Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Quiet Moments...

Here was my night last night....

10:00 pm Logan walked down the stairs and said that he just couldn't sleep. He told us that he felt "all alone" upstairs. So precious that my big 7 year old boy can still just need his mama and daddy sometimes. And keep in mind, in the two years that we've been in this house, he has never once complained of being upstairs alone. Quite the contrary, he has always loved having his very own "boy space"! So I seized the opportunity to head upstairs with my boy and sit beside him in his bed and love on him. I gave him "hair scratches" until he fell asleep about 30 minutes later. :)

12:00 am Luke and I stayed up way too late just hanging out and having fun together. I love my nights with him. But we both climbed into bed saying that we sure hoped everyone slept all night....

4:17 am Tag woke up crying this pitiful little cry. I went in wondering if it was his gums hurting....he just cut his 6th tooth yesterday! But when I picked him up I realized he had leaked thru his diape. So I changed his diaper and his clothes....and then again took advantage of some quiet time with my youngest boy. We rocked in the rocker, read a few books, turned on some quiet music and just snuggled. He put his head on my chest and just loved on me. We haven't had many wonderful, quiet, middle-of-the-night times since he was just a few months old! It was absolutely precious. As we were snuggling though, I heard the pitter-patter of some little footsteps down the hallway. I knew immediately it was probably Beth...but I couldn't see because Tag's door was closed. Hmmm....

4:47 am I laid a sleepy baby boy in his crib and walked quietly into the hallway. I peered into the girls' room....and both beds were empty! Hmmmm. :) I walked into our bedroom and was greeted by two sets of wide-open blue eyes and big smiles with their heads on my pillow. Luke was sound asleep.... Immediately Faith Anna (my verbose child) began explaining everything to me. "I had a nightmare that alligators were under my bed! When I woke up, Beth wasn't in her bed. I waited about 10 minutes, but she never came back and I got sooooo worried about her! So I had to get up and come look for her...and I found her in your bed!" Then Beth had to put her two cents in, "Actually, I had a dream about my birthday in Michigan...and I wanted to come and tell you all about it." They were both so cute that I couldn't make them go back to their beds. So once again, I decided to take advantage of some special time loving on my girls. So we all snuggled in our bed like sardines, and I gave those infamous hair scratches to two blonde-headed cuties. And they of course fell fast asleep...

5:15 am I on the other hand laid there awake for another half hour. Once I'm awake, it's hard for me to turn off my mind. :) So I just laid there and and thought about how completely blessed I am, how precious this family is that God has entrusted to Luke and I for such a short time, and how I truly have the best job in the whole world...


And to sign off this blog....here are a few fun pics from this week.  Enjoy and sweet dreams...

Bathtub cuties...

The girls and Natalie's niece, Mattie, having a Tea Party at Celebrity Bakery.


My cute cheerio man. He ate cut-up peaches for the first time tonight! Yummy!


I took this just so we would always remember Tag's feet....they are always moving! When he eats in the high chair, he is constantly circling those ankles. It's hilarious....


Couldn't ya just eat him up??

Cousins!

We had a recent visit with our 7 month old niece Claire....and she tried to show Tag how to crawl. Pretty hilarious! 
Playing with Uncle Matthew


Claire loved the girls' dolls. She crawled right over to Beth's princess....


She was fascinated with Faith Anna's "Julie doll" that Faith just got for her birthday from Granny Boo, Papa Dude and Nanny.


Hi Julie! It's me Claire....


Beth is all smiles...



So the next few pictures illustrate the hilarious interaction between Claire and Tag.  Claire is so dainty, mobile, and has this funny high-pitched squeal.  Basically, she is all-girl.  And Tag is just a big ol' boy, very calm, observant, and not near as mobile yet as his cousin.  So this is how it unfolded....please allow me to insert the commentary between the cousins.
C- "Oh this is so much fun!  Yah!  A playdate with my cousin Tag!"
T- "Um, what exactly are we doing?"

T- "Cool.  Look at this neat phone."
C- "Wow, that looks interesting.  I want it.  It's my toy anyway...."

C- "Oh yah!  That toy looks like fun!  Let me see if I can grab that one... Man, this guy is funny."
T- "What's going on here?"

T- "Whatever.  I'll just go back to looking at the cell phone..."
C- "Ooooo...he has my cell phone now!  I'll just sneak up behind him..."

C- "Gotcha, big boy!"
T- "Ahhh!  Help mom!  She has me...."

C- "I'm just having fun with you, Tag!  Tickle, tickle, tickle...."
T- "Stop it, Claire!  I mean it!  Someone help!"

T- "Whew!  That was a close one.  Now I'm better.  Oooooo....look at this cool cell phone!"
C- "Hee-hee!  That was funny.  Did you see me, mom?  Wasn't that funny?  Let's do it again!'


Tag and Faith Anna having fun.



