Well hi there

Hey,
Look at this. I forgot this existed.
I plan on getting back into bloging as I have some exciting adventures I am about to start on.

Shel

Counting down till lent is OVER

I'm in count down....
49 mins till Lent is over.

Facebook, HERE I COME !!

Oh, and Happy Easter YO!

LENT- coming to an end.

WHOOP WHOOP,
Only 1 more day to go till I can get on FACEBOOK !!
I'm so excited, and so proud of myself. I can't wait to get back online and re-connect with all my friends. It's been a long Lent.

We are very excited about Easter and we even made our own Easter Baskets with string and sugar water. They really turned out neat so far and we haven't even put the finishing touches on it. Katey is participating in the Easter service, and has learned so much in confirmation class. I'm really proud of how involved she is getting in our church, and in our youth group. They really are a great bunch of kids and she has made so many new friends.

We are in count down mode for the end of school. Katey Graduates 8th grade on May 26th and we are having a party for her on May 28th. I can't believe my baby girl is gonna be a freshman. She just needs to stop growing.

Oh, Ellie came for a visit with her kids and we had a GREAT time. The kids got a long so well, and miss each other so much. I'm so glad Ellie's kids got to meet Nannie and Pop-pop and will have good memories of them, and of hanging out with their cousins. I hope when they get older they will be close like we are with Ellie. Ashlyn informed us that she had the most fun, more than any of us, with her cousins, and that she misses her cousins more than any of us miss them. She's so sweet.

I am getting over a very nasty "bug". My doctor thinks it was pneumonia aggravated by asthma, but I really think it's whooping cough. It was terribly bad, and I probably should have been in the hospital. They had to change my antibiotic because I kept getting worse and ended up in bed for 4 days straight. Luckily I am starting to get better, but this cough is still terrible.

Ok, hurry up Easter morning, I got me some facebookin to do.
Night,
Shel

hard service

We are back from the cruise, and the wedding was fantastic. The cruise was amazing, and we are sad we have to be back. Why can't vacation last forever? Ellie flew in from San Diego and we even went home this weekend to visit Nannie and Pops with all the kids. HAD A BLAST. We hurried home so Katey could make confirmation class and youth service.

Tonight's service was difficult to say the least.
It was about Jesus dying on the cross and Pilates wife told him not to mess with that innocent man for she had had a dream about him. Well we were questioned had we ever stepped up and questioned something and spoken up even though nobody else was. He asked if we heard recently about a violent death, or some one being mistreated at school. Immediately Katey and I think of Adrianne.

He went on to ask some very hard questions.
Was there something you could have done? Something you could have said? Could you have done something that could have prevented this? The questions went on and on. Each one questions and guilt that I have asked myself many many times. Katey bowed her head and cried, and I walked out. I got control and came back in, but it was very hard.

When it was over and everyone walked out, we said in the pews and Katey and I just cried. We miss you Adrianne Leigh.

Shel

Wedding and cruise

I can't wait, we leave in 3 days for Miami, for Jenny's wedding and the cruise. I can't wait. Lucky for us, we have a great youth group we are a part of, and we got friends house sitting and dog sitting while we are gone. Yup, we are lucky.

Last night, we had a bon fire and Katey had a bunch of kids from the youth group come over. It was a great time. They loved the zip line, and its nice that Katey has such a great group of kids to hang out with.

So, for the cruise I am in my last stages of packing and cleaning the house.
Hopefully after gettting everything packed tonight, I will be able to sleep. I can't sleep because I have way to much on my mind. Do I have this packed, did I have enough of these, I need to find these, oh don't forget the...... I just need to pack it, load it, and forget about it.

And Lent needs to get over so I can get back on FB, I miss seeing whats up with everyone, but this is DEF. worth it.

Shel

Happy St. Patty's Day

Everyone dressed in green and off to school, I am off to meet my friends for some breakfast.
Got my hair dyed last night for the cruise, and trimmed up. Just a few last min. things, get the house finished and we are good to go.

Plans for today include:
Breakfast with the girls, dog to the vet for shots, locate a boarding kennel for Kody, find crocs and shoes for everyone, start packing.

Have a great green-filled day.
Shel

Ides of March

Today is March 15th.

Beware the Ides of March !!

March 15th - still Lent

Well giving up facebook has gotten easier. I still have a desire to get on and see what everyone is up to, and I feel like I am missing out on all the hip hop happenin stuff. BUT, I have less and less the over powering urge to look. I no longer have to convince myself that I dont need to just check it out real quick. I have been keeping busy because its when I'm not busy that I have the most desire to get on.

