Sun and Sand

The big day arrived and our neighborhood pool finally opened! After a mostly swimless summer last year, the kids were ready to dive in.

Aubie, who knew nothing of swimming pool bliss, began to sense something exciting in the air when he was dressed in a brand new Speedo.

Yeah, probably not what you were invisioning. This Speedo actually offers lots of sun protection!

Now he was all ready, but for what exactly?

Hmmm...not exaclty the response we were hoping for his first time ever in the pool, but we can't blame him too much. The water was a bit on the cold side.

In other outdoor fun. Rob picked up a bargain of a sandbox for Avery. It sits right outside the kitchen window so I can keep an eye on him. He spends a lot of time in it. Little did I know that he wouldn't be the only one to play in it. Alton, Alayna, and Aubin, all enjoy it as well.

Growing Baby

Aubin is over 7 months old now. He's growing fast. Lately, he enjoys interacting with his siblings and "playing" with Avery especially. He has two teeth and two more that just broke through. Most of the time he's happy and easy going unless he doesn't get those important baby things like a good nap or a meal on time :)

And is it possible lately to have a blog entry that doesn't involve some incident with Avery?

This weekend involved a trip to the ER after Avery fell headlong into the corner of a wall and gashed his forhead open. We couldn't really close it with a bandaid and so we quickly loaded up the van and headed to the hospital. He was able to get glued back together quickly enough; no stitches thankfully. It's already looking much better and I think should heal with little to no scarring.

Thank you God for.....eewwww!

With Rob gone to Charlottesville for a promotion ceremony of a good friend, I had nighttime routine duty. Normally this is my debriefing time where I get a few moments of quiet to myself. Tired as I was, I proceeded with the nightime routine of Bible reading and prayer. I did Avery separately from Alton and Alayna or I don't think the following would have occured.

As we were getting ready to pray, I quickly grabbed Avery's wrist in order to intercept the nasal by-product he was about to place in his mouth. Somehow I never dreamed I would have a child that had this habit, but he does and I want to gag everytime I see it. As I held his wrist I admonished for the 200th time, "No, that is gross! We don't do that!" As soon as I let go, he popped his finger in his mouth. Uggh! Sorry, I should've put a warning label on this post for the faint-hearted. I then went into a longer more dramatic admonishment. His response was only to look at me expressionless. I sighed and said, "You pray first." Avery is already quite adept at prayer, but usually sticks to the same things each night like thank you for Dad, thank you for Mom, etc...Tonight he had new material. "God, thank you for my boogers." God has heard everything now.

And Baby Dedication

I just realized I left the important part of the Baby Dedication out of my last post. So here it is. This past Sunday while Grandma was here, we had Aubin dedicated. He took it very seriously and paid close attention to every word our Pastor said.

Here's some more pics of our now 7month old boy!

Grandma, Balls, and Baby Dedications

Obviously it's been a long time since I've written. My computer time is all but gone these days for some reason and if I do sit down with 10 or 20 minutes, I have felt uninspired to write. Today's blog is brought to you by my Mom ,who were it not for her presence here over the last few days, I would not have these few moments to sit here, much less think of something to write!

Pa Pa as the kids call her, flew in on Thursday in cloudy skies. Soon after her arrival, I began to realize that most activities planned involved being outdoors. The fact that our van began having problems several hours later, also complicated any exciting adventures to be had. That being said, there was still plenty to do. Last night Rob and I got all gussied up for a Regimental Ball. With my Mom at the helm I was able to enjoy the evening and not worry a bit about the kids. Aubie especially, had yet to be left for an evening of more than a couple of hours. He is refusing to take a bottle (think I waited too late) and so I prepared my Mom for the hour of so of crying she was do endure. I don't mean I expected her to cry, but Aubie :) For the most part, things went fine at the house and no one was traumatized! Rob and I had a particularly nice time at the Ball probably due to the fact that the food was brought on quickly (I've waited til 8:30 before to eat at these things!), the entertainment was awesome and there was only one speaker (I've endured up to three 30 to 45 minute speakers at these things!). He kept things short and sweet, so the evening was perfectly enjoyable.

Rob and I came home exhausted, but still smiling!

Ten Years Ago Today

Alton posing with a woodworking project he and Rob finished.

So hard to believe that Alton is now 10! An official "tweenager" as he enthusiastically announced this morning. So what is this 10 year old like? Well, he's humorous, obedient, creative, smart, helpful, and affectionate. Some of his interests include Lego projects (Star Wars in particular), Ninetendo DS, and guitar lessons. His little brother Avery worhsips the ground he walks on and follows him everywhere. Alton is as patient as can be expected about this. I make sure I guard some of his time each day because he's one of those kids that needs a few hours alone to recharge. He also has an ornery streak and likes practical jokes when he can pull one off. Unfortunately, Alayna, who is usually the victim neither appreciates, nor understands his humor. They do get along nicely on occasion. Alton is growing up to be a wonderful person and best of all, he loves Jesus!

This Whirlwind Called Life

Another day past at the speed of light and it still seems as though not much was accomplished. This unfortunately is not due to the fact that I was diligently keeping the sabbath holy, resting and meditating on heavenly things. I was in motion all day playing catch up on a million things. Okay, there was the 10 minutes I tried to steal away to nap on the couch with Aubin's vocal complaints about sitting on his Daddy's lap to watch basketball swirling loudly around my head. After about 7 minutes, I gave that up and scooped him up to give him the quality time he was requesting.

Life here is well, different. It's more different than any other place we've lived. The culture here is so fast paced, political, and somewhat isolated as no one has time to really connect with their fellow man. Rob and I both feel like God brought us here, but we often wonder why. Quite honestly, Rob is miserable in his job and has close to no freetime to recouperate after the long weeks work. My sentiment is not one of misery, but more of frustration as I never end a day without feeling I left way too much undone. Each day in turn, seems as if I'm winging it and that lack of organization leaves me frazzled.

Regretfully, I realized how quickly I have become "one of them;" rushing around without a thought or care about the other people buzzing around me. The only way this was brought to my attention was when I went to Joann Fabrics to buy supplies to make curtains. After an hour of wandering aimlessly and indecisively, I scrapped the curtains for the day and decided on making a dress for Alayna. I recently bought a sewing machine and am itching to use it. Anyway, ready to have my material cut, I noticed that the procedure was to take a number and wait until it was called. I did and out popped number 46. At that moment, they called number 35. Ugh! I looked around and noticed three women working the cutting tables and eased up a little until after standing there for 10 minutes and realizing what was going on!

Here we are in a busy, upwardly mobile, rush around city where nobody bothers with anyone and at Joann Fabrics nobody seemed to know it. The ladies working the table took they're time and were talking with the customers who amicably chatted back. They even stopped cutting to continue their conversations and use hand gestures! One lady spent probably 15 minutes with her customer trying to help her find the perfect material for whatever she was making. I was seriously annoyed. Then it dawned on me how ridiculous that was. I realized how quickly I had disposed of my southern upbringing and gone right along with the flow of silly pursuit of I'm not sure what. Now mind you, I did have my reasons for being in a hurry such as getting home to nurse a baby and not leaving my children for too long at the home of my generous friend who offered to watch them for a spell while I slipped away. Still, however, it gave me pause.

I think to sum it up, God never intended for us to lay around relaxing all the time. He wants us busy. It's what we're busy at that matters and putting THAT into perspective is the challenge; one I'll be working on.