The start of summer

I have to say we thoroughly enjoyed our first full week of summer vacation. Our normal school schedule is probably more laid back than some people's summer, but it's been nice to not have school work to get done each day. Elle signed up for the summer reading program at the library and I set her goal at 20 books. She already read three over the weekend so I think it's safe to say she will meet her goal by July 29th. She's still very interested in the Magic Tree House series. I borrowed my sister-in-law's Little House on the Prairie series the last time we were in Greenville and we are looking forward to spending some time with the Ingalls.

I recently re-read The Voyage of the Dawn Treader because I'm a nerd like that and I like to read the books before I see the movie. I don't remember reading the Narnia Chronicles in school, but I did read them through when we lived in Kazakhstan. And I have re-read each one before seeing the movie. I have to say, I was a bit disappointed in the latest installment. Not that the movie was terrible. It's just 99% of the time, the book is always better than the movie. One of my favorite parts of the whole series occurs in this book. Eustace has been turned in to a dragon and cannot, for the life of him, figure out how he can turn back in to a boy. It's too lengthy to quote here, but he has an encounter with Aslan and he tears Eustace's dragon skin down to the heart, pealing it back until he is a boy again. And then he dresses him in new clothes. Makes me think about Jesus washing away my dragon skin and dressing me in white.

Some friends of ours are spending the summer at the beach and have graciously allowed us to use their pool in exchange for a little pool/yard maintenance. They have been gone a total of 10 days and we have been over four. It has been no trouble at all to turn on a sprinkler, water some plants, clean out pool skimmers and mow a little grass to be able to beat some of this intense heat with some swimming. Although it would be a little better if they were here swimming with us. But the kids are loving it! The first few times, Reese would not even come in the pool gate, but stayed on the patio or in the yard playing with toys. He progressed to the third step and then made the final plunge Saturday, drifting around happily in the baby float. Then, he threw his largest tantrum ever when we tried to get him out of the pool.

This week is Vacation Bible School at our church and Elle is so excited about going. We got to spend a couple mornings last week helping decorate and that raised the excitement level even more. The boys aren't quite old enough yet but I have a few fun things for us to do together while Elle is there. Although Grady did tell me last night that he had already learned about Jesus so he didn't need to go to VBS. After a short quiz revealed to him that he, in fact, did not know everything about Jesus, I kindly told him I hoped he spent his whole life learning more about Jesus!

She's Six

I tried several times over this last week to get some pictures on the computer so I could write, but something was not working correctly. And I am impatient so I moved on to other things. Finally, today I held my mouth right and got a week's worth of pictures uploaded. Most importantly, I got the pictures from yesterday's sixth birthday celebration!

Grady spent some time skating with big sister's skates. I remember thinking he had pretty good balance as a baby because when he started walking at 10 months, he hardly ever fell. However, he seems to have more trouble now walking without falling. But the skates were a different story. Very balanced and controlled.

Somehow one night, we ended up with 8 children over here. After battling the gnats and mosquitos in the backyard for as long as we could, they headed inside for a brief showing of Toy Story. Steven started the movie about 10 minutes before everybody was leaving. One was on the floor and another in the chair, but I though they looked so cute piled up on the couch together. Do you think my boys like to suck their thumbs?

In the middle of the week, my dad and step-mom graciously kept all three kids for a night so I could sneak off with Steven to Pensacola as a late anniversary present. We had a fun, short time on the beach, dinner and a movie when we got there. And while he worked the next morning, I sat on the beach and did nothing but enjoy the sun, water, and sand. For 4 hours. It was a wonderfully refreshing and restoring 24 hours for me. This was the view from our hotel room.

Yesterday was the big day. Our little girl turned six. I was asking her last night before bed:

"Did you have a good day today?" "Yes"
"Did you feel celebrated?" "Yes"
"Did you feel special?" "Sort of"
"Did you feel loved?" "Yes"

So I think we got it right:). She had banana oatmeal for breakfast (her choice!). Then the kids watched a couple episodes of the original 80's Tranformer cartoons. She got the complete first season in her morning birthday box, along with a new swimsuit, some goggles, pj's, sandals, Tangled, and gum!

