The Simple Things

Simple things we enjoyed-February

2016-03-02T10:36:00.001-06:00

Trains. Oh, how they adore trains! And they adore each other... Most of the time:)

Family bowling:

Our heart shaped pancakes Valentine tradition:

Moments like this:

Skiing with friends and an adults only weekend away to rejuvenate and relax. I've been wanting to do this all winter. It's been 10 years since I've skied and I was a little nervous but it was so much fun!

Finally getting outside to play in the snow:

Playing with random items. Ewwww:

Simple things we enjoyed-January

2016-01-31T11:11:00.000-06:00

A laundry helper- without me even asking her to help!

The imagination of this girl! Our kitty on our counter. She wants a cat soooo bad. She wants to BE a cat even more.

That this guy loves projects like his mama. He wanted glue for Christmas and spends a lot of time gluing buttons on pages:

The goofiness that is just our family. I often feel short on sleep and patience, but we are never short on laughs:

(Potty training isn't going so well when he wants to wear his "underwears" on his head.

Moments like this, watching them play together makes my heart happy, a phrase my little ones often ask. "Is your heart happy?" Oh yes:

~Angela

Simple things we enjoyed (December)

2016-01-22T17:14:00.001-06:00

Some of our favorite holiday festivities....

Bell ringing for the Salvation Army. This time with my mom!

Baking Christmas cookies with grandparents!

Seeing Santa

The return of Elfie and his shenanigans

And his watch over the kids who weren't always behaving...

There were also some new adventures, like our bus trips with friends to look at Christmas lights

Real Christmas lights at our house!

And my favorite of all, spending Christmas in our home we love with the people we love. We worshipped at our church and it was every bit as wonderful as I'd hoped. This was not a present to be unwrapped with paper, but truly my favorite gift this year.

Simple things we enjoyed November 2015

2015-12-14T20:44:00.001-06:00

A 10 year anniversary trip to Aruba where we read, rested, relaxed and had uninterupted conversations with each other in the sand and sun.

I also found some heart shaped coral!

Watching our kids play together, using their imagination and tightening their bond.

Thanksgiving day 5k and a guy who is bsck to running after his mountain bike crash/injury.

Holiday preparations! And the magic that surrounds the season.

Simple Things Enjoyed In September

2015-10-03T10:02:00.001-05:00

We are enjoying that our little guy is talking and running and just so happy. After a rough previous year with him being sick constantly, his health and growth is a beautiful thing.

He even ran in his first race and for a family that loves to run, this is a fun milestone for us.

Our little girl started school . She is making friends and loves to learn. Her stories from school are something I look forward to each day. And our weekly lunch dates at her school brighten my week.

She also lost her first tooth and got a visit from the tooth fairy. When daddy is a dentist, we get excited about teeth around here:)

Watching brother and sister play together is the highlight of most days- they love each other in the way I hoped and prayed they would and I hope that never changes:

That my husband is healing. He’s back to work after a bicycling injury that made us realize all we have to be thankful for. He even got on his bike for the first time since the accident.

Our health is something often take for granted. As are our jobs and sense of purpose. Gratitude is something we celebrate in November each year, but we are reminded daily of all that we have to be grateful for- coworkers that stepped up to help out, family and friends who helped us with meals, transportation, a listening ear, caring for our kids and our home.

I’ve enjoyed running, some craft projects with my little ones and because of my husband’s injuries a slower pace in the evenings. We made leaves out of coffee filters (directions here: http://www.funathomewithkids.com/2014/08/fall-window-art-leaf-suncatchers-free.html) which was great fun:

More movies watched and more rest. Something we desperately needed but would not have otherwise made time for. I've found a love for audiobooks that I can listen to while running and working on household chores and just read a great book that any woman should read:

~Angela

First day of school

2015-09-09T14:50:00.001-05:00

I can't quite wrap my mind around the fact that we have a kindergartner.

