Happy New Year!

It was so wonderful to see everyone over the holidays! Here's some of our favorite pictures. Thanks Pete, Tracy and Tim for spending so much quality time with the boys -- they sure had a wonderful time!!! The kids have been in their glory having some quiet days at home playing with their new gifts. We've been playing game after game - tonight it was Monopoly. Isaac is waiting to play Speed Solitare tomorrow. The boys are so excited to be able to stay up as late as they want tonight to ring in the new year.! I'm not sure I'll even make it til midnight! : ) Today we went to Ken and Carol's for the afternoon. Carol made pasties for us -- Yum!
Happy New Year to everyone! Love, Joy

Favorite Christmas Shots

There are a lot more Christmas pictures to come; I have another roll of film to develop and I need to download all of the shots from Dad's camera. Needless-to-say, these are a few of my favorite shots.

Bethany's New Altar

Here are the pictures I took when we visited the church last week.

Using Blogger - How To

Thank you all for giving me some insight into how you have been using the blog. Please find some "how to's" on how to get navigate the blog.

How To Create a Post

1. Go to Blogger
2. Sign in to Old Blogger by entering your username and password and then clicking sign in.
3. You are now at the Dashboard. Just like the dashboard on your car it is where you control the blog.
4. Scroll down until you see the Nadeau Family Blog. Click on this link so that you can create a post.
5. Click on the button that says Create Post.
6. Create a Title in the title box.
7. Write your message (called a post) in the large white space.
8. Add pictures and links, change the font or format using the icons above where you are writing.
9. Scroll down and click the orange button that says Publish Post

If you accidentally navigate away from your post, click the back button on your navigator and then click Recover Post.

How To Make a Comment

1. Go to the Nadeau Family Blog
2. Find the post that you would like to comment.
3. Scroll down to the bottom of the post where it says something like, "posted by Joy at 9:35 AM 0 comments"
4. Click on where it says 0 comments to open up the comment box
5. Write your comment in the box that says Leave your comment
6. Scroll down, enter your username and password
7. Scoll down just a bit more and click Preview
8. After your have previewed your comment choose one of two options: (A) edit your comment if you want to make changes or (B) publish this comment

I would like to switch us over to the new and improved blogger which requires a g-mail account (free account from google). It will give us more flexibility, security, and make the process easier for everyone. I am not going to switch over until I know that everyone has had a chance to use the "current" blogger effectively. Here's what the new blogger has to offer: Click Here to See

Great to see you all!!

Hello Everyone - It was so wonderful to see you all. I had a great time visiting with you all. Grandma and Grandpa were such wonderful hosts.

Pete and I left at 4:45 am yesterday. We had a pretty easy ride. We made it to the bridge in no time - stopped in Gaylord for a bite to eat (at the fanciest McDonalds I have EVER been in - it was just like a cafe) and switched drivers. We made it to Royal Oak around noon. Pete's friend Herm met us at my house and they were off to Chicago - they made it safely. I worked at Portable Church Industries in the afternoon. I had a ton of work to do there. Carrie was very sweet and made dinner for me - grilled portabello mushroom and onion sandwiches with a side of edamame. She bought everything at Trader Joes which is one of my favorite grocery stores. It was delicious. Afterwards, I had rehearsal with my band last night in preparation for Sunday's service. All of the band members are really talented. Our drummer played for a Christian Ska group called the insiderz and our bass player with Barbara Payton (who is one of Bob Seeger's singers). It was a great time.

Today I am going to clean my house and buy some healthy food to start the new year off on the right foot.

Linda - I am hoping that you were able to finish the Outlook. The time and effort you put into creating it is really evident! I really enjoyed reading the article you wrote about Grandma and Grandpa.

Carol - Thank you for all of the delicious meals. I had a great time getting the house "ready" with you.

Debbie - As always - you did an amazing job of bringing us all together at the annual pizza party. Everything was splendid! (I like Venice the best!)

Adam - Isaac - and Pete - Congratulations to the Awesomest Skateboarding Team - I think you are all WORLD CHAMPS!!!!

As soon as I get my pictures developed I will post them on the blog.
Love you all - Tracy

Family Pictures

Thanks Debbie - We had a great time last night.

In the U.P.

Hello Everyone - It is so nice to be in the U.P. visiting with all the family. We are looking forward to going to Debbie's tonight for our annual pizza party.
Tracy

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all and isn't it a blessing that we have such a wonderful family!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Love from all the Yoopers:-}

Ice Day!

Happy Holidays to all! Today in the UP it was very icy. School was closed because of the icy conditions. The kids missed all their Christmas parties, oh well they will have to have them after the new year. It gave me the chance to make my cookies with the frosting. I was glad to get that done. I am at Mom and Dad's visiting. I t doesn't seem very Christmasy without snow but we might get some tonight. I still have some wrapping to do but otherwise I think I'm set for Christmas. Looking forward to seeing you all. Love, Debbie

Christmas is here

Christmas is Finally Here! I hope all of your shopping is done and that you are able to rest and relax. I am just FINALLY sealing the envelopes on the Christmas cards I am sending out. I hope they make it on time!!

Mom and Dad are driving towards Michigan as I write. Tim and Pete will make it in sometime tomorrow. Tim is at a conference in Chicago right now. He is staying with Pete - they seem to be having a great time. I am glad that they have some time together.

