E and E = 4

My nephew Evan and niece Elizabeth turn FOUR today. It's unbelievable how quickly children grow up. These tots were the tiniest little babies when they were born. My how they've grown...

We celebrated their birthday at Beech Bend Park last Saturday. What a fun day we had enjoying the party room, rides, shows and waterpark. Shannon and I got to ride the Kentucky Rumbler and lived to tell the story.

A few of the party guests. Isn't that baby Samuel just a doll!

Checking out the LOOT. Evan was in full Spiderman attire the whole day. Spiderman must have some kind of cooling system in his costume.

Two cool cakes for two cool kids.

An attempt to get a photo of all the party attendants.

Riding on the Jumpin' Jumbos with Madison.

Waiting for the train. Madison and Isaac got quite chumy =).

Beech Bend has shows. Seriously, the show we watched could've easily been in any of the major theme parks. The talent was EXCELLENT!

More rides, slides and slide burns. Happy 4th E and E!!!

Making the Most of It

I can hardly believe that summer is almost over. I've been helping Debbie get her classroom ready at Alvaton, watched as Plano poured concrete for the basketball courts, thumbed through Sunday circulars looking for deals on backpacks and school supplies, talked to Ms. Teresa about the upcoming school year, and TRYING our best to fill our days with fun before the new school year begins. A couple of us went to Romanza Johnson park last night and played in the creek. Here are some photos of our crew:

Doing Time in the Clink

Our children receive their share of spankings, but most of their hard time is spent in time-out which is located on the wall directly behind our front door. Isaac has gotten quite cozy with this spot--I guess he's finally venturing into the terrible 2's at 3 1/2. In fact, he voluntarily puts himself in time-out when he knows it's deserved. One day he hit Karson and told me, "Mom, I said sorry. I'm going to time-out." Here lately, Miles has become curious about time-out and puts his face against the wall and fake cries. Of course, this occurrence only happens when Isaac is in there, but it's the cutest thing. I'll try to get a video of it. I imagine baby Miles will take the record for most time-outs. He has a temper and LOVES to hit, bite, scream, pull hair, throw toys, you name it. I need to read the book "Making Children Mind Without Losing Yours" again.

h2o

Our children have always had "issues" when it comes to water. I believe we have officially made it over the hump this summer. In this video edition of "Boys Gone Wild", Isaac and Miles show their stuff on the trampoline. Miles pointed to the hose and said "water, water". Our kids LOVE having the sprinkler underneath the trampoline. They're wet-n-wild!!!

I've always thought the phrase "he's all boy" was a bit goofy. BUT, having two boys, I can concur that it's a TOTALLY accurate phrase. My boys are rough, rugged, tattooed, racing, bruisers. I have no idea where those traits comes from except from a boy mentality.

We've also braved Russell Sims Waterpark twice. Karson LOVES the butterfly slide, Isaac LOVES it all and Miles LOVES running through the sprinkler area. AND, we ALL LOVE the sno cones.

Faith, Fun, Food, and Fireworks

I realize this is a belated Happy 4th of July post, but time easily gets away from me on these gorgeous July summer days. I cannot believe it has been in the 80's most of the month. I remember shuddering at the thought of even going outside this time last year because it was so stinkin' hot. Last week was fun! I officially became a member of the facebook crowd (I think social sites are pretty cool and have linked me with many friends from my past), we got to go to VBS at Alvaton Church a few nights, celebrated Paul's birthday at Mariah's and went to Summer CELEBRATION at Lipscomb. Actually, Matt went to Lipscomb with Karson and Isaac on Wednesday night, and I joined them on Friday (sans Miles-ie-pooh who stayed the night with Pap and Nana). Karson could hardly wait to go to CAMP as she called it. In fact, we've decided that Celebration will become our church summer camp and plan to attend annually. Friday afternoon was a family picinic in the Allen Arena mall and kid-zone with blow-ups, booths and music. Acapella performed that evening and the fireworks were AMAZING. I encourage everyone who can to be a part of this event next year. I mean, WOW, Lipscomb sure can throw party!

Fanning Hall Suite 206 will never be the same. Why no, that wasn't my children who flooded the bathroom!

The lovely view from our prison cell, I mean dorm room.

Isaac was thrilled about his new "dinosaur" sleeping bag (as he likes to call it). Karson, on the other hand, could've used the space in his bag but settled for the toddler-sized sleeping arrangements.

Besides the shower stalls, the kids other favorite place--the top of the floral chest of drawers. I know it's hard to tell, but this chest sets the concrete room off and gives it that homey feel.

WE LOVE PF CHANGS but will settle for AUGUST MOON CHINESE FOOD. We lunched here with Grant and Windy.

My battery was low so I didn't get any photos from the kid-zone. I know you're disappointed, but to cheer you up, I've posted a photo from Lipscomb's website of the fireworks that evening. Happy belated 4th!!!