Muddy Buddies.

 Once there were three little buddies, living in Arizona.
The older two were told stories of when they were tinys- of winters of snow and ice and cold...

but-
 it was all rather of hard to believe
on a February day
that was 75 degrees
and a yard full of dirt begged to be turned into mud.

So-

"su! su!" the littlest begged, running with silly baby steps to the drawer that held his swim trunks.

The bigs dressed themselves, bolting out the door.

Then pies were mixed and mud was thrown and really, really big sticks were dragged around by too-small boys

     until Daddy came home and it was time
for dinner and dark.



And that, my friends, is winter this year
     in the land of Arizona.

Thankful Thursday

Today, there is just one HUGE thankful on my mind...we have a house. It's been a long road of buy vs. rent, search & search, have rentals "go with someone else"...a very, very challenging season for Adam and I as a couple, but for me personally it challenged my ability to be what I consider a successful wife and mother in the midst of massive transition, with 95% of our belongings in storage for 4 months. And now? God has, once again, provided...in the nick of time :) Adam found the house on Craigsli*t Monday night, after a weekend away...went and saw it on Tuesday...put in an application and we were approved in 3 hours. So? Tomorrow we move. Again. But hopefully for the last time in awhile...because I'm still praying for and believing that God will continue to move mountains and Adam will get into the program the first time. Oh, and, by the way, his school is 1.5 miles away from the house, through neighborhoods. He can ride his bike there!! Kind of unheard of for the Phoenix area. Today, I am thankful in the midst of packing (again) and soothing 2 kiddos who are pretty much DONE with the whole moving thing. I am thankful that God works in His own timing, not mine; and that His plans always turn out better than mine would have-even if I struggle to trust in the in-between times. I am thankful for all I've learned about faith and what it means in this situation to live out the faith that I proclaim as my life-source.
And I'm thankful for a place to call "home", at least for awhile. And a settled place to bring this new baby home to.

Thankful Thursday

It's been..well...a ridiculously long time since I've done one of these posts. But, aside from the fact that it's Thanksgiving next week and Thankfulness (as well as pie!) is just on my mind...I find that, when I make the time to write down this little lists of thankfuls-I'm more thankful. More mindful of the blessings I'm surrounded with-no matter what the out word circumstances may be. And that's something that I know I need more of-as is the rest of the world, if the status updates on my Facebo*k are any indication. At first, it's a choice-choosing to see the good instead of the bad; choosing to find something to be thankful for in every situation. But soon it takes over and simply becomes a part of who you are-thankfulness. And who doesn't want to be that person, instead of the whiner next door? Ya know what I mean?? So. The revival of Thankful Thursdays...

..I'm thankful for washers and dryers. Can't imagine washing sheets for all our company this weekend, on top of our sheets, as well as doing so many loads of "my 22-month-old is potty training" laundry without them. Actually, I can...that's why I'm so thankful :)

...I'm thankful for Pinter*st. Not only is it a fantastic way to organize all the little things I'd like to try, but it's giving me some fantastic recipes and ideas I've already put into use!

...I'm thankful for family holiday visits. We get to spend the next week with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins...couldn't be more excited to see everyone! Unless, perhaps, I turned into my children.

...I'm thankful for new babies, and old friends to celebrate those new babies with. I have 2 cousins and 5 friends who are due within 2 months either way of me, and a cousin and a dear friend who have both given birth to sweet little dollies recently. So fun to grow up with these girls, and then have kiddos who will be within months of each other in age!

...I'm thankful for a husband who is not grossed out by anything medically or bodily-function related. And who happens to make great bread.

...I'm thankful for the energy of our two littles, and their love of being outside.

...I'm thankful that it's cooled down enough for us to actually enjoy being outside this month.

...I'm thankful for the way Small Son and B play together.

...I'm thankful for children who potty train early!

...I'm thankful for the surge of energy I've finally gotten this week! Makes the fact that I'm still throwing up much easier to deal with.

