Visit from the Parsons

I think I posted earlier that we went into the holiday season thinking we would not be seeing any of our family, but that our plans ended up changing. When the Parsons asked if they could come and visit sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas we were thrilled. We had not seen "Grandma and Tractor Man" since they came to see us in July and we missed them!

They flew to Illinois this time, which meant that instead of a two day drive they left Virginia and arrived in Illinois by 10:30am. They were tired from the early flight but agreed that it was the better way to travel. The boys loved getting to go to the airport to pick them up, although there was a little bit of confusion when we explained that we would not actually be going on an airplane. Lance wants to know when he gets to fly.

Having the Parsons here was a wonderful way to kick off the Christmas season. We enjoyed doing some festive things like decorating sugar cookies, looking at Christmas lights downtown, and watching Christmas movies. One of the things that they wanted to do while they were here was do their Christmas shopping for our family so we spent some time shopping. It was pretty funny to walk through Toys R Us with the boys pointing out everything and their grandparents behind them sneaking toys into the shopping cart. I don't think Lance realized what was going on, but clearly he knew who he was shopping with because at one point he just started tossing things into the cart. I had a chance to go shopping with just Pam and I told her that was just as much my present as anything she could buy me. The chance to go shopping and take my time and look at whatever I wanted without worrying about the boys was incredibly relaxing. Plus, I loved the "girl time"  and the chance just to talk and catch up. It was so much fun!

While they were here we did take the boys to go and see Santa Claus at the mall. This was our first time attempting something like this so I was worried about how it was going to go down. Lance tends to be very shy - and very stubborn. He seemed to pick up on the importance of telling Santa what he wanted though. Clark was well prepared and so Lance followed suit. They were so sweet talking to him and we even got what I think was a perfect picture of my boys.

The Parsons also gave Josh and I a gift - the chance to go on a date. We haven't been able to do that in months. We went out to dinner and then saw Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. It was a great movie, even if the heat went out in the theater and we had to watch it wearing our coats and gloves. Why? Because it is ridiculously cold in Illinois, as I have quickly learned. The Parsons were here to experience our first Illinois snow - on December 3rd. I mean seriously, it wasn't even winter yet. It was beautiful though. The one thing that may get us through is that for us snow is still so much of a novelty. The boys and I love to go out and play in it, and luckily we don't usually have to go anywhere so I don't have to worry about driving in it.

The visit ended way too quickly, as it always does, but we had a wonderful time with Pam and John. We can't wait until our next visit, but after the weather they experienced I'm thinking they may not be back up our way until Spring.

Being Frederick

The boys have a book that a sweet friend, Mrs. Starr, gave them called Frederick. It's the story of a mouse named Frederick who, while his family of mice is busy gathering food for the winter, seems to sit idly by. When asked about his behavior Frederick says that he is collecting. He collects things like the warmth of the sun and the colors of summer for the cold, gray winter days.

I adopted a mentality much like Frederick's this fall in Illinois. Frankly I think it's because I am scared of what may be coming as fall progresses to our first winter here in the Midwest. We have made the most of getting outside and enjoying the mild weather in October and November. Every chance I could I took the boys outside. We went to different playgrounds and we played in the yard and we went for bike rides and walks. I wanted the boys to soak up as much time outside, as much fresh air and sunshine, as they could. While they could. It was beautiful.

It was also a good idea, because winter has not even arrived yet and we have already experienced our first Illinois snow. On December 4th the forecast called for possible snow showers. By lunch time there was enough snow outside it would have shut down the town back in North Carolina. It was absolutely beautiful though, big fat snow flakes that turned the world soft and silent like a winter wonderland. There was a lot of excitement because of the snow.

Since then, however, I can't recall a day when the temperature has gotten out of the thirties. The temperatures I see when I check the forecast are absolutely crazy to me. Highs in the low twenties. Lows in the single digits. Snowflakes popping up randomly here and there. It's just a different lifestyle up here. The cold weather and snow don't stop life from continuing on and I guess we will learn how to adapt. For now we are bundling up and enjoying the Christmas season. There's something that warms you deep inside when you see the lights on the Christmas tree, stockings hung by the fire, candles filling your house with the smell of peppermint. And then there's always hot chocolate. Lots and lots of hot chocolate. 

