God decorated the beach!

We just got back inside (sadly) from our first Atlantic Ocean beach adventure. My poor memory recall skills are troubled already to remember all of the cute things Addie said while on the beach this morning.  She was literally overcome with awe. She was excited to find shells (west coast beaches lack in that respect).. but i don't think she was expecting so many shells!! She couldn't put them in her bucket fast enough.
"Momma I found another beautiful one!"
  "This is so so wonderful! "
"This is just beautiful."
  "I love the beach. I love the soft sand! I love the beautiful shells!"

It didn't take long for spinning and twirling to begin..
A song about the biggest sea shell was the happy tue for the dance.

Then.. the cutest:
"Momma, God decorated the beach with shells!!"  "That's right, Addie!" (Thinking, wow.. i really like that.)  "And He left them here for me to decorate my new room!!"
How cute is that?!

Micah wasn't too sure about the experience, he stayed in my arms.. which was nice in its own rite.

Garrett, who started the beach morning walking alone finding shells, had a million questions about why shells are here and not in San Diego, about how they are shaped, and the tide. (Oh my!) Finally he couldn't resist the waves and was beckoned in!!

Gosh I enjoyed watching them this morning!

We made it to Florida

So happy to finally say we have arrived in Florida.. our final destination.   The place we will now call home, for a few years anyway.  Thought the "place" has been attained.. our home is still to come.. and i can't wait! We will see it for the first time tomorrow.  More to come...

The kids traveled so well.  I could not have asked for more.  We crossed 8 states. Stayed in hotels, saw friends, and visited family. Then we crossed 5 more states on our final south bound journey.  It has been exactly a month since our belongings were packed up.. it's gone fast and slow at the same time.

We are ready to make Jacksonville our home.

Christmas in July Birthday!

July 30, 2012 ....  Addison Lynn is 5 years old!!

look out kindergarten.. here she comes!

Addie had been planning her "Ohio birthday" for a while.. which consisted of us all being mermaids and having cake with pink icing and strawberries ... Under Water!  So I had not figured out a way to make that happen and I was feeling some major guilt because none of her little friends would be her to celebrate.  ..... Addison however, was not experiencing any of these anxiety filled emotions.  She was ready to turn 5 and to party!!  She changed her mind and decided she wanted to have a Christmas Birthday Party.  I have no clue where she came up with that .. but .. it worked! 

Christmas Birthday in July!

let me just say that this was actually a really great idea.  It was a theme where we had everything already .. so it was so inexpensive.  Everybody got into it.  My sister was visiting and she and my mom drug out a lot of Christmas decor and out did themselves putting it about the outside of the house.  The Christmas flag was hung, garland and a wreath on the front door.. Festive!  The back porch and deck had a few trees, lights, carols... and a birthday banner above a tree waiting for presents! & yes, the presents appeared with Christmas paper.

Addie was very very happy.

"A Christmas Birthday party is the most beautiful party ever." -addison

The guilt I was feeling about her not having friends was erased when we went to pick out some goodies for the party.  It was clear she was having fun and that was all that mattered.  We picked out some red plates and napkins.. and a butterfly pinata (she said that was ok since there were no Christmas ones. lol.)  We got her a big chocolate chip cookie cake, carrots, grapes, and pizza... what a menu she planned! 

Addie and I had a date at Panera together for lunch.  What a sweet time with my girl. 

 It was hard to sit across the table and see a 5 year old girl... and not a little babe any more.  She's growing up.  I pray that she's fed with things to make her grow into a beautiful woman someday.. physically, mentally, and spiritually.   I pray for wisdom to be an example for her to follow and look up to.  I pray for grace for the times I am way less than what I desire for her.  I pray for her energetic spirit and her enthusiastic smile to touch many others.  I am proud of her.  and I love my little princess with all that I am.

 

I will do that...

Olympic fever is high with us.. watching prime time and tuning in at times during the day.  My phone ringer is even singing me that glorious theme song!

The kids have endless questions about the sports, the scores, the medals, and the teams. Addison decided there should be a purple team... hummm wouldn't they have to add a ring for that? ;)

I've realized there are some real teaching moments within these conversations .. today it was about building each other up.  Addie said that she wants to be a "gymnasticer" when she grows up. She was watching the gymnast on the tv flip on the beam. She looked impressed and then stated "I will do that." 

