Happy Birthday Duncan!

Today my little man is 7!

How fast the time as flown!

We moved to Maryland 2 months before he was born, and some days it still feels like we just got here-7 years already???

Wow!

Duncan's request for his birthday cake this year was,

"The USS Enterprise from WWII. NOT the new one mom! It has to be the model from WWII-they are different you know."

No, I didn't know.

But I do now.

This was the best I could do:

 He was pleased, so it was a success!

 We had his party last night with his friends.

He only invited 8 boys, but we somehow ended up with 19 kids in the house-Go figure!

 Aunt Missy & Madelyn

Brian was in charge of the games, and he did a great job.

He kept with the 'aircraft carrier' theme.

They pinned the propeller on the plane.

Dropped 'bombs' (clothes pins) into their target (jar).

And had a paper airplane workshop, and then flew them off the deck.

 The one to fly the farthest was the winner.

 It was a happy 7th birthday party!

I love this little man SO much!

He is full of more energy than I have ever seen before.

Everything he does, he does with passion (good or bad).

He LOVES to act silly and make people laugh!

He is a good big brother to his 2 little sisters.

He LOVES to be outside-no matter what the weather!

He is very smart, and is proud of the fact that he

is ahead of where his older 3 siblings were when they were in 1st grade.

He LOVES to read.

He just loves life in general!

And we LOVE, LOVE, LOVE him!

Happy Birthday Duncan boy!

JAMAICA!!!!

We just got back from the best vacation ever!

Just us.

NO kids.

We went to Jamaica!

And stayed at the Secrets St. James resort.

I absolutely LOVED it.

Every. 

Single. 

Minute.

(A HUGE thank you to my mother-in-law who watched the kids-without which this could of never happened!)

We flew in LATE Thurs. night, and it was RAINING!

I was a bit worried (I really wanted SUN for this trip).

But, thankfully, that was the only rain we saw!

The weather was beautiful!

 Our room.

 The view from our deck.

On Friday morning, 

we had breakfast, 

laid on the beach,

had lunch,

spent 2 hours at the spa,

water treatments & massages,

Brian went on a bike ride,

I soaked in the tub,

ordered room service, 

laid on the deck and read.

Then we went for an evening stroll.

 Watched the sun set.

 Walked around the property. 

 And went to dinner.

 A GREAT relaxing day!

Sat. morning we were both up early,

and decided to go catch the sunrise.

 Me at sunrise.

(One of the very FEW photos I allowed to be taken of me. I got a horrible  hair cut 2 weeks before we left, which I cried about for a week! I really didn't want any photos of me-but did sub come a few times)

After breakfast it was back to the spa.

Brian got another massage.

I got a pedicure.

Then to the beach to read.

 Brian went out looking for sea life.

He found this:

 Later his foot found another one-OUCH!

 We went sailing.

 I couldn't get over how WARM the water was in FEBRUARY!

 An evening stroll on the beach.

 This was a nice spot you could have a romantic dinner at.

 We are in FLIP FLOPS! 

IN FEBRUARY!

(We just couldn't get over that!)

Each night we at dinner by candle light outside by the water, under the stars, and marveled at how warm and beautiful it was!

We took a boat ride out to a coral reef to do some snorkeling.

 Brian snorkeling

 Sara just done snorkeling.

 We passed Margaritaville on our way to the reef.

The huge slide into the ocean looked fun!

On Sunday we took a taxi to the local branch to attend church.

 The people were so friendly.

Actually, I didn't meet a single Jamaican that wasn't happy.

Of everything we did, this was my favorite.....

 Laying by the beach.

Relaxing.

Reading.

Soaking up the sun.

Good bye sandals....

 Jamaica.....I miss you already!

Valentines Day

This year for Valentine's Day I wanted to give the kids a little something each day in February leading up to it. I started a bit later than I wanted to, BUT we still got some great 'Mail' days in!

 I got these mailboxes at Target, and they had a love note and treat from mom each morning.

