Where has the time gone....

It seems like just yesterday.....

And it wasn't very long ago when we were in Disney with the little ones.....

And it was only today that Casey announced that she was not sucking her thumb any more!!!
Why the change?  She went to the orthodontist with Shelby and Drew today and they talked to her about how sucking her thumb was not good for her mouth and what it does to her mouth.  Then they showed her an "appliance" that they put in your mouth to help you stop sucking your thumb (while telling her about 2 boys who are 5--just a few months older than Casey--who have to use this).  She handed me her baby right then.  When we got to the car she asked me what I was going to do with her sucking babies (nice name, huh?) I told her I could hand it to her (it was in my purse) to which she said "NO!  I stop sucking my thumb!"  She must have meant it because at nap (which she never took) she brought me the one in the bed.  She didn't even cry for it when she hit her head and got hurt tonight at church (and she hit her head so hard, I almost cried).  Well see how it goes in a few when she heads up to bed........


My oh my how I will miss seeing that...holding on to those "last" that my kids are having all the time.....

What you're missing....

if you are not camping with us......

You are missing a quick trip back home yesterday when we realized (after totally setting up)  that someone did not pack ANY pillows....

You are missing the change in the weather report from scattered rain on Sunday to MUNNER and WHITNING starting this morning and then again in the morning......

You are missing the fact that the person in charge of packing should have their pay docked for bringing coffee, creamer and NO SUGAR (well 6 little packs that just happened to be in the camper from the last trip)
Also for packing all the stuff to make pancakes but not packing SYRUP.....
Buying milk and then not putting it in the cooler but I did remember the chocolate milk mix--nice huh?

A teenager who is really acting like one at times.  2 preschoolers who are also acting their age and 1 tween who is you guessed it acting her age at times.  A dog who is being very, very good!!

But you are also missing a nice campground with great people, lots of laughing and a great time!!

I'm sure the adventure is just beginning........

Science at Home....

Okay what could possibly keep kids mesmerized for over an hour?

I've known for a while that Landon was a little confused about which bugs and insects were which but had not paid to much attention to it until today.  I mean a few weeks ago he insisted that there was a caderpider (caterpillar) in the playhouse but it was a wizzerd (lizard).  We got him straightened out on that one and went on our way.  Everyday he looks for his wizzerd in the playhouse and that is that.

Until today.....as we were going in to change his wet pants.  He stopped and said "wade-bug"!  I didn't pay much attention since I was on a mission to get him into dry clothes and he's seen wade-bugs and should know what they look like--or NOT!!

Finally, I looked to see what it was.

Can you guess?

What could possibly be in here?

Well let me tell you...it's our new "pet" (and I am using that term very loosely)!  

See, after I told Landon what he was looking at he started telling everyone else and Shelby and her friends adopted it as our pet.  His name is Harry!  The only problem with that is a.) I don't want another pet and b.)they left said pet with 2 very interested little kids and 1 semi interested one.

Casey and Landon had a blast for the rest of the afternoon.  They let Harry join them in all of the the things that they enjoy best.....

like playing in

a pool that has NO water in it!!

They also thought Harry might enjoy going down the pool slide I'm pretty sure that Harry is glad that the regular slide was to hot and they didn't take him down that slide also.  I mean I don't speak caterpillar or anything but I'm feeling pretty confident in this.

There were lots of squeal and giggles as they "petted" Harry.  I'm also thinking that he could have done without all the love.

Finally, they wanted to actually hold Harry.  They were so excited that they were going to get to hold him. 

Landon wanted to be first and jumped into the swing.  He was all about holding Harry.  Until.......

 He realized how Harry was going to climb on him and try to uhm, you know GET AWAY!!

If you look closely, you can see Harry trying to make his escape.  He's on the metal part of the swing seat just trying to blend in.

Casey was next for holding Harry.

She dropped him the first time but wasn't scared to try again.  Landon eagerly watched from a distance but did not care to have Harry climbing on him again.

Poor Harry took all the holding and petting he could stand I think.  He finally quit moving but was still alive just still.  Casey came in to get ready to go to outreach at church and Landon sat with Harry.  He must have started feeling better about "petting" Harry again because that's what he sat on the swing doing while I got Casey ready.  When I checked on Harry--totally expecting him to have been "loved to death" if you know what I mean, he was doing fine and crawling around.

I just love being home with these guys!!!  I would have hated to miss this!!

Free Fun....

well it was almost free.....

we bought the pool in 2008!!  

Notice that there is NO water in the pool--but there was plenty of POLLEN!!

They have had a blast playing in this pool with no water.  One of them is going to be very shocked when there is finally water there!

Happy Easter!!! We're not the family we used to be.....

Yep it's true.

We're not the family we used to be!!  How is that you ask?  Well let me tell you what has happened her over the past few days.....

