13 years

Thirteen years ago today Cary and I met.  There are many things I will never forget about that day, like what I wore, what I was doing when I saw him for the first time, his very first question to me.  And then I look at all the life we've created in these thirteen years.  I may not remember all of that, but I can recall many, many things and there is one recurring theme through all these memories...HAPPY AND LOVED.

Now more than ever I feel like God has blessed me by that funny, awkward moment the day after Valentine's Day, 1999.  Loving life...

Lynn

How '90's is this???

My Three Valentines...

Today I took my Mom and my two LITTLE Valentines to the airport to drop Mom off for her next jaunt abroad.  When she was safely inside the airport McKinley and I were pretty hungry and I was sure Jackson would be ready for that bottle soon enough, so I decided it was time to try out my mother-of-two skills by having lunch, sit-down style.  I'm not big on drive thru food, and there are a plethora of our favorite quick food restaurants nearby, so let's do it!  Noodles & Company sounded perfect, McKinley sat across from me and used chop sticks with the chop stick helper for his Macaroni & Cheese.  Jackson was nestled beside me in his car seat carrier while I ate, then it was his turn.  The whole adventure went off without a hitch.  Hey, five and a half weeks post-partum?  Not bad! 

When we got home in the late afternoon I toodled around in the kitchen when all three of my boys came around the corner carrying a rose (okay, well, Cary was carrying Jackson's because he was asleep and he's only 5 weeks old...but still, it was a moment).  One red, one pink, one yellow.  And cards.  I've got more handsome Valentines than I did when I was 16 years old (and let me tell you...that was quite a year...).  I am completely surrounded by love...and loving it.

Tomorrow Cary and I celebrate 13 years together...it's amazing to look back on the beginning and to be living in the middle of a sweet little family now. 

I love my boys...all three of them!

Lynn

Sweet Little Moments

Below the title of our little blog is my favorite quote. Over the years it has grown to mean different things for me. At one time it was healing, now it try to live the quote. Lately, there have been lots of these breathtaking moments in my life. As my little family has grown, my love for all these men in my life grows as well.

This morning, as I end my first week as stay-at-home-mom-of-two-boys-who's-hubby-has-returned-to-work-after-paternity-leave, I'm getting McKinley ready for school when Jackson wakes, hungry. McKinley said, "Mom, I'll go see him!" Okay, so I make a quick trip to the living room to drop backpack, coat, etc. I come back to find McKinley, on his stool, standing over his baby brother. I peeked inside the crib and found a very quiet and transfixed Jackson, who was obviously hanging on his brother's every word while studying his face. That did very good things for my heart. Thankfully, I thought fast enough to grab the camera and snap a few photos of the moment.

Camera by my side lately, I've also snapped these cute shots of moments that are precious to me.

Jackson, trying to enjoy his bath (we're getting there!), he discovers the faucet sprayers and loves to touch it with his toes. TOO CUTE!

McKinley & Cary, on their way out for some Man Time at the ISU basketball game. At that game, the boys caught a little basketball from the cheerleaders. McKinley was thrilled! He had a blast with his Daddy.

The boys aren't the only ones who give me precious moments to capture. Valentine, our beloved white cat (and the only other source of estrogen in our home) loves her boys so much she cannot decide where she wants to spend her time. So, she floats back and forth between the two rooms all night and all day. This morning I went in to wake McKinley for school and found this: Valentine back to back with McKinley, both sound asleep. After I woke McKinley, she sauntered into the nursery to lay under the crib for an early morning nap. What a life...

Love these sweet little moments in my life,

Lynn

McKinley's First Nine

It's no secret that McKinley likes golf. He just does. No one pushed him into it, we just gave him one of his clubs a few years ago and "WHACK!" he was hooked. We've taken him to the driving range many times (and yes, he drives WAY better than I do) and Cary has taken him along for a few holes. But today was special...his first nine. Just McKinley and his Daddy (Mommy got some shopping time). When I came back to meet them at the course I was literally laughing out loud at what I saw. McKinley was standing up in the golf cart, foot on the pedal, Cary steering with a death grip on McKinley's back. My boys were smiling from ear to ear. Totally made me cry.

