thank you, dave for taking a day off work to beautify the grounds of our home.
the pruning you did makes room for new growth.
the flowers you planted bring new life.
the fresh mulch you spread makes it all look cleaned up (or something like that!).
i love that dave helps me take such good care of 391 ... it's a good nest.
two parents, four kids, lots of activities.
we are pulled in a lot of directions, and we have to divide and conquer a lot.
i don't like it.
it's so much better when we get to be together.
today we got to be together watching joey playing lax.
beautiful, glorious sunday ... lazy morning at home, church, lax game.
it was awesome!!
and we'll return to normal life going our many different directions tomorrow.
boo! i miss my people when we separate.
separation that makes me ache.
it's life though.
here we go, ready or not, we're jumping into another week!!
i finally took a peek at some of the pics in my photo stream.
now that i don't even have to plug my iphone into my computer i miss reviewing what i snapped.
here are some of the moments i snapped of me this month!
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ice cream after a photo shoot.
dave rescued me when i got stuck pushing my littles in the double stoller walking home from the park in the pooring rain!
coffee with cream and dump trucks. yum!
bunny ears.
seven-thirty mass easter tradition.
as close to the beach as we're gonna get this spring.
chaos in the car. road trips rock!
my assistant snapping pics of me snapping :)
snapping and driving (probably on my way home from lax or soccer or dance).
i promise i don't do this often but sometimes i just can't resist the colors in the sky!
peace out, people.
happy eleventh anniversary to us! cold, rainy, broken down silver mini van (the only car that fits our whole family).
marriage has it's ups and downs ... i'm so happy dave is right next to me on this exciting ride!
it's a good life we have, it's a good life we work hard to achieve.
even after a rough few days, i still see the beauty that surrounds me!
chicago, i have missed you so much.
i didn't even realize it till i came back to see you!
i just figured out that i haven't been there since i ran the half marathon there in september 2003 with dad.
i think we're gonna be heading that way more often soon though since someone very special to us might call that big city home.
okay so lots of you who come here to read follow me on instagram too (and if you don't follow me there but want to i'm "dsjbowers").
it was different than the beach vaca we usually take in the spring.
these kids were troopers and enjoyed the change of scenery too!
one day we walked at least three miles for one of our outings.
we hit some touristy stuff instead of boutiques this time.
we swam more than we explored.
it's different with four kids in tow.
it was fun!
man, oh man, is it nice to leave our four walls.
i think we're fixin to do this more often even if it is just to stay in our tent one weekend a month throughout the nicer seasons.
from my people and me.
here's to sunshine and springtime!
it was the last day of spring break twenty12.
it was a little cooler and a little gray and maybe a little drizzly too.
those conditions weren't going to stop our adventure to who knows where.
sometimes a day without a plan and with very little marked down on the calendar is the best!
we stopped at the party store to check out props and get some sweet treats in case i needed bribery.
i just might bribe my kids with tootsie pops so that i can get exercise in or have them quiet for a bit.
i knew we needed gas, and there's only one brand of gas station we use so we can squeeze out as many perks as possible at $4 a gallon.
so we found one of those and then i decided to venture down the main drag of columbus from up north and just drive through some of the neighborhoods i love.
we even got out and took pictures in the drizzle in someone's front yard under their beautiful magnolia tree.
johnny spotted a yellow house that he said he'd totally live in if he was a grandpa!
we jammed to the music, we laughed, we snapped pics, we played at a park, we answered a call from daddy asking us to meet him for lunch.
so our adventure down the main drag (maybe towards the camera store), took a turn.
we headed back towards home to have fish n chips at one of our favorite little pubs in town for lunch with dave.
it was unexpected fun (and maybe some chaos too)!
as i watched the time get closer to when we had to be at church for stations of the cross, i got a little pouty with dave.
i was wishing he could come with me or at least work from home and take the boys with him.
so i named it.
me: all the parents who will be at church for the stations of the cross will be the ones with well behaved kids or those who have all their kids in school. (bottom lip out) and me with johnny and jeff.
dave: and you'll be there keepin' it real for everyone.
me: (huge smile and heart full of joy that my husband is cool with me taking our chaos out into the world, even the quiet solemn church service of stations of the cross) okay, i'm going to keep it real.
maybe that's my purpose here, my contribution: keepin' it real!
i can't believe how many people go out of their way to wish me happy birthday.
it's really nice.
