Summer's in full swing...

Sorry - I haven't been that great of the blogger lately. We've been busy and it doesn't look like it's slowing down. But it's GOOD BUSY - so don't feel sorry for us or take this as a complaint post. I'll quick give you are run down that way you A)know why unfortunatly I've been ignoring my blog and B) You'll have an idea what we are up to even when I am not posting.

Here goes. Last weekend, on a spur of the moment decision, I took the boys down to my Aunts. Marc and Ryan were up at the island for a fishing weekend (their end of the deal for our Riverdance night).

Papa and Andrew fishing with Andrew's new Tigger pole

Froggys on the side of my aunt's house.
We got home late Sunday night. Yesterday and today is unpacking and laundry, errands and grocery shopping and packing... Because tomorrow we are heading to the U.P for the rest of the week with my Aunt's family. Andrew is super excited and counting down 'wake-ups' until 'bacation' with Gideon.

We should be home Saturday evening and will have until Tuesday evening to unpack and get the home back in order before Marc's parents come (Woo Hoo!) for a visit through the following Friday... when we will head down to Uncle Art's for the day.

Phew. So - if I don't write much for the next couple weeks, that is why. I hope your next couple weeks are as enjoyable as ours looks to be!

Zoo-pity Doo Da

With a spur of the moment decision this morning, Becky and I decided to take the kids to the zoo. Of course, from the time the decision was made and the time we left for the zoo, was a good hour and a half despite shooting to leave only 20 minutes later. We had to get the kids ready, pack lunches, etc... But that seems to be par for the course around here.

So - we left for the zoo at 11:30am and got to the zoo 45 minutes later even though the zoo is only 15 minutes away. It is located next to a park that was having a large (like thousands of people) event. So traffic was horrible and we had to park aways away. But the zoo itself wasn't too busy. And it was a beautiful day to go - sunny, but not too hot.

The big boys got to ride on a camel. You should hear the boys mimic how the camels sounded. (I'm thankful those Wamel Faddles didn't get loose - or they'd be gone like a goose)
Of course - there was a petting zoo with baby pygmy goats that the kiddo's loved.

Because we got out so late and then it took longer to go through the zoo that we thought it would, we didn't leave until 5pm. That's all day with no naps. AJ made it until about 15 minutes before we left and he crashed in my sling. He didn't even flinch when I moved him to the car seat. Andrew made it about 7 minutes in the car before he zonked.

Only when I took this picture - toward the end of the day... did I realize that it looked strangely familiar...

This picture was taken back in September the last time we went to the zoo - wearing the same shirt.

Duh!

As mentioned before, Andrew has the CARS car, SnotRod. However, he kept calling him SnotRot. So, I kept correcting him by emphasing the D at the end. Now, Andrew refers to the car as SnotRoDUH!

When an ice cream shop is too close to home...

What have we've been up to? We had a nice Father's Day on Sunday. All eight of us went to church and I made a nice egg strata for lunch - however once we got home from a late service, the kids were shot and there was no way we could wait the hour for it to cook before feeding them and putting them to bed. So we grabbed leftovers and napped. The daddies then spent their Father's Day afternoon fishing and we ate the brunch for dinner without them.

Monday, we took the car in and got a huge answer to prayer. We were having car problems and we were quoted $300-$1000. The damage came to only $160! Only about half of the minimum quoted! And, Lord willing, we will be able to go to the U.P. next week since our car is in good working order.

Without a car for a couple days, we pretty much just hung out at home. Took walks, visited Cone City, swam in the kiddy pool, etc... Tuesday night - the daddies took the big boys fishing again. And now Andrew has is very own Tigger fishing pole - and caught TWO fish on it. CJ also caught fish as well. I wish you could have seen the faces of all four of them when they got home (after yet another visit to Cone City) - they were beaming! The kids were so proud of themselves and the daddies were so proud of their boys. Andrew, who doesn't stop talking on any given day, was talking 100 miles an hour (I'm sure the sprinkle covered ice cream didn't hurt).

This morning, library laptime started up again with Miss Hennie. Andrew is an old pro at the action rhymes now, but enjoyed showing CJ & Riley the ropes. Afterward, the kiddos played with the train table and computer for while before we came home for lunch/naps (which of all four children, only AJ actually slept, and even that was short). We spent the rest of the afternoon outside in the water.

Andrew, as usual, will jump right in the water with no hesitations.

AJ - examining the school bus and showing off his all-too-familiar scowl.

(Again - where did that blond hair come from??)

Saving a little for later...

This is Riley at dinner.... mere minutes after she just had a shower.

...notice the corn bread in the ear.

