The James Family

New Shoes

2012-01-21T16:28:00.005-05:00

Mine, not the baby's.

I have never been an athlete. Not even a little. The most physical activity I have ever done is when I danced in high school (I was a Chiefette). And I would joke about not being able to do stuff, and people would say, "don't you have to do that in Chiefette's?" And I would laugh.

I'm sure we were SUPPOSED to exercise before we danced. Maybe run some laps or something. But I never participated. Running was alwasy the exception, not the rule. In my mind, I remember most of us walking. If any of you are reading this and you disagree, maybe it's because you actually WERE running, and I just didn't notice cuz you were so fast and nowhere near me.

I remember when we had to do all that timed stuff for p.e. in 7th grade. Flexed arm hang, sit ups, sitting down with your legs straight and seeing how far you can reach forward,... you remember that stuff? I remember running the mile was one of them. And it took me over an hour. Yep. For ONE MILE. I couldn't even run 1/2 of the way around the track without almost passing out. And this is back when I was TINY SKINNY.

So fast forward to now. You understand why my oldest brother laughed at me when I posted on facebook that I had signed up to run the Seaside 1/2 Marathon. I'll be honest. I never ACTUALLY intended to run the 1/2 marathon. In the rules it stated that I had until February 18th to drop down to the 5k. But I figured, if I AIM for the 1/2, and fail, the 5k will be a lot easier than if I aim for the 5k and fail.

By the way - the only reason I even wanted to do the 5k was for the weekend at the beach.
For this mom of 4, I haven't had a weekend away since I was in college, I think. So the idea of having a girls weekend at the beach for a whole weekend seemed soooo worth the effort of doing all this running.

So here we are, less than 2 months from the race. The 5k filled up back in November, which means I'm STUCK doing the 1/2 marathon. I'm freaked out. I am no where near where I should be in training for the 1/2. I can definitely complete a 5k now. Did it, in fact, a few weekends ago.

And I finally got my first shin splints. DANG IT! They aren't bad, thank goodness. A little rest, and some new shoes is all I need. I have been running in VERY inappropriate old shoes that don't fit and weren't ever meant for running. Which is most likely the reason I'm getting shin splints.

So when I was talking to the trainer at the gym, she suggested this place called Fleet Feet for me. They will measure me, see how I walk, and get me the perfect shoes. And if after a few weeks of running in them I'm unhappy, I can return them! So off I go this morning.

Great experience. Super excited. This is the first time in my life I have picked out shoes not based on their color. And the first time since high school I'm buying something other than Adidas. It kind of hurts. I think Adidas are the most beautiful shoes out there. No matter if they are in style anymore or not. I still love them. And I didn't get them today. I bought shoes that I have never even heard of. Brooks Ravenna 2 (i think).

(I think this is the one I ordered. It looked darker gray in the picture at the store, so we'll see...)

But I don't get them yet. Surprise, surprise. My feet are too small so they had to order them for me. Hopefully I can get them in this week so I can start running again.

But until then? I'll enjoy the stationary bike at the gym while trying to finish Brisingr.

Barbie Princess Charm School Party

2012-01-19T12:20:00.000-05:00

Kirstine got a fabulous Christmas present from her Aunt Marissa this year.

We had so much fun coloring it, and now playing with it, I figured that it would be a GREAT birthday party game/event. So I ordered another one.

Now for a party theme. Princess of course. So off to Party City we went. Except Kirstine wasn't too excited about the Disney Princess stuff. She was much more excited about Barbie. And then it hit me.. Barbie's newest movie is Barbie Princess Charm School. Kirstine got it for Christmas and has seen it 73 times since then. What a perfect mix between princess and barbie!

So far not much has been planned. I have downloaded some stuff from the Barbie website. Bought generic AWESOME princess themed plates, cups, and napkins from the Dollar Tree. And sent out the invitations. (which i made myself) (top one is front, bottom is the back)

Barbie Princess Charm School Invitation...

LEGO Festival BrickFair

2012-01-15T01:35:00.000-05:00

First time I've heard of it. And so thankful for www.birminghammom.com for introducing me to this!
Only lasts 2 days - today and tomorrow, so if you haven't been yet, go tomorrow! If you don't live here, sorry. Their website only says that there will be one in Virginia in August. But nothing else mentioned. If nothing else, you can just enjoy these pictures and videos...

The waterfall was really pretty in this one.

All of these next buildings were on the same table all together with a parade going through the middle of them.

The kids were super stoked that Chick fil A made it in! (this was also the front of the parade)

Not sure why, but Kirstine was really excited to see treasure in this one.

Some concert venue. We couldn't see in because it was an entire stadium that was built. So I had to hold my camera up high to even see what was inside.

This was the back of the parade.

Is that Darth Vader getting married in the middle of a garden?

The Batmobile made it in the parade.

This was the last picture on this table.

Another Star Wars scene. There were a lot of them...

Not sure if I believe that the Storm Troopers celebrate Christmas, but...

"Freedom Isn't Free"

Battleship

Chess

The Alabama Theater

(the real one)

Alabama Power Corporate Headquarters

(the real one)

Videos to go with my pics...

This was some kind of robot game. Will got chosen to be in charge of this green android. He got a random assortment of cards and had to pick some and put them in order to tell the robot which way to go. They were all trying to get to the finish line. Unfortunately, we got really bad cards: 5 "Rotate Left", 3 "Rotate Right", back up, u-turn, and only 1 to move forward 2 squares. So his robot didn't really go anywhere.

These next ones were pretty awesome. This was a robot chess game. The pieces were incredible.

This next set was also awesome. There was a huge carnival set up outside a village. There was a working train that went around the village. There was a set of buttons that you could push to control certain things... turn on the windmill, the helicopter, the fire in one of the apartments, the carousel, ferris wheel, and my most favorite, the Village People. (Short video below)

Apartment Fire

Chewbacca skateboarding

And one last video, just cuz it was cool...

Decorating Cookies

2011-12-29T11:47:00.002-05:00

Our sweet friend, Erin, came over last week with cookies and sprinkles for the kids to decorate. They had a blast, and Will made a super deluxe cookie with sprinkles like I've never seen before :)

Santa's Workshop

2011-12-28T14:42:00.001-05:00

When Benjamin just found our card from Bass Pro Shops that had their Santa picture inside, he yelled, "Santa's Workshop!" So that's the title of this post.

One thing I love about living in Birmingham is that there's a Bass Pro Shops so close. So that's where we go see Santa every year. Pretty successful trip this year! Scott and Bethan waited in line while Will, Kirstine, and Benjamin painted ornaments, colored, watched and drove the train, and drove the race cars. Then it was Santa time - and most importantly there were no tears this year!!!

6 Months and Starving

2011-11-26T23:57:00.001-05:00

Happy 6 months, Bethan! (a week late)

It has been so busy that I've not had a chance to write about Bethan's sweet 1/2 birthday yet. But here we go.

We have been hearing for a while now how petite Bethan is. But we haven't really given it much thought. All of our kids have been small. She didn't seem an exception. Plus at her 4 month checkup she was still 1 lb. bigger than Kirstine was at her 4 mo. checkup.

But last week someone commented on my facebook profile picture. The one taken right after 4th of July. So as I clicked on the picture to see the comment my jaw dropped. I barely recognized that chubby face in the picture. So we immediately realized that things weren't going as well as I thought they had.

Little background... I haven't been able to nurse any of the children "successfully". I pumped with Will for a few weeks getting barely anything at all. Kirstine I did a little more, pumping for almost 2 months. But I still don't think I ever got an ounce total at any feeding. With Benjamin I was much more hopeful. I had heard of a study with positive results for breastfeeding 7 years post breast reduction. Benjamin was born exactly 7 years post, so I was convinced it would finally work for me. No such luck. Again, I did much better than with Kirstine. This time we nursed for 2 months, but we had to supplement with 1 ounce of formula after every feeding the entire time.

Now comes Bethan. She seemed to be going the same route as Benjamin for the first 3 weeks. I went to one support group, decided to completely cut off her supplement, and all went entirely way too smoothly. She was a wonderful nurser. She was always content after feedings, she slept great, had a great # of wet and dirty diapers, she smiled, cooed, rolled over very early, and the list goes on. So after her 4 month checkup when she slowly stopped gaining weight we just didn't notice.

Back to present... I noticed this picture Wednesday night last week, the night before she turned 6 months. Her 6 mo. checkup wasn't scheduled 'til Friday, so I went to the breastfeeding support group on Thursday. I found out she was only getting about 2 1/2 ounces per feeding, and she was only nursing 4 times a day. No wonder she was so skinny!

Checkup on Friday... 12 lbs. 1 oz.

Checkup at 4 mos......12 lbs. 5 oz.

