Progress

It can be hard to see progress in the midst of it. It can be hard to see it when it moves so slowly.
When William was a baby, it felt like his progress moved slowly. I'm sure part of it was my longing to do more things with him. Being able to have him repeat words. Then saying full sentences. Then having his own thoughts and expressing them. He just couldn't get bigger quick enough. I will say, I'm perfectly content with where he is now. I've told him plenty of times, "Don't get any bigger!"
With Madelyn, I have not wanted her to progress. I've said, "You don't need to crawl. You're just fine sitting right there." When my grandmother was trying to get her to walk, I said, "She doesn't need to walk. She's just fine crawling."
With kids, progress happens. You can't stop it. And I'm relatively convinced, you can't really speed it up. They're going to go at the speed that God intended.
Now, home repairs. There is one that can stop. It can come to a freekin' halt. As I have discovered, Brad can do something to speed it up. Sometimes with sugar. Sometimes with vinegar.
Mid-November, our damaged hard wood floors along with the kitchen cabinets and granite and pantry items were removed. Fans and dehumidifiers were installed. And then, it felt as though all progress stopped.
I understand that we couldn't see the slab drying out. Which is what it was doing. But it took weeks.
Then . . . it happened. They were dry. And a very exciting step to the entire process occurred. They laid the floors down.
Then we waited.
20 days.
And the lacquer was added. Well, the first coat.
By the end of this weekend, all the coats will have been added.
And we'll wait.
Again.
For them to dry.

Here are the guys adding the lacquer.



Progress.

Hookie

We played hookie last Sunday. Neither Brad nor I had to serve at church, so we totally loaded the kids up first thing in the morning and went to Disney.
It was such a great day. We rode the new Toy Story Mania. The line to get on the ride winds thru oversized toys and games. 5 foot tall crayons, Candy Land covering the walls and floors, 9 foot Lincoln Log cabin, and interactive talking Mister Potato Head. The linking monkeys hang from the ceiling and the Shoots and Ladders game board is on the ceiling. It was visually interesting to Madelyn. Good thing. We waited 40 minutes.

William in line at Toy Story Mania. Oversize dominos and playing cards.

Maddie and daddy.

The ride is 3D which is the explanation for the glasses. The tongue sticking out? Don't know.

Madelyn enjoyed the 3D fun. She took a different spin on the glasses.

Maddie & mommy.

She understood what to do on the ride. Pull the string. Her aim was just a little off.

There is a playground where kids can let loose. It is designed as an oversized ant colony or bug something or other. Madelyn thoroughly enjoyed the 2 foot slide and crawling through the little spaces. She was playing peek-a-boo with Brad here.

Pouty lips.

Madelyn eating her first madeleine (cookie in France).

This is the best.
"Mommy I love you soooo much." Then he planted a big kiss on my cheek.
William is a very ACTIVE boy. However, so loving.

. . . . . . . . . is PREGNANT

Before anyone freaks out - I asked a dear friend if I could blog about their incredibly exciting news.
She said yes.
So here it goes . . .

Abby & Patrick are expecting!!!!

WooHooo!

I can't tell you how exciting this is.
In fact, I am more excited for them than I was when I found out Brad & I were expecting. Not that I wasn't excited to have a life growing inside me - but nausea and food aversions did put a damper on my ever expanding belly.

Seeing the sonogram of 'Baby S' waving brings tears to my eyes. Life is so precious and I am so excited that our dear friends are finally experiencing this new life for themselves. They are going to be great parents.

My heart races as I think about what lies ahead for mommy-to-be and daddy-to-be. Feeling 'Baby S' kicking. Finding out whether the baby will be wearing a jersey next football season or a cheerleading outfit. (Steph is predicting a girl :)
Decorating the nursery. Ohhh - all the shopping to get ready for baby. That precious first time they hold their child in their arms. Tears. Introducing their new addition to their incredibly excited friends and family that will be pounding on the hospital door to be let in to hold their tiny gift. Heart racing. The day they dedicate 'Baby S' to the Lord who has blessed them so. Tears. Raising our kids together!

Ahhh - your time is here! June is right around the corner. How awesome!

Lunchtime at the Aquarium

We renewed our passes to the Florida Aquarium after not having them for a year. I'm so glad we did renew. The weather has been so nice lately, a cool breeze but a warm sun, so sitting outside while the kids enjoy the playground is pleasant.
Here are pics of the kids at the sand pit.

