Galatic Blast

We just completed round 1 of VBS 2010. The kids are always invited to join in with the Lea's Chapel UMC crew for VBS. This was their 3rd year with the Lea's Chapel crew. There is always a conversation that takes place before we go as to why they are going. "Isn't 1 VBS enough for one summer?" Peter asks. Then by night 2 Emma is in tears at the thought of the next night being the end and the last time she will see her new friends!

How can three children not enjoy fun, food, friends and water balloons!

Meatboy

I have neglected to fill you all in on our latest and greatest nicknames for Nathan!
That's right: "Meatboy" is #1 on the list. He comes by that name wisely as he is the third of 4 to measure in with a double wide foot.

"Fat and Happy"

There are hardly two adjectives to better describe this fellow!

A sweet reward

I've been thinking for a while now that the kids toy baskets needed to be weeded. I usually do this when I know the kids are going to be away from the house for a few hours. So far I've been pretty lucky and haven't gotten rid of the wrong toy, if you know what I mean. Recently, I read an idea in which the kids are challenged to clean their toy baskets themselves. The reward is a hierarchy of prizes. Wednesday morning, I found myself without Ryan so I spontaneously laid out my challenge to Peter and Emma. I explained that it was time for a toy clean out and I felt they are old enough to participate. Their challenge was this: if they each found 4 toys they could part with I would take them out for icees. If they each found 7 toys, I would take them out to lunch at McDonalds. I was blown away by what they were willing to part with. At last count they each had about 14-16 toys (big and small) waiting for my approval.
After a bit of thought, I decided that a lunch from McDonalds was in order as well as a banana split dessert.
It was definitely a success for everyone! The kids loved the banana splits. As I said before, I'm a mean mom so we definitely don't serve ice cream around here1
Nathan had his own form of fun while we were indulging at the table.

The cake

I am one of those strict mommies who doesn't feed her children ice cream, cake, cookies, Dr. Pepper or Sweet Tea. It's just not what I do. However, for their first birthday, they get their cake.



The birthday party was deemed a success. Nathan had more cake on him and around him than in him!

Birthday visitors

We had Philip's mom, dad and nephew in town for the weekend. They came on up to help us celebrate Nathan's birthday. I should also add that they brought their dog, Lilly.

On a mountain...

That is where my husband is and where he will remain until Friday. Philip has gone to the mountain to pray, meditate and find direction. I do honestly believe that he needs to go to the mountain top; he does need this time away; he does need to find his vision for our next chapter in his life and subsequently my life. It would be nice if his mountain didn't have to be so far away!
In the meantime, my kids will probably be playing in a few mud puddles! We did spend about 10 minutes at the pool hoping the thunderstorm would pass before we gave up and came home. Things just aren't the same when Daddy is on the mountain! We can and will survive but we definitely miss him.

Tea time

What do two 6 year old girls do at 8:45 in the morning?

Especially, when their older brothers are at camp?

Thankfully they didn't mind a younger brother joining in on the fun.

We will be serving afternoon tea at 3pm. I have put them in charge of washing their own dishes or they would have been drinking tea all day.

Happy Birthday Nathan

I truly can't believe that Nathan is now 1. His birthday came and went in a bit of blur. It came in the midst of a mild virus, Philip's commissioning service and just trying to keep up with life. He did get his first piece of cake and enjoyed it thoroughly. I hope to have an actual cake with candles this weekend.

Rock Star

Most everyone who reads this knows that my husband isn't afraid to do things that are silly. We've been practicing for about a month now for this debut of the "Peanut butter and jelly" song. As a church, we are collecting Peanut butter for our local food pantry for the next few weeks. Philip came up with the idea of teaching the kids a song so they could help their parents remember to buy peanut butter. Ryan was determined to bring the guitar to go play during the song!

When worship began, guess who was "on stage" with the band.
He continued to tell everyone that he was a "rock star" for the rest of the day. I think he'll be a sad little guy when the guitar doesn't come to church next week. The video was cut short because Ryan moved to center stage and then was quickly removed!

The pool

We finally made our first trip to the pool today. Thankfully for Philip and I, it was much warmer than we expected. Even Nathan enjoyed his first dip in the pool.

memories

I remember taking a walk with Philip after we had been married a short while and out of school for a year or so. We were talking about relationships - friendships really. I was frustrated because I didn't seem to be making friends in Wilmington. My life seemed a bit lonely. I remember walking and talking with Philip as he reminded me of the gift I had been given during college of amazing girlfriends. We talked about who we thought we'd still be friends with 10 years from then. The friends I pictured in my head are these amazing friends that I had the privileged of spending the Memorial Day weekend with. I remember Philip encouraging me to be intentional with those college friends that I thought I'd want to know for the rest of my life. I'm so thankful for his advice and for my "appgirl" friends. We've traveled; we've married; we've been pregnant; we've had babies; we've been back to school; we've struggled; we've had highs and lows; we've kept in touch and loved each other through our yahoo group email and through reunions. We can spend from Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon together with no tv and no radio and just talk! It's wonderful and truly a blessing.