tiptoe through the tulips...

It was a picture perfect day. The the flowers were gorgeous, the wind was not as strong, the camera batteries charged and our friends were dressed as cute as could be. This could only mean 1 thing.... tulip pictures at the Arboretum. Beware... picture heavy blog ahead:
Sam, Molly and I along with Alison and Josh and Faye, Hanna and Aubree headed to get "the perfect photo" well, they aren't perfect by any means, but here are just a few (out of over 200 taken-have I mentioned before that I LOVE digital cameras?) that actually looked ok:

Though it is a cute song, I am sure that the gardeners do not appreciate a cute little wild boy "tip toe (tromp) through the tulips" honestly... does his mother have NO control?!umm, aren't the flowers suppose to stay ON the stems?

Sam and Josh. I like this one because it looked like they are really having a grand time and deep conversation, when in all reality they didn't even notice that the other was there that day.

Sam, Josh and HannaSam and Hanna sweet embraceSam and Hanna enjoying the sites together (or was it that this was a good way to keep everyone together?) maybe a little of both....

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HAPPY EASTER

What a wonderful weekend! It was definitely fun-filled and action-packed. I think it is funny how much my activities have completely changed over the course of just 3 years. They used to consist of a nice, QUIET night out, time with friends, traveling etc, now: well continue to read. (oh, and by the way, I wouldn't change it for ANYTHING! I LOVE being able to watch a 3 year old sit on a pony for the first time and a 10 month old squeal with delight when someone she knows well comes into the room and says hi!)

TODAY~ EASTER SUNDAY

It started off like any typical Sunday morning, hurrying and scurrying around to make sure the kids are clean and crumb free with freshly combed hair. This morning was a little different though, I told Sam that it was Easter and he kept asking where his Easter eggs were (yes, he learned very quickly that Easter eggs hold CANDY) I told him that he would get his eggs and Easter basket AFTER church and lunch. I then proceeded to remind him that Easter was about Jesus rising from the dead after 3 days just as He said He would. That He died for our sins because He loves us. Sam just looked at me and said "oh, OK" and went on his merry little way. I know that at this age Sam has no idea what death even is, let alone that Jesus sacrificed Himself so that we may have Eternal life, but we want to make sure that he does know that Easter is more than just candy filled eggs.
We managed to avoid the rain and stay dry (unfortunately--- we really need the rain!!) and were able to hear another great message at church and Sunday school. After church we headed to lunch at a local chinese restaurant (cause doesn't everything think of chinese for an Easter meal?) and then home where the kids were able to open their Easter baskets:
off to a quick nap and then over to our friends' house for dinner and chat time (while the kids played) It was yet another late night for the kids, but amazing enough, Sam was able to continue singing and talking until after 10:30. (where oh where does he get all his energy?)

Saturday

SATURDAY
Saturday was my morning to get up, but it was a fun morning of playing with the kiddos. (Kirk and I alternate sleeping in on Saturday mornings since neither one of us are "morning" people). I can't complain too much though, the kids were good and Kirk made us a yummy breakfast. After naps it was back to the horse park for our church Family Fun Festival. It was nice to be able to have Kirk watch Sam enjoy the petting zoo and pony ride. Yet again, the highlight of the farm experience was the bounce house. He could bounce for hours if we would let him, but since you saw those pictures from yesterday, I thought I'd show some of Sam playing with (harassing) the other animals.

FRIDAY

Today we went to the horse park to celebrate Hanna's 3rd birthday. What a fun, fun, day! It was a great set up as we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves (all of Hanna's little friends) There were 4 ponies that the kids had to chose from to ride. (I think Sam tried out all 4) He had no fear, went right up to them, talked to them, hugged and kissed them as though he had been around them everyday.


Molly was there too, though I don't think she enjoyed the pony as well as Sam did. She did, however, enjoy being outside to watch all of the activity and the animals. Along with the pony, Sam also enjoyed chasing the cat, the dog and of course all of the goats. He had fun chasing a few other animals around the barn too, but I think that his FAVORITE part was the bounce house (of course) Thanks Hanna for such a great day! "pappy durday!!"

