The Worgess Family

Yowzas.

2011-03-25T08:10:00.000-04:00

Oh HI!! Remember me? Been awhile apparently. :) I will get back to posting soon I guess...have a book review to finish and would like to show off some of my recent projects but I kinda have to wait to give them as gifts first.:)

So in the meantime...happy Friday! May the joy of your heavenly father surround you today as you go!

No-whine-zone

2011-01-08T17:31:00.000-05:00

So I enjoy being on Facebook and Twitter as much as the next person, but I am really, REALLY done with all the negative comments, status updates, etc. So, I'm ready to institute a new rule...the "no whiney-whiney" rule.

Basically, if a person has only negative, pessimistic, whiney tweets/status updates, then I am instituting the "no whiney-whiney" rule and they will either be unfollowed on Twitter or hidden on Facebook (or deleted if it gets REALLY bad). Of course there is some grace involved and if I can tell it is just a bad day or tongue in cheek, no rule action will be taken. On the other hand, the constant "ugh" and "sigh" and "woe-is-me-my-life-is-terrible" has to STOP!!!

There is so much negativity in the world already and if someone's life is perpetually THAT bad, well then DO something about it!! Don't just post (constantly) about all the bad and never even look for something good to come out of it. Also, I'm not talking about personal tragedy. This is more the stupid stuff...the post's like "ugh...my kid just drew on the wall AGAIN!" My thought? Then maybe you shouldn't have tweeted 15 times in the last 15 minutes...

Ok, enough of the rant, just wanted to make others aware that it is ok to announce that the "no whiney-whiney" rule in now in effect.

And yes, I completely get the irony of my whining here in this post. :)

Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball by Donita Paul

2010-12-07T20:44:00.000-05:00

Yet another book review. :) I received the book Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball by Donita K. Paul to review for Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers. I was actually looking forward to reading the book because I thought the premise was kind of cute: "Mischievous matchmakers. Two special tickets. One unlikely couple." I'm a sucker for a good, clean romance novel and thought this would fit the bill. It even had a cute cover (yes, I judge books by their cover!). Yes, it was a romance, but it also involved wizards and "oddities" that I just wasn't fond of.

If you like magic or things of that sort, then you may enjoy the book, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to anyone. Even removing the wizards, the story itself dragged a little for me. I did finish the book but if it weren't for the review, I would probably have put it down and not picked it back up again. SO, you probably want to rush right out and buy this one then, don't you? ;)

Wish I had a better review of the book, but I do not. The story line was too unbelievable for me, and I'm really not into the whole fantasy genre.

This book was provided to me by the Waterbrook Multnomah Blogging for Books program but all opinions are my own. (really, do you think THEY would want me to say this!?!?)

Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half by Steve and Annette Economides

2010-12-04T10:30:00.000-05:00

Through the Booksneeze program of Thomas Nelson, I received the book Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half by Steve and Annette Economides. If you know me, you know that over the past year and a half or so I have become quite the coupon/deal junkie, so I was excited to read this and see how much further I could take my grocery shopping adventures (I still have a LONG way to go...).

The book is an easy read and does go fairly quickly. They discuss how they as a family do monthly grocery shopping (including monthly meal planning) and use coupons. Their ides are quite simple and are really nothing other than I've already seen. I have to say if you are interested in cutting your grocery bills while still eating a healthy diet, I don't think you need to buy a book to tell you how to do it. There are NUMEROUS resources available through the web, one of my favorite being Money Saving Mom. The book itself isn't bad per se I just know there are other resources and it would not be worth it (for me) to actually purchase the book. However, if you are looking for a resource to keep at your fingertips and get you started down the path of lowering your grocery bill? This book would be a good resource.

I did decide to try their idea of monthly meal planning. Once again, this was not a new idea for me (my mom has been telling me about this for quite some time...) but I finally decided to give it a try. I've been good about planning one or two weeks at a time, but maybe with a monthly plan I will get better about having ALL ingredients on hand. :)

This book was provided to me through the Booksneeze program in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own.

Shutterfly Christmas!

2010-10-29T09:57:00.000-04:00

I am a Shutterfly girl...I adore their photobooks (so cute and colorful and EASY) and their good quality photo prints, but even more than that?? REALLY like the personalized photo cards!! A friend of mine introduced me to them last year and I have to say...easy-peasy.

My favorite designs are the ones where you can include more than one photo because, really? If your family is anything like mine, getting all five of us in a photo at the same time all looking at the camera and smiling pretty (without food stained shirts or mouths or crazy hair) is VERY rare. I think the last family photo I have is from little Caleb's first day of pre-K...last year. So anyway, here are a few of my faves:

With Love Blue is super very cute and I almost wish I had some black and white photos to do this myself (hmmmm...photo shoot anyone?!?)

Joy Love Story is a 5X7 photo card...nice and simple!

And last, but certainly not least...Top Ten Moments is a GREAT idea to personalize the card! Who needs a Christmas letter!

If you are not already a Shutterfly user, you are eligible for 50 free prints when you first sign up! They also have great promotions throughout the year! Also, if you're a blogger, you might want to check this out...you could get some free holiday cards yourself!!

So, if you're on my Christmas card list, you just *might* see on of those adorable cards coming to a mailbox near you. :)

Testing...

2010-10-28T07:30:00.000-04:00

This is just a test... Wanted to see how easy it is to post from something other than my computer.

I DO actually plan to post something of substance in the very near future, and if anything, Halloween is this weekend so of COURSE there will be pictures of the kids. Then again at the rate I post pics, you *might* see them by Christmas.

Praying for everyone this morning to have a wonderful day and if you are in the Midwest? Try not to blow away. :)

Baby It's Cold Outside...

2010-10-04T10:28:00.000-04:00

Brrrrrr. It's only October 4th, but I'm COLD. And if you know me at all, you know I RARELY am cold. I prefer cooler temps (not frigid) and being curled up under a soft blanket year-round (yet one more reason the A/C is set to 68 or 69 generally and the heat is about the same.) :) But for some reason, today I am COLD!!

Little Caleb has been in school for almost 9 full weeks now (I only know that because the little calendar from his school says the end of the 1st 9-weeks is this Friday. Yes, I are smart.) and we have YET to wait for the bus in the rain. That's right, I said almost NINE weeks and no rain. (Ok, it finally rained on Saturday, but not a ton...) Not that I'm complaining about standing waiting for the bus in the sun, but still...until today we hadn't experienced any poor weather. But today?? It's COLD!! We could see our breath as we stood waiting (which of course helped entertain the kids waiting for the bus...) Sadly it was probably only 45 or something this morning, but it just made me realize that in a month or so, we'll have to be bundled up just to wait for the bus. Not looking forward to that...

This week is spirit week at Little Caleb's school and today is Rock Star day. Being the conservative little family that we are, we don't have a lot of rock star gear. AND since picture day was less than 2 weeks ago, he just had a hair cut and his hair is too short to spike (sorry Uncle Chris...). SO, all we had was this shirt that he got to wear (thanks for Amber for the inspiration!!):

This totally cracks me up. So my little rock star is wearing this in addition to his shades, jeans with a hole in the knee and his sister's microphone. Her *pink* microphone. Ah well, here's hoping we can be a little more creative as he gets older....

And to answer your question...yes it's cold, but no, the heat is not on yet. The heat will not be turned on until AT LEAST November, hopefully later. :) Happy Random Monday!!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!!

2010-09-28T10:58:00.000-04:00

Today is my darling daughter's 4th birthday...where has the time gone?!?!? Four years ago, she was this:

ALL cheeks, I kid you not. Abby was my easiest delivery. I remember sitting and waiting for the time to push (I was well epidural-ized and felt goooooood!) and when the time came, it only took about 25 minutes or so (which was REALLY nice after the 2 hours it took with Caleb!). The entire time I was pushing, we were watching Wheel of Fortune and trying to solve the puzzles between contractions. :) Like I said, easiest delivery of all. Then she came out...all 10 lbs 2 oz of sweet, chubby, red-haired goodness.

Abby, I love you more than you will know (I would say "ever know" but I'm confident that when you have a daughter, you will understand!) and am so thankful that God entrusted your daddy and me with your care. You make us laugh daily! I love how you enjoy being a girl and playing with dolls and dressing up but also want to play with your brothers' cars and trains. Stick with your tutus and cars and don't let anyone tell you differently.

You have already grown into a beautiful little girl and I am excited to see the amazing things God has for you as you continue to grow. My prayer for you is to constantly seek after God and strive to become the woman He has made you to be. But for now? Just stay my baby girl awhile longer please.

Permission to Speak Freely by Anne Jackson

2010-09-07T21:18:00.000-04:00

Permission to Speak Freely by Anne Jackson is a compilation of both essays and art in a book full of honest views of the church and one woman's struggle with addictions and confession. Anne is a blogger who asked the question "What is one thing you feel you can't say in the church?" and the response was MUCH larger than she expected. She began to see there are SO many people within our church walls that are hurting and struggling with different sins, yet VERY few of them are willing to say anything about it.

Anne's book outlines her own personal struggles with addictions like pornography and pain killers as well as her struggle with trusting people within the church. Sadly, Anne grew up in the church (as a pastor's kid no less) and had first hand knowledge of how judgemental fellow Christians can be.

The book started out well but it did tend to start wandering about half-way through. Also, this is not a "self-help" book or even a "how-to" book, but it is truly all about her struggles and shows how freeing it was for her to be able to confess these things to others...to truly work through them all. It is a very easy read and I would recommend it if only to begin thinking more about what true confession is (not just acknowledging but truly confessing and making a change).

This book was provided to me for review by Thomas Nelson Publishing as part of the Booksneeze program. All opinions are my own.

The Boy Who Changed The World by Andy Andrews

2010-09-07T21:00:00.000-04:00

The Boy Who Changed The World by Andy Andrews is a children's book that illustrates the butterfly effect...where every action, good or bad, can influence other actions. It was a very cute book with very cute and appropriate illustrations for children. Each story weaves in the comment that God created us to make a difference. It goes through the chain of events from a farmer adopting George Washington Carver all the way up to Norman Borlaug, and how decisions each one made (large or small) had an influence on others.

I would recommend the book for children ages 3 - 8 as the story is written directly for children and is easily understood. All in all a good read!

This book was provided to me by Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of the Booksneeze program. All opinions are my own.

Cast of Characters by Max Lucado

2010-08-23T21:32:00.000-04:00

Cast of Characters: Common People in the Hands of an Uncommon God by Max Lucado...very good read!! The book is actually segments from a lot of different books he's written through the years (and if you know anything about Max Lucado, you know he's written A LOT of books!) and details the lives of "common people" from the Bible. Not only were they common people, but they accomplished amazing things with God's help. This quote from the conclusion sums it up well: "If you ever wonder how in the world God could use you to change the world, look at these people. This ragbag of ne'er-do-wells and has beens, failed followers and despairing church leaders who found hope, not in their performance, but in God's proverbially open arms." (pg 219)

My favorite chapter was about Mary, Martha and Lazarus. If you don't know their story, find your Bible and read John 12. But what I loved most about this chapter is the way Max described each...we all have a place at the table. The book as a whole is a good read and the shorter chapters make for quick reading as well.

This book was provided to me as part of the Thomas Nelson Booksneeze program. All opinions are my own.

He's Not Finished With Me Yet...

2010-08-09T16:32:00.000-04:00

Have you ever started a project and got about half-way through it before realizing it wasn't taking the shape you thought it should? Maybe it was off-center, maybe it was larger (or smaller) than you thought it was supposed to be. Maybe you used the wrong materials and didn't realize until it was too late. I've done this quite a few times throughout my (getting longer every year) crafty life.

As I was working on a project last night and having one of those times listed above, something hit me:

God's not finished with me yet!

While I may see a project in my hands that is not going the way I planned or desired it to go, God could say the same thing about me!! The difference?? I would probably (and have at times) just decide to scrap the idea/project and start over (or NOT start over and just give up) yet God doesn't!! God knows the end project...He knows how all the pieces fit together...He may see a partially complete project (and may not be pleased with its current state!) but He knows how it ends! He's not finished with me yet!

There is a wonderful freeing feeling in those words, but you have to trust that they're true! A song by Brandon Heath called "Wait and See" uses the phrase "he's not finished with me yet," and my favorite part of the song is this:

Still wondering why I'm here

Still wrestling with my fear,

But OH! He's up to something.

