Last full day of school

Update....Our play group is a fair weather play group, so I didn't have to make the decision between the two! So instead of basking in the sun by the pool, I spent the entire day on my knees scrubbing our dining room floor! YUCK!!!! I don't feel I have ever gotten the floor really clean in the 6 years that we have lived her, I know disqusting right. But everything I use seems to leave a film or residue. SO on my hands and knees I scrubbed with a mixture of vinegar and water and it still looks crappy. Pardon my french. SO I scrubbed the whole thing again with plain water thinking maybe it just needed to be rinsed. Nope, no improvement. So then I went over the whole thing with windex thinking that would maybe restore some of the shine, nope. So then I scrubbed it with a mixture of water, dishwashing detergent and laundry detergent. And while this I felt left it the cleanest looking, it still looks dull and well yes, crappy. So if anyone out there has any tricks for sprucing up laminate flooring, I am all ears!!


Well, last August I dropped my baby off for his first day of kindergarten and stood in the hallway sobbing because I couldn't imagine him being gone from me all day!! Now here we are the last full day of school and I am frightened at the prospect of having all three kids home with me all day! What a swing of the pendulum?!! At least I am not sobbing. We will see if that statement is still true later in the summer! So my plans for today? I am waivering between going to a play group with Kelli and Emily or getting a couple majorish projects done on my last full day with Andrew occupied at school. I will let you know later which I decided to do! =)

Excited!

(Not sure why, but half of this post is underlined and I cannot get it un-underlined!!)

Well, I got my new computer and I LOVE IT!!! It is so fast that I can hardly keep up! It was taking me 15-30 minutes to edit a picture with the old computer and now I am getting them done in about 2 minutes!! Talk about a time saver! So I am now just catching up with the shoots I was waiting to edit and then I should be able to start posting more regularly again! Here are just a few pics from the last couple of days. I can't beileve Andrew only has 2 more full days of Kindergarten! It has gone SO fast! I am excited for Kelli to have him home this summer, I think she has missed him! They play so well together (most of the time)! Emily is standing on her own more and more and you can see her thinking about taking a step away from the furniture, but then she chickens out and goes down to her knees and crawls to where she wants to go. I am thinking it won't be too much longer before she gets brave and takes that first step! She is still doing well in the attitude department and is more happy than sad, which is such a great change!! The whole family is appreciating it! We are heading to Andrew's school in just a little while. Andrew has Show and Share every Thursday and is allowed to bring something from home in to show his classmates. He has asked me several times if he can bring Emily and I always told him no because it is always during her nap time...but since today is his last Show and Share of Kindergarten I thought we could make it work! I am sure the kids will love it! Well, that is it for now...Looking forward to be able to be more consistent with updating! I am sure we will have many summer adventures to chronicle!!

The Lord's Prayer

Okay...I just came across this and it is absolutely a must watch!!

The best video ever!!

This makes me laugh so hard everytime I see it!

Blogging Sisters

Well another Cronkette has joined the blogging world! Check out Danielle's blog. And Nikki is going to continue blogging as well. It is a fun way to keep connected!! Lauren...you better get on the ball!!

Still Alive

Well, we are still alive and kickin around here...just seems like life is busy and keeps us hopin each day! The other reason I haven't been bloggin is because my computer gets slower by the day and it takes SOOO much time to upload pictures. My wonderful very soon to be brother in law is presently building me a brand new super fast computer that should be up and running in the next week or so. So I should be back at it with some regularity soon! This picture is one that makes me laugh! I took Emily outside for a spontaneous 9 month photo shoot and this is how it ended! Can't believe how quick the time has gone! She is going to be walking in the very near future. She cruises around the living room holding Kelli's hands and laughs the whole time. I think she knows it is crazy how she is so active at 9 months! She is working on her 5th and 6th teeth and is expanding her diet every day. She loves to feed herself so we try to do as much finger foods as possible. She still LOVES baby einstein and it is a great babysitter for her while I am trying to get dinner ready! I plop her in the Jumparoo (thanks again Heidi), pop in the dvd and as soon as she sees that little caterpillar she starts a jumpin for joy!! She is a much happier baby in the last month or so as we have figured out a schedule that seems to work for her. Although this past week with teething she is totally inconsistent! She sure gives out the smiles freely and this week started clapping and giving big wide open mouth drooly kisses! It is such a privilege to be these kids mom! I'll update on everyone else soon....here is one more of Emmers 9 month shots

Kori Mauch Photography

Some of you recieved an email last week that my website was up and running, but I wan't able to do an all out announcement because two sweet girls from church had me take their pictures for a Mothers Day present and I have them all over my website! So now that Mothers Day is over I can officially launch the website and announce it to everyone! I am so excited about it and I hope you will take a minute to check it out! Just click here!! I also have set up a blog to post sneak peeks for clients so I can keep it seperate from the family blog and that website is The View Through My Lens. If you click on View My Complete Profile you will notice that there are several other additional blogs/galleries listed. You will not be able to access those as they are the private galleries of clients. But check Kori Mauch Photography and/or The View Through My Lens for samples from all of those galleries! Thanks so much to all of you who have helped me get this up and running!!

