Guilty

The other morning after breakfast, Carly got off her chair and whispered something to Chloe. She did it right in front of Harper and myself as if they were saying something really sneaky. I asked Carly what she said, and she REFUSED!!! I gave her sad eyes, but still the girl would not budge. They were excused and went outside to play since Daddy was out mowing the yard. About 5 minutes later, I was in the bathroom taking Finley and in comes Carly. "Mom, I want to tell you something." She then whispers in my ear the secret. It was nothing spectacular, she just wanted to put on Harper's new costume and she didn't want him to know, because then he would want to wear it. I just said oh and thanked her for telling me - it was not a big deal. Carly had a huge grin on her face and she turned to exit the bathroom. And then she turned around and said, "God will forgive me!" She felt she had made a bad choice by not telling me the secret, the guilt ate her up inside, she told me and felt the weight of her choice lifted after she told me. We then had a whole conversation about God's amazing grace and forgiveness.

Whitewater Adventure

Yesterday I surprised Matt with a trip to the National Whitewater Center. He had no clue! I just told him to get in the car (which I had packed and ready to g0). He didn't know until he saw a neighborhood right before the entrance that was called the Rapids. And he was so excited about his day of adventure. He also didn't know that our friends Courtney and JT were coming too. They pulled up next to us in the parking lot and he was thrilled. It was such a fun day to get away together and have an adult day (Courtney and JT have 4 kids too, so they had just as much fun away).
The first adventure was the mega jump. We suited up, went up to the top of the 50 ft. platform and jumped off!! It didn't seem that high until you stood at the edge! It was so fun. (And yes Matt is smelling my helmet. I have an aversion to wearing helmets and they just didn't smell good - so Matt is trying to freak me out!)

Matt after a safe landing.

Me taking steps of the edge!

I got all the way to the top

Matt helping JT get all the way to the top of the self climb wall

After these two we went on a Kayak (therefore the camera didn't go with us any more). We paddled on the Catawba River. We saw a water snake and a turtle. Then we saw a rope attached to a tree (not affiliated with the whitewater center). So of course we had to take a stab at that. The first round, success!! Matt, Courtney and I all had a great swing out. JT was opposite, he tried 3 times and only on the last time he got out all the way. Me, well it just got worse every time. The second time I got rope burn on my armpit from slipping off. Then the third time, I looked like I was a circus act. I slipped off the wooden handle, slid down the rope onto the other wooden handle, where I sat for a split second and then did a not so graceful front flip off the rope - OUCH!! Yes, I got wounds from this. So after we all got beat up, we decided to leave and paddle back. That is when JT realized he lost his wedding ring! This was their 13th wedding anniversary and Courtney even told him not to loose it! (He lost his first one in the New River) We got back and ate lunch. Then we rafted!! Not one of us fell out - close, but no swimmers. Our first guide did some cool tricks with us - tons of fun. Our second guide was fun too, but not as wild.

Then, as if we weren't sore enough, we had to do the climb to zip and the obstacle course. The climb to zip was like a telephone pole with climbing rocks stuck to the side. We had to shimmy up this pole, stand on a 32 ft. platform and then zip line off the top. It was so hard to climb to the top - not one of us had the strength left, but managed to get up there. Matt said he was going to go down, but he saw that I was almost to the top and he couldn't let me do it and not him. Then we did the obstacle course. You walked on a tightrope cable all across and had various rope obstacles to help you get across.

And here we are at the end of the adventures ready to pass out!! We were there from 10:30 am to 7:30 pm and our bodies were ready to give out. I was braver than I thought I would be - I think I am ready for Survivor now!! We will definitely go there again - maybe in a couple of years :)

You can check out some of the whitewater photos online at: www.photos.usnwc.org/rafting

Go to 6-21-10

Click on 3:30-5 and pictures 256-259, 301-304, and 337-343

Also

Click on 5-6:30 and pictures 3-5, 35-37, 40-42, 71-75 (this is where we lost our guide), 82-83, 118-123

Pond Talk

We went to Rachel Bell's wedding tonight. I cannot believe she got married!! Matt and I used to baby sit her and Lindsay! She looked so beautiful and I realized once we got to the church that I forgot my camera - GRRR!! The reception was at her now father-in-law's house. It had a really cute pond there. After Chloe ate her food, she asked if she could go look at the water. I agreed. She stood there for a while looking so cute just gazing into the water. Matt went over to her and asked, "What are you looking at Chloe?" "Bugs" she replied. Matt says, "What do you think those bubbles are from?" "A hippo" - Kids have the best interpretations!

