The Johnston Family Blog

Busy, busy, busy!

2012-02-10T13:22:00.002-05:00

You may be wondering where we've been! We've had a busy month and a half! Dave is super busy at work and working a lot of nights so we've missed him! He's also had a few meetings with church as well. We were hoping to go to Great Wolf Lodge this coming week for my birthday (and David's off for a few days from school), but alas that is not to be. Dave is just too busy at work. He is the best and we love him so for how hard he works for us.

David's been busy at school. They just had their 100 day celebration (pic to follow) and David made a special project for it and they had lots of fun treats and activities to celebrate their 100th day. David also has been busy making Valentine's day cards for his classmates. He took them in this week to "mail" them in their mail boxes. So cute! David has also been busy swimming and playing basketball. He is a great swimmer and can now swim two lengths of the pool! He has been working hard. His rotary breathing is improving tremendously too. He loves it! He also is loving his second season of basketball and scored in his last game! He is very good at dribbling and he wants to find more time to practice. :) In April, he starts soccer and tee-ball so he is looking forward to that too.

Owen has been busy doing fun preschool projects at home with Mommy and he also has been swimming. He is getting so brave and jumps off the side all by himself! He loves his swimming and has made a few little friends there too. He also loves going to the Y for gym time every Tuesday and also going to his childcare class while I work out. He is always telling me about the friends he is making. :) He also loves it when David gets home from school. He runs up to him and gives him a big hug every day. He really does love his big brother (well...most of the time!). :)

Liam is getting bigger each day. I can't believe that he will be two in April! How did my baby grow up so fast?!? He is all boy and quite a crazy kid. He loves, loves, loves to be outside and begs me to take him out every day. When we go to the park, he loves to run around and slide down all the slides. He gives me a heart attack pretty much every time because he has no fear and no realization that he is not as big as his brothers! He just climbs up and down and is a little monkey. He also loves the gym time at the Y on Tuesdays and loves to play with any ball of any kind. He is talking and communicating more and more too. He's a little toddler now and not a baby anymore. :( He also loves to wrestle with his Daddy and brothers.

I have been busy taking the kids to and from all of their activities, trying to organize my home little by little, running and working out and trying to stay sane with the craziness of our schedules! I am tired, but it's all worth it! We are hoping to get some quality family time over the next few weeks. And we are all looking forward to David having 4 days off from school starting this week!!! Yippee!

Snow Day

2012-01-21T16:58:00.003-05:00

Today was the first snow day of the year (which we were beginning to wonder if we were even going to get this mild Winter!). I made blueberry cake for breakfast and then we all headed out to go sledding. It was Liam's first time out in the snow and sledding. When he came down in the morning looking for his pooh bear, he suddenly realized that it was different and rushed to the window looking at the snow. It was so cute!

Liam loved sledding too...he went down the hills over and over again with his brothers. Of course, David and Owen had fun too and David even met a playmate from school.

We headed back for a hot cocoa break (with whipped cream of course!) and then back out to make a snowman. Even though we didn't get that much snow, we were still able to make a snowman! I am so glad that we got at least one snow day for the boys. It was so much fun! ...And I must admit, I love sledding too. :)

Liam kept pointing to the ground, saying "Snow, snow!" He really had fun.

The Franklin Institute

2012-01-06T14:00:00.002-05:00

Last week on Dave's day off we went to the Franklin Institute to see the Dinosaur exhibit that is there right now. The boys were thrilled! They loved all the dinosaurs and they even got to pretend to be paleontologists and dig for fossils. We also took them to see "Monsters of the Air" an IMAX movie about Pterosaurs (which David is very interested in as well). They loved how giant the screen was and how it made them feel like they were moving with the movie.

The boys also really loved the Sports Challenge section of the museum where they got to try out a lot of different sports activities. It was so cool! I am planning to take them back in a couple of weeks to go through the museum again, because we barely scratched the surface!

They also enjoyed climbing in the big "heart" and David even watched a REAL dissection of an eye...!

I have a feeling we will be visiting this museum many, many more times!

Christmas Day

2012-01-03T13:55:00.007-05:00

We had a wonderful Christmas day this year. The boys slept in until 7:45 AM (We are the luckiest parents around!) and then waited for us to get everything ready to rush down the stairs to see if someone had been to our house the night before. They were so excited to see the presents under the tree and their stockings full! It is priceless watching them open their gifts...they get so excited about each one! Liam opened one present and didn't really get the concept, but he loved his gifts. He LOVES the talking/singing Winnie the Pooh that we got him. He started giving Pooh hugs and kisses right away and didn't leave his side the entire day. As soon as we got home that night, he started asking for "Pooh" and has basically not left Pooh since. It is so sweet!

After the presents were unwrapped and played with for a little while, we had our special Christmas breakfast of baked french toast and bacon. Mmmm...it is so bad for you, but we only have it once each year. :)

After breakfast and some more playing with their new presents, we headed to Mommom and Poppop's house for lunch and to see more family. We had a great time and the boys got a car load of gifts and we did too! Our families are so generous and kind to us and the boys. We are grateful! After that, we headed to Mimi and Grandpop's for dinner and even more gifts (ahh!). The boys also got to play Wii with their Uncle Al and Dave and I even played it too. :)

We came home tired and happy after a wonderful day experiencing the many, many blessings of our family. I love Christmas and seeing the boys' faces makes all the work so worth it! We are also so grateful that we get to see our families too. We love them all! It was indeed a Merry Christmas for us and I hope for all reading as well. :)

Waiting to open...

I love their expressions. :)

Lili opening his Pooh

Hugs for Pooh

Kisses for Pooh

Cars 2 of course!

Brothers. I love these two!

Breakfast

Playing with Owen's Batcave

All my men. I am one lucky girl!

Mommom opening her special gift from all of her grandchildren

The cousins!

On to Mimi and Grandpops!

Dinner was fantastic and I even came in 2nd place in our family Texas Hold 'Em Poker game. :)

The end.

