My Guilty Pleasure....

I remembered to bring candles for him to blow out! Big hit!

My mom and sisters get all excited around this time of year about one thing...the pumpkin spice & gingerbread lattes at Starbucks. Since I'm not a coffee drinker, this doesn't get me. What DOES get me excited though is Coldstone's Dark Chocolate Peppermint Ice Cream!!! Serious Yummy!!! We went on Wednesday night (josiah's ACTUAL birthday) for him to get his birthday ice cream (if you sign up online for their birthday club, they'll send you a coupon for a free ice cream!!!! It's the best! www.coldstonecreamery.com ) I was all geared up to get some no sugar added raspberry sorbet (it's pretty good actually), but then i saw it....the After Dinner Mint. It's the dark chocolate peppermint ice cream with oreos, chocolate shavings, and marshmallows mixed in. Holy cow! I know your mouths are all watering now!! Throw the lattes to the wind and go get you some ice cream!!!!



Oh, and one more thing...it was Waffle Wednesday, so David got a free waffle cone with his ice cream. Callie enjoyed trying a piece of the waffle cone! :)

Happy 5th Birthday, Josiah!

Well, today is Josiah's ACTUAL birthday!!! He woke up so excited today and was thrilled to ACTUALLY be 5 (he's been saying that all day!) I can not believe that 5 years has already gone by. I still remember being in labor with him like it was yesterday....hoping he'd go ahead and be born already so I could still watch the Thanksgiving Day parade...What a joy he has been. He has such a sweet and teachable spirit. His temperament is very similar to mine, which probably helps us get along so well. I just love being with him. His love language is quality time, so he just loves to be doing anything together...whether it's reading, doing puzzles, playing, doing school, cooking, he just loves to do it with me. He is so tender in his appreciation, so thoughtful in his praise. He's a great teacher for Jacob and Callie and is usually quick to encourage them and point out things they have learned. It was such a joy this fall watching him give over his little heart to Christ, and to talk about the things he is going to tell the Lord in heaven. I so want for him to continue to grow more and more in love with the Father every day. I am so thankful for this little boy. Josiah David - named after two godly kings in the bible that followed the Lord, and after your Daddy - another man seeking after God's heart. I pray that you will always remain tenderhearted, and Love God and Love Others the way you do now - whole heartedly. I love you, my little man.

Back to Normal...

Had a nice, normal Monday morning today. Headed to the gym (was pleased to see another two pounds lost...even with Thanksgiving last week!), did my run outside, headed home. Callie had a great morning nap, and the boys and I raked leaves outside. So nice and quiet...enjoying ourselves today. My boys were in a "posing" kind of mood...hence all the leaf pictures (and yes, Jacob wanted his basketball in all his pictures). Who knows...but I love these boys!

10 Days?

Really, it's been 10 days since I've posted?? So sorry - will try my best to catch everyone up....but there's only 15 minutes left of Curious George, so I'll do what I can.....

Josiah's 5th Birthday Party!

I pulled a "Sue Ratz" and rounded up all the kids at the end of the party for a group picture - and look how cute they all are!! Josiah's in front. The rest of the kids (from L to R) are Anderson, Jacob, Samuel, Meredith, Jackson, Harrison, Kayla, Greyson, Parker, and Jake. What sweet friends Josiah has - we are SO thankful for them!
Mandy and Jake
Look at this sweet face!! It wasn't that many years ago that he used to CRY during the Happy Birthday song, remember???
Carter was SACKED OUT at the end of the party! He and Callie were troopers for being forced to skip their morning naps!
Josiah and Jacob were thrilled to see the REAL Chuck E. Cheese!

Harrison playing skeeball...who doesn't love it?
Anthony and Jackson (I have several pictures of all the DADS riding this game!)
Greyson on the wave rider...most of my pictures of him are like this...the hat is so low I can't see his eyes! Looks so big to me!
Eating pizza...
The two birthday cakes....Top one says "Josiah...more than meets the eye" (Those are lyrics from the Transformer song for those of you that don't know). The bottom one had "bumblebee" and "optimus prime" on it. Josiah was thrilled!

Natalie and Callie...the striped girls!
Anderson in his Ferrari...looks good!
Sam & Merideth...just like Busch Gardens, right?
Jacob started off on this ride, and then jumped off. He thought it was a REAL roller coaster! Too real for him, I suppose!
Mom helping Jacob and Jackson play basketball.

Josiah's party was so much fun! We had Chuck E. Cheese to ourselves for the first hour, and the kids had so much fun playing in the playground and then all the games!! Mom said to me many times how neat it is for her to see Josiah's friends and how they are all growing up together. She's right - we are so blessed that our children are surrounded by wonderful friends being raised in godly families. We are so priviledged to call you our friends!! Thanks for making the day so special for Josiah!

It's Beginning to Look alot like Christmas!

The finished product!
The boys were SO excited to get the nativity set out again!
Jacob and Josiah made these cranberry & marshmallow garland strings this year! A VERY fun (and sticky) project!
Callie wasn't sure why Daddy was holding her up to the ceiling like this. It was our little angel's turn to hang the angel! It gets more and more fun each year to go through these traditions with the kids. They remember certain ornaments, have fun hanging their picture ornaments that they've made in Sunday School, etc. What sweet memories we are making.
My fireplace. (By the way, I'm on the lookout for a new stocking for Callie. I have a random one up right now, but I am looking for one to match the other 4. Keep your eyes peeled for me!)

