Salza Family

mana vs meatballs

2011-09-29T11:39:00.002-04:00

MANA: A Novel from The Manabago on Vimeo.

Courtesy of the awesome interns of MANA via their MANABAGO BLOG from the MANABAGO website.

seven

2011-08-29T01:04:00.000-04:00

This boy makes me smile

about a million times a day.

Today we celebrate 2,556 days.

That's 2,556,000,000 smiles...give or take a few...

back when I used to blog

2011-08-22T21:31:00.003-04:00

I talked about my kids, my husband, my life...

but that was when I used to blog.

You know, a long, long time ago.

I had a good run.

Tomorrow is four years since my very first blog post.

There are a lot reasons I've been unmotivated.

Trust me, it's not for lack of material.

This little life of mine is oozing with material.

I've been in a season of contemplation lately.

Trying to listen more, talk less...which is not easy for me.

I'm working on it, but blog words just haven't been coming for quite awhile.

Now I have so many doggone pictures I'm afraid I'll never catch up again.

My good friend, RD, once said blogging was hard to do.

I laughed.

Now I get it.

beat the heat

2011-07-22T15:48:00.004-04:00

any way you can...

disclaimer: I did NOT disrupt other movie goers by taking pictures of my kids in the theater...we had the whole place to ourselves (which is also why the little monkey is climbing all over seats)!

conversations

2011-07-06T17:19:00.005-04:00

it's hard to finish a conversation

when I can't stop staring

and he can't stop whistling when he pronounces an 'f' or 'th'

and we both start giggling

finished

2011-06-29T15:51:00.005-04:00

One more chapter of our lives coming to an end...
Didn't catch it? Let me zoom in a little closer...

That's right, week 36, the final week of 1st grade.

We finished today.

I now have a 2nd Grader...

who might be just a little excited about summer vacation, as referenced in his gratitude journal at number 41.

gender roles

2011-06-17T22:39:00.001-04:00

There's no gender confusion around here.

We can watch the royal wedding

while sipping tea

wearing our best

we can literally be up to our elbows in hair duds

we can pick strawberries and thumb through a Holly Hobby'esque coloring book

we can have more tea parties on the kitchen floor

And yet,

boys will be...

boys

revolutionary war

2011-06-09T23:40:00.003-04:00

There's a revolutionary war cemetery sign we pass deep in Georgia every time we travel.

A small, dirt road heads into thick woods off the main road and into this quiet place.

Spanish moss hangs thick from the trees men and women stood under so many years before us.

I hope my boys understand the wars fought when the men in this cemetery lost their lives were more about living free and simply and less about power and wealth.

I hope they respect the men and women of today who go when they're told to go in the name of this country.

I hope they appreciate the sacrifices given on their behalf.

And I hope, when the time comes, they are ready to make this country great.

the apartment

2011-06-07T22:45:00.002-04:00

In Fitzgerald we don't have access to a yard.

The nearest usable park is not within walking distance of the apartment.

We get out, walk around downtown, chase chickens, peruse thrift stores...but it's Georgia.

It's been sticky and hot since early March.

So we find indoor activities too...

the fitz

2011-06-02T00:32:00.001-04:00

We're on the road a lot these days. Six hours to Fitzgerald, GA and six hours back to Charlotte. It's a long drive, but it's beautiful this time of year.

We're back and forth so often it's not uncommon for Adison to randomly ask (after being home for any amount of consecutive days), "Are we headin' to the Fitz this week?"

While I complain about the long drives, that there's always an open, half packed/unpacked suitcase to trip over in my room...my love for the out of the ordinary schedule far outweighs the annoyance.

My kids, much like their mother, are nomads at heart.

The last time we were in Fitzgerald we drove around a really beautiful southern home that was for sale, just because that's what I do.

Adison said, "I wish we could move to the Fitz." Pause. "But I like living in Charlotte too." Pause. "I wish there was a way we could live in Fitzgerald and Charlotte and Fort Collins...and Kentucky too." Pause. "There's just too many places to live."

I laughed.

That's my boy.

And he doesn't even know the half of it.

Many days I long for a secluded chunk of property with all our favorite farm animals, lots of garden and an old farmhouse to call home.

These days I love living in our neighborhood where any given ring of the doorbell brings four or five sweet faces looking for Adison to come out and play.

Countless days I have dreamed of a villa on a Tuscan hill surrounded by olive trees.

And every now and then I think how exciting it would be to live in a downtown big city loft.

Yes, indeed there are "just too many places to live".

Fitzgerald has certainly been a surprise.

We've enjoyed our short stays there, in a downtown apartment. It doesn't come anywhere near the idealization of my big city loft, but has lots of charm and character in a quaint town.

We can grab breakfast or lunch at Our Daily Bread just around the corner from the apartment, head down the street for an evening movie in the renovated downtown movie theater, pick pecans from under an endless supply of pecan trees...we even had the chance to sit on the outskirts of the local airfield and watch parachuters by the dozens drop from the sky.

Adison's favorite Fitzgerald pass time, by far, is chasing the wild chickens...

We've had countless discussions about what he would do if he actually caught one.

It never works in his favor and yet, he still chases...and gets chased in return (which I think is his secret goal).

lightnin' bugs

2011-05-31T21:52:00.003-04:00

Just about every night Adison catches at least one lightnin' bug before bed.

He places the jar on his dresser and watches it while he falls asleep.

At his insistence, Mike or I let said bug(s) go before we go to bed.

Because, you know, he wants to catch them again tomorrow.

I like to think it's because he's developed some concern for all God's creatures and doesn't want them to die.

Then he smacks the jar with all his might to get them to light up again...

long ride home

2011-04-28T21:00:00.004-04:00

I can't help it.

Days like today make me emotional.

It may be in part due to this book.

It may be in part due to the roller coaster that has been my life over the last years.

It may be in part due to the extreme lack of sleep I've had lately.

Either way, this recipe of whys has brought me to this moment, a ball of emotion.

Watching Adison this morning as he sat at the kitchen counter writing in a workbook, I baked chocolate chip cookies and Leonidas milled around my feet constantly wanting to be picked up and I realized it's the 28th.

I am right here today and, while it may not be perfect, I get to be with both my boys.

I snuggled them, read to them, sang to them, prayed over them and put them to bed tonight....

together for the 731st night in a row.

Two years ago today Adison met his brother face to face for the first time.

Two years ago today we made the longest drive ever from Denver to Fort Collins.

And together they have been everyday since.

write it down

2011-03-24T23:59:00.000-04:00

Thursday, March 24, 2011.

Leonidas ate steamed broccoli.

A monumental day in our lives.

Since leaving the days of baby food Leonidas has refused all fruits and veggies.

I recently found I can get his daily dose of fruits down him in the form of smoothies.

Occasionally I sneak some veggies in his smoothie, but it brings revolt.

It's as though he has a sixth sense.

He won't even let the straw touch his lips when I've added avocado or spinach.

But today was a victory in his vegetable world.

He voluntarily picked up and put steamed broccoli in his mouth...and didn't spit it out.

Watch out beans and Cheezits...there's a new food group in Leonidastown.

Thursday, march 24, 2011.

kfc

2011-03-15T23:11:00.003-04:00

Mike used to toss Adison up in the air a lot when he was little.

He hasn't tossed Leonidas much...until now.

(I'm fully aware Grandparents everywhere are cringing as they look at the above photo.)

It's taken two years, but I think we may finally be 'over' the idea that we're going to break him after working so hard to keep him in the beginning!

I love spring...

So does Adison. He continually comes in with all sorts of wild bouquets for me.

We stayed at the library a little too late the other night. As we loaded up in the car I tried to think of something quick to grab for dinner on the way home so I could feed the boys and get them to bed. The only drive thru option in downtown Matthews is KFC. Now, I'm not claiming to be a fast food snob, but KFC doesn't even register on my radar. I was in a pinch though, so I caved. We got home and I put all of our KFC boxes on the table at every one's places. Adison opened his up, peered in and said, "This is the weirdest dinner I have EVER had."

I love that kid...

an apple a day

2011-03-13T22:42:00.001-04:00

We've seen the inside of lots of doctor's offices lately. Since Leonidas' two year well child visit, we've had a lot of follow up.

He's been assessed and evaluated on all fronts.

The consensus is...he's perfect...as if we didn't already know that...

Okay, maybe not perfect. His ears have consistently had fluid in them for the last nine months. Now that he's two, he's getting tubes.

The only area he's behind is speech. He's at about a 12-18 month level.

We're all in agreement that the fluid in his ears contributes greatly. His audiologist confirmed it when she heard him mimic every sound and pitch she made without ever articulating any words. She says he pretty much hears everything as if he's under water.

It doesn't stop that little brain from spinning 24/7. Tonight I set up our dinner outside. I left him at his seat while I ran inside for 'one more thing'. When I came back he had picked up a broken shell and was using it as a utensil for his noodles. He pretty much thinks he's funny ALL the time.

I pretty much think he is too, especially when he has a partner in crime...

The Spring bug has bitten my boys and they never want to come inside, so we eat, play, paint...outside, even when it's raining...

We found our favorite pizza joint in Charlotte. And these pictures cracked me up...

Adison and a new friend looking tough with their marshmallow guns...

And finally...the real reason for this post...

Hello. My name is Shellie. I'm 36 and I learned how to thread a sewing machine today.

We have many rice bags in recognizable and some not so recognizable shapes.

The point is...I threaded my bobbin, my machine, started and FINISHED a sewing project today. I no longer can say Mike is the only one in our household who knows how to use a sewing machine. I was beginning to worry Adison would beat me to it!

for mike

2011-03-09T23:27:00.001-05:00

I remember as a kid looking at wedding albums of aunts and uncles and my parent's friends.

Everything always looked so dated.

Their hairstyles were so...old...

The bridesmaid's dresses were so...old...

I flipped through our wedding album this afternoon and everyone looks so...young, dated, but young.

I wondered what the person I am today would say to that couple back in 1996.

Then I came right back around to...nothing.

If I gave part of it away then, we might not be the couple we are today...