And the farther on I go, I've seen enough to know

that I'm not here for nothing, He's up to something...

He's not finished with me yet.

My prayer today is that I would continue to believe those words. That I would KNOW He's still working in my life!! And whether or not I know how things will all come together in this project of my life, God's word tells me in Romans 8:28 "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." Thank you Lord that you are NOT finished with me yet!!

Crazy, Busy Weekends!

2010-07-21T00:06:00.000-04:00

Life is anything but boring when there are three kids and friends and family that live far away (and by far away I mean anything over a couple hours...). This past few months we've been having a whirlwind of activity on the weekends and this old lady is feelin' it! :) Sad, no?

But first, one of the things the kids like to do with Daddy is make french toast for breakfast. They crack the eggs, mix it and even dunk the bread and place it in the skillet. Makes for a bit more cleanup but at least they're having fun!! (and yes, I do believe little Caleb is jammin' out to something here...he marches to his own drummer, just like his momma!)

In May Caleb and Abby were SOOOOO excited to welcome their new baby cousin Faith to the family! This was trip #1 (and #2 a week later...) to visit some family. We were able to go up to Uncle Chris and Auntie Em's and hang out with baby Faith for some time. Isn't she cute?? I think she takes after her aunt...

Then, for the 4th of July weekend, we decided to go visit my Grammy and Pappy along with Kerry, Rich and Marissa. I know, who in their right mind would decide to go to GEORGIA in July!! But God was definitely smiling on this trip because the weather was GORGEOUS!! It was crazy lovely and we had SUCH a good time! So fun, in fact, that we didn't take hardly any pictures. It was just as we were finishing packing that I remembered we needed a pic of Grammy and Pappy with the kids!!

Then the weekend after that we had cousins from the other side of the family in to visit and the kids all had a BLAST playing together! The toy room was sufficiently trashed but they also enjoyed cleaning it all up the day after. :) The kids had so much fun, the camera forgot to make an appearance (I know, do you see a pattern?? Oh, and I didn't mention Papa Rick came to visit the weekend before the 4th and, yup--you guessed it...no pics!)

This past weekend we took ANOTHER road trip up to Tomah, WI to visit my best friend and her family. Shannon and I have been friends since I was in 7th grade and it stinks living almost 8 hours drive away from her. :( Again, we had SUCH a good time!!! At least this time I remembered to get the camera out at least a few times....here's Weston, Tyler and Aiden. Tyler and Aiden were born just under one month apart and it was SO fun to watch them toddle around together!

Princess Abby and Princess Lydia (and Aiden looking on...wanted to be in the picture!) Abby and Lydia are about 7 months apart in age and they played ALL weekend together!

Knight Caleb and Darth Vader Weston doing a nice sword fighting scene for us. Weston is almost a year and a half older than Caleb, but they get along GREAT as well!!

An attempt to get a pic of ALL the kids together and as you can see, Aiden wanted NO part in it!

So instead, here are the other five. Aiden just HAD to be in the other picture so we'll leave him out of this one. :) See?? Everyone looks HAPPY!!

And of course, me and my BFF Shannon. I am SOOOOO thankful that God has seen fit to keep her a part of my life for all these years! We may not see each other as often as we did in high school or college (we saw each other EVERY.DAY! in college) but I know that she is there for me and even in all my moving around since high school, Shannon has been the constant. :) So thankful we were able to spend some time with them over the weekend!!

The summer is winding down for us but we still have more fun friend and family time coming! I think by the time school starts in a few weeks I'll be ready to stay home for a few days. :)

With this ring, I thee wed

2010-07-14T09:18:00.000-04:00

July 13, 2002...The day I married my man. I am SOOOOO very thankful that God chose me to be his helpmate. I pray that as we continue in our lives together that we would always be looking to God as the head of our house...that we would continue to work together to be the parents our children need. I pray that I would always be the wife my husband deserves and most importantly that I would continue to grow more in love with him every day. It hasn't been a smooth 8 years but it hasn't been completely rocky either. Praise God for that!

Thank you Caleb for being more than the husband I deserve...I love you dearly and am SOOOOOOOO proud of you! Thank you for bringing me along on this adventure...may we always allow God to direct our sail. Love you!!

Storm Warning by Billy Graham

2010-06-18T11:19:00.000-04:00

I had the opportunity to read the revised Storm Warning by Billy Graham for a book review. He first wrote the book in 1992, but with all the changes going on around the world, he revised and updated the book to show again how today's happenings could fit within the end times. The book centers on the prophesies for the end times and where we are currently. Although we do not know the day or time, Billy Graham through the book emphasizes what the Bible says about watching and praying for the return of Christ. My favorite part actually is at the very end when Billy says "...But I must also keep working until He comes." So very true! In the book he goes through an indepth review of the four horsemen as well as signs of the times. This book is a good read if the end times is something you are interested in!

This book was provided to me through the Booksneeze program. I was given the book for free in exchange for my review. All opinions are mine and mine alone. :)

Change Is a'Comin'

2010-06-15T21:21:00.000-04:00

Change....it's on the wind (and there's LOTS of wind 'round these parts lately...PHEW!!). If you see Mary Poppins flyin' by, well, don't say I didn't warn you. Then again, it could always be the Wicked Witch as well...who knows! :)

All I do know is that change is coming and the constant in it all?? God. God's love for us, His desire for us to desire HIM more. God's there even in the minute details...how can we NOT be excited about that?!?!? So as we enter into a season of change, we move forward BOLDLY proclaiming Christ's sufficiency in our lives. May we always be this bold.

Oh, and in case you forgot how cute my kids were, here you go! :)

Plan B by Pete Wilson

2010-05-03T22:36:00.000-04:00

This is a review of the book Plan B by Pete Wilson. The tagline "What do you do when God doesn't show up the way you thought he would" really drew me to this book. The basic premise of the book is just that...what happens when God doesn't come through like we (mere-humans!) think he should. Pete uses characters from the Bible as well as current day personal experiences to illustrate these points. Joseph, Jonah, David...they all experienced a "Plan B" but God was with them through it all.

Anyone that is currently experiencing, has experienced or thinks they will experience a "Plan B" situation should read this book. He does not provide all the answers for how to get through adversity, but every person's "Plan B" is different, and only God is the one that has those answers.

A question he asked is "What would you do if you were absolutely confident God was with you?" What a powerful question to consider when coming upon our own "Plan B" situations! His response, "When you respond in your current circumstances as if you were confident that God is there, you will see God in the circumstances." I really like that, and I think it is a good question/response to keep in mind when adversity does strike. All in all, a good book, and I would recommend it to anyone!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T21:07:00.000-04:00

He Is RISEN!!! May you all experience the wondrous power of the cross all year and not just on Easter Sunday. Matthew 28:20b "And behold I am with you always, to the end of the age."

Happy Easter from the Worgess Family!

Five Question Friday 2/5/10

2010-02-06T10:50:00.000-05:00

So, I decided to do the Five Question Friday again...just pay no mind to it actually being SATURDAY when I post it. :) Thanks to Mama M at My Little Life for the questions!

1. What are you most afraid of?
Hmmm...probably losing one of my children. I pray that I can grow old with my husband with my children and their families close by. Oh, and if you recall a couple weeks ago I said my extended family would have some Noah-ish years...yeah still praying that one too.

2. Do you use a flat iron or curling iron?
Curling iron?? HA HA HA! Um, no. Flat iron, maybe once or twice a year. If you know me, you know I have naturally curly hair. It takes about an hour or so to straighten it, which doesn't seem like a long time to some people, but when I'm used to taking about 20-25 minutes to get ready (start to finish including shower...) then an hour is a LONG time. Also, 3 toddlers could get into A LOT of mischief in that time......

3. Hands-free or phone to the ear?
Phone to ear, mostly because I don't have a hands-free anymore. My blue-tooth ear piece broke and I'm too cheap to buy a new one right now. It doesn't bother me to hold the phone though (generally).

4. Do you have a matching bedroom set?
YES!!! It is my parents' set from when they owned a house and it was all made by my father! A nice bed, a GORGEOUS armoire (and if you've ever helped them or us move, you know it's fairly large...) and a side table. Love it, love it, love it. My daddy made it sometime when we lived in Baraboo (so sometime between 7th grade and end of high school...) and I always told them I wanted it. SO, good thing they sold their house so we could have it. :) Thanks Mom and Dad!

5. Do you believe in the paranormal?
No. 'Nuff said. :)

A Face Only a Mother Could Love

2010-01-23T17:45:00.000-05:00

It's about time to update some pics. :) Sorry for the delay, it just hasn't been a priority. The past couple months have been chock full of "stuff!" Aiden's first birthday, little Caleb's first school Christmas program, Christmas, and lots of other "stuff!" So, here are some pictures for you to enjoy. I didn't pull in a lot of Christmas photos because you really don't need to see all the spoiling my children received. Just trust me when I say the pictures are cute! :)

So, December 1st marked Aiden's 1st birthday!! Hard to believe he's already over a year (almost 14 months now, YIKES!). This time has just flown by! A week or so after his actual birthday, we celebrated with a little cake just for him. Grammy came through again with the little personal size teddy bear cake.

Preparing for the cake....Mmmmmmmmm...beaters!

Now each of the kids has had their go at the teddy bear. Not sure which one was the cleanest, I just know they were ALL messy. Ha!

I think he likes it. :)

And once again, I am *that* mom...matching sweaters...c'mon, aren't they cute??

Little Caleb had his pre-K Christmas program in December and he was so excited to sing his songs. They sang "Happy Birthday Jesus," "C'mon Ring Those Bells," and then performed "5 Little Snowmen." I personally thought the "5 Little Snowmen" was a little disturbing because they all lost their heads! 4 year olds singing about snowmen losing their heads?? Eh, made me laugh too. Here he is on stage.

My mom outdid herself again this year and made some adorable costumes for the kids so they could perform a little skit for us at Christmas.

Caleb was a shepherd.....

Abby was the angel...

and Aiden was the sheep.

First Abby came running in and told Caleb "Do not fear I bring you good news! A baby is born in a manger, let's go!" Then they sang "The First Noel" for us. I was waiting for Abby to come running in "Shazam!" just like the angel from "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever." Maybe next year.

My parents and Chris and Em came to visit for a few days over Christmas, and as they were packing up, Uncle Chris came downstairs and pulled little Caleb into the bathroom to give him some spiky hair. Lilguy thought that was SOOOO much fun and he kept touching his hair the rest of the day. This picture shows how much lilguy and Uncle Chris look alike.... :)

The hippo is also on the 3rd kid and Aiden loves to use it. If he takes off somewhere, it's generally because he wants to find the hippo. His favorite thing is to either sit in it and have lilguy push him around the house, or he has lilguy sit in it and HE pushes. It's very cute to watch and listen to as well since there are generally loads of giggles coming from the vicinity of the hippo. :)

And last (for now) a pic of Aiden and Daddy...my mom made these fleece hats for each of the kids and a matching one for Daddy. I thought I had a picture with all three kids and Caleb wearing the hats, but apparently I don't. :( Just imagine that it's cute.

Five Question Friday!!

2010-01-22T21:50:00.003-05:00

So a friend of mine does this, and I thought it might be fun, so here goes! Thanks to My Little Life for the questions!

1. What is better, growing old with out money or dying young and wealthy?
Hmm...I'd like to say it's an easy one, but it really depends! I'd love to grow old with my family all intact (including parents/grandparents/in-laws and out-laws so get ready for some Noah-ish years of living!) but that's just as selfish as saying I want to die young wealthy, right? Kinda not really, ok fine. I'd rather grow old without money then. :)

2. Who takes out the garbage at your house?
My husband. If there was a 32nd chapter in Proverbs, it would say "a good husband shall take out the family garbage" or something like that....

3. Have you ever had the same dream many times?
No, although pregnancy brought some funky dreams, never really had the same dream more than once.

4. Can you play a musical instrument?
Can is such an *odd* word...I *can* play the piano and trumpet; however, I haven't touched a trumpet in almost 15 years and the piano, well, that never went too much further than Fur Elise.

