I Bribed Them

I confess, on occasion I have been known to bribe my kids. I did it today. I promised them if they acted on their best behavior I would let them go to QT and pick out some candy. It worked and they were angels. The hair stylist even commented on how well behaved they were. I didn't have the heart to tell her they had been bribed. Normally I take my kids everywhere with me but the people in Utica Square kind of intimidate me. Which is why I worried so much about taking them there. I really don't like to bribe them I think they should act well whether they get something for it or not. Surely every once in a while is okay though isn't it?

Good Luck To Me

Wish me luck everyone. In thirty minutes I am taking all three kids with me to the Ihloff Salon and Day Spa in Utica Square to get my hair cut. Most of the time my mother and I make our appointments together and she stays with the kids while I get my hair cut. My parents got a call yesterday to go to Minnesota so I am on my own. Normally I would just reschedule but I already had to reschedule once due to our vacation. With my hair being as short as it is it really needs to be cut at least every eight weeks. It has been I think eleven weeks and counting. I am curious does everyone else take their kids with them or what do you do with your kids while you have your hair did?

Busy Weekend

We started off the weekend by having Blake and Shelly and their kids and Amy and Benjamin over for dinner Friday night. We cooked kabobs and it turned out to be a little stressful trying to get everything finished at the same time. Next time we have you all over we will do something easier (sorry). Then Saturday morning Jennah and I went to see Shelby's ballet performance. Jennah loved it and as soon as we left she wanted to know when she could take ballet. After that we went with Jonathan to work for a little while. Then Jennah had to be at the church building to get ready for her musical. I was really nervous for her but I don't think she was at all. She forgot to stand up which threw her off a little in the beginning of the song but quickly caught up and did a wonderful job. Especially this being her first solo and not knowing about it until Wednesday! Sorry for the shaking camera I was crying and laughing at the same time. I'm sure everyone there thought I was crazy. I cried through the entire program. After it was over Jennah got to go around and give people her autograph. She loved that! To top the day off we ate at Ted's with my family and then all five of us watched Hannah Montana 3-D! Sunday, Quentin and a friend came to church with us. The kids love uncle Quentin. Then a good Sunday afternoon nap and off to church again. After services we had a children's ministry meeting to inform all the parents about how the new format will be when we go to three services. Everyone had so many questions and concerns. It is amazing how terrified people are of change, but that's a story for another time.

Also, thank you to everyone that came to see Jennah perform. I know it meant so much to her to have so many family members there to support her. It meant a lot to Jonathan and me too.

Music Camp

Jennah started Music Camp this week. It is perfect for her! She cried today when it was time for me to pick her up. She loves it. They sent a cd with all the songs to the musical home with her. I thought with it being from 9-5:00 she would be tired of it by the time she got home, but not Jennah. She has been practicing the songs and the motions all evening. She even throws in a little attitude with some head movement. They had auditions that we missed for the solo and speaking parts. I think she really would have enjoyed that. They are performing the musical Saturday evening and I can't wait!

Home Sweet Home

We made it back about half an hour ago. We had a wonderful trip but all of us are glad to be home. These are a couple of the best pictures we took.

Dolphin Cruise

We went on a dolphin cruise Tuesday that guarantied the dolphins would jump, roll, and surf or our money back. We had been on a dolphin cruise several years ago when we came down here and we only saw a few dolphins only for a second, and definitely no jumping, rolling, or surfing. We were pleasantly surprised to see all of this on this cruise. The kids had a blast and could see them up close. The difference was this cruise had two big boats that would run next to each other and create a nice wave the dolphins enjoyed playing on. Jacksen and Jennah did well on the boat like they had done it a hundred times. Joel had to warm up to it but by the end of the cruise he was okay.

Water Tricks

Joel decided yesterday with no help from us that it was time for him to learn how to go underwater and swim. Just out of the blue in the kiddie pool he started putting his head in the water over and over and over. It was so funny to us because we hadn't asked him to or showed him how. We knew when we went on our vacation when Joel was almost one and he decided on his own it was time to start walking how much determination he had even as a almost one year old. We had not seen him be so determined to do something since then. He almost gets obsessed with it. This video was this morning in the pool and shortly after this he got in the big pool and swam underwater from Jonathan to me and back and forth for about thirty minutes. He also likes to jump into the pool without us catching him so he can go under and then we can pick him up out of the water.

Jennah is learning how to float on her back although it doesn't look like she is actually floating she can keep her head above water. Kind of like when she swims it doesn't look like she is actually swimming but she can get anywhere she wants. Last year on vacation Jennnah was "saved" three times in the pool. She wasn't actually drowning she just looks like it when she swims. The three people just kind of look at us funny and grab her out of the water and brought her to us.

Jacksen's favorite thing these days is diving for things at the bottom of the pool. In this video he is diving for a penny. He also really enjoys having Joel swim to him in the pool. He feels pretty big.

I love that we can share our vacation with all our family and friends. Also, you will have to mute the music at the bottom of my blog to hear the kids.

We missed the sun setting by a few minutes, but got a few good pictures right after it set on the bay side.

Vacation!

We're here finally! It seems like the longest trip we have ever made. I know it isn't because the trip to CO last spring break took about sixteen hours but this seemed longer. The kids were great. It is actually my fault the trip seemed so long. When I called to make our reservations for the condo they informed me I could save $200 if I waited until the day after the 4th of July. Of course I wanted to save the money! Then after proudly telling Jonathan of the great deal I had made I found out there would be fireworks on the beach. On the beach, we can't miss that! So being the cheap girl I am instead of calling and just reserving the room for an additional night the 4th I call every other place in Gulf Shores to find a room. The cheapest place I could find was $240 for one night! So after searching and searching I finally decided to call the original place we are staying all week to decline the $200 off and stay the extra day on the 4th. By the time I call back someone else had reserved the condo for the week before us and the last night being the 4th! So we stayed in Mobile, AL last night and drove down to the beach for the fireworks. After making a 12 hour drive, we took a quick swim and had dinner, then loaded back up in the car to drive down to the beach. It was neat but the traffic was really bad and we didn't get to the beach until the fireworks were over. We left Mobile 8:00 pm for the fireworks and didn't get back to the hotel until 12:00 am! This was after spending 12 hours in the car for the trip down here. Finally we arrived around 4:00 this afternoon. The condo is great! The first picture is off the living room balcony of the ocean. The second is from our bedroom of the bay.

Thanks for your prayers for my newest nephew Fischer. He gets to go home today! He got to stay in the room with Madison and Sean last night and is arriving home this afternoon.