watching them grow....

Yesterday I was sitting in the recliner next to Donovan (who was in his recliner) and while he slept, I read. It was time for Suzy to nap...so I let her curl up to me while I curled up to my book. Which is new to me...because usually I'm all about her going to a bed and being in our routine~but wow, I do know how to flexible. Snap! Soon she fell asleep next to me and with all the sleepers in the room, the warm body next to me, the rain outside...I was thinking a nap was a very excellent choice. So I put the book down and pulled Suzy up to me and tried to remember when she got so big....I remember her curled up on my chest when she was a newborn. Now having her on my chest, and her stretched out puts her feet down to my knees!!! WHAT??? How did she get so tall so fast? Where did the time go? And to smell her sweet blonde hair, made me just get emotional to think who she is, her little personality that has developed, all of what makes her who she is....Suzanna Faye.

It has been over the last week, since Donovan's surgery that has made me realize how busy, too busy we are. That we better slow this train down....we already have one that reminds us weekly she will be having a "double digits" birthday this summer! WHAT!? 10 years since we had our first baby? How are the days so slow and the years so fast???
So feeling like this has made me want to make the most of this down time, of being at home a lot, and taking care of Donovan. Wanting to make the time~precious rather than be a drag of counting down the weeks/days until he is on his feet and we are in full motion again. Easier said than done.

And how very, very cool that some friends from church brought over their 3 wheeled electric scooter for Donovan to use while he is recovering. I thought...awesome we can take the kids for a bike ride, me walking, Suzy and Donovan riding the scooter.



Too bad we got only one block, until his foot throobed so badly we had to turn around. :( Well maybe next week we'll try the bike ride/scooter thing again.
So....with that garage sale money I made...I bought this. A porch swing, which screams to me~sit down and relax. I love it. We spent lots of time out there on the front porch Sunday afternoon and evening. Suzy is getting combed because we had some exciting visitors coming over...

Grandma & Grandpa were just coming home from their week long trip to the Ozarks, and called to see if they could stop in. We popped some corn, made some lemonade, and got some cookies ready.

We also showed Grandpa, William's debut in our local newspaper.
So here is the quote of the day:
I know it's a little early in the post to put this up~But that's me just keeping it tricky for you.

William's class was asked by the newspaper....."What do you want to be when you row up and what will you need?"
William: "I want to be a policeman. You have to get people in jail if they do something bad on the road like my mom and dad do."
So...when I read this in the paper...I ask,
Me: "William, what do you mean something bad?? I haven't gotten a ticket since I was 18!"
William: "Mom, the time you went around the railroad tracks." I wrote about it here.

Right. right.
You do make me proud William.
Thank you for your excellent memory.

So here we are the bad people. Chillaxin' or relaxing as it used to be called.

The views from this porch are amazing...little people growing up right before me, riding bikes & scooters, making dams out of water dripping from flower pots that have just been watered, playing catch, and just being who they are~and us being so UN-Busy to notice.

the afflicted

Remember back here, when Donovan twisted his ankle? He's been dealing with pain off & on ever since August & it was decided by the specialist that surgery would be a must, to fix the tendons that kept going slipping in and out because of the swelling that would not go down. So Wednesday this past week we checked in to the OSMC surgery center and signed up for new a new ankle.
Love how they required him to write "yes" on the correct ankle. So I saw the sharpie marker laying there on the table, and got to thinking....Let's just be extra careful and sure we got the correct foot, and write "NO" on the other one. I got as far as part of the "N" before nurse Betty let me know....if the Dr. would see markings on any other part of him...the surgery would be cancelled. So, I'm thinking the Dr. doesn't like to really joke around when it comes to which foot to operate on. I quickly got a alcohol wipe and it came right off. Whew...

The surgery went well, the Foot Surgeon reported after his surgery that the ligaments and tendons were shattered, he repaired what he could and used 2 screws to hold the rest in place. He also had to saw off part of his heel to correct the arch of his foot, to hopefully prevent further injury.

