Back in the day....

Imagine Christmas

Here is the fabulous rigging team!

The beautiful set!

Best angels...ever!

Debbie was amazing!

Christmas was sooo wonderful this year!! It was a beautiful service. The best part for me was the amazing people I got to meet and serving with the best rigging team ever!!! Now, I'm glad to be home with Malachy.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Links have been updated...Mom and Val added

thanks Kim!

"Super Happy Snowman"

Cirque De Christmas

This is what has been keeping Mark and I very busy lately! Christmas services at Willow. I'm super excited about the service this year. The best way I have heard it explained is...if you were reading the Nativity story to a 5 year old what they would be picturing in their head. If you have ever seen anything cirque it has knid of that spin to it with aerialists, dancers, acrobats, amazing christmas music, some cool effects, and a beautiful set!! If you are from around here I would strongly encourage you to come. It will be like nothing you have ever seen before and it's free! =) But more importantly it will help us remember and be inspired by the wonder and miracle that is God's amazing love shown to us through a little baby.


Service times are:
Thursday, December 21, at 5 and 7:30 p.m.
Friday, December 22, at 5 and 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, December 23, at 2:30, 5 and 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, December 24, at 11:30 a.m., 2 and 4:30 p.m.

Willow is massive and a lot of people attend Christmas services so Willow has adopted an e-ticketing process to help make sure everyone gets seats. The tickets are free you just need to go to the website (www.willowcreek.org) and sign up for them. Then you need to be in your seat 5 mins. before the service starts, or it could be given away. There is overflow but believe me you want to be in the auditorium for this. (all of this is explained at the website)

For those of you who are interested in what Mark and I are doing for the service I will try to explain as best as possible. Mark is leading the Aeriailist Rigging team. We have hired 6 professional aerialists who are being lowered throughout the service. So Mark is leading a team of 7 of us who help the aerialists get in their harnesses, check the safeties, and actually lower them. I'm a part of Mark's team. That's the simple explanation. =)

For those of you who can't make it... Channel 2 here in Chicago will be airing the majority of the service on Christmas eve. I believe that it will air from 11pm-12am so set your tivos! =) I will double check on that for you and update if the time changes. =)

"When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, "Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us." Luke 2:15

I'm still alive

Sorry I have not posted in so long! I have not abondoned this blog I swear! I'm just working a ton! There is a lot of exciting stuff going on at work right now and it is keeping me busy. As much fun as it is, I am looking forward to Jan. and getting back to "normal". Things will get slower for a week or so after this weekend and then hopefully I can post more. =)

Dancing for Joy

I have not posted in a while because I have been catching my breath and celebrating the Holidays. =) It has been such a wonderful week. I was really greatful to see Mom's brothers. Famliy means the world to me, and we so rarely see them. It was a time I will always be thankful for. Si and Sally are two of the warmest people I have ever met and I will never forget how cute Johnny was with Malachy.

As great as it was too see Mom's brothers, it is sooo nice to be home. I missed Mark too much! He has made me so proud this year and I love him to pieces. Thanks for being an amazing Husband Mark! You're the best!

We got to celebrate Thanksgiving with Kim, Mom, and Dad. They brought the food and we did the dishes. =) It worked out well. We had a really relaxed time. Then Kim, Dad, Mark, Malachy, and I went to see Jason and Dee on Friday and that was great as well. We had some awsome dessert and played a card game called golf. I saw Jason and Dee last month for Malachys birthday party but this was much more relaxed and I really enjoyed just being together. I worked this weekend and it was super easy. =) I also got to see Crystal, go shopping, decorate indoors and out for Christmas and clean my garage this weekend! Wow I have been busy but it has all been good.

Here are some pictures uncle John took the other day. He is a great photographer. =)

Here are some random pictures for ya'll. One of the view from the back of our hotel, one of Malachy's ouchie face, one of Malachy and John's wife Barbara laughing at the bird, one of a pretty leaf, and one of Kim and Malachy in John's yard.

