What I have been up to lately

We have been going up some days but every night to work on the parsonage. It is coming along. Tomorrow the carpet is to be layed. That will make a huge difference. Friday, I babyset a little 10 1/2 mo. old baby Isabelle from our church. Sarah Brooke stood on her head to make the baby happy and all Cameron had to do was walk in the room. She kept wanting him so he got this "brainy" idea to switch their clothes and trick her. The scary part about the picture is I didn't tell them how to stand.

July 28, Saturday,was David's birthday. Our dear friend Ronda offered to watch the kids for us so we could go on a date. We went to the Gaither Family Resources bookstore and they were having a meet and greet time with the Gaither Vocal Band. We had them sign a c.d. for us and made small talk. Then we bought a songbook and had Gloria Gaither sign that for us. The bookstore also has a latte cafe so it was only fitting that we have Gaither club sandwiches. We sat where you could watch one of their videos playing. The time was gone before we knew it. We scurried home to get the house ready for Uncle Jerry and Aunt Annie. They spent the night with us so they could be at church on our Pastors first Sunday. They took us out for David's birthday to a Mexican restaurant here in town. We loved having them around. Thank you for coming over!! Aunt Annie and I stayed up chatting till late :) My friend Kristen went into labor with her twins. My last check in was 1:30 a.m. and they weren't born yet. I made a red velvet cake and icing for David's birthday.

Sunday was our Pastors first day! We all are so excited and ready to see God move in our midst. He preached Sunday morning about our need for His presence. Very good!! They came to our house for dinner along with another lady from our church. We had the typical Sunday dinner. Uncle Jerry brought a roast that had wonderful flavor and a big 'ol bag of potatoes. After lunch we took Pastor Mike and Michelle for their first look at the parsonage. They seemed so excited and very easy to please. It was a non-stop weekend. I crashed Sunday night, with my heart full

It's Miss Ashley again

I was on the phone when I witnessed this flower girl doing her thing. Sarah Brooke had dressed her up in a dress that had been given to us but they hadn't worn. Sarah Brooke was the wedding singer and photographer while Miss Ashley played the flower girl role using the petals and basket from Curtis and Jennifers wedding. The ruffly sleeve is under her arm, the sewn in hanger holders were on the outside, the gloves are socks. Absolutely hilarious but they were in their pretend world having a ball. Wish you all could have attended :)

The energizer bunny runs down

This is what happens when your parents have another work day at the parsonage. Your batteries run down. We worked all day up there again. Today we pulled up old carpet, cleaned windows and stained the kitchen cabinets. We were eating supper and watched Ashley getting sleepier and sleepier until she layed her head down and went to sleep.

Cameron is 8 yrs old now!!

Sunday night we celebrated Cameron's birthday. His party theme was stars. The Englands and Kennedys came over to help us celebrate. We put kiddy fireworks and starbursts in the treat bags. We had chicken salad sandwiches on Italian bread, cubed cheese, chips, star shaped jello. Loads of fun for some very hyper kids. (mine were anyway)
Pausing for a moment so Mommy can get a picture.
It's official now. I can't believe that I have an 8 yr. old
This was his actual birthday. We were in Kansas. I made cupcakes and placed them in the shape of an 8.

Girlfriends

Sarah Brooke and Cassie England. They were born 7 weeks apart. This past Wednesday we met Ronda and Cassie for lunch and a little shopping and celebrated Cassie turning 6. We had a blast together. We had lunch at an ice cream parlor so we HAD to end with a scoop of ice cream. Our small waffle cones came with 3 scoops of ice cream. We shopped in a small town atmosphere. The time was gone before we knew it.

I love this picture too. Look at their feet position :) I think it speaks of their personality. Cassie has her purse on her shoulder, Sarah Brooke's is left on the bench. Sarah Brooke likes girlie stuff but she just looks like a tomboy. They say Sarah Brooke looks alot like I did at this same age and so this picture makes me wonder is that what Ronda and I would have looked like. Ronda is such a dear friend to me. I hope our girls will always be friends and get to grow up together.

