Dade's Birthday

We had the best birthday party ever this past Friday. It was for Dade's 5th birthday. We rented out a little water park from the city and invited a lot of Dade's friends and their families. It was a blast! Here's a video to prove it...

Happy Birthday

Today the love of my life is celebrating her 33rd birthday. We celebrated with her last night since she is working today. We were going to surprise her with homemade cards, but we stopped by the store to pick up some wrapping paper and they now have a whole slew of these little (but expensive!) cards that play music when you open them. Needless to say, once we started opening cards, I knew we weren't going to leave without a couple of them. I think we opened about every card before Dade settled on a card that plays the Chicken Dance music and Dara settled on Hannah Montana. They were both a hit! It made Jill laugh and smile after a long day's work.

Happy Birthday Jill!!!!

This is one of my favorite family shots - took it when we went camping last Fall. Since we were all smiles last night while celebrating with Jill, I figured I'd share a picture of all of us smiling.

We're testing a new video software. Enjoy this one.....

My Crazy Boys

Today, Sunday, Dade was needing some fresh air to get the wiggles out. His energy is more abundant than I can handle sometimes, especially when Dara's on the couch running a fever from some virus picked up from somewhere. So he's outside trying to find what will blow in the wind. He discovered that a napkin works best. Who says that expensive toys are better?!

Well, after the joy of the napkin was over (which lasted longer than you or I would have expected), Dade asked me if I would help him climb a tree. Being the wise mother I am, I insisted I would help him only if he would go inside and put shoes on. Many of you may know that Dade runs around barefoot more often than not. I figure it's a blessing considering our future and all. So he proceeded to debate the need for shoes when climbing trees. I didn't back down, and still feel that it's the best way to go. Then much to my surprise, Dade climbs the tree! The boy is truly amazing!

I helped him down from the tree once, but quickly told him that if he was going to continue to climb the tree - he would need to find out how to get down on his own. I've learned that he is going to do these types of things and it's better for both of us if he can learn to do it safely because he'll do it whether or not an adult is present. So as you can see he learned to jump down from the tree. I am so proud!

And just in case you wonder where my 4 1/2 year old son gets his energy...check out his 35 year old father. This is Joel doing a flip on the trampoline. Is it any wonder that I found my second gray hair the other day?!

Learning To Ride

Do you remember learning to ride a bike? As we were trying to teach Dade this weekend, I found myself trying to remember how I learned. I couldn't recall any memories of how I learned to ride without training wheels. One day I'll have to ask mom and dad to remind me (if either of you are reading this, feel free to pass on the story if you remember).


We went up to the empty parking lot next to the church. This is the same place we taught Dara to ride. Now understand, this was Dade's idea, not mine or Jill's. So we spent the next 40 minutes or so running up and down the parking lot - me bent over holding his handlebars and him pedaling to his heart's content. I would let go from time to time (only briefly mind you) and you could see the smile on his face when I would say, "Look buddy, you're doing it!" I wish I could tell you that by the end of our time that he was pedaling along with Dara without my help. He's almost there - a couple more times and he'll have it down - the balancing thing throws him off a little yet.

It was a neat reminder to me from God on several different levels...


...when we're ready for more with God, and finally decide to take the training wheels off, I think sometimes we have a tendency to forget that He is still there holding on to the handlebars and trying to help us balance.
...when we are swerving all over the place and thinking we're going to fall, we need to remember that He is still there to catch us. And if we do fall, He is there to hold us and comfort us through the pain.
...sometimes falling is important to learning to ride a bike. We may not like the pain that goes along with it, but we have to learn how to put our foot out and brace ourselves so we don't completely topple over.
...it's scary as a parent to sit back and watch your kids try it on their own. You want to keep running beside them and sometimes you have to watch them pedal off and try it on their own.
...He never gets tired of holding our "handlebars"
...sometimes our kids are ready for things, that as parents, we aren't quite sure they are ready for. Isn't it neat, that in our lives, God still lets us try them anyway, even if He knows we'll fail?

AND finally...from my own perspective

...a 35 year old back is not quite as sturdy as it once was and it takes much longer for it to stop hurting with each year that passes.