Haircut for Annah!

For a while now, I have been talking with Annah about having her hair cut short. She is really tough on her hair--during the day as she plays, at night when she sleeps (She must roll around a lot or something!)--doesn't like to brush it or have it styled or things in it. She just needs a lower maintenance style! She finally got excited about the idea of getting it cut short in an easier, new style for her, and tonight after her violin lesson (and supper at Godfather's Pizza with Caeden) we headed over to Cookie Cutters and got the chop!

Didn't have my camera with me, so these are with my cell phone...

It's not that she wasn't enjoying the process, she was watching a "My Little Pony" movie on her own personal screen as she was getting her cut.

Cutting that last long piece--about 6 inches cut off! She was sad it wasn't long enough to donate.

BIG difference!

Checking it out in the mirror...and the verdict is...She's happy!
I'll get some better photos of her soon. She is really excited about her new hairstyle, and looks pretty cute, we think!

Celebrating and Hoping

Today was another bittersweet day. About two weeks ago, Jeremy's Uncle Lee was told he has a brain tumor. He had surgery, and the doctor apologized for not being able to get all the tumor out, as it has "fingers" going down into his brain. The surgeon also said it is a very agressive Stage 4 cancerous tumor, and that it is terminal. Now, he has not met with the oncologist yet, as he cannot begin any kind of treatment until the staples are removed from his head. That is scheduled to happen early this week, and then the doctor will present his recommended treatment options.

Today was a potluck party to encourage Uncle Lee, and also celebrate his grandaughter's 1st birthday. We had been told that he would most certainly have paralysis after the surgery, and hadn't heard any updates about how he was doing since that time. We weren't even sure he would be able to come to the party, but we wanted to be there for him.

Now, Uncle Lee and his brothers are pretty ornery, funny guys, and Lee is usually the most lighthearted of them all. When we arrived today, we were told that he would be there soon. We were pretty surprised to see him walk in the door. He looks just like himself, except for the row of staples on his head. But, he was not his usually lighthearted self the whole time. He walked in and cried and cried as he greeted everyone in the room. He is very scared. We continue to pray for healing and a good prognosis and plan of treatment from the oncologist.


Here are Gary (Jeremy's Dad), Lee, and Paul--3 ornery brothers! (Their sister Martha and brother David came from Arizona and Afghanistan (on special military leave) respectively to see him at the time of his surgery.


A cousin from the other side of the family had treat bags, big coloring books, and games for the kids to enjoy. Our kids are always excited for a chance to play with their cousins!


Marti and Andrew--both looking different from when we saw them 2 1/2 months ago!
Marti recently earned the title of "Fort Wayne's Smallest Winner," in a weight-loss competition run like "The Biggest Loser." She has worked so hard, and it is awesome to see her continuing on her own!
And, little Andrew is 1 now, and losing his little baby look. But, still so sweet!


Kate needed a little help from her mommy, Shannon, to blow out her birthday candle.
What a sweetie!!

Playing Houses

The kids love to play with Gram's wooden buildings she keeps on a ledge at the bottom of the stairs. They take turns deciding how they will arrange their town on the stairs, and then back on the ledge, and then back on the stairs... They call it playing houses, and they love to spend time with Gram this way.

Track Ball with Uncle Travis

Caeden asked Uncle Travis if they could play Track Ball again. He sure looks up to his Uncle Trav. While they were playing he told Uncle Travis, "When I think of you, I think of playing Track Ball with you." They had played for about 10 minutes once this summer. Just goes to show how much of an impression a few minutes of time can make on a kid! Thank you, Uncle Travis, for playing with Caeden!

A Family Hike Around the Farm

Grandpa and Uncle Travis have been working on some major projects "at the back" on the farm, and we all wanted to see! So, we took a big family hike this afternoon! It was a perfectly beautiful day, and we had such a wonderful time together enjoying the outdoors!!!

The girls found walking sticks right away for the hike.


Dad and Travis recently drained a lot of the water out of the big pond, and had to poison all of the fish in it. So right now it is really, really low, and we walked on places we usually throw our fishing lines out in!

