Thursday, June 9, 2011

Kids, Kids and more kids!!

What a perfect couple of days we have had! We thoroughly enjoyed our visit with the Lewis Family! It is so fun to watch your best friend’s kids grow up – even if it is with visits a year apart!  Watching all our children grow up and deepen their friendships is such a gift too!


We did not take the whole gang : 8 kids ages 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 10 – out except to church on Wednesday night. Staying close to home was a great choice as the kids woke up and fished, played some afternoon baseball and walked the dogs every day. We even managed quiet time each afternoon for the dads and the youngest of the kids. It was great!  Not to mention many meals eaten outside made for 4 very happy adults at meal time! 

Sometimes it is easy to feel like 4 kids can be overwhelming – and that you do not really get to see the individual personality of each child with all of them together. This week proved that to be a lie. As our 8 children played together, in small groups, and sometimes solo we were able to see each of our children’s personalities shine.

Watching Kayleigh flirt was precious! What a darling little girl she is growing up to be!!  She plays so well with her brothers and I think really enjoyed playing with our little flirt!  The two were caught playing with Jenga blocks and doing puzzles more that once.

Seeing Anna as the big girl and being so sweet with Kayleigh was so very sweet!  She loved playing with Chase and Trey too, and even Keegan and Anna jumped outside and played together!

Trey was holding his own keeping up with the big kids, yet as the youngest boy he kept a pretty low profile most of his time here. He was not able to sleep outside with the big boys, but I am sure by our next family reunion he will be out with the big boys!  He is a very sweet spirited little boy with a wonderful smile! 

Chase and Anna continued to cement their future plans, Chase even asked Robert’s permission to marry her. So, it would seem our plans are fully on track. I am hoping he secures a bit more than 12 cents before the big day though!  Chase is such an expressive little boy - he loves HARD and he smiles so BIG!  I could eat this little boy up!

Keegan had his little hands busy the entire time here as the ardent rule follower that he is!  Jacob is that first born personality too, but he is not as strict to the rules as Keegan.  It was great watching Keegan try to keep order with a very unruly group of kids!  He was a great sport though, and while blew the whistle a time or two, was certainly not a tattle tale!  Great future for this little boy!  He is determined to do the right thing!!

Eli, Peter and Jacob were great hosts, for the most part! They helped with fishing, especially once their Daddy went to work and Uncle James was the solo parent at the pond. It was good to watch these three boys set aside their bad habit of bickering, to play so well with their “cousins”.   Good for them to learn how to serve others more as well, whether serving plates of food to the porch, or helping clear the table - they were very good hosts and I hope to see those skills continue to improve!

I have to say the best part of our visit may have been their last night here, when we decided, due to a few afternoon napping kids, to hold relay races after church on Wednesday. We honestly thought it would help the boys drop onto their pillows sooner than the average 10-10:30 time they were falling off to sleep. While the races were awesome, the going to bed quick still did not happen. That is why I love boys sleeping in tents though – their late night antics do not keep me up or bother me (until the grumpy kids whine the next day….). It was SO FUN to watch our brood of kids race from the porch to and around the pond! Even little Kayleigh (2 years) made many laps around the pond! Watching Jacob or Trey hold her hand on the trek back to the porch was so sweet too! Chase and Peter are our best runners – I think they would have raced all night if we let them! Watching Chase cheer on the others was priceless! He is such a great athlete and a wonderful sport!

We took many pictures but since I am still without my laptop I cannot get them off my camera to post, so I will post some once I get them! We had an early morning photo shoot with the entire gang – armed with M&Ms I knew we were bound to get a few good shots! Time will tell!!  Did I mention the Tye-Dye shirts too?  I cannot wait to see the pics of all 12 of us in our tye-dye shirts!!  I am sure we were a sight at church Wednesday night all coordinated!  I forgot until someone mentioned it!  Funny!

Now that life is slowing a bit, I hope to be a bit more consistent on posting – but know that we are thoroughly enjoying our albeit HOT summer days here at the farm! And we would love to play with anyone and everyone! Open invitation!!  Come on out to see us!!

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