Robby's 9!

I can't believe I haven't written about my handsome boy's birthday yet! Robby turned 9 on June 13. His birthday was drawn out a bit, since we had Father's Day the same weekend.
We took Robby to Harbor Inn for crab legs (his favorite) on Friday.
By Friday afternoon, we were on our way out to Mistletoe State Park to go camping. I must say, I was a little wary because of the heat, but God blessed us with fairly mild weather and low humidity. The kids had a great time swimming, playing on the playground, fishing, cooking over the campfire, and, of course, making smores.
We got up early Sunday morning to pack up and head back for church. After mass was lunch under our carport with John's family (FABULOUS steak).
Saturday was my brother, Rob's birthday, so we headed out to his house Sunday evening for a birthday/Father's Day party. We had a cookout and Rob, my Robby, and Dad exchanged gifts amid cake and ice cream.
It was an incredibly busy weekend, but I think after all was said and done, everyone had a good time.
I'm so proud of you, Robert! You have such a loving, kind spirit. You are growing up so fast. I love that you still go out of your way to come give me a hug. I love you!

Thank God for Mom!

Today, I will be going to Charlotte to pick up Fr. Ted, a missionary priest who currently lives in Africa. He has become a very dear friend, and a part of our family. He will be staying with us for the next two weeks (I'm so excited!).

The thing is, since school let out, I have been having an incredibly hard time keeping up with things. Having the kids home brings a whole new dynamic to the whole internship area, not to mention just daily tasks. I barely have time to buy groceries, much less finish my school work and clean the house.

This is where MOM comes in. Also known as Evelyn and Petie, but Nana to most. This is one incredible woman! She spends most of her time taking care of others, and those others include me. She saw that I had a need, and she came and took care of it. My house was a disaster area, and she took three different days this week to come help me. In fact, she ended up doing most of it because I was out running my kids all over town. And my house isn't exactly small, either.

Mom, Nana, wonderful woman that you are, I simply cannot thank you enough for all that you are and do for me. You aren't just my mom, you are one of my best friends. I love you so much! You are a jewel from heaven.

This has been a very interesting week so far. I had noticed recently that, every now and again, I would get a whiff of gasoline when close to my van. I could not figure out where it was coming from, and it concerned me, but I just couldn't pinpoint anything. On Monday, after having lunch with my mom, she smelled it too, and was trying to help me figure out where it was coming from. When I cranked up the van, she said she could see it dripping on the ground. So, I promptly called Rick, our local mechanic and all around wonderful Christian friend, who told me to bring it to him right away. He replaced the fuel filter, which was cracked, and all seemed well until the next day.
Tuesday, the plan was to take Mom's car to Rick to have the air conditioner charged, and I was going to pick her up there, at which time we would head out to the new Aqueduct park for a swim. As soon as I pulled up at the Peach Orchard Tire and Auto, gas started gushing out from under my van. And I mean gallons. I quickly cut the engine and got the kids out while Mom ran in to tell Rick. He and several of his mechanics piled out the front door in a hurry to make sure no one was in danger and get the mess cleaned up. The young man who had actually fixed it the day before was apologizing profusely. He was completely astounded at this development.
Well, it turned out to be something pretty simple. The clip that held the fuel lines into the gas tank had gotten stretched somehow, and the line popped out just when I pulled up in the parking lot. Thank God it happened right there, and not when we were at the Aqueduct park! It could have been a much worse situation, possibly very dangerous. God really protected us. Sometimes His guardian angels are in the form of mechanically inclined friends.

Kickin' it off right!

Today was the last day of school. Summer has officially arrived, and we started it off with a bang! This morning was spent at the school, spending time in each child's classroom, watching as they got rewarded for all their hard work. They got out at 11:50, and I took them to lunch at our favorite Mexican hangout, Veracruz, where we saw numerous friends and relatives who were also celebrating the start of summer.
Now, Rachel and Robby both have good appetites, but this was amazing! They consumed an outrageous amount of chips, salsa, sour cream, guacamole, and cheese dip before the rest of the food even got there. You would have thought they had not eaten for days. But, it WAS really good, so I can't blame them too much for being enthusiastic. And they thoroughly enjoyed talking to all their friends as they passed our table.
They spent the afternoon playing with friends. Rachel even got in the sprinkler with some of her friends in the neighborhood. As soon as she got home from that, John told her to put on her bathing suit to go swimming. The water was very cold, but they still enjoyed it. I think what they like best is coming home after playing hard in the pool and getting in a hot shower.
They had such a good day. Summer has arrived!

