Day 481

Goodness gracious....isn't she just beautiful? I know, I am biased. :) These were taken with Marc's phone before we left for church on Sunday.

Waiting for the picture from Marc's phone

Day 482

Today I went for a run. I wanted to do a run, but not go to far away from the Y where Hannah was checked in. There has also been a rise in crime in the area, so I wanted to make sure I stayed on a well traveled trail near the road. Since I am not in a group I didn't want to go on a trail that took me far back in the woods. It meant I was stuck doing a 2.12 mile loop over and over again. I managed a little over 3 times to get in 6.5 miles. This photo was taken on my run. I love running under this tree. It just looks so cool. The leaves are HUGE. It is usually much fuller, but the recent drought conditions took its toll.

Day 480

Tonight we went to Benihana's for dinner with Marc's coworker and his wife. It was nice. I haven't been to Benihana since I was a kid. The food was pretty good too. After dinner we went over to the bowling alley for a few hours. I am sure it was quite a sight. I showed up for bowling wearing a dress, hose and heals. LOL

Day 479

The kids had a GREAT first week of school. Here is Josh organizing his binder!

I had to throw in this picture of Hannah....how could I not?

Day 478

After a crazy busy few days Hannah and I had a do nothing day. And we really did NOTHING. She even went to sleep in my arms....how sweet!

Day 477

Can I just tell you today was busy!!! I will spare you the morning running and just share the afternoon. We were in the car ready to go when Caleb and Samantha got off the bus. We went to pick Josh up from school and headed toward church. The kids were so excited for Hi5 choir to start up again. It was also the kick off for Midlink. We all got to sit around and eat dinner. I got Hannah checked in to her class. Caleb got situated in his choir class. I went upstairs with Josh and Samantha. I am one of the helper teachers in the 3rd-5th grade Hi5 group. It was a little overwhelming, but all is good. After kids choir I took off downstairs to the adult choir rehearsal. Went over some music with them and then left for the Gathering Singers rehearsal. We went over some music and then went to the sanctuary for sound checks and more singing. I know my schedule sounds nuts, but it is so fun! We laugh so much! We also get caught up in worship and just pour out our hearts. I really love all my singing buddies too. :) This picture was taken in the sanctuary after I put my stuff down. We were just wandering in getting ready to rehearse with the band.

Day 476

Today I was carless....at least for the afternoon. We had to go to music lessons in the truck. This photo is of Samantha putting her music bag over her head. Josh was in the front seat. I will let you use your imagination to figure out WHY she wanted the bag over her head.

Day 475

Today was the first day of school! What happened to summer??? I wasn't ready for it to be over, but it was time. Caleb went into Kindergarten. He had a good first day. He thinks he likes his teacher...funny little guy. Since he had a great year during PreK he already has a leg up. He knows all of his letters, numbers, and a handful of sightwords. Samantha went into 3rd grade. Gosh, when did she grow up??? She didn't have any of her friends in her class, but made friends with a new girl. She loves school and was ready to go back. Josh went into 5th grade. He is at a new school. They didn't change classes today, so it wasn't too overwhelming. Not sure how he will feel tomorrow. He thinks he has the best teacher, which is good. She seemed really sweet and wanted to make sure she had all the info she needed about his eczema and what might irritate him. She is the science teacher and they actually get to DO science...in a lab! The downside is his bus. He no longer gets picked up in front of the house. He has to walk down to the stop sign. He also gets picked up (and dropped off) an hour later than Caleb and Samantha. All of the scheduling (our stuff) will have to adjust a little. Hannah did ok today. She slept most of the afternoon. I had to get her up because I had to much that needed to be done. She got excited when Caleb and Samantha got home. She was giddy when Josh got home. She just couldn't wait for him to come to her, so she took off running down the street and jumped into him hugging and kissing him. (Don't worry, I was close behind looking for cars!)

