*IT'S SURE BEEN ONE GREAT ADVENTURE*

I can hardly believe that it has almost been 3 weeks since I last posted and all I can say is "WOW", where has the time gone? These past few weeks have been such a great adventure- with lots of awesome happenings as well as not so awesome... but we managed to pull through and God has given us the strength to do so!

I am finally in my new home. It turned out that I was able to connect with an awesome landlord here that someone in our new church hooked me up with. We have a 3 bedroom brick ranch,(Kyle has claimed a basement room that I was going to use as a game room as a 4th bedroom) not too much yard space which is a bit different from our home in Dover, but it is nice and it will be easy to care for. The hardest part so far for me has been trying to unpack everything pretty much on my own. My new friend Karla from the singles group came over one night last week and she helped us get our living room situated. Thanks Karla! Kyle has been helping when he can.

The kids started school last Monday. (Aug. 20) They are almost finished with their first 2 weeks of school. The transition from public to private school has been relatively easy for them so far, and they all seem to like the switch. Please keep them in your prayers as the year continues on.

Kyle turned 15 on Sunday. I can hardly believe it, but my little Kyle will be able to get his permit in 6 months, depending on how well he behaves. Now I didn't say that because I have problems with him, but there is a lot of responsibilities that comes with driving, such as saving money for the insurance, testing fees, responsibility for school and at home and so on. I will keep you updated if and when that new phase takes place. (someone help) Kyle has been getting a lot of experience here playing his guitar and he has really taken off on learning a lot of songs. He was asked just this past Sunday if he would help start a second band that would alternate weeks to play or fill in when someone wasn't there. This was great Birthday news for him. He has waited a long time to be able to do this and now to see it take shape is exciting for him.

The children's choir director here at Parkway House Of Prayer went around and listened to the kids sing last Wednesday night... I guess she did this without them knowing what she was listening for and Sunday she asked me if I would allow Katie to have one of the many main lead parts? This would include a part to memorize, a solo and some dancing. Of course I said yes and it has been fun so far learning the parts right with her. I know I might be a bit prejudice as we all are when it comes to our own children but when Katie sings I can't help but be filled with joy! She really has almost perfect pitch for an eight year old. I just hope and pray that she continues to use her voice and talents for God! Kris is going to be a part of the children's choir that sings at the Christmas program.

Since I have my computer back I will again be stopping in reading and commenting on all the blogs I used to visit and who knows, maybe some more new ones!

Before I close I would like to say that I appreciate all the thoughts and prayers for me and my family as we stepped out in faith and followed God as He led us here to Virginia. I do miss all my friends and family back in Ohio and I really really miss some people that probably didn't even realize it or know I cared. (Smile) My only regret is that I couldn't bring you all here with me! To all of you, much love and hugz! Thank you for also keeping my father in your prayers. He is ever so ready and patiently waiting to go home to Heaven. Mom has been keeping us updated and I am thankful that Dad has her there with him as a constant, faithful, loving and compassionate wife! Thank you Mom, I love you both!

Well I know that I could post more but my mind has gone blank about what I wanted to post, it's almost midnight and I really need to get some more clothes hung in someone's closet somewhere around here- so I better stay busy before I decide not to and regret it in the morning.

Blessings to All

*A QUICK OVERVIEW*

I just wanted to take a few minutes and let you all know that I will possibly be out of the blog world for a few days or weeks depending on how fast the move and transition take place. Anyways, feel free to email me or leave a comment and I will get back to you as soon as I get settled. I am turning my pc off and packing it away in the next hour or so. sniff sniff ( I am so going to miss the luxury of DSL for awhile) We are heading out for Virginia tomorrow morning after the rental truck is loaded. Blessings To All!

*IT'S BEEN SIMPLY CRAZY AROUND HERE*

Well I am not quite sure that I know just how to begin this post but here goes....

