Humphrey 4

One year later... Christmas 2010

2011-01-17T14:43:00.006-05:00

Nana Humphrey shared the true meaning of Christmas.

How has it been an entire year since I updated this thing?! So I could abandon this blog altogether, but I just read back though it and love having all the memories here, so I am picking up where I left off...Christmas.

What a celebration! This year John was old enough to read the account from Dave's bible (we practiced it as a surprise for daddy). Grace dressed up as an angel and "acted" out various parts as John read. We were so blessed to see all of our families this Christmas. Henry and Jeanine came from Iowa the week before the 25th. Mark and Kim from their new home in Virgina, and Aaron and Danielle from PA came in the weekend after Christmas. Perfect timing since Dave and Grace both ended up with the flu Chirstmas weekend (the only weekend no family was in town).

Christmas 2009

2010-01-10T21:10:00.005-05:00

We had a wonderful 3 weeks of Christmas celebrations this year. We got to see all of our brothers and their families, spent time with grandparents, great grandparents and even extended family. I'll post for the next several days to get a sample of pictures from all gatherings. Not Christmas related, but funny. Grace is pictured here wearing what she refers to as her "long Graces." Her brother John wears "long johns" so of course this makes sense!

John holding Uncle Henry and Aunt Jeanine's pet, Aussie. This is the fastest moving turtle I've seen. Lots of fun for the kids.

Goofy Humphrey children and Oreo.

We went to Church with Nana and Papa Streby. This is the same nativity Aimee, her brother, and cousins had their picture taken in front of every Christmas.

Christmas at our house with all the grandparents. Great-grandpa Jones with the kids.

Halloween 2009

2009-11-02T22:05:00.002-05:00

John's Kindergarten class had a party Friday. Centerburg kids parade around the block in their costumes. Dave got to see them from the bank. John is the tin man in the back row. Ella (Aimee babysits) is the cheerleader in the front, right. Cowardly Lion and Tin Man ready for Trick or Treating.

So cute from all angles.

Of course the whole family joined in the fun. Dave popped an allergy pill and made a great scare crow. Red duct tape over tennis shoes completed the Dorothy look. And of course, Oreo, enjoyed her first Halloween as Toto.

Summer 2009, can't believe it's almost over.

2009-08-23T21:50:00.002-04:00

John's swimming lessons at the YMCA. He loved his instructor because she reminded him of his Aunt Kim. As you can see he still isn't a fish, but has become much more comfortable in the water this summer. Grace and Dave at the end of one of many trips to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium.

Keeping cool and clean.

Camping with the Carter's in Greer.

More camping with Aimee's extended family in Newton Falls. This was Grace's catch, a large mouth bass that put all of her uncles' to shame. She was excited as everyone cheered for her as Papa Streby reeled it in on the little pink fishing pole, "You've got it Grace, you've got it!" As soon as she saw the huge fish come out of the water, she cried and yelled, "I don't want it!"

More camping.

I took the kids to "Pretty Land" behind my parent's home. This is the part of the "crick" Henry and I spend almost everyday of our summers growing up. It was so much fun for me to see the kids enjoying wading and exploring this place that holds so many memories for me.

Grace at mom's company picnic just a couple of weeks ago. Both kids had a great time, and since Nana was doing the face paining, they were well decorated!

John dressed up as the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz. Nana Humphrey took him to see the play and gladly took him out when the witch got too scary.

This was taken outside a restaurant where we celebrated Dave's parents 40th wedding anniversary.

Soccer started tonight!

2009-07-07T22:25:00.003-04:00

John had his first soccer practice/game night tonight. I'm coaching an older team while Dave and Grace cheer him on. He had a great time. The Preschool team John is on has 23 kids all 5 years old. Dave described it as the coaches herding cats most of the time. John said he learned that "you never use your hands in soccer" tonight. He has 5 more Tuesday night soccer games.

The Pittsburgh Marathon

2009-05-07T21:33:00.007-04:00

We did it! All six Humphrey kids ran the Pittsburgh half-marthon last weekend. What an exciting weekend! Here we are with our medals.
This was my first and Dave's second half-marathon. He met his goal and finished in 2:10! Nice work honey. I can't imagine running your pace.

Here are the girls (minus Grace who stayed home with friends).

Barb (Dave's mom), Danielle and Lydia (Aaron's wife and daughter), me, Kim, Ella, and Luci (Mark's wife and kids), and Carol (Danielle's mom).

And the guys (minus John who was home with Aimee's parents). Dave, Dan (his dad), Mark and Aaron.

