sept misc

I'm on a roll this week. 

This is one of my favorite things. Ted walks Sophie into school two of her four days. We have a deal that I walk her in two days and he does two days. Every time they get out of the van together, she says, "Ted, will you give me a hug and a kiss when you drop me off." Commence heart melting! Even after chaotic mornings (which every single one is) I love dropping them off this way.

We've been to New Martinsville 3 weekends in a row for between 1 and 4 hours. This was trip #2 in which we followed MANY trucks. On the way back after Ted's party we followed and then passed an entire antique car show.

I think Sophie looks absolutely beautiful in this picture. Even at 4 years old, she knows a good bag and good shoes when she sees them.

We've been having after school snacks and homework time on the back deck the last two weeks. Absolutely glorious. This particular day, Sophie was telling me that she was going to tell one of her friends to chew like a bunny, not like a cow. We then had a little chit chat about making (and keeping) friends.

This child's hair never ceases to amaze me. She's been getting up earlier in the morning when I'm doing my hair so we do a little straight ironing of hers. Does a world of good.

Two Sundays ago, Ted's soccer team played at halftime of the WVU Men's Soccer game. Very, very cool and very, very fun.

Wyatt and Joanna came to watch with us. It's so great having family in town.

After the game, the men's soccer team did a little clinic with the kids. Also very fun.

We stopped by the church office last week. Ted stepped right in. I think I'll have him fill in for me when I can't be there.

full circle

Sometimes life comes full circle. This past Sunday was one of those days.

This is us in 2006 at River Ridge Church. It was pretty darn close to Ted's 1st birthday. We were praying over the building and wrote names of people we prayed would walk through the front doors on the steel beams.

Six years later, here are in front of South Ridge Church. Two days after Ted's 7th birthday.

 

Ben lead some worship and we prayed over the building, even writing prayers on the concrete. Super special time for our family.

Ted: I pray people will learn about God.
(This was with some prompting. Don't give us/him more credit than we deserve).

Sophie: I pray kids will love the bible.

(Again, more prompting after wanting to draw clouds).

Our family spot

Laura: Radically changed lives
Ben: Psalm 16:11

That people would experience:

- the path of life

- joy in His presence

- pleasures forevermore

classic sophie

Do you need a good laugh? Have I got something for you. I videoed these about a month ago. This is classic Sophie. We laugh a lot with her.

In this video, Sophie is the robot and Ted holds the controls. However she's a pretty disobedient robot. She definitely doesn't break character.

This is kind of a long video but totally Sophie. Ben was teaching Ted how to play the Sorry card game and she was just being Sophie. She just talks and says stuff and more than sometimes is a little bossy. When I showed the video to Ben, he had no idea she had done any of that. It's all so normal we don't really hear her all the time.

ted's 7th birthday

Ted turned 7 on Friday. I'm pretty much at a loss for words over what I feel on his birthday each year. We've come a long, long way. You can read Ted's birth story here and here.

So, just a few numbers to tell you about Ted's 6th year of life:

1 brain surgery

2 pieces of clothing that make me laugh: flat billed hats & skater shoes

5 lost teeth

1 pair of broken glasses

3 - size of his shoes

16 trillion - the number of times Ted confessed things over the summer. not lying or exaggerating. it was slightly excessive. (and that also just happens to be the national debt on his 7th birthday)

1 seizure

4 cases of strep throat

2 new big kid chores: taking out the trash & loading the dishwasher

3 learned skills: reading, shoe tying & turning on the shower himself

$3.85 - what I've been paying for a gallon of gas these days

3 bald spots on his head

$85,000ish (I stopped keeping track at a certain point)- the cost of his surgery

4 eeg's

2 all nighters

 priceless - his ability to give me a rating on the pain scale for any injury

 2 new sports - basketball & tball

2 airplanes

1 stellar scar

1 cruise

1 cabin in the woods

 2 horseback rides

lots of cousins

1 dog sleeping in his room

1 set of bunk beds

1 interested boy in football

2 schools

1 hole in the left knee of every pair of pants he has

2 houses

1 good big brother walking his sister into school

too many to count great snuggles and talks at bedtime - that might be our most very favorite thing

lots of games of skip-bo, sorry and just dance

We had a great weekend. We went to New Martinsville on Saturday for birthday with the grandparents. Doh and Ted had secretly planned the cake - a WVU football jersey.

He got an awesome basketball hoop for the garage and alley. He's so excited for this. He also got a knock-knock joke book and a magic kit. I'm going to give the grandparents sirens for the kids to play with at their house because of this! Just kidding - we just have to put some boundaries on all of it!

Uncle Charlie & Gary Pap got a little workout at the party.

Bill even came to the party. Bill & Charlie have been best friends since high school. Ted, they came out of the woods from hunting to attend your party. That's a BIG deal.

We drove back to Morgantown just in time to drop Ben off at the stadium for the Kansas State game. We watched the game from our snugly place on the couch. That was much better. We ended up driving through game traffic during the 3rd quarter to pick up Ben.

This is Ted. Flat billed hat. Skater shoes. Playing the iPad. Sometimes I wonder if we will seriously clash over clothing in the future.