I left July 15th for Virginia to pick up Kyle and was soposed to spend only a week there, but my car broke down and I ended up spending an extra week there before I could make it back to Ohio. After I finally went home 2 weeks later, I ended up going back 6 days later and spent another 4 days there and now I am back in Ohio... but I am leaving this coming Saturday, heading back to Virginia for the last time. Whew! I still can't believe that I am doing this, but God sure is awesome and He had bigger plans for me than I could of envisioned myself. The best part of all this is that I just told God that I was going to go ahead and take that leap of faith, give Him control and whatever He wanted for my life, I was willing to obey. I have such a renewed faith in God and there is no possible way that anyone or anything could ever tell me that God isn't faithful! I have had the chance to just sit back for once and watch God at work, and it is in my own life! He told me to let Him have control and He would never fail me! I am totally amazed and absolutely thankful! Thank- You God! My brother and sister-n-law are coming up and helping me get everything loaded up in the moving truck and then we will make the 5 hour trip back down through the mountains to Roanoke, Virginia. I will still be updating my blogspot account, but it might be a few days or a week before I get in another posting, especially after this coming weekend. The kids are excited and at the same time sad that they will be leaving their neighbors behind, well and their dog that my mom took for us when the Doctor said that Katie couln't be around her anymore. They are starting school on August 20 and I have got 1 week after we get there to get everything ready to go for that.

I better go get some more packing done... I am at this dreaded task alone tonight since my kids went to spend this evening with their dad. Blessings to All!

*WHERE DID THE TIME GO?*

Hello my dear Family and Friends,
Good Grief... I can hardly believe that it has almost been a whole month since I last posted, and what a month it has been. I don't even know where to begin, so I will just start with whatever pops into my head first and even if I go back and forth to a subject and my blogging is out of order... In advance, please forgive me and who's really checking for proper grammar anyways? LOL (not me, I'm normally not like that, sometimes a bit on the Obsessive Compulsive side)

I hope that all my friends and family wherever you may be, have been well since I blogged or spoke to you last!

Many of you have asked about my father and I wanted to say that he is still here with us and that he is getting weaker everyday. My family and I appreciate all your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time and I can't thank- you enough. We serve an Awesome God who is always willing and able to give comfort when needed! I also wanted to say that I am so proud of my father... his picture made the front cover of Farm and Ranch Living Magazine for the August/September issue. (www.farmandranchliving.com) He is pictured on the cover with his red Farm All Super M. The picture was taken at the Florida Fly Wheelers where my dad so often came in first place in the tractor pulls in the class he would pulled in (THERE'S NOTHING QUITE LIKE A JOHN DEERE... UNTIL A FARMALL IS NEAR! as quoted to me by my nephew, Todd) I love you dad and I'm so proud of you!!!

As most of you already know... I am taking a huge leap of faith and in the next few weeks myself and my 3 children will be making a move to Roanoke, Virginia. I have so many people here that I am going to miss terribly... and you all know who you are! I have family and friends that I have known for almost 20 years where I am going... this is why it is so hard for me to make this post and one of the many reasons why I haven't been able to post for awhile. I have an awesome church family that I have grown to love more than they could possibly imagine and it is going to be so hard to have to say "see you sometime soon", because I could never say goodbye. Tonight at church it was so hard to hold back the tears or emotions, or even look people in the eye, but I was able to hold it together the entire service... then I just had to go home. Well enough of this for now or I will need to get my tissues.

While I was in Virginia, I had a freaky thing happen to my car. The right front spring broke and punctured a hole in my new tire. Now at the time one might think that I was the victim of some silly teens playing a prank since we were at camp and my sister-n-law also had a flat tire. But that was definitely not the case. I had to have my car towed down the mountain the final day of camp, then waited 10 days before my brother had a free day from work to fix it. I can say that God sure was looking out for the kids and I because if this would of happened while driving, we might not be here!

Because of our extra week in Roanoke, Kyle was able to attend another youth camp. He went with the new church we will be attending and headed for AYC aka Appalachian Youth Challenge in Pennsylvania. Man did he ever do some traveling this summer! Just ask him about it. He was gone for a month.

