Renea

This post is for my dear ole friend, Renea. 

She loves to pester me for updated blog posts.

And insists upon updated photos, too.

Apparently, we are one of her favorite reads with her morning coffee.

So, how's this for a photo?

Do those kids look familiar?

The picture isn't exactly updated. It's more like...well...outdated.

Do you realize that picture was taken thirty-some years ago?

And we were sporting my mom's old sixties duds.

Cute, huh?

Love you for being a follower:)

Fall Fever

We definitely have it here today!  The weather is absolutely gorgeous, and we're hoping this is a sign of what's in store for us this winter.

Last weekend, we took the kids to the Cason United Methodist pumpkin patch. It's a tradition of ours, and it was so cute to see Charlie traipse through the hay in the parking lot trying to pick up even the largest of pumpkins.

Madi had so much fun showing him around and putting him into the decked-out carriage. He seemed to like it; although, we detected that he was a bit unsure about the whole scenario, since we couldn't get him to smile much.

We took time to search for our perfect pumpkin, and while we were checking out, Charlie ran over and grabbed the white one shown in the last photo. Of course we couldn't say no...

 

 

 

 

 

Creepy and Spooky

Creepy

Spooky

Bubble Time

SO GLAD these Crayola colored bubbles are WASHABLE!  

Especially since our 6-month post-placement photos are due this weekend!! 

Trains

 

We finally found a toy that can occupy Charlie's attention for a reasonable amount of time...trains!

We made this discovery last week when we attended a school book fair/fundraiser at Barnes and Noble, where they have an elaborate train table set up with all of the possible bells and whistles.

Charlie was very comfortable in this new element. Let's just say he was, well--a little too comfortable...and...ahem...filled his pants.

As I made the startling realization that my son's dirty diaper was wafting through the play area, I was even more horrified when I realized that I didn't have a single supply in my possession.

No diapers. No wipes. Nuthin. Nada. Zilch.

In an attempt to remedy the situation with a "quick fix," I desperately panned the store for women with babies, but the only baby in the store was a newborn. I knew there was no way our little chunker monker was going to fit into a swaddler diaper. Not on a prayer.

My friend, Carmen, kindly reminded me that we were surrounded by stores in the area, so while she tended to the little stinker (literally), Madi and I sprinted out the door like we were on an episode of The Amazing Race and found the nearest Walgreen's. We gathered all of the necessary supplies, checked out, and made it back to the book store in five minutes flat.

Problem solved.

Please forgive my ramblings about my poor parental planning skills, but the up side was finding out how much Charlie seems to like trains!  So, we went over to Bubba and Grandpa's house and pulled out all of cousin Matthew's trains from years past and set them up here for Charlie. So far, so good.

As I sit here posting, I ask myself, "Have I learned anything here?"  Apparently not enough. My purse still lacks supplies, the diaper bag still sits in the garage, and I've neglected to stock the van "in case of emergency."

Guess I better sign off now and take care of things before Murphy's Law strikes again...

Confirmation

On Saturday, we celebrated our nephew, Myles', rite of confirmation, which is about inviting and accepting the Holy Spirit into your lives.

I was honored to be chosen as Myles' sponsor for this beautiful and touching ceremony, especially since he chose "Daniel" for his saint name. I think I shed a tear every time I looked at his name tag!

I posted his dedication on the blog before, but wanted to post it again since Saturday was so meaningful for our family. This was written by Myles about choosing his saint name:

The name I have chosen for my confirmation is Daniel, in memory of my little cousin and God brother Daniel. In February, my aunt (who is my sponsor) and uncle adopted a two year old boy who they named Daniel. He had a heart condition and needed surgery to correct it. The surgery was a complete success but there were complications during his recovery. After being in the hospital for almost a month, he passed away. 

St. Daniel was known for his ability to interpret dreams. Daniel and his three friends were taken to Babylon. He was given the name Belteshazzar. Daniel was the first of the three presidents of the empire under the reign of Darius the Mede. His ministry began late in his life. His date and time of death were not recorded. His feast day is December 17^th. 

I have chosen to take Daniel as my confirmation name, in memory of my cousin who I miss very much. This is one way I can think of to keep him in my heart.


After the ceremony, we celebrated over a delicious brunch at Mizner Park. In typical fashion, Charlie became a bit antsy after being restrained for a while. Murphy was kind enough to walk the kids outside to the fountain.

After about ten minutes, Madi came running in to say that Charlie fell in and got wet. Well, we never expected this!  He was drenched! He had lost his balance and fell in the fountain while reaching for a feather.

Thank God, Murphy was right on it, and plucked Charlie from the water. I was also thankful for having a spare diaper, though we did not have an extra set of clothes. We drove home with the heat on in the car!  And the kind restaurant staff gave Murphy a tee-shirt for being such a life-saver--literally!

No, Charlie. This was not your baptism. You already had that!

Field Trip!

Can you spot Madi?  She would be the cute little Chinese one in the top row:)

Often referred to as a "hover mother," you can imagine how thrilled I was to have the opportunity to help with her first class field trip.  It gave me a chance to be right there to watch Madi interact with her new little buddies and enjoy a very fun day with them.

We went to a place called Bedner's Farm, located in Boynton Beach. We took a hayride led by a John Deere tractor and spotted plenty of wildlife as we learned all about their farm. This place made me really want to buy local fruits and veggies!  Farmer David shaved fresh raw corn right off the cob (with his pocketknife) for us to taste. It was amazing!

The kids all got to choose their own little pumpkin from the patch to take with them. I loved watching Madi scurry around in search of the "perfect" one.

Of course, Mommy played second fiddle to the ever-popular Ms. Maldonado (or as Madi says, "Miss Mulldonado"). Many of the kids (Madi included) insisted on sitting on her lap during the hayride. She is so loving to all of them. We are still feeling very blessed to be in her classroom this year.