Days

We are settled into school pretty well right now. Settling into a busy daily routine. I wake them with kisses and try to gently get them downstairs for breakfast, getting dressed, brushing teeth and getting to the car. J has been trying to come to the kitchen during our routine and read a devotional to them while they are about their business. On the ride to school we talk about and practice their Bible verses. L has finally stopped praying for God to help me while I'm home alone, but they do commonly ask what I will do. I get L at noon but most days she really just wants to go out to lunch with a friend. Several days the disappointment as been long and tiring when we come home, but many days we have enjoyed a few hours here to play and read. She is requesting that J pick her up one day and take her to lunch all by herself and then I come to get her so J can return to work. The afternoons are filled with reading, math facts and spelling words; soccer and dance, choir and soon a piano lesson; we really try to eat at home when we can which some days is at 4:45 :) We have had the most fun taking time with each of them for their devotional instead of meeting all together. They are so calm and attentive when we lay down with each one. H has started being able to read the young Bible stories and he had the most amazing conversation with J the other night that J has got to write about. Life is busy but sweet.

Sweet conversations

The other night, L and i were reading about Jonah. In her sweet young version, there was a great emphasis on obeying God. So I asked Lauren, "do you want to obey God?" she nodded her sweet little head. I asked, "so what do you need to do to obey God?" Her reply was slow and deliberate: "Be thankful, be kind, be generous, love." We prayed and asked God to help us both obey.

Yesterday I asked Ek the same questions, her reply was quick and bouncy, like she was on a game show: "read the Bible, praise Him, worship Him!!!" Oh Lord, please help us. We talked for most of the car ride to school today about living here with the expectation of what we think we will live like in Heaven, peaceful, trusting, thanking, praising, loving. And L's sweet verse, Psalm 23:1 reminded us that Jesus will take care of us along our way today. I hope they are having a great day at school.

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.

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).

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.

St Patrick's Day Happy moments

There were a lot of happy moments today. Here are a few...

L and I spent the day at home "cleaning." She was, at times, as helpful as yesterday, at other times, not so much. After school, we went back to school to cheer HH onto a strong tennis victory. And watched a bit of soccer, saw the girls score a great goal. And played on the playground. Then, when J finished up work, we went to the Pancake supper. Forgot my syrup this year, but it was still good. Actually probably good I forgot my syrup.

At the playground. Did you know H could go all the way across on monkey bars? He can!

H and his amazing friend W. H with his cool smile.

What in the world are we going to do with these 2?

Keep them forever and love them, obviously, but I have a feeling our hands are full with these. They were standing and having this big teenage conversation, sipping their drinks with their hands on their hips. Ek's just got them to turn towards her for the picture.

On the way to the Pancake supper, these sweeties were in front of me...

and these strong boys were behind. Oh the love.

Remembering the Snow day

So here's the deal. I have been having a camera crisis. I could not get the pictures from my camera to the computer and its just no fun to write without pictures! Then several days ago, I was at the P's and I saw JP put his card in a card reader and download his pictures to the computer. The clouds opened up. I now had the solution. I bought a $8 solution to my 5 month problem. But that one didn't work. So I bought a $13 solution to the $8 problem and- low and behold- it worked!!! ahhhhh. I love a solved problem. So here come some pictures!!!

So back to the snow. (really has it been that long???) We had a good bit of snow on a Monday morning back in January. The kids got dressed and rushed right out but it was kinda raining by then. So they got their umbrellas and made an umbrella fort to play in. Ek made 2 little snow men, key word, little, but little is adorable, and she was proud of herself. With my kids, better than the snow is the post snow hot chocolate. And it was all fun and games until the electricity went out. After several hours, I started to get a bit anxious that the kids were getting cold, Ek was walking around the house bundled in a blanket and they were getting hungry. I put observed skills to work of watching Dad make many fires and got one going. J came to the rescue with more firewood when he came home for lunch. We did manage to pull together some food and the electricity finally came back on. J was commenting on how many crumbs they had made eating a snack and I reminded J that we had eaten by candlelight. So thankful to look out my window today, and see 70 degrees and sunshine!!

the snow man's home amongst the popsicles and sweet potato fries...

can't you see the "ahhhhhh" in H's eyes?

PS J was super impressed with my fire skills, he asked if I had been a girl scout! hahaha

I gave all the credit to my Dad.