Kicking off Summer...

This weekend was a great weekend spent with family and friends.  I kept thinking that if there was ever a way to kick off summer...this was it!

Sunday we tried a new church (well new to us, they've been there quite a while).  I sort of feel like I've been to several churches in my past that were at two extremes.  One was so overly consumed with whomping everyone up into a spiritual frenzy through the song service that the sermon just about fell flat, but most of the people never even noticed since they were still reeling from the back up singers and flashing lights.  The other extreme is what I've been most used to, church had a very starched and proper feeling to it, unable to sing without hymnal in hand, great sermons, but left the worship side of my soul wanting more.  I think another aspect of not feeling quite at home was that after 10 years of attending church there people still asked me if it was my first Sunday there:(  Grrr.  If you don't know my face after 10 years, what's the point?

So it was with great trepidation that I walked into this "new" church and took a chance.  My main concern was not for David and myself, we could grin and bear it through one service if we were uncomfortable in any way, but the kids are a different story.  Mommy radar instantly goes on to see if they are nervous, comfortable, petrified.  The children's class was together so Zach and Julia got to stay together, which made me feel better.  When we walked in the door, we were welcomed instantly by these wonderful ladies and kids jumping out of their seats to greet my kids.  "You're new here, come play with us, my name is...., what's yours" were some of the things I heard.  Big smiles broke out on my little ones faces and I knew they would be okay for the morning.

Brandon is another story...he's not new to this nursery business and generally wants no part in it.  I was determined to sit in on the service, I was so eager to see what the song service would be like, the sermon, the people that I threw caution (and my baby so to speak) to the wind and told them where I would be sitting if he remained inconsolable feel free to come get me.  And we were off.   The ladies were sweet and willing to take my screaming child, and they never did come get me through the service (bless you, whoever you are).  In fact he calmed down a few minutes after we walked away and played quietly until I cam back to get him.

To my complete surprise the song/worship service was smack dab in the middle of the two extremes I had been used to and so I was extremely comfortable.  Traditional songs as well as worship songs were sung, some of which I was familiar with, some not so much, but were easy to learn.  I even heard David singing.  It was the type of worship service my heart had needed, not too focused on the emotional, but actually felt like worship.  And I wasn't whipped into such a frenzy that I couldn't notice the sermon, which was good, kept my attention and we opened our Bibles and dug into the Word.  We were impressed with how loving the people seemed to be towards each other, and even though we slipped quietly in the back, we had many people find us and shake hands and welcome us to their church.

As time marched on, I was getting a little nervous about how the children were doing, but to my great relief they ran to find me with huge smiles on their hot and sweaty faces from playing outside after their Bible story and snack time.  They were polite, and more sweet to each other than normal, we definitely noticed a difference in their spirits as we left that morning.  Of course it didn't last all day but they want to go back next week, which is an improvement from not wanting to go at all.

The rest of the day was spent at my Aunt's beach house, with my Dad's family.  We got some beach time in and good time visiting with family.  Monday was spent at my parent's house with both sides of the family in attendance, so there was plenty of fun and cousins to go around:)  It was a hot and sticky day, perfect for lounging and swimming near the pool, we couldn't have asked for a better day.  Julia was quite the water bug this year, swimming most of the time on her own (with the aide of swimmies) and the sun and water wore her out so much that by 6:30 she was sound asleep on our couch.  At 7:00 I carried her to bed, put the baby to bed and Dave and I had some time with Zach. 

David and I sighed...happy, tired sighs.  We both agreed this was the best way to kick off summer, and then exhausted we fell asleep.

At-A-Boy!

Well today was one of those days where I got lots and lots done...some of it planned and some not planned but I'm proud of myself just the same:) I love to mow the lawn, but it can be kind of overwhelming without some help.  The first thing you have to do is get the mower out of the shed, not an easy task since the four wheeler is partially on top of the mower (our shed is small, and getting everything in it is like putting a puzzle together). 

