On Roadtripping and 90th Birthdays

So, we up and drove to Texas last week for my grandpa's 90th birthday and it actually went really well.  The boys are officially roadtripping masters and we've managed to find the perfect audiobook/toy/real book/snack/break-and-run-around-in-circles ratio for excellent car behavior.....and by excellent I mean that there were no periods of extended screaming nor were there any toys/books/food thrown at the back of my head--you can't have too high of standards when you're in the car for seventeen hours.  Each way.  Apparently, while my children are crazy, strap them down into car seats and they're magically well behaved for hours upon hours.

It was two full days of driving for three days of visiting, but totally worth it.

And since there is pretty much nothing more amazing than watching your ninety year old grandfather play with his great grandsons I took plenty of pictures.  You are welcome.

I tried to get a good one of all the boys with their great grandpa and was only mildly successful.....

This next one is my favorite and the one we ultimately printed and framed for a birthday present solely based on the ridiculousness that is John Michael......

I'm strong to the finich 
Cause I eats me spinach. 
I'm Popeye the Sailor Man.

toot toot
 

I know, I know, mommy's not funny......

In addition to birthday festivities we also took the boys on their first miniature golf excursion.

David clearly needs to work on his form.....or we need to get him signed up for preschool field hockey......

I'm really glad we were able to get out there and be with my grandpa on such a special day but I'm also really, really......really, really.......tired.........

The Third Trimester and One Last Day of Freedom

Chris had to start work today--his orders were written to report in October--so October 31st it was :)

For one last hurrah we decided to drive down to St. Augustine yesterday and have a bit of an adventure.  We found a mostly deserted beach, the best fish tacos in a two hour radius of our house, and a very exciting fort--I'd say it was a Tuesday well spent..........

I know you've all been desperate to see how gigantic I'm getting, so in honor of hitting the third trimester Chris went a little crazy with the camera.....you're welcome :)

So now it's back to work and back to finding a new rhythm to our days.  The children were not pleased to see daddy leave for work this morning....I don't think David was entirely convinced that daddy was really coming back home for dinner after the last ten week absence.  He seemed to be of the opinion that Chris should just stay home forever and never work again.  I have to agree that it would be nice to have daddy home all the time, but then again I also like having those little luxuries that his job provides....you know like a roof over our heads and food on the table :)

It's Fall...

....well as much as it can be here in northern Florida.  The weather has plummeted to a frigid 64 degrees but I'll take it.  I even broke out my boots in celebration :)

Since the weather was right, and we only had three days left until Halloween, we thought it was about time to hit the pumpkin patch.

Chris' prize pumpkin find......

We carved up the pumpkins later in the evening.....and by we I mean Chris and I....not because we don't want to give the kids pumpkin carving tools, but because they both turned their noses up at the idea of touching the pumpkin goo.  Mostly they spent the evening shining a flashlight into the woods looking for the raccoons that have been pillaging our flowerbeds...apparently you can spot them because their eyes shine yellow at night.  They'll regret their decision when we devour all the roasted pumpkin seeds we pulled out from the goo without their help and don't share any with them.....just kidding, we'd never do that......or maybe we would........

Our finished masterpieces....David wanted them to be scary, but not too scary.......

It only took me fifteen tries to take this picture with no flash and no tripod and have it not come out a blurry mess.....the solution involved me balancing the camera on the train table while yelling at the children to stop bumping me or there would be grave consequences....you can go ahead and be impressed (by the excellent parenting and the photography)  :)

Law School Graduation

It's finally happened.  After three long years of *mostly* sitting in a library and reading my husband has officially graduated from law school....and not just graduated but graduated with honors....he stubbornly refuses to boast about himself so I have to do all of the bragging for him!  He graduated magna cum laude along with only four others in his class--I always knew he was a closet smarty pants, he just needed to apply himself to his studies :).  I was tearing up at the ceremony just thinking of how proud I am of him and everything he's accomplished....

.....in fact, everybody's proud of him.....

I wanted to do something really special to celebrate so naturally we threw a party for Chris and the rest of his study group whose presence in a class struck fear into the hearts of the rest of the students.......

I made a whole lot of bunting using this tutorial and strung it up with twine all across our patio.  I was really excited because most of it was *upcycled* from fabric I already had lying around plus some of Chris' old shirts and one hole-y sheet!  I also stitched up a "good luck" banner....that's good luck  as opposed to congratulations because really, although law school is over, they all still have to keep their noses buried in their books until they pass their respective Bar examinations later this summer, and then Chris has an additional ten weeks of Navy law school to go after that......

I also had copies of  Black's Law Dictionary set out as guest books for all the grads' family and friends to sign as a keepsake (we didn't buy them all, almost everyone already had one!).  Our niece Bella who is very excited to be able to write her name, sweetly signed Mr. Leroy's book instead of uncle Chris' in giant four year old print.  I'm sure he will always remember her now and all of her precious jokes :)

We decided to rent tables and chairs since we didn't already happen to have seating for fifty lying around.  Mr. Leroy also splurged and rented a tent for the occasion which turned out to be a very good idea as it was HOT outside and the shade was much appreciated by all!

I also went a little crazy with the flowers....The aforementioned Bella said upon inspecting my handiwork, that she had been to our house before but it had never been fancy like this before......

We also provided entertainment for our guests with free wagon rides courtesy of grandpa Reintjes and a cornhole game that Chris constructed from this tutorial and I apparently neglected to take a picture of....

The very happy graduates.......

I know Chris and I will both miss all of the wonderful friends we've made here and we will be sorry to have to leave them behind but at the same time we are looking forward to all of the adventures that lie ahead......

Belly Shots

As per all of your oh-so-urgent requests, here are the long awaited belly shots.  I'm afraid there isn't too much to show yet!

It didn't take long for everyone to want to get in on the photo shoot........

November in a Nutshell

You may have noticed that I have been neglecting the blog for the past month or so, well I promise I had a very good reason!   This little peanut has been draining me of all of my energy.........

That's right!  Baby number three is on the way and scheduled to arrive July 16th (aka our 7th anniversary!).  That's also the week before Chris takes the NC Bar and two weeks before he heads off to a two month JAG school in Rhode Island......so if anyone is free for a couple of weeks or months to help out at the Reintjes house let me know!  

We've had a very busy November, including an entire Reintjes Family Thanksgiving in the Poconos (headcount: 10 adults and 10 children, most of whom were under six!).  Kate was kind enough to do family photo shoots for everyone and we got a few good pictures.  Really we need an hour to ourselves and no distractions to manage more than two pictures with everyone looking at the camera with a pleasant expression on their faces!

This is my personal favorite--I think it really captures what goes on every time we try to take family portraits which is a giant wrestling match :)  

Even with the new baby and family reunions, we still managed to do some projects around the house.  Chris and I made this growth chart for the kids out of some scrap wood and stain we found in the garage.  I think it came out pretty cute!  The boys love to measure themselves on it!  

I also got to spend a weekend with Kate crafting these cute guys!  The boys have really enjoyed them--especially Henry!  Chris thinks I need to make some more because the pirate seems lonely.....maybe after Christmas.......