just in time

we went to the park the other morning. i wasn't planning on taking the camera with us but as we were leaving mia came out of my room, camera in tow. "bring the camera, mama and we'll take pictures." can't really argue with that. :) we had a great time. they love to be outside. there were a few other kids there and mia quickly made friends. she had lots of fun climbing up all the ladders (a feat that still makes me a little nervous on the ones that curve up to the equipment) and going down the big slides. two of the slides were wide enough for both kids to go down together and they both thought that was fun. they had to hold hands and go. it was pretty cute. asher kept signing "more" every time he got to the bottom. we had a good time playing but it was getting pretty humid and sticky so we came home. shortly after we walked in the door it started pouring down rain. our trip to the park was just in time. :) don't ya love it when it works out that way??

thanks to my girls!

hooray for girlfriends! had some not fun info the other day and after initially being a bit upset by it realized that God had blessed me with great girlfriends for a reason. an impromptu girls night ensued....and when i say impromptu i mean from phone call to face time about an hour. (i mean that is serious friendship!) of course with that short notice not all the wonderful ladies in my life were able to attend (understandably) but we had a great night. i mean girl friends, drinks, dessert, and a great husband who's willing to watch the kids, what more can you ask for??

went to a great little restuarant where desserts were passed around the table and fun drinks were a must. there's something special about girlfriends that always makes even yucky stuff better. it was an uplifting night of laughter, love, concern for each other and focusing on the future and brighter things. thanks girls!! you know i love ya!

ps. thanks for the picture, love!

fun pictures

i realized as i was going through pictures that i hadn't shared these and they're pretty fun. just some of the fun adventures from the summer.

gotta love girlfriends!!

mia (in the green) with girl friends chloe, kathryn and anika

fun in the water

go uncle jimmy!

crazy daddy! (hamming it up for the camera)

asher wants a turn to play with the ball too!

mia driving papa's boat

mom moment

for all the moms out there....do you ever have moments when it hits you that you are now the mom? i have two beautiful children and i know i'm a mom but every once in awhile it still hits me in a new way that wow, i'm the mom. we had a pretty good thunderstorm (again) the other night. mia just recently began having trouble with the thunder and it tends to scare her enough that she won't even get out of bed. she just hides in her covers and whimpers. i went up to her room and she immediately crawled into my lap. "mama, i'm scared. the thunder is loud!" we snuggled for a minute then i laid her back down. she looked up at me and asked me to lay with her and hold her. as i'm laying there with her, listening to her breathing slow down and watching her gently drift back to sleep, all i could think of was when i was little and my mom would come and lay with us during thunderstorms. now, i'm the one comforting a child in the middle of the night in a storm. just one of those moments where you realize on yet another level that you're now the mom not the kid. a cool realization and quite a bit amazing.

our latest news

i feel like i haven't had a chance to sit down to update everyone in a little while, sorry. it has been raining, and raining and raining here. i think we're all ready to be outside. we've been able to get out a little but my little ones are ready to be on their swings and in the yard. mia looked out the window the other day "mama my swing's still wet! get a towel and dry it off?" unfortunately, it was still pouring down rain as we had this conversation so we had to wait a little while longer. we've gone out a few times when it's just drizzling and she thinks that's pretty funny.

asher is now beginning to stand on his own for brief seconds. he still seems a little amazed and sits down right away when he realizes he's doing it. i have yet to be fast enough with the camera to catch him doing it without holding on but i'm sure that will come. we went for his 9 month check up and he's doing great. 21 lbs and 28 1/2 inches. i'm still so amazed by that. mia was so little it just cracks me up everytime they check him. he's also been working on teeth....lots of teeth. he now has his top four teeth as well for a grand total of 6. oh my! he's learning to sign and has mastered "more" so now we're on to the next one. he's pretty cute though cuz he'll sign more while he's just sitting on the floor. then he looks at me and just grins. it's so stinkin' cute!!

mia continues to amaze me everyday. we are so blessed to have both of our kids. she is such a helper and so polite. she now asks to be excused from the table (after she asks every person present if they are done too). she's very into learning if people like the same things she does. sample conversation:

mia "i like milk. do you like milk mama?"

me "yes, i like milk."

mia "do you like milk daddy? (or anyone else in the room)

daddy "yes, i like milk"

mia "i like milk too." (pause for thought..big smile..) "asher likes milk too!" (even though he doesn't drink milk yet.)

needless to say asher remarkably likes all the same things mia does. :) she always asks for music to dance too (hmmm..dance class anyone?) and is usually carrying a book around with her. her book of choice at the moment is the bible. i mean seriously, how can i ask her to hurry into the van so we won't be late when she tells me "wait a minute mama. i have to bring my bible."

i've been diving head first into organizing the house. we've been trying to add all those touches that make it a home but i've been bitten by the clean-it-out bug. closets, garage and spare rooms beware! the goodwill pile is growing and the trash men will hate me. where does all this stuff come from?? i really don't think we have all that much "extra" stuff but it still amazes me. i am beginning to think there is something wrong with me though because i love to go through stuff, clean it out and organize it. i love the way things look when you're done and to know that we've been able to donate things to people who need them more than we do. the house is beginning to shape up and after this weekend (when i get a bit of pete's help) i'll try to post a few pics of the clean, new spaces!

home again!

hooray! my parents were wonderful hosts and so very sweet to let us invade their home but it's so nice to be back in our own house. the guys did a great job fixing everything for us and taking care of things. we are so grateful to them for everything they've done. there are still some small touches inside and the stone needs to get put back on on the outside but all of that is easily handled and allows us to be back in our own beds. no matter how wonderful the place you are staying is it's always nice to come back to your own home.

we actually stayed an extra night at my parents. they made the very tough decision to put their wonderfully sweet yellow lab down the day we were going to leave. how could they lose the dog and the grandkids in one day?? sam came into the family when i went away to school so he's been there as each of us has "left the nest" and he was just the most gentle dog. mia LOVED him and talked about him almost as much as she talked about Mana and Papa. he was definately not a spring chicken, was blind, fighting diabetes and earlier in the week began to have his legs go out on him when he was standing. it was simply time for him to finally rest. regardless, it's never an easy decision. we were glad we could be there to say good-bye and to be a fun distraction for my parents. we love you sammy!

we're not here

just a really fast update. we're currently not at our house. the leak in our dining room window is getting repaired and the damage is worse than initially thought (it's pretty water damaged with lots of mold...ewww!) so we are currently at my parents house so the kids aren't exposed to all the mold. don't really want them getting sick. i'll try to write more of an update later but wanted to let people know where we've been and where we are. i'm just so glad it's getting fixed.