Boomerang Express

Last week was VBS on the Boomerang Express. The boys had a great time and learned lots of Aussie lingo. I actually taught the arts and crafts classes. I am so NOT crafty not sure how I got that honor. It was really good for A.J. Since he is always home with me, he never really understands about classroom rules and routine. This was a short introduction to that. He always wants to go to school with William and he got his chance this week. When he got distracted or tired they would walk him to the nursery to play with Donovan and then he could return to the group when he was ready. I tried to stay out of his way for the week so he would realize that he needed to be somewhat independent. It worked and he loved it. They were so cute singing the songs from VBS at church on Sunday. Now I just have to find a place to keep 2 sets of crafts. They are loosing pieces all over my house and I have been forbidden from throwing any of it away.











Looking forward to a quiet (craft free) week at home this week.

Coffee is bad!

I just returned from the pediatric emergency room after a visit will Donovan. He climbed the kitchen counter and spilled hot coffee down his chest. Thank God that it is just first degree burns. The doctors kept stressing how lucky that he is. He is now back home with an order for creams, cold packs, and pain reliever. He was such a good boy through the entire ordeal. I of coarse feel like the worst mother is the universe.

Photostory Friday- Life through the eyes of a three year old.

I get so caught up in the chaos of life that I sometimes forget to slow down and actually live. I believe that this is the very reason God chose to bless me with curious little boys. As you can tell from my last post my days are full. I do lots of running around especially in the summer. I was rushing through my daily grind when AJ yelled out with glee "look mommy...Spider Man". I was stopped at a red light as looked over to see what he was pointing at. By this time he had unbuckled his car seat and was at the window. This is what I saw.

By this time Donovan was also pointing and clapping. What was a mommy to do. I pulled over into the parking lot next to the building and watched Spider man and friends wash the windows. The were dancing and singing and so happy.

I am thankful that my kids can teach me these things and that I am willing to learn from them.



Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

A misnomer

Stay at home mom is really quite inaccurate. Lately this summer I am never home...at all. One of my very first blog posts about a year ago was "A day in the life". Well, I have been taking my trusty point and click along for the ride with us lately and realized it was about time for another peek into a day in my life. Please realize that this isn't representing a particularly busy day just an average one.

Breakfast in pajamas for the boys. Thankfully Donovan still allows me to buckle him into his highchair.

AJ isn't so co operative and usually eats breakfast while sitting ON TOP of the table. It is one of those fights that I chose not to fight. I don't allow him to sit on the table for all meals but for a quick breakfast of cereal, I let it slide.

While they are eating I compose my endless list of "to do today" items.


8:21 and I am already heading out of the house with three boys dressed, fed, and ready.
I usually takes me about 20 minutes to load everything into the truck. This morning AJ was "acting his age" and refused to get in his car seat. This added about 20 extra minutes to my morning.


This is the local art museum. William takes art classes here and it is our first stop. I have to lug all three boy through the art museum while trying to keep them quiet. Unfortunately, it echos in there which Donovan thinks is hilarious.

I borrowed the book The Ugly Duckling from the library so we stop and read it while watching the swans at the park. AJ insists on quacking at them and I never do finish the book.

Thank God that the bank has a drive through! (need I say more)
For some reason I can't stay out of Target. I always need something. I always choose Target over Wal-Mart for many reasons but mostly it is because the check out lines are always quicker. This morning I get out without going broke.

We then enjoy a nice lunch with Daddy at Chilli's. OK I admit it. I was craving a fajita and Daddy gave in and let me splurge.

By this time it is HOT HOT HOT HOT. 95 but it felt like 195. I was sweating buckets each time I had to put kids into car seats.

I visited one of our favorite stores but the visit was short since I had forgotten the stroller and the boys were running wild pulling things off the shelves.


By this time I had picked up William for art class and had sweat ed a river. We hit dunkin donuts for smoothies. YUMMY! The little ones were napping in the backseats and William and I enjoyed some quiet with our drinks.
I finally made it home just as the kids were waking up. Isn't that always the way. Is was getting hotter by the minute so we filled up the backyard pool. What a great way to end the day.


