Our Anniversary!

Happy 13th anniversary to us!

Chihuly

Chihuly

Mr. President?

Mannie, Moe and Curly

park time!

We celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary last weekend with a trip to Little Rock! I took the day (Monday) off from work and while the kids were at daycare/camp, we visited the Clinton Library to see the Chihuly (glassblower) art exhibit there and other displays. We had lunch and took a walk in the River Market section of town. It was great to have the whole day together--a rare treat. We didn't take a summer vacation this year because we've been saving up to buy a new vehicle, which we finally did! Our white car was in need of a new transmission among other things, and the old car wasn't worth the work. So we replaced it with a 2007 Toyota Matrix, which should give us the extra storage room we need and some more legroom for the boys in the back. It's a small, 5-door wagon-type car, but after driving around in a Honda Civic, it seems very roomy! Once the school year hits we don't have time to spend on these projects, so I glad we finished this one now. We're having a garage sale this weekend to get rid of some of the stuff we've accumulated over the last 6 years since moving here. It's tax-free weekend here in Arkansas, so we'll probably purchase the boys' school supplies this weekend and get ready for 3-yr-old preschool and 1st grade! I can't believe the boys are growing up so fast.

4th of July

We didn't go see fireworks anywhere this year since Jacob is still really afraid of loud noises. But we did set off a few poppers in the driveway, which delighted the kids. We ended up having a quiet weekend, visiting the lake for a swim, grilling in the backyard and setting up the kids' pool again when it got sticky. We visited a new restaurant in town for some ice cream. Walmart was sold out of watermelon and corn on the cob, so it seems like everyone had the same idea around here! Micah saved his money for weeks to earn enough to buy three Lego sets. He spent a good part of the weekend working on those. This summer has been so mild compared to past summers. We've been able to go to the park or for a walk on most days and enjoy extra time outside. Usually by this time we're having 100-degree weather everyday. I hope I am not jinxing it by saying this! But seriously, it makes like with too rambunctious boys a lot easier when we can go outside a couple times a day. Micah has swimming lessons on the mornings now, so he gets to enjoy the waterpark every M-Th. Hopefully he will learn to float this year and be able to move to the next level with his lessons! I hope you all had a good weekend with friends and family.

Getting ready to set off the poppers!

pop!

racing in the driveway

 

 

Fun with Grammy and Pop Pop!

So I guess it's better late than never! It's been about a month since my parents came to visit and I am just getting these photos up now. We did have a great time. We haven't taken any trips this summer yet, but Micah's visited several local sights with his summer day camp, including the alligator farm in Hot Springs. Tomorrow they are going bowling. After this week he'll be home with Dan for the rest of the summer. In true Micah style he already has plans for what he wants to do :-)

Pop Pop and Micah play Tickle Monster!

Pop Pop makes the best swing!

Grammy gives the injured boy some extra TLC.

Story time with Grammy. 

 

 

 

Happy 3rd Birthday, Jacob!

Ok, so it's taken me some time to get these photos and videos from Jacob's birthday on the blog. And it's also taking me some time to come to grips with the fact that my "baby" is not really my baby anymore :-( Of course, I'm glad that we're not still in the throes of midnight feedings and this age is so fun and filled with new things, but I do miss that sweetness that comes in the early days. Jacob had a wonderful time at his party! We were so pleased to have my parents and several friends with us for the celebration on Memorial Day, which happened to fall on his actual birthday this year.

For several weeks I had been asking Jacob what kind of party he would like. He kept telling me "Doc McStuffins!" ( a Disney show character who doctors her stuffed animals) so I did my best to make that dream come true. As you can see, our centerpiece for the table was a Stuffy doll, one of Doc's best buds on the show. We had Doc-themed cupcakes and hamburgers/hotdogs and just let the kids play. Its amazing how much fun a group of kids can have in a kiddie pool in the backyard! Too bad Micah had broken his arm during the last week of school while playing freeze tag in P. E. class. It was a simple buckle fracture, but he needed a cast. So he couldn't go into the water to join in that fun, but he was my big boy and helped the little ones enjoy their time at our house. (He is doing fine with the cast and enjoying the extra attention!) Thanks again to everyone who gifts and cards and well wishes to our sweet, party-loving boy! He is really enjoying his new playthings.

We had a great visit with my parents, and I'll hopefully get those photos to load from my phone soon so you can see that. Dan and Dad did some projects around the house, including installing a new flower bed in the front yard. For those who watch HGTV, I can tell you that it has greatly improved the "curb appeal" of our house! Dan and I got to have an overnight while my parents watched the kids and we drove to Crystal Bridges, a beautiful art museum in the northern part of the state. It was a great getaway, especially after the very busy semester we just went through.My parents were here to see Micah's last tball game (before he broke his arm) and his AWANA award ceremony (he finished his book and review!), and it's always special to get to share those moments with our family.

Dan is currently working on replacing part of the sub floor in the living room, which is hardwood. It's a tough job, but I'm glad he has the ability to do most of the work on his own, saving us time and money. Micah is going to a summer day camp at a local church for a few weeks and then he'll be home with Dan and, hopefully, taking swim lessons if  he gets the cast off. Jacob will be at his usual school this summer and will be preparing for his move to a preschool this fall since he has aged out of where he is now. He is going through so many transitions now, starting to sleep in a twin bed, (he looooves his crib!) and completing potty training. Micah is going around reading all of the signs he can find, so he's really catching on to the reading thing. I hope he continues to feel that way, especially when they hit phonics and all of that this next year. I can't believe he is a 1st grader now! I've got lots of work projects going on and its also VBS week at church, so it's not slow around here, but it is nice to have Dan at home in the evenings and weekends. We are all enjoying the family time.

