Bowl-a-Rama!!!

When we went Trick-or-Treating, the kids got several coupons for free bowling games in their buckets. One day in January we were feeling the need to get out of the house and Jon suggested we use the coupons to go bowling. We checked the tickets, and that particular day was the last day we could use them before they expired!!!

We quickly got ready to get out in the cold and drove over to the bowling alley! The kids had just seen a Curious George episode about bowling, so they knew what it was and were VERY excited when we told them what we were going to do!!!

There was NO ONE in the alley when we got there except the worker guy. It only cost us $6 for 3 shoe rentals--he gave us Jordan's for free. Then we went down to our lane. I got the kids cute little ugly bowling shoes on while Jon went on the hunt for the lightest balls in the building!!



They had so much fun bowling! They used the guide rail and bumpers most of the time, which my mind kept telling me was cheating, but it is so much more fun for them when they actually hit pins everytime!!! They did do a few times rolling it on their own--definitely more successful with the guide, though!

Of course, Miss Independent insisted on carrying her own ball and putting it on the rail BY HERSELF...with no help!!! On the Curious George episode, the Man in the Yellow Hat kept drying his hands over the fan. Lawson knew just what this was as soon as he saw it, so he dried his hands off after every turn!!!
Lawson was into bowling for the whole time we were there. He would take every turn we gave him! Jordan, however started to get bored with it. She busied herself with other things, though, so we let her wander around as long as we could see her. Lawson, in the meantime started doing double duty--bowling his turns and hers!!

Discovering the computer...

Taking a rest...

Then, completely on her own idea, she got out the wipes and started wiping down EVERYTHING!!! I couldn't complain--who knows when the last time this stuff got wiped down!!! :)

We really had a fun time taking the kids on their first bowling trip!! We finished the night off with cheap pizza at CiCis!!! Good memories! Here is the scoreboard after their first time to go bowling, though it's not completely accurate due to a little bit of turn-swapping!!! :)

Swingset in the Making...Part 4

Well, here it is...the last edition of Swingset in the Making!!! In this episode we will explore the art of hanging swings and enjoying the hard work!!

The kids felt the need to help out by 'tightening' the bolts...

When the kids went down for naps we hung the swings on temporary nails to test their separation from each other. When we got them where we wanted them we really hung them...then came the true test of the heavy duty swing hangers we bought on eBay--the big guy himself!!

"Is it gonna hold????" :)

"Wheeeeeee!!!!! :)"

Lawson's first time to swing on our swingset:

Shortly after this it started to rain, then Jordan had a birthday party to go to. After the party it had stopped raining, and both of the kids were dying to go out and swing for a few minutes. It was muddy and cold, but they had so much fun swinging it was totally worth it!!!

Jordan's first time on the swingset:

Night view of completed swing set:

We were concerned about it being strong. Just a couple nights later, some of the girls from the youth group came over to spend the night and went out to play. Jon looked out the window and almost had a heart attack when he saw this:

FIVE girls on the swings AT ONE TIME!!! The swingset was sturdy as can be--it didn't move an inch!!! I guess that says a little bit for its strength!

Since these pictures Jon has since shingled the roof. I wish I had a picture, but my camera broke the night the girls stayed over.

When the weather gets consistently warmer I want to stain it darker. Until then, though, we have been thoroughly enjoying having this swingset in our yard! Just this past week we have been out there numerous times!!!

I am also so excited that we spent only 1/3 of what this would have cost new and installed!!! Not to mention that it is stronger!!! We found the glider sitting in a trash pile on the side of the road with not a thing wrong with it! We got all the hangers for the swings and glider on eBay for less than it would have cost to buy just the hangers at Lowe's! We got the labor for, well, free!!! (Minus the sweat equity!!!)

Having so many posts about this swingset may have been tedious for some of you...but I just had to show off all of Jon's hard work. I have showcased some of his good work in this post, but this is the largest, highest quality piece of wood-working he has done for our family thus far!

I am so thankful that Jon's parents provided this for us! I am so thankful that Jon would spend so much time and energy building this for our family to enjoy!!! I am so thankful that summer is almost here and we will get to spend more of our day outside than in!!!

Swingset in the Making...Part 3

After the steps and the swing arm, Jon started the roof. This was the 3rd of January!! It was a cool day, but Jon got a LOT done!

It went from daytime to dark...still working:
The rest of us were cool, but Jon was sweating!! Taking a breather:

Time to roof:

Here's Jordan helping out by handing Daddy nails:

Sweet girl:

Before we go in for the night we need to clean up the mess we made today. The kids work together to carry a board around front:

By now, there's not a whole lot left to do!!!

