We went to Myrtle Beach and visited the new WonderWorks.  It is an “upside down” building with laser tag, ropes course and science games/experiments etc…It is like a science meets Dave and Busters…kind of:

First stop was a hurricane shack that showed how strong the winds were. 

Then Micah had a big race…

    They dodged fish and sharks in an arcade game

They pitched some innings

There were so many exhibits…but the best one was the ropes course. The kids got strapped in and had to balance on ropes high about everyone’s heads.  Wonder works has around 4-5 floors of exhibits and one part of the ropes course looks straight down all of the floors.  I was so proud of Victoria and Micah.  They were determined to do it, even though everyone else was quite a bit older than them (Micah had to go with an adult because he wasn’t quite tall enough)

 I do not know what David was thinking…taking two young children on this course.  When Micah gets scared, he turns pale white, and can’t move. When Victoria gets scared she wraps herself around something and holds on tight while crying.  I was surprised they even went.  I could not wait to see David up high with two kids …one crying, and one unable to move, and watch him try to get them across a tight rope to get down…

But unfortunately only one had a problem:

We were so proud of her for even trying, because usually we have to bribe/threaten her to try new things. She did good and I can’t blame her for being scared since she was up so high with no real feeling of security. 

Micah hung out until David walked Victoria back and could do the course with him:

They had fun and were sound asleep as soon as we got back into the car. I wish Charleston had something like this! We were there for hours.

First, Victoria and I made some headbands for all of the little girls:

(tutorial to follow someday)

The day began with the girls painting our car:

Then we were off to get our nails painted:

Next, we were off to get some pizza.

Micah met us at the restaurant with balloons for Victoria…the girls thought he was so sweet:

Our last stop was the cupcake store!

Victoria had a good time! Her friends are so sweet and helped her have an amazing birthday!  She got a lot of cool gifts, but Lydia’s favorite gift was the salon chair:

1.We have been working on Bible verses with the kids from flashcards that my friend made called Truth Cards http://www.truthcards.org/ . Victoria seems to think Igenesis is a book of the Bible.

2.Tonight when we were going to bed, the kids were saying the verses that they memorized.  They were trying to stall and kept saying that they wanted to recite more.  Finally David said a prayer and told them to get to bed.  But Micah asked if he could pray too.  How do you tell a kid they can’t pray?…

Dear God,

Thank you for my family, and for my friends.  Thank you for the Bible cards that you gave me.  Thank you for the one that says “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news” Isaiah 52:7 and thank you for the card that said “God made the wild animals according to their kind, the livestock according to their kind and all the creatures that move on the ground according to their kind” in Genesis 1:25…” 

What a little smartie…he knew he could say whatever he wanted during prayer, and even use it as a platform to recite his verses.

3.We asked Victoria what the “good news” is that God talks about in Isaiah and she said “like if you tell someone they get to go to chuck E cheese and they get excited…that is good news”.

4. We received a note that Micah got kicked in his upper, inner thigh by a boy at school.  The teacher was very upset and pulled the boy aside to ask him why he kicked Micah “because he won’t play with me”.  Well, he was wearing cowboy boots so the teacher told him Micah could have gotten really hurt.  So, the teacher said that the boy cannot wear boots to school anymore and the boy said “I will still kick him. It won’t matter what shoes I wear”….so he got sent home.The next day I picked Micah up from school and he jumped in the car and said “Today was a good day! No one kicked me!”…so sad.

5. Lydia hides her shoes.  Well, just one from each pair.  We have been missing one of her sandals for four days.  We looked everywhere for it.  Every time I ask her where her shoes are she puts her hand up and says “no, no, no, shoe.” She hates to wear shoes.  So today I found this giant bow and I told her I was going to put it in her hair unless she can find her shoe, and she ran and got it out of the cabinet of her play kitchen…she hid it there 4 days prior…can she really do that on purpose?  Also, it turns out she is a bit of a hoarder because we found a piece of cheese in there and 13 wheat thins.

