American Idol Season Finale

No, I don't mean the one on TV, I mean the live concert...I can finally put this season to bed! My mom (who has got to be the coolest Nana) treated my sister in law, Lily, and I to a night on the town while we were in Ohio. The four of us got dolled up and headed for the rockin city of Columbus, Ohio. We had a 5 star meal at Applebees (ok, so maybe 2.5 stars) and then on to Schottenstein Center for a fun filled night of music and girl time at the American Idol concert.

I must confess, this was not the first for us. The four of us plus a 14 month old Dax attended the 2006 version. I know what you're thinking, what kind of crazy people take a 14 month old to a concert? Well that, and then there are my friends shaking their head at the thought of the horrible parenting move that involves keeping a toddler out till all hours of the night like that. So on one hand you're right, the seats we had last time were not appropriate for a baby. I think I experienced some sort of panic attack at the thought of dropping him during the show. As far as him being out that late, here is my theory... kids should, on a regular basis, go to bed at an appropriate time. Here it is 8 pm until napping ceases, then it may be earlier. Sometimes though, you gotta live a little! So next time you see a little person at Target at midnight on a Friday, don't assume that is their usual bedtime, breathe a little and think, "hey maybe they just came from a special trip to Chuck E Cheese and mama needed some Advil!". Ok, getting down from my podium and back to the story at hand.

Ok, so this time 4 girls, 10 singers, great seats (well, the best we were willing to buy), and one really bad camera. Seems that I have this hang up about carrying things to concerts or other places I may be walking a long distance or could easily drop something. I took no purse. I left my big, good camera at moms. I made this same mistake when I went to the Casting Crowns concert, you'd think I would have learned. I take that back, I did learn, at least a little. I knew we should take a camera, just not my big one. My mom's would be fine, but her card was full. I love my mama, but her theory on why empty a camera card when you can just buy a new one cracks me up! So she remembered she had her classroom camera and my memory card would fit in that one. Perfect. I put my card in and we went on our merry way.

Here we are sitting in the seats watching the pop tart guy dance around getting people all worked up. We buy some cotton candy, go to the bathroom again, racing back as not to miss any more of pop tart guy, and snuggle into our seats for the concert. I ask for the camera. I go to take the first picture and realize... there is no zoom. No Zoom. Who makes a camera with no zoom? Ok, Kodak, but that is not the point. Our seats are good, but um, yea, not that good! So I still take a few pictures, but they are really not blog worthy....

I bet you can totally tell that is a picture of David Cook on stage singing "Hello".

Here is a picture of Lily from the back, because I don't have any good ones from the front of this outfit... I think I owned it once, maybe my Freshman year. Long top, footless tights with lace at the ankles and Sam & Libby's (or knock off in her case. Are Sam and Libby still out there somewhere?)

Ok, so I kicked myself about the camera, until I saw that this one had video! yeah!! Then I got home and realized that the video has no audio. These are exciting videos! So then the question...what shall I blog?

I could tell you about the fun cast of characters we encountered while at the concert. I believe the church ladies from Saturday Night Live were sitting behind me. I heard comments all night long that made me giggle "well, she sure hasn't gotten any better, she's still just bad." "what is she wearing? that is horrible." "I wish they'd sing more of the old songs, I wouldn't want to sit and listen to this for very long" "those girls, those screams! They are going to pay for it in the morning! I hope they all wake up with sore throats and no voice, that'll teach them!" My favorite was, "Now, do you mind if I leave here a little early? you know, a lot of people will leave when the finale comes on. I think I'll scoot out right after David Cook sings his first song. That's all I need, just one and then I'll beat the crowd." I can't help it, I was seriously worried about this little lady walking around the parking lot on her own in the dark the whole time my boy was on stage. Who comes to a concert to leave early? This is a pet peeve of mine. But then, we stay in a theater till the credits are about done, we are one of the last ones to leave church each week, we don't like to miss anything. So for me, leaving a concert before the finale is like going to the fireworks and leaving before the finale, why bother going at all.

