Realizing...

Well Jesse is still gone on travel to restore power. He usually calls daily to check in on me and the kids, and tell us goodnight and he misses us. We are hoping to see him sometime tomorrow, but not 100 percent sure on that. It is okay though, cause the kids and I have done some serious hanging out.
Today was the neighbors birthday party, and so we all went to Laser Lites in Bloomington. It was fun, especially for Austin. I think that is all he has talked about since returning home and even tonight on the phone to Jesse, he asked if Jesse would take him there to play again. Hailee wasn't old enough to do the Laser tag so we played arcade games and enjoyed hanging out with the younger kids. We rode down with our neighbor, and I have realized so much about Austin in that short drive. I was sitting in the front just listening to him talk to the other kids and wow i didn't know if I was going to just start bawling my eyes out.
Austin is 9 now, and really knows alot. Maybe I should say he has started realizing alot. He knows who has been there for him his entire life, and who is never there. There has been so much happen in his life, and people's true colors have shown through. I am not going to get into all of this, but I just listened as he described his "fatherly figures" to other kids. I got teary eyed alot especially when he said, "Jesse is not my real dad, but I think he is my dad in everyway that matters. He is the one that is always there for me and I love him so much. When he is gone out of town, like this week working, he always makes sure he calls to tell me he loves me. My real dad don't even call hardly." Austin has been full of questions this week about why can't Jesse just be my dad, and I want my last name to be "Swartzentruber". This is so hard to deal with and explain. I wish I could take away all the hurt that he has been through, and just replace it with good. There was so much more said, but I am going to leave it at this..

Updates

Okay so I will start out with our day today~ pretty good. The kids have kind of been fighting over silly things, and that is really getting on my nerves. I told them tonight that this has to stop and they should play together and get along. Yeah right, huh? They are both missin Jesse like crazy, and well I am to. We are looking forward to family time when he gets back. Oh and when he gets back then he is on call for a week so I guess we will have to wait awhile for family time out, but that is okay. We are just ready for him to be home.
Austin did lots of homeschool papers today to make up for the day we took off. I am trying to keep him on track so we can get done early. Hailee had a good day of writing, drawing, and coloring also. Our day was pretty good.
I just got off the phone from Jesse. They made it back to French Lick hotel for the night. Yeah he is in luxury at the casino, I am wishing I was there with him. Ha ha. He sounded so tired from working all the time. Tired, yet he found time to go check out the casino late last night when they got back. I can't believe it. Oh well, I will get over it. He is still in Harrison county working. There are still many outages, but lots of employees there working so hopefully they will get everyone on over the weekend.
Okay so an update on Uncle Gary. Mom said he is doing better. She and my dad went down yesterday and brought back Derek Hollis ( Gary's son) so that he could help at the hog building. They will be moving Gary to Washington hospital sometime to do his therapy. Please keep him in your prayers.
Now, I am still doing Weight Watchers and am happy to report that I have lost 11 lbs. Yey! I am still counting those points and excercising! It is exciting when the results are good, and I was worried about this week. ha ha. I am stickin to it though.

A day with the kids!

Well Jesse left at 6 this morning and headed out to Corydon, IN with four other Martinsville Duke employees. When I talked to him this morning he said they were only able to go 35 mph so it took them awhile to get there. Tonight I talked to him, and he said they were having to drive to French Lick to stay in a hotel cause there were no rooms near Corydon. That was an hour drive, but going 35 who knows how long it will take them. The kids and I watched a movie tonight, and Austin was bummed cause he said it just isn't the same watching a movie without Jesse. We all miss him lots already, but we are so proud of him that he gets to go out and help restore others power. We are also very thankful that we have power!
Today I took the kids out to play in all this snow. There is so much of it. We started out shoveling our driveway and well we didn't get very far. Let me tell you I am not a fan of shoveling my driveway and I am so glad that Jesse usually does it. Thankfully one of our neighbors on the end of our subdivison has a tractor with a scrapper thingy. He drove by and must of felt sorry for us and asked if we wanted help. It took him like 5 minutes, and well we would of probably been there all day. The kids had fun playing and then enjoying hot chocolate when they finally came in. Here are a few pictures of the fun.
The neighbor boys came down and had a snowball fight with Austin. Austin is getting ready to throw a snow ball!

