Jackson

We were so happy to finally get to meet little Jackson on Monday. The proud Mom and Dad have all the details here, but I thought I would post our extra pictures from different perspectives.

Independence Day

Friday evening, we went to see fireworks, which were set off at a high school here in town. We normally sit in one of the grassy areas near the mall parking lot to enjoy the show. This year, we were smart and took a sleeping bag instead of a sheet, so the prickly drought-dry grass didn't poke us through the blanket - this was a very nice bonus. Julian and Kathryn continued their tradition of circling our blanket at top speed, entertaining our neighbors as well. This year, their audience included a young man who seemed especially amused; he was about 18 months old, and he cackled each time our kids came to his side of the blanket. He eventually toddled over and joined us on our blanket, until his embarrassed parents came and collected him. He was adorable though. The show didn't seem to go as smoothly this year as it has in the past, and I have to say, it was on the thin side as far as the actual fireworks went. But, of course, our children didn't care. They loved it. Our pictures are not the best, but I thought they were okay considering the lighting, etc. and our camera....

Julian's mohawk

Ok, so it can hardly be called a mohawk since it is not even 1/2" long, but it's probably the closest he'll get. We went all the way down to a #2 guard this time, so his hair is pretty darn short - almost as short as uncle Billy's!

Check your sunscreen

Skin Deep is a group that tests the safety and effectiveness of cosmetic products (including sunscreen). 143 sunscreens have made their recommended list for being safe and effective. Check yours to see if it's there:

Skin Deep

(It turns out my No Ad was on the recommended list and my Water Babies was not....go figure)

Update: I went and bought #45 on the list - the CVS 45+ with zinc oxide for face, nose and ears. It was only $6.99 for a tube. It has no odor and really is greaseless. I guess we'll see how it performs in the sun....

FINK day, June

We had our monthly get together, which has come to be known as "FINK day", at Dad and Sherri's house this weekend. It was the first time we got to use the pool this year, since it was pretty cool outside the last time we got together in early May. Julian and Evan have lost any fear they had of water - they jumped and splashed and had a really good time. Kathryn did a great job also. She laid on a noodle the whole day, swimming from one end of the pool to the other. She would not let that noodle go for anything! Baby Vivian was able to join us for a little while outside of her nap time, and her cousins gathered around her like bees to honey! She seemed to enjoy them as much as they enjoyed her.

Unfortunately, we had sunscreen failure, in spite of lathering it on pretty thickly. We used "No Ad" SPF 60 on shoulders and back and Water Babies SPF 30 on their faces. Their faces did not get burned; their shoulders got REALLY burned. I'm tossing the bottle of No Ad, and getting another bottle of the Water Babies (since our bottle didn't make it home with us...). Julian's shoulders are SO burned (and Evan's too). We put Sarna on last night until Jason got back from the grocery store with aloe and gave him some Tylenol. Poor little guy, I guess he'll just have to go shirtless for a couple of days until the soreness goes away. Somehow Kathryn didn't get burned; she just got really tan. It's frustrating because we're so careful about sunscreen. The bottle of No Ad was from last year, and I remember hearing something, somewhere that sunscreen only lasts a year. I didn't believe it, but maybe it's true???

Anyway, we had a great time at the pool, and a nice visit with Randy and Emily after. After getting all the kids in bed, Randy and Emily introduced us to a card game called NERTS (I have no idea if that is spelled correctly). We visited Westminster Presbyterian on Sunday morning and really enjoyed Emily leading the "contemporary" praise music. We also enjoyed the sermon, which was about serving God where He has placed you.


(We were convinced we would get a call while we were in Charlotte that baby Jackson was on his way, but unfortunately Courtney is still waiting. Today is her due date, and boy do I hope today is the day - I know she is more than ready!)

VBS - Family night

VBS wrapped up on Thursday evening with a family night celebration. As always, the kids were excited to show everyone what they had learned through the week. And we learned that the boys barely lost to the girls in the offering competition they participated in all week, which meant Pastor Lloyd got a pie in the face. If the girls had lost, Juli would have gotten the pie. She did get a pie in the face last year, and Pastor Lloyd is the one that did it, so it seems all is even now.

