Things that make me happy.

When I opened up the camera this morning to share here, I realized that I have a whole bunch of things on there that made me really happy.

Like this little gem-- with Mara wearing costumes and hanging out beside Lauren on the chair in our living room.  I love how Mara's smile literally takes over her entire face these days, leading to squinted eyes and a grin that just can't help but make you smile right back at her.
 

I love how breakfast has included Joshua's DS more times than not in recent days as he has developed quite an obsession with Super Mario Brothers.  I especially love that he continues to wear his silly doctor glasses that came in a doctor kit a few years ago.  Even though he's getting bigger by the day it seems and is all of a sudden such a big boy (in stature, wisdom and sadly....attitude), he still likes to pretend.  And I love it.

 I love opening Mara's bedroom door and finding this scene every single morning.  She makes me smile.

If this doesn't spell MISCHIEF, I don't know what does.  This is pretty typical....we probably load and unload that lazy susan at least 12 times a day.  (And please keep in mind that I am not at home for 7-8 of the 24 in the day!)

Sister love makes me so happy.  Someday when these two are teenagers and cannot stand to be in the same zip code with each other, I'm going to pull this out, have it printed on t-shirts and make the two of them wear them.  To school.  Or maybe to the prom.  We'll see.

I love love love Spring trips to the park.  We knew when we woke up on Saturday that one of two things was going to happen.  Either we were going to get the children out of the house to blow off some steam, or else we were going to have to sell them.  I chose option 1 and powered through my chores so that I could take them to the park to let them enjoy the beautiful day.  This was Mara's first experience to put her little shoes on the ground and explore on her own two feet.  It presented minor challenges because the big two weren't satisfied to stay put on the "baby" equipment, and Mara was far too small (although she didn't think so) to go on the big stuff with Lauren and Josh.  So, I did my best to keep my eye in three places at once.  It wasn't easy, but I did manage to bring all three of them back home for supper.  So I guess I did OK.  They're begging to go back every single day in the summer.  And while that will not happen, I am hoping we can find lots more time to spend there together.

Dallas!

I have come to the conclusion over the past week or so that I worry too much. 

After returning from our long weekend trip to Dallas, as I look back on the amount of time and energy I spent worrying and planning for every possible catastrophe, I realize that I steal my own joy by letting anxiety get the best of me.  And I'm really going to try to work on that.

I read a devotional every morning when I'm doing my Bible time called "Jesus Calling".  It is somehow always exactly what I need to hear, and today's entry talked about how worrying and excessive planning is just a manifestation of not trusting God enough.  To say I felt convicted after reading that is an understatement.  And I think our trip to Dallas was just the exclamation point for the lesson for me.

I was a wreck before we left on Friday- mostly because of leaving the big kids behind for so long, and for being that far away from them.  I knew that they were in more than capable hands, as my Mom and Jason's Mom were planning to take shifts with Joshua and Lauren while we were away.  But still, one of the things about motherhood that has been the strangest thing to adjust to is that it never feels right when I am away from the kids- whether it's for 5 minutes or 5 days.  I was anxious beyond all belief about cooping Mara (our little tornado with a temper) on an airplane for as long as it would take to complete the two flights to Dallas.  I had visions of a screaming baby who wanted to be down walking around and who couldn't understand why she was stuck in one spot.  I also hadn't flown since Jason and I went to Disney World when I was pregnant with Joshua, so things have changed quite a bit with rules and liquids and security and a whole bunch of other things that had me a ball of nerves.

But once we got going, everything worked itself out.  Or should I say, everything got worked out by the Master Worker Outer.  Boy was I ever grateful to Him.

We had a very nasty flight from Williamsport to Philadelphia.  We should have known we were in for it when the person boarding the plane grinned at us all and said, "I sure hope you took your Dramamine!" as we walked out to the plane.  Me, who gets sick just LOOKING at a ride in an amusement park--- I was nervous.  We all had a rough time with that flight and were sufficiently sick by the time we landed in Philly.  We had a quick run from gate to gate in Philly, and before we knew it we were up in the air on our way to Dallas.  Mara slept for a good chunk of that flight, and happily played at our feet for the other two hours, making friends with the lady sitting beside me and nursing quite a few times.  She didn't seem to love landing and got pretty nauseous both times, but all in all, it was much better than I anticipated.  Jason was wise to book us in the rows in the plane that had the extra leg room.  We definitely made good use of the space to play with the goodies I had packed in the diaper bag, as well as play iPad games and eat snacks. 

