Life is best told in pictures - these are my own words! My camera is an extension of my hands!! Life has been quite busy for the past month as you can probably guess from my lack of postings!

I can remember building blocks at Grandpa & Grandma Scharff's home! We didn't spend a lot of time at their home while growing up - seems to me Grandma was known for saying, I've raised my kids and I don't need to raise anymore! But I do remember building blocks there and eating chocolate chip cookies!

William enjoys building with our blocks! They were a Christmas gift Kyle & Catherine received about nine years ago!




Catherine has been taking gymnastics (again). She is trying to learn to do a back flip, or back handspring, or back something!! She is very athletic - not a girly girl at all!


William spent a morning kite flying at Pioneer Park! That $1 kite brought more joy than Christmas morning presents.


Zachary claims that the High School Musical wall of shame in his room is going to come down, but we won't believe it until we see what color the walls really are!!

Kyle and Catherine are not very cooperative about having pictures taken, much less "twin" pictures! However, they should know by know, that whatever gets taken, will eventually end up in the blog and/or in their scrapbooks! I keep reminding them, that one day they will be glad that I take so many pictures!!


Life as always is busy here on Graves! The school year is winding down, projects are being finished for the year and preparations are being finalized for the school musical!

Also, prom has come and gone! Mark says this was his 15th prom - not so many for me - I only recall six, maybe seven.




We are ready for summer!!

Will he ever stop getting taller?

Zachary was measured at 5 ft 10 inches! A mere 7 inches taller than mom.

Spring Break on Graves

Well, after a week of sick kids, we started Spring Break on Friday, April 3rd. Kyle made it to school that day, although he came home and went to bed from 4 pm Friday afternoon til 9:30 am Saturday morning! He was a very sick young man.

Saturday, April 4th we traveled to Lexington, KY to celebrate Mark's grandpa's 90th birthday. Pa Ervine turned 90 on March 21st. It was a beautiful day in Lexington and Pa enjoyed himself, and his birthday gifts.

On Palm Sunday, April 5th, we celebrated an early Easter with the my side of our family. Here's some pictures from that event:

This sweet baby is Joshua
and this sweet baby is Jacob. I am sure of this because Jacob changed clothes!
Here's a rare shot of Hellen, along with the boys and Kyle. Don't know who is who in this shot because it was before the change of clothes, but I'm sure Hellen could tell you!
This beautiful young lady is Jade - big sister to Joshua & Jacob!

Aunt Molly hid Easter eggs for the Egg Hunt - it took her a very long time - maybe an hour to hide just under 400 eggs!

Before the kids were allowed to go hunting for them, they were "required" to take a group shot! If only I could figure out how to get them to all look at the camera and smile at the same time, I would be happy!


Here some more of my favorite shots from the day:

Me, Amy & Molly - the sisters three
Anne & Uncle Jim
Anne & Aunt Mary Ann
Angie & Pete (my big brother) I love the way they make each other laugh and smile!
A rare shot of Uncle Jim & Aunt Mary Ann together! They are so young - only 79!!

You may not be able to tell from the picture, but Monday and Tuesday of "Spring Break" week brought with it Snow Flurries! Yes, snow flurries in April! So, we went to the movies and saw Bedtime Stories!

On Sunday of this week also, my dear friends Cathy & Chris welcomed into their family baby Caleb. Unfortunately, Caleb decided to arrive six weeks early and so he is spending some time at Children's Hospital. We hosted a day of fun here on Graves and had nine children between the ages of 2 1/2 and 13 for the day! All nine kids and I walked to AmeriStop for Icees and then to the Train Depot for some fun! Thank God, the snow flurries were on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday the sun was shining brightly! The kids all had a great time together and are already planning another visit.

Pictured below are Kyle, Kyle, Zachary, Connor, Catherine, Craig, Claire, William, Claire.



The rest of the week was spent, catching up on things at home, sleepovers, birthday parties and Spring Break homework!

