The Voices Within Me

wow- it is hard to believe the entire summer has passed by already and I didn't post one time. I want to say I feel bad (and I do for the memory keeping side of things) but honestly, summer is so busy that sometimes something has to go... and in this case, it was blogging. Summer went amazingly fast but hoping that during those days and months which seemed as though they would go on forever (at least in May they did) our family made memories we can look back on and cherish. Summer began with our typical Memorial Day trip to Lakeside. June brought my 31st birthday, Addie's 6th birthday and another trip to Lakeside for conference all culminating with CYF camp. Ad had a blast at her party- a typical girly party complete with lots of sugary treats, dancing and singing to Justin Bieber and silly girl talk. The highlight- Micah's presence as a "chaperone" I think he was enjoying all of the attention the girls were showing him ;) Conference was typical... kids at VBS and Tim at meetings... same ole thing. Following conference Tim and I were camp counselors for a teen camp which simply put, was amazing! July brought a bit of reprive from our busyness. The kids had British soccer camp,VBS and we went to our first "Lake County Captains" baseball game. All of the activities were fun... and we enjoyed a few lazy evenings here and there- something I wish more of the summer was made up of ;) August took us back up to Lakeside for vacation- this time with Tim's entire family joining us. Love seeing his sister from Maine- only get that chance 2x a year so we enjoy those times when they come around. Another great weather week- kids enjoyed the Lake and just basically having fun! August also brought the start of soccer (Addie/ my team: Orange Crush.... Tim/ Micah team: Blue Crew), Jump Rope (both kids) and Cheer Camp (Addie) and Ad's first sleepover at a friends house. Micah started off soccer with a bang- lots of goals scored in pre-season... hoping for a great year! So hard to believe how fast the kids are growing- while it is hard to let go I also love seeing the excitement they have for all of these new experiences. August ended with the start of 3rd/ 1st grade... which seems SO hard to believe! Both kids love their teachers and have been off to a great start. Hoping for more excellent reports :) And here we are now in September... cooler temps and lazy days home with the little guy. Soccer games have come and gone, Labor Day in Pennsylvania has passed (another fun time... esp. the shopping in Grove City!), and we are working hard at potty training the little guy. Lots and lots of photo sessions lined up in the next month and honestly, all around, life is pretty good! Looking forward to all that lies ahead... fastening in tightly because I realize how quickly it can, and will go.

The end of May brought the end of school... sort of a bittersweet moment in my life. I simply can not believe how quickly the school year passed... and with it's completion my baby girl has grown up more than I ever imagined.

Ok... now onto Mommy brag time... skip the next two paragraphs if you hate this type of stuff! Again, this is written for my record :)

Both kids had a great year this year... Micah somehow never missed a day of school (not sure if this is truly a good thing though... he was instead sick over every holiday/ trip), a member of president's club (this is a historical/geography based achievement which builds in complexity every year... this year he had to know his "place in the world... address, city, state, country, continent and so on... and locate it on a map, name and locate the 7 continents and name and locate the Great Lakes) and was one of the top grade achievers in his class (straight A's all year... 99 or 100% in everything!) He is way above grade level in reading and already preparing for 3rd grade in other subjects.

In the beginning, we weren't sure whether or not we should send Ad to Kindergarten this year... she is young for her class (not yet 6) but WOW are we glad we did! Ad went in not reading at all but an extreme social butterfly ;) She left reading at a 2nd grade (I think) level and still a social butterfly ;) Ad has tons of friends... and ALWAYS comes home with stories about boys in her class! EEKK! Actually, not too long before school ended she received a call from one of them! Oh my... we are going to have our hands full! Ad is SO excited for 1st grade- she already has favorite teachers picked out and can't wait to learn more. We definitely made the right decision in sending her to school this year! Ad had an amazing teacher and just pretty much a perfect intro to school experience!

So that brings us onto summer. As usual... we are packed heavy with tons of little things going on. I am attempting a photo a day of the kids (so far, so good!) and we are just planning on lots of relaxation and fun!

May was quiet in the beginning and then crazy busy at the end with all of the "end of the year" stuff for school and Memorial Day and planning ahead for summer. I have a ton to share about the end of school but I can't think of many highlights from the beginning so I will just share some photos and this adorable card that was given to me from Ad on Mother's day.

"My Mom is special"

My Mom's name is... Jen
She is special because... She loves me, She givs me food, She tacs (talks)
I like it when my Mom... macs(makes) me food.
My Mom can do many things!! I think she is best at... doowing (doing) the dishis.
My Mom has a pretty smile! I like to make her smile by... telling her jocs (jokes)
My Mom is as pretty as a... Flowr (flower)
My Mom is smart! She even knows... math!
I'd like to tell my Mom... I love you Mom

signed... Addie
Date... May 5, 2011


Math?!? Dishes?!? LOL Not sure what Mom she was talking about there but that surely can't be me!!

I keep thinking that I am finally catching up and then life happens and I end up a month behind again. Thankfully the beginning of May was pretty quiet so after this post about Si's birthday, I can fast forward a bit and maybe get somewhat back on track. Then again... I think I have said that before and here I stand over with over a month of posts waiting...