Kristofer is away at Camp Nuhop. (www.campnuhop.org) I believe that this was his 5th year there. This year he chose to attend science camp so while there, they are taking 3 day trips to Cleveland to go to the Science Center, Cleveland Zoo, and the Natural History Museum.

I really miss my daughter! I left her with my brother and sister-n-law in Virginia so that I could bring my niece and nephew with me to help pack things up. We are heading back to Virginia on Saturday after I pick Kris up from Nuhop. I will be coming back to Ohio till about the end of August and then making our move. I do have until the end of September so if I have to wait till then I do have the time. If anyone would like to have a packing party or just to hang out and chat with me... please feel free to stop in or give me a holler!

I apologize that I don't have any pictures to post at this time, but every time I tried to use my digital camera, the batteries wouldn't hold up and I kept replacing them with new ones. I sure hope that nothing is wrong with my cam, but such is my luck! grrr

Well I could go on and on, but I think that I will rest my brain for a bit. I will post more soon! Blessings to All! Leslie

*HE SURE PULLED MY HEART STRINGS!*

Well one thing I know for sure is that I am not even close to being ready for my yard sale, but come Thursday morning I will try to be ready for it as much as I possibly can. Or better yet, maybe if I just don't think about it the yard sale will all go away and I will have sold everything there is to sell and I will have the money that goes along with the sales. Dream On!!! I only have my middle child here with me this week and you would think that it would of been easier to get boxes gone through and priced, NOT! This is me I'm talking about and that would not even be in this lifetime!

Anyways after taking Kris to his Dr.'s appointment this afternoon I mozied on over to my mom and step dads I stayed a lot longer than I should of and before I knew it- it was time to go get Kris some dinner and get ready for my Massotherapy appointment. But I lucked out when my step dad asked us to stay there for dinner and with not too much twisting here, so I agreed to stay and we ordered pizza. Now I like pizza but have to be in the mood for it... I just can't have it all the time. As for chicken...well that is a dish that I truly love and a totally different post. LOL

After dinner and on the way to my appointment I noticed that Kristofer was especially quiet and he wouldn't even answer me when I tried to talk to him. So I asked him what was wrong for the 10th time and he finally said, "I didn't like that way you talked to Abby tonight"(our dog who now lives at my moms) Well I scolded our dog because she tried to make her way to scarf down my step dads pizza and after he lost a philly steak sub to her a few weeks back, I didn't want to see it happen to him or her again, so I just told Abby no in a stern voice as she was ready to pounce on it. After he told me this I asked him, and do you miss her? And that is all it took... he burst into tears and they wouldn't stop. Along with me scolding her and him missing her, Kris was taken by emotions. Now you have to understand, Kris is not one to really show that side of him... His Asperger's Syndrome (Autism) makes it hard for him to show emotions other than what often is interpreted as him being a bad boy or what some deem as inappropriate. I am so proud of him that he was able to let an emotion out and without anger, screaming or someone being in the way of his frustrations. Since my daughter is highly allergic to Abby giving her fits with her asthma and since she is away at camp with the group from Velocity (church group)... I agreed to bring Abby home tonight and let her stay as long as he helps me do the extra cleaning (sweeping furniture in and out and running sweeper more than once) that has to be done after she goes back to mom's... and so against my better judgment Abby is here for the night. I guess the little stinker still knows how to pull on my heart stings! ~Blessings~

*CATCHING UP*

I just wanted to pause long enough from my busy life to post even if it is short.

I missed church this morning and I really regret not being able to be there. I hate not being able to go... I really look forward in going to renew myself after a busy week and to hear a message that always seems to be taylor-made just for me that week. Church is such an important part of my life as a Christ Follower. It's funny now looking back to when I wasn't following Christ, I didn't even think about going to church or what day of the week it was... I just simply lived my life but now it is like a piece of my puzzle is missing and I have to search for it even harder when I am not there. Sorry for the bad example... but I couldn't think of anything else at the moment. Grrr

This week has flown by so fast! Kyle has been gone for just over a week now and I miss him terribly! He is visiting my brother and family in Roanoke, Va. and I leave on the 14th to pick him up and stay for about a week to visit and take care of some business... kind of like a short vacation. I might not be coming back in a week if my dad passes away while I'm there. We will head on to Florida for his burial.

