Up, Up, Up and Away

This past Sunday, we were killing time waiting for our pizza to be ready for pick-up as they had no delivery drivers.  Fortunately enough, our route included West Broadway where we saw two hot air balloons preparing for take off in Hy-Vee's {grocery store} front yard.  It was so exciting!

We, along with many others, pulled right up and watched them float up, up, up and away... it was so neat!  We've seen a few balloons flying near our house over the past few weeks, and to be honest, Lawson has been so excited over them that we we've been kicking the idea around on going to St. Louis this weekend for the balloon race, but after seeing this, we believe we're going to the football game instead... I'm sure if given the choice, that's what Lawson would choose, too. : ) 

It was a beautiful evening and the sun and sky were beautiful... We had just gotten back from TN so the camera was in the back, thank goodness!

Dad and Lawson watching the first one float up, up, up and away...

{You can click on the pictures to see them larger and up close}

It's almost ready...

And there goes the second one...  Dad with the boys...

Lawson must have really good eyes... aren't they beautifully hanging in the sky?

Many of the cars in this picture were also watching and taking pictures... we noticed two more balloons in the distance... We were wondering if they are preparing for this weekend's race...  I've noted them in the picture, and our church building is on the right.

So pretty!

An unexpected reason for excitement!

And I would like to add that later that night I began to think about the "big picture" of these balloons taking off... the "big picture" of Hy-Vee's parking lot on that lovely Sunday night.  The weather was beautiful and crisp... the sky was a beautiful blue... two balloons were taking off into the sky... people were standing around watching, looking up into the sky... the date was September 11. 

What a contrast.  Ten years ago on that very day, in New York City, the weather was beautiful and crisp, the morning sky a beautiful blue, people standing around watching and looking up into the sky, the date September 11.  For some reason, later that night, my mind kept saying, "Wow... what a contrast those hot air balloons are in comparison to the frightful and heartbreaking sight that took place ten years before...".  May we never forget.  May we never lose sight of the freedom we have in this great nation because so many gave all.

It was a beautiful evening... an uplifting sight, indeed!

Go Tigers & Uncle Jim

I think we might've caught the fever... the Tiger fever, that is.

We attended our first Mizzou football game and although it was hotter than a firecracker, I think we might be hooked.  We are hoping to go back this weekend.  :)

Kick-off was scheduled for 11:00.  Jim, Russ' brother, was coming to Columbia to go to the game with us and to also stay the night.  He got here around 9:00 and we headed towards the stadium.  As we got closer, we realized that 9:30ish wasn't early enough for parking.  We walked almost 2 miles along a main 4-lane street.  I couldn't believe it.  I was kind of nervous about walking so far with the boys on such a busy street, but thanks to Russ and Jim we made it safely.

This picture is just a glimpse of the cars lining the street...

I really like these next two pictures...

Getting closer...

Almost to the gate...

Finally in our seats. 

It was so neat... and SO HOT!

There were wet sweaty people everywhere. Literally.

We knew it was going to be warm, but the sun was literally shining straight down onto our heads... the 11:00 AM sun was in full attendance at the Mizzou game!  Gold?  You got it... sunshine and all!

Warming up...

I've seen Tennessee Volunteer Orange in many different articles of clothing, but I'm pretty sure I've never seen anything like this... hope he didn't mind me taking his picture! :)

The Marching Band... Lawson says those three words very plainly with great excitement!  He was very happy to see "The Marching Band"!!!

As I was passing out snacks, I realized we were eating "Gold"fish... "Gold", get it?  I know, so cheesy.  Literally. :)

I heard it was 123 degrees on the field... whew!

The boys...

Lawson is covering his ears because they shot a canon when the Tigers scored and it was loud and scared him.  And I would like to mention that many around us were commenting on the boys' behavior.  I hadn't really given it much thought, but they really were soooo good!  Neither of them ever even whined {and I was almost ready to whine myself}.

Can you tell it is hot?!

This picture was taken because Emmitt took his shoes off.  It was hot and I thought it would help keep him cool if they were off, not to mention barefoot is how he rolls.  I downloaded it and had planned to crop it, only to realize that it was kind of a cool pic. 

MIZZOU boldly on his gold t-shirt, sock-feet Emmitt, flip-flop mama, and juice boxes...

And... we left at half-time. It was just too hot.  Russ left ahead of us to go get the van.  He spared us the 2 mile walk and met us not far from the gate.  Jim stayed with me and the boys in the sweltering sun until he called to say he was headed back to pick us up.  We decided to go and wait under the bleachers just to get out of the sun.  We made our way to the shade only to see a lady pass out and others obviously sick.  We fell right into the droves of people leaving the game.  We hated to leave, but it wasn't worth it, esp for the boys. 

We got home and Emmitt took a nap while Lawson played soccer football.  He is setting the ball on the book and kicking it.  He did this many times before realizing he could "play" football with his real football... Russ and Jim patiently played with him, throwing and catching the football 100 times that day, at least.

