Summertime fun at Crown Center

Happy Monday, y'all!! Hope everyone had a great Monday. The kids and I did. We were swimming at my moms for 4+ hours this afternoon. We are all a little darker and a lot exhausted! :-)

Back to the reason for this post......we had some summertime fun this past weekend. I just love summertime. Sleeping in....lazy days.....swimming....picnics.....late nights......ice cream breaks.....VBS (can I get a 'amen'?!)....and lots and lots of family togetherness! :-)

This past Saturday was one such occasion. My parents, along with my sister, brother in law and their 2 boys and our kids all went up to Crown Center to have lunch at Fritz (you know, the greasy "restaurant" with the trains that deliver your food? fun stuff!), and make a visit to Clifford the Big Red Dog. They got to see Clifford, and visit the Clifford exhibit there at Crown Center. Lots of fun! Here's some pics for your viewing pleasure! :-)

My parents with 3 out of 5 of the grandkids

And welcome to the grease pit Fritz's!





Sis and her cousin, J

PaPa and Bubby

And we're off to see Clifford!!!

Here are the cousins (minus Baby Girl, who was sleeping peacefully in the stroller, we didn't want to disturb her) :-)

And off to the Clifford exhibit.....

After we left the exhibit, Sis requested ice cream. Of course none of us could turn that down.....

.....and the kids enjoyed a few rides up and down the escalator. It doesn't take much to entertain us......

And if my pics looked like we had soooooo much fun, you don't have to miss out, the Clifford exhibit will be at Crown Center thru September (i believe) and Clifford the Big Red Dog will be there every Sat in June. :-)

The Pictures I Promised

...are finally here! Enjoy! =)

Here is Isaiah, at my parents house. They have a couple acres, with plenty of run and play room for the kiddos. Isaiah looks like a "mini papa" here, "mowing" the grass with his hat on....just like papa does!

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!!!SwImMiNg LeSsOnS!!!!

Matthew (my nephew) and Lilly are taking swimming lessons this year, from a friend, Jenni, at her pool. It's every Thursday night for 30-40 minutes, and the kids just LOVE it. Lilly would seriously live in the pool this summer, if I let her! Above, they are practicing kicking, with their kickboards.

Lilly is learning to "walk" along the side of the pool with her hands

The teacher, Ms Jenni, talking to the kids. This was the first week of lessons, and there were only 4 kids. There was more the second week (which I couldn't go to- I have ladies bible study). And I forgot my camera the first week, so these pics are courtesy of Verna- Jenni's mom. =)


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Vacation Bible School!!!!

The theme for the kids' vacation bible school this year was a cowboy/western theme. My sister and brother-in-law took the kids to it the first night, so I didn't get any pictures. These were taken the 2nd night. The kids all got cowboy hats, a sheriffs badge and a bandana.

For craft the 2nd night, the kids colored and decorated their own cowboy vests', made of paper bags. Pretty cute.

After VBS, Isaiah was wiped out.

goal accomplished. =)

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Swimming at MeMa and PaPa's House!

Two days this past week, my mom and I went out for lunch, then went over to my sisters house, and we dropped off Isaiah, and got Matthew, and we took Matthew and Lilly to moms to go swimming, and left Isaiah and Jonathan at Valeries house. The younger 2 have never much been in to the pool or swimming, and they don't like wearing their life vests.....so it's much more work for us, the adults, when we take them. Matthew and Lilly will get in the pool, and are pretty self sufficient with their floaties on. And they seem to have much more fun. Although recently, Isaiah has gotten in to the pool more than usual.....so this may change!

Oh, and when swimming at MeMa's house.......according to Lilly.....we MUST stop for an ice cream break half way thru!

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Vacation Bible School---- Day 5

On Friday evening, we took the kids to VBS again. And along with the whole cowboy/western theme, they brought out a live horse, for all the kids to sit on! My kids did fairly well......better than I expected.

Lilly got on the horse okay, but had a frown and pout the whole time. I asked her if she liked the horse, and she shook her head 'no'. Guess we won't be making a cowgirl outta her any time soon!

After much screaming and throwing of fits, Jonathan finally got on the horse, only after his daddy got on it first and held him. Not much of a cowboy for him either, I guess.

Lilly getting her hand painted.......

and what did she get? Why, Dora, of course!!! =)

The face painting lady had it easy......she just copied Lillys shirt- lol

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and.......MORE Swimming!!!!!!!!!!!!

These were just taken yesterday. After church, Jen and her family came over to our house and we went to our neighborhood pool for 3 hours or so. I just love summertime!!!!!!! =)

.....and today..........(surprise surprise) Lilly asked if we could go to MeMa's house and go swimming. (I told ya she could live in the pool!). I would have, but my house is paying the consequenses for us being gone swimming nearly every day last week. Laundry is piled high and we have milk, apple juice and freezer pop stains on our kitchen table and floor from the past week. Must get something done!

So when I told Lilly we were not going swimming today, she was very disappointed. So she put on her swimsuit and made her own "pool" in our kitchen....

No swimming for us today............

.....but tomorrow however...... ;)

Summer has hit full swing.....

Yes, I realize that I have just disappeared from the blogging world for awhile. It's summer. Need I say more? It's summer, it's HOT, there is no school, we are bored at home, my parents have a pool. You can just imagine where I've been spending my time. :)

However, I do have much to catch up on. Lots of fun summer pics have been taken. Don't get too excited though. I left my camera and memory card downstairs, and I am just too plum tuckered out from swimming to go get it. So you will have to wait until tomorrow. Or maybe next week. Or sometime. ;) But there are coming!

In the meantime.......some stuff we've been up to over here......

