Happy Bday Dad

Just wanted to give a shout out to my dad on his special day!

LOVE YOU DADDY!

Pickin Raspberries

Yesterday we went on an adventure to the Raspberry patch. I had intentions to pick enough for jam, but just a few minutes into it and I got impatient. Elliot had his own bucket that we were occasionally putting raspberries into it, but soon realized he was eating them faster then we could pick them and was even picking and eating his own too. What a chubby. It was really cute. That's when I realized how long picking raspberries really took, so I lowered my expectations.

We had a great time. It's always fun being on a farm and getting a little dirty. Elliot loved searching out the ripe ones calling out "Here it is." "Look mom." whenever he came across a good bunch. He was deteremined to hold the bucket with all the berries and had a few accidents where we spent as much time picking them off the ground as we did off the bush. No wonder it was taking us so long. But, I guess that was the point. We were there to make memories not jam and we certainly succeeded.

I sure love my family. What a sweet boy Elliot is. So curious and independent. He's growing up too fast.

His first pick of the day

The first of the binging spree...and it never ended.

His bucket had better use as a hat then a raspberry collector. But his belly was certainly not complaining.

Finally, a full bucket. It was about 3 lbs in 1 hour. Not bad for a hungry group like us.

Yep, still eating. We probably should have weighed him too.

Happy Birthday J.R.

My idea of emergency decorating while J.R. was napping.

Matt D. would be so disappointed :)

Technically the new T.V. was his bday gift, but I had to wrap a few other things just for the tradition of opening presents.

You'd be surprised how many green highlighters he goes through. This is the second box of all green highlighters I've bought for him in the last couple years...just think all the studying that went along with it - yuck.

Right now he uses my stethescope so I got him his own, but he took it back. I guess he likes mine better or maybe it's a sign he doesn't want me to go back to work...hummm...

Ice cream cake from Cold Stone.

Talk about rich, tastey goodness...let's not talk about calories, I'll be good next week.

Yes, I'm a week behind. For some reason I can't seem to get anything done lately. I don't know if we're really that much more busy or if Elliot is just more demanding?? Not sure, either way it's harder and harder to keep this thing updated.

Happy Birthday J.R! He had the entire weekend off so we celebrated all weekend long. Saturday night I surprised J.R. with a long date night. The Rushton's took Elliot and had him sleep over so we had the whole night to ourselves. (seriously awesome friends) We first went to The Melting Pot for dinner. Have you been there? We hadn't and were pleasantly surprised. It was really fun and very romantic. We were sat in a little secluded booth and got to fondue everything ourselves. The cheese, salads and dessert were amazing. The meat was pretty good, but I think we were so paranoid about getting the pieces done that we over-did most of it. But, it was still so yummy. Very pricey, but luckily I had a $25 coupon to help soften the blow.

Next we headed off to the Indiana State Fair and went to the Keith Urban concert. It was J.R.'s first concert - can you believe it? I was worried because I know J.R. isn't that into Country music, but afterward he said "that was not country, that was really cool" I love Keith Urban, but we were both really impressed by his guitar playing skills. Sweet! He's amazing. It's always fun to see musicians who are more then just great singers. He was lead guitar on every song and was just awesome! Our ears were tingling for about 2 days after...ohhh the lingering affects of a rock concert :-)

After the concert we would have normally been done and headed home to get Elliot, but NO - not tonight. We stayed at the fair and wandered around stopping for ice cream (as if we didn't eat enough that night) and stopping to ride a ride. We haven't been on a ride in FOREVER so this was pretty exciting. It really was scary too.

We felt like kids in love again that night. What a breath of fresh air for our relationship. To just be us for a night without responsibilities or worries. SO FUN!!

HUGE THANKS to our sweet neighbors and best friends, Jerry and Debbie Rushton and their boys. What a kind thing to offer to keep Elliot. They never cease to surprise me. I'm learning so much about being a good friend from them. What great people!

What concert would be complete without a t-shirt with someone plastered on the front.

Not sure the face...this was during the opening act. I think J.R. wasn't too sure what to think at this point. Don't worry, he gets into it as the night goes on.

It was so hot. Can you see the sweat beads running down our faces? Gross.

The "Freak Out" ride we went on. Can you believe they can charge $4 a person to ride this? Talk about a rip off. It didn't stop us though...we were crazy, free teenagers again.

I love you J.R! Happy 31st Bday!

You're one amazing husband and father and I couldn't have asked for anyone better. You're perfect for me and I love everything about you.

