My Boys

Three utterly unique individuals, yet they always get lumped together as "the boys"...

Will isn't mad in this picture...I took it while he was playing his (blessed) DS in the car while we waited for Mel's return to us! Love his sunburned cheeks...it's from his coaching "work" outside this week! Handsome dude!! He rocks because he is not afraid to call me on stuff (attitudes, yelling for the wrong reason etc) in a kind, and loving manner.

E...he hates to smile for his picture. It's kinda hard to imagine what he will look like as a man...his features are so striking..yet he's uncomfortable in his own skin at times...I think by this point in our Wednesday, his novocaine had worn off from the big tooth extraction adventure...so he might be loopy here. Thanks, kid, for letting me take some shots of ya!! You are a looker!

Levi is holding the head rest from E's seat...he takes it off quite frequently...he's sporting a kool-aid moustache also...evidence from Gramma's house! He's totally posing here...who do you think he will look more like? I think he looks like a total mixture of all 4 of his sibs...he's got such nice olive skin...when he smiles...he always shows his tiny teeth...(D. and I were "making fun" of him tonight in the pool...it's hard to smile that way)...lovin' his full mouth...smoochy lips!

We are so extremely blessed to have Our Three Sons...Thank You, God, for trusting us enough to raise the future. Yikes. I just scared myself.

Time for bed! Have a lovely Friday, folks! Tory, have fun with the big move...you and your "crew" will be foremost in my mind and prayers!! Godspeed!

Meet Sponge Bob

Is this not the cutest picture ever??

Levi brought this to me this morning, and said "Can you put this on your bloooooooog?" He really emphasizes that word...it's really cute!

Here's your debut Levi...hope you get lots of requests for more artwork displays!!

July Randomness

here I am, driving the car and taking pictures...multi-talented...deathy-defying. Can you see Molly in the rear view mirror?

Levi, trying to hide behind my jalapenos...I can't see you!!!

These bad boys were used in my Tues. evening salsa...mmm mmm good.

loveliness

My patriotic Sherry zinnias.

my non-productive, to this point in time anyway, tomato plants...

citronella style...thanks for showing these to me, Beck...

So funny to me that this car was purchased for Will and 13 years later, we still use it faithfully...first and last with cozy coupe!! awwww!

The Grand Canyon, every time it rains, it gets a li'l deeper...looks like we will have to put a drainage tile in the hole that God has dug for us!! Thank You, God! You did all the work for us!

Tiny Guy, lovin' him some dirt! (I do know proper English...I just don't like to use it)

I started this post last night...but wanted to give ya a little bit more to chew on today, since I know you are chomping at the bit for MORE!! E. isn't in any of these pix because he was probably laying on the heating pad...nursing his earache/toothache/jawache!! Mel, obviously, isn't in any of these because we took them Tuesday evening...and she was at camp. But she's back. Just in case you didn't know that already!!

I have some Levi artwork that he asked me to put on my blog...so if I can get it to show up, I will do that for him. Isn't it awesome that the little dude asks to put stuff on the blog? He may need his own...but I'm really debating!

Ok, folks...hope your Thursday is Deliciously HOT! Come on down for a swim!!

There she was, just a-walkin' down the street

...Singin' doo waa diddy, diddy dum, diddy doo...



Heeyyyyyy...I remember you! so good to see you!

Molly = thrilled!! (love her new birthday outfit from the Lovely Donna? thanks you beauty queen you!! she looks smashing in coral/peach)

This picture was up on the church's projector screen...titled "Jesus Laughing"...I thought it was kinda funny. love the hippy pix of Jesus!

I love the expression on Molly's face...she looked at Mel like this for quite a while!

The Three M's...

Mel and the purple group she was a part of..."The Purple Prayer Panthers"...kind of a blurry shot!

The whole gang..Mel's somewhere in the middle.

Well, not exactly, but she WAS singing when I first laid eyes on her again, after the three longest days of my life....(such an exaggerator!!). Melly looked so grown up to me...I got teary-eyed as I watched my young lady sing with fellow campers! (I get so emotional, baby)...




...when Molly first regarded her, she kept looking at her in total disbelief! it was kinda cute...I tried to capture it with my cam but it's never as cute in photos as it is in person!

