WHAT A TRIP

Back to reality, although this is what and where I would prefer to be- relaxing on a sunny beach !





JUST A SOME MEMORIES FROM THIS PAST WEEK.

http://picasaweb.google.com/RB.Haveman/FloridaVacation#


- Laughing like crazy on the sand storm ride with Brayden at Bush Gardens


-Seeing Brayden ride the scorpion roller coaster with Ron and knowing I wouldn't dare do it!

-Having both older kids in tears at the 4D pirates movie

-Becca's eyes when our jeep fell off the bridge and started to float down the river on the rhino rally ride.


-Seeing Becca and Brayden come over the top of the hill on the log ride

-Looking for Sharks teeth at Englewood beach...and finding a bunch


-Becca getting her nails painted by a total stranger on their dock


-Ron casting a hook in my leg while fishing



-Brayden finding a conch shell and wanting to cook the conch for Ron's Birthday


-Seeing Great Grandpa shuffle board at 90 years old

-Andrea riding in the bike basket

-All three kids totally occupied in the beach lagoon over looking the ocean

-Brayden and Becca swimming tirelessly in the pool

-Brayden riding in the front of the golf cart and Andrea driving

-Being withing a hands reach of Venus Williams

-Sitting with all three kids at the Erickson Open, having all three sit in silence and actually getting to watch a couple matches-must have been the sun

-Seeing Becca sit with a hug bucket of popcorn with a huge grin on her face

-Ron almost catching a pop fly at a Tampa Rays baseball game before the outfielder snatched it first

-Seeing my little guy with some very big boys who seems to be just his size only yesterday

HOW KIDS THINK

Yesterday we made a trip to the doctor, something we have not had to do in a long while. Not a big deal just a couph that wasn't getting better. Anyway, while we were there the doctor examined Brayden, including looking in his ears. After looking in the right she looked at Brayden and asked him what he put in his ear. Brayden was very serious and said nothing, I thought she was joking but then she asked again, and again Brayden said nothing. Turned out there was something in his ear and after looking at it I thought it was one of his stuffed animals filler beads. After she left the room Brayden looked at me and asked in a very concerned voice how the bead was going to get out of his ear. I explained that they were going to flush some water in his ear and it would come out. He took a little bit to think about this then looked at me and asked in all seriousness "So it is going to go in this ear (pointing to his right ear) and then come out this ear?? (pointing to his left ear). Ohh, it was so funny to see his little mind work!

Yes-it did flush out but only after a full bottle of water was sprayed into his ear.

RED BUD

A beautiful Red Bud Tree

Andrea is always so excited to see Daddy when he gets home.

We have had some wonderful days this week and it seems like spring is definitely here. The trees, daffodils and crocuses are in full bloom and if we would have had one more day of sun I think the tulips would have opened up. We have some beautiful trees in our neighborhood so we decided to head out this afternoon and take some pictures. It turned out to be a fun outing as we got to meet a neighbor we never knew-Becca's first question to the older women was, DO YOU HAVE KIDS??? I think she was on the hunt for some new play mates as our cousins left this morning. So the women had to go into a long explanation of kids, children and then grand kids, I don't think Becca got much of the explanation just the fact that there wasn't anyone her age to play with. We are now company free, seems very quiet and the kids miss their playmates.

FULL DAY

The bunch at the half way mark-still going strong, after a snack of course.

No Bears, but some bats-watch out!

We managed the entire trail with all the kids-only the scare of a lost shoe.

Looks like Ron is reading to send them all off on their own.

Little Andrea, who doesn't seem so little any more

Andrea, waiting patiently for the troop to return from the canoe ride

We ended the evening with a spectacular view of the sun setting-blame Ron for not pulling over fast enough to catch the entire fireball!

This was the last full day we got to enjoy with the cousins and we stayed plenty busy. The weather has been fantastic and today was the best! We started the morning by braving the bluff trail at Red Bud valley with all the kids, including the little ones. Friends also joined us for the adventure making for a total of 7 kids. By the time were neared the end I think the two three year olds were being carried while the two little one years old enjoyed the entire hike in backpacks. We managed with only a couple scrapes and hardly any complaining-mostly from my mouth because Andrea was so much heavier than the last time I had used the backpack! We enjoyed a nice lunch-I was sweating by the time we finished, it was at least 80 by noon. Brayden had fun collecting acorns and then left them all in a hole in a tree for the squirrels.

