Celebrating in more ways than one

   Joelle was super-excited to go to her friends birthday party this weekend.  She had such a fun time.  Fun games, time with sweet friends and an assortment of treats dipped in a chocolate fountain.  Yes, she had her share of sweets for the day, maybe even for the week! : )  She even brought home a little goody bag which she kindly shared with her brothers and sisters.

"Ready girls!  Let's go!"

   Brienne came along with us.  We took Joelle to the party and then Brienne and I headed down the road to Chik-fil-A for a special mommy-daughter date.  I told her I was very proud of the way she handled not being able to go to the party with Joelle.  Even her words were encouraging and sweet and I praise God for his work in her heart.  She is growing up.

   Though Brienne did her best, she could not finish this entire cone.  I should have forgone my milkshake, I would have been able to help her finish.  Perhaps the reason she didn't finish was part being full, part ready to play with the kids in the play area!  : )

She had a great time and met some sweet little friends.

   After picking up Joelle, it was off to the library to turn in their completed summer reading logs.  Every oval=30 minutes of reading or being read to.  Good job girls!

   They even got medals!!  We were surprised, I guess I didn't realize what all the rewards would be.  I thought they would receive a certificate for Chik-fil-A, but they got that and more.  Tickets to the water park, tickets to a baseball game, and a cool hologram ruler.  Wow, way more than I expected. 

Every chance they get

   Little Manny's new thing is to stand on a stool in front of the window and look outside.  He's finally getting over his clinginess to me after giving up the pacy.  Now he loves it outside again, and he wants to get out there every chance he gets.  If I step out the side door for whatever reason, he notices that door being opened and he wants to go out!  "Sorry Manny, not now, I have to fix dinner and everyone else is tidying up the house."  Oh, he'll be upset over it for a couple minutes but then he's ready to move on.  Sometimes the window will just have to suffice :).  I enjoyed taking these pictures of his sweet little face and chubby little hands.

To me, that little finger pointing is one of the cutest things on earth!

Manny likes to try on our shoes!  I love those little feet!

   Another special "someone" who loves to go outside into big wide open spaces is our dog Dakota.  You would not believe how excited this dog gets when it's time to go for a walk.  I mean really!  As soon as my husband pulls out the leash, she knows what is coming.  When he opens the door, she bursts out, pulling my husband behind.  It takes his strength to restrain her.  When we walked up "the hill" during our walk today, he offered Dakota to me for some help climbing it.  She was practically pulling him up the hill!  She's so crazy!  

She was one happy, hot, exhausted doggie when we got home.

This time she burst into the house in order to cool off.  She was

lovin' the linoleum floors!

   After our walk, Javier asked if I wanted to go toss a football around.  I had to decline.  One, being pregnant, and two, still recovering from this backache...not a good combo.  He decided to play with Manny instead!

A slower pace, yet it's flying by

   The sun was shining bright and hot.  I stood in the backyard spraying the kids with the hose as they jogged by me doing their routine.  Even before they finished, Manny was very anxious to have the "sprayer" all to himself.  He had a delightful time spraying the water upward so it would fall down on him.  I chuckled as I watched him spray his own head.  He even sprayed me when I got too close with the camera!  He laughed as I screamed and ran away.  It was all a part of the game.  I was enjoying it too.

   Wow, to think that summer will soon be behind us.  I have so enjoyed the slower pace of summer days.  Time seems to be more abundant lately.  Yet at the same time, this summer seems to be flying by.  There is so much to look forward to.  My heart is full of anticipation.  Has God given us a boy or a girl?  How will the Bible Club turn out next week?  I'm so excited about these things!

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   Brienne is quite the character.  She's always making faces.  She reminds us so much of her Abuelo (Grandpa).  They look so much alike.

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  A light blanket I made for Clara's toddler bed in the summer.

I love the colors and I love blankets that are satin on one side.

This was fun to pick the fabric for and so fun to make!

     

Sweet, sweet fellowship

   

   This morning invitations went out for the upcoming Backyard Bible Club.  I stayed at our house with the small children and prepared for the lunch we would have when everyone returned.  I fired up our cute little  charcoal grill for the first time!  Javier taught me how to do it last weekend.  It wasn't working at first, but finally it got going!  

   After we ate grilled hot dogs, baked beans, some very yummy "Kettle" chips (sea salt & cracked pepper-yum!), and watermelon, Javier encouraged us all in our efforts to reach out to the children of our neighborhood and their families with the gospel.  It is God's work, but he does use his people.  He shared how God used people to reach us, with an invitation on our door to a church.  He shared how the love of God's people made such an impact for Christ in our lives.

   It was so neat to listen to everyone tell us about people they met and what their responses were.  Many were not home and an invitation was left on the doorknob.  Some were not interested.  But some were.  Some seem very positive and are planning on coming.  We are asking God to work in hearts.  I'm thankful for the encouragement from a friend in Sunday School to just trust God with the results.  I won't worry about having many kids here, but I'll just receive the ones he gives.

   We practiced our club songs again and sang with joy as the guys played guitar.  The children joined in too, they are learning these songs well.  I especially enjoyed the sign language that went along with the singing.  Beautiful.  

  We all laughed as we watched the children play with our guests.  So many sweet moments of pure joy.  I laughed as my husband jokingly said that we should invite people over to come play with our kids, because the mutual benefit was obvious.  Isn't it therapy to just play sometimes?  Especially when you get such sweet giggles!

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  How do you like Amera's ride? :)  The age of sixteen is fast approaching and with thoughts of a soon to be driving daughter, we decided to give her some practice on the riding mower.  

Jav gives her a crash course on mower functionality.

When Amera began mowing the kids ran to the porch to sit and watch with great interest.

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   Photography is a renewed love in my life.  I took a class in high school and it absolutely fascinated me.  I am learning more and more about it and I love experimenting with light and angles.  I have so much to learn.   Here are some "experiments" I did today...

I went grocery shopping late last night with my husband at Walmart.  We brought home these beauties, I think they're pretty expensive so I hardly ever buy them, but I'm glad we did.  Honestly though, even though I love their taste, I think I enjoyed photographing them more than eating them!  :)  

Happy Birthday sweet Clara!

   We enjoyed celebrating Clara's birthday today.  Nothing extravagant, no stress, and a whole lotta family togetherness!  Since it was Saturday, we slept in a little, but as soon as I woke up, I made good on my promise to make pancakes for breakfast.  The children woke up one by one and watched a cartoon on PBS kids while I poured the batter on the griddle.

They were delicious!

   After breakfast, Clara opened her gifts.  I have decided that I like to take photos after they're opened rather than during.  She loves her new crayons, coloring book and drawing pad.  The children have been playing with Legos a lot lately, so I decided to get more to add to our collection.  It's neat to watch them play, they all love building with them.  And of course a little lady bug doll to join her other doll friends.  Clara decided to name her Grace.

This little guy thinks Clara's baby dolls are so cute!  

You should see him holding it and patting it's back, it's so cute! 

Manny gets in on a shoulder rub too!

The little guy was laughing!  We weren't sure at first :)

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   We are so thankful that God gave us precious little Clara.  

      These four years we have had her have been beautiful and rich!