January 5

Today I am thankful for small excitements! H has lost his first tooth. Being one of the youngest in his class means sometimes he has to wait forever for milestones! Last week on the way to TN he exclaimed, "I have a wiggly tooth!" He was so excited! Today he went home from school with JP and as they were jumping on the new trampoline, it all of the sudden was in his mouth. They came running into the house so frantically that SP thought something must be terribly wrong!! H called to tell me and went on to tell L and Ek too. When we all got together tonight we celebrated by singing "Happy Losing your first tooth day to you..." and ate ice cream sundays. It was really fun to celebrate with my precious growing boy. And here he is with oreo crumbs to decorate his new mouth...

Swimmin

Although one of the busiest for me, swimming lessons is 2 of the most fun weeks of the whole year. I'm not sure if there is any other 2 weeks that I see bigger improvement in any thing for all 3 of my kids-- this year was no exception.

Ronda kept saying what a hard worker Ek was. She really loves swimming and really took her lessons seriously and worked diligently on everything that she asked of her.
She worked on her freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke and dives. Super proud of that girl!
It was amazing to see how captivated the boys were by Ronda, they did not miss a word she said.
H worked on his freestyle, which is so strong, backstroke, underwater swimming and he even learned a running jumping dive off the diving board. Way to go H!

L's only regret was that she was last, it seemed like the longest morning of her life every day.
I loved how much H and Ek enjoyed watching her. Ek kept asking me to ask Ronda if she could get in and help. L made huge progress in her comfort level in the water. She got to where she was retreiving rings off the bottom all by herself. It was quite dramatic. She would drop the ring and watch it go, take a big breath and puff out her cheeks, purse her lips, reach down to get her ring, bouce up with a dramatic release of her breath and wipe her eyes clean. over and over. So so proud of her!
Blowing bubbles.
Our only regret was to miss the last day to get our tonsils out. But much more swimming fun is just around the corner!!

Home on the farm

Every time we have gone to get Sam dog food, John has admired the farm animals and wanted to get "H some new animals." Well, I didn't let him. Saturday morning, J wanted to get H out and take him to pick out some new animals for his birthday. So I told H to gather all his animals that he already had so he would know what he wanted. Since then, the kids have been playing farm non-stop. For the last 2 summers, they played Little People constantly so I guess this is the summer game. They have gotten out blocks for fences and stables, Barbies for their people, and a variety of vehicles to fully support their game. The living room has been taken over. As always though, the building is the fun part so occasionally I make them take it all down so they cans start over. Mostly, the play is peaceful and full of laughs. And occasionally we must stop and separate for a while. But it is really really fun to see and hear them all playing together and hear what the latest story line is-- a fundraiser to buy a new farm or all loading up for a horse race.

Slow down!!!

Two days before surgery, we had basketball camp times one, swimming lessons times 3, ENT appointment times one, preop times two including blood!, swimming with friends times three and Chick fil A times four (I was hungry!), then... L fell asleep on the way home with 2 chicken nuggets left to go on her lap in the car at 6:30. Maybe we needed surgery to slow us down a bit!! PS she slept until 6:30 the next morning. PPS and felt great! next up, what we've been up to at home...

Today

L had a very amazing day today. She was accompanied by H's best bud WG to K4 for bring a friend to school week. Wow. Could life get any better for a girl who cries several times a week for her brother and sissie when they leave her for school? She gave me the tightest squeeze and didn't consider looking back as she walked into the K building holding H's hand. Even when the teacher said, "L, say bye to mom," she was still moving too fast to look back. I got an email mid-day from our beloved Mrs. S saying that she was having a great day- all smiles and giggles, but when she got into the car, Mrs. S spelled t.i.r.e.d. And she remained that way for the rest of the day. The low point of the day was when she was trying to convince me that today was not today and that she could actually go back to school tomorrow because today was not today. She wanted today to be yesterday so tomorrow would be today and she could go again. wow, try arguing with a tired, i mean tired, 3 year old over that one. She kept saying 'but today is not today.' me in the front seat- speechless. Probably not the time to remind her of Psalm 118:24, This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it-- but next time I may try. Totally worth it though to give my sweet girl a day that she dreams of- when she is at school with her brother and sissy. And I admit, I felt so peaceful today knowing they were all there together. It will be here very soon.