5. If you owned your own store, what would you sell?
Ooh, ooh, ooh...I would sell fabric. NO, I would sell purses. No wait, I would sell fabric. Actually a craft store would be GREAT (and I just bet I could get my mom to help once in awhile...)

Hmmmm...Interesting.

2009-12-21T10:36:00.003-05:00

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

2009-11-01T14:23:00.007-05:00

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

2009-09-02T21:24:00.004-04:00

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. . .

2009-07-25T21:35:00.010-04:00

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!!

The Lazy Days of Summer

2009-06-23T22:06:00.006-04:00

Well, once again, it's been forever, but I won't apologize. Lots going on and just haven't made it a priority (sorry! oops. . .guess I did apologize). The kids continue to grow an learn and make us laugh constantly! It's fun to listen to them and their imaginations! Tonight, Abby was leading little Caleb around the house by his t-shirt while he was barking like a dog. See, like I always say, who needs a dog when you have kids!!

A couple weeks ago I was out shopping and I became one of THOSE moms! You know the kind. . .the kind that insists upon dressing their kids alike all the time. . .well, I used to think it was cheesy, but NO MORE!!! My boys are TOO cute in their matching muscle shirts. :)Of course we had to get a picture with all three, and Abby's starting to stick out a little bit (ya know, since she doesn't match and all. . .) Don't you wonder what Aiden must be thinking? (probably "make momma take this shirt off of me!!! I'm an individual not a twin!!")
Like I said before, the kids are getting bigger all the time, and here's proof. . .Aiden is sitting up on his own and is rolling/inching all over the place! He's been rolling for awhile, but now he'll cross the entire room if we leave him alone. At his 6 month check up he was 19lbs 4oz. Yeah, getting bigger!
This week we bought little Caleb a booster seat to use since Aiden is ready to move into a bigger car seat (or should I say WE are done carrying him in the other one! Phew, that boy's heavy!). With the booster seat comes the ability for them to ride in Daddy's car and that was all little Caleb could talk about for about 12 hours until he had the chance to actually go for a ride. Daddy decided to start a new tradition and he took little Caleb to lunch on Monday and Abby to lunch on Tuesday. They got to ride in Daddy's car in the booster seat and both were SOOOO excited!!! Here's pictures from each day:

Last week, my parents came for a visit for a few days. They just returned from Africa, and of course they had some goodies for the kids. The safari hat was for little Caleb, but Aiden sure looks cute in it too. :)
My dad got in some good cuddle time with kiddos, and everyone was sad to see them go again. They're headed west now for a two month jaunt around the mountains.
Went shopping for a bit with my parents and they let the kids each pick out a couple outfits. Being THAT mom, of course I had to pick out a matching shirt and shorts for Aiden! The outfit on Abby was brought back from Africa and she loves it. . .she struts around all proud and likes to play with the beads.

We also set up the pool on our back porch to give the kids another place to play. They've enjoyed it quite a bit already!
That's all for now. . .I'm still on the coupon kick and am really enjoying it! Caleb still thinks I'm odd, but that really hasn't changed much in 7 years. :) He still loves me so that's what matters. hee hee. What a guy! Oh, and here's one last one of the littlest cutie. . .

Updates

2009-04-30T07:19:00.005-04:00

Time for some new pics. I'm trying to beat the e-mail from my dad demanding, I mean asking politely, for more pics of the kids. ;)

For some reason I'm not able to move my pics around, so these will be a little out of order. Here's the three cuties all together. This hasn't happened much yet, but it turned out cute.

Little Caleb likes to hold Aiden and he's actually getting much better about not pushing him away after a couple seconds! Abby's not so good at it yet, but she's only two. Can't expect too much, right?
Here's our little soccer stud. Last week wasn't the greatest (I think he stood on the field and as the ball was kicked past him, he'd watch it go, then decide to run after everyone), but we're thinking this weekend might be better. It's been raining off and on for a couple days, so we figure there'll be some mud on the field and THEN he might get back into it. :) Note to self: take extra clothes for the trip home this time.
For anyone that isn't aware, my parents are currently in Nairobi, Kenya helping out with a construction project and working in the office (can you figure out which one is doing which job?). Thanks to a wonderful program called Skype, we are able to talk to them on the phone, over the computer for FREE! Yeah, that's right. With my new frugal self (or at least attempting to be frugal) free is pretty darn great. Not to mention if Skype wasn't around, we'd be having to wait 8 weeks to talk to them and I don't like that plan either. SO, back to the pictures. . .here's a picture of little Caleb talking on the "phone" to Pappy and Grammy.
And here's one of Abby talking to them. The headset is a little big for her, so I had to hold it up for her.
Here's a picture of Aiden in his highchair. He's eating cereal twice a day now and really likes it. We tried green beans for the first time yesterday and he wasn't as fond of those, but he'll get there! (Don't ya love the bib?? That came from Grammy and Pappy's travels and it just cracks me up everytime I see it!)
Here he is with his froggy too. This came in his Easter basket and he likes to stuff it in his mouth. Frog legs anyone?
Here's Abby at Caleb's last game. It was a pretty windy day so she wasn't too thrilled about it. She does enjoy sitting and watching the games though!
That's all for now. Caleb and I are excited as tonight we are going to a banquet for the area crisis pregnancy center. Not only is this an area we both feel strongly about supporting, the keynote speaker is Mike Huckabee. I'm not really into politics, but we did like A LOT that he said during the campaigns last year. Should be a great night!

OH, and for the coupon haters (or those that just don't get it yet--which was me just a month or so ago) I went to CVS yesterday and spent $0.90 plus tax. . .my total prior to handing over the coupons was almost $24. So yeah, I forked over a TOTAL of $1.90 (darn tax!) in cash AND came away with $5 in CVS bucks to spend at a later date. :) I'm liking this couponing stuff.

Oh oh oh, I also heard a HILARIOUS story this weekend. In our small group we've been going through the book Shepherding a Child's Heart and have had many discussions about spanking. Well, someone brought up a story about a friend of theirs. . .when said friend was growing up the mom called her wooden spoons "hearing aids" and would carry one in her purse. If said child was acting up in the store, mom would say, "do I need to get out the hearing aids?" CRACKED ME UP!!! We all laugh (now at least) about our own parents carrying a wooden spoon with them, in the car, in their purse, whatever but I had never heard them called "hearing aids" before, and well, it really is quite fitting. :)

Granpappy and GG Time and My New Passion!!

2009-03-24T21:38:00.008-04:00

A couple weeks ago we went down to Georgia to visit Granpappy and GG (my Grammy and Pappy) and Kerry, Rich and Marissa. The kids were SOOOOO excited before we left! The whole way down, Caleb kept asking if we were in Georgia yet. Yeah, that got old fast. :) BUT all of the kids traveled REALLY well and the ever faithful DVD player did not even need to make an appearance (on the way there OR back! 18 hours total in the car!).
Last spring when we went to visit, Granpappy took Caleb out for a spin on his lawnmower. Well, little Caleb's memory is like nothing I've ever seen (well, besides his father's of course) and he remembered all about it. One of the first things he asked when we got there was if he could go for a ride. So, the next morning, Granpappy got out the lawnmower and took him for a ride. He actually let Caleb steer. . .not sure if that was a good plan. :)
Caleb also stole Granpappy's work hat from the garage. He was all decked out for the Bears!
GG made some popcorn for the kids for a nighttime snack. As usual, they were engrossed in a movie while eating their popcorn!
For what has now basically become a tradition, we had to go to Toys-R-Us for Caleb to pick out his birthday toy from Kerry and Rich. Of course Miss Abby had to pick out something as well, and she chose a princessy little skirt.
Caleb and Abby like to dance together too. . .it's really cute because he actually turns her!
One of the coolest parts of our trip was getting to see my cousin Marissa's gymnastics meet! She just turned 14 and it's amazing what she can do! Unfortunately we couldn't get the camera to work the greatest so the pics are a tidge blurry, but she was moving pretty quickly. I'm so proud of her and all she's done!!
The kids brought their blankets and pillows out into the living room and thought they needed to lay down with Aiden. Caleb wouldn't cooperate with the picture though.
My parents also surprised everyone and drove down from North Carolina (250 miles) for the weekend! It was GG's birthday so they called Rich to figure out where the birthday dinner was and told him to keep it quiet. We walked in and there they were! It was a great surprise and the kids couldn't contain their excitement! I don't have pictures with them though. . .check their blog for some of those.

Now for some other random pictures. . .

This past weekend we got the exersaucer out for Aiden and he seems to like it a lot! Hard to believe he'll be 4 months next week!
The next morning, I heard the rattles and toys on the exersaucer and thought Caleb was standing there playing with them. . .when I walked into the room, this is what I saw. He had climbed in himself and was sitting there playing. Nice. The kids like to stand next to him and play with the toys with Aiden. I really, REALLY hope the kids all stay this close because they all like each other for now!
Another time I came into the room and Caleb had put his blanket over Aiden then laid down next to him. Like I said. . .they all like each other. Here's baby Aiden in the little sweater Aunt Judy made him. He looks so cute!!!So, the kids are great and I'm loving how much they are growing and learning!! BUT, I have a new passion that I am hitting with a vengence and am very excited about! I'm in the process of learning all about couponing and finding all the great deals!! Never in my life have I done something like this. Last week at our MOPS group someone spoke to us about little money saving tips and I felt like the sky opened, the angels were singing and all was right with the world! I have soooooo much to learn, and it could be time consuming but I don't think I'll be one of the die-hards (not yet at least). I'll let the die-hards do their thing and tell me where to go!! There are many blogs/sites I've found that spell out where to go when and with which coupon for "x" amount of savings. THAT is my kind of couponing! Just an example. . .this Sunday our small group (minus three of the eight kids) is attending a Pacer's game. We have 14 tickets and all were FREE except for Ticketmaster fees!! So each ticket ended up costing $2.60. YAY!! So, I say bring on the deals! :)

Adventures in Parenting

2009-03-08T16:58:00.006-04:00

We have had some fabulous weather here the past week or so. Beautiful blue sky, sometimes a bit chilly still, but this weekend was definitely warmer! Spring is in the air (including tornado watches which we've been dealing with today. . .).

With the great weather, the kids have had some time to get outside and play on the bikes or just hang out. Here's Caleb working on riding his bicycle. Still needs a little work, but he's getting there! Aiden wanted to look like Daddy for the day so he's wearing his khaki's and polo shirt. :) I didn't get a picture of little Caleb, but he was wearing a polo shirt the same day and said, "I need to be tucked in like Daddy." We signed up Caleb for soccer this spring (starts next month). . .it'll be the first "real" activity he'll be in and we're not sure how he'll do. He and two of his little friends love to run around together (not just play, but physically run), but the other two are definitely more athletic at this point. One of the boys' mom told me the other day that every smart kid needs a dumb jock to protect him, so her son will be that for Caleb. Made me laugh. . .

So anyway, back to the soccer. We have an indoor sports facility right next door to our church (owned and operated by the church) and there is an indoor soccer field. On Thursdays, Caleb likes to take the kids over there because the soccer field is completely walled in, so he can just let the kids run back and forth to their hearts content. So, the other day he took the camera with to get some pictures.

Caleb, and the future soccer pose. . .

Caleb feeling a little happy.Abby taking a quick break from kicking the ball. . .Caleb attempting to take out Abby (full contact soccer. . .)But this is how Abby responds to that. "Take that big brother!" (Not really . . . not sure why he's laying there.)Abby almost caught in the act. . .she had taken a dry erase marker and wrote ALL OVER the refridgerator. Fortunately, dry erase marker comes off refridgerators easily.

Abby trying to pose for the camera. I would tell her to smile and she'd say cheese which would make her face look weird. . .this is one I caught mid-cheese so it doesn't look as bad.

Here's Abby and friend Joseph. I got the camera a minute too late as right before this they had both been sucking their thumbs and playing with their hair (opposite hands). Farmer Aiden. I only saved a SMALL handful of clothes from Caleb, but these overalls from Gran-pappy and GG were one of the items. The story behind the overalls is that when my family moved to Wisconsin (twenty years ago) my Pappy said that everyone is Wisconsin had to have a pair of Osh-Kosh B'Gosh. So he bought a pair for little Caleb when he was born. Now they fit Aiden!

