Bath Time and the Balloon Race

Every baby loves bath time, but Owen takes it to a whole new level. He loves the splashing and swimming, just all of it! We are no longer using the baby tub any more. He just wanted to take nose dives out of it and you just cannot contain him - he wants to be free!! So has the whole tub to wander around in. He thinks it is the coolest thing. For his birthday some family and friends gave us bath toys. Oh my!! It is funny to watch him when we now say it is bath time. He shakes with excitement and begins trying to take his own clothes off. We also have a bath CD that plays silly bath songs. Owen amuses me by laughing when I sing along. I think I may enjoy the CD more - but who says bath time should only be fun for them? C.J. even likes one of the bath toys. It is a basketball net with little balls that also squirt water. C.J. shoots the balls - Owen laughs. C.J. squirts the water balls on him - Owen laughs. C.J. was a baby that loved bath time also. I think he is reliving his infant/toddler days now!! It is so much fun to watch both my babies have so much fun.

It is Derby week here in Louisville, meaning we have lots of fun activities going on. Saturday was the balloon race - well, they actually took off on Sunday due to winds. So before church we watched them take off from the Fairgrounds and then followed the heir balloon to Wesport Rd. This is one of my family's favorite traditions. Last year we missed it because I was in the hospital having Owen. But this year he got to see it. He really didn't know what to think. These balloons were a lot bigger than the ones from his party. You have to pardon how beautiful we look. The balloons took off at 6:54 am (avoiding the higher winds of sunrise). We literally took showers and walked out the door.

Lots of pics from the birthday bash

We had so much fun. Thanks to everyone who made this day so memorable for us. We started with pizza, then opened gifts then to the cupcake which ended up with Owen taking a shower afterwards! Thanks Willie for letting us use your towel. C.J. had a few friends over to play basketball in the gym. They had a ball too. I tried to narrow down the pics as much as possible. But a lot of friends were unable to make it due to VIP night at Highview and the WA play so they asked to put as many pictures up as possible. So here you go.

Owen turns 1 today!!

Can you believe it? I cannot! Stay tuned for pics from his party tonight. :-)

My Darling C.J.

Sitting here watching The Biggest Loser with C.J. and Nick. Well, I don't really consider it watching with Nick since he is asleep, but on the couch with me still the same. I just showed C.J. what twitter is. He checked out our blog and felt there was not enough about him. So... C.J. oh Mr. C.J. - Oh how I love you, Mr. C.J. You are the grandest son of all. Hopefully this will suffice. Seriously, C.J. is a wonderful kid. I am so proud of him. Though there has been bumpy times, he rose to the challenge and grew from them. That is all any of us can ask of anyone, including ourselves. Right?
This week I am looking back to this time last year. I was HUGE and preparing for a delivery in a few days. I cannot believe Owen will be one on Friday. SAD!! Where did this year go? He slept thru the night last night by the way! YEAH! I may be saying bye bye to the bags under my eyes! Today we went shopping for all the Elmo B-day party supplies. Owen's face lights up when he hears Elmo's voice. C.J.'s face lights up when he sees Owen. My face lights up when Nick gets home or when I hear any of my guys laugh. Aww!!
Well - it is weigh in on the show - gotta go and focus. You know watching them work out this hard makes me feel really bad on eating the yummy banana dessert while viewing on my couch! But that is why I can't run a mile and they are getting healthy!

Gymboree Day

Today was Owen's Gymboree Day. He had so much fun. It is a great way to burn all that energy that babies at this age have. He took a nap when we got home which allowed me some down time to rejuvenate as well. After the fun we had today and the time that I was able to relax a little (which I never do) made me realize how important it is for moms to take care of themselves. Normally when Owen finally goes down for a nap I would take the time to vacuum, dust, mop, sweep, do the laundry, etc. All of that is important but more importantly moms need time to focus on ourselves so we can be a better mom, wife, friend, daughter and all the other hats we wear. And you know what? Because I was more relaxed I still got laundry done, the kitchen cleaned, dinner done after Owen woke up and even had time to sit down and do this tonight. I am not saying that we as moms need to self indulge in anything in the name of making us better moms. I know I need to take better care of my health, the way I eat, exercise and all that fun stuff. Being tired all the time because I do not take a time out does not do my family any justice. And God has blessed me with a wonderful family. I notice that when I do take a time out I do not get upset with C.J. as often and I really enjoy hanging out with him more. I am a better listener and encourager to Nick. Hopefully I have made my point - so ladies go for a walk today or read a magazine or check out a book and actually schedule time to read it. Whatever it is, do something you enjoy today!!