And on the way out of the sanctuary, I saw this cute little bird. Apparently, it has been nesting there for quite a while, but I normally don't go out the front door, so I had never seen it.

Outrigger Island

This week has been Vacation Bible School at church. Our theme this year is "Outrigger Island - living God's unshakable truth". All of the children are "wave riders", and we adults are "island guides". Everything is very Hawaiian (which is pretty convenient, since Dollar Tree's summer special seems to be Hawaiian luau type decorations).

The past 2 years I was the crafts leader; it was wonderful, but SO stressful. This year I was actually not planning on doing anything (except sitting at home and enjoying the A/C), but in the end I agreed to help with the youth. I have not worked with youth since TEC about 10 years ago, when I was barely out of my teens myself. I have to say, it has been wonderful! It has been such a nice change to not have to worry about behavior stuff so much. The youth already know they need to listen to the story, be quiet as they're walking, and keep their hands to themselves.

Our church's preacher, Pastor Lloyd , was my co island guide - thank goodness. It really worked out well that he was able to teach the lesson about Jesus being the only way to heaven - I know I would not have done as well as he did, since that is, you know, his job...he's kinda used to it! I think I did OK on my 2 lessons, but I get so nervous, and I'm just out of practice...One of the things I really like about teaching is the research behind it, the learning enough to teach it. The kids seem to have gotten the message when I taught, so I'm thankful for that. It has gotten me thinking about teaching again, but that's a big commitment. I had decided not to make any more commitments for service to my church anytime soon, and I think that was the right decision, but IF I ever come to terms with my church issues (which is a big if), this is something I'll be considering....

So, all that to say, I have not gotten many pictures. Every time I think to get the camera out, the kids are moving to the next thing, so I've missed most of the pictures I wanted to get. I did get the 2 above, and will try to get some tonight at the family night presentation.

And I took this video last night - the kids go back to the sanctuary while they wait for their parents to come get them. They're singing the songs from the week and doing the "interpretive movements" - so don't worry, they're not dancing in church!

Julian

We went to get Julian's pictures taken on Tuesday. I don't have those back yet (although they came out really well!), but I did take a picture before we left....

Today

We just got back from the doctor... Kathryn now has a "secondary infection" from the cold she has had this past week - sinus or nasal or upper respiratory - he pretty consistently avoids saying what kind of infection. The wonderful news is her ears look great; there is no trace of infection, and this is the first time she has been on antibiotics in more than 6 months! So we can actually go back to the milder antibiotics, which will be easier on her stomach. Those super-antibiotics are rough on a little one. So, Julian had his infection 2 weeks ago, now Kathryn does - who is next? I hope no one since VBS starts Sunday and I'm teaching!

Just so there would be a picture included - here are the kids today. Kathryn was mad at me because she got a spanking when we got home from Walmart from picking up her prescription.

Kathryn

These were taken about a month ago when Kathryn had a preschool teacher workday. Julian's are scheduled for next week, so once I get those back I can finish sending these out....

For Ronda....

When we were talking earlier today, I told Ronda about my picture idea. I really like displaying pictures Jason and I have taken, and have gotten where I'll just stop in Dollar Tree or Big Lots and get the cheapest picture frame I can find in the right size - who cares what color or texture it is. I think I do have 2 that match exactly but they were given as gifts... I had all of these frames just randomly placed on a wall in our bedroom.

When I get stressed, I either clean, organize or just rearrange. Yesterday, I did all 3 in our room, including rearranging all the random pictures. I thought it turned out pretty well, and my lines were fairly straight, which is a major accomplishment for me! I did have to leave a few pictures out to get them all to fit, but I like it (and I know Jason is doing his best to not grit his teeth at all of the holes I put in the walls - over and over again!)

More Father's Day pictures

This was just minutes after Jason and Kathryn got up - Julian was actually laying in his doorway, waiting for us to get up, so he could be the first to say Happy Father's Day.

Jason turns 32

We celebrated the day on Saturday, although his birthday actually fell on Sunday - Father's Day - this year. It would have just been too much to celebrate both in one day.

Earlier in the day, we made a trip to Ronda's house to celebrate Brittany's graduation. I was not able to see the actual event because tickets were very limited, but I was really happy to get to see her for a lunch afterwards.

