Home again, home again,

jiggety jig.

Growing up we always said this when we got home from anywhere. An errand. A trip.
Now, when we pull into our garage I say, "Home again, home again" and Hadleigh says "Jiggety Jig!" It always makes me smile!

So we are back ... had a much better airport experience this time, thanks to a tip from my friend Hilary who informed me that I could get a pass for someone (my Mom!) to accompany me all the way to the gate and help with the kiddos and carrying everything! Then I got to preboard this time and had help from the nice flight attendant. (Then 2.5 hours of entertaining children on the plane...hmmm...) Imagine my surprise when (as the last off the plane) Brent meets us at the ENTRANCE to the plane!!! He told someone at the gate that he was an air force pilot, flashed his military ID and they gave him a pass! So I didn't even have to carry the car seat to baggage at all! What a sweetie. It was SO wonderful to see him. SO wonderful to see the kids with him...

This morning, we got a not-so-fun surprise when I got Hadleigh out of bed and noticed that her bed was swarming with ants. She has SO many ant bites, but it didn't wake her up and they don't seem to bother her at all now, thankfully. But I was SO upset...threw everything in the wash and called the Orkin man! Just so you know, they are not open at 8 in the morning. But they will be here any minute now to make sure that we are RID of ants! This is our first ant problem since moving here. But it reminds me of the ant problem I had in college in our last apartment senior year. Yuck. But hopefully soon this will all be behind us!

I will blog more about our actual trip when I get a chance to download pictures and finish getting our house (and my schedule!) back in order! Isn't it amazing how hard it is to come back after 2 weeks. So much to dust, so much email to sift through, and the stack of catalogs and magazines...phew. But I am unpacked and put away, so that feels good. Came home with all but one days worth of clean clothes ... but after a trip in a suitcase EVERYTHING needs ironing! So that's tomorrow. Hopefully after the weekend, things will be somewhat back to order! There is something about traveling and coming home that makes me want to get very organized!

What are you up to today?

Fireflies and stuff.

We made it! We're here...beautiful Asheville, NC!!!

The flight went so much better than I anticipated...so many people willing to help out a mom by herself with two kids (and way too much stuff for one person to carry!) You just have to appreciate the man who offers to carry a car seat to your seat and then latches it in securely. And the person who makes sure Hadleigh doesn't run back into the airport because the noise of the airplane at the entrance scares her, all the while, I am trying to collapse our stroller to check gateside and keep Nathanael from falling over.

So thankful for our helpful flight attendant...and for Mom waiting there for us...she was the light at the end of the tunnel for me!

It is so good to be "home" ... I"m just soaking in the mountains, the trees, the green, the smells of this place that I love so very much. We went for a walk tonight and Hadleigh caught her first lightning bug!

Fun to watch the kiddos interact with aunts and uncles and grandparents...excited about our visit...will post pictures later!

Not for the faint of heart.

Being a mother, that is.

We had an unexpected trip to the doctor this morning for this little girl.
Not fun at all. She has a UTI...which is tough to diagnose until you get a pee sample which is hard to get from an almost 3 year old because it hurts.

But she did better than I expected. And hopefully in 10 days, this will all be behind us. (hmmm...could the pool be the culprit???)

I do not like going to the doctor. It surprises me how well I do taking my children for check-ups, shots, and the occasional illness. (I fainted once after having a TB test...the summer before I went to college...shhhh....don't tell anyone else!) So it surprises me that I can hold my child calmly without getting weak and light-headed when they have to get their shots.

I hate seeing my children in pain...and I am thankful that God heals and that He has gifted doctors to help ease pain and help in His healing.

What are you thankful for today?

Savoring this moment.

After being passed by two storms this weekend, I am finally enjoying a little afternoon shower.
(It is really depressing to live on the edge of town and to see all the storms on the horizon and watch them pass you. Like, by an inch. Not fair.)

Not a thunderstorm, but still, the rain and clouds are most welcome here!

And so I am sipping my Earl Grey tea and eating my Pepperidge Farm cookies (French vanilla milanos are SO good!) and thinking of what a great day it has been. Hadleigh and Nathanael have been great today... got some cleaning done, errands done...and now it's nap time and I can enjoy these couple hours and do something for me! (Oh, and I got the sweetest email from Brent, asking if I wanted to get a babysitter for Friday...so fun!)