Snapped this photo and I absolutely adore it.

My boys!

Lynn

A Big Cookie...

A while back the three of us were walking through the mall when Cary spotted a local Cookie store's display of VERY BIG special occasion cookies. He said, "You know, I'd take one of those suckers over a birthday cake ANY day"...consider the message banked.

With Father's Day fast approaching McKinley and I discussed ordering one of those bad boys. McKinley saw the golf green and HAD to have it for his Daddy! So, I made the order and strategically planned a Father's Day trip to the mall, citing some much needed Sears stop (hello, MAN STORE! I knew it would get him there - easy as pie!)

McKinley kept the little secret, taking his Dad by the hand and pulling him to the store. Cary had this BIG smile on his face and was happy...it made me teary. The sweet girl behind the counter had the giant golf cookie beautifully boxed and ready for us to walk out the door, so when I asked if we could borrow a knife and purchase some drinks it was no surprise that the look on her face was pure shock. I get it, it must be hard to watch someone butcher your creation but I knew there was no a chance in the world we were walkin' outta that little bakery without either of the men in my life sampling a few bites. Fits would ensue!

So, we parked it on the table and Cary and McKinley cut into their yummy treat, complete with milk! Luckily, I snapped a quick photo of them before the butchering began.

The cookie was a success...oh my was it good. Serious yum.

I hope that Cary had a really wonderful Father's Day and knows just how much he is loved and appreciated by his family. We had a lovely day and shared some fun activities and a really big cookie. Couldn't think of a better way to spend a Sunday!

Lynn

A Little Love PARTAAAY!

Cutest Valentine's Day Party pretty much EVER, complete with arrow and heart hats, a class dressed in red and goodies galore! Best part of the day for me? Sharing the party experience with my husband, who was off work for the day! McKinley's face was full of pure joy when he saw us both...it made my heart sing!

McKinley chose Ratatouille (the movie) valentines for his sweet classmates, he wrote on some of them, I wrote on the others. We totally ran out of time on them because we were working on another sweet treat to include in the precious Valentine boxes for his preschool friends and Miss Lori & Miss Kymberli:

Valentine Confetti! I found the awesome recipe here. I made some changes for our version: popped the popcorn on the stovetop in coconut oil instead of using microwave - that's what we prefer anyway. I also used the plain white candy melts instead of the confetti version so the white popped a little more. And I highly recommend allowing the candy to cool almost completely before beginning the mixing process so the M&M's don't melt. We layered the M&M's in the bottom, the cooled popcorn next, to create a barrier from the heat of the candy, finally we poured in the candy (IN A HUGE BOWL!) and began mixing. We mixed quickly since we allowed the candy to cool, it was close to hardening. I layered a HUGE baking sheet with parchment paper and carefully laid clumps of the confetti out on the paper. Once it was cool we broke up the larger pieces, left some as is and placed them in the treat bags tied with red ribbon and a beautiful printable tag found here. They were a huge hit. We made them for friends and family as well.

McKinley had a really good time passing out the Valentine Confetti and his valentines, it was precious.

After those were finished it was time for treats (special parties require special treats that do not need to be healthy - a treat in and of itself!), then the great Valentine craft, a bean noisemaker! The day ended with a BANG! Ha!!!!!!!!!

I can say that McKinley napped like a champion this afternoon --- he earned it after such an awesome party!

Happy Valentines Day!

Lynn

A Love Story

It's almost Valentine's Day...a day I love. But about 12 years ago I was NOT a fan. I had yet to find my true love and was growing impatient with the...um...bottom feeders that were coming my way (Lordy there were some doozies...I can literally hear my Mom sigh just thinking back to those days).

