Summertime Fun

The boys and I have really been having fun this summer. I LOVE being outside (as long as I am near water!) and so does Carter and Mason. Last week, we went swimming at Aunt Lynn's house. We had a great time, but we also got fried! Therefore, we spent several days inside recovering.

I seem to be getting a lot of the above faces lately...

This week, we went to the Gerber Pond with Amy, Hudson, and Cline and had a great time. Carter and Hudson are buddies - they played so well together.

This picture is of the boys playing in Hudson's "ocean". So funny!

On Tuesday evening, we went out to the new Splash Pad with Jenny & Kaden. We had a great time (despite the black bird that almost attacked the boys and DID attack a lady there...)






Well, Nick and I are off to Cincinatti this weekend. We will be visiting the Creation Museum and hopefully a water park or something. We are so excited! Have a good weekend!

Happy Birthday, Nick!

Today is my handsome hubby's 23rd birthday!

Our day began with breakfast out at the Corner Depot. It usually involves at least half of the Fiechter family, but today it was Nick and I and the boys and Lynn. (Brad & Josh were rafting, and who knows where everyone else was!)

Then we came home and opened gifts! Here are a few pics from that: (the boys were so excited)


The boys got him 2 new picture frames for his desk at work, a pair of really nice house slippers (that he has been wanting for 6 months), and a really cool "to do" paper pad. (He loves to make lists, so this was a perfect gift). Carter even sang to him....several times - gotta love Carter!

To celebrate his many special occasions - graduation, birthday, and Fathers Day, Nick and I are leaving next weekend for 2 nights away. Any advice on where we can go? He said he wants me to pick and surprise him...I cannot tell you how excited I am to get away! We both need this very much.

Happy Birthday, honey! I love you!

The Lord will provide

Just thought I'd make a quick update on my lesson planning! WOW! The Lord really does provide! I know in the big picture, this lesson really isn't that big of a deal, but I am once again amazed at the wonders of the Lord. Throughout the day today, (after much prayers from me and from all of you, thanks!) I have come up with a pretty good "rough" idea of what I am going to do. I have quite a few little stories that I can tell and some good little "audience participation" things for the kids. But maybe more about that later.

Throughout the planning of this lesson, I have shed tears over a story that I thought I knew so well already. I have just thought over and over about how Jesus felt when he was up on that cross all alone. Judas betrayed Him. His disciples deserted Him. How would we feel in His position? I think the emotional pain itself would have killed me! When I feel the littlest bit of a headache or cold, I want Nick there beside me rubbing my shoulders, or just plain babying me. I cannot imagine or fathom the loneliness He felt as He hung there on the cross all alone... Yet He said, "Behold , the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me." St. John 16:32

What an example He made for us. Even in the toughest hour, "the Father is with me". Hmmm..

I've learned to lean harder on Him. Prayer changes things! THANKS!

My bible school lesson...

I'm nervous.

I'm scared.

I'm petrified!

Help me! Okay, so my lesson is on Thursday. I am not really uncomfortable with the kids, but I just hate to talk in front of a lot of people. I am mostly nervous b/c I just don't feel like I have any good ideas on something fun for the kids. I don't want "just another lesson".

So I am calling out for any help I can get! I have 5th graders and my lesson is to cover the Betrayal and Trials of Jesus. Any ideas? I have a few little ideas like maybe to write out on notecards some scenarios that the kids might run into where they feel betrayed and ask them what they would do. Then what Jesus would do...

Anyone have a really good story I can tell?????

If you have no ideas, you can at least pray for me! ;) Thanks!

Graduation Celebration

Friday night, the Fiechter family had a graduation celebration in honor of Nick. We had to have it a little late due to farming. It was such a nice evening! It has been a long time since we have all been together at Gma and Gpa Fiechter's house, so we all really enjoyed it!

Here are some fun pictures from the night.

Gma babying Carter...He got sad outside so gma said, "Lets go watch Maise!"
No wonder he loves going to gmas!

And no wonder she loves having him! What a sweet picture.

Meanwhile, outside here is a pic of Mason throwing a classic fit. He got mad at me so he threw himself on the stones...He laid there for a few seconds before he realized it wasn't so comfy...

Here's a pic of Nick and Ryan. They had just finished swimming a few laps training for the "Fiechter Triathlon" (This great event will be held at the end of August)

This is all the men talking - Brad, Dave, Ryan (3 brothers) Charles (gpa) and Nick
(I think Jason was playing with the kiddos!)

This is Gabe - Ryan and Darla's son. What a ham!

