July- part 1

July was a great month! Always is. Here are some of the highlights:

Pool time:

Fireworks:

 With family:

Little Bubbles:

Big Bubbles:

Bigger Bubbles:

Biggest Bubbles:

Outside play:

Creative crafts:

Just to name a few.....

Draggin' my feet!

I don't know why, but I am totally not wanting to take the time to post on the blog lately. I think because my next story is so long and it's making me not want to get on and write about it. So, I'm going to touch the highlights and move on! I'm now 2 month behind! Yikes!

So my dear mother was sweet enough to drive back from Charleston to PA with me, that way I could stay almost a whole nuther week. Haha. I don't know how to spell that phrase. Someone asked me that the other day and now that I'm typing it I realize it must be made up. Oh well, so we started out and had to pull over probably 3 times in the first hour. It was not a good start! Most of the day was fine and the kids did really well. We had planned on making it back around midnight, but we ran into the mother of all storms! Like really! I was waiting for the cow to circle around us. Really I was waiting for something to crash through my window. I had driven all day and finally switched Mom and of course that was when the storm hit. It was crazy!!! We had to pull over under and overpass with several other cars to take cover because the rain was falling in sheets and we couldn't see. We finally ventured out again and there were tree parts strewn all about the road. In some areas, just the whole tree was down! Matter of fact, we ran over one of these said trees. Truly. A dang tree trunk lay almost all the way across the road and there was no avoiding it. And as if that weren't bad enough, shortly after we ran into a tree!!! It had snapped and was hanging over the freeway and we didn't see it until it was too late and I just yelled, "go through it", which looking back may have been a dumb idea, but we couldn't have swerved into the other lane, so we were blessed! If we had been in our suburban we would have had that trunk smash right into the window glass, but in the van, we missed the trunk and the branches just scraped along the top. It was like this chaos for a while. Finally we pulled over to try and get a car phone charger at walmart and people were driving in the wrong direction towards us and turns out a tree had fallen and knocked out the power lines. It was a mad crazy event so after a while of this we finally went and got a hotel and called it a night. At that point it was going to be nearly 3 AM before we got in. It was a good thing we stopped because the next morning we saw trees all along the freeway. It would have been a very long night. The news reported it as tornado strength wind but because it was so wide spread it couldn't be called one, but I believe it! That wind was CUH-RAY-ZEE!!!

We did make it and that night we took all the kids out to dinner which we haven't done for a long time. It was a great mexican place just down the street.

 
 Afterwards, we had a fireworks show in town, so that was fun. It was great weather and just a nice evening. It was nice having Wee-mama with us. We walked around a little then headed back to our car to join the rest of the hicks! It was a good start to July!

 It was perfect temperature and just a great summer night!

(That wasn't so bad. Should have just done it earlier :))

June

Getting behind in documenting what's happening can be overwhelming, especially for the month of June. It was a fun and busy month. It came and went so fast and I've been on the computer a few times to update but thought it would take too long, so I'd just get off, but I'm biting the bullet this time and just doing it!

We had a lot of park time. We've tried a number of parks in the area. One of the faves has a splash pad and they usually enjoy running through that for a bit.

We had a great trip to Charleston, SC. Only Liz and Caroline had been to the beach and neither one really remembered it, so they were all having so much fun! Wee-Mama and Papa John met us out there, along with Jill and her family. We had so much fun. Nonnie (grandma) was such a great host and we had the best time!


Of course, there was tons of beach time. We did both Folly Beach and then Kiawa. It was the first time to the beach for Cooper, Bella and Charlotte. Liz and Caroline didn't remember it from almost 5 years ago, so they were all so excited. It was fun to watch them all experience it for the "first time". The water was perfect temperature and it was tons of fun! The girls found a horse shoe crab and played with it for a bit. If it was alive when they found it, it wasn't when they were done. One day we took a little walk around Sunrise park. There was someone there with their sailboat so we snagged a picture. From this park you an see the battery across the way.

 The girls had wanted to see a wild dolphin more than anything. We had been to the beach a couple of times with no success. I was wondering if the trip would be ruined for Liz without seeing it, but one morning we went and Jill had my camera and snapped the most perfect picture of Elizabeth seeing the dolphins for the first time.  It was perfect!

 We always have to take a walk down along the harbor/battery. There are cannons and cannon balls from the civil war there on display.  We also love looking out in the water and did see some dolphins this time. Yay! Also love seeing all the old homes. Such a beautiful city!

Brian and I were lucky to have family watch the kids so we could go on a few dates. A few of our favorite things to do are food related, go figure. We had to make our traditional trip to California Dreaming. They have the best croissant rolls. They are amazing. We always get an extra order of them. I think Brian ate 5. :)  Brian also loves sea food, which I do not, so we made a trip out to a local sea food restaurant, Locklear's, which is right on the pier over looking the ocean. He got great sea food and I got the best hush puppies ever!!! I wanted to make another trip out there just for them, but didn't have time.

We took a drive to a park that is literally under the new bridge. It was so cute! They built the playground to look like the bridge. It was perfect too because it was under the bridge, which gave shade, and the breeze off the water made it wonderful!

 One night uncle Les and aunt Wendie had us all over for dinner and play. The kids all got to go fishing. Cooper caught a fish right away and ran away when they pulled it out of the water. It was so funny. Liz was the last to catch one. I was starting to wonder if she would, but I'm so glad she did. Everyone was successful. Even Brian! :)

 

 We had lots of great family time, both with close and distant cousins. Trips to the beach, family reunion, exploring downtown, walks on the batter, a tea party put on by Ronda, and just being together. It was wonderful!

It was a perfect family vacation!

