My Babies Go to Preschool

Well, my babies are off to gain a little independence today.  Owen started preschool yesterday.  He fretted and fussed all morning, claiming to be scared and needing me to stay.  All the way to the school, he persisted that he would need me to stay in the classroom with him.  

But as he made his way to the classroom door, one of his teachers greeted him with a big smile.  Owen suddenly turned to me with the biggest hug and said I could go.  It was awesome to see him embrace a new challenge.  Owen's favorite part of his first day of school:  "Recess!  All the boys chased all the girls, and we could shout and scream!"  I guess some things never change....

This morning he was a big help to his little sister who started preschool today.  Riding in the car, Owen asked Chloie, "Are you still feeling scared, Chloie?"  

"Yes, a little bit," Chloie replied.

Owen shouts, "Mom good news!  Chloie isn't so scared anymore!"

And she wasn't.  She tried to hold on for a minute when we met her teacher at the door but walked in without a tear or a fuss.  I was the overprotective parent peering through the windows to see how she was doing after I left, and she was sitting working on a coloring page.  Not the least bit worried about me.  

Summer Lovin'

Summer continues to bring many weekend trips to the farm.  Watching our corn grow... so beautifully this year, cutting down trees and helping our parents on their farms has kept us busy and fulfilled.  There's just something rewarding about working hard and seeing the fruits of our labors.  It fits us so well.  The kids, who are notorious for being needy, dependent little creatures, become so easily amused and easy to manage when we spend a day wood chipping on the farm.  

Little personalities continue to grow.  Sometimes so sweet.... sometimes something other than sweet surfaces.  But I have to step back and remember that I get crabby and irritable and pray for an extra dose of the Holy Spirit to get me through those moments so that I can enjoy the very next one that may be so sweet.

Like a little Chloie pose in the grass.

Or a breakout crazy dance.... Hmm... these do look an awful lot like my kids here.  Slightly obnoxious, bad dance moves, a little sweat pouring off.  Oh, yes, these are my offspring for sure.

Owen is a little thinker.  He's had some trouble handling church.  After one particularly difficult Sunday, I asked Owen in exasperation, "Why do you have to be so difficult?"  A mother should know better than to ask this questions, right?  Regardless it was out of my mouth with a quick answer from Owen.  "I don't know. I guess God just made me silly."  Silly.... not quite the word I would have used that day.  But thanks to God, Mass times have gotten much better over the past weeks.  We'll take one little blessing at a time!

Finally got that field Honda's been promising to sell us for the past 18 months.  We were so thrilled we decided to go out and buy a Honda van to go with our Honda field.

Finally, my babies love to play together.  Sometimes I can't believe how much I can accomplish in a day's time with both kids awake all day long.  I came downstairs today with these two playing, "Mom and Dad" as they called it.  Sleeping with their "babies."  They were the ones that asked me to take their pictures so they could see just how cute they were.

And I just couldn't resist these silly, slightly out of focus pictures.  They capture their little personalities that I love so dearly.

To the Zoo

What a beautiful morning we had at the zoo with Grandma Peggy and Aunt Emily!

The kids weren't too sure about petting sharks.  But with a little encouragement from Aunt Emily, Owen was brave enough to give it a try.

Owen and Chloie stop in the desert to reminisce about their early childhood in the desert.

Typical Owen too distracted to get a picture.  And typical Chloie with a look of consternation.  Annoyed because she saw a carousel and we had not let her ride it yet.

Owen thought this lion in the background was pretty neat until I told him the lion really loves red hair.  He jumped off the fence and was not interested in sticking around to see if I was telling the truth or not.

Aunt Emily lugging around 3 headband wearing Chloie.  Still asking every two minutes, "Is the carousel open yet? Are other kids riding it?"

Hey, he stopped long enough to get a picture!

Owen's "mean face" as he gets a lift from Aunt Emily.

Finally... waiting in line for the carousel, Chloie manages a bit of a smile.

What joy this silly ride brings my daughter!

Owen is pretty brave with Aunt Emily... no hands!

How about a train ride?!

I can't believe my scaredy-cat Owen rode a roller coaster.  He definitely seemed to muster some untapped source of courage he has with his aunt.  Maybe she needs to come spend the night for a week and get him over his night time fears of the dark...

Feeding the birds.

Oh, doesn't it look like Chloie is loving the bird feeding adventure???  No, she was staring at the kids on the carousel... oh my!

Here little birdie.

