School Year Wrap Up

After Memorial day weekend the school year is in "wrap up" mode and things get busy with the approach of the ever exciting Summer.  I'm not sure who enjoys Summer vacation more me or the boys.  I love the relaxed schedules and the much anticipated vacation to see family.  I feel that as the earth rotates towards the Sun resulting in the longer brighter days and life thriving all around the extra energy feeds my soul and I find myself seeking out adventure with the assistance of my kiddos. 

The school year wrap up includes; school concerts, end of year parties, preparing the yard to be a summer oasis, finishing soccer & baseball seasons, and Adam and Zachary's birthdays. 

June started off with a trip to the beach.  It was a nice warm day near the house but when we got to the shore it was a different story.  It was quite chilly, Adam and Zachary didn't mind but Andrew remained wrapped in a towel on my lap the whole time.  Adam and Zach buried each other and played in the waves despite the cold.  I felt the same as Andrew that it was a little too cold and I enjoyed the snuggles that I got from my 3yr old. Still the sun was shinning and I'm glad that we seized the day and enjoyed the first sweet fruits of summer. 

Memorial Day Weekend

Josh and I got the weekend started off right with a Friday night dinner cruise.  It wasn't quite what I expected.  I thought that it would be more site seeing and soft live music but it was rather the opposite.  We started off in Perth Amboy and went up into the Raritan bay a little ways we saw an amazing lightening storm and that was about it.  The food was nice and the music loud.  So when we weren't outside enjoying the boat and rain there was nothing left to do but go dance.  Josh asked me if I wanted to and of course I said "yes".  I had a good time dancing but my favorite was watching Josh try and mimic the naturally talented African Americans that were moving around us.  I'm sure that we looked "so stiff white" to them and it made me laugh to think of what must have been going through their minds.  My cheeks were sore from smiling.  I really enjoyed our evening together.

Saturday:

We got ourselves ready to go somewhere and finally decided to go to Seven Presidents Beach.  When Andrew hopped out of the car he was elated.  We were at the park.  He loved running round to the different slides and aperatices.  His favorite of course was the tunnels (slide) and swings.  He loved being there with his family but especially his brothers.  Once the park lost its sparkle we went to the beach.  There is something magical about sand, water, and waves.  Even though they weren't in swim ware, it was cold and eventually cloudy Adam and Zachary couldn't resist the temptation that the ocean provided.  They planted their feet in the waves and as the tide came in a couple of unpredictable waves got the two boys wet.  They didn't care until the cold air kissed their wet skin and they noticed it was uncomfortably cold.   We went back to the car and our family outing ended. 

After dinner we headed over to a friend's house to celebrate a birthday.  It was nice to visit with friends and for the kids to play with their buddies.  The time flew by and before we knew it bed time had past and it was time to leave. 

Sunday: 

As I was sitting in church I was overwhelmed with gratitude for my good looking well behaved boys.  I know how that sounds....conceited but it is true and I would be in danger of being ungrateful if I didn't recognize how wonderful they are.  As I was feeling such i snapped this pic because i wanted to remember how I felt at that time.  

 Later after church was over Adam's teacher stopped me to let me know about the weekly assignments and to tell me that Adam's participation was really good today.  She told me that during sharing time he was the only one that knew the picture of King Benjamin and told the whole story.  This made me feel so good because sometimes I wonder if anything that I'm trying to teach them is sinking in.  It turns out that something is.  Phew!
We enjoyed each other's company and had an impromptu water fight I got soaked and retreated indoors and took some sniper shots from Andrew's bedroom window.  Adam and Zach teamed up against dad and soaked him real good.  They got their just desserts served to them by their dad and everyone had a good time.  There is nothing more pure than the joy that Adam had on his face as he plastered daddy with his water shooter.  His eyes sparkled and smile spared nothing.  I wish I would have captured it with a pic.
We Bar-B-Qed and later had a family movie night.  It was fun being with my people.

Adam and Zach really liked daddy's face in this pic

Monday: Happy Memorial Day!
We went to Duke Farms for a family bike ride.  We rode around for a little bit and stopped at a gazebo/well house for lunch.  I sat with boys eating our sandwiches and we talked about trees.  I identified a few trees for them and Zach was super impressed he asked "mom, how do you know all of this?  You must be real smart."  I told him that I'm observant and that Grandad taught me a lot when I was their age.  Zach exclaimed "wow grandad must be really smart."  Oh how easily impressed he is and I love it!  He makes me feel so good with all of his complements.

Easter 2014

We got home from Aunt Kathryn's house just in time to celebrate Easter with Daddy.  The Easter Bunny brought some fun toys and candy for the boys.  It was fun to watch them explore what they got in their baskets.  We dressed for church and went to stake conference for a few hours and took some family pics out in the front yard.  The boys got a lot of attention form the neighbors because they were dressed so crazy cute! And because they are just delicious!  It was a really a beautiful day.

Spring Break

A few days before the start of our spring break I was talking to my sister Kathryn and learned that our spring breaks matched up.  I had thought of going down to visit her for a long time but lacked the energy and spunk to really entertain the thought.  However in recent weeks I started a regiment of vitamins and started to regain my clarity of mind and motivation to get up and go.  So when Kathryn got excited at the thought of me coming down and helped me come up with a plan to take on the long 13 hour drive with my three boys by myself, I was encouraged.  I thought it over with Josh and made up my mind to Do It and I did.  I know that Heavenly Father really does answers prayers and that was the case for my the day I drove down.  Adam and Zach were helpful and best of all Andrew took a super long nap.  He has very rarely done that on a drive and he slipped into sleep just when I thought very seriously about turning around.  

We arrived tired (all except Andrew) and excited to be with family for the first time since Christmas.  We had only stopped three times and one of those it was just a 15 min gas up and I was the only one to get out of the car.  The boys were troopers and now we had the whole rest of the week to play and be with cousins.
Monday 4-14-14
 Cypress Gardens
Our adventure for the day was to Cypress Gardens.  A fun park with a butterfly house, swamparium, and an cypress swamp that you can take a row boat through.  The swamp was our first stop because everyone wanted to hunt for alligators.  Kathryn and I ended up squashing our group into one small boat.  With me at the front with Andrew and her in the back with miles.  We got a little ways off from the doc and it started to rain on us.  We were about to turn around but pushed on.  What an adventure.  We spotted about 5 alligators and several turtles in the swamp.  I'm not sure which was a bigger rush: seeing the alligators or me and Kathryn paddling through an alligator infested swamp with 6 boys under the age of 8 and the little ones standing up and crying.  I pick the later.  The rest of the outing was a visits to the butterfly house and the swamparium and just trying to keep my eye on our kiddos durnning around the place.  We ate lunch and i got my first mosquito bites for the year appropriate souvenir from a swamp.  The boys all wanted souvenirs and when Chase was told that Mom wasn't going to buy him anything he was disappointed to tears.  I was on Kathryn's side of things but I had promised Adam and Zach that we would come back to the gift shop and we had all ended up in the car with our fulfilling that promise and I felt bad.  I looked back at the boys and they looked a little sad.  So I ran back and made everyone desires come true and bought everyone the desire of their hearts.  Everyone was happy about their little remembrances but Chase's face was priceless.  I'm not usually one of those parents that will buy my kids what ever they want but this was a fun occasion and I enjoyed surprising everyone.

After we got all the kids to sleep we went to walmart made a plan for the week and got all the supplies for a fun Easter themed week.

