New Year's Eve

Today's praise is that no one has the flu! knock on wood!!

I went back to work this morning and worked a 1/2 day. Brian asked for a list of things he could do around the house...so I took him up on that request and left him a list of about 4 things. I got home and the list was done! It was so nice!!

He invited his parents over for New Year's along with some other friends. It seemed like everyone had plans, so his parents were just going to stop by for a short while. We thought about getting a movie after they left and having a quiet night.

I thought we would just have some appetizers, so I started cooking...then Jonathan came, and then Linda and Talis...then Anitra, Seth, Senica and Ty...then Jacinda. I pulled some more meatballs out of the fridge! :)

It was fun! I like having company over and everyone was gone by 10:00pm. Anitra and Seth took the kids home to put them in bed and Seth called to see if we wanted to come and play some Hand and Foot. So, Brian and I headed down there and rang in the new year playing cards! :)

Hope you all had a fun and safe New Year's Eve!!

Brenna's turn

 

Well, I called Janae after church today to see how she was feeling. She said she was feeling much better, but Brenna was sick. I guess Brenna ended up getting sick on Janae. Mom said that Janae handled it pretty well.

So, keep our family in your prayers...the flu is still haunting us! I just talked with April and she said that Brenna has been sick about 8 times! Poor thing!!

Spelling

Tonight while Senica was pushing Baby Addi (her doll) in the swing, she turns around and says, "Addi, does G-R-A-C-O spell swing?" How cute!! So, I tried to explain to her what a brand name is.

More kids...

 

Anitra and Seth had a wedding today in Fort Wayne for one of his past players. Mom was going to watch the kids, but since she had the flu, we took them. Anitra and Seth dropped them off around 1:30. We watched Hannah Montana (all 3 girls' favorite) and once again...the princess sing-a-long. Ty is still kinda fussy with his teeth, but the one on the bottom broke through! :) I got the kids fed and bathed, and Ty in bed. Senica was almost asleep with Anitra and Seth got home.

Whew...I am tired!! No kids for awhile! I like my sleep! :)

**Flu update**

April called this morning and said if we were planning on heading her way...don't! Janae was vomitting with from the flu again! Poor girl, this is her 3rd flu this year!!

Kids everywhere

 

Senica spent the night last night and we got up and made breakfast this morning. Pancakes, eggs, potatoes and sausage. Anitra and Seth came down to have breakfast with us. Seth had to go to work for camp and Brian went to his parents house to help them move furniture. Anitra and Ty took a nap and Senica and I watched the princess sing-a-long.

In the afternoon, April and her girls came over and Anitra came down with her two. So, 4 adults, 5 kids for lunch. Anitra and April had some shopping to do so Brian and I watched the 5 little ones! The girls wanted to make cookies, so that's what we did! Ty wanted to help too. He did more eating cookie dough (mom would have a fit...raw eggs ya know) than helping to make the cookies. ha!

Anitra and April picked up chicken for dinner and I made the sides. Seth came after work and joined us for dinner. I have decided that I really need that card table and chairs! :)

Mom's turn...

Well, mom called me this morning...you guessed it! She has the flu! Will our family ever get rid of this bug?? aagghhh!!!

Tonight we celebrated Christmas with Grandma Pottenger at her house. We had upside down pizza, salads and pies! Pies, pies and more pies! It was all very delicious!! I forgot my camera...so no pictures to post. We took pictures w/Anitra's camera, so maybe I will get some from her.

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Well, I called my sister April this morning to wish them a Merry Christmas and now she has the flu!! The poor thing!! So, not very merry for her!

Saturday Brian and I drove to Goshen to go to Wilfong's to get a Christmas tree. Would you believe that they were closed for the season?? I guess not everyone waits until 3 days before Christmas to get a tree. I called mom and she said that she had seen some trees still at Pamida. I said, we aren't driving all the way to Syracuse to get a tree. Well, on the 23rd when we had Christmas at April's, she asked if we could stop at Pamida to pick up some last minute stuff and there was about 7 trees left outside there...with 2 small signs that said FREE...so here it is, the saddest Christmas tree I have ever had!

Getting Better...

Well, Brian and I recovered from the flu! We had Christmas at April and Brian's last night...we have outgrown mom's house! :)

Every year mom gets us girls a "stocking". She uses a gift bag now and it usually contains the same things every year...socks, oil of olay, kleenex for your purse, gum, you get the point. Anyway, with everyone having the flu this year, first Anitra, Seth and Senica...then Brian and I, she got us a "get well from the flu kit". Isn't she so clever? She thinks so! :)

Sick...

Last Thursday, Janae had a little boy that got sick at school...by Saturday night, Janae had the flu.

