Memorial Day Memories

I am thankful for the very fun memories I have of Memorial Day thanks to growing up in Newtown, PA. Our town feels very patriotic to me as I reflect on it from an adult perspective.  Perhaps it had to do with the history of Newtown (George Washington spent the night at the Court Inn in our town before going to fight the Battle of Trenton and there is more history than just that of course).   Perhaps it is because so much of the beginnings of our country happened in the Philadelphia region.  Whatever the case, Newtown is a flag flying, history-honoring, beautiful, tree-lined main street kind of town.  Every year, there was/still is a Memorial Day Parade.  I marched in that parade as part of the marching band for 3 years (it was always very hot!).  The parade route goes through the town and stops at the different cemeteries where veterans have been laid to rest. I also remember decorating my bike and riding in the parade when I was younger.  We usually would watch the parade from the church steps since the parade route stopped right out front of the Court House next to the old church building.  My dad has prayed at the ceremony held there on the parade route.  So many fond memories!  When I was even younger, I remember great Memorial Day picnics in the afternoon with fun church friends at our home.  We would usually end up over at the high school field to launch model rockets (I think we're going to do that later today with my dad!).   In case you can't tell, I still miss Newtown :) ... especially on days that cause me to recall so many great 'growing up' memories.

I know the point of Memorial Day is not necessarily for me to have great memories of parades, time spent with friends, etc. but to acknowledge the men and women in the past and present who serve and sacrifice in our U.S. Military.  I have several friends and family who I say a big "THANK YOU!" to this year ... my Grandpa's, my cousin Nathan, Bryant, Andy, Garrett, their wives and many others!

(If anyone wants to watch a show or two that will inspire you to more greatly appreciate our U.S. Military and their families ... I highly recommend Army Wives and The Unit!)

Celebrating the 2nd Birthday

What a fabulous, beautiful day we had in MN on Saturday - E-man's 2nd birthday.  I thought I would share the events of the day for documentation's sake.  What a joy to spend the day as a family and with our Ridder/Manders families, having fun with the E-dude.

When E. woke up, we went in and sang Happy Birthday to him and gave him a balloon.  He was so sleepy and cute but also excited about the 'birfday' and 'ba-oon'.  Ross then made him 'pancakes' - his favorite Saturday morning breakfast.  Shortly following breakfast we went on a long walk which took us over to the Ridder home where his first birthday present was waiting for him.  On the way, we stopped at the new "Lakes" park for a bit to break up the almost 4 mile walk.  My parents gave E. a train table.  It's amazing.  It will eventually come to our house when we turn the basement into a play area.  For now, it will remain at my parents home (until we get back from our trip to AZ at the end of the month).  It makes all sorts of noises and it is just very nice!  My mom said it took my dad over 3 hours to put it together - thanks guys!  He loved it.  He played with it for over a half hour straight - walking in circles around it, pushing the trains around and through tunnels, etc.  It was so cute!  Once we got home from their house, we had some lunch and E-man and I both took a nap while my amazing husband cleaned/picked up the house to get ready for E's family party.  (Side-note: I am SO grateful for Ross - it's been a busy time in our house and he graciously offered to clean, does an amazing job of cleaning and allowed me to get some rest.)

The Manders' cousins/aunts and uncle arrived around 4 p.m. and we all headed to the pool for a swim. The pool wasn't crazy crowded even with it being Memorial Day weekend - so that was nice. The grandparents and Uncle Josh came around 5 p.m. and we had dominoes pizza (the new version/crust/sauce, etc. is better than the old one!) and a yummy mandarin orange salad.  The kids voted for E to open presents next.  Everyone was so gracious and he got many new books, toys and fun things like a Ukulele from me and Ross and a basketball hoop from Diane and Jerry!  We then sang to him and had him blow out his '2' candle (almost caught his hair on fire - it was very cute and Grandpa Ridder stepped in to help blow it out).  For his second birthday I made him a big chocolate chip cookie - yum!  We enjoyed dessert, the cousins played some more inside and outside - all in all it was a really fun birthday celebration.  Thank you to our family who helped us celebrate in various ways - you all mean so much to E-man and to us!

May 29

Who knew this would be the birthday of our first born son? 

I am so thankful for E-man and all of the giggles, joy and love he has brought into our lives.  Whether he's playing the air guitar or swinging a pretend bat at a pretend ball or racing his shadow or singing to Psalty in the back of the car ... he is full of life and fun.  He loves "juice" and "cheese" and "making music" and the "Twins" and "balls" and going to the "park".  He says the cutest phrases like "Look mama!  Plane!"  or "Mama - where are you?!" or "I did it!" This past year of his life we were grateful to watch him ...

... enjoy being at the cabin with the Manders family for a week, bonding with his cousins and family.
... have a blast experiencing the beach in Ocean City, NJ with the Ridder clan.
...love swinging and being at the park/outside.
...take his first steps between August and September by himself which quickly turned into running everywhere.
...cut most of his teeth slowly but surely.
...survive a nasty case of the hives while visiting Jake and Jill and Lexi in CO.
...eat more and more foods and survive allergy testing in the fall after his hives episode.
....master climbing up and down stairs.
...love spending time with his family - Grandmas, Grandpas, aunts, uncles, cousins.
...develop his language skills like crazy!  It's so fun (usually) to know what's going on his head.
...grasp the concept of 'holding hands' when in parking lots allowing him more independence and saving our arms from carrying him every time we get out of the car.
...figure out how to turn on the CD player and listen to his 'tunes'.
...develop favorite songs ... like "Sing, Sing, Sing"(Chris Tomlin), "Wa Wa" (Psalty), "Mess of Me" (Switchfoot), Now or Never (HSM3), Sara Groves CD Fireflies and Songs, Fernando Ortega (calms him down in Gamma's car) ... and this is just to name a few.
... go to his first session of Story Time at our local library.
...develop a love for sports, especially baseball and tee-ball.
... recognize the faces of his family and friends and learn how to say their names.
...show us that he is an includer and likes it when everyone in the room is doing something intentional together (like dancing on the elmo mat ...).
...begin to be aware of kids close to his age ... some favorite friends - Maizy, Nora, Gabriella (lots of girls! :)).
...loving big kids and running around with them.
...hanging out in the church nursery and in the past year he has figured out he doesn't have to cry when we leave him there (PTL!).
...explore the Children's Museum and Zoo and really like 'buttons' and 'dinos'.
...play many musical instruments - like the piano and guitar.
...appreciate TV like Praise Baby, Sesame Street, Curious George, Super Why and a show about dinosaurs (of course this is in moderation but I think his language has taken off since I've allowed him to watch occasionally in the morning when I'm getting ready).

These are just a few of the milestones we have enjoyed being a part of as his parents.  E-man - we love you to pieces and we look forward to watching you grow this year!