Snow and a Prayer

This…

isn't that a great picture? My dad took it last week! Early morning frosts are so beautiful.

is now covered by snow!  3 inches, maybe? I think it surprised the weathermen too…yesterday morning we were expecting some moisture in the evening from a storm that was out to sea…but it gave us a little more than we bargained for!  In the meantime, it’s gorgeous-everything is covered in white.  There were big, white fluffly flakes all day yesterday.  We snuggled up by the fire, had popcorn, and watched Sabrina (one of my all time faves…I think I might even pop it in again today!)  I cannot, for the life of me, find the boy’s snowboots, so I’m hoping they will be ok staying by the fire today instead of out romping around.  Must find those boots for the next snow-I think this will quickly melt away seeing as though this weekend will be in the 60’s vicinity again.

Anyway, the MAIN purpose for this post is to ask for prayer for my grandma.  She is having surgery today in order to get a pacemaker…and all prayers for safety and a quick recovery would be welcomed!

Thanks yall, and have a super weekend!

A Sweet Weekend

Disclaimer…I’m not a fan of Halloween. Not a fan of “scary”, or kids hyped up on too much sugar.  Matter of fact, last year Erick and I just loaded up the kids and had a great meal in Bangor at a restaurant…no scary costumes in sight!

However, this year we decided we’d attend our church party-but I hadn’t had the funds, nor the time to come up with any kind of costume. I actually convinced the boys to wear their superman pajamas, which they weren’t thrilled about, but they went along.

Saturday morning, I decided to finally go through a bag of clothes that a friend had given me (she had gotten them from another friend), and low and behold…two non-scary costumes! That FIT my children! Talk about happy boys, who wore them ALL day long!

Jack the superhero and Ryan the Lion! Excuse the mess in the background!

The party was a success. But we had bigger and better things to do the next day…because this little boy woke up as a newly certified 3 year old!

Isn't he cuddly?

He came busting into the house after church, immediately asked if his cake was ready, completely missing the fact that there was a balloon bouquet right in front of him. LOL.

I told him to turn around, and of course he was thrilled. All little kids need are balloons…he asked me to take them apart from their “bouquet”, and he proceeded to say “This is the BEST BIRTHDAY PARTY EVER!” over and over. (Why did we even bother with gifts? It’s the simple things!)

Daddy is reading his card, which says "Would you like to go Bowling this afternoon?" Of COURSE!

The boys had a ball bowling, and Jack won! For the first time, and on his birthday to boot!

he was so excited, he would hardly sit still when I was putting his bowling shoes on...

We came home to cake and presents…did I mention that I didn’t like kids hyped up on too much sugar? Ha!

licking the frosting off candles

I kid you not; while Erick and I were busy elsewhere a little bit later in the evening, Jack came in to where we were working with hands and face covered in cake. Turns out he had dived in and grabbed handfuls. Oh, and turns out he never actually ate any of his birthday pizza…the child had cake all day. Awesome. Maybe that is why he passed out for 3 hours this afternoon? Delayed sugar coma, perhaps?

Anyway, Happy Birthday to my little one. 3 years old! I can’t believe it!

We love you, sweetface!

Priorities

When your life is incredibly crazy…all it takes is a 4 year old’s wisdom to get your priorities straight again.  Let me tell you a little story…

Busy doesn’t even begin to describe our household lately-especially Erick-he has so much on his plate I can’t fathom how he functions.  Minus the job and the Master’s degree and some church obligations (which are actually wonderful) our Saturdays and Sundays are filled either with roofing the house we are in or working at the house in Dexter so we can get it on the market.  E and I both worked in Dexter last Saturday but didn’t get as much accomplished as we had hoped, so in a completely overwhelmed state of mind, E decided that he would have to forgo church on Sunday morning and put in a full day in Dexter.  Exhausting thought, but we desperately need to finish the house…

Sunday morning, Ryan hops on the bed (before he even knows that Daddy will be away all day) and he announces “Saturdays and Sundays are for Daddies to stay home and play with their kids!!”

You have to understand that Ryan rarely comes out and says “this is what I need”.  He is every inch a “hinter”.  He usually dances around the subject instead of full on telling us what he needs (one example…”I need some cooked pieces of bread with cheese in the middle”…aka cheese sandwhich, lol).   So to come out and practically say “I need my DAD!” really was something.  So of course we change plans, and all get ready for church, wherein we hear an AMAZING sermon that spoke to us so thoroughly and completely about prayer, but it doesn’t stop there…our pastor acutally reads verses from Harry Chapin’s Cats in the Cradle, which is even more of an affirmation.  Wow.

