Friday Surprise

My husband sacrifices A LOT to make time

to spend with us.

He diligently protects his family time

from too many work and church commitments.

But he's also sacrificed a bit too much when it comes

to having some good, old fashioned guy time.

So I made some for him. :)

About two months ago I began planning a man-day

with our friend, Justin, from our small group at church.

I wanted Jon to have a day completely family-free

doing all the things that he likes to do.

I can't believe I managed to keep it a secret for TWO months.

TWO MONTHS!

If you know me, you know that was quite a feat!

I'm a terrible liar...

and I can't keep a secret from my husband!

He has secret-dar...and he can usually tell when I'm up to something!

Now that I'm done patting myself on the back...

Jon and I made plans to use his pastor's free-pass into the

Brewers and Cards game Friday night.

I even set up babysitting with some of our youth and everything!

Earlier that week Jon told me he was going to go into work

at some point on Friday to make up the extra day we took in WI.

The plan was for Justin and Pastor Tim to come get him around 10.

10 came and Jon was ready to leave!

He was being really sweet...he wanted to stop at a t-shirt place

and get us some Cards gear for the game.

I had to putt every trick in the book to get him to stay in one place...

Things like..."Oh look! Evan and Daddy match! Let me take your picture..."

They finally got to our house as I was sitting Haven on the potty

because it "looked like she had to go."

:)

Whew!

Jon was a LOT confused about why they were here.

Justin said, "You're coming with us."

And Jon said, "No guys. I can't. I have a day planned with my family."

And then I came down stairs and said, "You're going with them!"

"...So does this mean we're not going to the game tonight?"

I think he was slightly disappointed that the date wasn't real,

but the fun he had more than made up for it.

Their morning started off with the Brew Master Brewery Tour.

Behind the scenes.

Samples right out of the kettle.

Jon liked it a lot!

Then they went to a specialty hot dog place for lunch.

(No, not Gus'...)

Headed over to Justin's for some Wii time,

while they waited for the rest of the guys to show up.

They went to Bandana's BBQ for dinner.

And then tee-time was at 8.

Golf at night.

Who knew?!

Thanks to everyone who helped me pull off this big surprise! :)

And so while Jon was gone, Pastor Tim's wife, Beth, came over

and we took the kids to Suson Park.

(After a lunch with Gus.)

I appreciated Beth's company!

Here are some pictures from our day together:

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Where's Daddy?

"Where's Daddy" has become quite the popular game between Daddy and Haven in the mornings before Jon gives Haven a kiss before he's off to work. It's fun to see her put up with it for two or three times before "catching" him. And it inspires Evan to play too, but he just ducks. :) I love my family!

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Like Father, Like Son

Jon sure knows how to be silly. But he also knows how to be a good daddy and husband. I'm so thankful to have a husband who takes his job as a dad so seriously. Evan looks up to him so much already. And Jon is setting such a good example of how to treat others, especially the ladies of the house, with respect and courtesy. I love my two boys so much!!

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Birthday Surprise SUCCESS!

My husband is notorious for finding out the gifts I got him before he opens them up. It's so annoying! He says it's the detective in him (thanks a lot, Tom!)...But this year I managed to pull one over him! HOORAY! And I think I deserve some sort of award for the gift too... :) ha ha ha.

Here's the thing. I gave Jon this card on his birthday (because the gift was coming later in the mail). I told him there were some clues left for him in the card. I said card, not realizing he would be confused that I also sent him a "card" on facebook that had something to do with nascar racing...


(and the inside even said something about him being our "all star"...)

And he thought I was getting him tickets to a race...but what he really got was...


(did you get the clue?! the ORANGE STAR...all star...?!)

Anyway, Happy birthday, babe! I hope you enjoyed your day, your surprise, and your supper! :)

I encourage you to check out the end of my June 2009 facebook album for the complete picture story of Jon's birthday dinner and the hilarious thing that Haven did to Lora after the meal. :) But here's a quick look at what Jon got for supper:

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The Simple Things

I'm so thankful to have such a creative and compassionate husband! Let me explain...

Lately Evan has been one big ball of energy. I'm nearing the end of my pregnancy, and needless to say, I can only wish I had a small fraction of the energy Evan has every day. He's been a challenge to keep up with!!

Tonight when Jon got home from work, I begged him to take over Evan responsibilities. The snow is melting outside, making everything icky and mushy, so Evan has been couped up with me all day. I was on my last string!

