A Motherly Moment

Bryson is going to a local day camp this week. Even though the camp is only 10 minutes from our house, I decided to let him ride the bus since he doesn't ride a bus to school (and he has been very happy about this too!). Well, this morning we go to the drop off spot, Bryson jumps out, runs to the bus and I notice that he heads right towards the back of the bus. Automatically, my stomach drops and I know that this is not good because the back seats are already filled with older boys (poor Bryson doesn't understand that sitting in the back of the bus is a right of passage that comes with age). I see the kids pointing to the front of the bus and telling him he can't sit there and what does Bryson do- he, despite their prompting, plops right down in the sit in front of them. (My stomach drops even more) Now regardless of where Bryson was sitting on the bus, I wouldn't leave the parking lot until the bus pulled out, but now that I see this unfolding there was definitely NO way that I was leaving. So the bus continued to wait for several minutes, and during this time I see the older kids talking to each other, saying stuff to Bryson, and a girl who you could tell thought a lot of herself kept staring at me and telling the boys that I was sitting right outside the window. This is when "over protective Mommy" mode comes out right?! I fought the urge to just march onto the bus and pull Bryson off and just drive him to camp (which is what I wanted to do) and I just waited instead and let me blood pressure raise. At one point, one of the older boys (who kept turning around and looking at us) wouldn't stop staring at me so I finally gave a real smart-alic wave back, hoping to remind him that I see you and you better not do anything to my child! Finally after what seemed like eternity the bus pulled out.

There was no way that I was letting these kids out of my sight! SO I followed the bus (probably closer than I should of) just to remind those boys that I was still watching them. And that girl that I mentioned earlier, kept checkin' the entire way to see if I was there (now my only thought on this is- why would you be worried if I was there unless you were doing something that you shouldn't). I followed the bus until the final road to the camp. I tried to make it look like I was heading to Wal-Mart- just in case Bryson asked. :) I will say that I didn't see them do anything to Bryson but they did keep talking to him. I just kept praying that they wouldn't corrupt my son or ruin his camp experience.

I know that I probably over reacted, but it felt like I was watching my son get set up for the slaughter. It hurt to see his innocence set him up for ridicule. Today has seemed so long because I have been dying to hear how that bus ride went. I hope that I totally misread the whole situation. But my guess is that Bryson will still be oblivious to the fact that he shouldn't sit in the back of the bus. But you better believe that I'm threatening him that if he isn't sitting in the front of the bus tomorrow, I am driving him the rest of the week!

Here's the last thought that I've had about all of this today. As the bus was pulling out of the parking lot, Bryson stood up, gave me a wave good bye and gave me this special smile that said I love you Mom and I'm proud that your my Mom look. That smile made the hurt hurt a little bit more. But it made me think of Abraham as he followed God's command to sacrifice Isaac. It helped me to see how hard it must have been for Abraham to lead Isaac to the place of sacrifice as Isaac knew nothing of what was to come and the looks he must have given his father as they traveled together. The reality of that brought tears to my eyes. It just showed to me how great of a commitment to obey God Abraham had!

A Question to Not Forget

While driving in the car the other day, Bryson asks "Mom, how old do I have to be to get married?" Really surprised by the question, I answer "Ah, at least 18!" He says "Oh, ok." Then there is silence. Very curious why he's asked this question and wondering why there wasn't more to this conversation, I finally asked why he asked the question. His response- "Oh, I was just wondering if you'd still be alive when I get married." Wow, thanks Bryson! I'm glad I look that old to ya buddy. :)

9 Years Baby!

9 years ago yesterday, Adam and were doing this before our friends and family. . .

We had waited 6 1/2 years for this day to come, which seemed like forever! (especially since we had to sit through 5 other weddings in the 3 months leading up to ours!)

It's so hard to believe that we are now 9 years into this marriage!

It seems like just yesterday we were on our way to Jamiaca for our honeymoon. There was no tropical vacation involved with this anniversary celebration, but we did make a 2 hour trip to purchase this. . .

It kind of makes me giggle. I don't think Adam or I would have considered this exciting 9 years ago, but time sure does change your perspective on things. While we both were happy to be upgrading (since our old van was starting to become unreliable) we were more excited to get it home and show it to the kids, because we knew they would go bonkers. Bryson saw it and said "What! We have a TV like Aunt Heidi and moving doors like the Hershey's (Our good friends). This is great!" While it's still a minivan, Adam and I were excited to gain back some of the fun stereo features we lost when we gave up our "sporty cool" car to meet the needs of our growing family.