I am looking forward to seeing all of you - Merry Merry Christmas.
Love, Tracy

New Stove

Hello Everyone - I'm so excited my new stove just arrived in time to make Christmas dinner. I am still figuring out what we are going to make - but I am really excited. My new stove is a ceramic flat top with 4 burners and a warming area on the top. The oven is a convection oven that reduces the cooktime by 30%. But the best part in my opinion is that my new oven actually has a window and an oven light!!!!! Yahoo! Bob the appliance-man at Lowe's helped me pick it out. I never knew buying appliances could be so exciting!!!! Tracy

Nutcracker

Here are a few pictures from the Nutcracker!




Sarah (lead dancer Clara) and JoBeth (Both are my students!!)

Christmas In GA

Hello Everyone
Hello everyone Paul and I are doing just fine. Last night we had 45 people over for a Christmas party. We invited people from Paul’s work and my Thursday Bible study. We had a great time. There was a lot of food and good conversation.

I now am getting ready to leave next week for Christmas. I have to wrap and pack. I don’t know how I am going to put all the stuff in car. We will be pack to the gills! This is the first time I have to take everything with me. I told Paul we will need a U-Haul to take all the presents, food and stuff with us. He just laughs and said he didn’t think so.

I hope all of you take care and we are really looking forward to seeing you soon.

Emily

Weekend Update

Friday: After school I went to my favorite boutique shop called Catching Fireflies. Then I raced home to tidy up the house and to my surprise Carrie cleaned the whole house before I got home so that was a welcome treat. Our small group Bible study met and enjoyed some Christmas festivities. Alli brought us English "cracker gifts". In each of them there was a toy, a riddle, and a great tissue paper hat. I really loved the hat!!! This year instead of giving gifts to each other - we donated to a charity. Alli donated to the UN AIDS fund. Carrie donated to a dozen chicks to needy village through Heifer International. (This was my favorite donation). I donated to a local family at Kensington Community Church who have adopted 8 children all from the same birth family. They are struggling to get the kids gifts for Christmas. Sarah and Kathy have both donated to Samaritan's Purse. Together we also sponsored a senior at the Lighthouse where Mom faithfully served as the Director of Emergency Services! After our group met and took our annual Christmas Picture we headed to Meijers at 10:00 pm to do a little Christmas
Shopping. It was a lot of fun!

Saturday: Today I have a wedding to go to for a colleague. It is all the way out in Redford so I will only be going to the ceremony itself. Later I will be going to the Nutcracker Performance by the Rose Marie Floyd Civic Ballet. One of my students has the lead role of Clara again. It will be her final performance before she graduates.

Sunday: I am going to sleep in and then go to church at 10:30. I imagine that I will finish up my shopping and write the rest of the test that I am giving on Monday and Tuesday!

Ten Days of Christmas!

1 week or so 'till Christmas
2 days of school left!
3 more days until I sleep in!
4 more days until my parents come!
50 degrees outside (where's the snow?)
6 people sleeping at my house
7 days until Pete and Tim Come
8 more gifts to buy
9 days 'till Christmas
10 more days 'till we go Up North

Quiet Time

I have a few minutes of quiet time before the kids get up to get ready for school...it's been a busy week doing all the last minute things getting ready for the holidays. Yes Debbie - Faith is the cutest baby! We look at her many pictures on our fridge every day and we miss her!
The boys each have parts this year in the chuch Christmas progrom this Sunday. They both have a speaking part and Isaac volunteered to play the piano for 2 songs during the prelude -- I can't wait! We're looking forward to my brother and his family flying in from San Diego on Sunday. The boys can't wait to see their cousins! And we can't wait to see all of you!! Adam and Isaac haven't forgotten all the games that Tracy, Tim and Pete played with them last year and all the fun they had! They might be bringing a few new games along -- get ready!
Wishing everyone a blessed Christmas -- see you soon!
Love, Joy

Christmas Stove??

Hey there Family,
What a crazy time of year it is. I am eagerly anticipating the break from school. We have three more days! Hooray. How is everyone's Christmas shopping going? I am about 2/3 done. (Mom has been done forever - uggh - she is so efficient) I have a list with all of my ideas - but I just need to pick the rest of everything up. It's fun - especially when I am out of school!! I also have to pick up a "Christmas Stove" - yes my stove went kaput last Friday (Yes - I found out while I was boiling 15 pounds of potatoes for the SOS shelter!) and so I am buying myself (and my best friend Carrie - she lives with me - a new stove). Isn't it exciting???!!!

Gotta' Run - Off to Sears.
Love you All - Tracy

Trip to Walmart & Pasties

Hi All, Dad wanted me to write and tell that they went to Wal-mart on MOnday. Mom just got back from Social Ministry meeting at church. I brought everyone pasties from the Elks today. Boy do they smell good. We get them once a month. Mom and Dad are looking forward to seeing everyone at Christmas. Love from all of us!

Message from Dad

Hi All, This is Debbie writing from Dad's computer. It is a dreary rainy day here and the snow is almost all gone. Mom and Dad received their chocolate boxes. YUMMY! It is a busy time getting ready for Christmas. You will all be so surprised how big Faith is now and of course she is the cutest baby. She will be fun to have around this Christmas. She likes all of the lights. Hope you all are doing well. Love from the UP!

Hello Everyone

Hello
I have been busy all weekend cooking for a Christmas Party at our house next Saturday. Paul is having a few people over from his work and I am having a few from my bible study. There will be around 25 people. A lot less then usual and I am having a hard time cooking just a little I keep thinking I need more.

