Cousins!!

Thursday and Friday of this past week we were in South Bend for our Great Lakes Teacher's convention. My parents came to watch our kids and Scott and I got to go just the two of us. It was a nice treat~thanks mom and dad! I think all went well on the home front (at least they claimed it did!) It was kinda weird to say hello to them and then an hour later leave town!! The kids had a blast...it was just too short. We got to see Paul and Jill and the kids as well as Ben and Dayna and the girls. I got to meet my new niece, Ireland Faith, our little miracle baby. She is an absolute doll!! I LOVE her hair!! What fun to see the cousins together. These are a few pictures of the girls together when Ben and Dayna came to Muncie on Saturday.

Girls' Getaway

Here are a few pictures from my girl's getaway two weekends ago. My friend Nicole's in-laws have a condo in Traverse City, Michigan. Three of us girls went up there for a few days to shop and play and laugh and relax. The Red Hat Society had their Michigan meeting at the resort we were staying at so we had fun watching them and all of their activities!! It was great fun, but as always I was ready to get back to my family when Sunday came!!:) My sweet hubby was kind enough to let me go away again!!!

The Many Faces of Emilee!

My real purpose of posting these pictures is for you to see the bump on Emilee's head-once again!!:) She wiped out in the driveway yesterday. She is quite a drama queen in most things, but when she gets hurt she gets over it quickly. I am grateful for that, seeing that it happens quite frequently!:)

Fort Fun

Why is making a fort so much fun??? I remember my sister and I building forts under the pool table in our basement growing up! We would bring in lamps and sleeping bags and toys, etc. The older boys built a fort the other night after school but had to tear it down for bedtime. Ever since then, Luke has been asking for another one. So today I made one for him and Emilee, knowing it would not last long for two reasons: 1)Emilee would tear it down and 2) interest would be short-lived!! I was correct on both counts!!:) I managed to snap a few quick shots while things were still in tact.

Luke's New Shoes

Yesterday Luke and Emilee and I were shopping at Meijer and found some great clearance deals! These are Luke's new "shrip shrops." I haven't corrected his pronunciation yet because it is just too cute to hear him say it that way!! He is having a terrible time keeping them on. Is that normal?? I see all these other children running around in them with no trouble!!! They have Nemo on them and he just loves them. He puts them in his Clifford backpack when he isn't wearing them. The backpack, by the way, he has had with him all week since the boys went to school with theirs Monday!!! What an exciting life he has!

Ride 'Em Cowboy!

Yesterday at church we had "Roundup Day." A themed Sunday to kick off our outreach campaign. The boys thought it was pretty cool to be able to go to church dressed up like cowboys!! After church we had a carry in lunch and some fun things outside for the kids to do. Last night was HHCS night and all the teachers gave testimonies. That service is always one I look forward to. It is such a blessing! At the end, we parents pray with our children at the altar, dedicating the school year to the Lord and praying God's blessing upon our children. It was truly "good to be in the house of the Lord!"

Heritage Hall Here We Come!!!

Starting the day out right
Yeehaw!! Back to school!!!
Our fourth and first grader!
Ready to leave!

Today the boys go back to school. I have really enjoyed having them all here together this summer, but I have to say that they are SO ready to go back to school!! They are missing friends, bored with what there is to do around here, etc. We are thrilled about who they have for teachers this year. Our prayer is that they would grow spiritually, academically and of course physically this year. How thankful my heart is for a Christian school like Heritage that we can know what is being taught at home is being reinforced in the classroom all day long by teachers who love our children so much! I will miss you today, boys, and can't wait to hear all about your day! Love you!


LATER THAT DAY........................
After school Scott and Andrew were asking Matthew if the day seemed long (after having 1/2 day kindergarten). Matthew said, "Well, at the beginning (of the day) I was thinking about other things and then it went really fast!" Oh great! We have our work cut out for us!!!:)

We Really Are Alive!!!

OK, so it has been a LONG time since my last post! Some of you could care less, but I hate it when I check other blogs and it's the same one forever!!:) Not a lot has happened and I haven't taken the time to take pictures of much. So here is just a little update....
Andrew was at a pool party yesterday and finally lost his silver tooth!!! We really thought that one would be one of the first to fall out!! He was wrestling and someone landed on top of him and he hit his tooth with his knee!!! Maybe now it will make room for the front two to straighten out. When he got home he wanted to know if the tooth fairy would give him more for it being silver!:) Guess what?? She did!! He got an extra dollar!:)
This is my favorite picture of our camping trip last weekend! This is Ty Zirkle, Luke's 'beff friend!" They are great buddies!
Is that actually a barrette in her hair?????? Yes, believe it or not the hair on the top of her head is long enough for a one FINALLY!! Now if she will just forget it is there it may stay in for a while!:)

So Many Books, So Little Time

This is where I found Emilee yesterday after I realized she had gotten very quiet. I peeked in the boys room and saw this. I quietly stepped out and got the camera first. She sat so nicely I let her stay there awhile and when I checked just a few minutes later the books were all over the floor. I have to say...and I think my memories of the boys are still fresh enough...I think she has them beat as far as busy goes at this age!!!!! She is CONSTANTLY into something. She is such a climber and I haven't had that trouble before. She pulled that stool in there herself I think!!! Well, maybe Luke helped (I'm not real sure) because what one doesn't think of the other one does. She knows how to climb these stools and is now climbing up them onto the kitchen counter constantly. After repeated "consequences" she is still persistent so now I set them in the middle of the room. They seem to lose their appeal that way!!