I’ve had a week to digest this now (a week is enough time to have missed the bus already in case you were wondering) and really thought I would hold it together that First Day until I got a message from Our little girl’s preschool teacher the Morning Of The First Day of School saying “I know Your little girl is ready for this and God bless” that started the tears…

then there was those little legs climbing those giant bus steps that created more tears…

and then little brother who said “Sister, bye-bye, bus” and I lost it. I cried all the way to work (it’s only a mile, but still).

I was giddy with excitement all day to pick her up and hear all about it. We waited in what has become our spot for the bus to round the corner and drop her off. Her first words off the bus: "can I go back tomorrow?!"

She was ready. No doubt in my mind. She was up at 2:30am the first day she was so excited. But I guess I wasn't. I'd been thinking of all these fleeting moments of growth and I get very sentimental- this summer she has mastered riding a bike without training wheels, learned to swim on her own and learned to read. And her first tooth was loose just last week. These are such exciting milestones, but reminders that she is growing up- it's bittersweet.

I want for her to love school like I did- new friends at her new school, new projects, a teacher that makes learning fun. Through tears, I read this prayer I've sent to friends with kids in school over the years, and it hit closer to home this year than in the past.

It's been awhile

2015-09-09T14:48:00.001-05:00

After much consideration (the safety and online security of my family being my biggest concern) I decided to continue my blog. It's no secret that I take many photos and although I scrapbook these photos and keep journals for both of my kids, I miss writing about our other moments - our ordinary days, crafting and cooking and playing and being in nature. Living life together. Being a family. Traditions. I enjoy going back to the blog posts to relive the moments and the digital preservation of our family memories are captured in a way that we can watch the videos and see the photos again and again.

So, after combing through every single post to eliminate anything that would give away more info than I was safe revealing (first or last names, addresses, license plates, etc.) I'm giving this another go.

I've quickly filled the time I spent blogging with other things. Mostly being healthier- we eat much healthier because I cook much healthier (which means I spend more time shopping, cleaning and cutting all the fresh foods we are eating) and I've added running to my daily routine, getting up earlier than I ever have voluntarily (who knew I'd ever be a morning person?!) So I likely won't blog as often, but it's my blog so there aren't any rules anyway:)

Welcome back:)

A Tree for Our Little Man

2014-07-28T21:07:00.002-05:00

My husband's grandparents planted a tree for all of their grandchildren at their house and I love that idea. They have watched their children grow and watched the trees grow along with them. I wanted to do that for our children and we planted a tree when our daughter was born (before I started blogging) and most recently when our son was born.

Picking out just the right tree was more work than actually planting it!

We all helped plant the tree once we got it home

This little girl took a break

and found a worm

This little guy mostly just supervised...and played with the yard flags

Now each of the kids have their own tree, we labeled with a personally engraved rock.

~Angela

Brother for sale

2014-06-27T09:07:00.001-05:00

Right now our little guy is very mobile and that means he can (and does) get into his sister's things. This bugs her to no end

Of course that frustrates sister to no end. And our little man still just grins at her. There are moments like this that I love stumbling upon...

And then there are moments that our little girl acts like this:

I am sure this sibling dynamic will change as they grow and change, but I'll savor the sweet moments whenever I can.

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The Stump Becomes a Table

2014-06-16T22:19:00.000-05:00

You may recall that I found this beauty while on a trip last summer. I had plans to use it in my house but wanted to leave it as close to its natural state as possible

It has been drying out for months since it was quite water logged and I made feet for it to elevate it off the ground a few inches. I sanded it so the top was smooth and with a wire brush, removed all the sand from the crevices.

Then I stained it to enhance the color of the wood and now we use it for a coffee table.

~Angela

Little Free Library

2014-06-12T22:10:00.000-05:00

I love to read and I love to pass books along. I've been visiting Little Free Libraries when we travel for several years and thought it would be fun to make my own. And recently I have discovered several of them close to my home, as these libraries are located all over the world. The idea is you can take a book or leave a book or both (exchange a book for a new one).

