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29 novembre Parade of Lights!Tonight was Corning's annual Parade of Lights and Hannah was invited to ride on a float with the Colonial Days and Finger Lakes pageant winners. Emily's preschool has a float and she got to ride in the parade too! We were able to make it a family event and we had a lot of fun! Decked out in red for Corning Christian Academy's colors were Steve and Emily while I rode on the pageant float with Hannah. We were COLD, but had a lot of fun. Aren't the girls soooo cute?!?!
26 novembre Webkinz Birthday PartiesWe had 2 Webkinz birthday parties this week! If you don't know Webkinz are stuffed animals with online codes that you can use to play with your animal in a virtual Webkinz World. The girls choose this party theme and we had a lot of fun! We decorated in black and white with black paw prints on EVERYTHING! First we had a Secret Gem Mine in the cellar. With the ligts off the kids took flashlights into the dark cellar to find gems hidden in there. We also had fake spider webs up and glow sticks everywhere. Then they took their gems and glued them on crowns to make "crowns of wonder." The second craft we did was decorating tiny T-shirts that the kids could take home to put on their Webkinz.
Next for the games. In teams of 2 the kids had to find hidden puzzle pieces and race to put them together. The team that won received a gold coin. Next we played egg race with spoons and again the winning team got gold coins. Finally to ensure that everyone won we played freeze dance to animal music. Actually the kids pretended to be different animals until the music stopped and they had to freeze. The last one to freeze was out and the winners got cold coins (this was easier to pick which winners needed to win!).
Finally the kids got to turn in their coins for a spin of the Wheel of WOW and they got to win prizes. We had arts and crafts, candy, Webkinz, and accessories. We had some great prizes (YAY, EBAY!!!) and the kids LOVED it!!
Then we had black and white cake, oreos, and ice cream sandwiches...and sent them home full of sugar! We had a blast and the girls repeatedly thanked us for a great party. That made it all worth it! Enjoy the photos!
A Complete DayMy friend, Mindy, did this list for herself on her blog about what makes her feel like she had a "complete" day. I thought since today is my birthday and Steve usually says I can do whatever I want, this would be a good day to think about that.
I think I feel complete when I'm able to accomplish a little bit of all the "BIGGIES" of life while traveling through the hours calmly and enjoying the process. By "Biggies" I mean all the important stuff of life that needs to happen on an ongoing basis like growing closer to God, worshipping Him, spending quality time with each member of my family, and so forth. Those are things that should not be ignored for a season just because you get busy...then "made up for." I see my life as a success if I can be constantly, consistantly, little by little working at all the things I need to be investing in. Unfortunately I am finding myself in a place more often than not that I am saying, "I need to do more of _________."
So, here it goes....my complete day.
1. Wake up on my own. No alarm needed. Thereby feeling refreshed and allowing my body to decide when it wants to get up. Ideally this would happen between 6-7 AM and I would feel great and eager to start my day. If you know me at all, you know my complete day pretty much goes down the toilet on this point.
2. Exercise. Not "when I can" but almost every day. Because I want to, because it makes me feel strong and healthy, because it is a habit and not something I have to try to accomplish.
3. Bible reading and prayer. Deep meaningful time of prayer and worship that carries on throughout the day. Each day builds on the one before to create a wonderful ongoing relationship with God.
4. Snuggle time with each child.
5. Snuggle time with Steve. Conversation time with Steve. Talking about dreams, hopes, and future with Steve.
6. Make one home cooked meal eaten together at the table.
7. All daily household chores finished by bedtime. That is dishes, straightening, floors, and bathrooms. I can't seem to relax until the house is in order.
8. Doing one or two weekly household chores each day throughout the week. That is a load of laundry, cleaning tub, scrubbing toilets, dusting.
9. Taking care of the kids and all responsibilities without stress. Enjoying each moment and not feeling rushed.
10. Going to work and accomplishing something important. Making a valuable contribution to the worship life of our church. And leaving work with a smaller TO DO list than when I started.
11. Taking the time and effort to eat healthy and daily see results of getting slimmer and healthier.
12. Having time after the girls are in bed for myself without being completely exhausted. Watch some TV, scrapbook, play a game with Steve. And go to bed around 10:00 feeling calm and accomplished.
I'd like Steve to take over bedtime on a daily basis. By the end of the day I'm ready to hand over responsibility and I could use that time to finish up what hasn't gotten done yet. I'd also like the kids to have built in Daddy time every night.
So, that's what my complete day looks like. Honestly....it may as well be a fairy tale I'm afraid. I may have had 2 or 3 days like that in the last year. The kickeris it becomes impossible when ANYTHING out of the ordinary gets thrown in there...and in our lives that IS ORDINARY!! There is something that keeps Steve at work or away which causes me to have to do everything. There is a production going on that we feel called to be a part of. There is homework projects for Hannah that need attention. There are birthday parties to plan. There is a big church holiday coming up which requires more time and stress in preparation. Of course there are errands to run, groceries to buy, meals to plan, and all the other things that take so much time. There is always something...and often many more than one somethings.
So thanks, Mindy, for encouraging me to look at my life and become completely depressed on my birthday! ~ Just Kidding...well, a little!  21 novembre 4 years ago......we were getting ready to go to church. It was a Sunday. I was having contractions during the sermon. I don't remember anything Pastor David said! We went to Friendly's for lunch. Put Hannah down for a nap at home. Steve and I were laying on the couch watching football and timing contractions. When Hannah came out of her room I sat up and my water broke! Off to the hospital we went and Emily Catherine was born at 7:20 PM. Today we get to celebrate all over again...only tonight I won't be with her. We have performances of MAGI tonight and the kids are spending the weekend with Nana and Grandpa. I will cry to send them off on Em's birthday. I feel really strongly that we spend the whole day with them doing fun stuff on birthdays! We always take off work and make the day as special as we can. I know being with Nana will be special and I'm sure they'll get spoiled...but they won't be with me. This is not the way I would have planned these performances!
