Christmas Parade ~ 2016

It's one my favorite Christmas tradition with my family in Christ... the Christmas parade.  If I am NOT mistaken, this is our fifth year (according to my blog) that we have done this together.  I will be sad when our kids no longer think it is cool and don't want to go.  I guess us parents could still go.  Haha.  

Our small group is very close knit and we are six godly woman striving to live righteously. 2/6 families could NOT make it this year due to illness and one daddy is on a missions trip in Uganda.  Ty-Ty is getting a tad too old to sit with the little ones now. Sniff, sniff.  So he hung out with the dads.

Our clan of kids started a hugging the snowman and then the poor snowman was having a tough time breaking away.  SO MANY kids started doing the same thing.

Watching the parade intently.  

The gingerbread house was one of my favorite floats.  

Jax was so excited to get a life size $100 bill and a $1,000,000.00 bill.  Haha!

Shannon was getting her hair done, so she arrived late, WHICH caused for another necessary photo!

We were wondering how the kids would respond to the clowns due to the fact that there is so much hype right now about clowns scaring people.  Surprisingly, none of the kids budged!

This was my favorite float... the manager scene.  ALL WHITE, pure, delicate, and  beautiful.  

Chick-Fil-A was there, too, and Cohen was screaming, "EAT MORE CHICKEN", over and over and over! It was priceless.  

We left before the last few floats made an appearance because we wanted to beat the traffic. Until next year...

Found Faithful ~ Vacation Bible School ~ 2016

It's hard to believe that Vacation Bible School has already COME and GONE! This year, the theme was "Found Faithful".  The children learned about all of the stories behind King Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendnego. They learned how even through the most intense "tests" of faith, if you remain faithful, God will NOT leave you or forsake you. His grace is sufficient. It was a fantastic week!!! The children had so, so, so much fun and they learned a tremendous amount about God's power and Christ's redemptive work on the cross.  They also enjoyed some Bible challenges, physical challenges, and piñata fun.  Darren and I were responsible for the end of the week slideshow/photos.  You can view ALL of the photos, from the entire week, by double clicking on the Picasa, online photo album below.  If you are trying to view the album via a mobile device, it will NOT work!!!! It must be viewed from a landline.  Enjoy the video as well!! An extra special thank you goes out to both Gretchen and Erin for their planning and attention to details for this event.  It's something EVERYONE looks forward to.

I only posted a view of my favorite photos, from the week, in this post because there are far too many to post them all.  

Where's TY?  He's too OLD for regular VBS!! He is in the youth NOW and went to BIG BOY/GIRL VBS.

A little pool time...

On Thursday, we had a few friends over to our pool.  My girlfriend, Jody, was babysitting our mutual friend Erin's children, and she also had my pastor's two youngest (Gabe and Cami) Jay, Ty's friend from school, and her own children.  She had her own clown car going on.  LOL!

 

 There was some chicken fighting going on.

The boys lost.

Sunbathing...

Bubble blowing... It was cute watching Aliza experience a few of her first experiences that day.  She got a good chuckle from her first experience with a water gun and then when she saw Jax blowing bubbles, in the water, she thought it was the funniest thing ever, and she tried to replicate him, without face planting in the water.

Splish splashing...

And water dodgeball, which was far too rough for this mommy to witness.  

It did create a ton of laughter though for this kid (below).

 It was a "peace"full day!!!

Summer is in full swing...

Memorial Weekend 2016

 

We had a really wonderful Memorial Day weekend.  We didn't make any elaborate plans although, commercials, IG and Facebook posts may make you feel like you are abnormal if you are just cleaning your home or doing nothing noteworthy, but you aren't, you are perfectly normal. We filled our weekend with Jesus, family, friends, rest, completed tasks, and great food.  Our friends Nathan and Erin invited our entire small group over on Sunday, after Church.  Each family brought a dish or three and we enjoyed food, friendship, and watermelon fun.  LOL!  I only captured the watermelon event.  Brett and Jody brought a watermelon and a bag of rubber bands.  YES, rubber bands.  What would one do with a watermelon and a bag of rubber bands?  Well... I am so glad you asked because I captured it all.  First, begin using your giant bag of rubber bands to wrap around the watermelon. 

All of the kids helped Pastor Brett, but eventually only Ty and him were strong enough to do it FAST and quickly.  

 Those that didn't help wrap the watermelon made other plans with the rubber bands.  Like making goofy faces.  LOL!

Now why were we doing this? Well, because we didn't have a pool to play watermelon pool ball.  

Okay, that's not the real reason, but it was a good one.  Brett said that eventually, the pressure from the rubber bands, wrapped around the watermelon, would force the watermelon to bust.  

 It was raining and cold and the spectators were getting a little impatient.  

 But Brett and Ty worked hard.

 Jax and Cohen snuggled under a beach towel.  Hehe.

 Some of the wimpy daddy's stood under the garage "awning" and chatted/laughed.

 Lilah and Ansley bundled under a beach towel.  

 Then Julia joined them.

Then, Kate.

Finally, Vivian to complete the BIG girls.  These girls have been friends since they were babies.  

 Still working...

 Presely and Aliza hung out in the warm "club" house, kiddie club house.  

 Julia and Mason (brother and sister) sharing a beach towel.  

 Still working, but they eventually ran out of rubber bands and the watermelon wasn't budging. SO... plan A, turned into Plan B.

Watermelon baseball!!!!

 YUMMMY!

 That certainly is ONE way to break open a watermelon!

BIG KIDS like to ride outdoor toys too! LOL! Oh my funny hubby.

Thank you Nathan and Erin for hosting such a fun event! To see ALL of the photos, double click on the photo album below.  If you are trying to view this album from a cell phone, it will not appear on your screen.