Next up was a trip to our friends' pool to swim. She has improved so much just in the last few weeks. She finally will jump off the side. She is finally not afraid to get her whole head wet and she is attempting to swim. We came back home for lunch where she had her favorite again, a lunchable.

Steven's parents got here in the early afternoon. Then Dad, Sandi, Uncle Mark, Aunt Khaki, and cousin Powell came over for birthday dinner. Steven grilled some delicious hamburgers because "cheeseburgers" are currently at the top of Elle's favorite foods.

I found this cake about a month ago and I really wanted to try to make it for her birthday. I have always made their birthday cakes and it's something I really like to do. I'm not that talented in the "decorating" area, but they generally taste good at least. I talked it up and showed it to Elle but she kept insisting on a Transformers cake. I finally relented because it was her birthday after all and I think she should get to pick her cake. {And I'm going to make the rainbow cake for myself in July!}

This was my improvisation {is that the right word?} of the rainbow cake. Six layers for six years in none other than Optimus Prime colors. She picked yellow for the icing because of his lightning bolts on the hood. I think she was pretty excited about how it turned out. We had an awesome day with family celebrating our six year old!

Before I forget

The kids and I went to Atlanta again last week with Steven. It was really cool weather and I had been wanting to go to the Botanical Gardens so I thought we'd give it a try. I got my camera out and took one picture before the battery died. The gardens were really beautiful, the kids enjoyed themselves and Grady left his mark... literally. We were enjoying a leisurely stroll through the children's garden when we came upon a small waterfall where you could walk on a path behind it. The tree house playground was just ahead and Elle set her sights on it. I pushed Reese in the stroller and then noticed Grady was not following. I came back to the waterfall and there he was, behind the waterfall, pulling his pants up. Thankfully, not another soul was on the path {or either they were behind me and ran away the other way before I got there?!}. I managed to compose myself and explained that we could not go outside here, but we had to use actual restrooms.

These pictures are from my measly cell phone camera but I had to try to capture the moment.

That night, we went down to Centennial Park, had dinner in the CNN Center food court and then played on the playground in the park. The next day the kids and I went to the zoo. My friend Stephanie came up from Athens with her two girls. It was a bit crowded but worth it to spend a little time with friends. The kids got in the pool and hot tub both days and we had movie night one night and watched How to Train Your Dragon. All of us on the king size bed:).

Over the weekend, we got to pretend we were farmers. We went to our friends' family farm to pick green beans. And they were ginormous. And delicious. We also waded through a freezing stream, dodged poison ivy, discovered a skeleton identified by our resident archaeologist as a bobcat and were rewarded by seeing 500 year old cypress trees that are quite possibly, the biggest trees I've ever seen.  All of this without my camera. But I did get some of the beans.

Some of the farmers were just too hot to keep picking.

Tomorrow is our last day of school! I'm not sure who's more excited. It has been so fun but we are both ready for a break. We are gearing up for the big 6th birthday in just a week. Today, she wants a Transformers cake?!

Eleven

Today is our 11th anniversary. I am thankful that he asked and still happy I said yes. I love that we are living life together, doing our best to walk with God and raise a family. I remember our pastor saying to us as we were going through pre-marital counseling, "Marriage is two sinners trying to live together." I have often gone back to that statement. I hope and pray that I always choose to love, to forgive, to serve, to encourage, to ask forgiveness, to pray and trust the Lord. It's been a wonderful 11 years. He is a loving husband, awesome father, faithful friend and pretty good sinner:). Happy Anniversary to us!

**This picture was about 3 years ago. We had dinner with some college friends for Steven's birthday, leaving Elle and baby Grady at home!

