Girl Heaven

If you've talked to me in the past year, you know what I mean when I say "Girl Heaven"--an accessory shop called Charming Charlie. They have necklaces, bracelets, earrings, scarves, headbands, clutches, sunglasses--all organized into color groups for easy shopping. The store sometimes elicits a physiological response from girls who have never been there before (drooling, shortness of breath, brief dizziness). It's so much fun. I have visited there upon occasion and recently was blessed to spend a birthday gift card there. This weekend in Springfield I got to introduce some new friends to the estrogen magnet AND take my girls there for the first time. It was cute watching my girls play dress-up with all the goodies there.

Hoosier Celebration

Apparently we've been having a busy summer! I didn't really mean to take a blog break, but we've been doing VBS, trips to the pool, road trips, swimming lessons (all the kids plus Daddy), visits with friends, trips to the Missouri Botanical Gardens. I really thought sending the kids to school was going to be easier this year, but we only have 2 weeks left and I'm already so sad. I love having my whole family together! This year Big Sissy will start 1st grade, and Little Buddy will join Little Sissy at Tuesday/Thursday morning preschool. What will I do with all my spare time, you might ask? Well, I'm not going to have any. I'll still be running a household, working my 31 business, doing publicity for MOPS, trying to help my dad with his ministry newsletter some, being a parent helper at preschool...you get the picture.

One of our road trips was a visit to Hubby's brother and his family in Indiana. This has been a tradition the past few years on Independence Day. Hubby's brother always has a great fireworks show set up, and this year they invited nearly 100 people to bring a potluck dish and join us for dinner before the fireworks show. Nearly that many actually came! The bad news is that the fireworks show was rained out; the good news is that every family brought food and those women sure know how to cook! By the way, all of you who think I'm such an extrovert should have seen me hiding in the kids' rooms trying to escape the crowds that night. I realized I am still an introvert at heart; I'm just a chatty one now! :)

Here's the whole gang posing for a very sweaty group photo.

Pyro man entertaining the kids with endless firecracker wars between the chickens and battleships.

Our ever gracious hostess.

Big Sissy, who will work on a task until she gets it, FINALLY learned to blow a bubble!

My handsome husband--and a chicken.

The kids loved sparklers in their pajamas!

A Boy and Someone Else's Dog

My children have been begging for a dog for about as long as they could say the word. Big Sissy especially has always been more of a stuffed animal fan than a doll lover, but a real animal--well, that would be even better.

I have instructed them that they always need to ask the owner before they pet a dog on the street or at the park. Now Little Buddy can't see a dog without hollering out, "Ownah! Ownah! Can I pet youh dog?" They have even offered to take their quarters from doing chores to rescue a pet from an animal shelter. Of course that means that I pitch in the rest--and buy the food--and do the potty training--and take on more responsibility. I haven't really been open to the idea, especially since I'm still trying to potty train a child who doesn't particularly wish to be trained.

This week our friends went on a float trip and asked if we would "dog sit." Nervously, I agreed. I don't know a thing about dogs, but I managed to figure out what to do with children so how hard can it be, right? The thing about BJ is that she's old. Like in dog years, she would be a great grandma. So she doesn't really run and play with the kids. And though she is potty trained at her house, apparently grandma doggies tend to have accidents at other people's houses. Like a lot of them. So our trial run isn't proving to be very indicative of what it would really be like to have a dog. But the kids are enjoying being pet ownah's for as long as it lasts. And I have my scooper and Lysol wipes ready.

(Check out Little Sissy's shoes. Some things just aren't worth fighting about.)

VBS music--The Gift That Keeps On Giving

I don't know when we finally stopped listening to last year's VBS music every time we got in the van. I think it was when I took the whole basket of music and DVD's in the house "to clean them." But now it has started all over. I can't really complain when my kids don't really know who "Justin Beaver" is and beg to listen to worship music. Here's a clip of my summer entertainment.

Cinderella

One of the reasons I wish I was homeschooling is the Lifelight Youth Theatre. It reminds me of the theatre group in all the Karen Kingsbury novels, but it is here in our own hometown. One of the girls in our church is part of the group, and she was in Cinderella this weekend. When it showed up on Groupon, including a pre-show party, I knew we had to go. The pre-party was apparently only about 10 minutes long, because we were 10 minutes late and missed it. But the girls did get yummy blue cupcakes and got to get autographs and pictures with many of the cast members.

Waiting for the show to begin.

Hanging out with Cinderella and Prince Charming--every girl's dream come true.

I was kind of glad for Little Sissy's sake that this Cinderella was a brunette like her.

They were a little afraid that the wicked stepsisters and stepmother might be mean, so they went together.

We were jaded by the Disney version of Cinderella and assumed this to be her. She turned out to be the lovely Fairy Godmother.

Whoever thought of blue cupcakes was clever but does not have little girls dressing up in white dresses for the party. M-E-S-S. But oh, so fun.

The beautiful Cinderella gang.

Boy Dress Up

Little Buddy loves to dress up with the girls. Daddy made him stop dancing in their tutus, so he now wears an Asian outfit that PaPa brought him from China a couple of years ago. It is bright, shiny, and makes him feel like a prince; a good compromise. Now that he's 3, he's definitely discovering the "boy stuff." Our friend Amy made him his own superhero cape, which he loves, and he's recently been loving being our rescuer in his Spiderman outfit. It's fun to watch him developing his own style of play as he realizes he doesn't have to do everything the girls do. They are learning to play together in different ways. They can be the damsels in distress; he is the rescuer. They are the princesses; he is the prince. They are Rapunzel and Mother Gothel; he is Flynn Rider. They are the mothers; he is the baby (he really likes that one). His is going to be one strong person after he survives living in a house where he is outnumbered by girls. I am convinced that he will be a more well-rounded person and hopefully more sensitive husband and daddy because of their (our) influence.

Born To Worship

I can't believe how quickly this crazy, busy year is coming to a screeching halt. Big Sissy's almost done with kindergarten, and Little Sissy has almost completed a year of preschool. Little Buddy keeps getting left out, which he is NOT happy about. He tells everyone that he's 6 because he's tired of being called the little brother. Not to worry, little man. Much to Mommy's dismay, you are now old enough for preschool, swim lessons, choir--all the things you've been left out of before.

One of these things is not like the others. I know, I know. Don't remind you that you don't have a choir t-shirt. Sorry.

It warms my heart to hear these kids worshipping with their whole heart--and lungs.

Ready to go on stage for the final concert of the year.

Big Sissy does not get stage fright at all. She loves the stage!