Yep

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaack.


Yeah I know, without warning, I went MIA from blogger but initially I had a good reason - really. After that, I was just lazy, and busy with life. It started October (now this is the part where I had an excuse) when I went to the hospital for an “overnite” surgery that was supposed to be a breeze. Turned out it more like a hurricane, and my two nights in the hospital were followed by about 5 days at home that I did NOTHING all day, let alone go online. I then spent a few days wading through a weeks worth of email and had little “me time” left over to blog. Then we had lots of little stuff going on that just demanded our full attention, so blogger took a back burner. There’s really been too much that’s happened in the last month to try and attempt to blog about them in full, so I’ll give y’all a brief summary:


* The boys joined church choir, and the three of us are also practicing for the Christmas presentation at church. Harry is going to be Joseph (or Joe-fuss as he pronounces it), Skip wanted to be a Shepherd, so that he is gonna be. They’ve managed to get the first 2 verses of Away in a Manger down - and are working hard on the third. "Joy to the World" will never be the same after they learn that one...they're quite a pair!  Neither sings on key, though Skip is miles closer to it…For Harry just learning the words is an accomplishment, so we’ll pass out ear plugs before he sings in front of the entire church!

* Three months after being laid off from his job with Gem Plumbing the end of August, Mike was offered the new position of Managing Director for Ware Right Distributors in E. Bridgewater. I know I didn’t mention to anyone (well hardly anyone) that he had again fallen victim to this crummy economy,, but I figured we’d leave it all in God’s hand to lead him where he wanted him, and not worry about the “what ifs”. Once again, God took care of our needs and led Mike to a job that he is really excited about.  He says it’s the first job he’s had in a long time that truly utilizes his business management skills, and he’s pretty happy!

*The boys have continued to thrive, cementing their relationship a little more each day. They continue to be best friends, and the more Harry understands and can verbalize, the better it gets. They have some pretty cute pretend play conversations with Harry contributing more and more.

*Much to Skip’s relief, our trip to apple orchard in early October seemed to FINALLY loosen one of his bottom teeth. Mind you, I say FINALLY for his benefit, not mine. I’d be happy if the child stopped growing totally so I could enjoy this great age he’s at, but since ALL his friends/relatives his age have already lost teeth, he was sure his would NEVER fall out. Nothing we told him (including the fact that he didn’t get his first tooth till he was almost 11 months old and thus would likely be older than usual when they started to fall out) came as any consolation to him, so the instant one loosened, he began working at it.

* Mike’s birthday came and went, and boys enjoyed helping to make his cake. Although we’re not exchanging any birthday/Christmas/anniversary gifts this year in hopes that we’ll be able to replace the canvas on the boat for next boating season, we did pick up two of his favorites treats from the grocery store so the boys could have something to give him. When we got home I told them to hid the gifts in their drawers so Mike wouldn’t find them, and not to mention ANYTHING to him about the “surprise”. The second Mike walked in the door that night, Harry announced “we got something for you at the store but we can’t tell you because it’s a surprise”… Remind me not to include HIM in any REAL secrets for awhile…

*On November 16th we became grandparents again, when our daughter-in-law Kate gave birth to baby Darren (just a little bit earlier than expected). Darren spent a week in the hospital, but arrived home to his parents (Jason & Kate) and big sister Abby just in time for Thanksgiving! The fact that Darren will now share a birthday with his great-grandpa - Mike’s father -- makes the event even more special. Yet another reason to be thankful this year!

*We celebrated our first Thanksgiving with Harry, and we took the time to reflect on just how much we have to be thankful for. Not just the big, obvious blessings, but the also the small stuff and we often take for granted. Perhaps the most rewarding moment came the Sunday prior, when during a special Thanksgiving Service at Church, Harry stood and announced that he was thankful for his Mommy, Poppa, brothers and sister.

*In early November Mike & I were baptized in a believer’s ceremony at “our” church in Westport - Calvary Bible Church. It was a very emotional experience for us and sharing our salvation story with others was both a proud & humbling experience. I emphasized “our” because a few later we  officially joined the family at Calvary following the morning service. The church community has given so much to our family in the past few years - emotionally and spiritually, so the official welcome was important to us.

*Probably the most important event in Skip's life happened a little over a week ago when his first baby tooth came out - much to his delight and my sadness.  He was sure that his would NEVER fall out since he was the oldest person he knew who hadn't had a visit from the tooth fairy yet, but alas, he has joined the ranks of the toothless. Tooth 2 is quite loose now two, so hopefully (since they HAVE to fall out whether I like it or not) it'll be before Christmas so I can sing "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth" til it drives him insane!

I’m sure I’ve missed a few more “events” but at the moment they escape me. Since last night we put our manger out, in what for us, is the initial (and most important) part of our Christmas celebration, I’m sure to have lots to blog about in the coming weeks. I've been too lazy, for too long, and am determined to get back on track here, and am hoping to blog daily - even it's a few lines about some silly thing we did, saw, said or heard. After the long drought you might even get a flood of posts!

I know, now you're wondering which is worse...drought or flood!