Mario & Luigi

The boys absolutely love the Wii, Mario Kart being the absolute favorite. Ok, they love video games period! So this years birthday theme was...you guessed it...Mario & Luigi.



It's tradition that my sister and I make the kids birthday cakes. We like the challenge, but have learned in the years past that we also like sleep (it can take many hours to make an elaborate cake) so this year we went a little more simpler



than we have in the past



It turned out to be a great party! Pizza, swimming, time with all the family....



and of course the presents. No more "little boys" toys. This year they wanted DSI's. Which are great and can even be educational, but at our house they have to be time limited.

Irish Twins

The DeLoach brothers are 362 days apart making them Irish Twins. Right now we are in between Caden & Carter's birthdays so they are both 6 for three whole days and they love to pretend they are "real" twins! May have been hard at first with both in diapers and on a bottle, but I wouldn't change those challenging times for anything. They are the best of friends ;)

Happy Birthday to my precious boys!!



Notice little sister in the bottom left...she is such a stinker!

New Kind Of Pain

I definitely, did not, wouldn't have even thought about pulling a muscle (or whatever I did) in my lower back the night before my 32nd birthday or 8 days before I leave on a trip across the world that I do not feel I am fully prepared for yet. Not to mention 3 days before my sisters birthday (and my parent's 39th anniversary), 4 days before my 2nd son's birthday, 7 days before my 1st son's birthday (and Ben & I's 10 yr).
End of Aug. & first of Sept. are really busy birthday celebration times for us and I had our days packed with things to do!!

Didn't happen

I have been in this same position since Wed. 8/25 at 6pm. until today Sunday 8/29!



Not sure what I did. My lower back had been hurting for a few days and then Wed. night I laid in the floor to stretch and as I came back up I went right back down in a pain I had never felt before. We think I pulled a muscle, but not real sure. Today, Sunday, is the first day that I have been able to get off the couch and walk on my own. I still can't sit very well or for long, but I'm getting better each day. Ben took off last Thurs (he said I just wanted him to stay home with me on my birthday - yeah, that was my plan :) and Friday and has been great help. Although I did make sure his mom was at the house as well....because....

I forgot to mention the part about me passing out the first time I got up early Thurs. morning to go to the bathroom. I woke Ben up to help walk me to the bathroom, we get there, he starts to walk off to get something to drink and all I remember is calling him back to me and then waking up to him swaying and saying I don't feel so good. Wanta guess what happens next? Ben passed out!! Yep, that's one way to bring me back quickly (I have a tendency to pass out when I hit large amounts of pain) not the first time it's happened so Ben was prepared. That was however the first time he had passed out and no I was not prepared. He woke up once (so I thought, he was talking to me) then went out again. Thing is starting the 5 days before my back incident we think Ben got a virus and his stomach hadn't been up to par. With 5 days of nauseousness and dizziness on him already it wasn't the best when I woke him up at 2am and he jumped up a little too quickly to help his bride. So here we are this young, vibrant couple with three young children asleep upstairs....me still on the potty, shorts at my ankles, just waking up not really knowing why I'm even in the bathroom (I had already taken a couple of muscle relaxers) and Ben passed out at my feet! After we both came back to consciousness we had a good laugh. That experience didn't make me feel old on my 32nd birthday at all (lots of sarcasm here). Good news is, we were in the bathroom next to the master where his dad was sleeping and heard me trying to wake Ben up. Ben's dad & step mom were able to get us both up and back to the couch. This living with family thing was definitely to our advantage this time!!

I do have lots more to post with all the birthdays we have celebrated and the ones coming up to celebrate (I'm asking for a redo on mine). So stay tuned. Now that the drugs are wearing off maybe I can get some post loaded ;)

Temporary School Room

When arriving back to Gardendale last Sunday night with my Aunt's baby shower behind me and our first full school week approaching in less than 24 hours, I burst into tears. Being married to a minister I have learned and it's become Ben's moto "Be Flexible". Considering what all we have being doing the past two months I feel like I've been just that, but this gal can only handle so much before tears need to flow even if it's just to make me feel better for the moment. Something about just letting some tears out help relieve the stress or chaos of the moment. I really had thought we would at least be able to have the classroom at our new house put together before the first day of school arrived. Negative on that. So my wonderful in-laws that they are let me throw all the school stuff that I had (several boxes still being in the POD) in the dinning room. By the way not all of that stuff is mine, some boxes & laundry baskets were all ready there.



