Fortified

3 Years, 45 Weeks.


I remember playing motorcycle cops, specifically "CHiPs" Patrol, using sofa cushions with my younger brother growing up.

My kids, on the other hand, are really into forts.

Homemade forts.

The "whatever you can get your hands on" kind of forts.  The really messy kinds that take hours and hours to clean up and put away.

This is what I mean:

These forts were created, kept up and torn down, and re-created, all in a span of three days.

Seriously!

Here was our week:

Maddy vaults the homemade ski jump.  We were sad to see the Winter Olympics end.

A rare glamour shot moment.

Swinging by Old Winter Garden in the rain.

Brae working on the landing part of her forward hand-spring.

A fro-yo treat at Red Mango.

On Sabbath I took the kids to church while Tangie recovered from her cold.

Kohl helps Ms. Patty with the ark door.

Madelyn thrilled to be able to drive!

Enjoying an afternoon frozen treat.

Some playtime together on the slide...

results in a bloody nose for Maddy.

Tangie went out with some friends for girls' night out, and they ended up painting these masterpieces!

It was game/movie night for me and the kids.

Checked up on Maddy before turning in and found she had escaped from her sleeping bag.

As did Kohl!

Sunday was the start to Birthday Party season.  We attended 2!

The first one was for Brae's classmate Leif, who is as much into rocks and gems as she is.

We were at Congo River mini golf, where she fed baby alligators...

did some gem mining...

and played some games with her friends.

Group shot of the classmates that attended.

Apparently these two sisters are very fond of Brae.

We met up with Mommy and the twins for lunch in Longwood.

And then she and Mommy were off to birthday party #2!

With her best friend and cousin, Calleigh.

The girls with their stenciled canvases ready to go.

They thoroughly enjoyed painting.

The finished product!

She also got her face painted by the teacher/owner of the place.

Group shot of the friends that attended, with the Birthday girl, Lindsey, on the far right.

Meanwhile, the twins made lemonade.

The girls and their weekend creations.

Kohl and Maddy working on their letters...

and getting exercise...

and riding bikes...

and eating supper...

and riding bikes some more!

Evening picnic at the park on Tuesday.

A visit to the bike shop in Old Winter Garden.

Lots of different faces at Costco.

Garden Update:

Beet and Snap Pea sprouts, grown with and without sunlight.

Madelyn:

Ballerina.

Silly girl with a bow tie on her head.

Trying to put on her pajama dress.

Rock star all glammed up.

Quotes:

• We were sharing Braelyn's memory verse for the week with her:

          Tangie:  "Oh Braelyn, you only have one memory verse to learn this
                         week."

          Brae:  "Yay!"

          Tangie:  "But it's a long one..."

          Brae:  "Oh BROTHER!"

• I was teaching phone numbers to the twins, with Maddy practicing on her toy Dora phone:

          Maddy:  "Does Dora have a phone number?"

          Me:  "No, Dora doesn't have a phone number."

          Maddy:  [waves her phone at my face]  "But she has a phone!"

• Driving home from school Wednesday afternoon, it was raining pretty hard:

          Me:  "Oh my goodness look at all the rain!  I wonder where it came
                    from?"

          Kohlden:  "Jesus!"

Hugs before bedtime!

Have a great weekend!

Recovery Week

3 Years, 44 Weeks.


I've said it before, and I'll say it again:

"The family that plays together...gets sick together."

I've always been a big proponent of that statement, frankly because I'd always prefer to get it all said and done quickly rather than draw it out over several weeks.

That said, it's been almost 2 weeks we've been battling the sniffles and sore throats here at home, starting with Braelyn coming home early from school 2 Fridays ago with a fever, followed by Kohl and then Maddy over this past weekend, me feeling the symptoms Saturday afternoon and finally succumbing to it on Monday, and now Tangie is fighting the bug mid-week.

It's put a slight damper on all our activities but we're all on the mend and improving each day.  Hopefully we'll be back to normal by the weekend, cross our fingers!

Here was our week:

Kohl getting his morning workout in.

The twins surprised with Valentine's from Mommy and Daddy.

Clearly happy with their loot!

And immediately set about making a mess!

Braelyn running to complete her round-off.

Practicing her forward dive-roll.

Bergs came over for hotdog roast and fellowship Friday evening.

The weather was perfect and cool for a fire!

Working on our circus routine.

Such a handsome little boy.

He was all smiles and happy during Sabbath School.

Unfortunately, this was when Missy came down with a fever.

Braelyn wanted to take her nap in our bed so she moved all her stuff over.

Couldn't pass up a bike ride on such a gorgeous day, and even bumped into my friend
who works at the Winter Garden bike shop.

Enjoying the sun while the kids rode their bikes out front.

Mommy preparing dinner while Kohl helps with the dishes.

Tangie and Braelyn's surprise Valentine's dinner for the family:  Fondue!

Went on a 20 mile bike ride and then came back and did another
5 miles with Braelyn around the neighborhood Sunday morning.

Stopping by the retention pond by the clubhouse to inspect the wildlife...

which turned out to be a nice 5 foot long alligator!

Looking for more in Lake Apopka from the dock.

We swung by for a little bike time with our friends too.

Then I put them to work.

Kohl loved pretending he was a fireman with his hose.

Dinner and play at SteviB's for dinner.

Taco Tuesdays at Tijuana Flats.

FaceTime with Lolo and Lala to wish Lala a happy birthday!

Braelyn planting her summer crop.  This section was sugar snap peas.

Suppertime, which included steamed broccoli,  fresh from our garden!

Working on her school assignments on Daddy's laptop.

The sky on fire, we saw some glorious sunsets this week.

Quotes:

• Listening to Disney's Frozen soundtrack en route to school, with Maddy's favorite song Let It Go playing:

          Maddy:  "Daddy, who sings this?"

          Me:  "Demi Lovato."

          Kohlden:  "Yeah.  Demi, the bottle."

• Reading bedtime stories for the twins, Maddy chose the story of Jesus and the storm, from the Children's Bible Stories series.  As I started to read, she interrupts me and says, "Why it didn't start 'Once upon a time?'"

• I was watching with amazement as Braelyn logged herself onto my laptop to work on her class assignment online, entering her username and password with ease:

          Me:  "Wow Braelyn.  You are so very smart!"

          Brae:  "I know."

          But not so very humble...  [rim shot]

We've got such beautiful kids...um...

Have a great weekend!