Ron decided to come home early from work and took all of us on a little canoe outing. We went to a nearby lake in Sapulpa and the kids enjoyed paddling around-seeing turtles, snakes and finding an old rotten egg-yes only a 4 year old would find such a thing in the woods. After a good Mexican dinner we all headed home, very much tired out from the day.

Welcome to Tulsa

Thanks to some nice spring weather the kids were more than worn out after spending the day playing with cousins. We headed out yesterday morning to the covered pedestrian bridge. The kids had fun runny down it and throwing sticks over the edge. We had a nice picnic in the park which was very busy since it is spring break here as well. The kids love playing in the little stream making dams with rocks, which makes for some very dirty kids. Thankfully no wet pants. There were so many kids that the ducks weren't even hungry. We ended the day by going to the incredible pizza company. Lots of food, lots of games and LOTS OF NOISE. The kids had fun and bedtime was slick as everyone was dead tired. So nice to have everyone sleep so well, including myself!

Family

Today Ron's sister and two kids made their way from Canada on into Tulsa. The kids are super excited to have their cousins stay with them. I don't think Becca understands that they are staying longer than a day and was pretty excited to be told that Sophia was going to be able to play with her all day tomorrow.

Tonight there is the boys sleeping together and the girls. So funny to see the difference between the two. Not a work/sound came out of the boys room, not so from the girls-giggle, giggle and more giggles. Even Andrea was just laughing away, Sophia ended up in Becca's bed and finally only about 1.5hours after bedtime did the giggles stop. It is so fun to see them together, Brayden was just running around the house pulling out all his toys to show his big cousin Micah. At one point they were in the back yard and I kept seeing Brayden just throwing balls at Micah, when I commented that Brayden might be bugging Micah I was told it most likely was a game and if not Micah was old enough to fend for himself.....a nice change since it is usually Brayden being to rough with the little ones.

T-Ball

A gentle reminder that we need to throw it to first base to get the runner out. I think a real game is going to be pretty funny!

The kids love to run the bases

We started the day with winter and thankfully ended it back in spring. I was all set to run outside this morning only to be greeted by a winter blast of freezing rain when I let ephie out. So we changed up the morning and had a nice big breakfast-complete with sausage which the kids love. Ron spent the morning working on a bike rack for the garage-another effort to try and organize some of the chaos....we will see. Brayden loves working in the garage-although he spends a lot of time cleaning up/sweeping after Ron, kind of funny to see. Becca and Andrea got to grocery shop with me, something we don't normally do on the weekend but with company coming Sun we figured we needed some food!

Brayden had his t-ball practice and by the afternoon the sun was warming things up a little and amazingly for OK there was no wind. It was a hitting day and Brayden had a lot of fun. I find myself wishing I could be out there on the field helping coach instead of Ron. I don't exactly fit in as most moms sit on the stands looking so nice. I am down the side line in the dirt taking pictures and playing with the girls. I find I really love sports/competition and just this little taste of t-ball is pretty tantalizing. Ron informed me that I could be out there on Monday's practice with all the dads and he would hang out with the girls....I am not so sure about that!

Anyway, by the end of the day all three kids have a full coating of dirt, from playing in the garage, the baseball field, then keeping busy at Hunter park later in the afternoon. It turned out to be a wonderful day-a nice change after such a gloomy morning.

