The Schercks

Halloween Fun 2011

2011-11-05T13:35:00.000-04:00

Here are some pics of our Fall/Halloween adventures. We carved pumpkins the Saturday before Halloween. (That is why they still have pajama pants on. I thought I could crop that out. :)) We had a Trunk or Treat with our branch around the Chapman's pond. They loved getting dressed up in their Spider girl costumes. I also got Daddy to let me dress him as Spiderman. The girls were Spiderman's daughters so they had to have their Spiderman daddy with them. :) It is amazing what a little black tape and a plastic spider can do to make two girls happy. Then we went to the Trunk or Treat with Aunt Tami at the Dunn Ave. ward. That is where we got our largest haul of candy. :) They had lots of games in the gym including eating a doughnut off a string with no hands (Alyssa cheated a little). LOL!! They had a great time. Then on actual Halloween night we got dressed up one more time to go actual house to house trick or treating for the first time. We went with my co-worker Donna and her family on a hayride around her giant neighborhood. There were so many people...it seemed like a never ending stream of kids we just kept following. We never had to knock on a door because there was never a break in the stream of kids. It was great fun, but Alyssa was tuckered out by the end.

Thanks to our church family, our family and our friends for a great Halloween!

Cute new outfits

2011-10-08T13:41:00.001-04:00

Here are some pics of the girls in their newest outfits. They are growing so quickly. They are outgrowing all their clothes and shoes. They have both grown about an inch just in the past month. :) They are so adorable if I do say so myself.

2011-09-19T22:17:00.000-04:00

Here are some adorable pictures of the Princesses. :) I forgot I took these a couple Sundays ago. We all had new dresses and Daddy had a new tie. We were looking sharp!

Another Year has passed...

2011-09-04T18:11:00.001-04:00

Last year I did this in July, I am a little late. I love to show a comparison of the girls at the same time last year and this year. They are growing so quickly and getting smarter everyday. I can't believe they will be 4 soon and will be starting pre-K next fall.

Alyssa - July 2011

Alyssa - July 2010

Hannah - July 2011

Hannah - July 2010

What a difference a year makes!! They look so grown up and they are sure ready for school. They learn so quickly. I am so impressed with their coloring skills and how many letters they are learning. I am ready to start teaching them sight words and how to read. :)

The Scherck Twins February 2008

From these sleeping angels.....

To these beautiful angels...full of life and energy and amazing little spirits. What great blessings they are to us. We thank our Heavenly Father everyday for these angels. To think...11 years ago I thought I would never enjoy the blessing of being a mother. Now my life is full of laughs, hugs and a few tears and I am loving every minute of it. Thank you Hannah and Alyssa for choosing me to be your mommy. We love you so much and want your life to be full and happy.

Family Photo Shoot

2011-09-04T17:16:00.000-04:00

We had an AWESOME friend shoot some family pictures of us this summer. They are so beautiful! I just had to share them. I love and adore my beautiful family!

I know no one pays attention to my blog, but here are some updates anyway

2011-08-25T18:45:00.000-04:00

Hannah writes her name (really good for a 3 1/2 year old)

Alyssa's writing

Another cake I made for back to school week for my team

Hannah and Alyssa having fun doing headstands and sommersaults

My new hobby...

2011-07-26T11:40:00.000-04:00

I am finishing the 4th cake decorating class tonight. I have learned a lot and I am looking forward to taking the other 2 sets of classes so I can get even better. These are my latest creations. :) I am having fun.

Aren't the girls getting prettier and prettier...

2011-07-10T18:13:00.001-04:00

These are from Sunday the 26th of June. It was a special Sunday when Mommy and Daddy both received new callings so we dressed in our finest princess dresses. :)

It's very rare I get Alyssa to look at the camera. :)

Smiling Hannah ready for church. :)

Wow! 2 pretty smiles in a row...it was a good picture day.

I like these in black and white too.
I need a better camera and photo editing software...my pictures could be so much better!
Maybe Christmas!? If Santa saves up a bunch of money. LOL!

Updates!

2011-07-10T16:33:00.000-04:00

We have been having a great month so far. July has been full of changes. I have a new calling at church and will now be busy on Sundays and Wednesday nights...as the Young Women President. I love this calling and have served in YW several times before. I love helping the girls (age 12-18) bloom into virtuous young ladies. Jim also got a new calling the same day I did...He is now serving as the Branch President of the HIlliard Branch. He just got a whole lot busier, but he is doing great and loves serving the people here. He is also taking classes at UNF (my alma mater) to finish his degree in psychology. He is really enjoying going back to school and feels great to have a goal in sight. He would love to become a school counselor or work with the VA as a counselor. I am so proud of him for all that he is doing and how he is helping our family receive many blessings by serving the Lord. We are so grateful to have the opportunity to serve.

The girls have been growing like weeds and learning more everyday. They are enjoying mommy being home for the summer as am I. We are doing lots together. I am taking a cake decorating class so they love helping me practice and eating my practice cookies and cupcakes. :) I have only had one class so far and already learned many good tips on baking the cake properly and how to make icing and get it smooth on the cake and add a few decorations. Next week we will learn more cool stuff. Here are some pictures of a couple cakes I have done. The Father's day one was before my class started. I wanted to play with my new tools and see if I was any good or not. I think it was nice for my first try. Then I made the white one for the potluck today after learning a few things. It is much better. Some of the ladies thought it was store bought. :) Yeah!

This was just having fun with my new tools. I really didn't know what I was doing and my icing wasn't the right consistency which is key to decorating properly. But I still liked it. I also tried torting the cake and putting cherry pie filling in each layer as filling...3 layers of cherries was too much moisture. It made the cake too moist. It tasted good, but the second day it was soggy. Lesson learned!

This was my practice cake after my first class. You can already see some improvement. Having the right tools and some tips from an actual baker can really make a difference. It had peanut butter butter creme filling and chocolate cake. It had mini pb cups for decoration. It was much better. :)

Lettering Delights!!

2011-06-30T16:11:00.000-04:00

Look at some of the fun stuff I am making with all my new alphabets I got for 50 cents on letteringdelights.com

Here is a sample...

I have a whole bunch of other fun things too, I am just learning to play with them. :) Fun!

Summer has begun!

2011-06-20T14:13:00.000-04:00

YEAH!! It is summer vacation time! I am enjoying being home with my family. Here are a few updated pics for your enjoyment. :)

We got a new car!!! It is a 2011 KIA Forte and the color is Dark Cherry. We love it as you can see. We are so grateful to have a reliable car with AC to make it through these hot summers in FL.

We got a new puppy too. Her name is Xena (like Xena Princess Warrior, Jim picked it out. ) She is a black lab and she is a bundle of energy. She is going to be getting some training very soon on how to behave like a proper dog. Right now she is a chewing, barking, peeing, jumping, scratching puppy nightmare. But I am sure she is going to be a great dog once we get her out of the puppy stage and get her some proper dog training. The DVD's are on the way as we speak. (The Perfect Dog System, check it out online @ www.theperfectdog.com)

Jim and I lost a bunch of weight. We followed the HCG plan. We loved it and felt great. Jim had so much energy, he reorganized the whole house. :) He has lost 45 pounds so far and I have lost 28 pounds. We feel so great! We are in the stabalizing phase now where you allow your body to reset to your current weight. In a couple weeks we will start another round and lose a little more. Then the clothes buying will begin. I will have to have all new clothes before going back to work.

