Christmas @ the Good's

We were fortunate enough this year to host Christmas at our house! It was fantastic! I think the kids opened presents for 3 hours, we opened and put together everything as we went and played until they were ready for another one. Jake didn't really want to leave his new firehouse alone, and Avery was much more curious to see what was in all of the other packages, so needless to say, she was finished way before him. It was a great relaxing day @ home filled with family and love. Just how it should be!

We have spent the rest of the week spending time with extended family and friends. We fill so blessed to have such a large group of family who are continually invested in our lives. We have so much to be thankful for, not to mention the true meaning of this special season. Gods gift to us, his son, Jesus.

Sal Bear

When Jake was 8 mos. old, my friend Amy and I were shopping at New York & Co. and she grabbed a $5 stuffed teddy bear for her daughter, Finley. I thought, "Hey that is really cute and soft" and I grabbed one too. I am telling you, AS SOON as I handed it to Jake he held him out, looked him in the eyes and promptly ate his nose. Since then, Sal as we call him... has never left his side. He goes everywhere with us, and Jake has NEVER slept without him.

Amy's daughter Finley, played with hers for a few minutes, and discarded it like most stuffed animals are, to the bottom of the toy box. So, I took it (yes, I asked and offered to pay)

So, for the past 2 yrs we have had 2 Sal's that I switch between, if I can't find one @ the moment, or it has been left @ Mamaw's, to wash him, etc. Jake has never seen them @ the same time, we acted like they were one in the same. We did notice when we swapped them, that Jake would look him in the eyes, smell him, and then hug the stuffing out of him. He even called the fluffier one "Fat Sal", although we never acknowledged the difference.

The other night when Mike took Jake to bed he said, "Daddy, this is fat Sal!"

Mike said, "Jake-y, thats Sal, we don't call him fat!"

Jake explained, "Daddy, I have 2 Sal's. This is fat Sal!"

Mike questioned him, " Jake, you only have 1 Sal!"

Jake, "No! You silly Daddy!"

Mike, "Then where is your other Sal?"

Jake laughed and said, " Mommy has him Daddy! In your closet!"

We thought it was very funny, never mentioned it again. And most importantly gave him no evidence! So on Sunday when we were trying to get them down for naps, we couldn't find Sal, so we relented and got out "backup Sal". Jake followed the same pattern, look him in the eyes, smell him, kiss him, and went to sleep.

Fast Foward to this evening.....

"Jake-y!!!" Avery yelled..."Look, I found Sal!!!!"

Jake "Avey?" (that's how he says her name) "Sal's right here!"

"No Jake!!! Here he is!!" Run, Run, Run.. "Uh-Oh!!! MOM! Jake found BOTH SALS!!!!!"

When Mike walked in, Jake ran to him, both Sals in hand and said "See Daddy! I told you I had 2 Sals!!!!"

The infamous Sal!

Oh well, the cats out of the bag (or bear, if you wish!). I hope Santa lasts longer! Do you think he'll notice the varying lengths of Santa's beard?

Jake is Potty Trained!

I decided, in May, it was time to potty train Jake. Avery was 26 mos. when she started, so naturally, Jake should be too! HA! He wanted absolutely NOTHING to do with it, and when I asked him, he would run out of the room! So I patiently waited, and Finally! I am so excited! It has been a little under 2 weeks and he is good to go! No problem at all! YAY!

Thanksgiving fun!

Mom and Aggie- our chefs Our Thankful Turkey

We had a great time at Thanksgiving this year, Aunt Aggie hosted and we spent time playing with the kids, eating, watching football, etc.. Everything the holiday is about!
The next day we went shopping, an annual tradition with the girls! Much to Mom and Julie's chagrin we decided that we should hit Edinburgh at midnight. Mom is always up for such an adventure, but had been under the weather, Julie on the other hand somehow did not inherit the shopping gene that all of the ladies of our family posses. She kept saying, "Seriously, you don't think being home at 8 am is successful? That is 8 hours of shopping! ARE YOU KIDDING?" In her defense, she wasn't feeling all that well, but nonetheless, is not a marathon shopper like the rest of us.
After finally convincing her to go, we left at 9:30, and drove to Edinburgh. We were VERY pleased with our purchases there (Julie was in the car asleep by 2:30), and then we headed to Greenwood to have breakfast, at 3:30. We were @ Kohls at 4, Walmart at 5 and Meijer by 6. We are pros! We got home around 7:30, when Julie finally woke up. She had slept thru most of the night!
It was a great night followed by great naps, and lots of giggles along the way! I love Black Friday!!

