Opening Day

unless you live under a rock and you don't know about it, today is Opening Day for the Cincinnati Reds. Woo Hoo - I would love to take the boys down there to see the parade and everything but this year it is just too cold. I have gone to a couple of opening days and WOW what a party, a celebration. Even though it is cold out right now, it just reminds you that spring is right around the corner, knocking at the door waiting to show her true self :) Good Luck today Reds!

Mom is excited in that tomorrow is Grandparents day at Brayden's school and now she has a car buddy. She is taking Aunt Joy because because Becky's boys are in 1st and kindergarten and now mom has a school buddy for all school functions :) - Steve's mom will be there too and Brayden is super excited to have both grandma's there, but Jean has to split her time between Chloe and Brayden - she is being pulled in all directions LOL.........

My sweet little Logan this morning woke up at 6:00am and was in a great mood but wanted to play the Scooby Doo game that we have - my child that never sleeps - killing me!

I hope everyone has a great Thursday - if you are going to the parade or to the game today be safe and have fun - enjoy every moment of it!

Miss and love you dad,

Much love to all

Sportsmanship

this is what sports should truly be about -

http://www.godvine.com/Injury-Turns-into-Inspiration-for-One-High-School-Girl-323.html

Miss and love you dad!

Much love to all,

The Prayer

so every night at dinner when we sit down to eat we always say grace before we eat. Last night was no different, with the exception of Logan's insert at the end of the prayer " Dear God, please let me play good on Wii tonight and let me beat that bad guy" and "God, please don't have mommy put me in time out" Hee, Hee, Hee. Needless to say he is three and is spending a lot of time in time out lately. Some days are really good, other days, aren't so good. LOL

I need to make a correction on the First Communions this year: It is Owen and Brayden and next year it is Ella and Brinn - sorry :(..... But it is such an exciting time for the boys and for us, the families preparing for it.

Yesterday Brayden had to bring the class pet home "Kentucky" it is a blue stuffed bear and they had to write a story on what they did with them. Thank Goodness we do  not have a real pet, poor Kentucky was left alone or with mommy - that is how it always is, isn't it. LOL

It's Tuesday and still cold - I hope everyone has a great day - kiss and hug the ones you love!

Miss and love you dad ~ so much.

Much love to all,

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to Robin and Kevin - thank you for coming an inch closer along with me to the big 40!!! I hope you both have a great day and you are blessed with a clean house and well behaved children :)...

Hugs and birthday wishes to you both!!!!

Have a great Monday everyone :)

What a Heck of a Weekend!

all I can say is Holy Moly - what a weekend of games. I LOVE March Madness and watching the games, and watching the these teams play with all of their hearts. This is what basketball should be about, not about million dollar contracts but about playing from the heart. After Friday's UK game, I didn't think my heart could take anymore - Holy S*** that was a game and then Today's game came, and again Holy S*** that was a game - it is what the madness is all about - I LOVE IT!!!

We watched Sean's kids last night, and the boys and I had so much fun with them. Will is such a cutie and growing up so fast - he is starting to talk and he loves to do whatever the older kids are doing. Lydia was so cute in that she asked me to paint her nails, she said Well Daddy said you would :). With having all boys in the house and I bite my nails too much to paint them, I only had three colors in the house and no fun ones with glitter in them, but she loved it anyway. Lisa was saying she likes to have her nails painted and then she peels it off that day!

Today Logan and I hung out while Steve and Brayden went to Dayton to go to the Wright Patterson Museum with the boy scouts. They had so much fun, and I will have to download some of the pictures. We then headed to a birthday party over at Steve's sister's. We didn't make it to mom's tonight :( but we had a great time at the party.

And needless to say I was shocked to see SNOW on the ground this morning - UGH - Just wake me up in May!

I hope everyone had a great weekend - here are some pictures of our fun weekend. Needless to say, Lydia is a super model - she loves to pose! I hope everyone survived the games and the weekend!

Miss and love you dad ~ so much.

Much love to all,

Needs vs Wants

so Brayden had to study for his social studies test that he was having today. And they are on the topic of needs vs wants, consumers, products, buyers, and banks etc. We all have our certain needs that we need to survive, food, water, clothing, house hopefully, but we are all so consumed with the wants. We want a new car, or the newest I Phone, we want new shoes or the top of the line computer - but these are all things that we really do not necessarily need. When you really think about it, we spend all our money and time on getting things we want, instead of getting things we actually need to survive. We get those things because we have to, but our desires are always things for what we "want".

