Prayers needed for Kallie

She has broken her arm again in the same spot. Shane's on his way to the children's hospital with her right now. Please pray that they will be able to set it easily & that she won't be in much pain. We leave for vacation on Thursday, so please also pray that they can give her a waterproof cast.

Playing Catch-Up (JUNE)

I have missed SOOOO many posts over the last few months, simply because our lives have gone from BUSY to CRAZY since May. So I thought I'd take a few days this week and play a little catch-up. I'll start with June:

Seth had his 1st grade awards day at the beginning of June. Here he is with his award, "Best Sense of Humor." Who knew?!



Here are my three favorite kiddos with my very favorite guy. This was on Father's Day. They are very blessed because this Daddy's the BEST! And I think this picture's super cute because they all have Sunday-morning-sleepy-eyes. (Oh, and this was also the time that Luke was going through his baby doll phase. Much to his Daddy's relief, we have now graduated to the lego phase.)



I think this one's pretty cute too because of Seth's expression. He just looks so proud of his card! He worked really hard on it.



Seth turned 7 this month! We were going to be at camp on his actual birthday, so we gave him his present early...a new bike. He rode it all aroud the campground all week.



I couldn't bake him a cake for his birthday since we were at camp, so I took a ton of Little Debbie cakes & built one! We surprised him with it & all the students sang to him. He doesn't like being the center of attention, but I could tell he felt pretty special.



Here's the whole family after we sang to Seth. (Luke was enjoying his Cheetos, if you couldn't tell.)



On his actual birthday, we went to Burger King for lunch. They all wore birthday crowns in his honor. :)



The week after camp, Shane took Seth & three of his best friends to Chuck-E-Cheese. Seth thought he was big stuff because I kept Kallie & Luke home with me. It was an all boy party!





After about a week's worth of birthday activities, we could tell that Kallie was feeling a little left out, so Shane suggested that I take her out for a "special day." We try to do this from time to time with each of them, but it had been a while since I'd taken Kallie out. We ended up going to Libby Lu in the mall, where she dressed up as a fairy princess, had her hair, nails & makeup done, and got a backpack full of cute trinkets from the store. She LOVED it!








Stay tuned...MAY is next!

This is what happens when...

...you leave 6 & 7 year old boys unattended.



So Seth & his buddy Ethan are obsessed with really enjoy the game Super Smash Brothers Brawl on the Wii. Today, Ethan was over playing, and they decided to take a Sharpie (!!!!!) and make themselves look like their favorite characters. Seth is Wolf & Ethan is Fox. At first they were going to make masks, but then decided this was a better idea. Unfortunately, Seth's character required much more coloring than Ethan's. Surprisingly, it came off with just a little scrubbing, although I think the fingernails will be black on the edges for a while. Oh, and Seth made that same face in every single picture. It must be a "Wolf" face. BOYS.

Hello there, Mr. Blue Eyes...

After I posted the picture above of Luke, I started playing around with old pictures. Here's a fun little comparison...
(You can click on it to make it bigger.)



People tell me all the time how much they all look alike, but I think they're all so different! From Seth's pointy little nose, to Kallie's cute cleft in her chin, to Luke's big, round eyes...

They are such individuals! I am feeling especially blessed & thankful today. They are such a gift.

Sniffy

***UPDATE***: I am happy to announce that Sniffy Lucy is back with her family! Her owner saw our signs in the neighborhood & called us this afternoon. And the kids didn't even cry when she left. (Oh, and Kallie eventually decided that she'd rather play with the dog & just deal with the hives. She spent the day finding ways to play with Sniffy without actually touching her.)

So late last night (about 11:30) as I was in my car, I came across this little dog on our street. I backed up and watched for a minute to see if anyone was with her. Nope. So I went home to get Shane. We walked back down, and after realizing that she didn't have a collar or tag, we brought her home with us & let her sleep in the laundry room.

