Fun in the Snow

This past weekend Lamar and I took the girls to Hoodoo to have some fun playing in the snow.  We left Calum with a friend since he was not ready to play with the big kids in the snow.  All the way there Nora Beth was very concerned that it would be to scary for her.  I agreed to go on the first run down the hill with her on a tandem tube.  That is all it took to create a little daredevil.  She immediately went to find a pink tube all for herself and we had a hard time keeping up with her.  She got up and down the hill so fast that we had to make a constant effort to keep our eyes on her...she was not going to wait for us.

The kids woke up today to find a dusting of snow outside.  This was Calum's first experience ever seeing snow.  He was not sure what was happening outside but he knew he wanted out there to inspect.

After breakfast the kids all got bundled up and headed outside.  Calum was so excited to play in the snow.  He did not care that his hands were cold.  He just ran all our yard and into the neighbors.  Pure delight!

 

 

Shianne had a friend come over since there was a two hour delay in school.  The girls had fun chasing Calum around and being silly.

 

 

Nora Beth had so much fun making snow angels all over the driveway.  With each one she made she would proclaim how beautiful they were.

After about one hour of playing outside everyone was cold and wanted to head inside for some hot chocolate with marshmallows.  It was a wonderful morning.  Not long after Shianne headed to school, the snow all melted away and just left an icy mess.

Joy of Love: Day 21 His Hands

Lamar's hands are busy during the day typing in the computer and filling prescriptions.  Here is a rare moment of him relaxing with his hands around a beer.

Joy of Love: Day 20 When He Is Home

When Lamar is home the kids get excited to play.  Calum will follow him into the bedroom with hopes that a wrestling match will soon happen.  Lamar will lay on the bed and let Calum crawl all over him.  So many giggles can be heard from both of them.

Joy of Love: Day 19 When He Is Gone

When Lamar is gone Zara thinks it is time to be bad.  She likes to get up on our bed and claim it as her own.  I admit, this is my fault.  When I was pregnant with Calum I had to take lots of naps.  It was a lot of work growing that big baby.  I would let Zara get on the bed with me to nap.  She now thinks this is acceptable behavior whenever Lamar is not home.  She does not dare get on the bed when he is home.

Joy of LOVE: Day 18 Going Out

As I mentioned earlier, we have been enjoying the ability to go out with our friends lately.  We have enjoyed seeing some local bands and going to restaurants that don't cater to little kids.

Wordless Wednesday: Calum 18 Months

Joy of LOVE: Day 17 Staying In

Lately we have been going out a lot.  That is the benefit of finally having Shianne old enough to watch her brother and sister.  We have enjoyed this new freedom.

When we do stay it we like to just kick back and relax.  Lamar loves to lay on the couch and watch TV when the day is over.

Joy of LOVE: Day 16 Together...A Self Portrait

Here we are!

Joy of LOVE: Day 15 Kiss

We went out recently and a friend captured this kiss while we thought no one was watching.

Joy of LOVE: Day 14 Wedding Band

Here are our wedding bands, the ones we exchanged at our wedding.  We both have alternate bands that we wear also.  In fact, I rarely wear rings right now.  I am always afraid of scratching Calum with my rings that I just don't wear them.

I picked out Lamar's ring even before he proposed to me.   I saw it in the jewelry store I was working in at the time and I knew it was the one for him.  I even ordered my engagement ring before he proposed.  I picked out three diamonds that I liked for the center stone and let him pick "the one" from there.  It was a surprise to me which stone I ended up with.  He made the right choice!

Lamar feels bad that we do not have a great "proposal story" and that he fumbled on the proposal, but I secretly think it was perfect and it makes me smile every time I think of it.

Joy of LOVE: Day 13 Routines

Lamar is a creature of habit and schedule.  He does not like to deviate from his daily routine.  He likes order and predictability.  I am the opposite.  I am just fine with a sudden change of plans or not knowing what I am going to do when I wake up in the morning.  We have a weekly check-in on our plans for the week.  He gets up each day, goes to work and comes home.  My day varies with carpool, gym, running, kids activities, errands and house stuff.

Joy of LOVE: Day 12 The Eyes

Lamar has blue eyes, like me and our three children.  He gets a special sparkle in his when he is being mischievous.

Joy of LOVE: Day 11 Dreams

Lamar and I dream of traveling.  We had intended on traveling before we had children, but that did not happen.  The Universe had a different plan for us.  Just when we were feeling like we could leave Shianne with someone, Nora Beth was on her way.  Again, same story with Calum.  We were fortunate to be able to take a trip to Greece for our 10 year anniversary and we have had two trips to Hawaii in the past two years.  We do have a family trip to Florida coming this summer.

We have dreams of more travel.  So many places we want to go.  It is just so hard with the three kids.  We would love to take them with us, but we also want some time for us.  A trip with the kids looks very different from a trip without the kids.  If we take the kids it costs three times as much and if we don't take them we have a hard time finding someone who can watch them.  We have no family in the area to help out and it asks a lot of people to take on three more kids for a weekend...or week.

We have accepted that this is where we are in life right now.  We have plans of great trips in the future

Joy of LOVE: Day 10 Space- Where He Is Comfortable

Lamar is so busy at work that he never has the opportunity for relaxation while he is there.  When he comes home he can't wait to put his feet up.  His chair in his office is his favorite place to wind down.

Joy of LOVE: Day 9 Passions and Hobbies

Lamar's Passions and Hobbies are easy...they revolve around sports.  He is sport obsessed.  Football season just ended.  The weather will improve soon, so golf is just around the corner.  Golf will intersect with baseball season.  It is a cycle all year...Football, Golf, Baseball.

