Finding the light

Chesty's favorite spot has long been whichever stair has the stream of light shining on it. He's been known to follow the light and move down the staircase as the sun moves throughout the day. On this day the light moved him down five steps and then finally onto the floor. It's a rough life for Chesty.

Firepit!

Inaugural fire in our new, fancy fire pit!

Checks

In an effort to establish some better, more respectful habits around here, we created a Yes Ma'am/Yes Sir chart to help the kids kick the "Yep", or "MmmHmm" response to our instructions that we've all gotten a little too used to. We spent a couple of days letting them put a check mark next to their name whenever they remembered to respond more respectfully with the promise of redeeming those checks with coinage at the end of the week. The big kids caught on quickly and their rows were filled up in a day (they may or may not have been cheeky enough to slip in a few extra "Yes, Ma'am's" here and there), but the practice was a little harder for the younger boys to remember and Jack's row, especially, was lagging a good bit behind the others.

This must have been bothering him while he was lying in bed, because around 10pm when we were silly enough to believe that everyone was sleeping, Jimmy, MawMaw, PawPaw and I heard some activity in the kitchen. We turned from our couch in the family room to find Jack standing at the chart, marker in hand (and all over his hands), filling in the rest of his line with the best "checkers" he could make. Who has time to be making habits when you could be making mischief?

Here comes the bride

Who says you need a sister in order to play things like "Wedding"? In fact, a willing brother (or two) playing the parts of Groom and Father of the Bride make the event almost feel official. I couldn't help but laugh (and grab the camera) when I came upon this scene. I'm glad for Caroline that every once in a while her brothers are willing to put down their swords and put on their ties (except for Jack, who will likely try to actually get married in a "teamwork" and sweatbands one day) in order to play with her.

Moving Out

With Jack officially "settled" (I use that word very loosely) in the big bed with Ben, I took the plunge, packed up Eli's belongings and moved him out. Out of our bedroom, that is. Our babies have resided in our room for a little bit longer with each one, partly because we like it that way and partly because it's gotten harder and harder to find a new spot for them. : ) And no matter how old they are or how ready we all are for the new living arrangements, it's always just a tiny bit sad for me to give them their first big send-off.

So tonight I was home with just the little guys while Jimmy had the big kids at one of their later basketball games when I decided it was time. It didn't even feel all that sad to me, which is probably why I was able to capitalize on the moment and get it done. He and I went through his normal night time routine except this time I put him into his new (to him) crib in Caroline's room where he drifted right to sleep, just like he always does. I was feeling quite proud of us both for being so mature about the whole thing.

So a couple hours later when Jimmy and the big people had come home and he'd gotten them all settled off to bed he came downstairs and said he noticed that Eli had moved into his big boy room. Those were the wrong words to use, apparently, because upon hearing him say that I completely burst into tears at how old he was all of a sudden, saying things like, "We've lost our baby!" Like the good husband that he is, Jimmy only laughed at me a little bit but mostly just said that he thought it was a tiny bit sad, too. Oh, and he might have reminded me that we haven't, in fact, lost our baby. Ten months is still pretty baby-ish, indeed.

Great (and great!) grandparents

I'm so thankful that our kids have had a chance to know their great-grandparents. We had the chance to spend time with all three of my remaining grandparents on this trip and even got to celebrate the 90th birthday of one of my favorite ladies.

It was fun to watch my Grandpa with his new friends in the Assisted Living home that he lives in now. He was excited to introduce us around and, having just come out of our study of World War II, the kids were fascinated by all of the war talk that these men would share with each other. One man was a five-star Air Force General during the time of WWII, the Korean War and Vietnam. These men are very old and in poor health. Their memories are so short that they had the same conversation several times in just a few short minutes. But they all remember the part that they played in the wars that they fought and their conversations revolved around that every time.

