Watermelon!

4th of July Fun!

We were a little worried at the start of the evening because it was raining...no...POURING! But the rain eventually cleared and we got to go outside. Maya was still worried the rain might return, so she "covered up" before heading out!


The kids watching the black "snakes" grow.

Maya was quite surprised at how loud fireworks can be!


We had a GREAT view of the fireworks display this year & Maya loved every minute of it!


Sparkler fun....

fun...

fun!


Blueberry pie...a 4th of July favorite at our house.

Well, McKenna likes the whipped cream :-)

Channy even tried it...but he's not as big a fan as the adults-LOL!

Chandler's Birthday Party.

A few quick pictures of the "Spiderman" party :-)


The Cake! Always my favorite "gift" to my kids (this one took me nearly 3 hours to decorate...darn web costume!).


Chandler was so excited about the cake! ALL DAY long he asked me is he could have cake yet!


BUT... "someone" paid Chandler a visit right after he blew out the candles on his cake & he completely forgot about eating cake! (*I LOVE the look on his face in this picture...forget cake....)


It's SPIDERMAN!!!!

It's not every day you get to see the "real" Spiderman-LOL!

*Thanks Uncle Jeremy....um...I mean "Spiderman"!

A happy ending...

A few weeks ago Jonathan had a going away party at the 810 zone (very cool place) & I thought I'd share a few pictures. We had a great time visiting with everyone who dropped by to say goodbye. Jonathan was really touched that so many people came by to wish him well. We will miss all the awesome people he got to work with. It really was like being part of a "family", & leaving felt pretty sad because of that.












Mark: I'll frame this picture for you to put on your desk ;-)



Dave: THANK YOU so much for organizing the going away party. You're awesome (but you know that-hehe!). We will have to drop by and say "Hi" the next time we are in the neighborhood. The kids miss the loading dock-LOL!

Please be Patient....

We got a new computer (sorta new...) and Jonathan has not moved all my files over from the old computer to the new one, AND we have not installed the camera software on the new computer either. So, I cannot download the pictures from my camera and yada, yada, yada.....

We finally got to have Chandler's birthday party last Friday, so I'll post the pictures as soon as we get all the crazy computer crap sorted out. Other than the birthday party, life has been pretty quiet around here.

*Oh, I do have one little bit of exciting news...I have a new running partner -my sister! Tricia and I are going to do the KC half-marathon together in October (Trish has NO interest in the full...can't say I blame her-he!). Her and I went to the team run on Saturday and it rained the WHOLE time. Although, I will say I prefer the rain in late June to the cold/freezing rain of early November. It got to be a bit comical toward the end of the run & Tricia was quite the trooper I must say. Wish us luck!

**Tiffany-you are welcome too...we will pick you up at 5:15 a.m next Saturday-OK?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHANDLER!

Today my lil' guy turns 4! I'm not sure how the years keep passing me by so quickly, but it's been a great ride. I couldn't have asked for a more wonderful son. Without Chandler in my life I sure wouldn't been the woman I am today. The impact of his little life on mine has been monumental. He has grown me in ways that no one else in my life could have, and for that I am eternally grateful. I look at his sweet face and I know that God must really love me to have blessed me with the gift of "Channy-Man" :-).



And now........

"4 Years With Chandler"

They didn't have you where I come from
Never knew the best was yet to come...


Life began when I saw your face
And I hear your laugh like a serenade...

How long do you want to be loved
Is forever enough, is forever enough
How long do you want to be loved
Is forever enough
Cause I'm never, never giving you up...

I slip in bed when you're asleep
To hold you close and feel your breath on me
Tomorrow there'll be so much to do
So tonight I'll drift in a dream with you...


How long do you want to be loved
Is forever enough, is forever enough...

How long do you want to be loved
Is forever enough
Cause I'm never, never giving you up...


As you wander through this troubled world
In search of all things beautiful...

You can close your eyes when you're miles away
And hear my voice like a serenade...


How long do you want to be loved
Is forever enough, is forever enough...

How long do you want to be loved
Is forever enough...

Cause I'm never, never giving you up...

How long do you want to be loved
Is forever enough, is forever enough...

How long do you want to be loved
Is forever enough
Cause I'm never, never giving you up...




Is forever enough
Cause I'm never, never giving you up
*************************************
*Click on video to hear this song :-)

Swing Sets, Swimming Pools, and Sonic!

Going along with this "Season Of Change" we are currently experiencing, the time had come for the backyard to experience some "change" as well :-). This past Sunday marked 6 years in the old "White Manor", and I'm proud to say we finally have something for the kids to play on in the backyard. Yes, it took us 6 years to buy a swing set!

After nearly going INSANE last year because the kids were climbing the walls 24/7, I swore that would be the last summer we went without a swing set (and we all know how I am about those promises-LOL!). SO.....I had a garage sale a few weeks ago & I let go of nearly every baby item I own!!! Yep, I sold about 95% of my baby gear, and ALL of the baby clothes. It was bittersweet letting go of it all, but it was the only way I could make enough $$$ for my kids to get that new swing set. If I was having a hard time letting go of something I just told myself it was all for a good cause (and my future sanity).