Wow, I was long winded there. I could tell you about the little girl with the glow stick, or light saber, or whatever the flickering object was that she kept randomly holding over her head and almost impaling my poor sister in law with. She would sort of drift off and the light would fall, but then she'd start waving it like a mad woman again and giggles would ensue from those behind her. There was the high five couple in front of me that were probably about my age but were just so stinking excited they just kept exchanging high fives. Or the 16 year old shuttle bus driver that just about turned the standing room only bus into a bowling lane on the drive back to the parking lot after the show. I'm still not sure he had a licence, maybe he stole the bus...who knows, there was more giggling and bonding at the prospect of mortal injuries by shuttle bus.

During the show I actually, consciously thought "what am I going to blog about this?" I had a whole plan. Wow, sad. Does this mean blogging is an addiction when you think about situations in in terms of how you might blog them? So, I thought I'd do a top ten list of my own. Let me tell you, it was a great idea. That was like weeks ago and with all the blogs floating in my mind I've forgotten the whole concept.

I can tell you I did not like the way this concert was set up as much as the 2006 version. I love when they sing together and this had very very little of that. Basically it was 10 mini concerts. Each finalist sang 3 songs, the last two had a few more. It was kind of a preview of what going to each of their concerts might be like. I can tell you, never ever go to a concert by Chikezie or Ramiele. He is still ok but boring, and she still is basically just bad. Michael Johns was voted out way too soon, he put on a great show. Believe it or not, Kristi Lee probably has a future in country music. Her singing is ok, but she had a great stage presence. Carly's would be a concert I'd go to. I love listening to her talk too! Brooke totally wins the award for the concert that made me smile the most. I think hers is the album I'd probably be most likely to buy. She just makes me happy. Jason was, well, Jason. He'd be the perfect guy to bring you a fruity frozen cocktail with an umbrella in it while you rested in a hammock beside the ocean in some remote place. He'd then plop down with his ukulele in the sand and give you a little concert...ahhh. Oh, sorry, I floated away there for a moment. Syesha and David Archuleta were both really, really good onstage, better than I thought. David A. totally wins the award for triggering the most obnoxious preteen screaming I've ever heard (well besides Finn of course). David Cook, what can I say. He apologized for being "awkward",, it was cute. He is amazing, but he still seems to not feel totally secure on stage. I loved hearing them, getting the chance to do songs that were much more individual to who they are.

And then...she has a grand idea! YouTube! I bet some others who where in the thousands at the concert with me had audio and video on their cameras!!!!

This is Michale Johns, taken from somewhere very close to where we were sitting...


Brooke, making me happy...


A little Jason...


A lot of Carly...


A Little of Syesha's Umbrella...


If you need to scream...


Brooke making me happy again...


Did you think I forgot him??


And the finale, for my girls...



Thank you for joining me for my rambling long winded blog entry. I am now officially putting American Idol to bed for the season! If you made it this far and you are really bored, while doing the research for this entry (haha) I was trying to find a link to an old church lady clip and I found this rather interesting article.

Praises and Prayers with flair

Having a good, busy time in Ohio!

Listening to His voice.

Taking lots of pictures. (I'll post one day)

Walking through the past.

VBS #2 down, half successful.

Zoo trips. To a real zoo!

Pedicures, Movies, lunch, and shopping with Mom alone! Yay!

Going out for an evening with Mike alone!!

Mom and Mike for taking turns babysitting! I'm one lucky girl!

Amazing bargain finds this week...loving that!

At home movie nights with mom, Mike and my little brother, Ryan.

Comedy Central after hours and laughing till I cry.

Amazing sister in laws.

Mike & the kids getting to spend time with his brother and the cousins.

Outlet malls.

Seeing old friends that make you a little like a giddy school girl.

Sitting and talking for hours tonight with Mike's brother and sister in law with no kids! Lets just say this is some sort of minor miracle, cause I'm not sure I remember the last time ti happened!

My husband taking the time to walk all over town to take pictures with me on my whims..

My mom, who every day both blesses and amazes me!

Prayers going out...

To my family a state away...

Those insane American Girl shoppers in Wisconsin.

My poor sister in law who I haven't seen enough of because she'd been working so hard.

My good friend at home who is keeping our Sophie dog, at her house while we're away.

Those teenage girls who we miss!

This town, with the dark cloud. (I'll post more later...)

