Instagram Life

It's Friday, how about an Instagram photo update?  There is no real point to this post except that I thought I'd share some photos that tickle me and the stories behind them.  Enjoy :)  

Here is what I love about little kids and their imaginations.  This the minivan for Ava's "Loving Family" and these are some of the passengers who were rockin the mini when I found it like this:

A mail carrier, a pig farmer, a construction worker, a baseball player and a little girl in pigtails you can't see.  That's quite a carpool route!

Here is my little Minnesota fishing girl.  Travis and Ava have formed a bond this summer over fishing and I just love it.  Better yet, they love it!!

I adore this picture.  Barefoot on the dock, fish on the pole, perfect summer night on the lake.

So cute.  She caught like 7 fish this night and couldn't wait to burst through the door to tell me all about it when she got home. Can't wait til Carter can join them next summer!

 My Mom sent this to me recently. 

I love her. 

She has the BEST sense of humor and she is always making us laugh! 

 I love how colorful my dishwasher has gotten since I've had kids.  I load it at least once, sometimes twice in a day, so I'll take the extra sunshine when I can get it!  Ha ha!

 On any given day there is a fairy, a princess, a cheerleader or a gymnast in my home.  Sometimes we get lucky and all of those people make an appearance in the course of one day :)  We have a little girl who LOVES to dress up and it never stops tickling me to see her in her many costumes throughout the day!

 On the other hand, this little guy has only intensified his love for his giraffe, his paci and his blankies.  He's definitely all boy,very rough and tumble, but I think he's also a little lover at heart.  He's never met a soft blanket he didn't love!  It's pretty common to find him with all of his "stuff" while he plays.  But I remember from Ava's 2 year appt that this is the age when they really attach to a toy or a blanket, so I guess we are right on schedule!  I do have my work cut out for me in trying to ditch that paci however.  I will have a sad little guy on my hands when that day comes...

 Pizza with Daddy.

We're undecided if eating out with them is getting easier yet.  We don't have to bring as much gear along but they no longer stay in their seats.  It's kind of a toss up!  We thought pizza would be a slam dunk this night. Turns out we were wrong...I'm pretty sure we set a record for fastest meal.  I think we were in and out of there in 10 minutes...it was a necessary exit before one of us freaked out! 

Travis and I were definitely more at risk than the children :) :) :)

 I've made the switch in my morning coffee and this weekend I'm pulling out the seasonal decorations.  Yes friends, today is *officially* the first day of Fall but I've been celebrating for the last 2 weeks!  Pumpkin spice coffee, pumpkin spice creamer, caramel apple candles...it's all about the sensory experience over here. 

 I scored some big wife points recently when I suggested that we upgrade our TV.  We haven't bought a TV for the last 8 years, which is mostly due to the fact that we haven't really cared too much.  We watch TV but it isn't hugely important to us.  However, we do love to watch sports and especially football.  So I thought with the collge and NFL seasons starting, my hardworking husband deserved a new TV to enjoy his teams :)

The kids and I surprised him with one while he was working last week.  We'd talked about a particular TV to buy but I ended up getting one that was bigger and better for the same price.  Love when that happens!  He was a happy man and we've had some fun watching lots of games in what feels like a theater experience.  Ok, It's not quite that big, but when we were used to our 36" TV, a 50" feels gigantic to us :)

When we were at the library a few weeks ago for the kids, I spotted this on my way out and decided I had to read it.  It was a fascinating read, it was mostly about her faith and her private life and how fame and fortune shaped her.  BeBe Winans was a close friend of hers and her family and I totally enjoyed hearing his perspective on her life and her friendship.  I read it in like 2 days. 

 This would be a great poolside or vacation read! 

 These perfect Fall days have taken us outside quite a bit.  Chalk and bubbles are like kryptonite to my kids.  They'll do anything to play with them!

 Carter mostly eats the bubbles (which is gross) but I've come to the conclusion that he's incapable of understanding how to blow them without that wand going in his mouth.  I've just surrendered to the inevitable for now!

 As cute as this little girl is, she desperately needed a haircut.  We were sick of always watching her brush those bangs out of her eyes and she's in a season where she refuses to let me do anything with her hair.  Just combing it is enough to send us both in a timeout!

 But nothing was as bad as the mullet Carter was sporting all of a sudden!  I have no idea how it got so bad, so quickly but it did :)  This kid has thick hair and a lot of it.  I can't believe how much maintenance is required to keep him clean cut!  I threatened to buzz it but Travis wouldn't let me. 

 Ava got a pretty dramatic bob, which is adorable on her.  It happened kind of quickly and was shorter than I asked it to be but I do love it.  I had to leave Ava to the stylist on her own because...

