Biking, Barbecues, and...Bubble Bath Car Washes?

Here are some fun things we've been up to this week.

Biking: We recently purchased a bike trailer from Craig's List. We've had several bike rides lately, and so far Lucas is impressed I think. He likes pointing out all the puppies and kitties on our rides.

Barbecues: Tonight we had a little BBQ get together with our great friends, the Hagemeier's. Todd and Eric have coached fb together for several years, and I met Kristy and her kids Trace and Colin through that connection. Now we're great friends and it's always fun getting together like this. Lucas especially loves hanging out with the 2 boys. They don't ever get into any trouble...

Lucas had his first experience washing the car this week...and LOVED IT (esp. the bubbles)! Here's the video for proof. Listen carefully and you'll hear Lucas "saying" "Scrub, scrub, scrub!" Believe it or not, he caught on pretty quickly and was being a great help to Eric.

Fun with Water!

This summer I have come to the quick realization that Lucas LOVES WATER!!! Not only bathtime, but pools, puddles, water hoses, sprinklers, fountains, etc. This past week we went to the pool several times. My friend Carrie actually taught him how to kick while she held him across the water. And, amazingly he's not afraid to put his head under. Needless to say, we're having a blast this summer with all the water activities.

Tonight, was no exception. We got a water table for Lucas, and we were playing out on the deck this evening. Thankfully my camera was close by to catch some of the action. You're gonna LOVE the videos at the end. :) :)

Check out the "pitter patter" of Lucas' feet. He kept running to the window watching for Daddy to come home from work.

Daddy, to the rescue!! (By the end, Lucas had stripped down to just his diaper since he was drenched from head to toe in water.)

LOVE this last video. :)

Nawnaw and Papa's Visit

As I said earlier, while Eric and I were sunnin' ourselves in Mexico, Lucas had the privilege of spending a week with my parents in Ohio. Going into it I had a feeling they'd keep him so busy he wouldn't even miss us...now after hearing the fun stories and seeing the pictures, I'm CONVINCED he didn't miss us one bit. Which is a good thing. :)

Today Lucas received a package in the mail from Grandma. Inside was a CD full of pictures and videos from their week together. Lucas and I already watched it 4 times. :) Here's just a glimpse of their week together.

Lucas grilling with "Papa! Papa! Papa!" (Lucas LOVES talking about Papa and Nawnaw...and the choo choos, and Buck)

No kidding?!

That's what you're going to say when I tell you this story.

This morning Lucas and I went shopping. For those of you who know me well, you know that I LOVE LOVE LOVE Starbucks. Well get this. Lucas and I went to three places today...Target, Meijer, and Barnes and Noble. In each of those places there was a Starbucks...and I never ONCE got anything. I know? Crazy hah? Lucas looked at me each time we walked out of the store and said, "Wait Mommy! Aren't you forgetting something?" :) Haha... just wanted to share. No good reason why I didn't get anything...just wasn't in the mood...plus all of my Starbucks gift cards from Christmas/b-days have run out.

Posts are no fun without pictures so I found this one from maybe 6 YEARS ago when I visited Zach and Amanda in Seattle while at Taylor.

Hangin' with Mel and Scott...

The other day we went out for ice cream with our friends, Mel and Scott. We had a great time chatting and of course, being entertained by Lucas. Close by there were some fountains so we had to check them out. Within 2 minutes, Lucas was drenched. Hmm...! If you didn't know, he LOVES water and isn't afraid to get wet. :)

Noone can make Lucas laugh quite like Daddy! :)
Look, Mel! Wa-wa!!!

Sweet Summer Treats...

We picked up some strawberries at the Farmers' Market yesterday so I was craving strawberry shortcake today. I whipped some up after church for a little dessert for us...and Lucas truly enjoyed his little treat. He especially enjoyed the "treasure hunt"...looking for strawberries among the piles of whipped cream. Dad, I know this is extremely disappointing, seeing the "biscuit" version of st. shortcake, but I couldn't find Mom's recipe so I had to settle for the quick biscuit kind. It was yummy, but not as good as Mom's.

Back from Vacationland

We're back!!! We had a wonderful time on vacation...for those of you who didn't know, Eric and I spent a week in Riviera Maya, Mexico (south of Cancun) at a little resort on the beach. Ahhh, it was extremely relaxing and gave us a lots of time for good conversation, naps, pool/beach time, reading (yes! Eric read, too!), and sightseeing. I'm so thankful we were able to take a vacation like this, even if it was extremely hard being away from Lucas. We missed him like crazy (hence the last picture), but it was fun to not have naptimes/etc. to worry about. Although, I have to admit, near the end of this vacation, I almost longed for that schedule back again. It's as if that's just part of my life now, and I LOVE IT! Yes, vacation is wonderful, but it's just vacation...not life. I'm so thankful and blessed for the life that I have. God has blessed our family is so many ways and I'm grateful for times like this that we can reflect on how faithful He is to us. Enjoy the pictures...

Random it is...

