Rain Rain Go Away....

Rain, Rain go away...that's how we felt on Monday! After a weekend of much needed rain and again on Monday, we were sick of being trapped indoors! The kids were bouncing off the walls! There are only so many games you can play inside, so many times a movie can be watched....

Chance enjoyed pulling Layla in the Mega Blocks wagon. It was really cute to watch until he began popping wheelies with her and then I was afraid she'd get hurt. Attitudes were high from being inside for three days straight and I was very happy to hear the weather forecast speak of sunshine :)

On Tuesday, Aunt Courtney came to visit us and we had a great time. After putting the kids down for a nap, Courtney and I talked and laughed about so many things. It was great! We planned a trip down to the beach on Thursday to visit Mom and Larry and go out on the boat. The kids got up from their nap and we played inside for awhile before Courtney had to leave.

On Wednesday we went to Yaya's pool with Heather. Chance and Layla were in the backseat talking away. Layla barely saying anything that could be understood and Chance asking me if we were there yet. At each stop sign Chance wanted to know which way we needed to turn to get to Yaya's. I told him left/right and then asked him to point the way. I was so proud of him, he never made a mistake. When we were about a mile away he asked me this question...I waiting patiently Mommy? I laughed under my breath and told him he was doing great! We pulled in Yaya's driveway and both kids started screaming.....Yaya's Yaya's.....ohhhhh it's Headerrrr :)

I'm not sure who had the most fun..Chance, Layla, or Heather!

Of course all the smiles faded when it was time to leave. Layla was so tired and needed a nap and so did Chance. I was so afraid of a meltdown or having to listen to whining because we were leaving. I explained to Chance that it was time to go and he needed to help get all the floats and stuff put away. He was such a big boy and that left me feeling great!

On Thursday, Aunt Courtney came over that morning and
we got the kids ready. We were off to the beach to visit
Mom & Larry! Chance was so excited because he knew we
were going out on the boat. We got to the beach and loaded
everything up and drove down to the boat landing. The wind
was blowing so bad and the water was choppy, but that didn't
stop us. We road to the South Inlet at Topsail. It was so nice,
the kids could play in the sound and Papa Larry could fish.
We had such a wonderful time!! Courtney, Mom, and me
laughed so hard and it felt great! Chance had such a hard time
deciding what he really wanted to do. He would play in the water awhile, then he'd get on the boat and fish. Back to the water, then back on the boat to fish. I guess he wanted to do
it all and was afraid he might leave something out. He really
enjoys going out on the boat with Nana & Papa, fishing with
Nana & Papa, and golfing with Nana & Papa. Yesterday, I
finally think I figured out why. He gets to eat all sorts of stuff
that's loaded with sugar & chocolate :) He had a great time!

Layla also enjoyed herself. She does really good on the boat. She sits and lets the wind blow through her hair, points at the birds, and squeals with joy. I enjoy watching my children having fun. She played in the water a lot. She too, ate quite a bit. She would have tried to fish, if her brother would have let her :)

My mom caught a jelly fish and that was fun for Courtney and myself. I remember as a child going with my dad to Minnesott Beach and getting stung by a jelly fish each trip. I had never
seen a jelly fish this close up before, so it was really neat. There was a crab inside the jelly fish that we were able to free :) Yes we felt like HERO'S!!! I thought for sure that these things would feel like jelly, the dead ones I had seen laying around sure did. This thing was hard as a rock, we poked at it with the net and flipped it around, just to be sure nothing else was inside.


We had such a wonderful time! It was exhausting but we wouldn't have wanted it any other way. A big Thank You to Nana & Papa for including us in your vacation :) We love you!!!


Although this week started out indoors the Lord blessed us with weather wonderful enough to spend the rest of the week outdoors. We had such a wonderful time enjoying the sunshine, swimming, boat ride, and all the wonderful scenery that God has blessed us with.

It just came to me as I was finishing up this blog, that our life is a lot like the weather. Life isn't always sunshine. There may be be days where the water is choppy and the wind feels like it won't stop blowing. There may be storms with dark nasty clouds that seem endless, but I praise God he's always by my side. He will never leave me or forsake me, no matter how rough life's weather may get! Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Isaiah 41:10

Until next time, we love you! May God continue to pour his blessings upon you as he does our family!

Dewalae

Pictures

Just as I promised here are the pictuers of Chance at Ayden's house. Chance had so much fun and would like to thank Ayden's parents for inviting him over for a play date. We need to do it again soon!

A week full of fun!

Happy Birthday Riley!

We started off the week on Sunday with a birthday
party for our cousin Riley. A huge water slide and
a little pool, cake, ice cream, cheese doodles, balloons,
and lots of kids...what doesn't sound fun about that?
Exactly, it was loads of fun and such a great way to
start off the week. How fast our babies grow up!

