Friday we spent the day swimming in Nannie's pool. My friend Connie came up to visit with her kids and we had a great time. Kaleb was a little shy about getting in the pool (he fell in Thursday night and had to be rescued by Daddy) but he had lots of fun "pushing" the big girls into the pool. He cracked up every time thinking he had sent them into the cold water.

Sarah's Garden by Kelly Long

I love summer because the TV is off more, the days are longer and it just feels right to read a book. My latest read is Sarah's Garden by Kelly Long. Sarah is a young Amish woman who loves to work in the garden -- it's been her gift from early on -- she was born in the garden! Her older sister marries and she is given the job of working at the family's roadside stand. During the first week of working, she meets Dr. Grant Williams, her new Englisch neighbor and veterinarian. There is an immediate connection and before long, Sarah realizes that she has fallen in love. It’s a forbidden love and could result in Sarah losing her family and community.

I have to admit I was a bit skeptical picking up an Amish fiction novel. I wondered if it would be like other Amish novels I have read. Author Kelly Long really surprised me! While the Amish theme was very present in the book, she intertwined several other themes throughout the book. There was the theme of forgiveness, the theme of choice (choosing to grow old in bitterness or gentleness), the theme of honor.

The author did an good job at developing the main characters in the book. There were other characters that didn’t present in this story as main characters, but I found very likeable. I particularly enjoyed Sarah’s relationship with her brother Luke. And at the end of the book there was a sneak peek of the cover of the next book in the Patch of Heaven series. I was happy to see that some of these characters I got to know in this book would reappear later in the series.

Disclosure: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

We had fun playing hide 'n' seek in Great Grandma & Grandpa Cook's house! She has beautiful gardens and lots of fun places to hide in the backyard.

The kids with Grandpa Tim. We had such a good time!

Indiana

During the first weekend of June we headed back to Indiana to see family and friends. It was a quick weekend, but flying helped tremendously to extend our time a bit. The kids have flown before, but this was the first time that they were aware of being on a plane.

By the second flight, we had figured out a handy little trick to making better time changing planes. The kids loved riding on our suitcases and everyone got a real kick out of it.
More posts from the trip coming this week...

Mother's Day... a few weeks behind.

Just got this picture back and my present (The Food Network Magazine subscription) came in the mail this weekend, so thought it would be a good time for a post. Had a great Mother's Day. We ventured Uptown for church - we usually go nearby the house to Providence, but it wasn't Tony's volunteer week and we decided to mix it up. It was fun to see a different campus. Church was great -- yummy hand painted chocolates (thanks Elevation!), 5-minute massages, and family pictures. We got to have our picture taken by Cheyenne Schultz.


After church we had brunch at the Original Pancake House (yummy). Then we headed home, threw the kids in the car and went to Carowinds for the day. Topped the evening off with Mexican food for dinner. And that made for one happy mama!

Happy Memorial Day!

This picture is a good summary of life right now. I'm really enjoying it.

Trip

We're taking a trip back to Indiana this coming weekend for Tony's high school reunion. Fun times. :) We decided not to tell the kids (hoping to avoid the every-10-minutes-asking-how-many-more-days-til-we-leave business). Tony did tell them this weekend that there is a big surprise coming up later this week. Kaiya's had a few days to think about what it could be so I asked her today and this was her response:

Kaiya's guesses:

1) Chuck E. Cheese
2) Monkey Joe's
3) Carowinds
4) Disney World
5) Go Camping
6) Get on an airplane and go camping.

Kaleb's guess:

1) Chuck E. Cheese

The suspense is getting pretty exciting around here!!

Kaleb

Kaleb is getting bigger and was in quite the ornery mood last night. Here's a little glimpse into his personality.



We have started potty training around here. Our count of potties in the potty are pretty good... so its gonna get intense around here I think. Just want to have it conquered.

Save-a-lot Giveaway

Thought it was time for a fun giveaway!! You can read about the fun I had at the Save-a-lot grand opening here.

Win a $15 gift card to Save-A-Lot!

For those of you who live near a Save-A-Lot store -- leave me a comment with your favorite thing about the store and I'll pick a random winner on Tuesday -- comment entries need to be in by 11:59 p.m. on Monday, May 10th. If I don't know you... leave me your e-mail address so that I can contact the winner!

An old elderly neighbor couple passed away and the daughter gave us loads of their belongings (most of which were sold last weekend at a yard sale). She said we could sell or keep whatever we wanted. Here are a few interesting things among them:

This bag says Christian Dior -- but I can't find anything to authenticate it -- I've submitted it to a purse forum for some help... it is definitely old -- but who knows!

Then these toy boxers are interesting. They are probably from the 60s? They are similar to the Rock'Em Sock'Em Robots, but very different too -- as they are real people. I can't find a manufacturer or anything on them. I've been researching them w/ out much luck.This is the other thing she gave us...