Our only other problem has been tackling.  He is very good at it and it is so easy to tackle his little brother, but it lands him in time-out every single time.  He'll learn.

Uncle Jim's visit earned him some good bonding time with the boys.  Emmitt, specifically, warmed up to him and was so sweet.

Lastly, we finished the day with a storm and a fish fry.  Russ spent four days in Canada on a fishing trip with work and brought back dinner.  We fried the fish along with hush puppies, and french fries.  It was a greasy spoon of a meal, but oh, so good!

I'm hoping he will post the memories from his trip; the pictures are beautiful!

And with the storm brought cool temperatures... about eight hours too late for the football game!

That's all for now... Uncle Jim, it was a great time having you here with us!  And Tigers, we are hoping to see you win again this weekend!

The Weekend of the Bean

This past weekend we were in Martin for The Soybean Festival.  This is an annual event in downtown Martin, and one that holds a feeling of magic amongst the community during the week-long festival.  In my opinion, anyway. :)

It was always exciting when I was growing up, and over the past few years it has grown significantly with more and more added each year.  Since being married, we've missed a few years here and there, but have been able to attend the past two years and look forward to raising the boys with a sense of community pride as our town hosts The Soybean Festival. 

The pictures I took while we were there are quite lame; it was busy and I just forgot to take pictures, but here are a few.

--Emmitt was taking it all in--

Lawson riding the teeter-totter amongst the Friday Night Pig-Out-in-the-Park cookers...

Lawson rode a few rides...

...and played a few games. 

He had a great time!

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Prior to The Soybean Festival...

We left Columbia and headed to Martin on Thursday afternoon... my mom and sister came and spent the week with us and we had a great visit!  The boys enjoyed all of their love and attention, and we shopped, ate out for lunch, Russ grilled dinner at night, and mom made a yummy apple cake from Southern Living... fall is upon us!!  Once again, I took one picture the whole week they were here... I've got to work on that!

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During The Soybean Festival...

While in Martin, we had the opportunity to visit with friends and family, alike... on Friday, we joined Mrs. Jane and all of the other K-5th graders in Martin at the Festival... (kind of crazy), but nonetheless, it was fun and Lawson was able to hang out with Mrs. Jane, and Emmitt and I walked around and talked to many people that I hadn't seen in a very long time; hugs and smiles were exchanged.  It was fun.

We also went to see the Westview Chargers {our high school alma mater} play Camden on Friday night with a WIN so that was exciting!  Lawson and Emmitt sat beautifully through the game and we were able to sit with my best friend, Jennifer, and her family which was fun... we look forward to attending the games when we move back.

My dad has some new chickens at his house, so we went to visit him for a while and the chickens were really neat for Lawson to see... Emmitt slept the whole time we were there, but the rabbits, kittens, and chickens were lots of fun!

On Saturday night, we took a date night with friends Ben and Jennifer and that was such an enjoyable evening... I must say that eating out with Emmitt is flat out not enjoyable.  Thank you, Mr. Richard and Mrs. Jane for keeping the boys; sorry they were little stinkers at bedtime!  : ) 

Saturday afternoon was very lazy and we spent a little while outside.  Emmitt is quite fond of the ranger these days...

Here he is sporting his GOLD on the ranger... Mizzou football game pics to come next!

I think that wraps up our Bean week and weekend.  It was great fun and great memories were made, even if they are only mental without pictures.  :)  We look forward to life in Martin... will you please pray for our house to sell?  Thanks!  :)



Play Date

About three weeks ago, we enjoyed a play date at the park with two of Lawson's friends from school.

They had a great time, and I enjoyed visiting with their moms, too.

Here they are... these three sweethearts...

-Lawson, Lyla, and Jorah-

And of course, Mr. Emmitt also joined us.  :)  He had so much fun!  He is finally wearing shoes and wore them for a long period of time while at the park.  I was quite happy!

--Lyla on the swing--

--Jorah was so sweet with Emmitt--

I love this picture... I believe this is proof that they were truly enjoying each others company. 

Stephen's Park is probably the nicest park I've ever been to for kids.  It has a great sand area for digging and they found lots of treasures.

Lyla, Jorah, and Lawson at the swings...

--Emmitt--

--Lawson and Lyla--

--Lawson--

It was so much fun! 

We sadly learned that Lyla is going to another school this year and Jorah is in the other class at school this year, so we hope to play again soon as Lawson will miss these two girls. 

Great friends warm the heart, don't they?

Ours were warmed that day... may yours be warmed by someone today.

Thanks for reading; I hope you have a great week!

We're Moving Home

Yes, you read that right.  We're moving home... moving back to our hometown of Martin, Tennessee.

Some of you read and follow regularly, and if so, you're probably scratching your head thinking, "what?, they just moved to Columbia, MO"... and you are right.  We just moved here last November, the week before Thanksgiving to be exact. 

Russ (we) took a career move and we moved from Evansville, Indiana with great excitement.  We were moving to a really nice city, Russ was going to be working from home, and I was going to be staying at home with our children.  It was an exciting move for us as a family, and we are extremely thankful for taking this move.  We have made friends through church, have several great neighbors, live in a great neighborhood, have seen and done some neat things, and we are extremely pleased with Lawson's school.  Life is great in Columbia.

