Odds, Ends and some about Jon

Awhile back I promised to post pictures of the treasures we found on our date. Here are some of those things.

Emma is taking swimming lessons for two weeks. She really loves it and it's a parent/child class and Jon has been taking her. She has yet to put her whole head underwater on her own yet (she did go under when she went down the slide) but she'll get there.

However she and Grey are sick. The last couple nights have been rough. Last night, I was tired, I was also not feeling well and Grey had been up for about 3 hours, Emma had been up as well. Jon had gone to bed late afternoon and I finally hit my end. I went to bed, flopped down and said "I'm at the end of my rope. Tag, you're it."
Bless his heart, Jon got up, took care of both kids, letting them sleep in his arms and on the couch, he even fed Grey baby food in the middle of the night so he didn't have to wake me to nurse the baby. I was so thankful! And this morning, Jon met me with a smile on his face after having taken care of two sick kids all night.
I'm so blessed to have him. He takes such good care of all of us. 

I even got breakfast in bed a few weeks ago, for no reason. "Just because" he said. What a gem!

He is on vacation this week after completing a full year of work! We got to go on a date and see Spider Man which we enjoyed. We reminisced about when we saw the first Spider Man. We hadn't been married long and had driven to Columbus, met friends there and hung out until the 12:30am showing. This week we saw a matinee, just the two of us. Boy times have changed- and we love it!

In other news:
Emma and I also were treated to a birthday lunch with our friend "lowlee", which we really enjoyed. What fun to visit with her and have lunch out.

Grey is crawling everywhere. He has mastered getting his knees under him and doesnt' army crawl anymore. He's so very happy now that he can go where he wants (often, NOT where I want him to go though). Freedom agrees with him.

We have 4 butterflies in our kitchen. Emma got a "butterfly kit" for her birthday which included 4 caterpillers. We watched them create crysalises and yesterday and today they all emerged as beautiful "Painted Lady" butterflies. We are feeding them sliced grapes and flowers dipped in sugar water. We will release them tomorrow. It's really incredible to watch that transformation. Emma has really enjoyed it but I have been even more enamored I think.

Jon and I are going to try our hand at some paintings. We have been looking at all kinds of things and have some inspiration. I'll post pictures of our painting when they are done. Also, I think we are going to hang my painting of the poppies I painted this winter once we get it framed. We might try to make the frame ourselves too. We'll see.

It's been and continues to be a fun and relaxing summer.

Happy 4th birthday Emma

Emma has been so very excited to turn four years old. She surprised me by choosing a butterfly cake instead of Hello Kitty. She even helped me make it. One of the things she has been most looking forward to is getting to move up to the next Sunday School class. During their storytime they combine classes and each class sits on a separate colored rug. The three year olds sit on purple and when you turn four, you get to sit on the ever exciting yellow rug! She was so thrilled to go to church Sunday to get to sit on that special rug.

Here is her great cake we made together.  

 She is so big! Her smile makes me so happy.

 Even though the cake wasn't Hello Kitty, many of the other birthday gifts and such were. She is quite the fan right now. She was so thrilled with the Hello Kitty suitcase from Nana and Papaw that she packed it and took it to church with us Sunday. On the way I asked what she had packed and she listed quite the long list of stuffed animals. The suitcase stayed in the car while we were in church but she just liked packing it, wheeling it to the car and having it with her. I also asked if she was excited to get to use it, meaning, for clothes and overnight items when she stays at Nana's next time. She replied "buy mommy, I AM using it!'. I guess, even just taking it to church counts as using it.

The backpack is also Hello Kitty. Which is for preschool. I can't believe she'll be going this fall. It's only two mornings per week, but I sure will miss her. She, on the other hand, couldn't be more excited. I watched her at library storytime today. She sat on the rug, listened to the books being read, did the motions for the songs and poems and even chimed in with answers. I was so proud of her. I see her growing in her abilities to join in groups and follow directions.

She is such a doll.

She is my sunshine.

She is four!

Applause please...

I have been working on the kitchen for a couple months now. I have done the painting in stages and finally can put down the paint brush. It is finished! We still have to hang some art on the large wall but it feels incredible to have all the painting done.

Here is the before picture.

 Here is the middle of the project picture.

 Here is the finished product! Feel free to applaud. Even to give me a standing ovation. No? Oh, well I love it and can't wait to hang up the art... and my paint brush.