Swingset in the Making...Part 2

After all the work in July, the swingset sat alone all through the Fall. The slide was unattached, because there was no way to get up to it. Christmas Day was beautiful outside so we played in the yard for a while. Lawson wanted to slide, so Jon lifted him up to the deck so he could have a few turns sliding. I think the beautiful weather and a few days off work ignited the fire to get this puppy done! :)
The 27th of December Jon put up the railing on the sides of the deck and started building the steps that would go up to the platform:

Then he put the saftey bar across the front, the handle, and began to attach the rope swing (off to the left):

Then he began to plan out the swing arm:

Getting closer!!! So exciting! :)

Swingset in the Making...Part 1

Last summer Jon's parents called to say they wanted to buy the kids a swingset and to start thinking about what we wanted. I started looking and thinking about what I would love to have for the kids to play on--but my dreams were dashed when I started researching prices!!! Swingsets are CRAZY expensive!!!

I started getting an idea of what I wanted: something the kids wouldn't outgrow for a while (meaning several different activities on it), and something sturdy (because Jon and I aren't petite and we would like to play with them) were the two main things. Looking at the store-bought sets I thought that they were made out of pretty thin wood, and didn't seem very sturdy to me. I asked Jon what he thought about modeling a set after a store-bought one, but then building it out of lumber. Thus started our planning.

I always draw out what I want in a "picture style" form to show how I want it to look, then Jon has to turn it into a "pattern style" form so he can actually have measurements and build from it. We are a pretty good team that way!!

In July, Jon's family came for the Fourth, and Jon and his dad started the construction site. First came a lot of laying out the plans. This picture makes me laugh, because it's before any holes were dug and anything laid out. Scratching head, thinking 'Where are we supposed to build this thing?!'
Once the plan was laid out, they rented an auger to dig the post holes. The guys working this tool may have been one of the funniest things I have ever seen--In my life!! :)
Next came setting the posts very carefully so that the whole structure would be square. Let me tell you--Jon is much better suited for this than I am--I work in way too much of a hurry to care about these details!! This slow process was very frustrating for me to watch, but I must admit that the planning is what caused such a nice end result!

Then the guys built the 2 side structures that would go into the corner posts and form the frame for the rest of the set. These things were HUGE, HEAVY, and quite a chore to move and set in place!!!
After setting the side structures, Jon's family left to go home. For a couple weeks the would-be swingset sat unattended for a few weeks. Then Jon went out to lay the deck boards to form the floor of the platform.
I couldn't believe how much measurements and planning went into this project. It took so many steps!!! This is a good stopping place for this post....since after the deck boards nothing else got done til December!!! :) Coming next: part 2!!!

Photo Shoot

Good Morning!!! I have been at a loss lately with blogging...I think my broken camera has shut my "topic flow" down!! :) I have a couple ideas swishing around that were from last month still, so I'll try to get some stuff up...

Last month I took the kids up to Green Mountain to try to get a few cute pictures of them. I am not one to run and get pictures made at every milestone, but I thought I would love to have a nice picture of them at ages 2 and 4.

I took LOTS of pictures...but I got a few that I'm really happy with... I thought I'd share a few with you. (FYI...Jordan was being stingy with her smiles. Some of hers are pretty fake! :)

Scratch that

Scratch "Fun Girls' Weekend Away to celebrate turning 30."

Replace with "Get the stomach bug with Lawson. Spend Thursday night sick and Friday exhausted."

O-well. Maybe we can have a Girls' weekend next year to celebrate 31! Hope everyone else has a fun Vday.

No Frills...Just letting you know I'm alive...barely!!

Every year I feel like November and December are jam-packed with near-daily activities and that we are running like mad people from here to there. I always wait for January eagerly, knowing that it will bring calming rest to our home. This year, though, it has not been the case, and now March is my new January!!! :) We have been running ragged around here and I am choosing a streamlined bulleted list to catch you up on the basics...

*January and February are the bearers of Dr. appointments, apparently! We have had or will have Lawson's well check, 3 dentist appointments, an orthopaedic appointment for me and (just found out after my ortho appt) 12 trips to a physical therapist.

*Some of the high school girls came to spend the night the Sun of MLK jr weekend. We had a lot of fun hanging out, but a sad thing happened that night--my camera died!!! I am so so so sad! It turns on and I can look at pics, but the lens won't open so I can't take any more! :(

*The kids and I made a trip to Oklahoma a couple weeks ago. I was going to drive by myself, but right before the trip Jon's mom decided to fly over to drive the trip with me then fly home. I'm glad she did--it was nice to have help on the trip and it was nice to have the adult company, too!! The kids loved playing with their cousin, Maddison, and we had a lot of fun visiting with Nana and Papa and Aunt Jenny too! Sad, though, that I couldn't take any pics! :( Overall, it was a fun trip but we were glad to get home!

