Happy 2nd birthday, Caleb Luke!

How is it that my baby is two years old already? I can't believe that he's growing so fast. I can see him maturing every day. For example, we got his pictures taken this morning and he listened to every word the gal said, unlike the other times where he wanted nothing to do with the picture taker.

Since the boys were so good at Picture People, we went down to the playground area and the kids played and played. I chuckled as Caleb said 'hi' to everyone we passed along the way. People who are looking down or scowling look up and smile when a 2-year-old says "hello!" and waves his hand at them. Then when we left the play area to get our lunch, Caleb said goodbye to all the children that he saw on our way out "bye, buddy! bye-bye, buddy!" I giggled. He is so sweet.

When we were driving in the car, we sang along to "My God is so BIG, so strong & so mighty, there's nothing my God cannot do!" and the boys did the hand motions. Then I put on their Mickey video at Caleb's request, and he answered the questions and sang along to it. His actions just show how much he is growing and processing now. When we got home, we read some books together and sang along to Thomas' Railway Rhythms (with 'Hail Hail the Gang's All Here,' 'Harold Flew Over the Mountain,' 'Good Night Thomas,' 'Here We Go Round the Railroad Track,' 'In & Out the Tunnel' and more). Then we pretended we were napping on the floor and we'd all wake up with "Good morning, good morning, good morning!" Soon it was time to tuck both boys in for their naps. I soon need to start getting ready for Bluke's party tonight.

More pictures and stories about Caleb to come! Happy birthday, my little love!

Silly Bean!

The other day, Joshua found a couple quarters on our counter where Daddy emptied his pockets. He immediately asked for lemonade. Shawn & I both looked at each other puzzled, then he said again "may I have that lemonade?" We giggled, remembering that they had watched a Curious George where he sold lemonade for money. He knows it's money, yet he thought that this was tied with lemonade as well. Every time he said it, we giggled. He is a funny kiddo!

Yesterday, he had been telling me most of the day how tired he was. And he should have been - he came to our bedroom throughout the night. I wanted him to wait to nap until it was time to help him not continue this schedule. I could tell he was getting really tired, though, and I wasn't sure we would make it. I asked him to do something which he whined about. Rather than get upset, knowing that does no good, I decided to change it up a little. Since the Bean loves stories, I offered to tell him a story. I said "Once upon a time, there was a boy named Joshua..." and I continued to explain what I wanted him to do. As soon as I was finished, he looked at me and asked if he could take a turn. He said, "Once upon a time, there was a boy named Joshua. And he was tired of stories and ready for his nap." I laughed and laughed and laughed!

Holiday? Or More Work?

Monday Shawn had off work for the 4th of July since it fell on a Sunday this year. We had planned on getting more yard work done. Shawn's brother and my sister both called that morning to see if we'd like to join them, and we declined since we knew the jungle needed tamed. That said, our yard is completely brown after frying this week!!! We worked and worked and worked on the yard, taking several trips to the dump. It was awful pulling weeds in the heat. At one point, I thought about sitting down to cry in my misery. But, we kept plugging away at it. Inch by inch, little by little, it looks better to us but doesn't look good in general.

After the kids woke up from their naps, we were so hot, we decided to take our neighbors up on their offer to let us swim in their pool 'anytime.' The boys loved it! We had bought Caleb swim floaties to replace the other ones we had lost (and wouldn't you know after wearing them a few times, I found the other ones today with our other swim bag!). Both boys are doing well in the pool. Joshua will let go for short distances with his on. Caleb is still scared but can float with them a little bit. The pool was extremely refreshing, and I'm sure we'll go again some time. We are blessed to have such sweet neighbors!

When we were done in the pool, Daddy made us some burgers for dinner. Then he said that he wouldn't mind seeing his brother, so he called Brian and invited his family to Freeze 'n Frizz for ice cream. The above pictures were taken there (Caleb with his shake; Jenavieve sitting on the window seat with our boys while we ordered our ice cream; and the 'boys' - Shawn, Brian, Grant, Joshua & Caleb in birth order).

Grant & Joshua pretended they were trains (while we watched to make sure no real trains came). At one point they were both Thomas, then Grant was Henry and Joshua was James, etc. Jenavieve & Caleb joined in toward the end of their game and Caleb decided he wanted to be Gordon. Anytime we asked him who he was, his response was Gordon. He 'choo choo-ed' along with the other kids, but he was definitely the caboose by far. :)

We also saw ducks swimming on the other side of the track. Unfortunately a couple older kids came and threw stones at the ducks and the baby duckies. Again, I wondered why the parents didn't correct them, but I guess that's just part of life. We didn't allow our children to throw stones. They enjoyed playing for a little while after we had all scarfed down our ice cream on this hot day. In fact, on our way home (which was around 8ish or a little later), the outside temp according to Shawn's car was still 95 degrees.

