The Lakehouse

(BE SURE TO SCROLL DOWN...there's lots of updates from the weekend - I always get behind on the weekend because so many things to do with the fam!)

It's always fun waking up at the lakehouse looking out at the lake. This morning it was misty out and we hoped and prayed the sun would come out soon and that we would have a fun day on the beach. And yes, it finally did.

Asher waking up at the lakeWe had a great time playing on the beach. Roxie of course loved bringing the boys anything she could find that they might be able to throw for her to fetch. Boston was in the water swimming, even with the ice cold lake water. I don't know where the boys gets this thick blood from. Isn't he a Floridian? Dallas steered clear from even putting his feet in the water. Mom and I sat on the beach and enjoyed watching them play. Asher enjoyed the feel of the sand running through his hands. He was fascinated. (Although he really didn't get much playtime on the beach...he was usually napping when we were down there.) We did take a picnic to the Tavares park and had a great time on the playground and especially riding the horse swings! (Here's some pics I took with my iphone)

While at the playground Boston yelled, "The train is coming!" But there was no train in site. So we just said, "Oh its not coming right now Boston." Well sure enough a few minutes later a big loud horn from the train and there was Herby coming down the tracks. They were so excited!!

With the rain coming at us across the lake we were able to witness the most beautiful rainbow I have ever seen! What a site. Then we headed home after dinner.

Lazy Sunday

So no, I did not make it to church. It was another long night with Asher (gosh, I just don't remember this going on for so long with the other boys). Seems like it's always something. Because he's teething there's pain but also this yucky running nose that stops him up so he can't suck on the pacifier to sooth him. A never ending cycle. But we will get through and I will sleep through the night once again!

Sean took Boston and Dallas to church with him and then took them to Denny's for lunch afterward. I'm not sure who enjoyed it more, Sean or the boys. Boston came in happy and excited to tell me he had pancakes and ham! I said, "ham?" And Sean informed me it was bacon. He's never had bacon before and he said he really liked it...LOL

The boys were so loud and running all over today and Sean was trying to get some work and calls done so he suggested I take the boys and head to the lakehouse for the night. So I packed us up and the boys could hardly contain their excitement. We haven't been since Christmas!

Before we could go I had to take a family pic for the Stitelers so I met them down at the tot lot in our neighborhood on our way out. Here's some pics of Boston on the swing while we were waiting on them. He just looks so cute! And he's really mastered swinging high all by himself lately and quite proud of himself. He loves to say to me, "Mom! Look how high I can go now!" Hopefully he'll never learn how I used to swing high and jump out and almost break bones. Oh, the things you will do as a kid!

Boston and JT, best buds

Stiteler family pic

Saturday

Today the boys and I had a fun time playing in the park, changing the layout of the patio toys, building train tracks, games, and hanging out watching 101 Dalmations and eating popcorn. And after a long day Sean and I treated outselves with a date! Sean's parents came over to watch the kids and we went out with my brother Wes and his wife Suzanne. Dinner and a movie deal at Citiwalk. Only problem was that we forgot it was spring break and it was crazy busy. So no Margaritaville food for us, off to Nascar, the only restaurant without a wait. But food was still good and company...excellent!! Then we saw the movie "21" about MIT students who took Vegas by storm by counting cards. Really good movie, and true story. Ran into Sean's old great friend from collage (and ex boyfriend of mine) Shane. Crazy running into someone you haven't seen in years in the massive crowds. Late to bed (and up all night with teething Dallas...will the teeth ever end?) No church tomorrow for this tired mommy and runny nose baby.

Leaves glorious leaves!

