Bowling with Mr. J

We finally got to enjoy our auction item . . . Bowling with Mr. J

only THE COOLEST Vice Principal/Counselor EVER!!!

Missed having G with us but loved bringing Alli's BFF Emilie with us.

The excited began by getting to ride in Mr. J's car ~ kiddos thought this was so fun :-)

It was off to Subway for lunch, where kiddos got chips AND cookies with their sandwiches.

Yep, Mr. J is much cooler than Mommy!

Then it was off to Bass Pro Shops for a fun afternoon of bowling.

Such a cool bowling alley!  Seriously, fish themed bowling for the G FISHer Fam ~ PERFECT!

Funniest thing was somehow Mr. J and I also had bumpers and the kiddos did better :-)

Alli decided bowling like Mommy {i.e. through the legs} was more fun.

Such a fun day!!!

A perfect way to begin our "See you later" to Lighthouse.

Man it's going to be hard to leave this amazing school.

Thank you Mr. J for a perfect afternoon!!!

Wichita Move Part 2 - G Makes the Move

Very early this morning {2:15am} I said "see you later" to the love of my life.

Thankfully, G's brother was kind enough to drive him to the airport.

As G embarks on this adventure, the kiddos and I are anxiously awaiting his Labor Day visit :-)

Wichita Move Part 1 - Goodbye Honda!

So this move is really happening!!!

Yesterday was G's last day working in Renton, at least as the Operations Manager.

{Who knows if God will lead us back to the site some day!}

And today, the movers came and picked up G's car to take it to Wichita . . . 

Eli loved watching them drive Daddy's car onto the truck and waved "bye bye."

Definitely starting to feel real now!!!

On the positive side, way more room in the garage now ;-)

Now we just have to soak in as much G/Daddy time as we can 

until Monday morning when he follows his car . . . 

Mommy Son Weekend

Garrett and Alli are enjoying a fabulous Daddy Daughter Campout this weekend 

so the boys and I are having our own fun this weekend :-)

We played outside in the sun yesterday then went bowling and to the Family Pancake House for dinner.  We had the best time and the boys were super excited to run into Mr. Roddy at the restaurant. 

The boys were so cute at the bowling alley and I did pretty well, scoring 101.

Eli likes to drop the ball with a thump and Luke pushes it so it goes VERY slowly, a couple times I wasn't sure the ball would get to the pins.  They had the best time, it was AWESOME!!!

Despite it being late when we got home, we decided to play in the sandbox before tubby time.

It was such a fun evening!

The fun continued this morning when we went to Lowes and sat on "tractors"

They were so good while we shopped and had a great time sitting on the riding mowers.

This afternoon, the boys headed to the beach with Barbie Gramma and Grandpa while I worked on Garrett's Father's Day gift . . . new shelves for his smoker (hope he likes it!)  

Turns out I can use power tools and levels pretty well :-)

After I finished, I drove to the beach to have dinner with the family.

The boys told me all about their fun afternoon of searching for shells, gooey ducks and crabs.

They were exhausted and went straight to bed when we got home.

Garrett & Alli get home tomorrow evening and we cannot wait to be reunited,

though we have truly enjoyed our Mommy & Boys weekend!

Eli Takes His Job Very Seriously

While Ducky Gramma & Papa were in WI for a week, they hired Eli to water their plants.

He was so proud of this job and took it very seriously.  Little brother wanted so badly to help!

Eli did let Alli help with a couple plants two times :-)

He was so proud when Papa paid him $10.

Funniest part was when we stopped by on Thursday and Papa was watering the plants.

Luke ran up to him and said, "Papa, why are you doing my brother's job?"

Then, Eli said "I thought watering was my job Papa."

It was such a hoot!

Karate

Eli has been asking to take Karate for a couple months and we signed him up for the summer.

He started on Tuesday and was beyond excited :-)

He absolutely LOVED it and has been showing us all his techniques ~ he especially loves the kicks!