I know this totally sounds like a Golden Girls, Sophia, "Picture it! Sicily, 1928..." moment, and maybe it is, but it's OUR story and apparently we are not the only ones who think its good!

Valentine's Day 1999 was a real downer. BLAH. I remember sitting in my friend's car and crying (after a date, mind you) because I knew he wasn't the one. I asked her when it would be my turn. And informed her that I gave up...

The following day, a handsome young man walked into L.S. Ayres (now Macy's) to track down a friend from college. He was new in town, didn't know a soul but Chrissy from U of I. He couldn't remember her last name, but remembered she worked at Ayres and thought it might be nice to reconnect with an old friend.

I was late. I know, no surprise, but this time it was my general manager's fault. He scheduled me an HOUR late to open the jewelry department. The Ayres general manager was in a panic. His store was open but those pesky jewelry girls hadn't opened up yet. Awesome. I arrived, shocked to find the store open...I rushed to pull the covers off of the cases and scrambled to get the jewelry from the safe. I remember exactly where I was standing. I pulled off the black cover, began folding it and out of the corner of my eye I saw a young man walking toward me. I was pretty grumpy after discovering my general manager's mistake and wasn't in the mood to talk, so I kept my head down...but don't think I didn't admire the eye candy walking by...I'm not stupid.

As I continued to get the counter open, I was working on the cash register when I saw the young man's head pop up from beneath the Ralph Lauren display just in front of me. He flipped some shirts around, appeared to be searching for something specific. Finally, after a few head bobs, he abruptly came up to my counter and said, "Uh, excuse me. Do you know Chrissy?"

I, in my best 20 year old valley girl replied, "Uhhhh, yeaaaah! She's like, my best friend." Good thing there was only one Chrissy who worked at Ayres.

He asked if she was working that day, I didn't think so and offered to call her for him but was NOT about to give him her number...you never know. So, I called her, asked if she knew a guy named Cary and that he was standing in front of me looking for her. She okay'ed the exchange of numbers and I told her I'd call her back.

Cary and I briefly chatted (remember, I did have a job to do, no matter how lame) but soon he was on his way. As soon as he was out of earshot I called Chrissy back.
OHMYGOSH, WHO IS HE??????? HE IS SO HOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And so the conversation went on about how cute he was...we hung up.
Soon Chrissy called me. It seems the handsome young gentleman had no sooner left the mall and raced home to call Chrissy. I am told the conversation went like this: "Hi Chrissy, who's Lynn? She's pretty. Is she single?"

I think this was Chrissy first shot at matchmaking...she did pretty damn good...though this next part gets really sickening.

She convinced Cary to meet her at the mall after lunch, and called me again to say they were coming in to see me. I took a break and walked around with them for several minutes, Chrissy leading the conversation to break us in. I vividly remember that day. I remember very little about work though...

Anyway, after my break was over I went back to my 'cage' as I called it (we were boxed in...) and Chrissy literally made me give Cary a hug. Oh my, I still blush just thinking of that...really? He asked for my phone number, I happily obliged. He called that night. Yes, THAT NIGHT. He asked to take me out on a date, we made plans the following night. I ditched another date with that other guy (see beginning of post) and pretty much never called him again.

Cary and I went to see "Varsity Blues" on our first date. Neither of us even bothered with 'seeing other people'...we were set. Match made in heaven.

I'm not saying we've never had issues...a good marriage has issues occasionally. And God knows we are far from perfect people, but we are perfect for each other. We compliment one another so well....finish each other's statements...have the exact same thoughts at the exact same time. I am so very, very blessed and so eternally thankful to have found my sweet husband. He is amazing and funny and helpful and understanding, kind and thoughtful. He puts up with a heckuva lot being married to me. He has done so much for me, and of course for McKinley. He is my definition of 'ROCK' and I have no idea where I would fit in this world without him. I mean that from the bottom of my heart.

