Anyone in for tomorrow night?

Tomorrow night is when Leanne Gordon is coming to speak on family health. Is anyone else interested in carpooling? We are going be meeting around 6pm or 615 to drive together. I'm excited because I have been very impressed with the quality of speakers I have heard from Juice Plus in the past. If you are interested in going, please let me know today so we don't leave you behind! It starts at 7pm and it's free.

Lessons from the Garden

We planted our first garden this year and we really didn't have much of an idea what we were doing. So, for your future knowledge here are the lessons so far. Enjoy and we can try to remember in the future together!

Lesson #1: Things really do grow from seed so there is no need to plant the seeds 10 per square inch. It will only create lots of thinning.

Lesson #2: Put down a weed pre-emergent before weeds become a large problem and your back aches from the hoe. Because as much as I really do like working in the garden my pregnant back does not.

Lesson #3: Rabbits, birds or something with a large appetite will eat your broccoli and beats so figure out something before they strike!

Lesson #4: Pick the only one remaining broccoli head before it blooms. (Very pretty yellow flowers I might add, but totally inedible.)

Lesson #5: Broccoli plant starters are 1.25 and only yield one head. Paula has broccoli cheaper than this and I don't have the upkeep!

Lesson #6: Kids love to dig in the garden and if left unattended the three year old may be tempted to help by picking all those pesky squash "weeds". :-)

Lesson #7: Always let my kids help pick the radishes, it's precious... enough said. :-)

Lesson #8: One year olds aren't the most helpful creatures in the garden but might be the cutest. :-)

Dr. Odom OB/GYN ~~OR ~~ Leanne Gordon

Dr. Odom is a OB/GYN who is supposed to be excellent and is coming to speak on health during pregnancy. It's titled "You are what your mama ate". It is Thursday July 10th at 7pm and Kara and I are planning to load a van of large and in charge pregnant ladies to go listen and learn! :-) It is free and I'll be paying for gas so don't let that stop anyone. If we want we could make a night of it and go out for dinner first but that would require all of us having the same craving together. :-) So, tell your pregnant friends and let me know who is interested, even if you're a maybe!

New baby picture to inspire us! :-)

Here is the information on Leanne Gordon: She is going to be speaking on family health and she also comes very highly recommended to me. If I could figure out how to copy the flier I received it would make this a lot better but... no luck. She will be speaking this Tuesday evening the 1st at 7pm and there is no cost. These are both sponsored by Juice Plus, a fruit and veggie pill that we take and love. Let me know who is interested, I'll be going if there is only one other who would like to, I have a babysitter already signed up (bless my husband) so don't be shy and it's open to all!!!

Wright Patterson Air Force Museum

We went to the Air Force Museum today and had a great time! I highly recommend this for anyone. Our kids did great because there is so much to look at and a new smaller room with hands on things at the end. (Plus, it's air conditioned if you go on a hot summer day and it's free!) John Patrick walked around for 3 1/2 hours which I was so surprised by. At the end he was looking very tired so we tried to force him into the stroller with Dora and then found out that he was afraid of the "bad guys" that he had been seeing in the pictures (just other airplanes but I was explaining how our soldiers were so brave to protect us from the bad guys...oops.) and for some reason he felt safer if he was out of the stroller and able to keep an eye on it all!

I have sooo many good pictures but I picked just a few. :-)

JP with "the mean one".
John and Buster walking through a cargo plane.
Dora's favorite exhibit- "vittles" the puppy who recorded about 2,000 hours in a plane with his owner flying in the Berlin air raids!
Astronaut John Patrick ready for lift off.
Dora, thrilled to be out of the stroller!!!!

John Patrick's logic

Saturday morning when John Patrick wanted juice before anyone else had even opened their eyes he definitely did not want me to get Dora out of bed and delay the juice any longer, so, when I said we were going to get her he replied, very thoughtfully, "Can we give her back?"
I was shocked because JP can't even remember a day without Dora so he had to just be reasoning all this in his little brain. I said, "Back to where?" "The Bible." was his totally serious reply!! My only guess on this is that he knows two things: 1. God is in the Bible and 2. God made us. So clearly, that is where Dora should be sent, back to the Bible! :-) (He got over it quickly once clothes were on and juice was his.)

Someday....

Someday I will make it to you, oh glorious hammock that my wonderful husband bought for us, not today... not today... Okay, so I did sit in it on Monday and took this picture, deciding that it was definitely bog worthy!

Just a shrub in the desert

Read this and substitute the highlighted word "man" with "3 year old boy".

Jer 17:5-10
Thus says the LORD: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD.
He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.
"Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD.
He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit."
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately corrupt; who can understand it?
"I the LORD search the mind and try the heart, to give to every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings."

For a reason unknown to me, this week will go down as my hardest parenting week so far. I am thankful because, as usual, God spoke to my heart in an incredibly personal way.

Lesson: My heart trusts in my children's obedience as the gage for my contentment way to often.