If you are able to go out today, tomorrow or even sometime this week to purchase something you "want" then you are one of the richest people in the world. Think of all those people who can't even afford to buy the needs their families need, think of those people who are struggling so hard, that they barely have bread and water on their table. Maybe if we stopped buying what we wanted and concentrated more on helping those with purchasing their needs - then we would be better off. After all you can't take the wants with you - but I know, they are fun for the time being :)

Easier said than done isn't it - I think after last night Brayden realized how lucky he really is - if we all could just realize that.

Happy Thursday everyone - I can not believe how cold it is again - YUCK!

Miss and love you dad ~ so much.

Much love to all,

Excited..

anyone knows that kids are super cute when they are excited about something. Brayden has been saving up his money and has been waiting to buy Star Wars Lego III for Wii since January. It was suppose to come out in February and they pushed the date back until yesterday. So for the past month he has been checking the website every single day to see when it was going to be in. Yesterday I picked him up from school and the first thing he wanted to do was go home to do his homework - I know! But he has always been great at doing his homework, he really enjoys school. Anyway, he said he wanted to do his homework first because as soon as we came back home he was going to play his game. After his homework we went straight to Toys R Us and he ran right to the game department :) He was so excited and I loved seeing him so happy and excited.

The joys of childhood!

Miss and love you dad ~ so much.

Much love to all,

Tiresome Three's

and I thought 2's were terrible. My little Logan - I love him so much - but there are days. There are days where he is the cutest little thing ever and he is so sweet and so much fun and such a great kid, and then there are those days or even moments, where the littlest thing sets him off - last night was one of those nights. I do not know if he didn't sleep well at school or what but from the minute we got home he was in time-out like three times over such silly stuff. He had a fit because he didn't get to flush the toilet - I know right, then he had a fit because Brayden looked at him wrong, and then he had a fit because I poured his juice in the blue Mickey Mouse cup instead of the orange one - I know crazy. If these were things that only us adults had to worry about :) - But by 7:00 he was back to being cute and fun and playing outside with everyone else. Go figure.

Busy weekend we had with soccer games and shopping for Brayden's suite for First Communion. Erin Timmerding and I were talking the other day about how we can't believe how grown up and how fast the time has gone. Owen, Brayden and Brinn are all making their First Communion's this year and it is such a big year for them - I am so excited for all three of them. Of course when Brayden tried on his suit, I cried. And he said, "Mom are you going to do that at church" and I said don't worry honey I will not be the only mommy crying. I remember mom always crying at First Communion's, even if one of us wasn't making it, just going to church she would cry. It was funny we had Retreat Day on Sunday and the kids were allowed to "taste test" the host and wine and thankfully they allowed the children to do this. Some of the kids faces, especially after they took a drink of the wine - was hysterical, us parents just lost it - so comical. It was a great day and it was so nice that Steve and I both went - I am so happy we are doing this together.

We then went to mom's afterwards because she was watching Logan - and everyone came but Amy. Josh had a baseball tournament and his game was at 6:30 - I always love it when everyone is there - it is just so much fun and laughing and the kids really enjoy playing with their cousins - and taking care of the little guys. We were teasing Mindy and Lisa that it is time for one of them to become pregnant - it seems like the last 4 years someone has always been pregnant and someone is due - Don't look at me :) I still go back and forth and I just decided to leave it up to God. If he wants Steve and I to have another one then it will happen.

I hope everyone has been able to enjoy the weather the last couple of days, it looks like it is going to be yucky the next couple of days. So get out there today while you can. Enjoy it!

Happy Tuesday!!!

Miss and love you dad ~ so much.

Much love to all,

Champions

yes, we won our volleyball tournament - I know, hard to believe. I didn't post anything yesterday because I didn't even turn my computer on. I had the day off and spent the whole day with my little Logan - I had such a great time and it just made me realize even more that I wish I could be a stay at home mom, or at least work 4 days a week. But our volleyball tournament was on Wednesday night and we just all played well, it was a great night for us and of course we had to go out and celebrate :)

Logan and I picked up Brayden yesterday from school and he had a friend over. It is funny to watch Logan follow Brayden around when he has a friend over, he tries so hard to be just like his big brother. It was such a gorgeous day - perfect in every sense - I loved it. And UK won - it was close but they pulled through - Woo Hoo!

Another busy weekend - crazy - but it is suppose to be nice, at least not raining, I don't think. I hope everyone has a great weekend and enjoys time spent with your family and friends - after all that is what life is about!

Miss and love you dad ~ so much.

