Come February 21st James and I will be married for 10 years. I can hardly believe it. Even more I can't believe the great and the stupid things that we have done in 10 years. Great - buying a house so early on. Not great - trying to move to Seattle. Great - having 2 terrific boys. Not great - buying 2 houses in NY. Through it all God's grace has been on our lives. Though we have had our sets of challenges, as everyone does, our commitment to each other has only grown stronger. For that I are grateful!
In accepting this new chapter in our journey that has taken us half way across the country we had agreed to give up a couple of dreams. The biggest one was we had always planned on taking a cruise for our 10 year anniversary. We figured that we wouldn't have the money to pay for it and we certainly wouldn't have the babysitting to cover it. Well again thanks to God's grace a "job" of sorts has landed in my lap (watching a friends children while she teaches, giving me school holidays off) and we have been introduced to some fantastic babysitters. So with some of our new found extra income and while employing some of our new babysitters we will indeed be taking our first cruise for our 10 year anniversary.
We will be leaving on Valentines day and driving down to Galveston where we will cruise to Cozumel. So we are thrilled that God has afforded us the opportunity to meet this definite "want" that we've had. I'll be sure to take pictures and post them when we get back.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Monday, January 14, 2008
Laughter makes a great ab workout....
and after the stretch marks my boys gave me laughter is the least they could do.
Lately my kids (Jonathan in particular this time) have been tickling my funny bone. I know that everyone thinks there kids are so funny. Well I'm one of THOSE parents. Here are some examples lately... this will all mean more of coarse if you know my boys to begin with. This is a few of the things I have observed in the last 24 hours.
This first one isn't so much ha ha funny as it is a cleaver thing to try.
Ode to a spanking
So Jonathan had been having a rough day. He finally took it too far and was informed that he would be getting a spanking. Now he doesn't get them very often since he knows how to dance around the line with grace without crossing it. He is also a very sensitive boy and unlike his brother Ian who doesn't really care if he gets a spanking, Jonathan very much cares if he gets one. So in his attempts to get out of it he pleads with Daddy, "daddy I didn't deserve that! I didn't deserve to get this spanking" Then as a last ditch effort he brings in the big guns " I'll throw up if you spank me!" Now if you know Jonathan you know that he isn't saying this in a threatening manner he is saying with sincere concern that he is going to blow chunks or at lease that is what he wants you to think. At this point James and I can't help but laugh but the spanking proceeds as planned and thankfully no spew came forth.
Handy
Every time we get in the car now that the boys are both in booster seats Jonathan promptly buckles up and Ian screams while he gets frustrated (while not really trying) aimlessly hitting the buckle with the seatbelt. Sometimes he gets it when he finally settles down and occasionally Jonathan will help a brother out. Well tonight was just such a night. So in an effort to encourage his helpfulness we tell him that he is doing a great job helping his brother and we really appreciate it. To this he responds without pause in a prideful manner "Yeah, I come in handy" i
Cannibals and Ketchup.
Sometimes with kids you just pause and think... I can't believe this conversation is really happening. This combination of topics should really never ever happen. So tonight we were on the way home from getting the boys hair cut after an unsuccessful attempt to get them to try tilapia (which jonathan did an impressive gag on). We had just walked out of a grocery store where we refuted several attempts to get food with " sorry you didn't eat your dinner" ~side note... we are not a clean your plate family but we are a "you need to eat the 2 tablespoons of the new food we offered" end side note~ We get to the car and
Jonathan asks " can I have ketchup"
to which I respond "by itself?"
Jonathan - Yeah
Mommy - No you didn't eat your dinner and ... Yuck.
Ian - you can have people with your ketchup (he is always saying silly things that don't make sense so this was no surprise)
Jonathan - You can't eat people (to which jonathan always responds in all seriousness)
Ian - Yes you can
Jonathan - no you cant ( you can see where this is going)
Finally Jonathan - Mommy can you eat people?
Mommy (carefully). - No WE don't eat people
Jonathan - Well that is good cause if we ate people then we would all be eating each other... then all that would be left is one big fat guy.
So there you have it funny or not, this is what we laugh at.
Sarah
Lately my kids (Jonathan in particular this time) have been tickling my funny bone. I know that everyone thinks there kids are so funny. Well I'm one of THOSE parents. Here are some examples lately... this will all mean more of coarse if you know my boys to begin with. This is a few of the things I have observed in the last 24 hours.
This first one isn't so much ha ha funny as it is a cleaver thing to try.
Ode to a spanking
So Jonathan had been having a rough day. He finally took it too far and was informed that he would be getting a spanking. Now he doesn't get them very often since he knows how to dance around the line with grace without crossing it. He is also a very sensitive boy and unlike his brother Ian who doesn't really care if he gets a spanking, Jonathan very much cares if he gets one. So in his attempts to get out of it he pleads with Daddy, "daddy I didn't deserve that! I didn't deserve to get this spanking" Then as a last ditch effort he brings in the big guns " I'll throw up if you spank me!" Now if you know Jonathan you know that he isn't saying this in a threatening manner he is saying with sincere concern that he is going to blow chunks or at lease that is what he wants you to think. At this point James and I can't help but laugh but the spanking proceeds as planned and thankfully no spew came forth.
