"I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for..."

ICE CREAM!!!!

Makayla absolutely loves ice cream, sherbet, Popsicles, freeze pops, fudge bars, ice cream bars covered with chocolate...well, I think you get the idea. Tonight I was eating an ice cream cone, and she was fussing to share it with me. As you can tell by the picture, it was chocolate, and she sure enjoyed every bite. I just couldn't help myself, I just had to grab the camera. As you can see...again, she also loves the CAMERA, and always has a winning smile for the photographer.

"I scream, you scream, we all scream to be back home" is sure to be our moto by the time Saturday evening gets here. Friday morning our family will be leaving early to go to a wedding in PA. When we lived in NY, our pastor there had two daughters, and one of them is getting married in PA on Friday night. Her name is Jeannette Heckman (she's one of my blog friends, check out her blog, she has several more pictures posted of she and her fiance'). We're real excited that we get to go. Paul's parents will be there too, so it'll be nice to see them again. I was able to get a room at the Holiday Inn, Holidome on Priceline for $45!!!! I was pretty excited. However, it is going to be a quick trip, and we're heading back home Saturday (about a 7 hour trip). I'm sure by the time we hit Indianapolis on Saturday evening, we'll probably be about ready to SCREAM! But I'm sure that it'll be worth it. Be sure to check back later because I'll be posting wedding pictures. Below is a picture of the engaged couple...soon to be husband and wife.

Everyone have a great holiday weekend! See ya on the other side of this PA trip!

My Baby Is Growing UP!!!!!!

On Saturday my little baby turned 9 months old. It just doesn't seem possible. She is crawling everywhere, and has recently discovered my "lids" drawer. Playing in this drawer has become her new favorite pastime. Here she is, after she crawls to the drawer, she's figured out how to open it, and for a few days, sat on the floor and played.

She now has graduated to "standing" at the drawer. She is pulling herself up to things, and sometimes she even lets go after she has gotten on her feet. I'm afraid she's going to be walking soon. Not sure I'm ready for that quite yet.

Here she is standing a little bit taller (I think), but you'll notice in the background remnants of her other favorite past-time...putting her little hands all over the stove, leaving lots of little finger prints.

And then, tonight, she was on the floor, and a little pink dress that she had worn earlier had fallen nearby. She picked it up, and by herself, put it on. As you can see, she still needs to work on this a little, but won't be long she'll be dressing herself completely :).

The kids put her in this blanket and were hauling her around the house. She loved every minute of it...as you can tell. Almost, without fail, when she sees someone with a camera aimed at her, she's sure to "ham" it up for the picture.

And since I had pictures of all of the other kids in this post except Jeffrey, I thought I'd share this photo of him. The other night after we had read our Bible story, he was sitting on the couch looking at the pictures. The Eeyore costume we got at a garage sale, and they've had a great time with it. He was so intently looking at the book, I just thought he looked really cute.

Hope everyone has a great day.

The Natives Are Restless

Oh my...need I say more? What a day! My children, first thing this morning, painted their faces, gave themselves native names, donned what "Indian" gear they had, and then went totally WILD all day. Do any of you mothers out there ever long for bedtime? Tonight, I'll admit, it just couldn't come soon enough. My children are really starting to get bored with summer. They've had a great summer, got to do a lot of fun things, go lots of places, but I almost think they're tired of being home so much. Playing in the pool isn't nearly as fun as it was the first week in June, and riding their bikes just isn't cutting it these days. Thankfully school starts Friday. YEAH!!!!! Jeffrey won't start for another couple of weeks, and he'll only go three days a week, but the two oldest will be in full swing starting Monday. Here are my "natives".

I think DaNae was a combo of "native" and "clown". Anyway, they used their imaginations, and they certainly were original.

And then there's Makayla. She was VERY restless today as well. Very fussy, and dissatisfied. I finally ended up putting her in my "wrap", and doing my housework with her in that, sitting on my hip. She seemed much more content. She just wanted to be held all day. I think she's getting close to getting a tooth or two.

Anyway, now the house is quiet, and I truly am enjoying it. I know, I know, one of these days, I'll long for the sound of "natives" running through the house. I'm trying to keep that in mind.

Crushed Glasses, Cracker Barrel, Camping Paradise, Celebrations, Church and Crashing

Well, this weekend has been a whirlwind, or so it seems. Friday evening we were getting ready to leave to go and stay at my grandparents house (they were not going to be home, but had offered their home to us to stay over night), DaNae was changing her clothes, had laid her glasses on her bed, and Jeffrey went in her room, and began bouncing on her bed, and did not know that her glasses were there. She came out of her room crying that Jeffrey had broken her glasses, and the picture below is just about the way they looked, only difference was that the lens was not broken. I rushed to the dr's office where we purchased them, but of course they were closed, so I ran to Wal-mart, and they had a pair of frames that the lenses would fit into. So we purchased the new frames, and now she is back in business. After we ate pizza, we left for southern Indiana, and arrived at my grandparent's place around 10 p.m.

