On the Road again

I am not sure the kids are going to fit! We are heading to the beach tomorrow for 12 days and the pile of "stuff" I need to get loaded into the car is ridiculous. I tried to go through and only take the necessities, but we really do need everything I have packed. Here is a list of the items we are taking:

my suitcase
Gray's bag
Kate's bag
Wills and Owen's bag --they share one!
box of diapers
Bag of toys
4 bags of food--this saves me from having to go to the grocery store with 4 kids right when we get there!
1 large cooler of drinks and cold food
big red wagon--This will carry Gray and all our stuff to the beach
bag of pool toys
alligator raft (i managed to deflate it)
Gray's float
stroller
baby bjorn
fan
pack n play
scooters x2
gray's walker (for the beach)
small chair with tray (gray)
lots of dvd's for the ride down
diaper bag


The packing is hard, the 5 hour drive harder, the beach with the kids...priceless!

mom, dad, kids, and a boat

off to the lake in my Hawaiian shirt
Gray nappin on the boat. the boys named the boat "lots of fun"

Wal-mart of Guntersville. Stocking up on drinks, snack, and this awesome camera! lol!

A little nervous about tubing!

Fishing with fake worms. I wonder where our live bait ended up?

Goggles on? check!

Ready to Tube!

Nana and Kate

We had a blast at the lake this past weekend with the kids. Their favorite part was, by far, staying at the hotel! This was not the highlight of my trip, as sleeping with 3 kids in one hotel room is not exactly peaceful sleep, but we survived and had a great time.

We arrived at lake Guntersville on Friday around 6:00, checked in the hotel, did the jumping on the bed ritual and walked down the street to a great little restaurant to eat. After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to let the kids "swim at night". We were all in piled in the king bed around 9:30, sandwiched together, watching America's funniest videos. I wasn't really laughing at the TV as much as at the thought of all 5 of us in the bed actually watching AFV.

We woke up early Saturday morning, thanks to a very energetic child who seems to require a lot less sleep than the rest of us. Late to bed--Early to rise. This seems to be the recurring theme with Owen.

We loaded on the boat around 10:00, sunscreen lathered, drinks a plenty, snack galore, fishing poles ready (although somewhere between the bait shop and the marina, we lost the live bait we bought??), disposable camera in hand, and a skipper, who just got his license the night before. The sun was scorching hot, but we cooled off by jumping into the water about every 10 minutes.

Nana and Grandad met us around 1:00 with Gray. Gray swam in the lake with just a life jacket on-it was hilarious. No diaper or bathing suit, just the way he came into this world, except with a life jacket and the strap between his legs. I will spare him future humiliation by not posting the picture. He took a nice nap on the boat. Unfortunately, it was on me, which made it extra hot and sticky.

After a full day, we headed home, exhausted and sun burnt, but thankful to be able to do things as a family that we will forever remember.

And there it goes.......

Today is a sad day...my camera is gone. I knew this was coming. It has been trying to leave me for quite some time now. It was a good little camera. Faithful in catching the birth of my 4 children, dozens of birthdays, 7 Christmases. Easters, Halloweens, lots of trips and lots of fun memories. It is time to say good-bye.

RIP little Olympus Stylus 710.

I went to Wal-mart today and actually bought a disposable camera to use while I figure out what to do. Do I even remember how to use those? I guess I will have to refresh my memory because it may be a few weeks before I can get a new camera. Please bear with my postings, as it is very likely there will be no pictures for awhile.

I will leave you with an old picture taken with my good ole Olympus!

Here we come.....

Tomorrow we are heading to Lake Gunnarsville to spend Saturday on the boat with the kids. We are leaving Gray with Nana and Grandad on Friday night, because a baby and being on a boat all day, doesn't really work too well for 8+ hours . Matt's parents are planning on coming up in the late afternoon with Gray, so he will get to enjoy it for just the right amount of time. We have never stayed in a hotel with the kids, so I'm sure this will be a new and exciting adventure for all of us. Sleeping in one room should be interesting. The plan is to drive up on Friday after work. It is an hour drive, so when we get there we plan to let the kids swim at the hotel pool, play at the park, eat dinner and then try to get everyone to sleep by 10:00. On Saturday, we will, no doubt, be up at the crack of dawn and head out to spend the afternoon on the boat. I am looking forward to doing something different with the family. It is always a welcome change to spend the night and day somewhere other than home. Wish us luck!

