Weekly ten in pictures

1.  Grant and Ashton started swimming lessons two weeks ago.  I was nervous since Grant was very resistant last year.  I tried to build him up by telling him that he needed to take care of Ashton and show him the ropes.  So everyday when Miss T` called them to class, Grant would grab Ashton's hand and walk with him- it was so cute!

2.  I love this picture of Ashton and his out of control temper tantrum at the ODC the other day.  He cried like this for about an hour because I wouldn't carry him through the trails. Persistent little boy he is.

3.  A sneak peek into my fabulous new laundry room.  The rest of the house is very plain and neutral color wise but since I hate doing laundry I wanted to make this room as fun as possible.  I am so happy I did! 

4.  My little fish...

5.  We stopped by the house the other day and they were pouring our driveway.  The boys were thrilled to be able to watch the cement mixers in action.

6.  Annual family night at the strawberry u pick farm.

7.  We drove an hour to go to a zoo the other day only to get there and find out that it was closed due to imminent severe weather.  Thankfully they let us hang out in the gift shop until it blew over.  Ashton found this cork gun and instantly turned into a crazy kid with a gun.  It was kinda scary!

8.  Ashton had no fear in swimming lessons.  They actually had to hold onto him to get him to wait his turn to go down the slide and jump off the diving board.

9.  Grant improved so much this year with swimming.  His teachers were shocked he was the same boy that refused to put his head under the water last year.  I am so proud of him!

  

10.  Blessing of the week:  Our house is almost done!  Sometimes I walk into the door and can hardly believe it is all mine.  I am so grateful. 

weekly ten

1.  Grant is out of school and Grandpa Pat is out from CA.  That must mean that summer is officially here! 

2.  I am a little bummed that we are not in our house yet.  I intended on Grandpa being here to help me watch the boys while I unpacked.  But unfortunately, our move in date has been moved back to July.  Whoever said it took 6 months to build a house is a liar! Hoping I can at least get packed.

3.  Grant asked me the other day if he could take a selfie.  89 pictures later......

4.  Now that the warm weather has arrived I am itching to do fun things outside.  I am desperate for some new and exciting ideas though.  What do you do with your kids for fun in the summer?

5.  Ashton was watching Frozen the other day and when Anna and Sven kissed at the end proclaimed,"ewwwww."  It was hilarious.  Where does this 2 year old come up with this stuff

6.  Family barrel train ride at fun night at Grant's school. 

7.  Only two more decisions left to make for the house!  I am so sick of decisions and shopping and these last two are making me crazy.  Who knew bar stools and an entry light would put me in the looney bin???

8.  Grant and Ashton start swimming lessons tomorrow.  Here's to hoping Grant actually puts his head under the water this year:) I would hate to see Ashton pass him in swimming lesson class.


9. Pretty sure the employees at Joann's were REALLY excited when we left.  At this point of house shopping, I have lost all ability to care. 

10.  Blessing of the week:  a lunch play date with a good friend.  We have been through a lot together- divorce, infertility, infant loss, moving across the country, etc.....   but our friendship has never changed.  It is so wonderful to look back at all we have experienced and see us both come out so happy on the other side.

Weekly ten in pictures

1.  Grant is taking Smart Start soccer again.  He admitted that last year he didn't listen to the coach so we figured it would be good for him to repeat it since there really isn't much else he can do at this age.  His favorite part is hitting the ball with his head.

2.  Farmers Market season has begun!  We were so excited to take a stroll through the market the other day and see all the fresh veggies and fruit.This means summer is definitely on its way!

3.  Grant dressed himself the other day and refused to change when I asked him if he really wanted to wear that.  Some battles are just not worth fighting so he went out for a full day of errands in these lovely knee socks.  Ashton's look conveys his feeling of Grant's outfit choice!

4.  This picture was taken 30+ years ago.  Jenny has been a BFF since I was 2 living in Georgia.  We did everything together- including dressing alike for the first day of kindergarten.   

Jenny's daddy passed away at the beginning of May so my mom and I took a weekend trip to Atlanta to say goodbye to him.  She lives in the house she grew up in which is right around the corner from my old house.  Even though we were there for a funeral, we had a wonderful time sharing memories of our childhood and snapping pics of us 30 years later. Our friendship has been through a lot and we haven't seen each other for 8 years, but you would never know it.  That is what a good friend is all about.