Then one night Daddy decided to make pizzas with the kids. They stand on their chairs and did quite well!Of course, you cannot make pizza without taste testing as you go. Here's Abby. . .

And of course, Caleb had to try it too. :)

Spreading the sauce (a little out of order, sorry).

My most favorite story from the last few weeks was when little Caleb started talking to us in the van and proceeded to tell us basically the entire Resurrection story! It made me a little teary but I was quite impressed with what he was telling us. My prayer is that someday (sooner than later!) he truly understands what he was saying!! Oh, and he and Abby's favorite song is now "Mighty to Save." I LOVE to hear them sing!

That's all for now. . .we're headed to Georgia later this week to visit Gran-Pappy and GG along with Miss Kerry, Mr Rich and Miss Marissa. More pictures will surely follow!

Pictures

2009-03-05T12:18:00.003-05:00

So my dad sends me an e-mail once again this morning that he needs more pics. . .well, I don't have any on the computer quite yet, but I will definitely try to get some on here today. For now, enjoy the chubs. :) Chris says he's going to call him "Brunswick" because he resembles a bowling ball.

Speaking of bowling balls, Caleb likes to "bowl" and is pretty good. . .he doesn't *look* very smooth, but he gets more spares than I do.

And here's Abby being a ham. Silly girl wouldn't sit still for a photo.

Snow!! (Finally. . .)

2009-02-01T03:58:00.005-05:00

When we were moving down here a couple years ago, everyone was telling us the winters here were very similar to Chicago. We have yet to experience that! This year and even last winter, we keep hearing about snowfall, after snowfall, after snowfall. . .but nothing here. Until this week, when we FINALLY got some snow! We actually got around 8 or 9" which was quite a hit considering we had only had a dusting (and I truly mean barely a dusting) previously this year.

So, everything was basically closed on Wednesday (they don't have many snowplows around here!) so Caleb got to stay home and play in the snow with the kids. (Note: that's the one negative about working from home. . .no "I'm snowed in" excuse. :) That's ok though, I'll take the positives over the negatives!)

The kids did not get new snow pants this year (good thing we didn't spend money on something for only a couple uses!) but the ones from last year still fit (basically at least. . .a little short and getting pretty tight, but that's ok they still work!) The only reason I point that out is if you've remember pics from last winter. . .yes, they are wearing the same stuff. :)

Here is poor Abby. She had a hard time walking and ended up laying in the snow most of the time. Once Caleb was able to shovel the sidewalk and driveway a little, she was more mobile.

Here she is again. Assume the position.

Trying to decide if she should venture out from the door or not. This was prior to the sidewalk getting shoveled.

Caleb didn't seem to have much trouble. He just started walking out. . .kept getting stuck, but at least he could stand!

This is prior to actually getting outside. Abby still reminds me of the kid from "The Christmas Story" that can't walk in his suit.

And of course I need to include a picture of baby Aiden! He's doing very well (except for an ear infection in both ears. . .) and is now 13lbs and 23 1/2" long. He had his two month check up on Friday and the little chubber is doing fine. :)

Just this week he started smiling and it's very cute! He has a little dimple up close to his mouth (along with a normal cheeky dimple) and I hope he keeps them both! He also surprised us Friday night and slept from about 9pm until 5:30! That was nice! Saturday night wasn't as long, but he still went from 9pm until 3am (but now I can't get back to sleep, hence updating the blog at 4am!) which is not bad either. We'll keep at it!

Happy New Years Eve!

2008-12-31T20:36:00.005-05:00

Happy New Years from the Worgess fam. . .The past couple days haven't been too fun as little Caleb had the flu. He seems to be on the upswing now, but we'll see (we thought the same thing last night but he surprised us again this morning). You can't read his shirt fully right here, but his shirt says "Say BOO to the Flu" which I thought an appropriate shirt to wear while having the flu! Guess we should have gotten him in for a flu shot. . .we're really, REALLY hoping Aiden doesn't catch anything! OH, and in case anyone was wondering (or cared. . .) this is actually the second time he's worn this shirt in the last couple days. . .it's already been through the wash. As have three other pairs of jammies. . .woo-hoo!! Fun times. I have to say though, it really made me giggle because this morning when I was on the phone, he came wandering into the kitchen, opened the cupboard where I keep the tupperware and he grabbed out a "puke bucket" for himself. I was impressed that he did it himself! Fortunately, he is MUCH better with the bucket than he used to be. Now he actually uses it. When he was little, he'd just push it away and throw up all over (just ask my mom about that one. . .I think she changed her shirt at least four times in one night). Anyway, enough sickie stories!

While Caleb has been sick, Abby has been happy as a clam! Poor thing has had to entertain herself quite a bit, which has made for MANY laughs for Momma listening to her. This afternoon she was talking to her Care Bear and Mr. Bear about changing their pants cuz they were stinky. She makes me laugh.

This picture below was Daddy's idea, but you have to imagine that Abby's been trying to figure out a way to get Aiden in this stroller since he came home from the hospital! Poor Aiden. . .he could be in for a lifetime of stuff like this. At least he only has one big sister. . .if he were the youngest AND the only boy, well then I'm sure we'd see him in her doll dresses too.
And last but not least, here are our two bums as they watch one of their movies. Grammy and Pappy got them these bean bag chairs for Christmas, and now they think they need their "blue and purple chairs" anytime they watch a movie. The bags are a little big to keep in our living room so this requires Mommy or Daddy to bring them up and down the stairs every so often. At least they're light!
We hope everyone has a very SAFE and Happy New Year!!

Five is the Loneliest Number. . .

2008-12-25T14:37:00.008-05:00

Wow. . .once again a long time since a post, but as most of you know, I've been busy with other things. My dad has been very good about updating their blog with pics, so hopefully you've seen the pics of the kids while I've been "busy." My parents have been here (with a week or so off in the middle) since the day after Thanksgiving, and they just left yesterday morning (Christmas Eve) to head back south (just in time for us to have 60 degree weather this weekend!). So, the house is now down to five members, but it seems empty. :) We're SOOOOOOO thankful for all their help while they were here and they will be greatly missed! Not only for their help, but just cuz we'll miss them (especially the kids!).

So, since it's been so long, here are a ton of pictures to enjoy!

This is how the kids like to watch cartoons in the morning.

When they aren't fighting for space in mommy and daddy's bed at least.

Gee, isn't he cute? He takes after his father. . .

Our little musician. She also LOVES to sing and will just break into song wherever she is.

They both like to play with the Nativity set (or 'tivity as Abby calls it). Here, Abby had all the angels and wise men lined up. I guess they had to wait in line to get in to see baby Jesus.

Abby and new baby brother Aiden. She and Caleb both think he's kinda cool.

My mom unpacked all my old bridesmaid dresses. They are now for Abby to play dress up. This was actually the dress Mom wore for the "Culver's Prom" but she kept it with my stuff for future use. Abby sure liked it!

Caleb playing his game on Pappy's computer. He really liked his puzzle games. Of course he only wanted to play whenever Pappy would sit down to do something on the computer (which really was quite often).

Pappy asked Caleb if he wanted to help put this TV stand together. I was in the other room and this is what I kept hearing. . .Pappy: "Caleb hand me [insert part name]. Abby, you're in the way." I think Caleb was a good helper. . .Abby, not so much.

In the theme of dress up, Grammy made the kids costumes to be Mary and Joseph with Aiden as baby Jesus. It was ADORABLE!! She even taught them to sing "Away in a Manger" and they sat in their costumes and sang for us. The first picture was the dress rehearsal for Pappy and Mommy, but when it came time for the actual performance (in front of Daddy, Uncle Chris and Auntie Em) they didn't do as well. They sang the first line, then Caleb said, "my song has spots" (which means there are skips like on his DVD's). Nice.

As they were getting ready, Abby was dressed as Mary and said, "I'm Mary and you're Joseph," but Caleb said, "No, Abby, I don't have my costume on yet." After the "performance" Grammy was getting them into their clothes again, and little Caleb announced, "I'm a boy again!" Guess he knows the difference between being in character and being yourself. . .

The three kiddos together. Like I said. . .Caleb and Abby think he's kinda cool. Oh, and by the way, I promise we do comb Abby's hair everyday.

Christmas Time!!!

The first Christmas gifts were from Gran-Pappy, G-G (Great-Grammy), Uncle Rich, Miss Kerry, and Miss Marissa, Uncle Chris and Auntie Em, and Grammy and Pappy.

Miss Marissa got Caleb a sticky hand. He kept flinging it around the room and getting it stuck to packages. He thought it was pretty cool and we all got a kick out of watching him use it!And if there was ever any doubt that Abby is a princess. . .well, now those doubts will be taken care of. I present to you, Princess Abigail.And of course, every princess needs super cool sunglasses and a matching purse. Yes, this is definitely my child (at least in the way of purses. . .not the princess thing!). She received no less than four purses this year. . .and I may be missing some. :)And here they are with Auntie Em and Uncle Chris. Grammy made them matching Elmo jammies. Too cute!Grammy also made them both a pair of Michigan pants. Abby of course had to try on everything as she opened it. Here she is modeling her new Michigan pants, the purse Grammy made her (which matches Mommy's!) and the wings and headband that came with her fairy costume. She is one stylin' chic! (You can't see it, but Daddy french rolled her pants too. Tres '80's!)And here, Abby is modeling her new "jingle bell" hair thingys. These are actually perfect for her because when she sings "Jingle Bells" she shakes her whole body back and forth! Thanks Grammy for these, she loves 'em! (And see? I told you we comb her hair. . .) There were MANY more gifts from everyone listed above, but this post is long enough already without going into more!! Thank you sooooo very much to all for the fabulous gifts! The kids had a great Christmas!Three weeks and two days old. . .already found his fingers. The other two moved from finger to finger before settling on their specifics (Caleb's first two and Abby's thumb) so we're not sure if this is where he'll end up or if he'll move to other fingers/thumb. And for those that recall pictures of Caleb when he was born. . .yes, this is almost an exact replica.

Christmas Part 2: Mommy and Daddy gifts. Since Grammy, Pappy, Uncle Chris and Auntie Em left Christmas Eve morning, we were actually alone as a family for Christmas Day!!! So, we woke up (slowly) this morning and came downstairs for the kids to open their gifts from us.

Abby got this doll house, which Caleb also likes to play with. Here's another set of matching jammies made by Grammy. (And yes, I know Abby looks like a homeless street urchin.)Daddy's caption for this one. . ."Bah Humbug."Caleb got this basketball hoop that will grow with him. He's no Michael Jordan, but he's only three. . .at one point he thought he should try kicking the ball instead. Maybe sports won't be his thing. We'll see. He really likes the hoop. He especially liked it when Daddy put it up to six feet tall and lifted him up to "dunk" the ball. After they opened their gifts and played for awhile, they came in to watch "Milo and Otis" (or the cat and dog movie as Caleb calls it). Of course, Abby can be seen in yet another new outfit that she had to try on right away. Yes, it's another Michigan outfit.And last but not least, the littlest munchkin. I need to get better at labeling "Caleb" and "Aiden" in their pictures. 10 years from now it will be difficult to remember which one is which because they really do look identical at this age. The only difference, Aiden has the chicken legs while Caleb had a few more rolls. :)

We still have one more Christmas to go with the Worgess family up in Illinois (hopefully in the next week or two. . .depending on when we go up there). Phew! Christmas celebrations everywhere!!

I always say that I will post more often, but it doesn't happen. Since my parents won't be back in the area for a few months, I'm sure I'll be hearing from Dad to post sooner. . .and I will try! I'm off work for another few weeks so maybe during this time I'll have a few extra minutes. :)

We hope everyone has a VERY Merry Christmas!!!

Fall Fun

2008-11-06T17:29:00.006-05:00

Caleb and the kids played out in the yard this afternoon, and he was able to get some cute pics of the kids in the leaves. Here you go!We've been loving this fall (?) weather but it looks like it might turn in the next day or so. Still warmer than up north in Chicago though! I'm ready for the cooler weather personally, but I know most people don't share that sentiment. OH, and with all that fresh air the kids got. . .little Caleb just got up from a FOUR hour nap! Wow! That's actually the third time this week since they've been going to the park during the day as well. Phew! Maybe the li'l guy's gonna have a growth spurt soon. Maybe not. :)

Oh, and here's what happens when you get to go to Target with Daddy. Funky Moose ears!