Beth being silly with Claire.


Claire loving on her mama.


Tag and Caroline.  Isn't the little farm in the background sweet?  They played and played with it!  All of my kids have enjoyed that little farm.... Tag enjoys chewing on all of the animals.  :)  It's so much fun to have cousins close-by!

9 month old boy!

Tag is 9 months old! We have had such a fun month with him. He weighs almost 22 lbs, has 5 teeth and is about to cut the sixth one anyday, is trying desperately to crawl, loves to sit in his highchair and eat anything we give him, and continues to provide more laughter and smiles than we ever thought possible! Enjoy these pics...







Yummy cheerios!

This is Tag's newest fav food.... probably not only because he can pick them up and eat them, but also because they make great noise and are fun to throw.  :)


Super Tag! Playing with Daddy and Logan

Being tickled by his sisters...

Pool time in the floatie. Nothing like chewing on a rubber duck...


He loves to play with the magnetic letters on the fridge while I do laundry...

....and he really likes to help us go through the junk mail.  :)

Sometimes he gets a little carried away!  ha.  Maybe being a postal carrier is in his future...

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Pine Cove 2008!

We just got back from a week at Pine Cove Family Camp! This is our 4th summer to go....and it was just amazing. This has become a wonderful tradition each summer that Luke and I get to share with our kids. I love the memories that we make at Pine Cove....
Here we are enjoying a sunset cruise one evening....while the kids were having a blast with their counselors!


The theme for this summer was "First Impressions" and it came from Deuteronomy 6:5-9. "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and and with all your strength. These commandments I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up...." The crazy thing is that three separate times in the past month, God has brought this verse up to us. The first was in Colorado when our friends shared it with us at the dinner table, then we got home and read it in an email from Pine Cove that this was their theme for the summer, and just a few nights ago Luke ran across it in a book he's reading. So! We hear you loud and clear, Lord! :)

God is teaching Luke and I both so much about the value of family and our responsibility as parents. What a privilege!!! I have to say, I absolutely love my job...

So here are the montage of pics from Family Camp! Hope you enjoy them....

Luke on the Superman swing



Beth, Abby, Faith Anna, Logan, and little Haley Harrison on the ropes course.



Our first theme night was "Elementary, My Dear Watson"....so here are our little investigators.

Beth had already had too much fun in just one day....she was nodding off at dinner into her mac and cheese. So I scooped her up and let her sleep on my chest through the rest of dinner. Sweet girl!

Beth and her fav counselor, Times New Roman. (Did we mention that all the counselors have goofy names? At the end of the week they reveal their "real" names.)

We took the big kids out for an afternoon of tubing. It was Logan and my first time...and it was fun!



That same afternoon, Logan and I decided to climb the wall while Luke took the girls swimming. Tag decided to take a nap for his afternoon activity....


Big boy on the wall!


So fun to get to share things like this with my son.... I have to say though, it was mighty challenging climbing that wall after tubing for an hour. My arms and legs were sore! :)


The adults got to go out for the evening on a sunset boat trip while the kids played back at camp...


My sweet friends from college, Molly and Diane. So fun to get to share camp with them and their families each summer!



Ken and Molly, us, Diane and Mike



Goofing off in the cabin. Getting all tucked into the fun bunkbeds. The kids always ask for Tag to come and snuggle them before they go to bed....


Looking pretty tired...and a bit sunburned. We had a fun, full day!



The second theme night was "Back to the Future"...so you could dress from any era that you wanted. Well, the Burtons made our own tie-dye t-shirts and dressed as hippies. We were way groovy!


The hippies at dinner....




Singing at club after dinner...


4th of July! The girls wore these headbands all day.... :)



Faith Anna and her sweet counselor, Stingin Sensation.


Tag with one of the many counselors that loved on him all week, Happy.


Jacob and Logan....Foosball buddies for life.


At the end of the week they give "CQs"- character qualities for the big kids. Here are Logan and Faith Anna with their counselors as they received their certificates. This is such a cool ceremony. The kids are just all smiles as the counselors speak praise into them.



Last theme night was "Mariachi Madness"! We had so much fun. Please check out Beth's mustache! ha.




Faith Anna with one of her "big girl" friends, Brooks Claire.

Daddy and his meja.

Mike, Diane and Bethany

Logan and Senor Moracca.

I love this picture! We had a pool party firework show on the evening of the 4th. This is Logan in mid-air off the high dive with fireworks in the background.


There is a huge sandpit right outside of the dining room...so when the kids are finished eating they can go and play.

Beth and her sweet counselor, Squawkin in Memphis.

Saying goodbye to all of our good friends! This is us with 4-wheeler Squealer, the director of Cove Kids. She loved on Tag and Beth all week....

Luke and his longtime friend from High School and college, Mike.

All the kids giving one last hug until we see them again! Fun fun times....