Zachary's garden

This week Zachary and I spent a lot of time in our front flower bed planting flowers and re-arranging our landscape.  While at a garden store he found this Seas.ame Stre.et bag with plastic tools.  It was a great price and I thought it was a perfect way that he could "help" me in the front yard.  Of course he picked the bag with the green tools.  Anyways when we got home Zachary found an entire packet to make your own "green" bean garden.  BONUS!  So after dinner we put together his green bean garden.  Now he is anticipating his beans.  Fortunately, Kevin's parents have several gardens which MaMaw & PawPa let him help in so he has a green thumb.  I tell you what this boy is 100% boy....anything with bugs, mud, insects, or outside he loves.  He also loves "projects" as much as I do. 
Fake smile by Zachary as we lay out all of the supplies. Stirring the potting soil & water

Showing the green beans...yet again a fake smile.

Our finished bean containers.

40 Under 40

Last week we celebrated a huge honor for Kevin. He was selected as one of our local business journal magazine's top 40 under 40 Businessmen/Business women of 2010. I guess over 300 business men & women were nominated. Of that 116 of those completed all of the paperwork and applications to proceed with the selection committee. The selection committee chose individuals who stood out in the community by their character, community involvement & service, and for their professionalism.  Of course I thought he was very deserving of this award and I was super proud of him.  Here are the pics from the 40 under 40 banquet & awards ceremony. 

***I have chosen to black out certain parts of the photos which include our last name.  Since my blog is open I always like to protect some parts of our privacy. 

Our family that came out to support Kevin....including my 15 day old nephew, Jerrytt. He did not make a single peep.  He was fantastic and we were glad he made it to cheer on his Uncle Kevin.

Kevin and I at the "meet & greet".

Rachel, Matt & Jerrytt

Kevin standing by the 40 under 40 poster of the 40 distinguished business men & women.

Kevin recieving his award....yes that is a 15 foot picture of him in the back ground. He was a little embarassed at how big is dimples were. HA!

Update on my friend Jason & a huge thank you!

I just wanted to thank all of my blog readers for praying for my friend, Jason Spencer. Here is the link to my previous blog post about Jason's cardiac arrest. Jason is 100% normal and back to life.  Yes, you read that right.  He had a heart attack on April 3rd, was in a coma for 6 days with no brain activity, he woke up from his coma after a week, got a defibrilator, was released from the hospital, and is 100% fine.  He tested out of speech therapy, phyiscal therapy, occupational therapy, and rehab.  The only thing  he can't do is drive for 6 months.  PRAISE GOD!  Thank you so much for lifting Jason, his wife Buffy, and their two children up in prayer.  If any of you do not believe in God or miracles this should change your mind.  Jason is a living, breathing miracle! 

Here are a few pictures of Jason and his family that were taken last week. Our MOPS group had a "surprise" baby shower for Jason & Buffy so here are some pics from me dropping off the gifts.  The second set of pictures are from a church service we had where Jason, Buffy, & the girls came in as a surprise.  Let me just tell you that there was not a dry eye in the bunch and there was a standing ovation for Jesus that lasted over a minute long. 

Sunday School Baby Shower

My dear friends, Julie & Chrissy helped me host a baby shower for our friend Betsy. Let me just say it was so much fun hosting a baby shower for a girl baby.  Anymore everyone I know or have had a shower for has had boys so this was fun decorating with pink & lime green.  We had a wonderful lunch, yummy cake, and a great time celebrating Betsy's little girl that is on the way!  CONGRATULATIONS Betsy & Andy!

Hilary, Chrissy, Betsy, & Julie

The Food lineThe yummy cake that matched the plates & napkins perfectly! Betsy & her mom

Meeting up with our dear friends!

Last weekend Kevin, Zachary, and I had the opportuntity to have lunch with some good friends.  Tisha & Kevin went to college together for six years. It's funny to me that no matter how much time has past since they graduated from college we all picked up right were we left off.  It was great seeing Tisha & Dave...but the best part was meeting their new little guys.  They have twin boys that are 6 months old.  I have been praying for these little boys since before they were even conceived.  God has truly blessed them with amazing little babies.  Ah! They were so cute and so fun to be around.  Of course, Zachary LOVED being with TWO babies at once.  Thank you Dave & Tisha for letting us know you were in the area.  It was a great afternoon!

