Oh, the honesty of children . . . .

Tonight I'm brushing Jack's teeth before bed and he keeps looking at me funny - - finally I ask "okay dude, WHAT are you looking at?" He responds "You have some funny black stuff under your eye." So I start wiping, thinking it's day-old mascara and he says "nope. still there - all around your eye." At which point Mark starts laughing and says "Jack, there's nothing there - that's what happens to mommy's eyes when she gets tired." NICE. Nice. Guess I've been a little too busy. Or not getting enough sleep. Or I need to invest in a different brand of eye cream. Or all of the above. At least from here on out, I can count on Jack to point out the various flaws on my face. 'Cause I was worried I wouldn't have anyone to do that. Whew.

And here's Noah's latest funny - last night part of our devotional was about Adam and Eve, and how God created Eve from Adam's rib so that he would have a helper and wouldn't be alone, etc. At the end, one of the review questions asked "Why did God create Eve?" and Noah says "Because Adam needed a servant!!!" Oh. Oh my. I was concerned for a brief second until he dissolved into laughter. Thinkin' he was funnn-ny.

The devotion ended with Adam and Eve getting booted out of the garden. Noah then proceeded to inquire why we didn't cover the part where an angel guarded the garden on the east side with a flaming sword so no one could get to the tree. Huh? "Read it." he says. I keep reading and sure enough - somehow I've never read that part before, or have long since forgotten.

Oh what you can learn from kids. Wow. That they are able to teach/remind us about things in the bible amazes me. The black stuff around my eyes . . . umm, not so much.

Bunkbed Resolution!

I know you've all been anxiously waiting. This is totally riveting stuff. Something to occupy the brain during these long winter days . . . what are those Happy Campers going to do about the bunkbed question???

Let's end the suspense.

We're getting the bunkbeds. Coya, we went with a solution close to what you suggested - thank you, dear! The bunkbeds are going in Jack's room - he has better walls for the arrangement. Twin on top for Jack, full on bottom for Noah. However, we ALSO got a full size bed for Noah's room, for those days when they are on each other's last nerve, for when one of them is sick, etc. This also provides another bed for guests, so we feel like we found a win-win situation. Whew. Crisis averted.

Now, however, I need to do a major reorganization of their bedrooms before the new furniture arrives. Uggh. It's long overdue, though. We have a ton of stuff that needs to GO, so in the end this will be a good thing. I just need to get myself fired up . . .

We had a great Valentine's Day weekend - starting with helping out at the party in the kids classroom on Friday. These kids are a riot. It was great. That would be Noah in front with the carrot sticking out of his mouth. I've obviously taught the kid good manners.

Friday night we went the boys' basketball game - 2nd one of the season. We are totally hooked. It is SO fun to watch these kids - they have two FANTASTIC coaches and a neat group of kids. It's just totally entertaining.
That's Noah with the ball. Our guys won the game with a shot that only happens in the movies. At the every end of the game, we were down by 1 point and one of our guys launched the ball right at the buzzer . . . and made the shot. We were on our feet going nuts when we realized we were the only parents standing. Ooops. Guess we've become "those" parents. It was just so stinkin' fun we couldn't stop ourselves.

Saturday we went bunkbed shopping and then the 4 of us spent the evening bowling on the Wii. I smoked 'em all. Yep - a 238, people. Drove Jack and Noah nuts that their mom beat them. Ha. Anyway. It wasn't a traditional romantic evening with my husband, but I was totally happy spending Valentine's Day with all 3 of my boys, my 3 favorite people on the planet.

Next up: The Four Happy Campers are currently camper-less. More on that later . . . . .

The Bunkbed Dilemma

So our 74-pound 7 year old has grown out of his twin bed. That would be Noah. If we were dealing with his size alone, it may not be a problem, but his 74 pounds cover every square inch of his bed at some point every night. I go in and check on him a couple times during the evening before I go to bed, and EVERY time I have to pull his extremities, his head, or entire upper or lower body back onto the bed, and get him turned anywhere from 90 to 180 degrees back into normal sleeping position. Not an easy nightly task, my friends. So we figure it's time to get him into a double bed. (By the way, Jack is 57 pounds. That would be a 17 pound difference. And they are twins. But in birthdate alone.)

Due to the fact that they are twins, in the interest of fairness, we told Jack we'd get him the bigger bed too. So off we go, furniture shopping last weekend. Somewhere in the midst of this, these two yay-hoos decide they want BUNKBEDS. Jack in the twin size one on top, and Noah in the full size on bottom - they agreed on this arrangement on their own. Now I know this doesn't sound all that abnormal - they are kids, and what kid doesn't want a bunkbed at some point? The abnormal part is that they currently have their own rooms. Since they were one and a half. Now they want to share a room. ?? At least they keep things interesting around here.

We were speaking with a nice saleslady at one of the furniture stores in town while the kids had camped out on THEIR prospective bunkbed, and she commented about how functional bunkbeds are when dealing with a limited amount of space, yada yada yada. I laughed and explained noooo, that wasn't an issue, our kids actually have their own bedrooms. And they now want to move in together. You should have seen the look she gave us. Total confusion. Amen sister.

So, as parents, we don't know what to do. They are so stinkin' cute, having worked all this out on their own - and actually WANTING to be together. Jack got big tears in his eyes when it was sounding like we were going to say no. We even offered him a VERY cool bedroom set and he said no, he'd take the cheap bunkbed because he just wants to be with Noah. You have no idea how confounded we are by this. On the flipside, we're fairly certain that after a few weeks of bunkbed bliss, they'll be ready to go back to their separate spaces. I don't know what we'll do. We'll keep ya posted. I know you'll be waiting on pins and needles. The suspense of it all. Try to refrain from checking this on an hourly basis.

Gladys

Okay, this is just the funniest stinkin' thing I have seen in a while. I'm not a huge fan of Ellen, but this is just funny. It takes approx. 6 minutes, so sit back and enjoy. It's hilarious. I'm thinking I might adopt Gladys for a grandma!

Post-Vacation Blues

Yep, we're home, and nope, I'm not happy about it. I've been putting off doing a post since we got back because when I actually have to put in writing that the vacation is over, it makes it more real, and I like practicing avoidance. Uggh. I have no idea how it is that 7 days can feel like 7 minutes. Leaves one a bit shell-shocked. I definitely needed another week. :) I would move there in a heartbeat. Mark, however, won't go along with that plan.

I'm so hooked - Sanibel is just everything I LOVE. That total island-y feel, the fact that it's small, quaint, picturesque - even the parking lots are beautiful, for pete's sake. There are no national chains allowed on the island, everything is local, the food is fantastic, it's not touristy, there are as many bike trails as streets, the beach is like a drug for the soul, and though there are no "attractions" there, we stay plenty busy with our bikes, the pool, the beach, shelling, playing cards, and we NEVER get bored. The kids even stay "busy" sitting out on the lanai just looking at the ocean. We didn't turn on the TV or a video game all week (okay except once - Jack and Noah watched one Scooby Doo episode).

I won't bore you with ALL the details, but I will, of course, bore you with some photos.

Mark and his mom . . . .

This was cool - we watched the sunset one evening . . . . .

. . . and then saw it come up the next morning. (My clock was off on my camera, so disregard the date)

My dad and Noah out shelling bright and early. Noah was HOOKED, I tell you, HOOKED. Found some good ones too. I'll post pictures of those later.

This is what much of the beach looks like -

Ready to head home . . one last walk on the beach. Goodbye Sanibel . . . .

One of the best parts of the week was that Jack and Noah had BOTH sets of Grandparents right next door, at their beck and call all week. They'll remember it forever.