Family Weekend at the Lake

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Growing up, most of my memories of the summer are of our family's place at the lake. I spent most weekends and sometimes even weeks at a time there. We would swim, ski, fish, work the lines and jugs with Pap-aw in hopes of catching a lot of catfish so that Mam-aw would fry it up for dinner! And at night we would play games like Sequence, "Chicken Foot" dominoes, Uno and Phase 10. I have so many wonderful memories of that place. Then as all of us grandkids got older, the time that we spent there dwindled and then eventually stopped. Not because we didn't want to go, but just because we got busy. Then recently my grandparents contemplaced selling it just so they didn't have to continue maintaining it and keeping it up. It became more of a job for them just because no one really used it that much. My brother Scott and I decided there was no way we were letting them do that! We wanted the lake place so that we could have the same memories with our kids in the summers ahead that we had growing up. This 4th of July weekend was the first weekend we've spent at the lake as a family in YEARS. It was so much fun! Carson, Avery, Tate and Smith had a blast!! We know that it was just the first weekend of many, many to come. I love that we have a place to get away and relax...whether we even get in the water or not! I look forward to the kids getting older and teaching them to water-ski. I remember learning myself when I was 6 or 7 with these little red dolphin skis tied together on the ends! Until then, we'll just enjoy the "swimming hole"! (When I called it that to Jeff, he said, "What are you guys? The Clampetts?" Ha Ha! Of course, the Californian would say that!)

With my Honey in Hawaii!

Jeff and I were so fortunate to get to go to Hawaii for 9 days! Jeff's parents wanted to take both kids out to CA for a few weeks, so I told Jeff that we had to go on vaca for at least part of that time! It would be too hard to be home for 2 weeks without the kids around:) Luckily I have a husband who loves to travel, so it wasn't too hard to convince him. We stayed at the Sheraton Waikiki and even got upgraded to a suite room. The place was amazing. The pool was awesome and the beach was great too. We had such a fabulous time. We actually spent most of our time either eating great food or drinking cocktails by the pool! That's what I call a vacation! We took a "Hole in the Wall" Hawaiian food tour where they took us around to some of the local food joints. We got to taste original Hawaiian cuisine and eat like the locals eat. Of course, being the "foodies" that we are...that was one of our favorite things. The only real "touristy" thing we did was visit Pearl Harbor one afternoon and it was so worth it. We definitely spent the week relaxing and enjoying each other.

Sleepover with the Cousins

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Here are a few pics of the kiddos getting ready for bed tonight! Smith was so tired from playing all day with Carson, Avery and Tate that he didn't even argue with me about going to sleep in his own bed even though all of the other kids were sleeping in Tate's room. He was obviously worn out...because he argues about everything!! He actually waved night-night to everyone and went happily into his crib. I never heard another sound from him! The big kids all went to sleep rather uneventfully as well. They brushed their teeth, we read a book, said prayers and off to bed they went. Only one time did Tate come out and announce that Carson and Avery weren't going to sleep. Umm Hmmm! I'm sure it was just them:) I went in a little later and they were all out like a light...the flash of my camera didn't even phase them. Oh, to be young again! However, I am afraid with the end of daylight savings time tonight, I'll have kiddos up at 5:00am! We'll see how it goes:)

Trick or Treat

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A Visit to the Storybook Forest

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Our Weekend In San Angelo, TX

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The Langum Family went on its first big road trip this past weekend. We headed to San Angelo, TX to visit our family and to attend our Uncle David and Aunt Gaynell's 25th Anniversary of pastoring Word of Life Church. We had such a fantastic time getting to be there for their special event (not to mention it being Gaynell's birthday too!!)

We headed down to Dallas on Friday evening and had dinner with our friends Jim and Kim Sharp. We decided to only drive 3 hours our first night since it was our first road trip and we didn't want to push our luck with the entire 7 hour trip in one drive! The kids were SO excited to get to stay in a hotel. We stayed at the Westin and they even gave the kids a little kids' pack just for them with a night light, a rubber ducky for the bathtub and a treat! They thought they were so special. It took a little while for them to fall asleep because they were so pumped about their big hotel bed!

Our 4 hour drive from Dallas to San Angelo actually went better than expected. The kids never napped and got a little bored, but they watched movies and looked for cows and really didn't complain too much! We only had to stop once for a potty break.

