Still Busy

Jacob and Layne had swimming and then I took Jacob to "God and Country" for Cub Scouts. Jennifer had to work late so I got the kids to bed. They have been pretty good this week, especially considering we are going without electronics (think I mentioned that earlier in the week). I've been playing Xbox with the guys from work this week, so I've neglected some of the chores needed to be done. They'll still be there tomorrow, just like they always are.

So a rather uneventful day, but I'll take it.

JCUMC Preschool Choir Show

Love the Preschool Choirs at our church. The kids have fun and the teachers are the best.

Joshua did very well tonight. He sang and followed directions and had a great time.

He was very excited after about his performance.

It was a nice evening. Had dinner at church with all our family (Grandma and Papa Jack came, too). Jacob and Layne had a great time in Clues Crew. Joshua did awesome in choir.

Lots of things to be Thankful for today.

I have blog duties tonight, not sure what to tell ya about. Jacob went to the eye doctor today, his eyes are doing well, only the right eye changed and very little. The doctor said we could even keep his current lenses and he would be fine.

I can tell you that I am tired. Jennifer had to work late so I had the kids by myself tonight. It went very well, did dinner (skipped baths) and played some board games. We are technology free this week, well the kids are, or this post wouldn't be happening huh. We got to bed time and everyone in their beds, no problems, read to Joshua and fell asleep kneeling on his bed, then Layne came and woke me up to lay down with her. Fell asleep in her bed only to have Joshua come back and get me to lay back down with him. Fell asleep with him until 11 and my back won't let me forget it. Then came downstairs to talk to Jennifer while she was on the computer, and fell asleep some more.

Jennifer did get cut off and pushed into the guard rail coming home from work! Some a-hole in a beemer tried to squeeze around and cut in on the merge onto 400. Jennifer is ok, sounds like the car got a bit scraped up, I'll look at it in the morning, just can't see much at night.

Are these high end car owners promised something when they buy these luxury cars? They must have been told that because they spend more than the average adult on a car, that they have the right of way at all times and can do as they please on the road. I am saying this because I had a similar situation to Jennifer's, and again, it was a BMW... We are all sitting where two lanes merge and I am at the very point where the merge has happened and it is down to one lane, and in the side mirror I see the guy pull out of the line where he has been waiting (like we all have been doing) and drive past five or six cars and then try and get past me. He is of course on the shoulder at this point. Well, I just keep driving and so does he, like I was supposed to just stop and let him in. I lay on the horn, and Jennifer can tell you I never use the horn, NEVER. So he honks back at me like I am really screwing him over and I have done something wrong. In this situation I usually push the issue, but then let the jerk over (I know sad that this happens enough that I'm used to it), but I had this guy and I wasn't letting him in, plus we were coming up to a bridge and that shoulder he was driving on wasn't gonna be there. If he wanted to hit me, so be it. The kids weren't in the car, at that point I didn't care. He relinquished and darted in right behind me, riding my bumper, honking and flashing his brights for about half a mile or so. Usually in that situation you might pump the brakes a bit, make them even madder. I just made sure I had lots of space between me and the line of cars in front of me, just a nice leisurely pace. I was hoping we'd get to a point where he'd be next to me and I could just wave at him, but it never happened. I made a turn and he was left way back in traffic trying to figure out why I didn't know the "Always yield to BMW" rules.

Guess I'm awake now, huh

Stop Hunger Now

What a great day at JCUMC! Everyone in the family was able to help.

We helped package 50,000 meals for Stop Hunger Now as part of the Mission for the church.

It was a great way to spend the day. I can see Jacob and Layne thinking about Christmas as the season of Giving - not just receiving. We had a long talk yesterday while they were putting together their Operation Christmas Child boxes.

Here are some pics from today:










Doesn't everyone look great with hairnets? I didn't get in the pics because I got to be the camera person. I did get interviewed by a local paper - The Hub - he says he sends to all the local papers. I will have to check out the Johns Creek Neighbor this week.

