Swimmin' Time!

Saturday afternoon once the egg hunt was over and the kids had gone through all of their eggs Nana offered to go in the pool with the kids.  The only problem was that one other adult had to go in with her in order to keep up with that many kids.  The only person brave enough to face the cold water was Sarah (I think she and Nana deserve a medal). :)  The water was in the 70s which doesn't sound too bad but it was cold!!  The kids didn't seem to mind, though... they jumped right in.  And even though all of their teeth were chattering by the end we still had to convince them it was time to get out!!

1.  Jacob enjoying his swim with Aunt Sarah
2. A few of the kids for a quick picture
3. Daddy convincing Chase that he can jump in all by himself
4. Jacob & Micah splashing with their feet
5. Brothers enjoying a little pool time together
6. Jacob jumping in to Nana and Maddie waiting for her turn
7. Jacob laughing after splashing Nana
8. Jacob with Nana trying to learn how to swim

The rest of the cousins also had a great time swimming.  Hopefully next time we'll have lots of opportunities for them to get in and the water won't be quite as cold!!

1. McKenzie & Maddie having a talk pool-side :)
2. Nana with two sweet grandsons
3. Nana enjoying her first time in the pool with Micah
4. Eli dealing with the drama of just splashing himself with water :)
5. Nana & Micah (she couldn't be happier at that moment!)
6. Sweet Maddie getting ready to jump in
7. Micah getting brave and jumping in to his Mama
8. The girls having a blast in Nana & Pop-Pop's pool
9. Eli decided that for the moment it was better to just water the plants (dead plants at that!!) ha ha

One afternoon in the pool just wasn't enough... I know once Matt, Sarah and the kids live in the states again it will probably be a regular thing to visit during the summer when we can all have lots and lots of pool and beach time!!  In June, when Becky and her family are visiting I don't think we'll be able to get everyone inside!  It will be all we can do to get them out of their suits to sleep!!  Can't wait!!  Here are a few of my favorites from all this time we had together!

1. Aunt Sarah reading about our Resurrection Eggs one night before bed
2. Micah with his beat up face.. he is a lot like Jacob - they don't go for long without some kind of boo-boo on their faces!! :)
3. One of my absolute favorites of Eli
4. Sarah with her boy (and her boy with his "Bubby") :)
5. Goomba getting some special loves from Micah

Cousin Time in Hilton Head

On the Wednesday before Easter Sarah, the kids and I headed down to Hilton Head to spend some time with our family down there.  We followed each other down, stopped quickly at Chick-fil-a on our way onto the island and went straight in to Nana & Pop-Pop's house to eat lunch.  As soon as we were finished eating Sarah and I took turns watching the kids so the other could unpack the car and take the stuff upstairs.  Once all our things were inside we took the kids upstairs so we could make beds and get ready for naps.  It was a lot to do in a short time but once all the kids were in bed we were able to sit down and relax for a few moments.  The big kids all slept in the same room... the boys in the twin beds and the girls on air mattresses.  I wish I had gotten a picture while they were all sleeping ... it is so nice to know that they are finally at an age where they are capable of sleeping with their cousins when we all get together at Nana & Pop-Pop's house!

These three kids are some of the most well adjusted, go with the flow kids I have ever been around!!  I guess being a family in the military has helped them to be flexible.  And when it comes to my sister-in-law, Sarah, words just can't express just how strong she is... she relies on the Lord's strength to get her through and her attitude is and always has been to just do what she has to do, no sense in complaining because God has them right where He wants them!!

During our time down in HHI, the boys spent a lot of time reading books... just like they always do!  Whether they are home or somewhere else, I will often find them sitting down with a stack of books.  It does my heart good to see how much they love to read and it makes me even more happy when Chase sits down and reads to his younger brothers!

Luke was definitely not fighting for attention... between having Sarah and the kids at our house for four days and then being in HHI with great-grandparents, grandparents and more aunts and an uncle he became spoiled pretty quickly!! :)  Tomorrow will be a week since we got home and back to our normal and we're still working on being content on the floor with toys... he is still wanting someone to give him attention 24/7!

We were going nonstop while we were down at Nana & Pop-Pop's house.  We were either busy out doing things or busy at home!!

