Happy Early Mother's Day....

..... to me. =) A great sale at Big Lots + a long-time coveted Dyson Slim vacuum = one happy Mommy. And to be honest, since Aaron loves vacuums so much, he's about as happy as I am with it. SUCH excitement around here! Sorry we are so lame - it's just that we've never actually bought a vacuum. And ladies, this Dyson model is everything that I hoped it would be - if anyone wants to come over and play with it, let me know... It's super fun.

Hallelujah

We have had a busy week of traveling to and from Denver, CO - We went to recruit a possible worship pastor for Harvest but had the additional bonus of staying with our dear friends the Schimdts who Lee co youth-pastored with when we lived in Indiana. It was a great time with them - they are such amazing people! It was quite an entertaining time for Aaron also as they have 5 kids that were wonderful in creating much excitement for him. We came home and then did a garage sale with my fam, and now are closing off the week with some yucky colds. At any rate, in all the craziness, I haven't had much energy to blog or even take pictures to blog about, so sorry for the lull in blog action....

But anyway, as we were wiping our snotty noses and taking a few minutes to rest, I caught a little video of Aaron watching his "Praise Baby" video (the only thing that he will watch for even a few minutes)....

He loves this song in particular and I love his attempts to say "Hallelujah". It is amazing to see these beginning steps in his spiritual walk... He also likes to pray A LOT right now so I'm thinking he's going to become a Christian anyday now.... =) This should result in less spankings and time outs, right??? =)

Mama time

Lee was out of town on men's retreat this weekend so Aaron and I busied ourselves with many things.... One thing of focus was, as my dad would say, "getting rid of mediocrity in the house." You know, buying a new tube of eyeliner or taking time to do things like replace your six-year old rusty shower curtain hooks....

He is all boy - he thought it was hysterical to pick his nose with the hooks....

Also, trying to clean out some of the junk or things we don't need right now. As I went through Aaron's closet, I thought I would get the baby bouncie seat out to lend to Aaron's cousin Owen that is coming in about a month or so. I didn't know it would be such a hit for a long-legged toddler....

This really makes him look soooo big to me!!!!

Of course, we did fun things too - We got to go to the park a lot, celebrate Auntie Tanya's birthday, and play lots with Cousin Brynn....

"Hey" is for Horses....

And it also serves as a good nickname for Grandma....

It used to be just a common greeting Aaron had for her - as soon as we walk up the driveway to their house, he starts grinning and yelling "Hey" through the screen door to announce his arrival. I began to suspect this past weekend, however, that according to him, it may be her actual title. This has been confirmed to me on several occassions, one being when he is asking where different people are (a regular ritual of his) and amongst the list after Papa comes "Hey?" with his palms turned up in a questioning manner. It is so hilarious, though to my mom not so much, and we are wondering how long it will last.... She is now on a major mission to teach him Grandma....

Easter

We had a great day - it was cool to do the fun things with Aaron like the egg-hunting, candy, etc., but also explaining to him that Jesus died on the cross for us and rose again and that's why we are celebrating... Also, he is FINALLY back to normal I think health-wise (thank for the probiotic idea Adrienne and Tirsa!)

It will be interesting to head back over to Papa Bob's and Grandma's in a few days and watch Aaron head to the backyard searching for plastic eggs with candy in their grass. He will be disappointed to see that it's only a once-a -year thing.... =)

Guitar Hero

Found this cheap little toy guitar and knew it was a must-have for our little man who loves music and seeing the guitars on stage at church. When you've been sick for a week straight, sometimes you just need a special treat for no reason....

p.s. Thanks Mom for buying a new camera and donating your old one to us =) Whew!

A few things about our week...

* What we at first thought was food poisoning for Lee turned out to be a wretched case of the flu that lasted 3 full days and nights. Unfortunately, Aaron ended up with it next - also 3 full days and nights (so far) with both ends going. This also resulted in him being up now for the past 4 nights for 2-4 hours at a time. I am so glad to have not gotten in yet (please God keep sparing me!) but I have to say that I AM TIRED. I am sleepy-tired as well as tired of cleaning up crap and barf. These are the times when I really hate living in a fallen world and can't wait for heaven....

*It was our last weekend and week at Red Mountain Community Church as we are heading full time to the Harvest church plant now. This has brought a lot of mixed emotions for me especially - it's hard and somewhat unnecessary to explain it all here.... For those of you we are leaving behind, we will miss you and are so grateful for our time together. For those of you coming with us, well, we love you and are ecstatic to have your prescence as we "bleed together" these next few months/years. =) Please, please, please keep us in your prayers on this endeavor..... We can't do it without them.

*My boy is becoming a super chatterbox, esp. in the car as many of you have shared with your own kids. Most often, the conversation in the car revolves around who we have just left or who we are going to see at the next destination. Keep in mind that Aaron doesn't have a ton of words in his r'epertoire still as well as quite a few made up words. This is a typical conversation:

Aaron: "Mama?"
Me: "Yes baby."
Aaron: "Dada?"
Me: "Dada is bye bye at church."
Aaron: "Papa?"
Me: "Papa is at church too."
Aaron: "aeh aeh?" (with his chest out - this means he wants to "go" be with whoever he is talking about)
Me: "No honey. We have to go home now - Daddy will come home soon" or "We can go to Papa's house later."
Aaron: "Papa?"
Me: "Papa is bye bye at church."
Aaron: "Papa?"
Me: "Papa is bye bye."
Aaron: "Bo?" (This is referencing the fountain in my parents' backyard - all water is "Bo.")
Me: "The Bo is at Papa's and we are going home."
Aaron: "Dada?"

Sometimes I try ignoring him at this point because we are going round in circles. It is all I can do to keep from bursting out laughing because he says "Mama? Mama? Mama? Mama? Mama?" UNTIL I answer him. In which I respond, "Yes baby." And the questions about Papa, Dada, or the "Bo" continue....