My little three year old guy with the best blue eyes, whom I love very much but has turned into a defiant little man lately! And for his family who love him!

Recommendation...

If you don't mind cheesy musical movies my mom and I saw Mamma Mia today and it was a fun, feel good, giggle, and sing movie! We loved it! If you're not into chick flicks, Abba, or musical movies, skip it!

A Real Zoo!

***Warning*** this post is back blogged, contains an obsessive amount of photographs and is slightly snarky in nature...you've been warned! =)


Where we live now we have a couple of nice park like zoos within a half hour of our house. Although these make for a nice couple of hours out with the kids I by no means consider these "real zoos". The first time I visited I was shocked and terribly disappointed. I'm not sure how many times I asked my husband where the elephants were...or the penguins...or the aquarium. He laughed. I honestly thought all zoos were like the Cincinnati and Columbus zoos that I grew up around. I guess I was spoiled as a child and these zoos are some of the best, not the norm. So while spending time with Mom in Ohio, she, my sister in law, the kids, and I spent the day at "real zoo'! Here are some of the notable differences...


Real zoos have grand entrances...

Real zoos have petting zoos where you can actually touch and comb the animals...
Real zoos have really cute otters and other very cute squeezable animals I'm not including photos of because I had to edit a little.
Real zoos let you get up close and personal to above mentioned otters...
Real zoos have road maps with arrows pointing to different continents which is the one things it seems I did not photograph, but here is a picture of a beautiful waterfall in Asia...(and you thought I just went to Ohio!)
Amazing, Lily has the same annoyed look in Asia as she does in the US!Real zoos have lots of large metal statue type animals just laying around for photo ops. They all did carry nice warning labels to let you know that they could scorch you on hot days.




Real zoos let you feel like you could jump right in...
Real zoos have food courts! Food courts I say! Air conditioned buildings where you can buy junk food for your family...it's simply amazing!
I'm not sure if the carousel adds to the "real zooness" but it was quite cool and it was free while we were there do to a broken ticket taker machine...whoo hooo
Real zoos take you right into the natural world of the furry critters...
Real zoos have elephants, but the pictures of the elephants I took were very bad, so here are some water elephants...
Or manatees, whatever you prefer. See my kids even learned things! I knew this info already as my grandma lived in Manatee Co. Florida and we used to watch these amazing creatures swim past her dock.



Real zoos feed their animals so we can watch...
Real zoos have aquariums with little sharks and lots of brightly colored fish and coral reefs to amuse young and old alike!
Real zoos encourage vocabulary building with the constant use of our new favorite word,"FISH"!
Real zoos have cool touch pools where a three year old can manhandle poor unsuspecting starfish...
Real zoos have people who will use kind voices to repeatedly remind said three year old where he should touch this poor star fish.
Real zoos have penguins and the feeling of freedom that allows a 10 year old to mimic them in public view...Real zoos have no magic allowing a mother of three to get all of her children in one picture looking the same direction...Could be that said mother has the camera in her hands so often these three have become immune to her sing songy picture taking voice and the blinding flash...So she must settle for cute pictures of each of them with the metal manatees individually... Ok, so I'll take what I can get...In a real zoo it is totally cool to give your Nana a kiss in public!

Real zoos leave you exhausted! You can't even get through a real zoo in one day! If only we had more time! It was kind of like church, they were locking the doors behind us!

The Columbus Zoo is a grand place! We only did the zoo and aquarium. There are also water park and amusement park areas. Word is they are building a huge polar bear exhibit/habitat, a safari trek, and a hotel overlooking the safari trek. With all that so close it would make for a great long weekend away. Who needs Disney? Ok, so it's not exactly the same, but I bet it's cheaper and the lines are shorter!

If you've made it this far, wow, God bless you! Thanks for sharing our ride! If you have more time to read and you want to feel much more inspired than a trip to Columbus Zoo, go visit Angie, she's got another great post up!

Finn's Song

Finn has a song! I had him sitting on my lap today and for fun and amusement we googled "baby finn" and besides and lot of laughing babies named Finn on Youtube, we found this gem...



We also found some more songs by this guy and we kinda like him!

Too many kisses and a quote from Dax...