Thankful Thursday

Shhhh….do you hear that? It’s the sound of me relaxing. Completely, utterly, totally relaxing. By myself. Because, you see, my husband got me one of the best Christmas presents EVER…a trip (by myself) to go see one of my favorite people in the world (and her family….by myself) for about 3 ½ days. Did I mention I get to go BY MYSELF?? Please, don’t get me wrong—I love my family. I adore my husband; love being with him and the life we have. I love being the mama to my two sweet littles. Every mama knows, though, that sometimes---you just need a break. And my fantastic husband gave me just that. The gift of a break. Of time…. to relax, to enjoy being with a great friend, to talk and laugh and see what their life is like now that we live several thousand miles apart, instead of several hundred feet apart.
I gave Adam a trip like this to go see his good buddy for his birthday-and I was completely surprised Christmas morning to see he’d done the same for me! I don’t think words can express just how excited I am…although it’s all very surreal. I can’t even picture what it will be like to fly by myself (which I haven’t done since I was planning my wedding), to be without my kids for more than 12 hours…(that happened last summer, photographing weddings). I haven’t been gone from B overnight yet. I haven’t been away from my husband AND my son since a good friend’s wedding when I was 6 months pregnant with the little girlie. I have absolutely no idea what I’ll do with myself at the airport without little ones to keep track of or take to the bathroom…but I’m pretty sure it’ll involve a cup of coffee and a magazine. Doesn’t that sound wonderful?? Not to mention that on the other end will be a fantastic women I am blessed to call a true friend and her equally fantastic family. I have no doubt that at the end of my trip, I’ll be more than ready to see my little family again. But for now, I’m just planning on enjoying my gift of time. I am so thankful today for this opportunity…so thankful for one of the best Christmas presents ever. And, of course, I’ll be taking my camera.

lskdhlkhdflh :):):)

This is the text my little boy sent me this morning from his daddy's phone. or something close, anyways. I definitely remember the smileys, because I definitely remember thinking "how on earth did he figure out how to do that??".

I'm sorry we've been AWOL for awhile...let's just say we had, *ahem*, a visitor (nastily disgusting stomach flu) at our house for about 10 days....somehow my husband managed to avoid it (I'm almost ready to admit that there's really something to all the green tea he drinks...almost) but the kiddos and I all had it. I was hit the hardest, thank goodness, because I would never want my littles to feel like that-I called my mom in for the day because I could hardly get out of bed. SO thankful she's in town for times like that! And, you know, general grandbaby spoiling.

B's birthday party was fun...her birthday was fun...and now we officially have a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old :) and I'm remembering just how much I LOVE toddlerhood. Seriously--babyhood is sweet and cuddly and snuggly (and foggy); but I adore when my kiddos start walking and then running and playing games and talking more and more and, most importantly perhaps, sleeping really really well for more than a week at a time. I keep remembering all the fun things about Pax's toddler days; and I'm loving B's little personality emerging more each day. Each stage is seriously more fun than the last!

But all this growing-up has some serious thoughts floating around in my head about parenthood...and parenting...and being an adult...and accepting aging and life gracefully, joyfully, just plain fully! We've had some good discussions lately, that husband of mine and I...maybe someday soon I'll let you in on it. For now, let's just say we're grasping (probably for the millionth time) a bit more of what it means to parent our children WELL-the enormousness of it all. The forever-ness of it all. Or at least the until-they-get-married-ness of it. Not saying our kids are perfect (if you know them, you know they're simply human) or that we're perfect (if you know us, you know we're simply human, too) or that the way we parent is perfect (it isn't-and we also keep changing things about the way we parent as we get to know our kids' personalities). It's just a huge, beautiful responsibility we want to continue to dive into with joy, a little discipline, and a LOT of help from God.

