Welcome Megan!

I would proudly like to introduce you to my new little niece, Megan Alexa. She is the daughter of my brother/sister-in-law, Brian and Allison, and sister of Jillian. Megan was born Friday night at 8:01 pm and weighed 7 lbs. 9 oz. and is 20 1/2 in. long. We are so glad that God has expanded their family and wish many wonderful blessings on them. I am so agitated that I am not there able to physically see and hold her. I don't know when I will get to meet her in person. But for now, pictures will have to do! Isn't she a cutie?

Hmm.... ya never know!

* UPDATE: Charlotte Moonlight was released and replaced. Charlotte Moonlight II has spun her web and is doing just fine!

Well, we are no longer owners of a pet grasshopper. While cleaning out his jar the other night, Nathan was holding Flippyand Flippy obviously was not happy. He bit Nathan 3 times! Yes, bit! Who knew grasshoppers would bite? I guess if you aren't happy and you have a mouth that's what you do, as a grasshopper. Any way, Nathan was in tears and screaming, "OUCH, OH IT HURTS!" I can't believe he didn't open his hands and let him go right there. Nope, he hung on! He decided to keep Flippy one more night. Maybe it was punishment, I don't know. So last night, Flippy was released from his jar and off to find a new home. In the grass that is!

Okay, so about Flippy's friend, the spider, he never knew about... (By the way, I mentioned to Nathan that we could feed Flippy to the class spider after he bit him. No, he still didn't cave!) The class spider was named Charlotte Moonlight. That is what the class voted on. Well, she still hasn't spun her web, therefore she hasn't eaten. So, if she doesn't spin it tonight, Charlotte Moonlight will be released tomorrow. Who knows... maybe Flippy and Charlotte Moonlight will meet in the wild after all! We will never know!

Flippy and Friend

Nathan has captured a grasshopper and has claimed it's his! It is his new pet! This is one I can handle..... living in the garage. Meet Flippy, our pet grasshopper. Nathan is very proud of Flippy and even took him to school on Friday. Mrs. Wellhousen let him keep it on his desk all day. The class really thought it was cool. He's a very quite pet, that's for sure!

Flippy has a "friend" that he just hasn't met. If Nathan has anything to do with it, they won't! Mrs. Wellhousen, Nathan's teacher, asked the kids to be on the lookout for a garden spider to bring in for the class pet. Some friends of ours, just so happened to have one in their yard. One that looked just like Mrs. Wellhousen was wanting. So, yesterday after church, we captured it. Well, I captured it, eh hem... yes, me!! I can hardly believe it. The things we do for love!!! Anyway, back to the story... we took the spider to his teacher yesterday and help her set up its habitat. The poor spider took a swim while we were trying to get her out of the container and onto her sticks. She accidentally fell in the mote of water. We are hoping she is okay. She is quite a sight. The spider will have a name, the class will vote on one. Nathan chose to call her "Ditto." The class will learn about the life cycle and stuff and have to catch bugs to feed her. One thing Nathan is very adamant about.... he will not be feeding the spider his grasshopper and he won't watch her eat any other grasshoppers. He doesn't even like to think about it! We'll keep you posted. Pray she spins her web soon. If not, they will release her and look for another spider.

Comfy

Doesn't this look comfortable!? Jason checked on Ryan while he was napping and this is how he found him. He has fallen out of his bed a couple of times, but nothing major. Sleeping like this, I can understand how he might fall. I think it's time to entertain the idea of getting a guard rail!

Fireproof

I removed the trailer. Click here to see it and learn more. http://www.fireproofthemovie.com/

You may have already heard about this movie. I don't know about you, but I can't wait to see it. It's from the same people that produced Facing the Giants. I love that movie and this one looks just as fabulous. We have a date set for opening weekend. Movies like this need to be promoted more, don't you think?! Looks like it will be powerful. (When you are done viewing it... you can pause it. Otherwise it will keep playing.)

Birthday Girl!

I had a great birthday, Saturday. It's been so busy around here that I haven't had time to post. Thank you for all the cards, calls and e-mails on my birthday! Saturday morning I got to spend the morning shopping.... by myself! It was great! That evening, we all got ready and headed out to dinner. Jason had made reservations for one of my favorite places.... Maggiano's. We had a wonderful dinner and the boys were so well behaved. After dinner, we took a carriage ride through downtown. I've wanted to do that since we moved here. It was so fun. The boys were grinning from ear to ear. I'll try to post the pictures soon.

Funny thing.... I don't feel any older! Whew!

