Date Night

This past Tuesday night Kevin and I actually paid a babysitter to come over to our house and watch the kids while he and I left (together) for more than 4 hours. Now that might sound like no big deal to some of you, but believe me, it was a big deal. Number one, finding a 15 year old girl willing to take care of my 21 month old with chronic diarrhea(ew!) is not an easy task. And number two, those of you who know my husband know how difficult it is for him to spend more than $10 on dinner let alone pay for a babysitter and drive an hour to Red Lobster.

But Kevin actually managed to bite the bullet and make a date. I think he was excited about passing his test last week, which I forgot to mention. He took a series 7(?) licensing test which has something to do with selling stocks and bonds and calls and puts and all those other securities that I don't understand. Basically, it's a long, hard test that he's been studying for months for and a lot of people don't even pass on the first try. So I really think he was interested in celebrating that.

Anyway, we picked up some friends in the 'Burg and drove to the big city. We had a great time, but when we got to Red Lobster they were completely out of fresh fish. Who ever heard of that at a seafood place? That was a little disappointing, but we made do with shrimp and scallops and crab. Don't you feel sorry for us? It was lots of fun and hopefully we can do it again soon. I just love having dinner without a little chorus of "I don't like this" or "can I have more" before I've had a chance to swallow my first bite. I also love seafood, so that can't be a bad deal, can it?

Go outside and play!

I never thought the day would come that I had to order my kids to go outside to play. Boy was I wrong. Monday was one of those days. After a very long weekend of late nights and lots of fireworks I was exhausted and the house was a mess, so I attempted to send the big kids outside while I cleaned up the house. Usually I have them help, but that actually takes longer so I wanted to do it myself. They both whined like I had just told them to go teat their liver and onions. It wasn't that surprising from Chloe, but Micah usually jumps at the chance to go outside. Chloe's arguement was that she would go out after lunch. Right.

So, since Jadon didn't seem too interested in naptime yet, I told the big kids to get over themselves and all four of us went outside to play in the yard. They got pretty excited when I offered to play croquet with them. They're actually getting pretty good. Micah is somehow able to hit the ball squarely and send it the right way, even when he swings his mallet like a baseball bat. I'm not sure how he does that, but it's pretty funny to watch. And did you notice the path BJ mowed through the yard the other day? If that doesn't say lazy redneck, I don't know what it says.Jadon had to get out his own mallet and ball and play with us. For a while, he was content to wander around hitting the ball and playing near us. But then he decided he wasn't hitting as well as he could, so this is what he did.

Swimming!

Yesterday, after the softball game most of Kevin's family gathered at Todd and Shelly's house for hot dogs and swimming for the rest of the afternoon. Chloe had gone in the pool last week when it was only about 70 degrees, but Micah had balked at the idea. She was pretty cute in her life jacket and arm floaties. Of course, I didn't have my camera with me to share that image, so you'll just have to take my word for it. This week, she was a little more brave and used only the life jacket. She's almost tall enough to touch the bottom, but even if she could, there were a lot of kids so she's still much more comfortable with the life jacket on and that's just fine with me. She had a lot of fun and that's really all that matters.

This week Micah was eventually convinced to get into the pool by the prospect of splashing Daddy the whole time. So after dinner, he got all ready in his trunks and his life jacket. He was actually willing to do without the arm floaties that Chloe thought were so necessary. I wasn't sure how he would do, considering how he reacts to the sprinkler but after the first few minutes he seemed to do pretty well. When I looked out the window he was actually grinning as Kevin was teasing him just out of reach. It looks like my boy's actually going to learn to like the water (maybe just as long as it stays out of his face). I'm sure we'll have plenty of other opportunities to see my brave kids in the water at Aunt Shelly's this summer!

The rest of the kids seemed to have a good time too. Katy likes to float around right in the middle of everything in her little toy, and the bigger kids (ie Daddies and Uncles) obviously have a lot of fun. The pool is big enough that even with so many people in there, it didn't seem too overwhelming for the little ones just learning to adjust. Maybe one of these days I'll get in there with Jadon.

What a Blast!

Yes, I know, that sounds much more like something my husband would say than me. But I think he'd be pretty pround of my little play on words there. Anyway, our family was pretty busy with fireworks the last few days. The kids and Kevin went over to Uncle BJ's to watch fireworks on Thursday, then we all went to "the 'Burg" on the Fourth to watch them over the lake, and tonight we walked the 2 blocks to the high school to see them here in town. So, I think it's safe to say my children are over their fear of fireworks now.

Last night was pretty fun. We pulled into the park and got out of the car to hear Kevin's bro-in-law shout my name. Jody and Mark and their 4 kids had pulled in right behind us. So we walked about a 1/2 mile to the lake and we all sat together to watch the fireworks. Word to the wise, do NOT sit directly in front of the pavilion. They do not turn off the lights on the beach for the fireworks. We still had a good time and we never lost track of any kids that way, but it kind of ruined the pictures of the fireworks last night. I got a few okay ones, but not anything great by any means. And who wants pictures that are just okay anyway?

I did take a few pics of the kids that were kinda cute when I played around with them this morning. It's always fun to try new things with my pictures anyway right?

These glow sticks are so cool! I always wanted them when I was a kid and my mom and dad would never get them for me, so every year I make sure I go to the dollar store to get a bunch for all the kids. They think they're pretty cool, too.Tonight, BJ and Megan had come over for the afternoon so they joined us for fireworks at the high school after the boys got in a couple rounds of croquet. I should have been taking pictures of that. They seemed to be having a pretty good time. BJ actually got out the lawn mower and cut the croquet path down. In case you ever wondered, we don't really like to mow the lawn around here, so sometimes the grass gets kinda long.

I love that we can walk to the fireworks here in town. There have even been occasions when we've sat on the front porch to watch, especially when there's a baby sleeping, as has happened a few times in past years. Tonight I did wake JJ up, but I really didn't have to, I just wanted to. Sometimes I think I must be a glutton for punishment. He went right to sleep as soon we got home, so I guess I got lucky this time.

Anyway, we walked over to the school and got some funnel cakes and we all hung out together until the fireworks started. Hey, and since we were only 2 blocks away, the kids were all asleep by 10! That's pretty good, isn't it! Especially considering this is what Chloe looked like last night at 10 while watching the fireworks.

A Very Long Weekend

This weekend I attendended Mom 2 Mom summer leadership retreat and I had a great time. The purpose of the retreat is mainly for planning next year's M2M, but it was also a great time for us to get together and relax and have some fun sans children. We had three whole meals that we each had to dish up one plate only (our own) and no one else was begging for our food or complaining that they didn't like their dinner. We didn't even have to fix it ourselves. Thank you so much Marianna! We got lots done and had a blast at the same time!!

Too bad that retreat didn't last longer because my husband and his brother butchered a beef while I was gone. Fortunately that was done far away and before I came home, unlike the goings on from a few months back on Jody's blog. But my sister-in-law and I still spent the better part of the last three days packaging up the meat and trying to pretend we didn't know where it came from. Ahh... the things I never knew about until after I married into this family.



On a different note, Micah's ear infection is doing much better, but we haven't been able to get a second opinion on the whole throat thing. Right now, we're seeing the pediatrician and the speech pathologist/feeding therapist regularly, hoping that they can take care of the problems and avoid surgery entirely. So keep praying for us.