Mr. Wonderful Turns 4

Oh, yeah!! The party was great and I promise more pictures soon but for now we're having too much fun with our house guests.

Cousin Hanker!

Having fun!

Poor Macker!

Haddiecake!

Where's Odog?!

Crazyfaces.

Trying out the new toys.

Cookie Time!

Someone in our house has a birthday this weekend. S's and 4's...

That's right, it's my Junie.

These are the special ones he made for Papa.

Fancy!

S's and 4's...

Man, I love him.

Sissy!

I told Amelia we could practice these and learn them together slowly... she learned them this past week and I still only know the first 6 or 7. Neat.

Iraqi Tea

I had the opportunity to host a tea for some Iraqi women last night. They are actually refugees from Iraqi and have only been in this country for a couple weeks or months. I have to be honest and tell you all that I was really nervous because I've never really socialized with anyone that is Muslim. I know it sounds crazy, but I was a little scared. I WAS TOTALLY WRONG. These women were loving and kind and open to friendship. They knew that we are Christians and they were happy to get to know us. I am so thankful for the chance to get to know them. We're going to do it again. I wish some of you AZ friends were here to be a part of the fun. Makes me miss you guys.

Busy Busy

We've been so busy lately and I've been terrible about having my camera with me.
Let me recap...
*Parenting conference Friday and Saturday
*Bike riding
*Raking and trimming
*More bike riding
*Lunch with friends
*Other stuff
* Amazing Race (or as Junie calls it Racing Rabbits)
*DANCING WITH THE STARS!! (go Kelly)

Dancing...

Dancing...

Dancing...

and a little talking...

Mrs. Sparky!

Tonight Sissy won a big award and I'm so proud. She won the Sparky Recognition Award for saying the most verse for the first quarter. (for 1st grade girls)

How cool is that new Sparky pin?!

I did not win any award for mother of the year tonight. Scotty went to Cubbies without shoes. Neat.

Surprise!

When Amelia and I walked in the door from dance class this is the face that greeted us. My dad and grandpa stopped by on their way to pick up a car in Chicago. I had NO idea they were coming.

They could only stay a couple minutes, but it was long enough for a quick game of Go Fish.

Hard to believe my grandpa is going to be 90 in just a couple weeks!! He's amazing.

6:45am

Apple Picking

The kids and I had a great day enjoying 70 (yes, I said 70) degree weather. I found an Apple Picking Farm in northern IL near Wisconsin. We drove about 2 hours and it was totally worth it.

The kids loved the animals and running around like crazy.

Sissy drove a train.

We actually never picked any apples. Here's the story, when we arrived an overly friendly man welcomed us and started talking to the kids. He asked them what kind of apples they liked. Junie said, "HoneyCRAPs are my favorite." The nice man told Junie he was really sorry but all the Honeycraps had been picked.
Sissy and I laughed our heads off.
We decided $14.00 was too much for apples we wouldn't eat.

Nanny and Papa Save the Day

Nanny and Papa arrived before 9:00am after a 3.5 hour drive.

There was go fish playing, scone eating, book reading, dolly playing, oil changing, Costco running, TJMaXX trip, Trader Joe's shopping, park playing, tennis hitting, ball catching, hair braiding, soup eating, bike riding, hugs, kisses and tears to say goodbye.

Macker was quite a helper.

Waving goodbye.

The kids were all 3 sleeping by 6:30pm. Thanks Mom and Dad.

Flowers You Can Eat

Sissy and June woke up from their nap to a wonderful surprise.

Thanks Nanny and Papa for the get well wishes. Love you!

Poor Sissy

Yep, she's got the swine flu.

Our Junie

Junie has been extra funny lately.

#1. Yesterday we got out all those dress up clothes and he saw them and said, "Holy CRAP that's a lot of stuff." I was a little shocked told him we don't say holy crap. He said (totally serious)
"I didn't say that I said HOLY CAT." Yeah right?!

#2. The Trader Joe's near us has a little game they play with the kids while the parents are shopping. Each day they hide a little purple monkey somewhere in the store and if the kids see it they can tell the check out person and receive a sucker. Scotty and I had been shopping for about 10 minutes when out of nowhere he said to me with a totally serious face, "Where's that da*n monkey?" I tried not to laugh because I was feeling the same way...

#3. Lately Scotty's been complaining that his tummy hurts. Something being wrong with his tummy is one of my worst fears. I think he knows that because he says it quite a bit. When I ask him what if feel like he always has a different answer based on what's going on. Example.
"My tummy hurts..."
me-"what's it feel like?"
"It feels like I need to cuddle in your bed"
or "If feels like I need a juice box"
or "It feels like I need to play Go Fish"
or "It feels like you need to take me to RedBox"
Or my personal favorite...
"It's telling me you need to take me to a garage sale". Mine's telling my the same thing.

In a couple weeks he's going to be 4 years old and I am sooo thankful that he's in our life. He is a precious gift to us.

Psalm 126:3The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.

Halloween #2

Cowboy.

Mickey.

Ninja Turtle.

Superman, Superboy and The Bride.