Here are the stories of our busy life. We hope that you see God's Hand at work in our various adventures! Running/Flooring Vice President Al, Teacher/Photographer Lisa, Swimmer/Writer Addie, Master Mischief Maker/Swimmer Alden, Jewelry/Hello Kitty Lover Annalise, and Water-Obessed/Car Expert Asher.


Saturday, May 15, 2010

Riverrock!

There seems to always be some sort of festival on Brown Island in the heart of Richmond. Since the weather was nice, and the list of event was pretty neat, we decided to try Riverrock out- and we are SO glad we did!

The 1st attraction was this- The Canal Crashers. Kayaks would go down the while slide, flip, twist, etc, and then land in the pool. It was pretty amazing what they could do! We did see a guy hurt his leg and need to be carried out of the pool and up the hill- but it just helped us teach the kids that they would never do it =-)

That evening was a 5K Mud Run. The weather was perfect for the run- but the last part was just nasty- there were 2 large mud pits that everyone had to crawl through! Addie took this picture while sitting on my shoulders!

A favorite of the kids were the leaping dogs. Anyone could enter their dog the night we went- the finalists competed the following evening. It was fun watching some dogs go hog-wild jumping into the water, and others run to the end and just balk. This is a pretty bad pic- but the guy is throwing a stick for his dog to jump in and get.

An added bonus was this exhibit- where the kids got to "plant" a dogwood sapling- Alden LOVED the dirt!!

We ended the evening watching bike tricks. The guys were amazing- flipping, twisting, and even falling- Alden was always worried when they fell and Addie always told him that they would be ok- so sweet!


It was a ton of fun- and certainly something that we will try again with the 2 kids and the jogging stroller!

A Visit From Nate (Jen and Frank, too)

On the way to FL, Cousin Nate stopped by for a little visit. Yes, he did bring his parents, but Nate was the main attraction! The kids were inseparable and had a blast together- Alden referred to Nate as "My Nate."

They arrived late Wed night- so Thur morning, the playing began in earnest! Frank and Al took off for a quick motorcycle drive - fun for the guys! After a quick trip to the Dr's office for Alden (he had croup- ugh!), we headed to the mall to play on the indoor playground and then meet our good friend Karen and Hannah at the food court for lunch. Addie was in heaven that Nate and her friend Hannah, could actually meet!

After a little nap that was needed by all, this was the scene- playing on the playground. Jen was kind enough to keep an eye on them as I have become freakishly tasty to mosquitoes....

The Dad's returned- and the kids were SO happy to see them- and so were Jen and I....

Digging in! We put MarMar's table to good us as well as the camping chair! Even though Alden was sick, it didn't affect his appetite! After dinner, the Dad's took over and Jen and I got to do some shopping, get a coffee at Starbucks, and enjoy some adult conversation- ahhhhh!

This is what I saw in the morning- Frank raising the future Mac-Lovers! Here they are all watching "Up" on his iPad.

After breakfast, we decided at the last minute to go to Belle Isle for the kids to play on the rocks. The bridge TO Belle Isle is always a hit- and this time was no exception!

Twins? What can I say? Great minds think alike? Actually, Alden is heavier than Nate- and Nate only has about 1" or 2" on Alden- they had so much fun together!

Working on emptying the James River- what's it gonna take? Team Work!

Al helped them climb a few more rocks to get a better look at some of the rapids- or as Addie called them, "the waterfalls."

A double stroller that can totally be a triple stroller!

Before Nate left, all 3 of them were loving his iPod touch and could totally navigate around on it- even my kids- it was that easy to learn!


Everyone was sad to see them leave- but we were glad to have had some time with them!

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Random Happiness!

Al works SO much- so when he IS home, the kids just go bonkers playing with him, telling him all about their adventures, and just loving on him. This is what I walked in on the other day- so sweet! I like to think of it as a Love Sandwich!

Hannah is a special friend to both Addie and Alden- and we are lucky enough to spend lots of time with her each week as her Mommy goes to weekly OB doctor's appointments.

Bubble Buddies!

Ring-Around-The-Rosie!

Our first real bike ride! Addie peddled most of the way- with only random pushes- and Alden didn't to shabbily, either! Yay!!

Giving bike riding a thumbs-up! Now that she's mastered it, she rides her bike ALL the time!

FRIENDS!!

I think it's safe to say that Addie and Alden's love Grayson and Avery. They got to spend so much time together while we lived in DE- a friendship was forged that is still going strong! On Friday, Grayson and Avery were going to be about 1 hour away from us, so we drove up to meet them. What better place to meet than Chick-fil-A! When the kids saw each other, they squealed with delight and gave big hugs- no hesitation, just jumping right back into their friendships like no time had elapsed! The kids had fun playing, the adults had fun catching-up! Fun was had by all!

The Kid Table! They were SO happy to see each other!

Addie in still in love with Grayson- and he tolerates it pretty well!

Attempting to get a decent picture of the 4 of them together.... At least they are super cute even if they are not all looking at the camera!


