Panama City Beach - Part 1

We have finally arrived in Panama City Beach, FL.  The kids are excellent travelers and we only stopped twice...once for a potty break and once for lunch.  They are amazing!

We spent the evening settling into the hotel and then we headed to the pool.  Sam immediately put on his water wings and jumped into the pool.  He's still as fearless as he was last year.  He goes under and pops back up laughing!  Hannah finally practiced swimming without her water wings.  She was so nervous at first but she's ever so slowly getting the hang of it.

While we were swimming, two ladies came down with a little boy (Hannah's age) and a little girl (Sam's age).  After observing Sammy jumping into the pool the little girl decided she wanted jump as well.  I happened to have two extra pairs of water wings (you know, just in case) so I gave them to their kids.  When the ladies were finished swimming I told them they could keep the water wings (do you really need two spare pairs?) 
A few minutes later one of the women came back and told us her husband was grilling a ton of food and they were going to make us two plates.  I sent Bobby to get the food when it was ready.  While he was there the husband told Bobby to try some fish he was grilling.  Tommy Bowden had caught the fish and given it to their family and they were grilling it.  What a small world we live in!  And the food was delicious as well - grilled pork chops and chicken, potato salad and rolls.  What a blessing!!

This morning I took the kids to the beach so Bobby could sleep late.  It was a balmy 73 degrees but the kids got in the water any way.  Poor Sammy still has trouble standing in the waves and laughed every time he fell.  We attempted sand castles but the kids were more interested in running in the waves. 

Here are a few pictures to get you started...

Texas

This past week Hannah & Samuel went on their first airplane ride.  We went to Houston, Texas because Bobby had work related business to take care of and we visited with his Uncle Thom, Aunt Nancy and their two granddaughters (Rose, 6 years old and Dee Dee, 4 years old).  So all together we had a 3 y/o, a 4 y/o, a 5 y/o and a 6 y/o.  What fun!

Both kids were so excited to fly but unfortunately Sammy had a minor accident right before we boarded the plane.  He was running to the window to look out at our plane, tripped and hit the edge of the window sill with his nose.  He cried, his nose began to swell and I began to panic thinking he had broken his nose.  He wasn't excited about boarding or take-off.  Thankfully his nose was just busted and he slowly recovered about 30 minutes into our flight.

We had a busy week full of fun...

Wednesday we went shopping and went to Chuy's for supper.  I love Chuy's and had to buy another tee-shirt since I basically wore last shirt to shreds (I bought it over 10 years ago when we visited Thom & Nancy the first time!)

Thursday Rosie & Dee Dee had school then swim lessons.  So Bobby & I took the kids to the Science Museum and the Butterfly Center.  Hannah LOVED all of the butterflies.  You feel like you're in a rain forest with all the plants and the waterfall.  She managed to hold a few butterflies but Sam only held one b/c he's a boy and unable to stay still :-)

Friday the girls had a half day at school.  So we spent the entire afternoon at the Children's Museum.  This was my favorite place.  I can't even begin to describe how awesome it was!!  The kids did some hands on science activities and then we headed over to Kidtropolis so they could "work" and earn some money.  I think I had as much fun working and playing with the stuff as they did!  We ended outside with the Water Works which Sam loved.  He was soaking wet by the time we left.

Rosie is not picking her nose...she's pushing up her safety glasses.

Saturday we spent the day at the Houston Zoo.  I enjoyed watching Hannah & Rosie holding hands as they walked from exhibit to exhibit.  Sam & Dee Dee were feeling a little left out so Bobby paired up with Sam and I convinced Dee Dee that I was much cooler than Hannah.  She was my buddy the entire day.  We ended the day with a train ride around Herman Park which was lovely and relaxing after a full day of walking.

Sunday the guys & the kids stayed home while Nancy and I went shopping.  We ended the day with supper at 'Souper. Salad'  Nancy & the kids made rice krispy treats while I packed our bags.  Unfortunately we had to leave the next day...

We were so sad to leave on Monday but ready to be home at the same time.  Rosie & Dee Dee handled the 'goodbyes' better than I thought they would.  Hannah broke down at the airport as we were checking our bags.  She didn't want to leave Rosie & Dee Dee.  For almost an entire week she had two little girlfriends to play with!

Thom & Nancy were such wonderful hosts.  They were a blessing to us and I want to thank them for all they did for our little family while we stayed with them.  We love you all and can't wait to see you again!!

Rainbows, Birthday's and Hummingbirds

For science lately we've been learning about weather.  There's no better way to learn about seasons/weather than by reading scriptures and showing that God created everything including our weather system.  I incorporated the story of Noah & the ark and the rainbow being God's promise to never destroy the earth by flood again.  We made a fun rainbow craft to go along with our lesson and the kids loved it!

We just used paper plates cut into the shape of rainbows, painted them and glued cotton balls on them to represent clouds.

The 21st was my Mom's birthday.  The kids and I baked chocolate cupcakes and finished them with cream cheese icing.  We spent the evening with her and ordered pizza for supper.  The kids rushed through eating b/c they were so excited to eat some cupcakes!
On Saturday my sister and I took my her out to lunch and then to the movies.  It was great being able to celebrate twice with her.  She's been a blessing to our little family and she's been a wonderful mom. 