So April 27th closed the door on the baby stage in our lives and opened up to the wonderful toddler years. It is kind of sad to know that we are completely finished with little munchkins around here but Si is at a fun place and I am doing all that I can to cherish the days while he still allows cuddles and kisses.
After having already celebrated with my family up before Easter, Si's actual birthday brought little fanfare. We just had a little celebration here at home- but honestly, I kind of enjoyed just sharing the day with Tim and the kids. It seems so hard to believe that two years have passed, some days it feels as though it was only yesterday I was surprisingly finding out we were having the baby we had been dreaming about and praying for. He is the perfect culmination of who we are... a little piece of all of us shines through in his vibrant personality... though I fear he may have the worst of certain traits (temper, independence, etc...) he still manages to win over everyone he comes in contact with. His little dimples, bright blue eyes and curly hair add to his mischievousness- esp. when he cocks his head sideways and pulls his lower jaw out over his upper jaw and grins at you. Needless to say, it can be hard to keep a straight face when trying to correct him from misbehaving... and he knows this all too well. He pulls out one of those looks and it is easy to forget the crooked halo above his head ;)

At 2 Si weighs 29 lbs and is 33 inches tall (60th and 15th percentile) and says numerous random words and sentences. Some of his favorite sayings... "No Mama No (Complete with hand out trying to stop me from coming towards him... usually said when he is doing something wrong)" "Mama, where is Daddy" "More Jewwwww (more juice... this kid drinks like a fish") "I ewwwww (needs diaper changed)" "Where is Addie, where is bruber (Where is Addie, where is brother" "hellllllooooo" "hello (when said shortly, this means yes), "Eww ahhh ewww ahhh go! (one two, one two go!... then he runs), "Yo Gabba gabba Yo Gabba Gabba YO GABBA GABBAAHHHHH!, "BaBob Ba pants (yeah... no comment), "Cheeeeese Mama Cheee (he wants his picture taken... and after I pull out the camera he cocks his head sideways, put his lower jaw out of his upper jaw and gives me an ornery little grin) and GO!! (which means he is going to take off running anywhere but where he currently is standing!)
He likes to fake sleep (complete with snoring), eat (potato chips, green beans, mashed potatoes, broccoli, pretzels, cinnamon sugar poptarts), jump on the trampoline, climb on everything, wear everyone's shoes (but he shows a special affection to any of Addie's), watch (Toy Story 3, Yo Gabba gabba)
Si takes after Micah in his love for electronics. We have resorted to putting up the keyboard and mouse when the computer is not in use or else he will help himself to posting on whatever page we happened to have open. He LOVES phones, ipods, DS's (much to the chagrin of his siblings), tvs, and the like.
Beyong electronics... Si LOVES all sports balls and is often found kicking the soccer ball around the yard. He loves jumping on the trampoline and playing with cars (complete with sound effects) and his Buzz Lightyear toy. He is a VERY active boy but manages to always stop and give love to anyone willing to accept it :) He brightens each and every day and I can't imagine my life without him in it.


Si 2 years ago...

Si @ 1


Si @ 2 years old

Ok... so following early Easter weekend at my parents, we all headed back home for Tim's and my soccer games on Saturday nite. We had just recently started playing in N. Canton... a league totally different than the one we were used to in Alliance. During our first game that Saturday, while getting pummeled by the other team, Tim turned to kick (or something like that) and a loud "snap" echoed through the building as he fell to the floor in pain. I was sitting out on break during that time and had no idea until I saw him on the floor moaning out in pain. Absolutely great... Easter weekend... church, Easter activities, driving to his sisters... all I could envision was him in a cast. After a few agonizing minutes, he walked off the field and after sitting out for half of the game, he decided he was ok to re-enter the game (not the advice of either myself or the majority of the team) He played and seemed ok... until the next morning.

Fast forward to Easter morning... around 7:00am... Tim comes crawling into the room and tells me he can't walk- at all. After playing soccer on it the nite before, his ankle finally fell to the pressure and grew to the size of a grapefruit overnight. Needless to say, we didn't make it to church, but instead spent the morning at stat care. I admit... I was NOT nice to Tim... not at all. I understood him getting hurt but then when he decided to not go to stat care that nite and proceed to play on it... all sympathy went out the door. Yeah... not my best moment but Easter is kind of important and it just seemed it was all down the drain. Ok... enough about me... back to Tim. Needless to say, he had a sprained ankle and ended up on crutches. After everything at stat care wrapped up, we decided to go ahead and venture down to Steubenville... afterall... there wasn't much else going on since church had long since ended. It ended up being a nice day and the kids were able to have an outdoor Easter egg hunt (it ended that they each got over 50 eggs!) and we had a nice meal with Tim's family. All in all, it was a nice visit (albeit stressful at times with Tim on crutches and a VERY active 2 year old that likes to explore... as well as my desire to capture things on camera for memories sake) until time to head home. The sky was looking somewhat ominous as we left but I honestly didn't think too much of it. About 20 mins. into our drive, the sky broke open and we drove through one of the worst storms I have ever driven through (I think last year's trip to the beach was the only storm that could have topped it... driving through tornado warnings in the mountains will most likely stay at the top of my list of worst storms ever) At one point, it was raining so hard I could barely see in front of me and I suddenly saw a HUGE white flash just a few feet ahead. Lightening literally struck the road... all I could think was what if I had been going just a tiny bit faster. UGH! Thankfully we eventually drove through the storm and ended the trip with partially sunny skies. If there is one thing I dislike most in life, it would be driving in the rain and this trip cemented that permanently at the top of the list.