seven is awesome

Today was Lucas' 7th birthday and rather low key but yesterday we 

had a little birthday bash.  Just a couple friends, but a rowdy water balloon

fight that included getting me wet.

The weather was perfect...sweltering actually.  It felt good to get wet and have a nice cold glass of lemonade.  We rarely have birthday parties that extend outside of our family, but this year when he mentioned having a water balloon fight I decided that every good water balloon fight should include some friends.  Even though it took me 2 hours to fill the balloons and less than 10 minutes (or maybe even 5) to pop all of them it was worth the effort.

Love this picture of him!  Not so much of me, but it's not too often 

I get to appear in pictures too so I'll take it!

Lucas,

You are a sweetheart!  Your toothless grin melts my heart.  It is a sweet sign that you are indeed growing up.  I'm so grateful that you still love to give and receive hugs and kisses.  So, I'll give you as many as I can now.  You are starting to be a big help with your brother and I love how you desire to be daddy's right handyman.  You are so inquisitive.  Your mind goes 1,000 miles a minute, but that definitely makes you who you are.  You amaze me almost everyday with some fact, usually math, that you share with us.  It's a gift from God.  It certainly isn't anything we have done.

 He has given you a mind that easily grasps certain concepts and I can't wait to see how the

Lord uses that in your life.  You thrive on being silly and you have the most awesome dance moves!

I love you, buddy, with all my being.  I am blessed to be your momma.

Happy Birthday, Big Guy!

A Perfectly Good Weekend

I figured it was about time for an update.  It's been rather busy here the past few months with work, homeschooling and a very curious little boy.  We now have a freakishly talented climber in our family (see evidence of such cutie below).  I'm about to invest in some repelling equipment so he can safely lower himself from the precarious situations he puts himself in.  I've also been picking up some extra hours to help out during a slow period for Brian's business, so that eats up any extra free time I may have been able to eek out of a day... and that's OK most days.  You do what you have to do to make it as a family.

But, this week was fabulous.  I only worked one day and the weather was superb.  This weekend alone was so much fun.  We spent a lot of time playing.  Speaking of playing, I'm a bit obsessed with Instagram the past few days, as evidenced by all my pictures in this post.  It's been fun capturing everyday events with a fun little twist using my phone.  I don't always have my camera nearby, but I always have my phone in my pocket. 

Well, enough of that rabbit trail.  Without further ado, here are a few pictures capturing our fun weekend:

Practicing some climbing skills

Swinging a bunch and playing at least 30 games of Hi Ho Cheerio!  (Complete with princess attire.)

Enjoying the beautiful Irises and Poppies.

A lovely Sunday picnic lunch.

 

 

A hike at a local wetlands

Just like big brother

Taking a rest on the walkway

And to top it off we stopped for ice cream to cool us down afterward.  I just cherish these sweet moments with my family.  I feel completely and utterly blessed tonight.

Hope your weekend was full of wonderful too!

Ten Years

(photo courtesy of Sycamore Lane Photography)

One decade since we said yes.
Yes to whatever may come.
Yes to the good. Yes to the bad.
Yes to never calling it quits.

Ten years have given us more than we could have ever imagined.
Good and bad.
I would never change a thing.
We are who we are because of the path our hearts
have traveled together.

I love you.

The Best Part of Waking Up...

There's nothing like starting your morning with a mouthful of old coffee grounds.
Could it be there is someone in the family who loves
coffee more than me?

Still Here

Hello there! Yes, I'm still here. I'm just having major writer's block...not that I write a whole lot anyway :). A quick update of random stuff:

• We're back to homeschooling. One of the fun things we've been able to do is coincide our study of seeds with a sprout kit Aunt Katie gave the kids for Christmas. The kids have loved watching the changes occur.
• This mild winter weather has allowed for a lot of muddy, outdoor play.
  
• I have a few sewing projects I've been finishing up. Pictures to come eventually.
• As far as new goals for the year, I have a few areas I'm working on, but I've been contemplating them since early December so we don't have to call them "resolutions" do we? :)
• We have been feeding the birds this winter and it's been so nice to see the cheerful red of the cardinal, the sweet black cap of the chickadee, the adorable eyes of the tufted titmouse and the climbing antics of the nuthatch. They make me happy.
• I've been very introspective lately. It makes me quiet. Thoughtful. It's like I can't think about much else until I resolve things in my mind. I'm not sure that's a good quality for those around me, but it leads me to the Lord for his leading and direction. Time spent pondering with Him is a good thing.

Here's hoping your winter is off to a good start... resolutions or not! :)

"one"derful!

Today marks a year when in the wee hours of the morning our sweet boy was born. He was laid in my arms and for the third time in my life I thought I'd never seen anything more precious. To think, after our miscarriages we decided to try just once more. And look at what God's gracious hand gave us. We know he is a gift. He belongs to God, as do our other kids. He is not ours to selfishly hold on to, but it raise up to bring glory to Him. I'm just so incredibly grateful that He chose us, in His perfect plan, to have such precious gift. Thank you, Lord.

Ethan, you are:

• My sweet rascal. You are laid back, yet determined. I don't know how those two character traits coexist, but you pull it off! Curious should be your middle name.
  
• You are a jokster. You tease me already in your own little way.
  
• I love it when you smile and crinkle your nose. Oh, it warms my heart!
• You love the outdoors more than any other place! Absolute glee exudes from you when we step outside to play.
  
