A Family Get-Away

We took a short (one night) family "vacation" to Chattanooga, Tennessee this past weekend. We left early Saturday morning and headed for the Tennessee Aquarium. Quite a few other people had the same idea -- it was packed! The children had a good time looking at the sea and river animals. The penguins seemed to be the children's favorite animal of the day. I was very impressed by the leafy sea dragon. God made some amazing animals! We had lunch at the aquarium, and the children splashed a bit in the water outside.

We ate dinner at the Riverside Catfish Restaurant which was very much a Mom and Pop type restaurant in the middle of nowhere. The service was very fast, and the food was good. After dinner, we hit the pool at the hotel. The children had lots of fun playing with Daddy in the pool, and I kept a very watchful eye on our littlest one.

Finding hotel accommodations for a family of six can be a bit of a challenge (especially if you like to be frugal)! Holiday Inn Express hotels have "one room suites", which suit our needs at the moment. They have two double beds and a fold out couch. Everyone had a place to sleep, but it was not the most restful night for Mom and Dad! The children, on the other hand, love the whole hotel experience! Staying in the hotel was the main attraction for Olivia. In fact, when we left our house on Saturday, we had to stop by the post office, which is just a few miles from our house. When we parked, I jokingly said, "We're here at the hotel!" She took me at my word and said, "Who will help me carry in my stuff?" They love laying in bed and watching the television.

We ate breakfast at the hotel and then headed for the Creative Discovery Museum. It was a great fit for the ages of our family. There was a special Clifford exhibit, which the three girls loved. They spent a lot of time there. Mark and Isaac spent time together exploring the museum.

We took a short scenic drive and then had lunch at Taco Bell, before heading home. It was a good weekend. It was a little stressful for Mark and me, which is to be expected given the ages (and number) of our children. Even with the stress, it was worth it. Our family get-away was a success!

The Littles Being Cute!

This was Olivia's favorite pool move!
My future is so bright...

My little frog

I often refer to Olivia and Anna Grace as "The Littles". I really enjoyed these pictures of my little cuties!

Fun with Friends

Bathing Beauties

Discussing world problems at the baby pool!
Looking for bugs.
"I will not look at the camera!"

We had a visit with some Louisiana friends last week. Tanya, Jadon, Jonas and Jesse came to visit for a few days. We had lots of fun eating, swimming and playing together. We went swimming in our neighborhood pool everyday, and that was about as far as we ventured from our house. It was lots of fun to be with our good friends again!

Happy Birthday Bailey!

Bailey turned six a couple of weeks ago! It is hard to believe how fast she is growing up. She chose a family lunch outing to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate her birthday. We spent a couple of hours eating pizza and playing games. The children had a great time celebrating! Bailey chose to have hot dogs and French fries for supper, followed by cake, ice cream and presents. She asked for a scooter and roller skates for her birthday, which are not normal Bailey presents. She was very excited to open them up. She did admit later that she was a little disappointed with her skates. She thought that she would be able to put them on and take off. She learned that it was not quite as easy as she had thought that it would be. Aside from that lesson, she was very happy with her birthday.

Farmer Isaac

When I embarked on my Square Foot Gardening project, I thought that the main benefit would be getting some fresh vegetables. I had no idea how much joy it would bring Isaac. He has really been passionate about his garden! He goes out every morning before breakfast to check on his plants. He has taken over the watering of the plants, which has been crucial during this 90 degree weather. He has "harvested" three cucumbers this week, and he declared them the best cucumbers he has ever eaten (we agreed of course!). He has already made plans to expand his garden next year. I think that he is a farmer at heart!

I started our project, being totally "organic". Nothing was growing well. My parents came to visit in June and Dad told me to go buy some Miracle Grow. I hesitated for a few seconds and then bought some. I can see how it got its name. Our cucumbers, zucchini, peppers and tomatoes seemed to grow over night. I have picked about seven zucchini, and a couple of tomatoes and peppers. The tomatoes and cucumbers look like they will really start producing in the next couple of weeks. We have picked a few beans, but I think that we will have to plant quite a few more plants next year if we ever want to really have a "mess of bean!" The carrots did not do much. Isaac planted some more carrot seeds in a container this morning, so we will see how that experiment turns out.

Bailey's flowers have really done well. All in all, it has really been a great experience, even if it has not provided "food for the winter". I am looking forward to doing it again next year!

Mother's Morning Out

All four of my children have been attending Mother's Morning Out two days a weeks for the last two weeks. It is a five week program that a church near by puts on. It has been very strange to drop them off and have four hours to myself. All of them have attended a similar program before, but it has been two years since I have had everyone in one at the same time.

The first day, I kind of wandered around aimlessly, taking care of a few errands and walking around the mall. The second day, I tried to organize my time a little better to get more done. I even went to the library by myself. It was very strange to browse for books by myself. I am used to the run in and grab strategy of choosing books.

Today, I came home and worked on cleaning house for about an hour and a half and then had lunch out as a reward! Bailey asked me this afternoon if it was fun to drop them off and have time by myself. I responded very truthfully that it is nice to have a little time away, but I am very glad to see them when I pick them up!

Seeing Blue!

I had my twenty week ultrasound, and our little one looked very healthy! It was such a blessing to see the heart, brain and spine looking so perfectly formed. It is amazing how God knits babies together in their mothers' wombs!

The children (especially Isaac) had been hoping for a baby boy, and it looks very much like they will get their wish! The ultrasound technician was able to get a good picture to confirm that we will have lots of blue around our house!

I am now a little over half way through this pregnancy. The time seems to be speeding by! We are all looking forward to meeting our little man!