2009/04/24

I'm late, I'm late for a very important date!


Oh, how I could have been that rabbit in Alice in Wonderland...  

First Jake's flight was to arrive at 10:20 am, Thursday morning into New Bern.  Wednesday that time changed to 10:00 pm Thursday evening.  So, Wednesday night I stayed up super late.  I mopped my home, made and drank a huge chocolate milkshake, climbed in bed and was greatly encouraged by the book Heaven written by Jonathan Edwards.  Thursday morning we all slept in.  We'd had church the night before so Thursdays are always a late start for us.  We finished up lessons and then I took the kids out to eat for lunch to celebrate the end of the deployment and their excellence in coming through it so well.  We came home from that about 2:00 pm.  I had the kids take care of their laundry, as I had tackled that the night before as well. At 2:30 I was getting ready to put Silas and Libby down for their naps.  I had high hopes they would sleep until 4:45 at which time we'd head out to baseball practice and then have a late dinner and we'd occupy ourselves until 10 when Jake would arrive.
Instead of all that unfolding my phone rang and it was Jake!  He would be home at 4:00.  Great news.  I let the littles nap with the intention of waking them at 3:25, we'd load up in the van at 3:30 and be at the airport at 3:45 with flags in hand to greet our hero.  
That isn't what happened.... and I'm sure you can guess by the title.  I woke up Libby at 3:25.  She was full of grump and delirium... From the short nap to the late night before she needed to have a good cry.  I managed to get her under wraps and headed for little man's room while Jackie put on Lib's shoes.  Si was fast asleep and had filled his pants.  Stinky!!  Alright, quick change.  By the time we load into the van it was 3:40.  By the time we made it to the airport it was 3:57 or something like that.  Jake's plane landed early and for once he was waiting on us! Things didn't unfold as I had hoped but the reunion was as sweet as could be and the sight of the kids running to their dad waving their flags was breathtaking!  My heart leaps at the thought.  

2009/04/23

He's Home!

Earlier than expected.  Praise the Lord.  

2009/04/20

Birthday





My sweet children threw me a birthday party last week.  I meant to post pictures and tell about it earlier...  On Wed. I had a Dr. appt., the kids were thrilled because they had big plans for my birthday.  On Tuesday Jackie, with supervision from my mom, made me a cake from scratch.  It was marvelous!  While I was at the Dr. the kids decorated the house.  I came home to balloons on the mailbox.  So sweet.  Upon entering the house they were all wishing me a happy birthday and had the sweetest little hearts about them.  They put up streamers in the breakfast nook and balloons as well.  They even came up with a game called, "pin the apron on the cook."  I was blindfolded and spun around and told to pin on the apron... Even little Silas and Libby played along without blindfolds of course.  With whatever money they could scrounge they bought party blowers and balloons. Though I should mention they came up short on balloon money and inquired from our Pastor's wife if she might provide them with some balloons and they'd pay her back later.  We had such a fun celebration and the effort to make it special, is indeed what made it special.  Thank you children!

Ice Cream Social






First off I have to thank my beautiful mother for coming to NC again and blessing my family.  This time she cooked all the meals, I think, made dozens of her delish pancakes and provided the children and I with an, "Ice cream social."  She was trying to think of something special to do for them and thought up the ice cream!  She bought, 1 1/2 gallons of ice cream, crushed pineapple, cherries in the jar, strawberries, hot fudge, caramel, and whipped cream to top it off.  I may even be forgetting something.  We all had so much fun.  It was sad to see her go, but we were both doubly blessed when her return flight was cancelled and we shared the sonogram appt. which I blogged about earlier.  
She's safe home now and is a little under the weather with something I'm sure she picked up from our home.  Thank you mom for being such a blessing to our family!  We love you and look forward to your visits in Monterey.

Notice that Silas mainly has bananas and strawberries... he refused to eat his dinner, so we gave him fruit with a smidgen of whipped cream.  The little bugger ended up sucking the fruit dry for the taste of the cream.  Smart huh?

2009/04/19

Not Quite Famous

Made the News none-the-less..

What's that saying??  "My future's so bright, I gotta wear shades...."

2009/04/16

I know why Maybaby was smiling...

Because Jake is coming home next week!  We just got the word today.  He'll be flying in a week from today (Thursday).  We are so excited.  Thank you for your continued prayers.  Pray specifically that I would remain constant and loving with the children, not anxious and impatient because of the excitement that looms ahead.

Nesting?

Ha! That's for the birds.  I'm sitting on my couch eating coffee ice cream and I have no desire to clean, pack, or do anything productive for that matter.

