A butt load of pics!

Aaron and Pa at the Strean family Christmas

Sibling smoochie!
Aaron and Collin in his room playing guitar

He can be such a good dog!

Timmy, Matt and Aaron on Christmas Eve at Mom's

Kelsey, Aaron and Xander on Christmas Eve-it was not fun getting this picture!

The GCUMC hispanic loving girls and their kids!

A portion of our family

:-(

Me, Mom and Krissy

He really does love me???

Krissy and Tish

A sleeping baby!

What happens when you forget about the hot chocolate

Aaron's new ride

He LOVES his art table!!

My babe's new hat-did I really buy him that?

Ace likes to make himself comfortable!

At the end of the day!

Ben, Will and Aaron at Chuck E Cheese

Daddy and Aaron assembling Ace's new crate

Our new puppy!

A really special prayer request

I am going to make this as vague as possible.

I have a really special friend who is going through the hardest time of her life. She is contemplating making a really drastic change in her life that would effect many people. Last night we were on the phone for over 3 hours and this pregnant girl made it past mignight folks. I am not going to name her or give any other details. For those of you that pray, please pray for her, her heart, her soul and her family. She truly needs strength and guidance from God on this one.

Friend-I love you. I am here for you today like I have always been. I will be here tomorrow and with you through every single bump in the road. You have strength that you don't know you have within yourself and from those who love you.

What a freakin day!

Well...we had an amazing Christmas Day and Eve. We went to church with Mom, John, Beth, Chimy, Kelsey and Xander and then we all headed to Mom's for dinner. It was great to have them there with us! This was their first year staying home for Christmas Eve so hopefully we were able to make the transition a little easier on Beth's heart! After we all ate and everyone left the whle family opened our pajamas and took pictures. Aaron was pretty much already starting to crash and burn so we headed home. After he went to bed we got all the presents out and I talked to Dan and Collin-enough to make my heart warm while I was having my own night of transition. Yesterday was just enough to make my heart burst. It was perfect, except for the missing parts of our family-Andy, Ashley, Dad, Aya and Abu. Aaron wanted Pa here so much and didn't understand that he wasn't coming and still today was asking when he was coming to see his toys. It really broke my heart. Just goes to prove that divorce SUCKS! and everyone pays for it for life. Abu said they woudl be here next year-WOO HOO! It would be awesome to have them here with us-especially with all 4 (did you hear that-4!!!) kids here! I cannot believe it and I cannot wait all at the same time. We spent the whole day at Mom's and came home in time to play for a bit and go to bed!

Today we went to Chuck E Cheese and took Ben and Will. Instead of Chrsitams gifts for them we took them there and Aaron was thrilled to see them. When we got home it was crazy-Ace had gotten out of the crate again. This was the first time Alex was blessed enough to be here to find it. So...we took Aaron to Mom's and decided we were taking him to the pound. On the way we were both crying and changed our minds. So a talk with a couenselor, later along with another $100 crate we have pretty much determined Ace has separtion anxiety. So...he is back home with us-much to my Mother's delight (who hates him but cried hysterically when I told her what we were doing)! Tomorrow we are calling the vet to see what else we can do.

So much blubber going on above. I have so much more to weite, but Aaron needs a bath and there is a ton to do around here. I will post pics soon of what has been going on lately!

MUCH LOVE PEOPLE!!!

Christmas Eve

Ah! I am off now through Monday and I am really excited! Aaron and I are hanging out this morning and then we have a few errands to run. Cord Camera to get his Christmas pictures made (a little late wouldn't ya say) and then Krogers for ketchup and some more batteries. Everything is finally wrapped and ready to go. Alex works until 2 and then he is off until Januray 5th-booger! Tonight we will go to church and then head to Mom's for dinner. This year will be a little different becasue we have always gone to Rob and Tammy's on Christmas Eve-not sure why the switch. After everyone leaves we will open our Christmas jammies, take pictures and then come home. I will be dying for Aaron to wake up in the morning. As soon as he open his eyes I will call Mom and Krissy and they will all come over to watch him open his gifts, then it will be breakfast and then we will head to Mom's at some point.

Last night the kids each opened their jammies and one gift. Andy open his camera and was REALLY REALLY happy and Ashley opened her Girl Talk Jenga! They were so excited, but it hurts to not have them here so much. Alex's heart is so broken and sad so PLEASE pray for him today and especially tomorrow. However, I assured him last night that if we were to ever divorce we could just be neighbors!

I hope that you all have a Merry Christmas!

Our BIG (little) news!

