When I went to MI in November, I snapped a pic a pic that my dad had on the wall. I am guessing it was taken when I was a little over 2 years old. So, I found some pics of Jordan--One is 2yr,7mo and one is 2yr,9mo. What do you think... Is she my look-alike?
Stacy, circa 2 years 4 months.So, I have some serious catching up to do, again. Nothing new there. But for now let me share this photo-opportunity with you.
Last week I made a home-made meal for the fam. Ham, potatoes, green beans...nothing too un-ordinary. And most days, she likes green beans, mind you. This day...not so much. Too bad you can't hear the obnoxious crying that went with each of the 5 torturous bites I made her take. Maybe I should have named this particular post "Should-I-feel-guilty-for-laughing-and-taking-a-picture-while-I-torture-my-child-Friday"
Swimming...they stayed in the pool almost 2 hours!
Jordan didn't wake up as well...the late night got to her! 
We got to see one of the dive shows in the skark tank. It was pretty cool... There were 2 divers, and the sharks just kept swimming all around them. Here's a pretty good pic of 2 sharks at once.
Jordan cheesin'...
Lawson has been writing his name for a while. This pic is from a couple months ago. Just wanted to post for all to see. We are working on writing on straight lines!! And not turning "E's" into ladders! For the longest time, he had no interest in learning how to write much of anything...it was very frustrating! He also didn't have much interest in coloring or drawing... Lately, though, he can't get enough. He is always asking how to spell words so he can write them, and practicing. His favorite thing to use is dry erase boards and makers. I never pushed him when he didn't want to do it, but now that he is all about it, I'm all about helping him! He is getting better and better at writing all of his letters, and I'm so proud of him!
September 30,2009Earlier this year the kids and I went to Oklahoma to visit with Jon's parents. Jon's mom passed down some of Jon's old toys from when he was a kid. I came home and promptly tucked the toys high up in the top of Lawson's closet, because for I think that the combined 'piece' total of the toys was equal to 4 million. Give or take a few. :)
They have stayed up in the closet for nearly a whole year. I just never found a time when I thought we should bring something new into the mix. A couple weeks ago, we were at a thrift store browsing around and Jon found a briefcase-looking sort of set of Construx, some building toys he had. I brought home his entire collection of Construx (which he has informed me several times that they are the best building toys ever...and they are no longer made... Anyways...he snatched them up and when we got home Jon and the kids spent hours building and constructing. I sat there watching. This sort of toy is my own personal idea of awful, awful torture. That's what daddies are for, I guess. Here is a picture of the first spaceship/plane/thingy that Jon and Lawson built together...
Here is the other 'blast from the past' that my kids experienced a few weeks ago:
Seriously....who doesn't love some Lite-Brite? And this isn't the fancy new recent edition, either. No, sir-eeeeee!! Need proof?
1978, baby. There it is! The toy in our house that's older than both of the parents in the house!
That giraffe is wearing his 'party pants', I guess! Ha!
One beautiful sunny day in September I took the kids airplane watching. This is one of our favorite things to do, and I found a new great place to sit--the airplanes fly directly over us as they approach the runway. It is so exciting to look straight up and see the belly of a plane, large or small, right above you!
We took a picnic to eat. Lawson and Jordan brought their snakes and some pretend food to feed them too. He's taking a piece of lettuce out of his Rescue Pack (aka plain old backpack. But Diego doesn't have a plain old backpack, so Lawson shouldn't either, right?) :)
Before I got Jordan's seat out of the van I walked over and she had hopped in my seat. I jokingly told her, "Girl, get up out of my seat!" She looked up and told me, "It's okay Mommy. I was just sittin' in your seat for a few whiles." I loved that! She has said that a few times now, and I think it's so cute--I say 'a little while,' and she says 'a few whiles.'
One Sunday morning I was in the process of picking out the kids' clothes for church. Jon came downstairs dressed in a shirt and a tie, and Lawson immediately told me he wanted to be dressed just like Daddy. I was so glad that we had just gotten a white shirt, and that we had a tie for him to wear. He even wanted to be sure he had his belt on because Daddy did. He was SO proud.
Jon is a great daddy, and I would be delighted if Lawson never stopped trying to be like his Daddy. Because his he has a Daddy who is trying to be like our Father.
Lately we have been talking about caffeine, mostly because the kids have been trying to drink cokes that we don't usually let them get and of course they want to know why they can't have Mountain Dew or Coke at 6:30pm. So we tell them it's because of the caffeine and they can choose something that doesn't have any.
The other day I was trying to get dinner ready, but I looked over and noticed that they were playing in the floor of the dining room. I paused for a minute to listen and realized they were playing "Drive-Thru." The picture above is Lawson's turn to work in drive-thru and Jordan's turn to order, but when it was Lawson's turn to order this is what I heard...
