Whew...We made it

Last week was just crazy. A pretty good crazy, but nonetheless crazy. We had our VBS (Kid's Camp) every night from Sunday-Thursday. We had about 150 kids, so that was awesome! Each night there was a meal provided for families. I think there were about 250 people that ate each night. It was fun seeing families together. Our small group helped on Tuesday night, so the girls and I made brownies. We ate up there two nights. Since I lead worship for the preschool kids, I needed to be up there by 6:00 each night. So Brandon would come in the door five til' 6:00, and I would leave with Maisie and Analise. By the time we got home and the girls got to bed, it was late, and I was tired. They both loved it, and I enjoyed having Maisie during the singing time. It's even more rewarding to hear her now sing the songs at home.
Brandon and Sadie had some good bonding time during the evenings, though I was told she constantly asked him, "Where'd mommy go?"
We kept busy during the days with park visits, we finally went swimming (first time this summer with all three girls) with friends one afternoon. Analise got to swim one afternoon at her cousins, and one night she got to sleep over there. She was trilled!
It was a rough week for me emotionally. I felt like I hit a wall. I won't go into details here, but I am learning how to be a wife (and a supportive one at that) for a husband who is working a lot. I really missed our family dinners at night and hanging out with him in the evening. Thankfully we got to spend a lot of time together this weekend.
Saturday we went down to the lake, ate lunch with one of Brandon's cousins and family and boated. Since the girls woke up from naps while the others were still on the boat, we went out and joined them. It was close to 100 degrees, so we spent time in the water. It was fun! Since Gma and Gpa were out there, we had another driver and extra help. Brandon and I rode the Big Mable with Analise and Maisie. They then floated in the water. Sadie was dipped in the water, and she would sit with me on the tube.
We got home later than I had hoped (typical), showered the girls and had them in bed about 20 minutes when a bad storm hit. The sirens went off, so down to the basement storage room we went. We hung out there 45 minutes or so. We sang lots of Sunday school and chapel songs from my growing up years and some of the new Go Fish songs. It helped us pass the time by worshiping the Lord during the storm. Literally. :)
Sunday was church, and then I got to run a few errands by myself. Ahhh...so nice! After a yummy dinner, (together after 10 days!), we went fishing. More fun there. We caught several fish again. I felt refreshed after a good family weekend.

Busy Times

Here we are, half way finished with summer. I've accomplished a few things on my mental goal list; other areas are slacking. Kudos to being consistent with Analise's responsibility chart. In fact, last week she slacked, and I didn't give reminders (Kevin Leman would be so proud. :)), and she didn't earn any rewards. She was bummed, but she's also been more responsible since!
The girls are still excited to earn a stone for good behavior. We celebrated Friday evening with a really simple activity. We didn't have lots of time, so we went out to a local attraction where you can feed big fish from a neat bridge. I didn't buy the fish food there; I took our own loaf of expired bread. All three girls enjoyed sharing the bread with the fish.
Maisie is more responsible in getting herself dressed all the time. Yeah!
Now things I still need to work on...working with Maisie on holding a pencil and doing some fine motor skills with it. My goal of doing this weekly is slacking...
I still need to teach Analise how to tie her shoes. Here she is 6 years old, and I have to tie her shoes. I purposely bought shoes with laces to motivate me to teach her. I tried passing this task along to dad, but that hasn't worked. :)
So last week was kind of crazy. We had something every morning of the week. Brandon is working a lot and coming home later than normal. Weds. night as soon as he walked in the door, I left for a meeting at church. By the time I got home, he was in bed.
Thursday night was the same thing. Hello and goodbye. I went out to eat with my MIL and two sister in laws. It was a refreshing night hanging out with the girls. We enjoyed dinner, a movie, dreaming of the future and talking until 1 am.
Friday morning was park day with friends. Saturday was lake day. One of these days all three of my girls will like to be on the boat. Analise enjoys it all for the most part. She learned this weekend that she is brave enough to float in the water with her life jacket; she didn't hold on to anything. She was so proud!
Sunday after church we went over to some friends for a cookout, and the kids (11 of them under age 6) played in their new inflatable pool/water slides. They loved every minute of it. I loved being with my friends that feel like family.
Sunday evening kicked off VBS for church. So now I find my thoughts on that a lot. It's good to be with kiddos again, I will admit. But I will miss my evenings with my hubs. However, it's exciting for him to have one on one time with Sadie. I better keep moving...

Random Pictures and Memories

I've been so proud of Maisie lately. She has decided and learned she can get herself dressed all by herself. I hear a "I do it myself" frequently. Lately, she has also been selecting her own clothes to wear. Sometimes it's quite a sight. Frequently, things are on backwards. However, yesterday she came out with this on. It's her own clothes, facing the right direction. I was so proud. Then we went shopping. In the produce section, Maisie pulls up her shirt, and I think, "Boy, that's a lot of pink under her shirt." Then ding ding, I realize she is wearing Analise's undies, and they are on backwards.

To make it even funnier, she kept pulling them up really high. I about lost it at the store; I thought it was hilarious! We had to come home and take a picture.

