One Sick Little Puppy

I knew it was too good to be true. I should have kept my thoughts to myself. I could just kick myself.

Thursday Michael and I stood in line for his H1N1 for 2 hours and five minutes...you know it is a long 125 minutes for all those involved. It wasn't a pretty site. But we did get to go to Sonic for dinner. We ever got to sit outside the car at the little tables. Everything was going pretty well until Sunday night...fever hit and it has been downhill since. Yesterday we ended up in the doctors office. We left with probably more germs that when we entered, a breathing treatment (we ever got to keep all the plastic piling and stuff for the nebulizer), an antibiotic and instructions to treat the asthma more aggressively while Michael has a cold...which also equals an ear infection and instructions for no swimming lessons or school for the rest of the week! Every four hours from now until cold season is over Michael will be sitting taking a breathing treatment somewhere. But the good part is that he really doesn't mind as long as he has something to keep him busy...a book, his DS or some Legos. Wish us luck!

Halloween Alphabet

Last week after out time at the Corn Maze we went to Kroger to get out pumpkins for carving $2.99 was way better than $8 a piece.We decided what patterns we were going to use....created just a little bit with stencils or we would still be working on them. Michael was in charge of choosing what went on the front of each pumpkin. Emmy was the queen guts-getter-outer and I was the cutter-outer.Michael was the official holder. He HATES that gross stuff inside and there is no way he is going to touch it. If I remember right his 4 year old preschool teacher made him stick his hand in the guts!

Luke let me borrow his library book from school...BOO! Halloween Poems and Limericks by Patricia Hubbell. I thought it was appropriate and the pictures are of our Jack-O-Lanterns and Trick -or-Treaters. (But we were missing our buddy Luke)

A for Attics, Awed, Afraid, Apples in a tub.B for Bobbing, Bats, Brooms. BOO!C for Cats and Creepy.D for Doughnuts, Devils,Dark.E for EEEEEEEEK! And Eerie.F for Fright and Fear and Flee.G for Ghosts and Goblins.H for Hats and Haunt and Help!I for poor old Me.J for Jack-o-lanterns. Jump. Jump, jump, jump away!K for Knock, and Keep me safe.L for Let me be!M for Monsters, Moans, and Masks. Moon and Mischief. Magic.N for Nightmares, No! No! No! Night as dark as pitch.O for OH! Just Oh! Oh! Oh! Ohhhhhhhhh! I saw a witch.P for Pumpkins, Plain and carved.Q for Quiet! Quaking!Rfor Rats and Rattle. ROOOOOAAAAAR! Rap, rap, rap, upon the door.S for Scared. Shudder. Shake. Screams and Shivery Shadows.T for Trick or Treat, and Trolls.U for Ugh! Up there!V for Vampires and for Vats, and Very Very shaky.W for Werewolf, Wizard, Whoooooooooosh! Witch, and Who? What? Where?X for eXtra scared. That's me.Y for You are too.Z for ZZZZZZZZZZZ. Home safe. Home free. Curled in bed. Asleep ZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

First house

Last "house"

My Little Friends

Just thought all of you out there in Blogville would like to meet some of my little freinds.

The View

While I am sitting on the porch of I lean forward jsut a bit and look up this is what I see.And if the setting on my camera are right...I can get these vivid colors everytime! What a way to start the day!

Corn Maze

Today was a perfect day to tackle a corn maze. So off we went! Michael was all over it. He decided that we would have a team of boys and a team of girls. We would just see who was the best...Boy's Rule...Girls Drool...As any good thing, you must first go thru the maze of things available before you get to your destination. We by passed everything but couldn't miss the big horses drawing the wagon. And no...we did not ride. We held fast to our agreement...the Maze and then Kroger for our $2.99 pumpkins (they are $9 at the pumpkin farm). Emmy and Michael got us set up with our clue sheets. You have a little scorecard thingie and when you come to a Jack-O-Lantern it has clues. The right answer sends you down the correct path and out of the maze easily. Here are what the clues looked like.


If you are wondering about you pumpkin IQ, you can click on the picture to make it bigger to read the questions. Good luck.
There was a little chasing going on.

FYI...the girls got a ll the clues first but the boys (Michael) got to the finish first. So I am saying it was a tie but of course Michael says the boys won. NOT

UC Homecoming

A few weeks ago our neighbor asked if we would like to use there football tickets because Bill was going to be in Kenya and Kay was going to visit her daughter in Indiana. Heck yes! Little did we know until the day before that it was Homecoming. So off we went to find the parking garage and our seats.The game is getting ready to start. Notice all the pink. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and some of the players were showing their support by wearing pink shoes, pink gloves and pink things on their arms.We had great seats...almost right on the 50 yard line and 10 or so rows from the top under the Press Box. I even had a open seat next to me. One of the traditions is for the band to run down the aisles in the student section to get to the field. That was pretty cool. The student section was filled and boy were they loud.All of a sudden we saw parachuters bringing in three different flags. And there were lots of GI Joes (actually ROTC) all around the stadium.This flag was HUGE. And then there was the Alumni Band. I think they said there were 8 different classes represented. About 100 strong. And if you look closely you will see a little old man with a white hat. I thought he was the drum major...oh, no...he was the featured twirler! He was so cute. He got a standing Ovation...he had to have been in his 80's. He moved pretty good...and he still had the twirling skills.I loved these flags! I can only imagine how heavy they are and hard it must be to carry them around!There were lots of extra things going on...ESPN was there, largest crowd ever, the basketball team has been invited to Maui to play in a tournament and the football team is ranked 9th in the nation. How about that? I think if our neighbors ever go out of town again...we will volunteer to take the tickets.

Double Nickles

Today is my birthday..55..double nickles. All week I have been thinking of my life and where I have been and where I want to go. I have had a 'Bucket List' in my head for a long time. Some of the things are very serious and I don't think anyone knows my desires as they are concerned. Some of the items are just fun.

My Bucket List

• grow my own crop of strawberries


• take an Alaskan cruise and whale watch


• vacation in Hawaii (check)


• find my older brother's grave


• finish a marathon (check)


• live in a log cabin on a farm in Asheville, NC (with a goat)


• learn to fly fish (working on this one)


• discover a hummingbird nest (always searching)


• ake a difference in the lives of as many kids as I can (check, check and check)


• drive from the east coast to the west coast...do the USA loop


• learn to quilt (check, but still learning)


• own an 'old school' yellow convertible VW bug

I wonder down the road if I will think some of these things on the list are silly? I wonder if I will add more? Just thinking if I am all that I can be? I keep humming a song that I think the children's choir at BHBC did one year. "I am a promise, I am a possibility, I am a promise with a capital P, great big bundle of potentiality. And I am learning to hear God's voice and I am trying to make the right choice. I am a promise to be anything God wants me to be."

Game On

Thanksgiving Day you will not find me in the kitchen. But you will find Mark at the grill...I will be walking in the 100th Thanksgiving Day Race in Cincinnati. We have helped with the race in the past and now Emmy, Erika and I are walking...no matter what the weather. I can smell those steaks on the grill now!

Not So Sneaky Snake

Emmy was pulling out of the driveway yesterday and found this snake. She called me from her cell phone at the end of the driveway and told me there was a snake...a big one...come and get it. Thank heavens the little girls were sleeping. I ran out with a glass vase and some cardboard out of the recycling bin....oh, and a pair, thick pair of gardening gloves. Brave Emmy caught the very stunned and slightly injured snake...I think it go hit...must have been sunning himself on the blacktop at the end of the driveway. Cassie called a little later and I told her about the snake saga. Ellis wants pictures.... so here you go buddy...Sneaky Snake's capture and release...







Garter snake, harmless snake of the genus Thamnophis, abundant from Canada to Central America. There are many common species; members of most species are about 2 ft (60 cm) long. Most garter snakes are striped or banded lengthwise, and some are spotted between the stripes. Less aquatic as a group than the related water snakes, they are found near water in dry country and are widely distributed in moist regions. They prey on cold-blooded animals, chiefly frogs, toads, small fish, and earthworms. Females bear live young in large litters, sometimes numbering 50 or more. The common garter snake of the NE United States, Thamnophis sirtalis, varies in color and pattern but is usually blackish or brownish with three yellow stripes. The ribbon snake, T. sauritus, is a very slender garter snake that prefers wet places. Garter snakes are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Reptilia, order Squamata, family Colubridae.
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Second Grader

Look what came home in the backpack on Friday...I think this is the best smile ever!

