A Day of Thanks

Today I am thankful for about a million different things. I could go on and on to list them but that would take the rest of my life I think. The one thing I really reflected on today is that I need to have more of a spirit of thanksgiving every other day of my life and not just today. It's so easy to get mired down in circumstance and struggle and look at the needs instead of looking at the ups and the victories and the praises I could sing of everything I have been blessed with.
And believe you me, I have been BLESSED!!

Most of all, I am thankful to be the daughter of the Father, the bride of the redeeming Christ and the receiver of the Spirit that surrounds and protects me. I have a loving husband, a healthy son who fills my life with joy and family that loves and supports me. I have friends who have stood the test of time and have been by my side for the tears and laughter (and the times that those two things occur together) and I couldn't ask for anything more from them. I have a bed to lay my head down on each night, under a roof that doesn't leak, in a house that runs heat and clean water whenever I need. I have food a-plenty and clothes to keep me warm. I am free to worship who, how and where I want (The Living God....in case you were wondering).
What more could I possibly ask for?

I AM BLESSED!

Baring It All

The trees are becoming stark and bare with the leaves having turned and now most have fallen. I love the fall, but dislike this time of transition of autumn to winter when the colors have gone and the trees are so bare. I actually look forward to the snow as I think it's beautiful....I guess that's the Minnesota gal in me!

The good thing, however, about the leaves falling is you get to rake them into big piles and have some fun. While I didn't run and jump into the pile or set up a slide to slide into the leaves (this year anyway) I did get to take some cute pictures of our little pumpkin sitting and playing amongst the fallen foilage.

All Hallows Eve

Happy Halloween!!!

The whole clan at the Greene/Ostman household.

Zachary and Daddy at the church party - Jesus and candy, what more could you need?

Octoberpalooza

Fall fun and October updates!
The first weekend of the month we took our annual fall trip to Emma Krumbees for breakfast and autumnal activities. Zach was with me insitu last year, but I think he enjoyed himself more this time around.

Riding on the "Barrel Express" with Daddy.

Feeding the mini-horses at the petting zoo.

"Hey - Mom & Dad, I want thisssss one!"

"Shhh, don't wake Daddy - I'm 10 months old today!"

Zachary was 20 lbs and 28 1/2 inches long this time around. Still no crawling, but there are now 7 teeth chopping on everything in site with an 8th one on the way. He can also pull himself up on things and loves to stand at the ottoman and play.

10/14/08 - Our 2 yr anniversary! We had a great dinner with the fam at Red Lobster and then had some delicious alone time chatting and playing our favorite card game at Caribou.

Zach and Daddy hiking around at Taylors Falls.
We decided to take a "fall colors" drive and ended up at Taylors Falls. It was a beautiful autumn day and it was good to be outside enjoying nature and each other in such a gorgeous setting.

Zachary Greene - Outdoorsman Extraordinaire

"Can we get ice-cream on the way home?"

Squidoo

Shocking that I'm posting 2 times in one day I know! I was just going through my normal blog-hopping/reading for the day and found this and thought it was worthy to pass on!

Squidoo (http://www.squidoo.com/) is donating $80,000 to charity. There are several you chose from and when you vote, the charity you chose gets $2. You can only vote once but if you pass this on, then some great charities could potentially get some great money! You don't have to sign up for anything, just go to the page and pick your charity. If your favorite cause isn't listed, they have descriptions for the charities listed so that you can make an informed decision.

I went for Oxfam -don't know an incredible amount about it, but they are working for social justice and the ability of people to get educated to pull themselves out of poverty, both locally and globally.

Let me know if you went there and what you voted for!

Better late than never!

Silly me, I forgot to do a 9 month birthday post for Zachary! So here's the scoop:
20 lbs 3 oz, 28 1/2 inches long with a crazy head size in the 90% :) Also, in honor of the event Zach decided to debut a new tooth which is on the top - he's so excited to have an opposing muncher and is using his teeth to bite and chew. He is also now starting to show his other front top tooth and a few more on the bottom, he'll have a full set of chompers before we know it!
No official crawling yet, but he now thinks that his mom and dad are jungle gyms and he never sits still. I'm sure he'll be crawling around soon and the real fun will begin (read: mom will get a work out chasing Zach around every day)!

Bathing Beauty

Yes, beauty can be masculine! Oh, how I wish that my kitchen sink were deep enough to give Zachary a bath in. But for now I'll settle for a dish tub that I set atop the wash machine - don't worry, it's secure! Zach fits perfectly in it and it's a real back saver instead of stooping over into the bath tub. I know eventually here we'll have to transition to the "big boy tub", but for now we're enjoying the laundry room :)

Zach's very first bath - not lovin' it.

9 months later - LOVES bath time!