Thanksgiving

We went into this holiday season thinking we would be spending it just the four of us. We knew we would not be able to make a trip home, and at the time none of our family had made any plans to come out here. I am so glad that things changed. When Josh's cousin Jessica contacted us and asked if they could come down for Thanksgiving we were thrilled! Their family is currently stationed up near Chicago and, like us, have no family close by. We jumped at the chance to have them stay with us.

Anyone with little children knows that traveling with them - or having company with them - can have its own set of challenges. Jessica and her husband, Przemek, have an eighteen month old little boy named Gabriel so we went into the weekend knowing we'd just see how everything went. I'm so glad to say it all went wonderfully. The boys all had fun playing together - goodness knows we had plenty of toys to go around! Jessica and Przemek made themselves right at home so we could just relax and enjoy visiting.

Thanksgiving dinner was absolutely delicious. I can only take credit for the pies (you know I love my desserts!) and the rolls. In all else I was simply Josh's sous chef, an extra set of hands. Boy was it good. In addition to having Jessica and her family over we also enjoyed sharing dinner with a gentleman from our church who did not have other plans. We had great conversation and Josh and Jessica even got to Facetime their family back in Virginia who were celebrating Thanksgiving together.

The rest of the trip was just spent being together. Visiting, showing them our new church, exploring Springfield, and lots of good eating. It was great, and we hope that one day soon we can go up to Chicago and let them show us around.

We have so much to be thankful for this year. God has provided for us in so many different ways. I am particularly thankful for the new friends that God has brought into our lives and for how they have loved and embraced our family.

Halloween

I have been wanting to post to share some fun Halloween pictures with everyone, but it's hard to find a minute to sit down and post. I'm doing so now and looking at the date on the computer thinking that can't be right. Wasn't Halloween just on Monday? How are we already halfway through November?

We had a wonderful first Halloween here in Illinois. Our festivities kicked off a little early as the boys were allowed to wear costumes to a Halloween themed story time at the library. We decided to wear our Batman and Superman costumes from last year just in case they got messed up. I love the attention the boys get when they dress like super heroes. Everyone kept telling me I was well protected - and they were right.

On Saturday we carved our jack-o-lanterns. Clark and I made a fun Frankenstein and Lance and Daddy made a ghost that said "Boo". I thought they turned out great, especially considering my serious lack of creative ability.

On Sunday our church, Western Oaks, hosted a Fall Fest. We had a blast! We had hot dogs and chips to eat plus popcorn and cotton candy machines. I think our family alone made four trips to the cotton candy machine. There were cars so the kids could go trunk-or-treating and I was seriously impressed with how they were decorated. I'm only now realizing I should have taken some pictures of them! Most of the cars had games where the kids could win fun prizes. Plus there were bounce houses and other activities for the kids to play. It was so much fun to spend that time with our church family plus some new friends that dropped by.

The Fall Fest was where the boys first debuted their costumes for this year. Clark went as Revvit and Lance went as Ty Rux from the Netflix series Dino Trux. They were seriously adorable. Plus there aren't as many people who are familiar with the show so we never saw anyone else dressed like them. 

Halloween night we were able to trick or treat in our neighborhood. There were a lot of people who participated, which was great. It was nice to get to see some of our neighbors and also see so many kids out and about having a good time. The weather was perfect for walking around and the boys got SO much candy. Even with my sweet tooth we have a jar full of candy still sitting on the kitchen counter.

So that was our Halloween! It was a fun way to kick off the holiday season and we are looking forward to all of the festivities in November and December!

September

September passed in a bit of a whirlwind for our family, but it was full of fun experiences.

Thanks to the generosity of church members who ended up with a couple of extra tickets on Labor Day we were able to go to Knight's Action Park, a water and amusement park here in Springfield. Labor Day was the last day that the water park would be open so it was very important that we were able to go. See, when we first sat down and talked to the boys about moving to Springfield we tried to tell them things about our new city that would make them excited about the move. We didn't want them to be afraid or feel only sadness over leaving behind the only home they'd ever known. Telling them about Knight's Action Park is probably the only reason that they came with us willingly. The day proved to be everything that they had hoped it would be. We were there for about six hours, bringing a picnic lunch to eat when we needed a break. There were lots of things to do with two non-swimmers and we had so much fun together as a family. The boys left asking when they could go back, so there's lots to look forward to next summer. We couldn't take any pictures in the park, we left our phones and things so that we wouldn't have to worry about them, but I snapped this picture of Lance as we were leaving. That's the park in the background. He was asleep within minutes and I think we all felt the same way.

