Week 21

Sunday, May 15th

Trevor planned a sleepover at my Dad's. He had counted down 6 sleeps til the big day arrived. He packed his back pack and had it on at noon....for a 6:00pm meet time. He was just a little anxious! He passed out during the 1/2 hour car ride to meet Dad, but he perked right up when we got there and was just giddy with excitement.

Monday, May 16th

I'm totally bummed that I didn't take a picture on Monday. I went out to Dad's to pick up Trevor and C4. Tim, Beth, and the kids met us there for Dad's famous chili. The kids had a blast!

Tuesday, May 17th

Rocco loves playing in the sink!

Wednesday, May 18th

Trevor's beginning to write his letters. He did these on his own without looking at anything. I got such a kick out of him adding the artistic dots on each one like I often do to birthday cards, etc.

Thursday, May 19th

Trevor was apparently watching 'Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs' from the library...and playing with my camera!!

Saturday, May 21st

We were priveleged to witness the marriage of dear friends from church, Steve and Heather. I have worked closely with them during our productions. They actually met last year during the Passion of the King. It is the first marriage for each of them even though they are both over 40. They are a beautiful picture of patience and their earnest desire to honor God and His perfect provision.

The ceremony was amazing. Brent officiated and made it very personal. Amy and Jenn sang beautifully. Both bride and groom radiated all day and we could not be more thrilled for them.

All wedding photos were taken by my talented sister, Lisa of Dayspring Photography.

Later, Madison and I got to go to Avery's recital. I was trying to get a picture of the girls, but Aiden HAD to get in on it. He was so funny!

Spa Evening

Yesterday I wasn't feeling well. I had a cold and sinus headache and just kinda run down all day. After dinner, C3 and C4 were gone and Madison took it upon herself to try to keep the boys busy so I could rest. I started working on Trevor's birthday book.

I started to hear some whispering and bustling around and had a feeling she was up to something. As I carried stacks of folded laundry up to my room to sort on my bed, she said, "Mom! You can't come in here. We need more time."

I put the 4 loads of folded laundry neatly near my bedroom door and returned to my computer. Within a few minutes I got the clear to come upstairs. As instructed, I knocked and heard, "Come in." I completely regret not having the video rolling because I knew they were scheming something! As the door opened, they all had smiles bigger than their faces. They were so, so excited!Madison had arranged for an evening at the Spa. She had music softly playing and everyone was ready to go- aprons on and towels ready. They had me lay on my bed. Rocco wanted to lay and snuggle with me. That was sweet but not part of Madison's plan. I asked her if he could just stay for a few moments. A couple minutes later, Trevor entered with a cup of water for me. He was so pleased with himself, carrying it like a trophy, and I was touched by the thought. I found out later from Maddy that she had not sent him to get it. He did that on his own.

First Nathanael began to give me a hand massage. Madison took Trevor and Rocco to Colombo's closet where she had thought ahead and stocked it with toys and snacks. Ahead of time. She did not miss a detail. I kid you not, the boys played very happily in there for an hour! Rocco came out once to use the potty. Madison took him.

Madison: He pooped.

Me: Oh, good, boy! How much?

Madison: Oh, just a little.

Nathanael: Well, it's the thought that counts.

After my hand massage they sat me up on some pillows, put a heating pad behind my back, and then Nathanael came in carrying two bins of warm water. They had me soak my feet. Madison pointed to the lotions and said, "This is our new product line and our first 10 customers get 10% off."

Nathanael, smelling the peppermint lotion, said, "Smells like the North Pole. [long, thoughtful pause] What's the South Pole like?

They were totally into it. I was very enthusiastic with my ooohs and ahhhs, letting them know how much I was enjoying myself. Nathanael was so pleased by this. At one point he coyly said, "Just so you know, this is all $5." To which Madison replied, "No. We're doing it so she feels better."

Nathanael thought for a second and asked, "Were you just faking sick so you could have the bath salts?"

Madison massaged my feet and Nathanael brushed my hair. At one point he said, "Ma'am, may I suggest next time you come in looking like a hobo so we can do a makeover on you."

Finally, I got a lovely back massage.

It was very sweet of them to pull it all together and it was actually very relaxing. Madison continually amazes me not only with her creativity but also her leadership skills in getting the little guys to do anything she wants them to.

At bedtime, I climbed the stairs once more to deal with the laundry in the hall. Madison had sorted it all into piles and put all of it away!

A very nice evening at the Spa, indeed.

Week 20

Sunday, May 8th--Mother's Day

Unfortunately this ranked as one of my 3 worst Mother's Days. It wasn't all bad, but it started it's downward spiral on Friday when I picked a fight with Colombo. Why do I do that? Then we decided to stay home and finish painting the dining room for the day. We did some work in that room that I will post separately. To top it off, Trevor woke up puking for the whole morning. But really, every day is a treasure to me. I'm living my dream with these 5 gorgeous, healthy kids who make me LOVE being a MOM.

The day improved as we went along though. We finished in the dining room, Trevor felt better by about 2:00 and we had a surprise visit from Nick and Katie and Ninny and Papa.

I got a bouquet just like this one from Nicky and Katie. The flowers were gorgeous and brightened my day.
For dinner, I met my Mom and 2 sisters at a local Thai restaurant and had a lovely evening together. Can't remember the last time the 4 of us did something like that without kids.

Monday, May 9th

Madison has added pancakes to the list of meals that she can make completely on her own.

