A little early 4th of July

Last Tuesday we had a fiesta, this Tuesday we had an early 4th of July celebration. Come to think of it, the week before we had Asian food. Maybe I'm starting a tradition, Tuesday ethnic night. If so, I need to get more ethnic decorations!
Rylie was really excited to help me decorate the table and do some crafts. She made the "firecrackers" that we hung from the light. It's hard to see in the picture, but one of them has a flower she drew on it, one has a "belly with a bone in it", and one has star stickers. She was so proud of herself that she cut the ribbon and taped it all together all by herself.
She also made her own flag, cutting and gluing on her own.
Anna did her own craft with star stickers and a little bit of coloring. She mostly enjoyed yelling, "stickers" and putting them on her face.
Of course the thing the girls enjoyed the most was making and decorating cupcakes. We made red velvet cupcakes and frosted them with white frosting and then sprinkled blue sugar on top. Rylie thought they looked like a flag. It was a fun day!

Happy (belated) Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary (yesterday) to Mom and Dad! Thank you for your Christlike example in marriage. We love you!

Pancakes

Rylie asked me to take pictures of them the other morning, so here they are enjoying their pancakes. We have started having breakfast all together as a family before Ryan goes to work and we love it! We have family devotions and prayer time and always some silly time too. This is a great tradition that I hope we keep up. Anyone have any good breakfast food recipes to pass on?

Remembering

One year ago, I had the worst day of my life. You can read about it here. Today I am remembering. My heart is very full.
Psalm 62:5-8 "For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress, I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory, my mighty rock, my refuge is God. Trust in him at all times, o people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us."

Keeps Me Humble

Rylie: "Mom, you have the biggest buns EVER!"

Rylie: "I have twelve brains, that's why I'm so smart."
Mommy: " How many does Daddy have?"
Rylie: "Twelve like me."
Mommy: " How many do I have?"
Rylie: "Umm, about eight."
Mommy: "What about Anna?"
Rylie: "She has twelve too."
Mommy: "Why do I only have eight?"
Rylie: "You're not very smart anymore. You need to go to school again. You used to be smart when you went to school."
More true than you know!

She also seriously thought that the plan for next year was that she would drive herself home from school. She was surprised when I said she couldn't!

Trust

"Real trust isn't believing that God will do things as we expect he should; it is, rather, believing that whatever he does is good and perfect."
--Lydia Brownback (from Trust; a godly woman's adornment)

Selfish

In my devotions the other day, I was reading about the early church in Acts. They are such an incredible example of unity and selflessness. They were so sold out for Jesus and focused on the grace that was theirs because of the cross that they were not focused on themselves.
Lately I have been very convicted of how selfish I am. This was a good reminder that if I'm focused on Jesus then I won't have as much time to be focused on myself. Now I just need to put this into practice!

Dinner and Dancing

The girls and I decided to have a fiesta tonight. Rylie loved having decorations on the table, Anna was confused as to why we had a blanket on the table. She kept trying to pull it off.
After dinner the girls treated me to a ballet show. I must say, I love having girls!

Rylieism

"Daddy, do you like my hair? I have an air conditioner in it. It's so soft and no tangles."

"Do you like my makeup? I have lipstick on and eye lipstick."

Pictures from Father's Day

Happy Father's Day!!!

Happy Father's Day to my Daddy! Thank you for being such a great Daddy to me and a wonderful Grandpa to my girls! We love you very much!
Happy Father's Day Ryan! You are also a great Daddy to our girls and we really appreciate and love you!
Our Father's Day didn't quite go as planned because Rylie woke up this morning with a fever. We will celebrate with my Dad and with Ryan's family next week. We were able to give Ryan his presents though. We gave him a movie night with 3 new movies, popcorn, and candy. Rylie had picked him out a little "statue" of a girl with her Dad that says, "I'll always be Daddy's girl!" He made her promise him that! The girls also made him a book with their artwork and Rylie told me stories and I wrote them down for Daddy.
Now poor Daddy is resting because he's not feeling too good.

Reminiscing (Rylie at almost two)

Random

Thank you to all of you who told me you were praying for me. I ended up going to the doctor yesterday and found out I have Bronchitis. They gave me some antibiotics, so I should be feeling better soon. While I was there, they tested me for Swine Flu! They came in wearing masks, gloves, and gowns to give me a nasal swab. Thankfully, it was negative!
When we got home from church last night, Rylie realized that she had left her special doll at Grandma and Grandpa's house. She was heartbroken and in tears, so she called Grandpa to ask him to babysit her baby for her and give her kisses for her. Grandpa felt so sad for Rylie that he drove all the way out here to bring her her baby! She was thrilled!
Rylie told me yesterday that she wasn't a very good fighter. I told her that was ok, she doesn't need to be. She (with passion in her voice) told me that she needs to be a good fighter because she really wants to be a super hero!
She has been wanting to wear "bastik (basket) dresses", which are skirts.
Anna had a blast at Luke's birthday party on Saturday. She finally decided that she was one of the big kids and so if she was going to keep up with them, she needed to walk with them. She walked all over the place, inside and outside! She thought she was pretty big stuff!

More pictures from Luke's party

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Luke's Birthday Party Pictures

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Abby and Rylie's Sleepover with Grandma and Grandpa

(from a couple weeks ago)

Marriage Reminder

"Marriage is more than your love for each other. . .In your love you see only the heaven of your own happiness, but in marriage you are placed a a post of responsibility towards the world and mankind. your love is your own private possession, but marriage is more than something personal-it is a status, and office. Just as it is the crown, and not merely the will to rule, that makes the king, so it is marriage, and not merely your love for each other, that joins you together in the sight of God and man."
--Dietrich Bonhoeffer (written from a prison cell in Nazi Germany in 1943)

Zoo Pictures

Here are some pictures from when we went to the zoo last week. With Anna's birthday money we bought a zoo pass for this year. Since the zoo is only about ten minutes away from our house, it's easy to go for an hour or two.
Ryan and I went to dinner last night with the other Pastors and Elders/Deacons from Church. Becky babysat for us and Rylie was eager to get me out of the house so she could have Aunt Becky all to herself!
I am still sick with this cough and headache thing. It's making me quite grumpy, you can pray for my family!
Now, I'm off to go to a funeral for a dear lady that has been a part of our church family for at least 28 years. She was special to my family and always took interest in my brother and I. She will be missed, but I know she's singing in Heaven now!