Spring 2007

Here are some pictures from this spring...ENJOY!!!!!!

Long-awaited update....

How to begin... The last six months have been a roller-coaster ride of emotions. Good and bad, happy and sad...etc. As most of you know, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer this January. This was not the news we were hoping for (obviously), but praise God she is now cancer free. She had a double mastectomy and was spared the horror of chemo and radiation...we all found this a huge blessing and relief. Josh and Shelly continue along on their difficult journey with amazing faith and honesty. I won't be redundant and write more about this as I'm sure all of you keep up with their blog. In the midst of all this God has given me a new joy in the day to day. I find myself thanking Him for all the little things...Ezekiel's snotty kisses, the sound of Emmy's tap-dancing, Elijah's way of telling a joke just like his Grandpa Syswerda. I sometimes feel guilty when my day is uneventful and enjoyable and find myself keeping my joy to myself. I don't know if that makes any sense, but it's just where I'm at. For instance, yesterday... The 5 of us took an afternoon trip to a beautiful park and let the kids ride their bikes and scooters all over the place. It was sunny, the kids were happy and healthy, Jason and I were quietly enjoying eachother's company...you get the picture, and I found myself weighed down with guilt for my happiness and peace. But I digress. I have truly come to realize that my life is not my own...God is in complete control of each moment and I thank Him for each tiny blessing...because I know how quickly they could all be gone. Perspective really is an intersting thing.
OK...enough rambling. What have we been doing the past 6 months?? Elijah turned 9, Emmy turned 7, and Ezekiel turned 4. Emmy lost her 2 front teeth and looks absolutely adorable! Zeke is riding his bike like a pro (no training wheels I might add). Elijah continues to love playing baseball and riding his ripstick...basically just growing up much too quickly!
We took a great vacation over Spring Break. We drove to Myrtle Beach and stayed in a condo for a week. We had such a great time we're hoping to do it every year.
The church continues to be a constant source of blessing...we had our first baby dedication and had 11 kids dedicated! Emmy sang a solo and had everyone in tears.
My job is still great fun. The new honors choir has experienced great success and will be a stepping stone to making the schools choir program one of exellence. The honors choir and I have also had a lot of fun making up a challenging summer reading list. We picked 30 classics and I offered $100 to the student who could read all of them and pass a simple test when we return for the fall. A friend of mine from church loved the idea so much she offered another $100! Really, this kind of thing really fires me up!!
We have continued to spruce up our house...my favorite thing to do! The kichen now has recessed lighting, a new beadboard ceiling and molding, new colors and new appliances...whew! We put in a stackable washer and dryer on the second floor last summer and finnally got is hooked up this week...my rheumatoid arthritis makes trucking the laundry up 2 flights of stairs a bit difficult. Lot of little projects we finish when we have any extra $50 dollars here and there. I am truly thankful for our little place and couldn't love it more (well...maybe if it had just one more toilet...HA!)
Well, that's about all for this 6 months! I will be posting pictures in the next couple days so check back soon. Love to you all!

Merry Christmas to all! True to form, we've been crazy busy...too busy for blogging! We had a groundbreaking ceremony for Josh Shelly's new land this weekend which was amazing. It was great to see them both so amped up. It was my birthday today and my husband treated me to a new refigerator and stove (on a payment plan of course!!!!) Our old ones were on their last leg (and have been since 1980!!!). A bunch of girlfriends took me out for dinner which was just so refreshing- ya know, adult conversation. All of my students sang Happy Birthday to me which was so sweet. Then one of the boys asked me how old I was....when I answered his reply was an astonished, "That's how old MY mom is!" I could've died. Anywho...

There are many pictures here for your enjoyment. Some are from our trip to Amanda and Brendon's, some are of our Halloween celebration, some are of Emmy with Piper (who we sold to someone who wanted to deal with his potty training issues!), and the last are of the Grand Rapids Santa Claus parade which Elijah participated in with his karate class. My favorite picture is of Elijah holding his favorite person- Ephram. He has really taken to his as of late and it just makes me proud!
As a side note- to those of you who typically receive our Christmas picture, sorry! Time got away from us this year and it just didn't happen- oh well! Hopefully next year!

Hello again!