Much love to all,

Where is all of the

gas? I stopped at two places this morning by work and everyone is out of gas - I just hope I make it home :)

Have you ever had those mornings where you just wake up and feel at peace with everything in your life, that no matter what happens during the day, what dilemma or drama comes your way, you will be okay because you have peace, you have happiness of where you are at in life, with who you are. Sure there are things that I would like to have differently, like being a stay at home mom, but since that isn't an option where I am at now is great and it works for me and for my kids.

Life is funny isn't it - how it turns out. When you think it is going to go one way and you think that is the path that you need to take, you take another path and that path winds up being the best path that you could have taken - God has a way of leading you into the right direction and he has a way of enlightening you on how people really are - he is an amazing God isn't he.

Tonight is our big volleyball tournament - I hope I play well so Mindy doesn't have to keep yelling at me :) LOL. I love playing with her, and the other girls, we have so much fun. I think we laugh more than we play and it is just - a great time.

I hope everyone has a great Wednesday and is lucky enough to find some gas. Hee, Hee.

Happy Wednesday everyone - be at peace today.

Miss and love you dad ~ so much.

Much love to all,

Daily Devotion

I picked up a book this weekend at church and it is a devotional book for Lent. Here is today's verse to ponder on:

John 3:21
But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

I love how the Bible speaks to you - how when you are in need of comfort, or solace, or just peace that is the one book you can go to and get it.

Another rainy day - I guess it is better than snow and it is suppose to warm up this week. I think Thursday St. Patty's day is suppose to be 70degrees - yeah!

I hope everyone has a great Tuesday - a lot to do today.

Miss and love you dad ~ so much.

Much love to all,

Springing Forward

springing forward is a good thing and a bad thing, it is great that Spring is almost here and that we have that extra hour of daylight, but it is so hard to get the boys in bed. I do not mind once school is out, but poor Brayden - he has to get up in the morning at 6:00am and he is surrounded by kids who don't even start school until 8:30ish - so it is hard for him to get to sleep when he hears all of the other kids outside playing :(

Another weekend of painting - only about 20 more rooms to go - well, at least it seems that way. This weekend we tackled Brayden's room, well, Steve did the painting I did the entertaining of the boys. I took the boys to the library yesterday and then over to mom's. I am so excited that Brayden gets so excited about going to the library - he loves to read! Everyone was at mom's which only means one thing: loud and craziness. Luckily it was nice enough for all of the kids to go outside. I am excited to hear that mom is retiring at the end of this school year - she has had a rough year of it working. I am so happy for her that she is finally ready to leave.

Nothing else exciting on the homefront. Jeremy is still job searching - he has a couple of interviews this week, but as of yet - nothing. Hopefully one of the ones this week will pan out. I hope everyone had a great weekend and enjoyed some time with family and friends, and outside - it was a beautiful one to enjoy the weather - and it can only get better!

Happy Monday everyone.....

Miss and love you dad ~ so much.

Much love to all,

No need

for my useless ramblings when this is happening in Japan. Things like this, make you wonder, why would God allow such devastation to hit one country - y? My prayers are with Japan as they start their journey of recovering from this.




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Happy Birthday - Uncle Wally. Today he would of been 75. Susan and Brian went down to Florida to help celebrate this special day with Aunt Bernie. I know you are up with God, Dad and your parents having a big celebration. We all miss you dearly down here and we think of you every day. We love you.

Miss and love you dad ~ so much.

Much love to all,

Kids say

the funniest things sometimes. Yesterday when I was picking up Logan from school he asked why Brayden and I had dirt on our foreheads, I tried to explain to him that they were ashes from Church. He was then upset that he didn't get to go to church and started whining that he wanted to go. I explained to him that Church was closed and we would go on Sunday. " But mommy, I want that on your forehead" I preceded to put my finger on my ashes and then I made the sign of the cross on his forehead and I said there now you have a cross on your forehead just like mommy and Brayden. He goes, " But mommy I don't want a cross, I want an airplane like you have" :)......  In looking in the mirror when we got home I could see that my ashes did look like an airplane LOL

This was the reading in church yesterday and I love what it says. (Matthew 6)

 “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.  And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.  Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Had a great night last night with playing volleyball and going out with the girls, I even talked to an old friend that I use to work with - it was great hearing from him. I love those friendships that no matter how much time passes by you can always just pick up where you left off. Jeremy and Steve were at volleyball and they told Mindy and I that we stink - well, I wouldn't say we stink, I would just say we laugh too hard to play too seriously.

Good luck to Jeremy today - he has an interview with a small company up in the Eastgate area and he has been making progress in trying to get on with Duke Energy. Continue to pray that he will find what he is looking for.

I hope everyone has a great Thursday - it is suppose to be wet again - fun. We are going to start walking around like ducks soon :)

Miss and love you dad ~ so much.

