Its Friday!

Hi all!
This week flew by just like I thought it would.
Lets see, Tuesday Nathan went to school and Hannah and I went to the library. We picked up some new books and a movie that Hannah had on reserve. It was "The princess and the pauper". When Nathan got home, we all read together, did our daily chores, and watched the movie. It was really good. It was a musical, so we have been singing some of the songs all week.
Wednesday, kids were in school and I didn't watch Abram. I was beginning to wonder about what was up. I worked in the kitchen; dishes, etc. After picking up the kids from school, we ran by Lowes so Chris could see their school work. We came home to do daily chores and hang out a little. The kids were so tired, I had them go to bed early. Kind of hard, since we have been getting calls from people from church who are wondering if we want to be a part of Wednesday night programs.
Chris really wanted to get plugged in this year and signed up to be a part of a small group, but the group we asked to be a part of was full and the other one we were interested in is off campus and doesn't provide childcare. Then we found out it was going to cost us to send the kids, and we decided that since we really didn't have a group, and haven't found our nitch, we would just bow out this year and get the kids adjusted to school before throwing in evening activities. I have mentioned to a few ladies of our church about maybe meeting in the mornings or afternoons about getting together to pray for our kids and their schools. I think that might me a good alternative. And Chris is in choir this year and is joining the men's ministry that they are going to start in a couple of weeks. Hopefully that will help us out.
Anyways, Thursday Hannah and I played in her room while Chris slept. He was prepping for his overnighter. We also did some dishes and our chores. After picking up Nathan, we woke Chris up and ate supper. I had a room parent meeting that night for class parties and activities. It was nice. The kids got some time with Chris and I got to go sit with some other moms.
After getting home, Chris headed to choir practice and we did the bedtime routine.
Friday Nathan had a doctor appointment to get his inhaler for school. We dropped off Hannah and then headed to their new office. Everyone was so excited to have him there. When we went into the hall where they did the vision test, he was reading the letters when Dr. Evans came up behind him and started tickling his ear. Nathan struggled and tried really hard to concentrate on the letters. Quite a while went by before he said, "Would you stop that?" He turned around expecting it to have been me, and was surprised to see Dr. Evans there. He showed his newest loose tooth to Dr. Evans. They gave each other a big hug and then we went back to the room. We got the prescription for an inhaler with a spacer.
I ran him to school and then headed to Target to fill his prescription. It was a crazy issue and I got home around 11am. No inhaler, has to be special ordered. And the spacer isn't covered by insurance, so that is about $40. We will see how we are going to do that.
Got home and gathered my stuff, ate some lunch and headed to the library to write some letters and read. Went and got Hannah and found out that she had thrown some fits so when she got home, she sat in the naughty corner. She stayed at home with Chris while I went to picked up Nathan. When I got there, he had lost his front left tooth. He was really excited about it.
We spent the evening just hanging out, reading books and playiing games. Went to bed at a fairly decent time. Woke up this morning and we played outside until lunch time. Ate lunch and then went to Lowes to see the Christmas Chris had set up. We all were impressed. The kids already have picked out the things we need at our house this year. :-)
We got some groceries before coming home and playing a little more before supper and a movie.
Tomorrow is church and the choir sings, so that will be nice. The kids and I are planning on just spending some more time enjoying the nice weather before it gets cold again.
Well, I need to get off here. Chris is home and needs to do some homework on here.
Hoping this finds you all well!
All our love~

Our weekend!

