All Ready for School!!!!!!!!!

Aren't they precious?!

And, don't you just feel the love....that little girl in the middle was undeniably excited to finally go to school with her big brothers!!!!!

Yup ~ let's look at that picture again..........isn't it PRECIOUS?!

A Summer Craft Day

Knowing today would be a dreary day, I ran into AC Moore last night with the kids (before our jaunt to Dutch Wonderland) and gave them each a 40% coupon to purchase a craft that they would like to do today....there was a stipulation with it, however: Our neighbor requested some help in weeding his backyard, so with good attitudes and servant hearts, they would go over there this morning, and when they returned they would receive their craft kits as my reward for them. Well, this was fun ~ a little messy, but fun! Perfect also for the dreary and humid day we had!

Kacy with her very colorful bouncy balls ~ what a fun craft this was as we poured colored crystal things into plastic molds, held them in water and "wa-la" ~ made our very own bouncy balls!

After the boys created their cars and went to race them on the wooden floor, Kacy grabbed up their paints and went to town!

These bouncy balls were like babies to Kacy...a little ridiculous, I know! She was holding them like babies and even giving them kisses! :-) It was quite the chore for her also to keep them away from little brother, Trey, but she finally gave in, and they are right now bouncing them all over the living room!

Cade and his painted wooden race car!

Sam and his painted monster truck!

Keeping Up!

Wow....what an accomplishment! I have actually been keeping up with this blog thing almost a whole week! I must admit that it probably is b/c of the lazy summer days that I am loving!!!! Last week and this week have been almost schedule-free on our calendar, and what a relief that has been for such a busy life that we had been living! I'm truly hoping that it will stay at this "relief" status for quite some time as we are already noticing the nice change without football coaching in the mix!!!

Anyway ~ last night was one of the most relaxing and fun nights as a family that we have had a in a long time! We are so blessed to go to Dutch Wonderland every year , and it has become a highlight of our summers! I really think that it is our favorite amusement park at this stage of our life! We love it b/c it is perfect for all our kids' ages, and there seems to be no stress with long waits, big crowds, teenagers everywhere, etc. We did the preview thing last night and plan on going tomorrow for the day. The picture below shows Mike in his relaxed mode......

The kids played forever, it seemed, in the waterpark, which was a HUGE HIT for Trey as you can see!!!! He played his sweet little heart out which made for a great sleeping night and late sleeping morning for him (he didn' even crawl into Cade's bed at all)!!! WOW!

For the last hour, we went to some of the favorite rides in the park. While I was feeding Lily and waiting for C, S, and K on their favorite rollercoasters, Mike took Trey to some of his type of rides. Apparently, the panda bear ride was too much for Trey, and as he was FLIPPING OUT on the ride, the worker asked Mike if he should stop it. Mike said, "Nah......it will make for a good picture!" :-)

He suddenly seemed excited to get on the mini-whip with Kacy, but when the ride started, his face went blue, and he was desperately trying to unlock the moving car, we knew we had to stop the ride for a rescue attempt. The poor boy was then done for the night ~ any ride we attempted to put him on he would scream, "SCAAAAAAAAAAAAARED!"

Luckily, we ended on a good note! We had to finish our evening at the park going on the little train as a family. Yupper, Trey screamed for the first 2 minutes as I restrained him on my lap ~ yeah, REAL FUN! After much coaxing and sweet talk from his momma and siblings all around him, he became distracted by the train whistle and finally settled down! He ended up loving it, so tomorrow better be good for him! :-)

It truly was a joyful night! Oh, and Lily Kay ~ trooper as usual!

(My most favorite thing about her ~ she LOVES her front pack and I will be the saddest mommy when she's too big to be in here and fall asleep on me this way!)

Just another normal day.....

