After the Storm

Laugh-Out Loud Funny

My sister-in-law Brooke showed me this post from her cousin's blog. Before I read it, my brother Scott told me it made him laugh so hard he couldn't breathe. No way, I thought, could it be that funny.

I laughed. A lot.
http://natalielarson.blogspot.com/2009/12/not-so-jolly.html

Baby it's cold outside...

Biggest snowstorm in the history of the world - or so DC media would want you to believe. Either way, it's a pretty big snow storm for the DC area, and we're only about half-way through the storm (when the pics were taken).

Happy Birthday, Gabey!

Gabriel celebrated his 5th birthday! We were very glad to have my parents in town for the occasion. We celebrated over the weekend with bowling, cake, and friends and family. On his birthday, we were glad to have my little sister Alison in town. She and I braved Wendy's with 5 little boys to wish Gabey a Happy Birthday (we were in charge of nephews Lincoln and Tad). A great time was had by all!

McKay loved the balloons.

We love you, Gabers!

Sea Dogs!

Lucas just wrapped up his fall baseball season with a team party. He really enjoyed his first season doing machine pitch.

We couldn't have asked for better coaches. Coach Randy's on the left and Dominic's in back. They each have a son on the team, and have been coaching together since their boys started in T-ball. Lucas was put on their team for T-ball last spring, and I requested that he be with them again this fall. As long as they're coaching, we want 'em! They have fun with the kids and are able to teach them life skills as well as baseball. Go Sea Dogs!

I Love Costco

For many reasons.
Like for the fact that nothing in Costco comes in small quantities.

I was checking out the other day when the cashier asked the usual, "Do you want stamps?" Normally I politely decline. However, this time, I realized I did, in fact, need stamps.
"Yes, " I said, and she handed me (what I assumed was my book of)stamps, which I shoved in my purse.

Later that day, I pulled the stamps out of my purse and did kind of a "What the....?!?" then started laughing.

I am the proud owner of $43 worth of stamps.

Only at Costco!

Pumpkin Picking

Trunk-or-Treat

The night before Halloween we did trunk or treat at our church (this has become my new favorite way to do trick-or-treating). Here is our Clone Trooper, Scarecrow, and Frankenstein.

Here is the whole crew, which includes cousins Lincoln (storm trooper) and Tad (Spiderman). We are THRILLED to have my brother Scott and his family living by us! They just moved to Arlington from Michigan for Scott to do training to be a Foreign Service Officer in the State Department. Brooke was home with 2-week old baby Natalie, but Scott and the boys joined us for trunk-or-treat.

Crazy Hair Day

Since Lucas is long overdue for a haircut, we had some great material to work with for crazy hair day at school!

Halloween

Ready to go trick-or-treating.A disgruntled Batman at the end of the night.

We had a great Halloween.

Well, most of us.

Gabey wasn't a fan of many of the "festive" decor at some houses we went to (like the one with the lifesized dummy that the homeowner dropped behind you from a wire as you walked up the driveway).

Scott, Lincoln, and Tad joined us on our trick-or-treating trek. Besides the 5-minute downpour midway through our evening, the weather was perfect. No jackets necessary.

We ended the night with a small sampling of candy, putting exhausted children to bed, and settling down to the computer for an episode of "Ghost Hunters".

Lifting Burdens

Lifting Burdens

Happy Birthday, Cory!

We celebrated another year of Cory's life last week. Unfortunately, his party was a little muted due to Lucas's recovering from a sickness and Gabriel being in the middle of one.

On a good note, the ice cream cake I made looked much better than the one last year!

Love you, Cory/Daddy!

Gabriel's World

A little peek into Gabey's world... This is a picture he drew on his second day of preschool. He told me this is a picture of his friends flying. See the one in the bottom right-hand corner with the extra line protruding from his down-turned mouth? That's his tongue sticking out and his eyes are dropping because he is tired.

"Look! Mommy! I'm a sloth!"

Even Superman needs to sleep.

Batman.

(He also has a Spiderman costume that he has worn all over DC and Northern Virginia).

FIRSTS

FIRST time Lucas fell alseep while saying his nightly prayer. Cory and I had to chuckle...only because we've done it many times.

FIRST time my children wanted to watch General Conference. This is an opportunity twice a year for all members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to hear the words of our Prophet and church leaders.

Listening to 4 2-hour sessions (2 Saturday, 2 Sunday) of adults talking is not every child's dream. This year, I finally got smart and printed some coloring pages and other activities to involve them in Conference. It really was a special weekend for us to be together and hear the words of our Prophets and leaders.

FIRST signs of fall. It's hard to tell in this picture, but there are some yellow leaves on our trees in the backyard. Fall is my favorite time of year.

Gabriel's FIRST day of preschool!

Just to Get That Off

I had to get that creepy pig-person picture off the top of the blog.

Stay tuned for a real post.

Overheard at our house...

Lucas, who was sick today, came to me with a worried look on his face.
"Mommy, am I going to get the swine flu? Because I just pulled a hair out of my mouth."
(stifled chuckle) "No, sweetheart. You're not going to turn into a pig. Sometimes hairs just get in our mouths."


Perhaps he had seen this creepy picture that my sis-in-law Maida posted on our family website.

Thanks for the nightmares, Maida!