Hello friends!
As many of you may know, about 3 years ago, I decided to retire from my job as a hairdresser at DL Lowry Hairspa to stay at home with my kids. I have continued, to a very small degree, to style and care for close family members and friends’ hair while I have been at home.

Many of you have asked if I do hair at home, if I would be interested in doing yours, etc., over the years and my response has always been less than responsive. Know that the reason has never been out of lack of confidence or willingness to do so, but rather out of uneasiness of propitiating the image of a kitchen sink hairdresser. I have always been proud of being a stylist. Enjoyed the fashion industry and thoroughly enjoyed making people feeling like great about themselves. I love having a relaxing space for people to go where it is all about them. Giving my clients a short time of peace and quiet where the only thing for them to do is sit back and enjoy. Allow it to be, if only for a few moments, all about them.

In saying all of that, I have now been presented with a unique opportunity to share in a booth rent space in Carmel at Halo Salon. This really seems like a great opportunity for me to dip my feet back into the industry that I have been in for so many years, so that I can work a little and still be at home with my kids the majority of the time. With that being said, I am sending this to you to let you all know that I will have time in an actual salon (no more kitchen sink hair!) I hope that you will join me there if you’d like, or if not, refer people to me that are looking for someone new for themselves.

My tentative price list is as follows:
· Haircut (wash, blow dry, style) - $35
· Color or Highlight- $50
· Foils added w/ color- $5.00/foil
· Kids cuts-$17
· Men’s cut- $25

You can schedule @ 414-9391 or email me @ heather.halosalon@gmail.com

Sweet Moments

A couple of years ago, Mike and I heard a song by Tim McGraw named My Little Girl and decided that it was "daddy's song" to Avery. The kids love it, although we haven't really pushed the song on them, its just on a disc in our car. After a while, Jake started asking constantly for "daddy's song" to be played over and over again. It is just now that I realized that he actually thinks DADDY is singing the song. Yesterday, the intro started playing and he said," Mommy, why isn't he singing?"
I said, "He will!" when he started Jake yelled, "there's daddy!"
I said, "Honey, that isn't Daddy singing, it is Tim McGraw!"
He said, "Mommy, you silly! That is DADDY singing!"
Too funny! I will venture to say that we both wish Mike sang like Tim McGraw!

Being Thankful for Simple Things

Last night after the kids went to bed, I settled in and starting reading my bible study book. I really enjoy it as I mentioned in an earlier post.
The chapter I was reading was titled "I love smelly shoes". Huh? What was this? The author was teaching us to be thankful for everyday, small things that would usually irriate us. She was telling a story about how one day she was trying to do her own bible study, but she kept being distracted by the shoes laying around the room. She started counting them and realized there were 14 pair of shoes in the living room. With a heavy sigh, she got up and started picking them up. Soccer shoes, flip flops, ballet slippers, you name it. Suddenly she realized that she should, instead of frustrated her kids hadn't put them in the closet on their own, she should be thankful that she had strong, healthy kids who were able to play these sports, for the mud that they were healthy enough to be able to play in, for the dances they had done to scuff up the toes. She encouraged us to instead of being discouraged or frustrated the next time we are picking them up to pray over the feet of those who fill them. The next time you pick up a pair of men's loafers, pray for the large responsibility that rest on those feet.
I was feeling very touched and inspired, I looked around and thanked God for the airplanes, the dog toys, etc. and I went off to bed. Then, I walked in my room saw the clean sheets laying on the top of the bed and yelled, "Oh man!! I cannot believe I forgot to put the sheets on the bed!" I felt a little tug at my heart and said begrudgingly..."Thank you God, for a bed to sleep in and for clean sheets to snuggle up in!"
Timing is everything, Right?!

Avery's quote of the day

Avery has now gotten the aforementioned cold and when I went to her up from my in laws house this morning to take her to school, I realized she was running a slight fever. I told her that she wouldn't be going to school today because we didn't want the other kids to get sick. She was DEVASTATED!!! I couldn't understand why so,

I said, "Honey, why are you so upset? You know that you can't go to school when your sick!"
She said, "Mommy, I am the line leader today and all of those kids will not be able to go to recess if I'm not there! They will be so sad at me!!!!"

I have been drilled lately by her about when I met all of our friends, what our wedding was like etc. and this really just drilled home that kids truly have no concept of life without them. She then asks "where was I at your wedding?" or "where did I live while you were at college?" I simply say "You were a sparkle in my eye", somehow it works!

I bet most of us who are parents can't really imagine our lives without them either!

