TANKS A LOT!

We belong to Focus on your child, through Focus on the Family. They sent our cd and I listened to it on the way to ballet today. They mentioned a very neat giving opportunity to help orphans in Africa. Got to www.clubhousemagazine.org and click on Tanks A Lot to learn more. You basically buy or collect new tank tops for children ages 3-18, send them to Focus on the Family and then they will distribute them to orphans in Africa. I'm trying to get our church organized really quickly to collect some tank tops... the deadline for getting them back to Focus is June 30th, so if you are interested, move swiftly! Just a small way to help and a fun project to do with your kids.

This is a test!!

My sweet friend, Cris www.peterspeapod.blogspot.com , just taught me how to do the photos correctly. I'm trying it out.

OK, so I am not the only one in my family that makes silly faces! I'm just the only one who does it without being asked. My family humored me on Mother's Day with these funny ones:


Genevieve's was so funny. We all stuck our tongues out at her and said, "lalalala". Being the smart girl that she is, she repeated us and I snapped the photo just in time.

Emma has alot of her Mama in her, because she likes to make funny faces too. This one is her "go-to" face- her favorite to make.

Not sure what to say about this one, other than, " I'm thankful that this isn't the face on the face that I wake up to each morning."

Why I blog!

I'm not the most computer savvy chick on the block. Don't get me wrong, I can do the basics, but I hadn't gotten into blogging, making a website, or putting my pictures on the computer. This was mainly b/c our beast computer and dial up internet made it a huge pain. Now that we have a new computer and high speed internet EVERYTHING computer-related is easier and faster. I have two good friends who live far away. They are awesome bloggers. They write well, include lots of photos of their families, and I connect with them. After reading their blogs I decided to start my own as a way of letting friends and family know what's going on in our lives. It's also a quick way to share photos of my kids. Although I am still figuring out how to be a "good" blogger (photos, layout, etc.) I enjoy it. It allows me to keep a journal of what's happening, to brain dump, to share my passions and pursuits, or just to have a good laugh sometimes. My friend said yesterday that she thinks it must be therapuetic b/c so many homeschool moms blog. I agree. It's a few minutes to myself and the outcome is something that can encourage or educate others (or just give them a laugh or a smile). Soooo... that's why I blog. It's SO easy to get started: I set up our blog in about 25 minutes one night and the average blog (depending upon who much I have to say) takes about 10 minutes or less. Try it!

Too Funny!

Introducing DJ Jazzy Genevieve! She's in the his-ouse! She's ready to spin and scratch- spin around to crawl out of her highchair and scratch you with her sharp nails. We're giving a shout out to our favorite rap-loving sista T.T. C with this post!

We took this photo on Mother's Day... she has a build-a-bear shirt on her head, but it looked like a rapper's head thing.

She's funny and trying to say some words... no real raps just yet though. She is standing alone for a few seconds and still crawling around like speed racer.

Quirky... that's Nice Talk for Weird & Freak!

My blogging friend tagged me to share 6 quirky things about myself. Only six? How will I narrow it down. Quirky is a cute, non-offensive little word that I'll have to start using more often... in place of weird and freak- which is usually how I describe myself and others' "quirky-ness".

1. Ever since I was pregnant with Emma I have had to have my drinks ICE COLD! If it is the slighest bit warm I cannot drink it. I stick Coke in the freezer until almost frozen, I fill up my water cups mostly with ice, and milk (on the rare occasion that I drink it) has to come out of the fridge and into my mouth as soon as it hits the glass (that one has been since I was a kid). Also, I won't drink a flat soda for anything in the world (even though I am quite possibly addicted to Coke and Dr. Pepper, I'd pass them both up if they were flat. I prefer cans b/c they provide the most fizz. (I'm with you Wife to the Rockstar!)