Wordless Wednesday

Memorial Day

The weather was crazy hot over Memorial Day weekend here, but we still managed to have an action packed weekend! Sunday evening Adam's parents and his sister came over to camp out in our backyard. The kids thought this was super great and I love enjoying outdoors with the convenience of your house only steps away! We had a lot of fun, but I forgot to take pictures. :( Memorial Day morning the boys were in our towns parade with their baseball teams so we were out the door by 8:30! The boys thought this was super fun and Addie had a lot of fun snagging up all the candy the parade people throw out without the restraints of her brothers. Bryson then had a game at 12 in the blazing hot sun. I was kind of happy to get some sun on my sorry white arms but everyone else sat under a tent thing that my brother-in-law brought, which was probably a lot smarter. After the game, we had a cook out at our house and then finally sat around and relaxed. We finished our crazy day off with a quick jump in our favorite pool. Boy as I'm writing this post I'm realizing all the pics that I missed of the day, but here's what I got.


Tanyon going by in the parade


Daddy and Bryson going by and giving a wave!



Addie enjoying a popsicle with her cousin Morgan! Addie just loves spending time with her cousin!

Mother's Day Request

The one thing I asked for on Mother's Day was a picture with my kiddos. We have very few pictures of me with the kids. I often joke/drop subtle hints to Adam that if I were to die the kids wouldn't remember what I looked like because we don't have many pictures of me with them. So we got our picture, after about 20 attempts. It is virtually impossible to get everyone to cooperate at the same time! Not perfect but I'll take it!

My Mother's Day Card

Here's my card from Bryson:




It says- Happy Mother's Day- I love (you) like God loves you!

I thought this was the sweetest thing. He brought the card Friday from school and he was so excited about it! He found a hiding spot for it right away and made me close my eyes so I wouldn't see it. I honestly thought he would forget about it until Sunday, but first thing this morning I was awoken by the pounding of feet up our steps and the boys beaming ear to ear as they shouted Happy Mother's Day! What a great start to my day.

Happy Mother's Day to everyone!

Our Shopping Excursion

2 free 5x7 pics of kids at Picture People for Mother's Day for the grandmoms. . . Free!

2 pairs of flip flops (or as Addie would say Tip Tops) from Old Navy . . . Free (because of a lovely $5 off coupon I got in the mail. Which the cashier and manager didn't know how to use, so my kids kept trying to dismantle the manikans while we waited for 15 minutes)!

60% of pack of underware from Target because a certain little girl had an accident . . . $3.56

2 pairs of sneakers for Tanyon from Stride Rite only . . . $23.00

Reward time at 3 different parks . . .

An argued filled trip to Sam's Club (an older man said Happy Mother's Day and I wanted to say Baa Humbug!) . . .

Several trips to different bathrooms . . .

All the hair that I lost because of the stress . . . worth it! (I think)

Play Ball!

Today was Opening Day for our local baseball league. All of the teams are assembled and each of the kids gets their name annouced as they run onto the field. Great idea, but the whole process is very long! On top of the length of the ceremony, it was extremely hot! We went from 50 degree weather to 88 degree weather over the course of 3 days! Addie was EXTREMELY bothered by the heat so I didn't get the best of pictures, but at least it's documented.


This is Bryson's 2nd year playing baseball.


Tanyon is so excited that he gets to play this year. Check out the seriousness as he runs onto the field!


In an attempt to save money, I snapped pictures of the boys as the photographer was taking pics. I figured I could make my own wallet pics.

Tan's hat makes his poor ears stick out. They gave all of the kids adult hats. Must have been a man who made the orders :)

The boys with their Daddy. They love having him help coach! I'm sad that Bryson's eyes are closed!!

The 2010 Rockies- they had several players missing. Bryson said he was lucky because he got to hold the bats! He is the only kindergartner on the team. He's doing a pretty good job holding his own!

The 2010 Reds- check out the faces of the kids in the front row, it will make you giggle! I have been so proud of Tanyon so far this season! Some of the kids on his team display less than desirable behavior, but he chooses to avoid it! It is great to see that he can think through the choices his making- away from the house at least. :) He told us the other day- so and so is not my friend. Why I asked. Because so and so was punching so and so in the back. But I didn't join in because I wanted to make Jesus happy! :) Brought a tear to my eye, and then we talked about showing kindness to so and so but not joining in when he's making bad choices.

As we signed the boys up for the season, Adam and I chose to bump Bryson up a level since he had already played 1 year of tbll. We knew that catching was an issue with him, but the boys last year on his team that had played 2 years of tbll were bored out of their minds. So far it seems like we made the right choice but when we have 4 nights of baseball a week I start to think we were crazy for doing so! But sports has always been a big part of Adam and I's life and we really are enjoying that our kids are getting big enough to enter this stage of life.

