Our high seas adventure comes to an end

Last night the boys wrapped up two weeks of the high seas adventure bible school. Yes two weeks! So you can imagine Dad and I are a little relieved to have a break from constant carpooling and shuffling the boys from here to there.

The boys loved it so it defiantly made it all worth it. My kids are bible school nuts. They love to go. Really what kid does not? So far they have been to 3 this summer and we still have at least 1 more on the books, our own churches.

High seas adventure was a great bible school with a great captain leading them through.



The leaders, the sets and the activities kept my boys looking forward to coming back each and every night. And that can be tough to keep the boys interest on the same thing for two weeks!

But they learned the songs. Loved doing the chants. One night while my oldest was asleep he yelled "High Ho" in his sleep. Boy did that make me smile.

They left the boys with the songs on cd so we can keep on praising the Lord all the time. Plus I can not tell you how darling it is to turn around and see in the back seat my little boys doing the motions as the music plays. They are precious.



Our house is full of crafts and bible buddies. We will keep looking forward to next weeks adventure. We will keep our eyes on God.



So good by to all our friends at high seas adventure we will see you next year for what we know will be another great vacation bible school!

A Lilly give away

Because I need a new purse! i have been looking for so long bought and returned a few but I have not found a new purse I can live with or often afford. This one is being gave away for free by The Company She Keeps



I love it! I hope I win!

Friday Follow

So I am trying something new its called follow friday. You get to hop around and see other great blogs by clicking on the link below.



To all that are new here welcome!

How to beat the heat

The heat is unbeatable. The days are lingering in the 90's- low 100's. The humidity makes it feel like you are being hit upside the head with a heavy damp towel. I thought that this summer would be a great summer for family activities and catching up around the house but not in this heat. It is an east coast epidemic with heat warning out every day. Not to mention the fact the rain has seen to have disappeared for almost a month now.

I find myself exhausted on the coach, unproductive and unmotivated. And the summer is passing me by. I need to beat the heat and get up and get moving.

The little ones found a way to stay cool. They love to play in the pool. The nice cool water .



Smiley absolutely loves it! He spends his time splashing and drinking the water. Our little pool is perfect for him. He crawls all over, can sit and stand. He can catch up with his big brothers in here.




They dump the toys everywhere and I am surprised they have any room to swim.




They got the right idea. Now I think I have my afternoon plans.

Gregory turns 7!!!!

As soon as it turned July we start celebrating. The forth of July is one of our families favorite holidays. Espically our next birthday boy Gregory!

Yes it is true our crazy, toothless, wild boy is now 7 years old.



Hard to believe.

Gregory always gets an extended birthday. Days of picnics, parties, parades and lucky him fireworks.

Gregory's birthday is actually the second. So we start celebrating then. He had been counting down for days. In fact his count down is on for next years birthday. Birthdays are so special for the boys. They love the personal attention and parties with their friends. Not to mention the cake and presents. When they argue with each other their biggest threat they come at their brother with is "YOU AREN'T INVITED TO MY BIRTHDAY PARTY!" My Cuties.

Gregory excitedly woke up on the second screaming it's my birthday! I am seven! I want to open my presents!

What a good boy he is. He loves to cuddle and loves to play wii. Gregory also loves to go to Chinese for lunch. What a nice break from the normal fast food chains, I really appreciate this. So for his birthday lunch we had a great time at our favorite Chinese buffet.

We questioned him about what would he like to do for the rest of the day. He was set on going to the water park. Well this unfortunately was not going to happen. We do have a water park trip planed for him for the following week but we want to wait till then so the rest of our family can join us. He kept prompting him to go fishing without any luck. He was certain he wanted to go to the water park at it was his birthday, his choice.

We compromised with our 7 year old and went to the city pool.



There are many water splashy things there so it was not to bad. He had a great time playing with his family. Smiley thought is was a lot of fun also.



This is the first time he had ever been in a public pool. It was hard chasing after him all afternoon. Luckily we always knew which baby he was. The one with his little swimmer in the air.





We actually did not stay there to long. The water was a touch cold for the boys. After a little bit they rathered to sit in the sun. What ever you want birthday boy. You goofy kid in the cool shades!



We woke up early the next morning for a parade. It was great!



It is the same parade we have been going to every holiday for many years and it barely ever changes. It is everything you would expect from a small town parade. Local business handing out candy, the high school marching band, the great shriners in their little cars, just to cute and Smiley got a kick out of them. We had friends and neighbors in it. Here is Toby ridding his unicycle. It was fun to cheer him on.