 ...this little turkey was in full-on meltdown mode for his entire haircut.  He cried and screamed and threw a fit while I basically held him down so the other poor stylist could cut his mop.  It was pure torture for all of us and I couldn't supervise Ava's cut in between Carter's fits.  I called Travis after this was all over and told him I was never getting their hair cut again without him.  It's just not right that I should have to endure the misery alone :)  Good thing this kid is cute!  It's kept him in our family more than once... Ha ha :)

 I am still loving my new dishes and loving a quiet morning even more!  This week has been busy but a little coffee, some yummy toast and Fernando Ortega waking me up in the morning is the perfect remedy! 

 

Happy Friday, friends! 

A Chapter Closed

This summer has been a roller coaster of emotions for me and for my family.  In June we received a call that my Grandpa Bill was in the hospital and not expected to live through the weekend.  We all rallied and my Mom and her sisters found themselves making hard decisions and having those conversations that no one wants to have.  We said our goodbyes, talked candidly about Eternity and made peace after years of broken relationship.  He did in fact live through the weekend and even for a few more months.  But last week, on the 11th of September, the Lord took him home.  His suffering ended on this side of Eternity and we believe that he began his new reality with his Savior. 

 To say that our relationship with him is complicated is an understatement.  Although we are grieving for him now, we've actually been grieving for him for the last 12 years or so.  There is nothing to be gained in sharing the ups and downs in a public way, but I do want to give the Lord the praise He is due for the way He orchestrated our reconciliation with him in His perfect timing.  We can rest at night knowing that we chose and still choose to forgive the wrongs and the hurt.  He died knowing and believing that we loved him dearly and he made it clear how much he regretted his choices and loved us back.  It broke my heart to see him in July, to see his failing body and his thin frame.  We talked about a lot of memories and he held my hand telling me he wished we could go back about 20 years and start again. 

Yep, me too...

 

For the length of my childhood my Grandpa was a huge part of our lives.  He hung the moon in many ways and we loved Grandpa Bill like any granddaughter would.  He is technically my Mom's stepdad and our step-grandpa I suppose, but he was such an active presence in our lives and a source of love that we never thought of him as anything less than our Grandpa.  We still do.  His life was not an easy one from start to finish.  He was married twice, his first wife died very young of cancer and years later he married my Grandma.  For most of my life my Grandma was very, very sick and he lost a lot of years with her due to her illness.  The end of their marriage was a hard one, my Grandma had dementia and was in a nursing home for 10 years I think?  But as I've tried to process what happened in the years that followed, I think I can simply say he made some mistakes, chose people who abandoned him in the end, and walked away from those of us who loved him all those years, mostly out of guilt and regret I'm sure.  It's a sad story, never one I want my kids to experience or know, but the beauty of the ending is that the Lord truly worked in us and through us all to bring the forgiveness and reconciliation that only He could.  All is forgiven and the chapter is closed.  It doesn't make it easy, it doesn't erase the damage that was done, but we have hope that we will be with him again one day, all of us restored and alive in the presence of Christ.  No one is perfect and we all make mistakes.  This has been a sobering reminder for all of us about the consquences of sin and the shorcomings of man.  When we look to people to give us all we need or to be our savior, we will always be disappointed...we all fall short.  But when we look to Jesus to be our constant, unchanging, unconditional God, He never leaves us lacking!  He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow and we have learned just how powerful that love is in the face of disappointment and hurt. 

In the end, only because of the power of Christ in me, it is well with my soul when I think of my Grandpa...

 And so when Jesus took him home last week, I packed up my kiddos and drove to Iowa to say goodbye.  Travis wanted to come along but last week was one of the busiest ones he's had in a long time and my parents were so gracious to release us from the pressure of needing to be home.  I knew I could do it with the kids, so we did!  And this is a classic scene of what life with these two little monkeys is like :) Never a dull moment, never a photo opp without a struggle!  Ha ha!

 As we prepared to walk down memory lane with family and friends, we got a kick out of the following pictures from our growing up years!  This one is one of my favorites!  My Mom has never been a Halloween fan, but when she gave in we always dressed up in happy costumes :) :) :) I clearly remember this Halloween and being so happy with my costume, I loved everything about it! 

 This was from our matching dresses era :) Stacie's smile cracks me up here!

 We vacationed a lot in northern Minnesota, in cabins on a lake.  Oh, the irony!

 From a young age my Mom dressed me in little suits...seriously, I always had the formal jacket and bow while my sisters always rocked the big collar look :)



I think my matching socks are particularly a nice touch!