Adventure at Hocking Hills

Emmy has been talking about wanting to go to Hocking Hills. Mark was up for the marathon trip. Michael was bored...go figure. And I wanted to try out the settings on the camera. In usual Ellis Family fashion, the trip there was filled with the long way around, food, potty stops, snacks, a little complaining, sleeping and frequent stops at apple orchards and such, stops to eat, site seeing and making fun of one person in the car...wonder who that was? This was our first encounter with the rocks...huge one hanging right over the road. Also in this area we saw a dark and creepy cave.

See, I told you it was right over the road. If you think that is impressive...just wait!

Getting prepped for the hike down the mountain.

This is just a little bit of what we saw on the way down the path.

Can a girl get a little help here?

Mark had to find his own way down...Joy, I keep thinking of the time we went hiking and someone got injured?

Emmy is trying to convince Michael that there are no bears in the caves. He wasn't to sure about all these caves.

Grand Daddy Rock

I think he just discovered another way to get to the next place we needed to go.

Emmy decided that she should have a turn with the camera. I know she took 50 shots of us. This was the only one that turned out. When I smile my eyes disappear. At least you can't see my double chin!

My hands were tingling and my palms were sweating...I was so afraid that someone was going to fall into the deep cavern below.

I love this shot for so many reasons.

Michael found cave writings and all different colors. Not to mention lots of bird poop.

Didn't see any trolls.

I love this one...don't we just look like two old people out for an afternoon stroll i n the woods?

It's official...you saw it first here...
Emmy is a real tree-hugger.

These are beautiful hills but nothing compares to the WV hills of my youth.

"Oh, how majestic and how grand." Only these are in Ohio.

Alaire is Two Already?

There is no stinkin way that she turned two last week! It just isn't possible! But she wears her crown everywhere proudly to prove that she is two. And what a birthday celebration she had. You can read all about it on Cassie's blog.

A Few Weeks Worth

Since our computer has been out of commission I haven't been able to do anything in the way of blogging. So today while everyone is either at work, watching a movie, "watching football" or at the movies...I am playing catch up. Our fun over the last week...
willing to share








please, read to me













not feeling so good








what's in this box?













LOVE my new hat








I love this music...Wammy's not very good at it














I am really serious about my books














let's just get it all out









"Aunt Sarah" did you come to p lay?













I just had to have my turn with the hat...

Amazing Minds

Terry and Trevor took us to Marshall to the old library to check out Tevor and his friends as they prepare for a Lego Competition. First of all I must say that the sponsor is a very patient and calm man. The lady that runs the "boys" is totally off her rocker but the kids seem to love her. Just by observing, I would say that she must be ADD, ADHD,OCD...and may more off medication. She is so full of vigor and excitement you get tired jsut watching. But the kids love her and they feed off her intellegence.I think waht impressed me most was the problem solving skills these boys have developed. Each one is off the charts smart and their vocabulary demonstrates t his. Some adults should take a lesson from these kids. They listen and agree to disagree and then put all theri suggestions into play and the idea that works...team work and being able to communicate respectufully is the key.
I wanted to put a shpot of thier robot but I was afraid that some other team might teal theri idea. (Like they would be reading the blog...but you never know) I can hardly wait to hear how the competition goes...hope someone will let me know. Good Luck guys!

Apple Butter Weekend

Michael and I were the only ones that could makes the trip to WV this year...seems that thing called work got in the way with the other family members. There are so many good shots that I just had to make a slide show. Hope you enjoy it. We had a blast! I really didn't see Michael ...he was off helping make cider, eating pumpkin ice cream, taking hayrides, playing football with the big kids, playing under the house, eating, running with new friends, resting on the hammock...and all those other things little boys can do while they are in the country at the 'Apple Butter Festible.'

'Saved and Sick'

Chrissy's very, very proud Mom sent this to me in an email this morning. I wish you could know Chrissy before and after. She has always been a Child of God and had no problem expressing that fact to others. She was a loud and crazy, sometimes stubborn teenager. But the Chrissy I see now is a very mature woman with deep thoughts and deeper values. As I read this article that was printed in Christian Century Magazine in Chicago I smiled, laughed, and of course cried. Chrissy you amaze me! And I, like you parents, am so very, very proud of you in so many ways!


