Tents, Cars, and So Much More

This week has been super busy. We have  picked a bunch of strawberries, made a pie or two, visited all the grandparents, and spent the majority of our free time on planning for my sister's shower. Jared and I snuck in two dates, one for his birthday and one to buy new dresses for me! Thanks to my parents for watching the boys both times. 

We flew in airplanes. 

We drove cars around.  

We ate lunch in a tent. 

We played in the closet together with trains. Warren now crawls and Martin calls him into the closet or under the crib or table. 

We went to the grocery store. Martin put all the cans in my drying rack and then put them away again when he "drove home from the grocery store". 

We visited the crane truck again. 

And I bought four new dresses. There are only three in the picture. One is dry clean only so I didn't wash it. 

Also, I just love how light my kitchen is!! It makes me happy whenever I am in it. I love my house. 

Crane Truck Part Two

We went back to SU to walk around campus because it was such a pretty day and the crane was back!! What a fun surprise. It was gone when we went two weeks ago. 

We watched it from the parking lot on the grassy area next to the car. 

And while we ate ice cream and I nursed the baby at a picnic table. I have nursed this baby in so many public places. I can't even remember nursing Martin in public, but I know there were a few times. 

And from inside where I went to reset my faculty password in a computer lab. 

Having boys is SO much fun for my engineering side. We will probably build a crane next week from Tinkertoys. I built a trash truck with a movable arm today. I have to give it a few days until it gets old before disassembling it. 

Favorites for my Favorite!

These are my favorite cupcakes. Jared is my favorite husband. I made these for him to take into work. He has been requesting that I make his co-workers something. I found these responses amusing. 

Dee, our IT administrator says, “INCREDIBLE!”

Anne, our A/R woman says, “Tell your wife I love her!”

Mike, counter sales, says, “Does your wife do this for a living?” and “Why would you bring these things in here? You know I’m trying to lose weight?!”

Frank, the warranty guy, says, “Wow!”

A Few Things

I was thinking how glad I was that today was Wednesday because this week has seemed so long already, but then I remembered it is only Tuesday. Ha. 

The baby is eating real food now. Martin likes to help. Now that I am not nursing as often, I won't have as much time to read or blog. I am definitely not going to be making my four books a month goal anymore. I had a good run though. 

The baby also crawled across the living room rug today. I am not ready for that yet. 

I made two strawberry pies yesterday. :)

And it is Jared's birthday today! Happy birthday, dear Jared! You are great. I am glad I married you. 

Thanks, Anna for the great picture! 

Strawberry Pie

You should probably go make this strawberry pie!! It is my favorite pie. I could eat an entire pie myself, in a day. Ha ha.

Recipe

Magazine

Martha Stewart Living is one of the most boring magazines I have ever read. It is full of such useless recipes and art projects. I am glad I receive it for free. 

Stress Relief

Sometimes, when I feel overwhelmed and I have leftover whipping cream, I make whipped cream by hand. :) 

And my baby fell asleep in nursery during Bible study today with his "twin" (she is two days younger than him, but was due the week before - somehow that averages out to basically the same age). 

So sweet. 

So Neat!

One of my friends sent this to me on Facebook. How cool is this? I love numerical and word patterns like this. Thanks, Jeanne! 

Shelves Above the Windows

These aren't new. I asked Jared to put them up when I married him. So, we have had these almost six years. I don't think I have blogged about them. Whenever we do move, I plan to put these back up in our room and make more for the boys' room. 

There is a suspension curtain rod hanging between the shelf brackets. My Dad made the shelves and brackets for my old room at their house. My old rooms, at my parent's house, don't exist anymore. One is my sister's dance studio and the other is half my brother's room (they combined two bedrooms (my old room and a guest room) to make one giant bedroom for my brother).  Anyhow, I took the shelves with me when I married Jared. Thanks, Dad! 

Water Bill

The spelling, word usage, and bad punctuation annoy me every time we get a water bill. It is always the same note. 

10 Random Things

1. The boys took naps that overlapped by about 20 minutes today. Happy Mother's Day to me!!

2. Martin was able to open the cap for the Claritin and I had to call poison control for the first time today. Thankfully, he is doing well. 

3. My brother graduates as an officer in the coast guard tomorrow. I am so proud of him. So proud. We haven't seen him in 17 weeks. I can't wait to see him again. 

4. My sister is having a boy! That makes three grandsons for my parents. I know Martin and Warren will love him. I look forward to them all playing together at family holidays. 

