Cutting Hair

I've always enjoyed cutting hair- just not kid's hair. Today I decided to give all of the kid's (except for Zeke- those blonde curls get to grow!) a much needed haircut. It ended up taking me two hours to get their hair cut, get them bathed and clean up the mess. I just buzzed Malachi's hair, trimmed Aylah's, but Gabs got the biggest change of all. Her hair is very fine and it had gotten so long in the back, it just didn't look good. So I ended up giving her bangs and cutting it into a little bob. I think it definitely fits her silly personality!

The Table

I can still remember making my first "grown up" purchase. It was a bright spring day, and my brother Paul and I had accompanied my mom and grandma on one of their many garage sale trips. I'm always hopeful to find a treasure when I go to garage sales, but it's usually in the form of clothes, books or knick knacks. This day was different. As I walked up to the first house of our garage sale endeavor, I noticed a small table with four chairs placed at the top of the driveway. It was beautiful. Deep cherry, it was modern and still kept a classic feel. It was perfectly smooth, no scratches, and it shined in the early morning sun. Although I didn't need a table at the time, I just had to have it. The woman informed me that she and her husband had recently purchased it, but realized they needed a bigger table. She was selling it for $140. Substantially out of my price range. Besides, I didn't even need a table. I told her no thanks, but she quickly responded by saying she would give it to me for $100. Sold!

My brother Paul and I went to the bank where I withdrew $100 and then we loaded it into the back of his mini van. I was so proud driving home as I looked back at my wonderful table. It sat in my parent's basement until Nathan and I got married. After we were married, we moved into a home in Springfield. I finally had a kitchen to display my table in. It traveled with us across three states to our current home in Ohio. Strategically positioned in our small dining room, it has served it's purpose well.

Today as I was cleaning up the kid's lunch mess, I decided to take some extra time to really clean the table. I was shocked at what I saw. This wasn't the same, amazing table I had purchased just a few years ago. It no longer shined like it once did. The varnish had been rubbed off and sticky fingers had left a permanent film over the table. It was different. But it was better. I noticed pen marks left by little hands creating a masterpiece. Deep gashes in the legs of the table as the result of eager helpers cleaning up after dinner. And the stickiness... oh, the stickiness! I can only imagine how many peanut butter and honey sandwiches have been devoured at this table! No, this wasn't the same beautiful table I was so proud of. It was a different kind of beautiful. It now holds the beauty that my children have so lovingly etched into it's very grain.

October

It amazes me how quickly time goes by. In many ways, it seems like it should still be the summer. The fall has proven to be exceptionally nice. The weather has been beautiful, Uncle Paul came for a visit, we've made friends with our neighbors and always have someone to play with. As we enter the month of November, I want to remember to be thankful for God's blessings. For the every day things that can so easily go unnoticed.
Although the past few months haven't gone as Nathan and I had planned, I'm realizing once again that God is faithful and His plans are so much better than mine!
Here's what we've been doing in the month of October:


Decorating cookies with Mia and Matthew.

Uncle Paul's Visit

My brother Paul has been teaching in South Korea for the past year, so we hadn't seen him for a very long time. Here's some highlights of his visit. We had lots of fun!

My Little Rockstars

Hello Kindergarten

Well, the day finally came... I had to send my baby boy off to school. All summer I've thought about it. In the last week leading up to Malachi's first day of school, I've broken into tears over the thought of not having him with me all day. I couldn't sleep last night, because all I could think about was that my little baby boy is heading to school.
I tried to prepare Malachi for spending his days in school. I told him that he would be getting up every morning and he would go to school. He would eat lunch there and he wouldn't come home until the afternoon. "Yeah, Mom, I know," was always his response. This morning I thought for sure he would be nervous. But he wasn't. I made him whole wheat pancakes with strawberries for his special first day of school. Every few minutes I would ask him, "Malachi, how are you feeling? Are you nervous?" "Nah," he would reply. How could it be that I was the only one feeling this sort of separation anxiety?
Since we live right by the school, I was able to walk him to school this morning. He looked so cute in his little uniform. As we approached the school, we could see a line of anxious 5 year olds waiting to file into the school. We got into the "boy" line and I willed myself not to cry. Malachi just grinned and pointed out the fact that every other boy had a Spiderman lunchbox just like his.
I helped him get situated in his classroom. Once he put away his backpack and lunchbox, he sat down to color a picture of Winnie the Pooh. He chatted with the other children sitting at his table and suddenly the urge to cry had gone away. Although it's unbelievably hard to not be spending my days with the little boy who has been by my side for the past 5 1/2 years, I realized that this is the beginning of something great. I'm so excited to see Malachi learn in the next year. I guess Kindergarten is kind of like the first year a baby is alive. So much happens in such a short amount of time.
So I survived sending my firstborn off to school. It's a very bittersweet experience. I know that this year will be amazing for Malachi. And maybe next year when I send Aylah off to Kindergarten it will be easier... but I doubt it!



I have to admit, these were the best whole wheat pancakes ever!






















On his way to school!


Daddy fixing his hair.














Malachi and Daddy walking home from school.

August

Once again, it's been way too long since I updated this. We've done a lot in the last month. We celebrated Aylah's 4th birthday. And of course, we did lots of things outside. Here are some highlights...

We're Lake People

Today we visited Nathan's Aunt Janet. She lives on Coldwater Lake in Michigan, about an hour and a half away from us. Spending the day on the water only confirmed to us that we absolutely must have a house on the water one day.
The best part of the day was when Nathan and I took Malachi, Aylah and Gabs out on a paddle boat while Zeke napped on a swing with Aunt Janet. This was definitely one of the best days so far this summer!


The kids in their life jackets


















Zeke upset because I kept shooing him away from crawling down the stairs.

























Don't we look like we belong on the lake? And this is evidently my natural hair color now. When did it turn red?!?

The Best Summer Yet

I don't know why, but this summer has been amazing. We've done so many outdoors things, which is by far our favorite thing to do as a family. We go to the beach about once a week and we've found all kinds of fun spots on the river.
We also celebrated Ezekiel's one year birthday. We took the kids to the zoo for his birthday and enjoyed some family time at home. It makes me sad that my baby is already a year old... I guess that means we're due for another one! haha


These pictures are random, but they sum up what we've been doing in the past month...


My big boy!!!

So handsome!!!

Gabs and Daddy on the 4th of July

Opening presents

Having fun at the zoo

The other day, I took Malachi and Aylah to the grocery store. As we were walking out, I let them each pick something from the quarter machines. This is what Malachi chose.

Nathan made the best pizza ever. All from scratch! We often talk about one day opening up our own restaurant and making up recipes for the menu. We put black olives on the whole pizza, and 1/3 pepperoni, 1/3 mushrooms and onion and 1/3 artichokes and sundried tomatoes. It was sooo good!