Just a side note. Today, Michael Jackson died. I am sure this will be a day in history that my kids will ask if I remember that day. I can say "yes", I was at home, had just put the kids to bed and turned on the T.V. to see the sad news. I pray he knew Jesus and that he is with Him in heaven. When I see news like this, it is a reminder to me that our time on earth is short and do we know where we will spend eternity? I am thankful that I know with 100% certainty that I will be with Jesus one day.

Family (Not so much) Fun Night

Pre-Bingo --all is calm!
These are the "prizes" for winning bingo! This is what my kids were crying about~ the purple one is the one the boys found at home, probably from another "family night"

Gray was happy until bingo started. Notice the lady in the back setting up!

I must say I am very thankful Owen won first. Not sure I could have handled him.

We meet some friends tonight at Chick-fil-a because Tuesdays are family nights and kids eat free! They also always do a fun little activity for the kids. One week it was free peach milkshakes, another week it was the firetruck, etc. Well, this week is was BINGO night. The chick fil a "bingo lady" (who was very serious about her job), handed out bingo cards to all the kids that wanted to play and demanded everyone to be quiet by ringing her cow bell. Of course, all three of mine begged to have a bingo card because they caught sight of the "prizes" .

While holding G in my lap, I did my best to help each child figure out if they had B 56, or G19, or I 10, or O 23, or N 75, you get the picture. Trying to help 3 children with their bingo cards is not easy! Well, Lo and behold, Owen won the first round and was so excited to get a prize and dangle it in front of Wills and Kate! I have never seen that child so happy, all because he won a stuffed cow. Poor Wills, his eyes filled with tears, Kate started to cry, Gray wants to crawl on the nasty floor, I am trying to stay calm. We play another round. Please Lord, let Wills win. Nope, not this time. We try again, nope not that round either. Kate was over it and on the playground playing at this point. Finally, Wills gets Bingo! Thank you God. Now, I am ready to get the heck out of Chick-fil-a, but Kate begins to throw a fit that she has not won a prize. It was a disaster...I am packing up our stuff and she is on the floor screaming that she doesn't want to leave until she gets a prize. I grab her hand and head to the car as she screams the entire way home. After we have a "talk" in her room about her behavior, the boys had found her a special "prize" in the playroom and all is peaceful again. It was actually really sweet of the boys to try to make her feel better. I guess something good came out of the night...my boys showed a little compassion! I long to see more of that.

The Terrible Threes

I know the saying goes...."oh the terrible twos", but from my experience thus far, it is "the Terrible Threes". Twos are cake. Still sweet and still babies, but when they hit 3, something happens. We are going through a hard time with Kate. She is testing the waters of disobedience and disrespect, while adding a little of her own sassiness in there too! Kate has always been a fairly easy going child. She was a very easy baby, probably my easiest. Some say I will pay for this is the long run when she is a teenager, but I think payback is starting early with miss kate.

It certainly does not help that her older brother (O) continues to struggle with disobedience and disrespect on a daily basis and they seem to be quite the partners in crime these days.

I am doing all I can to be consistent, follow through, and discipline in love.

Remember the Nursery Rhyme below????

There was a little girl,

Who had a little curl,

Right in the middle of her forehead.

When she was good,She was very, very good;

When she was bad, she was horrid.

BTW--my ribs actually turned out really good.

Here is a video from a few weeks back of kate bowling. Sorry, but you'll have to watch it sideways,

Carrington house = RIB shack

Kate in my sunglasses!

Kate reading her bible!

My Rib Project

Today is a good day. Matt took the older kids to see my nephew in Atlanta for his birthday and I kept the younger 2 with me. Divide and conquer is the way to go! We all know that tomorrow is Father's Day and Matt's mom called to see if we would like to meet after church for lunch. I told her that sounded great, until I actually thought about what I had just committed to. Eating out at a restaurant with our family is a recipe for disaster. We do not eat out much these days. It is not a pretty sight to be sitting close (or far) from our family at a restaurant. Carringtons and eating out just do not mix well right now. I knew that it would not be the relaxing Father's day lunch with great fellowship and good conversation she was thinking of, so with great enthusiasm, I suggested our house and "I will cook". Did I really say that?

Okay, now after eating out, this would be disaster #2. I do cook almost every night, but my meals run on a rotation of tacos, spaghetti, a chicken dish, hamburger helper, pancakes, fish, another pasta, crock pot creation. I do not cook anything that requires more than 5 ingredients to prepare. I am in survival mode mind you!