With all of that said, you maybe wondering "why?"... Why are they moving back? 

As great as life is here in Columbia, we are six hours from our family.  Russ travels frequently, leaving me here with the boys, which is not a big deal, but having family to help would be very nice.  And just the simple fact that we have come to realize that raising our boys close to family is important to us.  Our children will be around their grandparents on a daily basis, they will get to know their other family members and cousins, they will have the opportunity for agricultural exposure, and they will be raised with many of our friends' children.  These things are important to us. 

We've always valued these things, however it wasn't until visiting our hometown became more difficult due to distance that we noticed how much we valued these things.  And agriculturally speaking, that's who we are.  Our agriculture backgrounds made us (Russ and me) who we are today and living in a nice subdivision isn't going to gain the boys those experiences.  All of those pieces combined, we made the decision that we need to be at "home".

It's been eight years since we've lived at "home".  Russ and I married, returned from our honeymoon, and immediately left for West Lafayette, Indiana.  We have never had our family in our back yard, so to speak.  We are a little nervous about this aspect, but believe the other advantages outweigh the possibility of our family driving us crazy. :)  We love you, mom and dad... on both sides.    There will be a balance and I believe we can find it.  Our boys deserve this.  And so does our family.

So, how did this happen and what happens next?

Well, we made the decision to simply ask Russ' boss if we could move to Tennessee.  This was a BIG decision and took a LOT of courage.  What would they say?  How would they respond?  Would they say, "are you crazy?"  We just didn't know how this would all turn out.  But, we prayed, and we prayed, and we prayed.  Russ and I have always been very private with our moving decisions, not telling anyone we were moving until it was a signed and sealed deal... having everyone's input is not always a good thing, if you know what I mean.  But this time around, we told everybody!  If we thought they would pray, we told them.  And let me tell you, we have never felt so good about a decision... God's hands were so evident in every step of this decision.  It is the right thing to do... without a doubt. 

As to what happens next... our house has been on the market now for 68 days.  :(  Yes, I've neglected posting this.  Our last house sold in 30 days so this has been discouraging to us, but once again, God is on our side and isn't quiting on us now.  He is faithful to His children and we trust Him.  We have a house there in Martin on contract and they are so kindly waiting until ours sells, no matter how long it takes.  Isn't that nice?

We are very excited and ask for your prayers, too.  Will you please pray that our house will sell to the special couple/family who needs our house?  We know it isn't all about us and therefore pray for the family who needs to live here... we pray that God will bring them to our door, and that they will fall in love, causing them to buy our house.

With a corporate move, there is typically a buy-out if your house doesn't sell within a 60-90 day period, they pay your closing costs and realtor costs, and then they come pack you up, move you out, then move you in and unpack you.  Not this time.  This will be our first move as big boys and girls moving all by ourselves.  A little scary, but that was their condition on us moving back home.  It's all us.  So, here we go.

I will keep you posted, but in the mean time, we ask that you please pray for our house to sell, and for praise and thanksgiving for the opportunity to move back home for God truly answered the prayers of many.

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I found a picture that I think is perfect for this post...

8 years later... we're returning "home".

In this picture, we are leaving our wedding reception, which was held in Martin, with a wide-open road ahead.  We would have never imagined we would be moving back to West Tennessee only eight short years later.

We're excited about what's to come and trust in our Lord to continue to guide and bless us and our family.

Thanks for reading and thank you for praying, too!

First Day of School

Today was the big day! 

Lawson returned to preschool and he was so excited!

He awoke a little earlier than normal and when I reminded him of this special day, his smile was priceless!

Russ so sweetly took these pictures as we attempted to get a good "first day of school" picture!

(Why are pictures so difficult to take at this age?!)

I printed these cute signs here and taped a paint stick to the back... I hope to use them in the coming years.

According to his teachers, he had a great day and was so "grown up". 

He has definitely changed and grown over the summer... 

Sadly, we learned that our favorite teacher here in Columbia, Mrs. LeeAnne, will not be with him this year.  :(  She is retiring after 25 years.  We received the news when we arrived, and were introduced to his new teacher, Mrs. Stephanie.

She seemed very kind and Lawson seemed to quickly warm up to her, and he has spoken well of her since being at home.  Mrs. LeeAnne was there today and will also be there Thursday to help with transition, but I must say that I wasn't able to hold back my tears.  I was just so shocked and sad.  I know he will be fine and I trust the church's judgement to ensure a good teacher for their program. 

Mrs. LeeAnne will always have a special place in our hearts.

As to his day, this is what he told me...

My favorite thing was playing outside (typical boy).

I liked making my necklace and bookworm. (see below)

We read a book.

Nobody went to time out.

Sums it up in the words of a little boy, I suppose.

And lastly, a little picture with note-worthy information on this first day...

And we're off... off to a great year, I'm sure!