Our little girl has also gotten into them- she likes to be the first one to spot them as we try to find new ones we have not visited....and she has picked out some interesting books for herself:

I downloaded the plans from the Little Free Library website and I've been working on this for MONTHS. And I have had a lot of help for this project- it has really been a labor of love...I took a woodworking class where I did most of the work. Our friend and next door neighbor helped me a lot with the door and gave me all the wood for the project. Another friend gave me the the shingles for the roof. My daughter helped me paint the Little Free Library and my husband helped me with the handle and attaching the door. When I put it that way, it sounds like I hardly had any part in this project, but I assure you I did!

I've been stocking up on books:

And put on some finishing touches. Since the library will be at our dental office, I thought it only fitting to have a toothbrush for a handle.

Summer days

2014-06-08T20:29:00.000-05:00

Our long awaited summer has finally arrived... And we are soaking in every minute of it!!

We've been swimming (someone refuses to admit she has outgrown her little pool).

And just hanging out in our swimsuit because we can...

We've been running races as a family, something my husband and I have always enjoyed and now we share with our kids.

Keeping it real, here are some post race pics- I bent our little girl's sign which was a major catastrophe, as you can imagine:

And we took a much anticipated trip to the zoo. It's hard so say who was more excited- the little kids or the big kids (my husband, brother, his girlfriend, or me!)

And the full day led to two happily exhausted kids (and some tired parents- but sleeping adults aren't nearly as adorable as sleeping kids):

We look forward to many more adventures to come!

Dance Recital

2014-05-22T23:10:00.005-05:00

I have loved watching my little girl grow from dance all year. From the timid first day of dance class, spent mostly checking to see if mom and dad were still watching her and watching herself twirl in the mirror, to the confident performer at the recital this weekend, she has blossomed. There were times we had to practically drag her to class and there were days she insisted on wearing her fairy costume to dance, but we stuck it out and think she is adorable…all the girls are. Our little girl is 2nd from the left- the one picking her nose.

with her Yaya

with her Mom

We didn't think Dad would make it back from his business trip in time for the performance, but he did!

~Angela

Michigan

2014-05-15T22:12:00.000-05:00

On Mother's Day nine years ago, my husband proposed to me at the top of a lighthouse in Michigan. We try to make it back there every year and have been there during all the different seasons. We went back again on Mother's Day this year, as a family.

We still checked out our favorite waterfall

And went rock hunting

We checked out a few new things as well, like a couple of Little Free Libraries:

This year we even took in a concert at the historic Calumet Theatre.

Its definitely a different experience with two kids in tow than the romantic weekend getaway it was when we got engaged, but it's fun to share our special part of the world with our kids.

Jon found this awesome piece of drift wood

I have a similar photo of my husband and I sitting like this years ago...

There was a girl who wanted to bring this 16 foot stick home very, very badly. I have no idea where she gets these ideas...

the desserts at the lighthouse are AMAZING

climbing the stairs to the lighthouse tower

The view from the top of the lighthouse, in the exact spot my husband proposed.

And then this happened...our little girl finally decided she LOVED her little brother.

And then my Little Man said "Mama for the first time." Let me just note that this was his first word. My heart is happy. A perfect Mother's Day gift indeed.

~Angela

April showers

2014-05-01T22:58:00.000-05:00

We had our share of both snow and rain showers this cold, dreary month. Fortunately the snow has melted! April showers we hope will bring May flowers...and also called for puddle jumping:

We had fun jumping with both cousins and friends:

Our little girl got to try out her bigger bike once the snow melted from the road!

We cheered daddy on at a race:

We spent a lot of time inside this month, our little man learning to sit up and being silly:

We did have one nice day! A big milestone in our family- our little man is ready for the running stroller!

~Angela

Homemade Wooden Blocks

2014-04-23T13:59:00.000-05:00

I love trees. We planted one the year our daughter was born and will again soon for our son. I like what they symbolize: growth and stability and keeping yourself grounded. So when I saw these wooden blocks for sale made from pieces of a tree, I thought they would be a great purchase for my little man.

