Bear Bottom Time!

Dondie and I took the kids on our first family vacation! Since we enjoy people so much, especially friends and family people, we have always traveled either with friends or family OR to go see friends or family. So we dared to be different this time and spent four days with just the five of us. Oh it was incredibly fun. What a blessing to spend time together, away from the busyness of everyday life, enjoying the Lord's BEAUTIFUL creation!
We were in northern NC at a friend's cute-as-anything mountain house, "Bear Bottom" (thank you, thank you, thank you), and did LOTS of fun things such as: hiking, canoeing, BBQ festival-ing, driving the Blue Ridge Parkway, marshmallowing (as Charley calls it), star gazing, etc etc etc!!
We also had some great family laughs by rolling down big hills! At my grandmother's funeral two years ago, I distinctly remember one of my uncles saying that his mom (my grandmother) had taught him how to roll down hills. This made him really emotional because it was just one example of how she had been hands-on with her sons and didn't sit on the sidelines and watch. Anyways, that story really stuck with me, so when the kids (and Dondie) wanted to roll down the hill, well... I just had to!! Oh it was fun! But... cue the two-hour episode of nausea! Who knew rolling down a hill was like riding the Gravitron at the State Fair!! Haha.

So here is our week in pictures! We are hoping to make family vacations a family tradition! :)

We had lots of fun watching the hummingbirds drink it up all week!

Absolutely beautiful.

Ready to hike!
 "Ummm...Daddy?!?..are you sure about this??"

Lots of fun times on the front porch.

Gorgeous view form the top of the property.

I love wild flowers! (and so does Charley... she picked about 435 of them)

Running down the hill like the Little House on the Prairie intro...

Family shot. Landon, your hat made it in the picture at least!!

One of our many deer sightings.

Photo shoot with our lovies.

Gotta have both Lambie and Bear.

One of my favorite lovies.

At a BBQ joint in Galax, VA. Good stuff.

Hi.

Dogs and marshmallows!!! With a view!

Hot dog hot dog hot diggity dog.

Daddy wins!!

Mommy's turn!

Sweet things!

Beautiful sunset over a nearby Christmas Tree Farm.

The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship!!! Psalm 19:1

Three Little Pigs

Yep...so I only have one set of matching outfits for our three to wear, and they are... Piggly Wiggly shirts. Classy, I know. D and I both worked at The Pig in high school, so it's totally appropriate, don't you think? :)
I tried to get one gooood picture, but the more kids you have, the more that is impossible, so here's all of them... Pig Shirts -- Take Seven.

"No need to worry about your standing with God. Jesus lifted that burden off your shoulders on the cross." Paul David Tripp 

Chau Ram

Our family loves day trips, so D and I took the kids to Chau Ram Falls on the fourth of July. Chau Ram is a county park that has a fun river that you can tube down, sandy beaches where you can picnic, and giant river rocks to climb. A perfect opportunity to get in the water fully clothed, like we did! It was a super hot day, so the chilly water felt fabulous! Even Landon had a ball, despite getting his cute little toes nibbled on by the fish! 

Droppin' Socks

You know how when you carry a load of laundry in your arms from one side of the house to the other, you inevitably drop a sock or two along the way?? Sometimes you notice they're dropping, while other times you discover the trail of them later. Well, that's how I feel life is going right now. There are things I'm totally dropping the ball on and don't even realize it (until it hits me way later), and there are other things I know are supposed to be happening but...well...they just aren't. Clearly blogging has been one of those things...