Caeden used his walking stick to play in the mud along the shore! Great fun for a boy!!


everyone but me and Jeremy
(who was also playing in the mud and breaking off a fence post with his hands)


Gram trying to keep Caeden from getting too close to the water as he hopped along in the mud.


Caeden and Grandpa along the shore


The lower pond is also very shallow right now, as it was just dug to more than twice the size it had been! This slimy green snapper was napping just outside the water, so I climbed down to get closer for a picture. It didn't move, so I got closer and closer. Of course, everyone was yelling at me that it was going to wake up and come after me. When it didn't, they started yelling and laughing at me that I must be taking pictures of a dead turtle! It didn't smell, and it didn't look dead, even though it was perfectly still.
So, of course, Jeremy and Travis had to come down and provoke it to see if it was really alive.


It was alive, so then Dad came down and picked it up by its tail and brought it up the shore for everyone to see. When he picked it up by the tail, it finally woke up completely and started hissing and snapping!


Grandpa says, "See how it snaps?!"


the old outhouse in the lane


coming up the lane near the end of the hike
Just after this, we saw two deer run across the path in front of us!


Dad took some photos of our family for us.





What a great way to spend the afternoon!! Thank you Dad and Travis for all the work you do to keep the farm so beautiful so we can all enjoy it! It brought back so many childhood memories walking down those lanes! And, now my kids will have these wonderful memories too!

Raiding Grandpa's Raspberries

Grandpa happened to mention to the kids that there might still be some red raspberries in his garden. So, they raided it. Uncle Travis helped too, but he shared.



Oh! Red raspberries are the BEST!!!!


Sylvia found some!

Visiting Grandma

My lovely grandma is 90, and had another hospital stay a couple weeks ago. She has been in congestive heart failure for a couple years or more, and now her mitral valve isn't working properly, so the condition is much more serious for her. She has to be on oxygen all the time now. Last weekend she was having mini-strokes and going in and out of consciousness. We felt very pressed this week that we needed to make a trip to Indiana to visit her.

(We left home around 9:00 PM last night. Jeremy drove halfway, but was having a hard time staying awake after his long, long day. My adrenaline had kicked in by 11:00, so I took over driving. About an hour later, as I was on a divided highway, I saw a car coming towards me in the left lane--ON MY SIDE OF THE ROAD!! That's not something you ever want to see! I hope that person got off of there safely! Sheesh!)


When we got up Saturday, we visited Grandma. She had just had her shower and was getting her hair done as we arrived. Since there were 6 of us, we went to the family room area to visit. The kids took turns sitting down with Grandma and telling her what they've been doing in school and such, then they went outside to play on the playground where we could still see them.

After about half an hour, Grandma started to get confused and feel uncomfortable, and Dad realized she had not been hooked back up with her oxygen. We took her to her room then and had them hook it up. She immediately started to feel better.





What a blessing it was to spend time with Grandma, and give her hugs and kisses and say exchange "I love you's."

Learning new scrapbooking techniques

I managed to find a little time to do some scrappin' this week. Here are some of the things I finished:

(Click on the photos to see them larger.)

Dude Rock On
by TarynLeah
Scrapbook.com

Simplicity
by TarynLeah
Scrapbook.com

I'm taking a really great techniques class at Creative Scrappers this month, taught by Natalie Roy. She has a really cool style and is teaching us some very unique tricks. I'm having fun playing with the techniques.

The first technique is image transfer. Here is a decent one I did:

The second techniqe we worked on was using spackling right on the page and stamping in it! Who ever would have thought of this?! It looks pretty cool, I think!
Here's a close-up of the spackling/stamping:

And, here is the whole layout:

Sing
by TarynLeah
Scrapbook.com

Giggly Bangs

The girls had been in the shower for about 10 minutes last night when Jeremy and I heard hysterical shrieks and giggles coming from the bathroom. We found them laughing at themselves, sticking their wet bangs up in the air. They just thought they were so funny!

