Where has the time gone...and I have a first grader!

My last posting was December 22nd, and my how things have changed in the past almost 8 month. I will highlight 10 things to catch up here on my blog, although most everyone who reads this I talk to on a regular basis, but hey! why not share anyway

1. Josh and I have found our way back to each other to reconcile our marriage and our family. Anyone who knows me, knows this was my prayer for a year and a half. It's one of those things where you just don't know why it all happened, but I learned a lot about myself and became a stronger person. Maybe I'll blog about my discoveries of myself in another post. It's a constant work in progress, but we love each other and want to be together to and are working toward the same goals. Again...a whole blog in itself

2. Made the move to Grove City! Bought a sweet little house in old Grove City, just a quick walk to downtown GC. We love it here! There were hesitations- mostly Josh's drive to work and my drive to work (in Marysville still), but now that we are here, it's really no big deal. We are close to family and that's nice for visiting and hanging out...and sharing babysitting. Moving in mid April made me have concerns about switching schools for Nat at the end of the year, but everything just fell in to place. In fact that would be my motto for making the move to GC. Everything just fell into place. This is where we are meant to be.

3. Natalie finshed Kindergarten at JC Sommers with her cousin and best bud Gracie. She played soccer in late spring and LOVED every second of it.

4. Summer arrived and we took our annual Boyd/Smith/Foltz vacation to Duck, NC. This year we added the Waugh and Reale families! We saw the wild horses on the beach, expereienced karoke Stryker style thanks to Andy Reale, and discovered Duck Donuts. I never thought a donut could be so devine. We had a beautiful house and private pool just steps away from the beach. Great vacation!

5. We had to find a new home for Charlie. He was not adjusting well to the move and needing more time than we had available to give him. He went to live with Aunt Kathy and uncle Chuck in Dayton. We can visit him whenever we choose and get updates frequently. He's adjusted well...finally

6. Although I am kinda at a standstill, I have lost 30 pounds! I have started to get myself back in gear, so I can continue. We joined the Ymca for the pool in the summer, but I have taken a liking to using the gym there too. Erin, Josh, sometimes Nic and Jeremy and myself had our booties kicked at bootcamp with Jodi. What a workout!

7. Yard work is hard work and never ending. We had a lot to do in the new yard and have alot to do still. We will tackle a couple new projects next spring. I am now working on decorating the inside and doing a few minor things, changing my style a bit. I'm going for the vintage and ecletic feel. It's coming along


8. Natalie starts first grade! She loves it and does so well! She's making friends and really enjoying herself, while discovering such a unique and cool style and personality. This kid is hilarious too! She has started Hip Hop dance class, after realizing her serious interest and love for dancing. She's pretty good! She also started Tae Kwon Do. We just have one class in but so far, so good! She has also taken an interest in basketball, so maybe we will dip into that this winter. I think we have a little athlete on our hands! I love it!



9. We celebrated Natalie's 6th birthday with her girls, pirate style. We began the weekend with a sleepover at our house with MiMi and the gals. Shopping on Saturday and party on Sunday. Her Bday is August 30th, which was a Tuesday, so we took her to her request of HOJ, the to graeter's for ice cream with Mimi, Poppie, Uncle Nic, aunt ne ne, gracie shiloh and coop. I love celebrating her birthday!

10. It's been a busy summer and start of school year. We are taking a trip to Florida next week for a few days. We plan on going to the OSU/Miami game on the 17th. Hoping for a few days of relaxation. I need it. Maybe there will be news when we return?!

So that's it, a brief run down of the past 8 months! I love to blog. I must make more time for it. Now that things seem to be slowing down, I will get back to it.

By the way, I just completed the book, The Help. Great read! Ready to see the movie.

Kissing Hands

From the book, Kissing Hands comes this picture. Natalie and I love this book, as we find a small similarity with it. Its about a child raccoon named Chester. Chester must go to school and leave his mother, toys, books, friends and all the comforts of home for a child's life before school. Mama raccoon, comforts him by kissing the palm of his hand and assuring him that whenever he misses her, all he has to do is hold that hand against his cheek and he will feel the warnth and love of his mama. He finds happiness and strength in her idea. As he leaves for school, he returns the love by kissing her hand. As he runs off, she immediately holds her hand to her cheek.  

We first read this book in preschool, but it sure plays a part in many things we go through.

A little catching up

Wow! My last post April 15th...I was doing so well keeping up on my blogging. It's been a busy couple of weeks. Here's the run down...

