Sunday - a Day of Rest

Still counting my blessings today.  We had a nice easy lazy day.  We started with breakfast at the diner down the road.  Followed it up with church - which was all about relationships.  Then spent the remainder of the day puttering around the house watching Netflix and just being a family.  Wrapped the day up with chili simmering on the stove and coloring my hair.

(nope the picture has nothing to do with today - but this smile makes me happy)

4.  finding a church family where we belong

5.  Miss Amanda loving on David like he's her own at breakfast

6. Lazy Sundays on the couch

7.  Chili simmering all day long

November - Counting My Blessings

I've decided to spend this month being intentional about counting my blessings everyday.  (Yes I know I need to be counting my blessings daily through out the year, but maybe if I am intentional this month it will be easier to stick with it and make it a habit the rest of the year.

So November 1....

1. Wonderful friends with kids the same age to do holidays together with.

2.  Making memories daily with WeeMan

3.  A good deal on warm snow pants for WeeMan so he stayed warm and dry while trick or treating.

Yep that is not rain falling on my Ninja Turtles little green head - that was some serious snow.  If the ground had been a little closer we'd have ended with an inch or two on the ground.  Brrrrr!!  

Weeman and his friends were quite the little troopers.  They lasted about an hour out in the cold, snow, and wind.  What can I say I guess they take their candy collecting seriously!

Fall Vacation

Two weeks ago our family was able to take a mini break.  The fates aligned and hubby was able to get a long weekend the same time we were on fall break.  We had a magnificent time for not too much money.  We drove 3 hours east to Columbus Ohio.  It was the best vacation we've had in a long time.

Our hotel was perfect - it was one of those suites ones with a full kitchen, sitting room, and bedroom. Weeman bedded down in the sitting room on the couch bed which helped everyone rest easier and gave mommy and daddy some privacy.  The price wasn't too bad for what we had and they served a great breakfast buffet every morning.

The main reason we went was to visit the Columbus Zoo.  We spent the entire day on Friday and didn't see everything.  Seriously this is a fantastic zoo.  We were lucky that they are a reciprocal zoo with the Fort Wayne Zoo which means we were able to get in for half price.  So our admission fee total was only $20. We were even able to leave and grab some food off site and then come back in the evening for the Halloween Festival without paying anymore.  We just had our hands stamped before leaving.   We've already promised David we'll go back.  They have a huge water park attached that he wants to check out in the summer.  Plus of course we have to finish visiting all the animals.

Obi Wan Kenobi at the Zoo Halloween - costume thanks to Goodwill

He would have stayed in here watching the fish for hours

Best part of the trip - petting Stingrays

The whole zoo was well kept and the enclosures for the animals were nice and large

There were many signs and information shared throughout the zoo about conserving our resources and saving our planet

Checking out an astronaut suit at the Neil Armstrong Air and Space Museum

First trip to a Lego Store equals happy boy

A spur of the moment stop at a find on the way home - Neil Armstrong Air and Space Museum in Wapokaneta, Ohio

Dear Blog.... I miss you

Lately I've been feeling the itch to write.  I miss my blog, but I know it's been so long since I've written that no one is reading me anymore.  What I really miss is my Xanga community.  I loved blogging on Xanga, it got me through some of the hardest days of my life as we struggled to get pregnant the first time.  When Xanga went away I downloaded my entire blog on a flash drive.  I couldn't just let those words, those days disappear.  They are the story of our marriage and our WeeMan's beginnings.  So many tears were shed as I wrote them, so many prayers and wished spilled there.

Anyways, I miss the family I built up on Xanga,  the other ladies that were struggling in similar ways to me.   I still "see" them on Facebook, but it's just not the same.

So I'm going to sigh and try to get back into writing on here and hope that somehow it comes close to filling that void.

As far as life right now.... well things are quite different this school year.  My baby is in kindergarten. How on earth did that happen!  One minute he was rocking in my lap and the next he's riding to school with me everyday.  I love having him in my building with me.  I love catching a glimpse of him in the hallway and hearing how's he doing from other teacher daily.  He's sharp as a tack - we always knew he would be.... and huge relief he's decided he likes school and reading and writing.  In fact he loves writing.

There are challenging kiddos in his classroom.  We knew there would be.  Our school is the lowest in the county.  Over 85% of our kids are on free lunch and many of them have horrible home lives.  We debated where we wanted him to go.  It wasn't an easy decision to send him here.  He could have stayed at his babysitter and gone to a county school.  But this was the right decision, for him and for his classmates. We are proud of the way he has accepted some of the kids who have issues and become their friend.  I want him to have a heart for the broken... for the messed up.... for the hurting.  I know that here in this building he's growing that heart.

