Being healthy is hard work!

Trying to get to bed by 9pm & then up at 5 to work out takes a toll on my blogging life! Wow I am behind. Healthy, but behind!

Here are a few catch up pics from the last month or so. Hope to get more posts up soon.

Matthew has finally discovered books are more than chew toys and nothing has been the same since! He will sit in his crib with a bunch of books while I shower and is completely happy.
LOVE it!

He LOVES LOVES LOVES being outside. Wakes up in the morning and soon after will pound on the front door to go out. It should be a very busy summer!

Daddy's boy... loves his cars!

Yes, shocker.. I let him TOUCH A WORM!! I totally have this "mom of a boy" thing down! (just with purell in my pocket at ALL times!)

My sweet, shy, beautiful Evelyn. Its been a tough month or so with her. But I still just love her so much! She really wont sit still for many pictures, so I don't have many of her of late.. sad!

And.. the best for last. Evelyn had her little friend Heidi over a couple of weeks ago and the girls helped me make cookies. Matthew is not one to turn down sweets.. he was so excited to eat one. We also got a new stove recently and now we have an oven light that works. I turned it on so he could see the cookies baking. And this is what he did for quite a while!

He cracks us up... every day!

More later... I promise!

Every Day

My sister recently started using the phrase "Every Day" when we talk, write, etc. about my dad. A code word of sorts for us I guess. It sums up so much in two little words.

9 years ago today, he died. April 14th, 2002. The worst day of my life. Every Day.

I relive that day, the phone call, the CPR, the noise, then the silence. Every Day.

I long to hear his voice one last time. Every Day.

I miss his soft, kind smile. Every Day.

I miss his encouragement. Every Day.

I look at my favorite picture of him and I and I get teary. Every Day.

I see a school bus and remember what an impact he made on the kids on his bus, and how much he really did enjoy that job. Every Day.

I look at my husband and am SO thankful that he and my dad had sweet times together. Every Day.

I see Matthew being his usual kind and social self, waving and talking to anyone, and see my dad. Every Day.

I love talking about him with Evelyn and hope she knows that he would have just been absolutely in love with her. Every Day.

I think about death. Mine. And Doug's. And I pray God spare my children the pain of losing a parent until they are much much older. Every Day.

I thank God for the 31 years I had with him. Every Day.

I thank God for the grace, faithfulness and strength He has given me ever since that fateful day. Every Day.

....oh, how I could go on and on.

I miss him so much. He was one in a million. The best of the best. I wish he was still here. Every Day.

When I was 7th grade, I broke my arm. Bad. I had a cast for almost 3 months. People would see that cast and know that I was hurt. Then the cast came off and I started to move on from it and regained full use of my arm. It was and is hard to tell anything had happened. But look at an xray and you would see two large metal plates and more than a dozen screws. You would know it how badly it had been broken.

Some say time heals wounds. And in some ways, it does. It has been 9 years after all. From the outside, you would think that I am living life to the fullest. Yes, God is good. Life does move on. I am blessed more that I could have ever wished for. I am one fortunate gal...

But if you were to look deeper, you will see that my heart is still so very broken over losing my dad.

I love you and miss you, Dad.

Every Day.

Every year on the anniversary of my dad's death, I write. It's therapeutic for me I guess.
For previous posts, click here, here, and here

Say Cheese!

I got my camera out last night and told Matthew to say "cheese". He certainly knows what to do when I say that!







Never mind the macaroni and cheese stains on his shirt(s). He is currently boycotting bibs. Silly little man.

What Matthew does in the Tub

Who needs bath toys when the water is so incredibly cool!

Ready..


Set...
GO!

This is Matthew's new ritual when he gets in the bath. He thinks it is SO funny when he sputters and chokes on too much water. Nice...

He wants the water running the ENTIRE bath so he can play in it and has a little hissy fit when you turn it off. He IS cute and I love it that he has so much fun, but the water DOES cost us money. He just doen't get that. Yet.

At least he likes to take a bath, tho. I know the time will come when he will want to go, like, a month without bathing. Yeah.. not looking forward to that. ;)

I'll enjoy every moment in the bath while I can!

"Happy Shamrock Cookie Day!"

That's what Evelyn said to me when she woke up yesterday morning. She is way more into St. Patty's Day this year than she was last year.

We made shamrock cookies on the 16th. I didn't want to make a huge batch. I should have just halved my friend Allison's awesome cookie recipe, but went with a generic Betty Crocker small batch one. Bad idea. They were fine, but not the same for sure. Note to self.... ;)

She loved cutting out the cookies!

My sister and her sweet kids came over yesterday to frost them. My nephew Cole boycotted the whole event and just played with Matthew in the living room. Evelyn and Regan, tho, had a fun time decorating all by themsleves!!

Evie's creations

So.. apparently Regan (2) just wanted to frost the cookies, then lick the frosting off with her fingers. Too funny!

My sweet girl....

..who still managed to find a way to wear pink!

This is the only one I have of Matthew... sigh...
He was being monkey and wouldn't sit still, then my camera battery died. So there ya go...
He did look cute in his shirt tho.

I didn't do my corned beef and cabbage this year. We had Bible study last night and Doug worked up until that time, so there was no need for a big meal. Kinda sad.. but I can make it next week if I feel like it.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

I'm Growing

I consider my self a neat-nik and a clean freak, especially in my kitchen. It's my little piece of heaven, that place. Sadly, its the only room in the house I clean on a consistent basis besides the bathrooms. I do not like it when things aren't in place and put away in there. I even try hard to keep toys out of the kitchen.. that one's tough due to how life is these days, but I give it my best shot!

Lately Matthew has had his (not so) "Happy Hour" of the day right about 4-4:30pm. Usually right when I need to be thinking about dinner or getting it started. He is probably tired and hungry, and he is uber fussy, super clingy, and will just scream if I am not holding him. Good times. What's even better is when Doug gets home around 5:30.. he is happy as a clam. Stinker. Needless to say, getting dinner on the table has been no small feat as of late.

Today I was ready to start getting dinner going and right on cue, Matthew gets fussy. Evelyn was running around like a tornado (she took a loooong nap and was realllly wound up) and somehow I left the pantry door open. Usually its a cardinal sin to leave it open, knowing that my sweet boy will empty most of the contents he can reach onto the floor, which drives me batty (to have my kitchen floor cluttered, that is)!

BUT... today, instead of closing and locking the door quickly, I watched as both kids started pulling out and playing with the pantry goods together, laughing and having a great time. AND I LET THEM KEEP DOING IT!

Then.. the "pan holder" drawer below my stove came open and thing started flying out of there quickly, too. AND I LET IT FLY!




And I got dinner going. In peace. With both hands. With a BIG mess on my floor. It was wonderful!

I then got them doing something else in the living room and I cleaned up the carnage on the kitchen floor while dinner cooked.

Without grumbling and with a smile on my face.

I'm growing.

Heaven Described...

Evelyn's AWANA lesson and memory verse this week is about heaven. I asked her what she thought it looked like.

"Well.... there will be stars, (pause) a big castle, (pause)lots of sparkles, (long pause) and apple trees"

I then asked her who is in heaven.

"God. (pause) Grandpa in Heaven (my dad). (longer pause) And Uncle Scott."

A few seconds later,

"Oh, and the girl who has my name."

That would be Doug's grandma Evelyn, for whom Evelyn is named.

The girl who has that girl's name makes me smile!