I may be way too busy....

Had 2 interesting conversations with Layne today. We had quite the busy day. The kids had a K-Kids meeting at 7:15 a.m. this morning before school. We were out of the house at 7:01 a.m. Got them dropped off without a problem. Then it took me until 8:47 a.m. to get to work. Grrrrr.....there are days I detest GA 400.

Lorett,a who works with me (and I can barely do my job without her) is out probably through Thanksgiving, as her mother passed away on Tuesday. So - I was trying to keep up and figure out how to do her job also.

I had to be to school by 1:00 p.m. as for some crazy reason I had signed up to do Thursday Papers for Jacob's class.

Then I went to the grocery store after Thursday Papers, as we were out of some essential items (more about that later).

Came home, unloaded the groceries, started a load of laundry, and signed on again to check email / voicemail for work. Worked until 3:30 p.m.

Went to school to pick up Jacob for swim from 4:15 to 5:00 p.m.

Layne was picked up by her GS Leader at 4:00 p.m. for her meeting until 5:30 p.m.

Sat through Jacob's swim lesson (he is doing so awesome and he enjoys it).

Then drove to pick up Layne by 5:30 at the Greenway Park after her hike with her GS Troop.

Went with Jacob and Layne to get Joshua from mom and dad's.

Drove with all 3 kids to church as Jacob had a Boy Scout meeting (they are earning the God and Country) badge. They will meet every Thursday through January 6 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Left Jacob at church with Matthew.

Layne, Joshua and I went to eat. I needed to be back at the church at 7:00 p.m. for my UMW Board Meeting.

Conversation 1) While we were sitting at dinner at LaCazuela (I know you are surprised we went to get cheese dip) Layne very nicely asked me if there might be a store around here that might sell some stuff you use to wash clothes. Yes - we ran out of laundry detergent - and we have not been able to get clothes done for a couple days. I told her that I had picked some up earlier and had already put a load of clothes in to wash. She threw her hands up in the air and yelled "yeah we can wash our clothes!". The table behind us literally laughed out loud.

Conversation 2) When we left the restaurant to go to the church Layne noticed all of the flags that Johns Creek had put out for Veteran's Day. She asked me why they were there. I told her because today is Veteran's Day. There was a slight pause, and then she says "Oh, we have a day to honor those people who take care of our pets. That's nice." I was actually proud of myself for not laughing out loud. I talked to her about Daddy Toot and she did eventually "get it".

I think I need to spend more time with the kids, huh? I keep thinking things might slow down at some point. But I am thinking probably not. Just have to keep taking advantage of the care conversations.

Here is Layne with her Girl Scout Troop from September 2010 when we went to Camp Misty Mountain.

Stories from the Boys

The night before last I was reading an Alphabet Book with Joshua. As we were going page by page he would try and say a word for each letter. We got to "G" and Joshua said "like Ganote". When we got to "J" he said "like for Joshua". I agreed and said "Yes, your name is Joshua Ganote". I asked him if he knew what his middle name was - and without hesitation he said "Boo". I did laugh. I am not sure he believed me when I told him his middle name is really Edwin.

We got the 1st semester papers home from Jacob with his participation in TAG. He is doing really well. The only thing he needs to improve upon is speaking more in class and sharing his ideas more during discussion. One of the papers he brought home was a little story on what he would be like and be able to do when he was 25 years old. It said some typical things, like he would be living in New York City, he would be able to drive, and he would be able to "burp the ABC's". To which his teacher circled and wrote "Inappropriate". Yes - Matthew and I laughed when we read about the lofty goals of our oldest son.

Soccer Fall 2010

All in all a good last day. We had a few bumps but so far we have survived. We had to pick up Layne's soccer cake at 11:00 a.m., Layne's game at 11:45 a.m. at Johns Creek Baptist, Joshua's game at 1:00 p.m. at JCUMC, Layne part at 1:00 p.m. at JCUMC, and Joshua's party at 2:00 p.m. at JCUMC. Oh - and I kept reminding myself not to forget to pick up Jacob when all the soccer excitement was over.