We leave for the cruise in 8 days. I can't believe it. I can't wait to see Jen get married, and then to board the beautiful ship for a whole week. Cruises are my FAVORITE !! plus I get chris and the kids all to myself for a whole week. No school, no work, just family.

My cousin Ellen and her 3 kids fly in the tuesday after we get back. The kids have not seen nannie and Pops since they were just toddlers. I'm really glad they are old enough that they will have some memories of them. We are going to celebrate the twins birthday's while they are here, they have never had a birthday with cousins before. And we are also going to celebrate Easter as a family with Cassie and her kids, Ellie and hers, us and ours, Mom and dad, Nannie and Pops. I'm so very excited about it. Pops loves when we would come visit for Easter, he loves seeing them all dressed up and having an Easter Egg Hunt. I look forward to them celebrating a holiday surrounded my Great Grand Children and 3 grand daughters.

Well off to take care of Ash. She's a bit emotional this morning, coughing like mad, and a slight temp. So no school. She needs to get well for the cruise.

Shel

Day 5- Lent

This weekend has been pretty easy, however we have been VERY busy. Keeps your mind off of getting on Facebook. I thought I lost my cell phone yesterday at Kohls. We went and tried on dresses for the cruise, which by the way we leave in 10 days. I can't believe it. The girls and I now have plenty of dresses for the cruise. Well i thought I dropped my cell phone at Kohls, but ends up I left it next to my bed. Spent all day trying to track it down.

Last night, Katey got invited to a party at a friend from her youth groups house. Luckily I got to know these kids last weekend at the retreat, otherwise it would have been hard for me to allow her to go to a party with High School kids. It was the first night she went out and had plans till curfew. My baby is growin up. But luckily she has a good group of kids to hang out with. They even wanted me to stay and hang out with them because I am sooo cool! Made me feel good, but it was Katey's thing. We did talk to them about maybe going camping and Geo-caching this summer, and they are all for it. I am so glad I got involved with these kids. Gonna be a great summer.

Today Bran's hanging with his friend Dez, and Me, Chris, and Katey are watching Friday.. yeah, such a great show to watch with your teenager, but its funny, and it lets her see how stupid they act. Great for conversations.

Alrighty, I'm out.
Shel

Day 3 - Lent

Today is not so bad, and luckily its Friday so that means we will be really busy all weekend. I dont see a problem at all with days 4 and 5. Last night we had wildside youth group at our church. and they all loved the G-Scape video I made. I'm glad everyone had such a great time.

Now to go work on the house before chrispy gets home.
Shel

Lent day 2

Today has started off better than yesterday. I have taken my little one to school, she usually rides the bus, and I went to the grocery store. So I've been busy. Came home but the groceries away, picked up so the cable guy can stop by, and then I sat down to the computer. Oh yes, I wanted to facebook, but I didnt. Check my email, glance at the news, blog, and now to do some laundry or something to get FB off my mind.

S.H.I.T. (so happy it's thurs.)

Shel

Day one Lent.. in review

Wow,
I've blogged 3x's today. Today's been tough. I'm sure it will get easier.
I feel so disconnected, so far away from everyone. It worth it though.

We went to Lent program and dinner for the kids. They did a craft and I helped keep some of the other small children entertained. Pastor Sarah has 2 beautiful little girls.. 1st and 2nd grade. They played well with Ashlyn. Then we went up and ate soup and bread. I met a few parents of the kids we went on the retreat with. All the kids that came to service tonight all sat together, with us. It's just so great that they have all taken so well to me. Def. my calling, def. where I am suppose to be. Ashlyn was very nervous this morning when I told her about the Ashes, but I explained what it means and she was very VERY excited to accept the ashes. She kept asking.. "now mama? now mama?" She was so proud to walk up and get her mark. Now we are home, gonna eat some pizza and go to bed.

I got thru day 1, what will day 2 bring?
Shel

UGH - Day one Lent

Why is this so hard? Seriously, its just facebook. When did Facebook take up so much of my time and thoughts? I have withdrawal type feelings.. just not right. I have wanted to get on and look at least 20x's today. It's everything I can do to convince myself that its not suppose to be easy, thats why its called a sacrifice, but FACEBOOK? I really didn't think it would be that hard, this hard. But I am convinced more than ever that I am def. addicted to facebook. Praying that God helps me get over this, and thru this.. And there we have it... Praying in the middle of the day puts me closer to God, GOAL ACHIEVED! Now lets keep it up for another 39 days.

