Counting My Blessings: Week In Review
It was a fun week with my family. While Jake and I were working this week the girls were busy on the farm at Horse Camp. They were riding horses in the mornings, had a picnic lunch, helped with animal chores, and did a Bible Study at camp. It was a busy and tiring day for them, but they loved it and several times I think they would have preferred to stay at camp instead of coming home. They were able to experience a wide variety of tasks – trimming goat hooves, playing with soft baby lambs, washing horses & goats, hunting for chickens eggs, and more good activities. They had a blast and loved it!
I want to be accountable to you so the following are snip-its of some of the things I am thankful for this past week.
Counting My Blessings – Week In Review:
Monday –Thankful that the kids have the opportunity to go to Horse / Farm / Bible Study camp while Jake and I were working. They loved it! Also, it is conveniently located only a few minutes away from my work which is a great bonus too!
Tuesday – Thankful for Jake and his thoughtfulness. He went out of his way to stop by the store and pick up some items as a surprise for me. I had been missing an ingredient in my smoothie drink this week (he picked up the chocolate flavor for me as a surprise), he got a couple non-dairy Mac-N-Cheese mixes for Brina, and bath salts to help me loosen up and relax a little bit more. Love it when he surprises me with special items that are perfect for that day, moment, or time. I am richly blessed to have him as my partner. Love this man dearly more and more all the time!!! XOXOXO
Wednesday – Thankful for my acupuncture doctor. My back and shoulder were really tender and they made time to see me today which was a huge help in loosening me back up.
Thursday – Thankful for my work and that they are willing to allow me to work around the girls camp schedule. The kids have been coming into work with me in the morning, I have been stopping to take them to camp and returning to work until they are out of camp. They have been a big help in getting little tasks done for me at work too.
Friday – Thankful for an opportunity to get some errands run and chores done at home so we can head into the weekend a little more prepared and ready.
Saturday – Thankful for my weekend with family. We had a lot to get done with everything going on and a busy week ahead, but we worked together, had fun, and was able to get some items done that needed attention.
Sunday – Thankful our church, the message, and a place where our girls can learn and grow with other kids their age.
What are you thankful for today? I encourage you to take the time to write down a few blessings that you have in your life today. It will help cheer you up and turn your focus on the amazing blessings you encounter each day.
Counting My Blessings: Week In Review
It was a great week with my family. We had some good fun together while accomplishing a lot of little, but much needed tasks around the house and yard. The girls have been enjoying their summer adventures too! Love hearing about their days and what they have been learning at camp and the adventures they are enjoying. Thankful for an opportunity to have an extra day with my family over the July 4th Holiday.
I want to be accountable to you so the following are snip-its of some of the things I am thankful for this past week.
Counting My Blessings – Week In Review:
Monday –Thankful for a great July 4th Holiday to celebrate our country, time with my family, and a chance to have an extra day at home to get some items done!
Tuesday – Thankful that Jake took the girls into summer camp so I could get into work earlier. Also, grateful that I was able to get off work at lunch to pick up the girls and spend the afternoon with them. We had a lot of fun hanging out together.
Wednesday – Thankful for Jake and the girls help getting some items done around the house.
Thursday – Thankful for an opportunity to spend extra time with extended family. It wasn’t on the schedule until last night, but my Grandma Willa was in town visiting so we had an impromptu dinner with Grandma, my brother & his family, Aunt Pat, and my cousins and their families. We had a great meal, the kids played well, and a good time of catching up. Grateful for an opportunity to see family.
Friday – Thankful for the girls summer camp and the adventures that they have been able to enjoy this summer. They met a lot of neat people this week and was able to get in a lot of biking time (also the importance of staying hydrated on hot summer days in South Carolina). Both girls were grateful for the camel backs this week.
Saturday – Thankful for some time to catch up on projects around the house and yard. Grateful for Jake and all he does for our family.
Sunday – Thankful for the freedom to worship and fellowship with other believers.
