New Years Eve!

Happy New Years Eve everyone! We have had a great week! Went up to my Dad and Teresa's on Sunday and had our Christmas there - lots of good foods and treats and fun watching the kiddos opening presents and watching the cousins playing good together! Dad played his guitar and harmonica at the same time - very impressive! Monday morning, had to be in Saginaw at 8:30am to take Amber and Brooke to the oral surgeon - Brooke had a tooth exposure done for an impacted tooth and Amber had all 4 of her wisdom teeth pulled. But, they were ready to go to the mall right after for a little bit:) Then stopped at Walmart on the way home. Tuesday was a relaxing, laid back kind of day, laid around played video games, watched HGTV, hallmark movies... Wednesday I took the kids to see the Christophers at Grandma Reid's. Brooke and Curt leave to go to their Dad's tonight for 2 days and wouldn't get to see them when we go to a wedding tonight. Had pizza with them and good visiting. Today I plan on doing some baking for tonight, laundry, baths, etc. We are going to a wedding at 6pm, then to Jenni's for games, food and fun! I plan on spending the night there because I don't last as late as others - need my beauty sleep:) Saturday night we have Christmas with my mom's at Heather's house and then we are done:) Seriously back on my diet to counter all the goodies I've been eating! I miss going for a walk everyday - maybe I'll get back into that next week - just don't enjoy the cold! Once i get out there it's not so bad... just talking myself into getting out there is the hard part:)

So, updating more often now, I hope. Hope you all have a great night tonight with friends and family! Christine

merry merry Christmas

From our new home to yours - Merry CHRISTmas!

last bunch maybe?

loving the rocker

putting the new power pole in December 21st - finally!

dancing girls

Lyndsay likes frosting cookies and eating them at the same time!

lots of pics

decorating homemade ornaments with mom Isaac and Erin

Kids choir did all the singing for the cantata this year! Brooke, Curt, Isaac and Erin did great

our temporary quarters at Grandpa Steve's!

the old house, empty and clean

and more!

the boys room moving in furniture

erin excited about her bed coming to the mobile home in November!

New flooring in the girls room

after new flooring goes in

pics

trying to get Lyndsay to put Brooke's EEG cap on!

Curt October field trip

Brooke on the field trip

Isaac and best friend Maddie on the field trip

Lyndsay being silly!

Shadow says don't leave me behind!

Amber, Erin and Lyndsay in October

october birthday party

Brooke and Lyndsay October 2009

Lyndsay Grace October 2009

Merry CHRISTmas!

Merry Christmas Everyone! Well, we did it - we moved into our new home this Tuesday! Monday, they finally came out, installed the new power pole and hooked up our power! I prayed in the morning for God to please hold off on the snow we were supposed to get (even if it was flurries - as they wouldn't work in it), so that the work could be completed. Detroit Edison had come out the week before, but ended up sitting here for 4 hours while the snow was "spitting" and left saying they couldn't work with the snow - too dangerous. So, on my way to town for Brooke's neurologist appointment, my husband texted me "we have power". YIPPEE - I prayed Thank you Jesus and now you can let it snow all you want:) When we came out of Brooke's appt., IT WAS SNOWING:) God is so good! So, Jeremy worked fast and furiously on the room he built around the well bladder in the barn so that we could also turn the water on! We moved in without the water on Tuesday night - everytime I go to Dad Fitch's I grab a van full of our stuff and bring it here and put it away! Yesterday, before leaving for Christmas Eve at Mom Rich's we had the room insulated and enclosed enough to turn the water on:) Took our first hot shower this morning - Praise the Lord! So thankful to be at our "place" now:) Thankful for Dad Fitch putting us up for the 5 weeks he did:) We moved our fridge Wednesday night and I got groceries yesterday morning. I'm getting ready to do some baking in a few minutes:)