Kim and I ran together. She's done many of these before and has even completed a full marathon. Fortunately for me she is 20 weeks pregnant and running my pace. Thanks Kim for asking me to run with you. I never would have signed up without you.

A very fishy Easter

2009-04-16T16:09:00.009-04:00

We spent the afternoon visiting with Aimee's Aunt Terry and Uncle Willy, their sons and families and got to meet Malena, the newest Streby cousin. Grace was a bit overdressed for the afternoon, but didn't let that stop her from spending time with Papa Streby.

John got his first fishing lesson from Papa.

Dave proudly diplays his catch with the kiddie fishing pole.

Papa got one...

...and Uncle Willy (Aimee's dad's brother)...

...and John! He casted out, slowly reeled it in and caught a monster fish. Not bad for your first few minutes of fishing.

Papa was pretty proud too.

Grace had much more fun inside with the girls. Here she is holding her beautiful cousin Malena Mae Streby (Jacob and Carrie's second).

These are from earlier in the day. Just some shots of good looking kids.

John proudly displays his bow tie (hand-made by Nana Streby) and new shoes (thanks Nana Humphrey).

My mom made Grace this adorable dress and hat. The child spent most of the morning in front of this mirror admiring herself.

These are from a local Easter egg hunt.

John was explaining to Grace how the hunt works. She hangs on his every word. I can only imagine the things she'll learn from her big brother in the future.

John is reading!

2009-03-09T22:01:00.003-04:00

John has been working on a computer program called Head Sprout Early Reader for about 9 months now. Dave's dad asked us if we would test out this 80 30-minute episode program with him. John loves it and so do we. It challenges him and he has fun too. I love how proud he is and you'll see it in his face at the end of this video. It's taken us this long to get throught the first 45 episodes, hopefully he'll finish all 80 before he graduates.

Grace's Birthday!

2009-03-09T21:21:00.003-04:00

Now that we're well into March, here are some pictures from Grace's 2nd birthday. A Sesame Street theme.

My mom made this great pin-the-nose-on-Elmo. We kept this up for a week after the party. I found noses all over the house.

I have such a respect for cake decorators every time I attempt it. Grace recognized Elmo, and that made it worth all the work.

Grace models a princess crown from a new set of dress-up clothes.

and she was also very excited about these big-girl undies.

Thank you dad and Uncle Aaron for taking the time to untangle every wire and tag on these child (and sometimes adult) proof packages. You see Grace waiting very patiently here.

Cake and ice cream. We don't have one of these pictures from her 1st birthday because Grace had a cold for most of February last year. She had such a great time this year and so did we!

Sledding, snowman, ice skating and more!

2009-01-22T21:53:00.004-05:00

Olivia and John had the best time last week sledding on the hill behind Centerburg Elementary School (right behind our house). The hill goes from the playground down to the football field. They were able to get that sled to go half way across the field! Grace went down a couple times too. She actually travelled under the other two on the sled and loved ever second of it.

Our first snowman this winter! Notice the four arms and two stick feet. And thank you Papa Humphrey for the perfect hat.

John jammin' in his friend Christian's room last weekend. I know the picture doesn't really fit here, but I thought it was hillarious.

We took the kids ice skating last weekend. Look at her little tiny skates!

2009-01-22T20:49:00.006-05:00

Ice Skating at The Chiller in Columbus last weekend.

I think the look on my face says it all.

Dave, John, Aimee and friend Victoria as we moved slowly along the wall together.

Grace surprised us by wanting to skate too. They actually had size 7 skates!

John made it around the rink twice and was satisfied to say that he had learned to ice skate.

I just had a conversation, or rather listened to John have a conversation with me as he lay in bed trying to avoid the final "good night."

"Mommy can we play a game tomorrow? Not a game for little kids. A game for grown-ups. Well, big people...you know grown-ups and 4-year-olds-NOT -1-year-olds. (An obvious stab at his sister.) I know, I know! We could get out all those little things and play with them in the ....oh, no, wait. That will never work. We don't have a big enough tube. Unless...I know! We could use that one, you know that tube I'm thinkin' of. The one we played it with last time. Yeah, that will work. But we don't want Gracie to play with us because she might swallow the little pieces and then she would puke. (Who taught him that word?) And we love her and we don't want her to puke. So mommy can you make sure she doesn't play. Maybe we just wait till she's in bed. I love you mommy! (Great big hug.) Good night mommy."

How does he ever fall asleep this wound up all the time? This entire talk he gave with me just sitting on his bed, smiling at him. I have no idea what game he's talking about, but it seems he wants some one-on-one time with mom.