Hailee enjoyed the snow lots and just couldn't get over how much snow there was.

Here Hailee is trying to walk in the snow. It was hard for her to walk in it cause it was so deep! She didn't care though she was determined to get out there with her bubby!

Jesse's cousin ~ Mandy (Cornelius) Britton had her baby this evening. She had a little girl and named her Madelynn Sue. Congrats Britton family on your newest addition.

Uncle Gary Hollis

My Uncle Gary and Aunt Lisa Hollis

Grandpa Roy Hollis, Grandma Dorothy Hollis, Mom, Aunt Linda Stites, & Uncle Gary Hollis

My uncle Gary Hollis (my mom's brother) had a stroke on Monday evening. He is in ICU at Evansville. From what I have heard, he will not have to have surgery. Although his whole right side is numb and he will have to have weeks of therapy. His blood pressure has been high and they are trying to get that stable. He will possibly be transported to Vincennes in a few days and will do his therapy there. Just please say a prayer for him and the family. He is a strong man, and has lots of family that love him and are there for support. He will get through this, but needs prayers. Thanks!

Snow, Snow, and More Snow

Yesterday when Jesse got home, the kids were begging to go outside and play in the snow. We bundled up everyone and headed out. Austin and Hailee enjoyed helping daddy clean the drive. Here they are hard at work!

Austin in the snow, having fun:)

Hailee liked the snow to. I kept asking her ~ Are you cold? No mommy I am warm. ha ha. She just didn't want to go in. She also enjoyed a few mouthfuls of the snow.

Austin and Hailee!

We got several more inches of snow on top of this. I need to bundle the kids up and go scrap the driveway, but it just looks so cold outside. Jesse had to pack for 7 days and report to work this morning at 6 AM. He called around 8 and said they were headed to Corydon , IN but could only drive 35 - 40 mph. The kids and I are going to miss him lots, but we just pray that he gets there safely and returns home safely. He is suppose to call tonight so I will find out more. Oh and he gave us orders not to leave the house unless we absolutely have to. He said these roads are terrible. So looks like the kids and I are at home for awhile!

Fun weekend at home

Jesse, the kids, and I enjoyed our weekend at home just hanging out. Saturday, Austin has one of his friends (Ricky) over to play. He came around noon, and stayed for a few hours. They played games, army men, playstation3, and watched tv. Oh you better believe Hailee was right there, and in on the action. She loves hanging out with her brother. When Ricky left, we had to run to Walmart for a few items. I say a few items, however we came out with several more items than what was on the list. Funny how that always happens, huh? Didn't do to much the rest of the day. I did some cleaning, and laundry, and wii fit.
Sunday was a full day of playing. Hailee got an easy bake oven for Christmas and has been wanting to use it. While I was making some yummy chili, hailee and daddy got stuff ready and mixed up a cake batter for her oven. She was so excited.

I helped her make the frosting while the cake was baking and cooling. However, she couldn't wait on the cake and ended up eating almost all the icing. I told her, Hailee don't eat all the icing or you won't have any for your cake. Her reply was, "Mom, this is so good."

After lunch, we got out "Martian Matters." Austin recieved it for christmas and we hadn't opened it yet so we did it as a family project. You have like playdough and compound stuff, i don't know but it was neat. The kids loved it.

Jesse and Austin did most of it together while I snapped pictures and Hailee played with the playdough.

The kids love doing family things with Jesse and I. We have been playing lots of board games, oh and Uno Attack is the favorite right now.