September 27, 2009
James 5:13-20 Mark 9:38-50
“Saved and Sick”
Christine R. Bartholomew
Youth Minister at First Baptist Church of Oak Park, IL
136 Elgin Ave.
Forest Park, IL 60130

“The prayers of faith will save the sick.” —James 5:15a
The Lord taught me how to pray when I became sick. The Lord changed my faith in my sickness. The Lord gave me a present faith in my time of need. The Lord gave me the certainty of being saved through pain.
I can still remember the sad, soul sick prayer I made when I realized that my hair was falling out from chemotherapy treatment. I held myself up against the wall and sobbed, “This is too much.”
The silence answered, “Where does my strength come from?”
I responded, “From the Lord, but this is still too much.”
Now the Lord heard my prayer, but he did not make my hair grow back or take the lupus from my DNA. The Lord heard my prayer and saved me. What is it to be “saved” when you are sick?
The Lord saved me in my time of sickness and need. He sent me friends and family who did all they could. The Lord also saved me with laughter. Laughter is a gift. It is the uncontrollable spasm of air and noise that heals and cures so many intangible things. The Lord heard my prayers. The Lord heard my laughter.
During one of my infusions I got in a little bit of trouble with one of my nurses due to all my laughter. I found the best way to do chemo was to come armed. I was armed with my faith, friends, and delightful distractions. I always felt love and hope with my friends gathered around me, and I forgot about the poison that was being pumped into me. The jokes my friends told I have forgotten, but the feeling of laughter and peace I had I will never be able to forget.
One day during a treatment we were laughing a little too hard, and a nurse came storming over to us and said, “Shhh! There are sick people here!”
Without skipping a beat, with my bald head and I.V. sticking out of my arm I asked, “Then what am I?”
She had no response for that, but I know what I am. I am a child of God. I am loved and saved through Christ. The Holy Spirit moves through me and was in every hospital room I was in. The Spirit was in that room as we laughed. My friends’ laughter turned into the prayers of the faithful. I am not a sick person for faithful people have prayed over me. I am not a sick person because I can still laugh. I am saved. I am saved from my fear of death through the death of Christ.
Even now, one year after my successful completion of chemo, I still carry a dormant disease within my body. I have had to develop my own theology of sickness. What happens to our bodies we must reconcile with God. It becomes part of you and your understanding of God. My God loves me and does not want me to be in pain, but he uses all things to his glory and will use my weaknesses.
I know my God can do anything, but I find myself staying away from healing services. It is not that I am averse to people praying over my healing. I have had many people lay their hands of healing on me and talk with our Lord. I have even had literal anointing oil put on my head. But I do stay away from the charismatic services that call for people to get out of their wheelchairs and walk. I stay away from places where people would be tempted to ask the Lord to take the lupus out of my body. I stay away from those services because I fear that there they cannot see that I am already saved. I do not want them to be disappointed and doubt our God if my lupus attacks my body again. I am saved even if a lifelong disease like lupus stays in my body. God is still to be glorified if I am sick. God is still the great creator. God is still good. They sometimes cannot see that God works in spite of this body. It is through this broken vessel that he demands I be formed for his purposes.
Sometimes He uses our weaknesses as a way of refining us and bringing about change that makes us able to walk a little closer with him. “For everyone will be salted with fire” (Mark 9:49). It is through the fire of pain and suffering that we gain our depth, our flavor, our salt. Through all the pain I have suffered, I got the gift of God’s undeniable presence. His Spirit clearly walked into rooms, sat beside my bedside, and held my hand. I was changed. The change that God brings is to refine us. To burn away all the things of this world that get between us and God.
I have a favorite wild flower that grows in the hills of the Appalachians. It is called Queen Ann’s Lace. It has a beautiful big white blossom with a small red dot directly in the center of it. The rare thing about this flower is that it cannot blossom unless it gets infested with bugs. It cannot become all that the Lord created it to be unless it allows the bugs to enter it and coerce the blossom to open. We are like Queen Ann’s Lace. We cannot become all that God has planned for us to be if we do not allow the bugs to come in and help change us. God uses the bugs in our life to help us blossom.
God is constantly refining us with fire. Your fire might be that of conflict, persecution, or sacrifice. It is these things that happen in our lives that change us and draw us closer to God. This is a work of sanctification, not salvation. We walk into heaven suffering, limp, and lame from the battle that was earth. But we walk tall, for we know that we have been saved.

