In The Pew

I finally finished my book last night-the one it's taken me far too long to read. It's called In Every Pew Sits A Broken Heart by Ruth Graham and Stacy Mattingly. Ruth gives us her life story over the course of the book. She gives advice in various situations for those hurting and those helping friends who are hurting. She shows us how to work our way back to God, no matter how far we may have strayed. Her biggest points were 1. No matter how deep we're sinking, God will always welcome us back if we just turn to Him; and 2. The lower we get, the more we need God. I thought it a very good book and would recommend it.

In other news, Jon will be performing his first wedding this weekend. We will get to spend time with family. I'm very excited that our tomatoes are coming very well. I've picked one "regular" tomato and a few cherry tomatoes. But there are tons out in the garden, and we should be happily picking in the next couple weeks. BLTs, here we come!

New Title

Well, if you look above, I have made a name change, possibly temporary, possibly permanent. I'll see how it sits with me after looking at it a few times. Thoughts? I tried adding a picture of a bunch of bananas, but for some reason it wouldn't stay. People would have just wondered what I was doing with a picture of bananas, anyway.

We went to see our new niece Saturday. You forget how tiny babies are. It was fun to hold a teeny one again. Leah is a little territorial and wanted that baby off my lap. But she's not excited to see the boys on my lap, either. Just something she'll have to work through. We had a good time with Jon's family. The boys love their cousin Ella. She gets a bit overwhelmed with the 2 boys vying for her play time, but I think she enjoys seeing them, too. We went to a splash park and the boys just loved it. The three of them had a good time. Leah wasn't excited about it-the water was pretty cold. She gradually got braver but still didn't get very wet.

Jon will be performing his first wedding next weekend. We have to travel a bit, so we're taking vacation and hanging out with our families. The boys are looking forward to seeing their grandpas and grandmas, but they're always ready to go anywhere. Such social butterflies, these two.

We also went on a real date Friday night and saw the last of the Harry Potter films. We figured out we haven't been to a movie theater for 3 years, that being one night of our summer internship in Sunnyside when we only had Ben and some good people volunteered a night of babysitting. I think most of the time I'd rather be in the comforts of home to watch a movie, but it was good to get out without a child.

So that was our exciting weekend. I'm off to read a book I've renewed 2, maybe 3, times and want to get through before we leave this weekend. I just don't have the concentration right now that I used to have for reading a book, but I've found I'm not the only one with this problem after having babies. Some day I will sit and enjoy a book in daylight hours and not fall asleep in it.

Birthday Pictures

Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot

Since the heat is foremost on everyone's mind around here, I might as well talk about it. You're not a true midwesterner if you can't hold a conversation about the weather. As I said before, it's in the 90s with high humidity. I took the kids out at 8:00 this morning for an hour of swimming in the backyard. Jon filled the pool yesterday, but neither of us had ambition to actually be out there, even in the evening. So I figured if the kids didn't care and we'd be cooped up all day otherwise, we could spend some time outside this morning. We were in full shade and the water was plenty warm. I herded everyone in as the sun crept closer to our pool-just in time for Sesame Street. Plus Finn nearly drowned Leah and she wanted nothing more to do with the pool.

I kept the boys busy with paint by water this morning. Leah slept and I made a casserole to freeze. Ben helped me make pizzas this afternoon while Finn slept and Leah busied herself with toys in the living room. Leah keeps busy with anything right now. She's more than happy to go up the stairs to the boys' room and play with the doors on their kitchen. There's also a 5-piece puzzle she really likes right now. She's also in the stage where she'll just sit and page through books. This is one of my favorite things to watch my kids do. I love to see them sitting in a pile of books, just quietly and intently looking at the pictures.

Jon braved the heat to grill tonight, which was great because I really don't want to run my oven. There are a few things I can do solely on the stove, but I think I need more crockpot recipes for days like this.

New Name?

I've been thinking lately that I should have some kind of catchy name to this blog. It was originally created when we took our trip to Indonesia 4 years ago, so Jon created it and made it simple. Since I've taken over it and pretty much made it mine, it seems a little boring to just put our names down. Since I have little creativity and right now I'm too tired to think, let me know if you have something catchy that might inspire me to play with words a bit.

In other news, we had our annual youth Sunday service this morning. The youth lead worship; we play some games after the church service, like a clothespin drop and beanbag toss, among others; and we have a potluck at church. The boys did pretty well with the games. Leah took a little snooze between the service and lunch. Someone is always willing to take her, so I was able to take the boys and help them with the games. Jon grilled pork loin for the potluck.

