Our Weekend Alone

I just realized that I never wrote about our weekend ALONE! By alone, I mean all four kids were out of town from Friday morning until Sunday afternoon and Adam and I were absolutely alone. Last year, Adam and I attended a wedding for his cousin in Texas and our four kids were in three different places, and the day before we left, Zoe came down with strep, so she was crying when we left her because she felt terrible, and we were flying standby so we got stuck in the Houston (Hobby, not the big one) airport for 8 hours (not an exaggeration) and since we were stuck we weren't able to get any of the kids until Monday. (Yes, I realize that is a run-on sentence, but it loses something if you break it up) Anyway, aside from that weekend, Adam and I haven't been alone since May 2002. Not kidding. We went to Tuscon, AZ for an amazing week in May of 2002. We moved into our first house in July 2002, got pregnant with Sebastian in Sept 2002 and the next three years were a blur of pregnancies, nursing and babies. And then we had four kids and three of them were under the age of 3, so there was no chance to ever be alone! So we were pretty excited.

Friday morning, my mom picked up the three littles and drove to Nashville to meet Adam's dad. Zoe had been with them that week. So, my mom exchanged Annabelle for Zoe. Annabelle went to Adam's dad's house and my mom, Zoe, Sebastian and Jude headed to Memphis to my brother's house. Awesome!

All day Friday, I went to Adam's office and worked. I really enjoy doing this, as I feel like I am contributing to getting his business going and it's fun. So, we got to go to lunch together. We came home and then went shopping for Jude's birthday. After shopping, we went to eat at Red Robin, which was yummy. And then we went to see a movie. We have a 2nd run theater here so we went to see Wolverine. I love all the X-Men movies so this was fun.

Saturday morning, I got up and went grocery shopping. I know, sounds so very exciting, but it was fun because I was alone and it wasn't midnight! I almost always shop late at night, otherwise I at least have the ten year old with me and she talks non-stop.

Then we headed to Atlanta and took in a Braves game. I've never been to a Braves game and we had such a great time. It was so much fun just being together and having uninterrupted conversations!

Sunday was church. We just got up, got ourselves dressed and went to church. I think we were completely showered and ready to go in like 45 minutes total. Seriously. After church, some friends took us to lunch. Those of you with large families know that you never get invited to lunch with anybody! So that was so nice.

Then I went to get Annabelle and the other kids came home on Sunday night. I was very ready to see them and missed them. My batteries were recharged and I was so appreciative of the break!

Jude's 5th Birthday

I cannot believe my baby boy is 5 years old! We had a great day celebrating and ended the day with friends and family at Pump It Up. We had a blast! And, the kids are still enjoying the "loot" this morning.

So, in honor of his birthday, I thought I would write some stuff about him. If you would like to read his birthday story, it can be found here.

Jude is such a funny kid. He has more self-confidence than a five year old should be allowed to have. He walks with his chest sort of puffed out with a strut and he owns any room he enters.

Since he was little, I have called him Jude-a-licious, which is sometimes shortened to Licious or just Lisch. A couple of months ago at soccer practice, I said something to him and called him Licious and he said, "Mom, don't call me Licious at soccer!"

This past weekend, he announced to us all that no one is to call him cute anymore. He said, "Since I'm five years old, you have to say I'm handsome or cool. Five year olds aren't cute!" Sorry, but it's so cute that you told me not to call you cute!

Jude is also my child who is very hesitant to admit that he 's done anything wrong. Sebastian will do something and you ask him if he did it and you get an immediate, "Yeah, I did that." Jude will say, "Will I be in trouble if I did?" Then he will confess, but he just wants to know what he's up against first.

Jude would prefer not to share anything. And, when he does share, he has to establish that the item he is sharing is in fact his, not yours, lest you forget and try to keep it forever. When he lets Annabelle play with something, for instance, the whole time she has it, he tells her, "That's mine, but I'm letting you play with it."

Jude is very competitive (just to prove he doesn't just look like Adam, he also has his personality) and very athletic. He also does not give up until he accomplishes what he was trying to do. I have seen him in my mom's backyard by himself for an hour and a half until he could successfully hit the badminton birdie over the net. Sebastian had given up 15 minutes into the exercise. Jude kept on going until he could do.

Jude loves to swim and can jump off diving boards and swim himself to the shallow end, which is a skill we just learned this summer. He swims underwater and just naturally started a free style stroke when he swims. It really is cute, just don't tell him I called him cute.

Jude is a very affectionate child who loves with his whole heart. He plays well with everyone in our family. He has a quick wit and loves to make people laugh. I love that boy!

