Don't Welcome Me Back Just Yet

At the begining of 2011, I wrote down some GOALS I have for myself for the next year. I haven't taken much of a look at them over the past  month so I thought I would share them here.

January-February:

1. Set Up a Family, Weekly Meal Plan: tried it one week, need to tweak a few things to make it work for our family, but going ok
2. Sew & Sell Sewn Items on Etsy: haven't sewn much yet, I have to get to work
3. Make an Apron for My Grandmother in IL: need to get to work sewing again :o)

March-April

1. Take a Photography Class: scheduled for March 5th...i'm excited!!!
2. Attend a Marriage Conference (not by myself...that would be wierd): conference scheduled for Dan and I March 11-13th.
3. Go on a Girls Get-A-Way Weekend: in the works.
4. Take a Cooking Class: found one in Salem, just need to schedule/pay for it.
5. Sew More Aprons: this sewing stuff has obviously been my one downfall.

May-August

1. Take a Theology/Biblical Studies Type Class
2. Try EVERYTHING on My Crafty List: this is going to be a big task.
3. Catch Up on Scrapbooking: going to a scrapcamp in May.

General Life Goals:

1. Loose Weight by Exersicing 4-6 Days a Week: been on a roll since October on this goal.
2. DON'T WANT, Be Content With What I Have
3. Go to Church Weekly: this can be hard with 2 young children...but I want to try harder.
4. Go on a Date Night with My Husband Once a MONTH: we have tried the weekly thing and it just doesn't seem to work (and gets expensive with kids/babysitters), so we are going all out ONE night a month.
5. Work Harder on My Marriage and Relationship with My Hubbs: Try to spend one night a week focusing on just us (watching a movie, playing a game, doing something silly, etc.). Don't get into fights as easily. PRAY for him. Be positive and encouraging.
6. Search for Fellowship & Community: through back yard BBQ's, church communities, friends going deeper...whatever it takes and where the Lord leads.
7. Write 25 Messages/Lessons About What I Learn: goal is to post them here.
8. Be Passionate Daily
9. Praise Often: thank the Lord for EVERYTHING He is.
10. Pray MORE: never cease praying...when I think about it...I want to pray about it.
11. Recognize People's Lives and Important Events
12. Be More of a Friend/Giver, Without Expectation
13. Be Honest and Open: will be attempting to do this here.

I hope by me writing down these goals of mine...it inspires you to write your own down and do everything you can to stick to them. God Bless you on your journey.

Everyday Fun

Here are some precious, everyday moments that I have been able to encounter the last few months. Oh, how my little ones are growing.

Love these two little ones.

Spencer finding his feet for the first time. He is so little...I miss that.

Marissa's first pigtails. She loved them. Anytime we go anywhere she insits on "ponytails".

Precious father/son moment. Love these two boys!

Hmmm...this explains a little bit of how quickly this little boy picked up on crawling, climbing stairs, oh, and getting into everything. Little boys, little boys.

So he didn't get up on the bike, but it does fall on him often as he tries to crawl up on the bike himself.

Marissa loves it when I put her in Spencer's crib. They are too cute together.

When Spencer wakes up from his nap, Marissa goes upstairs to keep him company until I have the opportunity to come up and get him. The other day I found Marissa "reading" to Spencer. So, special.

Spencer's first "big bath". He is a crazy kid...diving for anything and everything he sees in the water. Marissa loves to have a buddy to play and splash with.

Brother and sister swinging. They are going to be best buds.

Monster Truck

*From May 16th*
Well, my husband never stops surprising me...actually, I don't think anything will surprise me anymore. His company traded "something" for...a Monster Truck. It has been fun to watch all of their friends, co-workers, relatives, etc. come down to the equipment yard with their kids and take a ride on the Monster Truck. Dan justifies keeping it, saying "it's good advertising", but then says they will probably sell it eventually. So, while it is in our possession...we have been able have some fun with it.

Marissa and Dan in front of the tire.

Marissa and Logan Bennett taking a ride in the back of the Monster Truck. They both thought it was pretty loud.

The Bennett children and Marissa in the tire of the Monster Truck.

Of course, Ryan and Dan had to take the truck for a spin while I watched the kids.

Pet Parade

*From: May 15th*
In May every year Silverton has a great, little pet parade. It is the cutest thing to watch all the children, with their parents, walk through town showing off their animals. One day I am sure I will be watching Dan, Marissa, and Spencer walking with Rogue.

