Jon minus Kate and feeling sorry for Eight

Well after last night's big announcement on TLC I feel sad. I am disappointed that a decision wasn't made to stop the show regardless of wether or not they stay together. The damage is done and will continue to be done as long as these kids continue to be in the spotlight. I admit that I have interest in this family, who wouldn't be curious about their story and be pulling for them. I do however think that I should stop my viewership and focas more on praying for them. As Christians we all fail, we are imperfect and will make mistakes. However, this does not give us permission to give up. Jon and Kate are not only giving up on their marriage, kids and family but I believe they are giving up on God's ability to restore it all. I am not here to judge them, they have made their choices and that is between them and God. I will continue to pray for this family and in general for those marriages that are broken. I pray that even though their marriage is dissolved that their relationship with Christ will be renewed. I am thankful for God's presence in our marriage and pray for his continued protection over it. For a great description of the love required to sustain a marriage please check out Aaron's blog. I wasn't planning on posting on this but its been on my mind today and just needed to commit in writing my prayers for the protection of marriage.

Not the best morning

Well today has started out interesting. Will got a fever Sunday after church, but was great by the end of the day. So I took him to soccer camp yesterday morning and he did fine, but by the time we got home he was tired again. He took a two hour nap and then woke up happy and ready to go. He was fine again for the rest of the evening but by bed time the fever came back. He slept till about 430 am when the Motrin wore off and his fever came back. So I gave him some tylenol and let him come into our bed. He was very talkative and continued to talk until 530 or so. The little stinker never went back to bed and finally went downstairs to watch some tv while his dad was getting ready for work. Then at 630 am I wake up to Abby crying and she says "Will dumped water on my head". Will decided it was time for his big sister to wake up so he thought that a cold dose of water would be the most effective way. So Will gets a timeout and starts crying, Abby is crying and this is all before 7am. Will and Abby both recovered, Will's fever has not returned but of course I kept him home from soccer camp and just sent Abby.

However on a brighter note, I decided to get me a much needed pick me up and headed to Starbucks. I ordered the usual latte and cinnamon scone, the total by memory is 5.80(ridiculus I know but I was desperate). The wait after I ordered was really long and so when I got to the window the guy said "Sorry about the wait, I am just going to charge you for the scone, 1.75 please". Yipeee!!! Nothing like a freebie to change the course of a not so great morning. So thank you Starbucks for running late this morning so I could benefit from it. I can't help but think this was orchestrated by someone bigger. It may seem silly but whenever something simple like this happens I always give credit to God. He delights in cheering me up and I felt like it was his little way of looking out for me and preventing me from letting a whole day be ruined by a bad attitude. Thank you Lord for showing up in both the large and small. I am forever grateful. Here's hoping for a great rest of the day.

Show us where you live-bathroom

This week at Kelly's blog she is having everyone post pictures of their bathrooms. Let me tell you there are some people out there with pretty clean ones, it motivated me to clean my master bathroom last night at 11pm. I chose to show pictures of my downstairs guest bathroom because it is the nicest and most modern.


I love the sink, it is a little high for the kids right now, hence the lovely stool tucked underneath. It is very modern and keeps the splash to a minimum.

Here is a view of the sink and mirror, I love them because they are very different then most traditional bathrooms. The only negative is I do not have a place to hold the towel right now so I just lay it on the sink counter.

Here is view of the shelf above the toilet. I got this reef type plant at pottery barn and then placed some fake artichoke hearts from pottery barn in a glass vase on the back of the toilet.

I love this picture in the bathroom. A very talented woman who stays up at lake erie with us painted all the cottages at Ruggles beach and then copies were made. I had my mother in law frame it as a Christmas gift and the frame matches the wood of the shelf and vanity perfectly.
So this is my favorite bathroom, it is also the easiest to keep clean. In the kids bathroom it is an hourly battle to keep toothpaste off the counter and water marks off the mirror. Thanks for stoppin by!!

Good Weekend

Well this weekend was fun for all. On Friday I took Abby and Will to Grandma's for a weekend stay. The kids were very excited as they always have fun there. After I dropped off the kiddos I had to get a new driver's license. I was a little worried waiting in line as both ladies ahead of me could not understand the directions to the vision test. The man behind me started laughing a little bit because it was a sight to see these women keep asking questions and the lady behind the counter kept saying the same thing, "Middle column, 4th row". I turned around to him and said " I am not going to laugh because that could be me next". Needless to say I did pass and got a brand new pretty license. I was in desperate need of a new picture as my last one I got taken just after a new haircut gone bad, too much bangs for me to handle.

Friday night Mike and I went to downtown Dublin and had a light meal on the porch of Brazenhead. The temperature was perfect and with music in the background it made for a fun evening. On Saturday I slept in(yeah for me) and then we headed out to do some shopping. We really wanted to go to the Memorial Tournament but were unable to get tickets this year. We went to Easton instead and enjoyed the weather and a little retail therapy. The kids went with the grandparents to Youngs Dairy and had a great time petting animals, playing in the barn and scoring two presents each from the gift shop. My children are certainly deprived!!! On Saturday night we headed to downtown Dublin again for a great meal at Tucci's. We ate outside again and had a delightful meal. We were hoping to see some of the golfers from the tourney there but they were in a private dining room. We were home by ten oclock each night and it was nice to catch up on some sleep.

Sunday we attended our church and then headed to pick up the kids. We ate cake and ice cream to celebrate my upcoming birthday. Then we headed home and Mike taught his last Dave Ramsey course at church. My husbands cousin stopped by with a beautiful arrangement of flowers for my birthday. I really think they are the prettiest flowers I have ever recieved.

So it was a nice relaxing weekend for Mike and I and an activity filled weekend for the kids and grandparents. We are so blessed to have two sets of grandparents who actually like taking our kids for the weekend. We love that our families are less than an hour and half away each. Thankyou Lord for a wonderful kick off to the summer.

Kindergarten Graduation

Yesterday was Abby's kindergarten graduation program. She got to wear a cap and gown, sing songs and recieve a diploma. What a fun day for all. My mom and mother-in-law both came as well as Mike, Will and myself.


Here she is before the ceremony, Abby and her two little friends got to pass out the programs. Her little brother Will was so proud. It was a fairly long program for him to get through but he did a great job. Thanks to my mom for keeping tabs on him so Mike and I could video tape the performance.


Here she is recieving her diploma from her teacher and the principal.

This is Abby with her teacher Mrs. Fisher. She has been so great as a teacher. She comes up with the most creative programs and songs for the kids to sing. She has her mom(a former teacher) come in the classroom alot and has used some of her mom's ideas for the performances. We feel so blessed that Abby was placed in this class. All the kids are super nice and play so well together.

Here are the proud parents. We are so happy to see Abby blossom throughout the year. She has become a great reader, friend and wonderful daughter. Thankyou Lord for such a special, sweet little girl