Much love to all,

Um.... No

I received the estimate yesterday for my braces - um, yeah, thanks but no thanks. What it pays to get this done, is insane - I can not in my right mind be that vain or be that selfish and spend that amount of money on teeth, that in reality are fine, just a little crooked. I lived this long with them, might as well continue with them - I am not that vain of a person. Sure if I was a millionaire or win the lottery I would do them, but it's not going to happen anytime soon. So that is the end of that journey.

I LOVE starting my morning off by going to church. I went this morning and it was so nice to sit there and talk to God, without having to wrangle a 3-year old. There are days, I could just go in church and sit there and talk to God and dad all day - I know I can do it anywhere, but there is just something so peaceful about church.

During Lent, I am working on my relationship with God and to make it the best I can. No one is perfect and we all have our flaws everyday - but I am learning to trust in him and to lean on him and just let go. Let go of this need for control and just let him control the path - he does after all know what path we are suppose to be on.

I hope everyone works on their relationship with God, there isn't anyone in the world that has that perfect relationship with God - we could all strengthen our relationship.

Happy Ash Wednesday everyone - may you be blessed this beautiful season and may God always be with you.

Miss and love you dad ~ so much.

Much love to all,

Geesh

wow - gas prices are HIGH. It makes you wonder if it is even worth going to work. My goodness. Maybe I should start walking or bicycling to work, or better yet, just become that stay at home mom that I always wanted to do. LOL

Today is Fat Tuesday - and a Fat Tuesday it is going to be. Tomorrow starts Lent and I am giving up eating out. For many reasons, but to save money and to help with the weight loss - it is amazing how much you can spend in a week eating out for lunches - it is crazy and it isn't cheap by any means. I know it doesn't sound hard to do, but it is when you are use to all of the eating out and the drive-thrus. So we will see how it goes. I know by any means it isn't the sacrifice that God gave to us, nothing will ever be that great of a sacrifice!

Looking again for a volunteer opportunity for Brayden and I. The Shoulder to Shoulder project we had been doing isn't doing well. I just really want him to be involved with helping out, so if anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

I hope everyone has a great Fat Tuesday - eat, drink and be merry. Wishing we were in New Orleans, where businesses are closed and the parties are beginning - maybe someday I will make it down there, it is on my bucket list :)

Miss and love you dad ~ so much.

Much love to all,

We have Red

We have a red wall, actually two red walls now. We are so use to white walls for so long to splash some color on it - it is like WOW, but I am use to it now and I love it. Steve did a great job in painting the dining room and the bedroom. Logan thought it was so cool to follow daddy around all weekend to see what he was doing. The poor thing woke up Saturday with a fever so it was his take it easy day, laying around watching Mickey Mouse and Star Wars - I know a three year old watching Star Wars - what can I say, it is in his genes. Steve and Brayden are both obsessed with Star Wars, so it is only natural that Logan will be too.

It was a quiet weekend in that Logan was sick and it was raining. Brayden had his last indoor soccer game, which I missed because of staying home to take care of Logan, so now we move on to outdoor soccer. It was a great weekend to do in the house projects - like painting. But it just seems like we have a lot more to do, but Brayden is excited that he finally is getting his room painted.

Last night must been a night of tearful shows, at least for me. I watched that Secret Millionaire and then on Lifetime there was a show called Coming Home. It was by the same people that do Extreme Home Makeover which I cry at every week. But this Coming Home is about soldiers coming home from Iraq and surprising their family and friends with their arrivals - cried all night long - maybe it was just one of those nights :)

Today, is a big day - I am becoming a teenager again - I know, say what??? I am going to get braces today - yuck. I have been wanting them for a while to fix my top teeth and not sure why I have waited so long, but today is the day - oh fun. Actually it is just the consultation today and then we go from there. Brayden thinks it is going to be cool, me not so much.

I didn't make it over to mom's last night with Logan being sick, I didn't want to go over and spread the germs, because then it seems like we are just passing it back and forth between our kids and it never goes away. It is weird, I hate missing going over there on Sundays.

I hope everyone has a great Monday - enjoy the day and your loved ones.

Happy Monday!

Miss and love you dad ~ so much.

Much love to all,

Wet Weekend

at least it isn't snow - right. With soccer winding down and it is suppose to rain all weekend, then we can continue our painting projects at home. At first I thought this was just a Timmerding trait but I am beginning to think it is just a guy trait : the let's start a project and finish it three months later trait.