"This is where we are right now."

2009-01-04T20:15:00.003-05:00

My handsome family ready for church. I love this picture!

Here are some pics of the kids in their Christmas outfits (thank you Nana Streby). Our tree this year was very much designed by the kids. We decided not to put ornaments on until Christmas Eve to avoid the obvious issues an almost-2-year-old has with leaving a decorated tree alone. Even without the ormanents the tree was quite flashy. John asked for multi-color lights (Dave and I much prefer white). There were 700 small multi-colored lights plus one strand of much larger LED lights from a wreath we had outside last year. We also put up one large strand of red, green and yellow bubble lights I inherited from my dad because mom was tired of all the color and motion on her tree I'm sure. Actually I love these and the memories they bring back. Another favorite of mine (maybe I'm the cause of this wild tree after all) is the disco style star that graces the top of our tree. I remember this gold frame, rotating shimmer of light on every wall it can reach from my grandparent's trees. Any one of these elements would be beautiful by itself, but together we found they made the tree a bit over the top. The kids, of course, loved it. Dave and I just kept reminding ourselves that "this is where we are right now." Someday I will again have a beautiful white light tree with coordinating and complimentary ornaments. But for now I'm really enjoying hanging construction paper sunday school ornaments at kid level and sharing my memories with the kids as I hang ornaments we've had for years on the upper two feet of branches.

2008-12-10T14:42:00.003-05:00

My goal today is to get the Thanksgiving pictures up before Christmas.
Grace is ready for fun in the snow. Where is all the snow this year? She's also wearing her Minnesota Gophers hat for her Uncle Henry.

They were being so sweet with each other.

Papa Streby holding Grace and her cousin Mia Streby (Josh and Elizabeth's). We had a nice Streby Thanksgiving at Jim and Jo's this year. Josh and Elizabeth were in town from Washington. Mia and Grace don't see each other often, but get along so well when they do.

Mia and her daddy, Aimee's cousin Josh.

Humphrey Thanksgiving was at Dan and Barb's. Dave's brothers family's were all here! John and his newest cousin Lydia Jane (Aaron and Danielle's).

Dave plays our niece Ella (Mark and Kim's oldest) like a guitar.

Grace "holding" Lydia with much supervision.

John loves his new cousin. We have a very similar picture of him holding Grace. It doesn't seem like it's been that long.

We celebrated Ella's 3rd birthday with an ice cream cake.

Auntie Danielle holding Grace and her new beautiful girl, Lydia. This was taken after her baby shower. Grace had clothes on when the party started.

Super Dave!

2008-11-14T22:18:00.006-05:00

This house is in Coshocton, OH. Dave is planning to spend next week helping a friend out with wrapping and siding it for another friend who is flipping the property. This does not sound like my idea of a vacation, but Dave's looking forward to the challenge and the time out of the office. Of course the skills he learns helping friends have come in handy around our house too. Here are some pictures of our living room floor before, during and after Dave refinished the floors two weeks ago.

This orange/brown carpet was here when we bought the house.

We chose to live with it until our kids were walking well.

Taking out the old carpet and pad.

The oringinal wood floor only goes a bit more than half way across the room because the previous owners did an addition to the house at some point. We were aware of this and planned to put carpet over the subfloor half of the room.

After sanding down to a smooth surface.

Dave and a friend/partner in large home improvement projects, Ross, stain and poly the floor.

Look at that shine!!!

This is the adjoining room the guys did two years ago.

The carpet was installed just a few days later. The kids love having thier side of the room for playing with toys and wrestling and rolling on soft new carpet.

I truly appreciate the carpet installer and his patience with our son. The man was here for two hours and was followed closely by a curious 4 year old the entire time. John knew he could not cross the line into the half of the room where the work was being done so he sat right up next to it or paced back and forth along it while asking "why?", "what's that?", "what were you for Halloween?"

Thank you so much Dave for all the hard work and hours you spend making our home better for our family.

Halloween 2008

2008-11-14T16:30:00.005-05:00

John picked out the largest pumpkin in the patch this year. He cleaned out most of the ice-cold pumpkin "guts" himself and asked for the knife when it was time for carving. I handed him a marker instead and I cut out his design. I enjoyed the process remembering carving pumpkins this way as a kid with my brother and dad.

Grace's pattern was a little more difficult for me to follow with a knife so we just left hers un-carved this year.

John, trying to resemble his pumpkin.

All dressed up for trick-or-treat in Centerburg.

They looked good coming....

