Happy Anniversay

To my wonderful husband:

Can you believe this is us? 8 years ago!?!? So much has changed. We've moved 4 times, changed jobs twice that, had 3 children, gained a few pounds (ok...so more than a few), survived your undergrad and grad schools, lost loved ones, seen the Northern Lights, moved away from family and friends, cried, renovated homes, celebrated birthdays, fought, snow-mobiled, met new people, taken trips, hiked up mountains (small ones), watched movies, seen Alaska, swam in the ocean, stayed up all night with sick kids, rappelled from cliffs, travelled through Ireland, SCUBA dived with sharks and seen some of the most beautiful waters in the world, read books, taken naps, laughed, travelled cross country...the list is endless and ever changing. But one thing that has not changed is my love for you. That's not true, exactly. It has and does change, but gets better and grows bigger every day. I love you so differently today than I did 8 years ago. You are so much to me. My husband, best friend, father of my children, sugar daddy, shoulder, support system, comic relief, teammate, other half, encourager...I thank God for bringing such a wonderful man to me. Someone with whom I will spend the rest of my life and grow old with, to help raise our children, to love and to love me, to talk to, to sleep next to at night. I love you babe. Happy #8.

Cupcake Tag

End note: the brad at the top is holding the slide back. A place for hidden journaling, a note to your sweetie, or even a picture!

My Wall Words

Well Amy, after what, a year and a half!?!? I finally got my wall words! Part of the problem was I've spent the last 10 months searching for THE quote. I finally found it! Here's a picture for now (still trying to get the right light for a shot of the whole room). I put them above the windows in our dining room. Since I heard about these a couple of years ago, I've been wanting to put them up. One problem...we keep moving! Since we're going to be here for a few years (right, Joe???) I figured I'd go for it. I'm wandering around my house looking at every possible place to put more, since I love them so much! I have since found that my Uncle owns a business where he does similar work. My mom and I are trying to persuade him to add this niche to his business. We're working on some ideas and (because I need more to do) I'd like to start selling these. So...any interested in buying some wondering words for your walls???? Contact me...=)

BTW, it says, "For health and food, for love and friends, for everything Thy goodness sends."

Our pool is finally done!!!

After, what? almost 4 months, our pool is done. It looks a lot smaller than we had imagined, but we have a wonderful place for the kids to play. A fantastic patio area with beautiful deck chairs. We are looking forward to our pool party and having everyone over to enjoy it with us!

Things about our sink

Apparently, we have a pretty magical sink. It can do a lot of things all by itself. It can turn itself on and off. It can fill tea party cups and stacking cups. It can drip and spray water across the bathroom floor and the counter top. It can completely soak a hand towel. It can even bathe various dolls and toys. While doing all this, it gets awfully dirty and needs to be washed...a lot. No need to worry, Ellery would be happy to play in, I mean clean, the sink. Without even being asked.

Oh and did I mention...

He's totally walking and loving it! Of course, this stage comes with all the bumps and bruises of the mobility learning curve. In addition to the new height he's gained, his reach has increased as well...and he's taking full advantage of it. I was in the bathroom getting ready the other day, and I hear the whoosh of the toilet being flushed, but then didn't see a little girl come out. Huh...well...it was Grady...flushing the toilet. Luckily the lid was down, so nothing took a swim, but I'm sure that's right around the corner. He's also become quit the climber. The fireplace, the girls rocking chair, my treadmill, the train table (that was a shock...to both of us!); if he can get his knee up on it, he's going for it. So, my mommy-sense has been heightened to a new level and I have a feeling that with a boy, its just going to increase!

Poop

Yes, that is the first word that has come out of my precious little boy's mouth. Poop. But it is oh-so-fitting, as that's what he does a lot of. Hhnnh, does he hear that word a lot? Well...we have songs about it that I sing while I change him. We have faces and noises we make about it when we smell it. We make him laugh hysterically just by saying the word (its really an adorable laugh which is the only reason I do it). It gets announced when the little people in the house have to go do it. The girls say it when I'm not in the room, laugh about it, then tattle on each other because they think its such a funny word. So, Grady does hear that word a lot...apparantly too much!

(Post note: he did also say "ma," "cat," and "up," but poop was first.)

Oh what a crazy life we lead...

Well, not really any crazier than normal, but still, sometimes it feels like I barely have time to sleep...(oh yah...I don't! =) Let see...what has been going on around here??? Well, there has been a bunch of firsts. For the first time, I have a bad teether. Grady is getting on of his top teeth and is making us all miserable. On top of that, we are having our fist nursing strike; not me, him. I've never been through this before, and its rather tough. Partly because I'm having to pump all the time.  Today Grady, for the first time, stood up from sitting, all on his own, no support, no help, just stood up.

Getting the wiggles

We've had some pretty bad thunderstorms here lately. Every night before bed, the girls check with us to see if its going to storm. If it is, they usually end up in our bed anyway, so they start the night there. On clear nights, Ellery says, "I want it to thunder and lightening so I can sleep in your bed." This morning when I awoke, it was surprisingly still stormy. As I was in the kitchen making coffee, I heard a horribly loud noise. I thought for sure that one of the tractors (yes our pool in still a work in progress and no we have no idea when it'll be done) had fallen into the pool (the one without water). Then the noise kept going and I was starting to wonder if the sky was really falling. Well, I walked into our bathroom where Joe was getting ready for work to find the girls out of bed and hiding in the closet. I smiled and asked if the thunder had scared them, because it had me! Ellery asked, "Did it make you wiggly too, mom?" In toddler speak, I guess wiggly is the best way to describe the adrenaline rush you get from a scare. Yes, I guess I got the wiggles!

Standing up

Grady's been practicing his new ability to stand up without holding on to anything. Well this is all wonderful, except when he does it in the bathtub...which he did over and over last night. Joe's comment, "wait a minute...you cheer and clap when I do this, and now you keep telling me to sit down? Make up your minds!"

I am not a teacher

I've pretty much known this my entire life, so not really a surprise to me. When I was in college I knew math was my thing, well I've kind of known this my whole life too. Anyway, what can you do with math??? Teach it or keep track of it for someone else. I chose the latter and went for Accounting and Finance. Last week was another affirmation that I am not a teacher. I was asked to direct and teach a class for Vacation Bible School at our church. I gladly agreed. I'm willing to help and serve when I can, and this was a perfect way for me to give service to the church....or so I thought. Keep in mind that when I do say "teach" I'm using that term very loosely. You see, I had a class of 10 two and three year olds. So basically what I did all week was attempt to keep order and make sure no one got seriously hurt. Throughout the week, I was able to relay to these young minds some of God's teachings and words, but I'm not really sure if VBS was more for me or the kids. I think that was God's way of teaching me that I have a lot to learn...especially about patience.

Toes

As a child I remember running barefoot in the summer. I also remember how painful it was when I would stub my toe. It's been so hot here lately that the girls have been running through the sprinklers in the evenings...at least the evenings when its not storming! Ellery comes in today to go potty and I look down and her big toe was bleeding. Assuming that she had does this a while ago and daddy took care of it, I asked how her toe was. Silly me. She looks down and see's the blood and immediately starts to cry, well, more of a scream-cry...and limp (which she wasn't doing right before I asked). There's something to be said for the power of suggestion.