She is super small & very expensive-looking. I'm sure her owners are looking for her today. We posted signs in our neighborhood & will just wait for someone to call us.

The kids woke up and were immediately love-struck with "Sniffy", as Kallie named her (since she sniffs everything). We took her for a walk through the neighborhood (she sat on Seth's lap in the double stroller) and asked everyone who was out if they recognized her. No luck. We brought her back to our house & let the kids play for a while.

Well, all of a sudden Sniffy started living up to her name in more ways than one, when we realized Kallie was having an allergic reaction. She broke out in hives and was all itchy and...sniffy. Back to the laundry room poor Sniffy had to go. Kallie went from, "I love Sniffy soooooo much!" to "I don't want that dog here with us ANYMORE" in about 30 minutes.

Sniffy has to go. Hopefully she will be reunited with her owners very soon so that we don't have to take her to a shelter.

A day on the lake...

We really wanted to take the boat out on the 4th, but we knew that would be crazy because of the crowds, so we went today! It turned out to be a very smart move...we had the whole lake to ourselves! We picked up this kid-friendly tube from Walmart to tow behind the boat. They all three LOVED it! Here's Seth & Kallie on its maiden voyage...


Luke couldn't be held off for long...here's Luke & Mommy!


Seth had a blast. He would have tubed all day long. And he loved being in the water. Lake water....eeeeewwwww.


Kallie is a girly-girl and not really the outdoors type. She enjoyed the tubing, but after a few hours she was ready to go home.


This is how Shane muscled Luke in and out of the boat. Luke is a wild man. He was wanting to jump off the sides of the boat while it was stopped and walk around while it was going. He made me nervous.


We tried letting all three kids ride together, but it only lasted about two minutes. Kallie couldn't keep Luke sitting down in the tube.


Cooling off...


And this was the finale...
I don't think I have been on a pair of water skiis in at least 10 years, maybe more. I have to say, it was F*U*N! But I think this mommy is going to be sore tomorrow.

Redneck Fireworks

Fireworks are illegal in our city, so Shane ran up to the store hoping to at least find some sparklers for the kids. Nope. So this was what he came home with.

Step #1: Put dry ice in water bottle


Step #2: Fill with water


Step #3: Cover your ears!!


Step #4: Put the lid back on & throw it over the fence


Step #5: Squeal with delight!!!


He had a little too much fun with it. I keep telling him that knowing how to make dry ice bombs doesn't make you a scientist. Yes folks, he's preaching on Sunday.

Camp Photo Shoot

All camped out???

Almost, but not yet!

Tomorrow's our last full day, and this momma's about wiped out! It's been a while since I've spent every waking moment of every day with all three kids. I mean, even when we're home they're all doing different things in different rooms. It really has made their personalities stand out to me even more this week.

SETH ~

He is our thinker. He has such a grasp on the realities of life at such an early age. Here are a few conversations from the past few days...

In the golf cart...

Kallie: If we hit that squirrel we'll have to take it to the veterinarian.
Seth: You don't take wild animals to the veterinarian.
Kallie: Why?
Seth: They just die.

Later on in our cabin the conversation continued...

Seth: (to Kallie) Life is never perfect. Life is never the same. You have to deal with how it goes. Mom, maybe Kallie will understand that when she's five??

He also spent a while yesterday telling me what a great mom I am. He said that I'm the only mom he'll ever have and he's glad it's me. He gushed like that for most of the day. So sweet. I let him sleep in my bed that night. I know, I'm a sucker.

He is such a good big brother to Luke. He really watches out for him. Here they are in their matching pajamas.



KALLIE~

She is our social butterfly. She met a little girl named Ella here at camp who is her age. Kallie's primary concern each day is what Ella is doing. They are instant best friends. At dinner tonight they declared that since they both have blonde hair and blue eyes, they are sisters.

