Twelve

We have a TWEEN in the house...
Ben is 12 =)

Happy Birthday Ben! We LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE you!

We have a new niece! Jorgia Elaine Fuchtman!

Unfortunately I have no photos, but I wanted to announce that Janelle and Eric had their baby girl on Friday, October 17th.
Jorgia Elaine Fuchtman! Hopefully we will get to meet her at Thanksgiving if not sooner!

Our new nephew MAX!

He is just amazing!!! I can't believe how much he looks like John and Will =)

I hate 'ON CALL' weekends

I just want to put that out there.
Robb is 'on call' this weekend, which means if there is a fire, he gets the call to go an investigate it. Robb got called yesterday about 3:00 pm came home about 7:50pm and didn't even get out of his car before he got called AGAIN! Left for another two hours, came home with dinner from Wing Stop, thankfully had the chance to eat - about 20min - and got called AGAIN. He was out all night long getting home around 7am because while he was out he got called TWO MORE TIMES. UGH! He can't get out of the Arson Bureau fast enough...
Of course all this means that he is dead tired and can't even go to church with us this morning, because he needs to sleep while he can since you never know when that next call is going to come!

This ends the RANT - I will now return you to your regularly scheduled blogging...

I know who I'm voting for!!

School pictures... not really

The kids had school pictures this week so knowing that I wasn't going to buy them but figuring we might want some to share with friends, family and teachers I decided to take them to my 'garage studio' and take my own. I still have some work to do on my studio work but this is what the kids gave me and what I was able to do with it. I am still going to schedule my kids photo sessions with EllaBella Photography once things slow down =)





BTW - don't let the last two photos of Pete worry you - he is still a happy kid!

First Day of School 2008

First a disclaimer - we spend the previous weekend in KC and I was in NO WAY prepared for Wednesday to come as quickly as it did.
Here are my kids' first day of school photos...



Can I explain? I had fully intended to take lovely photos of my children with all their things ready to face the world and even walk into their classrooms and capture that moment of them meeting their new teachers and such, but what really happened was a mad dash out the door with no camera (I had my snapshot camera handy though) and I carelessly made appointment to get to by 9am so this was the best I could do!

I love this smile!!

Elle had a couple of teeth pulled on Tuesday - don't you think that this is the cutest smile ever???
I love that she has a little lisp now too!


Well, school starts in ONE WEEK! YIKES! I don't know if I am ready for this - Pete is moving up to middle school and then within a week of that, reaching the coveted age of 13. Too much for Mom who then turns the big 4-Oh No! a couple weeks later...

On a side note - Robb told me that his picture is in tonight's paper! I am hoping he will bring home a copy so I can see too.

You mean I can RENT this???

Haven't seen the original 300 yet, but I may just have to get this one for the weekend...

Funniest video I have seen in a LONG time!

Where's the Beef?

Well, not in my freezer that is for sure.
Yep we are dealing with about 200lbs of partially defrosted meat and other frozen goods.
I am NOT a happy camper right now...

Elle is tagged...

I don't really know much about this practice, but Elle was tagged by Jessica and I promised a post after the craziness of VBS passed.

10 Things about Elle
#1 - Elle has a flair for the dramatic.
#2 - At least once a week I will wake up to find her sleeping on a mat on our bedroom floor. She thinks it is unfair that she is the only one who has to have her own room!
#3 - Yes, that hair is all hers and all natural (why do people think that I would perm and bleach my child's hair??)
#4 - She HATES it when strangers come up to her and touch her hair
#5 - She has been asking me to cut her hair (uhh NO WAY!)
#6 - She still has her 'B' which is her baby blanket and has to sleep with it (and hug it when I try to pull a comb through her hair!)
#7 - Lately when we go into stores and she sees something that she wants and I tell her we can't get it today she will go over and stare at it as if she thinks she can just will it into the shopping cart.
#8 - Speaking of causing things to happen at will, she thinks that she can open the doors at Target by using 'The Force'.
#9 - Did I mention that she has her Daddy wrapped around her little finger... I am amazed at what she gets away with when she is with him!
#10 - Elle wants me to take her picture all the time - but usually what I get from her is this...


On another note - when in the world did this happen? Who let this kid grow up???

I guess I am supposed to tag someone else and I am going to tag Emily since I know her mommy reads this blog occasionally.

