Strawberry Fun

Noni and Mama have a big strawberry patch, and Mama had been saving all the strawberries for the girls to come over and pick since they love to do that.  They were so excited when we told them it was time to pick strawberries!

Boo gets a little overzealous and has to be directed to the “red ones only!” about every ten seconds.  She just wants to pick all the strawberries!  She doesn’t discriminate by color. :)

They were both happy to show Aunt Karen the proper way to pick strawberries…one for the bowl, one for the mouth. :)

We only had about a day and half with Aunt Karen but they made the most of it!  After picking strawberries they had an hour long bouncing session on the trampoline!  They also read books and we played games, and they entertained us with multiple “shows”.  They love having Aunt Karen around to play with.

We wish you could be here all the time Aunt Karen but we know Texas needs you. :) We love you!

Workationing

Wow, I really thought our schedule would slow down with summer but we have been go-go-going!  We just got home today from being gone all week.  It was time for T's annual conference at the lake so on Sunday after church we packed up the car and headed down there.  We actually made the trip (both ways!) without anyone throwing up...an accomplishment for us! :)

Our first order of business when we got there was to head for the pool!  The water was warm and it was really nice to let the girls get some energy out!

They liked the hot tub too since it was "small like me!" (Boo)

There was a little fountain/splash pad area that they played in for a few minutes but the water coming out was freezing so it didn't last too long. 

I love how kids can find friends wherever they go. 

Ice cold shower!

We actually stayed across the road from the conference this time.  The hotel, even though huge, is booked solid for this conference.  The sponsers aren't even allowed to stay there so they can make room for the attendees, and there still isn't enough room.  If you don't go one year you lose your room and have to find another place.  That happened a few years ago with one of the members on the board so he has had to stay across the street at some condos.  He is getting older though and was having a hard time making the walk over several times a day and since he had a 3 bedroom condo by himself we switched with him so he could stay at the resort. 

It had it's pros and cons but it was SO nice that the girls had their own rooms and we had tons of space!  The main drawback was no beach access, which is usually what we spend 90% of our waking hours doing while there.  It wasn't bad though since the girls and I left early.  Here's a view of the pool at the condos. 

And our "room".  There was a smaller room with bunk beds where K stayed, and then there were two rooms with king sized beds and big bathrooms attatched.  Boo stayed in one, and T and I stayed in the other.  If we get this same place next year we will have to see if we can pay for a few extra days on our own and really have a vacation!  It would be fun to stay a while since there is a full kitchen, dining room, living room, and a washer/dryer.

Here was the view from our balcony.  There was a full sized 8 person patio set with a really nice BBQ.  If we stayed longer we'd be able to get some use out of that! The location was another drawback since the road traffic was pretty loud even with all the doors/windows closed, but overall we loved it and we hope we get to stay there again!

I wasn't feeling overly great (I think I overdid it a bit with VBS and then working on the porch) so the girls and I just hung out in the room on Monday morning, and then as soon as T got done with his morning meetings he took them to the park.  I asked him to get pictures in our measuring spot.  The girls have definitely grown since last year!

It's weird to think that next year we'll have another one to take a picture of in this spot!

He got some really cute pictures of them playing.

I need to blow this one up and frame it!  Very artistic. :)

Pile up!

Bug-our little model. :)

And lest, you think they are all sugar and spice....here's a picture of what they are like more often than not...complete with a snot string, courtesy of VBS last week. :P

Noni and Aunt Karen had been gone on a two-week missions trip and were getting back on Tuesday morning so the girls and I were only down there for about 36 hours before heading home so we could spend some time with Aunt Karen before she headed back to Texas.  T caught a ride home on Wednesday with one of his co-workers from his old job.

The girls and I stayed at Noni and Papa's for two nights and Karen had to be at the airport at 5:00 this morning.  Tuesday was miserably cold and rainy so it worked out well for us to leave.  We wouldn't have had anything to do but hang around the condo anyway.  We were happy to spend a little time with Aunt Karen before she had to go.  We miss you already Aunt Karen! I'll post some pictures of our time together in the next day or so. 



Wordless Wednesday

Porch

We finally got a free weekend to work on our porch!  On Friday Grandpa stayed for a few hours to help us get going on the porch (we had to ask him to deliver the boards since our pickup isn't long enough to handle 16 footers).  They finished the rest of the prep work and laid the first board. (here's a picture of the wagon we bought at the garage sales a few weekends ago.)