On Friday, the Christmas lights went up and the Christmas music went on! I love it! It was extra fun this year with Mom here to enjoy it with us. I got up crazy early to get most of my Christmas shopping done (I really DID get some GREAT deals), and then the rest of the day was spent decorating! We drove through our Botanical Garden "Garden of Lights" display that night, and it was beautiful!!! Mom and I watched "White Christmas" as Josiah's birthday cake was baking....does it get any better than that??

I am SO thankful!!!

How VERY thankful I am this year!!! We started off the Thanksgiving holiday with a wonderful service at church on Wednesday night. Our church family gathered together for a dinner of soup and sandwiches, and then we had our worship service. David and our Kinetic band did the music for this, and it was powerful! The Life Center was packed and you could just feel the presence of the Lord there! It was a great kickoff to the holiday.

After running 4 miles Thanksgiving morning (Kelli & Kristen had a 4 mile race in Florida that morning, so it was ALMOST like we were all together), Mom arrived that morning just in time for breakfast!! We had a great day together cooking and just being together. Our meal was fabulous, but the fellowship was even sweeter. How very thankful I am for my precious family this year.

Oh, and it was kind of funny. Josiah was born on Thanksgiving day 5 years ago, but this Thanksgiving fell on Nov. 22 (which was my original due date for him). Glad not to be in labor this Thanksgiving!

Just Horsing Around...

David had made a "Josiah and Jacob burrito" and Callie wanted to be right in the mix!


Some pictures of the kids roughhousing with David one night after work. Callie was crawling right over to get in the mix of it too. I am so blessed!!!

The Grand Illumination in Norfolk!

Can you see Callie asleep in the stroller? She got a quick nap before the parade began!
This was what the boys looked like the WHOLE parade! Josiah was constantly pointing at the next thing coming around the corner, and Jacob was just in amazement!
The Pink Schrodt Girls!
Santa Claus was the last float!!

What fun we had at the parade!! We have gone every year and it is so much fun to get everyone in the Christmas spirit!!! They begin the parade by lighting up the skyline of downtown (all the big buildings are outlined in Christmas lights) and then the parade begins. I have probably 100 pictures of the parade, but I'll spare you from seeing them all. We LOVED it though - all the marching bands, the floats, it was great!! Josiah's favorite was the float that looked like a NASA space shuttle, and Jacob's favorite was the horses (and the street cleaners that followed behind). I love these little traditions of ours!

What'cha doing on March 16, 2008???

I'll be running in the Shamrock Half-Marathon!!! It's official - I've signed up!!! SCARY!!!

All Things Considered...

...it's been a good week so far. We've been in and out of the pediatrician for strep throat (brought back HORRIBLE memories of the dreaded throat culture...gag!!!), rain, laundry, etc - but it's been sort of nice to be slowed down. I played Candyland today with both boys - Jacob's first REAL time actually playing it - not just moving the piece around. It was quite fun. I've just about got my Thanksgiving weekend menu finalized, and that's been fun to think through. My mom is coming down to celebrate with us, and we are all looking forward to that. This has been the first week on my "training" plan for the half-marathon, and so far, so good (it wasn't any different than what I ran last week really, but it made it more official to be following a "plan"). So it's been good. I had hoped to catch up on some pictures to post, but the IPOD is connected right now charging (it was dead today during my run - bummer!) Anyways, thankful for the quieter week, thankful for my family and their health, thankful for lots of other blessings in my life. God is good.

Tuesday Morning....

So far so good. A good weekend - lots of fun, some not so fun (like the strep throat that Josiah got Sunday night), but a good long weekend. So nice having David home yesterday (got to go to Target all by myself!!! Even taking Josiah to the doctor was fun Monday morning - because I had only 1 child - and it was the easy, self-sufficient one! :) Anyways, I'll catch up more later. We're off to storytime about elephants - yippee! :)



Oh, one last tidbit before we're off. Getting ready for Josiah's birthday party next weekend, and he announces yesterday that he wants a Transformer party (really that just means Transformer plates & napkins). He's been saying space party for months - I had the cutest rocket ship cake ready to make, adorable astronaut plates & stuff to order, and he has changed his mind. Oh well. So this goes out to all those who may think it's crazy that my 5 & 3 year old love to talk about Optimus Prime & bumblebee - it's just because they are so crazy about their daddy and they love to pretend all this stuff with him. So all my plans go out the window...I'll probably just have to order a transformer cake (I certainly can't make that!!!), and buy him some plates & napkins at target. I just love that he loves his daddy so much!

Veteran's Day at the Park

Those Monday holidays are so nice! We loved having David home with us for the day! We talked a lot about how thankful we are to live in an area where we see soldiers all the time and are constantly reminded of how blessed we are to be in this country. We spent the afternoon at a little park that's tucked back by a lake. David played with the kids on the playground while I got my run in by going around the lake. It was very peaceful and relaxing!

Emily Turned 1!

Can you see the football game in the background? Joe was making sure we hadn't completely lost touch with what was happening in college football land!
This was one of our first events with the new and improved Anna Maggiore! :)
Emily LOVED her ladybug cupcake!
This was the REAL action! Afterwards the kids got to play outside with Ryan's tractor - a BIG hit!
Callie and Emily!

....yes, her party was two weeks ago (or was it 3?). Anyways, I almost skipped doing this post because I'm so late, but there were some really cute pics I just had to post. We had so much fun - it was a riot seeing all our little boys around these very few girls...but they all had such fun together!!!