Will We Survive?

On November 13, Joshua came home from school and exclaimed "It's getting so cold out! I hope we survive the winter..."

A Date with Daddy

After his last soccer game, I had taken Joshua on a date to Sweet Frog to celebrate. We've been trying to be more intentional about having one-on-one time with the kids. So, on November 16, Daddy took Caleb with him on a date. They went to Sweet Frog (the boys LOVE it!) and enjoyed some ice cream before hitting the grocery store. The boys love this special time together with us. :) We love our little men!

Happy birthday! :)

We were invited to Nonie & Poppy's house to celebrate Jordon's 11th birthday with Aunt Alicia and the 'Good' side of the family. We sang to him, watched him blow out his candles and enjoyed seeing him open his gifts. The boys LOVE Jordon (so do we, of course) and they follow him around. Joshua even told Jordon about a bad dream he'd have. Jordon is very patient with the younger kiddos, which we appreciate. They always have so much fun!

After this, Ryan kept telling us every day that it was Jordon's birthday. He wanted to go celebrate Jordon's birthday again! It's Jordon's birthday today! Imagine his surprise when I told him that we were soon going to celebrate Jesus' birthday (with Christmas around the corner). Ryan wasn't too sure that anyone got to have a birthday but Jordon.

On the 16th of November, we celebrated Isabella's 6th birthday at That Bounce Place. Here are Daddy with Ryan and Mr. Chris with Aiden when we first arrived.

Ryan didn't really want to bounce, but he loved playing basketball with Daddy!

I didn't get too many pictures there, even though the boys were having a blast! It's hard to take pictures while kids are literally jumping up and down. Most of them were downright blurry. The boys loved climbing the big slide and going through the mazes and meeting new friends and playing with the kids from the party.

Ryan loves to bounce at Universal, but he wasn't too sure about it here. I think he also just wanted to be close to Shawn.

Caleb would sometimes go and play with Daddy and Ryan, too. He was a big helper!

I chatted with our friends and walked back and forth, making sure I could at least find the boys at all times.

Then we went to the party room where they served pizza for lunch, we sang to Izzy and her cousin (they had a double party) and watched them blow out their candles. She handed the boys little goody bags as thank you gifts when we left, which the kids LOVED. They had had so much fun!

Lisa and I also planned a date for just the two of us on November 21. She picked me up and we went to Carrabba's without the hubbies or the kids. It was FUN! I love going out with girlfriends. She asked me if she should bring me flowers for our date, and I giggled and said only if she wanted me to put out. We agreed no flowers needed - ha! :) :)

Thanksgiving Crafts

The above picture is of Caleb's preschool creation, which I thought was SO cute! It's an apple with the "feathers" being grapes and marshmallows and the head is a craft stick with a turkey head on it stuck in. Loved it! Caleb immediately ate it when he got home. :)

Mamaw & Papaw (used to be from Florida and now it's Tennessee) sent the boys Pilgrim & Indian crafts in the mail.

The boys enjoyed taking these little wooden dolls out and using markers to color them in.

 Here was Caleb's finished Indian:

Joshua picked a Pilgrim to decorate.

Here's his finished product:

Ryan also got markers and colored an Indian:

He colored himself and the table cloth, too! Good thing it's washable. :)

Here was a picture of him with his finished product. He wouldn't hold it up for us, but you get the idea.

Later in the month, Aunt Becky offered to come over and bring some Thanksgiving crafts with her for the boys to complete. These were little "Thankful" wreaths, and they were so cute!

After pulling apart all the foam leaves, wreath and other pieces, she told the boys to write on each one something that they were thankful for. They had to really think!

Becky asked Ryan what he was thankful for. He immediately responded, "BREAKFAST!" We laughed. He does indeed love breakfast. :)

Joshua said he was thankful for family, food, oxygen to breath (a good one for him!), water to drink, school and friends, and God.

Caleb said he was thankful for preschool, his brothers, Mommy & Daddy, food and God (if I'm remembering correctly).

Becky wrote down anything Ryan said he was thankful for, which included his brothers and family. :)

Then we used these glue dots that she brought to adhere the leaves to the green wreath.

After gluing the leaves on, we glued on a bow.

Then we glued on the holder to keep the wreath up.

After that craft, Aunt Becky gave them each a Thanksgiving scene where they could put stickers on to complete it how they wanted. They both enjoyed doing that as well.

Before she left, I tried to get some pictures of the kids and their crafts with her. Enjoy!

