Thursday, August 6, 2009

Heeellllloooooo, Internet!

(Insert crickets chirping here)

If anyone is still out there, just thought I'd let you know we have internet again! We are officially back online! It has been a wonderful summer. God has been good to us and we have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of our time off.

We've been spending a lot of time playing outdoors and getting as much exercise as possible. Most mornings Robert gets everyone up and out the door by 7am. We're back to biking the local trails several days a week, having covered over 50 miles this week alone. Finding new paths has become an adventure and we're always asking ourselves, "Can we bike there?" Video needs to be returned to Blockbuster? Its only 6 miles round trip, so we ride. Kids want to get new books at the library? Eleven miles. I know it sounds like a long way, but its really not bad. We try to be out early before the Florida heat sets in. To encourage everyone to stay together and keep up, Robert warns, "The T-Rex picks off the slowest in the pack!" ??? They just shake their head and pedal faster.


This morning we got on one of the trails and headed to an uncharted section for us. A new pedestrian bridge went up over Interstate 4 and the kids have been wanting to see the view over the traffic. Once we got to the top, the kids laughed themselves silly at the truck drivers who blew their horns and the commuters waving to us. At one point, Robert lifted his shirt tail to wipe the sweat from his brow and was greeted with a flurry of car horns. A mortified Kristina urged him to "put his shirt down"! Big mistake. Knowing how much it embarrassed her, he found every opportunity he could to show off his 'abs'. Sometimes he will randomly break into song as we're riding along and the kids will quickly distance themselves.

Robert takes an unusual pleasure in embarrassing the children. We've been playing tennis at our community courts quite a bit. Even though there are seven of us on the court, the ball usually ends up getting past somebody. Robert says its proof we need more kids! We might not be very good at tennis, but we enjoy trying to get that little yellow ball somewhere other than over the fence. But the heat on the courts can be intense and last week Robert shouted out, "I'm burning up! Tom Cruise, use your witchcraft to put the fire out!" The girls rolled their eyes and hid behind their rackets. But the boys are starting to pick up the joy of embarrassing others. Chasing a ball across the court, Nathanael broke into Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer". How and why he knows the lyrics to that song, I have no idea, but invariably it raised the "Mom!" response from the girls. When does this phase pass???

8 comments:

Amy said...

I place my money on "Never." And, with David playing Rockband, R and B sing "Eye of the Tiger"! *Sigh* Good to read what you've been up to!

Cassc said...

glad to hear from you, sounds like a nice summer!

Debora Hoffmann said...

It's good to see you're all doing well, Leslie! I can just see Robert embarrassing the kids. What a riot. :-)

Heidi and Felix said...

Me too! I love to embarrass my 3 oldest daughters (the two youngest don't mind yet). I will dance in the supermarket when an 80's song plays overhead. Heidi and I say, "can you feel it" when we get a rhythm and we start doing the "night at the roxburry" head bob! This usually sends teens scurrying like roaches when lights come on (not that I have roaches, mind you).

BTW...we are still here, your loyal internet friends, awaiting any news from your "groupa" and hanging on every word when we get it! We love the Landrums!

Felix

Pam DeFrees said...

My family is at the beach for the weekend and we are leaving today. Right now everyone is sleeping so I thought I'd catch up on some blogs before school (starting soon) takes over all my time. It's so good to hear how well your family is doing. God is so good to put this family together in His perfect way. I especially enjoyed reading how God supplied your needs while you were asleep. What an awesome reminder of His love and how He cares for every single thing in our lives.
I just wanted to share with you that we are going to be adopting soon too! FINALLY! I've wanted to adopt this boy for 4 years now but my husband wasn't "there" yet. God as been speaking to him about it and preparring his heart and now we will be starting the process soon. We actually can't start yet because our Kostya isn't registered yet. His mom recently lost parental rights and he will be registered "in the nearest time"...which who knows how long that will be. I was told we could get him in 14 months. At first I was crushed hearing the 14 months. Then I became thankful to find out he was even adoptable at all. Also, we are taking in our 16 year old nephew as of tomorrow. This has been something we have been wanting to do for a very long time and now it's God's timing for it to all happen. So, while we wait for Kostya, we get to have Tyler (my nephew)and adjust to this change and give him the love and attention he needs.
I'll let you know when I start an adoption blog. : )

Melissa E. said...

Good times!!

Unknown said...

Great posts this summer! I am amazed at the river, so beautiful! And you were all so brave to float past a gator!

Ashley said...

Love this post! I am cracking up picturing how Robert embarrasses the kids...so funny. :)