...and going. The tails are my favorite part. Dave called Grace "Little Stinker." John could not decide if he was a dragon or a dinosaur. It changed each time someone asked him.

John's preschool Fall Party. This was his turn to destroy the bat pinata they made as a class the week before. The teacher did a wonderful thing. When it broke the candy was already divided into 16 baggies, one for each student, much less competitve and dangerous. Notice the little sister in the skunk costume stealing an apple slice from a student's plate while the class is distracted.

One boy's dad who is a firefighter came in to talk to the class a couple of weeks ago. As you can see he made a big impression as there were three firefighter costumes in the group. John told Dave maybe he'll dress up like a banker next time.

Just an update.

2008-10-17T10:06:00.002-04:00

Grace Noelle being her gorgeous self.
Push ups with dad. John enjoys these much more than Dave.
Dave is concerned about his arm. He has had a pain in one upper arm muscle for about a month now. The doctor prescribed a mediaction, but Dave's not feeling a difference yet. An MRI is the next step if no improvement comes from the meds. He's frustrated that he can't lift weights until the arm feels better.
Papa Humphrey as horsey. (Speaking of muscle soreness.)

Happy 60th Dad (aka Papa Streby)!

2008-10-17T09:26:00.007-04:00

Aimee's dad turned 60 this weekend and Henry and Janine were in town for the party. We hadn't seen Henry in 10 months! It was a great weekend, especially for the kids. Grace cracked up as Uncle Henry read a favorite, The Five Little Monkeys.
It started as an experiment, prompted by the scientists in the family, to see how many balloons it would take to lift a toy car. The conclusion: it takes more balloons than we had.

Uncle Henry, John, "Aunt" Janine, and Grace in what John was refering to as their "meeting room." Mom was told clearly that I was not welcome in these meetings.
Papa blows the best bubbles. Grace is still perfecting this skill.
Papa and Grace work at shelling and eating sunflower seeds. We all agreed this was a lot of work for a tiny little seed. I like the identical looks of frustration on their faces in this picture.
Janine, John and Uncle Henry take a walk in Nana and Papa's back yard.
They're planning an October wedding for next year. I can't believe my little brother is old enough to like girls let alone marry one. We're so happy for him and are exctied to get to know Janine, who the kids already refer to as "Aunt Janine."

So many babies!

2008-10-17T07:57:00.003-04:00

We have a new neice! Another beautiful Humphrey girl. Lydia Jane Danielle was born Sunday, October 12. Congratulations Uncle Aaron and Aunty Danielle. For many more pictures and stories visit thier blog listed in the sidebar. Uncle Aaron (Dave's youngest brother) is a daddy!
Aunty and Lydia.

Luna Penelope Streby and her proud Grandma Streby (Aimee's aunt Jo) last weekend. Luna is Aimee's cousin Juston and Julie Streby's new daughter.
Uncle Henry was in town last weekend! Here he is with Luna.
Then there's Robbie Streby. Parents Aimee's cousins Ben and Jonelle pictured as Robbie walks at just 9 months!

Our damage from the wind storm.

2008-09-29T22:04:00.003-04:00

We were very fortunate to have not lost electricity but did have quite a bit of clean up on Monday morning. This is actually half of a tree on the roof over the dining room. There is a small dent in the deck from where the guys had to drop the limb when they were cutting it down, but no damage was done to the house. Dave and his friend Skylar cleaned up our yard and our neighbors in no time.
Centerburg had many closed roads due to fallen trees and low hanging lines. Praise the Lord, no one was hurt. Dave's grandparents who live just outside of town had to have their roof replaced. His parents, in Fredericktown, were without power for days. Aimee's parents, along with many, were without for a week.
A young tree in front of our house that may not make it. Dave pulled it back into position, but many roots were snapped by the wind.
If you look closely you can see Grace and John in what they believed to be their new fort. John called this pile of brush his "bird nest fort." He cried the day the men contacted by the village came with the chipper.

The Bobcats lost, but we had the best dressed kids in Athens!

2008-09-29T21:37:00.004-04:00

Mom and dad (Mike and Peggy Streby) treated us to the Ohio University/Central Michigan game a couple of weeks ago. Although the Bobcats put forth great effort, they were defeated. We still had a great time. Mom had made these adorable outfits for the kids to wear to the game. Aimee's Uncle Jim and Aunt Jo were also there with John and Grace's cousin Kellan.
Nana Streby and Grace. I see some MacLean in this little girl.
John giving "5" to the O.U. Bobcat.

Thanks mom and dad for such a fun afternoon!

