Backyard Olympics

Just wanted to share some photos from part of our afternoon today. While I sat outside at the table doing school scheduling, the girls put together and practiced several routines because they were planning to compete in their own Olympic games for me later in the day.

Their four rotations included the balance beam, ground routine, rings, and jumping. Grace prepared the first, second, and third place ribbons (copied from their field day winnings) for each rotation. I was simply the judge.

The games started with the playing of the National Anthem. Rotation No. 1: Balance BeamRotation No. 2: Ground routine

Rotation No. 3: Bar and Rings

Rotation No. 4: Jumping - no photos available.

~Wee

Sweet Reunion

This morning we had a special treat! My dear friend and former roommate and her family stopped by our house for breakfast on their long trip from her parents in Illinois to her home out east.

We first met at a Campus Crusade meeting back in college, hit it off and became good friends. We were roommates until she got married, were in each other's weddings, and our husband's even lived together for the summer before they were married. It's been 15 1/2 years since we have seen each other, so it was exciting to open our front door and see her standing on our porch! I felt like we just picked up where we left off 15+ years ago.
We had fun reminiscing over breakfast about life before AND after both of our marriages! This year, we have reconnected through Facebook (one positive thing about FB) and have become followers of each other's blogs, etc. It's been such a blessing! This is her beautiful family (only without her son).
Thanks so much for coming! We loved seeing you again and meeting your daughter for the first time. Hopefully an east coast trip will be in our future someday!

~Wee

So Thankful

Last night we experienced something very scary. We went to Walmart to pick up a few things. While Alex and the girls were browsing the "Back to School" section, I was in another department seeking help from an associate on locating an item. When I didn't find what I was searching for, I went to meet up with the rest. As I walked up, Grace excitedly showed me what she found. I browsed just briefly before asking, "Where's Leah?" Blank looks. No one knew. She was no where around that section. Panicking, I started calling out her name. When she wasn't around the nearest corner, or the next, or the next...., the fear also set in on the other's faces.

I grabbed my purse out of the cart and ran up to the nearest cashier and said, "Ma'am, our little girl is missing." I was impressed with her reaction. She immediately left her station and started walking towards the entrance. I asked if we could close the doors, and as I soon realized that's what she was going to do, I ran back to the girls who were staying with the cart. (In thinking back, I hadn't asked them to stay with the cart, but I think they were just unsure of what to do as they watched Alex and I frantically head in different directions.)

Forgetting the cart, I started running back down the main aisle behind the check-outs calling out, "Leah! Leah!," while my eyes darted back and forth, searching. Megan and Grace were now following me.

About half way down the aisle, an associate stood pointing at me running towards her, while she was looking to her left (towards the registers). I then saw the head of another sales associate and heard the words, "Here she is." That second associate (who was the same lady that helped me look for my unfound item) was holding Leah's hand and walking towards the front of the store. (I assume she was taking her up to Customer Service to page us.) Leah was holding a yellow notebook and a package of pencil erasers.

It was such a relief to see a scared Leah with her!!! I just knelt down and held her.....TIGHT while she cried! I profusely thanked the ladies and we headed back to our cart. As we got near the main entrance aisle, the cashier and a security lady popped out into the aisle. Relief also registered on their faces as they saw me walking towards them (at a much slower pace) carrying Leah. I thanked them as well, and we continued on our way to find Alex.

We are SO thankful for God's protection over our little girl!!! While driving home, my heart was still doing somersaults as I pondered how different our ride home could have been. From her car seat, Leah's little voice blessed me as she chatted about the beautiful sunset.

In discussing the episode and the fact that Leah doesn't normally wander too far from us, we think she was so excited to show me her "yewwow" notebook that she came looking for me, and that probably explains why the same associate that helped me had found her. Who knows. We also talked with all three girls about the importance and seriousness in staying beside us at all times.

~Wee

All the way from Texas!

I'd like to introduce my nephews: Connor is 14 years old, and
Cole is 12. They came all the way from Austin, Texas, to visit us (well, not just us, but my whole family and Tom's family that lives in Illinois). They are my sister Tess' boys, and we only see them about once a year.

On Thursday of last week, the girls and I met my parents half way to pick them up. We had a busy weekend, but it was filled with quality time together! Over the weekend, those around here that knew my sister really enjoyed seeing the boys. It has been 10 years since she passed away, so our time with her boys is special, to say the least!

Soon after we arrived home, the kids broke out the games. They played lots and lots of games. Cole even taught us some of his card tricks, so that was pretty cool.
I think the boys got tired of my photo sessions, but since we only see them once a year, I just couldn't pass up the opportunities to capture the memories digitally! This picture was taken on Leah's birthday. I just love this picture of Cole and Leah!