Got up by 8:00 a.m. Layne and Joshua and I got to sleep in a little. We are usually up no later than 6:30 a.m. during the week. Jacob lucked out. His best friend Connor had a birthday sleepover last night and his mom was so awesome to let Jacob stay until all of the soccer activities were over with today.

Layne wanted a BIG breakfast. They had cheese eggs, sausage, biscuits, apples, and waffles. (Oh, my - LOL). They both ate well and I figured they were at least going to be working hard later today.

Joshua wouldn't get in to uniform before we left the house. Starting getting particularly whiny about his daddy not being here and wanting to know when dad would get here for the game. I went on ahead and called Grandma to see if she would pick up the cake at Publix for Layne's party on their way. I figured I could use the extra time with Joshua :)

Layne started getting anxious about being late for her game. So we left without Joshua changing.

Got to the Baptist Church where Layne was having her game and made Joshua change in the car before going to watch her game. He got really clingy and wouldn't let go of my neck wanting his Daddy.

We finally got him to go to Grandma's car - crying all the way holding my hand - with the promise of a McDonald's Happy Meal before his game. Had to physically put him in his car seat. Yuck - I hate that!

Layne had the best game ever! She had an awesome goal save as Goalie. Totally landed on that ball and prevented a goal. She even got congratulations after the game from the other team's coach.

Coach Steve changed it up a bit today for their last game and had the girls rotate defense and offense. Took a lot of pictures as I hardly ever get pictures of Layne running.

Coach Steve said about Layne that "he really admired her tenacity, that at this stage the girls need to play the position that they are best at" he said that Layne was his best Goalie and that "she might not be happy about being Goalie all the time, and may put her head down and stomp a little on the way out there, but she does it and always gives it her best!". He absolutely got that right.

Layne spent a little bit last night writing a thank you card to both of her coaches. Coach Steve is not sure he will be back in the Spring to coach as his daughter Evie "wants to take a break". Layne asked him in the card to "please come up with a way to have Evie play again". It will be hard on her to have another Coach. He has been great for her!

Mom / Grandma got Joshua duty. He also had a fantastic game. All his coaches said that he played most of the game, did not have any problem getting in the game, and made some unintentional, but strategic blocks for the win :) I guess he really wanted his trophy. We all told him if he didn't play today he wouldn't get his trophy. I think I even pointed out that "even Jacob has a soccer trophy".

I am kind of glad it is over and the stress of playing / not playing with Joshua is over. We plan on him playing next Fall - but not this Spring. He is just so much younger that I really feel he needs that other year.

Here are some pictures of Layne:

Way to intimidate!!!!


Layne excited about a goal for her team:




Here is Coach Steve and his daughter Evie (the one to convince to play again):



Here is Layne with her Coach getting her Trophy (I apologize for the Auburn attire):


Layne's Team Mom - Miss Chana getting her flowers from Evie:

And the Extreme Soccer pull-apart cake from Publix:




And on to Joshua - here he is enjoying his cupcake at his party:



And getting oh-so-coveted soccer trophy - that has a spinning soccer ball that lights up!:




It was really cold and windy here. Definitely time to get out the winter clothes. I haven't been this cold in a long time. Our downstairs furnace went out at some point today - so it was really cold this evening. Good thing I have a dad who lives near by and would come over and light the pilot light. I can't stand gas - makes me so nervous - I want nothing to do with it. Guess I need to move someplace even warmer, huh?

Time for bed - we have an even busier schedule tomorrow.

Halloween

A wonderful night, great fun for all. The soccer and swimming have paid off as the kids were able to trick or treat for a long time. Eh, I'm just gonna post some pics...and I can only post five. Maybe Jennifer can figure out how to post the others.

