It's the LITTLE things

Ok... so it's been a while... yes, a long long while but I'm here and I guess that means I am back. 
So much has been going on around here as one might expect but those are surely not excuses.  :)  Life is good and I am happily plugging along in the trenches of motherhood - somedays slugging it out is a more accurate description.  The kids are busy with school and activities and I'm busy just trying to keep them all clothed and feed and keep this house from being considered condemned!  I guess since it's been a while it's time for the "what we've been up to" post that I am starting to be famous for here in blogger land but since it's already late and I have other things on my mind, I'm going to save that for another time.  (I can hear the collective sigh of relief! - oh wait, maybe that was me! ;)  )

Anyway, I was inspired to come here and share a bit about the little things in life.  Perhaps I should actually put them down as the LITTLE things.  Because when raising a family it really is the little things that matter most.  Sure everyone loves and remembers the big things in life, like that once in a life time vacation or the welcoming of a new sibling.  But what I'm talking about is the things of life that really make life rich.  The things that I hear the kids talking about together later on, those kinds of things that adults do and might not really get the weight or value it adds to a childs life.  You see it all stems from the fundamental wish of a child to just spend time with his or her parents.  Just doing 'nothing' or 'hangin' out'.  These are the kinds of things that when life gets busy we tend to let slip and maybe don't realize what riches that are in these gems of moments.  One of these little big things we do is something that got named a Pizza Popcorn Pajama Party a number of years back... probably when we only had 3 kids.  It's now a Friday night tradition that the kids love and look forward to all week - and we do too!  Sure to us its just pizza and a movie on the living room floor but to them its a 'thing'.  You know one of those 'things' that will linger with them into adulthood and could manifest it's self into a family tradition of their own some day. 

Atlantic City Airshow

What has 500,000 people, ear stinging noise, sweltering heat, and was about the coolest thing ever???

If you answered the Atlantic City Airshow, you are correct!!

Wow! It was amazing. Not just the planes, but the whole event. We left our home, running late as usual to drive down to Atlantic City for the "Free" airshow called "Thunder Over the Boardwalk". It is an annual event and draws huge crowds and features the USAF Thunderbird team. Well, traffic was a nightmare and parking, even worse!! About 3 times during the first hour in Atlantic City I seriously considered just turning around and going home thinking we had made a huge mistake in going. The weather was hot, humid and sunny... yup well over 90 degrees!! When we finally got to the beach I was absolutely stunned at what I saw. I have never seen so many people on the beach before in my life! They were literally blanket to blanket. Thankfully there was a roped off area for the Cub Scouts so we were able to sit there.

We missed some of the show with the traffic delay and the trouble finding parking - did I mention there were 1/2 a million people there??? - we finally found our spot and got in our beach attire. Yes, changing in a portapotty in the 90+degree heat is really fun - NOT! Oh and did I mention the screaming babies who were scared to death of the huge jets overhead and all the noise of the afterburners?? Yes, it was a rough start but after a dip in the ocean, things started to look up.

We cooled off and were able to watch the show from the water to.. Jets right over head!!

The afternoon ended with a wonderful performance of the Thunderbirds. Truely spectacular!!

We ROCK!

Yesterday a dump truck came and left 3 tons of Delaware River gravel in out driveway. It looks great but is a lot smaller of a pile than I expected. The kids thought it was the best thing they have seen! LOL The gravel fill our narrow side yard to form a walkway from the front to the back. It is a high traffic area and there is a lot of just clumps of grass and dirt.

Today was a hard day of work! We cleared out the side yard and unearthed the slate stepping stones that have been imbedded in the ground since we put them in 20 years ago. After leveling the area and laying ground cloth, we were able to start to lay the rock down. The kids were great helpers both shoveling rocks and using the steel rakes to spread the rocks around. It was a great family project.

After getting about 2 tons layed down, I layed each of the slates by hand. Here's the proof! Those are working woman's hand for sure! Incidentally I did quite a number on my wedding band and banged it up pretty good. I also ended up with cuts and bruises on my palms. I guess I should have use a rake to put the steps in!
After all were layed, we sprayed it down to wash the dirt away. I think it looks great!!

He's HOME!!

My boy is HOME!! My boy is HOME!! My BOY IS HOME!!!!

I'm so excited and happy to finally have Colin back from his wonderful trip to Oshkosh. He had a wonderful time but I could tell that he too was happy to be at home once again.

Yesterday Braden, Haley and I cleaned-up the boys' bedroom and got it all ready for his return. The kids and I even made a sign to hold to welcome him back.

What a wonderful sight it was to see that camper pull-up to the house and see my little boys jump out!! He seems to be a whole 3 inches taller!!

We all chatted a bit before he went to bed... Braden went to sleep with the biggest smile on his face. So did I. It was such a peaceful feeling to have all my children safely tucked into their beds for the night. When I got up to nurse the girls at 4:30, I was so pleased to see his little body back in his top bunk where it belonged.

This morning, it was a bit hard to get all the kids going because they were so busy playing and going right back to their normal pretending games. The van was loud in the back again too....

*sigh* All is right in my world again. :)