Welp, Jenni, this is for you. :) I've been asked to share some random things about myself...which I'm not sure exactly what that means other than...sharing some things that maybe you all didn't know yet. I've had to really rack my brain for this...so bear with me.

1. I'm a coupon fanatic. LOVE cutting them out, organizing them, and using them of course. I'm all about the good deals.

2. I suppose along those lines, I'm slightly obsessed with looking over my grocery receipts after my weekly grocery trip. I love to see how much I've saved and check for any mistakes in the prices.

3. I've never been away from Lucas over night, yet. I'm scared/sad out of my wits... Eric and I leave for Cancun this week and we'll be gone 7 days. Lucas is in GREAT hands (my parents), but I'm not looking forward to being away from my baby. Boo-hoooo....

4. I'm a gamer...a BOARD gamer. I love any and all board games and will never turn down an invite to play. Watch out though, I can be slightly competitive...depending on who I'm playing. :) PS...I also love card games, especially euchre.

5. I've gone 28 years now without ever having cable. I'm all about the "country cable." Although Eric would strongly disagree, I'm perfectly fine without it.

6. My dream job is a cocktail piano player. Is that what you call it?? I've always wanted to get all fancified and sit at a big shiny grand piano and play jazz music at a crazy expensive restaurant. No tips needed...just sharing some good music. What I'd really like to do is to be able to improvise and play by heart.

7. I've never seen the movie Hoosiers. I know, call me crazy.

Did you learn anything new?

Nali Visit

Eric's mom came to town to visit the past few days. We had a great time, but especially Lucas enjoyed it. They read lots of books together, went for a walk, and played with all kinds of toys. Thanks for coming, Nali! Stop in again soon!! Love, Lucas :)

Sheryl Crow and me.

Cool hah??? (For those of you who don't have a magnifying glass to see, that's Sheryl in the middle holding her son, Wyatt.)
Bummer the pictures are so small.... :(

Bye...bye...bye...

Lucas has been doing a very funny thing lately. First of all, he's been talking up a storm!! It's almost as if we can have a conversation now! I read in one of my baby books that at his age he can actually understand about 80% of what I say to him. That's crazy!! Anyway, the latest is, he likes to say bye to everything...not just people. We were just outside and as we came in he said, "Bye soo (shoes), bye ball, bye wawa (water)." Over and over again. We'll be leaving the kitchen he'll say, "Bye joo (juice), bye puppy," or whatever happens to be in the kitchen at the time.

Funny stuff. I crack up all the time. One of these days I'll have to make a list of all the words he can say now. It amazes me each day. The newest words he says are "tut-l" (turtle), "bappa" (grandpa), "wawa" (b/c of the kiddie pool being out all the time), and "baf" (bath).

Part II...the "relaxed" mindy...

Eric says I have a more "relaxed" personality in the summer time. I'm afraid he's right. Now let me clarify...it doesn't mean he doesn't like the non-relaxed "me" during the school year, but there's a clear difference between the two. During the school year I have a very Type A personality. I'm driven. Very driven. I have my goals, my to-do lists, my routine down to a T. I can be rather distracted by school "stuff" nonstop...even when I'm home. If I'm stressed at school, I'm stressed at home. Am I making sense?

Well, summer's here. Gone are the meetings, schedules, paperwork, and to-do lists. Actually, I still have to-do lists. It goes like this: go to the park with Lucas, read more, sit out on the deck, play Skip-bo with Eric, visit family and friends, etc. At this point, I know I have several people saying, "Wow...teachers really have the perfect life. Summer's off...must be nice." Aw, you better slowly step away. Have I jumped on this soapbox already? I'm pretty sure I have so I'm not going to go there again.

So yes, I'm VERY happy to be home and spending more time with my boys...and friends...and family...and books. In fact, tonight Eric watched Lucas while I went to a Sheryl Crow concert with some friends. As you can see, I just got back and am writing this at 12:30 AM. Would I ever do this during the school year?? :)

Enough of that. Here are some great pix and a video from the past weekend at my parents. Good times as usual.


Notice there are several pix where Lucas isn't wearing a whole lot of clothes. He was actually running a fever off and on all weekend so he was often pretty warm. I learned today from the dr. that he has a touch of bronchitis. In normal Lucas fashion, he's actually been acting just great...you'd never know that he was sick except he's not been eating great at all. Dr. H said he should have his appetite back in a few short days.

Check out Lucas washing potatoes with Grandma. :)

School's Out for the Summer!!!

I want to keep this short and sweet so here goes. Another school year has come and gone... Saying good-bye to yet another class is always bittersweet. I looked at my kids today and thought, "Man, they've grown so much this year...since August 14th when we met." The best part is, I'm not talking grown as in they're 4 inches taller. They've grown into young, more mature, kids. Today was the first time in 4 years of teaching that my kids had LOTS of tears. Yeah, in the past there have been kids that shed a few tears here and there, but I was not prepared for this. This was a GOOD class this year, the tears are just a testament to the little family we've become. Yes, I'll definitely miss them. Lots. No matter what anyone else says, Carmel has some darn good kids and I'm proud of them!!

