Happenings Around Here

It has been busy as usual around here lately. We had an amazing time with some new friends Friday night and I have to say that I'm so thankful we found them. The kids really enjoyed themselves too. In fact, Doc told me tonight that he wanted to go to their house for dinner instead of eating here. We are truly blessed to have them in our lives. Before I go any further, I must say that I am so proud of how my kids are developing in relation to their faith. Mr. X prayed the other night and thanked Jesus for healing him after his bike accident. Doc prayed for the first time his own prayer instead of just reciting a prayer. He folded his hands up right under his chin, scrunched his eyes closed and said "Jesus, .........(something something).....motorcycle. Amen." And when he was done he had the biggest grin. He was so proud of himself. I'm happy that he is starting to pray his own prayers. Then today, we had pandora radio playing. Mr. X was so excited that "Awesome God" came on. He says he really likes that song. :) It is so cool to watch the kids develop in their faith. I love it.

I mentioned that Mr. X had a bike accident. It's his first true injury from bike riding and it was mostly because he wasn't paying attention to what he was doing. Anyways, he scuffed up his arm and cheek and took a small chunk out of his lip. He wailed like a siren but was OK. He got back on his bike a few days later without any issues. That was important to me because I was worried that he wouldn't want to ride again because he got hurt. He's like that. He will refuse to do something if he thinks that he will get hurt.

Do you see that?

We had a 3.5 foot alligator in the pond behind our house the other day. It was there for a day and we haven't seen it since. Nobody came to remove it so we are assuming that it went back to where it came from but that we will likely see it again. The ducks are definitely cautious of the water. The kids have been warned to stay away from it and we are keeping GQ inside or in the front yard for now.

GQ started preschool this week! I'm so proud of my big boy. My youngest is now in school. He's only 2 but it'll be so good for him. He loves school! I was at work when he was dropped off and WB forgot pictures so we'll have to try to get some tomorrow.

GQ is also working on getting himself dressed... 

Too bad he puts his shirts on backwards....

And his shorts on with both legs in one hole.

He is so proud of himself though when he thinks he's got it. I think he'll get it soon. Once he's really got it down, maybe we'll think about potty training again.

The kids have really played together well the past few days. And they are finding different things to do than the same stuff they always do.

We pulled the chairs out of the kitchen to mop and the kids lined them up to crawl through.

Even Mr. X joined in to crawl through them.

Then Doc decided he needed to go over not under. None of the chairs tipped over but we didn't let him keep doing that because it looked like an accident waiting to happen.

Today, Mr. X and Doc had been fighting so I stuck them on opposite ends of the couch to cool down. A little while later this is what I found. At least they were happy and playing well together at that point.

We have a surprise planned for the kids this week. I can't wait to tell you all about it later!

Who would've thought?

I must say that Mr. X has grown by leaps and bounds since we moved here. He is making friends and initiating social interaction. These are things that have been very difficult for him in the past. He's also writing letters to family which helps him practice writing even though he doesn't realize it. I'm working with him on learning to answer questions in the letters and do more of a back-and-forth communication through the letters. I feel that this will help him with social conversations face-to-face as well. I'm so proud of all that he's accomplished.

That said, I didn't expect to hear that he was showing interest in girls. He's not even 8 and he has social difficulties! During Doc's birthday party, Mr. X's friend decided to inform me that Mr. X says he loves the girl that lives next door. Apparently, Mr. X says this at school and claims to like the neighbor girl. Who would have thought that my quiet child who lives in his own world would express something like that at the same age as his peers?! I thought I had awhile yet! On one hand, I'm proud to see him developing socially like this; on the other hand, I'm not ready yet! I had fallen into a sense of security that these types of things would be further down the road for us. Ready or not here it comes!

Happy Birthday Doc!

Today we celebrated the fourth birthday of our middle son. We had a wonderful day and the weather was perfect for his outdoor party. We started out the day opening gifts. 

He's so excited about his new red motorcycle!

This puzzle is double sided. One side is a fire truck and the other is a rescue scene. He seems to love it. I like that it also has the alphabet and numbers 0-9 hidden in the rescue scene.

A new bike helmet that is necessary for his kid. We went with this one because it has a harder shell than the other helmets.

He put his puzzle together many times today. His batman shirt had to be worn today for his batman birthday party that ended up having some spiderman and red thrown in.

His completed puzzle. The box in the background was for his new bike. His other one was a 12" and just too little for him. This one is a 16" and is just a bit too big. He needs help getting on and then he can ride. He's pretty fast now. I'm not sure what's up with the goofy grin. I kept telling him to smile and this is what he gave me. It reminds me of Chandler from Friends.

