Tropical Storm Fun

With the children home from school (for two days) due to the tropical storm (TS Isaac) and flooding, we ventured out to our neighborhood for an adventure!

Hint: The bench isn't usually in the lake

Our rainy Abbey Road (eat your heart out, Beatles)

Sharing a downspout

One Week Down!

Well, I am finding that school makes life busy in a different way than summer made our life busy. However, as things are starting to slow down because it is Friday, I finally am able to post our "first day" pictures.   We had a rough early start earlier in the week, but now we don't have to leave before the sun comes up. Yay!


As you can see, the children were a wide range of emotions the first day:

Ready to go to school!  (Rebecca with her super loose tooth that she pulled out at lunch that day)

How did this picture get in?  Oh well, David being... well... David.

I said, "Smile, I want to get a picture of you riding to school".  Nice.

Loose tooth Becca.

Waiting for the bus.  (Now we are at a different bus stop, but you get the idea)  David had no fear, he just jumped right on and went.

Rebecca being so grown and walking to class alone!  Bye, Becca!

At home I have actually been doing my own preschool stuff and involving Andrew as well.  They have fun.  It isn't anything big, but I think it is helping to gear Benjamin's mind to going to school.  We have been learning about "ME" this week.  He is also working on learning the letters of his name.

Benjamin and Andrew at home, occasionally playing together.

For the past couple of days Benjamin has been carrying all this stuff around.  I asked him what he was doing here, and he told me he was making Deviled Eggs.  (his favorite way to eat eggs)

One week down and only forty-one weeks until summer!  (but who's counting, right?)

Getting Bigger!

We visited the Ft. Lauderdale Temple site this morning--with the children in their adorable outfits Maryann made for them!

Step-sitting before the short trip (about an hour away)

Andrew making a break for it! (Our front yard)

At the temple (Andrew trying to get away, again)

Children, sans Andrew

Portrait

He was singing "I Love to See the Temple"

She was telling me why she was excited for a temple

He was also telling me why he was excited for a temple

He just wanted to play with the camera

You have to see THIS!

All our adventures for July were captured in one place!  You can see them here and enjoy the fun vicariously.

"Sisters, Sisters"

Many people have actors or singers as their heroes while they are growing up, not me.  The person I think I looked up to the most while I was growing up was my sister.  I have always watched what she does and wanted to do just as well as she did.  She played the piano beautifully, so I wanted to play the piano beautifully.  She drew fun pictures, so I wanted to try and draw fun pictures.  She started jogging and running races, and I thought it would be neat to do the same thing.


More importantly, while we shared a room during my early teens I saw her reading her scriptures, and she shared what she was learning with me.  I saw that and decided I wanted to learn from the scriptures for myself.  I saw her faith and example, and I want to be just like that.  She has been a great example to me, and I am so thankful she was the one I looked up to.  Many of the good habits I have are because I saw her doing it and decided I wanted to do it too.

She has a way of making me smile.  She finds humor in everyday, she always makes me laugh.  I am thankful to have a sister.

We have laughed about this song in days long ago, but it always reminds me of my sister.  Thanks, Gaylene, for being my sister and my friend.  You really are amazing!

Temple Perspective

I have an amazing husband. Perhaps I have said that before, but he continues to surprise me and make me smile.  We took our monthly trip to the temple and met up with cousins.  We decided to spend all our time at the temple instead of finding the nearby park to play at.  I was worried how the children would fare at the temple.  Clark had a fun idea to take pictures of the children doing fun things.  The children loved having pictures taken of themselves.  There were a lot more, but these were my favorites:

"My little sister"

A snack!

Squish...

A handful of cousins.

Big to small.

We love the temple, and even though it is a long drive for the children, I love that we all go together.  We know our family can be together forever because we are working on building it together.  (our beliefs on eternal families)

Cleaning Makes Messes

After breakfast I finally jumped to the task of cleaning the guinea pig cage. I finished cleaning the cage at last and turned around to see this mess. I think I might have just went to collapse on the couch if the couch hadn't been covered with stuff.  At least they are having fun, right?

All the fun you can have with play food and felt.  I had no idea the felt people led such exciting lives until I heard the stories the children had to tell.

At least the guinea pigs have a clean house.  I only wish someone would come clean my house too...