Stuff

Luke looked at the computer and was not able to figure out the problem so I am still not able to post pictures on my blog. I do have some things to share that do not need pictures!



First off is that one of Owen's favorite toys is now in the garbage. He was being naughty with it and not listening. Yep, his sword is gone. He was bugging Ava with it even though I told him numerous times to leave her alone. Then he started bugging me with it. I told him if he hit me with it one more time it was going in the garbage. He didn't listen and now it is gone. That was a huge long melt down. Owen also has a new saying "But Mama". It goes into almost all of our conversations. It sounds so cute when he says it too. It has a hint of a laugh while he is saying it. He also says this to others like "But Daddy" but I get the pleasure of hearing it all day!



I am officially 20 weeks pregnant. I can feel the baby moving on a regular basis which is a wonderful feeling. It reassures me that our baby is alive and healthy. I was scheduled to have my first ultrasound on Thursday. You know the ultrasound to tell us if we are going to have a boy or girl. The appointment I have been looking forward to since March when it was scheduled. I won't be having that ultrasound on Thursday because I am a really really nice wife. Luke had an important meeting come up as of yesterday that is scheduled for Thursday so he can't make the appointment. I could just go with out him, but I won't, even though I really want to. Nope, I won't I know Luke wants to be there for the ultrasound so I being the great wife that I am called to reschedule it. So, now I have one more week to wait to find out if my thoughts of boy or girl are right or wrong. My new appointment is next Wednesday. Who knows maybe this happened for a reason.

Luke had a guy come out and test our water tonight and now he is on a quest to get a water softener. He actually thinks he needs to convince me that we need one. He went through all the benefits which I already knew. I think it has slipped his mind that I have been wanting one and talking about one for about the last five years that we have lived in our house. But, I guess now that it is his idea and not just mine I will finally get one. So yippy for us we will have soft water some time in the near future. I am really excited. Have I told you all lately how great my husband is. Well he is. I love him bunches and think he is an excellent husband and father. He works so hard for our family and I think he does an amazing job doing what he does for us.

Ava has mastered the word MINE, and uses it often. You would be amazed at the things that are hers! She is picking up new words daily and is quite the chatter box. She is very much in the Monkey See, Monkey Do stage. She tries so hard to do all the things everyone around her is doing.

I am in the middle of a really good bible study that meets on Tuesday nights. While doing my homework for this weeks meeting a verse really stuck with me. It is so powerful and so reassuring to me. So I will share it with you.

Isaiah 41:13 says...
For I hold you by your right hand-I, the Lord your God. And I say to you, Don't be afraid. I am here to help you.

WOW isn't it great to know that God is always here to help us and hold our hand not just during hard times, but every day.

Problems

I have lots of pictures to post from over the weekend, but my computer won't let me so I will have to have Luke take a look at it. Sorry!

Owen Fishing

Cole sent me some pictures he took the night the boys went fishing together a few weeks back. So I thought I would share them with you.

I'm/I'm not

Today I have decided to do an entry about me. I always write about what the kids are up to and what we go and do as a family, but I have never just written about me. So here it goes if you haven't already left because this is not about Owen and Ava.

I'm a follower of Jesus Christ.
I'm not afraid to share my love of Jesus with others.
I'm crazy in love with my wonderful husband Luke.
I'm not one to take marriage vows lightly.
I'm proud to be my children's Mommy.
I'm not the type of Mommy who thinks her children do no wrong.

I'm not a fancy dresser.
I'm happiest when my outfits are made of mostly cotton.
I'm not up with the latest brands and trends.
I'm one who wears what's comfy.
I'm not a fan of shopping.
I'm the type of shopper who goes only when needed.
I'm not a woman with a perfect hair style.
I'm a throw my hair in a pony kind of girl.
I'm not a person who has to have makeup on perfectly.
I'm comfortable without wearing makeup.

I'm not a TV watcher.
I'm a book lover.
I'm not one to read scary, suspense, who did it books.
I'm a fan of everyday living, you feel part of the story, Christian Author type of books.
I'm not a texter.
I'm a Blogger.
I'm not one to sit on the phone for hours.
I'm calling for a reason.
I'm not the one to chat with a stranger.
I'm an introvert.
I'm not a fan of big parties.
I'm a small group kind of lady.

I'm not one to leave my family for a long time.
I'm happiest when I'm busy with my family.
I'm not a Mommy who has left her children over night yet.
I'm more than happy to keep it that way.
I'm not a work outside the home kind of Wife/Mommy.
I'm a let's cut back on unnecessary spending so I can be a Stay-at-home kind of Wife/Mommy.

I'm a play at the park kind of Mommy.
I'm not a sit on the bench and watch Mommy.
I'm a toy player.
I'm not one to say I'm to busy play by yourself.

