I thought this was a great picture of Joseph. Nehemiah always prefers the mulch at any park we go to. I thought he was funny here stuffing mulch into every nook and cranny, then looking to see if anyone was watching.

Striking a pose

Some Boy time

Joseph and Daddy decided to build something together. Joseph really wanted to build a sliding board but slides are expensive! We decided on a balance beam. I forgot to take an "after" picture, but you can see it in the background of the bottom picture... the one of the boys using their baseball bats as swords.

Naughty Hannah

When I wasn't looking Hannah decided to pull herself up and get the newspaper. The news must have been particularly yummy that day.

Little Fish

Joseph can swim!! We were at my parent's again last night. (Hey, free pool. They know how to hook us) With his new swimsuit from Grandma Debbie he got in the water - and with a little persuasion I got him to let go of the death grip he had on me. Then "wa-la!" He was swimming! After that if I touched him he would say "no Mommy I can do it by myself!" I didn't bring my camera :( but my dad did get some pictures. By the time Joseph's ten I should have one to put up here to show you. Joseph is VERY proud of himself and I must say we are very proud of him too. Nehemiah is now going to get a swimsuit like Joseph's so he can swim too. He has one that is similar but when I let go his head can still go under. So... Grandma to the rescue! His new one should be here in a few days. :) I'll remember my camera next time as I'm sure Nehemiah will take to swimming by himself right away. We tried to get one for Hannah but they don't come that small. I've heard that blowing in a baby's face (so they hold their breath) and "tossing them in" will help teach them to swim but um.... no. All it does is make them scream in terror. I'm a horrible Mom for trying, I know. Anyway, I hope you all find some cool ways to relax from the heat this summer. We sure are grateful for Grandma's pool!

9 Months!!

I can't believe Hannah is 9 months old! She is getting so big, and doing such cute things. She is not interested in crawling but give her your hand and she'll run around the house. Her brothers make her laugh on a daily (hourly)basis. She is a very happy baby. She has learned the signs for "more" "Mommy" and is catching on to the "all done" sign. I must admit the thought of number 4 has entered my mind now that Hannah's getting bigger... but as quickly as it comes it goes again! I'm not ready to have 4 under the age of 5.... ugh. Lets work on finding a new house first... (Roger if you are reading this it really was just a random thought honey. I am not going to try to convince you that now is the time to have #4. Really.)

Petting Zoo

The kids all had different reactions to being able to actually touch the animals. Joseph wanted to, and did pet a goat but that was enough for him. Nehemiah wanted to touch everything he saw and was climbing out of the stroller to do so. Hannah, she wanted to go home! (I don't think the animals had anything to do with that though)

Pony Ride

A local store held it's annual petting zoo this week. We went with a friend and she spoiled my boys with a pony ride! As you can see Joseph was a little unsure about the whole sitting on a moving animal thing. Nehemiah - who I thought would scream once I actually sat him on the pony - laughed when I put him on. He thought that was the best ride ever!

Hannah's cheese-It

I just think she's adorable sitting with her Daddy eating his crackers.

Swimming at the Morrison's

Joseph wasn't sure if he wanted to go in the pool right away. This is the first year that he doesn't have something to "ride in". We aren't sure how to take 3 kids in the pool when there is only 2 of us. So he played with his fireman's hose. (thank you Christin!)




Nehemiah was NOT wanting to wear his swimsuit with the built in floaties. I had to fight him into it... I am aware that it is on backwards. We all had fun. The pool was the perfect temperature. Hannah is going to be a pool baby... she was splashing away! Nehemiah after he got over the fact that he had to wear that swimsuit was loving the water... and Joseph did get his turn in the pool too. He even fell in (thats a whole story unto itself) but he didn't let that stop him from wanting to have fun. Thank you Grandma Debbie for letting us play at your pool! :)

Playing with our new cousins

Some fun time at Grandma and Grandpa Fox's house. Aunt Amanda is getting married in October! Soon our kids will have 2 more cousins! Isabella is 3 and Kevin is 9. They all had fun in the sprinkler.
































Nehemiah was trying to break free! There is a lock on the deck gate but it's loose so we tied it shut.... just a challenge for Nehemiah. He fought with that thing until he broke free, smiled a naughty little smile and took off down the stairs.

