Vacation Part 1

I have always wanted to have some different things for the kids to do on our trips but usually I forget until the last minute! This time I prepared ahead of time and found some really neat things! I found this website www.momsminivan.com and got alot of my ideas off of that. Check out that web site if you get a chance. One thing that I have done with the kids before was pipe cleaners. This time it went over much better! The big kids really got into it and created these really cool glasses!! :)

Timothy needed his picture taken with his sun glasses on! Again, he is just too cute with these sunglasses on! :)

One of the ideas I got off that website was tickets for every 30 minutes or 30 miles. I gave each of my kids enough tickets for every 30 minutes of our trip. Every 30 minutes they would give me one of their tickets and then when they realized they only had 3...2...1 we would be there! This was the thing Elijah liked the most! :)

This place we stayed the first two nights had an Activity Center. Inside the activity center was a Wii room! They loved it! So when Joanna took her naps this is where my family would hang out at. The Activity Center also had a half court basketball court, air hockey, and a playground outside. Fun...Fun!!!

Timothy enjoys just having fun! He likes doing whatever everyone else is doing! Easy to please him!

Joanna and Bryan stop for a pose! Do they look alike to you?

Sarah enjoyed the swings! Can you see her laughing? :)

Elijah figured out how to do the fireman's pole and he did it over and over and over.

My sweet hubby offered to carry Joanna in our wrap while we took a hike. She loves being in that wrap! So when you see Bryan with this brown thing on that is the wrap for Joanna.

Taking a hike on the nature trail!

I love this pic of the boys! They were sticking together and checking things out!

The chapel at the conference center. I thought it was so beautiful!

Bryan and the kids! I love this bunch very much and am so thankful for each of them!! :)

Our family on the steps in front of the chapel!

There are so many pictures because I just couldn't narrow them down to a couple! We have been on vacation this week and so much enjoyed it! We left Saturday and stopped in Newport, TN for two nights. We stayed at the Baptist Conference Center and it was real nice. There was plenty for the kiddos to do and they had so much fun! This place was really beautiful!

More to come...stay tuned! :)

7 1/2 months

Joanna pulling up!

Timothy loves taking a bath with Joanna.

Bath time alone! She is the cutest!!

All smiles! She is a very happy and good baby!

Time is going by so fast that I didn't get to post at 7 months so here is 7 1/2 months! Joanna is growing so much! She has two teeth on the bottom that she cut since 7 months. Joanna began being mobile around 5 months old but now she is full fledge crawling!! Did I mention crawling everywhere? I can not put her down without having to close all the bathroom doors and make sure there is nothing in her way! In the past 2 weeks she has also discovered she can pull up. Yes, that is right she is pulling up now and loves it! She thinks she is as BIG as the other kiddos around here. Joanna has started baby food, but to be honest I don't think she is eating it because she is hungry. Bryan and I believe that she likes eating more out of wanting to be BIG like everyone else. Too funny! The kids LOVE her to pieces! Sarah and the little boys fight over who is going to play with her and get her attention. :) I could just eat her up myself! So anyway wanted to update on Joanna because I have no time to scrapbook. This has become my scrapbook, way much faster to blog than sit down and scrapbook! Hope you all have a great day!

Praising the Lord!

Just wanted everyone to know that Isaac is so much better! Thank you so much for your prayers, I knew that I could count on you guys to pray for him and us! As of right now the rest of us are well! Isaac is not 100% but much closer than he was at the beginning of the week. I am praising the Lord for seeing us through this.

More helpers!

It was Sarah's turn at the lawn mower.

She got really hot but hung in there and did a great job!!

Team work!

With a little help from big brother....

Timothy got his lawn mower going and was able to help out too! :)

Isaac is still not feeling well today, but I am praising God that as of right now the rest of us are well! I wanted to share about Sarah taking her turn at the lawn mower. She did do a really good job. It was so funny because you could tell she was in her own little world and loving it! I even could hear her singing to herself. I just love the little girl in her! Timothy loves his little lawn mower. He wants to cut the grass all the time! As you can see in the pictures that Elijah had to "work" on it a little. Those two are the cutest peas in a pod! Please continue to pray for Isaac to feel better quick and a hedge of protection around the rest of us! Thanks!!

Party Time and not feeling so good!

We celebrated Isaac's birthday with friends on Saturday night. There ended up being about 30 people here. There was a ton of kids and alot of fellowship! Everything went really well and the boys had fun playing football. We also asked that instead of gifts for him that they bring gifts to go in the toy store at our church for families in need at Christmas. There were some really cool boy gifts! A few of the parents and siblings stayed and the fellowship was so sweet. Thanks to all those who helped me out with lending a hand in scooping ice cream, holding Joanna, helping fix hotdogs, etc. You ladies were great and such a blessing!! :) Happy Birthday to my big boy, I just can't believe you are 10!!

Isaac asked one of his friends to spend the night Saturday night. After we had gotten the kids in bed this friend got sick and we had to call his mom. Sunday after church Isaac began saying he was sick, so we thought that maybe he had caught what his friend had. Isaac's friend had a virus and was better on Monday morning. Isaac has run a fever for two days and is not any better. Bryan took him to the doctor this morning and he has strep! Argh!! Now we have to wait and see if any of the others get it. I have lysoled everything and anything trying to keep the rest of us from getting sick. :( See the card on Isaac's chest? While he was asleep Sarah made him a card and put it there for him when he woke up. She has such a mothering heart. She wants to wait on him hand and foot when he is sick. That just warms my heart. I know that the older she gets she will be able to help me care for the children when they are sick. My prayer is that Isaac will feel better quick and that the rest of us will miss this yucky thing!

He is 10!!

Isaac loves chips and slasa!

Birthday dessert...that everyone got to enjoy! Thanks Isaac for sharing! :)

These kids LOVED the dessert!

Doesn't that look delicious? It was!!!!

He loves reese cups!

A new book to read!

Baseball cards!

The birthday cake!

It is so hard to believe that Isaac is 10 today! The past few days I have been thinking back and it is amazing how time flies! If only I could go back 10 years and know then what I know now. Isaac is a very special boy! He is our oldest and most days he loves being the BIG brother! He is a loving child and can just melt your heart! He loves to play board games and loves learning something new. Isaac's best subject in school is Math and he says he wants to be a Math teacher one day and coach football. Isaac has been doing a devotion for his football team and I am so proud of him!! Yesterday we took him to eat at the restaurant of his choice and we really had a great time! Then this morning he opened presents. Sarah insisted on buying him something with her money, she got him some baseball cards and some reese cups! My parents sent him a birthday package that he opened also. They had sent him a Tim Tebow book and a BIG pack of baseball cards. Isaac's friends are coming this afternoon for some yard football and a party! I wanted to do him a football cake this year and I thought I would include a picture of the cake. All the kids said "that's the best cake you have ever done, mommy" and I have to agree! :) I hope to post pictures of the party tomorrow. Hope you all have a great weekend!!

It is that time of year

Isaac is the one in the red shirt on the left!

Time for football! Last year was Isaac's first year playing football and he really enjoyed it. This year he is playing again and it is for a different team. He is excited about playing and is doing really well. He did get hurt at practice last week but it turned out to just be a strained back muscle. Yes, I was scared! :( He plays his first game this Saturday. A few of the boys at church are on his team and he loves that! Wanted to share a few pics of my football player! :)