Apples, Bananas, Gutters and more

1. Yesterday I was eating a banana and C was carrying on, screeching and yelling at me. I said, if you can say banana you can have it. Instantly he stopped screeching and as clear as a bell, "NANA!"

2. Thetwinsand I picked 5 gallons plus a wagon load of apples off the tree in our yard. Not sure what kind they are,but they will be applesauce soon!

3. The moon is so beautiful right now that I went outside to take a photo. Which is ridiculous because the photo is terrible! But still it looks awesome right now. Hope my sweet husband is seeing it, too.

4. I have spent every minute of my preschool time cleaning like a madwoman. In fact, I had to replace my vacuum'sbeltand filter! To my utter amazement, it has been picking up an embarrassingly enormous amount of stuff since then, inspiring me move furniture and vacuum underneath, which inspires me to rearrange furniture, which always surprises my husband even though I'm prone to it. So, surprise, honey! I moved a bunch of stuff around. Be sure to tell me how great it looks;) 

5. The house is still a work in progress, but I'm beginning to see countertops, carpet and the bottom of the laundry hamper again. I keep reminding myself that if I ever truly catch up, I will have worked myself  out of a job! It's nice to see our beautiful living room rug again. I've missed it.

6. A man came selling siding and gutters tonight. He was friendly, but then asked about the MN license plates (not due till Decembersowhyspend the money right?). He asked why in the h-e double hockey sticks we would move To MICHIGAN?! I smiled and said, because we're from here. I actually feel bad for the guy now, for two reasons. One, he's not going to get my business using profanity (not thatI wasgoingto buy gutters) and two, no hometown pride. He admitted to being a Michigander but told me the state is going downhill. Right, it needs people like us to come back, I told him. 

7. M and N are getting so curious and talkative! It was a couple weeks ago, we were talking about how their aunt is pregnant. I showed them a picture of my twin pregnant belly, talked  

about how N kicked M in the head and against my belly. Then, you guessed it! N asked how they came out! Thank goodness (for the first time in my life I am glad ) I had a C section! Dr. C cut my belly and pulled you put like this, Isaid, lifting N up by his ankles. (He was Breech) they laughed and it was over..but Idbetter prepare myself for next time

8. I turn 36 next week. A younger friend on Facebook was lamenting sitting near teenagers while (I think) studying at a coffee shop. I wanted to write a snarky remark along the, lines of, you just wait there young lady....but I refrained. Because I'd rather be where I am now, light years away from coffee shop studying (that I can hardly remember) cozy in my house with 3 little munchkins breathing their heavy sleepy time breaths, keeping me so busy all day that my head quite literally spins, than where I was when I was studying French (oui, oui, c'est vrais!) longing for this day. This day I'm married to theman of my dreams, raising kids, and doing life together. It's what I wanted during, coffeeshop studying days. Thank you, Lord, for giving meanotheryearwith him, with them.

Tall Ships Festival in July

Shots and a sucker

Mr. C finally got to see his new doctor for his 15 month well baby today. Yes, he's 16 months and one day old. No, it's not my fault, OK?! The clinic rescheduled. 

Miracles happen, I LOVE our new pediatrician! Yes, she ran late, but I've learned a tough lesson this year: 'Tis better to wait for the good doctor than rush in to the first one you find! 

Poor baby had to get a bunch of shots (because Dr. Silly didn't follow CDC immunization guidelines- what the WHAT?!) to catch up to where he should be, but he seemed to forgive me with a grape sucker. 

He's healthy and strong, perhaps on the short side right now, but she said we'll just keep an eye on that. Much more professional than, he could have a thyroid disease and become retarded so we should should take a blood test, like last time. (Yes, Dr. silly used that word, No, I am not making this up. Hence, we left.)

P.S. he scored %100 on his 15-20 months developmental survey. There's a lot of learning going on in that 95th percentile head circumference! 

P.P.S. did I really not post back to preschool pics? Ok, I'll see about that. 

I'm So Far Behind I Thought I Was First

 All my friends are posting their kids' first day of school pics. My own kids start preschool next week so before I take their back to school pics, I need to upload my summer pics and lo and behold, you've seen about 3 photos from this summer!  So here are a few more...from July.  Yes, like 6 weeks ago.  But since it's hot and muggy and very summer-like feeling today, and these are summer pics, they're not SOOO long ago.  Okay, I'm in denial.  I'm so far behind I thought I was first.

 We drove into Bay City to see the Tall Ships sail into town for the Tall Ships Festival.  They are just beautiful.

 We sat by the side of the road for the Auburn Corn Fest Parade.  The boys wore their clop clops because of the fire engines and I explained how the girls with the flags are called Color Guard and mommy did that when she was in high school.  They were underwhelmed.

 We have had next to no ice cream this summer due to the dairy intolerance N seems to have.  So this pic of the N and M eating sherbet (and guess what, there is dairy in that, too!) once this summer is a keeper.  Aren't they cute?

 A few times we filled the dragon pool and I sang rub  a dub dub 3 men in a tub.  Then C pooped in it so the fun was over.

This is so comfy...I have an idea...

We spent a day up North with some MN friends visiting their family's cabin and even had a pontoon ride!

My mother's day Hibiscus has been blooming like crazy this summer!

 And once I even put all 3 in the actual tub! 

