Keep Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

I forgot to post our fun from Thursday in the excitement of Caleb's year-and-a-half birthday. On Thursday morning, Grandma called and asked if we wanted to go along to AC Moore, which had trains on sale. Sure! She met us here, and we went to the store together. She bought Joshua some 'Cars' stickers he begged for, and we got some more curves and 'splitters' (not sure what they're actually called) for our train tracks. She also got a whole train set like ours and told me she ordered a train table so the boys would have fun playing at her house, too. :) She also got several crafty things for her new projects, and she bought Caleb a new little cookie monster puzzle to look at. From there, we went and got her car and drove separately to the Olive Garden. She invited my sister Jen & her kiddos to join us there. We feasted on soup, salad & bread sticks, which were delicious. Faith also asked me to play a new game with her on the little children's menu, and I enjoyed watching her think. She really is amazingly sharp. When we got home, the boys went right to sleep. But, Joshua said in the meantime "I had fun at the Christmas lunch with Ma-maw." I guess everyday is Christmas with Grandma! Haaa!!! She even thoughtfully came with a new shirt for me & my sister from my favorite store, J. Jill. :)

That night I started tanning. I must say that I agree with everyone who is against tanning - it's not healthy for you, it causes cancer, it gives you wrinkles, etc. But, Shawn was thoughtful and bought me a gift card to the local tanning place, and we're planning on going away for our anniversary this year somewhere warm. So, the idea is not to get burned. And, since it might be nice to be a little tan before my birthday this year, too, if I can keep it up. So, I started awhile. I got a little pink on my belly the first time (normally my swimsuit covers my mid-section!), so the next time I'm going to just wear my typical swimsuit there. I don't care about tan lines, and again, the whole idea is to not get burned in the sun. I also worked out for the first time that afternoon, and I got about half an hour into the DVD before I noticed the pain in my side where the gallbladder had been. So, I quit right then and there. But, I'll take it for now. At least it's something.

I already posted about Friday with lil' Caleb Luke's birthday, so on to Saturday we go! After getting ready that morning, my Dad came over to watch the boys so we could run an errand - and my hottie husband even washed my car for me. [Joshua kept telling me he couldn't get in my car because it was dirty.] When we got back, Joshua helped me create a birthday card for Faith and I 'wrapped' her gifts in a bag, and Grandpa Georgia rode with the two of us to Overlook Roller Skating Rink for Faith's sixth birthday party. Daddy stayed home with Caleb, who was ready for his nap (Joshua had napped while Grandpa was here, thankfully, since he had missed his the day before and didn't sleep well overnight. He was exhausted and napped early in the morning - God is good!). When we arrived at the rink, Joshua told me he had to go potty. The doors weren't open yet, but they graciously let us in to use the facilities. Soon enough everyone was there and we were allowed to enter. I got both of our skates and let the folks know that this was Joshua's first time so please tighten the wheels. The guy told me that all the little skates are pretty well tightened, but if we thought it needed to be more to let him know. I told him I didn't know the difference.

When I put the skates on the Bean's feet, he told me he didn't want them - he just wanted wheels on his shoes. Um, that's not how it works! Daddy had let him watch a video earlier that day of babies roller skating to "Rapper's Delight" (knowing how much Grandpa Ginder likes that song...it made us all smile). So, he was ready but didn't really understand how it all worked. The skates were really heavy on his ankles, and he said he didn't like them. I put his feet up to alleviate his stress, and then I laced up my skates. I realized it had been over 20 years since I'd been skating last. Yikes! I was wobbly when I got up. I nearly fell a couple times as I got my bearings but luckily caught myself. Thankfully, my Dad was there to help with the Bean (and Grandpa didn't skate; although he talked about it). Joshua did AMAZING! At first he held onto the wall and demanded that I take his skates off. He would often tell me "these are broken" so I'm wondering if he would have liked the wheels less tight. But, if Grandpa was across the way a bit and Joshua wanted him, he left go of my hand and would skate right up to him, not holding onto a thing. He was Grandpa's buddy the whole afternoon. I went around on the actual wood floor of the middle part several times to get used to being on wheels again. I knew some of my sister's friends (or I should say Faith's friends' parents) and didn't know others. It didn't really matter. I skated by myself and was glad not to have to go faster to keep up with anyone. The key area to be in was not near the walls where the little falling ones were and not in the middle where the fast people were but sort of that middle area. I likened it to driving - being safe from an accident was all about prayer and watching the people around you. If someone else crashed, you needed to quickly react to not be along with them. :)

