This and That

"Mommy, I think giraffe needs a bath.  I will wash him".

 

Sick Day.  We have had a couple sick days this week.  One day all Noah wanted to do was snuggle on the grandpa blanket with mommy and doggies.  So, that’s what we did!

 

My wonderful friend Bridgett left me fresh picked strawberries on my doorstep!!  Thanks Bridgett for making my day!!

 

Our little Buckeye practicing his "O,H,I,O" cheer!  He’s getting pretty good!

Watch the arms for the letters…..O-H-I-O

 

Last night we had a family fun night out.  We had some yummy mexican for dinner, then rode the trolley, and watched the train…then daddy and Noah went through the fountain!

 

Summer in Ohio=Sweet Corn!!  I can’t get enough!!!  Here’s lunch yesterday!

 

My sweet boy this morning.  He’s not feeling too great…so he wanted to lay with his giraffe and a flower from our garden!

Farm Chores Day

Today Noah and I visited Stratford Ecological Center for Farm Chores Day!  We did this last year and loved it, so we signed up again for this year.  Noah was so excited on the drive there (it’s a bit of a drive from our house, about 40 minutes) he kept asking if we were there yet.  As we drove up the long forest driveway he said "this forest is beautiful". 

 

Ready for farm chores!

 

Mmmmmm, fresh eggs!

 

As we walked into the barn to start feeding the animals Noah’s little heart was beating a mile a minute as he saw the baby kittens!  He loves cats, especially kittens.  That was it for our farm chores, all he wanted to do the rest of the morning was hug and hold the baby kitty.  It was so sweet.  He was very gentle and gave the kitty lots of kisses, at one point the kitten actually fell asleep in Noah’s arms.  Sadly, when we had to leave the farm Noah was heartbroken and cried all the way home (yep, 40 mins!) that he wanted "his kitty".  I tried to explain that we had to leave the kitties with their mommy and he said "no mommy, kitty needs Noah".

 

I did manage to drag him away (literally kicking and crying) from the kitty to see some other animals!  He enjoyed seeing all the babies on the farm!  They had baby chicks, lambs, calfs, and baby goats.

 

I loved this!  They were getting ready to let the kids milk the goat and all the cats came running!  They sit and wait for the milk to be served.  The farm can’t sell the goats milk since they aren’t a certified dairy farm, so they use it to supplement the other animals diets.

Message from dad….

Let me first say, if you don’t know, my dad’s name is Paul.

 

Today Gary, Noah and I decided to go on a bike ride.  We were headed to Inniswood park for a picnic, but just as we were getting close Noah decided he wanted to go to another park instead.  We were riding our bikes so it was easy to change our bike ride and head to the other park instead.  We got the the park and had a picnic, then Noah played for a little bit.  We saw in the distance that a bunch of kids baseball games were about to begin on several fields at the park.  Noah wanted to go watch so we went over to the fields.  There were about 6 different fields with teams at each field.  We didn’t know anyone there, so we just picked a random field and game to watch.  We all sat under a tree right behind the dugout to watch some little league. 

 

As the team came into the dugout for the beginning of the game, I couldn’t believe what I saw.  There were several men helping out on the team, and each had a team shirt, but only one of the men had his name on the back.  When he turned around I pointed it out to Gary and smiled. The man’s shirt said "Coach Paul".  Unbelievable.  Some may see this as some randome coincidence, but I just know it’s a message from my dad saying "don’t forget, I am always around you".  I just couldn’t believe that on a random day, during an impromptu bike ride, as this particular park, at this particular time, that we picked a random team to watch….and the coaches name happens to be "Paul" AND it’s printed on his shirt??  Nope, not a coincidence. 

 

Thanks Dad for the message.  Thank you for always being around.  Thank you God for allowing my dad to continue to touch my heart.   I miss you and love you dad.

Auntie Dawn’s Graduation!

Gary’s sister, Auntie Dawn, graduated today from Seminary.  She graduated with a Master of Divinity after a long road and a lot of hard work…..not to mention juggling motherhood, being a wife, internship, and tons of school work!  We were so excited to share this day with her and are so proud of her!  God blessed us with a beautiful day (it was forcasted to rain) and the sun came out during graduation.  It was a wonderful day to celebrate Aunt Dawn. 

