Thankful Thursday

I'm stealing the "Thankful Thursday" concept from my friend Ainsley's blog....

1. A clean hallway

2. Gabe having a semi-good week

3. Getting to go on a mini-vacation with Brad and my kids

4. Listening to my kids laugh

5. Brad reading all of us Little House on the Praire

6. Audibles on Yahoo Messenger

7. My Bible Study

8. Free Kids Meal Gift Cards

9. My Coffee Press

10. My daily talks with my Momma

My baby is growing up

Monday night we were eating dinner and Brad had given Benjamin a little on his plate. Benjamin scarfed it down. He picked up his plate and said, "Maeeee, I unt moooree peas." (Mommy, I want more please.) I said, "BRAD!!!! Did you hear him??????" I don't understand why I get more excited about these things than he does. =)

Crack Head

"Mommy, my head is going to crack off."

"What?"

"My head is going to crack off."

"Why?"

"Because my head is cracked in the back."

"Oh...do you want to call and tell GoGo about it?"

"Yes."

"GoGo, my head is gonna crack off."

"What? Your head has a cough?"

Me: "No, his head is going to crack off."

"Oh....(laughing) your head is going to crack off."

Look at the time

My friend Corrie came over Tuesday night to bring me some medicine and I invited her to stay for dinner. We're sitting there eating and Justin says (with a big smile), "Oh, look at the time. I guess you better leave now." Corrie and I looked at each other and laughed. He definitely took me by surprise on that one.

We Survived

Okay, now that I have all the pictures up I'll do a little bloggin on the trip. First off, we had a BLAST! I know I needed to get away and so did Brad and the kids. Shades State Park was a little over an hour away which was pefect---far enough so we felt 'gone' but close enough for us to get home if we needed to.

Wednesday night was a little interesting. We got the the campgrounds and got the tent all set up right before the rains started coming down. All of us piled into the tent and I arranged the kids on one side in their sleeping bags and Brad and I on the Futon mattress. Benjamin did not want to be away from me so he was right next to us and Justin was being really "Mommy clingy" so he was on the other side of Benjamin where I could still touch him. The rains were really coming down and I could feel the rain shield leaking some, but didn't really think much of it. I couldn't sleep and neither could Brad. At about 4:45 am Jasmine sat straight up in her sleeping bag because she was WET. The tent had leaked all over her. Her clothes were soaked and she was cold. So, we re-arranged the kiddos and everyone tried to sleep for the next couple hours.

Unfortunately, when we all got up Thursday morning, I found that my tennis shoes were SOAKED. I went to the truck to get the bag with my flip flops and Brad's tennis shoes...but they weren't there. The kids were helping me pack the truck and forgot to give me that bag. I had no other shoes and Brad only had his dress shoes. Say hello to Wally World. We headed there and got Brad and I both some shoes and an air matress and some other odds and ends that we forgot. Once we got back to camp we all headed out on a hike. It was beautiful. The kids had a blast splashing through the water in the ravine. It didn't matter that it was super cold, they had fun anyhow. Benjamin got mad whenever we pulled him out of the water to dry land. The original plan was to have fish that night for dinner but since we hadn't gone fishing yet we pulled out the burgers and grilled those up.

Brad bought Little House on the Praire and started reading that to the kids at night while we were there. (It was a big hit and has continued on since we've been home. The kids are mesmorized by it!) We had put a tarp up over the tent with hopes to keep Thursday nights rain out of the tent and it worked! We did a lot of praying that night though, because the park along with most of Indiana was under a Tornado Warning...or was it a watch? Whichever one means that the conditions are right is what we were under. The kids were a little nervous and to be honest so was I. God kept us safe and we woke up to somewhat sunny skies Friday morning.

Friday we went fishing. It was a very interesting experience having 5 little ones out there and I was nervous about Benjamin falling in the pond. We started out at river (the picture that I took from the covered bridge) and I wasn't very comfortable there at all. There were no bites so we decided to try out the pond at Shades State Park. The pond was where it was at! Jasmine started us out by catching the first Bass and Justin followed soon after with his first fish! He was so excited!!! Jas wound up catching 2 Bass, Justin caught 3 and Brad caught one catfish. We had to throw them all back because they were all too small. It's a good thing I packed hot dogs because we were supposed to have fish for dinner Friday night too. =) On the way back from the pond I dropped Brad and the older kids off at some trails so that they could do a "little" hiking. We failed to tell the kids that the "little" hiking was actually a 3 mile hike. Ooops...guess we left out that detail. They came back exhausted but bustling with stories of what they saw.

Friday nights weather was clear and cold! It got down into the 40s Friday night. We were just a little chilled when we woke up. Benjamin did really good Friday night and fell asleep between Gabe and Justin and couldn't have cared less that I wasn't with him---my little boy is growing up! Saturday we got up and packed everything up before going on one more hike. It was GORGEOUS!!!! The leaves were beautiful and the air was so crisp and clean. I hated having to leave there.

The funnies from the trip though....

-Gabe saying he needed to go to bathroom and stepping out of the tent and into our screened porch to use the restroom. I think the whole campground heard Brad say "NO GABE!!!! OUTSIDE, NOT IN HERE!!!!!!!"

-Justin was half asleep and says, "Mommy, can I watch a movie when I get up." (Like we brought that)

-Jasmine getting mad at me when I laughed at her question, "Can I bring my gameboy?"

-We got some neighbors Thursday. Our little social butterfly started walking circles between our campgrounds....when asked what she was doing, she says "Nothing." But Brad and I both knew that Haeley was trying to get the attention of the little girls...it worked.

-Benjamin "hiding" behind the little tree.

....I could probably think of more, but that's enough for now...

Justin is a mess. We were getting gas so we could hit the road.
=)

Justin "caught" himself

Justin "caught" himself

All of my "babies"

The girls were getting ready to kiss Gabe and he was pushing them away.
You know that he is loving the attention from them!



I was up on an old covered bridge when I took this. It was beautiful view.

This was Justin's first time fishing

He caught his first Bass...before the afternoon was over he had caught 3 Bass.

Jasmine caught 2 Bass
Benjamin was fishing too!

More More More!

Benjamin is "hiding" behind the tree!

Here's the explanation on these pictures...We went on many hikes and this is one of the waterfalls that we found. The girls climbed up on the fallen tree while they were waiting for Brad, Benjamin, Justin and me to catch up with them. And right after the fallen tree I found Gabe up on top of the rock (sorry it's a little dark). They *loved* hiking!

Castle "remodel"

The castle is undergoing a slight remodel for the next couple days and therefore I will not be posting until Saturday or Sunday. We will not have internet access and hopefully all will go well...I'll post the camping pictures when we get back. It should be interesting. Benjamin and Justin have not been camping before. Oh, and it's supposed to rain half the time we are there. Thank goodness for board games! Pray that we don't kill eachother!!!! =)

Sinus Infection...

I have a sinus infection. It hurts and I'm tired. The kids don't seem to care that Mom is sick. They're trying to take advantage of the situation. I'm hoping that my meds will help me get back on the road to recovery. We shall see....we shall see....

Couldn't leave this one out

I forgot to put this up with the others...but there's no way I could leave it out....

Fun FUn FUN!

Last night was fun time with the kiddos!!