Paddle Boating

 Brent took Colin paddle boating back in July when they went to Baltimore and Colin has talked about it ever since.  So this week I decided to take the boys.  In high school I would come to this reservoir and go canoeing and paddle boating with friends all the time. 

 My mom came and met us there. We had a picnic lunch and then went out on the water while Norah and Ma-ma-maa stayed on shore to watch.

 After about 5 minutes into our hour with the paddle boat I was soaking wet with sweat and wondering how I could last a whole hour.  Its a lot harder to make it go fast when you are the only one with legs long enough to paddle.  But it was still a lot of fun and nice to be with my boys.

 Joel didnt go overboard but he kept standing up - good thing we did the paddle boat and not the canoe.  The boys had been told by Uncle Jeff that morning to look for animals.  They were convinced they saw 2 eagles - it was either eagles or hawks.  And Joel kept looking for the giraffe's.  According to him, Uncle Jeff told him to look behind the trees for giraffes. Unfortunately the giraffe count was zero. 

A fun day.

school

In a few short days my firstborn goes off to first grade.  It was hard last year to send him to school and seems just as hard this year.  I thought it would be a little easier but its not.  I've loved having him home all summer.  I've been having trouble sleeping thinking about it this past week.  Instead of half day my sweet boy will be gone all day.  I told Brent that I will only see Colin for 5 hours each day when he gets home from school until its time for bed.  And while that seems like a lot  its not the same when you have to get dinner, homework, baths (sometimes) and bedtime stories in.

And I have no idea how Joel will handle it.  He and Colin have been insepearable all summer. They go into their room and I just hear them talking and the rustle of legos for several hours until they get hungry or want to show me what they have created.  Sometimes when Norah is napping and they are in their room I like to stand outside and just listen to their conversations.  I have a feeling Joel will be a little lost next week without his Bubba. 

 There is some comfort in that we really like the school but I still dont like him gone from me.  At all.  I would still love to homeschool but God keeps confirming sending him to school.  And Colin thrived last year.  Really thrived and it was so neat seeing how he matured and grew just in kindergarten.  It is such a great school and I only have great things to say about it.  So I'm praying and hoping that this year is even better.  I have complained a few times that if they just took out PE, lunch, recess, art, music then he could only go half day again but those are the things he's really excited about.  And so am I.

  It is going to be a little bit of a challenge to figure out what to put in his lunches since he doesnt eat the typical lunch stuff.  We've been practicing this week with different lunches in his lunchbox for him to open.  I can't wait to leave notes for him each day.  I'm also looking forward to taking him to school each day.  We are never on time for the bus stop so we are going to take him and then have him ride the bus home.  We started a tradition of praying together each morning before I drop him off and became one of my favorite times of the day.  And its really fun to see him walk into school - backpack bouncing up and down and he walks. 

Colin is getting a little nervous. He has started stuttering a little bit so I know he's getting nervous.  His one worry is who to sit next to in the cafeterria.  We have back to school night tonight so I'm really praying he knows someone in his class. That will make next tuesday much more fun for him to look forward to. 

At the same time I'm looking forward to that extra attention I can give Joel.  Poor middle child gets lost in the shuffle sometimes.  I feel like Colin gets attention with swimming, school. sports, and then Norah gets a lot just being the baby and diaper changes, being fed.  And then there is Joel.  So I think this time will be good for him. 

For the first time in a few years we aren't doing a sport this fall.  I'm looking forward to it and just allowing the kids to just play on saturday mornings (and sundays now that we are going to a sun night service) without hurrying to get out the door for a game. But for now I'm going to take it one day at a time until we get into the whole school routine again.  I wonder if it will ever get easier sending them back to school - maybe when Norah is in school and I have an empty house?  (although that will probably make me cry even harder)

Feet

She likes to chew on her feet.  Its pretty cute.  Although anything she does it cute to us. 

Daddys Girl

Dress up

First time playing dress up.  

