Not Me Monday, Stellan-style

I’ve participated in MckMama’s past “Not Me Mondays”. It is a fun little post about the mistakes or funny things we do and that we are able to laugh about.  But this Monday is different, of course, with MckMama’s baby son, Stellan, still in the hospital with a poor heart condition (SVT).  One of things that this blogger, McKMama, writes about is how uplifted she feels knowing that so many people are thinking, praying for, and supporting her and her family.  So I decided to do “Not Me Monday" again….to show my support.

 

First of all, I haven’t been checking her website for updates like…every hour.

 

I do not cry when I read about what poor Stellan is going through and what his mother is going through as well.

 

I certainly do not hug my children a little bit tighter after reading her blog.

 

I have not been on knees praying to God every morning and night for Stellan’s health to return, for strength to come to MckMama and her husband, and her other children.

 

I have NOT been absolutely amazed at the place this woman is with her faith in God and her ability to know He is in control, no matter the outcome.

 

**********

Not knowing this woman and her family personally, the only thing I can do is PRAY. 

 

And just so you all know, my prayers are not isolated to this family alone, you are all included in my prayers each day, whether you are going through a horrible situation or not. : )

 

In John 16:33, Jesus says: "I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world." 

To see all of the "Not Me-Stellan Style" posts, click here.

A taste of our weekend...

This weekend went by way too quickly...as they always do.  Robyn, Gavin, and Morgan came by to visit on Saturday. The boys had so much fun being crazy.  We also stopped by our playground which is always a big hit with everyone.  In the picture above the kids were looking out the window at Brendan cutting up a branch with a chainsaw. The three older children thought this was great fun. Charlotte just loved looking outside at "Dada".  

I love this expression on Morgan's face. The expression quickly turned into glee as she raced down the slide!

Just pure fun.

Yay...I'm a bad Mom for taking a pic of this and not (immediately) telling Cole to stop climbing up the slide.   

Charlotte tried to follow them of course.

And this was what Cole looked like after playtime with the Schwinns. : )

Just cuteness.

And more of it....

Charlotte is actually sitting down to listen to a book now! She would have none of it as of last month.  Animal books are her favorites!

And here's the cool kid on the block...

She loves wearing sunglasses...mine, Cole's..whatever.

Sometimes you just need to giggle...

Bike rides

This past weekend we were finally able to use the bikes and the bike trailer! Brendan and I really want to start getting in shape and get our heart rates up at the same time- so biking it is! The bike trailer works really well although Charlotte is not pleased with it unless she is moving! I pulled the kids from our house to the Londonderry playground and it was hard!! Mind you, I used to ride my bike everywhere when I was younger until I left college. I love bike riding and we plan to do this often throughout the spring summer and fall!!  Cole could not wait to go to the playground for the sole reason that he wanted to play tennis with Brendan. He really loves this sport. The Londonderry YMCA has lessons starting at 5 years old so if he is still interested at 5 we'll let him take lessons. We'll see! Interests change so often at this age!  Charlotte loved toddling around of course- she wanted me to put her on the "bumpy" slide over and over again.  Such giggles out of this one! She also loved the swings and got a huge kick out of it when Caden pushed her! He loved it- such a good friend he is! 

The bike ride back was much, much easier!!

Please pray

I have never been touched by a family that I do not really know as I have been by the "McMamma" family. Her blog is inspiring to me daily. Today I read the post that the baby they thought would die in the womb but who miracuously was healed, is actually clinging to life today, at about 6 months old. I cannot even imagine what this mother is going through this moment.

If you do pray, please pray hard for this family and for their little baby.

To the City!

Saturday was a busy, fun day! We jetted off to the Boston Children's Museum with Damien, Amanda, Cameron, and Olivia and had a really, really nice time.  Cole and Cameron really crack me up as I watch those two together. They get along so well and I am really glad they are buddies and cousins. I know I say that every time I post about Cole and Cameron but it is true!  Because DACO (as I now will affectionately call them in this post) had not been to the children's museum before, we ended up doing a lot more rooms than we usually do. It was fun for everyone especially because some of the rooms are new.  Charlotte is like me and does not like crowds and so we never really see her true self when we go to places like this- she is always quiet.  She perked up at lunch though and then fell asleep in my arms on walk back.   

Amazingly, after playing like a nut at the museum, a tantrum (ahem!), walking at least a mile to and from lunch and to Mike's Pastries in the North End, playing at the playground, and then back to the car- it was a long day for Cole but he still did not fall asleep until 2/3 of the way home!   As we have had most Saturdays in order to wind down sans nap, we watched a movie, and then even come bed time he was still wide awake! Over tired? I don't know!  He kept talking about his fun day though!

This room is new!  Lot's of fun activities including "surfing"!

Only time I could capture the four of them together!

Charlotte had fun but her biggest thrill was looking out the giant sized windows. At one point when the other kids were one room or another, she just toddled off to the windows and had fun babbling and telling me what she saw.

Charlotte loves water!

The boys playing tackle.  They were having so much fun. I love it.

Scene from our walk- this is the suspension bridge going into Boston from the North.  It has an official name of course, but it's not that interesting!

Just fun with the camera! Look at how blue the sky is!!  It was so incredible- not a cloud in the sky. Just gorgeous (but still cold!).

Cole and Cameron had fun walking on the ledges by the sidewalk and (with the help of Damien) jumping across each one when there was a break in them.  And by the way, it had to be Uncle Damien to help him- not Mummy- apparently Uncle Damien has the magic touch. : )

Spring, Summer, and all the good stuff in between

We are so excited for spring and summer. The past few nights we have been able to play outside after dinner or take a long walk around the neighborhood. Here are a couple pics from last summer that I love and the things that I cannot wait to do again!

