Today we wake up to bits of snow on the ground, dry roads for traveling, and gray skies (as usual in Michigan). We are thankful for many things in our life this year. We are all healthy (all 6 of us!) we are thankful for Taryn being home with us, we celebrate our families today and the stability of our life right now in times of economic turnmoil, and we celebrate knowing all of you! Yes, we are thankful for you! Your friendship and love is the best Thanksgiving gift of all.
The holiday today will start with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on tv, then quickly get around all 6 of us to load up in the car with Grandma Sue and travel to Muskegon to visit and enjoy Turkey with the McCormick side of the family this year. This is Julie's mom's side of the family. We look forward to seeing family we don't see often, playing with doggies at their house and gorging on delicious turkey while watching football. We hope to catch a small cat nap before coming back home tonight.
Friday will not be a shopping day in our family, as we have to head the car to the Chicago area for a family funeral. Rick's Grandpa Clem (mom's side) passed away on Tuesday, and the funeral is Saturday morning. We will be joined by more family on this occasion that we don't see often enough either, so that will be wonderful and sad at the same time. Clem was 62 years old and suffering from a few ailments for a while now, so we were prepared, but you are never really as prepared as you think you are. It still hurts when a loved one passes on to be with God and is no longer part of our world. Clem is survived by Rick's Grandma Helen and she is the toughest lady around! She has lived a long wonderful life with two husbands and so where she will go from here is unknown yet, but she will have to make some life altering decisions now and so that will be hard for her to accept also. She cannot live alone and so where she will go is not known yet. Please pray for her strength and guidance for her as she makes this decision.
You might be wondering how Taryn is doing. She is doing very well. If you ask me, no one would be the wiser that she has not been in our family for her whole life. She is funny, quite intelligent, and SASSY too! She has been home for 6 weeks today. We are all adjusting well and getting used to her language and she to ours.
Happy Turkey Day to all of you!
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
It has been awhile
Hi everyone, it has been a while since our last post. I apologize. The past two weeks have been crowded with household tasks... yes, nothing really exciting has taken me away from my blog... just busy being a mom!
The big kids (that's the new term in our house... big kids and little ones...) had a short week at school last week due to parent teacher conferences so we packed up on Thursday and headed North to Boyne Mountain. We joined Chuck, Jennifer and the girls in a room and 3 other families at the resort with Avalanche Bay Water Park. The kids had a great time for TWO days in the water park and arcade. We had fun visiting with the adults and a nice time away from the household duties at home. Taryn and Tyler LOVEd the water slides. Taryn showed no fear of the water, the noise and the multitude of people. She slept well all weekend, however, had a day of melt down on Sunday on our way home and at home all evening. Not sure where that came from; first time she has acted like that, maybe just one day too long... unsure, anyway, we did not get any quality pictures of her in the water; she moves to fast and our camera is too slow!
Mom got to see MADONNA, yes, MADONNA, in concert last night in Detroit at Ford Field. The show was amazing and she was worth the drive down, the wait outside in the cold and the long tiring drive home. Julie bought 10 tickets in August when they went on sale and we had two cars to drive down and enjoy the energy of this amazing music icon. Rick was gracious enough to stay home with the kids so Julie could take our wonderful babysitter, Whitney, to the concert. Dad said the night was nice; Tyler was able to enjoy and evening/night with his Grandma and Trevor went to school with Dad for a special family Reading Night event. Everyone was spread out, it felt like, but we were all safe and happy.
Tonight, Wednesday, November 19th, CMU plays Ball State in a very important MAC football game. The game will be televised on ESPN2, so if you can, watch it. I hope the cold weather will not keep the die-hard loyal fans away, so we can show our football team how much we support them. Go Chips!
So, the turkey holiday is almost here. Which means that Christmas trees and decorations are right around the corner. We are looking forward to showing Taryn our holiday traditions and maybe starting a new one with a Russian influence.
The big kids are taking a break from extra-curricular activities, for the next few months. The holidays prove to be such a busy time and our house feels very full of energy EVERY DAY, so the break from practices and games is much longed for. Both Tom and Trevor are making their sacraments this season at church, so Wednesday nights is religious education night.
Until the next post...
The big kids (that's the new term in our house... big kids and little ones...) had a short week at school last week due to parent teacher conferences so we packed up on Thursday and headed North to Boyne Mountain. We joined Chuck, Jennifer and the girls in a room and 3 other families at the resort with Avalanche Bay Water Park. The kids had a great time for TWO days in the water park and arcade. We had fun visiting with the adults and a nice time away from the household duties at home. Taryn and Tyler LOVEd the water slides. Taryn showed no fear of the water, the noise and the multitude of people. She slept well all weekend, however, had a day of melt down on Sunday on our way home and at home all evening. Not sure where that came from; first time she has acted like that, maybe just one day too long... unsure, anyway, we did not get any quality pictures of her in the water; she moves to fast and our camera is too slow!
