THEY'VE COME AND GONE

Well, my sister and her family were here once again, but left back home to Hawaii (insert sad face).

They stayed with us the last two days they were here, so that was a blessing. All the kids mesh so well together. The big kids are off in their own world, and all the little ones play together. Especially Veronica and my nephew Nicky. Adorable! They loved holding hands, and she was also helping him roller skate. It's nice to see that they've already "bonded." My brother in-law said they may be back in two months because he wants to purchase some furniture here to ship back to Hawaii, so I will be praying they do!

The last two days they were here, we went roller skating, and we also went to dinner with my mom.

Here they are after skating! You probably don't even notice, but Isaiah is missing from the picture!

Here are the "teens" at dinner.


And look at this California Roll with the fresh avocado on the outside!


My mom & my sis. Yes, I know, we look alike!


And here's "mama" (grandma) with all the little ones!

SCRIPTURE SUNDAY

On Sundays, I decided I would share a scripture(s). I pray that it will be a blessing to whoever reads it.

"But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace."-James 3:17-18

TABLE ETIQUETTE?

I promise you...

My kids do have table manners.

They are just very creative, I tell ya.

There is so much you can do with crab legs after you've eaten them.

"Hi, I'm Mrs. Crabfingers."


"Like my manicure?"

FRIDAY PHOTO FLASHBACK

I started "Friday Photo Flashback" because I have so many pictures from my PRE-digital camera days. I thought it would be fun to scan them and share them here with you. I'm having so much fun doing this, that I would love for you to join me, too! So dig out the photo albums and put your scanner to good use! Don't forget to sign in to MckLinky so we can all visit and comment on each others blogs!

1999

I know I've posted before about my my kids and their cousins (my sisters boys). I thought it would be perfect to "flashback " a picture of them when they were all 3 & 2 years old! Even though they live in Hawaii, it's like time has not passed when they see each other. I can only imagine how close they'd be if we were able to see them all the time.

L-R: Josh, Miranda, Isaiah, & Noah

And here they all are as "teens." Just add on a few more kids.

LET'S GET PHYSICAL!

Do you remember that Olivia Newton-John song from the 80's?

This week, my kids and I decided to get more physical!

That means we have been going to the Sports Center by our house and walking around the track!

It feels so good to do "something," because something is better than NOTHING! Especially with summer coming up, and soccer to follow, I want them to be in decent shape.

Not only them, but for me too. I need it, my heart needs it, and I need to keep up with the kids!

What are your kids doing this summer to stay physical?

WORDFUL WEDNESDAY

Do you remember the old wives tale about not drinking coke while eating Pop Rocks?

Well, so much for THAT theory!

These girls are still alive and kicking!

Be sure to visit 7 Clown Circus for Wordful Wednesday

I HEART FACES-PLAY

This weeks theme: PLAY

I love this picture that I took of my nephew when they were here visiting a couple of weeks ago.

To see more "PLAY" themed pictures, click here.

BIRTHDAY PARTY WAS A HIT!

For the record, I just want to say that I'm pooped out!

But, it was all worth it in the end!

My daughter had her best buds there, and they all had so much fun together! They all got to the hotel on time, and they wanted to go swimming right away. It was perfect because there was hardly anyone there at the time so they practically had the pool to themselves!

Here they all are! Actually, we were waiting for one more girl to arrive, and she finally showed up when they went down to the pool. There's my girl, second to the right!

Here is the sugary snack table! This wasn't even all of it! I also had those humongous plastic pixie sticks for the girls, and soda! Surprisingly, it didn't make them any more hyper than they already are.

I put her poster board (which they all signed), two bowls of chips, and cupcakes that I made on one of the end tables in the front room.

AND OH MY GOSH! I asked one of my friends to make her a white fondant cake so I could decorate it with the custom cookies I ordered from Amanda! Isn't it awesome???? The red stars spell out "Miranda."

I decorated the other end table with Miranda's cake, cookies, and goodie bags that she gave to all her friends. Everything is so coordinated! Love it!

This was supposed to be the original topper on her cake, but as you can see, it cracked down the middle. My friend tried to fix it, but we decided to just add the other cookies. Isn't that just awesome????

Here was the first swim of the afternoon!

Here is a view from our room on the 3rd floor.

Night swim, after dinner! I was so thankful because my husband brought our dinner to us. I didn't have to go out and get it myself. The request was Chinese food, and it was yummy!

I wanted to take a fun picture of the girls showing the necklaces that Miranda picked out for them, from Tilly's. And the couch they're sitting on turned into bed. THEY ALL managed to sleep on there together!

And I had this room ALL TO MYSELF!! It was like I was on vacation!! Those silly girls took off the comforters because one of them watched a show about how those things are so dirty! LOL

Another view! This was actually in the morning (7am'ish) after the girls took another 6AM swim!


Gotta love the breakfast buffet!!


Mmm.mmm!

Here is Sarah & Miranda eating breakfast. It was so early still. And yes, that is Veronica in the middle there. My husband asked if she could stay the night with us because he had to be at church by 7:15 in the morning. I got to cuddle with my snuggle bug that night!

I have tons of more pictures, but then it would be a huge post! The girls also played a couple of games. I made up a game called "Who Knows Miranda Best," and and they also played freeze dance. That was hilarious! And, I also bought two prizes for whoever won those games.

I tell ya, this was such a fun thing to do for the girls. Everything we needed to entertain them was there. If I was to take her and her friends out to dinner somewhere, it would be the same amount as the hotel room. I highly recommend doing this for your teens!! They will love it!