Our forecast for the week is for the 90s with overnight lows in the 70s. Humidity will bring the heat index even higher. I think we'll be staying inside this week, which doesn't always produce good results. My kids have too much energy. I may have to invest in some crafty things for times like these, and I suppose for the winter. Maybe I'll buy a bunch of sequins and stuff and keep the boys busy gluing them to paper. Maybe I have to start teaching them letters and numbers in Spanish. I'm sure we'll make it through.

And now it's time for ice cream. Blue Bunny makes some great flavors we've been testing this summer.

Off to the Fair

Yesterday we went to a local county fair. It's one of the bigger county fairs around here, and since we enjoyed it last year, we decided to go again. The boys were excited because they love to look at the animals. We didn't take our camera, but I think we got one of the most bored looks I've yet seen on Leah's face. This trip was a bit more enjoyable for a variety of reasons: 1. Last year we went on a Friday evening, which was extremely busy. 2. It was in the 70s with low humidity and a nice breeze-a beautiful day for a fair. 3. We went a week after I had Leah last year-it was a lot of walking and I took on more than I should have. Then there were tornado warnings, so we had to do a rush mass exodus. Not fun when you're tired.

We walked around the barns and then came to an area with an old tyme town, and they were just beginning a wild west shootout. We thought it would be fun to watch, but as they started shooting their guns, Finn got scared and cried. So I took him and Leah out of there. Ben wanted to watch but he was worried about Finn, so nobody stayed for that. The opening of the show was a horse dancing, which the boys seemed to enjoy. Leah just spent the whole time trying to get out of her stroller.

We had some great food. The kids ate a bunch of pizza and I had an excellent brisket sandwich. We all shared a bloomin' onion. We let the kids run a while. There was a little train car for the boys to explore and the buildings were open in the old tyme town, and Leah ran around in her own baby way trying to eat rocks and nearly tripping people. We ended the evening with some homemade ice cream and actually got home at bedtime. The kids must have been tired because they actually slept past 7:00 this morning.

The Joy of Gardening

We are in our second year of a real garden. Last year was literally a wash since we had tons of rain and just couldn't keep up with the weeding. We had to get our stuff out way early before it all rotted. I had Leah right when our peas and beans were starting, so the work was pretty much up to Jon, if he had actually been able to get in the garden. This year is much better. We've had a good balance of rain and sun and we've both been able to spend a good amount of time outside. It's a bit difficult for me since I can't really take my eye off of Leah outside. She enjoys eating dirt in the garden, but then she gets bored and wants to do something else. So I try to work around her naps and my housework.

Today I was very excited to pick 3 buckets of beans. The boys helped for about 5 minutes, then Finn was adamant that he pick peas. Ben just walked around the beans, picking here and there, and then watching me work. I did some weeding this afternoon. The boys don't seem to quite understand, because Finn wanted to help and picked an onion. At least he got a good-sized onion. Ben's not big into weeding. They're figuring out this is a bit of work, though we try to make it sound fun. Finn is anxious to pick tomatoes. When it comes time to pull stuff up, they will be ready and willing.

We hope to instill in our kids an enjoyment of gardening. They know we get to eat the stuff out of our garden, and some day we hope they appreciate the wonder of God's creation and the feeling of accomplishment (as well as the taste of home-grown food) that comes with the work of gardening.

July Already?

I realized it had been a while since I last posted, but I didn't realize it was March. I figured May at the latest. I probably could write something every day, if I even remembered, yet I feel I would bore people. But I guess they don't have to read this then, right? I will try to be better about it, but I don't promise more pictures.

We had a great weekend with our good friend Kris. It has been a great while since we have seen her, and yeah there's email and whatnot, but there's nothing like a personal visit. The time flew by quickly and all of us were sad to see her go (I must say, Finn attached to her pretty quickly).

We also celebrated Leah's first birthday! It's so hard to believe she's 1 already. That year flew by, as people say happens when you get older. I just think my kids have done something to my brain. The boys thought they would turn something when Leah turned 1, so I had to explain to them that they only get older on their birthday. Some day they won't be so quick to age.

Kris graciously helped me with my bright idea for Leah's cake-better in my brain than for real, but we tweaked our plan and it came out okay. We all ate it, so it couldn't have been that bad. Pictures in the next couple of days. We also enjoyed a little Famous Dave's for Leah's birthday meal. Since she couldn't tell us what she wanted, we figured it was a good choice. She is a meat eater for sure and everyone ate well.

Ben has already told me he wants a chocolate cake, and he's coming up with ideas for a present. I'm not sure I like this being able to pick business. It's much nicer when I can go buy what I want the day before their birthday while they're sitting in the cart and completely oblivious. Ben will turn 4 next month, so I guess I better start thinking. My challenge is always how to decorate the cake. Though Ben informed me he wants a Sesame Street puzzle on his cake. I told him that was beyond my ability, but I'm not sure he accepted that.

So here's my update, and like I said, I'll try to be better about posting.