Adam started a new semester today...the semester in which he will take his GRE and start applying for schools. Which is huge and so exciting and I'm totally stoked to go visit some potential new towns when he gets called for interviews (because, yes, I am praying that he WILL get interviews the first time around, and, more than that, that he'll get INTO a school the first time around). It also means once again re-adjusting our life for his schedule. I think we're getting pretty good at it :)

...my mind is going in eighty-five thousand different directions right now...once I get things sorted out I'll be back. For now-since it IS Thankful Thursday-I'll leave you with a few pictures of the ones I'm so very thankful for today.truly, my mom made last week so, so much easier on me..also, Blythe's party wouldn't have been nearly as pretty without her :)SO thankful I get to do life with this guy. He's pretty fantastic. Plus, I'm quite thankful that I WASN'T giving birth again yesterday!

Oh, and on my list of accomplishments for today? Working out HARD for the 4th day in a row (see ya, baby weight!) and "bandaging" a certain 1-year-old's cut finger with superglue. Pretty proud of that one, I gotta say :)

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful that, right now, there's a little guy sitting across the table from me saying, "hurry, Mama! We gotta feed the kitty some Crispix!!"....bet ya didn't know cats like cereal, did ya? They do here. Although, it's not actually a real cat, so I guess I don't really know if cats like cereal here or not.
I'm thankful the snot-factory has shut down production (at least for the time being)and we are all healthy(ish) again.
I'm thankful for a day of Christmas shopping & a fun breakfast with my love tomorrow morning. I'm even thankful that we're doing it tomorrow because he has to work Saturday-the thought of facing all those weekend-before-Christmas shoppers makes me shiver!
I'm thankful for two happy kiddos who are excited for Christmas...even though one of them keeps getting confused as to JUST WHOSE BIRTHDAY Christmas really is (to be cleared up once and for all, hopefully, when we sing "happy birthday" to Jesus and blow out the candles in our sticky buns Christmas morning-a little tradition we started last year); and the other hasn't the slightest idea why she's so excited...I might be mistaking her excitement over her new found abilities to climb all the stairs in our apartment and stand up by herself (both of which she discovered while Daddy was in France) for Christmas joy. Maybe.
I'm thankful for my husband's foresight in buying a cord of wood about a month ago-took me all day to move most of it from the yard outside our place into our little fenced-in patio, and he still had to finish up when he got home. But the fires all day every day when it's cold are so worth it! Our utility bill is happier, too :)
I'm thankful for the little girlie calling me now from her room, because, although my children get up waaaaaay to early, at least they slept all night! And I got a shower. That's pretty darn good for us, this week.
Happy Thursday Before Christmas! May your shopping be done and the cookies delicious.

Lovely Day.

What a sweet morning- got to have some mama + Pax time doin' some playing the river by our house...in the same place I used to play with my little friends as a kiddo. B stayed home with my mom-didn't realize how much I miss doing things like that with the buddy. So fun. We played and splashed and laughed and pretended to be ducks (he's 2..playing pretend is what we do!) and i didn't have to think once about where the baby was, or if she was ok, or finding her a toy if she got fussy. Just focused on my little son. He soaked it up. So did I..I know that time is essential, but as the baby gets older it gets harder to find. Gonna have to make more of an effort- Adam sometimes takes him to get a donut early Saturday mornings, just the two of them, but I realized today how important it is that he gets that "away" one-on-one time with me, too. And, if you're wondering (because I know EVERYONE is as interested as I am...) he's doing beautifully with the plug exchange. Actually, he's slept better the past 2 nights than he has the past 2 weeks-go figure! So glad that's over!! And, sorry, no pictures of us pretending to be ducks--for once I didn't have a camera with me. Just enjoyed our time.