In the end we made a good chunk of change, and I was able to find a really nice set that we could finally afford. Of course, Jonathan had to "assemble" (aka: "build") the fort/swing set, which turned out to be quite an adventure in and of itself. Let's just say that swing set is staying here should we ever move!

*I think my sanity should be in tact by the end of this summer....don't you?

Jonathan had lots of "help" putting the swing set together :-)

After two weeks at summer school (on the BIG playground), McKenna has become a pro at swinging all by herself.

My one criteria for the new swing set was that it HAD to have a big slide (and a fort)! For this reason :-)


Maya LOVES to swing....ALL. THE. TIME!

Channy is just trying to figure out how to swing straight-LOL!

*I guess I don't have any pictures of the WHOLE swing set...I'll have to take one :-)


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To celebrate getting our new backyard "ornament", I took the kids to Sonic for our first "taste of the summer" experience. It was a blast watching them look over the ENTIRE menu before ordering. Of course we had to eat some of our ice cream IN the car (because that's just what you do at Sonic) before we took it home. I had so much fun watching them that night. They would go from eating their ice cream as fast as they could, to taking turns doing silly things down the slide, and then running back to the porch for a quick dip in the kiddie pool before they would repeat the whole process over and over again. By the end of the night the slide had sticky ice cream steaks all up and down it, and the kiddie pool was half grass/half water,...it was a hoot! As I cleaned up the ice cream cups, hosed off the slide, and drained the little pool, I laughed as I said to myself "this is what summertime is all about...swimming pools, swing sets and SONIC!".

The haircut.

Ok, so this s NOT the best picture, but I knew I had to post something before I got in trouble with all my faithful blog readers-LOL! So, here is a picture Tricia took of me after we had been laying out for two hours. I'm sweaty, and the shadows make me look like I have a "root" problem (which I don't....just paid good $$$ to get that fixed!)...but here it is :-)


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*Jodi- notice I'm not posting this after midnight ;-) Tell me you're so proud-hehe!

A Season Of Change!

After watching my husband work a crazy 24/7, 365, INSANE work schedule for the past 3 years....it's finally OVER! Jonathan GOT A NEW JOB!

For those of you who have been close to our family over the past couple of years, you know how HUGE this news is to our family. Jonathan has always worked over 40 hours at his job, but he never got paid any over-time. He managed an entire hotel (the IT stuff) by himself, and never had anyone who could help him out. It made our life SO stressful, because we felt like life was always on hold. He could hardly work a second job, because he was always on call at his first job. He worked holidays, weekends, and in the middle of the night! Whenever that cell phone rang...he was back to work! There was no such thing as a vacation either! He was even called into work the day our third child was born....nothing was sacred. Not to mention the two trips to the ER for health-related stress problems. I was beginning to think this job was going to kill my husband.

I tried to be patient and supportive through all of this, because I really didn't have any other choice. It was awful to see the kind of stress that he was under, and even worse when I saw that he was never really appreciated. It's so hard to see someone you love make huge sacrifices & then not get anything in return. It's heartbreaking!

However, God did see! How quickly I forget that God sees everything! Back when I wrote about "El Roi" (the God Who Sees), you can bet I was also thinking of my husband & his work situation. However, it's amazing to me, even stunning, how quickly I FORGET! It's seems like we had prayed SO LONG for Jonathan to find new work, that we started to forget that God's timing is not always our timing. We had several ups & downs in the job search, and I began to "not get my hopes up"...not even when things looked good. I have to admit that I stayed quite "numb" through this recent job inquiry, even when it looked "good", because I didn't want to feel any more disappointment.

Now, for the good news...

Jonathan will be working for a bank! A BANK (*although THE bank will remain nameless for now)! 10 Federal Holiday's a year...PLUS 15 vacation days (what are those?). Since the beginning of our marriage Jonathan has never, I repeat, NEVER had this sort of luxury! It's almost too much to process. I wanted to cry tonight when my neighbor said "now you can be a family!". He's right!! Jon will only be on call once every 5 weeks, and the kicker...HE WILL BE PAID OVERTIME when he is on-call! We haven't been familiar with that term since the good old SPRINT era ;-).

There are some things I will miss about the Hotel though. Jonathan did work with some great people, and I will miss getting to see them & be connected with their lives. There is always a bit of sadness when you have to move on, and I will always remember the good things about his Sheraton job. Like the $49 hotel rooms anywhere in the US, our awesome $420 King-size Sheraton "Sweet Sleeper" bed, and the free food :-)

I'm positive that God placed Jonathan at the hotel for a reason. I'm also certain that He has a plan to use that time in our lives to learn and grow us for bigger and better things ahead. So as not to sound "unthankful", I want to praise God for sustaining us over the last few years. I am thankful that my husband had a job, and worked so hard to support our family. God really is good...all the time.

If you read all of this, give yourself a pat on the back. This was really cathartic to be able to "vent" and let go of this tension I've had bottled up. I think I'm just now letting myself believe that I may get to have my husband back in my life now. I'm still in some state of disbelief, but I'll get there....I'll get there.

Praise be to God!