Well, all, I am actually posting before the week is over. Amazing!!
After I blogged last time, I went to pick Nathan up from school. He was as white as a ghost and was running a temp around 100. He was crying, complaining of his lungs hurting. I asked him how long he had felt that way and come to find out it started around 10am. When I asked him why he hadn't asked Mrs. Kingery to call me, he said, "But we were having a wowee party today. I didn't want to miss it."
I took him home and gave him an albuterol and he laid down for about 2 hours until supper time. By then he was seeming a little better. We ate supper and then I got him to bed and finished his night off with another breather.
Friday morning he had spiked another temperature, so he wasn't headed to school. I went ahead and took Hannah. It worked out to get the Clifford movies because I wasn't letting him get out of bed. I thought I would play it by ear and see how he was feeling before I headed home for the reunion. By afternoon time, he has sparked energy and was running around acting like a crazy horse, so I decided we could go ahead and go, but he needed to take it easy.
We picked up Hannah and headed to Lowes to see chris. Then to Ks. When we got there, we had supper with my parents, and my grandma and the kids went to bed early.
Saturday my grandma came up again and we visited and had lunch and waited for my sister Mary and her husband Jon to arrive. We also waited for Sarah to come by. We had decided to ride together and since Nathan was struggling and the kids hadn't seen Mary and Jon since their wedding, I would leave them at Moms and just go to the reunion for a little while.
Sarah arrived first and met the kids. We headed to town around 3:30 and Mary and Jon hadn't arrived yet. I told Mom that if she needed me I had our cell, and left her with all the nebulizer instructions.
We got to the park where the reunion was and the shelter house was full of a bunch of people wearing orange shirts. We were pretty sure that wasn't our group. As we waited to see what would happen, she broke down and shared how much she was struggling and just was at a loss as to what was next. I didn't know what to say. I can't wrap it around my head how that would feel, let alone explain why. They don't know what happened. Cause of death was unknown. That makes it even harder to grasp. I am sending her a Jeremy Camp Cd because I got to thinking that he lost his wife at a young age and has such a powerful message about how we walk by faith and that sometimes broken roads are God's will for us.
I hope it helps. Please continue to pray for her.
Anyways, we sat there and waited for about 15 minutes when we thought we recognized the class president, Chris wilson. We followed her until she stopped. She came up and visited with us and said that we were supposed to have the main shelter, but that we could just set up in the side one.
Shortly after, everyone began to arrive. For some who are interested, Angela and Cody were there with there new little baby; Chris and her husband Dave were their with their 8 month old daughter; Phoebe and her husband were there with their 18 month old; Tracy and her husband were their with their twins; Jerrid Calhoun, Brandon Cahoone and his girlfriend, Andy Smart, Casey Piper and Erin Calhoun; Jason Tyson and his pregnant wife and their 3 year old daughter;
Melissa and Allen Korte with their 4 kids; Cameron Birk and Sarah and I.
It was an interesting group, considering that most of them were the popular group in high school. Chris said that they were going to send paper invites and then decided that probably most everyone still was in contact with someone from school, so word of mouth was easier than researching where everyone was.
They started to barbeque and then the beer came out. I think the only ones who weren't drinking were Phoebe and her husband, Tracy and her husband and Sarah and I. We said our hellos and then Sarah was ready to leave.
I was too, except that I felt kind of bad for Phoebe. She was alone in the yard with her son, kind of alone and looking for good conversation. If I had brought the kids or had gone alone, I might have tried to develop that friendship.
Anyways, Sarah and I went to Coach's for supper and then headed back to the house. She said to call her and maybe she would come to St. Joe just to get some fresh air and maybe I could help her with what she need to do now.
Mary and Jon were there and so she met them. We got the kids to bed and then watched United 93. Off to bed for the day.
Sunday we woke to go to church and get Billy's tires ready for Jon and Mary to take it back. I felt kind of bad because I really miss Mary and I know that it is really hard being away from your family when you are first married. All you have is your spouse and sometimes you get home sick. I did and Chris had my parents surprize me at a restaurant. It was really cool!
I thought of that when I saw her this time. How much I haven't been a good older sister to her and how lonely she might be. I didn't get much time with her this weekend, but my kids did Saturday afternoon.
They had brought their two cats with. They were so sweet!!
Anyways, we took the car in and got tires and then headed back to Mom and DAd's to get ready to head home. Packed the car and Mary and Jon and the kids and I all headed out about 4:30.
We got back here, ate some supper and headed to bed after showers.
Nathan was feeling super and they were both excited to go to school today.
Chris and I while the kids were at school rested a little and then cleaned up from the trip before he had to go to work. His beams finally showed today, so he was going to hit the Christmas aisle hard to day. Thursday he is working an overnighter with his specialist, so that could be interesting. :-)
Otherwise, that is about it. No more sick people, so that is good and I am going to watch Abram Wednesday and Thursday, so I think our week is planned. I hope this finds you all well.
We miss everyone and are looking forward to maybe seeing some of you around Christmas.
Until next time, all our love!

This week has flown!!

