I am a bad driver, after all.

With Christmas fast approaching I feel the need to squeeze in one quick blog post. I start writing a blog in my head multiple times between the times I actually post, so forgive me if this is a little choppy. It's past my bedtime, and I'm actually just procrastinating finishing my Christmas cards. That's one thing I'm really good at - procrastination. I'm kind of a last minute gal. I'm learning the hard way that it's really a terrible trait. I thought I had plenty of time to get my cards done but turns out most people probably will not get their card from me until after Christmas. Oh well. On the topic of bad habits, I've discovered another one about me - I'm not a very good driver. I've been told that repeatedly over the years, silently with a "look" from my Dad, not so silently from my husband, but this weekend I finally accepted the fact. I really do try to be careful, after all I am often driving around 4 children, so it truly isn't intentional. I worked a 24 in Charlotte last Friday and the kids and I stayed to do Christmas-y things with my folks until Sunday morning. Steven was preaching outside of Winston-Salem so the kids and I drove straight there from Charlotte. After church we decided to go eat at our favorite Mexican restaurant before heading home. Eli got the special treat of riding with Daddy and I followed behind in our van. Not long into the drive we were making a right turn at a stoplight. I thought Steven had already turned so I quickly glanced to my left to see if I could make it and gunned it....only to quickly discover he was still sitting and waiting. I screamed and all three of the kids in my car started crying (Sadie not so kindly pointing out it was all my fault - like I was going to try and blame her or the baby). Thankfully Steven had just finished preaching so he couldn't get too mad at me. He pulled a little ways down the road  (the lady behind him was waving at him to get him to stop - unbeknownst to her the offender was married to him) and we checked out the damage - thankfully not nearly as bad as it had sounded. I am missing my lower lights on the right, but who needs those anyways? I was pretty humiliated about this whole experience, to say the least. I mean, who has a car accident with their husband?? Only me. As I told the kids in the car, we need to be thankful that no one was hurt, that it could have been worse. Steven most likely wont sue. It has actually been awhile since my last accident, but looking back at them all - there are all undeniably my fault. Although one of them in high school the stop sign was blocked by a tree - I swear. So, I admit it, I am not a good driver. I have tried hard to be cautious this week in the car, and I will continue to, but I'm 34 years old so I'm thinkin' I just might not get any better. Here's a disclaimer/warning if you pass my red minivan - drive defensively. And have a Merry Christmas!

Tweetsie and the Tooth Fairy from Canada

 A couple weeks ago we took our little family to Boone for the weekend for a wedding. We debated about taking the kids to Tweetsie (it's expensive, it was cold, we only had half a day), but we decided it was worth it so we went, and it was the right decision! Apparently Steven had a neighbor when they were kids that went to Tweetsie and he would come home telling stories about the train ride and the gunfights and whatnot, so as we were standing in line at the train Steven said he'd been waiting 34 years for this experience...I know it didn't disappoint our kids, unfortunately for him it was a bit of a letdown from how much he had built it up in his mind all those years. I was impressed that the politically correct forces of this world hadn't descended too hard on the train gig, they still painted their faces and shot guns at each other. I might have asked for a refund if there weren't any good fight scenes. 

 Mary Jo wasn't old enough to appreciate the train ride, but she looked cute on it!

 She did, however, enjoyed Tweetsie more than I thought she would. All 14 pounds of her rode the carousel, the ferris wheel (I made Steven take her on that and I took the boys,I would have gotten too nervous), 

the cars, and even the ski lift. If she was moving, she was happy!! 

 I think these might be the same horses I sat on as a kid. Other than some hair malfunction the kids enjoyed all the Wild West props, including the fake man in the jail cell - David was kind of obsessed with that guy. It was a fun day.

 Sweet Ei uses anything he can find as a sword, usually some kind of kitchen utensil. I didn't realize he had actually taken this from the kitchen for the car ride, but it worked out nicely to prop him up for a nap. Notice the sucker on his lap. Now that's what you called passed out!