End of the school year shuffle

Micah is getting his AWANA certificate for book completion!

Holding up his certificate

This little helper visited me at work!

Me and my boys on Mother's Day :-)

The boys love chalking the front stoop with Daddy after work

Micah's "rest time" creation

All that playing outside means lots of baths!

It has been a super crazy last month with school getting out, t-ball games, mother's day and everything else! But we are glad that its now summer and we've got more opportunities to spend time together. I posted some pictures of things we've been doing over the last few weeks. Grammy and Pop Pop Noden are visiting right now and we are enjoying that! Dan is working on re-landscaping the front of the house with my dad, who always wants a project to work on. Our house wouldn't be quite as cute as it is without the help from our parents who lend us a hand whenever they visit. We will be having a special birthday this Monday--Jacob is turning 3! We've invited a few friends over to celebrate with us. I'll post some pictures from that next time. In an academic town, summers are always a time of transition. The students are gone, some graduated and gone, and new ones are coming in. Professors come and go as they change jobs. Things slow down a lot since the students make up about half of the population of our town. We're in the process of saying good bye to some people we will miss and we're also hoping and looking forward to a new semester and all it will bring. But for this in-between time, we'll enjoy afternoons in the sprinkler, after-tball ice cream cones and grilling burgers with friends...all those fun casual summer things. We're grateful for the space in our lives that summer brings.

Happy Easter!

hunting for eggs

"Ooh, mom can I eat the whole thing?"

Look what the East Bunny brought!

Pics with EB at the community egg hunt

"You're my bestest bud, EB!"

on the hunt...

"1,2,3, Go A's!"

Our lil' slugger is ready for the first game

Jacob loves the playset at the sports complex

 

We are nearing the end of the semester, and I'm so glad! It's like a test to see if we can keep all of the balls in the air at this time of year, and I have a feeling I'm dropping a few, (and maybe losing a few marbles as well.) We had a fun Easter with the boys. There was a community-wide egg hunt on Saturday afternoon. The Easter Bunny was in attendance :-) On Sunday, the boys found their baskets hidden in the house  and opened gifts from the grandparents. We went to church and talked about why we celebrate this holiday. (It's hard to find an accessible way to talk about Jesus' death and resurrection, two concepts that many children don't know a lot about. So we read the story, make tombs out of graham crackers, talk about Jesus rising up on the clouds, and pray that at least some of it will sink in, in a way they can understand.)  Then we came home, ordered Easter dinner from a local restaurant and took a relaxing walk around the neighborhood. After the crazy few weeks we've had, that was just right. We Skyped and talked with family, which was the perfect evening to our day. Saturday was also Micah's first t-ball game. He loved wearing his #6 uniform, batting and playing in the outfield. Even though they didn't win, the team played hard and it seemed like they were getting the hang of things by the end. The coach and the parents were very positive and encouraging, for which I am grateful. I took him out for ice cream and chicken nuggets afterwards :-) Jacob wasn't with me for the game, but he usually comes with us to practices and plays on the playset, as long as there aren't too many "big kids" climbing on it. Last week, he decided to find some playmates. He introduced himself to all of the others playing there announcing, "Hi, I'm Jacob," to each person. It worked! A little 4-yr-old girl immediately went over and began playing with him. After which he pronounced, "Mama, this is my friend! This is my best friend!" The two played for the rest of the night. He amazes me with his openness.

Weekend Warriors

Big men on campus

 

I finally downloaded the Blogger app on my phone so now I can post photos of the kids I take with my phone camera! The first one's a shot from last weekend's walk on the campus where I work. Jacob felt that this little structure was the perfect place to "break it down" so he got up there and danced to his heart's content :-) Wish I'd gotten a video, but as soon as I said something about it, he stopped. The second one is my attempt at a selfie of all of us (FYI-a "selfie" is a self-taken photo, shot with a smart phone and posted on social media). This being my first attempt, it was not successful! But I did get most of all of our faces in there. We were riding bikes, and John Deere play tractors to be exact, on the driveway. I haven't posted much these last few weeks because it's been crazy busy. Between Dan's breakneck schedule with musical rehearsals (thank God the show goes up this weekend!) and the work-related projects I've got, it's been a whirlwind. But somehow we make it work. Having so much to do and not enough time means we get a lot of practice prioritizing, and that's not always a bad thing. Micah, our philosopher, asked me the other day was "mindfulness" is. I don't know where he heard the term, but I answered as best I could, that it was making sure you remembered something important or being a state that focuses not on the past or future but the "right now". Being in the moment. Many times over, I have learned this lesson from my kids. It's easy for me to ruminate over conversations I've had, mistakes I've made or worries about things to come. But when I'm with the kids, especially when I am alone with them, it's hard to focus on anything else but them and what they are doing, saying, feeling, being. And this is a healthy thing for me. I still think it's important to take time to reflect, but I don't need help in that department. I've already got that one wrapped up with a bow on top. I need to remember something vital: what is happening right now is important, too. And if I'm not paying attention, it'll become something I've missed instead of a memory to cherish. And I love those. This morning Jacob came into our room before 6 (after being up twice in the night because of thunder) and jumped up in the bed with us, rooting his hand around to find the crook of my neck for comfort, like he always does, and in the process pulling out pieces of my hair, inadvertently scratching my face with his nails, and generally waking up a cranky and tired mom. "Wake up, mama! Morning time, c'mon, mama. Get up!" I'm not going to say I was a glorious paragon of saintly motherhood in that moment. But before we got up and brewed the coffee and got on with the day, I did have a fleeting thought: someday, he'll be grown up and we won't have these kinds of times with him.  We'll be remembering when. So I'm holding on, while I learn to let go.