Walking through tide pools at Ogunquit in Maine.

Eating ice cream cones at The Ice House in Rye, NH.

Cute little sunhat pictures (okay, this isn't really an activity- I just found this one of Charlotte and I love it.)  he-he.

Being silly with friends and family.

Adventures and finding worms on a nice day's walk.

The King Edward gang

I am so thrilled!! We bought a bike trailer so we can all go on lots of long bike rides this spring and summer. Long...bike rides...over hills...and...wait a minute--- do I have to pull this thing?!   Ha-ha.  It'll be fun and such a good workout.  Brendan put it together lickety split on Sunday and we tried it out.  Next week we pick up Brendan's new bike!!








Sans bike trailer...we went for a nice walk with the  Rogers gang on Sunday. We are a pretty tough lot...four adults, 2 preschoolers, 2 toddlers, and an infant. Watch out! We are loud, fun...and well...ok, that's about it. : )  After a busy weekend, taking an hour long walk was just what we wanted to do. It was so great to get out again and walk around with my peeps. Ha-ha, I crack myself up.

Got a good  pic of all of us but the two craziness decided they did not want to be part of the picture, deciding instead to be monkees and show off their most impressive faces. 

The last pic is great-- we were a ways from home and Cole informed us he had to go the bathroom (man, can this kid pee!) so Brendan took him for his first pee in the woods. I was so proud. ha-ha.   Well, on the way back home, Cole again informed us that he had to pee and so Brendan sat him the bike trailer/slash double stroller and a race up the hill was then in place!  However, Cole kindly informed a very out of breath Brendan that he did not have to go pee. I think he just wanted to pee in the woods again! Oh that is my little boy!!

Hi, my name is....

...Kelly and I confess…I have a problem…I can’t stop taking pictures!  (Ok, folks- I’m sure there are other problems that you can name about me, but let’s just keep that to ourselves, shall we?!)  Last year, for my “birthing present” when Charlotte was born, Brendan bought me an amazing “L series” lens for my SLR camera.  If you see the photographers on the sidelines of sporting events, you’ll see the signature Canon L series black and white striped lens.  Now, of course, my lens is no where near the perfection that those photographers have…but I do love what I have.  It’s powerful, and takes the clearest, fantastic pictures.  So, needless to say, I snap away on beautiful days such as this past Sunday and I just can’t stop! I usually go through my photos and have about 50 (no joke) out of about the 200 I take that I want to post on this blog because each one captures a different smile, expression, or “look”.  Alas, my blog entries would be ridiculous if I posted all of them so go through them and choose, I must. I still need to go to a photography course; Katrina found a really great one close by so I’m hoping to sign up for it soon! So excited!

Here are some  photos of our time outside. (I swear, I do play with my children- there's only about 15 minutes of me snapping away like a mad woman! he-he)

Signs of life! A little chipmunk scurries out of our wood pile.

I promise you- this tackle was intentional. You cannot tell but they are both cracking up.  Such little boys.

I love this photo. It just shows a special moment between Daddy and Daughter.

Game time!

Cole  "helps" Charlotte with the siren. : ) Such a good big brother.

Good and Not so Good

Nice weather.... check!

Long walk as a family...check!

Fun-filled birthday party for Caden....check!

Cole drinking lots of juice and water from running around....um, check!

Cole falling asleep snuggled up on me in the afternoon for a surprise nap...check!

Cole having an accident while sleeping and still snuggled up on me....um, yuck, and...check!

It was a super Saturday but I could have done without that last part! : )

Every now and then I like to take a quick photo of Cole and Charlotte sleeping. It’s cute, but that is not why I do it. There is just something so perfect and peaceful about it. That seems a bit cliché but I do not know how else to describe it.  I know you all are not that interested in knowing the sleep habits of my children but I like to record them anyway! : )  Amanda or Katrina (I forgot which) used to have a quote on their blog that went something like this. “There never was a child so lovely as a child who is asleep.” Or, perhaps I am making that up and that isn’t the quote, but it sounds good and I like it. He-he.

Cole is a good sleeper and has no problem going to bed at night. Every night after saying prayers and singing songs (they range from “Lay Your Head” from Mary Poppins to “Take me out to the Ballgame”), I lay in bed with him for a few moments and I find that in these still and quiet moments, I learn the most about his day, rather than over conversation during dinner. He tells me about how two girls in the classroom cannot have peanut butter and what they all have to do to make sure the girls do not come in contact with the stuff, I hear about how he was upset that someone knocked his snow fort over, or something funny that one of his friends said.  I really cherish these times and there are nights where I am putting Charlotte to bed and she takes longer to go to sleep and then I find that Cole is sometimes already sleeping before I have a chance come in to say good-night. (Brendan puts him to bed of course-he’s not there by himself.)  Cole will still often crawl into our bed around 4am with about 4 “stuffed lovies” which he leaves at the end of our bed, but only because he has tried to bring said stuffed lovies with him and they have been removed quickly because there is no room!

 

Charlotte sleeps so well now! She goes to bed still with me rocking her but Cole was like that too at this age.  She doesn’t usually sleep the whole night through- probably around 1am she wakes up and I just bring her into our bed and then she sleeps the rest of the night just fine. I probably could soothe her and leave her in her crib, but what fun is that?! : )  I never seen a happier child than when Charlotte wakes up in the morning. She is all smiles and giggles and love and if she awoke in her crib wouldn’t I miss all that?! There is something just so pure about a babies/toddler’s happiness.

 

Seriously- when do we start being unhappy about waking up? When in our lives do we lose the whole “I am happy to be awake and start with my day.” I suspect it is when a child begins to dread school as opposed to being at home. But still, think how much better our days would be if we just started the day happy and smiling and loving life?!

 

You can never be too happy or too positive or too full of love!