It is a big day because, I have mustered up the courage and found the energy (somewhere deep within) to cook Matt's favorite...RIBS! I found a somewhat basic recipe online and off to Publix I went. Who knew there are so many different choices of ribs to chose from? Not me! And another thing, ribs are not so cheap! There were spareribs, baby back, pork loin ribs, and a few other kinds-bone in and bone out. I just want the kind of ribs you get t Jim n Nicks! I decided on the baby back. Yes, they are the most expensive, but they were also the only ones that said, "all natural". Pretty sure I wanted hormone free, natural ribs, so baby back it is.

I won't give you this recipe until after I cook and taste the finished product because I want to make sure it is actually good. The plan is to rub the spices all over the raw ribs(gross), put in the crock pot for 5 hours, take out of crock pot and finish on the grill, and then pour the bbq sauce on top when done. Easy, right? We shall see.......

Flowers a bloomin'

Lantana in the back, purple wild flowers , begonas (red, white, pink) mexican heather, and sweet potato vine. The s.p. vine was reccently added because it is my absoulte favorite plant and will grow in extreme heat. I wanted to plant creeping jenny too, but it needed part shade.

"Look at our Flower Garden mommy--God has growed it". Spoken from the mouth of my 3 year old! I am so proud of our flower garden. This is our first Spring and Summer in our new home and we are experiementing with what to plant and where to plant it. Now, I am not much of a green thumb, but have gotten better over time (along with actually enjoying bird watching--i am officially "getting older"). We have 3 identical beds that recieve full on sun all day long. In the Spring, after the last frost (and we were lucky this year), my kids helped me to plant all 3 beds. The kids were really into helping and actually did most of the tilling, digging, planting, covering, watering, etc.. It did help keep their interest that we seem to have an unusual amount of lizards and one very green frog that has found their home in the brick walls behind the flowers. Owen will flat out catch a lizard with his bare hands! It was such a fun experience to do this with them and now every time we pull into our driveway, we get to reap the benefits of our hard work.

Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory!
Isa.6:3

And another baby makes....

Okay, I knew this might get some people's attention~ NO! I am not pregnant with #5, but let me tell you I am feeling the ever familiar feeling of the "baby itch". It always hits me about this time. My baby is almost 1, he is not nursing as much these days, starting to not need me in so many different ways. Believe me, I realize that my oldest is 5! What am I thinking? I just cannot come to grips that G could very well be my last child. I know I need to be thankful that God has blessed me with 4 beautiful and most importantly HEALTHY children and I truly am. The fact is I am facing something that I have not done in 6 years and that is to not be pregnant again. I am holding on to the verse...for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances Phil. 4:11b.

God is not bound by my circumstances and He knows my needs and my wants. I pray that I can hold fast to the promise that He Knows the plans for my Life (Jer, 29:11). I want to enjoy the stages of my children right now--I mean, really....I STILL have a baby! I just feel in my heart that there might be a child that will come to us in some way-be it another biological child or a child placed in our lives in another way.

As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isa. 55:9

I cannot wait to see how the journey of our family continues to unfold...let the adventure continue!

I Can Walk!

I just love this picture of Kate!

Today my sweet Gray Gray discovered that his little feet could walk! He has been crawling all over the place for 3 months now and I have been waiting for him to start walking soon after, because he is such a go getter! We have had his walker out forever now and he hasn't put it together that he can use it to walk. He has spent the last several months playing with all the colorful toys on the front instead. Well, today was the day. I stood him behind the walker and sat across the room, encouraging him to come to me. Let me tell you, he loves his mama and he made his way, fast, to me! He was so excited about his discovery that his little chubby feet can get him places. Let the races begin.

Today we went to Children's theatre in downtown Birmingham and saw Jack and the Beanstalk. It was a nice change from the usual summer pool thing. The Children's theatre puts on great shows for preschool age kids. If you are ever looking for something fun to do indoors to beat the heat...try it out.
http://www.bct123.org/index.html

Every Monday, I lead a small group at my house with about 7 girls. Today, as I was getting ready for the girls to come, the boys were playing outside. All of the sudden, Wills bursts in and says, "Mom, you have a customer". One of the girls in the group had just pulled into the driveway. This made me laugh out loud at how cute my kids are...I love it when that happens.