The other night Analise was helping me make dinner when I asked her if she knew what her sisters were up to. She answered, "Sadie is on my bunk bed." I couldn't believe it! Analise had helped her up and didn't mind her being there. I quickly told Analise I didn't want Sadie up there, took a picture, and got her down. Doesn't she look thrilled to be up there?

Sadie picked out these glasses as her prize from the library. I always chuckle when she wears them.

Monday

I love three day weekend with my hubby home. He's been so busy with work lately, it was nice to have him around more. Monday again was kind of dreary to begin with, so no lake. Instead we slept in. (8:00) Ahhh. Brandon got donuts for breakfast, and we did things around the house. For naps we took the girls over to Gma's to sleep. We picked up Aunt S. and headed to see Toy Story 3. Analise was so excited to go with us. Little did we know that it was going to be packed, and it was sold out before we had our tickets. So we did a little shopping in the meantime. We went back for the next show, and the only seats available were first or second row. We chose 2nd, and it was too close for me.
We enjoyed the show and laughed a lot. However, I am really glad Maisie wasn't there. Thanks to my sis in law, S, she suggested Maisie watch it at home instead of so big and loud at the theatre. There was just enough "dark" side that I am glad Maisie wasn't there. I know I might be overly sensitive to that, but for my girls, this was best.
Right after the movie finished we joined other family at one of our favorite parks. We had a picnic and went for a family bike ride. Analise did a nice job on her bike, and the other two enjoyed the ride by dad. It again was another picture perfect evening.

Sunday

Sunday after church it was actually calm enough for Brandon to let off the parachutes. The girls love chasing them down. Another quiet firework. :)
Sunday afternoon we ALL took a nap. I don't remember the last time that happened. It was so nice.
We didn't go to the lake because the weather there was iffy. I didn't mind. I got to rest and then got some things down around the house. I even had the girls cleaning with me. They love Windex and paper towels.
We went over to the in laws for a yummy dinner. After we stuffed ourselves the women and girls went for a walk; it was beautiful out! We planned on staying later because a big firework display was going to be that night, and they live really close that location. I put the younger two to bed, and relaxed until 9:45 when the show was about to start. This was Analise's first year to stay up and watch real fireworks. Just before I went outside to watch, Maisie woke up crying really hard. I knew she wasn't going back to sleep. So we pulled the recliner in front of the big window, curled up under a blanket and watched the fireworks. She didn't say a word. Five minutes later, Sadie woke up crying. Goodness! So we made room for her on my lap, and the three of us snuggled. However, as soon as she saw those fireworks, she started talking nonstop! She called fireworks, "Yellow, Green." I heard that over and over along with some Ohhhh....Ahhh....Wow. I think this was the best fireworks I've been to. Two cuddly girls on my lap, kicked back in a recliner and NO bugs!
By the time we got them to bed, it was 11:00. Yikes. :)

I love my Girlies!

See what Sadie learned from her big sister?

Girls and Fireworks

We had a good weekend, despite not having the ideal weather. Saturday morning we got together for a birthday brunch with family. Brandon and I had created two birthday madlibs, and they were a hit. It was a delight hearing everyone laugh together.
That evening we went to my BIL's house for fire works. Growing up, I don't remember doing much more than sparklers. Brandon, however, like things a little more manly. :) Analise loves to watch fireworks, but she thinks they are too loud. She has always been that way, and each year I hope she has grown out of that. In fact, when we went to buy fireworks, Analise hopped out of the van to go with dad, "To make sure he doesn't buy anything loud." Silly girl.
Analise enjoyed the snaps that you throw on the ground. Maisie and Sadie got into those, too.
Maisie was right with Brandon for quite awhile, but I think Analise's comments about the sound finally converted Maisie into being a little nervous as well.

They also like smoke balls.

Maisie loved the kind where streamers come out.

The girls watching with Aunt S.

Analise appreciated Uncle D. sharing his mufflers.

Maisie and Grandma did sparklers like last year, and Maisie enjoyed that. Analise tried one. Sadie was doing a sparkler with someone and about sparked my butt! I had a brown singe mark on the back of my jeans. I had no idea that was happening, and I am very thankful they didn't stain. :)

We ended up staying awhile enjoying time with family, watching Brandon have fun with his much more brave, firework enthusiasts nephews, and we didn't get the girls to bed until 10:00.

We love the zoo!

I'll be the first to admit that I love zoos just as much, if not more, than my girls. So when a college friend that lives 5 hours away suggested we meet in the middle at a zoo, I thought it was a great idea. Thankfully, my mom in law took Sadie for the day. I just couldn't get myself to take all three by myself. And though I missed her, there were several times I was thankful she wasn't along.
The older two and I left a little after 8:00. (Thanks to Brandon for getting us donuts!) We pulled in the parking lot before 11:00, and the coolest thing happened. Of all places to park, I pulled in right next to my college friends! I met my friends, A and H, who I haven't seen for five years. They each had their two kids, so it was three moms, three boys, and three girls. The weather was great! We packed in as much as we could, but we still didn't see it all. This zoo is amazing! We had a picnic lunch together, and kept busy until 4:00 when I wanted to head home. It was so nice to be able to visit with friends! The girls and I were on the road at 4:30, stopped 45 minutes later at McD's and kept driving. We got home 7:30ish. Thanks to DVDs for the girls and podcasts for me, the trip went fast. I listened to Focus on the Family broadcasts featuring Kevin Leman and loved it! I encourage all moms to listen.

