The Sign

"Calm waters do not make skilled sailors."

On my drive to Kenosha this morning I came across this saying on a sign for a Baptist church. They usually have cute witty sayings on their sign out front, but this is the first one I've seen that made me cry. Most of my reaction was due much more to our circumstances then the cleverness of the sign, but it was still an effective reminder. Times are difficult for us right now due to this major transition we're encountering and that is okay. I shouldn't expect life to always be trial-free. Frustrating times don't mean that there is necessarily anything wrong. A life without those would be a life with no growth. Getting through this time is making us better people with a stronger marriage and a stronger family. Who would ever choose to give that up?

Our Genius Son and Other Interesting Tidbits

Joshua is officially reading on his own. No novels or anything like that, but reading "popcorn" by sounding it out counts, I think. He is just barely 4 1/2 now. Actually, officially 4 1/2 today! Yesterday he points to the microwave and sounds out "p-o-p-corn." I couldn't really believe it. He's been working on small things like stop and go but I counted that as him just haven memorized the letter order, but this is now genuinely reading. We moved on to figure out potato farther down on the buttons as well. I have no idea where he gets this intellectual curiosity but I love it! I was so impressed with him I took a picture.We also got news the other day on the two showings we had last week for the house. In both cases the feedback was positive. One doesn't seem like a good fit for our house financially (it's at the top of their price range and they're wanting a lot of help from the seller for financing). The other liked it but decided to go with something else. We're feeling good about the house and the pricing of it and our ability to prepare it for a showing... which is a good thing since we had a 3rd showing today!
Here is the birthday cake on site. Everyone loved it. The kids even ate the leaves off the trees (which I thought was cool).Lastly, we have found out that our assumed time frame for things this fall concerning Phil was off. He has more schooling to complete after he arrives in Virginia in November so he'll be stateside longer then we originally thought. We'll still be separated, but just not as far apart. We'll have to find out more about this as we get closer. In the mean time, please be praying that the bonus money we are expecting any day now will come in a timely manner so we can take care of the things that need to be taken care of (and so we can visit Disneyland while we are in California as well).

Last Night and Tonight

Here are our photo booth pictures from last night. Had an interesting time fitting all four of us in there. It's worth clicking on the photo for the bigger view.
Tonight I finished working on another cake. This one is dinosaur themed for two boys. Everything is edible but the dinos. Didn't think I could do justice to hand making them. The lava is a bit brighter red then it looks in this picture. Maybe tomorrow at the party I'll get a better picture.

Eric and Lisa's Wedding

We had a great time at their wedding and I took a bazillion pictures! Here are just some of my favorites.

The boys good friend, Kaylee was there. They had a great time together!

Earlier that afternoon Joshua and I were talking about what was going to happen today. Josh decided that he wanted to get married, too! I told him he'd have to wait until he found, "his girl." After going through Mommy and Carriebeth and learning they were not options (because Mommy is Mommy and Carriebeth is too old for him), he decided that Kaylee was his girl. It was very cute!

Ice cream is definitely the way to win the hearts of young boys!

They had a photo booth and all the guys from work tried very hard to get inside. They had a really good time trying!!

One Full Day!

I got a call at work today letting me know we'd have someone coming to look at the house during an hour time frame this evening. Today was already going to be busy, but why shun a good thing? So after work I come home and find this out front-->
Suddenly it's real. Our house is on the market and we have people coming to look at it... today!
On top of that, I have been working for days on a rehearsal dinner cake for our friends. Their rehearsal was today so after a bit of picking up around the house we all packed up in the truck and drove down to deliver their cake. They look so excited and ready for their big day tomorrow. I can't wait to celebrate with them! On our way back from their dinner, I got a call saying we have another person who is going to be looking at the house at the same time! We're skeptically optimistic about the visits today. Still just praying and trusting that the timing will be right for us, whenever the house does sell.

For Sale

Papers have been signed and it's pretty much official. The house is on the market! Our realtor will be posting the house on MLS within 24 hours of yesterday afternoon. Pictures will go up and she'll be making a booklet to have on the dinning room table. (Josh is sitting here asking me to type a W... so there you go. He recognized his name in there too!) Trying to feel at peace with the house being on the market and I do to some extent. The lack of peace comes from knowing it's still going to be work to keep the house clean and pick up and find somewhere else to be whenever they call. Please be praying that our house will sell at the perfect time for us, whenever that is (since we certainly don't know!). In the mean time, a treat of a couple of cute pictures I snatched of the boys at our friend Kaylee's Princess Potty Party this weekend.

Fortune

When we had Chinese the other night I opened 2 eerily appropriate fortune cookies. The one for today's post says,

"Now is a good time for you to explore. Take a vacation."

