I'm so proud!!

Who's this handsome lightening bug? Why it's Logan!! He's making a goofy face as he heads back after a fantastic performance. :-) Way to go little lightening bug!! He had a speaking part as well as the musical part. We're so proud!! And the costumes were FANTASTIC!!


Enjoy this little clip...a catchy tune about bugs going to a picnic to get their fill. :-)
This is James and I after an awards ceremony he was an honoree at. This guy is so amazing...it's fun to see other people recognize him for it! ;-) On a side note, he also won the national level award for research labs this same day. YAY JAMES!!

I LOVE being a Mom

I love how my babies come running to find me when I've been gone. (Pic with my first-born by 9 min...Luke!)
I love how they watch my reactions...and always want to make sure I see whatever cool and amazing new thing (or old thing, for that matter) they're doing. (Pic with Logan when he was almost 3)

I love when they cuddle right up on your chest...as if there's no where they'd rather be....and there's no where else I'd rather them be. (Pic with Tyler when he was a few months old.)And I love that they try to do whatever you're doing...even if it means you can't really do what you were doing as easily. I've come to realize that though it may take longer to have 'help', it just means the memory will last longer. (Pic with Katie...our aprons say 'cookie maker' and 'cookie taster.')

I love being a mom. I love learning how to parent these little ones alongside my best friend James. I love my kiddos. I love that right now they're mine to enjoy for the majority of every day...and even part of the night if you count the times I run in to check on them...just to kiss them goodnight once more. I appreciate my own mom so much more now that I have kids. I love her so much, and can't put in words what her example means to me as I work to become the mom I want my kids to have. :-)

Happy Mother's Day to all you Mamas out there!!! It's the best job in the world, and the pay is priceless.

Farm, Flags, and Funny

We had a blast going to the dairy farm near here- the boys posed for a pic in the little cutouts. They LOVED feeding the animals, playing with their friends, and eating ice cream in a VERY messy way. :-)


Check out how happy Tyler is! He thought these goats were hilarious!
Logan had the privilege of holding the flag with his Tiger scouts at a Wright State Baseball game! It was VERY windy, but he did very well not letting the flag get away from him.
Check out that determination! :-) I'm so proud of my little man!
Katie's proud of her brother as well...so proud, in fact, that when he came home from school the other day I found her in his tennis shoes with his hat on holding a note she'd pulled from his backpack from school. :-) She sure loves her brother!

Electra's Back!

Just a quick message for those of you who didn't catch the facebook announcement:

Electra is back in business! And I'm doing fantastic, considering just having gone through surgery...thank you Tylenol. By the way, I learned the hard way that Tylenol requires food in your stomach. Yikes. Do not try it at home. Eat!!! Even if you're doing a classy lady challenge and you are trying not to eat after 8pm... (you know who you are, ladies.) I was NOT a happy camper when my medicine was working away and my stomach was writhing in pain. It did take my mind off of my shoulder, though...

But back to the reason for my post: I'm positive the prayers have been a big part of my recovery and safety throughout surgery. Thank you so much!! I'll be sure to post a picture as soon as I can find my camera. It's kind of not at the top of my list of things to do right now. Pretty much I'm focusing on eating, sleeping, taking medicine...and then eating again... ;-) Love you all!!

Walk Like an Egyptian

James had the privilege to travel to Africa last week!! He had a plan to buy a camel at an auction and then sell it so he could say that he owned a camel once in his life, but that didn't quite pan out as the auction was too far from town. He opted instead to rent a camel and travel near the pyramids. Here he is on his camel. Evidently the camel owners change up the names of the camels depending on who's riding...James' camel was either Charlie Brown or Michael Jackson, depending on who you asked.


Here he is actually riding- evidently it's quite a bumpy ride...and noisy due to the camels 'singing'...or braying like a donkey...evidently they're quite grumpy animals.
And in King Tut's sarcophagus...of course James followed through with my request to 'walk like an Egyptian.' :-) I had no idea you could actually go INSIDE the pyramids!! He had a great time...even if it did take 50 hours to get home. (thank you to the flooding in Cairo, major snow storm in New York, Delta's inability to leave the East Coast for a few days, and the rental car which actually brought him home...) Needless to say, we were glad to have him back safely. :-)

Families are Forever Day

This picture reminds me that life is good. :-) And it is. Surely everyone has rough times- trials, heartbreak, loss, etc., but life is also full of great things as well. I believe that you'll find what your looking for, and life is certainly easier when I'm looking for the good!

Thank you thank you for the MANY well-wishes, emails, flowers, messages, calls, etc. to wish us a 'Happy Families are Forever day.' We so appreciate it! (Please understand that I rarely answer the phone on that day, but I so appreciate the messages left!)

I had a fun little realization this year. I was writing out the date and said 2/8 aloud in my mind "two eight"....and it made me think of the words "to wait" which sound exactly the same! :-) That is exactly what Feb 8 is a reminder of for me. I had to smile at the correlation. There are lots of good things that we have 'to wait' for. Sometimes it's really hard to wait....but I can't think of a time when I've waited for something and it hasn't been worth the wait. Like waiting for James. Totally worth it. Waiting as long as possible before delivering my babies (as horrible as pregnancy is, preemie babies is harder.) And of course waiting for my entire family to be united again. Luke's surely playing and having fun in Heaven....we haven't lost him forever...someday we'll hold him again. Just for now do we have "to wait." And we enjoy the ride. We appreciate every moment we get to spend together with those around us- happy, laughing, singing, and playing. Just like Luke did. :-)

So go hug your babies, your honey, your loved ones today!! Hug them tight and tell them everything you want them to know. Tell them you love them. You'll be glad you did.

Love to you all!!**For those of you new to our fabulous blog, "Families are Forever" day started a few years back when we lost our oldest son, Luke, to a heart condition called Long QT. Luke was nine minutes older than Logan. :-) He passed away a few months before he turned 3. We try to focus on the good things on Feb 8 and celebrate that our family has been sealed for eternity. We know we'll be together again.

Hidden Talents

Some people can roll their tongue, some people can raise their eyebrows. Tyler can make the hugest mouth bubbles I've ever seen. Click the video below for some real entertainment. Certainly this is a talent he can fall back on should he ever need some extra income.