The 11th and 12th Plagues

I was teaching my class of 8 year olds on Sunday about Moses delivering the Israelites out of Egypt.  To kind of set it up, I had them write down a couple things they thought would be really annoying to compare to some of the plagues.  I had a good laugh as I read what one of the boys had written:

-make a mess at their house
-say why all the time

Why yes, those are EXCELLENT ways to annoy someone.  Who would have thought my life could be so perfectly summed up by an 8 year old?  But man these little pestilences sure are cute, I think I'll keep them around:)

 

The Beach!!

The kids were so excited to finally be at the beach (me too).  The afternoon we got there we thought maybe we would need jackets but ended up ditching them.

They had been eagerly anticipating playing with these sand toys we got from Costco and this ginormous sandbox did not disappoint!

The water was somewhat cold but not too cold to wade to our knees in.  Shane and Sadie loved it,

but this little miss was afraid of the ocean and thought the waves would get her from 10 feet away.  The poor girl was pretty sapped from not digesting anything for 2 days either, at least that's why I'm hoping she didn't love the beach as much as the other two!

But Shane was in sensory heaven and could've stayed forever.

Another picture to show we did wear our swimsuits the rest of the days.

We really liked  Virginia Beach, it had a nice long "boardwalk" (paved not wooden like I am used to at Bethany but great for riding bikes etc.),

clean sand, and a bunch of playgrounds like this for when the kids needed to mix things up a little bit.

That is the hotel we stayed at to the left of the crane, we got a sweet deal on it because I booked through Choice Hotels and it was the week before Memorial Day.  We stayed for 4 nights and while the gastrointestinal issues lasted the first 2 I decided the beach was a good place to be because it didn't take much energy, you didn't have to really be around anyone, and if they threw up I could just bury it;)  (they didn't by the way but once one gets sick you start envisioning all the places you do or don't want them vomiting)

Overall we had a great time and definitely made some good memories!

Because It Wouldn't Be a Vacation Without Someone Vomiting

Josh had a week off last week plus Memorial Day so we decided to actually go on a vacation!  The beach sounded really good after a long winter so we went to Virginia Beach and then to my sister Shannon's house in North Carolina.  The car ride went pretty smoothly, the kids were pretty good and Shane kept himself occupied by counting.  To 1,000.  Good thing we were in the car or I may not have had patience to listen to that ha ha. 

 We left in the morning, drove a few hours, and made a planned stop at a science/children's museum in Columbus, Ohio that we get free admission to with our science membership.  I figured we may as well have some fun along the way, and it was good to break up the drive.

We got back in the car after and drove into the evening and booked a hotel on Hotwire.  Things were going great, we had gotten farther than we had anticipated, we got situated in our hotel room, gave Sadie some snacks, and then she threw them up.  And then Marissa woke up around 1 crying and sure enough, more vomiting.  Why, why is it always with the vomit when we travel somewhere?  I told Josh it's the curse on us because he had the stomach flu the day before our wedding and I got it on our honeymoon.  Becca and Taylor had even been throwing up in our house two weeks before, and I had thought, hey, if we get it we won't be sick on vacation at least!  No such luck.  Oh well, we managed to have a great time anyway and we definitely made some good family memories.  And somehow, (and I don't feel too nervous to say this because I have said it before) our van keeps managing to narrowly miss getting thrown up in time after time.  Anyway, more posts coming soon.

Jake and Becca Visit

Josh's brother Jake had a work conference in Chicago a couple weeks ago so he and his family drove out and we got to see them at Greg and Shelley's for the weekend and then they came to our house for a day at the end of their trip.  We had so much fun with them and wish we lived closer!  We went to some dunes on Lake Michigan on a frigid windy day  

 Grandpa parked with the little ones partway up

 while the big kids went up to the very top (they were long and steep!) and had some fun rolling

 Sadie and Mariah are about a month apart and were so cute

 They bonded over a love of opening and close the screen door.

 There was of course some football played, some Settlers played, good food,

 and cute Taylor caught a frog.

They came to our zoo with us which I didn't get any pictures but the kids were in heaven to have their cousins AND the zoo all at once.  Thanks for making the long drive out here guys!

She Can Do It!

Sadie will be 14 months next week, and I can confidently say now that she can walk!  Though I still wouldn't call her a walker just yet if that makes sense.  But I won't worry anymore because I know that she can do it now!  (you would think I would learn by my 3rd child huh?)  

Easter Stuff

You know I don't let a holiday pass without properly celebrating.  So we decorated eggs

 Target has the cutest egg decorating kits, and we of course chose the space one.

We did some Easter crafts with our moms group

And the day before Easter we went to an egg hunt a friend did at her house, and one put on by a local church for the community.

 They managed to make out pretty well.

 My attempt at a shot with the Easter bunny- my children are oblivious to the words "look at the camera"

 On Easter we had some of the other residents over for dinner and it was fun going all out with ham, funeral potatoes, salad, rolls, and cheesecake for dessert and knowing that more than me and Josh would eat it since the kids are hit or miss.  And we hid all the eggs the grandparents got them in the backyard.  Man these kids are spoiled!

 And of course we went to church and celebrated the real meaning of Easter, and talked about it all month.  Shane figured out on his own that the Easter bunny is not real anyway but still fun to pretend.  I love teaching the kids about Christ, sometimes I think we (or maybe just I) have heard the same stories over and over and take them for granted, but when they are so inquisitive and I get to see their perspective it brings new meaning and light to the gospel for me.  I'm pretty sure Shane thinks Jesus is a superhero, but you know, I guess that's not too far off:)

 (And thanks for the Resurrection Roll idea Grandma Elkins, the kids loved it!)

Ordinary Stuff

I like when I remember to pull out the camera and just take pictures of the ordinary stuff that goes on around here, the pictures always make me smile.  I have been waiting for Shane to have some interest in drawing, and he finally does!  Today he wanted to draw a picture of the solar system, so we looked through one of the space books we had from the library and I helped tell him what order and stuff but he drew each planet and then made their orbits.  Then he told me he wanted to draw other solar systems and galaxies so I gave him some papers and he went to town.

 This is a common sight for me.  Sadie is not walking yet, though getting closer.  I am trying to be better about not carrying her around everywhere but helping her walk.

 She is doing so good with her glasses.  Her eyes still wander a tiny bit at times, but for the most part the glasses have really helped with that, and I think she is seeing better because she has gotten into books again and started kissing the faces on them:)  Now when she wakes up in the morning and I have her glasses in my hand she lets me know she wants them!

 And somebody must have been a little jealous because Josh let her pick out a toy at Toys R Us the other day and when he asked her what she wanted to look at she immediately said, "glasses!!!"

 And somebody loves his sisters.  He can be difficult in a lot of ways but he is so so sweet too.  We have been talking about being a gentleman lately and so he has been eager to open doors for me wherever we go.

 And pick me plenty of dandelions.  He asked me the other day, "Mom, am I the gentlest gentleman ever?"

 This week was supposed to be better hour wise for Josh but a lot of extra things have made that not the case.  So what to do when daddy isn't going to be home til after bedtime again?  Go to Costco of course, our favorite entertainment.

And lots of outside time these days leads to stinky children, and baths at the end of the day.

They are tiring days for sure but I love these little munchkins and am glad I get to spend my days with such fun little people.