my girl

Oh my little Ava Joy! She is such a doll! She is so much fun, I had no idea how much fun a little girl could be. She is so sweet, loves to snuggle, hold her babies, feed me out of her play dishes, and give her brothers kisses. She LOVES the camera, and instantly plasters a smile on her face and says cheese! Ava is not too fond of the dirt, but loves to run around the yard as fast as she can. Her true love is SHOES! She is always bringing me shoes to put on her cute little (yet big) feet. She goes into her room, opens her drawer and pulls out all of her shoes and tries to put them on herself. It is so funny to watch her get into my jewelry drawer, put on what she can and run away so I can't take them back from her. She also LOVES to put on make up and any chance she gets will take my make up brush and "put" on make up. Ah such a delight she is. Her squeals and giggles are very contagious.

Quote of the week

One of my favorites of the week:

Bryce: "Hey Mommy, do we see when we die and go to heaven?"
Mommy: "I think so."
Bryce: "Oh, good, cause I really want to see what is past outer space!"

I love that kid!

Boys V Girls

Daddy and the boys have a wild bed time routine! Dustin tries to carry all the boys up the stairs on his back. The boys LOVE this time of the day. Last week the boys all slept out in the tree house. It was pouring rain , but they are "Mighty Men", and not afraid of the rain. They had a fun night telling bible stories into the night.

Sweet Ava and I have our own routine! We go upstairs and lay on the bed and snuggle and giggle together. We sing and pray. It is VERY quiet and sweet. Ava and I get to have tea parties while the boys sleep outside in the cold rain! Thank you Jesus for blessing us with a little girl :-)

A little seed.

This morning Bryce was on a mission.
Bryce:" Mommy, this morning I prayed for Ava because she doesn't have Jesus in her heart." If she dies will she still go to heave because she is a baby?"
Me: "Bryce that is awesome you are praying for her. Keep praying. Did you pray for Dylan too?"
Bryce:"No he has Jesus in his heart."
Me: " No he doesn't yet."
Bryce: "Dylan (who was upstairs waiting for Bryce to come back up to play football) I am coming right now."

I stand at the bottom of the stair and see one of the most precious scenes play out.

Bryce:" Dylan, do you want Jesus to come into your heart? To live there forever and you get to go to heaven?"
Dylan: "Yes"
Bryce: "Ok, then close your eyes and pray this; (Bryce puts his hand on Dylan's shoulder as he prays) Jesus, I want you to come into my heart forever. Amen."
Dylan: Jesus, I want you to come into my heart forever."
Bryce: "Say Amen."
Dylan: "Amen!"
Bryce: Mom, Dylan has Jesus in his heart now."

Then they are off to finish their game of football. I love the sweetness of little children! Dylan has been asking questions about Jesus lately...."Why did Jesus die Mommy?" "But why?" "Where is Jesus?" Another little seed planted by his sweet big brother.....

Hibernation like the Aunts!

On the way to church yesterday, the boys were telling Dustin about how bears hibernate during the winter. They ask what else hibernates, if we would like to sleep that long, do they get hungry etc. Then Bryce says, "Oh I know what else hibernates! Ants! You know like Aunt Faith and Aunt Ashley. Those 'ants' like to sleep a lot don't they?!" What an observant little guy he is!

Hilton Head 08

Saturday, June 30

Today my baby turns 14 months! Unbelievable really how fast it goes. Today, we also head to Hilton Head on family vacation! One week, just our family, no schedule to follow, no last minute trips to the office, and no house hold chores to be done! Ah, now this is going to be the best week in a long time! We start the day bright and early, 5:50 A.M. Two boys are ready for breakfast and they need it now! I pull the blankets over my head as Dustin gets out of bed to start the day. As I am laying there trying to go back to sleep and hear the boys already arguing, I think is this really the start of vacation? Well as it turns out, I did fall back to sleep until 7:15, YES! I think as I jump into the shower and excited to get on the road. After getting dressed I walk out to the boys all over the place, still in their PJ’s, Ava just starting to stir, and well nothing packed! I just look at Dustin and he can see “the look”. What? He says so sweetly. What time are we leaving again?, I ask. Needless to say we did not start off on the right foot, on the road at 9:30 with tired cranky boys, and a little frustrated mama. The trip went great; the kids are such easy travelers. We made it in pretty good time. In time to swim for a bit, empty every box of games and trains in the house, and even a quick dip in the ocean. The first day was a success!


