A busy July...

I can't believe it has been so long since I posted, though looking back on the past month I can see why! We had a very busy July. The good busy kind that makes for a fun summer. We have had something going on every weekend for the past month. Here is a peek at what we have been up to...

On the 4th of July we went to a party at one of James' co-worker's house. We had a good time, but as you can see by the pic above...Ella was ready for bed when we got home. Ryan, too...but he was a little less obvious about it!

I won tickets for July 5th to attend a B-Mets baseball (our local team) game through the Mom's group that I am part of. We invited our new-ish neighbor friends to join us. They have two little boys that Ryan just loves to play with. It was the perfect way to attend our first baseball game as a family, as we didn't have to pay for the tickets and therefore didn't feel bad leaving during the 6th inning! In fact, we were pleasantly surprised to have made it through that many innings and decided to leave just as the kids were starting to show signs of getting antsy.


Ryan and his friend Taylor


What baseball game is complete without a hot dog?


Batter up!


On the way out of the park there was a jump tent and a fun baseball/tee ball game to play. We are discovering that Ryan is quite the little ball player!

The following weekend we celebrated Ella's FIRST BIRTHDAY! Wow--I really can't believe she is a whole year old. It seems that the year has flown by. We are enjoying her emerging personality and of course applauding all of the cute little things she is learning to do. Her current tricks include walking, giving high fives, trying to put shoes on (doesn't matter whose it is...if it is a shoe, she tries to put it on!) and pushing her "babies" in the doll stroller. Her current repertoire of words include: baby, kitty, Mama and Dada (discriminately), hello, night night, shoe and ball. Oh...and she calls Ryan "YaYa"...which is pretty accurate, most of the time! ;)

Birthday cupcakes!

Ella carrying her birthday loot!

Hmm...interesting.

What do I do with this thing?

The actual tasting of the cupcake did not make for a great photo opportunity, as she basically gagged on it. I think that the frosting may have been too sweet for her!!

We spent Ella's actual birthday just the four of us, but celebrated Ella's Baptism and birthday with extended family the following weekend at Chenango Valley State Park. My family (Mom, my Uncle and his wife Sue) made the journey from Maine, as did my best friend, Sarah, and her family and Sarah's parents, who were like "second parents" to me growing up. We were only missing one of my nephews from James' side of the family, as he was participating in his last soccer tournament of the summer. We had fun celebrating together!

The baptism

The whole gang

Us

More gifts...

Chillin' after a much better (chocolate!) cupcake experience

The following weekend we had kind of a break. Well, if you consider Ryan's little neighbor friend's birthday a break. Complete with a bouncy slide, pull string pinata, and lots of rambunctious little boys, it was most certainly a busy (but fun) day. I have to proudly say (because I usually can't) that Ryan was the "last boy standing" (OK, all of them were standing) at the end of the party. He was the only one who wasn't crying, having a complete meltdown, or just down right grumpy. Don't worry though...he just saved it all up for when we got home. An early bed time did the trick and all was well again.

What better way to end an already terrific month, than to spend the last weekend with my girlfriends from college (er, minus Marcie)!? Our husbands were so kind to watch the kids all weekend while we spent some time doing fun girl things. We met up at Tara's house in Virginia and had a great time catching up. What girl's weekend would be complete without some outlet shopping, a pedicure, a chick flick, and some yummy eats!? Oh...and did I mention the staying up until 2 am? Ya...the bags that still linger under my eyes are proof positive that I am definitely not as young as I used to be (sniff).

Bridgette in the kitchen...we each brought recipes with us and took turns making meals. It was fun to try new meals and to share our favorites.

Jenn and Bridgette at Coastal Flats (we did take a night off to enjoy dinner out!)

Tara and Matt's son, Noah. I think he rather enjoyed having us around for the weekend!

We also had a mini baby shower for Jenn, who is due to have a little boy in October!

I didn't do the best job taking pictures to document our weekend together, but again, it was a fun time! Thanks to Matt and Tara for hosting (and especially to Matt for putting up with all of the hoopla in addition to taking care of their kiddos!).

Phew--I'm tired just reading through the events of the past month. We don't have much planned for August. Just hoping to relax a little before Ryan starts pre-school in the fall (a post about that will most DEFINITELY follow).

Happy Father's Day

Faithful
Attentive
Trustworthy
Helpful
Eager
Respectful

These are all the things I celebrate in James today, for the wonderful father that he is to our two children. (Oh, and he’s a pretty good husband, too!)

Father’s Day, is, of course, the day we celebrate our earthly fathers. However, I have been reminded today of the Heavenly Father’s love for me. I was one of the lucky ones (though I don’t believe in luck) who was blessed with a Dad who loved me and never hesitated to tell me so. It’s hard for me to fathom the fact that the Heavenly Father’s love far surpasses that which my earthly father had for me. But, it’s true. Today I mourn that it was exactly two years ago that I had my last face to face conversation with my Dad. It was the next day that my Dad became ill and ultimately ended up in a coma for a week with severe brain trauma, from which we were told he would never recover. I recently read a post on this Mama’s blog about clinging to God in the hard times in our lives (and she went on to further say that we should cling to Him ALL the time), and I could totally relate. I clung to God with all my might that week, and in the weeks that followed. God did not provide the miracle for which we had been praying, but He did envelope us in His love. Never in my life had I so strongly clung to His promises…promises that He has a plan…and though it may not always add up with what I think should happen…His plan is the Right Plan…the Perfect Plan. Never in my life had I felt so much peace, peace that could have ONLY come from God…given the circumstances. I am an only child, and the overwhelming weight that I felt on my shoulders to care for my Mom, and to help her through her grief, was much too much to bear on my own. I had NO CHOICE but to lean on God. It was during that time that a popular praise song kept coming to mind, and kept coming up on the screen at church, and on the radio in the car…you get the point…I heard it ALL the time. That song was “How Great is our God”. It really spoke to me, and even though I was grieving, I was able to praise God…because I KNEW He loved me. So, with that said, I am missing my Dad today on Father’s Day. Even more so because it starts a painful week of memories regarding his death. On the way to church today I was thinking to myself that I really hoped that song would be part of worship. Like I said, it just really speaks to me. Guess what…the closing song today was just that. Seriously. Oh, and the way our church sings it is to include a portion of “How Great Thou Art” in the middle of the song. Did I mention that that was my Dad’s favorite hymn? Seriously. Once again, I just felt my Heavenly Father’s arms wrapping around me and letting me know that Yes, everything is in His hands…and it is well. So, yes, I’m missing my Dad today…but how GREAT is it to have a Heavenly Father who loves me…and who knows my every thought…my every need. How great. Now, if only I can remember to give Him the praise for the good times as well…when everything is A-Ok! I’m a work in progress…what can I say!?

