The Rock Wall

We had our annual city festival. It is a small deal, but there are several things for the kids to do. It can get costly (it costs $2 just for 1 slide down the big slide). My 7 year old daughter and my 5 year old son decided they wanted to climb the rock wall.

I didn't take time to explain what my son was to expect and I regret it since he had never done it before. I guess I figured that the guys running it would and that he would climb up a little ways and be done.

















My daughter has done it before. She looked like a pro!














Anyway....back to my son. He kept going...and going..... I couldn't believe it! Right about there, however, he started crying. He was scared. I think that he didn't know he could come down and so he just kept climbing up.








One of the guys, quickly climbed up there and showed him how to get to the top, ring the buzzer, and helped him down. What an experience for my little guy!

Then my youngest, who is 4 years old, doesn't like big play areas with tunnels and big slides. However, he decided with his brother to go and run through one. He was having a great time until he made it to the top and realized he had to go down a tube slide. He REFUSED! After 5 minutes of crying, I had to have one of the girls in charge go get him and help him down. She just sat him in the slide and made him go down and he did!

It makes me think of the times that we get in a jam and we have to rely on God to help us out. Sometimes the first step is scary. The first leap off the wall is scary until you realize that something is holding you. Remember God is holding you in those tough situations. He never lets go!

The Beach, A Picnic, A Sandcastle, and Sunburns

We have been extra busy the last few weeks, so Kirk decided to take a break and take us to the beach. We went to Sea Cliff, a state park. It was a very enjoyable day. It was sunny, but at first cool enough for me to wear my jacket. As soon as we got there we had our picnic lunch.
Then they started to work on the sand castle. My oldest and my youngest didn't stay at it the whole time.

My youngest got cold.

My daughter loves to look for shells. Notice that she is wearing her sweater with her swimming suit.
It was really easy to hang out at the beach all day! Kirk and the kids also flew a kite and played with a soccer ball. Earlier in the day I put sunscreen on the kids and wiped the excess on my arms, but the weather was cool and we were having so much fun that Kirk and I didn't put sunscreen on ourselves. It was at the end of the day that we realized that we were burned and it wasn't until we got home that we realize how burned we were. I didn't have it as bad because at least I wiped the kids' excess on my arms. Of course Kirk took his shirt off, so his whole torso is red - poor guy. We are just now feeling better. We knew better this time, but next time we will for sure not underestimate the sun. Other than the burn, we had a great day at the beach!

The 4th!

We went from the busy-ness of VBS to the busy-ness of moving the church nursery and the fireworks booth. Last week was a little stressful on my husband and I, but it is over and now we are moving on to new and better stresses! Kirk and I didn't celebrate the 4th until the 5th and the 6th because we worked in the fireworks booth - one of our main fundraisers for our youth group. On the 5th, our church had a big circle of celebration and on the 6th, we as a family did some fireworks. All in all, we had a great weekend.
This is the caramel apple pie that I entered into the auction. It went for $40!

We sold fireworks at the circle of celebration and as a joke someone put this sign on my kids.

The kids enjoyed having their bikes there to ride around.

What is it about dunking the pastor? The VBS kids got to dunk Kirk because they raised $1000 for the weekly mission. Steve also took his turn in the dunk tank. I think he got the raw end of the deal because the breeze came up and the sun went down and it got cool.

The fireworks show!
Hundreds of dollars gone in an instant.
I hope you had a happy fourth as well!

Birthdays Part 2

This is the cake that I made for my middle child. He just turned 5. I drove all over to find this pan, so I don't know if it was worth it, but he was impressed.

My daughter just turned 7. She wanted a High School Musical cake and since they don't make pans for that, I came up with this on my own. A new thing I tried was a new cake recipe - a chocolate cake. The Car cake was yellow and the HSM cake was chocolate. They are both box cakes, but I add other ingredients to make them firmer and easier to work with. They were both yummy. My next cake I hope to add filling! I also hope that I can take a cake decorating class sometime before the next birthday. I have a lot to learn.

I can't believe that they are 5 an 7! We had some friends from New Zealand that made the birthday party extra special! The Brooks family!

Birthdays Part 1

The month of June holds my 2 oldest children's birthdays. Grandma and Grandpa Steele sent presents in the mail. You may notice that my youngest son also got a present - his birthday was in February, but I never told Grandma what to get him, so he never got a present from them. Grandma and Grandpa sent him a present with the other kids' presents. It was just as well, since he doesn't understand birthdays yet and he was feeling a little left out.

T-Ball

We put the 2 oldest kids in non-competitive t-ball. It is through a local church. I am really pleased with it. Every Tuesday they have practice and every Saturday morning, they play a game amongst themselves. It has been really fun. My daughter has shown some skills in catching and throwing. My son is a real go-getter. He is always running after the ball.

Last Days of School

My daughter finished her first grade year of school a few weeks ago. Before school ended, she was a giraffe in a school play - she was not not too thrilled about that.

This is her first day of school compared to her last day.










She got the Responsible Citizen Award.

She loves to climb on the monkey bars.

Thus the end of first grade. August will come before we know it and we will have a 2nd grader and a Kindergartner. Hope you are having a happy summer!

Mother's Day

For the last 3 years, Kirk has been making me a Mother's Day meal. He will find a recipe and take the time to go to the grocery store and make the marinade from scratch. It is usually something that I wouldn't make and it is always a treat. This year, Kirk made Salmon with honey-mustard sauce, coleslaw, and an ice-cream stuffed orange. It was all very tasty! There was another fish that Kirk made with a citrus marinade, but he couldn't remember the name. Click on the links and it will take you to the recipe.

And here are my kids!

It was nice to sit and enjoy my new patio.
I hope you had a beautiful Mother's Day!

Easter Sunday

I already had something for my youngest to wear for Easter, but I found these shirts and ties on sale at JCPenney and I couldn't resist. I kept looking for a dress for my daughter, but the cheapest I could find was a dress for $18-$20 and then I found one for $12 at Costco. So I was pleased with the kids' outfits. Why is it so important to dress up at Easter? I don't know but I can't help myself.

The Marshalls came for church service. The baby in the picture is theirs. I was working in the nursery and he came to visit. I couldn't keep him happy, so his daddy had to come and help. Then we went home and had Easter dinner together. It was a nice day to celebrate our Lord's Resurrection with our friends.

Grandma Helen sent stuff for the kids' baskets, but I added to it. It is funny, though, my mom maybe once got us stuff for Easter. I never got an "Easter basket." How times change! I harbor no bad feelings, though.

Also, notice our backyard. Kirk and I worked most of the day Friday to get grass in the backyard. It was nice to take pictures on green grass! Kirk has been working hard to get our backyard done! He has been putting his flair on the backyard - he definitely is artistic! You need to come and visit soon and see it for yourself.

The Easter Egg Hunt

As you can see, my youngest child didn't like the Easter bunny. It was a nice day and the kids got just the right amount of eggs. Not too many, not too few. The Marshalls came and their baby even picked up some eggs. He is getting so big!

Pictures for Grandma Helen


I was afraid that we were going to run out of time to dye the eggs, so we did it first thing Saturday morning.

Grandma got the boys a Race Car egg kit and she got my daughter a Princess egg kit.

Thank you Grandma!