Foot Stompin' Good Times

A few days ago, Woody and I were deciding whether or not to take a family vacation to Branson.  I prayed about it one morning and that afternoon mom called and told us that a friend of her's had offered his time share at Big Cedar Lodge in Branson for the following weekend. Wow, Lord!! When she was explaining, I couldn't stop the tears from flowing.  Who am I to not only deserve a vacation in a beautiful place, but a free one?  I was overwhelmed at God's timing.

So a few days later, we were off to Big Cedar Lodge in Branson.  Woody and I have never been there, but we've always talked about going.  It was more amazing than I ever expected it to be.  We hope we can go back and stay again... maybe on a couple's weekend?  ;) We were so busy having fun that we didn't get many pictures of the grounds.

We had several things that we wanted to do while in Branson, one was going to the Disney store.  I think I might have been more excited about it all than the kids.  Their initial reactions weren't as fun as I expected, but they did love looking at everything and telling us all that they wanted.  I love how Jude has forsaken the Nemo, Dory, and Crush for the other stuffed animals on display.

Overwhelmed?  So much to look at!  Her outfit was made complete by Nonna's borrowed necklace and a purse that her great Aunt Betty gave her.

We are in a huge Toy Story craze at our house. So when I saw the Woody and Jesse hats and boots, I just knew the kids would go crazy for them, especially because they love dressing up.  Nope.  They couldn't have cared less!!  I'm pretty sure I know these kids, but sometimes they really throw me for a loop.

My vision is to have them dressed up as Woody and Jesse for Halloween.  But I don't think they are going to go for it.  That's too bad too because I really wanted us to be Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head.

That night we headed to the Dixie Stampede.  This is really something I wanted to do and could easily use my kids as an excuse (and this is the last summer that they'll both be free, so how could we pass it up?).  We couldn't take pictures, but had so much fun.  The kids were so involved in the show that they sat still for an hour and a half, world record for those two!  They loved seeing all of the animals and tricks they could do.  Jude's favorite was the horses.  He spent 20 minutes after the show saying "Bye, bye horsies!" Riley's favorite was the girls in the pretty dresses that lit up.

I hope they'll want to go back because I will!  Not only do you get a great show, but the food was good too.  The kids loved eating with their hands. My mom just fed Riley the whole time since she was too busy to look down at the plate in front of her. Jude didn't need the extra help, he ate most of the food on my plate.  I'd say that was a total success.

The next morning was a trip to Silver Dollar City.  Again, this is the last summer that they'll both be free, so how could we pass that up? Oh, and I really wanted to go and the kids were my excuse. We didn't see most of the park, we stuck to the kid friendly areas. And the good thing about that? No lines in the kid section.  Riley was one of two kids on this ride.  It was a good start.  She liked the speed and got comfortable riding something without us.

Next up? The carousel.  I thought they would LOVE this since we had just seen the horses at the Dixie Stampede.  Nope.  Jude was not excited about it, but Riley was.  He is looking over at her in this picture.  When he realized she was enjoying it, he gave it a better try.

Riley thoroughly enjoyed it.  She loved every ride she could go on, which was most in the kid area.  I think she might be an adventure seeker.  But then again, what do I know? She proved me wrong a lot during this trip.

Poor Jude was about three inches too short for almost every ride. He was really good about waiting for Riley to ride something.  He didn't get fussy or cry when she walked away, which surprised me since he wants to do everything she does.

And the big finale, the roller coaster.  Yes.  Riley Grace. Three years old.  On a roller coaster.  And it went fast!  This was the only ride she had to wait in line for.  I thought she might chicken out after watching it whip the passengers around so many times.  But she got on with Nonna and LOVED it. When the ride ended she asked, "Why did it stop?" That's my girl!

We got a good 5 hours in at the park before we all started to wilt a little bit.  We made it back to the hotel in time for a great nap. The vacation was wonderful.  It left us feeling refreshed and loaded up on family time.  We are so blessed to have a free stay at a very nice condo, and fun, and family time. Summer vacation is just what this family needs after a long baseball season.  Maybe God thinks so too. 

Nonna & Poppi's House

Every summer we go to my parents for a week or so and Woody helps Dad get any work done that needs to be done.  And with 11 acres, a pool, shop, a and a large house, there is always something that needs to be done.  This summer, they are replacing their roof.  Unfortunately, they had a "tarp failure" (as the insurance company calls it) in the middle of the work and had significant water damage. This picture is Riley drinking milk the morning after "the damage happened" (as she calls it).  It was a long night for the adults, not so bad for the kids, but this picture pretty much captures how we all felt after an all nighter for mom and dad, and a short sleep for Woody and myself.

