Winter Musings

The start of the year went by quickly.  What little time I had to be on the computer was filled with editing the 70 individual shots for Justin's school auction.  Now that I am done with those, I can resume the slow pace of catching up.

This early winter and into spring has gone by quickly.  Justin is now riding his bike with no training wheels, though I am embarrassed to say I have no photos!  You will just have to believe me.  We took the trainers off February 5th and never looked back.  The game of the quarter played nightly at our house is Monopoly.  We play until the bitter end every time.  I have now bowed out of the game but Justin and Derek continue on their new round of game every few days.  Good way to learn about the value of money!  After two visits to the doctor for this and that Justin is officially 52 pounds, eats more than me for most meals, and is growing like a weed.



Justin's favorite gift from Grandma.  A fun way to drink our daily orange juice.

The night before my Aussie buddy Jenn came to stay with us I was fervently cleaning the house.  The Lord, in His sense of humor, kindly told me to stop when I heard a loud crash from the attic.  I walk out of our room to see this in our ceiling:

Thank goodness my hubby caught himself before falling the two stories down to the ground.  He tripped on a wire while putting away Justin's old clothes and had a nice golf ball sized whelp on his chin for a week.  Justin, who was right beside his father when it happened, was hysterically crying that our house as broken and we would have to move.  After assuring him it was okay, and cleaning up the mess, we eventually filled the hole in with more sheet rock. 

The next day brought this lovely face to my home: Jenn Heitzmann!  Though she came back for a family funeral, I got the privilege of spending some great quality time with one of my overseas besties.  We had a Mexican dinner with Kim, slept in, talked about how the Lord had been working in our lives, and had a wonderful day to just catch up.  With the major time difference, kids, and life in general, it's hard to keep up as well over the phone.  But it was such a treasure for her to fit me in her quick trip to the States.

We made a trip out to see Amy, baby Kate, & Meredith.  And then it was off to give Jenn to the next set of friends.  I enjoyed our time together, sweet friend!  Wish I had taken a few more photos!

In January, Derek and Justin took a boys trip out to Oregon to visit Tom.  Justin wasn't so sure of the tight fit of the Underarmor shirts, so Derek decided to help him out with his confidence.

Justin's turn at the camera.  Love that I am rockin' the dental hygiene shirt.  Because doesn't every girl have one in her closet?

Poor Roxy.  Always subjected to shame when Justin is behind the camera. 

The day after New Years' Day we lit the '4' sparkler.

Justin was in awe of the fire.  I foresee a future fire lover.

In the ABC Bible Verse Book, Missy and Bill have a treasure hunt.  Justin had been begging for weeks to do one, so I finally, and rather quickly, put one together using the verses form the book.  Obviously the next clue was hiding in....the spanking spoon drawer.

Justin loved the game, and had to keep all the clues in order.

It was fun watching him think about what the answer was, and then try and find out where I hid it.

Tada!  We finished.

And at the end was his treasure, activity books for those slow times of the day.  We have since redone the treasure hunt, and alas, no treasure was at the end.  But hey, it helps us keep our focus on Him.

Justin had wanted these three fellas to join the class party at our house in December.  I swiftly told him no, that the dynamic would change and 15 kids was too much on my own.  So Andrew, Jonathan, and John came over after school one Friday for a big playdate.

We of course had t have some races.  Justin all fall was asking us to call him Jonathan, and this is the only Jonathan he knows.  So I guess we like our Pre-K friend.  And John and Andrew were in Justin's toddler class at Holy Cross.  Buddies all over the school realm.

And lots of pirates were emerging that afternoon.

The weekend my nephew was born, Justin had a measly fever virus that lasted about a week.  To stop the stir craziness Derek took him out to Lochinvar to fish.  This, with those sick eyes, is the catch of the day.

Lastly, Derek took Justin to the Rockets game and sat on the floor with his boss's tickets.  The expression says it all.

But, Derek said the snacks were the highlight of the game.  To each his own.