last weekend, we went down to Oklahoma City to meet up with Grandpa Ken, Kek and Kiki for Grandpa Ken's naval reunion. it was a whirlwind of a weekend with a lot of chasing children but so good to be together. here are the highlights...
Tessa actually went to sleep in Aunt Karen's arms! she is usually a stinker and won't sleep without being wrapped up...
Graham loves his mommy's kisses. you can totally tell by his face. hahaha.
swimming Saturday morning in the hotel pool...
Saturday night we went to a "70's show" with singing and dancing to music of the 70's...
and Sunday we headed to Cabela's and Toby Keith's Bar and Grill in the revitalized part of Oklahoma City...
last week, my roommates from college all loaded up the kiddos and headed to Janae's house in Hutch to spend the day together. life has changed so much since the days of nap taking, class skipping, sleeping in the library, studying our rear ends off, lazy Saturdays, going to the games, nothing to worry about except making it through college days...
I lived with these girls and oh how I love them. they all went to high school together and so graciously accepted me as a friend back in 1999. we became roommates in 2001, 10 years ago. here is what 10 years does for you...
bahahaha. I love it! I love that we can still get together. I love that they know and remember things from the days of living together that I would probably never remember on my own. I love that I could call any one of them at any point in time and know that they would be there for me.
it was refreshing to be together that day. to catch up a little bit...with that many kids it is hard for conversation to happen. I vote ladies night next time. :) we went to the splash park and then back to Janae's home for lunch and nap time. here are a few pictures from the day...
Graham loved loved loved the splash park. if I could understand what the boy was saying all of the time, I am sure he would be asking to go back. :)
thanks Janae for organizing the day! love you beautiful girls! and your kids. :)
my Audra is having a baby girl so soon! we had been talking about the little girls room for a while. it was mustard yellow. she was just going to deal with it but as time got closer, she decided she wanted to paint! I was excited that she said yes to my offer of coming and helping and it happened to work out that Max could have Graham all day. so last Saturday, Tessa and I were on the road by 8. Burl, her husband, had already started by the time we got there and settled. he did all of the trim work...the ceilings were so high! here he is working hard for the money...and you can see the color change...
I love the new color! it would have been hard decorating a little girls room in that yellow. so glad she let me come. it was fun to hang for the day too! I had to have a head lamp on to paint the closet...don't laugh at the awful picture...I kinda look like I am gonna pass out...it was a little warm in that little space...
Tessa was really pretty good for the entire trip and day! I was happy about that and she looks pretty happy in this picture. :) hanging out with Miss Audra...
mommy and daddy and baby bump... ;)
all done! getting ready to head out. can't wait to see it with everything back in its place and decorations on the walls...
so excited for them! can't wait to meet their little girl! and so thankful for days of getting things done and getting to be in the same place for a whole day! :) it just doesn't happen to often anymore...
is here and is driving me CRAZY. there is blonde hair everywhere I look. I have even seen Graham pulling it out from between his toes. sick and wrong. it is coming out in hand fulls. I often think there are bugs or ants crawling on me because the loose hair is touching my arm or leg. bet you all could have lived without this post...haha.
we have now entered the land of family vehicles. no more red, two door, 5 speed Honda Civic. we now own a gold (puke---maybe growing on me a little) automatic Honda CRV with a ton more room and way more ease of getting Graham in and out of the backseat. I cried when I drove the CRV home because I was so thankful.
but I also got a little moody when that high school graduate drove away with MY (okay OUR) car. you see, I drove that car off the lot back in 2003. with 179,000 miles on it, we went ALOT of places and experienced so much together. sounds ridiculous but as I was cleaning that car out to be sold, memory after memory invaded my thoughts. oh the joys of growing up and doing what is best for you and your family. :)
Max got to come home early last night because he is being switched to 1st shift (so thankful! and excited). weird that it is in the middle of the week.
I was sitting on the couch "sewing" (maybe fixing is a better word...ha!) some of Graham's little onesies where there were holes in the seems and in pops my husband with these beautiful all white lilies...
we had stargazer lilies at our wedding. white with pink inside. lilies have become one of my favorite flowers. tulips maybe still win but they have such a short season. anyways! I said, "you brought me flowers?!" His response, "yes, because I love you." that's it.
I can usually guess when flowers are coming (I know...not fair to him) but these were totally out of the blue! so sweet. so sincere. so special. it was good to be home as a family last night and I am so looking forward to many more nights together...
but I missed working out. I have been very bad about sticking to the plan of working out everyday since we went to Georgia for my Audrey's Wedding. I had been doing really well. But then I got sick, throwing up sick, and then we left to drive to Georgia on Wednesday and we got home and I was tired. and this and that and well this week I finally started back up again and I really MISSED it. never in a million years would I have thought that I would want to work out. it is crazy. I even told Max that I think I want to build up to running with him. we will see how that pans out...ha. it is crazy how things change...
saturday was Jenn's baby shower in Hutch! she is getting ready to have a baby boy. so excited for them! and loved getting to see these girls...
after the shower we got to hang out at Janae's for a while with our kids minus Hannah. it was fun watching each of them at their stage of life. Hudson (almost 2), Brylie (8 and a half months) and Graham (3 months).
below is a picture of Hudson and Graham. I think H loves getting his picture taken. I just kept snapping and he just kept smiling. so sweet. hoping for them to be good friends as the grow.