Discovery Place

Last Friday, I went on a field trip to Discovery Place in Charlotte with Rachel's class. It was a very fun day. The kids had such a great time! The girls all loved the thing that did this to them...
The other thing that was best loved was the Gizmotron. It's a little hard to describe, but you can see Rachel and others from her class working on it in this next picture. Essentially, there are beads in it that get moved through various tubes, and it takes at least 5 people to do it. It was a very good exercise in teamwork, and they did it for almost an hour before they got tired of it. They also had a very large dinosaur exhibit, and an Imax movie about dinosaurs. It was a long day, but well worth it. I really enjoyed spending time with Rachel, as well as fellowshipping with the other parents that went.

Moving Rooms

We had a very productive weekend. We spent pretty much all of Saturday switching the weight room with the boys' room. I love the progress we made. Robby and Matthew both seem to be very happy with the results, as well. The original plan was to make a space room for them, and we definitely will have that as a major element. We have a shelf shaped like a boat that will be converted into a space ship, and we already have a good start on solar system posters. However, it seems that the hobbits will be moving in as well. And John and the boys spent the evening painting pictures of Mount Doom and the Eye. So, I guess it's going to be Hobbits in space.

Happenings of Late

I am finally able to post pictures from Robby's play and Rachel's country report. They were both so good! Here is a picture of the three robbers from the Bremmentown Musicians talking. Robby was Curly. You can see the mustache and the hair the teacher drew on his arms. He had such a good time!

Rachel's report was on Austria. Her Aunt Kathy let her borrow this cute dirndl to wear. They lived in Germany for a few years, so they had some authentic clothing. Thanks, Kathy! Her cousin, William, to her right, did his report on Germany, Kathryn did Vietnam, and Jonathon did Italy. All of the kids in her class did an excellent job on their reports, and the costumes were all very authentic. I think the hit of the day, though, was a young man by the name of Caleb. He did his report on Egypt, and dressed like a mummy. Very cute!

This last weekend was my 12th anniversary. John told me to stay away for most of the day while her prepared the house. He rearranged things to make the house look like someplace else. He met me on the front porch with wine, and surprised me with a new porch swing. While we sat on the new swing, John's dad came up with bruschetta, which happens to be one of my favorites. Inside was candlelit, with music playing. A table for two was set up in the dining room. He showered me with gifts, including a dress, a necklace, and earrings. Dinner, made by his dad, was fabulous! Chicken marsala, pasta with homemade pesto, and veggies. Chocolate pie for dessert. We danced and ate, drank wine, danced more. We ended the evening by watching a movie. It was all very nice. Thank you, Papa, for the wonderful food. Yes, I am going to say thank you, John. But he wasn't done yet.

The next morning, he took me to see Iron Man. Absolutely fabulous movie! I would go see it again. Then, we went to have lunch, at Chili's; another favorite of mine. On the way home from that, he had one last surprise for me. He dropped me off for a massage at the home of a young lady by the name of Victoria Payton. Vicki just got her Licenced Massage Therapist certification, and she is very good at what she does. She even helped me with a painful area in my shoulder. It was very nice, indeed. So, thank you, John, for all that you did to make this weekend special. It was all very relaxing and enjoyable. It meant alot to me.

Sunday, we had Matthew's birthday party. He will be turning 5 tomorrow. We invited a few of his friends and grandparents for dinner, and then we had the rest of the family over for dessert. It was all alot of fun. Lord of the Rings was his chosen theme. As you can see, John made a wonderful mural of the hobbits for the boys to have their pictures taken with. And yes, Charlie does have his eyes crossed; a trick he is very proud to have learned recently.

I made two cakes: one of Hobbiton, and the other, Mount Doom, made of brownies. All in all, I think it turned out great. Matthew got this fabulous Gimli costume. I just had to post the picture. He's so darn cute in it!

Needless to say, the weekend was really busy, but it was also wonderful.