Visit to Josh and Carrie's for Memorial Day Weekend 2013

Josh and Carrie invited us to spend Memorial Day weekend with them a couple weeks ago.  We decided to go, and the weekend turned out fabulous! 

Even though the weather did not cooperate so we could go swimming, we still found fun things to do.  Most of the day Saturday was spent at the Brookfield Zoo.  Josh and Carrie have an annual pass and can invite friends to come for free, so we didn't have to pay to get in.

The kids enjoyed everything there - we saw lions, cheetahs, dolphins, monkeys, a huge anteater, gorillas, rats, and a large "Dinosaurs Alive" exhibit.  They also got to feed stingrays.  That part was too smelly for me. :P  Carrie and I happily sipped hot coffee on the sortof-chilly day and waited with Eli.  Martha was able to come along with us too, which was great.  On the way home we stopped at the grave where Joseph and Florence Butler are buried.

Sunday we went to their church with them, Harvest Bible Chapel.  The sermon was delivered by Matt Chandler on Romans 8 - which is Dave's favorite chapter in the Bible.  Really good ministry!  The kids enjoyed going to the SS classes with their cousins too.

Carrie and I went out for a 3 mile run Monday morning to get some exercise.  She discovered on the way back towards her house while driving past Austin's school that his bike was left there locked up.  She figured they would just pick it up later.  Josh and Dave went out on the bikes to get Austin's bike and ended up crashing their bikes somehow.  They were fine, but they laughed about it quite a bit.

A Memorial Day feast was prepared - we had burgers, grilled chicken, orange/marshmallow salad, potato salad, watermelon, and cake.

The whole crew off to the zoo!

 

Austin and Calvin 

Renee and Violet

Oohing and Aahing over the dolphins that swam right by their faces

Carrie and Wesley

picnic lunch - while chasing off geese

the "dinosaur's alive" exhibit was up and running - really neat to see!  Calvin loved it! Vanessa was terrified.

digging for dinosaur bones

Hmm...yeah. adults can be silly too right?  Pic courtesy of Violet

Vanessa with Carrie

Calvin fell asleep on the couch for about an hour when we got home.

I brought along Dots and Toothpicks - the older 4 kids created quite a structure!

Calvin's preschool graduation

Calvin finished up his last preschool year at OHCP on May 24, 2013.  He went Mon, Wed and Fri mornings from 9:00-11:30.  He was very particular about getting out of his car seat and zipping up his coat before his teacher came to the door to walk him in.  He usually insisted on giving me a kiss/hug before jumping out of the van.

His favorite days were the days he was the leader and got to provide the snack for everyone.  On these special days he also got to bring an item from home for "show and tell".  He would always grab some random thing he saw and take it with him.  His last day bringing treats was at the beginning May.  He always said he wanted to bring grapes, apple juice, crackers and cheese sticks.  It was always some form of these things that he got to take along for snacks.  Mrs. Knapp and Mrs. Kimball were his teachers this year, a GREAT pair.  Mrs. Knapp also taught Violet when she was in her last year of preschool as well.  She is such an amazing teacher and person, well invested in the lives of the kids she teaches at preschool, and truly loves each kid. She was always excited to see Violet when there were times she didn't have school and Calvin did.

Calvin learned all sorts of things - lots of numbers and counting, writing uppercase and lowercase letters, how to write his full name, his address, phone number, cutting, drawing, coloring, learning to stand in line, take turns, be a leader, be a follower, do kind things for others, weather elements, calendars, and I am sure tons of other things I don't even know.  His handwriting has improved a lot.

Mama Row came along with us to see the end-of-the-year celebration program.  All the kids from the preschool classes got on stage and sang some songs before hanging them their certificates.  Of course the time concluded with lots of sweets!  Calvin thought of Violet and wanted me to wrap up a couple of cookies in a napkin and take them home for her.  What a sweetie!