  Poor D seems to be still struggling with his birth order change so we decided it might do him some good to go to Charlotte for a few days to spend some special one on one time with my parents. My kids are blessed to have 4 grandparents that dote on them often, and even though it was hard to leave him I think he really enjoyed himself and I know my parents enjoyed him. He's pretty good when he gets all the attention and his needs (and most of his wants) are met immediately. Aren't we all? Pictured above are the other 3 in his bed, missing him (I let Sadie and Eli have sleepovers as a consolation). While he was gone I got some stuff done that's so hard to do with a 2 year old. Poor Mary Jo, I think we made 6 stops one of the days. But it was great to get the little stinker back, and thankfully he was happy to come back! 

 Our next excitement was that Sadie finally lost her first tooth! And about a minute later she lost it, in the couch. We looked and looked and could not find that darn tooth. She and her Daddy took a special trip to the gas station for candy and lo and behold the Tooth Fairy came anyways, much to her excitement! My sweet husband decided to tell Sadie that the Tooth Fairy was from Canada, and sure enough under her pillow the next morning was a Canadian dollar. She was thrilled but I'm kind of thinking this was a bad idea, I mean, there are a lot more teeth, in her mouth alone, that we are going to give out money for - and I'm not loaded with Canadian cash.  I'll let her Daddy figure that out, I guess the Tooth Fairy can come back to the States, or if he has any other currency laying around she can move there! 

 Eli doesn't seem to struggle with the middle child thing. This is a good example. Sadie and David found the 2 kid chairs that we have and sat down to watch tv. No more chairs? I don't complain, says Eli, I just sit in the grocery cart. Sweet boy.

 And this guy's sweet too, he's so expressive right now and the stories he comes up with are hilarious. He found Eli's old snow boots in the closet and this is the best picture I could get. You can't make this child smile, eat, pee in the potty, or go to sleep....if he doesn't want to. Hoping that will work out in my favor with the whole peer pressure thing down the road. We'll see. 

And this little girl just thinks she's as big as they are. I kept telling Sadie she was waiting to get her first tooth until Sadie lost hers...but we're still waiting. She just likes to stay the baby longer, which I'm perfectly fine with. She is doing better with eating solids, and sleeping, so praise the Lord for that. In general, I just need to praise the Lord for a whole slew of things. I don't do the 30 days of Thankful that many of my friends do on Facebook, but I do like the concept and truly when I read other's posts it reminds me to always be thankful, too. Here's hoping you can find your own things to be thankful for today!

Halloween for toddlers

Oh, Halloween. Such fun memories I have from my childhood, and it's so fun to see my kids 

figuring it out. This year I took the youngest 3 to the annual Fall Festival at the preschool. D didn't quite get it that you had to play each game to get more candy, all he cared about was immediately eating the candy in his hand. 

He is pretty serious about candy. He's also decided he's done with naps, which is sad for me. Ideally he would sleep about an hour, but usually we spend that much time just trying to get him down. And if he sleeps too long he's like Sadie was, he can not go to sleep at night. So here we are at 5:45 on Halloween night, heading to Trunk or Treat at a nearby church. Bag in hand, dressed up, ready for candy, and sound asleep. 

 Thankfully he woke up, joined the bunny and the lion, and filled that bag with candy (minus the pieces he ate along the way).

 I can't leave out the adorable cow! This is the only costume I have actually bought, and every child has worn it. My kids don't know that you can actually request a certain costume, they just get whatever hand me downs we find in the closet or dress up bin, and so far it's worked out ok. 

 Sweet Mary Jo has no idea what's going on but she's a trooper, in it for the ride. 