Chancelor graduated Preschool on Monday. They had a little graduation ceremony prepared and the kids sang songs that they had learned. It was really cute. I realized how nervous of a child he is. During the ceremony he looked at the floor the entire time and kept bending his fingers back like he was going to break them. He did that until he couldn't hold it in any longer and came down off the stage crying and ran straight to me. I felt so helpless as I watched my little man struggle with stage fright for the first time. I talked to him for a minute and got him to go back up on stage and finish the last song. Then all the kids went into the back and got on their caps and gowns, while we watched a slide show of what they had done for the year. Then all the kids marched down the isle with their caps and gowns on, it was the cutest thing I've ever seen. Here's a picture of my little man walking across the stage receiving his diploma :)



We left Tuesday for the beach and stayed with a family
we go to church with. We had such a great time. Chance
had a friend his age to play with and Layla had a friend
her age to play with. We went out on the beach, to the
sea turtle hospital, took pictures while the sun was setting,
rode jet skis, pulled the boys behind the boat, checked the
crab pots, and let the boys fish. It was a busy time.


Layla and her new friend Kinsley had such a wonderful time together. They played in the tub together, swam in the pool together, screamed together and even taught each other a few things. Kinsley doesn't hear as well as she should and has hearing aids, so she also uses sign language. I have started working with Chance & Layla on sign language so we can better communicate with Kinsley. Kinsley taught Layla the sign for fish and Layla taught Kinsley how to say 'not nice' :) I thought it was amazing the two of them teaching one another and how the more time they spend with one another, the more they will feed off each others knowledge. It was truly a blessing !!!

We came home today and got unpacked. Cleaned up the house a bit and then went to Jacksonville to buy the kids some clothes. While we were in Target we ran into a friend of ours who has a little boy that's Chancelor's age. We talked a minute and went on our way. A few minutes later we got a phone call asking if Chance wanted to ride home with her and play with Ayden. I asked Chance if he wanted to go and of course the answer was yes, so Leah came by and picked Chance up from Target. We finished our shopping, went to eat, and then left Jacksonville to go pick Chance up. When we got to Ayden's house, they were all out at the pond fishing, so of course we stopped and let Layla join in on the fun time. We fished until we were all out of crickets! Everyone enjoyed the fun and that has to mean that the fish were biting and everyone caught a fish! Chancelor tried to be brave and get the fish off the hook...he gave up! Layla kissed a fish and replied 'that's funny' in her sweet little voice. After we ran out of crickets we fed the fish in the pond some fish pellets and watched them jump up to get the food. Layla saw a bird feeder and was absolutely amazed at the bird seed...the things that get the attention of little kids. It was great! Pictures of Chancelor and Ayden's fun time will come soon!

Now we are home, the kids have had a bath and are in bed. It has been a busy but very fun and rewarding week. I got to spend some wonderful time with friends and so did the kids. I'm so thankful for the people that God has placed in my life!

Until next time, May God continue to pour his blessing upon you and your family as he does ours! We love you all!

I had a bad dream...what was it?

So I know it's been awhile since I posted a blog about the kids. I'm sorry about that. Well the past few weeks have been a little crazy for us. Chance finishing up school and getting ready for his preschool graduation. Of course we have been going to the beach on the pretty days and trying to do stuff outdoors..hoping to get rid of the energy the kids have :) Overall the past few weeks have been great.

Chance has been having some bad dreams lately. The other night he got up and came into my bedroom crying. He told me that he had a bad dream and then wanted me to tell him what it was about. I tried to explain to him that only he knew what his bad dreams were about. I some how managed to get him to tell me something about it and he said that there was a dead dog in the floor. Where do bad dreams originate from? Also, he's been sleepwalking recently. I was watching television the other night after he had been in bed a couple of hours and I heard him get up. I just figured he was going to the bathroom, but instead he came through the living room and into the kitchen. I turned to see what he was doing and he had his pants down like he was at the toilet. :) I was able to get to him and hurry him into the bathroom before we had a mess to clean up.

Layla has been something else this week. I didn't realize how loudly she can scream. Sometimes I think she does it just to hear herself, I'm just not sure. She's saying everything she hears, which is sometimes funny to hear. I'm just amazed at how much she is growing. We had been to the beach several times and tried to get Layla to get near the water but she was terrified. Last Friday my mom and I went to the beach and couldn't get Layla near the water without everyone around us thinking we were trying to kill her. On Saturday, we all went to the beach with a family from church and I couldn't keep Layla out of the water. It was amazing and I had such a great time watching my children enjoy themselves.
Sometimes I get so overwhelmed with the issues I face with my children that I almost feel like I don't appreciate them as who and what they are. I know that must sound bad, but hear me out. My eyes have been opened this week to a lot of things. I've read about so many families that don't always have healthy babies and deal with so much more than I do. I am so thankful for my children's health and thankful that God has blessed me with two of the most wonderful children. I guess I've just come to realize that the issues I face could be so much worse than they are and I'm so thankful that I've been able to see that. I really believe that God is doing something in my families life and in our church. I'm so very excited to see what the Lord has in store for us in the upcoming months. I ask that you pray for the families that have children that aren't healthy. I ask that you pray for peace to flood their lives. I ask that you pray for God's unfailing love to surround them. There are also a lot of people in our community that are dealing with sickness in their families, depression, death, and addiction. I would like to remember those in prayer as well. May God continue to bless everyone that reads this. Until next time.....

Dewalae