Our hotel, the Gaylord Texan, was gorgeous!  You'll have to Google it to see some pictures.  The atrium of the hotel was beautiful with fountains, a river running through it, a replica of The Alamo, shops, restaurants and anything else you can imagine.  We wanted for nothing.



Saturday morning, we woke up slowly and took our time getting around.  Both Jason and I commented that travelling with one child is ridiculously easy compared to our normal logistics of getting out the door to go anywhere.  I doubt that we will sing the same song after our Disney trip in a few weeks, but I guess we'll see.

After we were up and around, we decided to get some breakfast and take a walk through the hotel.  Mara LOVED walking around and exploring.  Her favorite passtime was checking out all of the fountains in the hotel-- and there must have been 70 of them.  She had to put her hands in the water in each and every one, every time we went past.

We were blessed to get a call from my Uncle Jerry, who lives very nearby to where we were staying.  He offered to pick us all up and take us for a ride around the area so that we could see more of Texas than just the hotel grounds.  Mara slept in his vehicle while we explored a bit.  He showed us the town of Grapevine and Southlake.  He showed us the gorgeous homes in the area, as well as a great little shopping district in Southlake.  Honestly, if we would have had a stroller for Mara, I would have requested that he drop us off for a few hours and come back with a UHaul to pick us up with all of our treasures.  Needless to say, Jason was happy that we did not have the stroller!

Sunday morning, Jerry and Carol picked Mara and I up at the hotel to spend the day with them.  Jason was involved with a golf tournament, so we were thrilled to have some company.  They took us to church with them at Gateway Church, an awesome church in Southlake.  They have multiple campuses, but just the Southlake site holds 5 services each week, with 4000+ in attendance at each service.  We attempted to put Mara into the nursery, where she lasted about 20 minutes before I was being paged to come and rescue her.  That was long enough for me to participate in the praise and worship part of the service with my aunt and uncle, which was great.  Then I took Mara into the most beautiful nursing room in the children's wing (yes, you read that right...WING) where there were beautiful rocking chairs, cold bottled water and snacks waiting for anyone who was using those rooms, and we watched the sermon from there. 

After church, we headed back to Jerry and Carol's beautiful home and had lunch with them.  It was so nice to get to spend some one on one time with them- something I don't think I have EVER gotten to do with them.  It was awesome and I think Mara and I both had a wonderful time.  They dropped us back off at the hotel at supper time and we started to ready ourselves for the long journey back home on Monday morning.  While I was packing, this little ham was raiding the fridge and enjoying having the run of the place!

We travelled all day on Monday- beginning with an 8:30 take off in Dallas.  After a 3 hour lay over in Philadelphia, we headed back to Williamsport and landed around 4:15.  I was pulling into the house around 5.  The only near catastrophe on the whole trip was the fact that my luggage stayed in Philly and didn't arrive in Williamsport until the final flight of the day.  I was pleased that there was a courrier who delivered it to my doorstep around midnight on Monday.  Not having it gave me every excuse to just enjoy the kids on Monday night and not worry about the unpacking and the laundry that would have been calling my name otherwise.  I had missed them so much.

I was greeted by this banner when I walked in.  Joshua and Lauren both contributed to the sign, and I think I will keep it forever.

We ended our night with something they have been asking to do every night since we moved into the house- take tubs in the BIG bathtub in our bathroom.  It was horribly awkward- just picture me hanging over the side trying to scrub all three of them, while they were splashing and giggling and carrying on.  I secretly loved it---- just hearing them all together enjoying each other was music to my ears.  Needless to say, though, we will be getting our nightly baths in the normal sized tub most of the time, but it was a fun treat.

Sorry for the long windedness.  But unless this is your first visit to this blog, I am sure it comes as no surprise.  Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Another busy weekend!

Well, it's Monday.  And you know what that means.  Another camera dump from another action packed weekend.  By the looks of the calendar, this is kind of how things are going to go until we get through at least the first part of the summer.  We're loving it!

