Everything to Me

Day 16: A song that makes you cry

This is an easy question to answer, any Mark Schultz song!! Mark Schultz sings songs like you are reading a story. I love every one of his songs like "letters from war", "He's my son", and my alltime favorite "Everything to Me". This song is dedicated to Mark's birthmother who gave him up for adoption when he was a baby. It is all about walking by him on the street and would she know that she was his son. Would she be proud of the man he is today? I think about our children's birth family alot as well. We still are in contact with the kid's aunts but their birth mother passed away when G was born. I know when the kids grow up they will have questions about their birth mom and who she was. We have some pictures (thanks SO much Vicki) that I have put together in a scrapbook (one scrapbook for each kid so they can have it their whole life), but I hope they will be able to look at our family and their birth family and be happy. I only hope they feel that we tried to give them all the love we could and I hope that is enough. Listen to the words of the song ..... CAUTION you might need tissues!! ;-)

VBS Presentation

The older kids had Vacation Bible School last week. It took a few days for X to get used to being at a place where mommy leaves him for 3 hours and comes back. the first few days he was being held when I got there and had cried. But on the last day we was all smiles and couldn't stop talking about it. I hope this makes preschool easier... I am crossing my fingers

Here is Father John and Father Bernie as Captain and Sailor Jack! R and X participated in all the skits and dancing. They loved that part!!!

Here are a few videos of the songs they sang to the parents.

my favorite song Shout to the North and the South...And guess who loved the ice cream Klondike bars at the end of the ceremony?

You guessed it!!

A moment in time

day 13/ day 14 were more questions about favorite fictional and non fictional book. Since I already answered that on one of the first days.. i am not answering those questions again. I am suffering from pregnancy and mommy energy drainage the last few days and can not extend any extra energy on that.

Day 15 today though is a Moment in Time You Will Never Forget.

Okay I could be posting about my wedding day or July 28th last year the day the three sweethearts walked into our lives, or I could be posting a date in American history like September 11th that, like the Kennedy generation, I will remember where I was when I heard the twin towers had been hit. But today as I sit here pregnant and the mother of 3, I think of Missy. I think of her often, of how life is so precious and how God has plans beyond our control whatever they may be. Our Goddaughter Melissa Marie passed away on July 1st 2005. She was 18 months old and was the cutest little girl that you ever did see. This week she will have been gone for 5 years. Our family's life had changed the moment she stepped out of our lives. We all learned not to take life for granted and to hold on to ever moment you have with the one's you love.

Nate and I had only moved to Iowa one week before she passed away. It made it living here very difficult because we weren't there to give hugs and comfort when our family needed it. We had to rely on communication and over the phone conversations to help us through that very rough time. We do now hold every time we are together with family precious. Time is something given to us from up above and we must not squander it away with petty arguments and disagreements.

As a mom now I constantly worry about something happening to my children, but it is out of my control. The only thing I can do is love them and enjoy every minute I have holding them. I think about this alot now that I am pregnant and 23 weeks along and constantly worrying about losing this baby girl before I get a chance to hold her in my arms. After 3 miscarriages it is hard to think that this pregnancy will have a happy ending but I have to remember it is not in my control and if we had not had as hard of time getting pregnant and gone through ALL of that we would not have the family we have today. We would have never decided to adopt, we never would have considered taking a sibling group of 3, we never would have met our 3 amazing kids, and we would have never had the joys we have in our life today.

So today I remember "Missy Me" and know she is looking down on us in heaven and smiling. She is my guardian angel not protecting me from bad things that are bound to happen, but helping me cope with the bad things that happen and helping me grow stronger because of them. Love you Missy!

Flashback...

Day 10: A photo of you taken over ten years ago
Happy Anniversary to my amazing husband Nate. We have been married 6 years today and coming this December we will have been together 15 YEARS.... that is since 1995. He helped me learn to drive, my first kiss, my date to each and every wedding that we have attended, my best friend and soul mate.

Our anniversary is a celebration of the day we promised to give each other a lifetime of LOVE. We have a marriage built on friendship and respect - a partnership made of patience and understanding... he helps me be a better person, wife and mother. We help each other reach for dreams that I would have only imagined reaching one day, but being with one another we can reach those dreams. I love him more and more each day and can't wait to spend another 50+ years together.

I still remember vividly meeting you during band camp and us being band "family members". You teased me like crazy and we had nicknames for each other.... horse manure and horse sh**.. so enduring right?? Really what were we thinking?? We were in high school and became really good friends writing notes back and forth and talking between classes in the hallway. It still makes me smile when I remember slowly falling in love with my best friend!
This is the first picture I have of Nate and I. It was taken at Grandma Schulte's house on Christmas. (I think I am wearing suspenders... what was I thinking!!)
This was taken at my first homecoming as a freshman. It was the first time I ever had my hair done and all my thick hair was put on the top of my head!! I was almost taller than Nate!!
This was prom Nate's Junior year and my Freshman year. I was one of I think 2 girls that were allowed to go to prom our freshman year. I loved that dress, I felt like a princess in it!

This was prom Nate's Senior year.
Both of us dressed up for a cousin's wedding. Boy are we growing up!! I love that we have all these photos of us growing up... and they are you and me together!! Our lives were intertwined the moment we met.

Here we are in college. We both were buckeyes and got to attend lots of Buckeye games together.
Our wedding day 6 years ago....it feels like yesterday. It was one of the most wonderful days of my life. I couldn't wait to spend the rest of my life with you. I remember last year when you went to France for work and I told mom that there has only been a few days that I can remember that we didn't say "I love you" to each other every day. But even in France you found ways of talking to me and saying "I love you" almost everyday. I am so lucky to have you as my husband!!
Here we are sooo tan on our honeymoon!!
Wow looking at this collection of pictures you really haven't changed Nate!! But my hair has changed drastically!!! :-)

Happy Anniversary to the most wonderful husband in the whole world!!!

It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life. ~Rita Rudner

Amazement of a tripod

Day 9: A photo you took

I took this picture with our gorillapod (funky travel tripod) on our trip to Glacier Nat'l Park in 2008. Can't wait to go back some day with the kids and climb up the amazing trails and explore nature with them!!

Happy Birthday Aunt Kathy!!

Happy Birthday Kathy!!!

My sister Kathy's birthday is today. I wish her lots of blessings and happy birthday wishes. She is an amazing person and the best big sister ever!! I can always count on her when I need her, like when she came this winter to stay with the kids while our oldest had surgery or when I needed a place to live my senior year of college and she let me become her roomate. You are so special and are one of the most generous people I know. Have a rockin birthday and enjoy a small song and dance from your nieces and nephew who think you are the coolest!!


Check out Xavier doing the mr. roboto... and glorianna has started to try to break dance!!!
The crack me up!!