Still kickin

I am alive!!! Sorry for not updating at all this week. Things have been extremely busy. But, I think every one has been that way. I PROMISE to update with some great pictures next time. We have had some pretty fun family gatherings this year. Another one yet today and then another one next weekend too. Christmas has definately had it's ups and downs this year but my kids have managed to have one of their best christma's ever. So as long as they were able to have their piece of "extra happy" this season that is all I need. I have a picture of Brendan with the best smile on his face. This picture I will hold dear to my heart because with everything going on in his life right now - I do not see that smile too often. It's great and I can not wait to share it will you all.

But, for now I have to jet. I have homemade soup to make, finger jello, and cookies for this afternoon. I also have to attempt to shower/bathe 3 kiddo's and get them ready for the party this afternoon. Also need to boot my hubby in the butt and get him outside to vaccum out the car and clean it up a bit. Tomorrow we head to Frankenmuth with my brother (his wife), my sister, & my parents. We have a day planned out for them to celebrate there 31st wedding anniversary they had earlier this month. We chose to wait until after xmas because my brother lives in Gerogia. So this way he could be part of it. It is definatley going to be a great "family" get a way for the day. No kiddies. That is okay though - my kids are super excited about thier cousin Justin coming over to babysit for the day. Now lets just hope my Meika girl does not go into labor while we are gone. She is close to delivering. It should be with in the next few days. I will keep you all updated - her and Niko's puppies are going to be gorgeous. Let me know if anyone is interested in getting one.

Hugs to everyone.

Very sad day.........

Lastnight we got the phone call that Lowell was in the hospital and that he was not feeling well. They said he had phnemonia. Today we recieved a phone call stating that Lowell had an anerisum in his stomach and they were going to have to do surgery. Without surgery he would not make it. They were pretty sure that his heart could not with stand surgery nor could his lungs. Their was a 50/50 chance they could help him. He had been feeling pretty yucky for awhile. But, his drive has been to care for Jason's grandma. She too has been ill for a few years. His whole meaning for life was to make sure she was taken care of. And if that meant he would be with her before attending a doctor's appointment or a surgery for himself that is what he would do. These two were very much in love. You could see it when ever they were together. It was precious. I will miss that for sure. Anyhow, Jason and I got our stuff together and ventured out into the blizzard this afternoon. My plan was to get there before he went into surgery. (We didn't know what time this would be - we just knew we had to get there soon). I wanted to see him, hold his hand, hug him and tell him we loved him before they took him down. I wanted him to know we were there and that we cared about him & loved him. Well, when we got there they had just wheeled him down. We just missed him. I was so sad! But, I also knew he was in good hands. Dr. Gluck was the doctor in on his surgery. However, we were not there too long before they called us into the room with closed doors. They told us he didn't even make it to surgery. When the anesthesioligist put the medicine in him his heart stopped right away. He said just one shot of the medicine was all it took. His heart just dropped down. He passed peacefully. He did not want them to resesitate. The doctor also said that even if Lowell would have allowed it that they could not have saved him. His heart was just too weak. It had apparently only been working at 30%. We were able to go back in the recovery room and see him. I was very nervous but felt it was something we needed to do since we did not make it to him before surgery. I was able to put my hand on his heart and kiss his forhead and let him know I loved him. Jason was able to do the same. What a very unforgettable and emotional moment. I will never ever forget it. As I will never forget a very special man. Lowell thank you for being part of my life as well as my kids. You might have been very set in your ways but we still loved you no matter what. Thank you for always putting a smile on my face when ever I would see you. And, I promise I will not blow away. Ever since my surgery you said that they better tie some weights to me so I do not blow away. You always made me laugh when you said that. Please know you will never be forgotten and that you will always be sadly missed.
Today is the day the good lord took a wonderful man from us. Lowell Corning AKA "Pops". I met this man when I first met Jason. What a great guy. He was married to Jay's grandma - Marjorie Kovach. He always managed to make me laugh or smile when ever I seen him! He will be greatly missed. My promise to you Lowell is to take care of grandma for you. She is in good hands and you have no worries. Between us all in the family she will be taken care of. I miss you already!! R.I.P pops.

Christmas Cards

Many of you may have noticed I have fallen off the face of the earth this week. It's been a ruff one that I would rather not talk about right now. I have been busy though. However - I did manage to find some time to make some cards with Jason's aunt. We really did truely have a blast making them. Lots of laughs and stories to go around. I was not going to send any cards out this year because it's such a huge expense for me. I send out at least 80 plus cards a year. Since we are going to Hawaii the end of next year I figued making this cut this year would be okay. Well, it hasn't been okay. And I decided that I can't cut them out completely. I will send a few out. I have 24 cards that I made that will be going out in the mail very soon. Christmas cards are my favorite part of christmas. I love getting them in the mail. It just makes me smile from ear to ear. And not having the chance to get mine out in the mail has been killing me. This picture does not do justice to them. They are simply beautiful. I think you will love them just as much as I enjoyed making them. So watch for them in your mailbox early next week.

I am still in shock that I made my christmas cards - I can not believe it. I think I might have started a new christmas tradition with Jason's auntie. Thanks Aunt Margie for making card making so much fun this year.

I love this little girl!