The kids always end up in Evan's bedroom (or in Julian's if they're at our house), and they always make a HUGE mess!

When we got home, we had some Little Caesar's pizza and I made Jason's cake. No close ups of the cake, but it turned out Ok for being rushed, and it tasted great!

I'm a little bummed that I can't find the card Julian made for Jason. It was so funny - on the front, it said "Congratulations, you're 32 - THAT'S OLD!" and then he signed it inside. It must have ended up with the recycling, but I wish I had taken a picture of it.

Fathers' Day

We decorated a shirt for Jason for Fathers' Day this year. Julian and Kathryn did the hand prints (they picked their own colors). Julian picked out the colors for the text on the front, and they also picked out which picture to use (the text and picture were printed from our own printer and ironed on - coolest thing ever!!!) The kids were a little disappointed that they didn't get to paint more, but I did want something Jason might actually wear - we'll have to wait to see how that goes ....

Our House

This morning, I've been mowing the grass, trimming, weeding and just cleaning up a little around the outside of the house. It has been so hot lately, I've been putting a lot of the work off, but have gotten most done this week (not that it's been much cooler, but at least it was not 100+). I thought it looked really nice. I'm glad no one will see inside the house - it does not look as nice. That is my project for this afternoon!

Summer begins

Summer has officially started in our house. Friday was Kathryn's last day of school and Tuesday was Julian's. Julian ended the year with an end of year celebration - complete with blow ups and lots of games. On Friday, Julian received the following awards: an engraved medal for being on the "A" honor roll all 4 quarters, a certificate for having perfect attendance for the first time in 2nd grade, and another certificate for being 2nd runner up in Accelerated Reader (AR) points for the entire 2nd grade. I am so proud of him. I wish I was there to see him get these things, and am really annoyed with myself for not asking if he was going to get awards that day...and a little with his teacher for not letting me know....

It has been a busy week with work stuff and getting ready for Fathers' Day and Jason's birthday, so nothing interesting to catch up on, but I did take these pictures a few days ago for a project we've been working on:

Julian seems to be extra sensitive to bright light and has a really difficult time keeping his eyes open and not making that squinty face if the sun is up at all (not even shining directly on him!). These were the best 3 of about 30 pictures - the other 27 had someone blinking, someone frowning, someone yelling, etc.

Superman!

For Christmas, Kathryn got a pretty fuzzy pink robe. Julian seems to like it more than she does and wears it fairly often, so, to keep him from going around in a fuzzy pink robe, we got him this very manly Superman robe!

We ordered it from Amazon.com, and Julian thought it was the neatest thing when a package came from the UPS man just for him!

Now our next step is to get him some manly dress up clothes to keep him out of Kathryn's dresses...

Video from graduation ...

And after several hours of uploading (this will definitely not be a regular thing for me!)....here is what we recorded. Enjoy...

The new 'do

WARNING - DO NOT SCROLL DOWN IF YOU WANT TO SEE IN PERSON FIRST!!!! (:


(I debated whether I should post these before Sunday when we see everyone, and decided I would go ahead since I will surely forget or get tied up with something else....)

Kathryn and I went for haircuts after her graduation. Kathryn had 6 inches taken off, and it looks amazing!! Here she is in the chair before the cutting started (since I happened to have my camera with me from graduation):

And here she is at home after it had dried a bit. Isn't she beautiful?!

Kathryn's preschool graduation

My baby is starting Kindergarten next year! This morning we celebrated Kathryn moving from preschool to "real school" next year with her class. Her teachers planned a nice ceremony for the parents, and the show they put on was very cute. Each child gave their mom a carnation and then they stood in line and sang songs they've learned in class. The tee shirts they are wearing have all of the kids' hand prints and all of their names. I took some video of the performance and will try to post it, but I am not the most patient person. I have tried to load a few videos, and have not been able to wait for them to load. I'm sure there is some trick I just don't know yet ... anyway, I'll work on that.

After the program, there was a small ice cream social and then they went on their playground to play in water. Jason was able to go for the graduation part, but went home before water play started.

I was very grateful that Noah's dad and Sarah's dad were willing to take one for the team...they went into the middle of all the kids and got hit with most of the water from the kids' guns. We moms standing on the sidelines still got a little wet, but not nearly as bad as it would have been if those 2 wonderful Dads had not been there!

