Happy 9th Birthday Grace Catherine!!

She loves her fake nails

Her best buddy....sissies!

Daddy and his girl

Showin the philly attitude..comes with being a philly sports fanatic!

Gracie is very energetic and full of life. She loves to watch "I Love Lucy," "Gidget" (she has been caught surfing like Gidget on the ironing board), "Andy Griffith," and "Love Comes Softly." She enjoys soccer and is beginning her first year on the travel team. She loves to be with her cousins and enjoys taking care of and entertaining them. She is a "nurse" by nature and has a true compassionate servant's heart. Her distinct voice, volume and raspiness adds to her unique personality!
We are so thankful for our precious "baby" girl! We named her Grace because we loved

the name and what it means. As I look back over her first year.....my eyes fill with tears. God's handprints were all over her life and His goodness to us was overwhelming. Gracie was born with a congenital defect involving her kidneys and bladder which we didn't know until she got seriously ill at three months old with a 106 fever....bladder infection.....spinal tap...and bacteria in her blood. She layed and moaned motionless looking up at us so pathetically from the pain. We felt so helpless. Over the next several months she would be admitted to Children's Hospital of Philadlephia three more times. At eight months old, Gracie had major surgery to correct the defect. We prayed, and God was merciful to us. Gracie is now a very healthy and active little girl who brings so much joy and delight to whomever she is with. Her bubbly personality and love for life is contagious! Never, will we forget, His healing in her life and how He used this experience to remind us of His faithfulness which brought us closer to Him. We pray that she will glorify Him with her life and that she will understand how special she is to God.

15th Anniversary in JAMAICA.....Yea Mon!!!

The cabana.....we loved it here!

This is where we had our "couples massage" while

listening to the waves crashing(such brats!)

Scuba Bob!

Now that's confidence! what more can I say?!

This pic I was laughing so hard I was crying because

when we were on our honeymoon we took an awesome

impromptu pic while in a hammock and we loved

the pic so we decided to try it again...but in 15 years

we don't look quite the same! Haaa haaa! Nor can

we get out of the hammock as easily!

What a blessing and treasure he is to me!

Hello, it's been toooo long, I know! Bob and I are back from our fabulous anniversary trip to Ocho Rios, Jamaica. 15 years ago we went as newlyweds and now 15 years later got the opportunity to go again and walk down memory lane. We had such a wonderful time relaxing by the pool, hopping from hot tub to hot tub, laying by the carribean sea, and sipping pina-colada's! We were so thankful for this time together. Aunt Pat and Uncle Tom moved in to our house to watch(and school) the kiddos while we were there. Both moms pitched in to help as well as my good friend Karen. The kids had a blast while we were gone...bowling with Aunt Pat and Ice-skating(inspired by watching the olympics). So wish I had pictures of that....Aunt Pat and Gracie did spins and twirls...double toe loops. I was so thankful to have my kiddos in the hands of people who care and love them so deeply. Which leads me to this...

I am a worrier....I hang my head low when I say that. It's something that I am constantly giving over to the Lord as I know that it is my way of trying to control life. I recognize this and am humbled over and over again by God's goodness to me as he is using this in my life to draw me close to Him. I share this with you because I was very apprehensive about the trip. Second guessing myself and the decision we made up to the very last minute. All because of my fear in leaving my children and worrying about their every move. Miraculously, God gave me a peace that I can't even begin to put into words. I did not worry. Not because I put "mind over matter" or willed myself good thoughts, or thought positively, or reached within myself...no...this was because of His power and His amazing grace and His love for me....nothing short of that.

God's word comes to our rescue in Matthew 6:34
His command-
Do not worry about tomorrow,
His insight-
Tomorrow will worry about its own things, and
His challenge for us today-
Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

More Jamaica to come......

