For Those Who Have Served & Are Currently Serving...Thank You

This morning we took the kids to our town's Memorial Day Parade. We have made this a family tradition, and will continue to do so. Dave is in the parade with the fire department. Today he drove one of their trucks, and the kids loved seeing him.

I was reminded in church yesterday (during Dave's sermon) the importance of passing on to our kids the love for God & Country. This love was instilled in me at a very young age. First of all a love for God, through a Christian home. Sencondly, a love for my country, and a respect for those who have fought for the freedoms we enjoy. In my family there is a long list of veterans, as well as family that are presently serving in the military. It is a privelege to have this heritage, and we want our children to know their history. If we don't take responsibility to show them that this is important to us, how can we expect them to place any importance on these things? As a kid, growing up in Tidioute, one of my greatest memories is going each year to the Memorial Day Celebration. Watching my dad march in the parade, in his uniform, and listening to the service at the cemetary. What a great thing my parents did for my brother & me, by taking us each year. I am excited to do this with our kids, and we find extra excitement seeing Dave in the parade.

Here are some pictures from our morning:

Dave, driving one of the pumper tankers (I think I said it right).








Don't you just love seeing Joel watch those fire trucks coming?


When Joel was born the Fire Department gave us a little Vly-Atwood t-shirt for him. Of course he had to wear it today. It has his name on the front, and VAFD on the back, for Vly-Atwood Fire Department.






Our community center, where the Memorial Day service takes place.

The Great Outdoors

As a family we love to be outside as much as possible. The kids are happier outdoors, and I know I tend to be more relaxed when I'm outside. I suppose it's because for a brief time the chores inside the home are not visible. We are heading to Pennsylvania on Wednesday to be with mom & dad, and help in any way we can. We would have gone sooner but we were waiting for Joel & Alayna to be completely clear of their colds. They seemed pretty healthy by mid-week last week, but we needed to be sure that they would not expose mom to any cold germs.
We managed to have a yard sale over this past weekend. It was the first time doing one in this house, and it was fairly successful, considering that we live pretty far from town. I advertised in the paper & on Craig's List. We made a nice little profit, and rid our home of some unnecessary junk that had snuck into the corners of the attic. It is such a great feeling to know that we have parted with these things. There are some items remaining in our office, but they are ear-marked as donations to Salvation Army and our local Crisis Pregnancy Center. Only a few items will remain with us. A few larger items that did not sell Dave drug to the edge of the road and put a free sign on them. Most everything was gone that same day. I saw a truck parked outside our home at 11:15 p.m. going through our stuff....bless him for taking away our junk. I almost went out and helped him load the items on his truck, but assumed he didn't want the help of a blurry-eyed woman in her pj's. He may have changed his mind and left us with everything...I did not want to risk that.
As we prepare to go to PA this week, we used our afternoon today to get yard work done and do laundry. Tomorrow I will pack up the luggage for the 5 of us, & Dave will take our donations to their new owners.

I took some pictures of the kids riding the mower with Dave. Julie & Alayna took turns driving the mower. They're such good helpers. Yard-workers in training!

Julie


Julie picked the flowers off of the chives we have growing. She thought they smelled great!


Julie & Dave


Alayna & Dave

Random Yard Stuff

This afternoon we enjoyed the beautiful weather by being outside. I wanted to share a couple pictures I took of flowers that are blooming in my yard. You must understand that the fact that I even have flowers is amazing! The deer usually get everything before it has a chance to bloom, but we decided to leave our deer fencing up until we get back from Erie. So far they've been unable to turn my flower beds into a salad bar.

An Iris in full bloom. They didn't bloom at all last year, so I am thrilled to see them this year.


This is the first year this has ever bloomed for me, and I had almost forgotten what I had growing until it opened up this year. This is Bachelor's Button, or Cornflower. So unique, and pretty.


Okay, this is the not-so-beautiful thing outdoors right now. Dave was bringing a trundle bed outside on Saturday for our yard sale (the bed sold, by the way), and when he was carrying the mattress' out, he was taking them down the steps in our home and didn't quite have the screen door opened yet, when the mattress went through the screen before him. Oh well, we've been wanting to replace that door anyways. Now we HAVE to replace it.

