a deck and father's day.

He starts stirring at 4:30am.

I know what's happening....he's got a project on his mind.

One hour later I get up to close the bedroom windows. 

Determined hammering and the sun is barely over the hills.

Jake built a deck on Saturday. 

Something he had wanted to do before the baby came, 

so OFFICIALLY, we are ready! 

The kids were by his side most of the time and he was so gracious with them....except when they kept trying to refill the six, 3 foot deep post holes, which he was digging by hand to avoid hitting the sewer line. BEAST I tell ya, beast!! 

This was where I perched for most of the day. 

Watching this supernatural man do his thing, he's so astounding to watch, like a force of nature! I got my notes of encouragement ready for the big day!

verses, quotes, short lines to keep repeating while I'm in labor. 

my brother asked me if one of them says "why hast Thou forsaken me?" LOL. 

I did say that my theme verse this week is 

"be still in the presence of the Lord and wait patiently for Him to act." psalm 47:7. 

and we could throw in psalm 6:4 too, (slightly out of context)!
 "turn, o Lord, and deliver me!!"  

i'm still feeling great.

very tired of course with getting up so often at night. i'm just taking it easy around home during the day. Psychologically it's getting harder though. how can 9 months fly by and one week go SO SLOW!!??  SO READY to meet this SWEET BABY STOLTZFUS!!!!  

In typical Jake-style, he worked and drank and barely ate. He kept saying he wasn't hungry and he was drinking TONS of stuff.  He was "having so much fun!" (what the heck)?  He truly was so motivated as this was something he's been wanting to do for years. I can imagine it felt wonderful as this is part of what he does for others every day, but never enjoys the fruit of his own labors.....

Needless to say the kids loved it.  

Jake learned by watching and hopes his children will do the same.

Especially his clone, Luke.  At his side practically the entire day, working and sweating and digging and filling and drinking "refreshing water."

Jake gave him money at the end of the day. 

He was delighted. 

And of course Paisley-girl would not be left in the dust, 

literally. 

. 

 15 hours later and this is what we had!!!!

It's beautiful.  Still needs the steps and railing and some finishing touches, but for the most part, it's completed....and being enjoyed!!

Father's Day greetings. 

cards~love~kisses~gifts~breakfast in bed.

and of course, some time on the deck!!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY AMAZING MAN!!

WE LOVE YOU!!!!!

He didn't tell me how to live; he lived, 

and let me watch him do it.  

~Clarence Budington Kelland~

Luke's 3rd Birthday Party BASH!!

I come from a very large family so when we have a party with "just" the family,
it's BIG!! If you frequent this blog you are surely sick of hearing about all Luke's parties,
but hey, you only turn 3 once and around here we celebrate well.....and often!!

Making homemade, freshly churned ice cream on the front porch!

Grammie helping Luke eat the ice cream!

The birthday cake reveal!
He was delighted.
So was I.

"A gar cake Mom!!"
(That's how he says guitar).

He didn't want us to sing happy birthday to him
and tried to hide under the table.
So, I said we can sing happy birthday
to me or to Paisley and he was fine with that.
He actually joined in with the singing!
Also, I had to convince him to cut it,
he didn't want to hear of it,
but after a bit he said it would be okay!

This picture is hilarious to me.....people everywhere you look!
That was pretty much our night.....if you know our home, it's not a mansion.
But a house is made of brick and stone,
a home is made of love alone!!!!
People everywhere in this
picture!! Can you count them all??
I see 17!!

Tyler wasn't feeling so good,
so his friend Nya joined him on the
couch. So precious of her.

just a FEW of his cousins!!!!
It was awesome.....and loud!!

"Present time, present time,
open the presents and see what's inside!!!"
(a little diddy that they say on "blues clues" that we
say when it's present time).

a real microphone from Daddy!

And so, the party came to a joyous close with Luke leading us all in a jam session to
"You're the giver of all good things" song! It was great!!!!

Thank you to everyone who came!!!

Luke sure is loved.....

"And thank you for a house full of people I love. Amen."
~Terri Guillemets~

Daddy's work

Jake's business, EWBN, (Eagle Wings Business Network) does the maintenance/landscaping at a local miniature golf place. It's only a few minutes from here, so one afternoon I loaded the kids and we joined him for lunch and a few puts around the green. The boys had a great time eating lunch with Daddy in the beautiful gazebo, feeding little fishy crackers to the ducks, learning how to play a little golf and eating ice cream. Tyler was quite good at the game,
Luke on the other hand just wanted to throw the golf ball around!! We were having a lovely time until Luke tripped and banged his head on a rock! And what a bruise that made...not so fun! Although I will say a little bit of ice cream helped tremendously! I love when Jake works nearby...it's fun for the kids to see him at work and see the things he is building and creating. We just found out that their business will be putting in a new park RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET this summer....how wonderful is that? It really is beautiful timing with the contractors being here to work on the carriage house. Jake will be able to come home most days to oversee the work and see that all is well. We're anticipating an amazing park, I saw the plans and they are a-m-a-z-i-n-g! For those that live locally, it will be behind the library. I believe they hope to have it completed by this Fall, if the funding comes through! GOOD TIMES!

"One night a father overheard his son pray:
Dear God, Make me the kind of man my Daddy is.
Later that night, the Father prayed,
Dear God, Make me the kind of man my son wants me to be."
~Anonymous~