Congratulations, Ron!

After 4 years of lots of hard work Ron has become an ASA! He is officially on the list! Check it out at: http://soa.org/files/pdf/edu-2008-10-asa-names.pdf

I am very proud of him and thankful for him for lots of reasons ... but as it relates to this I'll just share a few things that come to mind...

*He left his chosen field of engineering in part to find a career that would challenge him differently, but I believe primarily to be able to provide for me in a way that would allow me to stay home with our kids but also so we could stay near my family, friends and the area I love!

*He took a leap of faith by taking a test and applying for a job as an acturial student when the odds seemed to outweigh the future opportunities (Thanks Brian for your help in this area!)

*He studied lots of extra hours while continuing to go to work everyday and helping me as much as he could.

*He didn't get discouraged when he didn't achieve the results he would've liked right away.

*He took initiative to learn new things, pursue new job opportunities and stayed focused on his goal!

*He worked hard to make this goal happen!

*He did all of this while being a newlywed, giving of himself to the teens in the youth group at FBC, having a pregnant wife (3 times) that required a lot of his help, having 3 newborns in the house (and then subsequently busy toddlers!), putting a house up for sale, moving 2 times and renovating a home!

I am very happy for him and excited he has achieved this goal! I look forward to seeing him become an FSA and helping him reach that goal, too!

Blog Comeback - Two Months in Review

Well - I've debated on how to make a blog comeback for several weeks now ... and before I debate any longer on the 'perfect' return post ... I better just get some stuff out there and get going again! (I hope some of you are still checking!)

We've had alot of fun this fall going to fall festivals, parades, the apple orchard, on hayrides and the pumpkin patch (three times!). Here's just a few photos of some of our adventures!

Nate picking his 1st pumpkin! (or attempting to stand upright for a few seconds so I could snap a photo!)

Lauryn enjoying a cider slushy ... we were supposed to be sharing but obviously the two straw method became a much more efficient way for her to slurp it down!

Attempting to leave a 15 acre corn maze ... did you know the sun sets really quickly! We ended up walking through the corn rows rather than following the maze. Poor Ron would not have made a good pioneer with his 3 small kids, wife and sister-in-law tagging along!

Day Two at the pumpkin patch ... Ron and Sarah spent FOREVER feeding these animals grass. I stood at a distance with Nate while we baked in the hot October sun armed with hand sanitizer. The animals kept eating and eating any piece of grass Ron, Sarah and the kids stuck by their mouths.

Ron and the kids enjoying a nice hayride (Pumpkin Patch trip #3) on a cold October night.

Lauryn, VERY enthusiastically cleaning out her pumpkin ... thanks to a catchy little tune Ron made up to make the smell and the feel of pumpkin guts not seem so gross!

Proud owner of a happy faced pumpkin ... later turned into a happy/scary pumpkin after he saw Lauryn and Ron's scary faced pumpkins.

Who needs toys ...

when you have great imaginations!

The kids were outside playing with their cousins the other day and after riding bikes and then swinging for awhile they decided to make up their own things to do. We took a little walk down to the fruit trees and they each picked a pear or an apple. Lauryn, of course, was chowing down on hers (I don't blame her ... I tried a ripe pear the other day and it was very yummy!) but the boys had another idea! They began poking sticks into the fleshy parts of the pears ... at first they thought they would make airplanes. However, the first attempt at flight landed in a crash and burn with flying sticks. The 'objects' then progressed to helicopters, fans and then spiders! I was pretty impressed with their great idea! So, they all got new pears, lots of skinny sticks and poked them into the sides of the pears for legs. They had a great time playing with the spiders, running with the spiders and even taking the spiders for rides on the neighbor's skateboard! I love watching them play!

The Life Cycle of the Cicada

I cannot tolerate bugs ... I don't get creeped out by spiders, I don't get creeped out by mice or even snakes ... but if it has 3 body parts, 6 legs and crunches and it's visible to me, I can feel my heart race and my body go numb. I like to blame it on a suppressed memory from infancy while living in apartments in Texas where roaches made their way into our home (no matter how hard my mom cleaned ... I have to put that in there for her sake!) but in reality I'm probably just weird and thinking about it too much. I don't like the fact that they fly, jump and crunch. Anyway a good friend shared her cicada woes with me last summer and at the time I did not fully grasp what she was telling me ... but we are OVERRUN with cicadas out here! Just when I think it's safe to look up at a tree or put my hand on the swingset I see their carcasses EVERYWHERE! I am trying hard not to freak out in front of the kids, as for most people this is just another part of God's creation. However, it has been very hard for me to relax in the yard for the past couple weeks! The kids love them, thanks to Ron's informative science lesson and explanation of their life cycle and the fact that he plucks them of trees daily for them to examine! Ben likes to collect their skins in empty plastic bottles, Lauryn likes to stomp on them. I like to imagine that they will be gone soon!!