I also hope that everyone had a fantastic Easter Holiday. Below are some pics of our Easter Egg Hunt. Ly explained to us her traditions back home. She said that boys go with their fathers knocking door to door looking for girls. If a girl is home she gets whacked with a switch until she gives them an egg. Jokingly of course. I guess it is their version of an Easter Egg Hunt! Sounds like fun - unless you are a girl without any eggs. But Ly did great finding eggs. C.J. did a great job hiding them.

Life back to normal??

Well - What is normal exactly? C.J. has done a great job getting up and getting ready for school. He is such a great kid! I wish I was a morning person like he is. But I am not - especially after getting up 5 times in the night with Owen. :-( I think he is teething because of his crankiness (which is not like him), sleeplessness and gobs of drool. We are loving Ibuprofen these days. Plus I think last week in Atlanta took a toll on the little guy. But he was a hit and we all had so much fun. We collected over 3,000 lbs. of food for the Atlanta Community Food Bank. We were so blessed to be a part of this event. I am looking forward to Thirst 2010!
Today I am taking Owen to Borders. He loves reading books, well having them read to him. I have a coupon so we are going to see what we can get and then here comes my favorite!! A wonderful friend got me a Starbucks gift card recently so I will be making a stop for a cup of happiness!! It is amazing how just looking forward to getting a Raspberry Mocha makes me smile! And tonight I have Bunco! A night with the girls. Can life get any better? Starbucks and Bunco all in the same day. I can barely stand it! I am a lucky girl!

Our Last Night

We canvassed again this morning and then had lunch at the hotel before going to the MLK Museum and grave site. That was very interesting. Did you know that MLK's original name was Michael Luther, then his mom changed it to Martin Luther. I wonder why?? Oh well. Tomorrow we are going to get up early and head to the Coca Cola factory for a couple of hours. Shh - the students don't know that yet. But since it is 1:30 AM I figured the secret was safe with you for now. After that fun we will have lunch at Olympic Park and then head for Louisville. We have had a great week. I have watched the Lord move in our students and pray that we have left 1027 Church with a mission completed that will glorify our mighty God. Thanks for those who have followed and prayed for us this week. It has been amazing. A lot of hard work but very rewarding and so much fun. See you in Louisville tomorrow night. I think our goal is to leave Atlanta by 1pm. But again, we are on a mission trip - so you never know. :-)

Fight, Fight!!!

Where would Christians be where they would chant and encourage fighting - A Hockey game of course!! We went to the Atlanta Thrashers game tonight. Way Cool! We got to see fights on and off the ice!! Don't worry - none of the fighting involved anyone in our group! Though Patrick Smith did get to go on the ice. I have pictures below of him riding around on the ice. Again, we had a ball. The student leadership team does a great job making sure we work hard during the day and that we play hard at night.

And the fun continues...

Mission Trips are meant to be chaotic. That is what makes them so much fun! Tavis, Dustin and Brandon and the other leaders have done a fantastic job trying to keep everything organized. But who could have expected two buses with problems that have broken down. Luckily they were both at our destination for the time so a major inconvenience was avoided. The boy scouts sent out fliers this week as well to collect food for the Atlanta Community Food Bank with a pick up at their door step for Thursday - the same day as ours! But it all goes to the same place so it is no biggie! This was just a way for us to get 1027 Church in their minds. The area here is so pretty. It is like an upscale Highlands. The students are doing great. It started off rainy this morning - then cloudy and humid and now it is gorgeous. We have about 30 minutes to clean up from the day then meet in the lobby to go to CNN Food Court. Maybe at CNN I can find out what Michelle Obama wore to meet the Queen - since that is all that was on the news this morning! The 6th graders are making me so proud. They are hanging in there with all the older students. C.J. and Owen are doing fantastic as well. C.J. is on another bus for canvassing so I do not see him much - which he may have requested that. I am no longer cool with him. Owen just goes with the flow. I don't know about the kids but I am looking forward to some sleep. But we are going to the Hockey game tonight so it will be another late night full of fun! Luckily Tavis got us some coffee this morning. But that ran out around 10 am! Bring on the Mountain Dew - Oh wait - we are in Coca Cola country!!