9 bottles of old old whiskey and bourbon. This stuff is ancient.

A not-so-serious conversation

On the way home from small group last night I was listening to a worship CD from our church. The song was Jesus Paid It All. The line came: Praise the one who paid my debt and raised this life up from the dead. Kaiya asked me what debt was and why I was singing about it.

I'm thinking -- perfect opportunity to plant a few little seeds in her heart. So I start explaining to her that a debt is something that you owe someone. And I went on to say:

Me: You know how you learned that we all sin sometimes?

Kaiya: Uh mama. I need to tell you something. Remember that time that I rode my bike in the driveway?

Me: Yeah.

Kaiya: That was fun.

Me: You're right. That was fun.

Ahhh... maybe another time. :) Such a brief little window of opportunity and then her little 4 year old mind goes in a completely different direction. I had to smile to myself.

I wonder what God thinks of my 28 year old mind. Sometimes, my spiritual attention span isn't all that much better.

The Bradford Store

A few weeks ago (nearly a month now!) we went with friends up to The Bradford Store in Huntersville. It is a neat little family owned farm and store that has a variety of organic produce, milk, cheeses and grass-fed beef. We picked out some goodies to purchase and then roamed around the farm a little bit. The kids loved looking at the chickens.

Spookeo

I'm not a major conspiracy theorist or anything (although watching 24 has made me a little curious as to how much goes on behind the scenes in our country).

But I saw this website posted and had to check it out for my self. www.spokeo.com You put in your first & last name and it tells you lots of interesting stuff about you. It new that I like listening to Christian music. :) And it new that my mother-in-law is a nurse and that she has a swimming pool. And that we had kids. And that 4 people live in my house. Weird.

Check yourself out. :)

You can remove yourself too. You have to pull up your profile, copy the url address for your specific profile, and then click on the Privacy link at the bottom. It has instructions from there.

Red Robin

Thanks to Nannie for a night on the town with the kids! We had strict orders to take the kids to Red Robin for dinner a few weeks ago. It's hands-down the kids favorite place to eat. Here are a few pictures from the night.




He was covered in macaroni & cheese. And loved every minute of it. Thanks Nannie!

Sometimes it sucks.

Kaleb's reaction when he realized it wasn't his birthday we were celebrating...

Wordless Wednesday - Badger Hat

Photos by Ruthie

Wurkin'

Last week when I went to get Kaleb up in the morning he stood up in his crib and said: Wurkin' and shook his head. I asked him again what he said and he repeats: Wurkin' nose. And it dawned on me. He was telling me that his nose was not working. A little stuffy in the morning, I guess. :)

Imagination at work!

Save-a-Lot Grand Opening

I had the opportunity to attend the Grand Opening of Save-A-Lot here in Charlotte, NC. I received the invitation to attend the event with other local bloggers -- and if I'm being honest, I had to run the invitation past this fantastic blogger to make sure it was legit. :) Sure enough -- they found my blog -- probably because I post pretty frequently about saving money. It is something I really love. And that's really the hallmark of Save-A-Lot Stores -- they have figured out a way to put quality in the hands of the consumer and save them 40-60% off their normal grocery bill.

Save-A-Lot is headquartered in St. Louis -- a familiar place for me! It was great to meet several employees from headquarters at the event. I was impressed with the donations that Save-A-Lot made to local food banks -- $25,000 in gift cards was given to North Carolina organizations that fight hunger. I love that they not only donated to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina (very big in Charlotte), but also some smaller town churches that operate food pantries.

I was able to try a variety of the fresh produce and my kids are loving the box of Cheerios from Save-A-Lot. I was so glad I attended the event! It was also a great opportunity to meet some professional bloggers (I felt so amateur compared to the crowd I was with!). One of the ladies writes for Paula Deen. Another's husband does this for fun! I had a great time chatting and learning more about how these ladies took blogging to another level.

Even more exciting... for the North Carolina readers... here is a coupon for $5 off at Save-A-Lot! So start saving money!

No Nap = Tired = Sassy

I always have high hopes for the days I am off work. The kids have missed me all week -- in fact, the other morning Kaleb chucked a spoonful of oatmeal across the room when I told him I had to get ready for work. So you would think that they would be perfect angels, enjoying every wonderful moment of our time together. Negative. It was a terrible day. Kaleb cried incessantly from about 1:30 p.m. - 6:45 p.m. Kaiya did not nap and negotiated for an early bedtime instead of trying to nap. Not surprisingly, our evening ended with her being smart-mouthed with Tony and I. As I was tucking her into bed the conversation went like this:

Me: Why were you having such ugly words tonight?
Kaiya: Is because... I am sassy.
Me: Why were you being sassy tonight?
Kaiya: Is because... I am tired... and sleepy... and just a bit sassy.

At least she gets it. And I was quite proud of myself. I didn't even crack a smile when the "sassy" word came out of her mouth in that cute little ornery voice.