Gavin and John Thomas

My nephew, Gavin, spent this past week with us. The boys had the best time! I planned activities to keep them busy (and get out all that energy!!) Someone needs to bottle up a 6 years old energy and sale it, it is amazing! We all had a great time. Picture overload of the boys.........

My dad was working a couple hours away from where I live so John Thomas and I made the trip over to pick up Gavin. We took the boys to a military base that had a park where they could see the tanks, helicopters and trains. They loved it! JT is at the age that he loves big trucks and helicopters and Gavin likes to have open space to run :) so it was a win! Plus we enjoyed a playground, popcorn and dinner before the ride back.

 Most challenging part of the trip - entertaining Gavin while JT napped (and I wanted to nap!)

Sprinkler time

A big hit, Scene 75, the largest indoor entertainment center in the country.

Toddler bounce houses

Bounce houses for the big kids

 Glow in the dark putt putt golf

4th of July parade...................in the rain

JT loved the marching bands

Kids play area for the 4th festival

Gavin helped JT through all the big bounce houses, the stairs and slides :)

I took the boys to see Tommy at work on Friday and to run around on the practice court :) One of the players was practicing with a coach so Gavin would watch what they were doing then come back and tell me what drills we needed to run. So cute! He also shot the ball with Alex after he finished practicing. Then for another hour Gavin and John Thomas chased each other on the court.

 Perfect way to get out some energy on another rainy day!

Children's Discovery Museum.

We loved it!!!

Playing at the park and catching fireflies

We stayed busy, everyone had a great time and lots of memories were made. Makes me so happy and thankful I had this opportunity. I took Gavin back to my dad on Sunday. My dad called and told me Gavin said he doesn't know what the best day of his life is but it was probably one of the days he spent with Aunt Lisa. It brought tears to my eyes, made everything worth it :) I know John Thomas had a blast too! He followed Gavin everywhere he went for the week and was not happy when I came back home without Gavin. I hope we are able to do this for many more years!

What I have been doing lately

I have had a couple opportunities brought my way recently that I have really enjoyed

I was trained in the Bickram Hot Yoga series. I love learning and expanding what I am able to teach. Bickram is the original hot yoga. Around the world the same 26 poses are practiced in a room heated to 100-105 degrees. I love it!

I taught a yoga class to the UD basketball team. Really neat to teach yoga on a basketball court to a group of 6 feet tall guys :)

Got CrossFit certified. Again really love expanding my knowledge. My gym is wanting to open a Crossfit box with me as one of the lead instructors. Crossfit is a competitive workout that combines body weight, heavy weight and gymnastic moves.

And of course my favorite job of all........

playing with this guy, even in the rain

"Little" Tommy

My husband and my step son have the same name so I have struggled with what to call them for 8 years now. A lot of people call my husband Tom but that never seemed normal to me so I started calling him Tommy and my step son Little Tommy which was ok when he was 10. Now he is taller than I am so I really can't say Little Tommy :) We celebrated his 18th birthday and high graduation a couple weeks ago. He will be attending college at Saint Thomas, a Catholic college in Minneapolis. He is planning to play basketball. He is such a good kid and I am so thankful I am a part of his life and John Thomas has him as a role model.

One big happy family at Tommy's birthday dinner.

John Thomas adores Megan and Leo (Tommy's little sister and brother)



Summertime!!

Summer has finally made it to Ohio! I am so happy! We love it getting dark later, taking walks, going to the playground and of course playing in the water. This is Tommy's slow time at work too. Having a husband on the weekends and at night makes life so much nicer (and easier!)

I feel like I say this so much but I love the stage of life John Thomas is in now. He understands what I am saying, talks in sentences and has his own thoughts. So much fun to watch him experience everything.

John Thomas has locked me out of the house twice now. He goes in shuts the sliding glass door and puts the wooden stick down so you can not slide the door open. First time I convinced him to lift the stick and let me in, second Tommy came home while I was outside and told John Thomas he had been wanting to do the same thing for years :) (both times I was only locked out a couple minutes)

JT inside, Mommy outside

Practicing being like Daddy

One of our favorite things about summer, the playground. 

Walking home from the park

 Summer party at the playground

Kisses

 Swim lessons with Daddy, makes me nervous! But they both have fun.

This is the only baby item I bought for Francis. No matter how many times I put it up John Thomas always finds it. He loves wearing it around the house.

 Tommy says Francis would like that he wears it so I let him.

Cutting grass

We has friends from Wisconcis visit for memorial day.

 John Thomas loved having so many people at his house to play with!!

Water table fun

boys will be boys........

Favorite Picture!!!

Mother's Day

I am so thankful I am a mother, step mother and I have a wonderful mom. I looked at Mother's Day through different eyes this year. My heart breaks for all the women who want to be a mother but is struggling with fertility, mom's who have had miscarriages, lost children, or who have lost their mom. So thankful of my blessings! Francis was due date was yesterday, it will always be a special day to me.
My step son has been in town so he was able to celebrate with us. John Thomas adores Tommy or as he calls him "brother". He has been glued to him since he got here. It is so cute. If Tommy leaves the room John Thomas runs around the house screaming "Brother" I love it :)
JT had his first swim lesson Saturday. An adult must get in the pool with him so Tommy did his first swim lesson with him. JT loved it! When the lesson was over he kept asking for "more swim"

Sunday I got up early and went to Hot Yoga before church. The message at church really spoke to me. I love it when that happens, you know you are where God wants you to be. The message was about waiting on God's timing and while you wait listen to the lesson God is trying to teach you. Wow. I will be listening and studying his word. After church we had brunch with some good friends. My husband took the boys shopping so I could relax by myself at home. So nice! I thought about cleaning but instead I watched scandal on Netflix. 

My husband really surprised with a very special gift.

and flowers



He also had several pictures of our family printed (I am awful about actually printing pictures) and he had a picture that we had taken 3days before I lost Francis famed. So special. Feeling blessed.