Hmmm... today we bought our tickets to California. We'll be there September 9-23rd. If the promised bonus ever arrives we'll be trying to head down to Disneyland during that time (shhh don't tell the boys) but other then that we'll be visiting friends and family in Reno and trying to relax a little in the home-y-ness of the Northern California culture. Here are some things I'm missing about where I grew up:

• A growing season that lasts more then a couple months
• Jack in the Box
• Good wine
  
• In N Out
• Buttercream Bakery
  
• Carl's Jr (yes, there are some food issues here, but that's not what my post is about)
• Lots and lots of grapevines
• Family nearby
• Palm trees
  
• People who actually rush to serve you
• Being close to the ocean
  
• Nice restaurants... everywhere!
• Beautiful weather 9 months out of the year
• Healthier living lifestyle being popular

I know I could go on and on... but for now that will suffice. Phil and I are so excited to be going out that way! Now just to get through the few weeks of waiting while our other responsibilities wrap up here!

School Days

Phil started school yesterday. He'll be taking Sociology and Psychology this term. He's been trying hard to read and prepare for his first assignment today while I try to keep the boys distracted. Be praying for him since we're not really sure how all this is going to go with the transfer and all. It would really be nice to get 2 of his 5 classes out of the way!

Why the Swallows?

We found this on this website and it seemed pretty appropriate for us considering our circumstances:

Often a swallow is the "first sign that land is near". To a sailor the swallow means a "safe return home". Swallows are known to travel far distances out to sea during migration and would rest on boats close to shore which gave early mariners the first sign that land was close by. Swallows also return home every year, no matter where they are, a source of comfort for sailors far from home.

Swallow tattoos are also associated with loyalty and fidelity - swallows choose a mate for life, and will only nest with that bird and no other.

Our Crazy Weekend

What a weekend!! 6am Saturday morning our friend Lyndsay had their baby, Logan. This is their 2nd baby born on their due date! Crazy, I know. You can tell they're really happy. Be praying for them since we know from experience that the transformation for a 3 person family to 4 can be rocky at times.

After visiting with them we headed to Sarai's 2nd birthday party. Bounce houses are a beautiful thing. Jeremiah crashed on the way home and Josh was very soon after landing in bed.
Today was somewhat business as usual until this afternoon when Damon (who Phil works with) called and asked if we were ready to do our tattoos. He had a cancellation so had time to do ours today. Yay! I figured it'd be easier if I didn't have days to get worked up about it, so we did it. Hours later we're both finally finished. We're going to touch mine up a bit later (when I'm not dying in pain already). This being my 2nd tattoo, I'd definitely recommend avoiding the rib cage area. Definitely more painful then the back in my experience. Phil has plans in the works for a few more before he leaves (since he can get them much less expensive through our experienced friend). I'll put up pictures as his latest art expression develops. In the mean time, here is what we finished today:

Happy Birrday, Mommy

What an eventful weekend! We took a trip to Chicago finally (now that we've lived here for more then 3 years) to try and catch some of the sites. We chose a horrible day to go! We sat it traffic for hours just trying to get in. Long enough to make Joshua car sick and... well... we'll say his car seat is in the kitchen waiting to be cleaned. Yuck! Great way to start the day, right? Josh has a brand new outfit now, though! We finally found a place to park and were able to walk through Lincoln Park Zoo, hit up Molly's Cupcakes (a place I've been wanting to try) and see some of the city from the truck. We're hoping for another weekday trip down there to see Navy Pier and all that when the parking isn't full or storming outside. In the mean time, here are some pictures from this weekend...




This part was called the barn at the zoo. Very cool!
Sorry this one is sideways still...



On the way home the traffic was horrendous again so we stopped off somewhere for pizza. The place we chose just happened to have 2 fire trucks full of firemen come in while we were waiting. Josh went over to say hello so they let him check out the truck.
Somewhat inspired by our trip to Molly's I decided to make my own version for the youth to sell at the cafe' Sunday morning. I think I did alright. They were so yummy! Chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter inside, ganache frosting and toffee topping. More please?? Mine is on the left, Molly's on the right.


So I'm officially 27 now. "Late 20's," we'll say. Saturday night I sat and looked through some old photo albums and realized I'm not 21 anymore. When did that happen? I've been so busy enjoying life I completely lost track of how much time has been passing. Not feeling "old" yet, but have definitely noticed that I'm a different person then I was a few years ago. We've gotten to do a lot in the last few years and I'm really grateful for that! If aging is the cost of getting to do all these great things, I'm willing to pay it. And there's always my consolation that no matter how old I get, Phil will always be older!

Our Engagement

Thanks, Al. Here's where Phil was uniform-wise when we got engaged. Two ribbons, three stripes on his sleeve. A little farther along then I remembered! Hope you enjoy the contrast!

Uniform

I really wish I could find a digital copy of our engagement picture. Phil had one medal, I think, and only an anchor on his left sleeve (as opposed to the crow with crossed anchors and three chevrons he sports nowadays). He's still my sailor and my hero. They all call him BM1 but I still get to call him Baby.