Cool It

We're behind on picture sharing but here are some awesome ones from a few weeks ago when Daddy was at the splash pad with us! It was close to 8PM, so the sun behind the bunny hill was awesome. Pretty soon we'll be able to walk up the street to our new Hilliard splash pad -- we're so very excited!!

Flora 2014

I couldn't find the pictures from planting the seeds for this year's flowers. (Update: I came across the first two pictures on 10.2.14) I must not be as far behind with moving photos to thumb drives as I thought I was. Both Vanessa and Zane were thoughtful and careful with planting each seed. We put out seeds for squash (thanks bunnies for destroying the plants), basil, parsley, sunflowers and Mother's Day 2013 zinnias. We've enjoyed comparing heights and fullness and identifying intruders. We've taken care to deadhead and trim to keep the flowers beautiful. We (mostly Vanessa) have cut flowers for bouquets and we've watched beautiful monarchs and interesting periwinkle colored butterflies visit for nectar.

But as each season changes and our flowers fade, let's hold onto the fact that
"The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the Word of our God remains forever." ~ Isaiah 40:8

When we truly believe Isaiah 40:8 and accept that the Bible is not just bits and pieces of various and disconnected stories but instead one whole/complete story, we are given peace, hope and guidance through it.

Here are bouquets Zane helped create:

Forward, ho!

 Vanessa gave Mrs. Kibler the rhombus rock she found at Cedar Falls.

It was a week of finding many spiderwebs anchored from the tree to the ground. Our first one was by the house after taking Vanessa to school.

 I swear this kid gets funnier by the day. :-)

He's decided to run outside by himself and he pumps hard to go high! I watch from the patio, dining room or kitchen. Every once in a while I run out to snatch a photo.

He's exploring and playing and looking for a frog. Seriously . . . we can't find one . . .

Vanessa's school year kicked off to a great start. Hilliard City Schools challenged all of its schools to tweet first day pics and to hashtag them #hcsd1. The Credit Union of Ohio committed a dollar to every tweet, up to $25,000. Avery exceeded its goal of 102. It was indeed awesome to see Hilliard City Schools trending nationally on Twitter.

Vanessa didn't want me walking into the school on her first day. She didn't want to use the shortcut door either. She said she enjoys walking through the hallway so she can say hi to everyone. At the end of the day,  she exited through the shortcut, though, and ran over seemingly coy and reaching out to Zane with a gentle hug and kiss. I asked how her day went and she said well.

Really it was a perfect day. She had gym and was able to confirm that Timmy stayed at Avery for this school year. She saw him a few times and played Sonic with him at recess. On our way home, she saw him and ran up to him. Timmy gave her the friendly nudge on the shoulder and then reached out to grab her for a huge hug. It was sweet and so innocent and genuine.

On the second day Vanessa asked that I walk through the school with her. We dropped off extra school supplies to the office and followed Vanessa back. The downside of going in with her is that she didn't stick around to hug me. I called to her "See you at the end of the day, Babe." She looked back, smiled and waved.

Although pretty sad to walk Vanessa to school on her first day, Zane handled it well and much better than he did last year. He's eagerly jumped right into our busy days. As we run errands, he shares all kinds of thoughts, like "When I'm five I will go to school and first I will have math. Then I will have recess time. Then I will leave and go to another house where there are dogs. I will pet the dogs, first with one finger. I won't be scared anymore when I'm five. Then I will go back to school and you will pick us all up. You will take me and the other boys home."

Mommy: "I'll be taking home other boys too? To our home?"

Zane: "Yes. They will come home with me since not all of them have a mommy at home when they're done with school."

Thankful he's willing to share me. :-)

Just Chill

We wrapped up our recent Hocking Hills visit with Cedar Falls and Ash Cave. It was Zane's first time to Ash Cave and Vanessa's first time to Cedar Falls. When Daddy and I visited years ago, we could walk up to the waterfall at Cedar Falls and hang out in the water. At some point they changed that and now they have it roped off, so we could only look, which shortened the visit quite a bit. We did, however, squeeze in skipping rocks.

Then we  visited Ash Cave because it was important to Vanessa to take Zane somewhere he hadn't been. As we arrived, guests to something were also arriving. We figured out that a wedding ceremony was preparing to start. Not sure I would like all the random people hanging out and carrying on at my wedding, but to each their own. :-)

No Horseplay

We moved on after our picnic in a cabin shelter. I distinctly remember the last time we visited the Rock House commenting to Adam that I couldn't imagine taking kids there -- just the constant nagging fear of them falling off the cliff bothered me, before I even knew my children. Of course the feeling was valid but my stance has changed. The kids have made it to a point where we felt we could handle it. 

Zane showed hints of copping out but  he hung in there on our trek back, racing Daddy and Vanessa to the top. He was a trooper, relatively speaking. And yes, we had to constantly remind them of no horseplay. The signs here and at Cantwell Cliffs shout DANGER: CLIFFS -- CONTROL YOUR CHILDREN! :-) Nothing like adding to the related anxiety! :-)

On our arrival we heard singing resonating to the top of the hill. As we ventured down the path, we ran into a couple we seemed to be following from one destination to the next. They shared about their adventure and that Mennonite ladies were singing hymns in the Rock House. I got excited and hoped they were still singing by the time we got down there. But as we walked up to the Rock House, they were coming out. However, their exiting allowed us more room to play in the Rock House, to test our limits.