Finally. . .

2008-10-26T17:48:00.006-04:00

I'm going to change the title of the blog to "The Worgess Family Monthly Update." Toooo much going on but it's all fun (mostly) and I'm sure with the baby coming in the next month or so, things will just automatically get easier! (HA!)

Anyway, over the last month we sold our house, lived in a hotel for a week (not necessarily what I call fun with two toddlers, but they did pretty well) moved into our new house (still loads to unpack, but hey, I'm pregnant), and not to mention Caleb and I worked the whole time. Without further ado, here's some pictures to enjoy. . .

First of all a HUGE thank you to Uncle Rick for the HUGE play house for the kids! When he called me to tell me he wanted to send a pop-up playhouse, I had no idea the size. . .it takes up our entire dining room right now! The kids LOVE it! Little Caleb doesn't like that I call it a "play" house, and corrects me everytime. . ."it's my HOUSE mom!" Got it.

The "house" came with a pop up fridge, stove and toy chest. Little Caleb did point out that there was no table to go with it. We told him we'd put his other table in there, and he thought that would do. And this isn't just a regular box. . .it is a two room house. Little Caleb keeps asking to sleep in there and we haven't let him yet, but if I can convince Daddy to sleep with him maybe we will.

A couple weeks ago, Miss Teaki (the kids' sitter during the week) decided to make homemade pizza with them. They both got a kick out of spreading the dough (although Caleb kept taking pieces and eating it).
Our church parking lot was the site for a car show a couple weeks ago, so we took the kids to walk around. I'm not a big car person, but Caleb and the kids both liked it. Little Caleb thought this one was the best one. . .he likes Monster Trucks. This is him and his friend Ben.
Here's some other cars. . .don't ask me what they are. . .I just think they're cute. Oh, and they had an Indy Race Car there (kinda big around here for some reason :) ) and the Colts info trailer (again, kinda big around here).
Halloween was a lot of fun this year. Little Caleb was a fireman and Abby was an adorable little Minnie Mouse (or Me Mouse as she says).

The kids went trick or treating in our neighborhood for a little while, then we headed over to church where there was a "harvest bash." Here's Abby in one of the bounce houses. She seems to like it, but she doesn't get up and jump. She just likes to stay on her knees or behind and let those jumping around her move her around. They also had games set up all over the indoor soccer field for the kids to enjoy. Little Caleb liked this one where there was a plastic wheelbarrow that you had to race from one end to the other. He even took off his fireman's jacket to do it (quite surprising considering how attached he is to the costume). Also, you'll notice Abby has lost the ears. . .the surprising thing about her was she left the gloves on ALL NIGHT! She got her costume on about 6:00pm and didn't take the gloves off at all until it was jammie time about 8:45 that night. This is the same child that can't keep her shoes on in the car for more than 5 minutes.

Even Daddy got in on the fun. . .I like this pic! :)

And one last random pic. Last week Abby came into the office with me one morning and wanted to sit next to me as I worked. Too cute to pass up a pic and it's a good thing the camera was right there.

I always say I'll post more often, but who knows if that will happen or not. I'm down to five weeks from d-day. . .once the baby comes if anything, I know my parents will update their blog with MANY pictures of the kids. :)

Yes, I know, it's been awhile (again!)

2008-09-20T19:57:00.005-04:00

Yes, it's been awhile yet again, but there's been LOADS of stuff going on in this house. But, since my dad is leaving the country for a few weeks, I thought I'd put some pics up for him before he leaves.

Caleb's favorite place to watch his DVD's.
And Abby's favorite place to watch DVD's. . .fortunately, they don't tend to want to use the chair at the same time.
Abby starting to prepare for the runway. . .uh oh.
This is how the kids watch the DVD together. Of course you must wear your lobster and shark hat while watching.
"This is how Daddy washes my hair...grrrrrrr."
The kids like to stand behind this table and pretend they are working at a restaurant. Caleb will say "What you want, Mommy?" and then he'll bring me a cheeseburger. :)
Abby in her goldwing shirt. We celebrated Abby's birthday a couple weeks early so Pappy could be here for the cake. Here she is with the adorable "Abby Cadaby" cake that Grammy made for her!
Poor li'l guy. . .I made him wear the pink bib. He's waiting quite patiently for his piece of Abby's cake.
Abby showing off one of the pillow shams from the bedding set Grammy made for her birthday!! Abby went straight from the crib to a queen size bed, and there just isn't much "toddler" bedding for that size of a bed. So, Grammy made stuff for her! There is a quilt, two shams, two pillowcases, a bed skirt and a valance!! She has a pretty amazing Grammy!!!
Caleb was all excited to get to share it with her. Oh, and Grammy actually made this whole ensemble in about two weeks. All while helping us pack our house!!
Here is yet one more way the kids like to watch their DVD's. It's a good thing they like each other. . .
And one last picture of Abby cuz she's just too darn cute!!

Well, there's the pictures. We're kind of in limbo right now. . .we finally sold our house here in Shelbyville and will be moving to Greenwood. . .but the house that we made an offer on is a short sale which means we are at the mercy of the seller's bank to approve the offer. We made the offer Labor Day weekend and still do not have confirmation yet. Unfortunately, we closed on our house here on Wednesday and have until next Wednesday (24th) to be out of the house. Sooooo, we'll probably end up in a hotel for a few days, but we're hopeful that the bank will approve the offer and we'll be able to close by the end of this week. We'll see. At this point we're almost packed and are REALLY indebted to my parents!! My mom is still here and helping us pack and clean everything. Dad stayed for a couple weeks and helped us fix some stuff around this house and of course enjoyed spending time with the kids (and they were a little spoiled to get to see him everyday).

That's all for now! Hopefully I'll be able to post again within the next two months!! ;)

They Grow So Fast

2008-07-17T19:45:00.004-04:00

My little guy is getting big already. Maybe not in size, but at least in age. The county fair was here a couple weeks ago, so we went to see if he'd try any of the rides. Unfortunately, the "little" guy was only 36" and could only go on two of the rides himself (and I wasn't about to get on a ride with him. . .my big belly wouldn't have fit in those little things). He loved it though!

Here he is on the dinosaur ride. Go figure, he has his fingers in his mouth. :) After the dinosaur ride it was time to take a ride on the train (of course!). He really liked that one. Everytime he'd come around he'd wave and try to point out something on the train. They also had little boats, but you had to be 42" to go on those so he couldn't. He kept trying to tell us he was getting bigger and taller so he could go on them. Um, yeah, doesn't work that way. . .
The kids LOVE to play together, and since they're a little older now we just let them play on their own sometimes. This is what happens when we leave them alone for a little too long. . .they had pulled one of the drawers out of Caleb's dresser and were both sitting in it. They had also pulled all the towels out of the bottom drawer and were trying to "hide" under them. Ah, at least they're cute.
And last, but CERTAINLY not least (and maybe mommy's favorite). . .both kids are on their way to potty training. (YAHOO!!!) Little Caleb is much farther along than Abby, but this morning Caleb put underpants on Abby for the first time since she did go potty this morning. I thought it was a perfect photo op. We know the road is still quite long until they're both out of diapers, but if we could get them both done before #3 makes an appearance??? Well, I'd be one happy Momma!
OH, another cute story for the week. . .Abby has finally started saying Caleb's name. For the longest time it's been "brother" or "buddy" which really came out kind of like "budder" or "brudder." This past weekend she started saying "Caleb" but it sometimes comes out as "Cabub" which sounds REALLY cute in her little Abby accent! If you ask her to go get her brother, she'll start running through the house yelling "Cabub! Cabub!" Makes us laugh.

Another quick story

2008-07-05T21:31:00.002-04:00

Wow. . .2 posts in one day!! :) I just wanted to add a quick story while it's fresh in my mind. I'm trying (unsuccessfully so far thanks to the continued fireworks tonight. . .) to get the kids to go to sleep and I went into li'l Caleb's room to check on him. . .and he was laying with his Bible. I was cleaning out a drawer earlier today (after he and Abby pulled 3/4 of the stuff out of it) and found an old Gideon's Bible/New Testament (probably one I got in college) so I gave it to li'l guy. He said, "I'm going to take this to my room and put it away." I thought that was a grand idea, so off he went. Well, tonight, I walk in there and he was laying in bed, with the Bible sitting on top of his head. When I tried to move it, he said, "No, I want it to sleep next to me." and he patted the pillow. So, he's sleeping with his Bible. Can I really argue with that though?? Joshua 1:8 tells us ". . .but you shall meditate on it day and night. . ." so I guess li'l guy really gets that already. (He also gets the pray for your enemies as he prays nightly for Uncle Chris and Auntie Em's cat Tic-Tac even though the cat REALLY does not like him (or anyone else for that matter).

Ah, the boy continues to make me laugh. :)

Random Stuff. . .

2008-07-05T20:44:00.003-04:00

Since the last post was chock full of photos, I have nothing this time. . .but I did want to at least throw some stuff/info out there.

First of all, it has occurred to me (thanks Shannon and Debbie) that I never really announced this pregnancy! SO, for anyone that did not already know, yes, I am pregnant again. Number three should make an appearance sometime in December (December 12th is the due date). I've already told my mom she'll be on call and when I go into labor, I'll call her and she has been instructed to be on a plane within 2 hours. :) She just laughed. We'll figure it all out between now and then I'm sure. Number three came as quite a surprise for me and Caleb. We weren't necessarily sold on having three kids, but we weren't necessarily sold on being done with two either. So, God made the decision for us, and who better to make the decision than Him! At this point I'm 17 weeks (even though I look about 28 weeks along) and FINALLY not feeling the nausea every night. Li'l Caleb's reaction to the baby is kind of funny. He points to my belly and says, "There's a baby in there. There's a big boy in there. (then pointing to his belly) I have a baby in my belly too." Cracks me up. Oh, and no we don't know the sex yet, he just assumes it's a big boy because we keep calling him a big boy. Abby doesn't seem to get it yet and still tries to crawl all over me.

On to something else. . .I tend to be a blog hopper sometimes. I'll start at one, see a link to another and before I know it I've been to five different blogs that I have no idea who the people are. :) So, the other day I was doing that and I found this one. . .Cracked Me UP!!! I firmly believe that a good sense of humor is what is necessary to look at certain things, and this guy has a great sense of humor about church (at least I think so). So, if you have time, check out Stufffchristianslike.blogspot.com and read some of his posts. It's good for a chuckle or two.

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July!! We had a very uneventful one. . .since we're in the Eastern timezone (and the far West part of it at that) the fireworks don't go off until almost 10pm. . .way too late for the kids. BUT, another grand thing in Indiana is that just about anyone that wants to can light off fireworks. . .so we had them going on all around us (three hours straight from one house!!!) which REALLY helped keep the kids asleep (um, NOT). That's ok though, it ended eventually and they took great naps today. :)

I promise there'll be pics next time. Bye for now!

Loads of Pics. . .

2008-06-29T12:32:00.009-04:00

It's been a LONG time since I updated (yet again). I keep getting reminder e-mails from my dad to update ("we don't want snow anymore") but it's been quite busy, and since I STILL don't feel great at night, there hasn't been time to update. BUT, here I am on a quiet (yes QUIET) Sunday afternoon feeling halfway normal (just large) and ready to update the blog! So, without further ado. . .please to enjoy!

Anyone that has seen my parents blog has already seen pictures of the fabulous family vacation we took earlier this month (June). We had a GREAT time and I am so thankful for the wonderful family time we were able to have. Unfortunately, our camera didn't see the light of day until the end of the week when we went to "Day Out with Thomas" so I got nothin' prior to that.

The "Day Out with Thomas" was a lot of fun and I think little Caleb was on major overload by the end. I was also on overload, but it was just loads of people in one place. . .I don't do crowds for long. The picture below is just one of the big train sets they had put up for the kids. . .little guy just liked walking around the table looking at everything.

Part of the fun available were temporary tattoos. . .here's Grammy and Abby showing off their pipes. Abby was really funny the rest of the day. We'd say, "Abby, where's your Rosie?" and she'd try to flex her little muscle. She's too funny.

