One more week

is it possible?

can it be that in only one week you will be starting kindergarten?

how did we get here?

i remember in hospital when i first saw your face.

when the wheeled me by the nursery and i watched them bathe you.

when they swaddled you up and you looked over at me in this picture.

i remember when they first placed you in my arms.

it was longer than i was expecting.

seemed like hours since you had been born but you were finally placed in my arms and you fit perfectly (and you still do).

it doesn't matter how big you get you always seem to fit right in my arms.

i can't believe that i get to be your mom.

i can't believe that in a week you will be going to kindergarten. (have i said that?)

thank you Pixel Me Photography for these great back to school pictures of my girl. 

i cherish them so much.

so much personality and sass in this one tiny body. life is never predictable with this one. it drives me crazy but i also love it too.

Adventure 30

in summer camps

it was a very last minute decision for us to send Golden Boy to Winshape camp. (last minute like the camp started on Monday and we signed him up on Sunday morning.

we weren't 100% sure of what to expect but we had heard nothing but good things about the camp. Golden boy got to choose 6 skills to participate in and to rank them in order of 1-6 (one being the one he most wanted to do) the camp picks three skills for them to participate in all week. Golden boy got 

Archery (which he got better and better at as the week went on), Flag football (which was his favorite) and Basketball.

here we are headed to our first day or camp.

when we picked him up in the afternoon he was spent and exhausted but had a great time

the theme of the week was HOPE more that meets the eye 2 Corinthians 4:18

when i went to get him the second day it had rained and his flag football team was inside and Coach David was telling a very animated story and the boys were all just taken with him.

on this day Golden boy was really wanting a sleeve in the camp store. when i picked him up he said he would pay half of it and i told him we would pay the other half. (really he would have bought everything in the camp store in his team color, blue/ocean.)

on day four one of the children's ministry leaders gave Golden Boy is buff what he wore with his camp shirt the last day.

it was such a wonderful week for him. he is already planning what he wants to do next year and he is insistent that we decorate our car for the contest on the last day next year.

Hope sees God's Promises, even in our troubles.

Hope sees that God helps.

Hope sees that God saves.

Hope sees that God makes.

Adventure 29

adventures with friends

I feel so blessed to have the group of friends that we have

I am grateful for the sunday school class that we found six or so years ago when we started to look for a church in the area to attend.

we have made such a great group of friends and loved seeing how the group has grown over the years. they kids for sure out number the adults at this point.

we had a great evening spent with a few of our friends hanging out around their pool, eating hot dogs and hamburgers, yummy sides and delicious desserts.

 

about a month ago when we were at our friends lake house the guys got to throwing the older kids in the water and making them flip. the kids thought it was amazing. there are no photos of this actually happening because we were all in the water watching them do it. one of the boys came to church the next day saying how his favorite part of the lake weekend was being thrown in the water.

 

somehow it all happened again.

Golden Boy and Little Girl went first to show them how it was done (at least I think they did, I just happened to look over and there was my hubby and another friend getting ready to toss my kid in)

here is Little Girl getting thrown in

 

 

this is one cool shot

 

here is Golden boy

 

 

the dad's faces crack me up and Jude positioned himself great.

 

and this shot......oh how I love this shot. almost all of us in the water and that is Little Girl in the air. she landed in the water not on the diving board, every time it looked like one of the kids would land on the diving board but I think it was just where I was standing in the water.

Thanks to Blakeley for snapping these great pictures and sharing them with us.

Again....oh how I just love this picture.
"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all."
~Helen Keller
adventuring with these folks is wonderful. seeing these kids take risks and embracing adventure, beautiful. 

 

 

It was so great to get to see and hang out with our friends that were in town The Zorio's

they were a big part of our Sunday school class when we first started going and then moved away so it was good to get to see them and hang out for a bit.

 

The Hough's have a pretty awesome back yard and the guys ended up going out back to play corn hole and get the fire pit going. the kids went back and fourth between the back yard area and the pool. eventually the daddy's got a game of football going that a lot of the kids participated in. it was a great night for friends, food, fun and fellowship.

thanks for the other pictures Kelly!



My Boy

how is it even possible that this guy is 8. wasn't it just yesterday that i was gazing at this beautiful face just moments after he was born and then rushed to the NICU

after 58 days in the NICU we were then able to bring him home.....again, didn't that just happen

this may be the last picture that i have with him with both of those front teeth missing. one is now all the way in and about 5 days ago the other one started coming in......how did we get here!

he is beautiful and still

busy and adventureous

sweet and affectionate

he loves sports and activities

he is a planner

he changes his mind daily on what he wants to be for halloween (i know it is months away but he is always thinking and planning)

he also has a variety of things he wants to be when he grows up

the latest is a construction worker because he would get to operate all of the big machines and build big buildings.

fast tube rides are never fast enough, even when we get airborne.

i love being his mom and experiencing life with him

he is a joy and delight.

Happy Birthday Golden Boy!

here he is in some other birthday posts!

These People

doing life with these people is refreshing and wonderful.

we are almost all from different cities and states and different backgrounds but have the love of family, life, each other and Jesus in common.

i feel blessed to have them in my life.

they listen, share, learn, grow, challenge and teach me.

thankful for our annual beach trips and the fun times that we always have.

Adventure 28

there has been a plethora of adventures for our family recently

 Annual Lake trip with our friends

 

Trip to Honey and Bear's Lake house for the fourth

 

eating at lambert's restaurant

 

trip to the beach

 

 

family pictures (this one is an adventure all by itself....no peeks yet)

 

but the one that I am wanting to post about isn't an adventure that was planned.

I pretty much remember it as we were leaving the beach, the hubby saying, "hey, let's stop at the little diner that your grandparents like to stop at in Foley."

I said ok and that was that.

I had no clue what the diner was even called, but the hubby......he did.

 I can't believe that my grandparents use to come here and still do whenever they make it to the beach.

 the camera was a must here. I got a picture of the kiddo's out front and some cute ones inside too.

 

 

 

those doors.......swoon

 

this one even more so. how cool that there is still a working pharmacy inside. (the kids thought it was a jail door.)

 

ice box still working.....filled with bottled soda.....wishing I had opened it and taken a picture

 

seriously my favorite sign.....love it

 

chocolate "malt"

we also got a root beer float. which the kids thought sounded gross (now I know that they have had  root beer float before so i am not sure why)



I love how cool and old fashion the inside of the shop is

I love that there are teenagers working there (or at least I think they were teenagers, I am a terrible judge of age, they may have been in college, either way, cool)

I love that the window sign in the corner that said *no wifi*talk to one another*pretend like it is 1927

I love how simple and fun it was

I love that my kids enjoyed it

most of all I love that my grandparents went there when they were younger and it is still around and running and a place that I can take my family