Chloie wanted nothing to do with the birds.  Even if Grandma fed them, she still wasn't overly excited with this event.

Better Late Than Never?

Well, nearly a half a year has gone by since we said goodbye to Arizona and moved to Noblesville.  The timing of our move, the ease of transition for the kids, Matt and me, the selling of our houses, the purchase of our new one.... every detail went so peacefully.  I can only give the glory to God for working out each and every detail.  He placed it in our hearts to move home.  We listened.  And He provided.  

So great is the joy that we have found back in Indiana.  

The kids think snow is completely awesome.  In fact, Chloie asked me last week when it was going to snow again because "that was so so so so so much fun."  Currently, she adds emphasis to any statement by repeating words.  For instance, she'll randomly tell me, "I love and love and love and love Daddy."  (And sometimes she loves and love and loves me... but not as much as Daddy it would seem.) 

Owen found some cool new ways to play with his big push toys.  Snow makes great tracks.  You can load it up and dump it anywhere.  And it's so light!

I can't remember... because it was six months ago.... But I know the kids were so cute about these snow angels.  I think they must have seen it on a television show in Arizona and didn't get it until Owen laid his little body in the snow and swung his arms and feet like crazy.  We had a full chorus of snow angels in our yard!

The love grown between the kids and their grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins is priceless.  They were always so shy around their grandparents, usually warming up about the time we'd board the plane to go home.  But now they can't wait to jump in a tractor, take a road trip, go out to dinner or just spend time with all their extended family.  

We took a trip to the Farm Machinery Show in Louisville this winter with Grandma and Grandpa Davis.  When we asked Chloie on the ride down to the show what she hoped to see, she said, "a pink tractor."  Well, we laughed and thought she was cute, but sitting right there in the middle of the show was her little pink tractor!  I'm a little surprised Grandpa didn't buy it and bring it home for her.

The best part of moving away is realizing how beautiful Home really was all the time.... I just looked past it, took it for granted, found it annoying when it wasn't perfect. Like so many other things in life I focused on the negative and let the beautiful parts slip away.  Well, I spent lots of time smelling the spring and watching the world unfold and being grateful to the One who made it all.

Worms!  Evidently there weren't any worms crawling around the Arizona sand.  The kids were quite fascinated with these little critters this spring.

Sweet Chloie turned 3 this spring.  It wasn't the same crowd, but we still found a bounce house and some barbecue, beer and cake... and few kids to bounce with us.

Oops... bounced a little too hard.  But always a willing Grandma to help out!

The beer is not actually for the children.... though it does appear that way.

Weird protective brother mode before the singing... "I got your back Chloie if you need help with those candles.  I've done this one time more than you so I'm very experienced..."  Maybe he was thinking???

And we did wait awhile on those candles to be blown out.

Owen's farming desires have gone into overdrive now that he's around the farm more.  Owen came in the house looking for tools one day to work on his tractor.  "Has an oil leak and I just can't figure it out!" he claimed.  I went to the garage and found his tractor jacked up just like this.

He gets some help from Chloie too. 

We spent much of the early spring cutting down trees and removing brush to add some tillable acres.  Disc it up, Matt and Owen!

Owen has also started a severe southern twang since moving back to Indiana.  I really have no idea where he gets it, but it certainly gets stronger when he's on the farm.  It's getting late, and I'm getting tired or else I'd try harder to mimic this ridiculousness.

"Take a picture with me rotten little kids!!"

Chloie was mad this particular day because I didn't pack her "work pants" for the farm.  These would be super cute pink jeans with fancy pockets, but they are her work pants.  Anyway, she was so mad that I didn't bring these she  insisted on wearing Owen's pants.  Just thought her attire needed an explanation.

Owen will ride in the tractor all day and all night rarely fussing or falling asleep.... unless they're putting on anhydrous.

Well, that certainly is a condensed version of the first few months of Indiana life.  I can't speak for Matt, but I know that he is overjoyed at being present on his farm every weekend.  He's in Greensburg putting some anhydrous on the corn planted above tonight, and I'm sure he couldn't be happier doing anything else at the moment.  And as for me, God knew I needed to be right here while Dad goes through the tremendous trial of brain cancer.  Not that I am much consolation or help to him, but I would be a mess living so far away during these past couple of months.  Just being near Dad and Mom and my siblings and their spouses and nieces and nephews helps me feel the affects of God's grace in those moments of  peace and joy and love we share together.