Not good. Bethan, my dear, I am so sorry I have been starving you for the past 2 months. I promise I will never do it again.

Now she is very happily taking lots and lots of formula to fatten her up.

In other news, she is almost sitting up. She is on all fours and is rocking, and she even moved both knees forward while we were in Tampa. It's just a matter of days.

Oh, and she is still the most precious thing that ever lived. And in all honesty I really really love tiny babies so I secretly want her to stay little!!!

Ice Skating in Downtown Tampa

2011-11-23T15:53:00.001-05:00

We began our week by going downtown to iceskate at the outdoor winter skating rink. The boys had a blast. It was just me, Will, Kaden, and Blue skating. Uncle Kevin took Benjamin and Toby down to the playground by the river. They all had a GREAT time.

Here are some pictures of Blue being Blue. Super inquisitive, asking lots of questions...

And what's more fun than ice skating? Making snowballs and throwing them at Aunt Jaime of course!!!

A little confusing since both boys are wearing jeans and a navy shirt, but these first two are of Kevin holding both boys, but you can only see Benjamin, and in the 3rd Benjamin fell down and you can just see Toby.

Summer Fun

2011-11-23T10:47:00.001-05:00

Summer fun? Isn't it November? This is us in Florida for Thanksgiving vacation. Yep, the kis have gone swimming EVERY DAY that we've been here.

Above: Will, Kaden, and Giovanni. Below: Benjamin, Nikolle, and Kirstine. I never got any pictures of Adria. :(

The boys had a BLAST playing tackle football...

Jenn Myers' cute baby, Leah.

Bethan with 2 of my best friends, Anne Fordyce and Kristen Lubrano

Nathan John McDaniel

2011-11-23T10:41:00.001-05:00

I am so excited that one of my best friends, CJ McDaniel, had her baby while I was in town!!! Kirstine and I got to go up to the hospital for about 2 hours last night to meet him. Congratulations, Sean and CJ!!!

Old Baker Farm 2011

2011-10-26T12:48:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we made our annual trip to Old Baker Farm to get pumpkins. We got there too late to do anything but get the pumpkins, but we still had a great time!

Pumpkin Carving Patterns

2011-10-26T11:53:00.004-04:00

So I have noticed more traffic to my blog than normal due to people googling pumpkin patterns. So I decided to go ahead and post some of the stencils that we have used in the past. I have more on our older computer, so I'll add those later today or tomorrow at the latest...

Some of these were saved off the internet, and their websites are still on them, the others I created or edited myself.

Ariel

Barbie Pumpkin Pattern

Dirtbike

Christian Fish and Cross

Jasmine

Monster Truck

Porsche

Race Car

Snow White

Tinkerbell

University of Florida Block Letters

Keep your clothes on!

2011-10-21T12:14:00.002-04:00

Benjamin has now stripped down 4 times.
#1 resulted in him peeing all over his clothes AND sheets.
#2 resulted in him dunking his clothes in the toilet upstairs and then pouring toilet water all over the bathroom floor.
#3 resulted in him pouring water all over the downstairs bathroom, and his clothes.
#4 - i caught him in the act, while he was sitting in time out.

AND IT'S NOT EVEN NOON YET!!!

Scott, if you're reading this... please come home soon. I am not meant to be a single mother of 4.

Black Widows and Poison Control

2011-10-08T22:54:00.004-04:00

Did I catch your attention with that heading? I figured I might.

Yep. I said it. And no, those 2 things don’t go together. But don’t worry, everybody’s fine.

Let’s start back at the beginning…

This morning was pretty perfect, with the exception of waking up to Will telling us he peed in the bed AGAIN. And the sound of construction outside our window. But that was a good sound. That sound meant that our new deck was being finished. These are the best before pictures I have…

They really don't capture how small it was, or how nasty. The paint was peeling off everywhere, which left lots and lots of splinters. It was really just falling apart very very quickly.

But here is what it looks like now!

Anyways…Will and Scott went to their soccer game bright and early while the rest of us were super lazy doing who knows what. At some point after the game Scott went outside to start mowing the grass. Before he even started though, Will tripped in the driveway and got a big gash in his knee. Thankfully it wasn’t ER-worthy, but looking at it almost made me throw up. Thank goodness for Scott.

So I’m corralling everyone else back inside the house so Scott can take care of Will. Which means they are in the bathroom; Will is on the counter and Scott is cleaning up the cut with rubbing alcohol. Next thing we know Benjamin is doused in rubbing alcohol and is pulling the container away from his mouth. Yep, he took a swig. Or two or three. There is no telling how much he consumed, because we don’t know how much was in there to begin with, and he spilled a lot of it down his shirt and on the floor.

So I’m trying to take care of Will’s bloody knee and I have no clue what to do, Will’s still crying because it hurts so badly, Scott’s trying to get Benjamin to throw up, and then I start freaking out a little bit because Scott gets the phone to call Poison Control.

We have now joined that club. It took us 6 ½ years and 4 kids, but we are now there. So thankful that Benjamin is fine. They had us monitor him for about an hour, and they called twice in that time to check on him. Other than acting a little bit goofier than normal, he seemed fine.

Total change of subject now. Will was teaching us all about Black Widows this morning, and Scott told him that he used to find and kill those all the time in Florida. I’m thinking, what? I have NEVER seen a Black Widow before. Crazy! Will thought it was pretty cool. Fast forward a few hours and we are all outside playing and whaddya know? Scott finds a BLACK WIDOW SPIDER IN OUR YARD! Everyone thinks it’s awesome but me, who’s kind of freaking out.

Later on while Will and Kirstine are bug hunting, I inform them that if they should happen to find another one, to make sure and get far far away, but to also let me know so I can take a picture of it.

And here you are. Yep, they found ANOTHER ONE! I am so kind of freaking about this. Seriously? Good thing is they seem to be pretty slow and easy to kill, but, really? I’m NOT happy about there being Black Widow Spiders in our yard.

Is this normal? Not that scared part, but the fact that they are in my yard.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention that Will thinks the second one almost bit Kirstine before they called me over. Yeah.

Here's another fun picture of Benjamin with his obsession with girls' shoes...

And what did I do with the rest of my day?

Scraped paint. That’s my new job. I’m spending every moment I have scraping 18 layers of paint off of our handrails so we can repaint them. Cuz they look awful!

And now I have carpal tunnel.

OH YEAH… When I came back inside, this is what I found…

I love my life!

2011-10-08T09:55:00.000-04:00

is there anything else to say??

Soccer time!

2011-09-21T15:28:00.001-04:00

This season we decided to also let Will play soccer. I'm crazy, I know. I always said that we'd do only one sport-like thing at a time. But I really wanted to let him try soccer. And since it's his first season off the tee, and hitting off the machine, there was really no way we could let him skip fall ball. Plus, fall ball only lasts 6 weeks, on Sunday afternoons only. So there's no conflict - just 6 busy weekends in a row!

So here we go with soccer. First game was fun - Will's team won 4-0, and he scored one of those goals! Other than that it's just fun mixed with chaos. But at least I got a few pictures!

Fall Ball

2011-09-21T15:10:00.000-04:00

It's a new season, in a new league, batting off a machine, and we only had 1 practice. Will got a handful of balls pitched to him through the machine at that practice, and then we had our first game.

If I remember correctly, our first inning was something like 3 up 3 down, i think...
Next inning was going similarly, and then Will came up to bat.

First ball...

2nd ball...

3rd ball...

and we have a hit!

Next time at bat went a little the same, a few fouls and then...

Now here are some pictures of the day...

We started out as pitcher...

These are his special hands that make him fast. They seem to work pretty well!

First time as catcher ever. He learned this position from looking at his cake topper from his birthday.

Buggy's Bee Sting

2011-07-21T04:40:00.002-04:00

Today was the most wonderful day.

We woke up (a little later than planned), got ready very quickly, and headed off for another play date at the splash pad. This is definitely Benjamin's new favorite thing.

Then my friend, Kristine, so wonderfully volunteered to take Will and Kirstine home with her! Benjamin and I had lunch, played in the living room for an hour, and then Ben went off to bed. I was lazy and played on the computer and watched Suits.

After the kids got home we got ready to go out again. We were having a picnic at Veteran's Park with all the preschool ministry workers at church. I picked up Subway and met Scott there.

We had a wonderful time. The kids were great and we all had fun. At about 7:30 the skies started turning black. Shortly everyone was hurriedly packing up and leaving. Scott and I both parked about forever and a half away, so he took off to go get the van.

Then Kirstine started SCREAMING! That nasty bee that had been bothering her during dinner finally got the best of her. Twice. He stung her in her right arm, and then she grabbed him with her left hand to pull him off and he got her left thumb. my poor, poor baby.

I write all of this just to tell you the randomness of her wails on the way home. I immediately put Psalty on and she immediately responded by being silent and content. She loves her some Psalty.

