Weds. night dinner

Here I am sitting at the kitchen table. We just had a our family dinner. I am starting to feel bad again. I have a pain in the center of my chest. I think it is a pulled muscle, Lori says it is pneumonia, who knows. So, I better go and watch idol, and then off to bed.

Talk to you soon.

I'm feelin' good!

I just read Lori's blog on my dreaded disease, THE COLD! Well guess what? It's working. I am feeling better and I assume my white blood cells can not be beat! I am invincible!

Yes, it is Monday, I am at home, I did take a 2 hour nap (it's 2:20PM), and I am resting. That is why I am getting better. No doctor for me, no shots, no antibiotics! Just lying around drinking hot tea.

I'll up-date you tomorrow.

Al Get's his Wish

Thursday evening, while we were all enjoying dinner, Al was blogging about his hope to get sick. He theory is if he gets sick now, his immune system will be built up and he'll be invincible by the time we leave for the cruise. Well he got his wish. He got hit yesterday with respiratory yuk and this morning woke up with chest congestion and a painful cough. The aroma of Vicks greets anyone who dares to enter the den of disease. Hopefully this will end quickly & without a visit to the Dr.
Maryanne is in Medford visiting her sister, AJ has class today and Al is in bed, so I've got the house pretty much to myself. I should do some ironing but I think I won't. I'm going to make my lunch and enjoy the quiet.
See ya.

Thursday night

Hi this is Al. I am sitting here with Jana, JJ, Maryanne, Michelle, Lori, Les, and Kerry (Jeff's wife). We just had stew, Great Harvest bread, and we are finishing off Marie Calendar's Razzelberry pie with ice cream. So, it's loud and happy around here.

We miss Jeff! Its fun around here, but we all miss his royal presence.

I am fighting a cold/flu. I am glad. I want to get really sick so my white blood cells will be through the roof. Then when we leave for the cruise in three weeks, no way will I get a cold!

So, here is the picture of the gang.

Remember, you are welcome to show up at the DeBackers' for Thursday night family dinner, and then an hour of Survivor.

Well, pray for me and my cold.

Lookin' Back on the Weekend

Sarah, Daniel & Josh

Josh wanted dinner NOW!

I'm sitting at the kitchen table sipping my Starbucks enjoying the gorgeous sunshine. Yes, I said sunshine. It's 31 degrees right now but it's supposed to get up to 61 by this afternoon. Yea! We really haven't seen the sun since December so this is a lovely gift. Tomorrow we're supposed to get rain again clear through the weekend so today, we enjoy!

We had a fun and busy weekend. Al's STEPs leadership meeting went really well. My cut & color turned out great. My hair has finally grown out to the point that Maryanne can cut it into the style we've been working toward. I don't know how much longer I'm going let it grow but for now I'm enjoying it. Al likes it too.

Our adventure with the Garlinger kids was a blast. There was only one crazy moment when the boys wanted food NOW and Sarah wanted me to hold her. When I told her I had to feed her brothers, she dropped to the floor and faked a really pathetic cry. It was hilarious.

Well, I'm off to work. Happy President's Day!

Lookin' toward the weekend

On Monday nights, Al leads a STEPs group. This a program at our church that is based on the 12 Steps of AA. There are all sorts of classes (groups) that a person can join. There are groups for over eaters, groups for men that struggle with pornography addictions, groups for parents with troubled teens, groups for Adult Children of Alcoholics and many many more. This is Al's first year as a leader and I think the powers that be decided to initiate the "newbee". They gave sweet Al a group of men that are dealing with rage issues. Yikes! Of course he shares no details with me but he is now sure he has NO PROBLEM with anger. Anyway, tomorrow morning he will spend a couple of hours with the other group leaders as well as the pastors that head up the STEPs ministry. They will get great training, spend some valuable time in prayer and debrief some of the stuff that's going on in the groups. Al really learns alot and enjoys the people he serves with. Around noon he'll head off to run some errands then come home for a nap. Meanwhile, I'll be at Maryanne's salon getting my hair cut & colored. Then, late in the afternoon, we will head off to watch the Garlinger kids while Mom and Dad G get in some date time. I'm sure we'll have our hands full with 21 month old Sarah and 4 month old twins, Daniel & Josh. Al's going to lead my Bible study that night so for several hours I'll have the kids all to myself...even their mom hasn't done that yet! It should be interesting and fun :-} Susan & Nick will be home around nine so I'm pretty sure we'll all survive. Sunday we'll collapse with coffee and the Oregonian till a big meeting at church later in the day. I'll keep you posted...film @ 11.

