eben's debut

my little shy eben boy got up and sang into a mic up in front of the whole church during the music drama performance! i was so proud of him!

the first of many

so we took our family on our first camping trip - and i loved it! we had so much fun. but i don't think i'm going again in august - it was SO incredibly HOT! i don't think i've ever been so sweaty for so long. but here's a few pictures - i'll put more up later. :)

our very first tent...we loved it!!!


the view from the top of stone mountain - i did not hike up with the kids...we rode up the sky ride tram. :D and down as well HA!

my oh so pretty emily jane enjoying the view.

so - what do you think marie is going to do next? mischief and mayhem is my guess.

riding the sky tram down from the mountain. :)

marie's separate room in our tent. :) sleeping very soundly.

the other half of our tent - kids still sleeping at 8AM - they were do tired...but happy. :)

friday funnies

eben: mommy, i like girls best. cuz girls are always nice.

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on the way to church one night we say a stretch SUV limo and eben's comment was: mommy! see that car! it is way fat! (or perhaps he meant phat-haha!!)

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eben: daddy? does God love spiderman?

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eben: mommy, you watch me and i'm going to point to the girl that i think i love. she's real cute!

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eben: is it going to take long to get to the park mommy?

me: nope. i'm taking a short cut.

(when we arrived) eben: mommy, i think that was a long cut.

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this is marie just loving on her big brother - she is turning into such a little ham...loving making people laugh. i'll need to catch her playing peek a boo with herself - she does it all the time and cracks herself up - it is hilarious!

can summer really be almost over?

it is the end of july - the kids here start school in 2 weeks (although preschool doesn't start til after labor day). summer has flown by so fast - and has been such a blast! haha i am starting to wish for and look forward to the beginning of school and a normal weekly and daily routine. living out of a suitcase does get a bit old. and so does saying goodbye to my bed! but alas - two more trips...maybe a third...and summer will truly be over!

the aftermath of letting them pick out their own cookies from the bakery - of course they picked the cookies that had 2 inches of icing on a 1/2 inch of cookie...



HAHA...the joys of being in youth ministry...soap suds slip n slide



the kids' first hotdog roast. YUMMY

all the cousins playing in the lake with mimi

3 cousins out on a walk



i went to take a picture of her and she waved at me!!! i laughed SO hard ( this is the little ride on car that gave her the big owie...)



marie's first really big owie - a big fat busted lip. she was driving one of those little ride on cars, hit a bump, and the thing fell forward - and of course she held on to the steering wheel handle thing instead of catching herself. but she's a tropper - was smiling within 30 minutes. :)


the beginnings of her "i'm a big girl!" stage. she simply has to do everything her big brother and sister do - including climbing into and sitting in big chairs all by herself. her personality is definitely starting to shine through.

can't you just hear her thoughts? "see me mommy!!! i'm sitting in this big kid chair!!! and i did it all by myself!!!"

eben's first mission trip

rhett and i took along our son, eben, on the youth summer mission trip to the appalachian mountains. he LOVED it! he met "his best girl" Ily, who was a sweet, precious, little thing. :)

our whole group - we had a veggie tales pirate themed vbs

eben at crafts

eben and ily - aren't they just too sweet? some of his comments throughout the week were:
"mommy, can i give mine to ily cuz she doesn't have one?"
"mommy, i love ily. she is my best girl."
"i want to come back to see ily for christmas. can we do that mommy?"

Wordless Wednesday

gramma gave her a chocolate chip cookie...


aftermath of blowing bubbles in her milk


eben constructed this tower all by himself - i was so impressed by the symmetry of it

too funny to wait for friday

while on a walk, eben picked a flower and used it as a lightsaber with his cousin, carson. Obviously the flower didn't hold up to well and all the petals fell off, so eben decided he didn't need it any more and threw it into the lake. his other cousin, reid (who treasured her flower on the walk and kept it intact), asked him what happened to his flower and he said, "it wasn't a flower anymore. just a flower handle so i threw it into the water." HA a flower handle - pretty accurate. :)

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me: emily jane, do you need help getting the last couple bites?

emily jane: no mommy. you can't help me cuz you're strange.

me: i'm strange?

emily jane: yes mommy, you're strange.

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eben likes to get really close to my ear and whisper "secrets" which aren't really secrets but just silly things like "rattlesnakes have noses" well, emily jane noticed him doing this and then came over close to my ear and went sniff sniff sniff. "mommy, i like to smell you too" :)

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at our campfire, emily jane went over and tapped her uncle colby on the shoulder and said in all seriousness,

"uncle colby, fire is HOT."

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on sunday morning, eben went upstairs, saw mimi in her church clothes and announced,

"mimi! i'm going to church too. and i'm taking my belly button with me!"

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oh what a summer

we've had a wonderfully fun 3 weeks up in bonclarken with the carson cousins. :) here's a few pics from the many fun things we did

a slideshow from visiting carl sandburg's home and petting their many many goats...

Carl Sandburg's Home


picnicing...roasting hotdogs and marshmellows around a campfire...and of course a delicious summer watermelon! eben spotted an eagle or a hawk or something and decided to "point" at it. HA!



fun at the Bonclarken lake - aren't these cousins just too cute!?!?!





eben spreading around the super hero addiction before bedtime...

stay tuned

i have so many funny stories and wonderful pics from our 3 weeks in bonclarken - now that i'm home for 5 whole days i'll put some up before i leave again on saturday - :)

friday funnies

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my emily jane is just a BIT dramatic...here's how she tells me she needs to visit the little girls' room:

emily jane(as she runs in to the kitchen): MMMOOOMMMYYY!!!!

me: what?

emily jane (eyes wide, hands in the air in fists, in a loud, deep voice): PEEPEE"S COMING!!!

then she turns around and dashes to the bathroom.

and after she completes her task:

me: you all done?

emily jane(leaps off the potty, without her bottoms on, jumping up and down, hands in the air in triumph): i went PEEPEE ...dramatic pause... ON THE PPPOOOTTTYYY!!!

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thanks to aunt shelle and aunt angie and uncle john who are teaching him such fun new songs. :) and dances.

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marie is turning into quite the little ham...she LOVES to make her brother and sister laugh. :) it's so incredibly cute. i'll try to capture that and post it as well. :)