Our New Favorite Drink

While the boys were sick we introduced them to Gatorade. Their favorite is Berry. In case you are not big on Gatorade, it is the blue one.  Sam can't seem to get enough of it. Today we were playing outside and they both gulped down their new favorite drink. We thought the blue mustaches were pretty cute !

Here is Sam playing, Micah decided it was too hot outside. 

The boys are better, the house is clean, and The Sound of Music is on...

the world is a better place !

Sick Boys

I have been trying all week to post something, but I have nothing. My boys have been so sick. When we were at my parent's house Sam had a little diarrhea, but no big deal. He just wore a pull up a couple of nights. Micah's started last Thursday and has not stopped! For some reason when it is in a diaper, I just don't notice it as much. But by Friday afternoon when the throwing up started...it was a big deal. I hate when my kids are sick, but when it comes out of both ends...I really HATE it. I think I have washed the sheets on Micah's bed at least 5 times, along with tons of loads of his clothes. So he has finally stopped throwing up and this morning his diaper was just wet! The light at the end of the tunnel.

This is all good, except that Saturday morning I woke up with a major allergy problem or a bad cold. Well, of course the boys got it too. Now Micah not only feels sick, but he also has a bad cold. And Sam has to start his breathing treatments again for his asthma. Last time Sam got a bad cold we were in the hospital. And of course he is also getting an ear infection too. So the last several days I have had a really whiney child(Micah) and a super hyper child (Sam on his medicine). Sounds like fun, huh? Sometimes being a mom can be harder than you think! 

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

So it has been raining in Houston for 7 or 8 days straight. We really needed the rain, but it would be okay if we could see some sun shine for a little while. Anyway, I needed a way for the boys to release some energy. Mom and Dad gave Micah one of those Little Tikes bouncers for his birthday. So I thought, why not put it in the living room, I was pretty sure it would fit. 

Well, it was perfect and the boys were so excited. Marin, our neighbor, had to come over and join the fun. 

Then BeBop came over to jump too. It was a great day inside with the jumper! 

I did take a few pictures when we went to the children' museum.

 This is Sam and Marin in the car. 

Micah's loves the baby chicks! 

We hope to get some sunshine soon because 

Mommy is running out of ideas! 

The Verdict

The brown sugar chicken was great! If you have kids, then you want to have this for supper. All my boys loved it. I just fixed brown rice with it, but a fancy rice would probably be better. And then we just had corn on the cob. So easy! Go to the Crockpot Lady's page for the recipe. Enjoy! 

Playdates

We love to have playdates at our house. It just puts mommy in a better mood and the boys, of course, love to play with their friends. Yesterday we went to the Houston Children's Museum with Megan. It had been a while since I had seen Megan, and even though we read each others blogs I think we were really looking forward to checking up. Well, that didn't really happen. Between chasing our children and trying to keep them away from the other thousands of kids that were there, our visiting didn't happen. And I forgot the camera so I don't have any cute pictures of the boys together. Megan has a son that is 3 and Sam is going to be 3 in December so we are excited to get together again and maybe the boys will also get to know each other. (Annalee is excited to join us too) 

After this post you will notice that we love the Children's Museum because we went back again today. Yesterday we did the big kid things at the museum and today we went to the toddler room. It is called the Tot Spot and we went with our neighbors. We have been so blessed to have wonderful neighbors. Sarah and Marin Grace came with us, along with Alison and Sy. This toddler room they have is awesome! They have an area for infants, padded everything for those just starting to walk, and then a car that you can drive and change the tires. No shoes are allowed and parents have to wear booties to cover their feet so it is very clean. It is perfect for my boys. We had a great time with Marin and Sy. (Brought the camera, but forgot batteries)

Tomorrow we plan on having a playdate with Rachel and Ellie. Ellie is Micah's girlfriend, who is learning to be around the Fikes boys. The boys are just a little bit more rough that Sweet Ellie, but we can't wait for another playdate. 

Some random things: If you have never read a Nicholas Sparks book, you need to! He is great! I just finished two of his book within two weeks. Dear John is great and I know he has a new one out that I have not read yet, but I can't wait to get. So if you like love stories, you need to read one of his books. 