Introducing...Wallace Alistair Gottsch

W.A.G.
Meet Wally.
Adopted June 1st, 2008 at 3:00pm
Wally is a pure blood Cairn Terrier aproximately 5 months old. He was rescued by Midwest Dog Rescue Network from a puppy mill in Oklahoma. It is my understanding that he was facing termination by the 'mill' was since it was being closed down by authorities, but MDRN saved him! He is now being fussed over by our family and we have fallen in love with him. Jack seems OK with it all as long as he still gets his fair share of attention.

Isn't he a sweetheart?

Poetry by Noah age 9

Some poetry from Noah - I think you will see a bit of a theme through most of these!

Noah
Brace Face
Sibling of 1 sister and 2 brothers
Lover of babies, dogs and rats
Who feels safe at home
Who needs to pay attention
Who gives family a name
Who fears the dark
Who admires babies
Who dislikes people that hate him
Who would like to meet Harrison Ford
Resident of Omaha, Nebraska
Gottsch

Ciao!!
Goodbye to my teacher who gave me tons of homework
Goodbye to the dictionary that helped me learn
Goodbye to the desk that I did 20 things on
and tests that I fail

Farewell to the white board that I can't draw on
Farewell to the measuring that measured me
Farewell to having a crush on people
and people who like me

Hello to the Wii every day
Hello to playing in the pool
Hello to playing outside
and lots of flowers

The day is great
and wonderful

The sun is warm

School is almost over all right!
Almost!!

Indiana Jones

I in trouble by

Nazi soldiers who ruin the

Divination of

Indoor and out fun

And putting treasure in

National museums

And his dad, Dr. Henry Jones and on his side nazis are no trouble even he is yelled

Jones means family

Oslo

Now will he survive

Endless

Sacrifice that will be.

Crystal Skull

Crystal Skull

gold and alien looking

grabbing, looking, taking

Indiana Jones

A Person Poem

Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones)

Who feels scared

Who needs treasure

Who gives things to museums

Who wants the Crystal Skull

Who would like to teach kids about his adventures.

Do you think I am a 'Jane Austen' type of girl????

Take the Quiz here!

Slideshow of the Kids

It was beautiful yesterday and I wanted to drag the kids out for a short photo shoot - some were more cooperative than others, but I was glad to get what I got!

Enjoy!

The Blog Post you've all been waiting for...

Yes, the computer has been reborn and I am still trying to 'train' it to do what I want, but it has been a little slow going. The kids were on 'Spring Break' this last week so I wasn't spending hours (well, as many hours) working at my desk. Anyway, it was hard to motivate myself to post when there was so much activity in the house. Today it is quieter so here you go!

Little back ground for these pictures... Robb had been working 'undercover' since December so he was allowed to break protocol and sport the facial hair for a few months. Well, last week they pulled him back into the regular work of FIB and so the hair had to go. Today was the day, so I HAD to do the before and after pictures (heh heh heh!).



So, what do you think? I suggested just shaving ALL the hair off, but he went with a REAL short buzz. I guess having it all off would make him look even more like Mr. Clean...
Spring Break is over and the kids will be out for the summer here in about a month! Wow! Then Peter will be off to Middle School this fall which doesn't seem possible.
Speaking of Peter - the poor kid will be getting braces in June so in preparation he has had to have a few teeth pulled... 8 to be exact. Half are baby teeth and the other half are permanent (yeah, he got my mouth...). Here is the worst part, SIX of the teeth are on top and only two are on the bottom. He got the right side pulled last week and tomorrow they will do the left. He actually ended up with a dry socket last week so this has been less than fun for the poor guy. I have NO idea what he is going to eat till his permanent teeth grow in... Anyone have any good soup recipes????
On another note, since Jack was hanging out with Robb and I while we were doing his photos he got 'shot' as well.

What's on your desktop?

Here is mine...


Just a friendly little reminder to myself. I can email a copy to you if you need it! LOL!

Death in the Family...

Well, something like that...
It is April 1st so I thought that I could get away with calling it that just for today, but in all seriousness my computer died. I am borrowing the kids' computer at the moment, but my 5 month old MacBook PRO is being shipped off to who knows where for who knows how long for repair... I am praying that my HD is intact -too much of my life is organized by that thing. Anyway, no pictures and probably only whiney posts till it comes home to me...

I hope she'll dance...

Elle got her dance recital costumes and of course I had to have a photo session with her.



BTW her recital will be May 18th at Joslyn. If you want to attend let me know and I will order you a ticket!

Angie - yes, it is a photo of me!

