Full of Fun

We had a full 5th birthday celebration for Elijah. The weekend before his birthday, Steven's parents came to help us celebrate which included a fun trip to the zoo. Then on his actually birthday we made our way to Clemyjontri playground (pretty much the coolest playground in Virginia) and spent the afternoon at the pool.

Elijah is totally infatuated with motorcycles which something I hope he'll get out of his system before he's old enough to own one. Because of this he requested a motorcycle cake. It was fun to grant his wish and watch his excitement when he first saw it.

At the zoo:


Inspecting the cake:


Finally letting me take his picture:


The real Elijah:


"Brothers don't shake hands; brothers gotta' hug!"

Yittle Boo-Boos Part 2

Adriana fell and scraped her knee again which has fueled her everybody-checked-out-my-boo-boo obsession. Honestly, I think she secretly enjoys her scabs, but what she hates are the Band-aids I apply. To help with that, I purchased Nemo Band-aids. She got excited about them, but has yet to need one. So when it was Isaiah who received the first Nemo-necessary wound, she followed us to medicine cabinet clutching her knee with the well-formed scab.
"I nee one. I NEEEE one!"
"No, Adriana," I said, "Your boo-boo is healing fine and Band-aids are only for blood."
Without batting an eye, she continued dramatically, "It's buddy! It's buddy!"
"No, honey, it's not bloody."
The next day Elijah and I headed to the medicine cabinet to retrieve some Benadryl. Suddenly I heard some super-fake wailing behind me.
I look to see my daughter once more holding her knee with that fading scab, "Ooooh!! Owww!!"
I wondered to myself where on earth all this drama comes from!

Here are some photos from a recent trip to the playground. As a disclaimer, I do love my second child and try to photograph him. But he and the camera haven't been friends lately, and I don't want to push it. Hopefully, I'll get some shots of him on his 5th birthday next week.




Isaiah pretending to compete in his favorite Olympic sport:


On one final note, my sister found out this past week that she's carrying my nephew. When I explained how much fun a boy will be, Isaiah told me, "Now I'm too excited to sleep!" Sure enough, I never got a nap out of him that day.

Olympic Games

Growing up, the Olympic Games were a big deal in my family. Any television intake limits we had were removed as we watched every moment possible. I have so many memories of Olympic moments. I remember Greg Louganis diving to gold, Bonnie Blair's golden races, and Kristi Yamaguchi's gorgeous skating. Mary Lou Retton was the inspiration for my love affair with the sport of gymnastics which turned into 10 years of participating and eventually a job as I spent 6 years coaching. And the "Magnificent Seven" women's gymanstics team in 1996 made me stand up on the couch and scream.
These Olympics are even more special to me; because now that they are old enough, I get to begin making Olympic memories with my own children. So last Friday, the Olympics were the theme of our family night. We took the kids to a field for some racing and obstacle course running. Later we popped some popcorn and Steven talked with them about the race that really matters:
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." -Hebrew 12:1-2
We also made some tin foil medals of our own and finally sat on the couch to watch the Opening Ceremonies.




The boys are enjoying all the sports (and being allowed to watch T.V. every night), and Momma is staying up way later than a momma should to watch her beloved gymnastics.

99 Balloons

I'm breaking my blog silence to share an moving video. As a Christian and a mom, I'm unashamedly pro-life; and I love how this video is a testimony of God's plan and purpose for each life. So pause for six minutes and marvel that "as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are [God's] ways higher than your ways and [God's] thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:9)



I'll be back later this week...