Summer fun!

Our summer officially started May 1st when we headed off to the beach for our vacation. The rest of our May looked a little something like this.

 Trips to the library...

 Which always brings hours and hours of peace and quiet into our home. :) Those books are miracles!

 My littlest continues to get bigger and bigger and now can easily reach the pedals!

 A new water toy as a birthday gift provided some water fun at home.

 Speaking of water fun, we headed down the road to a spray ground one day. It's a simple and little one, but my boys still enjoy it.

 A special ice cream date with my oldest boy. (If you see Holden in this outfit often, it's because he chooses it when it's clean. I'm good keeping up with the laundry, so he wears it ALOT!)

See Abe peaking through behind my seat? :)

 The ending of another fun soccer season. 

 And the first year that these two brothers were teammates. I love this picture of them chatting it up on the sidelines.

Don't let this picture fool you. He did NOT enjoy sitting through soccer games.

One morning I left Abe with my parents and took Holden and Pax boys to see Home. Such a cute and sweet movie.

The first of several summer snow cones!

And I think that finally wraps up our May!

Celebrating with friends.

We waited to celebrate Holden's birthday with friends after we returned from our travels. In lieu of a party our boys can choose a friend and an activity. Holden chose a brother pair that he has grown up with through church. So on a cloudy Saturday morning we headed to play putt putt and drive go-carts with 4 big boys plus Abe. We knew that the weather was not looking promising so we opted to drive the cars first. Then we moved on to a chaotic game of putt putt. A few holes in and the rain started coming. We ended up spending the rest of the morning in the arcade area. The boys didn't mind at all. After a lunch stop and dessert at our house, our celebration was over. We could officially put a stamp on Holden's 7th birthday. Sometimes we really tend to drag out the birthdays.

 I love these four boys. I hope they continue to be great friends.

 Holden, Brody and Reed all lined up and ready to race.

Pax raced in round 2.

Once Abe saw the big boys driving the go-carts he was adamant that it was his turn. And he was quite unhappy with my response of "you're too little." Oh man, this third boy hears those words from me a lot. And it never satisfies at the age of two. I've mentioned this...but he wants to do WHATEVER he sees his big brothers doing. 

 So daddy bought a ticket to drive a big go-cart and took the little man for a few laps. :)

 Time with the arcade games.

 

Loaded up and headed for lunch. Pax road in daddy's truck since we couldn't all fit in the mini. And that was our final celebration for Holden.

Things I want to remember

- Pax read his first chapter book before we went on vacation. It was the first of the Cul-de-sac Kids. And within the next month he had read 11 more. He is now asking for the next box set(#13-18). His reading hobby is getting expensive. I told him he may just have to wait until his birthday.

- Holden is still in love with monster trucks. He watches YouTube video clips from monster truck shows and says things like "I'm El Toro". I love to see his fascination and passion in different boy things.

- Abe might be the bravest boy in our bunch. He thinks he can do whatever he sees his 7 year old brother doing. Climbing up on ledges to jump into a swimming pool. Driving a go-cart...he thought he needed a turn. And he started jumping on a trampoline earlier than I ever anticipated.

- Last night I watched all 4 of my boys have a wrestling match on the bottom bunk where Pax sleeps. There was alot of laughing and screaming. I quietly said out loud as I watched the chaos, "I love having boys". And you know, I really really do. I LOVE my boys.

- Abe loves spicy foods. At Mexican restaurants we just give him his own salsa bowl with his chips since he is two and doesn't get the double dipping rule. He drinks down his water so I know he notices the spiciness factor but it doesn't bother him and he keeps going back for more.

- I love Pax's voice and the way he speaks when he tells stories. That is a sound I want to have recorded so I can listen to that sweet voice even after he grows up and it has matured.

- We've had the trampoline for over a year now. Holden still jumps and plays on it nearly every single day. It's one of his things. I'm so glad it has become the most used "toy" at our house. It was definitely worth the cost.

- I walked in the front door from a long run early last Sunday morning. I was very sweaty. The boys were just waking up and Abe said "Mommy exercising?" I was in shock he was putting that together.

- Pax has become a sweet little caretaker of Abe. At a recent Sea World visit, or at parks and spray grounds he takes Abe under his wing. They stick together. It makes me so happy.

- Just this week Holden processed a little more of his adoption story. Typically that boy only thinks about the here and now. But for a brief moment he was putting some pieces together and I cried happy tears for him to see the joy in his eyes. I know it may not always be joyful to know and remember his story, but last week it was exciting. And my heart felt so full for him.

Mother's Day 2015

A special graduate!

Immediately following our beach vacation we had another quick trip to make. We returned home from Orange Beach very late on Thursday night/early Friday morning. We spent Friday at home relaxing a little and unpacking. Then bright and early on Saturday morning we woke the boys and headed for Oklahoma. A very special young lady, Pax's birthmom, was graduating from The University of Oklahoma and we were going to celebrate all of her hard work. She had several rows of family and friends there to cheer her on. And we humbly took our seats right by her parents. This family is so special to us! Jeremy and I are constantly amazed in how these relationships have unfolded. We love M so much and we love her family too! It's incredible how God has woven us all together through the life of a sweet boy that we all love. I'm so appreciative for her story and Pax's story and how it has become our story too. And I'm so proud of this girl and her hard work and perseverance. She is going back for more by making plans for graduate school next!

Right after graduation.

The next picture was taken that evening at her graduation party.

 It was a special day to be included in the celebration of a milestone in the life of M!

Beach Vacation 2015 (Part 3)

I am finally finishing up this vacation post. Good thing, since we have been back for a full month now. But it's been a busy month...including a trip to Oklahoma. And then another trip to San Antonio. We've been on the road and it's been a lot of fun. Now we are home for the rest of summer with a couple of exceptions. Jeremy has a couple of trips with work. And I am lightly tossing around the idea of driving to Colorado to see my sister during one of his trips. 12 hours (plus many stops) in the car with my 3 little guys...I just don't know. Honestly, Holden and Pax were born to road trip. They are all stars. Abe. Well, now...he's a totally different story. And he's got a great set of lungs on him to let everyone know when he is DONE riding his in carseat.  :) So I'd love to cool off in Colorado for a week next month. I just wonder if I can stick Abe on a plane and he can meet us there.
On our way out of Alabama we decided to stop in Mobile at Battleship Memorial Park. Here we were able to tour the USS Alabama. This was right up Jeremy's alley. In his career field of working for defense contractors, he has developed a big interest in military work. I'm pretty sure that if he were starting over at the age of 18, he would go on to finish college and then go straight into the military. Yikes! Our little life would have been a lot different than what it has been these last 12 years. So we stopped to tour the ship and to see all of the fighter jets - which is really what has captured his interest the most.

 

 

 

I think we have decided that if you have any height to you, then the Navy is not the military branch you should head into. Lots of very low ceilings. Shorties go into the Navy. :)

 

The boys tried out these awful "beds". I sure hope our Navy has a little better quality mattresses these days.

 

 

 

I rode a simulator with the boys...a very similar project that Jeremy has worked on for several years. The boys thought it was pretty cool.

 

 

I would not want to be on a ship with these three for captains. :) But they had fun pretending. It was a fun little ending to our beach vacation.