 Calvin wanted to sit by his buddy Jagger

 Mrs. Kimball

 Mrs. Knapp

First Day of preschool (4-5 yr olds) - Aug 2012

Last Day of preschool - May 24, 2013

My grandmother "Mama Row" moved to Cedar Falls

She arrived on May 2nd, and her plane couldn't land in Cedar Falls because of SNOW!!  It was re-routed to Cedar Rapids, and it worked out amazingly well that my dad was in IA City for some dental meetings and was able to swing by and pick her up and take her to CF a few minutes after her flight landed there.  They arrived at our house for dinner (I made baked spaghetti, salad, and a chocolate layer pudding dessert) and she was determined to spend the night in her new place, having already ordered a twin mattress to sleep on to be delivered that day.  We made a run to buy some sheets, and she borrowed a towel and some toilet paper and got herself to bed. :) 

We've helped unpack some things, hang pictures on the wall, assembled some furniture, etc.  Most of all we've enjoyed her company, and she's come to some of the kid's things already.  She attended Violet's school's patriotic program, Violet's piano recital, she's had us over to help her plant some flowers in pots, and had ice cream/cookies after the piano recital.  She is excited to learn all what CF has to offer!

She let the kids help her plant some geraniums - but first, showed them some live worms to put into the soil!

already serving up ice cream for the kiddos

Master bedroom decorating project

Love. Love. Love the room.  Its perfect!  We wanted to create a space for us (me!) that wasn't stressful because the rest of the house is my "work".  We are almost 10 years into marriage and finally have a bedroom. :) 

We asked a good friend of ours who just happens to be a stellar artist and designer to lead us in this adventure. Kim, if you're reading this, consider it a tribute!

The only inspiration she went off of was our existing bedding that we chose recently and both really like, some room measurements, two gray chairs and a little coffee table for a sitting area.  She worked to create ideas on a Pinterest board, tossed around ideas, created a "classic" look compared to a "fun" look (we opted for the fun look), gave suggestions, we provided feedback, and many details set aside and 3 months later, eventually came to an amazing result.  She chose paint colors and a painting technique that required a lot of time and attention that had us sleeping in our guest bedroom for a couple weeks...and we thought painting was easy.  Initially we thought the painting was too difficult and messy-looking but it turned out to be exactly what the room needed.  Yes, trust the designer. 

So we went from a room with boring white walls and a blue stripe that looked like this: ...

and I have to include some of the "work in progress photos":

 whoa! those walls are YELLOW!

and the end result:

The three maps printed on canvases above the bed hold meaning to Dave and I ~ Chicago is on the far left (where Dave is from and also a place where the majority of our long distance dating occurred and our first "official date" when he asked me to date), Alaska is in the middle, which is the location where we got engaged, and the far right is a map of Skopelos, the island in Greece where we went for one of the 2 weeks on our honeymoon.  

Gray curtains (floor to ceiling) were added, my niece's painting of lilies (our wedding flower!), a blue-spray painted table, a rug to ground the area and go with the painted streaks of the room and throw pillow, more throw pillows, and more throw pillows, circular metal art on the wall, new lamps, and a completely new arrangement.

We do plan to hang our wedding photo on the south wall which is not pictured, and maybe some shelves for books.  A new ceiling fan will be the next thing someday.

Eli's 7th tooth came in this week

A third lower tooth. No wonder he was biting everything!

Violet's first piano recital

Violet had her first piano recital at Walnut Ridge Baptist Church on May 21.  All of Mrs. Seeley's students (about 33) were part of it and had the choice to play 1 or 2 songs.  Violet chose only one song (My Son John) as a duet with the teacher and did a good job!  Mama Row was able to come too.  Afterwards I asked Mama Row if she played piano and she said she played Rachmaninov's prelude in C sharp minor - so for fun - I found it on my phone and we listened to it in the van on the way home.  Mama Row invited us to her place for ice cream.  Couldn't turn that down! :)

Violet's school Patriotic Program

2013 Patriotic Program

- very similar to last year.  Added motions and she was singing all these songs for weeks because they've been practicing for the last month.  She did great!

Vanessa said...

..."Is that pee or lemonade?" when she went to the bathroom before her nap today.  I laughed..and said pee.  She said, "or water, or milk?" haa!!

another one (5-23-2013): "God will make me a kindle and I can play puzzles on it."

Mother's Day 2013

My family is amazing!  Dave created a nice day for me.  He planned a delicious lunch after church (chicken salad on croissants, strawberries, coleslaw, veggies (from my Gma Row), and cupcakes.  Let me relax, grilled burgers and made frosted brownies (yum, my favorite).  I can't remember every detail, but the kids gave me special things from Sunday School too.  I love my family so much and love being "mom!!!" to my kids.

the top of the brownies has "Happy Mother's Day" written on it in red frosting

his mouth wide open is the "O"

from Violet "Dear Mom, you are the best mom I ever had. You have beautiful hair. I love you, mommy! <3 br="">

An interview of Calvin about me (taken by his preschool teacher):