Happy 4th of July!!

Every year, my in-laws rent a condo at the coast for the week of the 4th of July.  The kids loooove being able to go and spend time there with them because there is a dock to fish and crab from, several beaches a short drive away, a fun historical downtown with little shops to pick through, and a pool to splash in.  Also, the city puts on a large fireworks show for all to enjoy.  In years past, we have spent the night, but this year work schedules did not allow that, so we woke up early and headed out to start our fun day.  First thing we did once we got there...beach time!

 After taking a wrong trail to the beach which involved Malachi sinking into and losing his flip flops in thick mud (oy), we finally got down to the sand.  We found this little pool of water immediately after getting onto the beach and the kids decided this was where they wanted to play.  We could barely see the waves!!  We let them play for a while and Malachi got his mud slinging out of the way! 

Poor thing had a runny nose from the wind and her hair wouldn't stay out of her face so in no time flat she had sand all over her mouth and cheeks.  But she looked pretty silly! ;)

Malachi has been begging to fly this kite for months, so was super excited to finally have enough wind!

He literally flew it for 3 minutes and was done.  Hopefully that will stop the whining! :)

We finally convinced him to go down to the waves.

  Oh how I love them! 

Running!!!!!

 Of course we brought diggers!

 Happy dirty boy!

 This bird was convinced we had something for him and stared us down for quite a while.

We weren't able to spend as much time as we had wanted since the wind was blowing the sand around and the sand fleas kept biting.  We headed back to the condo and the kids got an opportunity to go down to the dock with Daddy and Papa and play on a play structure.  We waited until after supper to go swimming to kill time before the fireworks started at 10 pm.  Last year at this time in the pool, Malachi was clinging to his pool noodle (also wearing his life vest of course!) and would shriek if I let up on my hold on him.  This year, he was swimming and kicking with out assistance and was willing getting his head wet.  Sapphira just wanted to be held in the water and didn't really do much more than splash with her hands last year, but my what a year did for this little daredevil!  She was jumping off the side of the pool into some one's arms, laying and floating on her back, swimming on her belly while being held from person to person and was asking to bob under water.  I think I need to get my little fishies in lessons sooner than later! After getting out of the pool, the kids played with their cousins while waiting as patiently as they could for the show to start.  We had been misinformed about which part of the bay the fireworks were being set of from, so the bottom half of the fireworks ended up being blocked by another condo building but we could still see quite a bit of the show.  Sapphira kept asking every one if they liked the colors or sounds and if they liked the big or little sounds better. :)  We ended up getting home at 1:15 in the morning, so while we were so tired on Thursday morning, we were thankful for our fun-filled day.

Instagrammin'

Ever since we got our iPhone complete with their awesome cameras, I have been guilty of not using our nice SLR nearly as often as we should. It's heavy, an extra thing to carry with us and we already have our phones with us where ever we go. So, while I get better at schlepping our big camera around, Instagram pics will have to do. ;)

new sparkly shoes; rear view mirror fun; waving goodbye to Daddy

break dancing bee; trying a new drink for the first time in years (it was yummy!!!); love these hands ♥

making new friends; Mother's Day sidewalk art; did anyone else spend grade school recess making daisy chains?

Malachi used part of his birthday money to get himself a Captain America; just chillin'; best buds

racing and running; garage sale fun; so excited about the gift he wrapped and addressed himself

stylin' in her new tutu from Grandma; Natalie's rose in full bloom; interesting outfit choices

5.12.12--Transformers Party!

The Saturday after his actual birthday, we celebrated by having his party at one of our favorite parks with family and friends.  He chose a Bumblebee theme, so we decorated with yellow and black.  We had cake and drinks and tootsie rolls and stickers for treats.  After a bit of playing on the play structures, we all gathered together so a very impatient Malachi could open his presents. :)  While he waited for everyone, I sat down and talked with him and asked him what he was thinking about.  He said he was so excited open presents, show everyone his cake and be able to play with his new toys.  While we chatted, I was able to capture a few of the many faces of Malachi...

 ...happy Malachi...

