Mom2Twins: July 2008

My spoiled life..as my hubby so endearingly reminds me

This morning the girls slept until almost 8:30am! Of course, I had to be at an interpreting job at 9am, so I was up already and getting ready. If I have to be up for something, then almost definitely the girls will sleep late. I said something to Jon about the girls sleeping late, and he basically said, "boo hoo. You live such a charmed life and most mornings you sleep later than most of the world!" It was quite endearing and humorous, but it really got me thinking...I sure do live a charmed life.
By most of the world's standards, I'm pretty spoiled and rich too! I have a skill that is in high demand so I can set my rates and my hours AND I love what I do. We have a house that is large enough for an extra room called the "toy room". Our refrigerator is stocked with food and some of it may be thrown out because we might not get to eating it. I have a husband who helps out so much around the house, loves his daughters intensely, and thinks I'm a hottie even when I don't think it myself! I have a walk-in closet that has at least 35 pairs of shoes in it. I have a personal relationship with Jesus and know that he has my whole life in his mighty hands! I own at least six Bibles. I'm a part of an awesome church that is reaching out to people who don't yet have the understanding of Jesus that I have. A church where the people I've known for only a year have already come to feel like lifelong friends.
Wow, my hubby was completely right this morning, I am spoiled! Or, as we always say in the church circle, "blessed".

Update

So right when you think your life is going to calm down for a bit, it gets completely crazy again! Last week, the girls were at Grandma Camp (Jon's mom!) and I figured I would work some and then get lots done at the house. Yeah, right! I worked lots and played some! I worked three days in a row and then one afternoon went to the mall and movies with my good friend, Lori. Another day, I was a beached whale with my good friend, Jenny, by her apt. pool, doing absolutely nothing! If it had not been for my awesome hubby, there would not have been one single dish washed or one load of laundry done.

We went down to Battle Creek for Tara's wedding on Friday night (our fourth wedding in five weeks...it's getting a bit expensive!) and then came home after the wedding. Saturday morning I went to the first meeting of a life group that I'm joining for young women called Girl Talk.

Worked in BabySteps (Journey's name for our nursery) on Sunday morning and had 8 babies! The service went great as well, we tried a new set-up that was a complete success. We also had the highest Sunday yet (excluding our launch Sunday last October). Had some families come from an outreach we had done last month and another unchurched guy who is coming back next week!

Sunday evening, the girls and I went back down to Battle Creek to spend the night at Ali's house since I had an interpreting job there on Monday morning. We went out to Goguac Lake on Ali and Ben's boat and let the kids swim in the lake. It was a bit chilly so I didn't bring the girls' suits, but they really wanted to swim, so they went skinnydipping with life jackets on! Probably would not have happened if dad had been around, if you know what I mean!! That night, we put the kids down to bed and we did the same routine that we always do when we stay at Ali's house. The girls go to bed in Ali and Ben's bed, then later when we go to bed and they are asleep, we move the girls to sleeping bags on the floor of the boy's room. It's been fine every other time. Well, Sydney woke up in the middle of the night (about 2am) and decided it would be fun to have a little party and wake up her cousins as well. So all four kids were up for about two hours in the middle of the night! And then, of course, they were still up early in the morning at 7:30am! Completely frustrating!

Finally, on Tuesday, we had a regular day at home, doing nothing. The girls got to swim in their kiddie pool with the neighbor kids and I worked on painting our shutters. It was a nice, normal, good and boring day at home. I told Jon that he would probably never hear me say this ever again in my whole life, but we ate at home for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and it was wonderful!

On Friday, Jon and I are heading down to Cincinnati to see our good friends from Roanoke, Rusty and Cindy. Just a one night stay, but it will be great to catch up with them. The guys are going to a Reds game on Friday night and Cindy and I will just find a mall or something. We could sit and talk in a restaurant for five hours, for all we care! Cindy is the kind of friend that you can always pick up where you left off with, she truly is a kindred spirit and bosom buddy. I thank the Lord for friends like her in my life.

Weekend Fotos

Our beautifully damaged deck!!

It's really kept the girls enthralled! Kenzie is interested in all fallen trees now.

The girls lining up for the Fourth of July Parade. I think they were the only kids in the parade who weren't wearing red, white or blue!

Having popcicles after the parade with our good neighbor friends!

Our Journey group at the Grand Haven State Park. What a great day at the beach! Lake Michigan is just like the ocean without the salt smell. Beautiful!

Okay, totally disregard that last post. I was in the process of posting and then I wanted to save it and accidently published it instead! So let me start over here.

Wednesday- Had an awful storm that blew a huge tree on our deck and broke the stairs.
Friday- A neighborhood parade with cupcakes and lemonade afterwards.
Tubing down the Thornapple River with Journey Church friends.
Cookout with tubing buddies.
Fireworks and bonfire (smores, of course) with neighbor friends
Sunday- Journey Church's first outdoor service (went extremely well, very fun)
Afternoon at the beach with Journey Church!

I will post some pics later of all our fun weekend activities. Hope you all had a great Fourth of July as well!

Wow! What a Weekend!

A little update on our week!

Wednesday-An awful storm blew a tree down in our back yard, it fell on the deck and broke the stairs.
Friday-Neighborhood July 4th parade (cupcakes and lemonade afterwards)
Tubing down the Thornapple River
Cookout with Journey Church friends

Vacation Update

I gave you a glimpse of our vacation earlier but never really filled you in on how it went. We traveled to Virginia for Stephanie Ott's wedding and it was a 13 hour trip! The girls did really well. We had been on the road for only 15 minutes and Syd asked, "Are we almost there?" I thought, great this is going to be a fun trip! But she settled in and they did fine. We took their bikes and stopped at a rest stop and let them ride for a bit. Only one time did we have a "I have to go potty NOW" incident. Luckily, we were close to an exit with options. Steph's wedding was beautiful and Jon did an awesome job with it. The girls did great too walking down the aisle as flower girls for the first time. While we were in Virginia, we also did some fun things like the pool and water park.

When we left Virginia, we went to Indiana and stayed with our good friends, Rob & Tanna, for two nights. We went to the Grant County Fair one night and then went to the water park the next day. From there, we were on to our second wedding for my cousin, Joyce. She was getting married in North Manchester, Indiana which is so small they only have one hotel and it was a complete dive. Luckily, it was only for one night. Her wedding was beautiful as well and the girls did even better this time, being the experienced flower girls that they are! It was great to see all the family on my dad's side and even celebrate with Grandma & Grandpa that this year is their 60th wedding anniversary. What an inspiration!

So even though we felt like we needed another vacation when we got home just to relax a little, and this was not the "lay on the beach, do nothing all week" kind of vacation, we still had a great time and made some great memories.

Beautiful, but tired flower girls.