*I finally, after 4 years got me a new cell phone! It's a G1. Doesn't really mean much to me, but some of you might know what that means- lol. In lamens terms (haha), it has a full keyboard, and has internet and ability to check my email, along with a camera and video camera, and calender and a bazillion games. I'm still figuring out the phone.....I'll get to the games later. I love it though. I'm obsessed. My newest fave. :)

*My kids are in their 2nd week of taking swimming lessons. Actually, it's more just Lilly than Isaiah. Isaiah is, um, not so fond of the pool. ;) Lilly LOVES it though, and has worn her swimsuit for the past 2 weeks straight it seems like. She loves her lessons taught by Ms Jenni. I'll have to take some pics and share them :)

* The kids participated in their first ever Vacation Bible School this week. I think they liked it. They were only able to go Mon, Tues, (Isaiah went Thurs) and Fri. It was a cowboy/western theme....very cute. Again, pictures coming. Sorry.

* I have officially hired a 'interior decorator' to help me decorate and accessorize my living room/kitchen area. Since we have painted it, none of the stuff I used to have on the walls look good anymore. I need some help. I'm sooooo excited by Jonae and the accesorizing magic she is working on my house. I must take pictures when it is complete and share!

*I am also terribly late in my 'show us where you live friday' editions. Today is Master rooms.....but of course, I don't yet have pictures.

*I have been away from my home for about 11 hours today. Seriously. Went and picked up mom, dropped off some dry cleaning, went to lunch, went to Wal Mart, went to my sisters and waited for Matthew to get home from summer school, went back to my moms with Lilly and Matthew, went swimming for 3 hours, took the kids back to my sisters, went to Childrens Orchard to shop, met Jer at Applebees for dinner, met the kids at VBS, took Matthew to Target and to Dairy Queen with me, went back to my sisters to take Matthew home, then finally pulled in to my driveway at 9:50pm. Shew. I'm pooped. I think I'll go to bed now.

I promise.....pictures coming soon!

Our Weekend

My weekend was spent with friends, eating and scrapbooking. I hosted a overnight scrpabook crop-fest at my house, Friday night until late Saturday night. We had a lot of fun. More food than we would ever need, and we got a lot of scrapbook pages done. I was pleased. Although now I'm tired. My friend Brandi and I were the only brave ones to stay overnight. She finally crashed with her 7 1/2 month son around 3AM, and I hit the sack shortly after around 3:30. A couple more friends came on Saturday, and joined us in our scrapping fun. :) My sister and her family watched our kids. (Thank You!). The kids seemed to have a really good time over there. They were awfully excited to be spending the night over there. The kids were dragging their suitcases all over the house on Friday. lol. And there were no tears when I left, so that made it easier. My husband was even able to get in a little R&R, since the kids were gone. So what did he do? He took a nap at 8:00 at night, and woke up around 10 or 11, and ate some of our food and watched a couple movies until almost 4 in the morning. Silly hubby!

On Saturday, he went over to my parents house, who.........is getting a pool!!! :) I'm so excited. If you've read my blogs for any amount of time, you know I love swimming, and would love to have my own pool at my house (instead of sharing it with a million other people at our neighborhood pool). However, our HOA restricts above ground pools...... in-ground only. Well, not a problem.........if only we had 20 grand to do it! So, after much discussion and persuasian, I have finally talked my dad into getting a pool. He has the perfect land for it..... 3 1/2 acres, tons of yard, and NO HOA rules! So Saturday they dug the hole, and today the installer guys came and set it up, and it is filling as we speak, er, type. I'm pumped! I'm ready! The kids will absolutely love it. Lilly has allready talked about wanting to go swimming at Me Ma and Pa Pa's house. In fact, we took the kids over there one night last week to visit, and Lilly packed her swimsuit and sunscreen and took over there- she was ready! (she's heard us talking about it apparently). The pool has come just in time--- looks like a HOT week here in KC. The water might be chilly at first, but it'll warm quickly. Swimming at my parents house this week..........anyone want to join us?? ;)

A Monday Hello :)

Today has been a busy, fun day. The kids and I went swimming with my parents over at my cousins house this afternoon. I brought back "proof" on my face and shoulders, as I am slightly red. It was worth it though - lots of fun - and the kids seemed to enjoy it. Although I do wish they liked being in those floaties. Both of them, the whole time we were there....."hold me, mommy"! ugh. Why did I waste my money on those cute little floaties?? My dad and I had our hands full as we were both holding one of the kids pretty much the whole time. Which is exactly why I don't take the kids to the pool by myself. The kids and I napped this afternoon, which was wonderful, as were were all zonked. The sun and pool seems to have that effect on us. ;)

After dinner, Jer and I took the kids out to DQ for ice cream, then to the park to let them play. We even managed to get in a walk around the track before we left....you know, to walk off some of that yummy ice cream. The kids weren't that fond of the walk......poor Isaiah's legs are so short - it seemed to take him forever, then he kept wanting us to hold him. (hm....seems to be the "theme" of the day)

Over the weekend, we finally managed to get Isaiah's room done. Well, other than some decor on the walls....which we don't have yet. So it's as much 'done' as it's going to be for a while! After getting his room done, Jer pulled off the front railing of his crib, to make it a toddler bed. Supposedly his crib is a 4 in 1 or something. A crib, toddler bed, twin bed and full bed. Haven't quite figured it out yet, but for now, we made it a toddler bed. He seemed to like it!

Here's the "before" shot......... it's the best I could find. His room was a light blue on 2 walls, and light green on the opposite 2 walls, with a train, plane, truck border. We thought he needed a big boy room, and needed to get rid of his "baby nursery"

Anyhow, here's what Isaiah's room looks like now...