 ...crazy Malachi...

 ...thoughtful Malachi...

 ...and thirsty Malachi! :)  I found these tiny little soda cans at the grocery store and the kids thought they were so cool.  Malachi thought it was even cooler when I told him he could have his own can.  The kids don't get soda very often, so this was an extra special treat! :)

Finally we got to the presents!  Gaga and Boppa gave him a few more Transformers and some fun Transformer knee pads.  Very exciting!

They also gave him a new digger and forklift...these are also a favorite!  GG and Grandpa GG gave him a new movie and some birthday money to spend, Anut Debbie and Uncle Rod gave him a nice pair of shorts and a Spiderman shirt (!!).

His favorite present of the year had to be this Ironman "3 in 1 Repulsor".  He has been wanting an Ironman "arm thing" so badly and was estatic to be able to have his own!  It shoots little "missles", makes super hero noises when you move your arm around and has a light on the palm of his hand that lights up and makes more noises when he does the Ironman pose.  So much fun!!!

Be sure to check out his special demonstration! :)

We got this cake at Wally World of all places...it was soooo yummy!  Who knew they made such fun cakes?  Malachi picked it out himself and was so excited to have the characters to bring home after we ate.

We also had a special visitor!  Bumblebee himself appeared at our party! ;)  He and I hid behind a tree while he put on his costume and then I annouced our special guest and he jumped out from behind the tree.  Everyone oohed and awwed and he was so concerned that people didn't know who it really was so he pulled off his mask and yelled, "It's just me!!".  He always wants to pretend to be a character is his costume, but is always worried we don't know it is really him...so silly.

 He displayed some awesome super hero moves...

 ...and then we sang to him.

 He tried to blow it out with his mask on with no luck!  He got it on the second try though!

With all the airbrushed paint on the frosting, we all had funny colored teeth and tongues, but Sapphira's was by far the darkest!

 Yummo!

Even though he was incredibly hot, he insisted on playing in his costume for a while.  One little boy even walked by and said, "Hi, Bumblebee!"  Malachi thought that was pretty cool! ;)

Another great day to ahve fun celebrating this great boy!  Happy Birthday sweet boy...here's to another wonderful year!

Cubbies & Puggles Finale

On May 2nd, the last night of Cubbies and Puggles was celebrated with an awards ceremony.  The theme of the night was "The Olympics", so while the Olympic theme song "Summon of Heroes" played, each team walked into the sanctuary behind their leader holding a sign in the team's color.  They assembled on stage and sang a couple songs and recited some verses before sitting down in their assigned pews.  Each team was called back up on stage to receive the remainder of their patches and to be given a "gold" medal for their efforts.  The smiles on these kid's faces when they got that paper medal and little baggie of badges was priceless.  I had a hard time getting my team to go back to our pew after they recieved their awards because they all huddled together in a little group, excitedly showing each other what they got.  I had to physically put my arms around the group and usher them back to our seats.  So sweet...they were so excited for each other! :)  Our family made up quite the fan club...Daddy, Gaga, Boppa, Grandma, Papa, Addy, Bella, GG and Grandpa GG all were able to come to see Malachi and Sapphira finish off their year.

 Malachi walking up on stage.  He felt so important...Teacher E let him carry the green team sign!

 He spotted his family!

 Checking out his baggie of awards.

 Getting his medal!

After the Cubbies were all given their awards, Sapphira's class, the Puggles, gathered up on the stage.  Teacher J introduced each one and then they lined up so they could do the motions to a rhyming poem that they had been working on.  After they did that, they were each given a colorful certificate and a Puggle finger puppet.

 Getting ready to do the motions.

 During the poem, she noticed all her family!  She got so excited and started waving!

 I think she forgot about the motions for a minute! :)

"God loves me when I'm jumping!!!"  She didn't do very many of the motions, but when it came to the jumping and hopping parts, she did it with much enthusiasm!!!

Checking out her awards.

Teacher J said it was time to go back to their seats, but Sapphira thought it would be a good time to jump some more!  I know this picture is blurry, but I just love it!  I laugh out loud every time I see it!