Thursday after school was out the boys and I raked the yard, hopefully for the last time this season. Oak tree leaves are the worst! But the boys love it. They love riding through the leaves on their hot wheels, scooters and bikes as I rake them onto the sidewalk. They just LOVE it! Oak leaves don't make the huge, soft piles of leaves that I remember jumping in growing up, but I do my best to compile all of them into one huge pile and they get to jump in and play. Makes for a longer clean-up, but great memories. They also like doing their part to help out. They have their own little rakes and they rake for me as well. And they both enjoy putting the leaves in the trash can. They will bring their dump trucks and load them up and empty them in the trash. They think this is tons of fun (and I'm not about to tell them it's actually work!) They even go over and help Gabi out sometimes when she's raking. Today I raked 6 huge black garbage bags and didn't even finish. Whew. Hey...at least I'm not pregnant and doing this like 3 other years. Seems like I was always in my last trimester raking leaves...LOL Memories!

Jumping in!

The big monster trucks from Nena and Papa worked great!

Day with my dad

I got to spend the day with my dad today with the boys. My dad found out he has melanoma cancer again, this time much smaller than the one he had when I was in middle school. My mom was out of town helping my Aunt Margie have a colonoscopy so I volunteered happily to take him today. He called this morning to see if we would have lunch first with him. So me and the boys headed to pick him up and had a great lunch at Chick-fil-a. The boys loved playing and dad and I had fun hanging out, I was demonstrating my new iphone to him. Then we headed to take him to the doctor to have it removed. The boys and I then walked over to Barnes and Noble and spent about 2 1/2 hours there playing trains on their train table, chatting with another mom of 3 boys, reading books, playing with stuffed animals...all kinds of fun. The boys were so great today! I was very proud of them. Then we headed to Planet Smoothie to get a smoothie since they were so good. While walking back to check on dad, there he was walking in the parking lot. He was very sore but doing good. We took him to get his prescriptions, took him home and he was sweet enough to treat all of us to Boston Market, thanks dad! Although poor dad had to have all of that cut out of him today, I truly loved that time we got to spend together today!

One more thing....dad started growing a beard a few months ago and I have to brag on him. He's just so good looking! Who would have thought a beard could make such a difference. He also had surgery for his cataracts and now doesn't have to wear glasses. He's one good looking man!!

New Iphone

So last week Sean came home and told me he had a surprise for me. He wouldn't give it to me until the kids went to bed and I was so excited to see what it was. He shocked me when I opened it up and there was an iphone! He saw a mother of 5 at the PPL conference with one and she was showing it to him and when he came home he kept telling me it would be perfect for me. But I just said, I'm fine with the blackberry you gave me. Well, being the sweet, loving husband, he just had to have it for me. I was so shocked I started crying (and I honestly don't even remember the last time I cried). And all I can say is that no other phone compares!! It is amazing!! AMAZING!! So thank you so much babe for the phone...I LOVE IT!!!!

Temporary Insanity - once a month

Yes, once a month I get stressed, anxious and worried. I feel like the house is a mess, kids out of control and no free time. Everything seems to be a bigger problem than it should, keeping up with household duties seems impossible, and I just don't feel like myself. (For those woman reading this you probably understand what I'm getting at.) With each child it seems to get worse. (Although I've been pregnant or nursing most of the time since 2002...) But I'm convinced God doesn't mean for this to happen each month. I'm convinced its my diet, my eating habits. I think they must affect my hormones in the worst way. But the problem here lies in the fact that when I'm approaching this time of the month and the stress mounts....I head for the chocolate...or whatever else I'm craving at the time (can you say EMOTIONAL EATER) Thank goodness I'm not like this all the time or I'd be huge. Anyhow...I've got to get a grip on it....I hate these couple of days each month!



I've also come to understand the old view of a mother singing hymns and looking as if she was happily in another place. It's funny that when I feel the hormones mounting I'm leaning more and more on hymns. I just start singing out loud, sometimes close my eyes, and head to my "happy place" LOL And it works....well most of the time.

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Boston's thoughts on God

Boston has a similar saying he says at least once a day to me. "Mommy, why did God make...." and he adds whatever he's thinking of at the moment. Like a week ago when Dad picked Boston up from school and walked him to our door. As he was walking back to his car, Boston was watching him and said to me, "Mommy, why did God make Papa so slow." LOL I just love when he asks this.