Hello all!
I just can't believe how fast the weeks go. Seems like yesterday we had posted a blog.

Monday, of course was spent in grocery shopping and in the mean time, I forgot to send snack with Hannah. so, I dropped it off in the running around. I got home in time to do some major cleaning and rearranging in the kitchen and living room.
Picked up kids and came home to just relax. the kids have been fighting off colds. Saturday it was 95 and Sunday it was 63, so as you can imagine, everyone's nose was running and "the Cough" has begun.
Tuesday Hannah and I , since it was chilly, did some cooking. We made apple jelly, and put a batch of cream cheese chicken soup in the crock pot. Nathan's back to school night was that night, so we went back to school and he gave us the tour of what they do eveyday. it was really neat. All these phrases are now making sense after being there.
Wednesday, Nathan was off. Teachers had a work day. He was so excited to get to spend the day with me. he slept in while I took Hannah to school. then when he woke up, we colored a little and then I had him sign his birthday checks. We got dressed and headed to Target. he had a spongebob hat to return that he had gotten at the birthday party. he used his money from the return and grandpa leach to buy some new tracks. His money from grandma and papa crosswhite was sent for him to buy a family sized tent. he also got a computer game from mom and dad about puppies and of course, some more train stuff. He got some knee pads and elbow pads from karen in the mail. he is phyched because he knows that means she got him a skateboard. Never seen anyone so excited about elbow pads!!
We went to Cici's for lunch and then home to build train tracks. After picking up Hannah from school, we all played a little and then began the night routine.
Today it is raining. Chilly and rainy. I think it is 58 out there, so it is a good day for hot chocolate and a movie. Hannah and I went to the library to get some Clifford movies and to pick out some books to read. Nathan got his sheet to fill out to earn book-it pizzas, so we have a bunch to start with.
Tomorrow, as the kids are in school, I am going to try to finish organizing the house and pack the car. We are headed home for my reunion. I talked to Sarah last night and she would really like to go just to do something different. She is going to call tonight and we are going to work out details about whether or not I am picking her up or if she is ok with driving.
I hope this finds you all well. Stay warm and drink lots of vitamin C!!!!
Till next time, all our love!

A great weekend!

Hi! I last posted Friday. Well, after picking the kids up from school, we headed home and looked over their school work. Chris got home shortly after that and then we had supper. It was around 7:45, that the doorbell rang. I knew, but the kids did not, who was on the other side.
Nathan opened the door, and seeing nothing, said, "There is nobody out there.". He looked again with Hannah and saw my parents. It took a couple of seconds to register who it was before he and Hannah shouted, "Grandma, Papa!!!!" It was a fun surprize. Mom and Dad got a kick out of it too. Nathan started talking about 100 miles an hour. He told me tonight, "You know mom, they don't ever do that. I am really glad they came and surprized me. I hope they do it every year. " We will see. I finally got them to bed around 9.
Nathan was up at 6:30 the next morning, saying, "Today is my party!!" We ate some blueberry bread I had made for breakfast and read our morning devotion with Grandma. We were talking about God's mercy and how we should be merciful. Nathan out of the blue says to mom, "You know what Grandma. God made everyone...... washable." We laughed for a while about that. The things we take for granted, right.
After the guys got up, we collected all the party stuff and headed to the park. When we got there, the shelter house was taken, so we moved up the hill. The wind was terrible. Probably gusts of 35 miles an hour. We attempted to hang streamers. I had made doggy ears out of rubber headbands and felt cut into ear shapes. The kids put those on and chased around the ball I had brought for one of the games. About 5 till, guest started arriving. He had 3 kids from his kindergarten class and 1 from t-ball. Tyler, Will, Samantha, Lane, and then their little siblings and Hannah. They started off by running around in their dog ears. As Chris got the pizza, I had them play our Dog game. I had hidden a cat, a truck and a ball in the yard. Taped to each of them was a small sentence they could read. Like "find the cat". then, while wearing their dog ears, they looked in the yard. They prize at the end was a pile of dog bones (which were actually cut out of paper and stuffed with fruit snacks). They liked the game so much they decided to do it again, this time hiding the bones and having all the moms find the clues. I started to help in the hunt when a gust of wind blew everything off the table. A frantic rush to catch things came. The kids found the rest of the things they had hidden and came back to the table just in time to eat pizza. After pizza was cake and then presents. Nathan got some neat stuff and was really excited to just have kids to play with. WE headed to the play ground before everyone headed home.
We took all the goodies and leftovers back to the house and then headed to the southside festival. A friend of Chris' from Lowes has his ponies there and had promised free rides. WE got there and sure enough, Charlie was leading the little ones. So both Hannah and Nathan got to ride twice. They gave Charlie big hugs and then we went on. The kids got to choose one ride. Nathan rode the ferris wheel for kids and Hannah rode in the pink train car. We finished walking around when we bumped into Gretchen, who is the kids favorite person in the whole world, at least in St. Joe, you know. She was out looking for onion blossoms. We visited with her for a while before heading home. WE then decided it would be fun to go mini golfing. So Mom and DAd took us out to Arbys and then we went to Coolcrest. It was a lot of fun. Nathan won a free game. We went home and headed to bed.
This morning was church and after that, we took mom and dad by Nathan's school and hit walmart for some necessities for the morning, like milk. I ignored laundry and grocery shopping because of the party and stuff on Saturday. That is on my agenda for tomorrow. I dont' have to watch Abram this week , because Amy's sister is back from 8 weeks of being in Omaha, and she really wants some time with her family, so she asked Amy if she could have Abram all week.
Anyways, before mom and dad left, the kid had them play a game or two of Pit before they headed to bed.
It was a lot of fun. If I can get this think to post my pictures, I will.
I have been trying and it keeps telling me that I don't have a server. Oh, well.
I hope this finds you all well and I added our friends to the side bar, so check out their links as well. My brother in Oregon is one, our friends who welcomed us to St. joe are there, my cousin and her husband are there, and some long lost friends are there.
Until next time, may God be reaching to you and showing you His unfailing love!