Christmas Eve

2012-01-01T20:38:00.004-05:00

On Christmas Eve we went to Dave's aunt and uncle's home for the annual Christmas party. The boys loved getting to see all of our family there and also the fun gifts that Dave's aunts got them. It was really lovely getting to catch up with Dave's cousins and aunts and uncles. We love this party ever year and Uncle Bill even sang some songs for us (and somehow got me to sing with him for a couple...). Liam of course joined in with the music and danced along. :) Dave's cousin Stephanie and her boyfriend and his aunt Patty played some card games with the boys too which they loved.

After we got home, the boys all got in their Christmas jammies and put out the fresh Christmas cookies that we made that day for Santa. Then Dave read our Christmas stories that we read every year. We read the Christmas story in Luke, we read Twas the Night Before Christmas, and a Nativity book. The boys were so excited for Christmas morning and they couldn't wait to get to bed!

After they were in bed, we got everything ready and Dave and I watched a little bit of a Christmas movie with some egg nog before collapsing into bed ourselves. I was getting over a nasty cold and still wasn't feeling myself so I was especially tired. We couldn't wait for the morning!

Reading our stories...this is one of my favorite traditions! We also sang some Christmas songs together.

The boys helped me make another batch of peanut butter blossoms for Santa and the put them out along with carrots for the reindeer. Peanut butter blossoms are "Santa's" favorite in our house. :)

Smiley is all ready for Christmas. He flew back to the north pole after Christmas and won't be back till next year. I kind of miss him. :)

Gingerbread House

2012-01-01T20:34:00.003-05:00

On Christmas Eve we all made our gingerbread house together. Liam did not get it, but enjoyed eating the candy. :) David and Owen spent a long time getting it just right. It was really cute.

Christmas Song

2012-01-01T20:26:00.004-05:00

On Christmas Eve, our boys sang "Away in a Manger". It was really sweet. Owen wasn't feeling well, but he had practiced all week and was so excited to sing. Precious!

Longwood Gardens Christmas

2012-01-01T20:10:00.004-05:00

The night before Christmas Eve, we went to Longwood Gardens as a family to see all the Christmas lights and displays and the trains. This is a yearly tradition for us and it was a beautiful night and we all loved looking at all the beautiful displays. My mom came with us which was a special treat. The boys loved the trains and we were surprised at how much Liam loved the trains and the lights. He really loved the trains...it was so cute. David and Owen of course were thrilled with the trains. :)

We had a great time as a family!

Our Christmas Boys 2011

2011-12-21T10:15:00.002-05:00

David's Winter Concert at School

2011-12-16T12:13:00.004-05:00

This past week, we got to see David and his kindergarten perform in a Winter Concert. Mommom and Poppop and Mimi and Grandpop came to watch David too. He did so great! He was really cute doing all the hand motions and singing. His favorite song was the last one, "Jingle Bells". Mommom and Poppop joined us for a celebration at Friendly's afterwards.

David just loves school and it has been so much fun to watch him learn and grow this year. He has made so many new friends and we have too! Our town feels like such a small town now and we see people everywhere we go! We are so proud of the great reports that David is getting from his teachers and we're proud of him for working so hard. Great job, David!

This was the grizzly bear face...Love it!

Jingle Bells!

Friendly's!

Liam loves his sweets!

Christmas Train Ride with Santa and family!

2011-12-16T10:17:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago, we went on a Christmas train ride with Santa and Mommom and Poppop, Aunt Tiffany and Uncle Tom and their nephew Christopher (Owen and Christopher became good buddies), Uncle Mike, Aunt Terri, Kaylynn and Brendon, and Uncle Dan and Aunt Amy. We had so much fun. The kids each got a special treat with Santa and a banjo player played Christmas songs (which Liam danced to the entire time!). We got hot chocolate and made a special memory. We are blessed with a wonderful family. Our children love their cousins and grandparents and aunts and uncles!

Christmas Cookie Playgroup

2011-12-16T10:09:00.003-05:00

Last week we had our Christmas cookie playgroup. The kids had fun activities and baked cookies together. It was a lot of fun!

Tis the Season

2011-12-16T09:54:00.004-05:00

We had a fun Thanksgiving with lots of family and right before Thanksgiving we had our friends over for a Thanksgiving party. The kids had a blast and lots of memories were made. The day after Thanksgiving, I went on my Black Friday shopping trip with my dear friend Lindy Jackson and we got some great deals. We were tired after that night!

The next day, we continued our annual tradition of cutting down our Christmas tree. I made some special treats and Mimi and Grandpop joined us. The boys got to see Santa and play at the playground (it was a very warm day!) and Dave cut down our tree. This year, David picked it out. And we love it! We decorated it and had Christmas cookies and eggnog. The boys are so excited about Christmas this year. We continued our advent calendar and devotions and each day we use "Countdown to the Coming of the King" and they get to look in our village to find out what treats await them. David made his own countdown to Christmas and hung it up in his room. He crosses off each day and every day tells me exactly how many days are left until Christmas. :) Liam is even joining in the fun this year. He absolutely loves the lights and it was priceless watching him exclaim over them when we first put them up. Owen loves our Elf on the Shelf (another post to come). Every morning he runs down to find "Smiley". :) We've also been busy making Christmas cookies and singing Christmas songs. I just love Christmas!

Running

2011-12-07T20:17:00.003-05:00

We've had a busy couple of weeks with the holidays. I have a few posts to put up from cutting our tree down and Thanksgiving, to a Santa train ride we went on with Dave's family. We've just been too busy for me to update anything! :)

This past weekend, I ran my first 5 mile race with Dave, his brother Dan, Dan's fiancee Amy, Dave's brother Tom, and their friend Salm. I had a little injury which slowed me down, but I still finished and it was a tough course! It was a perfect day for a run and we had a great time! I can't wait for the next run!