Then li'l guy got his put on too. We thought he'd go for Thomas or Percy, but he wanted Rosie just like Abby. We didn't actually take it off for about it a week or so and it was quite the traumatic experience when it was finally time to say goodbye to the tattoo. (And as Mom realized a couple days after getting hers with Abby, the tattoos weren't as easy to get off as they might seem. . .she had to wear a dress with sleeves to church so she didn't show off the Percy on her arm. . .made me laugh when I heard!)

After the tattoos, we were able to take a ride on an actual train!! I didn't think li'l guy was going to be able to contain himself. One good thing about no potty training yet. . .at least I didn't have to worry about him peeing his pants! Here's a picture of Abby, Pappy and Caleb waiting in line to get on the train. The little engineers are ready to go!

Then we got on the train and the kids were able to stand between Daddy and Pappy to look out the window (wasn't too exciting as the train was only going 3-5 mph, but they still enjoyed it).

And of course, the Ruge family tradition, for every two attractions there is food. . .so Grammy grabbed a bag of kettle corn prior to boarding the train. She has definitely taught the kids a love of popcorn!

And last but not least, we stood in line so li'l guy could get his picture taken with Sir Topham Hatt! Don't you just love the smile on his face (Caleb's)??? He was Sooooo excited to see Sir Topham Hatt!! He had a little bit of a rough time leaving, but we got to ride on a real school bus back to the parking lot, so that made leaving worthwhile.

After leaving Green Bay (yes, we were WAY up there to see Thomas) we started back south headed towards home (kind of). We took a little detour and went a little west to see Jon and Ronda and new baby Matthew Joel Worgess. He was born on June 11th (yet another June birthday!) and is a cute little guy. We both thought he looked a little like little Caleb, but his head isn't as big. For some reason, both my kids have big heads. :)

So that's the extent of my vacation week pics. My vacation week started out fabulously though. . .my parents kept the kids overnight Saturday night and I was able to stay with a friend back in the 'burbs and then attend another friend's baby shower on Sunday! Niki was very gracious and opened her home to me on Saturday night (and shuttled me around everywhere) and it was SOOOOOOOOOO great to see her again! She's getting married in August (less than a month and a half to go!) and she's just bursting with excitement! It's very contagious! Here's a picture of Katrina, me and Niki at Ann's shower.

Now, the shower itself. . .wow! My YAM friend Stacy was the hostess with the mostest!!! I don't have a picture of her at the shower, but she and a couple other ladies planned this quite elaborate affair! It reminded me of the baby shower/tea party Mom had for little Caleb after he was born, but that was in a tea house. . .Stacy did this all in Ann's house and it turned out wonderful! Here's a picture of the food. . .little tea sandwiches, finger foods, and desserts. . .all the food was quite delicious!

Then the cake. . .oh my how adorable is this cake!!! One of the other ladies ordered this at a bakery in town, so I can't give Stacy credit for it, but I bet she could do this too!And last but not least, Ann the pregnant lady! Here's Ann and Niki just before I left. She looks so cute! Some people look very cute when they are pregnant. . .others just look big (me!). Oh well.

Now on to some random pictures of the kids. Part of the fun of vacation was to go to the mall in Green Bay and hit the Build a Bear store. Caleb made "Crush" the turtle (he picked out the name, and yes it's after the turtle in Nemo) and Abby made "Abbers" the bear (named after her by her father. . .original 'eh?). Well, the outfit Caleb picked out for "Crush" was the fireman's uniform. He decided that he should try it on though. . .made me laugh.

And of course Abby couldn't be outdone by her brother so she had to try it on too. Caleb's first response when I showed him the picture was "Fat Guy in a Little Coat" (from Tommy Boy). Made me laugh too!Yesterday we went to the Children's Museum in Indy, and Abby thought she'd try her hand (or arms) at this movable train thingy. . .she couldn't get it to go, but she sure tried hard. :)And of course, what does little Caleb do at the Children's Museum? Why, play with the trains of course! We think it's a little sad that he goes to the museum to play with trains when he can (and does) do that at home. . .but at least he does other stuff while we're there too. Here are a couple random pics of the kids. . .both of these are a couple months old by now and I think I was trying to get a picture of their outfits for Grammy since she bought them. . .can't remember now though.Remember the "Smart Cycle" the kids got for Christmas from my Uncle Rick and Aunt Peggy? Well, they both still love it, even though Abby can't reach the pedals. Soooo, this is how they play with it now.

Back in April for Caleb's birthday, his gift from Grammy and Pappy was the crab sandbox. Since I haven't posted pics of that yet. . .here you go! He loves his crab sandbox and feels bad when it rains because his crab sandbox gets wet. :)

Abby just likes to play in the lid.And last we thought we'd share our claim to fame. . .yes, former President Clinton came to Shelbyville to speak during the Indiana primary. He was at the middle school which is only about 2 blocks from our house. Yipee, huh?
I'll try to get better about posting and as long as this nausea decides to subside, I'll be ok. So far though. . .it's still sticking around. Oh well. I'm at 16 weeks now and both other pregnancies the nausea stopped around this point so I'm hopeful!

Birthday Boy and more. . .

2008-04-13T20:03:00.005-04:00

First, yes, it's been awhile. . .here are a couple pics from our one and only big snow of the year. Little Caleb was so confused with the white stuff he thought he'd try to use the lawn mower (ok, not really, he does know what snow is. . .we just had basically nothing down here). Then there's Abby, who really resembles that kid from The Christmas Story (can't remember his name). She couldn't move very well all bundled up.
Here's a picture from Easter. . .don't they look cute? And I wonder why people always ask us if they are twins. . .
Abby proceeded to put on my winter hat and one of daddy's gloves. Apparently I should have bought the Easter hat and little white gloves for our dainty girl. Momma didn't get the memo I guess.
And speaking of dainty. . .here's "Daddy's Little Princess" after consuming not one, but TWO peanut butter/chocolate bars. A couple weeks ago I went to Georgia with the kiddos for a couple days to visit my relatives. Gran-Pappy and GiGi, Kerry, Rich and Marissa (or 'Rissa as Caleb says) were all on hand to spoil the kids. Then my parents flew in for a couple days as well. Can we say SPOILED?? Yes they are, but hey, so was I. :)Miss Kerry, Mr Rich and 'Rissa had easter baskets for the kids and little Caleb's had these funky glasses. He wouldn't let us take a picture of him with them on, but Abby sure liked them. Such the little fashionista. . .already wearing heels with jeans. While we were in Georgia, Miss Kerry and 'Rissa took the kids to Chucky "Disease" for their first experience. They both had a blast! Marissa helped little Caleb climb up the big tower/play set and he crawled all over the place. Here's a picture of Abby chattin' with her driving partner. :)Abby has mastered the word "no" and this is the expression that goes along with it. Nice 'eh? (and yes, if it seems like we have more pictures of Abby, we do. Caleb has learned to run away when the camera comes out, but Abby seems to not mind still.) And now, for the big birthday boy!!! My li'l guy turned 3 today. I cannot believe he's already 3! Seems like just yesterday I was going to the hospital and waiting for our firstborn to come! Ok, not really cuz A LOT has happened since then, but it really does feel like time has flown by!

Here he is as we're singing Happy Birthday to him. (No, I didn't make the cake.) He knew just what to do. . .we sang and then right away he blew out his candles. Such a big boy!The frosting left a lasting impression. . .he seemed to like it though.Abby REALLY liked it! She ate every last piece. Much cleaner than her own birthday, but still could use some work. . .Time to open presents. We had taken him to the store yesterday and let him get a couple more train cars, so I didn't wrap those, but he also got some "Cars" figurines to play with. . .he's been playing with them for the last couple hours since he opened them, so I think he liked them. :)

Here he is with all the cars lined up in front of him. Abby had already swiped one and was contemplating how to grab another without getting whacked in the head by the birthday boy. Time is flying and both kids are getting so big. Now if only Mr. Big Birthday Boy would FINALLY decide he'd like to be potty trained. . .ugh.

Video Attempt

2008-03-27T10:09:00.006-04:00

It's been a month. . .oops. I do have some pics to upload as well, but they're still on the camera and I wanted to get this out there to see if it works. Caleb has a new laptop (he went to the darkside and got a Mac. . .but that's what he has to use at work so I guess it's ok) and it has this cute little camera thingy in it. He tried out the video this morning with Abby. Hope it works!! Pay no attention to Abby's hair. . .talk about some major bedhead. . .then again, it really does look like that most days anyway. Ahh, the curse of the curly hair. :)

So, Dad. . .

2008-02-25T19:29:00.004-05:00

It's been a little bit since I last posted. . .but nothing TOOO huge has happened (and there haven't really been any new pics of the kids). This past weekend we did go to the Children's Museum in Indy (GREAT place!!).

Here's a pic of Abby just hangin' with Daddy. This was in the special exhibit for Curious George, but she wasn't too fond of all the other kids in her way. She preferred sticking with Daddy. Caleb, on the other hand, didn't care how many other kids were running around him. . .he took off. This pic is one of the set ups they had (they were supposed to stack the blocks, then move the lights to show the different shadows). He didn't quite get it, but he thought it was fun to turn the wheel. :)
We also had to go up and play in the play areas (Caleb once again loved playing in the food area). We thought he looked like a little Culver's kid. . .he put on one of the aprons, and was carrying a tray with three bowls of ice cream. :) Just like his Pappy.

Well, Aunt Judy, this next pic is for you. This is what happens when the news media gets all hyped up about a winter storm. . .yeah, there's a dusting of snow (but those HUGE floods we had in the back. . .GREAT ice skating ponds!). Would you believe they delayed school for 2 hours!?!?!? Yeah, they did. We did end up getting more snow (FINALLY) late last week, but it's almost all gone already. We are coming to realize more and more that we don't live in the north anymore.

Here's a little pic of Abby from tonight. . .don't mind the funky-dunky hair. This is basically as good as it gets after a long day of playing with a decent nap in between. She is getting so big (maybe not size-wise) and I cannot believe how fast it's going. You'd think with her being number two that we'd be used to the quickness of turning into a toddler, but it's still flying by. She's saying a few words here and there, and she's very good about shaking her head "yes" or "no" when you ask her a question ("Abby, are you poopin'?" --nodding, yes with a big smile).
And li'l Caleb. . .wow. Who said the two's were terrible??? They must not have allowed their child to make it to three. The boy really knows how to test mommy and daddy. He's still a month or so away from three, and we are praying this is just the tail end of the terrible twos and it'll click and the halo will move into place. Maybe??? Ok, probably not, but one can hope. I'm sure he's no different than any other two-three year old. He is quite funny though. . .just last night he and I were at Wal-Mart and as I was paying for the groceries, I look over. . .there he is, sitting in the cart with his hands folded, and his head leaned back as he's looking into the ceiling. He says, "Thank you God for listening to my prayers." Not sure where it came from, but apparently he felt the urge to pray right then and there. It just sounded funny out of nowhere. OH, and speaking of prayers, Uncle Chris and Auntie Em. . .he still prays for kitty cat first. Not sure if there has every been more prayers for a CAT than now. :)
Oh, and the title of this post. The newest thing from li'l Caleb is to come up to either Caleb or me and say, "So, Dad? [insert comment]." Caleb has decided the li'l guy is going to be a talk show host. We used to say he was going to be a televangelist (that was after grabbing Caleb's wallet and saying "Bible?" but now I think he's moved on. Ah, the joys of raising children! They'll either keep me young (sooooo much laughter!) or make me old before my time (I don't THINK i've found a gray hair yet) but either way, GOTTA LOVE 'EM!!

Well, I kinda lied too. . .there has been some big news. In case you haven't heard, Caleb was offered a full time position at the church we've been attending!!! He's been working on a contract basis for the last few months, and they just hired him on effective March 1st to be the Pastor of Adult Ministries! He's very excited about the role, and it'll allow him to keep doing what he's been doing (which he really enjoys) and also bring other duties as well. Thanks to EVERYONE who sent up a prayer on our behalf!! We're both very excited, and once again, are in AWE of the AWESOMENESS of God!

Lake Worgess

2008-02-08T20:01:00.000-05:00

Hello! Nothing too big to report, but I thought I'd share a few cute pics of the kids. Grammy and Pappy were here this week and took them to the Children's Museum, but I don't have any of those pics. . .check their blog to see if they post any. The kids had a BLAST this week and it was hard to see Grammy and Pappy leave (li'l guy's lower lip was trembling pretty good, but he got over it quickly).

