Nickel Creek

Well, Emma is feeling much better but now Nora is sick with a cold/throat thing and Hannah seems to be getting it now as well. I am also feeling horrible, but better to get it all over with at the same time, right? At least we still have August to enjoy summer. Last night we went to see a Nickel Creek concert. Kevin and I took just Hannah with us for a special date and I got a babysitter for the other two. It was an outside concert so Hannah had a blast just cuddling with Mom and Dad with no other distractions. We got there about 6 and we didn't get back to the car till about 11 so it was a long night for a little girl, but I think she had a lot of fun.
For those not familiar with Nickel Creek--check them out, they are a great find.

God-centered living

I just finished a great book, The God-Centered Life...Insights from Jonathan Edwards for Today, by Josh Moody, here is just a taste from the book...
"I suspect that for many of us, our Christian experience is too often influenced by our circumstances. When we are "up," God is great. When we are "down," God is distant. If things go our way, we have much for which to praise God. If times come that would test the patience of Job, we are tempted to give up. I have taken the time to write this book because the great message of the Bible is one that is God-centered, not us-centered or me-centered. This makes all the difference. God always comes first. He is always at the heart of life. He influences and invades all of reality. He is, and there is no other. Why does this make all the difference? Because then my happiness is not dependent on my personal experience, but on God's grace and love for me. Of course, this is the very heart of the gospel. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. His love is not dependent on our moral performance, but on his divine affection. It was God in Christ who was reconciling the world to himself. It is not only the heart of the gospel, it is also the very core of what it means to become a Christian at all."

I believe this will be one of my 'read again books'. I loved it and I will strive to adapt to having the right perspective through all circumstances.

Tough month

It has been a tough month. Starting June 28th with the stomach bug going through Nora and Hannah and then starting on Emma...as you all could see from the posts below....it is just taking forever for things to get back to normal. Emma started having really strange sleeping patterns and headaches. The first week she was sick there were a few days I had to drag her out of bed and she was just acting so different from her normal self. She was sick so I didn't think much of it. She seemed to get better and then the next week she was doing the same thing again and the pattern continued for another 3x. Last Wed/Thurs I couldn't keep her awake, she slept most of the day away and she cried when I tried to wake her up...so I brought her in to the doctor, they had us bring her in for blood work and the blood work was okay and showed that she still had a virus in her system. So, she starts acting better and then suddenly she is back to wanting to sleep again. Sunday she woke up screaming and holding her eye and saying the light hurt her eye....then she feel back asleep around 10:30/11:00, I am not sure because I was at church, she had a small awake period around noon and then was back asleep till 6 that night...so, back to the ER and she has a scratch on her eye. Now.....we are just waiting to see if this sleeping pattern and the headaches continue to see if there is something more than the flu wrong with her. Nora has been feeling sick off and on too and one day had a red spotted rash all over her. What a month...hopefully, next month will be much better and we can enjoy summer a bit more.

New hair cut

Here is Hannah with her new hair cut


Here is Nora with her new hair cut.

Girls playing music

Warm days

HUGE toys

Emma playing with her big barn, well I should say--HUGE barn. I have no idea where to put this thing. It is really cool though....all the doors slide open and shut and there is a loft with a ladder.




I think she looks SO grown up with her hair cut.

First BIG haircut

So, we did it...Emma had her hair chopped. What a great length for summer though. She loves it.

Uncle Danny and our crazy dog

So my brother Danny was just being friendly with our dog, Pepito, and Pepito was being just a little TOO friendly with Danny.




Sorry, too lazy to take the time to flip the picture, but you catch my drift, right? Crazy dog....

Emma's b-day gifts

Here are some pictures of Emma opening gifts. Thank you everyone for sending/bringing them. She LOVED them all.



Thank you Auntie Sharon. Emma has been trying to explain this to me for days because she saw it on TV, so when she opened it she was SOOO excited.


Thank you Nanna and Paw-Paw! She loves horses!
Yes everyone, this is an alligator head, a real one. Thank you to Paw-Paw...Emma loves stuff like this.

Emma turns 5--b-day party

Here are some pictures from Emma's b-day party. She picked a chocolate theme but I added a horse theme to it was well.

Emma's birthday DAY

Kevin took the day off of work to spend it with Emma for her 5th birthday. He woke her up early in the morning and I gave her gift number 1--a big girl pocketbook filled with big girl things (gum, tissues, money, etc...), then Daddy took her out for breakfast and gave her a necklace. Then he took her fishing, it was her first time, she caught two fish, and one fish came home and is living in our tank right now.



Then they came home and got all dressed up. Emma is showing off her 'big girl' ring in the picture. Kevin then took her out for a movie and a nice dinner. Then she came home just in time for her birthday party. She had a fun day.

Totally irresistible....

...that is what she is.

Bree's 13th 'surprise' b-day party

We had a surprise b-day party for Bree at Chris and Ashley's house, well Bree and mom's house now as well. Here are all her friends waiting for her to show up.


Here comes Bree


I was in charge of the games...16-17 kids so that was a fun number for games.
All the kids watching...this was right at nap time so I was praying the whole time that they would just make it through.

Then we went across the street for a swim, Chris and Ash live on a lake.

All the kids warming up in the hot tub.



All the kids playing out at the dock.