We also had the chance to go with a friend to check out the Springfield Junior Blues hockey team in a couple of preseason games. The boys had never been to a hockey game before. It was a lot of fun letting them experience the game. I think they like the noise and the commotion of it all. They even got to go out on the ice during one of the breaks and pick up pucks, which they loved. Clark got his picture taken with Gilly, the team's mascot. Lance would not go anywhere near him but has talked about him ever since. He even puts on his blue gardening gloves and pretends to be Gilly in the yard. Lance said he wants to be a hockey player. Funny thing is I think that might be the perfect sport for him. He'd love to ram people into the wall and hit things with sticks. 

It was last September that our family was able to go on an incredible vacation to Disney World, so this year we spent a lot of time reminiscing about what we were doing at this time one year ago. I was pretty excited when I found out that Disney on Ice was coming to Springfield the week of Clark's birthday. We bought tickets and surprised the boys with an evening to experience some of that Disney magic. Disney never fails. The show was fun and magical, even for little boys (and grown-ups!). They loved the Seven Dwarfs, seeing Flynn Rider drop from the ceiling and, of course, Mickey and his pals. 

We did have a birthday party for Clark, a party with cake and ice cream at a nearby playground. I am so grateful for our new friends who all took the time to come to his party. We weren't able to have any family here for his special day but thanks to their kindness Clark did not feel that anything was amiss. He had so much fun opening presents and running around playing. 

We also had a lot of fun taking advantage of Talk Like a Pirate Day. Did you know that was a real thing? Trust me, you want to know. Clark and Lance put on their pirate costumes and we went to Krispy Kreme for a free dozen glazed donuts then headed over to Long John Silver's for a free chicken basket for lunch. They were the cutest little pirates ever.

 

I think that hits all of the high points of what was a very full September. As you can tell, life with these boys is so much fun. Don't get me wrong, it's hard too. But I cannot imagine what my life would be like without them in it. I love our family and I love the wonderful memories that we are making together.

Clark Turns 5!

I woke up this morning to a five-year-old crawling into my bed. A five-year-old. How is that even possible?

I do not spend Clark's birthdays remembering what I was doing on this day X number of years ago, the way I do with Lance. Clark was born by C-Section on a Monday morning. I had been admitted to the hospital on Friday afternoon. His was a long, drawn out delivery process. All I think when I wake up is, "At this time X years ago it was almost finally over." What I remember when I think back on his birth was the moment I first saw his face. I was laying on the operating table and they brought him around, wrapped in a hospital blanket and wearing one of those little hospital beanies. My first thought when I saw him was, "He looks like me!" I was in awe. Josh is dark haired, with brown eyes and skin that tans when it sees the least bit of sunlight. I had fully expected my blue eyed, fair skinned recessive genes to get lost whenever we had children. But there was Clark, with big blue eyes and fair skin. He wasn't even crying, just looking around at his new world. He was absolutely beautiful. He still is.

 Clark has these big, beautiful blue eyes that I now know aren't like mine at all. His have this amazing depth of color almost like crystal and when he looks at you... My Mom got it right when she looked at him one day and said, "You are going to break hearts with those eyes of yours."

 Clark is my sweet-spirited, tender-hearted boy. He is so very kind. He is the kind of person who waves to strangers and makes friends at the playground and will talk to anyone. He speaks like a little adult and has no problem talking to you, if you take the time to listen. Being his mother has made me realize how rarely adults take the time to really listen to little ones. He has the biggest imagination of anyone I have ever met and spends most of his days pretending, usually being a super hero. I have to stay on my toes with him. He'll walk into the room and say, "Okay Wonder Woman, we've got a problem..." and that's my cue. He's Batman and we're the Justice League and we're off. He always includes me in his make believe, a fact that I remind myself is a privilege.

 To celebrate his birthday today some sweet friends were kind enough to let us come over and use their pool. Clark loves to swim. We spent the morning swimming and soaking up the last of the summer sun. While Lance napped this afternoon he and I played Wii. He has gotten into playing the games on the Sports Resort so we bowled and played frisbee and all kinds of games together. He's already starting to beat me, which doesn't bode well for me as he continues to grow. This evening he chose Chic-Fil-A for his birthday dinner and Dairy Queen for his birthday treat. The girls working at Dairy Queen even made him a special birthday blizzard and wished him a happy birthday - like I said, he makes friends wherever he goes.