So Saturday morning when we woke up our porch looked like this.

 

And by lunchtime it looked like this (with the help of one of our friends, who was able to come over for a few hours).

The girls were busy drawing us pictures.  Bug is getting to be a pretty good artist!  These are her bunnies.

After lunch Boo went down for a nap and T and I got the rest of the boards laid.  We were just getting them secure with a few screws so after Bug got up from her nap she and I helped Daddy fill in the missing ones. 

We had some great teamwork going! Daddy did the sink holes, Bug went along and put a screw in each hole, and I came along and used the drill to screw them down.

And by 4:30 this is what we had! 

Unfortunately we ran out of boards so as soon as we get about 8 more we can finish the other side, but we're probably 3/4's done with laying the porch! 

There is still a lot of work to be done: sealing the wood, making a rail all the way around, wrapping the posts, and putting in a ceiling, but I was so happy with how quickly we got the floor laid down!  I can't wait until we get a porch swing and can sit out there on warm summer evenings and watch the girls ride their bikes!  It's going to be so nice!

VBS

Phew, another year of VBS is in the books!  It was actually a great week, and not nearly as difficult as I anticipated (being pregnant and all).  Thankfully summer hasn't really broke out of whatever box it's hiding in, so being in a windowless kitchen for three hours a day wasn't a challenge at all.  I never even broke a sweat, and that's saying something for a 7 1/2 month pregnant girl in June.  One more reason to be thankful we live in the good old Northwest! :)

The theme this year was God's armor but since that doesn't lend itself to decorating very well we merged it with sports;  the belt of truth was taught in the mountain climbing room, etc. 

The kids loved the sports theme and the snacks were pretty easy...nothing like the first year where we were making things like jungle cat eyes out of Ritz crackers, cream cheese, bananas and raisins. :)

It actually rained on Monday so the kids had to do their game session inside. 

The way we do VBS at our church requires a LOT of people but it works very smoothly and no one person has to do a ton of work. 

Another reason I love our church is because people are so involved.  The old saying of 20% of the people do 80% of the work does not apply at our church.  I think our highest kid count was 77, but on Tuesday we had 63 kids and 33 leaders/helpers! 

There are different stations and each group (who has a leader and a helper) go around to them.  Each group has a class for the day, games, crafts, bible verse memorization, and snacks.  It keeps the kids moving and entertained and works out really well since we have enough adults/teenagers to make it work.

 Boo Bear was able to be in the preschool class even though she is only 2 and even though they had a ton of kids.  I think the biggest day there were 14 two and three year olds squished into the nursery!  Some of the other helpers brought their kids so she wasn't the youngest.  There were several two year olds and even a one year old.

I don't know how they kept those little ones entertained in that little room for almost 3 hours every day!  Thankfully they were able to play outside on the playground every day but Monday.  We finished up snacks at little after 11 every day so I would go get Boo.  Two hours in there was plenty for her, but she did have a lot of fun.

Bug had a great time and felt so grown up since this was her first year to be in a group (not stuck in the preschool room the whole time).  She loved going around to the different sessions and getting to do all the "big kid" stuff.

It was so interesting to watch the way they both behaved at VBS.  They were model students: quiet, listened to directions, obeyed quickly, played nicely with friends, etc.  Then we would come home each day and they would literally go berserk!  They would start yelling and running around the house at top speed!  It was like they had used up all their good behavior at church and couldn't hold it in anymore!

You could tell all the kids (and grown ups) were tired today.  Boo stayed in the preschool room for about an hour and then she decided she was done.  I let her come to the kitchen with me and she did pretty well.  She ate her snack, colored at the craft tables, played games on my iPhone, and went around entertaining people.  

Bug's last craft of the week.

We had our usual end of the week BBQ for all the kids and parents.  Grandma, Grandpa, and Papa came too so that was fun for the girls.  Grandma and Grandpa brought the materials for the front porch and we've already started working on it! Hopefully by the end of the weekend we'll have made some good progress.  What a busy, fun week! 

30 Weeks

I can't believe we're at 30 weeks already!  I don't feel like I look that big when I see a picture of myself, but I FEEL gigantic.  I keep bumping my stomach on stuff.  I feel like wherever I walk that my belly is the first thing to get there. It seems like it is sticking out there a mile. I am carrying a little higher this time around.

