Leap Year Day !

12 yrs ago today,
my wonderful husband put a ring on my finger and asked me to be his wife.

I was only 18, and he was 19.
It was one of the happiest day's of my life, and the best decision we ever made.
He said he proposed on Leap Year Day so he would only have to remember this day once every 4 yrs.

I just love him to bits, and am so thanksful that all my dreams have come true because of him.

Thank you baby,
You still make my heart skip a beat!

Shel

5 things about me that nobody knows.

Hmmm 5 things?

1. I like bubbles in my chocolate milk.
2. I only like Chris to rub my feet nobody else can touch them.
3. I love the smell of burnt marshmallows.
4. I'm allergic to Chocolate, yet I LOVE Chocolate.
5. I want to adopt a set of identicle twins.

Wow, that was hard. Im such an open book. I bet somebody knew at least one of these things.
Enjoy
Shel

Prayers for my Grandpa

Hey everyone,

My Grandpa (my dad's, dad) has been having liver issues for a while now, and he is not doing well. My dad flew out to Texas to bring him home. They go to Texas for the winter. Anyway, dad says he's not doing well at all. His liver is not functioning at all and they are having to pump 2-3 gallons of fluid off him weekly. He is very weak and uncomfortable.

If you can spare a prayer for him and my family I would appreciate it.
Lots of Love,
Shel

Had a fun weekend.

Well everyone is feeling much better in the Power House... Thank God!

Chris and I went out Friday night with our friend Tommy, and had a awesome time. Chris' cousin Greg babysat for us and the kids had a BLAST! They sure do love Greg. They watched Jaws and stayed up late.

Sat. Jen and the boys came up and the kids ran around and had fun. Then we put them in bed just in time for a LIVE sat. night live !!! As most of you know its not been LIVE in FOREVER!

Sunday Jen and the boys, and all of us went to Starved Rock and met Carol, Jim, and Grandma Dorothy for Brunch, some games and hikeing. It was a great day for all.

Tonight I am going to bed early.
Shel

Worst flu season ever at the Power House.

I can not believe what a toll this flu has caused this family.
It started with Ashlyn and almost put her in the hospital.
Then Chris was off work for 3 days and he never takes off work.
I had been feeling lousy, a head cold, but not too bad. Then it went into my lungs.
It got real bad real quick and the doctor almost admitted me in the hospital. My oxygen levels were low and he gave me a steroid shot and a few breathing treatments and a chest xray.
My oxygen came up to a safer level and since Chris was coming home the dr. decided to let me go home. Then that same day, we get a call from Katey and Brandon's school. They have been hacking up a lung since, but holding out pretty good so far.

Today Im feeling a bit better and am going to use all the strength I can to scour this house and get the icks out! Wish me luck.

Lots of Love,
Shel

Sickies, Hail, and Skip Bo

Well the Power House has been wracked with illness for over a week now.
Ashlyn has been struggling with Pneumonia and on the verge of hospitalization since Thurs. Poor thing is on steroids, antibiotics and breathing treatments, lets just say she's a maniac right now, but at least we are done with the 103 fevers. I hate fevers. Then Christopher was out of work almost all week. He was out for the count on Tues and Wed with fevers, body aches. tight chest, and plain ole icky feeling. He almost stayed home on Thurs but dragged his butt to work to bring cupcake cheesecake for a bake sale. Then Friday I got hit pretty hard with a migrain and begged him to stay home. Sat and Sun I have been progressivly getting worse with a headcold and icky lungs. Katey and Brandon are coughing but otherwise are holding on pretty good.

Today, we were sitting around bored as can be as we are confined to home with sickies and all of a sudden it started to pour rain out of no where. It was awesome. It was raining, thundering, and then hail. The kids got so excited and couldnt believe how fast and out of nowhere this storm came from. Then as quick as it was here, it was gone.

Back to being bored... so we decided to break out skip bo and teach Katey and Brandon how to play. Ash is resting and watching cartoons, and we are gonna enjoy a game with the big kids.

Hope you all are doing better than we are at the Power House.
Love to you all,
Shel

Highs and Low's of the day.

Every night at dinner, we go one by one and say what our Highs and Low's are for the day. Its something I really enjoy, and I think the kids get a huge kick out of it. If I dont ask right away one of them brings it up. I like asking about highs and low's because I want to talk about everything, good or bad. Plus it's fun to hear what they classify as a low, or a high.

ANYWAY,
Today, my High's and Low's..

Low- doing laundry all day. I hate laundry.

High- coming downstairs to make dinner and seeing all 3 of my children playing so nicely.
They had all the chairs lined up and were pretending they were on a plane flying around the world. They ended up getting stuck in a hurricane, and it was so much fun to watch them and listen to them.

