Miniature Golf

We have had a full week getting back into a schedual of being home, getting the kidos use to not having their Daddy around as much, and fighting of a cold.

With Chris and I having already celebrated our anniversary early we thought that we would do something fun as a family. Our two oldest girls had gotten free meals at a local restaurant and free rounds of miniature golf at our local miniature golf course, so we thought that this would be a fun way to spend our anniversary.

After our dinner we headed over to play miniature golf and here are some of the pictures that we took of the girl's first time playing miniature golf. I had a hard time just picking a couple of pictures so there are quite a few. It was so funny watching the girls trying their hardest to just hit the balls let alone get it into a hole.

Trying so hard to hit the ball!!

Also trying so hard to hit the ball! I just love the great golfing stance!

It is just so much easier to guide the ball then do hit it.

Daddy with his handicap for this game!

Trying the "move the club" and "throw the ball" move.

A little help from daddy!

Through out the evening we had seen several people lose their balls into the water. Observing all of this, Miriam came to this water pond and decided to throw her ball in the water and then after enjoying that, she threw her Dad's ball in too.

Still trying hard to get that ball in!

Ready to be done!!!

Our Trip To California

We are back! We arrived back home from our trip to California very early Friday morning.  We had a wonderful time seeing family and friends. It is however so nice to be home! Here are just a few of the highlights from our trip!

The girls on the airplane.

As soon as we arrived in California we had a visit with Maddie's best friend Alayna and her family! We had a wonderful visit, catching up and seeing their new home. Madisen and Alayna had such fun playing with each other. 

Our 10 Year High School Reunion

Chris and I had the pleasure of attending our 10 year high school reunion while in California. I am sorry to say that I do not have any pictures from our reunion because I forgot to bring our camera to the dinner. We had a wonderful time catching up with everyone, finding out what everyone has been up to these past 10 years, and reminiscing about old times past. 

We were able to take a tour of our school campus the following day! It was fun seeing all the the class rooms were we use to spend so much of our time. We also tried to find our classes time capsule that was buried 10 years ago. Everyones efforts of much digging were to no avail. I guess it will always be buried, so if you ever come across a time capsule from the class of 98 let me know because it could be from our class.

As seniors we each got to have our very own parking space. As a project we all painted our parking spots. To our surprise you can still make out what was painted. Here are pictures of our parking spaces.

Chris' parking space

Anna's parking space

Meet "Mokey"

My sisters have two cats named Smokey and Rocky. Miriam fell in love with both of these cats. Every morning when we got up, we were greeted by Miriam asking for "Mockey, Mockey?" She always wanted to go outside to find the cats. For many of you who know our girls well, know that our girls act like they like animals until they get close, then they are afraid, even to the point of tears sometimes. As you can see from the pictures this was not the case this time. She would pet them and even let them rub up against her. She would talked to them and tell them what to do. Even using her "NO" many times with them.

Amy, Rocky, and Miriam

Miriam petting Rocky

Miriam watching one of Grandma and Grandpa's kittens

A Surprise Getaway

Chris surprised me with an early getaway for our anniversary. July 28th will mark our 7th anniversary. Chris planned a night away to Sea Ranch where we stayed for our honeymoon. We had a wonderful time just the two of us. This was the first time in 4 1/2 years that we have been without children over night. We had a wonderful time together and it was beautiful along the coast! The fog never came in, so we had clear skies for our whole visit. Here are a few pictures.

Our Room #11

The view from our room

The Sea Ranch Lodge (where we stayed)

The sunset from our room window

We also had a wonderful time seeing and spending time with both of our families! We enjoyed a Baby shower for my sister Sarah, birthday party for my sister Amy, fun at Chuckie Cheese, and a special Tea Party for all the girls that my sister in law Tracy hosted.

What Can Be Done With An Hour?

Ever since we have had children, well I guess it has been ever since we have been married, Chris and I have not had the blessing of living near family; that is until now. Seven months ago my sister and her husband moved from California to Indiana and now live in our neighborhood. Today my sister took all three of my little ones for an hour so that I could get last minute packing done before we leave on vacation. I do not very often get an hour, free from interruptions, to get things done. What a blessing this was! I was not only able to get packing done, but get my house in order before our trip. Here is all that I was able to accomplish with this hour.