Sunday, June 31

Ok so I thought Saturday started early! Ty and Bryce were up at 5:15A.M. What in the world is going on?! Being the great parents that we are, (no judgment here please), Dustin sets all boys on the couches with towels, (they we cold) and turned on cartoons! We settled back in for another 45 minutes of sleep before we could get up and make breakfast. Once Miss Ava got up, we were all ready for our first family bike ride! It was great! Dylan and I definite brought up the rear while Ty lead us with fierce speed. We scrambled back to swim while Ava attempted a morning nap. Once we realized she was boycotting this morning, we took a trip to the beach. It was so fun watching Dustin help the boys “surf” the waves, while I walked with Ava as she perfected walking on the sand with her arms straight up over her head. She finally ventured off to the ocean; she LOVED the water and screamed every time a wave came crashing into her little tummy. With the early wake up this morning, we were thrilled hen everyone took a two hour nap! After having spaghetti for dinner, we went to Harbor town to play on the play ground, check out the boats, and catch some live music. Dustin and the boys discovered the tire swing and they occupied the thing for at least 15 minutes. I walk over to see if they are almost finished as Ava was over wiping sand from her hands every 2 seconds. I take one look at Dylan and instantly know there is going to be trouble. Sure enough, he starts to cry that his tummy hurts. I look at Dustin and we decide to just walk around for a bit and let Dylan get some fresh air. Dustin ends up carrying him as I am carrying Ava. (We received the same looks we did last year) We finally make it to the car and Dylan is struggling. We are about 8 minutes from our house; surely we can make it home and get Dylan to bed before he spills his spaghetti. After one false alarm, we get back on the road. 2 minutes to go and Dustin suggest that I just take him from his car seat and hold him on my lap so I can let his head be out the window. (Again no judgment). So I pull the little guy onto my lap and kiss his sweet head, just as he throws up ALL OVER ME! I was like you have to be kidding me! Dustin of course is laughing, Dylan crying, I am dry heaving, and the boys can’t believe what just happened. We make it home, jump in the shower, and head to bed. I go to say good night to Dylan and he says,” I sorry I got sickies on you Mommy.” Oh what a sweetie.

Monday, Sept 1

This is only day 3 and I am already starting to confuse what day it is. Labor Day. I am embarrassed to say that I am not sure what this holiday really is. Sorry if that is offensive to some of you. I don’t think about it for too long, but wonder if it us un-American to not know. My day seemed fairly “labor free” today. Dustin and the 2 big boys went fishing with Captain Bill while Dylan, Ava, and I took a bike ride to the park, played with trains, and went swimming. It was very relaxing having only 2 little ones all morning long. On our walk, Dylan riding his bike, me pushing Ava in the stroller, a lady rides by and says, “My you have your hands full!” I just laughed at loud as I thought this is EASY! This is only half of them. Dylan enjoyed his Mommy time as Ava napped for 2 ½ hours, but was excited to see his brothers and tell them all about his morning. The 2 little ones napped as Daddy and Ty played battle ship, and Bryce and I took a bike ride. After a quick swim at the pool we went to the beach to find a swimming advisory due to Gustav. The wind was unbelievably strong, but the boys insisted on building a sand castle as I chased Ava chasing the birds.
This vacation has been so relaxing! I never thought I would say that with 4 children ages 1-6. But God has really blessed this time thus far with lots of down time, pleasant children, and perfect weather! I mean I have finished a novel and started a second! Dustin and I have had great conversations and time to just enjoy each others presence without one or both of us jumping up to get the phone, do laundry, or head out to a meeting. I am thankful for the sweet family the Lord has blessed me with. I sometimes lose sight of that during the business of life. I am thankful for a time like this to see just how blessed I really am.

Favorites: Bryce “we need to pray for those people in the big water storm in those states guys.”

