handsful

This was a busy, but great week for us. We hosted a Power Up Club in our front yard! Rather than putting on a traditional VBS, our church, (http://www.christianfamilychapel.com/) takes VBS to our neighborhoods. Around 140 of our teen youth, break up into teams of 8 and spend all week traveling around to the 50 host homes in our city. The theme this year was Finding the Treasure (a.k.a. pirates!) and the kids had a blast! They played crazy games, watched funny dramas, sang songs, and heard student testimonys. They especially loved “Tidal Wave Thursday” which meant getting totally drenched in water games. Did I mention it was HOT this week? Despite the heat, my kids can’t wait till next year.

Marley had her 9th birthday party this past Friday. It was your typical pizza, swimming, presents, cake, craft, pinata, and sleeover birthday. Mom is still tired. Luckily, it was a small party, with only 4 guests (totally manageable!). All the girls had a squealy good time! Not much sleep (Randy was up at 2:30, asking them AGAIN to go to sleep…), but a great time. Here are a couple more pictures of her day!

She’s totally part fish!

See the palm tree in the sand cake that Marley and I made! Fun…

This gift was so cool. My July DTC Secret Pal obviously reads my blog (waving hello!), because she noticed the ribbon I used in my “Lainey” name frame I made. Somehow, she tracked that ribbon down and made a matching frame that will hold Lainey’s hairbows!! So adorable and she even included 3 of the cutest, handmade (by her, I’d bet) hairbows! Love it :)

And, this is the card! On the outside, is a teeny ladybug candle holder with 4 birthday-candle-size candles. I really like this too, and think I’ll save it to light once we receive Lainey’s referral. Thanks so much, SP!

So, we’ve covered 2 out of 3 kids so far ;) The boys had their party yesterday. This is their cake, which Mom baked and frosted and THEY decorated with M&Ms, Skittles, Reeses Pieces, and Jelly Bellys. Sugar is good for 9 year olds, right? Enjoy the pics!

Bumper tubes?

Ethan looks happy that Dad (in the back) had this party idea!

Whose idea was it to have Payton drive the boat??

Nana helps the boys with their cake

After the party, Paw Paw and Ethan watch the Braves game

From here to… (Ethan, Marley, Payton)

…to here! (Marley, Payton, and Ethan)

9 years ago today, three preemie babies entered the world and our lives! Today is the boy’s party…Randy and their Paw Paw took them and 4 of their friends out on our ski boat, for tubing and kneeboarding. Perfect day, it’s sunny and HOT. Next Friday, Marley has her tropical paradise theme sleepover party. I guess it was easier when I could just have ONE party!

God sure surprised Randy and I when he changed our idea of “one more baby” into a three-pack. It was a busy, and sometimes rough ride in the beginning, but we can’t imagine our lives without these children.

I’ll be adding pictures of their parties later on!

Our 4th started on the 3rd, with fireworks at the World Golf Village. Thankfully, the day’s torrential rains subsided just in time for an awesome display! Last night, we had a great July 4th cookout at our friend’s house. Anne has about 10 dogs of her own, plus our dog Jack and 2 other dogs were there. Add to that about 8 adults and 9 kids, and it was crazy, but lots of fun. At sundown, everyone gathered at the end of Anne’s parent’s pier for fireworks over the St. Johns river. Randy was with the kids at the pier, I came back to the house with Jack (loud noises freak him out!). It seemed like every other house was shooting off their own fireworks, it was so loud!!

We talked to the kids about why we celebrate July 4th. It’s much more than an excuse to wear red, white, and blue and shoot off fireworks. We celebrate the fact that our forefathers had the courage to declare their freedom and begin the hard journey toward becoming a great nation. We love our country, and are proud to be Americans!

Finding crabs along the Matanzas river

We took a day trip to Washington Oaks Gardens this weekend, and I thought I’d share a few pictures. This park has two sides – a garden side and a beach side. The garden side is bordered by the Matanzas River. Abbey visited this area during one of her Marine Science camp days last week, and was very anxious to show us. Marley missed out, because she was out of town with a friend. We sure missed her.

We saw more wildlife than I cared to…including a black racer snake that crossed our path. Thankfully, I was up on a brick platform and I don’t think snakes can climb stairs. Can they? We also saw lots of different species of crab (they’re finding them in the picture above), banana spider webs EVERYWHERE, and large carp in the pond. On the beachside, we enjoyed climbing on huge rocks along the beach. It was interesting to see how the waves have carved and molded the rocks over the years. It was a fun day…hot, but fun!

Payton on the beachside

Ethan is laying on top of the rock, sticking his head in the hole made by years of water!

The result of this was Ethan in drenched clothes for the rest of the day.

Abbey finds a “recliner” to have a snack

Randy takes very good nature shots!