Dax and Lily got to go with Nana and Aunt Carly to the Beach water park today! We used to have season passes when I was a kid and my brother Dosh used to life guard here. It's fun when they get to spend the day playing in the water.

Finn with his tubey ears and I stayed back and went to visit My brother in law's family. I feel like sometimes we don't get to spend enough time hanging out with my sister in law and the girls so it was nice to have some play time for the littlest cousins.

Uncle Jeff taught Finn the word "Fish" and now he's requesting his own tank.

Baby cousin Allie who is just 2 1/2 months younger than Finn was not overly keen on my guys in your face love and affection. My boy is a hugger, a kisser, and a nose finder. He doesn't really get the fact that other babies may not really enjoy his type of contact affection. Allie is a sweet little thing who is happy as punch till some big brute of a boy wanted to hug her. She seemed to like when he fed her puffs though. He just had to find his way in the door! He however did not like when his mommy was holding a crying Allie, oh no, not even a bit. (forgive my bad picture taking, seems those were more just get'em while no one is crying pics, no artist value there!)

Tonight I decided to try more positive bedtime tactics because lately my middle child has become a slight bit of a tyrant. So tonight We had a little exchange that went something like this..

Lily, Dax, and I were sitting at the kitchen table finishing off a treat after VBS before bed. My mom had put Finn in bed a few minutes before we got home so he was already peacefully sleeping and I did not want world war III getting Dax to bed in the same room. So I said "ok guys, were having a race! The first one of you that can take off your shoes, set them beside the door, get up the stairs go to the bathroom and hop quietly into bed wins! Are you ready?" Dax says, "Finn won" So much for positive parenting...

If this is for you, you know who you are...

If you are going, "what does that mean?" This post is not for you, I will go do one for you now! =)

Short and Sweet

1. I am so incredibly grateful that I am not a single parent and I pray that is a title I will never carry!

2. I am thankful I have three great kids.

3. I am thankful that we have grocery stores full of food so that we do not have to hunt and gather.

4. I'm thankful I have an amazing Mom to treat us to a smorgasbord of food, clothes, etc... while we are here with her.

Realization for today... My personal room in hell would include a never ending trip to Kroger with three kids. For your visual pleasure...


These were not my children, however just picture Dax in the same aisle (yes, here in my home town you can buy grown up beverages in the grocery store, it's amazing and something I miss!) with the same cart (although his was full) figuring out that he could "fly". Using this weapon of mass destruction he was able to get up to speeds nearing 40mph and put one foot on the bar and the other in the air. Thank God the two people he just about ran down while making this discovery were members of our church and found the whole thing funny.

We're Here

We've made it to Ohio, safe and sound. The little people are finally asleep.

The day started a little rough. The kids just seemed to be on some sort of high frequency. They argued with each other, hit, pushed, yelled, etc. When I heard my ever patient mom snap at Lily I knew this day was not starting off well. The cell phones went missing. Not just mine, as usual, but we also have a prepay that we use if Lily goes somewhere, or we would need it in an emergency. Mike charged it last night, left it on the table...poof... gone.

Now, I unlike most women my age, rarely use my phone. I keep it in the diaper bag, my purse, or the van. I talk on it only when I have to. The fact that it seems to disappear just when I need it the most is frustrating, but I've given up the full out fit throwing that could come from this frustration. I'm more of a "it'll show up, just relax" kind of girl. There was no relaxing this morning. Mike was going through the house on a mission looking for the phones. All people on two feet were requested join the mission. If they did not sign up willingly they were drafted. We searched, we searched again, and again, and yet again. (there was some scary stuff under the fridge and deep in couch cushions....ewww)

All children were questioned, together and individually. Lily has swiped it before to call friends. Dax has swiped it before to call random people on the directory. Finn has been known to swipe it to dance to the sound of the ring tone and the cool little "beep beep" noises the buttons make. He is also notorious for throwing random items into the trash can. Dax admitted to having played with a phone, but seemed to have no knowledge of it's current whereabouts. When asked, "Finn, have you seen Mama's cell phone" Finn replied, "mama blahbleosjtkeos" and ran off, coming back moments later holding a plastic cell phone that belongs to Lily. (I have recently commented on his brilliance, right? =) Lily denied all knowledge of anything relating to the current or historical placement of said cell phones. We pushed this and it ended in a teary admission of past misuse, but not current.