By the time we got done with all this fun stuff, it was 4. Not much happened after that other than relaxing, and getting prepared for Monday. I so enjoy weekends at home with Jesse and the kids. It is so nice to get that time with your family, and do fun things together. Well and now it is Monday again, the weekends just fly by.

Bump and Group

Hailee had her friend Emily (our neighbor girl) over to play today. Hailee loves to play with Emily! Here they are playing in her room with her dollhouse!
Last night, our clutsy lil girl had an accident. She just got off our bed and tripped. She hit her head on our dresser the knob part. When Jesse and I heard the thump and her screaming we took off running to her where I grabbed her up. The first look at her head didn't look good. There was a dent in her head and instant blue color. I immediately called my neighbor Shae which is a nurse to come look at Hailee. By this time it was a bit of a goose egg. After examining her, Nurse Shae said that our princess would be fine just to keep her up for an hour and put some ice on it. Today it doesn't look so bad, here you can kind of see her little bruise. Talk about SCARY though.

Today we had a homeschool group meeting. We did lots of cool science expermints and Austin did the Volcano one. Very neat to see what each family brought in. I managed to get a group shot of the kids in the group.

Other than that, not to much going on here. I am trying to plan our vacation to Panama City Beach at the end of April. If anyone has been there and has any suggestions on hotels, or things to do please send me a note. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Update on Weight Watchers.

So I am doing Weight Watchers on my own and just thought I would let you all in on how it is going. I am going on my third week and weighed in today. I have lost a total of 8 lbs. I was hoping that number would be larger, but that is okay I will take it. I have been doing really good on managing my points and having a few extra to bank, and I have excercised daily for 30-45 minutes. I will let you know how it goes!

Dentist Appointments

Austin and Hailee both had dentist appointments today for cleanings. Austin of course felt sick to his stomach because he wasn't wanting to go. When we got there it wasn't to bad though. Hailee went back first and I went with her of course. Well she screamed really loud. They just counted her teeth, checked her gums and inside her cheeks, and scrapped a little bit of plaque off. The report was great for her though. Everything looks really good and keep up the good work. Yey!
Austin went back on his own, that is the rule for the older kids. When they were done cleaning his teeth the dentist called me back. His cleaning went well and there is no cavities- YEY! However alot of adult teeth were showing up on his xray so they said with in the next 6 months he could loose anywhere from 4-6 teeth. They also said eventually he would probably need braces to help straighten his teeth up. Guess I will start saving for that one huh? Ha ha.
So now they are both good for another 6 months. Then they will go back for cleanings and Austin will also be getting 4 of his back teeth "sealed" to help prevent tooth decay.

Science Expermint and Board Games

Today was spent around the house doing some projects, games, and chores. Austin and Jesse do lots of Science Expermints together as a part of schooling. "Science" is what Austin loves. He is so interested in this subject and one day he might be a scientist. That would be awesome, huh? For Christmas Austin recieved a kit to making volcano's so that is what we did today. Here is the volcano errupting. We did a red and a blue one.
The kids were a little impatient, but was amazed when it finally happened. Here they are carefully watching Jesse. Oh and of course Austin has his safety goggles, while Hailee is sucking on her "ring pop."

Austin and Hailee:)

So we figured out that all you need to make a volcano errupt is baking soda, dishsoap, food coloring. and vinegar. Wow! Okay so we had to watch some you tube video's to figure it out because the stuff that was in the box just didn't cut it. Jesse was determined to "really" make this volcano errupt.
Austin had went over to the neighbor boys today to play. He enjoys going there and playing games with them. He ended up talking me into letting him stay the night with the Groover boys. I already warned him, if he comes home and is a grouch then there will be no spending the night anywhere for a long time.

Hailee got out her board games. She got many of them at Christmas time and enjoys playing them daily. Her and Daddy sat down for a game of Puppy Bingo and 5 Little Monkey's jumping on the bed. She loves win she wins and always sings, "I'm a winner~ u a loser!" All the things she says is just so cute and funny. Here they are enjoying games.