Tonight we have kid's Lent program at 6, then Lent service at 7.
Looking forward to the distraction and the reminder... Why am I doing this?

Shel

Lent - day 1

I have decided to give up Facebook for Lent.
Your supose to sacrifice something that is important to you, and that takes you away from God. Well, I feel I spend entirely too much time on Facebook. It def. takes my time away from housework, and playing games with the kids.. heck, I even facebook while I am watching tv, not fully giving my attention to even the show we are watching. It def. takes away from a lot of things not to mention time I could have with God. So far, day one, and I already want to log on and see what everyone is up to. This will be a challenge, but I will be very happy when I accomplish this task. So.. I'll let you know how it goes.
Shel

Noah's Jump Rope for Heart

We have another great friend who is doing Jump Rope for Heart.
He is close to making his goal.. Can you help?

These kids are doing such a good job for Hearts. It's such a great cause.
Noah had a great time doing this last year too.

Check out Noah's homepage to help out.

Shel

Jump Rope for Heart

UPDATE :
Emily met her original goal and had raised her goal to $1000.
Lets help her meet this goal

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A friend of our's daughter Emily is doing Jump Rope for Heart in honor of her brother Kevin Kruse who died in 2008 from congenital heart disease. She has already met her goal, but lets see how much above and beyond we can go to help fight heart disease.
This family is so close and dear to my heart.
Please will you help?

Check out Emily's head quarters and donate what ever you can.

Thanks,
Shel

New Lenox Wildcats Seniors

New Lenox, Seniors the best by far
this is the big show, and we are the stars
The name on our vests shows who (clap clap) we are.
Our mission is clear and we plan to uphold
A tradition of champions who will always wear gold
We are everything you're not
You know you want it you want what we've got
Go wildcats!

Senior Wildcats, We're number one
We know exactly how to get the job done
We are comin back for more
2011 we dominate this floor
There is nothing that we cant do
See it, believe it
We speak the truth
NEW LENOX!

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Once again Kathryn and her team kicked butt at competition. It was very exciting this session because Kathryn's best friend Ali joined. I am so proud to see my Tom Boy Pirate enjoying being a cheerleader. She has really become so well rounded this last year. Way to Go Kathryn, Ali, and all the rest of the Wildcats! Looking forward to another session.

NEW LENOX WILDCATS JV !!

We are the wildcats were Gold, Black and White
You know why were here,
and you know were DYNAMITE.
Wildcats are on the prowl,
were ready to attack,

New Lenox will dominate
SO JUST STEP BACK !!

We're fired up
We're sizzlin
We're turnin up the heat.
New Lenox JV
We can't be beat

We're too hot to handle,
Just wait and see
Everybody knows the winner will be
New lenox JV !!

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Congrats to Ashlyn and her team for winning 2nd place at their competition. I was so proud to watch Ashlyn in her very first sport, her very first competition. It amazes me daily how far she has come, and I am so very proud of her and the entire team. Way to bring it girls.

Holy Snow Balls

Well once again we were under a winter storm warning, and blizzard warning. Chris keeps getting depressed because he wants all the snow they keep preparing us to get, but ever single time the storm hits just above, or just below us, giving us just a dusting. Well, not this time. We were a direct hit to the bulls eye. We got at least 20 inches of the powdery stuff, and the winds were incredible. It was a total white out blizzard. Chris and the kids were soooooo excited. School let out early on Tues, no school Wed, and then we got the call Wed. afternoon. NO SCHOOL THURS. That's just unheard of. No school 2 days in a row??!!

The roads are pretty much clear, at least one lane in each direction. But a lot of people's driveways and alley's and streets have not even been touched by a plow yet. As of yesteday afternoon, there were still cars stranded on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago. Some people were stranded for 10 hrs, and now they are trying to get the cars towed so they can plow and re-open the streets. Its just plain crazy up here.

THEN to add to all the chaos, an artic blast has blown thru here dropping temps and wind chills to -40 degrees. What the heck?! I think Mother Nature had herself a party and passed out!

I hope you enjoyed the pics.
Shel

Snowmagedon 2011

Well, Snowmagedon is just about to hit and hit hard.
Everyone is freaking out. I'm not. We have food, we have drinks, and we have wood. The fireplace is stocked and ready to go. School's getting out early, and probably no school tomorrow.
BRING IT !!
I'm looking forward to a nice day home with the family.

Shel