Thank God...

So never a dull moment here, that's for sure. It would just be too much to ask for to not have some kind of drama.
So picture this: it's a nice sunny evening. We are all outside playing and running around. Chris had gotten home at a fairly decent time so he was able to spend some time with the kids. Adrianna gets tired of playing and says she is hot and wants to go inside. About 10 min. later I go inside to get her to play with a friend and she is GONE! I looked all over the house thinking that maybe she was just hiding, she does that sometimes just to be able to jump out and scream boo. Nothing in the house. We go outside to look at friends' houses around us. There aren't many children on our street so it didn't take long to realize that she wasn't there either. I am asking everyone I see if they had seen her. Everyone that I asked then came out to help us look for her. Before I know it, it has been 45 min, and Chris and I, along with about 10 neighbors, have looked all over our neighborhood, down all the streets, out to the park by our house and in every backyard. Adrianna is no where to be found. By this time Chris and I were pretty frantic. I came home and called the police. They were here in about 3 minutes. I filled out paperwork for them while they went and looked with everyone else who was out looking. After about and hour and a half of looking we finally found her down a dirt road where construction is going on in a huge hole that has been dug out, about a mile or just over that from our house. She has never wandered away any further than a couple of houses down so I was shocked that she went so far away. He explanation for doing it was "I just needed to get away for a while." What!? Get away, she is freaking 8 years old, she doesn't need to get away and further than her bedroom. We let her know how worried she had us, and that all of our wonderful neighbors took time out of their evening to look for her as well because they were all worried. I tried to tell her all of the bad things that could have happened to her when she was away. She was at first a little amused that everyone was out looking for her. I think she understands a bit more now that is wasn't a joke.
Oh god, what if someone had picked her up? What if she had fallen into that big hole and couldn't get out? What if she forgot how to get home and went the wrong way and got even further away? What if it had gotten dark and she was all alone in the dark? I just can't stop thinking about all the what ifs. I am just so thankful she is home and safe.
Now she just has to adjust to being grounded until she is like 18.

Moles, holes, and groundhogs...oh my!

This is what was in my yard this morning. No not just these few, but about 25 of them. There are holes all over my backyard. They don't lead to anywhere it seems. But they go in about 4 to 8 inches into the ground. Does anyone know what kind of critter is killing my yard? I don't know much about moles and groundhogs, but something is doing it. My poor grass has a hard enough time living. With something like this going on there isn't a chance for it.

My Lilly bug is jammin'

Lilly lately has been very into music. Anytime that she hears something resembling a song she just has to groove and dance. She is so darn cute. It just melts my heart to watch her getting so big right before my eyes.

She loves riding this bike. And the helmet had her giggling.

He thinks he's spiderman.

This one shows Lilly's 4 top teeth pretty well. She has 6 in all.

trying to catch up a bit

Kenneth wanted a snack. I guess a whole tomato will do the trick! He ate almost the entire thing.

Lilly just kicks back on her little couch and has a snack. She is just like her daddy. Hehe.
We had so much fun at the beach. I took all 3 of the kids by myself and no one got lost or hurt. :) Adrianna was riding her boogie board almost the entire time. She was catching some pretty good waves. And Kenneth was actually playing in the water! Shhh... don't tell anyone, but I think he secretly really likes water and just pretends not to.
She is getting so big it hurts!
My baby girl is growing so fast.
My 2 girls. What would I do without them?

They are a pain in the butt most of the time, but it really makes it worth it when they show that they really do like one another. I know they do, but they just bug the crap out of each other. I love my babies so much. (I guess they technically aren't babies any more eh?)

I have not been the best blogger lately. I just haven't had a lot of time. This house is madness with all 3 kids here all day long. And when I do finally have the quiet time I am just beat, and want to spend some time with Chris. His work schedule has been horrid. It has been at the earliest of 7:30 before he gets home. We have had water leaks, lots of storms, school shopping and just trying to have some fun. And all of this while Chris was at work. Wow its been busy! I wonder what kind of stuff we can get into if he ever has some time off. Here are some pictures I have taken over the past while.

The water heater needs to be replaced... woo hoo!

It sounds strange to be so excited about something so big being broken. I'm so happy because I am finally getting some use out of the home warranty that came with the house. The plumbing service came and said that the water heater needed to be replaced, because it couldn't be fixed. I am so excited to not have to pay for this repair. I think I am going to renew this service before it expires in a few months because I know as my luck goes that if I didn't then something major would break the day after this coverage lapses. So yay for new water heaters and no more puddles of water in my garage floor and super high water bills because of the leak!