Sooooo, after church, Daddy played with the boys and we went on a family trip to Portland.  It was awesome.  We had so much fun.   And please understand-Erick is such a fantastic and involved dad-everyone who knows him knows that.  It’s just that free time has been very limited lately.  However, after Sunday, we have decided that a change of priorities is in order.  We would actually covet your prayers, and even your suggestions!  With the weekends being the only free time to finish renovation in one place and roofing in another, but with that also being the only time currently that can really be dedicated to family time, we need to reorganize somehow, putting family at the top of that particular list.

Anyway, here are some pictures from that day-a day that will always stand out in our minds, and I bet in the boys, too.  God is Good!

Isn't this a classic?

the camera unfortunately didn't give momma immunity from the jack attack

rugosa rose hips

the waves were crashing, but the weather was gorgeous!

Portland Head Light

One Fantastic Daddy

10 Years!!

We’ve hit the marriage decade mark! And it’s been SO MUCH FUN!

I love you babe. More than you’ll ever, ever comprehend. Thanks for everything.

Reason #342 we love living here

Moving back “home” has been full of advantages.  My list is 2 miles long, but one reason is that we are closer to church.  So close, in fact, we are literally a walk across the street from the front doors (and yet why are we still rushing across the street in a mad dash every Sunday morning?)

Anyway, a few weeks ago, my parents asked one of the members at church if he could recommend a good roofer, because our shingles were in desperate need to be replaced.  Without hesitation he said “Well, the guys at church can do it!”  And they DID!  They came out in droves on Saturday and helped to replace the portion of our house that was in danger of turning to mush this winter.

Doesn't that sky look ominous? The rain stayed away, though!

a tiny fraction of the roofing troops!

Not only did we have about 20 different volunteers, some really amazing wives turned up with food.  Mom had cooked up some hearty beef stew and cornbread, only to be on pins and needles that we wouldn’t have enough to go around.  And out of the blue, some angels show up  with a crockpot full of corn chowder!  And biscuits!  And then others came with brownies, and cookies…

What an amazing thing a church family is.  So thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who was involved on Saturday-even those who prayed for safety, because it obviously worked!  Other than some sore muscles, I do believe everyone came through unscathed!

Y’all are incredible.

Pumpkinheads and Nora Number 5

Pumpkinheads! (what we do to entertain ourselves in the car)

***

Nora Number 5!

Laugh right out Loud!

Mini-Date on a Sunday Afternoon

Too often lately, this little family has been workingworkingworking (two houses is no small matter…two houses which need work, that is!) That includes Sunday afternoons…a day in which we so desperately wish to “rest”, so today we decided to do just that.

While Daddy took Jack, Momma took Ryan on a mini-date. Ry is my Mr. Independent, and Jack is Mr. Momma’s Boy, so my dear oldest doesn’t often get the attention he really, truly needs. Therefore, today it was the two of us and the park.

Leaf peeping, rock throwing, seagull chasing, picture taking. Perfect afternoon. And this verse kept running through my head…

“You will go out in joy, and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands”. (Isaiah 55:12)

Tell me now, does it not look like this nature is bursting forth into song? And aren’t the trees clapping their hands?

pretty ladies, all in a row...

happy kid by the river

big splash!

(oops)

Sorry, I couldn’t stop!

An hour with my son at the park, reveling in the fantastic display that God created for our enjoyment…equals “rest” to me. Having fun with my family this evening, enjoying each other’s company instead of painting/sanding/floor laying…even better!

So Many Posts, So Little Time!

I have a plethora of things to share with you, but I don’t want this post to be a mile long, either!  I’m just so…joyful lately, that I can’t get enough happy thoughts out of my head.  Although I was hesitant to let go of summer, and although it really hasn’t even sunk in that it’s gone yet, this fall has wiped those sad-that-summer-is-over thoughts right out of my mind.

It’s GORGEOUS here!!

Mom called me early this morning and said “I just dropped dad off at work-get ready right now because I’m coming to get you!”  And she did!  I woke the sleepy boys up by saying “Let’s go to Dunkin’ Donuts!” which made them pop right out of bed, of course.  Not every morning that you get to start your day with a donut.  We hit up Waterville and bought pumpkin coffee and pumpkin muffins and chocolate donuts, then headed straight for Belgrade Lakes.  The fantastic thing is that although the color is awesome on the way to W-ville, it’s tempered a little bit after that, meaning we get to enjoy it that much longer down south.  Yipee.  