Hilary, Zachary, Kevin, Adrian, Dave, Tisha, & Sleeping Isaac

Butterfly Release

I find it ironic that all FIVE of Zachary's butterflies "hatched" on May 4 and 5th which was the same time that my sister had Baby Jerrytt.  God has a funny sense of humor. During Rachel's entire pregnancy Zachary insisted he had FIVE babies and that he was going to have them when Aunt Rachel had her baby.  He was right. He had FIVE butterflies.  After reading more about the life cycle of Butterflies I realized that we needed to release them around the 7-11 day point or else their life cycle would end right before our eyes.  As hard as it was to make Zachary release them he did well.  One of his butterflies has "special" wings similar to NEMO so we let Z keep him.  I am happy to report he is still alive and doing well in his habitat in our home.  This has been the best toy, educational tool, and pet for Zachary.  Thank you Aunt Lou!

Zachary's 1st Bank Account

Zachary runs all of my errands with me...daily.  Because of Kevin building a new office we are always at the bank dropping things off.  Zachary has been asking about how he can get his "own" bank account.  Last week when we were in the bank Melissa asked if Zachary had a "Looney Toons" account. I said no and began asking for information. Basically a Lo.oney.Too.n account is a childs account that has no banking fees with a minimal deposit of $1.  The child will get a toy with every deposit they make.  It's a great way to encourage kiddos to save their money and deposit it at the bank.

 Today was Zachary's day to take all of his money from his piggy banks into the bank. Another request of Zachary was that "Uncle" Keran must be present to take his money.  He did not want to give it to just anybody...it had to be Keran.  Luckly with a little arranging Keran was present and helped Zachary open his first banking account.   Keran took Zachary up to the counter and let him watch Erin put the change into the coin counter.  Zachary thought that was awesome!  After he was done he picked out a cool toy that has entertained him all day long.  I have a feeling Zachary is going to want to stop by the bank every day to drop off a handful of pennies so that he can get a toy. HA! Oh and the final count on the money was $103.40. I could not believe that he has saved that much money in his piggy banks.  I guess its enough for 4 tanks of gas when he turns 16....by that time it might just be 2 tanks of gas. 

Mother's Day 2010

I love Mother's day. I love it because I get to celebrate my mom and my mother-in-law. I also love it because Kevin & Zachary spoil me rotten.  The highlight to my mothers day was that I got to go over to Rachel & Matt's to see Elliott & Jerrytt.  Last Thursday, Zachary came down with a 103 fever which put a quick halt on us going to the hospital to see the baby.  I was heart broken. It was so hard for me to stay at home with a sick kid while I knew everyone was up at the hospital holding me nephie.  Fortunately on Saturday Zachary was symptom free and feeling better.  However I wanted to wait at least another 24 hours until I stopped in to see my new man.  On Sunday after church we popped in for a few minutes to sneak a peek. 

Another special event on Mother's Day was that my parents came out to our house to go out for dinner.  I love to shut the kitchen down for Mother's Day. We enjoyed dinner out and each others company.  My mom is such a wonderful mom and example to me. She is always encouraging me to be the best mom I can be. I know that I will never be able to live up to the mom that she.  She inspires me, loves me & my flaws, and loves my family. She's the best mom & Grammy EVER!  Thank you Mom! 

You would have thought it was Father's day by the way Zachary was attached to Pops.  He couldn't get enough of my dad.  He is such a lucky kid to have such wonderful grandparents!

5/5/10: Jerrytt's Day

So back when  my sister announced that she was pregnant and due on May 18th she said, " I really hope he is born on 5.5.10 because that would be such a cool birthday".  Of course I thought there was going to be no way that he would be 13 days early, especially since my sister is a scheduled C-section.  My sis was scheduled for her c-section on Tuesday May 11th at noon. I had prepared for childcare for Z. I cleared my calendar and waited impatiently. Well let me just say that Jerrytt did not disappoint any of us.  He picked his own birthday and gave my sister a break by arriving on 5.5.10.  At midnight on 5.5.10 our phone rang and it was my sister.  Kevin had arrived back home from a week long trip in Washington DC.  We were both exhausted so when the phone rang Kevin thought it was a hotel wake up call.  I thought it was our alarm clocks.  My sister tells Kevin her water broke and he hung up.  He tells me and I roll over.  Then my mom calls and I ask her what we were supposed to do.  I hung up and rolled over again.  It took about 7 minutes until I popped up from my bed and said, "MY SISTERS WATER BROKE...I"VE GOTTA GO".  I laid out Z's preschool clothes, packed his lunch and called my in-laws.  Then I went straight to Labor & Delivery. 

