Bob all smiles- you'd think he won the lottery :) Note the little seat in the back- that's for me!  

From the front! These photos don't do his bike justice, because it was right in front of our house (not so nice background) but you get the idea :) 

My handsome hubby on his new motorcycle!!! 

My "new" stove. Not too interesting for some, but I was so excited about having a nice one, I had to take a picture of it :) 

New Motorcycles, New Stoves, and New Prayers Needed!

We have had our share of "new" things this past week, both good and bad. Bob picked up his new motorcycle in Delaware on Saturday, with the help of a friend's pickup truck (this was good). Samantha went along for this 10 hour trip with dad, which left Wayne, Samuel and I at home. This was really hard for Wayne, because he so wanted to go, but I think in the long run it was good for Wayne and I to spend some quality time together. Wayne is a daddy's boy thru and thru, and he always wants to "hang" with dad, so both Wayne and I had a good time hanging out together on Saturday. I took him out to breakfast to one of his favorite places and we just enjoyed each other's company.
On Sunday after church we put my "new" stove in the house. We hadn't had the time or energy to do it before, so we made time this weekend. Boy is it nice to have a nice stove in the house again, one that all knobs work, and don't fall off when you use it (or you have to take the knobs off and manually push the metal part in to get the stove to work at all!) It also looks so much better than my old one!!! This was the other good new thing!
The bad new thing is that I have lost all my daycare kids with the exception of Faith within a month. I am still reeling from the shock. Dillon's big sister is now driving him to school in the am. He was only before school, and he stopped coming the beginning of the month. Albana and Aldi relocated to an undisclosed place with their mother due to some dangerous situations for them. This happened last Friday. Then this Monday am Katie's dad said that he will be moving to Cortland in a couple of weeks. Even though they are leaving due to moving, it doesn't lessen the blow. We are going to be down to almost nothing for my income, which is going to be difficult financially for us. Please pray that God will send a child or two to fill in my spots and help allieveate the financial burden this will place on our family. I am so thankful that I still have Faith (last week her mom asked if everything was good for me to take care of her, because an opening became available in "abide in the vine" childcare center and she had planned on taking Faith there before I started caring for her) I've been down on children before, it's never easy, but we'll survive- we'll just have to cut corners for a while, pray about it, and trust that God will take care of us just like he took care of us in the past!

Samuel's newest achievement...When anyone says "How big is Samuel??" He puts his hands up in the air for the answer...SO BIG!!! :) He is so proud of himself, he shows everyone he can now, over and over again! :) 

Even Faith enjoys playing with Samuel's boy doll! 

And Chess for the Boys! 

And Dolls... 

A day of Dress-Up..... 

Baby Shower Success!!!