Then the tree that has been in my grandparents’ yard for years lost some branches and I saved some to repurpose and make my own. The tree at my Grandma’s house has been there as long as I can remember- we’ve played around it, took a million pictures by it as it was the unofficial photo spot of the backyard and watched it grow.

So I scraped off the bark, sanded the pieces smooth and put a coat of non-toxic stain on them:

~Angela

These days...

2014-04-01T21:04:00.000-06:00

I’ve been on quite the hiatus from blogging….because, well, life has been happening all around us. We’ve been making memories and living and loving and getting used to life with two kids, expanding a business and spending our time doing other things. Oh and shoveling snow, snow and more snow. That can end anytime. The good (screeches of pure laughter from our little man and “let me help, Mom!” from our little girl), the bad (tantrums now?! We made it almost 4 years and now our little girl has tantrums??? And lack of sleep….if only our little man would sleep….) and the ugly (um, bees in our house….it’s freezing cold out- literally- and we have bees? And lack of sleep…makes me kind of ugly sometimes). But these moments make up our days and I find myself reliving moments that I don’t want to forget.

We are taking photos and videos (I want to remember the ear piercing screeches of pure delight not because they are kind to the ears-quite the opposite is true- and watch that tantrum on video because quite frankly, it’s hilarious) because it is our life, right here, right now. And like every other stage we have been in, we know it won't last forever. We will look back at these moments and reminisce and laugh…we always do…

YouTube Video

I’ll sum it up with a few of my favorite simple things from this month:

This little guy learned to roll over and discovered his feet:

Big piles of snow turned to puddles are made for jumping:

This fairy costume. She wears it daily. It’s falling apart and the wings are a matted mess from being washed way too many times and slept in, but she loves it just the same. A garage sale find from last summer that seems not have a replacement to be found anywhere so she’ll happily keep lovin’ on this one:

Discovering moments like this:

Play dates with friends:

A visit to see family:

Celebrating a special St. Patricks Day birthday (and the pirate cake I made):

We are coming off of a month of “Too Much.” Too much fun=too little sleep=one overscheduled and exhausted family. I worried we would be going stir crazy this cold, dreary month of March and planned too many really fun things, causing the opposite to happen. I overplanned and exhausted us all.

Lesson learned: We need time at home for nothing. As April approaches (and hopefully spring-like weather arrives soon!), we will be outside and playing without a schedule. I long for last minute walks that turn into catching up with neighbors that turn into jumping in puddles, which was exactly what happened last weekend. We have plenty of fun things ahead, including celebrating our little girls 4th birthday and with the much anticipated warmer weather, puddles will be beckoning…

~Angela

Simple things we enjoyed this month

2014-01-31T22:59:00.000-06:00

Art projects... Even if our little girl thinks our trash can is part of our family.

The coziness inside our warm home; a sharp contrast to the extreme cold outside. After returning to work, I value these cuddles even more.

Sledding party with friends.

Taking monthly pictures of our little man, with a helper.

Sneaking peeks at moments like this:

And this:

And this (our little girl playing "fundraiser"):

Finding this unexpected note while out running errands. A pay it forward of sorts, the day after I paid for a stranger's parking.

And big smiles from our kids!

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If I could stop the hands of time

2013-12-14T06:11:00.001-06:00

If I could stop time, I'd freeze these last few weeks. We are caught in that wonderful place where fun and exciting things are happening every day- simple things like smiles from our little guy, holiday festivities, and new family traditions (Elf on a Shelf and Christmas movies) and old favorites (Bentleyville and bell ringing for the Salvation Army).

Our little girl has concerts for Sunday school, preschool and dance.

We've enjoyed Christmas parties and she is over her fear of Santa.