Ladies, you know what I am talking about. I know Mindy and Lisa know - for sure. Brayden has had the same paint spot on his wall for almost two months now, granted Steve has been sick and we have had soccer, and he will not allow me to paint, but it is time to finish it. I know I don't have it as bad as Lisa and Mindy since they are married to the true Timmerding boys whose middle name is "Let's start a project and finish it two years later" - I know that was passed down to them from dad. It is like, let's just get it done.

So with Brayden's First Communion coming up, I am making a project list to get things done before his big day - we will see how this goes :)

Lots to do, lots to do - This weekend is a little bit slower but it is Mardi Gras weekend, maybe we should all meet up and get some beads - but sorry, this girl isn't flashing anyone - I'll just bring my own beads LOL

Whatever you do this weekend, enjoy it and stay dry - it is going to be wet all weekend. Hugs and Kisses to all (who still read this thing :) )


Miss and love you dad ~ so much.

Much love to all,

God's Love

Does God still love you if:

- you have lied and cheat
- if you have committed adultery
- if you are homosexual
- if you use his name in vain
- if you don't go to Church every week
- if you live in vain
- if you are selfish
- if you are a hypocrite
- if you talk about others behind their back
- if you never pray
- if you are divorced
- if you never marry
- if you have a child out of wedlock


My belief - is that YES God does love you - no matter what you do, or who you are. God is an ever-loving God who loves ALL no matter what. Yes, we ask for forgiveness for what we do or have done, but we shouldn't have to be punished for who we are! We shouldn't be judged or not permitted to do things because of who we are, because of who are friends are.

Sorry - off on a tangent - it was a deep lunch conversation yesterday on judging others and what it means to each of us. If you are a good person and you live your life helping others, doing your best to live unselfishly and doing your best to be a "Good Person" you will have your reward.

What is your belief? Do you believe God really loves everyone or does he just love the people that fit into the "mold"?

My God - the God I believe in, loves everyone!

Miss and love you dad ~ so much.

Much love to all,

Congrats!

to Eric and Tara on expecting child #2 in the fall. I am not sure if I am suppose to say anything or not, but since Aunt Carol told us, I assume it is okay. Yeah, another baby - to our ever growing family :)

It is Wednesday and it is going to be yet another beautiful day - Logan is going to be my child that I am not going to be able to keep inside at all this summer. He wants to go out the minute he wakes up until the minute the sun goes down. It is a bit challenging at this age because he doesn't understand that he doesn't get to follow Brayden around. As much as he wants to, Brayden wants to be able to play with his friends without having to worry about his little brother. And poor little Logan doesn't grasp that concept.

I came to the conclusion last night that we will just be eating dinner at 7:00ish or whenever it gets dark. It is impossible to stay in the house to cook dinner and keep an eye on Logan - if I don't keep a close eye on him before I know it he is down the street or across it - he is a mover! Hopefully if it continues to stay warm we can go ahead and get the sandbox out and put that on the deck so I can see him from the kitchen - but until then, dinner is at 7:00 :)

Wednesday night - means girls night- Yeah! Brayden wants to come to my game tonight because he said my team makes him laugh - thanks girls for the entertainment LOL. He just really enjoys the sport and he is going to try out next year for school, they have a 3rd grade volleyball team for boys - I know crazy huh. Maybe I should volunteer to coach - Hee, Hee, Hee.

I hope everyone has a great Wednesday and is able to enjoy the weather a little bit. I thought I heard rain is coming back this weekend but not sure.

Enjoy your day!

Miss and love you dad ~ so much.

Much love to all,

Beautiful Sunset

What a beautiful sunset this morning - another wonderful gift from God. The sun was just this huge bright orange this morning and coming up in my drive to work, just makes you thankful for another day. It is the first day of March - which means we are closer to saying goodbye to winter and hello spring! We really can't say that winter is over yet because it has been known to snow here in March. But we can say goodbye to February - another quick month. It seems like once you graduate high school your life just flashes by you in an instant - so fast. It is amazing how fast time flies especially when you have kids. Last night I was telling Logan I wanted him to stay a baby forever and he said he needed to grow up to be just like Brayden and daddy because he just had to :)

He is doing great on the potty training - I guess just me writing about it encouraged him a little bit, he proabably didn't want me talking about him, but whatever the case he is doing great! It will be so weird not to have to carry diapers or a diaper bag around - kind of surreal. Of course I still have that urge to have another one but that needs to happen soon because I am not getting any younger LOL

I hope everyone has a great Tuesday - it is suppose to be nice and sunny and a bit warmer - it is almost here everyone - hang onto the hope that SPRING is coming soon :)

Miss and love you dad ~ so much.

Much love to all,