8.25.2010

something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue

tim and silas and i had a great adventure a few weeks ago at re-store, an awesome place here in tulsa. as the website says, recycling at its best. 
reduce, reuse, recycle...please.
re-store helps keep usable items out of landfills. doors, door knobs, handles, trim, windows {as seen below}, cabinet doors, tools, everything...even the kitchen sink.

so it was a fun adventure for all.  silas got to run and play and talk to everyone who would talk to him and tim and i got to dream and be inspired about how we could use some of these fun treasures we were finding!  plus all proceeds go to habitat for humanity. meeting a basic need, i think that is a great place to start.

one of our exciting finds was this window.  just a little scrapping, mixing up a green i like, a light coat of new paint and some hanging brackets...voila!

{all of these pictures are a little different to me, and i love them all, so i'm sharing them all with you!}

something old...the window
something new...the window {to us}
something borrowed...everything on this earth
and...
something blue...those eyes!  look at those eyes!

8.24.2010

my beautiful butterfly

yesterday silas and i were hanging out with my aunt at her house and as silas swung in her string hammock from the yucatan {circa 1978} he recited the very hungry caterpillar saying...
"i built a small house around myself called a cocoon that i lived in for more than two weeks, then i pushed my way out and i was a beautiful butterfly!"
and indeed he is.
we watched a sesame street this morning and they talked about bicycles and tricycles and the importance of wearing a helmet, so he's now insisting on wearing his helmet as he rides around inside the house...not a bad idea...i guess?

silas, i love knowing you.


8.23.2010

hello moon, goodnight mittens and goodnight kittens

because someone else is getting some good out of our camera somewhere in france, we got a new camera {thanks to insurance and overstock.com}.

with a 80X optical zoom.

thats a lot of zoom. 


yes, that is the moon as seen from our backyard the last few nights {at an 80X optical zoom advantage}.

the moon is in synchronous rotation with the earth and is the earth's only natural satellite. the moon's gravitational pulls produce the ocean tides and have an effect on the length of minutes in a day.

the moon is an amazing thing that we have the opportunity to bypass or be thankful for every night. the truth of the moon reminds me of my favorite song and the reason i named this blog the color green when i started it a few years ago before russia...

...and the moon is a sliver of silver
like a shaving that fell on the floor of a Carpenter's shop... 
be praised for all Your tenderness by these works of Your hands
suns that rise and rains that fall to bless and bring to life Your land
look down upon this winter wheat and be glad that You have made
blue for the sky and the color green that fills these fields with praise ...

and tim took a great video, for a little perspective...

8.21.2010

soul food

i am grateful for my husband who brings me a beautiful blue hydrangea flower, a fun drink, and a redbox movie just for fun!

...and i am grateful for my amazing artist who makes beautiful creations for us to decorate our walls...
i am grateful that we just celebrated the 7 year mark of the day tim came home from the war...

that was a good day.

and the first moment was captured...
we stood like this for a long time...
as of august 19, 2010 all combat troops are out of iraq, and we were a part of that so for us too its a closing to a certain chapter.

i'm grateful that while tim was there he had good friends who took care of eachother...

and he took care of these...
{can you see him in that crowd?}
i love these faces.

we have so much to be grateful for, and its good for the soul to stop and consider that often. take time. its rejuvenating, refreshing, restorative. don't let it pass.

8.18.2010

my smoothie king

...really, he's a pro.  

silas' perfect everyday smoothie:
apple juice
a few huge spoonfuls of vanilla or greek yogurt
wheat germ
whole banana
a few handfuls of frozen strawberries

blend to perfection and enjoy!

8.06.2010

this is what i love...

i think its really sweet, the way i seem to go invisible to silas once tim gets home....
he loves his daddy. and whats not to love?

{happy weekend!}

7.30.2010

a few full weeks in a few words

because someone in paris is getting some good out of our camera {hopefully!  the least they could do is take some great pictures!}, this will be a "word picture" post.

the last few weeks have included...

silver dollar city {or hundred dollar city if you ask silas} adventure with my parents, tim, silas and myself {including silas riding his first "rides" ever, and me and tim riding roller coasters like kids {and then getting back in line immediately to do it again}}

splash park.

surprising a dear friend for his birthday{the surprise also included a bunch of marine buddies reunited...truly priceless, high unpredictable} {we love you brian!}

great time with friends...

seattle.  wonderful trip.  for tim's work conference but i got to tag along. seafood while literally sitting on the dock {could have just jumped out of the water, sprinkled some seasoning on itself and landed on my plate}...pike place market. fish throwing. fresh flowers. honey sticks. just-picked raspberries. finding a fun tiny little town nearby and walking in each little shop. finding a great resource on how to home-make dog food.

more great time with friends...

new wood floor {thank you warranty dept}.

splash park.

new carpet in one room {again, thank you warranty}. 

friends...have i mentioned that?

splash park.

i am so thankful that i have gotten to travel the world as much as i have so far in 31 years.  but i love tulsa, and i'm always glad to come home to you.

