Little Miss 6-year old

I don't know how it can be possible, but Elisa turned 6! She's been counting down for weeks, and was incredibly excited when her birthday finally arrived. She invited some of her cute little friends over, with instructions for them to bring their bikes.

After opening gifts. . .
and enjoying some cake & ice cream. . . it was time for some serious fun riding bikes together at the school. Brad set up a little obstacle course for them, and they loved it!

Happy Birthday, Elisa!!!

The County Fair

It's been several years since we've attended the fair, so we figured it was time for us to try it out again! The fair is always expensive, but it was so worth it! We had a wonderful time! We got bracelets for the kids and me to go on unlimited rides and got more than our money out of them.

I knew Julianne was daring when it came to rides, but I was surprised to find that Elisa was too! She went on almost everything. She tried the Gravatron, which spins around so fast that you get plastered against the wall and have no need for the floor anymore.

Her favorite was 2001 Nachts, which keeps you sitting level as it swings you around in a huge vertical circle. Elisa said it made her tummy tickle. As the ride ended, she whispered in my ear, "It made my bum tickle too..."

Here's my sweet girls on the Ferris Wheel
and Brad enjoying some very yummy (and very greasy) curly fries.

New friends

Tonight I had the most fun I've had in a very long time. Jennifer Steward and four of her daughters are staying with us before Jennifer gives a homeschooling workshop in North Bend tomorrow. They arrived just before dinner and instantly felt like old friends. We spent the evening playing games, laughing, and being silly.

I wish I'd taken pictures, but we were having too much fun to even think about that! We were thrilled to find out they they love playing Nerts as much as we do, and they even taught us a team version. They also taught us a new card game called Mau (sp?).

We stayed up way too late, but the fun was so worth any sleep we might have missed. I can't wait for the workshop tomorrow!

I got a new toy!

Yesterday morning I stopped by Staples and picked my newest, most favorite toy--a laptop! AYUSA gives us the chance to earn "AYUSA dollars", which is money that can be spent on any work-related purchase, including travel, training, or office supplies.

I've wanted a laptop for awhile, both for convenience sake, and so I can do powerpoint presentations for host family and student orientations. I'm having so much fun exploring all that it can do!

Hope you enjoyed this, the first blog post typed on my laptop. :-)

Painting day

In preparation for Igor's arrival, we will be doing a big bedroom shuffle. Julianne & Elisa will continue to share a room, although they are swapping their double bed for two twins. Caleb is moving upstairs into Marie's old room, and what is now his bedroom will become the guest room. Igor will get the current guest room.

The first step in this process was getting rid of the pink flowered wallpaper that Marie had. After last year's adventure of stripping the wallpaper in my bedroom, I decided to just paint over it this time around. We had some other home projects too, so Mom & Dad came for the day, and the guys worked outside clearing weeds and making a dump run, while the girls worked inside painting.

I love the color of Caleb's new room! Painting over wallpaper worked pretty well. Depending on the lighting, you can see where some of the wallpaper seams are and there was a little bubbling too. I think I may "texture" the walls to hide the imperfections.

Five-year-old cuteness

At lunchtime today, Elisa decided to get a little creative. She toasted two pieces of bread herself and asked me to cook her a fried egg. While the egg was cooking, she put mayonaise and mustard on the toasted bread. She put the egg in the middle and had a delicious fried egg sandwich! I've never made this sandwich for her before, so I thought it was pretty cute that she came up with the idea herself. She loved it!
Then in the evening, we decided to watch a movie. Elisa sat in various places and positions trying to get comfortable, and I guess she finally did. Her "bed" consisted of my aerobic step, and the poor little thing missed the end of the movie.

Happy Birthday America!

For the second year in a row, we headed down the street to our neighbors' house for a 4th of July cookout and fireworks in their driveway. It was so much fun! Good food, lots of laughter, and tons of fun lighting fireworks. Two of the boys were leaving for church camp early the next morning, so we got started before it was very dark, but that didn't hamper our fun a bit!

The evening wouldn't be complete without building the 2nd annual 4th of July kid pyramid!
Click here to view the rest of our 4th of July picture.

A great read

My Sunday School classroom is just off of the church library, so I sometimes pop my head in and browse around for a good book. This past Sunday I found this book. I was initially going to pass over it, but the title intrigued me. Also, I didn't know Thomas Kinkade was an author and I was curious to see what his writing was like.

I looked over a few pages and was instantly drawn in, so I brought the book home. I'm about half way through it now and it's one of the best books I've read in a long time.

Thomas and his wife, Nanette, take turns writing from their individual perspectives, but the theme of the book is consistent: the importance of putting the time and effort into cultivating an enjoyable, blessed marriage. The analogies are wonderful and I believe the book is right on. This book is encouraging, challenging, and sometimes convicting me as I examine myself and my marriage.

If you're looking for some good summer reading, I highly recommend this!