Florida Take 2

At the ripe ol' age of almost 9 months, Zachary took his second trip to Florida (with his mom and dad of course!). This means he has officially been on 6 airplanes already! We went down to visit Poppy, Mamere and Grammy on a last minute labor day week vacation. We were also able to stay at Ron Jon's Cape Caribe resort which was right on the beach with a great swimming area as well. We were fortunate to go there after storm Faye and for all the projected thunderstorms, it only rained one morning. It was sweltering hot and dripping with humidity, but the sunshine was nice and Zachy and Mommy didn't end up melting after all :) Dave, however, was in heat heaven and was chagrined to come back to 65 degree weather.
Zach was once again a super trouper through all the traveling and visiting and we all had a really great time. Thanks again Poppy and Mamere for flying us down!

The airplane ride to Florida - smiling as usual!


Four generations of Greene men!


Spending time at Grammy's house.


Ready to cheer on The Gators with Daddy!


"Pruney" swimming pool feet :)


At the beach with Mommy.


Post airplane back to MN - still smiling :) Notice the wings on the carseat, he's official now!

Hangin At Home

Boy time goes fast!! We've been busy doing nothing here at the GreeneHouse...just lots of spending time together watching Zachary grow and discover things. He continues to love Aria (the kitty) and grabs a clump of fur..err..tries to pet her whenever he can. She loves the attention and will usually tolerate most of his affections (read: ear pulling, trying to eat her tail, etc.). Now that Zach has mastered sitting up by himself he's on to the next adventure! He is showing signs of wanting to crawl, but for now just ends up getting stuck or flopping on his face - poor baby :) Hopefully we'll have some fun crawling video to share in the near future!
In other developments, Zach has reached that stage where he gets upset when mom or dad leave the room or when "strangers" (those not a part of his every day landscape) try to hold him. He will usually warm up after a little time of just looking at the person and then will be OK with them holding him. It's definitely time to put him in the nursery at church to get him used to being with others!
Here are a few pictures of us spending time at home. The last two are of Zach's current favorite activity - looking at his reflection and giggling!

We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo...

In honor of Zachary's 7 month old milestone we took him for his first trip to the zoo!! Most of the time he seemed pretty indifferent to the animals and just enjoyed people watching (well I guess people are animals too!), but he did seem amused by the monkeys and the giraffes. The adventure was also his first time riding in his stroller like a big boy instead of riding in his car seat attached to the stroller! He enjoyed being able to fully sit up and look around at the world.

More adventures to come!

Zach & Daddy with the giraffes.

Zach & Daddy laughing at each other!

Zach and Mommy at the end of a long, hot day.

A rare appearance of mommy and daddy on the blog!

Pretty flowers outside of the conservatory.

Grandparent's Weekend

The last weekend of June was grandparents weekend at the GreeneHouse as Poppy and Mamere came up from Florida to visit Zach. They were here from Thursday to Tuesday and got to spend lots of quality time just hanging out and relaxing. Zachary got to go swimming with Poppy at the hotel, he's getting to be quite a water baby! The highlight of the weekend, however, was Zach's dedication in church on Sunday! We were blessed by the many family members that were able to attend and continue to be blessed by our church home.

Thanks to Poppy and Mamere for coming to visit and for everything you do for us!

Can you believe it?!?

Yes, yes I know....I've been a vewwy bad blogger!! Busy busy in the GreeneHouse growing and changing and I Sarah do solemnly swear to update more frequently. Quite a bit to report on over the past month, so I'll just touch on some things and show the best pics (be sure to look at the Flickr page for all the updated pictures).



Zach is now learning to sit up on his own and is becoming ever more interactive and interested in the world around him.

He turned 6 months old on June 13 (where does the time go?) and in honor of the occassion he has sprouted up 2 teeth! At Zach's check-up he weighed 18 lbs 9 oz. and was 27 inches long and of course he remained in the 90% for head size with his big noggin :) Look closely and you can see his 2 little bottom teeth.

Father's day was a good day for all, especially Dave of course...check out Zach's shirt!

Zach just loves being in the swimming pool and he got a fancy new floaty so he can stay in the pool and be out of the sun (what they won't come up with these days!). Here he is for the first time this swimming season in Great Grandpa Ostman's pool.

Last but not least, Zach got outfitted in some baseball gear (rally cap and all). Uncle Bob and Zachary were ready for the game - Go Twins!! David would like to add that Zach will be a Brave's fan, not a Twin's fan. I won't even justify that comment with a response :)

"Breaking" News!

A Breakthrough!
5/27/2008 6:23 a.m.

This just in! A 5 1/2 month old adorable baby boy in Blaine, MN was spotted with a tooth breaking through. The alleged tooth is located on his bottom gum line where the top ridges of it can be felt and seen. We'll be following this development closely and keep you updated as the action happens!

A New Green In The GreeneHouse!
5/25/2008 5:30 p.m.

In other news, Zachary Greene ate his first vegetable ever (green beans) last Sunday evening for dinner. His parents proudly report that, while unsure at first, Zach ended the meal smiling and wanting more.