Sharing the Love

Okay, so I don't usually post twice in one day, but I got a great tribute from a blogger friend in Texas who was "sharing the love" with her favorite bloggers and I WAS ONE OF THEM! How awesome is that? Jen and I have never met; I don't even remember how we found each other's blogs (I think I found her first, left a comment, and the rest is history). Anyway, we have tons in common (nurses; mothers of three...two boys and a girl, even; Stampin' Up! demonstrators; Christians; addicted bloggers; the list goes on and on). I visit her blog every day, loving the great photos she puts up and the awesome stories she tells. I am in awe of her recent accomplishment of running and FINISHING the Danskin Triathalon...go check her out and read all about it.

So here is me, doing my part to share the love in my corner of the world, celebrating the blogs I love:

Jen, the Honorary Indian: love the design of her blog, her adorable kiddos and her great posts.

Becky Higgins: although she doesn't know it, she is the one responsible for me starting a blog; she was having a contest and to enter, you had to leave a comment, but in order to leave a comment, you had to have a blogger account; so I made an account, started a VERY basic blog, and the rest is history (also, she is the BEST scrapbooker I know).

Secret is in the Sauce: this awesome blogging community is new on the block, and already has a huge following. You so need to check this out if you are a blog-lover like me.

So, that's my lovin' for the day (sorry, Joe, you're out of luck :) Now go forth, and spread some love in your neck of the woods...

It's a Blogger thing...

I have three older sisters, two of whom I am very close to. They are both somewhat older than me, by seven and nine years. On hot summer nights (before we had a/c), my oldest sister and I would lay on our mom's bed and "tickle back", drawing pictures or words and trying to guess what the other had "written". I have such vivid memories of laying in front of that box fan, trying to catch a cool breeze on our sweaty skin and stifling giggles so we wouldn't get kicked out and made to go into our own hot bedrooms. Michelle moved out when I was eight years old, and the tickle back sessions sadly came to an end. Until I passed on the tradition with my kids, making it a favorite bedtime activity. Last night, Isabel wanted to sleep in my bed for one last time before Daddy comes home (today). We were taking turns, each drawing three pictures, then three words, for the other to guess. Isabel is such an artist, and very detailed, so it is great to be on the receiving end of her artwork. After two sessions, I was running out of ideas, so I wrote B-L-O-G-G-E-R on Isabel's back. The girl guessed it right away! How many eight-year-olds know what "blogger" is? I cracked up laughing (everything is funnier at midnight, especially after a strawberry daiquiri), half expecting my mom to come in and tell me to go to my room. Except I am the mom now, and I was in my room, and it was okay (even great) to be having a bad case of the giggles with my oh,so adorable daughter. When we finally calmed down and decided to go to sleep, I thought to myself, "I have got to post that in the morning". So here I sit at 7:30am, with a quiet house, a cup of coffee and my laptop, the windows open to let in the cool morning breeze, so happy to be blogging away and reliving last night's little moment. I hope Isabel will remember these times, too (I'm sure she will...she is her mother's daughter).

She hates to smile with her teeth showing ("they're all crooked!), but I love to see her happy personality shine through in these pictures. Isabel is an extraordinary girl, and I wish you all could meet her. Mature beyond her years, kind, intelligent ("gifted", even), a good friend, and the best daughter you could ask for. What on earth did I do to be blessed with such an awesome kid? I think this is nothing but an evidence of God's grace, which I will gladly accept. With a big AMEN at the end.