Had a great first of our Christmases at Mom Rich's with Jenni and girls, Christopher and Amy and boys and Grandma Reid. Good food, good desserts:) Today, had to wake the kids up, let them open a present while we were waiting for Brooke and Curt to come home from their dad's. Grandpa Steve and Sherry came by and they started ripping and tearing:) Now everyone is playing and relaxing til we go to Aunt Jenni's tonight for snacks and more fellowship. Living in the mobile home after being in a "house" with a basement is tricky - trying to organize, organize, organize everytime I walk through. I hate the cold and going out to the barn to find stuff when I need it is not fun for me:) Yesterday, I finally got to help Jeremy with the room in the barn for a bit - all I did was put blown in insulation in the ceiling of the room - he built a load bearing ceiling cuz it's a hay loft on top so it's being insulated above the room ceiling and then he'll put the floor of the loft over it. Lyndsay is doing pretty good in her toddler bed in her room - sleeps pretty good for the most part. The first night, the kids didn't want to sleep in their own rooms because they are used to us all sleeping in the same room (basement at Steve's:)). But, the last 2 nights have been better - Lyndsay woke up last night and came to our room because the wind and rain were pretty noisy!

Today I am so thankful to have a cozy home, a beautiful view from all of the windows - still hoping to see the occasional deer or turkey walk out... thankful for my husband and kids, for the noise they are all making and watching them enjoy all the gifts they opened this morning - Lyndsay kept saying "WOW" each time she opened or watched someone open a gift:) Erin was worried about trying to catch Santa in the act last night - hoped whe would hear the sleigh bells and be able to come out! When we got our tree on tuesday, we decorated it Wednesday morning and Erin stopped while decorating, looked around and said how is he going to get in here, anyway (talking about Santa). Lyndsay got the angel out of the box and stood at the bottom of the tree trying to get Daddy's attention to put it on top of the tree! Thankful for my saviour who gave His Son to die on the cross for us! We don't promote santa, but haven't had the heart to completely squash Erin's enthusiasm about him this year:) Trying to focus more on Jesus' birth and what He did for us... Kids are so precious! I will be sending our annual picture and letter out, but not til next week - finally have all the kids together so we can get a family picture hopefully tonight! It's just been too busy the past month or more:) But, that's one of my favorite things to do this time of year, so I'm not going to skip it! I will post pictures soon - have lots to update photo wise from the last few months!

Merry Christmas everyone from our home to yours! Love, Chris

Christmas is coming fast!

Wow December 5th already - where has the time gone? It snowed yesterday:) I love snow but I hate being cold:( We are still at Dad Fitch's, camped out in the basement, settled in a bit more. He has been gone, mountain lion hunting in Montana and is due back tomorrow night. Detroit Edison did drop off the telephone pole, but sigh... it is still laying on the ground! Jeremy is going to start working on the skirting around the mobile home and get that taken care of. We did end up winterizing the camper and the mobile home the beginning of this week. Can't afford frozen pipes on top of everything else! Homeschooling is going better. I've had a bad migraine most of this week - did get some stronger meds from the Dr. on tuesday, but it still doesn't "take it away", so I've had a harder time getting going in the mornings:) Curt's computer power cord decided to puke 2 nights ago, so we have to get a new one pronto today so he can do yesterday's assignments and not get behind! I've got a bid on SOS for Brooke on Ebay - 3 more days left to see if I get it for a 1/4 of the cost brand new:) We discussed it and decided to go that route for her as well. I sent back the other ABEKA books 2 days ago... Switched on Schoolhouse is nice in that everything is on the computer (books and all), it figures and gives the daily lessons, quizzes, seatwork, tests and grades for each subject. They are responsible for doing each subject lesson for the day. It also gives projects to do as well. I can keep an eye on them and look at what they've done. I can reassign a lesson if I feel they rushed through it or aren't getting it. Much less stressful for me (and them)! Delta has a homeschool friday thing that I am going to check into as well - swimming, sports, some hands on chemisry, science, etc. Sounds like a fun way to get away for the day - especially in the winter!

