Me and The Boys
Sorry I haven't posted in over a year. My family doesn't follow my blog and I just don't have time for it. I am sorry to all my friends from dental school, I feel like I have let you down. I just need to cut something (a lot of things) out of my life and this blog it one of them. I am on facebook if you want to know how I am doing. I love you all out there in cyberspace. I miss you tons.
Last weekend the weather was beautiful. Cleveland only gives a few great fall days a year so I knew we needed to jump on it. Brian came home early and we headed off. Picked up Wesley from school and enjoyed the drive out into the country. The fall leaves were in full explosion of colors. Purply reds, burnt oranges, and green tinted yellow leaves filled our view. It started to rain for a few minutes as we were driving. The droplets knocked the leaves off the trees to float down upon us, like snow. We went to Patterson's farm first to have donuts and kettle corn. Brian and I tried to take pictures of the boys in the pumpkin patch, but they weren't cooperating. I was hoping all the yummy treats we feed them would have helped put them in a good mood, but no such luck! Here are only a few good pictures we got.
After that we went apple picking at Eddy's Fruit Farm. I love, Love, LOVE being out there! I would really like to have an orchard and a farm house. Living out in the beauty of the country is incredibly appealing to me. Anyway, we picked apples and headed home. At home Brian and Wesley set up the tent in the backyard. We stoked up a bon fire, that was a little out of control, and tried to roast marshmallows for smores amongst the roaring flames. The boys watched a movie in the tent and then went to sleep. I slept in the house in my own bed. I don't camp! I'm disappointed, but I didn't get any pictures of the boys in the tent. By the time the tent got up, it was dark and then they came in the house before I was awake, again still dark. They had a good time though. The next day we went on a picnic at Squire's Castle in North Chagrin Reservation. We took Chloe with us and she did pretty well. Behind the castle is a short hike. It was beautiful! Everyone had a good time. It was a fun fall weekend!
Wesley's new thing is baseball. He has been asking to go to an Indians game for a while. If you didn't already know Brian and I are not big sports fans. Yes we watch the X Games and we did watch the FEFA World Cup, so about two sporting events a year is our average. Brian called me in the morning and said that his director had tickets to a game but wasn't going to use them asking if we should go. I said yes! Pleasing Wesley with a free baseball game sounded great to me. It was a beautiful summer evening, just perfect for a baseball game. We went early and ate at the bar so we could watch the warm ups. Wesley was so excited to be there that he couldn't stop talking enough to eat. In our seats the boys had their mitts to catch a ball. Unfortunately we sat by some ungentlemanly guys who tackled a little girl for a ball, so Wesley's desire to bring home a ball never came to fruition. We had a great time though and it was so fun to see Wesley be so excited.
We had a fantastic summer, but it had to come to an end. Learning and books were calling to my children. Both Wesley and Keegan went to school in search of knowledge. Wesley started a new school this year. Public school was great for a year and a half and awful for a year and a half. I was reluctant to change schools for too long. I am a public school kid and went to some tough schools and did fine. Wesley hated school so much it made him physically ill for a year. We thought he had stomach problems, took him to a specialist, ran tests and found nothing. Wesley was having so much anxiety about school that he was sick to his stomach all the time. It was awful! After much soul searching and pray, I found a great private school for him. Wes loves it!! I'm happy that he is happy. Keegan started preschool and is happy to be with friends and his teacher. I am excited to see how my boys are growing up. It is my pleasure to experience their life journey with them. (Wesley didn't let me take pictures, so just imagine him riding the bus and wearing a black and blue paid backpack.)
Every summer we head to San Diego and then Utah for a few weeks. If we are going to go all the way out west might as well make it a good long trip. San Diego was cold and overcast, but all my siblings were there together so it was a total blast! I am thankful for my parents for making such a trip possible. The last day, and consequently the day Brian flew home, the sun came out and we hit the beach. We also went to Lego land, had a birthday party for Hayden, went strawberry picking, shopping, four wheeling, played twilight pickle ball, ran threw sprinklers, sewed, hung out with cousins who I adore and much, much more. I loved it! It was a great trip. 
Nana and Keegan making a rock formation. Keegan really has a thing for rocks right now.
Keegan shares a love of harvesting with me.
Lucy and Keegan enjoying a very healthy snack at Lego Land.
I love Wes' nonchalant driving pose. A major foretelling of the future. Peyton looks like he is really concentrating.
Life is what it is. I keep failing at something that I have been working toward for two years. This last attempt will put me at failure number three :( I always ask "Why?" and feel angery at first. I never find out why something happens because life is what it is. We have free agency to choose, to make life what we want. The Lord can only help us so far and then we need to ultamitly choose what direction we want to take in the end. He can not hold our hand all the way. So, today I choose to be happy! This last failure has helped me realize what I have. I have been trying so hard to get something that I haven't obtained and maybe never will (could I be more vauge here?) With that I have a new perspective on what I have. I have two great boys and a husband who adores me more than I deserve. The sun is still shining outside, I can hear music and my son's laughter, see my pink roses outside my front window, and I am healthier than I have ever been in my life. I am tired of feeling like I am missing something. I'M NOT! I have more than I deserve and am grateful.
I know that this post is months overdue, but what can I say, better late than never. In March Brian has time off scheduled for the adoption, but two weeks before she was to be born the birth mother pulled out. With broken hearts and vacation time Brian felt like we needed a real vacation to cheer us up. His idea was Disney World. Mine was the beach. Disney World won with the promise to visit the beach one day while we were in Florida. My parents we so sad that we weren't coming to Utah anymore so the came with us for the first few days. We visited Universal Studios and saw "Blue Man Group." What a great show!
The day that we were going to go to the beach it rained and was cold, in fact it was cold the whole time we were there. I kept asking Brian to buy me a souvenir T-shirt that said "I went to Florida and Froze." His response every time was, "Honey, I don't think they make those." They should have, I froze. I had to buy a coat! I wanted to feel the suns rays on my skin after months of Cleveland's dreary weather, but no. If you note all the following pictures have me in the same clothes even though the pictures we taken on different days. Needless to say I didn't pack many winter clothes for my vacation to Florida, who does?
Even though it was chilly we had a great time. Wesley was determined to get as many autographs a possible. We ran all over chasing down Donald Duck to get his John Hancock. I think Wesley ended up with 32 autographs. Wes rode his first upside down roller coaster and loved it. Truly his father's son. It was priceless to see Keegan's face light up when he met Buzz Lightyear and Woody. We took so many pictures of him when we pulled out the camera he knew to look at us, hold still and smile. The trip was Brian's favorite to date. It was truly a memorable trip. Exhausting, but memorable.
