so glad i caught this moment

sophie loves bubbles! bu bu was one of her first words and really the only one she says really well besides ma ma. she's loves to catch bubbles, watch them be blown, and try blowing them herself. usually, the blowing herself results in eating them and blowing the bubbles from her mouth! tonight, she figured it out! i didn't even realize until i looked at the picture i was taking. she was so cute sitting on the table on our deck trying to blow that i decided to take a picture. then, i saw the bubbles! she did it! and then again after that. i'm so glad i caught this moment!

molly's fairies

molly is all girl, all imagination and she has fairies. it varies from day to day how many she has. some are good and some are bad. the good ones help her and the bad ones do bad things, cause her to do bad things. she does have three consistent fairies (all good) molly fairy, tinkerbell fairy, and ashen-vince (don't ask me where she came up with this name!). these fairies go on bike rides with her - there's a trailer hooked to her bike that they ride in. last night, anna was over for a sleepover and ashen-vince fairy stayed at grandpa and grandma's house. she was hiding there. grandma found out today she had a fairy staying with her last night.

molly talks to her fairies regularly also. she'll be carrying on a conversation with herself and we'll ask her who she's talking to. the answer is always, "my fairies". the fairies do all sorts of things such as have babies, put make up on molly, and the latest, have pink eye. it's never all, but at least one of them.

we bought pool toys a few weeks ago and molly was thrilled that we found a mermaid fairy pool toy. it's a favorite among the girls at the pool. she has the tinkerbell movie and loves books that have to do with fairies.

so, if anyone is in need of a fairy, molly's the one to talk to. she'll tell you all about them, how to get them, and what they can do for you!

fun with cousin brynnlea

molly's cousin brynnlea lives a couple hours away and so they don't get a chance to interact much. last night, however, my parents brought brynnlea over to play with molly. she was thrilled to hear she was coming and as soon as we got home from our birthday party, she started crafting pictures for brynnlea. the first was a picture using some of the princess stickers she got at the party, then a card with a picture of sleeping beauty,and finally a picture of ariel. coloring just wasn't enough so we decorated the tail with bits of tissue paper. of course, it all had to be wrapped in a gift bag with wrapping paper. she met brynnlea at the door with it.

we ate pizza then went outside to play. the girls had so much fun in the sandbox, play house, and blowing bubbles.

   

we capped the evening off with brownies and ice cream. molly wasn't ready for brynnlea to leave, and brynnlea wasn't ready to leave either. i'm so glad these girls are close in age and hoping they'll be good friends as they grow up!

swimming

we went to the pool tonight for the first time this summer. i love our pool and especially the fact that it's free at 7:30. we can swim for 30 minutes then come home and head to bed. a great summer time routine! we planned to go tomorrow afternoon with matt but i decided i wanted to check out the water temperature before we pay to go. it was a little chilly at first, but not bad. sophie didn't turn blue so that was a good indicator.

sophie loved the water. i knew she would because we went swimmng at an indoor pool a couple weeks ago and she had a blast. she loved going down the frog slide,and the best part was it was a frog. sophie loves frogs and so the fact that the slide is a frog makes sophie very happy! pictures to come when matt is with me to help catch.

molly grew like a weed over the past year. last summer she could barely touch over the by the wall 2.5 ft. we didn't feel comfortable letting her that far by herself. this year, no problem. she walks all over the shallow end without the water coming close to going over her head. she wants to swim so bad too! i'm anxious for swimming lessons next year. she's going to be quite the little fish!

i plan to take the girls as much as possible before baby 3 comes along. it's a great way to end our evening!

summer devotional study

this summer i am participating in such a neat bible study and book study. it started last week and i have already learned so much and been challenged by what God is teaching me. the bible study is only a verse or two every day. i was a little concerned that this would be enough but it really is and makes me think a bit deeper about the verses. i fond the study on a blog i frequently read http://womenlivingwell-courtney.blogspot.com/. it is linked up to another site, www.goodmorninggirls.org. the study is focusing on motherhood, raising a family, and building the home. perfect for me in my life right now! we follow a simple plan to study the verses called s.o.a.p (scripture, observations, applications, prayer).

this is what i learned this week:

•  Christ must be central in building the home/family Ps. 127:1
•  I must be totally dependent on God in all areas of my life, my childrens' lives, and my husband's life Jn. 15:4-5
•  Christ must be first in my life. seek Him first, he will meet all my needs (needs, not wants!) Matt 6:33
• timothy's mother and grandmother had a strong relationship with the Lord. they faithfully taught timothy and passed their faith to him 2 tim. 1:5
• as parents, our commands and laws should be the commands and laws of Christ. obeying the things our parents have taught us keeps us from evil.  prov. 6:20-23

some applications:

• do devotions and pray with my children
•  use verses to back up my discipline as well as when i'm praising them for doing the right thing
•  seek Christ even in the little things
•  be in the Word daily to continue learning about the fruit i should be producing in my life
• strive to put  Christ first: read the bible daily, pray fervently, memorize scripture, seek to serve others over self
• bring my children up to have faith as timothy did: keep my walk in check (be an example), teach them the things of Christ, pray fervently for them and their future families
• practice what i preach

tomorrow starts a new week of scriptures and the introduction to the book study. i will be reading the book the ministry of motherhood by sally clarkson. i'm excited to see what God has in store for me to learn through these scriptures and this  book.

i got hooded!

on saturday i finally graduated with my masters degree! i received the master of science, master teacher. it was a long time coming. i started the program back in 2007 while teaching and coaching and finished with two small children and one on the way. i'm glad to be done and don't plan on taking any more classes, ever! here's the highlights of the day!

walking in. i'm sandwiched between the two tall guys!

waiting in line to be hooded.

receiving my diploma (ok, it's really, hey you attended commencement!) and my stinkin' hat would not stay on. it was so windy!

shaking some lady's hand.

the fam.

molly couldn't wait to get home and try everything on!

today

it's been awhile...so here's an update about today.

it was quite an enjoyable day. matt left early to play golf before work so we invited our friends over to play. we had fun playing and then went to eat at a local chinese restaurant. we've gone before together and get a quite a laugh. 3 moms, 6 kids, all 3 and under! we joked with the owner today that he'll need to get us a bigger table because we're all pregnant and will soon be bringing in 9 kids! the molly and her friends are so cute when they eat together. they make faces at each other and giggle and laugh the whole time. precious memories!

molly and sophie played really well on their own today and i let them. i guess i should have played with them a bit more, but they were having fun and i was enjoying the down time. i sat. it was nice.

during sophie's nap, molly and i made two cards. she loves to be crafty and gets excited to use my stuff and help. after naptime, i finished up a sewing project i should have finished two months ago and i must say i'm a bit rusty in the sewing department. i made too many mistakes.

this evening we took a walk and tested out what it will be like when baby girl #3 gets here. molly rode her bike the mile around our subdivision while i pushed sophie. i think i may have to buy a double jogging stroller...molly's fast! thank goodness she's scared to ride down hills and breaks every five seconds or i'd be in a dead sprint to keep up!

after our walk we went to the park around the corner to play. sophie generally goes down this slide with molly but tonight i let her go down by herself. she loved it! now, it's really high so i go up with her to make sure she doesn't fall down the stairs and molly stays at the bottom to catch her. and after 4 trips up, her little legs get tired but she's determined to keep going!

we came home, picked up toys, vacuumed, and ate cheese sticks and the girls went to bed. i

needed a day like today...it was nice!