Birthday!

Today we get to celebrate the professor’s Birthday!

To the one to take them on adventures,

Dress up as a wolf for them,

Teaches them how to grow things,

Tickles their feet,

Teaches lessons to students (near and far this year),

Listens to beginning readers,

Splits logs,

Repairs drive ways

Will help you meet your goals,

Buys me flowers,

Play horsey,

Is a Trail Guide,

The fixer of many things,

The carrier of our family,

My best friend.

Happy Birthday!

Friday Funny: Justin's Favorites

As I was asking the bookends all their favorites, Justin became overwhelmingly jealous that I never asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up.  Ha!  So for all of you who have been waiting with bated breath, here are his favorites...

1. What is your favorite color? black
2. What is your favorite toy? chainsaw
3. What is your favorite fruit? blueberries
4. What is your favorite tv show? Longmire, The Civil War, The Unit, Nova, Parks and Rec
5. What is your favorite movie? 2001, Patton, and Gran Torino
6. What is your favorite thing to wear? jeans and a t-shirt
7. What is your favorite animal? balrog
8. What is your favorite song? "Now that We're Dead"-Metallica, "Psycho Surgery" -Tourniquet, "Behold a Trumpet Will Sound" -Handel
9. What is your favorite book? Romans
10. Who is your best friend? *me*
11. What is your favorite snack? salted, roasted mixed nuts
12. What is your favorite drink? IPA
13. What is your favorite breakfast? all your bacon and eggs
14. What is your favorite lunch? burger, fries, and a beer
15. What is your favorite dinner? pizza
16. What is your favorite game? Risk and Settlers of Catan
17. What is your favorite thing to play outside? Frisbee Golf, chop wood
18. What is your favorite holiday? Resurrection Sunday
19. What do you sleep with at night? my wife...
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? a machinist

Happiest of Days

Happy birthday to my best friend, who wears many hats, literally and figuratively:

 Baby Holder

Dance Partner

Fun Organizer

 Doctor-Professor-Daddy

We hope you have a great day!

Swing Set

When I was a little girl, my Daddy built a swing set for my sister and me to play on.  We spent a lot of hours on it--two swings, a tire swing, trapeze bar, and a set of monkey bars.  It also had a balance beam next to it.  We made a little obstical course out of it.  Across the beam, up on to the tire swing (without touching the ground), across the step for the monkey bars, and onto the trapeze bar, where we would flip over.  I remember growing too tall to set the trapeze bar so that I could sit on it and flip without hitting my head one way or the other.

When it became clear that Kate was out growing our metal A frame swing set, I had my old swing in mind.

 

Justin and I opted for a web swing in place of the old tire swing, and we'll still have a baby swing up for Ellie, but for the most part, it is my old swing set.  We added an extra post to stabilize the bar for the web swing too, since it is made to hold up to three children.

Holly, want to come swing?

Or we could just play in the mud...

 

Thanks for all your (hot) hard work, Justin.

His Green Thumb

Justin likes to keep a garden.  I like to cook the food or eat it fresh and I'll can and freeze, but he handles the outdoor part, mostly.  Sometimes I'll pick, berries or tomatoes especially, since he's red/green color blind, but for the most part the garden is his gig.

This year the zucchini and squash are lush and full.

The cucumbers, that we had so much of last year, are falling behind in their new spot...crop rotation and spreading out and all.  I think they will have to find a different home next year.

We have pretty tomatoes starting too.

 Happy gardening!

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday, my love!

It's been a few years since we celebrated your 21st birthday together during finals week...the first of many.  I am so grateful for you!  Thank you for your provision for us, you love, your care, and your companionship.

Love,

In Hot Water

On Friday afternoon I piled all the kids into the van, which is parked in the driveway instead of the garage because of Christmas surprises.  I slide into the driver's seat...and I see water gushing from under the garage door.

Oh dear.

I opened the door and found that hot water was rapidly escaping our water heater.  I eventually got the water turned off and stopped the hemorrhaging   Justin spent his Saturday replacing the water heater and Sunday trying to catch up on all the work he had to put off.

So, I'm thankful for a husband who is willing and able to fix things like this, and I'm very thankful for a nice hot shower!

Happy Birthday, Justin!

ALL ABOUT MY DADDY

by Kate, Gabby, and Nate

My Daddy’s name is Justin J***** S***** • Justin • Daddy.

He is 4' 80" • 35' 85" • 11' 5" tall.

He weighs 100 • 85-60 • 797  pounds.

