Memory: the Hubs

I heard this song the other day in one of our many car trips this week. It reminded me of this memory:

I was in college in Michigan while the Hubs-to-be was in art school in Cincinnati. I had heard this amazing song by Steven Curtis Chapman and felt it absolutely needed to be shared. Now these were the days before you could send songs via email, online, etc. In fact, I remember going in the basement computer room of our dorm and just giggling at how crazy it was to get an instant response to a message sent from my long-distance Hubs-to-be.
So I dialed up the Hubs-to-be in a rare phone call (we tried to keep it to once a week for phone bill reasons...sigh). I told him that he NEEDED to hear this song, and that it was the most beautiful love song I'd ever heard. I might have even mentioned that it would great to play at a (our?!) wedding some day. Then I started the CD on my roommate's boom box and sat back. I held the phone close to the speaker so he could hear the same beautiful music that set images of our future going in my head. The tears flowed as I heard the words, "..You can cry on my shoulder, when the mirror tells us we're older.." as I pictured us as old folks wrapped in blankets viewing our family album full of children and grandchildren, memories and places we've been.
Soon, the song ended and I returned the phone to my ear, sniffling a bit I managed to say, "Isn't that the greatest song you've ever heard?"

"Umm...I really couldn't hear it for some reason, but I couldn't get your attention while the song was going on. "

Sniffling stops.

"Oh but honey, I DO know that song and YES it has great lyrics and I REALLY like it too!" the Hubs-to-be quickly recovered.

I look back at this memory as a time when I ached for the gentle arms of my future husband across the miles. I am so grateful that the Lord saw fit to bring us back together after times of long-distance phone calls and weekend visits. So now I just wait until he comes home to play him a song that holds meaning for me. Thank you, Lord.

Halloween 2007

Oh, boy did we have fun! The kids couldn't wait to put on their Halloween duds and head out!


We watched patiently for our first "customers" at the door.




And then the posing began! Our resident superhero was a serious purveyor of all things sweet and sugary. (don't you love his puffy chest...he gets that from his dad. hehe)





Our resident Princess "Presto" (that's what she named herself) was super cute and good to go for the tricks and treats this year. She was actually giddy as she ran from house to house! (I know...nice hair...darn tiaras!)



The littlest member of our costumed troop was the Chili Pepper. I think this is the only moment he was smiling in this costume. You'd think he'd be smiling like crazy, especially because I couldn't stop laughing at him once I put the hat on his cute little head! I guess he didn't like the fact that he couldn't move his legs freely (which if you know this little guy...super important component in the happiness category!) After I freed his legs and stuffed him into the stroller surrounded by blankets (it was pretty windy/chilly for our tromp around the neighborhood), he resembled an elf more than a pepper. Must be the hat.




All in all, it was a terrific day and the kids had a great time! And now, onward to the next holiday!

Owen Update: 6 months

Although our little guy is almost 6 1/2 months, here's his latest and greatest.

This guy is on the move! Yep, almost crawling, mostly just dragging his cubby little self across the floor toward fun playthings and other items he shouldn't have! We're just hoping that he's a "normal" crawler. Our other two found funky ways of crawling and the hope is that we didn't pass on some kind of defective crawling gene to all our little ones!

He's eating solid foods now! Let the mess begin! In one fell swoop this guy has quickly adjusted to veggies and fruits with his cereal and bottles. He still horks (my new favorite word) it down like there's no tomorrow, so no worries on if this one is healthy or not!

Owen is at that stage where he realizes that the sounds he makes get attention from the taller folk in the room. His grunts/whines/yanking can be quite the attention-getter, and he knows it! His charm is still quite powerful, and I often find myself just making him smile, because it's contagious!

My favorite thing that Owen does is playing with his hair. I remember when Josh was a baby and I would rock him to sleep on my shoulder. He would gently play with the hair on base of my neck. It was so sweet I'm pretty sure I held him longer than I needed to more than a few times. So now this little guy has found that he has hair on his head. He reaches to the crown of his head while he's nursing and just opens and closes his hands on the tufts of baby hair fuzz he's grown. It's adorable. Pretty sure he has no idea that the hair he's playing with belongs to him, but hey...baby steps. (eek, is that next?)

Ghosts of Halloween Past

Ok , the gauntlet was thrown down. I needed to post pictures of our Halloween Bash from last year. We had a total blast and hope to make it a every-other-year-thing. It was a great time and I was glad to see our friends letting loose for a night! So, for all those who wanted to see them... there's no hiding now....



Pam, I told you I had pictures!




This is my good friend Emily's main squeeze. Honestly, when he came to the door, I did not know who he was for a least 3 seconds! You can see them together here. Emily's costume is equally amazing!


Here are a few of our other good friends and their costumes.

Tiny Talk Tuesday

Here's a just one new one. I posted some others here recently, too.

Me: Awww, Ellie do have Josh's cough?
Ellie: No, it's mine.

Check out more at Mary's!