A few minutes later she screamed out loud while crying, "I want to sleep with you and daddy tonight!" I told her we would see... and the screaming continues off and on for a few minutes. Most of the time including the words, "It's BURNING!"

Then came some words I never imagined hearing out of her mouth. So I know now how badly it hurt.

"I WANT YOU TO TURN PSALTY OFF!!!!"

Really? I did and it worked, for a bit. She continued to scream off and on the rest of the way home. But her randomness came in full a few minutes later when she asked me out of NO WHERE,

"Mom, who gave you this car?" And she was not crying at all. I explained to her that I bought it at the car dealership (over 2 years ago), and then she asks me, "If it's so big, how did you carry it?"

For those of you that don't know Kirstine, know this... A way-too-oftenly used phrase in our house is, "It's a good thing she's so pretty".

In other news, as I type this at close to 4 am, Bethan is wide awake but with no smiles. And then I started to sing to her, "When I See You Smile" and she just lit up like firecrackers. I love this baby!

4th of July

2011-07-04T23:22:00.004-04:00

Today could have easily been a very sad and depressing day. My mom's 60th birthday. Huge party. And I'm not there. Trust me, I've done my fair share of crying about it over the last month. But I'm okay now, and we had a great day.

We began the day by doing my favorite thing these days... sleeping in and being lazy. I was up with Bethan from 6:30 - 7:30. Which is perfect because then I made the older 3 breakfast and went back to bed. Scott got up soon after and hung out with them while I slept in til 9. or maybe was it 10??? :)

We went to Aldridge Gardens for a picnic lunch and had a great time. There was hardly anyone there, and there was a nice breeze due to the storm coming in. And thanks to the threatening skies we headed home a little earlier than planned.

Then a little more lazy time while Benjamin napped.

Finally we had a small group 4th of July party. Bethan and I went for a little while and then came home while the big kids walked up the street to see the fireworks. Jealous I didn't get to see them, but there's always next year, right?

Here are some pictures from the park...

Benjamin - 21 months

2011-05-13T22:21:00.004-04:00

I’ve been really bad at documenting Benjamin’s life thus far. So the stigma of the third child remains true in our household. But I know if I don’t do it now, I for sure never will (as Bethan will be here in 4 days!).

Benjamin is 21 months old right now (and a few days). He is just as smart as our other children were, and he amazes me every day with the new things he has learned.
His smile is infectious. I just can’t get enough of it. He is still the most perfect, well-behaved baby I have ever met, and strangers tell us the same thing constantly. I wish I knew how he turned out this way, so we could copycat what we did to make Bethan just the same :)

His most favorite thing in the whole world is baseballs. He loves seeing pictures of them and wearing clothes with baseballs on them. But most of all he loves playing baseball and watching Will play. Every time we get out of the van he runs and picks up his egg-shaped chalk, sets it on the baseball tee, picks up Will’s bat, and hits the chalk. He is a great thrower, and loves playing in the driveway with Will and Scott. The other day they were so cute outside…Will would hit the ball, Scott would catch it and give it to Benjamin, and Ben would throw it back to Will. And Scott had taught him how to stand baseball ready, too. So precious. He also loves to watch Will play. He constantly yells from the bleacher “Go Way-ull!” and “Go Red Sox!”, and he screams and claps loudly with the rest of us when anything good happens.
He still enjoys watching Chuggington, though not as much as he used to. But it is the only thing he ever asks to watch. He is starting to enjoy mostly playing with any kind of vehicle he can find. He just sits in the floor forever just pushing cars and motorcycles around the room.

He still also loves to eat, pretty much anything, although fruit is his favorite. Any kind. He would never stop eating fruit if I gave him that opportunity. He loves bananas, and now calls them “Ninas”. No clue why. But it’s better than “mnumnums” like he used to say.

Words he says:
Baseball
‘Mere (Come Here)
Ant (rhymes with want, he puts it before other words to say “ant a ball”
Bubby (Buggy – Kirstine)
Light
Jump
Will
Baby
Ball
Taintoo (thank you. he says this ALL the time. if you ever hand him anything he wants he says it to you)
Yes mam
Up
Help
Eat
More
Drant (prounounced with a long, southern a, = drink)
Molt (milk)
Yay!
Door
Night Night
Teeth
Diaper
Wite (wipe)
Boo boo
Bite
Jesus
Bible
In dere (In there, in response to us asking him where something is)
Dat (that)
Pese (please)

And at this point he is repeating everything we say, and learning new words every day, so i have to stop adding words. (he just learned stick and kick yesterday as a matter of fact)

What Will's Reading

2011-04-26T17:29:00.007-04:00

I thought I would try and capture Will's reading level at this age, for future reference. So here is the text of the book he brought home today, with the words he needed help with red, bolded, and italicized.

Will, age 6 (and a few weeks)

A Look at China
"China is a country in eastern Asia. China is the third largest country in the world. The capital of China is Beijing.
China has deserts, mountains, plateaus, and rivers. Each part of China has different weather.
Giant Pandas and golden monkeys live in China.
More than one billion people live in China. They speak and write Chinese. This language is made up of symbols. (Hello is NEE HOW, goodbye is TSEYE JEE-en)
Many people in China use chopsticks to eat. The Chinese eat vegetables, meat, and fish. They also eat soup, rice, and noodles.
Chinese New Year is an important celebration. Families and friends gather to celebrate. They watch parades and fireworks.
Some Chinese people work in factories to earn money. Some people are farmers. They raise rice and other crops to feed their families. China's money is counted in Yuan.
Most people in China travel short distances by bicycle. They travel long distances by train. People also travel by boat, car, and airplane.
The Great Wall of China is more than 2,000 years old. It is about 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) long. Thousands of people visit the Great Wall every year."

Since he finished reading, he has made a picture of the symbols for hello and good-bye, and wrote those words on the paper. He also made a little paper that says NEE HOW on it so he can take it with him tonight to remember, so he can tell his Chinese friends, Victor and Leo, on his baseball team hello in Chinese. I love that kid.

Ballet

2011-04-25T15:03:00.008-04:00

Am I a horrible mother, or just emotional and pregnant?

Once again I cried throughout Kirstine's entire recital. Christmastime wasn't really a recital. The moms and a few dads came into the classroom and watched the girls do a few songs. She saw me, cried and refused to do anything else. She was held by her teacher most of the time, and eventually came and sat in my lap. I cried the whole time.

But times have changed. She now likes ballet a lot, or so she tells me after practice every week. She still never really wants to go, but she enjoys herself pretty much. She was crazy excited about the recital, loved her costume, was so happy that daddy and Will both were coming to see her, and promised us that she was not going to cry and was going to dance the whole time. I saw her right before we went in to sit down. She was very happy and excited and gave me a big hug.

It didn't start out horribly. She wasn't participating quite as much as everyone else, but still... no tears at least.

Downhill from there. And I cried the whole time.

The other girls were so freaking cute up there. Kirstine just stood there. At least in the beginning she was doing all the moves and steps, just real tiny right in front of her where we couldn't see. But then when they did the routines where they faced the audience she just bowed her head. and when they left to get props, she came back in in her teacher's arms. And for the last number she stood on the floor next to her teachers.

But as soon as it was over she was all smiles and jumping up and down again.

It's safe to assume that we are NOT taking ballet again next year.

At least we got a picture.

Preps for Bethan

2011-04-13T16:56:00.002-04:00

Have finally started to begin. I had my first (and only) shower Monday evening. The girls in my small group had a little diaper shower for me. We had lots of good dips and appetizers, and some yummy desserts. To make the night even more perfect for me, we had a beautiful thunderstorm come through right after it started. The lightning was beautiful. It made me feel like I was back home in Tampa. I really miss Florida summer storms. The power went out and stayed out for over an hour. We had a flashlight in the middle of us to give a little light. Perfect evening! I've been working on getting stains out of clothes for a while, and I'm almost done with those. But I finally bought Dreft and am washing all the rest of her clothes now. Then I've got to do all the blankets, bibs, burp cloths, etc. I've started making my list of what I need to buy. Which isn't much. And I've made my hospital list. I feel like I should have tons of other stuff to do right now, but there's really not. Since Benjamin is still in the crib, I can't really get that ready. I probably won't move him into Will's room until about a month after she's born. I DO have preps for the other kids. We've got to buy a twin mattress for Kirstine and figure out how we're going to fit her back into her old room. I also need to get new bedding for one of the boys. My long term plan is to give Will's train bedding to Benjamin, and get Will Gator bedding. But my ideal is an orange/blue plaid comforter from Pottery Barn with actual Gator sheets. But PBK refuses to make an orange and blue set. I've been waiting for almost 2 years now and still nothing. So since we don't have that yet, I guess we'll just have to get something cheap and temporary for one of the boys until we decided what we will do permanently. Am I boring you yet? I guess that's all for now. Oh, and I guess I should buy her a baby book at some point.

