Sugar Rush

The Peppermint:

Cotton Candy:

Chocolate!

Our own little pumpkin patch...

I feel like the last few weeks have been a whirlwind. Between doctor's appointments and unexpected trips out of town, I can hardly catch my breath!

When I sat down to plan our week, I decided that Thursday would be the day we stayed at home and did a variety of chores and activities around the house. I wanted to be sure there was something fun for the kids too, so we planned on painting pumpkins. I knew Ella was excited when I went to check on her at 10:30 PM Wednesday night and she was still wide awake.

"How about I just go ahead and get up now to paint my pumkin, mommy? I'm not tired; I promise!" I told her that she'd have to wait until morning and she reluctantly agreed to stay in bed.

The rumble of thunder woke me up a little after 6, and it was grey and rainy all day. The kids were so excited that we got to paint pumpkins. It totally made the day!

All ready for paint!

Even daddy was able to join us for a bit as he came in from working the night shift.

Bo went with solid yellow for his first pumpkin, but he did a combo of green and brown for his second.

Ella branched out and did some turquoise, but her second pumpkin was predictably pink and purple :)

Jack was happy with his various shades of blue paint, and once he figured out how to get the paint from the plate to the pumpkin, he was all giggles and smiles!

Dad opted for a "happy pumpkin."

And here's our very own pumpkin patch. I did the one with pink and white polka dots for the baby!

The boy loves shoes!

This is Jack:

This is Jack after I told him that we weren't going into the laundry room to get his shoes:

This is Jack sobbing in the corner and hoping the door to the laundry room magically opens so that he can get to his shoes:

And this is the Jack that snuck in after me as I went to change over the laundry and found a pair of his shoes:

Ballet Day

Last week, Ella started her ballet lessons. She was supposed to start them back in August, but due to some construction at the studio, she's just now able to start. She'll be taking her class on Monday afternoons, but until the studio issues are wrapped up, she'll be doing her lessons at another [much farther away] studio on Tuesday afternoons. Whew-I'm glad I have a calendar to keep track of all this stuff!

Here she is before heading into the studio. Ummm, yeah, can you tell she was excited?

I was able to watch [and hear] the 45 minute session on a little closed circuit television. Here is her teacher leading her over to the bar and helping her walk on her tippy toes.

We got a quick shot after it was over of her in the studio. Notice the ballerina stamp on her hand? It was devastating when that washed off in the bath later that night!

And here she's posing with her teacher.


I loved dancing and doing my ballet when I was her age, and it's so much fun to watch her do it and enjoy it. When we got home, I asked her to show me something she learned. I was expecting her to show me a position or one of the skills I watched the teacher demonstrate. Instead, she showed me how they "sleep" while they are stretching. Hey, at least she's flexible!

She's so excited about her next lesson this afternoon that it looks like there won't be much sleeping during nap time today :)

I can't believe we pulled it off!

Long before we had any idea about the chaos last week would hold, we planned a trip for my sister Maggie to come and visit for a week. J was going to be attending an out of town conference, but he was nervous about leaving me alone for eight days so late in the pregnancy.

Since Maggie's job in Orlando is super flexible, she was totally on board to come out for the week and hang out.

I was a little surprised to get a phone call from Maggie's boyfriend about six weeks prior to her trip begging me not to tell Maggie he'd called. "It's not an emergency," he said on his message, "but we need to talk as soon as possible."

When I was finally able to connect with him, he informed me that he'd booked a plane ticket to fly home and surprise Maggie during most of the week that she was supposed to be here. He desperately wanted to keep his trip a surprise so we had to figure out a plan to get Maggie back to Orlando earlier than initially planned.

I was a nervous wreck as I informed Maggie that the airline "mysteriously" changed her flight from Saturday to Thursday and there wasn't really anything I could do. "It's just a bummer that your trip will have to be a little shorter than planned" I managed to squeak out with trembling voice and red splotches all over my face. [Note to all: I am not a good liar!]

