Girls On The Run (training session)

I got the privilage of attending Adeline's Girls On The Run practice.  My good friend Jamie watched Andrew so that I could do this.  Adeline was very excited to have me there and as a Mom that really meant a lot.  She and I were running buddies.  14 laps around the school is 3 miles.  On the first lap Adeline was already talking about wanting to walk soon.  I encouraged her to see how far we could go.  After each lap she took a quick drink of water and then we were back on our way.  Adeline ran all 14 laps.  This is the most she has done all season and I knew she could do it.  It was such a fun experience for me as a Mom who loves to run to share this with my little lady.

The big 5k is in two weeks.  It's going to be a fun day!

 Adeline and some of her closest friends

 All of the girls getting a pep talk before the run begins.  There are about 50 girls from Lincoln Park alone.

 Adeline and my 14 dots....one for each lap run.

My big runner!  

Andrew and Payton

 Andrew came home with a note in his bag.  It was from Payton's mom.  Payton really wants to come over for a playdate.  So he had his mom write down all of her information so that we could be in contact.  I sent her a text this morning and surprised the boys with a playdate for the afternoon.  They were pretty pumped!

I love seeing Andrew with all of his friends!  Even with the "no wrestling" rule they seem to have a ton of fun.

Andrew's first night of tball

He was a little nervous coming in.  All quiet and shy, looking at me with that sweet smile while I gave him a thumbs up.  He had a good hit off the tee, grounded a few balls, threw from first to home a couple times, and raced to the fence in back determined to be the first one.  As we were driving home Andrew said "I love baseball!"

I'm so proud of my little buddy!  He did so well!  I think this is going to be a fun season!!!

Go Lugnuts!!!

Anne of Green Gables

Tonight Adeline and I watched Anne of Green Gables together.  We laughed, I cried, and we ate popcorn.  We just finished the book yesterday and were so looking forward to our "girl" time. So we spent all three hours snuggled on the couch together.  I love that I have these moments with my little girl.  I plan to continue them on forever.

And we've already started reading Anne of Avenlea!!!

A much needed brushing....

All of Adeline's dolls have just gotten a much needed brushing of their hair.  They each spent time in the beauty chair to get their snarls combed out.  Thankfully no one lost a head or complained!!

Trampoline Fun!!!

Adeline and Andrew both had their friends over to play after school.  I wanted to get a picture of all four of them jumping the the air but that was more difficult than I thought.  Either way Adeline had a great time with Jersey and Andrew had a great time with Sully.

"Daddy, I'm ready to play UNO"

Andrew called James over all ready to play cards.  James sat down ready to play.  Andrew told him that he had already dealt the cards.  Andrew is not a very good hider of his cards and James immediately saw how his clever son had just stacked his hand.  Such a smart boy....how can anyone beat a kid with a hand full of wilds and skips?  

Playdates are fun!

While Sissy was at Girls On The Run Andrew had Jacob over.  Jacob lives right down the street.  This is their second playdate together.  I think Andrew is going to have a nice summer with friends.  There are so many of his classmates that live in our neighborhood.

Andrew's Animal Habitat

Andrew and I worked together tonight on his sharing project.  This month it is an animal habitat.  Andrew chose a Rhinoceros.  His three facts about them are:

1. Rhinos eat Plants and grass

2. Rhinos weigh up to 3,100 pounds

3. A group of Rhinos is called a Crash

He did such a great job!

Too soon!

The kids got to enjoy a fun evening with Aunt Erin while she treated us to dinner and babysitting.  They went for a bike ride and to get ice cream!  The kids were literally pulling at her legs so that she wouldn't go!

We love you Aunt Erin!  Thank you for loving and encouraging us!!!

A beautiful 70 degree afternoon

All four of us took a 2 mile run together.  It was a fun time spending this with both my kids.  i was thankful to have Erin there so we each were able to run with one kid.

Lunch at the picnic table.  We spent all day outside.  Unfortunately most of that for me was raking (with a lot of Erin's help) and James set up the trampoline which will provide hours of fun this summer.  Aunt Erin was so helpful.  She didn't have to rake but she did.  And she also played a ton with the kids.

Aunt Erin and Legos

Sweet Aunt Erin came up to Muskegon to spend the night and give James and I a date night.  She got in before the kids went to bed last night and then slept in Andrew's room with him.  Unfortunately that means they were all up early because Andrew is the early riser.  When I came in I found all three of them having a great time building Lego's.