We farmed out all of the kids and got childcare to various very willing and wonderful people from 11-6 for Suzy and from after school on for the 3 oldest. Thank you Rose, Chris, & Julie!! When we got home we had a very yummy, homemade meal of freshly baked bread, poppy seed chicken, awesome applesauce, garden tea, cupcakes AND cookies! Oh how very very sweet, thank you Rose! So very tricky with all those cute little notes on each item, I can't stand to throw them away.

His first morning after surgery, it's looking like he's enjoying this just a little too much...do you think?

Don't worry I made him work for that special breakfast treatment. :) :)

It's been a very very different last 4 days for me~to say the least. Donovan picks up almost all of the slack in the evenings giving me down time...while still being at home. He usually is the one to bath the kids, tuck them in, pray with them, etc. I've always appreciated how he helps with the kids, and around the house~but now there is a whole new meaning to it. Esp. thinking about him being home for 6-8 more weeks. It's been a lot to keep up with medicine schedules, laundry, bathing one extra person in the evenings, meals, & cleaning. But I am very thankful I am healthy, esp. since I had strep throat last Monday and was majorly sweating still possibly being sick while he was having surgery.
And we've had some super sweet meals the last 2 nights brought in! And Ice cream cake!! Yummy! What a bonus.

I don't know what we would do without our church family & friends at a time like this.

Quote of the day:
From Suzy the night he got home from surgery:
Suzy: "Daddy, I'm just gonna stand right here until you need something, o.k.?" (standing 3 inches from the recliner)

what we did last night

For this post I thought I would upload the pictures and have my daughter step in as guest writer.....I will now hand over the keyboard to Isabella. She is 9 1/2 and in 4th grade. Enjoy!

We went on a special date to a musical called The Titanic. We had a relative {Kendra} in that musical. Here is all of us at Carrabba's before the musical. Suzy and William are at Grandma &
Grandpa's house.

When Jack is excited, he acts as goofy as possible.

Dad said to make a silly face, so I did. I didn't know
it looked that silly until I saw the picture.

Here is me & Jack talking to relatives that were sitting
right in front of us.

Here is mom, Jack, and I in front of the theater before the play. I really enjoyed the play, it was awesome. My favorite part was when the boat was sinking, it looked amazing.


Quote of the Day:

Mom:Jack, quit picking your boogers.
Jack:Why? There's nothing else to eat.

36

So thankful for this guy. Thankful for how he loves me and our kids. Thankful for his determination to follow a project to the end. I easily get discouraged or overwhelmed (as in painting the whole house-during our construction process) And he cheer leads until it's done.

Thankful for how he loves to improve all around him. Thankful for his determination to finish putting the the landscaping mulch on the back of the house last night...even after it was dark and he could hardly see.

And funny how he came in after it was totally dark and he wished our outdoor lighting was completed outside so he could finish the side of the house.

Thankful for how he is the one to usually bath the kids, & tuck them into bed. Giving me a break.

Loving the banter that he has with our oldest...making sure she knows she has her daddy's affection.


Love how he can turn a heavy hearted situation in to a lighter load to carry.

Love how he teaches our boys how to be little men. Teaching them baseball right now...working with them, teaching them to be a team member.

Thankful for how he praises my cooking & baking~offering excitement & encouragement for even a very simple & boring meal....showing our boys how to adore a simple act of love such as cooking. I'm hoping they are "catching" this for when they have wives someday.

Thankful for how he cleans up my mess in the kitchen while I cook. So love having him to work beside...doing the part I don't like (the dishes.)

Thankful for the last 14 years I've known him...because he's made my life so much fun.

Happy 36th Birthday Donovan.
You make my life so full.

announcements

Last Sunday we celebrated some birthday's in our family at my aunt and uncles.

My aunts lunches are always divine, and we basked in the sun for the afternoon taking in the warmth and watching the kids play. One of my favorite ways to spend a Sunday afternoon.

And then last Wednesday we met my parents and sister at Mc D's to celebrate William and my niece's birthday's that are just 3 days apart.

Yes...they spoiled him. Look at all that cash! Gesh, I'm gonna be gettin' loans from him this week.

If there is one thing I "caught" from my mom growing up...is how to celebrate birthdays. One of my best memories is how she used to celebrate us, putting candles in our pancakes for breakfast...letting us pick what we wanted for supper...fun things like that.
Something I'm trying to pass along to my kids.

