Sunday one-liners

"If you smoke a cigarette, you can see heaven!" --Henry

Answering the question, "What should we name your new kittens?" Jonah says, "Spark!" and Henry says, "I like Spark too. Let's name them both Spark." When told that isn't a great idea because we would get confused Henry says, "Then I'll name my kitten Bally Ball. But maybe we'll just call her Spark too because that's a better name."

"Mommy, Mommy! Bridget just said HER FIRST WORD! She just said 'duh duh duh!' Come listen!" --Jonah

After driving through a recent (and very strong!) skunk spray....(sniff, sniff) "Whoo! Something really stinks! Must be a cigarette or something." --Henry

"I need to get some exercise today so I can get my heart beeping. My PE teacher said so!" --Henry

Henry's first day of school!

So far Henry has survived (and LOVED) two days of kindergarten!

Here he is getting ready to head out, adorned with his brand-spanking-new spiderman backpack, spiderman lunchbox and spiderman light-up shoes:

And here is Henry with his super-sweet teacher, Mrs. Forsyth:

He doesn't look a bit nervous, does he? I was a little sad that HE wasn't at all sad to see me leave! :)

It has really been so fun! The first day they let parents walk the kids into their classrooms, but after that we have to drop off in the gym and they walk as an entire class to their rooms. Parents are welcome to join students for lunch any time, so yesterday I went back at lunch time to sit with Henry. It was awfully cute. He was excited to see us and had a big hug for Bridget. When we got up to leave from lunch I said, "Well, I guess we'd better head out..." and Henry said, "NOOOOO! I haven't even gotten to play on the playground yet!" So I guess it's not exactly a rough transition for him.

It's actually been hardest for Jonah so far. He doesn't seem to know what to do with himself and has never had to make all the decisions....Henry always decides what they will play! I'm sure he'll get into the swing of things soon. :)

Since my husband is out painting the shop with my brother, and we won't leave for the lake until they are done....I suppose I have time to blog! My friend Andi tagged me for this game a while ago. :)

4 Things

4 things that I was doing 10 years ago:

Thinking about this guy who I had recently met and sure liked a whole lot!
Celebrating my 20th birthday
Working at Costco
Running a lot more often than I do these days...

4 things on my To-Do list for today:

Party like it's 1999
Swim and lounge by the lake
Talk with friends
Hug my brother, just because I can!

4 random things I love about my husband:

He's my biggest cheerleader.
He has an AMAZING work ethic.
He has the best pout I've ever seen.
He always tries to make people feel comfortable.

4 jobs that I have had:

Daycare teacher
Clerk at a local, small-town clothing store
Many jobs within Costco
Mom to three kids

4 movies I've watched more than once:

The Notebook
Clueless
Dodgeball
Pride and Prejudice

4 places I have lived:

Seattle, Washington
Clarkston, Washington
Bozeman, Montana
Small town*, Texas (that's not the real name, of course!)

4 places I have been:

Canada
Mexico
Hawaii
Florida

4 places I want to visit:

New York
Alaska
Italy
Africa

4 TV shows I watch:

Lost
The Office
How It's Made
The Amazing Race (I SO want to be on this show!)

4 things you may not know about me:

A friend decided I should meet Sam and gave me his phone number. That's the short version of how we met! :)
I have one brother.
I love to crank up the music (any music!) and have dance parties with (or without) my kids.
I'm thinking about running a marathon. Soon. (Yikes!)

4 people I tag:

Tiffany

Ginger

MaryBeth

Heidi Jo

Brian's here!!!

My brother (who lives in Montana!) surprised me tonight by showing up on my doorstep! :) What a great 30th birthday present, huh?

He's here for a week and I am so excited!

(Still no pictures, by the way. My camera is STILL out for repair!)

School starts on Monday....

Tonight was "Meet the Teacher" night at kindergarten.

I was so excited and so was Henry. We've been talking about it for a week.