Matthew Loses His First Tooth!

Matthew has had two lose teeth for quite a while now. He claimed he was going to wait to have them pulled by Mrs. Briner, his first grade teacher. She is famous for pulling teeth for kids at school!! Well, Sunday night he called home and told me that his tooth fell out! He was SO excited to see what the tooth fairy would leave him! Unfortunately, he forgot to put it under his pillow that night. Last night he remembered and woke up to $2 under his pillow. He came in my room with a long face..."I thought it would be $12!!" I said, "What????" Trying not to say too much. ;)
He said Andrew had gotten $12 when he lost his first tooth. Then I remembered that my mom (aka "the fairy godmother") had been visiting at that time and added to the reward of the tooth fairy. We cautioned her not to set a precedent, but of course she didn't listen. We kept confirming to Andrew that this would NOT happen every time!! Well, brother didn't get that message I guess!:( As you can see from the picture the second one is about to fall out. Maybe now he will be ready for what the tooth fairy leaves behind! The moral of the story? Wait until the fairy godmother visits to yank out your tooth!!

See Any Resemblance??

The other day Scott's mom showed me this picture and I was shocked how much Emilee resembles her Aunt Sarah! After seeing the Ben/Isabelle likeness and the Paul/Noah likeness, I had to post this for you to see the Sarah/Emilee likeness. (Hopefully Aunt Sarah will get to see this in China!!) If Emilee continues to grow up and look as pretty as her Aunt Sarah I will be thrilled...as long as she is as pretty as Aunt Sarah on the inside!!

Good Clean Fun

As the summer starts to wind down~unfortunately~my kids are starting to run out of things to do. What used to be great fun is no longer. They got creative yesterday and decided to do a bike/car wash. As you can imagine, the car was the least wet when things were done. Somehow it is more fun to spray each other. Oh well! It passed a good hour or so!!

Camping with Nana and Papa

We just returned from spending a few days with mom and dad at the campground where their trailer is parked for the summer. We had such a nice time and had so much to do. The kids love to fish and swim and hike and golf and do crafts and so many other fun things! We had a nice surprise on the second day-Danielle and Mike and the kids came and joined us! The cousins had a blast!!! We always look forward to this time together. It is quite a crazy time but what can you expect with 8 kids and 6 adults??? I am sure mom and dad are always ready for it to quiet down again when we leave. Our trip there was very eventful-two kids puked from car sickness and we had a flat on the trailer. Fortunately nothing much on the return trip home!! Thank you, mom and dad, for a great week.

Happy Anniversay!

Today is our 12th wedding anniversay and I couldn't let the day go by without publicly thanking the Lord for giving Scott to me. It is hard to believe we have been together for twelve years and have four children in that time!! I am so blessed to share each day of FOREVER with him and I cannot imagine what my life would be without him. Those who know us well, know that we are opposites in many things!=] But over the years we have come to appreciate those differences SO much!! He really does complete me. And together we really make a great team!! I look up to him and respect so many things about him. He is such a great husband and daddy who loves the Lord with all of his heart and lovingly leads our family to follow the Lord. I love you, honey, and happy anniversary!!! Here are some of my favorite daddy shots taken recently. Sad to say, we don't have any current ones of just the two of us! We'll have to do something about that!

Camping at McCormick's Creek

We had a great time camping this weekend. It was our first "real" time out with the pop-up. Everyone has to have a first time to look like a rookie right? You learn a lot the first time you go-what to bring, what not to bring, how long things take, a system of setting up shop, etc. We had a wonderful time. Andrew brought a friend along this time and Matthew gets to next time. Having Emilee with us this year was much different than camping last summer when she was 6 months old. She is SOOOOOOOOO busy. She is into everything!! It adds a whole new dimension to things. We went hiking and swimming several times and she enjoyed ALL of it. It will get easier every year I'm sure. Well, I hope!!! Scott is a pro at camping and is totally in his element. I on the other hand am getting used to it. I think I get better each time. The only thing I wasn't impressed with was the MUDDY trail for hiking. I was ready to turn around and wait in the car. Especially when I walked right out of my shoe and stepped in the mud. OK, I should not have been in flip flops, but it was great in the water (except on the slippery rocks!) I told the boys before we left that if they couldn't find me over the next few days to come and check in the van because that was where they would find me cooling off and escaping in the AC!!!! :) I never ended up doing that! :)

Happy Birthday to Two Special Ladies

Today is my Grandma Engelman's 89th birthday and my sister-in-law Sarah's 27th birthday. Happy birthday to both of you!!! We love you both very much!!! Last night was our birthday party for Sarah and here are a few pictures of that.

Riding with Batman

What happens when you take a ride on the gator with a guy dressed like Batman???



You end up looking like this!!!! Obviously Batman ignored his mommy's reminder to stay on the grass when Emmy is riding!!:) I heard the screaming and went running out to find Matthew carrying her up the driveway to find me. It is hard to see how bad it really looks in this picture! She definitely hit the concrete head first and then scraped her cheek. Will she survive her brothers??? We'll see!?!?!:)

Happy Helper

The boys laughed when they saw Emilee helping unload the dishwasher yesterday. Andrew said, "Mommy really does give jobs to everyone around here!":)