I find that I really need ME time these days...a little time to clear my thoughts by writing, reading, scrapbooking...something that is just a little bit of an indulgence. Not much. Even a couple quiet moments with a cup of tea will do it.

What moment are you savoring today?

Splash.

We put Nathanael in the kiddie pool for the first time the other night. He loved it! He would splash the water coming out of the hose into his face and get the most bewildered smile on his face! (Too bad we didn't have the camera out while he was in the pool...and it turned out to be a very cool evening for Texas, hence the hooded wrap!)




Of course, Hadleigh is a pro at the pool...this year she can hop in and out of it so easily. She gets so excited and then slips and falls and just thinks it is hilarious. I think we need to get her a slip and slide. She loves to look at her footprints on the driveway too.

I love how simple life is for a child. So carefree. So innocent. So fun.

The fourth.

Happy Fourth of July!

We'll be watching the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular tonight!
Wish I could actually be in Boston to see the show...last year it was amazing!!!
Also lighting sparklers (my favorite), grilling hamburgers, and playing in the kiddie pool!

I'm thankful today for our freedom...how about you?

Freestyle challenge # 9

This week's challenge on the Freestyle Blog was to use fabric and patterned paper together.

This is a fabric swatch from my search for living room curtains; I used some Scenic Route paper, and the picture of me and Hadleigh is one that I really really like for some reason. She was a couple days away from walking on her own here, and it was a nice autumn day in the park.

Heading up to Norman, OK to help with my dear friend Shannon's baby shower! I just made 72 chocolate chip pecan scones for the shower...the house smells yummy!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Something old and new.

I did this for a challenge by Wendy. Thanks Wendy!

Had fun with the pictures of Hadleigh one year ago...so hard to believe how quickly time goes by. My something old was the MM rub-on (not ancient but...) and my something new was the Heidi Swapp sillouhette and my uniball signo pen doodling!
Once again...yucky picture...oh well. Brent said we could get a new cord for the scanner at Radio Shack...hooray!

Two posts in one day...how's that for catch up?

Hayley.

Are you on a first-name basis with Hayley Westenra? If not, you should be!

We stumbled upon her gorgeous voice by accident. My fault--I was judging an album by it's cover and was intrigued by the pretty face and the title : "Pure". Hmmm. We listened to a sample in the store and we were sold. She has a new one out that we just got last week called "Odyssey". ***so good*** Her voice is absolutely phenomenal. So pure and clear. Perfect for listening to on a cloudy, rainy day like today! (can you tell I'm happy about the weather?)

You can put her into the "Andrea Bocelli" style category ... she has a duet with him on her new album ... She is one of those voices that is never "noise"... at the end of a loud day full of children, I can enjoy hearing her in the background. (And I can't say that about all kinds of music!)

So give her a try...and let me know what you think!

Catchin' up.

Wow...it's been awhile.

Had a great time seeing San Antonio...we got to visit with old friends--some Air Force friends and the pastor who married us and his family, got to visit the church he planted and pastors now(which is awesome! So refreshing!)...we visited the Alamo, Sea World, rode a boat down the River Walk, ate yummy Mexican food, had LOTS of ice cream, drank lots of water (it was h-o-t), went to The Rainforest Cafe on the River Walk, and got to shop at the fabulous outlets in San Marcos for a little while(Pottery Barn, anyone?)! Hadleigh just loved seeing Shamu (the picture of her below is her watching the show. Did I mention we had ice cream? On that note, Haagen-Dazs has this great new flavor...really good! And you gotta love some Marble Slab...and Dairy Queen...

Here are a couple pictures

A great trip...it's always good to get away for a little while.

Lately, I've been taking morning walks, courtesy of our new (to us) double jogger...Hadleigh loves to see all the animals we encounter (mostly rabbits and dogs, although we did see two ducks our first morning and I think I might have spied a bobcat (or some kind of wild cat) a little too close for my comfort.)

And most importantly, an update on little Spencer, who I asked for prayer for. The news we've heard so far went from great (right after the surgery) to really bad (another "surprise" surgery required to fix the problem) and then to doing okay. I haven't heard anything since Wednesday of last week...my friend and supplier of information is on vacation so hopefully things are going well. Continue to pray for healing and strength...Spencer's parents amaze me. But I know that they must be tired and weary. I'll update again when I know more.