5. My baby sister graduates from Air Force boot camp on Friday. I am also proud of her. I can't believe she is almost finished. 

6. I am making pork stuffed with apples, cranberries, ginger, and a few other things for dinner tonight. The grocery store didn't have dried apples last night so I made my own. 

7. I didn't have kitchen twine, so I cut some strips of muslin to tie the pork roast together. It seems to work. I will let you know once I cook it. If it is delicious, like I think it will be, I will post the recipe. 

8. I finished The Hobbit and I am now reading  The Tale of Two Cities. I love Charles Dickens. Jared is reading Little Dorrit, which he says is fabulous so that might be one of my next books. However, it is 862 pages. So... I don't know if I can get through it. 

9. Potty training is going well. Martin does this little happy dance every time he uses the potty. It is cute. Some days we have zero accidents, but most days we have one. But it is so much better than changing diapers. 

10. It is a bit too warm for me. I like the temperature in the 50-70 degree range. Boo summer. Although, Martin keeps seeing pictures of the beach and asking to go with his aunt and uncle. That will be fun. I am so glad he loves my siblings. What fun. 

Thy Mercy, My God

THY MERCY, MY GOD, IS THE THEME OF MY SONG

by John Stocker, 1776

Thy mercy, my God, is the theme of my song,

The joy of my heart. and the boast of my tongue;

Thy free grace alone, from the first to the last,

Hath won my affections, and bound my soul fast.

Without Thy sweet mercy I could not live here;

Sin would reduce me to utter despair;

But, through Thy free goodness, my spirits revive,

And He that first made me still keeps me alive.

Thy mercy is more than a match for my heart,

Which wonders to feel its own hardness depart;

Dissolved by Thy goodness, I fall to the ground,

And weep to the praise of the mercy I've found.

Great Father of mercies, Thy goodness I own,

And the covenant love of Thy crucified Son;

All praise to the Spirit, Whose whisper divine

Seals mercy, and pardon, and righteousness mine.

I first heard this hymn, in college, at RUF, while singing it to the igrace tune. I have loved it ever since. Read over these words. Ponder them. They are so rich. 

Three related things

1. An interview about this song with Sandra McCracken, who wrote the new tune. 

http://shereadstruth.com/2015/01/28/hymns-ii-day-3/

2. A new hymn book/devotional for children. 

http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/learn-truth-and-worship-god-with-new-student-hymnal

3. Please, go support the new igrace album on kickstarter. If they receive extra money, they can add more songs to the cd!! I am so excited to be a part of their next cd. 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1490944076/help-us-make-indelible-grace-7/rewards

Happy Ten Year Anniversary!!

Things have sure changed a lot in 10 years. Thanks for reading. Maybe my children will find my blog amusing some day. 

On the mend...

I am pretty convinced that Martin is on the mend when I come out of the shower and hear him jumping in Warnie's crib (somewhere he is not supposed to be and has never climbed in while the baby is in). Yikes. 

Also, I hope my aloe plant likes earl grey tea because he "watered" it with my tea that I left where he could reach. 

Oh, and the nurse practitioner from the doctor's office called and checked on Martin. I thought that was sweet. I don't know if I have ever had a follow through call before, but all of our visits have been well check-ups. Did I tell you the nurse offered to help carry the baby seat out for me since I had my hands full with sick Martin? I also thought that was sweet. 

Gift Shop

I am pretty sure I saw something very similar in the Smithsonian gift shop. Thanks to Martin for my new note cards! 

Book update:

I am 1/4th of the way through the Hobbit. It is incredibly better than the movie. Reading it again is like visiting with an old friend. 

Martin update:

He climbed in the baby's crib, tried to color on the couch, and dumped my tea into the aloe while I was in the shower. I think he is in the mend. 

Some days...

Some days don't go as you have planned. Some days the two-year old is going to wake up, totally out of the blue, and be coughing like a seal, wheezing like Darth Vader, and have a fever of 101 degrees. Some days he will just want to be held all day and will get worse as the day goes on and you will finally take him to the doctor. 

The nurse practitioner found nothing wrong with him, but gave me a steroid prescription to open up his lungs. I dropped it off at Rite Aid and the girl told me that it would be 20 minutes. So, I thought, let's go park at SU and watch the contruction and come back. That way I won't have to unload and reload the kids. BAD IDEA! Watching the trucks at SU went great, but when I got back in line to pick up my medicine, I had to wait TWENTY NINE MINUTES! Yes, 29 minutes. That was only two cars in front of me. Martin fell asleep, thankfully, but Warren was hungry and doesn't like being in a car unless it is moving. Next time I think I will just lug them both inside. Aren't drive thrus supposed to be faster? 