Also check out the Crockpot Lady. She uses her crock pot everyday for the year 2008. It is pretty crazy, but she has some great recipes. I don't know about you, but I love cooking with my crock pot because I don't have to think about supper when I am tired and it is the end of the day. Today I fixed the Brown Sugar Chicken Recipe. We will see. It smells great! I left the house this morning at 8:30 and dinner was done. I just have to make rice and boil the corn on the cob. Check out her blog! 

A Fun time with BeBop and Pop Pop

This is going to be kinda of a long post because there are so many cute pictures that I had to put them all. We spent the weekend with mom and dad at their house in the country. The boys had a great time just being outside. I wish that I had taken a picture of their little cottage where we stayed, it is so cute. They are working on redoing the big house that they had moved to their land. 

Mom got a pool for us to swim in and the boys just played outside the whole time. I was amazed that it was actually nice there in the morning and at night, we don't get that here in Houston. Here is BeBop and Sam the night we got there. 

Sweet Micah James has learned to say "Cheese!" when you take his picture. 

Dad and Wes had their own fun shooting Wes' new shotgun. 

Saturday we went to Austin for the day. Mom and Dad took us to eat at this place called The Oasis. It is on Lake Travis and it is beautiful. Out front they had the Spaceship Oasis, so of course Sam wanted to play in it. 

If you ever go to Austin, you should go eat there, it was great! After we ate we went to the Children's Museum. The boys had a lot of fun. It is not as neat as ours, but it was still pretty cool. 

It rained one afternoon, but leave it to BeBop to pull out the Play-Doh. Micah tried to eat it a couple of times and then just got bored. But Sam loves Play-Doh. 

Last time we went out to there house, Sam was scared of the tractor, but not this time. He loved it! 

I think he was really driving in this picture! 

After we got home we got pizza because I was so tired. Micah James loves his pizza! 

Thanks BeBop and Pop Pop for a great weekend! We love you!!!

I need to brag a little

I have to brag on my husband just a little. He is one of the most amazing men and I do not deserve him. I left my camera cord in Kerrville so I can't post a picture of the beautiful star lilies he brought me for no reason. He brings me flowers all the time. My neighbor even made a comment about it one time because she was so impressed how often I get flowers. It is not something that I just get used to, it brightens my day everytime he brings them home. He says he gets them because he wants me know how much he loves me and appreciates me. 

When we got married he made a deal that I would never do dishes and he would never do laundry. It is a fantastic deal because he still does it. It was not one of those things he did just because we were newlyweds and then quit once things got comfortable. He still does the dishes everyday! 

He is an incredible poet and usually makes me cry with every poem that he writes. 

Not to mention that he is a wonderful father. The moment he comes in the door the boys go running to him and they all fall to the floor. He spends 30 minutes wrestling with them and kissing them until they can't take anymore. He always wants to be the one to feed them and give them baths if he is home. I used to think it was to give me a break, but I am pretty sure he just wants to be with his boys. Micah calls everyone Daddy and is attached to Wes when he is home. On his days off he would rather be with us than have time alone, I have to make him take a day for himself. His love for the boys is unbelievable and it shows in how much they love him. 

But most importantly he puts up with me and all the negative that comes with me. He is always undertanding and supportive, even when it is something stupid that has me upset. He wants to do whatever he can to make life easier for me. He is the spiritual leader of our home and I know he prays for us all the time. It is so neat to watch God work through Wes. Not just at our home, or in his job. But all the time God seems to work through him no matter who is around. 

God has blessed me more than I could ever imagine. I do not deserve this amazing man that I get to call my husband. Wes, I love you very much!! 

Wes has told the church that he will be stepping down as the middle school minister at Impact. He has a strong possibility as far as another job goes, but we don't know for sure. I know that this time right now is hard for him. He has always worked with inner city kids and he is moving towards doing something outside of the church. One of the things he is looking at would mean that we could be moving to another town. Please pray for us and especially Wes as we transition through this time. I know that God has big plans for us, we just aren't sure what they are just yet. 

She finally has a blog!!!

My best friend, Katie finally has a blog! I don't know how many of you are excited...but I am pumped! Of course Shauna did her page and it is so cute! Check out her blog at thecassadyfamily.blogspot.com. I also have a link on the side if you click on Katie. I don't know how to make her name a link(I am not that smart when it comes to blogging). 

We are busy at the Fikes house...I love it when there is something fun to do almost everyday. I will post more when I get a chance. Have a great day! 