"Happy Birthday Dear Lauryn ..."

Dear Lauryn,

It's so hard for me to believe we celebrated your 2nd birthday today and now you are a big 2 year old girl! We had a fun day going to the fair and having our family over for a Princess Party! You tried your first funnel cake at the fair, saw, smelled and touched lots of animals, pretended to be a farmer and sat on a tractor. You had fun helping us get ready for the party and telling daddy where to hang the decorations and put the balloons. You didn't have so much fun when mommy made you put pretty clothes on and fix your hair! We played outside, ate some of your favorite foods (Spaghetti, Salad and pickles!), ate lots of chocolate cake and ice cream and opened presents. It was so sweet to watch the excitement in your eyes as you watched Daddy and Ben sing "Happy "Birthday" to you! It took a little coaxing for you to come inside and open presents (you were the ONLY one still playing outside!) and then when you did come in you started passing out your presents to other people to open! But once you realized they were your presents and you got to open them all you oooohhhed and aaaahhhed over each one!

You are our precious little girl and we love you very much! In some ways, our day today reminded me of lots of wonderful things about you that I've discovered over the last 2 years! I love the way you cuddle, the way you get so excited about the things we do, the way you love to be with your family, the way you do enjoy some time by yourself, the way you laugh hard at the craziest things, the way you smile 'just because', the way you look up to Ben and the way you take care of Baby Nate. I love the way you hug really hard when you know the way you acted wasn't the best. I love that we'll have a funny story to tell when you're older (and farther removed from the situation) about the way you acted in the car! While it's hard to say, because in some ways I selfishly always want you to be my little girl, I can't wait to see how God uses you and the special things about you to Glorify Him! I know He will use you and pray that I can teach you to become a beautiful lady in His eyes! I love you my sweet, sweet girl! Love, Mommy

Calling All Botanists!

So, we've discovered a couple of interesting things growing from trees in our yard. Being a city girl, my knowledge of trees goes out the window past a Maple or Bradford Pear! We've researched these trees ourselves now, but I'm curious if any of you out there know what types of trees bear these fruits/seeds! Sorry, no cool blogging prizes for the first correct answer, just the fun of seeing how smart you all are!

Picnic on the Grounds

Ben had a great idea today ... a spontaneous picnic in our backyard! We packed our peanut butter sandwhiches, water bottles, chips and cookies and found a nice shady spot to spread our blanket. Ben also asked if we could pick a couple of apples from our trees to eat with our lunch ... I didn't see the harm in doing so (although they are not ripe and quite tart!) Hopefully, there's not some sort of stomach issues that can develop from eating unripe apples! Anyway, that was the kids' favorite part of lunch. They both love apples and to actually be able to pick them from their own trees was just over the top exciting for them!

It was fun enjoying our lunch in the backyard and watching their excitement about actually having a picnic at home. Their enjoyment made me forget the extreme humidity, sounds of locusts in the trees above us and the spider crawling on my shirt that neither of them would help me remove! (well almost forget, anyway!)

Birthday Surprise

I have been plotting a surprise trip to Gatlinburg, TN to celebrate Ron's 30th birthday and finally the day arrived to reveal the plan! We met his family there last Saturday afternoon. We headed out in the morning jam packed into the van. We stopped at a neat little park to stretch. Ron, Ben and Lauryn got out of the car to feed some overly-tamed ducks and geese ... it actually was a little unnverving watching them from the van as I fed Nate. Since I'm not a big fan of birds of any sort (thanks to Hitchcock!) I just kept thinking there wasn't much I would be able to do if these things started attacking my family! Everyone survived and it was funny ... the ducks actually got bored with our snacks and moved on to the next group that had driven up with bread. We were giving them Cracker Barrel biscuits, which they preferred, and generic Archer Farms cheesy crackers, which they did not prefer (neither did we which is why we were trying to dump them on the birds!) The kids did great on the rest of the trip until we hit Pigeon Forge where we were met with bumper to bumper Saturday check-in traffic!! Nate (who never cries) cried for the good part of an hour and Ben and Lauryn (who typically adore him) were pretty much fed up with him. Everyone perked up as we drove up to the cabin, got out and explored its five floors! Of course, I'm sure seeing Nana had something to do with improved moods, too! We managed to pull off the surprise in spite of Ron's sneaky attempts to discover what his mom and I were planning. ..we were up against a professional ... he IS the guy that still has the Private Eye badge he made in 4th grade! We had a great time relaxing in the Smokies, enjoying each others company, playing games, visiting a small amusement park, shopping and swimming in the pool INSIDE the cabin! We celebrated Ron's 30th birthday and had a great time looking at his '30 Book' ... a scrapbook put together by his mom to give on the kids' 30th birthdays. It was fun spending some relaxing time together and celebrating Ron!