We love it because his Sensei is very big on respect and discipline, 

which is how Alli found herself signed up for Karate as well and started today.

She was less than pleased to be taking it and would NOT allow any pictures after she changed into her uniform BUT she came out of the class with a huge smile and said, "That was so fun, I love it!"

Score one for Mommy!

As promised at the beginning of the week, I took the munchkins out for frozen yogurt

 as a treat for completing the first week of Karate.  Yummy and fun for all!

Gotta love the boys' faces.  Perhaps one of these days they will flash sweet smiles like their big sis!

14 Glorious Years

Tonight, we got to celebrate our 14th wedding anniversary with a quiet dinner for two at one of our favorite waterfront restaurants thanks to our best man (Uncle Z) who graciously agreed to watch the three little fish for a couple of hours.  It was a perfect evening!!!

Our sweet pink fish was our photographer and dictated our poses :-)

Pretty Pigs

As a thank you gift, one of the amazing moms on the boys' t-ball team gave me a gift certificate for Alli and I to get pedicures so after church, we headed to the spa.  When it came time to pick colors, I started to choose my favorite standby . . . bright red (perfect for summer I think!)  Well, my sweet daughter sighed and said, "Mommy, you always get that" in a very disappointed tone.

Not wanting to disappoint her, I asked her what she would pick for me and this is what I got . . .

I realize glittery blue toes don't see too exciting for many people but this is wild for me.  

I would like to say they are growing on me but I think next time I will stick with my standby :-)

Garrett thinks it was the right thing to do because it made our sweet girl super happy!

BLAST OFF! Discovering the God of Creation

This was Alli's second year participating in CRCC's Spring Musical and she did AWESOME!

This year was a space theme . . . 

Alli LOVES singing in the choir with her buddies and we love learning the songs with her :-)

She began rehearsals back in January and this weekend she had two performances.

She was so excited to have her family there . . . Ducky Gramma, Papa, Uncle Tony, Aunt Jenee and Cousin Bella made it to Saturday's performance (unfortunately, no pictures from the first night).

Tonight's performance was just as cute and the kiddos seemed a bit more relaxed!

Her fan club tonight included Barbie Gramma, Grandpa, Uncle Z, Miss Kaitlyn, Uncle Danny, Rhonda, Cousin Sophie, Mrs. Ferrell and Sammi!!!

The best part about it being the last performance was the kiddos could go up on stage to get pictures with the set ~ they couldn't wait to sit in the spaceship seats :-)

I absolutely LOVE the picture of the cousins!

Of course, Alli also had to pose for some pictures with one of her favorite church buddies!

What an amazing opportunity for Alli and her friends to share the truth about God in such a fun manner!  She did such a great job and we love seeing her shine on stage :-)

Mom's Tea at Pre-K

Today was AMAZING and all because I got to spend the morning with this handsome little man!

We attended the Mother's Tea at his Pre-K class.  Eli was SUPER excited about this.  Last night {when he was supposed to be sleeping!} he came downstairs to give me one more giddy hug as he told me how he couldn't wait for our Mother's Tea ~ so, so sweet!!!  Then, this morning, he happily agreed to put on a collared shirt with buttons and his church shoes.  This is big stuff for Eli as he only likes to wear "cozy clothes!"  

When we arrived, he showed me the flower pot he made for me and on the back of his picture he wrote, "Mommy is grateful"  What a gift to hear that is how my son sees me, now I need to live up to it!!!  We enjoyed some yummy snacks and lemonade, Eli even made a plate for me, though he ate my cinnamon rolls and I ate his strawberries :-)

We played the game Guess the Mom and I had NO trouble guessing me by what Eli had to say ;-)

Yep, Rescue Bots is one of my favorite shows!  Helps that we don't have cable ;-)

After the game, the kiddos sang the sweetest songs and recited a poem.  

PRECIOUS!!!

I had THE BEST time with my little man!