We went to Stone Mountain this evenning and had a good time! =) It was a great day! I would tell you more but I'm tired and I'm going to bed now. =)

ouch!!..Updated

I'm a bit of a wreck right now. There was some confusion about our hotel and the red roof inn was like 30 mins away from Eatonton. So Mom put us in a hotel closer that is 90 bucks a night! Figuring all that out was kind of stressfull. The hotel we are in, The Lodge, is nice and we are happy to have a home for 4 nights in a row! When we got here Malachy was helping me put the pop from the cooler in the mini fridge. The Pop was wet from the ice. While putting it away Malachy touched the freezer part. I didn't know what was going on he looked upset and started crying and then screaming. I thought he pinched his fingers in the lid or something so I opened it and pulled his hand away. Turned out his little fingers had frozen to the metal. I ripped off skin and all 4 of his fingers have huge white blisters. He kept saying mommy help, kiss it, make it better all while screaming and crying. We tried to calm him down for 20 minutes and nothing worked. He would just shake andrub his hand and then hold it to mmy mouth saying kiss it. So finally we drove him to CVS to get some ointment and the only time he stoped crying for an extended period was because he feel asleep in the car. He's so sad. We are back at the hotel right now and he's sleeping but he keeps waking up and rubbing his fingers on the bed and then crying and falling back asleep. It's awful! This (to me) is the worst thing in the world to have Malachy hurting and not being able to make it better. Normally he gets over things fast but not this. He's really in pain. I don't know what to do. I'm so sad.

We are suppose to get back to Uncle Johns for dinner soon but there is no way I'm waking the little guy up. He is not hurting while he's asleep and I know he will have the blisters for a couple of days but I hope it will feel somewhat better when he wakes up.

The poor little guy has been stuck in the car or hotel or places where he can't touch anything for 4 days now. I need to have a day all for him where he can run around and be 2 without getting in trouble! Mom and her brothers might take a trip to visit one of their other brothers downstate. I'm hoping Kim and I can take that day to do a Malachy fun day and go to Stone Mountain or something speacil just for him. Pray for Malachy, he has asked to go home several times now and he has 6 day left. Everytime we are in the car he asks me if he can go to the playcenter and go play. I feel like the worst Mom ever.

Sorry if this post is a big downer, it's not all gloom and doom. We are finaly here which is great. Uncle Jonny and Barbara are great. They have a beautiful home and yard. They have 2 doggys that Malachy loves. The rain should be behind us and the weekend is suppose to be 70! It is beautiful here the trees still have their fall colors and there are old farms everywhere! So things can only get better here on out! =)

UPDATE: Malachy had a GREAT time with John and Barbara tonight they were so good to him! We got to see Uncle Si, Aunt Sally, and David tonight as well. So it was a good night. I think Mom is really glad to be here. So all is well! I think we are going to Stone Mountain tomorrow and most importantly Malachy is feeling better! =)

todays adventure...

So at 1 am we awoke to Malachy rolling out of bed and hitting his little face on the ide table on his way down. The bed at the hotel was ridiculously high! Malachy was screaming and streaming blood from his mouth. The nearest hospital was 20 minutes away so we called the paramedics. By the time they arrived Malachy had calmed down a lot and the blood had stoped too. So they said it looked like he cut his inner lip and he would be fine. He has a bruise on his mouth and a bit of a puffy lip but other then that he seemed to have bounced back.

So after getting almost no sleep we ventured out to try and make it to our destination. We didn't. There have been crazy storms here in GA. We were hydroplaining all over the place and the trucks were making it nearly impossible to see. We would drive for 35 minutes and then have too pull over. We did this for like 4 hours and then we decided it wasn't worth it and stoped at a hotel about 30 mins north of Atlanta.

We checked into an econo lodge and got all unpacked and dried off when the phone rang. It was the frot desk and the women next door was complaining that we were too loud! So I went down there and explained to the man at the desk that unpacking wa nothing...jut wait until Malachy wakes up at 12 am and wants a BABA! So I suggested we move and he agreed. Feeling annoyed with the crazy lady we repacked and drug all our stuff to a new room. Upon doing so Mom ran into the lady next door who thanked us for moving and apologized for being so sensitive but her father was just murdered so she was feeling on edge! Yikes!