Just after we were married I won a radio contest for best proposal, and earlier this week I put up a post on the tiny prints facebook page. They asked how you met your valentine and said their favorites would be posted on their blog. Well, our shortened story is featured in their blog as one of their favorites! Didn't win anything this time (I WISH! I love their products!), but just knowing that someone else thinks it's pretty cool that I had to wait 364 days to celebrate my first Valentine's Day with my Valentine, and that Cupid came a day late is kind of fun.

You can find that blog post HERE.

So thankful for my Valentine.

I love you Cary!

Lynn

Anniversary #6 and a Build & Grow Clinic!

Happy Anniversary to US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This evening we had a lovely date night at my favorite local restaurant, Louise's. Delish! Afterward we shared some coffee at Starbucks. We had a great evening just being together!

It has been 6 awesome years and I am so happy to be Mrs. V. I love being married - especially to Cary, not that I have anyone to compare the whole experience to - hahahahaha! I am so thankful and grateful every second of every day to have Cary in my life. He is an amazing husband, an unbelievable father and just a good man...period. So, cheers to us for 6 years! Time sure is flying by, so you KNOW we're havin' fun!

Back track to this morning! McKinley and I hit Lowe's for another fun Build & Grow Clinic, how fun was this? McKinley really enjoyed creating this piece because he did a lot of it on his own. I still guided him with the instructions, but he is able to hammer the nails into place and is even anticipating the next step. He loves this - I mean, look at that smile - and I feel very lucky that we have found such a cool thing to do - and free! Heck yeah!

Happy, Happy day!

Lynn

A Grand Day!

Today was just plain awesome.

Cary was off all weekend and T.H. had some big things in store for the Vernon fam! Friday we had a little road trip planned, just some nice quiet time in a favorite little city...but Saturday was BIG!

Today was the GRAND OPENING of the T.H. Children's Museum, the T.H. Street Fair AND the farmer's market! We hit all three! Early in the morning we began at the outdoor festivities around the Children's Museum - because the line was so stinking long! Soon, we were pretty hungry for lunch, so we walked to George's Cafe for my new favorite veggie sandwich - a Lebanese grilled cheese - falafel, hummus & gyro! OH YEAH! That was insanely delicious and I cannot wait to go back!

After lunch we headed back and hit the street fair and the kiddie games, McKinley had so much fun. We walked around the farmer's market, inside clabber girl, and took a horse & wagon ride with our favorite guy...and Bud, the horse. SO FUN!

Finally, we were brave enough to go for the still-way-too-long line at the Children's Museum. This line literally wrapped around the block. Cary and McKinley entertained themselves with ice cream, a hay maze, a bio-fuels truck and face painting while I stood in line...hmmm...what's wrong with this picture? Just kidding! I didn't mind a bit because I get McKinley and all the fun to myself EVERY Saturday, it's the best thing EVER for me (and McKinley!) when Cary gets a chance to do it. They had a great time...and I'll admit that I had a little tear in my eye when I looked at my boys, both smiling ear-to-ear and laughing together and making amazing memories.

At last we were inside the museum and off we went! Three hours later we were exhausted, hot and our ears were ringing from the ridiculous amount of people! It was great! McKinley loved everything. I loved it when McKinley and Cary made it count when they took a silly photograph to commemorate the day. There was a tree house, a race ramp, a giant dinosaur, digging, ball launching, mechanical pony rides...and the most awesome WATER TABLE!!!!!!

After all that fun we were starving again! So, we again walked to more of downtown's yummy offerings. Pizza at Wise Pies! It was the perfect way to wrap up our tour of downtown. We dined al fresco and even got to see one of McKinley's classmates and her family!

We will all sleep well tonight. What a fantastic weekend and a wonderful thing to see come to fruition for T.H. Awesome!