Wedding Bells

We had a wonderful weekend celebrating the marriage of Julia and Patrick. It started out with a great night for the girls only. We got to hang out and just talk and do our nails. It was very relaxing and a great night of sleep. We ( Suzanne, Julia, MaryBeth and I) woke up and got ready. As we headed over to the hotel where the rest of our families were we got a call that the fire alarm went off at their hotel. So when we got there, this is what we saw:

Most were dressed, but the hair needed work. :) We were able to get everyone ready and to the temple before the sealing began. Luckily they were running late too. :) Brian did a great job getting them all dressed and everything packed up. 

The temple was great. It was so wonderful to see Patrick and Julia sealed for time and all eternity and see them so happy. It was great to have all the family there.

It was sweet to have all our little family there and to get a picture of us in front of the House of the Lord and to know that we are sealed for eternity together.

We drove back up from DC to our home where the reception was the following night. It was a nice evening, especially because after the ring ceremony, we took Bella, Charlotte and Caroline home. That made our night a lot more enjoyable to not have to worry about the kids the whole time. Brian did a wonderful job participating in the ring ceremony by singing some songs with his guitar. Such a beautiful voice.

We got a good picture of all the cousins together.

 Here are a few from the fun evening at the reception:

 After the reception, we headed home, grabbed the kids and took off on our all night drive to Charleston. Lots of driving, but wonderful weekend!

Rest of May

Well somehow I missed telling about Kiki's birthday. I think I hadn't done it because somehow we only ended up with 2 pictures, and not great ones at that. It was pretty much a regular day. She took a treat to school and was the special helper. Then we picked the kids up from school and went to Chucky Cheese and played for a little bit. The kids had fun doing that and it was pretty cheap entertainment! We grabbed a pizza on the way home and then all the Chudleigh clan came by for cake, the birthday video and presents. We were supposed to go to see cousin Daniel's race, but it got to be too late, so just the older 3 and Brian went. I think she had a good day. We sure love her!

Also had a wonderful Mother's Day. Brian always does a really good job of making it special for me. He got the kids all ready for church, made me breakfast, special cards and gifts and then a great meal.  We had dinner with the Chudleigh group and the women got to eat separated from the rest. It was a lot calmer and a nice moment to the day. Grateful for all the children (and husband) that help to make Mother's Day special for me.

We also enjoyed a great Memorial Day that Brian had put all together. I said I didn't want to plan another family outing, I wanted him to take a turn, and he did a great job. He put together "olympic" games and we split into two teams and competed. It was a lot of fun. It was also super hot, so as soon as those were over we jumped in the pool for a nice cool off. Afterwards, we had a great lunch that everyone helped put together. Brian's party planning was a big success!

 

And the rest of May....

 1. Kiki at the Bell's pool 2. Playing in the rain 3. Coop helping Daddy clean his bike 4. Phone time with Wee-Mama 5. Cute Bella 6. Girls playing outside 7.Charlotte in pigtails 8. Handsome Cooper after church 9. Following a bald eagle down the river just up the street

Special visitors

Had a good week with Caroline and Jayde here. They ended up staying a few days more than expected since they couldn't move into their place. It was great to have them here. They played fun games with the kids, like some trampoline game and red rover. It was fun to watch. Yep, I watched. Nice to see the kids having fun and being able to just sit! Thanks you two!

I wanted a pic with my kids too, so we grabbed one. I thought the colors were great.

The kids had a real fun time playing red  rover. Even Charlotte got into it. She had a pretty determined face when she ran. Wish I would have caught a picture of it.




It rained nearly every day they were here. Brian and Jayde were able to get out for one mountain biking trip. Other than that, most the time we just hung out at home doing the normal stuff, but one day we did go take the coal mine tour. It was pretty cool. The kids really enjoyed it, except for Charlotte. She cried the way down into the tunnel. 

Of course we had to grab a picture with the hats on, but I think the only person that kept one on was Bri. Cooper tried but it was too big.

 It was fun having them come visit. They're off to Boston for the summer for an internship so hopefully we can get up there and visit them. Fun to have some of my fam on the east side! :)

Elizabeth

I knew that as the kids got older they'd be faced with kids that did or talked about inappropriate things. I just didn't expect it so soon, or didn't really think about it. Well, we're there. The first issue we faced was hearing "God" in vain, ALL. THE. TIME! From kids and adults. We tried to help the kids understand why they might do that and to try and not overreact. They've done well with that. But Elizabeth has a group of friends that apparently were talking about inappropriate things and she said she had to walk away from the group to not be a part of it and when she came back and they were still going she tried to get them to talk about something else or just go play. I was so proud of her.

A few months ago we read a story out of the Friend magazine that talked about a girl who kids were really mean to and how someone went off their own to make her feel like she had a friend. Liz came home from school and said there was a girl like that who came up to their group and asked them if she could play with them and no one said anything, so she just walked off. Elizabeth followed after her and played with her. Those "friends" ended up being kind of mean to Elizabeth because she left them for her but she felt good about what she did. I was so happy for a few reasons, 1- because she isn't one of the mean kids, 2- she learned from something we had talked about, 3- she knew what was the right thing to do and although not easy, did it anyway, 4- she told me about it! Love this girl. I'm so proud of how she's growing up and the choices she's already making at this age!

Angel?

Don't let this little angel face fool you. Although at times, yes, she can be an angel, other times... not so much, especially lately. Had a rough go of it with Bella and Caroline. Caroline's had 4 good days in a row though, and yes, I'm counting. Matter of fact, WE are. She's anxious to see how many days she can be good. Ha!

I told Brian the other day that I cannot remember the last time I had a day without a drama meltdown and it can be about the silliest thing. We had FHE and Brian had us do charades of different things and this thing for Bella was to act disrespectful, like she was back-talking, without using words. She had the motions down and this was her face. Think she's made it a few times?! Love this bipolar nugget!