So we had a bit of a crazy day! It is still rainning. There are flood advisory's and tornado watchs here. Mom and I walked ot the store to get Malachy some milk and we got completely soaked. Kim is out getting us dinner right now and we are staying in.

We are only 2 hours fron our destination and will make it tomorrow! We didn't get to do the lookout mountain stuff because of the rain but we will stop by there on the way home.

Pictures for My Mark iee Poos

Here are bunch of random pictures for my little husband. Today we made it all the wy to Chatanooga TN...I guess we are not making good time. That's ok because we are taking it easy and enjoying ourselves. We hoped to go up lookout Mountain today but we were too warn out when we got here. So if it is not pouring in the morning we will do that before we make our way to Georgia.

The pictures are from dinner at Craker Barrel last night, lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe in Nashville today, a pit stop at a scenic rest area, and a quick swim at the pool here at our hotel. =)










I'm having a good time but Malachy and I still miss you Mark! Only 8 days to go! Mark don't forget to return that stuff at the party store! =) I mis you too Crystal! =)And you too Dad! =)

update...

So we made it to Louiville, KY tonight. Still along way to go. Malachy was pretty good in the car. He got restless at the end and kept saying me go play now but for the most part he was really good. We are at a hotel now and we don't have a ton of toys so he is needing a ton of entertaining which has me alittle cocerned about our energy levels for the rest of the trip. Mark and I try to stop at Malls and Mc Donald play lands when we are in the car alot to give Malachy some run around time. Maybe will try something moreore like that tomorrow. I'm excited for the rest of the trip and hopefully hitting up Lookout Mountain tomorrow! Some prayer request would be for safety (we seriously were run off the road today). Also I'm already feeling really homesick. I'm in the back with Malachy so I'm kind of left out of the conversation up front and when I try to get involved they usully don't hear me. Also not having Mark here is challanging. Mom and Kim are helping some with Malachy but obviously he is my main responsibility and when I ask for help I feel like I'm putting them out. Not neccisarily because of anything they do just because he is a ton of work and we are all tired from being on the road. I just feel alittle alone and lonely without my Markie poo! But I'm sure things will look up in the morning. Much love!

Road Trip...

so Malachy, Mom, Kim, and I are off on a 10 day road trip to Georgia! Wish us luck and pray for our safety and sanity! =) Hopefully we will be able to update you along the way! Mark-ie-poo I will miss you so much. Thanks for being the best husband ever and cleaning the dog poo out of my new shoes! I love you!

Malachy's Birthday

So we had a birthday party for Malachy and Mark last Sunday! It was a really nice time. The Kunzes, Mommo, Poppo, Jason, Dee, Joey, and Lou helped us celebrate. It was a really laid back time. Mostly we just snacked and let the kids run a muck. Malachy got a super big truck from Lou, an adorable outfit from the Kunzes and another one from our pals Sandy and Alan. My parents got Malachy a couple Notre Dame shirts and Jason and Dee got him some great wooden blocks! Lauren and Noah had sent a present on Malachys actual birthday that Malachy has been enjoying for several weeks now. =)

Here are a few pictures....

This is Poppo...aka batman

Here are the boys playing Boggle...one of Marks gifts. =)

This is Mom, Key, and I at the Texan (the next day)

This is the ghetto part of our yard! In between the garage and the fence!

Here is little Malachy opening his presents...with a little help!

Thanks to everyone who helped Mark and Malachy have super Birthday!

Woo Hoo it worked

Daddy and Malachy in the park.

Even Superheros need their Mama!

Malachy and Grandma Stanger

My little Fall Munchkin!

Poppo and Malachy Flying!

Halloween!