1. Finnish the last minute packing


2. Put two baskets of laundry away


3. Do a "whole house" pick-up, clean-up, and put away


4. Vacuum the up-stairs


5. Clean the sinks, counter bars and toilets in all bathrooms


6. Move the sprinkler a few times


7. Check my email 


8. Read a few new blog postings that were waiting for me in my gmail reader


9. Clean out and rearrange the van for our trip to the airport


10. Start the dishwasher

Thank you Rachel for the time you take to invest in my children's lives! They alway look forward to spending time with you. What a wonderful blessing it was to me to have this time to get my house in order before our trip.

Traveling with Children

I have been gathering things for the girls to use on our coming trip and thought that I would share them with all of you. We have flown many time with our children. More times then I would prefer, but when you live far away from family that is what happens. I have learned along the way what to bring and what not to bring. Each trip I learn something new. Many times what works for one child does not always work for another. My goal is always to find things that are compact, will not be messy and to bring a few things that are new to the girls.

Here are two projects: the paper bags and felt pens are to make puppets and the chalk is to make drawings on the black construction paper. We did both of these on our last trip and the girls enjoyed them.

I think that these are called cootie catchers. I am sure that many of your remember them from your childhood. On our last trip I printed out a pre-made c00tie catcher off the Internet, inside were little fortunes. Maddie loved it but did not quite understand the fortunes. For example one said, you will make a new friend today; after we read it she would ask "Who am I going to meet mommy?"  I didn't really have an answer for her, other then trying to explain that fortunes are not real. After these kinds of questions, on almost every fortune, I decided to make my own. Maddie has been really interested in knock knock jokes lately so I made one that has knock knock jocks inside and another that has some bible verses she knows. I also put shapes in various colors on them so that we can get a little practice on shapes and colors at the same time. Click here to see instructions on how to make a cootie catcher.

I usually like to make a trip to the dollar store or to Target's dollar section to get a few small things that the girls would like. So $8 latter this is what I have. Everything with multiple pieces gets put into a zip-lock bag. The jelly beans will also be put into a zip lock bag so that after they are opened they will have a place to be kept.

Here are a few of the things that I am bringing from our own closet. The stickers and note pads are always enjoyed by the girls. On the top right you will see princess post-it-notes that I got for our last trip. The post-it-notes are fun because the girls can draw on them and then stick them anywhere and I do not have to worry about them not coming off. The crayons are to use with the coloring book from the dollar store. I love these retractable crayons! They help to keep things neat and mess free.

These are two things that I would never fly without. Wipe are a must to clean up snack and food mess and project messes (other then there normal use). The little blue roll are little plastic bags (I buy them at Target or Walmart in the baby section). These are made for dirty diapers, but I use them to hold all of our garbage. It is amazing how empty cups, snack rappers, and dirty wipes collect and need a place to be put. This way when the stewardess comes around to collect the trash it is all ready for her to take.

I fit all the activities and toys into the big freezer zip lock bag and the green and white bag on the right. The little bag in the middle holds all of Macaylee's toys.

Will be taking these things, a bag with snacks, our portable DVD player, a small soft portable cold food holder, a Leapster and a children's camera. We will be able to fit everything into a small carry-on suit case, diaper bag and Madisen's small rolling suite case (Madisen's suite case is more for her enjoyment then for anything else).

What are the things that you love to do with your kids when you travel. Is there anything that your kids love to play with on trips? I would love to hear your ideas and tips.

Weekend Musings

We have had a full but fun weekend! From slip-n-slides to new words, and more. I just wanted to share with you all a few of the fun things we got to do.

• Miriam started saying a new word "NO". I am actually really surprised this word has not come out earlier but she would always communicate it though UH UH. It has been hard for us not to smile when she tells us "NO" so seriously and firmly in her cute little voice and sometimes even pointing her little finger. She has been using it often and it has been cute listening to her use it while off playing by herself.