Field Trip

Ryan and Becky took the three older children to Chuck E Cheese today. While I was left alone at home with AJ - who took an awesome nap during that time. Marc was south at his uncle's cabin fishing with my cousin... so for a couple hours, I had the house to myself. I almost didn't know what to do with myself. I read a little, I was online a little, did a little cooking, talked on the phone a little, etc... It was nice, really nice.

But the kids came back thrilled with Chuck E Cheese. Pizza, the show, the rides, the games... they loved it all!

Just hitchin' a ride...

Halfway through our long walk this morning, Andrew's tricycle started squeaking.  After I commented on how squeaky it was, Andrew says,
"Yea, maybe there is a mouse in my bike".

Mission Chick

AUGH! I am not a usual collector of much of anything - and I still wouldn't consider myself one. However, when we started potty training - we started getting Andrew the CARS MOVIE cars. We have a nice little collection of them, however not all of them by any means. But one that Andrew would really like is the Chick Hicks car. He's even been saving his own money. So whenever we are out and about... Walmart, Target, KB Toys etc... we check to see if Chick is there. There is every other car, but Chick. So now, it's almost become a mission... FIND CHICK! I've done some searching online and apparently, I am not the only one. Why Chick among all the cars has become the hot item, I have no idea. So, today - we were out and about - so we hit Toys R Us. Andrew has a birthday gift card there and we went looking for Chick. Of course, no dice... but we had to get SnotRod. The checkout lady was so kind to Andrew and let him check out all by himself and only talked to him regarding his purchase and even helped him swipe his card and hit the right buttons. He felt very grown up buying SnotRod. Anyway, afterward, I asked the lady about Chick and she said there are a group a guys who know when the new shipments come in and wait at the doors for the store to open, so they can go immediately through them. My goodness. All for a little green car.

FISH ON!!

We've been busy - with what... I'm not sure. Saturday, the guys were gone all day for golf outing for Marc's company. So, I really don't remember what we did - probably a little playing outside, walking, we hit the playground, fed kids, etc... Sorry, it truly feels like a blur. Sunday & Monday was more of the same - except for church Sunday morning.

Last night, the daddy's took the big boys out to the lake for a boat ride. They did a little fishing and Andrew caught his first fish. They even 'parked' in shallow water and got to swim for a bit. And they both learned the phrase, "FISH ON!" Then to top it off, two hot air balloons swooped down low over the lake while they were out. The boys were still talking about it all day today. Of course, Marc is itching to get out and buy the kid his first fishing pole. And since the big boys and the daddy's got to have fun... We took the little ones for a walk to Cone City for ice cream!

Today, we got up and got ready and headed out at 11am. (took us that long to get out) We hit Target quick before heading to the airport for lunch. PB&J's, prop planes and tan lines. Good afternoon. The kids loved it. However, we didn't get back and down for naps until 2:30. And Andrew, who hadn't napped the last two days but was up late last night because of the boat trip, crashed hard. After dinner, we played outside a bit more before bedtime. Really - eat, play, nap/sleep... That's all we are up to. We do mix it up a bit here and there by throwing in trips to the library or Sam's or playdates with some friends, etc... Since, my posts are so boring - here are more pictures.

Becky set up CJ's play tent out in the backyard. Andrew LOVES having CJ's around. These kids will have serious withdrawal issues once they find a house.

AJ pressing his face against the window. Can you see all five teeth?

Cutie Pie Riley - the poor lone girl.

Daddy was mowing on the other side of the fence.

After AJ's and Riley's ice cream date last night - a tub with bubbles was definitely needed.

Silly Monkeys

Painting Cookies
Causing Trouble

Here a tap, there a tap, everywhere a tap-tap

Last night was incredible. Becky and I left the kiddos with the hubby's, got all dressed up and hit the town. We started out with dinner at Benthams. My meal was amazing. Normally, I wouldn't bore with the details of my dish - but I am still thinking about it this morning. It was spinach stuffed artichoke ravioli (or artichoke stuffed spinach ravioli - I'm not sure - it was all green) with asparagus, some fancy olives, feta and grilled shrimp with a roast red pepper tomato sauce. Oh My Goodness! I want to go back again today.We then walked the sky walk around the city for a bit to kill time.. which also killed my feet. I have these kickin' strappy heels that I love and have worn several times before. But for some reason - they tore my feet apart last night. We are talking 4 band-aids on my feet just so they wouldn't rub against my sheets last night. Blisters with a Big B!

Anyway - we worked our way to the performance hall to watch Riverdance!! Becky was already super familiar with the show and could have literally been a spokeswomen for them. I, on the other hand, was vaguely familiar and just excited to get out for the night.