Even though I now had a room to work with, seeing this picture above didn't make the tears disappear. Within just a few hours though I had put things just where I wanted them and had this.







Since the table I had would only fit two little boys, I knew Isabel would want somewhere to sit as well. Ben's step sister Emily had this in her room and since she is off at Alabama I knew she wouldn't mind us borrowing it for a week or month or just however long.



It may not be what I had imagined our school room would look like, or even where our school room would be at first, but hey flexibility right?!

Waiting to meet Kinsley

Meet my Uncle Wayne & Aunt Sandra. They have been patiently waiting for YEARS to adopt a little one from China and the day is closely approaching. I am beyond excited for these two!



This past weekend Isabel and I went to my parents house and celebrated with friends and family for the bringing home of Kinsley.



She got lots of great things to wear & play with, I think she should be set. Isabel had to test out some of the toys first and is excited to meet her since Kinsley is about the same age.



I think Aunt Sandra is pretty excited as well!

Homeowners Again

Friday 13th turned out to be a not so superstitious day for the DeLoach's. The closing of our home went very smoothly. So we are now the proud owners of 874 77th Way South, Birmingham, AL!

We now have the new windows.

Before:

After:


Actually owning the house now means we can get started. Started on what you may ask? Big things being remolding the kitchen - trying to make better use of the space we have and adding some appliances.



and the pink bath - pink tile out, adding a double sink & I'm preferring a clean tub



Also needing to do little things like repaint ceilings, add a mailbox, paint baseboards...the list goes on.
So now you ask the question, are you stressed with all that's going on? - having all that we own still in PODS (middle of 3rd month), living with in-laws, the house to do list, starting of homeschooling, and leaving for Thailand in 19 days. Ben seems to always be cool and calm, me the wife, well I think I'm starting to get a nervous tick.

First Day of School

I have a true love of crafts and making things on my own. My oldest son is right there with me! When it came time for me to get some things ready for our school year he was right beside me wanting to help.



Teaching preschool helped, but I'm still working on my "having to have everything perfect" flaw. So as much as I wanted to, I did not go back and fix the not so round circles.



Not as I had imagined or planned, but working with what we have because it's time for school to start back.



Little sister isn't going to let the boys do anything that she isn't going to do!



To celebrate the first day we decided to get up and have a good breakfast. The boys choice...where else but Cracker Barrel.

Sock bumps

Am I the only one that has to battle these little critters every morning when the kids put on their socks? You know the seam on the sock that goes across the toes - the bumps occur on both sides I'm told. Very frustrating for one little DeLoach......



I have tried turning them inside out, pulling them, smashing them, but the bumps will not leave! So for the summer we have gone to this



So come November/December and my kids are still wearing flip flops you'll know why.

Taking it slow

We sold & closed on our house in Chelsea in 6 weeks flat. That was just a confirmation & encouragement to us that we were doing exactly what we felt the Lord calling us to do. Move to the "hood". The buying of the house in East Lake has been a different and longer process. We have even been asked the question are you sure that you are supposed to move? What about all the different bumps or issues that have now surfaced with the house? My answer again is yes, wholeheartedly. We have now been in Gardendale living with Ben's dad and Step-mom for two months. In this waiting process for the correct house I have learned many things. Main thing being not to rush into anything! Not to let our thoughts on how things should go replace God's plan. A lot of times when you start down a new ministry path it's easy to let your "cart get ahead of your horse". Ben & I are very excited to get to East Lake to start meeting & having intentional relationships with our neighbors. The past two months however have not been the right time. I do believe we are close, very close :) We are having to replace all windows in the house we are buying and they have to be inspected after installation. We have another closing date of Friday, Aug. 13th (trying not to let the surreptitiousness of that date get me). Our hope is that the windows will arrive Wed. and be installed Thurs. We are told they can be installed in one day. We will see. Until then we are still hanging out in Gardendale. Even though we all sleep in one room



We still have this as our entertainment during the day



I have been totally fine with all the waiting, but I will have to say I'm starting to get a little anxious. Ben and I are planning on going to Thailand the first of Sept. and therefore I needed to start homeschooling the kids mid August. So MY plan was to start homeschooling the kids the week of the 16th. Cutting it close to our closing date to say the least. Good thing is all my home school books have been ordered & delivered to G'dale so my plans may change....

I did not run out of soap and use the kids baby wash for the past 4 days.