While the cat's away, the mice will...watch birds?

Our original plan for the weekend was to retreat to Nana and Papa's house while Dan was in Charlotte. Nana has been a little under-the-weather...time for Plan B! Very important to keep busy so we don't think so much about how much we miss Daddy every minute of the day!

This whole once or twice a month traveling schedule has definitely gotten a little trickier the now that the kids are older and have some concept of time...and 3 days without daddy can seem like a VERY-LONG-TIME when you're two and four!

I made the decision to try something new! So we joined up with the Audubon Young Birders Club for bird-watching, and exploration of Lover's Key. I'm not really much of an outdoorsy, adventureous type of chick...but I do love me some Florida "au naturale"

The information said this activity was for ages 5-18 from 9am-noon.

My translation: "We're almost 5 (Graham).... and I'm sure it's a come-and-go kinda thing)

And the adventure begins...

Loaded up on a tram with all of the other "birders" (I never thought I'd be a wannabe birder :) )and off we went for hours of birding fun!

My children were the youngest wannabe birders, by far... and I was amazed at how well they hung in there with all of the veteran birders! Our tour started on a bridge overlooking the bay and mud-flats...so chilly this morning...quiet and peaceful. Very interesting to hear the experienced "birders" point out the differences in species of vultures, seagulls, and even some birds that only migrate here for a few weeks or months out of the year from all over North America.

With a potty-training two-year-old, you betcha I'm always looking for the nearest bathroom...found one at our next stop on the beach...yessss! One of the other folks immediately found a horseshoe crab and that was very cool...

the kids loved watching the crab and collecting shells...one of the best qualities of SW Florida beaches...shells, shells, and more shells! The sky was so blue...Thank you, Lord, for the greatest (and most difficult to clean up) natural play-thing...sand! Hannah Reece would've been content to stay right here squishing and tossing the sand around...

Then, it was onto the next stop...as we traveled past the parking lot in the tram (about 1 1/2 hours in now) I was thinking "should we ask him (the park ranger) to stop and let us out now...where are we goooiiiing?" I decided to squelch my inner city girl, and stick to the plan....adventure is good! Right?!

Now we're walking on trails...it's starting to warm up now, and it's very, shall we say...wooded. Hannah Reece says "momma, I so scary! Hol-ju-me!" and up she goes on my hip. No bathrooms in sight...and we're walking...and walking...and walking...look at my watch, it's only 10:45! That means we could be walking for another hour and 15 minutes! More self-talk...suck it up and carry on soldier! Saw some really neat things like this "strangler fig" wrapped around another tree...starting to feel a little like I'm in the movie "Princess Bride"...I wonder if we have quick-sand here?

Up until now, we haven't seen any other walkers besides those in our little group...and then, I see our angels! Two grandparents with their teenage grandchildren...walking towards the group. We're laggin' at the end and so I quietly stop the family...."excuse me, are you headed back to the parking area?" Grandma says, "why, yes we are! "

So we tagged along with this sweet family, here from Minnesota for the week staying on the beach with their whole family. Grandpa takes turns giving the my children "shoulder" rides...not something I'd normally accept from a perfect stranger...but after carrying a 25 lb. toddler for about 3 miles...I'm so grateful for the kind offer! Graham held hands with granddaughter, "Avery", chatting it up with her the whole way, and lovin' every minute of her undivided attention. I've never been so happy to see a parking lot! And as soon as we made it to the car...."Momma, I need to go pottteeeeeee!"

All, in all, even with our shortened version of the tour...it was great fun to spend time on an new adventure with the kids, learning new things about God's awesome creation and our home...and realizing God's timely provision, in the form of four tourists from Minnesota!

But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you. Psalm 5:11

Big 'ol kids

My baby is almost potty trained. After 1 week, all we have left to master is #2...oh boy...Hannah Reece is SO proud of her skivvies...

{edited about 2 hours after original post: 3 outfits, and two soiled rugs later...I guess we haven't even mastered #1, either. Is it just me, or is this whole potty-training thing much longer and more challenging with girls?}

Got to sleep in late (8:00) on Friday, thanks to my man! Woke up, and beheld this sight....hmmm...not sure how I'm feeling about this...Graham was pretty pumped up to play football on the PS2...

Learning very quickly that almost 5 year old boy=

• new fascination with video games, Transformers, "good" guys/ "bad" guys, jumping off and climing around on every piece of furniture we own (where did all those manners go?)


• bursts of testosterone that lead to a desire to wrestle with every member of the family,


• and oh yes...the dreaded "potty" talk-if it involves excretion, he's positiviely hysterical with laughter.


• thankfully, lots of lovin' left for his momma-hugs, kisses and snugs-a-plenty (that's my favorite part)

In other big kid news, Logan and Taylor (cousins) came for a slumber party on Friday night.

