Legoland, Florida!

We arrived in Florida on Sunday after two days of smooth driving. (boring scenery, lots of bugs hitting the windshield, but excellent passengers!) A delicious Mother's Day dinner out:

And yes, we were that dorky coordinating family. It got us way too much attention. 

Not sure if it will ever happen again. ;) 

On Monday at 9:30 we were ready for our day. (Well... the boys were ready at 6:20, 

but they needed to do a little school first and eat breakfast, of course!)

Riding the lego jousting horse and loving it!

Camel - made entirely of lego bricks! So cool!

Safari trek

This elephant and many other safari animals were made of lego bricks. Really amazing!

My ride buddy

Boating school - what a handsome crew!

Driving school - This was hilarious. The track was for 3-5 year olds and it was 

so cute to see these little squirts zipping around the track in lego cars. 

Driving school for ages 6-13. Complete with stop signs, yield signs, traffic lights and lanes. You better believe my little rule follower obeyed all the traffic rules. ;) Also crazy to see all these young kids buzzing around in cars. Almost gave me a heart attack to realize that in 7 short years, Luke will be driving!

Mesmerized by fun shows, tricks and stunts!

Our crew -- missing one sweet girl who was never far from our minds. 

Lego Miniland was stunning. This NY scene is made entirely of lego bricks. 

I was completely blown away by the detail in this section. 

All in all, a terrific day with fabulous weather! 

(and tired boys ready to crash once they were tucked in bed around 7:30. Hooray!)

Birthday

Last month, I was blessed by my family and enjoyed a great 38th birthday. There were signs...

Remember this sign from last year? It came back out for the month. :) 

There were flowers...

Special lunch and ice cream parfaits with Grammy & Poppy...

(a perfect birthday dessert since I don't like cake)

And then the boys enjoyed an overnight at Grammy & Poppy's so Darin and I could go out on a date. 

After some football in the front yard with the boys and my parents, 

I drove off to meet Darin footloose and fancy free.

If only I could have slowed down the time... it was morning before I knew it!

We were very glad to see our little cherubs at Luke's basketball game in the morning. :) 

Fresh Air

Remember that flu bug I had for a week? Well, it's still going strong as it passes to each boy. So far, Darin has escaped the bug and he is taking every precaution to avoid it because it is nasty! We're spending lots of time fighting bonding in our germy house. :) Really we're in good spirits, but we haven't left the house in a while and every day is pajama day. Certainly cuts down on the laundry this week! (Except for Aaron, of course, who is wearing his sporty shorts and shin guards!)
I think it's pretty realistic that we're a bit stir crazy. 

I'm sure you're wondering about school. How in the world are we not getting too far behind? The rule has been, "If you're well enough to play, then you're well enough to do some school." And mostly, the boys have been agreeable. So, the sickest boy lays on the couch napping while the other two do their school work.

On Friday, I insisted the boys get dressed in real clothes and go outside. We have been studying trees and did a couple outdoor tree activities. We measured the girth of 4 trees in the backyard and made a bar graph together. It was so good to get fresh air!

Then, we talked about the texture of the bark on the trees. We each took a turn being blindfolded, spun around and then led to a tree. We had to feel the bark, be led back to the starting place, spun around and then guess which tree we just touched. Then we did lots of hand washing after all that hand holding!

I'm praying that this week brings us much more good health and lots more fresh air! I'm thankful for Darin and how hard he has worked to care for all of us. He's been on dish duty, errand duty and been agreeable to help in many ways, all while working and tackling some more house projects. 

Thank you my dear!!!

Kid-free 21 hours!

A couple weeks ago, I reluctantly asked my parents to keep the boys overnight. Ever since my parents moved to Virginia I've been very cautious about asking them to watch the boys. They love being with them, but are not overly eager to have them fully in their care.  Or at least that's my perception. :) I also want to respect their new routines and busy schedule, so I don't ask. (And yes, my parents have quickly found some very dear friends, a church, bridge groups, choir, fitness club, etc.! They are quite social!) Anyway, I threw caution to the wind and asked for an overnight expecting a "maybe" but most likely a "no."