Apparently the kids have been drinking fertilizer again, because they are just getting sooo big. Eli has hit that 2.5yr mark when words and sentences start flowing like crazy. I'm like, who is this little boy?? My favorite word of his has to be "ban-bade" (band aid). Almost all words have to be two syllables, so he often adds the -ey sound to short words. Like, "shut the doorie." ... "We goin to the storey" All of it is too cute. I'm not ready for him to speak "correctly" yet. Charley is already out of the cute-pronunciation stage, although she is still in the mix-up-words stage. For instance, she doesn't like driving on the "inter-steak" because you have to drive on it for a lllllong time. She turned four at the end of April, and she is most definitely a little girl now...crazy. She adores her brothers, singing songs with made-up lyrics, anything sweet, and using her wild imagination.
Landon is eight-months. Wow. He has seven teeth, is up on all fours (but not going anywhere, thankfully), and has a favorite word that he says ALL the time: "GAH." He has the sweetest smile and the most contagious giggle. He's working on a few finger foods, but his main diet consists of the 100% baby food stuff. Mmmm. His newest trick is going from the laying down to the sitting up position. This means I lay him down to go to sleep annnnd find him later sitting up playing. It was the hilarious the first time I discovered him just sitting there looking around when I thought he was sleeping...won't be cute soon.
I have many more updates to post, but they will have to wait...

"Remember that every physical, situation, or relational glory you'll experience today is meant to point you to the glory of God." Paul David Tripp

For now...Pictures!

Big News! Charley and Eli are sharing a room now! They love it.

We had a great Father's Day at home, celebrating Daddy!

Sweet Boy

We tried to watch the Memorial Hot Air Balloons again this year...but after waiting a couple of hours...they cancelled it b/c of the wind... It was fun, nonetheless!

Sucha big girl!

We went on our annual Salley Family Beach Trip in June... it was amazing. Lots of good pics...here's one of 'em

"I love this, Mom!!!" ... Landon loved the water. and the sand. So much that he thought he'd eat it. He was a trooper on our beach vacation!

An Early Summer Cut

So I thought that maybe I'd let Eli's hair grow out some, and then chop it all off before we go to the beach in June. He still needed a trim in the back and around his ears, but after doing that, D and I agreed the next day that Eli had what D affectionately calls a "muffin head." (short on the sides, tall and poofy up top).So then, in a nutshell, what was supposed to be "a little off the top" turned into "almost everything off the top." Basically a result in poor communication and a difference in how D and I hold the clippers. Eli came into the bathroom after his cut and I was like, "WHAT IN THE WORLD happened to your hair?!?!" Anyways. It will grow back. He is so handsome with it short, but looks way too grown up!

His hair hasn't been this short since: (8mos)

 

May I Have...?

So Eli is talking more and more and more each day. It's quite cute. I usually serve as his translator as some words aren't exactly clear to the average English-speaking human. As he starts speaking in sentences, we are challenging him to bring his A-game in the manners department. Just plain "meeze" (please) doesn't cut it anymore. So, when asking for things, we expect him to say, "May I have..." As in, "May I have some more milk please??" And this isn't just about being polite. It's about our kids being able to put themselves under authority...If they are demanding things from us (Get me more milk please/ I want more milk please), that's not exactly what we are going for when raising kids who we ultimately want to place themselves under God's authority. Is that a run-on? Not that saying "May I have..." is a formula for producing God-fearing individuals...but you get what I'm saying...hopefully. Anyway...
So it's really quite precious now that Eli can say "May I have..." because he doesn't quite get it. This is a few things he has said just yesterday and today. Please note that he says "May I have..." all drawn out like each word is it's own sentence.

"Mama, turn it down; it too loud" to which I reply, "Excuse me, Eli??" to which he "corrects" himself, "Mama, May.I.have.turn it down, meeze??"

While I'm hitting the garage door door-bell looking button: "I wanna do it!" "Eli..." "May.I.have.do it, meeze?"

"Eli...it's time to go take a nap...Let's go." "Mama, I poopy" (Translation: "Mother, I am currently using the bathroom, and, in my 2-yr-old mind, I cannot get up and walk out of this room.") To which I reply, "No Eli, you need to come right now..." So he then replies, "Mama, may.I.have poopy meeze?" (See...this is when he needs a translator. The subject is not actually asking for poopy).

And my favorite...
He just called me into his room (he was supposed to be asleep a long time ago, but he's stalling...).
"Mama...I wanna snuggle." "Eli...." I can't even say what I was gonna say before he says, "Mama. May I have little bit snuggle, meeze??" Oh, how could I resist?!

In summary, it's precious. I haven't corrected him and probably won't because it will work itself out all too soon. And since our ultimate goal isn't just manners, the whole improper grammar thing doesn't bother me. Weese gots bigger fishes to fry.