April 18th: Melissa, my long time and one of my BFFs arrived with her daughter, Maddie. We had a fabulous time hanging out. She was here until the 28th. We caught up on a lot of things with each other, you tend to fall behind when you live across the country from each other. We laughed a lot! We shopped, we ate out almost every meal, ate at JENI'S ICE CREAM 3 times, got a tattoo, went on a hike to see the bald eagle's nest which we never saw, went to the movies, and just enjoyed each others company with our girls! I miss her and the fun we had!

Celebrated some birthdays! My little neice Shiloh turned 3 on Aprill 22nd! She and I have devloped this bond lately. She is such a neat little girl. The child was more than anything to be as old as her big sister and her cousin, Nat. She is so sweet and helpful. Just this week, she spent the morning with Natalie and I. While we were waiting for Nat to wake up, she helped me gather and start laundry, fold laundry and do dishes. I didn't put her to work, she said "I help you do that, Jackie?" I really wish the booger would call me aunt Jackie! We also celebrated my cousin, Ashley's 27th birthday! Natalie and I, Ashley and Andy went to a local mexican joint (that tends to be our choice of cusine), and ended our evening at yet again JENI'S ICE CREAM! Love that girl! She is so talented, kind and giving and so much fun to be around...

Last week, Natalie came down with strep throat. She was out of commission for about three days, but bounced right back, with lots of energy. I guess she had to make up for laying on the couch for three days.

This week, I along with my AMAZING staff prepared and hosted an open house event at the salon! It was a great success! Lots of stress leading up to it, but it was so worth it! Thanks to all the girls @ Studio 31 Salons!

Natalie has learned to ride her bike without training wheels!!! YAY!!! She gets better daily!

Yesterday, was a fantastic day! Started out not feeling to great, but opted for a massage since Nat was at school. A massage was so needed, as I felt so much better. Josh and I surprised Nat by picking her up from school together! She was so excited, she told me about three times during the day,"that was a wonderful surprise that you and daddy picked me up from school". We had a nice lunch and headed to the opening day of the polar bear exhibit at the zoo. It is a really nice, very cool addition to the zoo. I do love the zoo!

So here we are today. My car being repaired, no transportation at the moment, a storm blowing in, things to do no way to do them, Natalie resting, maybe I'll read one of the two books waiting for me.

Love these girls

Gracie, Shiloh, Natalie

Gracie and Shiloh came over yesterday to spend the day with Nat and I, and a delightful day it was! These three girls are just so precious, smart, fun and the cutest I have ever known! Of course they are typical little girls. Meaning that they do come with challenges sometimes. Nothing terrible, but little spats break out here and there. I am the pushover out of all the adults in their lives and they know it, but hey- someone has to be, right? We ended our day together yesterday at the park for about 2 hours. They played so hard and had a wonderful time. They were not however impressed at all that I stopped their play to make them strike a pose! I had to, that was the only pic I took all day. I loved hanging out with them all day. They each have these little individual personalities and quirks and I love learning more and more about them. Gracie, she is such a little teaser! That girl doesn't know what it means to be serious. Natalie is such a mother hen. She tries to baby and take care of anyone younger than her, which really irritates Shiloh! Speaking of Shiloh, she has been the baby for so long (not much longer though). She is so sweet, but she can hold her own with the older girls. She takes nothing from them and has learned to be a big girl so fast! (more on her next week when I post her birthday blog- wait until you see the pic for that!)  They are all so different, yet they fit together so well! God help that baby boy, who is on the way!

 

It's his day

Happy Birthday to my wonderful Dad! I could go on and on bragging on all the amazing things about my dad, but I would be typing and you would be reading eternally. I will say that he is always there for me no matter what and has always been. I know that I can count on him without fail, no questions asked. He's not a man of many words and doesn't show a lot of emotion, but I have always known and felt his unconditional love.

 I am so thankful and blessed to have the dad I have.

 Strong. Kind.Caring.Loving.

The picture shown is dad and Natalie last weekend. He took her fishing for her first time. She called him on a Friday and then again on a Saturday morning to ask him to take her. He dropped everything, bought her a Barbie fishing pole and took her fishing. She had a blast! We made a photo book of pictures and comments from the outing. Natalie's quote attatched to this picture "I love Poppy- he's so smart" She's picked up on that already at 4 years old. I can't wait to see her grow closer with him!

I love you Dad