Forgiven

After hearing a little scuttling downstairs, a sniffling l'il brudder came upstairs to tattle to mommy.

*Sniff, sniff...choke, choke (forced crying & whining) "Brudder said....um...."

I waited to hear what great offense he endured.

*Sniff, sniff "Brudder said...um"

Then he disappeared to the hallway and yelled down the stairs in the clearest, most composed voice, "BRUDDER....what did you say?"

"What?"

"BRUDDER...what DID YOU SAY?!?"

I never heard a response, but so quickly the incident was over...brudders resumed playing...offense forgiven! I could learn a lot from the little guys!

More adventures in the Heartland

It was pretty toasty while we were back in Iowa. Pretty normal for this time of year. So we frequented the awesome aquatic center in Marshalltown. The boys have been fish this summer, so we couldn't miss any opportunities to swim on vacation.

Brent has been a great instructor for them these past 2 summers...he stands in the pool, makes them jump off the side and keeps backing up while they swim as far as they can to him. It works and they keep rising to that challenge. By the end of the summer, they are pretty independent in the water. They have some great slides, but unfortunately they weren't part of the fun for our entire family for very long. We needed 2 more inches on big brudder to pass the test. We snuck on twice but got busted when Grandma tried to ride with him. The Lazy River was a hit though and we also snuck on the drop slide a time or two.

We had an awesome time with my sister's family...the kids couldn't wait to play each day. It's such a blessing to see them pick up where they left off, when they see only each other 2-3 times a year. We had 2 sleep-overs...one at their house and one at Grandma's house. And yes, we actually got sleep at both of them! The big boys got to play too...a round of golf at The Harvester, thanks to Mom and Dad for that annual gift!

We took a couple of bike rides (more about bikes later!) with my parents and rode to my grandparents house one day. Grandpa Button showed the boys his entertainment for the summer...his rodent trap. He wanted to empty it before showing them, but boys will be boys and they just had to see the dead thing! (I wanted to see it too...I am a city girl!) Grandpa and Grandma Button are kids at heart though and always fun to visit. Their wisdom is wonderful and the Godly heritage of their family is rich We are so thankful for their influence on all of our lives and love any time we get to spend with them.

There were many more highlights during our stay in Marshalltown...playing the Wii with Mom, Dad and Grandpa Button, hitting our favorite restaurants in town, chasing and loving on (torturing) Gabby the cat each and every day and simply enjoying the comforts of "home." It was a great time. We are so thankful!

Bzz, zip, bzz...Oops!

Today I took the boys to our favorite "salon" for their haircuts. Hands down, Cookie Cutters does the best job on their hair. Brent gave haircuts a whirl a couple of rounds ago, but we decided to stick with the pros. Expensive yes, a quality job, yes...every time?

Big "brudder" got a closer trim than we expected...on the first pass over his head! He was in the race car, Cars the Movie was showing and he was jammin' to the opening song. Bzzzz... the trimmers started and on the first cut, the guard flew off the razor. Down to the scalp they went on the back of his nice thick head of hair!

Oops! She looked at me to see if I just saw what happened....I could only laugh, b/c I didn't miss any of that action and what could we do at this point? She was relieved that I didn't jump down her throat. I just imagined him with a bald head on his first day of preschool. Our guy didn't even have a clue...he just kept right on groovin'. I don't think he would have cared had we left the racing stripe...he never sees the back of his head anyhow!

I was just thankful that we already had summer pictures taken a few weeks ago. Preschool starts soon, but we're usually lucky to get a good first day picture anyhow.

She mastered the mistake into a quality cut and it resembles one of his buddy's hair, so it's all good for him. It's a little harder on mom and dad, b/c he looks like he should be starting 1st grade or enrolling in the Marines! I don't have a picture, but wish I had one of that "Oops!" moment. It'd be worth a thousand words and a few laughs in the future!

Back Home

There's still no electricity in Iowa...sorry for the dark picture.

We had a great annual trek back "home" to Iowa. Every summer, typically in August, we spend a week at the Bailey house (my parents) and a week at the Bowers. They live about 2 hours apart. We are so blessed to have that quality time with both sets of parents/grandparents.

Summer is also a very nostalgic time in Iowa for some reason. Me and my hypersensitive nose can remember many moments from the 18 growing years I spent there, solely based on the scents in the air. The farm smells were so annoying while I was growing up, but now I can appreciate them!

On our way back to Ohio every year, Brent and I sift through our time in Iowa and discuss whether it's time to move "home." We don't feel God's calling this year, but we try to keep our hearts open for "the call."

This year we visited one of best kept secrets in Marshalltown, where I grew up. The Big Treehouse is one of the biggest tree houses in the world! A neat story surrounds it's construction and how a grandmother allowed her grandson's dream to come to fruition in her backyard. The Tree House consists of 12-levels, 55-feet high, with over 5,000 square feet of floor space, complete with music, electricity, telephone, microwave oven, refrigerator, running water, grill, 13 porch swings, and a Spiral Stairway, which was all built in stages around a maple tree. The grandmother actually gives you a guided tour, that infuses some history of the area into the tour. She emphasizes education and quizzes you during the tour also. So pay attention and don't get squirrelly or she'll fail ya!

The sprial staircase of the Treehouse

Grandma Bailey & the cousins being silly during our wait for the tour

The monkeys in the tree

It was so cool to see how massive the base of the tree was and also how the bark/branches of the tree have begun to grow around the wood of the treehouse. We were all amazed, inspired and somewhat fearful that we might lose a kid or 2 through the slats of the upper levels too!!

Well, that was the first of many adventures in Iowa, but being new at this blogging thing, it took me forever to post, so I'll wait for another post to share more adventures.

Hope you had some fun travels, making many memories this summer!