A much better day.

Today was a much better day. Chris was still not at home, but it was nice weather and we were able to get out and have some fun. The kids and I ventured up to Jekyll Island this morning and played at the beach for a long time. We are usually only there for an hour or so but we played and had lunch, and before we knew it 3 1/2 hours had passed! We were all hot and sandy, but we got home and just hung our for awhile. I had a friends kids over tonight while she went to dinner with her husband, so we've had a busy day. Hopefully I will see Chris sometime before midnight tomorrow. That would make for a good day too. I will post some pics soon. I took some today at the beach.

major vent...beware!

What a yucky few days we've had here lately. The weather has been extremely crappy and so have Chris's work schedule. Most of that started yesterday. He left for work at his normal time and I didn't see him again until 10:30pm! This was not even a duty day mind you. And then on top of that he had to go in to work this morning and here it is almost 2 pm and I still haven't seen him, and oh wait there's more, he has duty tomorrow! Which means I won't see him until Monday evening sometime! Ack! I cannot wait until off crew. Even something somewhat resembling off crew would be wonderful.
We had plans for this lovely Saturday. But instead of it being Chris and me with the kids hanging out and having fun, it was just me and the kids. We went and did a little school shopping. That was a pain in the butt all on its own. Its really weird around here. School starts in less than 2 weeks and the stores hardly have any of their school supplies out. And what is out they aren't on sale at all. It's just strange. We have done school shopping 3 other years now. This will be the 4th year. Never have I seen a place that doesn't have their stuff out like months in advance. Only here.
We have a birthday party later. I bet I will be doing that on my own too. We were supposed to go to a BBQ last night, but that one got cancelled because of the work schedule. I know its not Chris's fault but I still need to vent anyway, and he isn't here. So now I feel a little better. I am going to try my best to make the best of the rest of the weekend.

We HAD a dog.

Well on Friday we went to the Humane Society and found a wonderful doggy for us to adopt. We wanted to be sure that the dog would get along with the kids and the cat so we decided to foster her for a little while to be sure. From the very first night though, Lilly was sneezing and coughing all night long. Her nose was so runny too. We gave it a few days to see if maybe it was something else that was causing her problems, but it really seemed to be the dog. So now I am really bummed. I had gotten kind of attached to this big slobbery, chews on everything, mess of a dog. I took her back today and it was surprisingly hard to tell her bye. She was such a sweet dog. So now I am sad. I was kind of hoping to add a dog to the family, but Lilly's comfort is more important to us than a dog. I hope she finds a good home.

What's that noise you say?

No that noise you hear isn't the newest of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre flicks. And no, I'm not chasing my children around the house beating them. But if you were to walk by our house sometime after naps when we always have kids inside playing they you would think someone is dieing inside. These kids have the most ear piercing, glass shattering scream I have ever heard. And no amount of "hey knock it off" or "quit screaming like a girl" is going to make them stop. It has been going on for as long as I can remember and although I wish it would stop (for the sake of my throbbing brain) I don't think they will ever stop the screaming when playing. So if you are in the neighborhood or heck even the county and you hear the screams coming from the Smith house, don't be alarmed. It's just my kids having fun.

No longer lost

I found Chris's set of keys! Yay! It was by total accident too. I thought I had looked everywhere in the house that they could be, but obviously not. They were pushed between the matresses of our bed. I wonder which one of my human tornadoes did it. Oh well, atleast I have them now.

just some randomness

Lilly has been showing an interest in feeding herself lately. I thought I would just dive right in and let her try it. Well it looks as if she was the one to dive right in. She really loves her yogurt. She loves eating it, playing in it, and wearing it.

Lilly has been picking up more and more words lately. They aren't all very clear but I think I know when she is saying somethings. We have also been working on some baby signs. I think its so neat that someone as little as Lilly can sign to me when she is all done eating. She can also sign more and thank you. She doesn't seem to know exactly when to use them all but she is getting alot better with it. I really started learning the sings for Lilly, but Kenneth and Adrianna enjoy it just as much. They have really picked them up quickly. Kenneth loves to sign good boy or girl. Its so very cute.

