Greyson Andrew....10 Months!

Ok, so he was officially ten months old the other day..but lots has been going on, it seems! The arms up in the photo is the token, "So Big!" response. He gets a little confused sometimes and signals "so big!" for random reasons throughout the day. I pretty much want to eat him up!

To my Des Moines Peops...

I have Michelle Atkinson's kids at my house tomorrow!!! I'll try to post pics! They're such sweetie-pooh-pies!

ooops.

just a little fyi.


if you're watching someone else's kids...


and multi-tasking....


and thinking you should clean the betta's water while chatting with your girlfriend's six year old.


don't forget to pay close attention to the temperature of the water...k?

I mean...

ya use the really hot water to rinse out the bowl....and then you SHOULD add cold water and mix it all together to make a nice cozy temperature for said betta fish.

oops!
sorry "Blue".....dangit!

Full Blown Crappy Weekend

I decided to go ahead and make it a full blown craptastic weekend. Got myself super sick yesterday....the pukey, sicky kind. (no, it wasn't actually intentional, silly!) BUt!...I was down 6 pounds today! Sure..it can be argued that I'm way dehydrated..and I probably already put it back on....but wasn't it fun to know my scale knew that number??
In case the weekend was tempted to improve...we decided to shampoo the carpets. It's sticky hot already. Just happened yesterday...you might have heard of the tornado that hit pretty hard around here last evening. Not good. Anyways...I guess that probably doesn't have anything to do with the state of my carpets. They are looking better now though! tons. Maybe I forgot my point.
I'm nervous. Wayyyyy wayyy nervous for this race I've been training for. It's Saturday. 12.something miles ...and my training's been lacking this past couple of weeks with all the "junk" that's been going on around here. Furthermore....I obviously didn't run yesterday...NOR today (I hate the word "nor") I'm just all around feeling ill-prepared for TWELVE miles and some. Say a prayer k?
I guess those are my simple thoughts for now.

heavy, heavy heart.

this week has been so difficult. sometimes does it seem like you can't hear "one more thing?"
my heart is just aching for the incredible family that lost their little girl in our community yesterday afternoon. she was outside with her family, playing in the yard, when she was mistakenly run over by the woman who was reading their meter. 22 months old. it was her brother's fourth birthday.

another friend is awaiting results from her very young daughter's biopsy to find out if she has cancer.

a neighbor just shared with me that her father died unexpectedly this winter, and she and her husband went through a divorce.

another friend is having some scary and alarming neurological problems.

how could we go on if not for the hope and strength that comes from an awesome God? a sovereign God. all powerful. all KNOWING. Although I desperately want to shake my fist at Him today. to tell Him how unfair!.....what good can come from ANY of this?

I keep hearing in the back of my mind "God is good, and can be trusted." "Be Still...and know that I am God." "strength will raise as we wait upon the Lord" "I am with you always, even to the ends of the Earth"


so many people to lift up in prayer.
so many lives forever changed.
my heart is heavy.

Pardon Me!

"PsEudo"

"Psuedo Camping"

We have this thing we do that's really similar to camping. You go...set up your tent...make a campfire...grill a burger....roast a marshmellow...sit around the campfire....hike....etc...then you go HOME and sleep in your floofy bed with your down comforter and bamboo sheets. The poor kids don't know any different! They keep telling everyone that we went camping yesterday! (we did get Brooks out of school at noon...and stayed at the campeite til 10...which is WAY late in Brooksland ...okay, my land, too) Anyways..here's a couple of pics of the festivites..with apparenlty more to follow cause a reporter from the gazette in Cedar Rapids stopped by our campsite and took tons of pics of us for an article to be posted on tues. How embarassing! who looks cute to camp?? I ALMOST didn't even don make-up but decided I'd feel too nervous if I were so bold. Lucky for me. It was a great time, anyways..and if you look closely you can see the mama robin sitting on her nest...she was like ten feet from our tent that we never slept in:)

The Great Flood of '08

So about 7 minutes from our home here in No Lib is Lake Macbride...These pics are from the dam "floodage". If you live in the vicinity...it's pretty impressive to go watch the water scream out of the dam and gush into the river...it splashes like crazy (you'll get wet prolly) and it's super noisy! (if you have a seven year old boy...or four year old girl...they'll really think it's awesome!) the water looks shallow in this pic..but it's probably 20 feet or so. And more pics of the floodness

What a Great Day!