Jim is also enrolled at UNF to finish up his degree in psychology. He will be going to school full time until he finishes his Master's. He hopes to become a school counselor, or work with the VA as a counselor.

We are just enjoying our summer with our girls.

Wow! It has been a while since I have posted!

2011-05-21T19:48:00.000-04:00

Well hello friends and family! I am sorry it has been since Christmas that I last posted. We were without a computer for quite a while. We were just using our iTouch for surfing the net, Facebook, etc and we were not able to do all the things we usually do. I have a lot to catch up on.

Let's see what has been happening since 2011 has begun...

January 2011

We had a Happy New Year!!

February 2011

The girls turned 3!! We can't believe it either! :)

March 2011

Spring Break fun! The indoor bouncy house place was a hit. The zoo is always a favorite place to go and dress up fun is a hoot at our house!

April 2011

Easter 2011 - That was a beautiful fun day.

That brings us up to date for now. I'll have to add more later. :)

I love my family!!

Holiday Festivities

2010-12-30T12:01:00.006-05:00

The Gingerbread Houses on Christmas Eve, Eve

The Christmas Eve Jammies

Christmas Eve with the Family

Christmas Morning!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-19T17:28:00.004-05:00

Merry Christmas from the Schercks!

We hope you all have a wonderful holiday and are blessed in the coming year with health, safety and happiness.

Alyssa and Hannah

December 2010

Halloween fun!

2010-11-13T19:10:00.004-05:00

Better late than never I guess...

We had a great Halloween weekend filled with pumpkins, costumes, trick-or-treating at the Jacksonville Zoo's Spooktacular, and a trunk-or-treat and chili cook-off. The girls were so cute and they had a blast. They had been talking about what they would dress up as for a month or more before Halloween. Sweet Aunt Tami, bought them adorable costumes at their request of a ballerina for Alyssa and a pumpkin for Hannah. (She had wanted to be a banana, but we couldn't find a banana costume in her size anywhere so she said she would be a pumpkin instead.) Alyssa's ballerina costume was too small and when I took it back to exchange it, the next size up was too big, so she fell in love with a Tinkerbell costume instead. Then she never actually wore it. Lol! Alyssa had been saying that Daddy would be a slice of pizza for Halloween and we went along with it thinking there was no way we could find a costume like that, and I didn't have the time to make one. However, Aunt Tami found one! It was actually a child's costume, but it fit over Jim's head and he looked so cute. :) Alyssa ended up wearing the slice of pizza to the zoo and then the pumpkin princess to the church event. Hannah was the pumpkin princess at the zoo and then she was Tinkerbell at church. They looked adorable in all of the costumes and had a great time.

Fun day at the park

2010-10-23T15:35:00.008-04:00

We went to the park at the Y and I thought it was such a pretty day to take some pictures of the girls. I am trying to be a better photographer using my friends photos as ideas. (Thanks Carrie and Katie) I was trying to really get good light and be more aware of what is in the background. I liked a few of them, but I think I really need an SLR camera to get better photos. Maybe Santa will be nice to me and upgrade my camera. :) But until then, here are a few pics that I liked for you to enjoy.

Hannah the Photographer

2010-10-01T22:38:00.005-04:00

Hannah loves to get my camera and take pictures of the whole family. She is developing a really good eye. :) The camera is bigger than her hands, but she manages to get a few good shots every now and then. Here are a few of my favorites...
And here are a couple that are just plain funny...

Be on the look out in about 20 years...you just may see some of her photos in a museum. :)

A Picture moment

2010-10-01T22:19:00.004-04:00

I thought this was a nice little picture moment of the beauties. They were sitting so peacefully in the chair together. :) They were enthralled by the TV, but still a nice moment.

Adventures in Twin Toddler-land

2010-10-01T20:42:00.010-04:00

Everyday when I come home from work I open the door to an array of surprises waiting for me. The good things like "MOMMY! I missed you" and the giant hugs and kisses are wonderful! Then there are things like the giant mess in their room which has regurgitated even more mess down the hall and into the living room and on into our bedroom. It is like a tornado has come through there some days. One day I couldn't even get the front door open to come in the house because the giant inflatable bouncy balls were blocking the door. I also never know what the girls will be wearing. Some days they are wearing only panties, some days a shirt is added and on occasion they have their full jammies in tact. One day this week I came home to a naked little girl running out of the bathroom with tears in her eyes and some #2 on the bathroom floor. (TMI I'm sure). I'm just saying the fun never ends in Twin Toddler-land. It is quite the adventure.

This is what I came home to one day this week.

A beautiful assortment of colors all over the wall!! Not just a small space either, they got the whole wall. I was not happy. But, I guess it is a good reason to have to buy some paint and actually decorate their room.

And these are the "I'm so sorry mommy" faces that I got from the culprits.

Update on our summer

2010-10-01T20:13:00.003-04:00

Uggh, why can't I be better about updating this blog??

Since the last post, I have started a new school year at a new school. That makes 4 moves in 5 years (Grrr, not happy about that). I am enjoying my new school and my new team of 8 Kindergarten teachers. They are very helpful and good about planning together. :) My grade chair ordered several thousand dollars of Lakeshore (great stuff for teaching) games and stuff during the summer knowing my room would be empty. It came in before school started and I was so excited opening all those boxes. :) It is nice to have stuff to teach with, especially Kindergarten you have to keep them busy.

The other BIG accomplishment of the summer was getting the girls potty trained. We did it! Los Hicimos! I am thrilled not to have to buy anymore diapers!! The girls love their little Dora and TinkerBell panties and they have done a great job. We are still working on Hannah with #2 in the potty. Anyone have any tips on how to get her to go in the potty instead of hiding in her room? We have tried everything we can think of.

We had a really great summer together going to the zoo, the splash park at the Y, the library, celebrating the 4th of July, another b-day for Daddy and otherwise just realxing at home together. I love summer time except for all the heat.

What a difference a year makes...

2010-07-13T00:23:00.004-04:00

I was just looking at pictures from last July and realized how much they have changed. Last year they looked like babies still, now they look like little girls. I am amazed by how much they have changed. Here are some pics to show the difference.

Hannah July 2009Hannah July 2010Alyssa July 2009 Alyssa July 2010

The Super Adventures of...

2010-07-01T21:58:00.007-04:00

No, not Dora, or Diego, not Lenny, Tuck or Ming Ming... It is none other than our fabulous cape wearing superheros... Super Hannah and Super Nunu!!

(Our nickname for Alyssa)

Here they come to save the day! They are animal rescuers, and anything else that needs assistance.

And they even have trusty sidekicks - a purple monkey and a baby Jaguar (for those that don't watch as much Nick Jr. as I do, those are Dora and Diego's sidekicks) :)

2010-06-17T12:51:00.001-04:00

Updated Photos

2010-05-31T09:51:00.004-04:00

Wow, they change so fast. Just scroll down a little to see how much they have changed just since Christmas. I wish I could put a recording of them talking on here. They use such good sentences and enunciate their words so well. I love it. I will work on that. In the meantime, here are some updated pictures for you to enjoy.

Easter 2010 Easter Brunch Picnic on the Porch with our hats on of course. :)

Spring Break beach fun

2010-03-09T19:22:00.006-05:00

THE GIRLS ARE 2 NOW!!!!!!