Random Things

These are the kittens that have invaded our yard. Well, 2 of them. 3 of the strays (that our neighbor insists on feeding) had kittens, I think we have 9+ kittens roaming around now. Joseph stops to check on them every day. These cute little things live under the neighbors porch (not the same neighbor that feeds them) Cute... but I want them to go away.









Hannah is showing off her new shoes. I think they are adorable! They only stay on her feet for... oh... 7 seconds. Good thing I bought them at consignment.



I thought this was a cute one of Nehemiah and Roger playing. Nehemiah is growling at Roger :)

VBS

This being Joseph's first year with VBS means it was also mine. I've helped out in many areas of children's ministry but never with VBS. I was amazed to see how many children showed up! I know we have a large church (approx 1500 people) but the kids WOW! They were all so pumped up and ready to go. It was neat to see the difference from day one to day 5... such a short period of time but God used every second. The theme this year was "sports" and someone went all out decorating our multi-purpose room. The long picture you see below is one entire wall in the church. Amazing. I'm trying to figure out how to get some of my video up of the kids praising... it's incredible... and long. :)

VBS

This was Joseph's 1st VBS - you have to be 4 years old. He LOVED it! We were a little hesitant to leave him the 1st night so we stuck close. The 2nd night we wanted to go grocery shopping so we asked Joseph if he was comfortable with that. He looked a little unsure so I said if he wanted Daddy to stay there he could. Joseph's response was "No thats ok, I can be by myself!"

VBS the waiting

VBS was just long enough to be able to go home in between drop off and pick up but not long enough to make the 20 minute trip each way worth it. So we kept busy with toys and walks and balls and movies!

This is how Nehemiah spent most of his time during VBS. He wasn't sure at first if he was going to like the movie (see him peeking between his fingers) but he decided it was funny afterall. It was Monsters Inc

Being Content

Well, I could post a novel here if I gave you the whole story so I will do my best to condense it into a reader friendly version. Bear with me. Roger and I have been back from Texas since October of 2004. Pretty much instantly we decided that wasn't the best move we made. We've since spent our time pondering the how's of returning to life in the cowboy state. When we moved back here in '04 we were pregnant with Nehemiah. We - as you can tell from the rest of the blog - have had Nehemiah (that would have been a LONG pregnancy) and added Hannah. The point being there has been a lot added to our family since our last 1400 mile treck across the country. I've been thinking a lot lately about the legacy we will be leaving our children. I come from a family that has divorce running through it for a few generations. (among many other generational "issues") Roger, though divorce isn't up there for family issues there are other things being passed down that we are determined to break. Since our heart wasn't totally here (as in PA) we weren't able to set down roots. We aren't feeling esablished. We aren't feeling a part of much of anything. I Long for that tight close group of friends that knows everything about you and they like you anyway! :) Roger and I have come to the conclusion that we need to put down roots here, yes in PA. If we grow and florish here in PA then should we decide that TX is the place for us later we will be strong enough to be transplanted. It's the plants that are full and beautiful with strong roots that can handle being dug up and transplanted... the ones that are small with weak roots, though they may survive the replanting process they usually don't grow to be as big and beautiful as their counterpart.
Thats the condensed version. :) We are making changes and are happy to finally say "this is where we are and this is where we are going to be" We're slow learners.... but we're learning! :)

Time Out

Nehemiah was in a time out in his crib (it's been a LONG day). He refused to say sorry for what he had done (ok, so maybe he wasn't sorry) He refused to look at me give a hug, kiss, anything to acknowledge that I was there and talking to him. So I told him until he could do something to let me know he hears me (and preferably not do the same naughty thing again) he had to stay in time out. You know what he did?! He climbed out of his crib! He figured bailing was easier than apologizing. And since I had to stop writing this to discipline him for doing the same thing (did I mention that this has been a LONG day?!) I'm guessing his bailing meant Mommy's not in charge. This is the same kid that when begging for juice, if made to say please, he would just as soon take water. If he wants to watch a movie and you make him say please, he would rather play with his toys. The life of a 2 year old. Wow.

Joseph's new helmet

Joseph won a new bike helmet at Hospital Day in the Park! That was such a blessing!! He loves it, and wears it proudly - everywhere!