And she actually bought it! It helped that I told her they had made a change to J's flight for his conference as well. That was the truth, although I left off the fact that his change was simply a flight number shift.

When we all had to travel for Grandpa's funeral, her trip was cut even shorter and instead of the Saturday to Saturday we planned back in July, she flew in Monday and flew out Thursday. I was so nervous that I was going to blow the surprise the whole time she was here.

We did have a close call one evening as Bo got really upset when Maggie told him they'd changed her flight. Bo spent the better part of two hours asking "Why, why did Continental have to go and mess everything up? Isn't there anything you can do to have them change her flight back to Saturday?" I finally told him he had to stop asking me about it!

I can see why they didn't want her to leave.

She bought beads and let them make bracelets and bead crafts...

There were hugs and snuggles whenever they wanted...

Ella loved having another girl around...

And she was always available to create things with legos, train tracks, and blocks...

We got this shot of her with all the kids the morning she left to fly back to Orlando.

I felt like I exhaled my entire way out of the airport after I dropped her off. I was so worried that I was going to mess up the element of surprise and it was sheer relief that I had not messed everything up for the secret plan. Turns out she was completely clueless to the whole deal and was absolutely shocked when "Operation Just-in-a-box" came together later that evening.

I could hear the smile on her face when she called to let me know she was on her way to visit with Justin's family.

The kids are still talking about all they fun they had during her visit, and we're all wondering when she'll be back!

Next time, she's going to have to stay for as long as we initially plan because she's certainly not buying the "plane change" story again anytime soon :)

Letter of the day: P

It was six weeks ago today that J headed off to the local testing center to take the written part of his boards.

The boards are a series of tests that doctor's have to take to practice. Different medical specialties require different tests at different times.

For J, this is test number 6 in a series of 7 boards that he must take [and pass] in order to become a board certified radiologist. Whew, it's a lot of tests!

The scores are typically released 4-6 weeks after the test, so I've checked the mail with bated breath every day this week! And TODAY was the day! I did a quick scan of the mail and didn't see them initially so I went to put the pile in my lap and continue driving up the driveway. Then, I saw the return address for the American Board of Radiology peek out from the bottom of the stack and my heart skipped a beat.

I couldn't help but squeal as I saw "Congratulations" and then I promptly burst into tears.

"Why are you happy and sad at the same time, mommy?" Ella said from the backseat.

I immediately texted J and he called me back for the good news. We rejoiced together at God's goodness and provision in this and so many areas of our life!

I am so proud of my husband. This was not without much hard work and effort, but it's such a blessing to see him work so hard and support our family the way he does!

Way to go, babe! We love you :)

Is it really only Tuesday?

I woke up this morning astounded by the fact that it's only Tuesday. Right now, I'm a mere 48 hours away from the funeral, and that just absolutely blows my mind!

I'm downloading and sorting through some pictures, and I know myself well enough to know that if I don't do something right now, I'm likely not to do anything at all.

Where do you find the words to describe this kind of experience? I'm not sure, so I'm just going to put up a few pictures and hope that they suffice!

Here are all the grandkids that were able to make it to the funeral with my grandma. We were missing two of my sisters, Hannah and Sarah, but the rest of us were there.

We got a group shot of the family as well. My dad is one of four kids, so it was my dad and his three sisters and their spouses, grandpa's sister and spouse and son, nine of the eleven grandkids, and two great grandkids [in utero].

I love this shot of my grandpa and grandma that was on display near the casket at the funeral home. Sixty-two years of marriage and I always remember them being kind to one another.

One of the most interesting aspects of the funeral was the military respect and honor. My grandpa was a pilot in the Navy. I found this shot of his pre-flight school training in the basement at my grandparents. Grandpa is on the bottom row, third in from the right.

I loved the pictures of him in uniform and some of the memorabilia from his time of service.

