Day 243 - Friends

Tyrus adores his friend Seth.  They laugh a lot together.  I'm happy to know he's got friends!

Day 242 - Mommy & Daughter Night

Alexis has been begging me for a few days now for a time that it's just the two of us.  So tonight, I took her to the mall and we looked at all the neat things there are to see there.  The only thing we bought were some Cinnamon Pretzel Sticks from Auntie Annie's.  So delicious!

Day 241 - Three Girls

That's what my  mom and dad were blessed with - three lovely girls.  Here is me and my sisters!

Day 240 - Sunday

Here are a few pictures taken today!

Day 239 - Sweet Dylan

I have Dylan this afternoon!  It was time for a snack so I gave him some Cheetos.  I love his inquisitive look here!

Josh also thought it would be fun to read with the boys.  I love this, too.

Day 238 - Three Boys

I had my two oldest nephews today.  Josh and I took them out for ice cream and earlier in the day we went to the library.

Here's Josiah after I said "Say Cheese!"

And then later, with their Scooperman Ice Cream Cones!

Day 237 - Lake Swimming

I've wanted to take the kids to the lake all summer and it's just never worked out.  Well, thankfully, today we were able to make it.  They loved just playing in the water and sand and I loved the sunshine and my book.

Day 236 - Summer Time Tan

Perhaps it's the color, but don't you think Alexis looks super tan right now?

Day 235 - All Day At the Dentist

We got our teeth cleaned today.  Our new dentist is a bit odd.  I'm not sure that we'll return, but anyway, here are two of the three kids showing me their pearly whites after getting them polished!

Day 234 - Lazy Summer Day

It was a low-key day today... the kids each found something fun to do and just enjoyed the schedule-free day.  We don't have a lot of those around here, so it was a refreshing change.

Day 233 - Happy Birthday, Old Man!

My father-in-law loves to make jokes.  However, the joke was on both of us tonight when my mother-in-law informed him that he could now use the "old man's discount" and at the same time we both said "who?"  Of course, we then realized that he was the old man now qualified for a Senior Discount at the ripe age of 55.  Ha!!

Happy Birthday, Dennis!  We love you!

Day 232 - Weekend Getaway

We are at this beautiful church in Clawson, MI for a special camp.  So far it's been fantastic, and this church is just gorgeous!  Look at it!

During one of the seminars, Alexis came and sat on my lap.  Her hair was so beautiful that I had to take a picture for you all to see, too!

Day 231 - Pie

My kids were shocked today when I offered them Yogurt Pie for breakfast.  However, once they realized that I was serious, they dug right in!

Day 230 - King of the Mountain

These are the things kids do in the Dawg Days of Summer.  No worries, he's perfectly safe.  There's no way he can fall and crack his head open - promise!

Not!

Day 229 - Friends

My friend Rebecca had a meeting today and asked if I could keep her kids while she went. 

Here are the 4 year olds!

Day 228 - Park Day

So the odd thing is I DID take pictures today of Carsten playing in the sand at the park - but when I went today to pull them off my camera they aren't there!?  So weird.

Day 227 - Scrapbook Party!

We had a fantastic time tonight at my scrapbooking party!  It was a blast!

Day 226 - Kid Choir

The kids sang today at church.  Alexis had a solo!  She did a great job and there weren't any major catastrophies (like last time!)

Day 225 - Stories With Grandma Lou

I am thankful that both of my kids' grandmothers like to read to the kids.  Grandma Lou got the chance this time!

Day 224 - New Point of View

One of the things that has been on my 'To Do' list this summer was to paint the trim and railings around our stairway.  The rails looked awful - too much dirt and not enough paint.  Well, I spent a few hours today doing the railings and touching up all kinds of other marks on our walls.  It all looks so much better now.  It was well worth the effort!

Now, it's got a nice paint on it, instead of that nasty flat stuff the builders put on origionally.  Hopefully this will hold up a bit better!

Day 223 - Stepping Out...

Carsten begged me to let him ride his scooter to the pool instead of riding in the car with me.  I rode behind him to make sure he got there okay.  He kept looking back wanting me to pass him and I kept sticking my head out the window telling him to "GO!"  :)

Day 222 - Shh, Don't Tell Them!

I announced to the kids today that in order to earn time on the xbox or computer, they had to do some reading first.  For every hour they read, they will earn 30 minutes of screen time.  Well, my eldest is really trying to rack up some time because every time I checked on him today, he was reading.  Ha.  The thing is, it's less about earning the screen time, and way more about me wanting them to love to read.  (And shh, I think it's working!)

 

Day 221 - Toad In A Hole

Alexis recently discovered an American Girl Cookbook that I'd purchased for a her a while back.  She begged me to allow her to make breakfast today, and so I let her.  She picked the recipe called "Toad In A Hole" to make.  You cut out the middle of bread, butter it, and then cook an egg in the middle.  They turned out really good and she was SUPER proud of herself!

(And yes, she slept in her dress from last night - we got home too late to deal with pj's!)

Day 220 - Deaf Camp

Our Praise & Worship team was asked to come to our District's Deaf Camp (not to be confused with 'Death' Camp, as Carsten calls it) tonight.  It was a great time!  Here are the kids before service!

Day 219 - Wacky Rental

Josh has to drive out of town tomorrow for work, and so today, he picked up a rental car.  While following him back, I noticed that the tire looked a little low.  The farther we drove the flatter it got.  I called and called him (no answer) and kept honking at him (he kept driving) trying to get his attention.  No luck!  :)  Thankfully, we made it ok back and he was able to get a replacement tire on the car.  How's that for a rental?!  He would have been better off driving our old beater Kia!

"Mom, the tire isn't supposed to be flat, right?"

Day 218 - Man!

I'm really slackin' here.  Oops.

Day 217 - Dollar Day at the Zoo

I'd heard that the local Zoo was having a Dollar Entrance Day and so we decided to go.  Well, apparently everyone else in the region did, too!  The place was a zoo!  (ha ha).  Anyway, it was fun and interesting, even though it was wild and packed with people.

Here are my two youngest, seeing if they "measure up!"

Day 216 - Uh...

No picture.  Yikes.

Day 215 - Hello, New!

My sister and her family are in the process of moving into a brand new condo!  We went today to help her pack up and bring over some stuff to the new place.  While we were doing that, I go so distracted by my adorable nephew Dylan...  check him out!