 

Fortunately we did not have to wait very long because Jerrytt arrived at 3:45 pm.  It was so exciting!  I was back at home by 5:00 am but was way to excited to go back to bed.  Let me just say that Jerrytt is WONDERFUL, ADORABLE, and super sweet.  He weighed 8 lbs 5 oz and was 19.5 inches long with jet black hair.  He resembles his big brother, Elliott but he also has some of his own characteristics.  I have had a lot of questions about the origination of Jerrytts name so here is it.

Jerrytt Bales Young (Pronounced Jarrett)

Jerrytt is named after my dad, Jerry. Bales is my brother-in-law, Matthews mothers maiden name.  Since Elliott has my moms maiden name, Wood they thought it was perfect to use Matt's moms maiden name for Jerrytt.  I think its perfect!

Caterpillars, Chrysalides, Butterflies..Oh my!

For Easter my sweet Aunt Lou sent a card to Zachary. On the return address it had a monarch butterfly on it. Zachary said, "I sure hope there is a butterfly inside." Well there wasn't a butterfly in the card but Aunt Lou sent a check for Zachary. Which I might add is SUPER SWEET! Thank you Aunt Lou! Usually I have Zachary place any money he receives from his birthday or special occasions in his MO 529 college account. This time I let him take his money to Toys R Us. We found this butterfly habitat with a mail-in card for caterpillars. It was perfect and just 6 cents more than his check. He was so happy. However a little sad when we got home and the caterpillars were not in the box. That day I ordered the caterpillars online and we received them 5 days later. I wish I would have taken a picture of them but I forgot. They were long and skinny. Within 7 days they had used silk to spin them self into a Chrysalides (or cocoon). We then placed them in their habitat and now we are waiting for the Pretty Lady Monarch's to "hatch". It's be the best project for Zachary. He can't wait to check on his "babies" every day. It works out perfect because their are 5 of them. I'll post more after they come out of their chrysalide. Thanks again Aunt Lou!

**The one picture the habitat is hanging from our kitchen light.  They have to be kept safe so this was the best place for them to be unharmed.

On Tuesday of this week 2 of Zachary's butterflies came out of their "shell". Then on Wednesday the other 3 hatched.  They have the same birthday as cousin Jerrytt.  I will have to post pictures of the beautiful butterflies...but my camera is at the hospital so I will do that later. 

Where Oh Where?

Where or Where is Zachary? Recently Zachary asks for 5 animals when he gets in bed. He only wants the "biggest" one with teeth. Not sure why this is his request but we let him select 5 animals. When I popped in to check on him before I went to bed this is what I saw. Every animal was tucked in and he was in dreamland. Moments like this are priceless to me!

With the flash!

Last minute things with my only nephew!

As my second nephew is about to be born...I am finding myself yearning for more one-on-one time with my nephew Elliott.  I just can't imagine what it will be like when Jerrytt arrives.  I can't wait to meet him, love on him, and of course spoil him.  As an aunt that is my job right?  I love my two nieces, Brynn & Karsen, and my only nephew, Elliott so much. I know I will have that same amount of love for my new nephew Jerrytt too.  Until he arrives I am starting to crave more time with E.  Last week, we joined Rachel & Elliott at Krispy Kreme for an afternoon visit. The boys love watching the donuts being made. I love spending time with Elliott. 

Zachary is SO excited for Baby Jerrytt to arrive.  He loves kissing him, touching Aunt Rachels belly, and hugging her belly.  Jerrytt is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday May 11th at noon...unless he decides to come before then.  I'll keep you posted.

 *** I scheduled this post last Saturday on Automatic post. UPDATE: My sister's water broke in the middle of the night. After I realized what her phone call was about and came to my senses I rushed to the hospital. I am glad I did because my nephew, Jerrytt was born at 3:45 a.m. on May 5, 2010. He is perfect. I can' t wait to do an entire blog about him but until then enjoy this post that I previously made.