White Memories

Back in March when we received orders to Nantucket, the FIRST question Jace asked was, "Does it snow there?" Once we got here, islanders warned us that it rarely snows on island - even if all of New England is covered in white it may not snow here because, after all, we are on an island surrounded by salt water and salt air.

But guess what?

It snowed.

In November.

Enough to stick.

We are happy :)

Samuel saw flurries a couple Christmases ago in Alabama, but nothing like this!

It's been about 8 years since this old dog has played in the white stuff - of course he rolled in it and then tried to eat it. 

One super happy young man!

Isaiah's first snow experience - he likes it!

He liked it until it fell on his face!

So yes, as soon as it started snowing I rummaged through the storage shed to find a Christmas wreath to hang on the light pole. I'm sure the neighbors think I'm a loon since they drove by as I was standing on a stool in the middle of the snow storm stringing the thing up. But look how nice it looks with the snow on it!!

And then Daddy came home... 

It took about 2 seconds for Isaiah to figure out how to make and throw a snowball.

I love this - the long-waited moment when a Daddy is able to teach his sons how to roll snow to make a snowman. 

And then God painted the sky for a perfect sunset. 

A few hours later, after the cocoa had warmed their little tummies and three little exhausted babies were sleeping in their beds, Brian told me how much joy it brought him to see the huge smiles on his sons' faces while they played in the snow. I have to agree. 

What an amazing memory for all of us. 

One Year Update in 9 Pictures

Has it really been almost a year since the last post? So so so much has happened this year. 

Brian got orders to Station Brant Point, in Nantucket, Massachusetts.

(The station is the white building with red roof on left - you can just see the stripe on the 47-foot lifeboat.)

Krys started back to school (after taking 2012 off to manage the THREE wild things). She has one class left. 

(The wild things Skyping with their cousins.)

Jace is nearly as tall as Krys and becoming quite the chef. Pancakes are his specialty.

(On our vacation, June 2013.)

Samuel finally had a growth spurt! He is always smiling and looking for an adventure.

(Birdwatching in Nantucket, October 2013)

Isaiah has become the family comedian and fills our home with so much fun and laughter.

(He totally did this himself, down to putting on Samuel's shoes. September 2013)

We took a weeklong family vacation as we moved from Florida to Mass - and made some great memories. 

(Andrew's Bald in the Great Smokey Mountains. This was the exact location of a photo Brian and I took during our trip there in October 2001. This was taken during our vacation in June 2013.)

Jace started 4th grade, Samuel started Kindergarten. 

(First day of school! September 2013)

Isaiah is still Krys' sidekick for now. 

(September 2013)

And best of all, Brian and Krys are still madly, crazy, totally, completely in love with each other!

(In the backyard. September 2013)

So the question now is, will it be another year before the next update? We sure hope not! Life in Nantucket is pretty awesome so far, and we would love to remember these great times. Till then...

A New Member of the Hannum Hulabaloo

Our little wild child turns 5 today. He is so much fun and great for snuggles and hugs and kisses. He is also the one that will probably bring home strays (well, Jace would too). Anyway, in the past couple months Samuel has been letting us know that HE needs to have his own pet. Jace has the piggies, and well, Logan and Isaiah are buddies, so he would like his very own pet as well. He already tried for a cat - NO WAY - and the fish that he won at the school fair only lasted about 72 hours, but I think the problem has been solved today!

Samuel has been in and out on the carport all day and came running in asking me to come look at his new pet. Now, with Samuel who doesn't seem to fear anything, this causes a bit of uncertainty in my heart since WHO KNOWS what he may introduce me too. With a bit of hesitation I go out there - more so to make sure he hasn't befriended a snake or something dangerous - and he runs over to his 4-wheeler, telling me that he has been keeping his pet on the carport since he rescued him from the playground and the rain. Hmmmm. 

"There he is!" he says as his fingers grasp something tiny. I still can't tell what it is or even see it between his fingers and I did panic for a moment and think it was one of the big fat ticks we keep seeing around here - eew. He proudly holds it up for me to see that it is a rollie pollie! Yeah! 

So we have looked up what rollie pollies like to eat (they are not picky, a little grass, some leaves, even cardboard) and since Isaiah just finished up a tub of formula we even have a little house for him. Samuel is thrilled and taking very good care of him already - and by very good care I mean he is not leaving him alone! And he's happy he has his very own pet now too. "Yay, now I have a pet since my fish died." 

