Days of Gladness

I have a little Spencer with a fever today, he is currently experiencing the joys of teething and he only wants to be held. So I figured I would be happy to quit mudding the sheetrock in the basement to hold him and post a new entry in the blog- good excuse right?!

I am so delighted that the winter has been mild this year and that spring is graciously making it's grand entrance into our lives. The magnolias have bloomed and the daffodils are smiling and nodding at me all through town. The pear trees and peaches and nectarines and quince have let out their blossoms for me to savor, and the sun shines and the breeze blows and gives me every reason for rejoicing.
Not to mention Joseph returns for a few days on Saturday!

Mystery Train Dinner Theater At Californos in KC

Today I have gladness in wonderful friends old and new. These last few weeks I have been realizing how truly precious it is to keep relationships vibrant- my goal is to reach out and remember that happiness comes from small acts of kindness and that I can do something small each day. 

There is no doubt that it will always enrich my life- no matter my circumstances. 

Without fail I always get more back in return than my efforts ever warrant. 

On February 29th (a.k.a Leap Day) in honor of our friends, Karl and Julie Savage, I took the kids out of school to enjoy the day at the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. We met up with our other good friends from Lawrence, Liz Berghout and her girls and displayed our "mild civil disobedience" in taking Leap Day back! It was the perfect arrangement and a lovely way to catch up!

Some of our favorites this trip:

Zach was enamored by this one- the reflections would change with the angle at which you observed-
it was very fun to look at!

So glorious! Photography is one of my favorite mediums.

This was a wonderful moment during our visit- you can ride in the art to see the art; consider us amused!

A new favorite for sure!

Gorgeous inlaid wood on this piece, it made me think of Joseph and how he would enjoy the craftsmanship.

A moment of meditation

The kids wanted me to take a picture of the real mummy,
but I really feel these Egyptian moments bring me much more joy!

Joe had a birthday too!

 Joseph turned 40 on Saturday the 25th of February. 

He has been thinking of this particular birthday for years now,

for some reason the adding on of more years bothers him a little bit. 

Thankfully everyone in Erie made it a wonderful day for him, Grim Reaper and all. 

His awesome co-worker Sandy decorated his cubicle for him at work on Friday.

(Thanks Sandy!)

He took these pics from the camera on his computer which shows everything backwards- So 04 or 40, either way he has reached a milestone!!

They had a little celebration for him at work and allegedly the cake was amazing, lemon with raspberry sauce and cream. I guess I will have to become best friends with this cake lady and learn all of her tricks! He had us watch him eat the remains of the cake on Skype- it was so kind of him!

Speaking of Skype it really is such a blessing for our family right now, we get to talk together everyday and it is so wonderful to be able to "see" each other. I can't believe we didn't utilize it earlier-like 10 years ago (was it even around then??), it has only been about a year that we have been using it. I love just having him "here" in the room with all the commotion of our regular lives. Sometimes he will just sit quietly on the other end soaking it all in; we always seem to wish for the thing we don't have- he wants to be here in the commotion and I wouldn't mind some quiet solitude. But, as long as we get to enjoy these little moments together it makes it easier to endure the time apart.

The Sawatsky's, who he is staying with, threw a little party for him on Saturday and we got to join in the frivolity via Skype. It really is fun to be able to "meet" the people who are a part of his life right now, we are already indebted to them for their kindness and willingness to take Joe into their lives and help him feel like he isn't alone in the world.

To top off his amazing birthday celebration a group of co-workers from OSI got together and took him to a Thai restaurant where he was delighted to be with good company and to be able to consume such delicious foodies. I guess Sam from work, who is Thai, made him some egg rolls that were unbelievably scrumptious- so it looks like cooking lessons are in order for me once I get there! 

We always miss Joseph when he is gone, but we are so grateful that he is always surrounded by such wonderful people. He is starting a traveling Norwegian waffle campaign so he can get to know more people- he will bring the waffle iron and make the waffles if you will provide him company! 

I want to sign up on that list too- I call March 18th!

What do you mean "she is 12"??

On February 16th our beautiful Isabella turned 12, it is utterly ridiculous that she is that old! We try with all our might to keep our kids from growing up so fast but there is no stopping them... 

We have no control! As much as I hate to admit that, it is all too true!

So for Bella, this means she has now officially entered into the Young Women's program at church, which seems like an epic achievement to them since they feel their primary days will continue on forever. So as part of the special 12th birthday, besides going to YW we give our children a nice set of scriptures and for the girls they get to have their ears pierced. Don't ask me why we wait until then other than they are a little more responsible about it since they have had to wait sooooo long, and because that is when I got mine pierced-that should be a good reason, right?? 

What ever- that is just how we have worked it. But with that being said, did I mention that getting your ears pierced these days is highway robbery??? 

Good thing we only have 2 girls!

We adore our little Izzi, she has a very keen sense of humor and keeps us on our toes. This series of pictures really sums her up; she is beautiful and mild and loves life...

she is slightly sarcastic and loves to put on a good show- 

she can certainly be very theatrical...

and then there is the sweet and slightly deviant little lass that comes out from time to time! Oh how she makes me giggle, and she comes in such a sweet little package that it is hard for her to get into trouble-well, we should say rather that she gets away with a lot because she is so cute!

We had a wonderful time with our friends that evening, we had dinner and the ice cream cake from DQ. (Too bad her b-day wasn't 2 days later- we could have got it for half price at the customer appreciation days at DQ- but even then when I went there to get one for Joe's b-day all the customers had already appreciated all of the cakes right out of the store; how lame!)

Now we all know that Bella is a Lego maniac and since Joe is not here he wanted to participate in the fun, so he had done some shopping in Erie (a new favorite for him since he is close to lots of shopping establishments- all the clearance of course) and he found a Pirates of the Caribbean set (on clearance) which he sent for her big day! 

We love legos, especially on clearance since it is so rare that they ever are- they have the most amazing business model and the corner on the market completely. We, and by "we" I mostly mean Joe and Bella and Eli, but the rest of us as well- are complete suckers for those Danish wonders and get reeled in to the amazing-ness of those designers who make models of all the things there are to love in the world.  Bella has been saving up her money for the last year and for her birthday purchased the set she has been eyeing for years- 

The Medieval Village!! 

She feels all grown up now making an online purchase and everything!

We love our Bella especially when she does things like this:

Happy Happy #12!