Wow, where did the week go?

Hi! Can't believe it has been a week since I posted. This week has been so wierd. Lets see, Friday, Hannah went back to school. She had a couple of times where she screamed and cried. We had a serious talk when we got home about how that was unacceptable. I told her I would be asking Mrs. Catherine and for anytime she screamed, she would get that many spankings and that many times 4 minutes in the naughty corner. Her eyes got HUGE! Since then, we haven't had any problems. She has made a new friend named Whitney. I guess they play soft animals most of the day.
Nathan is getting acclimated to kindergarten. We met the little girl who sits at his table with him. She is super sweet. Her name is Lindsay. More of what he does during the day is coming out. Still feel bad about sending him, though. He is so exhausted when he gets home and he isn't getting enough time to eat his lunch, so when he gets home, he is tired, super thirsty and starving. I think it is more traumatic for me to think he is that rushed in everything. He is seeming to have fun, but still misses preschool.
Last weekend we played inside as it rained most of the weekend. Sunday was church and just spending time together. Monday was back to routine. I was kind of glad all the firsts were over and we could start getting things into a regular schedule. Chris had a tough weekend at work, so he slept in as I took the kids to school. I went to the library and wrote some cards and went to JC Penneys to get a pair of jeans. Then Chris and I went to the mall and ate at the chinese place there. It was really good. We didn't finish our food, we had gotten so much and it only cost us 2.99. We were impressed. We played games after the kids came home. We taught them how to play Pit. It is their new favorite game.
Tuesday Chris was off and so was Hannah, so they spent some time together as I worked on cleaning up the kitchen and living room. After Nathan got out of school, we went to Rib Crib. Chris got his refund back from his school loan, so he wanted to treat everyone with a nice dinner.
Then the kids went to bed and we decorated for Nathan's birthday.
He woke up Wednesday thrilled to finally be 6. He has been waiting for so long. Mostly because he turned 5 the 2nd day of preschool last year and he started school this year still 5. He feels like he has been 5 forever,. We took Cosmic brownies to school for snack. He also invited all his little friends to his party. He had already been telling them. Chris and I wantead to keep this one simple, but then we also didn't want his friends to feel bad for being left out. We figured, seriously, how many will be able to come. Not all of them, but the fact they were all invited would be good. So far, he has 3 who are definate, so he is excited.
I watched Abram that day. it was kind of weird having just him. Nice, but odd.
Nathan and Hannah were excited to have him pick them up from school! When we got back from school, Abram helped Nathan open all his presents and we ate some cake. Hannah had helped me make it Tuesday. We took him to Cici's for his special birthday dinner.
Yesterday, I watched Abram again and Hannah andI played dress up.
Chris all week has been working overnights, as they have been receiving all their Christmas stock and they don't have the shelving in yet to set the dept. So he has had to go in and receive the truck and then find place for it in topstock.
He is in today, 7-4, to hopefully set the shelves as they are supposed to arrive. He is looking forward to the weekend off.
Well, I think that is about it. it has been so quick. Once things get into a pattern, maybe I will be more frequent on here.
One more thing, I want to apologize for some of the ways I seemed kind of rough on here. I have been re-reading some of the entries and noticed that my attitude was lacking. For that, i apologize. Like Paul says, what I want to do, I don't.
I miss so many of you and have meant to keep in better contact and here is has been weeks. For that, I also apologize.
Well, have things I need to get to, so I will sign off.

