Wow, so much has happened since my last post... birthdays, anniversaries, vacations, and a new baby!! Since I don't have time (or the memory) to recall all that has happened, I will do my best to re-cap with the help of pictures! Here goes:



Casey spent all of June (literally, 16 hour days) getting our new house all painted and ready for move in day. We finally got everything moved over at the end of June. It was exhausting and I'm eternally grateful for all of Casey's hard work. Here's Luke & Emma at breakfast time - ready to start their day in their new house!





Emma was terribly sad that we had to leave our old house and frequently reminded us that "I never wanted to move." That wasn't exactly comforting to hear in the midst of painting and moving boxes. Fortunately, no one was harmed in this exhausting process!

Karla and Papa invited us to the annual Pipefitters Picnic at Stricker's Grove and we had a blast! So many aunts, uncles and cousins were there and the kids (me included!) had a great time riding the rides!

Emma, Luke and Mamaw enjoy a relaxing carousel ride!

Emma begged Casey to take her on the "big" rollercoaster at the park. She was just tall enough to ride and loved it. Casey said that the look on her face when they dropped over the first hill was priceless - she was terrified! However, after that, she loved every minute of it. What a big girl!

Here are the kids riding the boats (L-R: Shane, Jack, Emma & Kinsey). They had a great time on the rides - especially the "tilt-a-whirl!"












Listen closely, kids... this is what happens when you don't listen to your mommy and daddy!

It was raining one evening, so I had taken the cushions from the porch furniture and stacked them in tall piles against the cabinets in the kitchen. Luke and Emma discovered the cushion piles and started jumping off the top of them. So, I ask, "Luke, Em - please stop jumping off the cushions. Someone is going to get hurt." They, of course, continue. Again, I say, "Luke, Emma, please stop jumping on the cushions." Ignored a second time. So, I lean down to grab the cushions to relocate them and at the exact same time, Emma bends down and jump... right into my face! CRACK! Immediately, my eye starts swelling and I run upstairs to the bedroom (because at that point, I was light-headed). So, Casey comes in and sees the ginormous ping-pong sized ball forming on my eyebrow bone. Meanwhile, Emma is crying and writhing around on the floor, shouting, 'no one is taking care of me!" That is point is when I asked her to leave my room. Needless to say, there was tons of swelling and lots of color. In all of my years in sports, I've never received such a horrible black eye! Even Casey agreed that HE hadn't gotten one that bad either. My work friends had a great time re-telling the story and labeled me "Rocky." Here I am the following day - much better!

AUGUST 2010

In August, we headed to Norris Lake to celebrate Casey's birthday with the Lytle family and Julie and Petey. We had beautiful weather and enjoyed spending each day on the water!

Emma and Wylie playing with poker chips in the A-Frame before bedtime.











Luke and Scout (birthday buddies!) enjoy a dip in the pontoon pool with their juice boxes.

The first day we walked down to the cove, there were a patch of butterflies flying EVERYWHERE in the cove! It was just absolutely beautiful! We were able to get close to them and take pictures. This one was my favorite because the rest of them were black and yellow. This one really stood out! These butterflies were with us the entire trip! It was a comforting feeling knowing that Fort was there to enjoy the festivities!















After we left the A-frame, we drove to Oak Ridge where we stayed for a few days. We enjoyed visiting the Oak Ridge Children's Museum (by the way, NOTHING like the Chesapeake Children's Museum!) which explained Oak Ridge's involvement during the Manhattan Project. It was fascinating! We had a great time staying in a hotel room and the kids were great travelers back home to Ohio. With the chaos of packing and moving, this was a very relaxing vacation! We got home just in time to enjoy the weekend!




HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY, LUKEY THE MAN!

Lukey turned 2 on August 15 and we held a family birthday celebration for him. When the cake was placed in front of him and we all started singing, he got extremely embarassed and started staring intently at his fork rather than enjoying the music. It was hilarious! We were happy to have Papaw-Great join us for the party!

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

This year, Emma AND Luke got to join Daddy on the way to school. Emma started Pre-K III this year and Luke joined Ms. Bertsch and Mrs. B at the Early Childhood House. Both enjoyed their first day but were worn out and ready for bed. Yea for school!!!!