 After the Trunk or Treat we went to a few neighbor's houses. David and Eli don't get it that you are supposed to trick or treat from the porch, they must think they've been invited for dinner with the requirement of wearing a costume, because they always just walk on in the houses, after they of course have peered in every window possible. No social etiquette in the young Harrell children, apparently. Sadie has finally learned to just get what she's given, David on the other hand will stand there and take as much candy as the person is willing to dish out. Several times he'd stop back by the bowl on his way out the door and grab a couple more pieces. No inhibitions. Tons of candy eaten. Hopefully no cavities as a result. Happy Halloween everyone! (a couple days late).

Movin' on up.

I have never claimed to be technologically advanced. I did take a typing class in high school, then practiced extensively through daily emails to my best friend during my freshmen year (she went to college in Iowa and this was before cell phones and texting so email was our only free communication), which helped me get pretty quick on the keyboard. And speaking of keyboards, I am actually typing on my new little fancy one that is "paired" up with my new tablet. Sounds fancy, huh? Well that's as good as it gets. But I guess I have come a long way from dial up and a "car phone" (literally the size of a regular phone, cord and zipper case included). It's funny that our kids wont even know the times before touch screens. I purposely have not downloaded any games on my tablet, it's been hard enough keeping my kids off my phone (even my 2 year old asks for "Angy Buds").

 David makes me laugh every day with his talking, he's not just repeating things now but he's making his own sentences, usually involving bears or candy. His tantrums have hit an all time high, I'm afriad to say, intense doesn't even touch it. I'm just praying that strong will can be used for the Lord one day. I don't know what got in to me, but I went shopping with all 4 kids two nights in a row. Steven was preaching Sunday night at a little meeting so I decided to have a traveling nursery and get my Walmart trip out of the way. It seemed like a good idea at the time, and I did get my shopping done, thankfully not losing any kids. The following night we were meeting Steven and his family for dinner and had a few minutes to spare on the way there. We stopped by the library to turn in a "lost" book, where for some reason D has the opposite behavior than is expected. I still had some time so I decided to "run in" Target and look for a couple birthday presents. By the time I got to the register Mary Jo was crying, D was screaming, and I'm not sure what the big 2 were doing. I picked up Mary Jo as I paid the bill and repeatedly had to turn around to shove D back into the cart he was feverishly trying to climb out of. We hit an all time low when the sympathetic casheir actually came around the register, picked up D, and walked me to my car. It was embarrasing but a couple kids ago I decided to never turn down help. I haven't been in a store with D since, if I could grocery shop on Amazon I think I would.
As for my little Eli, he's about as laid back as D is not. He's got his faults too, he hates to color, loves tv too much, and is really poky with getting his shoes on. The new favorite show in my house is "Peter Rabbit", which actually has 3 villians, all who try to eat Peter Rabbit in nearly every episode (well, I guess Mr. McGreggor doesn't actually want to eat Peter, just get him out of his garden, understandably). The other night Eli's wheels were turning and he said "Mommy, if there wasn't any food in the kitchen, and there wasn't any food at a restaurant, and there wasn't any food at the store.....would you eat me?" He also talks about his "old mom" a lot, one night at bedtime we were all praying and talking about different requests. Eli asked if we could pray for his old mom, because she died. Gotta love 4 year old minds.
I've gone on and on about my boys I don't have time to write about my girls, but Sadie is doing a little better in school, has mastered "Old McDonald" on the piano, and is as bossy as usual. As her teacher put it, she has "leadership skills", which in first grade just means you like to tell people what to do. Apparently when the teacher tells the class to turn to page 27 Sadie is too busy "helping" everyone else turn to the page that she doesn't do it herself. It's nice with Mary Jo being almost 6 years younger, for most of her life she will be fine with Sadie telling her what to do. Especially if her personality is anything like Eli!
Speaking of my sweet caboose, she's starting to crawl! Which means I should really be keeping the floor a little cleaner, a mobile baby is a dangerous thing around here. She's such a happy girl, growing at her own little slow pace, but getting sweeter every day.

