Friday, August 30, 2013

summer wrap

Here in pictures are our summer highlights...

Volleyball tournaments, they did so well this year!
 mowing our yard
 mowing the neighbors yard
 a monkey jumping on mommy's bed
 Free wine for daddy's at Sugarloaf Winery. Happy Father's Day!

 many evenings at the Rio
 snacks on the steps
blueberry picking, 50 lbs this summer!

these 2 :)



 beach time begins!







 zoo
This is after Chloe's first, and probably not last, visit to the ER.
She broke her ulna & her radius :(
 beach time round 2

our family's favorite place to nap
 
another great friend, Caleb.
We miss the Devries and love having the Loftness's in our home!

 
 just how I pictured my little girl, i guess
getting into trouble (this is under Danny's supervision :)
playdates,  boys being boys!
and finally, our answered prayer due in February :)

Saturday, August 10, 2013

5 years ago today...

began the best days of our lives.  Happy Anniversary to us!


Saturday, July 27, 2013

glory baby's due date


Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
Great is Thy faithfulness,” Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Thursday, July 25, 2013

the things they say

Danny and I have laughed so much recently at the things our kids say.  This is why I started a blog and I have done a terrible job at recording them, but here's a few I remembered..

We were walking in Target, and a man with a heavy beard is walking towards us. Noah excitedly,  points his finger at him and shouts, "Look mom, it's John the Baptist!"

Noah is so affectionate and is verbalizing more and more his love for us.  Yesterday on our walk, he randomly pauses, looks at me and says, "Mom, I love you, I love daddy, and I love Chloe."

My sweet husband blessed me today with a planned trip to go so our dear friends, the Kauflin's. He failed to inform me that I would be traveling solo on the way there.  (I am still struggling with this). So he looks at Noah and says, "Noah, tell mommy she can fly by herself. She'll be okay."  My wise son responds, "She can't! She needs you!"

And then there's little Chloe who recently picked up on my name and calls me, "Meema" sometimes. Well today she picked up on what Danny calls me, and when she needed my attention called, "babe, babe, babe!"

We were expecting our newborn this week, and my heart is sad and still grieving.  But we have learned to be content with where our family is now and are grateful for the two precious lives that the Lord has placed in our life at this time.  I was so grateful for these joyful moments today that reminded me of how undeserved I am to have all that He has given me, and how I have no reason to doubt the faithful hand of our Sovereign God, who in His timing, works all things together for our good.


Tuesday, June 25, 2013

an hour in the life of Chloe

We had a lovely breakfast at the Rio's Corner Bakery. Noah, Chloe and I headed to the gazebo to watch the ducks while Danny took our trash in.  A few minutes into watching, I walked away for a quick second to see if Danny knew where we were.  I think about 2 steps later I hear Chloe, "Oh no, boot (her word for shoe) bye-bye, boot bye-bye!" I looked down and Chloe has one shoe on, and sure enough Noah informs me that Chloe's croc is swimming. I had to laugh (I think I knew Danny would find a way to rescue her shoe).  Danny arrives and the croc slowly kept drifting to the center.  
This croc is an important investment to us. Our kids were crocs, and only crocs, 3 out of the 4 seasons a year.  We still had 2 seasons to go. We thought we could just wait & do the paddle boats which didn't open for another 2 hours. On our way to the boats we ran into maintenance people, and they had a genius and probably illegal idea. He through these massive rocks past the shoe, and the ripples they created drew the croc to shore-15 rocks later.  Ahhhh.

 drifting away
 rescuers at the scene
                                      
Cinderella's shoe finds it's rightful owner :)

Friday, May 31, 2013

Catching up...

I have so much catching up to do...

Noah started school in January.  He absolutely loved it.  He learned so much in such a short period of time. He was always so chatty on the way home from the excitement.  I loved all the crafts that he has made that have turned into my wall decor.  One day on the way home, he showed me what he made, and said, "Daddy's gonna love it!"
        

We did our annual trip to the Cherry Blossoms as a family this year.  We packed a picnic lunch and the kids enjoyed being outside all afternoon.  Noah enjoyed watching all the airplanes and seeing all the diggers at the different construction sites.  Chloe was just happy to be out and about.  She loves stroller rides. She often hops into our stroller in our garage, and says "bye!!!" AND yes that needed all 3 exclamation points. So Noah will push her back & forth on our sidewalk. Anyways, although only two trees had blossomed when we went, we kept our tradition!
                                  

We also took a family trip with the Devries' to Great Wolf Lodge, and the kids actually did great and had a great time.  Danny and I had a blast going down all the slides too when we got a chance.  Noah loved the wave pool and the slides, and Chloe could have played in the water all day.  She was too fearless, and it was a fight at times to convince her that we had to hold her in 4 foot water :)  It was a good time getting our kids who had been cooped up and sick all winter out, especially out with there best buddies.







And finally, we've been waiting a year for our trip to our Hawaii.  Thanks to Danny's really hard work, he had a successful year at Dell last year and were able to go on the club trip.  My mom was suppose to watch the kiddos, but broke her shoulder a couple months ago. We weren't sure we were going to go until a few days prior when the babysitting situation all worked out. My trooper mom still made it out for the week just to be a familiar face to the kids, and did more than she should have to care for them. I love her so much!

Anyways, I say that all because I was so discouraged about going and definitely had doubts.  I'm SO grateful that it all worked out. I think the best part of the trip was that our good friends (and neighbors!) Paul & Lauren went with us.  We created good memories relaxing, drinking "moi tais," going down water slides 10 consecutive times as 5 year olds, dancing to the 80's, chanting songs with our French friends, and just eating & spending all the cash that was given to us.  We really love every minute we get to spend with them.  More importantly, the last month or so for me have been marked with so much sadness and anxiety.  It was so good to have time undistracted time to relax and be with good company.  I don' think it was coincidence that Paul & Lauren moved into our neighborhood shortly before we miscarried. We have benefited so much from their care and friendship to us.



 80's Party!


Then there's every day life.
                                      
falling in love with our little girl

\

Chloe went through a phase where ALL she wanted was ice ALL the time.  She would scream "I!" until she got her wish.

being a good brother
Noah wants to be outside all the time.  He comes to our room at 6 am and asks if he can outside.  We've eaten breakfast and lunch out there because he doesn't want to come in.  Its the first thing he asks for when he wakes up.  And when Danny comes home every day from work he asks if he can mow the lawn.  Yesterday he so badly wanted to mow, and Danny had already mowed a few days ago, that we just went ahead and mowed the neighbors yard! He loves the to mow, weed-whack and then blow the grass.