The Philadelphia Marathon

2011-11-22T14:20:00.004-05:00

I am so proud of David and his brother Dan and their friends Bob and Karen who all ran and finished the Philadelphia Marathon this past Sunday. It was a great day and I still can't believe they all did it! I was part of the cheering section with Amy and Tom and Tiffany and Vince. We had a great time and I was so glad and relieved to see Dave cross the finish line. Congratulations to all!!!

Me and my soon-to-be sisters in law!!! They are the best!

Dave at the half-way point waving to me! :)

Dan at the finish! His time was awesome!

Here comes Dave and Bob at the finish!

Almost there!

Amazing.

Dave, Dan, Bob, and Karen

Basketball

2011-11-22T14:17:00.002-05:00

David played his very first basketball game last weekend. He really enjoyed it and he is on the same team as his buddy, Ethan. It took a little while for the kids to get the concepts, but by the end David really seemed to understand what he needs to do. I know that Dave is especially excited that David is playing basketball. :)

Our pre-Thanksgiving Dinner with friends

2011-11-22T14:13:00.002-05:00

We had our annual pre-Thanksgiving dinner with our friends last week. It was so good and the turkey was huge! It was so funny to see Owen, because he could not get enough of the turkey. :) He loved it! It was a lot of fun and everything was delicious!

Carving the turkey

Last Game of the Season

2011-11-22T13:59:00.004-05:00

A few weeks ago, David and Owen had their last soccer games until the Spring. They were so excited to get their trophies! Asher and Liam are friends too! (see above)

Owen and Abby's team. It was very funny and cute to see them play. It also showed us just how different Owen is from David! When David was Owen's age, we were constantly having to pull him back and try to teach him to use self-control. With Owen, we had to push him just to play or move! hahaha.

In between the games, we stopped for hot chocolate...mmmm!

David and Isaac played so well this year. Good job!

David really grew in defense and in being a team player this year. Great job!

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-03T16:36:00.003-04:00

Our trick or treaters. :) We had a great night trick or treating in our neighborhood. We got to see three of David's friends from school and we met and spoke to many of our neighbors! We went to a place in the back of our development that we know some friends too from t-ball and school. Our neighborhood was packed! We also got to go trick or treating with some neighbor friends that we met up with. It was so much fun!!! David seemed to be more excited to hand the candy out to people who came to the door. :) He said to everyone, "Great costume!" or "I like your costume." So sweet. And Owen was thrilled about it all! He was singing, "Here we go to trick or treat, trick or treat, trick or treat!" the whole night. Even Liam loved it. All in all it was a very fun night!

Harvest Parade at David's School

2011-11-03T16:31:00.002-04:00

On Halloween, David's school had a harvest parade. All the students got to dress up and march around the school and all of the parents and siblings came and watched. It was so cute! Owen was so excited to see David and all of his friends. Even the teachers dressed up!

David's teachers were a cow and Snow White. :)

Waiting for David!

The Monster Mash

2011-11-03T16:25:00.002-04:00

Mommom and Poppop treated us and the boys' cousins to the Children's Museum's Monster Mash. It was so much fun! The kids all got dressed up in their costumes and went trick or treating all around the museum. They came home with tons of goodies and fun treats. It was so much fun! Thanks for an awesome night, Mommom and Poppop!!! What a great memory!

A highlight was the dance party in the lobby. The kids just danced and danced and you should have seen Liam! He was hilarious. He just danced and danced! So cute.

Dave's Grandfather

2011-11-03T16:21:00.002-04:00

We visited Dave's grandfather on his birthday a couple of weeks ago. The boys really love him and it is sweet to see them all together. Liam really liked him and just sat on his lap for a long time (which never happens...that kid never sits anywhere!). We were on our way to a Halloween party and the boys were all dressed up which was fun. We love you Poppop!

David's Birthday

2011-11-03T16:14:00.003-04:00

Hahaha - this is from September. We celebrated David's birthday with lots of family. It's always fun to get to be with our family. :)

Soccer

2011-11-03T15:54:00.004-04:00

David and Owen are almost finished their Fall season of soccer. It's been a lot of fun to watch them both play this year.

David has grown tremendously in learning how to play as a team and also in defense. He is amazing at defense and has also scored many goals this season. One thing that he stand out in is speed. He is very fast and he puts his whole heart into the games! Great job, David, on working hard and being a team player!

This year, Owen started playing soccer. It's been a rough season for his team as half the team doesn't even come out to play at all! And the other half get tired or bored or distracted very easily, but what can you expect from a group of 3 year olds?!? Owen has scored a couple of goals and last week he finally seemed to be getting it. He isn't aggressive AT ALL and needs to learn how to go after the ball better, but he has had lots of fun! He gets to play with Abby who is his best little buddy and they are ADORABLE out there. So cute.

Way to go Owen!!! Don't give up and keep trying. :)

Family photoshoot...some favorites

2011-10-15T21:51:00.008-04:00

Here are some of our favorites from today...

Today we took some shots of the boys and of our family...Still working on getting a really good family shot, but we got some great ones of each one of the boys.

I love Owen's face in the picture above. Hahaha.

Liam - 18 months old. What a loving, happy, crazy, busy, feisty, strong, BOY!

David - 6 years old. What a creative, bright, happy, fun, silly, kind, loving, energetic, sports-loving, BOY!

Owen - 3 years old. What a loving, quiet, silly, sweet, "wants to be a big boy", fun-loving, happy, cute BOY.

A Fall Weekend

2011-10-15T21:43:00.004-04:00

Last weekend David had off on Friday and Monday and we were able to do some fun fall activities with friends. On Friday, we went apple picking and did the fall festival at the orchard. It was so much fun! Even Liam picked some apples. :) Then at the festival, we painted pumpkins, went through a maze, went sliding on a GIANT slide, went swinging on tire swings, raced boats, road bikes in a hay race and had a ball. We were able to make apple pie, apple cake, and applesauce with our apples too! Yum.

Then on Sunday we went for a hayride and picked pumpkins with more friends! It was a beautiful day and we found a great pumpkin and had fun being outside.

Dave with our pumpkin!

Going on the wagon to pick our apples.