So that's what happened here in a big way today!! Yah!! Melanie returneth!! Molly won't let her out of her sight tonight!! it's precious.

And in other news...um...Ethan had a tooth pulled today!! He was hurting all day yesterday...lost a filling in a molar on Monday...noticed the tooth was cracked. I thought for sure it was a grown up tooth. Great. Called our dentist...he's outta town till next Monday...so we called the back up dentist...Dr. Arnold. Great guy...great peeps in his office...told me that it was indeed a baby tooth...whew...and that they were going to pull it. The new tooth was pushing on thru and babies get brittle...hence the crack. E. handled the extraction like a champ!! (handled it so well that he just left for a few hours of work with his dad tonight)...I sat in the waiting room with MOLLY and LEVI...and you can imagine how that went! otherwise, it's a quiet, elliptical filled evening!! Time to jump on and watch a few "Monk" episodes while burning some calories!! Hope your Wednesday was as AWESOME as ours!!

Love and peace to you!! Laurie and family!

Just a taste of David's life...

bling bling...

not sure which job this is...but aren't they just so efficient?

Tom takes all these photos, so that is why he isn't showing up in them! Great shots, big bro...thanks for sharing them!

Jeff and David's bro, Aaron. These must've been taken on the Springfield, MO job!

ooooooh....pretty.

I'm Superman...and I'm here to save the world...

I just realized that I had never really showcased what my awesome husband does for a living!!



This is our bread and butter. and nowadays, our fuel, clothes for the kids, activity fees for the kids, clothes for the kids, braces for teeth, trips to the doctor for banged up heads, clothes for the kids, new shoes because we just outgrew the pair we got 3 months ago, school books, clothes for the kids..you get the picture.



When we look at it right up close, it's quite amazing how it all works out. That great Bible story comes to mind...the fish and loaves? not that we have excess money, because we surely don't, but the Lord has taken such good care of us and we thank Him for providing a job for David where I can be home with the kids and our needs are met. Just need to give praise and credit where it's due!





David is a vitrification specialist (that's my fancy politically correct term for his occupation). What is vitrification you ask? hmmm, a process (done with grinding floor/hand machines, different diamond grits, water, compounds...) that is done to marble, terrazzo, epoxy, etc floors (the kinds you see in schools, hotels, big places, fancy homes, countertops. etc)...that makes them look like glass. I know it's more than that...but that is the "laymen's" terminology...He loves the procedure, and nowadays, he enjoys selling it also...He is a perfectionist through and through...(hence Stickers' appropriate nickname for him, OCDave) and I would recommend David and his crew to any business, school, church, whatever, that is considering having Santarossa Mosaic & Tile do some vitrification work for them! They ROCK!




David works with a great crew of guys, which consists of our friend, Jeff, my brother, Tom, Jose, and Bucho, who also happen to be brothers, and occasionally some other random folks, like D's brother, Aaron, our friend, Randy, etc.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In reading back over this, after I uploaded all the pix and such, please forgive my incessant babbling. I am so exhausted this evening. Not sure why...one thing is for sure. I miss Mel. (Molly goes a mile a minute) She is so much more of a help to me, than I ever could have thought POSSIBLE!! Come Home, Mel! We can't wait to see her....(Wednesday, 4:30 pm is when she rolls back in!!) I have laundry to finish up, my sheets need to be put back on and all I wanna do is curl up into a ball and fall into a deep slumber.

So I'm outta here...Hope your Tuesday was magnificent and that your Wednesday is looking even better! God Bless YOU! Over & Out!

more...from one year ago...

Isn't it funny that Molly looks so much like her dad in this photo? Piper is pretty darn adorable!!

first & last...not in order of importance

This is how I looked one year ago...yikes...self-portraits

man, can I just tell ya, this past year has flown!

Greetings to you...I failed to take any pix

today so it's another blast from the past!

Will's on the mend, he went to his coaching

"job" at Mt. P today, then we went to our

Science club...so a busy yet productive day!

I am still missing Melanie, something fierce

but I'm sure she is enjoying herself! Hurry

back, Melsy! E. lost a filling in a molar today

and the tooth, we find out later, is broken!

