Just an Update

Some of you may remember that Drea was given a couple of chicks for Easter several years ago.  If you don't remember here is the link to that post from Monday April 13, 2009.

http://wvniessners.blogspot.com/2009/04/one-month-knock-knock-and-chicks.html

For  our concerned blog readers I want you to know that the chick that survived is doing quite well.  Here are some pics of the proof. 

One of my coworkers took Peepers in and all is well with her.  The chick that is, I am not sure about my coworker.  

Our Girls

Our girls are pretty special.  They are constantly doing stuff that makes us laugh.  Here are a few stories about both the girls that are pretty priceless.

Charlotte:

She is like a tornado...she is always on the go and she is going 100 mph.  It doesn't matter what she is doing...walking, dancing, playing, or talking, she is going fast.  She says some of the funniest things.  The problem is, she does so many things I usually laugh about it and then she has moved on to the next funny thing so I forget. 

One of the things she does that makes me laugh is at the dinner table.  We will sit around the table and do our highs and lows for the day.  Without fail, Charlotte always says her high is Poppy Jo (her friend from daycare) and how she played with her.  She even says it when it is a day that she is not at school.  She also always says her low is her friend Jacob and how he always bites her.  She knows that she didn't get bit, but for whatever reason she finds humor in it.  I do too, go figure. 

She is pretty cute as well.  Almost every night she will be laying in bed and she will yell, "Daddy, come here!" She will keep yelling until you come and see what she wants.  What she wants is always the same.  Daddy, I want to tell you a secret.  She always whispers a bunch of stuff that I don't understand, but obviously I don't care it's cute.

Another funny thing she does revolves around this game I play to get the kids in their car seats.  Don't ask me why, but for some reason I decided one day that whoever was the last one to get in their car seat with their seat belt on had to eat a poop sandwich.  So the point is the last one in their seat has to eat it.  Well, Drea hates being last and cries as if I am really going to make her eat a poop sandwich.  Charlotte on the other hand things she wins if she eats a poop sandwich.  So I usually have one kid crying and the other one excited regardless of whoever is last.  It cracks me up though when Charlotte says, "Yeah, I win the poop sandwich!"

Alexandrea:

Drea likes to be called Alexandrea now.  I'm not quite sure why, but my guess is that it sounds more elegant.  She is our fancy girl.  I mean that in a nice way.  She is growing up so fast.  I always tell her to stop growing.  She always says, "Daddy, I'm not going to stop!"

The other day I was taking the kids to school and I was dropping Charlotte off first.  So Nancy called to ask me something just as I was about to get out of the car.  So I answered it and began to get Charlotte out of the car.  Without asking, Drea got out of the car, opened the passenger door and got all the items that Char needed for the day.  She carried them in and gave them to Charlotte's teacher.  I'm not going to lie, I was proud.  It was pretty special, but what was even better was when I told her how proud I was and she was beaming.  I think that was my high for the day.

Last week we had parent teacher conference.  Drea woke up and said to me, "Happy Parent Teacher Conference Day!".....I don't care who you are that is funny.

Friday at dancing I was watching Drea dance.  She was doing a good job.  Anyway, I started talking to someone and I stop paying attention to her.  This went on for several minutes.  Then all of a sudden in between dances, Drea ran up to me and whispered, "Daddy watch me."  I stopped talking and watched.

Finally, one last Drea story....it went something like this:

Drea: Know what fell on my foot?

Me: Know what?

Drea: Know what fell on my foot?

Me: Know WHAT?

Drea: Know what fell on my foot?

Me: KNOW WHAT!

Drea:  N O A H, fell on my foot!

Me:  I just burst out laughing.

Somebody turned 6!



So somebody forget the candles, so we borrowed candles from the party upstairs....what, 5 plus 1 equals 6

Drea wanted cupcakes with shoes on them for her guests....so we went with a cupcake cake with a giant shoe

She also wanted two cupcakes with purses, one for her and one for Charlotte
My favorite thing about both of these was Drea drew a picture of what she wanted and gave it to the
cupcake lady....I think she is amazing

Drea's party of at WV gymnastics....I swear the big kids have more fun then the little

Mommy and Char

What was that about the big kids

I dont know how she does that

Daddy and Charlotte in the foam pit

Drea opening presents

Who wants to go back to school

Every year I get the pleasure of spending Christmas break with the kids. I always enjoy this time and this year was no different. We got into something every day and enjoyed our break. Today is the last day before Drea and I have to go back to school and we are making the most of it. This morning there was a little snow on the ground and Drea wouldn't let the opportunity pass her up.

