Leaves

We live in a neighborhood that has been well established for over sixty years.  Consequently, there are huge oak trees everywhere except our yard (the previous owner hated trees and cut all of ours down).  The woman across the street has seven huge oak trees and four other large trees.  What is the result?  LEAVES!!!  The boys keep saying, "It's raining leaves!"

 Josh, Jonathan, Jake and Caleb

Josh is ready for action with the "big boys"

The Party

Jonathan's party was the day after his birthday.  Jamie made the cake, and Jonathan loved it.  Loved it!  It was "a road and cars, with a field and a tractor plowing it."  We celebrated with a few friends and some family at a local park.  Perfect weather, great company and a precious five-year-old... what a great day!

Train Fun

We took the boys to a train restaurant for the end of the celebration on Friday.  The trains delivered the food and were moving all around the restaurant.  Definitely entertaining for the littlest Guilds. 

It is a show of love that James and I wore those hats.  No other adults were wearing them, but to appease the sweet request of the birthday boy: we were engineers, too.

Start of the Birthday Fun

We've decided that a donut cake is a good way to start our boys' birthdays.  Usually we have it at home, but the boys wanted to go to the donut shop near the barber so we brought the show on the road. Jonathan wanted all of the donuts spread out with a candle in each.

 Caleb was just ready to eat his donut.

Our gift to Jonathan was a remote controlled car.  It was a huge hit.  With both boys.  Caleb has mentioned several times that he would like us to have a remote controlled car for his birthday.  Caleb got Jonathan a little lego monster truck.  Most of the birthday was spent playing outside with these two toys.

I love, love, love celebrating our boys' birthdays.  Happy Birthday, my big 5 year old!

1,2,3,4,5.

Jonathan, my five year old:

This year has been a wild one for all of us.  Last year at this time we were living in our temporary house, waiting to move.  You are always watching, always learning.  You chewed all of your fingernails until they bled during that transition last year as you knew things were strange but couldn't quite piece it all together.  We learned together how to best communicate change to you so as to not make it as overwhelming for you.

You learned to ride your bike this year in early March. As soon as the weather warmed, you were ready for action.  You had been pondering it since you saw children out riding without training wheels at the park.  You decided this was your next challenge to tackle and you never looked back.  You just got on and started riding, all the while yelling, "I'm doing it, Daddy!  I'm doing it, Mommy!"  You had a couple of falls when you started careening around corners, but for the most part you took to riding like you had been doing it forever.

You learned to swim this summer and are still talking about how excited you are to take the next level of lessons.  You loved the challenge and were always eager to practice.

Preschool has been a delight for you and for me.  You love going, and I love seeing you blossom and gain independence.  It is a joy to hear you recount stories of your day and tell me about your new friends.

There is never a lack of ideas or opinions from you, my boy.  If we (or a friend) don't prefer to play option A, you will surely have B and C ready to offer.  You love to dig in the dirt, mulch or sand.  You love to ride your bike, especially the "two seater tandem".  Legos occupy much of your time, and you like following the directions once to see what the creation looks like when finished.  After that, you prefer to make your own things... modifying and designing.

As this year has progressed, you have emerged from your shell.  When neighbors walk by you greet them with a hardy "hello!"  You talk easily with your preschool teacher and your church leaders.  It is a delight to see you independently carry on conversations.

Sharing four with you was immeasurable fun... cannot wait to see what "five" will hold.
J-man: we'll love you always!!!
 

10.

For our 10 year anniversary, ten fun things about 10 years.

10. I call him James.  Everyone else calls him Jamie.  Jim is off limits.
9.  We still like Dt. Dew, pizza, Asian food, and being outdoors.
8.  We have fun doing most anything outdoors.
7.  He gives long explanations and I like main ideas.
6.  I am the dreamer, he is the doer.  He likes lists.  Me, not so much.
5.  It is just as nice today as the day we got married.
4.  I could beat him soundly in golf when we married.  Now, I would have to bring my best game and still hope for the best.
3.  Jamie has read more books this year than all of the other years of our marriage combined.  Jamie doesn't love it so much when I "get into" a book, as all other things take a back seat to the book.
2.  For our anniversary, I tried to mow the lawn for him (using the bag, just because he likes that) but the cooler weather made our temperamental mower impossible to start.
1. "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God." 1 John 4:7

Preschool Pumpkin Patch

We visited the pumpkin patch today on a preschool field trip.  Although cold, a great time was had by all.

 "Fishing" for pumpkins and other random things

 My two lively munchkins

 Digging in the corn bin with friends

 Adrienne and Caleb

Quite the photogenic children I have!

Visitors from afar

Two weeks ago we had the delight to welcome the Pattersons and the Nehres for a visit.  Jamie has known the men from each of these families since church camp, many moons ago.  Andy was a groomsmen in our wedding, and he and Jamie knew each other well.  Our stint in our previous home put us in close proximity to the Nehre family.  We spent time at the zoo, cheering on the Hawkeyes, and chasing our boys together.

The Pattersons came from one direction, and the Nehres came from the other direction.  We all met at our house for a weekend of crazy fun.  Crazy because there were 5 boys between us.  Fun because these friends are gems.  It can be counted as no small blessing that God has given us such friends as these.

(l-r) Andy, Isaiah, Sara, and Josiah Patterson.  Heather, Mike and Andrew Nehre.  Jamie, Jonathan, Caleb, and me.


Until life brings us back around, again...

October

October is here.  October is my favorite month.  September is a close second, but the leaves changing and the start of the family holidays make October the favorite.

In less than two weeks, my oldest boy will turn five.  I am going to soak up all that is left of four in these next two weeks.  He, of course, cannot wait to turn five.

We spent a lovely, lovely last weekend in the town where we previously lived.  I had a wonderful opportunity to talk with some women at a retreat for our former church, and it was a sweet time with them. That church and the way God is moving there is greatly encouraging to me.  The boys had a grand time with Daddy while I was at the retreat, and we managed to enjoy dinner out at two of my favorite restaurants and lots of walks on the wonderful trails.  We finished with a trip to the zoo with Jonathan's dear buddy, Andrew.  Heather and Mike are dear to us, too, but Jonathan and Andrew are two of a kind.

Of course, in all of the great fun, I didn't take a single photo.  So, you'll have to imagine us, having a wonderful time with wonderful people in a place we grew to love.