Bryce: “Why do you think God made hurricanes? Do you think He made them because people are bad with sin?”

Ty: “I love Jesus because He lives in our hearts and He is like the biggest Christian ever.”

Dylan: “It is my birthday soon right Mom? It is my birthday and I will be three, mine, NOT Tyler Brycie right Mommy?!”



Tuesday, Sept 2

I am amazed at God’s great blessings in my life. Here I am at the beach, with my nearly perfect husband, precious children, good health, and Jesus who loves ME! I LOVE my life. Really I do. I am blessed to be a stay at home mom and get to see my children daily learn new things, talk about their love for Jesus, and love each other. Ok ok, yes, there are days where I want to pull my hair out, where the boys fight non stop, and where I feel alone, but MOST days, I have nothing to complain about. Thank you Father for the way you love me!
So today we took another family bike ride. We really are “that family” on the bike path. ALL OVER the place. Bryce fell into a lady and as he was getting back up he says,” I am sorry, I am just practicing.” To which she says, “That’s ok, I am practicing too!” It was so great! We don’t ever want to leave this place!


Wednesday, Sept 3

Tropical storm Hanna is on her way to the East Coast and that means rain, rain, rain! NO FUN! We are hoping to be able to stay at least till Thursday…please hold the rain! We are going to make the best of this day…..
We went to the beach this afternoon, it was way too windy! So we took a bike trip to our favorite ice cream store! Superman ice cream is the BEST!! After naps we tried to get the oh so famous family beach picture. Well, for the 3rd year in a row, we were unsuccessful! Little Miss Ava had other things in mind, and taking a picture was NOT one of them. We got some really cute ones of the boys, but not so much of the family! Oh well…..
Oh by the way, Hanna is no here, so we will head back to Charlotte tomorrow evening, thank you Jesus! Oh and I beat Dustin in Yazee and battleship tonight!

Thursday, Sept 4

What a treat, another beautiful day!! We pack up the car and head off to our dear friends the Kendricks. We had a tasty lunch and then of to ride 4 wheelers in the woods. Yes, I did scream like a girl, especially when I was fish tailing in the mud! The boys got to fish once again while the girls stayed inside to cool off. The trip home was INSANE!! The boys were so over being in the car and had read all 500 books they piled into the car before we left. It was a very loud last 45 minutes, but we made it! Everyone was very excited to be back home and in their own beds!

Hilton Head pictures!

Changes

It is hard to believe that summer is nearly over! It seems crazy that just because the season changes our days, schedules, and frame of mind changes as well. The biggest change for us is the end of Daddy's soccer season......which brings family dinners back, no more long weekends without Daddy, and a family vacation! It brings another soccer season for Ty and Bryce. This year they will play on different teams, Bryce with the 5 year olds and Ty with the 7/8 yr. olds. We are excited to see them excel separately and get their own identity. School....time for school. We are starting much later than most people in the world, but that is the joy of homeschooling! We get to take a family vacation then dive into Kindergarten and Pre-school. We are excited to experience the joy of watching our boys learn many new things this year! The fall brings the Chicago marathon, CLF, and fun, new challenges to parenthood.

We decided after soccer season to get all boys haircuts and they get to choose what they want done. Ty really wanted it to be short. He had a complete conversation with himself in the mirror post hair cut. "Wow, I am a different boy! No one will ever recognize me. They will be like, 'Who is that boy? Is that Tyler??!' I look good" He is very excited to go to Grace Academy to take a Spanish and Science class and get a take of "real school" as he calls it.


Bryce wanted his hair cut like Gregg, a guy on the team. But right before Daddy started cutting, he changed his mind and said he just wanted a "trim cut". He is very excited about being on the five year old team again this year with his buddy Tait. He is such a smart little guy and really wants to do Kindergarten too with Ty. School should be fun this year.

Dylan wanted to keep his hair long like Sampson, so a minor trim was all we could get away with. He is a fun little guy with a lot of spunk and a great personality. He keeps us on our toes that is for sure. He loves playing soccer at Bryce's practice. I am sure it will be a chore to keep him off the Field during games again this year!