The Sweetest Thing (Part 2)

We have had a nasty colds going around the past week or so and last night Jake was having a massive coughing fit around 12:30. So, before he was fully awake, I gave him some cough medicine and a sippy cup of cold water.
He briefly opened his eyes and said "That's yummy"
I said "What honey?"
He said "That's yummy water, Mommy" he then sat up and gave me the biggest kiss!
Then, right back to sleep.
Soo sweet! I cuddled up next to him and slept there all night!

Then today, we were on our way to my inlaws house when Avery, who notices EVERYTHING said
"Mommy, did you know that papaw isn't wearing his medicine bracelet any more? He's all better!"
I said, "I know, isn't God good?
She said, "Mommy, he is the goodest!"

I love this time in my life!

Voting Today

We went to vote, stood in line for around an hour and it was over! The kids were patient and excited to help mommy vote!

My First Bible Study (as an adult)

I haven't blogged in a while, but I will not bore you with excuses.
As many of you may know, we have been a perpetual hunt for the right church for our family over the past few years, attending most out of the need to be in church, not because we were really "moved" by any of them or most certainly not because we felt like it was the right place for our family. Mike would love one, be inspired, feel @ home and want to get involved, I would love another, so we would try another. On and on to the point that when we pass churches Avery can tell us which one she liked the best and ask if Pops church was "our" church. (BTW, it is and always will be. ) Feeling out of place @ every Church is not something I enjoyed and most importantly my kids really need and desire to go to the same church every week. After feeling like we had tried "every church in town" I decided to look again @ the theology of the church I have been attending MOPS. We tried it one time and we ALL loved it!!! Even Jake, and he never likes nurseries!! Yeah!
I am so excited to have found a place we can sink our teeth into. So, when the bible studies started last week, I eagerly signed up. It is FANTASTIC! Our leader is someone who has quite a following there, several ladies call themselves "Susan Junkies" they take every bible study she offers and after only one week, I know why. Our study is titled "My bathtub is overflowing, but I feel drained" referring to all of the unspeakable joy we have in our lives being mothers, wives, friends, neighbors etc, so why do I feel so drained? I am so thankful to have gone there and gotten to get involved in this wonderful study with such great women! I look forward to building friendship with them and continuing to find new and wonderful things to get involved in!

Voting

As many as you know, I have pretty strong political views. I promise I will not use this blog to express my political views @ any time, most everyone reading this already know them anyway.
What I want to talk about tonight is the push to get people to vote early.
I understand that people who are going to be out of town, college students or elderly with little access to public transportation need some extra time or help getting there. I have no issues with that.
I just think that having people go early just to "avoid long lines" and to ensure that people "Rock the Vote" is just silly to me. I believe that if you don't care enough to get up and be there @ 6am, stand in long lines, miss or be late to work, take time out of your precious day for the sake of voting for our countries leaders, any year, especially this year. Than you don't care enough.
Not only that, but I encourage everyone who reads this between now and Nov. 6th to not only go and vote on Nov. 6th, but what if we all took our kids? I have taken Avery and Jake every year, and they really love it. I just tell them that it is important to vote, every time you get the opportunity. They love watching mom "push all the buttons" and talking to all of the people working the polls.
Ok, no more lecturing, I just couldn't resist as I watched the news tonight and they were telling us all of the places we could go & vote starting mid-October.
Thanks for putting up with me on this, I will try not to "bog" down the blog with politics. Its early though, so I'm not promising anything!
~Heather

1000 Hits!!!

Whoo Hooo! We have over 1000 hits now!! Who knew? I am sure that most of them have been my mom, but oh well! I feel sooo Popular! HAHAHA! I just wanted to update that!

There is a joke in here somewhere!

So by 10:00 this morning I was ready to call it a day! Just go back to bed, Things are not looking so great! Gizmo had a MESS in his crate this morning, one that sent me to the bathroom myself... Yuck!!!! I feel really bad for him, he apparently had cried @ 5 am, but Mike thought he was just being a pain so he put him in the laundry room and went back to bed.. Not so much! The joys of owning a dog! That's not all... When I dropped off Avery, Jake and I went to the Hamilton Co. Republican office to pick up MY MAN MITCH signs to deliever thru out the county. All of a sudden I hear a strange noise only to turn around and see that Jake is throwing up right in the middle of the office..Yuck! He never throws up, and is feeling fine now! Too strange. I am sure this will make all of friends who are not in the Republican party laugh out loud.

Oh well, off to give baths, to both Gizmo and Jake! Pray my day gets better!