She's excited to give the gifts we've chosen and made for others. She understands giving. And wants to give. She's keeping secrets of gifts we've bought and writing out names of those we care about on presents. I'm aware of how much she's grown and learned in the last year and I love to see these glimpses of a child wise beyond her years mixed with the awe and wonder of delight that is just as it should be for her age.

I love our home decorated for the holidays. And since I'm home on maternity leave (best timing ever) I can sit and enjoy quiet moments at home with my little man, the Christmas tree twinkling, baby sleeping on my lap, beautiful snow outside our windows as I appreciate the warm house, healthy baby whose playing, exploring, smiling (!!!), and these moments that I know won't last forever, but sure wish they could.

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Gingerbread house

2013-12-11T06:01:00.000-06:00

I've never had good luck building gingerbread houses... This year I bought a kit that had slots for the base so I was thinking the added stability and less stress building would mean more time decorating.

It started off well:

With the walls in place, we decorated the roof:

Assembly from there did not go well:

As I was trying to reconstruct the dilapidated gingerbread house I realized my daughter was eating the building materials (frosting) right from the package.

We got back on track and just decorated the pieces and gave up on assembly after I discovered a bite out of the roof.

I had visions of an award winning gingerbread house, and really would have been fine with one that at least stood in its own, but instead we had good memories- and a sweet snack.

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An attitude of gratitude

2013-11-30T05:44:00.000-06:00

We used the tree of giving thanks that my mom and I made for the first time as a family this year.

Each day in November we took turns writing what we were thankful for. My daughter loved this activity and as a new writer, contributed more than Daddy or me. She is also a pro at writing her name so that made up a good portion of her contributions:) It appears we were more thankful for her than anyone/anything else.

I saved all of our thankful cards and we can read through them in years to come, just as we did at the end of the month. My daughter didn't choose to be thankful for things like toys, but people (such as herself), including her little brother- proud parenting moment here.

Our thanks included some light hearted and some serious, but topping the list is our health and our family. If you have these two things, you have everything. It's amazing how when we take the time to be thankful for what we have, we worry less, complain less and love deeper.

Then I saw this in a book I was reading:

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Laughter is the best gift

2013-11-15T23:10:00.001-06:00

We celebrated our anniversary earlier this week, sticking with some favorite traditions (see here and here). 8 years into the marriage and how things have changed. First of all we went to dinner with both kids; a family date instead of just the two of us. And it was still very fun. Eight years and two kids later, life is beautifully different and fulfilling. And seeing my husband as a father never gets old.

Then there was the matter of trying on my wedding dress- a tradition I quite love. I decided to skip it this year (insert gasp here) as I am not a tradition breaker usually, but I know my three-weeks-post-baby body would not fit into it so I just spared myself the effort.

We watched our wedding video this year and looked at photos from our honeymoon. We laughed at ourselves...we were having such random adventures together. We took terrible pictures. We remember the back stories to the photos- random inside jokes shared by just us: guy in red underwear, my new husband doing high kicks, adventures with the rental car.

Then there were the gifts we exchanged. I painted this for my husband.

I love to make gifts and usually they turn out better than this, but I still gave it to him. I knew we'd both get a good chuckle out of it- first of all my husband does not have a bowl cut or love handles as it appears, nor are my legs that skinny (I wish!) Our faces are also not molded together. In any case it was a good attempt and it's proudly displayed in our basement storage room behind other artwork not deemed worthy of our walls:)

And then there was the gift I got from him.

Made of driftwood (I do love driftwood), I wasn't actually sure what it was... And I'm not good at faking it so my husband knew I wasn't really in love with my new light fixture??? Well once I realized it was not a light fixture and indeed a pumpkin (as a reminder of Halloween and putting our little guy in a pumpkin).

I really do love it. But we had some laughs over my initial reaction, nonetheless.

We still have random adventures and lots of laughs... Happy times make for a happy marriage.