Me and my apple pickers. :)

Dance party on the wagon! :)

Dan's Race

2011-10-15T21:32:00.003-04:00

Once again I am way behind on the blog! Last month we were able to see Dave's brother finish a half-ironman race. He did an awesome job and the boys were thrilled to be able to cheer their Uncle Dan on. Great job, Dan!

More Outer Banks Fun

2011-09-29T20:58:00.006-04:00

On the last night, we had another family over who arrived that day and we had a bbq and a night swim. The kids were really looking forward to the night swim with marshmallows!

Feeding each other! :)

Owen finally gathered up the courage on our trip to jump off the side into the pool! Go Owen!

Mr. Blue Eyes

I love this picture.

Duck Donuts/Playground fun

2011-09-28T12:46:00.005-04:00

We love getting freshly made donuts for breakfast on vacation!

A very satisfied customer. :)

Fun at the Four Seasons playground!

Coffee Date

2011-09-24T18:42:00.004-04:00

Thanks to my wonderful Mom, Dave and I got to go for runs in the morning together and on coffee dates. We love Ducks Cottage coffee! It is the best. And we'd usually swing by Duck Donuts too. I miss having coffee every morning! What a treat.

Ice Cream at Sunset

2011-09-24T18:29:00.006-04:00

We watched the sunset while getting some ice cream one evening. It was a beautiful night on the sound. The kids loved watching the fish jump out of the water and watching the sun go down. And they all got brownie fudge ice cream! Mmmm...

I love this picture. :)

David's Beach Birthday Celebration

2011-09-24T18:13:00.003-04:00

We had a little birthday celebration for David at the beach. We thought it would be really fun for him to have a birthday party on vacation. We had Cars 2 cupcakes and I made special goody bags for the kids. David was really blessed and he felt very special to have his birthday at the beach. :)

My cake loving Liam

Sea Isle 2011

2011-09-19T21:28:00.005-04:00

Before we left for the Outer Banks, we went to Sea Isle with Dave's family. It's a tradition every year to go to "Mommom and Poppop's beach house". And Dan and Amy and Tom and Dokey and Chrissy and Melissa were there too. We had such a great time! The boys thought it was the best thing in the world to be at the beach with everyone. We roasted marshmallows, the boys played football on the beach with their uncles, I got to go for a run with Amy, and we just had a blast. I can't wait for next year!

Football on the beach! David's favorite.

The boys with their beloved Poppop

Aunt Dokey...we love you!!!!

I love this little guy with his buckets...so cute!

Thanks to Chrissy for all of these pics! My camera wasn't working at all in Sea Isle.

Fun in the Pool with the Dads playing Jake and the Neverland Pirates

2011-09-19T15:02:00.001-04:00

Seal Team Six Taking out the Waves

2011-09-19T15:01:00.002-04:00

Owen in the ocean!

2011-09-19T14:53:00.003-04:00

Liam in the Ocean!

2011-09-19T14:45:00.001-04:00

David and Daddy Swimming in the Ocean

2011-09-19T14:43:00.001-04:00

The Outer Banks 2011 - The Beach

2011-09-19T13:42:00.008-04:00

My lens is broken, but I was able to get some pictures of our trip. We had a great time again with the Jackson family and Nana and Mimi. This was our 6th year in a row! We were closer to the beach this time and really enjoyed watching and listening to the ocean on our deck. The kids had a blast all week. The ocean was very rough with very strong currents, so we had to be careful. But the kids loved getting knocked around by the waves (except for when we almost lost Liam...that's another story!). We had a little birthday celebration for David and had many fun times in the pool. We once again enjoyed Duck Donuts and Duck's Cottage for coffee every morning. Our moms helped us so much and we don't know what we would do without them! Every morning Dave and I went for a run or got some coffee or just sat out on our deck together. It was so nice! And I got to read each afternoon at the pool while the kids were resting.

We once again (thanks to our Mimi!) had fantastic weather all week. so we were able to really enjoy our house and the pool and it was fun to see Owen really love swimming this year. All the kids loved the hot tub (which I didn't attempt to use after a couple of days of all the kids being in it!) and they called it the hot pool. It was another great year with great friend, great memories, and fun.

Seal Team Six Go!

And...down they go!

The current was so strong, the boys were just knocked over by it. But they loved it!

Double pump!

Football on the beach!

Happy 6th Birthday, David!

2011-09-15T20:59:00.003-04:00

Today was David's 6th birthday. We started the day with birthday pancakes! He got a birthday crown and gift at school and his class (and the bus!) sang "Happy Birthday" to him. When Dave got home from work, we all went to Jake's Hamburgers for a birthday dinner.

It's hard to put into words how much David means to our family. He is so full of life, laughter, and fun! He is creative, joyful, happy, crazy, full of energy, silly, considerate, friendly, kind, compassionate, generous, loyal, and does everything with all of his heart!

When he plays sports he plays with everything he's got! He plays hard. I love that about David.

He makes new friends wherever he goes and loves people. Seriously, I can't take him anywhere if I don't feel like meeting and talking to everyone there! hahaha. He is often the life of the party. It's so funny...even at our bus stop, the other three boys are always around David and wanting to talk to David. LOL!

I remember the first moment I held him and every step that he has taken over his 6 years. We are so glad we get to be your Mom and Dad. I can't wait to watch you grow up into the person you are going to be...we pray that you use these gifts that God has given you to do great things for his glory. We love you!

I have a few posts to catch up on...hopefully I'll get to it over the weekend. This has been a very busy week!

Here we come vacation!!!

2011-09-01T14:59:00.002-04:00

Today we are leaving for the beach in New Jersey with Dave's family. It will be a total blast for all of us and especially the boys who just love their uncles and their Poppop and Mommom. We return on Saturday night to re-pack and leave for a week at the Outer Banks on Sunday morning! We can't wait. It's been a whirwind summer for us and we are looking forward to fun and some relaxing (well, sort of...it's kind of impossible with three boys! But it's relaxing just to be together. ). We are grateful that our Mimi can come with us again!!!