I think Norah liked it.  Now just need to start adding girly dress up clothes to our collection.

zoo

 The sad thing about living in a military city is that people move away.  The good thing about living in a military city is that a lot of them end up moving back :)

 This picture was 3 years ago when Kelly and I were pregnant with Joel and Lucy.  Look how little RJ and Colin were. 

This picture was taken this week.  Colin looks huge in this picture but I think RJ is only just a little shorter than Colin.  We've added a few more kids to the group.  Thanks Kelly for going with us and for taking this picture.  Colin now feels a little better about starting school after knowing RJ is going all day too.  And now that school is about to start it'll just be Joel and the girls going on playdates for a while. 

My favorite part of the day was when Joel reached over to hold Lucy's hand. Especially since when they were babies he would do this and this. He still loves her :)

(only click the word this for the links. for some reason something keeps putting these links on other words. not sure how to take that off)

Uncle Re-Re & Lydia

 This past weekend Uncle Re-Re came to visit and brought his girlfriend Lydia. She flew in from Kansas City to meet us.  I've been looking forward to meeting her for the past few years (I think Brent met her once last year) I've always wondered who Regis would fall in love with and honestly been a little nervous of who he would end up with because if she didnt' like me then that might mean Brent and Regis wouldnt get to see each other very much. But on the other hand if she did like me then that would make it really fun to always get together and hang out - especially for me to have a girl to hang out with. So I was a little nervous but also excited to meet her. And I absolutely LOVE her so hopefully she feels the same or I might become some weird stalker wanting to hang out with her all the time :) 

 They are perfect for each other. Its really cute to see Regis with her.  They complement each other well. 

 We decided to go on a sailboat tour on the American Rover.  It just went to the opening of the bay and back but it was nice and relaxing. 

It was a sailboat so they had to set the sails or whatever you call it.  Colin got to help and hasn't stopped talking about it since. 

 I think they have been friends for 30 years or close to it.  Amazing - such a gift. 

 After the boat ride we went down to the beach since Lydia hasn't ever been in the Atlantic Ocean.  I forgot my camera but I got these adorable ones of Norah with Brents phone. 

 Oh those rolls.  I dont think I've ever seen anything cuter. It just might be my favorite picture ever. And that is a typical Norah face right now. 

The kids were intrigued with Regis and Lydia.  Colin didnt really remember Uncle Re-Re since it has been a while but Regis and Lydia quickly won over our kids. 

As you can see :)

Lydia is just wonderful. 

Thanks Uncle Re-Re and Lydia for coming to visit.  We loved having you and hope it wont be too long before we see you again. 

Pirates

Captain Morocco is the name. 101 mateys he has. With a three level ship and 50 guns.  And calls his treasure his booty.

Colin has a renewed interest in pirates since we went on the sailboat this past weekend, a pirate movie we watched the other day, and the botanical gardens. He has dressed like this all week. 

I love it.  He even got dressed this morning and wanted to wear it to his doctors appointment.  So I let him.  Brent was totally embarrassed and if it was up to him would not let our kids out of the house like this.  But I do :)  So good thing I was taking Colin to his appointment.  Colin was so proud and talked about pirates the whole drive over. He wants to be a pirate when he grows up now.  I love his imagination and just the innocence of him putting on a costume and thinking he really is a pirate

5 months

 Baby girl is 5 months old now.  It seems so fast and really hit me the other day how fast time is going by when Laura mentioned that Elsie had turned 5 months and commented that our babies are close to being half a year old.  The boys turned 6 months around Christmas time so for some reason I didn't think she would be so old this fast. 

Yesterday I sat her down to get pictures - it has been raining since Sunday and she sat up by herself for a few minutes. Today she can sit up with pillows around her and is pretty good unless she wants something in front of her - then she'll topple down.  She still doesnt like being on her back or tummy for very long.  She has rolled over from her stomach to back maybe 5 times but isn't in a hurry to move. The boys were creeping around at this age so its nice to have her take her time on the whole crawling thing. 

 She was intrigued by the grass so she would just lunge for it. 

