Best Birthday Weekend

It's Thursday and I'm just now getting back in to the swing of things. We had one of the best birthday weekends with some wonderful friends down in Orange Beach last weekend. We went down on Friday and had so much fun, we extended our stay until Monday. That decision may have been helped by the fact that Steven's iphone was ruined in an early morning fishing excursion on Saturday and therefore, the work he could do was hindered. And it was his birthday. Just enough excuse to stay one more day, right?

Our hosts kicked things off right with an evening boat ride after a delicious dinner and a birthday cake just for me. This was the boys first ride and only Elle's second. I'm not sure if Reese is more concerned about the boat or the fact that we put a Barbie life jacket on him.

Reese held on for dear life at first, but didn't take long to warm to the idea. Or maybe just to Morgan:). He loves Morgan, almost as much as his own big sister. Grady was on his typical emotional roller coaster, crying hysterically one minute, then pointing at something interesting and smiling the next. I can report that overall, he would give a thumbs up to the boating experience. Elle thought both her Spiderman life jacket and the boat rides were awesome!

We spent time both days riding out to islands, playing in the sand, catching hermit crabs, and enjoying the sun, the sea and the fellowship. Saturday night, Darby had secured two babysitters for our six kids and we enjoyed a night out with our husbands and Tommy. After an amazing dinner, we took another moonlit cruise around the bay.

This is the view from their dock. Not bad. Not bad at all.

The kids had almost as much fun as the adults. Here they are checking the contents of the crab trap. It was always exciting to see what was in there. We even got to examine & partially dissect a red snapper that I did not get a picture of.

Since we've been home, Reese has tried to flush at least 8 toy cars. Four were successfully thrown in to a peed-in toilet. Gloves on, I was able to retrieve them before he hit the flush. The next morning, we lost at least one. We've called in our local plumber {my dad} to assist with search and rescue on Saturday. Because, not surprisingly, the toilet is stopped up. He also managed to chunk John Martin's brand new Finn McMissile off a pier in to the bay while we were there. And he climbed out of the pack-n-play about three times every sleep session. A few times to play with Steven's ipad. Another to play with a 5 pound decorative wooden seal. I also caught him eating a leaf off my ficus tree yesterday {that is dying. I cannot for the life of me, manage an indoor plant.} and I said, "Reese, what are you doing?" He said, "I eatin basil." Life with a 2 year old is never boring, that's for sure.

I can't seem to keep up

Well, it was definitely later rather than sooner...

We got to go to my nephew's 5th birthday party last week. Grady said, "This is the best birthday party ever!"

We had some friends over for dinner complete with a water balloon fight. In case you were not aware, there is an inverse proportion in the amount of time spent filling up the balloons to the amount of time it takes to use them all. Thirty minutes prep time. Three minutes of fight time. Still fun.

Friday, Grady woke up from his nap not feeling well. We decided to go swimming anyway. He wanted to stay inside and lay on the couch. At this point, we should have noticed the red flag. But it was hot. And we wanted to get in the pool. Grady threw up all over our friend's couch and rug.

Mom got here just in time for dinner and one more projectile vomit from Grady. I told her that's how we like to welcome our weekend guests.

Saturday we took Elle and Grady to see Cars 2 while Mom stayed with Reese. They loved it!

Sunday we attempted swimming again and had a fun time with no vomiting. Mom and I did a little shopping that afternoon and she took us to dinner that evening at Panera Bread.

Monday, we played outside in the sprinklers and with water guns and more water balloons. We had a fun visit from my aunt, uncle, cousin and grandma. Then we went over to my brother's house for smoked ribs, corn risotto, steamed asparagus, Sister Schubert rolls, apple pie and ice cream. But I have to say, the ribs were the star of the show. Delicious!

Mom had to leave Tuesday, but not before breakfast at IHOP and a trip to Target. It's hard to go out to eat a lot with little kids. People who don't have to do it a lot forget. So I made mom sit with Grady. He busted a creamer that splattered all over himself, our booth and the booth behind them. Then he squirted his yogurt tube all over himself and the booth. We ran out of napkins.

Yesterday was my birthday. My husband and kids gave me a card, some jelly beans, and a Keurig. Such a sweet family. I have been reading The Mission of Motherhood and have been so convicted and encouraged at the same time. I am so thankful for my family and that I have been able to stay home and raise our children. But some days, I'm resentful and I don't want to do anything else for anybody and I want it to be quiet for 5 seconds and I'd like to not have to referee a fight or clean up another mess. But they are kids and parenting is hard, hard work. It takes patience, more patience than I have in my own strength.

This quote from the book is my new prayer for this season:

"Instead of seeing fusses and messes as irritations in my day, for instance, I am more likely to see them as opportunities to train my children to be peacemakers and to learn to be responsible for their own messes. Instead of resenting the interruptions in my schedule, I am more likely to accept them as divine appointments. More and more, I have learned to see my children through the eyes of God and to accept the stages of growth through which he has designed them to grow."

It is a stage of growth. And it's short. But the investments I'm making now with my time and energy have the potential to influence eternity. I pray they will.