Having Connor and Cole here over Leah's birthday was special. Cole and the girls made her cake, then decorated it after it was frosted. Leah chose a hot air balloon for her cake this year.

Friday afternoon as we were admiring our garden (ha), we noticed all the produce that was waiting to be picked. Connor picked all my green beans, then he helped me stem them all!

Cole and the girls picked loads and loads of lettuce and peppers. I had wanted to get pictures of all they had picked, but they rushed inside, dumped the peppers into the sink and the lettuce into the bathtub and proceeded to wash the entire load. I know, you are probably thinking how gross it is that they washed the lettuce in the bathtub. Don't worry, I was about grossed out myself, but they were so proud of themselves. We did have chicken salads for lunch that day, but sadly that was all the lettuce that we kept. {sshh}The rest was thrown out; it was too bitter.{sshh} We did keep all the peppers and green beans though.

After Alex returned home from work, Connor helped him build a fire in our fire ring. That night we cooked dinner over the fire, and then celebrated Leah's birthday. Leah is showing us how old she is.
Thanks to Dad, we had fireworks to let off both Friday and Saturday nights. I gave up trying to capture them on photo because I couldn't actually enjoy their full effect behind the camera.

For a couple of hours on Saturday, Connor and Cole connected with their second cousins (Trent and Heidi's family). They enjoyed a game of football and just hanging out together. This is the whole gang.

After returning home from that, we walked to the pond to release our second tadpole-turned-frog. Remember our new pets I posted about back in April? The first frog was released on a hot day in June. This was the date chosen to release frog no. 2. You can see that Cole is so carefully carrying the frog to its new home.After Cole put the frog into the water, it just floated for a while. I thought maybe it had hurt itself when it jumped from his hands and landed on the rocks below. Well, it soon darted away, and we haven't seen it since.

The girls loved having their cousins here for a few days. They all got along so well. This picture was taken on our return trip to once again meet my parents and send the boys back with them. We miss them, but will hopefully get to see them at Christmas.

Thanks so much for coming, boys!!! We love you!!

~Wee

Happy Birthday, Leah!

Four years ago today, on a Sunday at 8:45 a.m, our third little girl safely arrived into our lives ~ Leah Mae!
1 year old ~ 2006 2 years old ~ 2007

3 years old ~ 2008
4 years old ~ 2009
Happy Birthday, Baby Doll! We love you!!

~Wee

8 out of 48

If you are wondering what these numbers mean, they are the total number of hours of sleep I got in the 48 hours we were at camp!

This past weekend our family participated in and immensely enjoyed what, we hope, will become a yearly family tradition for us. We attended our first Family Camp at Quaker Haven. We love camping as a family, so it was the perfect setting. The theme this year was In God we Trust.It was fun to see those we haven't seen for a while, as well as meet new friends. It really blessed me to see how much our girls enjoyed it. Not only were they in their element (the great outdoors), but were surrounded by their friends.
Leah and Eden ride the swaying horse.
We ate all meals together as a family. In fact, our table was lovingly nicknamed "the girl table." In between scheduled events, the girls were off with their friends.
Megan, Moriah, Grace, Honor and Hope enjoying Sunday lunch.
The girls hanging out, enjoying their snack, in Cabin 1.
Alex drove from our Topeka office and met us at the campsite Friday after work. He was there for dinner and the evening and drove back home about midnight. After work on Saturday he drove back to camp and was there for the remaining time. He arrived just in time for family games Saturday afternoon.
Alex doing the hockey relay...
Megan doing the fireman's relay. While keeping a piece of paper "sucked" to the end of a straw, we had to run down to and around a bucket, then hop back. If the paper flew off, we could only use the end of a straw to pick it back up. Try it, it's harder than you think.
Here, all members of each team had to put their shoes in one big pile. While blindfolded, we each had to be led to the pile, find our own shoes, put them on, and race back. Grace easily finds her shoes before running back to her team.
This is my attempt at picking up ping pong balls with only my feet and placing them in the bucket.
Leah takes in the family games.
After family games and before Saturday dinner we had a few hours of free time. We spent that time down by the lake, swimming, canoeing, and paddle boating. This picture of Leah and Karinne was actually taken on Sunday afternoon. They are so cute together.
Getting ready for the Saturday Night Variety Show.Eden, Grace and Abrey find their seats. All the younger children were in the front row, so their view was unhindered.After church on Sunday, we were challenged as an entire group with the following chorus:

As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord,

As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord,

As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord,

We will serve the Lord.

Fantastic food, fellowship, and family time!

~Wee