• You are quite the conversationalist. I love your jibber-jabber.
• I cherish our snuggle time. Your silky hair on my cheek is good medicine.
• ...and your laugh is music.

Happiest of birthdays to you! We love you!

11 Months...And So It Begins.

It really all started yesterday. First, two separate attemps at four steps each, then nine. He still prefers crawling, but occasionally I catch him taking a few careful steps on his own. I'm excited, proud... and maybe just a tiny bit sad. How can my baby be almost a year old? I'm so grateful for him. What a sweet addition to our family!

Five

On Sunday, Lydia turned five. Oh my! How time just scoots along.
We had a simple family celebration earlier in the day and then with our house church
family in the evening.

Upon waking, she donned the purple crown I made her last year and did not remove it until bedtime. She requested spaghetti for dinner and a chocolate cake with light purple frosting. Overall, I would say her day was a success!

Our sweet babysitter, M, brought Lydia an Aurora Princess Baby.
She's in love.

Some of your favorite things:

Color- purple
Food- spaghetti, oatmeal and french fries
Activity- swinging, twirling, racing your "car" down the driveway
Theme- princesses, fairies

Lydia,

My precious daughter.
You are a great blessing and it is an honor to be your mom. It's been a joy to watch you grow the past five years. My heart melts at your tenderheartedness, yet you have spunk! I love your silly moments... and there are many. You are my sweet girl and I am so thankful you were chosen by Him to be a part of our family. I pray that He will enable me to be a mom who will show you what it is to love Jesus and to love others.

yours forever,

momma

A Robot, Fairy and a Kiss

Last night the kids had such a great time! There was a major countdown going on
here until the moment we stepped out the door.The fairy and the robot, all ready to go.

And of the course, my Hershey kiss who was forced to come along the big event.
He was quite a trooper.

And the only thing he's guilty of melting is my heart.

On a side note, I wanted to share this fun frosting recipe. It's very sweet, so it would
best be paired with a dark chocolate cookie or a cookie that's not overly sweet itself.

Spiderweb Icing:

3 cups powdered sugar
3 Tbsp corn syrup (I would like to try honey or brown rice syrup next time)
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 Tbsp + 4 tsp milk (separated)
2 Tbsp cocoa, sifted (Trust me, it's worth the effort)

Blend sugar , corn syrup, vanilla and 3 Tbsp milk plus 2 tsp milk until smooth. Remove 1/3 cup icing and stir in cocoa and remaining 2 tsp milk. Transfer chocolate frosting to a baggie. Snip the corner. Ice cookies with vanilla icing. Beginning at the center, pipe a spiral of chocolate icing onto the cookie. With a knife tip or a toothpick, drag through the spiral to create a web pattern. Let stand until set.

10 Months

Do not let this mellow look fool you!

There is a spunky, very curious, active little boy emerging with each new day.
Still as precious as ever though.

Summer Favorites: Silly

The kids making their scariest faces two weeks ago.
Pretty cute villains, huh?!

Lydia's drawings named: Scary Cat and Mean Dog. I'll say!

These are pictures from a night when we all just randomly started
making funny faces at each other during dinner.
I'm not sure how much food we actually ate.

As Ethan was learning to crawl, one of my favorite things he would do is strike
random "yoga" poses and just hold them. Gotta admire his strength!

These pictures bring a smile to my face every time I see them. I love random, silly moments of
life. They help bring perspective to the more stressful side of life!

Summer Favorites: Faces

There were so many things I wanted to blog about this summer and somehow it never happened. So I wanted to take the next few posts to share my favorite pictures from the past few months.

A rare close-up of the man who leads us along.

Hard at work, black knee highs and all!

Sweet little face peeking out.

Pure joy.

Really Mom? Could you lay off the photo shoots?

This was an outfit Lucas proudly picked out for himself one morning. I'm not sure what I like more, the tie or the shirt tucked into his shorts.

Oh, I could melt into those sweet baby blues.

Double sweetness.

Projects from the Summer

(Please pardon Blogger's weird spacing of my photos and such...not sure what's going on.)

This summer has been full of projects for friends and family who were having babies.  I made three nursing covers...

This is the cover I made for my SIL, Katie:












The green one I ended up keeping for myself:

Here is my favorite one.

 My SIL, Katie, hired me to make a cover for one of her friends.  She wanted something neutral so I chose linen with a few of my favorite neutral quilting fabrics.

























These are my replication of some fabulous burp cloths my sister, Katie made for me when Ethan was born.  I have loved them so much I asked her if I could make a few to give as gifts.  If you are looking for a great gift to give at a baby shower you should check out Katie's burp cloth sets.  They are incredibly soft!

 

My favorites.  I love a fancy embellishment.

And these fabric cubes take the cake.  Katie (my SIL) hired me to make these also.  I was so pleased with how they turned out.  I love the fabric color combination.  I hope the momma and baby who received these loved them too!
Thanks to my family, I also had the opportunity and blessing to make jam and can peaches, salsa and tomatoes. I was also able to put some corn in the freezer for the coming winter. It's a lot of work, but there is so much satisfaction that comes along with it, especially when you can taste summer in the middle of winter :)

(Just love the color of these peaches and jam)

So, that sums up most of my craftiness this summer.  This winter I REALLY want to focus on quilts for the kids rooms.  I've been talking about it and thinking about since I was pregnant with Lucas.  Think it's time I did something about it?  I hope I have some progress to share before the year is out.