Life Goes On

Life keeps marching along. Here is a few pictures from the other week.

Evelyn put this "cape" on Joey and pronounced them Super Sisters. Joey was the "Super Sidekick and Evelyn was the "Super Sister".

This is a funny picture of Joey and her bath toys. She loves to take baths!

Here is Joey and I with our giant Valentine's Day Card.

It was the biggest we had ever seen. Shawn and Evie show off the inside.

Ice Storm

Crazy, Crazy, Crazy. This was the state of affairs that my family is in now that they have spent nearly 7 days in our house. Shawn had not left since Sunday 01/25 and Evie and Joey since 01/24. This storm shut down the schools and made driving dangerous at times. It was the ice that made things difficult. It brought down lots of tree limbs and uprooted trees. Took down power and telephone lines and blocked roads. The toughest part about driving this week for me was missing the tree limbs in the road. Luckily, we did not lose power and were blessed to have our friends stay with us a few days. It was fun to have a captive audience and to learn more about them. Kinda like a zoo, and a zoo it was at times. When I was walking around today I ran into utility workers from North Caroline here to fix the power. I said hello and thanked the gentleman for his service. Here are some pictures from after the storm, before the next one the state is a buzz about.

Happy 6 month birthday Joey!

In just 6 short months one little baby has managed to capture the hearts of many people, both family and friends. Thank you to everyone who helps love on Joey. She is a light to our eyes and warms our heart. Happy Birthday Joey.

This Week...What a Week!!

This was an amazing week. In both good and bad ways. Here is a brief break down.

Bad...Evie broke her ankle

Good...Great pharmacy, Drug Mart, in Nicholasville that delivers medication to house since we ran out of pain meds and Shawn is at home with the girls with no car. (Due to having only one car.)

Good...fought for an appointment and had her seen in 3 days rather than the 10 the orthopedic clinic wanted the appointment for. Besides being broken, turns out she already had pressure sores on her heal and top of her foot. This could have turned into open sores and other problems had I backed down.

Good...Evelyn got a walking cast and is back to her old self, but a lot louder when moving around the house.

Bad...Electrical fire in only vehicle. This happened when Shawn and the girls were leaving for above appointment.

Good...Had 2 cars to use within 5 minutes to get Evelyn to doctors appointment on time.

Good...Van did not explode like mechanic said it could have.

Good...Have a friend that loaned us a car until ours was fixed.

Good...Car was fixed in 24 hours.

Bad...Cost to fix car.

Bad...Had a flat tire less than 24 hours after getting van back.

Good...After 30 minutes of trying to figure out how to change a flat, nice young man stopped and helped me in the freezing weather.

Bad....Pipes frozen in Kentucky House.

Good....Was able to babysit for KY friends and find friends to play with Evelyn.

Good...Have friends that came out in the freezing weather to unfreeze pipes.

Bad...Pipes frozen again.

Good...Friends came back to help unfreeze, this time stopped at Lowes for extra supplies.

Good....Found a friend small enough to fit under house to fix pipe.

Bad...Washer is sounding funny.

Good...Randomly sprayed WD40 around until sound stopped.

Bad...Washer forgot how to spin out and how to unlock door.

Good...Don't have to fold and put away laundry because machine not working.

Good...All of the blessings that God continually pours down on us. Without the knowledge that we are doing what he has called us to do I think I might go crazy. I feel so blessed to have such friends and community. I also feel blessed that I can call my family and friends and vent to them, know that they are praying for us and supporting us. I can't help but laugh at what has happened this past week. It is almost comical. I hope and pray we are done. If I had a TV show to make about this, I would call it Worst Week. Oh wait, that title has been taken already.

Evie Breaks a Leg....er Ankle

Evelyn stepped wrong today and ended up breaking a piece off the bottom of her distal fibula and separating one of her ankle bones farther than where it should be. Here is a picture that shows Evelyn's current mode of transportation. The smile didn't last for long and she seems to be in quite a bit of pain even though she is taking Tylenol with codeine. Please keep her in your prayers as we find out if a simple cast will fix it or surgery is needed.

Happy New Year and Merry Christmas

December was a whirlwind of a month. We couldn't wait to go to Minnesota and see our family and friends. Some things that we forgot about MN living in the winter... pop freezes and explodes when left in the car, and electronics left in the car must thaw before use can occur. Some of the things that we didn't forget is that we have family and friends that love us no matter what. It was good to go home and be welcomed back into the fold like we hadn't been gone.

Here are some pictures from Christmas.

