School days

Our morning got off to brilliant start--it was the first day of school, after all.

Boys were definitely sleepy upon their wake-up, but then diligently set to the task of getting ready.  Our morning routine is pretty set in stone, thankfully...  First dress, then teeth, then downstairs to put on shoes, breakfast, and finally, play.

M perfected the morning routine last year.  He's a carrot-chaser, always seeking more minutes of playtime.

This guy was certainly excited this morning and we're hoping it lasts.  Last year he was a little rough to wake up in the morning.  Definitely not showing signs of being a morning person! ;)

 I later made them do our obligatory first day of school pictures.  We were going through the motions when we looked down and saw this little lady participating in the shots...

I have four words for this A-DOR-A-BLE.  Melt me!  Can I begin to tell you the joy this sweet angel brings all of us?

You can see the boys are very close in height!  We say that M makes up for it in personality. ;)

Here's a lucky shot of mom and dad, the forever cheerleaders, taken by M.

One last shot with "little" brother.  He'll be joining them next year in school.  

Off they go!  M waved until the last possible moment.

The littles and I hung around for breakfast and dress and then hightailed it to the gym.  Mama was SOO happy--an endorphin addict through and through.  Note to self: spin class does not serve well as a "recovery" workout from boot camp class.  My legs are so sore!  The kids enjoyed their time at the child watch with MG opting to stay an additional 20 minutes so she could play with the group outside.  J, V, and I socialized with friends in the lobby.  Then we returned home and had some nice playtime.

MG loved working with these shapes.

V toodled around getting into trouble, as always. ;)

And J enjoyed some quiet time playing with Legos all by himself.  Magnifico!

As I wrap up this post, I can see J and MG scootering on the driveway, each wearing his/her backpack.  I think its safe to say they are excited for school starting next week.

Spaces in our togetherness--it's just what the doctor ordered.
God bless,

Blogging The Real

MG grew very fond of horses while at camp

We are one Maine trip, two birthdays, and one final week of summer vacation with its various adventures (bowling, chuck-e-cheese, etc.) in the blogging hole...  Can you see why I've been avoiding getting back on here?!

Rather that try to bite off such a large update, I'm merely going to start with today and go from there.  As we commence, I'll try to fit in bits and pieces from the last few weeks.

I will say that, while fun, our most recent days have also been stressful ones.  A few of our children have been going through transitional phases simultaneously, making GG and my life somewhat of a stressful moment-to-moment sitcom.  Parenting is no joke, people.  I am living that mantra and then some as GG and I sort through issues and attempt to steer our crew on the straight and narrow.  Tough stuff!!  Of all the kids, our J seems to be going through the roughest spell.  He is defiant, edgy, and downright mean, at times.  We are praying intensely for him and hoping the start of school in the next week will mean a return to more structure, better bedtimes and more sleep, and *hopefully* better resulting behavior!  Add in a feisty, nap-deprived 3yo and a feisty, strong-willed 8yo (not naming names, of course! ;) and we are at our limits.  So if you happen to think of our family, please humbly add us to your prayers.  We would be so grateful.

Above all, we know we are blessed beyond measure with everything.  Bumps in the road are inevitable.  We just need to remember to reach for His hand when we stumble.  Going it on our own is never the right solution.

But back to today...  We attended Mass as a family this morning.  I dropped the girls off in the nursery where we discovered MG had no underpants.  lol.  What???  Had she taken them off?  Did I put any on?  The answer is still a mystery, but thankfully we remedied the situation quickly with an extra diaper.  Whew! ;)  Thanks to my friend and blog reader, Shannon, for laughing through that one with me!!

Later at Mass, GG and I were less than impressed by our three lazy, sleep-deprived sons.  They were barely going through the motions and needed a ton of prompting for simple standing/sitting/participating.  No way, Jose!!!  So, how do you remedy laziness?  Why, give them naps, of course!  GG was on it.  After church there wasn't time to get donuts, there wasn't energy to eat them, there wasn't ANY time for anything because boys were just too tired.  We had to get home for naps!!  It was natural consequences at its finest. When we arrived home, the boys had to go straight to bed and stay there until we called them down.  No one ever fell asleep, but you better believe we left them there for over an hour!!  They were so relieved when we let them come out.  ;)

Meanwhile, the girls played and GG and I enjoyed a quiet Sunday brunch together.  It was lovely.  And so encouraging.  We were having a parental pep talk, lifting up the other on this parental journey.  We've had to have a few of those lately.  It was our second pep talk in 24 hours.  Last night was my turn for despair, but thankfully GG was there to offer words of hope and encouragement.  When every turn feels like a failure, you start to take it personally--"Is it me?  How can I work so hard and see so little fruit??"  Thankfully we are committed to the marathon journey and are chalking this up to end-of-summer sleep deprivation (big time!), lack of schedules/structure, and need for change.  School starts in 2 days, so we're hoping to snap out of this conundrum soon.  Spaces in our togetherness are more important than ever...