The Pumpkin Farm 2010

We went last weekend to a closer, smaller pumpkin farm.

Jacob said he might be "getting too old for a pumpkin farm" - just about broke my heart.

So we decided with how busy we were that we would try someplace new.

They had a big red tractor - so Joshua was happy.



They had face painting so Layne was happy -









And they had a playground - so Jacob was happy -




It was a beautiful, sunny, breezy Fall day. I would say it was Just Right.

Getting Ready for Halloween

I've got the bug this year so I started to get the Halloween stuff out early rather than later. The kids really got into it too, telling me what to get out and asking where certain items are in the containers. They had fun putting it all out. Joshua has some issues with a Grim Reaper toy, but he just can't help being near it and pushing the button. Then telling us he's scared....couple minutes later, there he is right back with the reaper. Jacob and Layne like the plasma ball, the plastic ball with the lightning you can touch.

We tried doing lunch together at Chili's, but Joshua was acting horribly, so he and actually left and went home. He was that bad. He seemed to have moments the rest of the day where he just couldn't listen.

Jacob spent the weekend with his friend Connor from school. They went to their cabin in the woods. Sounds like it's a second house they own two hours away. It's got a hottub and big flat screen tv. Jacob had a great time.

Layne had her friend Divya over to spend the night on Saturday. They had an equally fun time even without the hottub. It was so warm we got out the slip-n-slide and they played with that for about an hour. Then some tv and Wii. Divya said it was the best sleepover ever.

September 21

blah, blah, blah

Monday 20th

Just signing in...

Diorama Sunday

Oh, and Friday and Saturday, too. I know the kids need to do their own homework. But there is no way that a 9 year old 4th grader is going to be able to do a complete diorama without asking a question every minute. Things like, can I use these scissors? Do we have brown paper? How would you make a dog? Aslan is supposed to be chained to a stone tablet - what can I use to do that? Sheesh! But they are done. And they look pretty good. They mostly did their own work - we obviously supplied quite a bit of the materials. I hope next time they pick something easier for "me" to complete.

Here is Layne's:


And here is Jacob's:


I know it looks like Jacob did not do as much as Layne. But he chose a difficult scene from his book to portray. He read The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. His scene is where Aslan has been killed and is chained to the stone tablet and Lucy and Susan are walking away crying as they believe he is dead. It is a bleak scene and therefore not a lot of detail to provide. Although - Lucy has a real leather bow and arrow slung over her shoulder and they both have tears. But Layne's looks awesome and she had a plan and knew exactly how she wanted it to look and I think she was successful.

Made it to church this morning. Kind of glad I did as I was told by our minister that "the body is weakened" when you do not attend church. Joshua had a great time with Miss Pavan and Mr. Robert.

Came home after church and started right in on the Dioramas. Just finally completed them with 30 minutes to spare before Jacob had to go sell Boy Scout Popcorn. I need to get a picture of him in his new uniform. All the Boy Scout stuff is new. I don't even know what kind of popcorn they sell. Maybe Matthew will get us some (but probably not - probably wouldn't even think about it - LOL). Jacob and Matthew will be at the Douglas Road Kroger from 4:30 to 6:00 selling popcorn. Matthew went over the sales pitch with Jacob - #1 "Hello, would you like to buy some popcorn?" and if they say NO he says "Would you like to make a donation to the Boy Scouts of America?" and then if they say NO he says "Thank you very much".

Joshua is tired and cranky - but it took 2 parents to help with 2 separate Dioramas - so he would not go by himself and lay down for a nap. Hopefully we can get to bed soon. He has been playing with his baby doll again. Today he had Susan's former ID Badge around his neck as that stated (according to Joshua) that he was "the official babysitter". Hope he can earn some money soon.



Still hot in Atlanta - over 90 degrees and sunny again today. I am looking forward to some 80 degree temps soon - hopefully later this week.

