Getting caught up...

Okay, so it's been just over a week since I last blogged. Life has been a little crazy around here. Last Sunday evening, we received a call about FREE Mariner's tickets for some really great seats. There was no passing this opportunity up. We quickly made arrangements for the kiddos for after school on Monday and everything was set. So, Monday afternoon, we headed down to Seattle with my brother and his wonderful wife for an evening of fun. We knew from the get go that we were not going to watch the Mariner's win but just for a much needed night of fun.

Rally Cap time

This is what we saw just a few rows in front of us as we sat down in our seats. I think they were still friends after the game.

So, that was Monday. On Tuesday, I started my new position with the Lynden Dutch Bakery. I have been the bookkeeper for almost 15 months and on Tuesday, I added the delivery position to my schedule. I start at 2:00 pm and go until I'm finished. Currently, I'm working Tuesday through Friday but am working on changing that to Monday through Thursday.

Saturday was a great day. I was at a scrapbooking "cropfest" for the entire day. The sad part...I didn't get a lot done. It took forever to get the creative juices flowing and there never was a strong flow all day. It took so long to get a page done and in the end, I'm not in love with my pages that I did complete. At least the pictures are out of the box and in a book and the kids were excited to see them.

Sunday, after church, Alyssa and I had some mommy/daughter time at the mall and Jason and Brenna stayed home to finish up a project for school. Ethan enjoyed a great afternoon rest. I would say nap but I don't think the boy ever went to sleep. It was a fun relaxing day.

Yesterday (Monday), I had my nephews for the day. Ethan informed us all that, "Wayne and Weston are my buddies, you can't play with them." I had different news for that boy! Thankfully for him, Brenna and Alyssa were at school all day so he didn't have to share "his buddies". Ethan and Wayne played so nice and Weston was the best little guy. Although, he could have saved a few of "those" diapers for his mommy...hehehe.

So, that's what the Scheibs have been up to. And now, you are all got up. Sorry for the lack of excitement. We will see what this week brings.

Just around the corner...

Yes, that's right! The holidays are just around the corner. Thanksgiving is 2 months and 2 days from today and Christmas is exactly 3 months from today. Oh yeah, I've also been informed that Costco already has their Christmas decorations arriving and on display. Is that crazy or what? Have a great day!

Cherish our children in all situations...

Yesterday was the 4 month anniversary of the death of little Maria Chapman. She was one of three little girls that Steven Curtis Chapman (the Christian artist) and his wife MaryBeth have adopted from China. For those of you who don't know, little Maria was killed in an accident at the family home May 21st, 2008. Her old brother, Will, was pulling into the family driveway and Maria was so excited to see him that she ran right out in front of him. He didn't even see her coming. My heart aches for this family. I have been reading the blogs from Jim Houser (Steven's Manager) and Grace Graham (Steven's Assistant). Not only do they keep us up on the day to day lives of the Chapmans (as far as performances and appearances go) but they keep us informed of how the family is doing since little Maria went home to be with Jesus. I am finding myself going to these blogs as reminders that time with our children could end at any time. I need to cherish the moments that I have with my children and not dwell on the times that they are disobedient or just plain acting "ugly". I'm looking forward to the blogs and pictures about Emily Chapman's wedding coming up on October 4th. This will be a wonderful day for this family but also a sad day. As Emily will now only have 2 flower girls instead of 3. Please be praying for this family was you think of them. And, if you are interested, you can check out to the blogs I talked about above at www.stevencurtischapman.com.

So, go...enjoy your children. Spend time with them. Don't let the "bad" times be what sticks in your mind. Cherish the moments you have with them.

A day that every mom looks forward to!

Today was one of those days!! I got the girls on the bus, dropped Ethan off to Grammy (my mom) and then headed to Everson to meet my sister-in-law (or my sister as I like to refer to her), who had a babysitter for her boys. From there we hit Master's Blend for coffees to go...an absolute must for this trip!...and found our way to I-5!!!!!!! We made a quick detour to Cash and Carry...we both needed coffee supplies for home, I think we have an addiction or something...from there, we were off to the Burlington Prime Outlets. We amazed ourselves with how much ground we covered before lunch. We shopped hard and came away with some great deals!! Lunch was spent at Olive Garden enjoying soup and salad and of course their famous breadsticks with marinara and alfredo sauces for our dipping pleasures! (Are you hungry yet?) We topped it off with their "limited time only" Pumpkin Cheesecake. By this point, we were ready for a nap. But....we had more shopping to do!! We made three more stops and then hit Starbucks. And, since we were in the area, we took coffee treats to my wonderful brother (who works in Burlington and had called to see if we were making a Starbucks stop...hint,hint.) So, not only do we take a coffee to Tyler but we had three other orders for some of the guys he works with. We finally found ourselves back on I-5 and made it back to Tanya's, my sister-in-law, house by 4:30. Wow what a day!! My amazing husband was so wonderful. Allowing me to be gone for the day and being so willing to take all three kiddos to Brenna's orthodontist appointment after school. Is he the most amazing husband or what?!?!?!!!!!!!!! (Oh yeah...thank you Brenna Beld for spending the day with Wayne and Weston, you are one amazing girl!!)