Fun Times

The "fun pool" is now open and we are there for the season! Preston came with us one day and he helped give them the courage to go down the green tube slide. They love spending time with Preston!
Today Finley was crying so I brought her into my room for a little Baby Einstein movie. The girls had these bean bags out so I put Finley in the bean bag while I turned it on. I left the room and figured she would just crawl out and play. I come back in 20 minutes later and she is still maxin and relaxin in the bean bag chair!!! It was so cute. Thumb in the mouth and feet crossed. She is so funny!

Carly's Night Time Line Up

The past two nights when I go into my room to go to bed, I find this. This is Carly's medicine line up. She sets it all up before she goes to bed so that if she needs anything at night it will be all out. I guess 4 sticks of chap stick, 2 tubes of cortisone, 1 tub of cortisone rub, and nasal spray will work magic for my 5 year old.

Potty Time!

On Tuesday, June 15th, Finley was working on a shewie. So I quick grabbed her and took her to the potty. And low and behold the 9 1/2 month old went potty and shewie immediately. Luckily I was babysitting Reilly, so I had her hold Finley for a photo shoot. (Which is kind of cute because she is actually on Reilly's potty seat from when I used to babysit her - my first trainee became the trainer). I am so proud of my Finley! And since then she has gone almost every time I have put her on the potty. Way to go Finley!

5 yr., 3 yr., 9 months, and Family

It was time for a good photoshoot and our lovely Deanna did a simply marvelous job as usual!! You must check out the album of everyone. I do not have enough words to describe how great Deanna is and how much we love her work!!

www.deannadevine.smugmug.com/portraits

June 8th

Last week I set aside a chunk of time in the morning so that I could teach the girls how to tie their shoes. I bought them some shoes with laces (which sadly they don't wear any sneakers usually, so they never had any) and we sat down to learn. I showed them both and worked with them one at a time. They did it in 10 minutes each! I couldn't believe that is all it took. I guess they are way over due to know something as easy as tying their shoes, but I wanted to make sure they knew how to before they started school (if they go to public school). So as always, my girls surprise me once again!!

Oh the conversations

I had to sit down and type this conversation I just overheard. Carly, Chloe, and Harper were all in the girls room trying to get a riding car out of the closet. I was in the kitchen so I think that during the struggle to eject the vehicle, Carly's foot got hurt. They were all working together on this task, so Carly says, "Ouch, that hurt my foot." Harper: "Which foot? Where Carly?" Carly: "Right here." Harper: "Oh, I'll kiss it to make it feel better." Carly: "No, you don't have to, God will fix it." Chloe chimes in: "How about this: Harper kisses it and God will make it better." Carly: "Yeah!" Harper proceeds to kiss his sister's foot and Carly says, "Now God will fix it!" And then all 3 saddle up on their cars and continue on their morning.

House Update - AGAIN!

We as of June 1st, we have had some house updates. First of all, - THE BOYS ARE GONE!! Yippee!! No more late night stolls to tell them to be quiet, no more loud music, no more loud talking going on, and more sleep for me!!! Yay!! Their year of renting was up and they moved out so now we get to see our sweet Mrs. Cindy and Mr. Nathan back over at the house. (They aren't living there, just cleaning it up, but we love seeing them just the same). Even though the boys did get better the last few months, it is nice to see them on their merry way!! We also lowered the price of our house, and guess what?! Not even one showing!! Isn't this marvelous!! Our contingency on the one house is up next week and we just don't know what to do. With all these school, house decisions, we just our clueless on what to do, but all we know is that we are completely happy, so we really don't care!! We will see what we decide, but our listing contract is up in August and we will probably take it off the market then if it doesn't sell. Who knows!

The Triangle

Don't you love my lovely diagrams?! What in the world do they mean? Well, TJ (our Sunday School teacher) always uses this diagram as an image for us to keep in mind as a married couple. The top diagram shows how that if we are far apart from God, then us as a married couple (H-husband, w-wife) will be just as far apart. But the closer we are to God, the closer we as a married couple will be. This is such a true statement. So Matt and I try to always do something to continue cultivating our marriage. We have read several books together, but right now we are doing an online Bible study (well it is actually a series of sermons). The preacher is really good and we have enjoyed the series we are in. We are currently listening to the Peasant Princess series, which is on the book of Song of Songs. Finding ways that we can spend our evenings together in the Word is so much more rewarding than watching ANYTHING on TV!! Pastor Mark has lots of other sermon series and I think we will listen to the 1 Corinthians one next (since we will be studying it in Sunday School this summer). Check it out if you would like:

http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/sermons

Flowers

Ever since Mother's Day, Harper loves to give me flowers. Every time he sees one, he ever so cutely, smiles and brings me his prized flower. This is today's flower. My girls like to pick flowers, but they always end up putting them in a bucket or playing with them some way. But not my Harper Banks! His flowers go to his Mama. The Sunday after Mother's Day we were driving home from church and all of the sudden he gasped and shouted, "Dad! We forgot to get Mom a flower!" He could not believe that he totally forgot about picking me one, so when he got home, he immediately picked one for me. I love my sweet boy!