thankful Thursday

It's summer!! hooray! and, seriously, summer HERE is so wonderful...The mountains are minutes away; big lakes are minutes away; there are 85,000 parks in town (ok, maybe not QUITE that many....but I've been to 5 fantastic, different ones in the past 2 weeks. Yup. It's cool!); there's a small outdoor pool that is seriously 5 minutes down the street if we walk at the little Dude's pace; there are tiny vegetables putting out roots in our container garden on the deck (which will be yummy IF they survive Dude's "watering" skills, which are about as gentle as a hurricane); and my kids are adorable in their summer clothes & barefoot. Love. It.
So very thankful to be HERE, RIGHT NOW...learning to savor each moment, because they are growing SO fast-and there's always time later to vacuum. Plus, if Dude helps me, he gets his own "monies" for a train he's saving for...but that's another story.
What are YOU thankful for today?

4 years, 4 months, 1 year...Thankful thursday

Thursday, May 20th, 2010...guess what I am thankful for?

4 years ago today, I married a pretty great (ok, really, really great!) guy. How would I describe my wedding day? Beautiful, love-filled, and so, so fun!! Adam and I were surrounded by so many great people who made our day special that we'd both do it again (to each other, of course!) in a heartbeat. We were completely non-traditional and spent quite a bit of time together that morning- a run to "our tree" to talk and pray at 7:30 that morning, then massages before getting ready-and we took 99.9% of our pictures before the ceremony. And I am so, so glad we did. We weren't rushed, I wasn't nervous, we just revelled in our wedding day, our God-given love for each other, and a fun party! I thank God for this relationship every day- the good days AND the bad. He's the only one for me- but I believe that is a daily choice we both make, to love each other, to continually pursue each other, to play together, to choose each other over and over again...to put God at the center of our marriage and our lives (a concept that we are still learning, of course-it's a life-long journey!). 2 kids and 4 years later, I truly love him more today than I did on the day we got married-which blows me away!

1 year ago today was a crazy day. It was our 3rd anniversary, our last night at theWELL (our youth group in D-town) before we moved, and, at about 10:30 that morning, I called Adam to ask him how he felt about "having a little January baby,". A complete surprise, in a very good way; my friend and preggo-buddy had told me just 2 days earlier that SHE was pregnant...I'd been so excited for her, then paused, laughed, and said, "wouldn't it be funny if I was pregnant again, too??" little did we know :) i can't believe it's been a year already since that exciting, crazy, and extremely emotional day...I still tear up when I think about that last night at youth group, and the love that was poured out on us by "our" kids and leaders at youth group. I miss them all!

4 months ago yesterday, our baby girl was born. Today, she's a happy, healthy, sweet little peanut...11 lbs, 22 1/2 inches long, giggling at her brother (who she's pretty sure is the funniest guy in the world), snuggling her daddy (who she's got wrapped around her tiny finger), cooing and smiling at me and completely melting my heart. She's sleeping SO well (9;45pm to 5:30-6:30am; then back to sleep usually until about 7:30am!), eats like a champ, and is so far living up to her name (which means joyful). We're so very blessed with 2 healthy kiddos, and we know it. I also thank God for the honor of being a mother every day-I know it's not something to be taken lightly. I also know there's no way I could do this without the things God is teaching me about being a mother; and the side-by-side parenting of my super-husband.

* side note:I just noticed this is my 100th post...kind crazy!

Better late than never!

Quick! It's Thursday for another 2 1/2 hours...what are you thankful for?? Today, I am immensely thankful for this lady...my cousin Janell. She may be 19 years older than me, but i know few 45-year-olds who are more genuinely youthful, fun, and cheerful; not to mention incredibly wise and discerning. We have a unique connection developed over the past 10 years; I trust her with my good stuff and my bad, and, more importantly, the lives of my children. I can't even begin to tell you how much fun we had (and talking we did!) over the past 10 days, or how much I miss her now. She came out to help me after both my babies; the best kind of help to have! Pax asked to pray for her tonight before bed. I think he misses her, too. Thanks, CJ--wish we lived 9 houses apart! Thank you, Lord, for family that turned into a wonderful friendship. Such an incredible blessing. While she was here, she also took a family picture for us-you know, so we can maybe get around to sending out birth announcement, now that girlie is 7 weeks old...