Put the kids to work!

I know it's hard to believe but sometimes Adeline and Andrew fight.  And today was quite possibly one of the most aggressive fights I had seen.  It was all over a bag of chips!  Even though I was right there they seem to have forgotten it and decided to be extremely unkind to each other.

At times like this I am faced with a decision.  One....I can get mad and choose to lose control to stop what is going on.  (there are times this happens) or Two.....I can respond calm and collected with patience and take care of the situation.  Today I chose option #2.  First they went into time out (which is always quiet, no crying or talking allowed) and then they were each given rakes and a bag to fill.  After talking through with the kids what happened and hearing them apologize to each other they started raking.  When they wanted to stop they were reminded why they were asked to rake in the first place.

In the end they were proud of their accomplishment.  I would like to say they won't treat each other like that again but I know better.  Hopefully next time I will respond calmly again....because the outcome is so much better.

When I get back I'll snuggle you...

James promised to snuggle the kids when he got back from his meeting.  The kids were still awake so they made sure he snuggled them.  First he went in with Andrew (and I figured he fell asleep), he was there for awhile.  Then he stumbled in with Adeline and this is how I found him.  This is the second time I came in to try and wake him up.  I ended up going to bed myself and he said he woke up around 12:30 and came to bed.  

Thank you Daddy for working so hard for our family!

Getting used to being back home.

Andrew was scared to sleep in his room.  James told him to set anything that scared him outside his door.  Unfortunately James moved everything into our room so this picture is a bit late but there are quite a few things here.  Evil Minion, Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Optimus Prime, Darth Vader, Evil Minion hat, and this crazy Beaver.  I guess I would be scared of them too.

Waffle House

I think we may have made it to one of the last Waffle House exits.  We are in southern Indiana at 8:00 am.  Yesterday I woke up with a completely swollen throat with white spots.  It was awful and I felt terrible.  But, it was our last day and I tried to stick it through.  Another benefit to having a Dr. as a father in law is that he can call in a prescription right away.  I was not planning on driving.  I figured this would be a very long trip.  We left at 7:00 pm last night.  At around 12:30 am James was pulling off to sleep.  I decided that I would give it a try.  I had been able to rest the entire five hours he just drove.  I listened to Good Will Hunting two times and then random music the rest of the time.  I was alert and awake the entire time.  I was able to drive until 8:00 when we stopped for breakfast.  My favorite part about the drive was watching the sunrise.  I don't ever get to see it (because I am sleeping) and it was beautiful!  I was able to reflect on Gods beauty and the blessings He has given me in life that were right in the van with me.

Another year of our Waffle House tradition.  Now to hit the road....only five more hours to go!

These sad face say it all

Thank you for another week of great memories.  We will miss you Seagate house....but we will see you again next year.  Now it's time to get on the road.

Our final Siesta Beach Picture 2015

It's a good picture...too bad it's blurry ;-(

We got so many other good pictures....just next year we'll use a different camera.

Girls picture and Boys picture

 Pretty soon our girls are going to be taller than us.

 Always have to have a silly face picture with Addy Kay.

I love this shot of the boys.

Final Group Pictures

One of all the kids. 

(Anna 9, Adeline 8, Matthias 8, Andrew 6, Eli 6)

 Unfortunately I think something scratched the camera lens so all of the rest of my pictures are kind of fuzzy.  Boo!  Oh well, just don't zoom in.

Fun times, with great friends!!!!

Siesta Beach Day #7

So sad that this is our last day on the beach.  It always seems to go by so fast.  It was a beautiful last day.  We got to the beach early, stayed for a few hours and then headed back to get all packed up and ready for the long drive home.

I realized I hadn't taken much video of the kids on this trip.  Lots of pictures but not a lot of video.  So today I decided to get some of their final thoughts.

Group Picture Siesta Key Beach 2015

Such a great week.  It went by so fast...it always does.  Beautiful weather every day.  And a beautiful night to almost bring it to a close.  We'll come to the beach for a short time tomorrow and then head out in the evening.

After the sunset we were planning to go to the yogurt shop near the house.  But when we stopped to get Anna and slushie at 7-11 all of the kids wanted one too.  So just James, Missy and I all got the yogurt.  It was really good.  The poor kids don't know what they were missing.

Us adults took our pictures too.

 We decided to take another one like this too

 Tough guys.  Be afraid,....be very afraid.