Catchup of our August

Catchup of our August

We are huge fans of finger lights in this house.  Talk about inexpensive fun!  I picked a pack of 3 up for $1 at Micheal's at Christmas for Landon last year.  After everyone enjoying them so much we bought 40 online for less than $7.  The kids love them.  They get played with everything, stuffed animals, plastic animals, trains, cars, dress up, and and everything in between. 

Finger light fun!

Ashley invite us to the creek to have some fun in the water and search for sharks' teeth. We didn't bring out swim suits so Landon borrowed a cloth diaper cover and Bella played in her diaper.  Yay for cloth diapers being multipurpose! I am planning on taking some of the teeth we found and make Josh and Landon shark necklaces. 

Creek Splashing and Play Time

Our Findings

Arabella has been praciting her photogratphy skills.

Landon's friend, Ben came over for a play date.  Landon has been asking for a while for him to come over.  Finally our 2 busy families were about to coordinate a date.  We did a Lighting Mcqueen/ Cars2/ Olympic art work.  The boys had fun with trains, finger lights, and big Legos.

Play date with Ben

Unfortunately, this was one of the few trips to the beach this summer.  It was quite the eventful trip.  Our car tire got a hole in it.  Thankfully it wasn't a blow out and it was a mile from the beach.  Josh dropped us off and took the car up the road to a mechanic we had seen close by.  The guy who worked there was very nice and really helped us out a lot with putting the tires on right away and gave Josh a good deal.  After he was done, he mentioned that he wasn't even suppose to be at the shop that day because they were closed but he had gotten a call and had to meet someone at the shop.  Very thankful!  While at the beach we meet a little boy a few months older than Landon who was named Landon.  Needless to say, our Landon was so excited to meet another Landon.  He still to this day talks about him.  Josh joined us for about an hour before a storm rolled in and we had to leave. 

Beach trip

Isiah's birthday party

Fruits of our labor from our garden.

2012 London Olympics

BEhind on posting again.  Oh well.. Here is our Olympic festivities


We spent the whole week reading, crafting and playing with the Olympics in mind.  I have never really been hyped about the Olympics as I have been this year. I mean I would watch it sometimes and I really love watching certain sports.  It has been fun learning and counting down the days!

 Here are some of our adventures in prepping for the Olympics!

Olympic shirts.  Landon did his all by him self with my instructions. Arabella picked out what she wanted to do on  the sleeves.  The torch has been a favorite play thing of the week. 

 Torch- I saw several torches on Pinterest as I was gathering ideas.  I used some ideas I saw and added a few of my own.  I think ours looks pretty good compared to the real one this year considering it is made of almost all recycled items ( with the exception for the tinfoil and gold spray paint) and can't really be safely lite on fire.  I was excited we made it all with recycled items.  That orange stuff is from a bag the tangerines came in ;)
I used a toilet paper roll for the round part to hold.  The triangle part is a paper towel roll. After making the trinagle part we pushed one roll into the other and then taped them to We covered the whole thing with

Togas and laurel wreaths to remind us of the original Olympics.  British flag lunch to remember who is hosting this year.  I also have been using Cars 2 as a motivator since part of the movie took place in London.

The Food!

Since our small group meets on Friday and the Olympics started on Friday we had an Olympic around the world themed dinner. It was fun!  Our small group did a great job of representing Asian foods.  I think more than half of the dishes brought were Asian. I made an Olympic Ring Pizza for dessert. Everything was really yummy!

Josh and I planned several dinners that were new to us and distinctive to different places in the world.  We had Bangers n' Mash, Yorkshire Pudding, Egg rolls, Edamame, Burritos, crepes, and Stir Fri.  I tried to find traditional recipes.  It was really fun trying some new foods.  All of them were quite yummy! I think the favorite was bangers n' mash.  

Here is some of the food I remembered to take a picture of.

The Games!

We did some Olympic games as well.  I had a ton planned but as typical in our house.  Life got in the way.  We still had fun and learned a lot!  Before we played any of the sports we watched either the event or practice of the event online (Thanks Mom and Dad for giving us access to the online coverage!).  We did the discus(we made them out of paper plates), soccer, boat races, javelin(made out of straws), obstacle course races, gymnastics, relay races, and swimming.  Landon's favorite sport to watch and play was soccer.  Arabella's favorite to watch and play was gymnastics but she really liked soccer a lot too (Just like her mommy- maybe she will want to gymnastics and soccer like I did). 