Josephine and Evelyn

Our family, Christmas Eve/Josephine's Baptism

Darrell, Norma, Shawn, Jacki, Kasey, Josephine, Grace, Evelyn

Terry, Luke, Josephine, Tammy, Erich, Sue, Denise, Evelyn, Shawn

Our Little Piece of Americana

Last night was a wonderful night for me. I think of the line in the Christmas Song, Silent Night, all is calm all is bright. As I stepped off our front porch in my small town of Wilmore a wonderful thing happened. I forgot all of my cares and worries for a few hours.

Shawn, Evelyn , Josephine and I were off to a neighborhood party. We came out of the front door and Evelyn said with her child like excitement"Look Hank and Winter have Christmas lights up!" Shawn and I acknowledged that and talked about Christmas lights for a little bit. We then walked up the street and ran into Earl. "Hi Earl! we shouted, Who are you fighting now?" Earl is our neighbor boy with an imagination you wish every child would have. He said we couldn't see this one that he was fighting agains and it was especially dangerous. Then we walked up to our friends house the Sleeth's and were greeted at the door with smiling faces as the sound of cheer and merriment floated out to greet us. Matthew helped get Joey out of her bunting and then proceeded to leave with her to be part of the party. Inside, we ran into other friends and neighbors we knew, exchanging hugs and updating each other with what went on over the Thanksgiving holiday and what our Christmas plans were going to be. Making sure that all of our animals would be cared for while each of us were out of town. I introduced myself to people I didn't know, ate food that I wasn't sure of the contents and had a great time. Evelyn played with the other little children and Josephine was passed around. Smiling and sleeping, charming people with her radiant smile that reached her eyes and her rosie cheeks (from being too warm). We finished off the evening when Joey started to act hungry and started getting fussy. We said our goodbyes and quickly exited the house. We didn't want the charm of the evening to wear off. We stepped outside into the cool night air that greeted us. The sky was full of brightly lite stars and the sound of Evelyn's inquiry/statement/wish..It would be a great night for a campfire?. Then she heard the train and started making train noises back at it. I enjoyed our walk home. My family together, enjoying each other, enjoying the company we had kept, enjoying our little piece of Americana.

Crazy Mixed Up Halloween

Our little town of Wilmore is great for get togethers. I love Halloween and Christmas in our town. They put a firetruck on each end of main street and open all of the business for trick-or-treating. (For Christmas it is caroling and hot apple cider, fresh baked cookies and hot chocolate. ) The Methodist church even hands out hot dogs and hot chocolate. It is a great time to run into people that you haven't seen in awhile and see how their imagination is working on this day that you can dress up as anything you want and most people won't question you. For those of you worried about our family and Halloween, you need not be. We are using this day at face value. We get to dress up as whatever we want and no one questions you and then you get to walk around and get free candy. That is all this day is for us.

The next day, November 1st was also celebrated. Our family had a lot of talks about the Saints that went before us. God is continually working in our life and has great plans for us. Maybe one day I'll be a recognized saint. Anyone want to start a petition with me now? ;-)

Anyway here are some pictures from Halloween...

Shawn decided he was going to be Cotton Candy for Halloween.
The girls after a night out on the town. Shawn gets in the action too!

Our family picture. You can never have enough of them. Shawn is cotton candy (he really just wanted his beard and hair to be pink, Evie is a cowgirl, Joey is Tigger (she was going to be a jojo potato, but nobody in this state knows what one is) and I'm a cowgirl (unless I'm feeding Joey and then I'm just a cow! heheheh).

This picture was from pumpkin carving. Evie was grossed out.

Not sure why Evie is posing like this, but I thought it was pretty funny!

Evelyn Doing Homework

Evelyn got to bring a character home from school and was writing in a journal about Toot's adventure at the Mickschl house.

Smiling...

Joey just loves to smile. I hope you do to.

Joey's Video Debut

It would be great if there was sound, but for those that can't see Joey in person you can see how big she is getting.

Watch for her to smile, it can melt your heart.

Evelyn Having Fun

This is a picture of Evelyn and the East Jessamine School mascot. Evie couldn't get enough of this Jaguar. If you ask her she will tell you she hugged or got his attention 5 times. She was much more interested in the mascot than she was the East vs. West football game. Shawn, Joey, Evelyn and I really enjoyed watching the game and hanging out with our friends the Barnes.

This is Evelyn on here scooter. I got her to stop long enough to get a snapshot. She can scoot like no one else's business. She has gotten very good on it coasting long distances. Her number of falls has decreased significantly. Now when she does fall it is a sight to behold. Thank God for knee pads and helmets or we would be visiting the hospital on a regular basis.

Smiling...