Handy
Every time we get in the car now that the boys are both in booster seats Jonathan promptly buckles up and Ian screams while he gets frustrated (while not really trying) aimlessly hitting the buckle with the seatbelt. Sometimes he gets it when he finally settles down and occasionally Jonathan will help a brother out. Well tonight was just such a night. So in an effort to encourage his helpfulness we tell him that he is doing a great job helping his brother and we really appreciate it. To this he responds without pause in a prideful manner "Yeah, I come in handy" i
Cannibals and Ketchup.
Sometimes with kids you just pause and think... I can't believe this conversation is really happening. This combination of topics should really never ever happen. So tonight we were on the way home from getting the boys hair cut after an unsuccessful attempt to get them to try tilapia (which jonathan did an impressive gag on). We had just walked out of a grocery store where we refuted several attempts to get food with " sorry you didn't eat your dinner" ~side note... we are not a clean your plate family but we are a "you need to eat the 2 tablespoons of the new food we offered" end side note~ We get to the car and
Jonathan asks " can I have ketchup"
to which I respond "by itself?"
Jonathan - Yeah
Mommy - No you didn't eat your dinner and ... Yuck.
Ian - you can have people with your ketchup (he is always saying silly things that don't make sense so this was no surprise)
Jonathan - You can't eat people (to which jonathan always responds in all seriousness)
Ian - Yes you can
Jonathan - no you cant ( you can see where this is going)
Finally Jonathan - Mommy can you eat people?
Mommy (carefully). - No WE don't eat people
Jonathan - Well that is good cause if we ate people then we would all be eating each other... then all that would be left is one big fat guy.
So there you have it funny or not, this is what we laugh at.
Sarah
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Christmas
Christmas eve 8pm leave service at church to start our drive.
10pm van acts up and we pull over (waited several minutes , restart, ok)
12am still driving.
2am, driving some more,
4 am driving bleary eyed
6am sun starting to come up... helps driving
8am and still driving
10 am are we EVER going to get there
12 pm getting closer
1pm arrive at papa and grammy's house for Christmas day
(SO NOT WORTH DRIVING ALL NIGHT)
In hind sight the 3-4 days of recuperation that were required after the drive were not worth getting there on Christmas day. Next time we will either fly or take 2 days to drive.
We stayed for about 6 days then took 2 days to drive back. That was much much better. I will post pictures sometime soon.
10pm van acts up and we pull over (waited several minutes , restart, ok)
12am still driving.
2am, driving some more,
4 am driving bleary eyed
6am sun starting to come up... helps driving
8am and still driving
10 am are we EVER going to get there
12 pm getting closer
1pm arrive at papa and grammy's house for Christmas day
(SO NOT WORTH DRIVING ALL NIGHT)
In hind sight the 3-4 days of recuperation that were required after the drive were not worth getting there on Christmas day. Next time we will either fly or take 2 days to drive.
We stayed for about 6 days then took 2 days to drive back. That was much much better. I will post pictures sometime soon.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Our new favorite park.
As I was driving around neighborhoods I ran across a terrific little park that I just had to share pictures of. It was rainy the day we had time to drive by so we just got out for a few minutes. It's sunny today but I have way to many kids to go there. Perhaps later this week. As I look at the pictures they don't really do it justice, I'll have to take some more pictures next time we go!
Sunday, December 16, 2007
My boys...
Sometimes a child will say something that just strikes you funny in the moment. Or, sometimes it is something sweet or profound. I'm writing these down almost more for me to remember them than to share.
After paying $12 to go to a really fun indoor play place Jonathan says "That was really fun! And it didn't even cost a dime!"
Ian "I want Jonathan to sleep on the floor with me so we can have connotations" I say "you mean conversations" he says "yes commentations"
Some of our dialog last night at Taco Bell -
Jonathan starts to mention that he misses some of his friends from Washington. So we start talking about a few of them. Then he starts talking about his new friends here. Then I mention that there is a slight possibility that one of his friends from Washington might move south somewhere near us (is that vague enough for a blog... I have him more info than that). Then Ian gets so excited he almost falls out of his chair and says oh we need to pray! This is the boy that for the LONGEST time we could not get to pray at bedtime for anything! So he doesn't start until every hand that is currently holding a burrito is holding the hand of the person next to them. So here we find ourselves in taco bell on the high table with Ian praying that this certain friend and family will move to Texas! Nothing makes a heart swell more than seeing there children seek God on there own. This leads me to our next moment.
Jonathan- "Jesus picked a great place for us to live" (referring to Texas) Then Ian says "yes lets pray that we don't have to go back to Washington... we don't belong there" Oh yeah that is what my 4 year old said, funny thing is that we have never said that about Washington... that was all him.
Lately having conversations with them has been more fun than with adults. There are just a kick!