Mom got to see MADONNA, yes, MADONNA, in concert last night in Detroit at Ford Field. The show was amazing and she was worth the drive down, the wait outside in the cold and the long tiring drive home. Julie bought 10 tickets in August when they went on sale and we had two cars to drive down and enjoy the energy of this amazing music icon. Rick was gracious enough to stay home with the kids so Julie could take our wonderful babysitter, Whitney, to the concert. Dad said the night was nice; Tyler was able to enjoy and evening/night with his Grandma and Trevor went to school with Dad for a special family Reading Night event. Everyone was spread out, it felt like, but we were all safe and happy.
Tonight, Wednesday, November 19th, CMU plays Ball State in a very important MAC football game. The game will be televised on ESPN2, so if you can, watch it. I hope the cold weather will not keep the die-hard loyal fans away, so we can show our football team how much we support them. Go Chips!
So, the turkey holiday is almost here. Which means that Christmas trees and decorations are right around the corner. We are looking forward to showing Taryn our holiday traditions and maybe starting a new one with a Russian influence.
The big kids are taking a break from extra-curricular activities, for the next few months. The holidays prove to be such a busy time and our house feels very full of energy EVERY DAY, so the break from practices and games is much longed for. Both Tom and Trevor are making their sacraments this season at church, so Wednesday nights is religious education night.
Until the next post...
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Taryn turns 2
Sunday, Taryn turned two. This day was pretty normal. We had family over to relax and enjoy the day, a turkey dinner, and cupcakes & ice cream. Taryn received some small presents... didn't really know what to do with them and once they were open, did not seem to show much interest in the gifts. She was not sure what to make of the crowd circled around her singing "Happy Birthday to You" and would not eat ice cream or cupcake. She however, loved the turkey and mashed potatoes (her favorites are plain potatoes and plain meat). So we had lots of pictures in her pretty birthday outfit and enjoyed a quiet day at home. Pretty low key compared to the birthday parties we usually have; and yet I believe, that when she figures out just how great birthday parties are... we will be making up for this one :-).
Taryn with cousin Paige and Taryn with Great Grandpa "LoLo" Jim; and mom too!
Saturday, November 1, 2008
HALLOWEEN 2008
Halloween: Our favorite candy holiday. We begin thinking about right about the time the stores start displaying Halloween items (right about the time you all think about it too). We always seem to procrastinate on this Holiday. I don't know if we think that the costumes will suddenly arrive and be exactly what the child wished for; or that the house will decorate itself; or that the pumpkins will carve themselves too? Seriously! Of course, this Halloween has been a little bit more crazy that others, but not by much. I, as Mom, and coordinator of this Holiday, seem to skin by on this Holiday just by the hair on my chin; but somehow I always manage to pull it off and this year was no exception. The errands that needed to be run on Wednesday this week, before Halloween, really tell the tale: I put my truck into DRIVE... let's read this together... 19 times. That's right. 19 times. Any I put some of my children through this errand nightmare! OMG! I need a personal secretary for my home life, forget the office, my household is out of control! :-)
Like I said, I pulled it off. It is Saturday night as I am posting this and a
fter an awesome Friday Halloween, I can say it will be one to be remembered.
fter an awesome Friday Halloween, I can say it will be one to be remembered.Here are a few pics: One is the kids with their cousins, Paige and Alexis (Lexi).
Taryn did not dress up this year, Lexi was a princess (of course), Tom was a football player, Trevor was a Werewolf, Paige was a Police Officer and Tyler was Bob the Builder.
Bella was a fire fighter, obvious, I know.
The other pic is Rick, Julie and our friend Jeremy, dressed up for our 1st ever Costume Party.
Rick and I and our friends Jeremy, Jon, Janelle, Jim and Karen all hosted over 100 people at a local Brewery owned by Jim and Karen. We required all party guests to dress in costume. We had the most amazing, fabulous, outragous party ever! We laughed so much and we commended all our guests as to how well they participated in the dress up part. There were so many amazing costumes, way to many to award prizes... no way could anyone judge. Everyone, we think, had just a great time and we hope to make it a yearly tradition.Anyway, here we are dressed up. Rick is a pirate, Julie is a mermaid (awesome hair!), and Jeremy is a flash back to the 70's retro era, Barry Gibb style.
I wish I could post a few of the pics from the party, unfortunately I delegated the picture taking part to others last night so I could enjoy the drinks and the dancing!
Anniversary
Yes, I know... it has been several days since a post. The week leading up to Halloween is just as crazy as the week before Christmas at our house... so many things to do to prepare for our favorite candy holiday.
Anyway, Tuesday, October 28th, Rick and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary. We have been unseperable for 15 years actually, but married for 13. We arranged for a sitter for the kids for just two hours; we slipped out of the house practically unnoticed and drove a short 20 minutes away from town to dine at a new restaurant and share some much sacred adult conversation.