Rebecca's baby shower was a success with only one or two hitches. Samantha and I (with Samuel's help) went to decorate the church on Friday night. My friend Michelle from church and her daughter Bethany (Samantha's age) also came to help set up. We worked on it till 9:30 pm and got pretty much everything done that we could. When I got home, I wasn't done because after I got Samuel settled down to sleep I still had the cake to decorate, and a few last minute items to finish. I went to bed at midnight!!!
The only hitches we had were both my camera's were low on batteries and I had no flash. I sent my sis in law out for batteries since Rebecca had asked me to take pictures of the shower for her. Once that was done, my good camera was in service. The only other hitch was that I asked Samantha to take photos with my digital for my blog, and the only photos I was able to get from my blog were the couple taken by me at the very beginning of the shower. She was so excited, she kept shaking the camera and the few she took were blurry (after the shower started, she was so busy having fun, snapping photos wasn't part of the fun, so she didn't take any at all after that) So I apologize for only having a few on my blog, but I am getting my regular film developed today, so Rebecca can have her shower pictures, and you will be able to see a slew of them on her blog in the next few days.
Rebecca's shower theme was nautical bear. The whole room was decorated with navy blue table coverings, and navy blue/bright red streamers and balloons. Each table had a brown bear with red, navy, and gold bows around their necks, some holding a red sailboat, others with blocks that spelled out BOY. Where there were empty spaces, I had gold star candleholders with red votives burning. Note to Self: Never have burning candles and teddy bears. One of the guests accidentally caught the hat of one of the bears on fire (thankfully teddy survived with no burns, we just threw away his hat!) I also brought a couple of my dolls wearing a couple of Samuel's nautical outfits, drew a poster with sailboats, teddy bears, starts and "ITS A BOY" on it, and set out a wooden sailboat puzzle to complete the decor. Mostly all the snacks were red, blue, and brown, and all the drinks were the same.
Rebecca came in and was so excited she couldn't figure out if it was a boy at first because of the red streamers, but it didn't take long for her to figure it out :) She was very excited!!!
We played a few games. Wayne was in charge of the baby egg game. He made sure all guests picked a baby egg out of a basket and kept their egg throughout the game. Towards the end, whoever had their egg (with no cracks of course) got a certificate saying they were an Eggcellent Mommy and an all around Good Egg! Ironically, my "baby" was one of the few to fall out of my pocket where he was safe, and had to be treated for multiple fractures and wounds. We played a baby name game where guests had to come up with boy names created from the letters MATTHEW AND REBECCA. Believe it or not, there are over 50 boy names that can be created! We also played a game similar to hot potato, except you had to pass diapers around. Whoever ended up with the "dirty"ones got a prize. All the guests decorated a baby onesie for baby "peanut". Rebecca picked her two faves. and the people who made the winning onesie got a prize. Samantha was one of them with a Noah's Ark onesie- Good Job Samantha! It was fun to see everyones creativity shining thru the fabric paint :)
Rebecca got some wonderful gifts for baby boy Newman :) All in all, I believe the shower was a success, and all who came had a good time!
My mom took Samantha and Wayne after the shower to stay overnight. Bob and I had our first date since our Anniversary in August! We walked around the mall, and had dinner and this great steakhouse called Texas Roadhouse. It is one of our favorite places when we do go out on a date to eat. We just had a wonderful evening together, and Samuel was good for us (until 4 am when all he wanted was his mama, and I had to climb into the twin bed in the nursery and hold him after multiple times of nursing him, laying him down, and him crying until I picked him up again!)
Sunday we went to church, but the rest of the day was fairly calm. It was naptime and try to catch up on the rest we needed from such a busy couple of days. This whole week school is out, so I have a very full house. On Wednesday our caseworker is coming to help us get recertified as foster parents. Hopefully that will go well! Today I am going to be calling to set up an appointment for us to get our taxes done- we really need to get it done and over with and so I am now going to be busy tallying up all my receipts (I have all the other stuff done now) Have a blessed week everyone! :}

The new mama right after she found out she was having a boy! 

Rebecca's shower colors were navy blue, bright red, and brown, for her nautical and bear themed shower. It was matching and coordinated down to the red, blue and brown snacks, and matching cake!

Many delicious snacks for the new mama to be, her friends and family! 

Lots of "baby eggs" to choose from. Each one different and special, because each baby is unique and special 

Okay, just one more picture, I just can't stop clicking the capture button when Samuel gives me so many beautiful smiles! 

Out enjoying a mild February day! 

Beep Beep, excuse me please, me and my punchbug are heading out for a little trip downtown! 

Little Excitements..

