We ran away

This past weekend, the Captain and I ran away from home.  A family from church kept the boys so we could have some alone time before the baby comes.  It was heavenly.

We could only travel to the big city, because I can't handle car trips anymore.  We had a great hotel that was near lots of big city stuff like restaurants, movies, book stores, and shops that we don't readily have.

The hotel was so great there was a lot of people staying there.  I felt like I was in an episode of "Toddlers and Tiaras".  There was an elementary cheer leading competition in town and this was the hotel to stay at.  These LITTLE girls were all dolled with some very heavy makeup, glitter, lipstick, hair, and some questionable outfits for their competition.  They came complete with their entourages of parents (with matching t-shirts), siblings, and sponsors.  A sight to be seen for sure.

We watched "The Hunger Games."  It was a good movie.  I generally steer clear of things when the masses tell me how great it is, because usually I don't like it.  Surprisingly, we both really enjoyed the movie, and I promptly went out and bought the book.  I hope it is as good.

We did some shopping for really romantic things like a upright freezer and baby monitor.  Ok- not romantic but highly practical at our stage in life.  I am looking forward to stocking  up on some food before the baby comes.

We also ate at all sorts of different restaurants that our children would not appreciate and don't include fries.  It was great.

It was great just to spend time alone.  Not only had we been separated for 2 weeks, but the Captain has been working really long hours for several weeks so we really haven't "seen" each other much.  He has been blessed with lots of work, but thankfully it looks like it is slowing down for awhile.  It was nice being on a very long date.

Of course, when we arrived our children asked, "Why did you come back so soon?"  I try not to take it personally.  I know they were in the best hands all weekend and had sooo much fun.  I heard things like "Mom, Mrs. A lets us take duplos in the shower."  "Mom, Mrs. A gave us chocolate cheerios AND fruity cheerios for breakfast!"  The funniest was Wingman saying, "Mom, Mrs. A goes to our church!"  She has been at that church for decades, but apparently he just realized this.

It was a special time and glad we had it.

Cousin Camp 2012

The kids and I made our annual trek to ABQ for Cousin Camp.  They were so excited to see their cousins.  I was a little nervous about travelling by myself at 36 weeks pregnant, but everything went well.  

We went to the zoo.  It was a little chilly in the morning, but warmed up beautifully later in the day.

The zoo people were so gracious to give us 6 maps.  All the kids love maps and a lot of places are kind of stingy distributing their maps.  Thankfully, each kid got their map to enjoy all day.

Here's a shot at the Aquarium in their Angry Birds shirts.  They loved wearing those shirts!

Those sweet little cherub children then turned on Grandave and started pelting him with their ball guns.  Grandave was quite the sport and took the beating.  The kids loved it when he or my brother would play with them outside.

Another day, they went hiking to a waterfall and cave.  I bowed out of that outing.  I hear that the cave was very exciting.

I was parking the car so I am not really sure what they are all doing here.  Needless to say, they had a great time at the Natural History Museum.  We got a good dose of evolutionary theory in the Imax movie, but it spurred good conversations with the Test Pilot.  We are looking forward to their new space exhibits coming soon.

On Sunday morning, we woke up to a couple of inches of snow.  That was a little surprising, but in true ABQ fashion it melted by lunch and was a high of 60 degrees that day.

Here's a good shot of myself, my sister, and my dad.

Everyone had lots of fun and was sad to go home.  I have already been asked when we are going back!  Looking forward to next year.

We survived!

We survived- 2 whole weeks without the Captain!  It was exhausting, but we all did pretty good in spite of his absence.  The Captain left on a business trip which then met up with some men in CA for a church conference for the first week.  The day before he returned, the kids and I drove to my mom's for Spring Break for a week.  We missed daddy!

I couldn't have done it without my big helper, Test Pilot.  Daddy had instructed him to be the man of the house and he did a great job helping out his very pregnant mother and assisting with the brothers.

He prepares a very good lunch for the boys.  He helped load and unload the car numerous times.  He's been learning various household chores.  He's a great entertainer of his brothers.  They are lost without him and miss him terribly when he is gone.  

We had a fun trip, but it was sure good to see daddy when we got home.  I am so thankful for my not so little Test Pilot.

Family Camp 2012

Our family had a great time at our church's annual family camp.  It was a bit cooler than usual, but we survived.  It dropped to freezing one night.  The kids thought I was genius to use socks for mittens.  It takes so little to impress them.

Here's Crash playing Kickball chaos.  Essentially, there are 4 kickball games going on at the same time.  It is chaos.  We all share 2nd base and so you better watch out!  I thought I could play, but quickly realized I might get knocked over so I had to excuse my pregnant self.

The Captain brought his mountain bike and got to go riding.  He was so happy to ride fast and jump over boulders.  I am just glad he returned safe.

The latest camp craze is the Ga-ga pit.  I can't explain all the rules, but my boys loved it.  It's a game where lots of kids of all ages can play so it was perfect.

The Test Pilot perfected riding his bike without training wheels.  (He needs a bigger bike.)  He had not shown a lot of interest in practicing and we don't have a neighborhood that is safe to ride in so he doesn't get to do it much.  He did a great job this weekend!

We took a family canoeing trip.

And here's our lovely family!  Can't believe we will have 4 children next year!

Everyone was completely exhausted by the time we got home and took very long Sunday naps.  Looking forward to next year...

My baby is turning 9!

It's hard to believe, but my oldest baby turned 9 years old.  He decided he wanted a Batman birthday party at the local arcade.  

They got to play lazer tag, which my kids think is awesome, except for Crash.  He won't go in there.  He is totally awesome at getting tickets in the arcade though.

We had some Batman dark chocolate cupcakes.  I tried a new recipe and they were delicious!  The secret ingredient is a little strange, but it did the trick.

He got fun presents including legos (I know- shocking), books (which he is excited about), and other fun boy stuff.

Nana, Grandave, and all the cousins came for the weekend to help celebrate his birthday.  We had a movie night to finish off the celebration.  It was a great day!  It wouldn't be the same without them all there.

He had his 9 year well check.  He is still off the charts for his height literally.  He is 58 inches tall, weighing 72 pounds.  He is just getting to be a big boy.

He loves his legos, creating all sorts of stuff, loves to read, play the Wii, and be a big brother.  What a privilege to be his mom!  Thank you God for our sweet, kind Test Pilot.

Baby shower

Our church had a baby shower honoring our new daughter.  It was so much fun and we got so many VERY CUTE things.  The food was excellent.  I love cake balls!

Here's all my hostesses.  Each one of these women is so dear to me for many reasons.  We all have different stories, at different stages of life, but we are tied together by the sisterhood of Christ.  What a joy to come together to celebrate life given by God.  The lady to the left of me is also pregnant and due a few weeks after me.  There will be a total of SIX babies born at our church this year.  That's a lot for us!

My mom and sister were able to be there for the shower.  That was very special to share that with them.  Notice our color coordination!

There were so many precious women there.  There was a beautiful devotional and they prayed over me and the baby.  Very touching!

Did I mention that we got a lot of cute things?  She will be a well dressed little girl.  She already has 4 pairs of shoe,s so she is on the right track.  We were blessed with so many other gifts like a car seat, blankets, etc.  We are so thankful for our church family!

Baby girl

I had a 3-D ultrasound the other and got the "first" picture of our baby girl.  

It's a little creepy looking, but still fun to see.  I think she kind of looks like Baby Wingman a little.  We will have to wait and see.  Only 7 more weeks...