We had a party for the 2 year-old sweeties on Saturday February 6th (their actual birthday) :) We had about 25 people over. It was so nice and the girls had a blast!

It was a Dora party. They loved the Dora Baloons Daddy got. They got the Dora dresses and Alyssa had to have hers on right away. :)

We had to light the candles a couple times so they could both blow them out. :) They loved the bikes they got from Pop and Tutu and the hats from Aunt Tami. They received so many wonderful gifts and had such a great time celebrating their 2nd birthday with family and friends. We are so blessed with good family and friends. A couple weeks later my mom came to visit and we got to celebrate Christmas and Birthday all over again. :) Yeah!

2010-01-03T00:39:00.000-05:00

2010-01-03T00:27:00.001-05:00

2010-01-03T00:13:00.001-05:00

I have neglected this blog.

2010-01-02T10:26:00.002-05:00

Sorry friends and family! I have been hooked on Facebook for a while now and I have really forgotten about updating this blog. I received an email from and old high school friend of Jim's who found us through this blog, so I figured I better get back to updating it. The girls are changing so quickly and learning so much. I have so much to catch you up on. I will make a video collage and post it in a few.

We have been busy with our daily lives and church. I go to work as a teacher each morning and daddy and the girls have fun at home. It is so nice to know they are being cared for by their daddy. When I get home they are so happy and that makes me feel so much better about having to go back to work.

We had a great holiday. I was off for a couple weeks and was able to spend a lot of quality time with Jim and the girls. We all had a great Christmas and New Year. We are looking forward to a wonderful 2010 together.

I will add some pictures of the girls' Christmas fun. Thanks for keeping up with us. I will be sure to do better about adding to this blog. Look for Jimbo and I on Facebook too. :)

2009-10-03T13:10:00.001-04:00

Adorable, but messy eaters!

Daddy's 50th Birthday

2009-08-22T09:53:00.004-04:00

Jimbo turned 50 on the 27th of July! I planned a surprise party for him on the Saturday after his birthday. It was really hard to be sneaky and not tip him off. I think he figured something was up when I was cleaning the house at 10:00pm on Friday night. :) Oh well, we still had fun and he enjoyed seeing his friends and chatting with everyone. Here are some pics of the event.

I made the cake. :) Not professional, but I though it was pretty good. Alyssa was helping Daddy blow all the candles out.

Cute family picture. Alyssa was busy playing with the kids. Hannah would not let us put her down with strange people in the house.

It was a very nice little party. Food and friends are always good.

Happy Birthday Jimbo!

Here are the cuties!

2009-08-22T09:41:00.002-04:00

Here are some more recent pictures of the girls. They were dressed up for Daddy's birthday party. The bow didn't stay in their hair long, so I had to hurry and grab a few pics. Hannah waving and Alyssa's hand.

It is so difficult to get them both to look at me at the same time.

Pretty Smile Hannah!

It is hard to catch a good picture of Alyssa, she is always on the go. This one is the cutest.

July 4th fun in North GA

2009-07-14T11:26:00.007-04:00

We traveled up to the north Ga mountains during the 4th of July weekend to visit with my family. We went to my Aunt Marsha's 10 acre spread. She had really outdone herself setting up lots of fun things for the kids to do and lots of shady places for adults to sit and catch up. All but one of Grandma's 6 living kids were there and almost all my cousins and their kids. It was so nice to see everyone again. Last time we got together was for Grandma's funeral, so it was nice to get together for a happy occasion. :) We all had a great time. Here are some pics of the girls having fun in the sun.

Marsha had a little kiddie pool for the little ones. She really thought of everything. We couldn't keep Alyssa (in the pink hat) out of it. Even once I had dried her and dressed her. As soon as we turned to look at something else she was back in it. Hannah was happy to stand on the outside.

Sisters swinging in the hammock

Aunt Marsha built this huge water slide on the side of her mountain. This is Alyssa going down with my cousin Sean. She wanted to do what the big kids were doing. She loved it.

Hannah with her Daddy.

Alyssa loved this little chair. She climbed up in it all by herself to eat her snack.

Hannah didn't care for the water as much as Alyssa. It was cool mountain water. She would sit on the outside of the pool and splash a little. She hung out with me most of the time. She is enjoying her snack too.

Operation Bathing Suit: week 10

2009-07-14T11:22:00.002-04:00

Good news, I have slid down off the plateau I was on. After 2 weeks of losing very little and even gaining a touch, I am happy to say I have lost 2.4 lbs. this week. I am now at a total of 18 lbs. lost. WooHoo! I look and feel different. My clothes are lose. I am ready to lose the rest and buy a whole new wardrobe. :)

Operation Bathing Suit: weeks 8 & 9

2009-07-10T15:00:00.002-04:00

Well I am slowly but surely making progress. I started in May in the 1*0's and now I have entered the 1^0's. I am happy about that, but I am kind of reaching a plateau. Week 8 I lost only 1 lb. and then week 9 I gained .2. Which isn't as bad as I thought it would be. It was Fourth of July weekend and I ate whatever I wanted so I expected a gain. Luckily it was a small gain. I haven't made working out a part of my daily routine yet. I need to keep it going! I want to buy a bunch of new clothes. :)

Sisters having fun!

2009-06-23T22:22:00.002-04:00

They have so much fun in the tent. This day, they had knocked it over, but were still having so much fun climbing in and out of it. They laugh and tumble around in their. Fun! Fun! Fun!

My Little Helpers

2009-06-23T22:15:00.003-04:00

The girls love to help me clean. They take my towels off the stove handle and wipe the floor. They will pour their milk on their chairs and then take a paper towel or rag and wipe it clean. If I leave the pantry door open, they will grap the broom and mop and clean the floor just like Momma does. :) They are so cute!

Operation Bathing Suit: week 7

2009-06-23T20:12:00.002-04:00

Yeah! I lost a good amount of weight this week. I had to be good and make up for last week. I lost 2.4 lbs. this week. That makes the grand total 14.8, but let's just call it 15. :) I can already tell a big difference in my clothes. My niece Brandi noticed right away when she was over on Sunday. That felt nice to have someone notice my hard work. AND, I worked out today! I have a Kettlebell DVD set that Jim got for me months ago. I like it. I am feeling a bit sore in the hips and thighs. I will do my best to keep it going. I realized that I don't just want to lose weight, I need to firm things up too. I have hammocks under my arms I have to get rid of. The week for bathing suit time is coming quickly. I only have 5 more weeks. I hope to lose another 8-10lbs at least.

Look what the Florida bugs are doing to my baby...

2009-06-18T17:30:00.002-04:00

She has about a dozen bites on her face, neck and arms.

(She is blowing her nose, something she does anytime she sees a tissue.)

Some by her eye have made her eye swell.

She is still in good spirits, even with a swollen eye.

I have vacuumed, stripped her bed and kept them inside. I can't find the bugs that are getting her while she sleeps. Hannah doesn't have bites, or if she does her reaction isn't as bad. Alyssa must be more allergic to them. They are getting better today. She didn't have any new ones when she woke this morning. I hope I have solved the problem. I hate seeing my babies with bites.

