Jace

Tonight Hailey is spending the night at her Grandmother's house and so it was just Jace at home with Mike and I and we was enjoying having all of our attention. He loves his daddy so much and wants to be just like him. He will often ask Mike soon after he gets home from work, "What did you do today?" and Mike will often have to go into great detail. Its not ok just to say he worked or drove a big truck, but he wants to know who's truck and where he drove it to and what he did while he was there, so for Christmas we found a bull rack kinda like Mike drives occasionally and Jace loves it. Here are a few pictures of them playing together.

Christmas

Oh the joy of Christmas with Kids.

Christmas Eve

I cannot believe we are at this time of year already. I am looking forward to having several days with family. My sister, husband and her little boy, that we haven't seen for a while will be coming from VA. Also Mike's sister who lives in IN. will also be home. Lots of people to see and places to go, but does not look so overwhelming as some years where we run from one family gathering to another, but this year they are alittle more spread out. My kids are very excited and keep asking if they can open just one present. I remember trying that one as a kid. Hope that you and your family have a blessed Christmas.
Merry Christmas from Mike, Jenelle, Hailey and Jace

2008-Part 2

At Uncle Matt's Wedding in March.

2008-Part 1

From this

Christmas Letter

I am getting high tech this year, OK maybe not, but I started a blog this year so I decided instead of writing a separate letter this year I would put my letter on my blog. I can't believe the year of 2008 is drawing to a close and as I look over the last year there have been lots of changes and a very busy year. It seemed like there was never a lack for anything to do.
Mike continues to work at Buckeye Veal and we are very grateful for the job that he has. He started hauling calves some and really enjoys it. Gets him out of the shop several times a week. He didn't seem to have lots of free time this year, because we added an addition onto our house and he did alot of the work himself. We also went on a mission trip with our youth group to the Bronx. Talk about a culture shock and we didn't even have to leave the U.S. We were ready to come back to the peace and quiet even though our house was in the middle of a renovation. We had alot of fun and got to know and appreciate our youth in new way. They are a really a great group and have hearts for God. We love each one of them.
Hailey Brooke started Kindergarten at Apple Creek Elementary this year. That was one of the saddest days of my life, that first day of school to just take her to the door and leave her there. She just loves school and is always ready to go in the morning even though she is not normally a morning person. She loves to read, write and do crafts. She will be 6 on July 4th.
Jace Michael, well where do I start with him, except he's all boy. Neither rain, sleet or snow will stop him in fact the more the better. He will go way out of his way to slosh through the mud puddle instead of going around it. He is adjusting to his big sister being gone, but some days will ask "When we get Hailey?" only minutes after dropping her off. He will turn 3 on January 17th.
I continue to be a stay at home mom and love it. Another project I was involved with this year is the process of building a church. I am on the decorating committee for our new church, which we broke ground for in April. We have been meeting almost weekly since August. Its been something that has been fun,but I will be ready to be done.
Hope that this gives you a glimpse into our lives. We wish each one of you a Very Merry Christmas.

Cookies, Cookies and even more cookies

That is what the last several days have been, lots of cookies. Tuesday I was at my moms and we did a bunch of cookies. Every year we say that we are not doing as many as we did the year before, but it always feels like we do even more. Last night then we baked cookies with our youth group for Sunday night when we go Christmas caroling and we didn't get them all baked so I brought them home and finished them up today. I am getting tired of cookies, but my family is sure enjoying them, so I guess its all worth it.