Yikes! Levi pooed his drawers a little and

Molly took me on a wild goose chase ALL

Day! David is working at the hospital we

took Levi to when he bashed his head in!

Fun times. I am going to bed. sorry for dull

post! Thanks for liking me anyways! yeah right.

Today would've been my Gma. T's

96th birthday, if she had lived!

I tried to post some cute li'l kid pix

of her but blogger is being a pain...

so later! Peace Out!!

I let my girl go today...

Melanie went on her first camp adventure today. I don't necessarily think a child "needs" that time in their life...especially at the the tender age of 10...but the fact that the camp is only 3 days long, and is being put on by a really good church, and that it's a relatively small group of kids attending, I was a bit less apprehensive saying OK. I never went to summer church camp as a pre-teen...I did attend missions trips with my youth group but even then...I was a momma's girl...didn't enjoy being away from home for too long...

All this to say, I'm really just trying to justify Mel's departure in my mind.

I will explain below...

This is the crew of kids...in their departure ceremony...we just made it in time...I dropped her off early and had to head back home to get all the guys in our house...Mel and Maddie's counselor, Miss Nicole, is the chick in purple at the very left handed side of this picture.

This is Mel running thru the tunnel of parents...




Here she is with her pal, Maddie...I didn't even get to hug her good-bye. I didn't know that once they made it thru the tunnel, that they were heading right out to the buses...I sobbed a bit but sucked it up so she didn't see me! She held it together all right but I could tell she was struggling. What have I done? Please, Lord, keep her safe, Please Lord, watch over her. Please Lord, help her to learn so much...making this trip so memorable. Please Lord, remind me not to do this again. for a while anyway!

Bye Bye Mel-Mel...there goes the bus! sniff sniff. sob....waaaaa.

Guess who got a haircut today? Yes, there was a boy under allllllllll that hair! and he's so handsome!

Guess who else got a hair cut? Yes, there is a handsome hunk of a boy under all that coarse hair as well! He had just gotten done on the elliptical hence the redness! this is not a very flattering pic of E, sorry kid! he refuses to smile willingly in pictures!







Guess who is a sick boy today? Poor Willi Vanilli! puny and icky. He really needed a hair trimmin' as well!

Guess who is a busy body, causing me to really, really appreciate all the help that Mel is to me??

David is in the background, and yes, he is clothed...he just has his shirt off since he had just cut his own hair!

Guess who was in town this weekend? our good friend, Randy...here for a visit this weekend....

Well, now it's Monday...Mel is away, hopefully having the time of her life! I didn't get a call so she must be doing ok. In doing my "this and that" stuff yesterday afternoon (Sunday), I realized just what a big help Miss Mel-Mel is to me...and not only that but how she does it so willingly! She is really an awesome and unusual kid. She likes to help out, she likes to be needed, and she is such a good daughter and sister! She helps with out grumbling (mostly) and joyfully! Man, I miss her.

Will was sick all day yesterday. We had eaten Long John Silver's (we rarely eat it) with our friend Randy Sat. night (thanks for dinner, Mr. W). It didn't sit well with Will..and it shouldn't, that is some rich, greasy food. A treat for sure! So he was sick, Levi, E, David and Randy all got their hair cut by Barber David. Molly is so pesky. Have I mentioned that? E, David and I all exercised, swam, and went to hang out at Jeff's house.

Those of you that know how muuuuch Levi likes getting his hair cut will pleased to know that he did very well! He didn't even cry, which in turn causes him to end up eating his own hair etc. He is growing up! E. was so relieved to get that mop of hair off of his head. He said he felt a lot lighter.

Today, we have our Science Club down at the lovely Donna's! Will is coaching at Mt. P's soccer camp so we will be late to class. I am making bread this morning, Molly is in her crib playing with her jungle toy, E. and Levi are getting up, David is on his way to work and MELANIE IS AT CAMP. (she's only one hour away, give or take a few minutes)....so I will try to get back on here later to bore you again with more of my snooze-a-palooza pictures.

Lots of love to y'all!

Yet another walk down memory lane...

