Watching the train go by

I always thought of myself before children as a pretty scheduled type of person, not as spontaneous. (I had a schedule for my wedding that was passed out to everyone that was a minute by minute play by play of what was to happen all day long.) But since having kids I feel like a completely spontaneous person who doesn't really like to keep to schedules at all...LOL Its so funny how kids can change you. And I feel like I appreciate the little things in life more now, like watching a train go by. Before kids whenever I saw a train going by all it meant to me was that it was going to delay my travel time. Now when I see a train I get so excited and hope it's a long train so we can watch it go by longer! I will actually go out of my way to find a train, and we have been known to run to the car when at the downtown library and drive to find it after hearing the horn. Kids can give you such a great outlook on life and make you appreciate even the smallest of things. I feel like a much more well rounded person. So thank to my children for teaching me to stop and smell the roses!

(photo of the boys watching the train go by in Tavares, Fl while we were at the playground a few months ago...didn't have any of me and the boys watching the train)

God's schooling plan

Lately, especially being up at the church and being around a lot of homeschooling moms, I can find myself questioning God's desision for us to go the Charter School route. I do believe in so many things that homeschool is founded on and I get excited even thinking about homeschooling. But then I also have to say to myself, if every Christian family homeschooled their kids, what kids would be out there to save those unsaved little children. We have to be in the trenches to reach those that are lost. (I'm not saying that homeschoolers aren't in the trenches, just in a different way.) But I do feel like some believers do need to send their children to full time school. And at this moment both Sean and I feel strongly the Lord is leading up to put them in school. Who knows if that will change in the future. But I wanted to be a voice of encouragement to those of you out there that aren't homeschooling and might ever question your parenting because of it. God has a different plan for everyone, and the right plan for you is the one He has given you. I remember when Sean was questioning God's call for him to go back to work at his old job instead of working out of the house (he worked from home for 2 years). But we both felt the call for him to go back there and felt strongly it was for him to be a light in a world of darkness at his office. And I know it can be hard for him sometimes, but I'm so proud of him for following God's path, and I know he's doing great works for God there! I'm proud of you babe. And I look forward to Boston and Dallas being a light to those they encounter next year in school!

Boys Boys Boys

Boys, I love my boys. With each day I realize how much I love having boys. Even though the desire of my heart has always been for one little girl, I sometimes even wonder lately if I do want to have a girl. LOL To even type that sounds so funny to me. I've always wanted a little girl, but boy does God know me better than I know myself. These boys are exactly what I needed! Just look at those smiles. Ahhh, it melts my heart. And they love me so much that my heart feels like it might just burst! Today we were hanging out and they would just come over and hug me, adore me, and tell me how much they love me. I couldn't ask for me. I love how they smile at me, how they think I can do amazing things, how I can heal a boo boo by just kissing it, how I'm an expert to them at building train tracks, how they thank me for a yummy meal, and how they know when mommy's having a "bad day" and know just what to say to bring back my smile. How could anyone not want a boy? A boy that has more energy than you can imagine and yet will crawl up in my lap and ask me to read a book. I've come to a place in my heart where I honestly don't know whether I would ask for a girl or a boy now for our next child. And that's an awesome place to be. I want this next child to know that THEY are what a wanted. Not a girl or a boy, but just what God had planned for our family. (No...I'm not pregnant everyone...just baby on the brain!) Hey-maybe I'll have those twins I always said I would have and have one of each! Wouldn't that by funny!! So once again I debunk all the nay sayers out there that look down on those of us with only boys and say, "Thank God for little boys."

VBS preparations

Our church has been providing us with childcare for several days the last two weeks for us to get ready for VBS next week. It has been wonderful!!! I've been painting things for the room while my precious boys spend 4 hours with all their little friends having a blast. It's been good for me and for the boys. Everyone comes home so renewed from being out of the house and playing with others. And for me it's almost therapeutic...painting with adult conversation...amazing! Sean even came and met me today to have lunch at the church (they have very good food in the cafeteria here). Looks like it's going to be a fun, no stress, VBS!

Tuna Fish

I just read a very interesting article on tuna fish and how the mercury levels affect children. Dallas LOVES tuna fish. He would eat it breakfast, lunch and dinner if he had his choice. After feeding Asher today I thought I should look into the chuck light tuna that I feed them and make sure how much they can eat. It was to my AMAZEMENT that Dallas eats WAY too much! I actually ordered a mercury level test that test hair to see if his mercury levels are high. He doesn't have any of the symptoms the kid in the article has, but he eats a TON of tuna. Hopefully he's okay. But Asher won't be able to have tuna again now for 3 weeks. How crazy is that! It's so sad that something so healthy can cause problems for you. I was happy that Dallas loves to eat tuna. I thought, gosh, I'm so lucky my kid loves tuna and not hot dogs. So I'll keep you updated on the tuna mercury levels in my house!

Here's the articles I read:

First one is about a boy who was badly affected by the mercury levels in the tunafish he ate regularly

http://www.organicconsumers.org/foodsafety/tuna080405.cfm

This one tells you how much you should eat:

http://www.nrdc.org/health/effects/mercury/tuna.asp

Asher's 7th tooth & new foods

Asher's 7th tooth came through today. It's the 4th one on the bottom.

Today he ate blueberries raw for the first time. He's had them mixed into things but I hadn't given them to him raw. He LOVED them! Ate so many that his poop turned black. (Brings back memories of the boys...hum...poop memories...I truly am a mom!) He also ate tunafish for the first time today. And he devoured it! I couldn't give him enough and finally cut him off. Recently he started liking cantaloupe and watermelon too. Oh yes, and chicken and meatballs. He doesn't like veggies, even sweet potato. Just like Dallas. So I'll keep working this area.