Sunday morning madness (or not)

Sunday mornings are usually tense and full of drama, with the five of us trying to bathe, dress, eat and get out the door to church in a timely manner (as in, on time). This is our weekly routine:

Me: wake up at 7am, with the intention of showering and getting completely ready before anyone else even gets out of bed; 7:15am, before the coffee is even brewed, Gabe wakes up soaking wet and needing a bath (even though he had one the night before...I swear the kid drinks all of the bathwater!); 5 minutes later, Isabel's mommy radar alarms, letting her know I am awake and she needs to be, too (her mommy radar is the strongest, although Gabe is a close second...does anyone else's kids have this function? is there a way to disable it?); now Gabe is bathed and dressed for church in clothes he "can't like" (ie, there are buttons and a collar on the shirt, and pants without grass stains on them) and Elijah is awake, wanting his breakfast the minute his feet hit the floor. By now, it is 9am and I still haven't had one sip of coffee! Where is my dear hubby, you ask? Still sleeping, making up for staying awake playing World of Warcraft until 3am (am I bitter? do I sound bitter? well, maybe a little). I fix breakfast for the kids, drink two sips of coffee, tell Elijah and Isabel to get dressed and for God's sake please brush their teeth, then put on a cartoon for Gabe and jump in the shower. Do I have time to shave my legs? No, looks like pants today. Shower, dry, dress, makeup, teeth, anytime left to fix my hair? Will it really look that bad in a hairband? (the answer to this question is a definite yes). Break up a fight between Gabe and Elijah, ask Isabel to take out the dog, and tell Joe for the third time that IT IS TIME TO WAKE UP!!!

Joe: Wake up at 10am, get a shower, eat breakfast, get dressed, walk out the door and wonder why Heather is always so cranky on Sundays. Isn't this supposed to be a joyful day?

With Joe being out of town this week, I dreaded doing this Sunday routine all by myself. I don't know why, but I did. So when the morning started out with Gabe peeing the bed and needing a bath, I was not surprised. Here we go, I thought to myself. But then something amazing happened...God smiled down at me and blessed my morning, making everything else go even better than according to plan. Gabe didn't complain (too much) about his church clothes; everyone got breakfast, even me; I got to drink two cups of coffee in peace while surfing my favorite blogs; no one fought at all; I showered, dressed, put my makeup on, AND fixed my hair, all before 10am; and I even managed to take pictures along the way to prove what a great Sunday this was shaping up to be. I even found a bit of scripture that went right along with my day:

"Commit your work to the Lord, and then your plans will succeed." Prov16:3 (NLT)

Well, if I only would've done that sooner. Amazing how not expecting the help of my beloved husband, but counting on God, helped me with my Sunday morning. So enough with the verbage, now on to the pictures...

Gabe, being a good sport with Mommy and her camera, while being "so naked" in the tub...

Isabel, deciding that now was the perfect time to train our puppy, Ellie, to sit, stay and roll over. And guess what? It worked!

Gabe, in his collared and button-down church shirt, eating a healthy breakfast of scrambled eggs and milk and not getting any on his clothes (I told you God was smiling on me)...

Elijah and Isabel, all dressed and ready (teeth even brushed!), totally getting along and acting goofy for the camera...

I couldn't ask for better kids, and although we miss Joe, it's kind of nice to know that I can manage quite well without him here. Here's to a great Sunday!

God love brothers...

We have had some beautiful weather this June, and last Wednesday evening was the best. Isabel spent the night with Mamaw Kay, so it was just me and the boys and some baseball (along with my camera) in our front yard, soaking up the rest of the sun's rays. Gabe absolutely adores Elijah, and although he does get annoyed with his younger brother's antics, Elijah adores Gabe right back. He loves to teach him how to do "big boy" things: play baseball, play video games, ride a bike, make fart noises...the list is endless. What a blessing that my children get along so well with each other (most of the time). It makes my job as a mom that much easier.

Looking at these pictures makes me realize how badly they both need a haircut...

Look at that concentration!

I just want to eat this boy up, he is so darn cute! And so full of life!

New Design

Did you notice?

Can you believe people pay good money to design their blog for them? I can, and I would, if I had a few bucks to spare, but I don't, so I googled "free blog design" and found a few good sites. And then guess what? (I know, you're on the edge of your seat, saying "what?", right?). Well, the "what" is that I DID IT MYSELF! I downloaded a zipped file, I unzipped the file, I uploaded it to my blog, and it WORKED!!! But my Musicplayer didn't come along with it, so I remembered how to copy and paste the URL to my page elements, and that worked, too!