Good friends are treasures! We are so blessed to be friends with this sweet family!!

Church Picnic

This weekend we attended our churches annual picnic. It was our 2nd one to attend- but the churches 4th one. It was fun to see the changes- meet new people- and explore the area as the last time we were there, Addie hadn't even mastered sitting up! The kids had a blast eating hotdogs, running around outside, playing in the little playground, and of course exploring the various docks that surrounded the lake that we were nearby!

Alden showing off his good manners and love of food!

Miss Manners!

Watching the big kids run relays!

Playing FOOTBALL! We were glad that he wanted to play- we had a scare before coming that he may have broken 3 of his fingers after they were slammed in a door....

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Adventures, Dress-Up and Rewards

Fun is always around the corner when you have kids! Here are few random happy and fun moments from just the last few days....

Sunday after naps, we took the kids to Belle Isle- a Civil War prisoner of war location- right smack in the middle of the James River. It was fun to take the kids to a place that we used to go to all the time before they were born. We did take Addie a few times, but she was too small to remember!

So excited to be on the Isle and climbing on rocks!

They LOVED getting their feet in- splashing, jumping, etc. Note to self: Make sure you bring a change of clothes for everyone, and put kids in swimsuits!

Can you tell who fell in? Addie decided that she wanted to splash 1 extra time after she had been told it was time to go- excellent lesson! She has been super prompt to obey since this incident!

Addie loves to play dress-up- and sometimes Kierke becomes a victim.... Here she is as the Easter Bunny- she wore the ears for well over an hour!!

Alden pretending to be Daddy!

SO happy to have his reward of a coveted Choo-Choo. He had to have 5 days without any accidents (it was actually 4 days, but I couldn't make it out yesterday). Yay for Alden!!

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Some Day We'll Laugh About This...

(WARNING-- Poo is talked about, a lot in this post)

I'll start this post off by letting you know that Alden is infact, still alive- it's a good thing he is so stinkin' cute and knows just when to kiss his Momma and flash his super-sweet grin.

It all started Friday afternoon when he wouldn't nap- he just sat in his room "reading" books. Then, that night after baths, he just couldn't calm down and go to sleep- you could hear him getting in and out of bed, flipping pages of books, talking to his Ah-Ah, etc. I had let Addie stay up late- she's been dying to see Where The Wild Things Are and it had finally come from Netflix. At 8:30pm, as the movie was coming to an end, he came creeping out of his room to snuggle with us. I put both kids in bed and thus began my evening with Alden. He got too many spankings to count as he refused to 1)stay in his bed, 2)be quiet, 3)not throw books, & 4)keep his lamp turned off. Finally, at 10pm, he crashed- whew!

At 6am, 6AM! I hear the pitter-patter of his little feet coming into our room and to my side of the bed. He crawled in silently and snuggled with me. This is not acceptable at our house- you stay in your room until Mom or Dad gets you- and then you may be invited into bed to snuggle. I picked him up, changed his soaked diaper, and put him back in his bed with a firm and yet loving reminder that he needed to stay put. He could read books if he really wanted to be awake at this ungodly hour. I then went back to bed.

7am I hear his pit-pattering again- but this a more acceptable hour- but he doesn't come into our room- and this is where he makes his 2nd almost-deadly error (the 1st was getting up at 6am). He went and opened the door to Addie's room. Before I can hop out of bed to stop him from waking her, I hear her screaming "Poopy Boy! Get out of my room! Yucky!"

This is never a good sign....

The scene that greats me, even in my groggy state of mind, is one that will haunt me forever.

From my doorway, I can see into both kids rooms. In the doorway to Addie's room, I see a little boy with brown hands, naked and brown from the waist down, and the most guilty expression ever, on his cute little face. From Alden's room is a smell of poo strong enough to knock you off your feet- or as in my case- totally wake you up. Several "lumps" of poo are on the wooden floor with tale-tail signs of it on his area rug, 2 books have been ripped apart and balled up all over the floor, and the icing on the cake- Alden's footstool is covered in poo.

This scene brought a gasp from me and Al flying from his bed. The poor guy had had 5 hours of sleep so I sent him back to bed and proceeded to clean up all the poo. I am very thankful for wipes- they clean and disinfect.

I asked Alden what possessed him to do this- and he told me that he hadn't wanted to poo in his diaper.... Now THAT makes perfect sense!! I quickly informed him that I would much rather clean poo out of a diaper than off the floor, off him, off his stool, etc....

As I cleaned the poo off Alden, I discovered areas of him that I probably haven't scrubbed since he was born- he was THAT covered. His rug and floor, I am pleased to say, are perfectly clean and possibly the most sanitary place to eat in our house at the moment. All of this was done under Addie's careful watch and an occasional "This is DISGUSTING!"

Like I said, some day I'm sure we will laugh about the morning Alden attempted to make Mommy happy by NOT pooping in his diaper.... Some day- but for now, I'm just realllllly glad that God made him super cute and that it happened before I was fully awake.....