Easy dinner

We took the boys to Young's Dairy Farm on Saturday (more pics later... they are all on J's iPhone right now). When we ret'd home, we had an easy dinner since we ate so much "junk" while we were there. Aunt Beth will appreciate this - we had popcorn and pb/apples for dinner. We chased that with some apple cider! :) The boys loved it and I loved it b/c I had no mess to clean up. Oh, and I have given the task to Wyatt to show Myles books. He actually does a pretty good job at it.

A job well done

When it comes to home projects, my dad is the man for the job. Really... he can do anything. I find it stunning and quite amazing - but he acts like it's just an ordinary thing. There is really nothing that he can't eventually figure out - and when he does the job, he does it perfectly. We have employed him in his retirement a few times now for projects in our house and we have never been disappointed. This past week, he came to our house for 4 days to put up new base moulding after we had the new flooring put in. Long story short... we had to buy all new hardwood trim for our kitchen, entry way, and office, sand it, stain it, and polyurethane it. THEN we could actually cut and put in. It's is a lot of detailed work... measuring angles, matching up multiple pieces flawlessly, and then measuring again and again. I had a great week visiting with him. Not only did I get to work along side him, Henry did too, and I also got to ask him lots of questions that I've never asked before so I was able to get to see a piece of him that I had not seen before. It was a wonderful time (for me... he might say something different since he did most of the work!!). Thanks DAD! As always, a job well done and we so appreciated it.

Sunday Morning Breakfast

Jonathan makes breakfast every Sunday morning. We LOVE it!

Miles with Myles - Volume 3

Myles had a cardio appt and a 2-month checkup recently. His heart is looking really good. His blood vessel has closed, but he still has a small hole that has gotten smaller, but not completely closed yet. The doctor said we'd wait another year before we checked it, and if at that point it is not closed, they will have to do surgery. But he seemed to be fairly confident that it would close on its own. So, we'll just cross that bridge when we get there. His 2-month checkup was great great too! At this point, he still has lower muscle tone, but he is actually on target mile-marker wise of where he should be with his age. So that was really wonderful to hear! He is smiling and wiggling all around now. Like we've been saying, he is SUCH A DOLL!!! He is so cuddly, smiley, and pleasant. And he sleeps 9 hours a night!! He has graced this house and the boys continue to adore him. Wyatt continues to put everything on top of him that he can possibly find. (See last pic.) I'm still slightly convinced he thinks Myles is a babydoll :)

10 days

We spent 10 days and 10 nights at the Berry's while they were putting our floors in (after the kitchen damage). I know, a long time, huh? That's how we felt... There are way too many details that I won't bore you with. We are back home now and still waiting to get some finishing details done. But, all in all, we had a great time at the Berry's. One of the highlights was this nice picture we made to welcome Devon and Beth home (they were actually on vacation while we were staying at their house). There's an interesting backstory... the main details involves a school on fire, a principal, students on a bus, and big rain clouds sent by God. (I just drew what Henry told me to...)

Peaceful Sunday...

...everyone getting some rest... a Sunday afternoon favorite!

Nothing too new...

Jonathan's work always seems to be busy, but there are definitely busier 'seasons.' For example, August/Sept, and then May... are crazy, crazy months. That is when I go into 'simplicity' mode when it comes to dinners. So I took a picture of a typical dinner for the boys when Jonathan is gone in the evening. I call this 'pizza toast' - I served it this night with yogurt/blueberries and fruit. It's really nothing more than wheat bread with some pizza sauce on it and cheese, and then I put it in the oven to get crispy. So easy and the boys love it. I actually remember having this as a child all the time. Except instead of two pieces, my mom would have as many pieces as her oven could hold in order to give all of us kids some! I'm sure she went through a whole loaf of bread.

Smoothies... a favorite here. I think I told you about spinach in the smoothies, but I have told you about frozen cauliflower? They don't even know it...

The angel of the house... this child is a gem. He is so beautiful and so mild-mannered. We just can't get enough of him!

Memorable Things Kids Say - Volume 14

Henry has been saying all kinds of things lately that are worth documenting. It's so funny at this age how they think. Here's just two that stick in my brain:
1. Wyatt busted his mouth on a slide and broke that piece of skin that connects your upper lip to your gum while knocking one of his center teeth loose. It bled like crazy, but it finally slowed down and when we could finally get a good look at it, we realized his gum was really beat up. Henry must have been overhearing our conversation while we had the flashlight in Wyatt's mouth. The next day he was telling someone that "Wyatt's guts were bleeding out of his mouth. There was blood on his shirt." So funny... Which by the way, while we're on the subject of switching words, Wyatt has been calling his 'bottom' his 'body' - Henry did that exact same thing at this age.
2. Henry and I had lunch together outside today. He is getting ready to take a trip to his Grandma and Grandpa Cooper's. We were talking about how even while Mom and Dad are here and he is there, God can still see all of us b/c He is that powerful. Henry said, "Yeah, he can even see other people like the people in Haiti. It's like God has 45 eyes on his head." I was cracking up...

