Labor Day at Rachel and Craigs!

We had a blast visiting Rachel and Craig and the kids this Labor Day. Peter had his bike race which he did well in, a wedding, and guy hang out time. The kids and I hung out with the cousins and had a blast! We went to the pool, Canfield Fair, milked a cow, church, rode bikes, made chicken and dumplings and a zapple pie! It was a packed weekend but so worth it! I love getting the cousins together and they just pick up where they left off. Its so fun that they can grow up together! I love family!

Spring Break in Ohio

This year we spent our first Spring Break in Ohio with Craig and Rachel, visiting cousins! The kids had a blast and always just pick up where they left off. We had lots of fun adventures and great play time!

After church on Sunday we went to visit a farm having a "baby shower" for the new animals. The kids got to see little piglets, chicks, calves, llamas, sheep, and even hold bunnies. They had a blast....

On Monday we decided to have an Easter egg hunt and all the kids had fun finding eggs spread around the outside of the house then eating all the candy!

Tuesday we checked out a fun indoor park called Scadoodles. It was a blast even though everyone was starting to get sick. Stephen and Scottie loved going around the gym on the ride on equipment and Caleb and Victoria enjoyed the big slide! Victoria even did the monkey bars for the first time! Lilly had a great time looking at herself in the mirror and taking all the little kid toys apart.

Wednesday we took advantage of the warm weather and went to the park by the house. It was a really fun park and the kids are still talking about it. They played hide and seek, loved the slide and just enjoyed running around having fun. I enjoyed not having to battle against screen time... Maybe we need to do this more often. HMMM....

Thursday we spent the day preparing to surprise Craig with a birthday celebration for his 28th birthday which was actually the next day. We made him a cake and the kids had a good time putting on all the chocolate chips. They also made him cards and a banner to hang in the front window.

Our time ended on Friday as we needed to be back for Little League practice for Stephen that night. Before we left though we made one more stop at the Science center in Youngstown called OhWow. The kids had a great time here too learning about music, air, water, green screens, wind, and Stephen's favorite, paper air planes.

We were blessed that Stephen and Victoria's spring breaks coordinated this year. We hope that this will be a yearly trip, so the cousins can get together. Looking forward to more memories this summer! Thanks Rache and Craig!

Emmalyn Elizabeth Puffenbarger

Congratulations to my sister Steph and brother Jarrod on their growing family! Emmalyn was born on January 11, 2012 at 4:14 p.m. and weighed 7.5 lbs. She is so beautiful and I can't wait to meet her!

Here is a pic of the new BIG Brother!

So happy that my mom could go and help Steph out this time (since I couldn't make another trip due to all my Mommy responsibilities!) I just wish it was me in the pic all the same :) Can't wait to hold this little girl this summer!

May the Lord bless you and keep you, make His face to shine upon you and give you peace! You are fearfully and wonderfully made!

Trip to Ohio

We just got home from a fun trip to Ohio to visit my sister, Rachel, brother Craig, and her children~ Victoria and Caleb, and Baby Farrell. This is the sister that is due 3 weeks before me...! We had so much fun watching the kids run around together, going to the library, playingin the snow we didn't know was coming, having a birthday party, going to church and countless hoursplaying different games and make-believe at her house.

We started by driving there on Wednesday, through the snow in Pa and rain, rain, rain in Ohio... I was glad to have the big vehicle and not Peter's car when the snow was almost blinding and trucks still going 70 on the Pike. We got there in one piece and made it in 5 hours which isn't bad considering we stopped for potty breaks along the way since Scottie was just potty training! I am happy to report we made it with no accidents too!!

Wednesday night we took the kids to Rachel's church where Victoria was happy to "show off" her cousins and again we had no accidents. I was able to go with Rachel to her choir practice to see some of the music for their upcoming performance for Easter. It sounded amazing and I was equally impressed at the choir director being able to pick out one person from the 80 or so that was there who was singing off key! Wow was his ear amazing.

Thursday was Caleb's 3rd birthday. We had lots going on that day, Rachel with 1st grade registration for Victoria in the morning, (we stayed home with Caleb and played), story time at

their fantastic library, and a party for Caleb with some of Craig's family in the evening. The snow started that evening and continued through the night as Rachel warned, "We live in Ohio, don't count winter over yet... last year we had 3 feet of snow on Caleb's birthday, and when he was born, there was a blizzard!" So to hold true to those words we got a few inches and the kids were ecstatic in the morning to wake up to the winter wonderland!

Friday morning we went out and played in the snow with makeshift snowsuits. Scottie wore 2 pair of pants, 3 socks, and rain boots, while Stephen wore 2 jackets, Victoria's next size snow pants (yes, they are purple but he didn't care!!) and her next size snow boots. They had a blast playing snow ball fight, eating the white stuff, and with the help of me and Rachel~ mainly Rachel, we built a snowman! It was a great couple of hours and then we came in for some hot chocolate!

The rest of the day and Saturday we pretty much spent just playing together and enjoying cousin time. We had a blast when Craig was home with the kids playing attack Uncle Craig, and he would throw them around. At nights, the adults enjoyed "adult time" playing games like Greed and Rummicube.

Sunday came too fast, packing up to leave, and going to church with Rache and Craig. The kids went to sunday school while we went to service. We said our good byes and headed back home. We were excited to see Daddy, yet sad to leave Aunt Rachel's and Uncle Craig's. They said the whole way home, "Mommy, when can we go back?"!! I am so glad they had such a good time with their cousins. I am looking forward to having Marc here this summer so they can develop a great relationship with him also, as I remember the times with my cousins at my grandparent's house growing up, and what special memories and relationships they are still to me today!