Too funny

Jon and our pastor, Earl, are watching the Twins game here this evening (A PA Twins fan, Jon loves it). I've been doing some computer work and have overheard their chatter but not really paid attention. Until the Viagra commercial was on and there was silence! : ) Then half way through one of them spoke up with some other sports related topic. Funny.

Play time today

William was harvesting the fields. Driving his combine around with trailers and dump trucks following it, being filled and heading to the "barn" (cardboard box tipped on it's side) to empty their load and going back to the combine for more.

Callie was feeding her baby. Baby was sitting in an ice cream pail, which was the "car seat". She got a cup filled it in her toy kitchen sink then filled it more in her child care station sink, brought it back to baby and held it her mouth to drink.

Then....Callie went back for more water and William asked her for a drink, so instead of feeding baby, Callie fed William. Then he asked her to watch his tractors work. So, she sat down and watched for a little bit while also sipping her cup of water.

Then, it happened. She stood up, took the "barn" and ran away. He whined, chased her, etc. Finally got his barn back. She was in timeout for "taking other people's things" and he was peacefully harvesting again. When time out ended she went back to her baby.

Purse continued

Callie just got up from her nap. Picked up the purse William had been using, opened it up and said, "hey, don't like that" and proceeded to take out all our tea party supplies, drop them on the floor and then dropped the purse on the floor and walked away to play with something else.

What's in your purse?

Callie ~ Purse is slung over her shoulder or hanging in the crook of her arm with her hand in the air. It contains sunglasses (put on and off and on and off), cell phone (at times she walks around with it stuck between her shoulder and her ear), fake lip stick, fake nail polish (that is only for toes since those are the only nails we paint on her), some flashy jewelery and a toy pacifier (that she likes to use for herself and not for her babies).

William ~ Purse in hand. It contains everything we need for a surprise tea party! Plastic monkeys (used as cookies), a sponge lobster (another food item), a block and two cars (used as cups).

Clarification

William has informed us that he drove away on his "cart" like a monster truck, not a motorcycle. I should have known. Also, he told us that he was "pretending to be in a space ship and going into outer space". My guess is this had to do with falling asleep and counting backwards so I asked him if he counted and he said, "No, the guys did". I remember strange tid bits from all my surgeries, I wonder what his memories are now and what they will be later in life. Jon remembers his mom always running her hand/fingers along/around his face to help him fall asleep. We do this with William and that is how I got him to stop trying to wake up from anesthesia and go back to sleep a little longer until it wore off and he could wake up easier. I wonder if he'll remember that.

Surgery yesterday

Surgery went well! I'm so glad it's over! We got to the clinic early and then waited and waited, but once they took him back it was a whirl wind of people and papers and questions and explainations and he was zoomed away "like a motorcycle" on his bed. He was fearless. He told the nurse, "they are going to drain fluid out of my penis", she got a pretty good laugh out of that. He did a great job. Once he woke up he was pain free and ready to eat and got the promised ice cream. In the evening he started to have some discomfort as the medicine they gave him began to wear off. This morning he's mostly pain free, but seems to hurt a little as the tylenol or motrin is starting to wear off but he is walking (and running and hopping and standing on one leg) as normal. Overall the worst part was the anticipation, I didn't have time to get emotional before hand and the time passed pretty quickly while he was in surgery. Recovery was a little hard to watch as he tried to fight the anesthesia to wake up but once he relaxed and slept a little longer and the anesthesia wore off a bit more then he woke up easily. It was so nice to have a friend along to help pass the time and help with little things afterward too. William could not walk because of the medicine they had given him and could barely sit up either. He thought it was funny that the "medicine made him wiggle" but really it just made him tip over. It was funny and now it is all done! : )

Surgery tomorrow

William has his surgery tomorrow on his little boy parts. Thankfully his lungs are healthy so we can get this taken care of. He's pretty excited about it. I'm not so much. It'll be at Hershey Medical Center, which comforts me some, it's a great facility, and comforts him more - He knows there is chocolate in that town and his only question about surgery was if he can have candy. I promised him ice cream. I was going to be going alone but today Carrie volunteered to go with me! I'm so glad to have someone sit with me and help me pass the time, thank you so much! I am trusting that all will go well, being a nurse means I know too much so I have worried about every possible thing even the ridiculous things. Please pray that all goes well, that I can be strong for William and that he will come out of anesthesia well and have minimal pain.

Blessed

I have been blessed SO much lately! God is definately doing a work in me and taking care of my heart along the way. I have been learning some difficult things about myself and having some struggles with a friend lately, but all along God has been showing me that He loves me dearly and is present ALL AROUND me! I have been encouraged and blessed by so many conversations I have had in the last couple weeks with people from many different areas of my life. It has been so exciting to get to know more women around here and to expand my circle of friends as well as nurture casual friendships I already had. First and foremost my husband has been so amazing!! He has been so thoughtful and encouraging and also gently pointing out things I may have missed in situations. But most of all, he has been there for me and has made it clear that we are in this together. He's incredible. I am excited to be joining a new Bible study. I am really excited to get back into learning more in depth about God and His Word. Also was blessed to see and be able to talk to two past friends that I had lost contact with at our first meeting. One of whom has been on my heart and in my thoughts off and on over the past couple weeks (and Jon even mentioned her once) and I decided yesterday that I needed to call her. That was not going to be an easy call and I would have put it off for some time I'm sure. But today, there she was, and though we only talked for a few moments, she was a blessing and an encouragement and said JUST what I needed to hear! I am also excited to lead a Wednesday evening ladies study at our church and am very excited to meet some more women in our church and build friendships with them. Our kickoff meeting last night went well and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting a few new ladies and catching up with a couple others. Thank you God for being so evident in this place and in our church and comforting me in a difficult but growing time! Now, help me to put into practice the humility and grace that you are in the process of teaching me!

