I’m back! Summer 2013 Part 1

What a summer…………….  I didn’t plan to quit blogging all together – but life became busy and unpredictable and blogging hit the back burner.  Now that summer has come and gone I’ll try to do a recap of all our fun and then hop back into blogging in real-time and not seasonal summaries.  

This boy finished his first year of Pre-K and this was a picture of his first and last day of school.  I can’t believe how grown up he looks in the comparison! 

Memorial Day meant a trip up to Taylor to see our good friend Luke who was in town for business.  We got to take the boys to campus to see the football field, our old dorms, the bell tower, and more.  And of course, we had to have lunch (and ice cream) at Ivanhoe’s! 

We had our first garage sale!!  It was a rainy day and most of our signs blew away, but we still had a pretty successful day!  Asher found the whole idea of selling our stuff in our garage to be fun and exciting.  He was a good help!

We scaled back our planting in the garden – It’s funny to look back at this early picture since everything has grown like crazy now! 

We spent lots of time outside playing!  It was such a mild and gorgeous summer.  NO complaints! 

Of course that doesn’t mean we didn’t spend some time inside watching cartoons!

 

As always, the water slide was a hit….

And so was the pool!

We celebrated Father’s Day with the best daddy!

I think that covers the highlights of May and the beginning of June……. next up: Our time at the cabin!  :)

Valentine’s Day 2013

Well now that we’re into March I supposed I should do a re-cap of Valentine’s Day… oops!  Despite my lack of blogging, we had a great day!!  I love, love, love celebrating ANYTHING so holidays – even the ‘little’ ones – are super fun to me.  I had so much fun thinking of small ways to make it a fun and special day for all my boys.

Our celebrating began a week early when Chris and I went to my MOPS couples banquet the weekend before.  We  had a great night with friends eating a catered Maggiano’s dinner (YUM!) and hearing awesome speakers who encouraged and challenged all of us. I am so thankful for our MOPS group and the friends I’ve made through that amazing group!!  Since grandma was home watching the boys we went out for a (second) dessert after the banquet.  Charleston’s bread pudding is TO DIE FOR!!  We split it and we could have probably each eaten our own.  So so good!  :)

On Valentine’s day the boys woke up to balloons and small gifts from us.  We had cinnamon rolls for breakfast and Asher just kept saying over and over, ‘This is the best Valentine’s day ever, Mommy!”  It makes driving all over town at 8:30 the night before looking for dove hearts totally worth it.  ;) 

Asher had pre-school so he celebrated his first school Valentine’s day party.  He did such a good job of writing his name on all his valentine’s.  We had fun sorting all his candy and treats when we got home from school.  He was on cloud nine because they got to wear their pajamas to school for the party! 

You can see some of their loot in the background!  The boys were also spoiled with gifts from both sets of grandparents.  :)  Such LOVED little boys!  And I was spoiled by my sweet Valentine who surprised me by sending flowers. :)

Jesse was a big fan of the Dove Heart Peanut Butter Blossoms!

The boys had a heart-shaped pizza for dinner and then Chris and I had take-out Italian for dinner once the boys went to bed.  It was just such a fun day and I’m so thankful that I got to spend it with the three guys I love so much!!

The celebrating continued the next day when we were invited to a “Jesus loves you” playdate.  A friend totally outdid herself with a cute Bible story, heart shaped balloons, and crafts.  It was so much fun and really sweet of her to go to all the work for our kids! 

Happy Birthday, Chris!

Yesterday we celebrated Chris’s birthday – the big 3-2!  Ha!  After 30 no birthday seems like a big deal until the dreaded (gulp) 40.  :)

Last year’s birthday was when Asher had the stomach bug and we were all in survival mode so I wanted him to have a nice birthday this year.  :)  We dropped off donuts and coffee at his work in the morning and I made his requested dinner and cake later that night.  Asher had fun picking out party supplies and decorating the house, and both boys LOVED a chance to eat more cake!!!  His present to himself was a new computer so I didn’t have anything to wrap up, but we still had fun.

The older I get the more I realize the uncertainty of life.  We all get into routines that we take our lives and the people in them for granted.  As much as Chris would have been fine with letting the day pass without much fanfare, I’m glad for a reminder to slow down, have fun and celebrate the husband and daddy we love sooooo much!