And I kinda like where we are today...

3,2,1...blastoff

2011-02-27T16:53:00.004-05:00

This year I turned 36.

Once you have kids your birthday doesn't seem like that big of a deal. I love putting my energy into my kid's birthdays. Mine...it's just a day that makes me thankful to have a simple life with my wonderful family.

I know I've used the phrase, "started off with a bang" before, but my 37th year truly did start of with a bang...a really big one.

Mike took us all to Cape Canaveral where we played on the beach (in FEBRUARY) for several days and on my birthday I was able to cross a 'things to do before you die' off my list.

We watched the Discovery Space Shuttle launch.

I've always wanted to see a shuttle launch.

From the beach we could see Kennedy Space Center and a huge mass that was, of course, the space shuttle. It looked like such a great view. Everyone up and down the beach had their eyes on the big thing up from us. People were looking at it through their binoculars.

It was a beautiful, clear day.

Then it was launch time.

Clouds rolled in.

We waited.

There were a few small breaks in the sky.

Suddenly to the (far) left of where everyone on the beach was focused there it was...Discovery Space Shuttle rocketing into space.

We saw a few seconds of it here and there in the breaks between clouds.

I heard the boom...the part I had most been looking forward to.

And we spent the rest of the night trying to convince Adison it wasn't just the biggest firework he'd ever seen. It really was the space shuttle. Once again proving it is possible to over prepare your kids for big events. We let him watch a few too many youtube shuttle launches so he thought he would actually be able to see the shuttle, not just the bright streak as it took off.

It was a beautiful birthday.

And we had two very tired boys after a full day on the beach.

heart day

2011-02-14T21:03:00.001-05:00

Adison 'hearts' everyone...

we celebrate everywhere...

2011-02-06T20:33:00.000-05:00

My thirty sixth birthday...more to come later...

we celebrate there...

2011-02-05T23:53:00.001-05:00

Leonidas' birthday at the apartment in Fitzgerald, GA

we celebrate here...

2011-02-04T20:23:00.002-05:00

Leonidas' birthday at home

two years

2011-02-03T17:04:00.001-05:00

Last year we celebrated Leonidas' first birthday in a big way. Our house was full of people we love and who have loved us through so much. It was the perfect close to his first year. A real celebration of the life that is Leonidas.

This year will be perfect too. I'm looking forward to a quiet celebration with my best boys. I can't wait to bake a cake with Adison. I can't wait to watch Leonidas dig into it, since last year we got nothin' on the cake front. Oh, this year will be different. He knows all about sweet things and dives right in. He just about comes unglued everytime he catches a glimpse of the candy bowl full his Leonidas chocolates.

His second year has been a beautiful one.

I'm sad to see another year close and at the same time I'm so excited about year number three with my strong, charming, full of life Mighty boy!

blue man group

2011-01-28T08:47:00.001-05:00

Meet their newest member...

We recently traveled...a lot. Armed with a flash/flare light combo, Leonidas kept himself pretty entertained in the late night hours.

Mike gave me an espresso machine for Christmas. You'd think with all the extra caffeine I'd have the energy to blog more...

No, instead every last bit of energy is going into keeping up with these two since Mike's been out of town a lot lately.

Filling his brother's big shoes.

Playing with fun Christmas presents.

(He made me a necklace out of these...classy!)

Eating brownies and playing with friends.

Goofing around.

His favorite way to be.

It's hard to believe we have a birthday to celebrate next week. I ordered our annual gift of Leonidas Belgian Chocolates for our favorite NICU last week and can't wait to have a few myself as we celebrate in our own small way. Thinking of all the people who cared for, loved on and prayed for our almost two year old this week and feeling overwhelmingly blessed.

the view from here

2011-01-26T08:44:00.000-05:00

is pretty pitiful...

Leonidas has been sick the last couple days. Translation...lots of kleenex, little sleep, extra shots of caffeine for me during the day and a whole lot of snuggle time. I can't complain...

We had more snow a couple weeks ago. Our neighbors are blaming the Coloradoans for bringing it to North Carolina. They can blame us all they want, it makes us less homesick!

Leonidas doesn't like to walk in it. Adison never wants to come in from it.
My favorite part is making hot chocolate with marshmallow fluff, of course.
(I'm a little crazy about the little ones that drink it too...)

hope

2011-01-20T23:14:00.002-05:00

I heard, through a MANA email, this morning in Rwanda 15 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition were given a weeks supply of MANA.

Last night as I busted out a window, after accidentally locking ourselves out of the house, my first instinct was to be frustrated about it, but I couldn't. My thoughts were, all day, with a woman I haven't spoken to or seen in well over fifteen years. We went to high school together and yesterday she buried her nine year old son.

How do I reconcile my lifestyle today with the knowledge of the suffering of others in this world?

My children have had full meals today, plus snacks. They are healthy. They are clothed. Painful as it was, I was able to pay someone to come by my house this morning and replace the broken glass. I have the ability to get in my car and drive where ever I need to go.

I was told several months ago, through a very intense, deep conversation with someone who doesn't know me or anything about my past, that I don't know what it truly means to mourn, specifically for other people. It took everything I had to remain calm and not hurl all of my emotional baggage at him. I then collected myself and realized that, yes, I have a lot of room to grow. I have not been broken daily for the lives around me. Since that conversation, I have been bombarded with the knowledge of suffering near and far.

Today was a huge victory in this world of feeling helpless when faced with all the hurt on this earth. While I don't work directly for MANA, Mike does. Today countless hours of work meant something. MANA distributed it's first doses to children who would likely die or suffer severe consequences of malnutrition.

Fifteen children...that's fifteen more than yesterday with hope for tomorrow.

The mothers of fifteen children are, hopefully, breathing a little more easily tonight for the future of their babies.

pretty good morning

2011-01-06T15:41:00.009-05:00

I can't complain, although I do, about this place in life. There are little things in my day that are so easy to miss if I'm not on my toes.

After going to bed way too late only to wake up 15 minutes later to a crying six year old who in turn woke up the almost two year old who did not go back to sleep soundly while in my bed from 2:30 to 7:30 this morning, I was not on my toes this morning. After I fed Leonidas I went to make a latte when I found this...

which led me to this...

and this...

and this...
It made me smile as I remembered sending Adison to the kitchen just before bed last night on an errand. Funny things to find this morning in all the places he knew I would be first thing...it was a pretty good morning.

Not to mention the sweet kisses Leonidas gives these days that make any morning good. He leans in to barely peck my cheek and I melt every time. He works his way to a full on mouth kiss every now and then which just makes me giggle.

He's getting so big. I can't believe as people have asked how old he is recently my reply has become 'TWO'. No more counting in months or half years. I'm about to have a two year old again.

I love this stage. He kept reaching up this morning as we milled around in the kitchen with an empty little snack bowl cupped in his hands saying, 'PEAS!' (translated, 'Please!') for a refill of cheerios. He then says something that is no where near to, but somehow resembles 'Thank you.' So I just reply with a 'Your welcome' every time.

Our house is a constant blur of activity lately. So much to do, so little time. As I watch all things going on around me I continually wonder if this busyness is boy gene, or Salza boy gene...

Yes, I had a pretty good morning...day...week...

whistle blower

2010-12-13T21:47:00.000-05:00

Adison has figured out how to whistle. In his words, "Now that I know how, I just can't stop myself!" And so, he whistles nonstop...the boy loves to whistle.

My in laws came for a visit as he was just figuring out his new found hobby. While we were all riding along in the van Adison would belt out a louder whistle and then exclaim, "That was me!" Every time.

On the other hand...we have Leonidas...who we call 'King Julian' from Madagascar. Every time he watches his big brother whistle he starts blowing strawberries and then feels super proud that he's whistling 'just like' his brother.

While Mike's parents were here we did some intensive traveling, which required a little hotel stay. I took the opportunity to sit on the bed with Leonidas and soak in his many faces...Adison has been Prince Project lately...we made chocolate covered pretzel sticks today. As we were working he started digging through my coffee cabinet. I was about to ask him to leave everything in there alone (you know how I am about my coffee...) when he pulled out chef hats for both of us...The last couple of nights have ended with an Adison original play. Tonight was all about cooking on an open fire. No, that's not a tangerine, it's a wild pumpkin, they're small, you know.(These are Adison's words, not mine.)

We've been a little adventurous at the grocery store lately. We bought a kiwano this week. Adison said this face was how it made him feel when he tasted it.Mr ArtsyToo cute for words...

today (the post intended for August 19, 2010)

2010-12-07T07:15:00.002-05:00

I wrote this post months ago.

I thought about this day a lot as it approached.

Because my sister's 40th birthday is this week, I've been thinking about it again.

August 19, 2010

Today I'm five days short of being thirty five and half years old. As far as significant dates in one's life go, this is not a 'mark it on the calendar' kind of day.

For me it's a big day.

Tomorrow I will be older than my big sister.

After I received the call about her having a heart attack I prayed constantly. I was shocked and sad. I knew her life would forever be altered, but I had hope. As soon as I stepped off the plane that day, I knew it was over. Without talking to or seeing anyone, before I ever reached the non secure part of the airport, all hope was gone. I avoided looking at my Dad and brother as long as I could when they picked me up. I didn't want to hear the words I already knew were coming.

We drove straight to the hospital. Someone took Adison in the waiting room. I know it was late, far past his bedtime. I sat with her a long time. I held her hand. I sang to her, but it was for me. She wasn't there. The machines whirred and beeped all around her, but she was gone.

Randy Cope, Mike Cope's brother, wrote an article a good friend sent me shortly after Stacia died that spoke so truly to me. I started to copy and paste my favorite parts here, but realized I was about to copy and paste the whole thing. Click here to read it.

The part that stood out most was this, "God taught me not to fear life in the valley. The valley of suffering to me was a place to be avoided at all cost. Now I see that it is strangely a place of peace. God dwells with His suffering people in the valley – in green pastures and beside quiet waters. The Bible reads completely different now that I have this perspective of suffering.

With Jantsen (Randy Cope's son) on the other bank, the water that separates this life from the next is a brook, not a raging river – one I am anxious to step over once my work here is done."

