Wordless Wednesday: jam making edition

Been back a week now...

from our vacation to Florida! We had a fabulous time, and it went way too fast. None of us wanted to leave and come back to reality! We all enjoyed just being together and having a lot of non-hurried time together playing in the pools and relaxing. Our past vacations have been a week long, and though they were great too, this one was 10 days and I HIGHLY recommend those extra 3 days. (next time I am hoping we can do 2 weeks!) You know how once you get to your destination for vacation, it takes a day or three to get to the point of pure enjoyment. Well by the time your really "in the groove" of vacationing to the fullest, it's time to pack and go home. We felt the 10 days were near to perfect!
We have about half a million pictures, but I thought I would pick out a few of my favorites to share here.

Maddy in front of Cinderella's castle. The look on her face when she saw it for the first time was priceless.


All 7 of us...


Syd and Gabe floating the day away!


The resort had a tie-dye each afternoon along with other activities for the kids.


Coppertone boy...love those sweet little tan lines! (we used spf 50 every day and still were tanned!)


A nice smile from Benjamin! He practically lived in the water the whole time!


Best friends, Maddy and Lukey.


This pool was fun to swim in, as it had the fountain right in the middle that the kids could climb on.


Water baby Gabe, he looked so cute in his little bucket hat!



It is good to be home now. Our dog was beside himself with excitement to see us again and the kids were happy to sleep in their own beds once more. David's home for the summer, and I feel spoiled to have him around so much. Sydnee started All Star softball this week, so we definitely hit the ground running when we got home.

That's all for now, hopefully I can keep up with my blog a little better now that we're home!

Happy 11 months Gabe!

Where does the time go? I can hardly believe that one month from today we'll be celebrating the birth of our little baby boy!
(Doesn't his big boy haircut look cute?)

A birthday, losing internet, schools out and a Florida trip, OH MY!

Whew! What a month! I have severely neglected my blog lately, but am hoping that this summer I will be able to get into regularly posting again.
We now have a 13 year old! Sydnee's birthday was last Sunday and I can hardly believe we have a teenager now! She received many lovely things for gifts from her grandparents and family, including a trip to see Americal Idol Live in September! She is VERY excited!
We had several thunderstorms roll through a week ago and our internet was lost for about 5 days. It is amazing how much I missed having it, and realizing how much I depend on it day to day for simple little things. Searching for a recipe, questions on symptoms of illnesses, etc. I am very thankful to have it turned back on, just in time for us to leave on our vacation tonight!
Yes, we're leaving on a jet plane... to Florida! We are leaving tonight to stay overnight in Detroit and hop on a plane at 7 am Friday morning. We'll be enjoying 10 days in Orlando and will be visiting the Magic Kingdom and possibly one other park (not yet decided which). Originally we planned on driving down and making that a part of our trip, but with gas prices such as they are, we realized that we would actually be able to fly down for less money than we could driving! Pretty unbelievable! The kids are fluttering with excitement this morning as we continue packing and organizing. Personally, I hate the preparation for a big trip like this. Packing for 7 people and keeping it to one piece of checked luggage per person is proving to be a big challenge. I will be much more excited when we pull out onto the road to the hotel tonight! There's nothing like spending 10 days with 6 of your favorite people in the world!
David's last day of work is today, the kids' last day of school was Tuesday, so summer vactation is starting and we have so much to look forward to! I feel so blessed to have my hubby home in the summers and the kids love spending extra time with him as well.
So we will be back in 10 days, probably more tired than rested, more sunkissed than we are now, and hearts full of fun, lasting memories! Sounds good to me!

Family Friday: Benjamin

I started this post on Friday, that counts, right?

Benjamin is our second born, he is going to be 9 years old in June, and will be done with 3rd grade in just a few short weeks. He is 4 years and 3 weeks younger than Sydnee, and for the most part they are very close. He has such an infectious laugh and a wicked sense of humor! He is also a master of making strange faces. If I had a scanner and knew how to use it, I would scan in all of his school pictures, to prove my point. (Many family members reading this will know what I mean, taking a posed photo is not one of Ben's 'comfort zones' *smile*.)



