The Behind the Scenes Tour of the State House!

Josiah and David were invited to join our friends, the McRoberts, for a behind the scenes, all-access tour of the State House!  They were so excited!  Josiah went here on a field trip with school last year, but he was thrilled to get to go see stuff that is usually closed to the public :)

 Joey and Josiah are "bruthas from anotha mutha" as they like to say.  Great friends :)

 I didn't get to go so I'm going to have to ask Josiah to fill in the blanks on these pictures for the blog book!  :)

 The floor of the Senate

 NOBODY gets to hold this - it was a REALLY big deal!  See the gloves?  :)

 They were allowed to go up inside of the dome...it was apparently a LONG way up!  and HOT!

They LOVED it and had a great time!

Mom Gets a Break Day

Every year, I put it on the summer list.  And every year, its one of the last things to check off because it is rather difficult.  I want ONE day where I get to take a break.  Not make meals, not give baths, not clean up - just get away and get a break!  David was so sweet to take the day off - with the Greece trip coming up, our days were dwindling and he wanted to give me this gift before being gone for two weeks!  I was so grateful!  I headed out to a massage (I had been saving this gift card for such a day as this!!) and David took the kids down to the riverwalk! (I'm pretty sure they didn't even notice I wasn't there!)

 I love how he still crosses his feet like this.  Wonder when he will grow out of it? He does it ALL the time when he sits - in the car seat, stroller, high chair.  I'm convinced he was in my belly that way :)

 A little piano lesson with Jacob

Then I had to call David to come rescue me.  I was driving his car and the battery died. Ugh.  So he came up to try and jump me....I had to put my mommy hat back on and take four cranky, tired, and hungry kids across the street to Moe's to eat while David got me a new battery.  Two hours later, I left AGAIN to finish my day and left David with the kids :).  I got my hair cut, nails done - it was wonderful!  I even ate at a restaurant by myself - and I LOVED IT!!  Loved the quiet, loved not having to feed anyone cheerios, loved not playing i spy while we waited for food!  Go figure!

Our neighborhood was having a skating party that night, so I had to be home by 5 pm, but my day was wonderful and I was SO grateful!!  :)

 Callie took a break from skating to come say hi to her biggest fan!

 Caleb did much better with the Fisher Price skates than the real ones he tried a few weeks ago!

We had a great time meeting some new neighbors and spending time with our families!!  So thankful for the amazing neighborhood we live in!!

Lice

You wanna know what good friends I have?  When David and I were gone at Choral Festival, I got a text from my friend that was keeping Callie and Jacob - they had lice!!  UGH! I could have died.  I mean DIED!!! I felt terrible.  We've never had it before, still don't have a clue where they got it from, but just felt terrible!  Had to text everyone that was keeping a schrodt kid and have them check - everyone else was fine - and then my sweet friends swooped in and got the treatment from the pediatrician, got their heads cleaned up, changed their clothes out, and STILL KEPT THEM for us until we got home the next day from our conference.  Amazing right?  I know.  Blessed.

 On Monday, we spent pretty much the WHOLE day dealing with lice related stuff.  Doing another thorough treatment and check on EVERYONE's heads - mine and David's too!  Washing EVERYTHING in the house in HOT water and HIGH heat in the dryer (our poor thermostat upstairs was over 80 bc of all the heat from the laundry room), bagging up everything stuffed that couldn't be washed, vaccuuming all carpet and upholstery, cleaning out the car, etc, etc. I cut the boys hair shorter to help with the checking, but that wasn't going to help me with Callie!

 She was such a trooper though.  They all were.  I was determined to do a SUPER thorough job so that we could get RID of it and not have it drag on forever.  The stuff the doctor gave me was awesome!

This little guy was not a fan of having to sleep with the treatment and shower cap in his hair, but he managed :)

4 on August the 4!!

Caleb has been saying for months now that he will be "four on August the 4!"  Cutie pie.  He did indeed turn 4 - he is so fun!!  His personality is totally coming out - he seems to have quite the sense of humor. He is awfully grown up, but still such a sweet little boy.  I could totally eat him up and am so glad I still have another year with him at home!!

We took some little donut holes for him to share with his friends in his sunday school class, and when we came home he got to open his gifts from our family.

Some more "guys!"

A ninja turtle set!

I think Callie's expression was as a result of us telling her to BACK OFF and let CALEB do it!!  :)

A new DS game from Tutu!  (He plays his brother's DS and so she thought he should have a game just for him!)

It's Leonardo!  :)

Later that afternoon, I laid down for a nap - still exhausted from Spartanburg - and David let the kids play outside in the hose and slip and slide :)

Poor Judah...relegated to spectator

After helping me with the frosting, Caleb put his new guys on top of his cake.

Happy Birthday to you!!!

Happy 4th Birthday to my Caleb Isaac.  You bring so much laughter to our home and I can't imagine it without you.  You love to hang with the big boys, and yet are still such a sweet little cuddle bug.  You still LOVE to play with Callie, and poor Judah doesn't ever get any space because you just LOVE to be right with him too!  I know that God has big plans in store for you and I pray that you will follow him with your WHOLE heart!  I love you like crazy!