2 Super Sweet Quotes in 1 Day!

So today, I got the sweetest quotes from BOTH my kids,

Jake: " Mommy, I lole (aka.. love) you, thanks for letting me push a big boy cart!"

Avery: " Mommy, can we get all dressed up and go on a Mommy Date? I want to go out with just you!"

This is exactly what I signed up for!!!

Why do kids have to scream?

Why do my kids feel like they have to scream at the top of their lungs for no reason at all? Ughh!! My head hurts!!!!

At least its a happy scream!

A long, long time!

I have really been bad at not blogging lately and I have no excuses! We haven't been busier than usual or traveling the world, just normal life in the good house!

Mike started his MBA a couple of weeks ago. We are really excited about that, it is something that he has always wanted to do and we figured why not now? He only goes 1 night a week for the next 2 years and then he will be finished. I am really glad that he has this opportunity and is following his dream. I could not go back to school at this point, I have no desire! So good for him!

Avery and Jake are doing well, they started school the beginning of Sept at Centennial Bible School, and they LOVE it! They are learning soo much! Not only are they learning alot about letters, numbers, shapes, sharing etc.. all the normal stuff that they go to preschool for, but they are learning bible stories!!! You should hear Jake tell you about Baby Moses being put in a basket and then he "floats" and Jesus took care of him until a nice lady took care of him! Too cute!!! They are really seem to "understand" the stories! I love it! I love that they are surrounded by people who teach them to live in our world for our saviour. That the rules we enforce are because that is what Jesus wants. How the bible stories apply to our daily lives. They are very happy there!

I have had a pretty good summer although over the past few days I have had a pretty weird and to be honest concerning headache/virtago/ dizzy spells. I can't really explain it and I am in no pain, I just don't know what is going on. I will figure it out though. No worries!

I will try to do better at keeping up!

WHEW!!

Finally, all caught up!!!

Touch A Truck

Today we went to the Carmel Touch A Truck @ the high school, and it was really cool! I had no idea what to expect, but nearly every stay @ home mom and kids in Carmel were there, and we had a great time!! We were joined by the Neales, Cooney's x2, Bracha's and all of the kids had fun learning about all of the firetrucks, army vehicles, school bus, John Deere digger and Indy Car! Too cute!!

We are blessed to have such a large group of old and new ( Hi Bracha's!!!) friends that share the same values, and experiences as us. The kids get along great and it is really fun to create great memories for them and with such great people on a daily basis.

July BBQ

We had some friends over on Saturday nite for a spur of the moment BBQ. We haven't done that for a while and it was very fun, relaxing and a great way to catch up! The kids had a ball too!

Babies Galore

There have been an awful lot of babies born among our friends lately, and I just wanted to update those of you who know them.

Brandi and Brad Neale had another girl, Estella Rose, on May 20th. Big sis Mallory is very proud!



Evan and Amy Hiple had another girl (their third) Parker Lynne July15th. Ella and Finley are keeping each other busy with dress up while mom is tending to the baby


Kristen and Steve Cooney had Kaitlyn Ashley on July 18th. Big brother Carter is as cute as ever and having a great time with all of the visitors coming to see them! I don't have a picture of them yet!
Jim and Julie Norman had their 1st baby last Friday nite Kendall Cassidy. I hear she is beautiful!
Finally, our friend Tammy Dock who lives in Atlanta, had her son today Eli. I hear he was 9 lbs! Go Tammy!!

Lots of happy families right now!! Congrats Everyone!!!

While we were gone!

As I mentioned, the kids and I were gone for 7 long days, and while Mike had a great time the first couple of days, (think poker, golf and more golf) after a while he started missing us and decided to redo the kids rooms! He painted Avery's and bought Jake a big boy bed and bedding! I had no idea that this was in the works! What a SURPRISE! Thankfully, my husband is talented and we have very similar tastes in decorating! Most women would shudder at the thought of their husband decorating with NO input from themselves, but I am lucky!

Pretty impressive huh?

Our trip to North Carolina

My mom, Aunt Edie, Aunt Agnes, the kids, the dog and I packed up my van and ventured out on a 12 hour drive to Raleigh, NC to visit my sister and her husband, Matthew. Crazy, you say? Probably! But we had a surprisingly low stress and smooth trip filled with lots of giggles and memories made! Mom, Agnes and I had done trips like this in the past, but it was the first time that Aunt Edie had joined us. She is my dad's sister, and the only girl in her family so a "girls trip" (sorry Jake and Matthew) is something she doesn't have much experience in. We did great!!

Julie and Matthew have a great house that was set up perfectly for us and we were all very comfortable. Avery and Jake surprisingly loved all 3 of their dogs, and Gizmo tortured them most of the time.