The kids have been playing with plastic buckets and plastic eggs for weeks now.  We have been playing with the Resurrection Eggs for the past few weeks also.  It has been great.  Casey has also been telling me we need to put the Halloween flag since it's almost Easter.  (I'm not so sure about this but I have an idea.)  Well, last night I finally got their Easter baskets down and set them on the table.  Shelby was so excited to see them (she's been asking for a couple of days) and Casey wanted to know what they were for!  She thought about it for a few seconds and said, "Who is the Easter bunny?  Is he gonna hatch out of those eggs we just colored?"  I almost choked!!  We explained that the Easter bunny MIGHT leave a little treat in her basket and that no bunnies do not come from eggs.  (I see a new science lesson in our future!!)
This morning she was excited to see some candy and a new game in her basket.  After church, we were preparing lunch and she said "do we get to go get candy in our baskets tonight?"  I told her no  we don't go get candy in our baskets tonight and she said "okay so you just get some candy in the morning?"

Just a few minutes ago she came to me and said that Mary Magdalene had sent her and the others to the store.  I asked what Mary needed and she said peanut butter and jelly because they wanted sandwiches.

Now how are we a different family?  Well Drew and Shelby knew all about the Easter Bunny and were excited at this age.  They went to the store and had their picture made with him.  I think we have one of Casey when she was tiny but Landon has not seen the Easter Bunny.  What do I think about this?  Am I sad, do I feel like they are missing out on something?  Nope.  The Easter Bunny still came for a visit.  They are enjoying playing with eggs and having hunts, we have candy but the most important thing is this.  Casey (and Landon is working on remembering) knows why we celebrate EASTER!!  She knows that God loved us so much that He sent Jesus into this world.  She knows that Jesus never did anything bad (how she understands sinless) and that Jesus died on the cross to pay for all of the bad things (sin) that all of us do!!!!  Do I think my 2 little ones missed something this year by not seeing the Easter bunny or even knowing about him till last night?  Nope, our eyes on on something life changing better yet eternal changing.
So how has your Easter been?  Ours has been wonderful and while we are having fun with the Easter bunny we are working to keep our focus on the cross!!!

The not so quiet game....

Saturday was a big, long day around here.  We had the AWANA derby car race from 10-2 and then we took off for Grandma's house.


Shelby did great with her car.  She had a great attitude and spirit during the entire LONG race.  She was the first one to cheer every time!!  She was consistant and came in 3rd in each of her races.  Sadly, her times were not good enough for a place trophy.  But that's okay--really!!  She did come home with a trophy for 3rd Place DESIGN!!!  This was voted on by our church.  (Pictures coming tomorrow)
Way to go Shelby!!!


After the race, we spent the afternoon (what was left of it anyway) with Grandma.  Landon was excited to see some new cars and trucks to play with, Shelby and Casey drew lots of great pictures for Grandma and Drew had fun doing all of the word search books that Grandma keeps for him.  We played outside for a while.  Casey sweetly picked Grandma a HUGE bouquet of DANDY LIONS!!!  Grandma and I tried to convince her that they would look great in a vase on the porch but Casey thought they would look great in the kitchen so guess where they were when we left?  We went out for dinner and then it was time to start home.


It's never the same trip twice.  We told everyone to make sure that they didn't need to go to the bathroom before we left Grandmas and yet we still had to stop twice in the 90 minute ride!!  I wont say who needed to stop first  (at the first exit we got to) but.....at the second stop (20 miles away) 3 people had to get out!!!  It seems that we can either make the entire trip without stopping or we stop every few miles.  I personally think it's directly related to how tired Steve and I at the time.


We would have loved to let the kids watch a movie while we were coming home--it would have made them go to sleep or at least be quiet for a couple of minutes.  But alas, we didn't have any movies in the van (or so I thought).  So what did they do all the way home?  MADE NOISE!!!!!!!!


Casey did all types of things--just plain noise, talking to ANYONE, talking to NOONE, singing songs that we all knew and songs that no one but Casey knew (since she was making them up as she went) just so she could stay awake.  


We know when Shelby started getting really tired too,  How you ask?  Because all of a sudden Drew starts telling her to leave him alone or to please be quiet or to stop touching him--get the idea?


Finally I said it was time to play the quiet game....I had to explain it to Casey and Landon.  So after a short explanation of what we were going to do, the game started.  The peace lasted all of 1 minute and then Casey says, "Did I win?"  Okay explain the game again and start again.  REPEAT.  This goes on for several rounds until she says:  "Landon next time  you talk first so I will win!"  I figured that the game might as well be over at that point!!!


So today, guess what I found?  That there was a DVD in the van's TV!!!!!  We endured all of that for no reason--we could have watched/listened to Thomas.  


Oh well it's just another normal day around here!!!


On another note, the blog overhaul is on hold till I learn a little more about HTML code--you know in all my free time!!

Under Construction

Just playing with the layout!!!
Hoping I don't make a huge mess of the blog and knowing that someone will rescue me if I do!!!