Soccer Saturday

Our first games of the season, overall, pretty good. Layne's team, the "Soccerbolts" did great. Layne played goalie for most of the first half and stopped any potential shots on goal. She played mid field most of the second half. She had a fantastic kick from midfield to one of her teammates who turned and shot and scored a goal. We all cheered for Layne who couldn't help but smile all the way back to her position.
Joshua's very first game went well the first half. His team is the "Lions", kick the ball at the goal with the lion. He got out there, ran around, chased the cluster of kids, participated and had fun. When several players would fall, well, he just had to fall too. Josh did get to kick the ball on the kick off and for a goal kick. The second half didn't go as well, he was tired and didn't want to play any more. He'd try and hang with us on the sideline instead of with his team. I'd walk him back over and try and get him to go back out on the field, but it just wasn't going to happen. We've got the first game under his belt and we should progress the rest of the year. His coaches did a great job trying to get him out there too, but not overdoing it. But, as you can see, he did have a good time.

Dioramas Started

Started on the diorama homework, will post more.

Life is Hectic

Thought we'd been busy before, but this fall is really pushing it. Layne has soccer and Juniors (advanced brownies), Joshua has soccer, and Jacob has scouts and swimming, plus school and we've got to work too. Ya have to make time to breathe. Today Jennifer took Layne to Juniors, and I took Jacob to swimming lessons, when he was done we drove to Jack and Judy's to pick up Joshua and take him to soccer practice...shoooo. The kids are all having a great time with it all though, so we'll keep figuring it out.

Layne taught her troop how to make friendship bracelets and did a magnificent job, she's a natural. Jennifer was very helpful last night in getting all the prep work done so Layne could be magnificent, but she was very excited that she got to show all her friends how to make the bracelets and be the teacher for an hour.

Jacob did great with swimming lessons. It was a tough call on which class to put him in, but he enjoyed himself today and learned how to do the backstroke, well some form of the backstroke. He was very grown up and independent with the lessons today.

Joshua had fun at soccer practice, he was a tad out of it though, a bit of independence on the field. All the kids were running and kicking the ball, Joshua would stand in the middle of the field and watch, or run to the goal and play goalie, but he had a good time.

Changing gears a bit, Jennifer gave Jacob and Layne some extra money for the book fair. They each got a $20 bill, but were only to spend $10, and then give Jennifer the change, I'm sure you can see where this is going. I didn't know about this deal, so when we get home from all the practices Jacob gives me a dollar and says "Here's Mom's change...". I just put the money, the single dollar bill, in my pocket and didn't think anything about it. Then when we're all home and Jennifer asks for her change and I hear what the deal was and how they really took advantage, we were not happy. Jennifer explained how it was like stealing. I think they got it, but then Jacob has the gall to ask for more money because there is still one book he really wants, uh..maybe they didn't get it. After explaining it again, it hits home with Jacob and he leaves the kitchen balling and goes up to his room. You could hear the sobs from downstairs. He was sad because he couldn't get the book he really wanted. Hello! Didn't you just spend $20 on some other books, why didn't you get this book that was causing all the tears? He really wanted all three books.

We've got it worked out, and he will be working on the garage to make some extra money to pay for the book and neither of them will get an allowance until October to pay for the extra $10 they each took.

First Day of Swim Lessons for Jacob

We went to the YMCA today for swim lessons for Jacob. We got there. He wanted to go in the Men's/Boy's dressing room all by himself and not the Family Dressing Room. I let him. It was hard though to not be with him in a new place, though.

Then he came out to find me and he was crying. He couldn't find his goggles, he didn't want to take swimming, why does he have to take swimming. It is so hard when they cry like that.

So this time he sat at the edge of the pool and watched the lesson and what they have to do. He did really well and was okay with me leaving the pool area and he sat by himself. There are 2 of the same level classes at the same time. So the coordinator let him pick which instructor he wanted to be with for his lessons. He, of course, picked the young, cute blond, Whitney.