Mason and Aunt Lynn

Group picture again - L-R - Brad, Darla, Joni, Jason, Dad (Dave)
Jason fixing the "Boz" swing*

* Last summer, Grandma had Nick make her a tire swing (aka the Boz swing). Jalen was swinging on it and for some reason the chain broke! Yikes! So I just had to add this picture of Jason fixing it. I couldn't watch - I had to just go inside! I hate heights!

I didn't get pictures of several of the other family members b/c they didnt' get to stay the whole time. Maybe next time! Love you all anyway!

Thanks a ton grandma and grandpa for having a graduation
celebration for Nick! We love you!

Grandma Fiechter

Joni, Kinzie, & Gma

Today is Grandma Maxine Fiechter's birthday! YAY! Happy Birthday, Gramma! (as if she looks at this...we have yet to talk her into getting internet...)

We just think she is awesome! Grandma is the type of person to do anything she possibly can for you. She has babysat my boys countless times - I can't explain how much I appreciate that! When I first explain that I have something going on she'll almost always ask, "Can I keep the boys for you?" Not only is she always willing, but she'll usually offer too! I used to have to turn her down on her offer just to give others the chance to have the boys! ;) She loves having the family in and is an amazing cook! I truly think I got my desire to cook from her. When Nick and I were newly married we'd go to her house once a week for supper! Now and then, one of us will find a new recipe to try (like Olive Garden's recipes, yum!) and we'll get all the ingredients and go to her house to cook it! It is so much fun and I am really enjoying the memories we are making! She has also been teaching me so much about flower gardening and giving me lots of good tips.

Thanks grandma, for everything you have done for our family! You are greatly loved and appreciated! God has surely blessed us to have a grandma like you!

In addition to grandma's birthday, my sweet little niece, Kinzie just celebrated her first birthday! We had a party for her here last weekend. Here are some pics from the evening!

Isn't her cupcake cake so cute!?! Jason and Joni did such a good job!

Here is Kinzie licking her cake...She really wasn't all that interested!

This picture is of Kinzie playing with the stroller Brad's and us got her! She loves it! ;)

And of course, she got a ride in it herself too! Mason and Carter loved it so much, we thought about buying them one too! Daddy didn't think that was a good idea! ;)

Happy Birthday to Kinz too! Love you sweetie!

The.........Incident.....

Well, on Friday evening we invited our good friends, Michael, Jane & Deacon Reinhard over for the evening. We do this occasionally and we usually enjoy a good game of Ticket to Ride.

Well this evening we decided to play Monopoly Deal instead. (this is a great card game!) We had great fun, although the guys were mad at Jane and I the whole time for talking too much...but oh well!!

Midway through the game we began to talk about crepes! Yum! Michael (being the great man that he is :) ) had made Jane and I crepes at about midnight last week while working on the DD4. (see Jane's post about weight gain during the DD4...hmmm...wonder why?! ) So.....we got hungry for them again! Michael so graciously whipped up a batch for us again!

Here is Michael making crepes, and Jane assembling them...
Notice the plate on the bottom left burner???

Still noticing the plate on the bottom left burner??

Notice the plate...broken...on the carpet....hot!?!?! and Jane in utter panic and disbelief!!!
Also, notice that Michael graciously kept working on those crepes...

So - the story is that with our crepes we decided to heat up some smok-y links too. Well - the wrong burner got turned on (or both - we really aren't sure what happened!) and the plate got heated up too! I should add that Michael kept telling Jane and I, "I smell something burning..." "Hey, do you girls smell something burning?" "Okay, I'm really smelling something..."

Michael - WHY didn't we listen to you???

So, Jane finally noticed that the plate was hot when she tried to move it a little. Then all of a sudden we heard a crack, saw pieces of a plate flying and of course, heard a famous scream out of Jane. (which then caused me to scream...sound familiar, Clint/Amy?) ;) At this point I thought, "Oh, hilarious! This will make a great blog post! So I run for the camera, (not the hot plate on my carpet!) {but I did get a great picture of Jane, huh?}

This is the end result - a scar on my carpet!

Can you even see both of them?

Of course, the rest of the evening - Jane felt terrible (it probably wasn't even her fault) and I had to convince her that I will still be her friend and that I am not mad at her!! No worries - it only added character! ;)

Thanks Michael and Jane for spending the evening with us! There is always excitement with you two! ;) We can't wait till we can do it again!

Pampered Chef

An Open Invitation...
As most of you bloggers may already know, Jenna Stoller is now a Pampered Chef consultant! I am so excited for her, and will be hosting her first party/show!

WHEN: Monday May 18th, 2009 at 6:00pm (lite supper)

WHERE: @ our new house - 444 Elm Grove Rd

WHY: I am hosting this party to help Jenna out - get her started and get her name out there! (of course the free/reduced price stuff is enticing! BUT - I certainly am not doing this for the free stuff. With that said, those of you who choose to come, please do not feel obligated to buy something. Their products are awesome, but I just really don't want anyone to feel like they have to buy something ;) .