William did enjoy his first bubble bath in the new tub:


Today is actually Easter and after a morning hunting for Easter baskets, (in which Catherine had a very hard time finding) and Church,
we headed to Grandma & Grandpa's for Easter lunch and and Easter Egg Hunt!
Julia, Brooke and Catherine are not happy to have more pictures taken!

Anna, William and Bailey are happy with Grandma & Grandpa in this shot,
but Bailey was not excited to have his picture taken here!
So, it's been a busy week, and we are sad to go back to the routine of school in the morning, but the sooner we get school days taken care of, the sooner we can move onto summer!!

Week of Sick Kids

Saturday, March 28th, Kyle started with a fever that kept him home from school four days this week. William also ran a fever for two days and Catherine was home on Wednesday, with what I think was the "twin sympathy" illness!

This was supposed to be William's "Mommy & Me" week, but Kyle decided to join us.

Thursday was a beautiful warm spring day and now today is cold and rainy. It's no wonder that everyone is getting sick with the crazy (Cincinnati) weather we are having!

Finished Bathroom

Bathroom started March 17th, finished March 27th - nine working days - no weekends!

Construction Zone

Well in the midst of everything else happening, we have finally started the renovation of our beautiful green & yellow second floor bathroom. This is the before scene:

As if that wasn't bad enough, we have had a hole in our kitchen ceiling for at least five years now because the bathtub was leaking into the kitchen. Mark thought he could fix the problem, but as we all know, all he did was create a hole in the ceiling.

Kyle loves this hole. Here's a shot of Kyle looking down at me from the bathroom into the kitchen.














In the midst of the bathroom being remodeled, the furnace has also gone out again. The good news it the part is under warranty, the bad news is that it may be a couple of days before it can be fixed!

Keep checking for updates and a new finished bathroom - estimated completion date was two weeks! Started on March 17th!

Life in Erlanger

What a week it's been for Erlanger. On Tuesday, March 10th, Amanda & Ryan Minser (Amanda is the Family Resource Director at John W. Miles Elementary) lost their 7 month old daughter Audrey Ryan to a rare and undetectable heart disease called Endo Cardio Fibrosio. Thursday, March 12th, Erlanger/Elsmere Schools lost a 16 year old sophomore, Kassidy Pleasant, to suicide. Saturday, March 14th, Erlanger/Elsmere Schools lost a 16 year old senior, Chelsea Ryann Westwood, also to suicide. Also within the past week or so, the custodian at Tichenor Middle School, in Erlanger, lost two grandchildren, one 22 year old to suicide, another 4 month old due to accidental suffocation. Add to the sorrow, another 21 year old, committing suicide by being hit by a moving train.

Although, I only personally knew one of the victims, Chelsea Ryann Westwood, my heart goes out to all of them. I do know Amanda Minser, but had never met the baby.

I feel like the world is ending all around me.

Dinner Conversations

It's a joke at our house that you can't leave the table after dinner unless you have told us about your day. Of course, everyone just acts goofy and says "how was your day Dad? How was your day Mom? How was you day xxxx - you get the picture.

Tonight however, was a very loud meal as Mark, Zachary, Kyle, Catherine and William (yes William) told of their experience at school over practicing for a tornado drill! Now of course, William isn't in school yet, but he too had a story to tell about his drill!

Zachary went on and on about how crazy it is to announce that you're about to have a tornado drill before the alarm goes off. Kyle and Catherine were upset because they had to sit on the cold floor and put their head between their legs. William proceeded to demonstrate how loud the tornado alarm sounded - you can only be thankful that I can't blog the loudness of his siren!

Mark said that the high school kids were actually very good during their drill and Zachary said "of course they were, they got out of class."

Dinner with the six of us is one of my favorite times of the day. Once the food is cooked, table is set, and we are all sitting together!

Now, if only the maid would show up to do the dishes as the dishwasher is broken once again! I can only hope!!

Kyle & Catherine

I just came across this picture and just laughed to myself. This was taken, Feb 20th after Kyle & Catherine had spent the day in Frankfort on a 5th Grade Field Trip.