Since we hadn't done our sparklers the night before, we decided to let the kids have their fun after I gave them both a bath (they were covered in dirt from playing on the train tracks). The boys headed out in their jammies while Daddy prepared our fireworks & sparklers. Our neighbors were out watering their flowers and put a little water in our bucket for us since their hose was handy. I questioned doing them in the driveway, but Shawn said that was the safest place, especially with how dry our grass is right now. I said okay.

Once again the boys LOVED doing sparklers. I started out helping Caleb, showing him where to hold the 'stick' and how to keep it away from his body so he didn't get burned. Both boys did well dropping them into the bucket of water after they were done.

Joshua & I did one together. We spelled his name and MOM & DAD before my sparkler was done.

Then we decided to try some of the other things Shawn had got at the store to celebrate the 4th of July. The first thing was .99 cents and it was quite the show of colors. The boys LOVED them!

Daddy thought they were a good deal for the price! I had to agree. The kids would call out the color (each one was a different one) and they were nice to watch. Then Daddy had bought two more expensive ones (less than $10). So, he decided to set the first one off, telling the kids to get back on the step before he did. Thank GOD he said to do that! We had NO idea how massive this firework thing was. It let off all sorts of noise and bangs and pops and fire shot out everywhere. I have never seen anything like it in a legal 'home' firework. Our neighbors who had gone inside came back out with their hose to make sure their house was okay. I thought we were all going to have a heart attack 'til it was over (or at least I was). Both kids jumped up to me as they were terrified (and probably sensed our apprehension as well). We were close to our cars, we have gas in our garage for the lawn mower, we were close to dead grass. This was not the best idea we've ever had. That said, we didn't really think that this little thing would go off the way it did. Here's the first picture before I dropped the camera and held the boys as it continued to go off for what felt like an eternity.

Our neighbor sweetly suggested that we take the other one to the street. We laughed and said that one was MORE than enough! We were done! We all chuckled (thankfully!). Praise God we were all safe. Shawn did take some precautions, but it was just that this was "unexpected." :) :) :) :)

Joshua said he'd like to do more sparklers instead. We agreed that that was a good plan. We did another box or so of sparklers and then they went right in to bed. :) Thus ended our holiday weekend!

Don't Try This At Home

More to come on our 'adventures' from today...

The 4th of July Holiday Weekend

When we were at the Cintron's Friday night, the Grube's asked us if we would want to go with them to see fireworks. I hadn't even thought about the 4th of July holiday, so we said sure. We always enjoy our time spent with them.

Saturday morning we woke up bright & early and started our yard work. It had become a jungle, almost literally. Daddy started trimming back bushes with the power equipment while I took the boys to the playground out back. Then when we came back, I started picking up all the trimmings while the boys played. Soon we gave them lunch and put them to bed since it was SO HOT!!! Right about that time my sister Becky called to see if I'd like to go swimming at the Skyline Pool in Manheim Township. After checking with Shawn, I said sure since my ankle was feeling extremely swollen with all the work I had already done, weeding back the side of our house and the backyard and cleaning up trimmings from all the bushes, etc.

Skyline Pool was actually a LOT nicer than I thought it would be. There were two areas less than two-feet deep that had a mini-slide, water features that sprayed down and around, and didn't dump into deeper waters, etc. They were PERFECT for little kids. There were several other areas including a lap pool, a 'playing' area, a diving area and these cool water slides. I took these pictures off the township website because I hadn't taken my camera. It was pricey to get into, but the pool was really nice and not crowded at all. I would definitely take the kids by myself sometime and not worry so much about their safety with these smaller pool areas.

While we were at the pool, the boys napped and Shawn mowed and did some more yard work. Becky & I left around 4ish and she came back to our house to give Caleb his birthday presents, which included a Cars sticker book and a movie from Focus on the Family about cars and good life lessons. He's enjoying them both. She went home to get changed for a family gathering with her in-laws, and I got a shower and ready for our evening with friends, including changing the boys into their shirts and asking Daddy if he'd be willing to dress like me, which he called 'gay' but said he'd be willing to do. :) :) :) I said that it was the opposite of gay - it showed that he loved his wife. ;-)

We arrived at our friends house and saw that they had similar outfits as us. Isabella was in red & white stripes and Lisa was wearing a navy t-shirt. She made Chris go change into navy blue as well. Then we ordered takeout and enjoyed our sandwiches on their deck, listening to music from their new umbrella. The kids had a great time playing with one another. They played in their sandbox and chased the dog around, etc.