The good news is this afternoon played out beautifully.  The boys finished summer reading reports, played the piano, tinkered with Mine Craft, and squirreled around playing a game with swords and prisoners.  The girls had a tea party, read stories, tinkered on their own...  GG enjoyed a conversation with a good friend and finished his night choosing his fantasy football team.  And I, well, I filled in the gaps while sipping coffee and relishing time with the family.  I also had the chance to tutor a student in the midst.

We finished with kids in bed early, reading aloud from a biography of Amelia Earhart, prayer, and snuggles all around.  Of course with a lot of correction in-between. ;)

Keepin' it real.
Life is good.  God is better.

God bless,

Birthday Bonanza!

We've been partying it up over here in G-Ville...

Having fun with friends and celebrating two very special August birthday boys. 

There has been splashing and dashing and water balloon mashing...

There has been swimming and volleyball swatting and lots and lots of smiling...

Three cheers and two "happy birthday"shouts to our J boy and T man, our August birthday loves.  We celebrate you along with your friends and family.  

God bless,

From the newest 5yo

"Why does M have to help MG in the wedding?  I want him to throw rings with T and me."                      -ring bearer, J


lol!  I just had to share this funny from our morning playtime. Our J turned 5 yesterday and even though he seems to be growing like a weed and hanging with the big boys all the time, he's still my precious wee babe who thinks ring bearers throw rings in weddings. ;)  We have a very special wedding coming up in just over a month and we're all so excited!  GG's bro, C, is marrying a wonderful woman and I'm so excited to have her as my sister-in-law!  MG will be the flower girl and will be escorted down the aisle by her biggest bro, M.  T and J will be ring bearers.  Baby V will happily look on in a dress that matches her sister's.  It promises to be among the loveliest of family affairs.

I have tons of pics from our weekend birthday party festivities and more from the official celebration yesterday.  Check back soon for a birthday post!

God bless,

Out with the old.

Gone are the days of mere family survival.  We are beginning to thrive and gosh, it feels good!  Take our trip to Busch Gardens last weekend, for example.  Yes, it was hot.  Yes, we were all tired in some way, shape, or form.  But it was glorious fun for all seven of us!  Even MG and baby V got in on the action.  M and T both road coasters and swings and more coasters.  J joined in for the swings, planes, and bumper cars.  Have I mentioned how fun life is when you can enjoy it alongside your children?!  I am loving these summer experiences, almost like awakenings for our little family...

It was warm, but the baby was so sweet!

Check out that little lady, braving Elmo's ride.  Cute!

GG and the big boys braved a water ride

T and J later stood down on the bridge and got soaked!

This was V's first ever ride.  The boys and I watched while riding the big swings--we just about melted from the cuteness!

A lucky shot at lunch

Plus and Minus, riding the airplanes.  Such fun was had by all of us!

In the last week, we've also wrapped up M's swim season.  He swam at champs last Friday and dropped a second and a half in the race.  And didn't lose his goggles!!  Woo hoo!  The G cheering section was just thrilled when we saw him surface still swimming.  Yay!  When I asked him to describe the season in a word, he said, "Two words: Totally Awesome."  Love it.  What a great experience for him.

And lastly, in keeping with the theme of this post, we said goodbye to the kitchen table that was my first out-of-college purchase...

You can see we'd outgrown its capacity and then some...

Only to welcome in this beauty!  We have an extra chair, folks.  Amazing!

The table's occupants are thrilled (as are Mom and Dad! :)

Just over the weekend we've been working on J's 2-wheeled bike riding and V's two-legged walking.  Cha-cha-changes are a'foot, my friends.  Thank you, Lord, for blessing me with every breath on this journey.

God bless you on a Monday,

Boys' Day Out

Among the adventures our family has been having lately, the boys were able to head to the Marine Corps Museum today with our wonderful Mimi and Papa.  What fun!  The girls and I had a peaceful afternoon at home and are here waiting to see our little boy loves and hear about their adventures.  It is such a gift for them to be able to get out and be free of napping sisters... all while spending time with two pretty awesome grandparents!  Thank you, Mimi and Papa!