 The little family :) I know my Dad would go back to these years in a heartbeat!  Good for me to remember when I want to fast forward 10 years with my own kids some times! 

 One of the many Sundays after Church when we had lunch with my grandparents. 

I really miss that tradition...

 And just for fun, this is from my college years and my sister's high school years. 

So. Much. Hair.



This a picture of my Grandpa's younger brothers, his nephew, my cousin and my cousin's 3 boys.  

 The big cousins, minus Stacie who couldn't come back from South Carolina. 

 All of my cousins on my Mom's side...my Grandpa was a blessed man!

 With our Moms, my Grandpa's three daughters. 

My cousin Noah and Cody.  We are all about the same age and we were the original three!  We're the oldest kids in our families and we were pretty inseperable growing up.  For the first four years it was only the three of us, so you can imagine that we have lots of memories with our Grandpa Bill. 

 Love them both, can't believe we are this OLD!!

One of my sweet co-workers who trained me in High School did the flowers for us. 

This was the arrangement from the grandkids...

 ...and this was near him from his great-grandkids.  He had 6 little ones...Although my kids really didn't know him, Ava has been praying for Grandpa Bill for months now.  She has made me tear up on more than one occastion with her precious little prayers on his behalf.  He cried when he saw her picture for the first time because she looked just like I did when I was a little girl. 

My Grandpa served in the Korean War and therefore had the honor of full military burial, which is truly an incredibly moving thing.

To see older veterans, who didn't know him but honored him as one of their own...amazing. 

 This scene was hard to photograph but it was a beautiful depiction of the Korean war, my Grandpa would have been so moved by it. 

I am so grateful for the men and women who serve our country. 

They are robbed of the honor and respect they are due so often, but in death they are defintely treated properly.

Beautiful...

We chose to give his Memorial Funds to an organization that arranges Honor Flights for Veterans to go to Washington DC and see the WW2 and Korean War Memorials.  My Grandpa would be so proud of that.  You can read a great story about it here. 

 His funeral was on a gorgeous, Fall day...

 And although we were missing Stacie Jo...

 ...she was well represented.  My Mom found this adorable thing she wrote when she was 8 and my Mom read a wonderful tribute Stacie wrote on facebook at the funeral. 

We missed you but we didn't forget you Stace :)

 

As we were driving to the cemetary, we passed a local attraction that my Grandpa LOVED, which was in full swing last week.  The National Cattle Congress is a tradition in my hometown, kind of a cross between a week-long livestock show and a county fair.  I have so many memories of my Grandpa and the Cattle Congress.  We thought it was fitting that it was happening when he died.  So that night, after dinner we took the kids to experience it too!  My Grandpa would have loved that.

 It's been years and years since I've been there, but it was the PERFECT Fall night and we had such a great time!

 There were animals galore and lots of events to watch...

 ...the kids did not know what to think of this pig staring and snorting at them :)

 Pretty horse,  his name was Dreamsicle :)

 We introduced the kids to the world of Tom Thumb donuts.  They approved!

All in all, a great night.  Fun to be outside, fun to walk around and see everything, fun to re-live old memories and think about my Grandpa.  So glad we did that!

It was good to be home, hard to say goodbye and yet, I'm grateful for the way this chapter ended and for the hope of Heaven we share!  I stopped at our favorite cupcake place to bring a treat home for Travis.  Nothing like a little sugar coma to wrap up an emotional week :) 

On the Sidelines

I've been longing to hop on here and write for weeks now. Sooo much to write...Life has not been dull in our corner of the world and with a whirlwind of activities every week, it feels a little bit like I've been treading water with one arm tied behind my back.  I'm behind on just about everything and have a to-do list that is a mile long.  But who wants to talk about that??  My mind is swimming with thoughts and topics but for your sake and mine tonight, I'll leave you with some pictures of the world's cutest (albeit wild) fans :)

Daddy is thick in the soccer season and we have been planting ourselves on a many a sideline these days.  Well, I should clarify.  I have been planted there but not for long.  There is no planting when it comes to Ava and Carter!  They keep me on my toes :)  No sooner do I catch a big play than I turn around to discover that one or both of them are making a break for it! 

Sidenote-Can you see that Ava's shoes are on the wrong feet here?  She is all about getting dressed all by herself these days and I'm inclined to let her excercise that skill but 9 times out of 10 she gets her shoes on the wrong feet!  So cute.  It makes me laugh when I realize it hours later and know that she's been walking or running that way!  For some reason all kids seem to do that and most of them act like it makes no difference to them, why is that???

