Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Food for thought


I know you may find this surprising but the other day I was thinking about my life and somethings I have accomplished. This thought process is coming from the recent SPC fall retreat! It occurred to me that I have been attending a fall retreat for the last 15 years. Between my time at FCS and with the gang at Spotsy, wow that is a lot of retreating. That means I have heard 60 retreat "talks" (man you would think I would have gotten things by now). I have eaten 75 retreat meals, some so much better than others (concord is way up there). I can't even begin to comprehend how many miles I have put in driving, riding a cheese wagon, playing football or other silly games like ultimate cabbage (this last retreat I tried for a record of 3 hours of playing four square, call me insane), or the lack of sleep that occurs. Thankfully only once was I a c0-program director (once is all that they will get) and numerous times watch my hubby get some laughs! Of all these things nothing compares to the chance to make a difference in someones life or the other way around. So here's to another High School retreat and the many more to come!!!

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Falling Off the Charts



Today I went in for the 18month check up and shots for Alyse. Once again we have aimed high (litterally) and she is off the charts for height (34inches). She is weighing in at 27lbs which is in the 90th. It always makes me smile how God worked things out b/c her male life giver(biological) was 6'4 and so is Tim! How cool is that! So I love to say her Dad is 6'4 and that is why we have one tall girlie! The hard part is clothes that fit since we are in the 18-24 month sizes, go figure! At least I know her chances of being taller than me are great and hopefully a great goalie, center on a basketball team, swimmer or homerun hitter. Right now I will settle for a happy, talkative, outgoing, darling little girl who loves the outdoors and is not quite sure what to think of the leaves!

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Carving the Fam and treats



We decided to carve our little family of pumpkins (Tuesday night)and our little girlie girl didn't want to touch what was inside and get dirty (who would have ever imagined) but she did want to handle the knifes. Tim the creative pumpkin carver did Alyse's pumpkin first (that is why there are so many pics with dad) otherwise known as "Bob". She did get into all the fun after bath time and tried to put "Bob" back together again.







Our little sunflower did have a fun night running around in the dark. It was pretty warm here so we let her stay outside while we handed out candy. We did trick or treat to the closest neighbors. Alyse wanted to grab all the candy either in other kids bags or the items being handed out. We did have a good night and enjoyed the festivities!

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Words...and more fun

Alyse is a word machine! Watch out world we have a chatter box on our hands! Each day I swear (not bad words) she has a new word. Her latest have been; home, neigh, toad and please. She is so fun to have around. When we are in the car she loves to rattle off her list of names; steve, nana, bobby, amy, mommy, daddy, meme, che che, papa and her latest is Ally (one of our youth group girls). This is also a fun time to teach her new names, so don't worry I am trying. Of course there is much anger when something has to leave her possession, that is not so fun! One of her newest things is when we say "bye" to someone she immediately says "bye". Yesterday I finally heard it on the phone when I called Tim and it made me smile (and get a little teary, softy)! Every time I make something she always wants me to pick her up, which she says "up". So I finally got smart and Tuesday when I was making pizza , I gave her a chair and the pictures tell the rest of the story!

Saturday, October 11, 2008

The Great Pumpkin


Today we had the chance to find the great Habecker pumpkin! (of course we already have our "little pumpkin"!).

Grama and Grampa Habecker came for a visit so we dragged them along! Alyse wasn't too sure about the pumpkin patch but really enjoyed the hay ride over. She did find a few that were just her size but

decided to show off her bowling skills and needless to say they didn't come home with us. It turned out to be a beautiful day and very successful!Thanks Aunt Peggy and Cousin Mak for the cool hat!!

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

All by myself

Someone is growing up way too quickly! Everyday it seems we have new word. The other day a Fire Truck drove past us and Alyse said "truck"! Yesterday we spent a few minutes at the pool before saying adios to summer and on the way she kept saying "pool". Before we know it, she will be always talking and we will be wanting her to be quiet! Here are some pics from the last several days. Last Thursday we had a rainy day so she played in the homemade house (thanks Dad) and we got out the crayons for the first time (yes that is her hugging her paper). Auntie Amy sent us our first baby doll from Alaska and we named her Abby (the street that Amy lives on). Now if I say where is your baby, she goes and gets her! Alyse loves trying on shoes (we may have a girlie girl on our hands) and is always stealing shoes, another word she can say! This morning we got the chance to play outside for most of it. Dusty joined us and I discovered that Alyse can go down the slide all by herself! Thanks Aunt Peggy and Makenzie for the new shoes!

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Updates



It has been a while since you last heard about our adventures. My excuses include the following: 1. Summer Vacations 2. Being very busy at work (one day we took 5 Seniors pictures, 2 sets of twins) 3. Tim going on Mission Trips/camp 4. Spending as much time with the girls from SPC before they leave for College 5. The motherboard in my computer crashed! Thankfully not the hard drive but this meant not being able to work on my pictures. So I have had to bring myself to shoot in jpeg mode since I have no Photoshop or regular computer, bummer. Anyway Alyse turned 15 Months, walking everywhere and is still in the 97% for height! We are making sure she watches the Olympic swimming, volleyball and basketball to get ideas and take notes! She does say Ball now so we are well on the way.


Speaking of words, we now have a few more to add on to the list: Car, Rock, Juice, Yea (one of my favorites). It is a new adventure everyday! Lately she has developed some skills that I hope will continue for a while, cleaning, taking care of her baby, feeding herself and little Miss Fix it!




Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Love at first sight


Two weeks ago we had the opportunity to introduce Alyse to the beach and spend time with family. We drove down to South Carolina after I got off work (Jo) and 7 1/2 hours later we were greeted by Uncle Billy, Grandpa, MeMe and Cousin Abbyanne. This of course made a little tired girl not so sleepy. Thanks to Uncle Billy we had a couple hours of sleep before someone was too excited to sleep and wanted to venture out to the beach (6:30 am). So to keep peace in the home Alyse (in her PJ's) and my keen sense of direction went in search of the great white. It was love at first sight and it made the lack of sleep worth it all! At first I felt guilty that Dad wasn't with us but we didn't go in the water so we would allow him the pleasure of enjoying that first experience. Boy did she love that too! We had no problem with the sand on the feet, the waves at our face and the taste of the "spicy water" (that is what Abbyanne called it). Speaking of Abbyanne, she also loved the water and had manycool rides on the waves. Her Dad was a great help finding the best waves to ride on and they had a great time together. Despite the long drive the trip was way worth it and everyone had a great time! Thanks Grandpa, MeMe, Aunt Ching, Uncle Billy and Abbyanne! We love you!