Awana awards

Sunday evening, we had the awards ceremony for Awana during evening worship. I have to warn you, these pictures are terrible - I could not get any good shots, so I gave the camera to Jason, but it was after our kids were done with their class things. I'm hoping Jason's Dad was able to get some good pictures - he normally does!



I'm really proud of both Julian and Kathryn. Julian completed his 3rd Sparks book, which earned him the "Sparkie plaque". I think his teacher said that between the 3 books, there are 119 bible verses (some are repeats) that have to be recited - that might not be right, but it's close. So Julian will move up to T&T next year. His Sparks teacher actually gave him a T&T book bag to get him ready for next year.

Kathryn finished her 2nd Cubbies book - I think there are 30 verses in each book, so that means she learned 60 verses! She is so sweet with her verses, because I think she really thinks about them when she says them. Every now and then, out of the blue, she'll say something like, "Mommy, did you know that Jesus loves you?" or"Mommy, did you know that God is watching over us all the time?" She is such an encouragement. She will be moving up to Sparks next year.

Awana has been a wonderful tool for our family, and if our church doesn't have it next year, we plan to find one fairly close to home (church is 30 minutes from us now!) that they can participate in.

I was also surprised with a very nice plaque and certificate from the other workers and from the church for my 2 years of service as commander. I told them after the service that I wish they had told me they were going to do it - I am such a cry baby, and I didn't disappoint! The appreciation from my fellow workers was very nice! I wish I had a picture of them to post...it was the perfect way to end the year.

Saturday evening

When we got back to the church from the science center, we stopped in at Riley's birthday party for a few minutes and then rushed home to let Lucy out, feed her and get back to the church for the VBS luau.

VBS will begin in a little more than 2 weeks, and this luau was for the workers to get together and have fun. I will be working with the youth this time, which is making me a little nervous. I am co-teaching with our pastor, though, so I'm sure he won't let me mess up too much! I have been working with the children for so long now, I'm hoping this will be a nice change - no nose wiping, and no potty assistance.

Saturday morning

Saturday morning, we took 6 kids to the Natural Science Center as a reward for perfect attendance for Awana. (14 kids actually earned it, but apparently late May/early June is a hard time to get kids away from soccer and t ball and such). Because we had fewer kids than we expected, we were able to take the church van, which was great for saving gas.

I think I was the only person that had not been there before. There was so much to see, I think I probably could have spent another couple of hours there looking around. I loved the fossil displays - it always amazes me to see the evidence of something that lived so long ago. Jason and I plan to take the kids back sometime, so we can take our time and read the plaques and really look at everything there.

The animal walk area was a big hit too - the meercats were a lot of fun to watch. We got to see the new wolf display, but they were settling in for their afternoon nap, so we only saw them from a distance.

Friday night

On Friday night, Julian's best buddy from church had his 8th birthday party. It was a pool party, so it was THE coolest. Obviously, the kids had a lot of fun - this was their first time in the pool this year. Kathryn stayed on the steps splashing more than swimming, but Julian was all over the place (which is why there are an unfair number of Kathryn pics). Last year for the first time, we realized they just don't make little girl swimsuits for girls shaped like Kathryn. She spent a lot of the time pulling and tugging to keep herself covered, poor thing. We need to investigate - maybe there is a JLo line of little girl bathing suits!

Anyway, Kathryn also got to spend time with her cousin, Riley, who we have not really seen in quite a while. What a handsome young man he is! They played together like they had never been apart - it was really nice to see.




To explain the not great pictures - the face recognition thing on our camera is turning out to be less helpful than we thought it would be. It makes the camera focus on strange things - whatever it thinks is a face, apparently. If you're lucky, it's a face, if not, well, there's no telling what it will focus on! Anyway, we're still learning.

This weekend ...

We had a crazy busy weekend, and I have lots and lots of pictures to post, but I also have lots and lots of work to do today, and hopefully I will be taking Julian to the doctor today, if I can get him an appointment... I just wanted to give a "heads up" to our family that checks in for updates - it's going to be a day or two before I get them up. Please be patient with me :) Here are a few I took last night of the kids and their awards from the Awana award program which we had at church last night...