We started out our Saturday morning preparing for a (cold) morning on the soccer field for Joshua's first soccer game.  Jason has had his arm officially twisted into coaching their team, and although I am sure he's doing a fine job, isn't finding this as easy as coaching Upward earlier this winter.  But, the team did pretty well.  The team was split in half with two games going on simultaneously.  Really, I think this created far more chaos than it made good sense to have going on, but who am I to say.  The half of the team that Joshua played on did very well, outscoring their opponents by a landslide.  Although without keeping score and without goalies, all the kids really needed to do was get the ball pointed in the direction of the goal and give it a swift kick.  Joshua seems to be having fun, but has already told us that he prefers basketball and isn't sure he is going to play soccer again.  No tears from Mommy and Daddy on that one.  

During the game, my official duty was that of wrangling Mara.  (Sounds familiar from basketball, right?)  I will say, without a shadow of a doubt, that this girl is going to do me in.  Within the first 8 minute quarter, she had managed to get Lauren's bag of grapes out of my bag and smashed them literally all over herself.  And then she sat on them.  It was disgusting.  And then once she began to run all over the place, I must have looked like a mother without an ounce of control as I grabbed her from running onto the soccer field no less than 30 times.  Lord, give me strength.

The real highlight of the day was that the workers finally came to the house on Saturday morning to finish the installation of the basketball hoop.  I don't know whether Joshua was more excited, or whether we were to finally have the 2x4's that were holding up the pole as it cured in the cement for the past week out of the yard.  Once Joshua started shooting baskets, he didn't stop until we literally forced him inside at supper time.  Sunday was a repeat of Saturday with hundreds of baskets shot and hours of dribbling in the driveway.  I am pretty sure this is how our summer is going to go--- and if he's as happy for the whole summer as he was this weekend, that's fine with us!  Even Lauren got in on the action, although she needed a whole lot of help to make her baskets.

On Saturday night, the kids set up shop in front of the window to try to watch for the Northern Lights that were predicted to be visible.  It f;lashed me back to the summer in Poe Valley that Libby and I set up camp on the porch with my Dad to watch an eclipse.  And we sat there for hours!  The kids tired of the exercise after about a half hour when they finally believed us that it was going to be too cloudy to see anything fun.  They settled for a video of the aurora borealis on the iPad. 

Even Mara was waiting for the Northern Lights.  Although I am willing to bet that it was the snacks she was eating that kept her there.

We have an insanely busy week ahead, culminating in Jason, Mara and I leaving for Dallas on Friday morning to spend the weekend there ahead of his Raymond James conference.  We are super excited to get away, and equally as terrified of putting Mara on the airplane for three hours of being confined to my lap.  All I can say is that the Bible verse about not worrying about anything, but instead, praying about everything is my saving grace this week.  I am certainly having frequent pleading sessions with God to help give me patience and wisdom in what to do to keep Mara happy on the plane.  I may also be throwing a few extra prayers in there for her to be extra sleepy, and perhaps for the entire plane to be filled with loving mothers and grandmothers who will understand what this is going to be like for her.  We'll see how this goes, but it's bound to be interesting.  And blog worthy.  You can count on that.

More soon!

Is it really spring?

All of us were thrilled with the prospect of a sunny, "warm" spring weekend in central PA.  It seems this winter has just drug on and on, and every time we get a little hint of warmer weather, we've been smacked back into reality with a blast of cold.  So when the weather man told us it was going to look and start to feel more like spring for a few days in a row, we all started making our plans for the outside activities we've been looking so forward to.

As soon as our jobs were done on Saturday, which were far too numerous for Joshua and Lauren's pleasure, we headed outside to play, and stayed until Mara couldn't keep her eyes open any longer.  The kids rode their bikes around the neighborhood more times than I can count, played golf in the front yard (narrowly missing Mr. Jerry's car window, which necessitated a lesson on aiming and pointing the OTHER direction from now on) and got out every outside toy we own.  Mara continues to be amazed by the outdoors and can be best described as a "wanderer".  She just seems so enamored with the fact that she's outside that she just walks all over the place, stopping to admire the grass and stones and dirt and every dog who barks at her from the neighbors' open front doors.  She seemed to love the wind blowing in her face and giggled most of the time that we were outside.  I threatened to install an invisible dog fence and make her wear the collar after she wandered into the street no less than a thousand times and got quite upset when I would redirect her.  (I'm kidding.  Not about the thousand redirects, but about the fence.)  After a few meltdowns, I got out the wagon and took the girls for a ride.  Lauren even seemed to enjoy a wagon ride, so we walked around the neighborhood at least 3 times before returning home.  Josh thought it would be funny to jump off of his bike and in between the girls'....until he realized he is a little too big and got stuck.  But I did get a picture...

