Sunday, June 30, 2013

Big Man

 We are now on the beach leg of our summer vacation. I haven't had the energy (or the right computer) to post pictures. My children have been waking up super early, like they have no clue what a vacation is.
However we have had a great time, trips to museums, seeing family, swimming, day trips to Auburn and today we celebrated Goobers 9th birthday. I'm not a fan of my children getting older but as long as they stay as sweet as they are I can tolerate it.
Goober got special treatment all day....motorcycle rides with Gramps, picking out presents, drinking Cherry Coke ( caffeine is a no no usually), staying up late watching Despicable Me, walks on the beach with me and my mom and he got to choose what we ate for breakfast and lunch.....he is so my kid, he chose Sams ( yup the buy in bulk place where you can fill up on samples for lunch or pay 1.90 for pizza and a coke).....and pizza for dinner followed by ice cream sandwiches for dessert.....oh and two rounds of swimming...can we say sugar high and sleeping in?

We are having a great time, despite the 5:30( I kid you not) wake up calls and ill post pictures soon.

Happy Birthday big man. The past 3 birthdays with you have been fantastic and I love you so very much. I love how easily you forgive, how eager you are to read, study and know the Bible, how you call mom out on her own rules that she doesn't follow, how honest you are, how you still ask mom to bathe you every now and then but cover your butt with one hand so I can't see it :), how you still say "Hey Man" instead of Amen at the end of every prayer, how you go through shoes in 3 weeks, how you sleep with my old blankie from childhood that my grandma made, how you grab my arm fat and shake it(most of the time), how you slap me when you say a "slug bug", how you won't put down a book until you have finished it, how you use your vast knowledge of rhinos to " up one" people......for example " oh yeah, well I bet you don't know how much a white rhinos head weighs".

You are such a blessing to us. We get so upset when we think of your past but so very excited when we see how God is redeeming you and turning you into a servant and we can't wait to see what you allow Him to do with you.

Monday, June 24, 2013

Alabama

We arrived in Alabama after 12 long hours of driving (thanks Adam), on Thursday morning. The kids did super, sleeping almost the entire way. Since then we have been playing with CC and Papa and Uncle Chris.....swimming....napping...and having birthday parties :).
The kids have played with cousins, wrestled with their uncle, gone to camp with CC and got tons of love. Today at their birthday party they soaked all the adults....well the adults started it...with water balloons and water guns. Almost everyone got soaked and borrowed clothes to go home in....that means you know it was a good party!

Ribbit has been walking around my parents home looking at old pictures and asking " was I with you then?"... She gets real sad when I say no.

Goober has been beating the snot out of Uncle Chris with pillows, toys and his whole body. It's a constant wrestling match and Goober believes that Uncle Chris has got weaker since the last time we visited :).

Baby boy has been real dramatic, throwing himself at everyone to hold him and yelling "peas, peas". He's cute as anything so he has been getting lots of attention:).

We have lots of people to visit, lots of places to go and lots of beach ahead of us :)

Monday, June 17, 2013

San Antonio

We skipped out on the last two days of VBS....Thursday because both littles were coughing and had really snotty noses...Goober still went.
Thursday afternoon we left for San Antonio. I had to attend the Fine Arts portion of our schools organization conference and we decided to turn it in to a mini vacation. We took Goober and Ribbit there 2 summers ago and went to Sea World so it was fun to go back and see other things that San Antonio is known for.
We stayed in a really nice hotel ....and enjoyed the heck out of it....cookies and milk brought for the kids every night....swimming in the indoor pool and hot tub. Our kids swam every chance we got and after every swim we sat in the hot tub and watched the bubbles :).
We also went downtown and toured the Alamo, which Goober liked since he saw Davy Crockett's gun and a Bowie knife and canons. Ribbit liked the big fish in the stream that runs through it. It was really neat to see that legendary site, but we never realized how it sits in the heart of downtown San Antonio.
That afternoon we went on a boat tour of the riverwalk of San Antonio. To drive through the streets you would never know there is a water system or so many neat things on the lower level of the city. We saw all kinds of dams, animals, bands and neat historical things while on the tour. We also spotted where we wanted to eat dinner, a nice Mexican restaurant right on the river.....AND BOY DID WE EAT...the portions were huge and the kids loved all the birds around us, me not so much.
On our last day there we went to an indoor/outdoor Mexican market where we ate really good popsicles with coconut chunks, lemons and chocolate in them. We also bought some neat clay bird whistles that when filled with water make bird sounds and we couldn't leave until Goober found 2 boxes of snaps....those things you throw and they pop...sorry to any and everyone who passed by him after that...including cars....he was so tickled every time they would pop.