Lynn

Get Lost

Well, it may be hard to believe but Fall is here! All of the beautiful festivities are right around the corner and yours truly can hardly wait! Zoo Boo, Street Fair, pumpkin and apple picking...it's my very favorite time of year! Tonight we visited Hobson's Farm with the Semmler Fam and had some great kid-sized fun.

For starters it was dark when we arrived...and dark for all of the activities, but we made it work! We fed some animals...I'm still not sure what we fed because it was so dark. I think we fed goats, a miniature horse and a donkey! After that we decided to head out to the corn maze - prepared with our make-shift flashlights...our cell phones. We ended up getting lost...but just a little. We found our way back out, and the kids loved every second of it!

After the corn maze we made many trips down the roller slide (FUN!) and then did a lot of jumping on the giant pillow bouncer (SERIOUS FUN!). I don't know about the other adults in our party, but I definitely had a few moments where I felt like a little kid again. Those things ROCK! I loved watching Cary and Rick bouncing high into the sky and their little 3 year olds bouncing up and down on the bouncer like popcorn. They weren't REAL sure about what their Dads were doing, but in the end they enjoyed it...and let's face it...it was really funny for Robin, Austin and me to watch!

We sat for a few moments by the fire and were back at it in the soybean maze (much easier, by the way). McKinley and Savannah enjoyed a few rounds on the corn 'train', and gave our furry friends a late night snack.

Two hours flew by! We are already planning a 'next time' but want to be there longer and earlier. Great time with great friends!

Happy Fall!

....Almost!

Lynn

Daddy's Birthday!

Happy Birthday Cary!

Today McKinley and I went to Hallmark to choose just the right cards for Cary. McKinley picked out his very own card - a Mickey Mouse one! He was so excited to choose one for his Daddy and couldn't wait to give it to him.

Cary chose to have dinner at Cheeseburger in Paradise, where they ended our yummy meal with a little ice cream sundae and a loud announcement of the big bday. My favorite part was that they took a photo of Cary & McKinley with the sundae. Love it!

After we put McKinley to bed, Cary and I hopped in our own bed armed with our laptop...the PERFECT way to end a great birthday is to watch a live concert of John Mayer at Red Rocks in Colorado streaming live on the internet, from the comfort of our cozy, warm bed. Awesome. I feel like we got to go AGAIN!

Cary, we love you so much and wish you a very happy day!

Lynn

Back for more...

apples, that is. Yesterday the three of us headed for Anderson Orchard for our second visit...with many, many more to come I'm sure. We pulled up the gravel drive to the huge open barn and I could just feel any leftover stress just melting away. Once inside the barn we ordered two apple slushes (to die for...delicious) and two nut-crusted caramel apples before we headed out for some u-pickin'. We sat down and all devoured our little treats - it was MUCH warmer than it was the last time we'd visited in the Fall of last year, but it was a gorgeous day.

We piled in the car and began our drive through the HUGE orchard, choosing the red raspberries first.

McKinley designated himself as the holder of the raspberry bucket, which held true during the entire visit, we all dove into the bushes (though carefully...STICKERS!). I'm pleased to report that we scored 2 and a half pounds of gorgeous, ripe red raspberries. The bushes went on for what seemed like miles. Acres and acres, rows and rows of raspberries!

Soon we were back in the car driving through the orchard, trying to choose our apple varieties. We chose Galas, Honey Crisps and Mollies Delicious. And were they good? WOW. We each sampled an apple - who can resist? - and took turns picking some of these beauties.

McKinley loved twisting the apples on their stems and giving them a gentle pull. We ended up with a full peck of apples! What a steal at $7...I'll pay that for the stress-removing qualities of the entire experience alone!

Once we were finished, we headed back to the barn for a GIANT (seriously...GIANT...2 feet long) watermelon and some popping corn and a promise to return very soon for some wonderful pumpkins! ...and probably more apples....and raspberries!

This was the perfect way to spend the afternoon with my family.

Lynn

P.S. Below: McKinley's own photography! Not bad, eh?!