The boys tried constructing a pyramid.

Still working on the pyramid.

William and his friend enjoying an ice cream sandwich.

Hello Mr Turkey. How are you?

William's school Thanksgiving performance was Monday. We all went to see him on stage and have a good laugh.

Sofia & Maddie riding the big yellow school bus to the school.

Brad & Maddie patiently waiting for William's class.

And here they come . . .
I guess I'm not too surprised that he was the "line leader". He is constantly telling me he wants to be the line leader. It doesn't matter if he doesn't know where we're going. He just wants to be in front.

"Hello Mr Turkey, how are you? Hello Mr Turkey, how are you?"

"With a Gobble, Gobble, Gobble. And a Wobble, Wobble, Wobble. Hello Mr. Turkey, how are you?"

MiMi & PopPop with the girls.

After the performance, we joined W and his classmates for a Thanksgiving feast in his room. He really liked the cornbread muffins.

Remodel

This is what our kitchen looked like before we left on vacation . . .

Notice countertops and cabinets. Notice an island. Wood floor.

This is what it looked like when we got home from vacation.


And this is what it looks like tonight.


What, you don't see much of a difference? Yeah, we don't either.

Home repairs go sloooooooooooooooow.

Aloha!

We'd been planning a trip to Hawaii since last October. It finally arrived. It was so long coming, and I can't believe it finally came.
We went to Kauai, known as the "Garden Island". It is very rural.
I was SO happy when I was doing some research the week before we left and found out that they built a Costco since the last time we were there! We strolled through the isles a couple times. Had to. Love that place.
We were dreading the plane rides. But out of a total of 5 planes, on all but one we had 6 seats for the 4 of us.
Oh, I didn't mention that, did I? Yes, we took both the kids. Turns out, taking your children on 'vacation' with you is not really a 'vacation' since you're still parenting - jut in a different location. In this case, one that is a 13 hour plane ride away and a 5 hour time change difference.
Still, we made wonderful memories and did enjoy escaping every day life.

Day 1 . . . We were awake at 4am. That is 9am EST. We all tossed and turned for a while. When we finally did get out of bed - we met the sunrise.
After breakfast we took a stroll around the hotel grounds and found a couple hammocks that we got to relax in a couple times.


The beautiful hibiscus were everywhere.


Off to Spouting Horn. It's volcanic rock that is formed so that when the ocean waves crash into it, a "Roar" sound is made. Brad and William decided that it isn't a dragon inside, but a "Chicken Lizard" that is caught under the rocks roaring.

If you click on the above picture, you can see in the turtle swimming in the ocean.

There are sooo many chickens that run wild on Kauai. Apparently, more wild chickens than people on the island. And William really enjoyed seeing how many he could chase.


Day 2 . . . Breakfast was in the hotel restaurant that had one entire side that opened up to the ocean facing the sunrise. I know these aren't the best quality pictures - but it gives an idea of the beautiful view we had at breakfast.



Pictures on the rocks. 100 yards from the lanai of our hotel room.


We drove an hour up Waimea Canyon. Beautiful views of the canyon on the way up. We even saw a couple waterfalls. If you click on the pictures you can zoom in on them.





Now hiking the Waimea Canyon. (See, we did use the backpack! And we had fun!)


The view from our hike. Not too shabby, huh? See why we did it?

Resting on the trail.
We just came down that . . .
And we're going down there . . .
It's hard to distinguish where the sky ends and the ocean begins.

Taking a break an hour into the hike.

Maddie fell asleep on the way back. Best seat in the house.

William was a very agile hiker.

Day 3
After hiking, William really enjoys climbing on the rocks. It is an adventure for him. He even brought his water gun for his adventure.

A family photo as the sun is rising.
Me and the kids.

William feeding the koi in the pond at the hotel.

Maddie taking a stroll outside our room.
Brad teaching William to snorkle. First in the pool, then we'll try the ocean.

Day 4 . . . Kauai Coffee Plantation. We toured the grounds and went through the maze made out of 10' coffee plants. Even sampled some of their different varieties and flavors.

Maddie strolling through the maze. I had to put this picture in b/c I caught her walking with her arm bent and her hand hanging so prissy like.

William playing in the coffee drying tents.

Me & Maddie.

Brad & William.

In the evening, hula dancers and a Hawaiian band were the entertainment during the Mai Tai party. William especially liked the little 8 year old hula girl.
Watching the hula dancers.