Catching Up

This is going to be a really long post of random goings on the last week.

It was a busy first week of summer!  But really good, too.
We did VBS all week for Matthew, and 4 days for Andrew.
Here are a few pics I took during the weekend prior while decorating.



Amy, and Linda ~ fun friends from my small group.  Linda did SO much to oversee the decorations.  I am so thankful for her efforts.  It was a BIG job.

I spent a few Wednesday evenings with Linda and Andrea in the basement of the church preparing decorations and it was so much fun talking with them.  Andrea and I immediately clicked and had a fun time working together to set up this ice cream stand that she dreamed up.


And how cute is this sign that she made?



I was teasing her that I was going to sneak off with it when VBS was over. :)





There is a part during one of the songs when the leaders stop singing and you just hear all of the little voices singing,

"I am the way, the truth and the life..."

Oh it was so precious, it would just bring tears to my eyes.





Katie would try to do the moves to the songs too.



She is so going to love pre-school. :)
She's wearing her sunglasses on her head like me.



Andrew and his friend Samuel were in the same group. Andrew was really happy to be in class with him.  I was glad they had the time together.

I really can't say enough how grateful I am that the kids are able to go to this each year. The leaders do an amazing job, and it is such a fantastic ministry. It's truly wonderful.



In other happenings. I'm still cleaning out the house with great determination. I pull everything out, clean the drawers/cabinets, then sort things, get rid of what we don't need/use and then figure out how to organize it better. This is the part where it looks like a big mess.

The key is really the sorting and just putting like things together ~ it helps a lot! I learned that technique through my organizing website stalking.



Though it doesn't look like it, this was "Sorting" ~ soaps, hair products, tooth brushes (do we need that many?) first aid, etc.



These books are too big for the boys' bookshelves and have always annoyed me here.
I found this solution on sale (now) at Target.



And in doing that, I found some family gems to share.



Winnie made this "book" for Matthew when he was little. I can still hear his 3 year old voice reading it. He had it memorized.

He loved it.

It was such a fantastic idea.


simple words.



paired with pictures that showed the process of building the porch.
So great.


When Matthew was in Kindergarten he made books all the time.
This was one that I saved that was so cute.
A book about Matthew.



This is Kindergarten for "My friends are Isaiah and Hannah."

:)



This says "My favorite baby is Kaitlin." 
I love how he went back and added "And Grace." (Gras). :)

While I was organizing the books, I just gathered the paper crafts that he has recently done that were simply within arms reach and photographed them.

See what I mean?
Paper stuff, everywhere.



And look, here's the little crafter at work now!



Every day you can find him doing this.
He LOVES art.



I had a quick lunch with Andrew after VBS on Thursday before his Allergist appointment. This was the site of many lunches on days when I had an OB appointment. My Dad joined us for a couple. Dan would go there with the kids (and Dad) and then I'd meet up with them when I was done. It worked great.

Andrew was all smiles having lunch "with just Mama."
And wore the bag that held his lunch out on his head as a hat.  :)
We went to the allergist and played cars together, read books together (we were there for an hour and a half).
It was nice having time with him.

We'll go back for a skin test next month, but I really liked his allergist and I think we've found a combination of medicines that will give him some relief.



My friend Diane came to town unexpectedly. (A wonderful surprise!)
She ended up being later than expected, which worked out great as I could get some cookies in the oven! With my assistant, of course.

No baking is done in the house without her "help".



Love this face.
She said all sorts of cute things, like when I let her smell the vanilla,
"MMMmmmm! It smells like sea shells!" :)



Our favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe from "Baking Illustrated."



Daddy was working from home and came down for something to drink.
We asked him to photograph us.
He obliged.



Diane arrived and Katie was smitten.
Diane is a teacher and is so great about engaging the children. She sat and showed Katie some pictures of her kids.

It was a wonderful visit ~ wish it could have been longer.
And wish it was more frequent. But I was so happy to have this time together!
Katie was so upset when Diane was leaving that she had to run around the yard with a wrinkled nose and say,
"GUTS! GUTS! GUTS!"

Thank you again, Ramona Quimby. :)

She recovered in time to blow kisses though.



My dear friend.



Of course, Dan had us laughing.
Thought this was cute of Diane.



We packed up and headed out for Richland today.
There's always a little spoiling done by Nana.
This little dress and wand was waiting for Kaitlin, who immediately said,
"I need to go outside and dance!!"









It had to be a short dance though, because we took the kids to see Cars 2!



The movie was cute, but best of all, I got to hold Katie and Andrew on my lap.
At different times of course.
Andrew is almost too big for my lap, which makes me really sad, so I just try to savor it. Truth be told, it's hard for me to breathe when he leans against my chest (a relaxed Andrew is dead weight).
But it's worth it. :)

On a side note,
it's HOT here, and I'm LOVING it.

It's going to be a great weekend!