Some recent captures

1. Wyatt with his shades (borrowed from Aunt Beth).

2. Beth giving some love to Myles.














3. A picture of the wife who is married to an elementary school principal (surrounded by the paper trail that follows him home from the office...!). :)

4. Our newly renovated kitchen since the water incident. Lovely, huh?

Miles with Myles - Volume 2

Wow.. time is moving fast! We met with the Warren County ESC about a week and a half ago. They were great. We will have an Early Intervention Specialist in our home about twice a month to start working with Myles. Right now, he is actually doing really well. Some delays in his gross motor skills, but other than that, nothing alarming. We did get an appointment with the Thomas Center in Cinci. It is at the end of October. We are thankful for that. Myles is on the verge of smiling. Right now, he just smirks. I really think he is just giving us a hard time. The boys continue to dote on him and b/c of his pleasant demeanor, they have continued just love having him around!

If I would have known...

... that we'd have so many housing issues in our short 10 years of marriage, I would have started a label devoted to just that! For those of you who know about our past wknd (2 wknds ago), I didn't want to disappoint you by not posting pics. I will try to spare most details... but first, a recap on the past few years. Let's start here...
1. Henry shoved a whole roll of TP in the toilet... overflowed to our basement an hour before we had a house showing....
2. And then the wind storm right after we moved -this post doesn't tell the whole story. Later that day, about 20 shingles came right off our roof. We had only lived in that house for 2 months -- insurance claim #1
3. A lovely Christmas gift in Dec of 2008 - just 5 months of being in this house. We arrived home with sleeping kids at 11pm after driving 16hours straight home from Florida... insurance claim #2
4. In between our coffee maker breaking (which seems catastrophic) and the garage door breaking, we had a minor reprieve before this... an incredibly windy day pulled siding off the side of our house... insurance claim #3
5. Our insurance company dropped us...
6. Five days after our new insurance company picked us up -- the lovely pictures below tell a new story.

The first picture says it all. We were out-of-town at a family's home for dinner for the whole evening (left the house at 4pm, didn't return until 11pm). We arrive home to water standing on the kitchen floor and a strange spraying sound... We've had our fair share of water issues, so when you come home and see water on the floor, you know it is not good. Jonathan was amazingly calm... the kids were all sleeping in the car. He flies through the hallway and says... "water, water in the kitchen." I didn't think much until I noticed my flip flops wet. A water line in our fridge had popped a hole. Sprayed all evening long... and the best part was that it leaked all down into the ceiling of our newly finished basement. (Nathan, if you're reading this, sorry... ). Dripping... dripping... dripping. We put the kids to bed, called the Berry's (which is what we ALWAYS do when we encounter anything exciting... especially emergencies!), Beth comes over at about midnight, and the cutting begins. LONG story short, we had to turn the water off to the whole house, and then it wouldn't come back on, 3am and we had to get the boys out of bed to go stay at the Berry's... insurance claim #4... we're hoping for a happy ending... we had huge fans and dehumidifiers in our kitchen and basement from the drying service for 6 days... kitchen floor ripped up and holes in our basement ceiling. Ahh... breathe... school starts in 2 weeks... To be continued...

To top it off, our computer had a virus and we had to do a 'hard reset' on it. Not sure if that is the 'techy' term, but to me it means another headache! Even though we had things backed up to an external drive, we are missing many things including my contacts, my bookmarks, my task list, my calendar, the past year of my Quicken backup and the worst one is our past 6 months of pictures. It really is so depressing when I think of it all only from an earthly perspective. I have found myself praying much for patience in these past weeks. I continually remind myself that God IS in control over these large (heavenly small) earthly matters... He cares, He's interested, He's allowing it to happen for my good and His glory. Can a computer crash be for His glory? Can a ruined kitchen floor and holes in the basement be for His glory? Can a newborn baby with down syndrome be for his glory? Yes, yes, yes... And it's all for our good if we are indeed His. That is what amazes me... He glorifies Himself through all this by growing us through these tough times. We learn that His grace is sufficient... that He doesn't ask us to do anything beyond what we are able... and He will supply the strength. But how does He supply the strength? I had always hoped it'd be in the form of more sleep, or more muscle, or more time... but typically, it doesn't work that way. I'm still learning... but remember the gospel, Michelle! Remembering what Christ has done on the cross, remembering I have the Holy Spirit in me helping me to obey even when it feels very difficult, giving me hope for the future, supplying patience with my husband and family, supplying love to those around me... As we gear up for another school year, we look at the mountain of Jonathan's job (which is complex on many levels) and we wonder, will we make it through the year in a way that is pleasing to Him? I think this is the first time in our marriage where we are confident that we are NOT confident in ourselves. There seems to be so many hurdles, and yet, we are both at peace with what God has given us and praying for Him to make Himself known to us now. I was reading in Psalm 119 today: Your Word, O Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens. Your faithfulness continues through all generations; you established the earth, and it endures. Your law endures to this day, for all things serve you. If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction. I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have preserved my life... Your Word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path...My heart is set on keeping your decrees to the very end." The Lord will ALWAYS sustain those who are His. We are praying that for this year!

Very cool

I got this very cool necklace from my good friend. I love it!!