ice cream vs. mung beans

so, everyone knows patrick and i have our differences. alot of them :-). that's why we make such a great couple and potentially great parents, because between the two of us, we have almost everything covered. but then there's this pesky compromise issue. . . :-)
Patrick has compromised a great deal for me. really, he has. in lots of areas, but i'm referring to our food right now. often times he'll scrounge around for quite a while in the kitchen/freezer/pantry, and later i'll see him eating raisins right out of the box because that's all he could find. (in my defense, i do like to bake, which i do fairly often. as a matter of fact he just finished off a batch of oatmeal cookies, which are his favourite. we go to marble slab pretty often, and i sometimes come home with treats like honey nut cheerios. so dont' feel too sorry for him.) but i do try to keep the hard to resist food out of reach, as in still at the grocery store. this is as much for him as it is for me, because i have been known to eat an entire package of double stuffed oreos in, oh, two days. anyways, tonight the pickings were pretty spare in the crisp larder. i did, however, have strawberries, grapes and cherries all washed and ready to go. apparently not appealing enough to all parties :-). i had gone to the healthfood store to get the bulk grains and beans i use for hannah's food, so we had bags of pearly barley, buckwheat, and mung beans on the counter. skipping some of the story, it came down to my poor starving husband trying to get a spoon into the canister of plain old sugar on the counter and me standing in front of him with the bag of mung beans, offering another option. sort of kidding, but almost. except i was offering the cherries. (i also volunteered to go out to get anything he wanted, but he said no.) so he's instituting a new rule: we must always have dessert in the house, it doesn't matter what form it takes. i said ok, as long as it's homemade. thankyou, Jessica Seinfeld. Deceptively Delicious, here we come! :-) i love you patrick. thanks for putting up with me.

i have attempted to do this many times, to no avail. it seems our computer always has issues. (you can roll your eyes if you want, but i'm serious! :-) that, combined with hannah having been sick, and teething, and a very difficult transition with the new baby we're keeping has made for a rough few weeks. but here we are. these are pictures from our time in mechanicsville. it was really relaxing, and hannah got alot of time to play with everyone. we went to the children's museum for her birthday, and they had an outside part too, so this is from that.



Des helped me put together this timeline scrapbook posterboard for hannah's party, where we chronicled her major milestones with pictures. it took hours and hours, and i think it turned out great. then they shipped it home for me. thank you so much for your help!



i've tried to limit this due to the acid on her teeth, but she loves lemon. she keeps going back for more.


brett, jes and cali (sp?) came up for the weekend too. it was lots of fun. hannah was trying to steal her necklace.


this is patrick at one year. we still see a resemblance.



at the museum, they had this giant apple tree where you go round and pick them, and put them in your basket.





they also had a stage for "productions", all supplied with dress up clothes.


the indoor water part. yes, she's putting her foot all the way in.


grandma jan and des made hannah this wonderful lemon cake. and yes. . .

i let her have a tiny piece. sans icing.


reading her card from brett and jes.





also at the museum. it was amazing how much she was able to explore and enjoy, even at her age. i know i'm biased, but she is really really smart.




this was actually in haviland, the fourth of july. she loves playing in the sprinkler.







hannah making friends with her pony, a gift from g-ma jan


i wanted to show picture of the amazing fruit bouquet g-ma jan got me for my birthday. it was so thoughtful, and just really neat. we ended up trying to copy it for hannah's party.

so all in all, we had a really special time. we came home and were super busy, so i haven't given it enough justice, and i'm sorry. but at least you have some pictures.
later we'll have some from hannah's party.

