extraordinary hump day

this was the first time i didn't buy an actual costume

for one of my children to wear for halloween.

they actually came up with their own ideas

and created most of it from what they already had.

 cami wanted to be a goofy nerd girl.

 while cari wanted to be a mean biker chick

we went to a church event in lockhart where they had fun with their friends 

and received waaaaay too much candy!!!

this is cami with pastor jennifer.

(she is from the 40's and married to captian america a.k.a. pastor brandon)

cari receiving a tattoo on her forehead from our new friends patrick and sarah.

she looked past the princess tattoos and went straight for the car one.

cari with her good friend macy.

cari and dad on the hay ride.

cami with her best gal naomi.

and of course you have to end the night dancing the robot with mr. lego man.

hope your night was as fun as ours :)

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....

facing the inevitable

for the past few years

we have been sending our children to discovery camp.

it's the same camp that chad and i went to when we were younger.

i'm so glad my parents let me go to experience it. 

i have had many great memories there since i was 7 years old.

 but this happens to be the first year that chad and i will not attended

in some way.

i have had mixed feeling about it.

on one hand, i was glad i wasn't going 

because frankly, it is not a very fun place 

for adults to be for many obvious reasons...

but not going also means handing over complete control 

in what happens to them while they are there.

 

what happens to them on the road,

what happens if someone is mean,

what happens if they get lost,

what happens if they lose their money,

what happens if they get injured, or sick, or crying, or whatever!

but the truth is,

fear and worry are the opposite of faith.

 i can't be with my children always.

they have to learn things without me and

they should experience moments in life

that give them opportunities to grow in independence

and responsibility even if they fail.

i know very well that they will 

eat a ton of candy,

stay up really late,

probably won't wear sunscreen,

might not come home with all their belongings,

and odds are they will probably cry and panic at one time or another.

 

but i also have no doubt they will

 make new memories and friendships,

try something daring and new,

sing, dance, laugh, play,

all while learning more about jesus

and their relationship with him.

 

them going off to camp

 happens to be a good thing for us too.

it slowly prepares us for the inevitable future

as they become older and more mature.

it's an opportunity to strengthen our trust in god

and not let fear and worry control our emotions.

summer at my parent's

two weeks ago we went to visit my parents.

(off of my parent's pier looking down the canal)

they live 15 minutes from galveston beach.

now, i realize that galveston gets a bad rap, but i grew up going there as

a child and my children think it is a very beautiful place :)

we also like it because it is, as mentioned before, 15 minutes from my parent's home and

we use their house like a hotel...but with free food and board :)

for us, that is a great deal because you can't imagine how much

my two dainty girls can eat these days!!! it would amaze you!!!

*

we planned the whole weekend well in advance,

but didn't plan on the weather being so temperamental.

 we still got to do plenty and had a great time together as well as

visiting with my parents and grandmommy, who lives with them as well :)

chad and i left sunday afternoon, but left the girls to enjoy a full 

week with their nana, poppy, great grandmommy, and hope (their dog).

 

watching a movie with their cousin chloe in their handmade fort

technology helps fill the gap while they were far away

ready for water sports

cari

cami

when we finally got them back, they had grown a 1/4 of an inch,

which can only mean my mom fed them pretty well.

later that night i had forgotten how loud my two children are.

i felt like the paparazzi were yelling at me...

"mom....mom....look here...mom...hey...mom!"

chad and i just smiled at each other and realized how 

great it was to have them back.

my mom, on the other hand, was sending me texts describing 

how they hated how quiet their home was now that the girls were gone.

they were missing them pretty bad.

*

brave weekend

 we had an action packed weekend full of excitement, bravery, & impulsiveness!

we looked fear in the face and laughed :)

we stained cami's hair with koolaid!

she is now a fiery redhead!

we went to see the movie brave!

 i tried a new recipe...strawberry cake pie!

we fought through texas heat for the love of the watermelon thump parade!

 

 the kids were spun...

 twirled...

 whirled...

 as i watched in horror and prayed for their safety!

 they rode bulls...

 and held on without being thrown!

 they traveled through time warps...

 without throwing up.

 cari won a purple alien!

cami launched arrows to exploding targets to win a small blue dolphin!

it was a great and exhausting weekend :)

vbs

during this week our kids attended vbs (vacation bible school).

their school's church has done one for the past 6 years and they really wanted to go this year.

everyday they came home excited about what they did and learned.

this vbs is done in the evening so it gave chad and i time together. 

we even went out to eat a few nights to try out my sore jaws.

here is cami with some new jewelery that was delivered to them by our sweetest friend ;)

we love you joya and summer joy

on the last day of vbs they got to dress up and this is what cari wore.

it was a medieval theme!

after worship the kids came down and prayed for their parents to practice honoring us. 

it was the topic of their lesson for that night and it was very sweet.

they had many great decorations and really fun characters the whole week.

 this room was my favorite!

 here is amanda, cari's friend. they were inseparable.

 these were some of the many crafts they made...the catapult is no joke!
 *
the hard working volunteers poured out so much to my children and they soaked it all up.
thank you hill country church for providing a creative and fun vbs for my kids this summer!

handmade advent calender

a few years ago i made an advent calender for my kids because i never found one i liked enough to buy already made.

this was a nearly impossible task for me. it required a lot of cutting and gluing, and cutting...

i did my best and the kids actually love it, so i guess that is all that matters. 

they get to put a new ornament on the christmas tree each day as it approaches christmas.

it is a simple joy, but they look forward to completing it each year.