Our lawn mower leaves a lot to be desired.  For instance the back left tire has a slow leak, so every other time I mow the lawn it has to be filled up again.  That requires getting the air compressor out of the basement, putting the right attachement on it and getting the mower over to the back door:(  Then there's the hood; the spots welding it together came apart and when I moved it to fill up the gas tank, the hood thing fell off:(  One of the little plastic tires on the mower deck came loose, fell off and I accidentally mowed over it, spitting it out from under the mower in a shred of pieces.  And then there is one particular hill in our yard that is very steep, and the mower almost tips while mowing it.  I usually let David do this, but today I had a determined streak and set off to find another way to get it done.  Thank you Lord for creativity, and the hill was conquered!

So now when I say that I mowed the lawn, you can appreciate everything I had to go through to get it accomplished without David's help!!  Brandon and I got the job done though, and even finished up before the big rain storm (Thank you Lord!).

Vacation...This Is Going To Be Long:)

We we are home now from another great family vacation:)  This time the party consisted of my Mom, my Grandmother, David the kids and I.  It was awesome!  I have to admit that I was a little worried about the plane ride since Brandon is allergic to sitting still at this moment in his life, but he fell asleep not long after we were in the air, and didn't wake up again until we landed.  Whew!

Our entire travelling day was flawless, well as flawless as possible with small children.  I can honestly say I wasn't stressed out by the time we got there, which was a miracle in itself:)  I had the privilege of riding next to Julia for one of the flights; and I discovered that flying with Julia is not for the faint of heart!  As the plane began to land she had been studying the emergency folder in the pocket in front of her.  She began to sing to the tune of "If you're happy and you know it"...it went something like this, "If the plane crashes and burns, you have to get out" - "If the plane crashes in the water you have to get out"!!  She is something else!  She generally puts most of her thoughts to song these days, sometimes it rhymes and sometimes it doesn't.

Julia posing at Animal Kingdom



Love this one of Mom and Julia!

 Zach was happy to be sitting with Mom-mom and they played games and learned how to spell some words together during the flights.   I packed just a few things for them to do...simple is definitely better when flying with little ones.  Flip flops made getting through airport security a breeze, and before we knew it we were in Florida and on a bus headed for our hotel.  It's fun when we checked in and the person helping us said, "Welcome Home", made it special for us:)  Our rooms were on the sixth floor, with a enclosed balcony which made it great for us.  We could open the patio door and let all the kids run in and out without worrying about one of them heading head over heels to the ground.  It also made a great place to sit and have my morning coffee.  We could see Cinderellas Castle from our balcony, and were treated to spectacular fireworks every night:)

We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge, and that too was magical.  They had great customer service everywhere we went in the hotel.  Clean rooms and beds being made for me every day was one of the best parts of  my vacation:)  The look on the kids faces when we walked in our room and they saw a set of bunk beds just for them was priceless!  We quickly settled in and had dinner at Chef Mickey's in the Contemporary Resort.  The boat ride over there was one of many to come, but being the first, the kids could hardly contain themselves as they tried to stay sitting down!  What a way to kick off our trip, dinner with Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Goofy and Pluto...and all got pictures with them to boot:)  The food that night tasted even sweeter since it was our first night.

One highlight was our third day there.  It was the day that Zach became a pirate and Julia became a princess!  The day started with Zach signing in at The Pirate's League and picking his pirate name.  He got to spin the ships wheel and when they lined up the numbers on the die he stopped being Zachary Hendershott and became Davy Bridgekid!  Now time for the full makeover.  He corrected me every time I called his face paint 'makeup', he said it was his pirate paint.  They gave him a black eye, beard, scar, tattoo and a sword!  He was in heaven!  He even had to say a pirate pledge to 'Run from every fight I can't win, and win every fight I can't run from'!

Davy Bridgekid!



Getting his sword and instructions how to use it!

Julia, in the meantime was getting all princessed up at Cinderellas castle in the Bibbidy Bobbity Boutique.  She went from my beautiful girl to WOW!

My princess Belle (aka Julia)

She felt like a million bucks!  And mommy was wondering how to get all the gel and hairspray out of her hair:)  It was so hot the day we did this, but both places knew how to put the kids together so they didn't melt before our big lunch with all the princesses:)  As soon as they were done, we went to have lunch inside the castle and have pictures with all the princesses.