*While we were gone, Jon got a lot of stuff done around the house. He worked so hard, and almost got the entire list that I had left him completed. The night before we were coming home, though, he had a catastrope with a water pipe, and ended up with a big, wet mess!!! Thanks to a day off work and a friend from church who came to help he got it all fixed just before we got home late Wednesday night!!!

*Saturday night we had pizza and a movie, and that night Jon was up all night visiting the porcelain throne!! It continued all day Sunday, and I was glad when I got home Sunday night and he was finally feeling better!!!

*Yesterday I went to a visit with an orthopaedic surgeon. In October I was jumping on the trampoline with the kids and upon one particular landing (jumping and holding Jordan too) I hyperextended my right knee and it has been in pretty much constant pain since then. Everything hurts it--sitting for periods of time, standing for periods of time, exercising, sleeping. Anyways, long story short (yeah, right, you chuckle!! :) turns out my knee caps are not sitting flat on my knee joint, and apparently haven't been for some time now. Something about when quad muscles are stronger than inner thigh muscles. The incident on the trampoline just traumatized an already vulernable area. The doc said I have arthritis behind my knee, and without treatment it will only get worse. So....I am now going to a PT 3x/wk for 4 wks and taking a prescription anti-inflammatory. After that there is an injection I can get if necessary. There are a couple other things in the line of possible treatments. Hopefully some of these preliminary routes will help and I can avoid the last option on the list, which is surgery.

*Last night Jordan woke me up crying. I went in to find out she had thrown up all over herself and her bed. I proceeded to change her 4 times and her bed 3 times during the rest of the night. This morning on the way to WalMart to pick up a prescription and some Tylenol she threw up multiple times in her carseat. As a result we are having a calm, no running around and getting hot, sit and watch movies day. If this is a "bug", this is the first time either one of my kids has had a throwing-up-stomach-bug!!! I guess I should consider myself blessed that we've made it this far!!

*The next few weekends are crazy--this Friday I am supposed to go to Memphis for a girls' weekend with some of my college roomies to celebrate all of our 30th bdays. The next weekend is Jon's birthday, and we will also be at Winterfest. The next weekend is Ladies' Retreat. The next weekend was supposed to be SH Girls' Retreat, but I am so glad it has been rescheduled!!

*I feel that I have been so scarse in the blog-world, Facebook and email lately. I feel so far behind that if I ever tried to catch up it could take a whole day!!! Sorry, I have been so non-existent in my comments--I think I have read and enjoyed everyone's blog posts, but have not taken the time to comment anywhere...Sorry! :)

SO.....that's the (I guess not-so-quick after all) rundown of what's been going on in our neck of the woods!!!!

Little Hops and Mountains

The last couple weeks have been a little bit stressful. Between planning a trip for this weekend, washing all (and I do mean all) of our laundry, trying to keep the house straight, having errands to run, a couple dr appointments, having some company, and going through the ups and downs of 30, I have felt tired and strained.

Sometimes this happens to me--I let all of my little things pile up until all my eyes see is a huge, insurmountable mountain in front of me. If I would look at each item as a single item, it would merely be a few little hops along my path, but instead I only see an Everest I can't get past. I haven't really had to face a true mountain in my life yet, I don't think.

Then I am so subtlely prescribed a fresh dose of perspective. God knows when to put encouragement in my path that causes me to wake up and just see my life as many little hops instead of a single mountain. I am also brought to realize that when I get so overwhelmed it's because my list starts to only contain the problems, and the blessings somehow get dropped out. When I put the blessings back in, they always far outnumber the pains.

Today I learned of a family that truly is facing a mountain. Through a couple blogs, I was led to and read about the King family. They welcomed 25-week quads into their lives on Dec 30. At this point 3 of the babies are doing relatively well, but their sweet son Preston is in kidney failure and is in desperate need of prayers for healing.

I know I don't have a huge following, but for those of you who check in I'm sure the King family would appreciate if you talked to the Father on behalf of their baby boy.

Splishing and Splashing

A couple months ago I decided the kids' bathroom needed something to decorate it.... Since we have no extra money--especially for decorations--I decided to make something! I decided on making a collaboration of little canvases and Mod-Podging various pictures of the kids in the bathtub at different ages... I love how they turned out!!!

The coloring in the pictures isn't quite right...If I used the flash, it whited out the pics. I also fuzzied out some particular places in case a sick, nasty person happens across this post.

The background is a mild lime green. The bubbles are 2 different blues and the pictures are black and white. I also used a fine Sharpie to write who was in the picture and the date on the bottom of each picture. The four are by the tub. The two are over the toilet.

What do you think??