Danny turns 35 and we have a snowday!

Jan. 28th was Danny's 35th birthday! We also recieved around 8 inches of snow the night before so we had a short school day. The kids enjoyed hanging with daddy and playing video games and just spending time together. I have a Pampered Chef recipe for cream puffs that Danny loves and requests for every birthday and so I made him a plate full and we all enjoyed them! Danny also took the kids to the local park for some sledding and then they came home and had mugs of hot chocolate with peppermint sticks and marshmallows! Ahhh, the fun times of winter and snow! I stayed at home and napped with Caleb while they had fun sledding. Personally I think I had a better time! LOL!! I really enjoyed the QUIET!! ;o)

The van wreck ended up being a blessing in disguise! Our insurance pronounced the van totaled and paid us for the damage, we were able to turn around and 'buy' it back for a LOW price! Danny ordered the parts needed to fix it on E-bay and we will have a good as new van as soon as he can get it fixed. So in an odd sort of way, God provided for our needs once again! SMILE!!

Caleb has learned to inch-crawl on his belly and it is so cute to watch him go all over the floor! He loves teething biscuits and does quite well with them. He is learning to cheese for the camera as well....;o)

"All for me!"

My sweetheart with his birthday treats.

Happy 35th!

Ben made a birthday hat for daddy!

He may have gotten the size wrong!? lol!

Our van was covered with snow!

Our porch had several inches right up to the door!

Becca was thrilled! Crazy girl!

Coming down the big hill at the park. Wheee!

Here comes Ben......

Abby takes on the hill....backwards!

Caleb was enjoying his teething biscuit and when

he saw me get out the camera he posed so cute!

Caleb was standing by himself with

Becca barely supporting him! Love this pic!

My baby is getting so BIG!

More Museum Pics

Here we are entering the Garden of Eden...

Becca remarked that even though it was very pretty

that the REAL Garden of Eden must have been beautiful!

Adam naming the animals...

My favorite display! Adam and Eve had their own

hottub! How romantic!

The replica of Noah's Ark was amazing!

Becca climbing the walls of Noah's Ark trying to get in..!

This model showed how big the levels were

on the ark. Very cool!

In front of the big dinosaur in the front of the museum.

Inside the Entertrainment Museum...

Ben really enjoyed the many trains!

Abby was in her own little world with the

Thomas the Train play area!

Caleb liked the bright-colored Thomas table!

Choo-choo!

Caleb chillin' back at our motel. He will be crawling

soon!

Watch out for that ....deer!??!

No doubt that my title got your attention! Life has been very busy around here and we seem to have one thing after another going on! Last week our dryer kicked the bucket and when you have 6 people that you are doing laundry for that is NOT a good thing! God helped us to get a really good deal on a rental unit. Whirlpool frontloader washer and dryer..my DREAM washing machine and dryer! We actually are getting a few weeks free rental due to a deal the store has running right now! Besides the fact that Danny is out of work and not having success in finding a job, I wrecked and possibly totaled our van last night! I was driving along and all of the sudden right in front of my headlight was a deer! I slammed on the brakes and the deer went flying! Amazingly, my airbag did not deploy and Caleb nor I were injured..thank God! Our van did not fare so well! The whole front end is damaged and the headlight is gone. When I hit the deer, it was on a lone road with not much traffic and it was dark outside and I did not have our cell phone with me. Since I had no way to call and report it and the van was still running, I drove back to where I came from and got Danny. Our church hosted a Missions Benefit Dinner and Concert to raise money for hurricane relief for the Turks & Caicos Islands where Danny went in Sept. We are thankful that God helped us raise a decent amount. Danny was helping clean up when I drove back with the news and my headlight literally hanging from the side of the van! We called the Ins. company and they are in the process of reporting it and getting us a rental while the damage is looked at. Sadly, because of it being the week-end, the rental company is not open, so we have to wait until Monday. We will let you know how this story plays out...

One good, fun thing that happened is that my parents treated us to a fun fieldtrip to the Creation Museum in Kentucky! We left Sunday afternoon and checked into our motel suite and then we visited the Frankfort Bible Methodist Church for their Sunday evening service. We enjoyed our time there and appreciated how welcoming and friendly the people were to us. And it was fun to chat with fellow bloggers ;o) Then we hit the museum at 9 the next morning. It was awesome to see and hear the Gospel message so clearly presented! We really enjoyed the replica of Noah's ark and the Garden of Eden. Very well done! We expected to be there all day and were surprised to finish touring at 1 in the afternoon. We did miss a lot of the outdoor stuff because of it being too cold so that cut our time down considerably. We then visited a Train Museum that had the World's largest indoor train track! Very cool! They had small replicas of towns and countryside as well as bridges over water and almost anything else you can think of! The kids loved it and they had an observation deck so you could go above it and see the whole thing which was HUGE! They also had an entire indoor play area that featured Thomas the Train playsets and big toy trains to climb on as well as a jungle gymn area! This was a BIG hit with the kids as well! The next day we visited Jungle Jim's grocery store. A HUGE market that sells almost anything you can think of food-wise. They had it decorated really cute but did not allow any pics to be taken, so you will just have to visit it for yourself! We found raw peanuts and fresh collard greens to buy. We made boiled peanuts and had cooked collards for our supper one night this week! Mmmm! Two southern dishes that we all LOVE! It is hard to find raw peanuts and fresh collards around here.