Back to the ball field!!!

We were so excited tonight to start back to t-ball and softball.

Both kids are Florida Marlins, although on different teams. It took me a while to get all of Ek's bows tied, there are 4, and gather H's pants, belt and the cleats. J is coaching Ek's team so I watched all of H's game and then we went to Ek's game but only got to see about 1 inning. The tball coaches were very zealous and the softball called it early. My report of H's game was that he was so excited, he stayed alert and didn't really let any balls go by, he stopped the ball well and listened well to where it needed to go (please note the ball in his glove here..., he hit the ball strong and, of course, loved running the bases, he had a great time with his friends too. I loved watching him, he did occasionally look over to me and I would give him a big smile and thumbs up. L was a great fan, she had several friends to play with, and eat snacks with, and was very pleasant and sweet. Ek seemed to have a great time as well. She was very alert but I didn't get to see any balls come to her. She did hit the ball well, they did have a former professional ball player pitching it to them, that helped I'm sure. CG told her mom she had fun too in her debut game, she said the action from catching to throwing was 'just like a kick-ball-change in tap.' One thing makes us stronger for the next! 9 more games, can't wait!!

Ahhh the boat ride HHI day 2

Most definitely not the best boat ride ever. I mean, that would mean topping a sunset cruise with 2 sunsets in one night with mo- town music playing and dancing in the floor board, or going super fast with my kids hair blowing in the breeze and ice cream stuck to their chins, or that first boat ride on the Lake of the summer. Or those awesome rides in the fishing boat that you got wet from the wake on a good turn! Even better at dawn in old wind breakers on the way to lake church. Yeah, those cannot be topped. This one was really great though. A first for me to be out in the intercoastal waterways like this. And wowie wow wow-- dolphins!!

such a surreal moment- a dolphin literally popping his head up, practically leaning against our boat and smiling at us, yes, smiling. a. maz. zing.

that is a picture of a boy happy with his father

and that is a boy happy to be let loose to climb all over a boat

(thank goodness I remember the life vests)

if L is ever having a bad hair day, she needs to head to the coast and get on a boat (this is not true of many of us) here she is checking out the mud minnow getting on the hook

the thought of this moment got J through a lot of days the last couple of weeks

ocean+ family+ Jesus loving captain+ fishing= happy day

great moment

wow, even i was on vacation if i let my kids drink coke, must be documented

what a smile

Ek found a right time and place to break it down a bit

awesome time with Capt Bill

yep, awesome

Day 1 HHI

So thankful to have been able to get away this weekend with these precious people and their amazing Daddy.

We started out our weekend with some swimming the indoor pool. They all jumped right in with their new goggles and flippers and took off. I loved to see them pick right up where the left off last summer. We got out, took a shower and headed to Salty Dog. Unfortunately the wait was 1 1/2 hours, and fortunately they had the grill fired up on the deck so we ate grilled salmon sandwiches and hamburgers. Then we picked out our new shirts. L and Ek had pink ones, so L decided upon purple and I asked Ek if she wanted to match L and she said, "no, I really just want pink." H picked black. This process took about 1 minute. L feel asleep in the car on the way back and quickly tucked into her roll away cot. Ek and H snuck out to the beach with their daddy to see the beach and play a bit of basketball. And that was day 1. Much more from Friday later.

