What We've Been Doing While We Were Away

So... we have not been good about posting recently, but we've had good reason for that.

We thought for a time that we were soon going to be residents of a different state. 

Luckily, that change has been a bit delayed. 

But, before this news was clarified, we successfully boxed up a good portion of our earthly goods!

In fact, that is what the kiddos and I were up to 24/7 for about a week and a half.

So far, we haven't had to unpack any boxes. 

Also, we are enjoying the extra wrestling space in the living room!

Love, Us.

Patch's Haircut

Patrick has both the straightest and the finest hair.

These two characteristics combined makes his hair start to "flop" whenever it gets a decent length.
Romie's curls are far too cute to cut.
The body and thickness of David's locks give him the perfect "Beatles" look.

Patrick, however, had no redeeming qualities.
He was our mop-head that was brought out to the yard for a cut.

Now he looks much more acceptable.

Love, Us.

Our Boys and Their Hair

I often wonder if I would be able to pick out my three boys as being brothers if I wasn't their mother.

In my opinion, they have very different looks, particularly concerning their hair.

I hope to, at some point, get all three of their little heads together and snap a picture of their hair next to one another.

But, separate pictures will have to be good enough for today.

So... one of these mop-heads was voted "off the island".

Which one do you think was brought out to the backyard for a hair cut? 

Check back next time to find out!

Love, Us.

Camping - Day 2

As I hinted at yesterday, the second day of our camping trip started in not so pleasant of a way.

To put it simply, Romeo decided that screaming was a better option than sleeping from about 2am to 5am.

Yeah... and we were all in a tent together.

No fun.... no fun at all.

But, he FINALLY fell asleep, along with the rest of us.

Then, it was morning.

Although it was a misty morning, we had a great time, which revolved around breaking camp and eating.

The little boys enjoyed the natural toys - pine needles and sticks!

We had a bit of a learning experience concerning the bacon... it got more than a little over-done.

However, the eggs and second round of bacon were good after such a short night.

And all of this, of course, required much more firewood, which was faithfully supplied by the kiddos.

In their "down time", the kids enjoyed raucous runs through the woods, which brought joy to daddy's heart.

Finally, in true Verly style, we gathered up for a group pic after breaking down the site. 

The first (and best) was, unfortunately, zoomed too far in.

 But, I think we got a couple good ones in the end.

Love, Us.

Our First Librandi Family Camping Trip

We had our first ever camping trip last weekend, and it looks like we did it just in time.

It was in the 30's this morning when we woke up. Yikes!

It was, overall, a great event in the Librandi family.

The kiddos learned a lot.

They collected all of our firewood from the surrounding woods - and got covered in soot in the process.

We cooked a good, hot meal.

Yes - we eventually realized that there was actually a very nice and modern bathhouse just next to our camp site.

Therefore, Patrick wasn't soot-boy all night long.

The kids even had their first lesson on how to use a compass in order to gather sticks for s'mores in the dark!

And what camp-out would be complete without daddy telling a scary story.

(Don't worry, mom followed it up by a fun and silly story in the tent before bed in order to keep away nightmares.)

So, as you can see, our first night was great. 

My next post will start at 0145 the next day. 

That is when it got a little dicey...

Love, Us.

Our Tentative Halloween Plan

I don't know if Oma had a greater plan in mind when she included this outfit in P's birthday box.

Either way... I think the kids have decided that we will be doing a military theme this year.

How could we not... check out this hunky First Sergeant!

Love, Us.

The Kids' First Stripe

T and D earned their first stripe in Jiu Jitsu last week! 

Dad and I were very proud.

Love, Us.

Gandolph in a Poat

The rains have stopped here, but the kids were sure to get one more "poat" session in before it all dried up.

T called this her Gandolph pose... for obvious reasons.

She is quite the theatrical kid.

Love, Us.

P's Car Birthday

P enjoyed our first themed birthday party ever a few days ago.

CARS was the focus of the day, and I'd say it was very successful.

It started while we were all still in PJs, and the cars are still rolling all over our house!

It all stated with an interactive "cake".

We even worked a daddy back rub into the day's theme!

Yes - the thrift shop was a gold mine for this birthday's presents!

Oma and Opah's package arrived at noon to continue the celebration!

Yes - there was a LOT of car noises going on in the house throughout the day!

And we had friends over to sing and cut the cake in the evening.

Happy Birthday, P!

Love, Us.

A Break in the Clouds for Climbing the Nets

We spent a bit of time over the weekend at the local track.

The kids took turns getting net-climbing lessons from dad.

They did really well!

Love, Us.

Our Pool/Boat (Our Poat)

So... have you heard about the rain?

Well, ever since dad got home it seems like it has been constantly raining, dripping, or misting here.

As a result, the kids had an idea: to use the pool as a means of staying DRY instead of getting wet.

And... it worked!

Love, Us.

Patch is Excited!

I cannot recall another one of our children being so aware of their birthday at this age. 

Patchy is SO EXCITED! 

It must simply be that fact that he has older siblings, so birthdays have become a regular thing for him.

Whatever the reason, he is telling everyone.  In his words: "My Birthday Coming Up!"

He was so excited the other day while waiting for a store to open that he couldn't hold in the joy. 

Here was the result.

Enjoy!

Love, Us.

An Evening With Our Little Goddaughters

Alex and Vivian are getting so big!

We were blessed to be able to spend an evening snuggling with them and catching up with mom and dad last weekend.

Alex and I.

I even pulled Joe out of his conversation for a moment for this great shot!

T and Vivian.

P invaded my snuggle with Viv!

What beautiful girls!

Love, Us.

In Case I Didn't Mention It...

Dad's Home!

Love, Us.

Last Week's Nature Walk

We ventured through the backyard woods last week for our nature walk. 

It was a little wet (the rain decided to show up in force now that dad is not longer sleeping outdoors!). 

However, we still had some fun discoveries. 

The leaves are starting to change, which is always beautiful in the woods. 

And here are some other "finds" that the kids pointed out.

You can't see it, but there was a large spider web blocking the entrance to the wood. 

We had to duck under it to start our walk.

It is between David and the camera in this pic.

We wondered what made its home in this hollow log. 

It seemed obvious that something did...

The kids thought this tree sap was VERY interesting.

This isn't a "natural" find, but we talked about how it is there to preserve nature. 

The hills next to the stream were covered in these small ropes/nets in order to slow down erosion.

It wasn't the most exciting walk, and it always reminds me that I need to get better 

at identifying things in nature, but we had a good time!

Love, Us.