His name is Goldie Rollie Pollie.

Getting Goldie all set up in his new home.

He seems to have adjusted well. See him hanging out on the twig?

Watching some cartoon together.

Welcome to the fam Goldie!

Super Mom Moments

The summer flew by. Like every summer I had so many plans for us, and the hot days jsut disappeared behind us in a poof. In counting the days, there are two less weeks in summer now than when I was a kid - and I'm guessing that losing those 14 days really does make it seem to fly by. I also enjoy the summertime days spent with my kids, mostly because I get to sleep in (sort of), and I think that time goes by faster when you're having fun!

Well, this summer we had an unexpected (and not welcome) surprise when Brian had to go TAD (that is temporary assigned duty to you non-military peeps :) to a patrol boat for 6 weeks. His leaving also meant that he was going to miss the beginning of school for the boys. But, living this life for nearly 14 years now, we knew that complaining about it won't make it go away so we adjusted the best we could.

So while Brian was gone I found myself playing Mom and Dad to three. That meant that if we were to eat, then I needed to go to the grocery store... with all three. If we were going to the movies then I needed to go... with all three. That the week I volunteered to help with church camp, then I needed to do it with a baby strapped to me! You get where I'm going. It was hard the first week, but eventually I went into survival mode - meaning some things just didn't get done, just the essentials, and sometimes I had to just let Samuel run around and be loud and not stress about it - and you know what? We survived!

My super mom moment though happened at the end of our time without Brian. His parent's wanted to spend some time with the kids and bought us all plane tickets to Alabama. Now, I offered to drive and in my mind figured out a way to make it work so that we made it without killing each other! But they insisted and I caved. My fear, though, was that I was still nursing Isaiah and had to take THREE WILD THINGS on a plane BY MYSELF. The point - I was not going to be in charge.

 

What if the fight got delayed. What if the boys got bored and loud. What if I didn't pack something we needed (which happened). What if we had a jerk in the seat in front of us and said something to my children. What if the ascent/decent hurt Isaiah's ears and he cried. What if I LOST one of them in the airport (Samuel probably). What if... What if... What if...

Well we set off that Saturday and I spent a LOT of time praying and you know what? We survived just fine!

I was able to fit everything the 4 of us needed into one suitcase (that we checked) and one backpack. We got to the airport with time to spare and the kids were awed just sitting by the window watching them take off and land. They were SO GOOD in the airport and on the plane. The attendants let us board first and I nursed Isaiah during takeoff and landing. The boys were elated for the attendants to bring them drinks and pretzels (you would have thought they had NEVER eaten anything so amazing lol), and were all three given sticker badges and wings for their adventure. And at the end of the day there was Nonie, DuDad and cousin Virginia (who entertained them on the drive home). Magical.

And on the way home. Even better. The guy in front of us promised the boys $1 each if they were good on the flight - and true to his word he paid up when we landed. The ladies two rows ahead of us were surprised to even see three children "And a BABY!" They had not even realized we were there.

Thank you Lord for the super mom powers for those days :)

Rifles for Watie

Over the summer I took the boys on occasion to the library. My hope was to get Jace excited and motivated to read. As a little girl I always loved to read, and still do today - if only there were more hours in the day! I remember many nights staying up late reading novel, mystery, suspense, adventure, and yes, romance. Even in college, I would blow off studying and pour myself into a book all night. My favorites then were Dean Koontz and Stephen King.

Back to the library... during one visit there recently I recalled My 6th grade teacher, Mrs. Newton, reading aloud to us at the end of each day. The school year ended before she finished the book and in a desperate act I begged Mom to take me to the town library so that I could finish it on my own. After the recent visit, I tried and tried to remember the name of the book Mrs. Newton read but after 20+ years my memory faltered. The book had it all, adventure, suspense, romance, and even a huge hunk of Civil War history.

The boys and I were back at the library yesterday afternoon after Jace informed me that he had been assigned a summer reading list (that he neglected to tell me about until AFTER his 3rd day back in school!). As he was searching for one title I was hunting down another. Plopped on the floor with a drooling Isaiah in my arms, I scanned the bottom shelf for The Story of Ferdinand and looked up and my eyes locked on IT, THE BOOK of my 6th grade year, Rifles for Watie. There seriously were little bursts of fireworks popping off in my head! I was so excited to find that book again and scooped it up and practically hustled the boys out the door.

