popcorn

sweet baby boy... wanted him some popcorn. so, he got it! i obviously was not understanding his babytalk! (which is getting better... i usually get what he is saying!!)

we are at pop-pop's howtowel for the last time this trip. and, sadly, no pool this time. it is 55*. the benefit of being here, not in san diego currently!!!

the princess!!!

so, 15ish years ago, my parents bought this little tykes castle for my brother and sister. when they were done, they gave it to some good friends. she gave it to her sister. she gave it to her sister. her sister gave it back to me today. now, it's for my kids. we are the fifth family to get enjoyment out of this!! and, it has gone full circle! AND, still in wonderful shape!

the kids have had a ball with it. there is a slide, a trap door, a real door, and this tower. nora hasn't left the tower!! wonderful!!! my heart is happy. my kids are happy.

baby boy...

baby boy in the car seat.

libby and nora with love from mom-mom. james was in there, kissing nora... but i didn't make the cheese!!!

an oldie...

from the wedding... but i just love it! my sweet girl.... love her!!! we went to the zoo today! it was fun to see a different zoo... i think my kids loved it just as much! (lt, i know you are reading this going- he screamed the whole time!!!) james is at a tough age, because he wants to walk like the big girls. but, he doesn't obey like the big girls. so between the two strollers, the two girls occasionally walking and him... AND, he threw out his paci at the beginning and i had NO IDEA! oh well... we had fun in spite of it!

i am going to miss my bff here!! i am so glad that she has given up the rest of her friends for the summer... we have loved hanging out ALMOST EVERY DAY!! speaking of, she and another are on their way over to sew!!!

my dresses!!

so, remember those dresses i made? their mom came home from deployment yesterday. AND, they got interviewed! so my dresses made their television debut! and started crying! not for my dresses. for the homecoming. for the girls. for the families. for my family, knowing we face this sooner rather than later in our lives!

anyway, here it is!! they show the girls, their mom and grandma (who gets interviewed) a few times!!! welcome home!!!

http://www.fox5sandiego.com/videobeta/014c787f-f479-4c97-9249-8e88c7f7504a/News/USNS-Mercy-Returns-From-Aid-Mission

a weekend of football and friends!!!

on friday night, i went to lt's and we walked the kids to the hudson football game!! then, i came home and watched all four kids overnight! (actually, two were sleeping when lt left!) as payback, lt watched all four last night (again, two sleeping...) while the rents and david and i played minigolf! such a fun weekend!!

the kids enjoyed watching the band!

and doing a bit of dancing! (check out the skinny jeans and heels!! awesome... and she's got MOVES!)

watching the game! my future football player (as evidenced by the way he can tackle his sister! although i think some of his moves are illegal in the nfl!)

look at that happy boy dancing!!!

nora loved to dance with her sweet friend!!!

my sweet friend! one of the top things i will miss about ohio.

nora was sitting next to libby, trying to get her attention. failing, she grabbed the megaphone, and as i snapped this shot, she was yelling, "libby, can you hear me? libby? can you hear me?". awesome!

some of the regulars at the game brought treats and musical instruments. the kids were enthralled with them! jamey loved the trumpet! (although, he didn't quite figure out how to play it!!!)

and the next game... this is at the browns game today. notice the names on the top deck- there was a ring of honor ceremony at halftime! a fun day, even if we didn't bring home the win!

david loved being at the game... a highlight of his time in ohio! and, i loved being in a box and that it wasn't snowing!!! a highlight for me!

my favorite highlight of the game... getting to spend time with g- who so graciously invited us to the game with her family! thanks g!! it was great to spend time with her family... and i am thankful that she has a good reason to visit cleveland! i am hoping to coordinate trips here! (g was my college roommate... fyi!)

what a fun time! on thursday night, my mom and i went out to dinner, just the two of us! it was so much fun, again, to just have some quality time, just the two of us! i forgot how rare that is anymore. so often, she is the babysitter, so i can do what i want! then, to get to go out with my parents this weekend, first to dinner, then to minigolf. such a blessing! then, they came to the game as well!

don't get me wrong, i love my kids! but it was fun to be with my parents just as adults! we haven't done that in three years! it is also fun to watch my kids grow up! james is LOVING the veggie tales "jonah" movie. he pronounces it so clearly and LOVES to watch it. nora is entertaining! she loves to read, she is a ball of energy! she has an "on the go" personality (i wonder who she gets that from??). james is so chill. but busy at the same time. nora is emotional- in good ways. she thrives on attention right now. i am trying to be aware of that... that she needs HER time. we got to be shopping buddies this morning (although, when i thanked her for being my shopping buddy, she told me she was a shopping girl. boys are buddies.)

david and i went to a marriage conference awhile back and they highlighted the difference between men and women. you know how women will sit face to face, as close as possible, chatting away. men will just sit next to each other and grunt occasionally. (okay, maybe a gross exaggeration of both genders, but you get the point!) i see that in my kids. nora is so emotional and relational. she wants a kiss and a hug before you leave. when i snuggle james at night, he just wants to lay in my arms, but never look at my face. if i try to, he turns his head. but he wants that snuggle time. so fun and curious to see the differences- in personality and in gender- even now!!!

catching up...