I'm a get in my swim suit and play in the water Mommy.
I'm not a people might look at me funny sit on the side of the pool type of Mommy.

I'm guilty of calling my husband at work just to say I love you.
I'm not one to hide my love for my husband.
I'm my husbands biggest cheerleader.
I'm not one to put down his dreams or crazy idea's.
I'm a wife who is willing to follower and support her husband in any career choices.
I'm not the type of wife that is afraid that my husband will not be a good provider.

I'm a Chocolate lover.
I'm not one turn down goodies.
I'm a healthy food eater.
I'm not afraid to try new foods.
I'm a water gulper, and add a lemon wedge for a twist.
I'm not a soda pop drinker.
I'm the have to try it before I will cook it kind of person.
I'm not one who looks for new recipes.

I'm a flower garden grower.
I'm not one to know flowers by name.
I'm a maple tree lover.
I'm not a fan of pine trees.
I'm happiest when it is low 70's weather.
I'm not a too hot or too cold kind of person.
I'm a woman who loves to go on family walks.
I'm not a sit insider.
I'm a jogging stroller user.
I'm not even close to being a runner.

Wednesday

We went to a park today that is about a 20 minute drive away. We call it the splash park because it has giant sprinklers to run around in. I forgot my camera so the next time we go I will post some pictures for you to see. There is also a really nice play ground at this park too. We had a lot of fun. We got there at 10:00 and played then ate a picnic lunch that I packed. We played for a while longer after we ate then headed home. When we got to the park there were only two other vehicles in the big parking lot, and by the time we left the parking lot was full and people were parked out on the road. I like to go early so we are leaving when it starts to get crazy busy. When we got home Owen wanted to play in his pool so we spent some more time outside. Ava found Owen's goggles and had to wear them, and I had to take a picture of her with them on. She had them on for about 15 minutes just walking around thinking she was pretty cool. I finally took them off of her when they got all foggy, and she was not happy with me one bit.

Parade

Last Wednesday Ava and I went to a parade. We sat with one of my uncles, 2 of my aunts, and three of my cousins. Ava really seemed to enjoy herself. She loved all the food that was shared with her. I think her favorite was the cheese curds, second place was the sweet and salty popcorn! Owen was given a choice to either go to the parade or go fishing. He chose fishing. So Luke, Owen and our friend Cole went fishing, and caught a bunch of sunny's. Luke said they had a good time and Owen was pretty wet by the time they left the lake.

The Hat

When I came back down stairs from laying Ava down for her nap I found Owen laying on the couch wearing a Santa hat. After snapping a few pictures I asked him about the hat. He told me it was his good night hat just like Buddy the elf from the movie Elf. I got a good laugh out of that one. I took him up stairs for his nap and yes the hat was on his head when he fell asleep!

Sunday

Sunday-an interesting day. Luke decided that he wanted to work on Rita's house on his special day. What a boring way to spend Father's day. But, I went with it. We were going to send Owen with Grandma Ruth for the day. She was going to her parent's house for the day. Luke and I were going to paint around the windows and start siding. Ava was going to stay with us for the day, because she doesn't think she needs to help as much as Owen does. So Luke headed over to Rita's to get things set up while I fed the kids breakfast and got them ready for the day. Luke called me and said that the same thing that happened on Saturday happened again so he had to go into work. So, he went to work and I changed my plans for the day. First we went to church, then came home for a quick lunch, then headed to my Dad's. When we got there I spotted a baby duck walking down the road all by itself. I got the kids out of the van and got Uncle Kurt and Kristin and we went to search for the baby duck. My dad said he saw it heading left at the T on the gravel road so we did too. We didn't find it but had fun looking. Uncle Kurt took Owen for a ride on the 4 wheeler and then it began to rain on and off. We ate a late lunch and then headed home because I had to very tired kids. Unfortunately neither of them fell asleep on the way home. Luke was home when we got home and was not very excited to see two crabby kids. My mom came over a little after 4:00 after visiting for a while we bravely left the house with our tired kids to go out to dinner to celebrate my Mom's birthday and Father's Day. Ava took a short nap on the way to the restaurant. Uncle Kurt and Kristin met us at the restaurant. The kids did much better than I thought they would but we didn't stay around long to chit chat like I wished we could have. We headed home put a movie on and just relaxed until it was time to go to bed early of course.