Operation Bathing suit: week 6

2009-06-18T17:26:00.002-04:00

Well Jim was out of town this week at Scout Camp so I did not cook proper meals. I ended up just snacking and eating Healthy Choice microwave dinners. I stayed within my points and didn't cheat, but I did not lose that much this week. I am only down .2 lbs. That's point 2, not even 1/2 a pound. I am a little dissappointed. I learned that you have to eat to lose weight. You can't starve yourself. I could have added exercise too, but nope. Oh well. Maybe next week will be better. :)

Operation Bathing Suit: week 5

2009-06-09T16:07:00.002-04:00

Doing good still. Lost another 1.4 pounds this week. Still haven't exercised. I'm sure I could do better if I did, but I am just not motivated to make myself sweat during the day. It is hard to do it while the girls are awake. While they are sleeping I need to either sleep (haha) or clean or catch up on the computer. So, exercising doesn't get squeezed in anywhere. Oh, well! I'll try to do it this week. Leave a comment to motivate me. Please!

I'll post more pics of the girls too. :)

Operation Bathing Suit: week 4

2009-06-03T17:35:00.003-04:00

Yeah! I am still losing weight. I thought this week was going to be not a real good loss because of a pot luck dinner at church. It had been so long since we had one and we are kind of celebrating our newly renovated building. So, I said "Oh well" and gave into temptation. I ate a plate full of good food and then a plate full of desserts. I was so full that the next day I was extra hungry. I guess I stretched out my stomach a little. Anyway, I am happy to say I have lost another 2.6 pounds for a total of 10.8 in 4 weeks. I can already notice a difference in my clothes. I only have 7 weeks left to lose enough to look decent in a bathing suit. I need to also get a little color on my arms and legs before we go. I am going to embarrass myself with my farmer tan. :)

Operation: Bathing suit week 3

2009-05-26T10:04:00.002-04:00

Week three went really well. I lost 2.6 pounds for a total of 8 pounds so far. :) YEAH! I still haven't really "worked out", just worked around the house and playing with the girls. I do a lot of lifting, carrying, chasing and horsey rides. That is my exercise so far. I really want to start doing some more exercise this week. Wish me luck. :)

Our cool new igloo tent from IKEA

2009-05-24T23:10:00.003-04:00

Look at this cool new tent Daddy got us from IKEA. It is soooo fun! We love it! We bring our couches in it and sit and talk. We bring baskets of toys in it and play. We have so much fun all day. Thank you Daddy!

Our little fashionable girls

2009-05-24T22:27:00.005-04:00

They love to get ready for church and put their pretty dresses on.

Thanks for the pretty dresses Granny.

They love to wear hats.

Thanks for the cool hats Aunt Tami.

They love to get Mommy's shoes from the closet and put them on. They didn't get far in these

They even love to fix their own hair. They got a hold of the barrettes and insisted I put ALL of them in their hair.

They especially love to wear necklaces.

We are so blessed with beautiful, smart, funny, independent, precious and absolutely incredible daughters. Having them in our life is immensely better than I ever imagined. I am who I was meant to be because of them. Jim is a terrific daddy because of them.

The first Pee Pee!

2009-05-24T22:10:00.002-04:00

Pee pee in the potty, Pee pee in the potty!

I went ahead and bought a little pink potty for the girls. I wanted to let them have some time to get used to sitting on it and get comfortable with the idea. They are able to say "Poop" now so I thought it would be good to start teaching them where we do that. :) Daddy thought it would be a good idea to set them on it at bathtime and see if they start making the connection. For the first week, they sat on it for a few minutes and then got up and then peed on the floor. :( But tonight... Alyssa was sitting on it and went pee pee in the potty! YEAH! I know we still have a long way to go until they are trained fully, but I think this is a good first step. I was going to include a picture of the pee pee, but decided to go ahead and clean it up before Hannah started to play in it. :) So just use your imagination, it's a little pink potty with a soft cushy seat and a little pee pee in the bowl.

Operation: Bathing Suit week 2

2009-05-20T20:50:00.002-04:00

This week was not as good as I hoped. I want to blame it on Jim, so here goes. Jim was having a procedure done and that included having only a clear diet for 2 days prior. Jim does not do well without food, so it wasn't the best two days. However, not having to cook a real dinner left me just snacking all day and not really cooking. I was pretty good and stuck with 100 calorie packs and such. There are a lot more good snacks available now. Anyway, once Jim's procedure was finished, he wanted to eat and eat and eat. So we went to his favorite Mongolian/Chinese buffet. I tried my best to just get veggies and such, but not many options for me there. I just planned on using my extra weekly points. I knew it wasn't too bad. Then on Sunday Tutu brought over yummy, cheesy, lasagna and all the fixings. It is really difficult to calculate points when you don't cook the meal. So I was conservative, but also had all the leftovers to contend with. Anyway, to sum the week up, I didn't gain but I only lost 1 pound. I will have to work harder next week to make up a little. My time schedule works out to losing 2 pounds per week. I HAVE to exercise! I have a good program on DVD, I just have to do it when the babies are asleep. I will work on that this week.

I have lost my first 5 pounds though. I feel pretty good about that. :)

2009-05-17T21:21:00.002-04:00

Fun in the Sun

2009-05-17T19:17:00.003-04:00

The girls had such a fun day on Saturday at the Jacksonville Zoo water park. They have a little splash and play area in the zoo now. It is really well done and the girls had a blast. At first they were a little hesitant, but fell in love with it within a few minutes. They were playing and sliding and stomping and laughing and trying to make new friends. It was great!

I know this is hard to see, but I thought it was cute. I will add a slideshow so you can see them better.

The girls love to dress up

2009-05-17T18:50:00.005-04:00

Alyssa is getting tall enough to reach things that a few weeks ago were out of her reach. She can now reach the dirty clothes hamper in their room. She loves to pull things out and put them on. She only has the hang of putting her right leg in the pants so she will have several pairs of pants on her right leg. I helped her get these on after she brought them to me about a dozen times. Her sense of style is not quite developed yet, but she loves to get dressed up. She sees the dresses hanging in the closet and she wants to put them on. They both love jewelry too. I got them some necklaces and some of my dangle bracelets. They both love to put them on. They also love shoes. I am in trouble I fear. When we wheel the cart past the shoes in WalMart, I hear "shoos, shoos, shoos". They bring me their shoes to put on so we can go out side and swing. It is so fun to watch their likes and dislikes develop. They also love to fix their hair. They got a hold of the barrettes the other day and had to have all of them in their hair. It was so cute. I see lots of trips to the mall in my future. :)

Hannah and Alyssa

2009-05-16T20:34:00.005-04:00

These are just two of the cutest pictures I have taken of the girls recently. I had to post them. :)

Operation: Bathing Suit week 1

2009-05-16T19:58:00.003-04:00

I am stealing this idea from a friend of mine. It is important when you are trying to lose weight to be accountable to someone. She started posting how she is doing each week so all her friends can help keep her on track, give a little praise, and motivate. I am doing Weight Watchers Oline instead of going to the meetings like I did before. So I thought it would be helpful to be accountable to my friends on the web. :) Each week I will post a message about my journey towards looking decent in a bathing suit. Jim's parents have invited us to celebrate Jim's and his sister's birthdays in the Keys at the end of July. I would like to be able to wear a bathing suit without being totally yucky and blumpy. :) So I decided, I have 12 weeks, I can make a huge dent in the 40 pounds I need to lose. Maybe my journey can inspire others just as my friend inspired me.