God is Powerful

I love my church! It is amazing how talented and gifted Pastor Chris is. The Lord is using him in so many ways to reach people all over the world and bring the news of hope that can be found in Jesus Christ. Church of the Highlands, reaching new heights in your relationship with the Lord.
Today's message was just phenomenal. It was about having confidence in God. Believing that God is powerful. He is omniscient (all knowing), Omnipresent (everywhere all the time), Omnipotent (All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.Psalm 139:16) The main thing that struck me today was that Our God is not worried or nervous about anything. Nothing surprises Him. He knows the past, present, and the future, all at the same time. There is nothing that I can go through, that God does not already know the outcome to? Why do bad things happen in this world? I don't know! But, I believe and I pray that I can come to understand...How incredibly great His power is to help those who believe Him...the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead. Eph. 1:18-20 LB
What should my response be? I need to believe, trust and serve God.
God is Powerful! We know that the power of God is greater than our problems, past hurts and sins. When we seek the Lord and become people who experience His power, there is nothing too big for us!

If you want to listen to this message, go to http://www.churchofthehighlands.com/welcome.html and click on Watch messages. It is worth it

My Boys

Wake Up Mama!!

Future bowling star

"Wake up Mama"

Today was a fun Summer day for our family. Matt took the 3 older kids to b'fast while I stayed home with G. He has been sick and is finally turning a corner, so he needed to stay home to take a nap and I was more than happy to stay in a quiet house. While the kids and Matt were gone, I ate a bowl of cereal while reading the paper and crawled back into bed. I was probably asleep for at least an hour, it was wonderful. Before long, I hear the kids run into the room, frantically trying to find me. You would have thought we had been apart for days. It was a great morning for me!

We took the kids bowling later on that day and that was a blast. I forgot how much fun bowling is. Although it took a long time to get through 1 game of bowling, we survived and had a fun spending time as a family.

Sugar and Spice...and Green toe nail polish???

we visited the pool today!
had to bring the doll

loving the water already

Kate had a "girl's night" last night with her Nana and they visited the salon this morning to get their nails done. When Nana brought her home, she showed me her fingernails and toenails and how "beautiful" they were. She had picked out her own color! Out of the 1000+ colors available at a nail place, she picked out green with a glitter coat on top. Nana said that when she walked out of the salon she said, "that was great". I think she enjoyed herself.

Summer Art

we made paper chain snakes.
gray had a little help from mommy.

A rainbow

They love to paint

Yesterday I had to stay at home ALL day because we switched to AT&T Uverse and it took the guy 8 (yes 8) hours to install this thing. I pulled out the good ole art box because I just could not handle playing with webkins anymore. Here are some pics of my budding artists.

Happy Birthday to my best freind!

Happy Birthday! 6-10-09

Watching the rice sizzle

Chopsticks were a big hit

Owen ate 3 noodles for dinner--that was it!

Today is Matt's 34th birthday. It always comes around so quick each year, which means mine is soon to follow!! I cannot even begin to put into words what a wonderful husband and what an amazing father he is to me and our four children. I am blessed to have married a man who loves the Lord with all his heart, loves me more than anything on earth, and adores his children with everything he has. There is a great country song on the radio right now called I Thought I loved you Then. It is about how you think you love someone so much at the moment you were: married, engaged, etc.. that you can't even imagine how you could love somebody more than at that moment....but it happens. Your love grows each year, each day, each hour, each child (i had to put that in there!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uzAVTGOl-8

Here is a link to that song! So good.

The Things you see at Wal-mart

Tonight I got home from the grocery store and Matt came in the kitchen to help me bring all the groceries in. Well, he looked at my face and started dying laughing and says "You have stuff all over your face". Well, I look in the mirror and I had black stuff all over my lips and my chin! I had walked around Wal-mart, just as happy as can be with ink all over my face. In the car on the way to the store, I pulled a pen out of my purse that had leaked and it must have gotten on my hands, then face, etc... I think it is hilarious that the check out kid , and the man I talked to in front of me, and the lady that asked where the cranberry juice was, and the guy who helped me get the dog food in my cart, didn't say anything. So, the next time you see me out and I have new beauty marks on my face, please let me know!

More Beautiful You

I have heard this song many times recently on the radio and love it. Take a listen!
The words are so powerful. Now that I have a daughter of my own, I am more aware than ever, of how deceiving this world can be. Beauty is not measured by our outward apperance, but our inner heart. I will fight to make sure my kids know truth and purpose through Christ Jesus and not the lies of this world

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjE0PHi30Qs&feature=related

Prima Ballerina

Kate and her Ballet teachers!

Here are a few ballet terms that I need to get familiar with:
Pirouette. A complete turn on one foot, with the swing of an arm providing the force.

Plie. A full bending of the knees in any of the five positions. In all positions but second and fourth ouverte the heels will come off the ground;

Prima Ballerina. The star dancer.

Tutu. The very short skirt that was first worn by ballerinas in Romantic ballets of the 19th century.