We have had a very busy past week. My mom was here helping me out for awhile, but now she is gone. We are all slowly getting back into our normal rhythm. School starts in just about 3 weeks. I am surprised that I am ready for Adrianna to already go back to school. She needs that time as much as I do. She seems to get really bored and lazy when she is home. All she wants to do is watch TV. And if you know me then you know that I am not okay with TV all day. I will force her to go outside and play and she gets so mad at me. I know it is hot, but she needs to get some exercise for other parts of her body than her hand that controls the remote and her mouth which never stops running. :)

The things that I do when she is in school have pretty much stopped. I don't make it to the gym every morning anymore, and boy can I feel it. Ick! I also have been staying up later and sleeping in later. So that means I am not making it for coffee in the mornings either. Tumbling is difficult with her too. She is much too old to be in the baby class. Kenneth and Lilly really like it though. I will have to figure out some way to work it out. She will just have to be careful to not run over any babies I guess.

I have the fever. The baby kitten fever that is. Elicia brought one home for another of our friends and I have just fallen in love with that little guy. He is just so cute. Elicia brought him over so I could see how my cat reacts to him tonight. Yeah, that didn't go so well. My cat really seemed to HATE him. I have never heard those kinds of noises coming from my sweet sweet kitty. So I guess no kitty is in our near future.

Some pictures from our adventures

So I know it has taken me a long time to get all this around. It has just been busy around here lately. These are only a few of what was taken during our time in Chicago. They are all out of order though and I really didn't want to take the time to rearrange them.(lazy I know)

Well enjoy and let me know what you think.

The kids did wonderfully on the flights. We were all checking it out before take off.

This polar bear was awesome. He kept swimming over to the glass. Over and over and over... We were there for about 20 minutes and he did it the whole time. Kenneth loved it.

Kenneth loved the train ride. I think that is what he was most excited about.

Kenneth riding the sea turtle at the Shedd Aquarium.
Lilly was so fascintated by the fish. She would stand there and stare for as long as I would let her.
The only thing that Kenneth kept talking about when we went to the Lincoln Park zoo was the zebra. So we took a picture and now he wants to hang this one up in his room. Too cute.

Yeah, we went on that at the Navy Pier.
Lilly loves her grandma.
There were butterflies all over, and she just loved it.
Kenneth and Jack with with the gorilla. (by the way Kenneth is the one on the far left not the one in the middle) :)
This was my favorite part of the Brookfield zoo. I got to see dolphins!

Grandpa and Kenneth on the trolley.
Lilly loved that she could hang out the window of the trolley in downtown Chicago.
Wow! That is the Sear's Tower. Huge huh?
The view from the top of the tower was amazing.

Trying to catch up...

So I am obviously not doing a good job of keeping up here lately. I got back from Chicago just over a week ago now. We had some issues with Adrianna being gone to visit with her mom while I was away so my mom came home to Georgia with Adrianna. She has been her since then and is leaving tomorrow. It's been nice to have her here and help me out, but now its time to get back to normal and get ready for Adrianna to start school again.
While in Chicago we had a ton of fun. We went to zoos and aquariums, riding on trains and boats, and way up in the Sears tower. I really enjoyed myself and really thank Misty and her wonderful family for having us for a while. It was such a nice vacation!
We got home just in time for the 4th of July holiday. It was wonderful. Chris had a 3 day weekend. It was the first 3 day he has had since he reported to the boat. It has been so nice being able to spend some time with him over the weekend. In the morning on the 4th we went to the parade in St. Mary's. It was so stinking hot! After our time in Chicago this heat here is killer. Since it was so hot that morning we didn't stay long after the parade. We came back later in the evening to watch the fireworks. And for the fourth year in a row... Kenneth HATED the fireworks. I keep telling myself that this year is the year. He will do better this year. Nope, not this time. This was not our year. He spent the entire fireworks display buried in a blanket on Daddy's lap. The show didn't start until 10pm. So by the time that it got underway Lilly was just about asleep on the blanket. It was pretty cute though. She just layed there and looked up at the sky.
All in all we have had a fun, but ever eventful past few weeks. I am glad to be home with the entire family all together. I will add pictures soon.

Happy 4th!

I am back now, but I have been pretty busy so the updates are coming soon. I had a wonderful time in Chicago and can't wait to share the pictures. We are off to see the fireworks very soon. I will try to update tomorrow! Happy 4th of July everyone!