Small blessings

Today is my last day of being 34. I've been so busy the past week, that I haven't had much time to dwell on it. I think I am handling it a little bit better. Today I had the pleasure of spending an hour and a half at the DMV for my license renewal.... what a birthday gift. Ryan and I waited and played and talked.... we had a good time. The picture didn't turn out too bad.... I actually think I look a little younger in this picture than the one I had made 5 years ago. That's a blessing, huh? Thank you, Lord!

One of those days!

Have you ever had one of those days that just don't seem to go as planned? It's been a crazy and stressful week. I stayed up last night getting things ready for today and making my list of things to do. Well, I should have just gone to bed and gotten more sleep! My day started out fine. I had high hopes of getting up to Nathan's school early to work on some of my PTO stuff. I made it to the school, but later than I anticipated. I ended up staying later than I planned. I saw that a friend needed some help, so I stayed to help. I was getting hungry and I wanted to get home for lunch and get on with the rest of my day! Just as I was getting ready to leave the office, the school was put on lockdown! Those words are enough to make a mom panic! I did okay, for the first second. Ryan and I were put in the "vault" room -- where all the files are. I realized the door couldn't lock from the inside and I started to panic some more. I didn't know what was going on. I cracked the door opened and told the secretary we were heading to the bathroom and I was locking the door. I told her I would not open the door unless whoever was at the door knew my name and I knew them! I immediately started praying for Nathan and all of us at the school. I then pulled out my cell phone to call Jason, but I had no cell service! Great, huh!? So I panicked a little bit more. After about 10 mins. or so the secretary came to the door, so I let her in! She said that Ryan and I could go back to the vault room.... at least there was a T.V. in there. So, off we went. That's when I was informed that the school was okay, but we were still on lockdown. There was a bank robbery in the area and so all area schools were put on lockdown. I had just a bit of cell service long enough to call Jason and let him know where I was! Ryan and I camped out in the vault room at the school for an hour and a half watching t.v. I was starving and Ryan was a happy little camper. I laid down and was going to take a nap to get my mind off the hunger. Before I drifted off to sleep, we were released! Whew! I was outta there! Not how I planned to spend my day, what about you? Never a dull moment!

He's a Big Boy!

Saturday Jason took the side off Ryan's crib and made it a "toddler bed." Ryan has just recently learned to lay in one direction while he's sleeping, so we thought it was "time." We've been talking it up and he's been really excited. It's bittersweet for me... but it's not about me. Saturday afternoon when he took his nap, he did GREAT! Didn't get out of bed once, didn't fall out of bed, but most importantly took a nap! He's done great since. Saturday night at bedtime, he did ask if he could stick his hand out of the big opening. I told him that was fine, but he couldn't get out of his bed. He is so excited to be a Big Boy!

Good bye crib!

Hello toddler bed!

Here's the Big Boy!

First Day of Second Grade!

Nathan the 2nd grader!

It's official, school has begun! Today was Nathan's first day in 2nd grade. He has been so excited to get back to school. He has another wonderful teacher this year. We are so blessed. Jason prayed with Nathan this morning before he left for work. Later at breakfast I prayed for him and his teacher, classmates, etc. I couldn't quite hold it all together emotionally. That's okay, God heard me. I am so very thankful for the teacher God has chosen for Nathan. We had a fabulous 1st grade year and this will be a great one too. As I was driving Nathan to school this morning I said, "Hey Nathan, this is going to be an awesome school year!" "How do you know, Mommy?" he asked. "Because I just do, besides I've been praying about it." He replies, "Yes, it's going to be the best year ever!" I asked, "Oh, yeah? How do you know?" He said, "Well, I just do!" I am so glad he loves school! He just doesn't always seem to like the work! It's still all about the friends! I've prayed about that too! Here is a glimpse inside our morning as he started 2nd grade!

Meet Mrs. Wellhousen

Friends

Back to work!

Cute little thing

Last night as we were putting the boys to bed we were playing and reading books. All of a sudden, Ryan stops and says, "Oh no, mommy! I have a finger tail!" "A what?" we asked. He replied again, "A finger tail." Jason looked at his finger and said, "Oh! You mean a hang nail?" Ryan says, "Oh, yeah, I mean a hand nail!" He'll get it someday! He keeps us laughing.... that cute little thing!

Time is ticking.....