I am leaving tomorrow to visit Tracy for a few days. I come in on Monday and leave on Wednesday. I have a party for my sorority it is our secret sister party. It will be fast but I am looking forward to seeing Tracy. Paul is going to work in Southfield and will be there Tuesday through Thursday.

I am really looking forward to seeing everyone at Christmas time. take care
Love
Emily

Vanishing Posts

Hello Everyone -
A couple of you have asked about vanishing posts - I am glad you asked. If you accidentally use the "back" button on your browser before you have saved your post as a draft or pulished your post - you will lose what you have written. So - before you hit the back button - make sure to SAVE as DRAFT (blue button at bottom) or PUBLISH POST (orange button at bottom).
Please let me know if you are having any other questions/troubles - I will find out the answers!

Dinner and a Show

What a wonderful weekend. Somehow I managed to not have papers to grade this weekend. As many of you know - this is always a glorious moment for a teacher. So Friday night I helped out at church with the SOS homeless shelter. Each of the volunteers made part of the meal we were serving and then when served and ate with the SOS guests. Yesterday, Carrie and I worked on cleaning the house. We spent most of the day tidying - vacuuming - and finishing up the Christmas decorations. It was fun. We then met up with some staff at students at the Peking House in Royal Oak to have Chinese Food. We followed that up with the school Musical: Pippin - it was a great success. Today I am going to go Christmas shopping - and try to make a big dent in my list!! If only it would snow it would be a perfect weekend.

Tracy

Happy Holidays!

Hello everyone! Last night we made our annual visit to see Santa Claus! We drive an hour to Appleton to go see him each year. The kids know that he is the REAL Santa as we've been seeing him since Isaac was a year old. The cool thing is he remembers our family each year -- how could he forget us after the year Adam was 2 and was terrified so Santa had Ryan and I sit on his lap so we could get a picture with Adam in it! It's a great family tradition we look forward to each year.
Looking forward to seeing everyone over the holidays!!!
Love, Joy

White Christmas

I'm Dreaming of A White Christmas.

a.k.a. Praying for Snow!!

Nadeau Family Blog

I am having trouble publishing my post. I have written two that have dissappeared into cyber space. Wow is me. I'm trying something new hope it works. Love to all, Debbie

Trip to Japan

Hi everyone I just returned from a week in Japan. The picture I attached is of Mount Fuji which I could see from my hotel.

I landed in Japan at Narita airport and took the train to Tokyo. From there I took the Bullet Train to Shin Yokohama.

I worked for three days at one of the major Panasonic areas in Saito.

I had a variety of foods including eel, sharkfin soup and whale.

I returned on Saturday. The flight over was 14 hours and returning was 12. The two hour difference is due to the 100 mph winds of the jet stream.

I am glad to be back and am adjusting to the 13 hour time change

Bye for now

Paul

Happy Birthday Tim

Hi Tim - Happy Birthday - I am so glad that God made you just the way He did. You are incredibly special to me. I love your thoughtfullness, your attention to details, your fun ways, your unconditional love, and even your little quirks! (I know I have quirks too). I still remember going to see you in the hospital when you were born. I peered through the nursery glass, standing on a step stool, singing Jesus Loves You. I still know that that is true! I love you too!!
Love, CC

Hello and Happy B'day Tim

Happy B'day Tim!
It is hard to believe you are going to be 29. It seems like only yesterday you were "being superman" and going off to school. We are very proud of you son and think you are a wonderful man!

Well everyone, the weather here is warm but they say it will become chilly soon. I have the house done for Christmas and when Paul gets home from Japan with the camera I will take a picture or two to post. Paul is due back tomorrow at 2:40pm. I talked to him just a few minutes ago and it was in the morning there. I love when he calls from Japan later in the day because I get to talk to tomorrow. I don't know why but it just makes me feel like a wonderment thing.

Today was a great day I went to Community Bible study I love the new friends and the great study. The program is really nice. I went to the study before a long time ago in Michigan when the kids were small. They have classes all over the United States. (Tracy you will be proud I used the link tool)! We are doing 1 Corinthians. then I had lunch with all the Panasonic Ladies. We went to a new place for me in Fayettville.

Well thats is about all that is going on with me I hope to hear and see from the rest of you. I look at the blog at least once a day hoping there will be new short news updates from everyone. take care
love
Emily

Check Your Smoke Alarms

Hello Family,
I hope you are all well. It is unseasonably warm here in the Detroit area. Again we reached over 60 degrees - but the weatherman said to hold onto our socks because a cold front is coming through. Personally I am glad that the mercury will be dropping. My classroom is a sauna when it isn't cold outside. Even moreso (again I don't think moreso is really a word but I'll use it anyway) I want it to snow so that it "feels" and "looks" like Christmas. I'm leading worship on Sunday at my church and we will be doing our first Christmas Hymn of the season: O Come All Ye Faithful. I LOVE the chorus: Come Let Us Adore Him. Really, we could sing that song all year long - isn't' that what life is all about anyway? Adoring God!!

