Refreshment for my Soul

So.

I have a really good excuse for not posting more often lately.... my parents were here!!   We were too busy living the memories to post about them, but now that my folks are gone (boo, hiss) here are some of the highlights.

One of their reasons for coming when they did was to "meet" our new daughter H!  They had met her once previously, before she was our daughter, and they were excited to welcome her into their hearts as their grand-daughter.

 

They got in on our whole Saturday soccer experience.  Here they are with my dear friend, Sally, whose son is on our son's team (super nice that we can cheer for the same side!)

 

 
My parents helped so much in the kitchen.  They were my "Alice" (remember Alice from the Brady Bunch?  My mom decided that every stay at home mom and especially every homeschool mom needs an Alice!  My mom was more Alice than my dad, but this picture proves that he can be an Alice too!)

My dad helped clear the weeds out of the sand box foundation for our pool, enabling us to set it up a bit earlier than we usually do.  Win-win!

 And they treated us to lunch at Costco. :-)

Another one of their purposes in coming when they did was to be here for son L's 13th birthday... that made him feel so special!

G and G, celebrating at L's restaurant of choice.

More "Alice."

Two different mornings they made a huge waffle and bacon breakfast for us.  My children are now spoiled and want me to do this every day.  Thanks, mom and dad. ;-)

My parents are among my chiefest cheerleaders and prayer warriors.  I am truly blessed.  May I be to my adult children someday what my parents are to me!

We took them to a Memorial Day parade.  None of us really wanted to get up at 7:00 a.m. on a holiday, but it was totally worth it.

Hair play!  Grandma was a very good sport.

Pool play!

Grandpa and his youngest grandchild.  I love this!

Saying good-bye.  So hard.

Thank you so much for coming, mom and dad!  You are a blessing from the Lord.  Praying God gives you strength and wisdom as you continue to be a blessing to all those God brings into your sphere of influence.  I love you!

Happy 13th Birthday!!

We now have FOUR teenagers in the house!  Yes, our son L is the latest and greatest to achieve this status.  For his birthday he wanted to eat at a particular restaurant, but his birthday was on a Wednesday night which is soccer practice and youth group night.  So my hubby took the afternoon off and we went out to this restaurant for LUNCH!  He and hubby went on a special "date" to Game Stop where he got to pick out one new Wii game. 

We came home and enjoyed his ice cream cake.

And he opened the rest of his gifts.

We love you so much, L!  You have delighted our hearts from the moment we met you, 13 years ago.  This year was a hard one for you in some ways, but you have emerged with a stronger faith and with your sense of humor intact.  I am so proud of you!  I love you as far as the universe, and I will always love you no matter what. :-)

Good-bye Toy Room! Hello Bedroom!

After 12 years and the addition of a sixth child, we decided that the toy room space could be put to better use as a fifth bedroom.  So the purging began.  Doing our own little version of a TV show we used to watch called 'Clean Sweep', we are financing the making of the new room from things that used to be in the room itself.  Close to $300 so far!  We got the closet pared down to this:  (with lots of room around the corner for clothes)

We worked and worked to (mostly) empty the room and then studs went up..

...wiring was put in, and then the drywall was put on.  This is one of the cool things about being a homeowner ~ if we want to put up a wall, we can put up a wall!

Back when this was a toy room, this was a chalkboard wall.  Time to paint it over!  We are only painting this one wall for now. Waiting til school is finished to paint the others.

So even though the room is not "done done", it is now usable.  Just in time for a visit from my parents!!

Happy 14th Birthday!!!!!

Exactly one week after daughter G turned 16, son G turned 14!  It just so happened that in honor of G's birthday Robert Downey Jr decided to make that day opening day of his new movie! So we took sons G and L and a couple of friends to see Iron Man 3.  First time for our boys to see a movie on opening day.  They had an awesome time!

He had a very "musical" birthday this year.... receiving an mp3 player, some cd's of his favorite band (Tenth Avenue North), and some iTunes gift cards.

Happy Birthday to our wonderful, deep-thinking, fun-loving, talented, God-following son!  We love you!

Wordless Wednesday

Happy 16th Birthday!!!!!

Wow, I have gotten so far behind in my blog posts!  So much life happens all the time, it's hard to keep my blog current, but I'm determined to do better.... so....

A couple weeks ago we celebrated our oldest daughter turning SIXTEEN!  Still trying to wrap my brain around that one.  We had a joint birthday dinner for her and my father in law, who turned 95!  (I know, right??!)

All my husband's original nuclear family minus one sister.

Here is my father in law looking stoic just before opening his cards and gifts.  What would YOU give a 95 year old man?  We gave him specialty cookies and snack foods!

The next day, G's birthday, we had a SCAVENGER HUNT!  (Yes, I am shouting!)  This was so. much. fun. for the parents to plan and execute.  We gave daughter G the first clue right after my husband got home from work.  It said, "What do we often have for dinner?  On Friday night it's always a winner.  Put on your shoes, G will drive.  Where our roundish, Hawaiian dish will arrive."  It didn't take the kids long to figure out we were going to a pizza place for dinner.

When the waitress brought our check for dinner, she also brought G the next clue.  That led us to a specific spot in a park where we like to sled in the winter.  Under a rock next to a tree the children found their next clue, which led us to an ice cream shop for dessert.

Was this the final destination, the children wondered?  Hubby and I just shrugged our shoulders, while waiting (not so) patiently for G to finish her copious amount of ice cream, because hidden in the bottom of her cone was a ziploc baggie with the next clue!

This led us to Best Buy, where the next clue was waiting inside one of the refrigerators in the appliance section.  And *this* clue led us to the computer section where we finally revealed our gift to her.... her very own laptop!

It was a fun evening, and a fun celebration of our sweet, gracious, smart, talented, God-loving, delightful daughter!  We love you!!