We are expecting a new little A Rodriguez! We found out on November 6th and had our first visit to the doctor on December 5th. We are really happy and I am more than excited this time around for some reason. Aaron is excited-from what we can tell. He went to the doctor with us and saw the baby on the screen. He said and I quote, "the baby is all black"! Not sure how I woudl ever explain that one to Alex.

We are due on July 9th and will have our c-section scheduled for July 1st-unless there are complications with my blood pressure again.

Will we find out the sex-NO WAY! and yes we already have names.

So, please join in our excitement and pray for this little one to be healthy all along the way!

Rough!

This week one of our friends lost her Mom to cancer. She was a lovely lady who was so caring, loving and gentle. I cannot imagine the pain that Missy and her family are feeling. Tonight Alex and I went to the calling hours with Gallagher and it was simply surreal. To be so young and lose your Mom. Ah, it makes me so so sad. Thankfully Missy has great friends and an amazing boyfriend that is supportive and wonderful. I am so glad that I went even though we have lost touch over the years. Life is so full of ups and downs and when there are tough times you band together NO MATTER WHAT has happened in the past. There is something to be said about referring to bad times as water under the bridge. I am so thankful that I was able to leave the water there and put my arms around her tonight. Friends come and they go, but sometimes you have to forget the bad things and just be there for people that are important. Please pray for Missy, Nick, Tonya, Chad, Lauren and Butch-they need all the prayers we can give them right now.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MELISSA LYNN KOVALCHIK

In lieu of sending Missy a birthday card here is my tribute to one of the Greatest Friends Ever!

How we we have celebrated in the "Good Ole Days"

Tomorrow is my friend Missy's birthday-a really special day in my book. Missy and I have been friends since 8th grade and have only grown closer as the years have gone by. A few weeks ago I sat in my basement going through 7 boxes of old pictures and had so many memories to relive. I am so blessed with her friendship that at times it leaves me with no words to say. She has been a constant in my life for more than half of it. We have been through really hard times (the loss of Grandparents and boyfriends, pregnancies, weddings, step children, pets and family drama) and some of the best times ever (falling in love, raising our children, growing our families, marrying the men of our dreams, drunk fests in high school-man those were the days).

Dying each other's hair in front of my Grandmas in 94 or 95

Essentially I could go one forever and ever about the memories I have with her. What is most important to me about Missy is that our friendship has NEVER wavered. With time things always change and you often lose the people you were once friends with, but that is the farthest from the truth from our friendship. When she was engaged (the first few times) and I was living the single life we were best friends, when she was broken up living the single life and I was "in love" we were best friends and when she got married and I was still searching for Mr. Right we were best friends...you get the point-no matter what our friendship has been strong. (OK, there was one fight over this boyfriend of hers that she thought I was "making out" with)

This was after I moved to Columbus and was visiting-we were at my Grandmas-maybe 1998

We talk all the time-even while on vacation. She checks in when she knows someone in my home has been sick, she knows all our of kids and all about each of them and she takes the time to remember special things. I could not imagine my life without Missy and I pray that I never have to. She is so important in my life yesterday, today and for all of my tomorrows.

Here we are on the day of our friend Jamie's wedding.

Missy-Happy Birthday! I hope you have an amazingly sweet day and that all of your wishes come true. (OK most of them!) Thank you so much for being such an amazing best friend time and time again. Thank you for being there and supporting me. Thank you for understanding me even when I am completely irrational and telling me that I am. Thank you for listening to the things that I would not tell anyone in the universe but you. I love you and I am so blessed by your friendship. Happy Birthday!

Aaron says Happy Birthday Missy and he wrote the following line...

.n;nkgmjgy?O0 tg0f;[;p;[h\/.lp .;l [lh[p-k,[= hj

Another First...Stitches

Yesterday started out as a just a normal Thanksgiving. Aaron had a rough night so he slept in while Alex and I put up the tree in the living room (1 more to go). Mom and John came over for breakfast and we watched the parade-the whole thing. I have never really been a fan, I'm still not but hey I try to entertain my kid! Aaron and I were dancing and twirling around and I put him down and just about that time he lost his balance and fell onto the stool in front of the fish tank. OUCH! He cried for less than a minute and then went about playing, singing and wrestling with Daddy. This was around 11:00-keep that in mind.

At 1:00 I got dressed and started to get Aaron dressed when I was combing his hair he screamed, so I finally looked at his head. I proceeded to find quite a gash smack in the middle of the back of his head. I camly called Alex to come up and he immediately decided we were going to the ER. We called Mom and got dinner out on hold and off we went.