My darling husband started to lose it. Kids were crying, kids were whining, people were pushing, griping, etc... My mom was with us, I'm thinking either she thinks we're nuts or she's having flashback to days of old. As Mike was yelling at Lily and all three children were crying, I decided I'd had it. It had been over an hour. We had searched the whole house and van. I swooped in, picked up my boys and told everyone they need to "CALM DOWN" I of course did this in a very loud non calm voice just to get my point across. As I made this fine point, I wheeled around and knocked Finn's head into the shelf in our hallway and he started to cry. He had a package of something in his hand and as he started to cry he accidentally poked Dax in the eye with the corner of the package. Dax started to cry louder. (At this point I feel my mother of the year nomitation is in the bag)Lily came in, yes, crying , and honestly I just thought about chucking the trip and pouring a glass of something adult.

So, with all my children in my arms I prayed. I prayed that everyone would calm down and that God would let the cell phones fall from the sky. I prayed these exact words "please Lord, let them show up right in front of our noses." I then put everyone back down and suggested we just get this show on the road. "Let's load up the van and get all the stuff out of the house." As I started loading, Mike yells, "I found one." it was in the diaper bag, the very first place I looked, the place I'd looked 3 times. We continued loading, with a little "hallelujah" under my breath. not 3 minutes later, Lily says, "I found the other one" it was in the van, where Mike had already looked. So, now, I'm not gonna deny that a child could have had possession of these and just put them back, but there is no way I'm gonna discount God putting them right under our noses because we asked him to. So, my lesson for the day, ask him, even in the little things, He listens.

Dax's lesson for the day, when you yell "I need to pee pee" while on a long car ride people jump and you get to stop at cool places to pee. That's a story for another day...

Stumbling into brilliance, Praises, and other silly things

So, today I found out that my children are brilliant. Ok, so I'm bragging, I'm not trying to brag, really. It was just one of those days that I thought to myself "wow I'm blessed". It didn't help that I ran into a few familiar faces at the library today, one of them looked at me a said, "your children!" (this is when I swallowed hard and thought, oh dear Lord what have they done." After a pause just enough for me to worry she says, "you have the most beautiful children. Just beautiful" So, I swelled a bit with pride and said my thank yous.

In the library later my mom was sitting on the floor in front of Finn and she gave him a puzzle. This puzzle was 6-8 pieces with farm animals. He could do it. I don't mean just jam the pieces in till he got lucky, I mean he would look at the piece then look at the puzzle, line it up on one side and slide it in, one movement. Now, ok, I must tell you I'm not a big puzzle fan. I don't mind a good puzzle, I just don't enjoy the pieces all over. So my kids have very few, ok, they have like 3. Finn has never done a puzzle before, not sure he's even seen one. He's 15 months old, have I been slacking by not offering the boy puzzles? Obviously he's got skills. Can puzzle-doing win you an Olympic medal? How bout a high school letter?


On to Dax. Tonight, at dinner we were having a long discussion about the lunch time hunger of my children and how many chicken nuggets from McDonald's they ate at the library. (again, note the great mothering with the offering of such a nutritious lunch) They were sharing a big box of nuggets and Nana had given them a few more. I asked how many Nana had given them we then figured between the two of them they'd had 11 nuggets. Lily says, I'm the one that had 6." Dax follows with, "yea, and I'm the one that had 5" We all looked at each other. So, he's he some sort of math whiz? Did he somehow know that if they started with 11 and Lily had 6 he had 5? Or does he have an amazing memory and was keeping close track? I don't know, either way it was a little spooky!

And Lily. Oh my Lily. Nothing escapes that girl, never has, even if she wants you to believe it has. I just laugh at her checking out 15 books (big ole chapter books) to take with her on vacation to add to the pile of 10 or 12 that Nana has for her. Thing is, she'll read them, every one. But what I find brilliant about Lily lately is the sharpness of her wit and sarcasm, because it's really starting to get funny. As a mom, I'm just grateful for that, cause she's not gonna make it with Mike and I unless she can get the sarcasm and make it funny. Tonight Mom and I were giving her a little lecture about going on a walk and how she couldn't ride her bike or scooter because the boys would want to ride something. She'd just have to walk. I made some comment about it being a stroller walk and she replied, "I'd like to see me fit in the stroller." Now don't get me wrong, I know there is a fine line between talking back and appropriate sarcasm, but in this house, humor is what God gave us to get us through and funny gets you way further than whining and drama!