David is loving school and is doing great! He is so cute when he comes home each day. He is so excited to show me his papers and tell me all about his classes and friends. I am feeling very glad that we made this decision for him. I think it's going to be a great year!

OBX or bust!!!

David's 1st Day of School

2011-08-30T13:23:00.002-04:00

Today was David's first day of kindergarten! I can't believe my big boy is in school. He was so excited and could hardly wait. I can't wait to hear all about his day!

We met his teachers last week and loved them. We loved his schedule and think that he's going to absolutely love every minute! We will miss him soooo much. We did all sorts of special things last week for "David's Week of Fun" before he officially became a student. We went to the DE Natural History Museum, we went to Longwood Gardens with our Mimi, we went to Chick-Fil-A, we met our friends the Jacksons for one final trip to the pool, we had a sleepover, we went to Friendly's for breakfast, and we played lots of David's favorite games and made special treats. It was a special week that we will always remember.

Dave stayed home today to see him off and we got to walk down to our bus stop together. The bus is great because it's only kindergarteners and goes right to his school. He was so cute getting on the bus. I of course, started crying at that point and have been crying off and on all day. We went to the park and the museum so that we would'nt be so sad today. :) Owen is going to be so lonely...he said to me when we got back to the house, "I miss David at school." David is truly his best buddy.

I pray that David learns and continues his love for learning and makes lots of new friends and is a diligent student all of his school years. It seems like just yesterday he was my happy baby boy and now he is growing up right before our eyes. He brings so much joy and sunshine and laughter and fun to our family and he is always full of encouragement to everyone around him. We love him so much and could not imagine our life without him. Happy first day of school our Davey!!! We love you!

Reunion With My Dear Friends!

2011-08-17T22:59:00.003-04:00

This past Sunday, some of my best friends from growing up and beyond all got together for a reunion. We spent hours and hours catching up and laughing...and laughing...and laughing! It was so wonderful to get to hear all about their lives and children. I miss all of them so much and can't wait to get together again soon...this time with all of our kids! :)

I am so grateful that I've know most of these dear girls since I was 5 and even though we don't get to see each other often, when we do it's just like old times and it feels like no time at all has passed.

Love you girls!!! Had such a fun girls night out with you all. Brownie Fudge Sundae anyone? ;)

Blue Rocks Game

2011-08-17T22:29:00.003-04:00

Fun at the Blue Rocks Game!

Stone Harbor/Avalon Getaway

2011-08-17T21:46:00.007-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, Dave and I went to Avalon/Stone Harbor for four days...just the two of us! We had a fantastic time. I took very few pictures, but here are some moments from our trip...

We had some fantastic food and wine while there and enjoyed Springers Ice Cream every night! :) We absolutely loved it there...so much so that we want to take our family there next year for an entire week! Dave and I really enjoyed the ocean...it was rough which is how we like the waves! :) It was so relaxing to read and be together without the kids...although we sure did miss them! We went for morning runs and then got some delicious breakfast pastry at the Bread and Cheese shop and of course had to do Uncle Bill's for pancakes. We had gorgeous weather!!! It was beautiful and we came back refreshed and relaxed and ready to go back to reality. :)

The really great sunset I didn't have my camera to take pictures of course. :)

OC NJ Day Trip

2011-08-08T14:19:00.004-04:00

A couple of weeks ago we went to OCNJ for the day. The boys loved the ocean and the boardwalk and we had a fun day together.

David and Dave on the rollercoaster

David and me on the swings

Bumper boats

David and Dave on the ferris wheel

A beautiful day!

Our Camping Trip!

2011-07-31T21:50:00.010-04:00

Last weekend we took our boys on their very first camping trip! We went to Hickory Run State Park which is very dear to me and my family. We used to go there every year with all of our friends. I have so many precious memories over the years from our trips there! It's a beautiful place to go and perfect for the kids because there is so much to do! We went with my parents and my sister and it was really special getting to take my own children there and show them all of our favorite places. We want to make it a yearly trip with our boys because they had the time of their lives! I hope we can go with our friends too.

The boys loved wading through the creeks and rivers! No fear!

Our hike to Hawk Falls...we went there every year starting when we were little kids! What memories!

All of us and our friends used to jump off the waterfalls...the water is very deep and nice to swim in. We did some crazy things!

Love them.

Our boys loved the freedom to explore the woods and sleep in the tent and makes smores and just have fun. We had a great time!

We all told stories while we ate our smores.

Liam loved the swings!

Trying to catch fish!

Exploring the creek and walking through the woods!

At the waterfall bridge near our campsite!

Liam just LOVED the freedom he had to run around!

Now in the big field near our campsite, they have a fantastic playground!

Happy Birthday Abigail!

2011-07-31T21:34:00.005-04:00

I am way behind on our blog again...too busy!

A couple of weeks ago we got to celebrate a special little girl's 3rd birthday! Abby had a "princess party" and our boys had a great time! :) We love you Abby and hope we get to celebrate many more years and birthday to come!

Keith and Lindy got Abby a doll house...and it was a big hit for all the kids!

Happy boys!

Owen and Abby played for a LONG time with the doll house...they were playing "Mommy and Daddy". It was so sweet! They really are cute together.

It was a great party with lots of fun crafts and games! Our boys had a blast!

Another Beach Day

2011-07-10T17:38:00.006-04:00

We had a great beach day again yesterday. We even took Liam on his first funland rides and he loved it! He was so cute. The water was rough, but it was so much fun! The waves were huge! At the end of the day, the tide came in and made little "pools" which all the boys loved. I started feeling poorly towards the end of the day and by later on that night was in bed, but at least we had a great day!

Funland!

This is what they look like after a great day at the beach! :)

Fun in our backyard pool

2011-07-10T17:32:00.003-04:00

This summer, the boys have really loved our pool. They are happy to play together for hours! Liam loves it too.