A busy week

This week seemed unusually busy. I worked on Monday and Tuesday and then on Wednesday I went to Portland with Maryanne. She took her State Licensing Test for insurance. 150 gruelling questions on the intricacies of liability, law & other fascinating insurance issues. And...she passed! Yea! Now she's "legal" to work in Al's office. As soon as she was finished we headed to California Pizza Kitchen for a celebration lunch. That night we had a family(& friends)celebration dinner.

On Thursday morning I led my Bible study for young moms. I have 10 amazing young women in my group and we study God's Word together, pray for each other and share what God is doing in our lives. Occasionally, I even get to impart some wisdom from my vast experience as a mom. I love these moms and look forward to every Thursday.

Thursday evening, our office staff, Al too, took Maryanne out for a celebration drink & dinner. Maryanne picked Red Robin as her spot so we ate onion rings and burgers and fish & chips and yummy salads. It was a fun evening.

Friday night Al and I and Maryanne & AJ went to The Roadhouse for dinner. We made it in time for Happy Hour and the 4 of us got out of there for $30. Al had a $25 gift card so we only dropped 5 bucks! Then we headed over to Jana & JJ's to see their new gas fireplace. JJ did a great job of picking it out and installing it...changes the whole appearance of the brick surround. It's gorgeous.

On Saturday, we all headed to Portland for a little shopping and then to Al's Dad's house for dinner. Al's niece Elizabeth and her 6 month old son Zak, along with Al's sister Darlene were here for a quick visit. We had a delicious meal and got up with the Central Cal leg of the DeBacker fam.

Today, we did nothing! Spent the day reading the papers & watching TV. Ahhhhhh.

Six of my ten Hearts at Home Moms


Patti, LaVerne & Maryanne at Red Robin


Al with Zak Batrum, Darlene's grandson.

JJ, Jana and Grandpa Ray.

Glady always feeds us well!

Super Bowl Sunday

Every year Al and I and the kids attend a Super Bowl party at our friends, the Warkentin's house. This year we headed out to see history made as the New England Patriots finished up their perfect season. Alas, it was not to be! Sadly the NY Giants beat the Pats in what was a really good game. But hey. Super Bowl parties are about so much more than a football game. They are about...FOOD! And we had some good eats. Enjoy the pictures

Saturday morning blogs

That's right! It is spelled "blogs". This is Al sitting here, the paper read, the emails sent, and now looking at the day. First of all you should know it is raining. So what's new?! The paper said it will be "heavy" rain. Tell me about it. I normally do not notice the rain. However, it is getting old. I want to work on my yard. I have roses to trim, places to dig, and my garden magazine says I need to fertilize some flowering plants if I want the big long lasting blooms this spring. Have you ever willingly worked outside in "heavy" rain, when your wife is inside sitting by the warm flaming gas fireplace reading? It is not a fun experience. So, what will I do. Open the back door curtains, work at the kitchen table, and wait for a thirty minute break in the clouds. Run outside, get mud all over me, get yelled at for dragging the mud around the house, and end my afternoon sitting at the kitchen table reading the paper again. So, that is why I call this the Saturday morning "blogs". Maybe I should spell it "blues"? Hope your day goes better.