After supper, I hear Jon taking apart the box our new double stroller came in (thanks, mom and dad p!)...or so I thought. No, he was really just opening up both ends. He put one end up on a broken chair, grabbed all of Evan's "race cars" and trucks and showed Evan how to have the time of his life. Evan even got to go down the slide a couple of times too! It was the perfect way to get Evan to release some of that pent-up energy so he could calm down for bath time and eventually bed. (Last night after being couped up all day too he woke up FIVE times...2, 3, 4, 5, and 6...it was not a good night!...)

Anyway, I would have never thought to do something so simple and creative. I'm so glad God paired me with someone who is strong where I am weak! :) I love you, hunny!

Enjoy the rest of the pictures here.

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Snow Much Fun!

Last week we got a rare (for StLouis) 9 inches of snow. Evan had to wait a few days to play in it, but the wait was worth it! :) Papa taught him how to make and throw snow balls...(let's just say Evan is a fast learner!) and when it was finally daddy's day off, Jon took Evan for some saucer rides around the yard, which he LOVED! Here are a few pictures from their fun times, but I'd enourage you to check out the full album on facebook! (click here for the link)...Now if the snow would just finish melting so that it's not so brown and mushy everywhere...

Evan enjoyed throwing snowballs at his grandma...

Wee!

So much fun!

All smiles! :)

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Finally...Outside Time!

We finally had some really nice weather last Saturday...it was about 45 and sunny with hardly any wind--perfect weather to get outside for some fresh air! We took a (slow) short walk around the neighborhood. Evan didn't want a stroller ride, so the walk started off with mommy pushing him on his new tricycle, but that only lasted about half way through our walk when he decided he wanted to be a big boy and walk with daddy to help "hold" the puppies (we had Moose and Boo, my parents' dog). After the walk, Jon got out Evan's new (soft) baseball and bat that he got for Christmas and they got to play. Evan was SO excited! The only baseball he's been able to play lately has been on the Wii because we're not in a "toddler-proof" house yet.

Here are some pictures from all their fun!

Daddy shows Evan a better way to hold the bat

He's a quick learner! (well, sometimes...)

oh...Daddy busted a move right past Evan!...

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Surprise!

For our anniversary, Jon planned a surprise date for us...I knew we had a mystery appointment and that we were going out to eat at a restaurant of my choice, but he managed to keep the appointment a secret (which is a very difficult thing to do with me!). I think the best part of it all was that for the first time since we got married and our lives started going on a wild ride with all the moving and family deaths, we have both planned surprises...Jon got me on our annivesary and I will get him at Christmas. I think it's so telling of how God has put us in a good place in our lives...we feel more secure and a bit more settled (even though we're still not in our own place yet).

To make a long story short, Jon got both of our parents to go in with him to buy me a brand new electric acoustic guitar so that when I'm no longer pregnant and short of breath, I can join a praise team at church and not be embarrassed by using a pick-up on a not-so-wonderful and generally beat-up acoustic guitar that I've had for a long time. When we got to the parking lot in front of the store, my pregnant emotions kicked in over-drive, so naturally, I started balling. The store was next to another store we needed to visit, so I convinced Jon to take me in there to get our shopping done so I could have a few moments to calm down and n

ot have red, puffy eyes. 

Last Friday, while I was in WI for Shana's graduation, Jon visited a member of our church, Mark, who is the manager of the Guitar Center store in Fairview Heights, IL. He met with Mark to explain what he wanted to do, Mark picked out some guitars, and when we got there, all I had to do was choose. But it was a difficult decision to make! One of the guitars was ruled out right away because of its contoured back-side (I know they sound great plugged in, but I just couldn't get over having plastic on my guitar...). The other two were both beautiful. I won't bore you with the details, but I ended up choosing the Fender because the neck was thinner, which is what I'm most used to and comfortable with. It has a beautiful, cris

p sound, and as an added bonus, it comes with its own tuner so I never have to worry about being out of tune (unless of course my battery is dead...) :)

I am so grateful for a husband who knows me and who worked so hard to get me a great gift! The surprise and all the work he put into the date meant more to me than anything! I love you, babe! :)

Here's a preview, but for more pictures, visit my album here.

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Wii fun

Evan learned a new word recently: WII. So now "me" wants to play "wii" all the time! And "me" wants to "bowl" and "bay-ball" on the "wii" with "daddy" (or any other person he can sucker into playing). Daddy wanted to have some Evan time after work yesterday, and he gave Evan the choice of what they would do. Of course, Evan chose playing the wii...These two are absolutely two peas in a pod...and it makes me smile seeing them play together and watching Jon lovingly teach Evan all about something they both enjoy. I'm so blessed that my children have such a loving daddy! :) Enjoy some pics from their evening of fun:

Evan was determined to play...even when Daddy threw him up in the air! Evan demonstrates how he bowls...