I’m looking forward to celebrating the rest of the day with my husband, and with his parents, and to relish in the blessings of family. May you do the same on this Father’s Day!

Vacation

James went back to work today after an almost 2 week staycation/vacation. We started his vacation off at home...with a little work! We sent the kids to James' parent's house for a night and used that "kid-free" time to put down a patio. As you have seen from past posts, our back yard is in a state of disarray! There used to be a deck off of our dining room, but the wood was starting to rot so with a little help from some family members, we tore it out. Thanks to our home's previous owners, we had all the supplies we needed to make a paver brick patio. Here are some before and after pics...

Bringing in some top soil to level out the ground


James hard at work on his first day of vacation!


The finished (well, almost...we are missing a step down) project!

After a few days at home, we headed off to Maine. We stopped for a night at my Uncle's house and from there went to separate locations. James went to the Allagash Wilderness Waterway for a fishing trip, and the kids and I traveled on to my Mom's house in northern Maine.

The bridge from New Hampshire to Maine


LOVED seeing this sign on my many long drives home from college! Never had a picture of it until now!


Ryan napping in the car

James' fishing trip was bittersweet. It was two years ago this month that James and I took off to New Hampshire, where my parents were living at the time, so that he and my Dad could go fishing in the Allagash with some of the same men that went this year. It was the first day of that trip, once they crossed the lake to get to their campsite, that my Dad fell ill and had to be air lifted to the hospital in Portland, ME where he passed away after a week of being in a coma. I know it brought back painful memories for James, but he felt that my Dad would have wanted him to go on this trip and to experience the beauty of the Allagash (a place my Dad loved so much and where he spent time with his brother and father every year since he was in his 20s). Despite the bitter memories, James did have a good time on the trip and even caught a few fish!

Uncle Mark, James and Andy waiting for a bite


James got one (actually, I believe he got five!)


Up close and personal with a Moose

Make that two Moose!

After a fun, though brief, visit with my friend Sarah and her kids, Ryan, Ella and I went on to my Mom's house. It rained the WHOLE time we were there, but we had fun visiting anyway!


Lydia, Ryan, Eliza and Ella...the best picture I could get!


Ring around the Rosy


Lydia holding Ella


MiMi and Ella


MiMi with Ryan and Ella (I snapped the picture before Ryan could tackle them!)

James still had two days off when we got back, which was a nice way to unwind after a long trip and a busy vacation! Now it's back to work...and back to real life. Sigh.

So thankful this Memorial Day...

for the girl adorning these little stars...

and for this little striped fellow...

and for the stars and stripes that represent this country and the sacrifices that were made for our freedom.

Spring...or Summer?

We have been blessed with some warm (uh, make that VERY warm) days so far this spring. I am LOVING it and I am soaking it up for as long as it lasts!! I think the kids are all for it as well!

Ella could really do without the whole grass thing. She gets quite upset when any part of her body (especially toes!) is touching it.

But...put her on a blanket and give her a big purple ball and she is a happy girl!

Unfortunately, we don't have the best looking yard right now. I posted last summer about our backyard projects...ripping out decks and such. Well--the work continues! With the help of James' brother, my nephews, and my father-in-law, two more decks have been torn out of our backyard! Yes--I said two MORE decks. When we moved in there was an above ground pool in the back and it was surrounded by 3 levels of decking. A little much! We preferred the yard space over having a pool, so we got rid of that last spring. James removed the majority of decking by himself last summer, but as you can imagine, when Ella was born in July things kind of came to a halt. I guess we were busy or something!?

The guys--hard at work.

An "after" shot

Thankfully, our town has "spring cleanup" and they will be taking all of this wood for us!

With that done, we are now a little overwhelmed with what to do next...but we have a few ideas and hope to get our yard looking a little better (anything would be an improvement at this point) by the end of the summer. I think our neighbors would appreciate a better view as well. In the meantime, the dirt/sand pits make a great place for Ryan to play with his dump trucks!

He DOES have a sandbox, but who needs it when you have the real thing?

Got teeth?

Uh--don't worry--she didn't get hurt when Ryan pushed her over with a pillow.

Please pray for this little boy

UPDATE:
As of yesterday, 4/28/09--Stellan was discharged from the hospital. He and his Mama are flying home from Boston today to finally be at home with the rest of their family. I know this little guy's fight is not over...but Praise God that he is doing well enough to go home. I really needed to read that news. Stellan's story, as well as the many other stories of suffering babies (and parents) that I have come across lately, really had me down in the dumps.



You will notice that I have placed a new button off to the right that says: "Praying for Stellan." Go ahead...click on it. This is a story that has touched my heart in so many ways. I hope you will join me (and others from all over the world!) in praying for this sweet baby boy.