OSU vs. OU - Go Bobcats!

A group of us met up at Ohio Stadium to tailgate for the OSU vs. OU game on September 18th. We tailgated at the parking garage directly across from the stadium. We got there super early (8 am! - Fort would be proud). Of course, since it wasn't a big game, we had our pick of parking spaces AND tailgating spaces. We ever saw Rufus the Bobcat assalt Brutus the Buckeye! Good times!

HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY, EMMA KATE!

Emma celebrated her 5th birthday by hosting a birthday party for her school friends, Hannah, Simon and Sigourney. We made stepping stones. opened presents and ate pizza and cake. It was a beautiful day and we had a great party with her friends!

And to top it all off - a brand new nephew!Welcome to world, William Matthew!

On final picture - Emma and Luke at the pumpkin patch. Emma just got glasses last month and I have to say - she looks adorable!

Happy Fall!

A Few Cute Stories...

We've been so busy with our big move that I haven't had a chance to update the blog but did manage to remember a couple of cute stories that have happened over the last few days...

Story #1
Luke is a big waver. Everytime he sees someone, near or far, he waves and says "hi." Even if you just walk out of the room and walk back in five seconds later, he will turn and wave and say "hi" like he hasn't seen you in days. Its hilarious. What's even funnier is that he has two kids of waves. Wave #1 is a real low wave that is down by his hip. Wave #2 is when his arm is full extended and he just flicks his wrist up and down. So the other morning, I'm laying in bed in our new house. The door to our bedroom is freshly painted so it sticks just a little bit when you open it. All you need to do is the push the door just a bit harder for it to open but Luke didn't know that. The door was opened just a crack and Luke puts his entire face in a 3-inch crack and starts chanting, "Momma. Momma. Momma." I peek up at him and say "Morning, Lukey." In response, he removes his head from the 3-inch crack and sticks his hand through and gives me a wave (specifically - wave #2). It was a riot!

Story #2
Emma and I were driving to Jen's this week and she asked where her cousins, Hailey and Kenzie, were. I explained that they were in South Carolina, visiting their daddy. Emma asks, "I thought Uncle Mikey was their daddy." I go on to explain to Emma that before Uncle Mikey, Erin and the girls daddy lived in South Carolina and that at some point, Erin and the daddy decided not to live together any more. I further explained that she met Uncle Mikey and they got marrried and now Uncle Mikey is the girls' stepdaddy. She then wanted to know why Erin and the daddy didn't stay together. I give her a lengthy explanation that some dads and mommies decided not to live together but they still love their kids very much. I told her that she doesn't have to worry about her mommy and daddy because they love each other very much and love her and Lukey and that we'll always be a family. At this point, I'm pretty proud of myself because I have reassured my impressionable child that her parents are very much going to stay together. After a long pause, Emma says, "So... who's my stepdaddy?"

Story #3
Last night at dinner, we were discussing the big move and Emma asked Casey if he had ever moved before. Case goes into how he used to live in Athens during college and that when Emma gets older, she will move away and live somewhere else. So, for our own amusement, of course, Casey and I start telling Emma that she can go to ANY college that she wants to in southeast Ohio and that we will help her move into her new place one day. Emma starts getting all weepy and sayss that she doesn't want to live anywhere other than this house with us and that she wants to live with us forever and forever... and then she breaks into tears. Casey and I stare at each other with big eyes and then, all of the sudden, Lukey starts chanting "Ever! Ever! Ever!" at the top of his lungs. We finally got her calmed down but to hear Luke just screaming "forever" over and over was hilarious!

Those are all the stories for now. Hopefully once things calm down, I will be able to post some pictures of the new house!

Mamaw Karla is so good about sending me emails updating me on what Luke is up to while she's babysitting him... Here's an email from Friday:

So funny...he told me Barney and wanted the controller too. Now the little multi-tasker is working at his Barbie Doll computer at the same time! He also sang with me on the way home. It's going to be another good day.

Yes, he knows all about Barney, says his name, and has requested him for about three weeks. We sing and dance during the program. (Mostly the "I love you" song.)

I got him to say "work" this morning too. He's really on today! He also notices and says "goggie" if there is a dog on TV. We have dogs all around us here. He shows interest in them being around us.

