Randomness from the sister who visits too much!

So I am here visiting my sister and her family today, and on November 15 they are listening to Christmas music and Decorating their tree. I am all for this except for how we have not even Celebrated Thanksgiving yet. They say they will celebrate both, but I wil have to see if this is true. I would also like to wish my brother-in-law a Happy Birthday! I am thankful that I was included on your celebration even if it did include me watching you decorate for Christmas. :)

On to my other random topics. I have been going through pictures on my computer and found many of the Splan Clan so here they are in no specific order. Hope you enjoy the random pics of

the fun times I have had with all of them! These are not in any order since I do not usually blog and I had a lot of trouble figuring it all out. These pictures are from our day out to the splash park, the birthday celebration we had at Monkey Joes, our family get together, and them decorating the tree. Holly is helping but did not make it into the pictures from today. By the way Holly loves pictures of their feet. The pic was taken on JJ's birthday for her to always remember what small feet they were when he turned two. :) I hope you enjoy! From the blog Stealer :)

Happy Halloween 2009!

We had a great Halloween with our kids. It can be such a fun holiday if you just have fun with it....Last year, Miracle had to be a cheerleader and JJ was a little pumpkin. As you can see....last year was too cute!

Halloween 2008

Halloween 2008




Halloween 2009--- JJ wore his same pumpkin sweatsuit from last year....hasn't he grown up a lot? Miracle was a barbie princess....she loved it:)

Halloween 2009- I had to post this cute picture. These two are the best of friends and Miracle was helping JJ to cross the street safely. This is a memory that will last a lifetime....sisters and brothers have such awesome relationships!

Happy Birthday to my Sweet Boy!

Happy Birthday to my sweet boy! Today JJ turns 2. He has been such a blessing to our family. I have very mixed emotions about this day....my baby is growing up too fast, and yet it is so exciting to see him grow!

We love you so much big boy!

Some Sunday afternooon pictures

What up, dudes?

JJ stole the cookie from the cookie jar? "Who me?"

Another Family Update...

Hello everyone! We are all doing pretty well in the Splan household. It seems that the sickness has finally decided to end for awhile....at least for now. Today my family and I headed over to my sisters house for some much needed family time. My mom is down from Michigan, and we were all antsy to see her. It was a very enjoyable and relaxing day! My husband is preparing for a little business trip to Charleston next week, and Miracle and JJ are both looking forward to JJ's birthday party next weekend. With Nanna visiting, the party is sure to be more fun!

Last week was a sad one for the Meyer Center, the school I work at. Our school was started in 1954 by an orthopedic surgeon named Leslie C. Meyer. He had a burden to offer therapy services to physically disabled children at as young of an age as possible. He passed away over last weekend and his funeral was on Thursday. I did not know this man very well but have a very great understanding of what his vision has done for hundreds of children. His funeral was awesome. I only wish he could have been there to hear everyone speak so highly of him. He sure did make an imprint on many lives!

Aside from lots of business, we have all been enjoying the arrival of fall. I did make it quite clear a few posts ago that we could do without fall. This, however, is only because of the awful spiders! I still enjoy the crisp smell of the air in the morning and evenings. I love to watch the leaves change colors, and I love that the fall time change is getting closer:) I hate how dark it is when we get up in the morning--- it makes me feel so much more tired! I am especially looking forward to the holidays this year. I have a lot of family coming to SC for Thanksgiving, and hopefully we will be traveling to Michigan for Christmas. We will still be crazy busy but getting to see family always makes life look a bit brighter!

Well the children are calling. I need to get off the computer and get some household needs taken care of. Have a wonderful weekend and especially enjoy the Lord's day!

So happy together

I was out sick last week with strep throat and this is how JJ spent his day...reclining and being lazy:) I was lazy too although I had to do a lot of disinfecting so that the rest of the house would not get sick. My best attempts failed, however, because Miracle woke up this morning with a sore throat, cough, and fever. Ahhh...the joys of fall!

This is just a cute picture of the kids playing dress up...and sharing a soda which is inevitably why we are passing this sickness around so quickly:(


One day last week, it was a really cool evening and Josh decided to mow the lawn. JJ would not let momma rest until he got to go out and help daddy. Yes, he is already in his PJ's, but I could not resist letting him play 'big boy'!

Just a random picture of my happy Miracle!





And my not so happy JJ....isn't he cute though?!?!?

Overall, it has been an interesting few weeks. I am hoping to get Miracle into the doctor this morning to get her better for tomorrow. School and jobs are calling...no time for being sick! I will enjoy this day at home with my kids though. It is raining and dreary and cold outside. Her little body could not have chosen a better day to be sick!

Signs of fall...

I can always tell when fall is on its way in good old SC. Its not the cool air at night or the every other day rain...though these things are definitely clues as well. It's the spiders. Spiders start to come out everywhere. I can definitely remember my first August in SC. I was quite pregnant with JJ. I came home from work one day to find a giant spider hanging in a web right outside my front door. By giant, I mean GIANT. In Michigan, spiders tend to die over the winter so they never get too big over the summer. What I thought was a big spider growing up is actually quite small compared to the big spiders here in SC. Well this big spider was blocking me from going through my front door. At this time, James was living with us. James was a teenager that we brought back with us from Michigan. He was going through a hard time and needed a summer away. Well, upon meeting this wonderfully giant spider at my front door, I backtracked to the back door. On the way there, I began noticing the many spiders that had emerged around the eaves of my house. There were several of these giant spiders, and I immediately new that we had to make a trip to Walmart. After all, GIANT SPIDERS are not allowed at the Splan house...or outside it. I was about to have a baby and my pregnant hormones said the spiders had to go NOW! James and I made an immediate trip to Walmart where we picked up the best spider killer spray we could find and a broom. We rushed home and got out the ladder. I then directed James to every spider that I could find outside of the house. I made him kill every spider I could find...and I made him sweep around the outside of the eaves to find any lurkers. He was very sweet to let me boss him around knowing full well that he was not willing to deny a pregnant hormonal woman. It was actually quite funny looking back. After this, I was content. The spray apparently worked through last summer too. I kept watch and never found GIANT spiders hanging around the eaves. However, this year they are back. I still check the top of my door every day when I get home. I will never forget that giant fella! The top of the door remains safe...but the spiders are everywhere else. I have had Josh kill a most of them, but there are still plenty out there. Also, I have killed several that I have found inside my supposed "Spider Free" house. YIKES! The other day, we were watching TV before bed. All of a sudden this little spider descended down from the ceiling right in front of the TV. I freaked, like I always do, and Josh took care of the little intruder very quickly. Some of you may find this entire post useless...but you have to understand how very badly this is effecting me right now. I HATE SPIDERS! They come out in hoards as fall approaches and cool weather starts coming. For this reason, I say...lets skip fall and start winter early!