Tonight after I had said the prayer he asked me, "Mommy, why doesn't God talk back to us when we talk to Him. He talks to them on Hermie and Friends." Hermie and Friends are Christian dvd's created by Max Lucado and the boys love them. In them God will talk to them (like the big voice from above.) Wow! What a question Boston! So I said to him that as much as we would love to hear God talk back to us we have to have faith that he hears us talking to him, and he loves us talking to Him. And that even though we might hear him with our ears, we will see him talk to us in many other ways. (and I gave him a few examples). I hope I made since to Him. Thinking back maybe it would have been a good time to explain the Holy Spirit, but I was trying to think quick on my feet.

I love the fact that he loves God and that he wants to know more about Him and why he created and creates things they way they are.

"Mom, Dallas broke his head!"

That is what I heard as Boston came in to inform me what was going on in their room. I had put them both in there because they had been disobeying me and being unbelievably crazy. Hindsight, I probably should have put them in separate rooms, but what's done is done. I walked into their room and Dallas is lying on the floor on his back with blood all over his forehead and hands. I immediately swooped him up, carried him to the kitchen, gave him some crackers to get his mind off it and calm him down so I could assess the situation and see if we needed to head to the hospital. I wiped the blood away to find a pretty small cut, that created A LOT of blood. So I decided that taking Dallas to get stitches would probably be the MOST dramatic thing ever and since the cut wasn't too big and close to the hairline I would just use a butterfly band aid and be done with it. I gave him some all natural bumps and bruises tablets with Arnica in them to help with the swelling and bruising, since having him put an ice pack would have been the end of the world! Put on a pirate movie and applied the butterfly (and since it was called a butterfly he thought that was pretty cool.) Whew...my first major injury. (With three boys I'd better brace myself!)

Want to know what happened, ya so did I. Boston told me they were playing swords (humm....didn't mommy say NOT to do that) and Boston decided to use the wooden dowel that held together one of their wooden stools as a great sword. The wooden dowel has another part on the end that sticks out perpendicular and somehow he broadsided him with it and this part sticking out is what got him. Poor Dallas, I can only imagine how bad that had to have hurt. That old saying, "Momma knows best" is so true, if they could only learn that early on in life!!!

Book Review: Saving Levi

Boston, Dallas and Asher have all had the same nursery Sunday school teachers (which at the church of our size is not very common because they have many classrooms for each age) But Gene and Ann Bradock have been so wonderful to our 3 boys. She was asking me if we were having another and I was telling her our thoughts on the 4th and that we have felt lead to adopt a girl from China but are now also feeling lead to have another of our own. She very quickly said I had to read this book she had in her purse. Mentioning to me, "I know you don't have much time to read but its quick and it's WONDERFUL!" I brought it home and I literally read it in two evenings. Wow! An amazing story of following the Lord and saving this beautiful Chinese boy who was left to die in a farm field with 80% of his body burned and only 6 weeks old. It just grips at your heart. It's the true story of the Bentley family (Americans who went to China to build and run an orphanage) and their fight to save his life. I would recommend it to anyone to read!

Here's a link to the author's website where you can purchase the book and read about their great organization, Harmony Outreach. http://www.lisamisrajebentley.com/

Since reading it I've been having dreams about China and adopting from there. The main thing in every dream is "4 years". I just keep hearing that. I had kind of written off China since the tug to have another of our own (although Sean defiantly had not) and the total #4 kids ingrained in my head. Going past 4 was never something I had considered. Anyhow....it will be interesting to see what God has in store for our future. I'm looking forward to it!

Happy Easter!

What a fun Easter we had. We woke up to find a note from the Easter Bunny and off the boys were on a hunt to find the clues to find their Easter Baskets. I probably should have video it because it was so funny to watch them searching. They finally found them in their new playroom


New GeoTrax trains (what they really wanted). Not the we needed anymore. I think we could funish the entire neighborhood with a train.

