"Mary pondered all these things in her heart" Luke 2:19

I'm pretty sure most women are like Mary...pondering, reminiscing, remembering.
I've done a lot of pondering lately...
The BIG one, the girls started preschool today. Weren't they JUST born? Wasn't it just yesterday we were doing middle of the night bottle feedings while watching The Cosby Show? I have an entire post on this momentous day coming soon.
I just stopped nursing Champ, my LAST baby to snuggle and hold. It feels like yesterday he was a newborn and sleeping in the laundry room SO tiny, always in my bjorn...
It couldn't have come at a better time, my parents were here for the weekend and we were recovering from the 3 big kids have lice! yes, they had lice...again a whole post on that coming soon as well:)
Canon somehow turned into a big boy overnight?! He only wears diapers to sleep, and will ask for a diaper to poop in as well (its still funny, though soon we'll require him to go on the toilet), but he's getting taller and thinner and looking more like a boy instead of a toddler/baby! He was JUST Champ's age when we moved into this house. Time is flying by.
I am pondering so many things in my heart lately I can't seem to even put it all into words. If I can just upload the 127 pictures, seriously, to the computer - maybe I'll actually blog pictures sometime soon:)

Mr. Big Pants

Big boy has been wearing underwear at home for the past few weeks, he's doing GREAT! We've been out running errands with him a few times and no accidents so far:) Today will be his first time to not wear a diaper to church. So far, potty training has been SO much easier the second time around, and with only one child instead of two.
He's growing up so fast and looking so big lately. Sweet little Canon boy, I love you!~
**Just an update, Canon made it the entire day (at Church and at Mimi and Papas house...and home of course) without any accidents! Currently he's been wearing too big garage sale underwear, so tomorrow we are going to buy him "Woody and Buzz" underwear for a job well done. So thankful!

Hot Summer Nites 2011

I am so proud of Phillip and each year he puts on an amazing event at ZOE called Hot Summer Nites. This year was again so much fun, but also so many kids were saved by the awesome power of Jesus Christ! Praise the Lord they were able to hear the gospel, and had open ears to hear and hearts to receive His loving kindness and gift of salvation!! It was so fun to have Matt and Lauren come in town too! HSN wouldn't be complete without a Matt Hunter dance:) Jim Monroe, who does the MAZE, came back this year and spoke each night as well. And of course each night was themed and everyone dresses up. The first night we borrowed costumes from our neighbors. The theme was Woody's Round Up - a Hoe Down. Phillip and I were Andy and Bonnie (the owners of the Toys), and kids were Jessie, Woody, Buz Lightyear, and an Alien. :) It was so fun. Again I am so proud of Phillip and his passion to share Christ with people of all ages. The Lord constantly gives him amazing ideas and insights. He is full of fun, and full of wisdom. I truly love this man...and I still love watching him dress up silly and dance onstage - just like it was when I first fell in love with him 9 years ago at Kanakuk:)

"Vacation"

This is the first time our girls actually knew what the word "vacation" was, and used it in sentences. It was so sweet that they knew this was a special trip, one where we just wanted to be together as a family and have fun together. Two different times Avery said she was so happy that daddy got to be with us and spend time with us on "vacation".
We went to the Lake of the Ozarks, only a few hours away, for just two nights - but it was perfect and all we needed before we were ready to come home to our wonderful house....where the kids take naps and sleep in past 6am:)
Here are a few things we did: watched movies, ate ice cream, swam, got fake tatoos, made bracelets, ate out, drank chocolate milk and ate donuts!!, all 6 of us slept in one room, bought the kids new shoes! (the girls have been wanting these sparkly sketchers for a LONG time, and Canon got the same as Champ but we didn't get a pic of that), rode a water slide and swam LOTS more, ate more ice cream, got flowers and basket balls painted on their arms, and drank more chocolate milk and ate more donuts....
Today for lunch it was ALL VEGGIES and plain yogurt:)
I love my little family, and though a "vacation" isn't at all relaxing, it is ALL this mamma could wish for: just being together!!!

boys will wrestle...forever:)

randomest post

I uploaded these pictures so long ago, I don't even know what they are. I'm just hitting publish.
:)

Girl's Bedroom Re-Do

I love it! Love their "new bedroom"!! I've been wanting to do this for a while now...I mean ever since we moved in I was ready to change their wall color:) I always loved the brown tree that sweet Emily painted, but was ready for a change from the get go. So a year and some months later it is just like I wanted! Phillip and some sweet friends, Meg and Chris, painted the room one night a few weeks ago. The next week Phillip left for Costa Rica and while he was gone my mom came up and we sewed and crafted for hours each night to get just the right look:) She made the curtains and did a fabulous job!! I made some of the little crafts, fabric squares, flower balls, canvases, etc. We recovered the pillows with an old pillowcase and some gray fabric I bought, found two old buttons in my closet and it all came together quite well! We already had the white hanging balls, white comforters, pictures on the dresser and white side tables. The flower boquets are made out of felt and a mason jar that my spagetti came in. I seriously love the way this room turned out, and how other than the fabric and paint, it was essentially a very cheap Re-Do of a room. The girls are SO happy with it as well. Even adding the paper flowers to their tree makes it a touch more girly and fun, and I'm planning on a few more projects down the road like that. Paper birds hanging from the walls or something, all fun, free and frilly:) Here are some before and after shots below!