The kids serenaded me while I worked in the kitchen this afternoon....I especially love how Summer does the middle notes and vocals while Colton transitions between the high notes and the low notes.....
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
VBS
The past two years I have taken Summer to toddler VBS at a nearby church, Hosanna. This year, I Colton was old enough to go to toddler VBS and Summer was in with the preschoolers! We were all together for the songs and Bible story time (it was ADORABLE watching her do the actions and sing along with her group "Blue 5") and then she went back to a classroom with her "teacher" while Colton and I did the toddler VBS together. It was really special having one-on-one time with Colton since I usually don't get that, and it was also fun to do something with him that I had also gotten to do with Summer! Here are a few pics from our first day of VBS....
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| We are excited for VBS! |
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| Summer's "teachers" Ms. Molly and Ms. Chandler |
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| Summer sitting with the big kids during the song/Bible story time |
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| Colton and I sat in the back with the toddlers during the song/Bible story time |
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| The toddler play room |
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| Colton loved the balls.... |
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| the slide.... |
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| The HUGE ball... |
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| the cars and trucks (especially!).... |
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| the toy food area... |
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| the rice table... |
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| and his friend Ian :) |
Monday, June 17, 2013
Kiddie Pool Party
Today, June 17th, was the first day this year we could set up our kiddie pool because it has been so cloudy and rainy! Two years ago we were able to set it up a whole month earlier--fun to remember back to when the kids Summer's age were so much smaller and now their little siblings are that size! Anyway, I didn't get any pictures of them swimming today, but I did snap a cute one of them eating lunch. I love that Colton is eating his PBJ and goldfish crackers with the "big kids" :-). Looking forward to more sunny summer days! I love this time of year!
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| Colton, Adry (turned around on chair), Faith, Summer, Noelle, and Addison. Little brothers Brody and Rylan are eating with their mommies :) |
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Two Firsts
Well, today each kid had a "first"--Colton's was a "physical" first and Summer's was a "spiritual" first.
For Colton: While he has been walking more than he has been crawling, until today, once he fell, he would crawl over to something and pull himself up in order to walk again. Today was the first time I saw him (twice) stand up on his own without pulling up on anything :)! It was fun to watch!
For Summer: For the first time today she prayed (all on her own) without me even around and without it being a mealtime/bedtime prayer.
The scenerio: I told Summer to clean up her room (like she does every day after her quiet time). She cried for 10 minutes because she didn't want to (she literally had like 10 things scattered in her room and could have cleaned up in a fraction of that time!). Anyway, while I was making dinner she came downstairs (she couldn't come down til her room was clean) and told me:
"Mommy, I didn't want to clean up my room, but I prayed to God to help me to be obedient and then I cleaned my room."
I almost melted it was so adorable and so, so, so rewarding to see her putting into practice what I have been trying to teach her! When she is disobedient we often stop and pray for God to help her heart to be obedient, and often something along those lines is in my prayer for her when we pray together each morning after we read her Bible story, but I had never heard her do it completely on her own. Definitely rewarding! I was pretty pumped!!
For Colton: While he has been walking more than he has been crawling, until today, once he fell, he would crawl over to something and pull himself up in order to walk again. Today was the first time I saw him (twice) stand up on his own without pulling up on anything :)! It was fun to watch!
For Summer: For the first time today she prayed (all on her own) without me even around and without it being a mealtime/bedtime prayer.
The scenerio: I told Summer to clean up her room (like she does every day after her quiet time). She cried for 10 minutes because she didn't want to (she literally had like 10 things scattered in her room and could have cleaned up in a fraction of that time!). Anyway, while I was making dinner she came downstairs (she couldn't come down til her room was clean) and told me:
"Mommy, I didn't want to clean up my room, but I prayed to God to help me to be obedient and then I cleaned my room."
I almost melted it was so adorable and so, so, so rewarding to see her putting into practice what I have been trying to teach her! When she is disobedient we often stop and pray for God to help her heart to be obedient, and often something along those lines is in my prayer for her when we pray together each morning after we read her Bible story, but I had never heard her do it completely on her own. Definitely rewarding! I was pretty pumped!!
Happy Father's Day, Daddy!
To our silly and goofy,
fun,
fix-it-all,
jack of all trades,
creative playmate,
creator of fun traditions,
master of zillions of voices,
Saturday morning breakfast chef,
songwriter and performer of made-up songs,
weather man who teaches the kids to like thunder,
best "leg-propelled-kiddie-airplane-ride" giver,
speedy jogger-stroller-pusher,
humble but strong in every way,
totally self-less and generous,
always hardworking,
prayer warrior,
godly example
DADDY,
We love you so much!