Florida, Florida, Florida

At the end of July, Jessica come down to Florida to visit for 2 weeks.   The same day she arrive Josh's brother Jon and his wife Merry arrived in Florida. Jon and Merry will now be living in the Niceville/ Crestview area of Florida!!  Jon got out of the Marines and will now be in the Reserves as he goes to school and in just a few months be becoming a daddy to baby Owen!!!  (This will be BIG for me- come November I will be an Aunt for the first time!!!!  I am super excited!!!!!)  

Jon had to check in with his Reserve group in Jacksonville.  On the way back from there, Jon and Merry stopped in Gainesville for the night.  They arrived right before Landon woke up and he was so excited when he got up.  Landon received a awesome fold up play tent with Lightening McQueen on it. Arabella loved meeting her aunt and uncle for the first time.  The next day Jon and Merry played with their niece and nephew while I cleaned and packed.  Josh got off work as nap time was rolling around so it was about time to leave.  Landon rode with Jon and Merry and Josh, Arabella and I were planning on leaving with in the hour after them.  That didn't happen.  Things took longer than planned which seems to happen a lot with a baby around.  Plus as we were ready to go the car battery decided to die.  Josh had just driven to the gas station to get gas and air in the tires  less than an hour beforehand so I don't really know what happened.  Thankfully, our nice neighbor offered us a jump not too long after we realized what happened and the car was fine.  It has been since then too.  So Landon ended up by getting there about 2-3 hours before us.  He didn't mind because Aunt Jessica, Jamiie, Uncle J, Grandma W and Grandpa W were there waiting for everyone to arrive.  I think this was the longest Landon was away from both Josh and I.  I was stressing a little just because I am a little crazy and overprotective.  I was really glad Landon was able to spend lots of time with his family because I think that is SOOO important.(so Jon and Merry don't take offense to this overprotective mommy's worries)  Aunt Merry did a great job at helping me cope with my worries.  She kept me updated every hour with text about Landon and some pictures too.  Thank you Aunt Merry!!

Josh took 2 days off work and we headed up to the panhandle so we could see her for more than just the weekend. So we were in the Panhandle from Friday through Wednesday. 

We stayed with my parents and got to see them in the mornings.  We spent most of the afternoons and evening over at the packed Williams house.  It was great and a little sad.  Josh and I, more than ever, wanted to live back "home"(second home I guess even though we both still call Ft Walton Beach and Niceville "home") so we can be closer to our families.  We got to go to the beach with all the aunts and one uncle plus Grandma W.  Josh and Landon went twice.  Arabella and I came down with a little fever cold thing but thankfully it was short lived.  On the way back to Gainesville we stopped to have dinner with my brother Adam.  He took us to his favorite restaurant which I think has been our favorite so far too!  I only wish we could see Uncle Adam more with or without the yummy food!  ;)


It was a great vacation!  Family is the best!!

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A thoughtful thought from my sweet boy

A friend of ours recently was killed in a motorcycle accident. I am good friends with his wife. Landon was friends with his 4 year old son. We had just spent a morning and lunch with them less than a week before this happened. Our family was saddened by this tragic event. We were telling Landon that his friend had lost his Daddy and won't be able to see him. His daddy had gone to Heaven to be with Jesus. Although his friend would be very sad, his daddy is in a very great place since he is with Jesus. Landon was so concerned for his friend. I was some what surprised with the emotion that he seemed to have for his friend. He has asked about how his friend is doing almost everyday since then. He also asks to pray for his friend every night at bed time prayers.
Landon: "Help (his friend's name) not be sad. His Daddy love him and he happy cause he with Jesus. Amen." It is really hard for me to not cry when I hear this. Although Josh did pray with us all the day it happened this was not something Josh and I told him to do or what to say. It was something he came up with on his own. I am truly blessed to have such a great example of Christ's heart sleeping in the bedroom next to mine.