We've been thinking about potty training Jude.  Since we are both at home for the summer, why not?  I'll tell you why not, because he isn't ready.  After 2 days of no diapers and umpteen accidents, we abandoned ship.  But walking into the bathroom and seeing this made me laugh out loud. That boy's just messing with my head!!!

This is how Jude looked during most of our pool time. Intimidated?  Maybe. He fell into the pool three times throughout the week. The first time got my heart rate so high. I was so thankful that I wasn't playing on my phone because it made no splashes when he fell in. Lesson learned!  From then on, my phone was not touched when the kids were outside by the pool.  By the third time, I don't think my heart skipped any beats.  

Looks comfy doesn't it?  Jude was no excited about this set-up.  Riley loved it. Jude finally "swam" towards the end of the week when Woody held him. I think he figured out that swimming was way cooler (temperature wise and status wise) than walking around the edge of the pool.  After that, we couldn't get him out of the pool.

Riley is going to be a little swimmer.  She loved being in the pool. She even worked her way up to jumping from the top step to whoever was standing in front of her.  Our next goal, getting her face wet. She isn't a fan of water in her face.  I think it's my fault.  I should have just dumped the water on her head and face when bathing her as a baby.  But nooooo, I had to be so careful and not get it in her face.  I learned with Jude and he doesn't care at all to dive right in.  

We love our time at Nonna and Poppi's house, even when there is a natural disaster.  ;)

Outdoor Family Fun

Aw camping, something we look forward to in our little family.  We went to Beaver Lake to camp on the lake side of the dam.  It was really very pretty.  The campsites were large (good for 5 toddlers to run around in) and shaded (good for tents to stay cool in the heat of the day, AKA nap time).  We went with the Smith's and the Penturf's; 6 adults, 5 kids, endless fun.

We were the first to arrive on Friday night.  When we pulled in, it started raining.  And you know how much fun unpacking in the rain is?  Well, more fun than packing in the rain.  I know this because it rained Friday evening while we unpacked and then again on Sunday morning when we were packing... But Saturday was a beautiful, perfect camping day.  I was a little prepared this time and had pull-overs for everyone to wear so we didn't freeze in the 60 degree rainy weather.  ;)

Our view of the lake. Told ya, beautiful. Jude didn't remember the last time we went tent camping, so he didn't remember how nap time and bed time work.  I was a bit nervous of how this would play out since he was just weaned off the pacifier AND the kids would be sleeping in view of each other AND we wouldn't be in the tent when they fell asleep.  It turned out to be very cute. They sat and talked together at bed time for a few minutes, then we heard Riley say, "Let's go to sleep now, buddy." He immediately laid down and fell asleep.  This unexpected bonding made me a little choked up for a minute.  I hope camping makes fun memories like this for them to look back on.

Riley got her first fishing pole for the trip.  It's PINK and Barbie decorated (which she could care less about).  Her favorite part is the turquoise blue fish on the end of the line.  It's suppose to help with casting practice, but she had so much fun with it that we never put a hook on the end of the line.  And another bonus?  She had a fish on her line with every cast!  She did get really good at casting that little fish out in the lake and reeling it in.  At one point she casted, then looked at her Daddy and said, "Hey Dadddy, Daddy!  Did you see that great cast I just did?"  I think I saw his heart melt right then. Jude didn't get a fishing pole because we were afraid he wouldn't be able to reel it in.  We were right.  But he did help his Daddy here and there.  He also got a pretty neat Spider Man fishing net (so he could help Riley with her fish, of course).

Future Pro-Angler.  

For some reason, I got ZERO pictures of the Smith's or the Penturf's.  They both had their cameras too, so hopefully they'll share with me so I can post pics of their cute families.

Each picnic table on the camp-sites were covered.  SO NICE!  On the top of one of the posts on our site was a family of 4 baby birds.  The kids (and adults) got so excited to see the mama birds feeding her baby birds.  She must be used to people because our presence never stopped her from feeding her babies.  And she fed them constantly for the days we were there.  Woody snapped lots of pictures, but I think this one was my favorite.

We so look forward to our camping trips.  I'm already planning the next one.  What more can you ask for?  Family time, playing outside in God's creation, and NO televisions!!  Oh, but note to self- bring toys next time!!

Jude's 2nd Birthday

Oh my sweet Jude.  His birthday was May 6, 2012, the day after we moved.  I didn't want him to feel tossed aside, so we had his birthday party on his birthday...at the park because I'm not that crazy.

Four generations.  My grandma got to join us for Jude's party, so fun to see four generations all together.

Alex and Calah joined us too.  Jude is constantly asking for these two.  "Alec house?  Calah there?" Jude and Calah have a running joke where he says "Calah no!" I don't know how that started but it's cute to watch them together.  