Hailee and Daddy posing for a picture. She says she is Daddy's girl. I believe she is right on that one and has him wrapped around that little finger of hers.

I hope you all had a relaxing, enjoyable weekend. I know we did, and I am not ready for it to end. Tomorrow I have to take the kids to the dentist for a cleaning so that should be a chore. Hailee isn't to fond of going to the dentist and doesn't like to sit in the chair or open her mouth. I don't think they will do much, but hopefully she will do good. Austin says he loves getting his teeth cleaned, and the new toothbrushes are a added bonus plus the treat bag. He lays back, relaxes, and watches the flat screen tv hanging on the ceiling playing cartoons. Why didn't I get that treatment when I was little?

Family Date Day

Jesse, the kids, and I enjoyed a "family date day" today. We left our house around 10 this morning to head toward Bloomington. Our first stop was to Sam's Club. Oh do I love that store. I had to go and get new house phones. Somehow I ruined the other ones. Okay so I dropped one of them in the toilet and the other one's battery woulnt stay charged, so Jesse had enough and was ready for new. I love our new ones we have a base phone with a cord and then 3 cordless ones that go with it through out the house. All of this for 70 dollars, not to bad! Of course while there I stocked up on Laundry soap and toilet paper. After leaving there we headed to eat lunch at the Texas Roadhouse. If you know Austin super well then you know that this is his FAVORITE place to eat. Although you have to watch him cause he always wants to tell them it is someone's birthay just so he can yell YEEHAW. To cute! So we sat and enjoyed family lunch time there and NO I didn't follow my Weight Watcher diet. I took a free day but I am back on track now so no worries. Austin is my Steak Eater and he ate every bite, as for Hailee she is more of a chicken eater. From here we left and went to the movie theatre. Austin and Jesse have been wanting to watch Paul Blart: Mall Cop so we settled in to watch that. Hailee loves going to the movies for the popcorn and candy. I was wise this time and swung by WalMart to stock up on Movie Candy. Yeah there you get a box of movie candy for $1 but at the movies you pay $2.50-$3.50 for a box. I think I had one of everything and saved money. Yey for me. Of course I stuffed them all in my purse to carry them into the movies. Great Idea for all of you that want to save some money when watching a movie at a theatre.
So the movie was really funny, we liked it. Austin laughed the whole time. Hailee did wonderful as she sat there eating her "Nerds."
After that it was back home! We all enjoyed our family day as we always do. Here is a pic of the kids before we left this morning. I think they both were still half asleep.

So Proud of Austin!

As many of you know, I homeschool Austin. I started last year during his 2nd grade year half way through. I did see an improvement in him after starting the homeschool process. This year we chose to use the Abeka cirriculum, which I love but some things are really difficult. The Abeka cirriculum is more advanced I do believe then what 3rd graders at a public school are doing. I have to say this year seems to be going really good with schooling. Some days are challanging, but we get through it and are still sane. ha ha.
Tonight I sat down to catch up on grading papers and recording all his test scores and quizes. Then I filled in his reportcard for this term. His lowest grade is a 96%. Yey! I am so proud of him! Way to Go Austin, I knew you could do it. There is alot of dedication into homeschooling, but our family is dedicated to it. Jesse is always quizzing Austin, doing science experiments, talking history with him. Hailee gets to do the fun things like Art projects, Bible devotions and readings, and PE with him. Well and I am the teacher of all his subjects so that is a job for me to make sure everything is ready. I am just so proud of our family:) And Austin, you are doing great keep up the Awesome work buddy!

Snow!

