Slip n Slide

Brynna isn't really into cartoons yet, but she does enjoy watching the Berenstein Bears with Braylee. They looked so cute sitting together on the couch yesterday morning. I had forgotten how much I liked the Olympics...or perhaps I'm just appreciating it more as I get older. I've always enjoyed watching the gymnastics, especially since I started tumbling at the age of 4. But I don't remember being this captivated by ALL of the events. Alex and I have stayed up until midnight watching...and DVR-ing it too so I can watch it again the next day if I want! :) Last night, I felt sick to my stomach for Katie Hoff...only to about jump out of my skin when the mens 4x100 relay team won awhile later! So exciting! I love to hear the background stories on the athletes. And, my little girls are loving the games too...although I'd have to say they are mostly interested in gymnastics. Braylee doesn't grasp the complexity of the athletes' skills. While she was in awe of watching the synchronized divers, she also said, "I can jump off the diving board too." -like hey, it's no big deal! :) Here they are Sunday night watching... Last night at Wal-Mart, I bought the girls a Slip N Slide- or at least that's what we called them when I was little. They couldn't wait to try it out today. This was Braylee's first attempt... :)
It didn't take her long though before she was sliding like a pro.


Brynna decided she would rather just play in the sprinkler part. The UPS guy came while we were outside too, which was an extra bonus for Braylee since the UPS guy ranks right up there with Santa. ;) New outfits from gymboree arrived, so it was a bit like Christmas for mommy too. I finally talked them into going inside for naps. They wanted to go back outside for more slippin' and slidin' but by that time the slide was shaded...too cool for more swimming.

The girls were playing with Braylee's make up earlier this evening. Check out Brynna!
In Sunday School yesterday, we talked about how most people rate how "blessed" they are on how much they have been financially blessed. We started discussing all of the different ways we are blessed and how we should be thankful for even the little things....which got me to thinking because I have a tendency to take my pretty easy-lack of drama-healthy-happy life for granted. So, here's just a few blessings I've been thankful for the last two days:

-Having weeds to pull because this means I have green things growing around my house. The house we built in Mexico is completely surrounded by dirt...dusty dirt with no green in sight.
-Being able to race my girls in the backyard because I know someone who wishes she could chase her little one right now.
-Fresh bouquet of flowers in my kitchen, straight from my landscaping.
-My dishwasher, washer, and dryer because it makes my mom job a little easier. :)
-Hearing Braylee say, "Wait for me, Mommy!" when we were headed out on our bike ride because I love being "Mommy."
-And of course, my beautiful family, who have all given me hugs and kisses today.

What blessings are you thankful for today?

PMS Club, Olympics, and Family Reunion

Let me recap our week...
Monday, we spent the day at home. I tried to reorganize their closets and toys and did laundry. The girls did a little stamping...My mom wore an adorable pair of red sandals when she was a wee one. My sisters and I all wore them too, as did Braylee when she came along. Unfortunately, Brynna never actually got a chance to wear them...just didn't work out with the right season/right size. But, I couldn't stand the thought of her not getting to wear them, so I (gently) shoved her chubby foot in one to catch a quick picture. I'm nuts, I know. Aren't they cute though...and 50 years old. Brynna was in a mood where she did NOT want to wear a diaper. She had been wearing panties all morning, but I made her put a diaper on before nap. Well, I guess she decided she would rather pee in the bed than in her diaper! Ugh! I found her naked with the diaper on the floor and the sheet wet. :(Tuesday, Abbie and Max stopped by for a bit. Then after naps, the girls and I went to visit Mandi, Andre' and Gabe. We picked up some Chinese on our way home, yum!

Thursday, we had out first PMS club meeting. :) PMS stands for Praising My Savior. It's a new group our women's ministry team has started for young ladies aged 18-35ish. We had pizza and ice cream and played a few games. I love getting to chat with my girls. We enjoyed a laugh from some older ladies at our church too. Only Rita and Carmen would have done this! They picketed outside Jamie's house with a sign saying Hearts For Christ Hot Flash Club. ;) (You can catch a picture over on Abby's blog.)

