Love: Week 6 Challenge

• I love coffee laced with chocolate.
• I love icee mochas - which are coffee laced with chocolate and blended with ice into perfection.
• I love chocolate.  Like an extra large cut of moist rich chocolate cake topped with fudgy, creamy milk chocolate frosting kind of chocolate.  Otherwise?  Meh.

Chocolate covered strawberry cake on the table Valentine's morning

• I love my husband.

My eyes are teary.  It had been a rough day.

• I love my children.  And my mom.
• I love my friends.  I am so blessed to have old and new friends.  There was a time when I stood in the back yard of our old house in tears because I felt so isolated and alone.  My husband put me to work digging something up in the yard because "Nothing beats sadness better than hard work," he said.  That year God brought me two friends from two mission trips that have been by my side through thick and thin since then.  And my two longest, dearest friends who remain so and can pick up right where we left off in spite of distance.  I tell my kids, you don't need lots of friends, you just need a few good friends.  I am lucky to have a few very good friends.

Me, my BRE, and Crazy Timi

Best Friends

• I love the front of our house.  I drive up and think what a lucky girl I am that God allowed us to have this house.  I like the inside, but I don't love it yet.  There is still a lot of work to be done on the inside and it paralyzes me in the magnitude and the choices and the opportunities and the what ifs, and I just do nothing.  That, and there's never enough time.  John is great at making lists every weekend and working on those projects to completion.  Like the linen closet in the basement.  I pulled some sheets from the bottom of a box last weekend when my brother came to visit and the box and the closet exploded on me.  Yes, a box we had packed two years ago and moved to this house and shoved in the bottom of a basement closet exploded.  A size XL packing box from Storage USA.  I couldn't even push my entire body weight against the door to shove it closed to hide the explosion.  That kind of a blowout.  My sweet guy tore the closet apart and built new shelves for me yesterday afternoon.  All I have to do is place the sheets and blankets on the new shelves as soon as I get a few minutes.  I love that man.  Once, I made a list of things that would help me begin to love the inside of this house.   It included updating the pantry and the laundry room.  Both are done.  I'm still a little wishy washy about the inside of the house, though.  Weird, I know.  But I do love it.  Just not all the way.  We lived in our old house 17 years and built it from the ground up aesthetically.  I think I'm sentimental about it.  A lot sentimental about it.  I do love this neighborhood, though.  I love that the kids have friends across the street, and they are either all here or all over there all the time.  Even the adults go visiting, often with their 6-packs.  When Jerry's garage door is up, we all know the bar is open.  It's a cul-de-sac and the littles down the street are coming out more and soon they will be one big pack of kids.  Sara is rarely without a playmate between her own siblings, the next door neighbors' granddaughters and CeCe across the street.  Luckiest girl on the planet.  I can't keep snacks stocked.  In the summer, it's ice cream bars.  These kids can eat.  I love it (even though I complain about the grocery bill).

Snow on Valentine's Day

• I don't love the back of our house nor the yard.  I really miss our old pool.  But I do love the land behind us.  Someday I fear it won't be there like it is today - it will be sold off into a subdivision with too many houses and not enough yard.  I would love to buy the tract right behind us when that time comes.  Or the whole thing.  We'll see.  In the meantime, I like the yard and I love watching the kids play there and there is plenty of space, so I really should love it.  It's OK.  :p

I love the view out my bedroom door,
that I have a bedroom door out to the back
and that to the left in this picture is a glowing fireplace.  In my bedroom.
And snow is falling.  Love.

• I love studying the Bible.  I love Bible studies that help me understand the intricacies and the stories and give application to life in this season.  We are in the middle of a good one right now called Rooted written by Tim Wesemann, who is a friend of ours.  We're in the final stretches, and it has been interesting how this Bible study has been there for me in the middle of some difficult moments of processing life these last few weeks.  God is good like that.  Very good.
• I love this cat that just climbed into my lap.  He may be my favorite of all time.  The dog I love but I kind of just "like" him because I hate it when he runs off.  Or gets skunked.  HE *loves* the neighbors' bird feedings.  He can be found there licking the ground at least twice a day.  They live four houses behind us.  Some day he won't come home.  I know for sure he will get skunked again, and that I hate.  I need to add peroxide to my grocery list.
• I love the pictures my brother brought down last weekend.  I love that he came and that bonds were re-established and there is good and there is bad and there is family.  No matter what.