Hailee was so excited this morning as she awoke and realized that it was snowing. She ran into Austin's room yelling, "Bubby~it's snowing outside!" She absolutely loves it when it is snowing and will sit in front of the door watching it. Although, I had to explain a million times why she couldn't go outside and do snow angels or build a snowman. Trying to tell a three year old that it is freezing outside, and there isn't enough snow to do those things didn't fly with her. Oh well.. It has snowed off and on today, but you really can't see much on the ground. We did get out and run to the grocery store for a few items and wow was it cold. I think we will just stay in the rest of the afternoon where it is nice and warm:)

Productive Sunday

On Sunday, I was geared up and ready to be productive. I did get alot of cleaning done, organizing my homeschool mess, cleaning closets, and loads of laundry done. All of this way stuff that really needed to be done. Jesse worked on putting boxes in the attic, worked on his truck a little bit, cleaned the garage, and cleaned out our rabbit (chomper) cage. Overall I think we got lots accomplished. We of course had to take breaks to play the Wii, and playstation 3 with Austin and Hailee.
My brother came up that day, so he took Austin to WalMart because Austin was wanting to buy Wii Fit. He wants it for the Shaun White Snowboarding game, but I know he will like the Fit part of it to. He is always up for a challange. Clayton of course has to try it out. His Wii fit age was 20 so he thought he was doing great since he is 22.
Austin was mad cause his wii fit age was um... 28. LOL. He wasn't real good at balancing but is practicing real hard at it. Here he is doing the two player race with a huge grin on his precious face.

Hailee wasn't into it to much, I think she will stick to the ice cream with Chocolate syrup. LOL. She loves her ice cream very much..

The kids have actually gotten along so good over the last week through the weekend. I have caught them on the couch watching movies together. Here is a pic of them. They look so sweet.

And now its Monday, I can't believe how fast the weekend flys bye. Jesse is back at work, while we are hitting the books. We have alot to do today so I better get to it. Have a great week!

Lazy Saturday

We have had a pretty laid back and relaxing weekend. On Friday evening, Jesse ended up working over and didn't get home til past 8. That was okay though cause the kids and I made pizza (for them cause I am doing Weight Watchers and wasn't going to spend 7 points on one piece of pizza). Hailee is little miss helper and loves to help make stuff in the kitchen. Austin will help when it is the good stuff that requires licking the bowl or spatula.
After we ate supper the kids and I enjoyed playing UNO Attack. They love this game so much. Hailee loves pressing the button and making the cards fly out at her. Let me just tell ya, I am not so good at this game cause I always seem to get beat. When Jesse got home he joined in on the UNO tournament.
Today we cleaned a little, and then went up town. Austin wanted to go to Chili's for lunch so we enjoyed that, then off to WalMart. Austin and Hailee both had Birthday and Christmas money that was burning holes in thier pockets. Austin picked out a soccer 09 game for his Playstation 3, while Hailee got some new pieces to create a village with her doll houses. When we arrived home they have spent the evening playing with thier toys.
Jesse and I tackled the file cabniet. I pulled all the old files while he made new ones. Glad that is over. Other than that not much is going on.
Tomorrow my brother is coming to spend the day so that should be fun for the kids. They always love when Uncle Clayton comes for a visit.
Hope you are all having a great weekend!

So Far, So Good

Well this is day three of the dieting and so far so good. After getting through the first day, the rest of them have not been so bad. I couldn't help by weigh myself today and the scales say I am down 2lbs. Whoo, hoo! I am sticking to it and not going to cheat even though those reese cups that Austin is eating right now look so yummy. LOL.

Also I forgot to post about it, but I want to wish Crystal Long (my sister) a very Happy Birthday. Her birthday was on Monday, January 5th. Hope you had a good one:)

Let the Dieting Start...

The start of this week has been a rough one. We took a week off of homeschooling just to have a small Christmas break, and now it is tough to get back to our routine. I am sure we will get there eventually. On Monday, I started back on Weight Watchers. I have done this program before and was very sucessful. Of course then I quit and have gained weight. So hopefully this will work again. Let me tell you though on Monday, day one of starting I thought I could starve. Jesse kept saying you have points so use them... He is so helpful. During the day I am fine but it is at night time while he is eating candy and ice cream. Yeah! Today has been good I got up ate breakfast, worked out, cleaned, homeschooled, and now blogging. Still have lots of points left so I am going to save them for this evening. Wish me luck!
Austin and Hailee have gotten along great today, which has been so nice. They haven't had many of the arguements and fights they usually do. Here is a picture of them!
Hailee got a Colts Jersey for her birthday so that she can be like her brother. Here they are so cute in thier jersey's. Hailee is supporting Peyton Manning while Austin is all about J. Addai.