Will's best game EVER!

2011-04-02T15:42:00.002-04:00

I am so crazy proud of Will today. He played so incredibly fabulous. Unfortunately, Scott had to work today and missed it :( You will notice him progressively hitting worse as the game goes on, but everyone did today. It's because they were so EXHAUSTED! We only had 7 players today (most teams play with 10). So not only did 3 people have to bat twice every inning (we play 10 batters per inning), but Will had to cover the ENTIRE outfield pretty much by himself. I say pretty much because there was one other kid out there. But in his mother's own words, he'd rather be dancing than playing baseball, so it was kind of as if he wasn't even there :) Needless to say Will ran around a LOT and was therefore pretty tired when it came time to bat. 2 memorable plays: He tagged someone out at 2nd base, and got the winning out at home plate. Good game, Will! And he also got the game ball. Oh yeah, did I mention that he got his first ever HOMERUN?!?!?!? 1st at bat: HOMERUN

2nd at bat: Double

3rd at bat: Out at home plate, but if he wasn't the last batter he would have stopped at 3rd base. (Last batter you just have to get the ball to home plate and anyone who gets there after you is out)

4th and 5th at bats... wimpy singles :)

My kids love each other so much

2011-03-31T16:59:00.002-04:00

Will: Kirstine, Please, please, please come back outside and play with me!

Kirstine: I'm all done outside. I'm too cold.

Will: I've got my sweatshirt outside.

Kirstine: Can I wear your sweatshirt?

Will: Sure!

And off they go.

Will Reading

2011-02-24T20:57:00.002-05:00

Benjamin's Voodoo Magic

2011-02-24T17:27:00.002-05:00

Benjamin is a little obsessed with Chuggington these days (it's a better Disney version of Thomas the Train). After it was over today he continued to beg to watch it again. When I told him no, this is what he came up to the remote to do...

When I got the camera out to video tape it he immediately stopped, but I got him to do it again for a little bit. It totally looked like he was trying to make the remote control put Chuggington on all by itself.

Bike Riding Pictures

2011-02-19T21:17:00.002-05:00

Bike Riding

2011-02-19T20:42:00.002-05:00

So here it is. Will learning how to ride a bike. Scott's been teaching him a little bit in the driveway this week. But this is the first time he has gotten to ride more than 12 feet. p.s. he's getting a bigger bike for his birthday.

Kirstine got her first bike this week for her birthday. Notice the plastic Barbie sized bike attached to the handle with Barbie sitting on it. So cute.

And this is Benjamin's version of a bike.

Pictures of Bethan and Her Family

2011-01-07T18:51:00.011-05:00

Well here they are! This first picture is of Bethan having fun with her stickers.

Jo and I playing Monopoly

Bethan, me, and Jo on our last day together

Me, Jo, Rachel, and Bethan at the train station

And here are 2 other pictures from that trip:

Climbing on top of some castle wall

This is Caerphilly Castle. I don't remember the story of how this crack happened, but isn't it cool? If you look real closely, you can see me standing inside the crack.

Bethan - Pronunciation and Origin

2011-01-07T09:15:00.003-05:00

Since so many people have asked, here goes!

First of all, how do we pronounce Bethan? Simple! Just like Bethany, but without the "ee" sound at the end. It is NOT Beth Anne.

Where did we get this name from? Longer answer. To do it justice I'll start at the begninning and tell the entire story...

It's March 2001, almost 10 years ago. I am going on a mission trip to Wales with a group of other college-aged students from my church in Gainesville, FL. It is my second trip there. The year before this trip my singing ensemble at the church also went, so we got to stay together. Typically there are about 4-5 students per group spread over the northern part of Wales. My ensemble got to stay together. We did a lot of concerts and school assemblies and that sort of thing.

Second trip was different. I was assigned to be with 2 guys. One was a few years older than me, the other was the chaperone for the group. We spent months preparing skits and puppets and crafts and all sorts of things like that. We were going to be sleeping in the attic of a church, camping up there. We knew it was going to be freezing up there so we were prepared!

We are flying out of Tampa, so I went back home a few days early. The night before we were to leave I got a call. There has been an outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease all over Wales and we're not sure if we get to go into the country. All we know is that we have plane tickets into Manchester, England, so we're at least getting that far. Plans get made overnight, and when we get to the airport we hear the new plan. The capital city of Wales (Cardiff) has not been affected, and we can get a train directly into the city without being exposed.

Day 1: We spend the night at the house of some IMB missionaries. The next morning we go to Rhiwbina Baptist Church. They announce our presence while we are there, and ask church members to host us for the week. They'll tell us who we're staying with that night after the evening service.

All I know is I start freaking out. I was pretty shy back then. I was honestly terrified about staying in the home of strangers for an entire week. Everyone kept reassuring me that it would be fine, and that they would most likely put me and Amy (the only other girl on the trip) in a house together. So I started calming down.

In the meantime, when the morning service was over everyone went to the fellowship hall for tea. If you've never been to the UK, this is very common. Tea everywhere. There were days where we would have 5 tea "parties" in one day, just because we had to stop what we were doing and have tea everytime we went somewhere.

So we're standing around, drinking tea, and socializing (me just with the people I already knew). And then I spot her. This 4-year-old little girl. Blonde hair. Wearing this cute little yellow dress. I couldn't take my eyes off her. Cutest thing I have ever seen in my life. But a spitfire! The best word I can use to describe her is stolen from her mother at one point later: cheeky. She had a doll that she was dragging around behind her the whole time. And she was tormenting all the little boys. She was the funniest thing ever. As we were leaving and walking to our van I was telling everyone about her. She walked past us and I got to show everyone who I was talking about.

Fast forward to evening service. Right before the service begins we get our assignments. I am alone. I start bawling. Maybe having an anxiety attack? I finally calm down. I am staying with a couple named Richard and Rachel. We attend the service and afterwards our families come and find us. Richard is there with his 8-9 year old daughter, Jo. They were very nice.

When we get home they show me to my room, I meet his wife, Rachel, and then he tells me he wants to show me one other person. We walk into his other daughter's room (at this point I didn't know he had another daughter) and she was fast asleep in her bed. I look at her, and ask him, "Did she have a yellow dress on this morning?" The answer was, of course, yes. She was the same little girl from that morning. I really couldn't believe it.

This all may seem silly to you. But to me it was just a very small sign. God really does care about all those little things in our lives that sometimes we feel he doesn't. He really cared about my insecurities about spending a week in a stranger's home. He placed me in the one home with the only person I had any connection to at all in that city. I knew I was going to be okay. In case you hadn't guessed yet, her name was Bethan.

For the next week I spent every free moment I had hanging out with Bethan and Jo. Whenever our tasks were done for the day, and the rest of my group was getting together to hang out, I always decked out early so I could get home to Bethan. I loved that little girl. I bawled my eyes out the day I had to leave her. But really not just her - I loved that entire family. I had an wonderful time getting to know them that week, and really felt that they became a second family to me.

I never got a chance to get their contact information. For some reason we just totally forgot until the last minute. They had my address, though. I don't remember if I had a chance to give it to them, or if they had it from the church. I didn't hear from them again until Christmas. I got a christmas card with a long letter in it. The problem was the return address was incomplete so I couldn't write them back. And that was the end. Back then the internet wasn't so friendly, and I really didn't know how to find them. But it's 10 years later, and I may be on to something. I googled the church, and immediately found a picture of the father, Richard, on their website as an elder. I have contacted the church and hopefully I will be able to get in touch with them! I want them to know that I have my own little Bethan on the way! And she will arrive 10 years and 2 months after I met their Bethan.

Was that long enough? I promise I'll find a picture of her and post it soon as well.

Kirstine's Prayer

2010-12-01T16:44:00.002-05:00

Kirstine's prayer last night started out so sweet. It began with her asking God to take care of all the people that don't have food to eat, and for him to give them all food. Then she asked God to take care of Bethan (I once again reminded her, "Kirstine, it might be a boy!"), Isaac, Benjamin, Will, Dad, Mom, Gran, Papa, Toby, Kaden, Blue, Abigail, and Jonathan.
Then she asked God to take care of Benjamin, and to take away his voice, because he's a really really loud baby.

kids and pregnancy

2010-11-30T09:30:00.002-05:00

Will was wonderful with my 2nd pregnancy. he loved the baby, loved kissing my belly ALL THE TIME, and was so excited when Kirstine got here.
He was the same with the 3rd pregnancy, but knew more what was going on. he was more compassionate with my sickness. but most of all, it affected kirstine A LOT. she would lay outside the bathroom in a fetal position bawling her eyes out everytime i threw up. it was so stinking cute.
Not so much this time. They barely notice. The funniest moment? Last week in Tampa I was in Gran's bathroom throwing up. Brad came over while I was back there. Will looked at him and said, "She's pregnant. It happens."