Ode to my Honda

Dear Little Silver Civic,
Jon found you on Autotrader 11 years and 150,000 miles ago. You have kept us safe and have taken us lots of great places. You have brought our children home from the hospital and have taken us to so many fun events.
It's not for lack of love that we traded you in. It's for lack of four wheel drive and some space. It's not your fault. We couldn't have asked more of you. You never broke down, never left me stranded on the side of the road. You simply are going on to a new owner.
Someone new needs you.
Thank you for being my favorite car.
Thank you for 11 great years of driving.

Bye Little Silver Civic.

Live long and prosper.

Like old times

Jon and I dropped the kids off at Papaw and Nana's on Saturday and went to Columbus. We had such a great time. It reminded us both of when we were dating in college. We even enjoyed the time together while stuck in traffic. We listened to Jon's itunes and even the regular radio. (I am usually listening to toddler favorites and bible schools songs in my car, so all the songs on the radio sounded new to me! ha!) We weren't in a huge hurry and had time to just think about being together. We had time to talk serious and light hearted.

Jon said he was hungry for philly steak for lunch but we doubted we could find one outside of a mall food court. So we headed on to the stores and what did we see across the street? A phillie steak restaurant! yay!
The stores we actually went to Columbus for didn't prove to be fruitful but Jon suggested we stop at a store we passed along the way and we hit the jackpot there! We found lampshades to match our new bedding and a painting that I love for the dining room. It makes me happy every time I see it. I like that Jon and I share a love of art. We like abstract art that "speaks to us". The picture in the dining room doesn't speak to Jon and  to be truthful, it doesn't actually speak to me. But it makes me happy. I smile every time I see it. It's kind of like hearing an oldies song. My heart lifts and the corners of my mouth do too. And the day was so enjoyable that now I attach that memory to the painting too.
On the way home Jon had another idea to stop at an antique shop. Those of you who know me, know my theory about antiques. Why pay a lot of money for junk that either doesn't work now, never did or you could buy cheaper new. However, since we were having such a great time I figured I'd just enjoy being with Jon and maybe find some fun trinket for the kids.
Right when we walked in the door there was a painted oak cabinet. It was old and had the honest worn look to it. It is painted robin egg blue and we both loved it. The best part is that the price was a steal! We snagged it as well as a large ten candle -candle holder for the fireplace. Our chimney needs work and as our sweet German landlady said "expensive to fix, no use". So we "no use" but can enjoy having lit candles in it if we like. So we found the candle holder and cabinet and crossed the street only to have to shuffle things around in Jon's little car. The lamp shades, painting, cabinet and candle holder barely fit in the car. Once we got to my mom's we had to leave the cabinet there in order to be able to take our children home with us! Oh the joys of his car just keep giving.
I kid.... sort of.

We will get the cabinet to our house soon and I'll get pictures of our treasures.

The day together was so refreshing. The sun, the radio, the drive, the hand holding. It felt like old times and made my heart full.

Fun week

We got to spend time with Jon's grandmother for her birthday. She is such a sweet lady. She painted with Emma and even got down on the floor and played dominos with her. She played "store" and read books. You'd never know she's 94 years old.

 The kids and I went to the Cleveland Science Center this week and enjoyed the time with my sister, her kids and my mom. This place is great! There is so much for kids to do and it kept my attention as well. There are inside and outside fun activites. I can't wait to go back.

 The water fun was great. Just those exhibits and activities could have kept the kids happy for hours.

 There also is a play area that even teaches science along the way. There were tons of smiles and giggles that day.

Just stuff

It's been and will be birthdays galore for the next few weeks. We have Jon's grandmother, my grandma, my mom, my niece, myself and my daughter all within about a month.

It's been fun to get to purchase gifts again. We had to be really cheap and no little or nothing while Jon was in school and it's been fun to get to find something small for all the birthdays.

I have realized that giving gifts is one of my big love languages. I love to give and get thoughtful gifts. I love spending time thinking of special things to buy for each person based on their individual likes. I especially enjoy thinking back to things they have mentioned in passing and surprising them with it on their special day.

I have roses blooming! Emma and I picked some beautiful long stem roses for my mom's place setting at her birthday dinner. The whole dining room smelled so nice.

We also made a happy birthday banner out of some old wrapping paper. Emma was so excited to show Nana when she got here.

In other random news Emma and I have been getting lots of laughs from watching youtube videos in the evenings. Tonight, thank you Jen, we laughed at people who were drugged up from having their wisdom teeth out.

Greyson is making crawling attempts. He is also trying to walk. It's too close to call which will happen first.

I learned the hard way not to feed Grey kiwi without straining the seeds first.

We are looking forward to seeing Jon's grandmother, in from California, tomorrow for her 94th birthday party! She has a great spiritual legacy and continues to encourage us all in the Lord.