Glorious Day!

Today Chiggie was baptized!  I am so proud and happy for her.  This is something she had been talking about for a long time, so to see if finally play out was amazing.  We gave her a new Bible as a gift and I she really loved that.  The King did the baptism which made it just that much more special.  Congrats Chiggie on choosing this path for your life!

Happy August

I know, I know that was so 4 days ago, but better late than never I suppose.  I am surprisingly quite excited that is now August.  The official "back to school" month for many.  We've kept busy with our summer schedule and added in the county fair yesterday.  The kids enjoyed bump and jumps, riding ponies, and making crafts.  It's been really nice for the King to have 3 day weekends.  Fridays always end up feeling like Saturdays.  Next week is our church's VBS which promises to be insanely busy.  We will be gone each day from 8-12:30.  I am praying for a peaceful week!

Tea's Party

Tea decided on a beach themed pool party this year.  I made these colorful ice cream cone cupcakes and the kids (and adults) really enjoyed them.  Every time we plan and put together a party I am reminded how fleeting our time of parenting little ones is.  I can't believe how big our kids are getting.  It really is a joy to celebrate with them.

We put together a cute little snack table with pebble crispy treats, gold fish in a fish bowl, and some chips and crackers. 

 The kids played several games split up into groups.  There were 18 children guests, but they all seemed to have a really good time.

 Of course there were presents which Tea enjoyed very much.  She has a good bit of money to shop this week as well.

I am so glad it went so well.  Now we just have to pull off Boo's and we are done until February!

8 is Great!

My sweet Tea turned 8 years old yesterday!  She is such a bubbly, happy, energetic little girl.  She is very mature for her age and such a joy to be around.  She is very athletic, loves sports, and reading.  We are having a pool party for her tomorrow and if the weather holds up I think it will be pretty awesome!  We love you so much sweet Tea....stay little just a bit longer!

The Big 5

 Today my sweet baby Boo girl turned 5!  I just cannot believe it.  She is such a darling.  This has been a much anticipated birthday.  When you have 3 older siblings I think 5 is a pretty big deal.  She is now old enough to be in the big class at church, go to youth group, and start Kindergarten in the Fall.  Very exciting stuff.

This year Boo and Tea agreed that they wanted to have separate parties.  Tea's will be this Saturday and Boo's will be in early August.  That didn't keep us from celebrating though.  Boo picked green chili burritos for dinner and requested I make a chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting.

After dinner she opened a few gifts which she loved.  I love how excited all of the kids get for the gift part!

Her new kitty helped her eat her cake and ice cream.  I think she had a great night.  We love you Boo so darn much.  You are such a delight to our entire family.  I can't wait for school to start so that you can learn to read.  We are so proud of you, keep being yourself!

Looking Ahead

If you would have asked me in May, I would have said it was impossible, but we are all actually very much looking forward to the upcoming school year.  We have so many fun things planned.  I have some new ideas too.  One of the things that we will be doing differently this year is easing back in.  Instead of starting full throttle we will start with a subject or two the first week or two and then slowly add the others.  This will keep us from getting overwhelmed in the beginning and also help with scheduling.  Sometimes it looks good on paper but then the implementation is a different story. 

I am hoping to go shopping for supplies soon.  Much like the kids, I think this is one of my favorite parts.  Something about new folders, notebooks, pencils, and binders just make us all happy I suppose.  I will be setting up our final schedule sometime this week so hopefully I'll have more to share soon.

Day at the Beach

Our time off is quickly coming to an end.  When I got back from camp I really wanted to do something as a family for the day.  We decided to take the kids to the lake.  We got lucky with gorgeous weather and the kids were thrilled.

 Chiggie loves to swim and always has.  I don't think we saw her up on the pavilion at all after lunch.  She just hung out in the water all day.

 Boo is getting much more adventurous.  She can't wait until she can go out into the deeper water, but for now she is content hanging out on the beach.

 Midge spent almost the entire time we were there collecting shells.  She kept them in empty chip bags.

 Buster is a little too adventurous for his own good.  We had to follow him very closely as he really doesn't know his limitations.

Tea is just a happy kid all around.  She had a great day doing a little bit of everything.  I was very happy to get to spend this day as a family.