Jeremy and I have to register for Michigan Works this next week and hope to be able to take some online classes towards SOMETHING! I already did the online resume thing and have to look at our folders to see what else we are required to do!

Amber was home last week for Thanksgiving. The Valdez's brought her home and I took her, Francisco and Rachel back on Monday. We left at 3pm after getting the oil changed in the van and got there around 7:30pm, ate at Subway and I left there around 9pm to come home. I took Erin and Lyndsay with me. Erin did pretty good at keeping me awake but at around 10:45pm I got too tired and pulled over at a McDonald's and took a 25 minute power nap, then got a hot fudge sundae and was fine until I got about 30 minutes from home. But, I made it safe and sound at 2:30am. I hope our children realize someday the things we do for them...........already thinking about my trip to take them back on Jan 4th... I am a terrible long distance driver! Hopefully we will be all settled into the mobile home by then and Jeremy will be able to go with me!

Today we are going to go "into town" (millington) and watch their Christmas parade. They also have live reindeer, sleigh rides, etc. So, hopefully I won't freeze to death! Should be fun. Yesterday, Erin was soooo excited to see the snow and wanted to go out, but I have to find boots, etc. At all of our meal prayers yesterday, she thanked GOD for the snow and told him how much she loves Him and the snow - so cute!

So, please keep praying for the power to be hooked up - we are holding out on a tree for another week or so just to see where we will be celebrating Christmas! We could always decorate our stuffed bear in the basement corner with the lights, ornaments, etc.:) Brooke is outside, feeding and watering Steve's mice and lizards. Steve breeds/raises snakes and the mice to feed them. Also has raised lizards in the past but no babies to be had in awhile. Isaac wants a snake real bad and I tell him - he has a bunch - out in Grandpa's barn:) That's close enough to home for me! Well, off to feed everyone breakfast so have a great weekend! God is good ALL the time!

All Moved!!!

Been a busy month... Finally took the last of our things out of Moore Rd. on Thursday, the 19th. I turned the keys in to the realtor on the 20th and the new owners moved in that weekend! We are currently camped out in Steve's basement until Detroit Edison decides to replace the power pole out in front of our barn and hook us up... The septic tank/field is done, the plumbing is all hooked up, the propane tank is now there and hooked up, and the electricity is all set in the barn and to the mobile home. Had to pull a few more permits and junk - everyone wants their money:( But, it is only one step away from being ready for us to move in, finally:) All of our stuff is in there - I work on organizing each time I go over there - we can run the generator, but it would cancel out the warranty on the well and it's expensive, too so we don't do it too much - only for power when we need it (and heat). Yesterday, Jeremy and I bought a stove and microwave for $220.00 and installed it and made sure they worked last night! Our refridgerator is here in Steve's pole barn with our stuff in it... Everything is coming together - we are sleeping in the basement here with mattresses everywhere, an air mattress in the spare bedroom upstairs for Curt and Isaac, and Lyndsay in her playpen downstairs as well. We are living out of suitcases and I still do 2 loads of laundry a day to keep up:) The kids were pulled out of school on the 17th and have been doing busy work during the last 2 weeks while I was at work. We will dive in full speed next week now that we are off work! Our last day at Orion Assembly was yesterday. Monday they started the buildout in Body and it reached us during the 2nd shift on Tuesday. When we came in Wednesday morning, there were no cars in Hard/Soft trim and the mats were all taken out (we had to put them on pallets) and we had to put the 2 drawer cabinets in the trash containers. They released us to leave at 9am after we got together for a group picture. I heard the last car rolled of the line at final at 12:45pm. Sad day for us - no longer employed. We will be off atleast 1 year to 18 months. See my facebook page for some pictures I took with my cell phone. Brooke had her EEG redone last weekend and the neurologist called me yesterday to say that she was having more "generalized activity" that indicates more seizures could happen. He asked if she'd had anymore (not that we KNOW of...), and said he wouldn't put her on meds just yet. We will go and see him on dec 21st. UGH... I of course had 50 questions after I got off the phone with him!

