Who's the Idiot?

I'M THE IDIOT!


I started to paint a photo prop in the garage while the kids were busy playing. By the end, the kids were stripped to their underwear, I was a nervous wreck, and my photo prop was covered in paint. They had fun, and actually, the mess wasn't THAT bad. I heard a seasoned mom say that "messes equal memories." My kids must have made memories today.

The Weekend

We enjoyed a sunny weekend with Pop and Grammy. Seriously, my parents are superheroes. My dad spent every waking moment with Jonah-- coloring, riding bikes, playing on the computer-- and my mom, the ultimate multi-tasker, managed to help with our garage sale, watch Lydia, cook, clean, fold laundry, fix blinds, and everything in between. They make life manageable.

Jonah was quite the salesman at his lemonade stand during the garage sale:

Tonight

I think he was inspired by my blog post. Mike bought Jonah a baseball and glove so we enjoyed a quick game of catch before bath time. And yes, Jonah put his own shirt on today. Can you tell?

Flashback to the 70s

The kids played "dress-up" with Mike's old clothes yesterday.

The Race

I just remembered that I never posted about the race I had to miss. I wrote it; I just never posted it. So here it is:

Let it be said:

I guess it was my escape. For the past two months I've escaped four days a week with a friend and an ipod to run the streets of this small town. I miss it.

Saturday was race day. I travelled to the city on Friday night to attend the race expo with my friends, Carrie and Dara. Carrie was my training partner, and I'm convinced that training was so successful because we were/are perfectly paired. I've never trained so diligently with someone before; I worked to keep up my pace because she was next to me. Her time on Saturday was a 1:57. We wanted to run it under 2:00. Her husband, Gary, ran in my place. He didn't train, but he RAN. He RAN the whole thing. And he finished in a respectable time of 2:08. Gee whiz. I was sad at the start of the race. I told my mom it was like I had planned a wedding but wasn't able to get married! I'm hoping to start running soon.



Dara ran her first mini-marathon and accomplished her goal too!

I think we're signing up for another 13 mile race in September. After all, running is cheaper than therapy.

Mushrooms, Arrowheads, and Indians

It's been clear to me recently that we are a product of our parents.

For instance, Jonah has no interest in sports. He doesn't have a soccer ball, he has no idea how to swing a bat, and probably doesn't even know what a football is. But Mike's not a typical sports guy. Mike bikes across the United States and climbs tall mountains and hunts for deer. He's clearly passing this along to his son.

Mike and Jonah talk about doing "extreme" things together. They dream about hiking the Grand Canyon and skiing in Colorado. They go on adventures. They hunt for mushrooms in the forest. They look for arrowheads as they walk.

I was indifferent to their "extreme" conversations until they returned a few days ago with two arrowheads they found in the field behind our house. I began to think about it... ARROWHEADS. They were used by Indians...to KILL things... They're really old.... They were behind our house.... That's cool!

Mike used to hunt for arrowheads with his dad in the fields.

We are a product of our parents.

Mike's New Adventure

Mike started grad school this week. He's getting his M.A. in Philanthropic Studies from I.U. Sounds fun, huh?

It's an executive program. It will take him three years to complete.

We had a glimpse into his new life last night. He played with the kids for an hour after dinner while I ran a quick errand. Then he helped put the kids to bed, mowed the lawn, and started homework around 9:00 p.m. This was after he had a 12 hour day at work! You can pray for him if you think about it. May is especially busy at work with the end of the fiscal year. I think he still has $250,000 to raise in the next 17 days. Once May is over, I'm sure he'll find a rhythm with work, parenting, and school.

Until then, I've been doing a cheer for him every time he walks out the door. He's amazing.

A New Adventure

I've been thinking about it for a while. It was one of those things where I thought, "I could do that-- I really could. I could do that."

You've probably figured out what I'm talking about. I've aspired to have a child portrait photography business for the past couple of years. I thought this without a nice camera, without any formal training, and without any knowledge of what it takes to have this sort of business, but I always knew "in a few years" it's what I wanted to pursue.

So I'm there. I'm diving in head first. I still don't have the best camera, and I certainly don't have any formal training, but I'm learning as I go. I'm reading. I'm observing. I'm experimenting.

It's official. My business cards were shipped today, and my business blog is up and running. The pictures will look familiar to you :) My friend, Heather, created my logo, business cards, and blog banner. She's good. She's real good. I said "vintage but still 'me'" and you can see what she created. I think it suits me perfectly. Check out her website!

So sign up today. I'll give you a good deal :)

Sam, Ethan, and Eliza

Can you tell how I've been spending my time recently? I saw my dear friend, Molly, this morning and took some pictures of her kids. She wanted individual pictures taken to frame for her wall. Here's her sneak peek:

A Visit with Friends

My good friend, Heather, came to town today. We enjoyed a kid-filled day of exploring in the mud, matchbox cars, peanut butter bugs, and pictures, of course.

It Made me Smile

I had to wake up Jonah this morning for a MOPS meeting.

While getting in the car a few minutes later he said, "I want to be like Auntie A and Uncle T."

"Why?" I asked.

"I want to stay in bed in my room ALL DAY LONG."

Baby Jacob

My little nephew is getting so big! We spent time at Alex and Tricia's house this morning. Lydia is starting to show great interest in being close to him, holding his hand, kissing his head. It's quite cute.... and so is he.

Ella and Marley

We enjoyed a fun picnic on Sunday with friends. I spent some time photographing the kids. Here's my favorite: