Back to school

I realize I am TOTALLY behind in my posting right now. Ugh. Hate that. It happens every time I have a big post (like vacation). I tried to break it down & do it little by little. I'm still failing miserably at getting it done! I am DETERMINED to do it though. For now I had to sneak in a post about the start of school. I am sorry to admit I have joined the group of "those mothers" that like when their kids go back to school. I was NEVER in that group. I sound like a snob. I just mean that I am a sap mom. My mom loved us being home, & I have always LOVED my kids being home. I am embarrassed to admit though that I really needed the break from the "little people".
Aaron goes to preschool Mon-Thurs from 12-3:30, & Kirsten is in 1st grade now so she is gone from 8:30-3:30. I am not allowed to homeschool Aaron & Kirsten since they are foster children, but in all honesty I don't feel qualified to teach them because they are behind & have so many learning disabilities. Public school may not be the perfect alternative for them, but it's all I'm allowed to do, & have to pray for the best.


I am still homeschooling Josh this year. He's in 4th grade. I can't believe this is our fifth year of homeschool! I absolutely LOVE it with all my heart. When we go back to his schoolroom & work, I must admit it is one of the few places I feel I am certain Heavenly Father is happy with me. In other areas of my life I feel like I try to do my best, but often miss the mark. Or I just am not sure if what I'm doing is what HE would have me do. But school, ah yes, I know He is smiling down on our little classroom.







Josh's other highlight of the upcoming fall season is FOOTBALL!! He has lived for this moment. He, like all the other Grofts, is all about sports. (This is one of the reasons I INSIST he take piano lessons. Life is NOT all about sports people! He happens to be quite good at the piano too!) Anyway, this is his first year of playing "real football". For the last two years he played flag football which he loved, but this is the real thing baby! And wouldn't you know, much to his father's complete happiness, Josh is one of the two quarterbacks on his team. WOW...I cannot believe it. Josh wasn't even sure he WANTED to be a quarterback. WHAT? It's an honor boy! The quarterback of the football team has to be a leader. I want my son to be a Leader, not a Follower! Well, he LOVES it & is doing a great job. I am really proud of him, & am TOTALLY excited to watch his games. On defense he was a defensive end. What's a game if he doesn't get to tackle someone? Praise God that Josh took after Lonnie in the sports department. Thank you Lord!

Beach day #3 - Our WILD kids!

Monday, July 21: What a fun night! Our kids ran wild all over the beach! This was a first for us: a movie on the beach. OC has a family night where the kiddos could play games, make crafts & then when it gets dark we all nestle down in the sand to watch a movie. Maren & I decided to take our kids so the husbands could have a break.





(Maren...whatever happened to our break? :) All the kids had a great time! My favorite part was playing Tug-of-War w/ the kids. The adults were on one side & the kids on the other. I was the "nice" parent who said we should let the kids pull real hard & then we should let go so they fall like a bunch of dominoes. It was HILARIOUS! The kids were just all over the place playing, jumping, dancing around, & hanging out. Anyway, it was one MORE memory made all the sweeter by the
Milams.































Kirsten & Madalyn.











The sunset, almost time for the movie.
















The "big screen" where we watched Over the Hedge. You know me, I had to bring snacks. This became a disaster with my little people. Aaron & Kirsten had sand all over their popcorn & water. Oohh my, what a WILD night.

Beach day #2 - Fun with friends

Sunday, July 20: You know, not enough can be said about having friends. We've all heard the saying about how you can have many friends, but you're really lucky if you have many best friends in your life. This trek to the beach this year has really been one of my favorites because of our friends, The Milams.

I've been spoiled by having my parents come every year for the last few years. If & when the day comes they are not with us I will be in a bundle of tears. The most treasured of memories are being built with them. The beach vacation will never be the same without my parents.
This year though a new element of fun was had when the Milams vacationed at Ocean City too. Watching all of our children playing together (and so well!) was heart warming to me. Josh truly had the time of his life playing with his friends. The weather was WONDERFUL all week. I couldn't believe it. This was our first day on the beach with the Milams though. The water was rough again this year, but not as bad as last year. Josh spent most of his time running around in the water & doing his thing in the sand.








































Aaron just bops about with anyone and everyone, & Kirsten made a new friend, Madalyn, Maren's niece. They seemed to get along so well & at the end of the vacation they hugged each other goodbye. It was so sweet.































