A City Life For Me

On Friday we received word that a good friend, Howard Long, had gone to be with Jesus.  Ben was especially close to the Long’s, and he wanted to be present at the funeral.  We started planning his trip to Denver. My dad offered to fly me home as well, so that both grandkids could come for a visit.  (He hasn’t met Nolan yet).  After exploring flight schedules, prices, and everything involved in taking two kids (both under two years old) on an airplane, we decided that I should stay home.  I was okay with that…I didn’t want to come back exhausted and behind schedule, though I would have liked to rejoice and cry with Mrs. Long in person. When I called Dad ( my dad) to give him the plan, he asked, “Any chance Ben can pack Elaine in his carry-on luggage?”  Ben had also thought of this possibility, but he didn’t think I would agree.  On the contrary, I was okay with letting her go.  I thought she would have a good time with Daddy, Grandma & Gra...

God’s design for marriage is one man and one woman, for life.  I am one of those blessed people who has parents that are still “together.”  Thirty years “still together”!  I am thankful for my parents and their testimony of commitment and marriage.  Today they are celebrating 30 years of marriage! Here are some pictures from their wedding day: So…funny story about that last picture.  Can you see the bottom of my dad’s shoes? There were definitely a lot of pranks going on at my parent’s wedding, from what I’ve been told.  The groomsmen painted “Help Me” on the bottom of my dad’s rented shoes! My mom has blogged the story of their dating, engagement, and marriage here , here , here , and here .  (You know…in case your curiosity is aroused…or you’re one of those people who loves to look at old pictures…or you’re just plain nosey!) This is the most recent picture I could find of my parents (Father’s Day, 2011): “Have ye not read, t...

Recently I won four tickets to the Brooklyn Cyclones (a minor league baseball team…but I suppose that you sports people out there already knew that).  The only catch was that they had to be picked up…in Manhattan…during business hours.  That pretty much excluded Ben and meant that I had to do the picking up! Yes…Nolan is there.  You can barely see his hair! With two kids, I knew that I couldn’t take the double stroller by myself on the train into Manhattan.  So I came up with this solution: pack Elaine in the umbrella stroller and “wear” Nolan in my Kozy Carrier.  I knew the subway steps would still be difficult.  And though we started out that way, we ended up with Nolan in the stroller and Elaine in the Kozy.  (By the way, someone asked me if Nolan was a boy or a girl…probably because the stroller is bright pink!) Well we made it.  A couple of kind gentlemen did help me with the stroller a couple of times.  But for the most part I d...

After a particularly long night with Nolan, I was very tired and a little bit grouchy this morning.  I was not at all ready for my day to begin.  But Elaine was calling for breakfast, the diapers needed washed, and I needed to get supper in the crockpot if we were going to eat on time. (You know, like when our dinner guests arrive?)  Monday mornings are bath days in our house, but I wasn’t too thrilled about that today either.  My cheerful, happy toddler took the opportunity to share her smiles with me… …and now Mommy is a happier person! Elaine is always trying to drink the bath water.  I am always saying, “Don’t drink the water.”  As her tub was filling, she took the opportunity to get a drink from the faucet. Not to be left out of the action, Nolan wanted his picture taken too.  He was also a very happy boy in his bath today! Editor’s note: please don’t look very closely at my bathtub or the tiles in these pictures.  When ...

I used my Mother’s Day gift money to purchase a laminator a couple of months ago.  It has come in handy many times, especially in the last few days.  With the addition of another baby and all of his “accessories”, I have been doing some major re-organizing and cleaning out.  Elaine’s closet and under-bed storage got a make over, and so did the changing table!  I used my laminator to make labels for everything.  I am so pleased with how things are now…a place for everything, and {sometimes} everything is in its place! Right now the changing table is in the dining room so that I can take care of Nolan in the night without waking Elaine.  I have been wanting to organize my diapers into bins for some time, but I never got around to it.  I received the bins as a shower gift from one of the ladies at church.  They fit perfectly and now everything looks much neater! I had intended to store Nolan’s clothes in the three bins on the bottom...