Valentine's Day - and President's Day

At the school my son attends, they had a Valentine's Day party the last hour of school on Friday. I was really excited that it happened to fall on the same Friday that my husband had off work so that I was able to go while he stayed home with the little kids.
They had fun little crafts for the kids, some goodies, and games. It was a good time!
I didn't get very many pictures because it seemed like I was the only dorky parent who brought a camera.

My goofy kid with a mouthful of cake.


Since there was no school on President's day, I wanted to do something fun with the kids. I got a Culture Pass to the Desert Botanical Garden. I REALLY like that place. I've taken the younger kids there a couple of times, but this was the first time that Zander got to go. What is really interesting is that because of the nature of it (plants in different seasons) it is different every time we've been. And there are LOTS of different trails, each with something different to learn about.
I learned a lot of different plants and thier uses, and the kids really enjoyed it too! I learned that you can use Mesquite beans (which are EVERYWHERE around here) and grind them into flour. I'm not sure that I would ever do that, but it's cool to know.

Still has a black eye

My pretty girl

The sun was bright and they didn't want to look at me

The baby was there too

Trying to grab the mesquite tree

One more pose

The weather was perfect, and it was a great time! Then, we had lunch with Daddy as a bonus!

A Black Eye - and Green Eggs and Ham

On Tuesday of last week I got a call from the school. My son was in the nurse's office. She wanted to let me know so that I wasn't shocked when he came home. Apparently, he had taken a bad fall while he was climbing the "spider web" on the playground. (One of those metal, half-circle things that kids like to play on). The bar hit him right above his eye. This is what he looked like when I picked him up:


And the next morning it looked even worse!

I kept telling him that he should tell people he was in a fight, but, thankfully, he didn't go along with that plan. He was actually quite embarrassed about it, and got tired of everyone asking him what happened.

In other news about my boy, on Monday (the day before the black eye) he got an award at school - "Appreciation for Reading Green Eggs and Ham to the Class". He got the book Green Eggs and Ham for Christmas, and spent much of Christmas break learning how to read it. He was pretty excited that he got to share it with his class. So, after he got the award, he asked if we could have green eggs and ham for dinner. I didn't have any ham, but I cut up some turkey slices and dyed some scrambled eggs green. It was basically just like an omelet, and if you could get past the way it looked, it was actually quite tasty.


I like green eggs and ham - I really like them Sam I Am!

My Next 30 Years

Yesterday was my 30th birthday. I'm not sure exactly how I feel about it. I don't really FEEL any older. It's not like that number actually changes anything about my life. But it does give me the chance to look back on the last 30 years, and think about what I might do differently in the future.

I think somewhere, I have written down where I thought I would be at this point. Written from my perspective at about 16 years old. (I should track that down) I'm pretty sure that life hasn't turned out exactly as I had planned, but I think it's better then I could have expected!

I'm happy with where my life is right now. I love my family. I have a wonderful husband and fantastic kids. We have great friends and I actually like where we live. I never thought that we'd be here this long. I moved to Phoenix to go to school. I was going to stay here for three years, and then be LONG gone. Now, more than 11 years later, I'm still here. But I don't think there's anywhere else I'd rather be right now.

I'm thankful that my husband has a great, mostly stable job and is able to provide for us. I'm happy that I am able to stay home with my children. I don't think I ever really imagined what it would be like to be a full-time mother. It's definatly not the glamorus job I might have thought it would be. But, what else would I want to do? I can't imagine doing anything else right now!

One thing that getting older remind me of is just how short life really is! We all get caught up in all the day-to-day stuff, but, at least 1/3 of my life on this earth is probably over. I need to make the very most of the next 2/3!

Kids and stuff

Just some cute pictures of the kids from the last week or so.

Ady started a dance class. She is having SO much fun with it! I wanted a cute picture of her in her leotard, but this is as good as it gets...

These were taken with my cell phone before I got a new camera...



Here's the dress I made Ainzlee for her birthday. It's not perfect (I don't claim to be an expert seamstress) but I think it turned out pretty cute. She wore it to church on Sunday. I decided to do her hair like this, just for fun, since she won't keep any clips or anything in it. Surprisingly, it stayed up ALL day.


Today, Ainzlee decided that she wanted to color, like the big kids. She got a hold of a pencil and was trying to draw on the floor with it. She was even holding it almost correctly. So, I gave her some paper and let her go at it! Except for wanting to eat the eraser, she did a pretty good job!

Happy Birthday Ainzlee!

It is SO had to believe that it's already been one whole year since my little monkey was born! This year has FLOWN by. She has grown SO much!

We had a little birthday party for her on Saturday. Unfortunately, none of our extended family was able to make it, but we were happy to have a few friends stop by to show their support.

The pretty birthday girl she only let me keep the flower in her hair long enough for ONE picture!


She really had fun opening her gifts. The paper was the best part!


I made this little duck for her:

I made her a dress too, but I don't have any pictures of that yet.

Here's the "cake" that I made. Not super fancy, but it was easy!

She had LOTS of fun eating the cake




We invited the missionaries to join us. They are always up for a free meal, and we enjoy having them around.
Drinking BEER
(don't worry! It's ROOT beer!)


Our good friends Pam and Bill Houghton came too


Gran and Papa sent her this pretty dress. She wore it to church today.


Robbie couldn't come to the party, but his mom dropped off this cute puppy for her. It's tail wags. It's really cute!


