She went out with daddy once into the water, but she didn't want to get wet.
Big Caleb's friend Cam was still on the road, but his wife Sheri and their kids Jacob and Izzie came with us to the beach. Jacob is 9 and is a water loving kid and little Caleb kept thinking he could run out into the waves just like Jake. Not so much. But the kids all had fun together in the sand. Notice the skin tone difference?? Yeah, poor little pale boy. . .
They tried to bury Jacob in the sand, but weren't able to get him all the way buried before someone accidently threw a handful of sand into his mouth. Sorry Jake!! (it was big Caleb, not a kid)

Abby and Izzie playing in the sand.

Caleb tried to put Aiden's feet in the water. . .he didn't like it very much.
BUT he was just fine and dandy sitting in his stroller in the shade.
The next day we went to the other side of the state to visit Caleb's Aunt Judy and Uncle Bill. We haven't seen them since 2003, so it was a much overdue visit, and the kids were excited to meet them! We stayed at their house and visited for a bit, took a walk around the park with Uncle Bill and then headed over to Frankenmuth for some famous Zehnder's chicken. NUMMY!
We're so glad we were able to visit them, and we will not wait another 6 years to see them again! Thanks Uncle Bill and Aunt Judy for visiting and joining us for dinner!!
Our last day in MI we were able to enjoy breakfast with Cam and Sheri (and kids) before they took off to go north for the week. Then we headed back over to Grand Haven to walk out to the lighthouse. Silly momma let the kids wear their flip-flops and they ended up with blisters, but other than that, it was a great walk and a beautiful, if not a bit chilly, day.
It was quite windy out there, and poor Abby (and momma too actually) had a problem keeping the hair out of her face. She took it all in stride though.
That evening we went to find a UofM shirt for Caleb and the kids (when in UofM country, must try to find one. . .) Here's the kids in their new shirts. Even Aiden got his own shirt.
Also at the mall they had a Build a Bear Workshop and we decided to see if they had any UofM or Detroit Tigers stuff, which of course they did. We also let the kids each pick out a new bear and got Aiden his first Build a Bear. He likes to chew on it, so for now he's sitting on Aiden's dresser. I now present to you MI Bear, Gibby, and Grinder.
If you're still reading, congrats!! You've made it to the end. :) Sorry for the long entry and all the pics. . .but I hope you enjoyed them all. Happy July!!