A friend and I were watching this week for when our attitude shows that our heart is discontent in Jesus and then the goal was figuring out why. What do we want more than Christ? Well... let me tell you God answered that one clearly this week! I still am working on the kids attitudes but I guess I have put that in the category of the "heat that comes". I'm just so thankful for the feeling of roots going deeper as I try with everything in me not to melt down when I am cleaning up poop for the third time in 3 hours, and not from a diaper (ah, potty training). I can actually feel my roots going deeper as Jesus meets me in the laundry room at the stationary tub!

Here are some shots of the happier times through the week. :-) John Patrick at PaPa Rex's land, Dora and I enjoying a rainbow and Dora taking advantage of cookie dough we made to take to friends with a new (peaceful, I might add...) baby.

John Patrick's first major league baseball game

John took John Patrick to the Reds/Red Sox game on Saturday for Father's day. He did very well and everyone seemed to have a good time. I really wanted to post pictures but I forgot to ask John to take the camera. When he got home and had remembered it on his own I was SO proud!

Then, I saw these pictures!!!! He looks miserable! I would have forced him to take a smiling picture just for the cuteness of it. :-)

John said they really did have fun and John Patrick can't stop talking about it. Any time I say "Go Reds!" he comes running, gives me a hug and says, "I'm so proud of you mommy for saying go reds."

I guess it just seems hysterical that these are the only images that made it home for me to view. :-)

A sad story

There was a great tree in our back yard that my kids loved and the Richmond's kids before them. I have no idea what kind of a tree it was but it was perfect for little ones to play in. It had about eight branches 10 -12 inches in diameter that all spread out at the bottom to leave a great spot to step in. The kids could walk about two feet up a couple of the branches without being more than one or two feet off the ground. Lots of shade too. It was a great tree.

Last week in the storms on Monday we lost two branches in the wind. I was sad and it left a gap but all wasn't lost.

On Wednesday we lost power, huddled in the basement with poor Betsy who got to see my kids loosing it over the loss of lights because I don't have a flashlight or candles. When we were safe to go back upstairs I realized two more branches had fallen and taken out a couple of the others in the fall. :-( The whole beautiful tree had to come down.

Outside of my possibly over the top love of great climbing trees (I still climb trees when I'm not prego) this was sad for the whole family. In the end we have lots of campfire wood to burn and lots of mulch if anyone would like some.

This is the tree behind the kids. :-)

Here are my kids and Elly tromping out to climb in the Great Climbing Tree.

This is what was left after all the dead/broken limbs were cut out. :-(

Here are the sad remains. A few stumps and a large pile of mulch... mulch anyone?

Visit to Iowa

We flew to Iowa for a long weekend so John (and Jason) could help with some home improvement projects at his parent lake house. We had a great time even though the weather wasn't the best. We got some time outside in between storms. :-) The kids have a blast with or without the sun, as long as Noni and Papa are there.

Here is a shot of John Patrick taking a walk. Being a three year old boy required him to walk as close to the water in the ditch as possible and fall in twice. :-)

Dora loves playing with Noni and her accessories!

This is Dora reading a book with her Great-grandma and name-sake, Grandma Dora. :-) I wish I only had half the energy Grandma Dora does!! She greets my kids on her hands and knees every time we see her. More importantly, we named Dora after her because of her impact on John's life with her love for Jesus. This time at dinner she challenged all of us to consider how we address the Lord. She suggested calling him papa sometimes because it helps her to remember his personal love for her as his child. :-) Thank you Lord for grandma Dora.

We all like going for boat rides at dusk. John Patrick loves to drive with daddy!!
Unfortunately, this picture of Dora came just before I managed to pinch her thumb in the little door that separates the front of the boat from the back. :-( I thought she was going to lose her thumb nail but I guess not. It doesn't seem that bad today. Whew.

I had a video of John Patrick playing the pin ball machine, which he is really good at, but with a sleepy head and lack of knowledge I managed to lose it when I tried to change it's spot on the page. :-) I'll be going to bed now. :-)

John Patrick turned three on Saturday!!

We had a beautiful day Saturday to celebrate John Patrick's third birthday. He was so excited about the gifts, of course. Three seems to be the most fun age so far! He is not prepared for all the new toys and completely unable to control his excitement. :-) He kept beaming and saying things like, "I love this shirk (new race car shirt) mom, I want to give you a hug." :-)

Birthday Cake made by Grammy and iced to perfection by Aunt Kelly!

What a shower of gifts! John Patrick was in Lightning McQueen heaven!

John Patrick and Dora waiting patiently for the cake!

I couldn't resist a quick picture of the two of them for my first upload. If you don't know my lack of computer ability you won't be as impressed as others may be!

You've all sucked me in!!!!

While I cannot say I will be very good at posting consistently I couldn't resist all you cool bloggers any longer!! Here is my first attempt. :-) I may need help!!!