We went horseback riding and shopping. We did garage sales and landscaping. We checked ALL of Duke's campus (thank you Julz! haha), and went to consignment shoppes. The kids went to the Science Museum with Matthew and Julie, they had a BALL!! It was nice for me to be able to have some grown up time too!

We really missed Mike though and he missed us, as I will show in my next post!

Way Behind!!!

I have no idea for the fact that I haven't been blogging lately, so I will spare you any lame excuses. I guess I have just been uninspired!!

So, let's start with July 4th...

We started the day with what has begun a tradition among our friends, the parade. This year it was raining, so it really put a damper on things. (I am so clever aren't I? ;) We introduced some new friends to the group and had a great time nonetheless. Later in the day we went to the Cooney's for a cookout and fun. I mentioned that it had been raining so it was pretty much a muddy mess, but all the better for the kiddos! They had a GREAT time. Then Mike (Cooney), Mike (Good) and Steve put on the best home firework show ever! A great time was had by all!!

School!

When does pre-school start again?

Not soon enough! Haha! We need a distraction!!!!

The funniest thing

Jake to me: "Mommy, you watering the flowers?"
Me: "Yes, Jakey"
Jake: "You Jesus Mommy?"
Me: "What?!!"
Jake "Jesus waters the flowers Mommy. You Jesus?"

How funny! I guess a 2 year old does get it!

Avery's Birthday

We had a great weekend celebrating Avery's 4th birthday. We started out @ the PBS in the park with Nana and Pop, Uncle Bubby and Kai Guy, and Mamaw and Papaw. It was a perfect day! Then on Sunday we had a birthday dinner and cake and Avery and Jake got a puppy!! They were sooo excited! He is really a great puppy! On Monday we had some of Avery's friends over for a party and a great time was had by all!!

I can't believe that Avery is 4 years old! Although she acts around 30 most of the time, it seems like yesterday that I was really questioning whether I would ever be able to get pregnant! God needed me to learn that everything is in his time. I thought that I had learned that lesson, until I unexpectedly got pregnant with Jake. I remember telling my mom, as I was in complete shock, that I had already been taught that lesson, she said "Apparently not!" You were right mom! God had the perfect plan for our family and I could not be more blessed. I wonder what the rest is? I know, I know, patience and trust! I am just nosey!

Avery is such a special little girl, filled with love and joy. She is the most nurturing little one I have ever seen. Papaw calls her his little nurse, because she is always making sure he has on his medical ID bracelet, that he has taken his blood pressure, his medicine and more. She is constantly chattering and although it often drives me crazy, her thirst for information is amazing. Often it is not trivial, things like "Why did Zacheous hide in the tree from Jesus mommy?", "How does Jesus keep us safe?" , "Why can't I go to heaven and meet pop's daddy?", or "Is mamaw Jones still in that chair in heaven?" Complicated questions from a complicated girl. Truly a gift from God!

Summer Time

We have been busier than usual this month with lots of birthdays, a spur of the moment trip to Cincinnati, the Great Wolf Lodge and Kings Island and father's day! For those of you who haven't been to Great Wolf Lodge it is a family friendly water park/hotel right next to Kings Island! A great time! Thanks for planning a fun trip honey!

Avery started gymnastics last week and she loves it!! It has been really great to see her so excited about it, and I love nothing more to hear her tell me her favorite parts.. "all of it!!" She is the most animated little girl I have ever known. She tries to talk to us just like an adult. It makes for really fun conversations with her hands waving and grown up animations. Just soo cute! Next week is her birthday so we will be updating with lots of pictures soon!

Jake is doing great, talking a TON, growing up very quickly and starting to show us his temper tantrums! Whew! He perfected them quickly!

Just as one child gets thru one stage, the other starts one. The joy of parenting!

We are looking forward to a fun summer with them both!

Have a good night!

The Sweetest Thing

Before I start this story, I will say, for the record, that there were 3 adults and 2 children that witnessed this event. Last Thursday Wanda, the kids and I went to Avon to visit my Aunt and cousins. While at lunch this is what happened:
Jake gets off of his seat and while I am in the middle of telling him to sit down until he is excused he comes to me, puts his hand on my knee and says "Mommy, you so pretty". Then he went and sat down.
My heart melted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have you ever heard anything so sweet? Everyone just busted out laughing, and then the jokes about how wrapped he has me, but seriously, who wouldn't be wrapped with a son who says things like that! I just had to share... The sweetest thing..

Pictures from the 500 Parade!

Pictures from the weekend!

Yummy Corn!