Official Retraction

I am officially taking back my not so subtle suggestion that Luke or Noah was the culprit in the great gerbil episode. I got home today from running an errand to find our neighbors son IN MY HOUSE, door ajar, gerbil lid off again on the floor. Thankfully the gerbil was still in it's cage playing with a few marbles he added. I am glad my mom radar is working ok because I really thought both boys were telling me the truth the other day, there was just no other likely explanation. Moral of the story...sometimes life is weird and unlikely and your neighbors 5 year old is hanging out alone in your house. Also, always double check to make sure your garage door is locked.

Lost & Found

It seems that as soon as Jason leaves town lately things get really interesting around here. When we went to get ready for bed last night the lid to the gerbil cage was on the floor. Cutie Pie was dead in the cage and Sprinkles was no where to be found. Although the gerbil food and wheel were in the boys room they both swore NO ONE touched ANYTHING. The girls totally believed them and sadness turned into sobs of fear because either a robber or a ghost had to be responsible... mass hysteria ensued...

Thankfully Grace picked up her dead pet and put her in a box for our first backyard burial.

Sophie wrote the speech. The grave marker says, "The box under this tree has Cutie Pie Hardy in it. She has a joy in our heart." We went to bed all in my room with the door locked because the kids were so freaked out. I went to sleep convincing myself that there is NO WAY a gerbil could climb up into my bed.

This morning Grace was home from school with pink eye, Luke had a fever of 103 and I was desperately looking for the missing gerbil. I remembered my friend from church telling how their pet hamster got out and ruined the couch by chewing up the insides. Totally grossed out, I didn't know if I would rather find Sprinkles alive or dead. The silver lining was that rooms, closets and cupboards got completely cleaned... but no gerbil anywhere. Molly, our supposed terrier who was bred to find and kill rodents, decided it was a grand morning lay around napping and was no help at all.

After thoughts of exactly how stinky a dead rodent in my house would be, late in the afternoon I told the kids that I would pay $20 to anyone who could find the gerbil, dead or alive. Sophie promptly got a flashlight and looked under an overlooked piece of furniture. There was Sprinkles! Sophie cried the first tears of joy in her 7 year old life. While crying and laughing at the same time she told Grace that her gerbil would be both of theirs now.

After everything calmed down I asked the girls to say a prayer and thank Heavenly Father that they were able to find their pet. In unison then chimed that they already had. Together in their room these sweet girls had already offered a prayer of gratitude to a Father in Heaven they know loves them and is aware of their lives. Everything else today was suddenly so worth this one moment.

Happy 7th Birthday Sophie & Grace

 Yesterday Grace and Sophie turned 7. It is so hard to believe that 7 years have gone by and these cute babies have become sweet little girls. Jason and I were talking last week and realized that we have been parents now longer then the time waiting for our children to come to earth. I see pictures like this and just want to pick my babies up one more time and love on them.

  

The girls had their first ever friends birthday party. It was puppy themed fun and craziness. Thankfully my good friends came to help. Even with 5 adults helping it was still barely organized chaos. Sophie and Grace were in heaven. They did so well as hosts, I was really proud of them. The welcomed everyone and walked them to the backyard, helped to serve the cake and ice cream and were super gracious about all of their gifts.

I thought the dog pinata was a little creepy to be beating with a stick but the kids loved it.

I am so blessed to have these girls in my life. Watching them play and  laugh yesterday as they celebrated their birthday was so fun. When we were opening gifts Luke gave the girls a ladybug habitat and Sophie was so excited she picked him up off his feet and swung him around in circles. One gerbil bite and several minor mishaps aside, it was a great day.

Poor Grace

We spent the evening in the ER last night. Grace was playing at the neighbors and dislocated her elbow. I thought for sure it was broken, so did the ER dr. We are super glad it is just a dislocation, she will feel much better in a few days and only has to wear a splint. Poor kid. She was such a trooper. She only lost it completely when they put her IV in. But this is the girl who screams bloody murder for a simple shot. Once they got some pain meds in her she was a happy camper.

We had a nice conversation on the ride home. When I was carrying Grace to the car to get to the hospital I asked her to say a prayer. She said that she already had and it was not helping! Poor kid. Of course I said multiple prayers the whole evening, especially on that 20 minute car ride with a child whimpering and crying in pain and trying to be brave. On the way home we talked about prayer and how it helps us, that it didn't take Grace's pain away, but that the Lord helped her to be brave and strong and everything turned out ok. Christ doesn't take away challenges in our lives most of the time, but He does strengthen us to be able to meet the trials we have. She totally understood. The faith of my children continually  inspires and humbles me.