And they said, "It's a possibility." Which later turned into "yes." Hooray!!

So a week ago Friday, we ate supper with them at their new house, got the boys tucked in bed and drove away. Our only instructions were, "Jill, no school work!" and "Darin, no painting!" It was the first time we had this opportunity in almost 5 years!! The last time we went away overnight I was pregnant with Aaron. We had a dinner meeting with Darin's co-workers out of town so I had to share our time. I'm not very good at sharing. ;)

This time, our kid-free 21 hours was absolutely wonderful. I loved not being on mom duty around the clock. I loved talking and listening to Darin. I loved dreaming together. I loved having the time together. We took a day trip to a nearby town to do some shopping for a new kitchen table. (We've outgrown our table intended for 2... by at least 3!) And while we didn't make a purchase, it was such a terrific day. We were just together. Sometimes in silence. Ahh... silence feels so good when I'm used to shrieking boys! And I have to be honest, I didn't miss my sweet boys until almost dinner time the next day. I feel just slightly guilty about that... but I did check in and all was going really well.

When we arrived back at supper time on Saturday night, I expected the boys to come running with wide open arms. But, they didn't. They said hello and then boldly told us, "I'm not going home." "I didn't even pack my bags. I'm staying another night!" Luke even said, "I'm staying all week!" Hmmm... is that okay Grammy and Poppy? Maybe next time boys.

So watch out Grammy and Poppy! This Momma is ready for another kid free 21 hours and maybe next time we can make it 48?? Pretty please?? Thank you! Thank you! 

To the TOP!

Last Friday, we joined some friends at a local climbing wall for an open house. We're considering joining a homeschool climbing club this semester and wanted to find out the details. We had a GREAT time! I arrived at the open house thinking this was just climbing time for the boys, but was encouraged to join the other moms climbing too. oh my!!

 A friend grabbed my camera and took a picture after my first climb. 

My expression is priceless. My heart was racing!!! I couldn't believe I did it. :)

Luke didn't think twice about climbing. He said he wasn't nervous at all. 

Ethan was also fearless. He easily and quickly made it to the top of the 

50 foot wall on the right. When I was attempting this climb I got about 90%

up the wall and then thought about quitting. Then I looked down and saw 

three little boys smiling at me and I made it to the top!! SO EXCITING!!!

Aaron had NO interest in even putting on the harness. 

He sat on the sidelines happily playing with the rocks. 

He even made the letter "f" - our letter of the week! 

He changed his mind towards the end and did some free climbing on the boulders.

All in all a great experience!!! Now to decide whether to commit to three months of climbing ???

It's a super great deal, but a long commitment. hmmm....

Sleep...ahhh!

Can't believe it but I stayed in bed until 7:45am! Maybe a new record for me. More then 8 hours of sleep! What!?!?! I always get up before 6 to exercise (either run or workout in the garage), but shockingly I turned off my alarm and rolled back over. The boys played quietly with legos in the lego room and didn't even come ask for breakfast until 7:45. (I did have a sweet little snuggler for a little while though.) What a treat!!! I'll probably feel guilty later, but for now I feel thankful for the extra rest my over tired body needed. Ahhh...

8 Minute Brain Dump

I'm allowing myself 8 minutes for this blog update and starting my timer...NOW! :)

We've been busy over here enjoying this unusually warm March. I love all the exercise and fresh air the boys are getting... although I don't love the nightly bath due to some VERY dirty boys. I have some great photos to share from some of our activities and hope to get them uploaded soon. We're slowing getting caught up after having Daddy traveling huge amounts over the last few months. phew!

I've been my usual intense self and my head is spinning with thoughts of sin, repentance, forgiveness, and redemption. I've tried a couple times to put my thoughts together, but no success yet. I keep hearing sermons and podcasts that relate to those topics and I have had so many realizations and new awakenings to share and figure out. Maybe soon...