Happy Birthday Jason!

Jason, I am so thankful that you have the opportunity to go with your co-workers today out on the water to enjoy the beautiful weather and God's creation! "Thank you Jesus for my wonderful husband!" Jason is such a blessing to all of us! He is an amazing husband and a daddy who loves his children so much. He is a man of God and desires for our family to follow God where ever He may lead us. (And I support him 100%!) Happy Birthday! I love you with all my heart!

Life put into perspective!

Yesterday, we attended a memorial service for a 34-year old who has battled leukemia for the past 6 months. He has left behind a wife and four beautiful, young children. My heart just breaks for this family. We know this family through some very dear friends of ours. (It was their son-in-law.) It was a very hard service to attend but definitely glad we were able to be there. We have been praying for this family for a very long time. For Matt, we are so happy for him that he is no longer suffering and is spending eternity with our Lord and Savior. For Jackie and the family, we are sad and pray for them as they now pick up the pieces and begin a new "normal" way of life. Here's where life gets put into perspective... Today, Jason is out on a BIG "boat" with some people from work. He called this morning to let me know that he wasn't getting home until after 9:00 tonight...3 hours later than the original plan. Of course, I told him that was fine and that I hoped he had a great time. Then, I became a little upset. It had already been a long morning getting the girls ready for school (neither one wanting to move real quick this morning) and now I will have to do the parenting thing alone tonight. Then, I found myself crying. Why you might ask? Immediately brought to my mind was dear Jackie. Why should I be upset that I am doing the parenting thing alone for one day so that my husband can go have a MUCH DESERVED time with his co-workers? (And really, I am very happy for him that he has this opportunity!!) At least I have a husband who will be coming home and who helps me all the time with the kiddos. Jackie is now left on her own to do the parenting thing. Yes, she has a tremendous amount of support from family but it will never be the same. So, I now have something to put life into perspective. Wives...let's be thankful for our husbands and that we have them to help us through our days! Let's not take them and the help they give us for granted. Make sure your husband knows just how much you appreciate him! I ask you to please pray for Jackie as she begins this new "normal" life. Pray for these beautful children...Dustin, age 6; Tessa, age 4; and Taylor and Jordyn (twin little girls), age 1-1/2.

This is the family that we are praying for. These were the pictures on the "folder" handed out at the memorial service yesterday.

Scrappin' Away

So, my day of scrappin' last Monday has inspired me to keep going. In the last week, I have completed 30 pages!! I didn't think I would even get close to that. It has been fun getting back into it all. Of course, we haven't been able to eat at the table all week because Brenna and I pulled everything out on the dining room table to work together last Monday and that's where it all stayed. Thankfully, we have stools at the counter for the kids and Jason and I have either stood at the counter to eat with them or sat on the couch to eat. I promised Jason that the table will be clear for dinner on Monday. I'm going to pull out my 4-foot table, which has been in use for other things, and move my scrappin' stuff to that. I can't stop the momentum now. I wonder how many pages I can complete this next week? My sister-in-law thought it was bad being only 33 pages behind for the year (of course, that was a month ago)...I wish that's all I had. The girls' albums were completed through 2004 and our family album is now through June 2003 (it started at November 2002). With all of Christmas '02 and then our trip to Arizona for my dear friend, Becky's wedding in February '03 and then add birthdays, Mother's day and Father's day in with that...that's a lot of pictures! I am needing more pages from my dear Creative Memories gal, Sherri Wynne, in order to get the family album up through 2004. Ethan's album has him up to his 1st Christmas...5-1/2 months old. I will continue to work on his album this week. Here is a picture of my favorite page that I did today...

Look who's scrapping!

Brenna has been wanting to start her scrapbook/photo album that she got for her birthday. So, we finally pulled everything out on Monday, Labor Day. She was so excited and did a great job. Here she is with her first page.

Clam digging fun!

On Saturday we went out to Birch Bay and went clam digging. My entire family was there, except for my brother-in-law, Todd, because of work. We had a blast! The kids had fun just searching for shells and picking up star fish. Ethan and Wayne had fun splashing in the water. Grammy had taken dried bread and stale crackers along for the kids to feed the sea gulls. The guys, were a hoot to watch. We knew when they found a clam "hole" because they would dig fast and furious. Mom and I were the official clam cleaners...I think we had the "dirty" job! Tanya, my sister-in-law, was in charge of pictures and Trisha kept tabs on the kiddos. Brenna, my niece, was so proud of herself. She spotted a clam "hole" and Uncle Tyler started digging. This clam was huge, the biggest any of us had ever seen. We got 51 clams!! When we were finished with the clam digging, we all headed to Mom and Duane's "beach house" at Birch Bay Leasure Park. We barbecued and had a little surprise party for Mom's birthday. It was a great day! I'm looking forward to clam chowder!!

The clam digging crew...where's Tyler????

Brenna and Alyssa getting Grammy out to the beach.

Mom waiting for the first bucket of clams to come in for cleaning.

Brenna, my niece, Alyssa and Brenna searching for treasures...the boys checking out what they are doing.

Trouble 1 and Trouble 2...what are they scheming?

The best clam diggers around...Tyler, Duane and Jason...they were exhausted! Way to go guys!!