camp was a hit!

ok, i have to report that we had a blast at our first annual camp cousinfun. and yes, i'm going to bore you with lots of pictures. and you must look at each one, please. :)

my sister decorated the front door with this...

ella and grace wearing their funny glasses

before our first "camp meeting"...when we talked about the rules :)

each cousin had a chore after meals, either clean up (sweeping and wiping table) or dishes

here i am with the kids with the "guess who's nose" game

my mom helped the big girls bake a cake

here's evan enjoying the cake at the pool

my baby jumped off the diving board (with some assistance from aunt stacy)

each night rusty played his guitar and we sang some fun songs

my dad with all the kids

the cousins in their "camp cousinfun" tshirts that they decorated on the back

the big girls showing off their craft called "God's eyes"

we had a campfire and made smores one night...and yes, sang songs too!

the blindfold game brought lots of giggles

my little cheater...evan kept peeking

so if you've made it this far, i might as well continue and tell you some of the things we did other than the activities above (keep in mind our theme of the five senses):

• guess the scent game
• taste tests
• scavenger hunt at the farmers market
• fingerprint craft, made fingerprint animals
• learned about helen keller and watched "the miracle worker"
• family charades
• sound bingo
• guess the objects (by smelling, touching or tasting)
• talent show

our time at my sister's house was packed full of fun. at times, the kids were worn out...but for the most part, they really had SOOO much fun. i'm thrilled that they will have these special memories with their cousins and am thankful for the time together to bond even more. they were already asking if we were going to do it next year!

countdown to cousin camp!

tomorrow my sister and i will kick off our first annual "Camp Cousinfun"! my sister first came to me with the idea last summer and we never got our act together to do it. she has 4 kids (ages, 7 1/2, 6, and twin 3 yr olds). i think the whole camp will go over much better this year with our little ones being older.

what is a cousin camp you might ask? well, basically its going to be 3 fun-filled days of activities, crafts, games, field trips with our cousins (obviously!) and we are all centering it around our theme of "the five senses". the ideas were endless! everyone has been assigned to be in charge of different things, including meals. we even have my parents and our hubbies involved!

my kids are SO excited they can hardly stand it! i will report back after camp is over and post some things we did, along with some pictures!

more quotes!

what comes out of my 4 yr old's mouth is much different than my 2 yr old. she is now figuring things out and much of what she says is factual and a reality....therefore, not as cute as what my little man says. however, last night she said some pretty cute things that were blogworthy and i must share!

the kids and i were eating dinner out while daddy was at a meeting. evan decided it would be fun to lift up his shirt and laugh real loud. ella decided to do it too and i immediately told her to put her shirt down because i am trying to teach her modesty and how to be lady-like. being the mommy-like older sister, she says to evan, "bud, put your shirt down, it's not man-like!"

then during our after dinner trip to target, we passed a lady in a tank top with LOTS of tattoo's on her chest and arms. ella says, "look mommy, she has lots of stamps on her body!" (the kids have been stamping their arms lately with this smiley face stamp that we have...).

thanks for the giggles ella!

oh the funny things he says...part 2

as we were getting ready to leave for church this morning, evan looks at ella (who had just put on her sparkly lip gloss) and says, "i like your chap lips ella." ella proceeds to let evan put on some chapstick and he proudly says, "look at my chap lips mama!"

also, he has a boo boo on his foot and i put a bandaid on it the other day. he frequently talks about the fact that he has a boo boo and he said "i got my boo boo on." but he was calling his bandaid the boo boo. and he told his daddy that it was a "monster street" bandaid (aka sesame street)....monster street makes total sense, doesn't it!!?

oh the funny things he says

as i was checking my email this morning, evan wanted me to open a puzzle box for him. he said to me, "ella will help me when you kick (click) on da pooter (computer)." hee hee.

my new favorite drink

i'm a coke fan. i don't like pepsi. i don't like diet coke. but i do like diet coke with splenda. and i like coke zero. i love vanilla coke, but i don't like vanilla diet coke. and so...much to my surprise, i saw a 12 pack of VANILLA COKE ZERO at the store last week! oh yipeee! so now i can enjoy my vanilla coke with zero calories. i guess it doesn't take much to make me happy these days.

summer memories

after lunch today, i was reading the "your words" section in my RealSimple magazine. the question for last month was "what's your best summer memory?" and it got me thinking. i don't have many vivid memories from childhood. but one thing i recall was how much i loved that swirly slide in iowa. let me explain...

growing up, my dad was a hot air balloon pilot. interesting career path, huh? so as a child, my family often traveled all over the country as my dad competed in hot air balloon races. the one that i remember the most was the national hot air balloon championship that was held in indianola, iowa every summer. and it was there that i fell in love with the huge swirly slide at this playground my sister and i would insist on visiting while we were there. i guess they didn't have those slides in atlanta?! i don't know. as my sister and i grew older, we got rather bored with the whole ballooning life. all the traveling and chasing my dad while he was soaring high above us seemed to get old. although everyone around us thought it was the most exciting thing ever. and the thing that excited me most among the sight of hundreds of hot air balloons taking off in the sky was a simple slide on a playground.

now that i look back and think about all the great things i got to experience as a result of being a balloonist's daughter, i understand that it really is such a unique childhood. i am now thankful for those travels and the many hot air balloon rides that i got to take to see the world from a different view...but as i raise my own family...i can rest assured that the simplest things like a slide can bring much joy for a child! (kind of ironic that as i was thinking about all of this, i read "Curious George and the Hot Air Balloon" to evan before his nap today!).

so, what's your best summer memory?

extreme makeover: blog edition

like the new bloggy makeover? i discovered how easy it is to change my header from a friend, so i thought i would give it a try! i love that photo of the kids running and knew i wanted to use it somehow. anyway, it's kinda funky...but it's something new and change is good! (wish i could change my wardrobe this easily!)

