A Little Taste

Do you know what it's like to be a country girl living in the city? Well, I'm not "deep country". I grew up on a dirt road. I had to walk to the main road to catch the bus for school because it couldn't turn around on our tiny private drive. I didn't live on a farm (although having 28 kittens at one time living at our place outside could boast as a "cat farm", right?), but I always thought one day I would.

Even when we felt the Lord directing us into tribal missions with NTM, I always thought I would have a little garden outside my jungle hut. You know, kind of a tribal farm gal. :)

So now that we find ourselves serving at the training institute, in a city of sorts (not filled with the cool things BIG cities have, like coffee shops that stay open past 6PM, or, you know... culture, but with little city stuff like cement everywhere, and big attitudes), I get caught in day dreams every once in a while. Dreams of a garden, or a lawn for that matter. :) Dreams of spending the day outside taking care of our land and animals.

Dreaming is fun. You see, in my dreams it is not ME who does all these things, but a gifted, green thumb, horse whisperer Tamara, and on my farm, everything goes right. Everything is fresh and homemade.

Truth be told, if my dream were to ever happen, we would starve from my ill fated vegetable garden, and our chickens would only lay bad eggs, and I would only grow weeds in my flower beds. And my cow would bite.

Last week while in Ohio, we were overjoyed that we had three whole days to play "farm" at Uncle Dave and Aunt Alice's house. They have sheep, and chickens, and kitties, and a fabulous dog named Millie, and a really old turtle (seriously. Josh said they have had this guys for FIFTY TWO YEARS!!! Now that is dedication to a pet! Either that, or a really long raising period before one delicious bowl of soup).

It was SO much fun to feed them all. I loved to take pictures over there. It is GORGEOUS! Even though I only got to go two of the three days, it was the greatest!

Now I am back in my little city, enjoying my high speed internet. It is good that we had only three days to look after the animals. I am pretty sure after three, some real work would have been needed, and I'm pretty sure that it would involve poop in some way. So you see, in many ways, my life here is far superior than my dream of being a country girl, because with my youngest one now potty trained, there is not a whole lot of poop to deal with anymore.

Hello little lamby. Can I take you home with me?

What's that? You say you prefer your wide open pasture to my little concrete patio?

Check out this beautiful sunset!

Um, yeah. We got to eat those for breakfast the next day, and they really DO taste better!

Summertime in VanWert

We are on day eleven of our visit with Josh's family in Ohio. I am excited to report the internet is finally working!

Truth be told, there wasn't a lot of time to surf the web. We have had a week full of family time, and projects that have kept us all busy.

I just wanted to share a couple of pics for now, and let you all know we are alive. :)

This rainbow was incredible. What a special reminder of God's promise to us never to flood the Earth in that way again. It came in handy as we slept outside some VERY rainy nights and may have thought another flood was coming!

Here are all the cousins. All but Winston I found just sitting like this, taking a break at their great-grandpa's farm, so I pulled him off the tractor and started snapping! My kids are used to living a paparazzi life with me around. I think I may have scared my nieces and nephews. :)

The whole family! Minus me. I am behind the camera. I assume people will know this years from now as they look at these pictures.

We set up camp in the back yard. There is also another tent and a couple of families in the house. Oh yeah. You guessed it. When the Mathew family does something, it is always BIG! (or crowded.:) )

Kemil Beach

We all have been wanting to get away to Lake Michigan together. Monday was the day, and a perfect one it was! So sunny with a beautiful breeze! Here are some pictures.

I think Josie is trying to bury Emma and Josh!

Oh no! We had plenty of sandy bottoms on this trip!

It was awesome to have the beach to ourselves for a while. We got there at ten and it was completely empty!

I have three amazing little blessings, don't I? :)

We Met Up with the Snyder Family!

We decided to take a day trip to Lake Michigan. How much more fun would it be with some family? :)

We met at Kemil Beach in Indiana so it would be an equal distance for both families. We had a great time!

This was so weird. Apparently when the Mathew family takes a day off, it's big news!

This is how Emma made it out to the sand bar. Even though she has a water proof cast, she was not supposed to swim in a lake with it. She only fell in a couple of times. :)

We had a great time talking and playing and being lazy at the beach. Chris made some AMAZING burgers too! YUM!

Some proof I was there that day. :) I love my sis!

This was taken about two minutes after we left. The girls were OUT! Good rest after a hard day of playing in the sun. I do not envy the neck ache Emma will have!!!

Looky What Josh Brought Home!

