faith in action

here are the girls a few weeks ago before school started.

chad's parent's pastor a church in luling and they invited

us to join in their back-to-school party at the city pool.

the girls rarely get to jump off a diving board

and seemed really excited to go, so we went.

here is cari's first attempt.

she is saying, "it's too deep...it's too deep..."

she got low and crawled off :)

big sister hopped up and showed her sister that 

it was safe and sound...and super fun!

this was cami's first jump of many that night.

immediately after seeing cami jump,
she took her leap of faith.
it was also her first of many!

the other things that night that took a plunge in the pool
were the kids most prized positions...
their ipod and kindle fire.

cami accidently fell in the kiddie pool as we were
leaving while holding the bag that was
meant to keep them both safe and dry.

after many tears and heartache
(along with their daddy's scolding)
we placed them both in bags of rice for a week
and prayed that they would still work.

one week later, we turned them on
to find out that our god answers prayer!

first day of school

during open house, we brought the girls' teachers these little treats.

 you can find the idea on pinterest here.

the teachers seemed to really like them.
(they are loaded with dark chocolate peanut m&m's)

sunday night, we took these fun photos.


the girls wear uniforms to school, so i wanted to get
a few pictures of them wearing their regular clothes.

cami sure has grown up.

the girls came up with the chalk color choices
and poses themselves.

cari is excited about school.

i love this little face!

*

here they are heading into school monday morning!

cami was a shy at first, but cari immediately went to playing tag in the gym.

they both found their hooks.

cari's teacher is mrs. george
(she is very sweet and we have become great friends over the years)

cami's teachers are mrs. vance and mrs. burkepile
(they handle a very large classroom together and are wonderful teachers)

i'm looking forward to another great year for both of my kids!

saying goodbye and starting over is hard

cami is returning to school without 

several of her friends this 4th grade year.

many friends are starting new schools/homeschooling.

this was the first time she was not looking 

forward to starting school.

cami and her friend giving her a friendship necklace

i told her that this was going to be a great year for her.

god always brings new friendships into our lives.

but, in saying that, school is for learning and 

friends are the icing on the cake.

friends forever

carigan, on the other hand, has been 

so excited for her 2nd grade experience!

but, we walked into her new classroom during open house on friday

and she could not find her best-friend's name anywhere.

the disappointment flooded all over her face :(

she had brought her little pictures and things to give her.

(her friend's parents haven't made a final decision 

on where she will be attending school this year)

saying goodbye to friends is always very hard

no matter what stage of life you are in.

i guess it is because icing is so sweet!

here's to a great year of learning

and making new friends and

strengthening old friendships!

da-da-dadadada-da-da, afro

"Da-da-dadadada-da-da, circus, da-da-dadadada-da-da, afro! Circus afro, circus afro! Polka dot, polka dot, polka dot afro!"

 

after watching this movie earlier in the summer, 

we as a family decided we needed to see the circus 

the next time they come to town.

we got our wish this past thursday night. 

 

she really wanted the $10 program

i am not a big fan of clowns and never have been, 

but these clowns were more acrobatic

and talented than your average run-of-the-mill clown

that shows up at every small town parade.

and they were also not nearly as scary as your 

typical teenage horror film that i have always

 avoided like the plague!

they were friendly and made the kids feel special.

 

 

the animals, in my opinion, took the show,

but the high-wire act was a nail-bitter 2nd,

with the human fuse catapult following closely behind!

 

 

we showed up for the pre-show and our little cari became a star.

 a dancer called her up to dance with her on the platform,

an animal trainer asked her a question, &

(her favorite) the stilt-walker grabbed her hand and lifted her super high.

 we also collected lots of autographs and had fun trying on the costumes.

it must have weighed 40 lbs

during intermission, we met up with some friends

from our church and they invited us to sit with them.

they had sets right on the floor.

it was kind of neat to get two different perspectives

at the two different views.

up high

 

on the floor

 

aside from the singing,

 it truly was the greatest show on earth!

now, back to routine...

schools starts tomorrow morning!!!

think outside the box...please!

last week my girls got grounded from their

electrical devices. they seemed to forget

their chores and other responsibilities because they 

were apparently zoned out in front of their ipod/kindle.

in their absence, they found this box and

turned all their attention towards it.

cari even slept in it one night :)

i am ready for this box to burn...

but every time i try and remove it they beg me to keep it.

why do kids love dumb boxes so much? 

i guess it becomes whatever they want it to.

my children certainly love using their imagination!!!

 well, they did get their devices back, but more on that story later....

electric shock therapy

recently i have had to take some serious action and

restart my exercise and diet routine.

i had to get the defibrillator out...

grease the paddles...

yell, "clear!"...

and jolt it back to life.

it had petty much flat lined over the summer.

but, we are finally getting back into

a normal rhythm again.

the defibrillator of my choice was the...

30-day shred.

 i hate it, it hurts, buts it's necessary sometimes.

just like any defibrillator...

there are risks involved such as: 

skin burns, fluid in the lungs, heart attack, stroke, 

or even death, though that is very rare.

Various studies have reported that it is, however, over 90 percent effective.

Success has been shown to be enhanced when patients are on (an antiarrhythmic drug beforehand) or in my case a healthy diet, which helps prevent reverting back to (afib) or in my case...overweight.

so there you have it!

i have managed through the soreness, pain, and discomfort

all for the greater good of my health.

legos + birthday + girls = fun!!!

this past weekend my baby turned 7!

she really wanted an all girls lego party

so that is what we gave her!

it was a lot of fun!

 

we started out by making lego rings with the their favorite colors.

then they played bingo (cari's favorite game)

bingo!!!

we even displayed old photos of her cute face for all to see.

 

 

chad hid 28 different lego people around the living room and

 had a scavenger hunt with the girls to find them all

while i prepared lunch.

they also played a "create" game with everyone taking turns 

adding all their given lego pieces.

this is what they created...i think they called it a hotel :)

then after pizza, we served cup cakes because i hate cutting cake!

i can never satisfy anyone with the right piece so i avoid it any chance i get.

this is cari while they sang to her...

...lots of silliness

 ...and dancing

finally blowing her candle out!

of course, there were also lots of legos...

lots of presents...

 

and lots of friends!!!

the celebrating didn't stop after this party...

family joined us for a our traditional dinner celebration later on that evening

with even more cake, but this time our favorite cookie cake from the sweet stuff!

happy birthday sweet girl!

 hope you got everything you wished for on your seventh birthday!