We are gearing up to help my parents move to Virginia next week and to welcome my brother and his family from western Canada too. Lots of preparations and a dirty house to clean. It will all get done, I hope! This is an exciting time.

My new realization on the parenting front is how effective it is to recite scripture when I get frustrated with behaviors and am tempted to become angry. I found myself repeating these phrases: "slow to speak, quick to listen, slow to become angry." It worked really well to keep me in check and had a very positive effect on the observing child who remarked, "I'll pray for you Mommy." Interestingly enough, the frustrating behavior was diverted!

Okay... my timer beeped. No time to edit. You get the brain dump that hasn't been cleaned up. :) Hoping to be back soon!

A Day To Remember...

... or at least most of it! We had a great day celebrating my birthday yesterday that was full of many rich and wonderful blessings and lots of love. However, to give you a true glimpse I must add that before we had even eaten breakfast two of my sons were on the floor attempting to pummel each other. I can make excuses about them being excited (which they were!) ... but let's face it. They're kids. They're sinful and they are selfish. So even a great day seems to include many frustrating teachable moments. Just trying to paint an accurate picture. :)

On to the celebrating!!!

When I returned from my morning run I walked in to this in the kitchen. 

I never dreamed of having my "name" in lights. WOW!

 Beautiful flowers and a sweet stack of gifts/cards and homemade necklace. 

Darin was very busy and as you can see, very precise. He hand wrote all the letters in 

rainbow colors and then attached the lights. If you ever need a detail guy, 

he is your man. The boys were thrilled with the banner and flowers. 

The tradition is that Darin takes the boys out the weekend before my birthday and they have a planning session over lunch. Then they go to a card store and he allows them to select a card for me. Luke is old enough to look through the cards and find one that says what he wants. For the other boys, he usually gives them some to choose from. This is the card Luke independently selected for me. 

Talk about tear jerker!!! I will treasure this card and the 

other sweet cards the boys selected and handmade. 

After breakfast, we all got ready for Community Bible Study. Ethan decided that he wanted to dress "fancy" because it was my birthday, so he picked out a collared shirt and sweater vest. 

So sweet! I proudly wore the necklace Luke made for me all day. 

I'm so glad my birthday was on a Wednesday. Worship during the opening at CBS was awesome. 

After CBS we enjoyed lunch at home with Darin and then were super indulged with a 

special birthday dessert homemade by Darin! How could you go wrong with a 

frozen peanut butter pie? Peanut butter and chocolate! Yum!

 That afternoon, we went bowling.  We had a few issues... like I'm surprised they still have fingers after repeatedly putting their fingers in the ball return area, but you can see their joy in the photos.

 Cheering on one of Daddy's many strikes!!

This was a very interesting study in personality types. Without much effort, Ethan was a great bowler. Although, he didn't really care so much what his score was or even if someone else bowled his turn. Pretty indifferent and definitely non-competitive. 

More intrigued by looking for something/anything to climb. 

Aaron couldn't wait for his turn every time and was very excited and eager. He LOVES balls, so he spent a good bit of time rearranging the balls in the ball return area and smooshing his fingers. 

Luke was a joy to watch. Probably the least gifted bowler, but he tried so hard and really attacked it with great spirit. If he even knocked down one pin he cheered and ran to try again. Always checking the score and keeping tabs of who was winning or losing. I'm pretty sure he gets his competitiveness from me. I had to really keep myself in check and humble because I didn't bowl well and I found myself getting sour at moments. Watching Luke brought me lots of happiness. 

And, if you can believe it... the day was not over yet. A dear friend fed the boys supper and put them to bed so we could go out for supper alone. And on top of all that, these beautiful flowers showed up on our doorstep just before we were leaving. A surprise treat from a very special high school friend. 

So, aside from our many teachable moments throughout the day, I am thankful for the love I was showered with... phone calls from friends, special homemade and thoughtful gifts, facebook messages, and on and on. Definitely a day to remember!