Spring Break Comin' Up

So excited. Today is Friday, and next week is spring break. We are once again blessed to be going to what we have affectionally called the "cabin in the woods". Only this time we're doubly blessed because our friends are going with us!

We were first blessed by the cabin in the woods after we received our first two diagnoses (did I spell that right?), within 6 months of each other. Our good friends (and pastors at the time) knew the family that owned this cabin. This family uses their cabin not only for themselves, but also as a ministry to others. So, our friends told this family about our stressful situation and they invited us to spend some time out at their cabin. So, we went when Ian was 2 and Avery was about 6 months or so. We have kept in touch with this family ever since and have been fortunate enough to be able to go at least once a year since then. The kids love going. And I've no doubt our friends are going to love it as well. Total relaxation (well, except for keeping up with kiddos, of course).

Hoping everyone has a blessed, relaxing, and fun spring break...whenever yours is. Here's a few pics from last year's cabin in the woods.

Spring Break

We're back from the little cabin in the woods. As usual, we had a great time. The disk swing was the hit of the week. That's about all the kids wanted to do. Ian was able to swing on it all by himself this year. He was sooooo proud! And so were we. Avery just wanted to keep going higher and higher. Benjamin just couldn't understand why he couldn't swing on it by himself. He's our independent wanna-be. A dangerous thing!

The kids were also thrilled because we let them all sleep together this year. We did have to get up 2 of the nights to move Ian to the downstairs room cause he woke up and woke the other kids up. He didn't seem to mind too much.

Jim and I were the only ones who got hurt this year, so that was a plus.....sort of. I missed taking some pictures I really wanted to take; like the kids sledding down the hill (of leaves, not snow), and the lake, and the beautiful daffodils. I figure I'll just take some shots of daffodils around here and put them in as if they were taken there. Who'll know?!

So another spring break is done. We've been conspiring with my in-laws about finding some land with a dwelling for us all to buy. They are sooooo incredibly gung-ho. So, if other things that need to happen work out, we'll have our own 'little cabin in the woods' to go to over spring break. (okay, so it won't be as nice as this one, but we'll be just as happy!)

Avery Saying: I was using a curling iron to try to put some curls in Avery's hair. She saw felt how warm the curl was when I let the iron go and the piece of hair whirled to her face. She said, "Mommy, you're cooking my hair."

little cabin in the woods

This morning we leave for our spring break trip to the 'little cabin in the woods', owned by some sweet friends who have allowed us to vacation there at least once a year since Ian was diagnosed. We've made some great memories there. The family picture to the right is from last year.

This year will be just about as much needed as the year Ian was diagnosed....might be a bit exaggerated. We're once again encountering family issues that are just draining us. I won't go into it all, but I am thankful to be getting away someplace we cannot receive a signal. We need to relax.

Ian and Avery are SO STINKIN EXCITED about going. For days they keep asking, "when are we going to the cabin in the woods?" Usually when we go over spring break, it rains. Well we never prepare for it, so the kids rarely get to go play in it because we've only taken one pair of shoes. HA, this year I AM PREPARED...COME ON RAIN! (not the whole time please) I bought the kids rain boots. I decided if it didn't rain, I would just return them. That way I wouldn't feel like I wasted the money. Well, once I got them home and Avery put hers on, I knew I would NOT be taking them back, rain or no rain. She put them on, quickly got her umbrella, and began to dance around in the boots and twirling her umbrella. So cute! She keeps saying, "Mommy, I'm ready to dance in the rain!" This coming from a girl whose first words when it starts raining are "Mommy, is it going to thunder? I don't want it to thunder." So, for their enjoyment I hope they get their rain.

So, I'll return to the blog world once we return to reality and our home-sweet-home. TTFN!

Back from Spring Break

OMG! We had such a great time! We have some friends that own a cabin about 2 hours from where we live. They have let us stay there the past 3 years, and each time has been such a blessing. The kids, although they were a little sick, had a great time. Ben, however, looks like we beat him with a baseball bat. He's more of a shuffler than a walker, so when he 'walks' he trips easily. That's very apparent by his cuts and bruises. He survived though.

The kids just did so well. Ian even seemed to improve on his vocabulary. He was speaking so much more clearly and using a lot of really good sentences. We think that all the sensory input helped him out. He swung a lot on the swing, sledded down a hill of leaves, relaxed in a hammock, climbed up and down stairs, went on nature walks, and threw the football around with dad. They all were so tired by the end of each day that sleeping was never an issue!

Jim and I enjoyed the complete family time. We were able to focus ALL our attention on the kids. No phone calls, no computer, no cleaning and laundry all the time.......it was great.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention how Ian used the potty. At home, Ian sits down on the training potty (not ideal because he's actually too big for it). At the cabin they have shorter toilets. Ian must have caught onto this because he went tee-tee standing up! And he went A LOT! We would set the timer and he would go pretty much every time. We even came home with leftover pull-ups. So we've decided that next month we are going to get a shorter toilet. I think it's going to put the potty training into a fast gear. And hopefully it will be a push for when I start Benjamin too. We could just see the 'proud' look on Ian's face everytime he went standing up.

So that was our trip.