to the caribbean we go...

We could not be more excited about our summer vacation this year...my dad is taking our entire family, along with my brother's family and my sister's family to the Riveria Maya/Cancun area of Mexico!!!!! Did I say we are excited?!? :D We've spent the last three months researching and planning, and now we are just counting the weeks until take-off.

We are looking forward to the being on the beach, snorkeling, parasailing, EATing :), and lots of other fun stuff, but mostly getting to do all of those things with family. I don't think we've ever spent that much time together before...I hope we can put up with each other for that long!! :)

We are flying out of Atlanta, where my best friend from college happens to live. We are very excited about getting to have dinner and enjoy a little time with her family before we fly out the next morning. Can't wait! What I'm not looking forward to is being at the airport at 6:00 in the morning...with three kids!!!



We now have our passports...it's so cute to see the kids' pictures on them. It's practically a miracle the way the Lord provided for us to get our passports...gets kind of expensive when you have to pay for FIVE of them.

Anyway, as you can tell, we lived through the Bible conference. I think we've recovered. :) We had some really big blessings last week. Praise the Lord for being so good to us. Please pray for us this week...we are possibly making some changes soon that will affect our entire lives (definitely in a good way).

Thanks for stopping by!

random stuff...

We are in the middle of Bible conference week...we've made it halfway through! It's a great week, if only the kids didn't get SO tired and cranky! I'm going to get them early from school today so they can come home and take a nap before church tonight. This is the big night for Evan...he is (Lord willing) singing in his children's choir tonight. (BTW, it will be live on the internet...if you are interested in seeing it, let me know and I'll get you the website.) The other kids started singing in this choir when they turned three, but for Evan it took a while longer. :) I usually help get the kids in the auditorium and all of that, but tonight I am going to try to stay away so that Evan won't cling to me. Oh, and pray for the choir leaders...they've got about 75 three-to-six year olds to get up on those stairs. :D I was glad to get to hear Jack Trieber preach last night. After Pastor Sexton, he is my favorite.

Yesterday, we went to the alumni dinner for Crown College. To think I almost didn't go. It started at 5:00, and I decided at 3:40 (when my kids got home from school) that we would go. I had decided not to go, just because it's such a crazy week and who really needs another thing to go to? Anyway, we ended up going and I am so glad we did! I got to see a lot of old friends that I didn't know would be there. I just wish we'd had more time to visit. One of my old college roommates was there, and we found out they recently moved just an hour away. We made plans to get together for a cookout soon, and we are very excited about that.

I know this is completely random, but here is a picture of Bella and Libby...they are best buddies. :)


Backtracking to last week...we enjoyed our week with Grandma and Candy. Candy is my MIL's friend from church, and we are so glad to have met her. The kids enjoyed swimming at the hotel on Wednesday...they all took a two-hour nap when we got home that afternoon. On Thursday Evan and I took them to Pigeon Forge to hit the outlet malls. They did some serious shopping. We had lunch at the Old Mill...mm-mmm! The Jersey girls enjoyed some Southern cooking. :) We tried to feed the ducks at the river after that, but they seemed to be full already. Then we walked around the village shops at the Old Mill. Evan especially enjoyed the candy store. Then we shopped some more. Lots of shopping was done...by them, not me. :)

Oh, and BIG thanks to Grandma for all the goodies she brought. She brought an extra suitcase full of stuff for us. (The plan was that she would take an empty suitcase home, but they bought so much stuff while they were here that they had to go buy another suitcase to get it all home...haha!) She brought me several Pampered Chef items which I am enjoying; she brought the kids a Nintendo DS, a Gameboy thingy, and a PSP. Bella got some decoration for her room and a charm bracelet. Evan got a new train set. Ringo got a new shirt and a GPS system. Thank you, Grandma!

Though I do have some more exciting stuff to share, I think I've rambled on long enough. I'll save it for another post on another day. Enjoy the rest of your week!

having lots of fun...

Better late than never...here are some pictures of Bella from Easter. This year, I didn't even get the boys anything special. I figure Braden isn't really that interested in matching his four-year-old brother anymore. :) This was the first year I haven't tried to match them, so it was a little sad for me.

We are having a good time with Ringo's mom here. She brought a friend from church with her this time, and they are staying at a nearby hotel. The kids are SO excited because they are staying overnight with them tonight, and going swimming at the indoor pool tomorrow while I go to work (playing hooky from school...how fun:). Well, Evan is here with us, but he will go over there in the morning. It seems a little strange that they are not here. I think I could enjoy having grandparents around. ;o) We picked up the kids a little early from school today and took them to Krispy Kreme. Grandma's friend Candy bought them whatever kind of doughnut they wanted, and then they picked out a second one to bring home for after dinner. We are enjoying having them here!







Thanks for stopping by to visit. Hope you enjoy your week. :)

sprout studio...

I hope you all have had a good week. It's getting busy (busier) around here. I've been getting clothes ready to put in a consignment sale...I'm not sure why, but it's always a huge undertaking. We also have a banquet at church tonight, so I'm preparing dishes for that. Ringo's mom is coming in early Monday morning to spend the week, so I am also trying to get everything ready for her arrival. I'm trying not to stress. Then we will roll right into Bible conference week. If I start thinking about that too much, I will get stressed. One day at a time. :)

During spring break, we had a little outing to Sprout Studio. The kids had so, so, so much fun. We stayed for four hours, and they still weren't ready to go. I took all of my pictures before most of the other kids got there, so once again I have no group pictures. Here is my collection of the kids (and Libby) playing in some of the play areas...

This was a favorite...playing veterinarian. It was smoothie day,
so the kids had some nice, refreshing pineapple smoothies.


All the kids enjoyed "fishing" in the "pond." There is also a science lab, but the lady who runs it was out of town. It's for the older kids...Braden especially would have enjoyed that.


Everyone enjoys dressing up in costumes...


One of Braden's favorite things was the air-blowing machine. You put balls and scarves in it, then try to keep up with it as the air blows it through the tubes. Braden mastered the art of catching it as it flew out. :)


There was so much more I didn't get pictures of, but you get the idea. It was fun. :) I'm going to try to post pictures of Bella in her Easter dress early next week (emphasis on "try"). Of course we will have to get some pictures of the kids with Grandma. Hope you have a wonderful Lord's day.