Views

In the most recent newsletter from the camp Jon used to work at in ND, the new cook wrote this, "I think I have one of the most beautiful views in the world from my living room windows. Horses graze with the lush, green hills of the Sheyenne River valley in the horizon." She's right. That used to be the view out my living room windows when we lived in the trailer that used to sit where her house does now. I miss Cooperstown sometimes. (I could only find a winter shot, but also imagine green grass and horses.)






























But, my view here isn't bad either. I like the view of the mountains from our swingset.

Birthday Cake

I just finished frosting my baby boy's 4 year birthday cake. He chose a castle. It's nice. I had to restrain myself from frosting a big heart on it. He's such a great kid. I love him. He's so kind and patient and excited about life. He's the sweetest little man in the world.

Today he had a little birthday celebration with some friends from church in combination with a girl who shares his birthday. He was so giddy while they sang to him and he waited for M to open her presents and would not open his until everyone was watching him, He said, "Everyone has to be looking at me. Everyone has to watch me." He was very sweet.

A box arrived for him today. It's a train table from Jon's parents. He is going to be so excited about this. I'm excited for him. He's the greatest!

Header

How do I make a cute, personalized header?

A few quotes

"He had not yet learned that if you do one good deed your reward usually is to be set to do another and harder and better one."

"I have lived a hundred and nine winters in this world and have never yet met any such thing as Luck."

"Do not dare not to dare."

From CS Lewis's 'The Horse and His Boy', Book 5 in the Chronicles of Narnia

Birthday weekend

It was Jon's birthday last Monday so this weekend we did some birthday things. We took the kids camping for the second time. The first was in a camper two years ago, this time was in the tent. They did pretty well. We got to the site late, Jon pitched the tent while I started the fire racing the darkness. In the middle of my fire building William had some bathroom issues, but I still got it lit quite easily. I'll claim one match on this one. The kids told us they wanted to go to bed, they must have known what fun was coming. They were having so much fun giggling and laughing together in the tent, it was sad to have to tell them to be quiet. They really enjoy eachother (usually). In the morning we had breakfast and broke camp to head to Gettysburg. They have a new visitor's center that Jon had not seen yet. The kids weren't in the mood for walking around looking, so we headed to the cafe for a candy stick for the kids and a coffee drink for me. After that we went down to hear a music group that was playing. It was all Stephen Foster stuff, you can check it out here (it's not really that exciting, I just wanted to figure out how to add links like that). The kids sat for the whole thing, well almost sat. They were quiet and stayed near me. They danced some, Callie colored a little, they played with cars, had granola bars, and William flirted with the lady sitting near us (just like his dad schmoozing with the old ladies). Jon was finished with his touring just as we finished with the music. After this we got lunch and headed home. The kids were wiped out! The two previous days they hadn't gotten very good naps and they had gone to bed late the night before. Over all it was a fun day...pictures to come when I get the film developed.

Callie also said "awesome" for the first time this weekend. I asked, "did you just say awesome?" and she said, "yeah, that's awesome". It was very cute.

Dirty Bathtubs

I love a dirty bathtub....not Blue Burrito (nasty) dirty, but good cloudy water, dirt on the bottom dirty. To me, that means there was some outdoor fun happening! We just finished up a bath that was just that. Today we went to the park with some new friends. We had a good time. The kids had lots of fun playing on the baseball field, dragging their feet along the chalk, throwing the sand (we were too far away to stop all of this) and playing on the playground equipment too. William had some white hair, his bottom was all sand and his gray shoes were white. Callie wasn't as bad, but she was more sweaty than anything. Then, of course, after the bath we had our traditional games of "Rock the baby" which is Cal snuggled in her towel and being rocked and William's game of "Baby Bird" in which he hides in/under his towel while I sing a made up song about a bird hatching and wiggling and moving and how excited I am to see my baby bird. Then the teeth brushing begins and Callie says, "yuck" to the paste.

We also had William's cardiologist annual exam. It went well. No changes from last year and will see them again in a year.

Now I better get to all those dishes. Yesterday was a carrot freezing and tomato canning day and the dishes are all still there. : ( We'll see how fast I can go to the Bob Marley CD I found the other day that I didn't know we had. : ) I have fond memories of Jamaica...and it also reminds me of Ultimate frisbee.

A bit more

She has also gotten very interested in babies. At Hershey Park the other day she would not play at the water park but she would squat down by the baby who was in the water and touch her back and talk sweet to her and put her pacifier in the baby's mouth. And any baby carrier or stroller she sees she runs up to saying, "see da baby". She got some bottles recently and spent the whole morning feeding her babies and putting them to bed in their cradle with their blankets. And this evening she was pretending to be a baby and was laying in the middle of the floor making crying sounds. It was funny.









Also, very exciting is that we now have a fenced in yard! The dogs now get to run and play and they are meeting the kids and the kids are doing a good job of being nice and respecting the dog's space.