7.08.2010

31 was a good birthday...

monday july 5 was my birthday and it was a great one.  tim and i took silas to his first movie ever {toy story 3} and was a sweet several moments there sitting in the dark, sticky-floor-popcorn-smelling room.  did you know they have booster seats for the theater seats so little ones don't get sucked into the crack in the chair as it threatens to swallow them?  so cool.  silas' arm stayed shoulder-deep in a bucket of popcorn for the whole movie as he peered barely over the top edge of the bucket.  a sip of coke every now and then.  i don't think he blinked the whole time.  and i love movies, and i think movies are overpriced, but this one was priceless, truly.


7.02.2010

when they steal your camera, buy a disposable and keep having fun

this probably should be a post about the amazing trip that tim and i just had the opportunity to take to france, and we were beyond words blessed to get to experience. 


and it will be about that some...

but mostly it should be about my amazing husband and best friend.

if ever you are looking for tips on the right perspective and attitude and heart to maintain when on the first day of your international trip your bag, including all your clothes and camera, your only suit and tie, your four favorite pairs of shoes, favorite running shoes and shorts, favorite undershirt {you know, the things you can't replace easily} and everything else that is your favorite that you take on a special trip...is stolen...talk to my husband. exemplary. model. jesus-like. he is amazing.

for the rest of the eight days he wore what he left our house in bixby wearing.  he did get to borrow a pair of jeans for a few days from a friend we had there.  {and he honestly did smell great}.  otherwise, he rinsed his clothes in the sink and hung them to dry. he borrow a suit from someone we know for the wedding he was officiating in the french countryside. he wore a pink dress shirt for a fancy dinner {because that was all our friend had} and i think i've convinced him to buy a pink one for himself - he never would have done that otherwise, but even he agreed...he wears it well.

we bought a disposable camera and took pictures we couldn't look at right away.  that was an adventure.  we did it like we used to in high school...got our pictures developed at walgreens when we got back to the US and being impatient we flipped through the stack sitting in the car in the parking lot.

i see how amazing and selfless tim is on a daily basis, but in situations like the ones we walked through in france, its hard to take my eyes off him, the peace and patience he holds onto when its tough. it was even fun and adventurous filing a police report in the little office in the train station in lyon. the police officer practiced his english on us, and we all laughed as he told us a few stories about when he was a kid. priceless moments.

oh, and france was amazing. 

train ride to lyon. preparing for a wedding. making new french friends who {thanks to facebook} we've already re-connected with from our internet connection to theirs. kissing once on each cheek. picking flowers in the fields in the french countryside for the wedding later that day. a wedding at a castle. a party at a castle. learning the customs. train ride to paris. celebrating. melding french and american ways and people. paris. montmartre. french art. sacre coeur. eiffel tower at night, watching the city wake up for the evening. iced coffee outside a cafe in the art district, reading our books. 

our hearts did break to miss silas.  that was hard. but he was blowing bubbles and building with clay, and at the jenks aquarium, and taking walks, and making art from the leaves he picked up while on his walks, and watching thomas the tank engine, and being loved on so much by his noni and pop and bono and daddad, no kid could ever want for more.  but the reunion was truly reuniting and like letting a breath you'd been holding out...

so an amazing time had by all...even the guy who is wearing tim's favorite clothes now, somewhere in france....

6.21.2010

noyvecheremyshkinskaya at 3am one year ago today

one year ago today, in the darkness of the early morning, we said a bittersweet goodbye to our russian neighborhood and all the little details that had become our home for a few years...
...the first home silas had known...
...a home that grew us in more ways than we know even now...
we said goodbye to some dear friends, and see you later to some others...and hello to others...

i love that season of our lives and i am forever grateful for it.

often the view from our kitchen window, looking down on our greenbelt, watching moscow go by...

...thank you moscow...

6.09.2010

so long pack n play, you've been a good friend to us...

twin mattress on the floor. check.
fun new striped sheets. check.
new thomas the tank engine blanket. check. check.

one night down, a lifetime to go {in a big boy bed}.

today silas is 2 years and 8 months old and last night was his first night in a big boy bed {aka twin mattress on the floor}.
he had only ever gotten out of his pack n play twice: {once right after we got back to the states - he dropped his blanket out so used the nearby couch to get out - scared him when he couldn't figure out how to get back in}
{and the second time was monday night - a few minutes after we put him down we hear a knocking coming from his door and "mommy daddy i got out!"}

so when we asked him if he wanted to get a big boy bed and talked all about what that entailed, he was in. i figured we'd get one and leave it in his room for a few weeks so he could see it and get used to the idea. but last night at bedtime, as clear as anything he told us he was ready to sleep in his big boy bed. so he did. 

it was a little emotional {for me}. he's been sleeping in his pack n play since day 1 so this was a big step for all of us. 

but you are growing up, silas!  ready or not, here we go...