Willy Vanilli...in some serious lumberjack garb...getting the hang of this mess-making cake deal...This young man STILL does not like to have anything weird on his hands...does not cope well with stickiness. (he really takes after his dad)




E...what more can ya say? this kid seeks approval...and sugar.









Melanie, after much convincing that it was all right to make a mess...that's what you get when you have a white glove father and a mother who is hyper. funny how much hair she had at one also..but hers was quite a bit darker than Molly's. notice this high chair that all three of the old kids sat in for their cake? My mom still has this and we still use it...we have retired it from first birthday glory though...

awww, whatta sweet boy...so trusting.

and of course...Molly. pesky little muffinhead...

Loving cousin Tory mentioned that she had not seen the other 4 kids on their first birthdays to know if kids just soak all the birthday attention up...so this one's for you, dear. It is fun to compare all 5 kids at their first birthday parties...to see their similarities and differences...Mel and Mol really are quite different in my opinion.





I had forgotten, also, how chubby wubby Levi was at his first birthday. That kid has come so far...he was just starting to crawl at one year...and didn't walk till 18 months! and just the complete trust that shows up on his face, makes me want to cry (in a good way)! He was always so hesitant and still is to this day. But he is so bright in so many unexpected ways...he has a marvelous memory, and quite the musical ear...so it will be quite interesting to see where this takes him...I pray we hone his skills the right way.





In looking at their little first birthday pics, it's funny how much these kids are still so much the same...Will is still a neatnik, reserved, yet charming. E is the funny guy, how can I make you laugh, how messy can I really be? Sweet to boot. To Mel, she was not impressed with having to stick her hands in the little dolly cake we got her...all that yellowed shortening? ew...really? she takes some coaxing...and reminding...but once she gets going, she gets GOING...she is sheer girliness...and as I mentioned above in regards to Levi...constant reassurance, approval...hugs and love (E. is this way too)

I guess I should get going for this day...see what my kids are up to...Will has a "coach" meeting at Mt. P today...he is helping out with the soccer camp next week! He's quite excited. But in the meantime, hope you have a lovely summer day! Get out there and enjoy ya some humidity, would ya?

Peace out!

Wonderful Birthday Wednesday!

Levi and Drew on our "scary stairs"...

Whatta nice celebration for a one year old wonder! We got to hang out with most of our Science club friends on Molly's b-day and here are just a few of the pix that we got...

I will not expound tonight....as I'm a tired girl. I will try to get some Friday happenings from around our place!

I know you are dying to see what is going on over here!

I'll be back! LY

Christ-likeness

Mike got to meet Liz.

We had the pleasure of fellowshiping with some awesome "siblings" in Christ this past Saturday evening!

Mike and Pam B. are the incredible folks that head up Kaleo, Patria and Phos Ontos...They have been married for 17 years but doing ministry like this FOREVER! They make dealing with jr. high, high schoolers, and families on a weekly basis, in their home, look like a cake walk. and we all know it's NOT.

We met them over two years ago (March 2006)...Mike was speaking/teaching at our Family Life Skills Banquet...and we were at their table! Wow...at their table? yes! They told us about their weekend ministries and we thought it sounded like something we'd like to do as a family. Jill, fellow BFF, and her family invited us to attend with them a month later...and the rest....is history.

Mike and Pam are so different that they are alike. They are both trim, active folks. Mike never sits still...so much to do, so little time...always has a whistle so he can lead a game, he has a compassion that most should envy! He looks you RIGHT in the eye! He gets right down to the nitty gritty and is unashamed of the Gospel of Christ! Pam is more behind the scenes but NOT. she always has a GENUINE smile on her face, and though more quiet than her dear husband, she is not SHY! They are quite a team! They exude Christ...and after spending an evening with them, and their adopted (soon to be official) daughter from Haiti, Ellie...we are even more impressed than ever. Ellie will be three next month and she knows Bible stories better than most adults! and after only being in the States since November 07.

What's cool about them, though, is that they don't do the things they do to impress you. They don't care what ya think...and that is the best part. They do what they do for the Father, Son and Holy Spirit! There is so much more that could and should be said about these awesome people...but I will close for tonight.

Thanks, Mike, Pam, and Ellie, for sharing a Saturday evening with our family! We are blessed to know you!

Good night folks!