We gave him his gift Friday morning before school. Please note our nice array of wrapping paper: the comics, wedding and Christmas. This is how we roll, people. In my world, he's lucky they are wrapped. That is all Ben.

A belt. Number 2 on Ted's birthday list next to a basketball hoop. He also got the Steelers jersey pictured above (thank you, TJMaxx for the amazing deal on that) which he has worn for 3 days straight.

An x-ray costume. Ted really wanted to be a skeleton for Halloween. These days, a lot of kids' clothes has skulls on it and that bothers me. So Ben found this x-ray costume at KMart for 50% off - I think I've shopped at KMart once in my life. He's such a good gift giver.

Friday evening, we went to Cheddar's with the Kozels and Aunt Lois and Uncle David. This is our 3rd birthday in a row with the Monster Cookie. It is officially tradition.

Then we went to the blue/gold basketball game. These are the 3 birthday sharers in our family. Joanna, Ted and Uncle David. We've never celebrated all together.  Ted also share's a birthday with several other friends.

Ted Tuel, I love all the questions you ask, your snuggles at night, your growing independence, your ability to adapt, your growing heart for others, the way you love to learn and the role you play in our family. Happy 7th birthday, pal! I'm so blessed to be your mom!

becca & derek - 2012 wedding #5

We were in Charleston last weekend for Becca & Derek's wedding!

We've known Becca and her family since around 2003. She and her 3 siblings all came through Young Life at GW High School and we love them so much. Her sister, Jaclyn, got married last summer. The house we lived in for our first two years in Morgantown belongs to her parents.  Kathy, Becca's mom, babysat Ted when he was a baby when I went to Club on Wednesday nights. We love the Thomas'! 

We met Derek the day we moved into the Thomas' house (kinda ironic!). He was a grizzly sort of guy - long hair, big beard, crazy tatoos. Nothing like the picture above. He eventually became a leader in Grafton and then moved to Charleston to be on staff at River Ridge Church. His office is actually my and Ben's old office. Weird how your lives intersect with others.

Anyways, Ben did part of their wedding. As always, such an honor and blessing to be part of such a special day for people we love so much. I can't explain how blessed I've been at all these recent weddings. It really is unexplainable the good it does to my heart and the reassurance that we are doing what we need to be doing.

 Jaclyn, Shawna and me - this was after much dancing. Just saying. Jaclyn's husband is deployed to Afghanistan right now. She's so amazing in the way she handles it all. So proud of her.  I did some shopping with Shawna and Lisa on Saturday. Shawna is going to have to be my personal shopper because we always get really good stuff, on super SALE. Thank you, Shawna (and Lisa!). I'm still thanking you for the shoes from our trip in January. I got a pair of pink pants. Watch out, people! I didn't get a picture of Meredith, but we had a great conversation that reminded me so much to always be thankful for my current stage of life and grateful for the wide variety of people in my life.

 Social networking fun!

 It just so happened that WVU played University of Texas during the reception. And we won. This was kind of a big deal to win on the road in a huge Big 12 match up. Lots of people went back and forth to the reception and the tv's. There were some Longhorn fans at the bar, so no matter what happened, someone was yelling and screaming - including during the toasts. But it was all good.

Ben and Brian VonBloch as twins at the rehearsal. It was fun to see Adrienne & Brian - newlyweds of 3 whole weeks.

Roomies and newlyweds, Adrienne & Becca.

Congratulations, Becca & Derek! Here's to a many great years in the adventure of marriage.

(And, in case you're wondering, there's still 2 more weddings to go in 2012!)

in between

In between blog posts, life happens.

you go to bed too late and get up too early.

you pack lunches and then kids forget them at home.

you wait in the drop off/pick up late with people that must have gotten there at 6am or 1pm

you do laundry, dishes and clean the house over and over again

you fight with your kids, get mad at your husband and then say you're sorry

you go to tailgates and get gushers courtesy of john allevato.

you go to a friend's house for dinner with visiting friends

you eat an amazing spread of food - including pork tenderloin wrapped in pork belly!

you plan for, prepare for and execute a fundraising banquet

you enlist your kids to help and it's fun when they can actually help you be productive

you feed, bathe and let the dog out more times than you can count

you got to soccer practice, soccer games and gymnastics

your kids whine and cry about dumb stuff

you address the "quicksands" in your life and what they are stealing from you

you tailgate and maybe let your kid practicing flipping a cup

you go the wvu homecoming parade and collect a seriously large amount of candy

you decide above stated candy will be given out for trick-or-treat

you also acquire a football schedule and it becomes your son's most prized possession

you do more tailgating and use a koozie for your gatorade

you eat breakfast, lunch and dinner over and over again

you eat too many calories and have one too many cokes that day

you go the the fishbowl and eat some lemons

and then some wings

you go to walmart at least twice in a week. 

you bathe the kids, read them stories and let them manipulate you to make bedtime even longer

you drop the kids off, drive to work, work, drive to get the kids and go home

you snuggle, laugh and play with your kids.

you yell at your kids.

your kids totally misbehave.

 

 this toilet shows up in my yard two weeks in a row.

you deal with people disappointing you

you deal with yourself

you walk alongside people who need you

you fall asleep at your computer

So, life just keeps right on going. In between.