Family Vacation Day 4

We planned a day at the beach today since the weather was supposed to be warmer than it had been. So we got everything packed up and go there about noon. It was so windy and chilly but still very nice. I kept Justus in the carseat covered in towels to keep him warm and out of the sun.

 The boys had kites and Jacob was in heaven because he said "It's like a paper airplane!!!" They would get wet in the water then come wrap up in a towel freezing because it was so windy.

 A little sand art :-D

 Jonah and Chris testing the water.

 Jacob trying to get his kite off the ground

The ocean is beautiful and we are really having a good week.

Family Vacation Day 3

It was a little chilly again today so we took the boys to a Children's interactive museum called the "Sandbox". It was fun and they loved it!

 Then we went back to the condo to get in the pool but it was very cold again. So they didn't stay in very long.

 Justus has been doing a lot of jumping too!

 While we waited on our Lasagna to cook we colored some pictures.

 Then they played in the "tunnels" under the hide away bed.

They were all exhausted and asleep by 9pm. Beach again tomorrow.... :-D

Family Vacation Day 2

Well the boys internal clocks woke them up at 6:30 am AGAIN! But my husband let me sleep until 8 with Justus. We ate breakfast and got dressed for a quick run to walmart. The boys were begging us to go swimming but we knew it was too cloudy and chilly outside. So we waited and watched the empty pool from the balcony and Jonah tossed a tennis ball and a frisbee off the balcony too. Finally after PB&J for lunch we got ready and went down to the pool. It was still cloudy but Jaron and Jacob got in the pool. I could tell by their quiverying chins it was cold. Jonah walked around the kiddie pool very hesitant. After he got in Jonah only lasted about 15 minutes and he was out wrapped in a towel shivering. The wind made it worse when they got out with wet shorts on. Then Jaron was next and he was really cold. They wanted to go inside so Chris took them up and I stayed down at the pool with Jacob and Justus.

Jacob was a little bored in that big pool all by himself. There were some girls his age but it was too cold to get in.

So he finally got in the hot tub and warmed up. Justus was napping in my arms and then he opened his eyes and looked at me.

And when Jonah came out on the balcony asking me to come up I was ready too. So Jacob and I packed up our stuff and went back to the condo.  

We ordered pizza for dinner

Then the boys had a pillow fight

And then it was baths and bedtime

All this excitement is too much for Justus he is pooped!

Family Vacation Day 1

Well we are here! We made it to the condo that was given to us FREE of charge. We are so happy to be here and excited to see how much fun we can have in one week. We got here at 4pm yesterday and had to get settled. I left Chris here with Jacob and Jonah and I took Jaron and Justus with me to Bi-Lo. I stocked up on the bare necessities to hopefully get it through the week. The condo is HUGE (maybe bigger than our house). The boys were running all over the place and very excited but begging to go swimming. Chris and I were just exhausted so we had to say no and put it off until tomorrow. We got some quick Mcdonald's for dinner. Let the boys stay up late and they took a HUGE bubble bath.

We woke up and ate some breakfast and got everything together to head to the beach. But we had to wait a while for Jonah ( he was way over due for a poop) so we bribed him with donuts

but daddy had a severe headache. So when everyone was ready we headed out. The beach is just arond the corner one mile.

It's not easy to get 4 boys, a cooler, 2 chairs, umbrella, bag of toys, 5 towels, and a bag out to the sad without something going wrong. We learned today that it costs money to park at the beach, Jonah's water shoes are too big (kept falling off~not good on hot pavement), Jaron was scared of all the dead jellyfish, Jacob wanted to swim away,

Justus needed something to lay in,

Jonah loves to throw sand, umbrellas don't stay in place with 30 mile/hr winds. We also learned that sunblock does work if we remember to use it. We also learned that sand castles are hard to build

Jonah's shorts were falling off and how could we ever forget that sand will be in ever crevace of our bodies every time we go to the beach. Don't get me wrong it was fun but it was madness.
                                      

Back to the condo after just 3 hours everyone rinsed off and mommy cooked chicken, corn and potatoes for dinner. YUMMY!

Then they BEGGED us to go to the pool which just so happens to right outside our balcony tempting them all day long.

So we went down after dinner for quick FREEZING swim in the empty pool (no people~just water).

 All their chins were quivering and Mommy and Daddy were exhausted so back up to the condo baths, snacks, teeth and bedtime. Everyone is pooped but ready for some more fun in the sun tomorrow. :-)

OH POOP!