 6.  I had such a great time away reconnecting, but it was so good to come home to my boys.  Grant hugged me for 10 minutes straight.  I think he missed me:)

 

 7.  The day after I got back from Atlanta was Grant's last day of preschool.  I had mixed emotions about this day.  I was so ready to be done considering Grant still cried every day I dropped him off.  The stress of that situation was making me loose my hair!  However, realizing that another year went by was sad to me.  It seems like just yesterday he was standing in front of that sign. 

First day of school

Last day of school.

8.  I told Grant if he didn't cry the last three days of school I would take him to his favorite restaurant on the lake for lunch after his last day.  I am not against bribery at all!  Unfortunately, it didn't work.  He was however, very good for daddy when he was single parenting over the weekend so I settled for lunch at Jimmy Johns instead.  He asked me if we could take a selfie together.  Is he 4 or 14?

9.  Ashton has been coming home from day care in dresses lately.  i think it is funny, but Jason is horrified by it.  I especially like this look with the leotard and tattoo. 

10.  Blessing of the week:  this one is old, but since I am sharing pics from my phone it will do.  My Mothers Day breakfast.  I told Jason all I wanted for the day was for him to make me crepes with strawberries for breakfast.  I think he has been hiding his cooking talents from me because these were delicious!  It was so fun to be spoiled by my boys.  Of course my other babies are never far from my mind on that day.   But as time has gone on, I have learned to live in the moment and not dwell on what should have been.

Tulip Time

It is hard to believe that Tulip Time has come and gone already.  Life seems to be flying by quicker than I can keep track!  It was a gorgeous week here for the festivities.  The majority of the tulips showed up about a week after the festival, but that didn't stop me from dressing my little dutch boys up and parading them through the park:)

 Ashton got to try out his dutch dancing with his day care giver.  He loved it!

 Oh.My.Word.  I can't get over how handsome these two are.  They just melt my heart.

Typical silly faces.

Being so cute sure is exhausting!

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weekly ten

1.  Last week was Media week in my 7 Bible study.  That meant no facebook, no blogger, no instagram, limited email, texts, and internet.  And the biggest; no tv! The point was to get back to the importance of communicating face to face and paying attention to our family instead of our phones and the tv.   It was yet another eye opening experience for me as I discovered how often I turn to media during the day. As we are rounding the last few months of house building, there are so many decisions to be made and I realized that Pinterest has influenced most of those decisions.  It was hard to live without it for a week.  I  felt lonely not checking into my FB all the time. And I realized that I am so accustomed to getting online, that I totally forgot how to pick up the phone and call my friends!   Honestly though, I have been done for a few days now and still have not checked my Facebook page.  (they keep sending me emails reminding me to come back which I think is hilarious!)  That was the only positive that came out of it for me- I felt free of the comparison and competition that I have been feeling the last few years and I am pretty sure it is because I was comparing myself to everyone on FB that appeared to be living better lives than myself.  I hope to make it a month with no FB and then see if I feel like going back.  If I do, it will be very limited.

2.   This week we are focusing on waste.  I didn't think it would be hard since I already recycle, buy thrift and we even use bath water to water plants.  However, I did not realize how many lights I leave on after I leave the room- opps:)

3.  Best way ever to keep two boys completely still for 20 minutes.... put them in front of a garage where they are pouring cement!

4.  Grant and Ashton attended their first roller skating party.  It was hilarious!  They both loved it and cried to leave.  They both wore beginner skates that made it very easy to learn and stay upright.  Ashton couldn't quite get the rolling motion down so he chose to run in his instead. 

5.  We are busy with last minute house decisions that seem to zap up all my time as you can tell by my lack of posts lately.  We are so anxious to get into our house already but still have at least a month or two until it is done.  This whole process has reminded me that I am not a patient person at all.  I had to pull out some of my old devotions from my infertility days to remind myself how to be patient.

6.  I think Ashton is finally potty trained.  Of course by saying this, he will probably have an accident today just to prove me wrong!  It has been a long haul but I am so proud of my big boy- he has done amazing considering how crazy our lives have been lately.  And I am happy to move into a new house and not worry about potty accidents all over my new carpet.

7.  Our last day at library time until summer- shark week. 

9. Ashton is such an old soul that I occasionally forget he is only two years old.   Lately though he has made it hard to forget.  The Terrific Two's have definitely begun for us.  "I can do it myself" is a phrase heard every three minutes.  It takes us 20 minutes to drive out of the driveway because he has to climb in the car, close the door and buckle himself in all by himself.  Did I mention before that I have no patience???  He is also experiencing the frustration of twos- he is happy one second then pitching a tantrum on the floor the next second.  Despite all these frustrating moments, I really do love two year olds.  They find so much fun in everything they do and it is such a great reminder for me to stop and have some fun sometimes.