We are having a thanksgiving dinner here by ourselves this year - we needed a day just to relax and spend some "chilling out" time together as a family. Steve went to the mission in Flint and off to dinner with Sherry and we put one of the turkeys we raised last year in the oven this morning. I am going to clean up now, then start getting a few pies ready for the oven as well! Amber got home tuesday night - we picked her up in Clio and we are enjoying having her home! I take them all back (the Valdez's, too) on Monday. So much fun! I love my kids and husband!

Have a great turkey day and I will post some pictures soon! God Bless!

September? October is gone, too!

Wow- hard to believe another month has gone by! We have been busy! The mobile home was moved, it is pretty much set in place - we still have to tie it down and put skirting on it, hook up the plumbing, water, and heat:) Still a lot to do! Our well was installed the beginning of the week, the electrician has been working on his part of it, then we have to wait for Detroit Edison to hook up to the box from the road - they have to put in a whole new pole with transformer, etc. That is the part that makes us nervous - they don't hurry - they take their time according to everyone we talk to! We ran into a little trouble with Tuscola County when the electrician went to pull his permit. Apparently we didn't know we had to ok everything and pull permits with Millington Township and Tuscola County. We thought we were doing everything right, but found out different. Everyone wants a piece of the pie (money) from us and won't let us live there until it is all done, inspected and approved after paying big bucks to everyone. Oh well, God is good all the time and we will get there, just taking a little longer:) We have spent the night there a few nights after moving a trailer load over there each weekend. Our barn loft is getting loaded! We have most of the little things from the house over there along with some furniture. Jeremy and I moved our bed there and are using Amber's full size bed here for now. We moved one nightstand and one of our couches and some rocking chairs as well as one of our tables from the kitchen and bookshelves. I packed a bunch of kitchen stuff and left things for us to use this next week until we make the "BIG MOVE" and unpacked it at the mobile home last night. We moved a lot of stuff from the red shed last night and plan on doing the rest tomorrow after church and then there is the rest of the garage!!! Thursday or Friday we will be moving the rest of the house/furniture/animals, etc. We will camp out with Dad Fitch's for a bit until everything is A-O-K and hooked up! The septic field/tank will be going in in the next few days. So, bit by bit, some fast, some slow, but things are getting done!!! It is so nice being out there and looking out the windows at the beautiful view and marveling at God's handiwork!!! We appreciate the generator giving us most of the comforts of home except waking up at 5am and having to make my way to the camper when nature calls:) I have fought a migraine since Thursday morning. I ended up in medical the last hour of the day Thursday because I was so sick to my stomach! I can medicate and feel a bit better and function but then it comes back full force and pretty much knocks me out again. I woke up in the middle of the night last night with it back full force and ended up getting some things done before having to lay down for awhile to feel better!!! Too much stress! My eyeballs hurt! I did help unload the trailer today and operate the backhoe lifting the stuff up to the ceiling in the barn so Jeremy could unload it 14 feet in the air! I get nervous climbing the ladder to get up there and don't know how I'm going to get up there to sort through clothes and things when I need to! Jeremy's dad gave us carpet from 2 of his bedrooms and one fit in the girls' room perfect and we picked up the other tonight to put into the boys' room! We bought cheap carpet from Menards for the living room, hall and our bedroom and tile for the kitchen, dining room and back hall. Jeremy installed all of that and it looks great! He had to replace some bad spots in the subfloor and the kids' bathroom still needs the floor redone, and a vanity installed, and eventually a new tub, but that's for later after we move in and are laid off and have time... So, it's been an exciting month seeing all of the changes. We have til the 22nd to be out of our house, but are planning on being out by next weekend because we are off next week then work 2 more weeks before being laid off for good. Next week will be the kids' last week at school and then I am the teacher! Erin isn't too thrilled at times with that idea - she loves school but everyone else is excited! Just hoping I can fill the bill! I am excited about being home with everyone and homeschooling, too. It's something I've always wanted to do and now have the opportunity! We also plan on using the Michigan Works offer for some money towards education. I plan on doing something with Medical Transcription/Billing and Jeremy is working towards getting his construction/builder license. So, we will be keeping busy. Brooke has been doing great with Gent - he's doing so much better! She is having her EEG redone on the 20th of November. I removed the wires and box and the left cable wasn't even hooked up... It was quite the contraption. She was being video taped the whole time as well! Curt is Curt - loves playing the video games, bought an Xbox 360 with birthday/christmas money he's been saving for quite awhile. Isaac loves watching him. He's doing great in school so far - all A's! He is looking different as his permanent teeth are coming in! Erin is quite the kid - loves loves school and is now writing her name on everything! She loves to read and play with barbies now! That was her birthday request this year! Amber came home the weekend of the 10th for a wedding and we celebrated Erin's birthday that weekend. She was so happy Amber came home for her birthday! Amber is busy this year and has lots more homework, etc. She is working as a teacher's assistant for her scholarship deal and loving it and is sooo happy Francisco is there this year, too! Lyndsay is just too cute! She has boo-boo's now and likes for me to kiss them better. She loves her babies and her blanket and has to carry both everywhere with her! At the mobile home last weekend we weathered well in the big wind storm but had Isaac, Erin and Lyndsay in bed with us - all three snore, kick and grit their teeth - YUCK! I was dreaming about Dorothy and the wizard of oz....

