Obx 2014

We are back :)

These are just the pictures from my phone from our beach trip. 

Too excited not to share!

These two.. could dig for days!

The kids (and Zachs) creation.

Naptime. Beach will wear you out!

Horrible quality, beautiful picture of creation. 

Looking for shells at dusk.

And looking for crabs once it got dark.

We tried to get on the beach by 8am to enjoy the peacefulness of the beach

:)

Big News: The loose tooth that Cohen had for weeks, finally came out at the beach. Zach may or may not have had to pull it.

Cohen was heavily compensated by multiple "tooth fairies".

PJ 2 going on 12

still digging..

and more digging.

He will dig dirt in our yard for a long time so I should have known the sand would be very exciting to him!

Cousin Love

A rainy morning calls for Aquarium 

Ring Toss

Cohen rescued a pretend sea turtle and was able to bring it back to health

:)

And most afternoons, we spent pool side.

I can't even take how precious she is.

And as always... Go Kart racing.

Twice in one week.

Zach and Cohen throwing the football. I love this picture!

Zach took the boys to see Planes 2 3D. It came out July 18th so we knew we had to see it at the beach!

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23

Garden Treasures

Tuesday night Grammy and Papa Bill had Cohen over for a sleepover. He was so excited to have "alone time" with them :) We really missed Cohen and it didn't feel the same around here but we knew he was having a great time! Grammy had a treasure hunt for Cohen to do... find carrots in the garden. He had a map of the garden and had to search and pull up carrots.

I just love this! He got to bring home the carrots for us to eat :)

He built this while away too and had Grammy send the picture. He packed his trophies for the sleepover.

Grammy, we are so thankful for you

:)

In other news.

When Caleb was in camp the other day I took Cohen and Pres to the library to pick out more books, and on our way out we were greeted!

Cohen and his class at YMCA camp made the front page of So Salem.

Sorry I can't get this to turn! 

{Monday}

This morning started out with a new "friend". The kids found this caterpillar on the patio. Very interesting :) We immediately made it into a Science lesson and talked about the type of caterpillar it is. From our research we think it will turn into a beautiful moth.

 

Caleb proceeded to "catch" him on a stick. We then put him into a jar with grass, sticks, etc. so he could join us for breakfast. I think they decided to name him "Transformer".

The possible names were:

Pounds

Scrapes

Transformer

We will let him go after nap.

While Caleb was at camp this morning Presley and Cohen and I went to the Farmers Market downtown Salem and grabbed some peaches.

4 of the 5 of them were eaten on the way home

:)

These kids crack me up. We were waiting on Caleb to get out of science camp but Cohen and PJ wanted to spy. They are trying to peak in the windows.

He came running out and said "I had the best time at camp mom!!!!!".

But then I was told he got very scared when they read a story during snack time that started out "Once Upon a Time" and talked about a Dragon, which immediately sent him into a panic and crying. I guess he calmed down or they would have called me but they told me that and felt so bad for him. 

He really hasn't let the dragon thing go since VBS.

 

Fun filled Monday already

:)

 

We are counting down the days until our beach trip :) 

Cohen's first beach trip: July 2009

Almost 6 months old

Caleb's first beach trip. July 2011

8 months old.

 

Presley's first beach trip. May 2012

 3 weeks old!

iPhone

We are loving our summer! Loving the relaxing flow of it and getting excited for vacation :)

This past week 2 of 5 of us got the stomach bug. 

This one got it the worst!
PJ was the other but hers was very mild. Praise God!

We were invited to a birthday party at Pump it Up for our friend Masons 4th birthday. Mason is a great friend of the boys, and Caleb adores him. We enjoyed celebrating with friends and celebrating another year of his life.

And Presley... loved it. This girl went down the slide so many times by herself and then did the tornado machine. She is hilarious.

Cohen has learned how to flip off the diving board and open his eyes underwater.

He is so brave!

I couldn't get over the yolk in our chickens eggs vs the kind at the store. I used two of ours and then I ran out so I used a store bought kind. 

Honey Mustards eggs are the dark yellow. Kroger organic is the light yellow.

Happy Friday!

Next week is Caleb's turn for camp, Little Einsteins, at the YMCA :)

Psalm 98

Make a Joyful Noise to the Lord

A Psalm.

98 Oh sing to the Lord a new song,
    for he has done marvelous things!
His right hand and his holy arm
    have worked salvation for him.
² The Lord has made known his salvation;
    he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.
³ He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
    to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
    the salvation of our God.

⁴ Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;
    break forth into joyous song and sing praises!
⁵ Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
    with the lyre and the sound of melody!
⁶ With trumpets and the sound of the horn
    make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord!

⁷ Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
    the world and those who dwell in it!
⁸ Let the rivers clap their hands;
    let the hills sing for joy together
⁹ before the Lord, for he comes
    to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
    and the peoples with equity.

summertime

Nothing says summertime like playing in dirt and roasting marshmellows. It is almost like see how dirty you can get by playing outside all day long in the summer :)

The boys are so creative, I almost panicked but then thought what a great idea they had. They took the watering can, poured it in dirt, made mud, got monster trucks, and had a "Monster Jam". 

Then everyone gathered sticks, Zach started a fire, and we made smores :)

Here was a piece of cardboard that Presley was sitting on. "PJ" 

:)

You can pretty much always find her eating.

Don't worry about our gluten free boy, we made homemade gluten free cookies that morning which he used as his "crackers" and he has his own chocolate chips that are gluten and milk free. Whoever made those I want to find and hug (they even taste like normal chocolate chips!) and then marshmellows are safe for him. So he too had his own version of a s'more.

Happy Summer! 

Fourth

We braved the Salem Fair for the Fourth of July this year with our dear friends, the Bollings. We were trying to think of something to do to keep our children up for fireworks which didn't start until 9:30, way past their bedtime, so off to the fair we went :)

I always said, "I'll never bring my kids here". Haha, never say never. The kids enjoy it and had a blast and this picture here, showing their excitement, was worth the heat, the crowds, and everything about it. 

Zach even rode the bananas for Presley

I cried when this happened. This kid is so precious. He got to get up and participate in a show they put on, he got to do a hoola hoop contest. He does not know how to hoola hoop. He let is spin ONE time and then thought he was done and did this...

He thought that one time was it and he was so proud of himself and I was one proud momma!! 

Cohen also got to participate, he was in a contest on who could stuff the springy snake into the can quick enough. His partner gave up on him but he kept on and tried to do it himself :)

And, he got to hoola hoop. We really should buy our children hoola hoops, they had no clue what to do, but they did a great job trying.

Then Caleb wanted his dad, who went to find fair food.

Who brought back a turkey leg.

Nothing stopped this cute girlfrom eating on a turkey leg.

The party didn't stop there, we watched the fireworks and then came home and did our own "show" on the patio. The kids didn't go to bed until 10:30! Well worth it though :) Happy Fourth!