Thanks for the crafts and fun times!

Too Smart for His Own Good

So then there's that awkward moment when you're walking your oldest child to school and in front of everyone your pre-schooler announces "You're 23 years older than the number on that bus!!!" And yes, his math was correct.

Ryan's Big Boy Bed

The problem with not updating my blog regularly is that I sometimes forget to post "important" moments. For example, on October 5, we converted Ryan's crib into a toddler bed that he can climb in and out of. We were all nervous. I was worried that he would roam the house during the night; Shawn was concerned that he would fall (and even laid our king-size pillows next to the bed so that he would have a soft landing when he did fall out).

But, it was Joshua who was terribly scared for Ryan. He told us over and over again that he wasn't too sure about our decision to change the bed. Then he said the sweetest prayer for his baby brother, asking God to protect him and keep him safe. It literally brought tears to my eyes. I remembered Joshua falling out of his bed and busting his teeth and all the trauma he went through. The toddler bed is much lower to the ground and has a wood rail and generally speaking, it should be safer even if Ryan did fall out. But, I was so touched by Joshua's heart and concern (and my heart ached when remembering his grief). I loved his prayers.

Ryan did fall out a couple times over the next few nights. Shawn & I almost changed it back to the crib. We agonized over what was the "right" thing to do. But, eventually Ryan got the hang of staying in the space provided. And he never once roamed the house. In fact, he treated it like his crib. He would call for me when he woke up, just like he did in his crib.

We've since bought a regular single bed, but we haven't changed his room quite yet. Neither Shawn nor I are quite ready to get rid of the nursery decor. That room is the brightest, happiest room in our house, in my opinion. I love the froggies and the sunny colors. I love the yellow and white, green and blue. I love going in there and remembering putting it together when I had given birth to Joshua. I love the feeling I get when I rock a baby in there and look at the room and remember each child and lovingly caring for them. We will eventually give Ryan a big boy room, but we may wait another month or two...or more. We're in no rush to be baby-free, even though Ryan will tell us he's NOT a baby! He's TWO!

"Fall"ing in Love With Books!

Every season I try to go to the library and pick out books for the boys that deal with the holiday or month at hand. Joshua even brings home some from school that are about fall or Halloween or back-to-school, which I think is fun. We loved Froggy's Halloween book and many others. "Kiss GoodNight" has been a family favorite since Joshua was born, and it takes place in the fall as the leaves are coming down. I don't always remember to post about which ones we've read or thought are particularly good, but there have been several on pumpkins and apples and fall in general.

One book that my Schnook particularly loved was called "Bear Feels Scared" by Karma Wilson. In it, there's a storm coming as Bear is looking for food and the leaves are all around as Bear's friends come help him find his way home. Ryan will point to Bear and say "He's so scared!!!" I love hearing his little voice. I looked up other books by this author, and I didn't even realize she's written a TON of others that we love and some of which we even own. For example, we have "Animal Strike at the Zoo, It's True!" that the boys love (and we read before we hit the zoo!). She also wrote "Sleepyhead, Sleepyhead" which we enjoy and "Baby, I Love You" which I bought for Ryan last Valentine's Day and we read many nights before sleep. She also wrote "Mortimor's Christmas Manger" that Santa brought for Ryan this year for Christmas (since we love the book). WOW! I recognized many titles that she's written. I'm hoping to eventually grab some more of the "BEAR" books for Ryan to read because he enjoys them so much. Her books often rhyme and are very well written. We love them!

So, if you're looking for a fun children's book for the fall, may I recommend "Bear Feels Scared!" I also put the picture of Ryan on here in that coat because it reminds me of Joshua. I can't believe Ryan's old enough to wear the Bean's coat (and I think it started out as Jordon's coat! I remember all four boys in it! WOW - time flies!).

The Sweetest Place on Earth with the Sweetest Man on Earth

In my race packet I also received a shirt (pretty standard) AND two tickets to get into Hershey Park in the Dark. We had talked about taking the older boys, but we knew that the park would be a little overwhelming to Ryan who is getting big enough that he doesn't care to be in a stroller but is too little to walk long distances without tiring quickly. For the price of what it would cost to take the older boys with us (I think even discount tickets would have been over thirty dollars each) combined with already feeling the need to hire a babysitter, we decided just to make it a date night for the two of us to enjoy. I was SO excited!!! I lined up our babysitter and was almost giddy with excitement all week for Saturday to arrive.