The Baldwins to visit

Ya! Jess and Bart were in town to shoot a Brighthouse commerical together and they had the whole day off so Sean took off from work, my mom watched my kids, and the four of us got to hang out all day!!! What a great day it was. Jess and I went to meet our other friend Mindy (also from our Theatre UCF days gone by). Mindy is pregnant with her 2nd with her due date only 2 weeks away...although she is very ready to have the baby now...poor thing was in so much pain. We meet her at the Birthing Cottage where her mid wife is and then headed over to Cracker Barrel (she was craving it). We talked for hours, inside and out on in the rocking chairs as it stormed (and boy do I LOVE storms!!) Her daughter Maddie was amazingly good..wow! The guys went to Chili's and hung out at the house waiting for us chatty girls. Then they practiced for the shoot tomorrow (had Sean and I do their parts...too funny).

Then we were going to go out for dinner, but it was so rainy (Jess and I got pretty soaked already) that we decided to go get some steaks and eat at the house. What a great decision that was, it was so much nicer to hang out together at the house than try and talk over the noise of restaurant. And we could be as loud and obnoxious as we wanted!! And when you put the 4 of us together...it's loud with MUCH LAUGHTER! In the photos below you can probably see the tears from the laughter if you look closely (they look like glitter around my eyes...LOL) I made my steak with onions and feta cheese with sweet potatoe fries and Jess made her walnut/craison salad and hershey syrup/peanut butter micro brownies (the recipe Sean and I agreed she should paton.)

Below are the pics from us setting the timer on my camera and us crazy 4 being quite silly, you would have thought alchohol was involved, but nothing of the sort!

First is our "prom photo"Casual photo

Crazy photo...we were all supposed to be animals but we all wondered what kind of animal Bart was suppossed to be Bart and his infamous "go go gadget arm!"We took so many pictures before we actually got all four of us in the photo. We were laughing so hard that when they left I was exhausted from the laughter workout...good times...good times! (just hope their 6am call in the morning that Bart's "moneymaker" (that's what we call his face...long story) was still making the money (Jess....you'll have to show that to Bart...LOL)
We have always all wanted to live closer to each other (they live in Miami part of the year and New York part of the year because of their modeling/acting jobs). But now we are praying he gets the HSN spot he auditioned for because they might actually move to St Pete. Ya!!

Sean and I were talking about taking a train ride up to New York to see them, sure would be fun with the boys. Our next family trip with them will be the mountain house in October on their way back to Florida!

Annie the musical

A while back I had bought the movie Annie when I saw the DVD for $5, but I saved it for a rainy day. Well tonight after coming home from swimming at Nena's I thought the boys and I could watch it together while we ate our pizza. (Daddy had pool tonight). We had so much fun. I think I was just as excited as they were! It's been so long since I've seen it. As a child I even owned the record...ya...records...anyone remember those??? The boys loved the movie, especially Boston, our little entertainer. He just loved all the singing and dancing. He said its his new favorite movie and requested to watch it in the morning again...LOL Funny thing is that Sean was telling me how it was one of his favorite movies going up as well. How he would watch it over and over...the things you learn about your husband you never knew! They had lots of questions about orphans and why they don't have a mommy and daddy and lots of questions when Daddy Worbuck wanted to adopt her. It opened the door to some great conversations.

Farmer's market & Levi's b-day

This morning we headed for the 1st Winter Garden Farmer's Market. We just love Winter Garden and it was so fun to walk around downtown as well. (Boy would we like to move there, especially with Boston going to Oakland Charter next year). Since the line was so long for produce we headed to our friend's Tammy and Jerry's store, Tri Run. Sean needed to get some new running shoes. After that we went back for our produce and got some REALLY yummy caramel popcorn...it was a hit with all 5 of us! I think this might turn into a regular event for us. (Some family trivia: My dad was born and raised in Winter Garden)

Next we headed to Levi's b-day party. Swimming, bounce house and more! Fun fun fun! The boys had a blast, Boston especially loved swimming with everyone and Dallas the bounce house. Asher did get to swim with Daddy a little while and thought it was great! Mommy enjoyed talking with her girlfriends and then we all headed home. Dallas and Asher were asleep before we got home and then Daddy hit the hay. Mommy tried to nap but Boston just wanted to play.

Note: I made Betsy's famouse homeade pizza and it was great! Thanks for sharing your recipe Betsy!!!!

Playdate and haircut

After a late night last night I still managed to make it through today...LOL We met some friends at George Baily Park for some playtime and the boys had a great time being with their friends. Asher wanted to crawl around everywhere but his poor knees were started to hurt with the floor there so he would do this kind of walk with his feet and hands on the ground...too funny. I was hoping he would watch Lucas (who's only about 2 months older I think) and get the hang of it. Nope, this kid just loves to crawl.)

Asher swinging with Lucas

Boston especially loved getting to throw the baseball with Jacob for a little while, before they were kicked off the field. Then he equally enjoyed watching some big boys throw and catch on the field with Israel. I've never seen him show such an interest in baseball. I've been looking for a lefty mitt for the boys but haven't found them yet. What am I going to do with 2 lefties!!
Asher loved the snacks Rebecca brought and when he didn't have any left he would try and eat them off the ground...yuk! Third child for sure!

I also managed to get my hair cut today. It's been about 6 months since my last one. I never mean to go that long, I just always forget to get it cut. Not at the top of my list. I always love going to see Jane, who has cut my hair since I was 11. She massages my head forever and I could just fall asleep in her chair!