My first week went really well. I enjoy counting the points. It is like a game to me. I love that I can still eat regular food. There recipes are great too.

I lost 4.4 lbs this week. Yay! I know it will slow down some in the coming weeks, but it is nice to have a good jump start. Operation: Bathing Suit is underway. My next weigh in is Tuesday. I'll let you know how I did.

Mother's Day

2009-05-16T19:37:00.003-04:00

Sunday May 10, 2009

What a wonderful day. Jim's gift to all the moms in the family was to cook a delicious meal for us. He made low country boil with shrimp, sausage, potatoes, and corn. It was so good. Then he made a Dutch Oven peach cobbler like he makes when camping with the Scouts. It was a wonderful treat. Jim's parents, sister, niece and great niece came over to enjoy the festivities. It was such memorable day for my second mother's day.

Thank you Daddy!

2009-05-16T19:32:00.001-04:00

First trip to the beach!

2009-05-16T12:24:00.002-04:00

The girls loved their first trip to the beach. They were a little unsure about the water at first, but they warmed up to it. Hannah especially didn't like it and she cried a little. But after playing in the sand for a while, she wanted to go check the water out with Granny. My Mom and her husband Ted were visiting for the weekend so they helped me. I don't think the beach is something I can tackle by myself.

Watch for the slide show of pics. There were way too many cute ones not to include them on here. They had sucha great time. :)

New Swings

2009-05-16T12:07:00.004-04:00

Daddy bought the girls new swings and attached them to a couple trees in the front yard. They love swinging. They bring me their shoes and say "shoos" and "out". Then we go out and swing for a while. They say "woa" and "yeah" and clap as we swing. It is so cute.

2009-04-14T09:44:00.001-04:00

Fun at the Zoo

2009-04-13T16:41:00.003-04:00

The girls had a fun day at the Jacksonville Zoo with their Tutu, Aunt Tami and cousins Brandi and Cayla (and Mommy of course). They enjoyed it much more this time since they have been learning about so many animals on their videos (Your Baby Can Read). They make signs for elephant and gorilla and alligator and tiger (or any big cat). They were able to walk around too. They loved that. They went up to people and waved and wanted to look in every stroller to see a baby. They had such a good time. They slept pretty well too since they got so much exercise. Next time we will take swimsuits and go in the water park they have added recently.

Starting a new fashion trend

2009-04-13T16:26:00.004-04:00

The next hottest thing in kids apparel...

The Envelope Hat!

It's cheap, easy to mass produce and very entertaining for kids and snap happy moms. :)

Wrestle Mania

2009-04-13T15:44:00.007-04:00

Just because we have girls doesn't mean we don't have some wrestling matches from time to time. Sometimes they are fun with lots of laughing going on like these. Other times they end in a piercing scream and red welts on Hannah's arm from Alyssa biting her. I love the fun wrestling and thought you would too. :)

Trying to give her sissy a kiss. :)

As long as Hannah is still laughing, I let it continue cause I know they are having fun. And yes, usually it is Alyssa on top of Hannah. She loves to tackle her sissy. :)

Our beautiful Girls!

2009-03-30T13:16:00.000-04:00

Here are some things the Scherck girls have been up to lately...

2009-03-12T09:41:00.015-04:00

Learning to read! They really love books and will carry books all around the house and bring them to us and want to climb in our laps to read. Or as you can see, they will just climb into the chair and read themselves.

Learning to climb on and off the furniture by themselves. She is climbing down in this picture. She learned how to turn over to her belly and then wiggle off backwards. Luckily, she has been doing this since we showed her how and she loves it.

Realxing on the new couch/beds Aunt Tami got them. These are the neatest things ever. They fold up to make a couch, or you open them out to make a little bed with a zip off cover. The girls love playing on them. We can say, "go get on your couch" and they will trot right over and lay down on them.

Having fun taking a bath every night. (It really helps them switch to bedtime and calm down, even though we have a lot of fun.)

Experiencing 100% sugar by way of Marshmallow Peeps and Sixlets. Hannah looks like she has had a few too many already, but she didn't actually have any yet, just a crazy look I happened to capture.

All in a day's work for the Scherck girls. :)

Baby milestones

2009-02-24T11:54:00.009-05:00

Watching them learn to roll over, crawl and then walk were all fun and amazing. (And I promise I will find some way to get some video of them walking on here.) What I didn't know was how much fun watching them learn to eat with a spoon was going to be. We have tried it a couple times now with mommy assisting. Today I just let them go for it and you can see what that lead to. A BIG mess that's what. But they were enjoying it. They want to be like mommy and daddy and use silverware too. When they see us eating they point at our fork or spoon so I figured it was time for them to start using silverware too. (The plastic baby variety.) They are getting the hang of it. It makes a bit of a mess, but that is all part of the fun in watching your babies learn and grow.
Oh, did I mention that I love these bowls that have the suction cups on the bottoms. When Alyssa is done she will toss everything on the floor so I had to get some of these. :) They work pretty well.

Babies having fun in the new kitchen

2009-02-24T11:43:00.003-05:00

Oh the joys of having new stuff to explore. It didn't take long for my curious one (Alyssa) to find all the fun stuff behind those cabinet doors. I haven't been able to get cabinet locks yet, so I have to deal with cleaning the mess everyday. Just so you aren't worried, I put anything dangerous up high. All they can get to are the pans, tablecloths, my apron and the ziploc baggies. :) Alyssa starts the game, but Hannah joins right in once sissy pulls all the fun stuff out. It is so cute to watch and they aren't really hurting anything. I just have to pick it all up, but I don't mind. :)

Alyssa is actually sitting in the pan. :)

The girls have their 1st birthday!

2009-02-09T17:12:00.020-05:00

A long awaited milestone!! The girls had their 1st birthday on Friday the 6th of Feb. It was a fun day. We started with a good breakfast and fun new bibs.Then we got dressed in our new cute jeans and drove up to St.Marys to take some pictures of the girls at the beautiful waterfront park. They were a little grumpy when we first got there, but I think I got some cute pictures.

Then we went to WalMart to get cake mix so I could make a birthday cake with a little dash of mom love. Once we got back to the house, I started making this lovely creation. (I will get better, I had to hurry.) I made a regular cake for the family to eat, and a single layer for the girls.

Then began the messy fun. We sang "Happy Birthday" and gave each of the girls a piece of the cake with their initial on it with a 1 candle in it. They had a little help blowing out the candles. Then we let them go for it. Hannah was very lady like at first, gently taking the frosting off. Alyssa got into the cake part faster and made the big mess on the floor. She loves to put her finger in her mouth and lick it off. It was so cute.

Then after a quick bath and clean up we opened some presents. They love looking in the bags and taking things out.

It was a great day and we are so happy to have these girls in our lives. They bring us joy everyday. We are looking forward to many more years of fun filled birthdays.

1st birthday fun!

2009-02-09T17:06:00.001-05:00

The girls' first year

2009-02-09T15:26:00.001-05:00

The girl's first hairbows!

2009-02-03T17:45:00.003-05:00

Even though the girls don't have much hair, I just couldn't resist getting them some bows for their hair. They don't stay in long, but I managed to get a few pictures. I think they are adorable. Hannah has more hair so her's looks pretty good. Alyssa has some hair but it is growing only in the middle of her head so the bow looks kind of silly right in the middle of her head. Hopefully they will be getting more hair soon and I will be buying more bows.