I want so much to cherish every moment, to live in every moment.

Today was a good day.

We played, we laughed, I soaked in my delicious boys and my wonderful husband.

It was a normal day...laundry, feeding my family, packing boxes...

But today was full.

It was full of life.

Tomorrow I will be 35 and a half...minus four days...

trumpet of the swan

2010-12-01T14:03:00.001-05:00

We love to read, this guy and I...

It's one of the best parts of my day. Sitting together, sometimes snuggling in bed, sometimes on the couch, sometimes while he's busy playing on the floor...

While we were at our rental we read The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White. We both loved it. One of the characters is Sam Beaver. In the book, every night before Sam Beaver went to bed he wrote a question in a journal. He would think about the question while he was falling asleep. Adison liked the idea, so we bought him a journal. He came up with questions each night, until we moved. I haven't been able find it anywhere...until today while I was rummage through a box in the garage. After reading through it, I can't wait to start it up again!

Here are just a few of the questions he came up with...

~Why do turtles move slow?
~How come jellyfish sting other fish, but not themselves or other jellyfish?
~Why are some snakes poisonous and other snakes not?
~Why are barrel cactus skinny, but when they are full of water they are fat?
~Why can snapping turtles snap?
~Why did they talk about evolution at Mammoth Caves?
~Why do centipedes have 100 legs?
~Why does the alphabet start with the letter 'A'?
~Why do Trumpeter swans trumpet?
~Why was the IMAX Ocean movie screen so huge?
~Why did Adam and Eve sin?
~Why are most seals fat? Why are other seals skinny?
~How do cuddle fish have lightning fast tentacles?
~Why do Tiger fish look the way they do?
~Why are some dreams bad and some dreams good?
~Do you think that rocks and grass and plants grew over the hole of Vesuvius and when it erupted the rock melted and the grass and plants burned up?
~Why are starfish shaped like stars?
~Why do sea turtles eat all of jellyfish?
~Why are cuddle fish called cuddle fish?
~Why do boy lions have manes and girl lions don't have manes?

I know his brain is spinning all the time, but it's fun to watch questions come out with no effort, no extra thought... It's amazing to me how much he wants to know!

This morning he woke up, came running to my room with a quick, "Good morning!" and went right into, "Mom, do you think bats are already asleep? How many bats do you think are at Mammoth caves? Did you know before the war the Japanese built miles of underground tunnels so they could fight underground? And in Sibachi's headquarters they found skeletons that hadn't been buried?"

What a way to wake up!

whole lotta randomness...

2010-11-27T01:57:00.005-05:00

I haven't felt very bloggy lately...plus I'm still trying to formulate some order in our lives...plus I like the idea of soaking in every moment with my family rather than spending time at the computer...plus a lot on my mind takes more time to process...plus...so many other things...

I'm enjoying our new surroundings. We picnic in the woods or our front yard regularly, find catfish, salamander, bluegill (although very small) along with discarded lawn mowers, old sleds, paint cans and bicycles (all treasures in Adison's book) in our creek. Our neighbor killed a deer in our backyard with a bow and arrow last week. He called, but we were already in the school room so we missed out on tracking it down with him. Our school days have become full and uninterrupted by traveling and moving.

I'm looking for colors to brighten my drab white walls. I'm thinking raging sea or lunar shadow with a splash of orange marmalade for the master bedroom and maybe some ivy topiary and retro avocado and a hint of sliced cucumber for the living room. Oh how I can't wait to rock this place out with a little color. Maybe I'll slip back into my comfort zone of fire engine red...so many decisions when you have a clean, white canvas...

Adison, as always, is full of great thoughts and questions like, "Did God hire Santa?" as he still tries to make sense of the whole Santa thing. I'm letting him come to his own conclusions this year knowing full well where it will end.

He's really into my Iphone (successfully recovered and cleaned from the toilet fiasco of 2010)...He regularly asks if I'll pull up a new 'note' so he can dictate some random thought or plan he has. Mental note: add 'personal secretary' to my job description...

The age gap between my boys is beginning to close. It has a long way to go, but it's a beautiful thing to see them laughing and playing together.

I toyed with the idea of putting together a family closet for the ease of keeping up with and putting away all our clothes. Then I decided I really like my first walk in closet and want it all to myself (and a little to Mike, of course), so it's off to the boy's little closet with their clothes...and their toys...and all the random baby/kid stuff. They're sharing a room, so I suppose letting their stuff spill over to the spare room closet isn't out of the question...

They're doing great in the same room. If Leonidas will ever sleep though the night again I think it'll be a pretty great set up. The good thing is, no matter how loud Leonidas cries at night, it never wakes up Adison. No, Adison reserves waking up for when I quietly bring the sleeping baby back to bed. When he does wake from a dead sleep he starts off talking. The same holds true at 3 o'clock in the morning when I'm trying to keep said baby asleep...

I'm enjoying this little life of ours and finding ways to breath as much of it in as possible and somehow these days I'm far more acutely aware of the suffering and hardship of people all around....it makes me all the more grateful...all the more ready...all the more anxious, at times...although I'm still working on that...

The pictures in this post are all from our backyard. You can somewhat see the back of the house behind Leonidas (with a mouthful of peanut butter and jelly) here...for those of you who've been asking...

Mike got a kick the other day when he leaned his rakes against the side of the house. He had painted the handles with leftover exterior paint from our place in CO. Against the color of our new house, the handles were a near perfect match.

I'll post more pictuers later...

true love

2010-11-17T15:37:00.001-05:00

I love when, in rare moments I'm away from my boys, Adison calls me. The last time it was to tell me the front smoke stack on the Titanic was just for looks so it only had three working smoke stacks.

I love coming around the bend in our neighborhood, before our street where all the fall colors explode.

I love hot soup on a cool night.

I love Leonidas' new forced laugh he pulls out when he realizes everyone around him is laughing.

I love my Isaiah bible study.

I love the excitement of new possibilities that are coming with Mike's new job.

I love that I have such great family and friends.

I love that my boys play together, laugh together and really seem to 'get' each other.

I love the time I get to spend with Adison when we're schooling.

I love walking along the creek behind our house listening to the leaves crunching under my feet.

I love reconnecting with old friends.

What do you love?

hungarian

2010-11-12T15:50:00.001-05:00

I haven't written a Leonidas update in a long time. I guess I could have left out the 'Leonidas' in that last sentence...but on to catching up on the littlest one who seems to change before my eyes daily...

He's 21 months, one week and two days old. He's talking a little more. He recently started saying 'up', 'down' and signs for drink, finished, more... I think he's capable of a lot more, but it's hard to get a word in edge wise around our house. When he does talk I refer to him as 'the Hungarian'. Every sound out of his mouth is robust and rough around the edges. Almost all of his made up words for things end in a harsh 'ackhh'.

I don't think I ever noted he passed the 20 pound mark! I took him to the doctor several weeks ago and he was almost 23 pounds (fully dressed, of course). I'm pretty sure he's hit a growth spurt. He was waking up during the night last week until I realized he was looking for a midnight snack. I sat up with him several nights ago as he wolfed down a cheese stick and lots of crackers. He then woke up four hours later and drank almost 8 ounces of water. Since then I've been offering him multiple snacks throughout the day and making sure he eats very full meals. I'm happy to report he's sleeping all night, for the most part, again.

He loves wrestling with Mike and Adison. If he ever catches me on the floor he comes running to knock me over and then plops his little body on top of me.

He loves water. His favorite game is dropping random objects (including my Iphone) in the toilet, sometimes digging them back out...sometimes not. Needless to say, anytime I hear splashing I go running towards the sound.

He is most assuredly living up to the 'younger brother' role. It's 'monkey see, monkey do' around here. We went to a birthday party last weekend at The Discovery Place. All the big kids sat down at the table. Leonidas walked up to the next available chair, pulled it out and sat down like Mister Big Stuff.

He even watched the lady as though he knew exactly what she was talking about.

And I don't even need to say anything about the goggles...the pictures speak for themselves...Oh, be still my beating heart...

I can't believe he's getting so big...how do I stop it?!

While we've been busy little bees unpacking, we're slowly settling into a regular routine around here. I made my first batch of chocolate chip cookies in our new house and they turned out great, if I do say so myself...just one more thing to make it feel like home.

Although nothing is finished around here...far from it actually, we're enjoying all the trees, fall leaves, a creek that runs along our backyard and the fun discoveries of being somewhere new.

And while all our Colorado friends enjoyed the first snow of the season this week (which made me homesick), we're enjoying 70 degree weather and having picnics in our front yard...

lazy five

2010-11-05T16:38:00.003-04:00

home sweet home

2010-11-01T23:29:00.001-04:00

We finally closed on our house last Thursday. We spent the weekend moving in to our new place and cleaning out the rental. We're surrounded by boxes, Leonidas is the only one sleeping in an assembled bed, I still haven't found Adison's journal of questions (to be blogged about at a later date), we've only found one pair of Mike's shoes, we don't have a washer and dryer yet, but somehow it already feels like home. We ate dinner together at our table on our dishes with our silverware, drank from our own glasses...for the first time in over two months tonight.

We even took the boys trick or treating last night! Adison wanted to be Woody from Toy Story, but I couldn't find his boots or a button up shirt....so I caved and at 4:30 Halloween afternoon we went to buy a costume. They didn't have Woody, but they did have a Buzz Lightyear costume that thrilled him (as in, he slept in it and didn't take it off until 2 o'clock this afternoon).

We explored our new neighborhood with our little sock monkey and Buzz. It's a great neighborhood and we had a great time!

The monkey getting dressed.

Buzz joining him.

I'm off to dig through candy bags...again...

it's good to be home...

2010-10-29T17:05:00.003-04:00

Halloween morning after our first night sleeping in the house.
Lots of unpacking to do...

Many hands make light work...

The contents of a box Adison packed...

I probably should have checked those a little closer. We may have had about a half dozen less boxes....

quack

2010-10-25T21:28:00.002-04:00

This is how ducks in a row look...