Love, Colton (1 yr) and Summer (2.5 yrs)
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Lately
What have we been up to lately?
This past weekend we drove to Fergus Falls, MN for Paul's 10 year high school reunion. Grandma and Grandpa T took AWESOME care of our two kiddos while Paul and I got to hang out with some of his high school friends Friday and Saturday night, took a tour of his school on Saturday morning, and had a family picnic lunch at a park along with other families from Paul's class. We also got a little "date" afternoon between reunion events and we enjoyed walking the river walk, stopping at DQ, treasure hunting at thrift stores, going to a parade, and just enjoying time together :). We stayed at Grandpa and Grandma T's trailer in Battle Lake, and Paul enjoyed fishing for his first time this year. Even though it was rainy, we had a lot of fun hanging out with such great people, and Grandma T had plenty of toys/books/puzzles etc to keep our kiddos busy and having fun!! I didn't take any pictures, but Grandma took this gem of the kids walking with Grandpa. LOVE IT! :)
On Tuesday we went to the zoo with several of our friends, including our new friends Ms.Edita and Shelley (When we first met them I thought her name was Chile by how they pronounced it but it is actually Shelley!). Here is a quick snapshot of Summer and Shelley, Summer's friend who only speaks Spanish. It was cute to watch the two of them play and interact, even though they were using different words for the things they saw!
On Tuesday evening we went to the Twins game. My parents took us as a belated present for Paul's birthday, and my sister and her friend Janette were awesome babysitters for our kiddos!
Today, the kids and I did had fun stopping in the middle of running errands to watch one of our many construction projects going on right now in Apple Valley. The kids LOVED watching the digger digging a massive hole and the crane lifting the huge cement block! Definitely a highlight of our day! Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of that, but I will end this post with a few cute pictures that Paul took when we went to the zoo as a family a couple weekends ago....
This past weekend we drove to Fergus Falls, MN for Paul's 10 year high school reunion. Grandma and Grandpa T took AWESOME care of our two kiddos while Paul and I got to hang out with some of his high school friends Friday and Saturday night, took a tour of his school on Saturday morning, and had a family picnic lunch at a park along with other families from Paul's class. We also got a little "date" afternoon between reunion events and we enjoyed walking the river walk, stopping at DQ, treasure hunting at thrift stores, going to a parade, and just enjoying time together :). We stayed at Grandpa and Grandma T's trailer in Battle Lake, and Paul enjoyed fishing for his first time this year. Even though it was rainy, we had a lot of fun hanging out with such great people, and Grandma T had plenty of toys/books/puzzles etc to keep our kiddos busy and having fun!! I didn't take any pictures, but Grandma took this gem of the kids walking with Grandpa. LOVE IT! :)
Today, the kids and I did had fun stopping in the middle of running errands to watch one of our many construction projects going on right now in Apple Valley. The kids LOVED watching the digger digging a massive hole and the crane lifting the huge cement block! Definitely a highlight of our day! Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of that, but I will end this post with a few cute pictures that Paul took when we went to the zoo as a family a couple weekends ago....
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| Love this, because it captures what the 3 of us do all week---Summer loves pushing this stroller all over the zoo, mall, neighborhood, etc! |
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| Behind "wooly mammoth" rib bones |
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| Colton |
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| Sleepy leopard |
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| Prairie Dogs |
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| A new favorite...the giraffes...this summer they opened an Africa exhibit at the zoo |
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| Ostriche |
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| Summer's new favorite thing to do at the zoo is go to the bird show. This one (Coconut) dances to "Stayin' Alive", while other birds (like Coco) mimic noises such as water running, a fire engine sound, etc. Pretty fun to watch! |
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Lunch with Daddy
Today we had lunch downtown with Daddy at work. The highlight for both kids was definitely the sky ways! What a fun place to visit :-)
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| Watching the trucks and cars from the skyway |
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| The kids--totally loving the view! Daddy---looking good holding our bag lunch and someone's cute ladybug raincoat ;) |
Bike
Summer has been getting better and better at riding her bike! The first tricky thing for her was that when you push the wheels backwards, they brake (she would keep "stopping", but not on purpose!). The second tricky thing was getting enough strength from her legs to propel the bike forward (which got easier when we put more air in the tires). Yesterday, for the first time, she rode her bike all by herself almost all the way to a nearby park! She also had her first two time she fell off her bike (going up over a curb tipped her off balance, and going up on the grass tipped her off balance) but I was so proud of her for getting back on and trying again. She loves riding her bike, and as soon as we finished dinner last night she wanted to go outside and show Daddy how she could ride her bike now. Daddy caught a little of her on video:
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