Saturday morning, we met my dad's younger brother, Larry and his wife Sharon at Cracker Barrel for breakfast. We had a wonderful time, and it was great to be with them again. We really don't live that far apart, but it seems that we just don't get to see them very often. This is Larry and Sharon Hudson.

Here is the picture of the other side of the table, my little family.

After breakfast, we headed further south to Clarksville, Indiana and stopped at the Bass Pro Shop there. We had never been there, but had heard wonderful things about it. We really didn't need anything, we just stopped to take in the "scenery", and boy was it something. They had a stream running through the place with real fish in it, and hundreds of stuffed game all over the store. It was quite the experience. We spent close to two hours there, and could have stayed much longer. Here is a picture of the entrance.

1 I wanted to get Jeffrey's picture opening the door. He looked so little compared to the door. It was all he could do to get it open.

Just a picture of some of the wildlife inside.

I thought this was really neat, the two buck fighting.

This bear was quite large.

After a couple of hours there, we headed a little further south to Louisville, Ky, for a 50th Wedding Anniversary celebration for my aunt and uncle. We don't get to see them very often either, so it was great to be with them. I have two cousins, their daughters, that I haven't seen since my grandfather died five and a half years ago, so it was real nice to see them, and be with them again. Here is the "golden" couple: Paul and Geneva Hairston.

Fifty years ago the eloped. He was living in Florida, and she boarded a bus, and went and met him, and they got married. He had never given her an engagement ring, so for their 50th, he gave her an "engagement" ring. She was so surprised, she told me later that she had no idea.

Here is a picture of them with their two girls. On the left is Pamela Hinson. Her and her husband are officers in the Salvation Army, and on the right, Angela Hairston who is a respiratory therapist.

My grandmother was there as well, and I wanted to get a picture of her with all of my children. I don't know how much longer I'll have the opportunity to have their picture taken with her. She is a godly saint, and I love her dearly. Her name is Ruth Brown. (As you can see, Makayla was really "hammin' it up".)

After the reception, my aunt and uncle invited everyone to dinner, and then to visit their new home that they just recently had built. We did go to dinner and visited with them in their new home, and then headed home. We arrived home later than we had planned, but it was worth it, and we were so glad that we went.

Then this morning, it was good to be back in our home church again. We had been away for the two previous Sundays because of camp. Of course we enjoyed being at camp, but there's no place like home, and especially if it has air conditioning :) (After the heat at camp, the A/C was a welcome relief.) Had some friends over after church, and DaNae has a friend spending the night, so it's been a busy weekend, but a good one. It was great to be with family and friends and to be reminded as I was yesterday by one of the guests at my aunt and uncle's reception (she asked me how many children I have, and I told her 4). She said: "You are rich". I responded, "Yes, I am, very, very rich." Thank you, Lord for your richness in my life.

Needless to say, I am ready to "crash", ready to hit it for the week that lies ahead. It promises to be a busy one. I think that every night this next week is already full and school starts on Friday.

(This picture was taken of Jonathan on the way home from IHC this year, but I thought that it was pretty appropriate for the way I feel about now. I think I could sleep in just about any position.) Thanks for stopping by, and be sure to let me know you were here (all you lurkers).

Motto To Live By

The other day I was browsing through a magazine, and came across a sign that read:

Motto To Live By
Life should NOT be a
journey to the grave with the intention of arriving
safely in an
attractive
and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways,
chocolate in one
hand, latte in the other, body throughly used up,
totally worn
out and
screaming "Woo Hoo, what a ride!"

I thought it was cute, so I thought I'd pass it along. Have a great day.

School Shopping and Decorating!

"We got out our lists, and checked them twice, and found out just what would be nice"...to have for the new school year. I took the children to Wal-mart and we got all (I hope) of the things that they will need to get started this school year. We brought everything home, divided it, sharpened pencils, and sharpened pencils, and...well, you get the picture. I think that the children are really getting excited for the school year to start. We got our school uniforms in the mail before we went to camp, and a week from tomorrow the new school year will start. Just doesn't seem possible. I fixed supper for the family, and as soon as Paul got home from work I headed out the door to a friend's house who has just recently moved. Becky had called me earlier in the week and wanted me to come and help her decorated her house. So for about five hours tonight I hung pictures and shelves, and on and on. I wasn't able to get the whole house completed, but most of the downstairs is done, and I'll go back next week to finish up. It was great to be with her again, and to get to do something that I thoroughly enjoy. Tomorrow I'll be packing to go away for the night. My aunt and uncle are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary in Louisville, KY this weekend. We are planning on leaving tomorrow evening, spending the night at my grandparent's place, then going the rest of the way for the reception on Sat. This weekend will prove to be a busy one, I'm sure. Just wanted to blog once more before the weekend hit. Probably won't blog again until sometime next week. Everyone take care, and I am sure am glad you stopped by. Be sure to let me know you were here.