FYI: Part II of this post will come in a few days. It will shed light on the other half of the story. The one where I'm SUPER excited to be home with my boys and away from 7-8 year olds finally. :)

Vacation anyone??

Have I mentioned yet that in 3 weeks from today, Eric and I will be in Cancun??!?!?!?!

Check it out...

Here's just a couple of videos from the other day when Lucas was diggin' outside. I love this first one. I actually wasn't even watching Lucas while I was videotaping...I was paying attention to what Eric was doing next to me. I looked just at the end and thought to myself, "What is Lucas chewing on?" Good thing I had the video rolling for a playback...

Here's a video of Lucas mimicking Eric. I think it's pretty cute-- he's using the exact same technique Eric was using!!! Impressive I think!

Mel + Scott

So here's some very exciting news!!! My dear dear friend Mel is getting MARRIED!!! YAHOO! As you can tell, I'm pretty excited for them. You see... Mel and I didn't actually get to know each other very well at Taylor until our Junior year...and I'm so thankful our paths crossed when they did. She has enriched my life in so many ways, and I'm so blessed to have a dear friend like her. I must add, it's also been great getting to know Scott, too. I'm eager to see where God takes them next because I'm confident He's going to do amazing things with these two. Congrats, my friends!!!

Our big helper...

We've been working out in the yard a lot lately, and Lucas has really enjoyed helping us out. He copies everything we do...it cracks us up!!! This past Friday Eric pulled out this really ugly plant I was tired of, and afterwards Lucas walked up and start digging in the dirt with the small trowel. It was so funny to watch. Here are some pictures. Eventually I'll get to posting 2 videos that go along with it that are pretty funny.

And of course, after all that hard work, the boys thought they deserved a wrestling match in the newly mowed grass.

Great times with some GREAT friends...

Ahhh... let me tell you about my day yesterday. Mel and Amanda, along with our great friends, the Peggs, who were in town, came over for the day. The big boys went golfing while we girls hung out in the morning having coffee/bagels and watching the two little boys play. As you will see in the pictures, Cru is oneeee healthy kid. At only 4 months he's 18 lbs and looking as cute as EVER! We spent lots of time outside playing, lots of time rocking on the porch just chatting, and when the bigger boys came back...grilled some good food. Ahhh, it was SUCH a great day. I love my friends and often wish we all lived on the same street...but it's times like this that are extra special since we don't get to all be together at once very often. (Oh yes, and we caught every moment on camera...so here's just a "few.")

A switcheroo... and an Ode to my Mom

Eric and I decided it was high time to turn Lucas' car seat around to face front. He's never ever liked getting in his carseat and almost always puts up a fuss. So far...the new look has intruiged him. Today, driving home from school, he had a good "jam" session to the country music on the radio. He was bouncing his feet like crazy and making tons of goofy faces. Wow...it's so nice to finally get to see what he does that whole time back there! I took several videos of him jammin' but not one turned out...probably because I was trying to drive at the same time. Okay, so I was stopped at a stoplight so it was okay. :)

PS- Mother's Day was definitely a memory-maker this year. Eric worked hard to make me feel appreciated and it definitely worked. However, there were a few bumps along the way, just as Megan and Jenni, I read in your blogs. Saturday night we actually celebrated a bit early by eating out at Abuelo's, which ended up being very disappointing. Afterwards we were too stuffed from the bad food to get ice cream/coffee desserts. We proceeded to get groceries at a Meijer that we don't typically go to...and it was disorganized and very frustrating. Ugh. Sunday Eric had to work which was sad, but understandable. Get this...it rained the ENTIRE day...not letting up at all. Lucas and I were cooped up pretty much all day. I just kept thinking of how much I wanted to just be able to spend time with my own mom, who is 3 hours away too far. No family in the area to celebrate with, but at the same time...I definitely enjoyed my time with my little man. We have fun together, even if sometimes I get tired and pop in an Elmo video just to get 20 minutes to myself. That's okay, right? So yeah, I LOVE being a mom. Every part of it. I'm so thankful for my mom and Eric's mom for being such great examples for me... I've got big shoes to fill!!!

What's wrong with this picture...

So, growing up I loved reading the Highlights kids' magazines for this one little article..."What's Wrong with the Picture." So, take a good look at this and tell me what's wrong. :)

Visit from Grandma...and...Peek-a-boo!!

Eric went up North fishing this past weekend so my wonderful mom came and kept me company. Oh yeah, and she came to play with Lucas, too. :) I think they had lots of fun together. Silly me didn't take too many pics, but I did get this one of Mom teaching Lucas how to blow bubbles...and he did, too!! I was impressed!

And I had to share this cute video of Lucas playing Peek-a-boo in the kitchen cupboards. He's actually been doing this since he was 9 months old...but this is the first I caught it on video.

A Visit to the Park

The three of us went to the park here in Noblesville last week. Lucas had tons of fun. He especially liked all of the slides. I on the other hand...am not a huge fan. Someone had to go down with Lucas though... so check out the video. Just watching it is painful. I got static sparks all the way down. Ahh, but it was definitely worth it to hear Lucas' happy shrieks.