SUYL - How We Told the News

To anyone that knows us personally, this is NOT any sort of announcement. That said, I'm linking up to Kelly's Korner for her Show Us Your Life series. This week it's about how you shared baby news.

The first time around we just blurted the news basically. It was unexpected and no thought went into how to share the news.

The next time we were thrilled to share our news and had Mr. X wear a shirt on one of our routine Sunday visits to the folks' houses. The shirt said:

I'm going to be a

JUNE 2007

Big Brother

It was an easy way to tell everyone all at one time and it didn't take long for people to get it once they saw the shirt. It was fun to wait for their reactions. Unfortunately, I have no pictures of this event. At one time, I did have a picture of Mr. X in his shirt but I cannot locate it.

The third time around, we ordered special M&Ms in party colors. Some said "March 2009" and other said "Stork Delivery". We brought a bag to a family dinner for each side and just put the candies out in a bowl on the table. That one took people a little longer because they didn't all read them right away. I think on of WB's brother's ate quite a few before he realized they said something. It was another fun way to tell everyone. We took a picture of the M&Ms and sent those to my brother via picture message since he lived in another state. (Again I can't locate the picture).



Atlantis

I must say that I am bummed that the shuttle program is ending. The final launches of each shuttle have all been on days that I was working. That only added to my disappointment of course. However, WB drove the boys to see the final shuttle launch. I was happy that he took them because it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The boys LOVED it!

They weren't very close.....

But they could feel it....

hear it....

And see it.

Since that day, Doc has wanted to watch the video of the "rocket" every day. He talks about the "rocket" all the time and he plays with his "rocket". He is completely intrigued. Mr. X is interested in looking at NASA pictures and things like that. I thought the boys would find it neat but I didn't expect Doc to be so fascinated by it at such a young age. I have found myself trying to explain things to him related to the planets, the earth and moon, the sun, the stars, where the shuttle is, etc. These are things that are hard for a 4 year old to grasp and yet I still try to find a way to help him understand. He would watch the "rocket" all day if I let him.



Friends and Independence Day

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend. I actually had 3 days off in a row so I was able to enjoy the festivities with my family. On Friday, Doc had a friend come over to play. He was very excited about it being HIS friend.

Doc and his friend D rode bikes for quite awhile.

 Of course, Mr. X and GQ were out too.

And what fun is outside without sidewalk chalk?

The kids really seemed to have fun and played hard. I'm glad Doc is making his own set of friends that he identifies. Life here is so different than in MI...

Independence Day is one of my favorite holidays. I love that we can show our patriotism. I love that we can honor our troops. I love that it is a good time to spend with family. The sermon on Sunday related the patriots to Christians. It was a good sermon and definitely left you thinking. We went to a parade. It was a small one but the kids enjoyed it anyways. Definitely different than the large one we're use to that ends with a clown band every year.

Waiting for the parade to start.

We made GQ sit in the stroller after a time because he kept running in the road while we were waiting. The road was blocked off to traffic but we still don't want to encourage that behavior.

Excited because he could hear the beginning of the parade with the firetrucks and police cars.

Doc waving a flag that was handed to him.

Mr. X got a flag as well. He commented on the breeze making the flag move. Personally, I was thankful for the breeze.

And GQ got a baby flag to wave.

After the parade, we went home and had some lunch. The younger two napped before our cook-out with the neighbors. We just grilled hot dogs and corn and had strawberry shortcake that I made. I was proud of myself with how it turned out. We then went out to the beach for fireworks over the ocean. It was a beautiful night and the kids enjoyed playing on the beach with their glow sticks. I got some really good pictures on my phone but didn't take any with the camera. The fireworks show at the beach was much better than the small one over the river we went to the night before. Definitely will go back to the beach for fireworks again sometime. Not so sure about the parade, but we're in a new town so we need to make some new traditions. :)

There's a First Time for Everything

One place every kid goes to at least once in their lives is Chuck E. Cheese. We haven't ever taken the kids there because we weren't sure how well they would handle it. It's noisy, it's chaotic, and there's a lot of stimulation.....all of which can be problematic for Mr. X individually, but all together just screams problems. My good friend K suggested we take all the kids their so off we went. I was a bit apprehensive but didn't need to be. The kids did GREAT! They had a wonderful time and we will likely go back again. This particular one even had a code system so that each family was stamped with a code individual to that family. When you leave, the kids have to match the adults or you can't leave.