Yesterday we found a hummingbird in Bobby's shed.  It was desperately trying to get out so Bobby caught it in Hannah's bug catching kit.  We took a few minutes to observe it before letting it go.
Hannah had never seen a hummingbird in "real live person before!"

 

 

Spring is in the Air

Spring has slowly crept in but summer feels like it's tagging along.  Still, we felt the need to take advantage of this wonderful warm weather so yesterday we took the kids to the park to play.  {It's about time to start play dates again ladies!}  It ended up being a really warm day with the threat of a thunder storm.  This didn't bother the kids in the least and they still had a blast and enjoyed the much needed fresh air and exercise.

 

click on image to see Sammy with his tongue stuck out!

In other news, our chickens are growing like crazy.  They're no longer cute but are still cuddly.  They're especially used to the kids getting into the coop with them and holding them.  Bobby built a big wooden coop outside and they're certainly enjoying the extra room.  It's big enough that the kids can sit inside and hold the chickens or feed them.

 And last of all, just a cute picture of my handsome little prince.  Don't you think he's the cutest boy ever? 

Weekends Are for Parties

Fun costume parties complete with...

 ice cream & delicious cakes

games

crafts

and kids running in circles until they dropped.

 Musical Chairs

 Sam didn't want to dress up at first but quickly decided he wanted to put on his Superman costume after seeing the other guys.

The costumes got crazier as the afternoon progressed...

Have You Seen the Cuteness?

the cuteness that is known as...

     Karen with her beautiful babies.

Uncle Bobby meets Samantha for the first time.

Since the twins are still in the NCCU, Dave decided to return to work and start his leave when they come home.  So he asked if we could come up and help Karen (she had a c-section and wasn't allowed to drive for two weeks.)  So I went up on Sunday and Bobby & the kiddos came up on Thursday.  I spent the week cleaning and driving Karen to the hospital.  And snuggling sweet tiny babies of course!  We have the cutest nieces in the world!

Every one is slowly making progress but continue to keep them in your prayers.  We're all anxious for the day that this little family will all be healthy and home together.

March Madness

We're only half way through March and I'm just about ready for it to be over.  There's a beach somewhere calling my name - calling me to come and rest so that our little family can escape from the family drama and sickness that has plagued us for 3 weeks now!  The Lord has been giving us a serious lesson in being joyful in our trials!  And I must say that I've failed on several occasions...so I guess He's giving me more opportunities to get it right!

We all started the month with a cold -or really some vile virus that was masquerading as a cold.  After a week of coughing, runny noses, and low grade fevers we all developed secondary infections:  Bobby & Hannah had a sinus infection, I had an ear infection and poor little Sammy developed a double ear infection!  As if that wasn't enough, Sammy had an allergic reaction to his antibiotic.  Bobby & I kind of expected this though because my Mom, myself and Hannah are all allergic to penicillin and amoxicillin too.  He didn't have a severe reaction, just broke out into a pinkish/red rash all over his torso and face. 

It's not been all bad though.  The Lord is faithful and has blessed us in many ways this month.  We are all starting to feel better...when Sammy's rash finally disappears we will all be recovered!  Now we are very thankful for good health!!!

We've also been blessed with several babies this month.  Our very dear friends, the Steele's, added a sweet baby girl to their family of four boys on the 11th.  It's been killing me that we've been so sick because we haven't even had the chance to meet her yet!  Hopefully this weekend we will...

Also our twin nieces, Catherine Louise and Samantha Jean, were born on the 15th to Dave & Karen (Bobby's brother & his wife).  They were born at 34.5 weeks so they only weighed 3lbs 2oz each. and are so tiny!   They will be in the NICU for two weeks but are doing great otherwise.  We are most excited to meet these precious little girls and hopefully we'll be making a trip to NC in the next week or so.

We've had a four new additions to our family as well.  Nothing as exciting as a sweet little baby but Bobby bought the kids four chicks on Monday.  The kids absolutely love them and have been wonderful about helping take care of them.  Every time I turn around they have the cage open, petting one of them.  Or else Hannah is asking to hold one.   She's turned into quite the mother hen and could sit all day holding them.   They are super cute and fairly easy to take care of at the moment.  We'll see how things turn out when they grow into big chickens!

And we couldn't do a post about March without mentioning basketball could we?  Every year I fill out a bracket and I'm starting to wonder why.  Bobby reviews my choices and proceeds to tell me that this team lost their leading scorer due to some injury and that team has never made it into the Final Four and most likely never will.  I guess I keep filling them out in hopes that one year I might actually pick the team that wins the whole dang thing and I can gloat over Bobby.  So keep your fingers crossed that Kansas wins this year ;-)  

***To the person who asked about the Phonic books that Hannah has been using:  a sweet friend of ours gave me the whole set.  There are 17 books, some audio tapes (the set is so old it's tapes and not CD's!), charts, games, etc.  I have no idea where she got them and I've found books here and there by searching Amazon & Etsy -keyword Phonetic Storybooks and/or Raceway Phonic Books.  I'll keep searching and let you know if I find a complete set.  They have been a blessing to me in teaching Hannah to read and I hope you can find your own!***