After we stayed there awhile chatting, the darkness began to fall and Lisa suggested sparklers. We were nervous as our kids had never done them before, and we feared they may get burned. But, they all did really well with them! In the picture above, Chris is lighting them up!

Joshua made his letters in the sky with his sparkler, and Isabella made big circles. I forgot my camera, so Shawn took these with his phone. I'll have to get some better ones from Lisa who took a bunch with her camera.

Daddy helped Caleb with his first sparkler, and Caleb said he was 'all done!' But after watching his big brother and 'Bella' do more, he decided to give it another try and his last one he did by himself. All the kids (and the parents) thought they were really neat.

We also saw lightning bugs, which Isabella calls 'Ray' from the movie the Princess & the Frog. Some night we'll have to go out and catch them like we did when I was little.

After the sparklers were done, we cleaned up and headed to Marietta to watch the fireworks. Chris pulled into the perfect parking spot, and they had lawn chairs and blankets ready. We hadn't brought anything, but they were prepared for all of us. :) They even brought snacks for the kids. We feared Joshua might be terrified of them like he was last year, but instead he really seemed to enjoy them. I think it helped that his friend liked them, too.

The fireworks started at 10 pm and were done by 11. It took us a little over half an hour to get home, and by the time we got the kids in PJs and put to bed it was after midnight. They were still up bright and early the next morning, though, so we made it to church on time and sat with our friends, the Cintron's and the Spencer's (the Grube's didn't make it after all). We had a great night watching the fireworks - which I think get cooler every year. And Lisa & I even did a sparkler with the kids. It was a great way to celebrate the holiday!

The next day we took a Sabbath day of rest. I've been feeling more convicted about it, so we did no yard work, no house work, no nothing. We did get pizza for dinner that night and watched a movie but it was a day to relax (or as much as you can with kids). They swam in the pirate pool that Daddy had patched and we just enjoyed being home together. Thus ended our Sunday, the real 4th of July. We didn't do sparklers last night because the kids got tired and we put them to bed in the middle of our movie. But, that was okay. We can all say that we're "proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free, and I won't forget the men who died who gave that right to me and I'll gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today cause there ain't no doubt I love this land... God bless the USA!"

It's Time to Par-ty!

Friday night, we were invited to celebrate Alayna's 3rd birthday. The Cintron's are friends from life group, and Joshua & Alayna love playing together. We arrived at their house promptly at 6 pm. Soon the other guests trickled in including other life group friends and a couple gals I knew from MOPS and their kids. Here's Alayna blowing out the candles on her Dora cake.

Here's Daddy & Caleb Luke before they enjoyed their delicious cake & ice cream and treats. Caleb tried playing with bubbles for awhile, but when Shawn saw him try to drink the 'water' he cut him off from blowing his own. ;-)

After the kids finished eating, they went swimming in the pool with all the other kids. There was quite the group in there, and the kids were LOVING it! I watched from on the deck, where I could sit and not put too much strain on my ankle. But Daddy took care of the boys and got all these pictures. :)

All the kids were having a blast. And the parents were enjoying talking as well.

Soon it was time for Alayna to open her gifts and our kids came to us to get changed as their lips were blue almost from the cold water and the sun starting to go down. They thought their pool was really awesome, though.

At the end, they also got out Alayna's "wheels" and they took turns going for a spin. The kids all thought this was great fun as well.

Happy 3rd birthday, Alayna! We're glad you were born three years ago and we've enjoyed getting to know you!

Not sure if this link will work or not, but John (one of the guys in our life group) made a little video of all our kids that night. Try to check it out here:
Video from Alayna's Party of the Life Group Kids

Playin' at the Park

Friday morning, we met up with Aunt Jen, Grace, Faith, Emma & Daniel at Stoner Park near our house. Joshua was super excited to see Emma. Here's Caleb waving hi to them as they arrived.

Both boys did well at the park, I thought. Neither one of them fought me over not playing in the peed-in sand volleyball court, even when all the other kids went over. :) :) :) They had fun on the playground equipment, especially in the beautiful, sunny, not-too-hot weather. It was gorgeous out!

Joshua enjoys swinging on his belly, but not in the typical fashion.

Thanks for the fun times, McGowan cousins!

Let Freedom Ring!

Happy 4th of July!