I can't believe another year has come and gone!  Next time we go to AWANA's, Malachi will be in Sparks (and attending Kindergarten!), and Sapphira will be a Cubbie!  I'm just so thankful there are programs available to us to help us instill God's word in our children and for so many volunteers willing to love on my children.

Merry Christmas!

We had fully intended on going to church on Christmas morning before spending time with my in-laws, but with Sapphira still dealing with a croupy cough and having to go to the doctor for a breathing treatment on Christmas Eve, we decided to play it by ear and see how long she slept in.  Well, since church started at 10 am and she slept until 10:45, we stayed home! :)  Although I was a bit bummed to not go, it actually made for a much better day since both kids slept in and were able to get some good playing time in with their new toys before their cousins came over and they opened new presents.  My in-laws got to our house right at lunch time so we baked some pizzas and ate quick before the kids exploded from anticipation. :)

 Cousins

 ♥♥♥

 Malachi loves watching us play Angry Birds on our phones.  He was so excited to get a "red bomb" bird :)

 One of her cousins gave her this Strawberry Shortcake coloring book.  She colors everyday in it.

 Malachi had also asked for a real soccer ball.  Grandma and Papa got him his very own!

 Her other cousin gave her a soft little puppy dog.  It got lots of kisses.

 Sapphira gave Malachi two transformer books.  Yippee!

 Sapphira loves toys where you fit shapes into holes.  My mom found this one at a second hand store and gave it to us to give to Sapphira.

 I made Sapphira this faux chenille blanket using this tutorial.  She immediately pulled it out of the packaging and wrappedherself in it.  ♥♥♥  I hope to get better pictures of this later.

 Miss E, a dear friend I used to work with, gave Malachi this Transformer toy.  He was so excited!!

I know this picture is soooo blurry, but it makes me laugh because the reason it is so blurry is because he just opened another Transformer toy from Samuel and I and was so incredibly excited about it.  Two Transformers in one afternoon makes for one excited little boy!

 Miss E also gave Sapphira a new tea set.  I couldn't get it out of the box fast enough for her!

 "Bumblebee to the rescue!"

 Organizing her new tea set.

 Happy to being playing with new toys with her cousins.

The Transformer we gave Malachi "transformed".  Here Samuel is reading the instructions and trying to figure out how it works.  A couple minutes later, Samuel gave up and let Malachi have it back.  Two seconds later, Malachi has it "transformed".  I guess you know you are getting older when you can't figure something out and you give it to your kid to do.  Also, notice Samuel's red Angry Birds shirt?  Malachi and Sapphira picked that out for him.

Sapphira begged her cousins until they played tea party with her.  That room was clean when she woke up that morning! oy

This year, we decided to give Malachi and Sapphira three presents each since Jesus got three presents from the wise men.  Malachi got a red Angry Bird and some Angry Bird band aids, a Super Why board game and a Transformer.  Sapphira got the faux chenille blanket, the tupperware shape toy, and a Timmy Time doll (don't worry...I didn't pay that much!!!  I got it on massive clearance over the summer).  It was so nice to have a specific limit on how much to give each child, especially since money is so short this year.  I have to say that they were probably happier with a few things they love instead of a bunch of stuff they think are ok.  I think this will be a tradition we continue.

We usually make a big ham dinner with all the trimmings, but since Christmas was on a Sunday this year we knew making the whole dinner would add too much stress to the day, so we picked up take and bake pizzas the day before.  I really enjoyed the no-planning aspect of the meal and something out of the ordinary.  After we opened presents and the kids had some time to play, we sliced up some apples and opened up some caramel that I made using this recipe from a friend's blog.  So stinkin' yummy!  Maybe another tradition... 

It was such a good day.  The kids stayed in their comfy jammies all day, got lots of playing time in with Grandma, Papa and their cousins, and we had a nice quiet afternoon.  Christmas always feels stressful while I'm getting things ready for it, but once it's here and happening, I'm able to relax and enjoy the day.  Another wonderful Christmas to remember.