Hi and Bye

Our little boy loves to wave hi and bye now!  He even says the "B" sound and a breathy "H" sound.  He is so cute.   Here is a small video of him waving when he was swinging.  (Sorry for the poor quality.  We had the camera inside in the cool and when we brought it outside in the heat, it got all fogged up!)

Lovin’ letters!

Grace has been thrivin’ on our School times together!  She loves making words – AND SENTENCES!  She is just amazing.  On Thursday we got out the tiles from Scrabble and she made the alphabet in order, the names of the people in our family and sentences like “Fat cat sat on a IPAD.”  She is pretty funny! 

                                 

First Mac and Cheese Experience!

                                 

                He likes it! 

The Corny State

We finally have corn in this state… you would think that Iowa would be full of stands and stores with corn, but they just started selling it here because the weather made corn come late.  That is ok with us….we will just have corn into September this way! 

We were delighted to get some really yummy sweet corn to have for dinner… the girls were excited to husk it, but they wanted to wait for Daddy to get home to start the process.  And Hannah, true to form, was eating her uncooked corn.. she just couldn’t wait!  We knew she was going to do it! 

                  

                             

                             

                             

Even Josiah was enjoying the corn this year….

                  

When we were all done, the girls still wanted more and more and more!  They loved it!  We ended up splitting Josiah’s for the girls!  I guess we will just have to get more…

Have you seen the blue marker?

                                               “No, Mommy, I haven’t seen it any where!” 

 

Let’s Pretend!

It is SO STINKIN’ HOT HERE!! Yup… the mid west is really hot with the heat index between 110-120 degrees!  It is hot!   We are not really going outside except if we are playing in water because it is HOT!!!  Thank you, God, for our AC!!

The girls have loved played pretend lately… using the barn to play with the animals and using the small dollhouse to play house  (they really like to have all of the members of the family go “potty”).  To keep the girls happy and occupied, I pulled out some dolls and dollhouse furniture that I had when I was teaching.  Some of the pieces are even from when I was little.  They have loved playing with it – for hours already!  They love having the mommy, daddy, Nanna and Grampa going to bed.  They love putting the kids to bed in the bunk  beds.  It really funny to hear them talk to each other in the voices of the family and carrying out the routines that we have here.  This afternoon I will have to show them that the family can fit in one of the toy vans we have!  Hannah will be thrilled! 

                                

                            

 

Seriously?

That is what I thought when I saw this idea on one of my favorite blogs…there was NO WAY that my girls were going to love “painting with water” like the kids on this blog.  BUT thirty minutes later, the girls and I were still painting and loving it so much that we barely acknowledged Danny when he got home and we definitely did NOT want to go inside so I could make dinner!  We were hooked!  The girls are looking forward to doing it again…. SOON!

All you need is water, a cup, a paint brush and a concrete surface.. our driveway was perfect!

                       

We loved making pictures and names (Hannah liked making blobs!)…..

                                      

                                      

This WAS a snowman until Hannah attacked it… you can’t erase water….. and also be careful… it evaporates quite quickly in the sun and heat!

                    

Josiah really liked chewing on the paint brushes… yes, they were clean ones! 

                

I am not a shopper

I have never been one of those girls who likes to shop… it is not something that I naturally like to do in my spare time (do I have spare time?)  I am NOT one of those people who enjoy going to the mall, especially on Black Friday.  I try to avoid shopping at all costs on THAT day.  I am NOT a shopper.  I think one of the reasons is because you need money to shop – to have fun shopping.  I generally do not have wads of money in my wallet waiting to be spent on clothes or home stores.  I have money for things that my family needs and there ISN’T much for other spending.  (except for the little “blow money” that I get each month.) Another reason that I am not a shopper is that I always have kids with me.  Can you really think and shop with the kids?  I usually have a list with butter, eggs, diapers, salad dressing and carrots on it.  I need that focus with the plethora of things that can distract me in a store – bathroom breaks, dropped cookies, crying baby, fighting kids, seeing a friend, an injury, a sale on toothpaste and knowing that it will be free with my coupon, etc. 