I haven't posted about our search for a babysitter, but I can report major progress in this department today.  A few months ago, Jason and I finally reached the point where we knew we were in need of a regular sitter to give us a little bit of flexibility to go out and do things without the kids, or without a few of the kids when the need presents itself.  I should say, Jason was ready for this much sooner than I, but my own issues with letting go (I know you're shocked) made me a little slower to come around.  There was just something about the idea of having a complete stranger stay in our home with our children that I couldn't get comfortable with.  We had some luck getting interest from some super people on sittercity.com and Care.com, and through a lengthy interview process and a few visits in our home with us there, found two sitters that we really like.  So far, Jen has been our rock star, and the kids are really starting to like her.  A few weeks ago, she came to stay with Lauren and Mara while Jason and I took Joshua to his Upward end of the season event.  After spending the previous 8 Saturdays literally wrestling Mara during his games, I knew I didn't have it in me to do it in an auditorium with lots of people.  It was very liberating to be out with only one child, and I think Joshua appreciated the individual attention.  So, on Saturday night, we gave Jen a run at all three of the Dugan smalls, and by all accounts it was a huge success.  Lauren liked her so much from the last time she was there to play that she even made her a birthday party in our living room before she got there.  I think Jen was extremely surprised, considering it isn't anywhere close to her birthday.

Jason and I didn't quite know what to do with ourselves, but we headed out for a nice, quiet dinner at the Crestmont Inn in Eagles Mere in a bit of an early anniversary celebration.  We hadn't been there since a State Farm Christmas party when we first started dating, but we enjoyed the drive up there, time for conversation that didn't revolve around sippy cups or changing the DVD in the van.  We had a really good dinner, some drinnks (yes, me.....a nice glass of wine) and then enjoyed our ride back home to the kids.  I had fully expected that Mara would melt down at our departure, but Jen told me there hadn't been a single tear from her until she fell and hit her head off of Joshua's bed leaving quite a mark on her forehead.  They had been outside playing, had pizza for supper and played games inside.  We found the kids all happily in their pajamas when we returned.  And Jen was in one piece.  And not tied up in a closet somewhere.  And she didn't even run away quickly.  So we claim major victory and now need to start making some more plans for nights out.

EASTER!

I feel a bit like a broken record after every holiday.  I remember, as a new Mom, feeling a whole different kind of excitement and joy around our first holiday celebrations with Joshua.  All of a sudden, creating traditions and special holiday memories with him took on a whole new meaning.  And that anticipation hasn't lessened as the years have passed and the size of our family has grown.  With each holiday that comes along, I feel even more excited than the last.

We all have been looking so forward to a trip to Lewistown to celebrate Easter with Nana and Pap.  With basketball this winter, our weekend trips that usually fall about once a month haven't been happening as much.  So you can imagine Joshua's excitement when he found out that we were headed to Lewistown to stay for TWO nights!  Our last trip was only for one overnight, and it clearly wasn't enough time for Josh and Lauren to enjoy their cousins and family in Lewistown.

These five had a blast together.  There were squeals and giggles and big smiles from the little girls.  I can't say enough how it warms my heart to watch them all having fun together.  Joshua and Brooke seem to have an extra special bond, playing and giggling together the most of the bunch.  Lauren can always be found following closely behind the big kids, wanting so desperately to keep up.  If only her little three year old self could move just a touch faster.  For the most part she hung in with Josh and Brooke and had a blast playing with them.

The kids spent Saturday taking a walk through the fields with Nana and Pap and Daddy, looking for deer antlers that had been lost.  Joshua was so proud of the three point (half rack) they found.  Lauren came in declaring, "Mommy, we found BONES!"

After some lunch and some time outside enjoying the closest thing we've had to spring like temperatures, the kids were thrilled to hunt for some Easter eggs that Nana had prepared for them.  They scurried about the front yard snatching up anything they could find.  Even Mara got in on the fun and found a few eggs.  She was very methodical about putting them into her basket, but seemed quite proud of what she managed to scoop up.  Pap and Pappy Ray watched from the deck above.

