Dear H and O,

Today was kind of a big day.

We went to Nana’s retirement party:

Uncle Darryl is here visiting and came over to play:

And we played some more:

Overall, it was a good day!

Love you,
Mama

Dear H and O,

Life with you is just plain fun.

Love you,
Mama

Dear Hayden,

You love gardening — but you REALLY love eating the fruits of your labor!

Love you,
Mama

Dear H and O,

It’s spring gardening time! Hayden, this is something special you have done with your dad in our yard since we moved to this house! This spring is no exception! You had a great time planting, and now you are really enjoying checking on your plants each evening when Dad gets home. Owen, you are enjoying your first gardening season, which means you hang out and play in the grass and look around!

Love you,
Mama

Dear Owen,

Today, you are 4 months old! You are rolling everywhere like a rolly polley bug! We put you to bed in one position and you wake up in the morning flipped over and facing the opposite direction! You smile at everything, but you are especially happy when you see familiar faces — Daddy, Hayden and me! You grab for all kinds of toys and about a week ago, you discovered your feet! You are always looking at them and grabbing them, too! You sit up in your Bumbo seat and you look all around and have a generally good time! We love you so much, and we can’t believe you are 4 months old!

Love you,
Mama

Dear H and O,

Love it when I get to catch these moments when we are just hanging out together. If I got to title this picture, I’d call it A Little Bit of Love.

Love you,
Mama

Dear H and O,

Every Monday night, our small group meets at our house. We talk about life. We do life together. We talk about what we are struggling with and what is bringing us joy. We do life together. We are very lucky because our small group is Meggy and Jeffrey (though it’s sure to grow soon) and they love you both to death! Right now we are doing a study called Grace Based Parenting. It’s all about how to love the way we’ve been loved. It’s such a challenge! It’s no coincidence that we’ve ended up in this group with these people. What a wonderful time we have sharing and growing together.

Love you,
Mama

Dear Hayden,

You have been saying a lot of funny things lately!

-While you and Dad were driving around town, he was trying to sing along to one of your CDs, but he didn’t know the words, so he was making it up as he went along. He then heard you talking quietly and looked in the rear view mirror. You had your eyes closed and your head bowed, so he knew you praying. When you finished, you said, “Dad, I’m done praying now.” Dad said, “Oh yeah, what did you pray about?” You replied, ” I was praying you’d start singing the right words!”

-I asked you recently if you wanted to watch a movie, and you said, “Yes! Can you start Lady and the Trampoline for me?”

-We went to a birthday party over the weekend and the entertainment was a lady who brings a bunch of cool animals and shows them to all the kids. When she pulled out an 8-foot boa constrictor, you said, “She needs to put that away. Kids don’t like snakes!”

Needless to say, you are cracking us up!!

Love you,
Mama

PS – I had to come back and add to this post because the day after I posted it, you asked me, “Did Mary have the little lamb before or after she had the baby Jesus?”

Dear H and O,

We are really blessed to live on Frank Avenue. We share a sense of community with our neighbors that is akin to what neighborhood life was like in the 50’s and I love it! We gather, we help each other, we look out for each other and we bless each other. It’s an amazing thing. We plan a lot of special events (Franks on Frank, Fiesta on Frank, CampFire on Frank, Halloween Fest on Frank) but my favorite thing we do is an “every week” thing. Each Friday we meet in a driveway for “Friday on Frank” We head out at 4 pm, and the fun begins. We have so many great kids on our street – 4 kids in the “older” set, 5 kids in the “middle” set (that’s your crew, Hayden) and then 4 little babies — all born in the last 5 months (that’s your team, Owen).

The kids ride bikes and scooters and have lots of adventures:

The babies hang out with the mamas, and boy do they get passed around:

And the moms talk and share about life and living and friendship and motherhood and wifehood and neighborhood.

Sometimes there is a snack…

…but always there is so much community and heart here. It’s love and it’s good.

Love you,

Mama

Dear H and O,

Today we had fun at the train park!

Love you,
Mama