Back to School

Back to School--that is a phrase I absolutely dread to hear this time of year. I graduated from college several years ago, and Toby is way too young to enter grade school, but I still fear hearing those three words. I may not be going back to school, but as the school year begins, I realize that summertime has come to a close, summer vacations are over, and "real life" begins again. My job does not change during the summer months, but I still feel that I am in "summer vacation mode," and I just do not feel like giving that up! Pretty soon, Toby and I will be staring out the window, wishing it were warm enough to play outside. The Upper Midwest is known for its rough winters, but we also have the most beautiful summers--I will continue to be thankful for this beautiful weather until the first day of frost sets in.

What a blessing

Today I've been thinking about life, and how fragile it can be. I keep thinking how blessed I am to have Toby in my life. He could be gone in an instant, but for now, the Lord has blessed us with Toby's presence. It is so easy to take for granted the fact that he is my son, and he belongs to me. The truth is, his future (and ours) is in God's hands, and I have no control over what might happen tomorrow. Sometimes it's frightening to realize that I am not in control, but I am oh, so thankful that I can trust that my Lord has a plan for me and he is by my side in all circumstances.

I am so thankful for my precious son. Through tough days like this one, I really savor the moments where Toby will snuggle in with me and let me sing to him and cuddle with him. I know he will not always be willing to sit and cuddle with me, so I am treasuring these moments in my memory forever. Thank you, Lord, for blessing me with Toby.

Boys and their Toys

We are in Colorado this week visiting Dan's family. The mountains are absolutely gorgeous--to look at, anyway (I am not very fond of heights). We've done some bike riding, hiking, and are about to head towards the mountains for a beautiful drive, but yesterday the boys were hard at work building a deck at Dan's parents' house. Toby "helped" them all day, and was in his element hanging out with the guys, doing manly things and playing with the tools. Once, he even fit the screwdriver to the head of a screw that was already drilled into the wood. I just had to take some pictures of the boys hard at work. In these pics: Toby, Dan, Dave (Dan's brother), and Joe (Dan's dad).

Puppy Love and a Day at the Zoo

Toby really impressed me the other day. When our neighbors walked by our house and stopped to say hi, Toby raced over to them, bent over to get close to their dog, and said, "Puppy." He has always loved animals, especially dogs, but I had never heard him try to say puppy before. It amazed me that he said "puppy" so clearly--there was absolutely no question that was what he said. I soon realized, though, that all animals are puppies right now--when he met the cat at Dan's Aunt Vickie's house, he pointed and said, "Puppy."

From the horses in the Independence Day Parade to the dolphins at the zoo, all living creatures were puppies this weekend. (Toby even referred to the fireworks as a puppy once on the 4th.) Here are some pictures of the fun we had at the zoo on Saturday, and some pictures of the "puppies" Toby saw there.

Waiting for the dolphin show to start. Oops, I mean the "puppy" show!

A Fun-Filled 4th

I'd like to say a huge thank-you to all of you who visited my blog this week, and for the wonderful comments you have expressed to me as well!

We had a busy, yet fun time celebrating Independence Day. We were in the Cities visiting relatives, and started the day by going to a parade. It was fun to see all the kids dressed in red, white, and blue!

We were in a suburb of the Cities, but it has a small-town feel and is quite charming. The parade was a celebration of our Independence, of course, but also a celebration of children.

We visited Toby's geat-grandparents later in the afternoon. Dan's grandma prepared the most amazing ribs, baked beans, cole slaw, potatoes, and strawberry shortcake. Dan's grandpa finished the ribs on the grill--they were oh, so tasty! Of course, we had to dress Toby up in some patriotic gear! Isn't he the sweetest thing?! Grandma had a bubble machine, which kept Toby occupied until we ran out of bubble soap!

After dinner, we went for a ride on Grandpa's boat, and then lowered the anchor and watched the fireworks on the lake. It was a great show! Toby was up WAY past bedtime, but he did really well, and absolutely loved the fireworks! In the boat were Dan, Toby, me, Dan's cousin Brendan and his wife Erika, Dan's Aunt Vickie, and his Grandpa Curt.

God bless America!

Family Portrait

Here are our family portraits from two weeks ago. Be sure to check out my last blog entry as well--I put Toby's One Year portraits on there.

Toby's One Year Portraits

We had Toby's One Year portraits done at the Target Studio a couple of weeks ago. He is such a ham! The photographer was great--she really knows how to capture a child's personality on camera! We also had some family portraits taken, and I will add those on a separate post. Because of the copyright, I was only able to upload thumbnail photos, so the quality won't be very great if you try to enlarge the pictures, but I just had to show off my handsome little boy!