Tuesday 4-15-14
Children's Museum in Charleston
We took the crew into town to the Children's Museum.  It was a super cute and fun museum.  Apparently everyone else in the surrounding area thought it was a good day to spend at the museum too because it was super busy.  We started out the ball room which I think was Adam's favorite room because he spent the most time there.  We went to the water room and that was by far Andrew's favorite place.  This room had a miniature of the bay with the bridge and tunnel and lot of boats and cars to play with.  I think Andrew could have spent the remainder of the day there.  He collected three cars that he made into a train and got very possessive with them and it was fun for me to watch him protect his territory from other grabby kids.  Zach and Ben and Chase went to the pirate room with this enormous ship.  They had a good time playing with one another.  We eventually came to a castle room with tunnels and balcony.  Adam at some time spotted someone with a sword and shield and he got in his mind that he wanted to go to the art room to make one.  So I set Zach and Andrew up at the paint easels so that I could help Adam with what he had in mind.  This sparked a huge trend and before I knew it every boy and girl wanted to make a sword and shield including Ben and Chase and Zachary.  Kathryn and I were frantically trying to hoard supplies to makes these thing while keeping our eyes on our lil'ones.  It was the climax to a very kid saturated morning and we were happy to call it a day after the art room.
When we got back tot eh house and kids were down for naps and we were chill'in Zach and Chase decided that they needed a change up to the relaxing atmosphere and they got their suits on, turned on the sprinkler under the trampoline and jumped in the cold rain.  Zach and Chase was out there putting on a show for a while.  Andrew thought that what they were doing looked like fun so I suited him up and when he got out there and felt the chill to the skin he decided that he didn't really want anything to do with this.  Never a dull moment.


Wednesday 4-16-14
Pilate's Class, Chick-Fil-A, Water Front Park

I got to attend Kathryn's Pilate's class (which was awesome) while with kiddos hung out in a lil kid's room.  We stopped the party wagon at the Chick-Fil-A drive through on our way to Water Front Park.  There we had a picnic on the pier and played at the park.  It was beautiful!  I try my best not to be too jealous of where Kathryn's lives every time we come to visit but going to all of these fun cool places has made it hard not to fall in love with this place and want to join myself and family with it's residence.  I'm glad that Kathryn lives here so that I have a great excuse to visit often.

We died hard boiled eggs in the afternoon.  While Miles snoozed we got out the die and let the kids die some eggs.  It was a fun traditional activity to do together.

It was the first night that they all went to bed together at the same time since the nights before the older boys stayed up watching "Harry Potter" while Andrew and Miles were laid down first.  After a good duration of squeals and total mayhem in the boys room they were tucked back into bed and warned that if they gave us a hard time that I would have the energy to fill the Easter eggs for the hunt the next day so they had better stay in bed or else no hunt.  While we were visiting and finishing cleaning up etc. we heard noises come from the bed room and Ben say "No Chase! if you come here right now I'll be your best friend and give you a dollar."  It worked.  We didn't hear any noises from the room after that.  I wonder if Chase ever saw that dollar.

Thursday 4-17-14
Park - Strawberry Picking

Boyd had a procedure in the morning and needed a ride home from the hospital.  So we had a quiet morning and Kathryn made the best buttermilk whole wheat pancakes.  We all piled in the car and dropped off Kathryn at the hospital and came back to the house.  We went straight to the park and they boys played in the fort that they made in the woods.  As I was pushing Andrew in the swing Adam came to announce to me that they had made a new room in the fort and before I could inquire about this new room he says "it's a bathroom!  Zach made it.  It has a tree in it and he peed on it.  It is the pee tree."  Great! I thought.  I praised them for their resourcefulness.  Later we went looking for turtles across the road at the turtle pond and there were several that we could see sunning on the bank and several more in the water.  Andrew got pleasure in spotting these creatures poke their lil'heads out of the water.

Later on while Miles was taking a nap and Boyd was snoozing we took the rest of the crew over to Boon hall Plantation to pick strawberries.  I've been berry picking before where it had been really picked over and you might find a few good ones here and there but this was not the case.  There were red tantalizing morsels everywhere.  You could hardly walk a foot with out finding the "perfect berry".  The boys had no problem filling their baskets with beautiful ripe berries.  It was like a treasure hunt and the boys had a really good time.  We stopped by the plantation store and got some southern delicacies like boiled peanuts, pecan oil, and pickled okra.  YUM!

We had promised the boys an egg hunt the night before and they had been salivating for it ever since.  So we hid about a hundred or more eggs for our boys and turned then lose on the back yard.  We left one egg empty to symbolize the empty tomb of Christ and we told them about it before so that they wouldn't be disappointed but feel good hat they found that special egg however I don't think that thought it was winning because they shook their eggs before putting them in their bags.  Zach was the one that found the empty tomb and was super cute about it.  I hope that they learn about the real meaning of Easter.

Friday 4-18-14
Beach Fort Moultry

On our last day we decided to go to the beach cause after all you can't go to South Carolina and not go to a beach.  We decided to go some where that had more than a beach so we picked Fort Moultry.  We got there to witness a lot of pelican diving into the water and feeding.  I got super excited about the dolphin that I saw popping out of the water.  They boys were most interested in throwing rocks, shells, and what ever else into the water.  Zach, Ben, and Adam found several rocks that were very precious to them and just had to keep if they were too big then they had me take pictures of them.  It reminded me of when Kathryn and I found these muscle shells at the lake and we just thought they were the most precious things and we added them to our collection that we kept in our special "hello kitty" box.
We walked our crew over to the fort where it was like Ben had been kept on a leash and was released.  His agenda was to see everything and quick.  He wanted to leave no tunnel unexplored, no cannon untouched.  It was cute seeing him run around.  Andrew LOVED going through the tunnels.  He spends is time at home building tunnels so his cars and trains can go through them.  So he was especially excited to have this experience.  Really this place is a boys heaven, dirt, hills, tunnels, and very big guns.  We took lot of pictures and simply had a good time just being with one another.

The best part of coming down to visit with the Harris crew is simply that we have a good time with each other.  We are family and we understand one another and things and feelings are just easy.  Our boys spend every waking moment with each other and there wasn't a single falling out or quarrel.  I'm so glad that things fell in place for me to be able to make the tip and be with family.  

Rutgers Basketball

  They boys were geared up in their Rutgers t-shirts as we went to the Rutgers basketball game.  By the time we got to the game it was already the middle of the first half and Rutgers was down.  This did not make Adam very happy.  He really hates to be on the losing side of anything.  There was a point in the game that Rutgers was down by 15 points and it was about then that Adam took off his shirt.  He had on a few layers and I asked him...."Oh, sweetie were you hot?"  He answered "No, Rutgers is losing and I don't want to wear my shirt."

A little before the second half Rutgers started to make their come back.  Zachary started to get into the game and was jumping up and down (in his Zach fashion) with each point.  It was fun to see him getting excited.  Rutgers played well and got several shots in and was now a head.  Adam put his shirt back on and got into the game.  It came down to the last three seconds and the last play of the game if USF got it in then they would win, if not then it was Rutgers.  USF took the shot and it bounced off the rim and out of the basket.  Rutgers Won!  Everyone exploded!  What a great first basketball game.

Snow day x a lot = fun times

When I think of February 2014 I'm going to think of white, washed out, piled high, bitter cold: Snow!  We have had one snow storm after another and in between super cold.  It has kept piling up.  So this winter I'm grateful for warm clothes, boots, generators, heated floors, and the list goes on.  We haven't had a regular week of school since before the new year and it is March 8th as I write this.  So what have we done during all of this snow storm time?  We have shoveled, dug tunnels, made forts, snowball fought, made a snow man during one of the later storms since the snow was wet enough, made lots of cookies, and drank plenty of hot chocolate, ate lots of warm soup and plain ol' just had a good time.  I personally enjoyed the excuse to make cookies with my boys then snuggle and watch movies.  

This winter has been one of the worst that a lot of people can remember.  However having snow on the ground for months at a time is the way that I pictured NJ to be like in the winter.  To be honest I've been disappointed in the last winters that we have experienced.  So finally a year that lives up to my expectations.  When I hear people complain about the snow or the weather I am reminded of the poem and I heard Elder Bednar say when I was a little girl and it has stuck with me ever since.

"Man is a fool
when it's hot he wants it cool
when it's cool he wants it hot
always wanting what it's not
never wanting what he's got....."

That poem is a reminder to me that I need to soak in each day for what it is, and enjoy it  I thank my God for the extremes that we get to feel because "feeling" truly is a gift.

Family Snow Ski

I have been looking forward to the day that I would take my family to the mountain since I was a young adult.  I worked up on a mountain for a season and would see families skiing down together.  Oh to share the joy of skiing with my kids.....what bliss.
The day has come that the stars aligned that we made our voyage as a family to a near by ski resort. Wanting so badly for things to go well and for everyone to have a positive experience, I have been orchestrating this day for a couple of years. We signed Adam and Zachary up for a half day of ski lessons.  Andrew went easily into daycare and Josh and I took off to the slops for a little time of our own.  All I could think about was our little guys and if they were having a good time.  However there were a few moments that I would cursing down that I was fully into the moment.  (Gosh, I love snow skiing!).

Josh and I got to the ski school a little early to spy on our mankis one and two.  They looked like they were doing well.  We got to see Adam go down the little hill a couple of times.  We saw Zach practicing some of his new acquired skills as well.  When Josh went to pick them up the report that he got on Zach was that he did a good job and that he was super helpful to the other students in his class.  He was picking up their skis and helping other kids with their equipment.  What a guy!  He is just naturally charitable!  That is a characteristic that so many people spend a lifetime trying to fake/receive and Zach is gifted with it.  I'm such a lucky Mom.  Adam's report was also shining.  His teacher told us that he did awesome and that he was ready for the slopes.  I think Adam was really ready to take off those uncomfortable boot and didn't like the idea of leaving them on so when his teacher came back and told him that he could keep his skis and boots on he didn't like that.  Once he knew that he could take off the boots everything was fine and he told us how much he liked it and that he was ready to go out again.  Even thou we wanted to Zach wasn't ready so we decided to call it a day.  We picked up Andrew enjoyed lunch outside under the sun and went home tired and happy!  It was a positive wonderful day of learning and skiing.  I'm on my way to having one of my long time wishes come true, which is to ski down the mountain with my most favorite people (my family) with me.  Doing my most favorite activity with my most favorite people.

Soccer Fever

Zach has been playing soccer this past fall and now as indoor soccer.  He has really enjoyed this season and really been trying hard.  He is a good team player and always tried his best to do what his coach tells him to do.  His confidence really started to grow when he played golly for almost the entire game and he did a great joy a lot of the parents in the stands were impressed with how attentive he was.  He took face shots and and really did a good job.   Few games went by and he was really into it.  At one point in the game Keiran (his friend who is a good head taller than him) fell and he was right there to pick him up.  His coach got a big kick out of that.  At right at the end of the game he scored his first ever Goal!!!  Everyone got so excited and cheered for Zach and his team.  His friend was so happy for him too because he picked Zach up and spun him around.  It was one of those proud parent moments.  Everyone was thrilled for Zach and the Rec coordinator presented Zach with the game ball.  Now Zach and Adam play indoor soccer in our kitchen almost every night.

Yellow Belt Zach

Tonight Zach belted up in his Karate ranks.  He went form a white belt to a yellow belt.  The ceremony was just him and one other boy.  Zach was on the spot for 45min straight.  While he was being tested he transformed from happy bubbly Zach to serious Zach.  I thought that he did really well in performing his kata and loved hearing his sensei praise him.  I've been praying that Zach's confidence would grow this year and I feel like it has and Karate is responsible for a portion of that.

Adam was as supportive as a big bro could be but still super board.  While Andrew really made a party of the event.  He was just not going to sit still.  It started off with him seeing himself in the mirrors.  That just made him want to explore what his body could do and it spiraled from there.  So Josh and I took turns taking Andrew where he could run and scream.  He is so So cute.  After it was all over Andrew and Adam couldn't hold it in anylonger and they exploded by running around and screaming.  Nick Sensei said "it never fails in every family of three that he knows there is always one runner."  I guess Andrew could be it.

Dino Day @ Franklin Institute of Natural Science

With Andrew not taking afternoon naps our radius of day trip locations had expended greatly.  This year i really want to explore Philadelphia more.  Phili compared to NYC is a much easier going experience.  Everything tolls, parking and tickets is cheaper and easier to get to.  For example if we were to get to NYC we would have to leave early in order to avoid huge delays getting through the tunnel and parking is very limited and expensive.  As my dad says Philadelphia is like NYC on Valium.  It is a more relaxed experience.
On our to do in Phili list was the Franklin Institute of Natural Science because of their dinosaur exhibit and their their traveling exhibit of animatronic dinosaurs.  We went to that first.  The boys were very excited about it.  At a lot of the exhibits of the different dinos there were tablets set up that if you aimed it at a picture it came to life on the tablet screen.  On one of them you could feed a T-Rex and watch it mature.  That was Adam's favorite part.  Zachary's favorite part was doing the dinosaur dig.  It was really cool they gave you goggles and a chisel to work on a giant dino fossil.  Zach was in haven.  He just told me a few minuets earlier that he wished he could dig for dino bones.  Well, boom wish granted.  I think that Andrew liked the dioramas of the different animals the most.  He got excited when he saw animals that he recognized.  I really enjoyed the butterfly room and seeing Andrew get scared when one of the beautiful butterflies got close to him.  Josh really enjoyed the animatronic dinosaurs too.

Kipper the Dog

We have discovered a new show that Andrew goes crazy for.  "Kipper" the dog.  When ever the theme snog start Andrew goes crazy with excitement.  He jumps up and down on the couch and yells "doggy! DOGGY!" Over and over with giggles in between.  While he is watching this show his expression of glee does not leave his face.  Love him.

Sledding!

We decided to go sledding and this time we tried out a new place the hill at the East Brunswick high School.  It is a big enough hill to get a thrill but small enough for children to walk up it several times with out complaint.  Perfect!  We all had a good time taking turns riding down the hill.  Again I was surprised that Andrew wasn't in the last scared.  Adam and Zachary had a great time.  I thought that we were going to have to pry them off the hill.  Too bad I got tired and cold and had to spoil their fun.  I think that they would have been out there all afternoon if they had the chance.

Snow Day

We got to go to school for one day and were off again for a Snow DAY!  Yep, a big storm came through and dumped on us.  I  got the call the night before that school would be canceled and told the boys as we were putting them to bed.  Later that night when we checked on them I found that they had made a fort behind Zachary's bed and were curled up back there.  Love it.  They really are best friends.

We woke up to a foot or more of snow.  I got the boys new shovels so that they could help clear the snow and learn how to help out.  Zach was so excited to get out and help.  He was the first one ready and out the door.  Eventually everyone got out there.  Well their shovels weren't the best for clearing snow but they are great for making snow forts.  So I taught Zach how to build a snow cave which he thought was so cool and so did Andrew.  Adam liked playing and messing around with his friends and trying to get dad with a snow ball.

 

Happy New Year!

Going Snow Tubing at Blue Mountain was a great way to start off the new year.  Josh and I both agree it was the best family outing that we have ever had.  We all had fun from the oldest to the youngest.  We got there got our tickets and were on the mountain as a family pretty quick.  Half the fun was not having to walk up the mountain and have our tooshies pulled up by a lift.  It was great all the fun and not the exercise.  It kept everyone very happy.  Tubing is defiantly the lazy man's sport (if you could even call it that) or a great outing for a young family.  We went down as a family a few times and then Zach and I broke off to try out the single tube hill. We got to ride down together and it was a lot more of a thrill.  We went faster and further.  Zach loved it and wanted to go again so Josh and I switched and I went down with Andrew.  Andrew realized that he was left out of some kind of fun and communicated through screams that he wanted to ride with the big brothers. So after confirming that he was in fact big enough to go in the single tube we made our way over.  I was surprised that he loved it and not even a little bit scared when we flew down the hill.  I think I have a thrill seeker.
We went in doors to warm up and grab a bite to eat.  There was just enough time to go down one more time so Adam took the opportunity and went down with daddy one last time. I was thrilled at his excitement for our activity.