This is how our ducks look...
*Yes, I'm quite proud I found a photo where the ducks just happened to be running around a relatively empty house...

on the verge

2010-10-25T08:40:00.000-04:00

If, and it feels like a big if, all our ducks somehow align in a neat little row we will close on our house tomorrow. We'll pack up, one last time...for now, clean out our rental, fill the new place with all our boxes and actually begin the unpacking process. We'll be out of this 'limbo' state and into the 'setting it all up' stage. I'm trying not to hold my breath, but think I'm turning blue anyway...

In other news...

Leonidas is living up to his name. He has no fear. He climbs, jumps, runs and plays...hard. His goal is to get to the top of every surface, quickly. Then have a little victory dance at the top to make sure everyone around is as proud as he is of his newest accomplishment.

I'm pretty calm. I can handle his adventurous ways. I assess each situation and take a little risk with him sometimes.

Last week we were in downtown Charlotte. Big boys were playing around a bunch of planters on benches. I cringed a little since all the benches were marble and the ground was concrete, but gave them parameters that made me comfortable.

Leonidas and his friend walked around and around a circular bench (also marble). I was okay with it since I was close. After about 30 minutes of playing Leonidas sat down a little off kilter. He started falling, so I did what any adult would have...put my hand out to catch him. Unfortunately my hand knocked his teeth right into the bench.

A little blood, lots of tears (mostly mine, although quite a few from him too) and several broken teeth later...we now have a sweet, snaggle tooth smile...

which, of course, I can never get on camera.

titanic trumped

2010-10-20T15:33:00.000-04:00

It was a long reign and, although his fascination with big boats sinking is not over, there's a new king (and queen) in town...

The small Italian town of Pompeii and, of course, the volcano that made it famous, Mount Vesuvius.

Our school space was completely taken over last week.

by painting, building, painting

plastering, painting

until he finished his first model.

Now everything he does relates, somehow, to his new obsession.

Yesterday he cut his hand and was pretty sure it was just like Mount Vesuvius. So much so that he referred to his cut as 'Vesuvius' for the rest of the day...

The next step in our project...the eruption, of course.

waiting...

2010-10-17T21:35:00.003-04:00

I'm not a very patient person. Busyness is my game. Being in a house full of stuff that's not mine with a yard that is unusable, STILL not completely immersed in first grade, not really sure what to do with myself everyday...it's not good for my soul.

So we go...in search of something new each day. Poor boys ride around a lot as I try to navigate our new town.

We make up for it by hitting the same park over and over, but they love it. There are swings, slides, a walking path and, randomly, in the woods someone has built a tepee out of fallen (small) trees.

Mike is gone....a lot...also not good for my soul....

So we go...in search of something new each day. Maybe tomorrow...one of the many amazing libraries in this area. Maybe we'll finally hit IKEA. I've never been to an IKEA. I've only ordered a few things here and there online. They have childcare, but not for Mighty, which is who I'd actually need childcare for most. They do have play areas throughout the store. This may be our new Disneyworld...

I'm finding comfort in the small things...

who knew you could find New Belgium Beer all kinds of places on the east coast? I feel like I'm back in Buckingham with one of the best neighbors ever (that's New Begium Brewery for those of you who don't know my old neighborhood).

quiet evenings and weekends with no home projects to do.

getting to eat out a lot (although really bad on my waistline) since all I have are three really small pots for cooking in and I refuse to clean the oven from the previous tenants enough to bake anything...you have to drawn a line somewhere...

the excitement of new adventures...which we seem to find daily in lizards that bite, getting lost all the time, even with the new iphone Mike bought me, our first Dunkin' Donuts experience...

Adison is excited about his new hometown. In times when I need it most, he proclaims, "MOM! This is the most beautiful place I've ever seen! Can you believe how red those leaves are?!" He's been super excited about our new town a lot lately.

I like comfort. I like where I was before. This place is different. I don't know where I'm going to go grocery shopping. I don't know where to get my really pathetic hair cut. I don't know where to go to treat my boys to something fun. I don't have my friends around.

But the weather is beautiful and being in transition is good because it forces me to get out and get to know our new town since I still can't unpack and begin nesting...

I'm, once again, learning to be content with where I am. To smell the roses as I go, rather than waiting for the next thing to happen before I can live my life...

What a sweet life it is...

holden beach

2010-10-13T21:26:00.001-04:00

nineteen people (ten adults and nine boys under the age of 13), one house, beach front property and a lot of rain...it worked...quite well even
when it wasn't raining, truth be told, even when it was raining...we spent every possible moment in the sandwriting namescollecting shellsleaving tiny little footprints that melt my heartand when the sun actually did shine...this wonderful boy and I watched as the moon clocked out and the sun clocked inand discovered the wonders washed up on the beachand then, of course, ran inside to wake the other two so we could share the fun with them(yes, X marks the spot and he was pretty sure someone walking on the beach would be convinced there was buried treasure)

Obviously the sun wasn't out much...still glowing white after a week on the beach...

I'm fascinated by the coast and am looking forward to exploring it on this end of the world!

i'm alive

2010-10-09T22:54:00.000-04:00

and finally have regular internet again. So, of course, I'm full of random thoughts from the last several weeks and have lots of catching up to do...

Life is interesting living out of suitcases for over a month. I'm glad my boys are easily entertained...as in, all it really takes is a couple of plastic cups and some nuts Adison found on the ground outside our latest attempt at buying a house.

We're on round three. So much for our marathon weekend of house hunting. We put a contract on a house right after that weekend that never made it off the ground. About a week later we put a contract on another house. We were supposed to close on the 22nd of September, then the 30th...then we realized we had been presented with far less than the truth about the logistics of who owed what to whom... We pulled that one a couple weeks ago and are now under contract...again...

In the meantime, we had a great time in Kentucky for a couple of weeks with family, came to Charlotte for a few days, went to Holden Beach for a wonderful week full of sand, lots of tropical storm weather, waves and great people, and now we're renting a house for the month of October while we hope to actually close on the 29th of this month. We're enjoying cool, crisp fall evenings and sunny, warm days. We're starting to see hints of a real fall, you know, the kind that has more than one color. I'm slowly figuring out my way around town, although Adison was quick to let me know our car is getting really good at making u turns.

It's nearly impossible to get this boy to smile for a picture these days...

And without fail, I'm never ready when he does so it turns out blurry like this one...

Several people have warned Adison about watching out for poison ivy in the North Carolina woods. The other day we were exploring behind our house when I heard Adison whispering, "One, two, three, four....one, two, three, four...one two...one two...one two three, four..." I was just about to ask him what he was doing when I remembered, "Leaves of three, let it be."

In our discovery of our new 'neck of the woods' we found a farm and pumpkin patch this week.

Happy Fall, ya'll!!!

more september

2010-09-15T15:23:00.000-04:00

who said

2010-09-15T10:02:00.005-04:00

summer is over?!

We're still sucking the marrow out of it!

finished

2010-09-12T23:18:00.000-04:00

We left our house as 'our' house for the last time a week ago Saturday. Adison looked over every inch of it. He opened every door, cabinet, drawer...one last time.

We hopped in the car and he started sobbing. I asked if he needed me to pull over and give him a hug. He said, "No, (sob, sob) I think I'll be alright." (sob, sob...) Then about two seconds later said, "But a hug sure would be nice..."

Now we're in Kentucky and he's so busy playing with cousins, celebrating his and Uncle Scott's birthday (again), swimming in the lake...I think he's doing alright.

The last few weeks are a blur. We're catching up on sleep and slowly working into a routine at my parents. We don't close on our new house until the end of September, so the boys and I are hanging out here until we're a little closer to moving in day.

I don't have a whole lot to say about leaving Colorado still. I think it's not very real yet since it feels like we're 'just visiting' the same as normal.

I'll sum up our travel day in one (okay, maybe two or three or four) picture(s)...I don't think it's possible to pick a better day to be your last in Fort Collins than watching the Tour de Fat as it rolls past while hanging out with great friends.

We miss Fort Collins, but are very distracted by all the fun we're having in Kentucky...more to come...

leftover birthday cake

2010-08-31T01:43:00.001-04:00

Six years ago, in the wee hours of the morning I became known as mom.

Six years ago my heart grew in ways I didn't know were possible.

On it has and will continue everyday my wonderful boy is in my life.

I so love my big, strong, funny, smart, busy, inquisitive, clever boy.

Because I haven't shared it here before and because it's always on my mind when August 29th rolls around...

August 28th of 2004 we were preparing for my Mom to visit. She was coming to help with the nursery. I wasn't due for over five weeks. We went to my niece's birthday party in the evening. I ate a hot dog and cake, hung out with family and even played a little badminton.

On the way home I should've known something was up. Mike drove over railroad tracks that I felt so much it freaked me out a little. Once we were home I was so cold (a first since the beginning of my pregnancy) I put on a robe over my clothes and bundled up under covers. I experienced my first buckling contraction.

Mike convinced me, as he was packing my hospital bag, we should call the doctor. I tried (unsuccessfully) to convince him I could sleep it off (complete denial on my part).

We headed for the hospital. I arrived at 12:46 a.m. As the nurse was casually going through intake questions and trying to convince me I was far too early and would be coming back in several weeks, I vividly remember saying, "I've never done this before, but I really think you should check me." Mike tells me I stay far too calm in these situations for anyone to take me seriously.

Minutes later the room sprang into action and at 1:04 a.m. I was holding our firstborn boy.

He came into this world with a bang and hasn't stopped since.

I wouldn't have it any other way.

I was not prepared to be a Mom that night six years ago.

I suppose none of us really ever are.

What a surprise.

I knew in the moment he was placed on my chest my life would never be the same.

Nothing in my life has ever made me so proud.

We both agreed tonight the best part of the day after your birthday is leftover birthday cake!

Happy 6th year of your amazing life Adison!

birthday party

2010-08-29T15:16:00.000-04:00

more catch up

2010-08-27T23:49:00.000-04:00

So little time...so much going on...

When Adison asked me to paint with him the other day I told him I had too many things on my 'to do' list that needed to get done.

