Katriel trying her hardest not to nap.
Johanna drew Junior Asparagus and Laura Carrot from VeggieTales.
I ♥ these little girlie girls.
Month: July 2013
Time in the Bumbo…
I don’t look quite as scared as Johanna did in 2010…
Marie is NINE!
This was a special year for Marie… her birthday was on a weekend, which meant the whole family would be here in the morning and she could start her day with her gifts. Nan joined us for breakfast. I forgot to take a picture. We had spinach artichoke pastries. (I love this girl!) Nan gave her a CD player/boom box.
Mommy and Daddy gave her three Pocahontas books, a princess coloring book, face paint, and a princess movie. Those were the things she told me she might like one of. They seemed so reasonable, we got them all.
We packed a lunch and headed to Seabreeze. (Go figure.) I had count-‘em THREE adult helpers with me – so Mommy got to take photos AND (drum roll please) I got to try the Hydro-racer AND go on the Helix. It was a lot of fun.
About 3PM Marie started to complain of a headache. Being the very well-prepared mother and nurse that I am I went to the gift shop and spent $1 on two Advil. 😉 It didn’t cut it. She curled up on a bench for a while. We knew it was time to go home.
She had a rest. She decided she WOULD be able to eat her pasta with shrimp and Alfredo sauce (hop to it, Mom!) and we had a yummy dinner.
And pie. Let’s not forget the pie.
Happy birthday, sweet Marie. The first girl in the bunch you radiate joy and energy. May God bless your days.
“I’m being a baby!”
Do you think they will be buddies, someday? They are 33 months apart. That wasn’t what I would have “ordered,” but God is in charge. When we go to Seabreeze they seem eons apart. But it won’t always seem so far, will it? Johanna tells us, “Katriel is cute; I am pretty.” I think they are both rather cute. And they are decidedly pretty.
Homemade cards
War is the new go-to game in these Disciples’ home. Tab took it upon herself to make her own deck of cards. She made all 52 regular cards as well as two Jokers. She and I played two games of War with this fabulous set before she grew tired of it. I rather enjoyed the homemade set. ♥
Waking up Katriel
It’s a bit blurry… but I don’t want to miss the moment. ♥
7/4/13
Our July 4ths do not have a tradition…
2008
2009 – drove home from TN
2010 – no recollection what-so-ever
2011 – again – no clue… likely worked
2012 – impromptu picnic – our Brookses friends asked if they could pop over with their out-of-town guests to cook out and swim.
This last one was so much fun I asked Emily if she wanted to repeat & expand Her family was up for it & we forged ahead.
The forecast was grim and it poured buckets all morning. Half-an-hour before the picnic was slated to start the forecast abruptly and dramatically shifted; we were blessed with 85+ degrees, and there was not a raindrop to be seen.
We quickly assembled our party tent in our own yard for the first time in years. (We seem to lend it once a year.)
It was remarkable. I have not stopped praising God for His merciful timing. THE WEATHER WAS PICNIC-PERFECT!!!!!
I never pulled out the camera until dessert time. (Not to be confused with swimming-time, eating-time, talking-time, football-time, etc.)
Riffy had so much lemonade and her weight’s worth of chippy-chips.
My kids had a blast. In their minds there is NOTHING cooler than playing football or swimming with friends.
I love gatherings. I do, I do. We seem to have fewer and fewer each year which makes me sad. But when we do, boy, do I enjoy them. And let me tell you… many hands make light work! The food was amazing and you’d never know from looking that there were 28 of us here yesterday!!
Nigel is 11
Wow – oh wow!! Nigel is ELEVEN!
I enjoy all of my children’s birthdays. I just do. His always seems to sneak up on me, however.
I have oodles of memories from each of their arrivals. But his birth-DAY is keenly ingrained in my mind. The details are distinct. His first days and weeks are not really a blur the way you think of new baby days as a blur. They are specific in a way I don’t wish on people. And all these years later I love to still bask in the mercy we saw that day.
We had cinnamon rolls and yogurt for breakfast.
We decided that even though the weather called for overcast skies and scattered showers (rain? here? this summer? whoda thunk?) that we would pack a lunch and head to Seabreeze just the same. I am SO glad we did. We had the place just about to ourselves. We steered clear of the water attractions and they got to ride the dry rides over and over and over. What’s more is that Johanna just scraped by as a 38”-er, and she was able to try a few of the bigger rides.
Johanna did NOT like the Bobsleds. She didn’t like going, “Up.”
I took my zoomier lens and got some great shots.
Hanny went on the “apple ride.” She begged to go on again. And again. She was cut off after the third ride.
Does she LOOK like she was enjoying it?
Home for angel hair pasta and Alfredo sauce with shrimp. These kids have GREAT taste!
A smattering of gifts.
Jammies from Nan. A movie from Nene.
A “Hungry Alligator” from Mom and Dad. There is a running joke in this house that Nigel is a hungry alligator. Or more exactly, that Nigel IS Hungry Alligator. It started when he hid under Johanna’s bed MONTHS ago and proclaimed he was a hungry alligator. She latched onto it big time and her room now has pictures of hungry alligators (drawn, printed out, etc.) and she actually calls Nigel, “Hungry Alligator,” instead of Nigel. She introduces him to people by that name. She told her speech evaluator her brothers’ names are, “Tew-art, and Hunny Ati-gader.”
Ahem – theme continues…
And he gave it two thumbs up on Wednesday.
Dayspring Disciples 