10.  Blessing of the week:  My Seven Bible Study really has been a great experience and has opened my eyes to the life I was living and the life I want to live and teach my boys to live.  I am so thankful for the ladies that are walking down this road with me and the experiences that we are sharing together. 

Mother's Day

 

Happy Mother's Day to everyone lucky enough to be called mom. 

If  you are a mother to an angel in heaven, may peace fill your hearts today.

And if you are longing to one day be called mommy, may you find strength for your journey.

Thinking of you all today and praying for God to give you the desires of your heart. 

weekly ten

1. Mud. Everywhere.  I must get used to having mud everywhere.  Thinking I need an outdoor shower so I can wash my kids down before they come inside.

2.  Last week I noticed Grant asked me to turn up the volume on things a few more times than normal.  I asked him if his ears hurt and if he could hear and he said yes.  Monday he threw a fit to go to a church meeting and claimed his ear hurt.  I was skeptical since he has claimed illness before and then admitted he didn't tell the truth- he was fine.  I dialed up the dr and lo and behold the poor kid had a double ear infection.  Crazy how those things come up and surprise you.

3. I love the Scholastic books from school!  I am pretty sure I get more excited about new books than the boys do!

4.  Just a sampling of the donations heading for Africa's Child this week.  For my 7 Bible Study, we are purging 7 things from our lives each day.  I am a classic hoarder so this was a difficult project for me.  I purged way more items than I needed to get rid of, but it felt so good so I kept going.  Hoping to decrease the amount of boxes that get moved while also changing the way I look at stuff.  Up until now, I was consumed with wanting more and more and keeping up with family and friends when they got more and more.  Now, I am re-thinking the way I look at stuff.  Wearing new clothes and having fun shoes is not going to change who I am as a person so why do I feel that I constantly need new ones every season?  Not saying that I can't ever get anything new, but do I really need 10 pairs of jeans or will 5 do just fine?  I am learning that I have so much excess stuff and the desire to always want more and keep up with the Jones' is so against everything I claim to believe in.  So why do I do it?  Change is hard, but I know it is desperately needed in my life right now.

*just imagine a picture of a couple overflowing boxes of treasures being donated.  Technical difficulties :)*


5.  Have you told your moms that you love them today?  A friend of mine lost her mother unexpectedly and instead of sending flowers and cards, she requested everyone call their moms and tell them that they love them.  Quote from her eulogy...  So, you see, it's impossible for me to have regrets. I don't regret that I didn't call her one last time, or that we hadn't had lunch lately. Because everything that needed to be said has been said long ago. But I still told her all the time how much I loved her.  

What are you waiting for.... go do it right now.

6.  Ashton's new saying... "I guess".  Example.... "I just peed in my pants, I guess."  So funny to hear such a grown up saying to come out of my little guys mouth.

7. Anyone else have a child that still cries at preschool drop off a month before the school year ends?????   I had a breakdown at work the other day after dealing with Grant's 20 minute  fit as I dropped him off.  He loves school but apparently he told his teacher he doesn't like to leave his momma.  Ironic since he has no qualms about running into the babysitters house any other day with no tears.  I am at my wits end and am really tired of all the other moms giving me the "your kid is still crying???" look.  Any advice?

8.  The last month or so I have taken the boys to library time in our new town.  It has been such a blessing- Ms Ingrid is awesome and we have made so many new friends. 

9.  Grant and I decided it would be fun to write a book.  So, he drew a picture of an egg and then told me what to write around it- so funny.

The egg tooted and then it pooped.  (every good story from a 4 year old boy must start out this way, right?)  And then it went to breakfast.  After breakfast the egg went to play.  It went outside for a bike ride.  Then it went to the theater to see a movie.  And then the egg was tired so he went home to take a nap.  After dinner he went for another bike ride and then finally went to sleep for the night.  The End.


10.  Blessing of the week: pizza night with the fam.  Last Friday the four of us headed downtown for pizza and ice cream.  Seems like a normal night out, but with the busyness of the house and Jason starting his summer job, we haven't had many meals together lately. It was just nice to slow down for a couple hours and enjoy each others company.