SIX MONTHS OLD!

I feel like I’ve missed the first five months
of her life in a blur of sleep deprivation. 
She is delightful.

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Not to mention, BEAUTIFUL.

Teenager in the house!

Stewart turned 13 this year with a moderate amount of fanfare.
We started the morning with his requested birthday breakfast: spinach/artichoke pastries. 
We followed that up with a few gifts.  A new head for the drum set.  TWO Adventures in Odyssey CD sets.  A pair of pajamas.  Three shirts…

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Tabitha gave him a roll of tape.  Marie and Nigel chipped in to buy him a Wii game. 

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They did a few minutes of tummy time with Katriel.

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Then off to Seabreeze for our last trip of the summer.  We’re growing tired of it, I’m sad to say…

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Home for his dinner of choice: angel hair pasta with Alfredo sauce, broccoli, and grilled chicken.
And a half-baked (metaphorically) cake.  (I’m slipping…) 😦

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an almost pictureless post

Each week at church we have a revolving group of musically talented individuals stand in the front of the church during worship time to lead the congregation in the singing of worship songs.  Our Worship Minister (a/k/a piano teacher) asked Marie to join them one week.  I had completely planned on leaving the camera at home so as not to take photos during the service.  That morning, however, when I was preparing to have Marie to church 75 minutes before the service, it dawned on me that I should bring the camera… and take photos… during the rehearsal!  🙂

 

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Super Seabreeze Day!!

Seabreeze is always fun.
But it is MORE fun with friends and family.

Stewart, in particular, has felt that the fun of Seabreeze has been waning this summer.  Our visit Monday was a BIG EXCEPTION to this finding.  The boys brought along a friend; and we had John’s cousin, aunt, and his cousin’s daughter join us.

So.  Much.  FUN!

The girls loved having someone new to ride with.  And we enjoyed getting to spend some time with our out-of-state relatives.  None of my pictures of Aunt Karen were focused. 
😦  She was there, too!

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We had pizza from a local shop.  And although this picture of John is HORRIBLE – the baby is WAY TOO CUTE to skip posting this!  LOOK at her face!

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Look at my girls’ teeth.  Cousin Ellie had points left from her gaming and gave them to the girls.  They invested in rubber teeth.  Lovely.  😉

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OH – And I totally had to take a picture of what our stroller looks like when we visit.  I tote insulated cooler for water bottles, insulated cooler for food, boys’ swim bag, girls’ swim bag, diaper bag, drinks; and while we are in the water park I also tote shoes.

I usually have room for the baby, too.

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Longhorn

Ba and Poppy (John’s parents) treated us to dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse as a thank you.  John had helped them sell some things on Craigslist.  I took the camera.  We don’t get out much.  😉

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I promise… Stewart and I were there, too.  Just didn’t make it into photos. 

Monster Scare Games

The kids really enjoyed the movies, Monsters, Inc., and Monster’s University this summer.  In the Monster’s University movie, the characters were college students who embarked on winning their college’s “Scare Games.”  In the Scare Games, multiple sororities and fraternities set out to prove they were the best at scaring.  One of their challenges included hiding. 

So – my kids each found enough stuffed animals of their own to make a team.  Each team represented one sorority or fraternity.  They then hid all 24 (or more) animals around the house for our babysitter to find. 

Nigel’s team was the JoX… or something like that.  He made uniforms for his team out of items in the rag bag. 

 

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They didn’t want it to be impossible for Laura…

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The only Mommy-imposed rule… Games are over at 5PM.