For me... I'm back in fourth grade, and I'm happy.  I have several kids I had two years ago in second and that was a fantastic way to start the year.  Even more than that though this class has formed a family unit and it feels good to come to school to teach them.  I'm reminded this is where I belong.  Last year was a day to day struggle to get up and get here.  I was miserable, I won't lie I'm pretty sure my kids were miserable.  This year is like a breath of fresh air.

So that's the synopsis of the here and now. I'm planning to try to get back here a few times a week.  My fingers itch to write to document this life that is flying by too fast.

My Bucket List

This weekend I was able to mark something off my bucket list.  In a way it was spur of the moment... but not really.  Three years ago this August we lost our sweet Zion Amie.  I was only a few weeks pregnant, but still it was devastating and heartbreaking and one of the hardest things Steven and I have ever been through.  We have talked over and over again about getting a tattoo to honor our baby in Heaven.  I've pinned idea after idea, but I always came back to birds.  

So Saturday our good friends watched David and Steve and I headed off to a consultation with the tattoo artist.  I had two pictures with me and the idea I wanted in my head.  I was afraid we would have to wait because I expected it to be quite expensive.  The goal was to get a price, have him draw up what I wanted, and make an appointment.  Instead we told him what I wanted, he took the idea and ran with it and then gave us a really good price and so I can now check this one off my list.  

I chose to honor both my children.  The bird on the branch is for David, our little boy with us on Earth.  The flying swallow is for Zion, our baby who flew to Heaven and is waiting for us there.  I chose swallows because when I was researching I found that a swallow tattoo stands for undying love and loyalty and that sailors believed swallows carried their souls to heaven.  Swallows also symbolize hope.  

A Wedding Weekend

We were blessed this weekend to celebrate the wedding of my baby brother - only he's not a baby anymore.  Ryan has always had a special place in my heart even though he's 13 years younger than me.  I have watched him grow into a wonderful Christian man that would make my dad proud.  He and his chosen wife Emily courted before they dated.  They didn't kiss until they officially started dating.  They saved themselves until after marriage and sadly in this day and age that is quite an accomplishment for two twenty somethings. They make a beautiful couple both inside and out.  I couldn't wish for a better partner for Ryan.  They both have a heart for their church and missions.  They both walk into this marriage knowing there are going to be hard times and that during those times only God will see them through.  

I hope that they are as happy as Steve and I.  The only sad moments of this wedding were the empty spot at the table that our dad would have sat in.  I hate that he wasn't physically with Ryan on this day.  Fortunately when my dad passed away Ryan was a senior in college and he developed a strong relationship with his Christian Campus minister.  Travis became a mentor and a sounding board for Ryan and that has lasted even now 5 years later.  Travis was able to perform part of the ceremony and be with Ryan on this special weekend. 

This picture of us is courtesy of our 5 year old blooming photographer.  We really need to get the boy his own camera!

The nieces and nephews all had roles in the wedding.  My little wee man made a handsome ring bearer even if he didn't want to cooperate for pictures.  Of course my sister's little girls were absolutely beautiful flower girls!

David was even more thrilled when he got to bust a move at the reception.  I have  no idea where he gets his dance moves at! This is him trying to look like a cool dude.  I could just eat him up in this picture. 

Welcome Back Summer

Well it's only been a year since my last post here.  That's not too bad, right?  Seriously though I dabbled with wordpress for a bit, but I didn't fall in love with it and I missed my blogger.  So here I am back here, we'll see if blogger will let me keep adding pictures.  That's why I went away. 

Summer vacation has arrived.  The first couple of weeks were spent wrapping up some end of the year school stuff - trainings, meetings, planning, and moving rooms.  Now I can really settle into summer living.  We kicked off summer break this week with the biggies.  

A trip to the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo was in order.  If you're ever in the northern Indiana area, this one is a must do.  Seriously we could go weekly and my little man wouldn't get tired of it.   As you can see my little Weeman (in the gray hat) he's not so wee anymore.  We took one of his best buddies with us this time and they had a blast.  Many giggles and silliness ensued.

Summer wouldn't be summer without some frog watching and on the part of the boys attempts at frog catching!

There was also the big local summer festival this weekend.  The highlight of the festival for the kiddos is of course the parade - it's like Halloween without the costumes.  They always leave with a bag full of candy.  I find it completely ironic that during a normal day we tell them not to go in the street, but during a parade there are mad darts out into the road for candy.

Yep - we live in a little town - lots of tractors in our parade.  Gotta love it!

The other highlight of the festival is the Hot Air balloon glow.  We had a front row seat to watch many of these beauties be inflated.  David even got to peek inside a couple and to check out the baskets.

One of the prettiest sights of summer is the balloon glow.  This picture was taken by my big boy.  I still can't believe my little baby will be in kindergarten next year.  When they say time flies - they're really not kidding.  

Well that's it for today.  I'm going to try to be around here more.  I miss writing, even if it's just for my own pleasure.  It's my way of documenting our little life.