Happy Birthday Nate!!

Today is Nate's birthday! He is 36 yrs old. The kids and I made him some brownies with sprinkles today and gave him a GPS thing. We needed one before going to FL and his birthday was right in time! (Sorry Nate). Anyway, just wanted to say Happy Birthday to a wonderful husband and great Daddy! We love you!!!

Time with Friends

On Tuesday I took the kids to go bowling with Kim and her kids, Alex and Emily. They had a great time! After bowling a game we let them run around (literally) the arcade area and "play" the games. It's great while they are young and still think they are playing the games even though they didn't put in any money! Then we had some pizza for lunch. It was a fun day! Here are some bowling pics and some pics of the kids on the games. The one of Jessi and Emily screaming is on one of those roller coaster rides.

The Lazy Days of Summer

Lazy for the kids anyway! Having three children at home all day is anything but lazy for me. The kids are enjoying the summer so far. They have seen a couple of movies, picked strawberries, gone to storytime at the library, gone to the mall, had lunch with Alex and Emily, and of course gone swimming!! We go to the pool at least twice a week, sometimes more. We usually pack a lunch and make a day of it. I know Nate thinks I just go and lay out at the pool. He doesn't understand why I am so tired when we get home. By the time I pack up everything (sunscreen, towels, swim diapers, toys, lunch, change of clothes for Jase, cup for Jase and drink for me) and then get us to the pool and unload I am already tired. Then the fun starts! I get all three kids sunscreened and equipped with the proper floatation and then sit on the edge of my seat and constantly count 1, 2, 3 kids. It's hard trying to keep an eye on all three at the same time! They each want to do their own thing going back and forth between the big pool and the baby pool. Overall the kids have a blast and it is a good way to spend the day for me. I included a few pictures from the pool today. It only took about 7 attempts to get the picture of Jonathan and Micah jumping in together!

Happy Birthday Jonathan!!

This morning at 1:33 am Jonathan turned 6 yrs old! I can't believe he is so old! Time goes so fast. Jonathan had a great birthday. He got to go swimming on Friday night and then have pizza and cake with his cousins. Saturday his Granna came by and brought him a new Xbox game and then went to eat Mexican with us. Later that day Daddy took him and Jessi to see Kung Fu Panda. Tomorrow Grandad will be coming to visit. Jonathan got a lot of "Hulk" presents, which of course is his favorite. Here's a few pics of his presents and cake. I had to include one of Jase eating a piece of cake, he just loved it so much!

Shell Island 2007

Here is a video of our Shell Island trip last year in Florida. I know it's not recent but since we are leaving for vacation in 3 1/2 wks I thought I would refresh our memory. This is why we will NOT be going back to Shell Island this year!!

A Night in the ER

Well, things never stay quiet for long around here. What started as a relaxing Friday night hanging out at the Plimpton's pool turned into a 4 1/2 hr visit to the Childrens ER at Kennestone. We went to Marc and Jess's for dinner (great ribs Jess!, thanks again) and then went to let the kids swim. Jonathan and Micah had been jumping off the diving board and swimming to the side. Somehow Jonathan "slipped" and started to fall off the diving board so he tried to grab onto the side of the pool and hit his chin. I didn't see it happen, but as soon as I looked at him I knew he had split his chin open. He just had "that look" on his face, he wasn't crying but he looked like he was shocked. Rachel swam to him and helped him get to the ladder and I helped get him out. Sure enough he had an L shaped (or a Y with one side being very short) laceration on his chin. It was about an inch long and obviously needed stitches! So, after the usual chaos and confusion surrounding most things that happen in our family, we were all dressed and back in the car heading home. Nate stayed with the kids at home and Dad and Krista went with me and Jonathan to the hospital. I asked the Dr that he be given some type of sedative for the lac repair. So we got to watch Jonathan lay on the hospital bed and talk and reach out to things that only he could see. We weren't laughing at him, we were laughing with him!! Anyway, the sedative worked great and Jonathan did a great job. He just chilled out listening to his ipod while the doctor put in 7 stitches. We got home around 3am and finally by about 4:30 am my anxiety decreased enough that I was able to go to sleep. I was just thinking: Jonathan is almost 6 and has had 2 sets of stitches, Jase is not 16 mos yet and Justin hasn't even been born yet. Jase likes to climb, Justin will want to keep up with Jase. Jonathan has started playing sports now. Using that information I was trying to figure out how many ER visits I should plan to make over the next 18 yrs!?!? Any ideas?! God, give me strength!!!

Here is a picture of Jonathan's chin after the stiches. We have one from before the stitches were put in but I thought I would spare everyone the bloody pics!!

It looks much better now than it does in the pic!

Jonathan's Soccer Video

Finally! Here is Jonathan's soccer video. He has played two seasons with West Metro Soccer. Both seasons he has been on the wildcats team with Coach Jeff. Jonathan and Micah are on the same team. So far Jonathan seems to love soccer and he plans to play again in the fall. I just checked the video and the quality is not perfect. I may redo it later. Anyway, wanted to let you know that Jonathan is # 4 and Micah is # 7. You can't always see faces, so you need to know jersey #!

Jessi

Here is a quick video of Jessi's end of the yr program. She just finished her 3rd yr at Hope Preschool. She was only 20 mos old when she first started! Next year she will be going to the same pre-K that Jonathan attended. I think she will enjoy going full days (7:45 - 2:30). With her late birthday she had to spend an extra yr at home before getting to go to "big" school, and she was bored! My baby girl is growing up so fast. Now that I know she is going to be my only girl I really feel the need to make the most of every day with her. Anyone know how to let your only daughter grow up? If you do let us know, we will need the help! She will always be our princess!