Dan, Marissa, and Rogue watching the parade as it begins.

Marissa loved collecting the candy, but also feeding Rogue the dog treats that were thrown out.

Spencer...taking it all in.

Marissa Turned 2

*From: March 6th*

This year I decided to make Marissa's birthday a little more low key than last year (I am not sure I can pull off mulitple "crazy" parties in a year...and Spencer's 1st is coming up). We had a gathering at Home Place with pizza and cupcakes. I decided to do the plates and decorations in a luau theme (I wonder where that idea came from...Hawaii). We all had a great time celebrating my beautiful little girl.

Dan insisted on taking Marissa to Chuck-E-Cheese on her birthday. He did the same thing last year.

Marissa eating a cupcake at Home Place.

Singing happy birthday to my 2 year old.

Marissa with her aunt "A".

Dan got Marissa a seed starter kit for our garden. Marissa had so much fun watching Dan plant. She wouldn't touch anything because it was "dirty".

Airplanes and Amie

*From: March 4th-8th*

At the begining of March Amie (my soon to be sister-in-law, good friend, old soccer player, and old Young Life girl) came up from California to do some wedding planning. Marissa and I were able to go pick her up from the airport. We went early, sat at the cell phone waiting area and watched the planes fly in and out. Marissa loved it. Once Amie was here we did some major invitation planning and had a "invitation making party" at my house. Here are some great pictures.

Watching for planes and loving it.

Invitation making party at my house.

More invitations.

Lovely Valentines Day

*From: February 14th*

Yep...this post is all the way from Valentines Day.

My beautiful bouquet, teddy bear, balloon, and chocolates.

Dan and I decided not to do anything for Valentines day this year, because we were leaving for a vacation a week after. Well, my hubsband can't control himself. He came home after going to his equipment "yard" with flowers, a teddy bear, a singing ballon, a new coffee mug, and chocolates for me. For Marissa he brought home a bunch of balloons, a stuffed animal, a pink flower, and a hot cocoa cup. He is so thoughtful. Thanks babe (almost 3 1/2 months later).

Zoo in Beautiful January

*From: January 27th*

Towards the end of January my mom, Aiden (my nephew), Marissa, Spencer, and I headed to the zoo for a beautiful day. It was a little chilly, but so nice. We had a picnic lunch and enjoyed all the animals. I just love watching my mom with her grandchildren. Here are some pictures:

Grandma watching the polar bears with Marissa and Aiden

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Aiden and Marissa chillin in the boat.

My sweet Marissa girl.

Long day...Aiden and Marissa were tired.

New Big Girl Bed

We recently put the toddler rail on Marissa's converitable crib. It has been a few nights of going into her room and constantly "reminding her" that she needs to stay in her bed and not read books (that's a morning thing so mommy can sleep in a few more minutes :). We started out the adventure with just a blanket and a "snuggy". However, more stuffed animals have been added and her bed has almost been taken over...oh well, if that's what she needs to feel secure. Here are a few pictures of Marissa's big girl bed.

Her bed with only a few animals.

Excited about sleeping in her big bed.

Why We Needed Spencer

I know the Lord has a GREAT sense of what we need in our lives. While the addition of Spencer was not completely planned by Dan and I, he was welcomed with LOTS of love. As time progresses and I see my two beautiful children interact together I realize a little of God's plan for us. Marissa is a great child and could play by herself for long periods of time, however, she has been soooo in love with her little brother. The Lord knew just what she needed too (it wasn't all about me). While we were out at the beach I came to a small realization.

Marissa doesn't do so well sleeping anywhere else but in her bed. From the begining I did everything "they say" you are supposed to do (put them in the playpen, not just their beds, make sure they are around noise when they sleep, etc.), however, she just doesn't like anything but her bed. Well, when we were out at the beach I realized it was going to be a "fun" time listening to her cry herself to sleep. The first night we didn't put Spencer in the room with her because we thought that might make the process longer. The usual crying, screaming, throwing her pacifier out, going in to console her once or twice, etc. went on. The next night I just decided to put Spencer down at the same time, because it was time for him to go to bed too. It was AMAZING the difference in Marissa's demenor. She didn't even cry and went to sleep right away. Then next night I put Spencer down again with Marissa...same thing. Oh, she just needed someone to be there with her. I can't wait till they get a little older and appreciate eachother's company even more. These days, Marissa chooses to eat her snack (she can only sit in one place to eat snack) next to her brother, chooses to play with her brother and his toys, helps him "roll over", and LOVES to give him kisses. Here are some pictures of the two of them together.