Joshua would come in the middle rink with me down the one side and exit at the end of it, going back up next to Grandpa on the outskirts while I circled the rink again and would get him. We did this for quite awhile. Then he wanted to sit with Grandpa and would wave at me every time I came around. Soon enough it was time to watch Faith blow out the candles on her cake. I knew the one guy, Brett, who was the dad of Faith's friend from church, through Jen. He used to go to game night where Shawn & I first met. He looked at me sort of shocked and said something to the effect of him being surprised that I wasn't better at skating...something like "You don't look like you'd be bad at skating, what is it, lack of experience?" I almost laughed out loud. It was like "you don't look as clumsy as you are..." Haaaa!!! I'm just thankful that I didn't fall once while we were there. I would say about half way through the party, I was much more comfortable and going a bit faster than the beginning. I also helped serve cake to Jen's guests and didn't fall once (although, I did have to grab onto Grandpa at one point to stop).


Here's Joshua pre-haircut on the left and post-haircut on the right.

But, truly, the story of the day was Joshua (well, at least for me... all the parents feel that way about their kids; the real story was Faith's birthday, but what impressed me the most was the Bean, I should say). Joshua didn't fall at all until about a half an hour before it was time to go. He fell going from the cement outer part to the wooden inner part of the rink, and I'm not sure he didn't just trip. It didn't phase him, though; he got right back up and kept on going. Many of the little ones there could barely stay on two feet, and he had no problem. He didn't necessarily like it until about half way through, but he did just fine with it. He must have Shawn's coordination (smile). He would skate right around other kids falling, not holding my hand (because that annoyed him) and not holding onto the wall  (because others were there). He wanted to be independent, but he didn't mind skating next to my walking dad. Grandpa would tell the Bean how great he was doing, and he would beam. He didn't love the skates, but he was having a ball. He smiled from ear to ear most of the afternoon. He told us the whole rest of the night that he did a fantastic job at the roller skating rink. Yes, yes he did. He was well-behaved and really did a great job. I was glad Dad was there. And, I had fun skating around, too. We stayed the whole time. The last two songs were a couple's skate, so I did the one song with Grace and part of another with Joshua and then we took off our skates and said our goodbyes.

We put Joshua's "little TV" (as he calls his new DVD player from Grandma & Grandpa Ginder) in the bathroom with him to try and help alleviate his fear of doing his business in there. Caleb was enjoying the new Thomas the Train movie from Ma-maw with the Bean.

That night to thank Dad for his help and reward Joshua for his good behavior, we treated to Infinito's Pizza Buffet, which I would guess to be Joshua's favorite restaurant (or what he asks for when we ask him where he'd like to go). Dad had never been there before and seemed to like it. It was a nice day.

Here's Caleb Luke before his haircut on Sunday.

Yesterday morning, I asked Shawn if he would like to go to church, and he declined. He's starting to feel a little better but not great. I said okay. I'd like to get back into the routine, but we'll start next weekend. We were supposed to have life group, but our friends were sick. :( So, we'll start that again in two weeks. (Hope ya'll feel better!). We did some cleaning up, Shawn let me exercise, and we ate healthier. Strawberries were buy one get one free at Giant, and they were AMAZING! The kids really loved them, too. :) We took a little Sunday afternoon drive and Shawn cut the boys hair before bed. It was a pretty uneventful but nice day overall.

And here's Caleb after his haircut - doesn't he look older? He's officially wearing 18-month clothing now - the 12-month is too short for him and is now packed away.

All last night Shawn kept me awake with his coughing. Half incoherent, I kicked him to the sofa. Had I been more awake, I would have just gone myself, especially knowing how much pain he's in (sorry, sweetie!). I must have growled at him for keeping me awake and he left. I was SO tired. He was, too, but he's pretty sick. So, this morning when I got up at 5:30 to exercise, I tucked him back in bed and he ended up calling off sick to work today. Poor guy! I took the Bean to preschool and picked him up. The boys are enjoying a CD I found of sing-a-long worship songs, and they are especially liking "My God is SO BIG, so strong and so mighty, there's nothing my God cannot do..." When I picked Faith up from school this afternoon, she & Joshua were singing the tune of it and she said "I sang this song at preschool!" I smiled because that's where Joshua knows all the words from, too. Same preschool, different teacher, different year. :) Mike's grandma passed late last week, and the funeral was yesterday with the burial today. So, I picked Faith up from kindergarten since it's right behind our house and she ate lunch with us (she always begs for peanut butter & jelly sandwiches since they don't have them at their house because Daniel is allergic). We also played Wii boxing and bowling, and we built a new train track before her mommy came to get her. I think she had fun, and I know Joshua did, too. :) :) :)

Happy 6th birthday, Faith! :)