"Pat-a-cake"

My 2 "baker's men" helped me bake and decorate a heart shaped cake for Valentine's Day. They picked out the mix 2 weeks ago when we walked by a display at Target. It had little red sprinkles in it, so appealing to little eyes! They also chose pink frosting and heart sprinkles....and could hardly wait to make it for daddy. So, we got out the ingredients, took turns measuring them (dropped and cracked 2 eggs on the floor....) and baked it. Bradyn learned how to check to see if it was finished baking with a toothpick...then we waited on it to cool, and all got involved in the frosting. As you can see, they concentrated very hard and came up with quite the finished product!

House full of Sick kiddos!

So, this not so wonderful Thursday finds us at home and for the most part, in bed. Our 2 sweet little ones have been sick since Tuesday with stomach bugs and all that goes with that. Hunter caught it first, then me, then Bradyn last night. Ken seems to have escaped without more than a tummy ache...I guess he owes that to the iron stomach that comes from eating ALL of the leftovers that he can dig out of the 'fridge, no matter how old they are. :-P I do wonder sometimes if that doesn't help him, because he seems impervious to stomach flus that the rest of us catch! Anywhozit, we had to miss bible study last night, and the valentine's party that our homeschool group had planned for today. That translates into some pretty bummed kids, but they got a happy surprise just before nap time...Sue showed up with a bag full of valentines for each boy! She had gone to school and collected them when the kids passed them out (for McKenna & Leyton, too, who are also sick). That was extremely thoughtful, and made their day as they dumped the bags and took stock of cards and candy. "Look who loves me, momma!" They went to sleep with grins instead of tears, and this momma appreciates that immensely! So, I am going to go try to bake a cake for Ken for V-Day. Have a good afternooooon!

Update on Ryan as well...

Another quick update for those who have been wondering about my brother, Ryan and his military training. Mom and Dad got a long letter from him a few days ago, and he is hanging in there. Training sounds very difficult, but he is making it through better than most. It sounds like there have been lots of broken bones, AWOL attempts, etc. in his platoon in the last month. He has had pneumonia, and lots of antibiotics and pain killers to get through it. The doctor advised him not to participate in training exercises while he recovered, but of course, he did anyways. He seemed to be getting over that, thankfully!! His platoon has been in a tear gas chamber, learned how to use M16 rifles, antitank rifles, how to rappel, long marches, confidence courses,,,many many things. His body is wearing down from the lack of sleep, hard training, and sickness, but emotionally he is still very strong. He did say the the MRE's they eat are much better than the ones we used to buy from the surplus store. :-) He misses everyone, but is choosing to make a sacrifice so that we can all enjoy the freedoms that we do. We miss him, too, and can't wait til we can go see him on Family Day. He will get a 30 hour pass, so we will have a little time with him. Any prayers for him are appreciated. The photo is Ryan, rappelling down a 60 ft. wall. I am guessing that means he didn't inherit the same dizzying fear of heights that I have!! (edit: Ryan is the one in the center of the photo!)

House....

So, several people have asked us recently how things are coming on our house and the plans to sell. I thought I would post a brief update. As far as the house in IN goes, we spent the last few days cleaning and painting and making it spotless for a showing that was scheduled for last night at 6 pm. NOBODY showed up! Needless to say, we were slightly annoyed. This morning, as we are relaxing and drinking our coffee, they called and said they would like to come tonight instead. Fighting the urge to scream, we agreed, and are now vacuuming again. :-) I suppose we will have to keep things pretty spic n' span around here, anyways. We got all new carpeting for the stairs and the second floor Thursday, too. That was quite a job, because we had to move ALL of our furniture out of the rooms and back in again. I guess now we just wait and see what happens!