Boating with the Becks

Our good friends, Brent and Candie Beck took us out on their very nice boat. The kids had such a blast! I could not believe that when we stopped to swim, Josiah didn't hesitate but just jumped right in the deep water. He kept asking to swim the whole day.

We were on the boat for 5 hours and the kids didn't complain one time. I hope we get to do it again real soon!

Josie was the best little baby on the boat, she didn't cry at all. She laughed a lot, especially when the boat went fast!

Here is little Josie floating all by herself in the huge lake. She absolutely loved it!! She was talking and singing and yelling! So adorable!

Annie on the tube with her daddy!!

Even mommies can have fun!!

Daddy and Josie in the lake!

My little family! A funny story: Josiah had to pee several times while on the boat so we let him go in the water. Well, he did not want to pee in his trunks, so Nathan would pull down his pants (we got mooned several times). One time, he decided he had to poop, so we docked the boat and he and Nathan trekked to the woods. Oh, the joys of parenthood :)

Our Pet Baby Bird

Annie saw this cute little baby bird floating in our pond yesterday. Nathan got something to get it out and save it's little life.

After he got it out, it just sat and chirped and chirped, calling its momma I think. We left for the day and when we got back it was still sitting in our backyard and then it just flew off! Never a dull moment around here :)

Annie's Play

Annie went to a drama camp this past week and they put on a play Thursday night. It was called "The Bremen Town Musicians" and Annie was the Mule. She sang so well and said her lines perfectly! Maybe she will follow in mom and dad's footsteps and be a little actress as she grows.

Josie and her legos

Josie loves playing legos, and I thought this pic of her was adorable!

The ironic thing is the outlet in the background. I suppose I need to get more outlet covers. She is just growing up way too fast!

Too cute!!!

I Love You Behind My Back

I make it a great habit of telling my kids that I love them.  They reciprocate it quite well.  On occasion, they've even offered the sentiment on their own (i.e. not in response to my affection).

Josiah has taken the concept of our love to creative extremes and expressions.  Often our conversation will go something like this--

Dad: "I love you, Josiah"

Josiah: "I love you, TOO (with exuberant emphasis)."

Dad: "How much do you love me?"

Josiah: "This much." (he says while stretching his arms out as far as he can.)

Well, the other day, Josiah realized that he'd reached as far as he could but wanted to express something bigger.  He continued moving his arms back until they were behind him at which he shouted: "I love you behind my back!!"

The was one of the most sincere expressions of affection a child could offer.  It has now become a token phrase in our family jargon.

Annie, not to be outdone, has found her stock return as "I love you more than you love me."  I suppose many-a-child has used this one.  I recall in my childhood of spending days with my Grandma in which we'd have the conversation:

Grandma: "I love you, Nathan."

Nathan: "I love you, too, Grandma."

Grandma: "I love you more."

Nathan: "I love you more than you love me."

Love cannot be expressed too often.  We all love, and we need to show it, but too often fathers (and mothers) fail to say it to our kids and our spouses.  This reminds me (vaguely) of Golde and Tevye's banter from Fiddler on the Roof: "Do You Love Me?" (watch)

If you want some help, here's how our expression has advanced from "I love you behind my back."

I love you to the sky.

I love you to the moon.

I love you to the sun.

I love you to infinity (and beyond - thanks Buzz Lightyear).

Mommy's Big Girl

I have to face the facts that my baby is growing up. She started standing this week with no help and at only 8 1/2 months old. We can't keep her down. The problem is that she falls quite frequently. I have a feeling that she may walk earlier than the other two did.

Papoo's Birthday

We had a wonderful time for Ed's 76th birthday. We ate at "The Works" restaurant, which is right by the Loveland Bike Trail. Then Nathan took the kids to the park while mom, Ed and I walked around the shops. It was such a nice day!

Josiah is Papoo's favorite little guy. They have always had such a strong bond.

It just needs new batteries

We've had an Internet outage for much of tonight.  It was significantly frustrating.  Typically on Wednesday nights I use Google Talk to connect with the Worship Planning team at the Journey offices.  When the Internet is down, Google Talk is out of the question.  Our home phone relies on the Internet as well.  So, I had to use my mobile minutes to call Time Warner and then Journey.

What makes all this even more frustrating is that I pay a higher fee each month to Time Warner for Business Class service.  To their credit, the outage was not during normal business hours, but I work with West Coast offices on a regular basis and missed 3 hours of prime work hours with them.

Josiah was annoyed like his father.  He was attempting to play Nick Jr. on the family computer.  When he realized it wasn't working, he simply pointed out to me that "it probably needs new batteries."  I don't know what this says about his approach to problem solving.  I suggested this to the tech from Time Warner, but I don't think he followed me.

The only consolation is that it was not an outage isolated to me.  Had that been the case, they would have waited until tomorrow to fix it.  Apparently it affected 140 people, and I was just lucky to be among them.

Sweet Cousins

Josie and Layla already seem to be best buddies. It will be fun to watch them grow up together.

My Girls

I am the luckiest mom in the world to have two beautiful daughters. I am so excited to see them blossom and grow into lovely young women. God has blessed me greatly.

The Eldon Jones Family

Can you believe that we are missing 18 more members?? We have a large but fabulous family.

Here are all the brothers and sisters together: Janice, Carol, Eldon, Kenneth, Evalee and Leemon. Eldon is my grandpa and suffers from Parkinson Disease and Dimentia. We aren't sure how long he will be with us, so we try to soak up all the time with him we can.

My Wonderful Family

We left on the 4th for my family reunion in Williamsburg, Kentucky. This is the group that traveled together in two minivans. We stopped at Renfro Valley for lunch and ice cream (the best peanut butter ice cream I have ever had!)

Josiah and his Papoo

Me and my sister-in-law Nicole

4th of July Fun

We had my brother and his family over for dinner a few nights before the 4th and the kids did some pop its and sparklers. They had a good time!

A New mailbox

Be it known that we have some great neighbors.  We were out of town
over July 4th weekend and returned home to a brand new mailbox.  I had noticed that our previous mailbox was beginning to rust; and just this past week the flag finally broke free from the thread of tin that was holding it on.  However, that is no longer a concern of ours, because thanks to the good will that overwhelmed our neighbors, we have a beautiful new mailbox.
I must also mention that they left us what remained from the previous mailbox on our front porch.  The unusual thing is that old faithful was in multiple pieces, and it appeared as if there might have been an explosion to have taken place within it.  In reality, it looks as if our neighbors have not only replaced our mailbox, they have done so as a result of an attempt our lives via a mail-bomb.
Now, someone has suggested that the damage to our previous mailbox was the result of mischievous  actions on behalf of the neighbors to which we've attributed this significant act of kindness.  Why would anyone think this might be the case?  A mail-bomb attempt on our lives makes so much more sense.

Technorati Tags: neighbors