This little tornado is exactly that.  A TORNADO.  He is active with a capitol "A" these days!  I'm not kidding when I tell you that he requires our FULL attention all hours of the day.  In case you think I'm exaggerating, so far in 5 games he's run on the field during the game; run away from me and into an active parking lot (twice); and earned himself several trips the minivan for some "attitude adjustment" while screaming "NOOOOOO!" at the top of his lungs after I wouldn't let him do something...like run into the street.  Fun times :)

At home, he's been equally as busy.  A few days ago he let himself out of our house and through our locked front door while I was in the shower!  Thankfully we live in a condo complex so he was just down the hall, but still!  I came out in my towel and quickly realized he was MIA...never good.  On Sunday, while Travis and I were talking in our room, he was busy playing in the living room with a knife and scissors. Yes.  Take a moment to ponder that a little bit. 

Yesterday (again while I was in the shower and he was supposed to be napping) he dumped a lit candle in my kitchen sink, pouring hot wax all over my dishes and thankfully, not himself.  Are you surprised to know that I never showered today??  How could I??  I can't turn my back for a SECOND on this little guy!  While I was on the phone today he was throwing a real golf ball halfway across our living room, dangerously close to our brand new TV. And when I say dangerously close I mean, he JUST missed it.  And since it's all of 24 hours old, that would have been quite a story...I mean, seriously!!??!!  I'm writing this down now so I will remember and laugh about it later. 

Like when I'm well rested and he's married :)

 Can you picture why I barely get anything done these days???  I'm considering tethering myself to him, just so I know where he is and what he's doing at all times.  Luckily for me, my mini-me (AKA the big sister) is a pretty great tattle-tale, which right now is a GREAT thing!  She helps me keep "Cawty"in line and away from the knives :)

Suckers are my latest bribing tool.  I'm not above begging my children to sit still with a sucker while they:

-Go to the grocery store with me

-Watch the soccer game

-Sit in the stroller after Church

-Let me talk on the phone

-Buy a new TV for their Dad :)

 

I'm desperate, people.  Right now, I've never met a piece of candy that I wouldn't consider hanging over their head!

Truthfully, as busy and wild as this little guy is, he has definitely stolen my heart.  He is a snuggly, cuddly, park-loving, ball-throwing, toe headed lover.  He is a GIANT whose feet are growing overnight and yet he loves to crawl in bed with me in the morning and say, "Baby?" with his paci and giraffe in hand. 

Wonder how many years he'll long to be my baby??

Can you stand how OLD this girl is???  It's Fall, so naturally I am counting down the years until I have to surrender her to school, whatever that means.  TWO!  That's how many school years are left until she's on her 13 year journey through education.  We decided not to do preschool this year, we're just not ready to give up our time with her or to be slaves to a schedule.  Maybe I'll regret that in a month or so, but I think it's going to be a fun year for her and Carter.  They are becoming quite the little friends and I want them to have this time together, knowing it will soon be a fleeting option.  We are doing some more field trips together and some one on one dates with her.  Travis and Ava are fishing buddies, they both just love that outing and I get a big kick out of their stories when they get home.  She is ALL ABOUT catching those fish and touching them too...is she MY daughter??? Last week I took Miss Ava to a high school volleyball game (hilarious) and to my cousins' house for a family lunch.  Both times she was such a good girl and she told me afterwards, "Dat was SO fun Mama!" I am loving her independence these days, she's really pretty helpful right now.  She is my window washer, clothes folder and dish loader!  Well, she's "in training" in all of those things :) She loves it when I let her skip a nap but the deal is that she has to be my helper if she wants to stay up.  So far that idea is golden.  She goes for it everytime!  Again, wonder how long I'll get away with that??

Travis and I are both crazy busy right now.  He's in the middle of Fall kick-off at Church in addition to soccer.  I'm "working" a little on the side right now (doing some freelance design work) and trying to keep the ship afloat at home.  We are burning the candle on both ends but only (fingers crossed) for this present season.  I am working HARD to protect our days off and keep our days as unscheduled as possible.  This is kind of our last week before our fall activities begin and the kids and I are headed to Iowa for a few days, for my Grandpa's funeral.  Hoping to write about that tomorrow...

Anyway, we're doing well and the kids are getting cuter by the day.  Just look at those little peanuts, we are just crazy about both of them! 

You know, when they aren't wielding knives or running in streets :)

Hope your Fall is off to a great start!  I've missed you blog friends, really missed my time writing and sharing pics.  The busier I get, the more I long to get on here and write...

Like lots of things in my life right now, this is probably just not my season yet, and that's ok.  I am very grateful to have a busy husband and 2 little people to fill my days and weeks with, blog or no blog. 

 Hope your week is a blessed one!