….. to start a blog! After over a month. I probably will just post a ton of pictures along with a little run down of what’s going on in our life right now.
My grandpa’s “visitation” went well last month on the 10th. I got to see so many pictures of him I’d never seen before and read some of his poetry.
My grandpa had mentioned before that he wanted to pass when the lilacs were blooming. Sadly, he was just a few days short of that. We had some blooms on our neighbors bush. My dad ordered some from a little ways down south. I still miss him and think of him everyday.
Jack is still at it with drawing. These things are so wonderful. Here’s a couple of sharks-
And here we have a Stegosaurus about to eat a tree:
Here’s a highlight… I got stung by a wasp!
And here are some of our trees and such in Spring blooms…
I call this “I heard it from a little bird”…. the finches love to sit on this line!
“Daddy cardinal”
I’ve been sewing a bit lately. We got this wicker set on craigslist for an awesome price. The cushions were made by the previous owner, but I made covers for them and pillows! I think they turned out really well!
We got the boys a nice visually friendly sandbox!
A friend of mine I met online around 5 years ago was so kind, and so loving, and so thoughtful to send me a lilac bush in my grandpa’s memory. She’s a sweetheart and an awesome friend. Thank you, Amy!
Jack thought it was pretty neat, too. And it smelled so wonderful!!!
We also went to the Creation Truth Foundation seminars. They were wonderful!! I learned so many things I never knew. And got to see some awesome dino fossils. Including dino poop!
My dad with the boys and the dinos.
Here the amazing Jack has constructed not only a 10 legged spider, it’s web and a fly.
There is a video here:
We went to Joe’s mom’s house for her birthday and I made a cake. Any excuse for a cake, right?
Here are Joe with two of his brothers and their boys. Alex was the only boy not on the walk.
Grammy reading a book to couple of her grandboys.
Jack playing with a toy gun
Alex and his birthday buddy… his great-grandma Lane!
My niece, Sarah, and her mom are taking cake decorating classes. This is Sarah’s clown cake! Sara is 10.
Now…. this was before our trip. A wonderful video of Jack. Like I said before: My kids may be weird, but at least they are happy!
Some pictures of a flower at Joe’s mom’s.
Pics of the boys now….
Me and Alex:
At the end of April, Alex had his 9 month check up. It was discovered at this time that he weighed nearly half a pound less than he did when he was 6 months old. He stopped growing. A heart murmur was also discovered at this time. We have an appointment at the University of Iowa with a cardiologist at the beginning of June.
June was too long for me to sit back and keep doing what we were. So we increased his food, and he eats it all. He never gave us any other signals that he may have been hungry still.
We took him in for a diaper rash case yesterday ( May 12… yes, I know it takes me DAYS to blog one entry) and he was weighed…. he’s gained 1.6 pounds in 2 weeks! He’s back on the growth charts and I am so happy and so pleased. We know with out any doubt that God is working in him and showing us the power He has to heal us. Giving God the glory.
The beginning of May really had felt like May! But this middle area feels more like April with all of the rain we are getting. The boys and I were able to make it out before all of this rain started slamming us.
Now the boys:
They love to play under this tree.
I think you can see how much Jack and Alex look alike in this picture.
They just fell to the ground after running around.
Alex didn’t like the grass at first. 
And was looking, but then… well…. yeah.
I love this picture so much. I’m sharing it in B&W and in color! Yea for you.
And throwing pillows outside = WAY fun!
And then a couple of days later we went to the park for a play date with a couple of cute little boys and their pregnant mama:
Keaton:
Carter:
The boys love playing with their dinos. The other day I came in and they has lined up all the dinos by type.
And, another wonderful highlight… my brother, Jason graduated from Iowa State! YAY!
And, of course while we were up there we had to check out the campus. I’d never been there and Joe wanted to see how it had changed since he graduated. Oh, the first few pictures are from a barn near Joe’s mom’s house. We always think it will have fallen by the next trip.
My step sister running through these bike rack things.
My dad and Alex. It was a cold day in May.
I thought the tree was pretty. 
my step sis again…. rocking her cool shades.
Me and my bro…
Me and the hubs!
And, not really sure why, but Jack and Andy keep saying “ew” to the picture below. Is it because it’s showing rust stains? I don’t know.
Ok, funny story. Last week sometime Joe was out and about getting something from Walmart. I can’t remember what it was or those kinds of details.
After he got home I know he had to run back out again. Perhaps to work, I don’t remember. Anyway, before he was leaving he told me “There’s a surprise in the bag for you.” Well, ok. He leaves and I start putting groceries away in the bags and I pull out this larger than we normally get container of fish food. Fish food wasn’t on the list. Weird… but, oh! It says “helps maintain clean water.” “no artificial colors.” And it dawned on me “Joe must really care that I have to scrub down the tank so often and he wants to make my job easier! That is so thoughtful of him!” I must tell you, it really warmed my heart to know that he was so caring about my work! I hate having to scrub down the tank. I go to the kitchen to get my phone and call him, I glance over and see on the entry way bench a sack from… Hy-Vee? I didn’t know he went there. Oh… of course. There’s cake in the sack. THAT was my surprise. Not the fish food. I’ve been told I’m easy to please… I suppose it’s true.
Ok, so y’all want to see the before and afters of Jack and Andy’s room? Great! Well, the “befores” aren’t 100% before. They have the new bedding and deco pillows on already. I’m not finished with the room totally yet either. I’d like to get some wall stickers for the wall their bed is up against since the ceilings are so tall.
bye-bye baby room… Jack picked the underwater theme. He also picked out the fabric for the valances. I was trying to lean him toward the one I used to make their throw pillows, but it didn’t work. I love how the fabric looks with the wall colors though. Good choice, Jack! And the sheer curtains are temporary.
Would you believe I was able to accomplish this all on my own… with 3 kids? Ok, hubby helped me draw the lines in one corner for painting the blue strip. The rest….. me. I guess I’m a little amazed at myself and what I can do. it may not look like much, but this took a few weeks to complete!
As I was taking pictures of the afters, I realize that it’s really hard to get different angles in their room with the lens I had.
This is a picture Jack drew for me for Mother’s Day. A Cake with candles and presents… oh and that thing to the right? A trash can. He’s so thoughtful.
On Mother’s Day after church, we came home and I found this in our flower pot. At first I thought the bird had a broken wing or maybe even foot, tail, something. I got on hubby’s gloves and tried to pick it up. It tried to bite me and got a mouth full of fuzz from the gloves. It tried to fly away and fell out of the pot but just hung there. Then I saw the fishing line wrapped around it. I was able to pick it up at this point with out it freaking out on me and I got some scissors and cut the line the best I could. I didn’t get it all off, but I did what I could and I put the bird down, and it hopped away. So I followed it and then it flew a little bit… and I kept following it and it finally took off into the timber. I hope it was able to get the rest of the line off. Poor birdie!
Here we have Mr. & Mrs. Grosbeak:
Painting with the wind from the kitchen… wish I was in the country somewhere.
I think I’m going to end this blog entry and start a new one. It’s getting WAY too long.