This pregnancy really has gone fast, and yet I have a feeling the next 10 weeks are going to go pretty slow.  I've started to get pretty uncomfortable, but it doesn't usually get bad until about 7 o'clock.  For some reason as soon as the clock strikes 7 I start to get very uncomfortable, and there is no way to sit or lay down that helps.  The only thing that helps is a lukewarm bath, so every night, the second the girls are in bed I take a bath for an hour or so. 

Thankfully I am still sleeping fine.  Well, I take that back, I wake up at least a half a dozen times at night, but I am almost always able to go right back to sleep (usually after a trip to the bathroom) and that makes all the difference.  I am also SO thankful that I am a stay at home mom with kids who still nap because I get a nap almost every single day.  Sometimes it is only 20 minutes, sometimes I fall asleep and wake up 2 hours later when one of them comes downstairs, but any amount of sleep really helps with the tiredness factor.

I am still craving fruit.  The latest is oranges and fresh pineapple, but strawberries are still high on my priority list.  A few days ago my friend brought us two containers of fresh picked strawberries that her parents had brought and the girls and I had them polished off in less than 12 hours.  Yum.  I have been cooking a little bit more...like a "real" meal two or three times a week, but the rest of the time we are still eating pizza, sandwiches, or breakfast.  I don't know if I mentioned that one before...for some reason at night (not in the morning) breakfast foods sounds really good so we have biscuits and gravy, waffles, or pancakes for dinner quite often these days.

I just saw the doctor today and he said everything looks great.  We are now done with monthly appointments and I now have to go in every two weeks.

I can tell that this baby is different from the girls already.  She is very active, just as they were, but she is more of a roller than a kicker.  Bug was a big kicker.  Lots of huge kicks, but t was never painful.  Boo was also a big kicker, but she was always hurting me!  It seemed like every kick was aimed toward my ribs or vital organs.  She made me double over at least every other day with her swift kicks to the kidneys.  This little girl is just a mover.  She rolls and twists and turns, but rarely jabs.  She will perform her tricks for several hours each evening and we like to watch her various limbs moving across my belly.

The girls are still as sweet as ever, and very helpful now that I am getting to the point where it is difficult to bend over and pick things up.  I've been working with them to have more responsiblity since I know it will be helpful once the baby is born.  Boo's main tasks are getting her pull up and pajamas on by herself.  She still needs a bit of help but she is getting better every day and hopefully by the time baby comes she will be self-sufficient in that area.  Bug can buckle herself in the car 90% of the time, which is our big goal since we will probably put her in the 3rd row seat once the baby comes (rather than squish all three of them in the middle seat).  She is also learning how to take my keys and unlock the front door when we get home which is very helpful since I am almost always carrying things. 

They are my good little helpers and they make sure we pray for baby every day.  They talk about her all the time and I can't wait for the day when we finally get to introduce them!  Less than 10 weeks until we can do that! 

Father's Day

Our new computer is here!  It's very, very nice, but as with all electronic things it is a bit overwhelming for me.  When it comes to technology I am not the most savvy of users and I DO NOT like change.  I like to be able to do the same old thing and get the same results.  I'm sure I will grow to love this computer, but for now it is all unfamiliar and feels like such a hassle to learn how to use it. :P

Anyway...we spent Father's Day weekend at the farm.  We hadn't been out there since Easter and the girls were thrilled to be able to finally see Grandpa's chickens. He's trying a different variety this year.  I think they are just about full-grown.  They won't be with us much longer...well, they will be, they just won't be running around anymore. :)

Boo was not too sure at first, but then again, neither were the chickens.

 They warmed up to each other at about the same pace.

I think there are 97 chickens?  They all started pouring out of the coop anticipating a treat.  Grandpa has made them very tame.

Cock-a-doodle-doo.

Grandpa let the girls feed them some of his home grown grain.

They loved it...both the feeding of it (the girls) and the eating of it (the chickens). :)

We spent our weekend relaxing, visiting, and T and his dad worked on stuff out in the shop like they usually do.  On Sunday Grandpa made us his famous french toast for breakfast.  Yum.

The girls gave Daddy their presents, and promptly opened them for him. :)

He picked out a rolling tool chest for his big gift, but they'd both colored him a little picture frame that says, "I love my Daddy!" and I put a picture of them in it.

Happy Father's day to my wonderful husband!  You are such a great Daddy for our two, soon to be three, girls!  They adore you, and so do I.