"listening" to his new toothbrush... it plays veggie tales for two minutes, so they brush the whole time the music plays! aunt becky brought them down for the kids! they are obsessed! and jamey loved sitting on uncle dirk's lap!

swinging... my monkey!

i got to be the bear, and had to hide in my bearcave. that was fun!

laughing at the ducks! LOVE this picture!

feeding the ducks!

we bought a little bit of duck feed... and had a GREAT morning, feeding the ducks, seeing the chagrin waterfalls, and a trip to starbucks! oh, and the playground!

playing house at the pool... libby was the baby...

swimming.

ijump!

floating!

jumping in!

the hailes' with great grandpa young. or as nora called him, "grandpa great"...

dancing with grammie

busting a move... to billy the bass fish!

LOVE!!

me and my man! i love this kid!

nora learning to play mini-golf- by the best teacher in the world! she hit a hole in one on the hardest hole!!! sweet... college scholarships, HERE WE COME!!

the princess and pop-pop! i love this man, too!!!

getting the kids settled!!

roller coaster!!!

sweet boy... i love my baby boy!

the boats!

my girl on days that it rains. she can't go outside unless there is ZERO chance of her getting wet!

on the trip back from columbus!

the first dresses i sold! didn't they turn out cute!!! the two matching girls are wearing them for their mom's deployment homecoming! make me cry!!!

so, there's our last few weeks!!! daddy comes today, and we get to visit with my college friend this weekend! i can't wait to see g and her fam!!!

get your heels on...

we are getting ready to go for a walk. james is climbing on something, saying "jump, jump". nora is in her skinny jeans and a cute shirt (i have been trying to put this outfit on EVERY DAY this week, and she tells me that boys wear shirts and pants, girls only wear dresses.... ), and i told her to put shoes on.

she has on her princess plastic glass slippers with high heels. in her skinny jeans. SO CUTE!!!

btw... she fell headfirst down the stairs in the aforementioned shoes yesterday. THANK YOU LORD that she is okay!

#2

sweet... cleveland is the #2 worst place to live in the us. good thing i am only here for one more month!! just kidding... we have loved it this summer (and my formative years)! the time here has flown and i haven't gotten to do so much that i want to do (like get together with ks- i'd call but it's 11...). but, we have had so much fun! my mom and i have done a lot of bonding! as have i with lt. and my new sewing machine!! add in some trips to pop-pop's ho-towel and visiting daddy, and that about sums up our life!

on monday, a friend offered to take the kids so my mom and i could have a day to ourselves! IT. WAS. FABULOUSLY. AMAZINGLY. AWESOME! i don't know that i have ever had a baby-sitter JUST to have a baby-sitter. when i dropped off the kids, she said "don't even tell me when you are coming back. just come back whenever.". (that was at 10am) i was GIDDY! even when my mom watches the kids, i feel pressure to hurry and come back (plus, i want to hang out with her). and this summer, she and i haven't just hung out. there's always someone around, or she is watching the kids after they go to bed so i can go to lt's.

we had so much fun! and did a little bit of damage! it was glorious!!! thanks lj!

lastly, today, i met lt and her kids at chik-fil-a for lunch. my kids are really starting to like cfa. (it's my go to for good protein! they will DEVOUR the chicken strips) we positioned ourselves right by the play area, and let the girls go play after they ate. lori and i got to talk for about 0.3 seconds. then, libby had to go potty. then, nora had to go potty. i took nora, and as we walked into the bathroom, i could hear the woman behind us talking to her son. she was asking if he really had to throw up again and if his stomach was still upset. i checked to make sure there were going to be enough stalls for both (since nora can hold it for a few, and i don't do throw up well...). there were, and we got to be next to him as his lunch came up. mmm... smelled good!

so, i walk nora back out to the play area, past the mom who was now washing her kid's face in the sink. (walking quickly- remember that we had the flu a few weeks ago, and lt had it worse!) nora goes back in to play, as i see the aforementioned mom and son heading toward the play area. i am thinking, "no way will she put her kid in there", and even mention something to lt. YUP, she takes her kid in and off he goes to play.

not usually a confronter, i walk up to her and ask if her kid was sick. she said he doesn't ever eat meat and they gave him some at preschool, so he didn't feet good from that. (btw... did i mention we were at CHIK-fil-a... you know, CHICKEN???) needless to say, our kids didn't play much longer (they had been given the 5 minute warning anyway, as the brothers were fading fast....)

note to self... if someone hears your kid vomiting, PLEASE don't put him back in the play area!! HONESTLY!

cali girl

my little california baby... was quite cold on our morning walk the other morning. i think it was 68*. uh, oh... we are in trouble this winter!!!

i realized i had all these pictures on my phone, so i sent them to the blog! enjoy!!

elmo!

elmo and a big boy chair... he had a ball!!

trains...

jamey loved the train table... guess what he's getting for his next big present???

reading...

to kill some time on our last trip to columbus, we stopped in barnes and noble. the kids LOVED the children's reading section...

mmm...

she had been begging for a cheeseburger. guess she wasn't kidding!!!

we scream...

for ice cream!! the kids and i packed up the car (then repacked to the other car when i changed my mind on which car to take...) to meet daddy at great grandpa young's this weekend! the kids had never met great-grandpa, and we had a great time!! we got to see uncle dave on saturday, and some other friends on sunday...

the kids were FABULOUS, being in different houses and on the road quite a bit! i would do a road trip with them again!!

the daves...

we met uncle dave this weekend and he showed us around his condo and very cute old town alexandria!! my david enjoyed seeing his friend dave!

kiddos....

watching a movie on uncle dave's big computer screen... such sweet kids!! so easily entertained!