Okay - so you are probably wondering why the title of this post is Check Your Smoke Alarms. This morning my colleague Scott received a call from his wife saying that he needed to come home quickly because they had a house fire. Apparently, around 7am his wife, Melissa, was awoken by the smoke alarm (they check theirs routinely). She sprung out of bed - grabbed her 4 and 2 year olds and then bolted out of the house. She then called 911, went back into the house and started putting out the fire in their family room with the fire extinguisher. The entire 1st response team showed up - fire - police - ambulance. Everyone was okay - but their family room is now covered in soot and a plastic residue. The fire investigator determined that they had overloaded a surge protector with their fish tank and Christmas lights. The plastic surge protector caught on fire and so did the Christmas tree (I don't know if it was real or artificial). Anyhow - it was a great reminder to me to check my smoke alarms. When I went to check my alarm upstairs I realized that I had taken the battery out of it this summer because early one morning this past July, I was in the shower - NAKED - when I heard the smoke alarm go off in my house. I bolted upstairs (what a sight to behold) to check it out and there wasn't a fire - the alarm just had gone haywire. Needless-to-say I went to Costco today and bought new batteries tonight and will install them before I go to bed tonight.

Dad is in Japan on a business trip this week - so mom is holding down the fort in Atlanta! She just finished all of her decorating - I am sure it is BEAUTIFUL!!

Post Challenge: I would love to hear about your favorite Christmas Gift from years past!!

Happy days to you.
Tracy

Hello Everyone

Hello
Weather here in GA is great. Today was unseasonally warm at 72. I love the sun out each day and the warm. In fact the weather is better here than it was when we were in Florida last week.

Paul left for Japan today. He has a twelve hour flight! He will be there until Saturday. I miss him already!

I finished the Christmas decorations inside. I will take some pictures to post later this week. I am glad to have it done and will work on the outside tomorrow. I really enjoy it all when it is done. I am sorry the kids will not see the house this year. I know Tracy will have a great tree she always does but it will be strange not having everyone at our house. This year will be the first time that I will not see my sister for Christmas. She is staying in Florida. I think she regrets not coming this year and next year her plans will be back to normal.

Post again soon.

We Found a Christmas Tree!

Hello Family - It sounds like everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Tim, Carrie, and I went to breakfast this morning at Leo's (my favorite coney island). We then went to Sally and Jerry's Tree Lot to pick out a tree. We found a beautiful Fraser Fir that will fit perfectly. We are going to go back in a couple of hours to pick it up. Sally's daughter suggested that I bring the tree stand too so she can help us put it on while it is on the shaker. I thought it was a great idea! As soon as I get it decorated I will take some pictures and post them up on the blog.

For those of you who are trying to figure out how to add a picture; here's how. During any point that you are composing a post, select the icon that looks like mountains and a blue sky. A new window will pop up. Then select the Browse button and navigate to the place where you store your pictures. Select the picture and then you will be right back to the window where you started browsing. Next, scroll down and choose a layout. (Size and position) Finally, select the upload image button (blue button) at the bottom of the window. Voila - you will have added your photo!!

Nadeau Family Blog

Nadeau Family Blog

Thanksgiving Greetings

Hello on this beautiful thanksgiving day. It is so great to have most of our family in one spot for this festive day. Last night we picked up Tracy at the airport ... it was sooo busy. Tim we miss you! Peter has been with us since last thursday

Sounds like Grandma and Grandpa are going to have fun today going to Menominee to have thanksgiving with Carol and Ken. Dashing through the woods in a one horse open sleigh over the fields we go laughing all the way ... straight to Menominee. We miss you! Drive safely!


Love
Paul

Happy Thanksgiving

Hello Everyone
Happy thanksgiving. We are down in florida Tracy comes today!!!! We can't wait to see her. I will miss Tim but am glad he is going to his reunion. The weather here has been on the cool side. Today was 72 it is usually in the 80's how, but it will warm up tomorrow and get back to normal by Friday.

Joy what a wonderful quilt. What a lucky man to have that on his bed! I hope you and Ryan will be able one of these days soon to visit in florida there are all kinds of wonderful marine life to see down here besides the beach. With or without us your family is always welcome! Oh by the way we are three hours from disneyworld.

Debbie I am so glad to hear that Addy and winter is doing well. since Faith is not in the christmas list I am adding her this year to mine! Little girls are always fun to get presents for. what size is she now????? Santa needs to know.

I hope we all will join the blog it is great keeping in touch with everyone. I bet mom and dad would like to see a print out once in a while too.

Paul and I are looking forward to visiting everyone for the Hoildays. We will drive up to spend Chirstmas atTracy's house. Mike and his boys will join us. Then we will drive up north to be with everyone. We will stay until the 30th then drive to East Jordan to spend New Years with the Pawlicks. they are the same family that is having Tim for Thanksgiving. Then we will drive back down to Tracy's grap Tim and head back down to Peachtree Tim will stay with us a few days and fly back to Flint and then back to school.

I hope everyone has a great and safe hoilday write more soon.
love
Emily

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving.
I'll be headed down to Florida to visit Mom, Dad, Pete, Yvonne, Dick, Mike, Britain, and Camden. It should be nice. I have a long list of things that I want to accomplish when I get down there: Grade Papers, Finish 10 chapters in Acts, Complete Week 4 of Daniel, Write out Christmas Cards, Pick out music for the Dec 3rd Worship Service at Genesis and Dec 4th Core Night, Rest, Enjoy the weather, and Spend Time with my family. I always go with this long list and only get about 2 things done - I'll try hard this time, though, to get more than that done.