Katie leaves for camp bright and early tomorrow morning. This is her first time ever to go to any camp alone with no other family there but I trust that she will do fine! Jessica is her counselor and she knows her well!

Kristofer leaves for Camp Nuhop in Perrysville, Ohio at the end of this month through the first week of August... he has been going to this camp for 5 years now. He is especially excited since it is his first time to attend the Science camp they offer that teaches them so many different things about nature. (even holding snakes, eeeeekkk!)

I trust that you all had an enjoyable holiday week! I will post some pictures of the 4th and last nights fireworks at Tuscora Park at a later time.

Please keep my father and family in your thoughts and prayers- it will be very soon now. Blessings, Leslie

P.S. It was short after all! :-)

*MY ALL SO CRAZY LIFE- AS I KNOW IT*

First I want to apologize in advance because this post might be long! It seems like forever since I last posted but actually it's only been a week. So I guess my life's been way too busy... which brings me the thoughts for today's posts. I know that sometimes throughout my own "ALL SO CRAZY LIFE" I can get caughted up or just simply overwhelmed with all there is to do or should be done. I try my hardest to be organized... but I have this lovely little thing called Adult ADD sometimes... no really I have it all the time, so organization eludes me! I will find myself making up lists, and knowing that there is umteen million things to do I just try to start with the top 5 - 10 most important things to get done and by a certain date. You'd think that with a list one should be able to follow it no problem, right? WRONG!!! I have no idea how I have managed to start on all 5 - 10 things and in no particular order... but by my deadline I still only have 2-3 fully completed! GRRR! Why can't I just stick to 1 thing and keep at it till it's finished?? I don't have a clue, or why can't I remember to go right back to it if I am sidetracked for some unknown reason I can't remember! Is getting sidetracked due to kids needing me, the telephone ringing or just being so consumed with the silly list and life that before I realize it, it's past 3:00 and I haven't even fed the kids lunch and the "it's now about time to start dinner frenzy" suddenly hits me, where do I put the blame? I often feel like Charlie Brown when he tried so hard to kick the football and failed time and again landing on his bootie... he always tried- that's what counts! Do any of you other mothers out there feel like this? Am I the only one that feels like I fail at completing my household tasks or duties as a mother trying to be both mother and example ? Am I teaching my children proper life skills? I pray that I am, but at times I feel so SCATTERBRAINED!!! Having said all of this, I believe that I just might have stumbled upon a cure for us Adult ADD-ers! (or at least for myself) You know how they make these invisible boundary fences for our animals? Well if dogs can be trained, why can't I? Yes I am talking "Shock collars here".... but for humans! More like "Our Reminder or Thinking Necklaces"! (The Human Zapper-comes in gold or silver) Us women always like getting new jewelry don't we.... just think of it as replacing the ribbon around our finger to remember sort of thing, but just a pretty necklace might be more charming, don't ya think so? LOL Just once it would feel gr8 to be able to get a list of things done starting with #1-10 without all the stops and starts and then be able to see what I've accomplished! I know that sounds quite *Barbaric* and that I am not! I don't suggest inflicting harm or injury to anyone... it's just that sometimes my sense of humor does about as much wandering as my mind does and I would just love to find a solution to my problem even though the idea might be warped, it's just a thought! (*Smile*) So having said all this I feel quite a bit better! Blogging does help calm the mind! Guess that is why the experts suggest journaling and my love for writing! I guess that I am too hard on myself and my own worst critic. But ever since following Christ and the difference He has made in my life, I should just allow Him to "Shock" the reality back into me if He feels it's necessary! Are we all needing a good *Shocking*? Blessings To All!