Me :)

I may spend too much time reading blogs. Maybe. Here's how I know why...

I'm starting to inspire blog posts. See these posts: Just for Janna and Do Not Disturb.

All I have to say is at least the posts are not dedicated to anything crazy about me, though I'm sure that will come in time!

Off to Chicago

Well, technically Jason is off to Chicago! He left this evening for a weekend mission trip with our church. I'm trying my hand at single parenting for the weekend (though only really in the mornings and evenings since we've scheduled time with grandparents!).

Ethan had a hard time seeing Jason off. He cried and cried when Jason left. I didn't notice that he was crying at first, just that he was hanging on my leg. Jason looked down and gave him a hug and tried to cheer him up. Even talking about all of the fun things he will be able to do with mommy and grandpas and grandmas this weekend did not stop the flow of tears! I had to give lots of hugs and cuddles to get him to settle down. Ice cream with grandpa and grandma and a little work with grandpa in the back yard seemed to help some! He's such a tender hearted boy!


Micah and Ethan sitting on the curb by daddy waiting for the time to leave (and Jason had to inhale his supper!).

We would appreciate your prayers for a meaningful and safe trip this weekend for Jason...and that the boys and I are able to stay entertained...and that we are all cheerful when Jason returns Sunday night!

Working...outside the house!

I've been busy lately, therefore not much time to blog! Over the past week I went to work four days...something I haven't done since I quit my job when Micah was born! I've been working with my mom doing some cleaning in new houses and washing windows. Tiring days, but it's been fun to chat with my mom and the other ladies while we cleaned. A little "girl" time and work all at the same time! Makes it much more fun and easier to get the work done. Plus it was nice to have a paycheck again! However, I'm now exhausted and don't feel like cleaning in my own house!


So it wasn't my house that was getting cleaned, and my computer wasn't actually broken to prevent me from blogging...but I still thought this picture was cute!

We've had a revolving door of babysitters to watch the boys. Sometimes different people over the same day! Our families are awesome, they helped make it easy for me to get out and do this extra work! I can't even begin to express how much I appreciate each one that was able to help us out! I've got a lot of babysitters I could recommend. :)

The boys have enjoyed seeing all of our family members. I suspect they have been spoiled all of the days that I've been gone!

Summertime fun

We've been busy around here with summertime activities...one of which is making strawberry jam. We intended to go strawberry picking, which means that cute pictures of us in the strawberry patch would have been inserted here. :) However, the strawberry patch was closed because of the heat on the day we wanted to pick. So, my mom picked up a flat of berries for us a one of the local produce markets. That made it much easier than doing the actual picking!



I found a willing berry masher/smasher in Ethan. He was bored with helping me with the rest of the process since I made him stand so far back to make sure that he wouldn't get splattered with the boiling jam mixture. I unfortunately did not take my own advice and have a blistered thumb to show for it. I was using a ladle to fill the jars and poured the jam all over my thumb and down the side of the jar. No pictures of that! The end result of yummy jam was worth it--and the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were very good that day! Next task...strawberry pie. Now, who will help me eat the pie?

The boys have also been busy playing outside. The sandbox has provided hours of entertainment, though the bathtub is definitely showing signs of heavy use! I may have to start doing "before sandbox" and "after sandbox" pictures just to show how dirty these boys can get...but they love every minute of it!



Micah has progressed beyond eating the sand, so I no longer have to leave his pacifier in his mouth. He now likes to throw the sand and generally cannot be deterred. I try to "redirect" him by giving him a shovel, but he just uses the shovel to throw the sand. Once he's done throwing the sand, he's happy to be able to play trucks and digging like his big brother does. He enjoys himself so much that he is VERY mad when I get him out of the sandbox.



Ethan is my water boy. He loves to have the pool filled up, even though the pool is too small for him. He's happy just jumping in and out of it and splashing the water around. He found all kinds of seashells (aka rocks) to put in the water and happily helped me water all of my flowers when we were done using the pool. At first I thought that we could leave the water for another day...but then I remembered that my two boys had been playing in it all afternoon...it was pretty gross and the flowers needed a drink anyway!

I couldn't resist...

Disclaimer: I have the best husband in the world. I love him dearly, and this is not meant to reflect badly on him. :)

I received this in an email from a friend and laughed, so I thought I would share. I hope that you will also have a good laugh!

Wedding Pictures Part II

My "little" sister Julie married Matt this past weekend. The wedding went well, only one small mishap when the wagon Ethan was pulling (with the little boys in it) knocked into Rachel and made her fall. She settled down right away and everything continued as planned. What a fun day we had...it's hard to even know what to write about! We had fun doing our hair "up" and putting on our fancy clothes. Enjoy the pictures!

Wedding pictures Part I

These are some pictures of our family from the wedding. We had a great time. The boys did great the whole day, but they were exhausted by the time they went home with Jason's parents! Micah wanted to dance the night away. He kept running on the dance floor and doing his own little dance. Ethan had a great time doing the "Hokey Pokey"! We're all catching up on our sleep!

Who needs toys?

Micah invented this game by himself. Who needs toys when you can play in the curtains...or with the camera!

Friends

I've never had an imaginary friend, but I am now acquainted with one. I know this friend quite well, and I think I'm at the point where I'm ready to send him packing. I know this is something that kids do, but I'm not sure I can wait this phase out!

In case you haven't guessed, Ethan has an imaginary friend (though I know you thought maybe it was Jason's friend!). His name is Buppa (not sure how to spell it, but it's said Buh-pah...no hesitations, you have to say it fast to make it sound right). Buppa has been around for a while now, a year minimum. He seems friendly enough, but lately he's become downright rude.

At first Buppa would accompany us on car trips and be around at bedtime. Then he started playing toys and wanting to go outside. I didn't mind Buppa in those days. He was pretty nice. No big deal to tell him to "buckle up!" in the back seat.

Things with Buppa became more interesting when Ethan would sit with my dad and talk about Buppa. We soon found out through their conversations that Buppa likes to play outside in the snow...naked. Don't know where that came from, but we couldn't help laughing when Ethan would declare "There's Buppa running in the snow naked!". Ethan told grandpa many other Buppa adventures that are too many to name.

Over the last few months, Buppa has started pushing...and hitting...and he seems to have a problem with passing gas. Many times, if I tell Ethan to excuse himself, I often hear "Buppa did it". Ethan has even started tattling on Buppa. Those are the times where I tell Ethan that Buppa has to go to his house. Maybe his parents will teach him some manners while he's there!

Some day, I expect I'll be able to look back at the days where Buppa was around...and I may actually miss him! I guess I just need to remember the innocence and joys of childhood.