• Woke up at 6:00 AM with my husband and did the P90X workout with him ~ LOTS of push-ups and pull-ups...I'm starting to feel the pain this evening! A friend gave the DVD set to Mike to try, and he's become very dedicated! We've been doing the abs workout every other evening (Cade has joined in as well), but now, curious me is getting up with him in the morning to do the workout as a team! Brings back memories of BK (before kids) when we enjoyed going to the gym together and jogging together! I'm excited to get up with him tomorrow morning too......I truly believe that it's important to find something you like to do together, and with 5 kids, a busy schedule, working out in the early AM together may be our only solution at this point!
• Taught a few piano lessons today before going to a friend's home for a MOPS backyard playdate! Had a good time hanging out with the moms for a while ~ brought a friend home for Cade to play with and enjoyed watching them play together!
• Kacy was a FISH today, swimming in the pool by 10:00 this morning! She was in and out of the pool all day, and when she wasn't in there, she was sitting on the patio telling everyone to not "block her suntan," while she sat and chatted and sang to her sweet little self!
• Mike repainted and hung the window boxes from my parents that my Grandpa made for them (THANK YOU MOM AND DAD)! They look soooooooo cute on the shed and already have flowers in them! We love them! The boys also shoveled up some stones and did some powerwashing with Mike today....it's been so nice having him home more this summer! I will miss him a lot when the school year starts and reality sets in again!
• After dinner, I wanted to get out and jog (which is something I have truly enjoyed doing again)! I LOVE taking in the beautiful weather and doing this one thing by myself......however, tonight, athletic Cade wanted to come along, so we gave it a whirl! The kid rocked!!!! It was soooooooo fun jogging with him and chatting about life the whole 2 miles! (Please take note that I am a slow jogger!)
• When we got home, Daddy and the kids were already at a local playground ~ we walked there to meet them and found Kacy on her bicycle without the training wheels getting a training session from Daddy! Well, tonight was not the night ~ she's SCARED TO DEATH of us letting go, but we are determined that she will learn before the summer is over! You'd better say a prayer for Kacy AND her mommy and daddy! :-)
• While tucking Trey in to his new bed, I asked him if he wanted to go back to his crib or "stay here," and he answered loudly and with the biggest smile ever, "BIG BOY BED!" So far, so good (although Cade has a new sleeping buddy some nights)!

Just a normal day in our home ~ What will tomorrow bring?

I Love Sundays!

Sundays are a favorite day for me! I love the routine of waking up, getting ready for church, spending time worshipping the Lord together with the greatest of friends, and coming home to relax as a family! Today was a little different though with sick little Lily! I ended up staying home with her and as she slept, I had the most beautiful Sunday morning on my front porch swing just soaking up the day! Me and God, Beth Moore and Esther, fresh rain that just fell, green grass, bright pink flowers, and silence! Oh, did I cherish that time I had to just "be still!"

"To live for the greatness of God is to live a great life....Ever on eof us who embraces the glory of God as our purpose will end up doing greath things precisely b/c we do God things. His holy hand resting on the least act renders the ordinary extraordinary. Spooning soup into the mouth of the weak or manning the nursery so a tired mom can go to church are acts of hgh worship when offered in the name of Christ...Christ summons the disillusioned to the paradoxical bliss of spilling life lavishly, sacrificially for the glory of God and the good of man. Those with presence of mind and semblance of health are called to pour out the drink offering of their lives until the cup is overturned and every drop of energy slips ~ perhaps unnoticed, uncelebrated ~ into the vast ocean of earthly need. The last imperceptible dropo f your well-lived life will sound to the hosts of heaven like a tidal wave hitting the floor of the Grand Canyon. In effect, Christ says, "I'm already great enough for both of us," relieving the willing of their woeful burden. 'Just follow me'."

WOWWWWWWWW! Wasn't that so beautifully written???? To tell us that we do not have to be perfect ~ get rid of the perfectionist in us! Stop trying so hard to be great, and JUST BE who He wants us to be! To live for the greatness of God is to live the GREAT LIFE!

I'm so unbelievably thankful for this beautiful Sunday morning!

Saturday...

