My Parents: 40 Years of Love

Once upon a time, a long, long, looong time ago…

there was a little boy named Randy.

Randy loved reading books, watching TV, and playing baseball.

But his favorite thing to do was to visit his friend Danny’s house.

Danny’s house was always fun. There were yummy cookies to eat,

lots of games to play, and best of all…

Danny’s little sister, Diana.

Diana was kind of shy and quiet, but Randy thought she was pretty cute.

When they were older, Randy decided he liked Diana

even more than he liked Danny.

So they got married.

They had three perfect daughters ;)

Who found three wonderful husbands.

And now they are known as Nanee and Papa to their five amazing grandkids!

Oh, and they lived happily ever after of course!

Happy 40th Anniversary, Mom & Dad! I love you!

Off to First Grade!

It's that time of year again: This morning I handed over my first-born to a woman I've only met once, trusting her to impart knowledge, wisdom, and character into my child for seven hours every day. While this year was not nearly as emotional as last year's drop-off, I was surprised by the sadness I felt again when I walked out of the school.

We did a great job of soaking up every moment of the summer. We went swimming, visited family, had numerous outings, worked on craft projects, and spent plenty of time just playing and being lazy. But I still felt a twinge of regret when I walked her to her class this morning. I couldn't help but think, Did I do enough? Could I have done more? For the next 9 months, she'll spend more time with teachers and friends, and therefore be more open to their influence. Have I done enough to prepare her?

I realize this may make me sound a little paranoid. Trust me, I am not wanting to wrap my child in bubble wrap or lock her away in a tower somewhere. We love our community and our school. Her teacher last year was a God-send, and the Principal is amazing. I've heard great things about her teacher this year, and I'm sure she'll have a fantastic year.

Part of it is simply my personality; I tend to get a little sentimental and misty-eyed over any change in our lives. But aside from that, it's also the fact that we take this parenting thing pretty seriously. Yes, we have other interests and responsibilities (work, church, friendships, etc.), but they all take a backseat to investing in our family and raising our children. We made a conscious decision six years ago for me to stay home to raise our children, because we feel it is our primary responsibility to train them and teach them. While we are thankful for a church, a community, and a school that support our goals in educating and training our children, the primary responsibility falls to Hubby and myself.

So that's why it's hard for me to walk away and leave my Little Miss in the more-than-capable hands of her first-grade teacher. I'm sure in a few days the emotion of it all will fade and the stress of the morning rush take over. But for now, thank you for letting me bask in the emotion of it all again.

[Parents] do not provoke your children to anger,(C) but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:4, ESV)

Surgery to 5K

Last year at this time, Little Miss was getting ready to head off to Kindergarten, and I was getting ready to have a 6-inch tumor removed from my leg. We had no idea what to expect on both counts. Little Miss did great. She took to school like a fish to water and was a little lost the first few days of summer without her friends, teacher, books, and art class. (Don't worry, she adapted to the lazy days of summer quite nicely!) My journey was a little more involved. If you don't know it, you can read the full story here.

Before the possibility of surgery last year, I had considered doing a 5K. Our church does a 5K Run/Walk as a fundraiser for our adoption and foster care program, Cherish Kids. I have several friends who have been blessed through the adoption/foster care process and a dear friend who is on the leadership team, so the cause is near and dear to my heart. However, I am not what you would call an athlete, so the thought of a 5K was a bit intimidating. Alas, it ended up being the week of my surgery, so it didn't happen.

After my surgery and physical therapy was finished, I knew I wanted to remain active. I quickly learned that the more I move my leg, the better it feels and the less likely it is to stiffen up on me (or give out on me as it's been known to do on occasion!). So at the first of the year, I set a goal: to do the Cherish Kids 5K River Run/Walk.. I am happy (and a little scared to death) to announce that in 12 days I will do my first 5K--exactly 1 year after my surgery.

My original goal was to run the entire distance. However, common sense (and my Hubby) have prevailed, and my goal is now (1) to finish, and to (2) do a jog/walk combo for the entire distance. I've had a very loose training regimen so far, but I have managed to do the entire 3.1 miles once on my treadmill and have consistently been doing 2-2.5 miles on the treadmill about 3 times a week.

I'm still not convinced this was the best idea...a 5K in August in Missouri! At least the temps have cooled off a bit lately. I pray they stay that way for a couple more weeks. I'll keep you posted as the day gets closer. And if I manage to make it the whole 3 miles without passing out, I might even post a pic or two!

Fun in the Sun

We are smack in the middle of summer heat around here with heat indexes of 100+. You would think that would make us stay in and take it easy, but for some reason it hasn't. We have been shopping, gardening, having playdates, reading (see previous post), picking berries (OK, we did that before it got too hot), and of course swimming, swimming, swimming! Thus, the reason for the bloggy silence lately. We've just been too busy to sit down at the computer.