Except for the fact that Geoff's not coming home tonight....today's been great. (on call ...just started a lung transplant around five...not looking good..usually at least a 12 hour case...grr! Good for the lung recipient though!) Anyways...
started out my morning with a walk my some of my great girls! (I love you Heather and Jamie...and oh..how we'll miss you, Jamie!) How refreshing! then...off for a few errands. The kids and I had a little lunch..and down for a nice nap went Greyson and REagan. I READ while they napped! Yes, read!!! a book..from the library!! what a joy. Then..I finished staining the front porch wood steps area thing. ANGIE called (love you too, Angie!) Picked up Brookser from school..and we didn't feel like going home. So...we went and checked out the dam that I heard was 'raging' as there's been soo much rain this spring. Well...it was incredibly impressive! I only wish I had my camera. We went to a little park past the dam...and swang on the swinging bench thing and hung out on the equipment some. Came home for some dinner. (Wendy's made dinner.....mandarin chicken salad...yum!) Greyson chowed a burger! He hadn't had one before and was quite thrilled! Went outside for some bubble machine magic...a walk/bike ride/stroller ride/scooter ride...baths...stories/prayers..and now...bed! I think it was the sun that made it such a great day! I miss my Geoffrey, but it managed to be a pretty good day nonetheless.

Evidence of Mom Hair

Ok...so now I've accidentally made too much hype about this hair cut. But..here it is...ya really feel like a moron snapping a photo of yourself with noone else with you, ya know?

A side photo to get an idea of the shortitude.

Reagan's preschool program...

here's the little star herself. It's almost ten minutes long....don't feel obligated to watch unless you're somehow related:)

Mom Hair

Got me some. FINALLY got my hair cut yesterday. Yeah...it's a little shorter than I had planned. Ok...it's technically "short hair". Got home.....Geoff says, "oh, I thought you said you wouldn't cut your hair short." Brooks chimes in with two words, "too short!". This morning Reagan said to me, "Mom, I want your hair to be long again like it was before..can you wear a wig?". I guess it's a hit! Maybe I'll be brave enough to post a pic one of these days....

Reagan's preschool Spring Program...

Reagan had her little performance Sunday afternoon for preschool. Four songs...about twelve minutes worth of singing. In that time...she waved and blew us kisses about thirty six times, sat down and took her shoe off to get some mulch product out of it (exposing her underwear to the entire Parkview church audience) gave us seventeen "thumbs ups", and left to go to the bathroom for the last song. All in all, a very impressive performance! We sure do love you, Reago!!

Rookie Baseball--Go Cougars!!!

Brooks had his first baseball game last night! He was really excited to play..and it didn't even rain or tornado!

I'm IT!

So..I've been tagged by Abby. Kinda fun and thought provoking. Here goes:
*I am the youngest of five children, mother of three, wife to one
*I want for my kids to accept the Lord personally at a young age and always follow Him.
*I have a big list of things I should be doing right now!
*I wish for some "Geoff time"
*I hate forgetting someone's name, or where I know them from..which happens too frequently.
*I miss my Montana family, my aunt Sandy, my sisters...being a kid!
*I fear public speaking...just like most people...even though I'm not really at all shy.
*I feel anxious to move next year...but don't want to wish away this time either.
*I hear a couple of twitterpated robins out my window!
*I smell rain and cut grass...two of my favorite smells
*I crave Fresca...I haven't been able to find it lately. Yum!
*I search Realtor.com more often than necessary
*I wonder why Reagan just woke up?
*I regret "following the crowd" in high school and college and not sticking up for what I knew was right
*I love a good sale.....75% off or better
*I ache in my low back after "long runs"
*I care far too much about "appearances"
*I always love to hang out with "the girls" and chat
*I believe God still hears our prayers and answers them..and knows far more than we can understand.
*I dance this terrifically embarassing dance that I made up in Cayman with my sisters..just to mortify and humiliate Geoff.
*I sing a song to Reagan every night before bed. Brooks isn't interested any longer in my singing.
*I cry almost every time we sing worship songs in church..just like I made fun of my mom for doing growing up.
*I don't always take off my make-up before going to bed...shhhh!
*I fight as little as possible. I ABHORE conflict!
*I write in print..always. I don't think I know how to write cursive anymore.
*I never have cash.
*I listen to music REALLY LOUD when my kids aren't in the car....just like a teenager...it's obnoxious....good thing the opportunity doesn't arise too often, huh?
*I need a housekeeper, babysitter, organizer, wardrobe consultant, personal trainer, new windshield, summer clothes, a hair cut, a massage, running partner, eye lift, boob lift, my nails done, microderm abrasion, a new table and chairs, bedroom set, to clean my carpets, to get rid of alot of things out of the kids' closet, still, new eyeliner, to see the dentist, to sign Brooks and Reagan up for VBS, to volunteer more, for Greyson to get over his "separation anxiety", to run today still, to be more consistent with Reagan, to play catch with Brooks, to paint, a weekend without the kids, a tummy tuck, to go to the bathroom!
*I am happy to be blessed with such a smart, funny, handsome husband, 3 sweet kids, and incredible friends and family.