1. Nana playing a game of Go Fish with four of the kids
2. Chase & Jacob spent the longest time "cooking" for Eli
3. Chase & McKenzie enjoying breakfast together
4. Jacob & Maddie sitting at the kid's table together one morning for breakfast
5. Chase & Maddie taking a quick pause from pretending together for a picture
6. Chase & Eli sitting together while watching a show

GG (Great-Grandma) is the one who gives Luke the most attention when we are all together.  He puts a smile on her face from ear to ear and it is so special to watch her with her youngest great-grandchild!  I have pictures of her feeding every one of my boys around this age so I couldn't let this time get away from me without getting one of those with Luke!  And I have to say, he was the happiest when he was sitting with his GG!!

 

It really was another great visit with family... it is so fun for the kids to play with their cousins and it is so great for us to spend time with the adults!!  

Just a quick story before ending... we were riding in the car today and Jacob out of no where says "I miss my cousins!" (This is probably said at least 10 times a day between the two big boys)  Charles wondered if he really knew what he was saying or if he was just repeating Chase so we asked him who he was talking about. "McKenzie, Maddie, Micah..."  We then went on to ask the boys to tell us the rest of their cousins.  "Noah, Colin, Eli..."  We told them they had two more and after a second Jacob said Emma and Ben.  The car was quiet for a few seconds and then Chase spoke up, "They aren't our cousins... they don't live far away!"  We corrected him of course and told him that just because they live close by it doesn't mean they aren't our cousins!  It gave us a glimpse into how his little mind works sometimes... kind of sad that he associates cousins with being far away!!  Hopefully one day that will change and we'll be within driving distance of all our cousins!!!

Easter Morning

The tradition of hiding the Easter baskets may not have happened in the Smoak household growing up but it did in the Morgan house and to this day that tradition lives on.  Saturday night after the kids had baths and were in bed we put the baskets together and then found appropriate hiding places.  It is so fun to think of places to put them that aren't too easy but won't take them too long to find!  It was even more fun to be in the house where I hunted my basket each year and to use some of those same spots for my kid's baskets!  Easter morning the kids came down and we started the day by reading the Easter story, spending time in prayer, thanking Jesus for his death and resurrection.  It was such a sweet time of reviewing what happened on those days leading up to Easter and then what it means for us that death could not keep our Savior in the grave.  The boys grasp so much and it was so special to first and foremost put the focus on Jesus before the fun of the Easter bunny.  Then it was time to let the kids hunt their baskets.  It was so fun seeing them all search the downstairs at Nana & Pop-Pop's house!

Once baskets had been found and gone through it was time for breakfast.  Uncle Dan, Aunt Ashley and Eli came over to enjoy Nana's special french toast breakfast.  We had about an hour to get everyone ready, take some pictures and head out the door and somehow we pulled it off!

My boys looked so handsome in their matching vests and it was so great to have someone there to take a family photo for us (thanks Ash!!). 

Everyone looked so nice for church that we had to take advantage of the opportunity and get a few pictures!  I finally got Eli to smile for the camera... the trick: have him look for the car, truck or train in the lens and he thought it was so funny!!  Whatever works, right?!  I love the picture of Danny with his son as well as the family pictures... Matt would have made the picture even better!!

Normally we talk and coordinate the kids but with the busyness of Sarah leaving Japan that just didn't happen so we each shopped separately for our kids and to our surprise they all matched!!  They all looked SO great on Easter morning!  And it was a bonus that they were all so cooperative in getting a few pictures!!

This was definitely an Easter to remember with all the time we were able to spend with family!  We missed the four members our family that were in Seattle but are so excited to see them in June... we are definitely counting down the days and can't wait to see them again!  It has been a L-O-N-G year and a half since we have seen them!!!   We're sitting just shy of 8 weeks and I can't wait!

Easter Egg Hunt #2

Saturday morning we got up and got ready for our second Easter egg hunt.  The night before Sarah, GG, Nana and I stayed up stuffing the eggs...we counted a total of 168 eggs.  After breakfast Pop-Pop went out and put down all of them, hoping the kids would find them and not the bugs or the yard crew! :)  Pop-Pop told the kids "the rules" and then sent them out back to find as many eggs as they could.  They also hid a golden egg but Pop-Pop must not have realized his grandkids are MUCH shorter than he is! ;)

Maddie & Chase were the two that were the most into the hunt... they took off running and didn't stop until the hunt was over.  Eli found a few eggs and then was more interested in the candy... a few times I looked over and saw his basket but Eli was no where to be found!  McKenzie took her time and carefully went around making sure she didn't miss anything.  Jacob was in his own little world finding his eggs and Micah was very intrigued with the slug that somehow found it's way into the first egg he opened! :)  haha  - I think we'll laugh about that for a while!  As soon as all the eggs had been found Pop-Pop and Nana checked everyone's basket for the golden egg.  The older two needed a few hints but McKenzie finally spotted the egg and the hunt was over. 