I got to talk to a sweet, godly, lady the other night who encouraged me more than she'll ever know. She talked about how overwhelming it is to have young children, and shared with me some of her own struggles. I really believe the Lord sent her to me, that he even plans, in His sovereignty, our conversations for the encouragement that we need. I had been anxious, my mind constantly going with feelings of inadequacy, wondering if I'd remembered to pull socks out for Eli, and what side did the baby last nurse on, did I have any good excuses to go out over the weekend vs. eat in, how much sleep will I get if I fall asleep RIGHT NOW (not that I can ever count on that these days!), am I paying enough attention to my marriage, am I supposed to bring food to MOPS, etc.....I think just having someone validate my feelings, make me feel normal, not near crazy, was what I needed. I do NOT have it all together. I do eventually get the house cleaned up, even if it takes several days, but if I go to bed at night with toys on the floor, that's ok. I want to remember these years as good years, not as a rat race to be the best mom with the most organized house. With God's grace I am learning every day, simply surviving some days, but thankful most of all to get to be on this journey. One day I wont be escorted out of Target, I'll be able to shut the bathroom door, but I will miss my little people and their sweet snuggles. I'm going to go kiss them all but the baby (might wake her up!). Goodnight!

New school year and an education for Mama

I'm not really sure what I'm blogging about tonight, nearly 7 months of sleep deprivation has my brain functioning at a minimal level (I hope my co-workers aren't reading this). Thankfully, changing diapers, nursing babies, making sandwiches, and folding laundry, which seem to take up the majority of my life right now, doesn't take a lot of smarts. I can't believe it but I am now the mother of a first grader, pictured below, oh how old I feel! She was so excited to go back to school and for the most part seems to love her time there. This is the first week of homework, so hopefully we will continue to keep the same positive attitude. We have had some rough afternoons, I think I'm catching glimpses of why people say girls are harder to raise. After many tears one afternoon (from both of us) I realized I can not do this mothering alone, in fact I fail miserably at times. Those eye-opening moments are so good for me, when I'm knocked down from my pride, only to realize my dependence on the Lord in every aspect of my life. 

I wanted to show interest in her education so I dutifully (stupidly) packed up all 4 kids by myself and took them to a PTA meeting and Curriculum night. I get the wrong sensation sometimes at home that my children are actually manageable, when in reality, anywhere other than our home (and sometimes not even there) they are simply not, at least not when we are expected to sit, be quiet, and listen to a person talking. I should say that actually David was the only one tonight that I couldn't contain, the others were really good. He is soooooo 2.     

This is his level. At home, no shirt, super-hero cape on, playing with "E-i" . Why in the world did I think he would have any consideration to the PTA president and what she has to say? She's not talking about candy, bikes, or Diego. I wont forget again. I will find a babysitter or stay home.

As for D's buddy, he was all ready for school too. He's going to preschool 3 days a week and loves it. I also started him in a little gymnastics program at the school one day a week. It was like the excitement at Disney World when I picked him up yesterday, he was in his element. There he was actually encouraged to jump off things!

I finally decided it was time to put D in a big boy bed, and move Eli in with him. Other than his nursery Eli has been sleeping in a girly room, with no complaints, but he was pretty stoked about this move. So far they're doing pretty well, D does wake up earlier but usually they stay up there giggling and playing for a little while before they come downstairs. It's cute, I love watching their relationship develop. 

 I had so much fun with the boys room that naturally I was ready to get the girl's room looking right. I went ahead and set up Mary Jo's bed, even though she only naps in it. I mainly just set it up so I could enjoy it. :)

 As for my little buddy, I can't believe she's almost 7 months old! I took her last week for her appointment and she was a whopping 12 pounds, 14 ounces. Moved up to the 2nd percentile! I kind of like her being a squirt, she's definitely easier to carry around.

 My grandma Nash gave this swing to Sadie when she was a baby and I think about her every time we put a new kid in there. As the others did, MJ loves it too.