Day 474

Today is always a big day in our family. Of course it is always a crazy day in our family...as well as our Church. It was promotion Sunday. That means the kids go to a new Sunday School class today. In Caleb's case he moved up to Kid's Worship in the Clubhouse. He woke up this morning and started running around like crazy saying, "I get to go to the Clubhouse today" over and over again. He was just a little excited...don't ya think? Well, today also happened to be the first day of our new schedule. It made for a crazy morning. I forgot to put Hannah's carseat back in the car after the retreat, so I left a little later than I wanted. The teacher in the "early" room (Hannah goes there because I have to be early for choir) took the kids up too early, so I had to go search for her. I ended up just taking Caleb and Samantha early. I apologized and told them I wouldn't do it next week. I passed Josh off on my mom with instructions to show him where to go sit for the service. He has graduated from Clubhouse, so he goes to SS then church with me BUT I sing with the choir during that service so he has to know where to go and save me a seat. There were over 170 people in the choir for the early service this morning....we need a new row. :) The chapel now has a contemporary service in the early hour. It was packed! They brought in chairs and people still sat on the floor. Some of the off-site parking locations were also full. How awesome is the craziness???? So, take a breath and do it again next Sunday! Big things are happening, don't you wish you were there?

Day 473

I only got one picture of the second day of the retreat. This is my friend Jana. I have no words for this picture because you just had to be there!!!!

Day 472

Today was the first day of the Gathering Band and Singers retreat. The drive there was NOT pleasant. I got on the freeway and it immediately came to a stop due to rain. I was near the toll road exit, so I took it. I am so glad I did because there are fewer cars there. It started raining right away. Some time after the first toll (could not see at all where I was) the downpour started. It also started to hail. I have never driven in hail before. It got so bad I could not see past my hood so for the first time in my life I pulled over...almost everyone did. The rain got worse; the hail got worse. THEN the rain started swirling around and tree branches started flying across the road. There weren't any trees in the area. I decided it was best to start driving out of that...I was not the only one who had that idea because everyone started driving. I finally made it to church and ran inside just as the rain started there (it formed north and headed south--I drove in it nearly the whole time). Then the fun began! We played games, sang, prayed, had devotion, then we set off on a scavenger hunt. We were split up into teams. One person in the team had to wear a dog head in every picture of the item on the list. I had the camera so that was my job. We had to make it from the church to Discovery Green in an hour...my group was late. Then we went across the street and stayed the night at the Hilton America's. It was so much fun. Here are some pictures from the scavenger hunt.

This is Adam acting out the stop sign.

Creative use of leap frog
Jesus spelled out creatively
Bunny hop in front of CVS
This is most of the heads at Discovery Green.
Can you tell how much fun this had to be?

Day 471

My cute picture of the day was of Hannah and since it seems all my pictures lately have been of Hannah, I decided to use something else. Hannah's picture will probably end up on her blog. School starts next week, so I will have some extra time to blog again.

Here is my question--What do you do to make the mornings go as smoothly as possible during the school year? I pack my kids lunches and packing 3 could be a real chore. So I make all their sandwiches for the week and put them in the freezer. They are fresh and ready to eat by lunch time. I also have a "lunch" basket...actually 2. The one on the counter has snack bags of pretzels, packs of almonds, organic fruit bites, and fruit-a-bu's. This will probably vary some during the year. The other basket is in the fridge. It has grapes already in snack size bags, apples, and bags of lettuce for the sandwiches (it doesn't freeze well). When I come home from shopping the fruit gets washed and cut; the sandwiches get made and frozen and the pretzels get put in bags. How do you make the morning run smoothly?

Day 470

Tonight we went to Caleb's "meet the teacher." Hannah loves climbing on everyones back for a piggy back ride.

Day 469

Today we did a million errands...ok, not really that many but when Momma doesn't feel well any seems like a million. We started off with an oil change that ended up taking 2 hours. It was 1:00 (way past lunch time) when we left in search of the last few school supplies. Then we had to grocery shop. Well needless to say it was very late when we got home. We ended up going out for a late lunch/early dinner before music lessons. Caleb decided to make a train and I took a picture. Samantha said if I took a picture of the boys, I had to take a picture of the girls, so I did. :) It was actually nice to be the ONLY people in the restaurant!

Day 468

Really...don't ask. Today Hannah decided she was done with the clothes she was wearing and changed into this. You know we should all wear thick purple tights in August.....

Day 467

Since rediscovering my love of reading I have taken on Harry Potter...just not in order. I read the last book first and have gone back to read from the beginning. Now I KNOW movies are never as good as the books. I am thinking that by only seeing the movies it was all good. Now, don't catch my trying to say the Harry Potter movies aren't good. I liked them all. I also know that there is no way to put everything in a movie. I will say though that with Prisoner of Azkaban I was really disappointed in the movie. It seems like they cut out almost all of the backstory and honestly about half of the book. Really did you know Snape was a bad guy? Well of course you did, it is obvious in the movies but the hated for Harry in the books is just so much more!!!! Anyway, since I am behind in posting this I have already read the Goblet of Fire and will start the Order of the Phoenix later. I will watch Goblet of Fire tomorrow (Thursday).

Day 466

This is all much funnier than it looks in pictures! For whatever reason Hannah got up and put on the same clothes she had on Friday. No biggie..... Well, sometimes she decides to undress and sit on the potty. I only wish she did something in it. Well, she cam back and put her pants back on. You can see in the picture that both legs went through the same leg hole. We all thought it was hilarious! She even strutted around some like she was modeling...such a little ham. :)

Day 465

Josh is HOME!!!! Really, need I say more?? To learn about his camp you can go back to this day. He had a great time and can't wait for next year!

Day 464

This was some what of a staged photo! If you can see in the picture, there are handles for a baby doll stroller. The pooh bear she is hugging was in the stroller. Caleb ran by and ran off with the stroller. She screamed. He gave back the stroller, but took the Pooh bear....she screamed. I gave her back her Pooh. All was well. Hannah....smile! Caleb jumps in and says "cheeeeeeese"...click and there is my picture. LOL

Day 463

Day 2 at Sea World---We spent most of the day at the waterpark, so not too many pics. We went to feed the dolphins first. This is one of our favorite things to do. They were pretty playful this morning too. There was a really old looking dolphin (the black on in this photo) and a baby one (the one also in this photo). It was cute to watch the old one just kind of stay put and the little one just bounced around everywhere. Hannah likes the dolphins, she just throws the fish at them though instead of trying to feed them.

We walked around and rode a bunch of rides, saw the penguins and the sharks, then headed to the water park. We were there for almost 4 hours. The biggest thing that happened there was Hannah FINALLY learned how to keep herself upright in the life jacket!!! She had a great time being "independent" She kicked herself to sleep. We were in the wave pool for the last round. She grabbed me, quit kicking, and put her thumb in her mouth. LOL Her way of saying enough, I suppose. I went to get her dressed while Marc took Samantha and Caleb on the lazy river. She was asleep before I managed to get my own clothes on!

Here is a pink Samantha!
Caleb wanted to take a picture....this is AFTER a morning in the heat AND almost 4 hours in the waterpark...seriously, no one looks good after that!
Caleb also wanted his picture taken!
Does Caleb's smile look forced??? Does Samantha's??? HA
Here is the conked out Hannah!

Day 462

Day 1 of Sea World---

We arrived and it was hot just like we expected. We were armed with lots of water, powder gatorade packets, and plenty of snacks though. Here is my pretty Samantha ready to try and keep cool.

This is a photo of the "funny guy" at the Viva show. It is Caleb's favorite show...in case you can't see the "funny guy" he is way up in the air. He is doing his funny dive into the water.
After the Viva show we headed over to the Shamu show. Shamu is Hannah's favorite. I will say I prefer the Summer nights Shamu show, but it ended. The Believe show has changed some since the last time I saw it. It is now a little less "preachy" and more about the whales and what they can do...much better!
There were 4 whales just hanging out in the pool before the show. Two just looked out at us for about 5 minutes. Hannah thought it was so cool.

There was also a Pirate Show. It was cute and the kids liked it.
While Marc, Samantha, and Caleb waited in line to ride the Rio Loco, I took Hannah to the Midway. She won a pink Shamu!
Here is Marc, Samantha, and Caleb on the Rio Loco....it was a really long wait.
This is a ride the kids like to do. It is in Shamu's Happy Harbor. It goes up, then drops---then up and down and up and down. Hannah wanted to ride, but she was too short to go without an adult. She loved it.
Hannah and Caleb had fun waiting for Marc and Samantha to ride Journey to Atlantis. Hannah finally figured out how to get wet. I tried in vain to get a good picture, but was either too early or too late. Instead I took a video. :)

Here is the video!----Pause the playlist music if you want to hear Hannah talking and laughing!