Q is for Queasy

We've had a little bit of sickness this week. Grady threw up a couple of times Monday night, ran a low fever Tuesday, was just a little puny yesterday and then threw up again this morning. Projectile all over the non-leather couch. Monday night's damage was pretty extensive too. I had to strip the entire bed then got him set up with clean sheets and towels and a trash can right beside his bed {all while Elle slept!}. He failed to ring it the second go around. Tuesday's clean up involved scrubbing the rug and unscrewing the wooden slats under his mattress to clean beneath them. I thought about how long it's been since I worked in the hospital. I used to be immune to bodily functions and smells. Oh, and Steven was out of town Monday night.

I am thankful that the bug hasn't spread to anyone else so far. But with all that, we've had a pretty low-key week. We've been learning about the letter Q and birds in school and looking at lots of bird books. Elle made a feather bird mask and several pine cone bird feeders. Reese just smeared soy butter on himself and tried to eat birdseed. Grady watched his fair share of cartoons. I promised him a Popsicle then realized we didn't have any. I like to get their hopes up, then crush 'em. Builds character:)

Developing a Bookworm

We go to the library just about every week. And we check out a lot of books. As we've journeyed through kindergarten, It has been fun to see Elle learn how to use the library. She got her own card once we moved here, and that was thrilling for her. This week, she went in and found four books she wanted to check out. She asked me a few questions about where to find them, then searched on her own. I was so proud. 

Those who know me know I love to read. Reading opens up worlds of possibility, adventure and discovery we couldn't experience otherwise. I hope and pray that my kids will be life-long learners. I think reading is crucial to that. So you can imagine just how happy it makes me to find her now like this. On her own. With no prompting from me. Laughing out loud and re-telling me what she's read.

We went to Publix this morning to get a few things for dinner tonight. Our friends Matt, Carrie and their two girls are stopping on their way to spend a week with Mickey. We were walking down an aisle and Elle says, "Oh Mom, I know I'm not supposed to say this but I just can't help it. For Mother's Day, we..." I quickly stopped her and told her she could keep the secret. Even if it's one she made up!

Bullets

It's been a week so that calls for a post with bullets.

• I spent several days last week watching the horrific weather destroy much and take many lives.
• I was very thankful that my family and friends in the area were all safe, including a cousin at school in Tuscaloosa.
• I have been praying for those that lost loved ones and all their possessions and those that are physcially there helping the survivors get back on their feet.
• My aunt had her first round of chemo in Birmingham and has felt relatively well. Round two is Thursday.
• My grandmother went home after a week long stay in the hospital.
• We went strawberry picking. I only slipped in the mud 5 times.

• We spent Saturday in Greenville with Steven's parents.
• We had been in the car about 5 minutes, when the first "Are we there yet?" was raised.
• The kids did a little fishing and a little row boat riding on the pond.
• Mr. Paul took us on tours of his multiple gardens.
• One of the most interesting things was the cicadas. As soon as we got out of the car, we heard what sounded like some kind of constant buzz saw. And then there were thousands of discarded "skins" on the ground and in the trees. I remember finding these on the trees growing up. But apparently, they only emerge every 13 years. They live underground all that time, then dig out of the ground in huge swarms, overwhelming their predators. Really amazing stuff.
• This was the only picture I took.

• We went to worship on Sunday.
• Elle had her first "swimming lesson" with Daddy that afternoon at our friends' house.
• She had her second at my aunt's house yesterday.
• It didn't go as well.
• The only redemption was she let them get in the hot tub.
• I had some crazy eye reaction to not washing my face and sleeping in my mascara. Time to get new mascara. Or just wash my face. Or both.
• I took the kids to their new dentist today.
• Healthy smiles all around.
• Elle was proud that she has two loose teeth. And I use the term "loose" loosely.
• The kids got new scissors because we lost their old ones.
• I'm not sure how you lose scissors, but we did.
• Grady broke his in by cutting a hole in the Polo shirt he was wearing.
• Perhaps his scissor use should be strictly supervised.
• I'm thankful we got Bin Laden but feel we are "celebrating" his death a bit much.
• Elle gave me a card for Teacher's Day today. Made my day.
• Good night!