Having Fun Being Little

As I have said, we spent a week at Craig's parents'. I am going to take a few days to share some of my favorite photos.

Calvin had a lot of fun running around and playing in the field and woods beside his Big Grandma's home.

He learned to throw rocks in water with one of his little cousins.

Way Back When...

We recently spent a week up at Craig's parents' home. While we were there I went through the pictures on their computer and found these.

All three are pre-children and at least the first two are premarriage. It's fun to look back and see how young we looked. As I look at the face of "younger me", I can't help but say to her "little did you know 7 years later you would be married to Craig and have two children".

A lot has changed since then...

My Family: Part 3

This is my beautiful baby girl, Evelynn. I love her. She is a sassy little princess. I told my mom when I was pregnant with her that if she was a girl I was not going to make her all frilly. Big laugh. The first place I went after coming home from the hospital was out to buy her bows for her hair. And I think she has had a bow in her hair ever since.

Craig says he is already deciding what kind of gun to buy because of this one. She can be so sweet, but sassy too. And she KNOWS things. Things Calvin doesn't get even know. She knows how to draw an audience and keep them. She knows how to be bad and make you feel as if you should be giving her sympathy if she cries. She also knows how to cheer you up if you are down. The honey can light up any room, and make even the grumpiest people smile.

Evie loves to be at my ankles, trying to climb up my legs. She wants to do whatever Calvin is doing, which he hates (it starts). And she loves making faces with her Daddy.

I pray that she will grow up to be a great woman of God, and as faithful as I know she will be strong. I pray that she will not remember a day when she didn't love her Savior.

The Land of the Free, Because of the Brave

We are raising up prayers for all those serving our country in all branches of the military. Praying for the brave men and women that fight to keep our country free. True realization hit us when we found out one of the members of the team my brother is serving on was injured by a RPG on Sunday. We are praying for MSG Reed and his family. Also continuing to pray for Bobby and joining with his wife Candace in saying, "Wear your helmet."

Lilacs Outside My Window

Isn't this a wonderful sight to have right outside my window?! I look forward to this every year too!
I have to admit that I feel a little bad about it though. My parents planted the lilac bush when they lived here and I get to enjoy it every year. It makes me think of the passage in Ecclesiastes that talks about a man working and another reaping the benefits.

Although I am sure my parents would say it was worth it in order for their daughter and her family to get so much pleasure out of it. It is does bring a lot of pleasure. Few things bring me as much joy as smelling sweet lilac blossoms.

Cleveland Zoo

We went to the Cleveland Zoo this weekend with Craig's family. It was wonderful. The weather was beautiful and besides the whining children (mine) everything was perfect.

The zoo was set up more like a park than other zoos I have visited. You would walk down a paved trail to each of the exhibits, and the animals were so close. It wasn't immediately apparent that the animals were in pens, except for some of the more ferocious animals, but even the lion exhibit was up close and personal in my opinion. It was unbelievable.

I would highly recommend this zoo to anyone. We will be going back, there were things we didn't get to see because of whining children and raw nerves (again mine). The Cleveland Zoo caters to many tastes with: reasonably priced food, up close exhibits, an enjoyable walk, and wonderful landscaping (and labeled plants).

You'll have to bring your own chubbiness to kiss while waiting for the train ride though.

Craziness

This is my crazy man.

Running around like a crazy man...

through the magnolia petals.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

One of the things I look forward to every year is the blooming of our magnolia tree. It is such a simple thing, but it is so beautiful. It is quite a sight. The magnolia in our yard is a fairly large tree, really the biggest I've seen. Its blooms are also the darkest color I have seen.


We have had people stop in the street that runs alongside our house to take pictures of it. Just about every year I worry that the weather will get too warm too soon and the magnolia will bloom and then a frost will come and kill all the flowers. Yes, I really do worry about it.

Is there any simple yet beautiful thing you look forward to every year?

Too Many at a Time?

These are the books I'm reading. They look like a stack of books that would've been sitting around my house when I was younger, books my mother would've read. Actually I was telling my mom about one of them I found on my own and how I thought it was interesting, and she said she had read a book by the same author when I was younger. When I was young people used to tell me I was just like my dad, but as time goes by I find I am more and more like my mom. It is no way a bad thing, I always admired my mother's desire to learn and how she basically educated herself through her reading. I only hope I am going in that direction.

My Family: Part 2

This is Calvin. He is two and crazy. He is a lot of fun though, just look at that sweet face (but don't let it fool you). Calvin is a complicated little man. But I love him. For the most part at home he is playful and talkative until someone outside our nuclear family comes around, then he becomes quiet and grumpy. He growls or barks at people (and strange dogs, and squirrels, and birds) as well. Like I said he is crazy.

The kid loves anything "boy". Trains, cars, boats, airplanes, trucks, construction equipment, dirt and sand are some of his favorite things. He loves Lightening McQueen, Buzz Lightyear and Thomas the Tank Engine. He has just recently dicovered Bob the Builder and now speaks a little Spanish, thanks to Dora the Explorer. His vocabulary has actually grow expansively since he started watching Dora.

I am looking forward to seeing this little man grow. He may have inherited my antisocial personality (minus the growling and barking), but I see more and more of his Daddy in him every day. It will be a pleasure watching him grow up. I started praying that God would enter his heart and put a hedge around it as soon as I found out I was pregnant with him, and I still continue to do that. That is my only strong desire for my Mr. Man's life.

Easter 2010: He is Risen!

Easter is the day to celebrate the resurrection of Christ! He is so powerful death could not even hold Him! Now He lives and is continually interceding with the Father on our behalf. What love!

We did our Easter egg hunt outside this year. It was a lot fun watching Calvin run around the back yard saying "Where aye-g (egg)? There is!" over and over.

Remembering Good Firday

Today was a good Friday. We went to lunch, then a park, then the zoo and then to church. The sun was shining and it got up to 80 degrees today. I enjoyed it all. But even before all that was planned it was still the Good Friday. Remembering why this is Good Friday:

Sin entered the world when Adam and Eve disobeyed God. God requires perfect holiness. He is just and can not let sin go unpunished. The punishment for sin is death, eternal death in Hell. Before Christ, God instituted a covenant of works (sacrifices) that man relied on to make payment for sins. These sacrifices were not sufficient payment and God knew that. That is why He also gave a promise of a Savior. Jesus is the Savior. God sent His Son Jesus down to pay the price for our sins. He lived a perfect life, free from sin. And when He was crucified all our sins were put upon Him. All our sins were forgiven, past, present, and future. We were freed from the curse of sin and the punishment of death. This freedom was given to us by God's grace. Do's and don'ts have NO VALUE in our salvation. We can do nothing in order to earn our way into Heaven. Jesus paid the price. He is perfectly sufficient.

Making Progress and Having Fun

To all those who have been giving me old clothes in order for me to make rugs/quilts/etc., I just wanted to show you I actually am using them. This pile I cut in just a few hours thanks to my new rotary cutter. I love it in so many ways they can't be counted. These past few days have been unproductive in the area of house cleaning. We have been busy being artsy and crafty and enjoying the sunshine. Here are some more pictures to prove it:

Calvin painting his train. He also had a snake and a boat to paint, thank you JoAnn's.


Evie looking cute before a trip to the park!


A boy and his dog digging in the dirt.