Tim is staying at my house in Royal Oak. He will be going to his 10 year High School Reunion. He's so daring - I never went to mine. On Thanksgiving he is going to our friends' house - the Paulick's. You have all met the Paulick's at various family events - they are wonderful people. When I return home on Saturday we are going to have our own "Chinese Take-Out" Thanksgiving. It will be a lot of fun. I am also going to try to convince Tim to stay one more day so that he can participate in picking out the Christmas Tree. I love getting the tree - it is SOOOOO much fun. I always get one that is WAY to big for the house - but I love it anyway! Tim is also going to be taking care of Piggy and Ruby the Guinea Pigs. They love when they have pig sitters since they get extra treats!!!

Hi All

Hi All, I finally was able to figure out to write a blog again. I'm new to this so it doesn't come easy. It was too bad the Wolverines could not beat Ohio St. today but maybe there will be a rematch. I have been babysitting Faith a lot now that Addy is working at Pamida. She was a little fussy today. I think she is cutting a tooth. She sure is cute though. She will fun to have around at Christmas this year. You won't believe how big she is getting. Winter had her birthday this week too. I took her out to eat on her birthday. We had her cake on Sunday when she was here. Angel food cake with strawberries and cool whip. Addy has to go to Green Bay tomorrow and testify in court against Tom on Monday. She is nervous about it and will be glad when it is over. Joy is going to watch Faith while she is in court. Lindsey has been busy working at Menards, school, and a very heavy social life. We hardly see her. Pete hung up some outdoor Christmas lights for me today. Aunt Ellen will be turning 90 years old soon. That's something isn't it!Well that's all the news from here. HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU ALL!! I AM VERY THANKFUL TO HAVE ALL OF YOU AS MY FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOVE, DEBBIE

Christmas Exchange

Buys For
Paul --> Ken
Emily --> Debbie
Tracy --> Winter
Tim --> Carol
Peter N. --> Ryan
Carol --> Addy
Ken --> Lindsey
Sara --> Bob
Ryan --> Tim
Joy --> Paul
Isaac --> Linda
Adam --> Tracy
Linda --> Peter C
Bob --> Emily
Debbie --> Isaac
Peter C. --> Peter N.
Addy --> Adam
Winter --> Sara
Lindsey --> Joy

Blog Updates from Tracy

Hello Dear Family,
I have been working on updating the blog this morning. I am still such a novice!

I am trying a new look for the holidays. The colors and the banner remind me a bit of a christmas tree.

I have also added a way to navigate to the webpages that Tim, Pete, and I have set up!

Here's something new that I have learned. When you want to link one of your ideas to a web page. (For instance when Emily linked us to the Barefoot Contessa's Pumpkin Recipe.) You will want to compose your post as normal BUT instead of just pasting the link into the text you will highlight the words that you are going to associate with the link. So, in Emily's case she would highlight the words Barefoot Contessa and then she would select the link button. The link button's icon is a little globe with two links of a chain. A window will then pop up and she will paste or type in the weblink that she would like to direct us to.

The reason that I bring this up is because when we were pasting the links directly into the text without the "link button" the formatting of the blog was going crazy!!!! I edited all of the posts that had this issue. You might want to go back to Emily's Post about the Barefoot Contessa to see how this looks!!

Happy Birthday Tracy!!!

Hope you had a wonderful day Tracy! Here's a picture of Isaac with his quilt. It's full of whales, dolphins and turtles for my ocean loving boy. He's so excited to go to sleep tonight now that it's on his bed! I'm excited to get my sewing machine and ironing board out of our dining room!
Joy

Tracy's Birthday

happy birthday tracy!
Happy day Happy day. I was glad to see you are all getting you toes done!!!! That is one of my favorite things and your toes will look great for Florida and the beach.

We are waiting for Peter to get here. His plane is reallllllllly late. It was to leave at 9:30pm it is now leaving 12:30 am. his time 1:30 our time he should landed about 3;30am. I think Paul and I will go to bed and set our alarm for 2:00 am and go get him.

Joy great to hear about the kids. Paul has not given me the names of the CD he want but promises to do it this weekend. I will pass them on to you soon. Tracy I will send you the christmas email this weekend too!

I tried a great recipe today from the food network Barefoot Contessa. It is called Pumpkin Banana Tart boy is it good!!!!
you should try it. I have be knitting and watching the food channel in the late afternoon. It has been great not working and being a sweet georgia peach :~)

Hey Joy a picture of your quilt would be great. I bet it is really beautiful. I love quilts! I am sure it will look great in the bedroom. I am glad Ryan is indoors now. it must be really cold to work out side. The weather here has been really rainy and cool. Tomorrow will be better it is going to be in the high 60's and sunny. However, I can't wait till florida.

well I am going to bed now got to get up early and get Peter. take care.

What a week!