In honor of his birthday I thought it would be fun to "interview" him and document the answers. Here's what he had to say about himself:

1. What is your favorite color? Blue.
2. What is your favorite animal? Lion and a gorilla.
3. What is your favorite food? Pizza and cereal and corn. (He also said broccoli but that's not even the slightest bit true so I edited).
4. What is your favorite book? Batman the Five. (This is what he calls the Five Minute Batman Stories that Katie got him for Christmas last year.)
5. What is your favorite movie? The Lion King.
6. What do you want to be when you grow up? A doctor.
7. Who is your favorite super hero? Batman (and he wanted me to ask who his favorite group was - Justice League.)
8. What is your favorite restaurant? Steak and Shake.
9. Where is your favorite place to go? The comic book store with Dad (something they just recently started doing together).
10. Who are your friends? Maggie and Ella and Lynzie and Lexie and Ms. Tammy and Mr. Mark.
11. What is your favorite Bible story? Daniel and the Lion's Den.

So there you have it. There really aren't words to describe the awesomeness that is my oldest son. I pray that this year will be an amazing one for him, that God will protect his tender heart. I can't wait to discover the world in new ways with him. After all, it's different when you're five.

Who Says You Can't Go Home?

For a long time now I have been interested in the idea of what makes a house a home. I think it comes from the fact that once my Dad joined the military we moved every few years. Even since my sister and I moved out my parents have moved more times than they did when we were in tow. The houses and apartments that we have lived in have been varied. But they have always felt like home.

I know a lot of people who lived in one home all of their lives, whose parents still live in those homes that they get to go home and visit. Whenever we watch Josh's home videos or talk about life when he was growing up it all revolves around a white two-story farmhouse, the same house his parents live in now. A house that has been a part of my own life and my own memories for twelve years now, a place that I love to be.

But there is no one house that is home for me. I remember home differently. When I think of our house in Goose Creek I think of Christmas. Our most magical Christmases were in that house, when the magic of Santa was still alive. When I think of our house in Chesapeake I think of the back yard. Katie and I spent hours out there climbing trees and building forts and jumping on the trampoline. When I think of our apartment in Okinawa I think of our family playing Nintendo 64 together - where we had to sit within a few feet of the TV so the cord could reach. I think of my Dad waking me up in the middle of the night because my hamster Sophie was out running through the house again. When I think of our house in Suffolk I remember Mom working out in the yard and Dad grilling out on the deck. I remember for the first time we had four cars in the driveway. My parents have had several houses in several states since that time that I never lived in, only visited. But to me that is the interesting part. It has always felt like coming home.

I guess to me home is not about the location anymore. For me home is my Dad eating popcorn and drinking Pepsi while he watches TV in the evenings. For me home is my Mom playing the piano. My favorites are when she plays for fun, not to rehearse for church. She'll pull out classical pieces or Broadway hits and the whole house will be full of it. For me home is Katie. I've thought about it time and time again, and it isn't Katie doing any particular thing. It's just wherever Katie is, because she has always been there with me and for me.


You have two homes when you grow up and start your own family. You have the new home that you build with your spouse and later your children. But you always have the home where your memories are anchored, where you grew up and became you. Josh and I work very hard to create a  home for one another and especially for our two boys. A place where we can rest, relax, laugh, love. A place where we can be ourselves. I think I can honestly say that at this point this house in Springfield has become our home.

 

I'm not sure when it happened, exactly. Was it when we got all of our things here? Was it when we finally got them unpacked? Was it experiencing sickness and hurt in this home? Was it having our family visit and getting to show it all to them? Was it having people over and sharing laughter and fellowship in these walls? I'm not sure. I think it all plays a part. Slowly, in the day in and day out, there is an unfolding of who we are into this place. The making of memories. The making of a home.

 

God's timing is always perfect. I have seen that particularly in the last few weeks. You see, while life has continued in a routine way out here in Illinois things have changed greatly back in North Carolina. My Mom and Dad, for what is hopefully the last time, packed up their home and moved from Camp Lejeune to their cabin in the woods, the retirement home that they have dreamed of. It's hard to comprehend from this far. My parents lived at Camp Lejeune for three and a half years - which is the longest they have lived in one place for quite some time. Katie and her family ended up being stationed there and we were blessed to live just a few hours away so we were able to visit them quite often. We made wonderful memories at Camp Lejeune, holidays and birthdays and promotions and just because we can be together memories. That is the only house my boys remember when they think of their time with Papa and Gammy. To realize that that chapter of our lives ended without our being there can be hard. To realize that they live in a place we have never been in a home we have never seen is hard. It was as I watched those roots being dug up that I realized that we had in fact planted roots here. Home here keeps me anchored while my other home changes.

