Look out, Mexico....here we come!

I really meant to put up the house tour pictures today, but it was just a busy day! So I guess that will have to wait a week or so. Tomorrow we leave for our first mission trip as a family! Okay, to be honest? It's the first mission trip for all of us except for Sam. I am so excited! We are headed to an area near Tijuana, Mexico to build houses and share the good news. Sam and I are team leaders and we'll have a group of teenagers to guide and help throughout the week. We are bringing along a great nanny to help with the kids.

The bags are packed and we're ready to go! If you are so inclined, you can help us out by praying for us this next week. Pray for changed lives, safety for our family and the entire team, traveling mercies as we fly three hours (before loading onto a shuttle bus which will take us to our final destination) with three little munchkins!

Have a great week, and next weekend I'll let you all know how it went!

Wordy Wednesday

For some reason, I can't seem to find time to blog these days! I finally took some house tour pictures, but I don't have time to get them uploaded to here--maybe tomorrow? Hopefully I'll get them up for y'all.

I do, however, have a picture of the gorgeous tomatoes, squash and cantaloupes that Kelly brought me this week! Fresh out of her garden......mmmm!

And also a recent picture of the baby girl....in all her ponytailed glory! Yes, I know she looks slightly goofy. But I couldn't help myself. Her hair is long enough (sort of!) for pig tails! FUN!

We're off to the library this morning....they're having a summer reading celebration beach party! Does it get any better than that? :)

My wonderful husband....

....brought me these beautiful roses last night!

Isn't he sweet? And thoughtful? And the most amazing husband a girl could have?

Yep. I think so too. :)

Happy Anniversary to us!

I'm back from my little blogging hiatus. It wasn't by my choice that I've been away, you know. And I am awfully glad to be 'back!'

Today Sam and I celebrated our 9th anniversary--wow! I can hardly believe it's been that long. So much has happened and it has been a fun ride! Tonight Sam took me out to dinner and a play (Thoroughly Modern Millie, which was EXCELLENT by the way!) and we were joined by his incredible parents. I love having family to share life with!

I'll put more up here later...we are in the new house and it is wonderful. Maybe I'll get some pictures of the house and y'all can take a virtual tour! (Great idea, Tiffany--thanks!)

Here's the song!

Sam and Jonah's Duet....

We're moving this weekend!

Our new house is complete! This picture was taken before they poured the driveway or cleaned up completely, but that is pretty much what it looks like!

Wow.

It is amazing, and Sam and I feel so undeserving....but we are very excited!

We plan on closing on the house Friday morning and then we'll move in on Saturday morning.

Woohoo! :)

I have a hilarious video of Jonah on my camera, but I can't download it until the camera cord gets unpacked. (This is my life these days--everything I need is packed away somewhere!) I'm uploading a video from my computer to youtube right now (it's Jonah and Sam singing a lovely duet!), so maybe I'll post that one later for your viewing pleasure! ;)

How many husbands does it take to change a light bulb?

Apparently, just one. And he doesn't need a ladder, either.

This morning I overheard Henry giving Jonah some advice:

"Hurry up and brush. You know you can't have a piece of chocolate until after you've brushed your teeth."

And here is Henry being a man after his shower with Daddy. Sam put some deodorant on him (for fun) and Henry thought he should let it get good and dry before he could put his arms down or put on his shirt. He walked around like this for about ten minutes. :)

Happy Monday!

Fourth of July recap

We went out to the lake for the holiday yesterday. It was a great time!

We swam a lot, took the boat out for some tubing,

got to know a family member that we haven't seen in a long time (or in my case, ever!),

had fun with friends,

lit some fireworks (he's only FIVE, people!),

and watched a bunch more.

Between the spectacular show that our guys put on and the neighbors across the bay, we got to see some beautiful fireworks!

Here are the boys with our resident fireworks expert, Stephen (otherwise know to them as "the fireworks man" or "Mr. Fireworks":

I wasn't sure what Bridget would think of the fireworks, but she stayed up late and enjoyed every minute of them! The LOUD booms and snaps and whistles didn't bother her a bit and she loved watching all the bright lights (as long as I was holding her, that is!). I did put her down for a few moments and was able to snap this picture of her:



What a fun and full day! Hope you all had fun and have a great weekend!

Fireworks in a Glass

These are fun, safe, kid-friendly fireworks that you can do with your kids in the kitchen!

• tall drinking glass
• short drinking glass
• red and blue food coloring (or any colors you like)
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• fork
• water

Pour room temperature water into a tall drinking glass, leaving an inch of space at the top.

Add three tablespoons of vegetable oil and two drops each of the red and blue food coloring into the small glass. Do not add water to this glass. Carefully stir this combination a couple of times with a fork to just barely break up the drops. You want to have both small and large beads of coloring.

Slowly pour the oil and food coloring mixture into the water. Watch and in about 30 seconds the beads will begin to explode through the oil and release little red and blue streamers into the water. The streamers will appear as little fireworks!

I found this idea in a local grocery store advertisement, and it is really fun! The boys have already done 'fireworks' twice this morning! :)

My first video blog!

It's only about 30 seconds long....so enjoy! :)

Tuesday

I have a video-blog in the works...ha! I don't have any more time to wait, but it is in the process of uploading onto youtube...so maybe tomorrow! Don't get too excited, it is VERY short. I'm just going to be showcasing one of my unique talents!

I'll leave you with a picture of Bridget taken this morning as she was getting ready to go swimming....