One thing we are quickly learning about Ben is his entreprenurial spirit. All winter he played on an indoor soccer team. His Grandpa told him he'd give Ben $5 for each goal he scored. Well, Benjamin took that to heart and there were games that he scored 3 goals this season. He now has a very fat wallet! We had a yard sale last week and the kids set up a Lemonade stand. Ben was the one who stayed out there the whole time, on his rollerblades, sign in hand, waving down the cars. They actually made $24 that day selling lemonade and cookies! He is a great saver, and we are very proud of him!


Things Ben loves:

his dog (and obviously Miller returns the love)


his rollerblades. Have you ever seen someone use the trimmer while on rollerblades?


Long hair. In the summer before second grade Ben started growing his hair out, and just recently we had it cut quite short. It was a VERY sad day for him, and he was really upset with me on the way home from the hairdresser. I asked him how long he'd be mad at me and he told me "only until it grows back". (for the record, he really perked up after I took him to WalMart for a new lego set. Hey, can you blame me?) Right now it is growing fast, and I am fighting the urge to cut it again.

Soccer. He absolutely loves the game, and is very good at it. As I mentioned in my Friday post about Sydnee, it is so wonderful to see your child find a passion for something and to excel at it.

His siblings. He is an excellent big brother, and a mostly excellent little brother. Last week there was a boy picking on Luke and Ben got right in there to defend his little brother. It made David and I feel so good that he was looking out for his siblings.

Ben is smart, funny and (dare I say) VERY cute. We are lucky to have him as our son!

Family Friday: Luke

I have all of these wonderful Luke facts swirling in my brain and I don't know where to begin!
Luke is our 4th child. He is 2 years and 5 days younger than Madyson, and they are just like best friends. They "get" each other, and other times they don't. *smile* Luke is very tenderhearted, so concerned with how everyone is feeling. He can also be a spitfire, and gives us a run for our money on a regular basis. I know I have mentioned that before here on this blog. Then I look at his precious face, handing me a bouquet of freshly picked dandelions and my heart melts.

Luke's favorite item of clothing has to be his frog boots. If we are going somewhere he automatically runs to put them on. Rain or shine. I think it is just adorable. Especially when he's wearing shorts with his frog boots.




Next year we will be sending him to preschool. It is absolutely amazing to me how well he is already counting to 15 and starting to learn to write his name. The other day when he picked the dandelions for me, he nicely took them back and counted each one for me.



There is definitely something magical about a 3 year old little boy. They are so full of energy and life, ready to learn and explore, yet still little enough to want to cuddle, hug and kiss, and still need his mommy and daddy.

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen reasons I love being a mommy:

1. Just hearing little voices saying "mama" or "mommy" or "ma-ma-ma" melts my heart!

2. Being the one they want to comfort them.

3. Smelling my freshly bathed angels, smoothing lotion on their soft skin.

4. Having my schoolies come home and telling me about everything that happened that day.

5. Hearing their laughter when all 5 are playing together, I'll never get tired of that.

6. Middle of the night cuddles, when one (or more) join us in our bed. Oh how I love those little arms reaching around my neck.

7. Kisses and hugs OF COURSE!

8. Knowing each child's favorite foods, and surprising them with their favorites.

9. Silly jokes that don't make much sense, and laughing at them anyway because the one telling the joke is so darn cute!

10. Watching each of them develop a passion for something and pursuing it, working their hardest.

11. Experiencing new milestones. Each one is bittersweet, knowing they are growing up too fast.

12. Seeing my children love each other, and take care of each other.

13. Knowing that these 5 wonderful people were entrusted to me, by God, to love and teach!

Happy Mother's Day everyone!