Love dimpled baby hands. 

Norah loves to talk and smile at us.  She gets really excited when she sees her brothers and will start screeching and legs moving when she sees them.  She has this really cute screech that she does when she's happy or excited.  I've never heard anything like it.  We all love it and Joel loves to get her going and will spend most of the day trying to make her laugh/screech at him.  She hit a growth spurt at 4 months and has turned into an awful sleeper.  Gets up now every couple of hours - just like her brothers.  Norah is still just the sweetest baby with such an easy going/gentle personality.  I can't wait to see what she is like when she gets older.  She does love wearing dresses and skirts so she can grab on the bottom and pull it up to try to eat it :)  maybe she'll be my girly girl.  She is really the most easy going baby ever.  And such a sweet sweet girl. 

Just to remember...

Tonight I was in the kitchen making dinner, Joel was on the couch asleep, and I think Norah was sleeping or just woke up - brent had gone to get her.  Colin was in his room playing with Legos and came bouncing into the kitchen. 

C: "mommy, if I marry Adah would her family become my family?" 
Me:  "Yes - her whole family would be your family too."
C:  "That would be awesome.  Best friends becoming brothers!!!!!" 

I hope Colin picks his wife on more than just who her brother is but I have to say a small part of me could picture him and Adah married and how much fun that would be for our families.  Just saying - maybe in 20 years it could happen :) 

Pirate Ship

 This week we got a new roof put on the house.  After about an hour of the pounding I took the kids to the Botanical Gardens for the day.  The kids had fun. We haven't been in a few months and they have created this whole new pirate adventure for the summer. It was great. 

 Norah wasn't too fond of the water part.  Since she liked the slip n slide I thought she would like this.  But the water was cold.  Felt good to the boys - not to Norah.

 The kids had fun playing on the pirate parts.  We didnt get to all the pirate adventures (there is a treasure hunt you go on to find clues) so I promised the kids we would go back this week.  Joel fell asleep on the way home and then slept for a few hours while the roof was getting finished. 

Backstroke and Butterfly

We're signing Joel up next year for the swim team. 

Swinging

Salsa Competition

 The whole weekend wasn't all work.  Brent, Jeff and Sarah went to a winery and mom and I took the kids to the playground in town but the most fun was our first annual salsa competition.  It all started when Brent made some salsa and the Mary commented that she had made salsa and that they should have a compeition.  So we did.  Only Mary never showed up couldnt come.  But the rest of us got into it.  Jeff even went to town that morning to get his ingredients.  Colin was the judge and made up the categories and ribbons that morning. He was very excited about it.

 
 Mom made hers before she came.  And then told Brent she used the cilantro he gave her from the garden.  Only he never gave her cilantro - he gave her rosemary. So she got a lot of teasing the whole weekend.   It was actually pretty good. 

 Brent's took forever to make. And he was sure he would win - especially since he and sarah were the only ones with recipes.  The rest of us just made it up. 

And it was all just as yummy as it looks.  I say we do this again. 

Colin went around and tasted it all.  And then proudly handed out his ribbons. 

Ant Ant got the hot and spicy award.

Brent got the prize winner - but we're pretty sure there was bribery involved :) 

Jeff got best looking salsa and I got most origional.  But I would like to point out that mine was the only one that was completely eaten after dinner. 

Mostly by this little guy.  Looks like i'll have to try to replicate what I did again.  It was pretty good if I do say so :) 

And then it started to rain a little bit.  Just a few minutes of light sprinkles.  We sat and continued our dinner under the cover of a really big tree and then saw a rainbow come out over the house (the night before we saw one while sitting on the back patio after the rain)

Mary - you need to come and redeem yourself so we can try your salsa and see who really is the winner between you and Brent. 

Tree Removal

 One of the things on the work list this weekend was taking out this tree. Jeff had the idea of tying it to the back of the truck and then pulling it over.

 We weren't so sure it would work but it did.  And no one or truck got hurt.

 After playing in it we had to chop it up and then clear it all away.