Me and my cute kiddos


Happy birthday little girl! We love you!

January 15, 2009

Life Sketch of John & Catherine Good(e) of Galion, Ohio

For anyone reading who may not know this about me, I really enjoy Family History. I love putting together the pieces of information like a big puzzle of someone's life.
I've been working on the Goode family for about 2 1/2 years now and I thought I should put everything that I had found about them together in one place.
These are my husband's great-great-great-grandparents.

Life Sketch of John & Catherine Good(e)
John was born in about 1827 in Ireland. He emigrated from Ireland to the United States some time before 1855. He could have been on the Ship Kingston that arrived in New York 18 sep 1849. (I’m not sure if that is him or not).
Catherine was born in about 1835. Most sources state that she was born in New York, but there is a small chance that she was born in Ireland as well. I am unsure of what her maiden name was as I have found it listed differently in different places. On one of her children’s death certificates it says “Haley”, another says “Fitzgerald”. On two of her children’s baptism records it says “Fitzpatrick”. This will need more research.
John and Catherine were married before 1856 and lived in Greenburgh, Manchester, New York. John was working as a gardener. They moved to Galion, Crawford, Ohio between 1860 and 1863. John worked for many years on the railroad.
In 1900, John was living with his daughter, Catherine, and her husband. He died 4 October, 1904 of “Old Age” in Galion, Ohio.
Catherine died 28 Aug 1892 in Galion, Ohio and was buried in Mt. Calvary Cemetery.
Children:

1. Elizabeth Good – born about 1856 in New York, died 12 Aug 1890 in Galion, Ohio; buried at Mt. Calvary Cemetery.
   • Burial record says “Lizzie Good” – probably never married
2. Thomas Good – born about 1858 in New York
3. John Good – born about 1860 in New York
4. Daniel George Goode – born 11 September 1863 in Galion, Ohio; died 25 Mar 1917 in Alliance, Stark, Ohio
   
   • Married Katherine Barbara Auer
   • Father of Blanche Beatrice Goode
5. William Good – born 10 January 1867 in Galion, Ohio; died 23 May 1886 in Galion, Ohio; buried in Mt. Calvary Cemetery.
6. Catherine Good – born 9 January 1869 in Galion, Ohio; died 21 January 1949 in Galion, Ohio; buried 24 January 1949 in Fairview Cemetery, Galion, Ohio.
• Married to Albert Moiser
• Never had children
7. Michael Good – born 1 November 1870 in Galion, Ohio; died 13 November 1930 in Alliance, Ohio
• Served in the US Navy
• Never Married
8. James Good – born about 1873 in Galion, Ohio; died 12 November 1908 in Galion, Ohio

Scoures:

1. Ship manifests – castlegarden.org
2. 1860 US Census – Greenburgh, Manchester, New York page 387
3. 1870 US Census – Galion, Crawford, Ohio, page 25
4. 1880 US Census – Galion, Crawford, Ohio, page 44
5. 1900 US Census – Galion Ward 4, District 15, Crawford, Ohio – sheet 12A
6. 1900 US Census – Alliance, Lexington, Stark, Ohio – Sheet 14A
7. Ohio, Diocese of Toledo, Catholic Parish Records 1796-2004 – Crawford, Galion, St Joseph, 1854 – 1873 Baptisms, First Communions
8. Ohio, Diocese of Toledo, Catholic Parish Records 1796-2004 – Crawford, Galion, St Joseph and St Patrick 1885-1954 Deaths
9. Ohio Deaths 1908-1953
10. U.S. National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866-1938

Why I Blog

I think that every blogger has his/her own reasons for blogging. I thought that I should state - for the record - exactly why I am doing this.

Why I Blog:

1. I blog because I want to keep an account of my family's life. My children are growing up before my eyes, and I don't want to forget a moment of it
   However, it is not possible for me to blog about EVERY little thing that happens in my life, or the life of my children. I try to keep up, but I do get behind sometimes. Things may get left out.


2. I blog because I have lots of pictures of MY children that I want to have at least somewhat organized and displayed in some fashion. I've resigned myself to the fact that I may NEVER catch up on scrap booking, so this is one way to display family photos.
   I do NOT blog to display pictures of other people's children. If they want their kids displayed, they can put them on their own blog.


3. I blog because I enjoy sharing my family's news with our family and friends.
   I do NOT blog with any particular reader or groups of readers in mind.
   I do NOT blog to make anyone else happy (or sad, or angry, or whatever).


4. I blog because I LIKE it. I like to write about things that happen to me and how I feel about them. I like to get feedback about those things from people that happen to read it. It is healing to write about life's events - good and bad.
   I do NOT blog because I think my life is more interesting than anyone else's.


5. I blog because I like to share things I've learned about or things I'd like to buy (like fun Etsy stuff).
   I do NOT blog because I want to show off to anyone.


6. I blog because I see it as a tool to promote my business. I like to pretend that at least someone who reads it cares about the new things that I make and would like to know about them.
   Yes, I'm trying to run a business here!

The bottom line is, this is MY blog. I have my OWN reasons for using it. I'm not going to change it for anyone else. I'm going to post what I want to post. I'm not going to apologize for anything I have or have not posted here, or anything I may or may not post in the future. If you don't like what you see here - DON'T LOOK.

That is all.
~~Alayna