Zoe's Hair

A friend of Zoe's invited her to spend the night last night and while she was there, the mother colored both girls hair with purple streaks and some blond highlights. (Yes, she asked my permission first and I said, "Sure...it's only hair." I really like it! I wasn't sure what to expect at all, but it looks really good and very stylish. She was very excited. Thanks, Melissa!

4th of July and What-Not

We had a really good 4th of July. I was supposed to work at 4 pm so, we decided to get an early start on the day. Adam's office needed a small refrigerator and Target had one on sale that he liked. The Target closest to us was sold out of them so we headed to the Cleveland Target and got it. Then, we went to McKays, which is a HUGE warehouse full of books, music and DVDs. We had so much fun. Adam's new office has one wall that is floor to ceiling shelves, so he decided to put old books on it. Not law books, just books in general. We found a bunch of them at McKays that were like $3 or so a piece. I looked through the homeschooling section, but we had all four kids with us and I needed to have some undistracted time in that area. I picked up a cute math book that is also a cookbook for kids, so they learn fractions and other math concepts and then they get to eat what they have created. It's really cute and I think everyone will enjoy it.

After McKays we went down to Adam's office to install the refrigerator and coffee maker and put his books away. His office is really starting to take shape nicely. I'm so proud of him! Both of them are super busy, which is so great. And, he is really enjoying what he is doing. He is also being the office manager, so he is spending some of his time doing that too and he likes it.

After that, we came back to the house and went to the pool for a little. I went to work at 4:00 and at 4:03, they told me that I could go on home if I want to. Um...let me think...BYE! So, I came back home! We went over to my mom's and grilled out and then shot fireworks. We do that every year and it's always so much fun! We had a great time!

Then, this morning was the 4th of July program at the church and then our Sunday School class got together for lunch and fellowship. It was fun-we have a small class, but we really care about each other and pray for each other. They are special people.

So, that's about it...life at our house hasn't been too exciting these days...we're just adjusting to Daddy's new job and schedule and getting ready for the fall. On the homeschooling front, I have made a few curriculum decisions, but not everything yet. I have a math curriculum for Zoe, a science curriculum for Zoe and a reading program and handwriting curriculum for the boys. I also decided on the umbrella school I'm going to use. So things are slowly coming together. I'm still excited, but also getting nervous as the time to really start approaches. God is good and He will give me the strength to do what needs to be done. I can't wait to start!

July 1st

Well, July 1st is here! Adam wrapped things up at the old office yesterday and started at Markel & Major today. I cannot believe it is here! Of course, with this move comes a little apprehension and nervousness. But, God has provided so far and I'm confident He will continue to provide for us.
In preparation for this move, I have picked up more hours at Target. Here is one area that God has already provided for us. At Target, I do Human Resources. Well, our store is only allotted so many hours for each area of the store per week. There is a full time human resources person there already and she is guaranteed her forty hours a week and then I get what is left. Usually, I get my hours by working one or two four hour HR shifts a week and then a couple of cashier shifts to get the additional hours. Well, she will be on vacation part of this week and part of next week, so I am getting all HR shifts this week and next! Of course, that means that the next paycheck will be bigger and will help carry us through this unknown period. Also, one of those shifts is on the 4th of July, which means time and a half because it is a holiday! God is so very good!
Other than that, not much is going on here. We go to the pool almost every day and all of the kids have become very good swimmers. It's funny to watch them and to think that only Zoe could swim in May. Now, the boys can do handstands and swim everywhere. At the beginning, Jude always wore floaties because he felt more secure, but now he doesn't wear them at all and just swims all over the place. Annabelle still wears her floaties, but that is just because she can't reach the bottom of the pool. She loves the water. And, last year, she wouldn't even get in the water fountains at Coolidge Park (fountains that shoot out of the ground)! It's lots of fun and we are all very tan! :)

Been Awhile

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile! We've been busy but not really doing anything to blog about. We had a week of VBS in there and all the kids had so much fun. Adam is gearing up to making the permanent move to Markel and Major with July 1st being his official start date. We're really excited about it! And, a little nervous too, but I know God will provide.

Let's see...also we got Jude's haircut to look like his brother's hair and it looks so very cute!

And, my friend Christine had her baby boy today and I got to be her labor support/coach! It was such a neat experience and I'm glad to say that he arrived safely! I'll not blog about it so I don't steal her thunder.

Maybe I'll post later when more is going on...

Sebastian's Hair Cut

Adam took Sebastian to get his hair cut yesterday. For a little over a week now, Sebastian has been begging us to take him and get "all his hair cut off". He wanted it to be "completely gone". Since he continued to ask for the same thing, we decided we would do it. So here it is...

Before...


After...

The lady cut SEVEN inches off of his hair! He loves it too! And he looks so much older. He was going around and kept rubbing his head all afternoon. It was so funny. I really like it too, even though I was kind of sad to see his long hair go. What a big boy!