Friday Josh got a last minute invite to go on a fishing trip with Clint and his buddy Kevin. Normally I wouldn't want to cancel our family afternoon plans to go to the pool for pretty much anything, but when I heard he got an invite to go fishing on Lake Michigan, I couldn't let him miss it! The pool can wait!

So, after a quick lunch he kissed us girls and was off for the weekend. We were so happy when he came home early Saturday evening with this big boy! Josh caught a 26" steel head!

Thanks to Clint and Kevin for inviting him. He had a great time!

We are so proud of you, honey! Great job. :)

Fun on the Fourth!

We had a full weekend of Independence day fun! We had some dear friends from many different states all come for the weekend, and we had a blast. Fireworks on the third, some grilling, and playing in the park followed by more fireworks. So much fun. I would say the only thing wrong with the weekend was that it went by way too fast!

We got to meet up with my family on the fourth. Emma didn't let her broken arm slow her down. She and her cousin Ashlyn had a great time together.

Jenna and Lizzy arrived about three minutes apart from each other. My girls were ecstatic!!!

Emma, Lizzy, Me, Jenna, Addie,Susie and Josie all chillin' on our big blanket waiting for the fireworks to start!

Josh was teaching Addie a little more about soccer. I don't think she quite gets it...

It Runs in the Family

Striking similarities.

I think Addie's technique is a little better than Josh's was.

Also, isn't it funny how much she looks like him?

Baby Triathlon!

To keep in shape this summer, a triathlon was the most natural thing to do!

No, not for me! Adelaide is quite the little fierce competitor. She placed first! Although she was the only one in this competition, we are sure she would have placed that well if it were more than just her.

After two and a half years of training (she was on an all liquid diet for a good seven months!) here are some pics of her during the race.

Looks like Similac is the sponsor.

Getting in the cold water can take your breath away! She doesn't let it slow her down.

Look at that speed!

Running to the finish line! I heard her say something about the Ironman next year...

Monkey Sighting

Last week we saw the strangest thing in our backyard. There was actually a pair of monkeys!!! I couldn't believe it. Where did they come from? Who knows! I was lucky to get a couple of pictures of them before they fled.

Do you see one way up in the tree?

Uh-oh. Wait a sec...

Well, that's not a monkey after all!

This one sure is though.

To the Love of My Life

I am so thankful you married me!

Can you believe it's been NINE years? Sometimes it seems like it has been much longer, sometimes there is no way it could have been this long!

I love you so much. I thank God every day that He chose me to be your bride. I love trying to find new ways to make your life easier and happier.

You are the best father any kid could have, and the best husband I could have ever hoped for.

Happy nine years BABY! It sure has been fun! Can't wait to see what the next 9 bring!

Awe! I still love this picture. :)

Trusting the Mommy Instincts

Last Wednesday as I pulled in the driveway after helping with youth group, I could hear Emma crying. When I got in the house, Josh said she had fallen out of bed in her sleep. Emma was crying a lot and holding her arm. Now, this little girl is one tough cookie. She is the one who can be stung thirteen times by a wasp and never say a thing when older boys who she is with are bawling over one sting. Needless to say I thought it must be broke! After Josh did a little assessment, he agreed, so I took Emma across the street to the Emergency Room.

We were there for relatively a short time (three hours) compared to what it usually is like there. The triage nurse thought it was broke as well, and ordered some x-rays.

After we finally saw the doctor, he said she looked perfectly fine, that nothing was wrong, and we need to go home. That was it. I felt a little foolish. I thought for sure she broke it. Even Emma was slightly embarrassed. "Mommy, I am trying to be tough, but it really does hurt more than I ever have hurt." she says to me. I let her know it is okay to hurt. My poor baby.

Since they told us she was fine, we just planned to do things as normal. I let her go to VBS (she fell on her arm there, and had a good cry they told me), then we had a picnic with some friends for lunch. When she fell off the swing set b/c she couldn't hold on (and landed ON her arm my poor girl!!!), I knew they must have been wrong. I tried getting an appointment with our doctor, but she was on vacation. I could go to a clinic, but not until Friday at 3:30.

Josh took Emma to that appointment. The doctor walked into the room with Emma's x-ray in hand and wanted to know why she didn't have a splint or cast or anything because her wrist was "obviously broken". Josh looked at the x-ray and saw the break immediately too. The doctor then sent them back to the emergency room to get a splint put on. We also now have an appointment with a pediatric orthopedic surgeon tomorrow to possibly get another x-ray (b/c she fell on it twice) and get a cast put on.

