"bibs" for older toddlers

My boy Kaden is a drooler. His hypotonia is in his mouth and cheeks and so a lot of drool still comes out of this kiddo. And lets face it, baby bibs just are not hip. He's three, he doesn't want to wear something that says: "I love my mommy" or "Drool Factory"  After googling and looking at Etsy I found some cooler looking bandana bibs - but they were pretty pricy. $20 for  bib? No thank you.  Morgann and I went to a big box store which I typically avoid and got 18 washcloths for $4. And a bunch of bandanas for $1 each.

So I spread out the bandana. Stuck a washcloth in the middle.

 Fold the bandana in half, then fold about 1.5" so that the washcloth is stuck. I will (when I find my needle and thread) sew across the fold so it stays in place in the wash.

Tie on your kid. Voila. Cheap and cute. Kaden had an especially drooly evening after this pic and it worked as well as a bib, but it still soaked through a little, but no different than one of my better bibs. Tonight he was less drooly and he didnt soak through it at all.

get away

The weekend after Labor Day is the best weekend of the year. Every year, we are blessed to attend Phil Waldrep's Pastor's Encouragement Weekend. Its one of the priorities in our marriage and scheduling. A weekend away without the kids, fellowship with friends who we don't get to see nearly enough and just time for me and Rich to relax and reconnect and just talk without interruption.

Phil Waldrep had a vision years ago to start a retreat for New England pastors and their wives- a time to relax, eat a lot, have wonderful speakers and entertainment - all for free - for us crazy people in the ministry. We are so thankful for all the people who support Phil Waldrep so that this weekend is available for us.

This year it was in North Conway, NH. The weather, as it seems to be every year, was perfect. During our free time, Rich and I headed up the Mount Washington Auto Road. It was amazing ontop of Mount Washington. Apparently, there are only about 60 clear days a year on the top, so we felt very blessed for the gorgeous day. It was 83 at the bottom of the moutain and about 54 at the peak! So cool!

Arranging childcare took a bit of finagling, but we got all the kids set and situated and headed out Thursday around 3 p.m. Thank you so much to Shannon, Kristina, Kristopher, Lynn, and Kelly for taking care of our wild crew.

I felt especially blessed by God as Phil Waldrep gave all the wives $125 in gift cards for the adjoining outlets outside our hotel. As I walked around, supposed to just spend the money on me - I realized I didn't need a thing. I ended up buying a little cute clutch which I so don't need, but it was cute and a few other little things. Rich used the rest of the money to buy a few "pastor clothes" items. We are so blessed. Our kids don't need a thing - they have more clothes than I can count. We are really blessed. Did I say that already? Yeh. We are.

Farewell Summer

One last jaunt at Glen Lake after Morgann's first day of school. The water was still quite warm. She was very tired after her first day. She is very happy to be back at school though. The routine is good for us too.

The boys wait for the bus on their first day back to school. They were thrilled to be going back. In our house we can't "Say/Sign" school unless the bus is almost here lest we get two very mad little boys who want to go right away!

Summer came and went all to fast once again. We enjoyed a wonderful family vacation in the Poconos with our nephews and family. I will try to put up a few pictures sometime. I am so behind in pictures: Blueberry picking. Trips to the Lake.  Splashpad. A waterpark day. A 3-day get-away with just the twins, Morgann, and Amber.

Health wise the boys were pretty good. One virus attempted to take them down but they did well. I was re-reading this blog some and it seems I post a lot about illnesses. I am thankful that they are becoming less frequent and that the boy's immune system is becoming stronger. Our chiropractor definitely works very hard keeping us healthy. I think part of the reason I've blogged less is that we have been so on the go (and not stuck at home with sick kiddos!) that I haven't had time to sit down to write but I have missed it a bit.