5.24.2010

beautiful weekend

lots of sunshine. greek food. kayaking. projects in the garage. splash park. rest. sitting still. baby shower to celebrate a friend. eating clean. playing hard. vitamin d. meeting new people. driving. good music. dear dear dear friends. tzatziki. sweet times. and...
finishing the kayak racks...

{my beautiful boy...i just had to interject}...

posing with the new racks, take 1...

take 2 {i am so blessed with my guys!}

the carpenter and his kayak racks!!!  good job baby!

cruisin'.....
thanks, pop, for letting us borrow your cool truck!

enjoying these days....

5.21.2010

get outside!

get some vitamin d.  stay hydrated.  play.
we're looking forward to reuniting with our kayaks this weekend...

silas is ready too!

and speaking of our kayaks, construction on the kayak racks is underway!  progress as promised...
 "how do you make this thing go?"

thank you mom for my beautiful bronzed leaf begonias and the rest of my new color outside!!!  

{happy weekend!}


 


5.15.2010

i am grateful for a tree with the green on top...



since we moved in we've had a poor tree in the front yard that was diseased and was bare on top but had lots of green sprouts growing from the trunk...
we just got a new beautiful october glory maple...its just a baby tree but at least the green is on top...

{good rainy morning kai and silas!}


{mmmm....oatmeal!}



we are also so thankful and grateful that the doctors have discovered that tim's back pain {probably mostly because of the usmc} is because of three bulged discs in his back and he is being treated now!  on the road to recovery!

4.09.2010

happy weekend!

{apologies for being absent from the blogging world for so long...we're outside away from the computer most of the time these days...thanks for checking back in!} 

{hello first strawberry of the season....}

and a few funnies for the weekend....

sweet silas' latest version of sharing with kai...

...and kai indulging in her space...apparently she thinks she has a lot of stretching to do to make up for her years in our russian apartment...

and last but certainly certainly not least, today is my baby's 2 and a half year birthday!  my how the time does fly.....
with all our hearts, we love you silas!!!



1.20.2010

kadence faith



{cathey, me, charlene, kristen {and kadence!}}

kadence faith is the miracle who came into our lives and our family on december 27.  my niece, {tim's sister's daughter}kristen, gave birth to kadence the day before her own birthday...

i want to write this post not only in celebration of kadence's life, but in honor of kristen, the amazing woman that she is, the mom she is becoming and the child of God who is being molded and shaped by her daughter on a moment to moment basis.

on october 2 when kristen went to her doctor for a standard check up to find out her baby's gender, they discovered that kadence has spina bifida and hydrocephalus.  kristen had the opportunity to join a research group out in california so her and her mom {cathey}moved their life out to san fran for a little while for kadence.  in this research group, she was placed into a sub group where an inutero surgery was done on kadence to fix the place on her spine where her spinal cord was coming out...

weeks passed...cathey took care of kristen, i know they laughed a lot, they decorated her hospital room with christmas, monitored kadence, had good days and bad days...

and kadence took her first breath on december 27th, just in time for her momma's birthday on december 28th.

and everyday since has been a unique day, i know.  kadence has had good days and bad days but she is progressively getting stronger and healthier, like we all are hopefully...

they will be home from san fran soon hopefully, and i can't wait to hug them and love on them and get to know kadence, and get to know the "mom" side of kristen.

kristen, i am so proud of you and the way you are walking through this life change as you fall deeper in love with your daughter and your God.  i know there is joy and pain and questions and laughter and awe-struck-ness and tears and exhaustion and good things and hard things.  you are never alone!

love you!

1.18.2010

extreme makeover home edition in tulsa, again!

and simmons is building, again!  simmons are the ones who are building our house {almost done!} and we are pretty big fans of theirs.  and next week, for the third time, simmons is building a house on extreme makeover home edition!

and if you are around, you can be a part because they are looking for volunteers to help.  anytime between january 28 and february 3 you can do anything from handing out snacks and drinks to electrical to plumbing to carpentry to loading and unloading to miscellaneous {do you think they would let me do ty's make-up?}... if you are interested you can click here to get more info and fill out a volunteer form.

our walk-through was moved up to this afternoon {yay!} so we got the scoop...they need volunteers and from what they were saying, {and from what i can imagine} it would be a really fun and meaningful thing to be a part of for a family here in tulsa who needs it.  what a cool way to be the body of Christ in action.

tomorrow {jan 19} at university of tulsa at 930am is the community pep rally...

maybe we'll see you there...

1.16.2010

you've come a long way baby!


 september 17, 2009

 
 october 28, 2009

 
 november 12, 2009

 
 december 18, 2009

 
 january 16, 2010

final walk through: january 19
closing/start moving: january 27

{dear house, we can't wait to live in you!}

 

{oh and of course we had to document our first meal in the house...taco bueno tacos...yum}