Overheard

Ellie: AHH! There's wind in my pants!
Me: That's ok, honey, it's just a windy day.
Ellie: NO! I don't want windy pants.
(Note to self: wind in the pants=fashion faux pas)

Ellie is jumping on the tile, doing some ballet-type move and hurts her toe. She begins to whimper. Owen is on the floor, looks up at her and starts to do his version of a laugh.
Ellie: Owen! It's NOT funny!
(awww)

Me: Hey Josh what are you guys doing in the basement?
Josh: Oh, Daddy's doing shots!
(just FYI - the Hubs was not imbibing on a smallish type drink, but practicing his archery shot for an upcoming hunting weekend)

I've found I have more quotes from Ellie lately, only because she is around more. With Josh being at school all day, I'm missing out on his daily thoughts. *sigh* Although, even if I did have some to share, I don't remember most of them...maybe it's because of this.

A touch of the crazyies

Our life has a touch of the crazyies lately. Unfortunately, I know that we are not the only ones. So many of those who I talk to, or read blog posts about, seem to be in the same boat. And it's a rocky boat.

At our Bible study group recently we discussed rain. We talked about how rain is like the troubles in our lives. God sends rain and it can be good, and it can be bad. Our discussions stemmed from a great video brought by one of our friends. (You can get more info about that here. )

Our life lately has had some continual rain. Not life-threatening or even life-altering, but just consistent. driving. rain. I've been hiding under an umbrella, trying to wait these things out, hoping it will get better or slower. And then I realized that in the midst of the rain, God sends bits of sunshine. If I don't peek out from under the umbrella...I miss them...

....The leaves are changing...beautiful fall colors...and Ellie is quite taken with the whole process. She is learning what colors to anticipate...although, I think she is still holding out for pink and purple ones.

....At Owen's baptism on Father's Day, our friends planned the worship service for us, picking out great songs and words to remember what a gift it is to be a part of God's kingdom. One of the songs was "Love the Lord", a praise song by Lincoln Brewster. (check it out here, click on the link to listen). This song is the Shema, one of the most important words from the Bible about how we should live as followers of Christ. It has quickly become one of our family's favorites. When it comes on the radio, the kids yell out, "Owen's baptism song!" I was recently reminded about these words importance while reading this book. It talked about how when we focus on passing a legacy onto our children, we need to focus on these important words from the Shema found in Matthew 22:36-40. I love that our kids have these words in their heads and hearts. Josh mentioned that he caught himself singing it as he walked the halls of his school the other day.

....Dealing with our budget is like the largest and longest rainstorm ever. It's been difficult making the necessary changes to our life to make it possible for me to be home part time. Although we know this is best, it still is a trial to have to work so hard at it. It goes against our very hard-to-ignore materialistic nature. But in the midst, I've peeked out from under the umbrella and seen...coupons/rebates on some of our more expensive essentials (formula, kitchen items)...relief on our electric bill for the same amount that we needed to pay extra for the sitter for a busy week at school...a freelance job for the Hubs to help pay for a plane ticket to see a dear cousin get married.

All these streaks of sunshine remind me to get out from under the umbrella, dance in the rain and keep my eyes open for evidence of how he draws us close when the storms hit the hardest. He's trying to speak to me in small ways, I just need to listen. I suppose if He had to hit me over the head with this, it wouldn't be faith...He's called us to that...Faith in the midst of the rain, even consistent. driving. rain.

If Memory Serves....

Mine does not. That is, my memory does not serve.

I am now firmly in the camp of those who believe that having children literally takes away brain cells.

My memory does not serve me any more...not even an appetizer or a small drink. I even had to write down the words "if memory serves" to remind me to write this post.

And besides that...what was I going to say next?

**interesting article on this here*

I Love CVS!

This is quickly becoming my favorite place to get those steals-of-a-deals that get my heart racing and my fingers dialing my equally frugal sister-in-law! This week, they had formula on sale for at least 3 dollars less than I normally pay. They also had some wipes that I needed. I decided to go there and stock up on these items because I knew I wouldn't be headed to my other favorite place, Costco, for a while. I had a $7 expired coupon for the formula which I was hoping they would take. But, I thought even if they don't I'm still paying $3 less than normal. I paid for the wipes separately so I could see what my quarterly earnings were from earlier purchases. I didn't have much (50 cents), but the bonus was that they printed out a $4 baby care coupon with that purchase. So, in the end I bought the wipes (on sale, with a coupon), and then, bought the formula (on sale, with my expired coupon, my quarter earnings, and the new coupon) for HALF PRICE! It was all I could do not to just run out of the store and begin the happy dance. (which is a sight to see...not recommended for children under 3, hehe). I actually felt like I was getting away with something naughty! Apparently this kind of thing happens all the time to my sister-in-law and we often regale in the glory of the deal. Honestly, I think they are actually paying HER to shop there. Although I am not up to par with her, I am so glad to have another frugal friend to share in the joys of one of my favorite games...the deal hunt.

Pumpkin Mania!

We ventured out on a perennial family fun day recently that ended in hay-filled shoes and smudgy smiles from all the fun! My whole family, mom, dad, brothers, sisters-in-law and the various kiddos visited a local pumpkin farm/petting zoo. It was a dreary day, but you wouldn't know it from the smiles on everyone's faces. Pony rides, giant slides, hay rides and train rides were just a few of the fun things we did. It was just good to get out and do something fun as a family! Hurray for Fall!