The everlasting project

We are still working hard on the rental house....

I guess things don't go quickly when you have this for help.

Biggest Project EVER

You might remember, nearly 2 years ago, our family started on a little project.  Well, we started out with a bang and then the project sat for a while....its a lot of work refurbishing an old house.  

But we've started hitting the project pretty hard over the last 2 months hoping to get it rented out some time this fall.  In true daddy style, he's taking on the tasks of doing the electrical work and the HVAC work.  

None of this work happens without some help.  We've spent the last two weekends in the house...we've come home exhausted and filthy dirty.  But we've done it together!

The First Swim Meet

On Monday night we had our first swim meet....the kids and I had NO IDEA what we were getting into.  All I knew is that my big kids enjoy swimming, so I thought this would be a fun opportunity for them.  

We've had practices since the first of May, but Monday night was different....they were racing against other kids.  

So we showed up at the meet and thank goodness we found some familiar faces.....Caroline (a girl from our church) swims also....and as you can see, she's older, so this wasn't her first rodeo.  She and her mom, Ms. Amy, took Josie and Wes under their wings and made sure they got to the blocks when it was their time to swim.  Me, I'm still trying to remember if Josie does breast stroke or butterfly stroke....I haven't quite figured out the difference between those two.  

But when it was their time, the kids would proudly get on the block and would swim their little hearts out.  Wes only did the 25 freestyle (basically just regular old swimming for one length of the pool).  Its hilarious to watch cause there is a frog dive off the blocks followed by swimming his heart out with the occassional turn of his head to make sure he's not in last place.

Josie's best event is the backstroke....this is her getting ready for the start.  She did excellent as well and kept up with kids that are much older than her.  Its neat to see her practicing her form so that she gets the most speed.

 Both of the kids love swimming and I'll be honest, the meet was pretty fun to watch.  I had the biggest smile on my face watching my kids swim the length of the pool beside kids that had done it for a couple of years already.  This might be our thing folks!  

Naps with Bags

Naps are always better when you have a cuddling partner.

Naps with Eli are no easy feat, so when he finally fell asleep, and I laid him on the chair to take his nap, I almost screamed when Bags jumped up there thinking it would wake Eli.  On the contrary, this was one of the best naps Eli has taken.  

Legos

Obsessed:  The description of Houston and Wes's recent infatuation with Legos.

At least they include Eli when they play.  

Dump Trucks

A trip to  Charleston and we come back with.....a dump truck.  Yep, I knew we were in trouble when we were leaving our original destination and Dave said, 'So what else do you have for sale?'

But I'm hoping it'll be yet another bonding experience for my husband and kiddos....cause he's so good about including them in restorations.

And who knows, maybe they'll actually use the dump truck to haul something one day.  

Daddy's Arms

There's nothing more powerful a man's arms can be used for....

Summer Olympics Bound

Do you think we should go ahead and buy tickets for the 2024 games?  

Eating Machine

At first it was a struggle to get Eli to eat.  Many people told us to give him rice cereal at 4 months old (especially since he wasn't a good night sleeper).  We tried and it was a fight every time.  So we quit.  

At 6 months old, we tried the rice cereal again....another failure.  So, we said, 'When he starts reaching for food, we'd feed him.'  Well folks, at 8 months old, the boy likes to EAT!

He'll eat anything you put in his mouth....including corn cobs and ribs! I would list his favorites, but he has pretty much devoured anything and everything in the last month and loves it all.  

A working daddy

Our daddy has been working....a lot....lately.  We're on Week 7 of 6 days/week, 12 hours/day.  The first couple of weeks aren't so bad...we find fun things to do that daddy doesn't care to do.  But then we just start to miss him.  The only day he's off is on Thursday and the big kids are in school for most of the day.  

But for the little bit they get to see him, they take advantage of the time.  There are wrestling matches, pretend naps (so you can snuggle), and of course the tickle monster.  Thank goodness there's only a couple more weeks.  We can see the light!

School Lunches

One of the best parts of working part time and working from home is that we get to make lunch dates with the big kids at school.

We don't usually tell them that we're coming....and the look on their faces when we just show up is priceless.

I think they prefer their little brother come eat lunch with them than their mom.  He's usually the star of the show.

Softball Player

The big kids only participate in one sport per year....and this year they chose softball/baseball.  Since they are both at the same time, its been a busy busy spring (think games Tues-Fri nights).  

But its worth it when you see a bunch of giggly girls receive their 'trophies' at the end of the season!  Go Team Dynamite!

Happy Mother's Day

My kids aren't old enough to buy me fancy presents.  I have loads of homemade cards, paper flowers, and other Mother's Day knickknacks they've made for me.  

But its these moments as a mother that make me happiest.....all of my kids participating in my hobby with me.  They love the garden as much as I do, and knowing they WANT to help me in it makes my heart so happy.  There's nothing they could ever give me that's any better than these moments.  Happy Mothers Day!

Wes's Artwork

Apparently, we have a little artist in the family!  Wes got selected to show his artwork at the local recreation center for the month of April.

So we stopped by to check it out.  He was very proud of himself, and we are just as proud.   

Strawberry Patch Field Trip

When they sent the forms home about going on a field trip to the strawberry patch, we both thought, 'Eh, we've been before and go every year anyway.  Not much fun for a field trip.'

But when Josie figured out I could bring JoJo along on the field trip too, she was estatic.  She was way more excited to show off JoJo to her friends than to be on a field trip at all.  Thank goodness for JoJo's and strawberry patches.  

Birthdays Celebrated at the Beach

Happy 6th Birthday Baby Boy.  What do you want to do for your birthday?  You want to go where?  To THE Edisto Beach?  Are you sure?  Well, of course you are.  And who do you want to go with you?  Your sidekick Houston, huh?

What do you and Houston want to do at the beach?  Go to the alligator place (The Serpentarium)....we can make that happen.

And maybe even let your sister and brother take pictures with you on our way out to Botany Bay.  Can you do that for me?  Since its your little brother's first time at the beach, I think that's a great idea.

While we're here, do you want to go for some bike rides on your new birthday present.  You're getting so good at riding.  We're going to take those training wheels off soon!

I hope you enjoyed your birthday weekend baby boy.  I can hardly believe is been such a quick 6 years.  Who would've thought.

How Mommy Gets Things Done

The big kids are old enough to entertain themselves while I fix my hair and put on my makeup....but the little one....he needs some extra attention.

And sitting on the floor and playing with toys doesn't always cut it.  

Easter Sunday

Christ has Risen!!

He is Risen Indeed!!

What better time to have a fresh start with the blog than Easter Sunday.

Enjoy pictures of our expanded family (since last blog postings).

Ice Skating for a Birthday Party

Josie will be 6!!  Can you believe it.  In just 2 days, Josie will be 6 years old.  Instead of a party with lots of friends, we convinced Josie that it'd be tons of fun to have one special friend (Karli, below) over for a spend the night party, complete with an afternoon of ice skating.

So, we took the girls ice skating Monday since they were out of school.  They had a GREAT time.  Josie was a natural...even skating with her hands in her pockets.She thought it was so cool to bring a friend along on a family outing.

But she still liked skating with her daddy!

Wes came along too, and although this picture captured him on his tail, he actually skated really well!!

We even got BobBob out on the ice.  She LOVED it too.

The girls had a great time getting to skate 'all by themselves'.  It was a great time for a little girl's birthday!

Pirates

Cause all pirates sleep with their eye patches on, right?