Casey and I had no idea that he knew who Barney was, so we tested him last night. I asked him if he wanted to watch Barney and he replied "Baw-ney" and brought over the controller. Then he climbed up on the couch and waited patiently while we put the show on. Once the intro song came on, he started bouncing up and down on the couch. Hilarious! It's painful to see/hear Barney, but its darn cute to watch him dance to the music!

Cute Emma story: last night, I told her that she could crawl into bed with me and cuddle before I tucked her in. So, she grabs her blanket, curls in next to me, and puts her head on my chest. After a few minutes, she looks up at me and says, "I can hear your heart beeping, Momma!"

Dr. No

Here’s an actual "conversation" that took place between Luke and me this morning:

Stacy: Luke, is Emma up yet?
Luke: Nooo
Stacy: Is Daddy waking her up?
Luke: Nooo
Stacy: So, is Daddy in her room?
Luke: Nooo
Stacy: Did Daddy go back to bed?
Luke: Nooo
Stacy: Is Daddy downstairs?
Luke: Nooo

I stopped asking questions about that. I figured that he wasn’t that reliable!

Luke and I have been spending some quality time together this morning. Emma is at Mawaw and Papaw's for a sleep-over. Lukey woke up around 6:45 so I decided to let Casey sleep in for a bit. We've folded clothes, played trucks and had our breakfast (and coffee). Lately, Luke has actually been playing with toys instead of stealing things away from Emma. He likes his trucks and especially likes Emma's doll-baby stroller. A little bit ago, he was playing on the floor by the back door with his truck and it got stuck in the small space between the step and cabinet. Several times, I had to walk over and retrieve his truck, only to find that two seconds later, he did the same, yelling "Guck, guck!" (at this point, I am unsure if he was yelling "stuck" or "truck" or "truck stuck?"). So, I moved the plant next to the cabinet and attempted to show him how to get his truck by himself. I told him, "Lay on the floor, Lukey, so you can get your truck." He looks at me with this confused look on his face. So, I repeat, "lay on the floor." He conceeds and lays down on his tummy and puts his head on the hardwood floor! After giggling, I showed him how to lay on his tummy and reach for his guck guck (stuck truck). It was too cute.

Now's he walking around with the step-stool trying to grab everything he can on the tables and counters. Oh my...

Luke Stories

Lately, Luke has been especially fiesty. Not sure if its just a phase, but its certainly a change from his even-tempered demeanor that he has had since a baby. Here are a few stories that have had me laughing lately:

Normally, Luke is a sleeper. During the winter, I would wake up around 6:30, ensuring enough time to get my shower and get ready while he was still asleep. And most mornings, I would actually end up waking him around 8 so that I could take him to Jen's. It was a great morning routine. My, how times have changed! This morning, I woke up at 6:40 to the sound of Luke yelling, "Maaa-ma" from his crib. So I jumped out of bed and got in the shower quickly. As soon as I got out of the shower, I heard him in his room making noise. Then I heard him yell "Guck! Guck" which means "stuck." So I walk in his room and he has his foot stuck in his crib. He was just sitting there, staring at his foot and yelling for me. Too cute!

Yesterday morning, I intercepted a full box of tissues that he had stolen from the counter when I wasn't looking. He was hiding behind Casey's chair "blowing his nose." He had gone through about 5 tissues by the time I had figured out what was going on. I take the box of tissues and put them back on the counter and ask Luke to put the tissues in the trash can. Listening like the good boy he is, he walks over to the trashcan, opens the lid and deposits the used tissues. Then he stands there for a moment, looks at me, and pretends to spit in the trashcan. So I stop him and tell him "no-ne-no, Lukey" and he continues to spit again. I can only assume that he's watched Casey do that recently since he's had such a horrible spring allergy season!

When I picked up Luke from Jen's on Monday, she says all serious, "um, I think I taught Lukey a bad habit - not on purpose though." The kids were playing Duck Duck Goose and Jen taught the little ones to play, too. Apparently, Luke didn't get the memo saying that you could only tap on the head during the game and spent the rest of the afternoon smacking his playmates on the head, all the while yelling, "GUCK!" (also used when saying "duck"). He also didn't understand the different between a tap on the head and a full-out smack.