The neighbors are out of town (both sides of our house). The neighborhood is extremely quiet! We enjoyed a day of hanging out as a family! The morning began with Mike and the kids at the Upward Evaluations ~ the boys went through some football drills to figure out the best team for them in the fall, while Kacy was sized for her cheerleading uniform ~ you heard me ~ that girl is so excited to be a cheerleader! Oh, help me, now! We certainly do not need her to be any more girly-girl, that's for sure, but her heart is set on being in a cheerleading skort and learning cheers with her girlfriends!! (She's also already asking me when she can go back to ballet!) Anyway, can you believe that a very generous man gave a $250 donation to the Upward program this morning??????? And, there are already 70+kids signed up, and we still have a month to go before it begins! GOD LOVES FOOTBALL ~ isn't that cool?! :-) We are so excited to see what God will do with this program this year in reaching boys, girls, moms and dads for Christ! I can't wait!!!! (Be sure to visit www.upward.org for more information.)

While they were in the hot sun, Kacy and I took sweet Lily Kay to Hershey to see the doctor, and sure enough, she has her first ear infection and pink eye. I am so glad that I took her, b/c she was just bound to get worse over the weekend, so now we can get the antibiotic in her and watch her get better very quickly!

While sitting and reading a Karen Kingsbury book this afternoon, I decided to invite some friends over for a cookout ~ our lives are so busy it seems that when there is a day to just chill, it is way too tempting to keep it that way! But the calendar goes by so quickly, and we need to take advantage of being hospitable and sharing with others!

It ended up being a very fun evening ~ the kids played with friends while the parents sat and chatted! We even walked to Rita's for dessert (a little crazy, yes, with many kids on that walk), but the kids were soooooooo excited! I, on the other hand, am so disappointed in myself ~ rather than share a gelati with my husband, I got my own ice cream cone that I didn't need and felt sick most of the night! What a waste of money and calories!!!! :-) Remind me to read this post the next time I consider getting my own rich, heavy ice cream cone!!! :-)

It was a fun Saturday, and MIKE, I LOVE the yard work that was done today! Ahhhhhh ~ our front yard and back yard are absolutely gorgeous! THANK YOU, honey, for all the work you do!

P.S. I should take a picture of my dryerase board in my kitchen ~ it says, "Keep your dirty paws off the clean kitchen cabinets!" I scrubbed them while Mike and the kids were bowling the other day, then Lily and I went to the grocery store...I knew they were getting back from bowling first, so the warning was placed!!! I swear I could identify every dirty handprint! I love cleanliness! I also love lived-in-ness (I know it's not a word), but that's what our home is ~ lived in!

Today.....

Just got back from an evening jog and feeling good!

I was just holding sweet Lily who's not feeling well today ~ say a prayer for her ~ she's simply miserable with a terrible summer cold, and she looks so pathetic...it's so sad...her eyes and nose are a continuous watery mess, and she can barely breathe through her nose. Anyway, while I was holding her, I called out Trey's name to get away from the swimming pool, and I startled the sweet girl! She had just settled down in my arms, then heard me yell, and shook with fear ~ I just told her that there will be many years of her hearing me scream that boy's name, so she'd better get used to it! :-)

Oh, and before she got sick, she was rolling over ALL DAY LONG! I guess once she got this new talent of hers down pat, she was pretty darn proud of herself, and would do it 25 times a day! The only problem was that she still cannot roll back over, so after about 5 minutes on her belly looking up and waiting for someone to come and roll her back, she lets out her cries until someone comes to her rescue, only to do the whole process over again! :-)

Now, speaking of that wild child, what in the world were we thinking by putting him in a bed???????????? Three times through the night, he was disciplined for getting out of his bed, and apparently, he ended up sleeping with Cade (lucky boy)! Then, bright and early ~ 6:30 AM, a 2 year old "all-boy" was standing in my bed swinging a foam sword at my head with sound effects and all!

The fear of God was put into him tonight, and fell asleep instantly without getting out of his bed! Will it last through the night?????? Lord, help us! :-)

update****Trey has been doing GREAT in his big boy bed! He stays for each nap time ~ as he's walking up the stairs, he says to me, "Stay!" Yepper, boy, you'd better STAY! :-) However, I'm afraid the habit has begun ~ 3 nights in a row now, the sweet boy has climbed in bed with his big brother, Cade! So far, Cade is loving it, but I'm worried that will wear off really soon! We shall see!