Best seat in the house!

What’s the best thing to do to wind down before bedtime after a busy weekend??  Watch some cartoons in the best seat in the house!

Starvin' Marvin...er, Sam!

Anyone know what happens when you take Sam to a food pantry where the food is supposed to be going to those less fortunate than us??  He wants to eat everything in sight!  And try explaining to a 4-year-old that you can’t eat this food, because we are giving it away…it his mind that was totally preposterous!  Why in the world would we give this food to people we don’t even know when he is clearly hungry??

While you are thinking of a way to help me explain that to my apparently starving child, don’t forget to check out how our day went over HERE…

Seven years. And Lynch.

One thing I didn't get around to doing the other day, was wishing Kenny and I a happy seven years!  Yeah.  Sunday was SEVEN years!  I don't think I've ever liked anyone else for that long.......

Good thing we love each other.  Although he has to.  When he asked my dad for permission to marry me, my dad, of course, consented.  But made it clear that in the Hill Family, there were no returns, refunds or exchanges.  So, Kenny would be stuck with me.  And he asked me anyway!

Now that man I love so dearly is sacrificing time with his family this week, as he works hard to provide for us.  And the boys and I are off on our annual Lynch Family Mission Trip.  Which isn't quite so "family" without our Daddy.  And these sweet boys have made it known to me several times today that they wish Daddy was with us.  Me too, boys...more than y'all know!

So, follow us here for the rest of the week.  We'll be updating daily about what's going on, the ministries we are working with and all the fun we are having!  Before you are done reading, you'll wish you had joined us on the trip!

Have a happy weekend!!

Enjoy your weekend...we have a busy one.  But someone is going on a date this weekend because someone has been married for a whole lotta years come Sunday..........

Actually.

Actually.  Pronounced ak-choo-uh-lee.  An adverb that means an actual or existing fact; really.

Actually, I have a 4-year-old who has a bad habit.

A bad habit of overusing the word "actually".  And when he says it, he usually puts both hands out to emphasize just what he means.  Which actually makes him just that much cuter.  Actually.

He says it when he's hungry...  "Actually, I think I need some candy." 
He says it when he needs something...  "I need the crayons actually."
He says it when you're wrong...  "Actually, I already put my backpack up." 
He says it when he's right...  "I'm gonna watch Tom & Jerry right now actually."
He says it when he's explaining himself...  "Actually, I did use my kind voice.  But Charlie just didn't use his kind voice actually."

Actually, he starts almost every sentence with "actually".

Kenny asked me where I think he picked it up from... 

And I actually have no idea where he picked it up.  Actually, I don't think I use the word that much...

"Actually we need to go this way."  And actually...he was right.

And it's all actually pretty funny when you think that two years ago, he barely knew any English.  Now he's using "actually" like a stinkin' pro!

A busy fall day.

We went to Evan's Orchard last week while the boys were on Fall Break and the family came to visit for a couple of days.

While we were there, we conquered the monster tires.

And had way too much fun on the giant slide.

We admired the giant mums.

Pretended to be hamsters.

Got lost in a corn maze.   Again.

Played in a hay fort.

Dug in a "corn" box.

Tried to smile for mommy.

Ate some ice cream.

Sported an attitude.

And picked pumpkins.

And that was just on Friday afternoon.

Yum.

It's fall.  So we made caramel apples.  Which aren't easy to eat with missing teeth...

The Tooth Fairy's new address.

I'm fairly certain most of you have been sitting on the edge of your seats the past couple of weeks, waiting to find out what has happened with Sam's wiggley teeth.  Wait no more, my friends!  The news you've all been waiting for...

A couple of weeks ago Sam decided it was time for his tooth to come out.  It was barely hanging on and actually came out pretty easily.  This was Sam’s first tooth to come out where he really cared about what happened with it, so he was pretty pumped to have something to leave for the Tooth Fairy and Kenny and I made a big deal about it, giving him high fives and talking up the ‘ol “fairy”.

Well, apparently Charlie was feeling a little left out, although he had already lost 8 teeth up to this point.  Not to be outdone, within about 10 minutes Charlie had ripped out one of his teeth.  I say ripped because he showed me the loose tooth the day before.  And it was no where near ready to be pulled less than 24 hours later.  I have no idea how he managed to get it out, but he did.  He just couldn’t let Sam have his moment of glory…

Until I made mentioned of Sam’s neighboring tooth that was also fairly loose.  And when it was ready to come out a mere week later, I knew Charlie would literally have to bust his face on something really hard to get a tooth out now.  Sorry, dude.  This time it’s all Sam’s turn.  (I am so mean.)

The tooth fairy did visit, much to their delight, even though she had to split up the bounty since she couldn’t seem to scrape up enough quarters to pay for two teeth.  And then a third.  I’m gonna have to talk to the Tooth Fairies lending agent.  Maybe see if I can take out a second mortgage or something…

And for some reason, Sam has it in his head that loosing teeth is somehow connected to how old he is…

“Mommy, am I five now?”
“No, buddy.  Your birthday isn’t until March.”
“But mommy, I’ve lost five teeth.  I’m five.”