Maddie Grace

My sister Nikki's 6 year old, Maddie, is at the Cinncinatti Childrens Colorectal Clinic for the next week or so. She has some chronic issues with her bowels that are really difficult on her and thus far has not recieved effective treatment. They were able to get into this clinic, the only one like it in the world, much sooner than they anticipated and are really praying that they will get some answers to help Maddie. The poor thing is in diapers still because she has no control over her bowels because of the chronic constipation that has basically removed all sensations of knowing when she has to go. Nikki is going to chronical the week on http://www.sweetmaddiegrace.blogspot.com/ Many of you probably have already recieved this info, but thought I would post it on here too incase you haven't. I know the family would appreciate your prayers! Yesterday was her first day and it was a rough one so I am sure Maddie is more than anxious about going back today.

Kelli is 4!!

I can't believe this sweet girl is 4 years old already! It goes too fast! Kelli is a mini-me. It is fun to watch her and in my mind be transported back to when I was her age! Today I asked her what she wanted to do and she said she wanted to play outside. It was raining so I told her she would have to think of some things to do inside and maybe she would be able to go out later in the day. So we spent some time watching her favorite movie, and then we painted for a while and then she said...Can't I just go out and play even though it is raining? I figured what the heck and boy did she have fun! We pranced around in the yard for a while and I couldn't help but snap a few photos of her cute outfit! Then she wanted to swing...she recently figured out how to pump and she is thrilled that she can make herself go as high as Andrew does!

And then she wanted to ride her new bike. Brian put training wheels on Andrew's old bike (much to Andrew's dissaproval) and she is doing great! She also got this lovely princess bike helmet from grandma and papa Mauch with matching knee pads! She looks so cute and she rode for hours today! She has this little path she does over and over and over!
And when I told her I was going to put pictures of her on my blog today because it was her birthday (like I need a reason to put pictures on my blog) she said, can you take a picture of my toes to show everyone! I painted her toes for her b-day party we had on Saturday...everyday since she wakes up and looks at her toes and proclaims that her toes still look beautiful!!
Our neighbor has this tree with the most amazingly beautiful blossoms... the perfect backdrop for one last shot of the birthday girl!

Happy Birthday Kelli Belly!

A Family In Need

(Chris, Rhonda, Seth and Raegan Barney)
I recieved a letter this week from my friend Laurel. Laurel was my discipleship leader when I was in middle school. Laurel was writing to ask for help for her dear friend Rhonda. Rhonda began having "strange" symptoms in 2005 and was just diagnosed with Lyme Disease in late February of 2008. Her symptoms have become progressively more severe, more frequent and more debilitating. She is at times unable to care for her 2 young children. Rhonda recently discovered a clinic in Reno, Nevada that treats lyme disease patients in a way that is different than any other clinic in the country. The Sierra Integrative Clinic combines Western medicine with European herbs and Eastern medicine. Rhonda is now at this clinic and has to be there for 5 weeks of treatment. You can read her blog journal at http://www.myhealingroad.blogspot.com/ . You will quickly learn that she is a strong amazing woman with immense faith. Laurel and her friends are writing asking for help for this sweet family because of the financial burden this family is encountering. The treatment was once estimated at $15,000 but is is now looking like it could surpass $40,000 with the associated costs and follow-up treatments and uncovered medical expenses. Rhonda's friends are asking us to consider helping this family by praying for her healing, by praying for her husband Chris and their children Seth and Raegan as they go through these 5 weeks with her being gone, and by giving anything that we can to help alleviate their financial burden. There are two ways you can give:


You may send a check made payable to Chris and/or Rhonda Barney to 14481 Club House Road, Gainesville, VA 20115. An account has been established where all fundraising monies will be deposited for their sue for medical and related expenses.


OR


You may also log onto http://www.paypal.com/ and go to SEND MONEY and put in the email address myhealingroad@comcast.net This option allows you to use a debit or credit card.


I know times are tough for many so if you cannot give financially, would you please take a minute to pray for this sweet family?