All week, I had been feeling under par...mostly just allergy-type symptoms. Thursday night was pretty rough, but by Friday, I was struggling at work. (It's frustrating when I feel sicker than my patients who are asking for antibiotics when I choose to fight it off on my own.) As soon as Alex got home from work around 6, I hit my bed and snoozed until 7:30. Those who know me well know this is very unlike me. I'm not a napper. I think I could have stayed in bed all night, but I didn't want to waste the evening. We started the DVR for the Olympics and then went outside for a little while. The weather was perfect for an evening walk. Then we put Brynna to bed and started watching the Opening Ceremony. WOW!! Alex, Braylee, and I watched in amazement and kept rewinding and rewatching it. By 9:30, I could no longer keep my eyes open even though I fought it until 10 because I wanted to watch it so badly. As soon as I got up this morning, I went back to the DVR to watch what I had missed! The Chinese performers were sooo impressive. If you didn't see any of it, I'd suggest doing some You Tube searches! :)

This morning, a deer walked through our yard. When Braylee spotted it, she asked me if it meant Christmas was coming soon?! We quickly had a little lesson on the difference between reindeer and white-tailed deer. :) We had a family reunion today for Alex's dad's family. His family is huge. There were over 300 people there, and of course some of the family did not attend. (Alex's grandparents alone have over 80 grandkids.) It was for the descendants of Alex's grandpa's parents, Jacob & Leah (yep, just like Jacob & Leah in the Bible! ;)). Brynna was born on Jacob's birthday. I love little family facts like that! Anyway, with respect for the Amish's beliefs, I try not to take pictures around them, but I couldn't pass up this cute picture of Brynna. She was a messy girl after her cupcake!I also snapped a picture of some of Alex's relatives leaving in front of us... a simple snapshot of his heritage.After the reunion, we went to a pool party for Alex's work. Alex swam with the girls while I chatted with the other moms. The sun was kind enough to hide behind the clouds occasionally so we didn't get too hot. Braylee loved the diving board!

Camping at Shakamak

We went camping at Shakamak over the weekend, about an hour and a half from our house. We decided to leave our pop-up camper at home this time and take Gramma & Pappy's big camper. Tim & Krista and their girls stayed with us. Brad & Jenn and Kevin & Abby camped with us too. Even though we had 8 little ones with us, the weekend was pretty relaxing.Friday, we set up camp, ate dinner, let the kids play on the playground, and sat around the fire. Saturday, the girls took an early morning walk down to the lake. Kevin was teasing them about looking for bears and Swiper the fox. :) We left for the pool early so we could get a good spot...and we did. The girls were having so much fun, they didn't want to stop for pictures. All of the kids rode down the slide at some point, but the older girls even went down by themselves! They would get right back in line to go again. After dinner, we took a bike ride/walk around camp and then enjoyed smores around the fire. The kids were exhausted which meant they actually went to bed at a decent time. The guys stayed up late playing cards while us ladies sat around the fire chatting. Sunday morning, we had a large breakfast, watched the kids have a water balloon fight, took a short hike, and then went back to the pool for a couple of hours. Besides the humidity and gnats, the weekend couldn't have gone much smoother.
Here's a little clip of the girls on the tire swing....



And, I just had to share this...
The first picture was taken June of 2006 at Patoka. It's a little sad to see how much they've grown already.
One more thing... We're planning to sell our pop-up in case anyone is interested. :) And, we're looking for something bigger. Alex looked at one last night that's in our price-range, but I haven't seen it yet. If you hear of anyone wanting to sell one, let us know!

Another Busy Week

Last Tuesday evening, Pappy came over with Oscar. Both of the girls like Oscar, but Brynna does especially. I had to get a picture of her hugging on him.

