Braces are off!

A had her braces taken off yesterday and she was so excited. She just completed "phase one" and will wear a wire retainer for one year before going back in full braces. Here she is the night before they were taken off and laughing her sweet laugh.

Here she is this morning!

Our beautiful A!

Roller Skating!

We went roller skating recently ... not exactly D and I ... but we were definitely participating! W and A warmed up and took off on their own. There wasn't a lot of great light for the pictures but the skate strings glowed in the dark. What with the glow in the dark star stickers and the disco ball it was all about the ambience.

Below, MK is trying her feet out at skating. She is an adventurous one. No hanging on the wall for her!

The next picture is the payoff for being in the winning corner during a skate-off. All three of our children manged to be in same corner at the same time and won a glow-in-the-dark bracelet!

It was so much fun! We will have to go back soon!

Back Home!

A came home from camp yesterday and we were so glad to see her. She said she had a great time and some of the highlights were the zip-line (harness and rope, down mountainous hill thing), swimming, lake fun and games with her fellow campers. There was a praise band that led worship each night and she went on and on about that too.

All in all, she had a blast and I am thrilled she did!

The Fourth of July

We had a great time on the Fourth of July and a great start for a three-day weekend. The weather was perfect!

I spent lots of time researching the place to go to see the best fireworks display. There was a 25th anniversary display that was supposed to be unbelievable with the symphony playing. We must have last attended that particular show on about the 22nd anniversary and it was great, symphony and all, but the 25th?, that had to mean a display that would rival the best fireworks displays all over the country. We would have to settle for a corn dog or happy meal in order to secure a good spot at that one and really folks that is where the plan came apart.

In the end, we settled for a great dinner, fireworks closer to home and children in bed before 10 p.m. D even turned on the symphony in the car so we could hear it. It was all good!






That last picture made me smile!

A Cousin Get-Together

Last weekend, we were able to met up with some visiting cousins at our Aunt B's house. There were eight young cousins in and out, eating and watching a movie together. This was the only moment I was able to get all eight (nearly all) in the same frame. We had a great time and wish we all lived closer!

Missing A

A left for children's church camp on Wednesday morning. She was so excited. I mean extremely excited and I was thrilled for her to embark on her four-day, three-night adventure at her first sleep-away camp. We loaded them up, said a group prayer and they were off. All was well... for a little while. They would be driving three hours away and stopping for lunch. After A was on her way, we had some errands to run and headed home.

Rewinding a bit...before we dropped A off, we stopped to pick up a phone card. We were told cell signals were very low and not a good option but they had one pay phone with long lines. I knew she would endure the lines to call so we picked one up.

Back to story... A called about five hours after I last saw her and was upset, in tears, and just wanted me to know how terrible her cabin was. It was apparently dirty on the floor, the mattress was obviously used and the level of nasty there was more than she could take. She said all the girls were complaining... how lovely...(praying for the moms that are there).

I did not feel like we had given A the idea that it was some sort of resort but her expectations were apparently high. She said they would be going to dinner soon and then I knew they had worship and bible study until late that evening before she would be back to the cabin. So...I waited and waited. She did not call that night so I was hopeful.

I woke up feeling a bit anxious about A and her being far away for the first time with no family. I waited for the phone to ring.. and it did.. just not her... ALL DAY LONG. I really did not get a lot accomplished while I waited for her to call. ... and then it happened about 5:30 p.m. ... SHE CALLED! I was so excited she even commented on my excitement. Then I was all questions... how was she? did she sleep well? was she having fun? .... and then I let her talk.

She said she was having a blast. She did say in the middle of the night she was homesick and one of the moms was awake and she asked if she could move to a bunk close to hers (I was getting misty-eyed at that point), and she was having FUN! She did sound tired and I imagine that lack of sleep and exhausting fun was catching up with her. I was so thrilled she called and then said she may call later!

So I waited... and waited... and she did call back late last night. D answered the phone then so he was able to speak with her. She talked to him for a few minutes and then ME. I was thrilled to hear how much fun she was having.

They have a little gift shop there and we made sure she had some money so she could get herself something. I was a bit suprised when she told me all she had gotten for US at the gift shop. She is such a sweet girl and I miss her so much.

Here is a picture of her all ready to go on the journey to Children's Camp!

Vacation Bible School

Early in June, we had VBS at our church and it was a lot of fun. Just like last summer, I led a big group of preschoolers (two being my own). In my humble opinion, this by far is the toughest group to lead. My memory is short, hence two years in a row. For all the extra work those sweet babes need it is always a huge payoff spending the time with them and seeing how much they learn and have fun in our wild week of VBS.

This was A's last year at our church for VBS since she finished 5th grade. She is already looking forward to helping next year though. She always had her hand up during assembly and was usually the one who recited the memory verse for the day. Toward the end of the week, the director asked for someone to pray and A was the only one who volunteered.

On a side note, over the years I have heard many prayers A has given in front of a large group and I am always struck with how brave she is and how the words she speaks comes right from her heart and seemingly so easily. One of the reasons I admire her so much for doing it is because I am not sure I could have done that and do not recall volunteering to voice a group prayer when I was a child. It warms my heart and I just love seeing her stand up for Him without hesitation.

I do not have a picture of A at VBS but here are MK and W having a blast at Cosmic City VBS!