June 2012

  June had been a very fun and busy month for us to say the least. Swimming, blastball, family visiting, heart walk, and Joel taking a new step of in the milestones of life. Each day with each other for Joel and I is such a blessing. He is growing up so fast. It is so much fun to do things together where we have fun, and not focus on things that really don't matter.

It was so wonderful to have my son hit a new milestone in June. Yes, I did cry. One day my son decided that it was time for the training wheels to come off his bike. He said, "Mom, I am no longer a baby, those baby wheels need to come off." So, the wheels came off. We tried a year ago, but he just couldn't grasp the whole idea. This time when the wheels came off it took a little while until he had the idea of what to do, but when he fell he got back up. He scared his godmother and I a few times. One time he ran into the mailboxes. Thank God he had his helmet on because it would of sliced his little ear off. It was hard to think that my little boy was growing so fast, and becoming even more independent. 

  We went and swam a couple of times at Joel's godparents house in their pool. It was so much fun. Joel loves to be in the water. Even a couple of time his godparents and I were in the water with him. Joel really enjoys being with all his family, and having fun at the same time. One evening when we were swimming, Joel's godmother and I got a real kick out of him. Too bad his godfather missed it. He got on his godparents back deck, and pretend it was a stage. He sang to his godmother, and I. Joel really loves to be the center of attention. That is for sure.

Joel played blastball for two out of the four weeks. He did like it a little because he loved hanging with one of his buds. He got bored with it though, because really they didn't do much but hit off of a tee, and then run to one base that honked a them, or they ran to get a ball and throw it to their coach. Joel wanted to do more that just the little things. I wished that they would of taught a little more fundementals of baseball to keep the older ones attention a little better. The cool thing is my dad that lives in Arkansas got to see him play the first week of blastball. My dad loves and played baseball when he was in school. So, to share this expierance with each other was priceless.
  One of the other things that made our June so much fun was going to the Des Moines Heart Walk. This year I was an ambassador so it was a little different. Joel, his godparents, and my parents walked in the heart walk for me. I couldn't walk the whole mile so I stayed back waiting for them. It was cute though. We took Joel's wagon this year because we knew his little legs wouldn't do the whole thing. It was adorable. He had his little sign on his back of wagon saying, "I walk for my Mommy." When someone would ask him why he does heart walk he would tell them, "I fight for my mommy. Her heart is bad, but it loves me." Awe he just loves to melt this mommy's heart. Can't wait to see what June 2013 brings for us next year. I do know nothing will be like this year. It was a priceless and memorable June this year. God really blessed us with such a good time together.

Spring Vacation Part 4: The Trip Home

   On our way home from Arkansas with my dad; we decided to stop and see some road side things. Two of the three were really neat to see. Joel really got a kick out of the two that was great to see and visit. My father was a kid in the candy store as well seeing the places with his only grandson. I enjoyed them as well, but I had more fun watching the two boys.

   First, we stopped at the Janet Huckabee Arkansas River Valley Nature Center near Fort Smith, Arkansas. It was a really neat place for children can learn about nature, and there is so much for the family can do together. Joel loved looking at the reptiles in the nature center. Mostly the snakes and turtles that lived in Arkansas. I am so glad that the snakes were in glass cages. They also have boating that you can do, but do to time we decided not to. Maybe next time we can. We saw an area for children to play. So Joel and I played on the spiders web together. We decided to take a short cut through one of the hiking trails (we were wrong), but it was nice to see the woods and plains of Arkansas. We all three were very wore out when we got done.

   Next we stopped at Neosho, Missouri at the National Fish Hatchery that is there. FYI do not follow they way the road signs take you. For some odd reason it takes you for a scenic route to it. Just go into the town itself. It is basically in the center of town. You can see trout from just being eggs to being great big size. You can feed the bigger ones in the special ponds. The young ones are in there own area, and they are in level areas. They are on time feedings. It was cute when on of the time feeders went off. Joel just had a hay day watch the fish jump over one another to get the food. Both my dad and Joel are nature guys so it was neat to do something they both love.