The kids and Jasmine:)

Julia saw Jasmine at a distance and I could tell she was getting excited.  When she made it to our table Julia stared up at her with this adoring gaze that was so sweet!  Zach even surprised me by talking the ears off of each princess that came to the table.  The kids loved all the attention they got from the princesses, and we had an amazing lunch!

Brandon loved the lunch with the princesses too, but for a different reason!
That's chocolate mousse and he's digging in





My boys:)

I love this picture of the boys...they love each other and what a classic Brandon face:)  We had so much fun, went to all the parks and enjoyed eating, laughing and being with my Grandmother and Mom.  Grandmom doesn't get much time with just us, so it was fun to see her interact with the kids.


Nanny, Brandon and Mom-Mom

 


Me at the Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue
It was so much fun, the jokes were corny and made the kids laugh!
The food was outstanding and made all of us happy:)

Over all the trip was a grand success.  Although we love Disney, we are looking forward to our relaxed vacation that is coming this fall.  Camping all the way to Mississippi to see my bestie and her family for a long overdue visit:)

We also had the opportunity to be in the middle of the half Ironman that was going on right around us.  It was so fun meeting families that had come down in support of their family members doing the Ironman.  And we had the chance to see some of the race as it was going on.  I take my hat off to all those people who particpated.

Coming home was great, we missed Darby so  much but are thankful for great family and friends that are like family who took good care of her while we were gone:)

Glad to be home...



Musings

I have been typing my fingers to the bone today, so why I am back on typing now is a mystery to me.  Perhaps it's because my job is to type other peoples thoughts and comments...so writing my own makes me feel like I'm not living in someone else's head.  After five hours of typing I've had enough of other people's thoughts.  One good thing is that it helps me realize that my life is looking pretty good these days.

I had done a lot of typing for a particular doctors office and since they mostly specialized in mental illness it became increasingly apparent that I had better separate myself from these files or I too would need some  mental help.  I'm glad to be moving on to other types of work, especially thankful for the few sermons that come across my desk to be typed.  It's nice to get some uplifting work once in a while.  Last week I had to hang my head in shame as a fifth grade class knew more about angles, how to measure them and what to do with fractions then I did!

I decided to change my perspective on these types of files, and look at typing them as a chance to learn something (even if it is from fifth graders) new.   

I have especially been enjoying the warmer weather as it means more time outside with the kids.  Yesterday after the kids got home from school, the neighbor kiddos came over to have a water balloon fight.  It was the first time that Brandon had seen a water balloon and as the children threw them to the ground he laughed that deep belly laugh that babies do when they see something new and funny for the first time.  He was laughing so hard, he had all four of the older kids and myself  laughing till we were holding our sides!  Then Faith gave him his own balloon and he grinned that boyish grin that he has and popped it!  We all waited to see if he would cry from having water drip down his face; instead he laughed even more.

It was a classic moment.  I guess the thing I love so much about our neighbors is that their kids love my kids.  All of them take pains to make sure Brandon is happy, they hug each other all the time and it warms my heart.  To have true kindred spirits this young is a rare thing these days, they will truly be friends forever.  They even fight like brothers and sisters:)  Brandon often thinks he is over loved these days, and I often hear him screeching because somebody...including the neighbors are loving on him.

Vacation is in five days, can't wait.  I can see the stress of all of our jobs getting to us; some fun is definitely in order.  Just have to make it five days and one, two hour flight later:)

Wedding Day

Yesterday we had the great privilege of going to my good friend Bekah's wedding!  The day started out rainy and cold here at home, but we had three and a half hour drive ahead of us, and so were hoping for better weather when we arrived.  The kids were invited to this wedding (another blessing) and so we packed everybody up in their comfy clothes and headed out.  My parents were going in their car as well, so we met up for lunch and then continued on the rest of the way.