Laughter, Licks, Listening, Laundry, LaDonna, Lakes, and Lethargic

Well, finally I'm back to blogging again. It's been a couple of weeks, and it's been great to get away. Going to camp is always a highlight for our family. Here are just a few of the things that we were able to enjoy while we were there.

One evening we had corn on the cob (we opted to eat in the motor home because it was soooo hot). Makayla loves to chew on the the corn too, so we gave her some, and she was sure enjoying it, and we sure got lots of smiles from watching her. Of course there were lots of other times that we enjoyed laughter, that's just part of being with friends, and part of being at camp.

The weather was the hottest that we've had in a long time...sweltering heat. So between Paul and myself (the children drank some of it, but most of it was consumed by just the two of us), we drank more than 13 gallons of water. Needless to say, the children ate lots and lots of Popsicles, and you can see that Makayla is enjoying one as well. Anytime the children had one, she thought that she should get "equal licks"...one lick for them, one lick for her.

Of course, camp means lots of "listening" too. It was so great to hear the children doing their program. Danae had a solo, and she did a good job. It was also great to hear Bro. Grile again in the early morning prayer times. He is sooo good, and so wise. I learned so much in those times. It was great to hear the Cassedy's sing, and to hear Bro. Brueger preach, but most importantly, it was great to hear the Holy Spirit speak. To listen to Him speak softly, showing me areas where I need to grow deeper, need to draw closer. I was able to ride my bike every day but two (Sundays), and one day on my bike ride the Lord rode alongside of me, and so tenderly showed me an area that I need to work on. I am so thankful for His faithfulness, and for knowing just how to show us just what we need.

(You may wonder about the "antennas". The theme in the children's services was "bugs", so each child made their own antenna, and wore them in the program.)

Jeffrey just before the kids program.

Then of course camp wouldn't be camp without doing laundry. This was on Wednesday, and I think I did four double loads, and shared one triple load with my friend. However, by the time we got home on Sunday night, guess what? I had nine more loads to do. With the weather being so hot, you just felt like you needed more showers, and needed to change clothes more often.

Then camp wouldn't be the same without friends. This is the only picture of my friend Ladonna that I took this year. It was great to be with her and her husband Joe again, and to pick up right where we left off. We went to Wal-Mart together two or three times, did laundry together, and went to the mall too. It was great to be with you again, my friend.

On Friday, our family, along with a guy from our church, rented a pontoon boat and took it out on a lake that is about four miles from the campground. We had the boat for the afternoon, and just enjoyed being outside (Friday was a lot cooler, and much more enjoyable) on the water. We had a great time. It was very relaxing, and it just put the finishing touch on our "family vacation". Here's Jonathan driving the boat.

And so now, by this time, we've made the journey home, unloaded the motor home, done all of the laundry, put everything away, and are still exhausted from the heat, we feel like the picture below...lethargic. I just thought this was so cute. Her pacifier hanging out of her mouth. I just had to take her picture.

I did want to say one more thing. We had a wonderful time, it was great being away, and enjoy all of the things listed above, as well as many other things. But probably the biggest miracle of all was the fact that Paul made it through the whole week without any respiratory problems. He didn't have to use his nebulizer once, and very rarely had to use even his maintenance inhaler. For anyone that knows Paul very well at all, knows that this is a miracle. With the weather that we had last week (in the 90's, with very high humidity), he rode his bike 5-6 miles a day, and did fine. I just want to take this opportunity to thank the Lord for His touch on his behalf. Six years ago, he probably would have ended up in the ER. God certainly has touched him, and we are so very thankful. God is so good, and even though He didn't change the weather like we had prayed, He proved Himself faithful to us by giving Paul such a special touch. Praise the Lord!!!!!!

Our Home Away From Home...

You are looking at our home away from home, after tomorrow, where we will spend the next 10 nights. We are headed to Camp meeting. I grew up going to camp, and absolutely loved it, and never would have wanted to miss it. So...when I began having children, I wanted the same thing for them. So when Jonathan was about two or three, we started going to camp, and haven't missed a year since. My children look forward to this time all year long. In the dead of winter, they talk about it, wishing they could go. This is our "family vacation". This is the third year that Paul has been able to take the whole time off, and go along, and we love it. We go to the Friends Camp in Muncie, In. This year the evangelists are: Gary Breuger and The Cassideys. We're really looking forward to the R&R as well as fellowship and spiritual enrichment. We leave tomorrow evening after Paul gets home from work, and we can hardly wait. The children are practically counting the hours. So...I won't be blogging for several days, unless I "happen" upon a computer I can use that has wireless Internet (not counting on that though). Everyone take care, and be sure to stop back by in a couple of weeks to check out the pics that I'm sure I'll have from camp. If you think of it, pray that the weather will cool down a bit, it's supposed to be stifling, and Paul really doesn't deal well with the humidity (he has severe asthma).