First Day of School

2008-09-02T14:18:00.012-04:00

Our baby started school today! John had his first morning of preschool and loved it. He'll be attending the Knox County Educational Service Center 2 day preschool program on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. His teacher Miss Amy Bickel and her assistant Miss Kay Brittenham made him feel at home. He said snack was his favorite since they had cheese crackers. He painted us a picture, got to "read" lots of books, sang songs, played with the hermit crab, and also enjoyed the rice table. He said he only missed mommy a little. Mommy, on the other hand, was kind of a mess all morning. When I asked Miss Amy how he did today she smiled and said, "We saw some of that outgoing personality you told us about." Having been a teacher I know that can be code for,"He was bossy and wouldn't take turns." She elaborated by saying he is a natural leader and always has an answer to share. I had thought that on the first day at least he would be more reserved and a bit shy, but that apparently was not the case. How will he behave when he actually feels comfortable and knows everyone better?! Dave tells me to stop speculating on how his entire school career will go based on his first day of preschool. But isn't this what all moms do when they send their first born away? And by away I mean exactly one block from our house. Daddy took the morning off from work to go with us. Thank you soooooo much Dave!
This is our long, one block, walk to school that John insists he will do by himself on Thursday. Yeah, right, big boy.

Standing outside his classroom door.
John models his cubbie.
They start the day with activities on their tables while they wait for everyone to arrive.
These pictures were from orientation last week.

Here is Miss Amy. How old am I that my first observation was how young she is?

Grace will have mommy to herself a few hours a week now. Here she is admiring herself in a lion costume.

Cousins, Mud, and the Zoo

2008-08-28T21:05:00.016-04:00

Mark and Kim were in town this weekend. Their girls, Ella and Lucia, have changed so much and we had a great time watching all these Humphrey cousins play. Grace Noelle happy as usual.

Lucia Ruth walking and running all over the place. Ella June was so sweet and fun to listen to.
Grace loved having someone her size to show around.
The kids had a great time playing in our backyard Saturday morning.
Lucia and John playing peek-a-boo.

Saturday afternoon we took the gang to our friend Kalvari's birthday party in Fredericktown. Lucia and Grace napped all afternoon, John and Ella had other plans:

The picture above shows what looks like two friends sitting at the side of a pond enjoying each other's company. The next pictures show, upon closer inspection, what those two friends were doing so quietly.
I don't know which took more time: showering these two, or cleaning Kalvari's bathroom afterwards.
Grace fell asleep on the steps on the way up to her room later that night.
We all went with Nana and Papa Humphrey to New Life Church in Fredericktown for church Sunday morning. What an cute bunch!
On Monday Dave took a vacation day and we all (except for Papa because it was Fredericktown's first day of school) went to the Columbus Zoo. Also pictured below are the girl's I babysit, Ella and Olivia.

Grace thought Lucia was the best baby doll every and was always eager to help her eat.
John feeding the birds in the aviary.

What a great summer!

2008-08-18T15:39:00.009-04:00

We went on vacation with Dave's parents in July. We drove a rented van to Baltimore via a stop in West Virginia, 2 in Virginia, and Chincateague Island. We visited Aunt Marie, (Grandma Jones's sister,) in Virgina and Mark and Kim in Baltimore. We had a wonderful time even traveling with a preschooler and toddler for 1,400 miles! And through it all we learned that "family vacation" does not equal the same relaxation Dave and I had grown accustomed to on trips before children. But it's so much more fun to experience new places like caves, and oceans through the eyes of our kids.
We stopped in West Virginia at the Lost World Caverns. A registered natural landmark since 1977, it was fun and educational.

Marie has the best tub for bubble baths!

Dan with the kids at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park in Virginia. In true Barb Humphrey vacation fashion we fit 5 museum-type visits into 7 days. Dave remembers his childhood vacations always including an educational side trip of some type. He has obviously grown to appreciate them and is putting his children through the same.

Aunt Marie's house in Hampton,VA had this fountain outside that entertained the kids for hours. Here Grace has discovered she can press her thumb into the stream of water and shot it across the deck.

Marie was so patient with the kids. Especially when John, helping water flowers, turned the hose on his Great-Great-Aunt. She laughed and played and seemed to have as much fun as the kids! Thanks Marie for making us so comfortable in your home.

Marie and John inspecting a sea creature of some type at the Virginia Living Museum.