Who's At Your House?

We've got Captain America and Swimmer Girl making an appearance at our house! After this brief photo appearance, they jumped on the Super Hero Squad airplane (our couch) and were off to save the world!

Our First Field Trip!

Today I got to go with Bryson on his 1st field trip. We had a great day to go to a local park for the kids to explore their sense while discovering signs of spring! Here are some pics from our day.

Bryson making a whiff sundae!

Finding something soft

Bryson being silly during the listening station!

1st time on a school bus!!

The class looking at the shiny hat with Laughing Tree (That was our tour guides name!)

Great morning with my Bryson!!

Addie's Tea Party

This year I decided to do a tea party for Addie's bday. Oma and Mammaw came to my rescue and planned a great tea party for Addie. While starting to plan this, I quickly realized I wasn't up on how tea parties work and I physically couldn't handle any other responsiblities so gladly handed this one over to the grandmothers!

Here's everyone getting ready to eat. Mammaw had the kids all serve the food, but they quickly lost interest and the adults ended serving. :)

Here's my Addie girl enjoying her tea!

Oma rocked with another amazing cake! She stole some ideas from Ace of Cakes and used rice crispy treats for the lid and handles.

Blowing out the candles

I love this girl so much! I thank God every day for bringing her into our lives because she just brings so much joy to our family!

Addie posing with her new dress and waiting to open presents.

Addie likin' her new swim suit.

Perfect example of how into presents the nonbday sibling is! This makes me laugh. Tanyon couldn't wait for Addie to open her presents. He knew she got some baby doll stuff and knew she would be so excited.

Another example of the excitement! :) Addie is loving all the baby doll accessories that came with this present. I love my grandparents smiles in the background of this picture. So special!

Miss Jackie got Addie a super cute tea set, which Addie loves! Addie also loves Miss Jackie lots too!

Tanyon's Bday Party

Tanyon chose dinosaurs for his party. And Oma made an amazing cake for him! Check it out!!

Tanyon blowing out his candles. I can't believe how quickly this guy is growing up. It just seems like he is maturing before my eyes. When my friends ask me for Tanyon stories (like disasters that he's created/caused) I really have to stop and think because they aren't happening as frequently. Man, a couple of years ago I could tell you several from one day! :) But God has given this boy an amazing heart and thoughtfulness for others!!

Tanyon enjoying the icing on his dinosaurs. He licked every dino!!

I love this picture. This is how birthdays work in our house. The 2 other siblings are front and center while the bday child opens their presents and they show so much excitement and interest in the presents! We constantly have to get on the non-bday sibling to back up so everyone can see. I LOVE how close my kids are!!

This picture is an example of Tanyon's special heart. His Pappy got him a toss back for catching baseballs. Tanyon opened it and realized it was for baseball. He immediately handed the box to Bryson and said "Here you can have this present because you like baseball!" Not to many kids will hand over the bday presents.

And thanks to our amazing friends Jen and Drue we've entered into the world of nerf guns. The boys had eyed these guns up at Target for a while. They are motorized nerf machine guns loaded with 20 darts each! We now have darts everywhere! But this picture really makes me giggle when you look at how intently Adam is examining this package. These guns were quite the hit with the "big" boys at the party!

Look at that smile on my girl's face. I'm telling you she is determined to do everything those brothers are doing!

Bryson's Bday Pics

Well, Bdays are past us for another year. So I thought I better get some pics up from the kids bday party. Here are some pics from Bryson family party.

Making a wish and blowing out the candles.

Anything superheroes is a hit for my boys lately. They are becoming fanatics. The Batman imaginext series from Fisher Price as been hit toy in our house since Christmas. They are constantly "making movies".

Tanyon checking out his brother's new toy.

Tanyon was more excited about the toys then Bryson. It was hysterical. Here Tanyon tackled Bryson because he was so excited that Bryson got Mr. Freeze.

Bryson used his birthday money to buy a bike off Craig's list since he left his bike behind the van this fall and Mommy ran over it. :(

Easter Sunday

We had dinner at our house on Easter Sunday. My parents, grandparents, my uncle's family and a great family from my parents church joined us. The weather was just absolutely perfect for the kids to play outside, for an egg hunt and even a yard game. We had a great time.


Here's Addie proud of her pink egg!


The boys looking for eggs.


Tanyon finding an egg

I love having a yard where the kids can run!

We played a really fun yard game called Kubb. It's a great game because anyone can play, including the kids.

We tried to get a group picture but couldn't get everyone to cooperate. I said they could do a silly face and EVERYONE cooperated on that! :)