Enjoying Life!

Water Lilies is pic #1. The blue and green one is Christian's and the purple and green one is Maddie's. Next we have a pink bowl (Maddie) and two yellow bowls (Christian - he gave these to Maddie and Isaac! Thanks, Christian!). Below is Maddie posing next to her masterpiece (top of pic) that was put in the Groveport Town Hall on display. Maddie also has a piece of art displayed in an office building across from Kroger in Groveport.

Christian had a lot of art on display at Groveport Madison's art show! Here he is posing with his masterpieces!

Here is Maddie with her abstract horse picture.
These are Christian's (bottom) and Maddie's (top) butterflies!
This is Maddie's butterfly. We looked all over and couldn't find Christian's. :(

If you look really close in this top picture, you can see the bluegill that the kids caught! This summer was their first time fishing and they have loved every minute of it! David found an apartment community clear up off of Sawmill Rd (if anyone knows of a closer place, please let me know!) that has a pond stocked full of fish! We have gone there twice now, and the kids have had a ball each time. There are so many bluegill, each of the kids caught at least two each time we went.
This time, we used worms for bait, and when they were gone...chicken nuggets! This is David helping Maddie not fall in after she cast the line and was reeling one in!
I just love this picture. David helping Isaac to fish. This one is on the windowsill by my desk at work.
This is Isaac's "little" fetish in action. He still loves little things. He arranged these on the kitchen table and asked me to take a picture of them. Since I displayed Maddie's creativity, I figured I might as well display his!

Below is a picture of Maddie in the back yard at "the river house" where David used to live.

Okay....the river house was being remodeled and getting ready to be sold, so the toilet was out on the back deck because the bathroom was torn up. Maddie and I were down by the river and Isaac had to pee, so he told me he was going to run up to the house to use one of the other bathrooms and he was going to "check on" David. I was so impressed that he didn't just pee on a tree! Then he came back down to where we were and asked me to come look at something....

He had peed in the toilet on the deck! LOL What a trip! Never a dull moment with that boy!
This is Maddie and Isaac on a fallen tree in the back yard. Dad, I taught them what you taught us as kids...when walking in the woods, step onto the log and jump out as you jump off...don't step down from it....you never know what could be hiding underneath that dead wood!

Here are Maddie, Isaac, and Christian at Greater's enjoying their ice cream. We walked next door from Grinders for dessert after pizza subs! :)

Here are my two again....fishing off the dock at the river house.
Look how peaceful the water is...and how natural this girl looks with a fishing pole!
Awwww...ditto here.



Here we are at the Columbus Zoo. It was so funny because one of the goats pooped in front of Isaac and he yelled really loud, "HE'S POOPING!!! GROSS!!!" Everybody turned to look, of course, and it was evident who this little boys mother was by the 10 shades of red on her face!

The kids had a fun time climbing and playing on the 'dinosaur bones' in the play area at the Zoo.

This is Maddie and her friend Abby at Maddie's 8th birthday party. David had bought Maddie a trampoline and was out back putting it together. I finally let her come out and see what her gift was from him and here she is....she loves it! It was the life of the party, too. All the kids were either jumping on it or standing in line to get a turn! Thanks, baby. :)

Christian, Isaac, Hannah, Preston, Abby, Erian, Alexis, and Sienna, Kristin, Joyce, Grandma, Grandpa, David, Amber, and Sonji all helped make Maddie's party memorable.


Another fishing picture. There's a bluegill. Hope that chicken nugget was worth a pierced lip!

Here is Christian with his first fish ever caught! This was his first time fishing, too.

Christian, Trent, Dylan, Maddie, and Isaac were all having a great time in this wagon. Well....most of the time OUT of the wagon. How the older kids ended up being pushed is beyond me! But they had fun!

This is Tweety. Isaac found him in the dirt where he was digging for bugs. He was alive and hungry, so Maddie found a bed for him and Isaac got a blanket and I got the tweezers, syringe, mushy cat food, and water. I took Tweety to work with me and fed him every hour. When I got home, the kids would help me take care of him. After two days, Tweety died. Maddie was very upset and just sobbed and sobbed. She still says she misses him from time to time. We buried him where Isaac found him and said a little prayer and now Isaac won't dig there and he won't let anyone else dig there. We are glad that God allowed him to live two more days than he would have if Isaac never found him.

Let's see....we are enjoying our new church. Maddie has begun asking to sit in the service with me because she is really interested in what the pastor has to say. She asks me very intuitive questions, usually after we say bedtime prayers. She has a lot of really good questions and a lot of insight for a little girl her age.

Please pray that we find the preschool that is right for Isaac. The one I really wanted him to go to may have a waiting list. The director is going to call me this week. He will be in preschool in the Fall. Maddie will go to afterschool care there at her school. She is in the summer reading program at the library and is enjoying reading more. She even does flashcards with Isaac and has been helping me try to teach Isaac some things to get him into the 'school' mode. Both of the kids say they are bored at the babysitters already! I have been sending Maddie things to do to the sitter's (believe it or not, she wants to do extra school work to keep her mind going over the summer)! She has also taken her latchhook and art supplies.

David and I are still enjoying each others' company after all this time. :) The kids really like him (sometimes Maddie pretends not to!) and we try to all spend time together whenever our schedules will allow. He is gearing up to move into his new place next weekend! Things are going well with his job, and he is finally getting rewarded for all the years of loyal service he has given the company. The company is looking into moving to an old church near downtown. It's got more space, and I've heard it's beautiful. The only question that remains is the cost efficiency of the move.

I have applied for the Director of Operations position at the company I work for. My supervisor gave her notice after 11 years of service to the company. I interviewed last Monday and hope to be on the list for a second interview sometime within the next two weeks. If that happens, then I would be in a group of other candidates who would be interviewed by the staff who currently work in my office. Because this job requires a 4 year degree, (I can be hired based on the contingency that I would go back to school to finish and get my degree), I am researching online universities and gearing up to go back to school. It's kind of exciting and even though I may not get the job, it's still something I want to do.

I guess that's all the news for now! Take care, and keep in touch! :)