Saturday

We had a busy day planned, but what we planned on doing did not happen. Our plan was to get a lot of work done on Rita's house/our rental house so that next weekend it would look close to being done in time for the local parade that goes by the house. It was Luke's weekend to be on call for work as well, but usually that doesn't involve a lot for him to do. He usually just gets a few calls and then calls a few guys to go and look at the issue and take care of it if it needs maintenance. Well this was not the case on Saturday. Luke had just gotten to Rita's and started working when he got a work call that needed his attention. I was at home waiting for Ava to wake up to head over to Rita's to help Luke while Rita watched the kids for us. I got a call from Luke's Mom saying she thought she found a dresser that we would like for Ava at a garage sale. So I took the info done and was pleased that she found one just one week after I asked her to look for one. I called Luke and told him about it and in return he told me he most likely would have to go into work. What a bummer that never happens. He was upset because he wanted to work on the house. He went to look at the dresser quick and thought it was perfect for his little princess. So he bought it for $33 not the $40 they were asking for. He came home and told me about it and we all loaded up into the van to go pick it up. I loved the look of it but did not enjoy the look of the wood (kind of Tiger like). We both agreed that a little paint would make it perfect for our princess. On our way back home Luke spotted a boat motor for sale and made a quick u-turn to go look at it. It worked great, so of course he had to have it and I agreed. He has been wanting a motor for our little fishing boat for a few years now. So we bought that too. Then Luke went into work. The kids and I went over to Jesse and Anna's to help with the garage sale they were hosting. I put some stuff on it as well to sell. I was surprised to find out that I made almost $100 and that basically all of my stuff sold except for a few things of Luke's. So we hung out there for a while so the kids could play with Olivia and a few of Olivia's cousins. Grandma Ruth took us to Subway for lunch and we had a picnic at our house under our big tree. The kids took nice long naps and I got a lot of work done outside. Luke came home at about 3:30 and said he wanted to paint Ava's dresser and go get our boat from his parent's house. He went and bought some paint and then we all went to pick up the boat. We painted the dresser with two coats of primer and 2 coats of paint and Luke also got the motor mounted on his boat. While we were doing all of this the kids were playing in the pool and in the boat. It was a long busy day. Oh and I forgot to mention that it was an extremely hot and muggy day. I am so glad I filled the kids pool with water for them. Ava's dresser is in her and Owen's room ready to use we just need to put the mirror back in place. We took it out to make it easier to paint. We also need to find a new place to hang her stuff on the wall.

Friday's Park Experience

We had a picnic lunch today at the park. I didn't realize that it was a windy day until of course we sat down at the picnic table to eat our lunch. I really had to pay attention so all our food and wrappers didn't blow away on us. After we finished our lunch we played on the playground for quite a while. At this particular park Owen enjoys hanging out on the monkey bars. He can not cross them yet, but he likes to hang on to them and kick his feet out so his legs swing back and forth. He also likes to just hang as long as he can and then drop to the ground and climb back up and do it again. Ava likes to do two things at the park. The first is to find and pick up garbage which she then brings it to me to deal with. I guess it bothers her as much as it does me that people are so inconsiderate to throw their garbage on the ground instead of walking the few feet to one of the five garbage cans that are conveniently placed all around the playground. Now I don't like the fact that my 18 month old daughter is touching other people's garbage but she doesn't understand how icky it is yet. Her other favorite thing to do is walk back and forth and up and down on the playground equipment stairs and walk ways. Which means she is usually in other children's way. You know the one's who actually want to use the slides and other fun equipment. Any way we were playing for quite a while when Owen comes to me and says very seriously "lets go home now". I asked what was wrong and he said "I have to go poop". Going home is what I would have liked to have done, but I was afraid we wouldn't make it in time without having an accident. So, we used a porty potty for the first time. What an experience. First I open the door to check if it was clean or not and of course it was not. I quickly grabbed a wet wipe from the van and wiped the seat. Then I sat Owen on the seat and realized there was no toilet paper. So I told Owen to stay put while I ran to get one more wet wipe. Now you know it is bad when a three year old starts whining and says it smells really icky. So after taking a bath in some disinfectant gel we continued to play at the park for a little while longer then headed home for a nap.