He did amazing in the ER. He ended up with 5 stitches and actually fell asleep while they were putting them in. We headed straight to Mom's to eat and then went to Krissy's to see their new tree. It is quite gorgeous! Today Dad and Sandy are coming. Krissy is cooking her first ever Thanksgiving dinner for Tish's family. Yesterday I realized that I will never partake in the cooking of a turkey as it is just plain grose. In addition, the onion and celery that was cooking at her house for the dressing made me want to barf. So, this year I am thankful becasue she spent a lot of time at Mom's learning everything and is willing to carry it on when the time comes-THANK YOU KRISSY!

I hope that you all had a great day with your families.

Thanksgiving Plans

So far this week has been really great. Monday I work I co-facilitated a class at work that I have been wanting to facilitate and it went really well. Slowly I will get to where I want to be. I just need to be patient. I know, me and that word are really friends huh?

Yesterday and today I am "off" from work because Denise went to Wisconsin. We didn't have anyone to keep Aaron so I took a vacation day and am working from home for the other 8 hours. I am not sure how people really work at home with kids there, becasue it is hard for me. I wait until he naps and goes to bed to get the majority of things done. I wasn't planning for this so I have a lot of work to do before my class starts Monday. My DAY class that is-woohoo!

Tonight Alex gets off early so we are going to Mom's for subs and to decorate her Santa tree. Alex helps with that tree every year so she has been waiting on him to come and help. I think we will start to get the dressing and turkey as well. My goal this year is to learn exactly how to make those 2 things so that I could actually make Thanksgiving dinner some day.

Tomorrow we will go to Mom's after we wake up and have breakfast. More than likely everyone will come over here for bacon, eggs and hashbrowns and then we will lounge for a while. Hmmm, maybe we will even get up the last of our trees. We only have 2 left-Andy's and the one in the living room. After that, the rest of the day will be just lazy for sure.

Friday Dad and Sandy are coming for the day and Saturday they will head to Krissy's. I am not sure what we will do other than hang out and play with Aaron.

I wish so much that Alex's parents were going to be here. It would be really nice to have them here for a holiday. This year we look forward to next year becasue the kids will be here-woohoo!

I pray that you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and are able to have special times with your families. Lots and lots of love to you!

A lesson from Aaron...

Last night I was walking upstairs with Aaron to give him a bath and he said, "God is testing me". I asked him to repeat what he said so I could be sure and then asked him why God was testing him. He said, "When I am afraid of the dark God is testing me".

WOW! I was speechless for a moment and then went into the little speech we give him about God protecting him and letting him know that God watches out for him and is always right beside him. I am not sure where he got the testing part, but I was floored.

And the pain is still raw

This has been a rough Don week....

1. Sunday Dan came down to hang out, see Aaron and of course eat whatever was in the fridge-sound like someone you may know? It is always really good to see him, but man it just stings at the same time. I am sure that it does for him as well. He is such a good kid, trying to find his way and I try to give him the best advice I can. It is probably cleaner and more adult like that what he was used to with Don, but still I try.

2. Wednesday night I dropped and cracked into several pieces a hot tea mug that Don gave me. Technically it is a coffee mug, but he gave it to me for my tea. It is corny with bears on it and rather ugly but it is SO darn special. Thankfully, Alex fixed it enough to get it back together but I won't be able to drink out of it.

3. A text from Collin came with a picture of the grave marker that was laid this week. Fresh. Raw. Pain. Hurt. Anxiety. Dread. Slapped. Torn. Broken. Those are a few words that come to mind.

4. I talked to Dan tonight and the tears just fell. We were talking about Don and then Collin. Ah! It hurts so-I will leave it at that.

5. Tomorrow, oh tomorrow. We are going up to Peachblow Rd. to spend the day with Don and Sheree. We will start off by going to the cemetary together. That I am having a hard time grasping. I can think of the first time I met them thinking to myself there is a possibility that these people could be my in-laws(funny how we hrils are). Can you imagine? That was in the first week of me and Don dating! Now I am going to his grave with them. It just sickens me.

Oh I miss him so much. I miss sharing things with him. I miss it all-even ALL the annoying things. He was so honest and true. He made tears dry. He made smiles shine. He made days brighter. He made things funny. He didn't hurt people. He made my life better.

Let it Snow!

I was so excited to wake up this morning to the first sight of snow! I absolutely love it. It is so pretty, romantic and snuggly. It just makes me smile from the inside, I wish there was MORE!

I got some not so re-assuring news at work today about my schedule, but what can I do? I know in my heart that God has a plan and it will work out the way he intends it to. Until then, I will continue to pray for the following:
1. Peace in my heart.
2. My husband to continue to be so loving and supportive.
3. My son to continue to be the adaptable kid he is.
4. My mom and sister to continue to help pick up the adaptable kid.
5. The dogs to be OK with it to.
6. The ability to adapt to it.
7. Me to keep my job.
8. A prize at the end (kidding)

So THANK YOU if you have been praying for me and please continue to do so for the above.