So - now that we have the "disclaimer" out of the way....If there is anyone out there that knows they need a pampered chef item and can't come to my party - please give me a call or post a comment here and I'll be sure to get your items ordered Monday evening!! You'll need all the latest cooking utensils for when the famous Dutch Delight 4 breaks out sometime in the next 2 months!! Thanks a million!

Congratulations, Nick!

He did it!!!!!!!

After 4 years, 8 semesters, 6 summer sessions, and countless hours spent studying.....Nick is now a graduate of IPFW (with distiniction, if I can toot his horn a little! He is going to ream me!!) and has a double major in Accounting and Finance with a minor in Math!!! Way to go, babe!

If you can tell - he is the 4th one in on the bottom row...I'll try to fix this later...

Will we have more schooling in our future? Will IPFW be seeing a lot more of our $$ AND of Nick??? Only God knows at this point and we are both comfortable with whatever he leads us to...Right now 'the plan' is for Nick to work at Lincoln Financial Group in Fort Wayne as an Actuary (*see below for an explanation of an actuary...b/c I'm sure if you are like me...you have no clue what it is!). He is excited and slightly nervous - so please keep him in your prayers at the beginning of next week as he plans to start work on Monday the 18th.

Look closely...See any problems?? Nick hasn't noticed yet!

Although school is over for Nick, studying is NOT. Actuaries are required to take a series of (really, really, hard) tests. Nick is on number 4 of 9 (which he will be taking on Friday).

Nick, Congratulations!! I am so proud of all of your accomplishments and I will continue to stand by your side through all this studying! I love you so much ~ I praise God for the wisdom he has given you ~ not only academically, but spiritually as well. We are blessed! I am so thankful to have a husband as driven as you are! Love you!

**ARG! I did not type this in this large font...but I can't get it to go away and it is 2:50 am...(I'm petrified of storms...so this is my new coping tool!) I'm going back to bed now! ;)

*An actuary is a business professional who deals with the financial impact of risk and uncertainty. Actuaries have a deep understanding of financial security systems, their reasons for being, their complexity, their mathematics, and the way they work Actuaries evaluate the likelihood of events and quantify the contingent outcomes in order to minimize losses, both emotional and financial, associated with uncertain undesirable events. (copied from Wikipedia)

Happy Mothers Day!

Yes, I am still here! I have been extremely busy juggling the new house, finals week for Nick, the Dutch Delight 4, and two children with ear infections! But, I thought I'd take some time out tonight to post about Mothers Day.

I LOVE being a mom. It is the most amazing and rewarding job ever! I feel unbelievably blessed with my two children. They bring so much joy and love to my life. I just tucked Carter in and we talked about Mothers Day and what it means. Yes, it brought tears -- lots of them. Yes, it brings me down. No, it isn't much easier than the first year... (for those of you who don't know, I lost my mom on Christmas Eve 2007 in a terrible car accident)

I try to focus more on my journey as a mother, and not as being motherless. God has blessed me beyond imagination with 2 children and I am so grateful for that. And, I am thankful for the 22 years I had with my mom. So often, Satan can get me sad and angry because of the short time I had with her, but then I think of those children who never knew their moms. But I did - for 22 wonderful years. So, tomorrow I am going to try to remain as grateful as I can - instead of being sad and angry - I am going to do my best to celebrate my mom's life, and not dwell on her death.

(Whoa...this is so much harder to write than when I had thought it out in my mind.)

I really am not sure why I am writing this in my blog. I guess I felt like I needed to get it out. And I realized on Friday at Potluck how people are clueless about how to react around me. The subject of mothers came up and suddenly the conversation got awkward and silent. I couldn't fix it - it was sad for me...But I don't want to rob my friends of the joy of talking about their moms.

So I guess I kinda want to take this time to thank everyone again for your many prayers and your extreme love and consideration that you have shown me. Going through the loss of my mother has not been easy, but it sure has helped having so many Godly friends (and family) by my side.

I am not looking for sympathy from this post. Maybe continued prayers - we could always use those! ;) Thanks for listening and sorry there are no pictures...I thought about posting a picture of my mom - but this post took me so long to work through that I am too tired to add a picture! Maybe someday I'll put one up on my sidebar....We'll see.

A big Happy Mothers Day to all you moms out there! And - to those of you who no longer have your mom...well I understand. My prayers of comfort will be with you.

Another thing to think about would be those women who want so badly to be a mom - and can't. My love and prayers are with you, too.