Wednesdays Doodlebugs

Do you think she might just be trying to tell me something? Actually I was changing Little Ms M's diaper and she decided to snag her diaper and run away. It is a new game that she is starting to play...see if you can catch me because I am not coming where you want me to! And they both love my little rocker from when I was a little girl. Allyson just fits. It is still a little bit of a struggle for Little Ms. M to get into.


And oh how she loves Michael's 'big Legos'...not so much for building and constructing but for just plain chewing. Good thing preschool taught me about using bleach water in a spray bottle. Mrs. Wolf would be proud!

Can You Guess

I have a new found blog...thank you Emmy...some days I think she thinks she has created a monster...FREECYCLE.ORG I am telling you right now if you have the time, check it out, you will be amazed at what is to be had. In a nutshell it is a website (green, of course) all over the world where people offer things for free. So far we have gotten wine bottles, fencing, a nice Pack and Play, two 8 foot wooden louvered doors and the following...original documentation stamped on the back

manufacturing company label

front of cabinet label

flour bin (missing the handle)

built in flour sifter

graniteware counter top

metal bread drawer

Antique Vintage Hoosier Kitchen Cabinet Hoosier

I got an email that someone in Reading, OH...which is 30 minutes or so... away was giving this away. I had no idea what it really was...the email said oak kitchen cabinet. What the heck, I'll bite. And I am so glad that I did! Mark, Michael and I went piled in the truck...snuggly...and off we went in the pouring rain. We found the house with no problem. The little man was so nice. He is selling his house in OH and moving to Asheville, NC (I asked him if I could go with him) to retire. I was so thrilled I sent pics to Mark's Dad who knows a thing or two about antiques. He went to his 14th Street sources and found out that it is actually made of birch and could be worth anywhere from $200-$800. It has a desk roll top that we have to figure out how to fix. I don't care. For now it is in the basement being cleaned and I plan to use it to store diaper, wipes, hand sanitizer, snacks, books...and anything thing else I can fit in it. I love it but there are years and years of grease and grime to clean off. I think I might have to use an electric drill with a large brush attached or a blow torch.

The Nina and Pinta

Last weekend before these replicas of the Nina and Pinta sailed on down the river to Huntington we took a little family road trip (Emmy and Michael weren't very thrilled with the idea at all)to the banks of the Mighty Ohio.
This Nina is the most historically accurate Columbus Replica ship ever built. It is 65 feet in length and weighs 75 tons. Columbus sailed this little ship over 25,ooo miles. The original Nina said last in 1501. I was shocked at how small this ship was.
The Pinta is a little bit bigger weighing in at 101 tons and 85 feet long. It has almost double the sail area as the Nina. (I so much wanted to see the sails up but no not this time). The Pinta was recently built in Brazil.

If you would like to learn more click here.



Michael chose not to take any pictures of these ships. He instead took a few pictures of the Stern Wheelers. So check him out.

No Harvest Moon

Once again the clouds covered the moon. We had gone back to the Planetarium to have a glance at the Harvest Moon thru the big telescopes and dinner on the lawn. Another heavy blanket of clouds. Nate decided it would be cool to strike a pose.
All Michael wanted to do was get out of the hot van and roll in the cold grass...not a great thing for him to be doing. Emmy, Nate and Michael were having all kind of races and I was trying to figure out how to take actions shots in the dark. All of a sudden I hear a thunk...like two pumpkins rolling into each other...it was two heads making direct contact. I thought we were going o have to roll Emmy back to the car. Nate's head is so hard (he's in Middle School) that it didn't bother him at all . We googled moons and found out there are many different moons...Next month there will be another Harvest Moon...another try...Then there was this great 'photo shoot'. As you can see Michael was totally disgusted and Emmy and Nate thought it was hilarious. Oh my...are they singing songs from 'The Wizard of Oz'? They tried to teach Michael the official Oz walk. He wasn't interested at all.

Guess we will ba back in a month to try again.