The plan was "Kung Fu Panda" , Chinese takeout, and a campout in the living room. The reality involved 4 super excited kids jumping on the air mattresses (watching the video in between spastic energy bursts), crashing at about 9:00, and two tiny people-can't really remember which ones :) ending up in our bed at 4 am.... with the rest making an appearance at 6:30...fun times! :)

Lately, I find myself mourning a little for those baby days...but excited about the way the kids are growing and becoming more independent with each new day.

Dan's gearing up for another weekend in Charlotte...which means lots of studying and reading in addition to the work-week. This "season" feels a little overwhelming at times. We are thankful, and asking the Lord to give us his strength and eternal perspective, so we don't get caught up in the seemingly stressful details of life.

Banana "Kisses"

Concocted this one today for an after-school snack: thick slices of banana, topped with a dollup of peanut butter and a chocolate-covered raisin on the top.

I'm thinkin' this would be great with any number of toppings...soft cream cheese with strawberry bits; sunflower seed butter with a raisin on top, the possibilities are endless! These little treats disappeared in about 2 minutes FLAT!

Heath update...

A friend of the family's created a blog to post updates...check it out...please keep praying for Heath!

A whole new look!

Sissy's sportin' a new look to match her adventurous spirit.... Dan's cooking dinner on Monday night, I'm folding towels...then we hear the fall...and the pause...then the dreaded hysterics...but there's no blood, no injury! Hannah Reece is still sobbing, holding her mouth...she chipped her tooth! I'm totally panicked now, but where's the other part? In her hand!

Our dentist, Dr. Rosemary, did an x-ray, no blood is a good sign, and sure enough-no root damage. Yea! So, she gets to keep her tooth, but because "bonding" is a long tedious process for a two-year-old (and her dentist) to endure, we'll get to enjoy the evidence of this adventure for years to come...every time she flashes that sweet smile. :)

Cain or La Bamba?

On the night of the election, we had the t.v. on, following the media coverage...

Graham: "Who are those guys?"

Sarah: "That one's John McCain, and that one's Barack Obama. They both want to be the president of the United States. Remember when you came to the poll with us to vote today? Mommy and Daddy got to pick who we want to be president....who do you think should be the president?"

Graham: "Hmmm. Cain, or LaBamba....I choose Cain, but I do like La Bamba!"

Note: Our favorite Mexican Restaurant is called "La Bamba". :)

Please pray for baby Heath...

Some dear friends, Chris and Carrie just recieved news (Friday) that their son suffers from a heart condition that will require a heart transplant. We are very thankful for the opportunity to spend time with them this summer on our vacation.

We have had a special tradition for the last 6 years with the Tuttles and several other families to spend Labor Day week/weekend vacationing together. Our hearts are heavy and I hope you'll join us in prayer for this family. I don't usually post other people's personal stories on this blog. I'm sharing this information with you, because I trust that you, our friends and family will join us as we intercede in prayer for these friends, so needing God's strength to get through. I'm including some details so that we can pray specifically.

Heath is 9 months old. Chris very recently (in the last month) accepted a call as senior pastor at a church in Durham, NC. Carrie has very recently (in the last month) resigned from a full-time ministry position to devote herself to the needs of the family as a stay-at-home momma to their two children, Heath and Ella Brooks. Here's a portion of the email we recieved yesterday from Carrie's brother, Pete.
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"... our little Heath is a very sick little guy. Chris took him to his 9 month check up on Thursday afternoon where the Pediatrician heard some sort of heart murmur. He sent them immediately over to a Pediatric Cardiologist for further evaluation, who in turn sent them on to UNC Childrens hospital where Heath was admitted on Thursday night for testing and observation.

Heath was diagnosed with Restrictive Cardiomyopathy, which basically means that he has a thickening of the walls of his heart. This condition does not allow his heart muscle to relax and expand to fill with blood fully before it contracts again, which causes blood to build up in his lungs and into the rest of his system. For any of you that may understand medical terms, this condition mirrors the signs and symptoms of someone in congestive heart failure. I will put this in the words that the cardiologist said to the family last night, "none of this is or will be easy to deal with, but we don't sugar coat anything, it just makes it harder to deal with in the long run."

They are attempting to use medications to treat the symptoms of his sick heart, but the end result is that Heath needs a heart transplant very soon. After all of the testing is done he will be placed near or at the top of the national heart transplant list in the coming week.

Again, the TEAM of Cardiologists and other specialists are doing everything known to man in an effort to treat the little guy. They are going to continue to monitor him through the weekend and into early next week. They have a few more tests they would like to do on him the first of the week and then he will probably be discharged from the hospital so he can be at home with his family.

He is in a fantastic place and being cared for by an unbelievable group of people! True saints! As of right now, he is showing very few signs and symptoms that he is sick. This morning when we were there he was sitting up talking (baby talk of coarse) and playing with toys with big smiles for everyone! As I'm sure you can imagine Chris and Carrie are having a very rough time right now. They apprieciate everyone's thoughts, prayers, and offerings of help. They have asked for everyone to hold off on phone calls and emails for a fews days to let them work through this tradgedy together. The best thing we can all do is pray for Carrie, Chris, Ella and especially our little Heath."