Can you believe how good her scar looks?! It hasn't even been a month since her accident and it's looking fantastic.

Wednesday evening, we met all of Alex's family at Bobe's for dinner. Then, they all came over to our house for awhile. Here is Gabe demonstrating how he knows his body parts. :)

Giving Oscar a fist pump.

Thursday evening, we went to my Grammy & Gramps' for a cookout. My cousin Tomi and her son Noah were home visiting from Texas since she's off on summer break. Noah is a September sweetie too. :) He'll get to blow out his first birthday candle soon.

Wildflowers

Earlier today, the girls and I met Abbie and Max at the park for lunch. It was pretty hot, even the kids were starting to complain about the heat. I always love to catch up with my friend though. I'm sad school will be starting again in a couple of weeks, and all of my teacher friends will be heading back to work. :(

This evening, I took the girls to a field of wildflowers to have them photographed by my other friend, Abby. (This can be confusing sometimes, so Braylee typically refers to them as "Max's mommy" and "Lillie's mommy" to keep things straight.) I'm sure Abby caught some beautiful pictures, but let me tell you...it was sooo HOT! Or really, I should say it was so HUMID! We were all dripping with sweat. Braylee loves to be photographed. Before we left, she was showing me all of the poses she was planning to do. ;) She got a little sidetracked by the gnats so she forgot about her fancy poses, but she still managed to pull off a sweet smile...sweat and all. Brynna on the other hand...Well, she's never been crazy about getting her picture taken. I warned Abby (which she already knew since she babysits for us sometimes) that Brynna can not stand for her feet to be dirty. Sure enough, I had to carry her everywhere and she refused to stand in the wildflowers. :( It was too hot to fight with her. So, we may have to try again next year to get some pictures of the girls walking in the flowers. Maybe she'll be over the whole dirty-feet-thing by then. I wore a dress to match the girls, but seriously...sweat dripping down my nose will not be pretty.

Last week, I had the moonroof open on my vehicle. When I picked up Braylee from daycare, she stuck her head up to the open window and yelled, "Jesus! Hey, Jesus!" I started laughing and said, "What are you doing?!" She said it was her window to see Jesus. (And she says He must live up in the "blue" part of the sky because she knows He doesn't live in the clouds. :)) So, today, she started yelling for Jesus again. After about the 5th time, I said, "Ok! I think He heard you." She replied, "I know because I can feel Him in my heart." ***My heart melted.*** I love her faith. She really does teach me to trust Him more.

A little update on Brynna's toilet habits. :) During the month of June and early July, we were a little preoccupied with trips and hospital visits. I'm guessing she only used the potty a hand full of times during those weeks. But, she has gotten pretty excited about the potty again which makes mommy happy! She sits on the potty about 3-4 times/day and uses it probably 2x/day. Sometimes, she initiates it and other times, I take her (like after nap time). She is starting to take her diaper off if she has peed in it too, so I'm hoping that encourages her to use the potty even more. Also, I'm amazed at how much she has learned in the last few weeks. Pink is definitely her favorite color (My mom will appreciate that!). She wants the "ink" jammies, "ink" cup, "ink" crayon, etc. It's so cute to hear her say it because she leaves off the P but really emphasizes the k on the end. The only problem is pink and drink sound about the same. ;)

Happy Birthday, Mom and Tracee!

Yesterday was my younger sister Tracee's 28th birthday. I'm guessing she had a great day since she and her hubby are celebrating their 5th wedding anniversary in Mexico right now. :) Their actual anniversary will be 8/8/08. We don't get to see Tracee very much since she moved to South Carolina 4 years ago. We enjoy the chances we do get though. (Sorry, I'm too lazy to look for older pictures for these slideshows. :) They are pretty much from 2004 and on since that's when we entered the digital world.)


