7-5, 7-12, & 7-19-2009 - 3 Weeks in Review

Where have I been?  Why have I been such a slacker?  Well, part of the "problem" is that I have 4 kids not in school...the other part is that I'm actually starting to make some money taking pictures!  So, now I will attempt to catch you up on the last 3 weeks!

Mon Jun 20

Corben starts karate camp and the World Karate-do in Knightdale.  He spent the whole week doing karate, watching fun movies, going swimming, ice skating, and a ton more!!  -- That evening we spent time in our fun yard.

 

Fri Jul 3 was our Elder’s quorum Pig Pickin’.  There are no pictures as I had my hands full chasing children.  That Sylvie has gotten REALLY fast!  We were blessed to have some friends of ours come and join us that evening and have them meet all our great friends from church.

Sat Jul 4

We went to Rolesville this year for fireworks.  It was Fantastic!  Free face painting, watermelon, cotton candy, lollipops, etc.  The kids had a GREAT time!  Ryan rolled in our bench seats from the van so we were sitting in style the whole time.  My kids LOVED the fireworks.  Ella spent a great deal of time playing with sparklers and trying to stick them in the ground.  No fear there!

Sun Jul 5 – rabbit in our yard…..

Mon Jul 6

This week was packed full of Dr. appts….I’m exhausted remembering it…..BUT here are some other things that were fun.

We got to see baby deer in the yard….

 

My awesome SIL, Heather, came with her kids and had Family Home Evening with us.  We had S’mores (of course) made with Reese’s PB Cups!! YUM!!

Thurs Jul 9

We drove to Chapel Hill on Thursday to meet up with one of my best friends since Elementary School.  She and I found each other again thanks to Facebook.  She told me her pool had a slide….I had no idea!!  There was also a water park for the little kids with fountains, etc. and a diving board for the big kids.  The saline water was really nice, too!  Thanks, Thu-mai!!

Fri Jul 10

This day was PACKED FULL!!  We had to miss the playgroup to Pullen Park, there was just too much to do!  We started off with a Dr. appt in Cary, drove home just in time for Dade to get picked up by his grandparents and whisked off for the weekend, I then took pictures for a friend of mine who makes and sells stuff on Etsy (She makes great aprons for kids, key chains, bags, crayon holders, tissue holders, etc – http://Ivonne3576.etsy.com), ……….

 

…….we then rushed off to the Harry Potter Party!!!  There was Harry Potter karaoke (Corben and I sang “Tom will, Tom will Shock you!  Shock you!)  a wizard’s duel, and tons of other fun games and deserts.  Everyone LOVED the Butter Beer and Every Flavor Beans…well not everyone, though I hear Skunk beans weren’t all that bad!!  We ended by watching a Harry Potter movie…..we’re all so excited the 6th movie is out!!

   

Sat Jul 11 – Sat was time with my family & extended family.  My brother and his wife joined us with their cute kids for some fun at the house.

Sun Jul 12 – Sunday we joined some good friends for dinner.  It was a really nice night and there was tons of YUMMY bread.  I did, however, manage to get over 50 mosquito bites & thought I was going to die….but I didn’t.

On the way home we stopped at my BIL’s for just a moment.  This was the scene outside of the car….

This was the scene inside the car…..

…luckily we were soon on our way home.

Mon Jul 13 – Corben spent another week at camp this week.  (It’s a day camp only.)  He went roller skating, swimming, and got an amazing tour of the News and Observer.  He was very excited and is ready to start our own family newspaper….not that there’s anything you all don’t know already =).

Tues jul 14 – Finally got the girls out on a playdate – Thanks Natasha!!

wed jul 15 – Me = sick!! YUCK!  Still, ran Dade and a friend to Apex to join their friends at the Temple.  Yeah!  Ryan spent the evening taking the Missionaries out to visit folks.  It was nice to get some good service in!

Fri Jul 17

Friday was Nature day in our yard….More rabbits….

….and THEN, as I’m putting the girls to bed my friend Jennifer calls and says to go outside and take pictures of the lightening!  So I did.

 

Sat Jul 18 – We got up EARLY and cleaned the church!!  Man, that’s a lot of work!  Only 2 of the 3 families showed so it took a bit longer and apparently some people missed last week and no one cleaned up last Sunday after church so there was a TON to do.  Hopefully now we’ve gotten all the work caught up and it will be easier for this weeks families.  I love getting to serve!

Sun Jul 19 – Sunday was a bit nerve wracking.  Our congregation had the “higher up folks” coming to check and see how we were doing and if we were running everything alright.  I had 4 people sitting in the back with clipboards staring at my as I tried to sing with the children….I only forgot the words twice and sang the wrong song once….they did, however, laugh at my joke.  They gave me the thumbs up so I guess I didn’t do too bad!  Corben had a talk on Sunday also.  He was supposed to talk on how he could Strengthen our Family.  I thought this topic was definitely inspired yet he couldn’t find how it applied to him…..SO he found a story he could read instead.  He then lost his talk right before he was supposed to go up…..then he found it…..then he spent 5 minutes at the pulpit staring at everyone and refusing to speak….he then started talking but was VERY quiet…..then he got louder….and louder….and louder!  Then he was done.  The best part was when Sis. Hopkins thanked Corben for giving us all that quiet time at the beginning so we could sit back and just feel the Spirit.  She’s awesome.  Good job, Corben!!

 

The End!