Thankful Thursday

God has taught me a lot about thankfulness and contentment this year...much more than I could put in this post. I've been through rough times in my life before; lots of hard, dark roads walked through with the Lord by my side has taught me to be faithful and grateful in many different circumstances. Contentment, however; rejoicing in any and all circumstances of life-that's been a bit harder. I'm still working on it, most definitely, but this past year has taught (and is teaching!) me much about being content and joyful in ALL circumstances. Nothing major has happened; no catastrophes, no disasters. Although our second pregnancy came as another surprise right in the middle of (another) huge life change, it was smooth, God used it to work miracles in my body, and our baby girl is here, happy, and healthy. We have a place to live, food to eat, and family to help us out. The stress has come from little things; Adam still not being able to find a job (and the guy has applied EVERYWHERE), trying to adjust to living with my very gracious parents after having our own home for 3 1/2 years, where things were done the way we wanted without a second thought; adjusting to Adam being back in school, trusting what God has told us when things look so different than we expected them to...lots of little things. We don't always understand why things are this way; we knew God told us to come here and start Adam's schooling, and just thought the rest would fall into place. It's been a bit of a desert time for me, a wilderness...but God creates pathways in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. I hold to that promise, and am beginning to see it in my heart, if not in our circumstances. With that in mind- there is so very much I am continually thankful for today....
...a God who is ALWAYS faithful.
...a husband who is a strong leader for our family, friend of my heart, adored father, and constantly thoughtful.
...healthy, happy children.
...gracious parents who give us a place to live, love, and support.
...breakthroughs in my heart.
...a little girl who slept 6 HOURS last night (just can't get over it!!)
...my cousin coming to visit for 10 days next week! we may be 19 years apart in age, but God knit our hearts together when i was a teenager, and I am so very thankful for her.
...God's continual, out-of-the-blue provision in our live. He is so faithful!
...my boy's joyful spirit...and his ability to go on the potty! Bu-bye, diapers! (at least for the big 'un :)
...that I am starting to feel like "myself" again. Excited for the vision God is giving me!

Thankful

no, it's not Thursday...I may have an almost 3-week old, but I DO know what day of the week it is (usually). Just wanted to take a minute to say how very thankful I am for this guy.

Life has been one big, crazy curve ball since we were married 3 1/2 years ago...but I wouldn't change it for a "normal" life for one second. Life is one huge unknown right now...what will happen next week, next month, next year...how we'll make it financially and as a family (thankfully God has it all under control and, once again, we don't have to know the "how"). I'm so thankful for what a dedicated follower of Christ, husband, and father Adam is. I'm blessed to know that those are his focus and top priorities, no matter what...and to see every day how much he loves me in the way he fathers our kids, takes charge of poopy diapers, rocks our baby girl, wrestles our little boy, and makes sure I know he loves me in a million other little ways. so thankful for you, my love.

thankful Thursday

Forgot that today WAS Thursday until I got on and saw some other posts..then I thought about skipping it this week. But nope, gonna tell you what I'm thankful for!

...my husband's time off of school. SUCH a blessing to have him around to help out this tired mama at the end of my pregnancy!
...my super-silly, super-busy, super-fun 2 year old. WHO STAYED DRY AND USED THE POTTY ALL DAY TODAY!!! (except for to poop. but i'm ok with that...we'll get there!!)
...the fact that, although I don't have a new baby in my arms yet, I'm over 38 weeks pregnant, able to carry a healthy baby to full-term, and already starting to dilate and efface. Even if I do feel like I'm walking with a bowling ball between my legs, I'm so thankful for the progress made BEFORE I go into labor!
...Naps.
...a fun wedding to plan and dream about the photography for this spring, and chances of more to come...takes my mind off Baby Girl coming. or not coming, as the case may be.
...a warm house in sub-zero weather.
...peppermint hot chocolate made with my very own St*rbuck* peppermint syrup...a giant bottle of it, courtesy of my wonderful husband :)