Pool time!

The summer pool season has begun!! We have a membership to the Monroe Aquatic Center, so that is where we will be spending the majority of our days. This year will be a juggling act to work with. Finley is still little and needs 2 naps a day (the morning can be missed, but it is easier if she is rested). So I guess I will try several techniques of organizing our mornings to make each pool trip a success!! If you know me, you know that I can not survive a voyage of any kind unless I am prepared, organized, and I have all my ducks in a row. Come on now, I have 4 kids and it is all a NECESSITY!!! Today we went to a friend's pool which is closer than the Aquatic center, so the kids had fun and it is nice for them to have friends to play with. Mauren is the girls age and Maize is Finley's age, poor Harper is out of the loop - AGAIN!! He played in the kiddie pool with Carly, Chloe, Mauren, 2 other twin girls that are 5, and another 5 yr old - and yes he was playing with Princesses! But at least he was giving them boat rides!! Finley got her first busted lip too! She was trying to scale a chair and she fell down. I was putting peanut butter on crackers for the big kids so I got up and hoisted her from under the chair. I feel kind of callused when it comes to bumps and bruises now. I have had 5 years of bang ups under my belt now, so I am able to take these with little reaction now. My friend Leigh gasped and said, "Oh there is blood!" I looked down and her mouth was bleeding pretty good. (Still with peanut butter on my fingers) I grabbed a paper towel (because the towel I had already was covered in blood from when Chloe fell in the pool and scraped her knees all up) and held it on her itty bitty lips. The bleeding didn't last long and neither did her tears. Finley is a little trooper! When we got home everyone took a spectacularly long nap - I even closed my eyes for 30 minutes! Ah, the joys of pool days and how they can simply just wear you out!!

Asleep

Last Sunday we had a busy day. We went to church all morning, came home to take naps, and Mr. Harper never fell asleep. He laid in bed wide awake. After Finley woke up from her nap, we got everyone ready to go to the pool. We spent the rest of the afternoon splashing around for the first time at the aquatic center for the year. For dinner, we went to Firehouse subs (kids eat free every Sunday). On the way home, Harper just couldn't hang. I can't believe I actually caught the entire pass out on video, but here he is zonking out for the night. Pretty cute to me to watch how kids fall asleep.

Did!

I was reading with Carly today and we were reviewing words. They have been reading a ton of new words, so I have to explain the word or give them a sentence so they know the meaning of the word. Today was a review of those words and Carly was reading them and then giving me a definition of each word. Very cute. Well, she gets to the word did. They liked when I told them, "you know, when I say - did you clean your room?" Carly says this and then she takes it one notch further. "Or you know when you see a spider" as she proceeds to smack the table and shouts "DID"!!!! Absolutely hilarious. They have not heard that from us. I never talk about killing bugs or death, so she must of heard it from someone else and she thinks they say did not dead. Gotta love living in the south!!

9 Months!

This girl is spectacular! We absolutely love our little Fifi blessing! Just look at her! Need I say more?! She is 9 months now and has definitely developed her own personality. She is so funny and loved by her siblings. She can sit, crawl (she does a full crawl and then flops to a soldier crawl when she wants to go really fast), she can pull up and stand (which was quite a surprise when she did it for the first time in her bed - needless to say, her crib got lowered pronto), she can eat cheerios and poofs, and she can do her first sign - more! She is a very happy baby and goes with the flow! Her affection towards hair has not stopped. She has to fall asleep sucking her right thumb and twirling her hair. Sometimes I feel a little bad for the girl. Being the youngest of 4 kids has its advantages and disadvantages. 1 advantage is having lots of extra hands to take care of her. One day she was in her "cage" (sectioned off area in our room that is Fifi safe) and she was crying. I told the girls to help her out. She immediately was quiet and I finished what I was doing. I went in to check on her and they said Fifi wanted to snuggle. Somehow they had hoisted the baby up into my bed and there was a twin on each side of her. Oh poor Finley!! She obviously wasn't hurt, but it was still dangerous and I can only imagine what kind of positions they had her in. That is one thing that is hard with bigger kids around - they want to hold her alot and they think she is a baby doll! She brings so much joy to all of us! We love our little Finley!
Crawling to get me!

Finley's other 2 mothers!

Here is a video of her doing more today. Carly, Chloe, and Harper love to feed her. Her favorite thing to eat are these little cheesy poof things - she inhales them!