Saturday

It was a rainy day at our house on Saturday morning which put an end to our plans of working on tearing all the old wood siding off of our rental house. But because of the rain we had a really fun family day so we were all happy. Besides we really really needed the rain. We started off our day at Home Depot so Owen and Daddy could do the build it project of the month. This months project was a wooden organizer for things like nails, screws, nuts, and bolts. It turned out wonderfully. On our way home I came up with the great idea to go visit Luke's Grandparent's for the day. So we stopped at home for a few supplies (diapers, snacks, water, blankets you know the essentials) and then we were off for the should be with no stops or traffic one and half hour drive. We of course had to stop once to change a poopy diaper and once for Luke to go to the bathroom. So it was about a two hour trip. When we were about a half an hour away from our destination we called to set up lunch plans and would you believe it Papa and Grandma were not home. So our plans changed a bit. Our stomachs decided to head over to Luke's Uncle Roger and Aunt Robin's cafe for some lunch. Robin was there so she joined us for lunch and then as we were eating Roger came in to join us as well as Josh who is Luke's cousin Molly's husband. So we ate a delicious lunch and then Owen got to go next door to see Roger's big grain truck. After that we loaded up the car to go down the road a couple inches to buy some yummy Amish made bread and a rhubarb pie. I am very fascinated by the Amish culture. The whole living a simple life is amazing to me. I know it would be a lot of hard work, but the living off the land and not using modern technology is really intriguing to me. Back to the day. After buying our baked goods we then drove to Luke's Grandparent's house so I could get some rhubarb for making some jam and also to transplant in our yard. On the way to their house we passed some Amish farms so of course I made Luke slow down so I could take a look at what they were up to. Of course no one was outside to look at. So we arrived at Papa and Grandma's farm and Owen was gone in a flash to get some corn to feed the cows while we found the rhubarb. Here are some pictures from the farm. Owen checking to see if it was okay to stand this high on the fence!

The first attempt to give the cows corn. Owen who was extremely excited of course came running at them so as you can tell they took off running themselves and are no where near the fence. Notice the cob of corn Owen threw into the fence for the cows to eat which of course I had to retrieve so he could try again later.Owen trying to figure out how to get the cows to come back!

Owen checking to see if it was okay to stand on the top row of the fence. Which of course was answered with a NO!


Ava trying to get a piece of corn to give to the cows just because that is what Owen was doing!

The second attempt to give the cows some corn. He almost did it but the last 5 feet he got too excited and started to run. You might be able to notice the cows are running away.
Owen decided to do some tree climbing while he waited for the cows to come back.

My monkey! (The white that you see sticking out of Owen's top pocket is a business card to Robin and Rogers cafe. Owen thought he needed one)

Ava trying her hardest to climb in the tree.

Daddy helping Owen sneak up on the cows this time.
They did it! Owen is wearing a huge smile and is enjoying watching the cows.

Ava hanging on for dear life trying to be like her big brother!

Just watching the cows.
After all the work to give the cows one piece of corn it was time to go because it started to rain. Both the kids were sad when we had to go. Owen was upset that Papa and Grandma were not at home to play with him and the whole ride home he talked about needing to go back there tomorrow.

What is Owen doing?

Can you tell what Daddy's big helper is doing? If you guessed weed whipping you were right. Owen decided that he would weed whip so Daddy wouldn't have to do it. Isn't he just a thoughtful little boy. Owen has a great imagination and decided that the sprayer that I use to water my flowers would make a perfect weed whip!

Pool

What a beautiful day it is this sunny Thursday morning! We filled our pool early this morning and after running a few errands we came home and the kids played in the pool. Yes, at 10:00 this morning these two brave souls were in the water and were happy as can be!

Best Friend

Owen's best friend William came over for a couple of hours today to play. They are only a month and a half apart in age and have known one another since birth. William's mom Jenny and I are best friends and have been since we were in 6th grade so we are very excited that the boys get along with each other so well. Owen refers to William as his best friend and will also say every once and a while that William is his oldest buddy. I laugh every time he says that like they have been friends for 50 years. Oh, and as you might have noticed the boys are dressed alike and believe it or not this was not planned. Maybe one day they will plan to wear the same outfits like Jenny and I used to when we were younger. We will just have to wait and see in years to come!

What's wrong with this picture

I tell you it is crazy some how and I don't know how Owen's name on the wall never looks quite right. I fix it all the time but it always ends up looking like this. Oh, and don't be confused it is not April. I just haven't taken the time to switch Owen's John Deere calendar in his room to June yet.

BUCKET

After waking up at 6:50am. Owen headed downstairs this morning to go to the bathroom. After he was done he locked the door before he came out of the bathroom and then shut the door. He went to find some toys to play with no big deal. Then I had to go to the bathroom, and what the darn door is locked. What am I going to do? I grabbed a paper clip and tried for about five minutes to get the door unlocked. I couldn't get it which is crazy because it is the same lock we have on our bedroom door and Owen locks it often and I have no problem getting it open. So, I call Luke to see if he is in the area and of course he is no where near home. So I work on the lock some more after I go out to the garage to get a bucket to go to the bathroom in. Then Owen comes and says he needs to poop. GREAT! So, he poops in the bucket which he is not excited about it took me a while to convince him that it was his only option. Then I called my friend Jenny to see if she could come to my rescue after dropping Maddie off at school. She got it open right away she brought her own special tool. She then said that the metal tip of her magic hair cutting comb is the thing to have in these situations. So the crazy girl locks it again to show me. This time however it wasn't quite as easy for her to get in. But any way problem solved. I dumped the bucket in the toilet and then visited with Jenny for a little while. What a morning!