He was fine watching and he was fine leaving and he says he is fine swimming on Thursday. I assured him he knew all that they would be doing in that swim class and after these first 8 lessons then he could move up to a challenging class, but that we wanted him to be comfortable.

Outside of school (where Layne goes) and Cub Scouts (where he goes to everything with a parent) Jacob has not had to do anything by himself yet. This is new for him and I really didn't realize that until yesterday.

But this is good for him.

And Thursday we will not forget the goggles.

Here are our silly, clean children. Can't believe how fast they are growing. I also think Joshua had placed a whole sheet of stickers on his PJ's at this point. He does have his own idiosyncrasies, too.

Webelos

Jacob had his first Den Meeting this past Sunday. He is even more an official Webelo. You can see his new hat, belt and scarf in the picture above. The card on the right is his completion of 1 year of Cub Scouts.

The important part to note is the Belt Loops in the picture. He has proudly obtained a Belt Loop or 1) Computers 2) Video Games 3) and Art. One of the other 2 is for Kickball and Writing. At least he gets to do the things he is already interested in, right?

He is in year 2 of the "I don't want to go to Cub Scouts" and then after he has been "that was a lot of fun". It took 2 years for Layne in Girl Scouts - he is right on track in my opinion.

Jacob is having a great year so far. Only one day of TAG (Talented and Gifted) but that afternoon he was the most talkative about school since Kindergarten. He even was responsible with making sure over the weekend that he had all of the items he needed ready for today for TAG.

So thankful for Ms. Alvarez last year helping Jacob find Fun in School again.

Team Snelling!

CLUES Crew

The first Wednesday night dinner was tonight for our church. We haven't started school but other counties have begun earlier this month. I think this was a mid-point starting point.

We did not do dinner. We have not been liking the meals very much last year. And, with the way they are doing registration this year, they increased the price. We plan on being a bit more picky when deciding what dinners we will eat.

Anyway - tonight was registration for Children's Choirs. As it was so painful last year with Jacob and Layne getting them to choir we decided earlier to not "force" them to do choir this year. They really did do their best last year at something they did not like at all. So I was very excited when I learned that Karen Hickey decided to start a Wednesday evening group just for 3rd, 4th and 5th graders.

They were a little nervous. Layne was worried that she wouldn't know anyone else. Of course, I reminded her that she would knew Jacob and Miss Karen! They had a good time. They made notebooks to bring with them each Sunday to church and write notes about the service / sermon. Then they will bring their books back to the Clues Crew class each Wednesday and talk about what they heard and learned.

I am really excited for them and think this will get them excited again.

Joshua is still excited about choir.

We also went this morning to Primrose with Joshua so he could meet his teachers for Pre-K and see his classroom. His teachers are Miss Christine and Miss Jessica. He knows Miss Jessica from the end of the year last year before the summer. He was being a little shy at first but when he got in the room he was sooooo excited about all the stuff to see and learn and play with around the room. He had to do every puzzle laid out on the table. We had to talk him in to leaving because he was disappointed he didn't get to play in the kitchen.

He sounded very grown up when he told us "next time I come you won't stay with me, you will leave me here". At least today he seemed okay with that idea. We shall see come Monday morning.

We are slowly getting back in to the swing of things. Full speed next week.

Ugh! The Calendar

Stayed up sooo late last night. Had to finish the new 2010/2011 calendar. It is already so full and I don't even have the soccer schedule yet.

I guess I am just never happy these days. I don't like the summer without a schedule and doing something different everyday and I don't like the school year where there is limited flexibility. Gee - wonder where Layne gets it from? I can hear my mom laughing from 3 miles away.

So - still quite the slacker on the blog thing here. But still trying to get better.

We don't start school until August 23 but quite a few of the other counties already have and we are starting activities this week.

