Laughter: The BEST medicine!

Let me introduce you to my mentors -- fellow Christian moms and friends from my MOPS group. Aren't they adorable??? This year's theme is "Adventures in Mothering," so we're ready to have fun with lots of circus and carnival-like ideas. Nancy Dixon, our amazing hospitality coordinator who's also worn just about every other hat imaginable, is apparently the one responsible for the clown noses that were in our welcome bags today. Nancy is being released from the hospital today after several days of complications from a surgery. So, to let her know we're thinking about her -- and to prove that we CAN laugh at ourselves -- we (OK, I) snapped this photo. The nice thing about taking photos is that you don't actually have to wear the clown nose. Oh, who am I kidding....I've been wearing it all day. But, there's no evidence, so nobody can prove a thing!!

Abby goes to kindergarten

That's her seat with the pink and purple backpack on top. This photo is taken from the loft, which houses the writing center. Anyone who knows Abby knows she goes nowhere without a notebook and pen or pencil. She'll spend lots of time here honing her "craft."

Here's Abby playing with dolls and dressup clothes. Kindergarten looks like a lot of fun! I'm hoping to volunteer one morning every week!

Here's Abby trying out her seat during orientation. We all got to experience kindergarten and a bus ride on Wednesday.

Here's my grownup girl in her "back-to-school" outfit. Tie shoes for recess and the shirt from grandma. She had a huge fit when the skirt didn't fit (too big!), but we still managed to make it to school on time -- miraculously -- after our late start.
Abby stopped to wave when she got off the bus a couple hours after school started. First full day is tomorrow...lunch at school???? Where did my baby go? I can still remember my own first day of kindergarten, butterflies in my stomach, pigtails in my hair. It's hard to believe Abby has been in my life nearly six years. The time has simply flown! I'm excited for her new adventure, but yes, I was misty-eyed when I watched her file out of the gymnasium into her classroom this morning. Her chin turned down, a sheepish grin widening in part elation, part embarrassment (there weren't many moms there!) as she passed by me on her way to kindergarten class. She certainly has grown up a lot, but as long as she still snuggles, hugs and loves on her mom, I'll be OK with that!

Abby's debut modeling job

Check it out!
http://www.shopshoetopia.com/

A year of Ryker

I found my pregnancy journal while we were making this slideshow for Ryker's birthday, so we combined it with the images for this fun little presentation!

Fishing on the Fourth

Here's my little tomboy, all dressed in pink, catching her first fish with Papa on July 5. She is not afraid of worms or fish. In fact, she will hold them without the slightest hint of squirming. Her brother? Not so much!

Catching up

Photos from Fourth of July...Ryker really got to know and bond with Jack Morino, the son of one of my college girlfriends. They had a blast together, swimming, playing and collecting candy at the parade in Towanda. The photo of Abby is a cute story. She just crawled up on Jill's aunt's lap and started singing to her. I guess they really bonded, too! How cute is Baby Ben??

This year's MEIM video

As promised, here's a video. This is from our trip to Mexico this year, to offer a little glimpse of what we do. I'm going to try to make a video of the people who live there, so you can get an idea of the poverty and living conditions. This is the one we played for our church service, to try to let our congregation know what we do and recruit more supporters and people who could come with us.

The Beach

Needless to say, the kids LOVED this. Abby had been talking about seeing a beach for a very long time. She even donated all of her piggy bank money for a "beach fund" (did I mention she so graciously donated Ryker's piggy bank money, too?) She wanted to see a "real beach" at the ocean, but after Lake Michigan, she seems content! Whew! 'Cause according to Dave Ramsey, that won't be happening for awhile. Haha! But this beach was relatively free, save for the gas money, which cost nearly $200. I love this photo of Ryker throwing sand...he's actually making a sandcastle. Thanks to him, we got a nice spot on the beach and weren't overcrowded. ;-) There's also a lovely photo of him making sand angels. Can you tell which photos I played with in Photoshop? I know, I know...I should have given myself a tan!!

Baby Beluga

During our mini-vacation to Chicago, we were very lucky to stay with two girlfriends of mine -- thank you SO much! -- and save on hotel expenses. We basically visited with them (they each have a boy Ryker's age and baby boys) and then toured the aquarium and swam in Lake Michigan. We also went to Chucky Cheese for lunch, which was a hit naturally! And enjoyed delicious bacon and cheddar burgers, which apparently cannot be duplicated! :-)

This is the kids in front of the aquarium, just after our visit. To show them where we were going, we got on the Shedd Web site and watched the live video birth of a beluga whale. They loved watching the babies swimming close to the moms. The top photo, if you can tell, is a baby nursing. It was very amazing to watch! We also saw the giant komoto dragon, a "Nemo" fish and experienced a very cool 4-D Sponge Bob show. The kids were very good and really enjoyed it, especially all the amazing views of the lake from the windows. Abby was drooling about the beach all day!!

Yikes!!

Sorry...I've fallen so far behind. We have so much to update, I'm not sure where to begin. I have some great photos to post from our weekend trip to Chicago in July, and some fun shots of the kids playing with their great-Grandma this past week. I'll try to get through them and get them posted. My entire summer schedule has been a bit hectic. Not long after we returned from Mexico, I had a nasty case of heartburn that turned out to be...my appendix! Dan insisted on an ER visit, and we're all so glad he did. I needed surgery that night...no rupture, but we caught it just in time! Easy surgery and recovery. And man is my minister glad this didn't happen in Mexico...so are we! After hearing all the horror stories and then being in a foreign country with a foreign language, I would have been throwing a little temper tantrum if I had to face a hospital there! :-)
Photos soon...I promise. By then, I'll have a birthday party post, too. My "baby" is turning 4. Holy Cow! How on earth did that happen??? I'm going to try posting a couple videos, too, so bear with me!