 

Noah’s two favorite men!  Grandpa and daddy!

 

After graduation we all went to lunch (by "we all" I mean Gary, me, Noah, Grandma, Grandpa, and some of John’s family).  Dawn got to open her gifts and I made her a special cupcake bouquet.

 

First Veggies!

I picked my first veggies from my garden!  I had some beautiful Cilantro, lettuce, spinach, and radishes!

 

I made a salad for Gary for dinner…..I told him that you won’t get a fresher salad than this!!

 

The Butt Book

Tonight Gary and I went to the library to load up on some new books.  Usually Gary and Noah go do some fun stuff…puzzles, puppet show, and stuff like that.  Meanwhile, I look through books to find some good ones for Noah.  Our library has recently gotten a bunch of new books and they have them shelved together, so I look there first.  I found this book tonight called "The Butt Book" and read it.  I actually was laughing outloud.  We won’t be reading it to Noah for fear of hearing the word "butt" over and over and over….but I did check it out because I just had to share it.  Enjoy!

 

 

Eyes and ears are much respected, but the the butt has been neglected.

 

We hope to change that here and now.  Would the butt please take a bow?

 

Buttocks is the formal name – and no two buttocks are the same.

 

Butts can come in every size.  Some will droop and others rise.

 

There are countless shapes of butts; one may be flat, another juts.

 

Butts are found across the Earth.  We have them from the day of birth.

 

Some names for butts have foreign flair; tuchas, keister, derriere!

 

In England, where they call moms "mums", people call their buttocks "bums".

 

Butts have cheeks just like our faces, though they’re found in different places.

 

Fanny, bottom, heinie, rear – butts, oh butts are back my dear!

 

Even mummies like King Tut have a well-worn well-wrapped butt.

 

Lots of creatures have behinds.  There are just so many kinds!

 

Elephants have mights ones, while hippos have untidy ones.

 

Giraffe butts are supremely tall, but mouse butts are extremely small.

 

Best in show or just plain mutt, every doggy has a butt.

 

Patches found on baboon rumps help them when they sit on stumps.

 

On their butts, skunks have a gland that sprays a stink no once can stand.

 

White on black or black on whie, the zebra’s butt is out of sight!

 

A leopard’s butt is sleek and spotted.  Some fish behinds are polka-dotted!

 

Snake behinds just don’t exist – something no snake has ever missed.

 

An Eagle’s butt soars high above, a teddy bear’s is filled with love.

 

Why do we have butts?  Perchance, a place to place our underpants?

 

Butts are vital body parts, important as our heads or hearts.

 

Our rumps provide a built-in chair we carry with us everywhere.

 

When dancing you can shake your booty.  Shake, shake, shake you little cutie.

 

Some exercise their butts with zeal in hopes of having buns of steel.

 

Without your butt you’re incomplete.  You could not use the toilet seat.

 

Without your butt, you could not ride your shiny, brand-new bike outside.

 

You could not sit upon a swing, a seesaw, or most anything!

 

So respect your butt and listen folks.  It must not be the butt of jokes.

 

Bottoms up!  Hip, hip, horray!  Our useful butts are here to stay!

 

Don’t undercut your butt, my friend.  Your butt will thank you in…..The End.

 

 

Lake Hope Camping

We had a wonderful "first of the season" camping trip this past weekend.  We went to Lake Hope which is about 2 hours from our house.  It was our first time camping there and it was a beautiful park.  We had beautiful weather…a bright sunny day for a nice bike ride.  The best part of the trip?  Spending time with my two favorite boys and enjoying time away from schedules, cleaning, laundry, and "business".  Camping is such a great time to sit back and enjoy your surroundings and thank God for the beauty he has blessed us with. 

 

Our campsite!

 

All set up and ready for a nap!  I brought along my dad’s big bed blanket and smiled knowing dad was camping with us and keeping me warm!  Dad loved camping so much!

 

Noah was such a big helper!  He helped with dinner, making fires, collecting sticks, and of course keeping daddy entertained with some digging and stick fighting!

 

We went for a nice walk around the campground the first night and Noah’s favorite things on the walk were the baby lab puppy and the water fountain!