4th of July

2011-07-10T17:01:00.008-04:00

We had a great 4th of July. The kids had a blast swimming, playing on the moon bounce, making our flag cakes, playing Ga-ga, running around, playing with sparklers, and watching the fireworks show. Even Liam liked the fireworks!

yummy!

Dave leading the kids in a game of Gaga

Being silly!

Me and my 4th of July baby!

Dads only dodgeball!

Dessert!

Dressed in red, white, and blue!

Sparklers!

Beach Day

2011-07-02T20:00:00.007-04:00

We had a perfect day at the beach today! It was so much fun to be together as a family. David loved riding the waves and making cities in the sand. We also played "Gaga" a great game that David learned at camp. We can't wait to teach our friends! Owen loved playing in the sand and he also actually went in the water a few times! And Liam didn't know what to think about the sand for the first few minutes, but warmed up quickly! He loved exploring our cities and putting sand in and out of the buckets. He was very scared of the waves, but liked to go to the edge of the water. His favorite activity was sitting in the beach chairs. Almost as soon as we got set up, he climbed up on a chair and sat down. He was so proud of himself!

Days like this make me so very grateful for my wonderful husband who is the best Dad I know. Dave is always serving his family and helping me out and also he just loves to play with his boys. I love to see it. And I am so grateful for me three boys! They are each so different and it's so much fun to watch them grow. And I just love it when we get to have fun and be silly together!

Handsome guys

Snack time!

So adorable!

Summer Camp

2011-06-27T21:55:00.003-04:00

My big boy had his first day of camp today...and LOVED it! He was glowing when I picked him up and didn't stop talking about all that he did today. I missed him SO much!!! Even Owen gave him a big hug. It was sweet. He is so excited to go back tomorrow and he told me he wishes that he could go all year! I can't wait to hear all about it again tomorrow. :) But I'm going to miss him all week! The house was so empty without our David in it.

My Birthday Boy - Owen

2011-06-27T21:31:00.006-04:00

We celebrated our Owen this past weekend with two parties, going to see Cars 2 and lots of family and friends! I can't believe my sweet boy is 3 years old!
On Sunday our family gathered together to have a party for Owen. Mommom made him a Cars 2 cake and he loved it! I loved watching him as we all sang, "Happy Birthday" to him. He was so blessed. :)
Our Owen is such a sweet boy (most of the time!). He is quiet and creative and at times a little timid and loves to be a part of anything that his big brother is doing. He makes up the best games and plays so creatively with his toys and brothers. I love watching him play and make up stories and games. He has a great imagination! He loves his little friends and gets so excited when he sees them. He loves it when we are able to give him one on one attention. I love it when I get to talk to me when it's just him and me. He is so cute and I love to hear his little stories and his take on things. I love his little voice. I love how he always says to me, "I love you Mommy". It warms my heart. I love how he greets people with enthusiasm and says, "Hi guys, hi guys!" SO CUTE! He is growing and learning each day. I love that he loves it when I read to him. Even at his age, he would just sit with me all day. He even sits and listens to David read to him. He loves hugs and kisses and cuddles and some of my favorite moments of each day are the times I get to cuddle with Owen. I love that he still loves his blankie. I love his excitement about new things and watching him experience life all around him.

It's hard to believe that it's been 3 years. I still remember what a sweet baby Owen was...he was so good! And now he is a big 3 year old.

We love you Owey! We are so grateful that you are our little boy. Happy birthday!

The cake!

A Summer Treat

2011-06-23T12:52:00.002-04:00

It doesn't get any better than ice cream sandwiches on a hot Summer day!

Father's Day

2011-06-23T12:49:00.002-04:00

Dave's Triathlon

2011-06-23T12:37:00.006-04:00

On Father's Day, Dave competed in the St. Andrew's triathlon. We all had a great time cheering him on and watching him compete. He did amazing! It was a really fun thing to do for Father's Day. The boys were so proud of their Dad.

David's Last Tball Game

2011-06-19T20:46:00.005-04:00

David's last t-ball game was a couple of weeks ago. We had a great season with a great team and a great coach. We made new friends from our neighborhood and David made a lot of new friends too. He was so cute playing his heart out, game after game. I am looking forward to many years of watching our boys play baseball. Go Razorbacks! Go #6!

Signing the balls. The trophy was a baseball glove with a baseball in it signed by all the players and coaches. How great is that?!?

Longwood Gardens with Mimi

2011-06-19T20:37:00.004-04:00

In June, on a beautiful day, we went to Longwood Gardens with our Mimi! We had a great time! The boys loved showing Mimi all of their favorite spots and having a picnic together. We can't wait to go back again!

Busy bees!

Summer Fun!

2011-06-19T20:33:00.003-04:00

This summer we've had lots of fun in our backyard with our water slide and moon bounce. The boys love the slide and it's been fun to have our neighbors join us for the fun!

Strawberry Picking

2011-06-19T20:26:00.002-04:00

I still have more Disney posts, but I need to catch up on all the others too! We went strawberry picking with our friends in May. Once again it was a hot day! But we picked a lot of delicious strawberries and had a lot of fun with our friends. It's become a yearly tradition for us...I think we've gone for 4 years now. I'm so grateful to be able to make fun memories with my boys!

Animal Kingdom

2011-06-17T13:15:00.007-04:00

I am so behind on our blog! I have about 10 posts to catch up on. First I have to finish our Disney trip. :)

On our last day we went to Animal Kingdom. We had a blast! The boys love dinosaurs, so they loved Dinoland, USA. Dave and I went on Expedition Everest which is a really neat roller coaster. Our favorite ride of the day was the Kali River Rapids. Dave and I both went twice and the boys got to go with us each time using baby swap tickets. It was so much fun to get soaked!

We were so sad to leave Disney World and we hope we can go again next year!

The Dino ride...we went on this over and over as there was no line at all!

So sweet. The best Dad in the world!

Sleepy boys at lunch time.

Everest

The boys love playing in the fountains!

Kali River Rapids! So much fun!

The Dinosaur ride was very scary. I went on it with David and he was a little scared. But he was brave and even had some fun.