Well I was determined today was the day Jonah was going to poop in the potty. I put underwear on him this morning watched him like a hawk. He went in the room to hide in the corner and I knew it was time. He said "don't see me". I picked him up and ran him to the toilet. He sat and sat and sat. I begged, bribed and pleaded. I have never wanted to see poop so bad!

He has been the hardest to potty train so far. I guess it's party my fault for not being more aggressive about it. But being pregnant with Justus and babysitting left me little time, energy or patience for it. So I was lazy and kept buying the pullups.

Well I am proud to say that after 55 minutes and sitting on the potty he said "don't see me" and I went out. And 5 minutes later he called me "mommy, look!!!" I almost cried. He got the donut I promised and wore underwear the rest of the day.

Now we are ready for vacation!!!! 5 more days! WOO HOO!!!

Too Much Information...

Jacob came home from school Monday and said his girlfriend hugged him 4 times but the last time she squeezed him tight. ~ I didn't even know he had a girlfriend.

 

Jaron spoke up and said his girlfriend kissed him on the cheek. WHAT?!?!?! (was not aware of his girlfriend either)

Jonah bit Justus on the arm leaving teeth marks so I bit him back.

Justus is getting so big. He still loves his mommy's milk and he's finding his voice. He will be rolling over any day now.

I have so much to do and not sure where to start.....

Maybe I should start with a coke! :-D

Terrified!

Have you ever been so scared you couldn't blink? I was Wednesday night. We had several SEVERE storms including high winds and tornados come through Georgia and I was glued to the news watching and waitng and wondering if it was going to come to our county. I wasn't afraid for myself necessarily. I was scared for my boys. I could just picture how terrifying it would be for them.

We had a plan to get in our bathtub and cover up with a mattress. The tornado warnings for all of north GA was until 2 am so I could not sleep until I knew they had all passed. I sat up staring at the tv not sure I was blinking. My contacts were glued to my eyes.

The more they talked about the death tolls rising and peoples houses missing in Alabama....the more vivid my mental picture was of me and my boys trapped under our house. I know we are supposed to trust God. I do trust Him but I also know that He lets somethings happen to people for a reason. I just could not see how those storms would miss our county. They went above us and below us but we barely got any rain. I was amazed at how God protected us. He truly did answer our prayers.

I know there are so many right now with missing or lost loved ones. I am still having trouble sleeping thinking about all those families. I am not sure why He spared our lives....but He did. And we are so thankful for his hedge of protection.

One of those mornings...

My cell phone alarm went off at 6am like usual and I rolled over to nurse the baby. (Yes he sleeps with me.) The goal is to get him fed then wake up the boys and get them ready for school. Well it didn't quite work out like that. The next time I opened my eyes was at 6:59 and the bus comes at 7:05. I walked out into the kitchen and saw Jaron sitting on the couch in the dark. I asked him to go wake up Jacob and tell him they were gonna miss the bus. Jacob came out of their room "I was already awake mommy I was just playing games." WHAT! So I had to get Jaron's oatmeal made first so it could be cooling off and then started making his lunch. They got dressed and Jaron swallowed his oatmeal faster than ever before. Chris took them to school and they made it on time. The bus is just easier and they like it. Even though I am always nervous about putting them on the bus....they do have assigned seats right up front so that helps a little.

I went into their room to make the beds and Jacob did have 2 of their handheld games in his bed and curtain was pulled back, like he'd been looking outside. I guess he wasn't sure if it was time to get up so he stayed in his room.

So on to the next item of business.....POTTY TRAINING! I am cracking down on this. SO sick of buying pullups for Jonah. He pees in the potty a lot but in the pullups too. And has never pooped in the potty YET! He wore underwear all day today and only a pullup for naptime and bedtime. He pooped in his pull up right when he woke up from nap. I had set him on the potty before naptime because he wanted to and he said "mommy don't see me" so I left him alone for a few minutes. I went in to check on him and he said "I can't because the poop is stuck in my butt".

I really hope he will be fully potty trained before we go to Hilton Head.

So we napped....played.....watched a movie....made train tracks....made phone calls....cooked dinner.....baths....watched Caillou (the only 15 minutes of silence in our house) and put them to bed. And I just made whole wheat chocolate chip muffins with flax seed. A healthy bedtime snack!