We did not plan the matching outfits, but thought this picture of Papa and John was priceless. After chasing the kids up and down a beach near Marie's, Dave and John dug a great sand pit that kept them interested and more importantly in one place for much of the morning. Grace. in particular, enjoyed the ocean, but after spotting a school of jelly fish we were not the only family spending most of our time up on the sand.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Baltimore, MD

2008-07-31T16:10:00.005-04:00

The last few days of our vaction were spent in Maryland at Mark (Dave's brother) and Kim's. We had a great time playing with our nieces, Ella and Luci and seeing some sites around their new home. Dave with Grace and Luci at a nearby city park.

The beautiful Lucia Ruth Humphrey!

Mark and Ella.

We celebrated Luci's 1st burthday.
Out for dinner on Saturday night. Aaron and Danielle came from Pittsburg for two days so we were all able to be together.

John enjoyed his first train ride on the "light rail." A stop is within walking distance making travelling in the city easy and affordable (no parking necessary). Mark uses this train to get to and from school.
Now this is the way to travel!

Uncle Aaron (Dave's youngest brother) and Aunty Danielle. We'll need a third stroller next time.

Thanks Uncle Mark and Aunt Kim. We had a great time and can't wait to see you again!

A fun weekend of Peter Pan, a parade, and fireworks.

2008-06-30T06:41:00.010-04:00

John and mom had a night out on Thursday to see Peter Pan at the Knox County Memorial Theater in Mount Vernon. Thanks for the tickets and the book Nana Humphrey! After reading the book John decided he would like to dress up as the character "John Darling". With one of dad's shirts, a firefighter hat with construction paper added and pipecleaner eyeglasses he proudly walked into the theater.
Here is John as "John" with Tiger Lilly and Nana Nursemaid before the performance. Dave got us front row, left stage seats so we met most of the characters before they entered the stage.
All of the kids who dressed up were asked to go up on stage and wave to the audience before the play. John, at this point thought he was going to be in the play and was a bit disappointed when I told him differently. He forgot about it completely however when the cutain went up and the music began. I was so proud, John sat and watched intently for the entire 2 and a half hours (with an intermission). The only issue we had was with his theater seat. His legs do not weigh enough to hold down the folding seat If he sat all the way back the seat would fold him up. He insisted that he was too big to sit on my lap amd sat on the edge of his seat the entire night.
I love that he is old enough to these kinds of things now! He even introduced himself to the director, a friend of mine from teaching, and the actual "John Darling" character after the play. Everyone was so kind and welcoming-we had a great time!

The kids enjoying our new pool (a birthday present from Nana and Papa Streby).

We were in the USA Day parade here in Centerburg on Saturday. We adverised a soccer program called Goal Keepers that our church, Center Pointe, is sponsoring and running in the next few weeks. Our two kids are actually too young to participate, but they were still cute in the uniforms. The men moved the goal along as the kids kicked soccer balls.
The fireworks Saturday night were, at first, a bit much for Grace.
She eventually warmed up to them and had a great time clapping and ooohhing at all the colors.

Grace and her friend Drew Dumbaugh after all the festivities.

Family Pictures

2008-06-25T14:02:00.006-04:00

We recently had a chance to have family pictures done in our own back yard. My mom (aka Nana Streby) hired a good friend of ours, Rayna Strong of Pix Photography, as a birthday gift for Grace. We waited for the nice weather so we could be outside and are thrilled with the results.
It could look like she is saying she's "1" year old, but it's actually her light from her favorite song "This Little Light of Mine."

Rayna got some of the best pictures when Dave and I weren't paying attention.

Are these two related or what?!
This is my favorite because it's what I see them doing everyday right now- playing together in their backyard.
Thanks mom and Rayna! It was a fun, relaxed experience.

Happy 4th Birthday John Gaylon!

2008-06-23T15:02:00.004-04:00

It's difficult to believe it was four years ago that this baby came into, and completely changed, our lives. At the same time I can hardly remember a time without him. John is growing into such a thoughtful, fun and curious kid. He reminds me everyday to take time to appreciate simple things. I've learned so much from looking at things through the eyes of a child. Thank you John, mom and dad love you so much.
June 18th-Home with the family for a special birthday dinner. John chose his favorites: chicken pot pie, and chocolate milk.
June 19th-The beginning of a paper-mache pinata project for the upcoming birthday party on Saturday. John was a huge help and was covered in flour and glue in minutes.
Hanging both out to dry.

June 21st-The party was at Sockman Lake in Fredericktown. John wanted cupcakes. You can't tell from the picture, but they are arranged in the shape of a "4".