Home Again

We had a wonderful time at Camp GiGi! There were lots of tears when it was time to leave, but the boys made so many wonderful memories. Thank you GiGi for an awesome week! We love you! Here are some pictures of the last day. It is always hard to get all the boys looking at one time, I was pretty impressed that we got this picture. 

The front of their shirts had the verse Gen. 1:1, so on the back of the shirt they had a painting that they created at Camp GiGi. We thought they turned out pretty cute. 
Tonya, we loved being with you and the boys all week. I know that Sam really misses them already. We love you! 

These are my favorite pictures of Esan, Corban, and Teagan. 

The black eye happened on the first night we were together. They were running around in the tent, when they were suppose to be sleeping in the tent, and Sam ran into Corban. Sam's head was exactly the height of his eye. I think that was when the sleeping in the tent idea became a bad idea. 
Sir, my father-in-law, surprised us and came on Thursday night. The boys love their Sir! We were so excited to spend Friday and Saturday with him. We love you too, Sir! 
 Now that we are home Micah has a rash all over his body. Yesterday I put some of those Target brand diapers on him for the ride home, well... he apparently has a problem with those diapers because the rash covers him from this forehead to the bottoms of his feet. It is always something. 

We are here for a couple of days, then Thursday we are going to spend a couple of days with BeBop and Pop Pop, my parents, at their house in the country. Wes is finished with his summer stuff so we can start some of our vacations. I will be in and out on posting, but I will have lots of fun pictures when we get back. 

What did God create at Camp GiGi?

The boys are having a wonderful time at Camp. They have been continuing to learn about Creation.

After they learned about day 3, they played in a pool full of sand (represent the land). I think this has been their favorite part so far.
Of course we had to stop for some homemade popsicles.

To continue day 3 they went for a walk around the yard and found things that God had made to make their own collage.
Day 4, they got to use markers(a really big deal) and color a picture of day and night. Remembering all the things that we see in the sky during the day and the during the night. After naps we took a field trip to a plant nursery. The lady that owns the nursery was awesome with the boys. They had a great time learning, touching, and smelling the plants.

Micah's allergies are terrible when we are in Kerrville, so he has been sleeping when we are doing some of the activities. But he did get to use a paintbrush for the first time and hardly got any paint on him.

Today we learned about days 5 and 6. We also had another field trip to the nature center. Here is Corban and Sam on one of the trails.
After learning about how God created all of us, GiGi traced the boys on paper and then they got to color them.
We have to leave tomorrow and I know the boys are going to be sad because they have had such a fun time at Camp GiGi!

Welcome to Camp GiGi

GiGi is my mother-in-law and we are at her house this week for Camp. This is the first year she is starting Camp GiGi. She has 5 grandsons and the oldest is 4 years old, so she decided to have a week with all the boys together. We arrived yesterday to a huge sign out from letting us know that we had made it to Camp GiGi. Sam was so excited! In the backyard she had two huge tents set up and on the back porch lots of tables and supplies ready to start camp. The other campers(cousins) did not arrive until around 5. Here is a picture of Sam and GiGi hanging out in the tent waiting for Corban, Esan, and Teagan.
After dinner, we started orientation. Gwynne had shirts and hats made for the boys and for the staff (the mommies). The boys could hardly wait. They decided that they wanted to try sleeping in the tent for the first night at camp, only the big boys of course. They lasted until about 9:30 when they all came trailing inside. Maybe when they get a little older they will make it all night.
Here is a picture of the entire group at Camp GiGi on the first day.
GiGi is teaching the boys about Creation this week. They started with the first two days today. Since they are so young, they have a short lesson and then an activity. After learning about what creation means, they each got to make a creation out of clay. They then learned how God created light. They had a great time playing with the lights inside to see darkness turn into light.

Wes is at his own camp this week that is only an hour or so away from Kerrville. He surprised us and came in the middle of the night and got to be part of Camp GiGi this morning.
The boys are so cute together. It is so fun to see how much they really love each other.
After snack time, they learned about day two and were suppose to paint a picture of the water and the sky. Micah was up from his nap by this point and so he wanted to paint a picture too. I am not sure if there was more paint on the picture or on Micah.
Today was the first day and we are here until Saturday, so stayed tuned for more pictures and stories of Camp GiGi.