2009/04/15

Maybaby

I went to the doctor today for a checkup.  My mom was able to come with me because her flight was cancelled.  We had fun at the Ultrasound and we giggled at this excellent picture the tech was able to take.  Look at Maybaby smile!!

I weighed in and am now 2 pounds shy of my heaviest weight ever...  The baby weighs 6 and 1/2 pounds. The fluid surrounding the baby has decreased a bit and the Dr. is pleased.  I'll start going once a week from now on for my checkups.  We are getting very excited. Please continue to pray for us, Jake coming home, the delivery, the sale of the home, and the move.  Mainly that our God would be glorified through it all!

2009/04/10

Have 7 Minutes?

Watch  this and Watch this

Happy Resurrection Friends!

2009/04/07

Spring Ball




The last Cotillion Ball came up quickly and Colby looked pretty smart once again.  Libby really wanted to be his dancing partner and Jackie couldn't help but remark how handsome Colby looked.  
I was the privileged driver of Colby and his friend Mick to the ball again.  I had the best time sitting in the front seat of the BRV playing chauffeur.  The boys had some funny conversations that tickled me so.  The first one consisted of their great abilities to be outdoorsman, how they both could hand a rifle and a bow and arrow.  Not only that but how they could do those brave outdoor things and still dine at a table.  Before the conversation expired they were calling themselves, "Real Rennaisance Men."  Following this nerves began to take over and Mick mentioned how he had a light fluttery feeling in his stomach... I said, "oh, you've got butterflies in your stomach."  Colby immediately countered with, "I've got F-16's dropping bombs in mine..."  not a good thing I told him.  By the time we arrived to the country club Colby's F-16's were in, "full blown war" and Mick's butterflies had, "donned helmets and were shooting machine guns."  Such a funny drive.  I managed not to laugh out loud at how dear they were.  I had to smile the whole way home.  

Colby had a blast and had many stories to tell.  Beginning with the mouthwash incident.   Being that they were at a Country Club he was able to find mouthwash in the men's room.  He and the other boys decided to rinse out their mouths... Colby exclaimed to me, "Mom I didn't know what it was, it burned my tongue, it was like fire, I had to find a place to spit it out fast." He said that when he came back to the table his teeth and bits of food in between them were a shade of turquoise, unbeknownst to him, and his buddies at the table gave him a pretty bad time about it.  He told me his face was a deep shade of scarlet by the time they finished laughing at him.  There were 4 dance contests that evening, each crowning 2 winners.  Colby and his partner won 2 of the contests.  He was so excited.  He told me that during one of them he accidentally bumped into Mick sending him to the floor.  They decided that the following day they would have a duel with sticks to settle the matter..  They had a blast and pleasant memories were made.  


2009/04/04

Do You, Would You??

I'm considering the purchase of a Waffle Maker.  It's something we've never owned and I'm curious if any of you own one.  

If so, is it worth keeping in the kitchen or rather would you replace the thing if yours broke?
What brand is the best
Pros/Cons
Do you use it often?? (We enjoy breakfast for dinner)
Is it a hassle to clean ?


2009/04/02

In the Middle


Well sort of, I think that by now we've lost the middle child factor.  Though perhaps with Maybaby's arrival, we'll have a real middle child again.  Louisa would be that one.  

Just a real cute picture worth sharing.

We're not Alone




The boxes arrived for our move yesterday.  There were 9 boxes of boxes that arrived.  Suddenly I feel a bit daunted at the prospect of all the work that lies ahead now.  Thank the Lord for my mom and my friends who have volunteered to help me sort and pack our house..
Here's a couple pics of the Fed Ex man delivering.  At one point he was bringing them to the front door, one by one.  Then he caught a glimpse of the kids, lined the boxes up at the end of his truck and allowed them to help...  

Snaggle Tooth and His Apprentice Strike Again.




Typically I don't have the privilege of witnessing Mayhem unfold in my house.  I normally just "happen" on the finished product.  I do say product because in Mathematics it's the answer to a multiplication problem. After Silas and Libby have finished doing anything together it's like multiplication in terms of laughter, mess, etc.  Anyway away from math.  I have known for some time there were shoe lovers in our home...  I'll see Silas prancing around in everyone's shoes but his own and Libby has a special fondness for her own.  She'll line up her church shoes and talk about them and then thank me for giving them to her..  The entranceway of our home in particular receives the brunt of the shoe trauma.  I'll emerge from the kitchen after cooking or schooling only to find the shoe baskets dumped with socks and shoes strewn all about.  Earlier this week I caught the culprits.  I gasped, ran for the camera and snapped away.  It's harmless fun really.  If I didn't have any gross factor about me and my feet were 8 sizes smaller, I'd probably don everyone else's shoes too.