An air conditioned desert...got to love it!

Maisie trying to pet the penguin

Mother gorilla and my girls

Things I want to remember about this trip:

Maisie's favorite was the penguins, though I think she had the most fun swinging from all the bars that keep people in a line...

Analise loved the tiny jellyfish.

My favorite was the baby gorilla. I would have brought it home if I had the chance.

I am thankful we get to go to another zoo this summer. Maisie really wanted to ride the train; Analise really wanted to see the seals get fed. I told them we could do that another time. It worked.

We saw the giraffes up close in the giraffe house. (Another one of my faves). Analise saw all the little brown pellets below the giraffes. Analise, "Mom, what are all those little brown things?"

Me, "Analise, I bet you can figure it out. I'll give you one guess."
Analise after some serious thought, "Blueberries?" :)

After getting a junky Happy Meal toy, Analise told me she was glad it wasn't another Shrek watch. She said, "I want something girly, not boyly."

Thanks to help from others, the three of us had a great day!

Last Week's Highlights

And no...it's not my hair, though I could use one. :)

Sunday evening we went to to the fishing club again as a family. It was lots of fun! Maisie was finished after catching a couple of fish. She has just as much fun playing in the sand. Analise caught a couple, and then she wanted to play with Maisie. So, Brandon and I fished, just like old times...well sort of. :) Brandon had just pulled in a big large mouth and I was taking his picture, when I looked over to the path and saw someone walking a llama! (Actually, it's an alpaca; but trust me, it looks just like a llama.) Analise, Maisie and I walked over to see Louis. Analise asked me on the way over if it would spit, and I just laughed. However, when Maisie walked right up to Louis, he made the spitting sound. We laughed, and it didn't scare Maisie. What a fun bonus for our night!

Monday, as I tied Analise's shoes for tball, she complained about her bug bite bothering her. I told her I was sorry, but she was going to have to deal with it. After tball, we came home quickly, and she took off her shoes. Poor girl - her ankle was huge! Swollen and red; I knew this wasn't the typical mosquito bite. Wishing I could show grandma, I decided we were going to Walmart anyway, and I would keep an eye on her ankle. The Lord blessed me; we walked into the store and there was Grandma! She told me to take Analise in to the doc, and she took the other two home. Analise and I saw a different doc, but that's okay. He said she probably got bit by a buffalo gnat. (Doesn't that sound like an oxymoron?) They typically swell like that and can last several days. I was to treat it with ice and Zyrtec. Simple enough. At least we know it wasn't serious! Analise and I then went to buy our groceries. I forgot how fast I could get done when I don't have the younger ones! Thank you, Grandma for all your help!

Tuesday was library morning. The girls again picked coupons for free happy meals. Yeah!
Swim lessons (our last one for the summer. Daddy came and watched the last few minutes.) and then Grandma joined us for supper. I made one of my favorite summer meals...Chicken Tomato Basil Tart. Mmm...mmm...good!

Weds. morning was again tball, and then we went out to our friends house who live on a farm. The kids played, while K and I talked. She let me borrow her jog stroller.
Weds. evening I got some things done around the house for the big day tomorrow! More to come...

Fun at the lake

Last Saturday the girls and I got up, packed and headed to the lake. Brandon had gone down the night before to do some night fishing. Our first stop was....donuts. Surprised? Can we ever leave town in the morning and not stop for donuts first? I don't think so! We got to the cabin, I made lunches while grandpa put sunscreen on the girls, and we headed down to meet Brandon and grandpa on the boat. A little later the boys and S joined us. We ate lunch on the boat, and then the kids did a little tubing. Maisie wanted on Big Mable, so we inflated it so she could ride before I took her in for nap time. Maisie, Analise and I (yes me!) rode together. I figured if I was going to get on, getting on with Maisie was the way to go. Maisie loved it last year; this year all I heard the entire ride was "all done!" I made her ride awhile before finally giving Brandon the sign we were finished. Analise and I had fun together despite the broken record with us on the tube.

The girls waiting for the boat to pick us up.

See...I really did get on! :)

Mini Golf Fun

Analise had wanted to go mini golfing for quite some time. She even picked out free golf coupons from the library box. So last week we chose that as our way to celebrate the girls filling up the cup again for "showing God's love." They were all excited to go. We were the only ones on the course; with the temp at 95, I can understand why. Brandon and I chose not to play, and I am glad the girls were free. They had fun, but they played their own way. Analise stuck with it to the end; Maisie was finished about 9 holes in. Sadie was more than willing to take Maisie's ball and club. I helped Sadie with her first hole, and we putted a hole in one!
We got finished quickly, but there was no doubt the girls enjoyed it!

Uncle D. just might recruit Analise after seeing her play out of the water so well. :)

Sadie enjoying the water, too.