Veterans Day

One of my favorite things about my husband is a habit he has of thanking each and every active and retired military serviceman or woman that he sees.  It might be the guy in full fatigues at Lowe’s or the elderly gentleman with a WWII hat sitting in McAlister’s Deli, but Chris will make it a point to go over and thank them for their service.  I can tell you that every time he receives the most genuine “thank you” back from these individuals.  A lot of them are caught completely off-guard by his simple thanks.  Everyone likes to be appreciated and these men and women deserve all the recognition and appreciation we can give. 

I’ve always admired Chris for never missing a chance to say thank you, but especially now that we have two little boys watching every move we make, I love this simple act that he models for them.  I can only hope they grow up to be men with such respect for those who keep us safe. 

This past summer I read the book Unbroken by Laura Hillebrand was absolutely blown away by the accounts in that book.  It follows one man in particular through his service in WWII and beyond.  The book is life-changing and will make you want to not only thank every WWII vet you meet, but you might even find yourself stalking them in the aisles of your grocery store (like me) trying to come up with the right words to capture your level of gratitude.  :)  This book is THAT good.  It should be required reading of all Americans.

This coming Sunday is Veterans Day and it serves as a good reminder to look for those in our midst, even if that means seeking them out, so we can truly thank them for what they are doing and what they did to make America safe and strong.  A quick and easy way to say thank you is through the “thank a troop” Shutterfly Facebook page.  You can personalize a quick message and Shutterfly will print it, and send it to a troop who is presently in harm’s way.  So so simple on our end, with the potential to bless and encourage a man or woman who is serving to keep us safe.  If you’re interested in joining me, here’s the link. 

Though this is an affiliate post through shutterfly, I would never share anything on our personal blog that I didn’t believe in and support myself.  In fact, this one resonated with me more than ever as I think about how much it encourages each person that my husband stops to thank.  I took only a minute to personalize a card and send it along to a troop.  To me it seemed too easy, but I think we all underestimate the power of what a simple “thank you” can bring.

And in the spirit of gratitude I would be remiss if I didn’t say Thank You to my own Father and Father-in-Law who both served this country bravely.  My boys have three of the finest men in their father and grandfathers to look up to!  We love you!

“Freedom is never free.” 
-Author Unknown

Dining Room/Office: Before & After

After moving in and having a baby within a week of each other last summer and then just surviving the first year of life with two kids we have finally done some home projects this summer and it feels great to cross a few things off our wish list.

Out of all our IKEA projects I think this one HAS to be my favorite!  We installed the new BESTA shelving units from IKEA in our formal dining room, (which we actually wanted to serve as more of an office since we don’t have too many formal dinners right now.)  ;)  I did want the room to still serve the purpose of a dining room though so that we had both options.  As a result we didn’t really know what to do with it and after sitting pretty much empty with a table and chairs and one very large window for a whole year we bit the bullet, drove to Cincinnati, filled up the back end of the van with IKEA boxes, and proceeded to spend about a week of evenings assembling the units…

Not the best “before” shot, but you get the idea!

Getting closer…

Ta-Da!!!  It’s finished!

We have two new dining chairs that serve as comfier ‘office’ chairs for working at the table and hopefully we’ll continue to replace the rest of them with time.  We also need to finish decorating the shelves, but we LOVE it.  Love, Love, LOVE it!  The room went from a pass-through to a space we enjoy being in.  :)  A big thanks to my hubby for working hours and hours to assemble and safely anchor those shelves to the wall.   Have I mentioned we love it?

Eight Years!

Yesterday was our 8 year anniversary!  The older I get the more I think Anniversaries should be more celebrated then Birthdays… let’s be honest, birthdays just happen – Anniversaries take lots more effort!!  ;) 

I am truly thankful for 8 years with Chris – as much fun as life is in the newlywed stage, I wouldn’t go back.  I love this stage even more.  :)  In the beginning you’re learning all the other person’s quirks and learning just how darn selfish you are.  Not that the quirks are necessarily gone, and I know I’m still pretty selfish… but there is a comfort level of a few years in that doesn’t compare to the beginning. 

Marriage is harder than I imagined, but better than I dreamed.  I know that marriages fail every day so I am thankful to be married to a man who is committed to the Lord first and me second.  I can honestly say that I not only LOVE my husband… I really like him too.  I love doing the big and little things of life with him, raising kids together, and just doing life side-by-side. 

My parents were here visiting so they graciously offered to watch our boys so we could go out.  We took some pictures before leaving since we realized that we have VERY few pictures of our entire family of four and even fewer of just the two of us from recent years. 

I love you, Chris!  So thankful you chose me all those years ago; and so glad we still choose each other each day!