Eating snack next to baby Spencer.

Playing with Spencer and his toys.

Teaching Children How to Pray

Every year we get so many picture greeting cards from friends and family. Last year a good friend gave me an idea on how to use these pictures all year. So, we began this tradition last year and are excited to keep it going in our house. Marissa gets to keep the photos in her bedroom by her bedtime Bible. Before going to bed she chooses one family to pray for and this has quickly become a MUST in her nighttime routine. She LOVES doing this and always asks us the names of the people in the pictures. I enjoy watching her learn the names and most of all learn to pray for the people we love. She not only gets to add a face to their name, she gets to pray for them on a regular basis. So, if you are wondering what to do with all those pictures...here is a great suggestion I am passing on to you and your family.

Marissa learning to pray for her friends and family.

Learning the names of her friends and family.

Schacher Christmas Overview

Christmas Eve
On Christmas Eve we went to our Aunts Bev & Marilyn's house and joined the rest of the Schmidgall's for the evening. We had a "finger foods" dinner and then did the traditional gift exchange. I love watching all the cousins play together.


Gracie and Marissa enjoyed opening presents and "awwing" over the toys.

Christmas Eve...Before Bedtime
Dan and I had been thinking and talking about the traditions we want to start with our children. Neither of our families really had many traditions so it is fun figuring out what would work best with our little family for the future. We decided that we would remember Dan's mom, Heidi Joy, by getting us all family P.J.'s and taking a traditional family picture. To this day, Dan remembers his mom getting matching P.J.'s for his family one year and taking a picture. So, on Christmas Eve, once we got home from the Schmidgall's, we all got to open one gift...guess what it was.

Marissa opening her Christmas Eve gift from Grandma Schacher (from her in spirit).

Marissa and Dan opening Spencer's gift from Grandma Schacher (from her in spirit).

First Dan Schacher family Christmas PJ photo.

Christmas Morning
In coming up with family Christmas traditions we wanted to make sure that they defined our family and put the focus on Jesus Christ above EVERYTHING else. When we woke up Christmas morning the first thing we did was make some hot cocoa and relax as a family on the couch. We brought in the Avent Calendar and put on the final piece...Jesus. It was fun listening to Marissa recite some of the things we learned about the Christmas story. Then Dan got out a preschool Bible and read the Christmas Story. After that the kids opened 2 gifts. It was a GREAT morning.

Enjoying our hot cocoa.

Putting the last "character" on our Avent calendar on Christmas Morning.

Reading the Christmas Story as a family before even thinking about gifts.

Playing with bows.

Oh, blue eyed Marissa.

This tearing paper thing is pretty cool.


Marissa's Christmas gift was a little kitchen.


Spencer's gift was an exersaucer and a walker all in one (I think I thought it was cooler than Spencer did).

Christmas Day with the Schacher's
On Christmas Day, Dan's family came over to our house for a nice dinner. Dan got a turkey deep fryer for Thanksgiving and insisted on making another turkey. You never know what you are going to get with Dan sometimes. This year it was making the turkey on our front sidewalk (you have to make sure it is a safe place in case it starts on fire), in his new Christmas P.J.'s.

We had a great time with his family. Ian and Lisa (Dan's brother and wife) brought the best gifts of all to the family. Lisa had taken Nerf guns out of their packages, loaded and then wrapped them. It was a GREAT 2 hours of Nerf wars. I have to say it was much better than the traditional "brother's" wrestling that goes on for hours. :)

Dan deep frying the turkey in his P.J's.

Nerf gun wars...2 whole hours!!!


There were many alliances made and brothers betrayed on Christmas Day!

Ivan Schmidgall Christmas at the Beach
Every year the Ivan Schmidgall family goes over to the beach for a few days around New Years. This year was so fun...we played DJ Hero (even Rosemary gave the turntables a shot), started planing a wedding, saw the movie Avatar, the boys went crabbing, the girls went shopping, and we enjoyed eachother's company.


The boys playing magnetic darts on the couch.

Dan and Marissa opening gifts out at the beach.


Aiden and Marissa watching "Baby Signing Time" at the beach while the adults enjoy some quiet time.