A Snowy Sleepover

Yesterday we found out that our dear friends had their power knocked out by the neighbors tree and they were without heat and electricity. The neighbor had a heart condition so he was taken by fire/rescue to his sons place and left the Kullman family in limbo. So they packed up their
crew and headed down the street to the Hirschberg Hotel. We had 10 kids ranging from 13 down to 18mos. When I told my kids they screamed in delight.....whooohoooo....yeah! So we packed em in, here, there and everywhere! Fun memories!


Ryann, Gracie, Peyton, Maggie, Robbie, and Landon


The whole crew eating breakfast - Jill and Brady

This first pic was yesterday in the blizzard and the pic below of today....how beautiful!

This was the top of the "most awesome sledding hill". The picture below is the bottom of the "most awesome sledding hill". Now, the dads were working very hard on making this a fun ride. They even talked me into taking a run down when all I had on was a sweatshirt, jeans, and slippers with NO socks. It was a blast.

Now, as you look at these pictures of the sledding hill....is there anything that.....ohhh....lets say.....that might cause one to worry....I mean, usually those yellow lines are found on a main road or Route......right??....exactly. The pile of snow you see is the end of the sledding hill...that's right....your eyes aren't playing tricks on you it is several feet from the street. The husbands assured us that it was perfectly safe(eyes popping out of head).
Jill was equally concerned but we were trying not to be the party poopers and trust that they knew best.


The kids had such a great time and the dads got into the action with a snowball fight!

More Snow

Bob, brought his office into the house.

Gracie playing with the dogs and yes that is

Nate in the background hanging upside down

on the trampoline.....I see no problem with

that....crazy kid!!

Gracie climbing across the table...when else

can you lay on the table?

The girls in their snow fort

mommmmm, really a picture?

We are getting pounded by the snowstorm! Where are all those people who were crying global warming? Here are a few more pics of the snow just in case you needed to see what this storm looked like compared to the other;) Actually, this snow is better for building igloos and sledding and making snowman.....soo come take a look. I am having a little CONTEST for all you picture people.... a challenge......what is in these pics that shouldn't be in them.....there is a theme of things that I have noticed in my snow pictures that perhaps should not be.

The "pop-pop newman" genes run deep!

The "Pop-Pop Newman" genes run deep!

We have a very tight stairwell to the basement steps that gathers way too much stuff. It holds brooms, mops, pencil sharpener, hooks for everything and anything, a place to "throw" things when kiddos are cleaning up and don't want to put aforementioned "stuff" away, a little shelf, bags,.....you get my drift. ( In fact, my mom and several friends won't even go down to the basement because of the risk factor) A little while ago, As I would try to make my way down to the basement freezer...taking my life into my hands...I would get to the bottom of the dimly lit steps, get what I needed and then take the trek up praying that I would not fall...all the while...mumbling to myself(wwrrh...grrrrr...kidsss...told them to put.....the stinkin....uggh)anyway...as I would make these dangerous outings to our freezer every time I would come back up with this dusty stuff all over my clothes....frustrating I would go outside and knock it off and shrug it off until the next time....you see, I was too busy to figure it out at that moment and quite frankly just relieved to be out of that hole! Sadly to say, this happened several times before I figured it out! Here's a pic to show you what had been causing this dust.......










Apparently, the part that holds the pencil trimmings had been knocked off in probably an attempt to cling to it for dear life and....well...disappeared into the big black hole in the basement and one of my precious children came up with a solution.....I call this a "Pop-pop Newman" invention! Yeppppp, very clever you might say?! I would have to agree...

Welcome! I am attempting to blog the life of our family. As a homeschooling mom of four I have plenty of stories to share. This is my chance to write those funny things down. So here goes! As I write this we are in the midst of our second major snow storm of the season with a total of 2 feet. My brother and sis-n-law and nephews are up from NC visiting and we are so happy they are snowed in with us. The kids have been crazy busy...between Wii, guitar hero, bendaroos, puzzles, playing in the snow, sledding, hot cocoa...hmmm! Doesn't get much better than this...well for a wintery day, that is.

ughhh.....snow gear!

Shawn shoveling off mom's roof

Guitar Hero

It's a movie day