* * *

And on a side note, we are studying the book “What Did You Expect: Redeeming the Realities of Marriage” by Paul David Tripp with out church small group right now and I just thought I’d share how GREAT it is!  No matter how wonderful or how struggling you might characterize your marriage this book will offer encouragement and areas of growth.  I can’t recommend it highly enough!!

Birthday: Take 2

Chris’s Birthday was Tuesday of this week… On his birthday he started his day by helping a little girl off the bus after she had thrown up everywhere.  He ended his school day with a frantic phone call from me asking him to come home quickly because Asher had just thrown up everywhere.  That night we tried to still “celebrate” with his birthday dinner… but taking care of a sick kid pretty much trumped any fun birthday plans.  I decided Chris definitely needed a birthday do-over!!!  :)

So today was Chris’s birthday re-do!!  We started with cinnamon rolls for breakfast…

Lots of football watching in the middle (and a little Buckeye Basketball, too.)

And finished with a yummy new recipe for dinner: White Chicken Enchiladas.  (These were SO good!) And a family favorite for dessert: Pioneer Woman’s Texas Sheet Cake.  (Amazing!)
      {Pinterest}                                                 {Source}

Happy Birthday to my sweet husband.

So glad we could take an extra day to celebrate you!

We love you so much!

{And it’s ALWAYS nice to have an excuse to eat cake!!!}

This & That…

Chris had to go back to work last week and we’ve been mourning the loss of daddy ever since.  ;)  For the first several days Asher asked where Chris was, why he was at work, and how soon until he’d be home (at 9 o’clock am that was still a lot of hours to wait!)  I have really missed Chris and the extra help.  It has been nice getting back into a little bit of a routine after two weeks of ‘fun’ though!   

On Saturday we took advantage of our Children’s Museum’s ‘early hour’ for members.  We were allowed in at 9, before the general public at 10.  It was so great!!  In some exhibits (like the dinosphere) we were just about the only ones in there!! 

Asher LOVES the children’s museum and asks to go about every third day  ;)  so he was thrilled and even more excited to have daddy come along.  It was their final day for the Jolly Days (Christmas-y stuff) so the guys enjoyed one last ride on the Yule Slide until next year…

  

After 3 or 4 weeks of no church nursery Asher was reunited with his nursery buddies at MOPS on Thursday and then again on Sunday during church.  Unfortunately we think he picked up the flu bug at either church or the museum and by Tuesday afternoon he was SICK!!  :(  It truly broke my heart to see him so miserable.  Chris hurried home from work (on his birthday no less) to help me clean up.  At one point in the middle of the night when Asher got sick and needed new pj’s and sheets he looked at me and said, “I’m sorry I do that mommy.”  I could have just cried!  We told him over and over not to be sorry and that everyone gets sick.  I think it made him feel a little bit better to know that even mommy and daddy had been sick before.  Daisy swooped into action and spent lots of time right at his side snuggling him.

The next day he quickly discovered the one perk of being sick  – unlimited tv!  I think we’ve both watched enough cartoons for a few weeks!  We’re praying that Jesse stays well and that somehow Chris and I escape it too. 

Poor Chris’s 31st birthday got a little bit overshadowed by the Stomach Bug of 2012!!  We did bring him cupcakes - from a cute cupcake bakery in Carmel - at school that day (before I knew Asher was sick).  And as luck would have it, Chris had to help a child at school get off the bus after she had gotten sick everywhere.  NO ONE should have to deal with that much grossness on their birthday.  He definitely gets a re-do next week.  :)

One REALLY funny moment happened the next day.  Chris and I were up off and on a lot of the night with Asher so we were both walking zombies the next day.  He was half-way through a meeting when he realized he was wearing a suit and his SLIPPERS!!  Ha!  :)

SNOW!! (finally!!)

We’ve been waiting and waiting for some snow and it finally came Tuesday morning after coming home from Michigan!  It was the BEST kind of snowfall because we went to bed with grass and woke up to a blanket of white.  Asher ripped off his jammies so he could get dressed and put on his snow pants in record time!  He and Chris went outside to play before breakfast. 

Making snow angels!

A daddy angel and a little boy angel!

Next they made a snowman…

Asher has been dying to make a snowman, talking about it frequently!

After all that playing outside it was time to warm up with his first cup of Hot Cocoa!  :)

I’m so glad that our first real snow fall happened over Christmas break so Asher could experience it with me and Chris!