Background: There was no one else eating with them. William was already in bed for the night, Zachary was skiing, Mark was at a basketball game, and I had already eaten before they came home.

So, I walk into the kitchen and find the two of them sitting side by side eating their food from Wendy's and talking like best friends. Even though they were on the same field trip, apparently they didn't get to spend much time together and were catching up with each other on their day!

It's a nice reminder that they really do love each other!!

William's 4th Birthday

Well, it's hard to believe that William is already 4 years old. He went from this

to this

in what just seems like overnight!

This morning we started off his day in our bed for pictures and presents. It was a big birthday morning for William as Zachary, Kyle and Catherine each had a present for him this year and Mom did quite well shopping after Christmas sales!

I should also note that the first words out of his mouth this morning were - "did you buy me a kite?" Now, keep in mind that just yesterday he informed me that he wanted a kite for his birthday. Thank goodness, by chance, I had a kite - two actually - under my bed that I had bought to take on vacation last year and forgot!

You never know what they're going to come up with next!



He also was not excited to have pictures taken, but I managed to get a couple.









As far as a cake goes, William also informed me that "I hate cake. I want blueberry muffins." So we had muffins and sang Happy Birthday at breakfast.

Aunt Amy's Chicken

Sunday, while I spent the day with Mark at the hospital, Aunt Amy (my sister) came over to spend the day with our four kids.

When I arrived home, all I heard about was Aunt Amy's Chicken. They went on an on about it, like it was the best thing since sliced bread! Well, it was so good, that not only did they eat Aunt Amy's Chicken on Sunday, but they also ate it on Tuesday and again on Thursday! With no leftovers!

So, if you're ever hungry and want some good chicken, call upon Aunt Amy and maybe she'll make you some of the secret recipe!

KFC may be calling soon, but it's now an official Family Secret Recipe!

Easy Bake Oven

Who invented the Easy Bake Oven? I'd say he/she wasn't very smart, but considering the number of ovens sold over the years, I guess that wouldn't be a true statement.

Let's just say, that William has been dying to make something in the Easy Bake Oven since he saw one on the shelf at Target. Of course, I told him we had one at home and finally after about two weeks we have located the Easy Bake in the bottom of Catherine's closet.

So, being the good Mom that I am, today was the day dedicated to baking brownies Easy Bake style - one at a time, over the course of three or more hours!

Thankfully, after the first one came out and William took a bite he looks at me and says "Mom can we just make the rest of them the old-fashioned way in the oven?"

I just wanted to kiss his little face and say "I told you so", but I didn't. Some lessons in life you just have to learn through your own experience. The Easy Bake Oven and the fact that it doesn't work like you want it to, is just one of those lessons!

The picture tells the whole story:

Update

Well they admitted Mark on Saturday night/Sunday morning! Ran tests and a CAT scan of his stomach and came up with nothing. Probably some sort of infection having to do with the small and/or large intestine, but possible a blockage in the small intestine.

We're home now, after two long days! My prediction is that we will probably be back to the ER before long! Hopefully he will get in to see a GI Gastro....Internal...Specialist or something like that.

I think Mark wanted to come home to get some sleep. St. Elizabeth South is anything but quiet!

The best part is that Sunday morning at 4 am, Mark called from the hospital to say he was being admitted, but that I shouldn't come until morning. Okay, so then, why did he feel the need to wake me up at 4 am!! He claims he thought I would be worried, which I was, but worry let me at about 1 am when I traded it in for sleep!

William then woke me at 7 am saying "it's morning time - get up."

So anyway, thanks to Amy who spent Sunday with our kids and to Lois and Alfred who spent Monday with them so that I could sit in the hospital and keep Mark company.

Hopefully he's on the mend, but only time will tell.

Thank God for the ER, I hope

So, as I write, Mark is at the ER for whatever is going on with his stomach. It has been a very long week of ups and downs in the medical area of our family! Mark went to Urgent Care tonight and they basically told him to go to the ER. I pray it's not serious and also that they can tell him what's wrong!