Thankful Thursday

Oh, happy day!! It's Thursday...not only Thursday, but the last day of Adam's finals for the semester, which means he (we!) can just enjoy the upcoming week...#1 on my thankful list for today! I'm also thankful for...
...being 35 weeks pregnant. As exhausting as it is to be this pregnant during the holidays; she's almost here!! Can't wait to meet our baby girl :)
...free hospital tours. New town, new hospital to give birth in...we get a tour tonight to see what the floor is like! And to pre-register, so we don't have to deal with that on D-Day :)
...for my nephew, Ayden. He's coming in on Saturday for a couple of weeks...it's always so fun to see him, and he and Pax have fun together, despite the age difference!
...the ability to take this holiday season nice and easy. I loved the fun, crazy-busyness of being on staff at a small church during the past 3 Christmases; but I know I would NOT have handled it so well this pregnant. We've had such a mellow season so far; it's made it easier to not put so much pressure on myself to do EVERYTHING we usually do for the holidays.
...for having a toddler during this time of year. Everything- Christmas lights, songs, singing "Happy Birthday" to baby Jesus, even Santa Claus and wrapping presents...so fun with a little guy who's discovering his world and excited about EVERYTHING!!
...a wonderful, thoughtful, patient husband. Who, by the way, gives THE BEST massages :)
...God's provison in our lives. Always. wonderful. I am amazed at the way He's providing for us- and making my dreams come true at the same time

Thankful Thursdays

Today, as every day, there is so much for me to be thankful for...i'm thankful

...for Ft.Collins' awsome, awsome parks!
...for my little son sleeping until 7:30 on Adam's day off (I LOVE this!! Even though I still got up about the same time, it makes such a difference when you choose to get up yourself instead of because a little voice is calling, "MAMA! want MILK!")
...for 2 cars that work wonderfully; mostly because of the blood, sweat and tears that Adam and my dad have put into one of them.
...for ice water. Can't drink enough of it these days- no wonder I pee ALL THE TIME!
...for a sweet little boy who is oh-so-snuggly in the mornings and after naps.
...for my dedicated, hardworking husband who as we speak is studying like crazy for another Chemistry test tonight.
...for Thanksgiving break, which for us begins in less than 24 hours!
...for heating pads and pilates, which are making it possible for me to walk (ok, waddle) during these last few weeks of pregnancy :).
...that each kick, stretch, and jab means there is a healthy baby girl growing bigger and healthier each day inside me.
...that I am 31 weeks pregnant today. 9 weeks! single-digit countdown begins!!

Thankful Thursday

It' s been a loooooong time since I've done one of these posts...mostly because Adam has no classes on Thursdays, and it's become our family day. So we're usually pretty busy doing something....but today, Pax is napping, Adam is cleaning leaves out of our elderly neighbor's gutters, and I have so much to do but, instead, am taking a few minutes to update some of my blog and thinking about what I'm thankful for.
I'm thankful for....

...the ultimate control God has over my life. I have dreams and plans, but God is the one who opens the doors and makes things happen. And I am so thankful I can give Him the control over it all.
...music. A beautiful gift.
...the worship ministry I've gotten involved in here. It's a big church, so the way things are run are VERY different, but the worship pastor has a great heart for worship AND pastoring, and God's thrown me back into the thick of it. Excited to see what's in store!
...for the tiny girlie growing beneath my heart. She was dancing during worship practice the other night, just like Pax did when I did the same thing while pregnant with him. It makes all the other not-so-fun parts of pregnancy worth it.
...for my husband. So incredibly supportive, so incredibly strong, so incredibly inspiring to me.
...my strong-willed 2 year old. I CHOOSE to be thankful for his strong will, even when he's using it to defy me. We're both learning.
...for hugs, snuggles, and kisses.
...for the stash of Reese's cups in my drawer, provided by my hubby on my birthday.
...for a roof over our heads, heat, light, and indoor plumbing.
Now you know what I'm thankful for today...how about you??

