Nature Walk

This past Sunday, our little family had the privilege of hanging out at my dad's house for the afternoon. It was one of the most beautiful days EVER, weather-wise; the fall leaves were in full color, the sun was shining, the temp was comfortable - it was the perfect day for a nature walk.

When I was little, the place where my dad now lives was the cabin that we would visit every other week or so. It consists of 80 acres of woods. My now step-siblings, Dan, Lia, Mike and Sara along with my brother Chad and I (Shelly was too little) would ride quads through these woods, collect leaves, build forts, and have all sorts of adventures. Many times when we were done with our woodsy adventures, Jackie would collect all of our treasures and make a nature basket.

Hanging out there on Sunday made all of those wonderful memories come flooding back. Watching my girls enjoy the many things that I used to love filled me with so much joy.

Thanks Dad and Jackie for a wonderful afternoon!

My dad, Faith and Bella on the quad. Notice the huge hornets nest they found on their adventure!


Grandma Jackie and their nature basket.

Tonight's Sunset

Are you an addict?

I am 60% Addicted to Coffee

I've always enjoyed coffee - my favorite being a hazelnut latte - but lately I feel as though my need for coffee is increasing. I used to drink about one cup a week. Now it's almost one or two a day.

How addicted are you? Click above and find out.

Welcome Little Blake Calvin!

This morning at about 2 AM, my brother Chad and his wife Kelly had their second little boy, Blake Calvin! He is 9lbs 1oz and 21 and a half inches long! Big boy! Here are some pics from his first day!


Proud Daddy!


Big brother Jared


I love this one of Chad and Blake! Wow!


Big Boy!


Kelly and Jared sharing a muffin for breakfast - doesn't she look great?


Baby boy Blake


Here are a couple of videos for my sister, Shelly, who can't be here to snuggle with him . . .

Today I Saw . . .

. . . the most beautiful rainbow I've ever seen!

When Pigs Fly . . .

. . . that's when I thought I'd jump in a pig pen, chase him down and pick him up. But, I'm 33 now, and this coming year is going to be a year of experiences for me. I started with this . . . turn your computer to the side for the full effect!



Well, he's not flying, but he's definitely off the ground!



Thanks to Pics By Lis for catching my first "experience" on tape!

"L" is for the love she gave...

The Husband is making his 1st "guest blog" since Mayo (in the spirit of unnecessary quotation marks). Tag? The Wife tells me she's been "tagged" and therefore needs to come up with self-descriptive adjectives each beginning with the letters in her middle name. Lynn. Sondra Lynn. My favorite 4-letter word. This should be easy.

"L" is for Loving. To her core, She Loves her family and friends - which we are blessed to have in abundance.

"Y" is for Yowza. I mean it. I'm into her - big time.

"N" is for Noisy - in a good way. Full of laughs and fills our house with fun.

and lastly,

"N" is for Natural. Nothing forced or artificial here. What you see is what you get - and in this case, it's all Good.

I was going to close with "nose picker". Seriously, it's a problem, but I wanted to end on a positive note...it's almost bedtime.

The Husband

My Husband's Opinion on the Previous Tag

Mike walked in while I was posting the last post, and he came up with the following off the top of his head . . . they came a little too quickly for my liking.

L - Lazy, Lumpy
Y - Yucky, Yellowish complexion
N - Naggy
N - Nasty

Thankfully he's kidding . . . I hope . . .

Tagged

I've been tagged by my sister, Sassy Sara . . . so here goes . . .

THE RULES:
1. You have to post these rules before you give the facts.
2. You must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don't have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to had.
3. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag.
4. Don't forget to leave a comment telling them they're tagged, and to read your blog for the rules.

My middle name, just like Sassy Sara's, is LYNN.

L = Learner - I love learning new things. I've always loved going to school - and even now, the thought of going back to college to finish my master's degree gets my heart pumping. I'm always reading books to help expand my knowledge of the Bible, or to strengthen my parenting skills (what Mom doesn't need that?)

Y = Yummy sweets are my weakness - especially homemade chocolate chip cookies - or just the cookie dough for that matter, Starbucks Java Chip Ice Cream (dad, you would LOVE this!), Whoppers, jelly beans, candy corns, Hot Tamales . . . MMMMMMMMM!

N = Naps - What can I say? I LOVE a good nap. Sundays are a given . . . but really any day is fine with me. Sometimes when Bella is down for her nap, I'll pop a video (a long one like CARS) in for Faith and snooze for a bit. Sleep is good!

N = No shoes for you (or me as the case may be)! - I hate wearing shoes. It doesn't matter if it's summer or winter. My feet were meant to be bare. In fact, I actually get benout (dutch word for feeling hot and claustrophobic) when I have to put on socks and shoes. This is a trait I have handed down to both of my girls.

Now, on to tagging . . . I tag L-M-N-O, Vacuum B4 Dusting, Groenhouse and Pure Joy.

Heavenly Blonde

Said by Faith randomly today: "Mom, when I get to heaven, will I be a blonde?"

Hmmmmm . . . does this mean she thinks that blonde is better? . . . that blondes have more fun? . . . that angels only seem to have blonde hair? Only she knows for sure what she meant . . .

The Tooth Fairy Visits Faith!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Again, sorry fellow bloggers . . . a combination of business and bloggers block has kept me from blogging as of late. But I'm back!

Today I turn the big 33! Yikes, the scary thing is that I remember when my parents were my age. They seemed so much older and mature and put together than I feel.

To celebrate, Faith and Bella made me a cake - Chocolate Mud cake with Holly Berries - my favorite! Notice the hosta leaves that she's using for oven mitts - so cute!




Also, the best birthday present ever was given to me last night by Faith.

Yesterday at church, the kids were presented the salvation message, and were challenged to make Jesus their forever friend, and to TOP - tell other people. Last night, as I was tucking Faith in, I asked her about Sunday school, and asked if she had ever asked Jesus to be her forever friend, and to come live in her heart. She said no, but when I asked her if she wanted to, she said yes right away. We talked about the salvation message in detail, and that Jesus took the punishment for our sins even though he never did anything wrong! All we have to do to be his forever friend is to pray the ABC's: Admit that we're a sinner, Believe that Jesus took our punishment when he died on the cross, and conquered sin when he rose again and Choose to be his forever friend.

She prayed the prayer with me. It was one of the most beautiful moments of my life!

It made for a very happy birthday.