For those of you who are computer-literate, this will seem like no big deal to you. But I am not the most literate person in the computer world (just ask my husband). The fact that I even have a blog amazes him, and me, too. But I am addicted. I love it. I love visiting people's blogs (mainly other moms and/or scrapbookers), and discovering how much we all have in common in this crazy life. It's like People magazine minus the celebrities. Everytime I write about my friend, Becky, or post a pic of her or her family, she feels famous when she reads it. I love knowing that other people are actually reading it. I love when my mom calls me and starts out with "I was looking at your blog, and I just had to call you". Who knew what this Blogging business would start?

Anyway, just wanted to write one post on my new page before I went to bed. After a day of working out, shopping and swimming at Becky's mom's pool, we are wiped out. Goodnight, all!

Berries and Frogs...

Who knew how much fun you could have in your own backyard? Although our dream is to own a house on a few acres of land, we are loving our yard in our little subdivision right now. We have a creek, a reserved "greenspace" behind us where no one can build, plenty of trees, and lots of "wildlife". Our strawberries are finally ripe (and recovering from the flood), our blackberries are coming in by the bushel, and we have frogs jumping in and out of the creek like crazy! The robins built another nest in the honeysuckle tree, the lightning bugs are out in full force as soon as the sun goes down, and the cicadas just won't give it up (how long do those things last, anyway?). With gas prices being what they are (ridiculous), this is the summer of the backyard...our own, our friends', and our hometown. And you know what? That is so fine with me. We live in a great place, with great friends and family nearby, and if it takes high gas prices and a sluggish economy to make me slow down and enjoy what we do have, then I will take that opportunity and I will cherish it. I'm still not excited about gas being over $4 a gallon, but I'm not going to whine about it (too much) either.


A sample of our strawberries fresh from the patch...Gabe loves to find "red ones", even if they only have one spot of pink on them...they are pretty tasty!

Isabel worked all morning to catch this frog with her friend's net...she finally cornered it in a puddle beneath our deck, and managed to put it in our bug catcher. She was so proud!

Isabel and Gabe decided to name him "Cody". We made a home for him in an old aquarium we had, and even bought some mealworms for him to eat, when we realized that he didn't like cicadas.

After about three days, we decided that Cody looked sad and lonely, and we released him back into the creek to be reunited with his frog family. Isabel's next mission is to get a frog to keep in her room. I'm not so sure about that one...

Viva Las Vegas!

Hope you're having a great time, Joe! Win big, baby!

Cincinnati Zoo!

For Elijah's actual birthday last week, we went to the Cincinnati Zoo with my sister, Rhonda, and her two babies, Katlyn and Kylee. Since I have about a hundred pictures of the monkeys and the elephants, I tried to focus on taking pictures of the kids this year. We were blessed to run into someone who gave us four free tickets on their way out of the zoo (God Love West Virginians!), which more than made up for a full parking lot and thousands of other people who thought a day at the zoo was a great idea. The weather was perfect...75 degrees and partly sunny, with a brief thunderstorm in the afternoon (we hid out in the bug house). These are some of my favorite pics of the day...

The zoo just opened a new giraffe exhibit this year, where you can be on a raised walkway on a level with their heads, and eventually be able to feed them. Right now, the giraffes aren't used to being so close to humans (i.e. groping hands of toddlers and screams of preschoolers)...they are hoping by fall, they will be acclimated and will eat right out of your hand! We may have to make another visit then.

I loved this one of Gabe holding Kylee's hand...it was even his idea!

My sweet big sis and her baby girl...

Katlyn and Gabe are only 14 months apart, and they usually have a great time together.

Inside our refuge from the storm, the bug house. Right behind us are the leaf-cutter ants. Gabe's favorite...the cicada display (imagine that!).

Wresting the crocodile outside of Manatee Springs. Don't you love Elijah's hairdo (after getting blasted by the water misters)?