Well, I know it is inevitable. There's not anything I can do about it. I'm just not liking it one bit!! I don't know why I am feeling this way, but these feelings hit me a few weeks ago. I mean, I knew it was coming, just like every year, but this one is different. Different how? I can't explain it. I am just not looking forward to it. What am I talking about? Oh.... my birthday. Not just any birthday, but the 3-5! That's not old, right? Why do I keep telling myself it is? I don't feel 35, not that I know what 35 feels like. For some reason, I am just having trouble accepting this one. Don't worry.... I'm not going to do anything crazy. No new sports car, no tatoos, body piercings, etc. I have less than 2 weeks to enjoy being 34. If only I could turn back the clock.

Bookworms

Nathan is a really great reader. Sometimes I have to coax him to read, other times he does it on his own. Last night we took him to Barnes & Noble to get a free book he'd earned. He picked out his free book, plus we got him 3 others that were on sale. We got in the car to drive home..... and in the 20 mins. it took to get home... he announced.... "I finished!" He read the enitre chapter book in the car on the way home. We are so proud of him and are thrilled that he likes to read.

Wednesday he had a friend come over to play for most of the day. Austin is a great reader too! After lots of playing .... I decided that they needed some down time. So, I made a pallet on the floor, gave them blankets and pillows. I told them to grab their books and find a spot to read for 30 mins. They looked so cute. I just had to take a few pictures.

Fun at the Lake

Last weekend we packed up the van and headed to the lake to see Jason's Dad. We had a nice 2 hr. drive down and the boys didn't even watch a movie!! They didn't even ask until about 15 mins. before we got there. We played board games that night and stayed up WAY too late talking. Ryan was up until after midnight. We DID put the kids to bed, but Ryan decided he'd rather stay awake. Afterall, he wasn't caged in his bed, he was on an air mattress with his brother and his 2 cousins were nearby. They along with Jason's sister, Ashlee, stayed in the family room. Just as the sun started to peak thru the clouds, they were UP!! If Nathan sees ANY light at all..... then it is time to get up! Ashlee, tried to convince them that they needed to go back to bed because we were going to have a big day ahead. HAHAHA!!! They wanted none of that nonsense! Thanks for trying, Ash! Grandad got up soon after and began working on breakfast for the kiddos. He was so excited to be able to make his pancakes for them.... happy face pancakes. They had so much fun! Later on we went to the marina and got geared up to get out on the lake. Grandad drove the boat and Jason rode the Sea Doo! The rain chased us in, but we went back to the lake house and played/rested. Jason's sister and kids left Saturday afternoon. Sunday we woke up to rain, but it stopped shortly. Even though it was cloudy we decided to get back out on the water. So Jason and I each drove a Sea Doo. Nathan rode with Jason and Ryan rode with me. Ryan was grinning from ear to ear and giggling all along the way. Only, he didn't like it when the water got rough and the Sea Doo bounced. He'd say, "Mommy, Stop it! Don't do that!" I tried to tell him that I couldn't control the water, just our speed. Our Sea Doo was ultra fast.... it could go 70 mph. Don't worry.... I didn't go that fast with him on there! What a blast we had! The boys loved Grandad's dog, Tootsie. Ryan especially took to Tootsie. He would have taken her home with us in an instant. Take a look at the pictures! We can't wait to go back in Sept. and do it all again. Thanks Grandad and Norma for such a wonderful relaxing weekend.

Did you know Jason played in a polka band once?

Just kidding.... this is art on the wall at the lakehouse.
He just had to give it a try.

Breakfast at Grandad's

Headin' Out

Wind blown!

Aunt Ashlee, Jessica and Jacob

Ryan loved it!

Our little fish

A pretty waterfall

Giggles

Our littlest fish

Ryan and Norma

In the boat cabin

"Keeping Tootsie warm"

1930's wife

Ok, so I wasn't even close to being around in the 1930's, but I do pay attention! I thought back to how my Grandmother probably was back then as a wife/mother and imagined what life was like. I also recalled the good 'ol show..... Leave it to Beaver.... you know that wholesome, decent, black and white T.V. show. I loved that show.... I don't know why, but I did. Now, I do strive to be a good wife and a Proverbs 31 woman..... but sometimes it can be SO exhausting! Ok, a lot of times! Anyway.... I know times have changed, but not always for the better. I took this little quiz I found from another blog and had to check it out. I shocked myself! I scored a 102!!! So, I guess I have no excuses, huh honey (Jason)? I have such a wonderful husband who doesn't expect all that, but I know he surely doesn't mind! OH, the pressure!! I knew I shouldn't have taken that test! Anyway.... it was interesting. Take the quiz for yourself and let me know how you fare. Oh, and guys... you aren't off the hook.... there's a test for you too! heeheehee

102 As a 1930s wife, I am Very Superior Take the test!