After naps and baths we all headed over to Ma and Pa's house for a wonderful homecooked Easter meal. Ham with all the fixins Yum Yum. It was really good... Molly loved the sides, Sam enjoyed the ham. (just because he says it every year I have to add this) Kirk wants to know why it is that ham is always the meat of choice for Easter? (for those of you who may not know, ham is not eaten by those of Jewish faith) Seems a little ironic doesn't it?
Thanks Ma for the DELICIOUS meal (and left overs :) )

My Wee

Ok, So I feel that I am playing catch up for the month! Here is a bit of Sam's birthday (only a month overdue)
We hear this a LOT... "my wee" or for those of you who do not speak Samuel talk "I'm Three" (for some reason "I'm" is "my")

Sam had a grand time opening his presents. Because we have friends and family that live so far away, Sam got presents in the mail for several days in a row. Now everytime he sees a wrapped gift he thinks it is for him and he will either start singing "bappy dirday" or just claim it "dat amules" (that's Samuels)

Here are just a couple of high light pictures. I will not load down the blog with the many, many that I took

These boots are made for walkin'

I think I am seeing what our future holds with Sam and Molly. There might be a wee bit of competition and attention seeking going on between them. Sam (as any 3 year old would be) has had a hard time when we are feeding/ changing/ talking to etc the 'baby'. It is very difficult (though hard for you to believe since you see so many) to get pictures of just Molly as Sam needs to be in it or see it as I am taking it(meaning helping me hold the camera).
Molly also seems to be in the middle of the action whenever Sam is concerned. If we are playing cars, she needs to chew on them, if we are playing trains she has to sit in the middle of the track etc.
Here is another PERFECT example... I am lighting the candles on Sam's cake, we are starting to sing 'Happy Birthday' and what do I see out of the corner of my eye?! Molly grabbed Sam's "car" (the thing that converts to a walker and a sit down car deal) and takes off walking with it. Slowly and discoordinated, but she made it quite a way for her first time!! (couldn't have picked a better time to make that accomplishment, sister!!!)

A day with my Pa

One of Sam's birthday gifts this year was his new sandbox. It gets even better than that though, Sam was able to go with Pa, in the truck and get the sand for the box. No one else was allowed to go, but I was able to get the play by play story several times, each time Sam's face glowed with excitement. Apparently he watched the tractor dump the sand into the back of the truck, they brought the sand home and then he and Pa placed it in the box. Pa said that as he was shoveling the sand into his wheelbarrow Sam disappeared, only to come running back with his little wheelbarrow from the backyard. I guess he needed to get in on the action. I was able to pop out of the house quietly to snap a few pictures unnoticed (not for long though... Molly gave me away)


Prior to Molly realizing that I was missing, she managed to find the cereal bar that Samuel decided not to eat for breakfast. Now, when I say she found it, I don't mean that she found it and that was that, no siree bob. I mean to say that she found it on the coffee table, picked it up, mashed it in her cute little fingers, then into her hands. She managed to eat a little, place the gooey center part into her hair as well as her outfit and the carpet. It was at this point that she realized I was missing and started to cry. She must have spotted me out in the back and decided that she needed to crawl over to the door, (fingers and hands still full of the mashed up breakfast bar) allowing a nice trail of gooey mess all along the way. Unfortunately for you, I was more concerned with cleaning the baby, the carpet, the tile, the coffee table, the clothes etc to snap a picture. I don't need an actual picture to have this memory though, it is ingrained in my head

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No, No, Durdy, durdy, durdy

It seems that Sam is truly looking out for the best interest of his baby sister. Or is it that he just enjoys telling her what to do and taking things away from her? I haven't quite figured out the real reason behind it, but it is cute regardless. I was in the kitchen and I heard Sam saying "No Allyee (yeah, you guessed it-- that is Molly to you and me) durdy, durdy, durdy" "No, No, Durdy, durdy, durdy" Yes, he has heard me say this many times to Molly as she has this thing with shoes. She will go out of her way to hunt a shoe so that she can place it in her mouth and chew. (yes, I know, YUCK!!!) As I remove the shoe from her hands (and/or mouth) I always say "No, No, dirty, dirty, dirty". Only I will put the shoes away and not on our dining table ;)


So I am sure you noticed, it is March and I still have my poinsettia from November. It had been doing pretty well until I thought I would be nice to it and let it go outside for a little sunshine. Little did I realize that there were like 30 MPH winds that day and it blew my poor little flower to pieces. This is what was left of my poor pathetic flower. I have since done what any good green thumbed person would do. (I threw it away) I mean, it was a seasonal flower after all right?! Anyone else still have one sitting around? I really wanted to see if I could make it last until NEXT Christmas and have it double in size. Oh well, better luck next year right?!

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Saying Goodbye

On Sunday March 15th 2009 my Uncle Jerry (my mom's sister's husband) passed away. He lived a very full and eventful life from doing magic shows to dropping out of a helicopter dressed as Santa Claus at the local mall every year to kick off the Christmas season. Since he lived so far away (Indiana) Sam was only able to meet his great uncle twice. Unfortunately, Molly never did. Here is Samuel with him in August 2006. Sam was 5 months old. This was one of the first times that Sam gave us a huge belly laugh, not sure what it was, but he thought uncle Jerry was hysterical.