The food spread minus the cake.

The goody bags for his friends. We had stickers, tattoos, and paint-your-own trains.

We had a few tables set up for the kids to sit at to eat.

Ladder Ball

Doc riding his new bike. He's pretty good at it. It's not red like he originally wanted but it's the best we could find for that size. There just wasn't a good selection.

His batman cake with 4 candles on it. I haven't ever done the pull-apart cupcake cakes before and this worked out great. No trying to cut pieces and it had some chocolate cupcakes and some white cupcakes. He got to keep the launch tunnel, motorcycle, and batman figurine. He could hardly wait to get those off the cake so he could play with them.

We had about 10 kids total. They played ladder ball, rode bikes, and played with water balloons. I was so proud of Doc because he let quite a few of the other kids ride his new bike. He even let them ride first. I didn't have to prompt him to share or anything. He was so good about it and I couldn't be more proud of how well he shared today. Somewhere, somehow all of what I'm trying to teach him in his interactions with his brothers is sinking in because he played so good with his friends. It truly was a wonderful day and I'm so glad it turned out the way it did. Doc had a blast and loved passing out the goody bags. People would say happy birthday to him and he'd say "Happy birthday to you too!" So sweet.

The kids needed baths after all the playing outside. I was so impressed that Mr. X asked Doc if he wanted to hop in the shower with him. Mr. X usually likes to go alone and first. Doc usually hates the shower and wants a bath. They did so good together. At one point, I heard Mr. X telling Doc to put his head back farther and close his eyes. I went to check on them and found this....

Mr. X was helping Doc wash his hair. He even made sure Doc scrubbed up with the loofa. Doc is independent with the body washing but needs help with his hair. Tonight Mr. X helped him with his hair and I didn't have to do much of anything for shower time for them. It was a great end to a great day.

You have kept me on my toes since before you were born. You are my spit-fire, high energy, daredevil, no fear child. You are sweet, loving, caring, helpful, silly, and full of expressions. You are stubborn with a mind of your own. Today you are 4. Happy birthday Doc! I love you to the moon and back buddy.

Family Time Part 3 and DISNEY

I really enjoyed having my family in town and the kids were so excited. Mr. X wanted them to stay the night every single night they were here and they couldn't stay. Well, Friday night after the kids were in bed, I arrived home from work with my mom in tow and she stayed the night. My parents hung out with the kids all day on Saturday so we could meet up with some friends at Disney. I was too young to remember it the only time I'd gone to Disney before this. It was fun but way too expensive. Disney is too over stimulating for little kids but doesn't have enough thrill rides for older kids. It's crazy. I still had fun though!

We went to Animal Kingdom first and rode a newer ride. This is Expedition Everest. It goes fast in the dark, fowards and backwards. It was pretty fun but I kept expecting this huge drop that never came.

I loved the scenery of Animal Kingdom.

This is WB and I in front of the Tree of Life. The tree is real and the trunk is all carved. It's pretty neat.

I loved all the waterfalls and trees. This park is shady with a lot of misters and it keeps things much cooler.

We also saw the Festival of The Lion King. I loved the musical with the acrobatics and dancing. I would love to see one of the Cirque de Solei (sp?) shows sometime.

These are some of the carvings in other areas of the park.

The Tree of Life again.

After Animal Kingdom, we went to Magic Kingdom for the true Disney experience.

They have frequent shows at the castle and frequent parades. The parades stop the flow of traffic through the park so can be a bit of a nuisance at times.

The front of the castle. We weren't able to walk through it this time but that's OK.

My favorite ride by far was Space Mountain. It was a blast! I also like Splash Mountain at Magic Kingdom. We had a good time with some great friends from MI so it was worth it. Unfortunately, while we were at Disney, Doc got sick...very sick. My mom was amazing though and kept him cleaned up and the house cleaned up. We put him to bed when we came home and then in the morning he seemed to be feeling better. I took Mr. X and GQ with me for Mother's Day breakfast with my parents and siblings before their flight back to MI. It was so nice to visit with them. WB brought Doc over at the end of breakfast so he could say bye to them. Mr. X was pretty teary about the whole thing but did great when it came time to say "see you later". We were hoping to catch the shuttle launch while my parents were in town but it kept getting postponed. WB and I hope to make it to one of the shuttle launches though because it's our last chance and we live close enough that we really should be able to make it.

