When work is fun ...

You race outside at every opportunity to do it ...

And for a four-year-old who loves his shovel, it took no more than a mere nudge to get him interested in helping Daddy dig out the old oil tank behind the house.

And although he does enjoy it, it IS hard work, and he's working HARD.
This Mommy is very proud of her boy.

We love you, Buddy! So thankful to see you growing to be such a hard worker!

This Moment ~ The Artsy Princess

On a date with DaddyVisiting with Cinderella The "Art Teacher"
You make me smile, Sweetie! We love you!

Thrifty Thursdays

In honor of my 500th post (can you believe it!?!?), I'm announcing a new endeavour called ...

The Lord has blessed me with a multitude of friends who have been inclined to learn more about couponing and saving money. And while I am by no means an expert, I definitely strive to stretch my pennies, and I have loved the privilege of sharing with them, often by email, some basic tips on getting started. However, as I recently answered the third such email in the space of two days, I realized that

1. There is probably a more efficient way to share these things.


2. There are probably others who could be helped by the information.

So, my friends, next week I will launch "Thrifty Thursdays." It will basically be my place to share what I've been able to learn about couponing, budgeting, and just generally stretching pennies. Thanks for reading! I hope it will be a blessing!

What topics would you like to see included as a part of "Thrifty Thursdays"?

"I look handsome."

Sunday morning I had a nice comfortable polo shirt laid out for Peter to wear. But he asked me if he could please wear a tie.

"You'll have to wear your long-sleeve white shirt with a tie."

"I want to wear a tie, Mommy. My red tie."

(It was actually Daddy's tie from when he was little--Grandma had saved it.) So, for the first time ever, Peter got dressed up in a tie. And he looked SNAZZY, if I do say so myself. :o) And funny enough, he knew it too. He commented multiple times, "I look so handsome!" :o)

Since I had yet to get his "four year old" pictures, I decided to take advantage of his particularly cheerful spirit (and an uncommonly early start on Sunday morning), and we went outside to document the occasion of both 1. wearing a tie and 2. being four.

He cracks me up. :o) He's just sweet through and through. However, photo ops are generally not his cup of tea, so it can be hard to catch a genuine smile for "nice" pictures. However, we were having fun and it showed. :o)

Mommy's favorites for framing:

Discussing his tie ...

When did his legs get so long?

It is impossible to keep from laughing with him--he has such a genuine joy and enthusiasm for life. :o)

Yikes. When did he start growing up on me all of a sudden?

This is SO Peter. :o)

And so is this! :o) Oh Peter, we love you, buddy! So thankful for you!

Have fun being four!

Making Waves

We enjoyed the blessing of some pool time at a picnic hosted by Chris' manager this weekend. What fun! It was the first time our kids have ever been in a body of water larger than a kiddie pool or the bathtub, so it was definitely great cause for excitement. :o)


Huge personal blessing to Mommy--Hannah and Peter took to the water like fish!

Only one other family had young children, and since they also happen to be friends from church, it just made it all that much more fun. :o) The torpedo (A.K.A. Peter's "airplane") was a HUGE hit with all of the kids.Peter and Ella both navigated along the walls a good bit ...

But Hannah and Isaac were both tall enough to stand in the shallow end, so they really made full use of the water.

Yep. Peter was having fun. :o)

The intertube let everybody feel comfortable away from the wall ...

Shall we say "Daddy-powered tubing"??? :o)

So what about Matthew? Well, . . . his opinion of the water started out rather low.

"Haven't you figured out yet that I don't want to be in here? It's COLD."

"Finally. That took way too long."

However, after sitting on the edge and splashing for 15 minutes while the other kids were waiting for their dinners to digest, he started to decide that the water wasn't such a bad place to be after all.

Particularly since there was a ball available ...

And once he decided to hop in, Hannah thoroughly enjoyed pushing him around!

And there we go ... the smile returns!! What a fun afternoon!

Thanks so much Mr. and Mrs. W!

The Whirlwind that has been May

Well, my friends, we have celebrated the last birthday of the year.

Whew.

And you know what ... I worked really hard the afternoon of Chris' birthday to get stuff done so that we could enjoy a few hours together after the kids went to bed, and do you know what I did? I fell asleep on the couch. Yep. That "Do you mind if close my eyes just five minutes?" turned into a very disoriented me a few hours later. Ah well. :o) Somehow, I do suspect that five birthdays, an anniversary, a K5 program, multiple weeks of family visiting, a basement remodel, neck trouble, and moving eight years of storage all in the space of 33 days is sufficient to wear anyone out.

What follows is a whirlwind glimpse of May ...

We have primer on the walls in one of the basement bedrooms, the stairwell, and the den, the bathroom is quite functional, and the storage room actually has the final coat of paint. So thankful we got this done when we did--I spent the next weekend flat in bed due to an acute case of stiff neck. Hoping not to repeat that anytime soon! And VERY thankful to be feeling better! (And very thankful for a wonderful chiropractor!)

The primer and bathroom was in preparation for Grandma and Grandpa's visit ... no significant work projects this time--just enjoying being together. :o) (Although, we still managed to move the water heater, paint the storage room, prepare the shelving, and move all of the storage back home just 2 days before our 2 month contract expired--so glad for Grandpa's trailor!) Cameras were in short supply, but the kids had a blast with G&G visiting the park, the Children's Museum, Chick-fil-A ...

Hannah had her K5 program ... she did a great job as Mrs. Flop! So proud of you, Pumpkin!!

Hannah's birthday dinner guests of choice were our friends the R-ys ... (albeit, they enjoyed dinner with us on our anniversary since they were leaving town the morning of Hannah's birthday)

Here's Hannah with her birthday cake ...

And our little lady wearing her birthday gifts from us ... the necklace now resides on its third generation as Grandpa originally gave it to Grandma.

We celebrated my birthday on the same day we moved all of the storage back in. I was VERY spoiled to have Grandma here to do all of the cooking for my birthday dinner! Mmmmm! And Grandma and Grandpa also babysat the kids for us the evening prior so that we could enjoy a nice long evening out, complete with dinner and summer clothes shopping! :o)

Daddy crested the hill ...

And our friends goats have all delivered their babies ...
And of course, after visiting the farm, one needs a bath.
Such has been May. :o)

I love birthdays and family and renovation progress, but I must say I'm glad to be settling back into a more normal (somewhat slower) routine.