{ A List to Catch Up }

I honestly don't remember the last time I blogged.  I'm guessing it was for Oliver's birthday.  This little spot is so neglected, and not because I lack things to say, but simply because life is busy.  I am thankful now for a few minutes to type down some random thoughts so as not forget this current slice of life.

We spent a delightful Thanksgiving with my parents.  This deserves a post by itself.

I am thankful for the season of thankfulness we have passed through, and am daily hoping for a more thankful heart, not just once a year.

Along with thankfulness, I am conscious much more of specific situations and people God is laying on my heart to pray for.  I am encouraged by this tenderness of soul and humbled that He wants to hear my heart.

I am thankful for the week before Thanksgiving that Tim worked just half days and for the long weekend we got to spend as a family.  He decorated the outside of our house for Christmas, even washed some windows!  Wonderful!  I was able to go out for a several-hour shopping day just to myself on Saturday while he stayed home with the kids.  I went to like 8 different stores.  That never happens, people!

I am enjoying the beginning of the Christmas season, specifically eggnog in my coffee every morning.  This is seriously becoming a bad habit!

Right now I am on the last short story of the LM Montgomery book I am reading myself to sleep with at night.  I'm a little sorry to see it come to an end, but I'm already on to "David Copperfield".  Why did I choose one of Dicken's longest books at this stage of life?  Also, I don't know how I'm going to read it in my favorite, on-my-side, book-propped-up-by-one-hand position before bed?  I am determined, however.

Tim and I are enjoying reading "A Christmas Carol" together this Christmas.  We are two chapters through and enjoying it very much.  It is the first read for both of us, though we've seen multiple movie versions, and my personal favorite, Focus on the Family's Radio Theater rendition.

Over Thanksgiving, Katy Grace took her first steps!  She has been standing on her own for some time now, and still has a while before we can say she is officially walking, but it was very exciting none-the-less.

Oliver is providing no end of entertainment these days, as he imitates anything and everything his sister does that gets attention, be it hurting herself or getting in trouble, or learning to walk.  He had us all laughing as he staggered back and forth between supporting hands!

We, sadly, ended up with no picture evidence, but we hosted a fall party a few weeks ago.  It was an opportunity we took to thank various people who have helped us out a lot this past year.  We had 13 people for dinner and appetizers.  It was  A LOT of work, and yes, we admit to at least partial insanity for putting on such a thing while I'm pregnant and we have two kids under two, but it was a great success and the kids were ideal and very much enjoyed by all.  It was a fun way to begin the holiday season as well.

Maybe because we're gluttons for punishment, we are gearing up for our annual Christmas party open house in a couple of weeks.  Today I made the invitation and it's going out very soon.  We're very excited, especially after taking last year off... something about having a baby.  The day of our party this year also falls on Katy Grace's birthday, and because she's still too little to know any different, and to make it easier on us, we're celebrating her birthday at the same time.  I AM decorating "birthday" not Christmas for this portion of our house, though.  It's going to be a "Sprinkle Party" and I'm very excited!

While we're talking parties, Tim and I are really looking forward to attending our first holiday event this coming Saturday.  Looking forward to just being adults without kids, dressing up, delicious food and wine tasting with friends.

Tim and I have been making our way through the movie "Hugo" the past couple of nights.  It is beautiful... and slow moving.  Not sure I like it enough to see it again, but it is enjoyable for now.  Tim loves clocks and Oliver loves trains, so it is a good movie for our family in those regards!

After a change of plans, we are planning to go cut our Christmas tree this weekend.  We decided to invite friends along this year, since we now have a vehicle large enough to do that, and a trailer plenty big enough for two trees.  Should be a fun time!  This will be Katy Grace's first time to go tree hunting, well and Oliver's too, come to think of it.  He's slept through it the past two years.  His first year he was barely under 2 months old, and though awake, I don't think that really counts!

Over Thanksgiving my parents showed us a couple of Tim Hawkins' videos on YouTube,  They were pretty funny and have provided laughs since then!  Here's a sample if you want to laugh, too.

{ Summer Days }

Our summer days, here on High Street, have been such a busy time.  

There are so many projects underway, things that desperately need to be taken care of that haven't been done in many, many years, but that will last for many, many years or our lifetime once they're finished.  I am posting this mostly for me to remember.  I never want to forget how hard my husband is working to take care of his family.  He has chosen, mostly out of necessity, to do most of the repairs himself.  

Let me just list the projects:

Replace the furnace that quit in May

Repair the chimney

Insert a chimney liner

Replace all of the duct work in the basement

Replace the main water line to our house

Put in attic vents on the roof

Remove and kill the moss on our roof

Clean out the gutters

Collect firewood in his "spare" time

Act as mechanic to replace several parts on our vehicle

All this on top of working his normal job and coming home and helping me with the kids, keeping up with our substantial lawns, and helping with dishes, diapers and laundry.