** updated to add: can you help a girl out!? being the indecisive person that i am...i can't decide which template to use. go here to see the other color palette (which i tend to think is more me) and tell me...what is your vote? thanks!!

update on josh

thanks for the prayers. here's the latest update:

July 07, 2007 at 09:50 AM EDT
Praise!! God answered again! Surgery has been cancelled. The Dr.s said the shunt seems to be pumping properly. However, his colon is so impacted that they think it is affecting on the shunt. They will help him clean out his colon & see what happens. Gino & Diedere have been looking into Joshua's next step & don't see a lot of medical options. They have found hope & testimonies through diet & natural intervention & complete overhaul. They are seriously considering this. It will be a huge change. Praising the God who heard!! Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. Is. 65:24

it's going to be a long road....they are taking it one day at a time.

josh

i just checked my cousin's online care page and he needs prayer. this is what my cousin erin wrote on the update:

24 July 06, 2007 at 08:50 PM EDT
PRAYER ALERT!!! JOSHUA HAD A HARD DAY YESTERDAY & TODAY WITH A SEVERE HEADACHE & VOMITING. LATE THIS AFTERNOON THEY DID A CT SCAN TO SEE WHAT WAS GOING ON & SAID THE SHUNT WAS NOT WORKING PROPERLY. THEY EXTRACTED 3 VILES OF FLUID FROM HIS BRAIN TO RELIEVE THE PRESSURE & JOSHUA'S HEADACHE WENT AWAY. HE IS SCHEDULED FOR SURGERY TOMORROW TO SEE WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE SHUNT. PRAY: *THAT JOSHUA WILL QUIT THE EXCESSIVE VOMITING, *HE & HIS FAMILY WILL REST WELL & NOT FEAR SURGERY, *THE SURGERY WILL FIX THE PROBLEM, *FOR STRENGTH TO FINISH THE CHEMO & 10 RADIATION TREATMENTS, *WISDOM IN FUTURE DECISIONS, *TOTAL & COMPLETE HEALING FOR JOSHUA!

can you please pray for him? he has now been in the hospital for over a month. his body has been through so much with the radiation and chemo. his parents are worn out and josh is so weary.... anyway, just wanted to give an update and pass on this urgent request. (in the photo, my cousin Gino and his wife Diedere are in the middle. Victoria is 13 and Caleb is 16). thanks for praying!!

a happy 4th

i think july 4th is becoming one of my favorite holidays. to me, it means all things summer. time to be with friends and family, getting wet in the pool from the hot summer sun, celebrating our country and our freedom, eating burgers and hot dogs, watching fireworks, and all things red, white & blue. last night was one of those nights that make me so thankful for what i have been given. our community group gathered at one family's house and we spent hours enjoying our time with each other. memories were made and fun was had by all. i took a ton of photos last nite....so here are some of them...





here are the kids after they decorated their bikes and scooters with streamers, etc.


the kids were so cute playing throwing the ball in the grass and playing duck duck goose. we made them make this pyramid for a good photo opportunity :)


we couldn't wait until dark to start the fireworks...here are the kids watching them.


ella doesn't like the loud noise from the fireworks...so she wore ear plugs!

oh yeah

instead of saying "yes ma'am" or "ok" or just plain "yes"...evan's new answer to questions is "oh yeah!" and it is said in a soulful way...kind of reminds me of the "oh yeah" from the bomp bomp..chicka chicka song (i have no other idea of how to describe that!) --i think it was in the ferris bueller movie?? anyone, anyone?

me: evan, do you want some ice cream?
evan: oh yeah!

me: evan, can you close the door?
evan: oh yeah!

me: will you please come here?
evan: oh yeah!

anyway, you get the point. when you hear it in person (if you get the opportunity), you will surely laugh.

and in an attempt to teach ella a little about why we celebrate July 4th....i noticed that she calls the United States the "Whonited States".

i love the things these kids say.

help help...we can't stop watching!

r and i just finished watching 4 episodes straight of 24...season 2. oh yeah! we really couldn't stop. so it got to be 11:30pm and we decided that was enough. there's like a permament indention in my couch where my butt has been all night. good grief. do we need to go to 24aholic's anonymous or something? we only have season 2 and 3 to watch and then we will be all caught up.

so far, jack has only killed a few people and he's only said "da**it" 15 million times. at least his character stays consistent.

going to bed now. glad i could write such an exciting post....especially for you angela.