Benny is 4!

My littlest guy turned 4 this week! I am acutely aware that I don't have anymore babies, or toddlers even. It makes my mama heart a little sad. Gracie told me not to be sad because "he has to grow up! It's all a part of God's great plan." How did that girl get so smart? She promised to give me extra hugs all day to ease the pain for me.

We had a Wild Kratts party for him and his gift from us was to ahve the Reptile Man visit. We are trying to give more experiential gifts lately since we know the kids don't really need anymore 'stuff'. It was a really fun time for all the little kids and some of the grown-ups, too.

Other Things I didn't Think I'd Say

In the car:
"Gracie, let your brother have a turn with the zuchinni!"

At home:
"Tate, get the crab and alligator out of the tub so I can take a shower."

"Do NOT use my toothbrush to clean the walls!!" (Ew!)

"Why is the remote all wet? Have you been licking it?!"


Never a dull moment...

Let us never speak of it again.

Friday we drove down to visit family and go to my niece's birthday party. Left at 4pm and knew that Seattle traffic would be a pain. It took us an hour just to get to the city with stop and go traffic on the freeway. Did I mention we don't have AC in our van? So add sweating and whining to the picture. Of course it was about that time that Tate said he had to go potty. We told him to hold it. He said he couldn't. We said he had to because there was literally no way we could exit. He started crying that it was going to come out. Like the resourceful parents we are, we looked frantically for something to catch it? Good-bye caramel machiatto. Sean dumped the last of it out the window and told Tate to stand up and pee in it. Of course this caused fits of giggles. We were sitting there at 0 mph on the freeway so, yes we unbuckled him (don't call cps) while he peed in the cup. Can I just say- ew. He filled a lot more than anticipated and just holding the cup for that was sooo foul. It's not like we are 5 college guys on a roadtrip, I haven't done this before. I didn't throw up, but I thought about it. So I buckled him back and up and now what? We weren't about to let that smell ferment in the car for the next hour! Sean dumped it out the window and we mumbled sorry to the car behind us for the hot pee bath. Traffic started picking up after that and the next hour was spent talking about what it looked like, and how funny it was and are we therrrrrrrrrrrre yet?!

I'm glad the little guy didn't have an accident, but I may never drink and iced latte again.

Summer

We have had a really nice sumemr so far! I am tutoring only 2 days a week and Sean has had a few vacation days to use. This week we were all home together and even though sometimes it is too much time together, mostly it's been a goodn thing.

On Sunday we went to the zoo, Benny's favorite place in the world. Thanks to Wild Kratts the kids know much more about animals than I ever will.


We went to Grammy's on Tuesday to swim and enjoy a really warm day.

Every night during the week we had VBS for the first time. The kids LOVED it and it was awesome for us to get a little break!

We've also had some trips to the library and splash park:

The 4th

We had a great time just hanging around town for the 4th of July. Our parents always try to talk us into coming down to Puyallup, but we have established our own traditions up here! In the morning we go to the edmonds parade. It takes some waiting to get a good seat (and coffee), but the kids LOVE the parade. Getting candy thrown at them by strangers is even easier than trick or treating.





After a nap at home we go the the city park for a picnic dinner and firework show with friends. So much fun to get our kids together year after year. I can't believe how fast all of our babies are growing up! We usually give up arounf 9pm, but this year we cane prepared with extra blankets and made it for the fireworks! Gracie ended up being terrified, they were "too loud and too close and too bright and NOT like the ones in Disneyland!" Oh well.

Yikes

I haven't been on here in months. Truth be told, I have been overwhelmed with life. My chronic hives took all my energy along with end of the school year, the twins turning 5 and Benny being, well, Benny. I know I won't be able to go back and blog about these things, but I still like the idea of having my blog to refer back to when the kids are older. So I will just hit some highlights and then we can start fresh from here.

1. G and T turned 5 graduated from Pre-k. It was adorable and they are super excited for Kindergarten.

2. We celebrated Father's Day and Sean's Birthday. 31! He's getting so old.


3. Benny played on a soccer team for the first time with his buddy Connor. He LOVED it and did really well! Sean would say "he dominated", but I'm trying to keep his comptetive streak in check.

4. We did our first swim lessons. Terrifying for me, fun for them.

5. Sadly, we have also had some heartbreak. Great-Grandpa Ron passed away a couple of weeks ago. He was an amazing man of God and beloved in my husband's family. He had been ill for a long time so we are glad he isn't suffering anymore, but our hearts are still heavy.We are so grateful that we took that trip to California last summer to spend time with them.