On a lighter note. I had to laugh at the wood chips all over the hospital bed and floor and Gracie's filthy hands and feet from playing outside. The kids had been at the neighbors and tried to put up a tire swing on their own. Grace was the lucky soul to try it out first and it didn't go so well.  I actually had the nurse bring me a wash cloth to clean her up while she was still sedated. The nurse that helped us was named Ben and Grace thought that was fun. Our kind neighbor took the other kids for me since Jason is out of town, fed them pizza and put them to bed.  I was mortified that she saw the state of my house. Seriously. It was awful. All things considered I feel very blessed. Grace will feel better in a few days, be able to hit the pinata at her birthday party this Saturday and is overjoyed at the prospect of a day chilling on the couch watching tv. The Lord really did help her and all of us. Recognizing that fills me with gratitude.

What a Century!

 

Jason's "Tar Wheel" century ride stated in Elizabeth City. Here he is at the first SAG (rest area, no idea why the name) this is about 30 miles into the ride.

The 60 mile SAG was in an amazing little town called Edenton. It was chuck full of history that I had a blast learning about. This whole area is on Ablemarle  Sound, an enormous fresh water sound in northern NC. The kids played here while we waited for Jason. I had to take a picture of this amazing house. It was not as old as most in Edenton, looked like it was built in the 40's, double porches looking over the water...

 Cheering for Dad

 The kids made signs to cheer for Jason. This is with 14 miles to go. I don't know if you can read the one Sophie is holding here, it says: Your almost there! Your close to a chair! We cracked up about it all day. She made jokes all weekend as usual. I wish I could remember them better. I will see if she does and add some tomorrow.

 

104 miles and still smiling!

This was a ride, not a race, so the end was a little anti climatic. Pretty much people finished, loaded bikes into cars and drove off. We had such a good time and Jason did amazing! He was just over 6 hours. I am thinking I might try to join him next year. We'll see.

Easter at Edisto Beach, SC

We spend 4 days of Spring Break at Edisto Beach, South Carolina. It was really, really fun...and really, really a lot of work for mom and dad. Camping on the beach was wonderful but  SO dirty. I knew sand would be everywhere but we also had plenty of good ol' plain dirt from the campground. I also had forgotten what humidity felt like. We were basically wet for 4 days. But we did have a good time.

Easter Sunday 2011

 We drove in to Charleston for church and then did some historical sight seeing. This picture is at Charles Towne Landing, the original colony in SC. The spanish moss on the trees is so beautiful to me. This was not the best example, but right after we took this picture the kids saw an alligator in the water. It cruised right by where we were. There were signs everywhere to keep your pets on a leash. It was amazing to see an alligator in it's natural habitat...so cool. The wildlife we saw really was a highlight of the trip.

 

This is a flock of brown pelicans.  They were flying over the beach all weekend. We probably saw at least a hundred along with several other kinds of water birds.  We also found sea urchins, barnacles and several kinds of mollusks on some rocks. Monday morning several jelly fish had washed on to shore to inspect and also a big horseshoe crab. Lukie found a little sand crab on the beach and the kids had a great time running after it. Edisto beach is known for it's shells. There is an off shore reef out in the sea and the beach really was covered in them at spots.  This definitely was more interesting then most of our Atlantic beaches. The ecosystem was so diverse, lots of fun to explore.

The campground was behind Luke in the grove of palm trees over the small dunes. Turtles build nests here later in the season, we were too early to see any.

My Grace. She is an expert at finding interesting things on the beach. This is her first sand dollar. It was broken, but I have never found one and it is the first one we have ever seen at the coast. She really is a beach baby. Grace could stay literally from sun up to sun down playing in the water and digging in the sand finding shells and clams.

Rainbow Sophie

I have always wanted a rainbow kite. This one was so easy and fun to fly on the beach. The kids had watched Mary Poppins on the ride down and we sang Let's Go Fly a Kite the whole time.

 

Cute Noah

Noah and Sophie loved the Piggly Wiggly grocery store right outside of the campground.  Sophie even made up her own song about the Piggly Wig. The south is full of places to explore. I felt blessed that we were able to spend the holiday in such a beautiful place.

Happy he is

 

Luke bought this stuffed Yoda with his own money. He has been carrying it around with him for the past few days. Of course Yoda is right next to him in bed every night. Makes me smile...