Playing in Dinoland!!! We went there twice and had a blast.

Digging for fossels

The Jungle parade!

More fountains after our favorite Nemo show!

Playing the drums in Africa!

Dinosaur! ROAR!

Our crazy, happy boy. He did so well the entire trip. What a trooper.

Hollywood & Vine & the Disney Junior Friends

2011-06-02T16:46:00.002-04:00

While at Hollywood Studios, we had lunch with our friends from Disney Junior, Handy Manny,
Leo and June from the Little Einsteins, and Special Agent Oso. So much fun! The boys loved to dance with all the friends too. :)

Hollywood Studios

2011-06-02T15:22:00.010-04:00

We had a great day at Hollywood Studios. The new Star Tours had just opened up that day, so we were able to enjoy the HD 3-D ride. It now has 54 different versions so it was different each time we went. That was David's favorite ride of the entire stay at Disney. He went on it 5 times! Another highlight was the Disney Junior show with Jake and the Neverland Pirates!!! Our boys LOVE that show and it was a complete surprise to them. You should have seen their faces! My favorite ride was the Rockin' Roller Coaster (which David actually went on!). SO FUN!!! We stayed the entire day until the Fantasmic Show (which Liam fell asleep during) and even went on Star Tours one more time afterwards. We had a great day!

Jake!

Gold doubloons rained down from the ceiling! The boys were so thrilled!

Handy Manny!

Liam loved the shows too.

My favorite ride!!! Baby swap works so well...you just go right up to the front of the line. And you can take your kids on the rides both times! This worked well for many of the rides. David and Owen got to go again and again!

Toy Story Mania !!! A favorite of ours.

The pixar parade! All of our favorite characters in one parade!

Happy boy. :)

The "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" playground is a favorite of all three boys!

Owen loved going through the spider web...he must've gone through it 7 or 8 times!

The boys all loved splashing in the water!

The stunt show! Our boys all loved this show and next year it will feature Lightning McQueen!!!

Star Tours!

Light sabers! :)

Liam fell asleep! So sweet.

Magic Kingdom, Part 1

2011-05-28T20:03:00.007-04:00

We spent three days at the Magic Kingdom and had a wonderful time. I can't fit it all into one post! It was so special watching Liam go on all of the rides for the first time and see the characters. We had so much fun. Owen was so brave this year and wanted to go on Splash Mountain with us and loved it! David's favorite was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. And of course we went on all of our favorites! Liam loved the flying rides and It's a Small World. David and Owen loved Peter Pan's flight and Buzz Lightyear ride and the race cars! And we all loved the Winnie the Pooh ride and the Jungle Cruise. And of course the fireworks and parades...they do a new show before the fireworks called "The Magic, the Memories, and You." in which the castle became a screen (very hard to explain, but very cool cgi). They showed pictures and videos like it was a screen and David and Liam made it onto the show! Their pictures were on the castle.

We had so much fun together as a family and made a lot of special memories.

We love Magic Kingdom at night!

Dumbo!

The boys were thrilled to meet Peter Pan!

Riding the Monorail! Our boys all love it so much. They call it the "Mickey Train."

To infinity and beyond!

Liam's first ride at Magic Kingdom was Dumbo.

About to take flight with Peter Pan!

Mmm...enjoying pineapple dole whips and root beer floats!

Driving boats in Adventureland!

The Jungle Cruise!

Flying on the magic carpets.

I just love these boys. LOVE THEM!!!

And I love these two too!!! SO MUCH!

Having fun getting wet!

Driving the race cars at Tomorrowland Speedway...one of our boys favorite rides!

Mickey!!! All three boys loved meeting the characters, but it was especially sweet watching Owen interact with them. He was just so thrilled.

The Crystal Palace is one of our favorite places. We love Pooh and Tigger and Eeyore and Piglet.

Liam loved Pooh!

Marching in a parade with Pooh and his friends!

Hugs for Pooh...so sweet.

More from the Magic Kingdom to come...TO BE CONTINUED.

Fun in the Pools!

2011-05-25T22:47:00.004-04:00

We had a lot of fun in the pools. I realized that I didn't get any pictures of David, though! He was always too busy going down the water slides or swimming. :) It was so refreshing to go for a swim in the afternoon. When we got to Disney on Thursday we headed for the pools first. Liam is a water baby...he just loves the water! It will be fun taking him to the pool this summer!

Owen just loved this pirate ship. He went down the slides over and over again. He loved it and so did Liam. But Liam did NOT like the big bucket dumping water. :) This section was perfect for the little ones and David got to go to the big pool with the big slides.

Relaxing with my boys.

My Owey D

Lili

Look at his belly...too cute!!!

Meeting the Cars of Cars 2

2011-05-25T22:40:00.004-04:00

We were able to meet the Cars of Cars 2 and it was a complete thrill for our boys. You should've seen their faces!!! It was so much fun!

The new Lightning McQueen!

Finn McMissile! And look at Owen...how cute is he?!?

And Mater. :)

Epcot - Pixar Anniversary Celebration

2011-05-22T15:42:00.013-04:00

We started our trip going to Epcot. Epcot was celebrating Pixar's anniversary at their flower and garden festival and Epcot was having a special Pixar weekend highlighting Cars 2. We are SO excited for Cars 2 to come out in June. Our boys have been counting down the days for months. :) So they were thrilled. David and Owen did a race around the world scavenger hunt and collected a special pin when they completed it. They also got lots of Cars 2 treats. And, they got to meet the cars of Cars 2! (more on that later)

This year Owen was surprisingly very brave! He went on Test Track with me and David and loved it! David went on Mission Space with me, because it makes Dave have motion sickness. It was fun going with David! He loved going to space! We also enjoyed the Nemo ride and aquarium again. David actually got to talk to Crush! He called on him and David was so cute. He was really excited and shy about it.

We had a wonderful and special first day at Epcot. We left in the afternoon to go swimming and came back for dinner and the fireworks.

The Toy Story 3 characters which were all there!