Just as we topped the last hill the sky opened up, the sun came out and the day was perfect from then on!  It even warmed up some and God shined down his blessing on Kevin and Bekah's special day.  A few highlights from the day.  I was preparing the kids for the wedding day by talking to them about what we would be hearing and seeing.  I mentioned something about the wedding to Zach and he replied, "Yes mommy I know what they are going to do, they are going to kiss and we're going to have cake!"  A friend of mine mentioned this was the best part of any wedding...kissing and cake:)

When the bridesmaids came in Zach recognized another of my friends, Rachel Bruce Cocciardi and said, "Mommy is she getting married AGAIN?"  After I got done chuckling to myself I explained that she was just one of the bridesmaids, that she wasn't getting married again.  There was a long walk way that the bride to be came down, and the walls of the building we were in were made completely of glass, so we got to watch her for the whole walk.  As soon as she began walking towards us Zach exclaimed, "Mommy it's a real princess!"  This time I didn't correct him, Bekah really was the princess for the day. 

Their wedding was gorgeous, it was fun to see old friends, and yet we had to leave early due to the long drive home.  Over all the kids were great!  We had very generous hosts, and the kids were quiet (even Brandon behaved for most of the ceremony).  The place where they had the wedding was a day camp, so there were plenty of swings and places to run; so the children got to stretch their legs before we had to head home.

We made it through the long ride home by being silly and singing oldies songs that Dave and I knew some of the words to and made the rest of the words up.  The kids laughed so hard they were holding their sides! 

It was a great day...so thankful for great friends, and joyous times to get together.

Happy What?

My mom bought me some gel like cling on things for the window in bright, cheery Easter eggs and chicks.  I decided to be smart and put them on the outside of the window since Brandon LOVES to get into everything he's not supposed to. 

Well this morning it was apparent that the older kids had gotten to the letters that spelled Happy Easter because they read:

Happy A E T S E R!  I told Dave we have created a new holiday here at our house Aetser:)

Being A Good Mommy

I think everyone would agree at some point in time you just aren't the person you want to be, and if you have kids they will generally catch you in that moment every time and later (quite innocently) remind you of said time!

Two days ago was that time for Julia.  I was putting her on the bus when she mentioned that she doesn't take her favorite blankie to school anymore.  I reminded her that was because she would have to leave it there all week and that she would miss blankie too much.  She commented, "Well she has a lot of rips in her and I can't take her anywhere cause people will think I'm a bad mommy"!  I laughed so hard I had to hold my sides...she sounds just like me.  I often hear myself saying, "You can't go out looking like that...people will think I'm a bad mommy".  She catches me so many times:)  I have loosened up a bit; in my "older" age I realize that people understand when they see kids with crazy outfits on.  I know I do, I think to myself the kids must have wanted to dress themselves.  So now unless they are going to catch a cold or are half naked, I generally let them pick out their own wardrobe.

My mom gets so frustrated with me sometimes because she's the one that taught me not to go out if you didn't have matching clothes, shirt tucked in, belt on and hair done.  Now when she comes to the house at 3 in the afternoon and I have my "cleaning clothes" on, she asks me if I feel okay!!  I have come to love a very comfy baseball cap that I bought on vacation a few years ago; and when I don't feel like doing my hair...I throw on the cap.  Mom wants to know if I feel okay then too:)  I feel fine, just tired of dressing and acting as if I'm on display 24/7.  Not practical for a mom of three small kids anyway...and I have to say it's very freeing.  Mind you, I don't go out in my jammies (and Rose, I don't have one pair of matching jammies anymore!) but comfortable is generally the order of the day.  Gone are the days of using a can of hairspray every week or two...now it lasts months and months!

David has worked all of his days off this week and I have definitely felt more lonely this week than I have in a while.  But this time of life will pass by and we'll be stronger for it.  In the meantime, he has plenty of time to listen to music while truck driving and came home last night with some great songs he wanted to share with me.  It is through song that I realize what a sappy man I married:)  He said he found the song that he loves for Julia, "My Little Girl" by Tim McGraw.  I cry every time I hear this song, I've known about it for a while, but didn't know it had meaning to him:)

Off to get some work done while Brandon is napping!