Thanks for the fun night!!

Enjoying the Summer

Just another day on our block. Enjoying the sun, kids and food. Still loving the Rushtons and their care free, laid back personalities. We had a spur of the moment cookout Friday night. We each grilled on our own grills, brought it all together and shared around in the Rushton's back yard. Such great company. What a fun kick off to a fantastic weekend....more to come.

(this is a quick page I got from scrap matters - I can't take credit for it's cuteness.)

Water at the zoo

The zoo is one of the two places I know to go here in Indianapolis, so we go once sometimes twice a week. Compared to the Columbus zoo there isn't many animals to see, but IN has a very cool water spray park that is super fun for Elliot and slightly shaded for me :) Oh yes, and don't forget the train ride and the merry-go-round. Favorites for sure!

While watching Elliot play I noticed that the water looked like crystals spouting up into the sun. I thought is was pretty so I took a picture.

Elliot was sitting on a spout and was surprised when he opened his legs and got it in his face.

The merry-go-round. It's a different animal each time we ride. Today it was the tiger...the one animal he mentions on a daily basis because he likes to growl at everything.

He was sick of me in his face snapping shots and was asking me to put it down and get wet with him. I said, "okay just one more. Look up here and smile" and this is what I got. Can you see the impatiences in those eyes? So cute!

Meet the Rushtons

You have not met the perfect neighbor until you have met the Rushton's. They are our "across the street" neighbors and we feel so lucky to know them.

When we first arrived and were unloading our truck Jerry Rushton marched right over to introduce himself, welcome us to the neighborhood and offer a hand with moving stuff in. A couple days later when we were trying to figure out how the lawn mower worked and trying to tackle the disaster of a yard we were left when Jerry marched over and offered to see if he could fix the mower for us, then offered to mow our lawn for us. Of course J.R. wouldn't let him mow our lawn while we sat and watched, but we did borrow his mower. While J.R. was mowing the lawn Jerry totally fixed our mower - even when to the store for parts and when J.R. tried to pay him for it he refused saying it wasn't a big deal at all. His wife Debbie also saw me cutting down our bushes by hand and brought over an electric trimmer that cut the work time in half. These people are just awesome! If I continued to tell you everything they have done for us while we've been here, this post would be a mile long. Ie: Dinners for J.R. when I was gone, and for me when he is gone. Babysitting for MD apts. Use of their truck at any time - he even offered to give us a key to it in case we needed to use it and he wasn't around. Borrow their fax machine. Shoot hoops on their court behind their house. Let J.R. drive their convertable for 2 days when we accidently forgot to pick up our car at the shop before the weekend. Seriously, the list could go on and on. Just amazing people!

The kids in the neighborhood are just as great. While we were taking a break from moving stuff into the house, we heard a knock at the door. There were 3 kids standing at the door introducing themselves and welcoming us to the neighborhood. How Polite!
We felt so loved and welcomed that I even dared ask Jerry for a ride to the airport after being their neighbor for just a few days. Of course Jerry took it a step further and offered to mow our lawn while we were gone for two weeks. We made him promise to let us return the favor someday. Crazy nice people. So giving, so kind without any secret agendas. This is exactly the friend and neighbor we want to be. I'm so happy for their example. For now on FHE lessons will be "what would the Rushtons' do?" (in a non sacreligious way of course)

The pictures below are just an average summer day on our street. Playing in the pool that turned into a water fight. Playing in the truck (not sure why that's fun, but I guess being stuck close together and watching Elliot push all the buttons and getting him to say "hamburger" makes kids bust up laughing) Elliot loves the Rushton boys. Josh, Jacob (twins) and Jared. You should see the fit he throws when I tell him it's time to come in for dinner. It's embarrassing, but I think they secretly love the attention. He's other good buddy is Mathew. He comes over every once and a while asking if Elliot can play. Mathew is 8. They can't even communicate, but Mathew likes to make Elliot laugh and Elliot loves having a buddy to play with. Such cute kids.

Mathew & Austin (brothers), Josh and Jacob (twins), Elliot

Debbie & me (i guess I was taking a short nap?? JK)

Debbie just got back from playing a church softball game. What a cool mom.

(Sorry, no picture of Jerry yet)

They keep him happy with treats and juice drinks

Sitting on the Rushton's porch. Elliot right in the middle of all the kids.

Elliot, Josh (or Jacob - I still can't tell them apart), Mathew

Jared, Elliot and the rest of the gang