What a Weekend!!!

I know that the story of the Nascar Weekend is going to take several posts to get through. I hope that you don't get too bored by it, but it was sooo much fun. I don't even know where to begin with the story. I guess I will start by saying it was 4 of the best days I have ever had. I missed my boys, but didn't worry about them. I called to talk to them and Ethan would chatter away, but all I heard from Jacob was "I DON'T WANT TO TALK ON THE PHONE". Anyway, I don't think I have ever laughed so hard, except for maybe when we went to see Tim Hawkins, but that was 2 hours worth of laughing and this was 4 days. My abs should be rock hard now. The drive was looonnggg, but we made it (barely -- twice we narrowly escaped being involved in multicar accidents. That we weren't is testimony of God's grace and goodness. That no one else actually collided was an absolute Miracle). I have determined that I am not going to be traveling to California in a minivan at any time during my life. So, if Curt ever wants to go to the California race, he is going to be splurging on airline tickets. However, it was beautiful when we reached the mountains in West Virginia.

This picture was taken out my window somewhere in West Virginia.

When we got to the hotel on Friday night I think I was too tired to really notice how bad it was, but I noticed on Saturday morning (I almost wore my flip-flops in the shower). Curt went down to get a "Continental" breakfast and came back with a rotten and smooshed banana and 2 Oatmeal Creme Pies. I am glad that we brought bagels and cereal. We pretty much stayed out of the hotel unless we were there to sleep. Rachel has also posted about the state of the hotel and she even has a very clever picture if you'd like to check it out. In my defense, when booking the hotel my primary objective was the affordability. In that respect, I did succeed!!

See Ya Later!!!!

So, my son learned this great song at school and I made a video of him singing it but, I can't seem to get it to load onto Blogger. Is anyone else having this problem, or is it just me?? I hope that when we get back next week it will work. I don't mean to boast, but he is just stinkin' cute!!

Also, we are heading down to Charlotte, North Carolina tomorrow morning with our good friends the Greens to see the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday. I am super excited about this trip (even though I haven't blogged about it until now) It is the first time since we had Jacob 6 years ago that we have left the boys and gone on a trip out of state. The most we have done is an overnight or two at Grandma's house while we were at home. I must say that leaving the state is a whole other ball game. I know they will be fine and once I'm on my way and having fun, I probably won't worry, but the lead in is horrible.

I will be posting some pictures next week when we get back. I'll let you know how the parent/child seperation anxiety goes. I'm pretty sure it will be fine on their part. It's more Mom that is going to have the issues.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend. A big shout out to all the men and women who serve our country by putting their lives on the line. I am thank ful and grateful and I pray for you all the time.

Happy Anniversary...

... to us!!

Today we are celebrating our 13th wedding anniversary.

I love you Honey.

(photo take last summer at the Detroit Zoo)

Spring Soccer

Here we go again!! Last Saturday was Jacob's first soccer game of the spring season. He Did great!! We thought maybe his timid self would re-emerge after not having seen his teammates since the end of the fall season, but he was not as shy this time around.

One of the things that we have been working with Jacob on is getting him to pay attention to the ball and what is happening around him. He is usually the last one to chase the ball because he is either biting his fingernails or waiving at me. We were pleased with the progress he has made so far.

And, instead of waiting until the last game of the season to score a goal (like he did in the fall), he scored one in the first game!! Yeah!

Visiting Baby Alexeigh

Curt's cousin Beckie who happens to be one of my best friends gave birth to a beautiful (and dainty) little girl last month. A couple of weeks ago the boys and I were able to go to Aunt Carol's (Beckie's Mom's) house to see her (we saw all of them, but lets face it, we really went for Alexeigh). She was just as beautiful as I had imagined and such a little peanut. I am still a little perturbed over the fact that she weighed 3lbs. less that both of my boys. How is that fair?? But, I digress. She is a real beauty and the boys took to her right away. This doesn't surprise me much because they love babies in general. But she is a girl so I am sure that helped with their instant devotion.

This is Ethan shortly after we got there. I was holding her first, but he said my time was up and it was his turn. Who can argue with that cuteness??

This is Jacob having his turn. He was a bit on the "sweaty boy" side of life since he had been playing with his cousin Christopher (Alexeigh's brother) and they were doing an awful lot of running. I didn't think he would take the time to sit and hold her, but like I said, they have a thing for babies.

Finally it was my turn again. Isn't she just the most precious thing. I just want to send another Thank you to Aunt Carol for having us over and feeding us such a wonderful lunch and for also letting us Ooh and Aah over the little one. It was very generous for you to share her with us for so long!! Oh, and Thank you to Beckie for sharing her too!!

What Are They Doing??

So I came out to the living room one morning and this is what I found.



It looks like they might be up to something doesn't it?? They were being awfully quiet. I was getting a little nervous.



But when I walked around to see what they were up to, they were just looking at a book. I love it when they have those sweet, let's share, brother moments. I don't think I could ever get tired of witnessing those moments.

Let's Party!!!

Sunday April 6th Jacob turned 6 years old. He was very excited about this birthday, more so that any of the others. His birthday celebration was quite long, lasting for a couple of weeks it seemed. First, he took cupcakes to school the day before spring break started because his birthday was during the week he wouldn't be at school.

During our family Easter get together we had cake and some presents with Papa and Nana, Uncle Mickey and Aunt Chris, Michael, Cameron, Aunt Tina and Uncle Kevin, Andrew and Samantha. He got "The Night at the Museum" movie which is really funny and some drawing stuff. He also got some money that he has tucked into his money pocket (a wallet to the rest of us) that he is saving for our big trip this summer. We also got to play with Uncle Mickey and Aunt Chris's Wii and it was fun!! Jacob did really good with the bowling game. I played against Ethan and won by just a hair.

During spring break we had a birthday dinner with Papa and Nana, Grandpa and Grandma and Grandma Mary at Applebee's in Lansing. After a good dinner we went across the street and enjoyed a couple of hours at Chuck E. Cheese's. The boys both had a good time, but I really think that Curt was a little too competetive with the racing games.

The last part of Jacob's celebration was actually on his birthday. We went to the Parlour in Jackson after church with our friends, Chad, Rachel, Faith, Grace and Hope Green and Brad and Rachel Hunt. That particular morning we discovered that Jacob has his first loose teeth. He complained of them hurting when Curt was brushing his teeth. He was very excited about this discovery. As of now they barely move, but that doesn't matter to Jacob. He thinks it is very cool that his first loose teeth arrived on his birthday!!