We went back up north in January 2008. Sam was 22 months, Molly came as well, only about 21 weeks along. Aunt Shirley and Uncle Jerry came over to visit as we were staying in Ohio to visit my grandparents. Sam enjoyed chatting it up with Uncle Jerry.
good bye uncle Jerry, we are so happy that you are in a MUCH MUCH better place now. See you again someday.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Amazing as it may sound, just 3 short days later on Wednesday March 18th my grandpa (my mom's father) passed away to see his Lord and maker, Jesus Christ. He was 88 years old and enjoyed every year to the fullest. Thankfully he was healthy and able bodied to the end. He was very active in his church and busy all the time whether it be counting the offering each week or maintenance on the many, many things that needed attention at the church and home. He proudly served in the Air Force during WWII and was honored at the graveside with a flag-draped casket, folding and presentation of the flag, and taps was played as the airplane flew overhead in his honor. Unfortunately I was unable to go to the funeral, but hearing it described just brings tears to my eyes. What a special way to pay tribute and say thanks to those who served our country and helped keep our freedoms.
Again, since Ohio is just too far away, Sam was only able to meet his Great Grandparents twice. Molly has never been there (except in my belly) -- I sure wish grandpa could have met her, he would have loved her big 2-toothy grin! The first time we went up (Aug 2006) it coincided with my grandpa's 86th birthday so my mom, Sam and I were able to help him celebrate. This was taken right as grandpa and Sam met in person for the first time. The next day, Sam and grandpa relaxing
Right before we headed back on the big airplane . Great-grandpa holding Sam with great-grandma Betty.
As you can tell, the next time we came to visit it was COLD outside. January in Ohio= BRRRR. Here is grandpa, Sam, my dad, Betty. No one would have ever guessed that just over 1 year later we would be saying good-bye forever. Good bye grandpa. Being an only child and father of 2 daughters, your last name continues as middle names in your grandson (Rod) and his son (Ethan). Your first name (Walter) continues as a middle name with Jeffery, your great-grandson. Your Christian legacy continues with both your daughters, their husbands and your grandchildren, all being Christ followers raising their children (your great-grandchildren) to love the Lord and to be actively involved in church. You have lead a long, full, healthy life and now you get to be in Heaven celebrating with Jesus. i am so excited to know that I will one day be able to see you again.

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'c' is for cookie, that's good enough for me

Here he is ladies and gentleman.... Chef boy R-Sam
Sam has been so into feeding us 'food' that he has 'cooked' for us that I finally decided to have him help me in the kitchen.

Here we are gathering our supplies (notice, Molly needed to be involved in the process as usual)
Dump in the sugar (being careful to have more go in the bowl than spill on the counter)
Give it a good stirShow your pleasure when you realize that there are 'chocolate candies' in this recipeTime to enjoy the fruit of your labor, a warm, perfectly baked ooey gooey chocolate chip cookie Yummo! Thanks little buddy, it was fun, next up homemade spaghetti sauce.....

Free Carmel mocha

I know that some of you that read this have Bob Evans in your neck of the woods (lucky you!). For those of us who don't will just have too look at the picture full of envy (it looks yummy!) click HERE to get your FREE caramel mocha. This expires March 11 so hurry and get one each day until Wed! Best part... no purchase necessary, dine-in OR carry out! Enjoy

More free food at Jack-in-the-box

On Wed March 11 ONLY...
click here to get a coupon for a FREE small fry and small drink. No purchase necessary, 1 coupon per person. Sounds like a good deal to me. I don't ever eat there (except when Danna and I were travel nurses and we ate the breakfast croissants there after a long nights work) hmmm, that brought back some fun memories and I do remember that it was yummy, wonder if they still have that?! Maybe this free drink and fries coupon might actually do what they are hoping and get me there?!

swangin' the day away

What do you do when it is almost 80 degrees outside on a February afternoon?! you go swangin' Again, I can't tell you how much I LOVE having a swing set in our own backyard. It is great when there isn't a ton of time to go to the park, but we want to get out and play before supper. Anyway, Sam had a great time going down the slide and swinging in HIS blue swing. Somehow I was finally able to convince him to get out of the blue swing and go on the yellow one. Miss Molly then took his place and had a BALL swinging.


It was so fun to see their happy faces and hear their sweet giggles. Of course I could never get Sam high enough, but it was fun anyway. They even enjoyed being there together! (of course Molly LOVES watching and being with Sam regardless of the chore)

Cwoaf on

On one of our "let's stay in our PJ's today since everyone is sick" day, Sam decided he needed to go in search of some cwoafs (clothes) to wear. He left the family room telling me that he "be right back" and returned like this:
When he appeared he said "amuel put cwoaf on" (aka: Samuel put clothes on) quite an ensemble huh? Not quite the outfit I would have chosen , but hey... he did it all by himself, right down to the spiderman socks. And yes, he did get to wear this lovely outfit all day long. How could I refuse a boy who did it all. (and besides, we weren't going anywhere.... that definitely would have made a difference!!)

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