This week has been busy and full of sickness. I haven't gotten many pictures but I'll tell you, Doc was hilarious yesterday. We had a huge grasshopper/locust thing on our sliding door and Doc kept trying to kill it with his shoe.....but he was inside and the bug was outside. Silly boy. I'm just glad everyone is feeling well today and I hope it stays that way because Doc turns 4 this weekend! Batman birthday coming up!

Family Time Part 2

While my family was in town, we planned a day trip to St. Augustine. It's a gorgeous town with a neat history. Part of me would love to live closer to it. Our day did not start off great. We had no hot water. We went back to the stone ages and heated water up in a pan then poured it into the tub. At least we were clean!

GQ insisted he needed a bath too since we took baths.

We had a picnic lunch at a playground. This playground is awesome. There was so much for the kids to do and they had a covered picnic area. The kids got to run and play for a bit after eating.

GQ loved swinging.

My sister enjoyed watching everyone from above.

My brother and nephew rode the dinosaur. My nephew thought it was great. Big grins from him!

GQ made friends with another little girl there and she get a kick out of pushing him in the swing.

Doc likes to look out at everyone from the little nooks and crannies. You never know where he'll pop out next!

My sister-in-law and nephew. He loves his momma (as most boys do)!

This playground had all sorts of little places to crawl through....perfect for boys!

After the playground we walked over to the old Fort. It was really neat. The kids weren't real interested in the history of it but they sure liked looking at all the different rooms in the fort. I think the drawbridge was their favorite even though it didn't work.

The fort is right on the water near St. Augustine. GORGEOUS! I love the ocean and I love watching all the sailboats on the bay.

Mr. X wasn't into pictures that day so I had to take one when he was busy looking at something else. ;)

After the fort, we walked around the old street with all sorts of little shops. It's very quaint but definitely a tourist trap. We also went to a pirate museum. We thought it would be neat and it really wasn't all that cool. The kids didn't complain through it though so it couldn't have been too bad. We then went to a seafood restaurant for dinner.

This place was very pretty. We sat outside and ate. It was a nice day. Cooler with a wonderful breeze. This place was across from the marina so we went and looked at the boats after dinner while the guys ran back for the cars. We stopped at the beach briefly but it was too cool to go in the water. The kids loved it anyways. They walked along the beach and found some shells, looked at a jellyfish that was on shore, and ran in the sand. I absolutely love the ocean so I was happy to just stand and take in the smell, the breeze, and the sound of the waves. It's my happy place.

I'll leave you with this cutie in sunglasses. Next time, I'll finish out the week with family.

Family Time Part 1

It's probably going to take me about a week or so to post about our time with my family. They were hear all last week and it was wonderful! They left this morning after breakfast but it was nice to have breakfast with my mom on Mother's Day. We did a lot this past week but even had a little bit of downtime. One of my favorite downtime activities to do with my parents is play cards.

We especially like Double Deck Pinochle. However, we could not find pinochle cards at ANY store down here. So we bought a 4 pack deck of cards and made our own pinochle decks.

We have a blast playing pinochle. The guys won one and the gals won one. WB and I use a cheat sheet to figure out how much meld we have since we haven't been playing it nearly as long as my folks. I'm getting pretty good at figuring it out without the cheat sheet now.

GQ woke up from his nap and wanted to play too so he sat next to my mom and played with the jokers.

The boys did great playing together while we finished our game after school let out. This is a train and roads table that WB just recently set up per Doc's request (many times over). We finally decided it was time to pull it out and they LOVE it.

Doc decided to join the card game after awhile. He said, "I'm going to win".

I love watching my dad read to Doc. He read probably 4-5 books to Doc after dinner. It was very sweet. I just loved the quality time we had with them while they were here. It was so good for the boys too.

We also took GQ on his first canoe ride! My sister, her boyfriend, and my nephew (my brother's baby) also joined us. We had a good time though my nephew wasn't so sure about the canoes.

My mom held my nephew while my dad paddled. They were pretty quick even with only the one person paddling.

We had to be on the lookout for alligators. Thankfully, we did not see any. I'm not sure I want a run-in with an alligator anytime soon.

GQ sat in the middle of the canoe and did pretty good. He tried to stand up a couple times and we just told him he needed to sit back down. He listened well and nobody tipped over.

 After canoeing, we went down into a ravine and walked in a very shallow, clear stream. It was refreshing and very nice.

We are very blessed that my family was able to come down to spend time with us. I cherish the time we have with them since we can't see them every day. Mr. X was so thrilled to have them here and was rather upset that they had to go back home. He handle them leaving much better than any of us expected though and I'm so proud of him for that.