An Obstacle Course and a Sunset

Monday Nights, we do what we call Family Home Evening.  This week Brad taught the lesson about not getting scared of obstacles in our lives.  We had our good friend Paula with us.  She baked cookies with the kids and watched the sunset with us.  It was such a beautiful night.  Bright and warm at 7:00.  Paula pointed out that the sunset went almost full circle around our entire house.  Beckaroo woke up just in time to make a couple rides through the obstacle course.  He, of course, wanted us to push him around on the big boy bike even though  he can't reach the peddles.  Liv and Gwen both enjoyed the challenge of the obstacles.  I think it was just hard enough to be a bit of a challenge, and fun.  Going over the ramps was especially exciting and much more successful with a little bit of extra balance from dad =0).

Introducing, the Rand Family Circus. . .

One of the girls favorite spring/summer activities is putting on a circus.  They are pretty well choreographed and fun to watch.

Saturday, they made seats for BR and I.  Gwen was the Ring Master.

Their opening tricks

Then came the Bumpity Bump

Followed by the Frontity Bump {Check out those facial expressions =0)}

Saturday

I know the title is Saturday, but I am going to start with Friday after school.  Olivia's friend invited her to go to gymnastics after school on Friday.  Liv was excited and Gwen was sad that she couldn't go.  SO, we planned a date for her with Brad.  She was never sad about it again.  That morning she woke up feeling gleeful.  Olivia had a great time at gymnastics, Gwen and Brad went to Dunkin Donuts, and to the Maine jump and to wash the car.  Beckham and I had our own date.  We played on the swing set and then through the woods.

Saturday was one of those great Spring days where we got tons accomplished and spent great, quality family time.  The kids got a penny for every pinecone they picked up.  Some of our other activities included cleaning my car inside and out (thanks BR!), taking the trash to the dump, planting in our flowerbeds, watering, setting up our deck, cleaning out the garage, going to the park, riding bikes, playing on the swing set, spraying the kids with the hose and watching  the girls circus (performed on the swingset).

The end of the day left me feeling satisfied from the hard work and the time spent together.  One of my favorites =0).

Ready for the school bus

Look who made his own lunch and got himself ready to take the girls out to the bus.

Gwen's glasses on,

Shoes over the footies,

and lunch packed.

• His lunch included a muffin, an orange, a rice crispy treat and a very squished banana.
• Packing a lunch has become a daily occurrence.  And, yes, after he packs it he carries it around . . . everywhere we go. . .all day =0).  

Easter |2012|

Easter morning Brad and I woke up to the kids, eager to find baskets and eggs.  We have a pretty low key Easter.  The kids find their baskets and then we do a little egg hunt.  Each year one of the eggs has a picture of Jesus in it, and the goal is to be the one who finds it.  For the last 2 years, Olivia has found it and it has been the first egg she has opened =0).  What are the chances?  I love this little tradition, it gives us a great opportunity to talk about Christ and His resurrection and sacrifice for us.  The reason for Easter.  After the hunt, we went to church, and then over for a delicious family dinner at Brad's parent's house {where one of my favorite traditions is having hot cross buns}.  

Beckham is saying, "Roar!"

All dressed up and ready for church.

When it comes right down to it.

This past Sunday, one of the speakers in church talked about how he read a book recently that talked about becoming an expert. He said it takes working at something constantly for 8 hours a day for 5 years to become an expert at it.  My train of thought went like this. . . "That would make Brad an expert at being a dentist, and that stinks, I'm an expert at nothing. . . Oh. . .what about being a mom {smile} That would make me an expert on my kids, and being a wife =0)." Even though I often don't feel like an expert, having that thought felt satisfying.  It made me happy.  I am so grateful for this family of mine.  So grateful for my kind husband.  So grateful for my kids with all of their "crazies," giggling, pouting, homework, hunger, sticky fingers, teeth that need to be brushed, bodies that need to be buckled in the car,  hair that needs to be fixed, questions that strain my brain, cuddles, kisses and smiles.  One of the "expert" opinions I have is that funny saying that hung on a magnet at my grandmother's house is true, "If mamma ain't happy.  Ain't no body happy."  It's a funny feeling to realize that when my family is driving me crazy it's because I am feeling grumpy and has nothing to do with them being whiney and needy.  The good thing about the realization is knowing how to fix the problem.  In turn, fixing the problem is exactly what makes me the most happy, when our house is running smoothly and happily.  My favorite sounds are of my kids and Brad playing, giggling, talking together.  Last weekend, I fell asleep to the sound of Brad and Olivia working on a project together =0).  I love how easy it is to make my kids smile and laugh.  All I have to do is chase them around, capture them and tickle them.  I love that Olivia opens up to us asks me all kinds of questions, even though, more often than not, it hurts my brain trying to answer them.  I love watching them learn new things.  I love listening to the funny things they say and the insights the words give me into the sweet way their mind thinks.     I love that they are interested in learning about things I am doing.  I love that anyone of them would smile over the thought of me stopping what I am doing to spend time with them.  I love knowing that I don't have to figure this all out on my own.  That is another of my "expert opinions."  Knowing that I can pray about any member of my family {including myself!} and how to help them, and soon enough insights will flow.  My mind will open up to new ideas of how to help them and how to grow together.  God never lets me down.  If you think about it of course he will help us when we ask with faith.  There are few things more important to him than our families.  Right now, we are in the up swing of the process.  In the portion of life where we are enjoying the results of our efforts.  The sunshine and new growth of the world around us helps.  We all love spring =0).

