Girls' Weekend

I got to go on a girls' weekend this past weekend. I met three of the girls I grew up with in Pittsburgh, which was relatively central for all of us. We had an amazing deal on a hotel room that included a little kitchen area. We wandered around the city, rode in an original 1877 cable car on the Duquesne Incline (below is a pic from their website), ate at fun restaurants and walked near the river.


We also enjoyed pedicures and lots of Starbucks - treats suitable to a girls' weekend.

Unfortunately, soon after leaving the hotel Saturday morning my camera battery died, and with no way to charge it until we got back late that evening, I took almost no pictures. I'm counting on my girlfriends to supply me with theirs. I got the one below from one of their Facebook pages. This is us in the incline cable car. Me, Alenna, Alvana & Amy.

Four of My Favorite Things

Photography. Friends. Pregnant Bellies. Photoshop.

My friend Natalie asked me to take some pictures of her while she's pregnant with their second. I was thrilled to do it, it combined four of my favorite things! I got to take pics of her and her little boy and belly, then play with them on Photoshop some too. Here are a few of my favorites. Most of them are ones I've "played with" on Photoshop.

Changes

Jeff got laid off today. His boss called early this morning to tell him. It's due to Kodak's financial situation only, and Jeff's direct superior had no say in it. It's effective immediately, although we believe they are giving him a small severance that includes a few weeks of pay and benefits. We were in shock at first, but right now we're doing okay. I can't speak for Jeff, but in between moments of calm and faith I am continually being struck by something else I hadn't thought of. For example, we'll be losing one of our vehicles - it's a company vehicle. And is it even possible to get a loan for a new one when you're unemployed? The good thing is that God has thought of all of it already. I have NO idea what His plan is, but I know He has one.

Can someone please remind me of that in a few minutes when I get anxious again???

Hocking Hills

Some of my friends' kids who are already in school are on spring break this week, so a few of us decided to head down to Hocking Hills to hike on Wednesday.

The day turned out perfect, the kids did great and the weather was nice. It was beautiful, and with six little kids running around and climbing (and one in a snugli), you can bet I took a ton of pictures.

Look close at the little green coat just to the right of center, that's Roman. The rocks are HUGE:




Logan & Trey holding up one of the big rocks:Logan, Trey, Brianna, Roman, Katie, Lauren:
DANGER KEEP OUT. Hmmm, not good listeners??? (Of course, I took this pic right before going over there with them!

Roman and Lauren at the end of the hike:

Easter Eggs

We dyed Easter Eggs the other night. That is so fun. Jeff said that in his family it was something they did the night before. I don't remember if we did it then or sooner, but we decided that in the future we'll do the night before too. It seems like a fun tradition.

At our cell group last night our leader had a cool thing he included the kids in - he handed out Easter Eggs to each of them and as he went through the Easter story (at their level) he had them open their eggs one at a time in order (they were numbered). Each child found something inside the represented the next part of the story. For example, there were silver coins for the part in the story when Judas was bribed, a mini crown of thorns in another, a cross in one, and the last one was empty to represent that Jesus' body was gone. It was such a neat demonstration, I've never seen it done like that.

Anyway, here are a few pics from Easter Egg dying.

Spring!

Spring is here and I love it. It makes me feel so happy and hopeful to see things turning green and new things sprouting. Here are some recent pics of what we've been doing. I have to say though, I've noticed I have lots of pics of us out in the woods, where we are in old clothes... we really do have some better clothes, we just don't wear them in the woods! :)


The deer have been very active these past few weeks, here are some in our back field.


Here are the boys down by the creek.


Some adorable little flowers peeking their heads through the old leaves.


My friend Monica came over with her girls the other day to explore in the woods with us. This is her little peanut - how cute is she!??!


Here is me with both of the girls and Roman. We were relaxing in the hammock after our walk in the woods.