VBS!

This year was Russell’s first Vacation Bible School!  I was so glad he was old enough to attend.  I liked VBS as a child (especially the singing)!  Our church had VBS Monday through Thursday from 9 – noon, and then today there was a family celebration at night. 

The theme was Babylon: Daniel’s Courage in Captivity.

I decided to volunteer on Monday and Wednesday.  The minimum participation age was 3, but they had a nursery for volunteers, so that’s where Meredith went on those days.  I didn’t know if she could handle being there for so long every day, which is why I only volunteered a couple days.  It worked well.

I really enjoyed my volunteering.  I worked in the “Babylon Marketplace,” aka the gym.  The kids went to different areas of the church at different times.  In the marketplace, they gave each shopkeeper a coin and we taught them a craft.  On Monday, I taught them how to make coffee filter flowers for our version of the hanging gardens of Babylon.  On Wednesday, I taught them how to write cuneiform in playdough.  The kids were really good and seemed to really enjoy it.

The marketplace:

The nursery workers said Meredith did very well in the nursery.  I caught her having some fun with a new friend!

I didn’t have the opportunity to get any photos of Russell with his class or doing any activities, because I was either volunteering in the marketplace or not at church, but I know he enjoyed his first VBS.  He had a few friends in his group, and I knew both of his adult leaders.  All of his leaders/teachers, at one point or another, told me how good he was and what a pleasure he was to have in their group.  Made me so happy! 

{I was hoping to get some photos at the end celebration tonight, but of course, I ended up having to take Meredith to the doctor instead.  She has a bug bite on her ear that may be infected, poor thing, so she is on an antibiotic now.  It’s always something.}

Glad we had our first VBS experience!  Can’t wait until next year!

Meredith’s Words

A couple days ago, I got some of Meredith’s words on camera!  I love hearing her sweet voice!

Paw Paw and Kacki’s

It had been too long since we had been to Paw Paw and Kacki’s house, so we went this past weekend.  We went to a couple parks, but mainly just stayed at their house.  The kids loved it – all new things to explore!

Russell loves Jack the horse (named by Jason when he was around Russell’s age).

Only our children (both of them) would leave Cheerios and raisins on their plates and eat pickles instead!

Meredith loved these weights and carried them around much of the weekend.  Too funny!

Watching a movie on Saturday:

One of Russell’s favorite things was riding in Kacki’s convertible for the first time.  He mentioned it on the drive there, even though it had been months since he’d heard anything about her car.  He rode in it to a park, and he cried when he had to get out to play at the playground!

The two highlights for me: 1) getting to see my brother on Sunday – but of course I forgot to get pictures! and 2) going to a fabulous park that Kacki has talked about for a couple years now.  It was being redone but we finally got to go.

Riding the train around the park:

They had a blast riding in the kiddie boats.

On the carousel:

What a fun weekend!  We’ll be back soon!

15 months old

Meredith is 15 months old!

• Weight: 22 lbs (50th percentile)
• Height: 30.7 in (55th percentile)
• Head: 17.5 in

Meredith is talking up a storm – although most of the time, it’s still babbling.  Real words include: bye-bye, night-night, kitty, cup, hi, hey, this, up, bubbles, moo, neigh, bird, mama, daddy…I’m sure there are more that I can’t think of.

Meredith is trying to run – she loves chasing Russell around.  She loves to color.  Her new dance move is spinning in circles.  She gets very shy around those she doesn’t know or see regularly and often looks down at her hands or crosses her arms if she’s in a bashful mood.  She loves to wear jewelry and carry purses.  She thinks she is 3 and wants to do everything her brother does.

Today, Meredith had 3 shots at her doctor’s appointment.  She cried, of course, but has acted completely normal since, so hopefully there will be no fever – but maybe an extra-long nap!  She is very healthy (except for the ear infection she’s getting over) and on track developmentally.

We love you, sweet girl!

Firetrucks and Pizza

A sweet friend organized a wonderful playdate for the kids today.  We went to a firestation in town, then went to a restaurant for a tour and for the kids to make their own pizzas.  Lots of fun!

In the truck:

Mr. Cool loves sunglasses this year.

I’m pretty sure this boat was my kids’ favorite part.  My friend Rachel said it was like a small bounce house for them.

Brother/sister love!

Much of the group looking at a truck:

Then we went to the pizza place.  They weren’t quite ready for us, so we took some time to get a few photos in front of the restaurant.

As you can imagine, it took all I had to help 2 children make pizzas – actually, one child made a pizza, and the other one stood on a chair, tried to eat crayons and raw pizza dough, and threw her cup on the floor – so needless to say, I have 2 photos from the pizza place!

Waiting for the pizzas to cook.  Everyone else was coloring – what was Russell doing?

Yum!

Pool Time

One of my goals this summer was to go to a pool/splash pad once a week.  It’s hard to do because I really need an extra set of hands and have to recruit someone (adult) to go with me.  We haven’t quite made that once a week goal, but we’ve still been several times.  And we will go several more before the summer’s over!

Lauren is one of our favorite pool helpers!  She is so great with the kids and it’s always great for me to hang out with her too!

Grandmother is so sweet to let us come to her pool at the country club.

And of course, baby pools at friends’ houses are nice, too!

Lots of summer fun!

Fourth of July!

Russell and Meredith in their red, white, and blue!

It was so nice to have Jason home in the middle of the week!  We decided to check out the Fun Fourth activities downtown.  We saw the end of the parade, then watched a local kiddie band play (while eating snack):

We didn’t stay too much longer.  Russell had a breakdown due to the heat (we think) and would not calm down until we got home.  But he was very refreshed after Chick-Fil-A and a long nap!

We went to a friend’s house for the evening.  Kathy had lots of fun activities set up for the kids!

It was supposed to be fun to play in the dirt.  Russell didn’t want the dirt on his hands, but he sure wanted those diggers.  Typical.

Bubbles!

We all had dinner and played inside for just a bit, and came back outside for water balloons.

Before/after!

Sparklers!  (The cup over the hand was a brilliant Pinterest idea!)

Happy fourth of July!  We are blessed and proud to be Americans!

More birthday weekend pictures

We had lots of fun with family over the weekend, besides just during Russell’s party.  We did lots of hanging out around the house and outside – perfect.

Kacki and the kids playing picnic (Russell almost always says the picnic is at the beach, and we always need a picnic blanket):

Family!

I know I’ve said this before, but the kids love Bogie.  And he usually doesn’t mind them This time, he rolled over for Russell to rub his belly several times.

This is the mini car wash we set up for the party.  Meredith thought it served better as a bath.  That girl loves some water!

The kids with Pops and Mimi before they left:

Great weekend!