That pesky future wife

I'm beginning to wonder if I should pray silently for my kids future spouses. 

Because more often than not, I get questions or comments about my prayer.

Again last night I prayed for Dominic's future wife. I can't remember what I said since I change it up every night based on what I pray for Dominic. 

But when I finished Dominic was silent for a moment and then -

"What if I'm a butcher?"

Coming from a vegetarian I was a little surprised and started laughing.

"Dominic, do you know what a butcher is? They are basically people who cut up meat."

"Oh, I thought it was a guy who never married."

"No, that's a bachelor."

"Oh, close enough. What if I'm one of those."

I think I said something along the lines of it didn't hurt to pray and God would understand. I was still too tickled about the butcher to be totally sure of my answer.

School!!!

My kids LOVE their school. Well, Dominic does. And Caitlin loved the half day she spent there back in the spring. So they had literally been counting down the days until school started again.

Monday morning they were so excited they could hardly stand still. I made pancakes and we were almost late for school because they were too excited to eat.

 At school. They were so anxious to get inside that I was shocked I even got this picture.

 Caitlin emptying her supplies into her desk. She LOVES her classroom and teacher.

 Jon has come with us for the last three years on the first day of school.

I love this man. He's such an awesome dad!

 Dominic is in the "big kid" classroom. He's quite proud of that fact.

My little guy is growing up.

 

Caitlin was so excited that she was almost crying when I left. But her teacher said she did great. The next morning the giddy had worn off and she was nervous. But after that she's been fine. I know Dominic has enjoyed school all year the last 3 years. So hoping Caitlin loves school just as much as he does. It definitely helps that we have a great school and wonderful teachers who make learning fun.

Braces

Dominic took another step in the growing up process yesterday.

He has braces. They are only on his two front teeth to move them together, but it's still metal in his mouth.

 He's been great about it, even though it's been hurting him. Since Daddy can sympathize much better than I, they've had some long phone conversations (Jon is working some long hours and then going down to work on our townhouses in Chattanooga.).

 

We had to celebrate with ice cream. It isn't every day that one gets braces.

8 Years Old

Here are the "professional" shots I promised. 

I want you to imagine gorgeous 70 degree weather, a really fun cousin to play with, and a mom wanting you to pose for pictures. This was not a good combination for my newly turned 8 year old. But he reluctantly agreed. So I felt lucky to get these couple of pictures before he ran back to play.

I love that smile!

 

Goofy painter

Jon and I have been spending quite a bit of time in Chattanooga trying to get one of our town houses ready to rent. Dominic and Caitlin have been amazing helpers. It's been wonderful having them working right along side us. But Dominic desperately wanted to paint. I was several years older when my dad first handed me a paint brush and I was really reluctant to let him.

He assured me that he would be incredibly careful and paint really, really slowly.

And then he proceeded to demonstrate. This would be his expression while he's painting.

After I finished laughing I agreed to let him try in one of the closets.

I'll be honest - it wasn't half bad. It was definitely done by an almost 8 yr old. But still, not bad. And I didn't see this expression once while he was painting. =)

Welcome Home!

We've REALLY been missing our kitty. The kids talk about him every day. The first time we went to the animal shelter we left without picking any cats out. We just couldn't do it. It was too soon.

But Monday we decided to try again. We fell in love with a very tiny grey female (5 wks old) and a sweet little orange male (8 wks old). Since Tolkien was named after an author we decided to name these two after authors as well. After a lot of discussion and a facebook poll the kids chose Lucy Maude Montgomery and C. S. Lewis. Little Lucy and Lewis joined us yesterday afternoon after a visit to the vet to alter some things. Two kittens is more than enough. =)

Little Lucy is a cuddle bug. She's so tiny that she can sit in the palm of my hand. She's a tiger striped grey. So pretty.

 Lewis will cuddle and LOVES to be scratched under his chin. But he also loves dancing around all of the kitchen cabinets we have outside on the porch. He's a ball of energy.

Caitlin picked out Lucy and is claiming her.

 Dominic picked out Lewis and is claiming him.

Since I have to pay for them, I think I'll claim both of them for myself. =)

We still miss Tolkie a lot. But these two little cuties are helping.

Happy Birthday Dominic!

I didn't forget his birthday. I just didn't have time to post anything on here.

This is the non-party year for Dominic. So he chose one friend and we had them over on Sabbath to eat lunch and cake with us. Then Dominic spent the day playing with his friend. The bonus - the friend came with a sister. =)

Dominic requested a Lego cake. The poor kid requested it before the fire. So I purchased the ingredients and walked over to my in-laws to make it. Then I carried everything back over to the house and spent ages trying to get the fondant wrapped around it. As you can see from the pictures, if it's a Lego, it's one that's been melting in the sun.

But Dominic was so proud and in love with it, so I tried not to be embarrassed.

His actual birthday was spent celebrating with family, including his cousin who came up to spend the week with us.

I love this little boy, except he's not quite so little any more. His crazy energy, funny stories, infectious laugh, and sweet heart are some of the awesome things about him.
I'm so blessed that I get to be his mom.

I took some pictures for his "professional" pics that will be on here later.