Granny's 90th birthday was what we planned our whole trip around. There was not a chance we could miss out on celebrating with her! She is a precious lady who has only become more wonderful and lovely and full of grace with age. It was so special to hear her sons praise her and her older brother (94! They were the youngest  two of six) tell her that she was always his favorite. And I think she looks just as beautiful now as she ever has. I've been told that I have her genes. I hope I look half as lovely as she does as I grow older!

Florida trip, part two

The second leg of our Florida adventures found us at Maw Maw and Paw Paw's house, where there was no shortage of sun, sand and seagulls. Feeding the birds in Florida with Jimmy always takes me back to the memory of the first time he came home with me for a visit. We were out in our huge canal-front back yard when we decided that we should give the seagulls a little snack. Jimmy ran inside and returned with what he thought was the perfect treat - a large ziplock bag of little toasted bread squares. The birds loved them! A few hours later we heard mom wandering around the kitchen searching for that bag of croutons she had made for the salad, when we realized that we'd fed the birds part of our dinner! It was our leftover lunch that the seagulls got today and they weren't complaining a bit.

We also got to meet Rachel, Alex and Naomi at the beach for some wave riding and sand sculpting. It was quite cold and the rinse-off shower at the end of our time wasn't the most popular part, but even still that hour was one of their favorite things we did on the whole trip. And it might be a coincidence, but it was right after that afternoon in the salt air that everyone's cough seemed to die down for the first time in months. I'll take that prescription!

Downtown Disney!

Where should you go when you'd really like a little taste of the Disney experience without the time or financial commitment? Downtown Disney, of course! It was a spur of the moment idea and it was awesome. We sprung the surprise on the kids en route to Maw Maw and Paw Paw's house and they thought it was genius as well. For the price of a Haagen Dazs ice cream and some pretzel bites we got an afternoon of Disney fun! It definitely helps that the stores all have stations for playing, creating and building to your heart's content. If you know our kids at all it won't come as a shock when I say that we spent a good, solid hour in the Lego store building and racing cars. And if you know our kids it also won't come as a shock when you hear that I didn't actually build any Lego cars because my sole purpose in life while at the Lego store was to fish Jack off of the racing ramp and retrieve and return all of the other people's cars that he would steal at the end of the ramps. Containment for Jack is still a beautiful and wonderful thing and that is why we own two awesome baby carriers. He might still be riding on our backs when he's 10.
As for Chesty, well, lets just say that Disney thinks of everyone in the family and that includes the dogs. He wasn't so sure about the "Pet Camp" (and he proved his uncertainty by peeing on their lobby floor), but we're pretty sure he was treated like royalty. (Jimmy did say that he felt like a loser of a pet owner to have to check "Yes" to, "Does your pet growl at people?" on the check-in questionnaire. But Chesty really left him with no choice since he was, at that very moment, snarling at the poor girl who was trying to lead him away from his family.)
All in all, our Downtown Disney afternoon was the perfect little vacation between vacations.

Fashionable Florida Fun

One of the best things about visiting GaGa and Grandpa's house is that we can have all sorts of good, clean fun without ever having to leave. Gaga and Grandpa are always ready for a good time and this visit was no different. There was bird feeding and game playing and hot tub swimming and gun shooting and walk taking and good food eating and even a little birthday celebrating (happy 39th birthday, Gaga!). These two grandparents know how to wear some kids out! Though I have a suspicion that these kids might leave some worn out grandparents behind when our stay comes to an end... : )
We had a lovely time on the west side of Florida, where one can wear a fleece over one's bathing suit in February and that's not weird at all.

Flea Market treasures

While visiting with GaGa and Grandpa, we decided to take a trip on over to their local flea market where the kids could meet the used book vendor that hunts down the books from the list Gaga keeps in her bag. The big kids have built up a good collection of their favorites thanks to this kind man! The flea market, as you can imagine, was quite a feast for the eyes and thanks to Grandpa and the freshly fried doughnuts, a feast for the belly as well.