Speech and Drama Competition

Another Speech & Drama competition! I was very thankful, as I'm sure Zachary and Mark were also, that Regional Competition was close today - it was at Ockerman Middle School.

Zachary did very well, placing 2nd in Solo Acting with Baby in the Bathwater, 1st in Declamation with the Ryan White Speech and 1st in Duo Acting with Lexie DelaGarza with their Barbie & Ken piece!

Coming up soon is KESDA and KHSSL, two state competitions!

Congratulations and good luck!!

Sleepovers

Define sleepover?

Mom: When you or a friend are at one another's house so late that it doesn't make any sense to come home, then you sleep over!

Any of my Children: It's Monday morning and the first thing out of their mouths is Can xxxxx spend the night on Friday?

Sometimes, they make me crazy. Why can't they just enjoy the day that God has given them and not always be planning planning planning! They sometimes plan so much, that they don't enjoy what they already have.

Sleepovers, can be fun, but too many kids can also be loud!

Of course, right now at 7:40 am, five sleeping kids are a gift from God!

I love the noise, love the kids, love all the activity, but at midnight, enough is enough!

Blog Title Change

Okay, so Kelly and I finally got the family blog set up, so I've changed the name of my personal blog from Aunt Anne's Blog to Life On Graves. Hopefully I will be better at this than I have been at real journals that require pen and paper.

I have so many paper journals started that one day I'll have to put them all in some kind of order.

Last week we had what the news people were calling "the worst ice storm in the history of the tri-state." It was bad enough to actually call off school in the Erlanger/Elsmere district for four days - Tuesday - Friday. Boone County was off the entire week, but that's nothing new.

Today, everyone went back to work and/or school! Of course there's a chance of snow again tonight, so who knows what will happen in the morning!

This is what our house looked like last week:



Children are calling, so I better go and get them ready for bed!

Go with the Snow

Okay, so if the ducks don't mind the snow and can learn to adapt, don't you think we all should be able to also? They don't worry about food and neither should we! God will provide, if only we believe!

First Place

Congratulations to the John W. Miles Mustangs Varsity Girls Basketball Team! The team came in first place for the season and first place for the end of the year tournament!

The team was led to victory by Coach Whitney Gillis. Members of the team include Olympia Reyes, Amanda Rogers, Laura Crawford, Catherine Raleigh, Amber Powell, Hayleigh Tharp, Mariah and Shelby!

Great season girls - CONGRATULATIONS!

Proud Mom

Well, it's the first warm day we've had in it seems like forever, and when the sun comes out, so do the kids in the neighborhood!

Apparently, Kyle "won" the first mud fight of 2009!

What's a mom to do? First you just have to laugh, then take a picture of course, so you will have evidence for when his kids come to the door covered in mud, then hope that his feet are clean so he can get to the shower without ruining the carpet.

Life's too short to get upset about a little dirt!!

Happy New Year?

Well who says you can't celebrate New Years anytime in January! We had the party hats, blowers, poppers and noise makers - all we needed was for everyone to be home and awake at the same time and some sparkling cider!

The neighbors probably wondered what we were celebrating last night with all the noise coming from our house! I figure in 50 years no one will remember it was January 22nd and not December 31st!!

If the picture was a bit clearer you would be able to see blood red eyes behind all four masks! Pretty creepy!!

I'm not a very good single parent! I don't like when my dear husband, Mark, is out of town, even over night! I'm sure the kids will be glad also when he returns late on Thursday! We miss you!! Love you best, don't tell the kids!!

Welcome to the Family

What a better way to begin a Blog than to welcome into the family two of the most beautiful babies in the world. Today our family grew by two as we welcomed Joshua Richard Scharff and Jacob Joel Scharff into the world. Aren't they precious!

Of course Aunt Anne (their favorite) was there to meet them less than 12 hours after they made their entrance to the world.

Mom and Dad are doing great now, but keep posted throughout the year and you may hear updates of what it's like to be living with a two year old daughter and new born twins!