Destin 2009

We just got back from our trip to Destin and WOW did we have a great time! Where to begin?!? How about the very beginning? Well, for most of us traveling with three year olds, bearing through the journey to the destination is reason enough to need another vacation. But not this time!! No sir, these boys were pumped! When I picked them up from school Ben, Drew and Brax could not stop talking about how much fun they were going to have at the beach (in addition to a fake burping contest. Really.) So the Belvilles, us and two of the most wonderful babysitters on earth headed south with more stuff than any 10 people could possibly need for four days (thanks to Josh and Michael's master packing skills we even took the corn hole boards with room to spare). We stopped in Montgomery at Mimi and Pop's house to spend the night so that we could break up the trip for the kids (and also because the thought of the grandsons passing right by their house without getting to see them was just too much.) So with full tummies and lots of stored energy we got to Florida with plenty of time to hit the pool after unpacking.

We were pretty lucky in that the pool in the neighborhood we stayed was AWESOME! It - first of all - was beautiful. But also it had the zero-entry so the kids could play safely and it was just a short walk from our house. It was definitely Ben's favorite part of the whole trip...he's going to have to learn how to appreciate the sand, I think. Here's an action shot of the three amigos jumping and splashing:Someone let the daddies have a turn with the kids' water cannons, so we all took cover under the lobster float.Chillin in the floatsThe next day we were ready to hit the beach. Drew is exploring for seashells. We have a huge glass jar filled with seashells we collected from our honeymoon, and they both love to play with them while I get ready in the mornings. They were convinced that they would be able to find some to add to our collection. Luckily we were able to convince Drew that the seaweed needed to stay at the beach (since he didn't find any shells). Both of the boys were a little intimidated by the magnitude of the ocean. I'm always surprised that they respond this way, I guess because they love to sleep to the sound of ocean waves. But they were not interested at all in going near the water without the strong arms of Daddy. Ben with Laura BethDrew with Catherine
Me with my two surfer dudes. And for all you other Mommies out there whose buddies love the Backyardigans, you can appreciate the fact that they were yelling out all over the beach "Surf's up! Whoa, Daddy!!" What a special gift to be able to watch your children really enjoy something that you have done for them.On our last day at the beach Michael ran out to grab some cold treats for all of us. I love Ben's face! He had just gotten a few grains of sand mixed in with his bite of fudge pop. Rob and Kristin came down a day early for their vacation so that we could have a few hours together. Even though they were on a grown-ups only trip, they were so sweet and came along to play with us while we took the kids out to ride go-carts and play for a bit. Here we are waiting our turn in line.All ready to race...And we're off...Then on to the bumper boats. I have to just give a shout out to Bobber here because I wanted no part of being trapped on water in a big rubber boat with boys who were out to soak me. Thanks, Bobber for jumping in to play with my boys so they could both have fun. We had to dry off somewhere. Where better to do that than inside where you can play more games for tickets? Notice how soaked they all are! And then we took airplane rides...Now that the kids had sufficiently worn themselves out, we headed to the beach to attempt a family picture. Not our best ever, but not awful either. Here are our girls with three of the four buddies. Even with the suckers we bribed them with, we still couldn't get Ben to take a picture. He was DONE. And may I just take a minute to say how blessed we were by them. These are two of the sweetest, most wonderful babysitters we've ever had, and all of the boys adored them. It didn't hurt that they are also both beautiful...these boys know a pretty girl when they see one! But we enjoyed having them so much. So thank you, LB and Catherine for joining our family. You are now both stuck with us, as we already miss you and are thinking of ways to see you again soon. And, Miss Dele, we officially want to adopt your daughter.After we got everyone back home and fed we were able to meet up with our good friends Jeremy and Hailey, who also happened to be beginning their vacation. So all eight of us headed out for some grown-up fun. We laughed and laughed till our stomachs hurt. Here are all the guys hanging out on the dock after dinner. So now we're back home and all settled back in, and trying to get back to the real world. We did have so much fun. We enjoyed every minute, truly. But I just do have to take a second to say that we sure did miss you, Campbells. You were missed terribly and we thought of you often. Don't worry though...we will definitely do it again!

What a way to kick off the summer!!

I love these little guys!

The other day I began thinking "I haven't done a very good job of taking pictures lately." So, I ran downstairs to grab the camera and just capture whatever was going on that morning. Here is a perfect example of how these two precious boys keep coming more and more into their own personalities--and can I just say that I love all the things about each of them that make them unique:

Drew sees the camera, and immediately hams it up (fireman costume had been in place for quite a while before the camera came out...it's a new costume or character almost every day).Ben, on the other hand, sees the camera and immediately dodges for the safety of under-the-covers. "No, Mommy! Don't pull my covers off!!! I'm trying to hide from you!!!""Surely if I just block your photo-op then you'll leave me alone and put that silly camera away...""Oh, Mommy you're just too silly when you want me to smile for the camera...""Oh for goodness sake, I might as well just give in and give you the picture you want. I knew I came by my stubbornness honestly.".......