Halloween Pictures

2010-11-05T12:12:00.007-04:00

Day 7 – Capilano Suspension Bridge

2010-10-30T23:23:00.009-04:00

Capilano Suspension Bridge.

Day 6 – Chinatown

2010-10-26T19:26:00.007-04:00

Chinatown. Nothing too impressive here. In my opinion, anyway. There is supposedly an amazing authentic Chinese garden, but it cost too much to go in. So we opted out and went to the unauthentic Chinese park connected to it. It was free. But still very pretty.

Day 5 – Olympic Torch

2010-10-24T13:56:00.004-04:00

They lit the Olympic torches the night before, and they would only be lit for 24 hours, so I really wanted to see it. I think it was in memory of someone dying, but I’m not really sure. It was raining and very cold, but it was sooooo warm under the torch!

Will's first day of school

2010-08-11T09:28:00.003-04:00

Happy first day of school, big boy! Although you can't tell from the picture, Will was very excited to start school today. He normall wakes up between 8 and 8:30. But this morning he walked into my room at 6:15 asking "Is it time for school yet?" He kept squealing all morning. While we were walking up to the building he was singing this song he made up for the morning, "I am a big boy, I am a big boy!" I can't wait to hear how awesome his first day was!

Happy Birthday!

2010-08-03T00:19:00.002-04:00

Sing with me now! Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Jaaaaiiiiime, Happy birthday to you! My incredibly thoughtful sister-in-law (faydra) and I (scott, if you hadn’t guessed yet) have crashed Jaime’s blog on this her 30 birthday. We have collected memories from people throughout Jaime’s life and put them here to help make this a special day for her. I’ll let faydra give some intro, then on to the cherished memories, and then I’ll close it out:

(faydra) Here it is. Jaime’s big 3-0. As a fellow mom of three, I know what it’s like to have our moments usurped by the kiddos, so I wanted to do a little something so Jaime would be celebrated on her day. So! In celebration of her 30th, I’ve collected some memories of those who’ve loved Jaime throughout her first three decades.

Faydra Stratton: My first memories of Jaime are from Freshmen Bible Study at UF’s BSU/BCM (whatever!) which I co-led with Brooke Stuart-now-Eakins. It was clear Jaime adored her oldest brother, Kevin, a guy I knew vaguely. I thought it was really sweet how concerned she was for his well-being. I was also amused how her feelings for her other brother were much less favorable. (At the time – that’s changed, Matt!) I remember being entertained by my own imagined dynamic of these three siblings just through how she talked about her brothers in her prayer requests! Fast forward a few years and I start to know Kevin a tad better…
I think if Jaime had written a list in college of all the BSU girls she would have liked her brother to marry I wouldn’t have shown up anywhere on that list. I don’t think she had any qualms with me as her Bible Study Leader, but Jaime didn’t think I was any fun and she worried I would turn her brother un-fun. (I know this because she’s told us this.) I’m not really sure why she felt this way about me. I have numerous undergrad friends who could testify to my abilities to have fun and even (gasp!) be funny but that wasn’t Jaime’s perception of me. I don’t have a sister and I was excited to gain one, but through my engagement and early marriage I’d say Jaime and I didn’t really click. But then… and I’m not sure what changed, but something changed. Maybe because we’d both become moms and we starting to have more in common… Maybe she realized after awhile that goofy Kevin would remain goofy Kevin and that I wasn’t going to change him… Maybe because over time we’d shared enough holidays and family events that we were just getting more comfortable with each other… Probably for all of those reasons, we started becoming friends. So now to answer the question I have posed to so many, what is my favorite Jaime memory? It’s from a trip I took to Tampa without Kevin. I was in Florida for an Orlando wedding but used Tampa as my airport so Kaden, our oldest and only kiddo then, could get family time with Strattons. During that trip, Jaime and I couldn’t stop talking. I remember sitting in her house (the one next door) two nights in a row talking until my voice got hoarse. I ended up flying back to Texas with laryngitis simply because of hanging out with Jaime into the wee hours of the night! It may have taken us a few years, but that trip made it clear, I really did gain a sister when I married Jaime’s oldest brother.
And here’s what some others had to say:

Aunt Teri: When Jaime was about 5, Uncle Mike, Casey and I went to Florida for vacation. We had a great time and when it was time to go home, we said to Jaime, "want to go home with us?" Rick laughed and said, she won't go--- welllll, Jaime packed her clothes, got in the car and went to Tennessee for a week by herself. She was so proud of herself! Teresa and Rick were completely surprised that she would go but that must have been the start of her traveling fever. She was a sweetie that week and we loved having her all to ourselves

Margaret James: My memory isn't actually from when I knew her personally. I was talking to my son (aka Scott) during his second year at Gainesville and he said, "I've got a date with the cutest girl I've ever seen." Well, that started something really special - during her freshman yr at college that cute face, personality, and spiritual strength etc captured the heart of a very special young man! What a GREAT couple. Love ya Jaime very, very much. You too Scott - such a wise man to know a good thing when you saw it.
Amy Devore: From the ages of 8-12 or so, Jaime and I would camp out in my parent's loft upstairs and play vaga-bomb on the computer for hours on end.

Jaclyn Anderson Wilson: I can't think of one specific memory I would call my favorite, but for as long as I can remember i have looked up to and admired jaime. At Christmases I remember waiting by the window in grandma's living room waiting for Aunt Teresa's family to get there so I could see jaime! I remember getting boxes of hand-me-downs and thinking these clothes were the coolest thing ever because they had been Jaime's. As a teenager I remember so many late night talks and that I always wanted to hear Jaime's opinion on my crazy teenage drama :) She has been a great friend and cousin for my 25 years and even now I always look forward to talking with her about life's events and am still excited to see her pull up at Grandma's house.

Mom: My firstborn was a son, Kevin; my secondborn was a son, Matthew. I love boys. I love boy things especially baseball. When I was pregnant the 3rd time, I did not care at all if it was a 3rd boy or a girl. But when Jaime was born - my oh my was I happy. I still love my boys but I guess having a daughter is just different. Jaime I love you. I love the wife you are to Scott and the mother you are to Will, Kirstine and Benjamin. I love how you love the Lord! I love the friend you are to your friends. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! (30 TIMES)

Katrina Feliciano: Walking into the old boxroom and seeing her sitting on the floor Indian-style working on some files and she looked up at me and I thought at that moment, what a beautiful tiny angelic face. I have adored her ever since.

Nate Jimmerson: During the time Jaime lived in Tampa and I worked at CCRC, I went through a phase of wanting to date the, lets just say, wrong type of girl. I would meet them or they would work with me and I would quickly get infatuated, thinking that this would be the right girl for me….until I consulted with Jaime. See, she was always there to help me see the light; helping me realize that maybe this wasn’t the girl that I should be with. At times I wouldn’t want Jaime to know that I was interested in a new girl cause I knew, deep down inside, that she would clear the fog of my attraction and let me see the real girl behind the one that I was building up in my mind. However, she would somehow always find out, and the next time we hung out I knew we would have one of our talks. So I guess, after all of this, all I can say is thank you Jaime. Thank you for helping me stay out of some disastrous relationships….even though I didn’t listen to you all of the time (like I should have!).

Linda Hedges Dewberry: I'll give you one funny and one more sentimental:
Jaime made me laugh when she told us the reason she picked our Sunday school class because we talked about sex!
I appreciate Jaime because she is laid back (opposite of me). She can go with the flow and taught Rock The Block in the steamy heat being "great with child". This summer she took on the whole thing at her house. She makes life with 3 kids look breezy.

Dawn Jackson Lawson: One of my favorite memories of Jaime is from spots NC. She packed glow in the dark panties and wanted to show them off. So she charged them by standing by a lamp (while wearing them) then turned off the light and wiggled her little butt around.

Shannon Flatt: Oh goodness i have so many fun memories with her! Some of my favorites were when she would come to louisiana for the summers and spend with me and tara. I remember going to watertown and a bad storm came and we were in the old van and we couldn’t see a thing and she was in a panic because she couldn’t figure out how to turn the windshield wipers on. goofy jaime. and she introduced tara to new kids on the block which has been a neverending obsession since then. Happy Birthday! I love you!