Ek looking at the water while waiting for dinner

L and my self portrait with a bit too much zoom

A very tired H with his Salty Dog Sprite

my Top Chef

This morning as a spring break opportunity, I decided to get out the kids cookbook, compliments of Mopsy, and let them choose something to make. By 8am, Ek had our whole day's menu planned beginning with cinnamon muffins. H was already involved in a movie so he came during commercial breaks to "help." L was a pretty steady "helper" as well, but Ek was defnately the top chef. She read the recipe very well, understood the fractions and learned the difference between cup and teaspoon, thankfully. I got some pics while she was dipping the muffins into butter and rolling them in cinnamon sugar.

The best part--- I think they all liked them (and the last scene of Toy Story where all of their eyes are glued, as well).

I want to think this way...

on the way to school today...

L: are the H's moving to Tennessee today?

me: no, not today sweetie.

L: when are they moving to TN?

me: i don't know sweetie, it won't be for a while.

L: are they moving when Jesus says its time?

me: yes, that is just right.

L: mommy, when they move to TN, I want to go stay at their house for a while.

me: me too, L, we will.

love her.

Refreshing Encouragment

After the race, the parade, lunch at Brian's subs, J's first canine eye consult and a nap for 4 out of 7 of us, the kids were really anxious to get wet, they very easily persuaded us that the sprinklers should be the next great part of our day. You know, winter is cold. Not much sunshine. You just kinda endure outside until you can get back inside. Then all of the sudden, you can't get enough sunshine. You can hardly make yourself go inside. It's like there is hope again that you really don't like to sit around inside all stuffy and cold. You really do like to get out and have some fun. Encouragement. Today being outside running, smiling, laughing, catching candy from paraders, and getting a cold burst of water to cool you off was so refreshing. Mom talked several times this weekend about what encouragement means. We can endure anything with encouragement. We just need to hear that we are loved, that we are on the right path, that we are going to make it, that things are going to be better. I think of the Psalms when David pleaded, "take not your spirit from me." We know in the New Covenant, by the blood of Christ that the Spirit is ours forever, but we sure can make Him quiet. And then, we confess, we pray, we repent, we seek and we hear. It feels like running through sprinklers on a warm day after a cold winter. Refreshing to feel the warmth, refreshing to appreciate the cool, and a rush to feel your heart beating. "Sanctify us in your truth Lord, your Word is truth. " (John 17:17)

H actually ran through the sprinklers whereas L preferred to run close to them. She did get wet some and I think she was having just as much fun!

Finishing the race

I love the Road Race on Super Saturday here. J ran it our first year here, he ran the 5k. Dad came and mom was on Walk to Emmaus. L was in my belly. It was so terribly windy and cold. H and Ek were all bundled up in blankets in the stroller and were quite confused and a bit annoyed at the whole thing, it was cold. We hid behind Belk's to try to block some wind. Fast forward 4 years.

I picked up 7 race packets on Friday. 5 fun run entries and 2 10ks. 7 orange t-shirts. I don't think I have ever had an orange t-shirt in my life. I can pretty much guarantee J never has. We all 7 made the trip around the mall. Ek ran until her sweet face turned a beautiful pink but never once whined or asked to stop, I think every year she likes very much to run past all the older boys who sprint and stop, and we just cruise on by. We finished in 10:01. Wow! H and J finished about :30 later, no stopping either! Wow! L never stopped nor started. She was a bit intimidated and rode the whole way in either arms or shoulders. Precious thing. She was in very good company. J and I quickly made our way to the next start line and were very quickly off to the 10k. The weather was a warm 50+ with bright sunshine. We were very pleased with our times of 44 and change and I was just under 51. We think our whole running group set PRs in heart rates. The course had a turn around and I was so happy to see all of his running group staying so strong, oh and SP in the middle, I mean at the front of them. J said he was a bit light headed crossing the finish line and I am so sore today I could barely walk. And yet, still worth it. There is nothing quite like accomplishing a goal with people you love. And even though we all finished at different times, it all felt like we had crossed together. I think that is totally what Heaven will feel like. Without the soreness.