...to which I might reply, "totally worth all that work. These pictures are too precious to miss out on."

So, in other news, Michael's friend from Taiwan, Pony was here visiting again. You may remember that last year he joined us for his very first American baseball game at the Sounds stadium. It was quite the adventure since it ended with Drew busting his head wide open. Needless to say, he was a scarred (and scared) from the incident as Drew's head is. We've been able to have dinner with him several times since then, and the boys both just adore him. I'm fairly certain it's because he's a big of a kid as they are. But since the Sounds were playing at home, we decided to take him back and see if we couldn't have more of a low-key evening. We all had a great time! This was the first time we'd been to the stadium since they've made all the improvements, and it was really nice. They now have a great kids' area that Ben and Drew had a blast at before the game with inflatables, batting cages, and other fun stuff. Here's how we spent our first 45 minutes inside the park:

What goes up....
...must come down.......and down.......and down.......and down.........and down until Mommy and Daddy say "the game is starting".

All the guys heading off to get "ALL the junk food," as Ben always says.We were lucky enough that Ozzie came by to see two of the cutest fans ever.Drew and PonyOur family picture taken on a very successful, very accident-free, very fun Nashville evening. We also recently took them to see their first movie at the movie theatre on one Friday that Michael took off work to play hooky. We went to see the Disney documentary Earth, since they are both such animal lovers. It was a really good first movie experience. Truthfully, my expectations of how they would do were really low (so there was no place to go but up). But they completely surprised me and did as well as any active 3-year olds can be expected to do. Since it was a Friday morning and pouring down rain, we were the only four people in the whole theatre, which was so nice! We were able to talk to them about what they were seeing the whole time, without feeling like the obnoxious people who can't be quiet. They are actually still talking about some of the story lines from the movie, and really enjoyed it. I'm not sure we'll be rushing right out to do it again really soon. But for our first time out, it was really fun. Definitely a special treat.

So that's about all that's been going on with us lately. But stay tuned because school is almost out, and I'm sure we'll be just as busy as always. Summer here we come!

And The Winner Is....

DREW!!!

Now, you might be wondering what game he won. You could guess that we were playing "Who has had the most self-inflicted serious injuries?" ...and you'd be right in guessing Drew, but that's not today's game. Or you could guess "Who inherited his mommy's coordination skills?" ...and you'd still be right, but that's not the game either. No, those are all good guesses. But today's game was apparently titled "Who will be the first twin to have a bone fracture?"

Today while we were at the Y, Drew fell off the slide and fell on his hand wrong. By the time they came to get me out of class he had already calmed down a good bit, but it was still swollen enough that I was concerned and didn't feel comfortable taking him home. So, we called our wonderful Pediatrician and they worked us right in. They took a good look at it, and thought it was just a bad sprain, but did an x-ray to be on the safe side. Sure enough, the fracture was there on his middle bone on the top of his hand. As it happened, one of the best Pediatric Orthopedists was there visiting our doctor. So, he looked at it, and told me what to do. He saved us a trip to his office to tell me the very same thing, and I'm so thankful. So, Drew will have his fingers taped up for the next three weeks while it grows straight.

I'm so thankful it turned out to be as mild of an injury as it did. It could have been much worse. And I also just have to say how very proud I am of both boys. Drew was very brave and had a good attitude all through it. Ben was such a sweet brother, taking care of Drew and very worried about him. He rolled with all the punches, was flexible and was altogether great...let's just be honest: brother getting all the attention can sometimes lead to some behavior issues. But not today. They were so great. And I'm just so thankful for both of them.

So here's my little tough guy showing me his war wound: And -- as if two posts in the same week weren't present enough! -- here are a few pictures that I couldn't resist putting on here. Here are the four boys getting a good scrubbing after lots of playtime outside in the dirt before bedtime. I just LOVE that Brody is every bit as big as(possibly bigger than) the "big boys."

Easter 2009

What a fun Easter we had! Seriously, I'm pretty sure we now have more candy than we did at Halloween - which is quite a feat. But we have managed the sugar-highs (and crashes) and had a wonderful time celebrating our risen Lord. Here are a few pictures of the boys' Easter festivities...

A class picture in front of the pavilion for the class Easter party.
Here is Ben finding the first of his Easter eggs during the hunt. Miss Betsy did something that I hadn't heard of doing before: she asked all the moms to write the name of every child in the class on one egg. It ended up working out great because it made the "hunting" last a little bit longer than in past years, and helped each of the kids get even better at recognizing their own name. Occasionally, they would see one with someone else's name on it, and run to give it to their friend. Drew finding the first of his eggs. Drew giving his buddy Brax some very manly hugs. I couldn't love this little guy anymore if he were one of my own. Ben and Drew act like he's the other brother they lost at birth.
This is maybe my favorite picture of the whole weekend. Maybe, my favorite in a while. Oh, and just to clarify for years later when I'm looking back at these, Drew isn't really taller than Ben. It just looks that way because of the hill he's standing on. With Miss Betsy. I can't say enough how much I've loved having them in her class this year.
After the hunting, we headed back to the pavilion for some picnic lunches and "pupcakes", as they are called in our house.