Earlier in the day Garrett was "air swimming" during a race.. he then said "Mom, I think I will do swimming in the Olympics."  I of course told him i would be there watching (even though I know my heart couldn't handle that.. )

So at this point both kids that can talk have declared themselves top athletes, bound for the Olympics. 

Addie started doing her tricks and started crying because she can only do cart wheels and rolls.. not the tricks she was watching. Garrett then told her she couldn't do tricks like that.. to which Addie said "I will do that." And again,G told her it wasn't going to happen. 
{Enter teachable moment}

At that point they got an earful about telling someone that they cannot do something.. and how if you hear it enough - well you know. 

My point is.. it was a good life lesson. And a chance to show them that cheering for each other takes everyone further than contradicting a dream or goal.  Pointing out how the athletes cheer for each other even when competing is easy.. so take the next two weeks to pick out some teachable moments and really cheer for each other.  *\o/*

Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up.
~ romans 15:2

Olympic time!

I LOVE the Olympics.  Absolutely Love.  

Sport.. Love of the game

Pride.. for our country

Underdogs.. the comebacks

Bios.. the amazing stories to become an Olympian

Ceremonies.. medals, flags, podiums, & anthems

Tears.. of joy

Unity.. of the nations

 Celebrations.. of personal & national achievements 

Records.. the unbelievable performances by the athletes.

Song.. the Olympic song

I just love it all.  

travel ... let's take a break

catching up a little on our trip diary...

Hanging out in Indy was one word.. FUN!!
Upon waking the kids paired off again... girls against and boys.  Girls dawned tutus at a tea party while the boys had serious conversations about collecting coins, the arch, and beyblades.... very serious topics.

 

Next we were "Party rockin in the house tonight... everybody have a good time!"   Seriously these kid were crazy..Dance Party Central!!   It was a great mornig and we stayed in our pjs till after noon.

Let me mention that having 6 kids in one house was of course loud... but also a perfect chance for Matt and I to catch up with our long time friend.  The kids played so well together and kept themselves busy .. we actually had our own time!

Aub took me around their town of Carmel, IN... which has a very cute downtown area.  We did a little brousing ..all the while with a non-stop dialoug of catching up on everything from our latest pins on pinerest to how hard it was to say good bye to friends in NV. It felt so good to sit down and have a real conversation - face to face.  Our luck with living near eah other coldn't have been worse.  No sooner did we get stationed out in San Diego from Maine, they moved from Long Beach (would have been 2 hours away) to Chico in northern CA.   then when we moved up to northern NV (would have been a few house away) we missed them by a month as they moved to Indy.  Can you believe that?  man ... seeing it in writing makes me think they were fleeing us!! LOL.

We went to a cute cupcakery and had the most delicious cupcakes ever! Adds sweetness to the memories!

Travel take 6

After a relaxing evening of Panera (yay!!) & some night time swimming we were off to the St. Lewis "Gateway Arch".  Matt and I chatted on our way about how we were here 5 and a half years ago.. with Garrett just a little older than Micah.. crazy.  This time Garrett was soaking up the museum of Westward Expansion just as fast as he could.  He was especially interested in the peace coins that were traded when signing treaties.  Addie liked looking at all the displays.  Micah pointed at every animal and said "dooowg".  It was nice and cool in there.. so I was happy. (Can I just interject that the humidity is going to be so hard to get used to again. I have not missed it.)
Garrett is really not fond of heights .. so I wasn't too surprised when he didn't want to go up in the arch. So we checked out the gift store... turning. 51¢ (x2) into two flat pennies pressed with the arch.  Garrett also chose to buy a mini arch .. complete with facts and Addie chose a "wand" (a pencil with a large arch earaser).
It was a Fun morning!!
Then back into the car for a rather short, in comparison, drive.  A destination of Indianapolis was next. G wrote more in his journal.. citing the large white cross we passed and the baseball and football stadiums to a growing list.
We arrived at Aubrey... my bff's... home and settled right into immediate fun. Boys went into her son Mason's room and girls went into her twins room. Addie fit herself in as the *blonde* triplet. She raided Kiah and Theia's closet.. sharing even pj's! The big boys went to work on boy things like building a fort and comparing rare coins... oh and spying on the girls! They were busy :) Which meant WE could talk.. real face to face catching up!!
So happy.