We Took Our Cat To School

This week Julie is "Special Person of the Week" in Kindergarten. Each child get's a special week, and she has been waiting anxiously for this. She can take in special things to share with her class, such as pictures or favorite stuffed animals. Today, however, we agreed to bring our cat, Reggie, in to class for everyone to meet. She also wanted all of us to come, so the class could meet her entire family. Once again, I forgot my camera. Getting two kids up from naps, catching the cat to put in his carrier, and heading to Julie's school was enough to think about, I suppose.

Her teacher had us sit in front of the circle of kids and they were allowed to raise their hands and ask us questions. We were asked what our favorite colors are, our favorite foods, does Reggie bite, what's Reggie's favorite food, how old is Reggie, what color shirt is Alayna wearing, etc. It was so fun! After the question time I took Reggie from his carrier and held him so all the kids could take a turn petting him. Reggie wasn't sure about the whole ordeal, but he cooperated nicely, and didn't escape my arms. I was slightly fearful that he might eyeball the class pet, which is a rat named Lucky, and take a shot at the innocent rodent. Thankfully, he never seemed to notice the rat amidst all the 5 & 6 year olds that wanted his attention.

Julie loved having us there, and Alayna felt like the big girl being in school with her sister. Julie told everyone all about us (I admit that I was nervous as to what she might decide to tell, but thankfully no family secrets were exposed). She told them that her daddy is a Pastor and a firefighter...they were all so impressed. She even gave them an impersination of what Dave's pager sounds like when it goes off. :)

At the end of the school day, when our time with Reggie was done, we waited around for Julie to be dismissed so we could bring her home. The teacher let the kids take turns singing any song they wanted to in front of their classmates...it was hysterical. One boy serenaded us with "U Can't Touch This," another jammed out with some air guitar, and another little girl sang something about "I'm hot, your cold," and it was obvious that her parents must enjoy some hip hop...well, Julie decided she would sing for everyone, and she stood up and sang "Jesus Loves Me," loudly and clearly. It was precious! I have a lot to learn from this 6 year old who has no inhibitions to sing about Jesus, in a room full of her peers.

Julie & Reggie...they have always been good pals.

A Friend is a Special Blessing

Last week I received this wonderful package in the mail, that came as a total surprise to me from my dear friend, Bunny. She & I were roommates during my second year at the Word of Life Bible Institute, and we have remained in contact. Bunny was a bridesmaid in our wedding. She & her husband, Mike, and their daughter, Savannah, live in California.

Bunny has her own business (Savannah's Closet - see a link on the right of my blog), and she makes shopping cart covers for babies. I have seen her work online, and admired them. She surprised me by making a special one for Joel out of camouflage material. How did she ever know that would be a hit in our home??? It's adorable! She also sent two baby doll outfits, and baby doll diapers for the girls.

Bunny, thank you again for such a thoughtful gift! It cheered me up! I don't know if we'll ever see each other again, in person, this side of eternity, but I know your friendship is still the same, and I love you dearly!

She made a special carrying tote for the cover. I love this! Now Dave might be willing to take Joel grocery shopping all by himself. :)


The awesome shopping cart cover!


These covers make great baby gifts...hint, hint...check out her site.


I decided to include a couple pictures of Bunny & me. Here is the one from my wedding in 2000.


We were quite the pool sharks that evening...at least we thought we were.

Joel

Here are some new pictures of Joel I took yesterday before church. He looked so adorable in his sweater vest. It's hard to believe my baby boy is going to be one year old in just a few weeks.











We had Dave's family over for supper on Mother's Day. We combined it with Dave's birthday, which was Saturday.

This is the cake Dave's grandma made. She is famous for her cakes, and I don't bother making Dave a cake, since I know it won't compare to hers...and that's okay. :)


Dave & Joel both look like they're about to dive into the cake at the same time. Joel is gearing up for his 1st birthday cake.

Happy Birthday Mr. Wonderful!

Today is Dave's 34th birthday! I thought I'd post a few pictures of Dave's younger years...although, he's still in his younger years.

