Our awesome friends Micah and Amy invited us out to their place for a super fun bonfire a few weekends ago. Let me just brag on this amazing family. Sam and I have LOVED getting to know them. We are just so thankful for them and their family. Not only do Sam and I love hanging with them but they happen to have two little boys, Nicolae and Gabriel who are Sammy’s good buddies. He and Nicolae are only a few months apart and it is so great to meet up with Amy at the park and let the boys run wild while we chat it up. Now let me tell you why I think they are extra super cool… they love our Flores kiddos!!! Most reading the blog prob know by now that Sam and I have a 4 kids that we have fallen in love with and have in our home every few weekends. They are great bunch of kids but they have had some rough spots along the way and although they are quite resillient they can be challenging at times. Needless to say, we don’t get many offers to hang out when inviting us includes 5 children that in rowdiness and decibel level seem more like 9 or 10 kids. Micah and Amy have really taken the time to get to know them and they kids ask almost every time they are here if we are going to see Micah and Amy.
Sam was working so he had to miss out but the kids and I piled in the car and headed over to their house and what a fun night we had! Many have asked me how I get them all plus Sammy & his car seat in my little car. The answer is VERY CAREFULLY. To be honest they aren’t able to wear seatbelts and one and half of them always end up on the floor board but we just say a prayer together before we head off to our many destinations and so far so good. Once at Micah & Amy’s the kids played and we roasted hotdogs and made smores. Mark especially had a great time helping Micah throw things in the fire and he had never made smores before! They all got along wonderfully the entire time (no small feat with this bunch!) and we all had a blast and really enjoyed ourselves. The little boys, Sammy, Nicolae, and Gabriel ran around pant-less in an attempt to speed up the potty training and I really think it helped! He has had a complete turn around and has kicked his potty training in high gear since that night but please excuse his nakedness below. We were in the country in my defense, so nobody saw (Mom, I put that just for you).
The car ride home was really sweet. One thing that always surprised me with this bunch is how much they want the baby experiences for themselves. When I first had Sammy and they watched me interact with him they wanted me to rock and sing to them, read them stories in my lap rather than all piled on the couch or bed, tickle their feet and talk in baby voices, even wanted to drink of out bottles and sippy cups! Given that they are so old and so big and there are so many of them, and some of these things would just be weird most of these haven’t been possible. One thing I do indulge them in is listening to Sammy’s baby praise and lullaby cd. They begged for it on the way home and so we cranked it up. They asked me to pray with them some more and we just had a very sweet car ride home. My poor Sammy passed out before we got on the main road so he missed it all but I really enjoyed those sweet moments with them. I try to always remember I never know just how much time I will have with them so I am very thankful when we can have extra special fun memories like this night as opposed to the not so great visits where they are fighting and misbehaving.
Thank you Johnson family for showing us a great evening!
Samantha had fun entertaining Sammy in the baby pool, they sang several silly songs together
My Banana is so big now, check her out! This picture just makes me really see just how LONG she is, and she is getting so skinny, I need to fatten her up!
Krista was a great little mamma that night, she really tried to help a lot with the 3 little guys. I got her reading the babysitter club series for a reason, but shhhh.. don’t tell her that
Here is the gang minus Amy and me
gathering sticks with Micah
They loved picking Mulberries off the tree and eating them, I did NOT love working for several washes on getting the stains out of their clothes, Amy.. maybe try an apple tree next.. just a thought
Its smores time!
Me and my girl
Can’t see it but right at this moment Krista’s marshmellow burst into flames, so funny
The little boys had a blast running around the yard all night but they sure were filthy and sticky so we piled them in the tub. I had envisioned a cute pic of all three smiling with spiky soaped up hair covered in bubbles.. yea, not so much. This was my best attempt when will I learn?