To be honest, I would much rather be behind the camera than in front of it, but I got my hair cut and highlighted today and was feeling a bit sassy so I attempted a self portrait. Not that I am shy about sharing the embarrasing photos of myself as you can see from all the previous posts, but I thought this one was pretty good considering the subject so I wanted to share. Tomorrow it will probably be back to ponytails and bandanas, but I do clean up once in a while!

Sorry I am a lame blogger...

I know it has been a while, though I haven't heard anyone complaining so I wonder - does anyone read this??? I know Jessica does and so to Jessica - THANK YOU!
A few photos for you - we decorated some Easter eggs tonight and stuffed a bunch of plastic ones for an egg hunt at Aunt Kristen's. It is not an easy task to keep four children from eating more candy than they stuff in the eggs, but I think I bought enough to send us all into diabetic shock. We managed to stuff about 48 plastic eggs and dye 18 hard-boiled ones. The rest of the evening was spent watching "The Ten Commandments" on TV.




Oh! We also spent two wonderful days at CoCo Keys this week thanks to Grandpa Garry and Grandma Shirley. And I am sure you would love to see photos from that excursion, but I have none... I didn't want to risk losing my camera in the chaos so I didn't bring it. Pity. However, I would like to share a couple photos of what happened in the last moments of our fun trip.
Robb was playing water basketball with the kids and jumped to block a shot, instead he hit his head on the rim of the hoop laying it open.

Isn't it pretty?


Fortunately it didn't put a damper on the day since we were getting ready to go anyway. Elle was so cute about it - she was so worried about her Dad and turned into a little mother wanting to take care of him. Personally, I think he should have gotten stitches, but Robb is a REAL man and would rather have the scar...

And another one is down for the count...

Ben has been the latest victim of the dreaded crud that has been plaguing our family the last month...

Up and around, but you can still see it in his eyes - he not feeling up to par.

I love this photo of Ben from this morning...

Jackson however, has found a sunbeam and he is happy...

How's that Bathroom coming along?

We have a pocket door in. It doesn't lock or latch yet, but it does provide a little privacy...

We got the light in and the paint on the walls...

The shower and tub are in full working order - though we need to get a new hot water heater to fully enjoy them.

Still no sink or cabinet - but Robb has been out of town all week. Maybe later this week...

Will this ever end????

Well, since posting about Elle's illness I came down with my SECOND round of influenza! I have been down since Wednesday evening and this time the cough has been added on top of the headache, fever, chills, and body aches. Robb and I have been comparing our symptoms over the phone while he is in CA. As bad as I feel, at least I can be sick at home, in my own bed. My poor husband is miserable with it all at the Shepherd's Conference - he actually spent one day of the conference sleeping in the van... I feel so bad for him! He has the best attitude about it though and has been exceedingly encouraged despite the circumstances.

My Dad is also in the hospital this week. He passed out, fell and hit his head on Tuesday. The don't know what happened, but he suffered a stroke and has weakness on his left side and is still dealing with bleeds on his brain. The took him off coumadin which now also puts his mechanical heart valve in danger of clots. Right now we are just waiting to see if the bleeds stop so they can start his coumadin back but we won't know anything new till Monday. Please pray for him...

I know this isn't the bathroom photos that I promised a certain someone, but I have been in bed all day and those are still on my camera. I wanted to share a RARE photo of Jackson. He is actually looking at the camera!

Little sick girl...

Poor Elle. She has had a rough go of it this last month. Last week she was throwing up and this week she has come down with the dreaded influenza. She missed a couple of days last week and now she most likely will be out at least through tomorrow, unless she has some amazing healing overnight. I feel so bad for her.



I am SO ready for spring and getting beyond all this illness. I expected it with this being the kids' first year back in the germ fest that is public school, but this has been enough already!

Robb is in L.A, CA for the Shepherd's Conference at Grace Community Church. He called today from sunny and warm (80 degree!) weather in Burbank - then he called back later to say he thinks he is coming down with the flu...

Nine

Yesterday was Noah's 9th birthday. If you are like me you are finding that really hard to believe. How on earth could those 9 years pass by so quickly?
Noah,
You are an amazing little boy! Our little comedian, storyteller, snuggle-bug, with a flair for the dramatic! You brighten our lives each and every day with your sweetness and laughter. We praise God for you!

Some photos from our outing last night - shopping at Toys R Us, dinner at Applebees and cake at home...










And in case you want to come over and share in some cake - this video may make you change your mind...