A new float this time was this darling train. As it was coming toward us Evan happily was questioning how are they driving a train on the road?



Mema and Pepa could not make it up in time for the parade but they made it up in time for cake and ice cream. This birthday it was all rolled into one. Gregory got an oreo ice cream cake. He was in heaven. And so were his little brothers. They all dove into the quickly melting goodness...yummy!



Every 4th Waynesboro holds its summer jubilee. It is a great event for the kids and we love to go. It starts off in the morning with a firecracker 5k. Which we slept through. Next year the Huse Clifton will run it. Then comes the parade, check, and after that events. We skipped the pie eating contest, again something I want to do accomplish next year. We made it to the petting. As always the had an assortment of farm animals. The children pet them and I took pictures.



They big boys went on to test their strong man skills.




They whacked it pretty far up that friendly looking giraffe. But whacking a giraffe can't compare to whacking your brother and strangers.

In one corner we have Evan. Standing strong and tall.



In the next corner we have Gregory. Full of confidence now that he is 7.



This was so much fun for them to play but I think even more fun for us to watch. They along with two other like size kids stood on air filled pillars. They would push a hanging ball at each other trying to knock their opponents off. Last kid standing won.



40 pound little kids were flying everywhere! What a hoot!

Besides a bunch of inflatables they had barn games. We played them all. Over and over and over again. But the kids did well. Most importantly they had fun and they were free, another bonus.



Nothing in the world can beat having little boys.



It was a great 4th. Well 3rd. Waynesboro has an old city ordinance that they can not have parades or fireworks on Sundays so this year the activites took place on the 3rd. That was okay with us. We had a great day!

Exhausted and tired the only thing left to do was sit back relax and watch some fireworks.



Happy 4th of July everyone! Happy Birthday Gregory!

Smiley's 1st Birthday

Another birthday, another date with the mouse. Why do they always want to go to Chucky Cheese? We let the kids choose what they want to do for their birthday and it seems more than not we go to Chucky Cheese. Brendan with the assistance of his big brothers choose Chucky Cheese too. Actually more than assistance, the big boys spoke for him on this instance. But he was all smiles.



It was Brendans first time there and just like every other kid he thought it was great. He was not big enough to play all the games like his brothers but he tried. He does think he is as big as they are. He tries to do everything they do, eat everything they eat.




However, Smiley still enjoyed the baby rides.



Hanging on for dear life.

He even took a shot at the ponies. My little jockey.



Smiley is the brightest joy. I am so happy to have spent this year with him. A precious baby that has turned into a fun, loving, happy little boy. As he is almost walking the next year will be fun. My Smiley I love you! Happy Birthday.

During June

I have not been writing much lately but not because nothing has been going on. More along the lines of I just don't know how to put it in to words. June has been a tremendous month of ups and downs,life changes and big events.




The first and most joyful Smiley turned 1!!!




He is so awesome! He is so happy and smiles at you always. He glows when he sees his big brothers and they quickly run to him. Gregory picks him up and drags him around the house. Evan will lay with him and roll around.



What is he doing at one? Getting into everything. He thinks he is as big as his brothers and tries to copy them. He says a few words but will talk with you all day. He has begun to walk. He can take a few steps, he will be running soon.



Danica came to visit the boys, which is always a treat. She holds all their hearts and got to see the big boys play T-ball and Smiley open his presents.

The big boys finished their T-ball season. They did great! Gregory hit the ball nearly every pitch. Evan's first year was great as well. He hit the ball off the T and very much enjoyed being part of the team.




Everything was going pretty normal then our world changed. My husband of 10 years and I split. It was ugly and the hardest time of my life. The kids and I left, we went to spend time with grandma.



Summer was still a fun time for the boys. No matter where they are they still got to play in the water. They enjoyed hours of sprinkler time. Baby tried to enjoy it but was more hesitant than the big boys.



It's nice to be out in the country because the boys got to be little boys. There we have no cable, no wii, no internet. They were left with nothing to entertain them but themselves. It took a little time to unplug them but then they started being little boys. They played with each other and played outside.



By the end of June we came home. We are taking it one day at a time and going to counciling. What will happen in the future is unclear. The only thing I know for sure is Jay loves me with all his heart, mind and soul... It can only get better from here.

Jay snuck onto the computer when I was out of the room to do a quick read and add that last sentence. But I will leave it. He is very optimistic and glad we came home. In the counciling we are learning to work towards God, and set our goals towards him. So Jay is right with our refound direction God is with and everything will get better.

Romans 8:31 "If God is for us, who can be against us?"