Well at least they have some character!

A few weeks ago Knoll (a great furniture company who has a dealership here in town) hosted a free photo shoot with some of their "classic" pieces of furniture. It was fun, but the kids had had no nap and were really not in the mood to sit still for a photo shoot. There are a couple of good ones, but I guess these at least show some of their character! They do always keep me laughing!

What would I do without those funny faces?!

Fried Friday

Well, blog followers...I feel kinda fried today. I am mentally drained. I have a project that is consuming my world which is good in the financial aspect of life, but not so good in the mental aspect. I am tired of working too late, I am tired of trying to keep everything straight, organized and done well. I am mentally and physically exhausted but I am still trying to maintain some health and some sort of balance in my life...which can be hard to do at times.
Here is the truth though, there are alot of other things going on that are contributing to the mental overload. Some of you already know this, some may have an idea, and some this may come as a complete and utter shock...but Tim and I are separated. For some reason that is actually really hard to type out. He got an apartment two weeks ago and I can't say that I have completely and utterly broken down yet, but I am sure it is to come. I have probably been too busy with work and typical things to dwell on it, which maybe is a good thing.
I have been dreading to post this, but at the same time I don't want to live in a fantasy world that all is perfect at the Hess household. I am not sure that any household is, but when you think that yours will be able to stand the test of time and then that becomes a question it can be hard to swallow.
It was a mutual decision, to take a break, step back and figure out what it is we truly want and hopefully regain the visual of how much the other person truly means to us and be able to make a decision how to move forward. Tim and I have been traveling on a road together for quite awhile, we met almost 13 years ago at Purdue and started dating shortly afterward. The road was amazing, adventurous, fun and so different from any other road. I think we traveled lots of different places, up mountains and down and were able to stay so close. But a few years ago we started hitting pot holes and those pot holes would get patched and then new ones seemed to appear or ones came back and seemed even larger. Eventually we got stuck. Stuck in a big hole that nobody could seem to get us out of. We tried lots of different ways but nothing seemed to work. Sometimes I felt like I was just digging the pothole deeper instead of helping us out.
So we decided that maybe some space would be good. Maybe we had been stuck in that pothole for too long together and maybe if we helped the other person out then maybe we could see the situation better than looking at it from inside the hole.
So that is where we are at, at least as simply stated as it can get. I ask for your support of both of us, your prayers that our hearts can be healed and that we take this time to focus on ourselves, heal ourselves, draw closer to God and then let Him lead us in the direction that we are meant to go. I want to say thanks for all of those who are already doing those things. Keep it up! Prayer is a powerful thing.

Wordless Wednesday- Just Like Mommy (except I tend to wear pants)

Interview with Lucas

Saw this on facebook and also on my cousins blog, thought it was cute. So I "interviewed" Lucas and wrote down the exact words he said.

All About Mommy
By Lucas (Age 4)

1. What is something mommy always says to you?
Don't call names.

2. What makes mommy happy?
love.

3. What makes mommy sad?
when I don't listen to you.

4. How does your mommy make you laugh?
by playing jokes, hehehe.

5. What was your mommy like as a child?
a baby.

6. How old is your mommy?
4.

7. How tall is your mommy?
umm...all the way to the top.

8. What is your mommy's favorite thing to do?
to work.

9. What does your mommy do when you're not around?
be scared.

10. If your mommy becomes famous, what will it be for?
fighting bad guys.

11. What is your mommy really good at?
reading a book.

12. What is your mommy not very good at?
putting me in timeout.

13. What does your mommy do for her job?
work on computer.

14. What is your mommy's favorite food?
slimedogs.

15. What makes you proud of your mommy?
when I call you beautiful.

16. If your mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be?
a cartoon.

17. What do you and your mommy do together?
clean up.

18. How are you and your mommy the same?
we both have green shirts.

19. How are you and your mama different?
i dont' know, you're a girl.

20. How do you know your mommy loves you?
like being friends.

21. Where is your mommy's favorite place to go?
to stores.

Thankful Tuesday

My children are amazing. I seriously cannot get enough squeezes from them. I am definitely not a perfect mom by any means, and I am sure some days I rank lower on the scale than others. Having a two and four year can be interesting with just the amount of things they say and how they say them. Sometimes you are suprised, sometimes you are bewildered and sometimes you just have to smile...or even cry. Lucas was so sweet today, and I would have add it to my top 10 favorites. Random out of the blue he comes up and gives me a hug and says:

"Mom, I love you"

So I picked him up and squeezed him and told him that I loved him too. Then he says,

"Mom, you are the most beatuifulestest girl in the whole world".

And admist the tears that started to roll, I whispered, "Thanks buddy...you have no idea how much that means to me".

Cousin Fun

Well after the water park adventure we headed over to the in-laws and got to see my new nephew again and the kids got in some more good cousin time.

Baby James is getting big (and cute) pretty quick!
Lilly wanted to hold him, but also kept chomping on her carrot...already a multi-tasker.

And this is Lilly and Noah chilling out watching a movie. Too cute. I guess I would have to say it was definitely a cousin filled weekend...but can't beat that! I am glad they are all close in age, can't wait to see what it is like when they get older!

Wordless Wednesday...My Latest Creation

Water filled weekend...

Well there is alot going on here at the Hess', and I will fill you in, but this week I am going to play catch up with some fun pictures. Thought I would share some pictures from our Indoor Waterpark adventure two weekends ago. The kids and I headed up to Northern Indiana with my the rest of my family and had a wonderful water filled adventure.

Lucas and Lilly pretty much stayed in the toddler area without getting too adventurous with the bigger slides, but they had a great time. Loved turning the water on and off, splashing, swimming (in 8" of water), going down the smaller slides, the lazy river with mommy and would every now and again venture over to "the BIG bucket". Don't get me wrong, the toddler area was cool...but the water was always warmer there for some reason...hmmm.
It was great hanging out with my sisters, brothers-in-law and of course all my nieces and one nephew. The kids loved playing together too...and chasing eachother down the hallways and riding on the "train" (aka: luggage cart).

Lucas was obsessed with my water camera and carried it all around for me. He really used it more like a boat and not neccesarily a camera though. Not even sure where it is now, but if we find it we will actually develop it and see if anything turned out. (I got these pics from my parents).

Hannah won these glasses with her arcade tickets. Too cute.

And the family shot by the horse (of course!)
Thought this pic of my parents was halarious..and this is what I meant by the "BIG bucket". There was a giant bucket that would fill up and then spill over when it got full...and if you weren't paying attention it could kinda freak you out and definitely get you wet. Needless to say there was alot of screaming when the bucket dropped (at least by Lucas).

Thanks for the great trip mom and dad!!