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.

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.

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.

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.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

Tree Hunting

This year (like many others) we went to Reinhart Tree Farm with our good friends the Bennetts to find the perfect Christmas Tree. Dan and I promised eachother that this year we would cut down the first good tree that we saw. Well we did and it proved to be a good one. Here are a few pictures of the "tree progression".

Marissa picking out a tree (not quite sure why she wouldn't walk up to it).

Marissa cutting down the tree (ok, she really didn't cut it).

Marissa carrying the tree.

Marissa got tired, so Dan had to help her carry the tree.

Marissa putting the lights on the tree.

Marissa putting the star on the tree.

The final product!

Enjoying hot cocoa (lukewarm and watered down), the Christmas tree, slippers, and talking about Jesus...what could be better!

This year I bought a nativity Advent calendar (Fisher Price). Each day in December (most days) we have put a new character on the Nativity calendar, played the song Silent Night (from the calendar), made hot cocoa, sat on the couch in the living room, waited for the Christmas lights to turn on, and talked about what we learned that day from the Advent Calendar. It has been so fun to hear Marissa respond to "who was born on Christmas", "who was Jesus mommy", and "who was Jesus daddy". I can't wait for Christmas' to come when she will truely understand the meaning of all this hustle and bustle.

Here are a few more pictures to enjoy:

Family Photo in the warmth.

Spencer and mom staying warm.

Schacher and Bennett Families. It is hard to get all of them to look at once.

Cousin Photos

Here are a couple pictures that we took for my mom's Christmas letters. It is incredibly hard to get 4 children 3 and under to smile (let alone look) at the camera.

Marissa and Spencer with Gracie and Aiden.

Aiden with the girls :0).

The GREAT Update

What We've Been Up To At Home

Well, since it has been such a long time since I have updated my blog, here is a short overview of the normal, everyday things we have been up to. Hope you enjoy!

Just doing some laundry.

Saturday mornings with Daddy = breakfast in bed...thanks Daddy!!

Dressing Our Boy in Pink
Now, laundry hasn't been my favorite thing to do...and especially not now with ALL the kids clothes that are added to the mix. Well, one night I realized I didn't have any more PJ's for Spencer and rather than trying to do a load "quick" (it's never quick), I just dug out a pair of Marissa's old PJ's. Dan got a little mad at me when he saw I was taking a picture of my little boy in a blue bed and pink PJ's. I thought it was pretty funny.

(No caption needed.)

"It's Potty Time For Me"

That is Marissa's favorite quote from a "potty book" that she has. Back in June-ish, I began our journey into the "potty world" by introducing Marissa to her very own potty. It took her a little while to decide to sit on it herself, but I think we are just starting to reap the rewards from our months of talking potty (and many more to come I am sure). She has been telling us AFTER she goes pee or poo in her diaper and wants to sit on the toilet. Not to mention she has gone poo 2x's (one was on the floor more than the potty...but a good try indeed) and pee 2x's on the potty. We haven't really gotten serious about potty training because she is only 20 months and we have the holiday's to get through (I am sure it would be embarrassing having accidents because she doesn't want to miss opening presents), so I will officially start training my daughter in January. I think she will be even more ready then and for now we will continue to go through the process of changing her diaper and then sitting on the toilet for at least 10 minutes after she has already gone (not to mention reading numerous books and watching Bear and Dolly go potty too)...oh too fun.

Just one of the many times a day we sit on the potty...it would sure be nice to have her actually go on it while she's sitting.

Smiling Baby Boy
It is sooo fun to re-live the baby moments we enjoyed with Marissa. I find myself cherishing those small things so much more this time, realizing that in only a few short months they will be gone and I won't be able to sit and cuddle and smile at my little boy. Here are some pictures to enjoy...how can you not smile looking at these, ahhhh baby laughs?

First documented smile.

Cutest little boy smile around.

It's a Bird. It's a Plane. NO, It's Children.

In celebration of my mom's birthday the Schmidgall family went to Roadhouse. While there is just not enough time to chat and catch up with family in the resturant we found ourselves chatting outside for a bit, while our children were getting antsy. So the men had a solution to the problem...throw them. We got some cute pictures of Marissa and Aiden being thrown in the air by their fathers. One is a little more risky as you can tell by the picture :).

Dan and Marissa with Lucas and Aiden.

A Quick Trip for Rogue Food

The story of my life...a "quick" trip turned leisure stroll. Luckily for Marissa it was around a pet store. Dan loves taking Marissa to see all the animals. They have such a great time talking about the animals, the sounds they make, and what they do.

Checking out the reptiles.

My Husbands Secret Ambition

Dan has talked on occasion about wanting to get turn-tables and how he would love to do some DJ-ing someday...even if it is just in his garage. I have always thought it was a far off dream...until the DJ Hero game came out. We "happened" upon it on a visit to Best Buy for some computer stuff and he hasn't forgot about it since. We went Saturday and bought the package and he has been playing it...and loving it ever since. I guess he is living his dream. Marissa loves dancing to the music...oh dear what a little "daddy's girl".

Dan testing out DJ Hero. Marissa on the drums.

Don't Forget Bear

Marissa has recently taken an interest in her stuffed animals and dolls. She likes to treat them like babies, feeding, burping, and putting them in the stroller (hmmm, I wonder why). It is so cute to see her nurture and care for them...I know they are only stuffed animals, but it is so precious to see that loving heart.

Marissa eating snack with her dolls.