i felt the love all day yesterday, well even a few days before.
and i'll get to feel it for a few more days, really because my favorite tradition is coming up on the ides of march.
you people got me donuts and sang to me, sent cards and texts, commented on my instagram feed, called me, sent greetings through facebook, and some of you even met me for ice cream even though we already left (oops! isn't that just how we roll, wendy?).
no matter what dave writes in a card or what the card says, it brings tears to my eyes.
yesterday was no different.
it's a good life we have together.
he's amazing to me in so many ways.
all of this to say, thanks, my friends.
getting older isn't so bad.
for some reason twenty12 feels just right to me.
the awesome, the scary, the joy, the ordinary, the fear, the goals, the unplanned ... all of it.
even this gray, rainy day that i've been laid up with a junky cold.
it's not so bad since it followed a beautiful yesterday.
we finally had our follow up doc appointment today with an orthopedic surgeon.
it's been a long wait for us!
we got great news after a repeat xray.
the "spot" on his original xray is gone.
it disappeared!!
this is a miracle!
thank you, everybody who walked this journey with us by caring and praying for us, loving and supporting us, guiding us, listening to us.
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it was definitely a journey.
and one i need documented.
this is the best spot for me to put it where it won't get lost :)
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dave and i wondered, we sometimes lost sleep about it, we prayed, we talked, we sometimes even ignored.
on january eighteenth jeff complained about his leg hurting and had a fever the next day i saw him limp and the fever remained.
late afternoon on january nineteenth, jeff and i went to the pediatrician's office to get checked out.
from there we were sent to get an xray and bloodwork done.
we came home for a few hours, then headed down to the hospital with dave.
the three of us spent most of january twentieth there waiting to have an mri done.
after the mri was done, read, and compared to the xray, we were given the diagnosis of a cortical desmoid.
it was a normal variant.
we thought that sounded like an oxy moron, but we were delighted to be heading home with the rest of our people in our cozy home!
just in case we weren't sure, we knew now that we have amazing friends who were willing to step in and take over with our home and other three kids.
we had playmates, housekeepers, cooks, prayer warriors, travellers, snow shovellers, cleaners, babysitters.
everything we needed and more appeared in this very "moment" of our lives.
less than twenty four hours after we came home, jeff barfed and passed it around the whole house!
the barf bug lasted about eight days and i was the only one who didn't get the barfarreha.
i was just nautious and sick of cleaning up nasty and running the washer on the sanitary cycle.
then we got a little break from the sicknesses to throw a birthday party for janie and enjoy valentine's parties.
after that we moved onto more fevers and ear infections.
jeffrey complained about leg pain especially the couple weeks when he had a fever a day or two.
he pointed right to the "spot" (above his right knee on his femur).
we worried some more and wondered what was going to be next.
today a huge weight that i've been carrying on my heart has been lifted.
for that we celebrated, and thanked God!!
and just as we were going to go somewhere special downtown for lunch, we got a call from johnny's school that he was sick in the nurses office.
life goes on ... even after miracles happen :)
when we went home for a christmas celebration, dave and i got to take a nice walk.
it's a walk down memory lane.
dad had these routes all mapped out way before gps and apps :)
i couldn't help but pull out my iphone when we walked by the first high school that i went to.
i was a sophomore when we moved into town.
i remembered matt and i running down the street to get to school on time because we had to park about 1/4 mile away (which was far to my lazy buns!).
i love the gazebo on the green.
it's such a cute town.
i was so happy we lived within walking distance (okay so a mile didn't feel far for that).
that's town.
that's all town was when i lived there.
main street has changed over the years.
the post office moved out and the gap moved in.
stores went out of business and new ones came in.
this one is the same.
it's been there for over fifty years, and it's awesome!
cutest boutique ever.
the windows are always awesome.
the people who work there are so cool.
dad especially loved their windows and displays.
mom probably pointed 'em out to him first when they were on walks.
he noticed 'em on his jogs too.
the grey colt is just neat!
it's what i will miss the most when mom retires.
well, i might miss the clocktower too.
it's the trademark of town.
it didn't feel like it when i was fifteen moving into a strange place, now i know how very nice my hometown is.
isn't it funny how perspective changes with age?
and on our walk home from town, we stopped at the new little grotto at the church we went to.
it's a nice pausing spot.
that was our walk through town.
i'm so thankful dave and i got to do that while we were there.