Grace enjoyed her cake. Thanks Nana Humphrey for your help here.
The finished pinata! It was supposed to look like a beach ball. I think we did a pretty good job.
It stood up to five or six kids before the candy came pouring out. Pictured, not in any particular order, are some friends: Caleb Carter, Austin and Wyatt Strong, Olivia and Ella Paul, and Allison and Courtlyn Fields.
Mom demonstrating how to use the harmonica he received from Great Grandma and Grandpa Jones. What an original gift idea! He loves it, and has mastered sliding up and down the scale.

John loving the stick horse Aunty Danielle and Uncle Aaron brought for him.
Ready to swim! And perhaps loaded up with a bit to much sugar.
Grace loved the beach. I think she looks like the baby on the sun screen bottle here.
Aunty Danielle, thank you so much for coming from Pittsburgh for the party! You were so wonderful to come early to help set up, and take pictures for us during the action. It was great to have you here. We are all looking forward to seeing you and Aaron as parents in October.

New pets.

2008-06-18T11:52:00.002-04:00

John recently purchased himself two goldfish. He named them Orangey and Grungey. Only John could tell them apart. Grungey only lasted five days, but Orangey is still swimming strong.

He insisted on having breakfast with his fish the next morning.
He also tried to pursuade us that he could nap with them too.

Grace's first ice cream cone.

2008-06-18T07:05:00.002-04:00

We had the Carter's over last weekend and enjoyed some ice cream to cool off.
Grace signing "more" after the first taste.
Aren't they cute, and very sticky!
The first cone was a huge success!

Fun, fun, fun!

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Helping mom surprise dad with a clean truck, and keeping cool at the same time.
Grace thought it looked like a bubble bath.

John and his cousin Kellan (Aimee's cousin Justin and his wife Julie's oldest) hanging out at Brandon's (another of Aimee's cousins) graduation party. As Kellan put it they were having "beers." I think in this picture they look like a couple of college buddies. Stick to the root beer John
Olivia (Ella's 8-year-old sister) is done with school and will be spending her days with us this summer. She's is a great help with Grace.

Just cute kids having fun:

Camping with no camera.

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Our first camping trip with the entire family and I forget the camera!
This Memorial Day weekend was spent camping at our friends the Kershner's. John experienced his firsts of just about every camping activity in one action-packed night. We picniced, roasted marshmallows (or "marshed" marshmallows as John puts it), made smores, lit sparklers, heard a live band, sang songs around the camp fire while "Uncle Ross" played his guitar, played in the pond, road a pony, watched a movie projected on a large canopy tent, and slept all night in his own tent!

John, in our yard, reenacting the weekend in his tent so I could take his picture for the blog. We set this up beside our larger tent, assuming John would want to be with us at some point. The cold weather sent Grace and I into the house, but John slept all night bundled up in his sleeping bag in his very own tent. Dave didn't sleep at all in our tent by himself mostly because he was listening for John all night. Thanks "dad" for letting him prove himself to be big enough to sleep alone that night. John was so proud and will tell anyone who will listen about his camping experience.
"Aunt Emily" took John to a neighbor of the Kershner's for a pony ride. What a day he had!

A night at the circus!

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Dan and Barb took John to the circus a couple of weeks ago. Sorry I'm just getting the pictures up now. It's hard to sit at the computer when the weather is as nice as it has been lately.

The circus came to town!

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The Kelly Miller Circus came to Mount Vernon a few weeks ago. It was a small but impressive operation. They set up the "big top" and a couple of smaller tents for vending and pony rides at the Knox Countly Fairgrounds. I took the kids to watch as the crew set up on Thursday morning. We were told that everything would be taken down after the show that night as they were due in Mansfield for two shows on Friday. We got to watch from inside the half-constructed tent as an elephant helped in pull the large support poles up. We also saw a camel, some donkeys, ponies, and horses as they were unloaded and cared for. The kids had a great time.

The very thin rope (no electicity added) was all that seperated us from the well-trained elephants.
John and his friend Ella testing the sturdiness of the construction, as they were asked to do by a kind crew member who saw they needed some entertaining. It's hard to see, but this is where the elephant was harnassed to the tent support pole. With the elephant not more than 25 feet away from us, my son was at this point sitting on the ground with a boy he had just met watching a worm. It was a long morning, but still well worth it!

Later that night Nana and Papa Humphrey took John back for the show. He came home still with the widest eyes and immitated the ring mater for days after. "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls!"

Mother's Day Weekend

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We had a nice visit with Aunt Marie (Grandma Jones' sister from Virginia) at Brittany Adzic's (Dave's cousin) graduation party on Saturday. Congratulations Brittany!