We have a house!!

2009-02-03T16:55:00.004-05:00

We have been looking for a place to live almost every weekend since Christmas. We searched the papers, internet and drove around all over looking at places, calling people and hoping we would at least find something to rent. One weekend we must have called 10 people but no one answered and no one called us back. We looked at several places and were hopeful, but every time we got our hopes up, something went wrong. We were starting to get a little frustrated. Then one day the last week of January, Jim got a call out of the blue from one of the people we had called from a for sale by owner sign we saw on a house. The guy was the builder and he said he would meet us to look at it and he seemed very willing to help us out any way he could to make a deal happen. And it did! We met with him and his brother on Saturday, talked a little while, and we gave him some money. We will have to close later in the month because he is going on a week long fishing trip. :) So we will be moving at the end of the month. Yeah! We are so excited to actually own a house again and not pay someone else's mortgage. :) It feels great to have a great place to put down roots and raise our girls in a home.

Kitchen - they are putting in a stove and fridge

Master Bath - you can see the garden tub and big tile shower in mirror

Front Door - We are going to paint the trim, door and add some shutters to make it more appealing, but I like the glass in the door.

The girl's bathroom - I love the tile

The deck - It is bigger than this, you can't see it all in this picture.

The house is brand new built in 2007, but we will be the first owners. The builders did such a nice job and we love it. It is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath with a nice open floor plan. It has plenty of room for the girls to play and roam around. The baths have 18' tile on the floors, beautiful tile in the showers, the cabinets are the big oak cabinets and it has a great covered deck off the back. It is on 1.24 acres on a corner lot. The yard will need some work to get grass to grow because they brought some dirt in to level the yard, but Jim needs a good project to work on. The front needs some color and some curb appeal added to it, but we will work on making it ours and it is going to be a great place to raise our girls. It is in Callahan, FL just northwest of Jacksonville. We chose to live there because we like more of a country living feel. We also love the church family we have there. We lived in that area before and loved it there. It is still close to Jim's family. We are so excited to get moved and settled in. I'll add some more pics later, these I just took real quick while we were looking at it.

Where's your ear?

2009-01-23T12:04:00.003-05:00

Where's your ear?

Where's your sissy's ear?

Good Job! My smart, adorable, funny girls!

Sweet Alyssa

2009-01-12T09:43:00.005-05:00

Alyssa loves to blow kisses. :) And she is standing
up on her own. She is taking a few steps, but we
think that in her mind walking is not efficient enough.
She likes to go fast, so crawling is still the best form
of travel for her.

Alyssa also loves to hug and kiss her sister.

I love my sissy!

Alyssa will even tackle Hannah to give her a kiss.

I love that they love each other. They fight over a toy sometimes, but most of the time they get along great. They play together, and chit chat with each other so nicely. They are such wonderful babies!

Hannah is on the move

2009-01-12T09:32:00.005-05:00

Look mom no hands!

Here I go!

The shoes slow her down a little.
She can go faster barefoot.

Yeah! I made it!

It is amazing to watch them both grow and change so much everyday. I am really in awe that they will be a year old soon. At one time in our lives we thought we may not have children. Now we are blessed with these precious girls that bring so much joy and love to our lives. They are worth all the waiting. They are amazing!

Some fun since Christmas

2009-01-09T20:41:00.003-05:00

New bath robes and slippers from Aunt Tami

Hannah's crazy hair after a bath.

Fun in a basket!

Christmas with babies

2008-12-26T11:24:00.002-05:00

Celebrating Christmas has always been a wonderful day for me, but having babies makes it even better. I didn't even care if I opened presents. I just loved watching the babies rip the paper and look inside. They were having so much fun ripping the paper. They played with a few toys, but then wanted to rip some more paper. :) They just got right into it. They loved all the excitement. Seeing the joy in their eyes just made it all the better for us.
When we went to Christmas diner at Jim's uncle's house the babies were the star of the show. They were passed around to each person and googled over. They did wonderful. They are very social babies and loved meeting new people. They had fun playing with all their new cousins. They were not shy or cranky at all. We have been so blessed with beautiful, happy, healthy, wonderful baby girls.
We are so thankful to our Heavenly Father for these blessings and all the blessings He has given us. We are especially thankful for our Savior being born, the example His life was, and His Death and Resurrection that makes it possible for us to return to live with Him. We are so grateful to be an eternal family and to know that we will be together forever.

Babies' First Christmas

2008-12-26T10:36:00.001-05:00

Christmas Cuties

2008-12-26T10:22:00.001-05:00

Christmas Portraits

2008-12-14T20:15:00.003-05:00

We had pictures taken the other day. I think they turned out great. The babies were in a good mood and smiled well. Hope you enjoy them.

The Girls

2008-12-11T14:42:00.001-05:00

We are in Jacksonville.

2008-12-03T12:23:00.002-05:00

Just in case you are wondering where in the world we are, we are now in Jacksonville,FL. Things didn't work out in Canada as we hoped. We were concerned for the safety of the babies. Also Jim's mom is ill. We decided it would be best for us to return home. We will see what is in store for us next. :) I'll add more pictures soon.

Our long journey to Canada.

2008-11-21T13:33:00.003-05:00

So, I know I haven't added much lately but we have been busy. As you may have read below, we left Jacksonville in September and drove for 6 days to visit our new job in Calgary. We thought that was a huge journey, but now we know that was just the beginning. We were asked by the Canadian immigration office in Washington DC to come for an interview. They would not let us do the interview here. We had to do it in DC since we had sent our application to that office. We had to leave Canada by the 7th of Oct. anyway, so we headed out to DC for another long journey across the states. The company would have sent us on a plane, but we still had to pick up our trailer in MT and we didn't want to be stranded there in case they said no they wouldn't give us a work permit. We thought it would just take a few days and we could head back, but it was a month later when we finally arrived back. We got our trailer in MT and headed to VA to stay with my cousin. That drive took 5 days. Once we got there, the trailer was stuck in her driveway because we came in at night and missed the driveway a little. We had to get the insurance to send a tow truck and do a claim. Then we actually went to DC for the interview and it only took her about 15 minutes to talk to us. She was not very nice and we thought she may say no. So we had to wait a couple more days for her to call us back. While we waited we did some tourist stuff like Williamsburg, Yorktown and Busch Gardens. When we got her call, luckily it was good news. We were finally approved to go back to Canada. Then we headed back for another 6 day journey to our new home in Calgary. It was a long month, but we did lots of fun things as a family and got to see lots of the country. The babies did fairly well traveling and sleeping in hotels. We are all so happy to finally be here. Our new kids were happy to see us again too. Now we are working on getting settled in and beginning a new routine as a family of 9. :)

We finally made it!

2008-11-16T18:51:00.002-05:00

We are finally in Calgary and working in our new position as teaching parents. It took much longer than we had anticipated and much more traveling, but we perservered and made it to our new home. We are enjoying the new company and the people we work for. The kids are great and have welcomed us in warmly. We are getting settled in and getting used to having 7 kids. These kids need a little more direction than our last place. We are finding it to be a rewarding challenge. The babies are doing great. Growing quickly and learning something new everyday. Hannah is now standing straight up from the floor without pulling up on anything. Alyssa loves to mimic any sounds we make. They are both talking and motoring all over the place. They are 9 months old now, but no teeth yet. They have outgrown all their clothes and are now in 12 month clothes. They needed more warm clothes any way. :) It is snowing here and I can't wait to get them snowsuits and see how they like playing in the snow. I have to go make dinner for my family now, but I will add more pictures soon.