Drea making a snow angel on the deck

Charlotte getting ready to enjoy the snow, always with baby doll in hand

Drea attempting to sled

Any chance I can get to build a fire, I'll take it. 

After we came in and warmed up with hot chocolate, Char said look at me, take my picture

Unfortunately we will have to get back to our regular life and school, but you never know, snow days may be just around the corner.  :)

Change

Sometimes change is hard.  It doesn't matter what the change is, it is just hard for people when change occurs.  Shoot, I hate getting changed out of my pajamas most days.  I guess my point is this.  Change happens.  For whatever reason it does.  Sometimes it is for the good and other times it seems it is for the bad.  Often times change has to happen for God to intervene.  God is the one constant in all of our lives.  God remains the same.  And usually about the time you think God isn't there something happens.  God is amazing.  He uses things in our lives and events in other people's lives to fix us.  I mean let's face it, we are all broken.  We all sin, we all make mistakes. 

I think about my life and the changes that have occurred.  I remember when I came to the lowest point in my life when I was completely broken.  It was near the end of college for me.  I enjoyed my 9 years of college, probably a little too much.  Something had to change.  My life was empty.  It wasn't rewarding.  Something was missing.  I knew it was God.  I remember pretty clearly (which is amazing considering what I was like at this point in college) working at Giant Eagle in Morgantown and meeting this new employee, Stacey.  She lit up the room.  I think it was her smile.  She had a way of comforting me even then.  So I started to talk to her about me, she was a great listener.  I just talked and talked and talked.  I can do that you know.   She listened and before I knew I was headed to church with her.  You see, Stacey took the time to listen, she didn't have too, but she did.  I mean she probably did because I am pretty hot, but I think it was because Stacey is a great person.

Recently, I filled out some paperwork for Stacey and then we reviewed my answers to her answers and they were quite different.  It is funny how we view ourselves.   I am sure we are not as good as others view us, but not as bad as we feel about us.  It was just like when I met Stacey, I viewed myself as something I was not.  The reality is God knows us, he knows our heart, he knows the person we want to be.  The problem is sometimes we get in the way or our time is different then his.  So instead of trying to make change we need to let God make the change.  As for me, I want to change, I want to be the person God wants me to be.  So I am going to change and I am going to stop and listen to God for awhile.  Change will happen.  It always does.

Linwood Street

When the new Gateway Connector came through our area, the landscape and layout of Linwood Street completely changed. It took a while to get used to but we love it. The convenience of jumping on the interstate, walking the dogs and kids on the new sidewalks and bike paths, and playing at the new neighborhood playground has only helped us enjoy the changes. So we were finally ready to update our house. We think we also helped change the look of Linwood Street...see what you think.

Before



After - painted, new windows, shutters, new doors, etc.

Before

After

We still have quite a few things left. In the spring, we will be re-shingling the roof, replacing gutters, staining the front porch and staining the deck. We also have to finish painting the block. What you can't see are the inside changes. We had a basement system put in that helped dry up the basement and we will soon start on finishing the basement. My mom's fiance, Bob, has done most of the work for us and he has done an incredible job! We have been super pleased with everything.

Halloween 2011

Here are some pictures from our Trick or Treating fun!

Drea wanted to be a princess, but not just any old Disney princess like she is usually obsessed with...she wanted to be Princess Lily. (That is her favorite name. She names all of her Barbies, baby dolls, and even herself.) Charlotte was Minnie Mouse and you can see Barrett in this picture too being a Rocket Ship. The kids had so much fun. I painted their faces because they love having their face painted or wearing makeup.  Also, if you check out the last picture in this series, you will see another member of our family dressed up. Yes, we had a Halloween party at my work and I dressed up as Rizzo from Grease.