The other day, Lucas to Cory,

"Daddy, don't tickle me, or I'll go into hyperdrive!"

"What?"

"Hyperdrive. Isn't that what it is when you breathe too fast?"

"Ohhhh...I think you mean hyperventilate."

Tonight, Gabey, on the floor, to Lucas, on the top bunk,

"Lucas? Are you awake? Luuuuucas? Are you awake? Luuuuuuuucassss are you awake? Luuuuuuuuuu..."

"Gabriel! When I don't answer it means I'm not awake."

Good night.

Lucas Gets a Hit!

Lucas started machine pitch this fall and thinks it is "way more fun than T-Ball!" This was his 2nd game and his 2nd hit (I meant to be filming for his first hit, which was also in this game, but the batteries died. Thankfully I had brought along more!).

Back to School

It's that time of year again.

Lucas started first grade, though not without some reservation. He loves school and adored Kindergarten...but, he kept telling us before school started that "Graders always get in trouble." He was a little grumpy after the first day and we finally pulled it out of him that his class had gotten in trouble a couple of times for being too loud. It's not like the teacher was yelling, it's just that my rule-following, people -pleasing child (the apple does not fall far from the tree) felt like HE was getting in trouble when the class was, even though he tries so hard to do everything "just right". This did not sit well with him.

We had a good talk, another priesthood blessing from Daddy, and the second day was much better.

Here's to a fun year!

Oh, and lest you think I've left Gabey out, he will start preschool in October at a local high school. So you can look forward to another back to school post.

Oh, and lest you think I've left CORY out, he also started school...his LAST semester!

Hide and Seek

One of our favorite games to play as a family is hide and seek. Even McKay gets a kick out of it.
This is a typical reaction when he finds us.

A Final Salute to Summer

Diana and I decided to pack up the kids and head -- sans husbands (who had boring things like "work" and "school") -- to Chincoteague Island, VA. Her mom, Judy, has a house on the island where we were able to stay and enjoy one final summer hoorah.
To be honest, about 25 minutes into the 3 1/2 hour drive, we both thought we should turn around and forget the whole thing. Picture if you will....
2 moms and 5 little boys in a van, ages 6, 5, 4, 2, and 8 months. Everything seemed fine...until it wasn't.
McKay started crying and Gabe - Diana's 2-year old -- was crying because "I want to hold McKay's hand!".
Actually, both were just very tired, and kept feeding off each other.
McKay would cry louder, Gabe would follow suit.
Then, from the back of the van, "Mommy, I have to go pee!!!" This from Emmet.
Followed closely by, "AAAAAaaaaahhhhh! Mommy, Mommy! There's an ant in the van!" This from Gabey, who is apparently terrified the ant will bite him.
McKay cries. Gabe cries. Emmet has to go. Gabey's sure the ant will be the death of him. Lucas is somewhat fearful of the ant because he's sure it is a red ant and will bite.
Oi.
Fortunately, all was resolved and the rest of the drive was uneventful. Just the typical, "Are we in Chincoteague yet?"
"How many more minutes?"
"Are we still in Maryland? When will we be in Virginia?"

Ahem.
So, we get there. And,let me tell you, I am in LOVE with this island. It's not big, it's not commercialized, it's quaint...just my thing. I mean, how could you not love an island that has these guys roaming around free? Actually, these wild ponies are on Assateague, the neighboring island to Chincoteague, where the beach is.
*Note: Some of the following pictures are out of order as I am too lazy to fight with blogger. Alas, it was an ill-fated trip as far as hanging out at the beach goes. We drove up Monday and planned to spend Tuesday and Wednesday at the beach, then head home Thursday. We got all loaded up (not a small feat, mind you) and drove to the beach on Tuesday morning. The wind was wicked as it whipped (nice alliteration!) the sand painfully against our legs and made for a wild surf. We stayed about 2 minutes.

The wind was slightly less boisterous on Wednesday, but still didn't make for a relaxing day on the beach. So, we stayed for about 10 mintues. All the beach pictures were taken in those 10 minutes. But, the beach is one of my favorite places -- a love affair that I think is starting to rub off on my children -- and is always fun to see, if even for only a little bit.

How did we spend our time, then?

We ate at "Woody's BBQ", an outdoor restaurant complete with hammocks,volleyball, tetherball, and other outdoorsy games. A PERFECT place to eat dinner with 5 kids!

Here's everyone enjoying our dining experience at Woody's.


Pre-dining entertainment.

We played mini-golf.

More of Woody's...



More of the beach...

We played games together, had ice cream, played at the playground, and rented bikes to bike a 3-mile loop on Assateague where you can enjoy the peacefulness and beauty of the marshlands and wildlife. This was nothing to sneeze at, as Diana pulled her two boys behind her, and I pulled my 3 (McKay in an infant seat directly behind me -- where he fell asleep -- and Gabey and Lucas in a trailer behind the bike - where Gabey fell asleep).

Despite my initial misgivings about doing this without husbands (how could shepherding my 3 young boys on my own be a vacation?), we had a great time and I am glad we went.

Most importantly, I realized that while we were away I had a much easier time being "in the moment" with my boys.

I didn't worry about housework and to-do lists like I do too much at home.

I just enjoyed being with them.

Now to be able to do that more in the day-to-day.

Farewell, summer 2009.