Luke has officially mastered the word "no" and its so adorable that when he says it, I have to turn my head so that he doesn't see me snicker. And the funniest is when he tells Emma "no" for absolutely no reason at all.

And my favorite story of all... last Sunday, I bought donuts for breakfast. We had a few leftover so we kept them for breakfast the next day. On Monday morning, Lukey woke up on the wrong side of the crib and was in a horrible mood. I'm trying to figure out what he wanted for breakfast and he was screaming at the top of his lungs for no reason. So, I offer him a donut and he absolutely goes nuts. I put it in the microwave to heat up for a few seconds and he loses it - he thinks that I got rid of it. He starts throwing a huge fit on the floor. In the meantime, Emma asks me if she can have some donut, too. I tell her to take the one that I heated up for Luke (since I was trying to pick him up off the floor, mid-fit) and that I would heat up the other half for him. Emma starts walking towards the donut on the counter and Luke realizes what is about to happen. He takes off running towards her and attempts to wedge himself between the cabinet and Emma so that she can't take his donut. He also has his arm out and tries to stiff-arm her multiple times. Since Emma is almost a half-body length taller than him, she lightly pushes him out of the way and starts chomping on her donut. It was HILARIOUS! He falls to the floor in a puddle of defeat. It was just so cute that Luke thought he would be able to manhandle her. I'm sure this will change in years to come!

Wow, I can hardly believe it's been over 3 months since I've blogged. What a slacker! Since today is a lazy day, I'm spending it sitting in my lay-z-boy chair, organizing my music and pictures and now finally, updating my blog. So here goes... three months worth of catching up!

November 2009 ~

As always, November flew by! Scrapbook Mountain was the first full week in November and Jami, Alisa and I had a blast! No pictures to post but it was productive, as always. This is the second SBM that I've been to since Fort passed last December. I can say that this round was much better than last February.

The following weekend we had Thanksgiving/Christmas at Mamaw and Papaw's house. We enjoyed a quiet weekend at the farm with good food and good company. We **attempted** to get a family picture with the kids but it was incredibly unsuccessful! The pictures were so horrible that I didn't even save them (I think either Sandy or mom have copies). Both babies were in a terrible mood and Emma and Megan were just a tad feisty. As always, the three older kids were great. Anyhoo, here are a few pictures from the weekend:

Christmas 2009 ~

We had a great Christmas season that was full of family, food and fun (and presents). On Christmas Eve, we went to Aunt Kathy's house for dinner. It was chaos, as always, but we had a great time! There are about 13 kids under the age of 10 that spend the evening running around. And when its time to open presents, it gets stressful! When we were kids, we went to my Mamaw and Papaw's house for Christmas dinner. After dinner, we'd all sit around the fireplace in the living room and my Papaw would be in charge of handing out the presents to each person. Only one present could be opened up at time. So, it was truly a test in patience. Later we found out that my Papaw (who is/was quite ornery) thought it was amusing to make us sit and wait to open up our presents... one at a time). Anyway, picture that calm scenario and the scene at Aunt Kathy's is the EXACT opposite. Presents are literally just dropped off in your lap. You have no idea who they are from or where they came from. It was even worse the first year we had Emma because we had to keep track of our presents and hers. So anyway, it was another great Christmas Eve!

On Christmas morning, Mamaw & Papa Schnieber, Mamaw & Papaw Henry, Mike, Erin & the girls, and Papaw-Great came over for brunch. To keep in line with Henry tradition, the kids weren't allowed to open up their gifts until after breakfast was finished. We had a very relaxing morning which led to an excellent afternoon naps!

So, Emma and I get up around 7:30 on Christmas morning and she's dying to open up presents. I give her stocking, which has socks, gloves, a few hair accessories and a tiny flashlight. She dumps it all out on the floor and exclaims, "Wow, everything I could have wanted for Christmas!" She's easy to shop for!


On Christmas night, we went to Uncle Bob & Aunt Kathy's house for dinner on the Schnieber side. We arrived home last on Christmas night around 10 pm and got right into bed, exhausted from our holiday travels.


January 2010 ~


We celebrated 106 Years of Greatness again at Bangkok Bistro and Haps.

Luckily, its been a lazy winter so far. That's all for now!