Hannah's first day

Hannah's first day was good! We took her in and got her settled. The pictures above are ones before we left.
She was excited. However, once we hugged her and left, she began to cry. Mrs. Catherine said she had several moments during the day when she remembered, "Oh, yeah, I am sad."
However, today, when we got up, she wanted to go back. So, I think she had more fun than she wants to admit.
She has a smaller class, which is nice and it seems a lot more laid back. I am sure that once things get into the swing, she won't want to come home. "-)
As for Chris and I, we laughed about what we would do with them both in school, since he had gotten the day off. We opted to take a huge nap. It was so nice. We said we were catching up from when they were babies.
It was nice to just snuggle together, and sleep. No worries. Chris says that we should have scheduled more of those in our lives up till now.
Anyways, today Hannah and I hung out. Did a little cleaning and ran to Walmart to buy birthday cake supplies for Nathan's birthday.
OH, and I forgot, Wednesday afternoon, as a celebration of the two kids doing so good being grown up, we took them to the dollar theater to see Cars. We had hestiated, but heard so much good. We usually preview the animated movies before the kids see them. Now-a-days they are so much more aimed for adults than kids.
Anyways, it was wonderful. The kids really got into it and had a great time.
Ok, back to today, after we picked up Nathan from school, we headed to the church to do some work in the 2's & 3's room. Organization of the teachers cabinet to be specific. it really needed it. We ran by Lowes just as Chris was getting off and headed home for supper.
Kids are asleep right now and Chris went to choir practice. I am ready for bed, but wanted to get these on here.
On a side note, Tuesday night, I was doing all my computer stuff and checked my email which I haven't done in like a week, and there was an email from my best friend in high school that I haven't heard from in years. She was reaching out in a cry for help.
I called her and talked to her for a couple hours. Her fiance had died and so many other things have tested her new faith. I am planning on keeping in close contact with her.
I am thinking now that I am going to still go home the weekend of the 23rd, and if she wants to go to the 10 year, we can go together, otherwise, if she isn't interested, I will just visit with her and continue to comfort her in her grief.
I think God is getting ready to open up a really neat ministry opportunity for her, and it is so neat for me, since I have been praying for her salvation for years.
Well, I need to head to bed. I heard Chris just got home. gonna go.

Hannah's about to go!!

Well, I am posting the night before Hannah's first day.
She had open house tonight. Wow! I forgot how much I love that preschool.
And Mrs. Catherine, it was so good to see her and visit. Hannah is so excited.
There are 8 in her class; a couple of kids dropped. 6 girls and 2 boys.
The theme this year is "God's promises", and each of the rooms is decorated to look like a room inside Noah's ark. Really neat.
Over the weekend we did some much needed cleaning and grocery shopping. The kids enjoyed both at we made the cleaning a game and they got to pick "sack lunch" food for school.
It was a little wierd tonight as I packed both of their lunches. I had always imagined what it would be like, packing my kids lunches for school, and now here I am doing it.
Chris laughed about how tomorrow after we drop them off, we have one of two options. We can sleep all day and catch up on lost sleep from when they were babies, or we can drink pop, eat bon bons and watch movies (since that is what supposedly stay-at-home mom's do). More than likely we will opt for some of the first. Catch a nap that we never get and do some serious cleaning in our room. It looks like a bomb went off.
I hope this finds all of you doing well and I will post tomorrow with some of Hannah's first day pictures.
Oh, forgot to post last time, but the evening of Nathan's first day, Chris met Chris Coker in KC because Coker had acquired some free Chiefs tickets. He had never been to a NFL game. He called from there and it was so loud. He LOVED it. I think it birthed a Chiefs fan in our home.
He said it was really neat. They sat above the tunnel where the players came out of. He also said that an ex-player sat right behind them and it was really easy to get into high fiving the people around you when something good happened. I turned on the tv one time while he was there and had called. KQ2 was broadcasting the game, so we thought maybe the kids could see Dad and Uncle Coker on TV.
I am pretty sure the Chiefs won that night 10-9. He said he also got to hold his nephew Nathan for a spell before he was afraid Nathan would put him to sleep.
Well, I need to get to bed. Another big day for all of us. We send our love, and will write again tomorrow.