Hello Everyone!
What a week! The boys started basketball at the YMCA last Saturday and they totally love it. It is so much fun watching all the kids trying to master the skills. They take dozens of shots and miss, and then they finally sink one and everyone cheers like they won a championship : ) They really promote good sportsmanship and it shows!
I was at school each day this week helping in the kids classrooms. They have wonderful teachers who like parents in the classroom. I love seeing the boys, getting to know all the kids and see what they're learning. Isaac got his 1st report and he got all A's! We'll get Adam's tomorrow at parent/teacher conferences -- no school! Yeah! We're going to the library -- Isaac want to do some research on some countries he's interested in (that's my boy!) and then I think we might see a movie.
Ryan is just about done with the outside work on the house. We had about 5 inches of snow last Friday which slowed him down : ( but it finally melted and he was able to work most of the week. It'll be so fantastic when it's all done! There's some work to do inside, putting trim on the new windows, but at least Ryan will be warm and can see the boys more.
Tonight I finally finished a new quilt for Isaac that I've been working on since last summer. He has an ocean theme in his room and it's impossible to find "big boy" ocean bedding so we picked out the fabrics together and I made up a pattern and feels so great to be done! It turned out amazing -- probably my favorite quilt yet.
My brother Jon and his wife and their son Luke (who is 4) are flying up from Nashville for Thanksgiving. It'll be fun for the 3 little boys to get to play together.
Wishing everyone a blessed Thanksgiving!!!
Love, Joy

A Week's Recap

Hello Everyone,
It has been almost a week since my last entry - it has been way too busy. I never really like being busy - but somehow it just seems to happen. One time I heard that being too busy means that we are burdened under satan's yoke. Yuck - I don't want to be there.

Anyhow - the Communication Retreat was a real success. The kids did a great job learning about and practicing the communication process. We had good weather too for the outdoor initiative activities that the kids participated in. It didn't rain until we headed indoors. The food and the beds always have something more to be desired - but really I can't expect much since its at a camp!

On Monday morning, our high school staff received very sad news. The daughter (Nicole) of one of our colleagues (JoEllen - who lives in our district) was tragically killed in a freak accident. Here is an article published at Central Michigan Univeristy. Nicole graduated from the high school 2 years ago - so it was really hard for the entire staff. So this week everyone has spent a lot of time caring for each other and for JoEllen and her family. It was a really sad week. I went to the viewing today. The funeral is tomorrow on my birthday.

Yes - my birthday is tomorrow and I will be going to the Nail and Spa place in Troy to get a pedicure with a bunch of my girlfriends. It is going to be a lot of fun. Some of my students are planning something as well (I always seem to find out) during lunch. I have 2 really special students (Sarah and JoBeth) who are now senior - but I have taught since their freshman year!

I am leading the worship team on Sunday as well (please be praying for this time) so I had rehearsal on Tuesday after my small group at Deedee's house. This Sunday's service is on Romans 12:1 (offering our bodies as living and holy sacrifices to God). I am studying the book of Daniel in Deedee's study. We are doing the Beth Moore Study. Beth is a very powerful communicator and a talented teacher. I have done a few other studies by her and have always been richly blessed by them.

I also got my hair cut this week - I LOVE getting my hair cut!! I feel like a new person. It's pretty short and I really love it!!!! Right after I got it cut I drove straight to the Secretary of State office to get my new picture taken for my license. I didn't want to take any chances.

I am looking forward to hearing from all of you. Debbie, I am so glad that you were able to make your first post - I look forward to reading more in the future!!

Have a wonderful day everyone!
Tracy

Peter's Visit

Hello Everyone
Paul and I are looking forward to Peter's visit tomorrow. He flys in late but Paul has taken the day off on Friday to show him around. He will be the first to visit.

Tracy flys to florida on Wednesday and leaves on Saturday. I am excited to see her too.
I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving.

love
Em

Welcome Debbie

Welcome Debbie
It is great to hear from you. I enjoy hearing and seeing what is going on. It was beautiful here in PTC today. It was a record warm day at 80 out. The sun was out and it was nice. tomorrow will be the same. It will go down into the 50 to 60 the rest of the week. Paul is doing well. We will just take it easy this weekend. take care
Emily

I'm On

Hi All, This is Debbie! This is my first blog too. I will try to keep up with it. Addy just got hired at Pamida and she is excited about that. She will start on Sunday. Finally some money coming in. Faith is doing great and is a very happy baby. Maybe when I get good at this I will be able to put a picture on. Everyone else is doing ok. Hope all is well with everyone. Hey Pete I see that Brittany Spears will be available soon! Ha! I remember all those posters you used to have of her. Well, that's it for my first blog. Love, Debbie

Communications Retreat

Hello - Hello!
I hope you are all well. I am just finishing up my packing tonight for the Berkley High Communications Retreat. I will be part of the staff that brings 40 kids on a 3 day - 2 night retreat at Tamarack Camp in Clarkston, Michigan. The camp is a Jewish Camp that rents out its facilities to us. Most importantly, they serve kosher food, which allows the Jewish students we have at Berkley to attend. The school has been doing this retreat for the past 15 years to help teach students communication skills among a diverse set of students. We always have a lot of fun. The kids have 5 sessions throughout the weekend in which they practice their new communication skills. They also spend all day Friday doing a ropes course. It is a lot of fun - and it sure is great to be out in the woods instead of in the classroom. The weather is going to be strange over the next few days so I had to pack a ton of different clothes. The range will be from 39 degrees Farenheit to 65 - Rain - Sleet - and Sun. It will simply be an adventure trying to pick out the right clothes for the day.

I spoke with Pete on the phone today. He seems to be doing well - busy at work solving problems!

Tim is going to stay at my house over Thanksgiving. I am glad that he will have a place to stay while he goes to his reunion. I am also really thankful that he will be able to watch over my two guinea pigs (Piggy and Ruby). They would be very lonely if no one were home.