Sweety Potato Pies

It's hard for me to believe but it's already time for Nate to take the plunge and expand his horizons in the food department! We've conquered Rice and Oatmeal cereal quite well and added sweet potatoes today. I'm guessing this isn't the 1st food I'm supposed to start with as it is a bit tastier than peas and squash (see McNichols Musings for the correct way to introduce baby food to your infant!)





In typical Nate fashion, he took it all in laid back stride. He sat patiently in his high chair while I prepared the concoction of oatmeal and sweet potatoes! He ate each spoonful I brought to his mouth and only gagged a little on the new taste. He even managed to make very little mess - I remember Ben and Lauryn seemed to have their hands in their mouths the entire time during the feeding process ... maybe that's still to come. He ate all the food with a big smile most of the time. Didn't fuss during the process, didn't fuss when he was done. Just kept looking at me with a big grin!

In typical Ben fashion, he looked up at me with a crinkled nose and asked, "What's that smell?" He has an amazing nose (which makes me self conscious before I've brushed my teeth or showered) and detected the bland luke-warm sweet potato smell from about 3 feet away! He moved away quickly as a pushed the bowl a little closer to him.





In typical Lauryn fashion, she spied food and decided that what someone else was eating looked pretty good and asked for her own bowl. I had read once upon a time that if an older sibling were to ask a nursing mom if they could try what the baby was eating to give them a bit and they would immediately decide it was not for them. (I DID NOT heed this ridiculous advice!)





However, I did think that it might also apply to baby food. So, I offered Lauryn a small bowl of her own, thinking she'd take one taste and refuse to eat anymore.









She devoured it!! I couldn't believe it as I watched her shovel in a mixture of sweet potato/oatmeal mash. I can't believe I've been jumping hoops to think of creative lunches and dinners when the solution was this easy!

Big Boy Milestones and One Crazy Girl

Ron and Ben happened upon a $3 bicycle at a garage sale last Saturday. They scrubbed it down, cleaned it up, lowered the seat and hooked on the training wheels! Ben was very excited to learn how to ride a bike and picked it up very quickly! He has been working hard and practicing everyday. He is pretty impressed with his newly discovered skill and has even ventured to a little 'off-roading' in the yard. It is so cute to watch him reach this next 'big boy' milestone.

Speaking of 'big boy' milestones ... Nate enjoyed hanging out in his jumpster for the 1st time over the weekend. He sat in it and jumped while I cleaned the garage with my mom and Codi. He looked like he was enjoying the upright view!

I also had to share this picture of Lauryn. She typically takes awhile to settle down for her naps and bedtime and we can often hear her chatting away to anything in her room that will listen. One recent afternoon she seemed to be talking on and on and on ... so I thought I better march into her room and tell her to settle down and get to sleep. As I opened the door, there she was - sitting on the floor... just like this. My stern lecture turned into hysterical laughter as I looked at her with her makeshift 'hat' shoved down over her eyes as she said "What, Mommy?". It's hard to keep my composure sometimes!

Goodbye John Deere

Ron and the kids have enjoyed mowing our new yard this summer thanks to Mr. Rick and John Deere. A friend of ours has generously shared his John Deere mower all summer while our Simplicity Tractor (circa 1980-something) has been in the shop. A couple of shops to be exact! The kids (and probably Ron) fell in love with John Deere ... perhaps because of the shiny green/yellow design, the smooth ride or other modern amenities! The kids point out any and everything John Deere (including people's shirts "Look, it's John Deere!" as they walk by) and would look out the window longingly at Mr. Rick's mower when it was parked outside. Ben would speak of it as if it were a friend, "Is John Deere coming over today?" or "Look, John Deere is outside." Even Lauryn would sing the Joe Diffie, "In John Deere Green", song anytime the mower was mentioned. Sadly, the day to retrieve our lawn tractor came and John Deere's visits to our house were over. When Ben saw our tractor arrive he was excited, until he sat in the seat and looked at me and said, "Mommy, where are the cupholders?!" Lauryn, in typical girl fashion ... ignoring differences obvious to Ben, still sees a mower you can ride and still calls the tractor John Deere ... to which an argument between them usually ensues. (Him: "That's NOT John Deere" Her: "John Deere Green") But perhaps the saddest of all is Ron, his first response after mowing with the Simplicity, "We need a new mower."