Yup- it's been 2 months and I know it! I even spoke the words "think I'm done bloggin'' to my sis. Obviously, I changed my mind. (One of my more annoying character traits....) Since my last post, things have been busy, busy, busy. I contracted a lovely case of mononucleosis that's been mysteriously passing around our church- ha ha. Let me just tell you, you DO NOT want this virus. It has seriously kicked my butt. I still don't feel like myself and it's been almost 3 months- ugh.(Needless to say most of the time I'm too tired at night to blog!) I also went back to work and the kids went back to school. I've really enjoyed my job this year and LOVE the new teacher I'm working with. I think we may actually have a choir we can take to state in the near future!!! Elijah is in 3rd grade, Emmy is in 1st, and Zeke started 3 yr. old preschool. Just writing "3rd grade" makes me feel old! How quickly my little boy is turning into a little man - I noticed how often he's absent in my most recent set of pictures; he's been hanging with Dad all fall at the local bar and grill watching OSU and the Indians and generally just being Jason's mini-me. He just wrote an article for school called "Why I Want to be a Pastor"... Gosh is he cute!!! Emmy learned how to ride a two-wheeler and FLYING through piano lessons. She is quite the little musical whiz and is already sightreading, playing with two hands, singing along when she plays.... They both make us so proud. Zeke is LOVING school and having fun hanging with JUST mom in the afternoons. He also has a new little mandolin he plays all the time- he even dances while he plays it- KILLER cute.
We also continue to do our best to help out Josh and Shelly as often as possible. I spend a couple days a week helping Shelly with the kids and whatever else she needs. I think it goes without saying that this is by far the biggest part of our life and we are all still trying to figure out what our roles need to be and how we can best help eachother. I won't reiterate all that's going on with them since I'm sure most of you read their blog religiously!!!
I've posted some pics of our last couple months - the first are from my good friend Carrie's wedding. She married Alex Lopez in a beautiful ceremony this August. The next are Zeke's first day of school and Emmy on her bike without training wheels. The rest are of our day on Saturday at the local pumpkin patch. Hope you all enjoy the pics of Ephram- he is REALLY getting chunky and full of spunk- what a little blessing he is!!!

Pray for Bryson

Hello blogger friends. I am writing you all with an urgent prayer request. Some of you know the Hummel and Osbourne families. Jason's parents are best friends with Charlie and Sue Osbourne and Jay grew up like a brother to all the Osbourne kids. Last night Jay's mom called crying asking us to pray for Bryson. Bryson is Nicole(Osbourne) and Beau Hummel's oldest child. He was badly injured last night in an accident with a lawn mower. Without going into too many details, he lost his leg above the knee. He is just a little 4 year old boy and he desperately needs our prayers, as do his parents, grandparents and younger siblings. He is currently at Columbus Children's Hospital in Ohio and I'm sure will be there for some time to come. JoEllen Hummel (Bryson's aunt) has current updates on her blog- hummelnest.blogspot.com. Please check them and encourage all you know to PRAY!!!!!! Thank you all.

Daddy Update

Thanks so much for your prayers! My dad is home and feeling good. He had a stress test yesterday and there wasn't anymore damage to his heart; it just showed the damage from the heart attack in January. They gave him the option of having a heart cath to see if he needed a stint and decided not to. The doctor said there was more risk in the surgery than not. So he is at home with strict instructions to figure out some good stress management! We all feel blessed to have him with us and pray for MANY more healthy years! Thanks again!

Prayer for Dad

Hey y'all. Just a quick post to ask for prayer. While Jason and I were in Chicago yesterday for Carrie Lindberg's wedding, I called my parent's house to check on my kiddos. My dad answered the phone and said he was having chest pains. He was home alone with my 3 kids while my mom was at Daybreak Church with Josh and Shelly. Of course, Mom's cell phone was broken and Shelly was running some errands during the second service. I finally got a hold of Shelly who did some quick thinking and sent a girlfriend of our over to Mom and Dad's. Dad drove himself to the hospital (after MUCH stubborn argument!!!) and my Mom met him there. Right now it looks like he's had another minor heart attack. (The first being when we were in Miami with Josh.) He is having a stress test right now which will tell the doctors what kinds of surgery he will need, if any. Please pray the doctors will know what to do and the solution will keep him healthy for many years to come!!!