Alrighty everyone - I have to get up in 5 hours so I better hit the sack!
I love you all.
Tracy

Atlanta Adventures

Hello Everyone
Love the pumpkin pictures and the MSU game pictures. I am really enjoying this! Today I went with friends to the Northern Georiga Outlet Mall. I started shopping for Christmas. Joy you will have to give Peter ideas for Ryan's present this year. I am only getting started but it is good to get going. I am excited to decorate the new house for Christmas it will be fun. I am sorry, though, that none of the family will be here to see it. Oh well.

The weather has been raining and cool here. Tomorrow will be sunny and 75 but that will be the last of the warm weather. It will stay about 40 or 50 until Feburary now I have been told. The fall color has been beautiful I drove up to Chattanooga Tenn last weekend to visit a friend and the drive was beautiful!!!! Paul has been busy with work but he seems to be enjoying the new job.

I have neighborhood bible study I go to, tomorrow. I really like the new women I have meet there. They have been showing me around everywhere. So now on my adventures I have several people who are willing to go with me. Atlanta has a lot to see.

take care everyone.
love
Emily

More MSU!

Howdy all,

Here's some more MSU action from earlier in the year (September 9th game).
Left to right: Carrie (Tracy's roomie), Tim, and Tracy on the sideline in Spartan Stadium.

Marvelous Monday

Today was a Marvelous Monday. The kids at school have today and tomorrow off while the staff gets a myriad of things done. This morning my PLC (Professional Learning Community) Leadership team ran the morning activities. We are currently in the vision casting process for our school. PLC is becoming more and more popular and is based on the ideas of Rick DuFour who was the principal at Stevenson High School in Illinois. Anyhow - we did a brainstorming activity that the whole staff seemed to dive into - which was nice - because sometimes they aren't excited about things like vision casting/development. We also did an activity in the morning to help our staff continue to build a strong community called True Colors. I really enjoy these types of activities because they help us understand a lot about ourselves and others. Visit this website to get a glimpse of the True Colors. I am a strong Gold and Blue. What are you? I'd love to know.

MSU Game

Dad and Tim had a great time at the MSU game. I think it really shows in the pictures!

Weekend! : )

Whew, it's the weekend! Yesterday the boys had a 1/2 day of school so we met Carol in Green Bay and went to see a movie -- Santa Clause 3. Cute movie, but we ate too much popcorn!!! Then we were off to the boys favorite store, The School House, full of school supplies and fun, educational toys. Isaac got a checkbook and a folder and Adam picked out a blank book and a big pack of paper. They love to draw!

Ryan took his first night off from working on the house since August 19th and met us for dinner. It was so great to spend the evening with him!!! We had a hail storm roll through here last July so he replaced the roof, put in all new windows and a front door and is now residing. What a job! Oh and before he did all this he enclosed our back porch to make it my office/craft room so the boys each have their own bedroom. He works all day and then puts in 5 or 6 hours outside each night. Now with daylight savings he's working under a huge spotlight each night, and it's cold!!!! We look like we have a new home! When it's all done I'll get our home picture off to you Emily! It's not very photogenic right now with the big dumpster out front! Hopefully he'll be done by Thanksgiving -- and we'll all be thankful!

Have a wonderful weekend!
Joy

Speaking of Pumpkin Carving

Oh - I almost forgot - speaking of pumpkin carving. The squirrels did mine for me this year.

It's SNOWING

Hello Everyone - It's been snowing - beautiful squalls! (nothing is sticking except to the cold leaves) There's just something about snow that I love - it's white - clean - fresh - crisp. I really do love it. The weather is going to get warmer throughout the week - but at least I got a taste of it.

The last couple days have been hectic - with a multitude of overlapping meetings - the end of the marking period - and other comittments. I have survived and have also managed to keep up on my sleep.

Dad made it into town safely - I unfortunately missed his impromptu visit by just a 1/2 hour. I look forward to seeing Mom and Dad down in Florida (I bet we won't have snow down there). He is enjoying his time with Tim and I am glad for that.

I am having 15 people over for dinner tonight. For those of you who have been to my house - we won't be sitting at one table. But I still think it will be a lot of fun. I am serving cranberry chicken, butternut squash, steamed broccoli, stuffing, and apple crisp. We are also going to have hot spiced cider to drink. It feels like a fall classic. MMmmmm!! I'm off to the store - have a wonderful day everyone.
Love, Tracy

Pumpkins!

Hi everyone! I'm still working on getting the pictures of the boys in their costumes, but here's one of them with their pumpkins they carved. They were so proud! Carving pumpkins with Adam's class actually ended up being "Pumpkin Math." We estimated, then measured the height, circumference and weight of a pumkin, then cut it open and counted the seeds! It was a very cool project. I'm thrilled I was able to figure out how to put a picture on the blog -- Tracy's tomato picture inspired me : ) But now I have to run!
Take care!!!

Peachtree City - Part 2

Hello Everyone: Had a great day today. I went shopping with friends and then ordered new carpeting for the family room and master bedroom. They will lay it next Tuesday. That was fast. I am waiting for my brother-in-law Dick to visit tomorrow. He will be driving down to florida and will stop to spend the night here. Talked with Tim, Peter, and Tracy they are all doing well. Sure do miss them but will see them all over the holiday break.. hope all is well with you ==Love Em

Tomato Alley

Just a quick note to test out how pictures will look on the blog!!
This summer I grew (on accident) the most outrageous tomato patch which has rightly earned the name Tomato Alley. There were 12 plants in total. I probably harvested 2,000 tomatoes and there were probably another 1,000 that hit the ground before I got to them. Some of the tomatoes that I grew were heirloom tomatoes. The above is a photo of one of the beauties!

