Happy Birthday, Poppy!

Today we are celebrating another birthday, this one belonging to Mike's dad, or "Poppy" to Madeline and Timothy. We spent the weekend in Ohio because we celebrated my Grandma and Grandpa's 50th wedding anniversary (I'll add pictures later), so we were able to see Gramma and Poppy for a little while, but we were busy busy with party preparations and distracted by certain football games as well! We made it home safely last night, and Mike shoveled our driveway, which we couldn't even pull into! When we got up this morning the kids made this special birthday message for Poppy, so without further ado, here it is!

We're looking forward to spending more time with you this weekend. Love you, Dad!

-shannon

New Pictures =)

I'm just going to let this picture speak for itself. (OK, and also direct you to the pictures that I posted in my new album. There's a link on the side of the page, or you can just click here. )

That's all =)

-shannon

Big Night!
Tonight was the night of the children's musical at our church. Madeline has put in many an hour of practice over the past several months, and tonight was the big night! (She in fact told me on the way home from church that when I blogged about this that I needed to call it "Big Night," because it was, for everyone!)

Madeline had a solo in the second song of her musical. The musical this year was set in a toy store, and four of the characters were toys. Madeline's lines in the solo are from the perspective of "Shine Bear," a poor bear who has lost her batteries but otherwise would have shone for everyone. (She does later find her batteries, never fear!)

Before the children's musical, the kids from age 3-5 came out and sang in the "cherub choir." Timothy was part of the choir and did his part to "make a joyful noise!"

It's always a treat to attend, and this year was no different. The kids did a great job, and had fun too.

We took a few video clips of their songs, and they are below, so enjoy!
-shannon

Thankful

Let me start by saying that the absence of a Thanksgiving post up to this point in no way indicates that our family is not thankful =) We certainly have much to be thankful for and had a great time over the holiday weekend.

We headed down to Tennessee to visit my folks, and were also able to see Unce Matt and (future aunt) Hannah! We even drove down to Aunt Robin and Uncle Mark's house Thursday evening and saw some of the Rader clan.

So without further ado, here are some pictutes from our trip:

We went out to my family's favortie chinese restaurant "Chef Wang's" and enjoyed some good food together.

All the gals were able to go out and do a little shopping too. Here is a picture of Madeline with her Mimi at the coffee shop, taking a little break from the hustle bustle.
My lovely sisters thought it would be fun to go to the bookstore, grab a cup of coffee, and have some "together time." Maybe I'm missing something....does it look like they're bonding????
We took advantage of every opportunity to ham it up for the camera. Here's a shot of all the girls that Timothy decided to jump in on at the last minute.
And of course we have the recurring theme of birthdays....here's Madeline and Timothy with Aunt Heater. If it looks like they couldn't love her any more, it's because they couldn't! They are crazy about her, and today is her birthday. Happy Birthday, Heather!!!

When we were down in Tennessee, my dad had his birthday too. The kids worked hard to create birthday messages for Papa. They included unbiased reflections of how smart, nice, handsome and wonderful he is. =)
The kids had a lot ot fun over the break, here they are playing around at Mimi and Papa's house in front of their Christmas tree.
Madeline with Mimi and Papa.
Madeline even helped make Thanksgiving dinner.

We headed down to Robin and Mark's house, and Mike had fun playing some sequence with his cousins and Uncle Rod.

Madeline made some pictures, always the artist, here she is with our newly engaged cousin Kristin. Congrats!
Timothy found his niche playing video games....I know, what a surprise!
Madeline always loves getting to see cousin Katelyn.
Here is Mike talking to Aunt Robin and Uncle Rod before we left.
We had a great trip and loved seeing everyone. We're already looking forward to Christmas because p-chem will be over....I mean because we'll get to see everyone again! ;)

Tonight is the kid's Christmas musical at church, Madeline has a small solo, and is very nervous. We know she'll be great! I'll make sure to get some video and pictures from tonight!

Happy and blessed,

shannon

Happy Birthday Mimi!!!
Well, first thing is first! Happy Birthday to my mom....Mimi to Madeline and Timothy!

We are all looking forward to heading down to Tennessee next week when we will get to spend some time with you in person, but in the meantime, the kids have some creations and a birthday message to share.

We love you so much, and have lots of birthday hugs and kisses to deliver once we get there!



The kids have been busy this week! Because of teacher conferences (which went great for both of my kiddos!) Madeline and Timothy had a short school week. Timothy had no school Thursday and Friday, and Madeline had half days. We took advantage of the extra time to spend some time together....jumping on the trampoline for a good hour one afternoon. That's a workout!
We went to Burger King with some friends Thursday at lunch. (Take note of the absence of french fries.....)
How is it that in a restaurant with a playland all the kids land in front of a TV?
Well, they did play some =)
We brought AJ and Olivia back to our place and played with play-dough, watched a movie, played Wii, and half a dozen other random activities.
We even went bowling as a family Saturday night. Mmmmm....bowling alley pizza.
What a ham! Madeline had a lot of fun bowling.....she did pretty well. Sometime she used the ramp to roll the ball, sometime she used the bumpers, but sometimes she wanted to just go for it with no assistance. (This of course resulted in a lot of fouling and just flat out dropping of the ball.)

Timothy thought he was quite the little muscle man, lugging his ball around himself. He had a hard time adapting to bowling in the real world. After becoming a pro on the Wii, he wasn't keen on the gutter balls he was getting in reality!

Time out for a hug!
And one last picture....
Looking forward to seeing many of you over Thanksgiving!

-shannon

Costumes, Candy and Sensory Overload!!!

Well, here is the "halloween blog." I've never been a big fan of Halloween. (Ask my mom if you don't believe me...) Unfortunately, Madeline and Timothy both came home from school Tuesday night with the knowledge of the fact that it was trick-or treat night and all of their friends would be out collecting candy that night.