 Gotta love the sibling love. I'm sure MJ will drive her crazy one day so for now I'm cherishing these moments, while praying she doesn't drop her. When I was 16 I thought I knew it all, but now as the years go past I realize how much I truly have to learn. My education goals for the year are as follows:

Sadie - learn to read independently

Eli - learn his letters

D - learn to use the potty

MJ - learn to like food and sleeping through the night

Me- learn patience, true dependence on the Lord

Steven - learn to rest (he works so hard, for which I am truly thankful)....and maybe to cook a little. :)

Goodnight! Learn well, everyone.   



Off the chain, yo!

 This might be a long one, although I'm typing on my new tablet so that will help shorten it (no touch screen beats a good old fashioned keyboard). I can't believe this is the last official week of summer, it has truly flown by. We spent a couple of weeks at home in July then headed up to camp for our annual week of junior boys, Steven was speaking this year and I, once again, was the nurse. With 4 kids in tow I worry I don't do a good job but thankfully there were no catastrophes and always some willing arms to hold Mary Jo when a camper needed me. Last year Steven insisted we bring the 4-wheeler, this year I insisted. The boys absolutely loved it. As usual, Sadie quickly found friends and lived it up, as pictured below.

Mary Jo was good, as long as she got her naps in. Here she is trying her best to get Eli's sucker. 



 We love camp, the fellowship and being a part of the Lord's work in these children's lives, it is priceless. I'm so glad my kids get to make memories there, hopefully the first of many!  



We went home for an hour or two after camp and turned right around and drove to Hilton Head for the week with my parent's and my extended DuBose family. It was a sweet week of swimming, bike-riding, and family time. The kids had a ball, Mary Jo got to try out her new strawberry bathing suit. 

Daddy finally got a little time to rest! We shared a beautiful house with my parents, and several other family members, with a spiral staircase to the 3rd floor. My kids were in heaven.

Between Sadie and Daddy sleeping in, Mary Jo's naps, and the number of meals to prepare, we didn't make it out to the beach every morning. It truly is a great playground for kids!

Despite the beautiful beach, my kids love the pool the best. We have a rule that we have to go to the beach first, or we'll never make it past the pool. 

I realized that my kids didn't go anywhere in the car the entire time we were there. Hilton Head has awesome bike trails and we rented this cool trailer (aka the chariot), plus some baby seats, so this was our main mode of transportation for the week. Mary Jo enjoyed it, and it was a guarantee for Eli to take a nap if I took him out about 5pm in the afternoon.

A couple days after we got home Mary Jo had her 6 month "birthday"! I can't believe my baby girl is getting so big (sort of, she's actually still pretty scrawny), but is just getting sweeter and sweeter every day.

Even though there was a million things I needed to do at home last week, I decided to take the kids to Charlotte for a couple days to hang with my Mom before a Charlotte shift, mainly to spend time with her in lieu of her birthday (which we weren't going to see her on).

Here they are having cookies and ice cream outside on the swingset, just one of the things about my Mom that makes her a fun and special "Nana".  

Steven had a speaking engagement last Sunday in Richmond, VA, one of our favorite chapels to visit. There is a nice little apartment in the church that we stay in, and we usually go up early on Saturday to do something fun with the kids. After a friend's birthday party we drove up and went to this old theatre in Carytown (a cool section of Richmond) to see a movie, then walked to a diner for supper and ice cream. While there I noticed something dripping and looked down at Mary Jo's jeans. Yes, it was poop. Out of her diaper, onesie, and down her leg onto my shirt. Unfortunately, that was not the low point of our night. David had seen a preview that day for a movie with dogs in it that ended with one of the characters saying "it's off the chain, yo!" Of course, David started repeating it. That night the kids were wide open, running around the little apartment, as I was trying to get the beds ready and Mary Jo in her pajamas. I was in the next room when I heard Steven say "David, no!!!!".....but it was too late. He had pulled the fire alarm and it worked, very well. Being in an unfamiliar place we kind of panicked, Steven didn't know who to call or the code to turn the alarm off. Sure enough a few minutes later the firemen pull up, in their gear and ready to fight a fire. Here they are, to my kids absolute enjoyment, resetting the fire alarm, while David watches from his Daddy's shoulders.

