Finally Home!!!

Hooray, hooray - David finally made it back home this afternoon! The boys were so excited to finally head to the airport and pick him up. We were ALL so glad to see him again and be all together! David had to sing in Newport News tonight, so although he's home, I'm still by myself tonight! What's up with that? Looking forward to some good family time tomorrow after church!

SOOOO Excited!!!

We just got back from my workout at the Y this morning, and the boys are SOOO excited (we ALL are, actually). It's not even 10 AM, and I think Josiah has already asked me 100 times if it's time to leave for the airport yet!! I love it! The boys painted some welcome home signs yesterday, so we're all set!!!

The Diving Board!

I know everyone is probably sick of blogs about the pool, but when you're there every day....Anyways, today we got together with the Wiedmaiers to swim. We swam over at the Doyle's house, and they have a diving board at the pool!!! The boys had a blast - Josiah marched right up there, jumped off and swam over to the side like he'd been doing it all his life. (David's going to be SO mad that he missed this "first"!) Jacob followed his brother, but then got a little more nervous once he got the edge and would only jump holding on to my hand. We had a fabulous time with our friends. Samuel and Josiah were born 2 weeks apart, so they have been great buddies all their lives. Meredith just turned 3 last month, and has been teaching me about "girl" things since we've had all boys for so long. We had a great day!!!

Banana Cake!!

This morning was one of those mornings where Jacob and Josiah just wanted to eat non-stop!!! They were constantly hungry!! Finally, I offered them a banana and decided to cut it up and put toothpicks in it for something different (everything, after all, is more fun to eat with toothpicks!). The next thing you know, they were sitting at the table singing Happy Birthday to themselves!! They thought they were so hilarious - they sang the whole song to themselves and then blew out their "candles". They are a riot!

THIS is why they put a buckle on the bouncy seat!

Enough said. (My mom is going to have a heart attack when she sees this!!!)

Sin Nature Exposed!

Well, it happens at some point in every child! Today was the day for Callie. She finally expressed some displeasure with me and showed that she does have a sin nature after all! I was buckling her in her car seat and she arched her little back right up to let me know she did NOT want in there!! I remember being so surprised when Josiah did it for the first time. I wasn't so surprised today!!

The picture today is what I found when I turned around in the kitchen after doing the dishes tonight. I had put her on the center of that blanket on her tummy looking at that mirror toy. She flipped herself over and rolled enough to be almost completely under the coffee table. Hilarious. Probably she was trying to get a better view of something the boys were doing!

Indulge me a little bit...

Okay, so you'll have to forgive my pride on this one, but I had to take a picture of Callie today - she is so cute!!! She just started wearing 3-6 month clothes when David left for his trip last week, and he hates when he misses seeing a new outfit!! So this outfit comes from Gramps (my dad) and it is ADORABLE on my little Callie! I mean really - jean capris, so cute! So here you go Daddy - see how cute your little girl is?

There Goes Yard of the Month!!

So I now know one good thing about David not coming home until Saturday afternoon - it will give the yard a chance to grow out! I had to break down and mow the lawn today. It's not a good thing. David wasn't able to do it before he left, and it was getting a bit out of control. I don't consider myself a "wimpy" girl - leaving all the "manly" chores to David, but he does always take care of the yard stuff. (Sue, I know you are more woman than me - I remember you mowing your yard while you were 8 months pregnant!) Anyways, I contemplated putting a sign in the yard to say "Excuse the long grass - husband gone for 2 weeks and wife too busy with 3 kids to mow", but decided that probably was not a very "safe" idea! So after we got home from my workout at the gym and Josiah's swimming lessons, I put Callie down for her nap and got out the lawn mower. I won't even tell you how many yanks it took me to get it started (I do use weights at the gym - what's my problem?), but we got going and the lawn got cut. I know I did it all wrong and the lines look terrible, but it's done with. And at least David won't be home until Saturday, so by then it should grow out enough to not be so noticeable!!! Enjoy the picture - Josiah took it!

PS - Both boys sat on the driveway eating their juice popsicles that I had made for them while I mowed. They looked at me like I had 3 heads or something. They love to help David when he does it - but they thought I looked ridiculous apparently. Pretty funny.

First Day Back

We had a great first day back today. We were able to lay low and recover and get laundry done, mail sorted, etc. We enjoyed a playground this afternoon and returned some library books (I even had a old fine to pay - that should officially negate any supermom rumors), and then headed to Cici's Pizza for dinner! Jacob eats free, and I had a coupon for Josiah to be free, so we all ate for $6!! I love it!!! Cici's is my guilty pleasure as of late - the kids eat like crazy people, and they love the idea of a pizza, pasta, and dessert bar! (I can't say that I blame them). I'm posting a picture of Beth & Anthony's guilty pleasure - Golden Corral!! They had dinner there tonight (to recover from having to cook for my family all weekend!) They love that place for the same reason - easy, kids eat great, etc. David & I have never been there and tease them about it all the time. Apparently, the headquarters are in Raleigh and when I passed the building on the way to their church on Sunday morning, I had to get a picture!!!

It was a relief to not have to think about heading to the store today and just recover from the weekend and slowly get back into our week's routine. Tomorrow we get back into the swing of things with the gym, then swimming lessons, etc. 5 more sleeps!!!

Friends

As we made Anthony take this picture of us (because we only ever get pictures of our kids and never one of the two of us), he said "And what am I supposed to do with the 5 kids running around while I'm taking this?" We managed!

The boys thought it would be hilarious to put Woody's cowboy hat on Callie so she could play "Toy Story" with them!

Harrison and Josiah were so excited to discover on the first night that they both had Batman jammies!
Jackson is completely in love with Baby Callie!

Harrison holding hands with Jacob on our way back from the pool.

Harrison was singing to Callie in this picture and she was just beaming at him!!

I am so thankful for Beth & her family opening up their home to us this weekend. It was a great break for me to get away while David is gone, and it was a wonderful distraction for the kids. I am so thankful for my dear friend Beth and for the friendship that we have. We joke that sometimes we forget that we live 3 hours apart now, because our friendship is still so close. I love it!! I had such a great time this weekend watching our kids play - they have such a fabulous friendship and have such fun playing together. We got a kick out of them, but they really do love each other and we are so thankful for them!! Here's to many more fun weekends to remember!!