This picture of Caleb was what we saw when we walked into the living room one day. He had dumped out all the food from it's bin (all the plastic food they got for Christmas that came in its own handy-dandy carrying case. . .great pick Auntie Em!!) and decided to try sitting in it. He did fit (maybe not that surprising, it is a big bin) and was enjoying himself immensely. See the red thing in the bin with him? That's his Elmo/Cookie Monster magnadoodle. . .he has started carrying it everywhere with him. He'll come up to us, "What you want for dinner, Mommy?" Then he'll "write" down whatever we tell him. He really looks just like a little waiter (yes, we do eat out too often!) and it makes us laugh.

Abby is learning lots of new words and she continues to make us laugh as well. Here's a picture of her after coming home from the store with Daddy the other day. She had stopped in the garage and picked up Caleb's bicycle helmet. . .it fit her over her hood. Safety first right? Or as Chris would say, "Safety. . .it doesn't suck." (Yes, he told me to use that phrase years ago when we had a safety sticker contest at the plant. . .this is why he isn't in HR.)

So, some of the words she now says are "shoes" (yes, one of Caleb's first words too), baby, chair, juice, and the usual Mama and Dada. She's quite good at the jibberish thing too. She can sit and talk for hours and not really make one bit of sense. :)

So, why the title? Well, while everyone north of I-70 (about a 1/2 hour north of here) is getting HAMMERED with snow, we here in "the south" have just had rain, rain, and more rain. Hence, we now live on Lake Worgess. If it would hurry up and freeze we could probably do a little ice skating, but it's still supposed to be in the upper 40's tomorrow again. I have to admit. . .I miss the snow! And the kids are missing out on some great times playing in the snow and sledding. THIS is not winter. 2 hour school delay because it's 15 degrees outside??? HELLO? Yeah, welcome to the south.

Role Reversal

2008-01-19T21:23:00.000-05:00

Tonight we had a bit of role reversal in the house. I was finishing preparing dinner, and Caleb went to put the kids in their seats. . .instead, li'l guy got to sit in his old high chair and Abby sat in li'l guys booster seat. Wow. . .remember when his feet barely came down over the seat?? (and no, his pants aren't that short, they were just pulled up from when he slid down into the seat. . .)Abby's still a little short for the booster seat (takes after her momma) but she did enjoy sitting there.
Last weekend, we drove up to the suburbs to meet my very bestest friend in the whole wide world and her family. Shannon and Travis drove down from Tomah on Saturday and we met at a hotel in Elmhurst for the night. Shannon had called me a few months ago and said they wanted to meet us halfway for a weekend, and she had hotel points for two rooms! So, we had adjoining rooms (free!) AND the hotel had a big waterpark inside. The kids had a BLAST! I don't have any pics of the water part, but Shannon does, so when I get some of those, I'll post them.

Here's Miss Lydia (there is NO question this child belongs to Shannon. . .she is a little Mini Me of Shannon!!). She definitely had fun, but she wasn't as sure of us as her brother. Lydia will be 2 years old in February.

Here's a pic of Caleb and Abby right before we left. Li'l guy got to ride on the luggage cart and had a pretty fun time with that.
Then there were Caleb and Weston. Weston is about a year and a half older than li'l guy, but these two were like two peas in a pod the entire time. They'd go running back and forth between the rooms, and both had a GREAT time playing together in the water! Here they are just hangin' out. . .

And here they are dancing and running around. They were really funny together. They'd start saying "Shake your booty" and both of them would shake their little hind ends. It was VERY funny, and I really wish I would have had the video camera out. We had SUCH a good time, and we agreed we need to do that again sometime (soon I hope!).
Here's a picture of Abby doing what she does best. . .eating. She was too funny. Shannon was handing out plastic cups with Chex Mix in them, so Abby grabbed one and her juice, went into the other room, climbed up on the chair, and sat and enjoyed her food. This is pretty much how I found her.

It was a WONDERFUL weekend, and I'm so glad we were able to see Shannon and Travis. Since we had the connecting rooms, we put all the kids to bed in one room so we could stay up later and visit and play cards. It worked out so well! Of course, being the old marrieds that we are, we were still in our own rooms, in bed by about 11:00 I think (this getting old stuff is hard!).

We were also able to see Chris and Em on Friday night (Thanks for letting us stay there!!) and went out for breakfast with them Saturday morning. I didn't get a picture, but Em was sitting in their big arm chair, and Abby climbed up next to her to watch her DVD. Abby would just sit there watching, then look up at Em and smile, and go back to watching her DVD. Made me laugh.

Well, I hear Mom found another chef's hat for the kids. . .yeah!!! Also, Leann (one of the kids' sitters) sent me a picture of Abby with the chefs hat on, but it's on my phone and I haven't sent it to my e-mail yet. The kids are excited to see Grammy and Pappy next weekend, even if only for a short time. Oh, and cute story. . .li'l guy loves to read the Bible now every night before he goes to bed. One night last week, he picked up his Bible (The Big Picture one he has), opened to the first story and proceeded to read it to me. It went kind of like this: "God created Heavens and earth. Then the twinkle, twinkle little stars (with a little side-track to sing the song). Then Adam and Eve in the water (there's a picture of them in the water), and then there's the snake. And then God say not supposed to eat from tree. They not 'pose eat from tree. They get in trouble." The kids no Bible scholar, but I thought he did pretty well for a 2 1/2 year old. :) He does love books!

Waterfront Property. . .

2008-01-10T20:46:00.001-05:00

The kitchen is finally put together. Just for the record, we have a new rule. . ."he who buys the toys. . .puts them together." The train table wasn't too bad, but this durn kitchen. . .I even broke a nail! Oh well, the kids are really enjoying it. When we get home from being out somewhere, li'l guy will say, "I wanna cook." He is enjoying the grill side the most (good call Grammy!) as he can flip his cheeseburger just like Daddy does. This picture below was from the first morning we had it set up. . .Abby was so excited she came out before she had clothes on. Sorry for the naked baby. . . I'm thinkin' the kids are definitely watching what Caleb and I do. Both kids like to pour coffee in the cups, then they'll put the cup in the little microwave. Hmmm, where'd they learn that? Oh, and did I mention this thing makes noises too?? Yeah, not only did I break a nail, but it's just one more toy that talks. That's ok though, once again, the kids really like it.
Here's li'l guy trying to see through the kitchen window. OH, and we are definitely on the lookout for another chef's hat. This only came with one, but both kids like to wear it. I thought I had a picture of Abby with it on too, but I guess not.
Then one morning I grabbed the camera, and li'l guy even came running, "Pictures! Cheeeeeeese." Then just as the picture was about to take, he took off. . .hence the picture below. Caleb really like's my parents' new camera, so I have a feeling that will be one of our next big purchases (long way down the road, but still). Our camera has been faithful for over 5 1/2 years, but those SLR (?? I'm not the techie of the family, but I think that's what it is) cameras are definitely nice! Especially with kids that don't sit still long. :)
So this crazy Spring-like weather in January? Not really a big fan. The one day was nice (I even got the flip flops out for a couple days) but then the rains came. . .and the rains came down and the floods came up. Grrrr. Hence, the Waterfront Property. Who knew we lived on a lake! :) Oh well. It did the same thing last year (not in January of course) and we're somewhat used to the little mosquito breeding grounds. The water is receding and we'll be back to normal in another day or two (barring any additional rain). Then again, if it stayed for awhile and we finally got some normal weather, maybe we could go ice skating??

Merry New Year!

2008-01-01T21:01:00.001-05:00

Wow. . .where did the time go??? January 1, 2008??? Ugh. Time flies when you're having run, right? Right! So, for New Year's Eve, we just went out to dinner as a family and then came home and crashed! It was WONDERFUL!!!! We've been on the go for a while now, and it was nice to sit and do nothing, together. :) Here's a picture of Abby right before we left to get dinner. She was sitting on our bed and climbed over up against the pillows, pulled the blanket up and was ready to just watch some TV. It was cute. :)And of course, today was the big day. . .the Michigan game. Of course, Caleb took the kids right away this morning to get them dressed and ready for the game. . .then he came out to do his ceremonial (kind of) Playstation game (he likes to gear up for football games by playing his Playstation football game and making sure Michigan beats any team they go up against . . . so he set up and played Florida). Anyway, he walked away for a minute, I walked into the living room and this is what I saw. . .Abby looked like she was trying to play the game. The funnier part (and I wish I would have had the video camera out) was when the game started playing "Hail to the Victors" she started smiling and dancing. It was really cute!
After the Playstation, the pre-game ceremony included putting together the "Thomas the Tank Engine Table" (as li'l guy calls it whenever he talks about it). Li'l Caleb was so excited about this and he played with his trains alllllll day.
He even let Abby play with him (a little). She doesn't like to play with the trains so much as the table is right at her level. No, we haven't put the kitchen up yet as we're trying to figure out where to put it. The kids are definitely waiting for it though!!!
Well, it's been fun while it lasted, but the vacation is now ending and tomorrow it's back to work. Back to reality. Happy New Year!

Sunday Pics

2007-12-31T10:39:00.000-05:00

Hello!! Just some random pics from Sunday. The kids were dressed for church and they looked too cute together. SO, of course, I had to get out the camera. Li'l guy's sweater was a Christmas gift from Grammy and Pappy and he loved it. He wouldn't even take it off for lunch or dinner (so we really had to watch him to make sure he didn't get his sleeves in anything. . .I think he may have picked up some mashed potatoes though). After church it was time for the Bear's game, so I checked to see if Abby's Urlacher jersey still fit (it's a 12 month and it fit her last February, so I wasn't too optimistic). BUT, alas, it did fit (tightly, but we must show off the belly anyway). She didn't cheer too long since she fell asleep by the middle of the 1st quarter, but I'm sure she was cheering them on in her sleep. :)
Here's a couple pics of Abby and Caleb showing off on the rocking horse. Abby gets stuck and can't get off the horse, so li'l Caleb will come over and lift her left for her (such a nice, helpful brother).

Then, here is Daddy's attempt at making Abby a Lion's fan. . .Mommy says no lions, no tigers, just Bears. I think I'll be overruled though. . .
Abby likes to climb up into Caleb's "Cars" chair (sometimes she'll get stuck and we'll have to come bail her out) and here she is showing off.Abby likes to be on Daddy's shoulders. . .it's pretty high up there. Then again, when Uncle Jon and Aunt Rhonda have their baby, he/she will probably have nosebleeds when Jon puts him/her on his shoulders. This isn't from Sunday, but I thought I'd show how li'l guy likes to ride the fire truck. Too bad Pappy isn't a fireman still so he could ride on a REAL fire truck.

Christmas - Part 3 "The Final Frontier"

2007-12-27T21:11:00.000-05:00

The third and final Christmas stop was in Walnut, IL at Grandma and Papa Worgess' house. Yet more gifts and great time with family greeted us there. We arrived early Christmas afternoon, and Papa promptly proceeded to tell li'l Caleb that the biggest box under the tree was for him (great. . .and how are we supposed to fit THAT in the van??). :) But, the kids had to wait until later that night to open their goodies. Everyone but Pete and Hilary were able to make it, so it was quite the lively bunch! After dinner, it was finally time to get started. . .

Here's a picture of li'l Caleb opening his big box. . .it was a huge fire engine! He loves it!!! The ladder goes up and down and you can turn the lights and siren on too (actually, funny story, when we packed up to leave, this thing fit just perfectly in the very back on the van, but it shifted slightly and something kept hitting the "lights and siren" buttons, so Caleb was seeing these flashing red lights in his rear-view mirror. . .he kept thinking he was being pulled over. Ha ha ha!) That made me laugh. Fortunately, it has an on/off switch so we were able to not have to hear the screeching siren the next 5 hours. There was also a fireman's badge which li'l guy proudly displayed! :)

Abby's favorite present that night was her Dora chair. It's a foam chair, but she kept trying to make it a recliner. She'd sit down then lean way back and start rocking. Cracked us up. At one point, she had pulled it close to the couch and was trying to put her feet up on the couch too. She's so funny! She was definitely quite relaxed!