I know that doesn't quite tell the whole story of our summer, but it will hold you over till we get some back to school pics and I get some quiet time to think and therefore write something intelligent! 

Family Vacation, Tawas Edition

1. Cabins on the beach!
2. Hubs' family next to ours.
3. Sand on our feet, in our hair, in our beds.
4. Showering little boys because the cabin is so small there is no tub.  Bathe the baby in the sink.
5. S'mores on the beach bonfire
6. Blueberry picking with three four year olds.
7. VACATIONING with three four year olds.
8. Swimming in cool, clear shallow, beautiful Lake Huron water.
9. Packing enough food to feed an army.
10. 11 people eating enough food to feed an army.
11. Watching the meteor showers light up the sky.
12. Identifying constellations and the Milky Way.
13. Spraying Listerine on our feet for bug spray (who knew?)
14. Sharing a double with a sandy four year old and a wiggly one year old.
15. Thunderstorm at kiddie bedtime.
16. Trying to remember how to play Euchre. Going to bed because I'm too old for that!
17. Sandcastles
18. We have the whole place (almost) to ourselves: 300' of perfect sugar sand!

Jumping Waves

Beach Bum

Kitchen sink bath

Beach Bonfire

Lookin' Good!  And I don't mean just the marshmallows!

Gimmee S'more!

Mama, Papa and Baby Bear

Brother Bears

Kiss, kiss!

Cheese!

Catchin' some rays

19. Nikon dies halfway through trip.
20. Get a little teary because this awesome place we just found closes to the public next year :(
21. Blog about it and relive the memories!

Science Alive

I narrowly avoided the waiting list for the most anticipated kids summer library event. I didn't really know what I signed them up for, just that it was the DON'T MISS event of the season. And seeing as how we'd already missed the alleged second-best event due to a waiting list, I was glad we got a spot. This morning, I prayed the boys would behave and that it was worth it. 

It was! For an hour, my kids sat (relatively) still, enraptured by a herpetologist teaching kids about animals. He got down on the floor and let each kid who wanted touch the animals. 

 Chi the Chinchilla was everyone's favorite because he was so soft. 

This is Sheldon the tortoise (N remembered his name-I could not!) who is 34 years old. The kids loved that Mr. Science could push his beak like a button to make him go inside his shell. 

This is a 3 banded armadillo, the only type that can roll itself into a ball, we learned. Also, it is the only one Ive ever seen alive; I've seen many road kill armadillos in TX, all of which were 3 times its size. 

Frogzilla, a Giant African Pixie Frog (no joke) is 14 years old and can grow twice its current size. Thought this would be N's favorite (he's a frog, he says) but Chi won out in the end. 

Here we are being hugged by a baby Burmese Python named Sunny. The kids jumped into my lap when he opened her container and refused to touch her. When I reached out to show them it was ok, Mr. Science offered a hug, so here we are. N was a wee bit uncomfortable, though...

It lived up to its hype, and I'm glad we went. Totally in love with our local library. 

He's Walking!

Just a few days shy of 15 months, C finally let go and started walking! I'm so proud of him!

He's really becoming his own little person, the quintessential baby brother. To let the boys practice "going fast" on their bikes, we took them to the church nearby this evening and brought C's walker along so he had some wheels.  The twins were racing up the handicap access ramps and back down to gain speed. c watched for a minute, then did the same.  He walked up the ramps, turned around, then ran down the ramp and picked his feet up at the bottom to glide! Oh, my, he is funny!

M and N are also fulfilling the big brother stereotype. One of them rammed C's walker- with him inside- at full speed in the parking lot tonight. I suppose he thought it was funny? C wasn't hurt, but big bro sat in time out, pouting, for several minutes.

This summer has been very busy with swimming lessons and hanging out with our families. Hubs' travel schedule has been reasonable, so we've had some good family time just hanging out together. The boys wrap up lessons this week, but I'll be signing them up again in the fall.  They love it! Next week we have a mini vacation planned for Tawas, so we are looking forward to some fun in the sun. Here's hoping the weather warms up enough for the beach!

School starts Sept. 4, so once we are back into the swing of a routine schedule, I hope to have more blogging time. See you soon!

Mother Teresa's Anyway Poem

"If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; 

Be happy anyway."

Mother Teresa's Anyway Poem

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

There is so much to say about this poem, but the line I quoted at the top is what has been rolling around in my mind for days.

Most of the time when I don't post for a long time it's because I'm busy. 
Some of the time I use busy as an excuse for not posting.
Sometimes I don't post because I feel like I HAVE found serenity and happiness.
Which doesn't always make interesting blog posts, and sometimes makes people jealous.
So, rather than share my joy I keep it to myself because I have so much MORE than other people, or I have what they want...
but that's not what Mother Teresa said to do.
Because that's not what the Bible says to do.

"You are the light of the world.  A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.  Instead they put it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:14-16

Coincidentally, while looking for this passage, I found Mark 4:25, "Whoever has will be given more, whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him," 

I feel like I am on the receiving end of "more," that I "have," and have been given "more." More family, more love, more children, more health, more happiness and it all of that, serenity. 

I haven't written because I've been enjoying MORE of what God has given me - more boys, more life, more adventures, more love than I imagined!

And I am happy.

Busy, tired, and happy.