Saying Goodbye

 Steven left for a trip to Spain yesterday and he will be gone from us for one whole month.  It is hard to say goodbye for so long especcially to the kids.  Jackson has been our little daddy loving boy, he always wants his father and will run to him over mom most any day.  Steven is most worried that our little Jackson bug won't remember how much he loves him by the time he gets back. I doubt that could happen but I guess you never know.

 We will miss him dearly but were not about to give up this oportunity for Steven.  He should have an amazing time and get alot done while he is there as well in preperation for a trips to Spain that he will make next year.

We love him and will miss hime lots.  We are grateful for Skype and Facetime so that we have the chance to see him, and talk to him, while he is away.   Also I must wish myself luck as it will just be me taking care of our three children while he is away.

Family Camp Out

 Another of our recent adventures to try and have as much family fun before Steven leaves for Spain is a family camp out.

 We were by a pond and had fun throwing rocks into it and pretend that we were fishing.

 The campground we were at had a playground, which is a little of a cop out but the kids loved to have daddy there to play with and not be on any time of time limit to go anywhere.

 Jacob found a worm and carted it around for a while.   It is rather funny because this is my boy who has just recently decided the things that crawl are okay.  It took a while to convince him.  It was very funny because after a while he decided that the worm was dead so he made Steven dig a whole and give it a proper bariul. :)

We had lots of fun exploring in the woods, playing on the campground, and cooking on the fire.  That night Steven and I sat in the tent and sat through ann extremely impressive thunder and lightning storm.  We got a lot rain and it was loud and long but the kids slept through it all, for which we are grateful.

Kayaking and Canoeing

 Because of Steven's upcoming departure for Spain we have tried to do a lot of fun things together as a family before he leaves.  One day we took the kids canoeing and being that bad mother I am I forgot to bring a camera.  Still, we had lots of fun on the canoe and went out to the small island and did some exploring.
While we were canoeing Steven found out that BVU (that is who had the canoe) has kayaks that we can barrow as well but to use them you have to take a short training course.  So the next day Steven was out taking a training course for the kayak.  He had a fun time and didn't drown, which we are grateful for. :)

My Miranda

 My cute little Miranda is all done with kindergarten and is now a 1st grader.  She is growing up and becoming a beautiful young lady.  We are just so proud of her and who she is becoming.  She is reading so well and loves to read and draw.  Her favorite things is to write us notes and leave them around the house.  She is so great with with brothers (most the time).  We love her and are so grateful she is part of our family.

It's a BOY!!!

We found out last week that our little one coming around Oct 1st is a boy!!!  It was kind of funny just because both Miranda and Jacob wanted a girl.  They handled it okay, but for the next few days they were a little less excited about a new baby!  Don't worry they are over it.  We are super excited for a little boy and now we just have to figure out what to name him.  Wish us luck!!!

Use Your Words

 

Jackson is 20 months old.  He is wonderful!  He is a happy boy, very active, and already playing pretend with his brother and sister.  My concern with Jackson lately is that is still has not said 1 word.  Sure he makes sounds, and he communicates by pointing, grunting, or body language, but that doesn't seem like enough to me.  Of course everyone wants to offer there theory that maybe is is just a late bloomer, or his brother and sister talk for him (which I not true because I don't let it).  The late bloomer thing may be true but I am unconvinced, so we have started down the road of early intervention to see if there is a problem, and what we can do about it.  Hearing tests are first along with a speech pathologist to figure out how we can help our little guy.  We love him and know he will talk someday, but I am having a hard time being patient.  I will keep you posted if we find out anything interesting.

Mini Van

We have had this beauty for a while but I thought I should post about it.  We traded in our car for a mini van, and we love it.  I love the automatic sliding doors, I love the extra space, I love that we can take someone other then the 5 of us in the car.  It has been great to have and a blessing to our family.