GQ and Doc riding a monster truck with their friend M.

 My sweet guys looking out.

Does Doc look like he's having a blast or what?!

 GQ and Doc both liked this ride. It was a police car with flashing lights.

Mr. X intently playing Hammerhead.

The boys reclining on a virtual ride with their friend Z.

M loves horses. She couldn't get enough of this ride.

We had a great time. It was just K and I and the 5 kids. WB had class. The kids were sufficiently wore out that dinner and bedtime was pretty easy. It definitely made it worth it.

Birthdays!

This past week while the kiddos were gone, my birthday passed by without much to-do (which I'm totally fine with). However, I did get a nice surprise. My mother-in-law sent me...

...an Edible Creation! I have always thought these looked so neat. It was very good.

These balloons were connected to the fruit bouquet but flew to the ceiling when we were trying to unwrap it.

The kiddos came home just in time to celebrate my nephew's first birthday! It was just a small party but it was great.

The kids seemed to have a good time. I'm not sure what was with the quality of the pictures. I couldn't seem to get clear pictures for anything. I'm not good with techie things like that though and WB was busy running the camera for my sister-in-law so I didn't ask him. I'm glad that we are blessed to have my brother and his family so near. I have really enjoyed spending time with my brother again.

We also had a trapper come remove the alligator from the pond before the kids returned home. It had lost it's wariness of humans and I didn't want my youngest to become alligator food.

I'm hoping that life will slow down a bit but I'm not counting on it. I feel like I have very little free time anymore. I hardly have time to read any blogs let alone write a post. I will try to get better about it....

Updating...it's been quite some time!

It has been quite some time since I have updated here. The kids are out of school now and we have been incredibly busy. If I'm not working, we are hanging out with the kids or trying to make a decision on a long term place for us to stay. Our rental is not working out well and we are ready to move on as soon as we are able. We are seeking God's guidance and trusting that God has a home for us. The kids have been enjoying their time off from school. The kids are up with grandparents for the next 10 days! Our entire day yesterday was spent driving to meet my mom halfway and then we turned around and drove home....kid free! It made for a long day. Can you tell?

 

We enjoyed driving through the mountains though! That is my favorite stretch of the drive.

 Isn't it gorgeous?!

 So now we are going to fill our days with serious discussions about where to go from here and what to do about our not so friendly neighborhood alligator.

This guy has been coming and going for the past month or so. Well, the past few days he has decided to stick around. Not only that, he swims towards you if you are out by the pond. We can't always see him in there because he has learned to hide well. The HOA is aware of the gator and still does not wish to have it removed so I will be doing my own research to look into getting it relocated.

We are enjoying being kid free for now but I sure do miss their sweet faces and the silly things they do...

They are a long way from home and 10 days is the longest they have been away from us. I know they will do great but it's also hard knowing that I can't just pop over to get them if needed. Love my boys and just trying to enjoy this kid free time. I know they are in good hands.

Books and then....

I love to read. I read just about anything I can get my hands on. I read a variety of books. I read magazines. I read blogs. I love to read and thankfully, so far, my children love to read. That said, I'm struggling to get through "The Girl Who Played with Fire". I struggled with the first book in this trilogy and then didn't pick up the 2nd until months later. I'm reading it only because I craved to read something and this is what I had on hand. I can't figure out if it's the style of writing, the crudeness/crassness, the immorality, the harshness, the crazy in depth detail of everything in the book that I feel detracts from the story, or if it's just simply the story not grabbing my attention. Either way, it's a struggle. I likely will continue to read it because it's a book, but I think it's time I pick up the Left Behind series again. My new friend has the entire series and has offered to let me borrow the books. I'm excited to read it. I started reading it a long time ago and then just stopped one day. I don't recall why but I want to get through the whole series this time. Then I want to get into a bible study that talks about the end times because I want to see what the Bible says about the end times vs just a fiction book series. What books do you enjoy? Any recommendations?

Remember I mentioned that I like reading blogs? I read this blog just before starting this post. It is incredibly moving and I think everyone should read it. In the end, it's not about how much money you have to help, it's not about what you have or don't have, it's about Jesus and recognizing how blessed we are. It's about prayer. If you can do nothing else, you can pray and pray fervently with your whole heart.

Just a sneak peak courtesy of Shaun Groves.