In case I have or ever will doubt that I am married to an amazing man,

he is living proof.

 

Some of these projects are completed.  Most of them are still in progress. 

{ The chimney repair:  We hired a mason who allowed Tim to assist him.  We were able to save a substantial amount of money this way.  Tim carried all of the brick and mortar up the ladder. }

{ Here is the inside of the chimney and what it looked like before it was rebuilt.  When they went to tear it down, they literally picked up the brick by hand, no demolition needed.  Yeah, it was time to replace it! }

{ After the chimney was finished, a chimney liner had to be added.  Here are a couple guys from church helping Tim carry it up. }

{ Here is Tim cutting holes in the roof to put in attic vents.  He is amazing!  It was over 90 degrees that day and that is smoke as well as dust you see.  He had burns on his arms from the asphalt shingles. }

I think we would love to experience the lazy days of summer,

but then again, neither of us likes to sit still, so we can see that this life if probably best for us.

The timing has been perfect on these projects and God is clearly, unmistakable leading each

step of the way.  We have saved literally thousands of dollars and thus far remained debt 

free, which is nothing but the loving provision of God.

All of this has also brought us closer together.  We've actually spent more time as a family.

Don't get me wrong.  All of this has been a challenge, too.

It has pushed us to... and often past our limit, but I'm so thankful 

for the opportunity to get some of the ugliness out of my heart and and an adjustment for 

my attitude.  We're learning to work together as a team and juggle marriage, and kids, and home.

 Aside from projects, we've been having plenty of summery fun.

We've spent evenings at parks,

watched sunsets,

tried new wines,

played in the kids' little pool,

had a family backyard water fight,

played frisbee,

and planned our vacation.

We are picking raspberries,

enjoying our flower gardens,

going out for ice cream,

spending time with friends and the kids' grandparents,

and enjoying shorter work hours for Tim.

I am also enjoying more energy this summer.

This is the first summer since we got married that I am not pregnant!

We've still been living with less sleep.  What am I saying? With kids, less sleep is pretty much normal!

This week that sleep has gone to comforting while teeth come in:

Katy's first two teeth

and Oliver's molars

We are also putting both kids to bed in the same room.

This is to prepare for our first family vacation, 

which we leave for on Monday.

There have been several very long evenings

and plenty of tears while they adjusted,

but they are doing great now, and I am

actually hopeful that all of us in one room,

in a different place every night for a week 

is going to be possible!

To say we are excited to take a vacation would be an understatement!

To say we are still a little nervous about traveling with two little kids is also true,

but I am sure it will be so worth it!

 It has been a wonderful summer and I'm so looking forward to the rest of it!

{ A Day of Our Life :: July }

1. Visual reminder to pick up my camera

2. Breakfast

3. Messes

4. It's a good day when I have dinner ready to pull out of the freezer!

5.Cleaning the kitchen

6. Laundry

7. Outside chores

~ Our "Catalina" roses blooming

~Oliver cheering on the tree trimmers across the street

~ Fresh raspberries right off the vine

8. Play Time
9. Tim home for lunch

~Reading up on the manual for one of our many house repair projects

10. Story Time

11. Family time after dinner/dress up

{ Second Mother's Day }

Second Mothers Day.

Heading toward three years of marriage.

Two children. 

Whew!

When I stop to consider how many blessings have rained down into my life in a little over two years of marriage, I am amazed that these years can even contain them!

Life right now is

crazy

busy

blessed.

The celebration of being Mom to these two precious children was wonderfully sweet!

At the end of the weekend I remarked that if felt like I had done no work.

I'm sure I did, but the fact that it felt like I didn't was

amazing and wonderful!

  Celebrating this day meant quite a lot more this year simply because I have a much keener appreciation for how difficult a job being a mom is!

I wish I could say my days always look as blissful as the pictures that make it on here

and that I don't melt down

or get upset

or cry rivers of tears in frustration

or feel completely overwhelmed,

but it wouldn't be the whole story if I left that out.

I am humbled by the three people I am wife and mother to.

Because of them God is teaching me a lot about myself and not allowing me 

to get away with the not so pretty aspects of my character.  

More than anything, as I head into another year of motherhood,

I desire to display the fruits of the Spirit to my family

Love.

Joy.

Peace.

Patience.

Self-control.

And I want to be thankful.

These years are passing too quickly!

So to my beautiful son and daughter,

Oliver and Kathryn.

I love you.

Thanks for being mine.

l

{ Relaxing in the yard before our hike.  What a beautiful day it was for being outside!}

 

{ Grill Master!  We finished our day with grilled burgers and milk shakes.  

