Fun With Hats

Mother's Day

I know Mother's Day was a couple of weeks ago, but wanted to share the layout I did with pictures from the day.  I love my kids so much!!!

Memorial Day Water Fun

Yesterday was to top off at 90, so we started the day by heading to WalMart to pick up some water toys.

First up we got a slip and slide.  Michael was so excited about it.  He helped set it up and then tried it out right away.


Becca was intrigued by it too.  After watching Michael a few times she wanted to jump in also.


Jon on the other hand decided he would rather just watch.


However, when we got out the new water shooters he finally joined in the fun!

I miss you Grandpa!

Two years ago we had a 90th birthday party for my Grandpa.  When I was talking with him that day he said that he was so thankful to the Lord for giving him 90 wonderful years.  He told me that if God granted him another 90 he would take it, but that he was also ready to go home to heaven whenever the time came.

Almost a year ago he was diagnosed with throat cancer.  He decided that he didn't want to end up in the hospital tied to different machines if the time came.  Then just over a week ago I got an e-mail saying that he was in the hospital.  Some of the food he was eating was ending up in his lungs because the cancer was keeping his throat from swallowing properly.  We went and visited him just over a week ago on Sunday.  His lungs were not functioning well and he was so tired.  I couldn't understand much of what he said, but he smiled and sang Jesus Loves Me with my kids.

Over the next few days my Grandpa's lungs started giving out and his heart started having troubles too.  His wife and four children gathered with him on Wednesday and per his request, they removed the oxygen tubes and with his choir music playing in the background, he peacefully ended his life on this earth and entered everlasting life in heaven.

I'm so happy for him that he has a new body without the aches and pains of old age.  I'm so happy that he can now sing in the presence of Jesus.  I'm so happy that he has joined the ever growing company of my loved ones in heaven.  But I miss him here.

Sunday was his 92nd birthday.  He didn't quite make it but we had a wonderful celebration of his life that day at his memorial service.  It including a recording of him singing "Into your hands I commit my spirit."  I will miss his presence at family get togethers.  I will miss his laughter and his jokes.  I will miss the way he always wanted to hear what was going on in my life.  I will miss the way he loved on my children.

I love you Grandpa and miss you.  Have a blast singing for Jesus and I will see you again one day!

Happy Mother's Day

My Mother's Day post comes in two parts.

Let me start by saying that I love my mom and I miss her terribly. A little bit after she passed away my dad gifted a piece of her jewelry to each of the girls in the family. I got her wedding ring. The special thing about this ring is that it not only has the stone from her engagement ring but also the stones from my grandmother's wedding ring. I spent the last year and a half trying to decide a memorable way to wear this ring. I thought seriously about combining the stones with mine into one special ring or using the stones to create a special necklace.

Back when I was first married I had two rings that I wore. On my left hand was my wedding ring and on my right hand was a ring with a cross on it. My cross ring is no more. I can't even remember what happened to it and I've always wanted to get a new one. A few weeks ago I was thinking about that ring and my mom's wedding ring popped into my head. I instantly thought what an awesome way to symbolize my faith - by remembering the great cloud of witnesses that surrounds us from Hebrews 12.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up."

I have been thinking about the ring a lot recently and it just seems perfect. So I tried it on and it fits on my right hand.

"And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith."



So now on to the second part of my post. My family made this a wonderful Mother's Day for me. We had some wonderful family time and I had some great alone time. Michael has been dying to show me the Mother's Day gifts he made for me at school.



And check out the present Tim got me for Mother's Day and graduation.



That's right a new iPad. And to top off the weekend here is what I have on my welcome screen for my iPad - a beautiful card made for me by my family on a scrapbooking app for my iPad.

Oatmeal

Why is it that each of the kids absolutely loves maple brown sugar oatmeal?  OK, so I guess it is pretty sweet, but it is funny to me how they have each gone through a phase where it is the only thing they want for breakfast.  Michael ate it almost exclusively when he was 2 and 3.  Jon just finished about a year of wanting it about every other day.  And now it is Becca who chooses it whenever I offer her a choice.



And don't think about making it the real way with hot water, mixing it up all mushy and fluffy, and then waiting for it to cool.  Our oatmeal recipe: Add a little milk to the dry oatmeal, microwave for 15 seconds, stir so it is still a bit sticky and crunchy.  :)

The kiddos

Today I have two random things to share with you about why I love my kids.

First, here is a layout I just made with their pictures from Easter and I have to say that I think my kids are the cutest ever!!!


Layout Credits: Family Time by Penny Springmann, font is Cinda Script by Darcy Baldwin

Second, I am in love with that fact that they are loving books so much.  They will sit down and look through them a lot on their own and we read them throughout the day too.  And best yet, Michael is loving that he can read now and I find them often just like this with Michael reading to Jon and Becca:

Matching

Jon has been all about matching his clothes recently. He came down the other day with this:

"Look mom - I match. Red and Red"

I didn't have the heart to try and explain that an orangy red shirt and maroon red pants actually do clash a bit. He was so proud of himself.