Victoria wrapped gum in a tissue, just for me!

Then she made me a card that says I am 29 years old, I have brown hair, brown eyes and I am two feet tall!!!!

Then all the children gave me a book that they made:

After I ate breakfast, we packed the car to go to the beach.  On the way to the beach the kids started screaming that there was a spider in the car (probably from the tents/chairs we keep in the garage) so David had to pull over and kill it…I was probably the most upset because there is NEVER just one spider…and the other one is probably still in my car somewhere.

Lydia LOVED the water.  She would take the wet sand and rub it on her arms, legs and forehead.  She was in the water the entire time.

It is so much fun to watch the kids all play together! 

While the kids were getting ready for bed, David found a  Mother’s Day hand print with a poem that Victoria made when she was 2.  I thought I would cry when I read it, but instead Victoria started crying because she “was growing up way too fast!” She said that she wishes she could be little again and spend all day with me.  She said she does not want to ever grow up and leave the house, she NEVER wants to go to college, and she is so sad about all of it.  I got the whole thing on video so I can replay it for her   When I tucked her into bed she kept crying and was quite dramatic.  When I tucked Micah into bed he said “mom, i’ll miss you when I go to High School”…I guess he felt he had to say something since Victoria was being so sad. But he was not sad…he said it with a shrug of his shoulders and then put his head back and laughed. 

It was a relaxing and entertaining Mother’s Day!

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY TO MY MOM!!

Thank you for being so fantastic and for being such an important part of our lives!!  We love you so much!!

Micah really wanted an ARMY birthday party. 

Before the party we went to the local Army recruitment office and Micah told them he was having an ARMY party for his 5th birthday! They gave him pens, key chains, balls, flags, hats, pencils, and a big sign that said “our son is ARMY strong”.  They loaded us up with enough things for everyone at the party!  Another guy gave Micah his mess kit.  They were so nice!

First we played “find the missing soldiers”.  Before the party started, I threw little army men all over this large field. Then we had the kids go find them and bring them back to safety.

After all the missing men were returned, we played “Drill Sergent says”.  David was a great drill sergeant.

Then it was off to the obstacle course…

and no party is complete without a pinata with TONS of candy…

After the candy was eaten the kids played tug of war over a mud pit.

At the end we had a water balloon fight

We had pizza delivered and my mom and I made a tank cake:

We all had a lot of fun!!

This semester we got up at 5:30 am to get everyone to school/work by 8….It is amazing that I

1. got up that early, got three kids up and dressed with lunches packed, breakfast and out the door, (not that I was pleasant to be around) and

2. was never late.  BUT, we also had the following:

I had MONO

Micah had RSV

Lydia had croup

then Micah got MONO

Micah had a bacterial skin infection

once everyone felt better, David decided to do the Thorn production and be gone Tues, Wed and Thurs. night (so we didn’t see him from 5:30am until 10pm). 

Victoria and Micah had LICE…

Just a recap:

… just when I thought I could not handle another day, we received a handy little note that said LICE is going around in the school and sure enough, both Micah and Victoria had it. I think God spared me from TOTAL INSANITY by allowing us to catch it VERY early and that no bugs got on me or David because that would have totally freaked me out. In fact, when I saw the Nits in Victoria’s hair I am pretty sure I panicked and said “eww…you have bugs in your hair, that is disgusting”… apparently that is what NOT to say (according to HEAD LICE TO DEAD LICE).  I know I definitely panicked when I saw them in Micah’s head because I just grabbed the scissors and started cutting.  Then I grabbed David’s razor and started to buzz his head….just an FYI for those of you who might be in similar situations…PUT THE GUARD ON FIRST, then shave…So poor Micah had a strip in the back of his head that was practically bald.

Me: Oh my gosh! Micah I am SO SORRY.  Are you hurt?  Did that cut you?