Thankful Thursday

it's been....awhile since I've found the time to post on a Thursday! I have so much I am thankful for...just no time to tell all of you about it :) But tonight, since my bro is making dinner (pizza!), my husband and dad are entertaining little boys, and I have a free moment...ta da! The return of Thankful Thursdays!
...I am so thankful for my camera. It's fun, it lets me do cool things, and now God is using it to provide a little for our family...a literal dream-come-true!

....for the blessing-in-disguise of Adam not finding work yet. We get to go out to California for a week to see family, and hopefully the Waters family, too!

....for cars with air-conditioning. Makes the 7 hour drive to Durango tommorow MUCH more appealing :)

...For my nephew, Ayden, and the chance to have him visit for 2 weeks. We don't get to see him enough...and Pax ADORES his big-boy cousin! they've had soooo much fun together!

...for cool, free, kiddo waterparks. They're everywhere up here, and did I mention they're FREE?? hours of fun on hot days!

....Just had to add this picture. Yes, that's my son, asleep under a picnic table. He fell asleep in the car and stayed this way for at least an hour...for those of you who know my son and his sleeping habits, yes, we were shocked. Adam actually looked at him after I put him down and asked, "Where's our kid?"

...for God's constant provision in our lives. I love it...it never looks like we think it will, but it always shows up!

Thankful Thursday...it's "allll done!"

The bottle, that is. After the 2nd morning, no fits...after the 3rd day (and a new sippy cup), went back to drinking milk regularly. Woohoo! I was a little afraid...and expecting MUCH more of a battle. This kid has a will of his own, and does EVERYTHING in his own timing. I've tried several times to get him to give up the bottle, which resulted in a milk strike, which is not good when your kiddo has only made it onto the growth charts for weight in the past 2 months..Lucky for me, his timing and mine coincided for once!! SO we had a little celebration while we were up in Ft. Fun last weekend...it was his reward for drinking milk out of his sippy (ok yes, we bribed him a bit, but it WORKED!) pool time with mom and dad and ice cream afterwards. Unfortunately didn't get pictures of the ice cream, but Grammy did get some of him learning to "surf" on the kickboard! Super fun slide with Daddy!

"surfing" on the kickboard..he thought this was pretty much the coolest thing he'd ever done!

this is at a random little playground in Saguache on the way up to Ft. Collins...we all needed a break! You can see Adam's face in the hole.

Thankful Thursday

I havn't had access to internet until the past couple of days..it's amazing how much blogging you miss in 2 weeks! So, today I am thankful for:

-the internet. I know that it can be addictive; but it's also a great way to stay connected with everyone!

-for blogs. I just am. I know it's silly...but I love reading them!!

-for little Chloe Warren, born early and healthy on April 7th. Kari (her mom) and I have known each other from preschool dress-up days to high-school band geeks and beyond...so fun to see her with her beautiful little girl!

-for all-natural cough syrup and nose squirt for little guys. Allergies are rockin' at our house this year!

-for my husband..all the daily, little ways he shows his love for me and our son.

-for Nicole, the amazing packing guru. She came over Tuesday to help me get started (Tuesday is turning into my "packing day" each week...one day a week, I can handle. A week or two of straight packing...I might go crazy.) and was SO MUCH HELP!! Plus, her sweet, calm, good-natured attitude didn't make it feel like work...we just hung out, packed boxes, and talked while the boys played in the boxes and everywhere else.

-how God created our bodies to heal so quickly...I dropped the diaper pail on Pax's nose about a week ago (no, not on purpose...yes, I was horrified...so was he!!).

-that Pax is taking a random morning nap-which gives me time to blog (although there is that laundry that needs to be folded....) :)