Henry went ahead of me, walked right in, found his name and sat down at his desk.

At that point, I had to walk to the other side of the room so Henry wouldn't see the tears that sprang to my eyes!

My baby is getting so big! He can't wait for school to start and now that he has met his new teacher and seen his super-fun classroom, he is beside himself with anticipation. :)

A recent family photo....

makes a good post for Wordless Wednesday! :)

gasp! TWO posts in one day?!?

I know, I know. I don't post for a week and then two in one day? :) When my husband works late, I have more computer time!

It seems that this silly girl...

...is all done nursing.

Yes, I know she's a year old. She eats anything and everything and LOVES to sit at the table. I know that this is a normal development. I have even known that it was coming. Having said all of that...I'm still a little sad about it. It's a little difficult to let my baby grow up!

House Tour--finally!

Well, a while ago I promised a house tour and I'm just now getting around to posting it! I guess when I was taking pictures of the house I forgot to take any pictures of the upstairs--what can I say? I'm forgetful sometimes! And my camera is still out for repair, so for now I'll just post the downstairs tour. Upstairs includes the boy's room, Bridget's room, the playroom, a guest room, two bathrooms and a living area. You'll just have to imagine all of that for now! :)

Welcome! Come inside....

This is our formal dining room:

And across the hall is the entrance to the study.

It's not an exciting desk, but we needed one and I found this at a garage sale for $10! Need to freshen up in the powder room?

Here's the kitchen! My favorite room, I think! There is a low counter at the end of my kitchen counter (lower right, in the photo) that we are able to use as a desk for the computer.

Our everyday eating area...since this picture was taken, Bridget has graduated from the highchair to a booster at the table.

Here is the living room...

And our favorite spot--the fireplace! Please notice the 19 pound Northern Pike (that Sam caught a few years ago!) and not the signed photo of Natalie Grant, which has found a new home.

This is our lovely baby gate! Bridget LOVES the stairs and has become quite proficient at going up and down them, but we still keep the gates closed for safety.

Our bedroom is downstairs as well as another bathroom and the washer/dryer. I just didn't get any great pictures of those rooms. Our bedroom shares the same wall as the living room, and we have two great big windows like the ones in that room. They all overlook the backyard, which is full of trees and birds! Stay tuned for part two of the tour--as soon as I get my camera back! :)

Thanks for joining me on the tour! Happy Monday to one and all!

Home from Mexico!

Tijuana trip 2008

(This is a neighborhood store, tucked in between a number of houses.)

(This is just a picture of the power lines--it was a little scary to see how power was run in some of these areas. We were told that power is often stolen and used illegally, which is why there are so many wires coming off this one pole.)

What a trip it was! We had an amazing time. We feel so blessed to have been a part of this and we are already looking forward to next year! :)

Our mornings were spent setting up and running a vacation bible school (vbs) for the neighborhood kids--anywhere from 60-100 showed up each day to play and learn.

Our afternoons were spent alternately building a house for a family of six, sharing the gospel door-to-door, and doing service projects in the neighborhood.

(This is the mom we built a house for and three of her kids. The father was out working and the 15-day-old baby was asleep inside when I took this picture.)

Our evenings were spent in sessions with a great worship band and powerful teaching times.

The band Unhindered came along and we spent a day with them building on our house and we spent two evenings rocking out to their amazing songs.

(This is our awesome team-we had 39 kids on the team. The man in the front is our building contractor, Don.)

And Bridget celebrated her first birthday while we were in Mexico! Sam worked out the details to surprise us with a birthday cake for her--I was so impressed. Isn't he the best? Seriously!

And I had to include the aftermath picture--Bridget was COVERED in chocolate (she thoroughly enjoyed her cake!) and the lovely Ingrid was kind enough to stick her in the sink for a quick rinse off. :)

I'm still mentally processing much of the trip. It was life-changing and gave me a new perspective on just about everything. GOD IS SO GOOD!