• On Friday Chris and the girls got to dress up as cows for cow appreciation day. Chick-fil-A was giving a free entree item to anyone who had something "cow-like" on or was dressed like a cow. I was not able to join them at Chick-fil-A because I was home hosting a baby shower but from what I heard they had fun and enjoyed their free dinner. Here are a few pictures of my cows.


• Saturday morning Chris and Maddie had a date. They went to one of our favorite little cafes here in town for breakfast. Chris enjoyed biscuits and gravy and Maddie a Mickey Mouse pancake. From what I heard Maddie had a lot of fun telling Chris a lot of fun things and all that is going on in her little life :-).


• Saturday was warm and a little muggy, after naps the girls enjoyed a new slip-n-slid. For all you moms out there I was at Walgreen's on Saturday and they were clearing out all their summer pools and slip-n-slides. I paid $2.49 for the slide and they are offering a $5 rebate for their pools and slides so I will actually get money back for purchasing it, if you have a Walgreen's near you, you might just want to check it out. For the rebate, check their Easy Saver booklet, usually located by the adds. Maddie enjoyed going on her knees down the slip-n-slide. Miriam also enjoyed the slip-n-slide but usually just scooted the whole way down it. It also took Miriam a few falls before she realized that she could not run or even walk, like Mommy and Daddy told her. Macaylee enjoyed sitting in the little pool at the end of the slide. Here are some pictures so you can see for yourself.

Ready Set Go!

Miriam's Slide Crawl

Miriam's Scoot.....

almost there.....

almost there!

Macaylee having fun!

• The other neat thing for Chris was the opportunity to preach in the main service (or "big church" as he says) last Sunday and today. He always enjoys teaching, and always does such a great job (I am just a little bias). I know that some of you might want to hear him so click here for part one and here for part two. He taught on the life of Samuel.

Shopping for TIME

I just finished reading Shopping for Time by Carolyn Mahaney and her daughters Nicole Whitacre, Kristin Chesemore and Janelle Bradshaw. This book was a great encouragement to me and suggested some new ideas that my husband and I hope to implement in our own lives.

In this book there are 5 tips given to help use time more efficiently and in a way that would most glorify the Lord. Most of the tips offered I am already implementing in my life, but the insight and advice given was very helpful as I "shop" for the best way to use my time.

The tip that I was most intrigued with and excited about was the third tip from chapter 4: Sit and Plan (taking a personal retreat). Personal retreats first started for the Mahaney family, when Carolyn had two small children at home and found herself burnt out and spiritually tired. CJ (her husband) decided to sent her away for 24 hours to rest and renew her spirit. After doing this for many years, Carolyn Mahaney has come up with a plan to best use your time during a personal retreat.

She advises you first to begin by evaluating the priorities in your life, 7 priorities are given for your consideration. After evaluating these areas and bringing them before the Lord you should pick 1 or 2 of these areas/priorities that have the greatest need for change. Through prayer and planing you are encouraged to write up a plan of action of how to best bring about change in these areas of your life.

At first the thought of evaluating all these areas was a bit overwhelming to me, but the more I thought about this idea the more excited I got about it. I plan almost every detail and aspect of my daily life, so that I can be efficient in the use my time. It only makes sense that I would do the same with my spiritual life. Here is just a little excerpt from Shopping For Time "taking the time to comprehensively evaluate our life causes the truly vital issues to rise to the top. In other words, we discover which area is most in need of attention and which steps for change will advance us the furthest. Each season offers only a few best deals, so in order to be successful shoppers of time, we must identify those best deals and buy them up."

I am very excited as Chris and I plan to take personal retreats. Whether the retreat is 24 hours of time, our just a few hours, I think this concept will be a great help to us in being better shoppers of our time. When the time comes for me to take a personal retreat I look forward to sharing my experience with all of you.

If you have not read "Shopping For Time" I would greatly recommend that you do! It was a great blessing to me as I strive to grow in the Lord and use my time wisely. If personal retreats are something that you are already implementing in your life I would love to hear how it has helped you and what this time of planning looked like for you.