We rounded out our Saturday with a delicious Easter feast that my Mom prepared, complete with everything that you can think of.  There's something about eating a holiday meal at home that makes it taste better than anything.  I can only hope that my kids will one day feel the same way about holiday meals at our home.  We always get giggling about something....mostly Libby and I....and I swear the laughter makes the food taste even better.  The kids gobbled up their ham and were quickly back on their way to playing.  I can officially report that my diet was shot over the weekend- between Mom's delicious cooking on Saturday night and then eating the leftovers on Sunday for lunch, and perhaps a few (or twelve...or thirty six) bites of chocolate from the Easter baskets.  I have been doing so well- am down 28 pounds since the beginning of the year, with a goal of losing 12 more before we leave for our Disney trip mid-May.

Knowing that we had all blown our diets we decided we would seek a little redemption with a walk around the neighborhood.  This served several purposes.  First of all, Mara still needs to be stroller trained before our Disney trip.  She did great with the stroller and seemed to enjoy riding around.  My prayer is that she loves it equally as much for the four days she is going to be riding around the parks in Orlando.  Secondly, the kids had eaten WAY too much sugar from the egg hunt, and they jogged the two miles that we walked.  This helped dramatically with getting them to sleep that night.  The Easter Bunny still had so much work to do to get some special treats ready for the kids, so a reasonable bedtime was necessary.

The kids awoke on Easter morning to a basket of surprises that thrilled them all.  Each of them got a new movie and some peanut safe treats.  Joshua got a new water bottle to use during soccer season and the girls each got a new friend to cuddle with and some new books to read.  Mara's basket had some goodies that we can tuck away until it is time for us to leave for our trip to Dallas in a few weeks- to try and keep her occupied on a plane full of people who aren't interested in listening to a screaming baby for three hours.  Mara was funny with her basket.  She loved her books, but was thrilled even more with the grass in the basket.  And the peeps.....she might be mine after all, because she adores peeps!

We headed to church with my parents and the kids did pretty well.  I always love returning to Maitland and seeing how our family has grown over the past few years.  The kids loved seeing Aunt Rhonda and Uncle Butch, Jeannine and Pappy Fred and Freda, Stephanie, Stacie and Anna.  I believe our family time in church lasted for all of 15 minutes before Mara started to undress herself and parade down the aisle of the church.  We quickly removed her before she was naked and screaming, and I took her to the nursery.  Lauren quickly followed, as did Brooke, Anna and Hayden.  And so, the Richard girls spent some time visiting in the nursery.  We may not have heard the Easter sermon, but we did have a nice chat together.  I always love seeing the kids playing together.

We returned home to Mom and Dad's for a yummy lunch and some pictures before the Easter clothes were traded for play clothes.  None of the kids were happy that we were getting ready to pack up to head home, but they did oblige me for a few pictures.  I don't think they have any idea how I will treasure these photos, but having some good pictures of the kids and even one with me in it really made my Easter.

Before we knew it, our van was pointed in the direction of Turbotville, packed to the hilt with all of the stuff we lug along with us, and three very tired kids.  It was a great weekend!

We ended the night watching the final episode of The Bible, but given the fact that I wasn't able to participate in some of the things that really have become special to me about Easter- namely, our church's Maundy Thursday service, the prayer vigil and the Easter sermon- we had a really special time reflecting on everything that this weekend means to us as Christians.  We have always allowed our children to enjoy the secular parts of religious holidays while still making sure that they understood the true meaning behind why we celebrate.  And it warms my heart so much to see Joshua starting to take an interest in leaning about the real meaning of Easter.  He had been watching The Bible with us throughout the series, loving to see the stories that he knows coming to life on TV.  Although we struggled with the fact that the series itself was very graphically violent, we also didn't want to discourage his interest in learning.  So we decided that we would allow him to watch the final episode which dealt with Jesus' crucifixion, death and resurrection.  We had a long talk before the show about how awful people were to Jesus, and how much He loved us to go through that to pay the price for the bad things that we do, and how becuase of Jesus' suffering, we will be able to be with Him in Heaven one day.  I told Joshua that if he was uncomfortable with anything he saw or if he didn't want to watch, he could just tell us, and we would turn it.  But he watched with great interest.  And when I asked him about it later, he said he wasn't scared or upset.  When I asked him why not, he said very innocently, "Because He's Jesus, Mommy.  We don't ever have to be scared or upset because He is Jesus."  And that was my Easter sermon.

I hope that your Easter was blessed.