Have a great Lord's day everyone! I'll post pictures later this week!

Friday....

Hi there folks! Getting ready to go to bed, but thought I'd update my blog a little more faithfully:) Not to mention we'll be laid off soon and have more time! This week was busy - Monday played hooky from work, took a personal day and finished painting at the mobile home - 3 bedrooms are done now. We went out there Tuesday night to finish that and Jeremy worked on the flooring. Wednesday and Thursday too tired, stayed home and did house stuff, tried to catch up on rest. Thursday night I cleaned house and made cookies (along with homemade canned salsa) to send down to Amber with her dad and Michelle who went to visit her for the weekend. Have a little "gut bug" going through the house this week and chest colds maybe for Erin, Curt and Jeremy. Lyndsay and I have the "gut bug" but it's gotten better through the week. Lyndsay now tells me when she's gone potty in her diaper and runs to get one, gets very upset when I don't change her right away. She will sit on the potty happily and looks way too tiny up there! Most kids are scared at first, but not her! She has been miss trouble lately - getting into everything! Got into something in Brooke's room last night and it hasn't come out of her hair yet! Had to put it in a ponytail today - still greasy! Today, we took care of some banking this morning, then went to town and bought the tile and carpet for the mobile home. Jeremy took it out there and unloaded, I got the kids from school and met him at the title insurance office to CLOSE ON OUR HOUSE! After that, we went to his grandparents house to remove their air conditioners, eat dinner and celebrate Great Grandma's birthday. On the way home tonight we were talking about how wierd it was, going home to a house that we no longer own!!! Once we get the flooring done and installed, we can start moving in. Lord willing, we will be starting on the well and septic and power in the next week so we don't have to live amish style til it gets put in:) So, that's it for now (I think that's enough:) - have a great weekend until next time! I will update again later. Chris

Our home sweet home!

Got it in there!

Getting ready to slide the expando out - see the floor!

backing it in to it's spot! See how the camper looks so small back there!

Coming into the driveway - look it's tipping - scary moment!

trailer moving day... and a few pictures from work

waiting to come into our driveway

turning onto M-15

Got it onto the street in the mobile home park!

This is the expando - it slid into the living room/kitchen and the floor folded up to cover it...

starting to move finally!

updates, updates...