Ava Joy is getting so big! She is starting to eat dinner like the boys! She wanted to eat on a plate like them so much, she squealed with delight when I put the plate on her tray! She is by far our best eater and will eat pretty much anything before her. Here is the classic first spaghetti dinner picture that I am sure we all have. She was a bit of a mess. Ava loves, loves those little kittys! She walks around the house meowing all day long, it is so cute! She "snuggles" them a bit tight most times, but they don't seem to mind too much.

The boys are loving the tree house! We put up a "bed" that they can read on, well they usually swing on it to be real honest!Here we had just finished a picnic lunch and read some stories before nap time. We are hoping to have it completed shortly after we return from Hilton head so Daddy and the boys can sleep out there! We hope you are enjoying your "season change" as much as we already are!

I need help!

There are days when I wonder how in the world this marathon running came about?!?! But here I am 8 weeks away from running the Chicago Marathon with World Vision! I am so excited. We will do 19 miles this Saturday. It sounds so insane until I remember that I still have 7 to go! Who does this!!!!???? I have struggled with Plantar Factitious a bit during this training and ended up getting a Cortisone shot in my heal to try to relieve some pain. Thankfully it has helped...I can run a lot better now.
Most of you know that I am running as part of Team World Vision! I get to raise $900.00 for Africa's most needy. I need YOUR help in order to reach this goal. I am currently at $400.00. How awesome is that! However, that is still $500.00 short. Would you consider helping me reach my goal? Any dollar amount is appreciated! You can also sponsor a child for $35.00 a month. One person sponsoring a child can almost cover my need as well as a sweet child. You can check out my world vision page by clicking on the box to the right of this post.

Thanks, I appreciate you!

Catch up

Two days after Tyler turned 6, I loaded the kids into the van and we were off to Ohio. Grandma rode with us to Charleston where we parted ways, she to Columbus, us to Cincinnati. After 11 hours of travel we finally pulled into my dad's driveway. Ah the kids were so ready to get out of the car and run! They were amazing travelers! We had a great time seeing all our cousins and Papaw. We had a huge cook out ( 9 children!) and even got to go to a really cool pool with a huge diving board and twisty slides. The life guards were a bit nervous to see Dylan standing on the edge of the diving board, but he did great! We made a stop at my grandparents house in Columbus where we enjoyed some very yummy meat loaf before heading to Cleveland the next morning.
The Charlotte Eagles were in Cleveland to do a soccer clinic and play a game that evening. It was fun for the boys to see the Eagles on the road. We were excited to see Daddy and to get to have some great time with some friends. The boys loved going to a soccer clinic in another state and still having all their favorite coaches! Miss Ava was a champ and took little naps here and there on the road. She perfected her car seat dance and discovered a greater love for books.







We got back from Ohio and seemed to arrive to a whirl wind of a week! Dustin was officiating a wedding that weekend as well as playing in a soccer game! It was a great time as the Eagles clinched 1st place in the league and a sweet time celebrating Rob and Jessie as they took their wedding vows. It was amazing watching my sweet husband officiate the wedding of someone he is so close to. I must say he was the hottest "minster" I have ever seen!
Dustin and I rushed home from the wedding to grab the kiddos and take them hiking up Kings mountain! We had a great time on our first family hike! The boys did amazingly well on a 3. 4 mile hike that was so incredibly rocky, windy, and uphill. Ava enjoyed her ride in the Moby wrap and ended up falling asleep. When we finally made it to the top, the boys said they wished the mountain was a diving board and the view was a pool. The thought of that just made me want to throw up! On the way down, Dylan feel 10 times and screamed bloody murder every time! Ah the joys of no nap and an exhausted 2 year old. We made it up and down in just 2 hours! I was excited for early bedtime for the kids and myself. I can't remember the last time I went to sleep at 8:15!
I can't believe the summer is coming to a close! It has gone so fast! The Eagles have just 2 more games of the season. The marathon is 8 weeks away. The boys will start their soccer season in the next few weeks, women's Bible study will start up and we will start the "other, off season " life. Will you pray for us as we transition into a new schedule?!