Surfin’ Hilton Head

Posted on June 24, 2009 by Abbie

Saturday, we hit the beach. The kids (including Mark) had a wonderful time actually getting into the water.

Liam was “holding back the water.” He told Mark, “I’m doing it daddy…Look!”

Josiah and I were walking back up to the tent when we spotted this. A starfish! This is the first time I’ve seen one at the beach. Josiah touched it but by the time the rest of the kids got out of the water, he was curling up and they didn’t want to touch it. So, Mark scooped it up and we had a quick Science lesson on why it was sand colored and how it ate and felt around. Then, Mark threw it back in the ocean.
Josiah tried to figure out where it went. While we were all out in the water, a man came up and handed us a few sand dollars to look at. That was neat. I’d never seen them up close. After we looked at them and put them back, Zoe informed us that she had picked up one when she was scooping sand up and promptly screamed and threw it back in the water.

Meet the Beach

Posted on June 23, 2009 by Abbie

This was Josiahs’ first time to the beach…well, his second actually, we went when he was negative three weeks (aka, he was in utero). He doesn’t remember that much, so, this, he can enjoy.

Ace was only 2 1/2 when we went and doesn’t remember it much either…but he still felt the need to pose like a karate man.

Happy Father’s Day!

Posted on June 23, 2009 by Abbie

Mark got a pretty rockin’ Father’s Day this weekend! We went to Hilton Head in South Carolina. Just a weekend trip…one of the perks of living only a few hours away…It was a ton of fun. On Sunday, we surprised him with these shirts from Union28. In case you can’t tell, they say, “My Daddy Rocks (Mommy’s Right!)!” He got a good kick out of that. I’m so blessed to have a wonderful husband who does late night bad dreams and has walked our children enough to have walked around the earth (or at least the moon).

Stay tuned for even more pictures of our weekend trip!

The Latest Fashion Craze

Posted on June 22, 2009 by Abbie

Ignore the double chin and dote on my sweet baby snoozing in the sling. Simply scrumptious! After using a sling for six years, I finally figured out how to put her in tummy to tummy by watching a videofrom Zolo Slings. They were also useful in instructing me how to feed her in the sling, too…something I’ve only partially been able to do.

And, before you ask, yes, I made this sling using these instructions. In a nice blessing, the folks at JoAnn’s accidentally sent me an extra yard of fabric. While, I tried to contact them to pay for it, they haven’t contacted me back (and I think are probably a little dumbfounded that I let them know of the mistake). So, I took the extra yard and made a really cute nursing cover to go with it.

Locks of Love Revisited

Posted on June 22, 2009 by Abbie

Zoe had been having a difficult time with her hair. It was getting very tangly even just after brushing it. So, I told her if she wanted it cut, to let me know. She thought about it for a day or two and then told me she wanted it cut. I called (because I can do trims on girls…barely, but I didn’t trust myself to cut a lot) and got her in this week. I didn’t think she’d have enough hair to donate, but our hairdresser measure it and it was just enough. So, off it went and off we’re sending her hair to Locks of Love. This is the second time she has donated her hair. The first time was when we had just found out a friend had cancer and so, we measured her hair and let her get it cut then. She doesn’t look like a little girl with it short!

Latest Beachwear

Posted on June 21, 2009 by Abbie

edit note: I had scheduled this to post on Thursday, but I guess it just didn’t make it. Here it is now!

So, I got Zoe’s swimsuit made! Yippee! It was actually really a lot easier than I thought…I just hope it doesn’t fall apart on her in the water. We’ll test it out soon! The pattern was super easy and came from here. I found the fabric here and they shipped it really quickly. I am going to get another swimsuit out of it thereby making her swimsuits cost somewhere around $10 to $15 (compare to other modest swimsuits that cost between $50 and $80). Zoe picked out the fabric all on her on. I thought she did a good job!

The Go Fish Guys Rockin’ It…part one

Posted on June 17, 2009 by Abbie

Since Mark was there as the tech go to guy, we were able to come early and watch the sound check and hang out before the concert on Saturday.

Here’s what the kids thought of the music at first…notice Liam has his ears covered…that didn’t last long when the guys got out there.

Look closely at my horrible picture taking and you will see Mark hanging out and talking with the sound dude.

Sound check time…

The kids enjoyed a meet and greet with the Go Fish Guys before the concert. They were only able to get autographs and not really stop for pictures. But it was fun anyways…

Meeting Go Fish! from justabunchofcharacters on Vimeo.

Mr. H with the station manager of our local radio station getting ready to intro the group.

Feelin’ Snazzy!

It didn’t take the kids long to get out of the pews and into the aisles so they could move and groove with the music.

Yes, the adults danced too…in a Baptist church no less…what is this world coming to???

Here They Come…

Posted on June 16, 2009 by Abbie

Josiah, Puppets, and Go Fish! from justabunchofcharacters on Vimeo.Josiah and Liam have both become a little camera shy…wonder why? Anyway, I promise he was excited to see them. He just didn’t want the camera pointed at him. And if you’re wondering why he didn’t say, “Go Fish, ” rest assured he did. That razzberry he blew is his word for fish and has been for quite some time, even though he can say all the sounds to fish (Ace has been working with him) he just can’t put it all together. By the end of this week, he was saying “razzberry ish.” He would say it and point to anyone who had on a Go Fish shirt or anytime he saw the Go Fish logo.

Going Backstage…with the Bible (VBS)

Posted on June 15, 2009 by Abbie

Our vacation Bible school was last week, and while it was thoroughly exhausting, we had a BLAST!

The theme was “Backstage with the Bible” and it was from the group Go Fish! This was one VBS that was grounded in God’s Word and encouraging the children to not only come but to bring their Bibles and actually (gasp) open them up and read them (at least those that could read). Also, the gathering/worship time was one of the best we’ve been to. The kids and adults were not standing around singing really silly (read lame) songs…they were worshipful and focused on the true reason we are here…to praise and glorify God.

And so, to start this week off, I’ll be posting several days worth of pictures and video from this week and mainly from their rockin’ concert on Saturday!

Zoe Dancing at VBS from justabunchofcharacters on Vimeo.

Ceili Rain’s Three Months

Posted on June 12, 2009 by Abbie

Ceili Rain has finished up her third month strong. She is by far the most talkative baby we have had. She loves to googoo gaga to us. She loves to be worn but can be just as content to ride in the stroller. She does get fed up with the car seat (did you see what we did last weekend!). It feels like she’s been a part of our family for a long time. She’s just slid right into her place and is here and happy to go along. She also loves Celtic/Irish music which is quite sweet since her name is Irish!