I love you, David Miles!!! Happy Birthday!

Dave, with his sister Shelly.


Dave sitting on the "Snow Horse" he made with his dad.




Dave & me, at my second year graduation from Word of Life Bible Institute.
Wow, kids have really aged us!

Mother's Day at Julie's School

Today has been very busy for me. I left the house at 7:30 this morning for a dentist appointment at 8. I had a filling fixed that had fallen out two weeks ago. Glad to have that done and over with. I ran a couple errands after the dentist, then headed to Julie's school by 10a.m. for a special "Mothers & Muffins" celebration. The class met all the moms in the hall, and presented us with petunias, a card they made, and a poem the teacher had laminated. Then the kids escorted us to their classroom. They had set up their tables nicely, and had muffins for us, and coffee or lemonade to drink. After our refreshments the kids had special presentations to make. They sang 5 songs...I remember one specifically being M-O-M-M-Y (to the tune of B-I-N-G-O). So cute! Each of the kids had drawn a picture of their mom, and wrote a poem about them. So they held up their picture, while the teacher read the poems. Afterwards Julie & I made a trip to the school book-fair, and she talked me in to buying two "Fancy Nancy" books she just had to have. I was in a giving mood, I suppose. After the visit to the book fair we went back to her classroom and it was lunch time. Most of the moms stayed and had lunch with their kids, and I had my peanut butter & jelly sandwich packed, too, and enjoyed it at a kid-size table with Julie. When lunch was over I walked her out to recess and went home. I enjoyed the time with her at school so much.

I am posting pictures of the highlights from my day (sorry, no pictures of the tooth being drilled). I thought you might enjoy reading the card Julie made for me. I had a good laugh at the things she came up with.

The petunias with the card she made.


I didn't realize my favorite food was onions, but apparently that's what Julie thinks.





The picture Julie drew of me, and the poem she wrote.


My neighbor offered me a bouquet of lilacs today, while I was waiting for Julie to get off the bus. Lilacs are my FAVORITE flower, and I was thrilled to put them in a vase on my table. The house smells so wonderful! I have a small lilac bush in the front yard that I planted a couple years ago, but because of my constant battle with the deer, I have yet to receive any blooms on this bush. I am hopeful that one of these years it will bloom for me.

Spring Concert and Other Stuff

It seems like we are always busy, but when I sit down for a minute and try to remember all we've done lately...well, I just forget. Julie spent the night last weekend with Dave's mom & grandma, and had a great time. She loves doing that once in a while. She was so excited about going, she packed her own bag. She picked out all her clothes and pajamas. She did a great job, except she forgot to pack a toothbrush and hairbrush...details. Good thing I checked her bags before she left.

We've had rainy weather lately, so the kids haven't had a lot of opportunity to play outside. We had several days with 80 degree temps, but recently it's been in the 50's again.

Dave is excited that spring turkey season is here. He's been out hunting twice with his good friend, Jim. He said they are hearing turkeys gobble back to them when they use their turkey calls, but the turkeys don't get close enough. Perhaps the turkeys are getting close enough to realize that the "turkeys" calling them, are imposters...I wonder if they've thought of this??? Perhaps I should mention it. He likes it when I mention these things after an unsuccessful hunt.

Julie's school had their Kindergarten & First grade spring concert last night. Unfortunately my camera did a lousy job of taking pictures in the school gym. We were able to get some video, but the still shots of Julie didn't turn out. I was successful in taking one picture of Alayna, though. Joel loved the concert. There were bongo drums, and he was very taken with those, and he loved when people clapped. He clapped right along with them. The kids were cute to watch, and Julie loved having us there. She kept smiling and waving at us. Isn't that what all 6 year olds do at their school concerts? So fun!

Friday I will be having a filling replaced at the dentist at 8a.m., then I head to Julie's classroom at 10a.m., for a Mother's Day party. So, hopefully I won't be drooling like a weird-o during the party...but I can't promise anything.

Alayna at the Spring Concert


Alayna loves to climb in bed with Julie in the morning. It's fun to see the two of them tucked in together, playing nicely...because I know once they're out of that bed there will be something to fight about. :)