Marissa Pantaleo Stratton: I really wanted to think of something from way back in the day but I decided to go with what was most special to me about Jaime. Ever since the day she found out I was pregnant with the twins she was compiling lists of advice and lending her ear for me to complain. Her advice from pregnancy to what I would need after the twins were born has been such a source of comfort. But, the thing that was most special to me was when she surprised me and drove to Tampa all the way from Birmingham for my Baby Shower. She ended up telling me she was coming but the fact that she had been secretly trying to arrange it and make it happen meant so much to me. Happy 30th Birthday Jaimes. I am truly blessed to have you in my life, I love you LOTS and thank you for always being there to make it better. xOxOxO

Pam Thomas: I watched Jaime grow up, get married and become a mother. She's handled it all with so much grace! She is a delightful and wonderful young woman. She blesses everyone who becomes a part of her life. I have no particular memory that jumps out--just a lovely thought of a precious young girl in VBS who blossomed and grew into a strong, mature woman of God.  Much love on her 30

Kerri Bonner: My shining star memory of Miss Jaime...
She was such a sweet friend when our car broke down in inner city Birmingham, right after we delivered our last box of food. Even though we had emergency roadside service, she went out of her way because she is a sweet friend! She worked tirelessly in the heat taking my 2 car seats out of my car by herself, somehow squeezing them in her car, and then escorting the kids and I back home - just so she could get us out of the heat and home for nap time right on time!

Pam Selman: She was a wonderful babysitter, and now she's a wonderful mentor for my girls. I'm continuously amazed at the Stratton offspring. So thankful Jaime is party of my daughters' lives. So thankful she's such a good role model as a woman, a wife, and a mother. I thank God for her. What a blessing!

Melissa Bibeau: Jaime is such a wonderful woman that I have admired growing up with. She was and is a great bigger sister for those of us whom do not have sisters. She truly is a wonderful woman and mother filled with many talents and is a blessing to everyone she comes in contact with. Jaime you have such a great spirit and are always positive and radiating light. I love you!!!

Annella Martin Foshee: My first memory of Jaime is watching her eat a chocolate cupcake in the Fellowship Hall at Lake Carroll. She was five years old and wearing a cute "little girl" dress.
We had just begun visiting Lake Carroll, and I remember thinking to myself, "is this the special little friend that God has for Amy?"
She been a wonderful friend to all who know her, and I am thankful that Jaime has been such a loyal and sweet friend to Amy for all these years.

Nina Entzminger: The very first thing that came to my mind was when we had the beach property on Indian Shores and the girls came downstairs in their swim suits ready to hit the beach. Oo la la - Jaime was in her bikini and I told her I hope you do not get raped on my watch!!!! The girls didn’t listen to me and went out for a walk on the beach, but I guess Jaime remembered what I had said because she carried a raft in front of her. A guy walked by and said NICE RAFT!!!
That’s the whole story, but all I’d need to say is, “Nice Raft!” and Jaime would remember!

Kevin Stratton: In December 2000, right after I graduated from UF, Mom, Dad, Matt, Jaime, and I went to Steamboat to go snow skiing. This was the nicest family vacation we ever went on - and the last one since I get married 8 months later. Since my parents don't ski (even though they did try to learn and my dad ended up tearing his knee apart), the siblings got to ski together. Jaime always kind of got the shaft by having two older brothers to spend vacations with, but this was a fun trip because we all had a good time as adults doing something we love to do. Happy Birthday, Sis.

Grandma Anderson: When Jaime was a little girl, about 4 or 5, she was visiting Tennessee with Grandpa and me. Grandpa was going to the garden to dig some potatoes. Jaime wanted to go with him to pick potatoes. He used a spade (shovel) to dig them; she picked the potatoes and put them in a bowl for me to cook for supper. I have a picture of her picking potatoes. Happy Birthday, Jaime.

Beth Whyte: Where to begin....I remember a lot of fun memories of Jaime!! Most of them involve pizza bagels, Swing Kids, shoe polishing the boys cars for no reason at all, Gator games, making chips and queso and just having fun times at R-144. One of my favorite times was when we were driving to St. Augustine for one of our nightly trips with the group. On our way, we listened to all kinds of music, from Veggie Tales to Shania Twain!! All of the girls grabbed a water bottle, a hairbrush...anything to make believe they were singing into it, like a microphone. Jaime was the best because she loved the Veggie Tales, "Cheeseburger Song," and knew EVERY word!! We sang the duet From This Moment by Shania and Bryan...I think I was Bryan :) I can honestly say, I loved singing with Jaime....she was an amazing singer!! I think we made a great duet, step back Shania and Bryan :) I am so glad I got to share some fun times and memorable singing moments with Jaime!! Happy 30th Birthday, Jaime James :)

Katie Fink Bizerra: I remember when we went canoeing with a group of girls from the BSU. Halfway down the river, a couple of us needed to pee; we decided to do so on an old bridge. Instead of being our lookout, Jaime was below taking pictures. Ha! I still have the picture in my UF album. Good times :). Happy Birthday, Jaime.

Valerie Pelham: My most memorable moments as a child with Jaime was Ronda's Angels. It was Ronda, Julie, Jaime and I. Slumber parties, dress up, singing, dancing, swimming, Sunday lunches at Dairy Queen! FUN STUFF!! I miss those worry free days!!!

“Aunt Edna” Miller: I have known Jaime from the day she was born. She was and still is one of the sweetest girls (lady) that I have ever known. She is a true Christian. She always called me "Aunt Edna" and I loved her for that.
I could write a book about Jaime and it would all be good. Her mother and father are also dear to my heart. With lots of love…

Danielle Anderson: My favorite memories with Jaime have been the long car rides to Alabama or Florida when we just spend countless hours talking about life and laughing, singing and taking care of the kids along the way =]

Amy Clark James: My initial impression of Jaime was in response to her comments/prayer requests in small group. I remember thinking, "This girl is as real and as funny as I! A kindred spirit!" Since that day, Jaime has affirmed that she is indeed so smart and funny. But also the road-trippin'est Mom I've ever known. Wow!

Anna Sauls: I love Jaime for all kinds of odd reasons! :) she fights her mom for the chips in the bag that are folded in half, loves taco bell as much as I do, only ate cheetos puffs during her pregnancy with will, and unless things have changed her house is just as messy as mine. She is kind and compassionate and keeps me updated w/ the goings on of our high school friends. She is the only friend I still talk to from high school so i know she is a true friend. But I do hold against her the fact that she didn't save her left over boob fat for me after she had a reduction (I totally claimed that stuff in the 9th or 10th grade) so that I could get a much needed boob job yet still look natural! I love you Jaime! Happy birthday!

Ashley Jackson: Having to narrow down the "Favorite Jaime Memory" to just one seems difficult since many of my memories involve you! Some of my favorite memories could be delivering you white powdered doughnuts in bed when we were away at GA camp because it was your birthday, always driving you everywhere in High School because you did not want to get a license, rollerblading down Bayshore, dying our hair on every summer trip, pooping in a Cheetoes can, our first trip down the Ocoee, your two-piece bathing suite when we were about 16 ("NICE RAFT"), singing in all of the LCBC choirs/performances, all of our lovely duets, CHS choirs, spending almost every night together the summer we left for college, being each other's maid (or matron) of honor, and the list could go on. However, the one that sticks out the most was when you and Mrs. Sandy visited me when I was about 5 or 6 and invited me to church. I feel that the Lord used that moment in my life to instill a passion for music but most importantly for bring me to Him. Thank you for sacrificing for me way back then and showing me Christ's love. Have a happy, happy 30th birthday (that sounds really old!).

Julie Buchanan Crawford: When I was growing up with Jaime, she always kept the secerts I asked her to keep, she was always there if I needed someone to talk to or needed advice, she never judged me for the wrong paths I took in life, she IS a BEAUTIFUL, CHRISTIAN WOMAN; I am jealous in so many (good) ways.

As Mom said in an email, “It blesses my heart to hear some of these comments from people from her past.” (Jaime’s mom helped me pull these together.) I too have laughed and enjoyed reading them as they got sent in. I especially enjoyed Dawn’s – I was on that SPOTS trip, but unfortunately (as I can see now!) I was in a different room and missed the glowing-underwear butt shake. But now I will turn it over to Scott for his favorite(s) of his bride…

(scott) My wife rules. I know it; you know it. Here’s the coolest part though: she doesn’t know it. And that’s part of her beauty. She is a great judge of character concerning everyone but herself, but I wouldn’t have it any other way because if she acknowledged a mere one tenth of her awesomeness she’d be insufferable. Thank you to all of you who contributed your fond memories of Jaime, but more importantly, thank you for the roles you played in helping her to become the godly woman and wonderful wife/mother that she is today. I can gladly say that I am reaping the benefits of your positive influences on her life. I am blessed much more than I deserve to be. I’ll leave off with my most fond memory of her. Outwardly, it won’t sound like anything special, but I think of it as the first time that I saw her. It was January of my sophomore/her freshman year at UF. By that time, we were friends/acquaintances and had hung out a bit in group settings, but nothing extensive. Mid-morning on a weekday, I came in to the BSU on my way to class and, by the providence of God, Jaime happened to come down the stairs exactly as I was passing by. Orange sweater, jeans, new hairstyle (the short one she does sometimes), smile on her face when she saw me. To an observer (had there been one), nothing special happened. We said hello. We talked a bit about how our Christmas breaks were. I went to class. I have no real explanation for it and can’t put my finger on what triggered it, but all I know is that’s when Jaime Stratton began taking up large portions of my thought life. Eleven years later, it’s only gotten worse. Jaimes, I love you.P.S. you’re old.