I have to say I don't see a lot of remorse in this little face. In fact, when the firefighters looked at David and said "Was it you that pulled the alarm?" I'm pretty sure he was a little proud of himself, or maybe a lot. This one we may have to watch a little extra, he is truly "off the chain, yo."  

A Trip Down Memory Lane

One of my favorite summer memories was going to the lake in SC, to the lakehouse my grandparents bought  in 1970. My dad's parents had a house on the same lake, almost directly across from it, and when they were teenagers my dad would swim across the lake to see my Mom, sometimes staying for dinner. My dad's family had a really cool A-frame lakehouse that unfortunately was destroyed by Hurricane Hugo in 1989. Growing up we would come and stay for a week at a time, swimming, riding bikes on the dirt road, eating Grandma's salmon patties and grits for dinner. The furniture that came with the house (in 1970!), a lot of yellow and orange stuff, was a permanent fixture until last year when my dad started fixing it up. This is still what it looks like from the outside.   

The inside, however, has been drastically updated and looks great. 

Daddy is always looking out for me, and the night we were coming he decided that Mary Jo and I would need an a/c window unit to sleep. As a kid I don't think I even realized that we didn't have air conditioning, but as a nursing mama with kids needing naps the cool, quiet room was great. I think there was a baby sleeping in that room 19 hours a day, including David's and Mary Jo's naps. 

They have since paved the road, but we still made many loops around on bikes or on foot.

Thankfully one thing that hasn't changed much is the porch swing. David caught on quickly. 

Sadie and Eli spent hours each day in the lake, so naturally he got braver and braver. The neighbors have 14 grandchildren and a great rope swing that also drops in the lake, so we spent a lot of time with them. Sadie called them her friends. 

Once the boats and waves slowed down David was a much bigger fan of the lake. He does pretty well in his puddle jumper (the green thing), and, like with other things, is way too confident in his abilities. 

Steven had to leave Saturday evening, he was preaching in Charlotte on Sunday then heading back home to work. I gave the kids their only bath in 5 days in preparation for church the next morning, then we were offered a pontoon ride with my Dad's cousin who lives on the lake. Hence the pajamas under the life jackets. 

We didn't see many fireworks on the 4th, but did get to see some that night. The kids were in awe. 

I LOVE summertime, in case you can't tell.

We still have this old fold up cot at the lake that my brother ALWAYS got to sleep on growing up. I remember coveting it but I guess I just gave up on in it and always slept on the pullout couch. It just seemed fair (and safe) that our oldest should get the cot, I'm not sure she appreciated it as much as Byron. 

Eli got the pallet on the floor next to Sadie, and David is clearly excited about the day he graduates from a crib. Mama's just not ready for that quite yet. 

The kids and I spent five full days, and we weren't ready to leave. Our cell phones got terrible reception so I could legitimately ignore my emails, not pay any bills, and just enjoy my little family and my parents. One time I caught myself looking for cute guys on a boat that passed by our dock...one of my favorite past times as a teenager. I quickly reminded myself of my age, my skirt bathing suit, marital status, and 4 children swimming around me. It's funny how places can truly take you back! It was a sweet time then, and a sweet time now. Sadie quickly figured out that, unlike the pool, she could relieve herself while swimming. Once she exclaimed, "I just peed in the lake, that's the best part!" I think I'll end on that. Thanks Mom and Dad for all the work you've put in so we could revive the old lake house and enjoy it, a generation later! Looking forward to many more trips. 

