it's yaining

I'm ready for those sunnny days basking by the pool, but Jack doesn't seem to mind the ongoing rain. Whether he's staring out our window or outside getting wet, he points and shouts with exclamation "it's yaining, it's yaining!", like he hadn't remembered that it had been doing so all week. He puts his face up to the sky, his hands up in the air and sticks out his tongue to capture every drop; He has to step in every puddle wherever it may be; he has to touch every puddle with his hand to see how the ripples move (see below pics). Life is full of wonderful little events, and I love being able to experience them with a child. They constantly remind you, that life isn't about posessions (see yesterday's post), or getting to your next destination as fast as you can, but enjoying the little moments that are given to you. These are two things that have been weighing on me as we search out our next step as a family. I was reminded again today how blessed I am to have a wonderful family and to be enjoying this journey of life with them. The constant rain is a running joke in Portland, but the rain is one of the things I will always cherish about our first home as a family.

Tools begone

This past weekend, our garage was broken into. Most of what they took happened to be Derek's coveted power tools, tool sets, tool boxes, tool chests; the main reason he convinced me that we needed to rent a garage in our aparment complex; basically they wiped him out. For those of you that know Derek, these tools meant a lot to him. Over half have been purchased, gifted or inherited from our fathers and his grandfather. A lot of them have sentimental value. Each time he goes to the garage, he discovers more of what they took. What I love about him, was he was pretty distraught about the whole situation on Sunday when he discovered what happened, but by the end of the night he just said, "...you know, it's just stuff." He can let it go so much easier than I can. I started thinking about everything that has been taken from us recently. Our Japanese Vespa knock off was stolen from our parking lot about a year ago, and recently my phone was stolen from a Noodles and Company where Jack and I had been eating and got up to clear our tray (I wanted to believe that the bus boy accidentally threw it away even though the manager said that it probably was stolen, and sure enough our phone bill had accumulated $55 in download charges from that same night.). I guess this is just all stuff like Derek said, but why is there so much evil and greed in this world that people really believe that they are entitled to things that are not theirs? As a side note, Jack has graciously offered Derek his tool set to borrow since he has but one screw driver left. What a boy!

Thank you J. Crew Thank you for finally believing that there are actually other tall people in the world besides your models. J. Crew finally extended their inseams to 36 inches. I know that doesn't sound exciting to most people, but there aren't too many stores out there that believe that there are taller people than 5'8.

Too Tall Hee Haw was the nickname my brother gave me at Aunt Laura's (our parents business). Every time I went to punch in, there was my name "too tall hee haw". But this is a brother that really did care. We were both working at the mall and it was right before prom. He knew that I was trying to find a pair of shoes that wouldn't make me taller than my date. I was in complete agony over trying to find a cute one inch heel shoe. He stopped what he was doing and told the other employees we were going on break. He took my hand and dragged me to one of the store's display windows. There in the window, were these huge pictures of beautiful models with 6 inch stiletto heels on. They looked amazing and confident. He told me that these girls were taller than me, wearing big heels and loving it. I told him I wasn't a model on display at Victoria Secrets, or I wouldn't care. But I have never forgotten this moment. I am tall and proud of it. My pants may always look like a floods coming, but I can reach the top shelf, see over crowds and reach my husbands lips without standing on my tip toes. Tall is beautiful and I embrace it.

Easter

I think we need more kids..Jack by the window, Jack with his basket, Jack with the bunny. He looks a little disheveled because this was after church and he's ready for his nap, but I had to quick take some shots.