Peace begins with a smile

You could not possibly bottle up more hope and love than a 20 month old. Today she was wearing a shirt that said, "Peace begins with a smile." I think Eva's smile can put the world to ease. I feel like it brings about greater peace just for a moment. I think she has a powerful way to make everything that is wrong right. That is something that is just a special gift to a mother.

Race writing

Every so often Luke goes through some new stage. He used to be Mr. Puzzle or Mr. Line up. Now he is into doing everything fast and doing everything to completion. He will do one 368 page coloring book in one sitting just so he can wear down the crayons and so he can color on every page. He went through one box of the wide crayons in 3 days. He has a similar obsession with sidewalk chalk. It took him less than 40 minutes to use an entire case of sidewalk chalk. We have now switched to dry erase materials so I do not have to buy 300 pages for every day he is home in the summer. We are working on slowing down when he is writing. He also loves getting data on any distance or speed he can obtain. He keeps a running log of Dave's odometer every time he gets home. Right now it is over 221,000 miles and it is winning. My car only has about 140,000 miles. He needs to know the distance of every place that he loves to visit. How far to Minnesota, Chicago, Eagle River, Sayner, Sheboygan, Madison, Watertown, etc. He needs comparative data on the velocities of every car, plane, helicopter, golf cart, horse, bird, cheetah, and person. He does love looking at how big the number will be in the back of books. He still will collect all the largest books in the house, including the bible and make a two foot stack and ask me to add the total number of pages. I also included a picture of a missing piece to my car. Luke likes to play in the car and he got this from somewhere. I can't find where it goes and I was wondering if anybody knows. It is not the ash tray. You would think I could figure it out.

Father's Day 2010

Luke couldn't wait to give Dave his "man." Luke loves collecting rocks so we made a rock man for daddy. Eva gave daddy a book they could read together called, "Daddy Hugs," by Eva's favorite author and a shirt saying she was Daddy's sweetheart. Luke talks about how he misses Dave at least a few times every day. Dave gives so much love to the kids and they miss it when he is not near by.

I also got to golf with my Dad and Grandad for Father's Day. I am using the clubs my dad used when he was eighteen. My 96 year old Grandy still has a great game. I enjoy every year we play.

Miracle of Endless Love

Eva and I had a great time without the boys when they were camping. I put her hair in pig tails for the first time, she watched her own video (not one of Luke's), and she could do whatever she wanted the entire day. Eva and I also went shopping for bubble bath. She has never taken a bubble bath because Luke doesn't really like bubbles. I was happy to buy her her own Mr. Bubble.

She truly is a miracle of endless love and a masterpiece of grace. (Those words are from her lullby CD she listens to every night.)

Camping with Dad

Luke and I went on a camping trip at the beginning of June with friends from church.  It was our second annual trip. It is a father/children only trip.  No moms allowed.  We camped in the northern Kettle Moraine in a large group site.  The kids had plenty of area to run, ride bikes, ride big wheels, and play.

We had great weather the first night and most of the next day.

Luke couldn't wait to roast marshmellows.  None of the other kids could either.

If the kids could only eat this way at home.....

Luke staying up way past his normal bedtime and looking tired.

The next morning we had time for fishing and swimming.

.....followed by a hike to a lookout tower. We tried our best to get some of the kids in a posed picture.

Then the rain started so we had to all crowd under two canopy tents.  We had great food:  hot dogs, brats, pasta salad, baked beans, fruit salad, chips, and plenty of cookies.

Luke didn't care it was raining.  He still wanted to sit by the fire.

Finally it started to rain very hard.  We were only going to stay one night, so fortunately the tent was all packed up.  Luke talked all week how much fun he had camping.  I had a great time with my son and will remember how much fun he had in our new tent and being with the other kids. 

Memorial Day Weekend

Every year we spend Memorial Day weekend in Madison to celebrate our anniversary. This year we had a great time. We went to the Madison Zoo and hiked on a boardwalk with my parents. Dave and I went out to dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant at night. Eva and Luke had fun going to special park with them and making long and fast race car tracks. It is fun to see the kids so excited to see Nana and Papa.

The next day Luke and Eva spent the day with Dave's parents and we spent some time in the Third Ward. Luke and Eva had an equally great time with Grandma and Grandpa. We were not missed. We walked along the river and got a chance to enjoy each other without worrying that Eva was going to fall into the river or that Luke was going to run too far ahead on all the bridges. It seems like Dave and I have been married for much longer than eight years. It was great to have time alone to be able to tell him that I am so lucky to be married to him. I always try to plan how we would have met if we both would not have attended UW. There would be no other way to live life than be married to Dave. There is no greater earthly thing than a husband of honor. I am so thankful.

It is going to be a great summer

Last year Eva could not walk since she was only 6 months old. How much fun can summer be when you can not walk? This year is going to be great. Here she is full of sand and has dirt in her mouth and loves it. She can climb ladders and climb up the slides. She would love it if she could ride Luke's bike and scooter too.