A Lot of Little things add up to One Great Long Weekend

We’re riding to church listening to Veggie Tales.  Does that just about sum up happiness?  Everyone in the minivan is cracking up right now…. Andrew and Addison are singing at the top of their lungs and Ray, Alexander, and I can’t help but laugh because they are so funny.  Perfect morning… at the end of a perfect weekend – filled with things necessary and things proven.

 

Things necessary.  Ray had off work on Friday so he took the twins to a kid friendly train station.  Just Ray and the twins… and they had an awesome time.

Ray did a pretty good job with the camera.  I love his picture of the landscape.  They all came back refreshed.

On Saturday – we did something completely necessary.  Ray went to a football game with friends and I kept all three kids alone.  Although we do it sporadically, it is not often a 12 hour shift of “freedom” or all 3 kids is handed to one of us. 

Ray needed to go to the football game.  He needed time to connect with the world that is not surrounded with the needs of others.

And … I needed to spend time with my kids.  We needed time together.  A day of doing everything and doing nothing at all.  A perfect day…

Pappy is always useful in these days.  He always has some project that urgently needs our assistance.  Look at him telling the twins what they will be doing to help him.  What you are seeing here is just short of hero worship.

The littlest little Builder.  I love his little smirk.  He had a great time watching all the action.

 

I love that he wants to build.  Look at the pride on his face.  He moved the boards around, drilled, and screwed things in all morning.

Addison … being Addison.  She wandered around.  Took tools when it suited her.  Drilled when she felt like it.  And looked cute the entire time.  This girl cracks me up.

Andrew and Addison working together.  Also – one of Andrew’s BFF’s.  Look at the 3 of them “building.”  It is like watching the 3 stooges. 

We then took the “4 Stooges” to some Super Healthy Lunch – McDonald’s.  We looked like crazy people, but they loved it.  Imagine…. 2 moms, 2 diaper bags, 1 car seat (with “infant”), 3 two year olds, and one high chair all making our way into the play area of McDonalds. 

I got a new phone this past week.  The I phone.  I decided the I phone 4s wasn’t going to be worth the extra money so I bought the I phone 4.  The very next day they dropped the price of the I phone 4 by $50.00 and announced the I phone 4s would only be $10.00 more than what I paid…. *sigh* Thank goodness for the 14 day exchange policy.  I’m going to go seriously anger some Verizon people today.  The point of this story is… I’ve discovered Instagram. and suddenly – I’m an amazing photographer.  It is such a COOL program.

 

After our McDonald’s adventure – the kids and I went on one more outing. Yes, people, we were movers and shakers. We decided to go to the pumpkin patch. Maybe I needed to prove to myself that we could do it.  We could handle the day by ourselves.  Did we look pretty ridiculous?  Yeah… most of the time we did.  Were we able to do it? Yeah…. Pure Satisfaction over Here.

 

As you can see – our “Pumpkin Patch” turned out to be one wagon with 10 or so pumpkins on it.  Not much of a patch.  Luckily the kids didn’t know the difference.  I love this age!  Oh – and Andrew – showing some love for his Daddy’s favorite team.

 

By the time Ray got home from his football game, the kids were ready to carve some Pumpkins!  They were so excited.   They didn’t really understand what we meant because last year we let them paint their pumpkins.  

As a parent… it is so exciting watching your kid do something for the first time.  When they figured out what “carving” was …. um….  well… just check it out.

His face says, “Next year… I’m carving my OWN pumpkins.”  I L.O.V.E. this picture!

They had no idea you put a candle inside to make them “glow” in the dark.  They were THRILLED!

 

Friday and Saturday. In a nutshell.  Would you believe me if I told you Sunday ended up being so exciting I have to stop here and give it a separate post?  It is amazing – as this year progresses, there are all these things that I didn’t realize we needed to put back in to our lives.  And little by little… we are finding the things that are necessary and the things we still need to prove to ourselves.