Praise time...

I am so glad to have my mom here with us for a few days! I love having her around and I love watching her love my kids!

I also love that she does my dishes.

Mike and I went to the movies alone tonight! First time since January! It was totally spur of the moment, we decided 45 minutes before the movie started. We haven't been able to be that spur of the moment in 10 years! (if only mom would move here!)

When Dax got up from nap today Finn wrapped his arms around him and hugged him with all his might. It was the cutest thing ever!

Watching Finn copy everything Dax and his little friend, Seth did.

This week there have been no liquid or semi liquid items on my floors. There was some applesauce on Finn's hair, some yogurt on the fridge shelves, and several bowls of cereal on random floor surfaces, but so far it hasn't compared to the last few weeks!

Laughing. Really, truly laughing so hard that I made no noise. Not once, but several times today. Try it, it makes you feel like a kid! At dinner everyone at the table was about to fall off their chairs, I love nights like those! If you need a jumping off point, trying reading this.

The boys got haircuts! You can now see both of their eyes!


Dax is so excited to go to Ohio and tomorrow we hit the road!

Realizing that my children are brilliant and beautiful. Then realizing that I had nothing to do with that. These are God's children, he blessed me by allowing me to be their mom and it's only by his grace that I haven't screwed them up too badly yet. What an amazing gift!

And as I promised, other silly things...

Last night during the DVRed version of So You Think You Can Dance Mike was busy doing his own thing on the computer while Mom, Dax, Lily, and I watched the dancers do their magic. Dax lately has been very into dancing thanks to VBS and educational programing such as the above mentioned show. This was no exception. He watched the dancers closely and seemed to be very drawn into this dance...



About 2/3 of the way through the dance he walked over to Mike at the computer and with total innocence said, "daddy, can you teach me to dance like that..." and pointed at the screen.

Ahh, Mike told him he didn't know how, to ask Lily. But I would have totally paid money to see Mike do that dance! Any of you that can get him to do that while I'm gone this week I'll pay big bucks for the video footage!

Praises...

People with enough moxy to stop by your house and find the yard sale, even when it's been canceled due to weather. Usually I would not praise random strangers knocking on my door wanting to come into my unclean house, however when my house is fairly clean and they are carrying wads of cash, I'm game.

Mom is here and she isn't phased by the chaos, the naked boys, the preteen drama, or me taking her along for the ride. (well, at least she's not showing it if she is!)

Yard sale over.

Good evening out with a great group of friends, Even if the service was bad, the food was good and the conversation better.

Friends pushing me out of my comfort zone into things I'm not sure I'm ready for. I'm honored they have more faith in me than I have in myself.

Great husbands who not only take my kids so i can go out with friends, but willingly volunteers to take a friends three little ones too. So this man is alone with 6 kids, ages 10, 7,4,3,2, and 1 for 3.5 hours. He managed to sell a bike, clean up the tables and other yard sale mess left in the driveway, feed them all snacks that involved fruit, and have 2 out of the 6 asleep without killing anyone or the use of duct tape. (even when I left it sitting in the middle of the table, just in case...)

Preview of Changes to Come...

On Sunday mornings in the summer you will find us here... Our church meets in the park for an early 8:30 service. The weather seems to be blessing us greatly this summer. It is a beautiful place to meet with God and see all the beauty around you. Although I must admit, this is sometimes hard to do with young children. I find myself leaving wondering what all I missed as a shushed my boys during the prayer, picked up the binky and other dropped items off the ground 14 times, attempted 25 different positive ways to say "you must keep your butt in your seat and your volume on whisper", argued with Lily about why reading novels throughout the service is really rather rude, and tried to figure out how Dax's shoe managed to get a good 60 feet behind us next to a tree. I only wish I had thought to take a picture of the ground upon our leaving. Let's just say every bird, squirrel, and other woodland creature get a little giddy when they see us coming, cause they know when that stroller rolls away it'll be a smorgasbord of Sunday treats!