For breakfast we had heart shaped biscuits and eggs.

I watched a friends kids in the afternoon, and Ashlyn and her little friend decorated heart shaped cookies, which was lots of fun.

Brian was a sweet heart and got me flowers (which I didn't take a photo of), and chocolates, 

BUT the gift I loved most was this:

He took pictures of everyone giving me kisses, and made a card out of it!

I LOVE IT!

Great Valentine's Day!

In D.C. with Grandma

Brian's mom is here this week. She is graciously watching our children while we go to Jamaica in 2 days!!!! Yahoooooo!

So, while she's here we thought we'd show her a good time in D.C.

We have a friend who has some connections, and got us in for a White House tour.

It was fun to do.

We could only take 6 people, and with Brian, his mom, & I, that meant only 3 kids.

The 2 little girls were out (because they just wouldn't of enjoyed it anyway), so we told the older 4 that someone would have to miss it, but we could try to get another tour later.

Ronan quickly said "I'll stay!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yep. It's just a house, right? I don't want to see it."

"Well, we could try and arrange another tour for another time so we could take you."

"No. I really don't want to go. Their not going to show you the cool stuff anyway, I'm fine."

Well, that was easier than I thought.

So, we had this great plan that my sister would come to the house at 8:00am that morning when we left, watch the 3 kids there, then drive them down to D.C. and drop them off with us so we could do some sight-seeing after the tour. Sounded perfect and easy, right?

WRONG.

First, we finished the tour A LOT sooner than we expected, and Missy wasn't near D.C. with the other kids yet. So, we decided to hit a few monuments before we met up with her.

Parking can be crazy around the monuments, so I just dropped Brian, Karen & the kids off, and drove around a bit, so I'd be ready to receive the other kids from Missy.

 They got to see the Lincoln Memorial.

 And hold up some HEAVY pennies! 

Karen on steps of the Lincoln, with the Washington Memorial in the background:

Here's where it got crazy:

Missy called and she was near D.C.

The plan was to meet at the Mall, so I headed over there and waited.

She had missed her exit, and was trying to find a new way.

Brian called, they were done at the Lincoln, and were moving to the Vietnam Memorial.

I kept circling the Mall.

Missy called, there was a detour on the road she was on, and was lost again.

I told her just stop, and I'll come find you.

But she didn't know WHERE they were.

Brian called, they were moving on to the WWII Memorial.

Ronan was stressing out in the van with Missy because they were lost.

Here navigation on her phone wasn't working.

I sat across from the Washington Monument waiting to here where they were.

Brian called, they were moving to the Washington Monument.

Missy called, she said she could see the Washington Monument.

So, I drive around it trying to find them.

No luck.

I drive back again, and she spotted me, but I couldn't see her.

We picked a nearby parking lot to meet in.

I felt so bad.

They had been driving for an hour and 45 min (for a trip that should of only taken 45 min.)!

Poor Missy was SO done driving around D.C.!

She dropped the kids off to me, and headed home.

I then quickly ran to meet up with the rest of the group at the Washington Monument (as we had tickets to go up inside to the top).

It was a WINDY day!

But, we made it in time!

We even got to visit the Air & Space Smithsonian before leaving the city!

A bit of a whirlwind tour for Grandma, but all ended well.

And even better, we had a babysitter arranged for the evening, and us 3 adults got to have a nice quiet meal out that night.

Ronan's last Pinewood Derby

This was Ronan's 3rd and final year of Pinewood Derby.

Honestly he didn't even want to participate.

We encouraged him to do so.

 He had fun and was a good sport.

 He participated in the first 8 or 9 rounds (of 12).

 Then, after coming in last EVERY single race (which has been the case for ALL 3 years-we just aren't good car makers here I guess), 

he kindly asked if he could just have his car to play with.

 He was a great sport (as he is every year), and had fun with his friends!

Good Job RONAN, we are proud of you!

And you don't have to make a car ever again!

(That is until you have a son of your own :) )