Life of the party.  Sometimes this girl is so bashful, and sometimes you can stop her from talking. She showed both sides at the party.

Jude loves to slide...on his side.  

Jude and Nonna.

Jude and Memaw.  Nap time was quickly approaching.

But first, we must eat!  We had a simple fare of hot dogs and hamburgers.  But then, we got such a treat with cupcakes made by Calah's cousin Grace.  They were amazing.

And Sarah, Jude's best friend, thought so too.  I love how I got both of Sarah's parents in this shot.  Wish I could have widened my frame so I captured Caroline too.  Caroline is Jude's love. He is completely taken with her.

And to wrap up the party, gifts!  He got all kinds of cool boy toys that the kids have been fighting over ever since. I think his favorite toy is his work bench that Alex got him. He is now efficient at using his drill to put the screws into and out of the work table.

Jude is becoming such a big boy.  We recently weaned him from the pacifier with just a little bit of a fight.  The transition time only took about 3 days, which is much better than what I was expecting. 

He talks all the time now too. Lately, he is putting 3 or 4 words together to make sentences.  Just the other day, I heard him having a toddler kind of conversation with Riley.   When Riley isn't around for the conversation, he will have one with himself.  He will ask himself and question, then answer it, "That red?  No. That Mickey, no that Donald."

We think he is going to be a song bird too.  He loves to sing.  It started with him just singing the last word in a line to a song. Now he has started filling in the words in the first or middle of the line in the song. 

Jude, you probably won't like to hear this later in life, but if there ever was a Mama's boy, you are it.  You love me and need me every minute of the day. I try to soak this up since I know it won't be long before I won't be as needed as I am now. You are so sweet to your family.  You love to give hugs and kisses.  You and Riley usually play very well together, if only for a few minutes at a time.  You are full of words and ideas and songs.  You are such a smart boy, you love to take things apart and try to build them back up.  You love to investigate things to see how they work. Watching you grow from a baby into a little boy in the last year as been such a blessing to us. I love everyday with you. I am so very blessed to be your Mommy.  I love you.

Riley-isms

I have a lot of nicknames for Riley and Jude.  Riley usually corrects me and says, "But my name is Riley Grace." One of the names I call her is Sugar Booger.  Don't judge. I know it's silly, but we like to be silly together.  One day I called her Sugar Booger and her response this time was, "A sugar boogie is when you put sugar and snot together."  So literal!

Speaking of literal, we went camping last weekend at Beaver Lake (more on that later).  When we pulled into the campsite, Riley immediately asked, "Are the beavers here yet?"  

We have been introduced and have fallen in love with "Fancy Nancy".  We now love all things fancy. When we were walking into Monte Ne Inn Chicken for our celebratory dinner for selling the house.  I noticed she had several mosquito bites on her legs, I asked her where she got them.  She said, "At Monte Ne, that's fancy for chicken."

The Greatest of these is Love

Hello long lost friends!  I know it's been quite a while since I have posted, but we have been busy busy busy!

I usually, sneakily, post-date my blogs if I'm not good about posting in a timely manner.  But this time, I am just going to post until my fingers go numb, on this actual date, because I want to remember how busy we were in the month of May 2012.

On May 5, we moved from our old house to our "for a while" house.  We had so many friends show up to help us and we are so grateful for the support system we have. It reminds me of 1 Corinthians 13:13, "And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love."  Our friends, family, and community group definitely loved on us through acts of service in hauling heavy boxes, furniture and appliances down one driveway to another. 

Since then, we have been busy getting the house put together, unpacking, repacking for storage, getting random needs out of storage and packing those boxes back up...you get the idea. We didn't get internet access until last week.  Note to self: when changing your address as the post office changes your new address to a new number creates a lot of hassle in all bills and services needed to operate a house.  

Anywho, now we are up and running and I am about to update you on the last month of this family's life!

Neither Here Nor There

I love that we are moving.  I love that God is faithful and hears my prayers.  I love that I go to sleep at night from sheer exhaustion of packing and boxing things.  I love that God has so blessed us that we have a need for so many boxes.  

But during this transition time, there are things I do not love.  You all know how Type A I am. My house is pretty organized.  Everything has a place.  I like order.  I thrive on it. I do not thrive on things being anywhere and everywhere, no order to what is where, not having what you need because I already packed it up because I didn't think I would need it.  And we are right in the middle of that transition.

I see that I need to be far-sighted and concentrate on the end result instead of being near-sighted and concentrating on the mess that is my house.  I'm working on it.

But for right now, my house looks like the beginning of an episode of Hoarders and it is driving me a little batty and making me feel rather overwhelmed. But moving day is coming very soon and then I will be able to enjoy the order I love once again.