Family Happenings

We took a daycation to the beach. It was wonderful and fun. We stopped in Wilmington at a super huge park for lunch and let the kids run and play for a few minutes on the playground. Then we went to Pleasure Island and to Kure Beach. It was a full day at the beach, but still quite doable. Alex loves the ocean, and as soon as he had sunscreen on he jumped in. Yep, the sunscreen washed off and he burnt, but he had a blast getting beat up by the waves. Teagan is still unsure about the ocean, so choose to stay near the umbrellas and play in the sand. Abby Sue wasn't sure for the first 45ish minutes. But before I knew it she was grabbing me and we were playing in the waves. The waves were really strong and she would often get swept off her feet and dunked. But she loved every minute. She would fuss at me when I picked her up to make sure she was okay. Time went by too soon and we had to head back home. So roughly desanded we pile into the car. And he back home, picking up dinner at Cook Out. Surprisingly Abby Sue stayed away almost the whole time. I wasn't too happy about that, but Teagan has a way of waking her up. How I love the beach. And yes, I'm trying to convenience Joseph to move me closer there too.

Last night Sarah from Elaine Bella Photography took our family photos at Eno River. It was fun and wet. By the end, Alex was completely soaked and Teagan and Abby Sue were close behind. We had so much fun. Photograper Blog

Yea, our web blog is up again. There has been so much to share, I don't know where to start. Our three weeks in Utah were great. Lots of fun with family, lots of camping and lots of sight seeing. Bryce, Grand Canyon and Zions were amazing to see. Alex and Teagan still ask to see all their aunts and uncles. We were also stricken with a bunny bug. So in a few hours we will be leaving for a farm to pick up an angora bunny of our own. Though I'm hoping for two.

Alex had a great birthday party. Lots of friends in a swimming pool, what could be better? I handled the grill while everyone hit the water. It was a good thing too. Temperatures were very high 98ish.

Then on Monday I stumbled upon a great deal, 100lbs of peaches for free. Yes, I admit we didn't need all 100lbs of peaches as jam. But now I've got a two year supply. Ok, so it is probably more like a year and a half but a that is good too. I was up till 4am! But all 64 quarts and one pint were done. Then Tuesday morning when I pried myself off the bed we went swimming with our playgroup. Followed by a relaxing afternoon and dinner at Moes. Ice cream and cake and then canned 16 quarts of tomatoes.

3rd of July has been equally fun. Breakfast and a bike parade at the church. I discovered a super yummy muffin recipe! And then we went to a park while Alex and Joseph played ultimate frisbee Teagan and Abby Sue played on the playground. Now we wait and rest. Alex and Joseph are having fun playing super mario brothers while Abby Sue sleeps.

More adventures await.

My sister got married this past weekend. Which was wonderful to see most of the family. My favorite part was seeing my kids interacting with my Grandpa Bill and Grandma Claudia, whom they hardly never see. Abby Sue took to Grandpa Bill, sitting on his lap and reading book with him. She loved his cane and all the fun things you can do with it. I also finished up the quilt I've been working on for the past few months, it was their wedding present.

Unfortunately it was also one of the most stressful trips. To start things off, ends up I left lots of things at home. The most important thing was our wedding things, suits, shirts and and dresses. I remembered the shoes, socks, stockings, hair bows and ties. I know very odd. Also Teagan got pretty sick. He threw up on the way up. My poor baby, just coughed way too much. So Thursday night I cuddled and cared for Teagan all night. Fortunately, Joseph took Teagan to an urgent care. Bronchitis ain't fun. But we got Teagan all doped up and he is feeling better. I must admit it was wonderful holding Teagan and watching him sleep.

We also had fun exploring another town. We found a few wonderful restaurants and rode a trolley.

No, I've not forgot to blog. But I just didn't know what to blog about. So here is our lives the past few weeks, in a nutshell of course.

1. Joseph's PyCon: He grew a shaggy beard and wrecked the red car. Gave a last minute notice class. And seemed to miss us too. But we all survived and was super excited to have him home again. The kids even made him a welcome home sign.

2. Sickness is thriving here. Abby Sue and I don't sound to pretty, and her nose runs like crazy. Teagan had a 'broken ear,' but that is all healed. Now to just get us girls all better.

3. We have given up with modern day 'soap.' In fact if anyone is interested I've lots of Lever 2000. But don't worry, we are stinky. We started using all natural soaps. See, the boys have skin problems and modern day soap only makes it worse. So by switching they are getting better. I'm enjoying it too. I don't need very much lotion any more. And we get to pick fun different smells. Right now we are using rosewood and Florida Sunshine. Rosewood is very nice, but very strong if you have lots of bars together. Florida is very citrus and is great to awaken your senses.

4. Joseph turned 33 on 3/3. Made a big day of it, though his present hadn't yet arrived. For dinner we went to Thai Cafe. Joseph got green curry, which was suppose to be Thai hot but it wasn't. Instead Teagan was slurping it down.

5. Abby Sue is ONE! It was a good day. Abby Sue of course had to fight to keep her new toys, they were so cool her big bros love playing with them. Though Joseph tried to repair our leaking sink, but we had fun at Lowes picking out flowers and planting them. For dinner we went to Kurama's Japanese Steak house. Very yummy. All the kids love it there. We did make one discovery, Alex LOVES shrimp. Which is good.

6. Joseph is discovering the old way to shave. He has never enjoyed shaving, and his whiskers grow pretty slow too. So he would try different disposables and electric. So for his birthday present he got a double edge safety razor, badger hair shaving brush, shaving soap and stand. So far so good, though it takes a bit to get used to.