Banff National Park

2008-10-03T21:56:00.005-04:00

We were going stir crazy sitting around the house, not able to officially work yet, and just waiting and thinking about getting our permit. So, our company sent us on a day trip to Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies. It was beautiful. The mountains are beautiful and majestic. We had such a great time. We rode up to the top of a mountain in a gondola and saw breathtaking views of the mountains. The girls loved being out in the fresh air. They were so good. I love making family memories like this.

Next time we go Jim wants to do some hiking and ride in this giant 4 wheel drive bus out on the Glacier!

They do have WalMart and IKEA in Canada!!

2008-10-03T21:26:00.004-04:00

One of the first stores we went to when we got here was IKEA. We love this store. There was one in Orlando that we fell in love with and we were so happy when we found one in Calgary. We go there for dates. There is a restaurant in there and lots of cool stuff to look at. We want to fill our whole bedroom with IKEA stuff. The view of the downtown is nice. You can see for miles from where we live. The house we are in is really nice in a great neighborhood. The kids all have to have their own room so we have 7 bedrooms and 3 &1/2 baths. It is very comfortable. It is really close to all the stores we need. They also have this great grocery/home goods store (like WalMart but 10x better) called Canadian Superstore. They have so much stuff, the produce section is enormous. The aisles are longer than ours and have so much to choose from. They also have health foods and gourmet foods like specialty grocery stores and reasonable prices. We love it.

Updated photos of the girls

2008-10-03T21:08:00.002-04:00

Having fun, hanging out in Calgary.

Trip from MT to Calgary

2008-10-03T20:54:00.004-04:00

We were only 16 miles from the border in MT, so we made it to the border quickly. We went through the US customs very quickly, said goodbye to the good ole USA (temporarily) and Hello to Canada. We were at the Canadian customs for 2 hours. We told them we were just coming for a 2 week visit, which is true. We had a bit too much stuff though I guess cause they were susspicious. They pulled us up on their system and found we had applied for a work permit. They let us come in once we told them that we were just going to visit with the kids in the home and not work with them yet. They gave us a 3 week pass and we finally entered into Saskatchawan. Then we drove another full dayto get into Alberta and over to Calgary. The landscape is very similar to the US, lots of farms. The city of Clagary is very nice, clean, nice houses, lots of businesses. It is surrounded by beautiful mountains in the distance. We are happy to finally be here. The girls are so happy to finally get out of the carseats. :)

We are finally in Canada.

2008-09-22T00:38:00.002-04:00

Well we turned in everything they asked for, but we still don't have our work permits. The immigration office emailed us and said too many inquiries will just slow down the process, so we gave up on getting them before going to Canada. We decided to go ahead and cross the border as visitors. We just packed the truck with some stuff and left the trailer in MT. We got to the border and they checked us out really well. They pulled our names on their computer and found out that we were waiting for our permits. We weren't trying to lie to them, we really were just going to visit. We aren't officially hired until we get the permits. But after 2 hours of waiting, they finally let us go across the border on the condition that we leave in 3 weeks. So if our permits don't come by Oct 8th, we will have to leave Canada. We can get an extention too. But hopefully we will get the permits soon. We are just shadowing the staff and learning right now. We will have some training meetings all next week. We really can't wait to become the parents in the house and not have to say, go talk to someone else about that, we can't do anything right now. We need to establish ourselves as the athority figures in the house. The kids are excited that we are here and they love the babies and Gidget. These kids are very different from the kids in NC. This place has a great system in place for working with them though and helping them to learn how to work on their issues instead of just talking about it and never doing anything about it like the last place. We are really enjoying it.

I will add some pictures soon. I just wanted you all to know we made it to Canada.

We are resting in Montana

2008-09-13T13:06:00.003-04:00

Hello everyone! We have made it all the way up here to MT. The truck drove great and the trailer pulled fine. No more blown tires thankfully. We have a friend from Jacksonville that is a Border Patrol agent stationed here in Plentywood , MT so he let us crash at his place. (Thank you Ben!) We got here Friday afternoon and have just been relaxing a little. We were so tired after driving(Jim) and riding(the girls) that it feels good to be still for a while. We will get back on the road hopefully tomorrow to finish the last 570 miles of our journey. We got an email from the Visa dept. that said they needed some more paper work like our degrees and a letter of reference from our previous employer. I think we have it all together now and will send it off. They seem to be right on top of things so hopefully it won't be long until we get our work permits. I can't wait to get up there and see what it is like there. I am also anxious to meet the kids and get back to a normal routine. Anyway, just wanted to let you know we are fine. I'll add more pictures soon. I'm on Ben's computer and I'll have to add pics from our laptop once we are back in the truck. Technology is amazing. I love the internet card that lets us get internet as we are driving down the road. bbvvggbnubrxx5cctbunkni nuvycyh bb (That is from Hannah, she is sitting on my lap trying to reach the keys as I type with one hand and hold her with the other. She wanted to say hello too.) :)

The road turned to dirt!

2008-09-11T14:05:00.005-04:00

We're up in North Dakota driving along and all of a sudden the road turned into dirt. As we drove down a little way, a worker with a stop sign tells us they are working on the road and to be careful. Then a few more miles down we have to stop again. This time the worker leans in the window and starts chatting with us and petting Gidget and feeding her a pig ear he happens to have in his pocket. He is really nice, like all the people we have talked to so far. He told us he was a triplet. Then it was time for us to follow the guide car. As we passed by we saw these big machines that are tearing up the road. Really cool.

South and North Dakota

2008-09-11T11:47:00.006-04:00

Day 4 - Scherck trip log

The babies woke us up about 6:30am this morning wanting to eat. Jim felt rested so he went ahead and started driving. I stayed in the camper with the babies to feed them and hopefully get some more sleep. It was kind of fun riding in the back. It was a little bumpy, but the babies slept some more. We are enjoying looking at the beautiful farms up here. Jim likes the farm equipment. True Americana. We are only 400 miles from our friends house in MT now. We will go there tonight and then drive the rest of the way to Calgary tomorrow.

Jim was able to stop for me to take the picture of the ND sign. There's not much traffic up here. :) The GPS shows our little blue truck and the destination flag. This is just our friends house. We still have about 570 miles to go tomorrow.

Iowa, a little Nebraska and South Dakota

2008-09-11T11:17:00.007-04:00

Day 3 - Continued

After seeing the sights in St. Louis we decided to be tourists. We stopped in Independance at our church's visitors center to see some of the history of the church in that part of Missouri. It was really neat. Then we went on a walking tour around the town. It was such a nice day. We all enjoyed being out of the truck for a while to take in some fresh air.

Once we got back on the road, we headed out of Missouri and into Iowa.

This is what Iowa looks like. Miles and miles and miles of nothing. We didn't get anything to eat after we left Independance and there is no where to stop along I-29 in Iowa so we were starving. Finally we got into a town in Nebraska close to Omaha and got some Long John Silvers about 9:00pm.

We weren't sure we could get into Nebraska when we saw this sign.

But everything was fine. Jim drove a little more into the morning hours and then we pulled over to sleep some in the camper.