The kids all had a blast together hunting eggs!!  We took the baskets inside and checked each egg carefully before pouring the candy into baggies for each kid.  Once all the eggs had been emptied we counted and to all of our surprise the kids found each and every egg put out by Pop-Pop! :)

Decorating Easter Eggs at Nana's

The kids were all so excited when they found out we were going to be decorating Easter eggs for the second time this season!  I boiled the eggs earlier in the day and as soon as dinner was done and the kitchen was cleaned up we decided to jump in and have the kids dye the eggs two at a time.  We started with the younger ones and had Sarah and Nana standing close by.  They were so cute!!

Next it was Maddie & Jacob's turn (the middle two)! :)  They were able to do it mostly on their own but Sarah & Nana were standing by just in case!!

Finally, the older two (who had been waiting so patiently) had their turn.  They knew just what to do and McKenzie got very creative putting two colors on her eggs! :) I think Chase took notes for next year!

Last but not least, Luke had a "turn"... just for documentation sake we put Luke on the counter in front of the cups and we quickly realized he would take a nose dive just to get his hands on those colorful cups!  Nana did a good job keeping his busy hands from knocking everything over!!

What a special treat to be able to spend Easter with Sarah, the kids, Nana, Pop-Pop, GG, Goomba, Ashley, Dan and Eli.  We had so much fun coloring the eggs together!!

Egg Hunt #1

This Easter was special in the fact that we were able to celebrate Easter with the Smoak side of the family right before our family came into town and then we were able to celebrate a second time during Easter weekend with the Morgan side.  We had a blast hunting and dying eggs at the Smoak's house Friday evening.  We ate dinner and then let the kids go out and hunt the eggs.  Jupe (Charles' dad) put over 150 eggs around their backyard and the boys had a blast running around and filling up their baskets.

 The boys had so much fun filling their baskets.  There were a few times that Jacob had his basket so full that as he ran to get the next egg he saw he would spill eggs all the way and wouldn't even realize it until he got to where he was going.  It was so fun to watch!!

Luke had a great time just watching... he doesn't quite know what he is missing at this point but by this time next year he will be going full speed trying to keep up!!  He was super content watching from his Daddy's arms, eating his Daddy's shirt and playing with his blue egg! :)

The boys love doing anything and everything with their cousins... cousins, aunts and uncles just make everything more fun! :)

As soon as the eggs had been found Grandma brought out all the stuff for the kids to dye eggs.  This year for us was definitely a little bit easier with the boys being a year older.  I didn't worry quite as much over them spilling the dye all over themselves or turning all the cups over and they really enjoyed it this year!!

That Friday evening at Grandma and Jupe's with cousins and family was so much fun!  I love living close enough to be able to do these types of things and I love that for years to come our boys will make lots and lots of memories just like this!!

Just Hanging Out

Our last night in Columbia we got all the kids clean and then put on a movie for them... we popped some pop corn and let the kids enjoy some down time.  They were all tired so I think they enjoyed a relaxing evening before going to bed.

The picture quality was not that great in this picture but I loved seeing them sitting together and enjoying some down time!!

These two you can definitely tell are cousins!!!  Their profiles are SO much a like and with them both having short hair cuts I think people would think they were brothers instead of cousins!!  Jacob has a lot of me in him and Micah is a spitting image of my brother so somewhere in there they came out and are growing up to really look a lot a like!

Like I said, Micah loved having a few boys to hang out with and have fun with.  When Jacob and Chase started in on their daily rough housing moment, Micah did not hesitate and he jumped right in.  I wish I had taken a video of their wrestling match ... Micah laughed the entire time.  He thought it was great fun!!  He is home now with his Daddy and I'm sure they will begin having their own daily wrestling matches.  These boys are going to have tons of fun growing up together!!!

Fun Outside

After our busy zoo day on Monday we decided to take it a little easier on Tuesday.  We had a lazy morning and then headed out to Sandhills to walk around and do a little bit of shopping.  We had lunch together at Brixx (the kids and Sarah loved our little pizza place) and then headed home for naps.  After naps we had dinner and then Charles went out front and set up our sprinkler.  The kids were so excited to go run in the water and they all had a blast!!

All five kids enjoyed the sprinkler.  They ran, jumped and even took a trip around the cul-de-sac, bare feet and all!!  And Luke enjoyed watching the fun from the stroller.

