The final product...they really did a great job!!!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

I want to wish my mom a very Happy Birthday!!! I love my mom so much and she is really such an awesome role model for me. I think my mom is a beautiful person, both inside and out. She loves her grandchildren like you couldn't even imagine and she loves Chuck like he is her own son. I don't think everyone could say that about their husband's relationship with his mother in law! I love spending time with my mom, whether it be shopping, a family night out for dinner, going to church together, or hanging out at home. We can always find something to talk about and laugh over no matter what is going on and I can tell my mom anything and I know that she will support me and give the best advice possible. So, on this special day, I want to honor my mom and wish her the best day ever. Love you, Mom!!! (Oh, and I definitely need to take Mom out for a photo shoot because I did not have any pics of her alone that she would have allowed me to post on the blog!)

Thanksgiving ABC's

Well, my friend Chantal tagged me to do a Thanksgiving ABC. She talked about being thankful here, and I totally agree with her...with all of the sad things I have seen lately, I need to remind myself of the many, many things in my life that I should be thankful for! So....here goes....

A - Apple pie....gotta love it! My Grandma Brewer made the best though...sure wish I could have a piece of that pie!
B - Brock Berry, of course! What a great kid!
C -Chuck Berry, of course! Love that guy! ;0)
D - Days of summer...love spending them with kids and friends!
E - Every day that I get to live...I hope I never take it for granted!
F - Friends...how could I live without mine? I could survive, but my life wouldn't be nearly as full or happy without them!
G - Grandparents....who in the world loves you unconditionally like grandparents do? There is no love that is quite the same as that of a grandparent!
H - Hart's....our family is better because they are part of our lives! Love you, Harties!! ;0)
I - Ice cream for sure!!! My favorite is Maggie Moo's Better Batter!
J - Judy....she is SO special to all of us! And JJ...we love her! And Jen Wilson....we could really go on and on with the J's! :0)
K - Kids...I love the one's I get to work with....it is my honor to teach them every day!
L - Lifehouse! Love our new church and the way it has strengthened our relationship with our Lord!
M - McKenzie Kathryn, of course! That girl makes me smile every day!
N - Nikon! Love mine...and couldn't live without it!!!
O - Ohio State Buckeyes!!!!!! We LOVE our Buckeyes!
P - Parents... mine are the absolute best you could ever ask for!!!!
Q - Quiet time....love when I can wrap up in a blanket on Saturday mornings and watch Food Network and sip on my coffee! It doesn't happen often, but I sure do enjoy it when it does!
R - Radio...it makes me so happy to sing to the radio in the car (doesn't sound good, but brings me joy!).
S - Shopping!!!! Nothing better than a girl's day with my daughter or my mom shopping!
T - Tina...praying for her miracle and thankful to be part of her life!
U - Unconditional love...I am lucky to get this from so many people!
V - Van Wert Cougars! Love our Friday night football games and looking forward to some basketball games this year!
W - Watermelon Jolly Ranchers! Love 'em!
X - X-tra special ladies who volunteer in my classroom!
Y - You! If you are reading this...you are special to us!
Z - Zillions of other things and people that I am thankful for and didn't get on my list!!!

Whew! That took a while! Okay...I'll tag Amy and Carole! Good luck girls! :0)

Halloween 2009

This year for Halloween, we went digging in my mom and dad's attic. By now, you probably know how creative my dad is, and Halloween is his specialty. When I was younger, he always made my costumes and they were always fantastic and creative. Now, Halloween isn't really Brock's favorite holiday because he isn't crazy about scary stuff, but McKenzie....she is a whole different story! She went crazy going through my dad's box of costumes and she was really excited when she saw the headless bride costume. When she tried it on and it fit...she was all about wearing it. This costume was one my dad made for me when I was about her age and he had saved it all these years. Many of our friends and family have worn it too! Now Brock, he did NOT like the costume and didn't want much to do with it, but he did find a mask that he liked and he settled on that. This is the first Halloween that Kenzie went with a scary costume, but she liked it. We took them to the Fall Fright Festival at the fairgrounds, which we had never done before and they had lots of fun there. They both entered the contest and Kenzie was thrilled when she won first place in her category! She even got ten dollars! Later, we went trick or treating in Willshire with their cousins, which is a tradition for us and we were thankful for the dry skies. It was a fun Halloween and we were glad that both of the kids were healthy enough to enjoy it!

Marshmallow Mummies - YUMMY!!

I think we started making these cute little treats when Brock was in kindergarten, and the kids just absolutely love them! I think they are too stinkin' cute...and super easy to make! Kenzie is invited to her very first Halloween party at her friend's house, and she just had to make some marshmallow mummies for the occasion. So last night we all sat at the bar (minus Brock, since he was sick and germy) and made these mummies. They were sitting on the bar this morning waiting to go to Kimber's house and I couldn't resist taking their picture! Boy, I will take pictures of anything!

S.S. Goedde

Brock recently got to complete a really neat project for his enrichment class. In a unit they did they had to create a boat out of only cardboard and duct tape. Of course, he collaborated with my dad, since that is totally my dad's thing. They had a blast together, creating a "prototype" and doing practice runs in their pool and doing the final project. Brock gained a good deal of knowledge from this project, but I think the best thing he gained was quality time spent with Grandpa. I love that my dad is always willing to take time to help the kids with these types of projects...he loves it and they do too. So, of course, when they got to try out their creations, my dad was there to cheer Brock on. I gave Chuck photography duty for the day and I thought he did a great job. I couldn't believe it when I came home and he said, "I took 73 pictures!" Man, give that guy a camera and he goes wild! Must run in the family. :0)

Fall Fun!

With all of the responsibility that children have these days, I always get excited when I catch my kids being....KIDS!!! Sunday evening Kenzie came bursting through the door and told us we HAD to come outside! When got out there, she and Brock were raking leaves and jumping in them. I haven't heard them laugh so hard together in ages...it really made me smile. They took turns covering one another in leaves and they had fun just throwing them in the air! It was just pure joy for me to watch. Enjoy the pics of their special evening together!!! :0)