Changes

If you know Mike or I well you know that we are not a big fan of change and over the last while God has really been working on us about that, just about being flexible and letting him be in total control and not trying to control our circumstances, which we knew we were never in control, but we liked to think that we where. Over the last several years we have experienced several big changes and not sure where they where all leading, but just listening to God and hearing him ask us if we are willing to lay down our dreams and plans to completely surrender to him and his will for our lives. Our biggest change came several weeks ago, when we were approached by our pastor asking if we would consider stepping up as a head youth leader, wow God what are you doing? After lots of prayer and consideration and feeling very inadequate we said yes. As we look at the future, we still are very unsure of what our future holds but it is a daily thing of putting it in God's hands and letting it there. There are days that I want to be selfish and take it back and say God sorry not right now, but then I have to remember the verse in Jeremiah 29:11 For I Know the plans I have for you, plans of good, not to harm you, to give you a hope and a good future. While we are very excited about whats ahead we also know it will not be easy, so if you think of us or are reading this please just remember Mike and I and our kids in your prayers. Its alot of change for us.

YUK!!

So over the last week and a half we have been battling the flu at our house. NOT fun. Hailey was sick last Tuesday and Wednesday and then on Friday night Jace and I came down with it and now that we are finally over it Mike has it, so it has made its rounds.

I am lovin this Ohio weather, the cold and snow got me in the mood to set up my Christmas tree and start on my holiday baking. Today Hailey did not have school so this morning the kids and I started on the cut out cookies. We ended up with 7 doz of cutouts. We had so much fun. Even Jace stuck with it longer than I ever imagined he would.

This week will be a week of cleaning my house good. We have our Sunday School Class Party at our house Sunday evening and with the flu bug being there, it needs a good scrub down. Oh so much fun.

House

So its been about 3 weeks that we have had final inspection on the house and we have slowly been moving things in and gettting it decorated. It has been so much fun and I feel so blessed. There are still things that we are working on, but its coming, it feels like home again.

Finally Final.....

After several long nights and some run arounds with the building department. We finally had our final inspection on the house and it PASSED. We are moving in. I think that my poor husband could go to bed and sleep for days. We are both physical and emotionally exhausted.



I just need to say that God far exceeded our hopes on Thursday. Without going into a very long story, he knocked our socks today, with how he took care of all the scheduling with the building department. We were trying to work with them on the schedules and stuff and we were not getting anywhere with them. Before leaving this house on Thursday morning we just laid it at Jesus feet. We were just hoping for the scheduling to work out and he got that done and the final building inspection with nothing that needed to be fixed. PTL!!!

The last couple of days have been so much fun for me. I have been decorating and arranging things in my head for the last year and its now a reality. It was exactly 7 months ago yesterday that we started digging. I so love my house and am having such a blast decorating. Still have not got my camera to download pictures yet, but will post pics soon.

Fireplace

OK, so its been a little while since I updated, not because I haven't been trying, but I wanted to upload some pictures and am having some difficulty doing so, so I guess I will update without pictures, not near as exciting as if it had pics. Life has sorta slowed down for this last week.

We are hoping to have final inspection on the house by the end of this week, but not getting my hopes up to high. This last weekend we got the stone put on the fire place and got the gas hooked up, so we finally have a working fireplace. We are loving it. We ate supper in front of the fire Saturday night. Other than that just finishing up the last few things.

Whirlwind...

would be the word that I would use to describe the week we had. Anyway, Friday morning at 6:00 am, the kids and I headed with Mike on the truck, to PA. Earlier last week when Mike was gone on business they where at an auction and purchased a tanker and needed to be picked up. The kids were so excited that they could hardly go to sleep, but eventually did. Hailey was awake by 5:30 the next morning. We got to Hamburg, PA around 2:00pm and picked up the tanker and then stopped at Cabela's which was not far from there. We spent several hours there and then headed to Mike's Aunt and Uncle's for the night. After a good nights sleep and climbing back in the truck we arrived home around 4:30 pm. All I have to say is, I would not make a good truck driver, I can't imagine driving out, unloading or loading and turning around and heading to the next place right away. We had fun with Mike and stopping at Cabela's and Mike's Aunts, but we were all ready to be home.

Also this week, we potty trained Jace. I was not going to worry about that until we where done with house and all settled in, but he woke up Monday morning and wanted to try going potty in the big boy potty, so I wasn't going to miss my opportunity. He has been doing very well, which is very suprising, because I thought that he had interest or had any idea what it was. Blow me away.