"Uh, yes, Hi. I'll have a Mountain Dew. With Caffeine. I needOh. My. Goodness.
a Mountain Dew and please make sure it has plenty of caffeine."
You know what happens in September?? We always have to renew tags!!!
I always wait til the end of the month.
And I always go to a grocery store satellite location instead of the courthouse.
And I always stand in a line. A ridiculously long line.
I don't always come prepared. But this year I did!
Sonic and crayons and paper.
And I got to talk to a lady from church who was in line in front of me. I had never met her before, but have seen her several times since.
And it was great.
The end.
Everyone does it differently, but in every house there is a right way. One right way. Isn't there? In our house it's
1. Fold in half long-ways.I remember folding towels as a child--my brother and I used to do it together. We'd clear off the coffee table then make up an assembly line. One of us would make the first couple folds, then pass it on for the other to make the last two and stack it up. Even now, towels are my favorite laundry to fold. Something about the consistency. The pattern. How they all turn out the same and make a nice neat pile. I'm weird, I know.
2. Fold the freshly folded fold over to the 'collection of corners' at the end.
3. Fold the remaining long rectangle twice (so, into thirds).
4. Stack in the same direction and place in closet so that only folded edges can be seen.
Can you tell which ones he did? :)
On September 4 the kids and I went to Steele Orchard in Cullman, AL with our preschool group. It was a beautiful day and a nice orchard. The kids loved tasting all the different varieties of apples, walking through the orchard, picking apples, learning how they clean and classify them, and of course, clibming in the big apple tree!
Wow. It has been almost 8 weeks since I last posted. I really can hardly believe it, but I have been thinking a lot about it. Several weeks ago tragedy struck close to home, and those of us who knew him lost a great friend. It seemed to me that it was really rather debilitating for so many of us. The loss of our friend, coupled with the pain of his family and all those he left behind, has been so sorrowful.
For weeks, anytime something that I would normally post about happened, I would feel a little bit guilty. I thought, "In such a painful time, how can I delight in such trivial things? How can I spend time enjoying each little snippet of life, when people I love are in so much pain?" I just couldn't bring myself to post about my daily joys for fear that the sorrow couldn't excuse them.
In this time of reflection and rest, though, I believe I have come full circle in my thoughts. I am sure that the daily joys are what we should treasure and hold most dear. On a larger scale, both great celebration and painful tragedy visit from time to time. But the little things that happen each day are my true treasures. They are what fill my heart. How can I not delight in these things and give thanks for the abundance of blessing that has fallen on me?
In life we have both sorrow and joy, but in both sorrow and joy we find the Lord. I will go to him for the strength I need in my trials, and I will praise him for the joy that he brings.
Just a night at the park...I packed a picnic and Jon met us there after he left work. I am amazed at how much more the kids can do by themselves with each passing season! We had a lot of fun--and as always, their favorite thing is the swing! They were going very fast, very high, and I don't have a great camera--but I still got a couple good ones showing the smiles that were beaming on their faces!
Summer 2009
One day in July, we met up with some friends to have lunch at one of our favorite local spots. The kids played, and the adults talked, then we ate lunch. After our friends left, the kids and I went for a short hike...I love how much the love to do stuff like this!
Last year they did great at climbing the rocks with a little bit of help, but this year they did it on their own and fearlessly! I was amazed!
Lawson was a brave dare-devil...and so proud of himself!
And Jordan was right there behind him!
Fun times!!
Those of you who know Jon know that he typically keeps his hair in a pretty close cut. I like his hair short. He usually respects that. That arrangement usually works out well for us.
That having been said, this is a story about this summer.
Jon and I do a good bit of stuff with the youth group at church. I think one of the reasons Jon likes hanging out because it helps him feel like he's still that young. So...at the beginning of the summer, some of his 'boys' decided to go all summer without a haircut or a shave. Jon, being the cool adult he is, decided he should do that too.
When he told me about this preposterous plan, I figured it would be short-lived and didn't pay much attention. A few weeks later, I was beginning to get worried though, because we were about to leave for our trip to Honduras. I thought, "For sure he won't go down there without a trim..." You see, Jon's hair doesn't lay down like normal hair. It grows straight out. That means the longer he lets it grow, the bigger his head gets. And his head isn't one of the 'smaller models' to start with! ;)
Well, he didn't cut it for Honduras, so this is what he looked like down there...
And even though a couple of the boys in the 'deal' had backed down and cut their hair (their mommas made them...but wives don't count, I guess!) Jon's hair just kept growing....
When we decided to head to Michigan, I again thought for sure he would cut his hair. Why not? The people up there only see him once every year-at most. Why not trim up? But nope...just kept growing...
Thank goodness for a new job...because that's what finally made him decide the craziness needed to come to a stop! One Sunday night we put the kids to bed, then he got out his clippers. This is the pre-cut picture. In.Sane.
This is at 'hair-cut half-time'...
Ah....how refreshing!! There's my old Juan!
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