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National Youth Worker's Convention

Last week Jon and I had the priviledge of going to the National Youth Worker's Convention in Nashville with two other leaders from our church, Shawn and Anna Davis. It was such a blessing that we could all go together to really jump start and revitalize the youth ministry at Faith. One of the biggest blessings of being at this church is the awesome team-spirit and the creativity that follows. We all split up and had a ton of great ideas that we can't wait to start planning and implementing.


Here are some highlights from the trip:

• We went early for the preconference critical concerns courses--Jon and I got to take Youth Ministry and Marriage with Jim and Cathy Burns (Jim was Doug Field's youth minister and mentor...Doug mentions Jim in his books a lot, so it was a real treat to get to meet him!...or you may recognize Jim as the head of Home Word Ministries). The best part about this course was that it was small...and intimate. We really felt like we got to know Jim and Cathy and the ministry that they do together now. We got a lot of support for being in the ministry together, which will be especially helpful as my "season" of full involvement changes to less involved with the birth of our second child in February. Jim is a great speaker. He has his own radio show, so his voice was very soothing to listen to. He's just one of those guys with a gentle, passionate spirit. Kind of reminded me of Dr. Paavola from CUW...
• The worship music--how awesome was it that we were led in worship each day by people like the David Crowder Band, Lincoln Brewster, MercyMe, Shane and Shane, Kendall Payne, Starfield, and Jars of Clay (ok, I'm going to publically admit that I'm not too fond of them anymore after seeing them live...they're much better on their recordings than in person...) (and by the way, Shane and Shane has a new Christmas CD that Jon and I got...it's awesome! the harmony is surreal!)
• The joy of attending THREE Les Christie sessions...he's so energetic and passionate about what he does! and intentional too! The teacher in me was proud of all the teaching methods and child developement he incorporated into our sessions...turns out all that stuff isn't just for teachers afterall... He gave three great seminars on creativity (I never really thought of myself as creative before this session since I "steal and modify" other people's ideas, but turns out that is creativity at its best! who knew?!...), positive discipline (working with rude, obnoxious, and apathetic kids), and how to find, equip, retain, and occasionally dismiss adult volunteers in youth ministry.
• The general session speakers...well, most of them anyway...but particularly Mark Yaconelli...at the end of his talk he broke out in a disco dance...it was priceless! We liked his talk so much that we bought a DVD of it to share with the rest of our leaders at a future meeting...
• THE SKIT GUYS! These guys are funny! They even made skits for all of the preconference Q&A...hilarious! :) We saw their extra performance with Lost and Found...it was the only night event I was willing to stay up for! :)
• The conference and speakers were such a spark to our creativity and brain power for our ideas...we spent well over two hours just discussing all of the the things we'd like to do with our youth ministry (we call it our "bucket list")...now the fun part begins with laying out the baby steps for what we want to get accomplished first...
• Alone time with my hubby was awesome!...but probably the last time before baby gets here!

So while there were a lot of great things about the trip, there were also some bummers:

• The weather. Who would have thought that driving 5 hours south of STL would have brought us colder weather...and even snow?...next time I'm voting we send people to an eariler fall conference so getting around isn't so miserable
• The HILLS. It was bad enough for all the non-preggo folk who went to tredge up and down those hills several times a day...and it was miserable for me. By the second day, I noticed my braxton hicks contractions coming on quite strong at even the thought of walking up the hills. ugh... (but no worries...my doctor said they are quite normal as long as I'm not having more than 6 an hour...)
• The food choices. Well, when you have +5,000 people in a very small location, food lines are going to be long and choices are going to be limited. I'm thankful we didn't get stuck having to eat McDonalds every day, but I think it will be a while before we go back to Panera/St Louis Bread Co!
• Our hotel. While it was nice enough, we had to stay on the 17th floor. I prayed every morning that the elevators would all be in working order so I didn't have to walk up/down steps. That would have been terrible! And what kind of fancy downtown expensive hotel doesn't have a hot tub?...I was sorely disappointed! That would have at least made the hills a bit more manageable...oh well...

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We got to write the Bible!