Wowsers - the show won my over. It is really amazing. We had good seats and were mesmerized for over 2 hours. Great show! After the show - Becky and I walked a bit downtown, got some coffee and sat sipping watching people from the lounge of the Amway Grand before heading home. It was a really fun night.

I hear music...

Today Andrew had his 3 year check-up. This is really the first check-up where he is totally aware and in tune with what's going on. I wasn't sure how it would go, so for the past couple days we've been practicing. I look in his eyes, ears, mouth, listen to his heart, tap his knees, etc... And for the appointment - he did so so good. I was so proud of him! He held still and answered all the doctor's questions. He even got to pee in a cup (which was very exciting - although I had to explain to him that even though it was going into a cup, it was not for drinking. I can hear you now, "Ewwwweee!") and that was the first thing he told Camden when he got home.

His doctor was great and letting him take turns using her equipment. She would look in his ears, then he got to look in my ears. Same with mouth and the little hammer that's checks reflexes. And after she listened to his heart and back, she let him listen to his heart. He got real quiet and listened. Finally, she asked him what he was hearing and he responded, "I hear music!". He even got to put on special 3D glasses and see a colorful butterfly!

So his stats are: Weight - 40.6 lbs, Height - 41.25 inches, BMI = 17, Blood Pressure = 100/40.

He is the average height and weight of a 5 year old. Yes - a five-year-old! Off the 3 year old charts. She does, however, think he has Fifth Disease. It sounds much worse than it is. It's pretty minor - but he gets real red when he gets warm. I even took some pictures (that really don't do it justice) because I was a tad concerned about it.

Other than that, his speech is great, he drinks a little too much milk (which we already limit - he could seriously drink a gallon a day if I let him), and the doctor said and was over all very healthy.

AJ on the other hand, has still been a wreck! Like screaming at night for hours. So, to save a co-pay, I took him in also. Today is day 10 of his antibiotics and he's not really better. So she checked his ears and sure enough, his ear infection is still going strong. So, now he is on something stronger and we are praying (please pray also) that this will help, because we all (all 8 of us) are lacking sleep from that darn left ear.

I do take pictures of Andrew, too.

We took the whole gang - all eight of us to Chili's tonight for Fajita/'Rita night. And it really went well. Service wasn't great - but the food was and the kids did great and ate everything in site. Literally - you would have thought we didn't feed them at all that day. We then went to the mall to let the kiddos run in the play area and watch the indoor skating park. They loved it!

Tonight I am supposed to be paying bills, but I've been neglecting this blog lately. So I will post some random pictures instead and pay bills tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow - I have a play date with some ladies (and their children) from my Bible Study. I am very excited and I really haven't seen them much since the study ended in early spring. We are all starting a new Beth Moore study this fall... and I can hardly wait!

AJ decided to just kick back on the diaper bags with his little Buddha belly sticking out.

AJ finally warming up to Papa after 13 months - or just too tired to care.

AJ hitching a ride during those few days of ear aches (I threw this one in just for Jill and Jen!)

o!H! And Friday night, Becky and I are getting all dolled up and heading downtown to watch Riverdance! We might even spend the night in town. F.A.N.C.Y. I'm going to have to act all ladylike and whatnot.

Baby Dedication

This past Sunday we had baby dedication for AJ at our church. Mom and Dad came up and the Dresslers came also. The pictures aren't so great - but it went well and AJ did a good considering he had to be held by the pastor (and he doesn't warm up well to others). Andrew was even up there with us and did pretty well. He was very shy and fidgety and even sat down on the stage at one point. The pastor read the verse we chose and our vision for the boys, then held and prayed over AJ. It was short and sweet. We then dropped the boys off at their classes and made our way back to watch our friends dedicate their twins.

Family picture Sunday morning before church and AJ looking like he's ready to fight. (even though he was happy).

The rest of the service was great until our 'number' was up on the childcare screen. Assuming that it was AJ who was in 'distress', I walk right into the nursery to find AJ super happy and totally fine. Confused, I walk out of the nursery and into Andrew's room to find Andrew very upset over something or other (due to circumstances there were many many kiddos and only one teacher and it might have just been a bit much for him). So I bring him into the hall to calm him and find that AJ is now noticeably 'distressed' because I came and went without him. So I pulled both boys (who are normally perfectly happy during church) and we finished the service standing in the back with the boys. Which was really fine. Just a little different.

Verse: Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that 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. Deuteronomy. 6:5-7

Parent’s vision to raise this child to be a dynamic follower of Jesus: Our biggest prayer would be for our sons to come to know Jesus as their Savior and for them to desire to follow Him with every ounce of their being. That they would be a light among their peers, they would stand firm against temptation, and do great things to God’s glory. Our delight would be for them to become men after God’s own heart.