Kallie is my easy child. She is LOW maintenance. She is happy to go with the flow. Unlike Seth, she really has no grasp on reality, but that's okay. She's happy in her world. In her world you take the "runned over squirrel" to the veterinarian to make him all better. Who wouldn't want to live in a world like that?



LUKE~

He is non-stop energy. Luke goes full speed ahead from the moment he wakes up until the moment he goes to bed. I literally cannot take my eyes off him for 5 seconds, or he would be gone. He runs away as fast as he can and never looks back. He jumps and skips everywhere & plays in every dirt pile he can find.

He is a total maniac in the pool. Several times today he jumped in before I was ready & went straight under. He loved it.

He sleeps as hard as he plays. It has been amazing to me how easily and happily he goes to sleep here. We're all in the same room, and he goes right to sleep in his pack-and-play while the kids are still up and the lights are still on. He gets tired and says, "Want night-night...rock you." It is the sweetest. I think it's especially sweet to rock him because he never stops once during the day. I love being the one he finally stops for.

This was at the late-night dodgeball tournamant after he'd played in the dirt a while. He picked up a piece of grass and posed for the camera.

I've got lots of cute videos to post, but the internet connection here moves about as fast as the cafeteria line, so I think I'll just wait to upload those once we're home.

Happy Birthday Nana!!!

You may be wondering why Nana's birthday message was filmed inside the car. That's because we were on hour 6 of our trying-to-get-to-youth-camp adventure! And let me tell you, there were highs and lows.

A few of the lows...

-Packing for a whole family for a week at camp took HOURS. I found the kids all sitting in their seats in the van (that was still parked in the garage) as I was about halfway finished packing.

-Meltdown #1 occured when Seth realized he'd lost his charger for his PlayStation Portable.

-This required a trip to Walmart.

-While we were at Walmart Luke lost one of his crocs. (Okay, they were $7 Target fakes, but they were new.)

-We all traipsed back through Walmart looking for it, which made everyone even crankier & sweatier.

-Walmart, of course, didn't carry the charger we needed, so we had to go to Fry's. More whining & sweating. Luke went in barefoot.

-Meltdown #2 occured when Seth dropped half of the food off his tray in the camp cafeteria line. Although I think this meltdown had been brewing for several minutes as Seth inventoried the food on his tray that didn't quite meet his standards.

-And finally, meltdown #3 occured when an under-napped Luke realized his new crocs had given him blisters.

And a few of the highs...

-Since the kids were so excited to leave for camp, I decided to drive through McDonald's, get them all kids meals, and then park the van back in the garage while they ate & I finished packing. Don't worry, the van was off. They enjoyed their van/garage picnic.

-As we walked out of Walmart for the second time, sweaty and defeated, Kallie spotted the missing croc underneath the van. Woo-hoo!!!

-We highly enjoyed our first mini-road trip in our NEW VAN! We are sooooo excited to have a van with rear air & power side doors. The kids are no longer roasting in the back seat.

-The camp food was actually really yummy. (I happen to love camp food. Hey, it's a hot meal & I don't have to cook it or wash the dishes afterwards.)

-Seeing Luke & Kallie snuggled up in bed together watching Elmo & eating apples was pretty cute. They were so content.

-I got to rock Luke to sleep on the front porch of our cabin as we listened to the crickets and watched the full moon.

-And right now, I'm watching all three of my kids sleeping at once. It's been a long time since they've been asleep in the same room.

MORE EXCITING CAMP ADVENTURES TO COME!

No cute pictures...just some thoughts from today...

Well, I have decided to follow Melissa's lead and brag on my husband for a minute.

Today was our graduation service at church. Shane always preaches for graduation Sunday, and it is always such a sweet service. Today was no exception. In fact, Shane didn't just preach, he BROUGHT IT. It is such a privilege to be married to man who doesn't care at all what anyone thinks of him compared to what His God thinks of him.

He asked me early on in the week to begin praying for the Lord to show him exactly what he should say. It was so important to him to make sure that they weren't just his words and his thoughts, but that they were God's.