I am The Great Cornholio!

Okay, this is just wrong, I know. But, I am incredibly thankful for laughter and silliness in my home, so I have to include it here!

My dear, hilarious, intelligent husband has some taste in comedy that I myself do not prefer. One being the old show he would consider a "classic"--Beevis & Butthead. He has been known to quote "The Great Cornholio" on many occasions, sometimes including pulling his shirt up over his head like Beevis in the photo at left. I have to admit, it always makes people laugh!

I don't think Jeremy has taught this to the kids or even demonstrated it in front of them before. So, tonight when I told Caeden to go put his clothes in the bathroom hamper and he came into the room a minute later with his shirt stuck over his head like Cornholio, we instantly cracked up! The kid just naturally has his dad's sense of humor, so of course he was dancing around thinking he was hilarious in his underwear with his shirt on his head!

And, of course...Dad had to join in the fun!

"Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, "The LORD has done great things for them." - Psalm 126:2

Caeden is liking homeschool pretty well. He tells everyone he sees that he is homeschooled. While I get tired of explaining why we are homeschooling, I am very glad he is enjoying it.
He is definitely learning!

Caeden is already getting better at holding a writing utensil and cutting with scissors, which is major for him. I am trying to find as many ways as possible to help him form his letters, number, and shapes. Today, he made them in shaving cream on a cookie sheet. He definitely loved this!!!


I had waaaaaay too much shaving cream on the sheet and had to keep taking huge handfuls off so he could actually write in it. But, the mess was fun to play in too!





I'm really thankful for the structured one-on-one time homeschooing is giving me with Caeden. I love my sweet little guy!!!

Bouncy Castle

Daddy inflated the bouncy castle in the front yard for the kids this afternoon!

Whooooooohooooooooo!!!!


Our friend Addie got to play for a little bit after her piano lesson!




After they got a little irritated with their game of, "Okay, you guys throw the balls out, and we'll throw them back in!" Annah and Addie decided to collect balls in the box and then "shower" Sylvia and Caeden with them all at once!


Just after Jeremy got the castle inlated, he picked it up on his back, pretending it was heavy. Caeden ran inside to me (in the middle of Addie's piano lesson!) and said, "Mommy, I have to tell you something about Daddy! He lifted the bouncy castle up all by himself like Mr. Incredible lifted the robot!" (We borrowed The Incredibles movie from Addie's family this weekend, and the kids watched it 3 or 4 times.) So, in short, Caeden thought his daddy was as strong as Mr. Incredible the SuperHero!

It's been a busy week for us, I guess. Maybe I should go bullet-point-style...

• Top of our hearts this week has been Jeremy's Uncle Lee. He had a stroke, and upon having an MRI afterwards, a softball-size tumor was found in his brain. He had surgery Thursday, but the tumor has "fingers" into his brain, and not all of it could be removed. We've not received a lot more information, but know that the surgeon apologized to the family present that he wasn't able to do more. They are expecting more paralysis (besides what he has from the stroke) from the surgery, and will be discussing radiation and chemotherapy treatment. Family is visiting him from all over the country and world, and we are hoping to go soon as well. And we pray for his comfort and healing.
  
  
• Sylvia and Caeden have taken turns being sick this week. Sylvia missed 1 1/2 days of school with fever and yucky spots on her throat. We thought it was strep, but it's not. It may be Hand-Foot-Mouth Disease. Caeden came down with it yesterday, but Sylvie is doing much better.
  
  
• My Swimmer's Ear is nearly gone now, thank the Lord! How painful. I still can't hear well though, and am really hoping that will come back soon!
  
  
• Yesterday I spent the morning with a friend who has lived in this area for a much shorter time than we have. I was asking her about places in the area I've never been to, and she had been to all of them. It made me think about how I need to take advantage of all the great places and opportunities near us, and especially expose the kids to them. Our governor is trying to shut down many of the state parks and historical sites in Illinois, and I need to support them and help that not to happen. So, I am beginning a list of places I want to go. Here's the start:

• Genevieve Green Gardens - I would love to take birthday portraits of the kids here soon!
  