Here are some pictures of our smiling girl. Josephine has really started to recognize us and smile when we are near her. We can actually get her to smile and it is for sure no longer "possibly" gas. We are intrigued by how aware she is of her surroundings now. Testing her watchful gaze by moving around. Evelyn loves the smiles she gets when she is near. Evie will now dance in front of Joey and is starting to play those baby games. There is nothing like 100 rounds of peek-a-boo. It is so cute.

Joey is also getting to be master of her head. Here is a picture I took on Wednesday, October 1st while we were listening to the band practice for Sunday worship. She loves the music and trying to find out where it is coming from. I also got some video of her head/neck skills, but can't figure out how to put it on here. I'll keep working on it. You will be amazed.

Just look at those chubby cheeks. It makes you just want to reach out and pinch them. Joey now weighs in at 11lbs 4oz.

Hoof-A-Nanny

Evelyn, Joey and I had a girls day out. We spent the whole day together and ended it at the annual Lions Club Hoff-A-Nanny. Evelyn enjoyed seeing the horses in action. There were so many kids that participated. There were even some so small they couldn't stay on the horse by themselves. It is quite funny to see one parent running and holding a child on and the other parent trying to pull the horse as fast as it can go. Great effort by the parents, it something I surely would not do.

Here is a gal at opening ceremonies.

Evelyn loves this hat. She also wore her pink cowboy boots.

One example of parental participation.

This is a picture of Evelyn watching the barrel racing. I think this might get expensive.

This is where Joey enjoyed the Hoof-A-Nanny from. The confines of a wrap. She was nice and cozy (she has her pacifier in this picture, it is a family blog after all) and warm all night long. I kept her hidden in there so they wouldn't try to charge me admission for her again.

Lebak visit

We were so blessed to have so many family come and visit us. I'll update more photos when I get a chance.

Here are some pictures from the visit from Jacki, Matt, and Grace. We had a great time hanging out with family. It surely is something we miss from Minnesota.

Here is Jacki, Matt, and Grace hanging out with Joey. Evelyn was still at school when they arrived. Evelyn was so excited to see them. She practically flew off the bus when she got home.



We had a pic-nic up at Highbridge park. Here Evelyn is practicing her right as an older cousin and showing Gracie around.

We all went out for ice cream at my favorite place. Brusters! Grace managed to get ice cream on her foot and in her arm pit. It was a sight to see. Don't worry, Joey got to have some ice cream too, it just took longer to get to her.

After church on Sunday we went to the apple orchard. Ate some apples and snuck some peaches. Evelyn had a great time catching butterlies and other bugs. Grace caught herself a few times.

First Day of School

Evelyn was so excited to start Kindergarten.

Here is a picture of Evie and her new teacher Ms. Randolph. Evelyn likes her being the teacher because she plays games.

Here is Grandma and Grandpa Pirate, Auntie Denise and Evelyn on open house night.

Evelyn and Joey pose for pictures.

Shawn and I can't believe our little girl is grown up and will be riding the bus the four blocks to school. It feels so good to send her off when she is excited to learn. I hope she stays that way.

Here she is getting on the bus. There are three adults on the bus: the driver, a person to help her on the bus, and someone to help with the seat belts.

The first day of school was amazing for Evelyn, she was so excited she couldn't tell us anything about it. We pretty much had to drag it out of her. They had lunch, played games and went on a gingerbread man hunt. She strives every day to get a green star from her teacher. Any other color will mean that she miss behaves. When she leaps off the bus at the end of the day she tells us right away what color she got. She is very proud of herself and we are proud of her.

The Newest Addition Is....

Josephine Iszabella

She was born just 3 days after Evelyn's birthday. Here are some pictures. She weighed in at 6 pounds 4 ounces and 20 inches long.

All wrapped up. First picture with Mommy and Daddy.

She already has Daddy in the palm of her hand!

Joey had to go to the NICU for breathing problems. Luckily, she was only there for a short time.

Finally, they let me be with my baby. It was a long time before I could spend any time with her, Shawn didn't come to the NICU because he wasn't feeling well and didn't want to get the babies sick.

Our very first family photo.

Who came first the Chicken or the Egg?

The answer is Evelyn.

We celebrated Evie's birthday on July 16th with many family and friends. It was a luau themed party with a trip to the pool and then food and fun in our backyard. Evelyn had a great time. It was truly a day to remember.

Shawn got his first opportunity to use a friend's smoker and really enjoyed it. I often catch him looking through the cookbook for ways to smoke different things. If I were in Kentucky I'd say the squirrels better watch out!

Here are some pictures from the big day.

5 Years Old!
Cake decorated by Grampy Mickschl, enough for an army!
The army playing in the backyard.
Evie and her friends
Enjoying cake.