I, personally, know that he'd much rather be hanging out with a bunch of teenagers than preaching to a bunch of adults, but I really don't think you'd ever know it just listening to him preach.

In the fall he will begin his 11th year of youth work at this church. As I sat there today, I was amazed at what an honor it is to be able to actually see the fruit from this season of ministry. The average time for youth pastors to stay in one place right now is around 18 months. The group that graduated today is the fifth group of students that he's had the opportunity to work with from 7th grade all the way through 12th.

That really is amazing. And it's amazing the difference it makes for those students. It's such an investment in their lives. It's the opportunity for the parents to build a relationship with Shane long before their child enters junior high. It's the chance to help build a foundation in these students that will carry them straight into a life that is fully surrendered to Christ.

I really, truly am so proud of him. I'll be sure to post the link to his sermon once it's up on the website. I love you, Shane!

We've got a two-year-old in the house!

You know how you hear parents say things like...I just can't believe he's already two...how time flies!!? Well, I have to be honest and say that I really can't even remember what life was like without Luke. It feels like we've had him around forever! It baffles me that just a little over two years ago our family was Lukeless!

We had a fun little birthday party for him while my parents were here. Well, it was little if you count 14 kids as little! Luke decided to be shy for the first time in his life. He even crawled up in my friend Amanda's lap about halfway through the party and wouldn't get down.

We covered the tables with white craft paper & gave them markers, crayons, stickers & modeling clay. This is Luke & his buddy Noah.




Luke LOVES Elmo!! (or mo-mo, as he calls him) This was a bunch of cupcakes stuck together...isn't it cute? Messy, but cute.


He even blew out his candles in Amanda's lap.


This is Kallie's friend Connor. First, he colored all over his face with a red marker. Then he smashed the red cupcake all over his face & up his nose. Can you say Luke-in-two-years?!


He got out of Amanda's lap to open presents...


This picture makes me laugh. Luke looks like he's asking so politely.












He wouldn't eat a cupcake when everone else ate one. But after the party was over he wanted one. And he enjoyed it!


My parents gave him a rocking horse...


Luke is so full of life. You never forget that he's around. Here are some things about him at this age that I want to remember.

-He has just started watching tv. His favorite thing to watch is Elmo.
-He LOVES the Sesame Street songs, especially the one that goes, "Sing, sing a song. Sing out loud, sing out strong..." He makes me sing it to him at night while I'm rocking him. If I start to sing something else he puts his finger on my mouth and says, "NO! Sing song!"
-He plays with Kallie all day long. They love to pretend together. It's not unusual for him to have a baby in one arm, a purse on the other arm, and say, "Bye-bye Mommy!" and head for the front door.
-Oh, and he can open doors now. We often find him in the backyard by himself.
-Daddy is not thrilled with his newfound fascination for baby dolls. He loves them. He almost always is carrying around one of Kallie's babies or her giant Dora doll.
-He loves Dora too. He calls her "Woo-wah". It is quite the battle to get him to leave the giant Dora doll in the car when we're going somewhere.
-He loves to greet us with "Hi Daddy! Hi Momma!" and sometimes screams for me in the morning from his bed, "Mommy, ah-you??" (Mommy, where are you?)
-If he doesn't like or gets bored with his food, he plays with it. He smashes, crunches, smooshes, throws, and smears (usually in his hair).
-He is a climber. I find him on top of all of our furniture.
-He is VERY tough. Bloody knees...who cares!
-He has a strong will. Often his will is stronger than mine. Not good.
-He LOVES to be rocked at night. He says "rock you" to me as I'm getting him ready for bed.
-He loves to play outside.
-He tells us that he loves us spontaneously. "Mommy, i-yooooooo".
-He has a little boy haircut (as opposed to a big boy, layered haircut) and I love it.
-He sleeps soooooo good.
-He really is pure joy!