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Parenting is like riding a roller coaster

2013-10-29T22:26:00.001-06:00

Parenting is like riding a roller coaster: Sometimes it's thrilling and other times terrifying. Often times it's both. There are highs and lows. Sometimes you want to scream and sometimes you want to laugh. And the ride is most certainly affected by the mood I am in (which is also directly affected by the amount of sleep I have gotten - or lately, lack thereof).

I realized long ago I'm happiest when things go as planned. I'm a planner. I'm highly organized. I also realized more recently (after I had children) that things will not go as planned. Often. And I need to be prepared for that, meaning I need to adjust my mindset and expectations accordingly. Life happens. My three year old will decide to put my eyelash curler in her cosmetic travel bag and I will not be able to find it, causing me to be late to work. My newborn will decide to sleep all day and be up all night. My husband will fall asleep with my our daughter during bedtime stories because he's exhausted too.

My house will be messy and I will have the unavoidable urge to clean it even though everything says I need I sleep when the baby sleeps.

I can spend an entire day with a sleeping baby on my chest and not feel guilty because I did not shower.

My daughter will get sick in the middle of her dance recital. And life will go on. And we will laugh about most of these things later.

And of course all the high points are worth reliving again and again. These moments that make me realize how much love is in our home, how blessed we are as I look at the family we've created and I know these moments won't last forever either, so I must soak up every single one while I can. Seeing my daughter as a big sister and knowing how special the bond between siblings is.

Watching my husband bond with his little man.

Experiencing all these moments with our son all over again- the peace of watching him sleep and his facial expressions, noting similarities in personality and physical appearance to other family members and appreciating differences too.

I'm loving this ride we're on...

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Our little guy

2013-10-19T10:24:00.001-05:00

On October 17th we finally had our little guy! I'm still adjusting to the fact that we have two kids!!
After carrying this baby for almost 41 weeks, you'd think I'd be adjusted to the idea. It's still surreal. It's amazing, but surreal.
Although we chose not to find out the gender of our baby, my little girl and I thought for sure it was a girl. I already bookmarked the matching Christmas dresses I was going to order for my two daughters:) Gotta rethink that plan. Our little man won't be rocking a dress... When he was born and the doctor said it was a boy, I did ask "are you sure?" He is indeed a boy and I can't believe how much I love him.
My little girl and I are both guilty of referring to him as a 'her' on occasion. Oops.

I can't believe how much our little guy looks like his sister. They both arrived into the world 5 days past their due date and were the exact same size (weighing 7 lbs 13.2 oz and 20.5 inches long). He was born at 8:48 am and her at 8:49 pm. It's hard to believe our daughter was ever that small, but she was- exactly.
Our little girl, shortly after birth:

Our little guy, shortly after birth:

Seeing daddy with his son makes my heart happy:

And watching my little girl as a big sister makes my heart swell. She already learned how to write and spell his name.

A friend of mine said it perfectly: "you wonder through your whole pregnancy how you will love another child like your first. Then they enter the world and you wonder why you ever wondered."

We named him after his grandpa (my husband's father) and uncle (my brother). Two people who are a very important part of our family life.

Our little guy in the family cradle:

My mom is here to help for a few more days and we are adjusting to life at home as a family of four. And big sister, who wasn't sure what to think of this brother (since she was expecting a sister) is such an affectionate little helper and it makes my heart burst to watch her with him and hear her prayers: "Dear Jesus, thank you for our meal and my brother and our family all together." Bless her heart. We've been blessed with two little miracles.

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Fall family day

2013-10-08T14:40:00.001-05:00

Our little girl has been begging to go for a nature walk and collect leaves, but we had to wait out some rain. We were blessed with a beautiful day last Sunday so after church we headed out with our nature bucket, ready to fill it with leaves.

YouTube Video

I helped with the low ones and daddy helped reach the tall ones:

We collected a bucketful!

We also took a drive on country roads to enjoy the fall colors. We also enjoyed the singing coming from the backseat-a sound that never gets old.

Then we came home and painted some projects including a picture about the trees.

YouTube Video

And put our leaves on display.

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