What are you thankful for today? I encourage you to take the time to write down a few blessings that you have in your life today. It will help cheer you up and turn your focus on the amazing blessings you encounter each day.
Flashback Friday: First Summer
Brina completely folded in half and sleeping
This flashback Friday bounces us back to June 2005. The girls first summer! They were continuing to grow. It was amazing to see them start to learn more and change. They still could go to sleep in the most unusual (and what looked like uncomfortable) positions. Their smiles and little giggles made our days so much brighter. They put up with our silliness as parents and we had a lot of fun learning together.
We were home for the majority of the month of June. At their regular Doctors appointment they were growing and looking healthy, however, on Brina’s apnea monitor her heart rate was showing unusually high numbers so we had to go into a specialists office to get her hooked up to an EKG. We also had to bring her home on a portable EKG for a couple days to see if there were any complications. Thankfully she was fine, she just has a faster heartbeat than other kids at her age.
Karlie was our thumb sucker. She is enjoying her thumb as she falls asleep.
Snuggle bugs
Looks like mischief!
Karlie giggling as she attacks Tigger!
Karlie fast asleep with a decorative gift bow on her forehead…..she has no idea!
Love seeing those pudgy cheeks!
Brina having the EKG test done. She is not very happy with us right now.
Back home with all the EKG wires attached to her. She was more content once we were back home and didn’t seem to mind the extra wires until we pulled them off 2 days later and she had a bunch of red spots all over her belly.
Hanging out!
Silly ducks….Brina – “What are you guys looking at?” while Karlie snoozes away completely unaware of the duck on her head.
Karlie tolerated our silliness. As long as she was fed, changed, and got to play she was a happy baby.
Look at that cute milk belly! Such a huge change since her surgery the month before when she couldn’t keep anything down. Thankful for the doctors and a healthy baby.
Brina is excited about picking out gifts in the Cheaper Than Dirt Catalog…..makes Daddy so proud!
Brina showing off her fancy “pant” hat. She is not very impressed.
Karlie is not overly excited by her hat either. She is ready for her nap!
Happy Brina Bee!
Love It – Magformers Set
Brina loves creating things with the Magformers!
The girls got a Magformers Set for their birthday. Since then they have played with the set for hours. A bunch of time was spent playing with them during their recent snow days when they did not have school. I love it when they get a toy that promotes creativity.
Magformers are bright colorful magnetic toys that you can use to build all kinds of items with. The set we got contained squares, triangles, and pentagons. They are easy to use and the magnets are enclosed so they cannot be swallowed by younger kids. The pieces always attract, never repel, making it easy for anyone to stick two pieces together to build. The magformers stimulate creativity, engineering, spatial awareness, coordination, and mathematics. You can build pretty much anything you can image from balls, houses, pyramids, turtles, towers, and so much more. This toy has sparked our kids imaginations over the past month and they are still pulling it out to play with it regularly.
Big ball out of Magformers
Of course knocking it down is always a fun task to do too
Brina built all the items in the book first than started creating her own inventions. Love watching her read the directions and put things together. She was pretty quick at it!
Magformers creation
She has spent hours putting together different combinations and items with this set.
Proud of her creation
Making some little items
So much fun
House
Karlie loves playing with them too. She split her time between the magformers and reading some chapter books.
Myrtle the Turtle
Time to take this one apart and start on a new project
Having a blast
Neat creation
Fun toy
There are many different Magformers Sets that you can get. Amazon is a great place to look for them and you can read all the great reviews as well.
“Love It” is a series of posts on items that I use regularly in my household that I love! There are some items in our daily lives that make life more enjoyable, efficient, or just plain fun. I will be sharing with you some of the products that have been given to us (or to me) that have made it to the top of my list. It’s my way of giving a huge thumbs up!
Colorful Snow Art
Red and Blue snow hand prints were found!
After finishing their snowman Rainbow Confetti they decided to do colorful snow art with the leftover paints. Some of their snow art creations turned out really well. Love seeing them get creative. Thankful for an opportunity to watch them play and have fun in the snow.