It is very good that I was not the one who took Emma back to the E.R. I know it was a mistake, but in that moment I probably wouldn't have been very nice. My poor girl was in so much pain, and we were led to believe nothing was wrong at all.

I am a little sad that this happened at the beginning of summer. Hopefully she will not have to wear a cast for very long so she can enjoy some splashing in our kiddy pool this summer.

Resting after a long day at the doctor's office and ER.

This is the temporary splint they made for her fractured radius.

Give A Little Bit Of Your Love To Me!

A couple months ago, Emma came up to me all teary eyed and said, "Momma. I want to grow my hair out for love."

She had seen a post on my friend's blog where her little girl was donating hair. Emma told me she liked this girls pretty long hair and asked, "Why in the world would she cut it?" I told her that she wanted to cut it so she can give it to someone to make a wig for a child who doesn't have hair. She thought on that a while and didn't ever mention it again, so when she told me she wanted to grow out her hair "for love", I asked if she meant locks of love, and she said yes.

I thought it was a great idea. I liked that it was her own, no one asked her to do it, and also her hair grows fast, so she could grow her hair out really long quite quickly. They need at least 10" to use it for a wig.

So, last Saturday I gave her "the" cut! She was really excited and said she wants to do it one more time. :)

Cutting the long pony tail off! She looks a little nervous.

We have ten and a half inches to donate!

A shot of the cut in the back (minus the wispy part that migrated to the left side of her head). I think she looks SO old with this haircut, but it's nice to have it off her neck for the summer.

Pepper Anyone?

I had a little incident with the pepper shaker this morning.

My poor poached egg.

The culprit.

Oh, and I totally stuck my egg under the faucet. No way was I wasting a perfectly poached egg!

Playgroup at Beckey's House!

Last Tuesday my friend Beckey had a little play group summer party at her house. We had a great time! Here are some fun pictures from that day.

Oops! The construction guys came to rip up their old patio the same day. Don't worry, we didn't let the kids get TOO close. :)

Just some of the kids that were there. Gotta love a PB and J picnic!

Josh gave Emma a ride around his yard. Yeah, they had fun! :)

We can't forget the sprinkler! We all had a great day there. Thanks Beckey!

So Many Reasons to Celebrate!

This has been a GREAT week! I had an amazing birthday on Tuesday. Seriously, it was one of the best I've had in years and years. I have some of the best friends and family a girl could ask for! The only thing that could have made it better was if my twin sister, Tomesia, could have been here to celebrate with me. Maybe next year!

Even though my birthday was awesome, I had an even better weekend. I found out on Friday that our dear friends Brad and Rachel have been matched with a baby in South Korea! They are parents to a beautiful baby boy! Our whole family rejoices with them. As Emma put it "It's just in time! Now Mr. Brad can have the best Father's day ever!". I am pretty sure she nailed it on the head.

Saturday we received some more super great news. Our friends (former students here at NTBI) got engaged! Congratulations David and Kristi!!! They have not posted on their blog yet, but I am hoping to see the infamous engagement photo soon! When Addie heard the news, she said "Holy Smokes!". Now THAT was funny!

Today was a nice day celebrating Josh. He is a great father! I feel so blessed that my daughters have such a great daddy. :)

Here are some pics from my awesome birthday!

Yummy chocolate birthday cake that my good friend Beckey made me. She is so wonderful!

Check out this delicious birthday dinner! Josh grilled the most amazing venison steaks from the deer he got last fall. They were SO YUMMY!

Another awesome surprise! Josh got me an ice cream cake at Cold Stone creamery. It was so good. Two cakes in one day! What an awesome birthday. :)

Welcome Summer Break!

Hopes for sleeping in on Friday morning were dashed. Emma was sure she had school. She didn't want to be late!

After some reminders of the day before ("Remember how we picked you up at school with the van painted and the sign...") she finally believed us, but was now way too awake to go back to sleep.

She wanted to be back in school. I didn't think she remembered how fun summer can be, so we had a day of summer fun!

We went to the park in the morning with one of my friends and her two boys. After lunch and naps we had a great time splashing in the back yard. It was successful. She did not mention school the next day...although it was Saturday...

Josie was still a little sleepy from her nap. This lasted, oh, until bedtime, when she got a burst of energy. Perfect timing as usual.

Addie's face cracks me up! The bucket was a little heavy for her. :)

Look out Emma!

Girl needs to grow some teeth back!