Tomorrow night Jacob has his first Boy Scout Pack Meeting. Wednesday Joshua has his Sneak Peak at Pre-K anytime between 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Then on Thursday Jacob and Layne have their Sneak Peak at 3:30 p.m. Layne is hoping that Divya is in her class and Jacob is hoping that Connor is in his class. I am excited about Jacob and Layne spending time with Granma and Pap Jack this year instead of doing Prime Time. It will allow them to possibly take music lessons (which will be $50/month per child) and hopefully take swimming lessons at the YMCA ($300 for 3 kids for 4 weeks). I know I am "preaching to the choir" but kids are expensive.

So - lots of laundry, the house is a mess, kids are getting anxious about school - hmmmm Life at its Best.

When we were at the beach last week, "the big kids" spent a good bit of time digging in the sand. Layne did a lot work on it as she spent the first few days afraid of the crabs in the water. there was one memorable time where Joshua was being a pest. He started throwing sand back in the hole while Layne was still working. This went on for a few minutes. Layne tried to get Joshua to stop, he got more upset. Finally, I had it - and yelled across the beach "Joshua quit playing in your sister's hole!".

My sister laughed a little too loud a little too long - but I guess that is what sisters are for.

Here they are digging and doing their thing:

Day 2 of Vacation

Melanie and I spent the day on the beach with the kids. Papa Jack was down for a little bit. Matthew, aka Lobster Boy, stayed as long as his skin and pain level would allow, we didn't see Grandma at the beach at all today.

I remembered to eat a little bit (thanks to my nagging sister) when we were down at the beach and didn't end up with a horrible headache.

We had some windy weather today. Porter's family next to us lost their tent waaayyyy down the beach. A little bit later we lost our boat and 2 floaties that I went racing after.

Got back to the house around 4 p.m. and Layne has been begging to go to the pool so I finally took her to the pool. Of course, the other kids heard me so Melanie and I took 4 of the 5 kids to the pool. Matthew stayed behind to keep trying to get Joshua to take a nap.

We saw a huge amount of Dolphins today. There were so many when we first got to the beach and today they were so close in to the shore. It was fascinating watching them play for most of the day.

Grandma cooked hot dogs and hamburgers and made pasta salad, baked beans, and all the fixings to go with dinner.

While the adults were still eating dinner Jacob came in to tell us that the kids were going down to the beach. I really didn't believe him at first. We even sent Grandma out to make sure. Guess she made our presence known to the community as they kids were down the street ready to turn to the beach.

I am shocked that they thought that would be okay.

Then I got really upset with Layne as she was mad at Jacob for telling. Jacob did the right thing. It could have been dangerous for Layne, Marisa, Mitchell and Joshua all alone to go to the beach. Tried real hard to let them know that Jacob did the right thing. Sooo disappointed in Layne. School can't start soon enough for her so we can get over this anxiety that she is already starting with about the "unknown".

Might try to take a little bit of a break tomorrow from just sitting on the beach. We shall see. Depending on how the kids do - we may come home with a couple less.

Will add photos later.

We are at the beach

St. George Island - Whoo Hoo!

We made it! No thanks to the town of Quincy.

Aunt Melanie's car and Matthew's car got here ahead of Papa Jack and Granma - they decided to spend more time trying to find their way out of Qunicy than we did.

We got 2 cars unloaded and unpacked - and headed down to find the beach. Perfect lighting, perfect time of day. Very quiet beach and got some great pictures. Of course, the "posed" pictures always leave something to be desired.


And this picture - is sooo our kids. The personality of each kid shines in this picture. Looking forward to the next 4 days.

4th of July 2010

We got to be in Louisville this 4th of July. It was nice to be with family the whole weekend.

We went with Hunter to church where he sang. I felt a little bit like I was back in rural Pikeville with the Baptists. They even talked about sex and condoms - but they did not use the big word, i.e. fornication.

This was a very friendly church and they all made us feel welcome. The kids were very curious.

This was a Christian Church and similar to what I was used to growing up. They had communion every Sunday. The wine and the little bland rectangle, white, chalky "bread" was passed around. Jacob and Layne are used to taking Communion at the Methodist Church we attend - but everyone goes down front, takes a piece of real bread and dunks it in the "wine" / grape juice.