The kids had a B-L-A-S-T together out front!  Jacob and Micah are such great buddies... you can tell Micah soaks up all the boy time he can get.  He loved rough housing, running, swinging and playing with the big boys and he fit right in with them!! 

These kids are so close and it makes me so happy for them to be able to see each other more than once a year.  This visit was unexpected but so, so much fun!!!  Can't wait to add Luke into the mix the next time we get together (which hopefully won't be too long from now)! :)

Cousins Together in Columbia

We are just now finally adjusting to all the fun and excitement that we've had over the last few weeks... what fun it was to have Sarah and the kids come stay with us in Columbia.  I never thought that we'd have them at our house and get to show them how we do things at our home but it just so happened that we got that chance a few weeks ago.  Sarah left Maryland where she had been staying with her mom, drove to North Carolina to visit one of her great friends and then headed here from there.  They got to our house on Saturday and we spent the next 4 days having so much fun!!  The kids lived out back... it was so nice to throw their crocs on and send them out the door and not have to worry about a thing!  When they were inside it was for either food or a nap! :)  Monday morning we took the opportunity to show them around our zoo, Riverbanks Zoo.  What fun we had!!  (I walked out the door that morning without my phone AND my camera but thankfully Sarah had her camera with her so we got a few pictures of the fun!!)

There was one elephant that morning that was definitely showing off for us and it was something I had never seen in all the times I had been to the zoo.  The elephant was up on some rocks (not where the elephant should have been standing) and reaching his trunk up as high as he could into the trees.  It was actually pretty cool to watch... we were "up close and personal" and the kids got a kick out of being able to see into the elephant's mouth!!

The kids had so much fun together!!  We had my double stroller (heavy!) that carried Luke and one of the big kids and then we took our wagon (even heavier!!).  Poor Sarah literally had to drag that thing around the entire zoo... something was not right with the wheels and it wouldn't turn very easily.  I think we both got a good work out that day! :)  Sarah got some really cute pictures that I love... the one in the bottom left corner of this last collage I must have really loved... I used it in both collages I made but was too lazy to go back and fix it! ;)

By this time all the kids and both of us were tired and hot.  We took one last picture together and then went to buy the kids a nice cold treat!  It was my boy's first time having Dippin Dots and they LOVED them!!!  Our zoo day was so much fun!!  It was a little crazy with 6 kids and only 2 adults (we got a few funny looks every time we'd go out on our own from having 6 kids so close in age!) but we managed and everyone had a great time!!

Already a Pro ;)

To say we have a baseball player in the making is an understatement!!  Chase is only four but seems to hit the baseball like he has been playing for years.  He is definitely a natural and loves learning more and more each time Charles works with him.  Chase starts t-ball this summer and he is so excited.  Over spring break Charles took him out to buy him his very first glove and t-ball bat.  They also bought a few balls like what they use for this age so that Chase can get used to them.  Using a real bat as opposed to the tiny plastic one he learned to hit with is very different and it's the same kind of thing with the balls!  I picked up my camera a few nights ago to video Chase hitting balls with Daddy and these two videos were too cute not to share!! :)

Chase is doing so well!!  I think he would be bored with regular t-ball because he can already hit the balls that Charles pitches to him but that's the good thing about playing at the YMCA this year... I've been told that the boys have the opportunity to hit the balls pitched to them first and then they hit off the tee if they need it.  I can't wait to see Chase in his little uniform (which he will probably swim in because he's so small)!! 

This next video was too cute not to share... Jacob is Chase's biggest fan and nothing makes him happier than when Chase is doing well!!  Chase hits a foul ball and yet Jacob reacts like he hit a home run :)  Love these two boys!!

Jacob is also doing really well... Charles already has him hitting the balls that are tossed to him so it's not going to be long before we have two baseball pros!!  I have a feeling that we are going to be very busy with these three boys during baseball season in the years to come!!! 

Handsome Boys

We went to the Children's Garden on Saturday morning to attempt a little Easter photo shoot with the boys.  I decided to go around 9:30 that morning which was right in the middle of Luke's nap so it wasn't as successful as I would have liked but we did get a few good ones of all the boys as well as a few of the boys by themselves.

This is one of the few good ones that I got of them together.  It is SO hard getting all three of them to not only look at the camera at the same time but somehow also get a smile on their faces.

 There were times we would get 2 out of the 3 looking and smiling at the camera but then the third would not be.  Taking pictures of two kids was hard enough, three is proving to be next to impossible! ;)

I mentioned that we opted for this little photo shoot instead of letting Luke take a morning nap and he made sure to let us know that he was not o.k. with that choice.  Oh well... it made for a few funny pictures!!

Overall, we spent about 30 minutes trying to get a good picture of these three.  I walked away with a handful of good group shots which was good enough for me!!  These three boys are such amazing blessings!!!

 And these individual pictures were just icing on the cake :)  Getting individual pictures is SO much easier than a group picture!!!

Jacob's 3rd Birthday Fun

I know I'm a bit late in posting about Jacob's third birthday but better late than never, right?  We had such a great weekend celebrating our second son and just how much he adds to this family.  He has proven that he is so much like his mama, in both physical traits as well as his personality.  He is sensitive, shy at times, loves following his big brother, lives to be just like his big brother (sound familiar Becky??), studies situations before jumping in... he loves to snuggle and loves for people to watch him do new things.  A few weekends ago we had a party to celebrate Jacob's three wonderful years and we all had such a great time.  We had a sports theme party pretty similar to Chase's 4th party but instead of focusing more on football like we did with Chase we put the focus on all sports.

Lots of people special to us came, including Aunt Ashley and cousin Eli.  This was the first birthday party for Jacob that they've been able to make it to so we were super excited to have them here!

Present time!!!  Aunt Anna took a few videos for me that I will have to get from her but he was so cute opening each gift.  I can still hear the "Oooohhh, lloooooookk at this!" that he would say as he opened each gift.

 He was so excited to open his present from Aunt Becky, Uncle Jason, Noah & Colin.  He LOVES his Cars and Finding Nemo search books so much!!

He is also so proud to wear the t-shirt Uncle Matt, Aunt Sarah, McKenzie, Maddie & Micah sent from Japan.  It has a picture of the jet that Matt flies on the back and whenever that shirt is clean it is on his back and he wants to tell everyone he sees about how Uncle Matt flies that kind of plane!

Hugs all around to all of his buddies who came.  He has one of the most thankful hearts of any child I have ever been around!!  In the mornings he is just SO thankful for everything, including his cup of milk.  "Thanks for this milk, Mom.  Thanks!!"  Another quick story about his thankful little heart... I had to buy new tennis shoes a few weeks ago (Jacob had worn holes in his) so instead of buying him new shoes I instead bought Chase the next size up and then handed down Chase's old shoes to Jacob.  As I handed Chase his shoes and then gave Jacob Chase's old ones he got the biggest grin on his face like I had just handed him the brand new ones.  He was so proud to be wearing his big brother's shoes and did not care one bit that he didn't get the brand new ones.  All day that day he kept thanking us for his new shoes!!  He melts my heart!!

Cake time!!!  Big brother had to help blow out the candles! :)

Once we were finished with the cake all the kids went out back to play.  It was a beautiful day and they all enjoyed the fresh air!!  Thanks to all our family and special friends who came to help us celebrate our sweet Jacob.  I can't believe it has already been three years.  We blink and the time is gone!!

Total Transformation!!

When we built our first home in Greenville the builders put seed down in the backyard and unfortunately the seed never took.  That left us with a huge yard in Greenville that we could never afford to sod so we just grew weeds and eventually, when those weeds were cut short, it looked like grass.  So when we knew we would be buying a house again one of my criteria was to have an established back yard.  Well, as we went through the process of finding our next house it became clear that I would have to give and take on a few things, our yard being one of those things.  A few months ago Charles and I started talking about a few upgrades we wanted to do around here and I knew that my #1 priority was to upgrade and transform our backyard.  At the end of last summer we bought an amazing play set for the boys to enjoy and I knew that adding mulch around the play set and putting in grass would make our yard that much better for the boys.  We did our research and ended up choosing a great company to come in and do the work for us.  This past weekend Charles worked hard on putting a wooden border around the play set to keep the mulch separated from the grass.  I think he did a great job.. the guys that came in on Monday even said the same thing!  Charles also removed the concrete decorative border that the previous owners had put down... I couldn't stand that stuff so it was so nice to see it gone.  Then it was up to the crew to till everything up, put down top soil, lay the sod and spread the mulch.  Right now we are in the "water twice a day" phase and I will be happy when the grass takes and you can't see the seams anymore but already it's proving to be so great for the big boys.

Before the work began... one big sandbox with a few weeds here and there!

The difference is huge!!!!  I am so thankful that the boys can go out back now, play and get sweaty and not come in as two big dirt balls!!

Looks good, huh?!!