As soon as we got home I had convinced Jace to let me read it aloud to him. He seems pretty into it, although we stopped at Chapter 3 so I could make dinner, and then today he was busy with other boy-things. No problem, I'm too impatient anyway and just finished off the entire book by myself as Brian watched his shows. At one point, Brian asked me if it was as good as I remember.

Yes. Even better. :)

Loves

We're watching Animal Planet and a commercial comes on for a new extreme fishing show and...

Samuel: I LOVE this show!! I LOVE THIS SHOW!
pause
Samuel: I haven't seen this show before. But I LOVE this show!
Krys (giggling): What is it about the show you love?
Samuel: The FISHING, Mommy, the FISHING!!!!

Regrets

The first regret is that one day my boys will read this…

Now the second. Every few months we go through the boys’ toys and sort into donate and trash piles. One particular toy, a stick horse, landed in the trash pile about 7 months ago due to its state of existence, i.e. the stick had broken in two places and the duck tape/popsicle stick band aid simply wasn’t holding together anymore, not to mention the neighing noise box no longer “neighed” and stuffing was falling out of busted seams.

The horse, named “Horsey” by Samuel, had been a birthday gift a year earlier from Nana, and he had loved it, but I honestly hadn’t seen him play with it for a few months, so I hesitated for about 2 seconds before my brutal purge moment tossed it into the trash box. Samuel never even noticed. Later when the boys were sleeping we hauled the box down to the dumpster and chucked it in without a second thought.

The next night at dinner we bowed our heads and Samuel insisted on praying. He starts out a “Dear God” in his sweet little voice and then goes on with, “Thank you for my horse.” My head JERKS up and I stare at another shocked face (who will remain nameless to protect her identity – but she was a partaker during the purge party). “My horsey has a boo-boo. Thank you God. Amen”

Dinner really just sucked after that. As soon as we got home we sent Brian to the dumpster to fish out Horsey, and we were determined to “fix” him. He came home horseless saying that the dumpster was completely full and there was just no way he could find him. My “partner in purge” and I went down the following day ready to pull every last thing out of that dumpster… however a ridiculous encounter with a wild fox sent us running up the hill (a story for another day). The next day, the dumpster was empty.

Samuel prayed for many weeks about Horsey, always just thanking God for him and his boo-boo. I felt AWFUL. EVERY. TIME. Eventually, FINALLY he stopped.

Until tonight.

“Dear God. Thank you for my horse. I can’t find my horse so I need to get a new one. Thank you for God. Amen!”

If you need me today, I'll be horse hunting.

Early Independence

Jace is a bit obsessive about money. He may get it from me because I feel like I'm always telling him, "It's too expensive," or " We don't have the money for that." He is constantly asking for ways to earn money, and meticulously counting every. single. penny. Usually three or four times.  :)

Recently he has been asking (and asking and asking, and asking some more) to buy some firecrackers he saw on display at Wallyworld. After much inner turmoil, I relented (well, Brian trumped me) and off we went to get some fireworks. And of course you can't get something for Jace without getting it for Samuel.

AND OBVIOUSLY WE HAD TO LIGHT SOME THAT VERY NIGHT!!!! 

My favorite part was when Logan was just ho-humming around and then the sparks started to fly and he FLIPPED and waited by the back door until we were done, haha!

The boys were in heaven - all of them. And I was actually pulling double duty with Isaiah in my arms and the camera slung around my neck... which is why there are none of him today!

Ooooohhhhhh pretty!

...and LOUD!!!

The best part is we still have several fireworks left to enjoy up to July 4th.  :) Light 'em up!!

Pancakes and Underwear

Summertime is in full swing around here. This week the boys are in their first week of four church camps, so Isaiah and I have the house all to ourselves. It is quiet and I'm a little sad missing the noise!

The first week of summer I taught Jace how to make pancakes and he has asked me (almost every day since) if he can make us pancakes in the mornings. One groggy morning I reaaaaallly wanted to sleep in a bit and told him, "yes." He was off like a shot before I changed my mind.

Our chef made us quite a yummy breakfast! Of course, Isaiah seems a little jealous that he doesn't get to participate. Patience my little one, soon enough!

After our sticky breakfast, what is the next order of business? Well, running around with underwear on our heads of course!! 

Not to be outdone, Jace gets in on the playtime :)

Eventually, I did at least get underwear on his HINNEY.