2. I'm quickly becoming a true germo-phobe. I carry around santizing wipes in a tub, antibacterial wipes in individual packets, and hand sanitizer in a bottle (which Emma has so adorably named "hand-tizer"). I'm the handwashing police in public restrooms and will talk out loud to Emma when we notice a grown woman not washing her hands... saying things like, " I don't know why she wouldn't wash her hands,Sweetheart,now she will spread germs all around and make people sick." Everywhere we go to eat I santitize the table when we arrive. So don't be offended if you invite us over for dinner and we complete our de-germ ritual at your dining room table (smile).

3. I spend alot of time finding, buying, and organizing matching outfits for our girls- who are 3 years apart by the way. I can't resist how adorable they look- G in a tiny version of something and E in the bigger version... like the red, white, and blue dresses I got them both (on clearance- yeah) to wear for Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day at church...

4. I am a good smell-aholic. I love things that smell good: perfume, candles, freshly washed clothes, the hand sanitizer at my doctor's office, freshly lotioned babies, food on a grill, and on and on. However, I have an extreme aversion to nasty smells. At the slightest hint of funk I am holding my nose to prevent gagging and possibly vomiting. This made being pregnant the 2nd time and changing diapers a HUGE challenge. I could barely enter a public restroom and would start gagging in my own bathroom too. I do believe that I have been blessed with the most sensitive sniffer of anyone I know... Andy laughs at me all the time.

5. I have this interesting ability to spot errors in text that everyone else misses. My eyes seem to go right to the errors and then I sit there looking for more and usually find them... even in books! I even went back and changed an old blog of mine b/c it had a small typo. If anyone needs a proof-reader, jut let me know.

6. I'm nearly obsessed with nice teeth. It's the first thing I notice on people and if they aren't so nice, I have a hard time not concentrating on them. Right now Genevieve has a small discolored spot on her top front tooth. I jokingly said to a friend that God was saying, "Oh yeah, you wanna judge other people's teeth so much? Here's a spot on your kid's front tooth." We do have to take her to a ped. dentist to make sure everything is ok.

OK- I feel like a total freak now that I have shared my "quirks" with the entire blog world. I do feel free though... if I can share the weirdo-ness about me, then I don't have anything else to hide, right? The nice thing is that we all have them, so I'm in good company.

Our First Vacation Day.... Well Spent!

Because the girls are still really little and Genevieve naps twice a day, we decided to forego a week long vacation this year. We have opted for Andy to use his days through the summer and we're going to take day trips. Today was our first one. I just recently heard about a little amusement park just for small children. It was affordable, not too far away from home, and perfect for a 4 year old. My loving in-laws kept the baby girl and we took Emma.

The weather was beautiful today- sunny and just under 70 degrees. It was a bit more crowded than we had hoped, but still not too busy. This was Emma's first experience with an amusement park (other than the rides at the boardwalk and the county fair rides) and I'm so glad that we held out until now- whe was thrilled with this place! If we'd taken her to bigger places earlier, then this may have been boring to her. Not so, she had a blast.

We rode lots of rides, saw lots of little houses with story characters, and even saw a few animals. Our daring daughter loved the roller coaster the most. She couldn't wait to get on it and endured a LONG line. She and Daddy had FUN. When they were almost closing, Andy and Emma returned to the coaster for one last ride... well that turned into 5 rides in a row- 4 of which they didn't even get off for because there was not line. Emma laughed the whole time. She also rode a "carous-wheel" (that's ferris wheel for those of you who don't know Emma speak) ALL BY HERSELF. She was a very brave girl and had fun up there alone.

That's the beauty of this place... Mama and Daddy can ride w/ the kids or they can have freedom to try out some independence on rides that are perfectly sized and paced for them.

Enjoy the photos! You'll see Emma and Mama inside a whale's mouth and an illusion that Emma is being "spritzed" on (that's a word she uses for sprinkled) by that huge watering can. You can also see her enjoying some of the rides.

G's First Birthday Photos

Finally some photos of the first birthday bash! Emma was dressed for the occasion with her cupcake shirt. Genevieve didn't like the cake much at first, but then she really started chowing down and thought the pure sugar was yummy.