My favorite exhibit, handsdown, is the polar bear. You can see them walking around the rocks on top, then race down below and watch them swim right past you...too cool. I bet we spent the majority of our time here (besides the restrooms). One funny story: I wanted Gabe to try to poop before we went to the zoo, explaining to him that the bathrooms at the zoo were so stinky. He said, "those animals poop in those potties there?". I could just imagine what he was envisioning, sharing the toilet with a monkey or an elephant! I love how their little minds work.

After walking what felt like ten miles, we were all pretty tuckered out. Gabe tried to be a good brother and push Elijah in the stroller...he could only manage pushing him around in circles. All in all, it was a great day, and the kids had a terrific time.

Now for the next summer adventure...

Becky, I miss you!

This week I have felt like a little kid, missing my best friend while she was gone on a week-long vacation. Oh, that's because my best friend IS on vacation, and I am missing her like crazy. Becky called me from Myrtle Beach yesterday, rubbing it in about the great weather and the beach and the ocean, and making sure I wasn't working out without her. We made a pact before she left that I would abstain from the YMCA gym so we could both be pathetic on our first day back :) Well, Becky, while you were gone I had nothing but celery and water, worked out two hours a day every day, ran a marathon, lost twenty pounds and three dress sizes! That's what you get for leaving me here!


Just kidding! Unless you count walking ten miles at the zoo, and sitting poolside at the Y, and running after Gabe at Elijah's ballgames, I haven't exercised one lick. I had good intentions, but without a buddy to talk to, being on an elliptical machine for forty minutes sounds like torture. I cannot wait until Monday, when we can catch up and burn off all those calories we have stored up this past week! It's so silly, but when I heard your message on my way home from work this morning, it really did make me miss you like a little kid. I know we have talked about this before, but I am sure God had His hand on our friendship from the start. You are a balm for my soul, and it's hard to believe we haven't even known each other a year yet. I truly do thank God for putting you in my life...you are an awesome friend, a great mother, and a devoted wife (in other words, a great example for me). I love you, man.

Now don't forget our plans for a girls night next week when my hubby is off to Vegas. We got some catching up to do!

Happy Birthday, Elijah!

Ten years ago today, Elijah was born and I became a mother for the first time. Yesterday afternoon, I was thinking back to that day...the fatigue of being nine months pregnant, the excitement when my water broke, the fear of labor, the pride when I pushed that baby out on my own without any pain medicine or an epidural, and the overwhelming love I felt when I held him for the first time. I cried and cried yesterday, missing my dad and wishing he were here to see what a terrific young boy Elijah is turning out to be. Dad was at the hospital when Elijah was born, and it's so funny to see the pictures of that tall guy holding that tiny baby (my dad was 6'5", and all of 165 lbs). I know in my heart that he can look down and see us here, but I hate that my kids don't know him like I did; that he can't come to Elijah's ballgames or hear his corny jokes or talk to him about the great book he just read. My dad would love that, I'm sure.


We already celebrated Elijah's birthday with a party at Run Jump 'n Play, so today we are spending time together just as a family. Cracker Barrel for breakfast, Sam's Club to buy a Nintendo Wii that he's been wanting forever, the zoo with my sister and her kids, then Outback for a yummy dinner. Turning ten is a big deal, and I want this to be a day he remembers forever. I think it will be.

A little tribute to you, buddy...here are ten things we love about you:

1. You are kind to your brother and sister (most of the time).
2. You are smart, and you are a great student.
3. You rock at every sport you play (just like Daddy).
4. You tell me you love me every single day.
5. You make friends easily.
6. You still love to hang out with me.
7. You are adorable.
8. You love to read, just like me and Isabel and your big Papaw.
9. You are great at any video game you try to play...how do you do that?
10. You are my gift from God, and you make being your mom so easy.

I love you, Elijah. I hope you have a great birthday!

Happy Birthday, Ellie!