We were sitting in the 2nd row and Communion started before I was even aware of what they were doing. Matthew was first in our row, then Layne and then me. Matthew, being the gentleman and awesome father that he is - held the platter with the wine and bread for Layne to take. She tried really hard to dunk that little piece of nothing in the little plastic, individual communion cup. I was able to show her (and Matthew) that they needed to take the bread and eat, then take the wine and drink and place the cup back in the communion tray.

It was interesting to watch them in another church. I think we may try and visit some other churches around us just so they have some exposure to how others worship.

This is the kids with Uncle Hunter after the service. They really do love Uncle Hunter and he is great with them.



The night of 4th of July the kids did Sparklers with "the girls" from across the street. They seem to really have a good time with "the girls" whenever they visit.

Layne was asking me why everyone always says "oooh" and "ahhh" when watching fireworks. This is how she looked when asking me -




And then - not too long after she looked like this -

So I tried to "show" her in pictures. She still didn't get it. So I told her I say it because Grandma always did (tee hee) and THAT she understood.

Getting ready for the beach! Yeah!

Aarrgh!

Well, I think Joshua has finally been caught by the lure of Pirate Lore.

It probably started a long time ago when we went on a pirate ship ride in the Gulf of Mexico with Aunt Melanie. This was August 2008. We start 'em young around here.

This is the "I can't believe I have a sword and no one is yelling at me".

And this is the muscular, tattooed, pirate face (with the flyaway hair - yeah, not that scary).

His cousin Mitchell has always seemed to like pirates. He even had a pirate birthday cake once. When we were at Aunt Melanie's in June Joshua wanted to dress up as a pirate in Mitchell's costume. He spent 2 days just "hanging out" like a pirate. (the silly bandz take a little away from the fierceness, though)


Then - just a few days ago - we saw the puppet show Everybody Loves Pirates - and I think Joshua really did fall in love. The puppet show had such characters as "Aye Aye, No Eye" and "Super Lobster". He has wanted to go to the dollar store and get a hook for his hand. I guess he saw one there at one point.



Yesterday, he asked Daddy for knife. Daddy wanted to know what he wanted it for. Joshua told him he wanted to cut his hand off so he could get a hook for his hand instead.

Yeah - he might be taking it too far.

We really need a trip to Dollar Store.

Another Hot, Stormy Weekend

Well, I missed Friday. But - that was partly because I was at work until after 4:00 a.m. Ugh! But I wanted to have things caught up before being out for 6 days - as I am sure there will be plenty waiting when I return.

Sounds like the kids were wired last night for Matthew. They went to the pool in the afternoon - which for some reason in the summer means that counts as a bath.

Matthew was very nice and let me sleep in this morning. Slept until after noon. Feel a little icky but hopefully will bounce back shortly.

Grandma and Papa Jack were over bright and early to put a new canvas on the Tree House. Layne says she helped (hope that is true).

Had all kinds of helpers in the kitchen for dinner - Matthew made bacon, Jacob made scrambled eggs, Layne made pancakes, Mom did gravy and hash browns and biscuits - and we all tried to find special jobs for Joshua. It was yummy. We are trying to eat what is at the house as we leave Wednesday for the beach.

One of the fun things we did this summer was I got to go to Aunt Melanie's the week of June 14 with all 3 kids and we did fun things in East Tennessee (I know, hard to imagine fun in East Tennessee).

We went to Dollywood and Joshua loved all the rides. He rode the little pigs - and waved every time he went around to the woman in the booth.



And he rode the bumble bee with Mitchell after trying to figure out the abundance of seat belts.


And a little along the lines of Rain Main - he was a very good driver.


And it was very, serious business. He just KNEW he was actually driving the car.



I am slowly going through the pictures that Melanie has copied on disc for me. Hopefully I will find some of the other kids soon.