They had found some costumes out shopping with Sang and Song in Michigan, so they were prepared in terms of wardrobe....all they needed was a willing chaperone, and with Mike in class for the evening...that left me.

We walked until our legs wore out and the kids had plenty to show for their efforts! They had a lot of fun, and even I didn't mind it so much. It did help that I was escorting, by far, the cutest kids in the neighborhood =)

Think they'll have enough to last awhile???Tuesday was trick-or-treat night, and Wednesday was the SHABANG at our church. (Shabang is Hebrew for "overstimulating experience"...I'm pretty sure of that.) We headed over to church with friends Drew and Derek and had quite the night! Here are a few pictures of our evening out at NMC. The kids had a lot of fun on all of the rides, they ran into lots of friends from Sunday School, and Madeline thoroughly enjoyed the comedian/illusionist that followed.

Well, I may not be a fan....but Halloween did turn out some cute pictures!

-shannon

Tooth Fairies, Tornados, and Time with Friends!

Life has been eventful as usual here in our world. Let's start with the events of yesterday...

Madeline had a very loose tooth. Now, she's been wiggling this tooth for a couple weeks now, but yesterday, it was time. She knew, I knew, even Timothy knew...the tooth was ready to leave its home of seven years to make room for its worthy, slightly larger, replacement. Even though this is the fifth tooth that Madeline has lost, she was stressing. She wiggled it and cried and asked me if I remember if it hurts or not. She asked me to wiggle it but then would shy away when I got close.

So, I decided to get out the camera. Surely if I let the "queen of (at least my) camera" make a show of it, she'll settle down. Well, I didn't want to sit there wiggling for twenty minutes, so I asked Madeline to let me check how wiggly it was before I started rolling. Well, I gave it a wiggle....not a tug, I promise....and out it popped. The video shows the crisis that ensued. She is not breaking down because she missed catching it on film. No, her crisis is that she didn't realize it had come out until I showed her, and she was not emotionally prepared to be separated form her tooth.

You may think I'm kidding, but this morning when she woke up with a dollar under her pillow, she told me she misses her tooth and begged....literally begged....to trade her dollar back to the tooth fairy for her tooth, so she could have it to bring back "old memories." No joke.


Well, as most of you know, Madeline's tooth loss has not been the only newsworthy event in our small town. Last Thursday night a tornado swept through Nappanee and left much of the community in shambles.

Our Thursday night started out typically enough. I got the kids tucked in bed, and Mike ran to Chili's to pick up an order of mushroom jack fajitas for us to split while we watched The Office. (This is quickly becoming our Thursday night tradition.) After this Thursday, I can say that the antics of Jim Halpert are just not as entertaining when they are repeatedly interupted by Stormtracker/Doppler Radar/ Viper Weather Reports. Yes it was raining, and yes it was windy, but come on....it's date night at our house! As we sat in our living room at the conclusion of the show discussing our frustrations, another weather report came on, this one saying a tornado had been spotted. The cities in its path were listed, as well as the times it was expected to hit. "The tornado will hit Nappanee at 10:18pm" they said. I looked at the clock-10:16. I looked at Mike. We both ran to the kids room, scooped them up, and headed for the basement.

We were more than fortunate. Our home was untouched. God was certainly protecting our family as the winds ripped apart buildings less than a mile from us. For those of you who have been to our home, you know just down the street from us there are several fast food restaurants, gas stations, factories and other businesses. Here are some pictures of their current condition.




In addition to our safety, God blessed us in the fact that the kids have handled everything remarkably well. Timothy slept through the whole storm, including the mad rush to and short stay in the basement. Madeline woke when we brought her downstairs, but we were able to keep her calmed down by praying with her and remembering verses about God being with us and not needing to fear. She even remembered that I had told her once that the weather we get usually goes to Grandma and Poppy's next (in Ohio). She decided that it would be good for our family to pray for their protection also, since the storm could visit them when it left us. (I love that little girl!!!)


When we woke the next morning, we were without power, our water was running, but on a boil order (How do you boil water on an electric stove with no electricity....anyone? anyone?), Nappanee was declared to be in a state of emergency and Mike was pretty shook up over the loss of Taco Bell, but in reality we were blessed and happy to have gotten through it unscathed.


Mike's boss called and let him know that he didn't need to come in for the day, and we packed our bags and headed up to visit our friends Sang and Song in Michigan. (A trip we'd been planning long before this all hit.) Sang was my lab partner in organic chemistry and then we studied together again through physics and in preparation for the MCAT. When we introduced our husbands, they hit it off right away, and the kids have enjoyed the benefits of our friendship as well. (Translation: another adopted aunt and uncle to spoil them not-quite-rotten!)


Below are some pictures from our weekend. They have a home right on a lake, and it was beautiful! What a retreat from the stress of work/school/the storm. We grilled out, ate out, waded and boated on the lake, and just enjoyed our time together. Definitely something we need to do on a more frequent basis.

Here is Song with the kids on Saturday morning. The view from their living room is breathtaking. The fall leaves were amazing.
Madeline and Timothy on the way out for breakfast. I wish they were always this happy in the car!
Madeline teaching Sang a game she picked up at school while we wait for pancakes.
Some pictures of the kids playing down at the lake.



My husband is hot!
Out on the boat!

Well, this is what's been going on in our world. Hope you enjoyed the update.

Feeling grateful and very blessed!

-shannon

P.S. I just remembered that I should probably mention the letter I received from IU School of Medicine last week. I was accepted! Thank you so much for all of the prayers that are being sent up for our family. We are so blessed to be lifted up by so many. I know that your prayers make such a difference, and I am inexpressibly grateful for both your prayers and words of encouragement!