Thanks for coming with me on my travels. Posting about MY WORK is therapeutic. I am sure I will do it again soon.

The results are in.

Thanks so much for all the well wishes and gender guesses. The big ultrasound was today at 4pm and the verdict was more then clear.


Yep! Baby #4 is all

BOY!

Here is a cute profile shot.


The winner of the Target gift card is Marrdy
Contact me with you address and I will send it out to you ASAP. Thanks

Guess right and win BIG!

A Contest!!

Guess the gender of baby #4

Will it be PINK or BLUE?

The big ultrasound has finally been scheduled for Monday the 22nd. I can't wait to find out what this baby will wind up being. I though that I would make it fun by setting up a little contest. The winner will receive

A Target gift card for $25

Totally worth it right. Since I am pregnant, and have very few remaining brain cells functioning at 100% this contest will remain simple. Just leave a comment with you guess. You can only guess once. No extra entries for following or passing the contest along (but it would be nice if you did). I will accept comments until Midnight on Sunday the 21st and will announce the winner on Monday evening! I am so excited.

Below is an embarrassingly large shot of the preggo bump at 21 weeks. I know that some make educated guesses by the way the belly looks. Lets see... what else would you want to know to make the guessing as scientific as possible hehehe. I have 3 other boys, no girls, have only gained 8 pounds so far, crave sweets and pickles, my skin is a mess, bad morning sickness in the beginning and now feel fine, if you ask me I am carrying the same as I have with all the others. There, I think that I have covered all the old wives tales. Guess away.

I'm in love!

Swoon swoon

I have fallen in love. It is that new kind of love/lust where your stomach flutters, your palms sweat, and you can think of nothing else. Thankfully my husband has fallen in love also and so we can share this passion together.

Yes we have fallen in love with the 2009 IKEA catalog.



They have just opened a new store in Tampa and it is great. Can't beat the prices. I really don't need anything at this time and have so far resisted the urge to splurge but I know that my time is coming.

Check out the IKEA website

Picture of the day.

This picture shows exactly what can happen during one of those times when it gets too quiet in the playroom. Unfortunately I was a little late to stop the mess. Thank God for washable markers...and a sense of humor.



Anyone up for scrubbing walls this afternoon?

Wet and wacky

It has been scorching so far this summer. I knew that we needed some relief but I just couldn't get my big pregnant butt far from the house. Pregnancy and 90 degree days do not make a good couple. William was begging to go the the pool. He came downstairs with his bathing suit on and A.J. wasn't far behind him. I can't resist those cute little faces. We compromised and headed to the patio for some water fun. They had a blast.










Hope you too are enjoying the dog days of summer.

Am I missing something?

So, yesterday was the last day of school for William and the last day I needed to drag 3 sleepy boys through the early morning routine of getting dresses, fed, and out the house by 7:25am. Why then were all three of them awake happy and ready to start the day well before 6:30am this morning. Donovan woke up at 5:31am but he has a little cold so I put him in bed next to me. Just as I was drifting back to sleep, I heard William was awake and full of energy followed a short time later by an equally enthusiastic A.J. I am sitting at the computer at 7:57 with three boys dressed, fed, and playing. This is not exactly how I envisioned the first day of summer vacation. I actually have a full days worth of errands to run and bills to pay. I will now be doing it on 3 less hours of sleep then I had originally planned on.

Hope you all slept well.

A cute pic of Donovan just for fun

Last Day of school

School is out for summer. I usually feel a bit of dread on this day. I thrive on routine and predictability and the end of the school year used to mark the beginning of three months of "mommy I'm bored", "mommy can I have a friend over", "mommy can we go to the pool". This year for some reason I am looking forward to the summertime. Maybe it is all the pregnancy hormones or the second trimester bliss? I have lots of fun things planned and a few special classes for William to take. I am really looking forward to allowing them to be kids. I want to explore with them. I no longer feel that I have to plan out their entire days. Usually the "boring" days end up being the ones where the boys use their imaginations to create tent towns or put on funny performances for me. I hope that this mindset continues after a few weeks but I am optimistic. I wish a happy summer to one and all.
P.S. Please feel free to remind me of my goals for the summer when I am complaining in a few weeks.