Most of you know that I used to do daycare before I started driving school bus. I started watching this little girl in the picture with Colby. Her name is Madison. I started watching Madison when she was 12 months old. Colby was only 6 months old. I have some of the cutest pictures of them over the past 7 years. Anyhow, from day 1 her & Colby were the best of friends (they actually have refered to each other as boyfriend/girlfriend). They do EVERYTHING together. We take her with us everywhere. She is part of our family in everyway. The talk of the family is - what if they grow up and get married. I think it would be awesome - too early to tell for sure. But can you imagine all the pictures I will have for them. I already have a TON.

So here they are thier 7th christmas together. We buy for each other every year too. They get so excited when they get to exchange gifts. I love watching these two together. It's not only precious but priceless.
Madison & Colby 2008

Here they are playing christmas tic tac toe. Love it.

Crazy Randoms

So over the past week I have attempted to take pictures of my 3 LOVELY little children. It has definately been quite a task let me tell you. Times were very frustrating. But, to say the least I tried. My baby girl is too much fun to photograph lately. She is loving the whole posing thing. It is absolutely precious. The first photo she say's "Peace mamma"! She litterally got up on the couch, laid on her side and put her hand on her chin. Something about the look on her face just makes me smile ear to ear.
This is definately one of my new favorite pictures of her. I am going to have to mess around with it a little bit because I am thinking it might be beautiful in black and white.

Here are my three little ANIMALS! Colby, Brendan, & Chaley. These 3 little gifts from god are SO SO different in many ways. Colby is my little worker. He loves to help do ANYTHING - even if it is washing dishes or scrubbing the floor. He is a little smarty pants in school and everyone just loves him. He is my cool dude. When you walk through the hall ways at school everyone is chasig him down. I think he might be Mr. Popularity! Blush Blush - I love my Colbster (even if he is Mr. Snagel tooth right now - he is definately going to be wanting his two front teeth for chrismtas this year). Brendan is my smart, intellegent, difficult child. I love this boy more than anything. He is definately just way too smart for his own good and he tries to use it to his own advantage not any one else's. This little boy is so dang cute but he struggles with his self esteem. Not sure why but he dose and that ALONE can break any mom's heart. Miss Chaley is my challenging child. But, I tell ya she is a fire ball. She is such a social butterfly. She loves to sing & dance. She will do whatever she can to put a smile on your face. Isn't she beautiful??

As I am trying to take a picture of my three lovely children in front of the tree yesterday - Brendan say's lets do something funny. So I said okay. This is what he wanted to do. Cute picture too bad it's blury and out of order. Speak no evil, see no evil, hear no evil. I am honeslty really not sure which way it goes - I just know the way they are standing is not correct. Glad they had fun doing it.

This is our family shot in front of the tree. I had to pull my tripod out of the closet. Blow the dust off from it and then let my hubby rig it up to hold the camera. I was missing the part that connect to the camera to hold it onto the tri pod. It's all good though - I gave my husband a "project" and he was all over it. Decent picture (Actually the 1st picture ever when all three kids were looking and half way smiling) BUT of course it turned out blurry. I will have to see if I can somehow fix that. Don't mind the stockings haven't gotten them hung up the right way yet.

The next few photo's are of the 3 ANIMALS in front of the tree. Brendan is not thrilled at all. He was making me so mad. All he had to do was crack a little smile for .00234 of a second. But, he would not. You will notice in a couple of them he is bald. (Just another reason why he struggles with his self esteem - poor guy) We have been having quit the issue going on with him. He starting losing his hair and pulling it out. They have not diagnosed the problem yet. I hope to find out something on Thursday at the doctor's office. Anyone ever hear of this?!!

Take 1

Oh love this one....snagel tooth and dancing/singing chaley!!

Take 2

And Take 3

Had to move to the couch (they couldn't stand still)! If you notice Brendan was sorta giving his little sister some love - so I acted on it.

Take 4

I told Chaley to give your brother a kiss on the cheeck!!!! Brendan was like Eeewwww! BUT..................

Take 5

She managed to get him! Even if he did have his hand on his face. I know deep down inside he loved it!!!

Take 6

And finally I think I got another shot of the Animals being normal!!! I sure do love these Animals though!!!

Take 7

Love your children! Hug & Kiss them as much as you can. They thrive on the love and attention they recieve from their parents! They may be naughty at times. They may down right just make you want to scream - but know they are amazing little creatures and they love you just as much as you love them - even if they do not show it!!!

Happy Holidays Everyone!!!

Nuts!

So check this picture out!! It is Crazy. This is a picture of Niko laying in the snow on Saturday. It's pretty hard to see that it's actually snow he's laying in but I thought it was cool. These puppies love the cold weather. I love my Niko Boy - BUT, I love this stinkin snow even more - it makes me happy. (for those of you who know me really well, you know I HATE THE SNOW).

Tis The Season For Puppies

So this loveable gorgeous boy named Niko &
This beautiful sweet girl named Meeka - - - - - - - -

Yea, well I am pretty sure (about 99.8%) that they will be having puppies. She is showing signs of pregnancy. Such as abdomen filling out and mammory glands starting to swell. This was NOT suppose to happen. BUT, I am thinking it did. So there for Tis the season for puppies because if I figured if out right she will deliever sometime inbetween christmas and new years!!!!! Niko is papered but she is not! So if anyone is going to want a pure bred siberian husky puppy send them my way.