Hello there! Well, the mobile home is now at ____ Sheridan Rd. in Millington:) We are now going to be working on painting and flooring so it will be ready to move into the week of November 9th! It makes our camper look really small:) My dad and Heather came out on Monday and got to the property right when they got there with the mobile home... So, they got to see it come down the driveway. Jeremy's Dad and Sherry were there to help as well and help they did! Thank you! Moving the expando out was a little tricky but not as hard as I thought it would be! It was scary for a moment - looked real tippy:) Tuesday was a rough day at work - I was very very tired from being outside in the cold all day Monday (didn't get home til 9pm that night) and had a hard time at work. I almost fell asleep standing up a few times and didn't know if I would make it through the 10 hour day! So, Tuesday night, I took Brooke to the barn to ride and went to get groceries in Vassar while she was there being watched by Leah... Then, back to pick her up and head home and we made it into bed at 9:40pm!!! So, Wednesday I felt a little better! At work, we usually hear "rumors" about any scheduling changes before they actually announce any. After our first break that morning, breaking news came across our andon board - "due to market conditions, Orion will be down (laid off) for the week of November 9th! Boy, when it rains it pours! Being laid off for one week is a bummer - it just messes up pay periods, etc. Had to go out to Millington that night to seal up the mobile home a bit better because we had pulled the expando out but the corners still had to be covered up and it was supposed to rain. The kids played outside and had some good oldfashioned fun! Can't wait to move out there! Thursday the boys and Jeremy had haircuts and I took Brooke out to the barn again and got home early but stayed up late catching up on house stuff! Got up early this morning because Jeremy and I met our loan officer at Greenstone in Lapeer at 8am. I stayed for 30 minutes but then left with Brooke and Lyndsay to get her to Ann Arbor appointment at 10am. It took them an hour to get her all hooked up and give us instructions on the video equipment and off towards home we went! We got home about 12:40pm and I spent a lot of time on the phone, learning that we will be called on Monday to set the closing date for our house (YIPPEE!). All is going great on that end! One good thing about being laid off the week of November 9th is that we will be able to move that week easily! Today I worked on the basement a bit and took some more packed boxes out to the garage and put some by the front door to take in the trailer tomorrow out to the property!

This morning, Jeremy went to the property after the bank appointment to meet his mom and Len there - they were very generous with their time and went out there to paint a room in the mobile home! I can't wait to see it and am soooo thankful for their help! We are going out there first thing in the morning to keep on going!

Brooke is all hooked up and spending most of the time in her room, watching movies and eating! LOL! She has all kinds of wires on her head and is bandaged up and looks like she has a helmet on:) She has a box to hook up to a video box (she can disconnect and come up to use facilities, etc.) So, there is video and sound being recorded 24/7 unless she unplugs. So, there is about 4 foot of cable that allows her some room to move! I might have to wait until she falls asleep to get a picture but I will be nice and not post it for everyone to see! So, she is enjoying her quiet time in "the cave"! I have to change the batteries after 24 hours and we can remove the wires and disconnect Sunday morning. Jerry is taking the equipment back to Ann Arbor Monday morning for me so I didn't have to take off work for that.

So, here are some pictures of the move. I will post more pictures of the inside after we paint some more to show the difference a little bit of paint can make!

Have a great weekend! Chris

more trailer

notice the expando is in - front door is in the living room

the outside before the decks are torn off and the expando moved in

from the front

from the front hall looking into the living room/kitchen

the second bathroom

Soon to be home sweet mobile home:)

the front bedroom

The third bedroom for the boys!

the master bath garden tub!

The master bedroom

the living room/entry way

pics

The mobile home - living room/entryway and kitchen. Expando is to the left giving it much more room! Lyndsay and Isaac getting ready to work!

Lyndsay loves shoes!

Curt shaving for the first time!

What a handsome young man! I won't tell you that he came out with his arms shaved as well:)

Hayride time!