Graham and I returned home around 6. we ate dinner and then all of us headed to the hospital to see a friend, to mom and Rusty's to watch the end of the K-State game and then back home. I loved our day but by the time we got home that evening, I was exhausted. the kind of exhausted where I could do no more. my brain was hurting, my body was done. I asked Max if he could get G fed and down to bed because I didn't think I was going to make it. who knew that what used to be the "norm" for a weekend would leave me so exhausted. going from place to place, caring for a 3 month olds basic needs and being off schedule really does affect a mom. it is good to have days like these but "wow" I see the value of being at home.
so we were sitting at home on Friday afternoon and Max starts talking about places in Kansas he wants to visit. I said, "let's do it! let's go on an adventure today." (we used to do random spur of the moment things all of the time...having the little one has cut back on those quite a bit but I needed out of the house and time with the husband and the sun was shining and the weather warm!) he immediately started researching places to go and things to see in Kansas. he went from one crazy place to another and finally settled on Cottonwood Falls.
what is in Cottonwood Falls you ask? Emma Chase cafe of course! and a real live Jam session. ha. we called a couple of friends who actually said yes to joining us that evening and set out on the open road...
made it to the Flint Hills...
to the most photographed bridge in Kansas...
watched a beautiful sunset on top of a hill...
got to the restaurant and walked in...
DEAD SILENCE.
and every eye in the place ON US. talk about awkward. I could not contain the laughter bubbling inside of me and followed my husband to the back of the restaurant. just our luck, no tables open. finally we hear "there are four seats open here." relief. kinda reminded me of Forest Gump. seats taken. taken. seats taken.
dinner was great. the food was good. hanging out with Ryan and Becca was terrific. and then it was time to head a few blocks away to what the internet advertised as a JAM session. here is Becca's description of the "all we could stand" 10 minutes of entertainment...
The "Rock Music" April promised was actually a guy in overalls playing a fiddle, a piano, guitar, etc., etc., but they did very little singing actually. I think we attended a town meeting actually. They had announcements and ... discussions about when the buzzards were going to come back through.... it was hilarious.
love my husband and his adventurous spirit. I had an evening full of laughter and conversation. it actually turned out to be a night I probably won't ever forget. :)
thanks for meeting us Becca and Ryan! we had a great evening!
last week my husband surprised me with a night out. we were sitting at home Friday evening watching the Olympics and he starts getting all of his flying maps out. this is NOT an unusual thing at our house but it was late and I was almost ready for bed so I started asking questions. "what are you doing?" "why are you getting all of those out now?" "blah blah blah???" :) he ever so nonchalantly said, "oh we are going flying tomorrow night." I said, "you and your student?" (it was the first I had heard about and usually he is pretty good at telling me when he is going to be gone) he said, "no, you and I." I start arguing with him...no we are not. Graham can't go with us (only a two seater). we are not. he said, "yes, we are. I called your mom. she is going to watch Graham. we are going on a date!" BIG smiles...
"really?"
he had planned the whole thing, couldn't figure out a way to get to mom's and drop the little guy off without me freaking a little so he told me the night before. (we are terrible at keeping secrets with one another! terrible. although, he is much better than I...) it was the first time I was going to leave my little boy other than with him.
big moment.
yes there were tears. yes there was excitement. yes he was fine. :)
it was a wonderful surprise and a much needed night away. at least 10 and a half weeks of not being alone. he had plans of flying up to KC to a BBQ restaurant but because of the weather flew to Benton to the new cafe there. it was so good to be in the air with him again. so good. I hadn't been at least since he was laid off at Cessna. I love seeing him do what he loves...and he had planned it for Valentine's day. a day he never remembers exactly what day it comes on. a day I have not been especially fond of in the past. a day I don't expect much because I am so vocally about it being a silly. a day that so many women/girls feel like blah. a day that he made special. I am starting to understand...
Here we are. Living life. Getting settled. Connecting to new friends. Planning on joining a church. Starting to feel comfortable in our house. And bammm. Max gets a notice on Thursday that he will be unemployed starting at the end of March. What does that mean to us? So many emotions, thoughts, feelings to work through. I have cried most of the morning. I have wondered what God is doing regardless of what I am thinking. I wonder if we will be in this house in the next 6 months. I get frustrated with my selfishness. I get excited about the opportunities and adventures this may turn into. I think and talk and cry and am trying to work through my emotions. It is sssoooo hard. But through it all, I remember how much I have to be thankful for. God has provided so much for Max and I. So much. I am amazed at just what He has done, how He has worked everything together in the last couple of years and am excited about the future holds. While I do not know what that looks like exactly, I do know whose hand I will be holding as we make decisions together leaning on the one who created us for direction.
So I have thought for a long time about starting a blog. It started with Erin telling me how much she loves it. I didn't read hers for a long time until she continuely asked me about it. I have learned so much just from reading the things that she writes about---about her heart, her thoughts, pondering God's words and thoughts. And then I get an email from Janae. Yup she has started one too. I find myself checking out their blogs when I am online...wondering if they have written anything, what they are thinking about, struggling with, etc. Because I don't get to see either of them as much as I want to, I am excited to keep up with what is going on in the hearts (which by the way, I knew on a daily basis at one time). I miss that.
Throughout the time that I have started thinking about starting this, I have thought about what I could write about. The emotions of selling a house--our first house together. The emotions of having a job that I don't necessarily enjoy. The ups and downs of being married to absolutely amazing man that makes me laugh and smile but sometimes frustrates me to no end---it's a good thing we can laugh about things together. The joys of nephews and nieces. More babies. My thoughts, feelings and struggles with God. Conversations with friends and family. The list goes on and on...