Blue and green store in the planter!
Red snow heart
Smiley faces always bring a smile
Yes, they even spray painted some of their snow balls prior to throwing my direction. It made for a very colorful snowball fight.
Marking trails with their red paint.
Fun at the Park with Friends
Climbing on rocks at Herdklotz Park with friends
We met some sweet friends at the park for a picnic and to play! The only time that I could get all four kids to sit still long enough for a picture was after they climbed up on this rock. It was the big rock, but they all managed to get up onto it. Thankful for a great time with friends.
Derby decided to join me on the dash in front on the way to and from the park today. He was on the lookout for a fun adventure! It’s not everyday a horse rides on my dash. The girls thought it was hilarious having him help in the van!
Hop, Skip, Jump, Play, Swing, and Braid
All the kids had various ways to go up and down the road before they could open their treasure box – including running, skipping, hopping on one foot, hopping on two feet, etc….
After breakfast every morning while the cousins were here the five kids got to open up an envelope with clues leading to that days treasure chest. Before opening the treasure chest for the day they were required to complete the tasks or solve the puzzles before locating the treasure chest. It was something fun that they looked forward to doing every morning. All the kids participating and had a blast completing the tasks assigned each morning. Every morning it was something different (sometimes it was a puzzle, scavenger hunt, physical activity, or something else).
They are almost to the finish line! Keep going! They all made it and received their goodies for the day.
Sweet girls drying off and doing some chalk drawings after a swim in the pool
Noah and Skipper! Skipper loved having all the kids running around and playing outside all week!
Aunt Mirm showing the girls a neat game!
Brina loves little kids! She was so sweet pushing her two little cousins in the swings. Too cute!
Aunt Mirm wanted to try a new type of hairdo and Karlie was her test subject…..needless to say Karlie was patient, but not overly impressed with the styling. She was a good sport about it though!
Brina undid her braids that Aunt Mirm had done. She loved having her snazzy crinkled hair that day!
Brina wanted me to take a picture of the back of her hair too!
Peace Center – “Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory”
Play at the Peace Center – “Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory”
The girls went to a play at the Peace Center with their class called “Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory”. I was able to go along with them as a chaperone with Brina’s class. The play was about various songs and activities from both the North and South during the time of the Civil War. The girls are currently studying about the Civil War so this was good timing. The kids enjoyed hearing the stories behind the songs as well. Thankful for an opportunity to go with the girls on this trip and see this play.
Brina was my school bus buddy! I went with her class as a chaperone, but her class was on the bus with Karlie’s class too so I got to see both kiddos.
Karlie having fun chatting on the bus ride to the Peace Center
Our Snowman – Rainbow Sherbet
Karlie and Brina proud of their colorful snowman!
Of course one of the fun activities every kid wants to do during a snow storm is build a Snowman! While I cannot say our snowman will win any prices for being perfect or expertly made, especially since it was the girls and I who put him together, he is pretty colorful to look at. We had a lot of fun building and creating him together!
Since we were already doing the spray painting we decided to do something different this year with our snowman. We call him – “Rainbow Sherbet!”
Rainbow Sherbet added a little extra color to our white yard!
The girls are hoping Rainbow Sherbet will last for a few weeks. I am hoping he’ll last a couple days! Once it starts warming up everything melts quickly in South Carolina!
Karlie and Brina had the help of a certain black lab named Skipper! She was proud of their creation too, ha!
Karlie is armed with a paint spray bottle, wonder what she is planning to paint now!
Brina and Karlie’s Show
Brina and Karlie put on a show for us recently. It was called “The Town of Twenty”. It was quite an interesting performance. Full of singing, dancing, acting, audience participation, and more fun. It is wonderful seeing them use their creativity and come up with some neat ideas.
Brina singing during one of her parts in the play.
Another fun part of the play.
Karlie playing one of her parts.
Brina all smiles
Chatting with the girls after their play. Love watching them act out their show and having some time to chit-chat with them afterward. Thankful for our girls, their creativity, and their excitement about life.