 

 

I do not know when we will have the opportunity to go and see my parents' new house. I'm excited to see it, the beautiful reality of a dream they have chased for quite some time. I'm excited to see who they are in it as they settle into a new chapter of their life after retirement. I am grateful, though, that God has shown himself faithful to us yet again. He has shown me that we are home. And He has reminded me that even though it may look different than it did, even though we can't go back to what it was, home will still be there when we go to visit.

 

Catching Up

It has been so long since I have been able to sit down and update this blog that I was tempted to just throw in the towel. I hope, though, that there are still a few people out there who would like some updates on our family so here I am. I'm going to have to keep it short and sweet as I share what we have been up to over the last few weeks.

First of all, in July we were blessed to have Josh's parents make the trip from Virginia to Illinois to visit us in our new home. Now that they made the trip I'm not sure that they'll be making it again any time soon - at least not by car. It is a long drive. We loved having them here though. We were fortunate to live just an hour and a half away from them for the last seven years so we've been able to spend a great deal of time together. Because of that whenever they visit they just fit naturally into our life. We enjoyed showing them around our new town, our new church and just spending time together. The Parsons are early risers and one of the kindest things they always do for us is get up with the boys so that Josh and I can sleep in. We very rarely get to sleep in - the boys are our alarm clock every morning - so we love this little luxury. I was especially grateful as I got sick once again - my Southern lungs are having a hard time out here in the Midwest.

While the Parsons were here we celebrated Lance's third birthday party. He chose to have a Power Rangers Dino Charge themed party and we were grateful to our friends from church who took the time to come and celebrate with us. For all of the boys' birthdays up until now we have celebrated with our family - grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins have all been there along with some close friends. Birthdays will be different now that we are farther away and we were grateful that the Parsons could be here and that we had friends to love on Lance with us. He had a wonderful time and was spoiled with some wonderful presents.

Our church hosted a Backyard Bible Club at the end of July. Josh and I both helped with the event and the boys loved participating. We had about fifteen kids who came and enjoyed the activities, crafts, games, and learning important lessons from God's word. Clark and Lance are still listening to the songs on CD and doing the motions that they learned. I am grateful for the volunteers who helped make BBC possible. Serving alongside them was a great way to get to know them all better, and as a mom I appreciate other people taking the time to pour into my children. Funny story - I helped by leading music (even though I had completely lost my voice and mainly had to teach the kids to dance to the songs!). Lance is a dancing fool at home but of course at BBC he refused to move. One day he stood up front next to me wearing his black sunglasses, completely stoic as the rest of us danced and sang along to the fun songs. I felt like I had my own Secret Service detail.

About a week after BBC ended Josh's birthday rolled around. The day itself was rather routine, grocery shopping and such, but the boys and I did have a gift for him and we enjoyed eating out and checking out a new local restaurant (which we loved!). The next day, however, Josh had a disc golf game planned with some of the guys from church and the boys and I planned a surprise party for him. When they finished playing the other families and I were waiting with cupcakes and water to celebrate Josh. It was a lot of fun and I'm so glad we could celebrate Josh in a special way. He is a special guy and certainly deserved it.
 

The last bit of excitement we experienced was not the good kind. This past Thursday Clark went running toward the hall while looking behind him and ran straight into a corner, busting his head open. Many of you will remember that he has already had staples in his head once after flipping a chair over backwards. I couldn't believe we were doing it again. Thankfully this time a doctor friend was able to come over and tend to Clark's injury without requiring more staples or stitches. He essentially taped it back together which meant we had to shave a big circle out of the hair on the side of Clark's head. So Clark has been fine ever since, he's just rocking an awesome hairdo.

I think that pretty much sums up our life over the last few weeks. It is a full life we are leading. Things are going well for Josh at church as he plans for some new and exciting things in the Fall. I am currently leading a women's book study on The Envy of Eve by Melissa Kruger. I highly recommend the book if you have not read it before, we are really enjoying discussing it each week. God continues to bless our family as we settle into this new life that He called us to.