Spring sitting!

Spring is my absolute favorite time of the year. Everything seems new and fresh. I guess that is why people do spring cleaning...of course this year I will only be doing Spring sitting! Yup, I am still on bed rest. Although most of my time is spent mapping out all the smudges on my walls that I plan on attacking with a magic eraser as soon as I am able, I really am taking the time to marvel at spring and all it brings. This will be our first spring in this house and I had no idea how many flowers bloom in our yard! What a pleasant surprise! On a normal weekend I would be running errands or cleaning, but this weekend I just sat and watched the kids play outside. And of course thought to myself why don't I do this more often? I guess this is what it took to slow me down enough to stop and smell the roses! (and to write a blog entry!) The funny part is I really expected to just go in, have my surgery, and go home with no problems! I guess I forgot that I too bear the Haynes' name! The next time a doctor tells me there is only a 3% chance of this or that happening, I don't intend to take those odds! I do believe there is a lesson to be learned and a character trait to be strengthened in every trial. Although I tend to be a slow learner, the Lord amazingly never gives up on me. Boy do I thank Him for that!

Concrete Feet

For those of you who may not know we have moved AGAIN! We have officially been in the house for a month and although everything seems to leak, we are very excited and feel very blessed to have a place to call home. Since moving in we have been on vacation, had parents visit,Brandon moved in, kids started school, got the flu bug, & Ben broke a rib (it's a long story, but it was the skunks fault). It seems it may take some time to get settled, but once we are I told Ben my grandkids are going to come visit me in this house if I have to concrete my feet in! The kids are blissfully unaware of the mishaps and have really been enjoying their new home! The pool, of course, has been one of their great joys of the summer!
Our family has been on quite a journey over the past few years and are so thankful to the Lord for not only providing for our every need, but blessing us in abundance!

Eleven is Heaven!

Ben and I celebrated 11 years of marriage this month! We had to get a little creative due to a lack of babysitters so we did something a little different this year. We did a day date while the kids were in school and then celebrated with them in the evening. It turned out to be a really nice time! We went to breakfast and walked through the Ruth Bancroft Gardens. It was stunning! I had no idea cactus could be so beautiful! Then to downtown Walnut Creek to VaDaVi for lunch on the patio. An awesome day with my awesome husband. We told the boys that they get to celebrate with us for dinner and we were going to all make it a special night! As we sat at dinner we talked about the blessing of marriage with them and was surprised at how sweet they were. Spencer said he can't wait to get married and have someone to snuggle in bed with every night! After dinner I asked them what would be special to do together-the awnser: snuggle on the couch and watch a movie, eat popcorn, and drumstick ice cream! So that's what we did. I never thought about celebrating our anniversary with our kids before, but so glad we did! What a special time!
(Matthew 19:4-6) 4 He answered, "“Haven’t you read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall join to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh?’ 6 So that they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, don’t let man tear apart.”"

Spencer's 8th Birthday

Well, the baby of the family turned 8. We celebrated with an awesome father/son video game party hosted by Games2U. They brought their mobile video game theater to our front door! The boys all played laser tag and then we had a friendly father vs. son game of Booger wars! Boys and boogers-it was a match made in heaven! It was a fun time. As I rocked my wii guitar to Poisons "Every Rose Has it's Thorns" my thoughts of feeling old that my youngest was turning 8 all but melted away! With Ben on the drums we made a pretty cool pair! I don't know that anyone would pay to see us, but it is the closest we will probably ever come to our 15 minutes of fame! Thank you Lord for trusting us with such a precious boy! We love you, Spencey!
More pictures are posted on Facebook!

Utah Trip

Well, I have to say that Utah is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. Waking up to the snow falling was amazing and the mountains took your breath away! We tried our hand, or should I say feet, at Cross Country Skiing with Ben's brother and his family. The snow was falling lightly and the views were stunning. The boys had a blast and caught on really quickly. Ben got to do some downhill with his brother and 8 yr old nephews, who by the way take on Black diamonds like they are bunny slopes! We went tubing, skiing, built a snowman (well sorta), ate to much delicious food, relaxed in the hot tub- yup it was the perfect vacation. Then we came home to a cat that was upset that we left her and showed her disapproval by peeing in her bed and vomiting on the floor when we let her in the house. It was a warm welcome indeed! Hope you enjoy the photos!

Boys=ER Trips

As a mother of boys I learned early that I would not be spending my days having tea parties, but rather digging for worms, catching bugs, playing ball, etc. I learned later, however that I would be spending a lot of my days in the ER! I love everything about being my boys mom. Well, everything except the Emergency room visits. My last trip was with Spencer this past Saturday. My heart sank when the nurse said to me "Hey I remember you, you are here a lot! How is your other son doing?" She was the same nurse Skyler had 2 weeks ago when he injured the ligaments in his knee playing football and now here I was with Spencer who broke his finger playing basketball during recess. The kicker is that he didn't tell his teacher because he didn't want to miss his recess! So when I picked him up from school he said, "Mom I hurt my finger today". I looked down at his purple, swollen to double the size, crooked finger and said "You sure did!" I told him not to be such a tough guy next time! It is funny how they never seem to hurt themselves doing the dangerous things they like to do- like for example climbing trees with saws or chopping firewood with an axe. I probably shouldn't have said that! Lord, Please protect them! Oh, and please let me keep my sanity, I have grown very fond of it!
P.S. Please pray for Brandon this week. He is having oral surgery on Thurs. and is very nervous about it. Thanks everyone!

Sky Guy is Turning 9!

Okay, okay so I fell off the blog wagon there for a little bit, but I am back! I have been such a scatter brain lately that if I would have posted something it probably would have looked something like this-.ksjdglurlwaiugf;.suliwUegwiru????? Not good! With Thanksgiving, christmas cards, and now Skyler's birthday behind me I think I can write something worth reading or at least something that makes sense! This is a picture of Skyler with all his new pals he got for his birthday. Skyler decided that he wanted a puppy party this year. No surprise to us, everything that goes on in his brain right now revolves around puppies! We decided to take everyone to a rock climbing wall to start the birthday celebration. They made it look so simple! Mastered that and bored in no time. Looked at my watch and realized I had 3 more hours to entertain these energetic 9 year olds! Back to the house for games. Had them be puppies while they were playing and realized that they move much slower when they are on all fours! Genius! One more hour down! Cake, presents, singing...okay that didn't take up very much time. Daddy saved the day and played catch, or was that fetch, with everyone in the front yard! Success! Skyler had a blast! I say it everytime one of my babies has a birthday, but I'll say it again. I can't believe how fast they are growing! Happy Birthday my sweet Skyler! I love you so much, but no you can not get a real puppy!