Little thing

Funny how some little things seem like such a big deal. Last night gave us one of those moments. Becca slept the entire night without her pipe! Okay, might seem like no big deal but for those of you with finger suckers or kids with pacifiers you will understand. This was not my plan, most of the time if my kids sleep I am perfectly okay with pacifiers, thumbs, blankets....anything for a good night rest. Anyway, at some point the other day Becca hit her lip and got a cut/fat lip. After nap time it looked terrible and since Becca's pipes are not exactly new I was worried that infection was going to set in. I was able to convince her early on that it was not going to be very good for her lip to sleep with her pipe at night. Surprisingly she was very agreeable, so I thought, Wow I should have done this sooner. Bedtime came and things were a little different. We had a total meltdown, one where she was inconsolable, which of course lead me to yelling... making me feel even worse. She managed to fall asleep-probably out of exhaustion. I was prepared to have to deal with her multiple times through out the night but surprise surprise she sleep the entire night....what a trooper! She got tons of kisses and hugs this morning. Sad to say nap time did not go so well today, basically another meltdown leading to a moment of quiet then playtime in bed. Oh well, at least she was in her room, and we can say good bye to the pacifiers.

ANDREA JOY- 19 month old

I don't have any good pics from Braydens tee-ball but I am sure I will get many more changes. This practice both girls were bent on sitting on my lap, not a bad thing...but.....

This is Andrea general state today after seeing the Dr. She moped and whined through two whole loads of laundry folding.

It was time for Andrea's 18 month check-up today. She is still my little peanut and the little flu bug that we finally are rid of didn't do much to help her in the weight department. She was 22lbs around the 25% and 32.5 inches tall in the 65%. She seems right on tract with all her development which as was more satisfying to the Dr. than the fact that I can't get her to drink milk. Andrea had one shot, always a sad thing. She thought she was such big stuff getting to sit on the table-all grins, that changed pretty fast! Becca was along with Blackie and her main concern was how loud Andrea was going to cry. Andrea, although crabby at times has been a lot of fun these past few days. She is saying more and more words without being prompted-if you understand her it makes life so much easier. Her favorite has been her word for swing, she says wheeeee, which is what we say when we swing, so I get it. The other day she was following Ron around saying wheeee and he was just ignoring her-she was pretty persistent and when I informed Ron what she meant she gave her response- uh huh (what she says for yes) and off they went to go swing.

IS IT SPRING??

Today Andrea was playing with me on the bed-I quick got the camera in hopes of capturing something other than her serious stare!

It has been so wonderful to have some warmer weather that has stuck around more than a couple days. It is so much easier leaving the house-NO COATS. The weekend the kids discovered their flip flops and decided that was the thing to wear. I had told them they couldn't wear them till it was sunny warm-well it was sunny warm this weekend and WHAT A PAIN. They don't stay on, the kids are constantly taking them off, they fall when they run and their feet are horribly dirty. With all that you would think they wouldn't want to wear them but of course it is exactly the opposite-they love them.

Today we were able to do what we love to do on Sundays-Church, Rest, and then enjoy the outdoors. Becca actually rode her bike to the park, almost a total of 2miles once we made it home. Brayden has gone back to riding his little starter bike, for some reason I can't convince him to ride his new one and the battle is not worth making him hate biking-so he rides with his knees about hitting his chest.

Hopefully everyone survived the time change, we are running way behind tonight. We did managed just fine this morning since we all were sleeping early Sat evening. Seemed that everyone remembered as we had 17 5 year olds in our Sunday School class this morning. This was our first Sunday to teach-Ron and I. We actually had lots of fun, although it was really crazy.

Weekend

So far we are having a pretty low key weekend, mainly because it seems everyone is running low in the energy department. We hopefully have had the last round of flu, sadly it was Becca who came down with it Fri afternoon. Poor little girl lost her cookies and had to sit in it all the way to the airport and back. It was not the nicest send off for Sharon and Emily. Ron was able to get home a little early so I was able to still get my swim in for the week. We continue our training for the mini-triathlon in April. For being mini it almost seems more time consuming than marathon training as we are having to fit in biking and swimming along with trying to keep up some of our mileage in the running department. Ron is enjoying the biking part of training, I still enjoy the running but am getting better and better in the pool....which means I don't feel like I am drowning after 10min!