He does not play football, but does enjoy watching it.  Football is on everyday.  College and professional football dominates our television between August and January.  He likes to sit in his chair in his office and relax with a game.

Wordless Wednesday: Calum found the candy!

Joy of LOVE: Day 8 The Greatest Gift

Lamar has given me some amazing gifts over the years.  Many that he put quite a bit of thought into and many that I made easy for him by letting him know exactly what I wanted.

The gift that means the most to me is our home.  Not our physical house itself, but the home we have made it into.  It is where we are raising our children, where two of them were born.  Where we laugh, eat and enjoy each other.  It symbolizes our family.  I have lived here longer than any other home in my life.  This is where my family is.  That is the greatest gift ever.

Joy of LOVE: Day 7 Generations

The goal of today"s post is to show Lamar and generations of his family.  This poses a problem...his family is in Iowa and just not a snapshot away.  I can show him with our kiddos...my easily accessible two generations.

I ran

I ran the Zena Road 6 mile run this morning.  I really did not think much of the run before hand.  Zena Road is a long, flat, straight road near my house.  I thought to myself that this would be an easy, fast run and not much of a challenge.  I should have read the course description a little closer.  It may be called the Zena Road Run, but it is actually not run on Zena Road.  Crap!!  It was on Spring Valley Road...all HILLS!  Maybe ignorance is bliss?  I came upon the turn around point for the three mile runners and so wanted to turn around, but I plowed forward and made it.  All I can say is that there were some great downhill parts of the course!

I felt like I was running a snails pace but realized when I crossed the finish line that I was right on track for my normal turtle pace.  So even with the hills I kept my pace and finished the race strong running!

I spoke with my running partner tonight and we are going to do this course together next week to help with our half marathon training.  Saturdays mornings are now going to become our long run day.  The half marathon will be here before we know it.

Joy of LOVE: Day 6 Who He Loves

Outside of me our three children make his heart melt.  He is so proud of our children.  It makes my heart melt to see him interact and play with them.

Joy of LOVE: Day 5 Love to Hate

There is one thing that has bothered me since I met Lamar.  He has a nervous habit/stress release mechanism of picking at his fingernails.  I have tried everything to try to break this habit.  Moisturizers, manicures, distraction...nothing has worked.  I am sure that he is tired of me nagging him by now.  I will stop nagging when he stops picking!

Joy of LOVE: Day 4 What He Wears

For as long as I have known Lamar he has been very meticulous in the way he dresses.  There seems to be three sides to his wardrobe choices  1.  Work wear of collared shirts and slacks,  2.  Sports wear that is primarily purple and gold or orange and black and finally  3. lounge wear.  The third option does not necessarily fit the meticulous category since I am constantly trying to throw these clothes out for their poor quality.  I should mention the fourth category of "going out wear."  He will often spend more time choosing clothes than me and try three or four things on before he makes his final decision.

All About Teeth

The past few weeks have been all about teeth in the Lindsay house.  After all kinds of insurance hassles and dentist visits, Shianne finally had three teeth pulled.  Her baby teeth were just not releasing and causing all kinds of problems with her permanent teeth that are coming through.  She was not happy to have this done.  She was still traumatized by our first attempt to have her teeth pulled at our regular dentist office.  We all learned the lesson that she does not respond to Novocaine.  It is the equivalent of saline in her mouth.  NO PAIN RELIEF!!  This second attempt went much smoother and she felt nothing this time with anesthesia.  She is even less happy about the braces that will be coming, but one battle at a time.

Nora Beth lost her first tooth!  I looked in her mouth and noticed that she had a permanent tooth that had popped through.  She had not even noticed this herself.  Three days later the baby tooth came out.  Lamar and I gave it a bit of assistance without to much of a fight from Nora Beth.  Of course the anticipation of it coming out was much worse than the actual event!  Of course the Tooth Fairy visited Nora Beth and left her $1 and a lollipop.

Not to be left out of the tooth drama, Calum has four molars that are trying to make an appearance all at once.  It has been many months since he has gotten a new tooth.  I am happy for him to finally be getting these teeth...it opens up all kinds of food options for him now that he will actually be able to chew his food.

Joy of LOVE: Day 3 Then and Now

I met Lamar in the Fall of 1993.  It was the beginning of my Freshman year in college at Drake University.  We met during an evening of debauchery at a fraternity house.  I had no idea at that time that I had just met the man I would marry and have three children with.  Then it was just about having a good time.  Now the good times keep happening...just with less debauchery.

Joy of Love: Day 2 How He Looks

Today was a long day for both of us.  Lamar came home from work and we were rushed to get out the door to a birthday party for a friend.  We both started off in grumpy moods, but by the time the appetizers were polished off we were laughing.

This is the Lamar I see every day.   When I actually get him to sit back and relax the sly smile comes out.

Wordless Wednesday: Calum Strikes Again

Joy of LOVE: Day 1 At Work

For the month of February I am participating in an online class/challenge to photograph the person I love.  You are about to witness a whole month of LAMAR!  Each day will have a new theme.  The class is geared more to people who have DSLR cameras, which I do not have (yet), but I am game for the challenge.

Today's theme was to photograph at work.  It is hard to get a good picture with the terrible lighting in the store and without Lamar giving me a silly look as I snap pictures.  I did find a moment while he was busy counseling that he momentarily forgot that I was there.

Lamar works so hard at a job that he does not enjoy to provide for us.  I appreciate everything that he does so I can stay at home with the children.  I love you Lamar.