Over dinner we found ourselves talking about... you guessed it... the kids! Of course! Work, kids, and our ever favorite topic of discussion... planning the next family vacation! Our food was not "over the top" but the company was much treasured and made up for any short comings on the plate in front of us. We each enjoyed a glass of wine or two and then commented that we might as well go straight home because the night was full of household chores that the "fairy godmother" did not get done during the day! :-)
Our children were delighted to see our faces when we arrived back home from dinner and Taryn was very well behaved with her babysitter for the first time. Gee, it went so well, we may have to do this again, I'm thinking to myself!
That night, as I lay in bed, the house quiet and dark, I tried to think of all the things Rick and I have been through during the past 15 years: somewhat amazed at the length of the list and yet dreaming of what else we will accomplish during our life together in the future. We met each other the summer we turned 21; 1992. We dated, married and built our first house together in 1995, started working together in the family business in 1997; lost Rick's mom to cancer in 1998, had our first child in 1998; built another new house in 2000; had another child in 2001; built another new house in 2002; lost Rick's father also in 2002; had another child in 2005; and adopted a fourth child in 2008. Amongst those dates are so many good happy times, way to many to scrapbook, to post online, or even to get in photo albums.
It was funny, though, to think about technology when I went to watch our wedding videos the other day... our videos are on VHS tape and we no longer have a VHS player in our house! LOL! For real! Only DVD players, TIVO, ipods, computers, flat screen tvs, etc... So, hopefully before our 20th anniversary, I will be able to get those wedding VHS videos converted to DVD or Blue Ray, or whatever the new wave of technology will be.
The trip to Russia for 6 days to pick up Taryn was the longest I have ever been away from Rick. It was an exciting time and yet I missed him so terribly much. During a typical day, we talk on the phone several times; even if it is just one of the kids calling "DADA" on the phone to say HI and interrupting him from a meeting. He is my very best friend and even though it is cliche to say > the most wonderful husband I could ever imagine<.
Ah, yes. The comfort of routine. The smell of my best friend, the gentle kiss as we rush about our busy days... that's what 15 years of being with the most wonderful man is to me. Here's me trying not to take a single day for granted and appreciating each day... as trivial as they may be sometimes.
Anyway, Tuesday, October 28th, Rick and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary. We have been unseperable for 15 years actually, but married for 13. We arranged for a sitter for the kids for just two hours; we slipped out of the house practically unnoticed and drove a short 20 minutes away from town to dine at a new restaurant and share some much sacred adult conversation.
Over dinner we found ourselves talking about... you guessed it... the kids! Of course! Work, kids, and our ever favorite topic of discussion... planning the next family vacation! Our food was not "over the top" but the company was much treasured and made up for any short comings on the plate in front of us. We each enjoyed a glass of wine or two and then commented that we might as well go straight home because the night was full of household chores that the "fairy godmother" did not get done during the day! :-)
Our children were delighted to see our faces when we arrived back home from dinner and Taryn was very well behaved with her babysitter for the first time. Gee, it went so well, we may have to do this again, I'm thinking to myself!
That night, as I lay in bed, the house quiet and dark, I tried to think of all the things Rick and I have been through during the past 15 years: somewhat amazed at the length of the list and yet dreaming of what else we will accomplish during our life together in the future. We met each other the summer we turned 21; 1992. We dated, married and built our first house together in 1995, started working together in the family business in 1997; lost Rick's mom to cancer in 1998, had our first child in 1998; built another new house in 2000; had another child in 2001; built another new house in 2002; lost Rick's father also in 2002; had another child in 2005; and adopted a fourth child in 2008. Amongst those dates are so many good happy times, way to many to scrapbook, to post online, or even to get in photo albums.
It was funny, though, to think about technology when I went to watch our wedding videos the other day... our videos are on VHS tape and we no longer have a VHS player in our house! LOL! For real! Only DVD players, TIVO, ipods, computers, flat screen tvs, etc... So, hopefully before our 20th anniversary, I will be able to get those wedding VHS videos converted to DVD or Blue Ray, or whatever the new wave of technology will be.
The trip to Russia for 6 days to pick up Taryn was the longest I have ever been away from Rick. It was an exciting time and yet I missed him so terribly much. During a typical day, we talk on the phone several times; even if it is just one of the kids calling "DADA" on the phone to say HI and interrupting him from a meeting. He is my very best friend and even though it is cliche to say > the most wonderful husband I could ever imagine<.
Ah, yes. The comfort of routine. The smell of my best friend, the gentle kiss as we rush about our busy days... that's what 15 years of being with the most wonderful man is to me. Here's me trying not to take a single day for granted and appreciating each day... as trivial as they may be sometimes.
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