Events such as losing a loved one before we think it is time always makes me think about remembering to live everyday to its fullest and to treasure all of our blessings each and every day. I have had several close friends and fmaily members die but this one has been truly hard for me. I know and saw the love a wife had for her husband and the love and admiration a son had for his father. This time I also have a son who reminds me of something very important. Only Jesus can heal these wounds and we need to always be seeking him not just in times like these. Also remember that death is not the end for those who walk with God, just a wonderful beginning to their live in the Kingdom of Heaven. Hope you take the time today to strengthen your walk with God and love on your loves a little extra.

Landon

I still have more post to write about just trying to find the time to get them all written and get the pictures together. I wanted to give a little update on Landon since I have been posting so much about Arabella.

We are so proud of Landon. He is just becoming such a great little man. He makes me laugh and smile everyday!

A couple of months ago Landon figured out how to take off his shirt (undies and shorts have been more like 6-8 months ago which that time everything was kind of a blur with Arabella arriving and feeling awful).He just started being able to fully dress himself. He has been putting on his shoes for a long time, undies and shorts in the last 4-5 month. We never really tried getting him to put on his shirt (mainly because it only has to happen 2 times a day normally so it isn't something that is time consuming for me or hard with Arabella around). About 2.5 weeks ago he just took his shirt from me and put it on. I was shocked. He must have been thinking "Mom, I know how to do this just give me the shirt and I will show you." He loves showing off his new skill so now his shirt comes off a lot but he gets it back on and more often that not it is now correctly.
He comes up with the craziest stories. He has a great imagination. He really LOVES learning about Jesus and His life. He has such a heart for others.

Landon will also be starting preschool this coming week with me. I am so excited. Although we did some "school" last year it was very informal and without any real schedule. I have been spending that last few weeks preparing his curriculum (which I have thoroughly enjoyed). I am praying that all goes well but also prepared to deal with life as it comes. Hopefully by this time next week I will have an update on how our first week went. I know I am super excited!

I love our little man and can not believe that he will be 3 next month!

Half a year... What?! My baby girl is 6 months!

Yes, I can't believe it.  For whatever reason this is has been hard on me.  I love my babies but I do enjoy toddler and older years more than the baby months.  I just have a hard time thinking of her as something other than a little bundle of sweetness that needs to stay warm in my arms. 

Biggest News...
A day short of Arabella turning 6 months is she started pulling up and STANDING UP!  I wouldn't believe it unless I was sitting right there.  Even more amazing is a caught it (or some of it) on video.  Even better is Daddy was right there with us. 

She is also sitting up for minutes at a time now.  She can almost put herself in a sitting position.  She is at a 60-70 degree angle and then she can't get up the rest of the way.  As I said in an earlier post she is scooting around like crazy.  If I put her in the living room, by the time I throw a load of clothes in the washer she is already can be in Landon's room.  I am thankful that Landon is a huge joyful (at least most of the time) helper and watches her since she is known for putting anything she thinks is interesting in her mouth.  She loves to bang things.  She seems to prefer the colors red and yellow. 

We have started feeding her.  Man, does this girl like to eat!  She actually yells at us almost every meal time if she isn't being feed which is part of the reason we started feeding her sooner that the 6 month mark.  She would like to eat solid food at least 2 times a day.  This is a night and day difference from Landon who basically refused food until he was 9-10 months old and he never would eat anything pureed.  She also loves to drink water.  She can already drink out of Landon's sippy cups and my sport water bottle lid but she typically gets a baby bottle of water. 


We are also pretty sure she is saying "hi."  Josh and I are both skeptical when it comes to speech just because sometimes it is easy to here what you want to hear. But we both thought she is saying hi.  Either way she is making a specific noise that sounds almost like hi when she sees someone or someone says hi to her. 


I had to take her to the doc. because of a diaper rash that won't go away, actually the ONLY diaper rash she has gotten ever.  It turned out to be just a yeast infection which cleared up within a day or two after the ointment superscribed.  She was 16.8lbs and 26inches. 

Landon still is going a great job sharing his toys and always gets her one when he wants me to play.  She goes to her when she is sad and when he is sad.  I love that they comfort each other so well.  I love being a sister and glad to see my children embracing the God's gift of siblings. 

She is a super happy baby and such a personality.  We all love her and can't imagine life without her now. 

Our little smiley sunshine!

Almost sitting

Loves music

First trip to the springs- Too cold for this little lady

First bite of food

First ride in the double stroller (despite Landon's look we all had fun)