Caleb also finally had his 6 month check-up and he is doing well. He weighs around 14 lbs and is 26 inches tall. He had to get his shots and was quite cranky the day after but doing good now. Well, I think that is all our news for now...;o) Here come the pics!

Our wrecked and possibly totaled van.

Patiently waiting while the tickets were being bought.

They were soo excited!

Checking out the display in the main room.

Becca with one of the many cool dinosaurs!

I will post more pics later..Danny needs the computer for his schoolwork.;o)

Surviving the frigid temps!

We are surviving the cold by staying indoors where it is nice and toasty warm! We received 4-5 inches of snow and temps that were literally 16 below zero on Friday! Brrr! the kids were disappointed that they could not go and play in the new snow because of it being so cold. They made do by playing their new nintendo games that they got for christmas and driving me crazy with their loud, messy games of 'War' and making tents out of blankets and sheets. Ahh, to be a kid again! ;o) Thankfully, the temp. is warming up, it was around 25 degrees today! Heat wave!! LOL! We have been snapping pics of Caleb as he discovers new things everyday and some pics of the kids as well.

Danny and I have decided to go with plan B, since plan A is not going anywhere right now as far as our goal of Danny getting a degree, becoming debt free and us going to the mission field. So, Danny is starting on-line classes from HSBC this Tues. and he is trying to get a good full-time job and I may be trying to find part-time work as well. We figure that we will chip away at our debt and get a few of his classes done while we are waiting on God's perfect timing for our place to sell and move us to Florida. Please help us pray that God will direct Danny to a good job...thanks!

The last few weeks have been tough and there were some days that we did not know how we were going to make it..but God never fails! And He has provided for us in AMAZING ways and we give Him all the praise and glory! God is teaching us to FULLY rely on HIM for our needs, and what a journey of Faith it has been! How wonderful to be a child of God! I use Oswald Chamber's book `My Utmost for His Highest` and the other day I read that when we are children of God that it is un-necessary and dis-respectful to worry about our needs! Wow! He cares for the little, tiny sparrow, how much MORE does He care for us?!! What an AWESOME promise to rely on!

Blessings to You all!

Ben has been 'teaching' Caleb how to play cars.

Caleb is becoming quite the ham for the camera!

He loves to stand up like a big boy!

Ben likes to dress like Caleb and just

loves being a BIG brother!

Abby 'reading' to Caleb.

Cute baby boy! He just loves his exer-saucer!

Caleb is just discovering books.......

..tasting them.....

..and loving the bright, pretty colors!

Ben was vaccuuming for me and being a big helper!

Abby loves to play with her Pollypockets.

Three snuggle-bugs cozy as can be!

Becca slaving away on her Math that she dearly

loves..NOT! LOL!

We took this close-up so you can see his 4 teeth...

#5 and #6 are on the way.....;o)

Sporting a double chin...he is getting chubby!

Learning to feed himself already!

Six months old

Where have the last 6 months gone???!! Our baby is growing soo fast! We all love and enjoy our sweet Caleb James! He turned 6 months Friday and is already reaching and surpassing many milestones! He rolls and is beginning to scoot everywhere! Caleb loves to give sweet, sloppy baby kisses to each one of us at bedtime and he is attached to his 'buddy' blanket. He is trying to cut his 5th and 6th teeth and we have had many fussy nights that only Orajel and Tylenol got us thru! Caleb is eating #2 baby foods and polished off a jar of carrots today at dinner in no time. When he sees us drinking out of a cup, he thinks he has to have a drink and I have to watch that G-pa Hirschy does'nt slip him a sip of coffee! ;o) Caleb seems to know when the rest of the family is eating and he expects to eat as well! Caleb is a very loving, easy-to-please baby! I will find out what he weighs and measures this week at his 6 month check-up. We thank God for the gift of Caleb! I have posted many different faces of the little guy....enjoy!

Playing at G-pa and G-ma Hirschy's.

This is his 'ornery' look!


Modeling a cute baby cap....

Sitting on daddy's lap.....

Looking handsome sitting up.....

I love this pic! He has that look on his face

that says that he knows mommy is holding up that

silver, shiny box again! He is resting comfy on

daddy's knee.

Trying to get Presley's dominoes....he loves

the bright dots!

Sitting in his booster seat for the first time.

Our happy little guy....