BUT now that I have discovered Hobby Lobby, there IS a reason to shop and I have learned that it CAN be a fun experience.  I simple LOVE that store.  When we first moved into this house, I had a vision for the rooms and how I wanted them decorated.  I definitely do NOT have the budget to get things the way that I think they should be, but I pick up little things and I am happy with the progress.  My vision for my bedroom was to have some kind of round metal piece to hang above our bed.  I wasn’t sure what it was going to look like, but I would know it when I saw it.  I checked several stores and home improvement centers, but I finally found what I liked at Hobby Lobby.  I was scared to look at the price even though it was in the clearance section.  It was $20!!! SOLD!! It didn’t have the glass votive holders, but I could splurge and get them at Wal Mart.  It was originally around $80 so this was a GREAT price!  Ok… this IS fun!

                                                 

Anyway, I have been going back to HL to search through their clearance section for more things for my home, and this week almost all of the clearance was just marked down to 90% off!  That is a price that I can handle.  I got a clock for the wall that was originally $60 for only $6!  I got some pillar candles for 90 cents and 60 cents for the smaller ones!  It was so much fun… I guess shopping can be fun when the prices are right! 

There's a new name written down in glory!

Today is going to be a great day:  Grace came into our room this morning to tell us that while she was in bed last night she talked to God and asked Him to forgive her sin and wash it all away.  She wanted Him to live in her heart to help her not to sin and wanted to live in Heaven with Him forever!    

We all had tears in our eyes!  We are so proud of her to make this HUGE decision to follow the Lord!  We feel that she has made this decision on her own and understands it as much as a four year old can!  We have felt that we do NOT want to push her into saying a prayer just to get that done, but we want to give her the information and tell her what Jesus did for her.  We want it to be HER decision with the conviction of the Holy Spirit and not the conviction of mommy. 

Of course, she had to call Nanna and Grampa this morning to tell them the news (they pray for their grandchildren's salvation from the day they hear the news that the mommy's expecting!)!  They were delighted... teary too!  :)    The Legacy of the Lord continues in our family! 

"There's a New Name Written Down in Glory!"

9 month old Hunk

While playing outside yesterday, I realized that I HAD to get some 9 month old pictures of our little Josiah!  So… I ran inside to grab the camera.  When I returned I realized that I didn’t want to take pictures of him in the sweet potato and green bean smeared shirt that he was wearing…. so off came the shirt and shorts!  He is just the cutest little 9 month old hunk, especially when only in his diaper! 

He crawls all around these days and pulls himself up to stand on any thing or any one.  He loves to listen to music, especially if he is going to hear a song on Daddy’s IPAD.  He loves playing in the toy room with his sisters and they like to entertain him.  He sticks everything in his mouth – including Daddy’s toes!  YUCK!  He loves to eat and we really haven’t found anything that he doesn’t like. He is still a Momma’s boy…. but Daddy is starting to be a little cooler in his eyes.   He will go for his 9 month appointment next Monday… I know he is a peanut, but that is ok with me!  (Uncle Jimmy isn’t too big and look how wonderful he is!)

                   

                    

                    

He's on the Move!

Here are the videos that I promised, Mom!

Fun with tongues…

I bet you are intrigued with a title like that… right?  What ARE those Lightners doing?  Well, we got out the sprinkler today and the girls had a BLAST with trying to drink the water and put different body parts in the water.  After a few minutes of laughter, I just HAD to get out the camera to take a few shots…I am SO glad I did… these are HYSTERICAL!!!  What a great way to capture the fun this afternoon!  I love these kiddos! 

                   

                   

                   

                   

                     Put your bottom in, put your bottom out.. put your bottom in and shake it all around….

                   

                             What a beauty! 

                    

                                     She is so pretty and getting more and more grown up everyday!

                    

                   

I love that they can take something as simple as a sprinkler with freezing cold water and turn it into a wildly fun afternoon that entertains themselves, me and Josiah!  (We just wish Daddy was here to join in all of the laughter!)