 

I made some yummy fajitas the first night, they turned out really good!  Then a tried a new recipe for dessert for the boys (I was so good on my diet I didn’t even have ONE roasted marshmellow!)  I made Smores pie.  I used the pie irons for these using biscuit mix for the pie crust, then filled it with chocolate and marshmellows.

 

We did TONS of reading with Noah.  That’s what we really love about camping….the down time to just sit and relax and read to Noah’s hearts content!

 

Our first day there we went for a great bike ride and we passed over an old bridge that reminded me of my dad!  He loved old iron bridges.  We saw a turtle on the path and stopped to say hello.  Noah was being a silly backseat driver!

 

After our bike ride we surprised Noah with a train ride!  It’s an old historic train that makes about an hour out and back trip.  We took Noah on it last year and he fell asleep within 5 minutes of the ride….so this year we tried it again…..he stayed away for about 15 minutes then he was out again!  The combination of the rocking of the train, the wind, and the noise puts him right to sleep.  I found myself nodding off at times too!

 

We went to go see this historical Iron Furnace.  I thought it looked like some sort of Aztec ruin!  It is huge and made of these enormous rocks formed into "brick" shape.  I learned that furnaces such as this one used to be used to make high grade iron and really flourished during the Civil War as they needed iron for munitions.

 

They had an amazing nature center at our campground.  We went for a visit and Noah really enjoyed the snapping turtle in the aquarium.  You can see in the picture the snapping turtle with his head stretched out trying to get he worms the naturalist was feeding him. 

 

The hike to find beavers!  The naturalist told us where to find beaver dams so we headed out to see for ourselves.  We found a huge beaver dam and saw at least 2 beavers swimming in Lake Hope.  It was a beautiful night!  I love the picture of Noah and daddy down by the water.

 

 

I found this on our hike and have no idea what it is but I thought it was beautiful!  Anyone know what it is?

 

What would camping be without ooey gooey marshmellow goodness?  I toasted Noah’s marshmellows for him…we are still a little to scared to let him near the fire.  He loves the taste but doesn’t like the sticky fingers that go along with it!

 

Back home with Grandma and Grandpa!  Noah was so excited to get home and see grandma and grandpa.  They stayed here watching our doggies….not to mention drove the camper down for us and took it back hom (we have to keep it at their house since we don’t have room).  Thank you Grandma and Grandpa!!  We love you!

Goodbye to Dad’s House

I have been very emotional as this day has been approaching.  Closing day for dad’s house.  I don’t really know why it’s so emotional, especially since I honestly can’t imagine stepping foot in the house again, it’s just a sense of sadness I have about saying goodbye to the house for good.  It was especially painful for me to watch dad’s garage being cleaned out.  Dad’s garage contained his most beloved items…his welder, tools, saws, railroad memorys, box building materials, Christmas cutouts that he and Michael made together, photo’s of family…I could go on and on.  Every since I can remember dad has had hundreds of tools and gadgets.  You need something…dad would have it…and probably had several!  I am so happy that dad’s best friends, Mike and Steve, took what they wanted of dad’s things.  Dad would be so happy.  Michael and my sister also ended up with some of the items.  It made me weep looking at the pictures of dad’s welder being loaded up on Mike’s truck, with his welding jacket still hanging on it.  I miss you dad so much. 

 

Today we are saying goodbye to a house that holds very dear memories of dad.  So many wonderful memories….

 

-We held dad’s 50th surprise party in this house

– Hanging out and BBQing in the backyard

– Watching football and Nascar on dad’s big ol’ TV

– Dad letting us sleep in his bed when we visited from Ohio

– Dad letting me have Pampered Chef parties at his house

– Decorating dad’s garage for Halloween and scaring kids!

– Finding anything you need in the garage!

– Watching the incredible changes dad made to his house

– The beautiful patio and pond dad built by hand

– My sister lived in this house when Jordan was a baby

– Spending dad’s last good days together on his couch

– Seeing dad’s homemade Peanuts characters on his roof at Christmas

– Bringing dad home after his brain surgery and watching him walk in by himself in the front door

– Dad’s wonderful friends daily visits

– The sound of dad’s pond

– The final prayer circle around my dad as he was dying

– Grandkids playing all around grandpa as he watched golf

– The smell of fuel and sawdust in the garage

– Dad’s crazy awesome alarm system he was so excited about

– Dad’s homemade welded front door and mailbox

– The sound of dad’s saw as he built boxes in the garage

 

We are also saying goodbye to horrible memories in this house…..