We also celebrated Fathers Day this weekend. We made Adam a ceramic pizza plate that said " We love you to Pizza's Daddy" on it and had their handprints.
On our way to the splashpad that afternoon we passed a cementary and Goober asked why there were so many people there. When I told him that many people go see their mom or dad if they have died at the cementary on Mother's/Father's Day he replied " yeah i kinda know what its like to lose a mom". Then I asked him what he was thinking about on Mother's Day this year ...did he miss her? did he have good memories of her on those days? He said " i was thinking that she probably doesn't care about me anymore and doesen't even know where I am". I quickly corrected him and reminded him that she had made poor choices but she did care about him and she probably had an awful Mother's Day just wishing she could see him again. He said " yeah but it was my fault that I left the house and thats when the cops said I had to go to another home". I hear these kinds of things from Goober alot....he tends to blame his actions for being taken from his mom. We talked about she was the adult and she could have watched him better and been more responsible...he gave me some other reasons why she couldn't watch him better, all of which sounded like they came from an irresposible teenager but we both agreed that adults are in charge and he had no fault in being taken. I am sure as he gets older that more and more things will trigger questions and ideas from him, just hope he continues to show the maturity he is showing now.

We are packing up for Alabama today and leave tomorrow night. The kids are really excited...I'll be excited when we get there...that 12 hour drive gives me nightmares :).










Wednesday, June 12, 2013

VBS

This week is VBS and I am really glad I signed up to help with Goober's age. I get a lot of extra time with the two littles....bath time, time when they are in my room while I am getting ready and because of his age Goober can't be in there :), time with them getting them ready....so it was the obvious choice. He instantly asked to be in my group...we have 80 2nd graders so there are about 6 smaller groups. He is always moving to sit beside me and answers all the questions we get about me "really" being his mom with a "yes " and an eye roll :)....hehe, I like to think that in his little head he is thinking "geesh, don't they see our resemblance :)". He LOVES competing in the bible quizzes and blows everyone else out of the water, he also loves learning all the new moves to the songs and doing them as big as he can. I have caught him sharing without being asked to, making new friends and in full out worship this week...AWESOME!!!

The two littles are doing well too.....playing hard and napping hard afterwards :).

I'm busy writing curriculum since I am moving up with my bible girls to 8th grade....FINALLY :)....I've always wanted to take a group of girls through both the Old and New Testament and it worked out this year!!! I also am moving classrooms so when we get back from Alabama there will be lots of packing and organizing...but once again I am excited....i like change..well most change :).

Ribbit has started asking me if people are "a post to" be doing things? Like anytime Goober does something that she thinks might get him in trouble she runs to me and says " is brother a post to be throwing de ball in de house?"....hehe, most of the time she is tattling on Goober or Adam. She also has started to brush her teeth somewhat by herself with mommy finishing up...but she swears everytime that she "got the back ones". She also loves to summarize our day and make sure she agrees with it...so after I say " lets go to church " she will say "then what next?"...and she will say it until I finally get to her going night night at the end of the day.

Baby Boy is saying "juice", "nack" for snack, "shaking his head yes and no, "bye bye", "hi", "mommy", "daddy", "be be" for sisters real name, "bubba" for his brother, "ba" for his bottle,"out" while he points out the window, "gog" for dog,  "peas" for please, "ball", "up" and he points down when he wants down from his high chair. He is so stinkin smart and will hand us the things we ask for all the time. He dances with both hands in the hair twisting whenever he hears music and he also bounces his knees when he sees sister jumping. He still loves to be held ALL THE TIME and is starting to have a hard time letting us go at church, I think that has to do with me being home with him and the other 2 all summer.

Monday, June 10, 2013

Camping Part II

Isn't this summer? Then why have we yet to sit at our house all day on any given day? Ah well, I guess that means we are getting things done :).
We have VBS this week every morning from 8-12 and Thursday we leave for a loooonnng weekend in San Antonio. 