Hailee has been teaching her Daddy to dollhouse over the past couple days. Jesse is a good sport and really tries. Soon he will be a pro.

Jesse is not on call this week, thank goodness. So hopefully we will get alot done. It has been super crazy around here with the holidays and ON CALL with work so I am ready for things to slow down a bit. This weekend we are planning on taking the kids out to eat and do some fun family things since we couldn't do it last week. Should be fun and I will talk lots of pics. Hope you all are having a great start of the week:)

Happy Birthday Hailee

Happy 3rd Birthday Hailee Brooke Swartzentruber! Your our beautiful little princess :)

Here is Hailee sitting by her birthday cake!
She wanted a Little Mermaid cake! She loves Ariel from the little mermaid.

The birthday girl at her party:)

Seems like only yesterday, when Jesse and I met our little princess for the first time. In the surgery room after they got her out, she was put in her daddy's arms where they sat next to me. What a moment we shared! Jesse was the proudest man alive I do believe. We had two names picked out to name our daughter, Jurnee or Hailee. I left the final decision up to Jesse and he looked at her and said, " She is Hailee!" She had a little bit of trouble in the begining and had to be put in a bed with oxygen, but I finally got to hold her in my arms a little later that evening. From day one, Hailee melted my heart and she still does. She is such a mommy and daddy girl. Our beautiful princess is what we like to call her.

Today we had a bday party for Hailee at the Duke building. Gparents Bill and Cindy, and Leon and Vicki- Great Grandpa Eaton-Uncle Kevin and Auntie April , Hayden and Colin (AKA Donnie is what we call him)-Brian, Lindsey, Coltyn(bday boy also), Dakota- Crystal, Trinidy, Zaden, and Jaxcen- Molli- Shae, Kevin, Peyton, Kadin were all there to help celebrate. She was spoiled let me tell ya. Tons of amazing gifts such as purses, necklaces, doll houses, DS games, Colts Jersey, computer games, lots of good clothes, and so much more. She will be busy for awhile now. lol.

Thank you all so much for coming and celebrating our little princesses party.

Hailee Brooke, Daddy, Bubby, and I wish you a very Happy Birthday!! Love ya lots!

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a great 2008! I know that we did, and looking back I know that God has blessed us with many wonderful things. I am looking forward to seeing what 2009 brings.
We spent New Years Eve at home together. Jesse is on call with work and got called out several times on New Years Eve but was home by 5 and didn't get called out the whole night. We ordered pizza and had a movie to watch. We all laid around on the couch while watching our movie. I absolutely love laying around on the couch with my whole family, nothing better than just being together. Hailee had feel asleep around 8, but woke up at 11. We all were awake at 11:59 on my bed- holding hands for the countdown. Then at 12 we watched the ball drop and yelled HAPPY NEW YEAR. lol. By that time I was ready for sleep, I am not a late owl by no means.

Today there isn't much going on, just hanging out at home with Jesse and the kids. I love doing that! My New Year's Resolution wasn't hard to think of this year. Every year it is the same thing and I never stick to it, so this year I made one that I am going to stick to. Jesse and I's are the same! Our resolution is to make sure that we have a date night at least once every two months. Date Night as in just me and him. I love my kids and all, but I feel that every couple needs a night of just them. We hardly ever do anything if it doesn't involve the kids because we don't like to leave them, but I think it will be nice getting to have adult conversation without the kids snooping into the conversation. LOL. That happens alot here.

Well that is all for now, need to get back to the kids. Happy 2009 to All!!