CARS 2!!!!!!

At the end of the night, this came up on the world...the boys were so excited! :)

Because of the special weekend, all the pixar characters were there! The boys were so excited to get to meet Boo and Sully, Mr. Incredible, Russell, Remy and Emile (life-size), the Bugs Life characters, and all the Toy Story characters. It was so much fun. They were so cute going up to them. Owen was just so thrilled.

The boys all got a Cars 2 poster just like this. We put it up on their wall as soon as we got home. :)

Peter Pan and Captain Hook!

David read the map and by himself figured out each place we needed to go for the scavenger hunt. He just had the time of his life. :)

At each stop, they had Cars 2 coloring pages to do which the boys loved!

Toy Story!!!

David getting one of his stickers for the scavenger hunt.

David actually got to talk to Crush!

So sweet.

We had dinner with Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale on a revolving restaurant. The boys loved that it revolved!

Owen was so excited to meet Mickey!

Liam loved the characters. He gave them kisses! It was so sweet.

A perfect ending.

We're home

2011-05-20T11:35:00.002-04:00

We are home from a wonderful time in Disney. We did not want to come home!!! We are already planning next year's trip. :)

This was our best trip ever and we made so many special memories. I am grateful that we were able to go and enjoy our family. It was so fun being with Dave and the boys for the last 8 days. David and Owen loved every minute and it was fun going on rides with them! Little Liam enjoyed each moment too. I can't wait to go though all our pictures!!!

Mother's Day

2011-05-08T20:57:00.003-04:00

I had a wonderful mother's day. We attempted at a picture, but we were taking it in very bright sunlight. Oh well!

My boys surprised me this morning before I left for church with flowers and then Dave cooked a delicious brunch after church! All day, David was encouraging me and trying to do sweet things for me and all my boys were giving me extra hugs and kisses. The boys made me a necklace and bracelet and made me such sweet cards. The best presents of all were photo binders that Dave made himself! He made me one for each boy. He put pictures on colored paper and on each page was a picture of me and one of the boys and very sweet captions that he wrote. It was very sweet and David and Owen were soooo excited to give me my gifts. I cried when I looked through the books...I am so blessed with three boys who are so good to me. And my wonderful husband who loves me so much and who put so much effort and creativity in blessing me on Mother's Day.

I am so grateful that I get to be mom to my little boys. I love them so much!!!

Longwood Trip with the Boys

2011-05-03T22:20:00.007-04:00

Today we headed up to Longwood for a wonderful day outside. It was a beautiful day! We walked all around the park and enjoyed all the fountains and flowers. I love my boys and it's so much fun just spending the day with them. I love their joy and their sillyness and their love for all around them. It's such a joy getting to their mom.

Liam LOVED the fountain.

And so did Owen!

So cute! I love them so.

One of many frogs that we enjoyed watching.

Fun with Friends

2011-05-03T22:10:00.003-04:00

We kicked off the grilling season this past weekend and had a great time! The kids loved playing with their friends and a bunch of our neighbors dropped by too. What a fun night! We ended by toasting marshmallows on our fire pit. We our looking forward to many more fun nights with friends this summer!

Royal Wedding

2011-04-29T11:30:00.002-04:00

So I watched the royal wedding this morning. What fun. I LOVE all the hats and wish we wore them here too. I also loved her veil and dress...stunning! How can you not love the pomp and circumstance?!?

Easter Fun

2011-04-23T21:25:00.005-04:00

All this week, we've been having Easter fun. On Wednesday, we made an Easter craft. On Thursday we dyed eggs. And on Friday we had an Easter party with our playgroup. The highlight of the party was the Easter Egg Hunt! The boys had a blast collecting eggs and have been enjoying some yummy candy ever since.

We've been trying to use this holiday as an opportunity to teach our boys about what Easter means and it's been very cute and sweet to see them get excited about Jesus and what he did for us on the cross and also how happy they get about the resurrection! Even Owen says, "Jesus is alive!"

Happy Easter!

A Beautiful Day!

2011-04-20T21:58:00.004-04:00

Today was a beautiful day! We had a picnic at one of our favorite parks with our friends and the boys had a blast running around and playing with Jake and Mady.

Later that afternoon, we got our moon bounce out and the boys played in it for hours! Emma came over and Lyndon and our neighbor friends came over as well. It was so much fun! I love this weather and I'm looking forward to many more days spent outside!!!

Even Liam loved it. :)

My big boy. He is growing up too fast.

David's First T-Ball Hit

2011-04-19T21:56:00.001-04:00

David's 1st T-Ball Game

2011-04-19T20:59:00.005-04:00

David's first t-ball game was on Monday and we had a blast! It was precious to see the kids play. They were all so excited. David played his little heart out. We played against a team with friends and we all went out to celebrate at Friendly's after the game. It should be a very fun season! Go number 6!!!

Happy Birthday to Liam!

2011-04-17T15:10:00.007-04:00

Yesterday, we had our family down for Liam's 1st birthday party. It was a very special and fun day. Liam seemed to enjoy every minute and loved all the attention. We had such a fantastic time getting to see family and were especially glad to see Harry and Patty and Stephanie and Brian. We're looking forward to hearing more good news after the radiation is over. We truly are blessed to have such a wonderful, loving, and supportive family. We love you all! One of the highlights was watching Liam enjoy his cake! He ate the entire piece and enjoyed it all. Priceless! What a fun day celebrating our little Liam. We love you!

My two handsome men.

Cousins!

Could he have his mouth open any wider? :)

Baseball Parade!

2011-04-17T15:04:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, David participated in the MOT Little League parade! He was so thrilled to get to walk with his team. They had firetrucks follow them too. :) He is looking forward to his first game on Monday! I love his enthusiasm. I love my boy!

David's cheering section

And...

2011-04-12T14:30:00.001-04:00

Liam is walking now! He started walking late last week. He's now taking 7 or 8 steps at a time and today he has been walking more than he crawls. It's hard to believe. He's growing up so fast!