Panic

Is what I did today after I realized that I had lost a savings withdraw slip that was signed. Mike is buying some beef cows tomorrow, so I was supposed to transfer from savings to farm checking and when I got to the bank, I could not find it anyway, so we ended up closing out our savings and reopening another one. FYI don't ever sign your withdraw slips until you get to the bank. I guess someone up in Wooster is thinking that they are a little richer tonight.

Today I spent the day cleaning the addition. No its not ready to move in yet, but the windows and a few other things can be cleaned and the windows in the existing house needed to be washed so bad, so that's where I started and worked my way into the addition.

Yesterday morning I spent in the Dentist office. I had a cavity in the very back and had been putting it off and at my last cleaning finally scheduled the fillings. I am reminded why I hate going to the dentist so bad. I can handle the numbing needles, its the sound of the drill that just about sends me through the ceiling, but it is a relief knowing that its finally done.

This weekend is more like all the other ones, working on the house. Oh joy, but every week end we spend on it just gets us closer to being able to move in. We keep wondering what will we do with our weekends and evenings when there is no house to work on. There's always something.

FYI

The carpet in our bedroom that is two post down, is NOT pink. It looks pink in the picture, but its called cocoa latte. Just thought that I would clear that up.

IKE

So Sunday was a very windy day because we were dealing with the remainder of Ike. So by 5:00 we had no power. We only had minimal damage, like several large tree branches down and a smaller tree snapped in half and all the porch furniture was in the front yard, but were very fortunate. I can't imagine being an actual hurricane. After attempting to put the kids to bed, Mike ventured out to help some neighbours to cut some trees from across their driveway. Our power finally came on around 3:00. There are still several areas that don't have power. So Hailey didn't have school Monday because one of the schools in the school district didn't have power. We ventured up to Target, which didn't have power either, but were able to half function thanks to generators.
Tuesday morning I had a meeting with Weaver's and had to go over some things for the new church and then Jace and I ventured up to Lodi Outlet Mall which is now, Lodi Station Outlets and it has this cute train running up and down between the isles. We had an all day pass and so we could get off and shop at a store and then get back on and go to the next. It was lots of fun and Jace was not really ready to go get his sister. Today is a day at home and then tomorrow its back to appointments that I have.
Hailey and Jace are excited about seeing their daddy again. He had been gone on business for the last two days and is supposed to be coming home sometime this afternoon. I'm excited too.
OK so much for my ramblings, not too exciting, but somethings that have been happening in our lives.

House

Lot of you have been asking where we are on the house? Not exactly sure how to answer that question, except for its coming. We are starting to see the end. I will post a few pictures, but keep in mind it still is a construction site.

Hope this gives you a little glimpse for those of you who were wondering. If your ever in the area call and I'll be happy to give you a tour.

Fair

Last evening we headed to Wooster with Gary and Jen to attend the Wayne County Fair. Kids had so much fun, riding rides to watching the lose pig running around in the pig barn.



Riding with Aunt Jen.

More Zoo Pictures

Top Left: Jace posing with the go-go (his word for train) signs. Top Right: They did not want to take this picture with the statue of an alligator because they were so tired and Jace was worried that the alligator would get him.
Hailey & Jace touching a live snake. Knock my socks off that they actually did it. Hailey couldn't wait to see the snakes.

Columbus

We headed to Columbus around 9:00am Saturday morning for our little week end away. Kids did very well traveling and after some very slow moving traffic we finally arrived at the zoo. Our kids were thrilled. They both had a list of animals that they wanted to see. We had a very good day, and by the time we left, we had two very sleepy kids and two very tired parents. We then headed for our hotel, were we just chilled. Saturday we headed for the softball tournament. Our plans where to head back Sunday evening, but the last game ended at 9:30 pm, so we decided to stay and camped out in Gary & Jen's room for the night and then headed for home after they played there 8:30 am game. It was very good to get away and out of house mess for a couple of days.