One of my favorite parts of the days on the beach was just listening to Lonnie & Barry count all the children on the beach playing all throughout the day. They would say to each other, "Ok, there's 1, 2, 3....., 4, 5...., 6, uh where's 7? Ok there's 7 & there's 8." This was just funny to listen to. I knew Lonnie was having a good time with Barry, & Maren & I ALWAYS have a good time chatting & laughing.









My husband won some major brownie points this year at the beach. He never stays as long on the beach as Josh & I do, & about midway through he's ready to head back & take a nap. Well, with the two extra little people this year I wondered how things would go. Let me tell you how things went: EVERY day we went to the beach he would offer to take Kirsten & Aaron home with him when he was ready to leave. I was thrilled with his offer. He took them home, gave them showers, a snack & put them to bed for a nap. Some people might think, "What's the big deal in that?" Well, life has been very different for us since adding the little people. Every new situation for them is a new situation for us as well. Changes & adjustments have to be made, & for Lonnie it's sometimes a bigger adjustment than it is for me. I honestly didn't know if Lon would leave the kids with me while he went home & napped or if he would do the "Great Dad & Great Husband" thing. Kudos to you honey. Way to step up to the plate. You're awesome!

So thanks again to the Milams for making this my favorite year ever. The beach will never be the same without your family with us, & the memories with your boys will be some of Josh's favorites I am sure. He was one happy boy!

Beach day #1 - We made it!

Saturday, July 19: We arrived at the beach with not enough people sleeping on the way, but everyone survived. Lonnie & Josh successfully packed the car to it's brim the night before with little aggravation. Lonnie missed his packing buddy, Leah, & even sent her a text message saying, "Leah, I need your help packing the car." The two of them did not get along very well when Leah lived at home. He was amazingly enough, the one who argued with her the least. He usually let her sassing go in one ear & out the other. I still don't know how he did it. Anyway, it finally hit them both at vacation time that they really do miss & love each other. The rest of us knew it. I just don't know if they always did. His text message sent Leah into a bundle of tears. Who would ever have thought your 18 year old getting married & moving over a thousand miles a way would make your family so much closer? I would never have believed it. Anyway, we arrived in OC with little incident & much singing, & then headed to breakfast. My husband loves a breakfast buffet, so off to English's we went. Everyone left with a full belly.

We made our way to the beach till we could get into our condo. The kids LOVED it. This was our first time taking Kirsten & Aaron so we did not know quite what to expect. Aaron's not that thrilled with the pool so we didn't know what he would think of the ocean. He was full of giggles. The waves were not as strong as last year, but the kids still did not wander too far in on this first day. Josh had so much fun just watching the reaction of Kirsten & Aaron. It was really sweet.

Our condo was much nicer than we remembered. This was a new place for us this year, & I had looked at so many I couldn't remember what it looked like. Wooh. What a relief. The best part was the view. I could sit right out on the little porch & see the boats coming in. I picked this place specifically because the view right outside our porch was of the little lighthouse where Lonnie & I stayed for our honeymoon. I LOVED this condo the best of all the places we've stayed.

retail therapy

I know I'm WAY behind in posting :( I promise I'll get to it sooner than later Leah. Thanks for checking in on the family. Things have been yucky since we got back from vacation. Josh was really sick last week & so I spent lots of time hanging out with him on the couch. No one likes to be alone when they're sick. There were two days we never even got in the car. That NEVER happens. It actually was blissful (not him being sick, but being able to stay home & not go ANYWHERE!) Lonnie had to work double shifts all week last week so I had practically no time to myself to blog. Once night finally came I crashed. From Friday to Sunday he went out of town for basketball camp so I was just a busy, single mom all week. Things are FINALLY back to normal. Praise God. I REALLY needed some retail therapy today. I told everyone I was running to the post office, but didn't come back for almost an hour. I snuck into a store after the post office just so I could remember what being alone was like. :) Anyway, when I got home the family thought I was virtually out running. How funny. I keep saying, "I'm going to start running again." Obviously, they thought today was the day. I'm still laughing about it.