7. Alex got into a year round elementary school! So Friday the boys and I drove everywhere getting the stuff needed to register him. And then we registered him. He is super excited about starting "kindergarden school."

8. Teagan has discovered the fun of climbing chairs and kids tables which has now expanded to playground equipment. Friday we went to the park, and I couldn't find him. He climbed to the very top! No wonder, he usually stays on the ground. So after I took his picture I helped him down. Only to lose him again. Yep he was at the top again. I'm so happy. Now he'll have more fun at the park.

9. Summer vacation plans are underway. Tickets to Utah were very cheap. So we are going out there to hit several natural places and spend time with family. It has been very hard not knowing many of the Tate side. Hopefully we will be able to spend time together and help Alex, Teagan and Abby Sue get to know more family. We'll have lots of time, about a month. I'm sure they'll be excited once we leave.

10. Today at church, a friend was giving out candy. Teagan choose a fireball. So I reluctantly gave it too him in the car. Thinking he would spit it out, I thought I was ready. Well, as many parents know plans don't work. Teagan said 'spicy' and then proceeded to swallow it. Of course it got stuck and he was choking. Joseph and the missionaries were laughing until I went he's choking. I was getting ready to do whatever I needed to when Teagan got it up and out. Thankfully Joseph finally pulled over the car and processed in most male manner, what am I suppose to do? So after Teagan purged himself and we were cleaned up as best as could be, we were on way home. Next time Joseph gets to sit next to the kid with the fireball, but that is what I always say and I'm the one that is always stuck in that position.

I think that is all in a nutshell.

Saturday was a snow day. Everyone had a blast shoveling and sledding. Even Abby Sue had a blast sledding and watching her brothers and dad sled.

The first Tate Family Fun Days was this Saturday, and it was a hit! Kids were happy all the way to Charlotte (2.5 hour drive). And loved being at Ikea, at least for the first 2 hours. They were done and let me know for the last two (no it wasn't my fault. You shop with Joseph, and you'll understand). We ate lunch at their cafeteria (this was in the middle of those 4+hours we spent there). And finally left at like 3:30pm.

Then we traveled into Charlotte to the Trolley Museum, which unfortunately was closed. BUT we did ride the trolley. The kids loved it. We were lucky to bump into some locals, with two boys and a girl too, though a bit older than ours. They were able to tell us of a few cool places. So we got off the trolley at the Children's Library. This place is the coolest kids library I've ever seen. They have play areas, computers with learning video games, a movie corner that was playing "Cinderella" and a third floor that had nothing but computers and video games (that was over run by teens). They have a theater were they produce some plays. And a very special rule, all persons over 19 had to be accompanied by an adult. Outside the library was some stone pencils, typewriter buttons and rubber stamps, jumbo sized for playing on.

Across the track from the library was a building. This building has glass panels you can touch to turn on lights and make some chiming noises. Alex and Teagan had a blast running down the building pressing all the panels.

By this time it was 5pm, so we headed back to the car. We caught the light rails, trolley was about a 30 minutes more wait (trolley and light rails run on the same tracks). Got back to the van and after a few diaper changes and a dash to find a potty for Alex we were ready to head out. A few minutes down the road we were listening to snores from the two youngest! Dinner was a quick drive through at Cook Out, yummy burgers. And Alex promptly dropped the regular sized pink lemonade on the floor board. We got home a few minutes before 8! Kids were lovingly thrown in bed, and then Joseph and I braved the below freezing temps to clean out the van. We emptied the van and then vacuumed the dry area and pulled out the steam cleaner. I felt bad for our neighbors who had to hear this at 8:30pm, but it was an emergency.
By 9 we were done and had the seat back in the van and car seats buckled.

Joseph finished the day off by assembling his new tv stand, while I finished putting things away and began working on our Christmas thank you cards.

A great first Family Fun Day, can't wait till next month.

Like everyone, we sat down as a family and made several goals. We each have two individual ones (except me, I'm still figuring them out). But we also came up with some family goals. One of which is better plan Saturdays. In doing that we will be taking making family fun weekends at least once a month. Some will be day-cations, others will be overnighter trips. But fun is a must. This way we can enjoy the beauty of the state and have a good time doing it. I'm so excited.

Alex is sitting on the floor trying to assemble his train tracks. Abby Sue isn't helping, she wants to take it apart. "Mom Abby Sue is crawling," Alex whines. He is right, she had to crawl (army crawl- inch worm) across the floor. Joseph and I could just laugh.

In our endeavors to keep as much money as possible in our pockets, Joseph and I get our live Christmas tree the week of Christmas. And though it make things a bit more chaotic in trying to get it decorated and our living room livable, we get some awesome deals. Two years ago we paid $10. This year we paid $20, but we got a 7 footer and a 3 footer. And there is a small story to go with it.

If you have been to the North Carolina State Farmer's Market in December, you know how packed it is of Christmas trees straight from the farms. Fortunately there were only two dealers there, so kids couldn't get too lost. But enough that there were a few crying session when Teagan lost sight of Daddy. So Joseph scooped him up and carried him around asking him which tree he like. He picked out a Teagan sized tree, about 3 feet. The worker was so sweet and gave it to us, for free! Alex and Teagan were so excited about getting a tree for their room. Alex was so worried about this little tree, begging Joseph to trim it and take it inside (tomorrow morning. It was too dark after dinner.).

So tomorrow we will decorate both trees. I've already got the lights on the big one. We switched over to LEDs. I must admit it give the tree a different look. And I still have to get everything adjusted in the living room. But I won't ever give up the smell of a live Christmas tree. But I'm wondering, each year we seem to add one more tree. Two years ago we had two trees, and considering we were out of town for Christmas last year one was remarkable. This year we have three. Are we going to have four next year?