The folding of the flag and the three volley salute at the gravesite were truly beyond words. It's a spectacular thing to witness, and it made me so emotional to think about all those generations that have given up loved ones for our freedom. It's truly amazing!

And I could not resist a shot of the red tape on the back of grandpa's car. One of the things that my grandparents always did for my parents was help them with our transportation needs. My grandpa was a total whiz under the hood of the car and he was always fixing things up or helping replaces vehicles that weren't working properly anymore. You could always count on the presence of that red reflector tape on the back of the car and on each tire. My friends used to joke that they always knew when they saw me driving around town because of the red tape on my car!

While it was certainly not a relaxing or refreshing weekend, it was a great time of connection with family. I'm so thankful that I was able to be a part of the experience.

In our end is our beginning, in our time, infinity;

In our doubt there is believing; in our life, eternity;

In our death, a resurrection; at the last, a victory;

Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

**an excerpt from "Hymn of Promise" sung at the funeral**

Saying Goodbye

Early this morning, around 2:40 AM, my grandpa passed away. It sounds silly to even say this, but I was surprised when I saw the text from my mom this morning. Every other day this week, I've slept with the phone by the bed and checked as soon as I woke up, expecting there to be news. I don't know why it caught me off guard because we've been anticipating it all week, but it did.

I think maybe because death is just one of those really stinky things that we have to deal with and process. Someone once said that death is especially hard because it's not natural. It's not something we were created to experience. God put Adam and Eve in the garden with the tree of life, eternal life.

Unfortunately sin entered the picture and now death is part of our experience, but it's no wonder it feels unnatural. painful. shocking. sad.

I fly out tomorrow for the viewing Saturday and memorial Sunday. It was a whirlwind day of logistics involving me, the kids, and J.

When J arrived home around 9 this morning, I tried to shoo him back to work. I really thought I could make the arrangements and figure out the details on my own. Boy, was I wrong! J spent four hours on the phone with multiple airlines which freed me to help make arrangements for my sister [who was supposed to fly here on Saturday to visit for the week] and figure out the logistics for the kids. Throw in a rescheduled pediatrician appointment and a quick trip to the store for some easy meals for J and the kids while I'm gone and whew, I'm exhausted! I guess now it's time to start getting things packed and organized before another whirlwind day tomorrow!

Here's one of my favorite pictures of my grandpa from our last visit with him back in April. Ella took an instant liking to him and sat with him, giggling, during most of our time.

As we loaded kids in the car after that visit, I told J that I needed to go back in one more time to say goodbye. I burst into tears as we drove away because I believed in my heart that would be my last visit with grandpa. What a sweet time it was, and I am so thankful that I have that memory!

I don't know that I've mentioned it on the blog before, but Bo was actually named after my grandpa. They both share the first name of Robert, and while my grandpa always went by Bob, we chose to use the nickname Bo from Robert.

Here are a few more pictures of Bo's first introduction to his great grandpa. The year we lived in Orlando we did Thanksgiving at my sister's house and my grandparents drove over from Tampa to spend the day. Bo was quite taken.

And this is the photo that reminds me of one of my favorite things about my grandpa. Look at that smile! Grandpa always had such a great smile, and a great laugh. I hope I never forget the sound of his laugh.

Processing

I've busied myself today with things I can control.

I do not like it when I feel like things are out of my control. I think it's a pride issue as much as anything, and I've really seen God chipping away at that pride and desire for control in some major ways over the past decade or so. Just the fact that I keep coming back to it tells me that it's not only a lengthy refining process, but it's something of great importance.

Truth: I am not in control.
Even the illusion of control is just that, an illusion I create to make myself feel better. That illusion shatters too easily.

My grandpa is in the hospital. He's lived with some serious heart issues for the last 7 years or so and this is the culmination of those issues. It's hard to deal with, to process, to digest, and I've spent a good part of this weekend simply trying to get my mind around the reality that is reality.