First days of school

1st days of school!!


Finally got the pictures to download. Ok, lets see. Tuesday we dropped off all the radiology stuff. Came home to make sure we had all our open house stuff together and played a little. It was around then that we headed to Wyatt Park Baptist to load the school bus. The picture above is Nathan loading. He sat third from the back. We thought they would wait for all the parents to leave the parking lot before they pulled out. However, before we even made it across the parking lot, the bus had already pulled out. We hustled and could see it about 10 vehicles ahead of us. By the time we made it to Coleman, they were already unloading the kindergarteners. There were no parking places, so I told Chris in a panic, "Let me out now." He said to wait until we were out of the street and on a side road. So we pulled off and I hurried to the front yard. By this time, me and another mom were asking the bus driver where the kindergarteners were, to which she replied, "Inside, I think" So I headed in. TOTAL CHAOS!!!!
They had PTA tables set up in the doorway and there were people everywhere. I asked a lady where the kindergarteners were that had ridden the bus. She asked another lady and they both agreed they had no idea. So I asked a second lady who said she thought they were in their classrooms. Since we had no idea whose class he was in, we looked on each door. Luckily, he was listed on the first door, so we headed in. We looked amongst the chaos in there and saw no child. By this time, I was about to bawl. I was headed to the other classrooms when a page came over the intercom asking Mrs. Kingery if the Crosswhites were there. They hadn't claimed their child and that he was in the office. We hurried there and found him fine. All I could think of was a couple weeks ago when I had asked them what I could be praying for and he mentioned that he was afraid he would get lost. Here it was 1st experience and he was lost. I hugged him and asked him if he was ok. He said, "Yeah, mom". I asked him if he was scared because he was lost and alone. His reply shot me back to the reality of what I should have been doing. He said, "Mom, I wasn't alone. I had 3 people with me. Puppy Crosswhite, God and Jesus."
Out of the mouths of babes. That entire time, I hadn't once acknowledged that God knew exactly where Nathan was. Instead I was panicked about where and how fast to find him.
We went back to his class where we picked up like 60 sheets of forms to fill out and go home.
WE went home and I stepped outside and cried. It was the only time in my life I had been that scared about where my kids were.
Wednesday we wanted to do something all together before Nathan's first day, so we went to the Savannah park. We met Chris at 4 and split up. Nathan had had some time with his dad one on one, and wanted some with me. So we had a "date". We ate at Cici's pizza and went to the arcade. We came home and played hot wheels. He was in bed early, so we could start him off right.
Thursday morning we woke up and he had eggs, shredded wheat and juice. WE headed to school, after having Dad spike his hair so he would look "awesome". We took him to class only to find out that they couldn't let him in until we had visited with the school nurse.
According to her, they had no copies of his shot record or that he had asthma. I had given them that information at screening, but apparently they had lost it.
So, I promised I would bring it to her in an hour. She said she had put a list of kids up at open house, but like I would have known where to find that. It was so disorganized.
Anyways, we took his picture at his desk and then let him go.
He had a great day. So much I could write and my brain is already shutting down on me.
Mrs. Kingery is really nice and he really likes her. He has already had gym class and art. In gym, they will be climbing a rock wall and in art, they were creating pictures with the letters of their names. He really loves it.
Hannah starts next week.
Well, need to go. Kids are getting antsy. Will write more later.
Maybe tonight. There is some stuff I know I missed.
Till then, all our love,
Angel