“No.  You are still four.”
“I’m five.  Like Jimmy.”
“Jimmy just turned five.  But he hasn’t lost any teeth.”

 Long pause as his theory of teeth lost equals years alive slowly begins to fall apart…

 “I want to be five.  I’m bigger.  Am I in kindergarten next week?”

"Nope, not until next year.  And you are still four.”

Big sigh.  “But I still lost five teeth…”
“Yes, you did.  But you are only four years old.  And still in preschool.”
“I just need to be bigger.”
“I know you do.  But I can’t allow any more getting bigger.  Not this year.”

Another big sigh.  “I lost five teeth.”

And the same conversation was duplicated tonight as I talked him out of deciding he was now six.

The life of a Saturday soccer mom.

Well, we started our fall soccer season today.  This is Charlie 3rd year to play.  And Sam's first.  Much to his great excitement!

Let me give you a little run down of the day. 

We loaded up the car early this morning after a hearty breakfast of eggs and biscuits in my best effort to keep these boys full as long as possible.  (Read as...  keep SAM full as long as possible.)  I packed snacks, lunch, water and hot chocolate in my attempt to be as prepared as possible.  Chairs, blankets and extra hoodies also piled in the car.  This was all after attempting to dress two little boys in shin guards, tall socks, warm pants, multiple layers of shirts, sweatshirts and cleats.  And still have them be able to move.  Check.  Forgot gloves, but got to the field with a minute and a half to spare.

So, after we got all the above mentioned paraphernalia out of the car and set up by the field, Charlie and buddy, Emma started their game.  Which went a little like this...Charlie run.  Emma run.  Charlie get distracted.  Emma stop to see if Charlie is OK.  Charlie run.  Emma run after him.  Charlie kick the ball.  Emma stop to tell him "Good job!"  Repeat.  What makes this even funnier is the fact that Charlie almost as tall as me...and Emma is the size of a 3-year-old.  All while Sam is sitting on the sidelines amid all those snack and drinks I was telling you about, swearing that he is starving to death.  Despite that big breakfast he had...oh, about 45 minutes ago.  And when he wasn't pleading for food, he was asking when was it gonna be time for him to play...about 400 hundred times.

After Charlie and Emma's game, we loaded ourselves like pack mules and headed to the next field over for Grace's game.  Which was fairly uneventful and we spent more time laughing at the preschool goalie on the field next to us, then watching Grace play.  He was obviously dancing to some music that none of the rest of us could hear and it was very entertaining.  Had to be some 80's tunes based on the moves he was busting out.  Sam again pleaded for food and I finally gave in and let him have a snack and some hot chocolate.  Which made me a very popular mommy.  At least while he was eating.

And I forgot to mention that despite the fact that it was 80 degrees on Thursday, it was 44 degrees with wind blasting this morning.  Which meant on top of having to be patient about waiting for his game, Sam's nose was literally running off his face.  And we might have accidentally used our borrowed gloves as a Kleenex.  And mommy was freezing.

Finally the time came for Sam's game and we again packed it all up and moved our growing entourage back across the field.  Things were getting messy by this time.  Snacks were falling out of the coolers, hot chocolate had been spilled on the blankets, clothes were being shed as it [very] gradually warmed up and there was a growing collection of snotty tissues in my hoodie pocket.  With my cell phone.  Gross.

We finally got Sam situated with his team.  And do you know he was so excited about his new purple soccer jersey that we could barely get him to focus on his coach?  Never seen a kid so enthralled with a purple shirt.

He finally got focused and ran up and down the field with his team for a while, doing a good job for the most part of hanging with the pack.  On several occasions, the ball actually hit his feet, but he made no effort to actually kick it.  He was too busy admiring his shirt.  And worrying about if he was gonna win.  (Note to self:  Help Sam understand what a team is.)

And at some point, he realized that the other kids were now partaking in their picnic lunch.......  like he needed another distraction.  "Hey.....!"

Just in case you are wondering, all of this happened before 12:30.  We made it back to the car with what seemed to me like way more stuff than we started with.  And everything was just a touch sticky, which is what happens when lots of kids under the age of 10 are drinking hot chocolate.  And I use the term 'drinking' very loosely.  It was a good idea last night, but I think we'll just stick with water next time.

So, 'tis the life of a Saturday soccer mom.  Charlie was happy because his team "won", even though at this age they aren't technically keeping score, but you better believe he knew the exact number of goals made!  Sam got a new shirt, plenty of snacks and some really fun socks, so he was perfectly content.  And Daddy learned that a 4-year-old first-time soccer player won't always do exactly what you want him to, no matter how much encouragement he is getting from the sidelines.

And mommy is just exhausted.