Sights of St. Louis

2008-09-10T14:28:00.002-04:00

Jim took this pic

2008-09-10T12:10:00.005-04:00

Jimbo says - "Everybody Poops!"

Jim caught Gidget doing her morning constitution and wanted to post it.

Missouri today

2008-09-10T11:56:00.006-04:00

Day 3 - Scherck trip log

We ended the yesterday's driving in St.Louis, Missouri. That makes 4 states in one day. Today we are driving west through Missouri. We got a good sleep in a motel and feel refreshed this morning. (Doesn't Jim look ready to drive all day!)We started out at 8:40am. The girls are in a good mood this morning and playing and "talking" to us. Aren't they so cute in their little hoodies? It is getting colder as we get more north. I thought they needed a little jacket. Even Gidget is ready to go. She travels well and is easy to sneak into hotels. :) She gets the front seat because I sit in the back between the babies to take care of them and keep them entertained.

We saw the arch in St. Louis. It is really fascinating how it changes as you drive by. We also crossed the Missouri River. Not a good river as recorded in our church history. Jim is really into being a tourist. He wants to take a picture of everything.

Illinois now - 3 states in one day!

2008-09-09T18:34:00.005-04:00

Yes we are moving along quite well. Jim wanted to get a nice full day of driving today. We started out around 8am this morning and he will probably go until 8pm. We won't drive so long everyday he says and we are stopping at a motel tonight so we can get a real good night's sleep. We are down to only about 1300 miles to go till we reach our friends place in Montana. Then we have about another 400 miles or so to Calgary.

We missed the state sign this time. Maybe we will catch the next one. :)

I took a picture of the interstate sign so you know where we are.

Now we are in KY

2008-09-09T15:57:00.004-04:00

Day 2 - Continued

I told you we wouldn't be in TN for long. We were able to catch a picture of the sign this time. Jim was able to pull over so I could snap it. The girls are taking long naps with the movement of the truck. They probably won't sleep tonight when we want to sleep.

We are in TN today

2008-09-09T11:19:00.004-04:00

Day 2 - Scherck Trip Log

Well, Jim drove as long as he could to get us through Atlanta in the middle of the night. Atlanta traffic is much less at 1 in the morning. :) Around 3am we pulled into a rest stop so we could get some sleep. We all piled onto the King sized bed in the trailer and settled down for a few hours sleep. Around 8am we pulled away to get started on the second day of our travels. We stopped at Cracker Barrel for a hearty breakfast to get us going. The babies are doing great. They love looking around and seeing new things.

We entered into Tenn. around 10:30am. We are just going through the skinny part so we won't be in it for long.

We took a couple pictures for you. We are happy to be seeing mountains again, and cooler weather.

We are in GA

2008-09-08T20:33:00.005-04:00

Day 1 - Scherck's move to Canada

We started down the road at 7:00pm on Monday Sept. 8th after a grueling hot day in Jax re-packing the trailer. Jim had taken some stuff out because one, we were very heavy and two, he had to get his tools out to modify the trailer. It started to rain in the middle of this and some of our stuff got wet. Not a great start, but it will get better. After a tearful goodbye with Jim's family, we headed out. The GPS shows that we have 2100 + miles to go to Montana. We are going to drop the trailer with a friend of ours who is a Boarder Patrol agent in Montana about 4 hours from Calgary. We will leave the trailer at his place until we have our work permits, then go back and get it.

We tried to click a picture of the welcome to Georgia sign as we drove by. It is not very clear, but you can tell it says Georgia. :) Only 9 states to go and 2064 miles.

Check back!

We are on our way!!

2008-09-08T20:05:00.004-04:00

The Schercks are on their way to Canada. We spent the past week with Pop and Tutu, Tami, Brandi and Cayla (Jim's family) in Jacksonville, FL. We blew a tire in the middle of the night on the way to Jax. We had to wait in a WalMart parking lot from 4am till 8am when the tire department opened. Then once he got new tires and had to put them on himself in the blistering heat in the parking lot. It's a WalMart rule that employees can't help people put tires on trailers. Once we got to Jax, Jim and his Dad made some other modifications to the trailer to make it pull better. It took a little longer than we had expected, but we hope now to have a safe trip with no more blown tires. SO, now we are finally on the road. We are going to document the trip on the blog so everyone can kind of ride along with us.

This is such a bitter sweet move. We are excited about many things and looking forward to our new adventure in Canada. We are mostly looking forward to being able to go to our church weekly. It is so important to us to serve in the church and to raise the babies in the church. In this profession, we are working on Sundays and at other places they require us to take the kids in our home to a specific church they want all the kids to attend. So we have to take them and don't get to attend our church unless we pay someone to take the kids to church. At our new job, we will have 2 full time assistants. We are their direct supervisors and can schedule them to work on Sundays while we go to church. This is a huge part of the reason we chose to go to Canada. We know the Lord blesses us with all we have and we have to give back by serving in the church. We are also excited about working for a company that actually has a proven program in place and will give us some training. We found that we have a nack for this work, but will surely benefit from training. We know this is the Lord's work that He would have us do, so we will go, we will do.

The bitter part is the distance. We will be so far away from our families and friends that we love so much. It is especially hard since we have the twins now. We want them to know their family. We will blog, send pictures, videos, call, write, email... whatever we need to do to stay in touch and make sure you can watch the girls grow. Hopefully some of you can come visit us in Canada. It is a very nice place for a vacation I have heard. Come in the Spring or Summer though, it is really cold in the winter. :) You may get stuck in the snow. :)

Keep checking back for more trip log.

Trying to get a passport photo

2008-08-31T00:14:00.001-04:00

World Travelers!

2008-08-30T22:29:00.002-04:00

Well if you haven't heard yet, the Schercks are moving to Canada. The school we worked for in NC could no longer afford to keep our position, so we were let go a couple weeks ago. We were disappointed at first because we didn't want to leave the girls we had developed relationships with, but the inconsistencies in the program were a concern for us. We got several calls back very quickly from the many resumes Jim put out on the internet. We got intervews done by conference calls and were offered a position in Calgary, Alberta Canada. I know it is far away, but there are many positives for our family. We know that the Lord has His hand in our lives and guides us to where He needs us. We feel very strongly that there is a reason we were here in NC for these past 6 months and there is a reason that we are going to Canada now. We love what we do and couldn't imagine doing anything else. We feel that we are serving the Lord and making such a difference in the lives of the kids that come into our home. We are truly looking forward to this new adventure. We are on the road right now traveling to Jacksonville to spend some time with family before going up there. We are all packed up in our 24 foot enclosed utility trailer. Jim is a phenomenal packer and has everything strapped down. It took a lot of work to get us all packed up this time with the babies needing us so much. Jim has built a bedroom for us in the front . Our king mattress is up on a platform with room underneath for 34 tubs of stuff. Then he has a closet system for our hanging clothes and a tub system that we bought at IKEA for our clothes and stuff. It is really great! He is a genius! That way we can stop when we need to along the way. Since we are going to another country, we need pictures to cross the border. We had the hardest time getting the babies to be still and look straight. The slide show pictures are the result of shooting continuous shots in hopes we would catch them looking straight. I made noises while Jim held them. They just wanted to look at Daddy. At one point Jim had Alyssa on his head so she couldn't see him, but she decided to play with his hair and still did not look up. We thought they were so cute.