Tuesday, the Zartman's had the flu. All of them but Ty! Anitra and Seth were so sick and trying to take care of Senica too, so I told them that I would take Ty for the night. He was such an angel! I got him supper, gave him a bath and he slept in bed with me. He is too sweet!

2 days later, you guessed it! Brian woke up Thursday morning at 2 and was sick...I followed and was up at 6! I wish this flu on no one!! It was awful, but I am finally feeling better. My whole body just ached!! Thank goodness it's over! I hate being sick!! Who likes it though right? Well, at least we weren't sick on Christmas!!

**Special thanks to Leah who called in some medicine for me and helped me to get better faster!!**

He's mastered the stairs!

 

Look at our little guy! He is up and down and up and down and up those stairs. He LOVES them. Senica is right behind him making sure that he doesn't fall. It's so cute.

Christmas Program

 

Today was our Christmas program at church. Senica did an amazing job! She was in the "angel band" playing her horn! :) It was too cute!

I'm Good!

So tonight, I get a phone call from Senica...

A: Hi sweetie! How are you??
S: Good, I had gymnastics!
A: What did you do today?
S: I'm Good!!!
A: You did what honey?
Anitra in the background (I'm Good!)
S: I'M GOOD!!!!
A: Oh, you're good? I know Senica, you are!
S: I'm moving up to the 4-year olds!!
A: What!? You're moving up to the 4-year old class?? You're only 3!
S: I know, but I'm really good!
A: Yes, honey you are! And you know what?
S: What?
A: I am so proud of you Senica!! I love you and I'm proud of you!
S: Thank you for being proud of me!

Awwww - isn't she the sweetest?? Ok, so I know I'm the aunt and all, but seriously people, she just turned 3 in August and she is being moved up to the 4-year olds class. How can I not brag?? :)

I told Anitra, remember the first day we took her and she didn't even want to do the warm-ups with the kids? And she stood the whole time, finger-on-lip watching the 4-year olds! She must have just been envisioning herself in that class! :)

Christmas Parade in Nappanee

 

Nappanee had it's first annual Christmas Parade this past Friday night. The mayor's wife organized it and it was titled "Miracles at Main and Market Street". They started the whole planning process before the tornado. It was neat to see so many people out! The parade was only about 4 blocks long, but hundreds of people lined the streets. Bobby's work had a float and Seth was Joseph, Anitra was Mary, Ty was baby Jesus and Janae, Brenna and Senica were angels. The girls did such a good job yelling "Merry Christmas" and "The baby Jesus is born!" You could hear them yelling for at least 2 blocks! I ran along side the float trying to get pictures, so they aren't that great. They had a little calf and a lamb on the float. Anitra said at one point, Janae was yelling "The baby Jesus is born! Man, that cow stinks...Merry Christmas!" ha ha Anitra also said one lady yelled back, that's right honey, The baby Jesus is born! :) It was a good time and I love to see a small town come together like that!!

Best Buds

 

How cute is this? One night at mom's, we put Adria in the high chair...she's still a little bit small for it, but it was so cute b/c Ty was trying to get to her. How sweet are they holding hands? Just melts my heart!!

Party at the Woods...

 

A few weeks ago, Mom and Bobby had a wood-cutting party at their land in Syracuse. We had about 60 people there that day and it was great to see our extended family!! Brenna, Senica and I went "skipping" in the woods and I got some of these cute pics! How adorable are they with their little matching coats!? :)

Favorite

This is my mom's favorite road. I stopped one day last week to get a pic for her. It's kinda crooked, so I think I need to go back....but here it is. :)

Fall

I love fall! It's my favorite time of the year...not too hot, not too cold! I was out taking pictures and missed most of the reds, I will have to go back out, but this day was Yellow day! :)

Halloween

As you can see, Janae was a Fairfield Cheerleader, Senica was also a cheerleader and Brenna was a ballerina. :) They of course, were all sooo adorable! Two of the kids that Anitra babysits were at mom's and all dressed up too! They were watching the girls chase each other in the yard and we were inside narrating..."that Janae is nuts!! Listen to Senica laugh...where did Brenna learn that dance move??" ha ha!! Too funny!!!

Taco Bell

Taco Bell in Nappanee, the Sunday we helped with the clean-up

Party at Hacienda

On Janae's actual birthday, we had dinner at Hacienda (her choice). The girls shared a mudslide...they are sooo cute!!! Janae has chocolate syrup in her teeth!! ha!

Things I LOVE about Janae

- Even though she is over 1/2 my height now, she will still snuggle on my lap
- Her smile!
- Her amazing memory (this can be bad too!)
- How she loves her sisters and "mothers" them (runs in the family)
- How she loves fashion!
- Her laugh
- How she has a reason for everything

More party pics...