I guess I didn't have as many pics as I thought. . .there was quite a bit of action all night, so we were probably too distracted to take pictures. Thanks to Grandma and Papa, Uncle Pete and Aunt Hilary, Uncle Jon and Aunt Rhonda, and Ron, Joanne, and the girls for the great presents and the nice time with family! Hopefully Pete and Hilary will be able to join us next year.

Well, I have to say, I'm sort of glad to be done with Christmas. The hustle and bustle of the holidays can become overwhelming, and while I don't feel that I was overwhelmed, it's just nice to be done. And. . .now that we've celebrated the birth of our Saviour, we can anxiously await the celebration that HE IS RISEN! (3 months, and counting. . .)

Christmas - Part 2

2007-12-27T20:48:00.001-05:00

On Saturday morning, we loaded up the van and headed north to see our families. First stop: Plainfield, IL at Chris and Em's house. We spent some great time with my aunt, uncle, and cousins that we only see once or twice a year, and we also made the trek Sunday morning over to Valpo, IN for the annual Ruge breakfast. Monday, Christmas Eve came and it was time for more presents! Boy were the kids happy! :)

Here's a picture of Abby showing off her new purse/wristlet from GG (great-grammy) and Gran-Pappy. She LOVED it! (ah. . .a child after my own heart!) It's a little hard to tell, but it's a Hello Kitty, and GG even put a dollar in it for her, and some M&Ms. . .what more does a girl need??? Abby just kept walking around with her little purse (and yes, she's carrying cheese. . .that came from the tub full of food Auntie Em and Uncle Chris gave her and li'l guy. . .yes another HUGE hit!) and was happy as a clam.

Then there's a picture of li'l guy drooling over his new train table from Grammy and Pappy. He wanted to set it up right away, but we had to get it home somehow, and a fully assembled train table would NOT have fit in the van (ok, so I still don't like the "minivan" but I do like the convenience. . .). He got a couple train sets this year, so added to the one he already had, we'll put that train table to good use! He and Pappy spent the rest of the evening laying on the floor playing with the trains and the "crash" cars. It's difficult to say who had more fun. . .li'l guy or Pappy. :)

We don't have a ton of pictures of Christmas on the Ruge side since our camera ran out of juice (oops). But, I know my parents took a lot of great pictures so hopefully I'll get some of those (hint, hint, please send me some??). Here's a cute picture of Abby. . .Grammy and Pappy got her the Minnie Mouse ears, but she thought she'd rather chew on them than wear them. I think we got a cute picture of Grammy wearing them with their camera though. . .Marissa had gotten Abby a doll and stroller, and she looked too cute pushing it around the kitchen (actually, she preferred to push "Snicks" her new golden-doodle stuffed animal). Of course, that was AFTER our camera went to sleep.

Thank you so much to Grammy, Pappy, Uncle Chris and Auntie Em, GG and Gran-Pappy, and Kerry, Rich and Marissa for all the wonderful gifts! I wish I had more pics to share. . .but, there are more for Christmas part 3!

Christmas - Part 1

2007-12-27T20:36:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been a flurry of a few days, and the illness going through the family put a slight damper on things, but all in all it was a wonderful Christmas!! It started with just the four of us on Friday night and the kids opened their presents from Caleb and me. Here's picture of the li'l guy trying to show mommy what he opened. . .he didn't quite get that he was supposed to turn it around first (and not hold it in front of his head). :) Then here's Abby with her new doll "Abby Cadabby" from Sesame Street. For those of you that are not big Sesame Street fans, she is the best friend of Elmo (fitting, don't you think??). :) Yes, I still have all my Elmos. . .
Obviously there were some other gifts, but there will be many more pics to come in part 2 and part 3. . .stay tuned.

The Christmas Letter

2007-12-17T23:01:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas!!

Instead of coming up with a Christmas letter to be printed, folded, added to the Christmas card, stuffed and sent, this year we decided to do the "Christmas Blog" instead. This year has been soooooo full of blessings, blessings in disguise, and things we just weren't (or still aren't) sure what to call. All in all, it was yet another full year in the life of the Worgi (that's plural for Worgess. . .too many "sssssss" otherwise).

There have been job issues, health issues (thankfully minor, just gross), emotional stress, and yet on the back end, everything seems so small. . .just a blip on the screen of 2007. As I look back over the year as a whole, there is soooooooooooo much to report, yet so little at the same time. We are still waiting on God for direction with Caleb's job, but He has been opening doors for Caleb/us little by little and we are trusting that one of these days, the door that opens will give more of a secure glimpse. We rest in the assurance that "my God will meet all [our] needs according to his riches in Christ Jesus." (Phil 4:19) We rest in that assurance because not only does God's word say he will, but WE'VE SO GREATLY experienced this in 2007!

So where are we today?? Well, for starters, Caleb is working on a contractor-type basis for the church we've been attending in Greenwood (about 25 miles from Shelbyville). He is helping them strengthen the small group ministry and working to train more leaders for more groups. Caleb is really enjoying the work and the opportunity provided him (see, just one way my God is meeting our needs. . .). Of course, one of the perks is that he drives right past a Starbucks on the way to work every morning (ugh!). Caleb also continues to be a wonderful father and a great help to me! Yes, the kids like him better, and he doesn't even have to bribe them (yet).

Little Caleb is getting to be more of a little man every day and he makes us laugh all the time. Earlier this year we were driving somewhere and he looked out the window and said, "that's daddy's coffee." Yes, we were driving by Starbucks. It has gone downhill from there. He knows Daddy's drink (sometimes better than the employees. . ."Campana Daddy!") and that he needs three raw sugars and a stir stick. I think we may have a future coffee snob on our hands (ugh, not another one!). He LOVES to sing, and he loves Michigan just like his daddy (grrr. . .Caleb even taught the li'l guy to say booooo when I said Wisconsin). He also has a great memory (yet another trait from his father) and still will say "There's Pappy!" everytime we see a Culver's (even though my parents sold the stores almost a year and a half ago).
Abby, Abbers, Abmaster, Chubb-a-gail, whatever we feel like calling her that day, is also growing up so fast!! She's walking all over the place now (pretty quickly too) but hasn't quite shaved off any of her belly yet. Caleb bought her a Michigan cheerleader outfit this fall, and after putting it on her, he wondered aloud if maybe we should have gotten her a football jersey instead. :) But she really did look very cute as a cheerleader. She also loves to climb into li'l Caleb's bed and read books (maybe she'll get ONE of mommy's traits??).

As for me, I'm still working for USG from home (yet another one of those blessings!). I travel up to Chicago every once in a while for meetings or just to have some face time in the office, but nothing too outrageous. It's nice to go up and be in the office for a day or two, get my fill of the city (and traffic. . .blick, don't miss that), and then head home again. Outside of work, I haven't had a ton of time to do much crafty stuff, but hey, I'm just not at the right stage right now. Until the kids are older and able to play more on their own (or even just stay out of mommy's craft supplies) I will have to keep my creative juices a little more holed up and just enjoy the time playing trains with li'l guy and dancing with baby girl.

Since 2007 was "the year of no babies" as I like to call it, I was actually able to use vacation as vacation!! No maternity leave necessary!! So, we spent a week in Floriday with my family and then Caleb and I were able to take a mini vacation on our own this fall. We went to the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina. . .AMAZING and HIGHLY recommended if you are looking for somewhere scenic! We had a wonderful time: went to the NASCAR race in Charlotte, then stayed at the Inn on Biltmore Estate for two nights and went horseback riding (yes, Caleb was on a horse!), took a bunch of little tours, and even took a Segway tour (very cool!!). Check out our nice "tourist" picture. . .yeah, we looked like twins/dorks, but that's ok. . .we were warm!

It was another whirlwind year for us, and while there are still so many unknowns about the future, we are looking forward to whatever may come our way!! We hope and pray that everyone would have a VERY Merry Christmas and enjoy spending time with their family, friends, and loved ones! I know we will!!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Caleb, Shelli, Caleb, and Abby

Moose With a Cowlick

2007-12-11T09:45:00.000-05:00

So, I'm in Chicago for a couple days in the office. . .decided to do a little Christmas shopping last night and this is what greeted me at the top of an escalator in Macy's. . . Isn't he cute!?!?!?! Daddy, I think I want this for Christmas. :) He's only $1,200! (Yes, Dad, even across all these miles I can feel you giving me "the look.") They had a bunch of these animals and I just had to take a pic of the Moose. He reminds me of the Moosetunes that li'l Caleb likes to watch ("I'm a moose with a cowlick, on my head. . .")

Sorry, no pics of the kids right now. . .maybe when I get home later.

First Christmas Present - early

2007-12-05T20:55:00.001-05:00

When the kids woke up from their naps on Wednesday, Grammy had their first Christmas present wrapped and ready to be opened. Here are the kids opening the GREAT present from Uncle Rick and Aunt Peggy (who live in "abraska" as li'l Caleb says).

This is a "Smart Cycle" and it is basically a video game that requires you to pedal in order to move forward. The bike itself is hooked right up to the TV. It's really pretty cute, and the kids both LOVE it! Caleb is still trying to learn how to pedal so he doesn't quite get this game yet, but he'll get there. He definitely liked the buttons though. There's even a button that you can take pictures of the screen. . .he'll press the button then say "I took a picture!" :)

Even Abby wanted in on the action. She can't quite reach the pedals yet, but she also REALLY likes the buttons. I thought this picture was really cute and actually looks like she was watching the video game! Thanks so much Uncle Rick and Aunt Peggy for the great gift!!! It was hard to keep the kids away from it while we were putting it together. :)

Mr. Frostyhead?

2007-12-05T20:35:00.000-05:00

Ok, so last night was the first snowfall of the season here (yes, we are only about 3 hours south of Chicago, but our weather really is quite different sometimes) and the kids got to go outside and play in the snow with Grammy and Pappy. Here's Miss Abby, the Pink Abominable (sp?) Snowgirl. . .ready for the cold! She loved it! The poor thing was about as bundled as the kid from "The Christmas Story" minus the scarf.

Then came li'l lumberjack Caleb. His earflap hat still fits from last year (yeah!!) and he also had a great time out in the snow. He was so excited to put his snowboots and snowpants on. He didn't do much though. . .just walked around the backyard. Earlier in the morning he had been standing at the sliding glass door and Caleb threw a snowball at the window (gently of course) so when li'l Caleb was outside he thought he needed to try to throw a snowball too. . .didn't work so well.

Abby enjoyed some fun in the sled. Basically, she just sat there like the queen while her minions (aka Grammy and Pappy) pulled her around the yard. Yup, she loved every minute of it. At one point she was sticking her tongue out trying to catch some snowflakes. Too cute.

And then, there was Mr. Frostyhead. Grammy and li'l guy decided to build a little snowman for the table on the back porch. Since no coal or carrot were to be found, we improvised (thanks to Grammy's creative thinking) and used Mr. Potatohead parts instead! :) This is the modern-era snowman. Unfortunately, he didn't last too long because li'l guy got a little toooooo excited and knocked him over. At least we had one good picture first.

We're in the 21st Century!!

2007-12-02T13:35:00.000-05:00

Well, I finally did it. . .I've launched us into the 21st century and started a blog. Will we do anything with it?? Who knows! But, it's started at least.

Welcome to the Worgess Family page! If you follow this, I'm sure you will see TONS of pictures of the kids and loads of fun stuff about the kids because, let's face it, once you have children, no one really cares much about the adults (it's ok, we're totally fine with that!) :) I'm sure there will be tidbits here and there about me and Caleb as well, but you might have to hunt for them. Hmmm. . .maybe I'll post some totally random thoughts here and there (wait, I do that normally in regular speech. . .). And speaking of random, here's the quote of the day from li'l Caleb. . ."Put your shoes on, Potato!" (said while playing with his Mr. Potato-Head). Kids say the darndest things!

Ok, so while I learn how to use this thing, the blog will be fairly sparse. . .but with my wonderful husband's assistance, I'm sure I'll figure it out. So, here goes nothing. . .

Pappy and Abby, and Daddy and li'l guy enjoyed the slide at the Children's Museum in Indy.

We finally got out the decorations for Christmas, and now Abby has a new friend. She likes to give Elmo hugs.

Here's a pic of Caleb and Abby before church. . .li'l guy wasn't quite ready yet (although I'm sure he would have loved to go in his Micky Mouse jammies).