I have moved about 10 times in my life, and lived in 18 different homes, since some of those were in town moves. I thought it was more, actually. some times it feels like it. other than some difficult times in high school, normally i haven't minded my gypsy lifestyle too much. which is good because i don't anticipate it changing. but there are times, especially since Hannah, when i wish things were different. actuallly i wish everyone got all kinds of vacation days and air travel was really cheap.
as i think about hannah's birthday party tomorrow, my mind travels all over the place to people who i want to share in this event. family, obviously, like dad and bunny and patricks parents, then grandparents, some of whom have never met hannah, and all other extended family; people i've known since i was a baby and saw/spoke to often as a child when our families got together but now i rarely/never see, although they still mean something to me, like the hursts, gualdieris, and lockes; oeople from patrick's old church in VA, who finally got to briefly see Hannah last weekend; friends from highschool that i never talk to now but would if our lives ever intersected; friends from africa, both missionaries (of course Kari and jonathan in france: i'd give anything for them to be able to come) and Senegalese friends that always told me i needed to have a baby right away; Patrick's friends from LeTourneau, who knew him before he was who he is today, and friends from Crossroads, our church in Longview, whose examples of family continue to encourage and inspire me, like the farrells, the bradshaws, the crowes, the vasheys, and many others.

so many people I wish could share in this day with us. We will miss you.

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband!!!!!!

so patrick is a quarter of a century today. we dont' get to celebrate with him, he's in texas. but, he'll be home tomorrow night. I do have lots of pictures from va, and a long story about our trip home, but i wanted to devote this post to the love of my life.

why i love patrick (in no particular order):

• he's ridiculously goodlooking
• he's extremely hardworking
• he's very motivated (he started his own business while in college fulltime and starting a family)
• he is hannah's best bud, and he spends all the time he can playing with her and making her feel special
• he is (generally :-) supportive of my decisions and strongly held beliefs even if he finds them crazy (ie: homebirth)
• he makes wonderful pancakes, milkshakes, skillet eggs, enchiladas, pizza crust, special coffee drinks) and other things
• he eats virtually everything i make (except tabouleh and coleslaw made with the outside leaves of the cabbage that you aren't really supposed to put in coleslaw)
• majority of the time, he listens when i tell him to eat his vegetables :-)
• he takes pride in our home and wants it to look nice so he does things like the sprinkler system
• he writes a mean love letter (especially when i was overseas; all the other girls would crowd around my computer to read his emails.)
• he's easy to please (pizza and a movie, anyone?)
• he always notices the effort i put into looking nice for him
• he cares about important things (like politics) that make him an interesting person to talk to. i always like to hear his opinion.
• he never gets upset with me for spending money when i shouldn't have.
• he has very low expectations in general, actually. he doesn't put pressure on me or make me feel bad when i dont' do the wifely job i'm supposed to. (i never have the house picked up, supper made, and a shower taken by the time he comes home)
• he is always communicating to me that he loves me for who i am, exactly how i am, and he would never want anything different
• he is so proud of his little family
• he is comfortable around a wide range of people, in a variety of settings
• he is a leader
• he values people and relationships
• i know he wants to meet my needs.
• and again, he's ridiculously good looking.

I'm so proud of him, and i miss him dearly. We love you, babe. Happy Birthday

Canada

So, Canada was everything i remembered: lots of toast with homemade strawberry jam, crystal clear (and cold) lake water, blueberry pancakes, boat ridesbonfires, smores, fish dinners, and family. Mom and Bob are in the middle of their big renovation project, but we all had enough space. Hannah and I had our own little camper. Other than missing Patrick, it was great! No bloodsuckers and even minimal mosquito bites. Oh, i forgot the french fries!


Kennedy had a treasure hunt on one of the numerous islands, and found all kinds of fun stuff that she shared with Hannah. We have since found that Hannah loves her jewelry! She kept putting on these necklaces. (She also loves shoes and purses: that's my girl!)


chowin down on a hotdog bun. First time I've given her anything i hadn't cut up first.


Nobody likes to wear a lifejacket :-(


Bob took us tubing. Us not meaning the hannahbelle, of course. she just watched from the boat.


On the same stretch of beach, my grandpa's two uncles also had property. We didn't have any cousins our age, but there are a few more little ones now. This is my greataunt Doris, my mom's cousin Gayle and Wayne, and their girls.



Hannah had a blast playing on the beach.




Me, Nana, Mom, Meghan, Chad


Enjoying a swing


hannah and Nana

there isn't alot else to say. we've had a great time in va, and we go home tomorrow! Oh, Hannah had a great birthday, too. I should have put that up. but i will later. i would also like to add that we get to see patrick in approximately 72 hrs!!!!