Swimming, snakes and broken hearts

What an AMAZING day, we swam, spent time with family, ate good food, celebrated Brian and Jen and the wedding tomorrow, such fun......until the "snake incident".....

My Josh has such an explorers' heart and loves to poke around in the wilderness looking for creatures and what not. Usually this goes well. Except when a creature decides to surprise him. This was what occurred tonight. Of all nights. At my sisters rehearsal dinner. Yep. Here is what went down:

So the cousins were outside on the patio of the restaurant combing the sands for all things that slither when Josh happens upon a real, live, slithering - towards - him, snake. Now mind you, his mother (who happens to be me) is easily spooked by creepy crawlies and has a tendency to react somewhat negatively (by screaming and hopping up and down) until said creature has abandon all efforts to remove me for my own skin and goes away. Thusly, my dear boy does what any "normal" person (me)  would do, he grabs a rock, tosses it at the snake to scare it and promptly proceeds to kill it....by accident. It's instinct! Right! Right? And when he realizes what has happened, he becomes very emotional, swears off all interactions with anything living and slinks off into a corner where no one else has to be with him. Did I mention we are at my sisters' rehearsal dinner? Anyway, we try to have a discussion about life, death, consequences to our actions and how sometimes bad things happen when we don't think before we act, which would all be very appropriate, but NOT in the middle of rehearsal dinners! Ah, geez.....

The night ended well after the drama, but our little crew just cannot manage to keep things under control or calm, ever! Stupid snake.....

Brian

Summer lovin'

Ok, so my hubs has been driving me crazy. It seems that he NEEDS to be mentioned ("what'd you say about me?....why haven't you mentioned me?....why is it all about the kids?) on here so here ya go, baby:

I married Brian Thomas Caffee on October 18th, 1997 in New London, Connecticut. We knew each other for four months when we married. Yep, four months! He had gotten orders to Korea and we decided that if we didn't want to break up (we didn't) that he had better "put a ring on it". And did he ever!!! Now, looking back, I would not recommend this method of courtship to young people, as it typically does not end well, but hey, it has worked for us so far. I would love to say it's been smooth sailing all the way, but it hasn't. We were YOUNG, 22 and 23, respectively, and it was not an easy first year....he was in Korea and I was left behind in CT for six months until I received orders to follow him. When I got there, he was my boss and we worked directly together which wasn't a problem for us (we make a pretty good team) but didn't exactly work for the military. Anyhoo, a mere two months later I was unexpectedly prego with Josh. Yeah, 'nuf said. Not an easy first year.....

Ok, ok, back to my man....thirteen years later we are going steady and very much best friends. He just celebrated his 18th year in the Army and recently pinned on 1SGT! Please, please, nobody say it, I am well aware that I'm "sleeping with the 1SGT". UGH! If I had a nickel! And we have traveled and moved and made friends and lost friends and we will continue this journey until God stops the train!

He doesn't know the meaning of "can't". He does everything the right way, well, not EVERYTHING, but you get the idea. He has goals and he grows and he strives to be better, he has amazing faith in God and seeks His will in our lives. He raises our children with a loving, strong hand and they will be amazing for it. He is honest, strong, stubborn, determined, funny, driven, annoying (yeah, I said it, what???), LOUD, tall, half-Korean, brave, bad-ass, and he is my love. MY love. My LOVE! I know that sometimes he thinks that he got the best end of this deal, but really, I did.

Love you, B, is that good????

On the road...

My monkies! Soooo adorable! UGH!

We are currently in Arkansas on our way to my baby sisters' wedding and I am listening to my littlies chatter in the back of the van. I LOVE listening when they don't know that I am because their conversations are just so random! For example:

Lu: "Jason, do you think camels are smart? I think they are. Even the dumb ones are smart. Do you believe in unicorns?"

I can't even tell you how hilariously random that was! Which brings me to my epiphany for today; my children are real people, with real thoughts that have absolutely nothing to do with me! How/when/why did I miss this?? I mean, I KNOW they are real, but somehow they have always kind of been an extension of me and me of them! And here they are discussing camels and unicorns in the same breath! And I have NOTHING, NOTHING to do with that! Love it!

So that got me thinking about what each of them is like, their strengths, weaknesses, what kind of people they are. And so it goes....

Joshua Thomas ~ so sensitive and like me, has a heart for the underdog. This kid is sharp, too. I know that he will always land on his feet. He may have to do things his own way, but when he is on a mission, he is unstoppable. Often, this is what is most frustrating to me, but I relish in the fact that my boy can get it done! Well, when he wants to....

Jason Paul ~ my imaginative, in his "own world", story telling little guy! He may have to be told 150 times what you just said, but if there is a creative way to do it, he's your man! And he is an amazing athlete, he may be tiny in stature, but his heart and spirit can take on the biggest and baddest! He has a natural talent for attracting others with his big, toothy grin and I love the way other kids (and adults) just seem to flock to his easy going ways!

Lauren Ruth ~ she is a silly, comical, inquisitive, blue - eyed beauty with a knack for knowing just the WRONG thing to say! She keeps us giggling! She has a mischievous streak that I adore, too! She loves animals, her friends and has an endless curiosity about the world. This child "enters" a room and does it with style! She is strong, brave and possesses a natural confidence in herself. She is definitely the "little sister" of two big brothers ~ she is tough!

Katelyn Rose Ga-rin ~ I am still getting to know her, as she became a part of our family through adoption, but I can say for certainty that her motto is "I can and I WILL!". I am amazed daily at her will, she is sooo stubborn, but I know without doubt that this is the very characteristic that kept her alive in her first months. She is a fighter. She is strong. She is a FORCE! Born at 28 weeks, 2 lbs 6 oz, at home, suddenly, she had the odds stacked against her. But here she is, my gosh, HERE SHE IS! She is a daily reminder to me that God exists because He led us to her and made our family complete!

I have to say that these are but small ramblings about each of my kiddos, I could go on and would love to do so, but we have more driving in the am. Ah, I loooove traveling!

Starting up.....

I have been thinking about blogging for a long time, but I always thought that I'd need to be clever and witty...entertaining. What I have come to realize is this: the people that will actually read my musings are those that already know me and they DON'T CARE if I am charming all the time! Yeah, how freeing! And so I begin this with a sense of purpose. The idea that this will open a window into our lives and give those around us a small idea of what our home of controlled chaos looks like. And because my kids are really, really funny! And I want to share my life and remember these days with YOU! Let's go!