Pictures, pictures, pictures

I mentioned that we went to the beach this past Thursday. Here are a number of pictures I took. I've also got a few more blessings to list.

221: My children getting to enjoy a week with their grandparents
222: 2 evenings that Matt and I get to enjoy a quiet house.
223: getting to chaperone Global Youth Camp this Monday - Friday
224: not having to cook a single meal between now until Saturday!
225: the comfort brought to me by cleaning up the girls' rooms while they're away. It makes me feel closer to them.
226. more than 100 beach pictures to sort through that allowed me to see brand new pictures of my sweet, gorgeous girls!
227. hearing their voices on the phone last night
228. having a picture sent to me from our brother-in-law of the girls snuggling with their Pop and baby cousin, Eli. It does my heart good to see them having fun.
229. being home last night for Matt to help a neighbor move a mattress to her upstairs apt. Sounds silly, but she lives alone and all the other neighbors are older. I'm glad we were there to help her.
230. The excitement of hearing some awesome praise music this week. We're looking forward to it!

GIRLS, I MISS YOU!!!!!
I love these pics of them playing together. What 1 does, the other does.

211-220

Blessing 211 - the public library. I think I've flown through 6 books in the past 7 days - love it!

Blessing 212 - new (free to me) kids makeup for the girls to enjoy. I love easy entertainment for these 2!

Blessing 213 - The girls doing a GREAT job sharing the above mentioned makeup this week.

Blessing 214 - Walking by and often seeing these 2 snuggled up together.

215 - Despite other expectations (of which I won't go into detail) I had a very nice last day of school last Wednesday.
216 - We also had a nice (tension free) Graduation program for the preschoolers Friday.

217 - a very willing 5 year old model

218 - a semiwilling 3 year old model (she was willing to smile but refused to actually look towards the camera)

219- cutesy shots of my girls together!

220 - beautiful weather this week to play & picnic at the pool, the park, and the beach!

Check out Julia's athletic look for the park!

Back to Blessings!

201. Matt graduating last week
202. Not 1, but 2 new dresses bought FOR ME recently! They’re very cute if I do say so myself.
203. Using gift cards to purchase 2 new dresses plus some pieces for the girls (mostly Julia since Audrey has a lot of hand-me-downs) Julia asked if she could wear her favorite 2 pieces to school Monday.


I said “no” ;) She wound up wearing the shorts Monday and the shirt Wednesday.
204. A newfound water fountain in the park where I run
205. Perfect springlike days this week where the weather was brilliantly sunny, breezy, and the temp. high was 72 degrees.
206. Freshly cleaned carpets
207. Extra sleep lately for this bedhog


She's all smiles b/c of the extra sleep!

208. A fun (yet final) meeting with our current lifegroup. We grilled burgers and hotdogs, sat around a campfire, and I got some burnt marshmallows. Fabulous. Oh, and the company was great too!
209. Audrey’s look of self pride when she showed off her newfound artistic skills.


We asked, “Audrey, who taught you to draw like that?”

Audrey said, “Julia, at bedtime.”

OH! So that’s what keeps you 2 awake at nighttime!! BTW – my kids still sleep in the floor. Just in case you were wondering.

Mother's Day

I realize I'm about 10 days behind on the expected Mother's Day post, and for that, I am sorry. Here's what we did:




I had some time to myself Saturday, so Matt took time on Mother’s Day to do schoolwork. The girls and I skipped naptime and went shopping instead. They were so good!! We bought some clothes at JCPenney’s and then went to Sams for a few items. I had to reward their fantastic behavior with a shared Icee.



I love my girlies!

Easter pics

Bad news: Both of the free Wifi's we were using for internet at the house are no longer available. Therefore, until Mrs. Cheapo (that would be me) decides to actually pay for it at home, I'll be forced to "surf the web" much less than usual. Plus, right now I'm busy with preschool end of the year scrapbooks (each child gets a 30-40 pager to take home) so extra time at church is spent on that.

Anyways...

No blessings today b/c I'm in a hurry ;)
Instead, I'll post a few pictures that I took Easter morning of the girls. Matt and I might have headed to church in jeans, but I just couldn't pass up an opportunity to dress these 2 beautiful girls up!






I have no idea why this one won't rotate. I keep getting an error message...

New playground

Friday was such a beautiful day! (blessing #191) It was warm, sunny, with a hint of a breeze. The girls and I decided that we needed to pack a picnic and take it up to the apartment's playground. When we arrived to the playground we were surprised to find brand new playground equipment! (192)


What a blessing to have a little one with alot of courage! 193! Audrey was really scaring me with her acrobatics. Go, girlie, go! She didn't have the sense to wait for me to spot her even though those monkey bars were 7.5 feet high. She'd climb to the top, take a flying leap, and I'd anxiously wait an entire 0.13 seconds hoping she actually caught the bar she was leaping towards.
What a blessing to have Julia willing and able to take photos for me! 194.




Julia on the other hand is a little more scared of hurting herself. (I consider this blessing 195. One fearless child in the family is enough for me!) When Julia finally worked up the nerve to try the monkey bars, she stood at the bottom looking up, breathed in deep, and said to herself, "Here's my chance". Wow. Can you say 'dramatic'? And all that drama led to sweet little Julia getting to the 2nd rung on the ladder before changing her mind and backing down. And when I say 2nd rung, I mean 2nd from the bottom!

What a blessing (196) to see Julia eventually conquer her fear!


What a blessing (197) to have Audrey be a willing (if not yet able) photographer!


198. Sweet smiles on command


199. Excitement as they explored the rest of the little playground. "Oooh, wow, it has a real telescope!"


200. Having a pretty day Saturday so we could go back and show Matt the new fun stuff!

TN trip - continued

186. Safety during the tornado warning we had while we were there.

187. Little complaining when we woke the girls up to go downstairs to the closet during the tornado warning. Audrey happily colored. Julia whined a little, but then fell asleep and slept in the closet half the night. Check us out!


188. Fun cousin bonding time with Eli.



189. Fun cousin bonding time with Brodye.



190. Returning home to find that maintanance here had fixed a few small things while we were away.