Kirstine can swim!

2010-07-26T13:26:00.002-04:00

Somewhat, at least. Here's her graduation picture.

New Park Downtown

2010-07-21T22:44:00.005-04:00

We went to the new park in downtown Tampa today to take pictures with my friend Kristen. These are the pictures Scott was taking while Kristen was taking the good ones.

Lawnmower fun.

2010-07-21T21:52:00.003-04:00

Uncle Matt took Buggy on a lawnmower ride today. She had a blast!

Videos of the new playground in Downtown Tampa!

2010-07-21T19:59:00.002-04:00

Bye Bye!

2010-06-27T23:04:00.001-04:00

Benjamin waved bye to the lady in the drive thru about a month ago. But it wasn't super definitive, so it doesn't really count. But last Sunday evening he FOR SURE waved bye to one of the ladies at church. Tonight when we were leaving his class he waved again, AND SAID BYE BYE AS HE WAVED!!!!!

Misc. Ben pics

2010-05-28T23:25:00.003-04:00

(And one of the older ones.) Will and Kirstine like to sleep together sometimes now when Scott works overnight.

Will's graduation

2010-05-28T23:17:00.006-04:00

Now that I'm looking at these pictures I realize that I totally forgot to get a picture of our family!

Here's Will and Mama Jean, and then Will and Big Will
Here's the boys... (there were 4 boys in Will's class. They didn't even associate with the girls. NIIICE.)
And lastly Will and his teacher, Mrs. Laurie

Baseball Pics

2010-05-28T23:06:00.003-04:00

This first picture is from when the team went to see the Birmingham Barons play.

These next few are obviously from a game...

And these last ones are from their end of season luau this past Sunday. All the kids got a specific award. Will's was the Team Player award. He thinks it's the coolest because his got called first.

What's up with the baby these days?

2010-04-24T13:16:00.002-04:00

Benjamin is growing so fast! He is now 8 1/2 months old.

He can pull himself up now, so we had to lower the crib.
We have the gate set up in the living room in a rectangle shape, with a blanket underneath. All his toys are in there and that's where all 3 kids spend most of their time. Will and Kirstine love to play in there with him. We call it his cage. He pulls up and likes to stand up in it, and Kirstine even said that he took a few steps around the cage yesterday.

He appears to be giving up his morning nap already!!! I'm not too fond of this. At this age we couldn't drive anywhere with Will past 10:30 or else he was out! and this lasted probably until he was almost 2. so if we had a playdate somewhere we just had to make sure we were out of the house before then or else our day was ruined. i tried to put ben down at 10:00, but he refused. so i got him back and he's been playing strong since then (it's now 12:15).

Eating: He's finally got it! For the longest time he just flat out refused. He just spit everything out. I gave up, tried once a week, but still no luck. and then about 3 weeks ago i tried to make him fruits and vegetables and he loved them! he's so funny. with the other two, and with most kids, they hated all veggies, and most often we had to disguise the vegetables inside the rice or oatmeal so that they would eat it. and eventually we would decrease the cereal so that it was mostly veggies. completely opposite with ben. he HATES cereal. so we have to disguise it inside of the green beans. funny kid. but he's getting better. today is my first real cooking day. i've already made 2 unidentifiable fruits, squash, and carrots are next on the list. i might have some other things hidden in the freezer for him. and i also have apples, so i might do that later as well.

what else... he's looking less like the other kids now. and lots of people ask if he has blonde hair. maybe not blonde, but definitely lighter than the rest of ours!no curls yet, will and kirstine's weren't curly at this stage either.

We have one tooth, and i believe one moring coming in.

And lastly, he is still the BEST baby in the whole world. unreal what an awesome kid he is. we are sooo lucky.

2010-04-12T12:11:00.001-04:00

So funny. He was just sitting there smiling at Will, and the next thing I know, I look over and here he is! He didn't wimper a bit. Such a perfect baby.

Will's birthday and party

2010-04-10T23:58:00.007-04:00

miscellaneous pictures

2010-04-10T23:02:00.004-04:00

Benjamin sleeping very cute a few weeks ago
Ben's first soul patch

Spring Concert

2010-04-10T22:51:00.002-04:00

These are the very few pics I got from their spring concert on Thursday. I'm a dummy and misread the time, thinking it started at 11:30, when it really started at 11:00. Which means Scott missed it. So I was trying to take care of Benjamin, take pictures, and video tape all at the same time. The pictures of Kirstine i seriously took while the camera was sitting on my knee and i pushed the button with my left hand while my right hand was video taping. I will say that my right hand was not so steady at these moments and videotaped a little bit of the steps and not a lot of heads were in the shots.

Easter Pics

2010-04-10T19:45:00.006-04:00

These first pictures are of our small group easter egg hunt.
And these pics are from Easter morning and after church.

Will's Tampa Birthday Party and other tampa pics

2010-04-01T23:59:00.009-04:00

Kirstine and Chloe

Will's first game

2010-04-01T23:36:00.004-04:00

Baby Dedication

2010-04-01T23:15:00.004-04:00

Benjamin's baby dedication was Sunday afternoon.
It's always been hard trying to get a good family picture. But now with 3 kids it is even harder. This is the best we got.

Why do we memorize verses?

2010-03-05T19:05:00.001-05:00

Recently I have been asked why we are teaching the kids to memorize verses, especially when they don’t even know what they’re saying. So for all of you out there that might be wondering, here’s why:
First of all, there are LOTS of reasons. The first one being, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:4-9

But if that weren’t enough, there are lots of practical reasons to it. Children are like sponges. They learn sooo well at this age. To this day most of the verses that I have memorized are because I learned them as a child. I memorize verses and can remember them for a short while, but they don’t stick forever. But the ones I learned at a young age will be with me forever. Even if the kids don’t totally understand the verses they are learning now, they will later. But for the most part I do believe they understand. Not because they’re geniuses, but because we explain it to them. Trust me, Will lets us know when he doesn’t get something.
This week’s verse is Numbers 6:24-26. “The LORD bless you and keep you. The LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.” After Kirstine says it this morning she holds out her hand and says, “here’s some piece” and she asks me to take it and eat it. (she obviously thinks we’re talking about a piece of cake here). So now I get to explain to her what peace means. And if you really think that Will doesn’t get it, just look at the stories I posted earlier today. In the midst of telling stories about dirtbikes he tells me a story about disobedience and gives me a verse as to why it’s wrong. Trust me - that was sooo unprovoked!

And lastly, the kids LOVE it! They don’t let us go to bed without practicing their new verses. I’ll be honest – this doesn’t happen every single night. There are days when Will is really tired because he didn’t take a nap and he’s just not in the mood for it. But I’d guess that 85% of nights he and Kirstine beg to do it. They love when they have a new verse perfected and they get to put a red check beside it.

Shaun White wins gold

2010-03-05T12:17:00.003-05:00

Will drew this picture while we were watching the winter games.

Will, the storyteller

2010-03-05T11:13:00.001-05:00

The other day Will started telling stories and asked me to write them down as he told them…

1. When your mommy tells you “No”, obey her! And don’t sit in timeout, because if you sit in timeout you disobeyed. And there’s a verse in the bible that says, “Children, obey your parents in the LORD, for this is right.”

2. When babies come out of bellies… “Don’t be bad because if you’re bad you’ll get spankings and go to timeout. And you don’t want to do that!”

3. A little bitty boy asked his mom, and his mom said he could play outside because it was snowing. And he had to put his snow clothes on, and everybody went to play outside. And he said, “Mom.” “What?” “I forgot my snow toys.” “Do you want to get the truck that has a bulldozer shovel on it that scoops up snow?” “Yes, I do want that!” “Do you want the race car that goes around the track and scoops up snow? Do you want your snow truck – it’s a dirtbike that has snow wheels that are thick and they have strong wheels, they never come off? That’s not like a dirtbike but is actually a dirtbike? It’s a ghost rider that didn’t have a front or a back thingy that points out. And it doesn’t have an engine…” (And it went on and on like this but my hand got too tired to write any more down.)

Sick Family

2010-02-24T00:30:00.002-05:00

Kirstine had the pukies this past weekend. Not fun.