Thoughts from the Day

Hello Everyone,
I hope you are all doing well. I have been really excited to see that people are accepting their invitations to write on the Nadeau Family Blog. I love hearing how everyone is doing. I can't wait to see pictures from the jack 'o' lantern carving. I bet they are a riot.

Today was eventful - but I am certain tomorrow will be even moreso! Is moreso a word? I am triple booked throughout the evening - so I am praying that I will be able to navigate wisely through my obligations.

My church, Genesis the Church, http://www.genesisthechurch.org/ is doing a series called "Save the Planet" which has been challenging us to ask how God would address many of the issues that we are facing today. It is also challenging us to think about how God wants us to respond to those issues. Some of the issues that we have been tackling are poverty, the environment, AIDS, lack of community, etc. You can listen to the podcasts at http://www.genesisdetroit.com/. The following is a link to another blog about a nationwide campaign called RED http://joinred.blogspot.com/. The campaign forms partnerships with companies that will produce a RED item like a Red iPod or Red Gap Sweatshirt and then they donate a chunk of money from the sale of the items to the RED AIDS fund. I'm going to be looking into it !!

I had a very close encounter with the skunk tonight - too close - I was 3 feet away from the spray of that stinker. My adrenaline skyrocketed when I realized what was happening and I ran like mad. Now I have to figure out what I am going to do with Peppi La Peu.

My dad is driving into tomorrow night for business and then he will be headed off to see Tim. I am looking forward to seeing him soon!!

Did I tell you that I blew up pumpkins in the chemistry lab yesterday for Halloween? You might say it was a BLAST!!

I hope you are all having a blast of a day. Hope to hear from more of you soon. Love, Tracy

Paul & Emily in PTC (Peachtree City)

Hello Paul and I are doing great! This was are first Halloween in PTC. the kids were really cute. It is 62 outside so no one was in a coat. They all came in thier golf carts. boy I wish I had that when the kids were little. It was great. Today I went to atlanta and found a really nice yarn shop. The area was really nice and there was a lot of interesting stores around it. I picked up some yarn for a sweater to make for Tracy. We saw a really cute sweater with colorful people on it I am going to make her one simlar to the one we saw. Paul is going to Michigan in a few days. He will be driving a car up to tim to use while he is at school. His car lease is done and he needs a car while finishing school. Peter will be coming to visit in PTC on Novemeber 17th then ride down to Florida where Tracy flies in later. Tim will be alone for Thanksgiving as he can't get enough time away from school and he is going to his 10th high school reunion. We will sure miss him. I am happy Peter will see the new house. I miss not having the kids see the house yet. but they will all soon I hope. Will fall is here all the hard wood trees are turned into beautiful color now. the big georgia pines are really green right next to them it is really beautiful. They are red yellow and orange right in the middle of deep dark green. The weather is great too. this weekend was in the high 70's. Paul and I took a great ride to a civil war battle sight we enjoyed it very much. It was the last stand before the union pushed in to burn down atlanta. There is a lot of history down. here. Well take care everyone love em

My First Blog!

Hi Everyone!
Tracy, what a great idea to make a family blog! Happy Halloween! I made the boys ghost pancakes for breakfast to celebrate the day. Trick or treating was on Sunday here and the kids, aka Elvis (Isaac) and a punker rocker (Adam) had lots of fun. Today has already been a whirlwind. I volunteered in Isaac's class this morning, ran to my mom's place to reprogram her thermostat (she left today for Greece!) and had to run an errand for Adam's teacher. This afternoon I'm helping in Adam's class -- I'll be helping 20 first graders carve pumpkins! I'll definitely bring my camera. : )
Enjoy the day! Joy

Royal Oak News

It's been a long day today. I accidentally set the clock wrong during the daylight saving time switchover which caused me to arrive at work later than I expected. We had a professional learning community gathering - a process and philosophy of school reform that I have been leading at school. It's quite a challenge - but in 20 years I am sure it will have been worth it.
"PLC" was followed by a 90 minute lesson and review on ionization energy, electronegativity, and atomic radius in the chemistry courses I teach. Tutored kids at lunch and then subbed for an English teacher who was out during my prep hour. Then off to Portable Church Industries - we are in a busy season - as many churches will be starting up for the Christmas season. I am taking a minute now to write my entry before I head home. I wonder if I will be greeted by the skunk that is now living under my deck. I just started spraying a rodent deterant around the deck a couple of days ago and seems to have the skunk in a frenzy. In fact on Sunday he (and a few of his other animal friends) managed to get into the closed garbage cans and scatter the trash all over my driveway. What a stinker (pun intended)!

Family's First Blog

Hello Everyone,
I hope you are doing well and that you have found the blog easily. This is a private blog (not open to the rest of the net) that I would love for all of us to use - to share about what is going on in our lives and be a source of encouragement to each other. I am in the process of sending out invitations to the whole family to become contributing members. If you haven't been asked yet - your invitation is coming soon. The blogger site only allows me to have a select number of open invites at a time. Anyone in the family can of course post a comment to any of the posts. I can't wait to see what comes of this.

Love you all, Tracy