Today Ron took the kids to Home Depot-the kids have a fun time as they always have free popcorn and today they had a free kids work shop. Andrea was so proud of her little work apron and her very own bag of popcorn-she was such a little show off when she got home. Brayden had his first tee ball practice today as well. Ron took him and I guess it all went well, the coach's tried to get Brayden to hold his hands together on the bat-he holds them apart because the bat is so heavy. Anyway, I think he had a good time-typical boy who doesn't say much. Although his observation tonight while riding in the car was very cute. He was pointing out the moon to everyone then made the observation that the moon moves really fast-it moves as fast as the car!

Out tiredness continues and after some early baths I am hoping to gets kids in bed and not do much else myself...I think Ron has already claimed his spot on the floor in front of the TV (You think the kids could put themselves to bed???)

Shopping with Daddy

Tonight Ron took Brayden to the store to get some sprinkles for his class tomorrow...something about creating an ice-cream parlor. Anyway, I guess Ron though the sprinkles would be by the ice-cream which of course he didn't find. Brayden, my little one who pays attention informed him that "Daddy, sprinkles are by the cakes-like what are you thinking" and off he went right to the correct isle and located the sprinkles, like no big deal.
Then as they were heading past the toy isle, trying to avoid it at all cost due to many a melt down in the past. Brayden instead headed down the isle telling Ron he had something to show him. Ron watched as he moved a big box of toys on the lower shelf, then he pulled out from behind an Incredible Hulk bubble/mixing set of some sort. He then proceeded to explain to Ron that he had to hid it so he could get it on his birthday, then stuck it back behind the bigger box. Ron told him that it was pretty smart thinking. I might just have to go buy the thing as I don't think it will last till April.

FUN WITH AUNT SHARON

On to another day with four kids. We were out the door by 8:45 off to drop Brayden off at School. Sharon wanted to see his room and Brayden wanted to show it to her but he was so shy with her in his classroom. Once again he continues to have only eye's for his little girl friend...I am trying to find the right words to tell him to lay off a little, I think he drew her about 10 pictures today that she had by her cubby. After dropping off the little guy us girls headed out to Target. How easily I forget what it is like going on with a little one. You forget that they need those two naps a day and how often they eat, how most dislike anything/one other than mom. Needless to say it was a fast trip with poor Emily wanting it even faster.

This afternoon we headed out to a park where we met up with a friend around Brayden's age. As usual he wouldn't play and was off in his own world of rocks and dirt. It was very fun to see Becca jump right in with the imaginative play and have lots of fun. Brayden did get a new baseball glove and they managed a little catch without either of them getting hit in the face. Amazing because Brayden just whips it even it the other person is not paying attention. He now throws right handed...having learned left handed. By the end of our time all three were playing together-the three little munchkins-or so I thought. Becca informed me in the car that her feelings were hurt because Brayden told her she couldn't play with the boys, so sad to see her hurt-Because I know it won't be the first time.

Emily made it through the day, even if she did get stretched this morning and later this evening at church, she is a trooper trying to keep up with the three little ones throughout the day.

Kids, Kids.....

Emily-full of smiles and ready for fun...just as long as Ephie doesn't lick her face too much.

The two buddies up to lots of laughs

My cutie, feeling much better today

Ephie seems pretty protective of little Emily

The three towel girls

We made it through the aquarium...without any stomach upheavals

So I was overly hopefully last evening in my post. The moment I was finished I realized Andrea was not acting her normal self and checked on her-only to find her rolling around in her bed. Sadly to say the instant I picked her up her little tummy rolled and out it all came. So it was on to another night of vomiting. I was most nervous in the morning when she was determined to eat everything in sight-french toast, frozen pancake...I just kept thinking about trying to clean it all up after she threw it all up. Well, she might have packed it in but it all stayed put and we were vomit free for the day. Again, I will pray and hope for a quiet evening.

With that said, we stayed in for most of the day. We did make a run to the aquarium, sorry for anyone there but I figured we wouldn't run into anyone I would know and we needed a break. Things are going well with all the kids. Brayden was most excited this morning when he asked if he could get close to Emily today and he was given the A okay. He loves running, jumping and basically just being in her face-she just goes crazing waving her arms and her eyes about jumping off her face. I have to give Ron credit today as well because he managed all four kids at dinner time so Sharon and I could get a short run it...what a trooper.