On Sunday all of the grandparents were here for lunch. The kids experienced nana and papa overload, and had so much fun!
Grace examining Grandma Jones.
Grace and Nana Humphrey.
Nana Streby and Grace enjoying a beautiful Mother's Day book that Mark and Kim put together for Barb of all of the grandkids.
Papa and John doing what they do best. "Papa's the greatest!" has to be yelled before the tickling will stop. Looks like John is suffering.

Money well spent!

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We have recently started paying John a commission of $1.00 every Saturday. It is not an allowance since he must work for it. He has no list of chores because I don't want to manage that and we don't want to give him the opportunity to say, "But mommy that's not on my list." He just has to listen and do what is asked of him at any time. Because a week is a long time for an almost 4-year-old to wait, he earns stickers that I put on the refrigerator when he is doing something particularly helpful. Then on Saturday, Dave counts up his stickers and if there are enough (and since there is no required amount, there is always enough) John gets paid.
This commission jar idea came from a class Dave recently taught for our church as a service to the community called Financial Peace University http://www.daveramsey.com. We are seeing John appreciate earning money and begin to think about purchases.
As John's first goal he has been saving for more sand for his sandbox. I found a local sand and gravel distributor who said we could come have all the sand we need at no cost. After explaining what we were trying to teach our son, they agreed to ask for $4.00 for whatever we could shovel into the truck. It actually took John 8 weeks to save the $4.00 because money can also be taken from the commission jar if needed.
We recently picked up the sand and filled his tire, and the floor of the shed that has been turned into a playhouse/toy stoage unit. John proudly "helped" shovel and has been in his sandbox rain or shine ever since.
His next goal is to save enough for a goldfish and all that goes with it.

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The invoice from John's purchase. Made out to John Humphrey, for the amount of $3.00. He carried his jar of money in and poured it slowly out on the counter. There were only two bills. When we started counting coins and he saw his savings getting smaller and smaller, John began to whisper to me asking if he could keep that one, and that one. I thought for a minute that what we had hoped would be a great learning experience was about to turn ugly. He had saved exactly $4.00 and would be leaving with no money. Thankfully the woman behind the counter saw what was happening and told John, "The sand you are interested in is on sale today for $1.00 off the original price." I could have kissed her! John gladly parted with most of his hard-earned money and proudly walked out of the office, commission jar in hand.

John models his newly filled sandbox. And to my delight, since he payed for the sand, he is much more careful about keeping it in the tire and out of the yard.

Enjoying the recent beautiful weather.

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Fun together!

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"Jesus loves you, this I know..."

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I took Grace for her immunizations this week. Her one year shots were just three months overdue. What can I say-second child.
On the way to the office, I explained to John what we were doing and asked his to be a big boy since his sister was going to need my attention. He told me he would help her be brave.
When we entered the examining room, John sat quietly in a chair off to the side while the nurse prepared the three shots. As she picked up the first and poked Grace, John walked calmly over, stood beside Grace, and in a quiet voice began singing "Jesus loves you." To my surprise, the nurse joined in the singing as she administered the second and third shot.
It was just a nice moment. Grace, of course, still screamed hysterically.

Working on projects in Papa Humphrey's shop.

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Notice the tongue. John apparently learned this attractive concentration technique from his mother. Or so I've been told.

Grace is walking!

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She still much prefers to crawl, but Grace can take about 4 steps now.

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Here you can see Grace's current favorite outfit and most loved pasttime of pulling things out of any drawer or capinet she can open.

John has had some exciting firsts this month.

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His first trip to the dentist was made much less traumatic by his wonderful dental hygienist, Jenny. Jenny is also the mother of the two girls, Olivia and Ella, who I have been babysitting for the past 3+ years. Ella (just one month younger than John, and his absolute best friend in the world) sat at the end of the seat and made John laugh through the entire appointment. No cavities! And John walked out with his new tooth brush and a couple of extra prizes from the treasure chest. It's all about who you know at Dr. Dean's office.

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Welcome to the Humphrey 4 blog!

Realizing it has been a while since our last e-mail update, we've started this to keep up to date with friends and family more frequently.

This blog is the missing link to the extended Humphrey family sites. You can catch up with Dan and Barb (Dave's parents) at http://weblog.xanga.com/givepraise, Mark (Dave's brother) and Kim Humphrey's family at http://kimmyhumphrey.blogspot.com. Aaron (Dave's youngest brother) and Danielle at http://jackthebean.blogspot.com share about the baby they are expecting.

As for the Dave and Aimee Humphrey family we are spending everyday enjoying our two favorite blessings John Gaylon and Grace Noelle.