This was the first time we celebrated a child's birthday and sent him off to school. Isabella & Jack both have summer birthdays. So it was a busy morning~but I did some things the night before (I don't want to have to get up to early people) and we made his choice of breakfast sausage, pancakes, & strawberries. Yummy.

And just enough time for opening a gift as big as him. Wanna know what it was????

Something he learned to enjoy in Florida. :)

And if you are into Facebook...you may have seen from one of my status' that Mr. William had made an announcement last week in his class. He came home on Monday and told us, "Mom & Dad~today I made an announcement in class and invited all the kids in my class to my party." Uhhhh....William we are not having a party. Sorry pal. Nice idea. But no.

So I told him in a nice and gentle motherly way...Sorry not this year honey. You'll have to make another announcement. So the next morning was my regular time to come in to the class for my 1/2 hour volunteer time. And one of the kids in his class came up to me and asked what time the party is? Uhhh....to William's credit he had only been at school 30 min. so maybe he hadn't had an opportunity to make the announcement. So...mama stepped up to the plate to clear things up. The poor poor thing. Hid his face in my shirt and had shed a few tears. He was crushed, and a little embarrassed. But he quickly recovered and the above picture is 2 days later on his birth DAY. I took in a snack and he was in high spirits. He was dancing in his chair while his class sang Happy Birthday to him. I've never seen him so elated, or so goofy. The more the kids laughed at his excitement the more goofy he got.

That day after school Grandma Elsie picked him from school and brought him home just in time for a cookout on the patio. An impromptu party with a little family, cake and ice cream.

Enjoying some presents.

After it cooled off outside and some of the family had to leave....we came inside and William put on a dance party for Uncle Wes, Aunt Joann and their kids. Have never seen him so hyped up in front of company. He had some awesome moves and we all laughed so hard to watch him groove it. Loved it. Love that 6 year old and all the ways he makes us smile.

Now gearing up for Donovan's turning 36 tomorrow. :) :) Off to make a cheesecake....

Leave me a comment...tell me how you celebrate birthdays in your family.


quote of the day:

Suzy: (talking to William) "do you want to give mommy breakfast in her bed for mother (modders) day?
William: "no, not this year."

(Must be the whole friend party thing~resentment coming out)

another one....
Isabella: "Please, please save me some chocolate ice cream for me??"
Donovan: "Sorry you can have one bite, but the guy who works the hardest gets the rest"
Jack: "Well God worked 7 days making this Earth...so He should get it all."

suzy Q

At this point some of you are wondering if Suzy is my favorite, or others may be wondering if I gave the other 3 children away. Neither is the case. I just have so many photo opportunities with only one at home, while the other little bunnies are off to school.

And lets face it the girl loves to have her picture taken. So I just have to say...little Suzanna Faye had a tad bit of adjusting to do after vacation. She was so used to having all her little playmates around, swimming, snacking at all moments of the day and basically living the dream. All good things must come to an end and we must come back from vacation and get back to normal. What ever that is. It changes every day...doesn't it? But this week I was kicking it into gear with ending the 20 hour movie marathons. And pretty much a huge decline in the TV viewing options.

Little lady had a little adjustment. O.k. huge. She was "bored". "Can't we have a friend over? Can't I go somewhere? What are we doing today mom?" Well friend, "we are cleaning, laundry, napping, and making supper." Didn't seem to sit really easy with her. We had some come to Jesus meetings. We wept. Well she did. And after a few days...we were back in business. Well that is until they had no school on Friday because of parent/teacher conferences. Why do that have to do that???

But here is a little moment when little miss remembered how play well by herself. Reverting back to her ol' self. She was going through all my drawers/cupboards and taking an inventory verbally and then "writing" it down scribble by scribble. Love when she gets in her zone and uses her imagination. Love you Suzy Q!!

orange...

Yummy treats for your almost summer days....

Frothy Orange Drink

1 can (6 oz) frozen orange juice concentrate, unthawed
1 cup water
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
8-10 ice cubes

Combine in blender; until thick and slushy.
Yield: 4 cups

yummo!!


quote of the day:
Jack talking to Donovan..."I love the color grey....and that is the color of your hair."