Tonight I left for girls' night of dinner and a movie. Benjamin woke up while I was gone in a bed of puke. My wonderful husband had to wash him and clean that up and cook dinner for him and the older two at the same time. Benjamin threw up a few more times before I got home.

Will just woke up in a bed of vomit. My poor babies! Needless to say, Will is not going to school in the morning.

In other news, Dear John was just as wonderful as I had imagined. I highly recommend it. Although I definitely want to read the book now as there were parts lacking in the movie and I am sure they are more filled out in the book.

Snow Night!!!

2010-02-16T02:22:00.005-05:00

Will was begging all evening for smores. So we finally told him that after dinner was over we'd check to see if it was dry on the porch so that we could use the fire pit. (it rained/snowed all night last night and most everything was frozen this morning, so we were pretty sure it would still be wet). so scott went out to check and it was snowing!!! It snowed for about 3 hours and there was a good amount accumulated. Very fun surprise!

Snow Day!!!

2010-02-15T13:40:00.006-05:00

Scott had a conference in memphis last weekend, so Nana flew up to take care of the kids so that I could go with Scott. We had a blast, but missed out on this awesomeness. It snowed at our house (but not at all in Memphis!) on Friday, and Nana and MamaJean got to play with the kids in it. Here are pictures of the fun that we missed:

new pics

2010-02-15T12:56:00.006-05:00

Will climbed in bed with us this morning. this is what he looked like when I got out of bed.
Ane here's Kirstine playing in my boots.

I found a box of handmedowns last week for this size. Very exciting as most of it is polo and gymboree. This awesome outfit is thanks to Ronda and Melissa.

I love this picture because she looks just like Darla from The Little Rascals in it. I don't normally think she looks anything like this.

And this last picture is from last week when she went upstairs to dress herself. I just think it's cute what a good matcher she is.

the boys

2010-02-09T17:59:00.002-05:00

more Will verses

2010-01-12T13:39:00.003-05:00

my memory card was full the night we recorded these, so I couldn't film all of Will's verses. But these are the rest of the ones that I did get. We'll try again soon hopefully to get the rest.

Exodus 20:7 "You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses His name."

Exodus 20:12 "Honor your father and your mother so that you may live long in the land that the Lord your God has given you."

James 1:17 "Every good and perfect gift is from above."

Proverbs 18:10 "The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run into it and they are safe."

Psalm 86:7 "In the day of my trouble I will call to you and you will answer me."

Psalm 95:3 "For the Lord is the great God, the great king above all gods."

more K verses

2010-01-12T11:33:00.003-05:00

here are the rest of Kirstine's verses. (the 12th one was put on the blog a few months ago if you want to scroll down to it)

Proverbs 17:17 "A friend loves at all times."

Proverbs 18:10 "The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run into it but they are safe."

Psalm 1:6 "For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wcked will perish."

Psalm 56:3 "When I am afraid I will trust in you."

Psalm 118:24 "This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it."

Will's verses

2010-01-06T09:51:00.011-05:00

Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Don't be discouraged. The Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

Exodus 20:2-3 "And God spoke all these words. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You should have no other gods before me."

Exodus 20:4 "You shall not make an idol for yourself in the form of anything in the heavens above, the earth beneath, and the waters below."

Exodus 20:8 "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy."

Kirstine's Verses

2010-01-05T22:45:00.002-05:00

Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

Ephesians 6:1 "Children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right."

James 1:17 "Every good and perfect gift is from above."

Matthew 6:24 "No one can serve two masters."

Philippians 2:14 "Do everything without complaining or arguing."

Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding."

2010-01-05T22:43:00.001-05:00

Christmas with the James Family

2009-12-29T11:40:00.007-05:00

When we got home from Camp Christmas Scott's mom, dad, and brother David were at our house. We opened presents from them that night. Uncle David has been in South Korea for the past 2 years so he brought back lots of fun presents from there. Sunday we went to church then had Christmas lunch with all of the above and more aunts and uncles and cousins from Scott's mom's side of the family. Then yesterday the boys (Scott, David, their dad) went to see Avatar, and when they got home Mama Jean, Margaret, and I went to see The Blind Side and then out to dinner.

Family Gift Exchange

2009-12-29T11:31:00.002-05:00

On the 26th the entire family was there, and we had a big gift exchange. The great-grandkids chose names, and the adults had a nice white elephant exchange. By nice I mean nicely newly bought gifts. I came home with a nice necklace and earrings set, and Scot came home with an i-tunes giftcard and chocolate. Later we had a normal big huge Christmas Day feast for lunner/linner/dunch/dinch whatever you want to call it.

Suspension Bridge and Falls

2009-12-28T22:43:00.009-05:00

Christmas Day we went for another hike Christmas Day. We drove to a spot, then hiked down to the suspension bridge, then back up, then down to the falls (Piney Creek Falls i think)

Christmas Morning

2009-12-28T22:29:00.006-05:00

The Night Before Christmas

2009-12-28T22:26:00.003-05:00

On Friday night, Faydra read The Night Before Christmas to the kids. Were they even listening? Who knows...

Our Twins

2009-12-28T22:20:00.005-05:00

Here's Will and Benjamin in matching outfits:

And here are the even cuter twins, Blue and Kirstine:

Decorating the Tree

2009-12-28T22:12:00.005-05:00

We had a Christmas tree, but all it had on it was lights. So we got crafty. Here we are glueing red and white glitter to pinecones we cut out of the trees.

Then we cut out ornaments and painted them. We painted random stuff, and then we painted solid circle ornaments and put everyone in the family's name on them. I unfortunately never took a picture of the finished tree. But it was pretty cool looking if I do say so myself.

Hiking day 1

2009-12-28T22:02:00.004-05:00

We got to Camp Christmas (Fall Creek Falls State Park, Tennessee) around 3:30 on Wednesday afternoon. We unpacked, played games, ate dinner and lots of goodies, and some of us (not me) went out to the firepit to make smores (and we hear that Will ate about 100 marshmallows). Thursday morning after breakfast we went on a hike. This was just a hike through the woods. We followed a trail left by recent visitors made by tying pink ribbon to the trees. It led us to a beautiful river and eventually back to the main road that we hiked back up to get to the lodge.

Pictures with Santa

2009-12-28T21:59:00.002-05:00

What did the kids ask for? Kirstine: Presents. Purple Presents.
Will: a dirt bike. Did they get them? yes.

Christmas Program

2009-12-28T12:01:00.004-05:00

Christmas Poses

2009-12-28T11:38:00.004-05:00

Little Gators at the Science Museum

2009-12-21T14:51:00.004-05:00

Here are a few pictures of the kids at the museum before our horrible loss to Alabama.

Shots

2009-12-10T01:21:00.002-05:00

We were discussing Benjamin's 4-month appointment while we were driving home from school today (his appt is tomorrow). The conversation started with the topic of Ben getting shots tomorrow, morph to Will hates shots, morph to Will wondering when he's going to have to get more...not for a few more years... and so on. Then Will says he hates numbers - those other numbers, meaning 5, 6, 7, 8... because turning those numbers will mean having to get more shots.

Then he asks... "When I die, and God makes the new heaven and the new earth, will there be shots in the new earth?"

Andy Peterson's 'Behold The Lamb of God' Album and Tour

2009-12-07T11:57:00.002-05:00

Christmastime is here, happiness and cheer, etc...

Personally, i love christmas music. the standard secular stuff is great, but i have a particular love for the songs that focus on Christ (even if they don't have a particularly christmas-y melody). a good example would be chris rice's 'welcome to our world'.
By far, the best i've encountered of this type of holiday music is andy peterson's album 'behold the lamb of God: the true tall tale of the coming of Christ'. the songs all tie in to each other and are basically a chronological telling of old testament redemptive history leading up to Christ's incarnation. i highly highly recommend it for one and all. it started as a concert that he and a bunch of friends would put on one night a year at the Ryman in nashville, but as demand grew, they started a small tour with it each december and also went into the studio and made it into an album. the album is ridiculously good, and the concert is even better. Jaime and i have been the past 2 years (once in tampa and last year at the Ryman) and will be going to the b'ham show next week. they've released a 10 year anniversary CD this year as well (remastered and has a second disc of the live show).
so i just wanted to spread the word on the greatness that is this album. check it out if you've never heard of it. check his website (www.andrew-peterson.com) for tour dates to see if there's a show near you (sorry florida people, even though he's a floridian, no shows there this year for some reason). also, if you go to http://andrew-peterson.com/players/btlog/ you can play the entire album.
cheers,
scott

Misc.

2009-12-02T16:19:00.003-05:00

Kirstine asked Scott if she could help him cook last night and when he said yes she ran over and got her stool and pulled it up next to him.

I laid Benjamin down on the chair real quick to go make him a bottle and before I stepped out of the room this is what he looked like: