Our Weekend

We had a fun surprise this last weekend- my parents decided to come visit us!! We loved having MiMi and Big Daddy here.

It rained quite a bit while they were here so we spent most of our time inside.

And we ate at our favorite Mexican food place in town:

 

Josh and I went to dinner with just Jack, but I forgot to get a picture!

We are soooooooo thankful for all the wonderful rain the Lord sent over the last week. We had around 4 inches I think. We had not even had an inch of rain all YEAR until this last week. It is an answer to prayer.

Memorial day we stayed home and cooked :) Josh and I both love to cook and try new recipes and of course eat. I made pancakes for breakfast, we had grilled sausages for lunch, 

then a blueberry raspberry pie for a snack

and then crab cakes and artichoke dip for dinner.

Our garden enjoyed the rain too! It's doing really well! MiMi brought Gus and Maddie watering cans- they love to help water.

And I have to share some pictures of Josh's roses. They are blooming better than they every have. They look beautiful and smell great too :)

Hope everyone has a great week! 

Memories

We sat outside today for a lunch of sausages cooked on the grill and some chips. Fitting for a summer holiday. 

The temperature is my idea of perfect- 67. There is a cool breeze. It has rained here for the last several days. The Lord heard our cries for moisture and we are rejoicing. There are clouds headed our way, and we hear thunder in the distance. 

I think about those in my family who seved our country- my great-grandfather Dr. Benjamin Wiltshire and my grandfather Dr. J. W. Cobb. I'm thankful for both. I wish I could have met my great- grandfather who past a few days before my birth. 

I think about my childhood. Many of my summer weekends and holidays were spent in Colorado and New Mexico. This cool rainy weather feels just like it did there- it's heavenly. 

And then I think about the memories we are making today with our kids. A day spent enjoying the good things in life- the beauty of the earth, the blessing of rain, the peacefulness of home, the enjoyment of good food, and the gift of family. 

Life is good. :)

Jack ~ 4 Months

Jack was 4 months old on the 16th! This post is a little late, but I did take the pictures on the 16th. 

Jack is a happy boy! 

 

He still lets you know if he wants something, but he will almost always give you a smile if you smile at him. 

 

He also likes to laugh!! He will laugh if tickled, and he will also laugh if you just make funny faces or sounds. 

Jack has such a sweet little face, I never get tired of looking at him :)

He's growing a ton!! I don't have specific numbers, but I put a 6 month onesie on him today, and it fit perfectly. 

 

I think he may soon be to the stage where he really wants to get moving to keep up with Gus and Maddie. They love to entertain him, and he loves it too. 

 

He still eats every 3 hours at night. Occasionally he will give me a break, but not usually :). 

We are moving him into size 2 diapers. His 3 month and 3-6 month clothes are getting tight! 

He is starting to spend more time awake during the day. He LOVES toys! I think he likes to play with things more than either Gus or Maddie did. It's so fun to watch. 

Jack- your sweet smile melts my heart!!! I love you more each day

Mommy

Catching Up

I'm finally able to sit down and get caught up here! Life with my three littles has kept me running lately and often pulling out my hair :) Anyways.....

I had a wonderful mother's day. I got several sweet gifts, including a homemade bird-feeder and picture with all the kids' hands. Josh cooked me a delicious lunch. Gus did not want to cooperate for a picture, so I got pictures with everyone individually.

Our garden is doing well!! We have several things already coming up which is so fun and encouraging!

The kids didn't feel great a couple of days this week, so we spent time just relaxing on the couch.

 

It almost froze one night this week, so we had one last fire, and of course I loved it:

 

My boys :)

 

We went to our favorite Mexican food place this week. Jack did not want to sit in his carrier so I held him, and he fell asleep :) 

Today has been nice and quiet. I enjoyed cooking a stew and homemade biscuits. I've started cooking more again, and I am reminded of how much I do enjoy it. That is when all the kids aren't screaming and hanging off of me : /!

Tips for Saving Money on Vacation

We recently took a trip with our 3 kids to Disney World. Of course we wanted to save money any way we could, and there were several ways we got really good deals! Most of the ways we saved money was through credit cards. I know a lot of people don't like to use credit cards and think they are not good, so I want to clarify how we use them. Whenever we put anything on a credit card, we never put more than we can pay off the next month. We ALWAYS pay off our cards and never accrue interest. (well except the one time we forgot to pay a bill on time- a lesson learned!) We have earned so many "free" things by using cards, it has been very successful for us.

1. Airline Miles: Earn airline miles with a credit card. We got a card where if you spend a certain amount at the beginning you got a lot of bonus miles. We did this, and we were able to get our flights (3 people) for free for our trip. The airline that we used also had a credit card, so we got that card and used some savings there toward our baggage fees.

2. Hotel Stay: We got several hotel rooms free by getting a credit card for one of the big hotel chains. When you are getting ready to make a big purchase for your trip, such as paying for your Disney World tickets, use a credit card you can get rewards. Then just pay it off as soon as you get the bill in the mail.

3. Sales: We needed to buy clothes for our trip. I watched for sales online to purchase our clothes for the trip.

4. Ebates: Anytime you are buying things online, use Ebates!!! It is so easy! I've received two checks from them, so I know it works! To start using it, just click here:

5. Travel Time: If it is possible for you to pick the days, choose weekdays. Hotel rooms are often cheaper and flights!

We have had such success using credit cards to earn "free" stuff, it has really been worth it. I hope this will give you some good ideas!

New Adventure-Gardening!

Yesterday we started a new project- a garden! Josh has always wanted to have a garden. We were both ready to give it a try this year.

We planted tomatoes, jalapenos, peppers, lettuce, spinach, cucumbers, carrots, radishes, dill, cilantro, basil, chives, onions, and rosemary! My plan is to go outside and take care of the garden in the morning when it's cool outside, and then the kids can play then too. It will give us a good reason to spend time outside! I hope we get some good growth, and then I can learn more about jarring the different vegetables.

These two are such good buddies now. Yes, there is lots of fighting but they really do love playing together. And of course it makes me so happy to watch them.

Today we are enjoying a quiet day at home. Most days are like that for us. And that is how we like it! :) The kids have so much fun just being home and playing together. I believe our daily routine at home is so good for them.

Family Vacation to Disney!

I have not blogged in a while because we took a family vacation!! We got home Sunday night and had a wonderful time. Although vacationing with our three little ones was not relaxing, it was still lots of fun to go somewhere new and have time together. I will do another post on things I learned about traveling with the kids at Disneyworld.

We left last Saturday and headed to my mom and dad's house. We spend Sunday with them, and then we flew to Orlando on Monday morning.

Flying was one of our biggest stress situations of the trip. We had put a lot of thought into exactly how we would get through checking in, security, and keeping the kids entertained on the plane. I am so thankful for all the people at the airports who were so helpful. When we checked in, we were pushed to the front of the line. (when people saw us- they could tell we needed help!) When we went through security, we were able to get through quickly as well. The kids were such troopers on the plane! We were not able to sit together on the plane because there could not be 5 people on a row :(. I sat with Jack, and Josh sat with Maddie and Gus. The flight was only 2 1/2 hrs. We ate lunch as soon as we got off the plane, then road the Mickey Express to our hotel- Disney Port Orleans.

 

 

 We checked into our hotel, then rode a boat to Downtown Disney for the evening. The kids were exhausted and fell asleep in the stroller. (Jack was in the baby bjorn) We ate dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. (Gus slept through the whole meal in the stroller...)

Our second day, we had breakfast reservations at Chef Mickey so Gus could see Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, and Pluto. We planned to ride the bus to breakfast. We were at the bus stop over 30 minutes before our reservation. We waited and waited and no bus came. We finally ended up taking a taxi so we wouldn't miss our breakfast. It was while driving to breakfast that I saw glimpses of Cinderella's castle for the first time, and I was excited :) The breakfast was a buffet and had so many choices. But the highlight of course was seeing the characters. Gus was a little shy. He enjoyed seeing them from afar, but when they were next to him he wasn't quite sure what to think.

After breakfast we headed to Magic Kingdom. Gus and Maddie really like Mary Poppins, and so do I , so I really wanted to see her. We asked where she would be and when, and then decided to wait a few minutes to see if we could catch her. I turned around and saw her walking across the street. Josh teases me because I got so excited! We quickly headed  to where she would be seeing people and got in line. Mary Poppins was so nice and did a good job talking to Gus.

 

 

We then headed to ride some rides.

 

We had a Fastpass for Peter Pan, and did that ride first. We then rode Dumbo, It's a Small World, and the teacups. Everyone was getting hot and tired by then. And there were a LOT of people there. We are not used to crowds at all!

 

 

 

We ate lunch, then rode the Jungle Cruise. We walked through the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse because that was one of my favorite movies as a kid. At that point we were hot and tired and needed a break. We headed back to the room to rest. It took us a long time to get back and then we relaxed. We looked at the radar, and it was supposed to rain most of the evening. We had planned to go back and see the fireworks, but we knew it was not worth it to fight rain with the kids. We ate at the restaurant at our hotel for dinner. It was raining the whole time, and we had to use ponchos and the cover for the stroller to get back to our room.

The next morning we headed to Animal Kingdom, We walked around a bit, and then had a fastpass to see Mickey and Minnie. We had to wait a while, but the kids were pretty good. It was SOOOOO worth the wait. Gus was ready to see Mickey this time. He gave both Minnie and Mickey hugs. Mickey and Minnie interacted great with Gus and Maddie and even Jack. It was that "magic" Disney moment. Gus wasn't ready to go when our turn was over :).

Animal Kingdom has many areas like a zoo, so we walked around for a while. We then headed to do the Kilimanjaro Safari. The line was very long even with our fastpass, and there were lots of people and it was hot. But seeing all the animals was great.

 

 

We ate lunch, then it was time to head back to the hotel for naps. Everyone started having a breakdown :) We tried to go to the pool, but the kids weren't really into swimming. It was going to rain again, so we took a taxi to our dinner. We ate at the Kona Restaurant at the Polynesian Resort. The food was wonderful, and the kids were good.

 

 

We thought about hanging around because you can see the fireworks. However, the kids started breaking down. So we headed back to the hotel for the night.

The next day we rented a car and left Disney. We headed to St. Augustine, Florida. We decided we wanted to visit that city because of it's extensive history. We toured an old Fort, and then checked into our hotel because it was raining again. We found a wonderful little restaurant to have dinner and the kids were good. We walked around downtown St. Augustine for a bit then headed to our hotel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We planned to go to the beach the next day, but it was going to be raining all day. We were staying the next night back in Orlando so we headed back. We beat the rain to Daytona Beach and had just enough time to walk on the beach for 10 minutes before it started sprinkling.

 

 

 

 

We headed to our next hotel and ate lunch there because it was raining. We all took naps, then went to another great dinner at a pizza place.

We headed to the airport early the next morning. Again we didn't have to wait long to check in or get through security. The kids were good again on the plane, and my dad picked us up at the airport. We spent the afternoon at my parents and my grandparents and sister and her family were there too.

And the next day we drove home. :)

We had a really fun trip! As you can tell, it was busy. We packed, unpacked, and packed over and over. Our bodies were sore. We were tired. But it was good :)

I will be writing about more of the detail about traveling with 3 kids 3 and under in another post! It was an adventure.