We decided to go late afternoon. The park opened at noon, I think, but we didn't leave until closer to 4 pm because the idea was to go "in the dark." To do over again, we would go earlier in the day as the temperatures get cold once the sun goes down and we had the most fun when it was light out. I hadn't been on a roller coaster in years! We were trying to remember the last night and I was coming up blank. I remembered going to Hershey Park with Shawn's family when we were dating, and I think that may have been the last time for both of us. The first ride we got in line to do was the Comet. I was genuinely nervous! I'm terrified of heights! But, Shawn held my hand and is very calming and we had fun.

The ride he enjoyed the most was that little mouse one that doesn't look like it should be scary but it really is as it makes you feel like you are going right off over the edge before it whips you right back around. It is intense for looking like such a piddly little thing! We also did the lightning racers. I was too scared to go on some of them. Shawn insisted I go on the sidewinder and I really didn't want to. I mean I REALLY didn't want to. Luckily for me, it was closed when we got there. Whew! I would have gone since he insisted but I felt like I might throw up from fear. So, I was just as glad we didn't.

This was the last weekend to use the "free" tickets and the last weekend for the Park in the Dark, I think, so it was PACKED. We waited a long time in line for rides, but it was great to be just the two of us. No one was whining that they had to go to the bathroom or was bumping into strangers or was fighting for our attention. We got to just be together and enjoy each moment of chatting and laughing and being downright scared! I LOVED it!

We saw a Plinko game that cost extra. Shawn knows how much I used to love Price is Right and that Plinko was my favorite game on there. In fact, before we had kids we traveled to California to be on the Price is Right before Bob Barker retired. :) :) :) So, when we saw the game, even though the prizes were lame, Shawn insisted I play and paid the money for me to do it even though I protested that it wasn't worth the $5 to get three chips. It was an experience, he insisted. So, I did. And it WAS fun! On my first chip, I got one for some fudge. On my second one, I got the kiss doll that I really wanted to win (the only "cool" prize, in my opinion) and on the third one I landed on a "butt in line for a roller coaster fast pass." The kids in front of me landed on a hat or a discount on food or a whole lot of nothing! So, I was thrilled to have won my little kiss doll as a souvenir of our date and of my race. :) :) :)

When we saw the kissing tower, Shawn suggested we wait in the long line to go on. Neither of us had ever bothered to go in it before. It takes you way up high and you get a view of the entire park as it spins. The signs on the way in were cute. The one above said "In preparation...moisten your lips and pucker up!" Shawn did kiss me in the tower, which I thought was sweet. :)

The one below said about no food or drink or smoking - you'll need that mouth for kisses! ;-)

At the end of the night, we decided to do the sky view cable car ride (what is it called there?!?!). I was picturing the one at Dutch Wonderland that took you to the other end of the park. While we were near our car, Shawn LOVES that ride so I said it didn't matter if we had to walk the whole way back, let's do it! There was two older couples behind us that were obviously friends chatting away. As we rounded the corner, the one gentleman said, "You must get this all the time, but we were just talking about how you remind us of the actress who plays on Thrones" (or at least I think that was the show he said). She played Anne Boleyn, but her real name is Natalie Dormer, and he said I was "the spitting image of her" and they all couldn't get over it. I told him I had NEVER gotten that before, and I didn't even know who that was because I'd never seen the show. BUT, I giggled, and said that I hope that she's an attractive actress or I shouldn't be thanking him for the "compliment." They all laughed and said that she was indeed beautiful. Shawn knew who it was and said that she's "hot" and looked her up on his phone. Here, I had seen her before as she plays "Moriarti" in the show "Elementary" that we enjoy watching for his cleverness (a show based on the Sherlock Holmes books).

I wouldn't say she's as hot as Shawn thinks she is, but I was flattered by the compliment of these total strangers. They made my night (well, I was already having a pretty awesome day with the love of my life!).

This ride didn't stop at the other end of the park. Instead, it circles and takes you right back to the start. That was perfect for us! I felt like I had had enough "motion" for one day and was feeling just a little nauseated from all the roller coasters and movement, so we decided to end on a positive note. We left while we were ahead. Shawn stopped at the fudge shop and we tried something pumpkin that was so awful we immediately threw it in the trash (no need for the calories if it doesn't taste good!). We decided to eat at Red Robin that was right there because I love that place. While there was a wait, it wasn't too bad and we let our date go just a little longer. We talked and dreamed and just enjoyed each others' company. It had been a FANTASTIC date. Thank You, God, for my husband!