 But I am looking forward to the weekend as we will be putting together Em's new bed, book cases, Dora bedding and rearranging her room to surprise her when she gets home. I can't wait!!20 novembre Seven Years Ago...Seven years ago to the minute (at least the minute I started writing this) I gave birth to a little girl named Hannah. Now she is tall-for-her-age seven year old who reads, writes, sings, plays the piano, draws, collects things, creates things, and fills my heart with happiness! I am absolutely floored at how big she is getting and how fast time is flying. She looks so grown up in her school pictures and even just 2 years ago she was still a "little" girl. Her looks are changing immensely...and once again I'm wishing I could freeze time! She is beautiful and I'm so proud of the girl she's becoming! I am a blessed Mommy!!!!! 18 novembre God Cares About MarriagesGod cares about marriages. Nothing breaks my heart more than seeing marriages fall apart and people just accepting that as "OK." God wants us to fight. Being a Christian is not easy. Satan tries to make us fall and we don't recognize him! In every area of our lives we need to fight against the tendency to be selfish, lazy, self-serving, and status quo...and I believe that is running rampant in marriages as well! But God cares about marriages. He wants us to fight for them...they are worth it.
This past weekend I prayed and prayed for good friends of mine who were having are tough time with their marriage. God worked. He moved. He spoke to them. He granted peace and opened eyes. He cares about marriages! He is just waiting for us to ask for help...to ask for the warrior angels to be released to put Satan in his place! If we don't he will run away with our marriages, families, society, and world. I will not let that happen. I will keep praying. I will keep fighting. I know God cares about marriages and He is ready to intervene!!
I am praising God today that He cares. If we submit to Him, He can heal anything. I've seen it over and over. I am praising God for His intervention and that help is only a prayer away. I am praising Him for my wonderful marriage. For my husband who is diligent in praying for our marriage and willing to go the second mile in loving me. I am praising God for the movie, Fireproof, and praying for its impact to be widespread.
I am thanking Him that I am so blessed...and that He cares about my friends' marriages too.
16 novembre Great weekend!We had a great weekend for our first performances of THE GIFTS OF THE MAGI! Steve and I traveled to Johnson City, NY and performed for 2 sold our audiences. The shows went really well... I finally feel confident with it and that feels really good.
The girls were with my parents so Steve and I had some down time and got to stay in a hotel for the weekend. It was like a little mini vacation and we really enjoyed it. We got some rest and played some games and were totally able to concentrate on the show.
This week is BIRTHDAY WEEK!!! The girls are taking cupcakes to school on Thursday, we have 2 birthday parties to plan for and there's catching up to do from this past week. Plus more performances next weekend. So much fun and excitement coming these next two weeks...if we can make it through all this fun then things will slow down a little bit! Ummm...I hope! 10 novembre The Gifts of the MagiWell the production that Steve and I have been working on is opening this weekend! The Gifts of the Magi - from the O. Henry stories - is an awesome show. It actually ran on broadway and the music is great. Steve and I played the leads 2 years ago and now Family Life Ministries is bringing it back again. This time we are traveling around the state performing it. Friday and Saturday we will be in Johnson City, NY. The following weekend we are at the ministry in Bath. We get Thanksgiving weekend off and then the first weekend in December we will be in Jamestown, NY. Two more rehearsals left...and I need every one! AGH!!!
In addition, next week my babies turn 7 and 4. I can't believe it. I am in the middle of planning their parties and arranging child care for all these performances and traveling. It is stressful, be we have help. My parents will be helping us with the kids all week and through the weekend. The wonderful part is while we are traveling we get a hotel room and all our meals included. Thank you, FLM!!! And thank you, Mom and Dad...Steve and I will get some good rest and relaxation between the performances!!! For a few hours on Saturday and Sunday it will be like a little get away! I'm looking forward to that.
My boss is on vacation this week so at work I am preparing for Sunday services for the next few weeks and Christmas Eve. I'm really trying to get as much accomplished as possible so we are ahead of the game when he gets back...but honestly at this point, I'm just trying to keep up. So far I'm handling everything ok...but it is only Monday! We'll see how it goes later this week. I'm just so thankful my parents are here to help with the little monkeys this week!
Here we go.....
06 novembre Only the beginning?There was an incident at Hannah's school yesterday. I got a call from Hannah's teacher first thing in the morning that Hannah told some other girls that if Obama became president that all their American Giel babies would be killed. I had no idea where she would have gotten something like that! Steve and I have ONLY talked to her about the election for 20 minutes on election night while she did her homework assignment of watching 20 minutes of coverage and circling which candidate was ahead at time! No details what so ever! I was shocked...and upset that perhaps the teacher now thought we were terrorists or something!
I found out later that she was repeating something she heard another girl tell her...so apparently some other parents were talking and about Obama's stance on abortion and this girl got the impression that babies are going to be killed. The girls in Hannah's class are now scared that when they grow up and have babies that they will be killed.
This shouldn't even be an issue we are talking about. It is wrong on so many different levels. I can't believe it has come to this and I'm praying it is NOT only the beginning.
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