Today, after our park church we visited the construction site where our new church is being built...

It was quite an adventure. Dax was quite overwhelmed.
They practiced being on stage. Finn explored all the places he shouldn't be and thank God for Hayley who chased him around and made sure he didn't eat screws.

We signed our names and wrote messages and Bible verses on the floor of the sanctuary. (this will be under the carpet)
The kids explored the sound booth.
Max discovered the freezer! He came and found me, took me by the hand and led me into his new favorite place. He was very excited when I offered to take his picture there.
Then some of the other kids found the freezer! This seemed to be the highlight of the tour. They were most excited by the notices on the doors that started with the words, "you are not locked in" followed by instructions on how to get out, just in case. Guess they are anticipating people panicking.
One day these pictures will stand as history. We will look back and think "wow, look how little they were when we moved in!" Confirmations, Graduations, maybe even weddings, there are bright futures waiting in the wings. A new building is a little scary. It's hard to leave history behind. There are so many unknowns, so many coming together for the first time. Think about how it feels (at least if you're like me and know) that night before a new child joins your family. There is this excitement, this fear of what is to come, even a small bit of mourning over loosing the family you know and love now. But in the end, when that new person is in your arms your family is forever changed and forever better. We will be ok. We will learn to love even better in this building God has given us. We have each other and we have them...all those little smiling faces who are so excited by the whole thing. If we'd just listen to what He tells us and come to Him through their eyes, things would just fall into place. He has plans for us, big plans!

Happy 4th of July!

Ahhh, sparklers! Yes they had parental supervision. No, noone got hurt.

Tossing poppers in the street. They brought back fond childhood memories of my little brothers and those things.
Look how patiently they are all waiting for someone to give them some fire to play with!
Why is it that when we were kids no one was concerned about our safety with these? I remember running all over the back yard with them. Dax thought these were pretty cool. We're gonna hope it doesn't wake up some inner pyromanic.
A certain big brother snuck off and lit all the smoke bombs (this was a legitimate big brother, not Dax). The little ones were quiet upset they didn't get to take part but they all aggreed the colored smoke was cool.
Hey, new location, more of these crazy firesticks!

Even though the sound of fireworks terrified Dax last night, seeing them tonight he seemed to be ok, although he needed "my Lil" to be safe. I love how there are those moments where they just love each other!
This was how Finn looked when the fireworks began.
This was how Finn looked when the fireworks were over. Why is it his brother or sister whispering can wake him at home but a half hour of fireworks ending with a 5 minute series of booms followed by many thousands of people laughing, talking, clapping, yelling, and honking did not budge him?
Praises...

Good Day. Good friends.

Being free. I think we get so worked up with the fireworks and the picnicking (or pizzaing, as the case may be) of the day that sometimes we forget what it all means. We are blessed to live where we do, even in the midst of chaos like times now, we are still very blessed to be in the United States. There are some amazing people putting their lives on hold somewhere far away to make sure it's safe for us to sit at a park, by a river, in a parking lot, or in our own backyard and watch the sky fill with amazing lights and sounds. Because of them we have these days to just play with friends.

Girl Days! Lily and I haven't had one for a while, but today we took some time out and saw a movie and went to lunch, just the girls. This is one of those things that we used to do often before the boys joined our family. We don't do it nearly enough anymore. Today we saw, Kit Kittredge: An American Girl . I am telling you this because it was a great movie! If you have girls in the 6 to 12 age bracket it is really worth seeing. Honestly, even if you don't you might enjoy it. I teared up many times. Seeing people's lives affected by the depression really touched me. I think this may be in part because it would be so easy the way things are going at the moment to reach that again. It illustrated just how fast you could go from having everything to losing everything and how the kindness of strangers and the attitude you carry can get you through. It helped that it had a great, very familiar cast. My only complaint would be that it's supposed to take place in Cincinnati but it was filmed in Canada. I wasn't sure when watching it though, the houses looked very much like the houses in Mt. Adams (the burb it was set in). Lily and I did get a little thrill when they showed a big map of Ohio and one of the arrows on the map was pointing at Wilmington.