I'm really glad that they had such a great time at the school party. Because that next Saturday morning we went to the church Easter egg hunt, and we were greeted with temperatures in the low 50's. It was FREEZING. So cold in fact, there was a fire in the outdoor fireplace, and the kids huddled around it as they waited for their turn to hunt. Poor little guys kept huddling into our shoulders asking if we could go back to the car and get warm. Clearly, the weatherman didn't realize that we were trying to have some springtime activities.
And though it's not a great picture, here is the best we could get of the three of us on Easter morning. Ben refused to take a picture with just he and Drew, so that's why I'm in it. My little guys looked so handsome in their little ties. They were so proud of them. They felt very big to get to dress up like Daddy.
We capped off the weekend with lunch at our house with some of our very dearest friends. You could say they are our family we got to choose. None of our parents live in town with us, and we feel so blessed to have been brought together with such wonderful friends to share these sweet times with.

We had a great weekend, and I think the best part for me was listening to Ben and Drew tell me the things they learned in Bible class that morning. We always ask them on the way to lunch to tell us what they remember from class, and this time they responded with "Hosanna! He is risen!" Nothing could make me happier than to hear that they are learning the reason we celebrate anything is only because of what Christ has done. He is risen, He is active in our lives, and we have faith that He will do what He says He will do. By all measures it was a special weekend.

Spring Is Here!

So what do you do when it's been too cold and rainy to do much of anything, once the sun finally starts shining? You put your mud boots on and dig in the dirt! Thank goodness for plastic spoons! They doubled as shovels AND paintbrushes for painting the fence a beautiful shade of brown.So the other day I was folding some laundry and letting the boys play in the playroom by themselves when I hear the beginnings of an argument, that I wanted to let them work out on their own. So, I began to listen, and this is what I heard: Ben says in a very heated voice, "no, Drew! You can't take that from me." Drew, very calmly responds in his most parent-like voice, "No-no, Ben. You DO have to give it to me right now. Jesus says you have to share with me, and you love Him." I'm pretty sure we need to revisit the concept of what Jesus wants us to do.

At the moment, they are loving playing frisbee with us in the yard and cul-de-sac, and are surprisingly good at throwing it. Drew's favorite song these days is "whistle man". He sings it (usually loudly since he loves an audience) all throughout the day. It goes like this: "Whistle man, he pwayed one, he pwayed nit nat on my fumb..." Not only is that the only verse he knows (so he sings that same line over and over), but it's just so cute that I can't bring myself to tell him that the words are actually "This old man". He'll get it one day soon enough, and then I'll be sad that he doesn't sing whistle man anymore. So for now, I'm not correcting him. Ben, has become fascinated lately with making up songs and singing things while strumming along on his guitar that Aunt Chelle and Uncle Dan gave them for Christmas. I keep trying to get some video to post of it, because it's so cute. But he immediately stops once he knows anyone is paying attention. So, I'll keep trying.

That's about all that's happening around here. You can see from the date that I've been trying to get this post on here for a while now, and haven't been able to till now. So, now I'll start working on getting pictures on here from all the Easter activities. Maybe that'll happen before the next major holiday! ;) ...but probably not! Thanks for checking on us.

March Madness, Indeed!

Last week Ben and Drew had their first Spring Program at school. They did GREAT! We had such a good time watching them perform all of the songs they have worked so hard on. They are learning so much, and I find myself very thankful that they are at such a great school with teachers that not only great educators, but also love the Lord with their whole lives. I had no idea that they had learned the books of the New Testament, and many of the other songs that they sang - I can only get tidbits here and there about what they do at school - but we sure were proud. We've been staying pretty busy around here lately. But that's okay by us...we like to stay on the go. We have been taking swimming lessons at the Y again, in prep for the beach and pool this summer. We were lucky enough to snag the Director of Aquatics at our Y, and she is great with them. They are loving it this time, and making good progress. I'll be sure to keep you posted as to when they can really swim all by themselves. But in the meantime, it is one of the highlights of our week.

Now that the weather has been a little bit nicer, we've been spending as much of our weekend time together as possible at the park near our house playing soccer and flying kites. Both have become favorite ways of ours to run off some of the never-ending energy these boys seem to have.

So this week the boys have been on Spring Break and at home with me. While I do love having a little extra time to myself while they are at school, I have loved having them with me this week. I already feel like my time to play, teach them and love on them is too quickly running out, and I feel so aware of how short and precious my days are with my sweet boys. They truly are such a blessing to me, and I thank God for the honor of being their mommy every day.

Thanks for being patient about my lack of posts lately (to all of you who have been asking and asking)...my little business has been going well, and I've had so many orders lately that it is hard to do much else during naptime and after they go to bed at nights. Lots to balance and juggle while still keeping my priorities in place and often blogging doesn't make the cut. But with the economy the way it is, I am so thankful for the way God continues to bless me with business. All that to say, we are still here, and are glad you checked in on us. Love to you all!!!