Me and my brother.  His hair is crazy.
These are his bunnies.  They were all albino after the first litter.

• I love seasons.  I especially love snow.  And new flower blossoms.  And canon balls.  And dramatic foliage.  I kind of just love it all in its time.
• I love spanish.  I love that my husband is taking me to Spain for our anniversary because I once told him I'm not the girl who gets to go to Spain.  He told me I am.  Our community ed spanish class we are taking this semester is kicking my butt.  I love it.
• I love mornings when the house is quiet and the coffee is hot - or cold - and the day is ahead with opportunity and I haven't lost my patience or yelled at anyone yet.  Not even once.  I'm a great mom in the morning before everyone else wakes up.
  

Guess it's time to get everyone up.

October 4th

Happy 16th Anniversary Honey.  I love you.  Looking forward to celebrating soon.  Right now, I think that Orange Beso from Canyon Cafe wouldn't sit well.  Soon.  You're the best!

pre-celebrating - last week

October 3rd

We went to dinner last night, and my stomach felt a little off.  The hairs on the back of my neck were up since The Mister came home sick from work in the middle of the day two days ago with a stomach bug.  And he *never* comes home sick from work.

Indeed.  Whereas I woke to this handsome face this morning and the prospect of a sweet day spent together celebrating our 16 years of marriage...

I was sick, and his face turned into this:

Mine too.

He went and bought us new phones, and the twins new phones, too.  Which made their faces look like this:

Those expressions are actually pretty tame compared to the screaming Pookie exhibited as she came running upstairs to see her "surprise" after school.

I watched the high school parade in isolation from the bedroom deck.

And stayed home alone while three went to the football game and two went to a Homecoming party.  I watched Mom's Night Out and folded laundry.  It was a fiesta for my soul while my body rested.   I look forward to feeling better as soon as possible.

Heart Attack

I decided not to scare the bejiggers out of all of you by calling this post:

Dad Had a Heart Attack

Nor the close approximation:

WE GAVE Dad a Heart Attack...

Wise, no?

But, we really did give him a heart attack!  It has become our tradition, in following the amazing creativity of blogger Shawni Pothier, to give each other heart attacks during the month of February for a couple of years now.  Since Dad was turning 39 over the weekend, we thought it would be fun to write out 39 reasons why we love him and plaster them all over the house on his birthday.

So, without further adieu, here are 39 reasons why we love John/Dad:
1.

2.  He is always there for me. (Katelyn)
3.  He makes me laugh so hard I cry.  And pee.  (TMI)
4.  He is good looking!
5.  He helps in the kitchen (at least with weekend breakfasts)!
6.  He sometimes lets me have a bubblebath when I want to. (Sara)
7.  He holds my hand.
8.  He helps me with my homework.  (Katelyn AND Matthew)
9.  He gave his iPod to me and bought me my new radio.  There is so much more I could not possibly list all of them.  (Tommy) ... ;)
10.  When he doesn't go to work, sometimes he plays with me.  And when he does go to work, I still love him.  (Sara)
11.  He helps me with Skylanders.  (Tommy)
12.  He is always willing to go outside and play sports with me.  (Matthew)  ... :)
13.

14.  He plays soccer with us.  (Katelyn)
15.  He cares about the kids' education and quizzes them.
16.  He takes us on awesome trips.  (Katelyn)
17.  He and Mom bought me Pokemon Black.  (Tommy)
18.  He helps me with picking new books to read.  (Tommy)
19.  He let me read The Belgariad and The Mallorean from when he was a kid.  (Tommy)
20.  He does math with me.  (Matthew)
21.  He is always on top of current events and he fills me in!
22.  He always has a logical answer.  { ; )}
23.  He sticks to his guns, sets goals, and sees them through.
24.  He plays video games with me.  (Matthew)
25.  He makes delicious pancakes. (Katelyn)
26.  He is a super star at the office.
27.  He is an AWESOME dad.
28.  He helps me with my pinewood derby car.  (Tommy AND Matthew)
29.  He has an awesome personality.  He helps me with things and teaches me new things.  (Tommy)
30.  He is smart and super good at trivia games.
31.  He knows how to do stuff and he researches the things he's not quite sure about.
32. 

