Easter

This year was different for us due to the fact my dad was in the Philippines at the time. So instead of going to my parents like usual, the family went to their respective churches and Wanda and Larry hosted us for dinner after. We had the traditional yummy food, a great Easter egg hunt and a relaxing afternoon. It was a bit chilly and windy this year, but we had a great time!

The 2nd half of our NC trip

Since we had traveled sooo far, we couldn't go home without going to see Mike's side of the family in Wilmington, NC. Wanda and Larry were visiting there for a few weeks during the winter and so it was perfect timing to see everyone. We missed Mike being there with us, but all in all, a busy albeit fun trip! We stopped by the Fire Dept. where Andrea works and got up close to the Fire Trucks, we went to the Children's Museum there, which is small, but very charming and got to see their whole family! Fun times!!!

March 09

March came and went pretty quickly in our house. With Spring fever setting in, my brother in law and I decided to surprise my sister for her birthday. So.. my Mom, sister in law Kris, nephew Kai, Avery, Jake and I loaded up the van and made another trip to North Carolina. The kids did really well and Julie was Shocked! Matthew had rearranged her schedule for the week, and taken the week off himself, so we had lots of fun times...

Early Wake up

1:49 am-
Jake whispers "Mommy, have you seen Sal anywhere?"
" Jake, you have to go back to bed!" I say, still sleeping.
" Mommy! Sal is missing!" he says through tears...
"I will find him buddy...."
Why was he awake @ 1:49 am looking for Sal? ( He had fallen behind the bed).
True love, I guess!

My Baby is 3!

It is so hard for me to believe that my baby is 3! Every time I look in his dark blue eyes, I am reminded of how perfect God's timing is.

I have marveled at this before so, I will keep it short. After trying for a long time to have Avery, we didn't think that we could or would be having another any time soon. Then, just after her 1st birthday we found out that we were having another. When I shared the news and shock with my mom, she explained that even though I thought I had learned that it was all in God's timing, I apparently had not, due to the fact that I was so overwhelmed and confused on how exactly this had happened!

Jake is a sweet, loving, emotional guy who loves nothing in the world more than Avery, cars and trucks. He lets me see what Mike must have been like as a little boy (because they are so alike) and that is a wonderful treat for a wife to see. He looks at me like I hung the moon just for him (nothing is better than when he gently rubs my face and says "Mommy, you are so pretty!"). He absolutely adores Avery and will do whatever it takes to protect her. (I am not stretching here, he really does protect her and it is the sweetest thing I have ever experienced). He is generally quiet (content to let Avery have the spot light) kind, and funny. We have been truly blessed!

Happy Birthday, Jake-y! We love you!

Looking back, I am so thankful for God know exactly what we needed. Our family is so perfect for us right now, and who knows what is in store for us.

Feburary Fun...

Feburary was pretty uneventful for us, some nice days were mixed in with all of the snow and cold we were having. We went to the Bounce Zone with friends, spent alot of time at the gym, trying to "get healthy" as the kids say and had lots of Birthday parties to attend. Including Jake's. These pics are of the kids with their Valentine from Daddy, Jake playing his guitar, Avery pretending to be like Mommy and the kiddos smiling for Daddy's Valentine picture frame. Daddy wouldn't pose for a picture with his Valentine's gift.. I had tshirts made for us both mine saying "I love my husband" and his saying " I love my wife". He wears it proudly around the house, I can't imagine why he hasn't worn it outside of the house yet? He is a cheesy guy, but apparently not that cheesy! HA!

Janurary Blues

I know I am behind on posting, so I will do a few short posts to catch up!

January in Indiana was Cold and Long, and I found myself having a rough time keeping my chin up and having a good attitude. Only so many days in front of a fire not being able to leave the house is considered warm and cozy.

The week I remember the most was the week where 20 of our friends headed to Florida for a wedding the temp here was hovering around -12 without windchill and I was Grumpy to say the least. We had decided not to go, back in September and I was content with that until the weather set in. Then, Mike decided to try to go to Arizona for the Barret Jackson car show. I was NOT happy. I would love tell you that I encouraged him to go with a happy heart, but I am an honest person. I was really bummed and mean! By the time I gave myself a much needed attitude adjustment and sent him a text to tell him I was sorry and I hoped he had a good time, His flight had been cancelled!

I felt horrible! Now he was home, as I wished, to freeze slowly with me and the kids. I felt so badly. He handled it very well though and forgave me for my selfishness, thankfully. I still feel like a dunce for that one!

The rest of the month went pretty smoothly and Mike and Jake got to go to the Monster Truck Show, while Avery and I took the opportunity to have a Mommy Date. The pictures below are from that evening.

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!