We snuck an afternoon of yardwork in. I literally have to 'sneak' it in considering the spring we've had. We went from too chilly to want to be outside to rain as far as the eye can see.

We ate our first family dinner at our new (gently used) dining room table.

Tuesday, May 10th

Nathanael had a baseball game. At the end, his coach handed out these snacks.

I squealed in delight when I saw them. "Mix-up" is a word Trevor coined for when he wants 2 things. Obviously. But it gets used around our house all the time. At breakfast he'll want a "mix-up" of 2 different cereals. Or he'll say, "I will have a mix-up of cheese and crackers." Or when coloring with markers he'll say, "Blue and green are my favorite mix-up." So it's become a term that we all throw around a bit in fun. I got way too excited about it. Nathanael looked at me like, "Wow, Mom...you should get out more."

Thursday, May 12th

We were in Philly at Melody's graduation, and the details are below in another post.

Friday, May 13th

Another day in Philly for 1/2 the fam, but back at home the little guys were having fun with Danielle.

Since I missed pictures on Wednesday and Saturday I dug back to find a blast from the past:

May 2005--6 years ago--3 kids, 1 new puppy--We bought our camper out of the paper from a very, very nice family that we had a few interactions with. Had we lived closer I would have loved to be friends with them and closely model their parenting skills.

Dr. Boyd

Up until now she's just been my cousin, Melody. But after many years of hard work, hours of study, and intense teaching and writing, she is Dr. Melody Boyd.

We took a road trip down to Philadelphia to see her graduate. I took my 3 oldest kids and Lisa and her two girls rode down with us, maxing out the van. It was a treat not to have the little guys in tow and made for a very enjoyable couple of days. AND we had 2 days of beautiful spring weather.

We arrived on Thursday just after the BIG commencement with all 8,500 students. There were not enough tickets for us to attend. I would have enjoyed seeing Bill Cosby speak. But anyway, we hooked up with Aunt Bonnie, Uncle Lee, Johnny, and Melody during the lunch break. We went to this little outdoor food court. Everyone picked what they wanted and we met back at the picnic tables.

After enjoying some time in the sun and feeding the squirrels, we went up to see Melody's office on the way to the smaller commencement ceremony for about 80 students about 1/2 receiving their Masters and 1/2 their PhD.

As part of the ceremony, every PhD is called by named, the title of their dissertation read, and then they are"hooded" by their advisor. The 30 students before her were hooded without any issue. Then, what would seem to others like a very odd series of events and what others may call a hooding gone wrong, somehow seemed quite normal and comical to those of us who know Mel. Of course this would happen to her!

First her advisor tried to go over the head from the front.

Right here we are about 30 seconds in and clearly this is not working.

About this time I lean back to my uncle and jokingly whisper, "How many Dr.s does it take to get a hood on?"

A new approach. The advisor decides it will be better to go for it from the back.

But no! Now her hat comes completely off. The nervous laughter of the audience grows infectiously as we are now about a minute into the debacle.

But Mel takes it like a champ and at last the hood is on!

It was surreal how long it took; like time stood still. But Melody laughed about it herself. Of course the rest of us had a wonderful evening of going over it again and again, replaying it in our minds, and listening to Mel's version of the events. The play by play. Later at dinner she said something like, "It was just so dark and hot in there." Oh my gosh, we laughed until it hurt. Good times.

After the ceremony we took some pictures on campus.

Dr. Melody L. Boyd

Sociology

"Navigating Neighborhoods: How Social Networks and Space Shape the Decisions and Experiences of Families in Housing Mobility Programs."

Before dinner we had time to take Johnny's scenic route across the city, through Chinatown, to park near the restaurant. With an hour to spare, we walked to Love Park.

Then my aunt and uncle treated us all to a lovely family-style Italian dinner in a private room at the restaurant.

Friday morning started with the girls deciding what to do for matching hairdos.

After leaving the hotel, I spotted the "Rocky" steps. I pulled over to let the kids run up.

On the way back down, I was horrified to helplessly watch Nathanael roll down about 6 steps. Thank God he escaped with some minor bumps and scrapes.

Next up was breakfast to go at Wawa's and on to see Melody's sweet apartment.

From there we took a trolley ride and subway to get across the city.

We walked to the Visitor's Center which was tremendous. There were exhibits to read, people dressed in 18th century clothing and telling the kids stories.

We also watched a 30 minute video about the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It literally gave me chills to watch Thomas Jefferson pen those words. As we walked in their footsteps through the day I was so very grateful for the signers' sacrifice. Their vision, passion, tenacity, endurance, and courage are incomprehensible. They were willing to be hanged for treason just for the sake of liberty.

Independence Hall was under construction.

A short line moved quickly to get us to Liberty Bell.

We got lunch from a food truck which is a very Philly thing to do. They are well known for 'good' food trucks. I had a Philly steak and cheese. The 3 kids and I all ate for $12.

Next-ice cream at D.Q.--$18. Then it was time to say goodbye to Aunt Bonnie, Uncle Lee, and Melody so they could go make party preparations for the graduation party on Saturday for friends. But our trusty guide, Johnny continued to walk us around the city. We saw the Betsy Ross house, Benjamin Franklin's grave, and Penn's Landing.

We walked so, so much but none of the kids ever uttered a breath of complaint. They were so good! They thanked me for bringing them and Nathanael said it was the best 2 days of his life! We made many happy memories, feeling like we got the full Philly experience, before hitting the road about 6pm.

Congratulations, Melody! We love you! And PhD or not, you'll always be Mel to us!