Dallas bit into his chocolate egg to find a chick! He LOVED it!

Asher, looking pretty tired. His 1st Easter, and not too sure what to think of it all.
Hunting for Easter Eggs all over the house. When we first woke up I told Boston, "Look! The Easter bunny hide all the eggs you had decorated." He looked at me confused and replied, "But the Easter bunny wasn't suppossed to hide my eggs. He was suppossed to hide plastic ones with stuff inside!" Ha ha, he must have learned that at school! They did have an Easter party at school and he brought home a cute bunny basket with lots of goodies. I have asked him several times what Easter is all about and he's very quick to tell me it's about Jesus dying on the cross for us. Whew, at least we got that figured out.

2008 Family Easter Photo Boston-5 years oldDallas - 3 years old
Asher - 10 months old
Great Grandpa Dale with Asher at Mimi's Cafe for Easter Lunch with Sean's family
Dale and Shirley loved making Asher laugh
Thanks Nena for my cute 1st Easter bib. Asher ate and ate and ate at Mimi's. Everyone couldn't believe that he ate the whole time we were there! He especially wanted whatever I had. He never cried or anything the whole long time we were there. What a great baby!
He loved it when his cousin Ellie would come over to talk to him.
Great Grandpa Dale, Asher (very obsessed with grabbing Boston's hair) Grandpa Dale, Cousin Ellie and Boston
Look at Asher face as he pulls as hard as possible on Bostons hair. And boston was such a good sport, just kept laughing
Dallas, Boston and Ellie playing with their new cars

Easter Egg hunt with Caitlyn, Lauren and JT Jumping with all the eggs on the trampoline. They also ventured over to another neighbors house for a pinata and had a great time there too!
Asher out front when Nena and Papa arrived. He's pointing at them, it was so funny!
The HUGE Chocolate bunny Nena and Papa brought with their even bigger monster trucks
Happy Easter! He is Risen!

Day 2 at the Beach

When we woke up we could tell it was going to rain today so we ate breakfast and headed out. The kids had a great time on the beach. Boston got in the water some but he was the only one. Asher had a great time playing in the sand for the first time. He was crawling all over the place. Dallas had the most fun chasing the birds! Dallas watching the birds
He would stand at the water and wait for it to come up and touch his toes.

Aunt Margie is always so good at getting down in the sand with the boys and building her sand castles and drip castles.

Asher crawled over and looked as if to say "Whatcha doin' Aunt Margie?"Dallas chasing a bird
Asher crawling
Isn't he so handsome!
Swimming in the pool at Margie's. It was Asher's first time in the pool. He loved it!

Dallas didn't want to get in the pool today, he just played on the side.
Boston diving in!
Asher all warm in his towel. It was low 70's so it was a little chilly when you got out of the water.

Aunt Margie and Boston

Aunt Marige with DallasShe gave Boston a bubble machine for his b-day. They loved it so much they used all the bubbles! She also got them some great beach towels.
Jessica and Bart all all three of their kids came to see us since they were at her parents house. Here is Barret, Bonnie and Boston swimming in the rain. We all had lunch outside and then it started raining and rained the whole time they were there. But we swam anyhow and had a great time. Curtis, Jessica, me, Bonnie, Boston, Sean and Barret (Bart was taking the picture) Notice the rain drops in the water.

Dying Easter Eggs with Aunt Margie. She was so sweet to think to buy the eggs and had everything ready to go. They loved it!

Dallas peeled one of the eggs and Boston wanted to see if there was still a chick inside so I cut it open and told him it was kind of like the scrambled eggs we eat. So he said he wanted to try it. (He's so good about trying anything!) He was rubbing his belly her to say "Yummy". So glad I captured that on the camera!THANKS AGAIN AUNT MARGIE for the best time anyone can have at the beach. We love seeing you, talking, eating and just good times together! Look forward to visiting again in a few weeks!!