Outings are that much more fun when good food is involved

Cutie pies

This one makes me laugh!

It has been a slower week around here, which has been nice and allowed for more play and at-home peace.  The kids and I had a fun hodge podge outing on Wednesday to the gym/childcare, to get coffee and donuts, to the paint store to buy paint for our mailbox and the boys' new room colors (cool to see them get so excited about what their room will look like!  The color choices?  We'll see.  Thankfully they are just paint swatches on the wall right now...), and then a trip to the library. The big boys are getting serious about their summer reading and I got a book that I've already consumed in a sitting.  I'm horrible like that and get completely involved in books I read!  Doesn't do well for my sleep or GG communication.  Sorry hon!  It is now done and I can move on... :)   Later that day, the four oldest helped me paint the mailbox post and spruce up our house numbers with spray paint.  We also replaced the rusty box.  The finished product is something we can all be proud of--I wish I had before/after photos for you.  It looks 100% better!

Other than that, we found out later that night that M made champs in the 25 free.  He had the time cut, but we didn't know if he would make "the team" or not--they only take 2 kids per event.  The good news is he made it and can now redeem himself from our last-meet-lose-your-goggles-on-every-event catastrophe, poor guy.  New goggles and a new dive are in place and working!  The bad news is that the younger four and I have to endure another week of practices in the awful heat.  They do so well and really make the best of it, but it's safe to say we're all about ready to be done!

Tomorrow offers a morning to mid-day excursion to Busch Gardens and later M's swim banquet.  The parents v. coaches relay I talked about earlier is actually happening then. We will all get to eat together and M will feel special.  The night ends with the kids getting to swim from 8-10pm!  GG will take the littles home and I will stay with our big boy. Should be fun and we'll get some pics to share...

God bless on a Friday,

Summery Sparkle

Swim season is coming to a close, believe it or not.  What a great experience for our little big man!

The days lately have had that kind of summer sparkle to them, mixed in with a hazy, dazy, lazy sort of feeling that you can only discover when the calendar is clear and obligations are to a minimum.  We are having the best of times, for sure.

A sampling of ice cream sandwich resulted in this fun.  Makes up for an uneventful 1st birthday!

 I spoke with my parents earlier this week and quickly apologized for my lack of posting on the blog.  "Don't worry," they assured, "We know life is busy and things are happening when you have little time to write about it."  They are so very correct in their assumptions.

Life is definitely busy and things are most certainly happening.  But all of it is set against the hazy, dazy, lazy backdrop I describe above and, thus, we are happily cruising through summer.  It is glorious!!

The kids and I had a wonderful day trip to Newport News to the Living Museum there.  We are now members and can't wait to go back...  Have I mentioned how happy the kids' love of science makes me?

Tortoise T

We walked through exhibits and around the nature trail, saw a planetarium show (mama was giddy!!), participated in the wild animal show and touch tank, and crawled through just about everything they had to offer.  

Independence Day came and went this year without much of a fuss.  But Water Country the following day made for great fun.  We've also checked peach picking and Luray Caverns off our summer list too!  The Bucket List is being conquered one adventure at a time...

Within our fun, we've also been champions of our dear friends and their outstanding daughter, Harlie, who notched her 34th surgery two weeks ago.  A case of big pneumonia after has taken a lot out of her, but she is emerging better than ever and we couldn't be more proud of our friends.  Bravo, Holton Family!

Can you spot the gray-shirted G's?  Our community is so proud of Harlie and her family!

In between we've hosted a Catholic Engaged Encounter picnic here followed by out-of-town guests.  This weekend we are busying with an EE district gathering in town.  It has been wonderfully encouraging and GG and I feel so blessed to be part of such a Christ-centered community.  God is teaching us and working in our hearts through the people there.  Tomorrow wraps up the final day and then the G's will take a collective breath before we head back into the week.

Monday night is the last swim meet--M will swim freestyle and butterfly(!) and mama will participate in the parents v. coaches relay.  Oy!  Time to squeeze back into the Speedo and see if my muscles remember how to swim.  It hasn't been that long, I suppose, but I still think the race will be a bit of a shocker to my body!

Thankfully, I am happy to report GG and I have been very committed to our summer fitness routine, rising most mornings around 5am to conquer our daily workout.  I will boast that GG has completed 5 weeks of the very rigorous Insanity program and is getting in great shape.  Anyone who knows what I'm talking about knows this workout regime is no joke.  I'm so proud of him!  He is overcoming 2 years of non-fitness inertia.  Way to go, GG!!  Now we're going to start praying against sore knees and injury...

God bless,