Kate did a ballet camp this week and she loved it! It was so fun for me to see her get really excited about something new. There were only 5 little girls in the camp, so it was perfect for her. I never was a dancer and I know I am going to enjoy having Kate try it out.

While Kate was at camp, me and the boys went to the North Shelby Library for a special program with a FLOW circus juggler/clown/magician. He was great. Right up my preschoolers alley. On the way home, I asked my kids what their favorite part was and they both agreed it was when he shook his bottom. Gotta love 4 & 5 year old boy's humor.

We wrapped our day up by getting out the good ole play-dough! Note to self...(and I seem to forget this every time)...play-dough IS NOT an independent activity for my children. I thought I was going to have some time to start dinner, but ended up making about 100 snakes. The best part of play-dough is that it keeps on giving the rest of the week (sarcasm here). I will find bits of play-dough all over the kitchen for the next few days.

Spare the Rod....

My Spirited Owen

Oh how I loathe disciplining, potty training is up there, but discipling a child is just painful, for both parties. I am continuing to work on my children "obeying the first time". I am so tired of delayed obedience from my kids that I am really going to crack the whip (no pun intended) to get this under control. I know that the Lord commands us to raise up our children in the way they should go...to make them aware of what is right and wrong and so on and so on.....yes! I get it, I truly believe it, but does a child's will have to be so strong?!

Sometimes I wonder, "Does he just not get it?" Does he realize He is making the CHOICE to disobey? Am I too hard on him? Am I not hard enough? Is he going to hate me one day?

It all comes back to trusting God. Do I trust him with every area of my life? Yes.

Do I trust Him with my children's lives? YES!

This is a paragraph taken from a great book Shepherding a Child's heart.

As a parent, you must exercise authority. You must require obedience of your child because they are called by God to obey and honor you. You must exercise authority, not as a cruel taskmaster, but as one who truly loves them. Children generally do not resist authority that is truly kind and selfless. I must shepherd his thoughts, helping him to learn discernment and wisdom. Parenting is shepherding the hearts of my children in the ways of God's wisdom.

Wonderful World of Boys

This is what happens when I try to get a family picture!

My Boys

G has discovered the Soccer Ball

Future Soccer Star!

Gray has discovered the wonderful world of Balls. Have I really not yet introduced him to balls yet? Poor 4th child. He is so happy when he has this ball in his hands and will throw it and chase it around the house. I actually brought it with us in the car today when we were going somewhere because he is so fussy in the car. It worked! He was so content sitting in his car seat holding a ball as big as him.

All the Single Ladies...

Here is a shout out to all those single moms out there! I can only imagine doing what I do when Matt is out of town, all the time. It is tough work. I have gotten spoiled because with the slow economy, Matt's traveling has slowed too. I forgot how much work and how tiring it is to be a single parent.
For my friend who have wondered what my days are like, here it goes: This would be a typical day for us or a "good day"
6:30 -kids are waking up- roll/crawl out of bed to go get G, nurse him in his room b/c he gets so distracted these days that I have to hole up in his room.
7:30--kids are STARVING. pancakes, cereal, waffles, whatever is easiest
8:00--cleaning up the kitchen, keeping G out of the cabinets, get everyone dressed, kids play, I try to brush my teeth while G plays in the bathtub with no water! It is like a playpen...why have I never thought of this. Pack lunches and snacks for the day
9:00-try to get out the door to the gym...this starts at 9 and we are out the door by 9:30
10:15--heading somewhere fun , usually meeting some friends...zoo, pool, park, library, etc
12:00--Eat our packed lunches
1:00--return home b/c I still have 2 nappers...G and Kate. Nurse G and convince Kate to sleep too. she is starting to fight me on this.
W & O will usually rest for 30 minutes in the basement bedroom and then watch some T.V. for an hour. This gives me an hour to unpack our stuff and shower, start preparing dinner, etc
3:00--Everyone is up, ready for a snack--oh....back in the kitchen!
3:30-5:30--we are usually at home just playing outside or in the playroom. I might do a load of laundry in there and try to pick up some things. Mostly we are riding big wheels, playing with our neighbors, jumping on the trampoline, playing animals, etc...
5:30--starting to cook dinner
6:00--bath time (on a good day)
6:30 dinner
7:00 Video for the W, O, & K (I take G upstairs to feed him and put him down)
7:30 head up to bed, brush teeth, read 3 books, prayers,
8:00 BED
8:30--clean up the kitchen, go back up to tell the kids to go to sleep
fold laundry, pick up, check emails, & do all the things I need to get done
10:00 I am in bed and very soon after my head hits the pillow, I am up again to do it all over