Must.Build.Ark.

So, it's cold and rainy again in Ohio... seriously, if anyone has room on their ark for our family, I'd be happy to rent space.  It's officially the second wettest year in history for Ohio and I, for one, am fed up with it!  Yet another fire in the fireplace tonight to try to warm up this house... with the 20-foot ceilings in the living room, it's hard to keep it as warm as the rest of the house.  Tonight, even Miley was feeling the chill and looking for a warm place to lay.

I'd love to curl up beside the fire tonight myself, but I've been home from work most of the day working at the dining table and trying to feel better.  I even got dressed and went to work, only to come home an hour later.  Yuck.  And although I definitely put in an 8-hour day today (started at 6am this morning in the same darn chair I'm currently sitting in), I'm still so incredibly behind and trying desperately to catch up.  But I'm taking a break to clear my head and put some thoughts down on paper, so to speak, for prosperity... and to entertain, even if only one!

Aidan received a letter today from his Aunt Linda.  She found his dog tag outside by Aunt Rhonda's pool and mailed it to him because she knew how special it was to him.  You would have thought it was Christmas morning.  He had me read him the letter with a giant smile on his face.  He was running around exclaiming, "This is so exciting!"  I'm not sure if it was getting back his dog tag or the fact that he got his very own letter in the mail.  At any rate, his giant smile was infectious and it made me feel better, if only for a few minutes.

And to wrap things up for the night, I'm including two recent pics of the kids doing what they love.  After all, I promised I would.

Aidan (aka Smiley) playing football just before school started... he loved playing even though he was often the smallest kid on the field.

Teagan (L) with her cheer BFF, Lexie (R) at their first competition as NEO cheerleaders.  They switched gyms together this year so they were able to stay together.  And mom and dad are excited to have friends to travel to all of these competitions with (love you, Randy and Brenda)!