Forgetful Fireman

Okay, this is my last post for tonight. We are trying to start a new family routine and I'm already supposed to have gone to bed. But I'm on a roll, so I'll go ahead and finish this last story up now. Last week Joshua was in a class with other friends his age and the fire department came to visit them. This was Joshua's first time to see a real firetruck and fireman up close, so he was pretty stoked. After the fireman gave his fire safety chat to the kids, he started to take them out the back door to see the firetruck up close. Somehow he realized that the firetruck wasn't parked in the back, but in the front of the building, so the whole class had to turn around and head for the front door. The teacher told me later that when they turned around, Joshua put his hands on his hips and said, "You think he'd remember where he parked his firetruck!" The teacher and the fireman heard him and got a kick out of his outspoken comment. You really just never know what that kid is going to say these days.

Punishment

Can you tell that I'm trying to catch up? This is my 4th post tonight. Just trying to get it all down before I lose the memory somewhere in the recesses of my pregnant brain. A funny thing happened today. Luke was about to be punished for doing something (as often happens when a child is 3). As soon as Daddy pronounced the punishment Luke began to say, "Okay, Daddy, I'll do it now! I'll do it now!" So, Joshua is standing there and he pipes up saying, "Daddy, remember when the Israelites were wandering in the desert and started to disobey God and God punished them and then they decided it was time to obey, but then it was too late and they had to be punished because they had already disobeyed? Remember that story? Maybe you should tell that to Luke now." Thank you, Bible teacher Joshua. :o) He really was trying to be helpful. Of course, Luke did get punished for the crime he had already committed. I'm sure that Joshua felt as though justice had been served.

Get-away

Another thing we did while in New England was leave the kids with GM & GF while Daddy and I stole away on a little get-away. We stayed 2 nights at this great hotel on the beach in Maine and were close to a huge strip of outlet malls. We got to shop, watch a movie in the theater (which we hadn't done in 2 years), eat every meal by ourselves, and have uninterrupted conversation for like 48 hours. It really was a wonderful and much needed time for us. Thanks again to GM (who was terribly sick while we were gone), GF (who endured more than he bargained for), and Aunt Stacey (who pitched in unexpectedly when needed). We will remember our get-away forever! Here are a few pictures of the beach we stayed on. It was pretty cold, but at least the beach was deserted and allowed us a peaceful stroll the morning we left. We had a great view from our hotel window and balcony too, as well as being able to hear the waves at night. Very nice.

Home Again, Home Again

We finally made it home from all our big travels. There are still a few places Daddy needs to go without us, but for the most part, we are home for a while! Whew! We have been everywhere it seems. But both our older boys exclaimed yesterday how much they like being in our OK home and how glad they were to be back. It's nice to have a place to call "home", even if it is only for a little while. Part of our travels included 3 weeks at Grandmother and Grandfather's house, which was a great time. But from there we did a little bit of traveling around New England and even all the way up to Niagara Falls. I'd like to include some pictures from that here...


This was taken our first morning as we walked down to the Falls, about a 10 minute walk from our hotel. It was so beautiful!


The boys were trying on silly hats in the gift shop while we waited for the shuttle to take us downtown.


One of the boys favorite things about going to Niagara was that we ate at the Rainforest Cafe' for lunch. They loved it! It was stinking expensive, but the boys had a great time nonetheless. It made for a great memory.


I took this picture from our hotel window. One of my favorite things about the trip was our view from the hotel. It was absolutely magnificent.

Thanks to G-mother and G-father for taking us up there and enduring the long drive (about 8 hours one way) in the van. Only one of our kids threw up once and he was fine after that. :o) We discovered that Luke doesn't do so well sitting in the back. We had a great time and made lasting memories as a family.

Take a Bow

I have so many great stories; I just hope I can remember them all to write down! One I've been saving for a while concerns my eldest and his way of adjusting to life in the U.S. (and recognition at every place he goes). See, when we go to places to share, the people there are expecting us and know who we are, even if we have never met them. So, I'm starting to think that Joshua thinks he's famous and that that is actually normal. I guess for him it is! Anyway, about a month ago we were at this club in Boston. The people there were really interested in our family and had prepared for us before we even got there. The kids there had put up welcome signs for all my boys. We had several meals with the people there and everyone knew each of us by name. Sunday morning rolls around and the leader wants to introduce us as a family to everyone there. Of course, at the time he gets ready to call us to the front, Micah is pitching a fit to get down from Daddy's arms. So, we walk up to the front with all 3 boys in tow, just hoping they're not going to totally embarrass us in front of the whole world. Daddy is holding Micah (who is still squirming to get down) and I strategically placed myself in between the two older boys so they don't decide to tie into a fight. Everyone claps for us when we walk up and about a minute later, Joshua decides it's time for a bow. With a flourish, mind you, he bows his head to the audience as if he's just performed some great musical piece and they're applauding him for his accomplishment. I have no idea what was going through his head, but he amused quite a few people that morning. Of course, while the leader is waxing eloquent about how beautiful of a family we are, Luke is trying to lay down on the floor and Micah is doing his best to get on the floor himself. Daddy finally let him get down, but had the death grip on him so he wouldn't run off. Joshua decides to turn around the try to smell the flowers that are on the table behind us, while I'm whispering to Luke to get up off the floor. Luke finally stands up only to start looking at the lights and squinting for a few seconds then popping his eyes open really big. I missed that, but was told later by other amused friends. Daddy and I were just doing all we could to hold on to them and hope that it was going to be over soon as everyone looked on at our beautiful family. The whole situation was only like 5-7 minutes, but we sure were glad to get out of the spotlight! I guess if they wanted to see us as a normal family, then they certainly were fulfilled in that. :o)