Where do I even begin?!?!

My last post left off with promise of good times over a long Memorial day weekend. I got more then I could have bargained for. The past two weeks have been filled with trials and turmoil and has also brought this family closer together.

I will begin on May 23rd. We headed to visit my mother for the weekend with plans to picnic, BBQ, and stay in the pool 24/7. Unfortunately mother nature had other plans and the weekend was a washout. We returned home on Sunday a day early to get ready to start the week. On the 25th (Memorial Day) we celebrated my birthday will a nice cake and some good eats. We were all in good spirits when we went to sleep that Monday night.

Sometime early Tuesday morning Hector woke me up yelling and I ran down stairs to find my sliding glass doors open and many things missing from my living room. We had been robbed! Our first in stints as parents was to check to make sure that the children were all okay and then to call 911. When the police arrived they were shocked that I hadn't gone outside after the robbers but instead went to check on the kids. I was blown away. Thanks GOD that we were all safe but my things were gone. They took my beloved computer (which is why I haven't been heard from in so long), my camera, the boys Wii game and controllers, and William's backpack from school (?!?). It was pure torture watching my kids sob as we tried to explain what had happened. William is a worrier and while he was sad over the loss of the games he was more fearful that "bad people" were in our house while we were asleep. He was scared and so was I. That feeling of complete violation was awful. The police also informed me that the robbers were surely armed since we were home at the time which didn't sit well on my mind.

After the initial shock was worn off I got on my knees and thanked God that he kept us all safe and asleep while people were in my house. I don't even want to think about what might of happened if one of us walked in during the middle of the robbery. I was moved to tears again when at dinner that evening William said a prayer for the "bad people" and asked God to help them to make better choices in the future.

I wish that I could say that I felt liberated without all the technology in my house but I was not. I am often comforted by the friends both known personally and those known only through e mail. I felt a large disconnect from much of my support system but I did bring Hector, the kids, and I closer together. I have also caught up on many books which were on my list. Life continued.

On Friday ( May 29) we were all on edge and thought that a dinner out with friends would take some of the worry off our minds. We chose a large, loud, family style Mexican restaurant and were seated right away. The kids were happy to be free from our tension filled house and were talking happily and loudly to our friends. A large man from another table started cussing at baby Donovan who was babbling to himself happily. He stood up and told us to leave the restaurant. He stated that we were " at a restaurant not a nursery school". I was shocked and speechless but Hector was not. A scene was made and the man ( I use the term loosely) left the restaurant. I was left in tears and even after many other people came up and apologised for the strangers comment I couldn't calm down. I was crying for all the things that I kept bottled up over the past week and once on tear was out they rest just followed. I was scarring the boys with my blubbering but just couldn't stop.

The next day was Saturday the 30th and William's championship baseball team was having a party at one of his teammates houses. The house was inside a gated community and Hector and I didn't have the code to open the gate. We also could get the telephone number or code since it was send via e mail and our computer was gone. William cried all the way home. I think he just finally let his tears flow too. We ended up at home having movie night with the kids with pizza and popcorn.

Sunday was may 31st and We had received free tickets to watch the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team. We headed there after church. Unfortunately A.J. woke up on the wrong side of the bed that morning and cried most of the day. I guess it was his turn to she ad some tears. We left the game during the seventh inning and 50+ dollars in junk food. The rays lost the game.






I woke up that Monday morning and resolved that this would be a better week for us. So far it has. My mother graciously is allowing me the use of the extra computer that she had at her house. It has been great to reconnect with my online friends and feel connected to the world again.

Yesterday we were invited to a friends house for dinner. The kids were happy and it felt good to get back to "normal". My friend surprised my with a brand new digital camera! In less then two weeks we have been blessed with a replacement for two of the things that were taken. God has truly rewarded us for our faith.

This morning was William's graduation from Kindergarten. I am always proud of his academic success but when he received the super citizenship award from the principle I was bursting with joy. The principle stated the award went to students who did what was right always, even when no one else was looking. I think that I was the proudest parent is the audience. When we got in the car William informed us that he "couldn't have done it without us always praying for him" My heart melted.



Hope everyone stays happy, healthy, and blessed.