Thursday--What I have been up to today

Our family has been up at the parsonage doing lawn work all day. I'm smiling because it was fun to see things shape up but I'm almost crying too because I'm so tired. We were given access to the property yesterday and the church board did a walk through last evening. David happened to have time today so we got a jump start on the lawn. Saturday is a big work day. I'm torn about wanting to be back up there but I come with 3 kids and they might be more in the way than helpful.
I don't think I ever blogged about our new Pastor. His name is Mater--Mike Mater that is. I think we will call him Pastor Mike. He graduated from GBS this past Spring and is getting married in August. He comes highly recommended and we are excited.

Even more Kansas pics

Here is the grand finale :) Near Mom and Dad's house is a new subdivison and this waterfall is the entrance for it. Kansas City is known for its fountains. This waterfall was man made. I loved the sound of it.

Just anothe veiw that I loved. While we were playing in the blazing sun David went to another part of the state and played farm helper for a couple days for Doyle Mahan. Little did we realize that is the same town as fellow blogger Aimee Snyder. Our husbands got to meet and he got the town tour.

Olathe is celebrating 150 yrs. Scattered throughout the town are these boots. All of them look different and from the road you would never believe they are this big.

Three generations. Thanks for a wonderful time home Momma and Daddy.

More Kansas pics

There is a really neat petting zoo and village that we usually go to while we are there. It was HOT out so we took refuge in this one room school house. The kids drew on the slate boards. This village also includes a place to pan for gold, fishing, horse rides, look inside an Indian mud house with all the pelts hanging around and etc.

This is what Cameron came up with. His idea of a golden retriever.

This was in the dairy barn. Sarah Brooke trying her hand at milking.

Cowboy for a minute.

There's no place like home, There's no place like home. I clicked my heels and drove through the night to get to Kansas where my parents and brother live. We had planned on traveling July 4th getting there for supper :) but as I was packing David asked me if I wanted to leave that night. We made our decision and pulled out at midnight. The kids were already in bed so we hauled them to the van. We arrived at Mom and Dad's (early for a holiday morning) and woke them up. It was worth the miserable morning hrs. of driving to see the surpise on thier faces. I got the 2:30-6 am time slot. We had 4 wonderful days together.
Who knew that it would be cold waiting for the fireworks.
Our back of the van picnic while we waited for it to get dark.
The little blue dot is Miss Ashley in the swing. She would go as high as we could push her and for as long as we would. It is hung with a rope from way up in the tree.
Dad took off the mowing deck and let Cameron drive all around.

Happy Birthday America!!!

Sunday morning in our front yard. We are celebrating early. July 4th is one of my favorite holidays. I'm proud to be an American!!!



This is a face you gotta love.

Our weekend

Friday --late afternoon we took Sarah Brooke to JC Penney's for her 6yr. pics. In a few days I will have them available online. The getting there is the stressful part. On the way David is to drop off a letter of intent to another agent in order to conserve gas and time and he takes forever. I'm not supposed to get uptight because it is a business transaction (I tell myself over and over). We arrived about 5 min. late but they didn't seem to notice. Sarah Brooke did great with only a couple fake smiles. The challenge is when to take out the curlers--I took them out before we left in hopes that the curls would be softer as opposed to being a tight, kinky curl. Well we got something in between. oh me! The evening was saved by a stop at McDonald's for supper.
Saturday--I kicked in gear and got the bedrooms livable again. In the afternoon we headed to an outdoor birthday party. It was Miss Ashley's best friend Cade. If I had remembered the camara you would get to see how adorable he is. Dark headed, big brown eyes and a mischevious smile. We took the kids jeep and bicycles and they rode them all over. The weather was perfect! The food could not have tasted better. My dear friend Ronda (Cade's mommy) knows how to make simple food taste awesome and it is done with such class that it makes your heart smile. We didn't know when to go home, it was so relaxing and fun. The kids fell asleep on the way home and didn't get their Saturday night baths. Please don't turn me in.
Sunday--We had a guest speaker for the day. We are inbetween Pastors. After church we had a unanimous vote for Bro. Mike Mater. He was contacted and accepted. WE ARE SO EXCITED. The details of when he will come and all has to be worked out. The parsonage needs alot (tons) of work so that will consume our time for the next month or so. It is just update time on the parsonage not that it wasn't taken care of. We ended our day around the computer checking out all of my favorite blogs. The girls were combing my hair. Life doesn't get better than that :)
Today--David's brother and nephew are coming into town today with the quartet and I'm sitting her blogging. I need to get a move on or they will see how we normally live. ha
I will post pics tomorrow.