His eyes are brown • brown • good .

His favorite book is The Horse and His Boy • The Horse and His Boy • The Gospel.

He likes to go to the zoo • to the park • in the car.

His favorite food is eggplant parmigiana • meat • french fries.

For fun he likes to tickle me • to tickle us • running to tickle me.

I love my Daddy when he hugs me • hugs me • is eating with me.

My favorite thing about my Daddy is he reads to me • when he kisses me • running around.

Announcement

I'm excited to have these in our possession!



Announcements for graduation! We are so glad to have this one behind us.

There are lots of projects on Justin's plate these days...teaching, writing for his doctoral adviser, a research project (or two) at work, and beginning on his tenure package, but it is wonderful to have this accomplishment! Maybe he'll actually have time to take some vacation next summer.

Away

Justin and I took our trip for his defense without the munchkins. My parents kept the kids and his parents paid for our hotel room, as a graduation gift. So instead of staying at a Days Inn or the like, we stayed at the historic Omni. It is kind of like going home--being in Cincinnati, not the Omni. We had intended to put down roots there and we let ourselves get attached to the area. We lived there longer than anywhere else we've lived in our married life.


It was a pretty room,


With a chair Justin deemed as comfortable.


While the bathrooms have obviously been updated since the hotel was built in the 1930's, they put in fixtures that are reminiscent of the ones that were likely there originally.


We walked down to Fountain Square Park on our first night in town, before the storms blew threw.


We took some pictures, in the rain, of Justin in front of Old Chemistry


and inside Old Chemistry in front of a fountain with Alchemical Symbols

After celebratory lunch at the Skyline near campus, we headed to Mount Storm park. Ironically, we went there shortly before we closed on our very first house, back in the days of film, because we had to use up a roll to get it developed to send pictures of the house to our insurance company.


This picture has Crosley Tower over his shoulder--one of the newer chemistry buildings that he worked in.


(Here he is in the same spot in 2002--thanks to my scanner.)

* * * * *

And I had to include this picture I took on our way up. You know those nifty street view maps you can get on Google now? We saw one of their cars on the interstate. It is pretty funny to see--all the painting on the car and the funny camera ball on top. The fellow had his lap top open, but thankfully he wasn't playing any games, just downloading video.

What's Up Doc?

"Ten years. Ten years, man, ten years! Ten years!!" -name that movie quote

Justin and I started the journey for him to go to graduate school ten years ago. After two years of marriage, and shortly after I finished my undergraduate degree, we packed up our belongings and moved from the hometown where I had lived my entire life. I started a teaching job and he went back to school.

For five years we lived there in town. In that time, September 11th happened, we made many dear friends, we bought our first house, and we had our first baby. At the end of that five years, Justin took a new job, vowing to write his dissertation in the evenings and on weekends. Which he has done faithfully...for five more years!! In that time we've moved some more, had TWO more babies, made and left behind dear friends.

This week though, he defended that huge amount of work. There will be some edits to come, but his research has been accepted. His adviser spoke very highly of him and even gave me a hug. His official graduation date isn't until the fall, but if you happen to run across him, you can call him Doctor. He's earned it!

Justin, in his Master's regalia one last time for this spring's commencement exercises.

Happy Birthday!!

Today is a big day at our house. Actually, it would normally be a big day at our house, but this year is a little odd.

Today is Justin's birthday. While we are so very thankful for the husband and father who fills our lives with lots of wonderful things, we will not be celebrating with a nice dinner or giant cookie (his birthday treat of choice), nor will there be singing or presents.

Why on earth not?

After nearly 10 years and 4 moves (if you don't count the initial one to get us to Cincinnati and the one we will make before his hooding) he is finishing his PhD. The dissertation is due in its nearly final form to his committee today! Normally he would have it ready a day or so early, but his adviser sent him revisions on Monday, with a 'make as many of these changes as you can before sending it out' note, so he will be working late today and we'll celebrate with him tomorrow: his birthday, final grades submitted (those are due tomorrow!), and the nearly completed dissertation.

He will defend the dissertation later this month, at which time his committee will have the option to give him a few more revisions to complete (including those from his adviser he doesn't get finished before sending it off tonight), but at the end of the defense they will confer the title of doctor on him, because who in their right mind would go that far and not make a few revisions?



And today, though we won't get to see him much (or perhaps even at all for the little girls who weren't up yet when he left for the day), we are thankful for the Daddy and husband who works hard, plays tirelessly, and loves us well.

Happy Birthday! Love You!