Black eyes, birthdays, and bible conference.

I can't believe it's already July! Our June was kind of busy. After our Myrtle Beach trip we celebrated 2 birthdays in our family - David turned 2 on May 30th and Sadie turned 6 on June 3rd. The next day Eli went to a preschool day camp and I got that dreaded phone call an hour or so later. Providentially, I had decided to forego my errands for Mary Jo to have a morning nap and David and I were enjoying a quiet morning at home, much closer than I could have been to Eli. The sweet voice on the phone had some urgency in relaying the message "Eli's hurt his eye, he's ok, but you need to come." I scooped up a sleeping Mary Jo, picked up Eli (who of course had stopped crying until he saw me), left David at the preschool, and headed out. I didn't know where to take him so we ended up at the pediatrician's office, I was still hopeful for glue.

To make a long story short (sort of) we ended up having the gash repaired at the surgery center the next day by a pediatric eye doctor. All he did was fall on the playground and somehow the muscle above his eye was severed, go figure. All the jumping and climbing that kid does, this was inevitable, and I'm sure not the last time he'll have stitches. He looked so cute in his little "hospital gown." Thankfully it has healed really well and the only real meltdown was when he found out he couldn't swim for a week.  

The weekend after school got out we celebrated Sadie and David's birthdays at Bounce U, we had 24 kids show up and a handful of adults. It was a fun but exhuasting hour and 45 minutes, needless to say I didn't have time to get a lot of pictures. Here is Sadie with one of her classmates.

And this is as still as D would be for a picture. He had a blast. I can't believe my little guys is 2! He is such a joy and makes us laugh, quite often. His talking is really improving and it's so funny to have him repeat everything he hears. My favorite right now is when he sees Mary Jo he lights up and gets right in her face, saying "Hey baby!, hey baby!"  

The next week the kids and I drove to Charlotte for the week so Sadie and Eli could go to vacation bible school at my parent's church. My sweet cousins, Margaret and Charles, came for a visit and we all enjoyed it immensely (and possibly convinced them to only have 2 kids).  

Finally a week after Eli's "surgery" we celebrated by going to my parent's pool, the kids had a blast. Taking them swimming, without extra hands, is just stressful. But going with fun grandparents is great!

Thankfully, Mary Jo likes the water. She will probably see a lot of it this summer!

We had a great time in Charlotte, I got to spend a lot of time with my BFF from home, Julie, as her kids also went to bible school. Steven drove to Charlotte at the end of the week and the next morning we left for our annual Skyland Bible Conference, in Tennessee. It was a great week with Steven's family, lots of fun cousin time, some friend time, and great ministry. Here's my little rascals, sitting still for a brief moment in time. You would not believe the number of pictures I had to take in order to get ONE with them both looking at the camera and sitting still.

And my girls. I still can't believe I have 2 girls! They're quite fond of each other!

Sadie and David each took 2 naps on the way home, Skyland (for my kids, anyways), is not a restful place.
But a great one.

Even Mary Jo was pooped!

Since we've been home we have been trying to catch up around the house with little success. It's probably not a good time for this but I've been reading "100 Days of Real Food" blog and have started trying to cook more naturally and get rid of processed food. One night at the bible conference Eli had 4 bowls of Fruit Loops for dinner, it was kind of a wake up call that my kid's nutrition is lacking, to say the least. It will be SLOW changes, especially for Steven. Sweet man, but he is like the poster child on what you shouldn't eat. He and the kids have done well, at least trying each new thing. I also took the little 2 to the doctor for their check ups. David is 28 pounds, in the 50th percentile, while sweet little Mary Jo is 10-13, just the 1st percentile. She has doubled her weight, though! As her daddy says, "she comes from a long line of squirts". I'm thankful she's teeny. That being said, the clock is ticking on the next time she's going to eat so I'm going to shut this marathon blog down. I'll try to get back sooner. Night!