Birthday Fun!!

Thanks Aunt G and Uncle D!!!!
We love you!!!

All Things Drew

Okay, I'm going to do it. I'm going to dedicate an entire post to my youngest child. I can't believe how quickly he's growing up and how fast he is acquiring new skills and abilities! It is certainly a bittersweet thing to watch your children grow up. On one hand, I am amazed and so thankful for a healthy, smart and funny little guy. But, as he becomes more independent and develops his language and motor skills, I feel a tiny ache in my heart. It seems like there are so many "last times" in his life. You know, last time for a bottle, last time in this carseat, last time in the crib, last time for this toy, last time in the highchair... Sadly, I am clinging to his babyhood because I know that very soon (whether I like it or not) I will have to admit that he is no longer a baby. He is very much a toddler. I passed by the baby section in Target the other day and actually felt a little sad as I realized that the ONLY thing I still need from that section is diapers. So, here I stand with one very stubborn foot in the baby stage and one very tentative foot in the grade school stage. I look at the current baseball games, spelling lists, reading books, soccer games, sleepovers and endless questions and realize that even though "the best is yet to come", I don't know if anything can top these baby years for me! Hey, I never proclaimed to be good with change!!!
Here are a few of Drew's latest moments. I hope you enjoy them.

Things to do in our neighborhood...

Yep, this is it!

Prom Night

Well, my husband went to his very first prom last weekend. Can you believe he didn't ask me to go with him? I wonder if it was the four kids I had hanging off of me that discouraged him from asking. Rodney grew up overseas and had never experienced prom before. I think his overall opinion was that it was "much ado about nothing." Maybe he'll feel differently when our kids are old enough for (gasp) prom. We had a good time here at home. I picked up a ton of appetizers and we pretended we were eating at Applebee's. 'Cause seriously, who would take four kids out alone to the real thing? So, now whenever we pull any kind of appetizer out of the freezer, Ben quickly proclaims..."yeah, we're eating applebee's!" We had dinner and a movie. I have to say, the kids were a blast to be with and I felt a little sad for Rodney because I knew I was having more fun than him.

Girlfriends

The words from the "Cheers" theme song come to mind. "Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came..."
Last weekend, I took a camera shy Dawn (not pictured) and Kim and met up with a group of girls from "up North". I can't begin to express what therapy it was for me to be with very good friends again. It has been very lonely here in a new town. It takes a lot of effort and time to build friendships. Lately, I feel like life is a long line of introductions. Hello, my name is Jill, I have four kids, yes...they are ALL boys, blah blah blah. I had no idea how completely relaxing and wonderful it would be to just "be myself" with good friends. You forget how important it is to just have a history with someone. I slept little, laughed hard and cried even harder at the thought of saying good-bye again. We all went to a conference for moms called, "Hearts at Home." I could write an entire page on the conference. It was very affirming and encouraging. I picked up some great advice on every topic from marriage and parenting to cleaning and organizing better. My highlight was meeting the author of a book I've had for 9 years about moving. How appropriate (as I'm currently clinging to her book) that I would have the chance to tell her thank you for being obedient to God and writing it. I got to room with my very dear friend, Jenny. We shared some big laughs and a slightly uncomfortable bed with a large mirror for a headboard. It doesn't get any funnier than that! I guess despite the tears over parting once again, I can say that I have a deeper appreciation for friendship. I feel blessed to have people in my life (even though they are far away) that know me very well and love me anyway. And as I ponder the fascinating concept of friendship, I am reminded that this kind of love from 'sisters' is only possible because of the amazing love of the One that created us. We love because he first loved us! 1 John 4:19 I love you, friends, and I already miss you!

Where Art Thou, O Tooth Fairy

A milestone: Nate lost his first tooth. He was excited when he told us that it was loose, but a little freaked out about what came next. Over the next few weeks, he worked on the tooth until it was lying perpendicular to the rest of the teeth in his mouth. :) Daddy helped him pull it out and we put the tooth in the pillow where Nate anxiously fell asleep next to it waiting for the tooth fairy. At 5am, Nate woke up to use the bathroom. When I was helping him back into bed I noticed that he was messing around at the foot of his bed. He very sadly proclaimed that the tooth fairy had forgotten him. I quickly responded that maybe the tooth fairy had several stops to make and would be stopping by later in the night. Hmmmm, well, the tooth fairy didn't sleep after that. She went back to bed plagued with guilt over forgetting something that she had been celebrating a mere 9 hours ago. She then worried about getting older and forgetting things. After sitting in bed for what seemed like an eternity...she crawled into Nate's room and traded the tooth for money. With four kids and lots of teeth to go...the tooth fairy better start taking her Vitamin B supplements and hope her memory improves!

This place is a zoo...

Okay, so we were actually at the zoo. We took a Sunday afternoon to visit the zoo as a family. What a difference it is to see the animals on a 45 degree day instead of a 95 degree one. The animals were very active (including my own animals). But it was one of those days that just worked out great. We had a picnic in the car, saw the animals and enjoyed being together.