So I tried for like 30 minutes to upload pictures of Malachy but neither Mozilla or Internet Explore would cooperate so I gave up! Sorry, I will try again later. We spent the last few days in Iowa and had a great time. Malachy loved trick or treating, it was soooo cute! He was really good at it too. He would ring the doorbell and when people would open the door he would say trick or treat and some people thought he was so adorable they would give him seconds and he always said thankyou! Such a good boy. On the way home today he kept saying "More Halloween!". He wore his Batman costume last night in Iowa for what they call "beggers night". Their trick or treating is always the day before Halloween...go figure, it's Iowa. (Just kidding!) Today he wore Super Man and we stoped by Mommo and Poppos when we got back to town around 8. My dad loaded Malachy up with Ice Cream and Candy...I'm so lucky he's sleeping now. I will tell you more later but I have to go to bed now. =)

To answer your question...

No, Malachy had no birthday party! I feel so ashamed! He did a get a BIG truck from Daddy and I took him to the build a bear workshop on Sunday. He also got a movie and neat coloring thing from Aunt Lauren (and Uncle Noah). But it was a crazy weekend. I work and Mark was still in Russia. So we will have to celebrate more officialy later. Not with more presents neccisarily but with cake and people singing and all. We are most likely going to Iowa this weekend so I was thinking the following weekend. However I think Crystal has plans that weekend and a party isn't a party without Crystal so we may just never celebrate....or wait another week. =) Hmmmm....Mark's Birthday is November 5th (I think) so I may just have to have a double b-day party without Crystal. Agghhhh...so much to do!

Also just so ya'll know... Mark is home! =) He had a great time in Russia he says it was the hardest thing he ever did. But I know it was also extremely rewarding and he learned a lot. I will post pictures eventually...I hope!

Malachy has 3 halloween costumes! One is a hand me down spiderman from the Bonsols. That is his favorite! He wears it around the house and to bed often. The others are Batman and Superman! Any opinions on which he should wear for the big day?

Malachy

Happy 2nd Birthday Pumpkin!

I don't get it....

I typed and erased this post many times because I don't want to say anything that will come back to bite me in the butt! But I just don't get it! Sometimes moving to Iowa looks like a really good idea! If only I could bring my family with me. (and Crystal too!)

Last Weekend

bad day

I'm in such a bad mood today. I feel utterly exhausted! Work has been stressful because I have all these "little" things outside of my normal job that keep coming up and I feel like I can't keep my head above water.

I also received a "certified" letter that Kim signed for and forgot to tell me about. When she remembered the next day and I got it, it was a letter from the county saying that my house was going to be sold to collect overdue property tax if I didn't bring them $4000 by the 27th. This is last years property tax that was taken care of at the closing and has been paid to the mortgage company. Also, Mark and I have been paying $400 a month in escrow. So I was obviously a little surprised. Especially considering that this certified letter was my final notice and the first I had heard of all this. I called the mortgage company and it turns out they were sending money to the county but they had the wrong parcel number for my house! So they say they will look into it and call me back sometime this week. Arrrgggghhhhh!

Marks in Russia for another week which makes things harder at home. The dog has thrown up in the middle of the night for 3 nights in a row now, Kim ate all my ice cream, Malachy is in one of his moods and I miss Mark!

Aggghhhhh....Sorry to complain so much. I was hoping it would help to vent a little.

Thanks Noah and Lauren

alone again....

So Mark is in Texas this weekend for his cousin Joe's wedding. I didn't make the trip with him because for one I'm terrified of flying, plane tickets are exspensive, and it's not so easy to take the weekend off. (I already have 1 and a 1/2 weekends I need off in the not too distant future) I do miss Mark and wish things were simpler and I could have gone. We really like Joe and I'm so happy for him! I'm sure Mark is having a great time! His family is huge, he has tons of cousins and they are all great.

This is Mark and Joe back in the day....not sure when "the day" was =)

Mark gets home late Sunday night so we will still have Monday together...I'm hoping to hit up the Pumpkin Patch!

Production Department Picnic

We had a department staff picnic this weekend and it was so much fun! It was really cool seeing our kids play together! I'm already looking forward to next years picnic! =)