Abby said I needed to do some blogging..

... and she was right! Wow, I think there is always so much that I want to document that I just get overwhelmed and don't to anything! At some point I'll be doing a post about my latest DIY projects (whenever I finally finish them!). I've been working on reupholstering a chair and (finally!) doing some landscaping in our yard.  Henry keeps us pretty busy these days, but he takes a good afternoon nap and is at the point where he can get out and "help" or either just play outside while I work on other things, which is nice. Speaking of Henry.. what a fun age this is (18 months)!!  He seems to learn new words every day and wants to run everywhere he goes. I feel like I just want to follow him around with a video camera as he learns and explores and reacts to the world. Other than praying for lots of wisdom in the area of discipline as he's started throwing more fits these days, this parenting thing really is a lot of fun. I think I'll just post some random pictures to try to catch up. It's been a fun summer.. I can't believe it's over!

Chad says he's filling out his UF application

He LOVES the splash park in Alachua..
or a hose, faucet, rain puddle- pretty much any way he can get wet and splash around

Building towers with Dad

Had a fun visit to Pensacola and got to spend some time with more cousins!

.. and go to the beach with Makenna and Aunt Melody! The water and sand there are so beautiful!

No white sand or blue water on this coast, but we still had fun! 

Happy 4th of July!

Dad got a new boat that we've all been enjoying.. until the river flooded anyway!

Family tube ride at the river, with my fair skinned boys
well protected from the sun

Cousins and friends.. does life get any better? 

My dear friend, Pam, invited us to join her family at their beach house
back in May. We had a great time.

He went to Sports Authority with Chad and this is how he came home.
Even with a goofy sweatband, he's pretty cute!

Esther's super fun 4th birthday party

I'm suddenly feeling a little sad because all of these pictures really deserve a post all to themselves, highlighting the fun times we've had with such wonderful friends and family God has blessed us with, but I guess this will have to do for now! 

First Hair Cut

Wow, it's been a while.. again! I so enjoy reading everyone else's blogs, but I have the hardest time finding the time and motivation to do my own! There are a few posts I've had in my head for a while about play dates and water time fun that I may just never get to, but I wanted to go ahead and do this one before the moment passed..
It seems like it took forever for Henry's hair to come in, I always forget that until I look at pictures up to even his first birthday where he was till pretty bald. Once it came in, though, it was so cute! I love his little curls in the back of his head. When he started getting big curls that stuck out like wings on the side of his head, we decided it was time to get it cut.. and a few months later we finally did!

Here are some photos we took a few weeks ago to document his baby curls..

We took him to see Beverlee, a lady who has been cutting Chad's hair for years. At first he screamed when Chad tried to put him in the little kiddy seat she had, but he did great with me holding him, even though he was pretty tired. 

It seems that he's going to have his dad's hair line in the front!

Too tired for a smile, but not too tired for a cookie! 

Overdue Updates!

I think I can give up on getting a full post on all of the things I just downloaded from my camera, so I'll just make some quick notes and try to get them all covered! I'll try to go in chronological order to keep the randomness to a minimum.

Half Marathon
This was my fourth year to run the Gainesville Five Points of Life Half Marathon (took last year off when I was preggo).  I managed to finish in a reasonable time (for me) and ran the whole time, which is my main goal. My official time was 2:23, 37th in my age group.  I didn't realize until the next week when I finally cleaned out my camelback that I had only had about a quarter of my Gatorade (I usually suck it dry on the shorter training runs..). So that helps to explain why I was sick with dehydration the whole night and ended up having to get some IV fluids the next day. Embarrassing? Yes.

Chad and Henry met me at the finish line, I was so happy to see them!

Grandma Overman
A few days before the race we received the sad news that Chad's grandmother, Lynn Ora Overman, had passed away. She had been sick for the previous few weeks, but prior to that, at 95, was leading a fairly healthy and independent life. She was with us at a football game just a few months before, one of her favorite things to do! We will remember her life and legacy of faith often, but especially when we are sitting in her seats cheering for the Gators! The day after my race (once my IV fluids finished) we headed to Pensacola to celebrate her life. Everyone wore orange and blue to the memorial service in her honor.