He walked right over to my 'to do' list and said, "Then why don't you add, 'Paint with Adison' to your list?!"

This time with my boys is fleeting...so, of course, I sat down to paint and we all enjoyed Leonidas' first finger painting experience.

I'm not sure what this look is all about...

We've had a lot of fun at water parks on these last, hot days of summer...

This is what we found in the park restroom!

I was shocked and a little freaked out at the ease and fun he had handling a snake when he's never held one before!

little photographer

2010-08-26T09:16:00.002-04:00

What with 'warp speed' and all, I'm so far behind on posts I'm attempting to snatch the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, also know as 'catching up'.

Saying goodbye stinks. The great part of saying goodbye, however, is how many meals we get to share and how much fun stuff we get to do with our friends and family (and how little I actually have to cook in the middle of our packing frenzy). While I've been horrible about pulling out my camera at all of the events, I do have plenty of randomness by way of pictures to share.

We spent a day at the zoo with our nieces and Mike's mom and sister. After watching his older cousin, Cadi take pictures for part of the day Adison decided to take over my camera... I think he did a pretty good job (aside from the many pictures he took of my backside which will NOT be posted here).
He took a quick break from behind the camera to showcase his super hero likeness.
Okay, I'm done. So much for catching up. Maybe another day...

warp speed

2010-08-25T09:28:00.000-04:00

could describe a number of things in my life right now...

It's the speed at which the days are flying by as we prepare to move. I can't believe the end of August is upon us. When I first wrote about moving at the 'end of August' it seemed so far away. Now it's so close and I'm finding myself stressing out on a regular basis.

It's also the speed at which Leonidas is beginning to move around on his feet. He's definitely still wobbly, but moving fast enough that his face regularly looks like this...

I had forgotten how often they bonk their heads and faces once they're upright!

Warp speed is a good description of this guy now that he's learned to ride his bike without training wheels! (Which I've yet to get photographic evidence of...)

He's been content to ride his cool monster trike for so long that he only recently asked to try out his 'new' (since Christmas) non-training wheel bike. He picked it up pretty quickly and now zooms from one end of our street to the other with ease.

And so is life...at warp speed.

county fair, part two

2010-08-17T09:37:00.001-04:00

Alternately titled, "we caved".

The smiles and fun it brought made it worth every cent.

That's six hundred cents if you're wondering.

Just in case you need more proof that it was fun...

Getting very, very tired...

more august

2010-08-15T15:11:00.000-04:00

boys and big tractors

2010-08-14T10:17:00.000-04:00

We made our annual trip to the county fair last week.

It never disappoints.

Waiting patiently for the mule and draft horse pull.

the view from here

2010-08-11T01:11:00.000-04:00

is amazing.

It's one of our favorite places on earth.

This is my most recent favorite picture taken at this spot.

I love hiking to the top of the big rock field to look down on the meadow we camp at every year.

From this spot you can see the Rocky Mountain range and more pine trees than you ever imagined existed in all the world.
You can hear the river flowing by down below.

You can feel the wind on your face.

The blue sky stretches out forever and ever.

As we neared the stream and Adison made his way up into the meadow for the first time this year he exclaimed, "I feel like I'm home!"

He then frolicked, yes frolicked, all through the meadow laughing and playing.Yes son, it does feel like home.

And, of course, Mike loves driving in and out...

besties

2010-08-09T09:13:00.000-04:00

I'm feeling full this morning. It's a quiet one. Leonidas and I are sitting at the kitchen table while he eats his breakfast and tries to feed me grapes, banana bread and eggs. Adison is sleeping in today. He was a little...grumpy this past weekend so I'm happy he's getting much needed sleep. I think he's feeling a little insecure about all the changes, the moving, the packing, the constant talk about life in North Carolina. I've had to remind myself continually what a big deal this is for him. That it's not just about me because, well, I tend to be pretty self absorbed.

I've been on facebook this morning while drinking my coffee and being force fed by my one year old. It occurred to me that, while I'm not super close to a lot of my facebook friends, how blessed I am to have an incredible network of wonderful people. I can reach out to my college room mate about a move across the country which she's done a gazillion times with her family. I can let someone moving across the world today know they are on my mind. I can make playdate plans with a friend we'll miss terribly when we move...

While I only have a few besties (really close friends who share everyday life with me), which is exactly as I believe it's meant to be, I love that I can still connect with my besties from previous times in my life, that I can be encouraged and encouraging to people far away. I know my life is blessed for a great many reasons, but today I am full with the amazing and wonderful people I am blessed to call friends from all different areas of my life.

Because I'm shameless and I couldn't possibly post without adding pictures of my kids...

this is how you keep a one year old entertained while you pack.

Adison's project this past week was building an orphange out of a box. That's his stuffed dragon (known as 'Dragonee') with it's head stuck out the window. The only reason I can come up with for the new found obsession with orphans and orphanages...we saw Despicable Me last week, which, in my opinion, was a really sweet movie.

a long, long time ago

2010-08-05T03:11:00.002-04:00

I posted about Adison having loose teeth. A month and a half ago to be exact.

Last weekend they finally came out...while we were camping in the mountains!

He lost the first one Saturday night while we were all sitting around the campfire. It was really loose. He was sitting on my lap and had been messing with it the whole time. Finally he laid his head back on me and said, with a little whine, it was really bothering him. I asked if he truly wanted me to pull it. He said yes. I told him it would hurt. He still said yes. He opened wide and I gave a good tug...

At first I think he was a little freaked out. I was squealing and never even thought about it bleeding until my brother in law brought him water to rinse and spit (obviously he's a little more experienced in the whole loosing teeth thing than me!) Once Adison got over the initial shock he was so excited. We put it in a baggy and he spent the rest of the night going around the campfire showing everyone the baggy and the empty-ish (he already has a big tooth growing in) space in his mouth.

He put it under his pillow after much deliberation. We woke up in the middle of the night and as I was getting him settled back in his sleeping bag he suddenly remembered his tooth and found his two dollars. He excitedly pulled them apart and in his sleepy, out of it voice said, "I got a two and a six!!!!" Then he laid his head down and was out again within seconds. Mike and I rolled with laughter...a two and a six?! The next morning in the daylight we saw that the serial numbers started with a two and six. I had to gently break it to him that they were both ones...

After he lost his first tooth Saturday night somebody (Grandpa) said if he lost two teeth in the mountains the second was worth five dollars. He spent all the next morning working and working to get it out. We pretty much replayed the previous night...and so Grandpa coughed up five big ones!

It was a great camping weekend full of lots of firsts!

Grandpa and Adison gearing up Leonidas for his solo walking debut.

It always starts out innocently enough...

And then morphs into this...

It's a good thing Odin is such a patient, good natured, sucker of a dog!

This is what mountain air will do to you...

eighteen months

2010-08-04T00:55:00.000-04:00

Somebody has decided walking just might be the way to go...

with a little food for motivation (that's my boy).

He's so darn cute I'm sure the Doritos company will be calling this week to use him for their next ad campaign!

Why he chose to start walking on our camping trip where the terrain is just about as uneven as it gets, I'll never know... Maybe he just likes the challenge.

*more exciting news from our camping trip to come

adisonisms

2010-07-29T10:45:00.000-04:00

I realize I'm behind on my Adisonisms when I find random scraps of paper on my nightstand, in the car, on the kitchen counter...with notes about his latest thoughts that make me laugh.

I have a collection today...

Getting in the car on a really hot day he said, very exasperated,"I wish our car was made of ice because it's flippin' darn hot!"

~~~

In his bed the other night talking about food we both like because, according to him, "We have a lot of the same taste buds." He asked, "Why doesn't Dad like cotton candy?! I mean, what's better than cotton filled with sugar?!" Small pause, "Is that what it's made of?"

~~~

After reading from the Old Testament at breakfast one morning he stated, "I hope someday I'm going to have lots of descendants."

~~~

Before we knew about our move we were talking about our house and when Adison is all grown up. He said, "Mom, when the time comes for me I want to move into this house and if Odin isn't dead, I want him to live with me."

~~~

Another hot day, also getting into the car, "Mom, I think it must be hotter than hell in here!"

~~~

And in other Adison news...he had a pretty good black eye a couple weeks ago. He thought it made him look pretty tough and had me document it every day...

Day one

Day two

Day three

Day four

And this is just because every baby needs a messy eater photo...

weekends are for relaxing

2010-07-27T10:07:00.001-04:00

not for marathon house hunting.

We flew to North Carolina (with the boys) to explore our new stomping grounds Friday. After settling into our hotel we took off to see eight houses and a lot of the Charlotte area. Saturday, over the course of a nine hour day, we hit 19 houses. Sunday morning we saw seven more and Monday, in the short time before our flight left, we saw four.

Our boys are champs!!! They did great! There was definitely some occasional whining about getting in and out of the car and the heat (in the 100s everyday which made me want to whine too) but Adison handled it so well. Thank goodness for backpacks full of activities, fascination with paper airplane making and portable dvd players!

I can't even imagine how tired Leonidas is of being touched. We got him in and out of his car seat at houses over 30 times, not to mention all the other random stops we made. In most places I wasn't comfortable with him crawling around, so he was held a lot, which he fights with every fiber of his being.

I have a feeling the wonderful, refreshing pool at the hotel made up for most of the torture. We spent each evening cooling off, kicking around, jumping in and just enjoying not being in a car.

I took my camera thinking I'd be taking tons of pictures of the house. You know, the one you walk into and just know this is it. It didn't quite work that way. It's hard walking into an empty house or a house full of other people's stuff to imagine your family there. It was easy for me to get lost in it all and forget that the structure is not what makes it home. Our family is what makes it home. So we've narrowed our search down to three different places, all with very different pros and cons. We're planning to pick one and make an offer by tomorrow morning.

And even though I had my camera, I never even touched it until we were on the plane coming home. I just couldn't resist how funny and cute the boys were devouring Twizzlers.

And that's when I remembered, I could live anywhere and do anything with my little boys and my big one too...

entertainment

2010-07-23T10:59:00.003-04:00

It shows up in the strangest of places....

Leonidas spent about 45 minutes putting the spoon in the milk jug... taking it out...

Then he decided the hole in the floor was a great place for a spoon too. Good thing it didn't go all the way through. Maybe when we move we'll find all the random things both our boys have shoved into that hole...if we figure out where it goes...

bath time

2010-07-22T17:43:00.000-04:00

mana

2010-07-20T15:08:00.005-04:00

My links to Mana weren't working in this post. So for those of you who tried to check out this wonderful organization, but found yourselves at a dead end..

Click here to go to mananutrition.org

(Thanks, Jennifer for letting me know!)

an ode

2010-07-19T23:22:00.001-04:00

I came across this poem Adison wrote during our school year while ~~throwing out a bunch of crap~~ packing our school room...

The Titanic
The Titanic, the Titanic was a big, big ship.
It sunk onto the coral like a brick.
It broke like glass on the bottom,
schmottom, tottom, cottom...nottom.

I pretty much laughed as hard reading through his poem this time as I did the day he wrote it. Love that big grin he flashes when he knows I think he's pretty funny!

Since I'm, once again, on the topic of Titanic...I found ice trays that are Titanic and icebergs last weekend. I don't even need to tell you what a hit that's been!

if babies could lay eggs

2010-07-18T10:07:00.000-04:00

this would be just about the cutest little chicken I've ever seen!

Make that chickens...

in my mind i'm goin' to carolina

2010-07-14T10:58:00.001-04:00

One thousand six hundred sixteen miles...to Charlotte, North Carolina.

Here's the skinny:

Mike went to check out a job opportunity just over three weeks ago, which we found out about three days before. He wasn't looking. It just popped up. He was pretty sure there was no way we were moving when he left to check it out.

Through a lot of late night talks, pro/con lists and a final decision that came from 'just knowing' it was what we need/want to do...we're planning a departure date at the end of August.

How did we 'just know'? He'll be working with Mana. They produce a nutritive aid for children suffering from severe acute malnutrition. Check out their website and you'll understand.

And so, scenes like this are becoming a regular occurrence around our house...

I'm pretty sure I'll be setting a world record for number of 'cute kids in a box' pictures posted to my blog over the next six weeks. Adison has been making forts constantly since we brought in a big stack of them earlier this week...

this house

2010-07-13T14:43:00.000-04:00

wasn't much when we bought it, as a matter of fact it caused me to cry many times in the first days and weeks

this house has, quite literally at times, been a thorn in my side

this house is my home on earth

this house is where I brought my boys to live in their first days and years

this house is where I have hidden from the world on my dreariest of days

this house, although we have lived many places, is the first I have ever called my own

this house is the only home my boys have ever known

this house holds eight years of memories

this house is very near some of the dearest, closest friends I have ever had in all my life

I'm gonna miss this house...

and while I'm excited to look ahead

to be positive about a major transition in our lives

today I'm sad

today I want to cry and wallow a little

as we prepare to make a trek across the country

to a place I'm sure is wonderful

but completely new to me

full of people I don't know

away from our family and friends and

this house.

fish out of water

2010-07-12T15:49:00.001-04:00

I've blogged many times about the craziness that is Adison when he's mixed with water. He loves it. When we were in Mexico he wore the skin off the bottom of all his toes from jumping around in the pool so much. It didn't phase him. He bled, he cried, we bandaged, he jumped right back in the pool.

I'm really glad he's not afraid of water, but he makes me nervous. I finally signed him up for swimming lessons since his lack of fear and constant flailing only caused him to sink if he's ever deeper than four feet.

He's been in lessons four days a week for two weeks and today he swam half the length of the pool with just a tiny bit of assistance!

I am so proud and so is he!

Here are pics of his first day when he was just learning to float...

He loves his teachers. They are so patient and fun!

Tomorrow Leonidas and I start his lessons together. There will be no photographic evidence because 1) I'll be in the pool with him and 2) I'll be in a bathing suit...

I will show you what he's been up to when big brother was in lessons the last two weeks...

dirty boys...

2010-07-07T09:46:00.002-04:00

Where have these dirty boys been?!

In the mountains, of course!

Playing with friends in the dirt...

Hanging out in a tent during a rain/hail storm while Adison tested out his photography skills...

(Gotta love the angles he takes pictures from...)

Snacking lots during the storm...

Going on hikes...

Wearing themselves out...

And, their favorite, shootin' stuff...

milk snob

2010-07-05T10:41:00.000-04:00

Warning: This post is full of randomness from the last few weeks that don't make a full post by themselves...

I found these huge feathers on a run recently.

A little ink and Adison put them to good use for me... ~~~

We've had fresh milk delivered to our house since before Adison was born. He drinks it up. Anytime we have other milk he tells me, "Mom, this milk doesn't taste right!" I'm afraid we've raised a milk snob!

~~~

While talking about planets lately, I asked Adison which ones were bigger out of Neptune, Uranus, Pluto and earth. He quickly told me Neptune and Uranus were bigger, then added, "Neptune and Uranus are bossier too!"

~~~

We witnessed a great fireworks show last night. We had planned to ride our bikes to the park, but it was pouring rain. It was still raining after 9 o'clock. We braved it (by car) anyway, set up our space on the grass, wrapped up in blankets and covered ourselves with plastic. Nothing like the 4th of July in Colorado!

The fireworks started right on time and made it all worth it! And, it stopped raining about 10 minutes into the show! It was a great time and I was so sad I forgot my camera. My favorite part of Independence Day fireworks is watching the glow of them off my mesmerized kids' faces.

Leonidas loved the show. He kept trying to reach up with both hands to grab them.

The finale was so big Adison's face stayed busy shaking back and forth trying to take it all in and I missed the whole thing watching him!

Happy 234th birthday America!

soaking it all in

2010-07-01T22:21:00.001-04:00

This place we live...

is so amazing...

the people we are allowed and blessed to love...

to call family whether we are actually related or not...

and all of our sweet little people (which I could eat up at any moment) who I'm blessed to watch grow up...

I love summertime in Colorado.

We're spending our summer days soaking it all in. My fingers and toes just might get pruney from the sheer joy of it all...

mutton bustin', final chapter for 2010

2010-06-30T10:01:00.000-04:00

Where do I begin?! I suppose here... where excitement is oozing out of every part of his little body.

Then I can move here, where the size of his drink is incredibly disproportionate to his body and he's soaking in the arena that he will soon be entering.

And I just have to go here next

to showcase my littlest hanging with Grandpa soaking in the rodeo too.

Adison and Milo checking out the rodeo together.

Finally, the main event (that we were there for anyway...) and getting suited up for it.

I knew as soon as this cowgirl started helping Adison with his helmet he would tell her he loved her chaps. He did. (How well do I know my boy?!)

She went on to tell him that she made them herself, which really impressed him.

Waiting for the 'big show'.

Warming up (he's the one to her left squatted down with blue sleeves)

Ready.... Set....

DONE! (That's him lying flat on the ground)

And back to the sidelines (holding hands with a cowgirl he told us was beautiful).

This was his best ride yet! I don't know how long he stayed on, but he scored in 2nd place!

And no rodeo experience is complete without carnival rides...

I stood there watching my baby get on and off rides with Alexa, laughing, smiling, screaming, holding his hands up as they flew past me and was reminded once again...he's not a baby. He's a big, strong, fun loving boy!

first haircut

2010-06-24T22:45:00.000-04:00

It had to be done...mainly because he was being referred to as she.

before(I forgot to get the 'before' until after I had started snipping on his left side)

after

Mental note...do NOT give your child a sucker while you're cutting his hair. I really thought it was a great idea and would keep him occupied, which it did, but I had to rinse it off a hundred times because hair kept getting stuck to it! He really didn't care, but I did.

waking up

2010-06-23T10:45:00.004-04:00

is hard to do...until I scoop Leonidas out of his bed at the beckoning of his outstreched hands and huge 'good morning' grin.

Waking up is oh, so much sweeter on these morning when I can still smell a good mixture of chlorine, sunscreen and bugspray on him from all our outings of the full summer day before.

Nothing says summer quite like the sweet smell of it on your kids.

I have no idea what the two of them are looking at, but this one is just funny to me!

Speaking of smells, yesterday we were riding in the car. Adison was leaned way over entertaining his brother when I hear him say, "Leonidas, your arm pit smells clean."

There was a pause, as I looked in the rear view mirror and he was smelling his own armpit. "Mine doesn't smell like that."

Adison then replies on behalf of Leonidas in the funny little 'Leonidas voice' he uses, "That's because I wash mine!"

Adison then says (in his own voice and with a big grin on his face because he knows I've tuned in), "I don't always wash mine, but sometimes I do!"

how

2010-06-22T10:44:00.000-04:00

is this comfortable?

Is this "Sleeping like a baby"?

school's out

2010-06-22T00:26:00.002-04:00

Summer is here!!!!

We finished up our kindergarten year Friday. I don't know if my heart can take it...loose teeth (yes, now it's teeth) and a first grader! I must say, however, I think I'm even more excited about summer break than Adison is and he's EXCITED! At one point Mike suggested we just take a week off and then keep on going with school through the summer. All I can say about that is, it's a good thing for him there were no good throwable objects near me at the moment.

We've had a great year full of successes and failures. I'm learning a lot about my limits and a lot about how my first born, busy boy learns best.

It completely depends on the week as to whether or not Adison will say he likes school or doesn't like it at all. Of course, since I announced we were almost finished for the year he's enjoyed telling me how much he doesn't like school. Just the motivation I needed to finish strong...

So what, you ask, do we do when we don't have school?

Those were actually from the weekend, but it was a good transition into fun pictures!

We really don't know what to do without school yet. We spent today wandering around the house and our backyard trying to figure it out. He's already plowed through a good amount of crafts I expected to last us for several weeks... I better work out our summer schedule fast!

da da da da da da da da da da da da

2010-06-20T12:56:00.008-04:00

Leonidas is still stuck on one word, "da da da da da da da da da..." He has many other sounds, but "da da da da da da da da da da da" is still the only word he uses that very obviously belongs to his Dad. He can sign 'more' and 'finished' and is working on 'please'.

We practice "mom" all the time. He puts those sweet little lips together as though he's about to form a lovely 'mmmmm' sound. Just as I'm sure it's about to come out..."da da da da da da da da da da da da da..." as he searches the room for his favorite person.

I suppose it's fitting today, of all days, that it's his favorite and only word.

Adison was super excited again this morning. He was over the top about the present he found for his Dad...

A sunken pirate ship to replace the octopus we had in the fish tank.

He was equally excited about the breakfast we made for Mike. Rice Krispies and Oreos...Mmmmmmmmm....

The card (which was my favorite part)

and the rest of Mike's presents were just something to get through until he could eat his cereal...although it didn't wane his excitement!

Happy Father's Day, Mike!

out with the old...

2010-06-17T09:10:00.000-04:00

There's a lot of excitement in the Salza household this week. There's ~~daily~~ ~~hourly~~ minute to minute talk about the Greeley Stampede (which is Tuesday, June 29th for those of you who are interested in joining us) and last night a whole new excitement hit our house.

It started way back in February 2005 right here..

Progressed to here.

And pretty much filled itself out here in February of 2006.

It wasn't that long ago my big boy was upset he still has 'baby' teeth because he wants nothing to do with being 'baby' anymore. Last night, upon realizing he had his first wiggly tooth, he went crazy with excitement. I can't even tell you between the hours of 6:30 and 9 how many times he said, "Mom, Dad...feel it now!"

The first time I felt it, it was barely moving. By the time he went to bed it was pretty loose. I think it won't be long given his excitement and determination! I decided I better get a few more pictures of that sweet little gap between his two front, bottom teeth. Sniff, sniff, my baby is growing up...

part three, coming soon...

2010-06-14T17:28:00.004-04:00

We were super disappointed this weekend. We received a letter that Adison didn't get into our 'back up' mutton bustin' event. Then the last of the mutton bustin' at the small rodeo series near our house was cancelled because of rain. I figured his mutton bustin' days were over this summer.

This afternoon I got a message from the Greeley Stampede, which is the main event we applied for a couple of weeks ago (as shown here). I figured it was a 'thanks for your application and letter, but we're full' message. Much to my delight...he got in!!!!! We're moving on to the big show now. No more backyard rodeo for our little cowboy!

He's down for a much needed rest this afternoon and I'm having a hard time not waking him up to tell him, so I'm blogging about it instead. I'll have more details when we get our event packet in the mail... I'll keep you posted!

mutton bustin' part two

2010-06-12T09:19:00.000-04:00

Adison went Mutton Bustin' again last Friday night. The first week good friends from Mike's work came out to watch. Last week some of our favorite neighbors and his grandparents came to watch him. I think he's feelin' the love these days!

He also made a couple of friends in the stands...The little girl was so cute! After Mutton Bustin' Adison gave her his ribbon since she didn't go...so sweet!

During the national anthem (which we have sung almost every night before bed this past week per Adison's request).

High fiving the cowboys before the rodeo.

All suited up and ready to go.

Holding on with all his might getting ready to bolt out of the chute.

He went about twice as long this week and was SO proud!

great week

2010-06-10T23:41:00.002-04:00

It's vacation bible school week again! I wasn't sure at the beginning of the week just how it was going to go...

Adison was so excited Sunday night he didn't fall asleep until after 11:30. That made for one sleepy boy on Monday morning, which, apparently makes for a pushy boy... When I picked him up after vbs his teacher told me there was an 'incident'. It involved googly eyes during craft time. Adison kept putting them on another boy's face when the other boy didn't want them on his face. That didn't stop my sleep deprived, determined, no personal space boundaries boy...so they got in a fight.

Then we had an especially long night Tuesday. For some reason Adison kept waking up. At 3:30 in the morning Mike and I woke up to a loud crash and then screaming. Not my favorite way to wake up. We both bolted out of bed and high tailed it to Adison's room. He was on the floor, crying, with a bloody face. He woke up disoriented and tried to get off his loft bed on the end without a ladder.

Here's his fat lip.

Around 3:45, as we were snuggling on the couch and regaining our composure, Adison laughed and said, "I kissed the floor!"

I missed getting a picture of his green hair for crazy hair day today, but I did get pictures of 'mix up' day...

He was quite proud of his mismatched shoes, socks and backwards shirt. Tomorrow's the last day, aka the day he's most anticipated. He gets to wear his swim suit, take his water gun and run around getting wet and soaking everyone in sight.

He really has had a great week, despite his few mishaps...

this little chicky

2010-06-05T10:11:00.000-04:00

We did pick out two more...weeks ago...but I'm just now getting to it. If I'm allowed to have 'favorites', they're it. I think they're so cute!

We named all six of them shortly after that... Adison wanted each 0f us to pick out one name since there are six chicks and six of us (Mike, me, Adison, Leonidas, Odin and our fish, which I've never blogged about.)

Mike's is Lemon because she was so yellow when we got her. (She's the one in the back looking away from the camera...so uncooperative...)

Adison's is Toofy because Adison was convinced she still had her egg tooth when we got her and he pronounces his 'th' as 'ff'.
Mine is Nutmeg because...well, look at her...
Leonidas' is 'Ah, Ha' because at the time that was pretty much all he said.
Odin's is 'Woof' for obvious reasons.

And the fish's is 'Bloop, Bloop' or 'Bloop' for short (said with the first bloop low and the second high as though bubbles are floating up through the water).

They're getting big and will soon be making a move to the great outdoors. I'm ready for it. My house smells like a barnyard!

makes me smile

2010-06-03T23:30:00.000-04:00

we call him

2010-06-02T09:33:00.001-04:00

Godzilla.

There was a time he would have been the underdog in a battle with our new feathered friends. Not these days. No, they scurry away in fear of chubby little fingers that are lightning fast. We also call him 'Ninja hands'.

Godzilla, I mean Leonidas, was removed for the purpose of the following photos, safety of the chicks and at Adison's insistence ("MOM! He's ruining EVERYTHING!") Oh, the drama...

This dead spot in our grass was transformed by Adison to 'Chickville' back when our chicks were still little. The sticks stuck in the ground are their shade trees. He enacted full scenes of bad weather, chicks needing to hide out under the shelter of big trucks and boxes...

I have another post coming to introduce our two, not so new now additions and all six with pictures and names. They're just so darn hard to photograph because, like little boys, they move constantly and when I say, "Smile!" they just keep on going.

Adison instructing 'Godzilla' on the proper way to hold a chick.

watch out sheep

2010-05-31T11:03:00.002-04:00

Adison's in town...

Two point six miles straight east of our house there's a mini rodeo for the next several weekends. We found out about it around three o'clock Saturday. (Thanks Debi and Chantel!) They have Mutton Bustin' and all the kids who sign up get to mutton bust. It was the best ten dollars I've ever spent!

Adison had his first run at it. I'm pretty sure his sheep was on speed, mainly because it had speed, lots of it, straight out of the gate. Adison hung on tight, slipped around to it's side and fell off on all fours. He just sat there for a minute, seeming a little stunned, on all fours. One of the rodeo workers (what are they called, sheep hands, rodeo hands...?) came over, picked him up, dusted him off and sent him running, proudly to the fence to watch the others.

We realized, after the fact, he thought he'd be riding a sheep sitting up like riding a horse. He also had no idea it would only last about two seconds. I thought he remembered it from our rodeo trip last year. Obviously, he didn't. He still loved it though. On the way home he shouted, loudly, "I JUST RODE A SHEEP!!" with a big grin on his face while he was clutching his Mutton Bustin' ribbon.

He also told me once we were home, "Mom, falling off didn't feel like this...," as he threw himself on the floor, "it felt more like this..." as he threw himself on the couch. He was super impressed with how soft the ground was in the arena. I told him they rake it over and over to make it soft so it won't hurt as much when you fall, to which he replied, "That is soooooooo nice of them!" as though they did it just for him.

His questions these days have a lot to do with what real cowboys do and don't do. You can imagine his excitement getting to high five all the cowboys before the rodeo started.

Waiting, so excited he could hardly stand it...

All ready to go.

You can't see much in this picture, but just a little to the left, at the huddle of adults Adison is on the sheep getting ready to go.

It was such a fun night. He was so proud. I was too, but after watching all the bull riders I'm afraid I may have taken us down a path I'm not prepared to go!

mutton bustin'

2010-05-27T09:05:00.003-04:00

Fifteen years ago, the first time I visited Colorado with Mike, we went to the Greeley Stampede. I fell in love with Mutton Bustin'. Last year we took Adison and he also fell in love with Mutton Bustin'. He asked to be in it this year.

I sent off his application today in hopes he'll be picked. Here's the letter he wrote to go with it:

Dear Judges,

My name is Adison Michael Salza. This year I want to go Mutton Bustin' at the Greeley Stampede. I am 5 and 3/4 years old. I have cowboy boots and a cowboy hat that I'm gonna wear when I go Mutton Bustin', if you let me.

I think I can ride a sheep for half an hour at least. Maybe an hour. Well, maybe not an hour. Maybe 100 seconds.

I love the Greeley Stampede because I get to eat cotton candy while I watch the cowboys in the rodeo.

Please pick me. If you do, I'll Mutton Bust very good.

Adison

P.S. One more thing, I'll probably be the best Mutton Buster you've ever had.

~~~

Say a little prayer for him. I'm afraid he'll be majorly disappointed if he's not chosen...

surprise

2010-05-26T09:43:00.000-04:00

Someone (Grammy) had a birthday on Monday. We decided to make a quick trip to Kentucky to surprise her. I waited until two days before we were leaving to tell Adison. After explaining to him we were surprising her for her birthday he asked, "Are we going to be her present?!" I told him I couldn't think of anything anyone could want more!

When we got there we snuck all through an outdoor shopping mall and a Ross before we found her in JoAnn Fabrics. (Pop lured her to Nashville for a shopping trip.) Adison snuck up behind her, took her hand and asked, "Where we going next, Grammy?" She was shocked and he loved that he was so sneaky!

We had a wonderful weekend of playing, celebrating (my niece's birthday was last weekend too), eating cake and enjoying family.

I managed to get out of town without my camera so I don't have a single picture to show for the whole trip! I love seeing Adison and Leonidas with their cousins, so those 'pictures' are stamped in my head forever.

Hope your 39th year is great, Grammy!!!

wood ducks

2010-05-20T09:09:00.001-04:00

A couple weeks ago Adison and Mike went to a sporting goods store. He's always interested in the duck decoys. So much so that Mike bought him a five dollar coot (small black duck) about a year ago. It's one of his favorite bath tub toys.

On their last trip, while Mike was busy looking at arrows, Adison checked out all the decoys. Mike said he could see him looking, but from a couple aisles away didn't realize Adison had stacked eight boxes of shot gun shells to use as a stool so he could get a better look at one particular duck. When they came home all he could talk about was this wood duck. Mike told me later it was thirty-eight dollars. We both laughed about it and went on with our lives.

When Adison fills his change jar we take it to the bank. He deposits half in a savings account and gets cash for his spending money. It just so happened that he filled his jar shortly after their sporting goods store visit. He knew immediately what he wanted...the wood duck. Mike and I both told him over and over it would take all his spending money. He didn't care. That one little wood duck was worth it to him.

We both tried to help him understand it was a lot of money for one duck. He understood and was still giddy about going to buy it. At the store he excitedly took me to see what all the excitement was about. We browsed for a little while and kept coming back to that one little duck. The whole time my stomach was churning over the fact that he was about to drop thirty-eight dollars on a fake duck.

We finally relented and asked the sales clerk to get it for us. It was then that I actually read the display sign and realized it was thirty eight dollars not for just one little wood duck, but two resting wood ducks, two active wood ducks (with swivel heads, no less), one resting hen and one active hen....yes, that's a total of SIX wood ducks.

I thought Adison was going to burst when the guy walked out with a huge box!

He cracks me up...

pretty much all the time.

on or around

2010-05-18T17:23:00.001-04:00

today Leonidas should be a year old. Yes, today is one year from my 'due date'. I can't imagine the last fifteen and a half months any other way.

What a wonderful pair of boys we have!

blood money

2010-05-16T17:16:00.000-04:00

I know this is controversial. I know this hits close to home for far more men and women I know personally than I could ever imagine. I know as a society we don't like to talk about it.

That's what satan wants. He'd rather us not talk about it, not look for solutions, not seek healing, not lend an ear, not get involved, not love each other and make it our goal to overcome evil with good.

I wish I could walk around with blinders on. I wish I didn't know the things I do about the abortion industry. More than that, I wish they weren't there to be known. I see the glazed over eyes when I talk about it, so I think it's very likely many will skip this post and the following trailer because, like me, you'd rather not deal with it.

It's there and like so many other terrible things that happen in the world, the more I become aware of them, the more I have to engage. The more I know, the more I'm able to do to open the eyes of others and help prevent injustice in the world. The more my heart breaks for the people around me, the more I'm able to love my neighbor.

The truth is no matter what circle of people you run among, how young or old, Christian or non Christian, similar or dissimilar lifestyle you lead, you know more than one person who has been very closely affected by abortion. They deal with it in their lives on a regular basis. For many, it silently haunts them.

While I would love to see abortion become illegal, so very much more than that I would love to see hurting men and women given the opportunity to heal. I would love to see our future generations relieved of this pain before it even starts. I would love to see beautiful babies bringing joy to their parents in spite of the overwhelming job of being called a parent in any walk of life.

Please visit this website or watch the following video. It's a start to more knowledge about the business of abortion.

cover dive

2010-05-15T12:22:00.001-04:00

Sometimes life gets in the way of the internet and blogging. Last week was definitely one of those times for us. We were busy with school, friends, playing outside in between the cold, wet days and spending lots of time just loving being together.

I have lots to write about, but my pictures aren't uploading to blogger for some reason, so I'll have to figure that out and then catch up on all my photo laden posts later.

For now I have a couple good stories...

Every morning Adison comes to join me in our bed for snuggle time. He always brings a few 'friends'. This morning we were snuggling when he sat up and said, "I think I'm gonna have to do a cover dive." He threw back the covers and started fishing around for his 'friends' who had found their way deep into the bed.

Once he found everyone and we were all situated and comfy again I asked him if he could live anywhere in the world where he would choose. He lay there, eyes closed tight thinking for a moment and then his little eyes popped opened and he whispered, "Mexico!" We talked all about how we would get there...on a boat we would build, of course. Although, Odin would not be allowed on deck because he might fall overboard. And for that matter we'd have to keep Leonidas below deck too. The beta could stay in a bag of water that we tied to a string attached to the back of the boat so he could see everything in the water. (He can't live in salt water, so he'd have to be in the bag.) He was pretty worried about our sleeping arrangements below decks because it wouldn't be tall enough for bunk beds, but he figured we could handle using sleeping bags until we made it to Mexico.

He then decided we could live in the rental house we stayed at in April. I asked how we could pay for that. He quickly told me Dad could work for the Dairy Queen we stopped at in Playa del Carmen.

I'm so glad he has it all figured out for us. What a little planner!

ten times

2010-05-07T17:03:00.000-04:00

I had planned to post this on Monday, but my laptop is on the fritz. It's off being 'looked into'. If I had posted on Monday it would have begun as follows...

Today Leonidas is fifteen months old! He's finally gaining weight at a rapid rate and has hit another milestone. He is ten times his original weight. I'll save you time trying to do the math...he started at 1 pound 12 ounces (28 ounces) and now he's 17 pounds and 8 ounces (280 ounces).

The following photos are to show you why I don't do perspective pictures anymore...

It's exhausting and those were the best twenty of over a hundred!

chirp, chirp

2010-04-30T09:33:00.002-04:00

For those of you still wondering...

This was the beginning of our

chicken coop.

This

is one excited boy picking up four of our six chicks at the farm store.

Since it's still a little cool outdoors for chicks, they're residing in my living room in a box. Not sure how long that'll last with an over the top excited five year old and a curious one year old. Odin has had very little interest in them at this point, so he's the least of my concerns.

Adison was a little disappointed that laying hens have to be girls and not boys, but seems to be over it already.

~~~

Latest Adisonism: "Mom! I think you need to sign me up for shoe tying lessons!"

i would never...

2010-04-29T09:38:00.000-04:00

I follow a strict policy of always being above board and never tricking my kids into anything.

That's why when Adison's friends were over for our once a month 'kid swap' we played an innocent game of pick up sticks in the yard. I gave them very specific rules about where the sticks were to come from (not the wood pile, only off the grass), set out a five gallon bucket and timed them. They ran around like crazy trying to 'outdo' each other. So much so they didn't realize there was no real way to win, unless they were me of course. It was 'win-win' for me. My yard full of sticks was picked up and they were occupied for at least fifteen minutes. Okay, it was a win for them too because they finished in under some random time I made up after I was satisfied all the sticks were up and they earned themselves the glorious prize of two Oreos each.

Go ahead. Bring your kids over. There's no telling what kind of 'game' I'll come up with next.

(Disclaimer: I'm perfectly okay with child labor and no children were harmed in this exercise.)

homecoming

2010-04-28T02:00:00.001-04:00

One year ago our day started here...

and ended here...

That was a good day.

bounce

2010-04-26T09:22:00.002-04:00

When the weather won't cooperate, sometimes you just have to go crazy (indoors)!

school days

2010-04-24T16:06:00.003-04:00

Although it's been a little cool, we've enjoyed spending school days outside more and more...

~~~

The Walk for Life this morning was windy and cold, but so much fun! I love reconnecting with friends and it makes me giddy to see so many people involved in a ministry I love so much!

Thanks to everyone who donated to my Walk! If you missed out, it's not too late to go here and donate to the Alpha Center directly!

baby jail

2010-04-23T00:01:00.000-04:00

when this is in jeopardy...

this is how a five year old handles it...

up and going

2010-04-21T22:45:00.000-04:00

You don't all have to jump at once, but just in case you've been checking it all day...

My fund raising page for the Walk for Life is up again. Go ahead. Check it out and give lots and lots of money to the Alpha Center!

Don't make me beg, you know I will!!!

(And just in case you don't like internet transactions...email me at ssalza at gmail dot com to pledge!)

hotels

2010-04-21T11:14:00.000-04:00

Adison is no stranger to a night or two in a hotel. As I was editing our pictures from Easter morning I realized this is the second year in a row he's gone through his basket in a hotel room...

BUT this year he got to go through his brother's basket too!!!

We did at least dye eggs at home...

Dyeing eggs at our house is pretty formal. No shirt or shoes required.

~~~

Only THREE more days until the Alpha Center's Walk for Life. I'm still a long way from my goal. I would say Click here to support the Alpha Center, but my website isn't working as I'm writing this! SO, you can email me (ssalza at gmail dot com) or leave a comment with a pledge and I'll have the Alpha Center bill you later.

Want to know more? Check out the Alpha Center ministry here. You can also go here to donate to them directly. And it's not too late to join me at the Walk for Life. Registration information is here. I'm excited to be walking with BOTH of my boys this year (and Mike too, of course)!

first word

2010-04-17T13:55:00.000-04:00

Leonidas makes lots of sounds...who am I kidding?! He's LOUD. Since we brought him home he's come up with a new ear shattering sound daily, including the pterodactyl, which occasionally comes back for a visit. Saturday, however, he said his first word! While it is not the one I would have picked for him (go figure, I have little control over such things!) it was quite clear as he was reaching for his Dad and uttered, "Dah!" with a big smile on his face. He's just a little bit crazy about his Dad, so it's no wonder.

There are two things that are very consistent with old houses. The first, no closet space. The second, really small bedrooms. Our house fits right into both of these categories. So when arranging Leonidas' room, the only way I could get his crib to fit was for part of it to go in front of the window.

This is how I find him most days when he's supposed to be napping.

It must be torture to literally be stuck watching the world go by...