Well, we picked up our stove on Saturday. We took the back seat out of our van ( we have a Pontiac Montana, and it is the nicest van- the seats just "pop" right out and you can any or all of them out depending on how much space you need! The only thing better would be the stow and go seats) It isn't new, but it is in much better condition than our other stove. Bob promised he would put it in the house next weekend, which gives me time to scrub it down before it comes into the house! I also got my doll-kit this weekend. It is a vinyl doll with nothing but the eyes and body parts. I have to paint it, add all details, give it hair, and fill the body/ put it together. I wanted to make a doll that looked liked Samuel when he was first born. I originally thought about getting an apple valley doll kit, where you pick the color eyes, hair, skin, features and they put it together for you, but I decided to try my hand at doing it all myself. I am sort of excited about it. I hope I can do well, and when I am done, I will put one of Samuel's preemie outfits on it- The doll even has gray eyes like Samuel!
Speaking of first borns- I got to see Michelle from church and her newborn this week which was very nice, and a different friend Leah (and her hubby) announced that they are having a new baby (which is a real blessing for them!) Congratulations Leah and Scott!
Rebecca's baby shower is this Saturday. I hope I can get everything done- actually, there is no hopes about it..I must get everything done by Saturday. I am going over to the church on Friday night to get the majority of the decorating done, that way I am not "spazzing out" on Saturday trying to rush around and get stuff done! I am very excited and I hope Rebecca has a shower to remember (in a good way!)
This week I am definately starting to get my tax receipts in order so we can get our taxes done. We could really use a little extra money as I'm sure most people could! Hopefully we'll get a good refund back!
Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!!!

Wait a moment, Wayne had one with chocolate brownie all over it...Why is mine clean??? 

Welcome to Chez Samuel, how may I help you?? 

Chef In Training! 

Much Ado about Nothing..

Nothing truly noteworthy happened this weekend. We did have unexpected company on Saturday though. Some friends of ours popped in with their one month old daughter Amelia. Their son (who is a friend of Wayne's) was visiting his dad, which was just as well since Wayne was grounded to his room. Amelia was a total surprise- they didn't think they were able to have children (Lucas, Melissa's son was also a surprise 10 years ago!) She is a pretty strawberry blond baby. We had a nice visit, but I felt terrible because my sister came to scrapbook with me, and since they showed up I felt inclined to visit with my "guests" so she scrapbooked alone in my dining room, with an occasional interjection to the conversation. I felt so bad, but I felt caught between a rock and a hard place- good thing she is my sister and is so forgiving!!! She didn't make me feel bad about it, I did that all on my own.
One very nice thing that happened on Friday evening was I got an early Valentine's Day gift, and I'm sorry gift all wrapped up in one. Bob and I had a pretty difficult week, and after it was better, he decided to give me my gift early- I've never gotten an "I'm sorry" gift before, it was kind of nice (although don't worry Bob- I won't expect it again!) He got me a beautiful garnet ring set in white gold and surrounded by diamonds. It was the first time I had picked something out and he got it for me- usually when he get's me jewelry he picks it out himself (which he does a great job of, btw) It is quite beautiful- I love it!!! (it is a lot bigger than what I am used to though, so I have to get used to it's "showiness" It was definately a surprise and a wonderful one at that!!! Bob isn't the kind of person to shower me with little sentiments, but when he gets me a gift, he goes "full-bore"
I am getting a "new" stove next weekend and I am very excited. I belong to a group called FreeCycle (which some of you out there are familiar with) I actually am getting it through Freecycle. It is 10 years old, and the lady said it is in good working condition, she just got a new one for her newly renovated kitchen. I hope it truly is in good condition. Our stove is an old girl who has done her job time and time again, but she is physically falling apart! The knobs have come off of her, and it is her time to retire. I feel bad retiring her, she's been such a good stove for me, but it IS her time.
Well, I've been called twice by my husband to get off the computer so I'd best get off before he gets annoyed (he's almost already there!) Have a good day!

I submitted this photo to a baby contest at Walmart- even if he doesn't win, he wins most beautiful baby in our book!!! 

A photo of a photo- I don't have a scanner so good photos from my good camera have to be gotten from taking a photo od them, which makes them lose resolution, but you at least get the idea! 

Amelia and her mommy! 

Amelia and daddy! 

We had unexpected company on Saturday...Isn't she pretty? 

Hey, this isn't a documentary you know...wait a minute, mama does this to me all the time!