Day @ Mike's

Today was a big day, my dad sold his cows. He sold them to my brother Mike and today was moving day. After the move we ventured down to Berlin, to Mike and Heather's for some cream sticks & chocolate milk. It was sad that Hailey couldn't be with us, but Jace sure enjoyed his time with his cousins, Kirsten and Courtney and seeing the cows. Thanks, Heather for the fun morning.

Looking Forward

to week end away. We are planning on getting away for some of the week end. We are going to take the kids to the zoo in Columbus and then head to Dublin for the softball tournament. We haven't really had lots of time to do a vacation with the kids because we were on mission trip with the youth group and then working on the house. The kids are excited about going.

This week I have been busy painting/staining the trim in the house. I used to like painting. Starting to have a great dislike for it now.

Hailey is still loving school, which is good, because this morning when I dropped her off there was alittle boy crying and trying to run away. I can't imagine having to do that everyday. I can finally drop her off now without tears in my eyes. This morning was the first morning that I had to wake her up for school. She was so tired. I think that she is actually looking forward to the week end so she can sleep in. Jace is finally getting used to being home without his big sister, but is always so excited to see her when the bus pulls up.

Weekend

Saturday we spent doing what we do every other week end. Work on house. Did get a lot done. Trim is on and stained the bedroom and it is all ready for carpet. Hopefully this week, but more than likely with our luck, next week.

Sunday, we went canoeing with our youth group and boy are my shoulders sore. We got off the river just before the storm came. We took Hailey with us and she sat in the middle with her little paddle. She kept referring to it as a peddle. Jace got to spend the afternoon with Aunt Jen and then his grandmother.

Today was off to school. She was up a little after 7:00am wondering how long before she got to go to. Seriously, she doesn't need to be up until 7:45. Glad she loves it.

My Big Boy Just Keeps Getting Bigger

Jace got ride of his nuks earlier this week and today got his big boy bed. He is very excited about it. Wondering how nap will go? If he will stay in the bed? Next comes potty training, but that might be alittle harder for me because it just makes it more official that he really is no longer a baby.

I am trying to get the upstairs straightened up so that I can enjoy the evening with my very dear friends. We are going for supper and a movie. Wondering if we will make it to the movie because we have lots to catch up on.

A Routine

Yes, we are trying to get into a routine, so mornings go a little better with Hailey. She is not a morning person and we get to a slow start, but luckily she loves school, so she is eager to go. I usually take her to school in the morning because the bus goes to early and then in the afternoon I meet the bus. She has been very tired and usually doesn't fight me on her bed time at 8:00.

Jace is always ready to play with his big sister when she gets home. Today he was ready to go get her at 10:00. Might be a long day. I am enjoying my time with him. Just being able to give him one on one time is fun. We were supposed to go swimming today, but the water was way to cold. He didn't want to get into the water.

The house keeps moving along. Mike and His brother Matt installed the interior doors on Tuesday evening. So Mike has the rest of the trim to finish. The siding guys finished up on Tuesday afternoon. My family was here on Saturday to help build the front porch and start moving some of the big dirt piles. Thanks. We love the front porch, when we can find time to sit and relax.

O Where O Where Has My Little Girl Gone...

Today was Hailey's first day of Kindergarten. She was so excited. Mom on the other hand was not as excited as daughter was. There where tears shed this morning as I sat on my couch asking God where has the time gone? Its just amazing how fast the last 5 years have gone. Have we made the most of those years and what if there's something that we should have taught her and didn't, but I need to rest in God's peace and not worry.

Jace is not quite sure what to do with himself without his big sister, but is enjoying his mommy time. He also seems to be getting big so fast also. He woke up yesterday morning and wanted to throw one nuk away, ( he ususally sleeps with one in his hand and one in his mouth) , this morning he wanted to throw the other one away. Why are we taking such big steps on the same day that Hailey goes to school. Its to much for one day.