Here is a little “photo tour” of our morning…

Dock behind Day's General Store

When we arrived at Day's, there was a couple sitting at a picnic table with coffee and newspapers. Once they finished, they hopped in their boat (far right) and toodled on home across the lake. My kind of life!

The flower shop

Minus the shadow of the power line, isn't that climbing vine pretty?

I want to use this color scheme for our house someday.

Just beginning to turn...

"Riding" sculptures at the art gallery

YeeHaw!

I’ve often said that some of the best picture opportunities are right on I-95, but it’d be a major risk to pop out of the car on the side of the road and snap while vehicles are whizzing by!  So I took a few anyway, which aren’t that superb since we were going 65 mph and they are through the window.  But what can you do?

river, stil as glass.

home we go...

Oh, I have so many more pictures.  You have no idea.  When I start snappin, I start snappin!

I want to share with you soon some memories of our evening walks, and some really, really fun vintage finds I uncovered that will definitely be gracing my walls and couches…and of course I have more Nora for you!  Oh, and I was chosen to start doing book reviews for Waterbrook/Multnomah!  Ahhh! (I’ll be blogging all about the books).  All that and I’m strongly considering moving my blog to a format that is better for photography.  Do y’all blogspotters enjoy your formats?  Are they easily customizable?

Well, that’s that for now.  Have a fabulous weekend, filled with apple cider and pumpkin hunting!

Compassion

I am so proud of my boys.  This is one of those moments that I absolutely must get in writing!

Over the last few years I’ve been learning the “art” of compassion.  God has taught me alot-things that I have always heard but are just now clicking.  There are things that I want my boys to learn now so they don’t have to wait until their 20’s to “get it”, you know?  Anyway, one thing I want them to try and realize is how exceptionally fortunate they are to have 2 loving parents, to have a roof over their heads, to have a bed to sleep in at night. To have food in their bellies; daily.  I told them last night that some kids don’t have those things, and before I could expound upon my thoughts and let them know that one of our jobs is to help take care of those less fortunate, Jack pops out with “Can I give some of my toys to the kids that don’t have any?”

And then Ryan pops out with “Yes!  That would be a GREAT idea!”

Sob.

They are getting it.

***

Ok, here is the 3rd installment of Nora.  That last quote by Mike might tell you a little bit about the man.  And about how silly women can be!

Where did it GO?

I cannot BELIEVE it’s been so long since my last post! I cannot BELIEVE it’s the last day of summer! I cannot BELIEVE that my child’s nose hasn’t quite running for two straight weeks! Make that two children. And I certainly cannot BELIEVE that Ry and Jack just had their hair cut today, and the last time they had it cut was before summer even began. Good grief.

It’s been a busy couple of weeks, ya’ll. This weekend we were at the old house, slaving away to get it in sell-able condition. I must say it’s lookin’ pretty darn good, and if I were a potential buyer, I’d take a peek in the window and say “I’ll take it!” If only, oh, if only we could find a week where we could work nonstop, I think we could wrap it up. But that week isn’t to found, so it’s a few hours here, and a few hours there.  We also have to get the new house shingled, and we have to put together a yard sale, say nothing about getting this house cleaned out to actually make room for our stuff…the list is endless.

We DID manage to get a family reunion in; my mom’s cousins are plentiful in this part of the country.  And we were able to visit one of our favorite places; “Uncle Don and Aunt Carol’s”, which are really my mom’s first cousins.  Is this not a fantastic place to get together?

Best thing is it’s practically a stone’s throw from the ocean.  Perfection.

There were SO many children there; every time I turned around 3 or 4 new kids popped up.  The pictures I took represent about 1/16th of the crew.  It was wonderful!  And I snapped away at some girls…I don’t get that chance very often in this house full of boys!

the jumping rock

couldn't help but add this one. I love this little display!

Well, I hear the kids-the nap is finished.  Supper needs to be made, laundry needs to be put up, so I must post and get off the ol’ computer.  I have about a million new things on my plate for the fall, and I’m even dreaming about a new blog format-we’ll see how that goes!  I also have a great new little book to share with you.  So stay tuned, and have a last minute ice cream to celebrate this very last day of summer ‘09!