33.  He is good with electronics.  (Matthew AND Me!)
34.  He knows my love language is icee mochas yet he helped me give them up in January.
35.  He always keeps things interesting.
36.  He's a super running partner.  Most days.  ;)
37.  He fills my van up with gas every weekend.
38.  He takes us to church every weekend.
39.  He's my best friend and the love my life.

Happy Birthday Honey!  We sure do love you!

10-4 Good Buddy! It really is a great day for an anniversary!

I am not always a fan of 'the gift thing' (although I am NOT against them entirely [yes, that's for you, MIL]...;) ).  We live in a small house with a lot of people who seem to like to collect things, so I actually like gifts that are more experiential.  For instance, last Christmas we took the kids to Chicago as part of their gift. This year for our anniversary, because my hubby "has people in town" (i.e. The Bosses) on our actual anniversary, he planned ahead and took the day before our anniversary off to hang out with me.  And man did we enjoy our day together!

We took 'The Fabric' - what Sara calls my husband's midlife crisis - the convertible [because I call it The Maverick and she doesn't say Maverick, she says Fabric - so all convertibles now are either 1) "Grammie's car" ( a VW Beetle convertible) or 2) a "fabric" (which is actually an '89 BMW convertible)] - to Hermann, Missouri, or Missouri wine country.  We had a blast there on our 10th anniversary, so we knew it would be a great day!

We walked around town for a bit and bought Sara a slushy. Hubs held my hand and whispered sweet things in my ear. OK, really he told me I excel at being lazy (he called it 'relaxing') and doing nothing (he called it 'companionship') ;).   I'll take it.  I do tend to be the more laid back of the two of us (i.e. nothing ever gets done with me around...).

We stopped at Stone Hill winery and got an education from our fabulous Sommelier Charlotta (name changed to protect the innocent!).  She gave us the 4-1-1 on Hermann politics, I'll tell you that much!  When we vistited three years ago, there was an old high school building for sale that I could just picture being a fabulous spot for country shops on the first floor, coffee and baked goods for sale, my father-in-law's furniture...The second floor would be perfect as an income property with lofts for rent and the top floor, of course, our home - refurbished with all the asbestos and critters removed, first, of course.  A wee bit surprisingly (or not, as the case may be....), the high school is still for sale, so after discovering that Charlotta had refurbished an old Catholic church near town, we started chatting about the old high school's potential.

Apparently, Hermann is a very small town.  {And all that that means in terms of politics and newbies moving in and stirring things up.  ;)}

But we sure enjoyed the wine tasting, the conversation, and - actually - running in to an old college classmate of mine from our undergraduate days in Kirksville!  (such a small world...)

We ate at one of my favorite restaurants in all of the midwest (actually, I'm serious) - Wings Ablazin.'  I can't believe I don't have a photo of the place!  But we did have Sashi take our {anniversary} picture.  She did a pretty good job (can you tell who she loves "the most?"  - a blogpost for a different day):

And she got better quickly!

Oh wait - here we both are!

I love that picture - my new fave of the two of us!
And because it's us, and we're just this silly:

We also made a stop at Hermannhoff Wineries - where Tres was able to get that Sommelier talking, too.   It really does drive me crazy the way John, his dad, and my mom can talk to anyone.  I roll my eyes and wish we could just move on, but inevitably, I am drawn in and grateful for the way they can converse and bring on stories we otherwise would never have the privilege of knowing.  They are so annoying like that.

;)

But man alive did she weave a tale of monopoly, espionage, and arsen!  

From there, we stopped at the town chocolatier (the baker: closed again!) and then, home - with the top down, of course!

A big fat thank you to my awesome husband - who makes life just a whole lot sweeter (with and without cupcakes).  I can't imagine a better man to share my life with.  I am a lucky girl!


...and now I better go clean the kitchen!