Well, that was purposefully a little misleading. We didn't author the Bible, but our very own handwriting will be appearing in the newest Zondervan Bible coming soon--the very first hand-written Bible. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible, the best-selling translation with more than 300 million copies in print, Zondervan has launched Bible Across America, a cross-country RV tour. Bible Across America features an RV, piloted by a four-person team, that is traveling across the continental United States, making stops at churches, universities, retail stores and special events where people are invited to contribute a verse to complete a handwritten Bible – America's NIV. It just happened to be at Family Christian Bookstore in South County when we made a stop there yesterday, so we decided to become part of history. :) So when the Bible comes out in print...or gets displayed in the Smithsonian, fast forward to Deuteronomy 29:29 (written by Lani) and Deuteronomy 30:1 (written by Jon) to see our handiwork. :)

For more information, check out their website (and list of future stops) at http://www.bibleacrossamerica.com.

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Jon's Youth Ministry Blog

Now that things have finally settled down a bit for Jon, he had a little time to start his own blog. Not too many postings just yet, but he did a great job on the background and the layout. I encourage you to check it out (and keep checking it out) at

http://www.keepingitplainandsimple.blogspot.com

Enjoy! :)

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Daddy's Day Off

Jon has been craving cinnamon rolls lately, so yesterday on his first "offical" day off, we made them as a family. I have been enjoying my mom's bread machine lately (I think it's got something to do with all the carbs I've been craving with this baby...)--this is my 3rd bread machine use in the two weeks we've been here! :) My family enjoys the goodies, but they accuse me of trying to make everyone fat. But it's funny how the goods disappear within two days! :)
Evan got to help me mix the brown sugar and cinnamon for the rolls. He didn't really understand what it was until I started putting it on the rolled-out dough...then all he wanted to do was snitch up all the extras that fell on the counter... I think he thought he was "helping..." :) Then he helped Daddy make some awesome cream cheese frosting, and once again helped "clean up" all the extra frosting left on the beaters. Needless to say, he loved the finished product even more! :)

After enjoying some freshly baked cinnamon rolls, Evan and daddy got to wrestle and play around. Evan almost didn't know what to do--he was so excited to be able to play with daddy for once! Since Jon's commute to work from my parents' house is nearly an hour long, by the time he gets home from work, we eat supper and then it's time to give Evan a bath and put him to bed. So this was a good change. Evan has been "tackling" daddy for a while now (usually in our bed on Saturday mornings when he gets to be lazy with us), but now he's got his own little "moves" down to tackle anyone laying on the floor! He's got the "ready, set, run!", the "half spin, attack!" and the "three circles, fall down, get up, attack!" It's really funny watching him...he does the same three things all the time. He's such a boy! And his newest game with daddy is to climb on his back for horsey rides. Evan loves this fun time with daddy, and daddy is a trooper for putting up with the rug burn on his knees! :)

Then to end our first "daddy's day off" we took Evan to Saint Louis to watch the Balloon Glow. Tomorrow afternoon is the yearly hot air balloon race, but every year on the night before the race, all of the balloons blow up and light up for everyone to see. For those of you familiar with Forest Park, the balloon glow was on the ball fields near the police horse stables, but it was so crowded that we had to park in the zoo parking lot! So we certainly got our exercise for the day by making the hike up and down all of those hills in the park! :) By the time we finally got there, we had less than a half hour to enjoy the balloons. Evan liked the balloons...from a distance, but up close, I think they were a little bit scarry. He just stared in awe (or maybe fear?) at the big fires going up inside of the balloons. I do think he enjoyed the colors of the big balloons and getting to see all the fun designs (the energizer bunny, one balloon had a cow, one balloon had a goldfish (like the cracker), one balloon was a pepsi can, one balloon was a Wherenberg Theater bag of popcorn, and lots of balloons had pretty squares of colors like a quilt). When we asked Evan which balloon was his favorite, he said, "pa-corn." It was pretty cute. I thought for sure he would tell us the "moo" balloon since he LOVES looking for cows when we're driving...but he surprised us with his answer! :)

We snuck out of the park right before the fireworks, but we did get to watch them from a distance. And on the way home, daddy treated us all to icecream cones! Yummy! :) (And for all you who know that Evan used to only eat the cone without the icecream, you'll be happy to hear that he's decided it's ok to lick the icecream now!) :)

Enjoy the pictures! For the full album, click here.

Evan was snitching the "spilled" brown sugar and cinnamon off the counter...

Evan helped daddy "clean up" the icing off of the beaters...

Daddy makes a good horsey!

My two silly boys

Watching the Balloons Glow in Forest Park

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