 

– Watching dad deteriorate right in front of our eyes

– Dad sitting on his couch unable to see the TV due to the brain tumor damage to his eye

– Watching dad fumble with the remote control unable to recognize the numbers

– Seeing a wheelchair, hospital bed, and oxygen machine arrive at the house

– Watching hospice nurses explain to dad that he’s dying

– Making dad nutrition shakes since he wouldn’t eat anymore

– Sitting in dad’s office and listening to him cry as he explained to me his last wishes

– Standing at dad’s bedside and hearing his last breaths

– Watching the funeral home people wheel dad out of his house after he died

– Dad’s American flag flying at half staff after he died

– The emptiness of dad’s house the day after he died

– Sitting in the living room knowing my dad was dead in the next room…waiting for the hospice nurse to come

– Gathering around dad’s bedside as the hospice nurse pronounced him dead

– Watching firefighters move my dad from his bed to the hospital bed

– Watching a firetruck and ambulance pull up to dad’s house

– Opening dad’s fridge to find….a huge bottle of Morphine and lots of other drugs to keep him out of pain

 

I will miss walking up to dad’s beautifully handmade front gate and being "buzzed in"

 

I will miss seeing dad and Micheal’s handmade Peanuts characters on his roof at Christmas!

 

I will really miss dad’s garage and the sound of the saw, the smell of sawdust, and finding anything I could ever need!

 

My brother Michael, and my sister Erica on their last visit to dad’s house, and my sisters girls saying goodbye to grandpa’s house

 

 

I will miss dad’s beautiful patio and pond that he built himself!  I loved showing off his pond to everyone that came over!  My dad was the most talented person I have ever met!

 

 

 

This and That

I have a bunch of random stuff to share.  I’ve had tons of people asking me what I eat to lose weight.  Here is my biggest tip for those of you trying to lose weight.  For lunch and dinner I try and fill 2/3 of my plate with veggies, then save the last 1/3 for fish or chicken.  That way I am satisfied, getting tons of food, and not eating a lot of calories.  Here’s an example from yesterday’s lunch….I will have this first, then if I’m still hungry I will have something else.  This usually fills me up though!  YUM!  Another tip, I cook my Asparagus in a little soy sauce and Pam spray and it is DELICIOUS!

 

Look at Noah’s new overalls!  So cute!  Only $5 at the resale store for the entire outfit (shirt AND overalls).

 

Loving on his Daisy dog.  He loves his doggies!

 

I was getting all the camping gear out and Noah found the cooking pans….and turned them into a fantastic drum!

 

Watching the rain!

 

This morning I said, "Noah what do you want for breakfast".  He said "pancakes mommy…..No, I want hotdog and macaroni."  Breakfast of champions.

Mother’s Day

It was a wonderful Mother’s Day in our house!  All week I have been getting adorable crafty gifts from Noah (he made them in the playroom at the gym) and then today at church he planted a flower for me and made a very special card.  This morning I cooked my favorite boys some pancakes (Noah’s favorite breakfast) and then got to open my gifts from Noah!!  The card Noah got me was my favorite, when you open it you hear his voice saying "Happy Mother’s Day mommy, I love you".  Adorable.  Then I got to open all the special "mommy and me" books that he got for us to read together.  We have already read each of them several times today!  Daddy got me a wonderful gift….15 massages!  WOOHOO!  We went to church and heard a fantastic sermon, then headed to Panera for some lunch. Yum.  Then Noah blessed me with possibly the best Mother’s Day gift ever….a 3 hour nap!  While Noah and I were napping, Gary did laundry, mowed the grass, and did dishes.  Love you sweetie!  It was the perfect Mother’s Day.

 

Making pancakes early this morning!  My "night shirt" is one of my dad’s shirts.

 

My presents from Noah….including homemade wrapping paper!  Plus, all the wonderful crafty gifts he made this week.

 

The flower Noah planted at church….then we planted it in our garden in front of our house.

 

Mommy and her sweet boy!

 

Noah’s "pear smile" at dinner tonight.

 

We can’t forget my FIRST babies!

 

I found this cute "Mater" picture for $2.00 and put it up on Noah’s bedroom wall tonight.  So cute!