Micah:  No

Me: Are you mad?

Micah: No, because I can’t see it since it is in the back of my head.

It looked terrible, but everyone kept rubbing his head so he loved the attention.  I would not be surprised if he tries to get head lice again.

I am such a great mom. 

Here are some pictures of David from the Thorn.  I am not going to lie…I was so irritated that he decided to do the production while I am in school full-time, leaving me to get the kids homework done, dinner, baths, bedtime and THEN around 8:30 I could study, except I was exhausted.  He does a really good job though and they really needed him to play a disciple and to play Judas on other nights.  They did 4 productions that sat 4500 so he had fun.

photos from Gary McElveen’s website:

I think by the end, after  shaving  Micah’s head and pouring olive oil over Victoria’s head every night, and washing 100 loads of clothes/sheets to get rid of them, trying to study, David realized that I probably needed some help.  So he said that he would not do it next year…but then he told me someone asked for his autograph, so I am sure he will go back  

The above photos are from Gary McElveen’s website www.savedinhisimage.com His photography is amazing!

So the semester was crazy but now it is done. I was told that the first semester is the easiest one, so hopefully everyone stays healthy so I can complete the entire program!!

The sign says: “Last cupcake, Don’t TUCH!”

They talked all night about what leprechauns like:

Green

Shiny things

Rainbows

Gold

Sweet things

And they discussed what a leprechaun looks and acts like:

They have orange hair, they are naughty and sneaky and they do the opposite of what the rules say….pretty soon Victoria and I realized Micah could be a leprachaun…and when I tucked her in, she said that she hoped Micah would be in the trap in the morning.

All of our efforts were pointless…when the kids woke up they found the leprechaun peed in their toilets, used their toothbrushes, turned their milk green and made a huge mess of their bathrooms. 

When I got the kids dinner Victoria looked at her plate and said “did any of this come from the refrigerator, because  if it did, I do NOT trust this stuff.”

Ms. TZ was so smart to take Micah to the room with the television.  Once he starts watching tv, he is in his own little, happy, world.  (side story: the other night I was making dinner and he came into the kitchen and said “mom, can I watch tv so I can make sure I stay out of your way?”…like he is doing me a favor.)

Victoria picked out her prettiest outfit to wear so she could “look good while cleaning her teeth.”

If you are in Mt. Pleasant and you need a dentist…Kids Teeth is awesome!  I need to find the pictures of Victoria’s teeth from last year.  Her bottom teeth used to be so crooked and packed in.  Now they are perfectly straight.  Her top teeth are the problem now.  Her two center permanent teeth are so large that her permanent lateral teeth are coming in sideways.  Dr. Will said something about removing  her canines so we can make more room while her jaw grows.  It makes me sad to pull my child’s teeth out.  I do not know why.  But, they obviously know what they are doing (the bottom ones worked so well) I guess I will comply. ..plus, when I told David it is a way to help her teeth come in straight without having ortho, he was all for it. He said they could pull every tooth out of her head if it will save him money. He wasn’t as sad as me.

I know I have not posted anything in forever.

This has been my life:

It’s a mouth…I stare at it all day and clean its teeth.

I think I am finally getting ready to get back to posting. Lydia had Croupe, Micah had RSV and now has some sort of bacterial infection of his skin, and I am getting over Mono…so I have not really been taking pictures and doing updates

UPDATES:

Micah: “Mom, Is the world round, because it looks flat to me”

Yes, it is round…you are right!

Micah: “Well, who gets to live upside down?”

SO stinkin cute.

Lydia is getting really fast at walking. She points to her hair, eyes, mouth etc… The best thing that she does is point her tiny finger at Micah and says “DON’T”. 

Victoria won’t stop growing.  she put a long sleeve shirt on from early this winter and it is really small. She is def. going to pass me soon. 

I will try to remember to take my camera with me so I can take more pictures and get back into the habit of posting.