First Time At North Beach!

We went to the beach with our friends Christine and her daughter Becca. Becca and Brooklynn go to pre-school together, and they were instant friends! It was great to get together and have a blast in the sun! The girls braved the cold water, but didn't want to leave even though it was after 5.
The beach is nice and smaller than the state park. This has a playground, a pavilion, a bath house, and a short walk to the water! I had just bought sand toys, and the kids enjoyed building. Andrew had a blast with the sand toys, he didn't mind standing at the edge of the water, but did not want the waves to hit him. It was so funny to see them and how they interacted at the beach
This I am sure will be the first of many beach picture posts~

Brooklynn and Andrew of course on their beloved swings!

Brooklynn showing me just how independent she is!

Brooklynn and Becca playing in the chilly water...
although they would never admit to it being chilly!

Andrew's Beach Feet!

Andrew has a new love of playing at the beach and making sand castles!

Snack Time!

Christine and Becca~

Wednesday!

Today I have five kids running around my house! We are planning on having fun with playdough, coloring, I have a little craft to do, and maybe we will play outside before lunch! And maybe during nap time I can clean the bathroom and price some of our things for the yard sale! Who knows....
I always get a little over zealous with things I want to get done during my day, there just are not enough hours in the day! Lord, can we do anything about that? Not getting an answer, guess that is a NO! Last night I was making a list of things to do this week before our sale, Brooklynn came and sat at the table next to me with a crayon and some paper declaring that she too was making a list and that daddy would be very happy with her. I had to laugh, she is going to be just like her mommy making lists, but the funniest part of her statement was that she would not put too many things on her list so that she could get them all done and that is why daddy would be happy! I have to admit that I am notorious for putting everything I WANT to get done on my list, instead of what is actually practical and what can actually get done in the time allotted. I am getting better at it. Chip just tells me that if I write the top three things I want to get done then I won't have a feeling like I failed at the end of the day by not crossing everything off my list. Good ideas from the man I love!
I'll post pictures soon of the kids and of the garden!

Crazy Week!

Oh my goodness, you think coming home from "vacation" would be easy, we came home with clean laundry, etc. BUT, we have been non-stop since we got back. I miss the days of hanging out at home with my family. I miss being home with my family. I took for granted my surroundings, don't get me wrong, I enjoyed and valued every moment....but I wish for so much more time. When we get to the end of the week or visit, Chip always knows to say if we need to be gone at 12 he will say lets leave by 11, because even though we are packed and ready to go, it always takes me an hour to get out, hugs, kisses, water, final check around the house.....you get the drill. I don't like saying goodbye to my family. I love my parents house, if I could pick it up just the way it is and bring it here, I would have so much more comfort here in Michigan. Well, much more if my family came with the home too!~ Wow how much more of a fairy tale could I live in?!

So once again, Chip is back into the swing of things at the church, and I am back to the nitty gritty here at home. I am back watching kids and cleaning! My mom got me a new book that I am really loving reading! I have learned that I love having a shiny sink, and am more relaxed when I am fully dressed in the morning, instead of staying in pj's or relaxing clothes! I have got my zones down and have started blessing my house! Thank you fly lady! I really want to get better organized in our basement. I took two boxes of clothes to the consignment store....I had a really hard time finding out what they kept....(long story, but if they don't accept what you bring in they donate it to charity) which is great, but I would have loved to take it there. I think I would have had a better release if I had the opportunity to do it instead of them.... Chip says I would have just stuck it back in the car and brought it home. Maybe he is right, we have been blessed with the clothes that our kids have had. It just hurts to know the memories that were made in those outfits. Besides what am I going to do keep all of their clothes their whole life because of a memory. Well maybe a few outfits, but not all. RELEASE LISA!
Tomorrow is Friday, I will bring the pack and play downstairs and sort for two hours and do laundry! I guess writing it here makes it more official~

The kids and I have had a lot of fun playing outside. We got them a plastic pool! We are still looking for a swing set, they are going on sale now, so we will find one~ Brooklynn and Andrew both love to swing~ I would love to find one at a yard sale but that is next to impossible and at least a couple of the ones that I have found aren't that great.
I am finishing with the garden this week! I will post pictures soon, pray we have good veggies!

So we decided to put the house on the market again, for three weeks we will continue to list by owner-praying that is how we sell it....then we will list with a realtor. We are now on the search for another one, the guy we wanted to use isn't working full time as a realtor, which is what we need, someone who will be need to sell it as much as we are wanting to sell it! We would love to go with someone that isn't in our church if at all possible so that we don't hurt any ones feelings.... Pray right now that something happens soon! SELL SELL SELL!

Have a great night, it is already 1am now and I need to sleep before my over zealous day tomorrow!

Our Date Night!

Alright, so the best part of vacationing at home, is you have built in "FREE" babysitters! I know, I know, I know~ so horrible, but every time we are home my parents always offer to watch the kids and let Chip and I go out. So one night we went out to the movies~ We saw The Chronicles of Narnia -Prince Caspian. It was a good movie, unfortunately I started having some heart palpitations and we went straight home. It continued for most of the night. But at least we had a great beginning of a date!~
Although that date didn't go as planned, we did have some other fun times to get out and enjoy each other! It is amazing to think that we have been married for almost five years~
As always we still went a paroozed the car lots, and dreamed a lot! Chip loves to look and think about what we will do in the future. WE are very fortunate to have two running working vehicles, we just pray we can have at least three more years with the van!
We also had other moments where we were able to get out just the two of us...we had a great time! Even just going to Wal-Mart with just us, it was fun to walk and look... :)
Thanks mom and dad for always being so willing to take the kids! You know you are amazing, but I just thought I would let you know again!
Love you guys!

The Children's Museum!

Tuesday Chip and Dad dropped the car off at the repair shop/mechanics at 7:30 a.m. (Chip really loved that~) Then after they got back we fed the kids breakfast and left for Indy's Children's Museum- the largest Children's Museum in the World! The kids had a blast! Here are a few pictures from the day!

The kids loved the boat station! Water and boats are a huge hit~
I love this picture of Andrew and me, he is such a ham!~

This truly shows how intrigued they are in things~ They are amazing kids!

The kids loved the healthy house, they did the the activities and
of course they enjoyed playing with the food~

Brooklynn and her Mimi enjoying the carousel, of course she had to be on a horse!
Brooklynn also loves to play pretend, she was serving all the kids and insisted that Andrew was the daddy!

Chip helping Andrew with the Curious George site, and Brooklynn waiting to make the special ooze, oh yes and we left with the recipe (I'm sure it will not be made at home~ :) )

The kids had a blast, and we had fun with them too~ The kids were worn out by the time we got to the car. They fell asleep within minutes even with a movie on!
We should have bought the family year pass, as I am sure we will go back again....but maybe we will be on top of that next year! Indy does a great job with the museums and the zoo~! I love that we are close enough to take the kids there~