Scrapbook Page

I haven't gotten much scrapbooking done the last several weeks - too much going on. But, I did this one over the weekend. The pictures are from February 2006.

More Trey Laughs

Trey is one funny kid. He has us cracking up all the time. Yesterday he was calling me from the other room "Mommy, come here!" Roman mimicked him with a jumbled version of the same thing: "Mommmmeeeee, mum-meeeere!" Trey sounded exasperated when I heard him say "Roman, you don't even know what 'come here' means."

Then this morning I was at the table eating cereal with them. We're constantly reminding Roman to use silverware instead of his fingers. Trey saw Roman using his fingers and said "Roman, use your spoon." Trey then put his hand on my knee and said "I'll handle it Mommy."

What a riot!

Our Friday night activities yesterday included football with Daddy in the yard and new sidewalk chalk.

Summer

I keep hearing that summer is officially here now, but we've been in summer mode for a while already. I like to get as much out of summer as I can. The boys and I have been spending Thursday mornings at our friend Amber's pool. She works long days Monday and Wednesday, so Thursdays she doesn't usually have to go in until later. Trey is having a blast swimming all over the place with the skills he learned in swim class, and Roman's comfort level in the water is quickly improving too.

We've been at the beach some too, here is a picture I took at the beach recently just as storm clouds started to come in. Thankfully the storm blew over very quickly.

More visitors

Mike was here on Wednesday, then Saturday Jeff's sister Misha and her mom and two daughters, Fanisha and Zanayah came overnight. Misha had driven from NY to IN to pick up Fanisha, then they came here to spend the night before going home to NY. I don't know what I was thinking not getting any pictures, but we had a great time. Zanayah and Trey play together great and Jeff and Fanisha pick at each other nonstop! We had a fire in the backyard Saturday night, our nieces went to church with us Sunday morning, then after church we had dinner and hung out for a bit before they had to get on the road. It was a short but fun visit.

Uncle Mike!

Jeff's brother Mike called us several days ago. He lives in Florida and we hadn't seen him in 2 1/2 years. He'd never met Roman. He called to tell us that he was helping his girlfriend move to Cincinnati in a couple of days and could he see us while he was in Ohio. Of course our answer was YES! So Mike and his girlfriend Jill got here Wednesday afternoon and stayed until late Wednesday night. It was so great to see him. Jeff left work early and came straight home. He was thrilled to have him here. Mike loves kids and the boys could tell. They took right to him and loved every minute with him. We're hoping it's not going to be another 2 1/2 years before we see him again!

Here are some pics from the afternoon. The bottom left one cracks me up because Mike taught Trey to make the "peace" sign and Roman is staring at his hand trying to figure out how to do it too. :)

(just a reminder - click on the image to see a larger version)

And God Said "No."

I asked God to take away my pride and God said, "No." He said it was not for Him to take away but for me to give up.
I asked God to make my handicapped child whole and God said "No." He said the body is only temporary.
I asked God to grant my patience and God said "No." He said patience is a by-product of tribulation. It isn't granted, it's earned.
I asked God to give me happiness and God said "No." He said He give His blessings. Happiness is up to me.
I asked God to spare me from pain and God said "No." He said sufferings draw you apart from worldly cares and bring you closer to Him.
I asked God to make my spirit grow and God said "No." He said I must grow on my own, but He will prune me to make me fruitful.
I asked God if He loved me and God said "Yes." He gave His only Son who died for me and I will be in heaven someday because I believe.
I asked God to help me love others as much as He loves me and God said, "Ah, finally you have the idea!"

Another Trey Story

Too cute to not tell...

Trey knows he is not allowed to go outside without permission. Yesterday I was on the phone and Jeff was outside, Trey tried to interrupt me to ask if he could go out too, but I told him he had to wait until I was off the phone. He went outside anyway. Once outside Jeff asked him if he had permission to be outside. He told Jeff: "Momma told me to wait, but I did not hear her."

Trey stories

Trey has given us a couple of good laughs this week. Last night my girlfriend Susie stayed with them while we had a special cell group meeting. She had Roman in bed already and was hanging out on the couch watching Curious George with Trey. She dozed off, and when she woke up Trey had gotten himself completely ready for bed by himself!

Earlier in the day yesterday Trey and I were playing a silly game we play where he names people I love. He said I loved him and Moe, then he stopped and said "Mommy, I love Moe mucher then you."

Last but not least, Trey has been amused by Eskimo kisses lately. I told him that Eskimos live where it's really really cold out and they have to rub noses to kiss because if they use their mouths they will freeze and get stuck together. He tried to explain it to Jeff later and told him "they have to kiss with noses because it's really cold and their mouths will get really sticky"!

Canoe Trip

Late Friday night Jeff and I decided with our friends Brad and Amber to go on a canoe trip on Saturday. We got up bright and early to drive 1 1/2 hours south to Morrow, Ohio, where we could canoe on the Little Miami River. Little Miami River is considered one of the most scenic in Ohio. It is truly beautiful. The weather was perfect for the trip, hot, but not too hot, clear and beautiful. With the struggles we've had in our life recently, this trip was an opportunity to laugh and have fun. And we laughed so hard. Early in the trip Brad and Amber tipped their canoe twice. Jeff and I were pretty proud of our abilities... until we tipped a couple of times too.

The depth of the river changed drastically along the six-mile trip. At some points it was 15+ feet, at other points our canoes scraped the rocks on the bottom. One of the funniest moments of the day was when Brad and Amber had tipped yet again (and this time in front of a big group of people on the bank). Amber was thrashing in the water yelling "what do I do? what do I do?", so we yelled back to her "stand up!" She did, and realized the water was only a few feet deep at that spot!

About half of a mile into the trip we saw a big tree leaning over the water with an old rope hanging from it. We paddled over and I climbed out and up the tree then jumped into the river. It was a rush and I was immediately followed by a lot of other people doing the same. I must admit that I was pretty proud to have been the first, at least that day. Amber did it too, but when she got up there she was terrified. There were about 30 people around, in canoes or on the banks. By the time she finally jumped she had everyone cheering for her and counting her down. It didn't matter that we didn't know these people, we were all just enjoying the fun of the day. I was so excited when she did it even though she was scared!

Here are a few pics, the first (biggest) is a shot of how beautiful the river and scenery are. The second (clockwise) is Jeff playing air-guitar on his paddle. Third is a shot of the jumping tree over the river, and last is a classic picture of explorer-Brad.

I thank God for giving us such a beautiful day with each other and two of our close friends.

Dating

Jeff and I have had some good times together this week. It almost felt like dating again, Wednesday night it was up to me to plan the evening, last night he planned. On Wednesday I took him to Joe's Crab Shack for dinner. He always wants to go there, but I don't eat seafood so I never really want to go there. But we went, I had a great chicken sandwich, and we had a blast together. We rented a couple of movies too. Then last night we went mini golfing, which was a riot. He beat me, I'm sorry to admit, but it was fun anyway. We think we might try taking Trey sometime soon.

Trey's swim classes are over, last week was the last one. We loved every bit of it, it was a great experience. Here are the scrapbook pages I just finished. If you click on them (or any pictures in my blog) you can see a larger version. Enjoy!