Gwenabeanie made this adorable horse the other day.  It was a character in one of the girls plays. It makes me smile =0).

Beckham loves, Loves, LOVES

to have Olivia ("Doodle") put him to bed.

Spring

We've been playing outside a lot.  We've had a great spring.  March even had a week of 80 degree weather.  Which left us warm, and happy.

We wore sandals and painted our toes.  Liv was thrilled to put on the top coat.  She loved it so much that she painted 3 coats of clear over the top of the colors and the girls had to wait for what seemed like an hour for them to dry =0).

One day Beckham and I surprised the girls with milkshakes when they got home from school.  Beckaroo slurped his up in record time and Gwen quickly offered that he could share hers.  I was impressed because lets face it, it is ice-cream and I didn't want to share mine =0).

We've played a lot of red light, green light, scooter light.  A game that Brad and I enjoy right along with the kids.

Beckham was so excited to show me how big he was.  And that he had put on his own shoes =0).  He could barely walk in them.

St. Lucia |March 2012|

Last year, about this time, Brad and I started researching places to go for our 10th anniversary.  We wanted a hot, relaxing, small, french speaking, safe island in the caribbean.  We went through many options and eventually settled on St. Lucia.  

We left our house Friday Morning at 3:20am to drive to Portland.  We flew out of portland into JFK (1 hour) and then straight through from JFK to St. Lucia (4 hours)  We landed in St. Lucia at 2:30 in the afternoon.  

St. Lucia was just what I expected.  Only the islanders were even nicer than I imagined.  Our resort was exactly what we thought it would be.  Small, personal, private.  We took a couple of days to settle into the slower pace, and made the most of our time by alternating between relaxing on the beach, eating heavenly food, and exploring the island of St. Lucia.  After a lot of research we discovered that the most affordable, and most appealing way to see the island was to hire a driver.  Kimbert drove us all over the island.  He would drop us off, wait for us, and take us to the next spot.  On the way he stopped at scenic viewpoints, taught us how to eat local fruit and find it on the trees, and taught us about the historical background of the island.  He became our friend.  Brad broadened his French and Haitian by picking up bits of their creole. The locals thought it was pretty funny and enjoyed the white guy speaking their dialect. Here is a list of things I would like to remember:

1. Zip lining.  12 lines, the longest in the Caribbean.  The longest line: 800ft.  The fastest: 25mph.  Both Brad's and My favorite activity.  It was amazing.  On the last line, I literally felt like I was flying over the rainforest like peter pan.

2. Picking fruit by the side of the road.  Eating the jelly out of the cocoa pods.

3. Swimming under a waterfall

4. Hiking up Pigeon island.  Racing Brad to the top.

5. Visiting a stinky, stinky volcano and touching the stream that came from it (85 degree), and another hot spring(112 degrees)

6. Ocean Kayaking

7. Talking with the Rasta men

8. Dancing and playing the drums at a street party/Fish fry.

9. Visiting the Botanical Gardens and diamond falls.

10.  Sitting in the sun

11. Enjoying the food, breadfruit, and fresh fish.

12. Talking to the man who swam miles along the ocean coast fishing for octopus.

13. Meeting Snake man

14. Having a bird fly into our room every morning. 

15. almost stepping on a boa constrictor.

16. Snorkeling. (getting stung by hundreds of tiny jelly fish in the water, seeing a giant lobster.)

17. An oceanside, chocolate oil massage.

18. Walking up and down over 150 steps to our beach.

19. Eating a jelly coconut and drinking its juice through a straw.
20. Eating Tamarind.  Sour, tangy, and sweet.
21. Eating Casava bread.  Cherry and raisin.
22. Kimbert teaching us all of the medicinal purposes of the local fruits.
23.  The women at the market joking that they were Brad's Mom and Grandmother.
24. Making friends.
25. Being Lucky.

20. Learning to relax like a St. Lucian.  And loving the St. Lucian people.