He Knows My Name by Maranatha Singers

My heartsong.

Socca

Here are a few pictures from Grace's 2nd soccer game today.  She did so well!  After a brief crying spell because her cleats hurt her feet, she saw her buddy and thankfully was distracted from her foot pain (?)

Her little brother, on the otherhand, :( was just along for the ride....

Noah John just "hangs out" most of the time.  He is very calm when we're out but when we come home, he reminds us that he wants our attention (and deserves it), too!   Hee hee :)

Thank God for my children.

Date Night on Date Night

Most people know that Shawn and I are avid lovers of "The Office."  We think Steve Carell is both a genius and an idiot and that alone sets us into fits of laughter.  This past weekend, we went out on a long overdue date.  I even got a little dressed up.  Shawn wore nice khakis and a Ralph Lauren Polo.  We were set!  We ate at the new #9 Steakhouse in town and enjoyed it thoroughly.  We talked about the restaurant (quintessential Madisonville...pricy, with coal miner pictures adorning the walls), the food, a possible upcoming vacation, and what to do after dinner.  We had a sitter til 10 pm!  A SITTER TIL T-E-N.  After years of fighting 'assimilation' I have given in.  I am one of those moms now...one of those...gasp...moms who hire babysitters and...gasp...go OUT for a night.  I am neurotic.  Correction:  I WAS neurotic.  Now I am normal...right?  I can leave my kids with a babysitter (still write a lengthy note though)...and enjoy a few hours without a fit or a diaper or a sippy cup or a very tense explanation (for the umpteenth time) of why we can't take paint or fingernail polish to the restaurant....I just EXHALED loudly (really).  I feel free.  Thank God for babysitters.  For my sanity, my kids' sanity, my future grandchildren's sanity....  Luckily, I have a couple babysitters who are great (meaning:  they tolerate my neuroses).  They cut the kids' food up into miniscule bits (per note) and never put Noah John down on the floor (he might eat the hardwood or knaw a leg off the kitchen table).  They read them books and work puzzles to challenge and grow their brains (per note)...they limit the tv (I have always feared coming home after a night out to find the kids' in a zombie-like state from which they'll never leave, thus the note mentions limiting tv time).  They get the kids to bed easily and even say nighttime prayers...and when I come home I don't feel like The Cat in the Hat has just left...even though I did see that book on the floor Friday night, come to think of it.  I'll have to check with the sitter about that.  Just to be sure that Cat wasn't here (I have allergies and I think that Noah John probably does, too).  Not because I'm still neurotic.  But that can wait, at least til I finish this post....

Back to the date, after leaving #9, we headed toward the mall.  The shopping experience there is amazing (insert sarcasm) so I figured we would window shop at leisure.  Reality hit and I was reminded that shopping there is actually quite disappointing.  New plan:  we drove to the theatre and checked the listings.  We jumped and ran from the van into the movies because Date Night (with aforementioned mentioned Steve Carell) started 10 minutes before we arrived.  Go us!  I'll admit...we were mildly excited about our spontaneity.  We hadn't checked movie times a week prior to the date, for one.  We hadn't read movie ratings, for two.  It's oddly exciting to not plan apparently.  Anyway, we chose to forego popcorn to save time, and found ourselves about 10 rows from the screen, front and center.  The movie had obviously juuust started.  Perfect.  The first clip made us laugh.  Out loud.  The movie is about a married couple with two small children (like us) and about how they want to get out of the ordinary routine and have a fancy dinner in NYC one night.  I won't kill it for ya;  I'll just say that they soon realize that all they want is to be back home, in their ordinary house with their ordinary life....  The movie made me ponder some serious stuff...which was odd.  A comedy?  A Steve Carell comedy?  Serious afterthoughts?  Puzzling.  I ponder...isn't "ordinary" just a beat away from a miracle and, and, really isn't that the best part of it all in the end?  Isn't the 'boring' and expected part of marriage and family life the blessed part?  That genius/idiot Steve Carell.  Thank God for the babysitter and him, too.  Irony is so ironic.

I must be QUIET during naptime.

I have spent the past 7 days taking one step forward, two steps back.  So today, HOURS after my first attempt to get Grace down for her nap (mostly my fault)...she was finally in bed and I asked her, "Grace do you want me to lay down with you?"  Her response, "If you'll be quiet."

SIGH.  BIG SIGH.  Head shaking.  What am I going to do with her!  I asked her that about a week ago, and she had an answer for that as well... "Nothing.  You're not going to do anything with me!"  Isn't she something.  Where does she get it?  Seriously?  I'm just not sure . . . . (yah-right).  Is it bad that I hope Noah John is a little more like Shawn!?  Ha ha!

Headline: Tomboy Fairy is a force to be reckoned with...

This is my precious girl child. 

Like they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. 

May the force be with you should you cross this fairy.

She's tough and tender all in one.

The Easter Bunny didn't die and rise again 3 days later, and other conversations...

Post coming soon..........

We serve a RISEN Saviour....

Post coming soon..........

Noah John @ 10 months...

I can't believe we're nearing 1!  No!  :)  Noah John is a joy.  However his personality has begun to show and he is quite a mischievous one I do believe.  He has just begun to let us know that he can and will hold his own, which is good (he was born into a family of tough-as-oaks-folks, so this is a very good thing)....look at his cuteness.  I couldn't help but slide some pics in of my nephew Clark.  That and the fact that I can't find any 10-month photos of NJ by himself.  I had some professionally taken but can't upload those.  :( 

My dad has dug out a pond on his new property.

He says "those boys are going to love to catch crawdads, shiners, etc there."  Love it!  Seeing pictures of them together-and how close they are in age-makes me think he's probably right!

Anyway, developmentally, Noah John is right on track.  His weight gain had halted basically until 10 months and he now weighs over 19 1/2 lbs.  He was such a huge baby (over 18 lbs at 4 months)...I guess he is finding his place on the growth curve.  I was relieved to see a gain this month.  He has a good appetite...eats and drinks well...he says momma, daddy, bye, hi, moo, kit (for cat or kitten), poppa, and mom thinks he said nonna but I didn't hear it :)....  He stands all the time-but has to be holding on to something.  He has begun to let go briefly then he plops down on the floor.  He is into EVERYTHING under the SUN.  It is unreal.  I am bracing myself because Grace was active, but not this active!  We joke that he has a good arm for baseball, but the joke might be on us...both my dad and granddad were good players, dad even got a scholarship for baseball.  He's fun, fun, fun, and I'll say it again, he absolutely adores his big sister.  He thinks pretty highly of his mommy, too, I might add.

Ew, kewl, I just found a pic or two of the big boy by himself...here they are....

Love him!

Curious

Mom kept Grace for a couple days and NJ and I got some one on one time together...priceless.

The Transformation: Baby girl room to Big girl room...no easy feat.

It took me years to complete Grace's room...and I am so glad it is finished!  It's pretty as a picture.  I'm so proud of it that I am uploading more pictures than I ever do!  Ha ha!  The hard work was worth it when Grace walked in to see it.  She said, "Wwwwooooowww..... it's like a princess' room."  Worth. Every. Single. Hour. I. Spent. On. It.

I show the closet views above, because I spent approximately 6 hours redoing her closet...utilizing more drawers for clothes provided room for storage (organizers, etc) in her small closet.  Her room is so organized now!  Cleanup time is literally a cynch.  Can you believe that!?