Here are more pictures from our awesome camping trip!!!

Me and Baby Boy on the boat...he went in to a coma anytime he got on the boat..sat really still and would point every now and then...couldn't tell if he was  relaxed or scared ;)
Captain Cutie Pants....couldn't you just eat him up!!!
Hanging out on the big bubba....he tubed all day!
Mommas time with the younguns.
His first catch....soo proud!
Swimming with Daddy...one of her favorite things about camping!
Grill master for the weekend.
Hanging out with Daddy at the camp site.
Going crazy with "Uncle Bobby"...then they flipped!!!
Smores on the last night....is she not the cutest thing!
Someone else loves smores too!
Eating smores with the big boys.....eating 3 of them to b exact :)

Monday, June 3, 2013

We made it!

We survived!!....not only did we survive camping we had fun....ALL of us!

Our kiddos did great, especially with all the other kiddos around to play with. We had our own little community of tents, a little drive thru for all the kids to ride their scooters in and a perfect view of the river. We were actually quite shocked at how well they did in the tents .... but then again they were dead tired every night and we found Ribbit hanging off her bed twice in the middle in the night sound asleep. Goober felt the need to go pee every 5 minutes and I was about to just cut a small hole in the tent rather than hear that zipper again!!!!Baby boy chased everyone, stole everyone's scooter and food and slept well in his pack and play.

They also did well out on the boat all day Saturday. Goober fished off the front and was the only one to catch something....he also tubed at least 8 times....which is crazy for how long the rides were and how rough our driver got :). He hasn't mentioned anything about being sore but me and Adam are hurting pretty bad from tubing and/or sleeping on the ground 2 nights.

We are definitely planning another trip with our friends and hope to create lots of memories for our little ones.

Couple of funnies
1-As Baby Boy reached over to grab something away from Ribbit she yelled " stop grabbing my muscles!!!".

2-Goober and one of the other dads really hit it off while fishing so he started calling him "Uncle Bobby"..we thought it was so cute!

3-As Ribbit and I were hauling butt to the bathroom at 6:30 this morning thru the woods a bug landed on her forehead. She went crosseyed trying to spot that thing....and then it crawled down onto her mouth. If you know my daughter you know she is just like me and freaks out around bugs. However, once I knocked the bug off her lips she started laughing hysterically and said " that silly bug tried to kiss me".....picture her saying that with CRAZY curly camp hair and try not to laugh :)

4-Goober ate more than I did at every meal this weekend. For example last night after dinner I said I was so full from my 1 bowl of chili and 1 smore and he agreed but then noted he had 2 bowls of chili and 3 Smores.....GEESH!!!!!

As we laid in our tent the first night I couldn't help but thank God for how much he has blessed us. We miss our family so much but he has given us friends our age, with kids the same age as our kids that love to hang out and love the Lord. He has also been blessing us financially lately and Adam is jam-packed with jobs and was just offered another full time job this past Friday...we are praying about it but are so thankful all God is giving us...most of all our 3 kiddos!!!

I took a ton of pictures so I'll break them up in groups.

This happened almost right when we got there.....straight into the water, with clothes on....no holding back!!
No worries, no cares, not even a swimmy diaper on :)....good ole MUD!!!
Look at that face....and that hair..his hair looked good all weekend, the hotter and wetter it was the better his hair curled :)
Look at all these rocks mom.....I think he thought he was going to get in trouble for being so dirty and touching everything!
Good thing those shoes are almost too small for him....they aren't going back on him now :)
The kids took over our site :). At any one time you could hear the girls, there were only two, talking about princesses and then all the boys were looking for bugs and/or playing in the mud while sword fighting :)
Instant friends....since they are a 1 year apart they aren't in the same classes at church and only see each other every other month at our family events....regardless, they were best buds all weekend!!!
One of their many adventures :)
Mom, now that I am dry and clean I want to go back down to the muddy river!!!
This big man didn't have anyone his age to play with but he got lots of extra perks like tons of scooter riding time, a longer time than anyone else on the boat, fishing with "Uncle Bobby", extra rides on Big Bubba, staying up late with the adults and then just b/c I still had some momma guilt he is having a sleep over tonight with his best bud :).