Splash Park

All last summer I was wanting to take Henry to the splash park in Alachua and never made it. Well, this year, it was first on the list! It's so much easier to do outings now that he skips his morning nap, not to mention having a new friend living nearby who motivates me to go do things (thank you Jamie!)! I think Henry is now at the perfect age to enjoy it. He loves the water and really enjoyed having the freedom to run around and do what he wanted (unlike at the beach!). Hopefully we will make lots of visits there this summer. 

The glare on my camera was so bad,  I couldn't really see what I was snapping.  I promise he was smiling more than the pictures show!

Homasassa Springs Park

I went with Mom and my Aunt Sissie and the girls to Homasassa Springs State Park for the day. I didn't get too many pictures, but we had a fun day and got to see lots of wildlife!

BEACH! 

We made a pretty impromptu visit to the beach last week and had a blast! The kids all enjoyed it and the weather was perfect. It's so nice getting to spend days outside in the brief time before it becomes sweltering! Thank you, Suzanne, for planning a fun trip!

Esther, Corbin, Lucas, Henry and Adeline

Christ is Risen!

Well, with or without my deviled eggs.. we had a wonderful time celebrating Christ's Resurrection with family and friends!
We started the day with a good discussion with friends in Sunday School about the necessity of the resurrection to show that Christ not only died for our sins, but then conquered death and essentially had the final Word when He came back to life! Praise the Lord!
Then we went to Newberry to spend a relaxing afternoon with family and sweet friends. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves...

Mom, loving on everyone's kids so the
parents could enjoy their meal

Henry LOVES playing with the big kids!

Feeding the ponies

Deviled Eggs are in fact of the Devil

I used to love Deviled Eggs. I would often offer to make them to take to share at holidays and even used to think it was cool that I could sometimes get the entire shell off in one piece. Then, last year sometime, I was up at midnight cooking the night before a get together and was very disappointed that my eggs were not peeling very well, they came out all mangled, but I went ahead and made them and my family graciously ate them even though they looked like they were made by a bunch of small children. Actually, I think that happened at least twice.

Then I was at Bed Bath and Beyond one day and in the check out line I saw this: 

I should have known by the "as seen on TV" sticker, that it would be a disaster, but somehow I was sucked in to the magical idea of "perfect" eggs. Long story short- they were disgusting and went in the trash after the first use. 

Fast forward to tonight. I decided I wanted to have some Deviled Eggs tomorrow for our Easter dinner. We just had some at friends house the other night. They were perfect, so surely it's still possible for chickens to lay peelable eggs, right?  Just for fun, I re-Googled "how make perfect hard boiled eggs", which is how I have made them in the past when it worked, I thought I just must have forgotten a step or something. The top 3-4 recipes were pretty much the same all claiming that the eggs come out perfectly cooked and easy to peel. So, I figured it was a sure thing and went ahead and dove in with all 18 eggs. Fill the pot with water cold water and some salt.. put the eggs in.. bring to a boil.. turn off heat.. cover and wait. How hard can that be? I pulled one out to test, it didn't peel, but also wasn't quite cooked, so I waited a few more minutes then tried again. Perfectly cooked but the shells are permanently attached to the whites so I ended up with mangled stupid looking eggs again! My goodness! 

my sketchy, mangled stupid eggs

My apologies friends and family, I will not be serving Deviled Eggs tomorrow. I've decided Sweet Potato Casserole is pretty much "heavenly" (and hard to mess up), so I'll stick with it.  

On a more serious note... thankfully, the celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord will not be affected by the absence or presence of any silly eggs. Or bunnies, or anything else for that matter! Praise the Lord for the sacrifice He made for my sins. I have been reminded repeatedly lately of how imperfect I am and it makes me all the more thankful that He died in my place, taking the punishment that I deserved so that I might glorify HIM with my life. Thank you Jesus! 

Can't have a blog post without some pictures of Henry, now can I?

Quiet time in his crib "reading"

Are these two related or what?