This afternoon as I was updating online photo albums and sorting through some of our more recent pictures in an attempt to escape that reality, I came across the shots from our visit with my grandparents earlier this spring. It was during our month long road trip out to DC, and it was a wonderful visit.

The images certainly caused me to pause, and I had to take a few moments to breathe and pray and thank God that He is sovereign and I am not.



We love you grandpa!

Overheard

[Ella attemps to knock over the lego tower that Bo has been dutifully working on for about 20 minutes]

Bo: Ella, please stop! You'll mess up my fine meter silks. And those meter silks are very important!

[My only guess is that this is the leftovers of a conversation J and I were having about Jack's "fine motor skills" as he played with legos not too long ago!]

Fall

During our once a week "school" coop with another mom and her kiddos, we spent some time talking about the letter "F" and did various projects related to fall. The kids had so much fun that they wanted to show off their work and have me take pictures.

Bo and his leaves.

He got a little silly when I told him to do a real smile!

Ella was so proud of her construction paper leaves.

Jack didn't have a project to share, but he was happy to demonstrate his vacumming skill for the camera.

The Minutiae: Sparkles and Scotch Tape

Ella loves all things sparkly, no matter the size.

The other day as I was talking to my sister on the phone, Ella asked if she could say hello. The conversation went something like this:
"Hi Sarah, look at my sparkle. Do you see it?"
[We're still working on understanding that the phone is for hearing and not for seeing. Confusing for a three year old who also does Skype on a regular basis and often has the visual experience with our web cam.]

I then began explaining to my sister that what Ella actually had was a sequin, a much loved sequin, that I had wrapped in a piece of scotch tape. I learned the scotch tape trick after we had multiple sequins become lost in the carpet, the car, a pocket, or somewhere else. [Note: a piece of scotch tape is much easier to locate than a sequin that is roughly the size of a piece of oatmeal!]

My sister got tickled at our elaborate system for keeping up with sequins and then I got tickled when I realized that this is my reality. Minutae is my reality. I either wrap a sequin in a piece of scotch tape or I spend time, lots of time, on my hands and knees combing through the carpet for a lost "sparkle."

They still get lost [or thrown away] even when wrapped in an inch of scotch tape, but by then it's usually time to move on to something else :)

There are no words.

I really don't even know what to say about my trip to see my sister and the most precious set of twins, ever. There just really are no words. I didn't have my camera there, but Sarah sent me some pics a few days ago. I've tried to put them on here for multiple days, but I just cannot even think about how to express the wonderfulness of the trip.

My sister is amazing. She is one of those people who I love, admire, respect, and cannot spend enough time with, ever.

And the babies. They are a double slice of heaven. I love me some newborns! Here are a few of my favorite shots.

Don't let the pictures of me actually dressed below fool you. We took full advantage of the loungewear, and I spent most of the visit doing this in my t-shirt and stretchy pants.

Reese on the right, Brooks, awake, and on the left.

Saturday night Sarah we headed out for dinner with the babies safely undercover. The total bonus of the trip was that I got to hang with my sister Maggie who is living in Brunertown right now. Reese was really excited about the big outing, can you tell?Sunday we took a few shots shortly before my teary exit to the airport. How do women carry triplets? I can't imagine!

Seriously, twins two weeks before this shot was taken. Told you my sis was amazing!

Sisters! Wish Emily and Hannah could have joined us too!

And this is seriously one of my all time favorite things. Baby stretches are fabulous, and Reese takes the cake with her arching back, flying elbows and scrunched up face. So glad we captured this shot because it makes me remember being there so clearly.
Sarah, you are an amazing momma, and those babies are more precious than words. I can't wait to see you again and introduce this little girl to Reese and Brooks! Oh, and Stephen, thanks for putting up with me as a houseguest and letting me take over the middle of the night assistance :) You guys rock!