Almost a new year!

This has been a great year at the Vorpagel's house. I can't really complain! We are all relatively healthy and the recession hasn't hit us over the head too bad (especially now that the gas prices are finally back to "normal"}. Haley and Madison are both doing well and like 6th and 4th grade. Softball will be starting up again in a couple of weeks and will pretty much keep them busy until the end of summer. Ed is working hard, as usual, and we will probably be going on another trip to Germany in the spring, due to all his hard work! I am looking forward to it very much.

Like I said, I can't really complain!

This is an exciting time of year for my side of the family, as I write this, my brother Brad and my sister-in-law Lara are having their first baby via C-section. I am waiting by the phone for news! They are having a boy and naming him Luke. If my brother doesn't mind, I'll post his picture later.

The excitement doesn't end there; my sister Kristen and my brother-in-law Donny are also expecting a baby in about 9 weeks. They are having a girl (their first baby too)so you can imagine, my parents are pretty excited to be having two new grandchildren! Haley and Madison can't wait to meet their new cousins.

I have been busy with PTO at Madi's school, but haven't been substitute teaching much, or working at the gym very oftern. I guess I'm going to have to try and be a little more productive in the new year :[ I'm still scrapping though and will post some new projects soon. (This is also part of the New Year's resolution!)

The phone just rang and I am an aunt!!! Luke is 6 lbs. 10 oz. and 20 in. long He is perfectly healthy and has a full head of black hair. Got to go check out the picture on my cell phone. I am sooo excited!!!!

Fall smilebox layout

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Time Flies - Haley isn't my baby girl anymore.

I just don't know where all the time goes. It has been two months since I last posted, but I can hardly believe it. School will be out in a couple of days and I haven't a clue what we're gonna do all summer.
This has been such an amazing time for me. I can't believe that Haley will be ending her "elementary career" and heading off to middle school. She couldn't possibly be going to six grade, she just started school like yesterday! She is really coming into her own this spring. It has just been a whirlwind. She has made me so proud of all her accomplishments, but I can't help being a little sad at the loss of my little Haley-Bug.
She did a phenomenal job in the Regional Song Fest as part of the All Star Sing. I still get compliments every day from people amazed at her performance of Jemima in Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang and seeing her dance in her recital was a nice end to that chapter in her life. Softball! Need I say more? We eat, breath and sleep softball from February until August. She is really making strides in her catching and hitting and more importantly in her attitude. Haley has never had trouble with school work and true to form, she's had a great year.
Setting aside all her accomplishments, I am proud of who she is and how she is working on being a better person to her family, her friends and herself. It makes me feel like I'm doing okay at this mom stuff after all.
Don't worry I'll be back with a Madison tale soon (in less than two months, I hope)

A good friend of mine, sent this to me and I thought it was worth repeating.

The Invisible Mom

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?' Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all I'm invisible. The invisible Mom.Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this ? Can you tie this? Can you open this? Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's going, she's gone!One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England . Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe . I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription:'To Charlotte , with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.' And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.'At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness.It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride. I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'You're gonna love it there.'As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.Great Job, MOM!

Being a good mom

Sometimes I get so lost trying to be a good mom. I have no idea if I'm doing anything right. We are always in a constant battle around here between my will and theirs. Today was a perfect example. I had planned a fun afternoon at the mall and at Claytopia, as a surprise for the girls, but things didn't go the way I pictured it. After I picked the girls up from school, we started off to the mall, but along the way I had the typical bickering, hitting and general bratiness from the back seat. Come to think of it, were not talking about anything out of the ordinary or over the top, just the same old, same old. But for some reason, it was just the straw that broke the camels back and I just lost it. I turned the car around and we went home instead. Of course, this brought choruses of "we're sorry" and "please turn around" the entire way home. Yes, I drove all the way home. Believe me, I almost gave in and turned around many, many times, but I felt like I just needed to stick to my guns and not give in. The kicker is, now I feel like crap as much as they do. They're mad, I'm mad, they're sad, I'm sad. So, did the whole fiasco make a damn bit of difference? Only time will tell. Somehow, I doubt that what will be remembered is "If we behave like brats, we won't be rewarded" More than likely they'll just remember this as the day mom went off the deep end about a little sibling bickering, and maybe they'll be right. There's still time to head back out to Claytopia and salvage this day. What would a good mom do?!?

Happy Valentines Day

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What a day!

This was one of those days that I'm glad is finally over... It started out okay, I had a lot to do to get ready for Madi's valentines party at school and a long Girl Scout meeting, but amazingly, I was ready to go (on time). Of course, I didn't count on the inch of ice encapsulating my van and I definately didn't give any thought to getting out of my driveway. Well needless to say after about 10 minutes of chipping a little visibility into the icy windshield I was ready to roll. Spin might have been a better way of putting it. My car was basically sitting on a sheet of thick slippery ice and no matter what I did, I couldn't progress up my driveway. Now if you can only imagine me sitting in my car screaming obscenities to know one in particular crying in frustration while I became evermore ticked off at the situation and at the fact that I was missing Madi's party. I bet it was a sight to see.

Luckily, a wonderful lady that I know through Girl Scouts, Anne, happened to call while I was in the house searching for something to put under my tires for a little traction and when I explained my situation she offered to come help me out. Of course, I told her no, thank you anyhow, that shouldn't be necessary as my friend Shelli was coming to get me, and I really thought I would get that Damn car moving... Needless to say, I didn't get the car out and before Shelli had a chance to come and rescue me, Anne stopped and gave me a ride to the school saving the day! Now Shelli had everything under control at the valentines party, and I managed to pull the rest of it together despite the crappy way my day started out.

It still kind of amazes me how everything worked itself out. I just happened to be in the house when the phone rang and I answered it instead of letting the machine get it, and Anne just happened to be driving by my house just at the time I was getting desperate. Shelli jumped right in to save the party and lots of Girl Scout parents stepped up to provide transportation not only to the meeting (thanks Trisha, Mike and Kathy) but even to take me and the girls home at the end of the day. All's well that ends well, but I'm still glad this day's over!

I am so over this weather!

Hey everyone,
You know, I have lived here for just over 5 years and you would think I would be used to the infamous Erie snow and cold, but I have to admit, I'M NOT!!!
I think it's about 5 degrees outside this evening and even colder when you factor in the wind, and I am just sick of it!!!!
I think I'm suffering from cabin fever... you see my closest friends are all busy working (I know, can you imagine the nerve of these ladies, leaving me behind so they can go out and earn money ;-) LOL! Ed has said it's okay that I don't get a full time job 'cause as long as my friends are unavailable for shopping and lunches out, I'm not spending nearly as much money as I used too! :(
So here I sit, bitching and moaning about the weather and my lack of daytime fun when what I really should be doing is organizing my scrap booking stuff for an upcoming crop. (I can't wait!) Anyhow, I'll be back soon!
Tracey