A year ago this week, we welcomed this furry little baby into our family. I had promised Isabel she could have a girl puppy someday, since she didn't get a sister when Gabe was born. So...we drove to an Amish-connected farm in Kentucky and picked Ellie out of the litter of four toy fox terrier pups, and we have never regretted our choice. She is the best little dog you could ask for, and so stinkin' cute to boot. From a four-pound ball of fluff to a nine-pound bundle of energy that can even keep up with Gabe...Ellie had us at hello :)


Ellie as a pup, in her sweet little bed.

Ellie "opening" her birthday presents...a new bigger bed and toys and gourmet "doggie cookies"...yum!

Gabe "sharing" Ellie's toys...he just can't stand someone else getting a present. Man, he must be three or something!

Dreams and Goals

When I was younger, my biggest dream was to get married and have babies and be a great mom.

Then in high school, your teachers and guidance counselors and friends start asking you what you're going to do "after graduation". There was no question of going to college; of course I was going to college, but to major in what? After careful consideration, volunteering as a candy striper, and talking to other nurses, I decided to become a nurse. First my goal was to work at Children's Hospital, then in Labor and Delivery, then finally in the Intensive Care Unit. I graduated nursing school in August of 1994, nearly fourteen years ago. I work in the Surgical
Intensive Care Unit at Christ Hospital; I'm married; I have three babies; I'm happy...now what?

I am a planner, a goal-setter...I'm at my happiest when I have a list in hand, checking things off and adding more things to do onto my list. I still have plenty of lists, but the "big" things on my life list are already checked off, and I'm okay with that. Is it so bad to just be content with my life? Do I need to have more goals? Lots of my co-workers are working towards going to anesthesia school, or getting their bachelor's degrees, or becoming nurse practitioners...I just don't have that desire anymore. I love being able to work two or three nights a week, then be a stay-at-home mom the rest of the week. I love my job, my life, my kids, my family. I feel "arrived", finally at the age of thirty-four. I want to enjoy this feeling.

So I guess it's good to still have little goals (pay off bills, save money, etc), but I am going to be intentional about enjoying those goals I have already achieved. Starting today.

The inspiration for this post came from this song by Priscilla Ahn. I found the video on another blog (thanks, Daily Relish).

Happy Father's Day!

A tribute to all you dads out there, and all you wives of dads who tried to make their day a special one today...

Who knows when they marry a guy what kind of father they will be? I had an idea with Joe; when we had only been dating for a month, I noticed how awesome he was with the little kids his mom babysat. So at ease with them, picking them up and holding them, playing with the boys and coddling the girls...they all LOVED Joe. When I saw him feeding one of the babies a bottle, of his own free will, I knew he was the guy for me. I am, and always have been, a baby freak, a kid magnet, a mommy-in-the-making since I was, like, five years old. Joe is the perfect kind of guy for a girl like me. Why is Joe a great dad? Let me count the ways...

The best gift a father can give his children is to love their mother...and he does.

He supports my scrapbooking habit, helping "arrange" photo shoots with sometimes uncooperative kids, and even taking great pictures himself (he draws the line at making his own scrapbook page, however; I know...I've asked).

He loves on my friends' babies, even though he has three of his own. Here he is trying to comfort Summer when she was feeling sad.

He loves to get crazy with our kids, jumping on trampolines and inflatable toys, generally making a spectacle of himself and loving every minute of it! This was at Elijah's 10th birthday party at Run, Jump 'N Play last week. What a nut!

He can fall asleep anywhere...sitting upright in a chair, in the middle of a party, driving a car...he's not really sleeping here, but I'll bet he could have if I would've let him :)

Seriously, Joe does so many great things as a dad it is hard to name them all. I hope my kids appreciate him someday as much as I do my own dad. This is the third Father's Day without him, and I still miss him like crazy. Usually we would celebrate with a movie date and lunch; this year we would probably see "The Happening" (he loved scary movies). My dad was an awesome father, and I never doubted his love for me.

Happy Father's Day!