Yesterday was an amazing day here. We went to church and I had a really amazing moment while praying at the altar-hence my uplifted mindset today. I keep telling you all that God is good all the time and all the time God is good! We took our class to lunch and it was insane, but oh so much fun! To be 13 again huh?

I just love my life. I am so thankful for my relationship with God and the blessings I have been given. When you get a note from a kids Mom that says "Thank you for loving my kid and being an influence in her life" it goes more than a mile. I am blessed and thankful.

Off to fix dinner!

Hi.

Life has been a real whirl wind lately. I feel that we are busy, but cherishing the moments as they go. Every single day is a blessing that we are thankful for. I just got home from work-fun huh? Hey-as least there is a job to come home from. That is a true blessing right now. It could be worse-you know?

I am so tired from this week of changing my schedule. I cannot seem to get anyone to understand how draining it is emotionally and physically. Anyone that really knows me knows that all I dream of in my life is taking care of my family and that doesn't just mean my kids. I want to have family time and eat dinner together. I want to play and do activities as a family. I want my children to know what its like to have parents that loved them together as a family and for them to have an understanding of what family means to me and Alex. Well, guess what. When your schedule changes that doesn't happen. Alex has to change his schedule, Mom or Krissy have to pick up Aaron and we don't see each other from 7am to 9:30pm. I know that some women would be happy with that, but not me. I love my husband and I miss him. I miss family time. I miss having dinner together. I am so sad and overwhelmed by it. I am so tired from it. I want it to stop. HOWEVER...I am thankful, very thankful that I have a job. I just want to not work the nights or I want to be able to better plan for it and for it to be less frequent. It is driving me crazy right now.

Our small group is going really well. We are doing the Purpose Driven Life study. This past weekend we celebrated Thanksgiving at the Russell's and Alex and I ran the study. Next month it is at our house so. Woohoo! Sunday we are taking our class to Mongolian BBQ-there are 18 signed up. WHOA!

Aaron is awesome. He is so smart and cute. He is loving and fun.
Alex is all the same to be honest, just more on the handsome side.

Ace-ARGH! He is chewing things still. Nothing too major. We will see what happens with him.
Abbie is perfect!

Good night! Please continue to pray for me around my job. I need to be able to handle this better-I know that!

Also-please pray for our friend Lisa. She is having a really hard time right now with the passing of another friend. Life has definitely dealt her a handful this year. She is someone that is truly special to both Alex and I and she is part of our family. Gallygirl-WE LOVE YOU!!!

Adjusting and Blessed

We are adjusting this week to Alex's new work schedule. He is working 4 10 hour shifts and will have Fridays off. It is a big adjustment for all of us. I now pick Aaron up every day and we are still trying to figure out the dinner thing. We are really big on eating together as a family so we have to adjust to new timing.

Today at work was really tough. DSW eliminated many positions today and I am blessed to report that I was not one of those people. My heart is so very heavy for those who were effected and for their families. Please pray for all of them.

Life is such an amazing thing. You never know what is going to happen. I have major anxiety every dingle day of my life that I am going to lose my job and it is driving me to the point of misery. I feel so guilty that I have so much anxiety because I have so much Faith. If I truly believe should I really feel like this? I was blesses again today with a call from my amazing friend Michele. She is such a strong Christian and a role model for me. She truly was a driving force in me wanting to be a better Christian. We talked for a while and she made me feel so much better.

I hope you are all doing well. Continue your prayers for my peave of mind. Lots of love!

With Fall comes the Pumpkin Patch

My whole life I have loved Fall. Maybe from back home where there are hills and endless sights of beautiful trees with leaves changing colors. Maybe it is the fact that sweatshirts and warm comfy pants are the norm. Whatever it is, it makes my happy. I have been going to Rennick's for years. It now takes on such a different meaning when we get in the van and have a Family Day-it makes my world everything. I love days that I spend with just us and relish in the memories we are making. The ONLY thing that would make them better is Andy and Ashley being here with us.

I love this man!

Don't be jealous that he is sooooo cute!

2 missing Grandpa's in this picture!

3 of the 6 Aces!

Can you carry them all?

Such beauty

In the simple things

There are new pictures below-ENJOY!

Our trip home

Ace

Here are some pictures of Ace. As you can see from the pictures he and Abbie are doing really well together. However, there have been a few items that have perished since his arrival!

Halloween Pictures