We have a relatively quiet morning today, and while the kids are playing nicely together (for the moment at least), I thought I'd jump on here and share some pics of our summertime adventures. Here's what we've been up to...

Earlier in the summer, before the mercury jumped too high,
we went blueberry picking. This was our first time to pick fresh berries, and we loved it!

We went with friends which made it even more fun!

Of course, the best part was the yummy blueberries we are still enjoying!

We spent 4th of July weekend at Grandma & Grandpa's.
Despite the heat, the kids had so much fun climbing trees....

Driving the "tractor"...

And just being in the country.

What's summer without a trip to the county fair?
Little Miss and Little Man loved it all...the petting zoo,

The rides

And the food!
It's not the fair without sno cones and cotton candy, right?

Now that the heat has settled in, we've spent a lot of time in the water.

There is an awesome park nearby with a huge fountain for the kids to play in.
As you can see, it's a favorite water spot for us!

So, what have you been up to this summer?

Cute Library Totes

Summer is officially here and in our house that means summer reading programs!! I have so many fond memories from my childhood of spending hours every summer at our local library. It helped, of course, that the library was air-conditioned and only a 4-block bike ride from my house.

I'm so glad Little Miss has inherited my love for books, and it seems Little Man is following in his big sister's footsteps. Our recent trips to the library have produced stacks of books so large, we can hardly carry them all home. In fact, we live within 10 miles of two libraries and are planning to take advantage of both reading programs this summer! That's why I was so excited for us to make these fun, library tote bags (an idea I adapted from something I saw in a magazine).

First, I purchased the needed supplies. I am NOT a "crafter," so the simpler the better...that's why this was perfect. All we needed was some canvas tote bags (I found a package of 3 in really fun colors!), iron on decals (optional), and fabric markers or paints.

I let Little Miss and Little Man choose the tote bag they wanted, then they set to work unleashing their creativity on one side of the tote.

Little Miss is quite the artist and filled every inch of hers!

On the other side I affixed their chosen iron-on decals...so easy! (Can you believe this is the first time I've done an iron-on? I told you I'm not crafty!) I used the fabric markers to personalize each tote. For example, "Little Miss's Books." (This picture was taken before I wrote their names.)

As a bonus, the totes will also serve as a place to keep all our library books organized. In an attempt to reduce lost library books and save Mom's sanity, when a library book is not being read, it is stored in the tote which has a special place in each of their rooms. That way, when we're ready to head to the library, we know where all the books are (in theory at least).

They were pretty proud of their totes. (Little Man is growling like the lion on his bag in the above picture.) And, even though I'll probably still end up carrying all three totes--full of books--from the library on each visit, they've created something they are proud of and ready to use. If it helps keep us a little more organized along the way, all the better!

For more fun, summer reading program ideas, head over to visit my friend Lora at My Blessed Life. She has some great tips!

Happy reading!

The Wonderful World of DISNEY!

Well, it's been awhile since my last post. I had good intentions...really. But it seems the end of school and the beginning of summer brought parties, projects, and activities that took precedence. So, almost two months later, here it is--highlights of our trip to Disney World.

At the end of April we surprised Little Miss (on her birthday!) with a trip to Disney World. We literally left that afternoon. Not only were we going to Disney World, but she would fly on an airplane (the first she would remember), spend the week with her grandparents, aunts & uncles, and cousins, AND get to visit the Magic Kingdom with them all! Not a bad surprise for a 6-year-0ld. (I'm not sure who was more excited, Little Miss or me!)

Here are a few highlights from our trip:

We made it to the Magic Kingdom!

The boys

Our top priority: Seeing the castle!

The kids LOVED exploring Tom Sawyer's Island

What's a trip to Disney without meeting Minnie Mouse?

Downtown Disney was awesome, too!

The Honey I Shrunk the Kids! playground was a huge hit...Little Miss
loved the fact that this giant dog nose really breathed! Gross!

The Winnie the Pooh ride was awesome...even
while we waited in line there was plenty to do

Mary Poppins!...Little Miss was so happy to meet her...and
I was so proud that my girl knew who Mary Poppins is...not all the kids
there did (such a tragedy in my opinion!)

I LOVE this picture. The expression on Little Miss's face is priceless!

New friends :)

What exciting trips do you have planned this summer?

Little Miss is 6!

I can't believe it's been six years already since I first held my baby girl. At the time I knew my life was about to change, but I had no idea how much! I knew I would love her more than anything, but I had no clue what that would look like. Now I have a small idea, and here are just a few things I adore about my Little Miss...

• She has a great since of humor; my favorite moments are when she cracks herself up and giggles uncontrollably.
• She snuggles better than anyone I know.
• Her imagination knows no bounds.
• She writes fantastic stories (and illustrates them!)
• She loves to learn.
• Her world is black & white...if it's right, it's always right, if it's wrong it's always wrong.
• She has a big heart.
• She is intensely loyal to all her friends.
• She is a deep thinker.

Happy Birthday, Little Miss! We love you!