I am very grateful that the boys are such happy campers most of the time. Even when they are sick, they are in pretty good spirits. I love them. 

Currently Reading: 

The Hobbit -- we had a free redbox movie and watched the third part last week. It was so bad. I just had to read the book to renew my mind. For those of you who have watched the third part, "why does it hurt so much?" Groan. 

Finished book:

1776 - so good.  I finished it at 4am this morning when Warnie woke up because his teeth hurt him. Normally, I wouldn't turn any lights on, but I really really wanted to finish my book. This is only my third book this month. So I need to real all of the Hobbit by tomorrow. Do you think that is possible? 

Favorite Shoes

I wore cheap flats when I first started working, as an engineer, in a manufacturing plant. I walked all over the plant on concrete floors every day. After a few months I started complaining to Jared that my back hurt. He told me that I had to have good shoes. So, we went shoe shopping. I tried on dozens of brands and styles of shoes. Before I had kids I had time to do that. Ha ha. 

I kept coming back to liking Clark shoes, but they were so expensive. So, we took the time to visit the Clark outlet store. I didn't find the same kind I had been trying on (their Unstructured line), but I discovered their Privos. 

I bought my first pair, the tan ones on the left for about $50 on a good sale. I now have four pairs. Two sit in my closet in reserve, purchased on a clearance sale. I adore them. I wear them all the time. They are completely comfortable!! 

I have put these shoes to the test countless times. They lasted over three years in that manufacturing plant (nine months of which I was pregnant), all over France (where I walked 10-12 miles a day for 5 days), countless hours of standing on my feet teaching, and this past weekend (walking over 6 miles a day with Warren in an ergo, up and down hills around DC). 

I love them! I recommend them. I wear my Clark Privos all the time. They are so easy to slip on. My only complaint is that they don't sell half sizes after size 9. So I own 10s and one pair of 11s. The 10s are a bit snug at first and the 11 has a tendency to slip off my feet (but is perfect when I am pregnant - thankfully, my feet have returned to their normal size after both boys). Regardless, I find them so comfortable and will continue to buy them after I use up the ones I have in my closet. 

And happy almost 10 years, in celebration, I wear a size 10 shoe!! Ha ha. 

Currently reading:

1776 by David McCullough

It is a cliffhanger. I can't stop reading it. I told Jared that I know the Americans win, but at the same time it feels like there is no way they ever could. I love David McCollough's books. They are so interesting. 

Wind Tunnel

Maryland Day

Wind tunnel

About 20-25mph

University police

Concert on the lawn

Instrument petting zoo

And those are all the pictures I took, but we had another great day at Maryland. I really love walking around the campus!! It is so pretty, but I also like coming home. :) 

Zoo

Friday we drove up to DC to visit Michelle and the zoo and aerospace museum. On the way up we saw all sorts of exciting things: school buses, excavators, dump trucks, airplanes, the moon, and more. Martin was so excited. 

Warren ate on the metro. Martin thought the "train" was fun despite the face he is making. Ha ha. 

The zoo

The only picture I took in the zoo

I forgot to take pictures at the aerospace museum because I was nursing the baby again. 

It was apparently a hard day being pushed in the stroller all day because on the way home he slept. 

A Game!

In a happier post...

Martin invented a game this morning. I was stuffing the cloth diapers, standing next to the foldable drying rack, when he threw a pair of his clean underwear over the rack. He laughed. So, I picked it up and tossed it back over to let him practice his catching. He laughed some more and threw it back over. This continued for about 5 minutes until he started saying, "Game! Game! Game!" 

And so we played his game for another 20 minutes or so, when the baby interrupted us. I love his imagination. I am so thankful for his cheerful, creative self. 

I am also thankful he doesn't have fever today or any other signs of sickness. Now baby two just needs to get better. Poor kid. 

Another thing I am thankful for is my Ergo! I am not a babywearer; I tend toward independence. It makes my life easier in the long run. However, when kids are sick, at the grocery store, and on hikes, I adore my Ergo. It helped me make a batch of granola (our breakfast of choice with some plain yogurt and a banana (soon we will have fresh fruit to add - it is almost strawberry, blueberry, and peach time!!)) today. Hooray!! 

The poor sick baby who is mostly happy, just super stuffed up and coughing. 

A little boy and a minion from Hope. He misses Aunt Hope. A salesperson knocked on out door yesterday and he yelled, "Aunt Hope!!!"