Today is my mom's 51st birthday! I doubt she cares that I posted her age, because if I was her, I'd be pretty proud to look that good at 51. :) I love my mom. I love how at 29, she still calls me "babydoll" or "sugar." I love how she just calls to talk, even if she doesn't really have anything she has to tell me. I love how she completely goes overboard with baking goodies at Christmas. I love how she always smells good. I love how we can spend 2 hours floating around in a pool talking about girl stuff...and think only 30 minutes has passed. I love how she spoils my girls. I love how she encouraged me to continue nursing Brynna even when others thought 16 months was too long. I love how she would make detailed lists for my grandparents of all of our activities while she and dad were traveling so we wouldn't miss anything. I love how I used to find my mom talking to herself and thinking it odd...and now I catch myself doing it all the time. I love how she (still) leaves little notes sitting around in unexpected places to let us know how much we are loved and prayed for. I love how at a young age, I can remember my mother getting her Bible out during the day to read and highlight while we played and danced around her. Even when we disagree, I just really love my mom. There are quiet times when I am rocking one of my girls or snuggling them in bed and think about how my mom surely did the same things with me. I remember how desperate I was to make sure my mom was at the birth of both of my girls...I just couldn't imagine doing it without her. And I distinctly remember being in the hospital in March 2002 when I had had surgery...thinking I had never felt so miserable...and telling Alex, "I need my mom." He said, "Why? Is there something I can do?" I said, "No, I just need my mom." And, I remember the relief I felt when she and my dad walked into my room. Thank you, Mom. I hope you had a wonderful birthday!!


So, this is what we did today. The girls play so well together.

Lazy Weekend

We seemed to have been gone a lot over the weekend, but I don't remember feeling rushed at all. It was just a pleasant weekend spent enjoying our family and friends' company. Friday, Ava turned 5!! We went over to Shad and Jamie's for her party. They had rented an inflatable water slide for the kids, and they loved it! The girls received Hannah Montana treat bags as we left. Inside, the girls found fake teeth (The kids loved these!!), mini Uno cards, and Flarp. I know, I'd never heard of the stuff either...it's "gassy play-doh"...it farts when you squish it. Again, the kids loved it. :) Alex needed to run by his office, so we stopped at Dairy Queen afterwards. Braylee and Brynna are kind-of odd kids in the fact that neither of them like ice cream. Strange, huh? So they had fries instead. We planned to just "stop by" Gramma's to pick up Pappy's chainsaw (to clean up our fallen tree in the front yard), but you know how that goes. Next thing you know, both kids are getting snacks from Gramma and dancing around the kitchen for 20 minutes. :)
Saturday morning, Alex cut up the tree. The girls and I helped haul the branches to the woods, and then I trimmed shrubs while they napped. Once they were up, we headed back over to Gramma and Pappy's. Andre', Mandi, and Gabe were spending the day there too. We took golf cart rides, discussed our upcoming vacation (We were planning to go to Williamsburg in July, but we pushed it back to November after the accident.), and got Chinese take-out. Mandi is walking some on her own. I watched her walking around and thought about how far she has come, but there were times I'd find myself walking past her. I'd stop and go back, feeling guilty that my natural step is that much faster than hers now. :( Mandi went with me to pick up the Chinese, so we got to chat alone for a little bit. Have I mentioned how much I love her? :) Just as much as we were meant to marry our husbands, we were meant to be sisters too.

Later, we went up to my mom and dad's to visit/stay the night. Alex golfed early this morning with my dad and brother before church, so we decided to go up the night before. After church, we had dinner at my Granny & Pa's. Then, we went on to my Grammy & Gramps' to visit with them.

This evening, we took the girls to the park. As usual, we fed the ducks and geese. Then we took a walk around the park before we headed home. Once during the weekend, Braylee asked me how a baby gets in a mommy's belly. Hmmm...I said, "God allows it to happen." It turned out to be enough of an explanation for now. She said, "When I grow up, then I will have babies in my belly too." So, I asked her what she would name her baby. After thinking thoughtfully for a few seconds, she replied, "Strawberry Shortcake." :)