Presents

Happy Birthday Janae!

So this is a little late...but HAPPY BIRTHDAY JANAE! My oldest niece turned 6 years old on October 16th!! As you can see, she got some make-up for her birthday! She L.O.V.E.S. makeup! Janae and Senica went out to put on their make-up and had to come in to take a bath and clean up. It took the both of them to clean Janae b/c she went a little crazy with the red make-up! Then, I promised them that they could do my make-up. I was all prepared to look like a clown, but they did a really good job. They gave me pink eye shadow since I love pink! It really didn't look bad...April told me I was ready to go out! ha!! But, as you can see, I was tired!!

Traffic

This was what SR 19 looked like on Sunday morning on our way to Nappanee. It was awesome to see all those people coming in to help. Kinda like Field of Dreams...cars as far as you can see!

Storm Cleanup

This morning Mom, Brian, my friend Jacinda and I drove to Nappanee to help with the Tornado clean-up. It's true what they say, you can see it on TV, but when you experience it first-hand, it is devastating! It is amazing that no deaths have been reported. Even in all the devastation, it is evident that God was truly there. There were pieces of wood from Fairmount homes, driven into the cement side of KFC/Taco Bell. One building lost half of its room and the framework was just tossed into the grass. There were so many people that sacrificed their time and came out today. It's great to say that this is our community! My sister said she heard on the news that almost 5000 people were there! We originally came in on SR 119, but the traffic was backed up so far, we turned around and went a back way. I will post some pics later...I don't have them downloaded yet.

Please keep praying!

Nappanee, IN...storm damage

Thursday night we had some awful storms come through Northern, IN. The hardest hit was Nappanne. Mom sent me these pictures. The middle picture is the Dairy Queen, below it is the KFC/Taco Bell. Fairmount Homes had lots of damage too. You can see the trailors that were just thrown in the wind like paper.

Please pray for all the residents of Nappanee. We have cousins that live there and luckily they had some damage around there pool, but nothing like these pictures. Also, our cousin, Deb and her family had just moved from Nappanee to Wakarusa. Their old house, I am told, was pretty much destroyed. God really has taken care of them! Amazing enough, no deaths have been reported! Bobby works in Nappanee and one of his feed mills had a lot of damage. It's overwhelming. So, please, keep these residents in your prayers!

Water and some more Water

Well, we had quite an eventful night! It rained and rained some more!! We had MANY storms run through Northern IN tonight. It rained so much at our house, the street was flooded. I tried to take some pics, but they didn't turn out so well. Meanwhile, in the basement....more water! Yes, the basement toilet started overflowing at 6:30 tonight. Brian went to Meijer to get a "snake" for the toilet, and the tornado sirens went off while he was gone and he called to tell me that they were making everyone go to the back of the store and that they weren't letting anyone leave. So...when he finally got home, he had got the wrong kind of snake...he got the sink one, not the toilet one! Agghh...SOOOOOO, back to Meijer. I am downstairs putting more towels down to sop of the mess (I will spare you the details, but I am sure you can get the picture) and I run upstairs to to get a drink, and realize that all of our tile by the front door is soaking wet. Well, it was raining so hard and the wind was blowing so hard....it was pushing the rain under the front door and into our living room. So now, I am running to get more towels to try and stop the water coming in the front door. I have water upstairs, downstairs, coming in the windows....Honestly, I was on the verge of a breakdown. I finally got my husband to call the plumber, which I am sure will cost a pretty penny. It is now 12:35AM Fri. morning and we are still waiting for a call back! The first plumber we called said he had about 100 calls tonight!!! Days like this is when I miss my apartment that I could just call and someone else dealt with it!!

Papa Bobby and Baby Bobby

Introducing BOBBY!!

I am so excited to introduce the newest addition to our clan! :)

Meet - Robert James Dodge!
Born - September 30, 7lbs 10 oz.

Isn't he so handsome??!! Look at the proud Big Brother! Billy loves his little brother!!

Last time this year I had 3 niece on 1 nephew...now....I have 5 nieces on 3 nephews! That's right, we've doubled!! :)

more from the soccer field...

Saturday Soccer

Friday afternoon, Cheryl called and wanted to know if I wanted to go to Madison's soccer game on Saturday morning. So this morning Brian and I drove into Goshen and picked up Cheryl and headed to the game. It was fun to get to see Madison "in action". She is quite athletic! I L.O.V.E. the picture of Leah and Madison...you guys are so cute! :)

At The Game

Whenever Caston scores, the shoot off a Cannon. Well, Senica doesn't like fireworks or cannon's for that matter. So the pictures of Senica and Ty are crying were when we scored. Anitra had to promise her gum to get her to stop crying. Bless her heart!