I told them how much I liked seeing them using their imaginations and how good it is for Ashlyn to learn to use her imagination. Then we thought it might be fun for each of us to start writing stories for Ashlyn. When we get done writing one then we get to read it to her as a bed time story. The kids are so excited about it. They want to have them put into books so when they get older they can say, "Ashlyn, I wrote this book for you when I was 8yrs old." (Brandon)

I'm really excited to see where their adventures take us.

Have a great week.
Shel

Just some pictures

Brandon and Capone

Ashlyn doing Yoga

Ashlyn and Daddy

Chris playing a game, and Ashlyn playing with Capone.

Hope you enjoy the pics,
Shel

My girls, and their daddy

First off, Thank God It's Friday !
I really needed a weekend.

Tonight after dinner, Brandon was playing the guitar hero and it was a slower song, and Kathryn grabbed Chris by the hand and started to dance with him. She climbed up onto the top of his feet and they just danced. It was really cute. Chris just smiled and hugged her close and you could tell how much they love each other. Then Ashlyn starts yelling, "pick me up, pick me up." Then he picked her up and danced with her. Just like her sissy she tucked her head and just loved on her daddy.

I'm not sure who is luckier.. them or me.
I love my family.
Shel

quiet day

Not much today, just a quiet day.

Shel

Love me some wood!

We have this tiny little wood burning stove in our basement.
It really only fits 2 logs in it at a time and that fills it.
Well yesterday we had a bunch of wood delivered and have had a fire burning non-stop. I love it.
I love the smell,
I love the warmth,
I love the crackling,
I love the glow.
I LOVE having fires in the house.

Now all I need is some marshmallow's and a cup of hot cocoa.

Yes We Can !

Just another manic Monday...

I usually HATE Monday's... but since the kids have tomorrow off of school, I am actually in a pretty good mood today. However, last night I was NOT in such a great mood.

Let's back up a bit.
We decided to go home Sat. We wanted to get Chris' coat, The kids cell phone, and do our taxes. We ended up getting on the road at about 2pm. We NEVER leave that late. We thought, how about we just go home, get our stuff, and come back home. Well, we got there and Jimbo wanted to work on putting the gas lines in for the gas fireplace. So we decided to stay the night. Now we are in town, with no plans. I call up our friends the Kruse's and we went to their house to play cards. Man, I miss hanging out with them and the kids get along soooo good. Emily is 8 and Brandon and Kathryn just LOVE her. Kevin is 2 and is the sweetest thing ever. Ashlyn just loves him, and I would spoil the crap out of him if I got the chance. Kevy had a bad heart when he was born, and has done sooo good since, but he and Ashlyn could get away with anything with me. Anyway, he was being such a lover and sat in my lap almost the whole time we played cards. He's such a snuggler and I miss that with Ashlyn... Kathryn and Brandon ended up spending the night and had a great time, and Ashlyn threw a FIT when we left because how could we leave her bro bro and sissy behind. I mean, she doesnt throw fits this bad when me and Chris leave, oh well, sibling love.

Ok, so Sunday plans were to get on the road by noon.
RIGHT !!!! Chris and Jim get something done quickly? I think they take as long as possible to do anything because they enjoy the alone time as father and son. They got the gas line run, and lit the fireplace and it look B-E-A-utiful !
Then Chris decided to make a dry ice bomb. Now, Jim enjoy's when Chris does this ridiculous stuff so he puts a bunch of dry ice into a 2 liter bottle, adds water, puts the lid on and runs away. We all stand huddled by the back door watching, waiting.
BOOOOOM !
It was soo loud, and blew all the snow away making a huge hole where the bottle had once laid. It was really impressive (Shh dont tell Chris I said that)

I think we finally got on the road about 8pm.
But the drive that normally takes 2hrs, took 3 1/2 hrs. The roads were horrible, and nothing was plowed, and if any of you know how I am in the car then you would know I was a horrible, nervous, wreck.

Thank God we made it home, and now, the kids have tomorrow off.
Tomorro is Super Tuesday !
Whoop Whoop GO-BAMA !!

Lots of Love,
Shel

SNOW DAY !!!

We got about 8-10 inches of snow last night, and today is a Snow Day ! Whoop Whoop! Add to it, its FRIDAY ! Chris decided to take a snow day too and enjoy the day with the kids. I LOVE it when everyone is home.

Chris is outside plowing the driveway, Brandon's out back shoveling the deck, and Katey is building a snow fort.... I just looked outside and Brandon gave up on shoveling and is helping with the snow fort. I love when everyone is home and getting along.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend, I hope everyone stays warm and safe, and I hope the snow is gone by monday and we can get some warm weather in here. I really dont like being cold, but will take the snow day when I get it!

Lots of Love,
Shel