• Funks Grove- actually hoping to plan a little field trip here next week with Caeden.
  
• Miller Park Zoo - (Can you believe we've lived here 7 years and never been to the zoo here?!)
• Prairie Aviation Museum - We only drive past the airport almost every time we go to town!
  
• Normal Theater
  
• David Davis Mansion
• Vrooman Mansion

• Homeschooling with Caeden is going well. He loves it, and is already learning a lot. The first 2 weeks we learned about the fact that God created the heavens and the earth, and talked a lot about the Trinity. This week we are learning about how God created light.
  

Rainy Day Fun

On this gray, rainy weekend, the kids are a bit restless staying inside. While talking with Gram on the phone, she suggested they make a "tent." So, Annah did! Such fun!



The dolls the girls have here were given to them this morning by their "Grandma" Sandi, who watches them all every Sunday morning at church while Jeremy and I are in meetings or rehearsals before the service begins. She brings donuts and popcorn every week, and just generally spoils the kids. But, last week a little girl was not sharing her dollies with the girls, and Sandi felt bad for them. So, she bought them these Ty Girlz dolls. They haven't let them out of their sight for a second all day long. Thank you Sandi!

And, thank you Gram, for the fun idea on this rainy day!

a little more drama and a little more thankfulness

As we watch all the hurricanes hit the coastal areas of our country, we can't help feel a bit touched by them today. Jeremy has been pumping water out of our basement with 4 pumps since 7AM, and the basement is still sitting under several inches of water even after 10 hours. It is a pain, and we worry that our furnace, water heater, and washer and dryer will work after it's all dried out. But, I am trying to keep it in perspective, and be thankful that we are not evacuating from out home and losing all our belongings.

I'm also dealing with the "fun" of Swimmer's Ear. I've had ear pain all week, but just thought it was and inner ear infection and that I'd try to wait it out without antibiotics since I'm allergic to all of them and didn't want hives. But the pain kept getting worse and I didn't want to risk my eardrum rupturing, so yesterday I went to the doctor. Apparently, even though I haven't been swimming, I have a mighty bad case of swimmer's ear. It is super painful! I got some antibiotic drops, and I'm hoping it will clear it up quickly!

So, what's going on in your neck of the woods? How is your family? Your home? Your health? I would love to hear from you!! Please leave a comment, or drop me an e-mail or phone call this week!

Grocery Shopping and Tooth Drama

The days of our lives in the Lopshire house are not full of the kind of drama you'd see on a soap opera, but we have our own little kinds of drama...thankfully, so minor in comparison to much of the rest of the world.

Since we live 20+ miles from the nearest city, we limit our trips as much as possible. It's usually 2 weeks or more between my grocery shopping trips. This week, our 'fridge was pret-ty bare...as in we were down to pretty much just condiments. And, our cupboards were lookin' pretty sparse. And not much was left in our freezer either. Not saying that to say we are needy...just that a trip to the store could not be put off any longer! So, today was payday, and Caeden and I were off to the store...

I always pack my cart very strategically as I shop...canned goods on the bottom of the cart, boxes at the end, packed on top of one another, paper products underneath...etc. Today, my cart was packed so full, I couldn't have fit one more thing in. We had to buy laundry and dish detergents, hair products, paper towels, TP, napkins and Pull-Ups...plus a LOT of food, AND a new set of sheets for Jeremy's and my bed because ours got a huge rip in it this week. I was afraid to see the total show up as I re-packed the cart in check-out. It came to $363.61, whew!

No, I don't spend that much every 2 weeks. And, I also didn't buy a single thing that I just "wanted." That should last us longer than 2 weeks. But, I had to commemorate the way that I have to shop these days, and took a couple photos when I got home...
Caeden wanted to be in there with all those groceries... He's my little shopping buddy. (He usually really hates going to the store, but today he was so good he got to pick out a Hot Wheels care in the check-out lane.)