After paying $12 to go to a really fun indoor play place Jonathan says "That was really fun! And it didn't even cost a dime!"
Ian "I want Jonathan to sleep on the floor with me so we can have connotations" I say "you mean conversations" he says "yes commentations"
Some of our dialog last night at Taco Bell -
Jonathan starts to mention that he misses some of his friends from Washington. So we start talking about a few of them. Then he starts talking about his new friends here. Then I mention that there is a slight possibility that one of his friends from Washington might move south somewhere near us (is that vague enough for a blog... I have him more info than that). Then Ian gets so excited he almost falls out of his chair and says oh we need to pray! This is the boy that for the LONGEST time we could not get to pray at bedtime for anything! So he doesn't start until every hand that is currently holding a burrito is holding the hand of the person next to them. So here we find ourselves in taco bell on the high table with Ian praying that this certain friend and family will move to Texas! Nothing makes a heart swell more than seeing there children seek God on there own. This leads me to our next moment.
Jonathan- "Jesus picked a great place for us to live" (referring to Texas) Then Ian says "yes lets pray that we don't have to go back to Washington... we don't belong there" Oh yeah that is what my 4 year old said, funny thing is that we have never said that about Washington... that was all him.
Lately having conversations with them has been more fun than with adults. There are just a kick!
Friday, December 14, 2007
Little reflections.
Children are but little reflections of there parents running around being the "at home" version of us in public.
So it never seems to really sink in that my children hear everything I say until I hear them say it. There are many phrases that weren't too offensive hearing adults say but when you hear it come out of a childs mouth you realize how vulgar it really is. Ok so vulgar is a bit strong for anything that would be said in our house but you get the point.
Today as we shopped in a book store for Christmas gifts Ian walked by me looking at all of the eye level items in sight. He ran accross some childrens books and one of them looked a bit scary, I think it had dragons on it or something. So in true Ian fashion he began talking, and talking, and talking about it. You have to picture this with a 4 year old that has one of those very baby like voices... not speach but voice. Then he begins to describe this scary book and in all honesty I'm only halfway listening to him at this point since I'm there with a purpose and we are running out of time before we need to move on to our next stop. Then my mommy ears picked up on a word that I say quite frequently but have never heard come out of Ian's little mouth. It was "crap" that got my immediate attention. Then I quickly searched my mind to try to extrapolate what he had been saying before that so I could piece it all together. Finally after quizzing the boy It all came together. "it was so scary that all my crap came out" When just then the guy at the end of the isle who had obviously been trying to hold in a laugh let a big hoot! I have learned to embrace those moments and enjoy them rather than be embarrassed, it is so much more fun!
I ran to the next isle nearly falling over in laughter to tell James of the event. Of coarse this would be a childs rendition of "it scared the crap out of me" Funny how they inturpret things so literally. So what must they think of holy Sh** how confusing that must be (we don't say that by the way), although I used to say holy crap and then Jonathan said it a few times and that became a thing of the past. I'm rambling now so I know I'm done.
So it never seems to really sink in that my children hear everything I say until I hear them say it. There are many phrases that weren't too offensive hearing adults say but when you hear it come out of a childs mouth you realize how vulgar it really is. Ok so vulgar is a bit strong for anything that would be said in our house but you get the point.
Today as we shopped in a book store for Christmas gifts Ian walked by me looking at all of the eye level items in sight. He ran accross some childrens books and one of them looked a bit scary, I think it had dragons on it or something. So in true Ian fashion he began talking, and talking, and talking about it. You have to picture this with a 4 year old that has one of those very baby like voices... not speach but voice. Then he begins to describe this scary book and in all honesty I'm only halfway listening to him at this point since I'm there with a purpose and we are running out of time before we need to move on to our next stop. Then my mommy ears picked up on a word that I say quite frequently but have never heard come out of Ian's little mouth. It was "crap" that got my immediate attention. Then I quickly searched my mind to try to extrapolate what he had been saying before that so I could piece it all together. Finally after quizzing the boy It all came together. "it was so scary that all my crap came out" When just then the guy at the end of the isle who had obviously been trying to hold in a laugh let a big hoot! I have learned to embrace those moments and enjoy them rather than be embarrassed, it is so much more fun!
I ran to the next isle nearly falling over in laughter to tell James of the event. Of coarse this would be a childs rendition of "it scared the crap out of me" Funny how they inturpret things so literally. So what must they think of holy Sh** how confusing that must be (we don't say that by the way), although I used to say holy crap and then Jonathan said it a few times and that became a thing of the past. I'm rambling now so I know I'm done.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Freak of nature...
For those of you at the cookie exchange that manage to track down my blog this is what I was talking about. This is my pregnancy with Ian in 2003. (top picture with black tank in front of piano is in 2001 Pregnant with Jonathan 33 weeks - he was born at 35 weeks)
Left to right top #2 33 weeks #3 34 weeks, blue shirt - 38 weeks, red shirt - not sure I think around 5-6 months. Gray sweatshirt - I can't remember but it just looked really funny.
Ok that is all.
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