Wow!  They tasted so good after that hike! } 

{ Monday we decided rather spur of the moment to head out of town for the day to buy a furnace off of Craigslist.  It was a fun family day.  An unexpected day together! We stopped at a park and enjoyed the shade for a while}  

{ Dinner at Chili's.  Oliver was nothing but charming..... and messy... pizza and apples everywhere!  Thankfully I packed at extra outfit.   So fun sitting across the table from these funny boys! }

{The party just kept going!  Tuesday evening we had very special company for dinner.  So excited for them to meet our daughter and to rejoice with them as they look forward to the arrival of their little boy in August!}

 

{ A Good Mom }

Since becoming a mom, I've had to readjust my expectations. That is obvious, I know, but it is so much easier said than done, especially when you're talking to me. I will readily admit that I am OCD and perfectionistic more often than I should be. Well, now that I have two kids, I am readjusting yet again. It's been hard. Really hard. Not only do I want a clean house, but I want time to myself. I want time to myself I can count on! I am realizing that too often this look at my life here on High Street is a little too peaches and cream. I don't often let anyone see that I fall a part. That I shed tears again and again because I'm so frustrated. This morning, when I was tempted to give into that frustration again, God helped me see that I need to readjust not only my expectations, but also my definition of me as a good mom. My definition too often includes unattainable goals. Today I am seeing instead that as long as my kids are fed and napped, snuggled and read to, diapers changed and clothes cleaned, loved and validated I am a good mom. And a good day as their mom is when I love and serve their dad and spend time with my Savior. A good day might also mean I sweep the floors and do the dishes, but then again it might not. And that's okay.

{ I found this sign a few weeks ago.  It is my daily reminder in my kitchen }

{ Valentine's Day... and a Birthday Thrown In }

I have always valued time with my man, but now that we have two children, I value that time to a whole new level. Being alone is a treat, and being able to talk uninterrupted is enough to make an evening spectacular. We decided to celebrate Valentine's Day the Saturday before. Tim arranged to have my parents come up for the evening and he lined up a very special evening for us.

 We ate at a Mediterranean restaurant downtown that we've been hearing good things about. The food was delicious!  We savored our meal and lingered over it: appetizer, meal and dessert.  It was wonderful just to be together and have the time to talk and to just be quiet.  I love that we enjoy a comfortable silence.

After dinner we headed to a local winery.  Tim had intended this to be a surprise.  He is always a little frustrated that he struggles to come up with original date ideas. Being in a small town contributes to that! Earlier that week, he received an email invitation to a local winery where a friend of ours would be performing with his band (he played at our wedding reception). The trouble was, my dear husband left the email up on the computer and I happened upon it! Oh well, it was the thought that counted. It worked out well in the end, I think, because it would have proved a little disappointing had that been the only thing we did. This was my first time to visit a winery and it wasn't as fancy as I anticipated it would be. It was rather cold in the building and very casual. It was a fun experience overall, though. We enjoyed homemade chocolates along with our wine.  We laughed and flirted and held hands.

The evening was still rather young when we left there, so we decided to go listen to jazz at a pseudo Irish pub downtown.  We stopped back home first to feed and put Katy Grace down for the night.  On our way out the door, Tim couldn't find his phone.  After looking for it for a few minutes, I decided to make things easier on us and call it.  It was in my purse, which I was holding at the time... oops!  We left and a little while later, when we were settling in, I decided to check Tim's phone to make sure my parents hadn't tried to call (I'd left mine with them).  I realized I had a missed call from my phone so I went outside to call them back.  They told me they hadn't called.  I was confused.  Then I realized that was the call I made to find Tim's phone.  I wish I could say this is the first time this has happened to me, but it's not!  It happens on a rather regular basis!  Oh, dear!

Then came my birthday.  My poor husband has Valentine's Day to remember, followed by my birthday a week later, but he always makes them both very special.  He surprised me with these beautiful roses.  I love them because they remind me of my wedding roses. 

We did the majority of celebrating on Sunday.  Tim helped me go grocery shopping and put up with me while I shopped for jeans at the mall.  Thankfully I found a pair so it was time well spent!  Later in the evening he got a babysitter and took me out for dinner and dessert.  Over dinner we had a fun time talking about the re-decorating we want to do in our master bedroom.  It was fun to dream and look forward to the completion of this project someday in the future. 

{ Birthdays just aren't complete without cake.  My mom had given me fun cupcake supplies for Valentine's Day so it was perfect.  They were soooo yummy! }

{ And my guys did the dishes! }

This is my last year to be in my twenties... and probably the last year I'll admit my age.  I actually received a card that referenced getting old.  *Sigh* I knew it had to happen eventually.....