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Tonight we had about an hour of constant drama with Annah and her latest loose tooth. When she first started to pull loose teeth it was fun and exciting. Now, it is loud, screaming, scary, insanity. Seriously. And, I remember being exactly this same way when I was a kid. I know my mom has a photo like the first one below of me...almost identical.

I'd been trying to get her to pull this tooth for at least 3 weeks. Tonight, Jeremy discovered that the adult tooth was already partially in behind the baby tooth, and he decided the baby tooth was coming out NOW! Annah tried pulling....I tried pulling...she screamed and wailed and cried...And, after an hour of intense drama she finally let Daddy try pulling--and it came out! Whew! Thank the Lord!


She was so relieved! The Tooth Fairy brought her $2 in quarters! She decided to put $1 in her Alabaster box. Now, she is happy she can chew with her front teeth! Who knew pulling teeth could be such a huge deal? (Okay, I did!)

School Open House Night

Annah and Sylvia were very excited to have us all attend their school's Open House this evening, and we all enjoyed the experience.

First we visited Annah's class. She told us she wasn't going to show us her desk; we'd have to find it, and there were several clues for us. The kids had drawn pictuers of themselves with clues about them written on their picture. Jeremy found Annah's right away. Some of her clues were:
-I have one sister and one brother.
-I have golden hair. (That one confused me, but I guess she thinks she has golden hair.)
-I love school.
-I live in Arrowsmith.

Here, Annah is by her desk, showing us her Reading book, and the fact that there are lots more on top of a cabinet in the corner...hence the pointing.


This is Annah and her 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Birt. It was Jeremy's and my first time meeting her. She is very pleasant, and Annah likes her very much.


Mrs. Birt encouraged Annah to demonstrate the ActivBoard in the classroom. Annah's class is one of 3 in the entire K-12 school to have this amazing tool. I asked Mrs. Birt how she was so blessed to get one, and she said she did a lot of work to write up a proposal and apply for it. She uses it a lot, especially for Math. Here, Annah is showing us how she and her classmates select whether they are having hot or cold lunch each morning.


Caeden boldly asked Mrs. Birt if he could try the ActivBoard. She helped him do a few dot-to-dots, and he was highly satisfied!



Next, we visited Sylvia's classroom and her teacher, Mrs. Beard.


Mrs. Beard had a list of things for Sylvia to show us. First, she was to read 2 books for us that she'd made in class.


Mrs. Beard shared with us that Sylvia is making friends very easily, and her two buddies in class are Isabella and Ashley--names which we have heard at home as well.
She also told us that Sylvia hates to draw, which didn't seem quite right to me, as she draws constantly at home. She told us about a meltdown Sylvia had yesterday when she was asked to draw a dog. Sylvia refused, and when Mrs. Beard showed her a simple way to draw a dog with an oval and a circle, she erased it after she drew it and didn't think it was good enough.
We also knew she had been struggling with something about Computer Lab, but hadn't been able to tell exactly what it is. She mentioned being shy of the teacher, and not wanting to wear the headphones because a classmate (who is also in her class this year) had made fun of her in preschool. She told me she always cries for me in Computer Lab. But, Mrs. Beard told us she refused to participate yesterday in Computer Lab and spent the whole time sitting on the floor by herself.
We discussed all this some more, and the fact that Sylvia is obviously having trouble with trying new things. Obviously, some discussions and encouraging talks are needed, and have already begun.
Despite those instances, Sylvia is doing great with school.

Sylvia showed us around her classroom. This is the calendar area.


After the Open House, we all attended the high school football game! It was a perfectly beautiful night, and the kids had their friends sit with us. Daddy bought them all hot chocolate and Laffy Taffy from the concession stand, and they were in heaven. They cheered and clapped and stomped for the Mustangs, but they were beaten 49-8. It was unfortunate, but we did enjoy the evening together as a family. Caeden even entertained those around us by jumping up and shouting, "GO Mustangs! Go Mustangs! Go Mustangs!" over and over. He was serious too.