Where is home? What is home?

I'm entering a Twitter Moms contest about a new movie called "Away We Go". As part of entering the contest, you are supposed to blog about what "home" means to you. (You can enter the contest too!) So, I've been thinking, where is home? What is home?

Home for me is where my husband is, where my children are. I used to refer to Tennessee as home, where I grew up, where my parents and siblings are. But now that I've lived here in Virginia for almost 11 years, and have spent that time making a life for myself here, I've realized that Tennessee is no longer home to me. If tomorrow we for some reason had to move to Turkey (totally random country, believe me I have no plans on moving to Turkey!), as long as I had my husband and my children, it would be home.

As you get older, I think that the definition of home changes. But for everyone it's that place where you are loved by the ones you love the most in this world, where you can be yourself with no apologies and no fear of rejection. Home is a place of refuge, a place of security and healing. I pray that we can make our home a place like this. Love you all, and thank you to God Almighty for our home and those in it.

Cape Charles

Saturday, Jeremy surprised us all and took us on a day trip to Cape Charles. It's amazing that we've lived here almost eleven years and had never heard of Cape Charles. Jeremy heard about it from a friend, and decided it was worth a trip. And he was so right! The waves are gentle, the water shallow for yards, low crowd, and the variety of wildlife is entertaining. We ended up staying for over seven hours. Hey, we didn't drive two and a half hours, and pass over a 20 mile bridge to the eastern shore(I didn't particularly like that! I couldn't see land for awhile!) for nothing. :) It was a gorgeous day, and a gorgeous view. Jeremy missed a few spots when he was applying his sunscreen, so he's burnt! I mean really burnt. Poor guy. I'm a little burnt, but apparently we did a much better job applying sunscreen to the kids, because they're fine. Before our next trip (yes, we are definitely going back), I think we need to invest in a few beach accessories like an umbrella, and some visors! Here are a few of the pictures from Saturday and a montage of video clips. Enjoy!

A Week of Firsts For Luke

Luke has had quite the week, experiencing many new "firsts"!

1) First top tooth!

2) First dip in the ocean!

3) First time playing in the sand!

4) First time willingly drinking more than just a sip out of a cup!

5) First time pulling up to a standing position on the furniture without help!

And finally, 6) First time he ate dog food! (According to Jeremy, this is a rite of passage for all little boys...Yuck!)

Luke is officially everywhere and into everything. He is pulling up well now, and traveling along the edges of the chairs, and along the sides of the couch. He is quickly becoming a crawling pro, and can jet across the room or down the hallway before you barely realize he's gone. Luke has finally gotten his third tooth, with number four and five on their way. We are slowly but surely getting him to take a cup, so (not getting my hopes up) maybe weaning is in the near future. We took a day trip to Cape Charles on Saturday, so Luke got his first look at the ocean. I've got lots of pictures and video as usual, so I'll get those posted as soon as they're ready. Last week, Luke had his nine month checkup, and weighed in at 22 pounds! he is 30 inches long now, and the doctor said he looked perfect. his ear has completely healed from the infection, and no surgery is needed for his tear duct! Yeah! He's growing like a weed. his vocabulary is growing too. He can now say "ni-ni" for night night, "da-da", "ma-ma", "bubba", and for some reason he says "nu-nu" when he wants to nurse. Luke's also been making the "mmmmm" sound while he's having his snacks in his high chair. It's so cute! He's starting to understand what "no" means. Although, the mischievous grin on his face as he's dumping the dog's water bowl, and I'm yelling "NOOOOO" from the other side of the room, somehow makes me think he doesn't care! :) Love you all, and thank you to God Almighty for a healthy baby boy!

**P.S. Please pray for Jeremy. This week is going to be difficult at work.**

Monday Morning Funnies

Birthday Pics

Here's a few pictures from our family party for my birthday last Thursday night. the kids and Jeremy picked out my favorite: CHOCOLATE CAKE!! It was so yummy, and we finished the party off with some ice cream cones. Love you all, and thank you to God Almighty who for now has blessed me with these.

Memorial Day 2009

We spent Memorial Day at our friends' Brandon and Misty. It was a very relaxing and enjoyable day! Thank you Brandon and Misty for letting the Knutson Klan crash at your pad! Here's a few clips from the fun:

Wordless Wednesday - John David the Mad Scientist