The time we got to spend with our family in Texas was priceless. It has been almost 3 years since we visited with them...way too long! Tate and Smith warmed up to everyone really quickly. Tate was especially fond of Jason who she started calling her "little buddy". Smith was especially fond of Gaynell, or in his words "Guh-Nell". After she left for church on Sunday morning, he looked at me and said, "Mommy, Guh-nell's so pretty." They also couldn't get over all of the pretty things in David and Gaynell's house. Apparently, our house must be pretty bland!

The kids had the best time when they got to play with Gunner, Seth and Sterling on Monday afternoon. Jason's kids are 9 and 5, so they all played really well together. They played in the fort, on the plasma cars, colored pumpkins and just had a fantastic time. Tate was so sad when we had to leave that she even cried. We decided that we can't wait another 3 years to get together again. We just had way too much fun to put it off that long!

We left San Angelo around 6 o'clock Monday evening. Stopped to eat in Abilene and then put the kiddos in their pajamas for the rest of the ride home. Tate was asleep fairly early and slept the entire rest of the drive home. Smith watched his movie and then was snoozing soon after we turned the DVD player off. We arrived home a little before 1:00am. Needless to say, we were a little tired but the trip was well worth it!!!

There's Just Something About A Little Boy In His Underwear!

Especially when he's wearing a cowboy hat and cowboy boots! Ever since Smith started wearing big boy underwear, he loves to run around the house without clothes on. We rarely, if ever, let him run around the house in just a diaper, but for some reason it's so cute to see him around in just his undies. This day I had actually dressed him, went to do some laundry and came back with him looking like this. He said he wanted to be a cowboy and his clothes weren't "cowboy clothes"! So, apparently in his mind his Thomas the Train underwear qualified as "cowboy clothes" and that's all he had on when I walked into his room! These will definitely be pictures to show his future girlfriends!

Night at the ER

Who would have thought that I would be taking Tate to the ER for breathing problems? Smitty had RSV at 10 weeks and spent a week in the hospital. Ever since, he is our wheezy, respiratory guy. Luckily, it hasn't been nearly as bad as we thought it might be and he has no signs of asthma at this points, so we are very grateful. However, it was Tate that was having breathing issues last night. I had a feeling that she might not be feeling too hot, but didn't at all think we'd end up in the hospital! Jeff and I were fortunate to go to the OU game with Michael and Keysha, so our babysitter, Susi, watched Tate, Smith, Kennedy & Corbin for us while we were gone. When we got home, she told us that Tate hadn't felt too great and that she would cough a lot after she was running around. But I had never heard her cough yet. Then Tate came into our room at about 2:30am. She literally was gasping for air. Each breath was very loud and it seemed as though she would hold her breath between inhaling and exhaling. Jeff and I were quite concerned, so we finally decided to take Tate to the ER. I get more nervous when it comes to breathing issues since our scare with Smith. So, I got dressed, put Tate in the car and headed for Integris. Of course, once we got there she was much better! Isn't that always how it works! The doctor came in and diagnosed her with croup. He said it's very common for kids with croup to seem better once they go outside in the cold air. I guess it helps to shrink their swollen airways. So, some steroids, a breathing treatment and 3 1/2 hours later, we were back in bed at 6:30am!! What's weird is that she never really had the barky, seal-sounding cough of croup before we went to the ER. It was just her breathing issues that sent us to the hospital. Today, she's had more of the cough, but at least she can breathe!

Fun Time with Friends

Today, the Curtis Crew came over to play. Tate and Smith were so excited because it's been awhile since we've had a playdate at our house with Kennedy and Corbin. The kids had tons of fun. It's funny that Tate and Kennedy have played together for over 4 years now and Smith and Corbin have basically known each other their entire lives! We are finally at the point that they can play by themselves and we barely even see them. This has been a work in progress! Keysha and I were used to playing referee, but now we can sit back and relax and enjoy our own little grown-up 'playdate'!! The girls enjoy playing dress up and kitchen and store. The boys play great together too...they're just boys and somewhat out of control. The problem usually comes when the boys want to play with the girls. It depends on the girls' moods as to how well that goes over!! However, these days are lots of fun and enjoyable. My how time flies! I can actually still remember the day I met Keysha when Smith was just born and she was still pregnant with Corbin! I love that we'll have these memories to share with the kids as they grow up together!