something as silly as a table

Did you know we've been considering a new table since before Christmas? Its true. The table we had worked perfectly for the four of us, and we could make it do with patio chairs if we had a small amount of company. But knowing that God was expanding our family through adoption made us realize we needed a bigger table...

And the search began. But it wasn't until we could earmark some of our tax return $ that we really started looking. We set a budget, which at first seemed huge, until we started looking at furniture stores! Wow, dining room table sets are kinda pricey! We started looking at thrift stores again, I was making a weekly walk-through at a couple places to see if I could find something just right. My friend, Amy, (that recently had her first baby-awesome story there!) joked that we couldn't have a child placed with us until we found a table. While I appreciated her urgency, I knew we could make do for a day or two if we had too... we still have those patio chairs.

Probably in the last month I started looking on craigslist. I'm leery of being murdered by a stranger so it wasn't my first thought to look there. But thankfully, military people move all-the-time and aren't that attached to their furniture. I started seeing a lot of dining room tables listed as "Fort Benning." Most of them were small. Many were just not at all what we were looking for.

And then there was this one. {I know this would be the perfect time for a picture of the whole set, but Brad took that with his phone and I didn't think about it until I started typing this.} It was originally listed for $800. It wasn't the style we would go to the store and pick out. We like clean lines and simple. This is not that. But... it works so well with our gorgeous buffet, and those expensive curtains that have been moving around with us.

I kept checking craigslist daily and noticed that the price on this set kept dropping. We decided we needed to check it out... And it came home with us for less than half of our original budget! Woo-hoo!

And because we are certain that God intends to bless our family with more sticky-fingered-messy-kiddos, we knew the creamy fabric wasn't a great fit...So we took advantage of the extra labor and expertise of Yaya last week and did some family bonding over the seats. Walker wanted to be involved every step of the way...

I hate to think of what might've happened if Yaya wasn't here... or if Barbie hadn't lovingly threatened to call me "Grandma" if I covered those seats with cheap vinyl... We found a great dark brown pleather-ish fabric and a 50% off coupon at Jo-Ann's... I think they look pretty great.

I can't quite put my finger on it, but I feel like finding a great table and then making it work for our family has been a huge encouragement to me. I can't go buy baby clothes for our new kiddo, I don't know if I'll need a bassinet or big bed. But I do know God is at work in the details. I do believe He is going to grow our family through adoption and somehow, this table reflects our faith in Him to do it.

Eventually we'll add a couple more chairs, but we aren't rushing that. The kind I have pictured in my head can be purchased just about anywhere...(this is sort of what I'm thinking)

I am kinda waiting to see if we'll need a highchair first. ;)

belated birthday presents...

thankfully it was overcast (and cool... borderline chilly in my opinion) so we got to take some outdoor family pictures minus shadows and sunlight. I think we captured a couple good ones too... a few were taken earlier in the morning and the rest down at the River walk.

I almost forgot to get one with my momma, but somehow I remembered at the last minute......and we got one with the boys with Yaya...
I know Walker's face is hidden in my hair, but I just love that it captures his adoration of my hair. I know he won't always love burying his face in my hair.

I really like this one of the boys.
and this one, I think, is adorable!
not our greatest family picture ever... but that's ok, we'll probably need another one taken before too long anyway.
I like this one too, even if Wilson isn't looking at the camera... I think he's looking at his Yaya, which makes it that much sweeter.
I'm thankful for the willing participants. I think these are my favorite birthday presents!

Rene, you might be right...

...these kids need some instruction in the proper terms and procedures for baseball. The other day while the boys were playing baseball in the backyard with Yaya I was talking on the phone with Rene. Wilson shouted, "Oh, I'll be the person who stands behind him!" Also known as "the catcher." I joked that I needed to teach the boys the correct names for the positions in baseball... then the next day I spotted Walker "playing baseball" in the backyard...Of course, I had to take a picture of him... he said that this method allowed him to catch and throw the ball with his feet. Hmmm..........

really?

so, I kinda have mixed feelings about these smart phones... I even chatted with my dad about the accuracy of this commercial...




but, now that I am older, maybe I'm ready. At least, Brad thought so, because that's what he got me for my birthday/mother's day. This week I am learning... and I seem an awful lot like those people in the commercial... thankfully nobody has thrown a baseball at my head... yet.

I did have to ask my friend how to check my voicemail yesterday. Awesome.

"Halfway Through It"

it's been a busy weekend around here... beginning with Yaya flying in on Friday! Walker and I picked her up at the airport, her arrival surprised us because we thought we had another 20 minutes before her flight was going to land.... We hurried home so we would make it to Wilson's Blue & Gold Banquet that night. He's pretty proud of his achievements!Crossing the bridge... no longer a Wolf Cub Scout, he's now a Bear!
Part of the table decor included tin cans the scouts had decorated and the leader filled with trinkets and dum-dum suckers. You can see these two had fun with the little games they found in their cans!

Of course, I took no pictures of the rest of the family at the Blue & Gold ceremony. Brad ran 10 miles for PT that morning; Mom traveled all day; and Walker and I felt as though we had too, so we were all pretty tired out.

And we had the post-wide yard sale on Saturday morning. Not to mention, my "Halfway Through It" birthday bash. Thankfully, I received an early birthday present Saturday morning via some thrift-store-owners... they came to our sale at about 9:30 ish and bought nearly every thing that we had left. I think we had sold about $13 worth of stuff before they came. All we had left after their departure was a handful of toys and a few clothing items. We kept the "sale" going for another hour to give Wilson a chance to sell some more lemonade. (You can read about that on his blog).

We went out to lunch and walked around downtown, AKA "Uptown Columbus." The weather was nearly perfect. Lunch was great too. We came home and relaxed... the boys and Mom made my birthday cake, while Brad went to buy groceries for our Mother's Day meals, and I chatted with some of my birthday-well-wishers.

Brad has declared this my "Halfway Through It" birthday. I do believe, however, that I have another 5-7 years before I reach that milestone, at least based on genetics. I love that joker-face-husband of mine... even if he is considerably younger than me! ;)

It was a wonderful day. I am blessed beyond measure and feel as though each year is truly better than the one before. It was wonderful to have all day to spend with Brad, the boys, and my mom! I am sort of spoiled!

Oh, and Walker and I were outside in the late afternoon eating Popsicles. He was chatting me up about the day, and said to me "Don't forget, Daddy is going to say you are halfway through it tomorrow."
I said, "I know!"
And Walker replied, "But you aren't really halfway through it, you are just getting started out."

Brad kicked off Mother's Day for us by making waffles with strawberries and whipped cream. We went to church, listened to a great sermon and came home for some more yummy lunch prepared by Brad... and the boys, of course.

I'm hoping to get a family photo squeezed in sometime this evening, but we'll have to play it by ear - our cupcakes today had blue frosting so I might wait a day or two for that picture. I usually have to squeeze it in on my birthday or Mother's Day though, because the participants aren't big fans of the family photo op.

a gift for the teach

It's teacher appreciation week... and thanks to my sister for pointing me in the direction of a really cute idea... we made a little gift for Wil's teachers last night. Wilson filled the baggies with 2 graham crackers, a marshmallow, and a mini Hershey bar. He claimed that the job made him "hungry." Me too, buddy. ;)You can see the finished "s'more" treat bags in the top right corner of this picture while he's writing on the tag for Mrs. Z's gift. Here's the tutorial for the s'more bag... it has a downloadable tag, but I made my own because I didn't want to use that much ink. All the specials' teachers get a s'more bag as well as Mrs. Z, but she gets a little something extra...
Some 'subway art' classroom rules. I had the frame that I bought for a quarter and the orange-gloss-spray-paint was leftover from the pinewood derby car! Pretty cheap gift that I think the teach will like! Here's where you can download the art if you want... I thought it'd make a great teacher gift for back-to-school too.

on becoming an active family

so, you might have noticed a slight evolution in our family habits. Obviously, being in shape is part of Brad's job. Running has been a challenge for him, but gradually God has placed people in Brad's life that have pushed him beyond where he was. It started in Africa and continues here... The fear of being labeled a "BMW" has motivated my running... (do you know what a BMW is? Big Military Wife). No, that's not really what started it... I guess I wanted to be healthy, and I also wanted to be able to relate some with Brad in regard to running. If I run, I can understand better the challenges he faces in his running. It started in Oklahoma for me, and continues here...

Recently, a friend of mine gave me her old jogging stroller. She ran with her 4-year-old in it, but once he was able to ride his bike (for 6 miles!) she decided she wanted to pass it on. She told me that its been beaten-down over the years, but as long as the wheels are in good shape and Brad shoves the frame out periodically it would be good to go. Walker loves his new ride. Muskoka is just happy that I am running outside instead of on a treadmill at the clubhouse. Its quite a challenge to push it up some of the hills around here, but over all, I think its helping my running quite a bit. And two weeks ago, we kicked off a family run-bike ride tradition. I'm thinking its a good thing that I had been pushing that stroller for a couple weeks before we hit the trail with the little-cyclists! Those kiddos are FAST on their bikes... at least in comparison to my comfortable running pace. We stuck together, but I had Muskoka and Wilson with me, while Brad helped out Walker. The first time out, we went 3 miles. Walker fell quite a few times...or jumped off his bike while it was moving, either way you look at it - he ended up with a few bruises. And Brad got a whopper of a bruise on his shin. I think there were a handful of serious cyclists on the river trail that were not impressed with our family efforts. At least we picked up the dog poop.

This picture is from our 2nd time out together. Brad suggested we make it a Saturday morning thing, but when we had company this week, we pushed it back to Sunday afternoon. We only went 2 miles this time because it was a bit on the warm side. The boys did awesome and Walker didn't even fall! And Muskoka only took one poop break (I know you were curious about that).
It is quite invigorating to get out there and exercise. And its especially fun to do it as a family. I think I run better when I am keeping my eye on Wilson instead of focusing on myself. The kids think its great, its good for us, and its free! Its a win-win-win!

a "greats" weekend

we were delighted to have a visit from Great Grandma & Great Grandpa Fritz this weekend. We had beautiful weather as a backdrop to our lovely visit... The boys took advantage of daddy watering the lawn and ran through the sprinkler a bit...Wilson and Great Grandpa Fritz played that hand-slapping game... does it have a name???
Great Grandpa Fritz was a tough one to get!
I sort of wish that giant dog wasn't in this picture, because I think its a great picture. We really, really enjoyed their visit and we were grateful that they were able to extend their vacation a couple days so they could come our way from Uncle Steve's house in SC. We took them to the Infantry Museum and Chick-Fil-A ;) on Saturday... of course, I brought my camera along, but I left it in my purse!

Oh, and this is just for a little giggle. I don't remember what we said to Wilson right before this picture was snapped. But he wasn't happy. I think it shows that he will make an awesome old man one day.